The Press. — London, England, 1856-04-05 00:00:00

, ..• , . -••-" 322 THE NATIONAL SUNDAY LEAGUE held a crowded meeting on Monday evening at the Camden-hall, for the purpose of agreeing upon a petition to Parlia ment to open the national institutions on Sundays. several gentlemen addressed the meeting at length in favour of the scheme, and an attempt by Mr. Lintoll to carry an amendment in favour of retaining the buildings closed, was lost by a large majority voting in favour of the original resolution. A peti tion to Parliament was agreed upon. THE ADJOURNED MEETING AT LLOYD'S was resumed on Wednesday, when the consideration of the ques tion of frauds upon underwriters was continued by Mr. Watts, who, after a lengthened speech, offered in the end to withdraw his motion. Mr. Wills, one of the committee, denied Mr. Watts' assertions. A dis cussion then ensued upon the question of appointing a committee of inquiry, and the meeting was ulti mately adjourned. THE EARL OF SHAFTESDURY, on Wednesday, attended a distribution of prizes at the Field lane Ragged School, and addressed a few words to the meeting upon the beneficial effects of ragged schools. AT THE COURT OF ALDERMEN, held on Tuesday, a motion for an inquiry into the circumstances con nected with the late execution was unanimously carried, Alderman Rose stating that he could not attend another execution solely dependent upon the man Calcraft, who, on Monday, after pulling the bolt, ran away, and could only with great difficulty be iniuced to return. Alderman Kennedy said there was no doubt that Calcraft had received a letter con taining a threat to shoot him on this occasion. At the same court, a motion by Alderman Sydney, to inquire into the origin of licensing brokers, and wh dher the Court of Aldermen could enforce pay me it of rents from brokers, was negatived. AT THE COURT OF COMMON COUNCIL, on Thursday, it was moved that tlie consideration of Sir George Grey's Corporation Reform Bill be referred to a cont ra ttee of the whole court. A motion, also, by Mr. kiderton that a deputation wait upon the Govern. ment to Obtain a repeal of the law requiring the oath of abjuration, wag carried by a large majority. THE FAMOUS SIBTHORP COLLECTION of objects of vertu, rivalling that of the late Mr. Bernal in point of curiosity, is not in artistic value, if on show at the late colonel's private residence, 40, Eaton-square, till Wednesday next, when the whole collection will be brought to the hammer. The collection is as curious as miscellaneous, and embracing in its 1,300 objects something of everything that the most persevering collectors h ive ever gathered together, and many things n iique in themselves, such BS the original tobacco bix of Jack Sheppard, with his portrait etched in the lid, and the most exquisite carving in white wood of De Vincis' " Last Supper." The sale will com mence on the oth, and extend over nine days. SEVERAL GREAT FIRES have happened again this weak in London, and the thcrough inefficacy of water t) put out fire proved on each occasion. The most sawre were those on Tuesday night, at Messrs. Dobbs, the printers, in Fleet-street; at Mr. Marl borough's, newsvender, Ave Maria-lane ; and Mr. Teale, furniture-broker, in Clerkenwell. In each case t ie arrival of the engines was speedy, and the supply of water abundant ; but, in spite ot' all the efforts of tie firemen, nearly the whole of the premises were entirely destroyed. THE HORTICULTURAL SOCIETY OF LONDON held a spleial general meeting this week in Regent-street, 13. r P. Egerton, M.P., in the chair, when, on the mo- Lion of hurl Grey, seconded by Mr. Evelyn Denison, M.P., it was resolved unanimously : That the council be authorised to terminate the tenancy of the Garden at Chiswick as soon as the lease will permit, and that the property therein be sold, unless such a sum as the council may require for maintaining the garden shall have been subscribed before the Ist of May. THE PRESS. inordinate vanity, they thought, coo, they could do it a little better. They had accordingly tried their hands, and the result had been most satisfactory. Their society had done much politically to achieve the objects they had in view, and was in a most flourishing condition besides ; while the great leviathan that was to have swallowed up all the Tory constituencies of England was in so feeble a condition that it could hardly wag its tail. Instead of buy ing land all over England, as it had threatened, it had been obliged to suspend its operations. The late Mr. Hume, who was at first one of the trustees, did not think it safe, and retired from it before his death. Another man of first rate ability of that party—Mr. Bright—he, too, did not think it safe, and retired. The construction and princi ples of the Conservative Land Society, on the contrary, were such that their bitterest opponents could not in sinuate a doubt of their soundness and safety. As a political society they had fairly endeavoured to meet the enemy on his own ground, and they had done good service thereby to the great Conservative party. They had, in fact, rescued some of the shaky counties from political per dition. Mr. Lewis, in a speech of great ability, explained the nature of the rules of the society. With respect to the society's political character, it had never been concealed. The society never would have been formed except with the view of supporting those Conservative principles which he and its projectors believed to be the spring and mainstay of the pro sperity of England. He would vouch for nine-tenths of the members being Conservatives. Viscount Ingestre could conceive nothing more calculated to elevate the character of a working man than enabling him, by a proper use of his savings, to become the proprietor of his own house:— With this view, and keeping this object steadily before them, this society offered great advantages to the working man, the artisan, and all the toiling classes, in the invest ment of their hard-earned savings. By paying Bs. per month—a sum far less than the majority of mechanics ex pended in their own personal enjoyments, and in which their families had no share—a freehold site might be eecured; and by the system adopted by the society of lending money for the inconsiderable sum of 2s. a month more (a certain proportion being already paid), a sum was advanced sufficient to build a house. The working man thus found himself with a roof over his head which, iu a very short time, if he continued steadfast in his industrious and active habits, would ultimately become his own. This was one great reason why he felt a pride in being connected with the society, and why he felt certain it would be pro sperous. Its objects were pure and praiseworthy; it offered great and material advantages to the poor man beyond the possession of political privileges; and every man, poor and rich, Liberal or Conservative, looked naturally to his own interests. SATURDAY, After some explanatory remarks from Mr. Morgan, relative to the newly purchased estate at Tunbridge, several new members were enrolled, and the proceed ings terminated. come tax. Mr. S. Bowly approved of this plan, and moved That the present income tax is oppressive and unjust, because unequal, and, from the nature of the assessments, inquisitorial, and that an equitable adjustment or total abolition of the tax is necessary. This was carried by acclamation, and Mr. T. M. Sturge proposed the adoption of a petition to the House of Commons in echo to the resolution. li e spoke of the effect of the tax upon the commercial morality of the kingdom, and said lie knew of his own personal experience that persons who were in solvent had, " in order to keep up their credit," re turned their incomes at many times more than the actual amount. The petition was adopted ; and, on the motion of Alderman Heane, a memorial to the Chancellor of the Exchequer was carried, setting forth the tax as unjust and inquisitorial, and praying for its abolition or readjustment. THE EARL OF ALBEMARLE presided on Tuesday, at the annual meeting of the Birmingham Provident Institution. The noble earl addressed the very crowded meeting at great length, pointing out to them the advantages of education, the evils of in temperance, and entreating them to support provi• dent institutions. The meeting was also addressed by several clergymen, and an annual report of a highly satisfactory character read, before the pro• ceedings terminated. AT THE INAUGURATION OF THE DUNDEE ROYAL. EXCHANGE, on Tuesday, Mr. Baxter, M.P. in pro. posing the toast of the " President and people of the United States of America," alluded to the possible future of Central America, with reference to the dis pute now pending between the two countries : America, it may be said, shows an inordinate desire for territorial c aggrandisement. True ; but if this be meant for a railing accusation, does it come with good grace from a power on whose dominions the sun never sets—a power which has appropriated South Africa, Australia, and New Zealand—a power which, step by step, has possessed herself of India from the Himalaya Mountains to Cape Comorin ? John Bull, however, uses more gentlemanly expressions ; while Jonathan talks vulgarly of annexing Cuba, he with a marvellous quiet dignity sequestrates Oude. I care no hing about what is called the Monroe doctrine. " America for the Americans " is no cherished maxim of mine; but this I do say, that nothing is more likely, nothing more natural, nothing is more desirable than that a people so industrious and so well fitted for self-government as our Transatlantic cousins, should gradually extend their institutions over the entire continent of North America; and that, no matter what we do, or think, or say, whether Lord Palmerston for the nonce stands by his friend the King of the Mosquitos, or, like a wise man, abandons that mighty potentate to his fate, both Mexico and Central America will, sooner or later, be peopled and civilised by the American branch of the Anglo-Saxon race. AH INFLUENTIAL PUBLIC MEETING WaS held at the Town-ball, St. Albans, on Thursday, for the pur pose of considering the best means of upholding the venerable abbey church of that town, and obtaining for it the dignity of a cathedral. The Earl of Vern lam presided, and the meeting was addressed by the Marquis of Salisbury, Lord Robert Cecil, Lord R. Grosvenor, Sir A. Dalrymple, &c., and resolutions n accordance with the objects of the meeting unanimously adopted. The abbey of St. Albans, one of the finest monuments of antiquity in this country, has long been going to decay. The amount of the repairs necessary for the thorough restoration of the building was estimated, in a report made to the meeting, at 20,0001. Upwards of 4,0001. were subscirbed in the room. THE SUFFOLK SHRIEVALTY ASSOCIATION appear to have given Chief Justice Jervis the wrong list of rules upon a recent occasion. The list given in, it is stated, was the " proposed," not the adopted one, which merely suggested the employment, "so tar as practicable," of county police in lieu of javelin meu. THE ROCHDALE BOARD OF GUARDIANS AND THE PRIVY COUNCIL are at present at loggerheads. Two years since, Mr. Browne, the inspector of schools, visited the Spotland Workhouse, and reported to the Privy Council strongly against the neglected state of education of children there. The board replied that half the children were idiots, and all casual paupers, the settled paupers having been sent to Swinton Schools—denied Mr. Browne's statements, and called upon him to amend his report. This he refused to do, and on Monday, when Mr. Browne came round upon a second official visit, the board met him on his arrival, taxed him with having made an unfair report on a previous occasion, and refused to admit him to the workhouse. The matter is now before the Education Committee. A TREMENDOUS FIRE AND EXPLOSION OF GUN- PowDEn occurred at a wholesale druggist's in Bristol on Sunday morning. The vast quantities of oils on the premises insured a rapid fate to the building, and between two and three a.m. a large store of powder ignited, blew up the whole house, broke the windows of half the neighbourhood, and set fire to three adjoining houses, which were bunt to the ground. THE NORWICH TESTIMONIAL TO MAJOR-GENERAL WINDHAM has already reached a subscription of upwards oh 1,1001. A meeting was held last Sa turday at the Shire hall, when it was d e t e rmined to present him with two swords, a dress, and a fighting sword, while the balance of the money would he handed over to the gallant general. THE REUISTRAR-GENERAL'S RETURNS state 1,396 deaths, and 1,977 births, as registered for the past week. The number of deaths is below the average of the past ten years, allowing for the increase of popu lation. THE REFORM OF THE INCOME TAX was considered at a public meeting, held at the Shire hall, Glouces ter, on Monday night. Mr. Cliffe, mayor of Glou cester, presided, and on the platform were Mr. Price, M.P. for Gloucester, and Messrs. Attwood and Par tridge, a deputation from the Birmingham Income tax Reform Association. The Mayor, in opening the business of the evening, alluded to the receipt of the news of peace that day, and was followed by Mr. Price, M.P., in a short speech. The members of the deputation followed. Mr. Attwood suggested that, a similar principle should be adopted in levying this tax as was laid down in levying the Customs. If parties declared their goods liable to Customs at a price below their actual valuation, the Customs had the power to take to those goods at the owner's valnation ; and he suggested that if parties set down their incomes or property below their actual value the law should have the power of taking the surplus. Mr. Partridge. proposed levying a simple property tax on the aggregate amount of all property, as in America, and proceeded to show that such a tax would raise more than the present inequitable in- Vrobintial. THE CONSERVATIVE LAND SOCIETY held an im pnrta•tt political meeting last Monday, in the Town hall, Tonbridge Wells. Viscount Ranelagh, Viscount Ingestrie, Colonel Brownlow Knox, M.P., Mr. Lewis, Dr. Worthington, Mr. Gruneisen, &c., were present. From the indisposition of Mr. Masters Smith, Viscount Ranelagh was called to the chair, and, after a fe.v remarks upon the satisfactory position and prospects of the society, he called upon Colonel Knox, M.P., to explain its peculiar character. Colonel Knox said the Conservative Land Society originated in 1852 as a defensive movement against the National Land Society, which then threatened to monopolise all the boroughs and counties in Eng land : It naturally occurred to this meeting that what the Radicals could do, they coald do; and, without any very 3rtlant. THE DEATH OF THE VENERABLE JUDGE TORRENS, on Saturday evening last, was very sudden. The learned judge was taken ill in the middle of the week, just as he had concluded his circuit, and died at his seat, Derrynoid-lodge, Londonderry. Judge Torrens was called to the bar in 17118, and raised to the bench in 1823. Ile had thus been fifty-eight years a member of the bar, and Ithirty-three a judge. "lie died," says the Mail, " full of honours as of years, and cheered by the general support he received from his countrymen of every class and creed against the unworthy and unconstitutional attack made upon him and the independence of the bench." ilr. Keogh, the Attorney-General, has been offered and has accepted the vacancy on the bench. 111