The Press.
London, England, 1855-12-15 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

SATURDAY,

unceasing nausea, severe spasms—yet took no step to save her.
" She suffered frightfully," said one of her medical attendants ;—‘, I
had strong suspicions that she was agonized with arsenic," said
another ;—" I said poison is there, and some one in the house knows
how to use it," deposed a third ; but they did nut even take the trouble
to verify their suspicions at once by subjecting the evacuations of the
deceased to chemical analysis. A medical man cannot be expected to
play the part of a detective, but his first care should be for his patient.
A sacred trust is reposed in him, and all other considerations should
give way to the faithful and scrupulous discharge ofhis duties. Whenever
he perceives or suspects influences at work adverse to his patient's
recovery, and much more when life is threatened with poison, it is his
part to frankly communicate with the patient's friends, and to avoid
that selfish reserve which, by affording guilt an opportunity to ac-
complish its object, is not easily distinguished from connivance at
crime.

These, "par excellence," are the days of sanitary improvement
Wash-houses and baths, model lodging-houses, and model cottages,
are erected in and out of every town in the kingdom. Old streets are
swept away, and new ones built ; filth rooted out, and fresh water let
in. The Board of Health issues minute instructions upon the use of
purgatives and the effect of chalk mixtures, and impresses upon us the
necessity of keeping down our dust heaps, while rival systems of
thorough drainage are advocated one against the other with a virulence
as acrid as the matter they are supposed to remove. In such halcyon
days of drainage and cleanliness, who would believe that in the
centre of the great thoroughfare of London a festering heap of
human flesh and bones lay rotting in unctuous putridity, and moreover
that such a heap, the pet private property of the Church, was daily
added to and increased, in spite of the Home Secretary's prohibition,
and in the face of the Board of Health and the City Commissioners.
Yet such is the case. In St. Andrew's churchyard on Holborn-hill,
on the south and secluded side, little more than half an acre in all,
can be seen to what extent burial fees will educe a nuisance, to which
those of Belle Isle are agreeable fictions. For drawing public atten-
tion to the present state of this churchyard, we must thank Dr. LETHEBY,
who visited it on Saturday last, and briefly told the result of his investiga-
tions to the City Commissioners on Tuesday. It appears that two
years ago this churchyard was so overcrowed with dead bodies that
the Homo Secretary ordered its immediate closure, but since that date,
Dr. LETHEBY tells us, nearly 3,000 bodies have been added to the soil.
The result is obvious—bones protrude on all sides, coffin has been
heaped on coffin till three feet, and less, of earth alone covers them,
the soil is " saturated " with decomposing organic matter. " From two
" ounces of this soil," Dr. LETHEBY continues in his report, " I distilled
" a disgusting fetid liquor, which will convince you that churchyard earth
" is not so innocent or so innocuous a thing as many have supposed ; "
and, finally, from the continued burials the soil has risen so high
above its level as to require the interstices of the railings to be
planked up in order to prevent the bones and coffins from falling on
the passers-by. This is a pleasant state of things in the centre of the
City, and it must be borne in mind that an average of twenty-one
dead bodies are being now weekly put into this self-same " sweet
spot." We may talk of the blessing of having done away with Smith-
field, and of preserving its site for sanitary purposes, but here, close
at hand, is a curse of forty Smithfield power to breed cholera and
malignant fevers, in spite of open spaces and sanitary regulations,
and apparently in spite of every effort of the law to put it down. Are
the City Commissioners, and the Board of Health, and the Home
Secretary all ciphers, that such an intolerable breach of every duty,
and of every law, sanitary, moral, or otherwise, can be committed
with impunity ? Other persons who allow nuisances upon their pre-
mises or property are summoned before the district magistrates and
subjected to heavy fines : we do not see why the culprit in this case
should enjoy an immunity from the common law.

The Rev. Mr. JowErr, Regius Professor of Greek in the University
of Oxford, and author of " A Dissertation on the Atonement," has been
called upon by the Vice-Chancellor to make a profession of faith, in
the shape of signing the Thirty-nine Articles and the three articles of
the Thirty-sixth Canon. The reason of this proceeding was an allega-
tion lodged in his hands by the Rev. Dr. MACBRIDE and the Rev. Mr.
GOLIGHTLY, to the effect that Mr. JOWETT'S views on this great doctrine
were heterodox. It is said that a similar complaint is about to be
preferred against Mr. BADEN POWELL, who has certainly gone much
further in the path of novelty than Mr. JowErr,—as his essays, re-
viewed in this Journal last April, abundantly testify. At the same
time, though we should profess our entire disagreement with the
theories put forward by either, we would be allowed to express a
doubt how far such proceedings as those lately taken aro desirable.
Abstruse metaphysical speculation is a matter in which much latitude
was in ancient times allowed. And as long as the fact of the Atone
ment is not denied, we think it is a stretch of authority to call a man
to account for any particular way of looking at it. After all, Bishop
BUTLER'S remarks on the subject might be readily interpreted as being
nearly as much at variance with the language of the Articles as Mr.
JowErr's. The former endeavoured to show that the Atonement was
in accordance with the course of nature ; the latter, that it ought to be
in conformity to our moral perceptions. To what extent Mr. JowETT
may have compromised himself by his method of treatment, we can-
not determine ; but we should be sorry to see opportunities of raising
theological disputes multiplied among us.

The reappearance of JENNY LlND—as she continues to be called—
at Exeter-hall on Monday drew together an immense audience. Con-
sidering that there is at present no one in town, the aspect of the
great room in which the oratorio was given was a marvel. Every seat

DECEMBER 15, 1855.

was filled, and such was the demand for tickets that they rose to a
considerable premium. On such occasions one meets London face to
face. Its rank, its fashion, its commerce, its intellect, and its pro
fessions, are all represented. In that vast and brilliantly-filled hall—
the audience listening with breathless delight to the thrilling notes of
the Swedish songstress—wars and rumours of wars seemed a dream.
•The gifted vocalist looks thinner than when we saw her last, but she
retains her unaffected and vivacious manner ; and, notwithstanding
her long retirement, there was on her face as she rose to sing the
glorious serenity cf genius conscious of its power to please. Her first
notes satisfied every one that her voice retains all its freshness, power,
and enchanting purity of tone. It was rapture to listen to the airs
" With verdure clad," and " On mighty pens," the concluding passages
of the latter being admirably suited to the display of her vocal accom-
plishments. But we cannot think that she appears to most advantage
n sacred music. Her genius—like that of all vocalists of the highest
order—•is essentially dramatic, and requires the stimulus of excitement
to draw forth its brightest flashes and highest inspiration. She re-
ceived a cordial welcome, and returned her thanks by leaving her
audience in an ecstasy of delight. We hope, that as Madame GOLD-
-SCHMIDT has appeared before the public, she will be in no haste to
withdraw ; for her voice is so unapproachable that it would be a cruel
waste of nature's rarest and most rapture-moving endowment to hide
in retirement a gift which can be of little use or enjoyment to its
possessor unless freely communicated.

PAM FROM " LITTLE DORRIT."
Ha had a bold, confident air, and he threw out his hand with a
defiant manner. He seemed a young man, though he was not—and
a statesman, though he was not—and iu earnest, though ho was not—
but it is remarkable that on such seemings men may become
anything, even Premiers of England.
" Don't go to sleep, when I want to talk, Pan," he said to his

companion.
" It's all one, master," said the pan, sitting up to listen. The
other walked about the office, speaking as if to his humble friend, but it
was easy to see that he was really addressing himself to the tribunal
which he knew was about to meet and sit in judgment on his
doings.
" I am a gentleman-statesman. I admit that I always dealt with
public affairs like a gentleman, and in a free and easy manner. Ido
not ask praise for this. It was my nature. lam also a man of wit.
I cannot help it."
" You look as if you couldn't help it," murmured the pan.
" I have filled most offices.. I began in 1809 as Secretary-at-War.
They were afraid that my modesty would have been a bar to my pre-
ferment, but they were mistaken. Afterwards I became Foreign
Secretary. I was a gentleman, and I did my work jauntily. But I
bad always a determination to do something, and to make my tenure
of office remembered. When a man has this determination, it may
be matter of regret, but it is not unnatural that there should be a
row in the buildings. There were several rows. My enemies have
misinterpreted them. I espoused a certain cause in Europe. I admit
it. It might have been fortunate for the cause that I espoused it, for
I am a gentleman-statesman, a man of wit, and do things jauntily.
Jt might not. My enemies have said that it was not. They have
said that I espoused the cause, that I led it into extreme danger,
and, having by false promises induced its friends to believe that I
could maintain it, I talked about " relations," and left it to be
ruined. This is slander. Nothing could be more gentlemanly than
my whole conduct ; but what is a gentleman, as the play says, with-
out his recreations?
" Accused, you tell me, of having been the perpetual disturber of
Europe, by exciting hopes which could never be realised, I am
charged, you tell me further, with faction at home. I deny it. lam
eager to serve my country. If that is a fault, I avow it. When I
am determined to serve my country, 1 do not hesitate at carrying out
My
daermination. Qui vest le fin veut lee moyene, the French ay.
My means may have appeared unscrupulous, but they have ledsme
into office.
" Accused, again, of unconstitutional government at home, you
impute a different offence, one of diametrically opposite character.
Democrat abroad, I am an aristocrat at home, am I ? In making a
Cabinet, I have retained all power in the hands of myself, and my
two lieutenants, Pan and Clarendon, and given all the other offices to
incapables, with good connections. Isit my fault that I am an abler It aa
than others? Is it my fault that I can only find a couple of men of
decent talent to join me? Is the mediocrity of my party to be visited
on me ?" lie flung his hand from him with a triumphant swagger.
" But you accuse me, again, of want of earnestness in prosecuting
the war either to victory or to peace. I reply that lam a gentleman,
and I cannot help it. Is it a gentleman's part to be vulgarly earnest
about everything? Besides, how do you know whether I am in
earnest or not. Because I joke? Sir Thomas More joked on the
scaffold, saying that in a minute he should be no More. I scorn to
meet such an allegation, and I point to Sebastopol. Have I taken
Sebastopol or not? Is it a joke, do you think, to take Sebastopol?
" I have complicated the European question, and prevented the
adhesion of Austria, you allege, by an insulting policy to her Govern-
ment, and by my verbal encouragement of revolutionists to whom I
meant to give no other support. My answer is, Austria be hanged. I am
a gentleman, and I am not easily brought to submit to be cross-ques-
tioned; I own it, and if you punish my high spirit as a crime, I cannot
help it.

1193

" You hear my defence. Sebastopol is taken, and lam a gentle-
man. Divide against me if you will."
Ho turned, with a theatrical gesture, and snatched up a largo hat.
His companion was silent, waiting permission to speak. In answer to
an inquiring look and wink from the other, ho said—
"Looks ugly !"
" Let the House do its worst," returned the jaunty man.
" Truly, I think it will," said the pan.

THE BALTIC ADMIRAL.

Ala—" The Minstrel Boy."
The Admiral to the war is gone,

For glory never minding;
His decks shine bright with the holystone,
But the men their teeth are grinding.
" For my pretty first-rates," says neat Dundas,
" Tho' your crews may foam with fury,
" None ever shall say that it came to pass
" Near a Russian fort. I'd moor ye."
The enemy laughed, but the foeman's scorn
Could not lash his soul to anger—
" Your pretty new planks shall ne'er be tern
" To appease a silly clangour.
" The fiery spirits in each ship's crew
" May rave—but they only bore ine—
" Of the gallant Nelson and good ltiou,
"Who fought in these seas before me.
" My captains clench their idle hands,
" My men with rage are glaring
" At the polished pikes and the cutlass-stands,
" As they curse my want of daring.
" But a noble triumph is mine I ween,
" And I would not seek a prouder—
" I have brought my ships back neat and clean,
" And unstained by the foeman's powder."

A CARD.
BLUSTERING 808, THE BARONET,
THE WELL-KNOWN TAMWORTH TURNOVER,
A. 2411
CELEBRATED STAFFORDSHIRE PET,
Having recently completed his Provincial Engagements with the
greatest eclat at Manchester, Birmingham, Burton, &c , is about
TO REPEAT
his celebrated Astounding, Shout-raising, World-thrilling,
Polychromic, Mock-Heroic, Monologic, Histrionic, and Rhetorical
ENTERTAINMENT ! !
In the presence of Admiring Tens of Thousands in the Great Hall of
Commerce. he will have the honour of Exhibiting his Unique Collec-
tion of Curiosities, Oddities. and Eccentricities, among which an en-
tirely novel Feature will he the well known
WHITE FEATHER,
originally displayed by him before the Highest Circles in Madrid !
He will also perform in the course of the evening
HIS WORLD-FAMOUS TRICK OF THE LOGOPHAGY.
Any gentleman connected with the press will be at liberty to select
any number of the Baronet's After-Dinner Orations at pleasure, to
cut them up into as large a number of small pieces as he may think
fit, and Bob will then swallow the whole of the fragments in the pre•
sence of the assembled company !! ! He will afterwards drink a
Glass of Champagne, to the good health of his kind friends, imme-
diately on which, and without the slightest exercise of volition, or any
other influence on his part, an
ENORMOUS MASS OF FUSTIAN
will be suddenly discharged from his mouth, which will continue to
be evolved without any intermission for as long a period as may be
DEEMED DESIRABLE BY THE AUDIENCE!!
He will also introduce in the latter part of the evening his Startling
Terpsichorean Scenes, including the highly original
ADMIRALTY FLING,
(entirety at the expense of the Officers and Men of the British Navy).
As soon as the applause consequent on this quite unprecedented tour-
deforce shall have subsided, he will turn right round, and, with
HIS HEAD DOWNWARDS,
without any support whatever, will commence the
GREAT I'AS DE PANEGYRIQUE NAVALE,
which will be sustained and completed entirely on the Ceiling of the
Apartment !!
The whole to be concluded by a New and Original
MONOPOLYLOG IC PRESENTATION,
entitled the " Seven St. Ages of Man," introducing College-Life—
Scenes with the Proctor—Origin of "tiateing" and "
Milk-Punch (Recipe tor)—Brass Band in Quad—Expulsion—Songs :
" The Jolly Bachelors," " Those Evening Belles "—The Turf—"
Why
should Honour outlive Honesty? Let it go all !"—With some new and
astonishing Card-Tricks—Foreign Tour—Song : " The Rivals," Hood
—The Baronet—xaxoc EX CIXII/V--" Miserable 'Young' impostors "—Quo-
tation : " I'm not Afraid "—" That Cock wont Fight' —The Family
Pedigree—The Reform—Hope of the Family—Regular Turk v. Red-
Tape—Public Life—Evenings with the Poets—" Dribble, Dribble, Non-
sence Dribble !"—Song : " Such a Genius I did grow"—Conclusion.
Vivent les niaiseries ! [No Money Returned.
Doors open at Seven, Peform ances Commence at Half-past.
Come Early