The Stourbridge Observer, Cradley Heath, Halesowen & District Chronicle.
Stourbridge, West Midlands, England, 1871-12-02 00:00:00

THE NEWS OF DR. LIVINGSTONE.

At the meeting on Monday night of the 'royal (ko-
cihkal -- Sir Henry Rawliniain in the chair—
the Prisddent announced that 11 me hers had that
day been elected, the highest nninher ever :Omitted in
tle• history of the society. In commencing the pro-
ceedings, he said, knowing the interest which was
always felt in regard to Dr. Livingstone, he would
. _ .

- „
mention, before the regular business of the even-
in4 began, that a letter had that day been received
from Dr. Kirk, at Zanzifsir. addressed to their
late lamented president, Sir Roderick Murchison.
They have ,bserved from the morning
papers that intelligence had been received from Zan-
zibar with regard to a collision which had taken place
between the Arabs and the native Africans. The
letter of Dr. Kirk only alluded casually to that
matter, but he stated his own VitrWA with regard to its
probable effects upon Livingstone awl his movements.
-.ll:anyema is the place at which Livingstone was sup-
posed to be last. The communication to the Foreign
Office of Dr. Kirk hal not been receive!. it would
bc seen also, from the letter, that, by a slip of the pen,
Mr. Stanley had Leen described in the letter already
pizblishea as " ill f fear,' instead of ill of fever.
The President then read the following letter ,----

ZanziLar, Sept. 2.1, I,7l—Ay dear -Sr Roderick - You
by the seeouht sent to tile Foreign (tM, tlmt (MR-
. .•-s have sprung up in Un)•anizi and cut olf Ijiji from the
-t and, as it happens no I.jiji news has been tect•ieut
• roe time hack, one may now lie a long thne in getting
• ,rtainty of Ur. Livingstone. NIL can say is that by
r.p.rt, from that place neither he nor his Arab friend
•I
i l;havily hail arrived lint there was a story,
‘‘ • • :. Ik worthless, to tire effect that they were both togo
- • uth end by way of Weitilm I can yot g.d no certain
:1. tat Ylarnyeina. Every one knows, but I find no else Sr he
horn there. I have seen people who have crossed
I c•ganyika from UAL and seen the Mamyema caravan
setting 01st (nit it stem; to be rattier a new and spevial
line of trade. I an, glad that the Govenor of Mainyema
is is he removed. Ile is the one rn whom this war is
and If he had been kilted we shotild all have bees better satis-
fied. Mr. Stanley, was at Nlainyema, and in the light, but
It,' Arabs abandoned him ; four of Iris men were killed, but
lie seaped. flit prospect of getting on is at present
Small, hut I really cannot say where he desires to go to.
Ile never disclosed his plans here. I send tip letters for
Dr. Livin:stope to his care, and put also the things (of the
seemid lot, the first has reached 111J0 for Livingstone into
his hand. I fancy lie will make a point of reaching Living-
stone tint, but whether, haring seen what Is best to to, lie
will push on Ireline back. I cannot say. Ile wan ill
of fever when he wrote, hut has got on tolerably well.
Tire men who came down return to-inerrew, and ought to
be there in twetity-tive clays, for the road is free of grass,
ant food plenty.—Believe me, dear Sir Roderick, yours sin-
cerely, "Jong King."
•

- - .
hasing retul the despatch of Dr. Kirk to the Bombay
t:ovenment. which baa already been publiihed. Sir
Henry [said that at the next meeting he hoped to read
the despatch. Avhieh had been Kent to the Foreign
(Mice, and probably by that time there might be
motherletter from Zanzibar to communicate.
. . .

At the sugg,stion of one ..f the fellows of the Society,
Capt. R. liurtan was called upon to express his
opinion of the news. If e said that it was not the first
time that disturbances hail taken place h tween the
Arabs of the interior and the Africans. There was no
difficulty whatever in Dr. Livingstone returning by the
south of the late; but, of course, the disturbances
might lad two or three years, in which case he would not
he able to matnh. At the same time he thought a white
tuan like Dr. it...t,tone, who knew the Africans
better than any "dotr titan and who npnke their
lanwtagea, would Le to pass where no other white
Or Mack man could. II- I. it,t the tarlitest re 'n to
i.air of Dr. Li. neo !cue, ;rad they ruioit depend
it that the hootc•-ut an:.thin.! happened to. Dr.
.c-inw,tone they wnu: 1..n0 ,f it in th:a room as if it
ii ,ome by telegra nI.

THE EXECUTIONS AT VIIIISAILLES.

Motu the fm lig )

71.!! lio.rl a the C0an1,..:
, .
“h sAt,y, 1;0,41, hr.'', aII.I It tIC,
of the Vith n.,re
NVius thetiut.t tut killoWiliS foie. At f ILO was
IllUrCllo.l frool a. 110 ti,_.' h.:. olttlo•l'.,ntto! lieu,
iii whidi arid Fcrni w..re
4.11 xo. he gie.,ned that Li; let had tutu, to,addng
for a cigar, smoked and draulc wine trainmilly iii his
while the other prbeiner4 were being awakened. The
ud.,.eate Alladt July aroused Russet from a uuouinul
Rossel said, ' Friend, la it for thi; mornin, r
being answered In thil affirmative, he begq4 to
I..ft alone for a few minutes, but this ruquest wag
lioseet then drersol rapidly, an:l embraced
A lhert .foly. The Protestant minister l'aS93 prayed
with him.
Fend jumped from hed at a bound, was half an
hour dre,sing, and made a ear-tot toilette. He de.
It not ntilely, the 1-ervicea of the prhon
rlaptin,th. Abb., Follet. At en three
arnhalati,--e earria,u.e4uiflftfltled 1 y Chef d'Escadron
erenitz, ir.occeileil to Satory. Six thousand troops
were ilrf,ent On the exermiirm parade, and the sail
task devolved on Colonel 31e.iiii, who condemned
!bee:Aland Fend, to s-a bi. 4 own !rententie parried init.
The morning wrvi very erld and foggy. Scarcely
fifty civilians Were present, and sta they
side the large militm v :quart', they could oee nothing.
gliree poste, six fee't mot twenty yards apait,
ere,teil re-liosite the artillery butts. A,^x•iniit (inch
tilexe posts a pr: oht r cc is ',tiltel, Ros,el 011 the
oft, liou,geois to the atpl Fa, 2,, 00 the
By what may be eallml 'then a refinement
of emelty tram exemplary ietribution, the fir:rig party
selected to shoot Rossi!' vere men ;Ibis own regiment.
I he pri,nners were c. .t tbel to the post:, hut stre
er, t, with their barl, against them. Ferri:: puffed a
cigar rapidly while ths Registrar .•.-ad the the ju,lip

ment. hostel begged leave to give the command to
fire, but was refused. lie then asked to be allowed to
shake hawk with an old friend, an artillery officer.
This request was abs, refused. He then threw off his
hat and paletot, and sulferedhis eyes to be bandaged,
and rubbed his hands to keep them warm. Bourgeois
was also bandaged, but Fern said he could look death
in the face, and no handkerchief was put on him.
As the soldiers tired, thirty-six shots went if at
once ; Itoseel fell backwards, quite dead. Fern%
whom several balls missed, twisted about in agony,
and was finished by a shot close to his ear. The Corp
de !Imre was also given to Bourgeois. Then, pursuant
to a shoeking:eustom, the regiments marched past the
bleeding corpses, the bands playing polkas and opera
tunes. Ths bodies of kossel mid Fern' were claimed,
and given up to their families. Bourgeois alone was
interred in one of three paves dug in Saint Louis
Cemetery.

The ilion/ois of Tuesday contain,. IMMO iletaila of
life and conduct written before his fate was
certainly known.
lios,el was loil '27 years of age. He was born at st.
in brittany, ton f Wier being a irenehman—a soldier, and
his mother a Scotch w an—a Campbell. Ile had two
tisters, one tb,ml 20, and the other, Sarah, st;ed 12, his
favomite, whom he ustql to call his little baby. It states
that atter pronouncing their tleCiSioll, the members of the
CoMmission of Pardons left Versailles on Sunday. Rossel's
father made on appeal to the President of the Commission,
AI. Martel, which most have been painful in the extreme
for both parties, but the 4letaile have not been made known.
Russel himself, whose energy and calm reflection hail been
Is no degree shaken by his danger, himself prevented any
useful interference, for he wrote a week ago to M. Titters,
:Aiding ill substance :

"I know that attenurts are being made to save my life. I
am riot itisendble to these attempts. for which I thank the
(..,111111i.i011 RIO tine President. But I hold with unbending
determination that life should not he purchased at the price
of dishonour. So, if you cannot grant me two things—life
and non-degradation—take nip life I care no homer for it,
I declare to you that I would never forgive any one, no
matter win an, who should inflict upon me • degradation to
which I will not subunit. My frankness must not offend the
President, for it is better to speak out and be understood."
Sunday, Russel and Fent were visited by a legal func,••
tionary who took down an esact account of their birth,
parentage. and careers hi life. They understood that it was
A preparation for death, and Rossel called the attention of
his paAor, M. Passa, to the civil garments which he hat laid
upon his bed, and bun veil, " bon see that when I shall
hare my breast and rsluiiu Fire there,' it will be my own
shirt, and not that of the prison." Ile then handed to
M. Paula a copy 4.f his little lamk, entitled 'I'S nu defrner of
NH; onnd the mrtryjle to the Kind, with this inscription,
To M. Th. Passa, iiiisdater of the Refornied religion—a
testimony .f gratitude and friendship, L Bowl ," and
there W:I3 added the verse from Job iv., " nehold, thou haat
instructed many, and thou has strengthened the weak
hands."

p to } ritlay last Roussel had only seen the members of his
family through the bars whkh separate prisoners front their
S isitors lal the occasions when interviews are permitted. M.
Passa obtained front the authorities permission for Russel to
take his last farewell of his relatives in the cell where
prisonvis ace their counsel. The director of the prison and
the pastor were present, and the scene was intensely
painful. The father, resisting his own inmatience,
thrust forward the mother and the two sisters into the
num; of Ins sin., who, pressing the haunts of each in
turn, exclaimed, " Take then,, take them ; alas, I have
lett two ," and then, to conceal his tears, he buried
his face in his hands, and his bosom swelled with sup-
pres,,t emotion. " I love them so dearly," saint ha to
the pastor when they had quitted Inns --••nty poor parents
p-or strut !" liefor: leaving, the father had blessed his son,
adding, " 60.1 he sill, you. and keep 305." flea, father,"
replied nosed, may lio4l be with its • with you." We will
come again to-morrow." uth, to-morrow !" said Rossel iii
a grave and broken tone. It was then that, tilled with
sinister presentiments, the father saw M. Thiers upon
his return host Rouen. On the following night,
monist% as It was feared that the excention might
lie fixed for Monday, M. Rosati, sen., left his house
and went to that of Pastor Passa in order to assure himself
that his attendance was not required for that day. The
(sadly still nursed hopes -the father, mother, sisters, all
in tun hi.tening hither and thither, making supplication,
which, while it broke their hearts, brought no advantage
to him for whom they laboured. The last days of the pri-
soner were marked with the same calm courage that he has
displayed throughout, reading Charles X I Corneille,
Ca 1..., whom he i,assionately revered, Sehiller's Thirty
rears' Wee, T.), as. a Poems, in English. and an old book
of prayers peculiar lathe Cevennes, the home of his pater-
nal ancestors. He matte his will and left special legs-
des—that is, of notes and writings, for Roisel pever lived
a life of pleasure. The pilson authorities had enter-
tained 1,;‘,, lest he should have recomse to suicide, and
when M. Pasta referred to this Russel answered, °
commit suicide 1 that would be to end like a love-
sificken barber.- As the (locator of the prison still
seemed uneasy tip•tu the point, hostel took up a strip of
glass w Inch he had pieked up in the exercise yard and ob-
served, "That would have been sufficient had I any intention
sniente and thee, 11:. tillg the glass In a piece of parer,
hell,. lea it to the thicvnor. addirg, " Have nu fear ; I shall
die in open day His last days were spent in study, and has
conversation turned upon the most actions subjects. " The
Bene.iictitte's life is a line tote," sahib°. " This cell ion
'doe future if it w,re rot so 11.0TeW ant 5, rear to (-tail
His simple bchaviour, free front all loom-the:. excited U,,•
',moil of all, and justifies the saying if M. IlarthiAt Nip de
St. lhilairo that " Ros,l Ii a man whose hand we grasp k-e, ti
when we shoot Win."

Ferri': is at-so-Med as !wing feverish and excited, and es, n
win it he seems calm, it is evidently but an assumption, His
bearing. however, has Is come somewhat mollified since he
has bad the advantages of the AM& services. To an
inquiry whether he expected to obtain any confession or to
recoil:He him with Heaven, the Alibis replied, " rossild y.
It pm knew the sudden changes which sometimes occur in
these untamed minds i" During the last:few days Ferri', has
written many letters to M. Thiess and the Ministers, endea-
vouring to procure some advantages for Ms brother, a
convict like himself, lot who Ints liceione insane. It is an
unhappy family, the Fer Ks. The father also is a prisoner at
the hulks. Ili. daughter was arrested, and only released in
time to reach the death-bed of her mother, who died broken-
hearted and insane. Since then, Millie. Yerr6 has acted
bravely, working hard all the week to earn 20 francs to give
to her brother. On Saturday last she brought him the
affectionate offering, and " Alas !" is ti•l the AIOS,
"titreti so I tell her that her brother w mild not want