ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 548, 2 November 1850, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

The New House of Commons. —It would appear, from the result of several ex- | peri men ts which have been made during the week, that the new house is totally unfit for the purposes for which it has been built. Owing to some peculiarity in its construction, the members on each side complain that they cannot hear those who are speaking only within a few yards of them. — Bell's Messenger, June 17. Ireland. — The Harvest. — The condition of the crops is the all-absorbing topic in the provincial accounts, and upon all sides there are most gratifying indications of an unusually early and abundant harvest. So far the prospects are really cheering. — Ibid. Menacing Notes from the Russian Government. — The Russian government has addressed a pointed note to the English Cabinet, repudiating the notion that British subjects living in Tuscany or Naples during the late revolts have any just right to claim

indemnity for the losses they suffered during those disturbances. Should such unjust demands be enforced by arms (the note adds,) Russia will dad itself compelled to indicate, in the most precise manner possible, the conditions alone upon which it will grant to British subjects the right of residence and of property within the Emperor's dominions. It is said that Russia has addressed another note to the English government, couched in strong terms, protesting against the settlement of ;he Greek question as arranged by Mr. Wyse. — Ibid.

India.— On Saturday the overland mail from India reached town about twelve o'clock. The dates are brought down from China till April 23, from Calcutta till May 2, and from Bombay till May 11. On the 28th of April there had been a tremendous hurricane in the Bay of Bengal, which proved disastrous to life and property on sea and land. Sir Charles Napier is to return to England in October next. The Governor- General has suffered much from dysentery, and was on his way to Simla for the benefit of bis health. Aaerious disturbance had occurred at Agra* in consequence of a personal quarrel between a Sepoy and a Seikh. The other convicts joined, to the number of 300 men, one side or the other, until the tumult became so gteat that the guard fired, «nd 70 or 80 of the rioters were killed or wounded. — Observer, June 17.

Exhibition of 1851. — Architectural Plans. — The commissioners entrusted with the arrangements for the exhibition, having invited professors and amateurs, native and foreign, to send in plant and suggest ions for the intended building, received no less than 245 designs. Of these 38 were from foreigners, 128 from residents in London, 51 from English provincial towns, 6 from Scotland, and 3 from Ireland. Out of 18 plans selected as deserving the highest distinction, 12 are from Frenchmen, 1 from a Dutchman, and 1 from Vienna, 3 are from Englishmen, and 1 from a firm in Dublin. In the list of other plans, inferior, but deserving of honorable mention, the majority of contributions are English. — Ibid.

A New Convict Establishment. — It is understood that captain Groves, governor of Millbank prison, and captain Jebb, inspector of prisons, have lately been sent down to Dartmoor to inspect tbe prisons at Prince Town, which have remained tenantless as a place of confinement ever since the peace of 1815, and that they have reported in favour of their suitability for the confinement of con- < victs. Preparations have been made for tbe reception of 500, who will be employed as agricultural labourers. A barrack for 300 j soldiers is also in the course of preparation, j and will shortly be fit for occupation. — Ibid. The following tribute to the memory of Sir R. Peel is extracted from the Home News of the Bth July : — This shameful and incomprehensible outrage (alluding to the insult offered to the Queen) is the disgrace of our period, but its misfortune is to come. It is rounded in a single sentence — "the death of Sir R. Peel." No Englishman, in whatever part of the world he may be found, will read that simple but most sad announcement, without a feeling of the deepest grief, without the most perfect sympathy with the sorrow all England manifests at the loss of a statesman so profound, an orator so eminent, a politician so clear in his aims, so truthful in their pursuit, so disinterested in their consideration, and so successful in tbe attainment of them. A man whose intrinsic worth was above all statesmanship, all eloquence, and all political skill ; a man to whom the Duke of Wellington alone does justice in describing him as truth itself, whose fortune it was in every great achievement of his life to lose friends and make enemies, but one to whom no personal enmity ever attached suspicion ; a man who throughout bit life was honored most bythose who kuew him best, and in his death is lamented and loved by all his countrymen ; mourned with a prophetic mourning he has lived an example, and he dies a martyr. On the morning of Saturday, the 29ih of June, Sir Robert Peel had spoken his last speech in tbe House of Commons. He had been coarsely attacked by a partizau of the Government, and the assailant had remained uncensured by the Premier himself, but Sir Robert made no other reply than by reminding the Government of the stedf'ast support he had lent it during four years. Compelled by conscience and duty, he had just broken with the Whigs and voted against the acquittal of Lord Palmerston, but his convictions were urged with so much forbearance, that even his followers, who v/ere not-bound by his ties, were at liberty to be won over to tbe adverse party. From the first it was not expected that he could recover, and yet the news of his death appeared to take the town by surprise, for the regularly issued bulletins had inspired hopes rather than despair, and his fate appeared sudden, so sudden that it was not readily believed. The highest attention

and cjnsideration were paid him, both in his illness and after death. The Prince Albert and the Prince of Prussia waited on him so soon as they heard of his .accident; all the noble and diMinguisbed persons in v London made regular inquiries, and yet a warmer interest was shown by the humbler classes, who waited in Whitehall-Gardens eagerly inquiring tidings of Sir Robert's state from every vititor as he quitted the gate, and still more eagerly fastening on the bulletins, and forcing the police on duty to read them aloud; jnd when the last bulletin announced the fatal ending, the manifestation of deep sorrow was unraistakeable. In, the Palace he was mourned,' the House of Lords went out of their course to do him honour, the Commons twice adjourned as a mark of sympathy, and the Cabinet offered him a public funeral. The working classes propose to erect a public monument to his memory. Friends and opponents united to show respect to his memory — an oblivion of party rancour, and a real sense of the loss the country had sustained in his death. A corresponding but yet more unprecedented tribute was paid in the French Assembly, where M. Dupia pronounced an eloquent eulogium, and the regrets of the Assembly were noticed expressly in the record of their proceedings. In Dublin, every sign of public and private mourning was manifested; the press of the three kingdoms spoke with one voice of sorrow and grateful memory ; at Liverpool and Birmingham a public mourning was influentially recommended for adoption, and wherever the tidings of his death have, been received, it seems to be felt and allowed that in bis grave lies the moderator of parties, the assuager of political passions, the real reformer and lover of the people, and the eloquent advocate of all that be thought best for the Crown and the nation, the intrepid opponent of whatever threatened evil to either.