The Press. — London, England, 1854-09-30 00:00:00

932 to contain some hundreds of the sick and Itoiiiided heroes of a late campaign, Howard was offered a seat in the carriage of the brigadier-general, a cour test' that could not be refused : " When he entered the hospital, his experienced eye at once perceived the trick that had been played. That very morning the sick men had been shifted ; the rooms had all been swept clean • the dungeons were all inviting ; and some of the patients h ad been provided with coverlets for their beds. All was snug and bright, as for a review. The food was bad, and the rooms were crowded ; beyond these evils Howard had seen no Russian hospital to compare with this at St. Nicholas. One circumstance, however, betrayed the whole deception. Howard was very exact; he had a great trick of weighing, measuring, and counting. If a gaoler doubted that his cell was so much below ground, out came his tapes—if he fancied the allowance of bread was under legal weight, out came his hand-scales. Before he rode off to St. Nicholas he had heard, from a safe authority, that the sick and wounded numbered five hundred men : he counted those before him, and found them only three hun dred. Where were the rest? For the moment he held his peace, as General Falajef was gone to inspect some works. But when the party came back, Howard bluntly demanded to be shown the other patients. What others ? Had he not seen all? No: he was certain not. On grow ing urgent in the matter, Potemkin's physician and several officers rode back into town, and beat up other quarters. Howard soon found that his sagacity was not et fault. ' Here,' he says in his notes, I found about fifty such objects of wretchedness as I had never seen together. Most of them were recruits in the prime of life. Many of them were in the last stage of existence. They were lying on hard beds • they had no linen and no coverlets; they were filthy beyond bearing, and a few dirty rags hung about their bodies. The scene became quite dramatic. " I turned to the officers," says Howard, " and told them to look on their fellow-creatures." ' He told them plainly that he had never in his life seen such horrors. "In nu country that I have visited," he adds, is so little atten tion paid to the soldiers as in Russia." '" The present volume is published in a cheap and com pact form, with good type, and in every way well adapted for popularity. A Practical Treatise on the Right and Cost of Redeeming Property Mortgaged to Benefit Building Societies. By J. H. James, Barrister-at-Law. London : Butterworth. Ma. JAMES, in entering fully upon the constitution and objects of building societies, explains in a lucid manner the nature and extent of the responsibilities which a member incurs, and at the same time gives many practical suggestions on the selection of pro perty to be purchased as well as upon the right and cost of redeeming such property when mortgaged to the society : " There is a principle of law," he says, " careat emptor, which translated into plain English is, ' Let the buyer look out for himself,' meaning that he must well examine into all the stipulations by which he is to be bound ; to thoroughly ascertain the soundness or nnsoundness, the defects and drawbacks of tho commodity he is about to purchase, so that he may not have to repent of his bargain before it is too late. To the member of a building society whose liabilities commence with the moment at which he pays the deposit on his share, and end only when he has made the last repayment required to complete the redemp tion of his mortgage, this precaution is indispensable." Upon the point oiredemPtion of mortgages Mr. James is of opinion that the rules of many of the existing terminating societies are either so vague that no practical construction can be put on them, or so complex and unjust as to commit a positive robbery upon the borrower, and he suggests certain stipula tions which should more absolutely define the liabilities of borrowers. His remarks upon the adjudi cated cases in Chancery and Common Law in which building societies are concerned bring out the main points which have been raised, and, with an appendix of trials, supply a complete view of the law of the subject as far as yet decided by the courts. The Real Salt, and Pickackifax. By Francis Francis. London : Piper, Stephenson, and Spence. " THE Real Salt" is an amusing squib against those young gentlemen who will set up for Jack Tars, and rashly go to sea in yachts of their own purchasing. The story is not badly told, and the system of sea port victimising, so muoh practised upon the simple yachters who have money but no brains, is very laughably exposed : " "The real Salt, who does not know him? Who that visits our watering-places during the fashionable season has not remarked his ingenious costume ? Such a pea jacket and trousers! such buttons ! such a hat! such a ribbon and shirt-collar! But when after a few hours' sail, with a nice little breeze, we see this redoubtable warrior landing from his own boat, pale, subdued, and silent, with a decided disinclination for food, and a shuddering at the faintest whiff of tobacco, we shake our heads and say ' Can such things be? " " Pickackifax" is the story in verse of a poor poet put to many shifts for his livelihood, and meeting with varied adventures, all of which are told with a facility of vet sification that is not without merit. Here and there we meet with bits of pathos and humour, and sometimes a little satire upon the more prominent vices and foibles of society, which help to give zest to th e story. It is illustrated by Watts Phillips. THE PRESS. .. The Young Ladies' First French Book. By It. Aliva. London : Hope and Co. 2. d Pocket Vocabulary in English and Turkish. By William Knight. London : Bradbury and Evans. 1. It is the opinion of M. Alive that young ladies do not make the progress they should in acquiring the French language through the want of suitable ele mentary books, those at present in use supplying a mere succession of unconnected phrases or being full of idiomatic difficulties. To supply this defect (as lie considers) he has composed the present work, which contains, first, common phrases, with an ex planation of the idioms which occur most frequently in French ; next, conversations teaching " young "ladies to say in French, and rather elegantly, what " they have sometimes to express in English ;" and then simple narratives, frequently interrupted by the remarks and inquiries of persons supposed to listen to them. Exercises, with a vocabulary and conjuga tions, complete this elementary book, which is cer tainly well adapted to fulfil its purpose, and to bring the pupil pleasantly forward with ease to the teacher. It may be confidently recommended as an excellent first book. 2. The " Pocket Vocabulary of English and Turk ish" is a small pamphlet of sixty pages, issued to fur nish some of those common Turkish words most likely to be required by our countrymen in their in tercourse with their Turkish allies. The orthography is so modified as to bring the sound as nearly as pos sible in correspondence with Turkish pronunciation. Each word is referred to the I)ictionnaire Turc-Fran cais of Messrs. Kieffer and Bianchi, so that if it be desired reference may be made to let standard au. thority. Mr. Knight promises to continue his labour in future parts till he has supplied a perfect vocabu• lacy of Turkish and English words. The Reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, and History of the Conquest of Moxico. By W. H. Prescott. London : Bentley. As a consequence of the late decision upon the Fo reign Copyright Act, Mr. Bentley anticipates compe tition by offering to the public the above popular works of Mr. Prescott, handsomely bound and in neat type, at the reduced price of five shillings each. The author, we see by Mr. Bentley's announcement, re tains an interest in the present edition, notwithstand ing the great reduction in price. BOOKS RECEIVED. BOOKS. Countess of St. Alban. , Hodgson. Myrilla and other Poems. P. Howell. Mabbott, Matthews, and Co. A Voice from the East. Saunders and Utley. Viator. A Poem. .1. Coventry. Whitaker and Co. My Comrade and My Colours. Rev. E. Neale. Trtibner and Co. Poetical Works of John Oldham. R. Bell. Parker and Son. The English Prisoners in Russia. Lieut. Royer, R.N. Chapman and Hall ARCHDEACON DENISON. A SERIES of correspondence between the Rev. Anthony Denison and the Archbishop of Canterbury, in reference to the pending proceedings in the Ecclesiastical Court, has been sent by the arch deacon to the Times, and appears in yesterday's number of that journal. The series commences with a letter from the Primate, dated on the Oth, and stating the nature of the charge brought against Mr. Denison by the Rev. J. Ditcher, Vicar of South Brent, on ac count of certain doctrines concerning the Holy Com munion maintained in three sermons preached and published by him. In these sermons it is alleged, says the archbishop, that the writer maintains : " 1. That the act of consecration causes the bread and wine, though remaining in their natural substances, to have the body and blood of Christ really, though spiritually, joined to them, so that to receive the one is to receive the other. " 2. That the wicked and unbelieving eat and drink the body and blood of Christ in the Lord's Supper just as much es the faithful." The Primate continues " I hereby signify to you my intention, after the expira tion of fourteen days, to nominate five clergy of your diocese to inquire into the justice of this charge, in ac• cordance with the provision of the act of the 3rd and 4th of Victoria, chap. 14d, and to ascertain whether there be prima fade ground for further proceedings." To this letter Archdeacon Denison sent, on the 7th, a formal reply, merely acknowledging its receipt. Shortly afterwards came a letter from the pro• motor of the suit, the Rev. J. Ditcher, requesting, for the guidance of future proceedings, to know whether Mr. Denison consented to acknowledge the three sermons on " The Real Presence," preached in Weds Cathedral, and afterwards published in his name, as being printed and circulated under his authority. Mr. Denison does not imitate Mr. Wilberforce, and briefly replies : SATURDAY, " My dear Sir,—The Archbishop of Canterbury has given me notice that it is his intention to issue a commis. sion at your instance. " I decline to give an answer in any shape to inquiries by pnvate letter." On the 15th inst., before the expiration of the fourteen days mentioned in the Primate's letter, Mr. Denison transmits a categorical reply to that com munication. He recapitulates the tenor of the cot. respondence which had taken place between himself and his own diocesan, the late Bishop of Bath and Wells, on the subject of the identical charge now pre ferred, and protests against renewed proceedings—. first, because the case was referred to the bishop in the first instance, and, having had his judgment thereon, has become tea adjudicate, while it was a maxim of English law that no man should stand twice in danger for the same alleged offence. Secondly, that the archbishop had in his letter referring the charge to the diocesan stated his opinion that the Arches Court was the only fit tribun.tl to investigate a case which he had proposed to submit to a commission of clergymen. And thirdly, that the law never con templated the possibility of an appeal from the judgment of a bishop, which he alleged had been given in his own case, to that of mere clergy in his diocese. Mr. Denison, however, says in the course of his letter respecting his own conviction and belief upon the subject in hand : " I have affirmed in that correspondence, in the strongest and plainest terms I could employ, my unshaken attach ment to and confidence in the Church of England, and my assent ex animo, and in the plain meaning of the words, to her condemnation of the Roman doctrine of transubstantiation as pronounced in Article 28 ; all which affirmation I beg now to repeat in making this communi• cation to your grace." The Primate replies to this letter as follows : "Addington, Sept. 18. " Venerable Sir,—l beg to acknowledge your letter of yesterday's date, and to say, in reply, that I still retain the opinion that the Court of Arches is the most proper place fur the trial of the doctrine which you have propounded. And I conceive that if the result of the proposed commis sion should prove to be that a prima facie ground of in. quiry is made out, the diocesan will then think it right to submit the question to that court. But meanwhile the law admitted of only ohs course, and rendered it necessary for me to issue the commission. "You speak of the late bishop's correspondence with you as a trial. But you must allow me to remind you that no such trial is recognised by the law. " I remain, venerable sir, "Your obedient humble servant, "J. B. CANTUAL " Venerable Archdeacon Denison. " It may be convenient for you to be apprised, before the legal notice is sent to you, that the first week of October is at present intended to be the time for the inquiry which is to take place at Wells." On September 22 (yesterday week) Archdeacon Denison forwarded a further communication to the Primate, in which he enlarged the pleas urged in his former letter, and expanded them into a formal "protest," developing at Lull length the allegation that the complaint had become a res adjudicate, and that during the late vacancy in the see the arch bishop had never attempted to disturb the judgment given by the late Bishop of Bath and Wells. He concludes : " I, therefore, do hereby formally protest, as well against the commission which his grace the said archbishop has given me notice it is his intention to issue under the Act 3rd and 4th of Victoria, c. 83, touching the matter of the said complaint, so adjudicated upon as aforesaid by com petent) authority as against any, and every, other attempt to place me twice in peril for one and the seine alleged offence. " And, further, against all acts had or done by virtue of any such proceedings, as null and illegal. " And I do hereby reserve to myself tbe power of taking such proceedings as I may be advised, or see fit, to iusu tute for my own protection." A letter from the Primate, significantly stating that he "had transmitted this protest to the proctor who is concerned in the management of the suit" (dated Sept. 25), closes the correspondence. AN IRON THEATRE is being built at a foundry in Manchester for exportation to Australia. It seems that a Mr. Coppin has engaged Mr. G. V. Brooke, the tragedian, to perform in the principal towns in Aus tralia for 200 nights, for which performances he pays the sum of 501. per night, or 10,000/. for 200 nights. Mr. Coppin determines to go out with a complete portable theatre of iron, which, with all fittings and appurtenances, will cost a sum exceeding 4,000/. The building is eighty eight feet in length, forty feet wide, and about twenty-fourfeet high from the ground level to the peak of the roof. The contractors have undertaken to have the whole on hoard ship in Lon don in about thirty days from commencing opera- tions. THE BRITISH ASSOCIATION has decided on holding their meeting next year at Glasgow. Invitations were presented from Brighton, Cheltenham, Noting• ham, and other places, but the choice of the com- mittee fell upon Glasgow, where the association met once before, in 1841. The Duke of Argyll has been hosen president for the year 1855.