ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 733, 11 August 1852, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Military Misunderstanding in the Derby Ministry. — The -following paragraph appeared in the Globe of Wednesday night : — " There is some heartburning evinced among the higher orders of the aristocracy, at the method and the manner of the recent military appointment only inferior to that of Cammander-in-Chief. The chivalrous honour of the gallant nobleman in question only rendeis it almost impossible that a flaw can exist on so bright an escutcheon ; but if report 'speak truly, there must have been some misunderstanding, not to say misdealing, when a voluntary offer to assist . a very old comrade and relation with the benefits of experience in a somewhat similar capacity, was .followed within a brief hour by an acceptance for'hirnself of the distinguished ap--pointment referred to. This seems sharp work, especially if permission to practice neutrality on a certain question was the doueeurhom a high quarter." We ('Advertiser) are in possession of the ■whole of the circumstances darkly hinted at in this paragraph ; and certainly., when they transpire, which they now will through our columns, they must create no small surprise, not only fn military circles, but among all classes of the community. The parties referred to are Lord Hardinge and the Marquis of Londonderry. The latter nobleman feels very indignant, and with reason, that an appointment to the Mas-ter-Generalship of the Ordnance should have been conferred on Lord Hardinge, when the lattenjiobleraan is sixty or seventy lower on the list of military officers than himself. Had Lord Combermere, who is four years the senior of the noble Marquis, received the appointment, it is understood among -Lord Londonderry's friends that he would have acquiesced in its propriety ; but when Lord Hardinge is. so much lower than either of these two noble Lords, on .the military list, both feel equally indignant at being passed over, nor can it be wondered at * that they should do so. But this is not all. Worse remains behind. Will it be believed that on the change of Ministry, Lord Hardiuge assured the Marquis of. Londonderry, not only verbally, but in writing, that he was most anxious to see him receive the appointment, and promised that " if Lord Londonderry should accept the office," to give him all the advice and assistance which he felt competent to offer from his former official experience ? This must seem startling ; but more astounding still must the fact appear that within an hour of expressing himself in these terms, Lord Hardinge accepted the appointment himself. Lord Derby's conscience must have smitten him severely for the part which he acted in this discreditable' affair, for he immediately afterwards offered Viscount _Seaham, Lord Londonderry's son, his choice of two offices in the Royal Household. ClerkMarshal, Vice Chamberlain, or another. The young nobleman, feeling deeply, as it was natural he should, the indignity offered to his father, unhesitatingly refused* to connect himself in any way with an Administration that could have acted in so improper a way ta his noble parent. Lord Derby, doubtless still smarting under the upbraidings of his conscience, next offers, " as a sop to Cerberus," an appointment in the Royal Household to the Marquis of Blandford, the son-in-law of Lord Londonderry; but Lord Blandford, feeling scarcely less sensibly than Viscount Seaham the slight offered to " his noble relative, also unhesitatingly and peremptorily declined the situation offered to him. It appears, we are assured, doubtful whether the noble' Earl will .be abe to fill the Royal Household with suitable appointments. Lord Worcester, eldest son of the Duke «f Beaufort, an intimate friend of the Marquis of Londonderry, ha§ refused the office off Vice-Chamber-lain/feeling.acutely the slight passed upon his veteran friends Viscount (Jombermere and Lord Londonderry. Viscount Strangford, one of the leading members of 'the old Conservative party, is another of the slighted, and his friends also are up in arms on his behalf.

Manilla Hemp and New Zealand Flax. —A machine has recently been patented, and is now exhibiting at Messrs. Pontifex and Wood's factory in Shoe-lane, for extracting economically the fibres from textile plants. . Manilla hemp and pita have, for several years past, been well known in the markets of Europe as a superior material, applicable to all the uses of hemp, for ropes, cordage, canvass, &c, as a substitute for flax, cotton, and silk in the manfacfure of damasks, tapestry, and other articles used in upholstery, and the refuse in>the manufacture of paper. -The plants from which this" fibre is obtained — as the banana, the AYnerican alee, the annana or pine apple, the phormiu'm tenax (New Zealand flax), and others of a textile .character — grow, as is well known, in great variety in most of our West India, African, and South - Pacific ' colonies, in many of them" spontaneously and in injurious abundance, and in all may be cultivated at a very small cost. 'The great "difficulty, hitherto ' has been to prepare the fibre ready for the manufacturer at a price that would meet the market. Seven or eight years ago the price of Manilla hemp in this country was from.£22 to £25 a ton, but from the increased demand, combined with the great expense of .colonial labour, it- has now reached

from' £4s to £50, for the average kinds, and for the fine white qualities, which are in demand for many -purposes, for which horse hair was formerly used, from £56 to £76. The object of the patentee has been to construct a machine to separate the fibre from the pulp, and thus to avoid that which is now the great item of cost — the employment of hand labour for that .purpose ; and in this respect, as far as we could judge from the experiments carried on in the factory, he appears to have been eminently successful. His machine consists simply of four grooved rollers, fixed laterally one above another, and moving in iron cylinders. The leaves of the plant arp placed in the upper cylinder, the fibre parallel to the grooves, ,and the motion of the rollers work them .on, from one to another, crushing out their juices and sap, leaving the-fibre (when they have passed through each of the four chambers) almost clean "enough for the manufacturer's hands. The leaves are supplied to the top or receiving funnel by means of an endless ladder. To attend to this machine a couple of men would be sufficient, and it may be worked either with water, steam, or horse power. Its advantages appear to be efficiency combined with great simplicity, and consequently, cheapness, both as regards first cost and keeping in repair. It is calculated that, by means of this invention, the banana fibre may be brought to this country cleaned and fit for use at a prime cost of £14 10s. lOd. a ton, including rent for land, cultivation, freight, and all charges, and the Agave or. aloe fibre at £15 3s. 4d. a ton. As this would leave a very ample margin for profit, the proprietors of the patent are contemplating the formation of a company for the cultivation of textile plants, and the preparation of the fibre for manufacturing purposes, and in favour of their project they urge, in addition to the remuneration for the capital invented, the impulse it would give to colonial prosperity. — Daily News.

Mr. Roebuck on the National Defences. —Mr. Roebuck met his constituents at Sheffield on Tuesday, and in the course of a very lengthened address made the following remarks on our national defences, which will be read with interest at this moment : — "I know that among my fellow-countrymen, and also amongst those for whose politics I have the greatest regard, with whom I have the greatest sympathy, with whom I daily act in the House of Commons, there is a feeling which I believe is an erroneous" one. Now Mr. Cobden — I call him, and lam sure he will permit me so" to do, my friend Mr. Cobden — not long ago, when' that wonderful, and in my notion horrible, catastrophe happened in France, said, "That is the consequence, of an army." (Hear.) But supposing that you are living in the country and in an isolated house ; that you learnt to-morrow morning that the house of a neighbour in the same situation as yours had been rifled and its master killed, should you think it wise to open your doors, to take away all your bolts, to draw the loading from yjuurguns and pistols, and bury them in the garden, and expect that you vvpre to be quite safe from moral force and public opinion ? Now, that is our difficulty at present. I acknowledge the evils and horrors of an overwhelming army ; but I say to my country, do not be in a fatal security. There.are mischievous feelings abroad, and despotism is triumphant in Europe now. Constitutional government, liberty, and truth, have their sacred sphere only in England. If England be invaded and crushed, that liberty .and that truth" must fly across the Atlantic for protection. We should be ' a continent of slaves ; a darkness would come over mankind ; and that torch of truth- which is now held up almost singly by the glorious arm of England would be reversed and extinguished. (Cheers.) Shall such a thing be ?— And shall I, representing the people of England, tell you not to be alarmed, not to be expect encroachment, not to expe> t that real agression ? I will do no such thing. (Hear, hear.) Have a national army. (Cheers, increasing in force for some 'moments.) And let soldiers say what they like ; but if the thing be properly done, we shall give a good account of anybody who comes here. (Laughter and much cheering.) Now, I am not going to hold the hand, and say, " For God's sake, do come here" — for that is the language of most people who are so terribly afraid that they should give courage to their opponeuts. I say, be not afraid, but be ready ; and if they do come, let them never return." (Vehement cheering, at the decline of which the speaker's countenance was so highly animated and expressive that the vociferations of the audience were renewed with greater power.)

Benevolence of her Majesty. — A pleasing instance of the interest taken by her Majesty the Queen in the welfare of the most helpless of her subjects, was displayed at Windsor a few days ago. The luggage-porter attached to the Great Western Railway station in that town was accidentally knocked - down by a train of empty carriages, and killed ' upon- the spot. The poor fellow left a widow and five young children. No sooner did the news of the sad accident reach the Castle, than her Majesty despatched one of the Royal domestics to inquire into the particulars, and liherally presented the bereaved family, with a £5 note. The generous and thoughtful .example was immediately followed by several of the resident gentry, to whom the deceased was known, and a comfortable sum has been raised for the widow.

Australian Mint. — We believe that there is no longer any doubt that her Majesty's Government are contemplating the establishment of a mint at Sydney, at Melbourne, or at both places, to meet the urgent want of the Australian colonies, and at once put an end to the necessity of .shipping coined gold from this country. An influential body of merchants and bankers connected with the colonies waited upon the Government a short time ago and urged this matter very strongly upon their attention. Schemes for the erection of mints have been talked of in the city ; but we cannot imagine that such a Government as that of Great Britain would ever allow the business of coining gold to be carried out by a private company. — Mining Journal, January 31. • • The Ocean, of Brest, states that the Lords of "the Admiralty in -England -have presented to Oapt. Tunteler, of the Gertruida, a handsome telescope for his exertions in'saving 25 persons of the Amazon steamer, burnt at sea on Janu-

ary 3d. Queen Victoria has presented him with a gold medal, and the Transatlantic Steampacket Service with £50. Loss of the "Amazon." — At a general meeting of the members of Lloyd's it has been resolved that 100 guineas be voted out of the funds of the establishment in aid of the subscription now raising for the sufferers by the wreck of the Amazon steamer, recently destroyed by fire.

A Change op Fortune. — A poor shoemaker's wife residing in Castle Gable has, by the death of a relation in Edinburgh, come into the posession of "nearly £2000. Her husband and herself are very industrious persons, and there is no doubt but that they will make a proper use of wealth that has accrued to them in any new position in which, they may be placed.

Another Repudiating State. — The Times gives a new case of repudiation by one of the States of America. Texas, before her annexation, contracted a debt of 9,647,253 dollars, for which she received 4,807,404 dollars, her credit being very low. She now refuses to pay a dollar more than what she actually received. The list of repudiating States includes Mississippi, Michigan, Florida, Arkansas, and Texas. Illinois is a defaulting State, and Indiana has made a discreditable compromise.

Worth Knowing. — It is said th^t a small piece of. resin dipped in the water which' is placed in a vessel on a stove (not an open fireplace,) will add a peculiar property to the atmosphere of the room," which will give great relief to persons troubled with a cough. The heat of the stove^ is sufficient to throw off the aroma of the resin, and gives the same relief that is afforded by the combustion of the resin . This is preferable to combustion, because the evaporation is more durable. The same resin may be used for weeks.

Flogging Young Culprits. —We learn that the Home Secretary and Lord Advocate have approved of certain regulations necessary to the recent Prisons Amendment Act, by which Magistrates will now be enabled to inflict flogging as a punishment upon young culprits. A pair of taws is to be provided to the" satisfaction of the Sheriff, and the punish - ment is not to exceed 36 lashes. The flogging is to take place in the prison at the sight of the surgeon ; and the age at which young culprits, and those only of the male sex, may be .whipped, is limited to fourteen.

Denmark. — The Hamburgh Borsenhalle of the 31st ult. states that " the Danish Government has received the following note from Baron Manteuffel by the hands of the Prussian ambassadoY at our Court, Baron Yon Werther :—: — " ' The assurance given us by Count Bille Brahe that his Majesty the King of Denmark intends to convoke the provincial states tf Holstei'n, has afforded us the more satisfaction inasmuch as we think we recognize therein not merely the competent organ for the reconsolidation of the public law, but likewise the commencement of a second development of the politicai state of the -whole monarchy. We attach great importance to this at the present moment, when, in other respects also, fresh guarantees of permanent tranquillity appear to be accorded to Denmark for the future. " ' The provincial states of the Duchies had been distinguished for centuries, up to the distuibances of the last few years, for their faithful allegiance to? and likewise for their rightminded representation of, the interests of the country. By the convocation of these states, not for Holstein only, but also /or Schleswig, the Royal Danish Government would consequently,* without doubt, secure to itself the most proper means for "bringing into efficiency the truly conservative elements of these countries, and of insuring to them that position in the Danish monarchY which appei tains to them." Schleswig will thus again form the mediatory link between Holstein "and the other parts of the kingdom; andinthelatterthe preponderance of these tendencies will cease, which in time would be found utterly incompatable with the development of monarchical government, at the same time a permament and satisfactory basis will have been decided for the relations of Denmark to Germany, and for the legitimate rights of the Germanic Confederation j and in place of apprehension and excitement, confidence and satisfaction will arise in the public mind. « " ' I respectfully request your Excellency to urge these considerations forcibly upon M. Yon Reedtz, and likewise, if you have an opportunity, upon His Majesty the King of Denmark. I need not repeat how earnestly we desire that his Seignorial rights in the Duchy of Holstein shall be restored to His 'Majesty the King. The convocation of the provincial states is in our opinion the epoch at which the new era will commence, and in which, of course under reservation of the fixing of the boundaries between the two Duchies, -the federal troops should evacuate Holstein. ' "MANTEUFFEL."'