ENGLISH MISCELLANEA.

Press, Volume VIII, Issue 930, 31 October 1865, Page 3

ENGLISH MISCELLANEA.

[From the " Home Nevrs."j

The Guild of Literature and Art has ' at last completed the residences con--1 templated at Stevenage on a piece of ground bestowed on the institution by I Sir Bulwer Lytton. A number of gentlemen connected with the Guild \ visited the buildings on July 29, and afterwards went over to lunch at Knebworth with Sir Bulwer, who had asked a company of ladies and gentlemen to meet them. Two speeches were delivered, one by Sir Bulwer, and another by Mr. Dickens, touchiug lightly on the event that brought them all together, and reciprocating passages of compliment and panegyric. There are some features in this undertaking which have created a little surprise. Amongst the gentlemen who accompanied Mr. Dickens, and who represented the Guild, the absence of literary men and artists of eminence was striking. It used to be one of Mr. Dickens' strong objections to the Literary Fund that it had so few men of letters on the Committee; but the objection applies with tenfold force to the Guild of Literature aud Art. The Committee of the Literary Fund reckons amongst its members the editors of the " Edinburgh and Quarterly Beviews," Earl Stanhope, Sir Henry Ellis, Mr. Froude, Mr. Trollope, Lord John Manners, Sir James Prior, Dr. W. Smith, Mr. Bobert Bell, and others. A comparison with the Guild would be invidious. Another point that has struck the public as presenting a remarkable disproportion between the means and the end is, that the Guild consists of only three houses. How. the aged and unsuccessful workers in Literature and Art, for the Guild embraces both, are to be accommodated in three residences is a perplexity out of which we do not see our way clearly. But, nevertheless, be the good accomplished large or small, we heartily wish it success. The other evening, M. Delemarne made an asceut from Cremorne Gardens in his sailing balloon. The balloon, which resembles somewhat a gigantic elephant or rhinoceros without legs, when inflated, rose up from the ground, being retained by the ropes attached to the netting. The fastening of the car to the balloon occupied a considerable time, aud at length, when all was ready, the signal for starting ' was given, but the balloon did not ascend, owing to being over-ballasted for the power of the gas. Two or three attempts were made, and at length, after throwing out a good deal of ballast, the balloon rose and sailed over the trees, being carried by the wind in a south-easterly direction. It appeared to be assisted in rising by the motion of the vanes attached to the car, and at length rose to a greater height, and took its course in the direction of Sydenham. The car has four vanes attached to it, two acting vertically and two laterally, which rotate rapidly on the motion of a machine inside. They are designed to have a power similar to that of a screw propeller, but it is thought that they are not at all powerful enough to produce muih effect. M. Delamame's experiment on this occasion to navigate tbe air is said not to have afforded evidence of its success. A medical gentleman, writing in a contemporary, recounts the particulars of a case of " second sight," which he says he was connected with abont thirty years ago : —" I was then a : medical assistant, living at Bewdley, in Worcestershire; and was one night called up to see a boy, between ten and , twelve years of age, who had awoke and frightened the family so much that they sent for medical advice. Hence my going there. I found the boy sitting up in bed, making some guttnral sounds, quite unintelligible, aud pointing o the foot of the bed ; but, from the symptoms, the impression upon my mind was he had awoke from a kind of dream, which had occasioned him great fright. I sent a placebo, and the next morning, upon visiting him, found him quite conscious, and able to narrate the cause of his fright. It appears i he had an elder brother out in India, who enlisted in the army some few years before; and the boy, being disturbed, awoke and found his brother in his uniform, sitting at the bottom of the bed, making various gesticulations. I recommended the mother to make a note of it; and the next mail from India brought the intelligence of the death of the soldier brother, which said death took- place at the very time the vision appeared to the boy." An invention of the utmost importance to railway companies and others interested in railway rollingstock has ' been patented by Mr. Williams Bice, of Boston. It is the application of a loose wheel upon the ordinary revolving axle, means being provided under which tbe lubrication of the two bearings can be effected The result from tbe invention i* a saving not only of engine-power, but upon the ordinary wear of the permanent way; the saving being most apparent in traversing sharp curves: A coal-waggon has been acta-ted to Mr. Bice's plan and used on the Great Northern system between Boston and Mr. North's colliery at Babbington, near Nottingham, being subject of course to the oi-tnary rough mage of

! coal-lines and sidings. After many | journeys performed, an examination !of the wheels and bearings showed ! that the whole mechanical arrangements were most satisfactory, and that they might at once be still further applied to railway carriages of all kinds. Whilst running, this adapted waggon was tested by the dynamometer against an ordinary waggon having fixed wheels, equally loaded, with a result of 20Slb as against 3331b respectively. The cost of manufacture, or even of conversion, is reasonable compared with the great saving in power expected to be realised. One wheel only needs to be revolving—that is, the near wheel on the leading, and the off wheel on trailing axle. The invention seems to be most specially adapted to railways having sharp curves, for there the loose wheel is most needed, and the power of traction is most sensibly diminished.

On looking over the list of members returned to Parliament, says a gossiping writer in the columns of a contemporary, I came to the name of Milton, and was fascinated by it; but not because Lord Milton is the son of a great Whig peer. Lord Milton is something better than a lord ; he has proved himself to be a fine, heroic young man, of true English pluck and daring. He has lately crossed the Rocky Mountains to discover whether a north-western passage by land from the Atlantic to the Pacific be not possible that way, the north-western passage by sea, lately discovered, having been found useless ; and in his journey he had to confront difficulties and brave dangers which might well have appalled a much older and more experienced traveller. Lord Milton is, then, no listless, shiftless Lord Dundreary, neither is he a mere pleasurehunter, but a genuine Englishman—a splinter off the old Hartz rock —brave, tough, wise, energetic, and shifty in expedients. When occasion demanded, he could fell trees, make rafts, shoot and cut up buffaloes, jerk the meat and cook it,and even make a plum-pudding; and as to dangers, he had to meet them in their most horrible form. Frost, fire, storm, the roaring cataract, wild beasts, cunning Indians, all conspired against him and his companions; and |at last he and starvation stood looking each other in the face; and even this terrible foe, by a dogged perseverance, when limbs tottered and eyesight almost failed, was overcome. This, then, is why I stopped fascinated at the name of Milton ; and seeing that this young fellow is only twenty-four years old, and when he went through all these dangers was only twenty-two* was there not a cause ? I had just read his book—had been more interested in it than I had been in any book of travels since the days when I used to devour ** Robinson Crusoe *' and revel iv old Drake's voyages round the world.

The annual return from the Divorce Court, published in the volume of " Judicial Statistics" just issued, states that, in the year 1864, there were 231 petitions for dissolution of marriage, and 66 for judicial separation, and that since the establishment of the court at the beginning of the year 1858, 2137 petitions have been filed, and 1207 judgmeuts given. -There are a few other items in the return, not of the deepest interest; but strange as it may seem, it is the fact that, with all the figures annually given in this return in relation to suits for divorce, this one thing is always thought not worth giving—the number of marriages that are dissolved year by year. A trial which has just taken place at Liverpool discloses some of the mysteries of Hamburg sherry manufacture. Messrs. Banner and CO4 wine merchants of Liverpool, purchased a quantity of " Hamburg Sherry" from a Mr. Denckes, of Hamburg, at the rate of £6 a butt, they agreeing to pay the wine duty of 2» 6d a gallon. In due course the " Sherry** was landed at Hull, where the Customs authorities pronounced it to be "mixed spirits," and they accordingly charged it the spirit duty of 14s a gallon. The plaintiffs now sought to charge Mr. Denckes with the excessive duty, but his counsel contended that the plaintiffs must have known that Hamburg sherry was only sherry in name, and the jury were evidently of the same opinion, for they returned a verdict for the defendant.

The will of the wealthy Bicbard rhornton, of Old Swan Wharf, Lonlon bridge, and of Cannon-hill, MerA3n, Surrey, has now been proved in she principal registry. Tbe following ire some of the mam features:—The personalty in this country was sworn inder £2,800,000. He leaves to bis lephew, Thomas Thornton, ail bis freehold and leasehold estates, and to iiis nephew, Bichard Thornton West, lie leaves £300,000, and appoints them residuary legatees. To his sister, Mrs. Simpson, £100,000; to Ellen, wife of Alfred Pulford, £300,000 for life, and then to her husband and children; to Richard Napoleon Lee, £400,000; to Margaret and Elizabeth Lee, each £100,000; to his nieces, Agnes Gibson md Ellen Thornton, each £30,000; to the widow of his deceased nephew, Robert West; £20,000; to bis nephews, Bichard Thornton and Edmund Thornbon, each £10,000; to his nephews, William and Joseph Devey, each £10,000; to his clerks Joseph Browne and John L. Neall each £20,000; to his nurse, £1000; and to eachr of~his other servants, £500. To the Leathersellers* Company, £5000; Christ's Hospital, £5000; to Hetherington's Charity for the Blind, £10,000; to the schools at Merton, £10,000; and to the poor of Merton, £1000. To tbe schools at Burton and Thornton, £10,000; and to the pr of Merton, £500. To the twenty-four, following institutions, each £2000 — namely, $„ Thomas*-, St Ouy's, BetWebem, St Lake**, Orthopsdic, Magdalen, St. Mark's, Ineur-tor_-Tark, Cstj*_" London and Dumb, Blind, __sjl__i for Idiotai Merchant Seamen's Orphans Jiahdfm Female : fy* National _!iB«-~i^^0BBSfe:- T Kt_b__^M^ i « ,IL : ■■ -'. .:#>-