The Press. — London, England, 1856-09-27 00:00:00

SEPT. 27, 1856. be seen, and that not a shilling should be lent to an shareholder without his bill coming before the board. A SHAREHOLDER: How long is that ago? Mr. OWEN : About two years and a half ago. When that book was opened we found that Mr. Humphrey Brown had got 70,0001,, and that another director bad got 13,0301. Well, I first thought it would at once become my duty to leave the bank, and had almost resolved never to enter the concern again. But, gentlemen, you know what a delicate thing it is to touch the interests of a bank, and I resolved that l would remain at my post till Mr. Cameron's return, especially as my good friend the chairman was over whelmed with anxiety. I assure you that I never saw a man work harder ; he laboured from eight in the morning till ten at night to mitigate this evil, and he succeeded in getting such Pecurities that when I left the bank I had no idea we would lose a halfpenny by Humphrey Brown. And I thought Mr. Cameron's account all square. 1 was then asked to remain in the bank till after the annual meeting, and, with other directors, 1 did my utmost to see the bank placed in a healthy position. I tell you, gentle men, that I do not believe there was a single director who was not overwhelmed when he discovered, in the way I have told you, the state of our affairs. Mr. Alderman KENNEDY said he was deceived as to the state of the company, and was not cognisant of any matters that had proved to the injury of the shareholders. On the motion of General AITCHESON, seconded by Mr. STAPLETON, the following resolution was adopted :—" That it appears to this meeting, and is hereby declared, that the losses of the Royal British Bank have exhausted all the surplus and reserved capital, and one fourth of the now paid up capital of the said bank "—it having been explained by Mr. Coleman that such a resolution was necessary to en able the chairman to declare the company dissolved, and also to facilitate the process of winding up. The CHAIRMAN then declared the meeting dis solved, " except for the purpose of finally closing and winding uo the affairs of the company." An order t) wind up the affairs of the bank was granted on Thursday by Vice Chancellor Kindersley. THE ANNUAL ORATIONS were delivered at Christ's Hospital on Monday, in the presence of the Lord Mayor and a crowded assembly. Preyers were first read at Christ's Church, Newgate-street, and an eloquent sermon preached by the Rev. Charles Edward Searle, Fellow of Pembroke College, Cam bridge. At the conclusion of the service the Lord Mayor repaired to the great hall in Christ's Hospital, where tour orations on the benefits of the Royal Hospitals were delivered by so many of the senior scholars—in Latin, by William Shrubsole Foster, third Grecian ; in English, by Errest Montagu, first Grecian ; in Greek, by Mark Shattock, fourth Grecian ; and in French, by Thomas Carter Pallett. The whole of the orators were applauded as they retired from the rostrum, especially Shattock, whose oration was declaimed with a vigour and an ease and dignity of gesticulation which elicited general ad miration. The speech of Pallett, in French, was also an unusually spirited performance, and well sustained throughout, though of very considerable length. Three translations succeeded, by Smart, Wilton, and Churchill. These were followed by the Chersonesus Taurica," Richards's prize composi tion, in Latin hexameters, by Ernest Montagu, first Grecian, and by an English poem on Italy, also !ached by Montagu, whose performances, including his English oration, were frequently applauded. At the close of the ceremony the glove went round, and a liberal sum was subscribed towards the expenses of the senior Grecians about to proceed to Oxford and Cambridge. THE DENTIsTS of LONDON held a meeting at the London Tavern on Tuesday, for the purpose of adopting measures to establish an incorporated in stitution in which dentistry might be practically taught, and to form a superannuation fund for the Assistance of infirm and disabled members of the profession. Resolutions accordingly were proposed and passed, and a committee appointed to consider the best means to carry them into effect, and to report thereon at a future general meeting of Vie profession. THE UNITE FIRE-OFFICE PROPRIETORS held a general meeting at. the London Tavern ou Tuesday, with the view of deciding upon the appointment of a committee to investigate the affairs of the company. Atter much desultory discussion, Messrs. G. Taylor, Clitheroe, Buchan, Rouprl, Strong, Bradshaw, Smitherman, Salmon, Mechi, and Hawkes were appointed. The question between Mr. Baylis and the Board has been compromised, and Mr. Baylis returns to his duties. Tux revision of the list of voters for the City, in the Court of Common Pleas, Guildhall, has been continued during the week. Sir James Duke's case was adjudged by his Honour on Tuesday, who de cided that a man must be formally translated before he could become possessed of the rights and privi leges of a second company, and it was not because a clerk had on any former occasions inserted his name ...vhich had been passed over unnoticed—that it was correct. His I resent decision was, that Sir James Duke's name had been properly omitted. THE PRESS. THE GOVERNMENT, it is said, have determined on a subdivision of the diocese of London, whereby Dr. Tait, as metropolitan bishop, will have only half the field over which the bishops of London have hitherto presided. The diocese of London will henceforth consist of all that portion of the metropolis within the City walls, in addition to the extensive parishes of Bethnal-green, Clerkenwell, Islington, Limehouse, Shoreditch, Stepney, St. George's East, Whitechapel, Hackney, and Stoke Newington, together with several parishes in Essex, Kent, and Surrey, at present under the jurisdiction of the Bishop of London. A large portion of what at present constitutes the arch • deaconry of Middlesex will be placed under the con trol of a Bishop of Westminster, and the Abbey will be his cathedral church. The new diocese will com prise the whole of the parishes within the city of Westminster, St. Pancras, Marylebone, PAddington, Kensington, St. Giles's, St. George's Bloomsbury, Chelsea, Hampton, Fulham, Hammersmith, and the several outlying parishes. There will be one arch deacon for the diocese of London, and two for the diocese of Westminster. THE SHERIFFS' INAUGURATION DINNER will take place at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate•street, on Tuesday next, the 30th inst., and will be carried out on a scale of almost unprecedented splendour. The number of guests invited by the sheriffs elect, Messrs. Mechi and Keats, amounts to upwards of two hundred. THE VACANCY IN THE COLEMAN-STREET WART) by the death of Alderman Hunter will most probably be filled by Mr. Deputy Hale. An influential meet ing of the inhabitants was held on Wednesday, under the presidency of Mr. J. B. Heath, and a resolution unanimously passed that Mr. Deputy Hale be solicited to stand for the ward. A committee to se cure the election was also appointed. A SOIREE in aid of the funds of the evening classes was held at Crosby-hall on Wednesday even ing. The Lord Mayor and a numerous company were present. From the report, read by the Rev. Richard Whittington, it appears that the classes are not self-supporting, and an appeal was made for and by subscriptions. The institution is worthy of every support, for it is engaged in educating upwards of 1,000 pupils. At the recent examination at the Society of Arts the Crosby-hall pupils won great dis tinction and many prizes. THE re election of the present Lord Mayor for next year is generally anticipated. It is believed that his lordship will decline the honour. _ THE LATE Slit WILLIAM TEMPLE'S valuable collec tion of classical antiquities, formed during his long residence in Naples, has been left by the deceased to the British Museum. THE LONDON TRADES held a meeting at the Bell Inn, Old Bailey, on Thursday, and decided upon pay ing the legal expenses of the shipwrights in the late case of Young and Co. rHE REGISTRAR-GENERAL'S RETURNS FOR THE WEEK show a mortality of 1,604. The births reached 1,509. Vroinntial. SIR JAMES GRAHAM AT C tELISLE. SIR JAMES GRAHAM was present at the East Cum- Lerland Agricultural Society's dinner last Saturday. The right hon. baronet, replying to his health, in the course of his remarks observed that be had always endeavoured so to regulate his conduct in the House of Commons as to attempt to meet the wishes of his constituents, subject to the rule that he thought it right to give effect to the opinions he himself enter tained : Now, as a member of Parliament and as a legislator, I can look back with vast satisfaction to the several measures I have supported First of all, as a striking instance of the advantages of self-government apart from the Executive of the day, I gave my support to the Poor- Law Bill, which conveyed to the yeomanry, the ratepayers, and the city authorities the management of their own affairs in particular. All that time the charges for the maintenance of the poor assumed an amount and aspect most threatening to property. The adminis'ration was not then in the hands of the ratepayers, but in those of the magistrates, who were not responsible to the rate payers. A great and mighty change was effected by the Government of Lord Grey by the introduction of that bill; and in that measure I touk a part, when a vast reform was accomplished, and the administration was transferred to the yeomen, shopkeepers, and ratepayers of the country. The change was most salutary. The charges for the maintenance of the poor are nnw moderate : the danger to property has been arrested, and the interest of the poor, which, to my opinion, is a paramount considera tion, has not been neglected. And again I look back to another measure not less important in its results—the commutation of tithe to a fixed charge, nut increasing, but the commutation fixed and established without varia• tion, has been, as I conceive, one of the great causes of agricultural improvement throughout England, but more especially in this county, and upon that change also I look back with satisfaction. There is yet another mighty change which has taken place in which I was concerned, and although politics are very properly excluded from our 921 discussions I cannot help referring to it. I mean the change with reference to the laws regulating the importa tion of foreign produce. I was long denounced as faithless to the class to which I belong—l was held up as a traitor to agriculture, as the enemy of the farmer, for supporting that great change which took place in lt4-16. I will only refer to that as a proof that it is at times possible for members of Parliament to give effect to their own opinions, even in opposition to the fleeting opinions of those with whom they are politically connected, and yet have the satisfaction of looking back and believing that they have promoted the permanent interests of the class to which they belong. Sir James Graham then, turning to agriculture, alluded to a hope expressed by Sir J. Maxwell that the Emperor of Russia might rule over a free people. As an agriculturist he, Sir James Graham, did not much desire it, and recorded a profound observation of Montesquieu, that "the produce of land depends less upon the fertility of the soil than on the free dom of the cultivators," to show what a•=ricultural antagonists we should have in the Russians if they were free. Sir James then touched upon the system of agriculture followed out in Cumber land, alluding to opinions formerly expressed by him, that in Cumberland they ploughed too much and glazed too little to compete successfully with the southern counties. In Cumberland the growth of wheat was difficult and uncertain, but the growth of green crops and the feeding of sheep was as un doubtedly more remunerative. The cultivation of flax too should be promoted. Sir John Maxwell, Mr. Henry Howard, of Grey stoke Castle, Captain James, and several other gentle men, proposed and replied to vat ions toasts, Sir James Graham closing the proceedings by proposing "The Labouring Classes," speaking of them in the highest terms, and especially remarking upon the skill and trustworthy character of the Cumberland peasant. THE. BISHOP OF BANGOR delivered his charge to his clergy on occasion of his triennial visitation of the diocese at the cathedral of the episcopal city last week. His lordship, although suffering from the in firmities of age—being now past his eighty-fourth year—looked well, and read his charge in a clear and distinct tone throughout. The delivery occupied about an hour. A BREAD COMPANY has been formed in Banbury. The high price of bread in proportion to the price ( corn was discussed at a meeting held in the Town hall last week under the presidency of the Mayor, and a company formed, in support of which a hundred shares of 1/. each were subscribed for in the room. The prospectus states the capital at 1,0001., under the Limited Liability Act. It is proposed "to supply bread and flour at the lowest possible prii —to non•shareholders at the same price as to share holders, but they must pay cash on deivery." THE ASTON FETE held last week for Vie benefit of the General Hospital has proved a decided success: 1,7011. have been handed over to the General Hos pital already. The balance when ascertained is to be divided between the General and Queen's Hos pitals. THE ANNIVERSARY of the public opening of Salt airs at Shipley, near Bradford, was celebrated on Saturday by three thousand of Mr. Salt's workpeople with great éclat. They went in procession to his residence and conducted him to St. George's•hall, at Bradford, where they presented him with a bust of himself, accompanied by an appropriate address. A HUSBAND, WIFE, AND CHILD, a Mr. and Mrs. Tanner of Bradford, were drowned in the Avon last Saturday, a few miles below Bath. Mr. Tauner had constructed a small steam .engine and fitted it into a rowing-bcat. He was experimenting in this boat on this river. Mrs. Tanner by some means or other fell overboard, anti in endeavouring to Pave her Mr. Tanner capsized the boat and drowned himself and his child as well. A shepherd boy witnessed the sad scene from the shore. A NATIONAL NEWSPAPER LEAGUE has been pro jected. A meeting was held at Swansea last week, when the Rev. David Thomas, of Stockwell, ex plained the scheme : It was the establishment of a flret•class newspaper, to be called The Dial, which would be formed under the Limited Liability Act. The paid•up capital would amount to no less than 500,0D01., and this large amount would buy not only the beat type, the best paper, the best ink, but it would buy the best talent, the best brains, and the lest. esperience. lint not only had they the advanta.7e of this large stun of money, but this would be subscril ed by ab' ut in0,0(.10. all of whom would naturally ba inquitin4 tit The Dial. The principles were enrolled in the deed of settle. ment, and, therefore, nothing could be put in the paper incompatible with the prospectus. The scheme also steured another thing—that the paper should always be of a high moral tone. They did want a paper which he primarily swayed on public questions, not by a sordid calculation of pmfit and loss, but by emt-ideration of right and wrong. The scheme would also be a national one ; it would take in men of all elastics. On the hoard were as many Churchmen as Ilittsenters. Although the paper had only been once advertised they had already got 10,0001., and he believed that in three months the whole