ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 527, 21 August 1850, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

English news to 20th March (two days later than our direct news) had been received at Adelaide. Consols on the 20th were 95§ to |. The following are the only additional items of news we see in the papers before us : — On the 19th Lord Brougham moved for returns connected with the Great Exhibition of 1851 ; his main object being, apparently, to oppose the erection of a building for the purpose, which would occupy from 20 to 25 acres in Hyde Park. — On the same evening, Lord John Russell announced the intention of government to bring in a bill abolishing the office of Lord Lieutenant of Ireland. — Mr. Gladstone inquired if the government were prepared to make provision in the Australian Colonies Bill for the application of the principle of self-government to the affairs of the Church of England in these colonies, by allowing the bishops, clergy, and lay members to make regulations on the footing of consent among themselves, and subject to such restraints as might be thought necessary for .the management of those affairs. Lord John Russell replied in the negative. He feared such a step might be very inconvenient to the colonies. — Mr. Hutts motion for the discontinuance of the armed vessels for the suppression of the slave trade on the African coast was negatived, after a very long discussion, by 232 against 154. — The large sugar houses of Messrs. Wackerbacks and Co., St. Georgestreet, Ratcliffe Highway, near the London Docks, were burned down on the morning of the 20th March. The loss was estimated at from £80,000 to £100,000, mostly insured. — S. M. Herald.

The Ministry. — It is not intended at present to fill up the vacancy in the Cabinet caused by the resignation of Lord Campbell, his lordship's seals of office being held by the Earl of Carlisle in commendam with those of First Commissioner of Woods and Forests. Liverpool Albion.

The Great Industrial Exhibition. Preparations are being already made in Paris for the great exposition of manufactures which is to* take place in London next year. The Minister of Commerce has appointed a commission of 16 members to take measures in the interest of the French manufactures. A circular has been addressed to the Chambers of Commerce throughout France to direct the attention of the manufacturers and merchants to this great meeting. The commission will, moreover, facilitate the conveyance of French produce to and fiom London. — Bell's Messenaer.

The Exhibition of 1851. — Convocation of Mayors. — The Lord Mayor of London, on the 21st instant, is about to entertain his Royal Highness Prince Albert at the Mansion House. It is intended that the mayors of all the corporate boroughs of England shall, if possible, be brought together on the occasion, and with that view invitations have been issued by the Lord Mayor to all | those chief magistrates. The object of the distinguished assembly will be to devise means for giving an additional stimulus to the movement in favour of the great exhibition in 1851 . — Leeds Mercury. The Crown of Hungary. — A letter dated Bucharest, Feb. 13, says — "The crown of St. Stephen, which Kossuth was supposed to have carried off, is now being traced. An Hungarian refugee named Boliak has just been arrested at Constantinople, and several of the jewels belonging to the crown were found in his possession." — BelVs Messenger.

Radetzski and Jellachich. — Radetski is expected at Vienna, and the Ban Jellachich is said to have been appointed to command in Italy, immediately under Radetzski, whose advanced age (85) renders it advisable to have some able man on the spot to supply his place in the event of any sudden casualty. The officers of the Imperial army intend to present to the veteran Radetzski a field-marshal's staff. The staff is of fine gold, richly ornamented with jewels, and entwined with a wreath of laurel, in the leaves of which are

recorded tbe most remarkable dates in the life of the General. The staff rests upon a pedestal, on which is a portrait of the General. — Liverpool Albion. March 18.

A Manager in Difficulties. — It is known that the celebrated violinist, M. Ole Bull, recently built at his own cost a theatre in his native town of Bergen, in Norway. Scarcely had the house been furnished when, so great was the love of the art displayed by the townspeople, all the boxes and places were let. No arrangement was, however, made for the police, who it appears have a right to three of the first-class places in all theatres in Norway ; they claimed their right, and M. Bull was unable to induce any of his subscribers to forego their seats ; he, however, explained to the authorities his inability to grant the customary indulgence in the present season, but offered them three seats in the pit. They replied to this offer by a notification that on the next representation they should present themselves, accompanied by an armed force, and that if three first-class places were not vacant they should eject three of the visitors. M. Bull, irritated at this announcement, had three seats placed in the orchestra, above which he had a black board placed, on which was written in enormous white characters, " Places de MM. de la Police," and fixed at each end of the board a large lantern similar to that carried by the night patrol. The director of the police construed this proceeding into a grave offence against the authority of \i hich he was at the head, and acting on the law of 1687 f M. Bull was arrested, and condemned to three months' imprisonment. Against this decree there is no appeal except to the King. It is not known whether M. Bull will avail himself of this resource. — Observer, March 18. What may be expected op California. — On Friday evening Sir Roderick J. Murchison, whose reputation as a geologist is enhanced by the researches of several years among the gold workings of the Ural Mountains, took occasion, in the course of a lecture at the Royal Institution, to state his views on the probable yield of the newly discovered deposits of California. After stating a variety of facts, he concluded in the following words :—": — " It is five years since I called the attentiou of Sir R. Peel to the enormous yield of the mines of Eastern Siberia. Since that time those mines have thrown upon the market of the world three millions of gold per annum, and yet does any one observe that the relative value of gold and silver has been disturbed ? California has sent into the market about a million and a half of gold. It is my belief that the future statist will have to explain how, by the increased employment of this noble metal in the arts, by the diffusion of wealth, and a thousand other means, its value has been maintained. It is my duty to inform you that from such an importation of the precious metals as T. apprehend can take place in consequence of Californian discoveries, no sensible depreciation can result. — Leeds Mercury.

Turin. — Extraordinary Scene. — A tragic scene, of which the annals of justice offer few instances, occurred on the 22nd ult. in the Court of Appeal in Turin. The President was about to pass sentence on a band of seventeen murderers, three of whom had been condemned to death, and fourteen others to hard labour or imprisonment, when those convicts simultaneously rose at a signal given by their chief, and attempted to disarm the carabineers seated by their side. A frightful tumult ensued. The judges and part of the auditory retired terror-struck, whilst the carabineers attempted to master the revolters. A serjeant, finding himself too closely pressed by one of them, named Vincenzo Artusio, shot him dead with a pistol. This put an end to the struggle. Two other convicts were dangerously wounded, and one of them was not expected to survive. — Atlas, March 2.

Nineveh Discoveries. — Very late and highly satisfactory accounts have within these few days been received from Mr. Layard, in Assyria, giving intelligence of new and important discoveries in the Nimrod mound. He has made fresh excavations in parts of the eminence not yet explored, and the result has been the finding of nothing less than the throne upon which the monarch, reigning about 3000 years ago, sat in his splendid palace. It is composed of metal and of ivory, the metal being richly wrought and the ivory beautifully carved. It does not appear in what part of the edifice this discovery has been made ; but it seems that the thr.one was separated from the state apartments by means of a large curtain, the rings by which it was drawn and undrawn having been preserved. At the date of his advices (the Leginning of last month) Mr. Layard was pursuing bis re* searches with renewed ardour in consequence of the astonishing success that has hitherto attended his exertions. No human remains have come to light, and everything indicates the destruction of the palace by fire. It is said that the throne has been partially fused by tbe heat —Belt's Messenger, 18th Muck

Bygone Winters. — The following is an extract from the Newcastle Chronicle of Jan. 29, 1780 :— *" On Monday, a funeral passed over the ice at Cocks-green, on the river Wear, to Washington Church. It appears by chronological tables, that England has been visited by long and severe frosts in the years 1638, 1661, 1684, 1708, 1716, 1739, 1771, 1774, 1776. On the 29th December, 1739, the mercury in the thermometer fell to 26 degrees below freezing point, when there was an uncommon hoar, and the air so, sharp and penetrating as to render it difficult for strong persons to endure the cold, and vegetables suffered prodigiously. But on the 14th of January, 1780, the mercury was 39 degrees below the freezing point." The Gateshead Observer adds, that, "In the year 220 Britain endured a five months' frost ; in 250 the Thames was frozen nine weeks ; in 291 most of our rivers were frozen six weeks ; in 359 Scotland had fourteen weeks of frost ; ia 508 the rivers of Britain were frozen up above two months ; in 695 the Thames was frozen six weeks, and booths built on the ice ; in 760 a frost began which endured from Oct. 1 to Feb. 26 ; in 827 a nine weeks' frost ; in 859 and 860 the Adriatic and Mediterranean were frozen over ; in 908 most of the English rivers were frost bound ; in 923, 987, and 998, frosts set in which lasted many weeks ; on Midsummer day, 1035, grain and fruit were destroyed by frost ; 1063, 1076, 1114, 1205, 1207, 1234, 1294, 1296, 1306, 1323, 1349, 1402, 1408, 1423, 1426, 1459, 1520, 1534, were all years of severe frost. In 1716 a fair was held on the Thames, and again in 1814. In the latter year the Tyne was frozen to the depth of twenty inches." The frosts of 1739 and 1780 endured — the former 103 days, and the latter 84.

Prejudice against Chloroform. — We observe it stated that chloroform has been employed in Edinburgh in from 80,000 to 100,000 cases, without a single accident or bad effect of any kind traceable to its use. Mr. Carmichael, a surgeon of that city, commenting on the fact, says — " Would 800,000 or 100,000 full doses of opium, or antimony, or Epsom salts, or any other potent medicine, have been followed with as great impunity !" Chloroform is now habitually used in Edinburgh in all kinds of surgical operations, down to tooth drawing. It saves many lives which otherwise would sink under the nervous shock which is experienced from a severe operation undergone in a state of consciousness. Such is the published opinion of the discoverer of its use as au anaesthetic, the now celebrated Dr. J. Y. Simpson. ; and this opinion lias not been gainsaid by any of the profession in Edinburgh. At the same time chloroform has received the sanction and recommendation of the most authoritative bodies in France and the United States. Nevertheless, the public of London is almost wholly denied the vast benefit of this agent, purely through the prejudices of the profession. This forms a curious illustration of the condition of medicine and of the medical mind in the metropolis, but it is not a new one. Not only is there a distaste among scientific men in England for everything that comes from the north, but there is a general benightedness in the London me-, dical world. They opposed vaccination while it was embraced in the provinces ; and to the indelible disgrace of all concerned, inoculation with small pox maintained its ground in a London hospital devoted to the purpose a quarter of a century after Jenner's discovery. The London public should take this matter into their own hands, Let them not be too ready to lay stress upon accounts of fatal effects from chloroform. Of such there have been few ; but it is remarkable that in Edinburgh, where the article is prepared in perfect purity, with the benefit of first-rate apparatus, and where it is administered with judgment and due care, not one accident has happened. Even admitting the accidents which have happened elsewhere were not avoidable by any degree of care, they should be placed beside the lives which have been saved by the special use of this agent. Taking the matter on still lower ground, the rejection of chloroform, because of a few fatal cases, is no more rational than it would be to refuse to travel by railways because one person in several millions has been killed by a collision. — Chambers's Jour.

Joint Stock Bank Creditors. — Legal Decision. — Baron Alderson has decided that a creditor of a joint stock bank cannot establish his claim against a shareholder without having first sued and obtained judgment against the public officers of the bank. This is a very importantdecision. — Leeds Mercury,

Trying a Pill Case on Its Merits. — In the case of Kerkus v, Atkinson, which was an action brought by the proprietors of a patent medicine against a chemist for an infringement of their right, tried at the York Assizes, before Baron Alderson, the learned judge humorously recommended as the best mode of trying the merits of the question that six of the jury should take half a dozen of the plaintiff's pills, md thu o&e? sk half a cJozsa

of the defendant's. Judgment to abide by, which should go out first. The trial then proceeded, and a verdict was given for the defendant. — Atlas.

A Strange Escape. — The following most extraordinary circumstance is furnished in a letter from an officer of the 83rd regiment, now in India, to a friend in Montreal : — " Whilst the division of the 83rd regiment, to which the writer belonged, was on its way to India, being at the time a short distance eastward of the Cape, one of the men was severely flogged for some slight offence. Maddened at the punishment, the poor fellow was no sooner released than, in the sight of his comrades and the ship's crew, he sprang overboard. There was a tremendous sea running at the time, and 1 , as the man swept on astern, all hope of saving him seemed to vanish. Belief, however, came from a quarter where no one ever dreamed of ever looking for it before. During the delay incidental on lowering a boat, whilst the crowd on deck were watching the form of the soldier struggling with the boiling waves, and growing every moment less distinct, a large albatross, such as are always found in those latitudes, coming like magic with an almost imperceptible motion, approached and made a swoop at the man, who in the agonies of the death struggle, seized it, held it firmly in his grasp, and by this means kept afloat until assistance was rendered from the vessel !" — Montreal Journal.

Anecdotes of War. — Amongst many anecdotes I now heard connected with the Gwanga, it was related that, whilst this Fingoe butchery was going on, a party of weary horsemen had dismounted on the margin of a muddy pond, near a small patch of brushwood. After both men and horses had quenched their burning thirst, the former threw themselves on the grass, still, however, holding by the reins their panting steeds, whilst, worn out and listless, they looked on at the movements of some Fingoes busily engaged in their bloody search. The latter approached a small thicket near which this party was at rest. A Burgher, who had not dismounted, was then watering his steed at the shallow " vlei, " or pool. As the Fingoes approached, the naked form of an athletic Kaffir suddenly sprang from an adjoining covert and pitched the unguarded cavalier headlong into the pond ; next, vaulting into the empty saddle, he urged away the horse at the top of his speed. So unexpected was this bold feat performed that the savage had well nigh effected his escape ere our people were recovered from their surprise. A man of the Cape corps, however, regaining his wits just in the nick of time, j started on his feet and covered the Kaffir with bis rifle whilst he was still within musketrange. The latter, to expose himself as little as possible, had thrown forward his body on the horse's neck, defeating thus bis own object by inadvertently presenting a fair, or more properly speaking, conspicuous mark for the rifleman's shot ; which, striking him, as a sailor would say, (pray, reader, excuse a nautical phrase,) full in the stern, raked him "fore aud aft," tumbled him off his horse, and it was afterwards found that the ball, passing clean through him, had come out at his breast, near the collar-bone. A private of the Cape corps met his death in the following manner : — Being with a comrade in full pursuit of some Kaffirs, who were flying toj wards the Keiskamma Bush, they suddenly came on a sort of large pit, or hollow, into which a number of the enemy had crept for concealment. The riflemen suddenly reined up ; one of them dismounted, and whilst the other heid his horse, he deliberately fired into the midst of the Kaffirs in the pit, retreated a few yards from the bank, quietly loaded again, and with his doublf-barrelled rifle, repeated this manoeuvre with murderous effect three or four successive times. At last the gentlemen in the " pit," seeing the small force of those in the " gallery," took courage, and the next time he came to the edge of the bank, poured in a volley which riddled him with balls, when his surviving comrade thought it high time to decamp. — Napier's Excursions in Southern Africa.

The Married Bachelor. — There is no limit to the recklessness of the penny-a-lioers in providing pabulum for a paragraph. If the spider had a shilling an inch allowed him for his web, he could not set to work with more alacrity than is shown by the penny-a-liner in spinning the yarn of fiction into the form of fact, and, indeed, like a green spectacled monster, " making the food he lives upou." Numerous have been the premature deaths of celebrated men at the hands of the reporters for the newspaper press, who having earned a shilling at the announcement of a distinguished character's Jecease, have pocketed an additional sixpence by briefly bringing him to life again. To kill an individual for a day or two is, however, a venial offence, inasmuch as he can always prove his own existence by entering an appearance at any time, but it is far different with the case of the gallant Major Edwardes, who had no sooner come home from lodia and put his foot on the Waterloo

Station of the South Western Railway, than some .penny-a-liner in human form, must needs marry him, and bestow upon him two ready-made little ones. The Major lost no time in getting himself paragraphically divorced, and repudiating the pair of infant pledges in which he had no interest. He very naturally objected to the adoption of the system of " families supplied" on the very gratuitous terms upon which he bad been ju»t supplied with a family. Hie alleged wife turned out to be a black Ayah ; and we are of opinion that, on the very face of it, the allegation of his marriage ought not to have been put forth, for if it had been so, the fact — as well as the lady — would have worn a very different complexion. Such a plea as there ha« ving been a nigger female with him, cannot hold ; and we must insist that, to use the professional term, there was not enough to give colour. — Punch.

The Bench in Alabama. — Magistrate: This court is held to try a case in which "Little Chubby," a Creek login, is defendant, and Tom Dale, a grocery keeper, it plaintiff. Dale claims 20 dollars from "Little Chubby," and " Chubby " says he paid it "in beaver skins." "Gentlemen," continued the magistrate, addressing the byestanders, "Ingins ain't likely to lie when they owe white men. But white men will lie when they trade with Ingins. This is the experience of *my court.' Proceed, gentlemen, with the case." The attorney for Tom Dale proceeded to make out his case* Dale' swore that the debt was "just, true, and unpaid." He then introduced a witness to prove that " Little Chubby " had only caught ten beavers in the last month, and that be had sold them to the defendant. The Indian had no witnesses, and the case was fully made out. The attorney remarked, addressing the court, " May it please your Honor, I claim a judgment for my client. There is no defence except the averment of ' Chubby/ and this the court can't regard." "Gentlemen," said our magistrate, "I ain't satisfied ; and ain't going to allow the login to be swindled," said he, addressing Moneycries ; "Mr. Marshall, hand me that book, I'll take a swar in the case myself;" and suiting the action to the word, he kissed the book, addressing the Moneycries, " Mr. Marshall, I constitute you this court, and will take a swar in this case. May it please the court," said he, " there's cheatia' around this board, and I intend to expose it to this court. I'd rather take an Ingin's word than a whisky seller's oath, any time. But this court can't decide in favour without a swar in his behalf — and that swar (kissing the book) I am now, Marshall, going to take." He then proceeded to state that "Little Chubby" had come to his house and he offered to buy from him ten beaver skins. Chubby declined selling them, as he had promised them to Mr. Dale, to pay a debt of 20 dollars due to him. He saw Chubby go into Dale's and leave the skins, and when he came out Chubby told him he had paid his debt. When he had concluded, he resumed his seat. Dale's attorney protested against this " taking a swar in the case," but he was interrupted by the magistrate, who informed him that this was his mode of dispensing equity. Attorney: "May it please the court, I will take an appeal in this case." Magistrate : " The court is satisfied that the evidence is in favour of •Little Chubby,' and no appeal v/ill be allowed." Attorney: "May it please the court, I consider this proceeding a d ■ d farce!" Magistrate: "The court considers this a case of contempt, and will fine Mr. M — n 20 dollars for swaring in court." Attorney: "Your 'court' may go to the devil — if your honor please." Magistrate ; "My marshal will take Mr. M into custody till he pays 20 dollars ; and unless he pays it, the marshal will summon him a posse of Ingins, and tie him up, and thereupon inflict on him twenty stripes, according to Ingin custom, and then inform him that it will improve bis health to get out of the reach of my court in twenty-four hours." — Neic York Times.

An American Maid. — A gentleman tells us (Boston Post) a good story of one of his domestics. Having employed a new female servant, be sat down in the parlour the evening after to " a civil game of whist" with his wife and a couple of neighbours. The next morning, my lady, " the help," observed that " the card-playing must be put a stop to, or she should be obliged to leave — she didn't approve of the practice, and never allowed it in. families where she lived !"