ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

Otago Witness, Issue 74, 16 October 1852, Page 4

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

The Derby Government was still in power. The .Ministry have fought three pitched battles in the House of Commons, since the meeting after the Easter holidays, in two of which they j were victorious, and in one they sustained a ] defeat. Their first trial of strength was on the | Militia question, which they carried by a majority of 150. The second conflict was on a motion of Mr. Locke King's, to bring in a bill to reduce the county franchise to £10, the same as in boroughs, which the Ministry successfullyopposed by a majority of 53. The success of the present Ministry, however, is not attributed to any superiority of tactics on their part, nor to any degree of popularity that they enjoy; but rather to a want of unanimity in the Opposition, which is divided into several parties. Lord John Russell voted against the second reading of the Militia Bill (which is not essentially different from his own), and has shown a little-mindedness and pettishness of late, which have tended greatly to lessen him in public estimation. The defeat sustained by the Ministry was on their bringing in a Bill to assign the four seats in Parliament to new constituencies, which had become vacant by the disfranchisement of Sudbury and St. Albans ; the Chancellor of the Exchequer proposing to give two to lbs West Riding of Yoikshire, and two to the Southern division of the county of Lancashire. The motion was avowedly to snatch four votes from the towns and free trade, and add them to the country party and Protection. The House was alive lo the trick, and check-mated Mr. Disraeli, by having 234 votes against 148, leaving the Ministry in a minority of 86.

The Queen, accompanied by the Prince Consort and a portion of the Royal Family, intended paying a summer visit to Bristol, Waterford, Dublin, and Holy-head, en route to the Scottish autumnal retreat, of Balmoral. The Court would remove to Osborne on the 22nd May, and Her Majesty was to embark from the Isle of Wight some time after (not before the Parliament was dissolved) on board the Royal Steam yacht " Victoria and Albert" (now in process of refit and embellishment for the Royal service at Portsmouth dock-yard for the summer cruise).

Sir John Pakinglon, in the House of Commons, on the 14th of May last, stated that the Government were goin^ to encourage the handloom weavers of Great Britain to emigrate to Australia.

Mr. Milner Gibson's annual motion to repeal the taxes on knowledge, viz., the Paper Duty, the Stamp on Newspapers, and tho Advertisement Duties, was opposed by the Government on financial grounds : as these taxes \ielded a revenue of noarly £1.300,000, the Chancellor of the- Exchequer declared he could not spare so large an amount; the mo'ion was lost by majorities of 30 to 100 op. each tax.

Sir Win. Gib«on Crai-j Las taken farewell of the representation of Edinburgh in an address.

Bullion in the Bank, £20,000,000,

Tf the following be " founded on fact," the spirit of speculation in England is going to take a peculiar direction : —It is stated that a company, with a capital of £100,000, has been started to colonise Spain with Iri&h peasants. The Spanish Government patronises the scheme.

Crystal Pa i ace. —The future of the Crystal Palace is settled. On Thursday la-st I'.leWs. Yqx and Henderson met Mr. Francis Fuller 'and his friends in the Transept, late the scene of so raany glories, when the transfer was e?.ecuted,the price (£70.000) paid, and pc=s«siou formally delivered. At a luncheon which followed the serious part of the business, tlo plans of the new purchaser^ were to some extent explained in speedier from Messrs. Scott, Russell, Fuller, S. Lang (chuirman of th-* Brighton Railway), and others. A- park of ioO acres has been secured in the neighbourhood of Svdenham. Raihvoy cornraunicaiion from the interior of the Building will be opened with the Brighton and South- Western Railways, on which the. public will be conveyed in a quarter of an hour for a few pence to and from the Park and Winter Garden, to be laid out by Sir Joseph Paxton, decorated by Mr. Owen Jones, assisted by Mr. Digby Wyatt. All that trees, shiubs, flowers, fountains, can do will be done to adorn the Palace, dedicated to the innocent amusement and instruction of all classes, but especially of the working classes.

The " Edinburgh Witness" says, that Lady Harris, a very beautiful young widow, only 2G years old, who was converted last year to" Popery, has given over to the Jesuits her beautiful estate of Seacliffe, in East Lothian, her prospects of £10,000 a-year from an uncle (Mr. Sligo, of Carmyle), and all the treasure collected in India by her husband, Sir William Cornwallis Harris. She has been induced to forsake an aged grandmother and her mother, whose only child she is, and to retire into a strict convent at Grenoble, in France, committing herself to the protection of the Jesuitpriests.

Circulation or the Florin. — Tuesday's " Gazette" contains a Royal Proclamation announcing the issue of a new coinage of florins, or tenths of a pound, and ordaining that these pieces of money shall be current and lawful money of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and shall pass as such by the name of florin throughout the kingdom. The new coin has for the obverse Her Majesty's effigy crowned with the inscription " Victoria D.G. : Brit. : Reg. F.I). :" and the date of the year ; and for the reverse the ensigns armorial of the United Kingdom contained in four shields

crosswise, each shield surmounted by thelioyal Crown, with the rose in the centre, and in the compartments between the shields, the national emblems of the rose, thistle, and shamrock,

surrounded with the words, " One florin, one tenth of a pound," and with a milled graining round the edge.

LIVEUPOOL AND THE AUSTRALIAN DIGGINGS. — Owing to the recent discoveries in the auriferous districts of Australia, the passenger traffic from Liverpool to the ports of Sydney and Melbourne has increased considerably, and bids fair to be a profitable source of income to the Liverpool shipowners. A number of large sailing vessels which have latterly been comparatively idle are now in the various docks undergoing repairs and alterations, with a view of being used for the Australian passenger traffic service. At present emigrants arrive in Liverpool more quickly than they are carried out, in consequence of the number of ships being less than the demand requires. A vessel will sail on the 18th with upwards of 600 emigrants from the Government Depot at Birkenliead. The gold fever is affecting persons in a respectable position in life at Liverpool, and many are preparing to bid adieu to that port. Times, May 14.

The Challenge of Mr. Mare, of the Royal Yacht Club. — Commodore Stevens has published a reply to Mr. Mare's challenge to try Yankee speed in sailing. The answer is to this etfecl : — "I regret that it will not be in my power to accept the proposal of Mi". Mare, as I have no intention of visiting England again the ensuing season. You have the " America" in your waters, and when Mr. Mare builds a yacht of superior speed, we shall be most happy to give him a trial for the sum he mentions, whenever he will do us the favour of returning the visit I had the honour of paying the Royal Squadron at Cowes."— Bell's Messenger.

The greatest distress and destitution prevailed in Skye and the neighbouring islands. An association had been formed in London to enable five hundred families to embark for Australia.

Sugar and Coffee have both advanced in price, although the stocks arc still large. The abundance of money and its extreme low price is inducing capitalists to look at colonial produce as an investment.

A Mr. Hayes, of Exeter, has in possession a bottle of brandy, obtained from the wreck of the " lloyal George," which sank at Spithead in 1792. The bottle is cuiiously encrusted with the coats of shell fish, and in one part the under shell of a small oyster is firmly attached to it.