ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

New Zealand Times, Volume XXXII, Issue 4945, 27 January 1877, Page 3

ITEMS BY THE MAIL.

The very seasonable announcement of a hew and cheaper edition of Mr. Kinglake's famous "History of the Invasion of ,the Crimea" has been made. For determining how far it be true that history does sometimes reproduce itself, one can hardly do better than compare the events of the present, day with those which preceded the Crimean war. The titles of the chapters in the first volume are suggestive, namely—The Ambitious Designs of "Russia; the Conflict between the Czar and Lord Stratford de Redcliffe ; Russia's Occupation of Roumania as a Material Guarantee ; Concord of the Four Great Powers against Russia; Separate Understanding between France and England ; the French and English Fleets in the Dardanelles and the Bosphorus ; The Final Efforts of Diplomacy; Russia and Turkey at War—and are likely to throw some of the much-required light upon the great question of the day. This cabinet edition will comprise in six volumes, at 6s. each, the contents of the five octavo volumes of the present edition, revised and prepared for this edition by the author: •< '• ' - The Philadelphia correspondent of the Alelbourne Argus says: —It would do New Zealanders good to visit the Agricultural Hall and see how successfully their exhibits of wool and grain have been neglected, until they have become thick with dust, and rendered. very offensive objects to look at. The grain was originally covered with wire-net, but the ends have been prized up, and a good deal of wheat removed. If the colony is too poor to maintain an attendant' to watch the exhibits, it might have placed them in the care of persons who would have considered themselves well remunerated with a present of the grain at the close of the Exhibition, for Mr. Levy has sold a good deal of, his wheat in half-crown packets —a price to be regarded as highly remunerative. To have so frequently to call attention to carelessness or inattention is not pleasant, but the present case is one-of the best arguments which at present suggests itself for a combination of the colonies next time we go to a great Exhibition. . The different provinces could be represented as a whole for a third of the expense they have incurred on the .present occasion, and New Zealand's contribution of agricultural products would not be permitted to become unsightly. i The New York Times of October 7 says that the agreement' signed at' Washington on the previous day, by -which the territorial transit charges to be paid by the British Post Office* to the United States for conveying closed mails between Boston and New York v and San Francisco shall be 6f; per' kilogramme pi letters (about 21b. 3oz.),and 2f. per kilogramme of: printed'matter andsamples of-merchahdise, will apply to all mails conveyed on and after August 24, 1876, and the agreement is terminable on one year's notice. This matter has been a - Bubject of prolonged' 'correspondence and controversy between the postal authorities of the two Governments/ The Berne Postal Union treaty fixed the general territorial transit rates at 2f: .per kilogramme for letters, and " 25 ' centimes per kil.igramme for mail matter.or double these rates if the distance travelled should exceed 650 kilometres, or about 450 miles ; but the Indian mail via. Brindisi, and ." all mails conveyed across the territory of the United States by " railway between New York or Boston and San Francisco were excepted from these provisions, and left subject to existing treaties of future "special arrangements." The Postal Convention of 1868 between Great Britain and the United States required the former to. pay only 6c. a pound for printed matter, and 60c. per pound for letters conveyed across American territory, which rates fully, covered, the cost of transporting the mails for British Columbia,- as they contained but a small proportion of newspapers. They proved to he extremely insufficient, however, to defray the cost of transportation of the bulky Australian mails, which subsequently Were 'sent over this route, and which last year weighed 150 tons, involving a loss to American Government of over 50,000d015., as only one-twelfth of the total weight consisted of letters. The demands of the United Stated postal authorities for reimbursement of the deficits annually accruing from this cause having failed to secure a satisfactory response, one year's notice was given last August for a termination of the treaty of 1868 (under which the English Post Office department insisted upon its strict 'rights), and the present arrangement now replaces it, with rates which; cover the cost of transportation, and leave for the United States a small margin of profit, j There is living in the village of Thetford,; Suffolk, England, The Times says, " an old; soldier, William Clark, formerly of (he Twen-i tieth Regiment, who served as one of the* guard over Napoleon, at St. Helena. His recollections of youth are so vivid, and apparently ■ so accurate, that a narrative was taken down • from his lips by the parish rector a short time ago. Regarding the death and burial of Napoleon,' Clark states ;—'Napoleon died on May 5, 1821. Two priests Were in attendance. We who had to lift the body were not allowed to touch the coffin until a priest had sprinkled us with holy water. We started at 3 o'clock. Tho coffin was very heavy. We carried it six at a time, and the men that were lowest down in carrying- him suffered all the punishment. I was one of thesei All the garrison was assembled about the Emperor.'s quarters, and followed bim to the grave, the bands playing a dead march. It was reported that Napoleon had requested to be buried with the honors of royalty, twenty-one guns ; but the Governor ordered nineteen guns to be- fired, the number assigned to a general. We carried the body where a cart with oxen could not go, but in certain parts of the distance the men were relieved, and the body drawn upon a cart. The ' Roman Catholic priests who had been in attehi dance on him conducted the funeral service. The actual funeral took- place about six ;p.m. Nine or ten of us had been employed for three days in excavating in the rock a cavity 7ft. deep and Bft. square. The rock ;was blasted, and where the powder had made the sides uneven it was filled in, and the cavity smoothed'all round. In the cavity thus mado by sappers and miners, assisted by my own labor and that of others, flagstones were inserted in the rock and formed into a case or box, which received the coffin. The coffin was covered over with a large flagstone, the four corners were bored and filled in with melted lead, which fastened them firmly to : gether. The remainder of the excavation was filled in with the rubble and levelled, and a mound resembling a common grays raised above it. An iron palisading was placed round, and sentry kept over it, night and day until all the troops were withdrawn. They were gradually withdrawn, and-our regiment left six months after the funeral. I believe if any man ever died broken-hearted it was

Boney. He had been low-spirited, and had not taken his usual exercise for some time before he was ordered to take up his quarters in the new state prison. To be sure it had the name of a prison, but I saw into the drawingroom and dining-room, aud they were beautiful. It was built by the sappers and miners and by 400 Chinamen, and they were all of different trades. Mr. Darlan, the storekeeper, told me that Napoleon left the funeral party IOOOf, but Sir Hudson Lowe said it was more than he dared do to grant it. Napoleon also would have given to each man of our regiment a gold chain to hold his pricker and brush, but we were not permitted to accept it."