The Press. — London, England, 1855-03-03 00:00:00

MARCH 3, 1855. MR. LAYA RD. THE member for Aylesbury met his constituents in public assembly on Wednesday last, and entered into an explanation of his late conduct as their represen tative. Adverting to Admiral Dundas, Mr. Layard explained the mistake which had led to the publica tion of his letter in which the professional character of that officer had been impugned. Upon the origin and course of the war, the policy of Russia, and the probable destinies of Turkey, the hon. member re peated the opinions which he had so often urged both in and out of Parliament. The most interesting portion of his address, however, was devoted to per sonal detail, and acquainted his audience with the relationships which bad existed between himself and successive Governments since his first appearance in political life at home. On these points Mr. Layard said : Some time before I became representative for Aylesbury I returned from the East. I was a member of the diplo matic profession, and Lord Granville offered me the post of Under-Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. I accepted that office, and served for a short time under Lord Gran ville in the Foreign-office. The Government of which Lord Granville was a member—Lord J. Russell's Go yernment--was of short duration, and they went out about three weeks after I had been in the Foreign-office. Of course it was my duty to go out with the Government. Lord Derby, however, who succeeded, behaved to me in the most handsome and honourable manner. He made me en offer that I should remain in the Foreign-office until his son returned from India, and said he would then either give me a positbn in public life equal to that which I then held, or, if sot, that he would give me a diplomatic mission upon the Continent. That was a very handsome offer on the part of Lord Derby—( hear )—which I might have ac cepted without compromising my political character. I could Dot perhaps have joined Lord Derby's Government, but I might have taken a diplomatic mission abroad, and served his Government for a time under the circumstances I have explained. (Hear.) All my political friends thought I ought to have accepted that offer. Lord J. Russell alone expressed a contrary opinion. When I knew that, I did not hesitate for a moment, and I rejected the offer of Lord Derby. I felt that I could not join his Government since upon many points I differed from him in opinion, but I might fairly have accepted his offer since, as a diplomatic man, such a diplomatic mission was almost the height of my ambition. (Hear, hear.) When, however, Lord John Russell gave this opinion, 1 did not hesitate to retire at once, and to throw myself, as I may say, being then without a profession, upon the world. Lord Derby's Government only lasted for a short time, and Lord Aberdeen succeeded him. Lord J. Russell then said that, having given up office when his Ministry went out, I was entitled to a position in the Government then formed, and the Under-Secretaryship of the Board of Control was offered me. That was gene rally understood in London to be the office given to me. But a day or two afterwards Lord J. Russell sent for me and said, that a gentleman was unprovided for whose abilities and long public services gave him claims on the Government, and he threw himself upon me to with draw my claims and to resign my office in favour of that gentleman. I felt that if any man had greater claims than myself, it was my duty to the Government and to the public to give up any small claims that I might have, and ac cordingly Sir Thomas Redington was appointed Under- Secretary to the Board of Control. (Hear.) Lord J. Russell then offered me a consulship in Egypt, which I declined on several grounds, but chiefly that after a con tested election it would have been unfair to leave my con stitents to fight another battle. (Cheers.) On refusing to accept the consulship, Lord J. Russell promised me the first place vacant in the Government. It has been said that I am acting from personal and disappointed motives, but you will see that the course which 1 have conscien tiously taken effectually prevented the possibility of my holding office, while, if I had chosen to remain silent, the next office that fell vacant would have been mine. ( Hear.) Lord Palmerston succeeded Lord Aberdeen as the head of the Government ; but although there was nominally a change of Government, yet, as the larger number of those who had formed the previous Government remained in it, the new and the old Governments were pretty much the same thing. (Hear, hear.) On Monday week, a few hours before I made that speech of which you probably have heard, Lord Palmerston offered me the Clerkship of the Ordnance. Now, haiing voted that I had no confidence in the Govern ment—that being the interpretation which the Govern ment chose to put upon that vote—there were sufficient grounds why 1 should not accept office under the men who formed part of that Government. Secondly, I felt that it is the duty of the Government at the present moment to put the right men in the right places. (Cheers.) I was not acquainted with the Ordnance, and I thought I should be at once betraying my own principles and my duty to the public if I accepted an office in which I could not serve the public to the best of my ability. ( Hear.) 1 therefore refused that offer. On the following day those members of the Government with whom I had more especially dis agreed retired, and Lord Palmerston began to form a new Government. Last Friday Lord Palmerston sent for me and offered me the post of Under-Secretary of War. I made some few conditions—that I should have a certain u,'luence, and that those ♦iews which I had expressed iuld be carried 11 I thereupon accepted the office. - told offer, THE PRESS. representative and a more efficient member of Parliament. But the present is a great national emergency, and it ap peared to me that I should be betraying my own princples, and should be false to you, to my country, and to myself, if I took an office for which I was not capable, if there were one which I was more capable of fulfilling. (Hear, hear.) At the same time, in declining this office I told Lord Pal merston that if I found his Government merited the confi dence of the people and my own confidence I would give him every support in my power. I trust that in so acting I have not been unfaithful to those principles which I have always professed. ( Cheers. ) EFFECTS OF COLD ON THE HEALTH. REsPitcmat the influence of the late inclement weather upon the health and mortality of the metro polis, we find the following remarks in the last official report of the Registrar-General : The season of extreme cold has now, we may hope, passed over, and its effects have been seen in the tables of the last six weeks, when the deaths of 0,408 persons have been registered. These deaths exceed the average by 1,968; which appear under various diseases, and were the indirect results of the low temperature. The temperature of the six weeks was 28.4 deg. on an average, and the deaths were nearly 100 weekly to every degree of depression below the freezing point of water. The cold affected persons very differently, according to their age ; for in the five weeks that ended on Feb. 17, at the first age of manhood (20 to 40) the cold did not des troy 2 in 10,000 ; at the age of 60 to 80 it was fatal to 38 in 10,000. At the soldier's age, with the shelter that London affords, the mortality from cold is inconsiderable. If the average deaths at each of the live ages are sub tracted from the deaths in the five weeks of cold weather, the numbers that are left representing the deaths by cold are 367 children and youths under 20; 159 young meu and women of 20.40, 200 middle-aged persons of 40.00, 561 of 60.80, and 173 of 80 and upwards. Upon dividing these numbers by the persons living of the corresponding ages, we find that the mortality by cold in the 100,000 was at the rate of 35 under the age of 20, and 18, 64, 382, and 1,749 at the four subsequent ages. The temperature of the blood is about 98 deg., at which it is sustained with some slight variations even when the body is immersed in an atmosphere of 21) deg., or of a still lower temperature. But the heat that is lost by the lungs and the skin is so great, that is is not supplied with sufficient rapidity in the young and the old ; who, to use a common expression, do not " stand the cold " so well as men in the prime of early manhood. The above numbers show that the power of cold on life varies according to de finite laws. Thus the mortality by cold is (81) twice as great under the age of 20, as the mortality (18) at 20-40; but after that turning-point the power of resisting cold decreases every year, and men of 90 and men of 30 have suffered from the cold that we have experienced in the pro portion of 1(X) to 1 (or of 1.749 to 17.5). The general result is, that the danger after SO of dying of cold is doubled every nine years of age; for out of the same num bers living to one death by cold at the age of 30, there are two at 30 ; four at the age of 48 ; eight at the age of 57 ; 16 at the age of 66 ; 32 at the age of 75 ; and 114 at the age of 84. This series at least expresses very nearly the relative mortality by cold at the respective ages during five weeks among two and a half millions of people. Exercise, ample supplies of food and clothing, and arti ficial external warmth, mitigate the effects of cold in Lon don, and by sustaining the temperature of their sleeping rooms the danger of the aged is much diminished. Cold is less fatal than dirt in the air and water of Lon don, through which the cholera, dysentery, and other matters that induce zymotic diseases, are diffused ; thus, while intense cold killed 1,604 persons in the five. weeks preceding the last, cholera destroyed 7,222 in five weeks of last year; and while cold killed 159 men and women of the age 20-40, cholera killed 1,909 at the corresponding age. LIEUT.-COLONEL THE HON. HUGH PERCY arrived at the Earl of Beverley's mansion, in Portman-square, on Monday, from the Crimea. This gallant officer has been through the whole of the campaign, and was wounded both at the Alma and at Inkermann. FELTED CLOTH.— A novel process of woollen manufacture, producing a fabric which possesses many advantages over woven cloths, is now in active prosecution at some extensive mills near Bath. The invention has been patented by Dr. Kennet, and is worked under his superintendence. Its principle is that of felting together, or, to use the inventor's own words, "interlocking and dovetailing," the woollen fibres through a thin foundation either of wool or cotton. The process is accomplished by aid of very ingenious mechanism, by which the cloth is produced at the rate of one yard per minute. The resulting texture can be made of any required thickness, from that of material for a light overcoat to a stout carpet, and, besides the rapidity of manufacture, consumes a far less proportionate weight of wool, and, on both accounts, can be fabricated at a much cheaper rate than the ordinary woven tissues. Another curious property developed by the aid of a separate me chanism is the ease with which severed edges of this Coat anb clastion. The Queen held a privy council on Wednesday, at which the retiring Ministers, Sir J. Graham, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. S. Herbert, resigned the seals of office. Sir G. C. Lewis was afterwards a Nom in as Chancellor of the Exche quer, Sir C. Wood as First Lord of the Admiralty, and Mr. V. Smith as President of the Board of Control. On the same day her Majesty declared Lord Carlisle Viceroy of Ireland, and gave orders for the proclamation of a general fast and humiliation on the 21st inst. General 1)e la Marmot's, Commanderin•Chief of the Sardinian contingent, was presented to the Queen by the Earl of Clarendon on Wednesday last. To-day (Saturday) her Majesty and Prince Albert will pay a visit to Chatham. Her Majesty will hold thefirst levees of the season on Wednesday next and the following Wednesday, the ith and 14th inst. The Duke of Cambridge, accompanied by Viscount Dunkellin, who was taken prisoner by the Russians, went on Wednesday to the hospital depots of the Grenadier and Coldstream Guards, Rochester-row, Westminster, for the purpose of paying a visit to the men who were wounded at the battles of Alma and Inkermann. . . The Speaker will hold levees on Saturday next the 10th, and Saturday the 17th inst. The Countess Walewaki held an assembly on Tuesday evening, at the residence of the French Embassy, Albert gate-house. The Countess Colloredo has issued cards for an assem bly at Chandos•house, on Wednesday next. Her ladyship's afternoon receptions have ceased for the present. Cabinet Councils were held on Saturday and Thursday last. _ . _ Lord John Russell left Paris on Saturday evening for Brussels, where he remained until Monday. The King of the Belgians came to the capital from the Palace of Sachen on Sunday and held a lengthened interview with the noble lord. Ou Monday night Lord John left Brussels for Cologne and Berlin, arriving at the latter city on Wed nesday. His lordship was honoured on Thursday with an interview with his Majesty. M. de Manteuffel assisted ut this audience. —.-..--. Mr. Layard has been elected Lord Rector of thu Aber. deen University, by a majority of throe out of the four nations, over Colonel Sykes. LORD LIMAN arrived at Marseilles on Tuesday from the Crimea, and afterwards left by special train for London. It is said that be will demand a court. martial on his conduct during the war. OFFICIAL RETURNS published within the last few days, give the number and nature of the accidents and injuries to life and limb which occurred on all railways in Great Britain and Ireland, from the Ist July to the 31st December last. The grand total for the United Kingdom shows that there were 9 pas sengers killed and 259 injured from causes beyond their own control; 15 killed and 12 injured from their own misconduct and want of caution ; 20 servants of companies or contractors killed and 37 injured from Causes beyond their own control, and 37 servants killed and 11 injured from their own misconduct and want of caution ; 12 other persons killed and 2 in jured in crossing at level crossings, and 30 trespassers killed and 13 injured. This makes a gross total of 123 persons killed and 334 injured. The correspond. ing number for the half-year ended the 31st Dec.. cember, 1853, was 157 killed and 258 injured ; the length of railway open on the 31st of December, 1853, having been 7,687 miles, and on the 31st of De cember, 1854, 8,054 miles. The total number of accidents in the last half-year was as follows, viz : In England, 43, of which 35 wero passenger trains; in Scotland, 4, all passenger-trains ; and in Ireland, 1, a passenger-train. Of the 35 accidents in England to passenger-trains, 3 arose from collisions between passenger-trains, 20 from collisions between pas senger and other trains or engines, 5 from trains getting off the rails, 4 from trains running into sidings through the points or switches being wrong, and 3 from al breakage of axles, wheels, or machi nery of engines. It appears that the great majority of accidents arose from collisions, especially between passenger and goods trains. The total number of railway servants killed during the half-year amounted to 57, and the number of wounded to 48, of whom 37 and 11 were respectively killed and injured by their own carelessness or misconduct. The sufferer's included 7 engine-drivers killed, and 8 injured; 10 firemen killed, and 7 injured; 2 guards and breaks men killed, and 16 injured ; 7 porters killed, and 8 injured ; 1 policeman killed, and 1 injured ; 2 gate men and signalmen killed; 2 switchmen killed, and 1 injured ; 1 platelayer killed, and 1 injured ; 13 la bourers killed, and 4 injured ; and 12 " miscellaneous" persons killed, and 2 injured. Ax ACCTDENT happened to the Bishop of Durham last week at Auckland Castle, which has since con- Kned the venerable prelate to his room. Ilia lord -- b e f o re in library in with influence, and that those views which I had expressed property developed by the aid or a separate me• last weeit at AUCKIFIIIU kArast.in, •11111Vaa •• • - - should be carried out, and I thereupon accepted the office. chanism is the ease with which severed edges of this fined the venerable prelate to hi s r oom. His lord- On the following day Lord Palmerston told me that for texture can be united into one piece, so that coats ship was standing before the fire in his library in certain reasons he could not hold to that offer, and that he and other articles of intricate design can be made the castle, when it is supposed h , was seized with a had to withdraw it, but in its place, be, at Lord J. Russell's . witnont a single seam. As an industrial enterprise, fainting-fit, to which it appears he is rather liable. request, offered me the Under-Secretaryship of the Colonies. Now, here was another offer which placed me in the same as well as from its scientific curiosity, the invention He fell forward against the grate, by which he was position as that in which I previously found myself. I was Possesses much interest, and the wider organisation burnt, though not severely. At his lordship's ad- not acquainted particularly with the colonies. In a time of a public company will probably be hereafter called vanced age the shock sustained by his system is of peace I should have been glad to accept an office of that into existence to extend and develop its commercial causing some anxiety to his friends. Hiio s condition nature, which would have made me more fit to be y our capabilities. is described by the local papers as precarus. 2 07