English and foreign Items.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 15, Issue 751, 10 January 1870, Page 3

English and foreign Items.

DEATH OF GEORGE PEABODY. [Home News.] A.FTEB an illness of several days' duration, this distinguished American citizen and philanthropist died last night, November 4, at half-past 11 o'clock, at 80, Eatonsquare, Pimlico. G-eorge Peabody was descended from one of the Pilgrim Fathers who left our shores in 1620, to plant the standard of English Puritans on Plymouth Rock, and found the mother State of North America lie was born on February 18, 1795, at Danvcrs, Masaehusetts. ... On the Ist June, 1812, whilst Peabody was little more than a boy, President Madison sent to the Senate and House of Representatives of the United States his message full of accusations against this country. On the 18th of June in the same year, war was declared by the United Stutes against Great Britain, and the youth of America was summoned to fight for its native land against men so nearly allied to them in blood, that the conflict has assumed in the retrospect of the historian the character of a civil war. G-eorge Peabody was amongst those who volunteered to fight for his country, and he saw active service dunnar the war In 1815, however, peace was proclaimed j young Peabody, having seen something of the pomp and circumstance of war, readily resumed the pursuits of peace; and after some years he became partner in a successful firm at Baltimore. In 1537 he came to England, and in 1843 established himself in London as a merchant and rnbnoy-broker. In these capacities his assistance was frequently sought by the United States, and in 1848 he contributed largely to restore the credit of Maryland. During the Exhibition of 1851 he gave an earnest of the magnificent generosity with which his name is now associated on both sides of the Atlantic, by supplying at his own cost the decorations of the United States department. He had contributed liberally to the cost of the American expedition organized under l)r Kane to explore the Arctic regions in search of Sir John Franklin. As a proof that success had not obliterated the associations connected with his earliest youth, he devoted a sum of £25,0.0 to found an institute which bears his name in his native town : and his commercial and social connection with Maryland identified him so closely with its int rests, that he has subscribed upwards of £'oo,ooo for the purposes of education in the State. He retired from business in 1862, and in the March of that year ho presented the sum of £150,003 to the City of London. The object of his gift Wits specifically stated in a letter, in which he expressed a wish that the sum iie had given ;o the City should be applied to the purpose of benefiting the working classes by the erection of comfortable and convenient lodging-houses. The first block of these buildings, in Spitaifields, was opened in 1834. In the January of L 866 he almost astonished the community accustomed, so to speak, to his acts of philanthropy, by giving another £103,000 to the City of London, to be also employed in ameliorating the social condition of the poor ; and early this year he gave a further donation for the same benevolent purpose, of £100,000; making in all £350,000. It was in the March of 1866 that the Q.ueen paid the unostentatious plulan turopist a delicate and thoughtful tribute of her adiitirat ion by writing him a letter in which she promised that she would scud him a miniature likeness of herself. This graceful recognition by the Queen o! generosity which was unprecedented —for it must not bo forgotten that George Peabody was not of British birth —was enhanced by the bestowal upon him of the name by which he will be known in our uuuab. On the cost'.y miniature which the ruler of the greatest empire in tins world presented to one who had refused the acceptance uf heraldic dignity, waa the inscription : " V.R. Presented by the Queen to G. Peabody, Esq., the Benefactor of the Poor." liecently a statue was erected to his honor in the city, in close vicinity to the mart on which occurred the most anxious incidents of his prosperous life. In the October of 1866 ho presented §150,000 to Harvard University to establish a Museum of Professorship of American Arehajnlogy and Ethnology; and in March, 1867, tuc United States Congress passed a voic of thanks to the great benefactor for his princely donations to the public institutions of America. In one of the sweetest and most touching odes winch our language possesses, the poet aspires to but one glory—that when he is dead the epitaph "He served iiis country and he loved his kind" may be truthfully writ on the hearts of hit. countrymen. Mr Peabod/s lot has been doubly happy. On the waits of the mausoleum which ho has erected for the recep tion of ins own remains in his native land, an inscription may tell with unquestioned truth of the man who "fovea his kind and served two countries." He was the only ono who had the regal privilege to wear the badge of an order in whicn he .stood alone and bore all the honors. No herald will recount his titles over his cofliu ; no coronet will denote his dignity when he is borne to his rest. His nameis'eugraven on the hearts of the people of two worlds, and his title is "Benefactor of the Poor," I

lowa recently had a wedding in whicli a female clergyman tied the knot and officially kissed the bridegroom. A Chicago lady, who edits a law journal there,. is about to be admitted to the bar, and will practise law in partnership with her husband. A steam shovel capable of doing the work of a hundred men has been put in use on one of the Illinois railroads for the purpose of loading cars with gravel. A painful incident took place at the Opera Comiquo, Paris. M. Barre, the tenor, and Madame Gralli-Marie were singing the first act of the " Petite Fadetfce," when the former stopped short. His partner, thinking he had forgotten his part, whispered to Barre what comes next, but he remained silent. The curtain had to fall. It turned out that Barre had completely lost his memory, and that he. remembered not one note of the " Petite Fadette." Apologies were made to the disappointed audience, who retired, as it became impossible to proceed with the opera, rile tenor seems to labor under partial paralysis of the tongue and, brain. A Mr Brun, living at Soleilhas, Lower Alps, has sent specimens of what he calls St. Helena wheat to the editor of a provincial newsoaper. The description he gives of it is that it has one central ear, and round this sprout nine or ten others. It is bearded, and each ear or rather cluster of ears growing on one stalk contains from a hundred to one hundred and twenty grains. There is, according to him, a double advantage in growing this grain, that it requires a much less quantity of deed, thin sowing being essential to its proper development, and that the crop greatly exceeds that obtained from ordinary wheat. Father Hyacinthe, the refractory Carmeiito monk, is threatened with the utmost rigor of pupal law. it appears that in quitting his convent without first obtaining the permission of those set over him he has been guilty of what the laws [and regulations of the church call apostacy ; and that apostacy in a monk subjects him to the penalty of suspension, and even renders him liable to excommunication. The general superior of the Carmelite order has directed him to return to his convent within ten -days, the penalty of disobedience to be " major excommunication " and the issuing of a circular note declaring him to be dishonored in the eyes of the church. Judging by his antecedents, Father Hyacinthe u a man more likely to be influenced by his conscience than by threats. A young man, riding a bicycle, was killed iu Wolverhampton on the 2nd Oct. Avoiding a foot passenger, he ran into a luggage dray, was overturned, run over and killed. The young lady who has been reported to be subject to an extraordinary somnolent attack at Hartlepool for several days, has at length-awakened. Not long since an entry clerk employed ■ in the machine-printing room of Messrs Butter worth and Brooks, calico-printers, ckiunyside, remarked to one of the machine printers chat he was gfad to see him at his wo.k. Tne machine-printer asked his reason for his congratulation j when the clerk observed that during the previous night he had dreamed that he (the printer) tiad dropped down dead. The printer replied in a jocular way, "You see you are mistaken, for iam alive yet." The conversation took place in the presence of respectable witnesses, but as the printer was in his usual health and spirits, no further notice was taken of the matter; yet, singularly enough, at three o'clock in the afternoon of the same nay, the printer, whde attending to his duties at his machine, did, without the loast warning, dropdown dead. A Canadian paper states that a young man bathing somewhere iu the province of Quebec, deposited his clothes upon what ue supposed to be a stone. It proved to be a, somnolent seal, however, which woke up suddenly, and waddled out seaward with the sagacious youth's dry goods on his back. An unpleasant predicament occurred not long since at Cork. At an early hour a gentleman closely connected with the shipping trade, went, according to custom, to bathe in the river at the lower end of the Navigation Wail. Ho had with him a Newfoundland dog, which he left on the bank iu charge of his apparel while he enjoyed his dip. Afterwards he came to land and set about dressing; but though the captain's coat, vest, boots, aud other rigging were intact, his trousers had disappeared, and with them the perfidious animal to whose care they had been entrusted. A glance at the distance explained the mystery, for scudding at top-speed, with tho waistband athwart his jaws, aud the legs dangling limply on either flank, was seen tue blackguard quadruped. He called and whistled, but in vain—the dog had gone in for a larki aud in another moment was out of sight. There was nottung for it but to utilize the remaining garments, which the unfortunate gentleman speedily put himself inside, and in this condition took refuge in one of the sheds, where he remained nali'»starved with cold until a vehicle was sent down by a friendly passer-by, in which he was enabled to go noine, where, on his arrival, he found JL'uiito had safely brought the garment, greatly to the discomfort of the household, whose apprehensions were naturally excited by tho occurrence. It remains to be seen whether the captain will continue to pay tne tax for an animal given to practical joking of so personal and unpleasant a character.

.[From the European Mail, st£ November.] fs' wU\ be a great relief when the Byron controversy comes, to an end. -Meantime we must chronicle its progress. The latent xphase consists in ihe assailed becoming the assailants. As might have been expected, the ■Quarterly and the Academy—hailing as they do from Albemarle-sr.— have taken up the cudgels for Lord "Byron. The Quarterly, in a clever article, shows that, at the very time Lady Byron was accusing her husband of his offence with Mrs Leigh, ,she was writing most affectionate 'letters to that lady. The reviewer, therefore, argues that, whatever Lady Byron said to her legal adviser?, she pould have had no ground for it, and that her conduct can only be accounted for on the hypothesis of insanity or monomania. " There is no other hypothesis but insanity oil which the moralist can charitably account for her conduct,." The letters are_ certainly very remarkable. A specimen is enough : —January 23:—"My dearest Augusta, you have been ever since I knew you my best comforter, and will so remain unless you grow tired of the office." February 14, a month after Lady Byron had left London :—" Do not despair absolutely, dearest; and leave me but er.or.gh of your interest co afford you any consolation, by partaking of that sorrow which I am most unhappy to cause thus unintentionally." The Academy contains the following document, dated 9th August, 1817 : It has been intimated to me that the pei sons understood to be t-e legal advi sera of Lady Byron have declared " their • lip 3 to be sealed up" on the cause of the separation between her and myself. If their lips are sealed up, they are not sealed up , by me, and the greatest favor they can con fer upon me wilt be to open them. From the first hour in which I was apprized of the intentions of the Noel family to the last communication between Lady Byron and myself in the character of wife and husband (a period of some months) I repeatedly called and in vain for a state ment of their or her charges, and it was ( chiefly in consequence of Lady Byron's claiming (in a letter still existing) a pro \ mise on my part to consent to a separation ; if such was really her wish, that I consented at all; this-claim and the exasperating l and inexplicable manner in which their ' object was pursued, which rendered it : next to an impossibility that two person? < so divided could ever be re united, induced , me reluctantly then, and repentantly still, . to sign the deed, which I shall be happy—ii,pst hajpy—to cancel, aud go before any l tribunal which may discuss the business in < c the most public manner. s Mi* llobhouse made this proposition on - my part, viz , to abrogate all prior intentions —and go into Court —the very day ( before the separation was signed, and it .*. was declined by the other party, as also ( the publication of the correspondence . during the previous discussion. Those propositions I beg here to repeat, and to * call upon her and hers to say their worst, 1 pledging myself to meet thsir allegations— y whatever they may be—and only too happy j to be informed at last of their real nature. (Signed) Byron. [ Also this letter, explanatory of the destruction of Byron's autobiography : | There are a few points connected with "" the destruction of Byron's autobiography * lujon which a great deal of misconception i exists, and upon which I should therefore .] be glad to say a few words. 1. To those who doubt the entire de struction of the M.S., I may state that I was an eye-witness *o the burning of it, and of the only copy existing of it, in the {irawing-room of 50, Albemarle street. 2. The proposal to destroy it originated, I believe, with my father, the late Mr John Murray ; and his reason for making it f (as he has stated in a letter to Mr B. W. Horton, printed in No. 185 of the Quar terry Beview), was his " regard for Lord ii Byron's memory, and respect for his sur- 0 viving family" ... i( since it was sur- v mised that the publication might be inju- t ilous to the former and painful to the lat- c ler." The friends of Lord and Lady Byron t 'V united in wishing for its destruction." v The following persons were previously v consulted, as a matter of courtesy, and C were present at the burning:—Mr Hob- a house, as executor and friend of Lord s Byron ; Colonel Doyle, as a friend ol fj Lady Byron (who had actually offered t> £2OOO for the manuscript, which she did d not pay) ; %v Wilmot Horton, as friend v of the hon. Mrs Leigh ; my father, and t Mr Moore, who- alone for some time op- fi pesed the destruction. e - 3. The manuscript was, at the time of b its destruction, the absolute property of s inv father, having been purchased by him fi in" November, 1821, from Mr Moore (too yt) idm Lord Byron had given it) for n £2,000, in consideration of which sum IS Moore covenanted to edit the papers, and n \g supply an account of the subsequent it pvents 6f Lord Byron's life. On May 6, fl 18-2, lipwever, a second deed was e'xecu* il vyd. a; Moore's request, giving to hiinju

,the power of redeeming the manuscript, " during the life of the said Lord Byron? 3 on the repayment by them of the £2OOO. This condition Moore did not fulfil j consequently his interest in the manuscript " entirely ceased on Byron's death; by 1 which event the value of the M.S. was . greatly enhanced, probably doubled. This a fact, no doubt, rendered Mr Moore more than ever anxious to recover the autobi ography, and he had secured the advance " of £2OOO on loan from friends in the city I to enable him to do this. * The M.S., however, by general consent, , was destroyed, Mr Moore, though reluc ' tantlv, concurring. Moore then paid to Mr Murray the £2OOO, for which payment > Byron's friends offered to reimburse him ; ; but he refused. So matters rested until LB3B, when the appearance of Leigh ' Hunt's " Byron and his Contemporaries " convinced my father that an authentic ! life of Byron was demanded, for which i only Moore and he were possessed of the . necessary materials. He therefore ar- . ranged with Moore to prepare the " Life, Letters, and Journals of Lord Byron," published in 1830. For this Moore re- ' ceived the sum of £1,600. But (and this • is ilie'point which, in justice to my father's memory, I am snxious to state) over and above the sum so paid, Mr Murray discharged Moore's bond with his creditors, upon which he had raised the £2OOO paid by him ' immediately after Byron's death ; together with the interest thereon and other charges, amounting to £IO2O more. Thus making a total sum of £4,620. (Signed) John Murray. The lion. Mrs Norton writes, denying lier authorship of the article which, has" appeared in the Times on , cliis subject, and which was very generally attributed to her; and Mrs Stowe desires the friends of justice and fair dealing to publish for her this announcement :—"That she has kept silence heretofore in regard to the criticisms on her article on Lady Byron, for two reasons. Firstj because she has regarded the public mind as in too excited a state to consider the matter dispassionately ; and, secondly, because she has expected the development of additional proofs in England, some of which, of great importance, have already come to hand. Mrs Stowe is preparing a review of the whole matter, with further tacts and more documents, including several letters of Lady Byron to her, attesting the vigour and soundness of her mind at the period referred to, and also Mrs Stowe's own letters to Lady Byron at the same time, which were returned to her by the executors soon after that lady's death. She will also give the public a full account of the circumstances and reasons which led her to feel it to be her duty to make tins disclosure as an obligation alike of justice, gratitude, and personal friendship." It is said that Dr Lushington's continued silence on the Byron mystery is in no respect attributable to his age or state of health, his intellect being remarkably clear and vigorous for his age ; nor does he shun allusions to the topic, although he declines to state whether Lady Byron did or did not make the specific charge in question. And so for the present the nauseous subject remains. The Home News says :—A correspondent asks, with the Byron scandal in his memory, Could Tennyson have been anticipating some future biographer of himself when, •10 years ago, he wrote : For now the poet cannot die, Nor leave his music as of old, But round him ere he scarce be cold Begins the scandal and the cry: ; " Proclaim the faults lie would not show ! ( Break lode and key ! betray the trust! n Keep nothing sacred: His but just The many-headed beast should know"

A correspondent of the Wairarapa Mercury says :—The latest thing in advertisements is one in the Evening Post:— "Wanted,—A Quiet Lady's Pony." I give it publicity in your columns; perhaps some of your readers maybe able to accommodate the advertiser. / Science and Aet. —A striking instance of the immense value a small piece of steel may acquire by the great power of skilled mechanical labor is the balance-spring of a watch. From its extreme fineness and delicacy 4,000 weigh not more than an ounce, and exceed in value £I,OOO. A most interesting little work, describing the rise and progress of watchmaking, has been published by J. W. Benson, 25 Old Bond-st., and the City Steam Factory, 58 ana 60 Ludgate-hill. The book, which is profusely illustrated, gives a full description of the various kinds of watches and clocks, with their prices. Mr Benson (who holds the appointment to the Prince of Wales) has also published a pamphlet on Ar'istic Gtald Jewellery, illustrated with the most beau tiful designs of Bracelets, Brooches, Earrings, Lockets, &c, &c, suitable for Wedding, Birthday, and other presents. These pamphlets are sent post-free for two stamps each, and they cannot be too strongly recommended to those contemplating a purchase, especially to residents in the country or abroad, who are thus enabled to select any article they may require, and have it forwarded with perfect safety. 24/6