Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume IX, Issue 582, 2 June 1858, Page 5

Miscellaneous.

Early in December, Mahmoud Effendi, a Turk and professing Christian, caused the banns of marriage between himself and Miss Heaton, the daughter of an. English officer, to be called in the parish-church of Stoke Dameral, Devonport, by the rector, the Reverend W. J. St. Aubyn. Hereupon, his curate, the Jveverend James Bliss, forbade the banns, on the ground that the man was a Mahometan and not a Christian—he had not been baptized. A correspondence ensued between Mr. St. Aubyn and Mr. Bliss; the curate invoked the aid of his bishop, Dr. Philpott, and Or. Philpott sent a notice of inhibition.

In the mean time, to meet the most tangible objection, Mr. St. Aubyn baptized the candidate for matrimony m Stoke Church; Mr.Bliss, unwilling to give a bond for caution-money required by law, withdrew his resistance to the banns, and the couple were married by Mr. St. Aubyn. The Bishop then sent four commissioners to inquire whether Mr. St Aubyn had been guilty of the offence of baptizing an adult without givign previous notice to. his bishop. The commissioners met at Plymouth, and decided that_ there was prima facie evidence to justify a prosecution. Church of , England Sfeciai, Services.— The Earl of Shaftsbury .withdrew his bill on this subject because he found he could not carry it; and intimated his assent to the bill of the Archbishopgof Canterbury, which was read a second time. [This bill enables a bishop, after communication with an incumbent, to directspecial services in his parish-.in the event of a difference of-opinion between them, the archbishop isf.empowerecl to give a final decision.] A colliery explosion, attended with a great loss of life, occured ut Messrs. Wilde and Co.'s pit, Bardsley, near Ashton-under-Lyne. There were about 140 miners in the pit at the time. The -majority .were drawn up unhurt, a good many were hurt, and about forty, it is supposed, have perished. On the second day afterwards, twentyseven corpes had been brought to the surface ; the exact number of the dead still in the workings was not known. Shortly .before the accident, the mine appeared to be in a safe working condition. •

A letter from an officer on board the Sappho, a vessel cruising off Western Africa, gives a stirring account of the rescue of a cargo of slaves. A slaver chased. by the Sappho run ashore. The crew escaped; leaving the American colours flying. "Then we all beheld a dreadful scene: the slaves-forced their way from below; jumped overboard, and soon disappeared in the rollers; it was terrible to see them." Our officers and men, regardless of their own lives, pulled through the surf to leeward of the ship, but her heavy lurching for some time prevented their boarding; when, they succeeded, the-scene 'was horrifying,—the slaves still forcing their way up from the slave-decks with loud»yells, running to and fro, and continuing to throw themselves overboard. All attempts to pacify them were useless; force was necessary to drive them below until preparations could be made for their safety. We were told by one of the slaves who could speak Portuguese, that they were told the English Avould cut all their throats. As soon as the boats could be attended to, the cutter was backed under the stern, and a rope thrown her; then 3 of the slaves were permitted up at a time and lowered into the boat, the whale-boat conveying them through the rollers to the large boat, and so~ on to the Sappho; this continued until eight p.m. The- surf increased and it was impossible to save more that night; 180 were rescued." A guard was left on board. The next day, in spite bf the rollers, and a fire of musketry from the beach, t theSEnglish saved 200 C more. Then, .burning the ship, they sailed away. The Negroes on board suffered terribly. "As food and warmth restored them, in; various ways they signified their sense of kirid- ; ness. There was one poor creature with an infant at her breast, naked, cold, and exhausted, apparently dying; a little wine was given her, then some rice, which she forced from her own to her : baby's mouth. A sheet was given to cover her; she wrapped her baby in it, and pressed it to her heart with that iook of maternal love which God has given to the dark as well as the pale-face race."

Extraordinary Oversight.—We are sorry to say. that our scotch contemporaries have not paid Prince Frederick. William the compliment which we expected for him at their hands. Not one of them, that we know, has published the assertion that the Prince numbers a Scotchman among his ancestors.— Punch. The Rudiments of Bancruptct.—The first thing to do, my young friend, when you start in life, is to settle every thing you possess upon your wife. Having done this legally and" securely, take a wharehouse in a good situation and begin to buy. That you- may., be under no alarm about your power to do this, I will explain, in a few words, the theory of trade. The greater part of goods manufactured are made by persons' of little capital, and they are compelled to force sales to get bills of exchange for discount to pay for the raw material. The warhousemen who buy them are men of little or no capital and they are compelled to hurry sales to get bills for discount to pay the bills drawn by themanufactors. Arid so trade mpves, one class continually pushing on another. The necessity to sell is behind every man's back ; you, therefore, need be under no concern about your ability to buy. Before you have opened your doors a week you' will scarcely be able to keep the commercial travellers tout. ; Let it be hinted abroad —although it is not absolutely necessary for your success in failure—that your father-in-law is a person of property. It means nothing, but it will be useful in a variety of ways.— Dickens Household Words.

Sin^ttlab Census Returns.—One of the constabulary enumerators was much amused by the return which a very eccentric and proverbially social inhabitant of the village of Wliitehouse, near Belfast, had under the column " Deaf and Dumb." The household of the statist consists merely of his wife and himself, and their difference of opinion upon matters of domestic economy is locally celebrated. The return (in the handwriting of the head of the house was this:— " Husband, not deaf—wish to the Lord he was. Wife, not dumb —wish ditto, ditto."

When Dr. D: and Lawyer W. were walking arm in arm, a wag said to a friend, " These two are just equal to one highwayman." "Why f" asked his friend. The Wag rejoined, " Because it is a lawyer and a doctor— your money or your life" " You misrepresent me," said a member of parliament to a reporter. "You misrepresent your constituents still more," was the reply. If you want an ignorrmus to respect you, "dress to death," and wear watch seals about the size of brickbats.

A dun was somewhat taken aback the other da)" by the coolness with which the debtor said, " Call next Thursday, my dear sir, exactly at ten o'clock, and 1 will tell you then when to call again." / - ..-■..