The Press. — London, England, 1857-01-31 00:00:00

0 106 THE REV. W. H. !ULLMAN, librarian of Zion College, and son of the I of St. Paul's, will be Archdeacon Male's successAr at Cripplegate. A TREMENDOUS FIRE broke out on Tuesday evening, in Watling-street, on the premises of Messrs. Rolls and Soul, wholesale perfumers. The fire brigade were rapidly on the spot, but the inefficacy of water to put out such a fire was soon apparent. It could only, and barely that, prevent the extension of the confla gration, which at times threatened the whole of the surrounding buildings : By conveying the hose through the various buildings in Vi'atling-street, the firemen were enabled to pour immense torrents of water into the right directions, which had the effect of cutting off the further progress of the flames in the directions of Bow-lane and Cheapside ; but, notwith standing, the work of devastation continued, and it was nearly midnight before the fire was extinguished, and not until the premises of Messrs. Matthews, Rolls. and Soul were destroyed, and the whole of the c ,ntents consumed. A great number of the contiguous houses were se verely damaged by fire and water. THE REGISTRAR•GENERAL'S RETURNS for the week amount to 1,216 deaths, a considerable increase on the average of previous years, vet below the rate in proportion to the increase ot• population. 1,781) births were registered for the same period. t 0 iii Uxz i. Sin ERSKINE PERRY, at the reunion of the Devon prt Mechanics' Institute last week, alluded in eloquent terms to the special vocation of Devon. Toe :great sources of the material wealth of Groat Britain might be found in the woollen; of Yorkshire, the cutlery of Sheffield, the hardware of Birmingham, and the cottons of Manchester and Glasgow; but Devonshire, though she could never coml•ete in these as a rival, had yet a field of her own, in which she might fairly challenge all opponents:— Physical strength and continued applied industry may eiaracterise the north, but the arts have found their birth place in the west. There is no part of England which his been so productive of great artists as this. Sir Joshua Reynolds, for example, was born in the adjoining parish of Plympton, Opio only a few miles off. Northente, Hayden, Eastlake, Prout, anti Hart were all natives of Plymouth— three of them were burn, I believe, in the same street. Samuel Cozens, the first mezzotint engraver in the world, is a native of Exeter; lirockedon of Tomes, Frederick Lee, the landscape-painter, of Barnstaple. Nay, more than four eminent men who have lectured on the fine arts— Rtynolds, Haydon, Eastlake, and Hart—were all born vr.thin three miles of this town. What inference do I draw from these facts? It is that the tendency to the arts in this neighbourhood, fostered either by the beautiful so •very which surrounds you, or by the still more beautiful m .ilels which the maidens of the west present to the artist's eye, and such as I see flitting through these rooms this evening, the tendency to art is very decided, and only needs greater cultivation to produce signal results. S.r Erskine Perry then alluded to the cultivated taste in design of the French workman, and the evident want of such cultivation nearer home : What is needed iu England is, cultivation of the taste for beautiful things; from early youth the workman requires to be brought up in contact with the works of art, the youthful mind should be led to understand and analyse the principles in which correctness in drawing and har• mony of colouring afford pleasure to the mind, and all those gifted with the inventive faculty would have full development afforded them for creating new models, and thus adding to the store of pure human enjoy. menta. THE EARL OF WEMYSS AND MANCH has announced his determination to give up the hunting of Berwick shire after the close of the present season. The noble earl announces his resolution to withdraw his hunting establishment from Berwickshire, "in con sequence of the constant disappointments met with by the almost total annihilation of foxes, which, not only for the present year, but for a number to come, precludes the possibility of having sport." It is pretty well known that in this district, for a consider able time past, the practice of p'isoning foxes has been carried on to such an extent as to put a stop to Lixhunting. THE Tyne has been abandoned for the present. The attempt to pump her out having failed, it has been decided to wait for more settled weather, in order to examine her minutely, and plug up the leaks. She lies on a ledge of rocks, which have caught her just amidships, as she overhangs forward, without any support, about six'y or seventy feet, and s•nno parts of her keel are six feet from the bottom. The overhanging aft is about forty or forty-five feet. How the vessel ever got where she is will pro bably remain a mystery. Between St. Aldan's Head and Weymouth the distance is about fourteen miles. The Isle of Portland lies directly off Weymouth, and the Tync was about eight miles ()aside Portland when the Portland Lights were made out at 1 a.m. on the 12th inst. At 3.30 a.m. the steamer was entering Kimmeridge Bay with her bow pointing for the cliffs. Now, the most mysterious thing is, how she could get there, unless she was steered direct for the land after tho l'ortland Lights were seen. Just THE PRESS. before the ship struck, the officer of the watch, while forward on the look out, faintly discerned the outline of the fearful black cliffs overhanging the bay, and his cry of "hard a-port" astonished the captain, who thought at first that a vessel was crossing before the ship's course. But a few se conds arid the shock of a tremendous bump told him the truth. The vessel evidently grounded amid ships, for she was going in direct towards the cliffs when she struck, and by the attempts to wear her round got into the position she is now—head to sea. If ever she is floated again, she will have to be dragged astern towards the land, to get her off the edge on which she rests, and then she must be piloted through an intricate channel. The official in quiry int her loss was held at Southampton on Thurs day, and from the evidence obtained it appears that after passing Portland Lights, the lead was not kept "going." Captain Valler attributed the acci dent to the strong inset of the spring tide, for which he had not made sufficient allowance. He thought they had passed St. Aldares Head at the time the ship struck. There was no error as to the compasses. The mates of the ship gave it as their opinion that had the hand-lead been kept going, the ship might have been kept out of .'anger. Captain Vincent, superintendent of the Mail Company, gave it as his decided opinion that the loss of the ship was attributable to a "want of forethought" on Captain Valler's part. With the wind and tide on his bow, he should have made more allowance for the set on shore. Under such a fog, also, he should have hauled off shore. The decision of the Board of Trade will be given next week. THE IRON DISCOVERIES AT SEEND, WILTSHIRE, are now well authenticated, and several furnaces are about to be erected at once. Various persons are testifying their belief in the value of these disco• veries by offering fabulous prices for land at Seend and the neighbourhood. The Duke of Somerset and the trustees of the late Mr. Ludlow Bruges own about half the land at Seend where the richest ore is found. The duke's agent is collecting the best informa tion that can be obtained in reference to the extent and value of the iron discovered. A NEW SCHOOL OF Aar was opened at Sheffield, on Tuesday evening, with a brilliant conversazione. Mr. Roebuck M.P., was present, and addressed the meet ing at some length, insisting upon the necessity of a knowledge of design in manufactures : Wonderful as your feats have been, great as I believe your power is, there is something about the productions of English manufacture which is wanting. What is that something? It is that ennobling influence of which I have spoken—namely, the influence of art. I believe I ant touching upon a matter somew'ait unpopular ; but you know it is not my hat it to conciliate popularity. The truth, however unpalatable it may be, somehow or other happens ever to find in myself a very unworthy, but a very hearty expositor. Now, 1 believe that all that has distinguished Sheffield baa been great energy, great power, and application of will to the subduing of na•ure. You have Emit 3 our goods over the whole face of the globe, and I believe that some discoveries lately made in the very centre of Asia have brought to light works in iron with tL•e name of Sheffield thereon written. But in spite of that there has always been something that has operated as a drawback. What is that something? It is this—that you have consulted anything but nature. You have consulted anything but the prin ciples which ought to dictate to those working in that art. I do not care what may be its application—whether to the erection of this building, or to the working of a teapot, or to a creamjug—there is the same principle at the bottom. That principle you cannot learn or discover without thought and careful consideration. That principle you can learn here ; and among the gentlemen who conduct the labours of this school I am sure you will find apt leaders, leading you on and guiding you to this principle, which is requisite for those who work in any matter, I do not care what it is, of art, by which you are to obtain the suffrages of mankind. The distribution of prizes afterwards took place, when the meeting broke up. THE LATE SIR CHARLES NAPIER'S CHARGER, " Red Rover," which since the gallant general's death has remained in the care of Lady Napier at Oatlands, was on Tuesday ridden into Portsmouth by Mr. Herbert, one of Sir Charles' stepsons, and introduced to his old friends of the 22nd Regiment, about to leave Portsmouth. The veterans of Meanee and Hyderabad, who crowded round the old horse, were addressed by Mr. Herbert, who in eloquent terms recalled to them the memory of their gallant chief. A JUVENILE REFORMATORY FOR LEEDS was pro- posed at an influential meeting held at Leeds on Wed nesday under the presidency of the mayor ( Mr. John Botterill), to establish a reformatory at Adel, to appoint an executive committee, to pass a code of laws, and to transact such other business as might be deemed necessary. Resolutions to carry ont those objects were adopted, it being stated that sufficient money had been subscribed to erect the necessary buildings according to u model (which was exhibited) prepared by Mr. Hewitson. It is proposed that the inmates shall consist only of juveniles who have been convicted; but that the institution shall not be con fined entirely to boys convicted by the Leeds magis trates, as it is not thought desirable that boys who SATURDAY, have been companions prior to conviction should meet each other in confinement. COLONEL YORKE, C. 8., of the Ist Dragoons, was on Tuesday entertained at a public dinner by the inha bitants of Wrexham, and presented with a sword of honour for his gallant conduct in the Crimea. Sir Watkyn W. Wynn presided on the occasion. The usual loyal and complimentary toasts having been drank, Sir Watkyn Wynn, in a few brief but telling words, proposed the health of Colonel Yorke, and in the course of his speech presented the sword of honour to the gallant colonel. Colonel Yorke acknowledged the distinguished compliment paid to him in eloquent terms, and related how he lost his first and only sword at Balaklava:— I appear before you this evening without a sword, for this simple reason. I never possessed but one regimental sword during the whole of my service. That sword was presented to me when I first joined the Royal Dragoons by my kind relative, Sir Edward Cust, who has now obtained the rank of general. It served me during my entire career; but unfortunately it involuntarily fell out of my hand when I was wounded at Italaklava. It may appear a stupid thing for a soldier to drop his sword in the presence of an enemy, but I was so greatly distressed by a shot which knocked my foot. out of the stirrup that I was completely paralysed for the moment. THE EARL. OF HAREWOOD met with a sad accident last Saturday while out with the Bramham hounds. The noble lord, in jumping a fence, jumped his mare into a sheep net on the opposite side. The mare's feet catching the net, she tell heavily to the grouni, rolling over his lordship. Lord Harewood was im mediately rescued, but the mare had struck him on the head and fractured the skull. Every medical assistance has been rendered to the noble earl, and great hopes are entertained that his life will yet be saved. THE FUNERAL OF HIS LATE GRACE THE DUKE OF RUTLAND, K.G., took place on Thursday at lielvoir. The funeral was strictly private. When the remains lay in state on Tuesday and Wednesday nearly 4,000 persons paid their last tribute of respect to the body of the duke. The RIGHT HON. W. E. GLADSTONE has been on a visit to Oxford during the week. ___ _ THE REV. W. J. BENNETT, vicar of From e, formerly of St. Paul's, Knightsbridge, has addressed a letter to his diocesan, the Bishop of Bath and Wells, in which he avows his entire sympathy with Archdeacon Denison. He further says : When I see a brother priest and dignitary of the Church in our own diocese suffering, or likely to suffer, the penalty of deprivation, because he has taught a certain doe:rine-of the Catholic faith—and in my conscience 1 find that I myself am teaching the very same doctrine without any perceptible shade of difference—it is quite impossible that, while the penalty of the law is carried into effect in his case, I should stand by in silence and be held harmless. lie therefore prays investigation into his own case. ,"*ab3 ad Volta. A CASE OF SOME IMPORTANCE to the public press was tried at the Court of Queen's Bench, at the close of last week. It was that of " Davison v. Duncan," and came before the court upon a demurrer to de fendant's plea. The action was brought for a libel alleged to have been published in the Durham and County Advertiser (of which the defendant was the proprietor), reflecting seriously upon the character of the plaintiff. The libel was contained in a report given of a certain discussion which took place with reference to the appointment of a chaplain fur a cemetery, at a meeting of the commissioners ap pointed under a private act for the improvement of the harbour and town of Hartlepool. The defendant pleaded that the meeting was a public one, that the report gave a faithful and accurate account of the proceedings which took place at it, and that he had published it without malice. This plea was de tnurred, and the case now stood for argument. After hearing counsel, Lord CAMPBELL said the alleged libel seemed to be a very mild one : The most serious imputations might be cast upon indi viduals in speeches at the meetings of the Hartlepool Commissioners ; and the question was, were faithful reports of those speeches privileged like the reports from courts of justice? It was thought necessary ten years ago to have a legislative act rendering such reports lawful, and a clause was introduced into a bill for that purpose, but it was re jected. They could not, of course, take judicial notice of that fact; but it was then understood, certainly by a high authority, that without the interposition of the Legislature the privilege would not extend generally to public meetings. Mr. Justice WIGIITMAN put the case of a public meeting held to consider the income tax, at which some libellous observations were made, and said that if an editor published those observations it would not be a good answer for him to say that his report was strictly accurate. Lord CAMPBELL also suggested the case of a simi lar meeting at which the Chancellor of the Exchequer was accused with having robbed the Exchequer, and thereby rendered the income tax necessary. Mr. UNMASK said it was for the public good that the proceedings at meetings of that description should Illaiil