The Press. — London, England, 1854-01-28 00:00:00

Java! 28, 1854. Tuiszia is at length beginning t o data in the advance of prices long Noce es tablished with regard to the foreign article. The Nsahire Journal states that at the last " roups " an Sibefeeasl fully 25 per cent. was obtained on all de 'ono of sound well-seasoned timber, with every of further enhanoement. Tar LONDON CHAIWZABLE dearise no less than 530 district eetat— tiosociatioas, which may be thus chiesifted Me diesi Charities, having an aggregate income during the year of 1863 of 260,925/. 12 Societies for the Preservatioa of Life, Health, and Public Morals, in• cease 35 ,717/. 17 for Reclaiming the Fallen, Peni tentiary and Reformatory Asylums, 39,4861. 13 for Ike geliefoi Street Destitution and Distress, 18,320/. 14 for the Relief of Specific Distress, 27,3871. 25 Jewish Miscellaneous Charities, 10,0041. 19 for the Benefit of the Industrious, 9,124/. 12 Benevolent peon Societies, 23,6137/. 15 Clergy Aid Funds, 35,A01/. 32 other Professional and Trade Benevolent Funds, 53,4071. 30 Trade Provident only, 25,0001. um Asylums for the Reception of the Aged, 87,6301. g for the Benefit of the Blind, Deaf, and Dumb, 240501. 1$ Asylums for the Maintenance of Orphans, 44051. 11 for the Maintenance of other Children (exclusive of Parochial Schools), 88,2281. 21 Socie dee f a r Ike Promotion of Schools and their efficiency, 73,2471 4.3 Home Mission Societies (several com bining extensive operations abroad), 319,7051. 14 Foreign Mission Societies, 459,008/. The sales of Vika and other religious publications, maims emaICM),OOOL, not included in either of the larinnenta. timed amounts. To this list must be added Ave nu- Aimed societies, 3,252/. Also, an amount of 109,0001. raised during the year for special funds, lesieding the proposed Wellington College, the New Xidiest College, the Wellington Benevolent Fund, ei—taiking altogether 530 Charitable Societies of Lamle% with an aggregate amount received and dis till:toed daring the year of 1,805,635. Pcpuc MEET/NOS ON TILE RUSSIAN Ilo•ORESSION have been held dining the week at Southampton and Derby. At both a crowded and enthusiastic audience attended, and the unanimous opinion of the re opeetive assemblies was embodied in resolutions of sheen similar tenor, the following being the form in whieh the inhabitants of Derby expressed their minds : " That this meeting, in common with the great majority of the people of this country, has viewed with feelings of in dignation the lawless violence manifested by the Russian Autocrat, in his unjust and aggressive attacks u p on th e rights and independence of our faithful ally, Turkey. That we consider this country bound by every principle of honour and of duty, no less than by an imperative sense of what is due to our own interests, to adopt active, energetic, sad effective measures (in conjunction with France), to . cooperate with the Turks in destroying the fleets, sr- at present shments or .1g mies, and fortresses of the aggressor. allowing them to reimburse themselves at his expense for the cost of the war, and affording to those nations which have been, by his former treachery and violence, deprived of their na tionality, an opportunity of recovering the same, and re establishing themselves in kingdoms under their own national Governments. That any temporising policy car ried on by the aid of secret diplomacy will tend to disho maw the British nation, he destructive of her material in terewts, and injure the cause of liberty, justice, and humanity throughout Europe?' Fostetom SOAPS are to be liable to the maximum uty of 2d. per lb. only when of such high quality nd in such ornamental forms as to be classed with perfumery. All other soap is henceforth to be ad• mined at Bd. the cwt. THE ATLANTIC has just been crossed, from New York to Liverpool, by a sailing-vessel, in the brief period of thirteen days and one hour. The ship was the " clipper" Red Jacket, which left New York on the ltth, and reached the Mersey on Tuesday. She is described as one of the handsomest vessels ever built, of immense strength, and great carrying capa city. Her best day's work during the voyage occurred on the 19th, when the total run was 413 miles. &we NOTES worth 2001. have been sent anony mously to the Chancellor of the Exchequer, on ac sown of income tax left unpaid for three years past. AN Rs. DIVIDEND, making, with previous payments, 1 1 k. 4d. in the pound, has been declared on the es tate of Gemmel! Brothers, an extensive Glasgow firm, rho faders occurred in September, 1847. Assets es still realisable sufficient to fill up the slight de ficiency now left, and even to pay interest. It was the suspension of this house, whose soundness and t`elveney are thu s manifested, that brought on the eommercial panic of 1847, through the stoppage of the numerous London houses more or less impli cated with it in business. THE TEXPERENCE ADVOCATE, Mn. B. GOUGH, since arriving in this country, has addressed more than *9,000 Persons in London, and 100,000 in the pro vnces, on the subject of total abstinence from in t°lieeting liquors, Of these 3,000 have been in duced to take the pledge. This amount of progress see stated at the annual meeting of the London Temperance League held on Monday at the Whit Wigton Club. THE PRESS. THE DERBY DIOCRISAII BOARD OF EDUCATION held a public meeting at the college on Wednesday, at which the proceedings were highly interesting. The bishop of the diocese, who presided, enforced upon the assembly the duty of resisting to the utmost every attempt to detach education from religion in those establishments which received Government support. It seems, he said, to be too readily as sumed that ignorance is the only evil we have to contend against : " No doubt ignorance is a great cause of depravity, and no doubt great ignorance prevails. But that ignorance is not the real and ultimate cause of the evil must be int. pressed on the mind of every one who has looked deeply into the subject. The immoral habits of the people we have to encounter, and how they are to be counteracted by instruction in secular knowledge ? That kind of know ledge will often enable persons who are wickedly disposed to carry their wickedness still further, instead of making them virtuous citizens—better citizens and better men. The report of the census on religious worship shows that there are upward of 54 millions of persons who do not avail themselves of any opportunities for attend ing divine service, though room is provided for them. That is a most alarming feet, and eatinet be attributed to mere ignorance, for ignorant persons may be tempted by curiosity. A case is cited from Dr. Clutlmerr's well•known work. He tried at Glasgow, with a depraved population of 20,000, the experiment of providing additional aeuom• modation for 1,500 persons, by an extra evening service on the Sunday, at a tune when it was thought most con venient for poor people to attend ; and free seats were offered to those who could not afford to pay. Persons entreated them to attend, but it was found that not fifty were indaced to take advantage of the opportunity, not withstanding that different preachers were appointed, and other temptations held forth. It was not ignorance that kept people away, it was the bad habits of the people. What is observed at Glasgow I think we may find to be the case in this city and elsewhere. There are persons who are entirely out of the habit of attending, who lie in bed nearly the whole of Sunday morning, and spend the rest of the day lounging about in a state of list. lessness. So that, supposing the State to give grants on the condition that secular instruction only be imparted, it will do literally nothing towards removing the immense mass of moral depravity which is now the great impedi ment to the education of the people." A NEW FLOATING PIER AND WHARF, for the land ing of fish, &c., was opened at Billingsgate on Wed nesday. The structure is convenient, and promises to he useful, and will, moreover, obviate the serious inconvenience arising from the large deposits of mud and refuse which were constantly accumulating around the old stationary wooden jetty. GENERAL Loan GOUGH is to be the colonel-in chief of the 60th Royal Rifles, vacant by the death of Viscount Beresford. LIEUTENANT-COLONEL WILSON, and several other officers of her Majesty's service at Woolwich, visited Aberdeen last week, and inspected the I'rintfield Works, for the purpose of ascertaining if they were suitable for turning into a manufactory for small arms. A powder-mill, says the Aberdeen Herald, is also contemplated in the same district. THE BOARD OF TRADE is to he separated into two distinct offices, in consequence of the increasing duties which have lately devolved upon the railway and mercantile marine departments of the board. The statistical department, which was first instituted at the suggestion of its late secretary, Mr. 6.R. Porter, is to be under the management of Idr.A. Fonblanque, assisted by Mr. W. Drummond Oswald, and the duties of that branch of the establishment are in course of removal to No. 2, Parliament-street. The averages of corn and wheat, as well as all exporta tions and importations between England and foreign countries, are registered in this office. The railway and the arts and sciences departments will be carried on at the offices in Marlborough-house, Pall-mall. NOTHING has yet been heard of the missing ship the Madagascar. The captain of the Roxburgh Castle, from Melbourne, just arrived, states that she had about 100 passengers on board, including the steerage. Her crew, with the exception of some twelve or fourteen seamen, were the same as went out in her. Among her steerage passengers was an accomplice of the ringleaders in the daring escort gold robbery near Melbourne in April last. THE authenticity of the letter of the Duchess of Orleans upon the "fusion" question, which appeared in the London and Paris journals last week, has been contradicted upon authority. THE CHIEF COMMISSIONER OF CITY POLICE, MR. D. W. HARVEY, has declined the present of a piece of plate designed as a testimonial by the members of the force over which he presides. "If he were about to leave the service," he says, "he would accept it with pride and pleasure ; but, when I consider that it may be my painful duty to admonish with severity or instantly to dismiss some members who have con • tributed to the proposed testimonial, I cannot con sent to encounter the painful impression which such a necessity might provoke." THE ESTIMATED COST for the proposed extensions to the Paddington station of the Great Western Railway, and for communications with the London and North-Western ..nd Great Northern stations and warehouses in the City, amounts to 650,0001. 81 A PUBLIC MEETING for the purpose of increasing the usefulness of the library of the Mechanics' in stitution in St. Helen's, near Liverpool, was held in the Town-hall there on Monday evening. Lord Stanley was present, and the audience was numerous and respect ab le. Gilbert Greenell, Esq. M.P., pre sided, and introduced hi s l or d s hi p. Afte r' reviewing the progress and position, moral and material, of the town of St. Helen's, Lord Stanley alluded to the par liamentary enactment of the right of taxation by eor• porete towns for the establishment of museums and public libraries, but expressed himself in favour of trying voluntary exertions in the first place. These public libraries, however, were not to be for the poor alone, but a collection of which every man alike might avail himself with profit. Ho wished to 8.0 a library where the employer, and the clergyman, and the lawyer, and the medical man, and the trades man, and the operative, might all sit side by side. Thanks to the cheap reprints of the present day, there was less difficulty in establishing a library of that kind than was generally supposed. His lord ship advocated the establishment of such institu tions as a means of promoting sobriety among the people ; and, if they obtained no other result, the diminution of vice and poverty, and the elevation of the general intellectual condition of the country, would be an ample return for their outlay. A resolu tion in favour of increasing the library of the institu tion was afterwards adopted ; and a sub-committee appointed to carry it out. THE VICARAGE OF CRErnTON has, after much can vassing and trouble, found an occupier, the governors of the church having come to their final election a few days since. The number of candidates originally amounted to upwards of 270. Several days were occupied in the examination of the testimonials of the various gentlemen, which were most voluminous, and at length the number was reduced to seven. Application was then made to the bishop of the diocese (Exeter) for permission for these gentlemen to preach, in order to test the capabilities of their voice, in the church of Crediton. His lordship, how ever, declined to sanction this proceeding, whereupon application was made to the Rev. J. Deans, the chap lain of the parish, who at o nce placed the reading desk at the disposal of the governors. Accordingly for seven successive Sundays the candidates in rota• Lion read prayers, the governors being present on each occasion. The excitement in the parish during the time was intense. Placards bearing the names of several of tho reverend gentlemen, with "Vote for —," were freely circulated. At last, the ordeal of preaching having been gone through, the governors met to come to a final decision, when, after a some what protracted sitting, the choice fell on the Rev. C. Smith, of Pendlebury, near Manchester. Thu living is worth upwards of 60411. a year. THE HALF-YEARLY MEETING of the Great Western Railway Company is called for the 141 th February, and will also be made special "for the purpose of considering, and, if approved of, adopting an d con firming, the agreement entered into with the Shrews bury and Chester, and the Shrewsbury and Birming ham, Railway Companies, for the amalgamation of the said companies with the Great Western Railway Company, and authorising the directors to carry the same into effect." SOME PATRONS OF THE COSMOS INSTITUTE held a meeting in Exeter-hall on Thursday evening, to "develop the objects of the institute, in connection with the promotion of educational and geographical pursuits, and for the diffusion of information on the colonies and emigration." Lord Stanley was expected to preside, but, his lordship having announced the severance of all connection with the scheme, Sir J. Dorant, M.D., took the chair. Mr. Digby Seymour, M.P., and Capt. Inglefield, were among the speakers who addressed the meeting, and proposed successive resolutions. In the course of his speech the latter took occasion to express his regret that the Lords of the Admiralty had given up Sir J. Franklin and his companions. He (Capt. Inglefield) was firmly con vinced that they still lived, and might, with further exertion, be restored to their country. LUMLEY V. GrE.—This action appears at length drawing towards a conclusion. Tho Court of Queen's Bench lately granted a rule for a new commission, which rule was to have been drawn up within four days, but it was not done; and the result is, that tho parties will proceed to trial without the evidence by a commission. The cause is now expected to be tried about the 20th proximo, before a special jury. The Attorney-General, Sir F. Thesiger, and other banisters have been retained by the respective par ties. The damages are laid at 30,0001. A DEPUTATIOM FROM THE SOCIETY 07 FRIENDS has just left England for St. Petersburg, to endea vour to induce the Czar to come to terms with Turkey. The deputation comprises Mr. Henry Pease, of Darlington, and Mr. Joseph Sturge, of Bir mingham. THE report of the Commission of Inquiry into the abuses in the Borough Gaol of Ilirminglnun is pow ready, and may shortly be expected to appear.