ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Departure of the Bishop of New Zealand. — On Saturday last the Bishop of New Zealand took his departure for Sydney, on his way to New Zealand, hy the ship Tomatin, hound for the former place. He carries with him the good-will of all who have been placed in communication with him. Previous to his departure, thfe New Zealand Company entered into certain arrangements for the promotion of Education, and the Support of the Church, which are calculated to give great satisfaction to the Colony. Subject to the approval of Government, it has offered to advance a sum of £5,000 by way of a loan, on the security of the native reserve, for promoting the education of the native families, on condition, however, that the church furnishes an equal sum. We believe there will be no difficulty in fulfilling this condition, so that we trust we are justified in saying the education of the natives is happily secured. A further sum of £5,000 is to be assigned to the support of the church at Nelson ; £2,000 for a like purpose at Wellington ; and £500 for New Plymouth. The reason why Nelson has so large a sum is, that in point of fact it is her own, whilst the sums for the church at Wellington and New Plymouth are really grants on the part^of the Company. By referring to the terms of-purchase of the second Colony, the reader will find a fund set apart for such purposes. The Company is also ready to provide for the establishment of a college at Nelson, as soon as a municipality is granted to that settlement. The fund for the purpose of establishing a college amounts to £15,000. Mrs. Martin, the lady of the "Chief Judge of New Zealand, accompanied the Bishop of New Zealand — New Zealand Journal. Settlement of the Chatham Islands; — -M. Sievekin, of Hamburg, says the Allgemeine Zeitung, purchased from the New Zealand Colonization Company on the 12th September, the grant of Chatham Islands for £10,000. Should the German Colonization Company be formed, the ratification of this bargain must he exchanged in Dondon before the 12th March, 1842, and then in. two months the first instalment must be paid. The German Colonization Company will be made after the Wakefield plan. According to the account of Mr. .Hanson,, Island, or Warrekauri, has a surface of 600,000 acres, besides 100,000 occupied by a lake or reservoir for the natives. This paragraph has been variously commented, upon

by the daily papers, but the Morning Chko 17iicle is the ,ouly one of which' possesses correct information on the subject. •'.' It .remarks,— .n . v .; ; . /t „;.\, f . £ ,;; ; - "We observe a , statement ' ,im the ,Allgemein Zeituny, which we have elsewhere alluded to .ia-a n ote to a letter from our Hamburg co-respondent', a German colony is about to .be; planted: in the Chatham Islands, in the' Southern Pacific, that group having, it is said, been purchased! with that view by M. Syndicus Sieveking, of Hamburg, on account of a colonization company now forming in Germany. f ,Tliis statement [is somewhat premature. The fact is, that the,, diplomatic agents of the Hanseatic towns have opened .some negotiations with the British . Government in reference to the islands named, and. that<;a^.coaditional arrangement has been made with the New Zealand Company, which is the. owner of 'the soil, but which, by the terms of its charter, xannot conclude a treaty in the matter without the sanction of the Crown. The Chatham- .group, consists of three principal Islands, viz., Warrekauri, or Chatham Island, containing, a s'uiface of about 300,000 square acres ; Rangihande,.or Pitt's Island; and Raugatira, or Corn wallis Island, the surface of which two last mentioned isles does riot exceed 100,000 acres. The group lies three or four days' sail to the eastward, of New Zealand. Great Britain claims the right of sovereignty, as against all European powers — a right founded on. the prior discovery and possession taken, by the officers of the brig Chatham in 1791, and which, so far as we are aware, the Hanseatic towns can have no legitimate ground for disputing. How far the policy of her Majesty's Government may lean towards a cession of the islands' to a German State in return for an equivalent compensation,' is a different question, and the solution of which may depend upon a variety of considerations not fully before the public. \Ve have no doubt, how- 1 ever, that, as a token of good-will and conciliation, such a cession would be well-timed:' 'It would gratify the national feelings of the Germans, who are bent upon the possession of a Colony,' however small, and might allay much of r the irritation which has prevailed in the' South of Germany ever since the conclusion of the treaty' between this country and ZollVerein. By proper stipulations for the admission of British ' produce and manufactures on the footing of the national' flag, Great Britain might secure herself precisely^ the same advantages from a German as from an English Colony in the Chatham Islands. The , case differs materially from that of the "establishment of a community of Germans within a British Colony, and is altogether of a new and peculiar.' nature. Without committing ourselves by'ex- J ' pressing auy deliberate opinion on the subject, our present impression is that this colonizing pro-* posal of the Hanseatic Towns is one of which' ought not to be hastily rejected by the Government of Great Britain." " / In this, as in all its tranactions, the .New Zealand Company has. taken no step without reference to the sanction and concurrence of the Government. The whole question is, an - fact now before, the ColoniarDepartnient,^and, we believe, wo may assure the Chronicle thai " this colonizing proposal will not he hastily.' rejected "by out Government. For our own parts we are disposed to think favourably of it. We have seen the Germans as colonists in America, and know their value ; in South Australia they constitute, under their own pastors, an orderly portion of the people. But in the present case the proposal is, that they shall constitute an independent colony, so that the question really turns on the ex- ' pediency of having a neutral island in that part of the Southern Ocean in the case of a war with the European nations. This we admit is a. fair, but we apprehend not -a strong objection. The answers to it are first, that most of the Islands of the Pacific are in fact ' neutral ; and second, .that should the future :- German colony at the Chatham Islands foster our enemy, the remedy will be to take it. The West India Steam FLEET.-^-There are now four steam-skips of great magnitude and power fitting out in the East India Docks." at Blackwall, and nearly ready for sea. These fine vessels were built at Pitclier's yard, Northfleet. They are each of 1,400 tons burden, and will shortly join other steamers built in Scotland and Liverpool for the Royal West India Mail Steam Packet Company. The whole fleet, twelve in number, are expected to meet in the Southampton river be-' fore the expiration of the present year, and a' regular intercourse>per steam will be kept up between England and the West India colonies. The, four steam-ships at Blackwall are named respectively after four of the principal rivers in England — the. Thames, Medway, Isis, andTrent. The engines and machinery of tw,o of these vessels were manufactured by Maud-, sley and Field, of Lambeth, the. other two by Miller and Ravenhill, of Limehouse, and" , neither pains or expense has'been,..or, will be,\. spared in rendering these steam-ships.com- <"< pletein every department. • The utmost ac-'" tivity prevails in getting- them ready for sea.. . The paddle-boxes are of enormou^dimensions, and the tops of them will form life-boats,-' < which can be removed and. made available in* case of necessity -in a few ' minutes. The building and fitting out of these vessels, .and the formation 'of the engines and machinery, have given regular employment to 1,000 men in this metropolis and at Northfleet for/, 'the" last twelve months. — Ibid. ■ ,' r '"~ ■•!--—- Distress at Nottingham. — The siim of £2,500 has already 'been contributed,/^ the, charitable fund for'the relief of the, disv tassed . poor in Nottingham. V