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Lyttelton Times, Volume II, Issue 99, 27 November 1852, Page 7

The Membeks fob the City.—lt is not generally known that the four representatives for the city of London, on the first day of every new Parliament, are dressed in scarlet gowns, and sit all together on the right hand of the chair in the House of Commons, next the Speaker. The custom is in full force, and was carried out on the first day of the last Parliament, as doubtless it will be on the assemblage of the new Parliament, Baron Rothschild, therefore, is one of those representatives of the people who, if he pleases, may not only demand the seat in the House, to which he has been elected, but also a seat of state on the right hand of the Speaker on the first day of the new session.l— Globe.

The Edinbtjbgh Election.—The following is an extract from a letter from Edinburgh, dated July .14 :—" One of the incidents of the election contest was the appearance of Professor Wilson, who is much disabled by palsy of his lower limbs, to vote for Macaulay. He had come in. from his brother's place, eight miles distant, and had not been seen in public since his attack, till this occasion brought him out. His sympathies with genius are as strong as ever."

An Old Colonist.—Many of our readers will be interested in hearing of the death of that old colonist, John Allott. We cannot use the hackneyed phrase, " hear with regret," for there is nothing to regret in a pious old man, whose years have long exceeded the " three score and ten," being called to his long home. The deceased was born in 1760, and was, consequently, upwards of 92 years of age. He entered H. M. 11th regiment, when quite a boy^ upwards of 75 years ago, and continued in it for 28 years, during which period he for 18 years held the rank of serjeant. In 1801, he arrived in New South Wales, attached to the 102 nd regiment, and upon his retiring from military life, he was appointed crier to the Supreme Court, a situation which he filled for twenty one years, and upon his retirement received a highly gratifying tribute of approval and respect from their Honors the Judges. For the last thirteen months he had been confined to his bed. His funeral was attended by their Honors Mr. Justice Dickinson, and Mr. Justice Therry ; Lieutenant-General Wynyard, and the officers of his staff; Colonel Bloomfield, and most of the officers of her Majesty's Eleventh— the veteran's old regiment. Eight sergeants bore his pall, and a large number of soldiers followed in procession; and thus the close of his long and honourable career was attended by those who well knew his worth both in his military and civil capacity. He was always a great favourite with both officers and men of the 11th, who used to look with a kind of wonder upon one who belonged to the regiment before the grandfathers of the greater portion of them now in it were born. He was a wonderfully robust man, and when upwards of eighty years of age used to think nothing of walking ten or twelve miles on a shooting excursion.— S. M. Herald.

Louis Bonapaete's Opinion of War.—"l have been as enthusiastic and joyful as any one after a victory ; but also confess, that even then the sight of a field of battle has not only struck me with horror but even turned me sick ; and now that I am ol<?er in life, I cannot understand, any more than I could at 15 years of age how beings who call themselves reasonable,

and who have so much foresight, can employ this short existauce, not in loving and aiding each other, and passing through it as gently as possible, but on the contrary in endeavouring to destroy each other, as if time did not itself do this with sufficient rapidity! What I thought at 15 years of age I still think. War and the pain cf death which society draws upon itself, are but organized barbarism, an inheritance of the savage state, disguised or ornamented by ingenious institutions and false eloquence."

Bachelor's Buttons. —That should be their name, if they exist; but if so, where are they to be got ? I never heard of them. I should think a clever fellow might make a fortune by inventing some kind of substitute which a man, without the time, skill, and materials for sowing on a button, might put in the place of a deserter. If you do not insert this query, may your brace buttons fly off next time you are dressing in a hurry to dine with the grandest people you know.