MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 480, 9 March 1850, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

Lamartine's " Meditations," and some of bis other works, have been translated into Chinese, by order of the emperor. The Gardeners' Chronicle mentions that a Japanese tiee named the " kiri," to which a Dutch botanist has given the name of " paulovnia," has flowered for the first time in England ; and adds that its flower is as sweet as violets, as large as a foxglove, and tinted like • lilac. A learned attorney of our acquaintance has taken for his motto the Latin words suum cuique, which he thus renders in English — "Sue 'em quick."

Public Slaughter-houses. — In all cases where they have been built in France, the revenues have been such as to make such constructions good speculations. At Paris, in 1847, the revenues (gross) were 1,200,000f. nearly ; the expenses, including employes, repairs, water, lighting, &c, were not 140,000f. leaving net 1,060,000f. to pay the interest on a capital of 18,000,000f. In the town of Havre the abattoirs are built upon an 18^ years' lease, and yet the proprietor makes money by his speculation. At Caen the abattoirs produce a net revenue of 24,000 F. to pay the interest of a capital of 300,000f. Everywhere the results are about the same ; nor can there be any reason to doubt but that in England Ahe results would be equally favourable. The butchers of Paris at first violently opposed 4he establishment of the abattoirs ; but now they are so convinced of their utility and commodity, that they would almost as vigorously oppose any return to the former system. Indeed; it must evidently be to the interest of the butcher that his meat be killed in the most perfect condition, to ensure its preservation, and to satisfy the public that every precaution is taken to ensure a supply of wholesome meat. — Builder.

Ocean Penny- Postage. — Our friends in America are awaking up to this subject. They tie determined not only to have penny postage from the Atlantic to the Pacific, but also across the Atlantic to the old world ; and all to be established by the United States. So the question will soon be, whether Uucle John Bull or Brother Jonathan shall carry letters across the Atlantic for a penny a-piece. Jonathan can do this, and would do it, if the world would challenge him to do 'something smart.' But Uncle John ought to do it before any one one else in the world. He owes it to the colonies which he has. planted all over the globe — to the millions of his children whom he has sent out to live in the islands of all the oceans and seas far and near, and who, want to write home every week. That is the ocean penny postage the world wants : not a penny postage across the Atlantic, from Liverpool to Boston, but a penny postage across all oceans and seas. Biother Jonathan is smart for his age undoubtedly, and would do a great thing for the world if you should once 'raise his dander' in the right direction. But we fear his purse is not long enough, nor his ships pumerous enough, to establish a universal ocean penny postage. This is Uncle John Bull's mission, and we must all put him up to its fulfilment. All his children and grandchildren, nieces and nephews, at home and abroad, must tug at his skirts in their most winning way, and with filial f#ith and hope smiling in their eyes,

meet him by the wayside, and fireside, and in all accessible moods and conditions, with this question — 'Uncle John, when will you give us an ocean penny postage?' Don't be discouraged if he pohs polls at it at first, and buttons up his pockets, and talks about hard times, tnd all that. Keep at him steadily for a year in this way, and, like all other goodnatured uncles, he will give in. Then what a jubilee there will be in thousands and tens of thousands of homes separated from each other by a thousand leagues or more of sea ! Oh, Uncle John ! the world would forgive you for all the unpleasant accidents you have occasioned in apportioning so much of this globe to the members of your family, if you would but give to mankind an ocean penny vostaae. — Burritt's Christian Citizen.

New Scythes. — A trial has been made at Genlis, (France) of a reaping machine used in the south of France, under the various names of Belgian scythe, sape, piquet, &c. It is of the same form of the scythe blade, though a little smaller and more curved, and is fixed with a strap to a very short handle. The reaper makes use of it with his right hand by an easy movement causing little fatigue. He has in bis left hand a hook fixed to the end , of a small handle of very light wood, with which he holds the wheat while giving the cut with the sape. This instrument, worked in the above manner by a young man, 22 years of age, appeared to all the farmers and intelligent labourers present to furnish great advantages over the sickle and rake scythe. It cuts as close to the ground as may be desired, does not shake the ears, and consequently does not cause the grain to fall out. The reaper does not want (as is the case in using the rake scythe) an assistant to follow him to pick up what is left behind ; this hook performs that office with the greatest facility and much better ; it allows nothing to fall, and collects the corn into bundles of the required size with the greatest regularity. It offers in the most evident manner, a saving of hands, strength, fatigue, time, and acts better than the ordinary implements used. In corn beaten down especially, labourers spend much tim a and labour, and much of the produce is lost ; whilst the use of this instrument offers the greatest advantages, as it works with just the same precision as though the corn were standing. The reapers in the Franche Comtd, who are the ordinary harvest labourers, were quite astonished at the action of this instrument, and we doubt not but that next year a great number of farmers will adopt the system, which is a boon to both master and servant.

Paradise or Debtors. — The number of debtors in the County Prison at York seems to be always very large : many remain a long time, evincing no disposition to leave the place ; and when it is considered what a very comfortable life they pass, with 'large airy rooms to dwell in, no work to do, plenty of company to associate with, spacious grounds to walk in, and with the county funds ready to purchase food for them if they have no property of their own, all surprise on this score must cease, the wonder really being that there are not ten times as many debtors, which there probably would be were the attractions of the place generally known. In fact, this prison, like many other debtors' prisons, is a luxurious kind of poorhouse — workhouse would be indeed a misnomer — where the lazy and extravagant are maintained at other people's expense, and where the bare idea of being required by their labour to do something towards earning their own bread, would be looked upon as the herald of unheard-of oppression and cruelty. Of the debtors in York Castle, at the time of my visit, one hacf been nearly eleven years, two more than ele-i yen years, and one fifteen years. The governor said that he did not think these men had any wish to leave the prison. I sent for the men to have some talk with them ; and the drift of their replies to my questions was, that they would not apply for their liberation, because in so doing they should have to surrender their property. — Fourteenth Report of Prison Inspectors.

What becomes of Discharged Prisoners I—No1 — No one believes that imprisonment in the usual way produces reform ; and the question, therefore, is highly interesting, ' What becomes of discharged ' prisoners V They leave the jail without money, without character, and are turned loose upon the world to seek a subsistence as they car*. Their 'former haunts are the only places open to them, and their former associates the only human beings who do not turn away from them in terror or contempt. What resource have they ? Is it possible for them to change their evil habits, and become good members of society?* It is not possible. Crime is their destiny. Society has punished them for their transgression of its laws ; its dignity is vindicated, its outraged virtue appeased ; and having deprived them, by the. stigma it has attached to their character, of any possible alternative, it dismisses them to their old course of villany. Society has caught a wolf j

and having punished its depredations by imprisonment, it gravely unlocks the door, and turns it out — with teeth, appetite, and instinct as sharp as ever — into the sheep-walk ! If the liberated prisoner is caught again, he is of course punished for his offences as before ? Not as before. He receives a heavier punishment, because this is the second time ; because he has yielded to an uncontrollable fate ; because he has done what he could hardly by possibility avoid doing. Ihe magistrate examines the record, discovers a former conviction, and is indignant at the depravity which took no warning, but on the contrary, after a wholesome chastisement, gave itself up anew to crime. The poor wretch is awe-struck by the dignity of virtue, end is too much abashed to offer even the poor excuse, ' But I was hungry — I had not a permy — no oue would give me work- I—what1 — what was I to do V In Manchester, we are told in the Daily News, it is the custom of the criminal class to celebrate the liberation of a comrade by a (day of carousal. They wait at the door' of the prison, carry him off in triumph, and thus guard against any extraordinary circumstance, any exception to the general rule, which might occur to save him. But of late years, it seems, an opposition has started ; an influence of an opposite kind is lying in wait, and now and then a brand is plucked from the burning. This opposing force, it may be thought, is the respectable class of Manchester, who have arrayed themselves against the criminal class. Alas ! no. The good angel is a solitary individual — a humble workman in a foundry, who obeys the Divine impulse without knowing why ; and without a theory or a plan, neutralises alike the destinies of the law and the allurements of the lawbreakers. This individual is Thomas Wright, an old man of threescore-and-ten, and the father of nineteen children. The following account is given by the paper we have mentioned of the way in which his attention was first attracted to the prison world : — ( There was a man of a sailor-like appearance who had got work at the foundry as a labourer ; he was a steady and industrious workman, and had obtained the favourable notice of Mr. Wright. One day the employer came and asked if he (Wright) was aware that they had a returned transport in the place ? He had learned that the sailor was such. Mr. Wright desired to be allowed to ipeak with the man, and ascertain the fact. Permission was given ; and during the day he took a casual opportunity, not to excite the suspicions of the other workmen, of saying to the man, "My friend, where did you work last ?" " I've been abroad," was the reply. The man was not a liar. After some conversation, he confessed, with tears in his eyes, that he had been a convict. He said he was desirous of not falling into ill courses, and he kept his secret, to aroid being refused work if he told the truth. Wright was convinced that in future he would act honestly, and repairing to their common employer, begged, as a personal favour, that the man might not be discharged. He even offered to become bound for his good conduct. This was ten years ago ; and the prejudice against persons who had ever broken the law was more intense than it is now. There were objections ; and other partners had to be consulted in so delicate a matter. Great numbers of men were employed in the foundry ; and should the matter come to their knowledge, it would have the appearance to them of encouraging crime. This was on the day of paying wages for the week. Before night, however, Wiight had the satisfaction to obtain a promise that, upon his responsibility, the convict should be kept. The following day Wright went to look after his protege — he was gone. On inquiring, he found he had been paid off and discharged the previous night. It was a mistake. The first orders for his dismissal had not been countermanded, and gone he was. Mr. Wright at once sent off a messenger to the man's lodging to bring him back to the foundry. He returned only to say the man had left his lodging at five o'clock in ths morning, with a bundle containing all his property under his arm.' In short, notwithstanding every effort of this benevolent person to find him, the poor convict was never more heard of. This incident made Mr. Wright think as well as feel. The case was only a solitary one. He bad Veen attracted to the man by the mere circumstance of their passing a portion of the day at the same work ; but were there not hundreds of other cases, of equal exigence, which had as strong a claim upon his sympathy? He went to the New Bailey, and conversed with the prisoners, passing with them his only day of rest — Sunday, The jealousy with which the authorities at first viewed his proceedings was gradually changed into approbation ; and at length, when a prisoner was about to be discharged, he was asked if he could find the man a situation. He did so. * This was the commencement of

his ministry of love. la ten years from that time be has succeeded in rescuing upwards of three hundred persons from the career of crime. Many of these cases are very peculiar; very few, indeed, have relapted into crime. He has constantly five or six on his list, for whom he is looking out for work. Very frequently he persuades the former employer to give the erring another trial. Sometimes he becomes guarantee for their honesty and good conduct ; for a poor man, in considerable sums — £20 to £60. In only, one instance has a bond so given been forfeited, and that was a very peculiar case. The large majority keep their places with credit to themselves and their noble benefactor. Most of them — for Mr. Wright never loses sight of a man he has once befriended, through his own neglect — attend church or Sunday-school, adhere to their temperance pledges, and live honest and reputable lives. And all this is the work of one unaided, poor, uuinfluential old man ! What, indeed, might he not do were, he gifted with the fortune, and the- social, position of a Howard?' — Chambers 1 s Edinburgh. Journal.

Frost Sleep. — In an excursion made in the winter of 1792-3, from St. John's tothe Bay of Bulls, North America,\C_aptain (the late General) Skinner forming'.pne, of oar party, we had on our return to cross a large lake over the ice somemiles in extent. When about the middle, Captain Skinner informed me that he had long been severely pinched by the cold, and found an irresistible- drowsy fit coming on. I urged him to exertions, representing'the fatal consequences of giving way to this feeling, and pointing out the state in which his wife and family would be found should the party arrive at St. John's without him. These thoughts roused him to exertion fot some time ; but when he had reached the margin of the lake he gave way, and declared he was utterly unable to struggle farther, delivering, at the same time, what he considered his dying message to his family. As there were some bushes near the spot I broke off a branch, and began to thrash my fellow-travel-ler with it ; at first without much apparent effect, but at length 1 was delighted to find that my patient winced under my blows, and at length grew angry. I continued the application of the stick until he made an effort to get up and retaliate. He was soon relieved from the torpor, and as we were now but a few miles from St. John's I pushed on before the party, leaving the captain under special care. I left also the stick, with strong injunctions that it should be smartly applied in the event of the drowsiness returning. I soon reached the town, and had some warm porter, with spice, prepared against the arrival of my friends ; with this and considerable friction he was enabled to proceed home, where he arrived perfectly recovered. He himself related the story at the Earl of St. Vincent's table, at Gibraltar, many years afterwards, expressing at the same time much gratitude for the beating he had received. — Memoirs of Admiral Brenton.

The Hungarian Peasantry. — There are few countries in which the hamlets are so cheerful in appearance as those of Hungary ; the houses are externally of the most scrupulous cleanliness ; the whitewash is continually renewed, and the window frames are generally painted in hright green. The doors are set deeply into the walls to throw off the rain, which in those mountain districts pours down like an avalanche ; and the receding arches being neatly formed, give a quaiut and comfortable look to the dwelling. A peep into the interior is equally promising ; the white or chintz curtains at the windows, the coverings of the beds, and the cookingutensils are all bright and cleanly-looking, but I never ventured on a closer examination; having received a hint of caution not to be disregarded, in seeing the care with which members of the same family, seated on the sunny side of their cottages, relieved each other after the Spanish fashion, of certain uncomfortable colonists. The habitations of the German peasantry in these villages may generally be distinguished from those of the native Hungarians, from their converting the enclosures of their cottages into gardens, where gourds spread their golden "fruit and broad green leaves over the fences, which are formed of withes neatly wrought in basketwork ; and dahlias, sun-flowers, and other gay-coloured blossoms flaunt in the sunshine, interspersed wilh vegetables and fruit-trees ; while the yards of their neighbours are reserved as receptacles for their agricultural implements ; a small plot of ground beneath the windows being, however, in almost every case, appropriated to a crop of tobacco, which produces a very pretty effect, with its long rich leaves, aud white lily-like blossoms. Although a considerable quantity of tobacco, and that of very fine quality, is grown in Hungary, it is entirely in the hands of the peasants, as its culture demands too much care, and yields too small a return, to render it an object of speculation to the nobles, who, with their beuap, corn, and. par-

ticu'larry wool* realise 1 a greater profit at less ibcjtenSe' of labour" and' outlay". — Tht City of the MdSiiar.

OKhhn of the American' Indians. — Modern discoveries have to a great extent dispelled the mystery of the Indian origin, and proved the fallacy of the numerous and ingenious theories formerly advanced with so much p'ertitfacky and zeal. Since the north west coasts' of America, and the north-east of Asia have! been explored, little difficulty remains on the subject. The two continents approach so nearly in that direction, that they are almost within sight of each other, and small boats can safely pass the narrow strait. Ten degrees further south, the Aleutian and Fox Islands form a continuous chain between Kamtschatka and the peninsula of Alaska, in such a manner as to leave the passage across a matter of no difficulty. The rude and hardy Tschutchi inhabiting the north east of Asia frequently sail from one continent to the other. From the remotest antiquity, this ignorant people possessed the wonderful secret of the existence of a world hidden from the wisest and most adventurous of civilized nations. They were unconscious of the value of their vast discovery; they passed over a stormy strait, from one shore to another, as stern and desolate as that they had left behind, and knew not that they bad crossed one of the great boundaries of the earth. When they first entered upon the wilderness of America, probably the most adventurous pushed down towards the genial regions of the south, and so through the long ages of the past the stream of population flowed slowly on, wave by wave, to the remotest limits of the east and south. — Warburton's Conquest of Canada.

Impsrtance of Cookery. — It is a curious fact, tb'at during the war in Spain, some forty years since, when the French and English armies were alike suffering from the scantiness of provisions, the French soldiers kept up their strength much better than the English, solely because they put such food as they could get to much better account. The English soldier would take the lump of meat, and broil it on the coals till a good part of it was burned almost to a cinder, though even then part of the remainder was probably raw. The French soldiers, on the contrary, would club two or three together, and stew their bits of meat with bread, and such herbs and vegetables as they could collect, into a savoury and wholesome dish. So great was the difference between these two ways, in their effect on the strength and health of the soldiers, that it was remarked that a French army would live in a country in which an English army would starve. — Family Economist.

A Toad found Embedded 183 feet BENEATH THE SURFACE. A live toad, with long legs, a small body, and large head, was found embedded in limestone at a depth of 182 feetfrom the surface of the earth, by the workmen employed in sinking a new shaft at the Seaham and Seaton colliery, in the county of Durham ; but it expired a few minutes after it had been brought to the top of the shaft. — Liverpool Albion.

Worcestershire Jurymen. — At the quarter sessions just concluded, Henry Bradley was charged with a theft in thinning the mane of a mare of two pounds of hair for his own benefit, and the jury found him guilty, bnt recommended him to mercy. Being asked their ground for that accompaniment to their verdict, they said, " We consider, perhaps, he worn't guilty of anything of the sort, but only p'raps made a mistake ; and we think a short punishment would do him good as a warning !" After this very lucid explanation (he bench could not do otherwise than attend to their wishes, and so only sentenced the prisoner to fourteen days' imprisonment. At the conclusion of another trial a " waiting juryman" joined the auditory in applauding the acquittal of a prisoner — in fact, was more boiterous than anybody else. For this conduct be was put into confinement among the prisoners in the cellar beneath for about an hour. Worcester Journal.

The Wasted Flowers. — On the velvet bank of a rivulet sat a rosy child. Her lap was filled with flowers, and a garland of rosebuds twined around her neck. Her face was as radiant as the sunshine that fell upon it ; and her voice was as clear as that of the bird which warbled at her side. The little stream went singiug on, and with every gush of its music the child lifted a flower in its dimpled hand, and with a merry laugh flung it upon its surface. In her glee she forgot that her treasures were growing less, and with the swift motion of childhood, she threw them upon the sparkling tide, until every bud and blossom had disappeared. Then seeing her loss, she sprung to her feet, and bursting into tears, called aloud to the stream — ' Bring back my flowers.' But the stream danced along, regardless of her tears ; and as it bore the blooming burden away, her vt, ords came back in a taunting echo along its reedy margin. And, long after, amidst the wailing of the breeze and the fitful bursts of

childish grief, was heard the fruitless cry — 'Bring back my flowers.' Merry maiden, who art idly wasting the precious moments so bountifully bestowed on thee, see in the thoughtless impulsive child an emblem of thyself. Each moment is a perfumed flower. Let its. fragrance be dispensed in blessings on all around thee, and ascend as sweet incense to its beneficent Giver. — Else, when thou hast carelessly flung them frdra thee, and seest them receding on the swift waters of Time, thou wilt cry in tones more sorrowful than those of the weeping child — 'Bring back my towers ;' and the only answer will be an echo from the shadowy past — 'Bring back my flowers.' — The Lowell Offering.