The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-23 00:00:00

502 He would show the reasons why they had no literature in the colonies, and why it was not likely that they would have it for many years to come, and that was no great loss. The colonies, in fact, were too busy clearing the forest and building cities, laying out roads, bridging rivers, and pro viding shelter for the ticket•of•leave gentlemen. Literature required the academic leisure of learned and well•endovFed institutions, such as Oxford. The colonies were too young to afford the time, and if they had the time they could not afford it either. There were however, other obstacles— there were obstacles in the way not merely of the colonies, but of the United States; nit that he put the colonies behind the United States, but rather before them. The United States had difficulties to overcome; they had not the institutions of England, and although it might appear paradoxical. they were, in fact, too free, and, above all, too equal, to have a sterling literature. There was no literature in the colonies, because they had had no past, no infancy, no youth. They bail grown up suddenly—they had no settled institutions, no nobility to look back upon, no etudes that told tales of glory—that formerly were the strongholds of rapine and oppression. They had no names to their rivers—they had no fairies—no superstitions—and no legends to their streams or mountains—indeed they were plain matter-of-fact hard men, and as such even the works of a poet would not be valued amongst them. In deed there could be no poets where there were no memories, no imagination where there were no legends. But the time would come when they would have their memories and their legends, and then they would have a literature, in acknowledging the toast of which he had now only to thank them in anticipation. He hoped, however, their literature would continue to be the literature of the empire ; that the literature of the colonies would be the literature of England ; as by their literature the mother country and the colonies would have the strongest bond of union which could possibly exist between them, and that they would long continue in the enjoyment of one common prosperity. The toast of the evening, long postponed for the Earl of Granville, was briefly proposed by Mr. Thackeray. Other toasts followed, and the pro ceedings of the evening were shortly concluded. The subscription list returned upwards of 1,200/., nearly double the usual amount. THE METROPOLITAN BOARD OF WORKS held a special meeting on Tuesday, Mr. J. Thwaites in the chair, to consider a report from the Committee of Works and Improvements on the estimate made by the superintending architect as to the probable cost of removing Middle-row, Holborn. The superintend ing architect was of opinion that the improvement might be made for 50,0001. Mr. Wright moved a resolution, that it was advisable to remove the buildings forming Middle-row, Holborn, at the earliest possible opportunity; and that the architect and solicitor be instructed to endeavour to make conditional arrangements for the purchase of the property, goodwills, and other rights and interests, in order that this bosrd may be enabled to effect the contemplated improvement, without the expense of going to Parlitenent; the ultimate purchase to depend on the financial arrangements with the Government being satisfactory to this board. Amend ments were proposed by Mr. D'lffanger and Mr. H. L. Taylor, but on a division the original motion was carried by 13 to 5. The board then adjourned. THE ADJOURNED TRANSPORTATION MEETING of yesterday week was resumed on Tuesday, when Mr. Pearson, Mr. Cruikshank, and Mr. Payne addressed the meeting at some length. Mr. Armstrong criti cised that part of Mr. Pearson's plan which advises the erection of large prisons with walls inclosing 1,000 or 2,000 acres of land, and characterised it as benevolent but impracticable." He also recom mended the transfer of our convicts to the colonies for life, and suggested that a prospective interest in the land they tilled should be held out to them as an incentive to good conduct. Sir Thomas rancred next advised a separation between the punitive and reformatory elements in our prison discipline. Transportation should, in his judgment, be the ultimate reward offered to reclaimed criminals, who outht to be sent out, after expatiating their sentence at home, as free men. Several other speakers suc ce riled, whose views were singularly discordant. At le igth two hours and a quarter of discussion was br night to a termination by another adjournment. THE ADJOURNED INQUEST upon the bodies of the six persons killed by the fall of houses in Tottenham court road has been resumed this week, and the evidence given goes far to prove that the party-wall between the two establishments was well known both to Mr. Hunter and Mr. Maples to be in a dangerous condition. Mr. Hunter was desirous of taking the wall down ; but Mr. Maples said that as the wall was rotten on Mr. Hunter's side, he should rather build it lip. Mr. Redding, the surveyor, said thet in his ci,eninn the accident occurred entirely from " the • -ry improper way " the works were being executed on Mr. Maple's premises. A seventh sufferer has since died. TILE PEACE SOCIETY held their annual meeting on Tuesday, at Finsbury Chapel. Mr. C. Hindley, M.P., presided, and the meeting was attended by many reverend gentlemen. Various resolutions in accordance with the object of the meeting were prop:geed and carried. THE PRESS. A VISITATION OP THE LONDON CLERGY took place on Tuesday morning, at St. Sepulchre's Church, Snow•hill. There was a very large attendance. The Archdeacon of London, in addressing the clergy, said it had been usual at such visitations to deal with ecclesiastical subjects, but he should depart from that rule on the present occasion, and invite the attention of the clergy to a scriptural topic, namely, the Mosaic cosmogony as related in the first chapter of Genesis. (The clergy present seemed astonished at this announcement—the subject being looked upon as a somewhat extraordinary one for an archidiaconal visitation.) The archdeacon proceeded at considerable length to show that in respect to the creation, revelation and science were not contradic tory or irreconcileahle, and that while both were true they served to confirm and illustrate one another. The archdeacon laid down many broad and occa sionally some startling propositions, which, however, he argued out with great learning and ability. He brought the visitation to a close by thanking the clergy for their very numerous attendance, and for the attention with which they had listened to his observations. A SAD ACCIDENT OCCURRED AT CHRIST'S HOSPITAL on Saturday afternoon, as the Blue•coat boys were engaged in their usual sports, two of their number at'Mmpting the dangerous but frequently accom plished feat of scaling the wall of the playground which abuts upon Giltspur•street. One of them descended in perfect safety ; but the other, a fine youth of about sixteen, evidently ignorant that a line of pointed iron rails attached to the premises of Mr. Gilt uth, baker, were beneath him, dropped upon the spikes, where he was impaled for several minutes, until his affrighted companions gave the alarm, when he was extricated from his horrible position, and the best surgical aid from Bartholomew's Hospital was promptly on the spot. A JOINT DEPUTATION from the Vestry and Board of Guardians of Marylebone waited cn Tuesday on Sir B. Hall, at the offices of the Board of Works, relative to the alleged " aggression of the Poor-law Commissioners upon the right of local self. govern ment." The deputation was intro:laced by Mr. Nicholay, churchwarden, who said that, finding them selves in " a difficulty " with the Poor law Commis sioners, with respect to a threat of legal proceedings for the expulsion of the Government inspector, Mr. Farnell, from the Board of Guardians, they were anxious to secure the right hon. baronet's good offices with the Government in extricating them from it, and wished for his advice in the matter. Sir B. Hall, in reply, went at great length into the details and correspondence connected with both the flogging of the women in the workhouse and with the report of the Lunacy Commissioners relative to the state of the wards for the insane, and said that they so established the charge of mismanagement against the guardians that it was impossible for the commissioners not to interfere. He was sure the Poor-law Board had no inclination to interfere with their right of local self-government:— And (concluded Sir Benjamin) as soon as you show me that the matters complained of are remedied, or that they are actually in active course of remedy, I will with the greatest pleasure represent the case to the Poorlaw Board, and endeavour to prevent any further interference in those matters. SIR J. KAY SHUTTLEWORTH attended the distribu tion of prizes at the St. Mary's Hospital Medical School on Wednesday, and after the ceremony addressed the students. He commenced by re• ferring to the effsct produced on the young student by his first introduction to the dissecting room and his being familiarised to the contemplation of the great mystery of life and death. Ho traced the pro gress of the student through the various stages of his education, and, referring to the admirable arrange• ments of the great hospitals in Europe, expressed his opinion that a hospital ought to be a place where the patient would not only be cured of disease, but by the example of all those he saw around think of what his duties and his responsibilities were. He showed how the tendency to materialism, which the first introduction to the science was likely to produce, was to be overcome, and drew a picture of what a physician of eminence ought to be. He pointed out the share the medical profession hit•l hitherto con tributed to the social development and civilisation of mankind, and showed that on their exertions the proper working out of many great social problems now depended. The physician shove all others was called on to take his share in this great work; and although to every man it might not be given to accomplish great things, yet those who applied them selves to the work in the proper spirit of their calling would at least have satisfied the great yearning of their nature, not to have lived in vain, and no pro• tession, not even the spiritual, had in its power to confer greater boons on mankind. The address is to be printed. THE BRITISH ANT) FOREIGN SAILORS' SOCIETY, the Aborigin. Protection Society, and the Voluntary School Association, have held their annual meetings this week. SATURDAY, - THE BROMPTON CONSUMPTION HOSPITAL. SOCIETY held their anniversary dinner on Wednesday, at Willis's rooms, St.J antes's. Lord Stanley, M.l'., was in the chair, and among those present were the Rev. Sir H. Foulis, Bart ...the Hon. Captain Pakenham, Colonel Buldero, M.P., air. H. S. Thornton, Dr. Cr. H. Roe, Dr. R. Quoin, Mr. John Bull, and the Rev. B. Marriott. The usual loyal and patriotic toasts having been given and duly honoured, the chairman gave the toast of the evening, " Prosperity to the Bromp • ton Hospital." In proposing this toast the noble lord stated that of 45,000 deaths which occurred yearly in the metropolitan districts, 5,600 were caused by consumption ; thus, excluding infantine moitality, about one•fifth of the deaths arose from this disease. Since the establishment of this hospital it bad re lieved 5,586 in-patients and 36,030 out patients; its income had in one year amounted to 19,0001., but had averaged between 7,0001. and 8,0001. If the hospital were well-managed it was certainly deserving of the support of the public, and that it was well managed these and other facts stated in the report would undoubtedly prove. The toast was responded to by Mr. S. C. Hall. During the evening subscrip tions were announced amounting to upwards of 1,0001., of which the noble chairman gave twenty guineas, and the Earl of Derby thirty guineas. THE CONSECRATION OF THE BISHOP OF NORWICH will take place in the parish church of St. Maryle bone, of which the bishop has been for some years past the rector. The consecrating prelates will be the Archbishop of Canterbury and the Bishops of London, Winchester, Carlisle, and Ripon. The Archbishop of Canterbuty has appointed Thursday, June 11th, for the consecration. THE EARL OF CARNARVON was duly installed on Wednesday last Master of the Westminster and Keystone Freemasons' Lodge. After the ceremony upwards of 200 of the brethren adjourned to a ban quet, at which the Earl of Zetland, Lord Paninure, and many distinguished noblemen and gentlemen were present. The proceedings were prolonged to a late hour. TIIE SUBSCRIPTION for a testimonial to Mr. Mas terman, on his retirement from the representation of the city of London, already exceeds 1,1001., and will speedily be increased, as many leading commercial men have signified their desire to enrol their names on the list of subscribers. The form of testimonial has not yet been determined upon ; but it is not un likely that the funds thus raised will be applied to the foundation of a scholarship in connection with the City of London School. THE REGISTR.IR•GENERAL'S RETURNS exhibit favourable condition of the public health. 1,050 deaths and 1,682 births were returned for the week ending Saturday the 16th inst. Vr.obintial. A SINGULAR RAILWAY ACCIDENT, which might have been attended with a serious loss of lite, oc curred on the South Devon Railway on Saturday morning. It appears that as the itiggage•train front Exeter to Plymouth approached the Teigninouth station at a moderate speed the pointsmaii, from some unexplained cause, turned the train into a dead siding winch is contiguous to the platform of the station. The result was that the flagging of the platform was torn up, the stone pillars which sup ported the iron roof were knocked down, and the roof fell with a fearful crash across the line, while the engine, tender, and first carriage of the train were iiterally buried in the debris of the booking office. The driver and stoker, seeing the approach ing danger, jumped off the engine just in time to save their lives. The amount of property destroyed belonging to the South Devon Company is estimated at several thousand pounds. Traffic on the line was impeded for upwards of four hours, and tho morning mail from Exeter to Plymouth reached the latter town four hours later than its appointed time. THE NUMBER OF BODIES now recovered from the Lundhill pit has reached to 101. Relays of men are day and night engaged in clearing away the ruins of the fallen roof. An inspection of the pit was made this week with the view of obtaining some clue to tile origin of the terrible accident, but with out any material success. A RUSSIAN GUN, a trophy from Sebastopol, was renently landed at the gun wharf, Portsea, being a present from the Government to the mayor and cor poration of Portsmouth. It is ten feet in length, of thirty-six pounder calibre, and weighs three tons. Its mould is handsome, and it appears to have been cast in 1846. It is in good preservation, with the exception of a piece of the muzzle being knocked away. A suitable inscription will be placed on the piece, and a council of the mayor and corporation will determine its site. THE EXHIBITION OF ART TREASURES is now opened at the reduced charge of one shilling. The visitors during the week have been many, but the