The Press. — London, England, 1858-01-16 00:00:00

5...--- - - - - -- _ ....---=---- . of the roy al marriage, I under the direction of Signor Com, by the pri vate band of her Majesty. The vocal solos will be intrusted to Mlle. Clara Novello and air. Sims Reeves. Volitzt al. THE EXTENSION OF CHRISTIANITY IN INDIA WEIS again discussed on Tuesday at a special meeting of the Church M issionar SocietArchbishop of y, held at Exeter hall, u nder the presidency o y f the b ur y. The archbishop, the Bishops of London, Winchester, and Norwich, and the Hon. A. Kinnaird, 31. p., addressed the meeting at great length, and proposed various r esolutions in accordance with the object of the m eetin g , the Bishop of London express ing a hope that " all Christians, sinking sectional differences, would unite in an effort to evangelise India." A meeting of the Christian missions for a similar object was held at Glasgow on Monday, and most influentially attended. SEVERAL REFORM MEETINGS have been held during the week. On Wednesday night Mr. Ingram, M.P., presided over one at the Freemasons' Tavern, and in opening the proceedings expressed himself strongly acainst a 51. franchise, against an educational fran chise, and against the division of the country into electoral districts. Mr. Ingram did not state the nature of the reform he was prepared to support. Mr. P. Edwards said it was on record that Lord Pal merston had said to Sir J. Walmsley that "if the working classes got the franchise, it would degrade the franchise," and he proposed a resolution to the effect that no Reform Bill would be complete which did not include as a leading feature "the principle of manhood imffrage." Mr. E. Jones seconded the resolution ; and Mr. Coningharn, M.P., though he agreed to the general principle of the resolution, would not preclude himself from accepting a large And liberal measure of reform. Mr. Coningham con demned the recent reappointment of Lord Clanri carde as " an act of daring presumption on the part of the Prime Minister, and as a downright insult to the respectability and truthfulness of the united kingdom." The meeting after this was shortly brought to a close amid great riot.—At Woolwich, Newcastle, Birmingham, Dudley, Stockport, &c., similar meetings have been held, and the Reform manifesto of Messrs. Roebuck and Co. universally condemned, and declared unworthy of support because it does not include "manhood suffrage." The reorganisation of the Reform party has been decided on at Manchester, and Mr. George Wilson, late chairman of the Anti-Com-Law League, has agreed to join the movement. Rlttmolitan. THE SUNDAY EVENING SERVICES at Westminster Abbey were repeated last Sunday with less incon venience than on the previous occasion. There is still great room for improvement. A larger number of working people were present. With respect to the service to-morrow, we are requested to state that an alteration has been made in the order of preachers. The sermon will be preached by Archdeacon Sin clair, and that on the 24th inst. by the Bishop of Oxford. The Dean of Canterbury will preach some other Sunday. THE ANNUAL RETURN OF FIRES IN LONDON shows an increase in the past year over that of 1856 of 158 fires. On the average of the foregoing 24 years, the increase is 373. The number of fires in the list of " totally destroyed " shows a decrease of 2 as com pared with 1856, and on the proportional average of the last 24 years a decrease of 7. The number fires from the Ist of January to the 31st December has been as follows :—Fires at which the premises were totally destroyed, 32 ; ditto, ditto, slightly damaged, 644; ditto, ditto, considerably damaged, 430 ; total fires, 1,115. False alarms of fires, 90 ; chimneys, ditto, 91; total, 187. Total calls, 1,302. THE MAIN DRAINAGE QUESTION again came be fore the Metropolitan Board of Works on Monday, when a communication from Sir B. Hall, declining to afford the Board certain information, having been read, a resolution referring the plans received from the office of the Chief Commissioner to the engineers appointed by the Board was carried by a majority of 26 - I0 8. AT A COURT OF ALDERMEN held on Monday last, a retiring pension of 4001. per annum to Mr. Bunion, late Governor of Whitecross-street Prison,was agreed to. Mr. Burdon's successor has not yet been pre seat d by the sheriffs to the Court of Aldermen. AT A MEETING OF THE GEOGRAPHICAL SOCIETY held last Monday, Sir R. Murchison stated that a communication had been received from the Foreign office relative to Dr. Livingstone's proposed expedi tion into Africa : ----- • Lord Clarendon had communicated to the society the expression of his lordship's wish that the geographical Council of the society should submit to the Foreign-oflice i.ny suggestions they thought proper in reference to the reposed expedition to explore the Zambesi River and . chat portion of the interior of Africa. That cow:tinnies t-ton had been brought] before the council, and they ap• II , ( 1 THE PRESS, JANUARY IG, 1858. proved of all the suggestions which had been made by Dr. Livingstone himself; who had explained to them his plan of operations, and had also informed them of the names of the gentlemen who, after consultation with the Royal Society and the Geographical Society, he had fixed upon to accompany him. The council had in consequence passed a resolution expressing their entire approbation of Dr. Livingstone's project and of the persons he recom mended as his scientific companions. Those persons were Commander Beddingfield, R.N., well known for his ex ploration of the Congo and other African rivers, and who had volunteered on this new expedition ; Dr. Kirk, a well known M.D. of Edinburgh, who would go out as the eco nomic botanist of the expedition ; Mr. Richard Thornton, of the Geological School of Mines, who was to be the mining geologist; Mr. Baines, who would go out as the artist, for which he was in every way qualified, being a first-rate artist, and having travelled in tropical regions and in Australia; and Mr. Livingstone, Dr. Livingstone's brother, who would attend the expedition as associate and companion, and take charge of the little establishment which the doctor hoped to fix for a time at the confluence of one of the tributaries to the Zambesi. He had further to state that the council had expressed a very decided wish that, considering the unhealthiness of the delta of the Zambesi below Tile—that was, for the last 250 miles — the expedition should be forwarded on from the mouth of the river to Tete in a decked steam-vessel of light draught, and that the steam-launch now in preparation should carry the party on from that point. Sir R. Murchison also stated that communications had been received from Dr. Baikie, M.D., and Mr. May, R.N., giving some details of their journey in connection with the Niger expedition : One of them, which was dated Sept. 20, 11;457, stated that the expedition had completed an elaborate survey on the trigonometrical principle of a portion of the river and surrounding country from Idda—the point where the high land commenced—that the natives were exceedingly friendly, and that the writer, Dr. Baikie, if supported, could do anything ; that he had already received grants and sites for missionary stations ; that he had already estab lished a school, and hoped soon to have a Christian church in that part of Africa, aiding that the expedition had dis covered two or three small tributaries of the Niger, hitherto unknown. Another letter, dated Oct. 29, reported that the expedition had been wrecked by their vessel striking on a sunken rock twelve miles above Rabba, but that the whole of the party were alive and well. Another despatch bad been received from Mr. Ray, who had made a successful journey from Rabba to Largos, and had everywhere met with a kind reception, and reported that there was now a regular monthly post established between those two places. The president also wished to inform the society that the Admiralty had ordered out Mr. M'Gregor Sand's new vessel, the Sunbeam, which would sail on the 18th to the Niger to relieve the expedition, and to take the place of the vessel which had been lost. THE VACANT SPACE AROUND ST. PAUL'S is threa tened to be partially covered by lofty warehouses. The Institute of British Architects on the 4th inst. passed several resolutions against any such applica• tion of the vacant ground, and finally suggested that a portion of the increasing revenue from the coal tax, which in 1856 amounted to 70,8131., showing an increase from 1851 of 12,279 t., should be devoted to the purchase of the ground. A FIRE broke out on Monday morning at 49, Gray's-inn Lane—a coffee-house in the occupation of several families. An old couple, a Mr. and Mrs. Older, one of whom was bedridden, on the third floor, were unhappily burned to death. Home, the Bedford-row fire-escape conductor, made a gallant but unsuccessful attempt to rescue them. The poor old couple, clasped in each other's arms, would not separate—Home could not carry them both—the room was in flames—and Home to save his own life was forced to jump out of the window, thirty feet from the ground. He sustained severe injuries, and lies in a precarious state in the Royal Free Hospital. of` Sat)] and Volke. iIITARY TERM commenced on Monday last, when the Lord Chancellor held a general levee of the Bar, and entertained the Judges of the several Courts of Common Law and Equity to breakfast, at his man sion, in Upper Brook-street, Grosvenor-square. At one o'clock, the Lord Chancellor and the Judges pro ceeded in state to Westminster-hall, via Park-lane and Constitution-hill, and on their arrival at the ball, which was crowded with spectators, they took leave and proceeded to their respective courts, and com menced the business of the term by hearing motions. Sir Cresswell Cresswell, Knt., received his patent as the Judge of the new Court of Probate, and was sworn before the Lord Chancellor. Mr. Romilly, Clerk of the Crown, administered the oaths. The sittings of the court will be in Doctors'-commons. — Mr. Justice Byles, the newly appointed puisne judge of the Court of Common Pleas, in the room of Mr. Justice Cresswell, was recognised in Westminster hall. He was greeted with the most enthusiastic applause by the bar and the public. Seldom, per haps, was there in late years a greater manifestation of public feeling in reference to a judicial appoint ment. The court was crowded with persons who were probably anxious to witness the ceremony of swearing in, but in that expectation they were dis appointed, inasmuch as the oaths will not be ad ministered until a future day.—With respect to the 63 new Divorce Court, the judges of this tribunal are the Lord Chancellor, the Lord Chief Justice of Eng land, the Chief Justice of the Common Pleas, the Chief Baron, the Senior Puisne Judge of the Common law Courts, and the Judge of the New Probate Court. What is styled by the Act " the Full Court" will, in effect, consist of the Lord Chancellor, Lord Campbell, and the Judge Ordinary (Sir C. Cresswell). The " Full Court" will decide petitions for divorce — that is, dissolution of marriage, subject to the review of the House of Lords, and suits of nullity subject to no review. It will also determine all applications for new trials, bills of exception, special verdicts, and special cases, subject to no appeal. The " Full Court" will further receive and determine all appeals from the Judge Ordinary, and their decision on such appeals will be final.—" The Judge Ordinary's Court."—This judge will have full authority, either alone, or with one or more of the other judges, to decide petitions for judicial separations, restitution of conjugal rights, and jactitations. Petitions for restitution of conjugal rights will probably be rare. Jactitation suits have been long in desuetude, and ought to have been abolished. The Judge Ordinary's chief business, either alone, or with one of the ether judges, will arise from petitions for judicial separa tion, which will give the wife an independent statue, and in general secure for her the custody of the children —advantages unknown in the ecclesiastical courts. Every decision of the Judge Ordinary is subject to the review of the "Full Court" by the shortest and simplest process, and the decision of the "Full Court" will put an end to litigation. The mutability of the judges, and the novelty of the duties to all of them, except the Lord Chancellor and Lord Campbell, are things to be regretted. It is expected, however, that these two noble and learned lords will assist as much as possible in settling principles and forming a practice. THE REV. R. Moir, upon the nomination of the Right Hon. W. G. Hayter, M.P., was elected Chap lain of Berkshire Gaol, Reading, at the first meeting of the Epiphany Sessions, on Monday last. The salary is 2501. per annum, with a residence. There were twenty-eight candidates. A decision upon the question of the superannuation allowance to be granted to Mr. Field, the late chaplain, was postponed. THE "FUGITIVE SLAVE' TRADE threatens to be come popular. A lazy Dutchman, who gave the name of Charles Williams, was brought before Mr. Combe, at Southwark , o n Monday, charged with begging in the peblic streets. It appeared that his "custom of an afternoon' was to lie on the pave ment at Newington Causeway, with a printed card in front of him, describing him as a fugitive slave, who had been flogged and red-hot ironed, and he ex hibited a heavy iron ring which he said bad been fixed round one of his legs, the whole concluding with an appeal to the Christian public to assist him. His wife, "a neat little woman," stepped forward and said it was all false about his being a fugitive slave. He bad been a sailor ; but since he hd re t u rned from his last voyage he got his liveali hood by begging. Mr. Combe asked how many times be had been in prison. The wife replied that be was convicted at Marlborough-street about a year ago, and sentenced to fourteen days' imprisonment. " At that time he used to lay about Leicester-square , and many a day he brought her home as mach as 21." Mr. Combe told the prisoner that be was a gr oss impostor, and as a cautio n to him and othersdays with hard labour. ANOTHER EXPOSITOR OP' THE CREDIT SYSTEM as applied at Oxford took place o* Monday, in the In solvent Debtors' Court, before Mr. Commissioner Phillips. Mr. Edward Seratton, the insolvent, owed, in the aggregate, 96,448.7., of which 49,6761. were without consideration, and 12,2551. more than once entered, leaving the debts for value 34,5171. On the other side be bad bad and doubtful debts to him 5,8001. He had become entitled, under the will of his father, Mr. John Seratton, of Rochford, Essex, to a considerable property, and bad spent large sums. The insolvency was attributed to the amount he had paid for interest, discount, and bonuses, with the debts incurred without consideration. There was one item in the proceedings of " 30.0001: as having been paid between 1848 and 1853 for discowere t, interest, and bonuses, on money lent. There about 130 creditors on the schedule, and six debtors. The Commissioner went over the various debts on the schedule, which exhibited the usual list of tobacconists, and tailors, and hotel and stable keepers, and jewellers, &,c. ; while the bill transactions showed that insolvent bad transacted extensive business with Joseph Joel, Leon Solomon, Allessa.ndro Staple r , and others — some at 60, 70, and 80 per cent. M. Commissioner Phillips won d ered how any person in their senses could have transactions with such per sona. Mr. Sargood remarked that they took 601. on a 1001. bill, and it some times happened that 401. was charged to renew such things, and the whole 1001. went. As no credit o r a pp eared to oppose, Mr. Seratton was discharged with "an admonition" from the learned Commissioner, who d never in his life seen such a schedule.eclared he had