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    iueers ided 834 THE LEADJBB. [^0^39^^118...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    M I S C E L L A N ,K <) U S. Tine Court....

    powerful force of the corps of Royal Engiueers , prov ided ¦ with everything necessary for the formation of ro ^ ds , bridges , to open up the resources of the colony ; also to erect block-bouses for the reception and safe custody of the gold which may be disposed of by the miners ; and at the same time form an organised military force for the maintenance of law and order . Hkaivth ok Loxdon . —The Registrar-General ' s return for last week shows a very favourable state of the health of the metropolis , tho deaths being- 208 below the average rate . Diarrhoea is again en the decline , which is very unusual at this period of the year . Scarlatina and diptheria are the prevailing diseases . The total deaths for the week -were 1147 , and births 1496 .

    Priuce Alfukd . —A correspondent of the Sydney Herald states , on the authority of Sir Charles Nicholson , that Prince Alfred was about to take a cruise round the world , and would spend some time in Australia . The correspondent adds that Sir Charles had this information from the Prince Consort direct . Twe Pjsixcess Fiiedkkick "William . —A correspondent of the Independence Beige , writing from Berlin , states that for some weeks past the physicians have interdicted the Princess Frederick "William from , taking journeys , her accouchement being expected in October . Reigate Election . —A Conservative candidate for Beigate is announced in the person of the Hon . Mr . Monson , brother of Lord Monson . He -will have the entire support of the Government .

    " Witchcraft" and Agriculture . —Pliny has recorded the story of an industrious and ingeuious husiandenan , who , being in advance of the knowledge of his time , cultivated a small piece of land upon an improved method , by which he gathered much more fruit , and reaped larger profits than the neighbours about him , though their possessions were more ample . His uncommon success excited their envy , insomuch that they brought this accusation against him— " That by sorcery , charms , and witchcraft , he hard transported , his neighbours' fruits , fertility , and increase to his own fields . " For this he was ordered peremptorily , byAlbums , a Roman general skilled in agriculture , to answer the charge before him . Crcsinus , fearing the issue , resolved upon

    his best { . defence , brought his plough and other rural implements , and displaying them openly , he set there also bis daughter , a lusty , strong lass , big of bone ; then , turning to the citizens— "My masters , " quoth he , " these are the sorceries , charms , and all the enchantments that I use ; I might also allege my o-wn travel and labour , my early rising and late sitting np , and the painful sweat that I daily endure ; but I am not able to present these to your view , nor to bring them with me into this assembly . " This bold and open defence captivated the people ; it proved the coup de main which turned a doubtful result to his entire favour ; he was pronounced " not guilty , " and

    those present took note of his inventions . This story , though not strictly belonging to the history of our own island , is derived from those who are said to have first taught to the Britons the arts of husbandry . It may , therefore , be fairly employed to show that the first improvers of agriculture liad their days of trial ; that in all ages and countries , and in every path of inquiry and invention—in the discovery of the rotation of crops , as in that of the rotary motion of tho earth—a Galileo has had to answer for his daring before some embodiment of ignorance constituting an inquisition . —Philip ' s History Of Progress . ¦

    The London Letteu Carriers . —A meeting was leld on the 15 th inst ., to receive from the committee a report of what had been < lone to obtain from Lor < l Colchester some amelioration of their condition . The promises made by Lord Colchester justify the hope that this most useful , but not sufficiently appreciated class of public servants , will at least obtain a . large instalment of what is justly their due . Going out op Office . —Lord Lyndhurst tells a good story apropos of his surrender of the great seal in 1 S 4 G . " When I went to tho Palace , " says his lordship , "I alighted at the grand staircase ; I \ cm received by the

    Bticka gold and silver , and othor officers of the household , who called in sonorous tones from landing to landing , and apartment to apartment , ' Room for the Lord High Chancellor of England . ' I entered tho presence chamber ; I gayo the seals to hor Majesty ; I had the koaour of kiaaing hor hand . I left the apartment by another door , and found myself on a back staircase ., down -which , 1 descended -without airy owe taking any notice of tne until , ss I waa looking for my carriage at the outer door , a lacquey bustled up , and with a patronising air said , ' Lord Lyndhurst , can I do anythinc for you ?'" °

    Fire at Buackwaix . —A great firo occurred on Saturday , on the premises of Mr . Emory , an extensive cooper in Urun 8 wick-streot . Seven largo cooperages ¦ with stabling and lofts wore entirely destroyed , and tuo adjoining premises severely damaged . Koyai .. DitAMATio Coixegii :. —Mr . Benjamin "W " cb-Btor lias received a letter from Col . Sir C . B . Puippa , dated Potsdam , Augunt 18 th , announcing tho Queou'a intention of becoming tho patroness of tho Dramutic College , and enclosing a cheque for 100 / . as her douatibn thereto .

    Ma . Walter . Savagic Lankoh . —Tho action for libel brought by the Hon . Mra . Yoscomb against Mr . Walter Suvago Laador . is * entered for trial at tho Bristol

    Assizes , and although it is currently reported that the defendaut has left the country , the plaintiff is determined to go-to the jury . Savings' Banks . —Among the various recommendations of the Pai'liameutitry Committee on Savin" -s ' Banks , in their report , just published , ve observo tluit they have adopted the important suggestion made by Mr . ScratcUley , President of the Friendly Societies' Institute , in his Treatise . on Savings' Banks , " that this Commission should be empowered to invest a portion of

    the Savings Banks'funds ( not exceeding one-third ) ia otfier securities thuri those authorised by the existing law , and productive of a higher rate of interest than tlie three per cent , of the public funds , provided such securities arc created or guaranteed under an Act of Parliament . " I this recommendation be finally adopted by the Legislature , a considerable improvement will arise in the financial condition of Savings' Banks , and the average rate of interest and consequent available profit will materially increase . A further margin will also be created for expenses of management .

    Experiments upon an Executed Criminal . —A letter in the New York Tribune- says : — " The form of sentencing- criminals to death in this State will have to be changed . Instead of condemning them to be hanged by the neck until they are dead , the language will be , " . to . be'cut . up by doctors until you are dead . " The change will be perfectly safe , for the doctors may be implicitly trusted not to let any criminal escape after he is once placed in their lands . " The writer proceeds to remark upon the " post mortem appearances" in the body of & criminal named Magee . Some scientific doctors commenced their observations within seven minutes of the man being hanged ; they were continued with great minuteness , and the autopsy was began . ' within . the hour from the time of the execution , while the man ' s heart was still heating eighty times a minute .

    The Countess Walewska .: —At the dinner given by Count Walewski in honour of the liinperor ' s fete-day , it wasremarked that Countess Walew-ska wore two very elegant bracelets which had been presented to . her at Cherbourg by Queen Victoria and theEmpress Eugenie . These souvenirs contained the miniatures of the two sovereigns . The Lost Traveller . —An expedition is about to leave Simla under Lord Charles Hay , in the hope of determining the fate of the celebrated traveller , Herr Adolph Slagp ' ntweit , or of rescuing him from peril , still alhre . When the two younger" "brothers returned home in March , Adolph remained behind to carry on some inquiries not then completed . He was believed to have been at Ladak about a year ago ; he has not since been heard of .

    The Pmsce Consort at Berlin . —A correspondent o the Daily Ntii-s writes : —" What do you think Prince Albert is-. doing at Berlin ? Frequenting ' the lectures at the University . Yesterday his Royal Highness went with Sir James Clarke and Dr . "Werner , chief military ' physician , ' to Professor Bubois Raymond ' s lecture on physiology , which derived additional interest from experiments made with electric eels , which the professor had received from Africa . A Spanish Bandit . —The famous Andalusian bundit , Muselina , of whose exploits every traveller in the south of Spain has heard , Iia 3 just terminated his career in a very characteristic manner . During the last month the police and soldiers have been upon his trail , but ho succeeded , in eluding them and committing fresh crimes .

    lie was traced to Kstep . i , and a detachment of gendarmerie searched several houses in that village without success . Tho officer in command , after pretending to withdraw his troop , returned almost nlonc . to search the bandit's house . On arriving at a low windowlcss room on tlie ground floor , ho went in alone . Tho door was immediately shut from within , and a pistol discharged at him ; he fired in Ilia turn , but without cil ' uut . A desporato fight then took place in the dork , the men striking at each other at random . The guards outride broke down the door very opportunely , theoilicer having already been wounded . The bandit then sprang upon one of tho guards with his dagger and severely wounded him ; after which he himself was lulled . Ho had been ong tho terror of tho province of Cordova .

    Mr , Bright , M . P . —Mr . Bright is still in Scotland , recruiting Iu ' b health . Ho will lie in Birmingham ia October , and stay there a week or two , taking the opportunity of addressing hia constituents in tho Town-hull . The experience of tho pnst session has convinced his friends that a little care , and tiic husbanding of hia strength , will enable him to take that active share in public life for which his temperament and lib talenta alil « e fit him . —Birmingham Journal . CiAMULinei at Baden . —A letter from Hamburg says :

    — " i'ho Prussian Government continue their exertions to niolish tlio gaming-tables throughout Germany , but tho run of bad luck to which tho bank at linden has latterly be on exposed may have a greater influence in tin ftccomjilialflnoiit of that object than any leg : tl enactment of tho Diet would be likely to efluct . Tho ' bunk ' thorn has this season boon ' brolcon ' twelve tiincs , ilvo of which auccosHes had been guinid by u buron Q a captain in tho Auutrian army ) , who , on leaving tho place , govo GOOOfr . to Ilio poor of tho town in rokon of grutitudo for hia luck' thero . "

    Ckosseo Chkquks . —A banker ' says- — « v- ftf -T standing , all that you say about crossed chenues T tain that when a cheque is properly crossed it caW ?" obliterated , except through the fault or » cg i-enee of ? £ * > erso « crossing it . If the crossing is lm 5 e S / * transverse lines , it cannot be erased without rniitn . !? the cheque ; but 1 have seen" n , aUy IZ ' t g where the crossing was not observable v / kboat inW examination , and in such cases it could , of courVi easily erased so as to avoid detection . " ' A Tax on Ciunoline . —According to the YW ¦ iir . /?* ... /** . . „ ,- + i . ~ !„ ..., „ , >„ « c . i ° , U 1 C Mourner de Charjeroithe lessees of dancing saloons

    „ , i « BeW ™ complain bitterly of the falling off in their receipts £ c ? sioued by the extra space now occupied by crin < , linP , A instrument called the « Crinolimetre , " has cowSJE been adopted by some of them , and persons wliosecrin hues surpass a fixed developmen t arc charged an « ., !" admission fee . At a ball given on SimilnV last at M ™ tigny , one female was measured , and charged an extr * 75 centimes ; another person , of an economic disposition preferred reducing her crinoline by talcing ouf two hoo ™ ' Tim Ne-w Mines in the Noktii ov Adi ; i aide —The Adelaide Observer of 12 th June has the folio

    whiff--• ' There is the must undoubted reason for supposing that the northern districts of the colony will prove im mensely rich in-mineral resources , lu addition to the discoveries formerly noted , we understand that a lease has recently been granted by the Government to Mr Trestrail , of Barossa , of some land containing a cop-per lode of extraordinary extent . The chief difficulty with reference to thesis northern mines is their distance from a place of shipment , and the want of raining labour to work them . We think that in nothing so much as ia

    mining operations is the introduction of the camel to be desired . Port Augusta will , we presume , be the shipping port for the principal portion of the mines north of the Biirra , but it will be a somewhat expensive affair during tlie earlier stages of their working to get the produce shipped , except throuyli the aid of beasts of burden . Such , however , is the reported extent of the mineral discoveries in the north , that it is probable that a railway or tramway will , within a moderate period , he laid over the chief part of the road between the ' mines and Port Augusta . "

    A : Novel Ba . ttue . ^—At Xtablin , in Russian Poland , a tiger and two h ' yainas escaped from a travelling menagerie , and sought refu ge in the woods of ' Belzyce and Konopnica , in the neighbourhood . Several " animals were subsequently torn to pieces by the tigeT , and . the terror which prevailed was so great that the inhabitants dared not go to the-fields to reap the crops . A number of soldiers had been sent to surround the ' wood and kill the animals . ' A Ct'Kious City CysT . oSr . —A few days ago one of the ancient customs still extant in the City of London , was observed with all due form and solemnity , at the parish church of St . Antholin , Uudge-row , "Watlingstrcet . The circumstances wore as follows : —Tlie

    rectory of St . Antholin . having become vacant by tlie retirement of tlie -Kev . James \ VilHnm Calvcrt , M . A ., one of the minor canons of St . Paul ' s Cathedral , it fell to tlie lot of that gentleman to " induct" his sucejssor to the benefice , the Uov . William TMiluer , M . A ., " according to custom . " At twelve o'clock the retiring rector appeared at the door of the church , bearing the keys of the sacred cditice . These he handed to the iuvoining clergyman , who , having received them , opened tho door , outeredtlie church alone , ami then turned the key upon himself He then proceeded to the belfrv , and commenced

    vigorously tolling one of the bells for a minute or so , m conformity with the ancient usage , thus "ringiny himself in" to the benefice . The reverend gentleman then opened tlie door and received the present churchwardens Of St . Antholin , Messrs . Good and Garner , and Mr William Crouchcr , one of the Common Council of the ward of Cordwainer , in which the parisli is situate , and Jlr . Ilcmiucm * , another of the parishioner . * , wliowcro the only i ) urs > ons of the neighbourhood t _ ) ro ; imt . Uuving received tlie congratulations of llie party , the newly installed rector retired .

    Thk Diiitii oi' Paiiseu Ciiilouics . —The infant u introduced into tho world on tho ground-floor of tho liouse , to which thu inotlier is convoyed ws soon as she is seized with tho pains of labour , and she remains tlierofor forty days , at the expiration of which period , after undergoing purification , she is allowed to appear in the fumily us before . The exnet period of birth id carefully noted down , and five days after the event , or « s sounas convenient , an astrologer is invited , who is cither a Brahmin or a Pursee priest , to ca :. t the nativity of tho chili-Tho follow , vho thoroughly uiideratan ( Is the worthoi hta forecaHtinga , gives out , with an air of satisfoct « o » i

    that tho child ia destined to holil a distinguished position in the community , lie litxn first , however , to iMiumerotfl tho names which tho child may bear , and the parents have tho right to inalto choice of oiio of them . Tho astrologer is then coiiHiiltcd as to the innuemi . tlioclnltt will exert upon the fortunes of tho father , tho mother , brother , niul family generally . Tho pretender gravely delivers lilmmilf in uumu suuh strain « s tlii . ^ : — _ " ' ^ lll ) child rcully w a fortunate one . To itH father it u « s brought incieiiHCil respectability and wealth ; tin- niotUur Will bo very fortunate . Hy the birth of this Imbc tuoro will bo inurcnsoLl aflection boLwoun tho huabuud am wife . With ita brothura and sisters il will be on goou

    Iueers Ided 834 The Leadjbb. [^0^39^^118...

    834 THE LEADJBB . [^ 0 ^ 39 ^^ 118 x 21 , 1858

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 21, 1858, page 834, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/ldr_21081858/page/10/