ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 708, 15 May 1852, Page 2

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Loud John Russell and Sir CnAHLES Napier. — An appeal is again made to the country, through the columns of the Times, for its judgment between the Prime Minister of England and Sir Charles Napier. Sir Charles addressed a communication to Lord John Russell, in which, with reference to a prospective vacancy in the Mediterranean command, he recapitulated what he conceived to be his own claims for consideration in the disposal of this appointment. To this application Lord John replied that the office in question waa not yet vacant ; that he shou'd preserve an " unfettered opinion '* until it became so ; and that when the proper period arrived he should weigh " only the merits "oi the candidates for selection. A few months after this interchange of epistles Sir C. Napier and the public learnt together, by the sudden nomination of Admiral Dundas to the command of the Mediterranean squadron, that the " proper period " had come duly round : that the," merits of the officers " had been duly weighed : and that the adjudication of her Majesty's advisers was contained in the announcement recorded. • Upon this Sir Charles wrote again to. Lord John with a renewal ,of his representations, and received a distinct intimation, that his want of." secrecy and discretion " bad been considered by the Government as disqualifying him for the appointment referred to. " I am sorry to say," wrote his lordship, " that notwithstanding your many brilliant exploits I could not place in you that implicit confidence which is required." ' So direct an impeachment of an officer's professional character required public notice ; and Sir Charles Napier therefore vindicates his own reputation, and challenges a verdict on tee- whole transaction, by laying before his countrymen, not only the opinions of former ministers, but the entire correspondence between the Government and himself. The mass of documents includes .letters of various dates, all highly complimentary to the gallant admiral, from Lords Melville 1 , Minto, Palmerston, Ponsonby, Auckland, Sir R. Stopford, Sir W. Parker, Sir Charles Adam, Sir George Cockburn,' Sir Francis Baring, Admiral Dundas, and Mr. Ward. " This is not the time, my Lord," says Sir Charles Napier, in the letter announcing his intention to print, "to affront an officer who has rendered some service to his <$ueen and country, when France, with an army of 400,000 men is in a blaze." In a letter to the Times, accompanying the batch", Sir Charles says : " I do not dispute the right of the Prime" Minister to chose whom he pleases to fill important commands, but I dispute the right of the First Lord of the Admiralty, in the first instance, and the Prime Minister in the second, to damn the professional character of an officer by attributing to him a want of discretion, when documents at the Admiralty for fifty years prove the contrary. Were the navy, ruled by a professional man, he would not have dared to^ dishonour an officer; that, is left to-Lord John Russell and gir Francis Baring, who appeared not to know what- military honour is, and, thank God, I am

in a position and independent enough to tell them so.

Tkrriblb Explosion and Loss of Life at Dartford. — For many a long year Dartford has been celebrated for the production of gunpowder, and ever and anon our readers have been horrified by accounts of awful explosions and sad loss of life. In addition to the manufacture of gunpowder, the fabrication of rockets for signals and a detonating mixture for blasting purposes has, within the last three months, been added to the manufactories in the parish by a Mr. Edward Callew. The place selected for this new j branch of trade was a lone farm-house, called j Joyce's, on the banks of the river Darent, and although in the parish of Dartfoid, considerably more than a mile from the town. On Tuesday afternoon, about a quarter past four, the town was suddenly alarmed by a terrific explosion, which shook every house to its foundation. It was some little time before it was ascertained what damage had been done,' because the first thoughts of the inhabitants had been directed to the powder mills, and the works now destroyed -were to the majority of the people unknown. It was learned, however, that it was the new works at " Joyce's " that were blown up ; and, also, that ?even lives were lost, and that two other persons were so desperately injured that life was despaired of. The effect of the explosive material was precisely similar to that of gunpowder. One man, Figgett, had his head blown off. A •woman'i legs have been found. One of the sufferers, a female, was only married last Sunday. The foreman, who is also killed, had only moved his goods from Clapham a few hours before the accident ; and it is reported in the town that the proprietor had been compelled by the inhabitants to remove his manufactory from thut neighbourhood, on account of its ex- j treme dangerousness. Four men, strangers to Dartford, are ' dead ; so also are two women, j one named Brown, and the other Kempton ; a youth, named Goldsmith, is since dead. — News oftheWorld,T>ec.l.

Popeky and Freemasonry. — A letter from Paris contains the following statements :—": — " I mentioned some days since that several Masonic Lodges had been closed, and that the Grand Master of the Grand Orient of France, wishing to meet the views of the government, had issued a general order, prohibiting any Masonic meeting before the Ist of January. It appears that is not enough. There is to be a general persecution of Freemasonry. The Jesuits, of all pcfople in the world, object to Masonic Lodges, because they are secret societies: " Shut them up altogether," says the Univers to Louis Napoleon. " You are strong enough to do whatever you please ; you have only the middle classes (the bourgeoisie) against you. aad Lodges are the especial secret societies of the ' bourgeoisie.' " It will be in vain to plead, what is familiar knowledge, that the very essetice of Freemasonry is inconsistent with any interference of its members quasi Freemasons with political questions. It cannot be denied that Masouic meetings bring friends together. In coming to, or going from, the Ijodge they may perchance walk in groupsof three or four together. They may take occasion to talk politics, or may possibly make some appointment for another day. Masonry is' a very ancient, 'very innocent institution, deeply rooted in the habits of the people.

John Buix as reprksented in France. — The Paris correspondent of the Literary Gazette j writes : — " One of the daily journals has heen ! -announcing for some time past, with loud flourishes of trumpet, the publication of an ' historical work' of the highest importance, entitled, Geor<»e HI. of England and Carol *ne of Brunswick ; and it was intimated that it would contain some curious and important private documents affecting the Royal Family of England, the author, Leon Gozlan, having more than once attempted to make the English Royal Family ti sptcialitf. It was he, it may be remembered, by some readers, who, eight or ten years back, caused Queen Victoria, in proprid pcrsond to figure as the heroine of a drama at the Odeon Theatre, and created a great hubbub because the government of Louis Philippe prohibited the piece ; this M. Gozlan, I say. having always had the mania of turning the House of Brunswick to literary account, it was with some curiosity that I took up this morning the feuillei on, ■containing the first chapter of his new work, It is scarcely fair, perhaps, to an author to judge of a book by the opening pages alone ; but I venture to say, that, though he may make a readable novel (he is a practical writer, with no lack of esprit,) his pretension to produce an historical work is absurd, and give documents of a private nature totally unfounded. And I base this opinion on the fact, that he proves his ignorance of English matters to be grotesquely lamentable. The commencing scene is the opening of Parliament in 1765, by George III.; and he introduces to us in the crowd assembled to see the procession one Mr.> Irving and one Mr. Tonson. Says Tonson to Irving, " There goes the carriage of the Duke of Somerset ; there is more than fifty thousand pounds sterling worth of gilding on it. there goes," he continues, "the carriage .of the Duke of rßichmond ; it? decorations alone are worth A horee dealer, joining the pair,' then calls their attention to the six magnificent horses which drew the carriage of his Grace of Devonshire. 'They are incomparable, worth more than all the silks of France and Italy. But his grace only paid for them, with — his -watch !' Then comes the carriage ofythe Duke of Manchester, and surrounding it are * twelve domestics, wearing diamonds, rubies, and topazes,, of the value of four thousand guineas.' The equipage of the Duke of Northumberland follows, and his flunkeys carry gold-headed sticks, each 'of the value of £1,000.' Such is the sort of rubbish put forth by a man who wants to make us believe that he has been initiated, into the family secrets of English So- .

Consolation for the Distressed. — As prices have varied so little for some time past, and on the whole have rather risen than fallen, -we take the liberty of suggesting that the present is a very good time for landowners to dispose of their estates,, and farmers -to part with Ihe interest in their farms-, if they are really ■dissatisfied with their position in this country. We have the -less hesitation in tendering this .advice, because we have before our eyes several Jarge and respectable classes who are just now jn precisely ■ the same predicament — and who

have no alternative but to change their plan of life or put up with a very moderate scale of emolument. The County Courts and other legal reforms, it is said, have reduced the. profits of the metropolitan practice to so low an ebb that several thousand persons dependent upon it must either take to some other profession or be very poor men. Changes in the mode of conducting trade of all kinds are rendering it impossible, we are assured, to carry on a small business with security, and in London, at least, the race of small tradesmen bids fair to be extinguished. There is no alternative, however, but that every one should adapt his conduct honestly and promptly to actual circumstances. The coal trade is deserting the sea and taking to the rails. Every coal train supplants a collier, and Durham is being beaten out of the field by Yorkshire and the Midland Counties. If such is the natural course of events there is no help for it. Parliament cannot interfere, any more than it could to give the whale fishery a monopoly against gas, sailing vessels a monopoly against steam, or stage coaches a monopoly against the rail. Change of fashion have ruined multitudes ere this. The prevalence of liberal opinions in theology has condemned thousands of clergymen brought up in the old school to languish in small rural incumbencies and see less learned and not more earnest men. rise to rectories, canonriesi, and bishoprics. A law, of change pervades the commercial, the political, and the religious world, and there is no possible remedy for it. Each man must manage for himself, and bear with patience what he cannot mend. — Times. The Liverpool Count? Court Judge. — The inquiry made by the Earl of Carlisle, as Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster, into the conduct of Mr. Ramshay as Judge of the Palatine County Court, has produced its expected fruit. After a full consideration of all the circumstances, the Chancellor decided on removing Mr. Ramshay from his office. The fact of the removal was intimated from the office of the Duchy to the attorney of the memorialists at Liverpool on the 26th instant. It is very j likely true, as asserted, that Mr. Rnmshay had inveterate enemies w among the townsmen of Liverpool ; but no one can doubt that he had a generous and much-forgiving judge in Lord Carlisle. Mr. Ramshay resumed his sittings in his court as soon as the doors of Lord Carlisle's inquiry at Preston were closed ; and in several cases displayed all his former infirmity of temper, and much of his former extravagance of conduct. Mr. Joseph Pollock, of Manchester, Judge of the Salford Hundred Court of Record, a rising barrister of learning and dignified personal demeanour, has been appointed Judge of the Liverpool County Court in Mr. Ramshay's place. Mr. J. K. Blair is mentioned by the Globe as the probable successor of Mr. Pollock at Salford. — Spectator, Nov. 29.

Wholesale Justice. — The severe retribution taken by tbe Sultan of Turkey for the loss of life and property sustained by tbe Christian population of Damascus in the riot of last November has hardly been sufficiently noticed by the public. The occasion of that outbreak was the lenity and the liberality of the new laws towards Christians in that empire ; and it was made very evident that the governing powers there are getting enlightened considerably faster than the governed. In that riot the mob killed five, wounded six, and pillaged one hundred houses and five churches. The Sultan inflicted the following tremendous castigation : — Six hundred rioters were shot, three hundred were sent to the galleys, the plundered property was restored as far as mi^ht be, and the deficiency was made up by the sovereign out of his own private purse.— Bombay Guardian.

Notes prom Egypt. — A letter dated Cairo, November 7, contaius the following news .—. — *' The firman of the Sultan was received here yesterday, sanctioning the railway, and approving the contract made with Mr. Stephenson. The engineers are going down to Alexandria on the B*h, to commence operations in surveying the line, which will probably commence at the Haswah, cross the Damietta branch of the Nile at Barrha, traverse the Delta, cross the Rnsetta branch at Kafoe Zeyat, proceed to Dumanhonr, and thence to Alexandria. The works will be commenced simultaneously at Cairo and at Alexandria, the staff of engineers being accordingly divided into two parties for that purpose. The Nile has risen very high this year, and destroyed large crops of Indian corn, one of the chief articles of food for the Fellah population. "It carried away the large beams which served as a dam before the middle arch of the bridge at the mouth of the Shergo\reiah Canal, below Shoubrae, and overflowed several villages on the Delta. The officersof her Majesty's ships Vengeance and Encounter came up to Cairo on the 18th, and were allowed a free passage on board the Transit steamer, by order of his highness the Viceroy, who sent his own steamer for the captains of both ships, who came up on the 30th, on a visit to his highness, with whom they dined. j The palace at the Hharwah was opened to them, and the whole of the garrison at Cairo was paraded before them. Lord E. Russell and officers left this on the 3rd, in one of his highness's steamers, and everything was provided for them at the Pacha's expense, who is desirous to show his regard for the British nation. His highness has given directions to establish the line of steamers from Boulac to the first cataract in Upper Egypt, and the first departure will probably take place in a week or ten days, as there are already several passengers who are waiting to go up the country. Nothing will tend so much to civilize the population as the establishment of this steam communication, and, the projected stations on the Upper Nile. — Belts Messenger 1.

Mil. Baring at Rome. — I have discovered why Mr. Baring was an object of such anxious interest with the police on his arrival here. It appears that he presented, a letter of credit at Torlonia's batik for no less a' sura thun 500,000 francs (£20,000,) and also intimated his intention of taking up the money immediately, which so consternated' the managers, that they thought-it advisable to warn the police authorities, as 500,000 francs might be devoted to very dangerous purposes ■in a country so ripe for revolution as this is. The police deemed it prudent to see where. Mr. Baring went with his money, and what, persons he was in connection

with, and consequently set a few sbirri on his trail. Lord Shrewsbury loft for Naples on the lUh, and the famed Mr. Bennett on the 12th, for England. — Daily News. .

Riches from Railways. — Mr. Richard Edleatori has proved the .power of railways to bring from barren land riches superior to those of California. A score years back the now important town of Crewe -was a mere village, with scarcely-half-a-dozen houses in it, and the spot co bleak and barren that the whole property was sold out and out to the late Mr. Edleston at the rate of £5 an acre t "Within the la9t seven or eight, years a very pleasant little town has been raised upon the " waste ; " and Crewe, by the junction of the Chester, Liverpool, Manchester, Potteries, and Birmingham lines, of the London and North-western and the Noith Staffordshire Companies, has become a large emporium of rails, engines, and boilers ; and the present lord of the manor is actually in receipt of as much as £1 ,500 per acre for land set out for building purposes ! Mb. CiJAni.ES Dickens and thk Stampoffice. — The decisiou in the case of the At-torney-General v. Bradbury ar.d Evans, has been " delivered in the Court of Exchequer. The decision was for the defendants, thus declaring that the Household Narrative is not a newspaper liable to stamp. Mr. Baron Parke dissented from the judgment of the majority, and thought that the judgment should have been for the Crown. "

An Impostor.. — In the middle of the season there arrived a* Bagnere a gentleman representing himself to be the Marquis de , chief of one of the roost illustrious families of Spain. He lived ia grand style, and lost large sums at play, which he paid with great apparent indifference. He afterwards came to Paris, and by frequenting the fashionable restaurants and the opera houses, renewed acquaintance with several of the persons he met at Bagnere. He frequently got up pleasure parties, dinners, and suppers, lit all of which play took place, and he invariably lost largely, hut it was noticed by his guests and acquaintances that they never played with the Marquis without coming ofl losers, there being always some one, generally a stranger, who carried off all the stakes. Meanwhile the goings on of the Marquis attracted the attention of the police, and it turned out that he was no marquis at all, but a courier ; that be was in league with black legs, who not only repaid him all the sums he lost, but gave him a share of what they cheated others out of. — Galignani. The Roman Catholic Bishop of Nottingham, Dr. Hendren, late Bishop of Clifton, was enthroned on Tuesday, with great ceremonial pomp. Fifty of the Romanist clergy from Derby, Leicester, Louqhborougb, the Monastery of St. Bernard in Leicestershire, and from other parts of ihe "diocese," took part in the proceedings. The Bishop headed a procession up the south aisle of his new Church of St. Barnabas, and, walking under a canopy, with mitred head, came to his gorgeously-decorated throne, where the clergy went through the ecclesiastical homage of kissing the hand or ring. After the service, a complimentary address was presented to the Bishop, and acknowledged by him with duly humble deprecation of praises or self-merits. The new cathedral is described as "the most perfect model-of a parochial church that has been accomplished during the last three centuries. The choir is entirely surrounded by aisles and eastern chapels." The general plan is cruciform ; 190 feet from east to west ; with a spire of 150 feet high. It is built on an elevated site on the west site of the town.. The first stone was laid by Dr. Wiseman in May, 1842; and the chief cost, upwards of £20,000, has been borne by the Earl of Shrewsbury. The beneficence of the Roman Catholic peer is acknowledged by the following inscription running from the bottom of the aisle windows :—: — " Good Christian people, of your charity, pray for the good estate of John Earl of Shrewsbury, the chief benefactor to the building of this church, dedicated in honour of St. Barnabas." — Spectator, December 6.

United States. — Coll Horace L. Kinney, the great Texas landowner, had offered Kossuth and his companions 10,000 acres of land if they desired to locale in that country. — The New York papers announce the conclusion of a treaty with the Indians on the southern boundary of Oregon. The section of country purchased hy this treaty is said to he equal to the Willomette Valley. It is thought that the terms are such as to secure the peace of the Indians in future. There are many fine mill streams on this tract. The whole amount of purchase is 28,500 dollars, payahle in annuities no part of which is to be paid in money. The Indians of this part of Oregon appear to have no knowledge of the value of money. They are highly pleased with the idea of receiving a a large portion of the purchase in clothing, being almost naked. No treaties , have been made with the^ Indians of the United States where they seemed so well pleased with the trade with Government. The whole cost of the ; tract of country is less than 1 £ cents per acre. | We take the following from the New York papers by this arrival : — " The news from fc'alt Lake announces that territory to he in a state of revolution. All the United Sfates officers, judges, Indian agents, &c., have been compelled to leave the territory, and are now on their way to the States. The Secretary of the territory managed to escape with 24,000 dollars of public money, appropriated at the last session of Congress for the'benefit of the county of Utah. He was pursued, overtaken, and searched hy the Mormons, but they did not secure the money. All the merchants, and others not Mormons, have quitted the country. Brigham Young, the Governor, at a meeting of nearly 3000 Mormons, stated that he was not Governor by permission of the United States Government, but by a commission from God; that he acknowledged no allegiance to the United States Government, and that he would resist any attempt to exercise power over him till the death ; that all who were not Mormons were infidels or Gentiles, and uuworthy of their protection or countenance." — BeWs Messenger, December 8.

. The Avocations of' Mr. Barnum. — It is impossible to repress a feeling of astonishment at the activity and speculative enterprise of Mr. Barnum. The following 1 are only a few of | his employments : — he owns Iranistan, a sort of

Moorish Palace, near Bridgeport, Connecticut, ; which costs about 150,000 dollars. There Mr. j B. resides with his family, going down to New i York by railroad in the morning, and returning before dark. He owns (he American Museum in New York, and " Barnum's Travelling Menagerie," comprising upwards of one hundred and forty men and horses. He sent three ships to Ceylon and Borneo, in the Indian Ocean, to obtain wild animals. One was lost on her return. The next brought the huge elephants, &c,, that composed his menagerie; and the third is on her way with a cargo of similar curiosities. He had the Bateman children, and a dramatic company at the St. James' Theatre in London — a body of not less than fifty persons employed by him. He has the Chinese family, and their attendants, now at the Albert Gate, London, employing 10 persons more, j He is getting up an immense panorama of the World's Fair, having sent a corps of celebiated artists to London, for the purpose of sketching it on the spot. He is the general manager and the active working director of Phillips 1 Patent Fire Annihilator for the United Stales, and is driving, with his accustomed energy, that invention to the height of popularity. He is, and has been for years, President of the Fairfield County (Conn.) Agricultural Society, and gives 200 dollars in premiums at the ploughing match of the Great Fair, at Bridgeport, next Thursday. He is President of the " Pequannock Bank," and regularly attends to its preliminary meetings. He is an Oddfellow — a Son of Temperance — a " member of the Temperance Temple of Honour" — a Rechabite. and a popular temperance lecturer — assiduously attentive to all the duties appertaining to all these positions. Last of all, he is to be, it is said, the Governor of one of the States ! — Sell's Messenger.

Dhkadful Accident at New York. — B} the Baltic, which has just arrived at Liverpool, we have received an account of a dreadful catastrophe at New York, by which nearly fifty children of the Ninth Ward School lost their lives. The following are the details : — " The building is four stories in height. The first, or ground floor, is used a 9 a play-ground, the second, by the primary department, the third, by the female, and the fourth by the male departments, each containing 500 or GOO pupils. The instructress of the department first mentioned is Miss Abby Harrison. For some days past she had been suffering from fatigue and exhaustion, resulting from over-exertion in preparation for the forth-coming examination of her scholars. While engaged in her usual avocation, she suddenly lost the use of her tongue, and her face became distorted, which frightened the children. The latter screamed, and the boys overhead hearing the noise, fled down stairs in confusion, crying "fire!" The inmates of the whole building appear to have been seized with consternation, and rushing over benches, pressed through the doorways to the staircase, bursting the balusters from their fastenings, when solid masses of terrified children were plunged headlong through a perpendicular distance of near thirty-feet, to a stone flagging at the bottom. Simultaneously, the bell of the station-house adjacent began to sound an alarm of fire. The scene within the building defies description. The doors of the main entrance of the building, directly at the bottom of the stairway, opened inwards, and the pressure of the accumulating pile of bodies in the "well" formed by the winding stairs prevented those without from affording immediate relief. Three or four individuals, among whom was Captain Seabury, speedily burst in the doors, and made every exertion to remove the little sufferers. Their efforts were in a degree frustrated by the constant falling of children from above, who, as they reached the doors, pressed those already before them over the blink; and in many instances, when the officers were about to extricate an unfortunate little one, a falling body would knock away their arms, and bury the one they would save from their sight. Meanwhile, the work of death was going on among those beneath. Captain Seabury thinks the pile at one time was considerably above his head, say six or seven feet in height. Those ' who fell on top escaped generally with but trifling injuries, while those on the second floor, comprising members of the primary department (nearly all young girls,) who formed the bottom of the heap, perished in large numbers. It is judged that near 30 dead bodies were crowded together in a compact mass, of those who were beneath. Captain Seabury, with all the anxiety that the desperate nature of the case was calculated to awaken, was so fortunate as to recognise and rescue his little daughter from impending death, after removing two or three hundred'who preceded her in the" fearful fall. A considerable number leaped from the windows of the second story* and a gentleman who was early on the spot, and scaled the fence inclosing the yard, says he thinks there were 20 bodies lying on the ground, apparently lifeless, but, who subsequently recovered from the stunning effects of the fall. The dead and wounded were at once taken to the Ninth Ward police station house, and as they were recognized by parents, were removed in carriages. The scene that presented itself as parents detected in the blackened and distorted features of those before them their offspring, was almost overpowering — with emotions too deep to seek expression in tears, some tore their hair and j gave utterance to the most heart-rending wails of distress. But with the larger number, the quivering lip, the silent tear, or half-suppressed groan, bore witness of the inward strife. It is probable a much larger number would have perished, had it not been for the presence of mind and intrepidity of the principal of the i male department, who prevented his pupils from leaving the room. Miss M'Farland is also represented as having conducted herself heroically. Bracing herself against the doorpost, by almost superhuman exertions, she prevented the escape of many of them under her, who must otherwise have been lost." — Bell's Messenger, December 8.

Lord Palme rston. ~ The best' informed politicians now in town differ as to the precise details of Lord. Palraerston's dismissal, but all the statements and rumours tend to confirm the impression that he has .been thrown over^becanse, his colleagues haye — better late than never — become convinced that his -policy, or his- mode of carrying it out, is no longer tenalile. It is ihe last feather tha 1 ! breaks the horse's baik, but the

hack would not have been broken by the last feather, if the horse had not been already overburdened. We regard Lord John Russell's conduct — although it may be pcrlcctly right now — as a distinct atfniis.sion that he did wrong in plopping no his late colleague on several former occasions, when that noble lord look upon himself to speak or act, with reference to our foreign relations, as if he alone constituted the Cabinet. One story goes, that the probability of a coup d* etal in France l.ad been hinted to hira — that his opinion was asked as to Its propriety — and that he approved of it both before and after its cxc-> cution, in apparent ignorance of its tendency to establish a despotism which would forthwith com» bine w th his old and most inveteiate adversaries, the hereditary and established autocrats. He is supposed »o have expressed this approval to M. Walem-ki. On the other hand, Lord Normanby, who has been for some time on far from amicable or confidential terms with the President, is reported to have intimated to the Fly.'6e the probable dif-a, proval of th*» covp d'etat by his Gi»vernment; \\h°n, to his surprise, a communication from M. WaJpwski, leading to a contradictory | inference, was produced. Oniemporaneously, or nearly about the same lime, (Jeneral Fiahault stated, on the authority of Lord Lansiiowne, that the Brush Government had seen wiih regret ih« downfall of French Freedom and the establishment of a military dictatorship. Under these circumstances, Lord Normanby complained to the Prenner, and the Premier remonstrated with Lord Palmerston, who, taking his wonted tone, attempted to ride off on tlie high horse. Unluck'ly for him, the times have changed, il he has not. He is no lunger necessary to the Whigs, or. at all events, they think that (taking | all things together) they fan do better without him ihan ivith him, and he is turned out. His organs i«> the press, therefore, evade, or are ignorant of, the point. In answer to his morningOTjfJtn, we say there is no necessity for resorting to the hypothesis of an intrigue, and that he has been abandoned for reasons which ought to havo led to his dismissal long ago. Tn his evening organ we reply, that no one accuses him of having given instructions to the Marquis ol Normanby to demand guarantees from Louis Napoleon. Did, or did not, Lord Palmerston, without consulting his colleagues, express, directly or indirectly, a hasty approval of the coup d'etat, sufficiently dis'inct and formal to letter his future i course, or that of the Cabinet ? That is th« real fault (barged against him. — From a Correspondent of the Momivg Chronicle,.

I Society op Arts — Professor Owen's Lecture.- -On Wednesday evening, ihe theatre of ibe Society of Arts was crowded, to hoar Professor Owen lecture on "The raw animal anil vegetable products used in manufacture." The learned professor directed his attention on this occasion exclusively lo the animal products, a* exhibited in the Crystal Palace. After a modest disclaimer of any especial knowledge of raw matciials as applied to manufactures, and a passing compliment to the conception of the Great Exhibition, the learned professor proceeded ti> give precedence to wool as the most important of animal products used in manufactures, His well instructed hearers hardly required to be told that it was a peculiar modification of hair, and was found on the skins of certain description of quadrupeds. Nature bad provided for the growth of hair a most ingenious machinery, consisting of the bulb and the capula, through whicb the animal secretions were gradually matured into wool. Having explained the anatomical construction <;f wool and hair, by the aid of large diagrams, the lecturer noticed the fact that the 1 care of sheep occupied a greater number of the? human race than all other occupations put toge- , thcr. From the depths of Central Asia to the ' newest states of Ameiica, the pastoral life was followed ; so that, judging by the number of hui man beings employed in its cultivation, wool was ' the most important of nil the animal products used in manufactures. With respect to the origin of the ovine race, the Palaeoritographical Society had negatively ascertained that they did not exist in the pliocene perioil, and therefore it might ; reasonably be concluded that they were only coeval with man. They were not originally natives of Europe, but were brought over by the Asiatic tribes in their migrations; but botb in Asia and in Europe they were mentioned by tbe more ancient sacred and profaue wriiprs. Herodotus spoke of the felt, and Strabo of the wool derived from sheep, and the Bible was full of pastoral allusions. The classical authors of Greece and Rome descrihed the sheep ol North Africa, of Lybia, and of the country which now was called Circasbia. They passed across the Euxine Sea into Greece, where Homer celebrated the flocks oi Thrace and Thessaly, and in Greece was situated the famed Arcadia, the abode of Pan, the pastoral par&dise of the poets. Sheep were next found in Spain, then Ii&ly, and lasrly In Germany and Gaul, where Cae>ar found Pecoris fnagnos numeros, and the various processes for improving the staple of the wool. Diogenes spoke of the method of clothing sheep in skins to preserve the fleece, and a curious illustration of the value of that process was afforded at the late Exhibition. The most successful exhibitors wert the Austrians, next Saxony, then Silesia, and then the Zollverein. The American wools were distinguished, and next to them came the Russian. Spain exhibited! her merinos as good an, they were a century ago, but without any of the recent improvements. The French had shown themselves very ingenious in producing a new wool of unusually silky texture, and so valuable had the jury thought the improvement, that they awarded the council medal to the exhibitor of the novelty. The climate of England was unfavourable to the fine descriptions of wools, and consequently we drew on Australasia, Tasmania, and the Cape for the greater parts of oar supply. The fact was, that our immense population made it necessary that the English fanner should direct his attention principally to mntton, not woo). Next to wool came the specimens of hair ami bristles, principally from Russia, and thence the transition was ensy lo whalebone, an albuminous tissue, nearly akm to hair. The learned professor again had recourse to his diagrams, and elaborately explained the mode in which the baleine plates were formed, and their use to rha whale iii the captor ol molluscs and Crustacea, and subsequently to mnn in thefa'irication of varions articles. But while roan ventured to attack the £teal monster of the deep for the purpose of commerce, pven the smallest tn^pctdid not escape , his enrei prise nnd cupidity. Si!k of the most ' valuable ktnd was obtained from the larvss of tha

Chinese moth, and had been long imported into Europe, before the introduction of the silk worm into that part of the world. There was no mention of silk among the Hebrews ; indeed, the first regular account of it was to be found in that most extraordinary book the "IJhtoria Animalis" of Aristotle, in which he described the custom of rearing the cocoons, as practised in the island of Cos. Basil found in the transformations of the silk worm an ingenious argument for the resurrection, and Galen recommended the use of silk for tying up the blood vessels. Various other notices of it were scattered among ancient authors, and it was well known that from the earliest times it had been used in the costumes, civil and military, of the Chinese. According to Procopius, it was first introduced into Europe in the reign of Justinian, by two Nrstorian monks, who brought a few eggs to Constantinople. For six ' centuries the culture of the silkworm was confined j to the Gieeks of the lower empire, and in the twelfth it was carried to Palermo, and thence to France, Spain, and Italy. In the late Exhibition tbe French had received the council medal for raw silk. Another, and the most beautiful of raw animal products, was the plumage of birds, and next came the more homely but extremely useful article horn, in which the Indian specimens at the Crystal Palace had distanced all competitors. Ivory, more beautiful and more valuable came next in order, and mention must be made of the extraordinary pair of tusks weighing 3251bs M which had been sent over from the newly discovered lake in South Africa. Torloiseshell, another epidermal production, came next ; and then, far more costly, the precious pearl, the result of a disease in a certain species of shell fish. The best came from the Indian seas, but some of a pale colour had been contributed from Omagh, in Ireland, and from Aberdeen, in Scotland, from whicL it might be inferred that Tacitus bad some foundation for his allusions to British pearls in the life of Agricola. An allusion to mother-of-pearl and the shells used for cameos closed this branch of the subject, from which the professor proceeded to discuss the various substances used in making glue and gelatine. In the manufacture of these articles the French had surpassed all competitors, a fact which might be mainly attributed to their possession of convenient abattoirs in all the great towns, where all the membranes, tendons, &c, of animals might be carefully preserved. The ladies had no doubt admired the beautiful flowers of gelatine in the Exhibition, but would probably be surprised to learn that their material had been obtained from dead rats (laughter.) This article exhausted Professor Owen's long catalogue of animal products, and, after a few concluding words, he resumed his seat amid the cheering of tbe company. Mr. Glyn moved, and Mr. Scott Itussell seconded, a vote of thanks to the lecturer, observing that to Professor Owen they owed the completeness of class IV in the Exhibition, as he had sent circulars all over the world to collect specimens. The vote passed by acclamation, and the stance terminated.