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efficiently destructive of any liberty of the press , by which the post was prohibited from lending its use to newspapers , all those which existed in the Grand-Duchy of Posen have ceased to appear . The effect of this re-TeBtriction on the province will be immense ; and as the habit of reading had become general among the population , they will make up for the loss of an indigenous press , by devouring foreign papers . As W the
people , who will be deficient of this resource , they will feel sorely annoyed by this privation , as the interest they felt in the reading of newspapers was so intense , that they used to meet together every Sunday after church for that purpose , as well as for the reading aloud of other prints adapted to their intelligence and feelings . Now this latter class of publications will alone be accessible to them , and will therefore produce the greater effect upon their minds .
"As to the general state of public opinion , although , after examining all its different manifestations , I cannot declare it to be altogether satisfactory , still I can perceive no falling back in it , as , if some discouragement is on the one side perceivable among the wealthy classes , among the poorer , on the contrary , there has been created and is increasing firm hope , a sanguine expectation , of some important and unavoidable events . This hope is fast growing into belief and a kind of religious faith , which , although founded on no deducible argumentation , will nevertheless prove presistent , and the more so , as the people are constantly obeying their hearts rather than heads . "
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GERMAN POLITICS . The Provisional College of Princes for the Erfurt union meets with greater regularity and order than its opponent in Frankfort . Since the appointment of this assembly , it has met regularly twice a-week , and has despatched some business of an important character . The note issued by the Hanoverian Government , containing a plan for the formation of a
North . German Customs Union , based on liberal commercial principles , and to consist of Hanover , Oldenburg , Hamburg , and Bremen , has been answered bv the Oldenburg Government . The reply is a decided refusal to enter upon the Hanoverian scheme ; but , while strongly condemning , it ex-? r esses a hope that the Hanoverian Government will avour them with , a fuller explanation of its views ~ with respect to the revision of the German
constitution . Letters from Frankfort state that the Assembly of Plenipotentiaries there may be expected to dissolve itself immediately , so great is the . ^ confusion and squabbling . The representatives of the two principalities of Hesse refuse to acknowledge the Assembly as the plenum of the old Bundestag , and refrain from signing the protocols of the sittings .
Hassenpflug has proposed a directory , as an interim of which the executive is to be in the hands of Prussia and Austria , to the exclusion of the four kingdoms . The representative of the Grand Duchy of Hesee supports Hassenpflug ' s proposal . The representatives of the smaller states seem to have cordially united for the purpose of defending themselves against the possibility of their being swallowed up by the Kings of Bavaria , Saxony , and
Wurtemfourg . From the state of the negotiations with Belgium it appears that the treaty of commerce with that country will not be renewed . Notice was given by this Government on the 8 th of June that it would only be renewed on certain conditions , and unless these conditions weie accepted by the Belgian Government the treaty would be allowed to expire . The official edicts against the newspaper press in Prussia continue in full force ; and not a day elapses but one or more additional journals are refused circulation through the Post-office . Some of the
proscribed papers have resolved upon the discontinuance of their publications on and after certain specified dates . Advices from Darmstadt mention that a change of Ministry , which had long been expected , has really taken place . The hitherto Prime Minister , Dr . Jaup , hns resigned , and his resignation been accepted by the Grand Duke , who has appointed in his stead Baron Dalwigk , hitherto territorial commissioner at Maycnce , and acting p lenipotentiary of the Grand Duchy at the Frankfort Congress . The result of this appointment will be the public avowal of Darmstadt to withdraw from the Prussian union .
In consequence of a vote of the Wurtemburg Chamber of Representatives ( carried by a majority of 39 ) to impeach Ministers , the latter have thought it moro prudent to resign than to stand their trial ; they therefore hud an audience of the King and tendered their resignation in a body , which has been accepted , but they are to retain their several portfolios till the formation of a new Ministry .
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THE INSURRECTION IN BULGARIA . The latest accounts from Vienna confirm the previous accounts of an insurrection in Bulgaria . The insurgents attacked the fortress Belgradeieza on the 16 th ult ., but-were repulsed with some loss by the
garrison . On a subsequent attack they appear to have gained possession of the fort . One account says that 40 , 000 men are under arms . The cause of the insurrection is said by one account to be the discontent of the people , in consequence of the exactions and oppression of the Turkish government officers . Another account ascribes it to Russian machinations . The principal leader is a certain A . Rascha . The chiefs have assembled at Belgradeicza , and have drawn up a statement of the demands . It is said to be very moderate and just . A number of Greek priests are reported to be connected with the movement . The Bulgarians are slaves .
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THE EXHIBITION OF 1851 . A Parliamentary paper has been printed , containing a letter addressed to the commissioners of the exhibition of 1851 ; to the Lords of the Treasury , enclosing a memorandum as to the site of the exhibition building in Hyde-park . The commissioners give their reasons for selecting Hyde-park , and state that the building to be erected will be removed by the 1 st of November . The area of Hydepark is 387 acres ; Kensington-gardens , 290 ; Regent ' s-park , 403 ; St . James ' s-park , 83 ; Green-park , 71 ; Victoria-park , 160 ; Greenwich-park , 174 ;
making a total of 1568 acres ; while only twenty acres are proposed to be taken for the purposes of this exhibition . The commissioners add , that the possibility that the bringing the exhibition into Hyde-park should be considered as an interference with the enjoyment of that park by the public has never entered their minds . They have , on the contrary , always intended it as a means of recreation and intellectual enjoyment for the greatest portion of her Majesty ' s subjects , and they have hitherto had reason to believe that it has been so regarded by the country in general .
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THE KOH-I-NOOR , OR MOUNTAIN OF LIGHT . After symbolizing the revolutions of ten generations by its passage from one conqueror to another , the celebrated Koh-i-noor , the great diamond of the East , comes now , in the third centenary of its discovery , as the forfeit of oriental faithlessness and the prize of Saxon valour , to the distant shores of England . In the steam sloop Medea , which arrived at Portsmoth the other day , came Major Mackeson , to whose care has been entrusted the custody of the Mountain of Light , as the hyperbolic Asiatics have chosen ' to call it . The Times tells its history .
It was in the year 1550 , before the Mogul dynasty had been established by the prowess of the great Abkar , that this marvellous stone was first brought to light in the celebrated mines of Golconda . ^ The diamond mines which have rendered that kingdom so famous in story were situated at some distance to the east of the capital city , near the present station of Condapilly , and are now in our possession , though they have long ceased to reward or invite the labours of treasure-seekers . A few years after its discovery it passed from Golcondato Delhi , having become the property of Shah Jehaun , the father of the great Aurungzebe .
While the kingdoms of the Deccan were successively absorbed in the culminating dominion of the Moguls , the Koh-i-noor rested among the treasures of Imperial Delhi , where on the 2 nd of November , 1665 , it was seen by the French traveller , Tavernier , who , by the extraordinary indulgence of Aurungzebe , was permitted to handle , examine , and weigh it , being the first , and till now , probably , the last European who had ever enjoyed such a privilege . The Great Mogul sate on his throne of State , -while the chief keeper of the jewels produced his treasures for
inspection on two golden dishes . The magnificence of the collection was indescribable , but conspicuous in lustre , esteem , and value was the Koh-i-noor . Sometimes worn on the persons of the moguls , sometimes adorning the famous peacock throne , this inestimable gem was safely preserved at Delhi until , in 1739 , the empire received its fatal blow from the invasion of Nadir Shah . Among the spoils of conquest which the Persian warrior carried back with him in triumph to Khorassan , and which have been variously estimated as worth from thirty to ninety millions sterling , the Koh-i-noor was the most precious trophy . From Persia it was carried off with many other valuable spoils by Ahmed Shah , the founder of the Doorannee empire in Cabul , where it remained till
the beginning of the present century . In the year 1800 , Shah Shuja having ascended the throne of his brother , whom he put in prison , found that the most precious ornament of the treasury of Cabul had been purloined . A diligent search was made , and at last the Mountain of Light was discovered , secreted in the wall of his brother Zemaun Shah ' s prison . It was eight years after this , while the Doorannee monarchy was still formidable enough to inspire the Powers of the East with uneasiness , that Mr . Elphinstone , accredited by Lord Minto to the Atfghan prince , betook himself to what was then the remote and unknown town of Peshawur , where , at his state reception , the Koh-i-noor again flashed , after an interval of so many years , upon the dazzled eyes of a
European . Shah Shuja , afterwards the client and pensioner of the East India Company , was dressed on this occasion in a green velvet tunic , fitting closely to his body , and seamed with gold and precious stones . On his breast was a cuirass of diamonds shaped like two flattened fleurs-de-lis , and in a bracelet on his right arm blazed the priceless jewel of Golconda . The prince gave a gracious audience to the ambassador , and Mr . Elphinstone retired . But the Koh-inoor was not destined to remain much longer in the Cabul . Runjeet Singh soon after became its possessor , and it was from the treasury of Lahore that it came into our possession .
Excepting the somewhat doubtful claims of the Brazilian stone among the Crown jewels of Portugal , the Koh-i-noor is the largest known diamond in the world . When first given to Shah Jehaun it was still uncut , weighing , it is said , in that rough state , nearly 800 carats , which were reduced by the unskilfulness of the artist , to 279 , its present weight . It was cut by Hortensio Borgis , a Venetian , who , instead of receiving a remuneration for his labour , was fined 10 , 000 rupees for his wastefulness by the enraged Mogul . In form it is ' * rose-cut "—that is to say , it is cut to a point in a series of small faces , or " facets , "
without any tabular surface . A good general idea may be formed of its shape and size by conceiving it as the pointed half of a small hen ' s egg , though it is said not to have risen more than halt' an inch , from the gold setting in which it was worn by Runjeet . Its value is scarcely computable , though two millions sterling has been mentioned as a justifiable price if calculated by the scale employed in the trade . The Pitt diamond brought over from Madras by the grandfather of Lord Chatham , and sold to the Regent Orleans in 1717 for £ 125 , 000 , weighs scarcely 130
carats ; nor does the great diamond which supports the Eagle on the summit of the Russian sceptre weigh as much as 2 Q 0 . Such is the extraordinary jewel which in virtue of conquest and sovereignty has passed into the possession of England . It was prudently secured among the few remaining valuables of the Lahore Treasury at the commencement of the last insurrection , and , although even its nominal value would be an inadequate compensation for the cost of the Sikh wars , the people of India will , no doubt , look upon its acquisition as a fitting symbol of that supremacy which we have won .
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THE SCOTTISH FETE . The second annual «« gathering " of the members of the Highland and Scottish Societies in Lord Holland's beautiful park , at Notting-hill , on Monday and Tuesday , was successful enough to lead to the expectation that it will henceforth be an established annual spectacle . The general character of the programme was much the same as that of last year . The manly outdoor sports peculiar to Scotland formed a conspicuous feature in the proceedings , and these , combined with the showy effect of the Celtic garb , gave to the whole spectacle a peculiar claim to the nationality of title which it assumes . There was , however , no exclusive spirit evinced in the management of the fete . Archery prizes to a large amount
were thrown open to competitors from all parts of the united kingdom , and the gallantry of the committee of management provided gold bracelets and brooches to be shot for by ladies . The display in fencing , also , though principally devoted to illustrate the value of that trusty Scottish -weapon , the broadsword , was open to general competition , and an interesting addition was made to the programme of last season in the shape of wrestling . All the prizes in the other sports exhibited were contended for in the Highland dress by men who had carried off the honours at the local meetings and gatherings held during autumn in the North . These sports and pastimes included tossing the caber , putting the stone , throwing the hammer , bagpipe music , fiddling , running , and strathspey and reel dancing .
The gates of the park were opened at twelve o ' clock on Monday , and in the course of a short time the outer circle of the ring which marked the scene of action was thronged with people ; whilst the members of the different societies , with the chiefs of the different clans , all attired in Highland costume , were collected together in the open space fronting the stands . The time appointed for the commencement of the sports was one o ' clock , and by that time the greater portion of the seats reserved in the various stands were occupied . The weather was not quite so favourable as could have been wished , and the
consequence was that , in numerous instances , umbrellas , great coats , and winter shawls were displayed in a most unpromising and dispiriting manner . There was very little rain throughout the day , but the clouds wore a most threatening aspect ; and the endeavours which , the sun madu to " shine out " proved only partially successful . The scene , however , was one of a most animating description , and the varied colours of the Highland dresses as displayed on the rich and undulating greensward formed a picture well calculated to excite attention . The most striking change in the programme of 1850 was with reference to the archery . Last year this part of the exhibition was an acknow *
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342 ftt ) t ILeaiftt . [ Saturday ,
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Leader (1850-1860), July 6, 1850, page 342, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1845/page/6/
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