ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VII, Issue 606, 24 May 1851, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

The Foot Guards.—Colonel Lascelles, the senior officer in the Grenadier Guards, is, it is said, about to retire from the service by the sale of his commissions. Tbe regulation value of these commissions is £9,000, but it is notorious amongst military circles that much more is given in similar cases. Colonel Lascelles served with the Guards'both in the Peninsula and at Waterloo.— Globe. Golden hair nets are now quite fashionable in England. The London Morning Chronicle says that Dr. Forbes Winslow is, at the instance of “the American government,” examining the English law of lunacy. Beranger, the famous lyrical poet of France is said to be seriously ill, so that apprehensions of his death are entertained. A million of francs have been struck off at the Paris mint, of gold sent by French merchants from California. Mazzini has, in spite of the vigilance of the police, managed to visit Paris, and to have an interview with some of the leading members

of the ultra democratic party. His object is said to have been to negotiate a portion of the loan he proposes to raise, and to which the French Government will give its strenuous opposition by not allowing it to be introduced. Charles Bonaparte has recovered damages against the Viscount D’Arlington, for a libel accusing him of treachery during the troubles ■in Rome. The Court considered the Prince of Canino damaged exactly sixty dollars. Arrangements nave been made with the ipolice authorities of France, and other countries, to concentrate a few foreign police in England, to watch the movements of any foreign pickpockets who may be tempted thither at the World’s Fair. The Paris Ordre says that Sobrier, the insurgent, is about to be admitted, on the advice of the medical men, into a maison de sanfe, his mind having become affected.

Steam to Australia. —We are assured from an accredited source, and have great .pleasure in vouching for the authenticity of our information, that the long pending and hitherto perplexing and provoking negotiations between the Chancellor of the Exche- • quer and the promoters of steam communication with our colonies in the Southern Pacific have once more been energetically renew- < ed, and with every prospect of a speedy and ■ ■ satisfactory issue. The East India Company, we learn, have agreed to remove the great stumbling-block that has so long stood be- I tween the desire of Government to do what ; ■ their sense of duty to Australia in this matter prompted, and what their obligations under the Leadenhall-street immunities demanded. The Company consent to the almost immediate surrender of their monopoly of the Bombay and Suez line, thus leaving the hands of • the. Executive free to deal with the subject on its own merits, and to enter into such contracts witlrprivate individuals' as may seem (best to meet the exigencies of the case. In thankfully accepting this important concession to public convenience we shall not too curiously speculate how far its very obvious prudence may have become apparent to the mercantile monarchical directorate from their contemplation of the fast approaching expiration of their Steam Charter, namely, in 1852, and : of the Great Charter itself in 1854 ; nor shall we seek to analyze how far a renewal of the latter tenure may, in their calculation, be rendered probable by their yielding this boon with the good grace they certainly have done, especially as there was a degree of temper displayed both in Cannon-row and Downingstreet that might have justified a good deal of •obstinate adhesion to the letter of their privilege. Enough for us that private considerations no longer impede the well-being of the community in this particular, and that Government are now at liberty to act upon their convictions, which, it seems generally understood., are in favour of the route vid Singapore, by the Peninsular and Oriental steamers. We trust that this will be but the speedy precursor of mail communication also by the Cape and Panama.; for the rapidlygrowing importance of our trade with Australia aud New Zealand, as shown even in the emigration from Liverpool, though but the growth of a day as it were, not only warrants but requires the extension of every facility for intercourse with these magnificent dependencies, the more so as their importance has been infinitely enhanced in their relationship to the new world of California and the adjacent limitless territories on all sides now springing into inevitable progressive prosperity.—Liverpool Albion,. The long impending crisis has at length arrived. The French Ministry has resigned. Various causes have led to this result. .Some attribute it to the quarrel between the Assembly and the Executive in reference to the case of M. Mauguire ; while others attribute it to the' more serious cause of a quarrel between -the President and General Changarnier. Whatever motive may have led indirectly to -the crisis, there can be no doubt that the immediate cause of it was the collision between the Executive and the Assembly in the case ■referred to. When the Assembly decreed the liberation of its arrested member, some doubt was entertained whether the director of the prison would obey the mandate of M. Dupin, •and a report was speedily circulated to the effect that, if any resistance were offered, the President of the Assembly would call in troops to execute the resolution of the Chamber. Then arose the question whether the military would be permitted to obey an order of the Assembly upsetting a decision of the Judges. Doubts were expressed on this point; and La Patrie, a semi-ministerial paper, joined in the discussion and published some extracts from an order of the day by the Com-mander-in-Chief to the troops under his command, in which the following instructions occurred : “ Not to obey or pay any attention to any request until after having taken or received the orders of the Lieutenant-General. Not to listen to Representatives of the people. To shoot all traitors instantly. Every order which does not come from the Commander-in-Chief is null.”

The subject was introduced in the Assembly by M. Napoleon Bonaparte. Gen. Changarnier explained that no such instructions of a paramount kind had ever been issued, and that he had no intention to question the constitutional right of the Assembly to dispose of its troops for its protection. The result was that the conduct of Gen. Changarnier was ratified and approved of by an almost unanimous vote —much to the chagrin, it is said, of the Cabinet.

The Latest. —-By Telegraph.—Paris, Friday morning.—No Ministry yet formed. It is now generally believed that MM. Baroche, Rocher, and Fould, Minister of Finance, will remain. The President remains firmly by his declaration, that the new Ministry must remove General Changarnier, and shows no disposition to hurry on a settlement. Gen. Changarnier continues to assert that he will only receive his dismissal from the Assembly. At a meeting held at the house of M. Mole last night, it was determined by a large majority to oppose the President’s intention of getting rid of General Changarnier, and, if necessary, to name the General President of the Assembly, and place 40,000 men at his disposal. Paris continues tranquil, though business is dull, in consequence of the crisis. The Assembly sits as usual, but none of the Cabinet attend. Serious apprehensions of a collision were entertained. Germany.—The Prussian Parliament reassembled Jan. 4th ; but, like the public, it waits the issue of the Conference at Dresden, of which, as yet, nothing is known ; because, perhaps nothing has been done. The Lower Chamber re-elected Count Schwerin as their President by a large majority ; Simson and Lensing were re-elected Vice-Presidents. In the other house the President, Count Rittberg, made a very anti-Minislerial speech. The Ministerial party has had a majority on the address debate.

In the Upper House at Berlin on the Bth inst., in reply to some remarks from M. Camphausen, the Minister declared that the Government had assumed a decided hostile position against all revolutions and revolutionists.

Austria.—Accounts from Vienna state that Gen. Schonhais, Radetsky’s favorite Secretary, has been forced to retire on a pension. Baron Kubeck has been ordered to propose a financial scheme to the Government; and Crans, the Finance Minister, is to undertake no financial operation without the approval of Kubeck.

The Austrian papers state that the Emperor is preparing to proceed to Dresden on the 12th inst., for the purpose of meeting the King of Prussia. Hungary.—The Austrian gens d’arme companies in Hungary are being completed with all possible expedition, and whole hosts of Custom-House officers have been let loose upon that province in order that the new Customs’ Acts may be carried out with vigour. How they will fare the future alone can show. It is thought that this attempt to place the heel of tyranny on the necks of the Magyars will lead to serious results. Italy.—lt is said that the Pontiff is as yet undecided how to act in reference to England ; and that the officious interference of the few English Catholic noblemen in Rome has only added to the perplexities of his Holiness. The arrival of Archbishop Hughes of New York Dec. 26th is announced.

The King of Naples is now menaced with revolutionary plots on every side. Arrests were being made in great numbers, but this did not seem to lessen the evil. The army is therefore to be increased by 18,000 men, and as the promulgation of English opinions is one of the causes assigned for these covert treasons, the few Neapolitans who were bent on visiting the great Exhibition, have been refused their passports.

Spain—Resignation of the Ministry. —The Ministry have tendered their resignation, but the Queen has refused to accept their retirement, and so they retain their portfolios by a royal order. General news unimportant.