The Sun.
London, England, 1849-08-10 00:00:00

GUSTAVUS ADOLPHUS.
(From Eliot Warburton's " Memoirs of Prince
Rupert.")
He had just begun his great mission, and come
down from the north in as pure a cause, and far more
comprehensive than Tell or Hofer fought for. He
was the champion of spiritual freedom, and his heroic
armies never disgraced their proud calling. Hear
from one of themselves how the soldiers of the Pro-
testant king prepared for battle :
"No sooner had the dawne appeared (on the field of
Leipzig) than we begunne the morninge with offering
our soules and bodyes as living sacrifices unto God.
Lifting up our hearts and hands to Heaven, we begged
for reconciliation in Christ by our publique prayers and
our secret sighs, recommending ourselves, the successe
and event of the day to God, which being done by us all,
we marcht forward in God's name."—Munro, p. 63.
The readers will recognise the example set hereby
to the English Puritans, who " sung a psalm and
drubbed all before them." And as Sir Franci!
Doyle has it, in his excellent poem of " The Cava-
lier :"
"And though they snuffled psalms, to give
Those rebel dogs their due,
When the roaring shot poured thick and hot,
They were stalwart men and true."
Gustavus conceived the noble and politic design,
too little thought of since, of elevating the moral and
physical condition of the soldier ; scorning the false
and vulgar theory, that the more degraded and
' mechanical the more efficient was his service. Tilly's
doctrine was " a ragged soldier and a bright
musket," and obliged him to permit the fiend-like
sack of Magdebourg: Gustavus was zealous for his
people's character and comfort, and he could afford
magnanimously to spare Munich. The Imperialist
generals allowed such licence to their ruffian soldiery
that their progress, even through a friendly country,
was like a stream of lava; the Swedish army left no
enemy behind except him who had died with armed
hand. The camps of the Holy Roman Empire
swarmed with dissolute women ; those of the Pro-
testant King contained none but the wives of his
soldiers. Even his soldiers' children were well pro-
vided for with schools and rations, and kept in as
strict discipline as their fathers, thus furnishing
recruits trained to arms and order from their cradle.*
Each regiment bad two chaplain., men chosen for
their character, who also partook of the military
character, accompanying them to battle, cheering►
them in the advance, and soothing them in their
dying hour.t Such an army, under such a leader,
must have been invincible, or ceased to exist: it was
invincible ; the progress of Gustavus is without any
parallel in history.
* The following story is interesting:—" The moment
the forces began to intrench themselves, the children
were led to a safe quarter for their place of study. One
day, contrary to the expectation of the general who
allotted them their ground, a cannon ball happening to
pierce through the canvass walls of the school, killed
two or three children at a stroke. The rest, far from
quitting their places, neither changed colour nor dropped
a pen or a book from their hands."
f I have met an anecdote (I forget where) character.
istic of this camp. Friedhelm was a Swedish minister
of great repute for his piety, patriotism, and eloquence.
He could not remain quiet in his own country, when such
great things were doing and to be done for the religion
that be preached, and he joined the army before the
battle of Leipzig. The soldiers welcomed him eagerly,
and besought him to preach to them. They placed a
drum for a pulpit, and gathered round in crowds to bear
his sermon. The minister of the gospel of peace looked
out upon the battle-field, dark to the horizon with a
countless host about to meet in deadly struggle: over-
powered by his feelings, he could only say, " My
brethren, yonder is the enemy!" then, pointing upward,
" There is God! Pray!" He was silent, burying his face
in his hands, and the soldiers sank down as one man
upon their knees.

SIR ROBERT PEEL.—This distinguished gentle.
man, accompanied by his wife and daughter, arrived
here (Edinburgh) yesterday afternoon, by the North
British Railway, from the south. They proceeded to
Douglas's Hotel immediately atter arriving at the rail-
way station. In the course of the afternoon the party
drove through a number of the streets of the old and
new town, in an open carriage, and, subsequently, the
Right Hon. Baronet took a short stroll along the streets
alone. He appeared to be in excellent health. As the
person of Sir Robert is unknown to most of the inhabi•
tants, there was not, so far as we could learn, any public
recognition of bim. It is the intention of Sir Robert, ac-
companied as we have mentioned,to proceed this morning
by railway to Perth, and to post, by easy stages, to the
shooting quarters which he has taken in the north.—
Scotsman of Wednesday.
CURIOSITIES OF THE PEAS, DIEDYSIIIRE.—The
Peak, so famous for its natural wonders, has also some
novel specimens of art. Among these interesting mar-
vels may be instanced an old corn•mill, which, for an-
tiquity of building and machinery, has perhaps no
equal in England. A little to the left of the foot-way
from Eyam to Hathersage stands this old mill, deep in
a valley, where, but for this relic of bygone times, the
traveller would deem it a place " whore nature is and
man is not." This old mill was in feudal times an ap-
pendage to Highlow-hall, then occupied by the Eyres,
who came in with the Normans, of which family the
Earl of Newburgh is the representative. It was what
was denominated a soke mill, and centuries ago did
much work, while at the present time it is but little used.
A stranger, on treading this valley, would, on his ap-
proach to the mill, deem it a low shed for cattle, could
he suppose the heathy moors surrounding it capable of
keeping any. On entering he would be startled to find
himself amidst some very rude machinery, the whole of
which he could behold at one glance. The building is
very low, all in one compartment; no upstairs, no back
or side rooms, the whole from end to end being visible
to the eye at once. The water-wheel is outside, hid from
the eyo by the sable verge of Ilighlow-wood. All round
the building are hundreds of old millstones, still bearing
traces of the rude simplicity of our forefathers. The
building has but one door, and that of such dimensions
that a loaded cart could come in actual contact with the
machinery. Altogether this is a most novel and in-
teresting relic of antiquity.—Derby Mercury.
KENSINGTON GARDENS.—THE WEEPING BEECH
TREE.—There are in the ornamental plantation, on the
south side of Kensington Gardens, several specimens of
the Weeping Beech Tree, and one of them has grown
to so great an extent, that a frame has been erected
across the gravel path to the other side of the plantation,
in order that the tree may extend itself in that form,
which will have a novel and pleasing effect.

The emigrant ship Adelaide,— with convicts for
Hobart Town and Port Philip, anchored in Portland.
roads on Monday afternoon, when 120 convicts were cra-
b irked in her, from the Portland prison. Amongst the
more notorious delinquents on board mention may be
made of the late Chartist leader C,affey.—Poolc Herald.
CT
THE CASE OF MARY ANNE GEARING.--It will be
remembered that this unfortunate woman was convicted
at the Sussex assizes of the murder of her husband by
poison. It has since been stated in some of the papers
that in consequence of a point of law which was raised
by her counsel the execution of the sentence of death
would be postponed. There is, however, no foundation
for this statement; no point whatever has been reserved,
and the execution is fixed to take place on the 21st inst.
PLYMOUTH, AuG. 9.—Wind S.—Sid. Nelson, Port
Philip; Bolton, Adelaide, South Australia; Benjamin
Llkip, ditto.

matter before it came into the sewers from the dif-
ferent houses, for a certain number of which a tank
should be provided, containing a deposit of the peat
charcoal as a disinTectant, and through which the
liquid would pass off almost as pure as water.
Mr. Rogers having concluded his paper, a discus-
sion, in which various members of the institution took
part, ensued. Several points of the lecturer's theory
were somewhat energetically contested ; am:
others, his notion respecting the absorption by the
roots of plants of any of the properties of carbon, as
being directly at variance with the carefully esta-
blished inductions of Humphrey Davy and Liebig.
However, the practicability of removing the night-
soil from towns without detriment to the health of the
inhabitants, which it was the main purpose of the
lecturer to prove, was concurred in by most of the
speakers and by the meeting generally. One gentle-
man referred to the recent allusion by Lord Ashley
and others in the House of Commons to the analysis
of peat, and asked whether Mr. Rogers's experience
corroborated the remarkable assertion that had lately
been made of the extraordinary value of the hitherto
despised Irish bogs ? Mr. Rogers, in reply, read an
extract from his last paper, delivered on the Bth ult.,
and before the public was startled at the pleasing an-
nouncement in Parliament, that the bogs of county
Antrim were likely to rival the gold "diggings" of
San Francisco as a source of wealth, and far surpass
them in the wholesomeness of the traffic they would
generate. The extract in question was as follows :
"In its natural state, peat moss has several peculi-
arities. As I have already shown, it delights in
moisture, and yields it up most unwillingly. It con-
tains, in different small proportions, ammonia, pyro-
ligneous acid, tar, &c., and also a very singular
production, a fatty matter,' which, when purified,
closely resembles spermaceti, and make a very
beautiful candle. Mr. Reece Reece has recently
patented a process for the extraction of tbese articles,
and I am happy to say, a few energetic Englishmen
have not feared to risk both themselves and their for-
tunes to commence operations on an extensive track
of bog and mineral in the county Antrim, where
they have coal as well as peat, and they propose
carrying out the production of iron, from ore which
is upon the property. Possibly 'Price's patent wax
candle,' may yet be rivalled by Reece's bog sper-
maceti.'—(Laughter.) To speak seriously, the pro-
duction is really beautiful, and gives a pure and
strong light. The question to be solved, however, is,
can it be obtained in sufficient quantity to be profit-
able ? It is found in its natural state, at times, in
small quantities collected together, by some peculiar
local filtration, or perhaps affinity which draws it
from the mass around to one spot. I have seen a
collection of it, a little well I may say, of six to seven
inches in diameter, containing the matter pure, and
about the colour of butter. The superstitious tradi-
tion of the peasantry is, that the fairies hide it for
their use, and hence it is called fairy butter.'—
(Laughter.) It is but rarely found in that state, and
is then treated with great reverence."