The Press.
London, England, 1854-10-21 00:00:00

OCTOBER 21, 1854

Coat ad lastin.

HER MAJESTY'S RETURN FROM SCOTLAND.
Last week we announced the arrival of the
Queen in Edinburgh on Thursday, and subsequent
departture next morning, and gave the pro-
gramme of her Majesty's journey southward. This
programme was followed with the punctuality and
exactness which characterise all Court movements.
The following are the principal incidents with which
the royal journey southwards was enlivened.
The royal train arrived at Hull from Edinburgh a
few minutes before six o'clock on Friday evening, and
the Queen and Prince were received upon the plat-
form by the chairman and directors of the North-
Eastern Railway, many local and corporate dignitaries,
and an immense concourse of townspeople and
visitors. The royal party proceeded at once to the
Railway Hotel, where addresses were presented from
the corporation and local bodies. The town, which
had been decorated during the day, was brilliantly
illuminated during the night, and thousands who
could not get beds at any price had to walk the streets.
The nextmorning, at nine, the mayor, recorder, and
corporation were in attendance on the Queen, and at
twenty minutes to ten the Sovereign left for the pur-
pose of visiting the town. Besides the Queen,
Prince Consort, and royal children, the cortege com-
prised the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Burghersh, Colonel
Grey, the Earl of Carlisle, and Lord Londesborough.
Prince Albert, attended by Major-General the Hon.
C. Grey, had previously visited the new building
meted by the Literary and Philosophical Society.
On arriving at the pier, her Majesty ascended the
platform, followed by the mayor and civic authorities,
Here the assemblage were somewhat at fault to learn
the cause of a momentary bustle within the cir'ile
of her Majesty's presence. The excitement was oc-
casioned by the fact of the Sovereign at this moment
intimating to the mayor, Dr. Cooper, her intention of
marking her appreciation of the reception she had
met with by conferring upon him the honour of
knighthood. Dr. Cooper having knelt down, her
Majesty pronounced the magic words conferring the
unexpected honour, the sword handled by the Sove-
reign in touching the shoulder of the mayor being
that so honourably borne by Lord Burghersh on the
heights of the Alma.
After this incident her Majesty embarked on board
the royalyacht Fain. b commanded by the Hon. Cap
tain Denman, and steamed rapidly down the Humber
to Grimsby, where her Majesty landed at one o'clock.
At the Grimsby docks the Queen was received by
the Earl of Yarborough, high steward of the
borough, the mayor, and the municipal authorities.
Addresses having been presented by the corpora-
tion and the dock company, her Majesty, his Royal
Highness, and the Royal Family, proceeded to the
East Pier, and thence to the Tower, which was
ascended by his Royal Highness and some of the
younger branches of the Royal Family. Luncheon
was prepared at the dock, after which her Majesty
passed through the streets of Grimsby to the station.
The train conveying the royal party left the station
under a salute of twenty-one guns, and proceeded
towards London, stopping only at Boston and
Peterborough for a few minutes during the entire
transit to the metropolis. The train reached London
at half-past five, and at Windsor a quarter before
seven by the Great Western Railway.
Lord Alfred Paget, Equerry in Waiting to the
Queen, joined the royal party at Edinburgh, and at-
tended her Majesty from Holyrood to Windsor
Castle.
The Prince Arthur, Prince Leopold, and the Prin-
cess Louisa, arrived at Windsor Castle from Osborne
at half-past twelve o'clock on Saturday, attended by
Lady Caroline Barrington and Mr. R. Ormsby Gore.
The Queen held a Privy Council at Windsor on
Wednesday, for the purpose of issuing the usual order
,for the further prorogation of Parliament.
When at Newcastle, on her way to Hull, the Queen
made inquiries of the mayor of Gateshead relative to
the late calamitous fire, expressing her sympathy
with the inhabitants, and desiring that her name
should be added to the subscription list in aid of the
sufferers, with the munificent contribution of lON.
Admiral Vircin had an audience of the Queen on
Tuesday, to deliver his letters of recal as Envoy Extra-
ordinary and Minister Plenipotentiary from the King
of Sweden.
Baron Wydenbruck, for some years secretary at
the Austrian embassy at London, chamberlain of his
Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Austria, and actual
Charge d'Affaires for Austria at the Court of Hesse •
Cassel, was married on Monday, according to the rites
of the two Churches, to Miss Isabella Blacker,
daughter of the late S. J . Blacker, lieutenant-colonel
in her Majesty's service.

Mn. Swun O'BRIEN, the hero of the Irish cabbage-
garden rebellion of 1848, having obtained leave from
Nan Diemen's Land, is now at Madras, on a visit to
his brother-in law, Major Gabbett.

THE PRESS.

Volituai nn ()ritual.

Two CABINET COUNCILS, the first since the recess,
have been held during the current week, on Tuesday
and yesterday. Several of the ministers returned to
town specially to attend the first of these councils, at
which were gathered in consultation the Earl of

Aberdeen, Lord John Russell, the Lord CLancellor,
the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Duke of Argyll,
_ _

Viscount Palmerston, the Earl of Clarendon,-the

Duke of Newcastle, the Chancellor of the Exchequer,
Sir James Graham, Sir Charles Wood, the Right Hon.
Sidney Herbert, Sir William Molesworth, and Earl
Granville. The Council sat three hours and a half.

MAJOR BERESFORD, M.P., when speaking at the
anniversary dinner at the Hinilkford Agricultural
Club, used some expressions in reference to Sir J.
Graham, which led to a correspondence with the
right hon. baronet. Among other epithets Major
Beresford let fall the term "coward," which, in a
letter written on the 14th inst. to the F.:l.st Lord he
consents to retract, admitting that "it slipped out
unintentionally." Sir J. Graham, replying ou the
same day, declares himself perfectly satisfied, as it is
both his own opinion and that of the friend whom
he had consulted that he could " neither ask nor
desire more."
THE Pusuc HEALTH.— The Registrar-General's
returns for the last week from the metropolitan dis-
tricts furnish evidence of a steady, if not rapid,
improvement in the public health. The deaths, which
numbered 1,532 in the previous week, declined to
1,394 in that which ended last Saturday; but
the mortality still exceeds the average of former
years by more than 300 deaths, and it is also greater
than the mortality of the same week in 1849, when
the number had fallen to 1,075. Last week cholera
was fatal in 249 cases, diarrhoea in 102. The deaths
from the former disease were registered in the last
two weeks in the five divisions of London in the fol
lowing proportions :—ln the western districts 59 and
46, in the northern 25 and 14, in the central 31 and
24, in the eastern 95 and 50, and on the south side
of the river 200 and 115. In the second week of
October, 1849, the deaths reported as caused by
cholera were 110. Scarlatina prevails to some extent
in London, and the mortality from it exhibits a
weekly increase. In the last three returns this dis-
ease numbered 88, 105, and 112. This is consider
ably more tban the average.
Tun proposal for a monument to Sir William
Wallace is about to be carried out. Funds have been
realised, and the Hill of Barnweill, near Craigie,
between Kilmarnock and Ayr, is proposed as the site.
Mns. SUSAN ABLETT, a native of Weybread, in
Suffolk, died on the 7th instant, aged 104 years.
She enjoyed the use of her faculties until the last
year of her life.
THE OLD BLACK BOY AT FECKENHAM is now closed
as an inn. It has been in the family of the
Gardners about 139 years. The sign, which is of
copper, stood the whole of that time, until taken
down on Thursday last.
Denise the eleven years ending with 1853 there
have been carried on the railways of the United
Kingdom no less than 626,063,360 passengers of all
'lasses. During the last three years the numbers
carried are-1851, 78,969,622 passengers ; 1852,
80,758,097; 1853, 94,906,440. The third-class pas-
sengers outnumber the first and second class put to-
gether, but the second-clnss furnish the largest
amount of revenue, the third the next, and the first
the least. The third-class have made more progress
in number and amount than either of the other
classses.

LAST week's visitors to the Crystal Palace numbered
24,852. The receipts for admission were 1,1981.115.
THE BISHOPRIC OF SYDNEY, which was vacant
eighteen months, was offered in succession to three
Irish clergymen. First to Mr. Hamilton Verschoyle,
of Dublin, who declined it ; then to Mr. C. M. Fleury,
chaplain to the Molyneux Asylum, who also refused;
and then to Mr. Frederick Barker, who accepted it.
ONE OF THE CANONRIES IN ROCHESTER CATHEDRAL
has fallen vacant by the death of the Hon. and Rev.
F. Hotham, who held with it the rectory of Denning-
ton, worth 1,0001. ayear, and the rectory of Burnham,
worth 800/. a year. The canonry is in the gift of the
Crown, and is worth nominally 6801. a year, but the
actual value is considerably more. Fines have been
paid in certain instances of as much as 40,0001., and
even l'o,ooo/., the cathedral authorities being to that
extent the gainers.

THE SOCIETY FOR PROMOTING CHRISTIAN KNoW-
EEHoE has granted 1,0001. towards the foundation of
a new colonial bishopric, that of Perth, Western
Australia. Several other grants have also been made
by the society for religious objects in the colonies,
as well as in England and Wales.
PILLAR LErran•noxEs are to be erected along the
line of Ludgate-hill, Fleet-street, the Strand, and Pic-
cadilly, by wayof experiment. Should the scheme suc-
ceed all the main streets of London are to be provided
with these receptacles for correspondence. The
pillars are to be erected at intervals of half a mile,
or thereabouts.


995

THE commissioners have just started from Calcutta
to investigate the charges against Sir James Brooke,
of Sarawak. The expense of the inquiry is estimated
at from 12,0001. to 20,0001.

•
THE HOP Dlrry presents a lamentable falling off
this year. The follawiug is the official return from
the chief districts :—Barnstaple, 31. 7s. sd. ; Canter-
bury, 14,6791. 14s. 41d.; Derby, Bs. Old. ; Grantham,
7s. 2d.; Hants, 4,9701. Ils. 61d.; Rochester, 29,1691.
14s. 3d. • Sheffield, W. 7s. lid. ; Stourbridge, 2,2391.
Is. 3d. ; Wales, Middle, 81. Bs. aid. ; Worcester, 2,6611.
9s. ltd. ; total, 53,943/. Bs. 7*d.
WINTER threatens to set in at a very early period
of the year in the northern county of Caithness. At
Spey, on Wednesday morning last week, there was a
thin layer of snow on the ground.
MR. MECHI made a long speech a few days since
to the Witham Agricultural and Labourers' Friend
Society at their annual meeting, in which he congra-
tulated the society on the improved feeling with
reference to agricultural steam machinery. When
he first put up his steam machine a good deal of
ridicule was heaped upon him as a visionary, mis-
calculating person, but he was happy to see that
steam thrashing-machines were now being used as com-
monly as the old thrashing-machines used to be ;
and he had no] doubt steam:power would shortly he
very generally employed in agricultural pursuits. It
was also necessary that, instead of the common
blacksmiths in the villages, there should be a man in
every village who had sufficient knowledge of engi-
neering work to enable him to repair the defects which
necessarily occurred in moveable machinery. He
then alluded to the experiments made with the steam
cultivator on his farm, and stated that in the first
instance he was wrong in having the boiler fixed
vertically instead of horizontally, and there was also
too much velocity. It was found that they could
easily corrugate the soil, but they were infringing the
great law in machines which stated that what they
gained in time they lost in power. These were de-
fects that would be easily rectified, and he had no
doubt they would find a great many steam cultivators
competing for the prize of 2001. offered, partly at his
suggestion, by the Royal Agricultural Society. Agri-
culture, he declared, must progress, and however fond
farmers might be of their old prejudices they must
give way.

THE Loss OF THE BARQUE Afahtika, Capt. Staunton
of Greenock, and of the fearful sufferings of her crew
from thirst and hunger, are recorded in the Greenock
Advertiser. On the morning of the 30th of April, at
two o'clock, the barque struck on Wreck Reef, off the
coast of Australia, and in about fifteen minutes there
were nearly six feet of water in the bold. The boats
were got out, but the long-boat was soon knocked
to pieces, and with her went the small quantity of
water which bad been saved. At three p.m. the crew
were compelled to abandon the vessel ; the water by
this time being almost level with her stern. The
crew, eleven in number, got into the pinnace and
pulled clear of the wreck. They were without water
and between two and three hundred miles from the
land. The steward managed to get four bottles of
wine and a bottle of beer into the boat before the
cabin filled. The master made two attempts to get
alongside at daylight, but was obliged to give it up,
the ship being then with her stern in the water, and
her bows resting on the reef. He then steered in
for the land, which they did not fetch till the 7th of
May, when they reached Harvey's Bay. At the time
they landed four men were deranged, and one dead.
On the morning of the Bth two more men died—one
the chief mate. Water was found that afternoon,
which saved the lives of such as still retained their
senses, and an endeavour was made to save the two
who were deranged, by pouring water down their
throats, but in vain : they died on the morning of the
et h. After burying them, the rest commenced travelling
to the southward. They marched for ten days with-
out meat or drink, except sucking the dew from the
blades of grass. They then fell in with a few natives,
who fled on their appearance, leaving their fires burp-
ing, but neither left food nor water, although they had
been feasting on fish. Close to this place they found
a fresh-water river, and caught three toads, which
they roasted and ate, hut which produced such sick-
ness and weakness of the joints that they believed
themselves poisoned. In the morning the cook was
dead, and the others proceeded through the bush, and
fortunately fell in with a few aborigines, close to the
sea beach. These kindly killed a serpent of about
six feet in length, and cooked it for them, and after-
wards accompanied them to a little town, called
Marytorough, inhabited by English. There the
survivors remainded for five or six days, and proceeded
afterwards to Sydney, where the second mate and
two other men were put into the hospital. Captain
Staunton and his steward were all of the crew who
reached Melbourne.
IT is in contemplation to erect a ball especially
for dissenters in Oxford University, under the pro-
visions of the new bill and with the sanction of the
Evangelical Alliance, from which body a committee
has been formed to carry out the project.