MISCELLANEOUS.

Wellington Independent, Volume XVI, Issue 1696, 24 December 1861, Page 4

MISCELLANEOUS.

State op following is an extract fro_ a letter/ dated Mexico,

July 29:-—" Affairs here. have now come to a crisis I send you a paper, in which; I have written three articles,-" in you will see that neither oun.prg.pey.ty nor our lives are safe, and I do not know when we way have to run for it. I write; thie in my own room, and immediately within reach I have. a rifle, a double-bar-relled carbine, and twenty, six shooters, ready at tbe first moment to sell _iy life as dearly ns possible. The foreigners have formed themselves into' a' battalion, and we muster about 1000 strong, and well armed ; and we think, • united, we could make a defeuoe against any.hum- j ber of these wretches ; but it is unsafe to I move after dark, or even a mile from the I city. Under these circumstances I have made up my mjnd to abandon the field and everything else, and suffer auy privations elsewhere, rather than be exposed ;to such constant insecurity. The Government having refused all payments, and' suspended them for two years, the French and English Ministers, have suspended relations." . . I Extraordinary Trial in France. — t At the assize court of the Calvados, on the 14th, an extraordinary trial," which has lasted all the week, was brought to a conclusion. ; The: postmaster of Courseulles, *M. Leprevost, a retired captajn' of gendarmerie, a man upwards of sixty, and who has borne a good character all his life, was accused of stealing money from letters, and forgery. His daughter;^ who^ was originally included in the indictment, committed, suioide in prison by sticking pins and needles into her chest with wouderful resolution. The case was complicated by an accusation of the public prosecutor against Captain Leprevost tbat he had seduced his own daughter at the age of thirteen, arid by a counter accusation by lhe prisoner's counsel, M. Lachaud,.that one, of the principal witnesses a posUoffice.; inspector, was the lover of Mdlle., Leprevost, and had brought a false acousation against the father. [ The verdict, was not delivered till four ih the morning, and the crowded audieuce remained the whole time. Captain Leprevost was acquitted on eight counts out of nine, but, being found guilty of forgery, .was sentenced to imprisonment for life. Residence on Mont Blanc— Galignani says: "Five German savans, and among them Professor Pitchner, are at present in the midst of the ice near the summit of Mont Blanc. They hav.e not suffeied from tho cold, haviog taken all necessary precautions to guarantee themselves against it ; but they have sustained great inconvenience from the atmosphere, and cannot succeed in satisfying their thirst. They took with them dance of provisions, but could not eat without pain, and only desired to drink* As a proteotion against the reverberation of the sun on the snow, they wear a covering over the face, but their features have become so blistered that they can scarcely be recognised. According, to the last accounts they would not be able to livelong^ at the height at which they are without being subject to great changes, physical and moral. They took up with them some animals, which have also suffered greatly; a cat was incapable of making auy movement, and a dog for some days had ceased to bark. Some pigeons appeared to suffer less." A Visit to Paris.— The Pays has the following-curious story :— As a police patrol was two nights back going its j rounds in tho neighbourhood of the Pantheon it found a man, attired in a most extraordinary way, lying on a stone I bench at a porte cochere. . His hair had been covered with some' clammy substance, over which copper filings, had been sprinkled, so that it was stiff and brilliant j feathers had , been stuok in it to form a sort of diadem ; .' his faoe was daubed with paint of different ' colors; he had on a necklace formed of corks cut round, aud covered with gilt paper ; his shirt was worn over his clothes, and was ornamented with arabesques'in red paint; his trousers were raised so ,as to leave his legs bare, and his legs, as also his neck and hands, were painted of a chocolate color. Near hira was a bundle oontaining his stockings, cravat, waistcoat, &o. .He was fast asleep, and, on being ;wakened, manifested the greatest astonishment at finding himself in such a place aud in such a guise. ' Being taken 'to the nearest guard hpus^, aud. questioned, he stated 'that he wai^ a -well-lb- j do. farmer inihe department of the Aisiie, and had long been, tfor'meuted ■"-"with a ! desire to see Paris. Having collected a j sum of money, he hud oome to thej capital for the Emperor's fete, aud, remained there ever since. The day .before he was found so strangely accoutred he went to the Jardiu des Plantes, and sat down on a benoh to rest himself. Shor.tly after a young man of gentlemanly tmpearanoe, who was reading a book, seated himself by his side.. They got into conversation, and he related to the young man what he had seen in Paris* .but. expressed great regret that he had not been able to full in with the Siamese Ambassadors, ;How lucky it is that we have met', cried the y oung t man . . < t ,The Ambassadors are this very evening to visit a naval surgeon of my acquaintance,) who cured their, Queen, oHhe whoopihgcough ; and if you, like I . will take you to his house! The farmer at first hesitated to accept .the stranger's offer, but the lat,ter pressed him so courteously that he consented,. An appointment to meet in;t_e , evening in the Place duPantheou,;*was ' made, and both the farmer and the-ybifng : man were punotual. Thelatter* le_' the ! countryrj-\an r up M& .dYflA£ey.ejra,l .obscure ; streets, and °then entered a ._«us°eVi_. 1 whioh there was no cfonfcierge/ • InV one

apartment to whioh he was ; intro'duoed » the farmer /found « Several * young ; f men drinking and smoking, and he ! wass induced to drink with them. After awhile he was* shown .thr'ougli a hole: iii : - a _opr : several persons, male ahd-female* dressed in strange oostumesi and was ■/ told that they were: the ambassadors and .their wivesi but that he ,could nofcb'tf admitted to them 'unless ihe would, consent tohave certain changes' made iuhis dr'essy.r-He at first refused,.; but? at last, after (being well plied/ with wine, submitted. ! His toilette havinglbeen completed^ he was then; introduoed -t'tb the > ambassadors. They courteously entered into v &'{feoYrVdßsatioriwilh him through ; an interpreter, •and.- then insisted. that heshould partake of their refreshments^' What he* ateyhe said, was" very strange*-.* and: what! he drank still -more ao.v-'.-Atlaft-..tW.'.aiifba*-jsadors .notified thatahey^.w.etfej saopleaaed with ;him< that they would decorate ?_im with the7order of the: Wbitei Elephant;; but. they :said that> in : accordance! witji the. custom. of the country, he must*first chase one of them. down stairs -and succeed in catching him. He made ho objection, and one of the ambassadors rushed down stairs, and the farmer pursued.- But on reaahing the bottom, the outer > door <waa suddenly opened, and. he was: pushed out; 'the door was-.then closed- om. bim, and a moment. after a. bundle containing ' the articles of dress he had taken off was dropped from a window. He knocked loudly at the door, but received norepl^. He therefora.vwent 'away, and walked about .until ]• overcome with 7 fatigue and the fumes of,drrnk hesat/drowhitoi reslL He soon fell asleep,, and remained sleeping until found by the police. w After he had told this singular, story he was made to count his money. He said that not. a sou had been taken from hjrn.. .. It was thus clear that he had. only been made the victim, of a praotioal;;. hoax* ! ajnd jMjs thought likely that the perpetrators of it were students. ;•*.= Singular Discovery.— «A correspo^itdent of Saunders', writes as Yblfows :J- --" Ballihasloe, Sept. 13.— 1n the mpnthfof July last I sent; 'yon .-the partioulars fof some- ancient-regal ornaments which had been found by a countryman, and ,purcbuts- . ed from him by the ; Messrs. tiyhes^ of this town* /They have since been publici ly exhibited in the collection of the DubI lin Society, and much admired by thole j who relisV antiquarian researches. 'Ijjje Messrs. Hyues offered the countrymania handsome douceut if he would point out where he found the Relics, but 'this ! ; fti.e wily native knowingly declined to do] doubt expecting that other articles t.of value might yet be discovered hi; the same locality. He , has, however* '^ at length divulged the paticulars, ,'JThe njj|n resided' at a place called Skea, near the celebrated ruins of Clonmacnoise, on the brink of the Shannon. In the course of some agricultural operatipns^he removed a large, flag which 7 opened rihe passage •to a spacious 7,ca°ver°d, ijf|^iv|iich were ( : found tho crown and cjbi|a>> together with some ancleftt ibronze'^weapon and several utensils used for culinary purposes. The djsooyerer ;of ; this; ssjngulgr labyrinth kept it concealed from the knowledge of any one for a considerable ;iength\6f tfhae, but atHehgth he Has' induced to show it to a very few individuals under a' promise of se'cresy \ and, as * tie I is about jtoJe.ave this.opuntry-forvAustra. lia, lie lhtenSs, tor a % coVsideraljoVto fe,a(| the way. ,'toj. ; thi3 curious subterraneaiji chamber;, evidently the retreat --of 'the' ' ancient monarohs who reigned - in the^ I locality. The dispqvery .of this' W^'^j-. : cavern throws muoh light $n the legends of Bryan O'Donoghue, and to this^means lof retreat from his enemies is no" s ßq ! ubt idue the story pf. his oompaot with the ' Evil One, , from *■ the bonsequenoes of which the Abbott St. Kieranus saidi-to have released him. •_- ! A .soldier, who r- gave '..his name Sas \ Henry Broughdon, "was lately brought up lat Dublin police-court, by the inspector, joif police, who stated that' whilst he was lon duty fon thei- previous night the priisoner, had como to him and stated that ihe belonged to the 65th Regiment I) f Foot, at the present stationed in^Kicba mond 'Barracks ; thatabotttfoiiVyearfal^ he was at, Bathur'st^jQ^.Aastra'Ua^'^hgQ he was met by ,a man, namediAddison : Mitchell) who was standing near the dead body of a'man natfied Abbott, whdm'^e 'had just murdered; Mitohell th^eaten.ed jto take his life if he refused to assistJiim jin lighting a fire to burn the body,* aiid i that, through fear he consented, and accordingly; the body was destroyed ; that subsequently Mitchell was arrested,? on suspicion, and, fearing he should be implicated, he gave evidence against Mitohell, to the effect thst he ba&iwit* nessed the murder .from a distanoe, hut ! denied having had anything to do-with j burning the body ; that Mitohell^as^cj^ vioted J afld hanged," after whioh "Brbughr : don returned to Eughmd, .where-helen* listed in,the fi^thian^that^owihgto'the disturbed 1 state of his7mind s ,'he was'-ffabtjj to rest, and accordingly gave'^i^jseiirpp* One evening lately a, cirous,Wapalj)]e af .holding upwards of 2000 person s,attacb> ed : to the . Fleur-de-Lis -Tuni'Tieic'e-ter, was crowded to witness :s6m| t oeSy "The'etit^ Vaa conoljidediwith a ; piece entitled f»iTh© Monkey and the Red Indians/'^iu'Hv&ieh Master 'Stevens, soh oHKe'p^rlei^r, and about, eight y^ars of age, enaoted the. monkey/ In making up for the part, the boy was envelbpeU i_ wadding, : in which he had to clime a rope.-—Un-fortunately the lad ascended too; biglr on ■, therope, so as to take fire from' the fch&ft- | deltey; The poor boy'waV^^^ntijTono i ihass* Of flames; h-^as^tf^eyerSf^ Wrnt » that he died the next day s f •**«HWB» ■