THE PEACEABLES.

Otago Witness, Issue 66, 21 August 1852, Page 1

THE PEACEABLES.

The following sketch (says the " Britannia") of a supper of select orators of the Peace Congress, is worthy of a place in our columns. It is the old story, in vino veritas :—: — The viands were good, and the wine abundant j so that, by the time pipes were produced, we were all tolerably hilarious. The conversation, which at first was general, now took a I political turn ; and very grievous it was to listen to the tales of the outrages which some of the company had sustained at the hands of tyrannical governments. " I'll tell you what it is, gentlemen," said one of the Frenchmen, " republics are not a whit better than monarchies, in so far as the liberty of the people is concerned. Here am I obliged to leave France, because I was a friend of that gallant fellow, Ledru Rollin, whom I hope one day to see at the head of a real Socialist government. Ah, won't we set the guillotine once more in motion then !" " Property is theft," remarked the Neapolitan sententiously. " I calculate, my fine chap, that you han't many dollars of your own, if you're of that way of thinking!" said the Yankee, considerably scandalised at this indifference to the rule of meum and tuum. " O Roma !" sighed the gentleman from the eternal city, who was rather intoxicated. "Peste! What is the matter with it!" asked one of the Frenchmen. " I presume it stands where it always did. Gar?on — un petit verre de rhom !" " How can Eome be what it was, when it is profaned by the foot of the stranger ?" replied he of the Papal States. " Ah, bah ! You never were better off than under the rule of Oudinot." " You are a German," said the Hungarian to the Austrian j " what think you of our brave Kossuth?" " I consider him a pragmatical ass," replied ;he Austrian, curtly. " Perhaps in that case," interposed the Lor- \ )ard, with a sneer that might have 'done credit o Mephistopeles, " the gentleman may feel inlined to palliate the conduct of that satrap- of yranny, Radetski ?" ' .

« "V?Tiat>-oldiather Radetski ! the victor in a hundred Bights !* cried the Austrian. " That ■wilt %' X and spit ia the face of any cowardly Italian tyho dares to breathe a word-ag&inst his honour \" The Italian clutched his knife. " Hold there !" crid th« Piedmontese, who seemed really a decent sort of fellow. " None of your stiletto work here ! Had you Lombards trusted more to the bayonets, and less to the knife, we might have given another account of the Austrians in that campaign, which cost Piedmont its king !" " Carlo Alberto !" hissed the Lombard, " sceleratissimo traditore !" The reply of the Piedmontese was a pie-dish, which prostrated the Lombard on the floor. " Gentlemen ! gentlemen ! for Heaven's sake be calm!" screamed Pettigrew; "remember we are all brothers !" " Brothers I" roared the Dane, " do ye think I would fraternise with a Prussian ? Remem* ber Schleswig-Holstein !" " lam perfectly calm," said the Prussian^ with the stiff formality of his nation ; " I neve* quarrel oyeir the generous vintage of my fatherland. Come, let me give you a song — * Sic sollen ihn nicht haben Den Deutschen freien Rhein.* " " You never were more mistaken in your life, mon cher," said one of the Frenchmen, brisquely. " Before twelve months are over we shall see who hag^a right to the Rhine V* j " Ay, that is true!" remarked the Dutchman; "confound the Germans— they want to annex Luxembourg." '• What says the frog ?" asked the Prussian contemptuously. The frog said nothing, but he hit the Prussian on the teeth. I despair of giving even a feeble impression of the scene which took place. No single pair of ears was sufficient to catch one fourth of the general discord. There was first an interchange of angry words, and then aa interchange of blows ; and immediately after, the guests were rolling in groups of. twos and threes, as suited their fancy, or the adjustment of national animosities, on the ground. The Lombard rose not again ; the pie-dish had quieted him for the night. But the Sicilian and Neapolitan lay locked in deadly combat, each attempting with intense animosity to bite off the other's nose. The Austrian caught the Hungarian by the throat, and held him till he was black ia the face. The Dane pommelled the Prussian. One of the Frenchmen broke a bottle over the head of the subject of the Pope ; whilst his friend, thirsting for the combat, attempted in vain to insult the remainiug nonbelligerents. The Dutchman having done all that honour required, smoked his pips in mute tranquillity. Honourable Testimony. — Lamartine, in writing of England, says :— <? There is good sense, but with that good sense there is virtue. It is impossible to reside in England for any length of time without discovering it. The source of that public virtue is the religious feeling with which that people is imbued beyond others. A divine feeling of practical religious liberty has developed itself amongst them, at the present moment, under a hundred forms." Let us deserve this high encomium, more honourable than a thousand trophies of military conquests, and the sway of England must become as beneficient as its existence. — Bell's Messenger. ' . Precept, not Example.— A Spanish priest, once exhorting the soldiers to fight like lions, added, in the ardour of enthusiasm, " Reflect, that whoever falls to-day in battle, sups to-night in Paradise." Thunders of applause' followed the sentiment. The fight began, the ranks wavered, the priest took to his heels; when a£ soldier stopped him, and reproachfully referredfcothe promised supper in Paradise.' my son, true," said the priest, " but I never^eat* y suppers." — Leeds Mercury. " , '■»