The Press. — London, England, 1856-11-15 00:00:00

NOVEMBER 15, 1856. THE MAIN DRAINAGE SCHEME submitted last week by the Metropolitan Board of Works to Sir Benjamin Hall was returned by him to the board on Wednesday, with a letter stating that, as re garded the outfall, the scheme was at variance with the intentions of the Legislature and con trary to the spirit of the statute. The letter was read before the board on Wednesday, after which Mr. Thwaites, the chairman, entered into an explanation of a private discussion he had held with Sir B. Hall upon the subject of Government aid, and he recom mended the hoard to send a deputation to discuss the question privately with the First Commissioner. The letter of Sit B. Hall was ordered to be printed, and was considered yesterday. Shortly after the ad journment a further communication was received from Sir Benjamin Hall approving the plan for the formation of a new street in Southwark, as submitted to him ou Wednesday, the 24th ult., and requesting plans and sections to be deposited in the office of the Board of Works. A MEETING OF THE HIGH CHURCH PARTY, Con vened by the London Church Union, was held on Tuesday, when the sentence upon Archdeacon Deni son was discussed. The meeting resolved that they would not enter at present into a full consideraticn of the doctrinal questions involved in the decision, inasmuch as " the remedy to be obtained by law has not yet been exhausted ; " and because " they hoped that some more authoritative and powerful tribunal will yet do justice in a suit where they did not scruple to say they thought justice has hitherto been found lacking." THE NEW READING-ROOM in the British Museum will, it is anticipated, be opened to the public in June, 1857. Notes and Queries states as a rumour that the room will be open by night, and lighted with gas for the convenience of evening students. A MAN, on Tuesday morning, about one o'clock, having paid his toll to the collector on Waterloo bridge, walked to a recess and threw himself into the Thames. A constable at hand hailed the Thames police, who directly put off in their galleys, but after a long search could not find the body. THE WESTMINSTER IMPROVEMENT BONDHOLDERS held a meeting at the London Tavern on Thursday. Mr. Ogle and Mr. Baxter entered into some details relative to the proposed formation of the West minster Land Company, for which an act was obtained last session, with power to raise 40,0001. to purchase land from the Westminster Improvement Commissioners. Mr. Baxter thought the preferential interest on the money raised should be six per cent.; Mr. Ogle seven per cent. In reply to questions, Mr. Baxter stated that the Westminster Land Company was, under its special act, a limited liability com pany, in 101. shares. It was not proposed to go to Parliament for another act, nor would there be any necessity for doing so. Mr. Smith said he should not advise the bondholders to have anything to do with the scheme proposed until they had got satis factory accounts of the mode in which the com missioners bad expended their money; they had better form a committee to support Mr. Beaumont in prosecuting the suit in chancery. Mr. Beaumont addressed the meeting warmly in opposition to the plan recommended by Mr. Baiter and Mr. Ogle; he urged the bondholders to appeal to the law and expose the monstrous swindle of which they were victims, hut not to involve themselves in any new complications. The meeting separated without coining to any resolution. "But BEN," the hell of Westminster, was tested on Thursday morning with great success. The magni ficent tones of the bell will drown all competitors in future. Vrobintial. LORD RAVENSWORTR last week attended the first anniversary of the Blaydon Literary Institution. The noble lord delivered an address on the occasion, and in the course of his remarks alluded to the subject of infidelity in revealed religion. Pointing out the distinction drawn by Blackstone between public and private vities, and ot the power of the 'aw to prevent the influence on society of the first, Lord Ravens worth argued that as revealed religion was the foundation of all judicial oaths and of all human law, its preservation inviolate became an indispen sable necessity, and that therefore when the great principles ot religion were attacked it became the duty of society to stand boldly forward in their defence. And the law would support them ; for, without in any way desiring the revival of religious persecution, there was not the slightest doubt that any open defiance of Christianity, or openly impugn ing the doctrines of revealed religion, became an offence in the eye of the law, and might, if necessary, be brought under the cognisance of the Secretary of State : tk. And let me tell you that those who may attempt it may probably tind themselves under the prosecution of her Majesty's Attorney-General. What says Blackstone upon this point, speaking of public wrongs, in his fourth book?— THE PRESS. A fourth spades of offences, more immediately against God and religion, is that of blasphemy against the Almighty by deny ing his being a Providence, or by contumelious reproaches o f our Saviour Christ. Whither also may be referred all protaue scoffing of the Holy Scripture or of enforcing it to contempt or ridicule. These are offences punishable at common law by fine and imprisonment, or other infamous corporal punishment. And he concludes this paragraph with a short sentence, which should be written in letters of gold and imprinted upon the hearts and memories of all those who now hear me, " for," says Sir William Blackstone, " Christianity is part of tho laws of England." The noble lord then concluded his address with au eloquent appeal in support of the truth and inesti mable value of revealed religion. The lion. G. H. LIDDELL, M.P., afterwards addressed the assembly upon the direct and indirect advantages of literary institutions. They were the means of affording innocent recreation to the people, of fostering a desire for instruction, of extending information on all sides, and by imbuing fathers with a taste for literature and knowledge would certainly go far to abolish that indifference for education so remarkable among the parents of poor children. The hon. gentleman then alluded to the various in centives for reading ; public or political excitement such as the late war, social distresses such as the cholera, should stimulate the labouring population to acquire information upon those special points. But was there no other incentive to reading?— Everything that passes around you, everything that you meet with in your walk, is a stimulus to read. The very roll of the tide, the fall of the leaf in autumn, the growth of the grass in spring, the roar of the tempest, or the starry firmament, each and every one of these things is a subject in itself. I say do you understand these things? 1)o you know their causes? Do you know their changes ? If you do not, don't tell me that you lack a stimulus to read. Each of them I have said is a study in itself, and they are studies that will amuse you, that will instruct you, acd that will elevate you. They will am'ise you because there is no source of amusement so various, so constant, and at the same time so enjoyable, because the contempla tion and study of nature form an enjoyment that never palls upon the mind. They will instruct you, because the great object both of science and of philosophy is to apply to our use and to economise the powers and products of the elements; and they will elevate yon, because they will draw your minds to Him who is the author and creator of man and of nature. These are common things that occur every day, but they are studies which will occupy a lifetime. AN OPPRESSIVE IMPOSITION OF INCOME TAX gave rise to an influential meeting in Gloucester, at the Shire-ball, last week, to memorialise the Lords of the Treasury on the subject. Tne chair was taken by the mayor, and there were seven hundred or eight hundred persons present. Letters were read from the local income-tax commissioners, disclaiming any knowledge of the surcharges, which it appears had been made by the surveyor alone. Mr. Samuel Bowly, a member of the Society of Friends, moved That this meeting is of opinion that the mode of levying the income tax is unfair, vexatious, and oppressive, and that it is highly impolitic to add to its vexatious charac►er by unreasonable and indiscriminate surcharges, thereby creating a necessity for almost universal appeals, and causing to the aggrieved parties the utmost annoyance and much loss of time. Mr. Bowly related his own experience of the manner in which he had been surcharged. He had on a former occasion appealed, and got his surcharge reduced, but he bad again had a surcharge of some 501. or 601. He therefore refused to make any return at all, and so rendered himself liable to a penalty of 501. He had no notion of being thus treated—in fact, called a liar; and he could not as an English man submit to it without raising his voice against it. Mr. Buckland, in seconding the motion, spoke of the injustice of requiring people to expose their private atlairs. As to the allegation that the disclosures made were kept secret, he alluded to an instance where a shopkeeper had bought 3 cwt. of old income-tax returns fur waste paper. Mr. Nicks, timber mer chant, stated that he had had his income assessed at thousands instead of hundreds—the surveyor had added a "0" to his return. Other resolutions were proposed, and a memorial to the Lords of the Trea sury embodying them was adopted. M. KOSSUTH delivered on Tuesday evening, at the Free-trade Hall, Manchester, the first of his three promised lectures upon the oppressed nationalities. The subject of this first lecture was announced to be that of the position and prospects of the Italian people, and the foreign policy of Great Britain. M. Kossuth, who was enthusiastically received by an audience of some three or four thousand persons, said that the present commotion in Italy was not one of those movements which, arising from mere mis government, from incidental sufferings , or other particular causes of excitement, might b put an end to by timely concession, by ameliorations, or possibly by temporising. On the contrary, it arose distinctly from the sentiment of nationality. It was a struggle for very life, and its essence was a determined hatred of foreign dominion. Statesmen who did not com prehend the movement had acted the part of mere misericordiam friars or political Mrs. Partingtons, and they had proposed concessions as a remedy, but 1089 concessions were insufficient to heal the wounds a Italy. Italy was a nation, and its annals woe en graved on the granite of mankind's immortality. Civilisation, Christianity, the arts and sciences, all must depart from the earth—the printing-press must be forgotten and the alphabet perish, and the peoples of Europe and America must be overwhelmed by another deluge, before Italy could cease to remember her history. And the people who had such a history numbered 94,000,000, all speaking one language, and inhabiting a country which was fitted by the finger of the Eternal to be the home of that same nation. Yet the Italian nation stood degraded, as Prince Metternich said, a geographical denomination with= out any national organisations. But until the ques tion of Italian regeneration was settled there could be no chance for Poland or for Hungary, and, in the words of M:. Roebuck, " Italy, Hungary, and Po land " must be the watchword and forerunner of real freedom and good government in Europe. Italy desired to be recognised as a nation, and would never be at rest till the domination of strangers was over thrown. Protocols would not drive nut the stranger from Italy—diplomacy would not effect the indepen dence of the Italians—nothing short of a successful popular rising could achieve their emancipation. The British people were practical, and if there was no probability of success for such a rising they would not be justified, by word or deed, in encouraging what would under those circumstances be a wanton and useless effusion of blood. But those who argued that there was no such prospect were utterly mis taken, or they purposely misrepresented all the facts of the case, both past and present. The lecturer then proceeded to argue that the prospects of an Italian movement now were far more favorable than in 1848. Austria had 50,000 less troops now in Italy than then—the spell of Austrian unity was broken— a revolution in Italy would prove strumpet to awaken France—and if the Italians would only now fight as they did in '4B they had double the chance 31 suc cess. M. Kossuth concluded by declaring that all he had stated was based upon fact, and by expressing his conviction that a European crisis was at hand, which all dissatisfied Hungarian and Italian patriots would do well to avail themselves of to promote re - volution, and, through revolution, restore nationality. On Wednesday M. Kossuth delivered his second lecture. The subject was the Neapolitan question. The late interference was solely to prevent danger to the European despotisms. He contended that British interests, commercial or otherwise, had no depen dence upon continental dynasties ; and if so, why should our Government stand between continental despotism and its fate? The meeting was attended by nearly 4,000 persons. Two RAILWAY COLLISIONS, one of them attended with loss of life, occurred on Wednesday on the New port and Hereford Railway: The down express from Hereford, a little past one p.m, on passing round the curve of the Nantyderry station, ran off the rails across the up line. At that moment a goods train on the up line was approaching, a collision ensued, the express train was literally gutted, and how so many passengers escaped death is marvellous. Two gentlemen were killed, and the rest of the passengers more or less severely injured. The other collision occurred under curious circumstances. Ten empty waggons were uncoupled from a goods train at Pontypool. A strong N. E., wind blowing at the time, blew them back down a steep descent towards Newport, and drove them into collision with a pas senger train coming up. The waggons were smashed, but the passenger train escaped without any injury, and the passengers were only slightly shaken and braised. M. SAMUES JOHNSTON, a Liverpool merchant,'died suddenly in the Exchange on Thursday, while trans acting business. AN EXPLOSION OF A LOCOMOTIVE, a small pilot engine, took place near Tynemouth on Tuesday on the Blyth and Tyne Railway. The engine was stand ing near the workshops when it exploded. The fireman was killed on the spot. AN ENGINE•DRIVER OF A PARLIAMENTARY TRAIN was killed on the Eastern Counties line about four miles below Thetford in the Bridgham cutting, on Sunday evening last, by the tire of the left leading wheel of the engine breaking and throwing the engine and tender off the rails. The carriages happily met eith no injury. An up goods train, reaching the spot at the same moment, several trucks struck the upset engine and were capsized on the up line. No other lives were lost.. An inquest was held at Thetford on the 12th, and a verdict of " Accidental death " returned. oFfil A MOST FORTUNATE ESCAPE from apparently cer tain death occurred on the railway from Preston and the Farington station on Tuesday morning. Green , a guard, made his way to the roof of a carriage to secure a tarpaulin, but in the hurry of the moment ht forgot that the telegraphic wires A cross the line about that point, and he was dashed against the wires with so much force that he threw a complete somersault off the roof of the carriage, and fell between that and the adjoining one. By the