ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VIII, Issue 694, 27 March 1852, Page 3

ENGLISH EXTRACTS.

The Great Exhibition.—The following grants of remuneration have been made to the various officers connected with the Exhibition. Mr. (now Sir Joseph) Paxton gets £5OOO or about 2} per cent on the cost of the building ; Messrs. Fox and Henderson’s claims to extra remuneration in consequence of the novelty of the undertaking, and the impossibility of making strictly accurate estimates have not been decided upon ; there can be little doubt however they will be honourably dealt with. The remuneration voted to Colonel Reid, Mr. Dilke, and Mr. Cole, the active members of the Committee has been declined by the two former, by Colonel Reid on the ground that being in the pay of the Government as an engineer officer he was bound to rendei all the assistance in his power to the undertaking,andbyMr.Dilke fromhaving those independent means which enable him to give his gratuitous services. His Royal Highness Prince Albert in an admirable letter to the Society of Arts has urged upon them the propriety of establishing, during the winter months a series of lectures on the different departments of the Exhibition by professional men best acquainted with the various subjects. The Council of the Society have resolved to act upon his Royal Highness’s suggestion. The Hon. East India Company has presented her Majesty with a magnificent and choice selection from the objects exhibited by the Companv, embracing muslins, jewellery, filagree-work, jewelled agate cups, furniture, brocades, shawls, and carpets, lhe remainder of their collection the Company intends to distribute as follows :—Having provided for an accurate and complete illustration of all raw materials, tools, or mechanical contrivances exhibited from India, the distribution °f the remainder to scientific institutions or individuals is duly authorised, and the manufactured goods purchased by the Company for exhibition will be sold, probably by auction at some place appointed for that purpose. The following is an abstract of the Police returns of delinquents and lost articles in connexion with the exhibition :—Six men and one woman (all English) were apprehended for picking pockets. Of these, six were convicted and one discharged by the magistrate. Three men and two women (all English) were taken for attempting the same delinquency, four being convicted and one discharged. For stealing articles exposed in the Exhibition, six men (all English) were apprehended, five were convicted, being either fined or imprisoned, and one discharged. Of foreigners there were five for the same offence, and those were punished in one of the two modes named. Of lost and restored articles there were an enormous number; chiefly articles belonging to females ; and among them two petticoats and two bustles none of which, up to the present time, have been claimed. 1679 articles were restored to their respective owners, and £4B Bs. 9Jd. in purses and cash, as also £142 6s. in loose cash and checks. The number of articles still in the hands of the police amount to 3347 ; of these, about 750 are cambric pocket handkerchiefs, and 1 a carpenter’s tool-basket with tools. In money yet unrestored there are £ll 15s. in purses with cash, and £3 10s. 9Jd. in loose cash, together with a 5 dollar Prussian note. Such are, briefly, the statistics ofcrime and lost and restored property connected with the Great Exhibition from Ist May to 24th October, both inclusive. The positive crime is wonderfully low, considering the fact that 6,000,000 persons visited the building.

The Revue des Deux Mondes publishes a statement which should stimulate us in this country to a noble rivalry with our enlightened neighbours. The statement is in effect that the French Government has lately made a literary acquisition of no ordinary interest and value. A French gentleman of the name of Perret has been engaged for six years in exploring the catacombs under Rome, and copying, with the most minute and scrupulous fidelity, the remains of ancient art which are hidden in those exlraotdioary chambers. Under the authority of the Papal Government, and assisted by M. Savinien Petit, an accomplished French artist, M. Perret has explored the whole of the sixty catacombs, together with the connecting galleries. Burying himself for five years in this subterranean city, be has thoroughly examined every, part of it, in spite of difficulties and perils of the gravest character—for example, the refusal of his guides to accompany him ; dangers resulting from the intricacy of the passages, from the necessity of clearing a way through galleries choked up with earth which fell in from auove almost as fast as it was

| removed ; hazards arising from the difficulty I of damming up streams of water which ran in upon them from above, and from the foulness of air and consequent difficulty of breathing and preserving light tn the lower chambers : all these and many other perils have been overcome by lhe honourable perseverance cf M. Perret, and he has returned to France with a collection of drawings, which extend to 360 sheets in large folio, of which 154 sheets contain representations of frescoes, G 5 of monuments, 23 of paintings on glass (medallions inserted in the walls, and at lhe bottoms of vases) containing 86 subjects, 41 drawings of lamps, vases, rings, and instruments of martyrdom to the number of more than 100 subjects, and, finally, 90 contain copies of more than 500 sepulchral inscriptions. Of the 154 drawings of frescoes two-thirds are inedited, and a considerable number have only lately been discovered. Amongst the latter, are the paintings on the celebrated walls of Platouia, said to have been the place of interment, for a certain period, of St. Peter and St. Paul. Th is spot was ornamented with frescoes by order of Pope Uamasus, about a.d. 365, and has ever since remained closed up. Upon opening the empty tomb, by permission of the Roman Government, M. Perret discovered fresco paintings representing the Saviour and the Apostles, and two coffins (tombeauxj of Parian marble. On the return of M. Perret to France, lhe Minister of the Interior (M. Leon Faucher) entered into treaty with him for the acquisition of his collection for the nation. The purchase has been arranged, and the necessary amount, upwards of £7500, obtained by a special vote of the National Assembly. The drawings will be published by the French Government in a style commensurate with their high importance, both as works of art and as invaluable monuments of Christian antiquity. M. Leun Faucher has also obtained grants from the Assembly for the resumption of excavations at Nineveh ; the renewed excavations to be directed by M. Place, the successor of M. Botta as French consul at Mossul, also for fitting out a scientific expedition to be despatched to Assyria to complete the discoveries recently made in that part of the world ; and for clearing out a temple of Serapis, discovered in the environs of Memphis, by M. Mariette, and conveying to Paris the statues and works of art which it contains.

Duels and Duellists.—The English ambassador, when introducing George Robert Fitzgerald at the Court of France, represented that Irishman as having fought no less than thirty duels, which induced the king to say, that his life would make an excellent appendix to Monsieur Jack, the Giant Killer. We believe | that out of the thirty duels, only six-and-twenty were fatal. The individuals who composed the celebrated Hellfire Club, were obliged to qualify themselves for that very honourable community, by the murder of at least one man in single combat. This rule was not quite so liberal as was that of the Gendarmes in France, who admitted persons, upon their swearing to fight at least one duel within the vear ensuing. Barrington says, “There was in 1782, a volunteer corps, which was called the “ Independent Light Horse.” They were not confined to one district, and none could be admitted but the younger brothers of the most respectable families. They were all both hilt and muzzle boys. Roscommon and Sligo then furnished some of the finest young fellows (fire-eaters) I ever saw ! their spirit and decorum were equally admirable, and their honor and liberality conspicuons on all occasions.” In the days of Whitlay the player, there were thirteen families in Connaught, who resented everv supposed affront with the death of the offen Jer. Mr. Moore, in his memoirs of the celebrated Irish Chieftain, says “ that during what he calls the golden age of jobbing in Ireland, many gentlemen would have considered it a case of ‘ calling out to be asked what services they performed for their pay.’” Miss Edgeworth, to whom society is so very much indebted both for amusement and instruction, says the county of Galway was always famous for such fighting gentlemen as Blue Blaze, Devil Bob, Nineteen-Duel-Dick, Hairtrigger Pat, and Featherspring Ned. When Mr. Dillon was shot dead by his adversary, Mr. Kyan, in the forehead, his brother, who was only aged sixteen, very calmly observed that it was a miracle the eye of the deceased was not knocked out. About the year 1777, the Fire eaters were in great repute in Ireland—no young fellow could finish his education till he had exchanged shots with some of his acquaintances. The first two questions always asked as to a young man’s respectability and qualifications, particularly when he proposed for a lady wife, were—What family is he of! Did he ever blaze ? Tit for Tat.—The Hon. Edward Everett, when a young man just out of college, was invited to give an oration in the city of Salem. At the dinner. Judge Story called up Mr. Everett by the following sentiment: —” Fame follows applause where ever it (Everett) goes ?” Mr. Everett rose instantly and gave the following : —“ The members of the legal profession 1 However high may be their aspirations, they can never rise higher than one Story The Proposed Exhibition at New York. —The proposal for holding an industrial and fine arts exhibition at New York, in the spring of next year, to which we have previously referred, appears likely to realize the best expectations of its projectors. Although no steps have yet been taken for ascertaining the number of persons in the United States who may wish to avail themselves of the opportunity of displaying the varied products of their industry, upwards of one thousand applications for space have already been received by the agents in this country, mainly from British and Foreign Exhibitors in the late Great Exhibition. We are informed that among the intending exhibitors are his Royal Highness Prince Albert, who has signified bis intention of forwarding some of his farm produce, and the Duke of Devonshire, who contemplates sending various articles from his extensive collection of works of art. Baron Marochetti has engaged to execute an equestrian statue of Washington, Mr. Carew a colossal statue of Daniel Webster, M. Monti is engaged in the production of one of his veiled figures, and Mr. Manning has consented to send his Prometheus, a statue of her Majesty and Prince Albert, and several other articles of sculpture. The building in which the exhibition is to be held, will, it is stated, cover an area of seven acres, and

Sir Joseph Paxton is at present engaged in the preparation of a design which he intends to submit to the promoters of the undertaking. The Ist of February is the last day for receiving applications for space.and the exhibition is expected to be open on the 15th of April. Mr. Riddle, the American Commissioner, has returned to New York, where the experience which he has obtained in the management of affairs connected with the Great Exhibition, will, no doubt, be brought to bear, in making the necessary arrangements for the proposed transatlantic exhibition.— Morning Chronicle.

Austria. —The correspondent of the Daily News, writing from Vienna, says:—“lf the newspaper accounts can be credited, the population of that part of Hungary through which Archduke Albrecht, the new Governor-Genera], has passed in his tour of inspection, has entirely forgotten or thrown aside all its former sympathies for the constitutional independence of Hungary, and has received with endless rejoicings and enthusiasm the representative of their Sovereign who, two short years ago, was universally denounced as an illegal monarch and a traitorous tyrant. It is notorious, however, that the people are imbued with hostility to their present rule. The majestic eloquence of Kossuth, now unheard, still dwells on the ear of his people, that a day of redemption is anxiously but confidently expected. All the care bestowed by political and police auI thorities on the exclusion from Hungary of every newspaper or letter containing information of the progress of Kossuth, and his mighty speeches iu England ; all their soldiers and gendarmes cannot prevent portions of the latter from reaching the sight of the Hungarian nation. Let a newspaper with one cf the speeches but find its way across the frontiers, and the example displayed by Kossuth in his struggle with the Government respecting the publication of the debates of the Diet, will show a host of eager imitators. Small slips of paper in the original English, or perhaps French, per Laps translated into German and Magyar, are passed from hand to band among the tried and united brethren. Those who can read English are envied. While the enthusiasm for the great champion of the national cause continues to ferment, though in hidden channels, the national feeling even manifests itself openly, the Government looking on hopeless and impotent."

Italy.— At Este 24 persons were convicted of “ highway robbery four were shot, and the others sentenced to hard labour for terms varying between 8 and 20 years. The sentences against the engineer Corti, of Vicenza, and the shopkeeper Giaomelli, of Treviso, have created a great sensation. The former, who had purchased a certificate for 25 florins on Mazzini’s loan, was condemned to death ; the lat er, who had received an anonymous communication from Turin, respecting a general insurrection, and destroyed it instead of sending it to the authorities, was condemned to 10 years’ fortress arrest. Marshal Radetzky commuted Curti’s sentence to eight years’, and that of Giacomelli to five years’ imprisonment. At Mantua “ a person ” was shot for having revolutionary papers in hia possession, and endeavouring to induce soldiers to desert. Religious Liberty in Prussia.—The Berlin correspondent of the Times, in writing on the state of religions opinion iu Prussia, says—“ The days of all the Free Congregations and congregations o! German Catholics are numbered. By a ministerial order they are henceforth to be deprived of all support from the communal authorities, direct or indirect, and where such support has been granted for a fixed period, it is no longer to be paid The preacher or head of the ’‘Free” congregation of Berlin was, some time since, expelled the city. The official order grounds the refusal of the support already granted on the principle that all these congregations are not regularly incorporated bodies, and, therefore, could not legally accept such promises or engagements. It also asserts that they have gradually ceased to be religious societies at all, and have of late years degenerated into mere political societies, inculcating doctrines inconsistent with the principles of civil and social order. As such they are to be everywhere suppressed and extinguished, and the officials are warned that it is their duty to carry out the ministerial instructions diligently. In several provincial towns the order had been anticipated by the police, as numerous reports of closed meeting-houses and dissolved congregations have reached Berlin. There is no hope, however, that the measure will increase the number of adherents to any of the established churches. Most of the “congregations” were widely separated from them, and from any known form of dissent retaining any of the general articles of the Christian creed. Altogether the religious parlies in Germany are in a sittglar state of confusion. The mysticism of Swedenborg lias allied itself to the spiritual hierarchy of the Irviugites, with its realization on earth of the gradations of Archangels, Angels, and Apostles, the bearers of those sacred titles being also frequently at variance with the very earthly power of the police, that cannot find any such ranks recognized by the State. Beside the intensest fanatacism may be found the pantheism of Spinoza and the cold negation of Proudhon, in itself but the system of Hegel pushed to its utmost logical consequence. The conflict between the old Lutherans and the Evangelic Church lias never ceased, though the late King compelled both to an external uniformity. There is a sti.l larger mass ofcomple'e indifference to all forms of creed, without even zeal enough to unite into a propaganda, which was the case with the “ free" congregations. Some years ago the interdict on these bodies would have caused the utmost agitatiun ; now it scarcely excites a remark. In Bavaria, too, the general law on “associations” is applied to the German Catholics, and they have therefore ceased to be considered religious societies. They are dealt with as political clubs and unions, and they lack the zeal and faith which can alone raise them from that level.”

General Changarnier.—ln a letter to the Daily Netos, the author of “ Revelations of Russia” rela.es the following anecdote of the chief military upholder of the “cause of order” io France, defying either General Changarnier or Ledru-Rollin, or the colleagues in Government to whom he narrated lhe occurrence, to gainsay it: —"Ledru-Rollin, when a member of the Provisional Government, was one evening much occupied, when an African general, who refused to give his name, was announced as desiring a private interview, Ledru-Rollin teplied that lie was engaged till two iu the morning, to which

j the stranger rejoined, that ‘he would wait.' When, at length, the General (whom LedruRollin did not know personally) was admitted, be introduced himself as General Cbangarnier. ‘ How is it, General,' inquired the Minister, ‘that you have left your African Government V ‘1 know,’ replied the General, ‘that I ought to be there. I have come under the pretext of visiting the death-bed ol a near relative, but really for . the sole purpose of seeing you.’ Here the Genera) proceeded to explain, that, for several years past, the dream of his life bad been the invasion of England; that he had sent agents to levy plans, survey harbours, and obtain information ott the minutest points connected with the topography and defences of the country. Basing bis calculations on these data, he judged the capture and destruction of the British metropolis feasible, was anxious to attempt it, and came to entreat of Lcuru-Rollin the means of putting his project into execution. Ledru-Rolliti remarked, that such matters were not within his province ; but Changarnier answered him, that, nevertheless, he could collect 12,000 men belonging to regiments which bad served under his orders in Africa, and obtain for them means of transport or. his (Le-dru-Rollin’s) sole order. The General expressed himself further satisfied, that with this force he would be able to make a swoop on Woolwich, burn the shipping tn the docks, and destroy or capture astonished London. He added, that, in case of failure, he permitted Ledru-Rollin and his colleagues to disavow him, and pledged his wotd of honour as a soldier, that if he were tried, hanged, or shot, he wou'd die without criminating his employers. Ledru-Rolli i replied, that he had also formerly entertained the notion that France must some day avenge the disasters of Waterloo, but that, at present, peace with Great Britain was the wish and policy of the French people, and that, in any case, it appeared to him that it was only on a fair field, with an armed enemy, that France could vindicate her honour, not by an act of piracy, or by barbarously injuring the lives and property of peaceful citizens. Two young men, of named Chigot, one 26, the other 20 years of age, were tried last week before the Court of Assizes of La Vendee, for an attempt to murder Lieut. Ligier, cf the 59;h Regiment. The father and mother of the accused keep a tobacco and snuff shop at Napoleon Vendee, and have a daughter, between sixteen and seventeen years of age, who serves itr the shop during their occasional absence. Lieutenant Ligier, who was one of their customers, was, it appears, in the habit of visiting the shop frequently when M. Chigot and his wife were not there, and one day, on their returning suddenly, they found Lieutenant Ligier kissing their daughter. They expressed to M. Ligier their indignation at his conduct, and he withdrew. When the sons came home, the father told them what bad occurred, and, after interiogating their sister, they came to a conclusion that there had been a criminal intimacy between her and M. Ligier, and they resolved to compel him to repair by marriage the dishonour which he bad brought on their family.' They purchased two pistols which they loaded *il!i ball, and going to tbe lodgings of Lieutenant Ligier, they called upon him to make reparation, and presented to him a promise of marriage for his signature. Lieut. Ligier refused, and, according to the statement of the prisoners, which, however, was denied by M. Ligier, who appeared as a witness on the trial, in making this refusal, he indulged in a sort of boast of having dishonoured their sister. The brothers then fired their pistols. One bail struck Lieut. Ligier in the band, the other entered his side, and inflicted so severe a wound that he was confined more than six weeks to his bed. Thinking they bad killed their victim, the brothers went to the prison to give themselves into custody for murder, but the gaolor refused to receive them without a warrant of commitment. They went away, but did not attempt to escape, and were soon afterwards arrested. Lieut. Ligier declared that no other familiarity than what had been witnessed by M. Chigot and bis wife had existed between him and the daughter. The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty, and the court ordered the acquittal of the prisoners'. — Gaiignani. Two firms in the United States have agreed to give Mr. Charles Dickens £IOOO for advance proof-sheets of bis next novel, these sheets to be despatched from England at least a week before tbe appearance ol the part, so as to give tbe houses in question a fair seven days start upon their plundering competitors.” The Liberldoi Lille states that in a neighbouring commune there are a number of violent men who only talk of doing justice to tbe Whites and hanging them in 1852. The person more prominently pointed out to the vengeance of the people is naturally a worthy landowner, who every year expends in the commune from 5000 f. to 6000 f. in charities of all kinds. This gentleman, who had been informed of the threats which had been made against him, went to one of the most violent of these “ hangers,” who was at the time out of employ. “ Well,” said he to the man, “why are you not at work ?” “ Oh, Sir,” replied be, “ I could have plenty of employment, but I have no shovel to work with—l cannot work without tools.” What will a shovel cost you?” “ Three francs ten sous.” “Well, then, here are five francs, with which you can buy the shovel, and the remaining thirty sous will serve to buy the rope with which you talk of hanging me iu 1852.”

Clerical Celibacy.—A correspondent of John. Bull communicates the following:—“I happen to know one of our bishops, second in worth to none on the bench, who was thus reproved by a noble Romanist lady: —‘1 wonder, mv lord, you are not ashamed of having a wife anil half-a-dozen children.' ‘I should be much more ashamed,’ he answered very gravely, ‘to have the children without the wife.’ ”

A Russian Ukase.—An imperial ukase issued by the Emperor Paul compelled every man in his dominions to abandon the usual round hat, and to adopt a queer three-cornered chapeau which the ingenuity of the Russian autocrat had invented for the disfigurement of his male subjects and himself. Now this horror of a hat was alone sufficient to have caused a dozen revolutions in civilised countries; but the Russians only sighed and complied with the ukase. What, however, was their compliance in the eyes of a despot! Another ukase directed that all foreigners should wear the obnoxious covering. Those who considered a queer three-cor-nered unfashionable hat as a lesser evil than a

long walk to Siberia with no hat at all, grumbled and provided themselves with that presscribed by the Emperor. Paul considered this reformation had secured his reign, for the Jacobins of Paris wore round hats. He ordered himself to be driven about St. Petersburg!! to see his new ukase enforced by the police, who, assisted by some Cossacks, stood at the corners of every street to remove from the heads of strangers the obnoxious round hat anathematised by the imperial ukase. Paul seemed, indeed, to have commenced in good earnest his despotic reign. He was in the height of glory, enjoying in idea the plenitude of his power, when he perceived an Englishman crossed the quarter of the Admiralty in the prohibited bat ; for the sturdy islander, who considered the imperial ukase as an encroachment on his national liberty, thought proper to wear one after his own liking, without any regard to the commands of the Emperor. Paul stopped his carriage and directed his aid-de-camp to deprive that contumacious insular of the covering he wore to insult him in his own capital. The aide galloped oft’to fulfil the mandate of his master ; but seeing the Englishman wearing a three-cornered hat, concluded the Emperor was mistaken, and returned to report that the manner of the Englishman was respectful, and his bat of the legitimate form. Paul thought his eyes had deceived him ; he took up bis lorgnette, and beheld again the identical round hat. The officer, then, had dared to deceive him. He ordered him under arrest, and despatched another aide-de-camp to compel the impertinent insular to yield up his detestable chapeau. There was the Englishman in the queer-looking three-cornered hat. The aide brought back the same report; Paul applied the lorgnette to his eye and saw once more a round hat, and sent the unfortunate aide to join his comrade. A general officer, whose perceptive powers were greater than those of the ill-starred messengers, offered to undertake this difficult mission. He rode towards the Englishman, upon whose hat he kept his eyes fixed, and had the satisfaction to sec it suddenly assume a triangular form. He prudently brought the magician back with him to the Emperor, that he might himself explain its mechanism to his master. In fact, the Englishman had ordered a hat to be constructed on an ingenious plan, which at once combined his own notions of freedom with the arbitrary enactments of the imperial ukase. A spring inside elevated or depressed the crown, and expanded or folded up the corners, and made the chapeau assume by turns the interdicted or legal form. Paul, who was highly amused at the idea, dismissed the Englishman very courteously, and permitted his countrymen to wear their hats after their own fashion. His next ukase was of a more annoying kind; every person in his capital was to kneel down on the ground as soon as his carriage appeared in sight, and death or exile was decreed to those who dared resist the absurd mandate. The haughty Russian prince was levelled at once to the humblest slave by' this odious regulation. In the winter season, when the streets were clean, the command was only a degradation I but an early thaw rendered it a serious inconvenience, for the Russian capital then became dirty, and in the dirt Paul chose every body to kneel. Ladies were not exempted from this penance, and the sight of a Russian princess and her little family kneeling in the mud was a very common spectacle during the continuance of this odious ukase. The streets were deserted when tbe imperial carriage was seen. The people fled from the presence of their sovereign as if the plague had suddenly swept off the swarming population of the second commercial city in the world. Some attempt was made one evening by a young and beautiful bride of high rank, in her white and silver tissue dress, to escape the ukase by ordering her coachman to turn down a bye street upon the approach of the Autocrat’s coach; but, alas! it had been seen, and her coachman got a caning, and herself a command to alight, and pay his homage.— London Magazine. A singular encounter took place a few days since on the new road betwixt Lairg and Scourey, which has been recently opened up to the public. A labourer named Ross, a resident in the parish of Lairg, while on his road homeward one evening from Shinness, where he had been at work through the day, was crossed in bis path by a pet deer belonging to Mr. Gilchrist, Ospisdale. As the animal, whether out of frolic, or animated by a malicious intent, does not appear, manifested what seemed rather a pugnacious disposition, and as the man had no weapon of defence, save a small whip, he, with a prudent regard to bis own safety, judged it expedient to beat a retreat. Accordingly, he took to his heels, making for a wood close by him, and clambered up the nearest tree with wouderful agility, a feat which he was enabled to accomplish ere his swift pursuer overlook him. Tbe deer, however, was not to be thus easily baffled. Setting to work in right earnest be dug all round the tree with his antlers, endeavouring with much sagacity and perseverance to tear it up, provoking thereby the most grievous apprehensions in tbe mind of the perplexed object of his fury. The sufferings of the latter were protracted for a long period, and became momentarily more and more acute as the chances of his rescue seemed to wax fainter. He shouted desperately for assistance, and at length was fortunate enough to attract notice. A party of shepherds heard his cries at a considerable distance off, and immediately repaired with their dogs to tbe place to discover their origin. By their aid the deer was beaten off, and the poor man delivered from his plight, but in such a state of terror was he that the perspiration was dripping from him as if he had been thoroughly soaked in the nearest river.— lnverness Advertiser.

A Good Story.—lt is related that one very wet evening last week, an Islington omnibus drew up at the door of the Angel inn, London, A welldressed female, who had charge of a trunk arid several bandboxes, inquired blandly but anxiously. “Is there room inside ?” “No,” growled a gruff voice from the interior, “we’re full.” ‘‘Dear me, I shall be ruined,” ejaculated the female. A wealthy stockbroker who was inside, either compassionating the young woman's condition, or noticing that she was pretty, said, “ Conductor, tell the lady that if she’ll do me the honour to sit on my knee I shall be happy to accommodate her.” The fair one acquiesced at once declaring that she was pledged to punctuality. Tbe bus

. rolled on, the gentleman placed bis atm round the young woman’s waist and held a conversation with her in an under tone, till tbe omnibus stopped at Tollington Park. “Who’s for I oilington Park ?” exclaimed the conductor. “ I am,” said the lady; “please let me out.” The gentleman got cut also, and the trunk and bandboxes of the young woman were duly deposited. “Can you tell me, sir,” said the latter," where Mr.—lives in this neighbourhood ?” " Ah !” exclaimed the gentleman “ I am he ; what can you want with him? ” “ Oh dear;” said the girl, in a trepidating voice, “ I am engaged by your lady as cook, and promised to enter on my place punctually at this hour.” The young woman hail actually ridden home in the omnibus on her master’s knee. How the matter ended has not transpired. A Female Soldier. — Galignani’s Paris Messenger states: —“ At tbe head of the list of a fresh batch of Chevaliers of the Legion of Honour, created on Thursday, is a lady named Brulon, who enjoys the rank of a lieutenant of Invalides, and whose long military history is probably without a parallel in Amazonian auuals. She is the daughter, the sister, and tbe widow of a soldier. Her two brothers died on the field of battle in Italy. Her husband was killed at Ajaccio in 1791. The following year she entered, at the age of 21 years, in the 42nd regiment, iu which her father was serving. She was allowed to remain, although her sex was known, and she made seven campaigns between the years 1792 and 1799, rising through the several gradations of fusilier, corporal, quartermaster corporal, and sergeant. An Honest Confession. —“You must not smoke here, sir,” said a captain of a north river steam-boat, to a man who was smoking among the ladies on the forward deck. 1 musu't I ha ?—why not? ” replied the fellow, opening his capacious mouth, and allowing tbe smoke to escape slowly. “Didn’t you see the sign? Gentlemen are requested not to smoke abaft the engine.” “Bless your soul! that don’t mean me ; I am no gentleman—never pretended to be—you can’t make a gentleman of me, nohow you can fix it.” So saying “he puffed away, and took the responsibility.”— Boston (U.S.J Paper.