Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume X, Issue 605, 21 August 1858, Page 5

Miscellaneous.

THE STOBMINO OF JHA.NSI. —IMMENSE CAJCTUKE OP TBEASUKK. In a former issue, we mentioned briefly that. Sir Hugh Koae had successfully bombarded and taken Jhansi, but without entering into dotails. These are supplied in the Overland Summary of the ' Telegraph and Courio' (Bom-

bay paper) of April 24. The treasure acquired by this victory is stated to be upwards of fifty lacs; the slaughter amongst the rebels very great.

The town of Jhansi was stormed (says the 'Telegraph') on tho 3rd of April, by the Ist Brigade on the left and the 2nd Brigade on the right. The signal was three guns just as day dawned. The arrangements appeared to be exceedingly good. The first Brigade were told off in two storming parties of the 86th Regiment and 25th N. 1., each with their supporters and reserves, of the same corps; one to enter the breach on the mound under Colonel Lowth, or the 86th regiment, the other to escalade the wall between that and the Tort, under command of Major Stuart, of the 86fch. When the signal was given, Major Stuart moved off from behind the battery, whe\-e all had been laid down; Lieutenant Edwards, R.E., with his ladders, and a firing and covering party of the 86th Regiment in front. The ladders were put to the wall beautifully; and Lieutenant Dartnell of the 86th, with some men got on the top lat once, where resistance for a short while was desperate—stones, stinkpots, grenades, rockets, ! and every conceivable missile "being hurled at j the assailants. Unfortunately two or three of the crossbars of the ladders broke, which pre- ! vented Lieutenant Dartnell from being supporj ted for a few seconds, and during that time he was nearly cut to pieces; but the men poured over the wall, the enemy gave way, and were closely followed through the streets below. The resistance at the breach was not so great, and one-half the party moved to the right to clear the inside of the walls in the direction of the right attack; the remainder moved to their j front, clearing the houses as they went along, until they came to an opon space below the Fort Gate; here they killed numbers of men who were making their way to the Fort; and in their ardour made a. rush at the gate, from which a murderous fire was poui-ed on them, and the men were dropping fast. One of the men fell at" the -very gateway.. 'As there were no supporters up, it %vas deemed expedient to sound the ' retire,' and taking the dead and wounded with them, they fell back a couple of hundred yards under cover. That was a fatal j rush for the 86th^ as two officers and twenty men were wounded, besides three killed. The fire from the fort came- from upwards of two thousand men. At the same time a cross-fire from the palace and the adjacent buildings was ' kept up. Dr. Cruickshanks was wounded in [ the r back while dressing a wounded man, by ■ some one from a window behind him, and Dr. Stack of the 86th was shot dead from the fort while performing "the same office. The Royal Sappers were indefatigable, and pulled down walls and -made loop-holes for the rifles in all ■directions; During- tfce whole of'1-this-time General Rose was walking about1 among the men as cool and unconcerned as if nothing was taking place. While the left attack had made such progress, the right had altogether failed. Their ladders were too shoi't except one, and up that one Lieutenant Micklejolin and..a man of the 3rd Regiment had got, when it broke, and these two were literally cut to pieces. The walls swarmed with the enemy, and they kept up a heavy fire on those below. Lieutenant Fox, Madras Sappers, had got to the top of a ladder, but was cut down, and six sappers were killed at the same time.. There was some mismanagement about these ladders which has not yet been explained. The party of the 86th Regiment, who had moved to their right from the breach, now came up inside, and made short work of the rebels.. From thence they moved on the palace; the fighting there was hand to hand, inch by inch being disputed by dismounted sowars, who cut with their tulwars in the most determined manner. It was here poor Colonel Turnbull, of the Artillei*y, received his mortal wound while giving some directions as to the breaking open of some of the doors. A shot from a window above entered his left hip. He was taken to his tent and died at 3 o'clock the following morning. The palace was at last broken into, and in the inner court another struggle took place ; the rebels fighting to the last. A few of the 86th folowed a rebel into a low room on the left, and in an instant the \vliole were blown up. Another party went to the stable-yard, and there never was more desperate fighting seen. This place was filled with sowars, who fought to the death. Many men of the 86th were cut down in attempting to go into the stables after them, and seeing their ' companions fall, drove the others desperate. The General coming up, ordered the place to be set on fire, when "the rebels charged out, but were shot down at once. One or two, however, preferred dying in the flames. About thirty horses were taken out of the adjoining stables, and stowed away. A chain of picquets was now j thrown across the town, from the palace to the wall on the north side, thus securing to us onehalf of it; but in this half there were many fio-hting men concealed; and fightiug continued throughout the whole night. While all this was foing on in the town, they were not idle in the camp. The whole of the Cavalry were in their saddles, and the Artillery also ready to, move at a moment's notice; ond the left attack" kept up a heavy shelling on the fort. Some five or six hundred of the rebels got over the walls, and made for a rocky eminence about two miles distant, our cavalry picqnets keeping them, in on every side. While tho Bombay Artillery were being sent for, up comes Woolcombe with his battery, and the execution he did was frightful. Here were some five hundred men on a small hillock, and six guns blazing shrapnell into them. They fell not by twos and tlnves, but by dozens; aud at last implored for mercy, but Woolcombe was as deaf to them as they were to theories of the Ewrapenns at the Jaken Bagh, less than a year ago; and when darknoss

compelled him to desist, nearly five hundred I human beings lay dead, and the few that he left were cut up by the picquets. When the fourth dawned on the cfty, one half of it was in ashes; and still the report of musketry was heard from j different quarters. "Prom the position, held by the 3rd Regiment (the extreme right of the line of picquets) could be seen the sentries of the enemy on the town wall, about a mile distant; but they did not stay long. The General, with the 24th N. 1., two guns, and some of the 3rd Regiment, moved on them along the walls out' side; and Brigadier Stuart, with a small party of the 86th, crossed that part of the town of which we had not taken possession; but the rebels did not stand—numbers of them were cat up by the 3rd regiment and 24th N. I.; the remainder ran, and were cut up by the picquets. In this manner fell the town of Jliansi. That night there was a good deal of firing at the Cavalry picquets outside; but altogether, the place was quieter than the night before. At dawn on the morning of the sth, it was reported that the fort was evacuated. Brigadier Stuart, his staff, and Colonel JJowth, with some thirty men of the 86th Regiment, the Adjutant of that corp3 carrying the Union Jack, left the palace and marched through the gates of the fort. Then they planted the colors, in the Queen's name, with three times three on the square tower. So much for the last stronghold of the mutineers. The Banee made her escape the night before on horseback, with a very small escort. It happened to be the only really dark night since our arrival; but still it is a marvel how she got past the picquets. She has gone to Calpec; end there we hope to come in closer contact with her. From the time this little army arrived at Jhansi, the 25th March, not less than five thousand men have fallen, but we also have suffered a great deal. There are five officers killed and twenty-five wounded ; two hundred European soldiers killed and wounded, and one hundred natives. The 86th and 14th Dragoons have been the principal sufferers, the former corps alone having had one officer killed and five wounded. Search has been made for the bodies of the Europeans who were murdered, and they have been found exactly in the place pointed out. A mutineer who was present gives a description of how they met their death. It is much the same as we at first heard, except that Captain Skene did ■not shoot his wife and himself.. The quantity of loot in the fort and town is immense. Already upwa-ds of fifty lacs have been found.

Eussii..—*A remarkable article has been published by the * Academy Gazette' of St. Petei-s----burgh, on the recent dispute between England and France, and the change of .ministry. The writer says that " the steps recently taken by the French Grovemment and its military police measm-es, have produced such an unfavourable impression on pttblic opinion m Europe, that a Liberal cabinet in Eugland would have had sufficient support if it had withstood the demands of France." A report lately presented to the Emperor Alexander contains the following statistical returns relative to landed propetty and serfs in Russia: —The number of families who are land-owners amount to 120,000. Out of these, 2000 possess from 1000 to 10,000 serfs; 2000, from 500 to 1000; 18.000, from 100 to 500; 30,000, from 21 to 100; and 75,000 have less than 21. The total number of peasant serfs of the nobility amounts to 11,760,000, and those of the crown to 9,000,000. There are therefore 20,750,000 pei-sons anxiously waiting for an improvement in their

condition

Pkecatjiioxaby Meastjb'es in Pabis.— Against intestinal troubles, the Government is by every means in its power trying to be prepared ; and the preparations of the unlucky Louis Phillippe were not better made, or taken longer beforehand, than are those of Louis Napoleon. For instance, here is one of which the public generally is ignorant. Just at the angle of the Boulevards St. Martin, and the Temple opposite, the Rue dii Temple, behind the fountain of the .Chateau d'Eau is being built, the huge construction is said to be destined as a depot for artillery. But one little circumstance will suffice to show that it may be meant.far more to serve as a fortress, as a kind of Bastille than a mere depot. It contains two Artesian wells, which are now in full play. A military friend of mine (now retired from service) having gone over the building, suddenly asked the head architect why the wells had been established, j The answer, with some hesitation, was, that it was a " great convenience for the workmen " My friend smiled, saying, " Well, it was a great expense, with the Chateau• d'Eau under j-our nose ; " and he added, " Don't you think your Artesian wells would be invaluable to a garrison of defence that might one day happen to be shut up, and from whose daily use the pipes of the Chateau d'Eau might be cut off?" The person questioned looked singularly embarrassed. This reminds one of the Paris fortifications of IS42.—Paris correspondence of the Manchester Guardian.

Bramble's Automaton foh Weighing Grain. —" An old Miller" writing to the editor of the " Cotton Plant," published in Baltimore and Washington, thus describes the''automaton in Baltimore. The writer ranks it among the 'greatest discoveries of the age, as a beautiful illustration of the ingenuity of man. He says. " Supply it with something to weigh, and it will go on continually, receive it, weigh it, dischai'ge it, and give the exact quantity in pounds, bushels, ounces, or tons; and besides all this, if required, will make out the bill at any given price, for one ,per cent and upwards." When one draught is discharged, it readjusts itself for another, takes oft1 and puts on the pounds at the precise time required, opens and closes, the supply grates at the proper moment, gives the

number and price of the bushels weighed, and all by the power supplied by the gravity of the article that is weighed. Wheat will have nothing to do but to get up early in the morning, weigh itself all day, and made out the bill at night. If any given amount is required to be weighed without the aid of a clerk or attendant, it will weigh precisely that amount, stop itself and ring a bell to announce that fact; and although it accomplishes so many things, yet upon examination of its mechanical details, it excites admiration on account of its extreme simplicity, and we wonder that its harmonious principles had never been found out before, and recomended by its simplicity, and accuracy and wonderful in its rapidity it must supereede all other modes of weighing grain and many other articles. It is of incalculable value to farmers, millers, brewers, and all other dealers in grain, seeds, rice, shot, salt, coal, &c, among whom it ~ has already met an ethusiastic reception. Through eleven long years of ups and downs, of hopes, and fears, poverty and misfortune hsis the inventor, with persevering energy and Jabourious experiment, worked on to attain his ideal. And nobly has he succeeded. The invention certainly deserves the most brilliant success and I am sure cannot fail to attain it.— HunVs (N&io York) Merchants' Magazine.

Female Heroism in India.—The Rev. Mr. Scudder,an American missionary in India, in a letter to the Christian Intelligencer gives the following instance of heroism .-—" In one place a lad}' and her husband fled in their carnage. He stood upright. She took the reins. She lashed the horses through a band of mutineers, while he with cool aim shot dead one who seized the horses'heads.and anotherwhoclitnbednp the carriage behind to cut him down. On they fled, till they again found themselves among foes, and a rope stretched across the road made further progress appear impossible. True to herself, she dashed the horses at full speed against the rope, and as they, bearing it down, stumbled, she by rein and whip raised them, while her husband's weapons again freed them from those who succeeded in leaping upon them. He was wounded but both escaped with their lives. In another place, a young lady, the daughter of an officer, shot seven mutineers before they killed her. A captain, pressed by the Sepoys, with his good sword slew twenty-six of them before he fell."

Things "which no Young Ladt ever does if she can helf it.—Be the first down, iv the morning, and not the last up at night. Keep an account-book i n pl ;ice of an album. Consent ..to'r sit down to the piano or anything under the dozenth time of asking. Pay a morning- ealL-4n>last year's bonnet. Do plain, needlework in place of fancy collar stitching. Return from morning service without bringing home an inventory (exact to a ribbon) of all the new toilettes which have been displayed there. Wear shoes of any other then the most wafer-like construction, especially when the snow . is on the grourid. Condescend to learn an English song instead of an Italian one.— Mend her own ' things,' and her younger brother's. Travel twenty miles without eighteen packages, seventeen of which she might easily dispense with. Be seen to eat more at dinner than a couple of canaries could. And, finally, take less than forty minutes to " run and put her bonnet on !"

Peeachees ix Paris. —Several of the popular preachers in Paris have entered upon a crusade against tlie lavisli expenditure of their lady-hearers upon dress, the waste material especially exciting their indignation. One of them, a bishop, exclaimed in the height of his zeal, in the midst of his discourse, —" Let women remember, while putting on their proi'use and expensive attire, how narrow are the gates of Paradise."

Noah's Ark in the British Navy.—A French paper, referring to the Leviathan, says she far exceeds in length and breadth the largest vessels of Great Britain, including the Noah's Ark, (!) Persia, Himalaya, Great Britain, Duke of Wellington, &c. This is the first time, certainly, we ever heard of " Noah's Ark" being in the British navy. But our innocent French contemporary has misunderstood the purport of certain English comparisons between the Ark and the Leviathan.Gateshead Observer.

Important Financial Dialogue.—John Bull loooking across the big pond the other day raised his voice:—" Halloa, Brother Jonathan, how are you? how do you do?" Jonathan, looking up, and cocking his hat cried out, " Oh pretty well, I thank you: I hold my own I believe." " Yes," said John, rather gruffly, " you hold your own. and mine too ; you have five hundred millions ot dollars and be hanged to you."— New York Herald.

A curious circum stance is related in a Lyons journal:—An old gentleman of some property of that city, M. Martin by name, was wounded in the side by a musket ball at the battle of Jena, and he had to be carried oft'the field. He was cured in about two months, but the ball could not be extracted. It, however, caused him no serious inconvenience, though at times he felt it move. A few days ago a large boil arose on the side, and he last applied to it a poultice. On removing the poultice a day or two since, tie ball, to his great astonishment, foil out, after having been in his body ibv 52 y ar.-s! An Israelite woman was sitting in the same box at the opera with a French physician; she I was much troubled with ennui, and <raped once very wide. "Excuse me, madam," said the ! doctor, giving a start, " I am gal you did not swallow me." " Give yourself no uneasiness," responded the lady, " I am a Jewess, and nover eat poak."

• A female orator, named Ranke, .vho appealed at all the 'Hungermeetings' in New "York, ;3n reply to a query made by some of the papers A 6 to who she was, replied :—" In the parlour, I -am a lady/; in business a man; and when insulted a warrior. No one knows who I am, or where I come from; neither shall they ever know." '-'Jones" said a sympathising neighbour to a bachelor friend about to marry, " What in "the .world put matrimony into your head P" "Well, the fact is, I was getting short of -shirts?" We have no sympathy for a railway speculator. None for an ill-tempered man with the tootli-ache. None for an Alderman with the gout. None for a dandy splashed by a mud •cart.

State of Italy. — The ' Piccolo Corrierd'ltalia' of Turin announces that the insignificant town of Lantona, in the Duchy of Massa, lias been declared in a state of siege and occupied by sixty Modenese soldiers.

Vidocq the French Detective.—Last week -a man died who possessed a great deal of notoriety in his day—Vidoeq. I have delayed noti--cing him .with the hope of being able to glean ;some interesting particulars respecting his career. But, as is commonly the case with men of his stamp, I find that popular prejudice has exaggerated him, and that the famous Vidocq was merely a first-rate " detective officer;" and of ■course the process by which he was enabled to ■make his wonderful discoveries of crime and ■criminals consisted merely,in acute observation of a certain sort, and a peculiar sagacity in tracing certain effects to their causes, where other minds could detect no connecting links. In other words, Vidocq was a leather stocking, of a great capital, "arid'his game was man." He was for a great many years the chiefbf the. -secret police here; he was charged with abusing his position to his pecuniary advantage, for which he was dismissed service and tried for corruption, but acquitted. He has ever since lived in retirement, but he annually earned a .-large sum of money as a private " detective;" if a husband doubted his wife, or an employer his -«lerk, Vidocq was summoned, and discovered Innocence or guilt. The following story is instanced to show the variety of adventures he met whilst pursuing this lucrative " business." A jealous husband summoned Vidocq tind told him to ;ascertain what his wife did between twelve and two o'clock every day, for he was jealous. In a few days Vidocq returned and told the husband all he desired to know; he gave the agent fifty dollars. . Monsieur, said Vidocq, since your purse is open, you ought to pay me the bill your wife owes me for a business similar to this you have employed me on. What! said the delighted husband, for his vanity was flattered by the jealousy of his wife, does she take so much interest in me! she was jealous of me, eh? . Oh! no, sir, 'twas not you, 'twas the tenor at the Grand Opera she made me follow! On another occasion a wealthy merchant sent for Vidocq; he told. : the, astnte detective that a system of robbery had been going on around him, arid that his strong box" was less by 30,000 than it should be, and that unless these continued speculations were ended he should spon be reduced to bankruptcy. Whom <Jo you suspect? Nobody. Have you a clerk? Oh, yes, as honest a fellow as the day is long, who would not steal a centime—a sober, quiet, industrious fellow, worth his weight in gold. Hem. Are you married? Certainly, to a divine woman, who saves me a fortune every year; she is economy itself. Does she never gamble on change or green baize? Lor! man, what an idea! She! myGabrielle gamble, ha! ha! that's a good 'un! Is she extravagant in dress? Not a bit of it. The truth is, I have to scold her for not dressing well enough. Humph! said Vidocq, the best thing you can do is to leave Paris for three or four or five days—really leave it, and give public notice of your intention to be gone. The merchant obeyed, and the moment he was gone Vidocq secreted himself in the merchant's office. The second day of his concealment the merchant's wife and clerk entered the office. ,We must take advantage of this "good fortune, said the wife, and fly; you know I have 100.000f., with that we could live happy in America. Agreed, said the clerk. The word was scarcely out of his mouth when Vidocq, armed to the teeth, discovered himself. There should be 150,000f., said Vidocq, where are 50,000f.? I lost them gambling on 'change, said the clerk. Give me, Madame, the 100,000f., said Vidocq. When he placed them in his pocket, he drew out a pair of handcuffs, and said to the clerk, you must leave Prance. I'll be generous, and give you your liberty, on condition that you leave France. To-morrow morning we will go to Havre together, when I'll embark you for New York. As for you, madame, said he, turning to the guilty wife, let this be a lesson to you, and obliterate this transaction by devoting the rest, of your life to your husband. He shall never learn this secret. The clerk was embarked at Havre, the money restored to the husband with a cock-and-bull explanation, and Vidocq;said that r he never saw a more affectionate and happy married couple than the merchant and his. wife ever afterwards. Vidocq avas extremely adverse from dying. An idea that no one would be found to follow him to;the grave, oppressed him during his last days, and he therefore directed by will that a suit of clothes and a gold piece should be given to all the poor in the immediate neighbourhood who : attended his body to the grave.— Paris Correspondent of the Boston Traveller.

Ikceedtjlous.—". I'm not very incredible," said Mrs. Partington, looking up from the pa-p->r and glancing over her specs at Ika, who sat making a windmill out of the frame of his slate, *' and believe as much' as any rationable person ought to. I have believed all the story of a man's climbing a pole and puljing it up after, him, and of the actor that held himself cut at arm's length, but it is .beyond my belief that a cargo of sugar could change hands " She passed the paper from her, right, hand to her left, as though it were a hogshead of sugar and then resumed her reading with a profound idea that the editor in. malting the statement was deluding her. ' °

Bxjeke Fascinated by Marie Antoixktte. —The Dauphiness, Marie Antoinette, was there, in all her youth, beaut}', grace, and innocence; and there Burke beheld that fair face and giiiceful form which, at the age of eighteen, charmed all beholders. There was no care tlien seated on that noble brow. Those deep sparkling eyes communicated happiness and joyj to all who came within their glance, and seemed incapable of expressing that sternness and severity which misfortune and sorrow afterwards blended in the look of Marie Antoinette.. The long oval face, refined aquiline nose, dazzling complexion, full under-lip characteristic of her Imperial race, and, rich blond hair arranged, with the utmost care arid skill, combined with' many nameless attractions to setroff a being who, as'the heiress of France, the .daughter of Maria Theresa, and the descendaitt of a 16ng line of Emperors, stood forth as th^goddess of the universe,'wanting no charm that fortune could bestow, appealing to all that was" noble and chivalrous in man's nature, and impressing Burke himself as the most enchanting Vision his eyes had ever beheld. The statesman tvas fascinated. The heart of the'man of genius was subdued. Marie Antoinette on that day made a conquest of which she little dreamed, but of which she had reason to be proud. She had gained a knight whose eloquent peri, more potent than all the lances of the crusaders, would call nations to her rescue, enlist in her cause human nature itself, and, conquering death and defying the malice of her prosecutors, cause the spin pathetic tears of many generations to fall over the immortal pages winch perpetuated the memory of her wrongs—iyfe and Times of Edmund JBurJce. By Thomas JStfacJenigJrf. "', ]