MISCELLANEA.

Colonist, Issue 95, 17 September 1858, Page 4

MISCELLANEA.

(From latest English Papers.) Dr. Bunting, the celebrated Wesleyan divine, died on 16th June, aged 80.

The Rev. Mr. Leach is a clergyman of the Church of England, of good family and fortune, who has just escaped being shut up for life in a madhouse. He was a religious enthusiast. He was possessed with the idea that the Millennium was " dawning," if indeed it had not already dawned. His actions, were all guided, he said, by the Holy Spirit. In early youth he had shaved off his beard, but the Scriptural injunction against effeminacy and woman's attire had induced him to resume the badge of manhood. He was a man of kindly and domestic habits. He thought servants ought to be treated more oil an equality, and carried his principles on that point somewhat to an extreme. Feeling lonely, he was in the habit of associating with his women servants, would occasionally kiss them, and sometimes take them on his knee. Even this, however, he declared was done by the command of a power which he did not venture to disobey. His sister, Mrs. Sedden, and her husband, at length found that he was actually about to marry one of the damsel's whom he had hitherto been contented with caressing. Now, on the death of his mother, Mr. Leach would be entitled to £30,000. If he died without children and intestate, that fortune must come to Mr. and Mrs. Sedden. This was too splendid a prospect to be obscured by a servant-maid and a young family. It was natural enough that the doctor should be called in by the. Seddens to see whether eccentricities could not be construed into insanity. The thing was managed. Poor Mr. Leach was consigned to an asyktml In coming to the conclusion that the reverend gentleman was quite able to man T age his affairs, the jury who were called to give a verdict in the case, no doub^t remembered that a marriage might prevent the addition of £30,000 to the fortune of those friends who sought to prove the madness.

During the month of May the number of wrecks reported was 128; in the month of January the number was 154; in February, 162; in March, 179; and in April, 142—making a total during the past five months of 765.

The first tube of the Albert-bridge across theTamar, which is to connect the counties of Devon and Cornwall, has been lifted to

its required height. So powerful have been the means employed to raise this stupendous body, weighing beiween 2000 and 3000 tons, and so ably has the work been carried out, that no difficulty has been experienced in its execution ; and the tube, its centre being about 230 feet above the bed of the river, is a proud monument of engineering skill. The other tube for the eastern side ;s rapidly progressing. . A curious motion which lately came before the Dublin Court of Chancery, brought to light for the first time the pecuniary position of the late Daniel O'Connell at the time of his death, eleven years ago. It will sound strange that the recipient of almost countless tributes—commencing at£sQ,ooo, and scarcely ever falling below. £10,000 annually—should have died in straitened circumstances. The gross amount of the; assets is not equal to two years of Mr.; O?Connell's income while a practitioner at; the bar. : •

The Lord Lieutenant of Ireland has been • playing a match at rackets in the court of i the Dublin University Club. Lord Eglin r: ton, as is well known, is a first-rate player, but he was beaten by his opponent, Mr. Michael Morris, the Recorder of Gal way.

A meeting1 of the county of Haddingtqn was held on the 4th June, for the .purpose of considering Lord Elcho's-bill, *' To enable counties in Scotland to abolish tolls and statute labor, and to maintain their public roads and bridges by assessment." A rich manufacturer, named Qppelt, died! about fifteen years since at Reicheriberg, in Austria, and a vault was built by his, widow and children in the cemetery for the reception of tlie body. The widow died lately, and was taken ,to the same tomb; but when it was opened for that purpose, the coffin of tier husband was found open and enipty, and the skeleton of the deceased discovered in a corner of the vault in a sitting posture. A commission was appointed by the authorities to examine into the affair, when they gave their opinion that M. Oppelt was only in a trance when buried, and that on coming to life he had forced open the coffin. The Athenaeum says: —" Sir John Pakington, with prompt and sagacious liberality, has offered to place vessels at the disposal of science for observation of the great eclipse of September next—the points for seeing which to astronomical advantage lie in South America, and particularly about Lima. An astronomical expedition may perhaps be organised; and if so, foreign astronomers are invited to join the expedition/ ' ; ' :

A Glasgow paper adverts indignantly to the present " desecration" of the house where Burns was born :—" If Scotland can found no other monument, she can found a • spirit shop,' and pour libations of liquid fire down the thirsty throats of the living out of honor to the illustrious dead. 'In this house,' says an inscription on a little cottage not far from Ayr, 'Robert Burns, the Ayrshire poet, was born;' and on the same cottage, at the other side of the open door, is inscribed the announcement in similar, though larger letter^, tfiat the said cottage is • licensed to sell spirits, porter and ale.'

Petitions have been presented to Parliament praying for the appointment of a Secretary of State for Scotland.

Ten years ago, Tipperary county gaol contained 1035 prisoners; now it has but 107 inmates, and the greater number are charged with only minor offences. The remains of Mr. John O'Connell were interred on the 28th of May, beside those of his brother Maurice, Glasnevin Cemetery. The funeral cortege is said to have been the longest since the burial of O'Connell ? in 1847. After the body had been consigned to the vault a meeting was held in the cemetery, for the purpose of taking the preliminary steps towards the formation of a committee to collect subscriptions to a fund for the relief of the widow and children of the deceased. The Right Hon. the Lord Mayor presided, and resolutions expressive of condolence with and sympathy for Mrs. O'Connell and her family were adopted. The meeting was addressed by the Right Hon. J. D. Fitzgerald, ,M. P., -Mr. Carew O'Dwyer, Mr. Patrick O'Brien, M.P., Serjeant Deasy, &c. A sum? amounting to nearly £1000 was collected on the spot, and a permanent committee of gentlemen nominated for the purpose of receiving further contributions, which now amount to upwards of £1800.

"On the Ist day of June," says a Glasgow paper, " the clergymen of all denominations througout the city had their hands full of business—the marrying and giving in marriage having reached a culminating point after the fatal month of May had passed away. Carriages innumerable were to be seen driving with posthaste along the streets, either to or from the minister's house, while ever and anon one was in danger of being run over by; barrow-loads of furniture destined to occupy a conspicuous place in the new domiciles." Two men and a boy were buried alive in the Ganikirk; Coal Company's claypits, near Glasgow, from the 21st of May to the morning.of the 24th, and yet rescued alive. While they wera- at work, _ a large part of the roof of the gallery gave way, shutting them in. They at first tried'to idig their way out, but gave up the task as hopeless when they heard another fall of roof. They were saved by the untiring efforts of their: fellow miners; 60 men working in short relays, jclay arid night, dug a gallery, to the prison of the sufferers, and eventually got all three out alive,, though, of course, in a very weak condition.. : ;

,An extraordinary prosecution is now going on in <the Sheriff s Court, Edinburgh, in which, a Scottish Presbyterian of the name of Cochrane, has brought an action of damages against an Irish priest of the name of Doriahoe, for an attempt to impose the rite of extreme unction upon him at a period of serious illness. In Boone, county Kentucky, a young man named Hardisty has been tried and acquitted for having killed a man named Grubb who had seduced his sister. Upon

acquitting .him the judge congratulated the prisoner, and stated that he had been wronged in the same manner he would have done the samV thing. . At; the annual sermon preached by Mr. Spurgeon on behalf of the Baptist Missionary Society, in April last, there were computed to be present between 10,000 and 11,000 persons, 2000 of whom were ministers of all denominations. Mr. James Simms, the founder of the Belfast Daily Mercury, and one of the oldest members of the Irish press, died on the 19th May, in the 75th year of his

age. .■.:■•.-..•■■:■■• The extensive estates of the Earl of Granard, situate in the county of Westmeath, have been sold by private contract to Colonel Fulke Greville, M.P. The purchase-money was £125,000.

A number of noblemen and gentlemen have formed themselves into a committee to receive subscriptions to relieve M. deLamartine from,-his.present pecuniary embarrassment.

Much amusement was created. at the! Windsor station, : oX the Great Western Railway on June 3-T-the cup day—at theman^ner in which a number of the London swell mob were, treated^ by tteraUway officials, on the arrival: of the morning express train from Paddington. On'the train leaving London in was discovered by the detectives on duty at the terminus that an unusually large number of the light fingered gentry had proceeded to Ascot races for the purpose of plying their trade. Immediately on being observed by tne officials they were artfully put altogether into L the same carriage, and the telegraph immediately set at work to inform the police authorities at Windsor of the character ;of the importation; to be; expected, hinting that they all be found together in a certain part «of the train. The officials at the Great Western station were consequently-on the watch, for the arrival of ; the important personages^ and on the train drawing up to the platform the policemen and porters instantly proceeded to the doors of the carriages described as containing the swell mob* which they kept securely locked until the rest of the passengers had got clear out of the station, notwithstanding the despairing ap-r peals of the individuals thus.imprisoned, As soon as the station was cleared the swell mob were released from their temporary confinement, and were politely informed by the detectives that they were at liberty either to remain in the town, where they were well known, or return to London, many of them preferring the latter course, intensely disgusted, at haying been outwitted.

The Revival of Religion in America. — Though some of the American papers are sneering at the religious frenzy (as they are pleased to style the present movement), all of them admit that there is a very decided improvement in attention to reiigious institutions, both amongst niggers and nigger owners—among all classes of the community, in all the principal towns and ci ties of America. Week-day meetings are thronged with earnest worshippers; and those who hitherto mocked learn to pray. The movement may so far be viewed as the effect of causes. Great efforts have been made in New York and other towns to induce those who attended no church to go to church, and many obeyed out of consideration to their well wishers. This assertion does not deny or doubt that the movement is of higher origin. The revival has manifested itself in great collections as well as in great meetings. It seems that in an Episcopal Methodist church the collection, on a recent Sabbath reached 6000 dollars, or £1250; and in a Congregational Church, Boston, under Dr. Adams, a" collection for missions reached 6500 dollars'. Themovement has been decidedly felt at New York, Boston, Portland, Newbury Port,; Hartford, New London, Poughkeepsie, Pittsburgh, Baltimore, St. Louis, Philadelphia, and other ioyins^—Qlasgow, Examiner. :. .; ;\ : .-■ ■■■'■■ . .-■.■'■• ;-

Health of the Army.—^Dr. Guy, of King's College, delivered a lecture on this subject at the Russell Institution, Great Coram-street, on Tuesday evening, 4th May. In the course of the lecture Dr,. Guy alluded to the London Fire Brigade, among whom there prevailed a mortality of only 70 in 10,000, while the Scots Fusi^ lier Guards sustained a loss of 171 in] 10,000, the Coldstream Guards 200: in 10,000, and the Grenadier Guards 221 in 10,000, or rather more than three times as great as the London Eire Brigade. The deaths from consumption in the army were as follows :—Scots Fusilier Guards 78, in 10,000, Coldstream; 87, Grenadier 1101 He attributed the mortality of the soldier mainly to the want of space in barracks, and the want of proper and adequate exercise. ■■'■Dr, Guy concluded fey ,stati)pig .^that a regard to consistency; requires tHEt a nation which; gave jpjrth in o^sjiortquarter of a' century to a dook, a tjqvyard, and a Jenner—heroes who fought and conquered three such pestilences ;as scurvy, gaol fever, and small-pox,-should be for 4 ward in every work of sanitary reform and improvement, and should < some how or other contrive to make its noble army as healthy as it is brave. ; ' j

Power will intoxicate the best hearts, as wine the strongest heads. No man is wise enough, nor good enough, to be trusted 1 with unlimited power; for whatever qualifications he may have evinced to entitle him to the possession of so dangerous a privilege, yet, when possessed, others can ,no longer answer for him, because he can Ino longer answer for himself, i Dr. Vogel, the African Traveller. — 1 When Dr. Earth, the famous traveller, j stayed in the interior of Africa, and had l not been heard of for a long time, Dr Vogel, of Leipsic, the son of a distinguished German geographer, and himself a young scholar of promising- talents, undertook to penetrate from Egypt into the centre of Africa. There he hoped to mee<t>'ith Dr. Barth. The latter) however, returned in good Health and spirits to enjoy the laurels which he had fairly won, but young

Vogel has disappeared far the" vast "wastes of the barbarous negro continent. The English consuls, all over the north and east of Africa, with the usual . generosity of their nation and class, have made every possible effort to obtain news of the unfortunate traveller. But all was in vain, until very lately the Consular agent at Turin reported that a rumour had reached him of Vogel's having been killed in the country of Wadai, for having dared to ascend a mountain which is held sacred by the human brutes of that region. Some Berlin scholars, who have lately visited Egypt to prosecute hieroglyphical studies there, have corrected this rumour, stating that Vogel as not been decapitated for his crime but is kept prisoner for his want of respect towards the mountain. Official spies have been sent from Murzuk and Bengazi to ascertain the exact state of the case. The fate; of Dr. Vogel has excited great sympathy, he having set out on his enterprise from England, assisted by a 'munificent gift from the Royal Geographical Society. The great number of persons in Berlin, who are acquainted with the talents of the missing traveller, agree in thinking that he would have proved as splendid a pioneer of civilization as his.more fortunate friend and comrade, Barth/ Perhaps'we may ere long witness the return of Vogel from his involuntary sojourn in the wilderness" "where, in his daily intercourse with the negroes, he may have ; had good opportunities of gathering those ethnographical observations. in which the books oi Bar th are so sadly deficient.

Reversing the Order of Members.---MT, Bright has been setting an example worthy of his name, in writing to somebody, who pestered him with a request for a subscription to a bazaar in support of a Presby tenan church at Birmingham, a letter, whereoj^h'e following lines, \ are part:—" Since I nave been in'parliament I have always abstained from subscriptions for objects connected with the constituency I represented, and I intend to continue that course. A contrary course would lead me into an expenditure which I could hot consent to with any prudence, and might lead to an endeavour to secure public favour by means which I cannot practice or approve." Hear hear! io ask a member, as member,, to subscribe for the local objects of his constituents, is to ask a public servant to remunerate the public for serving it. You might as well make the sanie request to a private domestic, and solicit your man John, who cleans your boots, to contribute towards theipapering of your rooms. If you thought fit to enlarge and stock your cellar, you might with equal reason, and as much dignity, apply to yoni butler for assistance in paying your bricklayer's bill and that of your wine merchant. It would not be a bit less cool of you to call on your maid-of-all- work for a donation to; aid you in sending your son to college. This is, always supposing, of course, that your public servant is to be really your servant, and not,; on the contrary^ your lord and master—^-your proprietor, who buys you with subsidies and contributions,' in order that he may sell you for patronage, or may exert the power which you give him as the consideration for his largess in some other way to gain his private ends. Electors who expect to get money out of their members should chalk up " To Be Sold," and not adorn the walls with such mottoes as " Reform" and " Economy." Indeed, instead of importuning their political servants for gratuities and Christmas-boxes, constituents should, if they want to be well-and zealously served, occasionally themselves give their representative John Thomases a " tip."— Punch.' A " Nate* 1 Compliment. —Paddy is often poetically polite. On picking up and returning a lady's parasol, which had been blown out of her hand, a gallant Irishman said—-" Faith miss, an' if ye was as strong as yer. handsome, be jabers a hurricane could'nt have snatced it from ye."

Zimmerman observes, that *« in Fame's temple there is always a niche" for rich dunces, importunate scoundrels, or successful slayers of the human race." A local journal complains that the town of Greenwich is rapidly dying out. The people of this famous suburh of Cockaigne have for some time lived in the style of the fabled cats of Kilkenny; and what will be the end of such a state of things, our sagacious contemporary remarks, it is not necessary for him to point out. The disasters of this renowned, but sadly overgrown village, are charged upon the North Kent and other railways. A Ferociovs King. —An historical fact, connected with a white buck, may not be uninteresting, and it will prove the tyranny of our ancient, monarchs., When Edward IV. was. hunting in the park of ThomasBurdett, Esq., of Arrow,^Warwickshire, hex killed a store of deer, and amongst the rest a white buck: When Burdett heard of this, he wished the horns in his belly that counselled the king to kill it; for which words he was beheaded at Tyburn. A good humour in all events bears, half the ill.— Garden*—-;

Brave actions are the substance of life, and good sayipgs . the ornaments of it. ' ■' ■ - - ' '