MISCELLANEA.

Lyttelton Times, Volume III, Issue 112, 26 February 1853, Page 11

MISCELLANEA.

Napojleon and his Meals.—The habit of eating fast and carelessly is supposed to have paralysed Napoleon on two of the most critical occasions of his life—the battles of Borodino and Leipsic. On each of these occasions he is known to have been suffering from indigestion. On the third day of Dresden, too (as the German novelist, Hoffman, who was in the town, asserts), the Emperor's energies were impaired by the effects of a shoulder of mutton stuffed with onions. There can be no doubt that Napoleon's irregularity as to meals injured his health, and shortened his life. The general order to his household was to have cutlets and roast chickens ready at all hours, day and night, and it was observed to the letter by his maitre (Thotel, Dunand, who had been a celebrated cook. In his more dignified capacity he contrived to fall in with the humours of his imperial master, and, by so doing, to be of essential use' at critical emergencies, when an hour of prolonged flurry or irritation might have cost a province or a throne. On one occasion, when matters had gone wrong in some quarter, Napoleon returned, from the Conseil d'Etat in one of his worst tempers and most discontented moods. A dejeuner ala fourchette, comprising his favourite dishes, was served up, and Napoleon, who. had fasted since daybreak, took his seat. But he had hardly swallowed a mouthful, when apparently some inopportune thought or recollection stung his brain to madness; receding from the.table without rising from his chair, he uplifted his foot—dash! went the table—crash ! went the dejeuner; and the Emperor, springing up, paced the room with rapid and perturbed strides, indicative of the most frenzied rage. Duuand looked on without moving a muscle, and quietly gave the fitting orders to. his staff. Quick as thought, the wreck was cleared away, an exact duplicate of the dejeuner appeared as if by magic and its presence was quietly announced by'the customary " Samajeste est servie." Napoleon felt the delicacy and appreciated the tact of this mode of service. llerci bieri, man cker Dunand ! and one of his inimitable smiles showed that the hurricane had blown over.

The Liverpool Mercury, of October 12, has a paragraph stating- that the " Prince Albert," the vessel fitted out at the expense of Lady Franklin, has returned from the Arctic regions, after an absence of nearly seventeen months, but without having- discovered any new traces of Sir John Franklin's expedition. The dispatches she has brought from Sir E. Belcher, show thjtt that gallant officer's search will be most vigorously and resolutely carried out. Unpkecedetjted Pedestrian, Feat.—^One of the most extraordinary efforts in the way of walking against time has' been commenced by Searles, the celebrated pedestrian. He has entered on the task of walking 2000 miles in 2000 successive half hours ;so that, supposing- he can accomplish each mile in a quarter of an hour, he will be walking one entire half of the time up to the expiration of the compliment of the 1000 hours. The place selected for this amazing- display of physical prowess is a field behind thePiile Apple, Hyde Park. He has accomplished nearly one-sixth of his task, and exhibits no sigus of flagging. Great uumbevs of pcrsosi s

of all classes daily throng to the place to get a look at this remarkable man, and innumerable bets of every conceivable amount are perpetually being risked on the result, about which Searles is sufficiently confident to lay two to one in favour of himself. Professional men say that his powers of endurance are extraordinary. He abstains from intoxicating driuks, but consumes a large share of animal food, as much as eight pounds in four meals.— Liverpool Journal. Consols were on the 11th October IOOg $. Mr. Alexander Campbell, who has recently returned from England, says that money was so plentiful in London that the discount houses in Lombard-street had declined taking money from any but old customers and in many cases had refused it at less than 1 per cent. All this plethora of money miist find vent somewhere before long, and we have a shrewd suspicion that Australian investments will be favourite ones very soon. By this we mean not mushroom Gold Companies and Exoduses, but steam and railway projects, and things of that kind. There is an excellent precedent in America where the employment of British capital has resulted in the enormous developement of the resources of the country. Capitalists suffeied a little by repudiation—true ; but the ultimate success is too great and too undeniable for such a consideration to have much weight.— Melbourne Morning Herald.

A Dangerous Epidemic—A complaint bearing a most unpleasant resemblance to Asiatic cholera, is rather prevalent just now in Melbourne, but a speedy cure may generally be effected by the following diet:—Flour and water boiled rather thicker than cream, and brandy and water hot and strong, with twenty drops of laudanum, and twenty drops of essence of peppermint in each glass. We are enabled to bear personal testimony of the efficacy of this recipe, which was given to us by a gentleman now deceased, who resided thirty years in India, during a portion of which period the cholera made such dreadful ravages in that country.— Herald, January 14. BUS.HRAKGIWG IN VAX DlEMEn's LaTSB. The following extract from a late Launcesion Journal, furnishes a specimen of the way the Bushrangers do their business in Van Diemen's Land:—A correspondent at Carapoell Town lias furnished the following startling intelligence:—On Thursday morning two men armed with double-barrelled guns, pistols, and revolvers, and who are supposed to be the men who lately robbed the " Half way House," went to the house of Mr. Simeon Lord, Bona Vista, near Avoca ; Mr. Lord was from home. The fellows bailed up about thirty men, including the district constable of Avoca, the watch-house keeper, and another constable. The watchhouse keeper was shot dead, and the constable severely wounded. From the district constable they took a gold watch, and over £20 in money. There were at Mr. Lord's at the time several young ladies, who were all summoned together. The house was ransacked, and the robbers took possession of between £ 100 and J2200 in money, several watches, and articles of jewellery. Then they ordered Mr. Frank Lord to provide them two of the best horses in the stable, and mounting these, they proceeded to the inn kept by Mr. Daxberry, at Stoney Creek, where they bailed up about twelve men including two unarmed constables. They compelled Mr. Duxberry to hand over £50, a gold watch and chain, and other valuable articles. After leaving Mr. Duxberry's they met a Mr. Sykes, a person from Melbourne, and made him deliver up £78, giving him six shillings to carry him on his journey.. They told Mr. Sykes that their names were Dal ton and Kelly, and that they meant to leave the colony. Mr. Sykes recognised Dalton. On the evening of Thursday, the bushrangers visited Vaucluse. the residence of Mr. Bayles, during the absence 4>t Mr. and Mrs. Bayles, and carried off some articles of value. They said they intended to visit other settlers on the Esk, calling at Capt. Creav's, &c.

Birth-Place of the Duke of Walltsgton. —A correspondent of the Freeman's Journal says, —"Tlie Freeman's Journal of-May, 1769, settles the controversy as to the birth-place of the Duke of .Wellington, The number of that paper published on the 6th of May, 1769. professes to record the incidents from the 2nd to tbe 6th inclusive. Under the Dublin head there are the metropolitan occurrences, and amongst others—' Marriages,' • Deaths,' and one * Birth. The single birth is announced in the following words : ' Biith—iu Memou-slreet, the llight

Hon. the Countess of Mornington, of a son.' There can he no possible doubt that the son was Arthur, afterwards the great Duke of 'Wellington, and that Merrion-street was a locality in the city of Dublin. Will you permit me'to ask what the foundation is for the assertion/that the Duke of Wellington, on any occasion, or under any circumstances, ' denied his country ?' I heard, many years ago, that when there was what he considered an obtrusive reference to his obligations as an Irishman, he said something to the effect that ' what he troubled himself about was his duty to the Crown of these realms.' This was not, arid could not have been intended as a 'denial of Ms country,' or even a discourtesy towards it. The Duke was never in Ireland since his chief secretaryship. He never was in Scotland at all. The fact is, he was a man of routine, and with incessant public occupations, he did not care, as far as self was concerned, whether his migrations extended farther than ' from the brown room to the blue/ There is not a doubt that he was much and constantly abused for his imaginary * denial of his country.' How can we be sure that this very circumstance did not indispose him to revisit our shores ? All his brothers had their national sympathies very strong, and the greatest of them, the Marquis Wellesley, never lost an opportunity of claiming Ireland as the land of his birth and affections.''

The Destruction or Pompeii not Instantaneous. —Pompeii was not completely buried by a single eruption. Eight successive layers have been traced above its ruins. In the intervals the inhabitants returned to secure their more valucible property. Sir William Gell mentions, that a skeleton of a Porapeiian was found, " who apparently, for the sake of sixty coins, a small plate, and a saucepan of silver, had remained in his house until the street was already half filled with volcanic matter." The position of the skeleton indicated, that he had perished apparently, in the act of escaping from his window. Other incidents of like character are no less striking. The skeletons of Roman sentries were found, in more than one instance, at their posts, furnishing a remarkable instance of the stern military discipline of imperial Rome. The skeleton of a priest v?as found in one of the rooms of the Temple of Isis. Near his remains lay an axe, with which he had been trying to break through the door.