ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 722, 3 July 1852, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

The Queen, we are told, has been pleased to grant permission to Mr. Owen, the Professor -of Anatomy at* the College of Surgeons, to reside in one of the houses on Kew Green, which belonged to the late King of Hanover. The gift was accompanied by a very flattering letter from Prince Albert to the Professor. Another of the houses on the same green has", we understand, in a like kindly spirit, been presented for a residence' during life to Dr. Joseph Hooker. — Atheneeum. ' Defence Armour. — Our heavy troops at the battle of Waterloo had no defensive' armour ; nevertheless, they proved more than a match for their steel- cased antagonists. A committee of the House of Commons sat to consider the best sort of defensive armour for the heavy dragoons ; and a-stalwart lifeguardsman, who had borne his part in the bloody field, was asked what armour he should like to wear if he hall another day's work of > the same kind. The answer was so naive and unexpected that it quite'upset the gravity and warlike pre-

dispositions of the committee — '• I think I should prefer being in my shirt sleeves." Duration of Life Among the. Clergy. — By a statement in the Medical Times, relative to the duration of life among the clergy, it appears that the clergy are longer lived than tMe members of other professions, -though they 1 do not live "so long by several years as theagricultural labourers. The clergy of rural districts had an advantage of more than two years over those in cities and towns, and the married of more than five years over the single. The duration of life among the clergy in the" last three centuries appears to have, been, remarkably steady, with signs of recent improvement. The last table of the series contrasted the average age, at. death, of popes, archbishops, bishops of the Established Church,' and Romish saints. The popes, being appointed very late in life, attain- j ed the greatest mean age, exceeding that of the archbishops and bishops by about one year, the latter surviving thej^omishV saints by about two years. This abbreviation of life in the case of the saints of the Romish calender may probably be attributed in part to celibacy, and in part to the ascetic practices/ta which some of .them were addicted. . ' •

The Cx-ipper. Ship " CHitYsoLrro.". — The beautiful clipper- ship Chfyiolite, is one of two fine vessels built at Aberdeen by Messrs. Half and .Sons, for the China trade. ; t\\sStornaiuay , of 600 tons, belonging to Messrs. Jardine and JVlatheson, merchants of London ; and the Chrysolite, of 450 tons, belonging to the enterpi ising firm of Taylor and Potter, of Liverpool. The Stornaway arrived in the Thames some | weeks back from her first voyage to China, after two splendid passages out and home, of 102 and 103 days, having beaten the American ships Oriental aud Surprise — in each case some days. The Chrysolite, 0f. 450 tons, reached Liverpool on the Ist of December, after two surprisingly rapid voyages of 102 days out, and 104 home, having been absent but seven months and six days : and, like her consort, having completely beaten the American clipper Memnon, of 1200 tons. The latter sriip sailed from Whampoa three days before the Chrysolite; notwithstanding which the latter came up with the Memnon on the 21st, day /tried with her for fifteen hpurs in a dead beat to windward through the Gasper Straits, beat her completely, and left her 2\ miles astern, haviug had a good fresh breeze all the#time. After this the Chrysolite fell in with H. M. frigate Havannah, of 20 guns, a very fine and fast-s'a'ling vessel, of 1000 tons : the two were in company for fifteen days, and the frigate could not leave her ; in fact, the Chrysolite kept her astern from two to five miles, as her log , proves, although the frigate crowded every stitch of canvas -she could set, thus proving her admirable sailing qualities : while the officers of the Havannah acknowledged that she was the only ship they had ever fallen in with during- their commission that had been able to hold with ,them. The two vessels parted company about 700 miles from the Azores — the frigate for Portsmouth, the Chrysolite for Liverpool ; the latter arriving three days before the frigate. Her official character, as" given by her captain, proves her a most superior ship ; and her whole performance shows thut, wtfenever it comes to a fair field and real wosk, she is well able to cope with and lead the fastest of the " boasted American" clippers." The Flying Cloud has, it appears by the Americau papers, gone on from California to China, to take the place of the Memnon, unfortunately lost in the China sea, after being left by the Chrysolite. The Flying Cloud will thus make the return voyage in company with the Stornawag and Chrysolite, and their respective powers will be well tried. It is a remarkable fact, that the Chrysolite within the past year was launched and fitted ; sailed on her first voyags last April ; leturned, and will sail on her second voyage to China next week ; all within twelve months ; the builder, owners, and captain have just reason tobe proud- of each other and their ship. The Chrysolite made the voyage from Liverpool to Anjeer in 80 days. This is the quickest voyage on record. The Oriental made the same passage out in 89 days, and that was without precedent; but, for the present, the Chrysolite has the palm. This ship, we understand, was built expressly to contest the voyage with the Oriental. She is 440 new and 570 old tons burthen, but carries nearly 900 tons of tea; and this is the desideratum which this new build has realised, and which promises soon to be, generally adopted. It is now eleven years since the Aberdeen bow was invented by the Messrs. Hall of that city; when they suggested a deviation from the ordinary form, and showed also, that, by the new law of tonnage measure ment, the properties of fast- sailing and largetonnage burthen might be combined. They propose to run the stem out so as to form the cutwater, and to make the floor and run in proportion to the sharpness of the bow. The vessel built on this model was masted and rigged pretty much after the channel fashion, and surprised every body by the quickness of I the voyages which she made between Aberdeen .and London. Three other vessels were built on the same plan' ; and henceforward the Aberdeen bow was a triumph in jnaval architecture. Since then the Messrs. Hall have built fifty vessels, measuring about 30,000 tons register ; they were, for* owners in Ijondon, Liverpool, Lelth, China, and India ; and it is a remarkable fact that only one of these ships have been wrecked or cast ashore, or even seriously damaged, although they have been all constantly at sea since they were built. The following were some of her best days' sailings, 24 hours ;—; — 235 knots. 236 knots. 264 - 230 260 320 180 260 172 , .200' 225 ' 212 299 268 290 ' •• Rate of sailing by tbe^wind, 9£, 10, and \o\ knots,; going free all sail, 11£, 12£, and 13£ for many days together, and has gone- for a limited period 14 knots. She is very easy and buoyant in all weathers, running before heavy gales,* or hove to ; behaves remarkably well under ,all circumstances, and has passed every ship with which she tias yet fallen in. — Illustrated London News. . Daring CouRAGE.-^From some error, a sergeant and sixteen privates qf the Thirteenth Volunteers got on the wrong side of what ap- '

peared a small chasm, and weni against a height crowned by the enemy, where' the chasm deepened so as {o be impassable. The, company from which the 1 sergeant had separated w_as on the other sine, and -his officer, seeing; how strong the hillraen were on the rock, made signs to retire, which. the sergeant mistook for gestures to attack, and with inexpressible intrepidity .scaled the precipitous height. The robbers waited concealed behind a^breastwork on a landing-place until eleven of the party came up. and then, being seventy in number, closed on them. All the eleven had Tnedals, soire had three ; and in that dire moment proved that their courage at v Jelklabad, had not been exaggerated by fame. Six of them fell stark, and the others being wounded, weie shoved back over the edge and rolled dSwn the almost perpendicular ,side of the hill ; but this did not. happen until seventeen of the robbers and their commander were laid dead above. J There is a custom with: the hillmen, that when a great champion dies in battle, his comrades, after stripping his body, tie a red or " green thread round his right or left wiist, according to the 'greatness of his exploit; the red being the most honourable. Here those brave warriors stripped the- British, dead, and cast the bodies Qyer ; but- with' this testimony of their own chivalric sense of honour and the greatness~of the fallen soldier's courage — each body had a red thread '6n - both wrists. They had done the same before to .the heroic Clark, whose personal prowess and intrepidity had been remarkable. Thus fell Sale's veterans ; and he, as if ashamed of having yielded them precedence on the road to death, soon took^his glorious place beside them in the grave. Honored be his and their manes !" — Sir Charles Nupier's Adminis~ tration in Scinde.

- Actresses Raised by Marriage. — The first person among " the gentry " who chose a wife from the stage was Martin Folkes, the antiquary, a man of foitune, who, about the year1718, married Lucretia Bradshaw, the representative of Farquhar's heroines. A contemporary writer styles her "one of the greatest and most promising genii of her time," and assigns her " prudent and exemplary conduct " as the attraction that won the learned antiquary. The next actress whose husband mo\ed in an elevated rank, was Anastasia Robinson, the singer. The gieit Lord Peterborough, the hereof the Spanish war, the friend of- Pope] and Swift, publicly honoured Anastasia as his Countess in 1735. Jn four years after the ! Lady Henrietta Herbert? (laughter of James, 1 first Earl of Waldegrave, anjd^widow of Lord j Edward Herbert, bestowed "Ber hand on James ' Beard, the performer. Subsequently about the ' middle- of the eighteenth century, Lavinia Beswick, the original Polly Peachum, became Duchess of Bolton. The next on record was Miss.Linley's mar.iage with Sheridan, one of the most romantic episodes in theatrical unions; and "before the eighteenth century closed, Elizabeth Farren, a perfect gentlewoman .became Countess of the proudest Earl in England, the representative of the illustrious Stanleys. She was ' Lord Derby's second consort, and mother of the present Countess of Wilton. In 1807 the beautiful Miss Searle became the .wife of R. Heathcote, Esqr., brother of Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Baronet, and in the same ,year JLojiisaßrunton was married to tile late* Earl of Craven. Her son is now Earl Craven, and; her niece, Mrs. Yates, the -Actress, still exhibits the dramatic genius of the Brunlon family. 'The Beggars' Opera again conferred a coronet ; Mary Catherine Boltons impersonation of Polly Peachum captivated Lord Thurlo'w. She whs married to his Lord°hip in 1813. In more recent times the most fascinating of our actre3ses, Miss O'Neill, weddod Sir William j Wrixon Beecher, Baronet ; Miss Foote, the Earl of Harrington ; Miss Stephens, the Earl of Essex ; and Mrs. N>'sbet, Sir William Boothby, Baronet. It has been remarked, that the conduct of each of these ladies in her wedded life has been unexceptionable. — Burke 1 s Anecdotes of the Aristocracy.

Tvs Press in France. — "Next to the brochure of M. Gianier de Cassagnac," says the Paris correspondent of the Times, " the theme most productive of abuse and derision is the censure. The members of this quorum, say my informants, perform their unenviable functions with the utmost nonchalance, smoking, drinking, and supping in the bureau. At eleven o'clock they Shut up shop.' Any unfortunate employi who brings a complete copy of the journal to which he belongs after that hour is sent away, with an intimation that it is too late, and that he must ' ce.ll again to-morrow,' while the journal is obliged to appear the next morning with a column or two of sham advertisements to supply the plac^ of any political articles which may have required the supervision of the ' censure.' If a morning paper reproduces any paragraph of news from the Patrie, or other papers of the preceding day, without affixing the remarks of the editor, which of course are always favourable to the President and his government, it is not allowed to appear until the omitted commentary i 3 added."

The Cape Dutchman." — The Dutch boers are in person the finest men in the colony.' I have seen them constantly from six feet two to six feet six inches in height ; broad and muscular in proportion. Occasionally they reach a height and size bordering on the gigantic. Their strength is immense ; and though a peaceably disposed set of men, they 'at all times entertain a considerable feeling of contempt for any diminutive " Englander." The Hottentots look up to them with great deference, as such a puny race of savages might be expected to do, At the time of the rebellion of the boers (as it has been unjustly termed) the government thought of employing the Cape corps, which is composed principally of Hottentots, against them ; but they were warned by those who knew the character of the latter people well, that they would never" show fight against men for whom they naturally felt such diead, as for the boers, men whose prowess they well knew, and whose unerring aim with their long guns they^ had witnessed too often to wish to become thentargets. The boers are great admirers of feats of daring strength and activity, A " mighty hunter," such- as Gordon Cumming, would be welcomed with open arms by every Dutch boer in South Africa. ' Poor Moultrie, of the 75th, the lion hunter par excellence, was one of their idols. So is Bain, the " long-haired," who has made some half dozen excursions into the far

wilderness in search of the lord of the forest and all his subjects, They hunt far more than, the English farmers, and afe.as I have said, "craclc"shots, through they use a great, long, awkward, heavy, flint locked gun, that would make Purdy or Westiey Richards shudder with disgust. The characteristics. 6?- a race certainly descend to the fifth and., sixth, perhaps the fiftieth geperation. The Cape Dutchman are the same frugal, industrious, sober people as those of the parent stock in Holland. Their persons are far more altered than their mental peculiarities, though the " Dutch build" is still apparent. They are, however, terrible " non-progressionists." They use the same plough as their ancestors used, eighty years ago, though it is the most lumbering machine ever beheld, and requires twelve strong oxen to draw it. They often "shear the sheep with the wool all dirty on their backs though their English fellow-colonists wash w theirs most carefully, and thereby get far higher prices for their wool. They reject steam-mills, and adhere to some indescribabe antediluvian contrivance for pounding, instead of grinding their corn. A fltiil is unknown to them, and the corn is trodden out to this day by horses or oxen,, as described, or alluded to, in the laws of Moses,, whereby the straw is entirely spoilt.-" Their churns I have before alluded to. When first I • saw one, with a dark damsel at work at it, I took" it for a^ blacksmith's bellows, and wonderod where the fire was. "Not the least pleasing characteristic 'of the Ca a pe^ Dutch is their family affection. joj o the second^inftlTKrcTgenerflfibfisthey live at the same homestead, building ad additional hut For each newly-wedded couple. They marry young, and have generally very large families ; and, as many of them live to a great age, it is no uncommon thing to see a grandfather and grandmother of ninety surrounded I y -half a dozen sons, huving in their turn each one half a doaen grown-up children. They appear to be truly " happy families. " The Dutch formerly entertained a great dislike to British rule. I -do not mean to assert that they are cveu yet thoroughly reconciled to it ; but thesy display le*s repugnance to submit to it than of yoie. I fear that they had too much, of justice on their side in the complaints they uttered, for they bad not met with proper treatment at the hands of our government. Their feeling must at all events have been very strong when it induced them to leave their own farms by the hundred, and "trek." -or emigrate tothe north-east, anywhere away from British caisi ule. — From " The Cape and the Knfirs."

Adultkrations- pr Articlks of Food. — The recent investigations *by the Lancet into this important subject .have opened the eyes of the public respecting it. The last enquiry related to the adulteration of milk, isinglass, vinegar, and pickles. In the three first cases the result has been, upon the whole, less unsatisfactory than might have been feared, but in the kut'tho disclosures are serious. As regards milk, out of twenty-six samples twelve were found genuine, while the adulteration detected in the others consisted of water varying in quantity from ten to fifty per cent., and did not include in a single instauce'any of the material such as chalk, gum, sheep's brain, &c, which have been often described as in common use. Of isinglass, the number of samples examined was twenty-eight ; out of those ten were found to consist entirely of gelatine, a 'much, 'cheaper, although "analogous "product, The— inquiry respecting vinegar showed that sixteen out of twenty^tllree- samples were more or less btlow the standard strength, while in some in~ slauces, there was an undue quantity of sulphm ie acid or oil of vitriol, which is employed for the purpose of making it keep. Contrary to expectation, however, they were all found free from metallic impregnations, whether of copper, lead, or zinc. The analysis with respect to pickles ended much more disagreeably. The vinegar used, is of the most inferior description, and in nineteen out of twenty samples it owed a portion of its acidity to sulphuric acid. In sixteen different pickles analysed for copper, that poisonous metal was discovered in various amounts. Two of the samples contained a small quantity, eight rather much, one a considerable quantity, and three a very considerable quantity. In one copper was present in highly ,deletetious' amount, and in two in poisonous amounts. The pickles containing the largest quantity of the poison are those which consist entirely of green vegetables. The Lancet in summing up the result of the enquiry, remarks: — /'Notwithstanding the statement made in books, we felt convinced that so poisonous.a metal as copper was now rarely if ever employed for Ihe mere purpose of heightening and preserving the colour of green pickles. We are, therefote, both surprised and grieved at the really fearful character of the results to which our investigations have conducted us. We trust, however, now that conclusive evidence' of this scandalous practice has been, adduced, and "that the public are put upon their guard, a remedy will be found for this great evil. Pickles, doubtless, when properly prepared, are not very digestible, but we now see that much of the ill effects so generally attributed to-their use must result from their impregnation with so poisonous a contamination. It is not alone in the pickles that this poison is present, for it may be detected with remarkable readiness and certainty in the vinegar ia which the pickle 3 are preserved, by the immersion in a small quantity of the vinegar — half an ounce is sufficient — for a few, hours, o£ a piece of thick iron wire, having a smooth and polished surface. This test is of such ready application that we recommend the public to make rise of it, and to ascertain for themselves whether the pickles they are using, contain the poison or not. "If an exceedingly- small quantity of copper is present, it will he quickly deposited on the surface of the iron."

History of a Dziiigethian Chief. — Swan Bey is himself a Dzhigethian by birth. His father was one of the most distinguished chieftains of the country, and one of the bitterest foes of Russia. In the bouse in which youn* JSwanliey was brought up, there happened to be a captive Georgian, of good extraction and considerable acquirements, who took a liking to the pretty boy, and instructed him- in the .Georgian ami Mingrelian languages. By ibis Georgian, moreover, Swan-Bey was instructed in the fundamental doctrines ot Christianity, and s,ecreily baptized. The ardent little scholar, who found in his country-so little occasion and means ol rusher cultivation, alwjys fistened with eagerness to tha

Russian captive's relations of the pomp and fine arrangements of the great cities of the empire, of the splendid palace? and temples of the new and old capitals of the Czars, of the -many large i&hools Vhere all the knowledge of the world might be made one's own, &c. Stimulated by such descriptions, rhe purpose was continually developing itself in the lively' child, of seeing with his own eyes the land so extolled by the captive. Young Swan-Bey was about sixteen years old when, on the occasion of a long military expedition of his Aul, a favourite opportunity presented itself of fleeing into the Russian camp. According to his wish,-. he was sent under safe protection to St. Petersburgli, was brought up there in a house appropriated to cadets, and, after passing bis examination, was enrolled in 'the Caucasian army. Here he distinguished himself so advantageously by his courage and address, that in a few years he was promoted to the rank' of major, and received & great many marks of honour. Never was he induced- to take up arms against his countrymen. And yet he knew how to deserve to such a degree the confidence of the Russians, that he was appointed Commandant of •Fort Ardiller, in which 'capacity he plays, in a manner, the part of mediilor-between the D*higelhians and Russians. " The adroitness is here j to be admired, with which Swan-Bey maintains j his difficult position* , both - people ;/ as among the*Rus.sians, so among the Dzhigethians, h^ enjoys the most unlimited confidence ; .which, with the latter, goes so far that they have.permitted him to marry a princess of their country, and to reinstate himself in the possession of all his family rights. His young and beautiful spouse who still remains quite true to the customs and costume of her native land, lives with her ctiil- | dren about thirty versts from Ardiller, at a charming Aul, where her gallant consort, as often as his duties allow, visits her in Circassian costume. The esteem which Swan-B6y at present enjoys, among his countrymen, who were at first hostilely disposed towards him, be principally owes to the effective measures by which he has endeavoured to set limits to the famine that has broken out in his country. By his influence be has been -successful in gaining over several of the ■most distinguished chieftains to the Russian interest, and in persuading them to send their sons to be educated at St. Petersburg. Many young Dzhigethians too, following the example of Swan Bey, have run away from their parents, and fled to the Russian fortresses, from- whence they were delivered into the hands of General X — , already several limes mentioned here, who has founded at Baiqbor a schooKfor the little fugitives, where they are appropriating with incredible zeal the elements of knowledge. The General told me with wonder the assiduity of the little Circassians under his care, [who, nevertheless, as he smilingly remarked, - sit much better on horseßack than on the school bench, and handle pistols much more skilfully than the goose-quill. Not long since, such a .little robber, a pretty formed boy of about thirteen years of age, came riding up, suffered himself to* be conducted to the General, and accosted him without the least hesitation, with the following words: — "Canst thou send me to St.'Petersburgh 2" "O yes," replied the friendly General ; "but what wilt thou do there, my son?" " I have seen that' the. peoplei who came from you into our land are more knowing, and live better than we. I should like to be just as knowing, and to live just as well. , Send me to St. Petersburgh." — Badenstedfs Thousand and One days in the Morning Land.