The Press. — London, England, 1856-09-13 00:00:00

SEn. 13, 1856. pro p e rty of the Church ; but that the Situation of that pro perty should be equalised; and that all property held on mortmain in the county, beyond what was to yield the in- comes of the bishop and clergy, should be sold, and allowed to pass into the hands of laymen. VISCOUNT PALMERSTON arrived in town on Mon day from St. Leonards, and returned again on Thursday. HIS EXCELLENCY THE TURKISH AMBASSADOR bad an interview with Viscount Palmerston on Wednes day. The French Charge d'Affaires had also an in terview with the noble viscount, at his official resi dence in Downing-street. HIS EXCELLENCY SENOR DON JOAQUIN FRANCISCO PACHECO, the newly appointed ambassador from Spain to this Court, has arrived at Chapman's Hotel Cavendish-square. Rittronolit an. THE PROPRIETORS OF THE UNITY LIFE ASSURANCR SOCIETY held an extraordinary general meeting on Thursday at the London Tavern, to receive from the directors an explanation of their reasons for accepting the resignation of Mr. T. 11. Baylis, the manager. Dr. Davis having been appointed chairman, Mr. JACKSON, a director, proceeded on behalf of the Board to state their reasons for unanimously accepting Mr. Baylis's resignation. The first reason was that of Mr. Baylis's great and disgraceful inattention to business details. He paid no attention to the busi ness of the office, and knew nothing of the transac tions of the local boards. With respect to Mr. Aitkens' Glasgow affair Mr. Jackson explained that after Dr. Lloyd's arrival at Glasgow on the 3rd July, he telegraphed to Mr. Baylis:— Circumstances being suspicions, Dr. Macfarlane pro poses a post mortem. I must, therefore, stop till to• morrow. On the 4th : May I settle for seven hundred and fifty, and no post mortem ? Send answer. Messenger waits reply. Glasgow July 4, 1866. Send me an answer immediately-ZMaY I give seven hundred and fifty ? Not a moment to be lost. To which Mr. Baylis replied : 4th July. Yes, if you think it desirable. The compromise was effected, and Mr. Baylis imme diately sent down the money to Wieland : Instead of waiting two or three days for a board meeting he drew a cheque for Mr. Wieland. Why did he send the money out of his own pocket? On the 7th July the board met. Mr. Baylis said he wanted a cheque for 7501.—that he had settled a life loss for 7501., at Glasgow—that he had sent down the money, and that it was all settled. Mr. Edward Tayloe, who was present at the board, said, " Compromise a life loss ! What is the meaning of it ? " and objected to such a step. Mr. Baylis replied that he wanted the money, and he obtained it. On the 10th of July the matter came before the board for confirmation. Mr. Baylis was present at the board, but offered no objection. On the 17th July Mr. Baylis recommended the board to retrace their steps, and on the 24th, upon their con firming the transaction, Mr. Baylis resigned. The ground Mr. Jackson took in defence of the conduct of the board was that no distinct claim was made for the 1,2501., and that they could not, after the transaction, entertain any proposal to pay the money except through a distinct claim. Coun sels' opinion had been taken, and was against pay ment after compromise. A claim had now been made by Mr. Aitken and the money would be paid KO soon as Mr. Aitken could prove his claim and show why he made the offer of a compromise. A SHAREHOLDER here denied that the offer of com promise came from Mr. Aitken. Mr. JACKSON concluded his explanation by saying that the board were very glad to get rid of Mr. Baylis for his general mismanagement of the affairs of the company, and urged the point, that if Mr. Baylis did not know the circumstances under which the compromise was effected, why should he have been in such a hurry to pay the 7501., when the usual way of paying claims was after three months' notice. Mr. VAUGHAN, another director, followed in the same strain, giving similar reasons for accepting Mr. Baylis's resignation. Mr. BAYLIS defended his management of the affairs of the Unity institutions; and, with reference to the Glasgow case, said he did not at that moment know the basis which justified the compromise, but that to Dr. Lloyd's query he could only return the general reply he did. Dr. LLOYD said he accepted Mr. Baylis's tele graphic reply a.s a direct authority for agreeing to the compromise. When ho arrived in London, a day or two after, he went direct to Mr. Baylis, and told him every circumstance, and read one or two documents connected with the affair. Mr.l3sylis so far approved THE PRESS. of it that he said, " he would send the money down out of his own pocket." In reply to a shareholder, Dr. Lloyd said the compromise was not entered into on account of any circumstances connected with the death of Mr. Aitken's wile, but owing to the way in which he bad obtained the policy. Several other gentlemen addressed the meeting— some for, some against Mr. Baylis—when at last a resolution admitting the compromise to have been an error, and that the balance be paid so soon as the board can have payment legally authorised, was carried by acclamation. A committee was then appointed to inquire into the state and prospects of the association, and to ascertain the steps necessary to be taken for its future government. Mr. Mechi proposed to restore Mr. Baylis to his seat at the board. The board, upon this, demanded a poll, which was fixed for Friday. THE NEW POSTAL DELIVERIES for the metropolis have commenced. By this system London and the suburbs are divided into ten postal districts. In each district there will be a chief sorting-office, having a direct postal communication with the chief office of every other district, and with every post town in the kingdom. Letters arriving at these chief offices will only have to be separated into letter-carriers' walks, when they will be immediately distributed. In many of these walks there will be hourly deliveries of letters, ten times daily ; into which deliveries the letters which are now continually flowing into the me tropolis from provincial towns and from foreign mails landed at the outports throughout the day, will fall. The facilities which the new arrangements will afford the inhabitants of London for communication with each other will be very great. At present some con siderable time elapses before a letter can be delivered, even in the same street in which it is posted, but by the new arrangements this inconvenience will no longer be felt, and prompt business or social appoint merits may then be arranged at a short notice through the post. THREE EXTENSIVE FIRES occurred in the metro polis last Sunday :—Rutland Wharf, a massive range of corn warehouses in Thames-street, broke out in flames early on Sunday morning, and was almost entirely destroyed, and a large quantity of grain burnt and injured. The large leather-cloth inanufac • tory in the New Kent-road, opposite the Elephant and Castle, was also burnt to the ground, and 4,0001. worth of property destroyed ; while a coachmaker's premises (Stoneham, of Bedford-street, Euston square) was also burnt down about the same time. THE LONDON CHARTISTS are making preparations for a metropolitan demonstration to John Frost, who is to make his public entry into London next Mon day. The democrats are convoked in Finsbury square, Lincoln's-inn-fields, and Russell-square, from which places respectively they are to march on to Euston-square railway terminus, to receive Mr. Frost. A carriage will be waiting to receive him, and the procession will then proceed, by a route to be further indicated, to Primrose-hill, on which, at two o'clock, a mass meeting will be held. THE REGISTRAR GENERAL'S RETURNS for the past week show an ordinary rate of mortality-1,100 deaths being registered for that time; the births amounted to 1,634. THE EARLY CLOSING Assocrmox held their fif teenth autumnal meeting on Wednesday at Exeter- WI. Mr. Samuel Morley, the Rev. Mr. Kitto, and other gentlemen interested in the movement, ad dressed the meeting, and the report read by Mr. Lilwall stated that the movement was progressing satisfactorily. Resolutions in accordance with the object of the meeting were proposed and carried. THE LATE FATAL ACCIDENT IN THE CITY, by the fall of a house, was referred to at the City Commis sion of Sewers on Tuesday. The following motion was carried unanimously : That it be referred to the general purposes committee to inquire into the cause of the falling of the house in Little Swan-alley, and into the working of the present sys tem of house inspection, with especial reference to dan gerous structures ; and also whether it is necessary to make any, and what, alteration of system; and to report thereon to this commission. A Miss ELIZABETH HALL, aged twenty-three, the daughter of a respectable coach-plater in Orchard• street, drowned herself in the Serpentine last week, owing to family disagreements. Vrobincial. THE WEST CUMBERLAND AGRICULTURAL SOCIETY hell its annual meeting and exhibition last week. The Earl Lonsdale, lord lieutenant of the county, was present on the occasion, and at the dinner in the evening, alluding to the rapid progress agriculture had made of late years. said that the first step to improvement was pipe-tile draining : I have long since acted upon that principle, and so firmly was I convinced that it was the best system that could be invented that I commenced taisaufitoturing tilts for my own use. This is what I wish to impress upon the farmers of Cumberland; but I am sorry to see that many of them still persevere in the old and erroneous system. I have been a manufacturer of tile pipes a long time, and such as I have not used myself have been dis posed of to those of my tenants who are willing to take them ; and I assure you that should any one be disposed to engage in the manufacture of these articles he will find it a profitable business, and at the same time confer a great benefit on the agricultural interest. Ido not wish to enter into the trade myself, but whoever adopts it will find it both remunerative and useful. Mr. William Nicholson, formerly mayor of Melbourne, Victoria, was also present at the dinner, and made some interesting remarks upon the Australian colo nies and the result of the progress of agriculture : Australia was a country which offered such advantages that a person of ordinary abilities could not but meet with success, if he were but steady and assiduous in his appli cation to business. He made himself acquainted with the agriculture of the country, of which they all knew some thing by report; but the rapidity with which it progressed a stranger would hardly give credit to. Previous to the gold discoveries the colony produced all they required. Everything that was necessary was produced in abundance. The colony became an exporter of grain to a large amount. With the discovery of gold there came a change. Labour was not to be had for agricultural purposes, and the land was neglected for the mines. Provisions and other articles rose to fabulous prices, and they became dependent on other countries for the necessaries of life. Previous to the gold discoveries the annual value of the exports of the colony amounted to about 3,000,0001. After the gold digging commenced the exports increased to 23,000,0001. a year, and yet, strange to say, the embarrass ments of the merchants became so great that the colony might be said to be insolvent. But the gold mania got over after a time, and the colonists could now turn their attention to agriculture. In another year they would not have to import a single article of food. Instead of sinking, the colony would shortly be in a position to export 5,000,000/. a year over the imports. This rut occasioned by the increased attention paid to agriculture. The diffi culty through which Australia had passed was caused by agriculture being neglected, and when it was not neglected the colony enjoyed uninterrupted prosperity. THE CRIMEAN bINN of the 6th Dragoons, 11th Hussars, and E troop of Artillery, now stationed at Folkestone, were entertained at a public dinner, at the Pavilion Hotel, given by the inhabitants, on Tuesday. The dinner was given in excellent style, roast beef, plum puddings, and plenty of good ale, with rum punch to conclude with. After dinner the usual loyal toasts were drunk, with tremendous enthusiasm. Major-General Sir H. Bernard re turned thanks for the army, Captain Heythorne for the navy, and Mr. Raikes Currie, M.P., addressed the soldiers in an animated tone, declaring that he believed there was a good time coming for non commissioned officers and privates. At the conclu sion of the hon. member's address some of the privates intimated their wish that this opportunity should be taken of expressing their thanks to the public for the sympathy shown to them : Private DE CARTE said : We lost many a brave man, but we never lost our good name or honour. We cannot forget Miss Nightingale, nor can we forget Mis. management. I promised, if ever I returned, I would drink to the ladies who so nobly risked their lives for us-- let us do so now. The health of Miss Nightingale was then drunk amidst enthusiastic cheers, and the company separated. THE EDINBURGH CRIMEAN BANQUET is fixed for the 31st October. It will take place at the Corn Exchange. COLONEL Monais, of the 17th Lancers, has been presented with a " sword of service " by the gentry of North Devon. The ceremony took place last Saturday, at Torrington. The gallant colonel in returning thanks, alluding to the appointment of the Duke of Cambridge to the command-in-chief, said that he had rerved under the Duke of Cambridge far a number of years, and in his opinion there was not a man in the army better acquainted than the duke with the duties of the service. As a cavalry officer, he knew the use of every strap and buckle, and could put on a saddle and mount his horse with any man in the service. He also thoroughly under stood horses, and was skilful in the use of his weapon. He ,the colonel) was also informed by officers of the artillery and infantry that his Royal Highness was also equally well acquainted with every detail of their arms of the service. THE REV. J. Lrru.rnor, 8.A., curate of Shearsby, near Lutterworth, the Leicestershire papers an nounce, has resigned his connection with the Church of England, for the purpose of joining the communion of the Church of Rome. Mn. TOLLEMACHE, M.P., presided last week at the dinner of the Cheshire Agricultural Society, at Nant wicb, and, in the course of his speech on the occa sion, referred to the discussion upon agricultural statistics, and said :