The Press.
London, England, 1853-12-31 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

Int. WILLIAM Moint.E Mum, Regius Professor of
1 lebrew in Cambridge University, Canon of Ely, and
Rector of Brasted, died at Ely on Christmas-day, after
less than a week's illness. On the previous Monday he
came up to London to attend a meeting of the
Foreign Translation Committee of the Society for
Promoting Christian Knowledge. The extreme cold
of the day brought on an obstruction which no me-
dical skill could counteract, and he died, without
pain, and with all such consolations as his friends
could wish, on Sunday night. Dr. Mill took a very
high degree in 1813, and was elected Fellow of Tri-
nity College. In 1520 he went out as first principal
of Bishop's College, Calcutta, the noble foundation
of Bishop Middleton. On his return, in 1838, he
received the appointment of domestic and examining
chaplain to the late Archbishop Howley. Subse-
quently he was appointed Christian Advocate. In
1813, his patron and friend, Archbishop Howley,
presented him to the living of Brasted, Kent; and m
1848 he was elected Regius Professor of Hebrew, to
which a canonry at Ely is attached. As a mathe-
matician and scholar, I)r. Mill's attainments were of
the very highest order ; and the pursuits of his youth
be continued as the relaxation of his maturer years.
Ibis acquirements in Stuiscrit have won him an
European reputation; and, as a contribution to the
evangelising of India, as well as a classical pmtlue.
tion in that great language, his Christ:: Sanyrito is a
work unparalleled in modern literature. Dr. Mill's
several publications as Christian Advocate are de-
voted to one of the most difficult subjects of Chris-
tian evidence. In them he has successively refuted
the Pantheistic theory generally, and the speculations
of Strauss specifically. Besides these works, I)r.
Mill found time for the publication of three several
series of university sermons. In his duties as a
teacher it is understood that the late Hebrew pro•
fessor united the difficult task of communicating
knowledge with that facility in acquiring it which so
eminently distinguished him. In Dr. Mill, Cam-
bridge loses one of its chief ornaments, the Church
a most able defender, and one whose solid literature
will form a permanent addition to the very highest
range of Christian theology ; while his friends de-
plore one amiable in every relation of life, whose
learning was never tinctured with guide, and whose
firm convictions on controverted points never made
loin a personal enemy. Dr. Mal leaves behind him
a widow and a surviving daughter, the wife of the
!lee. Benjamin Webb, of Sheen.
THE death of Lord Metcalfe's brother, Sir Tuue-
-1.1111.rs METCALFE, is reported by the last uudi. He
succeeded to the baronetcy at the death of his
brother, with whom the title died. Sir Theophilus
was well known to every one acquainted with India.
His career was, in one respect, remarkable—it began,
continued, and concluded at Delhi. Perhaps there
never was a similar instance of a man remaining all
his official career in the Indian civil service in one
station. He arrived in India in 1813, anti never re-
visited England.
Dn. :JAMES 041.1.1(11EST, Inspector General of Army
Hospitals, and corresponding member of the National
Academy of Medicine of France, expired on the 25th
inst., at 1, St. Alban's•place. This veteran officer
entered the medical department of the army in 1801.
One of the most eminent dissenting ministers, I)r.
W. Jay, of Bath, died on Tuesday last, in that city,
need 85. The deceased was born at Tisbury, in
Wiltshire, in May, 1709—a year which gave birth to
many celebrated characters, among them being the
Duke of Wellington, Napoleon Bonaparte, and Sir
Walter Scott. Mr. Jay's parents were persons in
humble circumstances, and he himself, in his younger
flays, laboured as a mason's boy. At a very early
age he exhibited considerable talent as an extempore
preacher, and was placed under the tuition of the
Rev. Cornelius Winter, of Marlborough. He began
to preach before attaining his sixteenth year, his first
public attempt at a sermon being made in the village
of Ablington, in Wiltshire, anti has stated in one of
his publications that before he was of age he had
delivered nearly one tl -and sermons. In 1791 he
was settled as the minister of Argyle chapel, in liath.
Ile married, about the year 1790, the (laughter of
Mr. Coombs, a respectable miller, resident in the
village of his birth, and by her had three sons and
three daughters. Mrs. Jay (lied a few years ago, and
the deceased afterwards maned Miss Head, of
Bredfonl, who survives him. Mr. Jay continued to
be the minister of Argyle Chapel until January last,
his ministry there having been pmlonged during
sixty-two years. It is well known that Mr. Jay has,
for many years, had in preparation an account of his
own life and times, brought down by himself to a
very recent period. A volume of lectures by him, on
Female Scriptural Characters, is also in the press.

THREE WIIITE SWANS AND ONE BLACK ONE have
been stolen from the ornamental water in St James's
Park, the property of the Ornithological Society. The
society have issued a notice offering a reward of W.
for the capture and conviction of the party guilty of
thi3 impudent robbery.

SATURDAY,

tort* Ott, Xittraturt, c.

THE THEATRIcAL NEWS }mom RusstA is extremely
contradictory. Some time ago accounts were pub-
lished stating that Mlle. Rachel's performances at
St. Petersburg had not met with any success, on ac-
count of the inefficiency of her entourage, and,
moreover, that the Court had marked its dissatisfac-
tion in an unmistakable manner. This statement,
however, is now denied, and the public are informed
that the success of the great tragedian in the Russian
capital is immense, and that she is the idol of the
public. Up to the 11th of this month Rachel had
given twenty performances, the receipts of which are
said to amount to 211,8111 f. (upwards of $4,470/.),
and that the subscriptions for stalls and boxes for
the season reached the sum of 350,009 f. (14,(N0/.)
IlAzzot, the 'popular Italian violinist, is at present
giving a series of concerts at Antwerp, where his
performances are attended with the greatest success.
Tin ROYAL SOCIETY OF NORTHERN ANTIQUARIES
lately held its usual quarterly meeting at Copenhagen,
when Mr. Hammerhaimb, who during the summer
had undertaken a voyage to the Fero Isles, in order
to collect materials fora popular archteology of those
islands, gave an account of his operations, and ex-
hibited specimens of a detailed special map on which
he had collected a number of names of places handed
down from the earliest times in the Fero dialect,
which is an offshoot of the Icelandic or old Norse.
These charts will be added to the collection contained
in the society's archives. Professor Rain communi-
cated some observations on Runic stones in various
provinces of Sweden and Norway, on which England
or the Western countries are mentioned. Among
these was one in memory of a Swede who was bulled
at Bath, and another of one who died at Leith.

TIIE TITLE OF DONIZETTI.H POST111.73I01:8 OrEI:A,
about to be given at the Theatre Lyrique, is Etisa •
both, ou la Pills du Proscrit. The libretto is fruit'
the pen of MM. de Leuven and Brunswick.
THE ELECTEIC TELEORArII between Stockholm and
t'psala is so much employed as to be self-paying.
A line is shortly to be laid down to Helsingborg, to
meet the Danish in Elsinore.

THE Fintr l'EnroaussrE of La Pierre de Trawls",
a comedy in five acts, by M. J. Sandeau and M. E.
Angier, took place on Sunday at the Theatre Fran-
cais. The Emperor and Empress were present, and
the piece of course perfectly succeeded.
AN ITALIAN MAESTRO, N. Gabrielli, leas been se-
lected to compose the music of the ballet in which
Cerito is to make her rentrie at the Grand Opera.
Gabrielli is well known for several admirable
trwreeattx of vocal music.
DANtr.t.ssEx, a Norwegian physician, has pub-
lished a popular tract on the Norwegian leprosy,
which flourishes on the west coast. He proves it to
be mostly hereditary, originally imported from the
East, but to require sea air, and to be greatly aggra-
vated by bad diet and domestic filth. The author
appends an ingenious plan for an improved fisher-
man's home.

A NEW OrERA by Pacini has seen the light at the
San Carlo at Naples, but with what success it is
difficult to say, for the Italian critics, after saying
that on the first night its reception was "not so fa-
vourable as could be desired," proceeded to inform
their readers that its second performance excited the
greatest enthusiasm, with iecals, dc,, for the com-
poser. Mmes. de Ginli and Borghi Mamo were the
principal performers. The title is Romilda de Pro-
vence.

THE BENEFIT or Mr.t.E. GEOROES on Saturday drew
a crowded audience to the Theatre Francais ; this
celebrated actress appearing in the character of Clef/-
pa tre, in Corneille's Rodogune. These exhibitions,
in which the public is called upon to witness the last
struggles of expiring talent, are almost invariably
painful to the spectators ; but the old friends and
admirers of this relic of former days rallied round
her on this occasion. The receipts amounted to
nearly 5001., exclusive of donations from persons of
the highest rank, which were on a scale of truly royal
munificence. The memoirs of Mlle. Georges, faith-
fully written, would furnish a curious chapter in
the volume of human life.

A DisrlN.itisitEn SWEi)IiI PRIEST, Dr. Thoinan-
der, has published a sharp pamphlet against the State
Chut•ch prelatic party, advocating reform and the
rights of the laity.
AmoNo the propositions just laid before the Swe-
dish Parliament by the Government is a bill for
introducing the decimal system into the coinage.
The unit is to be the riksdalcr riksmynt, of the same
Value as the rikdaler riksgiilds, four of which make
the present riksdaler specie.
FOUR YOI-NO EGYPTIANS have just taken out their
degree of doctor in physic at the University of Munich.
They arrived in 1t449, and have not only gone regu-
larly through their medical education, lint have
learned the to:reek, Latin, and German languages,
with music and painting. Before they left their own
country they were acquainted with French and Eng-
lish. These young men have shown an extraordinary

-

DECEMBER 31, 1853.

aptitude for learning ; and in that point resemble
several other Egyptians previously educated here.
THE 3/0/litelfr publishes a decree appointing the
commission of superintendence of the universal en-
positi4,n of the products of agriculture, industry, and
the fine arts, to open in Paris on the Ist of May,
1'455. The president is Prince Napoleon; the num-
ber of numbers :17, among whom are MM. Baroehe,
Blanqui, Delacroix, Charles Dupin, Dumas, Dollfus,
Ingres, Michel Chevalier, Count de Morny, Sallan-
drouze, Duke de Mouchy, Visconti, &c. The com-
mission is divided into two sections—one of industry,
the other of the tine arts. A special decree appoints
Lord Cowley a member of the commission.
AN AreinEsr, fortunately not attended with any
serious consequences, occurred at the (lane during
the nepresentation of the Cosaques. A trap door on
the stage suddenly gave way, and half a dozen of the
combatants suddenly disappeared. After some mo-
ments of confusion, they assisted each other in
scrambling up to their original podium to the great
sati•factiou of the audience, who were fearful of un-
pleasant consequences from their fall.
111. un LA)tARTINE has written a letter to a member
of the Washington Cabinet-, eulogising the laohiey
of
President I'ierce in sending naturalised citizens as
diplomatic envoys to European Courts, thus "demon
strafing that, under democratic institutions, neither
rank, nor fortune, nor social position, nor political
antecedents, can prevent a man of energy and talent
from arriving at the highest dignities ; that the repub-
lic establ►shes no distinctions between men, and that,
whether native or of foreign birth, they are equal lb
its eyes."

Mn. ALEXANDER SMITH, the author of the "Life
Drama," and other poems, is a candidate for the office
of Secretary to the University of Edinburgh. It is
hardly needful, says the Edinburgh Guardian, in an
flouncing the fact, that we express an earnest hope
that this gentler►an may prove the successful canal
date. Mr. Smith has already manifested very high
poetical abilities►, and we have no doubt but that his
future career will abundantly sustain anti confirm the
reputation he has so rapidly achieved.
Sin EDWARD BULWER LYTTON will, it is stated,
preside at the Athentemn soiree, wl►ich was recently
postponed till the middle of January. The distin-
guished author is to be in Edinburgh, to deliver his
address to the Associthed Societies of the University,
on the Is►h of that month.

THE LAST SOIREE OF THE SOCIETY Or Ants,
held on Wednesday, was rendered more than usually
• exhibition of numerous specimens
of the known in Germany as " nature-print-
ing," and also by beautiful examples of the perfel-
Mon to which the beautiful art of chromolithography
or colour-printing is rapidly being brought, in this
country. It appears that the Viennese claim the
" Naturselbstdruck " as their invention, although ex-
periments in a similar direction were made by Dr.
Ferguson Branson so far back as Isl 7. The then
recent introduction of gotta percha suggested to that
gentleman the possibility of procuring by its plastic
agency minutely accurate impressions of botanical
specimens to be afterwards printed from the moulds.
Another novelty had, however, to be called into
requisition to procure the clear outline rendered im-
possible by the softness of the material. The
wonderful electrotype solved the difficulty, and in
11450 Mr. Branson was enabled to present complete
specimens to the British public. Very recently the
subject has been taken up by Mr. Hartinger, of the
imperial printing-office in Vienna, who, if he has not
the merit of an original inventor, must be admitted
to have materially advanced the progress and ex •
tended the application of the art. In the Viennese
process, soft lead is substituted for gutta percha, and
the leaf to be copied is spread upon it and subjected
to smart pressure. By a delicate and ingenious pro.
cess, this design of nature's own making is printed in
colours, so as to be a perfect reproduction of the
superficies of the object. Among. the prints C7C-
IlibitC4l were twelve flower subjects, combining, with
the accuracy that belongs to this process alone, the
most beautiful variety of tint, and a general effect
which might be equalled but certainly could not he
surpassed by the moat accomplished artist working
with the pencil. The English specimens were those
of Dr. Branson, and one or two sent in by Messrs.
Bradlony who have patented the SA in
this country miller the name of phytoglyphy. Of
its use in advancing scientific knowledge an adequate
estimate may be formed when it. is remembered bow
difficult it is in many cases to procure lsnanical
or geological specimens. With the aid of
" Naturselbstdruck," the rarest leaf or the most
unique fossil may be multiplied ad byinitam, and
made as accessible to the schools of the crowded
manufacturing towns as to royal museums, or the
costly cabinets of the wealthy.
THE Al-Tlfolt or Tr'S THOVSANI) A YEAR, Mr.
Samuel Warren, Q.C., has, it is stated, lately refitsed
an offer of 2,5(10 guineas from an eminent publishing.
ho' for a new novel.

THE PRESS.

Dram; the past quarter the Society of Arts hint
received into union thirty literary, scientitie, and
mechanics' institutions. These institution,' are—
Birmingham Polytechnic Institution ; Bradford
tWiltsl Literary Institution; Buckingham Litenwy
and Seientitie Institution; Buntingrord literary in
stitut.e; Bury St. Eklitinutla Athenteum and Suffolk
institute of Arehasalogy mid Natural Ilistkary ; 'lap.
Bull Lit-rary and Scientific institution; Coalbrook
dale Literary and Scientifie histitut• ; Derby
Railway I Revelry Institution ; Ihirsley Young Men's
Society : East Belford Literary and Scientific insti-
tution ; Farnham Mechanics Institution ; Galway
Royal li,titatti ; ttatesheaAL Washington elonival
Works Mending Institution anal Library ; Hampton
k Middlesex) Literary institution ; Hereford Per-
manent Library; Ilexham Mechanics' Literary anti
Scientitie lustituti al ; Ilitchin Mechanics Institu-
tion ; 11y-de Mechanies Institution ; King's Lynn
Free Library; Louth Mechanics' Institution; Mar-
ket Drayton Society for the Acquirement of Useful
knowledge; Portsea Watt Institute; Preston Literary
and l'hilo:orikieui Institution; Reklnith Institution
for the Promotion of Useful Knowledge ; St. Austell
I,iternry loistititt• ; Sheffield People's ;
Spalding Mechanic s' Institute ; Stourbridge Mc.
Armies' Institution; Tottenham Literary and Seia n-
title Institution ; Yarmouth ((treat) Parochial
Library anti Museum. The total number of insti.
tuitions now in union is 319. During the same period
116 members have been elected, making the total
number of members, independent of institutions,
1,-INtl.
Tier experiment lately made by Mr. Bentley of
a large reduction in the price of novels has failed for
want of public support. " 1 frankly confess," he
remarks, "that 1 was wrong in the supposition that
the increased sale would enable me still to secure
the interests of authors as well as those of the pub.
lishert." The circulating libraries, it appears, dial
not approve or appreciate the change, as was ex-
pected lay Mr. Bentley. He consequently returns to
the old system.
THE LATE tionwrs slimily before his ale
Cease prepourvl a narrative relating to his position as
commander-in Alia of the expedition to Bunnah.
This work, which will be highly interesting to mili-
tary readers, is expected to appear before long.