Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VIII, Issue 508, 16 September 1857, Page 4

Miscellaneous.

Mr. Douglas Jerrold.—lt is with feelings of no ordinary regret we announce the death of this popular writer, which took place at his house, Kilburn Priory (formerly the residence of Rob son, the.Crystal Palace delinquent), on the Bth of June, after a short illness of eight or ten days. Mr. Douglas Jerrold had latterly suffered much from rheumatic gout, and his constitution, naturally weak, sank under it at last. He was born at Sheerness, where his father was manager of the Theatre, in 1803. He was early seized with a passion for the sea, and obtained a midshipman's commission through the interest of Captain Austen, brother of Miss Austen the novelist. It was in this capacity he first met Stanfield, the artist, with whom he preserved an intimate friendship all through his life. Soon becoming disgusted with the hardships of his profession, he quitted it, and was bound apprentice to ajirinter ; and one of his fellow apprentices was Laman 331anchard, to whose daughter his son is now married. While he was thus employed he commenced his literary career,

by an article on the opera of " Der Freisch f » which he addressed anonymously to thb elf of the newspaper upon which he was enaa T Not only was the article printed, bSt he had the satisfaction ot setting it up m *.. His earliest success was " Black T^ P e* Susan," rapidly followed by the " p i Day," "NellGwynne," the « Prisoner of W?' and many other minor dramas of the "powei-M interest " school. Mr. Jerrold latterly m-odue 1 some five-act comedies, more remarkable for th piquancy of the dialogue than the sufficiency of plot or action. When «; Punch " was starte/ Mr. Jerrold became one of its most popular co tributors, and continued connected withitunt" the hour of his death. Some years ago l started a newspaper of his own, but after achie ing a great success at first, it fell of, and fin ill" sank into oblivion. He also edited at differ ent periods two magazines, the "Illuminated" and " Jerrold's Shilling Magazine:" and for five years undertook the editorship of ' Lloyd' Weekly Newspaper.' Familiar.as Mr. Jerrold'! name is to most readers in his capacity of dvi matistand essayist, it is as a table wit he will be chiefly missed in.-the literary circles of Lo don. As a writer many may occupy the gvom^ he held, but his place as an utterer of brilliant bqn mots' cannot be filled up. He was the la fc of the race of Hooks and Sydney Smiths. The American papers record the death of! Orson Pratt, the famous Mormon elder. He seduced the wife of a man named- M'Lean in San Francisco, andjwas conveying her and her children into Utah,where she was to live with him as his ninth wife. M'Lean followed the fugitives and shot Pratt dead at Van Buren, in Arlfahsas The deceased was a man of considerable ability' and had travelled as a missionary through Great Britain, Denmark, Sweden, and Germany. H e was next in iufluence to Brigham Yonn« and was one of the original followers of Joe Smith the Mormon founder.

At Leghorn, on the night of the 11th of June, the scenery of _ the theatre Degli Acquidotti caught fire during the Performance of "The Siege of SebastopoL" A panic arose, and in the crush 43 persons were lulled, and 134 persons were more or less injured.

M. Courtines, the French engineer who lias been employed in the construction of the principal French railways, and who was comiuisioncd formerly, in conjunction with MM. Garrelia, to study the question of cutting through the Isthmus of [Panama, has been admitted into the .Russian service, and appointed one of the principal engineers of the Russian railways.

Much-needed improvements are to be made in St. Petersburg in the way of draining and paving; as the city is built on piles, the houses are very damp, and it is proposed to attempt to remedy this by the use of drain-pipes. Cardinal Yiale Prela is acting in a very Christian manner at Bologna being busy in " clothing the naked " —statues. One of the figures that is to be partially covered, " to avoid scandal," is the Gigante di Piazza, the work of John of Bologna. The cardinal lias forbidden singing in the churches, and no servile work is to be done on Sundays ; a person found carrying a parcel on a Sunday or horyday is heavily fined. Bologna threatens to become a " model" town.

During the last three years the Emperor of the French has received the visits of—the Duke of Camhridge; King Don Pedro, of Portugal, and his brother, the Duke of Oporto; Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, with the Princess Royal and the Prince of Wales; Victor Emmanuel, King of Sardinia; the Duke de Brabant son of the King of the Belgians; the Prince Regent of Baden, the Prince Royal of Prussia, the Archduke Maximilian of Austria, Prince Oscar of Sweden, the Prince of Nassau, tlie Grand Duke Constantine of Russia, and King Maximilian 11. of Bavaria.

A jSTant.es journal says : —" A scandalous scene, which has terminated fatally occurred here two days ago. A lawsuit was brought against a person named N ■, with the view of depriving him of the administration of the property of his children. N -was greatly irritated at this suit, and on leaving the court he broke out into violent abuse against the father-in-law of a lawyer named D > w'lo happened to overhear him. D •requested N to be silent, but the latter giving away to an excess of fury rushed at the lawyer with a key clenched in his hand; and with a violent blow split open his nose. D -. .enraged at this attack, seized an umbrella which N -had let'drop, and struck him in the face. -Unfortunately, the point pierced one of his eyes, and inflicted an injury from which he expired a few hours later."

A Roman citizen named Giovanni Fabiam has been committed to prison on charge ot being a magnetiser, and a promoter of the diabolical art. Signor Fabiani bad occupied himself with magnetism for his amusement, but he did not practise it as a profession. -He invited his friends to witness his experiments, but he did not receive money.—[This is almost as bad as the execution of poor Banks at Eome, in the 17th century, on account of the teats performed by his horse Marocco.] . Among other curiosities lately sold at tn public auction rooms in the Rue Drouot, laris, were two very curious parchments, one beuig » receipt given to the treasurer of Louis XI. j the king's tailor for the sum of 30 sols, tor putting a new pair of sleeves to an old leatli pout-point of his majesty, and the other receipt from the royal shoemaker for 15 dfVel^ for furnishing a box of grease for the kingb boots. . The Austrian journals give very ™ecrg accounts of the scenes which were produced Hungary by the liberation of the political F soners. In several towns the inhabitants sp taneously illuminated.