THE LATE COLONEL ST. JOHN.

Patea Mail, Volume II, Issue 115, 17 May 1876, Page 2

THE LATE COLONEL ST. JOHN.

(Form the “ Timaru Herald.”) The Press Agency announced a few days ago, among their items of Wellington intelligence, the death of Lieut. Colonel St. John; of the Armed Constabulary ; ■ and wedare say many of our readers wondered who Lieut-Coloncl St. Johuwas,of-why his death should be considered Of sufficient importance to be notified to the newspapers'by telegraph. . There was really no occasion for such a step on the part of the Agency, for as far as the present public of New Zealand are concerned, poor St. Johu was a very insignificant personage ; merely an unattached officer of Constabulary, doing duty as a clerk in the Native Office. He was, however, an extraordinary character and few who were ever brought into contact with him will easily forget him. In the old fighting days in the North Island, ten or eleven years ago, St. Johu performed a series of exploits against the Natives, such as would do no discredit to the heroes of romance; and earned the reputation of being, without one exception, the bravest man 'in the colonial forces. His utter disregard of danger, or rather his absolute love of it, led to his being constantly chosen whenever any particularly hard work had to be done,; arid'he never on a single occasion showed in any way that he knew what fear was. An officer under whose command he was, and wh<? for certain reasons had a very personal antipathy towards him, was once speaking againsthirn in unmeasured terms. “ But you surely admit his courage,” said one of his hearers.” « Courage ?” exclaimed the officer ; il If I were to tell him to climb up that wall single-handed, and meet certain death at the top, he would go without a question, and really enjoy it.” This inordinate passion for military adventure, indeed, sometimes rendered St. John rather an embarrassment for, his superiors, or to the Government; for there was no knowing what complications his dare devil dash might give rise to. The gallant fellow was consequently kept, very much in the back ground, ever since the Colonial troops assumed under Sir Donald McLean’s philo-Maori-re-gime, the character of police. Sir Donald made St. John a sort of private secretary to himself, in the Native Office and it was a miserable thing to see the poor Colonel, like a chained lion, dancing attendance on one who certainly was never accused of too much pluck. Colonel St. John, in addition to being a splendid soldier, was also very accomp • lishecl in the softer arts. He wrote an admirable little work on certain phases of life in New Zealand, and with great literary powers and wonderful versatile talents, might easily have succeeded as a writer, or indeed in almost any other line of life he had chosen to adopt. In stead of doing so, however, ' the end of his strange career has lieen humiliating enough. It is sad to think of one of the braves f , cleverest, and most generous nr’it in the country, dragging out a broken existence as a Government hack, and dying at forty in very poor circumstances. Colonel St. John was formerly in the 20th Regiment of foot, and served throughout the Crimean war. He was the son of the Hon. Captain St. Johu of the 12th Lancers, and was groat-great-grandson of the first Viscount Bolingbroko, Queen Anne’s illustrious, but eccentric Minister. In many respects the character of the late Colonel St. John closely resembled that of his celebrated ancestor. He had the same brilliant parts, the same unsteadiness of purpose, the same buoyancy of disposition; nor would the history of his life much spoil the comparison. His vicissitudes were not less marked than those of the author of the peace of Utrecht; and those who know what he was really capable of, do not doubt that on a larger stage, he might have acted as prominent a part.

—= . Yesterday, (says the Budget) in one of the Sunday schools a young lady teacher caught a boy smiling. Sho said to him, “ What are' you laughing at ?” “ Nothing mum,” was the answer. “ I know better/’ said the teacher in her severest manner, * now tell me what it is.” Johnny looked frightened as he mutteringly said. “I I_9—see yer n—newspaper a—a—sticking out, mum ?” The teacher sat down suddenly and arranged things. The Danhury New s says .-—Those who attended the sale of animals from Barnum’s Hippodrome in Bridgeport the other day report the following, occurrence —A tiger was being offered. The bid run up to 4,500d01.: This was made by a man who was a stranger, and to him it was knocked down, Barnura, who had been eyeing the stranger uneasily during the bidding, now went up to him and said, “ Pardon me for asking the question, but will you tell me where you aic from ?" “Down South a bit,” replied the man. “ Are you connected with any show?” “No,” . “And are you buying this animal for yourself ?” “ Yes.” Barnum shifted about uneasily fora moment, looking alternately at the man and the tiger, and evidently trying to reconcile the two together, “Now, young man,” he finally said, “ you need; not take this animal unless you want to, for there are those here who will take it off your hands.” “I don’t want to sell,” was the quiet reply. “What on earth are you going to do with such an ugly beast, if you have no show of your own and are not buying for some one who is a showman ?” “'Well, 1 I’ll tell .you,” said the purchaser. 1 My wife died about three weeks ago. We had lived together for Urn years, and—and I miss her.” He paused to wipe his eyes and steady bis voice, and then adde'd, “ So I’ve bought this tiger.” “I understand you,” said the great showman in a husky voice.

A GEM WITH A HISTORY* A jewel which was formerly hi the possession of the Diamond Duke, Charles of Brunswick, has been sold to the Emperor of Brazil for 85,000 francs. This gem which is a ruby of rare value, had an interesting history before it fell into the hands of the Duke of Brunswick. -It belonged to a certain man from Portugal, Duke Walicky, who appeared suddenly in St. Petersburg in 1811, and exhibited a fabulous amount of wealth, his jewels and objects of vert a alone being valued at 14,000,000 roubles. How the cpiasi Duke came into possession of his riches had always been a riddle. He was a son of a Lottbauer nobleman, and left his home in the • Government of Grodno in 1793. Eor eighteen years he was dead to his friends. In 1811, however, as before stated, he appeared in St. Petersburg and astonished every one, even the Court of the Czar, with his riches and costly possessions ; how and whore they had been gained was never fully made clear. After the death of the Duke, who never married, a paper was found in his heritage, which said that his jewels and riches Avcrc taken from the tent of a Bedouin chief, whom he had killed in a combat during a journey thVouch Middle Africa. In the tent beside other costly articles, was a chest filled with precious stones, valued at several millions. These treasures Duke Walickly brought to Portugal, rthore disposed of many of them, and ( after several successful speculations he arrived in St. Petersburg. Further than this nothing was ever known of the means by which this rare collection of jewels found their way to Europe. The only ruby which is of great rarity and beauty, after passing through several different hands, came into possession of the Duke of Brunswick. After hie death it was given, in accordance with the bequest, to the city of Geneva; was sent from there to Paris, where the Court jeweller of the Emperor of Brazil purchased it. Now, perchance, it lias found a permanent home after the various vicissitudes through which it has passed.

HEROISM OF A BRITISH CONSUL. The following interesting and exciting narrative from Santa Cuba is extracted from the “ Jamaica Guardian” : “An unfortunate seaman had boon apprehended on a charge of being implicated in a filibustering expedition, and he was thrust into prison and afterwards condemned to be shot, on evidence as unlikely and improbable as any one could conceive. He was an American, the son of English parents, and notwithstanding the most strenuous exertions on the part of the English and American Consuls the Spanish authorities seemed determined to sacrifice this poor man’s Hie. On the morning appointed for his execution he was marched out to the usual place, amidst a great show of solemnity. He was immediately followed by Mr Eamsden, British vice-consul, to make a still further protest in the prisoner’s favor. “ Mr Eamsden road a document, protesting in the name of England and America, declaring that the prisoner was altogether ’innocent of the charge which had been laid against him, demanding his immediate release, and declaring if the unfortunate man’s life was taken, those who took it would be guilty of murder, and be alike answerable to the Government of England and the United States of America. During the reading of this document, which was done with calmness and determination, the prisoner fainted from excitement, and there were strong signs of impatience on the part of the Spanish troops, who manifested a thorough determination, to force the authorities to take this man’s life in spite of all remonstrance. “ A consultation followed, anti Mr Eamsden and the American Consul were eventually informed that their remonstrance come too late ; the prisoner *»fhad already been sentenced to death for having taken up arms against Spain, and that the sentence must bo carried into effect. With this the order was given to the firing party to 1 present.’ It was the work of an instant, and Mr Consul Eamsden and the American Consul rushed with the flags of their respective nations before the levelled rifles of the Spanish troops, and in front of the unfortunate man shouted ‘ Hold!’ And throwing the English flag around himself and the prisoner, and addressing the officer in charge of the firing party, said— ‘ Gentlemen, as a Consul of her Britannic Majesty, I cannot stand silently by and see this foul murder of an innocent man. It is my duty to protect his life, and if you take his you must take it through these !’ placing himself immediately in front of the condemned seaman, his eyes sparkling, while his manly form heaved with the indignation his speech had so heroically expressed. The American Consul,, wrapped in the ‘ stars and stripes’ of the Union, stood abreast, and for some moments the Spaniards stood aghast at the conduct of these two Consuls, being more than they could comprehend. The emotion of the prisoner was extreme; he was supported right and left by the Consuls, and the poor fellow shed a profusion of tears from weariness and excitement. A consultation was again held, and the prisoner inarched back to the gaol under an escort of troops, the Consuls supporting the unhappy man all the way along. The furore was beyond description. After dark the prisoner was reprieved, and finally shipped off from the country through the indefatigable exertions of the two Consuls.”