The Press. — London, England, 1857-07-18 00:00:00

Rlttrapalitan. PRINCE FREDERICK WILLIAM OF PRUSSIA WRS on Monday presented with the freedom of the city of London, at a full Court of Common Council. The circumstances under which this ancient ceremony took place were invested on the present occasion with peculiar interest. The old Guildhall looked gay with its flags and decorations, while a crowd of brilliant visitors, including the foreign ambassador 3 and most of the leading nobility, were present on the occasion. The Prince of Prussia, in the course of his reply to the c.ngratulatory speech of Sir John Key, said:— trust that the confidence which the British people are willing to repose in me will not be unmerited, and that the future happiness of the Princess—my affianced bride— may prove equal to my endeavours to secure it, and to the devoted and hearty attachment which I bear tc the Queen your Soveregn. HIS ROYAL HIGHNESS THE DUKE OF CAMBRIDGE is shortly to be presented by the City, not only with its freedom, but with a sword of honour, a resolution to that effect having been carried on Wednesday. AN INFLUENTIAL MEETING OF RAILWAY DIRECTORS and managers of railway companies was held last Saturday at the King's Arms Tavern, Westminster, to consider the propriety of opposing " A Bill to make further Provision for the Conveyance of Mails by Railways." A discussion ensued, in which the repre sentatives of the great railways took part, in the course of which it was stated that the measure was impracticable, fraught with danger to the public, and calculated to upset existing agreements between the railway companies and the Post-office, which arrange ments had been arrived at after long and patient negotiations. Eventually a deputation was appointed to wait on Lord Palmerston with reference to the bill. On Monday the interview took place, and Lord Palmerston promised to postpone the second reading of the bill, and to give the question full consi deration. A VERDICT OF MANSLAUGHTER against the Griffiths and Perry, the employes of the North Kent Railway Company, was returned on Monday by the coroner's jury in the case of the persons killed by the late accident at Lewisham. The court is adjourned till Monday next, for the purpose of recording a verdict in regard to the cases of the other sufferers. THAT OLD CONVICT HULK, the Defence, lying off Woolwich, and well known to all Londoners, caught fire on Monday, and was scuttled to save her. The origin of the ou►break is uncertain, but the fire is supposed to have arisen from a quantity of oakum which had accumulated in the hold becoming ovcr. heated. The convicts on board were all removed, in the first instance, to the Unit, hospital-ship, and the intelligence of the disaster having been communicated to the directors of convict prisons in Parliament. street, stub prompt measures were taken that the whole of the men on hoard, to the number of 150 invalids, were safely removed to Milibank Prison, and located there without a single man having made his escape. MR. G. LAVIE, of the well known legal firm of Oliverson, Lavie, and Peachey, was thrown from his horse on Thursday morning within a few yards of Buckingham Palace, sustained a fracture of the skull, and died within an hour after the accident. C. F. G., a witness of the whole affair, writes to the Times, complaining of the conduct of the medical officers of St. George's Hospital. He declares that Mr. Lavie was left in the hospital for at least forty minutes, " waiting, as I was repeatedly told, for Mr. Hawkins, and it was quite evident to me that no one present would take the responsibility of acting without him." Mr. Lavie died soon after. THE HEALTH OF LONDON continues satisfactory, though the deaths show a tendency to increase, 088 being registered last week. The average would be 1,074. The births registered last week are in all 1,060 children. VraVincial. PRINCE NAPOLEON has spent the week at Manches- ter, examining the Exhibition and visiting the different objects of interest in the city. On Thurs day the Prince returned to Liverpool. OLD ROCHESTER BRIDGE, of which some piers and arches still remain, will shortly be blown up. A large body of Sappers and Miners have commenced preparations for the entire destruction of the ♦enerable bridge, which is upwards of four centu ries old. THE Fife Journal reports a subterraneous fire in the Dysart cLal-seam. In the village, says the same authority, " the walls are rending, the lime is burst ing at some places off the walls, numbers of the doors will not shut, and some of the floors are bursting asunder. The farmhouse of Branxton is torn, and swayed, and propped to hold it up." THE PRESS, JULY 18, 1857. A COASTGUARDMAN, John Barnett, of the Southsea station, on returning from his night duty on Friday week about four o'clock a.m., observed three men, one dressed as a soldier of the 71st Fusiliers, lurking about the residence of Lord George Lennox. Sus pecting all was not right, he proceeded to the rear of the mansion and discovered two men, one already in the house, having made an entry through an open window. He bade all three " stand," or he'd shoot them. He trapp.d the one in the house by closing the window, and made prizes of the other two out side. The family were alarmed by him, and the prisoners handed over to the police. They were taken before the Portsmouth magistrates, and in default of paying a fine of 41. each (no forcible entry having been made, a burglary could not be estab lished) were consigned to gaol for two months each. THE NEW SCHOOLS of the Society of Ancient Britons, at Ashford, Middlesex, were opened on Monday by the Prince Consort, in the presence of many distinguished personages. The schools are intended to educate 130 Welsh boys, and 70 Welsh girls. THE SALE AT ALTON TOWERS continues to excite increasing interest. Vast numbers of persons daily come in by train, and spend the day about the gardens or in the sale rooms. The collection of armour was sold on Monday, and the porcelain sculpture sale commenced on Thursday. THE MOORS AND THE DEER FORESTS promise good sport in the coming season ; grbuse are plentiful and generally healthy, while the stags have thriven well, are numerous, in prime condition, and the heads will be early at maturity. ptlantr, LORD JOHN BROWNE, brother of the Marquis of Siigo, it is probable, will offer himself as a candidate for the county of Mayo and for Galway. Colonel French, it is reported, intends to take the field. JUSTICE PErtius has given permission to the Crown solicitor to prepare bills of indictment against the Mayor of Sligo, two of his deputies, and two poll clerks, for a conspiracy to procure the undue return for the borough of Mr. John Patrick Somers. THE GREAT COLCLOI:GH CASE was brought to a close, in a way satisfactory to both parties, on Tues day. At the close of Mr. IVhiteside's speech a com promise was entered into, of which the following is an outline of the terms :—Mrs. Boyse gets the money lodged in court, amounting to upwards of 20,0001., and her jointure. Mrs. itossborough Col clouah gets 'fintern Abbey ant the estates, valued at 8,0001. a year. SPoLLEN was brought up at Capel street police office on Wednesday, and the new information having been read over, he was formally committed to take his trial for the wilful murder of Mr. George Samuel Little. The prisoner, on being asked the usual question, whether be had anything to say, replied that he would reserve his defence for another tribunal. gat3 an Volta,. THE GREAT SHREWSBURY PEERAGE CASE has been opened this week before the House of Lords. The claim to the title is disputed by the Right Hon. Henry John Chetwynd Earl Talbot, and Major Talbot, of Castle Talbot, county Wexford, Ireland; and the fortune attached to the title by Lord Edward Howard and by the Princess Doria Pamphili, of Rome, daughter of John, sixteenth earl. Lord Talbot first preferred his claim, and his case was opened by Sir Frederic Thesiger on Monday last, who, after briefly stating the descent of the noble earl, proceeded to give the proofs he should offer in support of his case, which consisted mainly of inqui sitions on the death of the different members up to the time of the death of Charles 11., after which they ceased, and of heralds' visitations up to the time of James 11., when they ceased. In 187 a bill was in troduced, to settle the Shrewsbury estates, and John, afterwards sixth earl, addressed a lett.er to the late Earl Talbot on the 15th February, 1827, in which he spoke of the object of the bill being to reduce the income attached to the title of Shrewsbury from 45,0001. to 5,0001. a year, and supposing in the course of time that " Earl Talbot's family came to the earl dom of Shrewsbury ;" it also stated that if he bad no issue male his brother would take advantage of the Act of Parliament, and make the property his own ; and he asked the assistance of Earl Talbot in order that the estates might be so resettled that at least 25,0001. a year should go with the title. Lord Talbot appeared to have replied to that letter, which pro duced another from John, sixteenth earl, in which he said : With reference to the succession in the immediate branch of our family, it stands thus George, who is un- 703 likely to marry ; James, who is in very delicate health ; and Colonel George Talbot, of the Guards, who is firty-five years of age, and unlikely to marry. You will see that you are heir after the failure of the Catholic line. I never hoard of any other claim. This was a most important admission of the rights of the petitioner.—The committee sat again on Tues day and Thursday, and were chiefly occupied with the reception of documentary evidence in support of the petitioner. CHARLES FINCH, a Chelmsford man, bas been found guilty of the wilful murder of Harriet Freeborn, by cutting her throat, at the parish of Rivenhall, on the 24th of Nifty. The prisoner was sentenced to death by the Chief Baron. Obituarg. GENERAL ANSON. IT is with the deepest regret that we have to an nounce the death of General the Hon. George Anson, which took place at Kurnaul on the 27th of June. The immediate cause of death was, as in the case of the late Lord Raglan, the want of strength to rally from the exhaustion and debility which supervened upon an attack of Asiatic cholera. This melancholy event, at such a moment, must be considered not as a subject only for private m9urning, hut also a public loss. Although it is true that General Anson had of late years taken no part in active service, yet his qualities were such as to inspire the greatest confidence in his success. Courage, detetmination, and judgment were conspi cuous in his character ; and it is indeed to be deplored that this gallant officer should have been swept away at the very moment when success and triumphs seemed almost within his grasp. His private virtues were such as justly to endear him to a large circle of sorrowing relations and friends. General Anson was the second son of the first Viscount Anson, and brother of the first Earl of Lichfield. Born on the 13th of October, 1797, he entered the army at an early age in the 3rd or Scots Fusilier Guards, with which regiment he served at the battle of Waterloo. He continued in the Guards until he obtained the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in May, 1825, when he was placed on half-pay. He was for many years a member of the House of Commons, having been returned to that assembly in 1818 for Great Yar mouth, which he represented in several Parliaments before and after the passing of the Reform Bill. In February, 1836, he was elected, on the death of Mr. Heathcote, for Stoke-on Trent, and sat for the Southern Division of Staffordshire from 1837 to 1853, in the August of which year he accepted the Chiltern Hundreds on being appointed to his high command in India; General Anson served the office of Priucipai Storekeeper of the Ordnance under the administration of Viscount Melbourne, and also that of Clei k of the Ordnance from July, 1846, to February, 1852. He was by hereditary dese‘mt and by personal convictions a Liberal in politics, and invariably sided with the leaders of the Whig party. Tun MARQUIS OF ELY died suddenly on Wednes day afternoon at five o'clock, at his residence in Eaton .square. The noble marquis had lately been in delicate health, but nothing serious was in the slightest degree apprehended. The deceased, John Henry Loftus, Marquis and Earl of Ely, County Wick low,Viscount Loftus of Ely and Baron Loftus of Loftus hall, County Wexford, in the peerage of Ireland, also Baron Loftus of Lo•ig Loftus, County York, in that part of the United Kingdom, and a baronet of Ire land, was born January 19, 1814, and married, 1844, Miss Hope-Were, daughter of the late Mr. Jas. J. Hope Vere and Lady Elizabeth Hope• Vere, by whom he leaves issue a daughter, Lady Marian, born in 1846, and a son, Viscount Loftus, born in 1649. ittelligettte. IT is understood to be the intention of the War authorities to send out to India a strong body of troops belonging to the Royal Engineers at Chatham, in addition to the East India Company's Sappers and Miners now in that country. The companies likely to embark for this service are the 4th, Bth, 10th, and 27th, accompanied by the Royal Engineer Field Equipment. The following six regiments of infantry will, in all probability, proceed to India as soon as transports for their conveyance can be pro cured, viz. :—The 201 h, 34th, 42nd Highlanders, 54th, 97th, and the Riffs 13rilade (2nd battalion). With the reinforcements already embarking, together with the troops on passage to China who will in all likelihood go to Calcutta instead, and three regi ments from Persia and Ceylon, the Bengal force is now being strengthened by about 25,000 of the Queen's troops. THE COLONELCY OF THE 89TH REGIMENT, vacant by the death of General Sir C. Buikeley Egerton, will, we believe, be conferred on Major-General Arbuthnot.