Miscellaneons.

Colonist, Issue 19, 25 December 1857, Page 4

Miscellaneons.

An Incident of Balaklava.— One characteristic has come to our knowledge on good authority, and as we believe it has not obtained publicity elsewhere, we will briefly state the circumstances as they have been mentioned to us. When the Light Brigade was preparing for action, the 'butcher of the 17th Lancers, who had just' been performing his, office, slaughtering sheep and oxen, made his appearance in the field, without coat or waistcoat, his shirt sleeves rolled up, and his arms and face smeared with blood—a grotesque and terrible figure. He mounted a powerful charger and rode up to his troop. He had no business there, but the prospect of.a bloody fray was too strong to be resisted. He seizedtwo sabres, deliberately examined the temper and edges of the blades, selected the sharpest, and threw the other aside. He then, with equal coolness, took out a short black pipe, charged it, lighted it, placed it in his mouth, and, settling himself in the saddle, rode with the " six hundred " into the Valley of the Shadow of Death. The man was seen amongst the Russian, batteries, sabreirig the gunners right and^eftj slaying with his own hand at least six of the' enemy, cutting his way in the retreat through the swarms of Russian cavalry which vainly sought to intercept the remnant of.the gallant band, and*, wonderful to relate, he rode baclc, still smoking his pipe as coolly as if nothing had happened, without having received a single scratch.— -Freeman's Journal. Open-air preaching is becoming popular even in London .The incumbent ;of St.; Paul's lately held a special service in front,of his church. A monument to the memory of Captain Lyons, son of Admiral Lord Lyons, who was killed on board the Miranda, which he commanded in a night attack on Fort Constantine, on the 15th of June, 1855, in the late war with Russia, has just been placed in St. Paul's Cathedral. It consists, we are told, of a large tablet, on which is carved the Miranda attacking the battery. The sculpture is very good, the difficulty of representing water and smoke inrmarble having been surmounted with success. ; The Koh-i-noor.—A highly respectable Hindoo, speaking with an English gentleman on the origin of the rebellion, said— "Has it not been foretold, oh Sahib, that the Koh-i-noor carries misery and desolation with it, and that its possessor" never prospers? From the past, judge of the future: believe and be saved. Cast the Koh-i-noor into the ocean, ifyouwishto retain your supremacy,; retain it—and add one more proof of the truth of what has been foretold!" .

The World ovvjes.me false sir! It doesn 7t • owe • you a farthing. You owe the world for the light of its days, the warmth of its sunshineY the. beauty of its sun and sky, and for its'love, affections and friendships, which have from your childhood, young man, clustered around and hung to your worthless trunk. For all these, and other blessings of countless number, you are a debtor. You have never thanked God for health and life. You never 'made the world better for your living. You owe for the breath you breathe and for the strength you enjoy. You haven't any thing to your credit on the day-book, or ledger of life—not a cent. You are a miserable, aimless, indolent bankrupt. You float down the stream of your lazy existence like flood-wood on water, Were you to sink to-day to oblivion, you would not leave a bubble. The world owes you a living! "Where is there a manly thought uttered, or. a noble deed performed? Where are there evidences of your labour ? Nowhere. You are lounging through life with your hands in your pockets, an indolent loafer, swearing and slavering nonsense. . You drink; gamble, and chew toIbacco, but never earned your board. A pile of lumber would be of more account, for that could be worked into,usefulness and beauty; but you will not^make anything of yourself or allow society to do it l .> A world of such as you would be the place to live in, indeed! You have degraded our common manhood, instead of ennobling and elevating it, and in nothing but the form and vulgar speech, are you above the brutes that perish. And because that you are too lazy to work, you claim that the world owes 3?ou a living ! Don't tell that lie : again you sluggard! The: world or society would riot suffer loss: were lightning to strike you or cholera to take you off. There are too many of such. Were you treated as drones are treated in the hives, you would have been kicked out of creation ■long ago; You are a sponge, swollen from what you have absorbed from society. You dwarfed the intellect givenyou, and neglected the endowments it would have brought you. So effectually have you wasted the boon of life, that unless your bones should go, the dissecting room, and your pickled carcass as a fertilizer upon some God-forsaken spot, you will have passed through life to no purpose. The tobacco you have chewed, has only defiled every thing around you, and the liquor you have drank has -only been adulterated by your miserable nature, and been turned into rowdyism and profanity.; You contaminate everything you touch, arid even those like you, will keep their children from your teaching and example. ISfo, sir, you owe the world a. better life. You never can pay all the debt, but you can do better and commute for twenty-five cents on the dollar. Do and say something noble and manly; labour for some honourable: purpose, and not inhale God's pure air for nothing, and grunt through existence like a hog, having only two aims in life—to reach the bar and the dinner table; and only two attributes —to eat to gluttony, and drink to drunkenness. The world owes no such man'a living!— Western-Standard.

Enormous Nugget.—The Downie ville Tunnel Company, California, have discovered a nugget which, it is estimated, contains not less than £20,000 worth of gold. It is said not to be so large as one which was previously found in the same locality, but far richer in gold. Lately (says the Bristol Times) the engine driver of one of the trains on the Great Western line, between Cheltenham and Svvindpn, noticed at some distance a boy lying across one of! the rails. He was in time to stop, and on the guard descending he found the lad fast asleep, with his head on the rail, which served him as a pillow. He was taken up and brought to Swiridon. The little fellow was about twelve years of age, and must have wandered on the line, when he sat down upon the sleepers, and through fatigue fell asleep. But for the quick eye of the engine-driver the poor boy's head would have been cut off in a few seconds by the train. The. Th,ird of August.—On Monday the 3rd August, the vessels in Cork harbour weighed anchor with the Atlantic cable. On that day 365 years since Columbus set sail on his glorious enterprise of discovery. "We are now," said the Earl, of Carlisle, at the dinner in Valeritia, " we are now giving the last finish and consummation to the work of Columbus. Hitherto the inhabitants of the two worlds-have associated perhaps in the chilling atmosphere of^distance with each other—at a sort of bowing distance; but now we can be hand to hand, grasp to grasp, pulse to pulse. The link which is now to connect us, like tlie insect in the immortal couplet of tffiKpbet, while

1 Exquisite y fine, Feels at each thread, and lives along the line.' (Cheers.) And we may take our stand here upon the extreme rocky ledge of our beloved Ireland; we may, as it were, leave in our rear behind us the wars, the strifes, and the bloodshed of the elder Europe, and I fear I may say of the elder Asia; and we may pledge ourselves, weak as our agency may be—imperfect as our powers may be—yet, in the face of the unparalleled circumstances of the place and of the hour —in the immediate neighbourhood of the mighty vessels whose appearance may be beautiful on- the waters, even; as are the feet upon the mountains of those who preach the Gospel of Peace—-as a homage due to that serene science which often affords higher and holier lessons of harmony and goodwill than the wayward passions of man are always apt to learn—in the face and in the strength of such,circumstances led us. pledge ourselves to eternal peace between the old world and the new. (Loud cheers.) Why, gentlemen, what excuse would there be for misunderstanding—what justification could there be for war, when the disarming message, when the full explanation, when ihe ; genial and healing counsel may be wafted even across the mighty Atlantic quicker than the sunbeam's path or the lightning's flash■? -~;:-

■ Smoke.—Mr. Waife.\drevv a.long whiff and toolc a most serene, view of affairs. He who doth not smoke hath-either known no great griefs, or reTused himself the "softest consolation, next to that which comes from heaven. What, softer than woman? whispers the young reader. Young reader, woman teases as well as conpoles. Woman makes half the sorrows whicK she boasts the privilege to soothe. Woman consoles us, it is true, while we are 3 roung- and- handsome; when we are ugly, woman snubs and scolds us. On the whole, tl>en, woman' in this scale, the weed in that,—-Jupiter ! hang out thy balance, and weigh them both; and if thou give the preference to woman, all I can say is the next time Juno ruffles—o Jupiter, try the weed.— Bulwer Lytton. What in a strong-minded woman is called "curiosity," in fl a man is grandiloquently magnified into the. " spirit of en-? quiry."