MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 457, 19 December 1849, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

Rome, July 13.—The Roman States jresent just now % most singular appearance in a political point of view. In the north the triumph of the Austriau arms has so far strengthened the papal party that a deputation has been sent to Gaeta, in the name of the province of Bologna, soliciting the Pope to take up his residence at Bologna, and thus indulge the spirit of rivalry with which that city always regarded Rome. In Romagna and La Marca, Monsignor Savelli labours to restore the absolute dominion of the papal see, regardless of altered times and the necessity of civil and religious progress, and offering only the argument of Wimpffen's bnyonets to support his despotic edicts. Further south the republic still exists, fostered by the magic name of Garibaldi; and the mountainous tract of country comprised between Civita Castellana, Spoleto, and Rieti, obeys neither papal delegates nor foreign generals. Southwards, again, another regime prevails —the Gallic cock crows over the capital with the provinces of Maritima and Comarca, and disputes the arrival of every other intruder on the conquered dunghill; whilst Velletri and Frosinone, with their respective territories, are witnesses of the blind devotion to the pontifical sway enjoined by those very Spaniards, who, in their own country, displayed their frantic zeal in an opposite cause by sacking convents, murdering monks, confiscating church property, and disclaiming the papal authority! Of all these subdivisions, the most enigmatical, with regard to its future destiny, is certainly that occupied by the French army. We have still no express declaration of the power that is to rule. The French officers disclaim all sympathy with ihe priests, and strongly encourage the Romans to persist in expressing their reluctance to return under their dominion. No sign of the Pope's return has hitherto transpired, and it is evident that the condition will bring serious dissensions between the camarilla at Gaeta and the French military authorities. The stamps used in the Government offices, which hitherto bore the inscription " Republica Romana," have been, of course, laid aside, but those adopted in their stead are not, as during the Pope's reign, " Stato Pontificio." Oudinot has taken a medium course by making use of the words " Stato Romano" for the stamps of all Government documents. It is rumoured here that an engagement has taken place between Girabaldi's corps and the French column sent in pursuit, in the mountains ; but with respect to the exact locality accounts differ. The French seem to have had the worst of the affair, and the 20th regiment is said to have suffered so severely as to have been almost destroyed. It is certain that shortly after several cars of wounded were brought into Rome and the expeditionary column abandoned the enterprise. Garibaldi's head-quarters are at Terni, where he has had a useful reinforcement of 1000 men, well armed and equipped, and in an efficient state of discipline, commanded by Colonel Forbes. He despatched a body of cavalry four days ago to Civita Castellana for stores —the detachment succeeded in carrying off 500 scudi, twelve barrels of powder, and a cannon. Northwards his line extends as far as Spoleto, the magnificent bridge, or rather viaduct, leading to which city he has broken down, in order to prevent the advance of the Austrians, who are marching against him from Perugia. The French occupy Tivoli, Palestrina, Frascati, Marino, and Albano.

Rome, July 16. —The re-establishment of the papal authority, which took place yesterday, with great formality, is not likely to be followed- by the speedy return of the Pope

himself. The Sacred College, presided over by Cardinal Aytonelli, and influenced by Aruau of the Spanish legation, want the simple resioration ol the Pope, which is not the intention of France ; but at Gaeta- they repose a somewhat over-confident trust in (he array of General Cordova, which is being continually reinforced from Barcelona, and which has advanced from Terracina toValletra, Roccasecca, Maenna, Piperno, and other intermediate places. It seems that Spain wants the Pope to take a Spanish body-guard, now that the Swiss are prohibited from becoming mercenaries. But this would be contrary to the wish of France. The Neapolitans are at Frasinone, where is also Monsignor Berardi, who is acting in the same style as his colleague Bedina at Bologna.

Paris, July 17. — The following is a translation of a letter addressed by the Pope to General Oudinot, ou the occasion of the presentation of the keys of Rome to his Holiness at Gaeta :—: — Monsieur le General. — The well-known value of the French arms, supported by the justice of the cause which they defend, has reaped the fruit due to such arms — victory. Accept, Monsieur le General, my congratulations for tha principal part which is due to you in this event ; congratulations, not for the blood which has been shed — for that my heart abhors-"-but foif the triumph of order over anarchy, for liberty restored to honest and Christian people, for whom it will not henceforth be a crime to enjoy the property which God has divided among them, and to worship with religious pomp, without incurring the danger of loss of life or liberty. With regard to the grave difficulties which may bereaf'er occur, I rely on the Divine protection. I think it will not be without use to the French army to be made acquainted wilh the history of events which occurred dv.ring my Pontificate ; they are traced out in my allocution, with which you are doubtless acquainted, but of which I nevertheless send you a certain number of copies, in order that they may be read by those who you think it useful should be acquainted with them. This document will sufficiently prove that the triumph of the French army has been gained over the enemies of human society, and will of itself awake sentiments in the minds of every right-thinking man in Europe and in the whole world. Colonel Niel, who with your honoured despatch presented to me the keys of one of the gates of Rome, will hand you this letter. It is with much satisfaction I avail myself of this opportunity to express to you my sentiments of paternal affection, and the assurance that I continually offer up prayers to the Almighty for you, for the French army, for the Government, and for 'all France. Receive the apostolic benediction, which I give you from my heart. PIUS P.P. IX. Gaeta, July 5.

Paris, July 21 — The following telegraphic despatch has been received by Government : Rome, 16th July, 12 o'clock. General Oudinot to the Minister of War. The re-establishment of the authority of the Pope was proclaimed yesterday, amidst the warmest acclamations of an enthusiastic crowd. At St. Peter's a Te Deum has been chanted in thanksgiving for the event. Tranquillity and confidence become stronger every day. The greatest harmony reigns between our soldiers and the population. Whilst this farce is proceeding at Roma negotiations are going on at Gaeta, from which news is said to have been received that the Pope inclines to adopt the statutes already subscribed to by htm as the foundation of his re-established government. Meanwhile Ondinot is forming a sort of government as best he can. Whilst things are thus going on, Monsignor Bedini is proceeding to Bologna to the recall of all the old functionaries who were in place previous to November, 1848. Letters received this day from Civita Vecchia state that Garibaldi had succeeded in reaching the Neapolitan territory, where he had been joined by another division of the Roman army. His intention, it is said, is to keep in the mountains as long as possible, and await the course of events. In any case, even supposing the worst, he appears certain of being able to reach the coast and take his passage on board an English or American vessel. Previous to his departure from Rome he took possession of the ammunition and other military stores that still remained. Smoking in the streets of Russia is strictly prohibited. The Emperor, while walking one day, met a Frenchman smoking a cigar. He approached, and asked it he was not aware that it was contrary to the law to smoke in the street. The Gaul, not knowing by whom he was addressed, replied that he had been in the habit of smoking in the streets of Paris, and he did not know why he should not do so in the streets of any other city. The Emperor left him, and proceeded to the boutka, orstation of a pol'ceman, near at band, and gave direction to the boushnik as to thj disposition of the smoker. The latter was immediately placed by force in a kabitka which is a small waggon without springs of any kind, and bounced over a thousand miles of bad road to the Turkish frontier, where he was dismissed, with permission to follow the Parisian fashions. — The Czar, his C ourt, and People.

Sword Exercise. — At a passage of arms by the London Fencing Club, a few days ago, a Mr. Bushman performed several astonish^ ing feats with the svrord. With a ship's cot* ' lass, made by Wilkinson, be cut a bar of lead

in two with apparent ease by one sweep of his arm ; and, subsequently, with a strong formidable weapon, made for Lord Hardinge by Mr. Wilkinson, he also with one stroke, cleanly cut through, bone and all, a very heavy leg of mutton. Mr. Bushman also performed Saladin's feat of cutting in two a silk handkerchief, as mentioned by Sir Walter Scott, in the Talisman, several times with one of Wilkinson's swords, a feat which is now daily performed by Englishmen with English swords. — Liverpool Albion.

Getting on in the World. — There are many different ways of getting on in the world ; it does not always mean making a a great deal of money, or being a great man for people to look up to with wonder. Leaving off a bad habit for a good one is getting on in the world ; to be clean and tidy, instead of dirty and disorderly, is getting on ; to be careful and saving, instead of thoughtless and -wasteful, is getting on i to be active and industrious, instead of idle and lazy, is getting an : to be kind and forbearing, instead of ill- j natured and quarrelsome, is getting on ; to work as diligently in the master's absence as in his presence, is getting on. In short, when we see any one properly attentive to his duties, persevering through difficulties to gain such knowledge as shall be of use to himself and to others, offering a good example to his relatives and acquaintances, we may be sure that he is getting on m the world. Money is a very useful article in its way ; but it is possible to get on with small means ; for it is a mistake to suppose that we uiust wait for a good deal of money before we can do anything. Perseverance is often better than a full purse. There are more helps towards getting on than is commonly supposed. Many people lag behind or miss the way altogether, because they do not see the simple and abundant means which surround them on all sides ; and it so happens that these means are aids which cannot be bought with money. Those who wish to get on in the world must have a stock of patience and perseverance, of hopeful confidence, a willingness to learn, and a disposition not easily cast down by difficulties and disappointments. — Family Economist.

Sudden Death of a Celebrated Actress. — The next loss which the drama has Lad to sustain is that of Madle. Maillet, a fair young creature, scarce twenty years of age, celebrated on the boards for her great beauty and promising talent, and behind the scenes -for her virtue and extraordinary mind, She, too, has died poor ; but, unlike Madame Dorval, she died as she bad lived. Her life was pure and holy ; her fil'al attachment to an idiot mother truly sublime. Her death was sudden and awful in its contrast with the scene around her. She had been out riding in the Bois de Boulogne until a late hour, and had hurried home in order to dress to enter in the second act of Old Mortality^ played that night for the first time at the Theatre Hibtorique. Her hair bad been gathered up beneath her riding hat, and had preserved the curl thus given it from the pressure, so that her femme de chambre found ie difficult to straighten it in bands smooth enough to lay beneath the Puritan coif of "Edith ; the prompter's bell had already rung twice to assemble the actors in ihefoyer, and, to save time, she plunged her head into a bason of cold water which stood upon the table ; the bands were flattened, the coif was adjusted, and never had she looked so lovely as when she advanced amid the 'loud applause of the parterre. Suddenly, however, she was •observed to totter, and her companion caught her in his arms ; she was led off the stage, and before she reached home she was a -corpse 1 Her old mother still sits and watches from the window, wondering why her child has not returned from the theatre, and railing against those authors who make their plays -so very long. Madame Rey, at a moment's notice, took the part of Edith — and Madle. Maillet is already forgotten. — Atlas.

Anecdote of Jenny Lind. — During her visit to Balh she happened to be walking with a friend, in fro«t of some almshouses, into one of which she entered, and sat down for a moment, ostensibly to rest herself, but in reality to find some excuse for an act of charity to the old woman who lived in it, and whom she had seen feeble and tottering at the door. The old woman, like the rest of her neighbours, was full of tlie Swedish Nightingale, whom she had heard was just then at Bath, entertaining with her voice all those who were so happy and fortunate as to be able to go to the theatre. " For myself," said the old woman, " I have lived a long time, and desire nothing before I die bat to hear Jenny Lind." " And would it make you happy ?" inquired her visitor. " Ay, that it would," answered the old woman, " but folks such as I cannot go to the play-house, and so I shall never hear her." " I>o not be so sure of that," said the good-natured Jenny ;, " sit down my friend and listen ;" and forthwith she sang, with all her richest and most glorious powers, one of the finest songs she knew. The poor old woman was beside herself with

delight when, after concluding her song, her kind visitor observed — " Now you have heard Jenny Lind." If she had given the woman a hundred pounds she could not have afforded her half so much pleasure. It was an act of noble charity of the tenderest and most delicate kind. Money it would have been easy for her to give, and money, no doubt, she did give ; but to sit down in an almshouse, and there to call up the enchantments of her voice for the amusement of au obscure and poor old woman, was a touching proof of goodness of heart which nothing we have heard of Jenny Lind surpasses. — Tail's Magazine.

Chloroform. — A good joke is told of a dissenting minister near Oundle. The rev. gentleman has a taste for chemistry as well as theology, and is anxious that the world should know his acquirements. A short time ago the period ot his wife's confinement arrived, the accoucheur was summoned, and the reverend philosopher prepared a sponge with chloroform for the suffering lady. The accoucheur objected to its use, but the husband insisted, and the medical man urged as an excuse that it might be too powerfully prepared. This the rev. gentleman denied, asserting that he had tested it. " Let me see its effect on you," said the accoucheur. TJje husband inhaled some, and in a few seconds the philosopher was in a deep sleep ; before he awoke his wife had been eased of her pains, and a nurse was wrapping in flannel a squalling baby. — Observer.

Sharps and Flats. —A lumber of Chartist and Irish Confederate demagogues have established their bead quarters at a coffee shop in Holborn, from whence they have sent forth a scheme for the relief of the labouring classes, which is no less than the purchase of the entire of Great Britain, by a penny subscription ; the island to be converted into a great field •or garden. The precise advent ot the purchase is not yet promised ; however as a preliminary sop in the pan, 1,000,000 bakers and butchers, 500>000 tailors, end all other trades in proportion, are promised immediate and constant employment at £3 a week, providing they will deposit one shilling each in the hands of the propounders of the scheme ! Some have already done so!!

A Poser Settled. —La3y Jekyll, who was fond of puzzling herself and others with such questions as had been common enough a generation before her, in the days of the Athenian Oracle, asked William vVhiston, of berhymed name and eccentric memory, one day at her husband's table, to resolve a difficulty which occurred to her in the Mosaic account of the creation. "Since it pleased God, Sir,", said she, "to create the Woman out of the Man, why did he form her out of the rib rather than any other part?" Whiston scratched his head and answered, " Indeed, Madam, I do not know, unless it be that the rib is the most crooked part of the body." "There!" said her husband, "you have it now ; I hope you are satisfied!" —TkeDoctor.

The True Philosophy. — " What do you mean <o do with X?" said a friend of Theodore Hook, alluding to a roan who had grossly vilified him, " Do with him ?" replied Hook ; why, I mean to let him alone most severely."

The Money Bag Burst. — The report of the committee of investigation on the York, Newcastle, and Berwick line, is to the system of railroad management much the same thing as was the compte rendu to the Fiench Monarchy before the great Revolution. We see here how a small knot of men can roll in luxury at their neighbours' expense ; we are told how one man by dexterous management can not only empty the purses of a nation into his own stores, but at the same time turn his dupes into a bevy of flatterers and sycophants. Gibraltar-house is certainly not Versailles, nor George Hudson Louis XIV., but the Grand Monarque in the plenitude of , his power never glanced round upon a more abject and crouching circle than did the Railway King but some few months back. The man has fallen, as a man deserved to fall who cheated and demoralised a nation ; but even now, while the report of the committee of investigation is lying^before us, and George Hudson lies prostrate on the ground, a mark for every indignity, we are forced to confess that it needs a very microscopic eye to distinguish between his moral delinquency and that of thousands who are the loudest in thanking Heaven that they are not as — George Hudson ! We are not about to indulge in puerile declamation against the pursuit of riches by fair and honorable means. In modern Europe, and in a society where the feudal has been superseded by the commercial spirit, it is natural that men should look with respect to the fruits of well-directed enterprise. The Arkwrights, the Watts, and the Stephensons, are the chivalry of the nineteenth century. But between the hearty admiration of happy industry and the blind adulation of a money bag there is a serious difference. Men now-a-days Mould be rich ; but they Would be so, not by a life of patient toil, but by a thunder clap, or a touch of Harlequin's wand. They

regard a list of the share-market as a devout Catholic would an image of the Virgin, and it is to that they offer up their prayers. How many of those who were mixed up with the more esoteric mysteries of tlfe share-market would have shrunk from an act of conventional swindling — Old Bailey swindling — could they have been secured against detection ? Not many, we fear. The thousands and thousands of shareholders who have seen their fortune disappear by the manoeuvres of such men as George Hudson and his satellites, are, morally speaking, precisely in the position of the pigeons at the roulette-table. Nothing less would serve them than to make fifteen, twenty, thirty per cent, on their little capital. They played double or quits — the dice were loaded — and they have lost all. It was of this spirit George Hudson took advantage — why fling dirt at him alone ? In one sense — in the same sense ts Law, and the originators of the South Sea Bubble, George Hudson was even a public benefactor. But even admitting this point in his favor, be has served his turn. The leech has been applied, it is time to compel him to disgorge. This process may now very satisfactorily be left to the committee who are sitting in judgment upon the fallen jobber of York. As will be seen by the report of the meeting on Wednesday, held at the city, it has been determined to institute proceedings against Mr. Hudson for the funds he has appropriated lo his own use by manoeuvres, which, were they performed on a~ small scale, would receive the name of embezzlement. "We are now enabled to investigate the system upon which the Railway King acted in rearing up the structure of his fortunes. It is startling to those who are plodding along the beaten paths of patient toil to see what vast sums can be realized by one single act, one single turn of the wrist. Consider the infinite pains, the laborious days, the sleepless nights, the abnegation of pleasure, it costs ordinary men to earn and put aside a poor £1000 for the benefit of their families, or meet the vicissitudes of sickness and of old age. Think how well and how long a man must toil to perform a task which shall be the equivalent of such a sum. George Hudson spumed at the thought cf such ignoble and prosaic efforts. We copy a couple of coutits from the bill of indictment found against him by the committee of investigation, — "That Mr. Hudson being interested in a contract for iron rails to the Company, has realized upon it a profit of £38,500 — a contract which he must have known to be illegal." Think of nearly .£40,000 at one swoop, and by a single wellconceived act of rascality. This, however, is nothing to the second count we are about to quote, which almost trenches upon the regions of fable, — "That Mr. Hudson has taken lor his own use, from the Newcastle and Berwick Company, the extraordinary number of 10,394 shares, by which he has realized a profit of £145,704." It was the property of commercial men that the great jobber appropriated to his own use, in the presence of commercial men, and under the special surveillance of commercial men, deputed by their fellows for such a purpose. The name of George Hudson is certainly the best target for public indignation ; but we must very heartily agree with a public speaker at the meeting of Wednesday — one Mr. Wylie — when speaking of the other directors : — " When he looked to the subserviency of the directors to that man Hudson — when he saw them so anxious to pick up the crumbs which fell at that rich man's table — he looked upon their conduct as disgraceful to themselves, and disgraceful to the whole country." The blame must be carried a little further — • the shareholders must not escape unwhipt. So long as the dividends were kept up, and the lines paid, little did they trouble themselves with inquiries into the way the money was earned. "Nonolet" was their motto, and gold their cry. Many have been the doubts as to whether the great speculator would die a rich or a poor -man. These doubts are now set at rest for ever. George Hudson has passed into the hands of the lawyers. His name will soon become the property of didactic poets, and ethical writers. If it be not cited in days to come as an instance of the instability of fortune, it will be because the vulgar ambition of the man had never been able to draw the distinction between money and moneys worth. He had never attained a position which was the object of his country's envy — for we will not profane the terms of respect and admiration. Of the hundreds of titled sycophants and fashionable 'adventurers who coveted George Hudson's wealth, how many would have exchanged positions with the man they courted and spumed — how many would have been George Hudson? The arch-jobber has not fallen ; he has merely exchanged one kind of contempt for another. His name will be cited to point another moral. If it should be desired in days to come I to give a proof of the vulgar greed of gold I which had permeated through every. nook and | cranny of English society in the middle of

the nineteenth century — of the disgncefnl acts of subservience and sycophancy to which the leaders of what was then called the fashionable world were reduced, that they might repair their shattered fortunes, maintain their establishments, keep down their encumbrances, appease their creditors, advance their tons, and portion off their daughters, the manuer and quality of their fawning upon such a person as Mr. Hudson will be accurately described. The portrait of the man will be drawn in lines such as Juvenal or Pope might have penned ; but the full measure of contempt will be reserved, not for the idol, but the worshippers. — Times.