The Press. — London, England, 1855-04-14 00:00:00

APRIL 14, 1855. dorrtspoubturt. GENERAL VIVIAN'S APPOINTMENTS. TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS." Sir,—l see from your last issue that the Chief Commissioner of the Insolvent Court assumes that one of the officers alluded to by me in my letter of March 15 is the one regarding whose case he has pub lished a pamphlet, to be had at Messrs. Upham and Beets, of Bond-street. Having referred to the pamphlet in question, I find that the following are the charges, finding, and sentence in the case of that officer, and the public may judge from them how far, supposing him to be really the person alluded to by me, he was fit to be selected for a high command in the Turkish contingent under General Vivian : CHABOE.—For conduct unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman in the following instances :- Ist. In having at Meerat, on or about the 11th of January, 1848 (he having on a previous date been pri vately offered by a person then at the station a bribe to lose a match at billiards at which he, Lieut. —, was to play, and on which large bets were depending), falsely stated to Cornet —, of her Majesty's 9th Lancers, whom he informed of the circumstance, that the bribe offered him was fifty gold mohurs. 2nd. In Laving at Meerat, on or about the 16th of January, 1848, when asked by Cornet —, in presence of other officers, whether he had not informed him, Cornet —, that he had been offered a bribe of fifty gold mohurs to lose the said match, or words to that effect, falsely re plied that he had not so informed him. 3rd. In having at the same time and place falsely and evasively taken advantage of the words" fifty gold mohurs," used in the said question put to him by the said Cornet —, to reply with a direct negative and without further explanation ; thereby intentionally and disingenuously leaving it to be understood by those who heard him that no bribe had been offered him. 4th. In having at the same time and place falsely affirmed and declared that he had not told the said Cornet that he had been offered a bribe to lose the said match, and that such a thing bad never happened, or words to that effect; thereby intentionally and falsely denying that any bribe at all had been offered him. FINDING.—On the first instance of the charge that a bribe was privately offered to the prisoner as alleged, and that he told Cornet of it ; but that he, Lieut. —, of the Regiment of Light Cavalry, is not guilty of false hood in the statement he then made to Comet —, and I le court do acquit him thereof. On the second, instance that he is " Guilty." On the third instance "Guilty.".. On the fourth instance " Guilty." And the court are further of opinion that the zonduct of which they have found the prisoner guilty is unbecoming the character of an officer and a gentleman, as alleged in the preamble. SENTENCE.—The court sentences the prisoner, Lieut. —, of the Regiment of Light Cavalry, to be dis missed the service. As regards the alleged restoration to the service, it simply consists, a .4 appears by the pamphlet, in placing the dismissed officer on the retired half-pay list from the 16th November, 1853, in substitution of the pension before allowed him ; and in granting this concession the Directors have been careful to use terms which leave the justice of the finding and sentence of the court-martial entirely unimpugned.— I have the honour to remain, sir, your most obedient servant, Hosos. April 10th, 1855. THE CRIMEAN MEDALS. TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS." Sir,—Your last impression states—" The medals for distinguished service in the field were forwarded to the Crimea in the past week." I regret to contra dict so agreeable an announcers ent, but " authority " has informed me that these out and and visible signs of a country's gratitude are still 'ar Tom completion ! Perhaps THE PitESS would a. sis • in stimulating certain inert departments, to tl e eld that many a tall fellow might wear his decora ion before he dies. Letters from the East assure me of the intense anxiety felt by our noble soldiery on this subject.— Your obedient servant, _ _ A CRIM-TATAR. Army and Navy Club, April 9th. TESTAMENTARY JURISDICTION BILL. TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS." Sir,—The Solicitor-General can hardly be aware of the gross injustice of which I and about sixteen other individuals will be the victims should his pro posed measure for abolishing ecclesiastical jurisdic tion in matters testamentary pass into law. The judges, registrars, other officials, and proctors, are to be compensated ; but what is to become of us poor articled clerks, whose premiums are usually 1,0001. or thereabouts, and whose service is seven [beery years? Are we to be suddenly turned adrift? Sir R. Bethell, for our comfort, tells us that when "we emerge into the clear light of day and exercise our profession on a more extended arena, that our sagacity will multiply our advantages," forgetting, no doubt, that one of the particular provisoes of his THE PRESS. popular measure will enable the public to transact testamentary business without agency of proctor or solicitor. Our profession, instead, therefore, of being exercised on an extended arena, will, in fact, be re duced to a profitless nonentity : my already acquired sagacity, also, is sufficiently prophetical to inform me that the prospect of multiplication of advantages arising from the proposed measure is too vague and obscure to be depended on. As for practising as solicitors, the education we receive here is of so exclusive and totally distinct a nature from their branch of the law as to prevent it being of the slightest use to us, should it be at our option to follow their profession. I earnestly hope, therefore, that some influential member of the House of Commons will propose the insertion of a compensatory clause on our behalf in committee; at least returning us our premiums, or insuring us a moderate annuity in the place of that income which we might fairly have expected to realise. I appeal, sir, to your sense of justice, and that of your numerous readers, whether ours be not a hard case? Our number is so small, and the promised ad vantages of the new bill to the public so great, that I cannot believe that compensation will be denied us, as it will be accorded to other persons affected by the measure.—l remain, sir, yours, &c., AN ARTICLED CLERK. Doctors Commons, April 12th, 1865. CONSERVATIVE ORGANISATION. TO THE EDITOR OF " THE PRESS." Sir,—l have read with great satisfaction your re cent articles upon the organisation of the " Conser vative party." I have always thought it a circum stance much to be deplored that the Conservatives as a body have no bond of union and sympathy amongst themselves ; by this I mean that individual crotchets are allowed to interfere with that concentration of power and unity of action which are so much to be desired, and without which no party in the Senate can rise to nor maintain themselves in power. In a former number of your paper you wrote, " the Conservative party to be powerful must be con structed upon a broad basis." Of course it must; and with a due observance of the laws of our incomparable constitution, the broader it is, I say, the better. Let such be their policy and the Conservatives can have no fear as to the result. There has been, sir, too much indolence and apathy amongst the Conservatives. To illustrate my meaning I will give you two examples. . . When LOrd John Russell left the Aberdeen Go vernment amongst the breakers of popular indigna tion his conduct on that occasion was so distasteful to his constituents of the city of London, that had the Conservatives put forth any man of their party, having the slightest claim to genius or intellect, they could not have failed in forcing the rejection of the late President of the Council. The other example I refer to is more recent—l allude to the late Liverpool election. I want to know sir, how it was the Conser vatives went so far from home to look for their candidate : surely some Liverpool merchant, holding Conservative principles, might easily have been found ready and willing to stand for the representation of the borough? I trust sir, that the defeat of the Conservatives at Liverpool will in the end prove beneficial to them. I hope it will have opened their eyes to the real state of affairs, and show them that while they are slumbering an ever watchful enemy steps in and gains the victory, Let the Conservatives present a bold and united front to their opponents, let them give " a long pull, a strong pull, and a pull altogether," and success is certain. My firm belief that the safety, honour, and welfare of this country depend upon the firmness and the vigilance of the Conservative party must be my apology for writing you this letter.—l have the honour to remain, sir, your obedient sevant, PS.—I inclose you my card. .I . I' I 7ENIB. London, April 12, 11.455. INFORMATION has been circulated by the Govern ment authorities respecting Sergeant Charles Ald ridge, who on the 21st of February deserted from the army in the Crimea, and went over to the Russians. He was, at the time, on picket, in the middle ravine, and went away with his greatcoat over his regi mental uniform, taking with him also his bayonet, pouch, belts, and ammunition. He is a native of St. Margaret's, Middlesex, and had been a porter. This is the first statement of the kind published by the authorities. SOME ANXIETY is beginning to be manifested by parties interested in the settlement of the affairs of Mr. Oliver, the extensive shipowner of Liverpool, who failed last year. A meeting of a number of his cre ditors has been held this week at Liverpool, at which a general wish was expressed that be should come forward and make some definite offer, by which the trustees might be relieved from the labour of wind ing up the estate, and the creditors mightobtain what the estate wo uld pay with as little delay as possible. lino! anD Cientral. A GRAND INSTALLATION OF THE CARTER Will be held next Wednesday, when the Queen will confer the order on the Emperor of the French. MR. JOHN BALL, M.P. for Carlow county, is ap pointed Under-Secretary for the Colonies. No new election is rendered necessary by this appointment. THE DUKE AND DUCHESS DE BRABANT were to leave Alexandria on the 20th ult. for Jatfa, whence, after visiting Jerusalem, they were to return to Europe. Fon the second time the clergy of the convent of St. Sergius, near Moscow (which passes for one of the richest convents in Russia) have presented s sum of money to the Emperor for the purpose !cif carrying on the war, their gift on this occasion amounting to nearly a million francs. • GENERAL MIRSIORA is about to establish his head quarters at Genoa, from whence the embarkation of the Piedmontese contingent will proceed as rapidly as possible. A Sum of 9,400 florins has been received at the Hague from Manchester, in aid of the numerous suf ferers from the late inundations in Holland. THE Gardeners' Chronicle states that in many parts of the country a great portion of the wheat plant is perishing. Farmers, in such cases, are advised to drill in fresh seed, which from the pulverised condi tion of the soil is practicable withoutploughing. AnvicEs have been received from the Cape to the 17th of February. A communication in the Anglo- African, dated King William's Town, Feb. 7, says : "All perfectly quiet in British Kaffraria." On the 3rd of February Governor Sir George Grey visited the Fingoe settlement at Healdon. COLONEL M'CLusY, the notorious American duellist, who is said during his life to have killed in personal combat more than fifty persons, has come to a most appropriate end—he killed himself. This barbarous practice, which at one time prevailed extensively in the Southern States, is now nearly obsolete. Stringent enactments exist against it in all the states, and where there were formerly two duels a day there are now scarcely a dozen a year. THE want of sufficiently-experienced non-commis sioned officers for the Turkish contingent iu the Crimea has been much felt; and, in consequence, a notice has been issued at the Horse Guards stating that thirty discharged cavalry soldiers, of good cha racters, were required for non-commissioned officers. A liberal bounty is offered, and the rate of payment is to be 4s. 6d. per day. As an additional induce ment, the number of years they had previously served will be taken into account. AN ORDONNANCE concerning the beard of the sol diers was published in St. Petersburg on the 31st ult. The Emperor has deigned to order, first, that the soldiers who mount guard on week days shall not be required to dye either their hair or whiskers; and, secondly, on Sundays and feast days they must mount guard with their hair and whiskers waxed and dressed. A LETTER FROM VIENNA, in the Czas of Cracow, says :—The Empress of the French has made a present to the Empress of Austria of a lace dress, which will be seen at the Exhibition of I'aris, and the pattern of which was designed by the Empress Eugenie herself. The value of this dress is esti mated at 200,000 f. THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH has offered 1,000 guineas, open to Great Britain and Ireland, for a perfect broke charger for the Empress. lie must bo thorough-bred, quiet with troops, and stand fire. THE total amount of money coined at the Mint in 1854 was 4,354,2011., against 12,664,125/. in 1853; the total capital of savings-banks was :33,742,6201., while the receipts and payments from and to deposi tors were respectively 7,380,6111. and 7,54:15,917/. The gross total aggregate amount of promissory notes payable on demand in oiscuiatiou in the United Kingdom in 1854 varied from 36,883,8061. to 39,819,3101. THE total number of paupers receiving parish re lief on the Ist of January, 1855, was, in England, 839,164 (against 934,419 in 1849) ; us &Wand, 78,929; and in Ireland, 86,819 (against 620,747 in 1849). In Ireland the paupers have been gradually decreasing since 1849, and in a very large ratio annually. SAMUEL SHEPHERD, ESQ., of the Home Circuit, hsi been appointed resident magistrate at Bay Islands. COLONEL KELLY, of the 34th, is &prisoner at Sebas topol, slightly wounded. Captain limite', of the Royal Engineers, is also a prisoner, and is not wounded. THE EMPEROR OF THE FRENCH has presented to Mr. Wyld, a gold snuff-box, with his cypher in dia monds, as a souvenir of his visit to the model of Sebastopol. The Queen of Spain bas also decorated Mr. Wyld with the order of Carlos 111. 1 11111 AT a general court of Bank directors held on Wednesday, Mr. T. M. Weguelin was elected go vernor, and Mr. S. Neave deputy-governor, for the ensuing year. -~ 351