Original Poetry.

New Zealander, Volume XVIII, Issue 1719, 30 August 1862, Page 4

Original Poetry.

THE SEVEN DAYS OF CREATION. DAY THE SECOXD. Time cannot fathom—mind may never say What pause elapsed between the Second Day: How far the Azoic period lie* apart. From the next throbbing of that mighty heart: What silent change* in that shoreless main I What emit beneath by fiery power was liin 1 How from bright crystals of the molten ore The wondrous atrata of the rocks upbore. Red Porphyry cliffs, and mass of granite grey, Micaceous sand, and soft calcareous clay The marble that we quarry for out pile* Of vaulted arches, arid of long drawn aisles, The parti coloured quart*, whose motley vein Hides the fine gold in many an amber grain; All in that burning crucible were wrought. Man’s mighty slaves, yet grand beyond his thoap Again the Almighty mandate ring* through ip*»* Again Heaven open* with effulgent blaze—- •« Be lifted to the stars, thou watery haze, « And be spread out, thou broad and wide exp << Between the water* and the waters glance, “ The curtains of thy cloud Pavillion 1 Instant around the wondroui Planet shone. Soft, delicately freth, and keenly clear. The gladnes* of our wonted atmosphere. Oh! the bright marvels of that viewless air. The hues that radiate in it* priim* rare Now the blue waves reflect the bluer sky. The fleecy whiteneis of the cloud* float* by— Reverberate now. loud thunder, shake the deep. And arrowy lightning* Saturnalia * keep. Restless around the world the breeze* roam. And Issh her water, into whiter foam: I And well the Eternal Father potted and weigh* In His just balance, what His Word had ro , One atom denser, and the incumbent air Had bowed u* to the earth, supinely there; One single atom lighter, and the breeze Had power to waft us where its fancies please. But the just medium fixed, « reet we .. .. Free to find pleasure, health, and li e. It gilds our days, it beautifies our night. Varied its powers, and various Us delight*. One moment where the lotuz loves the , And Afrie’a date trees drink its latest smi , _ The next where icebergs block the dang And howling storms career upon their way— Now soft as infants’ slumbers— now its ire Can bid whole forests tremble expo . Rise to tornados—with a whirlwind * r ( Send groaning navies ztruggling to t e And there is life within that ilmllo* main. Life’s lowest type, the star like corsl. reign. Purple the zoophiles glitter from th * hfAt And iculptured crinoids lift theiz co The many chamber* of their shell* display. Groin’d Terebratulas in bronze array : The Orthis sway* with all it* * The Lingula erect* it* flower like ch *™ ’ The first faint dawnings of the comi g Within those ocean fortresses began. His great idea the Creator proved, In many a type before man lived » n And He who plann'd the Archetype, Us variou* forms until perfection grew. So under that clear Heaven, with life Broke the bright mornt"g of the g r< on Aogugt “Blh, 188S,

NEW ZEALAND BILL. The following is a copy of the Bill introduced t n Jane last into the House of Lords by the Duke °f Newcastle, the report of the debate on the second reading of which was published in our is9ue of Saturday last. -.< A Mintitded an Act respecting'the establishment &J government of Provinces in New Zealand. ■\Vhkbbas by an Act of the Session holden in the Fifteenth and Sixteen Years of Her Majesty, intituled "An Act to grant a Representative Con•titution to'the Colony of New Zealand," it was provided that certain Provinces therein mentioned should be established in the said Colony, and that in every such Province there should be a Provincial Council, and that there should be in the said Colony a General Assembly competent to make igKSfor the Peace, Order, and good Government 0 f the same; and by the Sixty-ninth Section of the said Act it was further provided, that it should be lawful for the said General Assembly to constitute new Provinces in the said Colony, and to . appoint the Number of Members of which the provincial Councils thereof should consist, and to f alter the Boundaries of any Provinces for the I Time being existing; provided always, that any Bill for any of the said Purposes should be reserved for the Signification of Her Majesty's Pleasure thereon: And whereas by an Act of the Session holden in the Twentieth and Twenty-first Years of Her Majesty, intituled "An Act to amend an i Act for granting a Representative Constitution to . the Colony of Mew Zealand," it was enacted that j the Sixty-ninth Section of" the said first recited Act should be repealed, and that it should be j lawful for the said General Assembly to alter, ' suspend, or repeal all or any of the Provisions of tfie !<aid Act, except certain Sections therein spe- j cified: And whereas the said General Assembly, 1 by sn Act passed in a Session holden in the Twenty-first and Twenty-second Years of Her { Majesty, intitule! "An Act to provide for the Establishment of new Provinces in New Zealand," j or, mine shortly, "The New Province? Act, 1858," 1 did autliouze the Governor of the said Colony to establish such new Provinces in manner therein i mentioned, and the said Governor did establish certain new Provinces accordingly : And whereas Doubts are entertained whether it was competent *o the said General Assembly to make such Pro- j vision and to the isaid Governor to establish such new Provinces as aforesaid : And whereas, for the removing of such Doubts, an Act was passed in * the now last Session of Parliament, intituled "An t Act to declare the Validity of an Act passed by the General Assembly of New Zealand, intituled _ *An Act to provide for the Establishment of new j Provinces in New Zealand' :" And whereas it is expedient to rept at the said last-mentioned Act of rt Parliament, and to make ire-h Provision respecting * the Establishment of new Provinces in .New Zea- „ land: Be it therefore enacted by the Queer's most Excellent Majesty, by and with the Advice and ? Consent of the Lords Spiritual and Temporal, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, _. and by the Authority of the same, as follows : •

1. The said list-mentioned Act of Parliament shall be and the same is hereby repealed. 2. The said " New Provinces Act, 1858," (except so far as the same shall have been altered by any Act subsequently passed by the said General Assembly), shall be and be deemed to have been from the Date of the passing thereof valid and effectual for all Purposes whatever, and all Matters and Things done under and in pursuance of Authority created or given or expressed to be created or given by the same Act shall be deemed to have been of the same Force and Effect as if the said Act an j everything therein contained had from the above-mentioned Date been actually so valid as aforesaid. 3. Subject to the Conditions hereinafter mentioned, it shall be lawful for the said General Assembly, by any Act or Acts to be by them from Time to Time passed, to establish or provide for the Establishment of new Provinces in the Colony of New Zealand, and to niter or to provide for the Alteration of the Boundaries of any Provinces for the Time being existing in the said Colony, and to make Provision for the Administration of any such Provinces, and for the passing of Laws for the Peace, Order, and good Government thereof, and therein to repeal or alter any of the Provisions ol'tbe two fiist hereinbefore recited Acts of Parliament relating to such Provinces, or to the Superintendents ami Provincial Councils thereof. 4. It shall not be lawful for the General Assembly to make any L\w inconsistent with the following Provisions; that is to say,— (1.) In every Province of New Zealand there shall be an Officer designated the Superintendent, who, unless any Provision shall be made to the contrary in any Act of the General Assembly, shall be capable of being elected and acting as a Member of the Council of the same Province : (2.) No Provincial Law shall take effect until it shall have received the Assent in Writing, either of the said Superintendent or of the Governor of New Zealand : (3.) In giving or refusing his Assent to any Provincial Law, or in reserving the same for the Signification of the Governor's Pleasure, the Superintendent shall conform to such Instructions in Writing as he may from Time to Time receive from the Governor: (4.) la case the Superintendent shall Assent to any Provincial Law he shall forthwith transmit to the Governor an authentic Copy thereof : (5.) It shall be lawful for the Governor at any Time after the Date of such Assent, and until the Expiration of Three Months after such authentic Copy of any Provincial Law shall have been received by him, to declare by Proclamation his Disallowance of such Law, and such Disallowance shall make void and annul the same from and after the Day of the Date of such Proclamation or any subsequent Day to be named therein: [6.) It shall not be lawful for the Council or other Legislative Body of any Province to pass, or for the Superintendent or Governor to assent to, any Bill appropriating any Money to the Public Service, unless the Superintendent or Governor shall first have recommended to the Council to make Provision for the specific Service to which such Money is to be appropriated, and no such Money shall be issued or made issuable except by Warrants to be eranted by the Superintendent or Governor: (7.) It hhnll not be lawful for any. such Council or other Body as aforesaid to pass, and for the said Superintendent or Governor to assent to, any Law which shall be repugnant to the Law of England or to any Enactment of the said General Assembly.

& It shall not be competent to the Governor of New Zealand to Assent to any Bill passed by the Legislature of New Zealand which shall repeal W alter any of the Provisions of the Nineteenth Clause of the first hereinbefore recited Act of 1 arliament, but the said Governor (unless he shall refuse hU Assent to such Bill) shall reserve the same for the Signification of Her Majesty's Measure.

$ So much of the Two first hereinbefore recited Acts of Parliament as is inconsistent with the Provisions of this Act is hereby repealed. 7. Subject to the Provisions of this Act, and of tie Baid New Provinces Act, the said Two first hereinbefore recited Acts of Parliament shall »|»ply to all Provinces at any Time existing in New Zealand, in like manner and subject to the same Conditions as tie same apply to Provinces establUhuu i,y the firbt hereinUefoie recited Act of Parliament. „M ! » the Const! notion of this Act the Term Governor" shall m» a i (he Person lor tl e Time

NEW ZEALAND: ITS BRIGHTER d PROSPECTS. [From the Melbourne " Herald," July 24.] n Zealand*^ 8 roUin .?. u P the mountain side in New aiv : Ite P oßltlon and prospects are verv tr different to what they wero twelve months 22 MfSJhfr? W J not of the Northern or x w h T el^r dßeparately ' b , ut ? fthe ColoQ y ■» a 7*. • lne BUn ma y not be shining so briehtlv at this moment on Otago, as when the discovery 3 h,,f*t Uapeka g° ldfieldß was first announced: , ? ul l " ere »• a peace and quietness, a spirit of en- • Jvr? 118 ! 6 ! Bnd a determination to surmount all 3 ? n ,i? U M 8, .? oWrei e nin & to*™'* that is, reigning j m the Northern, as well as in the Middle Island, to t wmcn the settlers were at one time strangers. . O0 conflicting are the accounts that have reached 1 u £ frOlUtlmet °tiineonthe general prospects of i me colony, as not only to have sorely puzzled us and to have filled us with perplexity, but as to , have led us to look earnestly for some official statement, whereby that perplexity might be re- . moved, a statement of that kind is now before , us, and is deserving of attention. ■' A * w Ge r? rg , e G ™y °P ened the General Assembly of flew Zealand in person on the 14th inst. His excellency's speech on that occasion was laid before our readers on Saturday last. It is assuring DHt neither boastful, nor magniloquent. It has less, in fact, of the vice of most of Sir George's earlier addresses ;—that we mean, of self-glorifi-cation, —than we should have expected: but then ne is growing older, and, it may be, wiser. Ha looks the difficulties of his position fairly in the face, and is resolved to meet them. It could never be said of Sir George Grey, that he was given to extravagance himself, or that he countenanced it in those around him. Nor could it ever be said of him, that he shrunk from the responsibilities of his position, and was a mere automaton in the hands of others. He always had "a soul above buttons," and was resolved that those around him should feel the effect of his strong will. This is a high quality in a ruler, within certain limits. And it is no less required under a responsible form of Government, than under one not yet ripe for it. His known possession of this quality was ' what probably led to Sir George's being sent to , aew Zealand again at this particular juncture; , and if bo, it cannot be said that he has disappoint- , ed the expectations of those who sent him. The j policy of his Government, is no less his policy, , than it is theirs. His firm hand is on its face, '. and his strong will shines throngh it. . First, and foremost, we see him resolving that j the Maoris shall be brought into subjection : but , that fair and even-handed justice shall, at the , same tiirae, be dealt out to them. In pursuance j of this resolve, he sets about putting the settlers , in a fighting position, if fight they must, without , waiting for the sanction of the General Assembly. ( The troops could not be moved further inland , than fifteen or twenty miles from Auckland, , without great risk; and the population of a large { Eiart of the province was from that circumstance I , eft at the mercy of the insurgents. This could ' not be allowed. A great southern trunk road ( must be constructed to the banks of the Waikato { river; and operations of the same kind must be j commenced at Taranaki, and at other places. The j disaffected Maories remonstrated; but their remonstrances were unavailing. If fighting is to be , the order of the day, was obviously what Sir \ George wished them to understand, we must be j in a position to fight, and the roads were pro- t ceeded with. Simultaneously with this, however, t the whole of the Maori race were offered such t institutions as were befitting their semi-civilised f condition; and their acceptance of them was pressed c in a spirit of kind and candid considerateness. t More could not have been done; and Sir George i hopes by those means "to confirm the attachment t of those native tribes, who have hitherto been l friendly, to the Government; to restore the confi- t dence of those, who have unhappily been alienated; a and to elevate the race gaadually to a higher level of civilization." D

On the character of the institutions, and their probable duration, there are differences of opinion. But in working them out, it is gratifying to find that Sir George addressed himself to the task in so truly noble a spirit as is exhibited in the following:—"lt is an arduous task, only to be effected by earnest and persevering exertion, made in the spirit which becomes a great and civilised nation, in its dealings with a people but partially reclaimed from barbarism, and very imperfectly enlightened. At the same time, I am not unmindful of what is due to the European population, which, relying on well known sureties and guarantees, has made this country its adopted home, and is entitled to expect that the progress of colonisation shall not be unnecessarily or improperly obstructed." On thematerial advancement and prospects of the colony, His Excellency does not say much; except in so far as concerns the Middle Island; regard being principally had in that to the Otago goldfields. But what benefits one part of the colony must benefit the whole. We have shipped ourselves to England this year no less than 214,622 ounces of New Zealand gold And it is not possible but that the Northern Island has been benefitted by this, just as the Middle Island has been benefitted by the cessation of hostilities in the Northern.

Altogether the prospects of the colony are cheering, and long may they continue so. Few can have any real knowledge of the New Zealand settlers, without an ardent affection for them. They look more to themselves, and less to their institutions for success, than some of the older colonies. They exhibit more of that spirit of energetic stdf-reliance, which lies at the root of all real progress, than is to be observed in some other places. And it is not possible, under these circumstances, but that they should become a happy and a prosperous people. Let us hope that their gold fields will not tend to corrupt them.

MELBOURNE-PAST AND PRESENT. [From the " Times," June 12.]

Much less than half a century ago, about the date of Waterloo, in the best maps of the day a winding dotted line, with an occasional gap, indicated New Holland, " the largest island in the world." At its south-eastern extremity, opposite Van Diemen's Land, was asmall indentation called Port Phillip. The diffident tracing of the map was eked out with verbal notices. Accordingly the reader was informed that on the one side of Port Phillip there were "rocky hills" and an " indented Head," and, a little way off the other, a " long beach." The coast bad been "discovered by Captain Grant" in 1800, that immediately to the west by Captain Baudin in 1802, while the adjacent coast to the east was and older discovery, in 1798, by Captain Bass, who gave his name to the Strait. A small island near was said to be visible 10 leagues off, and a promontory 15 leagues. I he interior of the country wab an absolute blank, being only described as it presented itself to the passing vessel. The natives were conjectured to be a revengeful and utterly impracticable race. Perhaps, on the whole, this was the least unpromising part of the vast circumference. To the westward lay Encounter Bay, Cape Catastrophe Denial Bay, " Many Smokes," Cape And, and ! then a runningcaution that the shore was dangerous, the land barren, the water salt or not to be found at all, the natives black and savage; in tact it was a mere ship's log, and for thousands of miles, including Port Phillip, there was nothing to show that any European had landed, except to look tor freshwater and to barter beads for vegetables. Many years after bold spirits, inspired by the exploits of Columbus and Drake and Anson and Cooke, projected settlements on this coast, which might answer as well, or even better, than Botany Ba v Young men here and there, sick of ledgers, invoices, and brown paper, caught the flame, and in the melancholy depth of their minds thought how much pleasanter wild nature must be than countinghouses and shops. The patriarchs had their flocks and herds in the wilderness and bad their share of happiness and distinction. When he thought was breathed,-when the "Swan River" was pronounced some day with a too evident tone of longing, what consternation seized the fireside! Fathers, mothers, and sisters thought onlv of the day when they would hour that the faceless youth had been eaten by savages, or when he would present himself at the back dour, shirtless and shoeless, asking admission or a meal. tne?e to/?, wwa *•« tf*Q| w*

hammocks, mosquitoes, fever, solitude, convicts, bushmen, and cannibals. The mother's brightest idea of the enterprise was thafit began in the drain of £SOO and ended in the condition of the hardfavoured, freezecoated Irishmen who in those days whipped and worried black cattle from Liverpool to London. Any moderate offence against the law« of the country would have been easier pardoned than an escape to a colony in the Southern Hemisphere. Even for advising Englishmen to settle in Illinois Birkbeck was believed to be half-madman, half-traitor. But if a man wanted to try his luck in New Holland he had much batter do some small offence, taking good care it was not a hanging one. At all events, the speculation would then be at the expense of his country. Many years after—only sixteen years ago—there was a ljltle settlement called Port Phillip, at the southern extremity of the colony of New South Wales, with a small port called Melbourne. The population of the entire settlement was estimated at 3,000. What was absolutely nothing but a name forty years before was now something—an embryo—with a widely-scattered population altogether equal to that of a large English village, and with about as much organization, and government, and trade.

Such is the community which contributed three very condensed but highly interesting columns of finance and Parliamentary questions to our vesterday's impression. The Colony, or State of Victoria, as it may be called, is now as populous, as full of gold, of trade, of faction, of public debt, of railways, of newspapers, of grand ceremonials, of Volunteer reviews, as the most ardent believer in progress could desire. Victoria is only another Britannia, and Melbourne is the counterpart of this huge town. The intelligence is up to Apiil the 26th—observe, only seven weeks since; about as long as it took a man, 20 years ago to get to 1 Quebec. Up to Easter last, it is a proud reflection that two portions of the great British race, and two Parliaments, were engaged in precisely the same topics on opposite sides of the globe. There was a deficiency of revenue—variously estimated at £600,000 a-year, and half that sum to be met, either by new taxes, or retrenchment, or loans. There was an impatience of taxation, a resulation against further debt, and the fact of retrenchment carried as far already as it could be. The exporters of gold were getting off taxation, and it was falling rather heavily upon stock, to the consequent annoyance of the ,{ country gentlemen." As the gold exports were declining to about £6,000,000 a year, it was supposed that the Colony was passing out of its golden age into a condition more like our own. Then there was a Sinking Fund in contemplation, and it was to do all that sinking funds have ever been hoped to do, and have not done. Two considerable lengths of railway, amounting to 160 miles, were abuut to be opened, to the relief both of finances and the traffic; and we are told quietly of 300,000 or 400,000 tons of goods being carried yearly at the charge of £2 10s. a-ton. Ballarat, which but the other day was a place where men perished with hunger while they were washing dirt for gold, and where a cartload of the precious dust had to be escorted by twenty armed men, is now a railway station, and its chief traffic will be, not gold, but fat cattle for the market of Melbourne.

Perhaps the oddest point of resemblance between the British mother and her colonial daughter is a Privilege question between the Melbourne House of Assembly and the Press. It appears that the police, being threatened with a reduction of pay, were in a state approaching to insubordination ; and a member of the Opposition had moved for a Committee to inquire into the administration of the police. The Melbourne Argus thereupon used some very hard expressions both on the way in which the inquiry was to be carried out and the possible character of the members who might have started the inquiry, suggesting, in fact, that it might be the act of " some privileged ruffian whom accident may have pitchforked into the House." We are hound to say that the expression is the most un-English thing in the whole letter from our Correspondent. However, it was taken up in the Assembly by some members, who gave as much as they took. Indeed, their language is so strong that we think the Assembly might well consider that the Argus had been fully paid in kind, and that any further proceeding would be an excess of retaliation. It was, however, moved and carried that the publisher of the offending paper should attend at the Bar. This he declined both in deed and word, improving the occasion to defy the House. Thereupon the House, having to adjourn for the Easter recess, was content to order his appearance on the first evening after. The Argus claimed this as a triumph, and talked of the House being "fustratedof its wicked will," —language, it must be admitted, mere suited to an infant colony than a parent State. Such was the great question at the leaving of the mail ; and there was every prospect of its being carried through all the requisite stages to our own Privy Council, which is the last appeal. If, as is stated, the House of Assembly, by virtue of its foundation, has all the powers and privileges of the British House of Commons, and has dona its best to appropriate them by its own enactments, we do not see how the publisher of the Argus —perfectly innocent of the whole affair—can escape a few weeks' residence in the Colonial Newgate. His only possible escape is that somebody in or out of" the Assembly should suggest that no legislative body ever did much for its dignity by asserting its " privileges," and that tha House should he content with the mildest apology for what was really very puerile language. But what more can we want in a colony than this? Had England herself gone into a body to Australia, with her Lord Chancellor and her Speaker, preceded by the two maces, and attended by the Clerks of the two Houses, she could not have made more progress in a dozen years. Look at that map of New Holland, still youthful reader, and think of a question of Parliamentary privilege being warmly and learnedly discussed by many thousand eager partisans and able lawyers in that blank space which the boldest geographer was afraid to variegate with a spot or a line when you were a schoolboy! You can imagine nothing there but a cannibal feast or a pool of brackish water. But now all London is there, from the Stock-Exchnge to Westminster-hall; there are changes of a Ministry; there are sanguine and cautious Budgets; there are the old vested interests of the squatters ; there is the long-sighted financier and the impatient public; and there is even the foolish, awkward, and very unprofitable old collision between the Parliament and the Press. What more can an Englishman want to make him happy, or miserable, as his choice may incline ? When we add that the Governor had just invested Sir Thomas Pratt with the Order of the Bath, and that Easter Monday was celebrated by a review of 2.400 Volunteers, who had just been washed out of their camp by the rain and wind, nothing is wanting to prove Victoria a true child of her British mother, and Melbourne another London. Who need complain that he wants elbow-room here, when it is London wherever he goes, and he only crosses the world to find himself at home ? We only hope these Young Englands will not go too fast, and will take warning by the fate of another too forward progeny. If Victoria is prone to import even the internal jealousies of this country, let her also learn the good sense with which we uniformly settle them.

AGRICULTURAL MACHINERY IN THE GREAT EXHIBITION. [From the " Evening Mail," Jan. ly.]

Visitors passing hastily through the long shed containing the English " CJass 1X.," while admiring the handsome stands and gailaries in which are disposed the multiform and many-coloured articles of rural mechanics, may note most of the chief notabilities of the display. Messrs. Ashley & Co., of Stamford, offer to chop chaff", or toss out hay after the mowmen, and exhibit that novelty of late years, the circular rotating harrow, which does great execution, upon tough furrrow slices, matted weed, and obdurate clods. Mr. Aveling, of Rochester, exhibits his simply-contrived and prac-tically-successful locomotive for common roads, of which, it is said, 40 are already in constant use. Messrs. Barrett, Exall, and Andrewes, of Reading, are distinguished by their fixed steam-engine.", and especially the small portable thrashing machine, On Mr. Bentall's stand you have tho wpwiflUy ck9§n»&ia mm iffieiiat obiffwttßii

crushers, &c, from the Heybridge Works, Maldon; that modern invention the root-pulper, originating in compassion for the incisors and molars of lire stock ; and the celebrated broad-sharer, that surprised the agricultural world in 1851, and has since then effected a revolution in the practice of cleaning land after crops. Mr. Burrell, of Thetford, shows us a better form of the Boydell trac-tion-engine, adapted for dragging the thrashingmachine from place to place,—a practice now becoming quite common and convenient. Messrs. Brown and May, of Devizes, show a portable steam-engine. On Messrs. Clayton and Shuttleworth's stand we have specimens of what the Lincoln works can produce—mainly consisting of those portable engines and thrashing-machines which are famous all over the world. Last year this firm sent out no less than 566 engines, and during only last month manufactured 66 agricultural steam-engines and 61 thrashing-machines—-an example intimating the immense extension of i *V e tra de at home and abroad. Messrs. A. and E. Crosskil], of Beverley, with their clod-crusher, shows us how to pulverize hard rough soil, or consolidate the mould around the roots of young wheats. The trustees of W. Crosskil!, also of Beverley, exhibit the best of farm and other vehicles of burden, with ingeniously machinemade wheels, parts fitted together with the utmost nicety of workmanship; and, again, they show powerful mills for grinding bones—not exactly " to make our bread," but to stimulate the growth ofourcrops. Mr. Fowler's steam ploughs, deservedly the most prominent objects in the class, have been referred to on a former occasion. On the stand of Messrs. Garrett, of Saxmundham, the thrashing-machine, the corn-drill, and the corn horse-hoe are marked features. Messrs. Howard, of Bedford in addition to their ploughs, harrows, and steam cutivators, exhibit their new and unsurpassed implements for the hay harvest. Messrs. Hornsby, of Grantham, shows their portable engines and new-improved thrashing-mach-ines. One of the most interesting sights in the Exhibition is that of busy honey-bees at work in the transparent and humane hives of Mr. Neighbour, of Holborn, and Mr. Marriott, of Grace-church-street. Mr. Nicholson, of Newark, contributes implements for the hayfield. Messrs. Page, of Bedford, shows ploughs, chaff-cutters and rakes. Messrs. Picksley and Sims,of Leigh, exhibit their first-class manual delivery reaping-machine. On the stand of Messrs. Ransome and Sims, oflpswich, besides ploughs and otherfield implements, we find portable and fixed steam-engines, their new-ly-improved thrashing-machine, revolving cornscreen, mills for crushing all sorts of grain, root slicers, chaff-cutters, &c, sample machinery from their great and celebrated Orwell works. Messrs. Richmond and Chandler, of Salford, display their peculiar specialite in the form of chaff-cutters, and the most effective and durable machinery for preparing the various foods for cattle. Mr. Robey, of Lincoln, show a locomotive engine for travelling along common highways. Messrs. Ruston and Co., of the same city, exhibit a portable engine and improved thrashing-machine. Messrs. Samson and Jewell, of St. Helier's present to our notice a singular implement for paring and pulverizing the soil. Mr. Samuelson, of Banbury, supplements his show of reaping and grass-mo wing machinery with root-slicers, pulpers, chaff-cutters. Messrs. Turner of Ipswich, have a large stand of engines and mills. On Messrs. Tuxford's stand we have their celebrated first-prize steam-engines of all varieties, together with their new road locomotive, which propels itself by means of a single roughened roller avoiding the complication of driving by two wheels. We have only mentioned some of the more prominent collections, but a cursory inspection of these affords an insight into the superiority of British agricultural machinery over that of any other nationality. It must not be supposed, however, that the World's Fair includes few other implements of a really manufactured and civilized description. The French " Class IX." occupies a considerable area, including articles furnished by 42 exhibitors ; and Paris and many French towns have their large factories and workshops producing tools and machinery for the farmer. Quaint conceits and singularities of contrivance mark the simplest implements,—as in the ingenious methods adopted for adjusting the line of draught to the plough ; the fixing of small projecting planes of wood upon the face of a mould-board to lessen the friction and cohesion of moist soil. One thrashing-mach-ine has the unique feature of two drums, as though one good one were not adequate for completely shelling out the grain, and quite as much as any ordinary motive-power can drive. Another crushing-machine has oddity in the form of its straw-shaker, consisting of two oscillating rakes which toss the straw. One reaping-machine has a ver) T compact appearance, the main frame consisting of an iron shell which incloses the wheelwork. But, excepting where there is obvious imitation of the English, we do not find that admirable adaption of parts to the work they are to perform, or that strength, perfection, and finish which distinguish the construction of English (of course including Scotch and Irish) implements. Certainly, there are many excellent points in some of the French portable steam-engines ; it is doubtful, however, how far any additional conveniences and appliances of cocks and valves are valuable amid the dust and dirt of a farmyard, though very handy for the-railway engine-driver, and there is more of fancy than usefulness in employing an annular "governor" in place of the time honoured revolving balls. Belguim has 19 entries of implements, including several specimens of the plough, more or less made of iron, in place of the old-fashioned cumbrous wood. Several thrashing-machines, chaffcutters, drills, and churns, add to the not very extensive list

Denmark contributes a novelty in the shape of long shallow iron panes for holding milk in large dairies. A. screw at the further end enables the pan to be slighly raised for emptying, and abroad blade of thin wood reaching across the pan and supported by rollers running along the edges of the pan, is drawn from end to end when the cream is to be skimmed off the milk. We cannot say much of the utility of the drill, with regulating clockwork, notwithstanding its ingenuity. Agriculture appears to have been so bundled about from one obscure corner of the building to another that implements are glad to hide themselves behind any chance object of huge dimensions that may offer, and many of the foreign implements ai'6 to he found neither in the Courts devoted to their particular countries, nor, after a laborious assent and search, in the gallery, but in some out-of-the-way corner of the " Western Annexe," where you catch occasional glimpses of an agricultural machine, perhaps through the flying spokes of a ponderous fly-wheel, or behind a long train of railway carnages. Here we find some part of the Austrian " Class 1X.," in which there are 21 exhibitors. The plongh, hoes, drillploughs are not of a very advanced order, but doubtless perform tolerably good work where the soil is suitable for imperfect tillage. The Prussian show is small. Horse-power for giving motion to thrashing and other machines and one or two broad-cast sowing-machines are the principal article, beside the ploughs. These have wooden beams and handles, with wroughtiron plough bodies, shares, mouldboards, and coulters, the form being that of a short, abruptly upright plough, by no means adapted for easy draught or effectual turning of a furrow slice.

Italy has a fine show of agricultural machinery, from no less than 45 exhibitors ; but it is very difficult to discover the whereabouts of one half of it. It comprises ploughs, trench-ploughs, harrows, machines for thrashing maize, cornthrashing machines, carts, the short-handled Tuscan plough, the plough of Parma on wheels, models of irrigation works, agriculturists' levels for operations in watering the fields, and apparatus for hatching silkworms' eggs. In the Norway Court are several ploughs, constructed of wood and iron—one a very fair copy of the Scotch swing plough. There is also a turnwrest plough, in which the beam rotates for working in the contrary direction. The Norwegian harrow, with its sets of rowlersfor effectually breaking the upper soil, is a great feature here ; and so is the broadcast sowing machine. For small occupations a triangular harrow is shown, having a handle in front, to be dragged by manual Iftkuv i red tbtfe U &t wwplisi CTS&iYftfles \$

the world, in the shape of an iron clamp, hy which hop poles, or garden sticks, can be thrust easily into the ground hy the foot. • Agriculture is evidently progressing rapidly in Sweden. They have iron ploughs, with or without trussed beams—generally after the Scotch model. One peculiar shape has an extremely long-pointed share, the beam being of wood, with only a single handle. Dairy utensils are a feature in the display; one churn, with warming vessel, is cleverly made with a reciprocating rotatory motion, procured by a couple of straps wrapping round a spindle, and alternately unwound by the pressure of a lever. Aitong the Russian implements is a peculiarity in the grouping of three small ploughs upon one frame with regulating wheels, and the V shaped harrow appear a favourite, both in wood and iron, one being mounted upon four wheels. One large iron plough is specially suited for excavating a deep furrow. Turkey has little better to offer than tools much like mattocks. Switzerland shows but few implements. Neither have the Netherlands sent many mechanical indications of their really great advance in tillage. John Bull can walk through the length and breadth of tho Great Exhibition with the satisfaction of feeling that he is above all rivalry in the building of a waggon or the hammering of a plough, while far distancing all competitors in those more complicated machines and engines which prepare the farmer's produce for the market and the feeding-byre. But he cannot be blind to the evidence of great improvement in many foreign lands, and there may be grave reasons why he should continue to bestir himself in further agricultural progress.

AMERICAN WAR. [From the '* Evening Mail," June 23.]

Let us spread a map of the Southern States of America before us, and splash with red the snots where men of the same tongue are now engaged in mutual slaughter. We may begin with Harrisonburg, in the North-West of Virginia, not a very long way from the banks of the Potomac, and but a short railway run from Washington. Thence General Fremont reports a sanguinary disaster, wherein the loss was heavy on both sides, and the Federal loss was very great among the officers. Here is our first red blot, close up upon the boundary line, showing the rebel spirit active and fatal even near the home of the Northern power. About a hundred miles to the SouthEast, across the mountains, we may mark with another red blotch the city of Richmond, whence General M'Clellan reports that in the recent battle of Fair Oaks he has sustained a loss in killed, wounded, and missing of 5,739 men. A wound in such heats as now prevail but too certainly means death, and if we throw in an estimate of the Confederate loss we must calculate at least 5,000 corpses as the result of that useless battle. The crop in that spot is yet rank, and Death still wields his sickle there. Down the James river, where the gunboats and ironclad ships are striving with undecided success to pass the forts, the carnage continues, with perhaps a mitigated vigour, and all that region must be tinned with a reddish hue. If we look away westwar.!, over the vast territories of Kentucky and Tennessee, it is all a volcanic region, where outbursts are always expected, and are frequently occurring. Where peace exists it is the peace which exists under the pressure of an armed force. On the borders of Tennessee and Mississippi there are 200,000 men flying, pursuing, or resisting. We are told that the retreating Confederates have now only 80,000 men General Pope estimates the loss of the Confederates in these parts at, 20,000 men, and is silent as to his own. Here, again, great armies are in the field, und a deep crimson must cover all this borderland. Then, the waters of the Mississippi roll down dead bodies There has been a naval battle, in which the Confederates have shown their wonted incapacity afloat. Their gunboats have been destroyed, and Memphis, so often reported to be taken, has at last fallen. More slaughter, more tyranny, more destruction! These are not nearly all the scenes of bloodshed. There is righting even in Missouri to the far West, and around Charleston to the extreme East, and there is worse than fighting down upon the shores of the Gulf, where General Butler still bears command. Never at any time could we have stained the map of Europe so red as that of America now looks, when we have marked the spots where men are inflicting and suffering violent deaths. In all this we have counted only the least portion of that human misery which pervades the land. The frame which is destroyed by a cannon shot, a bursting shell, or a Minie bullet passes to dissolution with a single pang. The human creature who is torn by a sword or bayonet wound writhes upon the ground in the delirium of the supervening fever, but pusses out of existence after a short agony. But where one dies from lead or steel ten die of wasting disease. We kuow nothing from the Southerners of their miseries; hut we see in the reiterated demands in the North for more men what an amount of misery is covered under the cloud resting over these red spots we have just marked upon our map. We can read symptoms that even the North must begin to feel tills terrible drain of life when we are told of crowds of women obtruding their destitution upon the authorities of Washington, and when it is related that pauperism has for the first time, made its appearance in that community so rich in fertile land. But what the Northeners hesitate to confess of themselves they readily testify of their victims. General Halleck reports that Hundreds of men and women and children are starving around him, and that contributions of money would be useless, for that there are no provisions to be purchased. General Pope telegraphs from the same neighbourhood that wealthiest fatuities ave destitute and starving, and women and children are crying for food. If the North want revenge, they have it. Surely, it was unnecessary for the House of Representatives to urge " the officers commanding districts in the Confederate States to subsist their armies, as far as practicable, upon the property of the rebels !" The instinct of a necessitous army, like the instinct of a hungry locust, requires no prompting ; wherever the red spots stud our map we may be sure that famine exists in a wide circle all around. Yet, amid all this death and disease and desolation, the evil passions of both parties only seem to grow more and more intense. The mutual recriminations show that this war is losing even the colourable chivalry of civilized war, and is degenerating into unbridled butchery* General Banks complains that his retreating column was slaughtered by the Contederate cavalry, who shot or sabred " the helpless soldier sinking from fatigue, unheeding his cries for mercy." General Banks is indignant also that the women of Winchester threw missiles out of their windows upon the heads of his men. These women had probably read the proclamation of Butler, and, if so, we cannot wonder that they did their worst against such invaders. Unmanly ruffianism on one side has beeu matched by unwomanly fierceness on the other. The Confederates are now said to be fighting " under a black flag," to " give no quarter to the Yankees," and to be raging with the cruelty of despair. It is very horrible; but, perhaps, it would be more hard to feel pity for an invader crying for mercy if the pursuer has in his memory a desolate home and a starving outcast family, than it would be if fighting a fair battle upon a foreign soil. These things will go on intensifying. It is the necessity of civil war that it should be so ; and the longer it lasts the more revolting will bo the facts which every mail will bring us. The last item in these recriminations is the correspondence between General Beauregard and General Halleck, wherein the Confederate accuses the Federal General of having sent into camp 200 prisoners infected with the smallpox, with the object of sowing that disease in the Confederate army. Whatever may he the result, it is plain that this war has now reached a point at which it is a scandal to humanity. It has become a war of extermination. Utter destruction may be possible, or even imminent, hut submission is as far off as ever. The planters are still retreating and taking their Negroes with them. Memphis was found with all its cotton in flames and all its sugar desw

another fight for Richmond; and even after another defeat a retreat into Texa* seems to be still on the cards. Persons who listen to the excited railers on either side may think that there is no alternative but to let this flood of bloodshed pass over the land; but at this calm distance we may perhaps more wisely calculate that such voices do not represent the mind of the American people. Both parties must by this time be in their hearts tired of this strife. There has been blood enough shed, fortunes enough made, losses enough suffered, and wrongs enough inflicted and endured. The opportunity must be either present or at hand when some potent American voice prudently calling "Peace," may awaken an uni versalecho.

RUSSIA. [From the "Time*," June 23. J

The St. Petersburg Gazette publishes a series of decrees suppressing various institutions in consequence of the recent fires. Among others the Chess Club, two Sunday schools, and other establishments are suppressed, on the ground that political discussions of a revolutionary nature were held at them. All the public reading-rooms are closed. The following is the order issued by the Military Governor of St. Petersburg:— "I. The Military Governor-General of St. Petersburg, deeming it bis duty, under the present circumstances, to take all necessary measures to calm the anxiety which prevails in the public mind, to prevent the propagation in the capital qf reports devoid of foundation on actual events, has thought it advisable to close the Chess Club until further orders, as it was there that such erroneous opinions were formed and circulated. " 11. The baneful tendency of some of the public reading rooms recently established, and which have offered fewer facilities for reading than opportunities for propagating among the persons who frequented them works of a nature to excite the people to agitation and disturbance, as well, as false reports, has rendered it necessary for the Military Governor-General to close, until further orders, all public reading rooms actually existing."

Meantime, despite all the exertions of the police and the military, the fires continue, not only at St. Petersburg, but in other towns of the Empire. Detachments of volunteers have been organized to assist the fire-brigade. A letter from St. Petersburg, in La Prafte, dated the 12th of June, gives the following account of the conflagrations in the capital:— * .. " You will doubtless already have heard of th% numerous conflagrations that have extended their disastrous ravages ovor our capital. Behind these flames there is a dark mystery which alarms the' Government. No one here believes tnat these continuous fires are the result of accident. The details of these conflagrations, and, so to say, their geography, show a concerted plan and a clever organization. To be convinced of thisit will suffice to follow their course.

"On the 2nd of June, at 5 a.m., fire burst out opposite the police station in the Grand Okhtastveet; fanned by the wind, three streets were burnt down. While the fire brigade was actively employed in putting out the flames, another fire,' burst out, at 2 p.m. in the Georgewska-street, <which consumed 25 houses and their dependencies, as also the Chapel of Our Lady of Smolensk. " On the following day, the 3rd, the fire brigade \ was hastily sent for to the Kamskaxa quarter; six.'.' houses were in a blaze. The flames shot across to the left side of the Ligowska, where all the buildings are of wood. They were all consumed, "On the 4th of June, at 2 a.m., flames burst forth from one of the barracks; 40 houses were burnt down. The fire brigade load scarcely returned to their quarters when, at 3 p.m., bright flames lit up the Grokowo Market, the streets , Kobylswka, Lygowka, and Nazicwae. The number of houses destroyed is not yet known. At the same moment a commercial house was burning in the Bechkutoff street; finally, at 11 o'clock at , night, a house opposite Nacziwisk burst into flames. I cannot describe the effect of these terrible manoeuvres. Consternation prevails. Political discontent, armed with torches, is taking the revenge of savages. ,s On its part, the Government responds to these provocations by the sternest measures. A ukase is published to-day to the effect that any person in whose house shall be found combustible materials shall be tried by court-martial within 24 houis. This is most severe measure, as in every house combustible materials are to be found, necessary for daily household purposes. Various arrests have been made by the police. A special committee of investigation is sitting. A military governor has been appointed in each quarter of the town.

" Another source of anxiety is added to these incendiary acts. Hand-bills, exhorting the people to revolt, are largely circulated by the revolution-, ary propaganda. One of these, printed and circulated by thousands of copies, contains an energetic appeal to insurrection against despotism. A second called Zoumska'ia duma, or National Chamber, is a project of Constitution. A third (Bonsaiia Pravda, or Russian Truth) demands the independence of Poland, and conciliates the Russian movement with the cause of Poland.

I " A fourth is devoted to the memory and history of Captain Alexandrow, who, employed at the telegraph-office, altered a despatch sent from St. Petersburgh to General Luders, in April list, ordering the severest measures to be employed in case of a demonstration, to a milder form, recommending measures of persuasion. Captain Alexandrow was sentenced to be shot, but his sentence was commuted to exile in Siberia.

" Finally, other proclamations denote the moment for a general rising at the anniversary of the inauguration of the monument of Novogorod, the 2nd of August—the anniversary of the foundation of the Russian Empire. The Govern- ; ment has already ordered the inauguration to be ... postponed to the Bth of September. In fact, the symptoms are alarming. The proclamations find. their way even into the Imperial Palace, and are ■: reprinted in many towns." .q r:*

THE BATTLE AT PUEBLA. The following is the official report of General Zaragoza, addressed to the Mexican Minister of War, respecting the above engagement:— Army of the East, Head-quarters, Puebla, May 9th. " After having commenced my retrograde movement, starting from the Cumbres de Acultzingo, I arrived in this city on the 3rd inst., as I have already had the honour to inform your Excellency. The enemy followed me at a small day's distance, and having left the rear guard of the 2nd Cavalry Brigade, consisting of about 300 men, to obstruct his advance as far as possible, I proceeded, as already stated, to Puebla. I immediately issued orders to place the heights of Guadeloupe and Loreto in a regular state of defence, and I hastily completed the fortifications of the place, whicb had hitherto been neglected. " On the morning of the 4th I ordered General Miguel Negrete, a most distinguished officer, to take the head of the Second Division under his orders, 1,200 strong, to be prepared to fight directly he should give the signal, and to occupy the heights, already mentioned, of Loreto and Guadeloupe, which were provided with two batteries of field artillery and mountain guns. On the same day I formed out of the brigades Berriozabel, Diaz, and Lamadrid, three attacking columns, consisting, the first of 1,082 men, the second of 1,000 men, and the third of 1,020 men, all infantry, with the exception of 550 horse, under General Antonio Alvarez, to whom I intrusted a field battery. These troops remained assembled on the Place San Jose till noon; they then returned to their quarters. The enemy passed the night at Azamoc. " At 5 o'clock on the morning of the sth of May, our troops advanced in the order of battle I had assigned to them, and which your Excellency will find in the accompanying sketch. I ordered the Commander-General of the Artillery, Colonel Zeferino Rodriguez, to distribute the rest of his guns on the ramparts of the town, placing them under the orders of General Santiago Tapia, Military Commandant of the State. "At 10 a.m. the enemy was discerned, not taking the necessary time to encamp and adVgncing his attacking column&wone towards! tho height? Qf Grasfoloßje, about 4,000 itooflf, wm

two batteries; the other, not so numerous, prohilly 1,000 men, threatened our front, inis •ttack, which I had not expected, though i™ aware of the dariqg of tbe French wroyj.; modified my plan, and decided me totaketbe offensive. I consequently ordered the Berriazabal Brigade o attack at double quick step, to reinforce Loreto and Guadeloupe, arid the mounted Carabineers I to take the left of the; infantry, to charge at an ° P " Shortly afterwards I ordered the Battalion 'HeTorme/of Xamadrid's brigade, to go to the Support of the troops on the heights, and which were becoming hotly engaged. £ advanced abatHalfih of Sappers of the Ist Brigade, with orders ( io occupy a village*situated almost on the summit '6f the ridge. It arrived in such good time that it stopped the advance of a column senttothat point in a hand-to-hand engagement. The French made three sudden charges, but were each time repulsed- The cavalry placed to the left of Loreto took advantage of the opportunity, and charged them vigorously, preventing themfrom re-forming and making another attack. < "While the battle was being waged hotly on "the heights a no less desperate struggle was taking Klace in the plain, to the right of my front of attle, " General Diaz, with two corps of his brigade, one corps of Lamadrid's brigade, with two field pieces, and the remainder of Alvarez's brigade, met and drove back the enemy's column, which was advancing boldly against our positions, It fell back on the Hacienda de San Jose, where it 'Was joined by those we had driven from the heights, and who, already reorganised, prepared to defend themselves, and again sounded the charge. I could not attack them, because they had a numerical force superior to mine. I therefore ordered General Diaz, who was eagerly following them, to halt, and satisfied myself with holding a threatening attitude. ♦'The opposing forces remained in face of each other till 6 o'clock in the evening. The enemy then withdrew to his encampment at the Hacienda de los Alamos, while our troops gradually returned within their lines. "The night was passed on the field of battle, where we picked up the dead and wounded of the enemy. This occupied the whole of the following day, and, though I have not a correct return ofthe loss of the French, I am told it is not under 1,000 killed and wounded and eight or ten prisoners. I have to point out to your Excellency the conduct of my brave companions ; the glorious action which has just been fought speaks well for their courage, and suffices to recommend them. "The French army fought most vigorously. " I conclude by informing you that at the same time I was preparing the delence of the national army I was obliged to order the brigades O'Horar and Carvaial to watch the seditious assembled in considerable numbers at Atlizco and Matamoros, a circumstance which, perhaps, saved the enemy from a total rout, and deprives the little army of the opportunity of a victory which would have immortalized its name. " J. Zaragoza. "To the Minister of War at Mexico."

Th« Rev. H. W. Bbecher v. Grbat BRMAiN>.«*»The result of tbe debate on Mr. Gregory's motion in "the House of Commons and of Lord Campbell's in the House of Lords on the subject of the blockade, bas been received here with general satisfaction. Ooe journal alone—to be praised by which is to incur obloquy—takes, occasion of the circumstance to assert that, although England desires to wash her hands clean of the troubles of America, she will find out before long tbat the American Republic hai not done with her, .and that both North and South—to whom she has played false in the war—will seize the opportunity to unite their forces and psy her off for her perfidy. Threatened people live long ; and if the Americans were not wiser than some of tho newspapers—and this one in particular —the United States would become the very Isbmael of nations. But worse even than the newspapers in question, if that be possible, is tbe conduct of a reverend gentleman—H. W. Beecher—who has been and preaching on the conduct of tbe British Government in tbe affair of the Trent. " When our rebellion broke out," said be, " if there was any nation under heaven that we looked to for sympathy and help it was to the mother country—Old England. But bow did she treat us ? She sympathised with our enemies, and when we were all engaged with tbe rebels, and had as much as we could do on onr bands, she kicked up that contemptible fuss about the Trent, and took our rebel citizens from us. '' Oh," said he, with sarcastic emphasis, " it was mean ! it was mean!*' Tbe audience cheered tbe sentiment. •" And now," said he, " what are we going to do about it ? When we get this war off our hands, and have time to attend to these matters," suiting a strong pugilistic action to tbe word, " shall we give England what she deserves ?" The House oarae down w th thunders of applause of assent. As it subsided, "No !" said he, "We will do no such thing. Thai would not be right; thut would not be Christian.'' "Do not nail his ears to tbe pump," it would not be Christian. But is it Christian in this Boanerges of the Tabernacle to lash up the popular mind to a frenzy of hatred in this manner t There are many here who think not, and I am of the number.— New York Correspondent of the Times. A New Brigade.—Lord Shaftesbury has patronised a very novel idea—it is called " The Rag-Collecting Brigade of the London Ragged Schools." The object is to furnish suitable and remunerative employment during the day-time to the elder boys. The boys will have covered trucks, scales, weights, and receipt-books, and will pay ready money. During the first few months each party will be under the care of an adult superintendent, for the better satisfaction of the householder, and for the instruction of the boys at the outset. A brigade bank will be established, and no boy will be raised to the position of "collector," and entrusted with money for daily trading payments, till he has at his credit at this bank a sum to guarantee the amount of his daily dealings. They will be paid fixed weekly wages, and a percentage on the value of the stuff collected. They will wear a suitable uniform, the cost of which they will defray by instalments. Lord Shaftesbury is the bead of the committee. An Ample Apology.—A Yankee editor says: "If we have offended any man in th<- short but brilliant course of our career, let him send us a new hat, and we will say nothing about it."