7 OCTOBER 1848, Page 2

From opposite quarters of the British dependencies come re- ports

as opposite : while Major Edwardes is pursuing his chival- rous career in the Punjaub, the Anglo-Dutch Boers at Natal are again suffered to brave British:authority ; while the newest of English settlements, Otago in New Zealand, has begun the prac- tical work of settlement with the most promising signs of activity and prosperity, the old colony of Jamaica continues to endure the hard lot of a legislated ruin. The Jamaica Assembly is still engaged in illustrating the dis- astrous state of the island by a desponding style of conducting financial affairs. The Blacks, who, among other privileges, claim immunity from a proportionate share of taxation, have been in a rebellious condition ; but that form of the "blessed change" has been put down. Meanwhile, contention has been suspended by a calamity—an accident to the venerable Governor Grey, which must by this time have proved fatal. The Assembly has for the moment forgotten its grievances, and remembers only its respect for an amiable, well-meaning man.

The "insurrection at the Cape of Good Hope," as it has been called, is much misrepresented by that imposing and revolu- tionary title : it is nothing but the usual and expected lawless- ness into which the Boers were driven by unwise government some years back, and from which they have neither been coerced nor coaxed. They have persuaded some Native allies to join them, and once more the border is troubled with war. We guessed how long the latest "final settlement" would endure !