67<> Notes of' ike Month on Affairs in General. [Y)kc. 



jects of civilization, the most intractable — perpetual gangs of English 

 desperadoes. A letter from Rio Janeiro gives the following sl^etch of a 

 live cargo of this time. It states the Argyll convict-ship to have put in 

 there in consequence of a plan having been formed by the convicts to 

 take the ships, and murder the captain and crew. The plot was dis- 

 covered by one of the conspirators. The captain and the doctor were to 

 have been the first thrown overboard ; the females were to have been 

 separated from the males, and, when they obtained sight of land, they 

 were also to have been thrown overboard, and they might save them- 

 selves if they could. The boatswain and carpenter were to have been 

 lashed back to back, and thus thi'own overboard. The cooks were to 

 have been "boiled in their own coppers, and then had their hearts cut 

 out !" 



The letter seems to have been written in what a Yankee would 

 " guess to be a pretty considerable fright;" but, excepting the varieties 

 of getting rid of the obnoxious officers and crew, which we conceive 

 would have been much simplified in the execution, the nature of the 

 cargo justifies any height of description. There would be more safety 

 in a cargo of tigers. Yet, in a dozen years, one half of these fellows 

 will be thriving farmers ; the " ladies," transported beyond seas for 

 every offence that ladies can commit, will be decent wives, productive 

 mothers, and industrious members of the community ; the next genera- 

 tion will know nothing of the paternal and maternal adventurers — will 

 flourish in the pomp and pride of such opulence as trade and farming 

 can bring — and, before that generation has closed, we sliall hear of 

 applications for a parliament and a peerage ! 



Luckily it is no business of ours to keep the world of fashion in 

 order, for we might have a troublesome task. Yet, now and then, 

 things occur which make us think that a master of the ceremonies in 

 matters of high life would be an officer much required. Thus it might 

 be desirable to know what exact degree of yearly income puts scandal 

 out of the question ; or what exact rank makes it totally unnecessary to 

 keep up appearances ; for nothing can be more certain than that there 

 is a rent-roll and a rank, in possession of which a man may do with 

 impunity, or rather without anybody in the world being surprised at it, 

 a crowd of the oddest affairs imaginable. For instance, what are we to 

 think of the following pleasant example: — 



" The fair relict of a distinguished naval commander, and her daughter, whose 

 beauty and accomplishments were, it is said, the universal theme of conversa- 

 tion at the fashionable parties of last season, have departed for Florence, where 

 they purpose to spend the winter. A noble marquis, the guardian of the young 

 lady, has also set out, with his large suite, for the same destination. Prior 

 to his lordship's departure he entertained a very large party of Tory nobility 

 at his seat in Suffolk, where his lovely ward and her mother were also guests. 



During the last visit of Lady S to Naples, it was currently reported that a 



member of the Sicilian Royal Family made her daughter an offer of his hand, 

 which she peremptorily, but delicately, declined. It has been since rumoured in 

 the higher circles that a nobleman who is h.e.\Y -presumptive to one of the wealthiest 

 and most ancient dukedoms in the kingdom, ' woos her for his bride.' " 



As to the offer of the Sicilian prince's hand, the matter is perfectly 

 possible, for those fellows are men of the world, and look to the dower 

 much more than to the donna. But tlie Englisli offer — like the news of 

 the American papers, it will be more credible when the fact has taken 

 place. 



