The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-03-12 00:00:00

SEDUCTION AND REVENGE.•

Three weeks ago says the Bombay Gazette of Pets: 4,3
the officers of the 14th Light Dragoons assembled
Kirkee, to present a silver, tea nervice to Sergeant-Major
Hunt, who was for, thirteen years in that regiment, "iri
testimony of his zealous and faithful services as mess
'sergeant during a period of eleven years." It may be
'imagined with what feelings of honest pride and gratifi-
Cation Mr. Mint received from the hands of Col. Scuda-
More this tribute to his estimable qualities and exemplary
character, for he could not have dreamed at that time that .
one .of those officers who offered him their "good wishes 3
for his ftittue welfare and success" would, before. two weeks'
. had passed, be denounced andjustlypunished 33y, him as the,
dishonourer of his home and thadestroyer of his happi-;
ness. Unacquainted, even by reputation, before the €44,„„t
event occurred
.which has startled Bombay and .Poona.:,§
from their propriety, with either ;Mr, Hunt or Corset,u,,
Browne, all that we hear from day to day, of t.b.o forEtlel,3lll
gentleman convinces us that the expressions of fraise:o,3
Used by the colonel of the 14th in speaking of his co z
duct were, not misapplied, and that.the ex-sergeant-. ,
major throughout both his military-and-civil career was
a worthy member of society. Of Cornet Biewnw.,
nothing is said. He was of course in. virtue{..
'
of his position as an, officer entitled to ran 76
as a gentleman.; and this prebabkv,, was the
attraction which made him superior to .her huOiand.,l
in the eyes of Mrs. Hunt. Ac'enstonied for many'
years to regard the commissioned officeriof the regiment:.
as belonging to a higher class than her own, the wife ori,
the, chief partner in the mercantile house of Hunt,, ,
Monnet, and Co., could not shake off the rememtsance
of fOrmer days, or resist the inipresiion that the wife ef,,3
one Who had been a sergeant ought to feel flattered blr
_the attentions of a cornet. This, indeed, was no ordi-
nary case of seduction. The story, as we hear it from ,r,
those who have the best authority for knowing what .
really took place, is one of the saddest on record. Mr. Hunt,
it seems, had intercepted a letter, which proved clearly
his wife's guilt. He. went to his house, took a loaded
pistol, and, proceeded to Browne§ bungalow at Kirkee!
with the letter in his hand.
,Mr. Mint accosted theo,63
man, and asked him if he could deny what had happened,-
The reply of this officer, ,who seems not even to have. dt
had,the manliness to attempt a defence of his victirOV,l,
reputation, was a jeering laugh, and a light eOnfessionA, ,
that he had committed the crime of which he was,J,
accused. Mr. Hunt then called upon the cornet to
give him such satisfaction as a duel could afford for
his wounded honour. Again the only answer wi a
smile of mockery and derision, and an intimation that
it would be beneath the dignity of this wretched
seducer to fight with one who had been a private soldier.. t
On this Mr. Hunt, still keeping a marvellous calmness,.
remarked that Cornet Browne forgot the man he had.'
injured was no longer a sergeant-major in the 14th.:t
Dragoons, but a partner in a mercantile house, who by"
the usages of society was entitled to the consideration
due to a gentleman. The cornet again treated his, ''
questions with the supercilious insolence he had clis-
played throughout the interview ; and Mr. Mint, his.
patience exhausted, said, "`Your blood, then, be on your
own head," and, raising the pistol, shot him like a dog..

A contemporary satirically writes :—" No, legislative
enactment can at once effect a nation's tastes. The
beer-drinker, even with Burgundy at -his elbow, will
have his draught of malt; and in the midst of the most
expensive viands the lover of the juniper will search for,
and be faithful to, this favourite English spirit. To
gin, in its purity, a long attachment has wedded. the
English palate, and his love for it has becomelnherthit.
British spirit never yet retired before French grape ;
and if ever there be ' a last man lamenting over the
ruins of London,' the sight of the Gray's Inn Distillery
—the source and fountain of his darling. beverage,
would culminate the grief. ..within, him by reminding
him of the greatness of his losi.":

THE ROYAL SOCIETY OF MUSICIANS.—At an anni-
versary festival of this seeiety-bild on Thursday at the
London-Tavern, Mr. Charles Dickens spoke with his
accustomed humour. This -society not only granted
money for the education and apprenticeship of the
children, hut exercised a paternal care over'them-after-:
wards. It was not an exelush!e society, but admitted.,
every class of musicians, and even foreigners reallydonn-
ciled in England, to its benefits.: It managed its own.'
affairs and
,that in a manner so excessively ungenteely
that it only paid two small salaries for real work,
while the 'governing actually paid the expenses of
their own' meetings out of their own pockets. (A laugh.)
Every member of their body, when admitted into.the
society, formally pledged himself to assist gratuitously:
in any performance given in aid of the.society's objects;
and the whole amount contributed by honorary sub-
scribers' was less than 'one-tenth of the money 'annually
expended for the society's. benevolent purposes", Late
in the evening Mr. Dickens very amusingly denounced
"the savage custom" of excluding the gentle front
the dinner table, and promised to take the chair gal'
next year if the committee would place .a lady on b"
right and another on his left hand.
FRENCH versus ENGLISH OFFICERS. The ,Frenf?
army bears another a.nd a great contrast to ours. Their
officers are soldiers by profession, and ours too frOqiiently
enter.the service -for amusement and. temporary ()all;
tion.. Many of the former have risen from the rides
and there are but a few who have any means beogtioa
their pay ; • their hopes in this world are in pre'l' they
and glory ; when they lose their pay as officer'' , our
become' waiters at hotels and cab-drivers. Where'•t h
cl
officers have generally some private means. suommis-
can or do purchase .some, if not all, of their c-alue
of
glens. With their private fortunes, and 'the
face
their commissions to fall hack- upon, they 'ail' ""te, or
a disappointment in proniotion, or a bad chm
sut of
even a disagreeable quarter! 'On 'the broil:
hostilities, the first- impulse of every offirit_9r. bsck again.
the 'seat of war ; the second is to "
s of-real war, and
After a few weeks of the stern but on the spot has
despatches, passim.
there. is ,nothing so matter-of-fact' r officers cannot be
so little romance, as war,, ouernano'keo,'s
kept at" their post. See_ borne on duty, or on sick
issions: Hence the
~retrgu'en't affairs, they do not hesitate
When they canvnaott,z
leave, or on short
even to resigPnrilhofireicp°esinimence of our officers, particu.
service "and
cwas,ol,
besides, the fewrreansir. the Emperor
larly AN.VoTE.—Unqiiestionably,
Tvsc that; b
must bf'n'Vsecany, there are many. whole l_oecrasotel,nsp.ita'et,d—rie--
tisane tiehaentolin:acirrdse
who
formationcomn eind,tha edp-aDrau4alS nary
lections
and still many
characters of annexationists and autonomists at the
same time. The particans-of the Lorraine family can be
families
—the
111 F
i.aens'eso, Vaigderi
ands , ; te consist,of four or five
Martelli;the whole clans
of both, the :Margit* Gerini, and some members of the
divided houses of Guicciardini, Torrigiani &c. Add to
these a few discarded Court servants and Body Guards,
and a few foreign merchants, chiefik, English (for tbe
Swiss, for instance, are staunch annexationists to a man)
merchants, I say, .sighing after the flesh-pots of the
Palazzo Pitti, or else with true British steadfastness
sticking to the rich causty either from mere con-
servatism, from religious bigotry, from attach-
ment and gratitude to the fallen Prince, or, finally,
from sheer wrong-headedness and spirit of contradiction.
All these, and not a few of. the clergy,
,and of those
who believe in the clergy, constitute so small, and
withal So craven a' minority, that., they Ina, in°s_
probably, rather shirk het contest and. put forward sonninlf
flimsy pretext to abstain' from voting. The
mists, those that must have a little' Tuscany, irrosPsc-
' over
tive ,of the Prince who may be called to reign a _
it, have greatly dwindled in number since the peace
pure auto
Villafranca made all trite patriots, awareofwFat:
importance of national union. Altogether, those
views,
no matter from what cause, or with what vte,, may,
can
be indUced to vote for a " separate kingdom,e
Florence
computed at about, one-fourth of
,the voters,
itself, while in all other towns the vote 'for au
will be almost unanimous, and hardly any imp
an
backward rural districts.----Letter front Floret ,
..._
opposition to it will be observed in the most remote a
n e xo
nr
ttai °tint

Printed and Published by WALTER HENRY PEAT, osft
8, Wesley-street, in the Parish of Tosteth-park,
PM. of
Printing Establishmentti—A
(CO
Castle-street), and 40, LZ/011-EITRETT, Liverpool.
MARCH 12, 11130.

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