Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 564, 31 March 1858, Page 4

Miscellaneous.

The Queen performed on the 21st Nov. one of those acts which so well become her. She distributed four Victoria crosses in the quadrangle of Windsor Castle. The happy recipients were Lieutenant Teesdale, Lieutenant .Symons, Ensign and Adjutant Craig, and Sergeant- Malone. It was the birthday of the Princess Royal, and all the Court were present. Sir Archdale Wilson has been promoted to the rank of Major-General in the Army; his commission to " bear date the 14th September 1857, the day on which the troops under his command stormed and carried the ramparts of the city of Delhi." Prince Frederick William of Prussia has contributed £100 towards the Indian Relief Fund. It is stated that Sir Gaspard Le Marchant, at present Governor of Nova Scotia, will succeed Sir W. R. Reid as Governor of Malta. Sir Gaspard will be replaced at Halifax by Lord Mulgrave, who by this appointment vacates his seat for Scarborough. It is remarked that both the incoming and outgoing Governors of Malta served in the-British Auxiliary Legion under Sir De Lacy Evans. The ninth anniversary of the Birmingham Cuttle and Poultry Show was held in the begin-

ning of Dec. at Bingley Hall. It is described as rivalling "the venerable Smithfield Chih Show" in cattle, and surpassing it in poultry The poultry, if sold, would, it is said, " realize more money than all the fat cattle, sheep, and pigs put together." There were 185 exhibitors of cattle and sheep, and 415 of poultry. The patrons of the feathered tribes include the Prince Consort and twenty-nine ladies of title. There was also good show of " roots " The Smithfield Club Cattle Show, held in the second week of Dec. in the Baker Street Bazaar surpassed its predecessors in the number and quality of the animals exhibited. There were fewer specimens of the extreme of fatness than ever; and smallness of size combined with high condition carried away the palm from mere bulk and ponderosity. The complaint now is, that the show, both in animals and implements, has far outgrown the accommodation afforded by the Bazaar • and the thousands of curious persons who have locked daily to the exhibition have suffered much inconvenience. Amono-the winners of first prizes are the Prince Consort Mr. Heath of Ludlam Hall, Norwich, the Earl of Leicester, Mr. Coate of Hamoon, Mr. R. Lynn of Stroxton, Grantham, the Earl of Darn' ley, Colonel Pennant of Tenrhyn €astle, the Earl of Radnor, Mr. C.S. Foljambe of Osberton Hall, Lord Berners, and the Duke of Richmond. The silver medal for the best beast was awarded to the Prince Consort; the gold medal for the best pen of long-woolled sheep, to Lord Berners '*«. —for the best pen of short-woolled sheep, to the. Duke of Richmond.

The financial crisis culminated at Glasgow on the 17th. Nov. in a great assembly of notables in the Merchant's Hall, to support in their presence and language the credit of the country. The Duke of Hamilton occupied the chair, the Lord Provost giving place to him. The list of speakers included the Dake of Montrose, Sir James Ferguson, Mr. Baillie Cochrane, Lord Belhaven, Sir Michael Shaw Stewart, Mr. Walter Buchanan, Sir Edward Colebrooke, Sir. James Maxwell, and Sir Archibald Allison. The meeting strongly expressed its confidence in the Scotch system of banking and the general stability of the banks; and, like three hundred firm's in Glasgow, pledged themselves to accept payment of rents and claims in the notes of -the Western and City Banks. It was mentioned by Lord Belhaven that the moment the Duke of Hamilton heard of the stoppage, he sent word to all his agents desiring that his rents at this time might be taken either in notes or deposit receipts of those banks. Sir Michael Stewart said he had done the same, and had not thought it right to withdraw his large deposits. Sir James Ferguson and Mr. Buchanan mentioned the large sums already subscribed.by the shareholders of the Western, to enable the bank to resume business. Altogether, an extraordinary spirit of unanimity and hopefulness prevailed in this gathering of merchants, manufacturers, and landed proprietors. • Dr. Cullen has replied to Lord St. Leonards on the subject of the Patriotic. Fund, by publishing a pamphlet, described as an " enormous mass of type and paper,"' a "summary" of which alone fills five columns of an Irish journal. So far as extracts furnish a means of judging of its substance, it appears that Dr. Cullen stands fast upon his original ground, and renews in strong language his condemnation of the endowment out of the fund of schools where the teaching is most dangerous to Catholic children.

"In conclusion," he says, "I beg to state, that many Catholics have assured me of their willingness to contribute to the Indian fund, if measures be adopted to protect the poor children of Catholic soldiers against the dangers of proselytism. Perhaps the appointment of some Catholic noblemen and gentlemen to take part in the central committees in London and Calcutta, with the view of superintending the interests of those children, would remove all apprehensions and satisfy public anxiety."

Mr. Augustus Stafford, formerly well-known as Mr. Stafford O'Brien, died at Dublin on Sunday, Nov. 15, after a short and very painful attack. He had been to his estates in the South, and was returning, when an illness from which he suffered at Limerick, reached a fatal climax. He was the eldest son of Mr. S. O'Brien, of Blatherwick Park, Northamptonshire; and assumed the name of Stafford by Eoyal license in 1847.; He was born in June, 1811; educated at Trinity College, Cambridge; and filled the post of Secretary, to the Admiralty, from March to December, 1852. He contested Limerick unsuccessfully in 1837; and was returned to Parliament in 1841 for North Northamptonshire, which constituency he has ever since continued to represent as a Conservative and a Protectionist. The circumstances induced Mr. Stafford's friends to have a coroner's inquest, which rendered the causes of death exceedingly clear. A post mortem examination showed that Mr. Stafford had for some time been ma state of decaying health, with very feeble action of the heart; the most urgent symptoms arising from the existence of gallstones. In a severe and painful attack, powerful remedies were needed to subdue fits of pain that might in themselves have proved fatal; and the use of strong opiates was followed by bleeding. In the night the bandage came off the arm, and Mr. Stafford bled for a long while before he awoke. He then rose and obtained assistance. But now, the opiate, the effects of which had probably begun to subside, recovered a fatal influence over an exhausted frame. The closing scene, with men employed for twelve' hours with razor-strops and wooden battens in beating the soles of the feet to prevent sleep, but fruitlessly, is one of the most painful ever related. The verdict of the inquest, however, pronounced the medical mau free from blame.

The abolition of the " Double Government" of India, was, to the surprise of the public, announced by the ' Times 'on the 27th November, at the tail of an article throwing the blame of the delay in sending reinforcements by sailing vessels instead of steam-ships upon the Court of Directors. " The Double Government, which is the type of obstruction and circumlocution, has had its day, and must now give way to something better suited to the present time and to actual wants. We are happy to say that, as soon as Parliament meets for the despatch of general business, the total abolition of the Company's government will be proposed by ministers. India will be brought immediately under the control of the Crown and Parliament, with such a machinery of administration as shall be thought conducive to its welfare. The greatest dependency of the empire will receive the benefits of direct Parliamentary supervision and direct Ministerial responsibility. Under such a system, we cannot doubt that the nation that has conquered and reconquered India will soon urge it onward with new force in the path of improvement." Such was the form of a " revelation " for which our readers have been prepared, although it could not have been anticipated that somebody's indiscretion would allow it to be made at this early day. The 'Globe' of last night echoed the tones of the Leading Journal. The ' Morniijg^Post' is silent on the subject. The ' Morning Herald' while decidedly of opinion that " the first thing for Parliament to do is to bring the guilt of omission and commission home to the actual delinquents," does not "pretend to say that it may not be found advisable to abolish the. system of the double government:"'but there must be an examination. Ministers must not be permitted to constitute themselves both judge and jury in this arbitrary manner: they are delinquents, and cannot sit in judgment on their own case." The ' Daily News 'is indignant at the ' Times' for making the Court of Directors the scapegoat of of Ministerial sins; and denounces Lord Palmerston's policy as " revolutionary," a coup d'etat borrowed from the French school. But in no quarter is the statement of the ' Times ' contradicted.— Spectator, November 28.

A Beiton at Bat.—" The Kewah Rajah, it is reported, though still faithful, has fled from his palace to some fort. The political agent, Lieutenant Osborne, is therefore left alone. His position and conduct are an excellent illustration of the scenes taking place all over India. He is a young Madras officer, and till this outbreak but little known to anyone. He is now living in Rewah, in a tent without a single companion, without a friend within a hundred miles. He is so ill with liver complaint that he cannot lie down, taking rest only in a chair. He has no guard, no soldiers, sentries or reliable servants. Every day and* night the soldiery surround his tent, threatening to put him to death by torture. He admits their power, but tells them he can take at least six lives before he dies. And so, day l)y day, there he lives, sick almost unto death, all alone, and with murderers all round, confident only that his duty is to remain at his post, and that God is above him still. It is not such men as these that Sepoys can subdue. So magical indeed is the influence of character, that to this moment Lieutenant Osborne, the sole Euiopean alive in Rewah, is felt by the natives to be at least a match for the regiment around him. To this hour, therefore, they are willing, when not stopped by force, to convey his messages and obey his commands."— Times Calcutta Cor~ respondent. The father of the Church of Scotland, the Rev. Dr. Macfarlane, Principal of the Univer* sity of Glasgow, died on Nov. 23, at his residence in the College. Dr. Macfarlane was 89 years old; for nearly 67 years he had been an ordained minister of the Church of Scotland; Principal of the Glasgow University since 1823; and twice Moderator of the General Assembly, —-a rare occurrence. He was one of the Queen's Chaplains, and had preached at Crathie within the last six years. He was also minister of the High Church of Glasgow, and regularly officiated there, both on Sundays. and week days, until he was crippled by a fall in August last, by which one of his legs was fractured. This accident is supposed to have shortened his days. The Honourable George Augustus Frederick Percy Sydney Smythe, better known by that name than by bis subsequent title Lord Strangford, died on Nov. 23, at Bradgate Park, the seat of Lord Stamford, in the 39th year of his age. He was son of the translator of Camoens, and was himself the author of a book called " Historic -.Fancies." He entered Parliament as Membe^ for Canterbury in 1841, and was foria short- time Under-Secretary for Foreign Affairs during the last months of Sir Robert Peel's Administration in 1846. The deceased married only about a month previous. He is succeeded by his brother Percy, born in 1825. . Professor Fleming, an eminent Scotch naturalist, died at Edinburgh in the end of Nov., at an advanced age. He was for a series of years parish minister at Fiisk, in Fifeshire; in 1834 he was appointed to a Professorship in Aberdeen University; this office he vacated at the disruption of the Church in 1843; after which he was chosen Professor of Natural Philosophy to the Free Church College, Edinburgh. He was the author of several standard works on zoology, chiefly written while he filled his parochial cure. • The Government has determined to erect a circular battery to defend Kingstown harbour, and to arm it with 68-pounders. It will furnish employment for a year, and comes in opportunely at this season of distress.

The Wiltshire Agricultural Association held its annual meeting on November 18th. Mr. Sidney Herbert, who was present, made a happy use of the opportunity thus afforded to give some information respecting the pay of our soldiers, with a view of promoting the recruiting service. It is commonly supposed that the soldier gets only a shilling a day : he gets nearer two:

In addition to his shilling, he is allowed one penny a day beer-money. For 4|d. he receives one pound of bread and three-quarters of a pound of meat, which cost the Government 6|d. Here the soldier has an advantage of Is. 2d. a week. Again, his cooking is done, and he has extra bread, coffee, sugar, and vegetables, at cost price. Compare that with the labourer, who has to pay a large profit to the shopkeeper. This advantage cannot be set down at less than 7d. a week. Then he gets a coat, a pair of trowsers, and a pair of boots every year, a shako every two, and a great coat every three years. Put this at Is. a week, or 525. a year. Then he has lodging, bedding, fuel; light, and the use of a library, which would be said to be cheap at 2d. a day. His medical attendance, at the lowest contract price, would be 2|d. per week. There is a prospective pension of lOd. a day after twenty-one years' service; which, according to the Northampton tables, could not be purchased at less than 2d. a week. • All this gives a total of 13s. s|d.; but it does not include contingent advantages, such as good-conduct pay, extra rations in hot climates, and rations to soldiers' wives. With our short servitude of ten years, a young man can hardly do better than serve from eighteen to twenty-eight. Mr. Herbert felt sure he would return home more capable of supporting himself than when he went out.

In the course of his speech Mr. Herbert said he was proud of the vigour and calmness displayed by Lord Canning; and discredited the complaints made against him by a certain section in Calcutta, whose recommendations he would not adopt. Of General Havelock Mr. Herbert said that his campaign " eclipsed everything."

Sir Robert Peel regaled his constituents with an off-hand rambling speech on the 17th, at a dinner given in honour of the late Mayor. It was a critical and desultory essay upon the Indian mutiny, the conduct of the Government, the late speeches of Mr. Osborne, Lord Granville, and Lord Palmerston, ■ the Indian finances, the promised JJeform Bill, and the 78th Highlanders. Some of the points were brought out with force and raciness if not with novelty. What, Sir Robert asked, did Mr. Smith of the Board of Control say when in June he received information of the seizure of Delhi by the mutineers? "he got up in the House of Commons—l heard him with my own ears— he got up andsaid, 'We have received a report of a mutiny in India; but it is nothing; it is one of those periodical emeutes which occasionally excite the natives of India.' "

To show the rapidity with which troops might have been sent across Egypt, Sir Robert showed that 46.0 men sent from Malta on the 25th September, would s reach Calcutta in nVe weeks ; while the time occupied in the passa«e round the Cape for sailing vessels was 130 days for steamers from 75 to 85 ..days. Now, in the Mediterranean there was a fleet under the command of a man to whom from the beginning he had always had an antipathy—he meant Admiral Lord Lyons—a fleet which kept roving about doing nothing. They read in the papers how Lord Lyons went here and went there, visited the Greek Consul and breakfasted with him, and went about seeing the beauty of the scenery in this place and that, when those ships might have been carrying troops to India, instead of showing off this, the vainest man who ever wore the British uniform—-a man who was showing himself off instead of doing service to the British nation. When Parliament met, Sir Robert hoped it would consider the great expense of this fleet which had been doing nothing but exhibiting Lord Lyons. Sir Robert expressed, in his own peculiar style, great confidence in Lord Palmerston. The Tamworth people showed their delight by cheering repeatedly during the delivery of his caustic remarks.

An enterprise of some importance was completed on the 17 th No v. The electric cable extending from Cagliari to Malta was successfully submerged. The attempt to connect Malta with Corfu was commenced at once.

About sixty miles of the Atlantic cable has been recovered from the bed of the ocean by the steamer Leipsic; the cable then parted, the weather being rough, and the bottom rocky. Five miles of the cable extending from the shore has been left anchored and buoyed, ready for the deep sea cable to be spliced on to it next year. An offer has recently been made by a number of young men connected with the various railways, to form themselves into a rifle corps, for voluntary local service; and a representation to that effect was sent to Lord Panmure. His Lordship, in reply, statesthat while appreciating the " public spirit which- has induced these "entlenien to come forward at the present moment, he is unable to accept their services, as her Majesty's Government have determined not to sanction the formation of volunteer corps." The subscriptions advertised to the Indian Relief Fund in England now exceed £250,000. A burial society has been recently commenced in a Northern county, the first printed article of which runs thus:—" That, whereas many persons find it difficult to bury themselves." Mr. Benton, in allusion to his age, remarked that' he was walking upon the broken arches of life, and was liable to slump through at any moment.' Beautiful—all hut the 'Slump.'

Under the head of " Our dear Friends in St Petershurg/'—The "Times prints the following advertisement, which it states has appeared in one of the St. Petersburg papers—" To be sold, portraits of Nana Sahib, the Indian chief, the slayer of the English, at 15 copecks each ; the proceeds for the relief of the sufferers in the Crimea."

Mr. Hodges, of the Western Circuit, has been appointed Chief Justice of the Cape Colony. The selection of Mr. Hodges for this appointment has been in no degree influenced by party considerations, as Mr, Hodges has never taken any share in political discussion. Mr. Hodges is the author of a valuable work 0.1 railway lands.— Times.

M. E. Pelikau, of St. Petersburg, has presented a paper to the Academy of Sciences of Paris on the wind of projectiles. Does the wind of a projectile passing close to a living subject exercise a lateral pressure on the air sufficient to produce a contusion ? M. Pelikau having performed experiments with a howitzer, fired close to a piston in a cylinder, has arrived at the conclusion that the " wind " exercises hardly any effect. General Piobert, of the French army, has invented a method to prevent explosions in pow-der-magazines : the gunpowder is mixed with coal-dust—it will burn but not explode ; when required for use, the mixture is sifted, and the gunpowder recovered pure. The Highlandees in India.—The following extract of a letter from India will show ■the extraordinary effect on the native mind by the appearance of the Highlanders :—" The Sepoys on this side of India have never seen them. At first they took them for women sent out to avenge the massacre of the ladies at Cawnpore. The battle of Onao disabused them of that idea, and the Highlanders were pronounced * petticoated devils.' Still they were a puzzle. The sepoys could understand the existence of the devils, but could not comprehend why they should be barelegged. At last the truth came out. The devils were barelegged in order more conveniently to break sepoys across their knees ! A sepoy of the 73rd, who happened to be in Calcutta on their arrival, reported on his return to his regiment that the English were sending out monsters, with legs like elephants, faces covered with hair like wild beasts, and blood-red eyes. The Highlanders are, in truth, a singular contrast to the people of the low country. On the arrival of the 42nd a Sircar or Bengalee clerk had occasion to go on board the vessel. A Highlander stepped up to him, and looked at him long and curiously; then catching him by the waist, he held him above his head, exclaiming, with a chuckle of amazement, 'Sandy, be'thae the things we're to fecht wi ?' A sepoy is very different from a Bengalee, being usually taller than an Englishman, though he weighs less."