ENGLISH AND FOREIGN.

Hawke's Bay Times, Volume 16, Issue 831, 3 October 1870, Page 2

ENGLISH AND FOREIGN.

The ample provision which .Charjes Dickens made for his family consists of invested in public securities; half t&e value of jthe copyright of jfche great novelist's books at <£2G,QOO; his house at Gadshill, with its contents; and the interest in "AH the Year Round," bequeatecjl to his eldest son. Mr Dickens was at all times a and free-handed man, and never made the attainment of wealth a first object.— Athensum.

The death of Lord Haddington appears to have been caused by an accident. His lor4ship ; whjle engaged a few weeks ago in pruning laurels in Tyninghame House, Haddingtonshire, happened to cut his frand. The sap of the laurel entered the wound, and the poison contained therein spread through his system. Several operations were performed with the view of alleviating the distemper, but these proved of no avail, and latterly his lordship felji jnto a lethargic condition, from which he never completely rallied. -rr-Court Journal.

Mr IJurst, of Charlton, having occasion the other day to call on Mr Duffield, in the same parish, tied his horse to a gate close to which stood a row of beehives. Being much teased by the flies the horse became restless, and in twisting about overturned one of the hives. The swarm settled on his head. On seeing this Mr Hurst slipped oif the bridle, in hopes that the exasperated insects would soon cease torturing the poor animal; but unfortunately in dashing it of he overturned three more hives; the consequence was that the horse was literally covered with bees, which stung it so that in its agony it rushed into a pond, where, after rolling once or twice over, it crawled out and expired on the banjk, There died in Edinburgh, the other day, Mrs Barry, the sister of Midshipman Stewart, of the Bounty, who perjshed 80 years ago in the Pandora, when she was wrecked off the north-east coast of Australia on her way to England. The following letter appears in the Times :—" Sir, —In your obituary in a recent paper Jacob Vyilliam Luning is stated to have died on the 23rd of June, 1870, aged IQ3 years ,one month and four days. It happens Mat this life was insured in the Equitable 4 ssu rance Society and the age stated in the Times corresponds with the age-rrnamely 32 given when the insurance was effected in the year 1799. the late Sir Q. Cornewall Lewis doubted wither any instance of a male having attained the age of 100 years could be satisfactorily shown j but as it is clearly against the Interests of a person effecting an insurance to make himself out older san he really is, the mosf; sceptical on this subject should accept this case of Mr Luning's as almost conclusive evidence of the fact. J may further mention a fact; of insurance of general interest—-namely, that tftis policy will receive nearly six and a half times the amount originally insured, the largest addition ever paid by the Equitable, and I doubt not, the largest that was ever paid in the history of life insurance.—l have the honor to be, sir, your most obedient servant, Vjgil." 4 memorial statue iu honor of the volunteers wh° were killed in resisting the first Fenian raid upon Canada was unveiled at fQronto on |;he 2nd July. There is now lying at the entrance to Lytham Pock, with her back broken, a very fine paddle-steamer, the Alexandra, just built at Plymouth for the Blackpool South Jetty Company, for excursjqn traffic. She was on her way from Plymouth to Fleetwood, for inspection on the " gridiron," and on Thursday, June 2iQ, was taken into Lytham Dock, where she remained till Saturday morning, when, preparations were made for going forward to Fleetwood. There was a stjff win 4 at the tiine, and she was blown across the entrance, where she stuck fast, and as the tide ebbed she settled down and in two anudships, with stem an 4 stern up, and her deck presenting the shape of the letter Y. The circumstance Was' immediately reported to Captain Bannister, Lloyd's agent at Lytham, and steps were taken for securing what could be saved, of her fittings. She will have to remain in her present position until her boilers and engines are taken, out, and until instructions are received from the underwriters. Four or five vessels in dock, waiting to go to sea, cannot proceed until she is removed. The unfetlPJlte craft was 12Q feet from stem

to stern, tonnage about (?Q, with engines of 70 horse power, drawing only 2| feet of water at her stern, and very hand? somely #tted up, with saloons elegantly furnished.

Another of the historic houses of London is doomed. Kent House, so long the residence of the Duke of/ltent, the father of the Queen, and subsequently of Lord Clarendon and Sir Cornewall and Lady Theresa Lewis, is being pulled down. It is hoped its beautiful and extensive gardens may be preserved, and that those who build new mansions on the site of the old house may still keep its fine old trees and shady shrubberies. There are few like it in London, A copy of Macklin's spjendi4 edition of the Bible, profusely illustrated with about 11,000 engravings and drawings, comprising specimens of every school and style, was sold the other day for .£165.. This valuable collection of pictorial art was formed by the late Mr John Gray Bell, of Manchester, and was handsomely bound in sixty-three large folio volumes. M. de Kontski ? the famous Russian violist, and his daughter Waanda, the pianist, have had the honor of playing before the Sultan. His Majesty was so delighted with the instrumentation of both artistes that he conferred the decoration of the Medjidie on the father, and added the substantial donation of 100,OOQ francs for the evening's entertainment. An earthquake in Santorin, one of the islands of the Greek Archipelago, has shaken down most of the houses and sub-merged-several islets. No loss of life is reported. The Dublin Express says that a\\ through the South of Ireland, and even in the farthest west, where average harvests are a matter of rare occurrence, this abun4ant year will be likely to prove one of the most satisfactory that the pre? sent generation has witnessed. A romantic elopement occurred in Leicestershire, on July 11, which causecf considerable excitement. In Ashby-de-la-Zouch, there lives a wealthy farmer and butcher, Thomas Ragg, who has a daughter 4 nn » of some thirty summers, possessed of property in her own right. In her childhood she formed the acquaintance of a playmate, John Qheadle, who, as years rolled on, became deeply attached to Miss Ragg, who reciprocated his addresses. Cheadle, being a member of the Wesleyan Ikfethodist church, that bod} as one of its ministers j but did not offer Miss sagg marriage. About six months ago Mr Ragg took into his service a man of twenty-five summers, Joseph Hill, whose good appearance an 4 genial manners produced a most favorable impression on the mind of Ragg, and a clandestine courtship sprang up between them. On Sunday night, this, pair took tram for Leicester, where they arrived by the last train at nine o'clock, Hill repaired to the house of his parents, in Upper Kent street, leaving the bride elect at a publichouse—the Midland 4-rms -riu the neighbourhood of tqe railway station. When Mr Ragg came to close his bouse for the flight he found his, daughter and assistant were missing, an 4 soon discovered that they had Jeft for Leicester. The next morning, soon after daylight, lie left in a trap, accompanie4 by Mr Chea4le, the tardy Wesleyan lover, for Leicester, where they a rr We4 about. six o'clock Having sought tbe aid of the county police, Mr Ragg au4 our Wesleyan friend went to the public-house, where they abruptly introduced themselves to the presence of Miss Ragg, much to her astonishment and the chagrin; of her friends. She soon fetched her boxes down, with her bank book for 4530, and jeft the house with her 014 playfellow, greatly to the consternation, of her late lover. Tbey then wende4 their way to the registrar's, where a special license was taken out for a mar-? riage to be celebrate 4 next day (Tuesday), at Trinity Church, Ashby-de-la-Zouch, between Ann Ragg, spinster, and John Cheadle, Wesleyau minister.—:She%l4 Independent.

A most extraordinary application waa. made to the Kingston-on-Thames borough, magistrates the other notorizing. A gentleman, who said he was a but not. stated to the bench that, his, Wife havicg gone away for the benefit of her health, he was left at home with ten, children, who were in the care of a nurse. Qn Sunday he had occasion to chastise, one of the children, and the servant interfered, morning when he got up h§ fopd. the 4 Q <*M $$ WP§ W<k

children gone. Presently the woman .came to ithe house to fetch some milk which had been left for the baby, and he .asked where the children were. She said she had taken them away to some friends. The applicant wanted to know what he should do. The nurse, who was present in court, said she had been jn the appli.cant's service about seven years, and was now left in sole charge of the children. Her master jllused them, and when she interposed he threatened to knock her down. (Consequently she took the children away from him, and distributed them among two or three friends. The bench advised £he father to wait and see what was done, and in the meantime the nurse said she would telegraph for her mistress. A miserable drunkard in Helena, ArikansaSj recently shot his wife in the back of the head, but her chignon caught the and she was only stunned. A short time since information reached the Governor of Jamaica, and also the Admiral at Bermuda, that 400 Indians had marched upon Carosal, and threatened to make a descent apon Belize and burn the town. Her Majesty's ship Lapwing was at once despatched by the Admiral to render assistance, and the of Jamaica forwarded Her ship Vestal with troops, artillery, rockets, and other war material. Upon the arrival of the expedition at Belize, it was discovered that the authorities at Jamaica had been hoaxed. The 400 Indians dwindled to 40, who, it appeared, had seized a black teapot, which they carried off in triumph. This .expedition will cost the Treasury something like £5,000. Oh July 5 the shopkeepers in Kanturk, Scotland, were compelled by a combination of tradesmen and laborers to sign .agreements against the importation of English boots and shoes. The Queen, who has suffered much from the heat, was compelled to abandon Jier intention of opening the Thames Embankujent on July 1,3. The ceremony was therefore performed by the Prince of Wales, and the day was one of loyal comjnotiou from Westminster to the Temple. Jn some respects, though the line of the JR-oyal progress was shorter on this .occasion than on the opening of tjbe Holboru Viaduct, the opportunitieg for seeing the .ceremony were much better. The bridges afforded splendid posts of observation. The Tweed trade at Galashiels was never Jbetter at this season than it now is. Nearly all the carding machinery is running fifteen or twenty hours a day, and .all the rest of the departments are correspondingly active. Wool keeps at moderate prices, but with an upward tendency. The Gaulojs tells us a story of a lady N who preserves her beauty by plastering strawberries over her face every night and washing them off next morning. The fair creature bad for some time past been annoyed by a troublesome creditor. The other day he called before her beautyship fcad arisen, and insisted on forcing his way .into her bedroom to demand instant payment. " Bnt fools rush jn where angels fear to tread." JJe had no sooner got into the room than his fair debtor jcrie<J out, "My dear Mr Dunn, why could you be so imprudent as to approach a person suffering from small-pox j Look at my poor face.! * The creditor gave a shriek, darted out of the room, and has pot since been heard of.