English Extracts.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume XVII, Issue 1722, 1 February 1862, Page 3

English Extracts.

The Duke of Athole, the Marquis of Tullibardine, and Lord Dunmore have left Scotland for Paris and Compiegne. Thev go upon special invitation of the Emperor, who has directed a special train to he in waiting at Paris. The Duchess of Athole was invited but was unable to accept the invitation.— Morning Post, A Shorthorn Bull sold at Five Shillings per Ounce.—Mr. S. E. Bolden has sold a bull calf for 500 guineas. The animal, we may now add, was about fourteen days old when thus disposed of; the buver was Mr. Ihomas Atherton, of Speke, near Liverpool ; and the young patrician (as appears from a comparison of his weight with his cost) fetched something above five shillings an ounce, or eighty shillings a pound.

Isnglishmeu are made to feel the consequences of the war in America io a very unexpected manner. It appears there is a regular system of American espionage established in Liverpool. Merchants who have commercial relai ions with the South are dogged about in that town in the most determined and persevering manner. Their steps are followed, their bouses are watched, their friends and acquaintances are marked out tor suspicion. Things have gone so far that persons have been arrested in New York at the moment of their landing there on no other ground than that before leaving .England they were in communication with merchants in Liverpool who have fallen under the surveillance of these American spies.

Mr. John Laird, the well-known shipbuilder of Birkenhead, who is the Conservative candidate for the new borough of Birkenhead, has recently seceded from the fitm of which he has for many years been the head. The cause of this proceeding lies in the fact ihit Mr. Laird’s firm was successful in tendering for the construction of one of the monster iron vessels ol war, and in consequence Mr. Laird could not enter Parliament as an interested party in such contracts.

The first consignment of goods for the International Exhibition of next year arrived in London the other day. As was the case in 1851, these earliest contributions a.e from Russia, The reason why these things have been sent al so early a period was in consequence cf the closing of the navigation of the Neva ; and had the packages not been forwarded before the frost set in, it would have been necessary to have sent them by h very circuitous overland route. —The Pope is to be a contributor to the International Exhibition. The Papal government has applied for and obtained space in the building, and a Papal commissioner is to accompany to London the articles intended for exhibition.

Sir Roderick Murchison, writing to a contemporary, in contradiction of some assertions lately reported to have been made at Manchester by Dr. Cumming, adds the following interesting statement: —“The hypothesis which 1 formed rcspecring tho probable existence of gold in Australia originated, and was proved to be true, in

tl.is way. 1,, y ear )34 v/h.-i, fresh from 'he 001.1-beariao Ur.il Molh,rains, 1 h.r.l tire oppormnity <>( exan.rnino a eolh ctmu o f t1,,rocks from t |,„ merchai,, Eastern Ausrraln, brought borne by my bienil Couni Strzr-kcki, and I was m> much s"ri<k by tbeir reseiabUuce Io my (Kalian rocks (also a merirlimial chain), i|, al ] publiclv expressed mv surprise, in nddri ssir,|r the Germrspbical Snci'-tv, ihril no gobi ha,) y( . t |,ee„ fnund in our distant co ony. f | le more I reflected cn the subject the '»»ie I «as led r„ ri„. belief rhat t «>hl would Im lound in Au,ir.,| l „. ir , jy. JG ] ,| H . oormploy,.,| 1,,, mi,,,.,. ~f (J { ,,,,wa1l to emipra'e and iry i|,eir luck in t -,,|d diggings. To IS4B, > a.ing sm;,|| specimens of gold from two or rarer patties, 1 wrote to her Majesty’s Secretary for the CJornes, a „,| ü bal bad been a I rcory was (ben n realis-4 fact, and expressing •»>y opinion that Australia was about to become an auriferous region. This was three years befo>e the so-called discovery <>f gold in Australia.” . 1,(1 suburb of Loudon a few pptsuns nave been adtnitted to witness a work of art in ‘ c< ffin W3 y e y \ n artisi-upholsterfcr having luriiished an opera-box much to the satisfaction of the lady . x | lo ~a Vff t |. p ? | )e f url } Jer rofn . missiom-G him to provide her with a 14 h • uary c< ffin. Ver y MJ ] )er |j article has been produced 'accordingly. The modern antique is unexceptionable in form and adornment, inuuing some gorgeous white sa'in in the inteiiur, in which lies a large quantity pf the same n atetial, which is to serve Im a wrapping-sheet when tne time for opera boxes has altogether passed away. Meanwhile it will d<» duty as an article of furniture, and as seiving to illustrate a social trait of the present time is not unworthy of having record made of it here.

A gentleman wi o applied for his tick-1 of admission at the Middle Temp’e the other day siid to the treasurer that be believed he was the oldest member of the Inn, having been called 51 years Rgo. I assure you, sir,’ said the treasurer, “ you are a long way off, there being as many as oO before you.” The gentleman who was thus made so very much a junior is 77 years of aypAn exhibition is appointed in France for 1865, in which every attempt will be nude to outstrip all that may have been done previously to that time. Ihe services of Sir Joseph Paxion, it is said, have been retained by the imperial government for the construction of a crystal edifice of unheard of proportions. The site is to be near St. Cloud.

The Post foresees that the vast numbers of strangers who will come to Loudon to visit the Great Exhibition will be most unfavourably impressed wit n the external aspect of the metropolis. While reflecting upon this melancholy but unquestionable fact, it makes some odd suggestions : It is impossible to rebuild London by next spring. That must necessarily be a work of many years. But it is perfectly feasible to whitewash or paint the gloomy streets, which cannot fall in their present condition to strike terror into the soul of rhe stranger. This measure, if general y adopted, would lighten and alter the whole aspect of Loudon ; and if the more wealthy would at the same time pm plate-glass in their windows, the outward aspect of the town would correspond better with that inward weahh of pHie, rich furniiure, and general comfort in which no city exceeds London.”

A professor of the Berlin University has been making curious researches respecting trie population of the globe. The following is the result : — Population of Europe, 372,000,000 ; o! Asia, 720,000,000 ; of America, 200,000,000; of Africa, 89,000,000; of Australia, 2.000,000 — total population of ihe globe, 1.283,000,000. The average number of deaths per annum in certain places where records are kept is about one G> every 40 inhahnams. At the present time the number of deaths in a year would be about 32,000,000. which ismorethan the entire present p« puia'.ion of the Untied States. At ibis rate the average number cf deaths per day is about 87,261, the average jier hour 3653, the average per minuie 61. 'I iius. at least, every second a human life is ended. A> the i-irihs considerably exceed the deaths, there are probably 70 or 80 humane beings per minute.

At the opening of a congregational place of worship at Stowmarker, last week, Mr. Binney commended the new-fashioned developments of pulpits into platforms by Dissenters, and said he never could see the use of setting a man to speak over a great soft pillow. Councillors and members of Parliament did not speak over pillows, and why in the world should preachers have to do so ?”

The Potato Crop in Ireland —The crop of this year (says the Northern Whig) has been extensively infected by the old disease, but now that more accurate data exist for the formation of a corJect estimate, ’t does not appear that the loss will, in any degree, reach the amount which the heralds of famine would have had the public io believe. Immense qualities of toe gross produce are totally unfit for human food ; a large proportion of the balance will, however, be useful in cattle-feeding ; aud it is to be biped that the portion unfit for any purpose will not exceed a moiety of the entire produce of the potato lands. Prices are very high for the season. It is, therefore, evident that the consumer will more than share the less with the grower. A great alarm was raised some weeks since, and the cry of impending famine re-echoed from the west. That much suffering will be endured by the small farmers and cotters in that portion of Ireland, there is no reason to doubt; but we trust that rhe legitimate sources of relief will be fully adequate io meet the emergency. The landed proprietors—and especially those living at a distance from the scene of the disaster- - have a duty to perform io this matter which we trust they will not fail in discharging.

The New York. Despatch gives the real explanation of the disaster at Bull’s Run :—“ One of our exchanges has discovered the cause of the retreat of our army. It says, ‘When the battle was at its hottest point, and nearly won to our side, there came word that there were two vacancies in the New York custom-house. Hence the stampede of the leading officers. The men followed.’ ”

A Glasgow paper states that the Duke of Athol. l , as Grand Master Mason of Scotland, lodged a pretest with the Prince Consort against his laying the foundation stones of the Postoffice and Industrial Museum, at Edinburgh, on the ground that it was the province of the Grand Master Mason to perform that ceiemouy in the case of all public buildings.