MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Gazette and Wellington Spectator, Volume IV, Issue 259, 1 July 1843, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

Ivory Model of the Taob Muhai at Agra, in the East Indies. — This beautiful work of art, which has been exhibiting for some time past at the Cosmorama Rooms, Regent-street, has been sold by Mr. George Robins. The original, from which the model is formed, has long been celebrated by Eastern travellers from the extraordinary beauty of its architecture. -The structure is entirely composed of white marble, and was raised by fifth Great Mogul, Shah Jehan, to the memory of his consort, Meyd Aliya. The late Bishop Heber, in his " Journal of the Upper Provinces," thus records his first visit to the site of thisinrusoleum : — " After hearing its praises ever since I had been in India, I confess its beauties rathei exceeded than fell short of my anticipations. . The Tage contains a central hall, fully as large as the interior of the Satdiffe Library, in which, enclosed in a 'carved screen of elaborate tracero, is the tomb of Shah Jehan's beloved wife, to whom it was erected, and by-her side «at of the unfortunate Emperor himself. The Jumna washes one side of the- garden in which it is situated, and the man must have laore criticism than taste or feeling who could decide against the beauties of the Tage Mubal." •The model, which was stated to have cost *1 2,000, was, after a spirited competition, secured for the sum of two thousand guineas

by Mr. Blackraan, who was understood to have purchased it on commission for a gentleman. Leith. — Novei Delinquency. —On Saturday morning, three boys, two of them apprentice shipwrights, were placed at the police bar, before Bailie Muir, upon the charge of^constructing a pleasure-boat, with meteriak 1 abstracted from their employers. It came out in evidence, that a juveuile nautical club of five little fellows had been formed to get a pleasure-boat for aquatic amusement during the summer evenings. The keel was laid — wood was procured, and in an obscure yard in North Leith, the little barque grew into dimensions from the labours at after hours of the Cinque Club ; and no doubt in a week or two, the ■ launch of the tiny barque would have been chronicled, not in our columns, but over half a dozen of Walker's best pies and two bottles of Barclay's " entire." Alas ! " the best laid schemes " — (we need not finish the quotation.) The missing of the materials led to the discovery of the infant barque, and three of the band of brotherhood were found guilty ; but in respect of their previous good character, and this being their first offence, their punishment was limited to three day's solitary confinement. — Caledonian Mercury. A Street Passenger in Washington. — Here is a solitary swine lounging homeward by himself. He has only one ear, having parted with the other to vagrant dogs in the course of his city rambles. But he gets on very well without it, and leads a roving, gentlemanly, vagabond kind of life, somewhat answering 1 to that of our clubmen at home. He leaves his lodgings _ every morning at a certain hour, throws himself upon the town, gets through his day in some manner quite satisfactory to himself, and regularly appears at the door of his own house again at night, like the mysterious master of Gil Bias. He is a free-and-easy, careless, indifferent kind of pig, having a very large acquaintance among other pigs of the same character, whom he rather knows by sight than conversation, as he seldom troubles himself to stop and exchange civilities, but goes grunting down the kennel, turning up the news and small talk of the city in the shape of cabbage stalks and offal, and bearing no tails but his own, which is a \;ery short one ; for his old enemies, the dogs, have been at that too, and have left him hardly enough to swear by. He is in every respect a republican pig, -going wherever he pleases, and mingling with the best society, on an equal, if not superior footing; for every one makes way when he appears, and the hautiest will give him the wall, if he prefers it. He is a great philosopher, and seldom moved, unless by the dogs before mentioned. Sometimes, indeed, you may see his small eye twinkling on a slaughtered friend, whose carcass garnished a butcher's door-post, but he grunts out " Such is life — all flesh is pork!" buries his nose in the mire again, and waddles down the gutter, comforting himself with the reflection that there is one snout the less to anticipate stray cabbage-stalks, at any rate. — Boz on America. > Insanity. — A'pamphlet on insanity was presented to the Academy of Science in Paris,, at its last sitting, by its author, M. Moreau, one of the physicians at the Bicetre. The chief object of this pamphlet is to recommend the adoption in France, as regards pauper lunatics, of the plan resorted to in Belgium. M. Moreau states, that iv the village of Gheel, in that country, there is a colony of not less than 700 lunatics, who are treated upon so admirable a system that they are perfectly harmless, .and live and labour with the same inhabitants, whose habits they acquire, and to which they become so attached that when cured they are frequently unwilling to quit the place. These lunatics are made useful in agriculture and manufactures, and consequently their cost is small as compared with that of ordinary lunatic asylums. The origin of this colony dates so far back as the sixth century, and is another verification of the old adage, that there is nothing new under the sun. The mode of treating the lunatics at Hanwell, near London, was considered, when first put into practice, as a novelty, and yet is nothing but the Cheel practice, imperfectly carried out. It is only surprising that this improved mode of treatment phoutd have been deferred so long in England; and it is now evident that it is capable of great extension in its application. Within the last few years only, in that country, medical men have ascertained the possibility of so classing, and occupying lunatics as to render even the violence of them comparatively tranquil, and thus facilitating the curative process. For chains, whips, and other means of coercion, kindness and intelligence on the part of the keepers have been substituted, not only at Hanwell, but also at the Bethlehem Asylum. Why is not this the case at all the private lunatic asylums, in many of which the inmates are still treated as wild beasts, and subjected to torments of the greatest cruelty, as regards the •feelings of the patients, and of the greatest absurdity, as regards the cure of their malady ? In France, also, there are asylums where there is quite as much insanity, to say nothing of the brutality on the part of the physicians and keepers, as amongst their patients. The latter are whipped and scourged into subjection, because that is the easiest course of management for their tormentors; but the subjection thus produced necessarily tends so to debase and humiliate the mind even, in is deceased state, that its elasticity is destroyed, and the insanity becomes confirmed and incurable. Is it not the duty of the Legislature, both in England and France, to put down the atrocious speculation of private mad-houses, conducted without any other object in view than the profit to be derived from the sum paid by the friends •and relations of the patients? If legislators can jvith their own eyes convince themselves that mildness and intelligence may be applied

successfully to the treatment of insanity, are they not bound to suppress every asylum in which, the patients are treated upon the system of brute coercion ? — QatignanVs Messenger. Greece and the Greeks. — Greece is, in fact, little more than a Bavarian Colony. The higher functionaries hoard up their salaries, with a view of returning to Munich as soon as possible. There is no society: the King has dinner parties about haU'-a-dozen times in the year, to which the ladies of the ambassadors arc rarely, if -ever, invited ; and the minister of war lives in one room ! If, by some extraordinary accident, a ball is given at the palace, there are no refreshments; and the pretty, but inconsiderate queen, enlarges the circle of the waltzerg, of whom she is always one, by treading, sans eeremmie, on the toes of her guests : many of them, more accustomed to the camp than the ball-room, having, in their eagerness to see the fun, crowded too mnch upon the dancers. Otho, with an income of £29,000 a year, is building a palace which will cost more than £40,000, and his original intention was to build it of Pentelic marble ! at a time when there were only two roads in his dominions. I was at Athens on his birthday, and accompanied the band, which on that night played up and down the principal street; it was in utter darkness. His capital displayed two transpariences on this occasion, one being at the Muni eh hotel ! Otho, educated for the cloister and scarlet hat, is, indeed, what Mr. Giffard happily describes a King of Greece to be, a "political false quantity." He is in truth, little else but a crowned stipendiary of the Russian system of intrigue in the Levant. One of their engines here is the church attached to their embassy ; the choristers are Russians, and numerous. The service is performed with a splendour far exceeding that of any church at Athens; and no expense is spared in other ways to bring the Greeks into the interests of Russia by means of the religion common to both countries. But the Palikari, though poor, are not disposed to barter their hard-earned freedon for Russian gold ; and should that constitution, so long promised them, be still withheld, there can be but little doubt that they will demand it, and in such a manner as to ensure compliance. The best time to see the population of the capital is on a Sunday evening, when they assemble near the Foreign Office to hear the band, which has with justice the reputation of being a good one. Six pieces of artillery are placed in front of this building, and, but for the wretched state they and their caissons are in, look as if they were intended to keep the diplomates in order. The music, and the opportunity of displaying himself, then brings forth the Greek dandy, in his Albanian costume, with a figure like an hourglass. The waik and general appearance of this modern Paris is disgustingly effeminate. But though wearing the fustamella, these exquisites must not be confounded with the Palikari ; being, generally, either servants, or the sons of tradesmen, who never in their lives brandished any thing but s goose or yard. The fusta&uella is very frequently worn for several months by the lower classes, without being changed ; and serves not only for what it really is, a kilt, but a towel, a dishclout, or a pocket handkerchief, according to the exigencies of the o.wner. A great portion of the loungers are officers in the Bavarian uniform, who in the Greek army are more numerous than the men. The rest of the crowd are in all varieties of Frank dresses, and strange mixtures between them, the Greek and Turkish. The attempts at European dress of the women, more particularly the Bavarian non-commissioned officers' wives, were highly amusing. Some of them, Greeks, having discarded the national costume, were attired in silks of all the. colours of the rainbow (and many that never were in the rainbow,) a light blue gown being not unfrequently accompanied by a yellow scarf and scarlet parasol. — From Notes of a half -pay Officer. An Unfardonabde Crime. —On Monday Ellen Hughes, an inmate of the bastile, and a cripple, was brought before the Mayor and Mr. J. Newton, at our police-court, on a charge of felony. The governor, in proving the case, said, that on Sunday morning, as the prisoner was going to chapel, he perceived that she had something concealed under her cloak, and, on a further examination, it turned out to be a quantity of bread, in weight 28;., which she was taking out of the building to a younger sister, who, she stated, was out of work and in great necessity. He accordingly took the bread from her, and brought the matter before the board, who ordered her to be taken before the magistrate for punishment as an example. 'Ihe Mayor — This is certainly a natural feeling which the young woman exhibited towards a sister in distress. Pauper (crying) — Gentlemen, I had saved it from my own allowance during the week for my poor sister, who is less than me, is thrown* out of work, and has neither father nor mother to pity her. I did not think there was any harm in pinching my own belly to feed my younger sister's. Mr. Newton— Then it appears that the bread belonged to her, having saved it from her usual allowance, and that it was not taken out of the store? Governor — Certainly, it was not taken out of the store ; but we don't allow anything to be taken out of the workhouse. I believe that she had either saved the bread herself, or it had been portions of what had been given to her. The Mayor (to the pauper) — Did you not know you were doing wrong when you took the Dread away ? Pauper^— No, Sir, I did not indeed. Aa the mistress did not say anything to me when I showed it her, I did not think it was wrong to give my sister a bit of my own bread. The Mayor (to the Governor) — Have you any fault to find with her as to her feneral conduct in the house? Govervor — fone at all, Sir. I believe this was her own breifd,' Sir. The Mayor (to the pauper)— My good woman, by this act you have made yourself Rable-to 21 days' imprisonment ; but we do not wish to commit you on this occasion. We will discharge you on condition that you will promise not to take anything out of the house in future. If you cannot eat your ration yourself, you must return it. Will you promise not to repeat this offence 1 Pauper (making a curtsey and wiping her eyes) — Sir, I never- will do so again. The pauper was then set at liberty. — Stockport Advertiser. Matrimonial Statistics. — The .following

statistic of the ages of the 121.525 women married in Paris in the course, of the last 18 years it given by one of the journals as having been verified by the registers of the Etat civil. Between 12 and 15 years old there were 811 ; at 16 years, 1,920; at J7 years, 3,959; at 18 years, 5,816; at 19 years, 6,957 ; at 20 years, 7,610 ; at 21 years, 8,074; at 22 or 23, between 7,000 and 8,000 ; at 24 or 25, upwards of 6,000 ; but at 26, 27, and 28, they scarcely exceed 5,000. This decreasing progression goes on, so that up to 31 years there were only 3,651 ; thence to 41 years, 1,798 ; at 42 years, 1,015; at 48 years, 586; at 56 years, 226; at 60 years, 126; and during the 18 years, there were 578 marriages of women aged 61 yean and upwards. Another account shows that out of 1,000,000 married in Paris, 521,653, being moie than one-half, were married before the commencement of their 26th year. — OalignanVs Messenger. There are moments in which the mind, particularly of the young, is so disposed, that a little importunity suffices to obtain from it any thing that has the appearance of virtuous sacrifice; as a flower, scarcely budded, abandons itself on its fragile stem, ready to yield its tweets to the first breeze which plays around it. These moments, which ought be regarded by others with timid respect, are exactly those of which interested cunning makes use to ensnare the unguarded will.