MISCELLANEOUS.

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume VI, Issue 446, 10 November 1849, Page 3

MISCELLANEOUS.

Cause of Marshal Bugeaud's Death. — Several Journals give the following account of the cause of the death of Marshal Bugedud. His physicians had expressly recommended that he should not in any manner depart from their prescriptions and advice. The marshal finding himself alone with his valet, who had attended him through his campaigns in Africa, desired him to give him a glass of weak wine and water to quench his thirst. The valet hesitated, reminding the marshal of the orders of the physicians. The marshal insisted, but the vaiet respectfully refused, and being threatened with his discharge, replied that he could not do what might have disastrous consequences, and that he would prefer incurring disgrace for disobedience in such a case to having to reproach himself with a misfortune for which he could never be consoled. The marshal, notwithstanding his kindly disposition, was very irritable, and ordered his man to leave the room, and never appear before him again. The valet sighed and retired. Scarcely was he out of the, chamber when the marshal got out of bed, and without puttting anything upon him, contrived, by supporting himself on the furniture, to get into an adjoining room, where he filled a large glass with

water and a little wine, drank it off at on« draught, and returned to bed. The relapse produced by this act was such as to put an end to all the hope that had been entertained of saving the marshal's life. »

How the Navy is Managed. — The money voted for the service of the navy is -expended with a total want of judgment and prudence. Necessary expenses are curtailed, while unnecessary expenses are perpetrated. The days of peculation and embezzlement are past, but for true systematic extravagance and waste regularly warranted by general orders we would match this present year of our Lord against any of the first ten of the century. Omitting, just now, any allusion to the convicted extravagances of naval architects, there is another practice to which we have often directed the readers notice, but which as long as it is permitted to survive can never be too frequently exposed. We expend the greatest care and pains to bring our ships into first rate order, and as soon as we have done so we lose not a moment in scattering the fruits of such labour to the winds. Pro* bably a greater amount of skill, patience, thought, and labour is spent in bringing a man-of-war to her full efficiency, than in any other operation of the united services. When a vessel comes home, after a commission of a year or two, this consummation has perhaps been, just obtained, and the whole fabric with its multifarious appointments of personnel and materiel is in a state of excellence which cannot be commanded at a shoiter notice, even | by all the resources of the British Empire. Now, what do we do with this when we have j got it 1 We set to work and pull it to pieces with the greatest possible rapidity, and create 1 for ourselves the necessity of doing all the work over again. This is where we spend our | money, — and where do we save it ? Within the last six months we have turned adrift 4,500 of the finest seamen which even the British navy ever saw— men superior, as regards the modern improvements in conduct and science — to any whom Jervis or Nelson had ever the fortune to command. These men are left to take service with Denmark, or Germany, or America, or any other state, as the case may be, or failing these fortuitous resources, are thrown upon the charity of the world. This very week an able bodied seaman, with the best certificates, was fain to seek relief at the Portsmouth Union, while five times the sum that would have retained him and his messmates in reserve for the emergencies of the service is spent in the wanton wastefulness perpetuated by a system of traditional mismanagement. These are the points to which the attention of wise economists should be directed. We are pound foolish, but we are not even penny wise. We do not even save at the spiggot while we are letting out at the bunghole, but, for a happy combination of follies, we contrive to exclude every possible advaetage, while we are incurring the maximum of expense and committing the grossest injustice. — Times.

More Scientific Wonder. — Among other things to which gun cotton is to be applied we now learn that Count de Windinsky has patented a locomotive engine which is to be worked with entire freedom from explosion by igniting small portions of this substance underneath the piston in its cylinder. Gun* cotton dissolved in an alkali has been shown to have the property of precipitating metals from their solutions ; and by floating over glass plates solutions of silver, or mercury, to which the gun-cotton solution has been added, mirrors of a very fine description are, in this way, readily manufactured. Truly, we live in a wonderful age ! M. Blanchard and M. Carbonnel propose, by artificial means, to produce a marvellous increase in oysters, and MM. Gehin and Re my are replenishing by similar means the exhausted rivers of Saint Die with trout, " of which the external and internal appearance in no respect differs from that of trout which have grown in out rivers in the ordinary way.' s—Aihenaum.5 — Aihenaum.

The Emperor Nicholas and Prince Paskiewich. — A serious difference of opinion is stated, on good authority, to have arisen between the Czar and his veteran Field Marshal. The latter is said to have no appetite for a Hungarian campaign. He appears to entertain some apprehension that the laurels which he gathered in Poland may be lost in Hungary. This feeling may arise in some degree from the caution of age ; but reasons are not wanting to justify the doubts of the General, although they may be overlooked by his impetuous master. The Hungarians have an army at least as well disciplined and equipped as the Russian, -and scarcely less numerous. They have, moreover (what Russia has not), three Generals of consummate ability ; they possess the most fertile country in Europe, whilst their enemy must advance through dangerous defiles aud regions destitute of the means of supporting an army. The discipline of the Russian soldiers is good but their officers are discontented, and' the commissariat is known tobe execrable. These

•considerations will explain the doubting and hesitation of Field Marshal Prince Paskiewich, and the rumours that the Emperor has decided on taking the field in. person. A Drab Baronet. — It was a dangerous .experiment to try and electrify the collective wisdom of Great Britain ; but Sir William .Molesworth has made the attempt and has succeeded to a miracle. He has not done this feat by means of a galvanic battery or by any other electrical machine, but by oue of the simplest processes in creation. On Tuesday last, when the thermometer was 82 degrees in the shade, the hon. baronet walked into the House dressed in a drab hat, a drali - coat, drab trousers, drab boots, drab gloves, and-drab neck-cloth. When the apparition in drab appeared at the bar, the sensation was geneial and startling; but when it deliberately walked up the centre of the floor towards the chair, the effect was absolutely thrilling — in fact, the House was literally •electrified. We have seen the ghost of Hamlet in black astonish an audience, but Sir W. Molesworth in his suit of cool drab produced an amazement in the House of Commons greater than we ever witnessed. This was a remarkable example of the admiration that perfect coolness in a puDlic room produces. — Atlas.

Romanism in Paris. — The month of the blessed Mary—" le Mois de Marie " — is just concluded, and with it one of the most touching yet withal scandalous exhibiiions v/hich any metropolis has power to afford. The month of May being expressly dedicated to the Virgin, the salutation takes place every evening with the greatest pomp. Of course, the congregation varies its aspect and its object according to the quarter in which the different churches are situated. Those under the especial patronage of the Virgin are the most frequented, and of these the most fashionable and the most crowded is Our Lady of Loretto, on the Boulevard dcs Italiens. No sooner has the sun set than the crowd of carriages 'begins to roll towards this church, setting down their fair and gaily attired burthens in quick succession beneath the porch. The chapel is most brilliantly lighted with jnassive silver lamps and gilded chandeliers. The altar buried in flowers is alone left in darkness. Presently the organ sends forth a low harmonious peal, and is responded to by a chorus of young girls hidden behind the grove of orange and lemon trees which decorate the choir. This continues for some time, and the effect is sublime. It is known among the congregation that the chorus is composed of the elite of the fair young scions of the aristocracy, and the various solos are considered as specimens of the different schools for singing now in vogue in Paris. The murmured applause is scarcely to be suppressed when the solo ceases, and it is, doubtless, to drown this unseemly demonstration ot approval that the chorus bursts forth 1 with such startling power. Then comes the meditation during which it is curious to behold the devotion and passion of the fair sinners as they kneel before the pictures of the various saints and bow down to images asarvellously resembling themselves, this coincidence is accounted for by the neighbourhood of the church being that wherein reside the ladies who serve as models — (physically speaking, of course) — and it somewhat startles a stranger to behold the humble attitude assumed by many a fair devotee, before the evident semblance of herself or more curious still of a frail fellow sinner. After the meditation comes the sermon, delivered in dainty tones by a well-bred ecclesiastic, who is mild and gentlemanly, and knows good manners. During the time that the eyes of the audience have been fixed upon the preacher, the altar has been lighted up and the splendid candelabras of crystal and shining gold glitter forth from among the foliage with an effect almost too dazzling to bear. The chorus bursts forth once more — the aristocratic performers are saluted by a buzz of applause — and the ceremony is concluded just in. time for the ballet at the. Opera House, whither the carriages now direct their course, followed by the -crowd of dandies who bad loitered all the wnile upon the steps of Our Lady of Loretto in eagerness, to watch the retreat of the reigning beauties of the hour. • Liquid manure, a few years ago, was unknown to gardenets, and in agriculture, at present, almost entirely so ; few even now believe in the great virtue it possesses in promoting a healthy and vigorous development. Let any one take two beds of cabbages, or two rows of roses, and feed the one liberally with liquid manure, and let the other have ordinary care. It will soon be found that the manured cabbages will be twice the size of the unmanured, and At the same time crisp and delicious, while the others will be tough and stringy ; and the roses fed with liquid - manure will scarcely lie recognised as the same kinds. Annuals, Pelargoniums, Verbenas, Calceolarias, and similar ornamental plants, will be astonishingly improved by a watering twice a week, especially in dry weather, when

these things suffer, and flower in consequence weakly. The culinary department will also repay the cultivator for similar attention. .Cauliflowers, celery, cabbages, &c, can scarcely have too much liquid manure. Twice every week will, however, do immense service. There is no, better prevention of mildew on peas than this — the crop will be greatly increased by its application, and the quality infinitely raised. To apply liquid J manure with advantage, a little ordinary, care, is required. The common practice of pojuc-j ing manure-water immediately round the s.em of a plant should be avoided, for two reasons, first, the roots which absorb most are in or are approaching the centres of the spaces between the rows, therefore, to be benefited by it the liquid should be distributed there ; another, and very important matter, in common with vegetable culture, should not be lost sight of — by applying the liquid in a limited circle round the plants individually, the roots have less inducement to travel far in search of food, hence they are fewer in number ; but if their food is placed at a greater yet reasonable distance from them, they will seek it out, fresh roots will be emittted, and they will have a much larger field to feed in. It is by attention to such trivial matters as j these that one man's turnips are worthy of bis muiton, while another's are unworthy of his hog-tub. .

New York as it is to be. — We know nothing more frightful than to look at a plan of New York, and fancy what it will be when the whole Island is built upon. Never was so noble a gift of nature so sacrificed to mathematical precision and utilitarian caprice. Let the reader imagine a dozen of Harleystreets, Baker-streets, and Edgeware-roads, all parallel to each other, and extending in a 1 straight line from six to ten miles in length, without a Hyde park, a Regent's park, or a Hampstead intervening, and intersected rectangularly at unvarying intervals by a couple of hundred cross streets, all the ditto of each other, and he will have some notion of what New York is to be. — Daily News,

A Death Bell. — A pretty story is told of the church bell of St. Mary Magdalen at Breslau. When the metal was just ready to be poured into the mould, the chief founder went to dinner, and forbade his apprentice, under pain of death, to touch the vent by which the metal was to be conveyed. The youth, curious to see the operation, disobeyed orders, the whole of the metal ran into the mould, and the enraged master, returning from his meal, slew the apprentice on the spot. On breaking away the mould he found he had been too hasty, for the bell was cast as perfectly as possible. When it was hung in its place, the master had been sentenced to death by the sword for the murder of his apprentice, and he entreated the authorities as a great favour that he might be allowed to hear it once before he died. His petition was grained, and from that time the bell was rung on the execution of a criminal. — Colburn's JS'ew Monthly.

Voices of the Nation. — Mons.Marrast before the National Assembly was dissolved called upon the representatives to give three cheers to the Republic, which accordingly was loudly given. We must confess that for months past the news from Paris has not been so cheering. But, by the by, what should we think if, when the House of Commons was being prorogued, the Speaker called upon Sir Robert Peel for a song? or knocked down Mr. Plurnlre for the Kentish fire? or hoped the members would not disperse without first favouring him with " For he's a jolly good fellow," and asking Colonel Sibthorp whether he would be kind enough to lead the chorus ? — Punch. What is better than presence of mind in a railway accident ? Absence of body, -v Punch.

Giving and receiving. — There is frequently more pleasure in giving a thing than in receiving it. This applies more especially to medicine, advice, and kicks. — Punch.