ROMANTIC STORY.

New Zealand Colonist and Port Nicholson Advertiser, Volume I, Issue 42, 23 December 1842, Page 2

ROMANTIC STORY.

(From I) Audience). At a recent sitting of the Criminal Court of Tambof, a province of Russia, 283_ peasants were tried on a charge of putting to 'death a Russian noble, under circumstances of a shocking but romantic character, of which the following are the details : On the evening in question all was merriment in the chateau of Sokolin-Slaw. Gaiety and festivity were the order of the day. Around a table richly and plentifully supplied with the choicest viands, sat 12 young officers wearing the costume of the Straroduburo regiment. The owner of the chateau (M. Meerzeloff), aged about 22, had assembled' his comrades to celebrate, in a manner worthy the occasion, a piece of good fortune which had happened to him, and to commence with gaiety the enjoyment of an' immense patrimony, of which he

had just come into possession. “ Another glass of champagne,” said MeerzelofF, taking up the bottle, and pouring forth its sparkling contents. “ To the health of the child of fortune,” cried all around, as they followed his example in filling their glasses. “In good faith,” said one of the guests, “ good cheer is a good thing, but we are wanting at this moment in the greatest charm of human, life.” “ What is that ?” demanded the amphytrion. “ The ladies,” was the reply. “ Ah, the ladies!” re-echoed all around. “ They are not wanting,” said the host. “ Behold those young beauties. They shall be to you as the houris of this terrestrial paradise.” He pointed as he spoke, and 12 young females were seen entering the chamber, singing in chorus the favorite airs of the country. The little of reason which remained to the host ahd his guests now disappeared entirely. At the dessert the male attendants were dismissed, and MeerzelofF, who declared that he was determined to make his old comrades happy, directed each of his guests to choose the one of the band of singers which was most to his taste. Accustomed, from the cradle, to a blind obedience, and well assured that they should find neither protection nor defence among the serfs of Sokolin-Slaw, the poor girls upon whom the choice of the officers fell quietly submitted to their fate, with one single exception, namely, that of Maryna, the most beautiful of them all, who, taking advantage of the moment, fled from the castle, and directed her steps towards the country. “ What is this ?” cried Meerzeloff, on hearing the rumour of her flight, “ what savage dare shake off my yoke ? KejIvan ! Alexis ! fly in pursuit of Maryna, and let her be brought back without delay.” One of the men to whom .this order was given was the brother of Maryna, and the other her affianced -■Jautshand. They obeyed his commands, liowevei, : Tts they were compelled to do, and went after the fugitive like dogs in pursuit of game, and ten minutes had scarcely elapsed before poor Maryna was brought back pale, trembling, and bedewed with tears. But as soon as she was restored to the castle, Maryna and tfie other damsels were arrayed in gorgeous dresses, and decorated with a profusion of gems and flowers; and, night having arrived, commenced, in a saloon refulgent with light, one of those.brutal orgies which the Russian nobles, with their half-savage ideas, call a “ Supper of Eden.”

By midnight the sound of music had ceased in the chateau. Those of the serfs whose duties did hot keep them at their posts had dispersed in the village. Kej-Ivan and Alexis, the brother of Maryna, had retired to a cabaret, where, to chase away the thoughts that disturbed them, they were drinking freely. During this time Mafia, the favorite Qf Meerzeloff, was burning with jealousy. Her master had not allowed her to go down to the banquet, lest her beauty should have attracted the attention of the other officers. She had, however, notwithstanding this, been a witness of the “ drama of love,” and, enraged beyond measure at what she beheld, resolved to be revenged upon her faithless lord and lover. She accordingly went to the cabaret, where Kej-Ivan and Alexis were drinking, and reproached them with their want of spirit, saying l ,. “ Base wretches ! you sit here drinking while robbed of your sister and your wife!” They denied that they were the base connivers at their own dishonour. They were rather the victims of their tyrannical lord. .Mafia continued to taunt them until they became greatly incensed, and were on the point pi ill-treating her; but she said, “ For shame! - rather ■ be the avengers of your own wrongs than the assassins of a helpless woman,” and continued to work upon their feelings, until she at length made them swear that they would take no rest until MeerzelofF had fallen under their avenging hands. “ Vengeance !” now became the cry, and in less than half an hour that cry was repeated by a band of 400 peasants, who had been assembled by Kej-Ivan and his friend; In about three hours after this, and just before the dawn of day, while the occupants of the chateau were locked in the fast embraces of sleep, a band of nearly 400 peasants, each bearing a truss - of Straw, surrounded the mansion, which, like most of the residences of the province of Tambof, was built of wood. At a given signal, they set fire to the fence which surrounded the chateau, and then retiring to a distance, armed with muskets, axes, pitchforks, and scythes, they waited until the Seigneur of Sokolin-Slaw and his guests should be aroused from their slumbers by. the. conflagration. MeerzelofF, the first alarmed by the light, rushed out; and tried to clear the gate; but the contentsof a musket, which extended him upon the ground,, .told him what his guests had to expect. The latter presently appeared, sword in hand, resolved, if possible, to surmount the twofold obstacle opposed to their escape' by the flames and the infuriated 1 band of peasants. A terrible and bloody encounter now took place, an which the officers were fortunate enough to lose but one of their number, Captain Dranberg, and ultimately effected a retreat into a small wood, overcome with fatigue, their hair partly burnt from their heads, and their clothes torn to tatters in the deadly encounter with the pea-

sants. Four of 1 their number' were dangerously wounded. As soon as the officers had fled, the peasants ran to the rescue of the females, and then returned to gratify their feelings of revenge in the most savage manner. They made a tremendous fire of fir-wood, and as soon as it had become clear and bright, threw the living body of the unhappy MeerzelofF into the midst of the glowing furnace. Maffa, repenting too late of her jealousy, in vain supplicated them to spare the yet breathing sufferer; and in reply to hef troublesome entreaties, they actually took her, and threw her into the fire after him. They next proceeded to burn down the chateau, and to destroy everything that had belonged to its unfortunate owner. As soon as the occurrence reached the ears of the Emperor Nicholas, his Majesty ordered that a judicial inquiry should take place into the circumstances of the case, and the result was the apprehension and trial of 283 of the peasants. The above facts having been detailed in evidence, the Tribunal condemned the prisoners, in the first place, to receive 100 blows of the knout, —a punishment almost equal to a sentence of death, since seldom does more than one in ten survive it; and, secondly, that all the survivors should be sent to labour for life in the mines of Siberia.

The emperor, in consideration of the cause and provocation of their offence, has commuted the sentence to banishment in the Caucasus; and those capable of bearing arms are to be enrolled in the Cossack regiments of the line. A Curious Index. —At a late meeting of the Institution of Civil Engineers, a paper was read by the Rev. Mr. Clutterbuck on the periodical drainage and replenishment of the subterranean reservoirs from which the wells of London and the surrounding country are supplied. The author stated the curious fact that the weekly depression of the London wells is about five inches. It is said that unless some periodical rest were afforded the supply would altogether cease. This periodical cessation of demand occurs every Sunday. The author states that on Sunday during the cessation of pumping the original level is ssaerally nearly resumed. As a general rule tire author stated “ that the holydays of the metropolis ought to be known by the relative heights of water in the wells at some distance from it.” The observations which have led to this.very curious discovery were made in the neighbourhood of Colnbrook, part of which district is covered by the London and plastic clays, and where a series of observations have been made on the wells. The neighbourhood in question is supplied from the great subterranean chambers whence the deep wells of London are supplied. —London Paper.

New Patent Composing-Machine. (From a Correspondent).—There was exhibited yesterday,, at 110, Chancery-lane, one of those triumphs of mechanic genius and skill to which so many tens of thousands of industrious workmen of the present day can very truthfully point—notwithstanding all that modern philosophy may say about the benefits which such improvements have conferred upon the community at large —as the cause of their utter ruin and degradation. The machine alluded to is a new patent composing one, and will, there can be little doubt, and that at no distant period, work an entire revolution in the composing portion of the printing trade. It is the invention of Messrs. Young and Delcambre, the inventors of a somewhat similar but comparatively imperfect machine, described in the public journals about twelve months since. The machine itself has a great resemblance to a cottage piano, with the external framework removed. It has 72 channels, containing a complete fount of type, under which are placed levers in connexion with keys similar to those of the piano, each key having engraved on it its. character, which corresponds with the channels above, in which the different letters are placed. As the letters are moved out of the channels by the action of the player they slide through various curves on an inclined plane at the back of the machine and fall to one point where they are received into a spout and beaten forward to a composing stick, or, as it is called by the machinist, a justifying box, by a very ingenious mechanical movement. This justify-ing-box, is at the end of a receiving-spout, and the type is drawn into it in lines of the width of the page to be set up ; and when the usual number of lines have been justified the box is emptied into a galley in the way that the compositor empties his composing-stick. While this “setting up” of the type, as the printers term it, but which here is in reality “letting down,” is going on, the channels are being fed by two boys. The rapidity with which this machine gets through its work may be judged of from the fact that type equal to half a column of this journal was justified in a few minutes less than an hour—that is as fast as the reporter usually transcribes his notes. At this machine there are eight persons employed, three intelligent young women and five boys. The first are alternately engaged two hours each in composing, justifying, and correcting. The same system obtains with the boys, one of whom turns the wheel before

spoken of, two, ag lids been stated, fill the channels, and two distribute the type. A clever compositor will set up 2,000 letters in an hour, but thertyeragei is about 1,500 or 1,600 lettefs. The young women whom we saw compose! Hi the machine, have; as they stated to. us; been learning for about three months, and the average rate at which they justify, for we hbserved that the composer was sometimes too quick for the justifier, is aboitt 6,000 letters per hour. With nine or twelve months’ practice they will very likely be able to compose at the rate of 8,000 or 9,000 *per hour. The cost of composing by this machine was stated to us to he 2d. per thousand, and from the rate at which the machine composed, and the wages which we ascertained were paid to those employed, we entertain no doubt that such is the fact. The movements of the machine are exceedingly simple and beautiful, and the whole of it being composed of steel and brass, it will work for years withont getting out of order. One of these machines works three sorts of type. The only objection that struck us was that the constant friction of the letters down the brass channels, after they are struck out by the action of the composer, must be injurious to the type. The machine was worked by clean dry type : what would be the effect of working with the usual letter of a morning paper ?— Herald<