The Press. — London, England, 1858-02-06 00:00:00

THE PRESS, FEBRUARY 6, 1858. 130 no doubt about the sincerity of the acclamations which met the Royal Princess at every step ; and amidst the cheers of the people the sharp cheerful tone of the church-bells was heard ringing merry peals. At Temple Bar, which was gaily decorated with flags and evergreens, there was a short delay on the City side, the Lord ➢iayor present ing, not the keys of the City, but a bouquet of choice flowers, which was graciously received. The snow fell heavily, but it did not chill the en thusiasm of the crowds which lined Fleet-street, nor drown the hearty cheers which rose at every point as the royal carriage approached. Here, too, the banners were thicker than ever. On Ludgate bill they were so numerous that it was impossible to catch a glimpse of St. Paul's until close under it. Every variety of national standard, Union Jack and Prussian eagle, was displayed, besides much other bunting the precise significance of which it was not very easy to discover. In Cannon-street the win dows of all the great warehouses were filled with well-dressed ladies, while the broad thoroughfare was packed with people. On London-bridge an enormous crowd was collected. Every available spot bad its knot of sight-seers ; some even mounted to the top of the Monument; and amidst the enthusi astic greetings of the crowd and the merry peals of the church bells the Princess passed out of the ancient city of London. At a quarter to one o'clock, the time designated for the arrival, the procession entered the terminus, amidst strains of music, loud cheering, and waving of handkerchiefs irom the many ladies who were accommodated with seats in the station. The Royal party were received by the directors, and were imme diately condurted to the train. The earliest occupant of the state carriage was a little Italian greyhound, a favourite of the Princess Royal. The carriage in which the Royal party rode is the one which her Majesty and other royal travellers use in their journeys on this line. Her Royal Highness was supported on the arm of her husband, the Prince Frederick William, to the royal carriage, and entered it with a light and elastic step. She was followed by the Prince, her husband, and after him Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, and Prince Arthur entered the royal compartment. Prince Albert then called the Duke of Cambridge, who was standing at some distance amidst the crowd which now sur rounded the princely party, and invited hint to join the party, which he did. On either side of the royal carriage the press of people was now very great, and the cheering was loud and continual. The great object of attraction was of course the newly married couple. and more particularly the young Princess. With great good taste and feeling on her part she remained standing all the time the engine was pre paring, and now on to one side, now to the other, she directed her regards, and repeatedly acknowledged the truly affectionate cheers which echoed all around her. The royal cortege arrived at Gravesend soon after two p.m., and received by thousands of people collected from all parts of Kent one of the hear tiest receptions ever accorded to royalty. Both the Prince and Princess were sensibly affected by the warmth of this display of popular feeling. The em barkation took place without delay, and, after a lengthened and painful leave.taking, Prince Albeit and his two sons returned from on board the yacht, and amid the thunder of the guns from the forts and the squadron, and the blessings of thousands of Englishmen and women, the Princess left her native land. The royal squadron arrived in the Scheldt on Wed nesday morning at eleven, and reached Antwerp at four. The Prince and Princess were received on landing by the King of the Belgians, the English and Prussian Ambassadors, the consols, and the civil and military authorities of Antwerp. The royal party drove at once to the railway suction, and left by spe cial tram at five for Brussels. Immense crowds lined the quays and the streets traversed by the pro• cession, and the Royal couple were everywhere re ceived with enthusiastic acclamations. The Princess Royal looked remarkably well. On Thursday the Prince and Princess left Brussels for Cologne, where they arrived at six p.m. the same evening. Yester day, en route to Madgebargli, they were to pay a passing visit to the Hanoverian Court. This day they arrive at Potsdam, and on Monday the entry into Berlin will take place. HIS EXCELLENCY COUNT CREPTOWITCH, the Rus sian Minister, having been recalled, a sale of the Count's personal furniture and effects took place last week, and was concluded on Saturday. The articles disposed of were only the per sonal effects of Count Creptowitch. The general furniture of the very splendid mansion of Chesham house is the property of the Russian Government. His Excellency Baron Brunnow is expected to arrive in London as Russian Ambassador towards the end cf February. MR HORSMAN, M.P., AND THE IRISH SECRETARY SIIIP.—Mr. Horsman attended a meeting of his con stituents, at Nailsworth, last week. Some disappro bation having been expressed at his relinquishing the post of Secretary for Ireland, Mr. Horsman gave his reasons for the step. He referred to the dis turbed state of Ireland at one time and its present more prosperous condition. "Now," he added, "we have, by one act after another, removed all those disabilities, all those oppressive acts, and Ireland has sprung forth into religious peace, into agricultural improvement, into commercial prosperity, until from one end of the country to the other it is absolutely in a state of peace and tranquillity equal to the town of Nailsworth. Therefore, as far as the difficulty of the office went, I found it took a great deal of inge nuity to occupy myself more than two hours a day with that once important office and now one of the highest paid under the State ": I remember Sir Robert Peel once told a story of a man who gave warning to his master that he must leave his place . " Well, John," said the master, " lam sorry you are going to leave ; what are your causes of discontent?" " Well," said John, " I want three things—more wages, less work, and I should like to have the keys of the cellar." Now, gentlemen, is Ireland I had high wages—greater altogether than any Secretary of State; I had very little work, because my place was almost a sinecure ; and I may have had the keys of the cellar, because I had the giving away the patronage and most of the good things in Ire land. But, gentlemen, I did conscientiously feel on the whole that, having in order to retain an office which did not give me very much work to give up a great deal of independence and freedom of discussion upon general political subjects unconnected with lrelani—fur instance, such a question as the war with India or Russia—holding a subordinate place in the Government, I was not able to speak a word, and, of course, under the rules of official subordination and discipline it was my duty to vote always as the Government voted ; and feeling, on the whole, that the mere empty distinction of office and the mere emolu ments did not compensate for the sacrifices it entailed, and that my leaving it could be of no loss to the public service, as my place could be easily supplied, I did feel that, with out the abandonment of any public duty, I might resign that office, the holding of which was an advantage to no one but myself. CONVICTS AND CONVICTED MISDE NEANANTS, by a return moved for by Mr. Macartney, M.P., amounted, on the Ist of November (All Saint's-day), 1856, to 1,453 convicts and other prisoners in confinement in the various criminal prisons of Ireland—viz., 860 males and 593 females. Of these 249 only wer3 convicts. The entire cost of maintaining all con victs in Ireland sentenced to transportation beyond the seas amounted in 1856 to 5,0431., against 6,6.191. in 1855, 6,850/. in 1854, 5,3691. in 1853, rind 7,01/. in 1852. SIR GEORGE GREY has replied to the Society for the Promoting the Due Observance of the Lord's Day, with reference to their recent application that Government interfere to prevent the Crystal Palace Company from evading Act 21 Geo. 111. c. 49., that the application for the interference of Government is " premature," as no violation of their charter has yet been committed by the company. SOME NEW INDIAN BISHOPRICS it is not improbable may be created out of the diocese of Calcutta, now vacant by the death of Dr. Wilson. So long ago as 1842, Bishop Wilson urged upon the Government of the day the necessity of a subdivision of his diocese by the appointment of a bishop for the north-west provinces. It is thought that the following sees will be erected :—One for Arracan, Pegu, and Tenasseem, one for Assam and the north-east frontier, one for Orissa, and one for Berar and the Nerbudda dis trict. THE NEW PASSPORT REGULATIONS facilitate the obtaining of the Foreign-office passport by British subjects. The passport of the Foreign-office has always been the best with which an Englishman travelling abroad could be provided ; but great com plaints have been made of the difficulty of procuring it, the regulations hitherto in force requiring that applications for it be accompanied with a recom mendation from some person known to the Secretary of State, or of a banker. The Emperor of the French has now intimated to our Government that his Con sul-General and Consuls in the United Kingdom will no longer grant passports to other than French sub jects. Thereupon Lord Clarendon now consents to grant his passport to British-born subjects, lonians, and foreigners naturalised here, upon the recom mendation of the mayor or chief magistrate of any corporate town in the kingdom, or of any magistrate or justice of the peace, and the new regulations are framed accordingly. THE CONVOCATION of the prelates and Clergy of the province of Canterbury, appointed to sit yester day, the sth of February, was further prorogued to Wednesday, the 10th of February. THE NAVY ESTIMATES were laid on the table of the House of Commons on Thursday evening. THE LONDON CORPORATION BILL IS to be read a second time next Friday, the 12th inst.. THE following are the names of the members to be proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to form the select committee on the Bank Acts :—Th e Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Disraeli, Sir J. Graham, Mr. Spooner, Sir C. Wood, Mr. G. A. Hamilton, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Cayley, Sir F. Baring, Mr. Vance, Mr. Cardwell, Mr. Blackburn, Mr. Wil son, Mr. Horsfall, Mr. Weguelin, Mr. Hankey, Mr. Hope Johnstone, Mr. Ennis, Mr. Puller, the Earl of Gifford, Mr. Fergus, Mr. John L. Ricardo, Mr. Price, Mr. M. Tucker Smith, and Mr. G. C. Glyn. letrovolitan. LAUNCH OF THE LEVIATHAN. TIIE Leviathan was safely launched last Sunday, between the hours of twelve and three p.m. It. was at first intended that the launch should take place on the Friday previous, and everything was got ready accordingly, but so unfavourable was the weather and so loud the clamour raised amongst the work. men respecting the danger of launching a ship on an " unlucky day," that the attempt was put o ff until the following morning. All was ready at an early hour on Saturday, but the wind was still blowing strong from the westward, and with a force on the broadside of the vessel three times in excess of the hauling power, so that the result of letting the huge vessel float would probably have been only her going on shore immediately afterwards, or "setting up" to London-bridge, broadside on, with irresistible force. Nothing of this kind, however, was to be appre hended on Sunday. The weather was fine, clear, and calm, with scarcely any breeze, and what little there was all in favour of the vessel and a high tide, which ran up with unusual swiftness, and as the flood relieved the weight upon the launching ways some of the hydraulic machines were set to work for the last time, to push the monster as far as possible into the centre of the river. She moved easily, and with a low rate of pressure. The operations became from this moment of the most intense interest. There were about eleven feet of water under the vessel's keel when the rams were first applied, and everyone watched with the greatest anxiety the vessel's progress. Twelve feet, thirteen feet, fourteen feet, were successively announced, as each hollow reverberating sound announced an other great subaqueous push from the ram. All eyes now became fixed on the vessel, and at fourteen feet a slight movement was observed at her stern, when loud and general cries of " She moves," " She floats," resounded through the yard. The steam-tugs, four in number, which had been made fast to the vessel, stem and stern, by means of immense hawsers, now began to pull, and for a few moments might be seen to roll as if in the agony of their exertions, while the huge vessel looked as if she did not mean yet to yield to their efforts. But her apparent stillness was, in fact, only an optical delusion on the part of the spectators. She had moved, and was moving, and in another moment the huge timbers of which the cradles were constructed shot up their heads above water like a shoal of por poises, and the yard, the opposite shore, and the boats on the river, all rang with one hearty simulta neous cheer as the Blue Peter run up to the fore announced that the Leviathan was at length fairly afloat. But while majestically moving ahead a sudden and perilous check was put on her progress. One of the barges used in sustaining the river moor ings got entangled in her paddle-wheel. Hundreds of men pushed, and hauled, and shouted at the refractory little barge, but all to no purpose, until at last Captain Harrison thundered the sentence, " Scuttle her," through his speaking-trumpet ; the ringing sound of the axe was heard, and in a mo• ment the barge disappeared under the ship's bottom. At this time, nearly every one who has been actively engaged about the vessel stood on her deck anxious for the honour of accompanying her in her first trip, although it was only across the river. Idr. Hope, the chairman of the compacy, together with his brother directors and a large party of noblemen and gentlemen, was at the bow. At the moment when the sinking of the barge enabled the men to announce from below that the ship was clear of every obstruction and fairly afloat, the chairman ad vanced to Mr. Brunel, and, shaking him warmly by the hand, congratulated him on the final success of his stupendous undertaking; and it is needless to add that Captain Harrison, now fairly installed in his command, with his Union Jack flying at t h e stern, his standard of England at the main , and his Blue Peter at the fore, was also the object of nume Volitual. CABINET COUNCILS were held on Saturday, Monday, and Tuesday at the official residence of the First'Lord of the Treasury. The Ministers present were— Viscount Palmerston, the Lord Chancellor, Earl • Granville, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Marquis of Clanricarde, Sir George grey, the Earl of Claren don, Mr. Secretary Labouchera, Lord Panmure, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir Charles Wood, the Right lion. It. Vernon Smith, Lord Stanley of Alderley, the Right lion. M. T. Baines, and the Duke of Argyll.