The Press. — London, England, 1856-12-20 00:00:00

1210 liament, and that the Attorney-General was the proper person to prepare a bill. THE CONVOCATION OF THE PRELATES ♦ND CLERGY OF THE PROVINCE OF CANTERBURY was oil Wednesday prorogued in the Jerusalem Chamber, Westminster, pusuant to the Royal writ, by the Vicar General, Dr. Twiss, under a commission from his Grace the Arch bishop of Canterbury, Primate and Metropolitan, to Wednesday, February 4,1857. THE REGISTRAR-GENERAL'S RETURNS for the week show a decreasing rate of mortality, 1,243 deaths having been registered last week to 1,318 of the previous week. 1,711 births were registered last week. Vro )1 intial. HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN paid a visit on Tues day to the Arctic ship Resolute, lately arrived from the United States Government as a present to this country. The Queen, accompanied by Prince Albert, the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice, and attended by her suite, left Osborne at a quarter past ten o'clock, and drove to the ship in an open carriage drawn by four grey ponies. The Resolute, dressed in her colours, was lashed alongside of the royal embarkation-place at Trinity-wharf. The English and American flags were flying at the peak, and as soon as the Queen set her foot on the deck the royal standard was hoisted at the main. The Rdtribution fired a salute, the boats' crews " tossed" their oars, and the ship's company, standing on the rail, received her Majesty with three rounds of cheers. Captain Hartstein re ceived the royal party at the gangway, and the offi cers, in full uniform, were grouped on either side. All were presented to the Queen by Captain Hart stein, who then addressed her Majesty in the fol lowing words : Allow me to welcome your Majesty on board the Resolute, and, in obedience to the will of my countrymen and of the President of the United States, to restore her to you, not only as an evidence of a friendly feeling to your sove reignty, but as a token of love, admiration, awl respect to your Majesty personally. The Queen to this frank and sailor-like address re plied with a gracious smile, and said, " I thank you, sir." The royal party then went over the ship and examint her with great interest. With such completeness and attention to detail has the refitting been performed by the United States Government, that not only has everyning found on board been preserved, even to the books in the captain's library, the pictures in his cabin, and some musical instruments belonging to other officers, but new British flags have been manu factured in the Brooklyn navy-yard, to take the place of those which had rotted during the long time she was without a living soul on board. From stem to stern she has been repainted ; her sails and much of her rigging are entirely new ; the muskets, swords, telescopes, nautical instruments, &c., which she carried have been cleaned and put in perfect order. Nothing has been overlooked or neglected that was necessary to her complete and thorough renovation ; yet everything that has been cleaned or repaired has, with excellent taste on the part of those wh - superin tended the regulations, been restored to its original position. As regards the arrangement of the furni ture and the situation of each particular article, the Queen saw the captain's cabin in the precise state in which it was when the crew forsook the ship. In fact, the ship is—so to express it—a floating Pompeii, and everything comes to light just as it was left. Captain Kellett's epaulettes are lying in a tin box on the table. Lieutenant Pim's musical-box occupies its old place on the top of a " what not." The " logs " of the various officers are in their respective recesses on the bookshelves. The portmanteau containing the officers' greatcoats is thrown heedlessly on a chair. On the wall hangs the picture of a ballet girl pirouetting—still for ever pirouetting on the tips of her toes—and, as if in mockery of domestic com fort, a little kettle, that should be singing songs "full of family glee," does nothing of the kind, but sits upon a fireless stove as cold as a stone and as silent. After completing the inspection of the ship, the royal party retired amidst enthusiastic acclamations. Captain Hartstein dined with the Queen at Osborne that evening. THE KIDDERMINSTER OLD BANK, Farley, Turner, and Co., has stopped payment. The death of Mr. Abraham Turner last week has brought about this little event, which for some time past has been an ticipated in City circles. AN INFLUENTIAL. EDUCATIONAL MEETING WAS held ut Manchester on Tuesday, under the presi dency of Mr. Thomas Bazley. The following reso lutions, proposed at a previous meeting on the sth, wore discussed and agreed to :- 1. T hat a rate fur education is desirable. 2. That all schools deriving aid from the rate shall b e subject to inspection, but such inspectbin as is paid THE PRESS. for out of the rate shall not extend to the religious in struction. 3. That all schools shall be entitled to aid out of the rate, provided the instruction, other than religious, shall come up to a required standard, and that no child shall be excluded on religious grounds. . . 4. That distinctive religious formularies, where taught, shall be taught at some hour, to be specified by the managers of the school, in each case, in order to facilitate the withdrawal of those children whose parents or guardians may object to their instruction in such distinc tive religious formularies. 3. That there be no interference with the management or instruction of schools, other than may be needed to carry out the principles of the foregoing resolutions. (I. That the education rate be administered by local authorities, to be specially elected by and out of the rate• payers for the purpose. THE EXECUTIVE COMMITTEE OF THE EXHIBITION have reason to hope that the Queen may honour the Great Exhibition of next year at Manchester with a Royal visit, and thus further evince her Majesty's most gracious desire to encourage this great national educational undertaking. We are informed that the committee are empowered to state that his Royal Highness Prince Albert has expressed his intention of honouring the opening ceremonial of exhibition in May next with his presence. THE HON. JUDGE HALIBURTON, on Tuesday even ing, addressed the members of the Manchester athenaeum, in the library, on the position and prospects of the North American colonies. The hon. judge, who was very warmly received, briefly sketched the history of our North American colonies, and described colonial government as characterised by the greatest ignorance, the grossest neglect, and great injustice. The rapid growth of the colonies was astonishing. They had now arrived at the point, as regards population, at whicb the United States asserted their independence. Where would those colonies be in ten years?— The question must be asked and must be answered. Were toe colonies to be amalgamated with the United States? He did not think the United States wanted them, and he was happy to say that they did not want the United States; but still this alternative was " on the cards." There was a road called annexation, and it must be kept in view, for it led to the United States. Second, were they to form a confederation, each colony constituting a little State of itself, and so have a sort of congress, pre sided over by a viceroy? There were difficulties in the way of the third alternative ; but they were not insur mountable. Could the colonies be made part and parcel of England ? This was his favorite plan. But the colonists would not consent to such a union unless it were based on perfect equality. They had been degraded enough, and would be degraded no more. So far, they had been treated with the utmost possible contempt. Every petty German prince had a place here, but the colonies had none. Representation in Parliament was one thing they would require. The colonist felt that, tf he had been born in the United States, even the Presidentship would be open to him, whilst, as he was, he was looked down upon with contempt by the Yankees, and not considered an equal by the British. If he bore this any longer, he deserved to bear it. He naturally asked himself why Ireland should have representation and the colonist none ? The House of Peers contained no colonist; the late Governor-General of Canada left the country knowing just as touch of it as when he landed in ; and those upon whom titles had been conferred, in connection with grants of land in Nova Scotia for settling the colony, neglected it until the land been made valuable and then claimed it under their patents. In the House of Lords the colonists claimed equal participation with England. He wished that some man of political influence in this country would take up the question ; and he commended it as a fitting one for the energy and talents of Lord Stanley, as a young and rising statesman. THE SALARY OF THE NEW RECORDER FOR BRISTOL, Mr. Sergeant Kinglake, has been reduced, accord ing to agreement, from 0001. to 5001. per annum. pelant. THE JUDGMENT of the Lord Chancellor in the Tipperary Bank case, holding the shareholders not liable beyond the amount of their respective shares, has had the effect of weakening the confidence of depositors in other joint-stock banks, and has led to run for gold on the branches of the National Bank in Tipperary and Cashel. The manager has desired ten days' notice to pay deposit receipts, but there is no doubt of the stability of the bank. THE BROADSTONE MURDER still painfully occupies public attention. No further discoveries since that of the bag of silver last week have been made. A most searching inquiry to ascertain the persons wbo had access to the place where the basket was de posited, or who, not having business, were seen in its neighbourhood, has been set on foot, but it is said that this is merely a precautionary measure, for the police are in possession of facts which will go further than anything which can be elicited by such an investigation to point out the guilty person. Doubts having been entertained whether any money was taken from the cashier's room on the evening of the murder, it is now positively stated that by a document in the handwriting of Mr. Little it appears SATURDAY, that the sum of 3341. in gold and silver was carried off by the murderer. A mysterious story told by one O'Dowd, an engineer, that be one night last week saw a mufficd-up man come out secretly from a back window of the railway offices, and remove a bidden deposit, is disbelieved. The London detectives have given up the search, and left Dublin. THE INCO3IE-TAX QUESTION has given rise to several meetings in Dublin and over the country in opposition to its continuance, at least at the present rate. srotiaa THE SCOTCH AGRICULTURAL STATISTICS for this year have been published. They show an increase in acreage and produce of wheat of 561 per cent. over the two preceding years, '54 and '55, but a large deduction has to be made for damage by wet. In all, the gross results of this year's crop, as compared with that of last year in Scotland, show an increase of about one-twelfth in the yield of corn, but that will be more than balanced by the deterioration of quality and by the deficiency in potatoes. On the whole, we gather from these returns that the Scotch harvest of 1856 will yield hardly so much food as that of 1855, and about five per cent. less than that of 1854. This is now the third year in which these statistics have been voluntarily returned by the farmers of Scotland, and each year's experience has added to their correctness and value. No testimony could be more trustworthy than that of the farmers themselves, as given in these returns, to their unob jectionable character. Mr. Hall Maxwell, in the conclusion of his report to the Board of Trade, states : It is my pleasing duty to inform my lords that the re turns continue to be freely and voluntarily made by the agricultural community. Instances there ate, no doubt, of opponents, who plead the objections so frequently heard in England; but such cases are singular. The farmers of Scotland have practically satisfied themselves that the in quiry is in no respect inquisitorial, and that it cannot possibly divulge or compromise individual interests. They appreciate with intelligence the importance of statistical information, and they would rejoice could the inquiry be systematically extended over the three countries, believing that its results are comparatively valueless so long as its operation is partial. Satu ailb Volta. THE GOLD ROBBERY. THE examination of the prisoners Pierce, Burgess, and Tester was resumed on Saturday. Inspector Hazel, of the railway police, swore to having seen Tester and Agar together at Folkestone in the Octo ber of 1854 : I saw Agar at the Folkestone harbour station. He came to the station alone, and went into the booking-office. He came in the evening, and remained about a quarter of an hour. I watched hint during the time he was in the booking-office. A person of the name of Sharman, who was employed in the booking-office, was making up his money at the time, and I saw Agar peeping round the corner at him. I went into the booking-office, and Agar left. I did not see any more of him that evening, but I saw him again on the following day, on the pier. He was then alone, and was looking at the boat, which was leaving. I afterwards saw Tester, whom I knew perfectly well, join Lim, and they walked in the direction of the Pavilion Hotel. They appeared to be speaking to each other. I then lost sight of them, my duties being such as to deprive me of the opportunity of following them. 1 should say they were ten minutes under my observation after Tester had joined Agar. They appeared to be on friendly terms with each other. I believe Mr. Ledger was away at this time, but [am not certain of it. On the day that I saw Agar and Tester together, the boat left in the morning, and I saw the latter the same evening when he came to the station to go up by the train. He went by the 7.30 express train, as 1 st.pposed, to London. Ido not recollect seeing Agar after Tester left. Several other persons deposed to having seen at Dover certain persons " resembling the prisoners." Joseph Witherden, a railway porter at Dover, was on duty there the night of the robbery : The train arrived at about eleven o'clock. I saw it unloaded. Kennedy and Burgess were the two guards. I remained until the two o'clock up train started. I saw two men come for the purpose of going up by that train. I was by the booking•office when they arrived. One was taller than the other. They had a kind of cloak on, I think, and each carried a bag. They did not go to the counter, but came straight through the booking office to where I was standing. I offered to carry their luggage, but they did not allow me to do so. I showed them into a first-class carriage, and they took the bags in with them. The bags seemed to be heavy from the way they carried them. After they were in the carriage 1 had some conver sation with them about their tickets. They had two first class Ostend tickets, which were coloured blue. Cross-examined by Mr. IVONTNER : Three people were on duty at the station that night, one of whom is a person named Offen, who is not here, and who is not now in the service of the company. It was hiS duty to attend to the passengers the same as myself that night. Ido not think he was on the platform when the men passed. The men were iu the carriage about a quarter of an hour before the • • - •- •