The Sun.
London, England, 1863-08-26 00:00:00

Six ran.

DYING STRAINS.—Chopin, feeling the approach
of death, wisheu to bid a last farewell to the instru-
ment which had given utterance to his poetic inspirations,
and had been the means of his great success. A piano was
brought to his bedside. With icy hands and clouded vision,
he attempted to draw a few scunds from the instrument. A
sweet and touching melody, deeply expressive of regret, was
whispered forth ; but the musician was unable to complete
his pathetic improvisation. He fell back on his bed of suffering
and expired a few hours afterwards. Lablache, the incompar-
able artist, the worthy manila r excellence who is still regretted
by the musical world, attempted to sing upon his deathbed :
in order, as he said, to die as he had always lived, devoted
to his art. " Go," he said to one of his children, "go to
the piano and accompany me." The son, struggling to
conceal his emotion, obeyed his father's last request.
Lablache then sang the first verse of the English romance
—"Home, Sweet Home." At the second verse, the singer's
throat contracted, and not a note could issue from it.
"Ah I" said Lablache, " I can sing no longer. lam a
lost man I" He died that very night.—.Dickcns's "All
the Year _Round."

YANKEE POLITENESS.—As the Revenue cutter
Victoria, Commander Smith, was taking a cruise
round the Shetland,lslands last week, a vessel was observed
about two miles off the land, barque rigged. The Victoria
stood for the vessel and hailed her, but got no response.
As it was very evident that those in charge had very little
respect for her Majesty's " bunting," Commander Smith
ordered out a boat, and at once pulled alongside, when the
following colloquy took place :—Commander Smith : " Why
don't you show your flag P" Stranger : " I guess I ain't
got any." Commander Smith : " Where have you come
from ?" Stranger : " What's that to you ?" Commander
Smith: " Will you give us a rope and put your ladder
down ?" Stranger : I shant ; you may get up if you can.
I don't want any d—d Britishers in my ship. Ha, ha,
ha!" Looking over the quarter at Commander Smith
(who weighs at least 16 stone), the captain of the strange
vessel sung out, " I guess that'll fix Ibur flint." Brother
Jonathan was mistaken, however, in the muscular powers of
"Old Cock Smith," as Prince Alfred styled him ; for before
the Yankee could say Jack Robinson, Commander Smith
stood alongside of him, and though he fumbled about the
butt-end of his six-shooter," he felt it was no go ; the
cool bearing of the " Britisher" soon silenced the bluster
of the Yankee, who had to produce his papers for inspec-
tion, together with his victualling note, after which the
Victoria left the barque to pursue her course.—John
o'Groat Journal.

HORRIBLE DISCOVERY AT VICKSBURG. A
Vicksburg correspondent writes :—" A horrible
discovery has just been made, on the rebel line of fortifica.
tions. Quite a number of men have been engaged in re-
pairing the rebel fort that was blown up on the night of the
3d inst. In the course of their operations they have exhumed
60 or 80 dead bodies found buried in the ruins of the fort. It
seems that while our miners were at work making an entry
into the side of the hill that was crowned by the rebel fort, a
strong working party of rebels were set to work sinking a
counter-mine in the fort. This party, consisting, it is said,
of more than a hundred men, were in the mine when ours
exploded, and those of them who were not killed out-
right were buried alive. Some of the exhumed bodies
are terribly lacerated and mangled, while others have not a
mark or bruise upom them. Two heads, one that of a negro,
have been dug up. They were completely severed from the
bodies, the latter not having yet been found. The bodies
are found in almost every conceivable position—some
standing erect, others sitting or lying, and in one instance
the body was head downward, as if it had been caught in
that position by the crumbling earth while falling headlong
into the pit below."

A MELANCHOLY DETAIL OF THE AMERICAN
WAR.—The following advertisement, dated from
the Chief Assistant-Quartermaster's Office, appears in the
Washington Inteiligencer of the 10th inst. :—" Sealed pro-
posals will be received at this office until Tuesday, August
18, 1863, at 12 o'clock M., for furnishing to the United
States 2,500 head-boards or tablets for graves of the follow-
ing description, viz.—All to be of good black walnut, clear
of knots and splits, four (4) feet in length, ten (10) inches
wide, and one and three-eighths (I) of an inch thick, with
five-eighths (a) of an inch thick, at least twenty (20) inches
in length, each of said head-boards or tablets to be well
oiled and lettered with the name, rank, regiment,
and company, with the time of decease of such com-
missioned officers or soldier as the Assistant-Quartermaster
of his agent may direct, and in ail respects to correspond
witha sample to be seen at this office." Among the condi-
tions Proposal from disloyal
eiedli,gt ‘
and an oath of allegiance to
the
Unitedparties
li
States
et hGceounfvsoeil
Government
noe n
must accompany each pro-
position."
REMARKABLE PRIZE.—On Friday morning the
fishermen of Cadgwith, near the Lizard, secured
and brought to Falmouth a large whale, commonly known
as a " firmer," which they captured near the first-mentioned
place, floating dead. It measured 74 feet in length and 36
beet in girth, and was landed on the gridiron of the Fal-
mouth Docks on the day of the opening of the Cornwall
Railway, to the great amusement of the folks from the in-
terior of the country.
WHALE HUNT IN ORKNEY.—GREAT CAPTURE.
—At Holm, on Monday evening, all the boats had
a grand whale hunt, when they drove ashore the whole
flock of 79 or 50, and killed them in a bay at the east end
of Liolm. They were sold by roup on Wednesday, and
fetched fair prices, bringing upwards of £2OO to the caP-
turers. Some 20 boats, with 80 men, were engaged in the
capture, and all made a good night's work of it. The chase
lasted five hours before they got the whales stranded.
Another edition of Admiral Smyth's book, " The
Cycle of Celestial Objects," is in preparation.
CREW PICV,ED UP AT SEA.—The ship Lotus, now
at Greenock, fell in with the waterlogged barque Cambria,
of Bremen, bound from Quebec to Greenock, on the 12th
of August, in let. 45, long. 41. Three days previously
she had struck an iceberg and got her bows completely

smashed in, but her cargo of deals kept her afloat. The
crew, 12 in number, were taken on board the Lotus by
Captain Fry, who treated them with the greatest kind-
ness until they were landed here. The wreck was set on
fir©, as it was lying in the track of vessels crossing the
Atlantic.
On Friday, a beerhouse-keeper, named James
Manning, residing at Bromsgrove, Worcestershire,
was committal by the Bromsgrovo magistrates for trial
on a charge of cutting and wounding under the follow-
ing circumstances :—lt appears that on Wedn,sday some
Irish reapers, and among them a man named Anthony
Tummey were at Munning's bacrhouse, when a dispute
arose between Tummey and the landlord, and the latter,
wishing to deprive TUMllley of his sickle (which he had at
the time round his neck), seized hold of the handle, and
pulled it so violently as to inflict a frightful wound, cutting
through the main arteries of the neck, The poor fellow
was promptly attended by a surgeon, but he lies in a N ery
precarious state.
FRENCH 'MINISTER OF -MARINE. The
Minister of Marine has made a further distribu-
tion of one second-class gold medal, and three first-class
and sixteen second-class silver, for acts of courage and
devotedness in saving lives from drowning in cases of ship-
wreck and otherwise. Sixteen official eertidates of al-pro-
bation have been also awarded.