The Press. — London, England, 1856-11-01 00:00:00

NOVEMBER 1, 1856. LONDON AND THE COUNTRY IN A FOG. THE INTENSE FOG which enveloped London and its neighbourhood on Wednesday and Thursday un happily gave rise to several severe accidents. Several persons in attempting to cross the roads were knocked down and run over, and on the South - Western Railway two fatal accidents happened. The signal- man at Wimbledon, Houghton, in crossing the rails was knocked down by an express train and killed on the spot, while a similar accident occurred at Wands- worth. Coroners' inquests were held on Thursday, and verdicts of " Accidental death " returned. Much damage and inconvenience was also expe rienced on the Thames, and a total suspension of river traffic took place, while that on the different lines of railway was much retarded. Among the many minor accidents on the railroads not connected with loss of life, but occasioning a vast amount of inconvenience, was one which happened on Wednesday afternoon on the North-Western line. A goods train, with two disabled engines, was approach ing Wolverton about half-past three p.m., when the draught engine suddenly became uncoupled and ran forward down the Ashton incline. After going a certain distance the engineer stopped the engine, reversed it, and returned at a gentle pace to meet the train. He had miscalculated the distance so heavy a train would run of itself, and consequently a violent collision occurred, by which all three en gines and several leading trucks were thrown across both lines cf rails. Assistance soon arrived from Wolverton, but the difficulties of clearing the line were enormous, owing to the accident having occurred in the midst of a deep cutting, where it was impossible to topple over any portion of the wreck, the situation rendering it imperative to get every thing afresh upon its wheels and drag it away, or attempt the Herculean task of raising it up a steep embankment some thirty-five or forty feet high. The up and down trains soon began to accumulate on each side of the accident, and some conception may be formed of the interruption occasioned to the traffic when it is stated that at one time during the night there were no fewer than nine passenger trains detained on the up line and thirteen or four teen coal and goods trains, while on the down line there were seven passenger trains and twenty two coal and goods trains stopped at Wolverton. Up wards of one hundred men, under the orders of the superintendent at Wolverton, were soon at work, and about midnight the down line was cleared, but the up line was not in a fit state for traffic till one p.m. on Thursday. The passengers for London were hence extremely unfortunate—the great accumulation of trains one upon another rendering it impossible to carry on both up and down traffic over a single line at the same time with any degree of safety, and it was not nniil an early hour on Thursday morning that the first of the up trains passed through Wolverton for London. It will be readily imagined that, detained through the whole of a most inclement night in a situation where it was utterly impossible to obtain refreshment of any kind, the pangs of hunger were severely felt by the unhappy passengers. The more daring passengers out of some of the trains found their way to Wolverton, where the whole supply of provisions was speedily consumed. Expresses were sent to Newport Pagnell and Stoney Stratford, ana other places to obtain more ; but many passengers failed in getting even a piece of bread, and a biscuit is described by the guards as having been worth a sovereign, to such a state of hunger were many per eons reduced. The passengers by the various trains were detained from six to ten and twenty hours be yond their time. The driver and stoker of the goods train were both seriously injured. THREE SMART SHOCKS OF AN EARTHQUAKE were ex perienced in Alexandria at three a. m. on Sunday, the 12th. The oscillations were from north to south. The second shock is said by those who carefully marked the time to have lasted 55 seconds. The dogs which infest the streets howled fearfully, fled, and were seen no more that night. The European inhabitants abandoned their houses and assembled in the great square, the men in dressing gowns and the ladies in their nightclothes. Among those who wept bitterly were Mademoiselle Rachel and her sister. The earthquake was preceded by a noise like that of distant thunder, the sky was bright and starlight, and the sea perfectly calm, but the air was excessively hot and oppressive. The inhabitants, having remained more than an hour in the square, and finding no repetition of the shock, returned to their dwellings. All the mischief done in Alexandria by the earthquake is confined to the walls of several houses rent, and to a quantity of china and glass broken. Accounts from Cairo state that four houses were thrown down by the shock, and 134 damaged ; au persona were killed and ten wounded. THE PRESS. 6out Int laston.; Her Majesty the Queen and Court continue at Windsor. H.R.H. the Duke of Cambridge has visited her Majesty during the week. His Excellency the French Ambassador and the Countess Fersigny have also been on a visit at the Castle. His Excellency the Bavarian Minister and the Baroness de Cetto have arrived in Hill-street from Brighton. The Duke of Devonshire has arrived at Brighton from Lismore and Devonshire-house. His grace is in improved health. Colonel Ignatieff, aide de-camp to his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Russia, has arrived at Far rance's hotel, from St. Petersburg. The marriage of Sir Charles Pigott, Bart., and Miss Mary Louisa Carew was solemnised at St. George's, Hanover-square, on Thursday morning. Volitttal. THE MINISTERS will assemble in London on the 10th inst., on which day a Cabinet Council will be held. AIR. COLLIER, M.P., in an address to his con stituents at Plymouth last week, expressed his satisfaction at the terms of peace. He opposed the views recently expressed by Mr. Laing. He considered that the war was just and necessary, and the terms of peace satisfactory. He also considered that the Times bad done service in exposing malad ministration in the beginning of the war. Mr. Collier then continued : I believe in the general tendency of human affairs to peace, because I believe in the progress of knowledge and civilisation. There are, however, many things in the aspect of Europe which augur ill for the continuance of peace. Unhappily Italy, since she fell from her station as mistress of the world, has been trampled on by foreign States. It is now governed by a despotic power, and the elements of strife seem smouldering on the surface, and the despotic will of the tyrant who is now playing with fireworks may cause an explosion that may not only upset his own throne, which nobody cares about, but may con vulse the whole of Europe ; and I think we shall be justi fied in interfering with him on the same principle that we should act iu endeavouring to stop a madman who was going to set fire to his own house. On the other side of the Atlantic I hope all disagreements are settled, or are in the way of being settled. In America there are perhaps more turbulent parties than in any country in Europe. Let us hope and believe that the good sense and Christian feeling of the majority of the community will restrain the turbulent and disaffected, and thus save the two countries from a fratricidal war. He approved of the improvement made by Lord Clarendon of the maritime code of nations, and alluding to the Jew measures of domestic legislation passed last session, excused Lord Palmerston's Government. It might be partly the fault of Par liament, partly the fault of the Administration, and partly the fault of the country : Lord Palmerston's Government has been peculiarly situated. Tn some respects it has been a very strong one, and in other respects'a weak Government. It has been strong in all those great divisions which have taken place on questions connected with the war and the peace. Both sides of the Commons have felt that the State vessel, since Lord Palmerston has been in office, has had a firmer hand at the helm. I believe him to be peculiarly the roan to take the direction of our affairs. The country feels this, and the Parliament feels it; and for these reasons, when any of the great divisions have taken place, the Govern ment of Lord Palmerston has been very strong. The Conservatives—to their honour be it spoken—have not allowed the great questions of peace and war to be de graded as party questions. But on other questions, of comparatively minor importance, the Government has sustained frequent defeats. I cannot help thinking that the Governments of the present day are not so strong as they used to be. It is impossible for us to have a Govern. ment so strong as Walpole's, because no Government can now possess such corruption as then existed ; and, again, Pitt's—he was above the grosser• arts of corruption, hut there were then in the house such a large number of in• terested supporters that they would vote black white as he willed, and the Government was then enabled to carry any measare it pleased. In place of such a state of things as this we have now independent members representing im- portant constituencies, who cannot vote at the bidding of Ministers, because if they did their constituencies would not elect them. There is a difference in the constitution of the House of Commons since the passing of the Reform Bill; but, making every allowance for this, I still think that the failure of the Government in so many measures was not the result so much of the constitution of the house as the want of a definite and determined policy on their own part in the last session. MR. W. MILES, M.P., in the course of his speech last week delivered the following opinion upon agri cultural statistics : In the year when the subject was first brought forward in the House of Lords I happened to be President of the 1039 Royal Agricultural Society of England, and was examined before their lordships. I took the liberty of telling them what they might ask for and what they might not. I said they might ask for what every farmer would give them— the number of acres he had in different cultivation ; but I warned them not to go one whit further, for I said, Directly you come to ask for the quantity of wheat, barley, or oats the farmers have realised you interfere with the question between landlord and tenant, and by so inter• fering, instead of promoting, you will disadvantage agri culture in the greatest possible degree." I likewise gave a similar answer as to the statistics relating to animals, and I ventured to say it would be most unfair to collect those statistics, because they would not show the stock the individual farmer had throughout the year, but only at the particular time at which the census was taken, and so would be most unfair as between the tenant and the landlord. In what I stated to the lords I believe I spoke the opinion of the farmers of England. I believe it is neces sary for the farmers' interest that they should have taken the number of acres under different cultivation. A vast quantity of wheat was sown last year where barley should have been, and with the bad apple crop look at the present price of barley. I think it necessary, therefore, that the farmer should know the annual acreage of wheat. MR. ATHERTON, M.P., addressed his constituents at Durham on Wednesday last. The hon. member reviewed the last session of Parliament, which he did not admit to be barren. He congratulated his _ _ Its on the maintenance of Loid Palmerston at the head of the Government : It is becduse I look upon the Government of Lord Palmerston as a Liberal Government, that I give it, and wish to give it, my support. I don't believe that the present head of the Government would go so far as I would myself, or even so far as those by whom he is sup • ported ; but I look upon the noble lord as being the only person at this time capable of combining and consolidating the Liberal party, and so impressing upon the acts of the Legislature the principles of ieform. He should regard the return to power of the Conser vatives as a " national mischief." There was one thing in the, conduct of the Liberals he observed with regret : I tell you that it is a fact which I have observed with regret, that the Government does not obtain from the general body of the Liberal party that practical and ordi- nary support which, if it deserves the name of Liberal, it ought to receive from the party to which I refer. There are many honest men in the House (..f Commons who bold strong opinions, and sometimes confine themselves to what I might , but will not, call crotchets ; and although it must be perfectly manifest to them that Government must be carried on by combination, too many of these men seem practically to forget that truth, and from time to time, instead of giving their support to the Government, which would give it strength in the origination and carrying forward of measures of real utility, we find them flying off, and the consequence is that the Government is as weak in this respect as it is strong when its very existence is assailed. THE REPEAL OF THE PAPER DUTY was discussed at a special meeting of the committee of the Asso ciation for the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge, held on Monday night, when it was resolved : That the excise upon paper is a great commercial evil, that it also impedes the cheap diffusion of knowledge, and obstructs education, and that the time is now come for recommencing active operations for obtaining the total and immediate repeal of the duty. That Mr. Milner Gibson be requested, at the earliest opportunity, to bring the subject again under the consideration of the House of Commons. Dttrogolitan. DR. TAIT was duly elected Bishop of London by a special Chapter held on Tuesday at the Chapter house. St. Paul's. Alter the election the Dean and Chapter attended a "Te Deum " in the cathedral. The confirmation of the election will take place in the parish church of St. Nary-le-Bowe on Friday next, and the consecration in Lambeth Palace on the following Sunday. THE REPORT OF THE CORPORATION COMMITTEE upon the question of the reform of the corporation, and with especial reference to the Government bill of last session, was read on Tuesday before the Lord Mayor and a Common Hall. The report referred to the labours of the committee, and to the presenta tion of the petition by Mr. Disraeli : We wrote to the Right Hon. R. Disraeli, requesting he would be pleased to present the petition to the House of Commons, which he kindly consented to do. That we attended from time to time at the house when the bill was expected to be read a second time, and having had an interview with Mr. Disraeli, he requested the petition might be sent to him, when he would take the best oppor tunity of presenting it. That the right hon. member presented the same on the 13th of June, and moved that it might be read at the table of the house ; that it was so read, and ordered to be printed. That, on the 20th of June, Sir G. Grey stated that, in con sequence of some objection raised to some parts of the bill, time would not permit the Government to proceed with it this session, and gave notice theretore of his inten tion to withdraw the same, and bring in another bill early in the ensuing session.