The Press. — London, England, 1856-03-08 00:00:00

2 28 THE WEEK. THI speech of the French Emperor is one of the principal events of the week. It is a just and noble exposition of the real state of affairs, and particularly satisfactory in all that relates to the English alliance. The anticipations of the Parisians were disa.ppointedithat no definite mention was made of the progress of the negotiations, but the reserve of the Emperor was no doubt dictated by the most politic motives. In the Crimea we are happy to see that a conference has been held between delegates appointed by the Commanders-in• Chief, to arrange the preliminaries of a suspension of hostilities. This step will prevent the possibility of any unnecessary effusion of blood during the pacific negotiation. The war is near its close. Lord PANMURE has prominently raised the question as to the degree of claim which the relatives of an officer killed in battle have to the value of his commission. The Royal warrant recently issued recognises the justice of this claim in principle, but fetters it with a limitation, odious in itself, yet which might be much tempered and softened by the liberal discretion of the Minister for War. But the con duct of Lord PANMURE has demonstrated the necessity of leaving no pos sible loophole for official meanness. The widowed mother of an officer mortally wounded in the attack on the Redan, applied to the Secre tary for War for tke sum of 1,8001., which she had advanced for the purchase of her son's commission. She was refused, on the ground that she had an income of 300/. a year, and was therefore in wealthy circumstances. This is one instance of what is to be expected from leaving any discretionary power in the hands of such a man as Lord PANMURE. Take again the case of Lady TORRENS. Her pension is cut down one-half, because her husband, though he died of wounds received at Inkermann, did not expire till nine months afterwards, instead of six months. Soldiers will henceforth have to apologise, like King CHARLES, for "being such an unconscionable time in dying." The invention of ALEXANDRE DUMAS has been thrown into the shade by the disclosures which have just taken place respecting the affairs of the Tipperary Bank. " Was there ever," said the Master of of the Rolls in Ireland, " so gigantic a fraud committed by any man, or " body of men, upon unfortunate contributors who were being " swindled out of their money ?" The Court alluded to the scandals which have come to light affecting another member of the Sadleir family. It seems that no later than the Ist of February last Mr. JAMES SADLEIR (M.P. for Tipperary) published the annual report of the affairs of the hank. It announced a dividend of six per cent., and a further bonus of three per cent. for the last year's trading. It also asserted that, after the dividend and bonus, there remained a surplus of 3,3031. 12s. 4d., which was to be carried to a reserve account of 17,3751. 12s. 7d., spare money lying by. Yet at that very time the bank was in a state of hopeless insolvency. The liabilities of the bank were 400,0001. JAMES SADLEIR had allowed his brother JOHN (par nobile fratrum !) to overdraw his account by 200,0001 ! The assets of the concern were 35,000/. ! See how to the last JOHN SADLEIR tried to mis lead :—" I wish to blame no one. My cursed brain alone "—Not so ! It now turns out that JAMES SADLEIR was his accomplice in this " gigantic fraud." Already, another hideous culprit is dragged to light ; nor is it likely that exposures will stop there. Other parties are likely to be convicted of being accomplices in this gigantic swindling. What was done with all the money ? How was it lost ? " Lost !" Is it really lost ? Is none of it put by in snug keeping ? Was not the day when the bubble would burst provided for by any of these Tipperary swindlers It is most suspicious that certain persons, not uncon nected with " the gang," were loud in their abuse of JOHN SADLEIR'S character after his suicide, and were equally loud in their protestations about ,his " victim, poor JAMES." The ruins of Covent Garden Theatre have been one of the lions of the week. Every one has gone to gaze on the scene of devastation. Never did the "devouring element" of reporters achieve its work more rapidly or effectually. A couple of hours sufficed for the destruc tion of the most splendid temple of lyric art in the world. It is announced that a subscription is to be got up for the sufferers, and the " enterprising and spirited individual who has been at the head of this " colossal dramatic enterprise since Christmas," is put forward as specially entitled to sympathy. " His fortunes," it is poetically said, " are shipwrecked in this dire tempest." The analogy between a storm at sea and a fire on land is not very appropriate, but we let that pass. We want to know how Mr. ANDERSON has been so great a sufferer. His lesseeship was over. He had taken his last shilling at the doors ; his orchestra had played their last note. He was to resign his occupation that very day. He had insured his private property in the theatre for 2,000/.—a large sum, one would think, for a Wizard's parapher nalia—and his insurance would have expired on Saturday. His last night's receipts were safely carried off, so that it would seem he must have escaped from the wreck in this dire tempest as comfortably as could possibly have been expected. As to the fire, it must have originated through culpable carelessness. Had the firemen fulfilled their duty by regularly going their rounds, the fire would have been detected before it gained head, and might easily have been put out by the means at hand. The disaster is due to an irregular performance, which ought never to have been allowed, as it is acknowledged that the men who should have been on duty in different THE PRESS. NI gATIMDAY parts of the theatre were indulging themselves in the pleasures of the carnival. Poor musicians who have lost their instruments, a n d art i sans who have lost tools and work, are fit objects of public sympathy, b ut appeals to the public will we fear be made in vain, unless it i s di st i nctly understood that relief is to he confined to such classes of seferers. It is rumoured that the theatre will not be re-erected, as hi s G race the .Duke of BEDFORD has long wished for the site to build a kind of public conservatory. The design is not a bad one, but we should be sorry to see the last of the famous old " Garden." LORD PANMURE TO GENERAL SIMPSON. Some talk of Redan Massey, and some of Colonel Yeas, Of Canrobcrt and Raglan, and such game-cocks as these ; But of all Crimean heroes there's none that can compare With Dow— (General Simpson,per telegraph "Repeat.") With Dow-biggin—Dow, of nepotical career. We've lost so many generals, no other I've at hand, So of the British army you'll please to take command. Lick the Russians if you can, Sir, but remember you take care Of Dow biggin—Dow, of nepotical career. And when the weather's fine and clear, report it rather murk, Look out for stalking horses to bear our dirty work. But, whatever may befal our men, remember you take care Of Dow-biggin—Dow, of nepotical career. FIRST APPEARANCE OF A CABINET LEC TURER. His GRACE THE DUKE OF ARGYLL gave an entertainment of a novel character to the Cabinet Ministers a few days since. Deploring their want of scientific knowledge, he inveigled them to his house by means of an invitation to dinner ; and, as soon as the wine had passed round, he rose to his full height at the head of the table and proposed, as lecturing was now popular in all circles, to deliver himself of some scientific knowledge he had lately acquired, in a form which, as his Grace condescendingly observed, " would be intelligible to the meanest capacity." As his guests knew that when he was once on his legs it was a difficult matter to get him down again until he had blown off his steam, they exchanged glances that it was best to let him exhaust himself without interruption ; and, accordingly, ho proceeded to deliver himself of a vast quantity of scientific matter with which he had been cramming himself for some days previously. _ He began by observing that the reason why people in general did not take a more active interest in scientific pursuits was, because they did not perceive any practical application of science to their own par ticular business. Often people were acting on scientific principles when they did not know it. Man was an hydraulic machine as re garded the circulation of the blood. PAM. (from bottom of the table): In fact, a pump. ARGYLL : Yes, in one sense man was a pump. He had succeeded in interesting many people on science by telling them things ticy never knew before. What he now proposed was to make science easy to his hearers, by practical applications of its principles. In mechanics, for instance, as they would find stated in that profound work Joyce's Dialogues, matter would remain at rest or continue in uniform motion until compelled by some force to change its state. This was called the inertia of matter. Now, there was also the inertia of Government. If a ball was on the ground, there it would lie until you gave it a knock. when it would go the way you knocked it; and if some one else struck it another way, then it would go in that direction. This was exactly the state of her Majesty's Government. Its natural tendency was inertia, but it would move in any direction according to the impelling force it sustained. It would go any way you chose to kick it. The knowledge of this fact might be useful to gentlemen who wanted to make the Government serve their own purpose. Then matter was of various degrees of hardness. Some kinds could be squeezed into any shape, resembling his Noble Friend at the head of the Government; and other kinds were so hard and obstinate, like his Noble Friend at the head of the War Department, that you might hammer away at them for ever without making the least impression upon them. Next he came to chemical affinity. There were bodies which had no natural kind of affinity for each other, but which could be combined by other substances. No one could say that the Members of the Govern ment had any natural affinity for each other. How, then, were they kept together? That was an important question. What was the most useful solder for uniting metals, and what kept the parts of the Ad ministration tog ether ? PAM . : Brass 1