ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 807, 27 April 1853, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Mr. Disraeli's Budget Speech. — It wants just five and twenty minutes to five when the Chancellor of the Excheqoer riies to laybefore Parliament and the country his long and eagerly expected financial statement. Perhaps you think, and very naturally too, that, looking to all that is suspended upon the evening's performance — fame, place, power — he will evince some little tremor of the nervous system, some slight and passing show of emotion. But you are mistaken — he has schooled himself into seeming impassibility.. That face of his/ of brazen hue, is neither flushed nor pallid. , His eye does not blink — .his voice does not falter — his hand does not shake. He commences in a tone of easy unconcern, as if he were about to bring in a mere railway or turnpike bill. But he* asks to be heard' through without interruption, so that the House may judge of his proposals altogether, and not express its feeling on any of the points taken' singly, and without reference to the rest. His request is substantially complied with. He is listened to for upwards of three hours out of five with deep interest. One after another he disposes of his various topics with a fulness which might have served had he only one, instead of twenty to deal with. He is never fluent. Perhnps he might be if he would, but he studiously affects deliberation. - As he takes out each set of papers necessary for the explanation of his point, he' carefully unties the red tape, drops a word or two at long intervals, whilst searching f6r the particular sheet he requires, and having made it serve his purpose, puts it back in its place, ties the bundle up again with tape, and restores it to

I the red box, all the while retaining small segments of a sentence, which he never loses sight of until it is complete. He carries his nonchalance to absurd extremities. Occasionally he j will adjust his neck tie —once he positively cleaned his nails. One could hardly help suspecting that he meant to occupy just five hours, and that he put in practice a variety of petty arts to fill up the time. The result was he grew wearisome. Between eight and nine o'clock the house was much thinned, and the Refreshment rooms were well attended. His audience rallied somewhat before he closed, and when at length he sat down, he was cheered on all sides, but we think without enthusiasm on any.—Nonconformist. The following account of a disgraceful scene that has taken place in the Carlton Club has ' excited much indignation in the political circles. A scene took place at the Carlton Club on Monday evening which has excited much attention, and may yet lead to very unpleasant consequences. The version of the affair which has reached us is to the effect that, while Mr. Gladstone was reading a newspaper, and not having conversation with any one, certain Tory members of the House of Commons, who had been treating Major Beresford to a dinner by way of celebrating his acquittal by the Derby Committee, came into the room, and applied extremely insulting language to the right hon. gentleman, telling him, among other things, that he had no right to belong to a Conserva* tive Club, but ought to be pitched out of the window in the direction of the Reform Club. Mr. Gladstone addressed the parties in the most courteous terms, but, instead of this producing a proper effect upon them, they repeated their insulting language, ordered candles in another room, and then Jeft Mr. Gladstone alone. One of the principal performers in the scene is a gallant colonel, and another who played a prominent part in it is a gentleman whose name has figured a good deal of late in the public journals in connection with another scene. The affair, as might be expected, has caused a great sensation in the Carlton, and it is supposed that an inquiry into the circumstances must be instituted.

A Cook Shot bt a Ddkb in the Papal States. —The Duke Cesarini is now under arrest in his place at Gensano, for having shot his own cook. It appears that on Sunday evening, the 28th November, a number of people were collected under his windows, singing and making so great a noise that he sent out to desire them to disperse. His request was not only neglected, but his porter was beaten by the mob, so that the duke, impatient of being bearded in his own house, seized a gun, unloaded as he thought, which his friend Signor Ca'za just returned from a sheoting excursion, had brought in, and went to the window for the purpose of menacing the crowd with it. Unfortunately the piece was loaded with ball, and when the duke drew the trigger the contents passed through the head of hia under cook, who was just then coming in from a shop in the town. The despair of the duke on learning the accident was extreme, and the duchess, an English lady, rushed down to the dying man, but in vain. As the duke was suspected of liberal principles, it has been surmised that the tumult under his windows was got up by some satellites of the Neri, who are strong in Gensano, on account of the Minister Jacobini. and the brother of Cardinal Marini, large landowners in the neighbourhood. Four gendarmes were appointed to attend the duke in his palace, he having voluntarily given himself up to the police authorities. A committee of Paris tradsmen has been formed with a view of presenting to Louis Napoleon a sword of honour, and a diadem enriched with diamonds. The forests Crecy and Armainvillies. in the department of Seine-et Marne, the property of the Duke de Montpensier, have been purchased by a rich capitalist for seven millions of francs. A new kind of paper manufactured entirely from straw, and applicable for all printing purposes, as well as for writing is stated to have been produced by Messrs. Hook and Simpson, of Tovil Mills, Maidstone. It i» cheaper than paper of the ordinary make, and has already in some cases been largely used. A railway bridge over the Bolton and Blackburn section of the Lancashire and Yorkshire lines fell on Wednesday last. The railway clerk seeing the bridge fall, put up the danger signal, by which a train was prevented plunging into the ruins. A number of cattle passed over the bridge a minute or two before, A smuggling lugger, said to be armed with eight guns, .and manned by thirty-six desperate fellows, had been dropping quantities rf tobacco on the Dublin coast. The obnoxious law presented by the Belgian Ministry to the. Chamber, in compliance with the wishes of the French Emperor, to restrict the press from speaking freely of foreign powers, has been considerably shorn of its uglier portions in its passage through the committee appointed to examine its provisions. When it again reaches, the Chamber, it will be scarcely recognisable by its authors. The Ausburtfh Allemeine Zeitung says that the report gains consistency that Prince Frederick William, the heir of the Prussian Crown, is bethrothed to the Princess Royal of England. The Princess of Prussia, mother of the Prince, will make another visit to England next spring. Prince Fiederick William, eldest son of the Prince of Prussia, and nephew of the reigning monarch, was born October 18, 1831. The Princess Royal was born November 21, 1840. 'SwirzK^LANiJ.—A letter from Nenfchatel, of the Bth December, in the Frankfort Post Journal states that on the evening of the sth instant, a Frenchman named Fane", formerly cook to Queen Hortense, who keeps a cafe at Neufchatel, thought proper to illuminate his windows, in honor of the re-establishment of the Empire in France, and exhibit a transparency 1 with an imperial crown. A crowd collected, and after a time showing marks of hostility, smashed the windows with a shower of stones. The Prefect was just about to enter the cafe to persuade Fane* to withdraw the transparencies, when they were in a moment destroyed. The cafe was perhaps more obnoxious as the head quarters of the (Prussian) royalists of the canton than for any other reason. Itaiy. —The accession of Louis Napoleon as Emperor has been proclaimed to the French troops at Rome, and notified to the Pope. Arrests and' police searches continue at Florence; and 14 large schools have been closed,

the Government disapproving of the teachers. The Jesuits arc making gteat progress, and it is expected that hcforc long the education of the people will be entirely in their hands. Five persons were hanged at Mantua on the 7th Dtcember, for having been engaged in revolutionary projects. It is stated that the Sardinian Government has obtained the intercession of the French Emperor at Rome for the arrangement of the differences with the Vatican. Spain. — Since the dissolution of the Cortes, the Government have carried matters with a high hand. The combined opposition had formed themselves into an electoral committee : and meetings were arranged at the palace of the Duke of Sotomayor, Navaca to preside ; but under a royal decree prohibiting political meetings, the committee was not allowed to assemble. There has been a pretty positive rumour ihat Narvaez would be sent on a mis- j sion, in fact that he had been sent to Vienna — a sort of honorable exile — to study the military archives and report thereon. One important omission in the new constitution is noticed, namely, that of the consent of the Cortes, to the admission of foreign troops. This is understood to be a provision for obtaining French aid if needful. It is said that a French agent has offered to carry the Northern Railway to Irun at the expense of the French Government. Narvaez positively left Madrid on the night of the 10th instant, for Bayonne, accompanied only by his secretary Enriquez. He spent his last exile at Bayonne, but the report from Paris is, that his friends now expect him there. On his way he met with strongly expressed sympathy from influential people. From day to day the intelligence of the " ministerial crisis" describes the great agitation that has in the political circles. After the voluntary retreat of the Minister of War, General Urbina, the President of the Council, vainly offered that department to several general officers. General Lersundi, in a conversation with the Queen, assured Her Majesty that M. Bravo Murillo would not find a single military chief to join him. " Well/ replied the Queen, "if he "does not find a colleague for tha War Office, I will accept his resignation." That conversation having reached the ears of M. Bravo Murillo, he declared that he was ready to retire, if such was the wish of Her Majesty. M. Bertram de Lis, however, was of opinion that it was advisable to wait the orders of the Queen, and not resign voluntarily. On the evening of the 12th, M. Bravo Murillo proposed to the Queen two candidates for the department of War— Messrs. Blanco and Rendon who cannot be classed among the military notabilities. The Queen replied that she would consider and make known to him her determination on the following day. Military precautions had been adopted the night before, although no symptom of disturbance was to be observed. The Queen's answer was unfavourable, and Murillo tendered his resignation, when her Majesty called in General Roncali to form an administration. The following is the new Cabinet: Roncali, Premier and Minister for Foreign Affairs ; General Lara, War ; General Mirasol, Marine ; Vahey, Justice ; Avitizabai, Finance ; Llorente, Interior. It is the general opinion that this is only a transition Cabinet. It is considered probable that M. Isteoritz will finally construct an administration of more stable materials. The new ministry has begun inauspiciously. The seizure of the three Madrid journals, the Epoca, the Diario Espanol, and the Heraldo, by order of the local authority, for having published the address of the Opposition to the electors, and the seizure of the document itself after having been allowed to circulate freely in the public places and cafes of the capital for some time, show that the repressive and reactionary spirit which characterised the last spirit is still to be found in some degree with the present. This does not look well for the Roncali Ministry, and if the Act be presented as a specimen of its future conduct, Spain will not have gained much by the overthrow of Bravo Murillo. The more natural.^as the more constitutional step on the part of the official advisers of the Queen, would be to select the new ministry from two or three of the sections of which the Opposition is composed. A Cabinet with General Roncali at the head is not one that promises much for liberal institutions. As, however, they are, to a certain extent, unpledged to the policy of the late Ministry or the present Opposition, they may steer a middle course ; but their first measure being the continuation of the hostility to the press does not show great willingness- to conciliate that Opposition, The Progresista party believe that a liberal policy will not be adopted. Others, however, are of opinion that the programme of the new Cabinet will be of a legal character ; and that whatever measures of reform are to be proposed will be submitted to the Cortes elected under the present electoral law, and that the Chambers will assemble at an earlier period than that fixed upon by the late Cabinet. Nothing can as yet be safely predicated of the ministry ; and we must wait for some days before it can be said whether General Roncali will abandon or modify the system adopted by his predecessor, or carry it on to complete execution. At tho Court of Queen's Bench yesterday, application was made on behalf of Sir Charles Napier, for a tule to sbow cause why a criminal information should not be filed against Mr. Murray, the publisher of the Quarterly Review, for the libel published in the October number of that periodical on Sir Charles Napier, late Commander-in-Chief of the army in India. The learned council opened his case by a brief review of the article which purported to be a review of " Dry Leaves from Young Egypt, by a Young Politician," of a speech by Lord Joyceiyn on the subject of the Ameers of Sciude and Parliamentary Papers relating to Scinde, from 1836 to 1 1843. In this article expressions were used imputing highly discreditable conduct to Sir C. Napier, accusing him of incorapetency and unfit ness for his office, of a determination to go to war at all hazards. The first imputation was with regard to the territory to be ceded to the Khan of Bahlpoor, that Sir C. Napier had grossly misconducted himself in concealing from Lord Ellenborough the real nature of the tetritory to be ceded. Sir C. Napier, in answer to this, to show that it was It's 0 , had set forth the letters which

he ha] written to the Governor-Genera] during the proceedings, in which he bad suggested to Lord Ell<>nbornugli ihdt ho probably was not awaro ot the limits of the territory, nnri had consequently informed him of ihero. The next passage was one which spoke of Sir C. Napier on coming to India for the first time, ignorant of the language, bat predetermined to embroil mat ters, and bring them to a warlike demonstration. Sir C. Napier acknowledged that it was perfectly true that be was unacquainted with the language and had not served in India, but as to being predetermined for war, that he distinctly denied. The next charge was, that in seeking for proof of the guilt of the Ameers, he had not hesitated to receive letters and documents as proofs, which were nothing better than forgeries. It charged him in one instance with having received one of the letters as genuine, simply after he had measured the seal of the Ameer affixed to it with a pair of compasses. Sir C. Napier stated in answer to this that he had procured one of the private teals of the Ameer, and found it to correspond exactly wiih that affixed to the letter. Another charge was, that before the battle of Meanee, instead of seeking a personal interview with Meer Roostan, he bad avoided all the attempts made by the Ameer to obtain such an interview, and had thus left him exposed to the aris of insidious advisers, which had assisted with the " ungovernable determination to bring about a war at any cost" of Sir C. Napier, to the commencement of hostilities. All these charges Sir Charles asserted to be utterly untrue, — so far from avoiding an interview, he had sought it by all means in his power. Lord Campbell, after hearing the argi - ments of counsel, stated that he believed Sir C. Napier to be one of the most gallant, most distinguished, and most meritorious officers who ever led a British army into the field,— one whose assistance might be calculated on by the country, if we should again resort to him, as we bad done before, in a time of great public emergency ; bnt leaving that aside, he thought the application was not well founded and the rule must therefore be refused. — Home News. Horrible Affair. — A strange and horrible affiir is •at present excitiog great attention at Les Andelys, near Rouen. Some years ago, a knife-grinder, named Moutet, of Lorraine, was accustomed to visit the arroudissement of Les Andelys in pursuit of' his calling, and to return borne to his young wife in the autumn, with the money be had earned, which generally amounted to a considerable sum. He was accustomed to lodge in the bouse of a friend at Les Andelys, who sold grain and liquids. Six years back, having completed bis rounds, Moutet sent off part of bis luggage, and announced to bis wife that he was about to return borne : but be never appeared. His father and his wife caused searches to be made after him in all directions, but no trace of him could be found : and bis wife became mad with grief at losing him. The autboriti' s themselves had given up all hope of ever hearing of him. Things continued in this stale until four days ago, when his friend the grain dealer at Les Andleys got into a quarrel with an old clothes dealer ; and, in the course of the abuse which they heaped on each other, the latter said, " Do you want to kill roe as you did the knife-grinder V* This was related to the authorities, and both men were at once arrested. The clothesman then stated that the grain-dealer bad killed tbe knife-grinder one night as be was sleeping in bis bouse, for the purpose of robbing him, but that to bit disappointment be had found in his possession only 1,5000., instead of between 4,000fr. and 5,0001'r., which the knifegrinder had received — be having just before remitted the rest to his wife ; that after the murder the grain dealer agreed to give his neighbor, tbe old clothesman, 200fr. to assist him in getting rid of the body ; that they burned deceased's clothes and buried him beneath the door step. A search was immediately made in the place indicated, and the remains were found. A strict examination has been instituted into all tbe circumstances of the affair, and two other persons have been arrested on suspicion of having been concerned in it. — GalignanYs Messenger. Champagne. — The average quantity of gonuine champagne annually produced is said to exceed fifty millions of bottles — a quantity, however quite insufficient to meet the public demand, as the great numbers of establishments for the production o{ spurious champagne attest. It is staled on good authority, that in one establishment alone upwards of 500,000 bottles of so-called champagne, made principally from the stalks of the rhubarb, are annually sold. Some idea may be formed of the relative consumption of real champagne by different countries from the following return of the sales in 1843 of the department of Morne. The total quantity amounted to 2,619,000 bottles, which were distributed: England and British India, 467,000; Russia and Poland, 502,000 ; Germany, including Prussia and the Austrian dominons, 439,000 ; United States of America and the West Indies, £00,000 ; Italy, 600,000 ; Belgium, 56,000 ; Holland, 30,000; Sweden and Denmark, 3o,ooo; Switzerland, 30,000 ; Sonth America, 30,000 ; Spain and Portugal, 20,000 ; Turkey, 5,000 ; and ; France, 620,000 bottles. A correspondent of one of the London papers gives tbe following account of the naval and military preparations now in progress in France. "An immense activity is observable at the Ministers of Wamnd the Marine. Orders are being sent off every day to all the " chefs de corps" to get up the warlike spirit of the soldiers. In all tbe military and naval arsenals all is movement. Just now, a new system of artillery, devised by the Emperor, is being experimented upon in the various polygones. This system consists in reducing to a single calibre all the various field pieces, which are now composed of four different calibres— pieces of four, light artillery; pieces of eight, artillery of the line; pieces of twelve, artillery of reserve ; and sixinch howitzers. The uniform calibre proposed by Bonaparte is to be that of twelve. Now, to make you understand all the importance of this change, I should add, that these pieces of twelve carry 1600 yards, while tbe other pieces carry only from 800 to 1000 yards. These experiments I repeat, are being actively carried on. Don't be too confident in our veracious Emperor's pacific assurance. It may be that, some morning, all Europe will awake (as Paris did on the 2nd of December) to find the army of Paris on the frontiers of tbe Rhine. There are sober people who believe in this eventuality, as they do in to-morrow's sunrise. Besides this change ot system in tbe artillery, ao equal y

grave modification is proposed in oar present recruiting system. According to the existing liw, 80,000 men we enlisted every year, for ■even years service —just one quarter of the actual male population. In the new system, the entire mate population mould be called upon to serve; but instead of serving for a period of •even years, the men destined for the infantry would only serve one yeaf. As to the men destined for special corps, such as caval. y, artillery, engineers, grenadiers, and imperial guard, they will remain in service, some eight, the others seven years. The soldiers discharged will be liable to. be recalled to serve until they are 33 years of age. Here is the formidable levy we should be able to take the field with at any given moment: 1 Ist, The army actually in service 400,000 men; 2nd, reserve of twelve classes, from 21 years of age to 33—280,000 men in •each clasj =3,360,000 soldiers for the twelve classes; general total 3,760,000 men. There is enough, and more than enough, to sweep the wtrld!" M. Cbavoix, ex-representative of the people, has written to the Pays to deny the authorship of a letter imputed to him, accepting in very humble and submissive terms the gracious * pardon' of the Emperor. This letter, which was published very conspicuously in all the Govern* ment journals was a forgeiy. " I neither wrote it nor signed it; I know not who is the author," says M. Cbavoix. Not a single person of note has yet accepted the general conditional amnesty of the Government, The Emperor left Paris on Saturday last for a bunting party at Coropiegne. The party invited by the Emperor consists chiefly of the members of the corps Diplomatique. It is rumoured that the right conceded to the Emperor by the new Constitution of modifying the tariffs of all commercial treaties will be exercised in the first instance in reference to the tariff between England and France. In this event the main object would be to admit English coals into France on more favourable conditions than hitherto, and to diminish the import duty in England on French wines. For c long time tbis has been in agitation between the ioteresta mutually involved, and such a measure would he popular on both sides of the water. According to a recent estimate the French army consists of 6 marshals, 78 lieutenants* general, 152 majors general, 539 officers of the general staff, 21,491 gendarmes, 7793 of whom are foot soldiers, while 13,698 are mounted gendarmes; .100 regiments of infantry, viz. —75 regiments ot tht line and 25 light regiments, each regiment consisting of 3 battalions, each battalion of 6 companies, and each compaoy has 125 men. Next come the Viocennes Rifles, in 10 battalions of 8 companies each, each compaoy of 110 men ; making a total of 8000 Yinceones Rifles. There are also 3 regiments of Zuaves, now in Africa, each regiment of 3 battalions, and aacb battalion of 9 companies; and 3 battalions of Light African Infantry, aud 12 fatigue companies. Besides these, there is the Foreign Legion, in 2 regiments, each of 2,600 men. The cavalry consists of 2 regiments of Carabineers, 10 regiments of Cuirassiers, 16 regiments of Lancers, 12 of Dragoons, 9 of 'Hussars, 4 of African Mounted Rifles, 3 regiments of Spabis, and 1 regiment of Guides, The Artillery of 15 regiments, each of 16 batteries. There are 3 regiments of Engineers, each consisting of 2 battalions. The 1 total is foot, 275,000, horse 60,000, artillery men 36,000, corpa of Engineers 10,000 men, and 12,000 of tLe Foreign Legion and bands of Africans in the French service. The French fleet numbers 40 vessels of the line, 50 frigates, 40 corvettes, 50 brigs, and 18 transports, all aailing vessels. Add to this their brilliant and efficient ateam navy of 10 frigates and 20 cprveetts of from 320 to 400 horse power, and 70 -small steamers. There are altogether 328 vessels, namely, 226 sailing vessels and 102 steamers, commanded by 2 admirals, 10 viceadmirals, 20 contre-admirals, 110 captains of vessels of the line, 230 captains of frigates, 650 first and 550 second lieutenants, and 300 cadets,, and manned by 27,000 gunners, marines, and sailors. | |

Additions to the Screw Steam Navy. — A contract was entered into on Friday week at' the Admiralty by two eminent engineering firms for the construction of eight pairs of engines, each pair to ba of the collective power of 400 horses, and all adapted for acrew propelled ships of war. John Peno and Son have obtained the contract for the 4 00- horse power engines for the Royal Albert, 120, building at Woolwich Dockyard, and now decided to have new engines on John P«?nn and Son's patent trunk principle, which gave such satisfaction in the Agamemnon, 90, also built at tbis dockyard. The engines, although nominally of 400-bors* power, will be made to work up to 1200 horses ; but engines of 600 nominal horse power would have been desirable in the Royal Albert, as she is a powerful first class ship of war, and worthy of haviog engines of equal power at least as the Agamemnon—the latter vessel being fitted with engines of that power. The other ships to be converted ■into screw and fitted each with engines of 400-horse power by John Perm and Son are the Princess Royal, 90, building at Portsmouth; the Royal George, 120, at Sheerness; and the Ewryalus, ssJjHg#A\og at Chatham. The engines of 600-horle^power, making by John Perm and Son for the St. Jean d'Acre, 100, are now nearly completed, and will be ready for commencing fitting on board when she is launched from Devonport dock-yard, where she is buildiog and nearly ready for launching. The engines ol the Royal Albert will be ready in June next, by which time the vessel will be ready for launching; and in the course of another year it may be calculated that the following powerful abipa will be ready for sea, and all fitted with acrew propellers: — The Royal Albert, 120, building at Woolwich. Du'cc (f Wellington, 140, fining at Portsmouth. Royal George, 120, to be constructed at Sheeroess. St. Jean d°Acre, 100, building at Devonport. Princess Royal, 90, building at Portsmouth. Agamemnon, 90, fitting at Sheerness. Exmonih, 90, building at Devonport. Clarence, 84, building at Devonporr. Sans Pared, 81, fitting at Devonport. Mojestic, 80, building at Chatham. Cressy, 80, building at Chatham. Imperieuse, 50, fitting at Woolwitn. Euryalus, 50, bnilding at Chatham. Making a total of 1175 guns of large calibre. The above vessels are all in so advanced a ftate that there will be no difficulty in complet-

ing them next year, should any emergency arise to require their services ; and, with the vessels already filled with screw propellers, they will form one of the most powerful channel fleets ever possessed by this country. The above list does not include any of the guard ships, nor any of the ships now building which are ordered to be fitted wilh engines already in store ; the Algiers, 90, building at Devonporr, and the Hannibal, 90, building at Deptford, with several others, being ordered to be fitted with engines already made for screw ships of w*r.