The Press.
London, England, 1858-12-11 00:00:00

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1212

THE WEEK.

We have just had our notice directed to a very remarkable scheme for
new telegraphic communication between the Old and New World. In a
few days, we understand, a Prospectus of its objects will be in the hands of
the public, but our readers may be glad iu the meantime to have some
general idea of the conception. The following is the Line of Communi-
cation which it will be proposed, we are informed, to lay down :
Starting from the neighbourhood of Falmouth, touching at Cape
Finisterre, Lisbon, Cape St. Vincent (with a branch to Cadiz and Gibraltar),
the Canaries (with a branch to Madeira), the Cape de Verdo, the islands
of St. Paul and Norontro, it will arrive at or near Pernambuco, in the
Brazils. A land telegraph will continue this line through the Brazilian
territory, as far as Para; whence a submarine line will be carried to the
British town of Demarara, in Guepana ; from here a combination of land
and submarine wires will be constructed through the principal West-
Indian islands to New Orleans, in the United States, where it will join
the network of existing telegraphs belonging to the American companies.
This undertaking certainly appears to possess advantages far exceed-
ing any other scheme of a like nature, having for its object to unite the
two hemispheres. One of its main features is, that while it offers probably
the most efficacious and practical method of opening telegraphic correspon-
dence between Europe and the United States of North America, its utility
is not bounded by this one object, nor are the sources of its revenue con-
fined to the produce of a single country. Probably the most important
point, whether regarded in a national, political, or commercial point of
view, is the joining the West-Indian Islands and British Guyana to the
mother country, to both North and South America, and to one another.
The main line passes through the principal islands, and the remainder can
be connected by short branches. This line will also open the vast and im-
proving empire of the Brazils to telegraphic communication with Europe,
and also with North America, with both of which continents it already
carries on a very considerable trade, and which such facilities as telegraphs
offer cannot but augment. The importance of the amount of English
capital invested now in the Brazils in railway, mining, and other opera-
tions, renders this communication at the present moment of great value.
Physically the raute proposed by this new scheme is far preferable to any
that has yet been suggested. With the exception of about 900 miles, the
entire line will be laid in depths of under 1,000 fathoms, in the execution
of which there will be scarcely more danger than in laying a cable from
Dover to Calais. The line in most places follows the coast, so that the
engineer will be enabled, by approaching or receding from the shore, to
select the depth he considers the most expedient, and to lay his cables so
that, while they may be beyond all chance of injury from anchors, they
may be easily recovered in case of accident. The longest link in the pro-
posed system is between the Cape de Verdo and the Island of St. Paul, a
distance of 890 nautical miles. This will insure against a greater loss
than of so much cable from any one failure. The risk upon the South At-
lantic Telegraph, therefore, will be much less than upon a line composed of
one single but long stretch.

The general order issued lately from the Horse Guards, and published
this week in the Times, is another evidence of the practical and thorough
character of the Duke of CAMBRIDGE'S administration. The duties of which
a knowledge is now to be a sine quit non for the promotion of subalterns,
are among the most irksome, but probably the most necessary, incidental
to a soldier's life. Many a good linguist, many a master of HANNIBAL'S
or TURENNEB campaigns, would break down in a knowledge of those
ordinary details on which so much of the comfort and efficiency of the
common soldier depends. And it is possible that many abuses in our
army might have been remedied earlier, had the regimental officers
been better able to appreciate the complaints laid before them by the men.
The primary importance in action of a familiar acquaintance with all the
regimental evolutions on the part of the junior officers, is obvious, nor,
to do them justice, do they seem generally to have been deficient in this
particular. Many a hard-fought battle in the Peninsula and elsewhere
testifies to the coolness and steadiness of the British infantry in the most trying
emergencies, and after all the senior officers had fallen—virtues that must
in some measure be attributable to the capability of the juniors to direct
the movements of the men. One very good regulation in the new order
is, that no candidate shall be examined by a field-officer of his own regi-
ment—a provision analogous to that by which at the Universities no
candidate is placed in the hands of an examiner belonging to his own
college.

Our courts of law have been occupied this week with three cases of a
more than usually disgraceful character. Of the disgusting details in
"Evans and Evans" we may probably congratulate ourselves on having
heard the last. The Davidson and Gordon case, however, comes on again
next Wednesday. But the moral which this particular exposure carries
with it has long since been extracted, and any further remarks upon the
hollowness of the commercial morality on which we have hitherto prided
ourselves would now be superfluous. But the third case upon our list
proves unhappily that the evil is spreading upwards—or downwards, we
hardly know which is the more correct term. It depends, perhaps, upon
whether we regard Mr. HERBERT INGRAM as a Member of Parliament or
simply as himself. But be this as it may, there is something startling in
the disclosures made before Lord CAMPBELL on Thursday last. here is
an eminent London tradesman, who could not even plead the excuse of
poverty—one, too, who had long, through the medium of journalism, been

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 11, 1858.

preaching purity to his neighbours—confessing his complicity with a tram
action which we cannot call by its proper name because it would be
libellous, but which we may circuitously describe as an unguarded effort to
shield an influential friend from the consequences of spirited but
unfortunate speculations, the means adopted being the beautifully
simple fiction of supposing himself for the moment to be
the owner of a large landed estate which belonged to somebody else.
The delusion differs in no respect from that of Christopher Sly, unless
we attach any importance to the fact that in Mr. INGRAM'S Cage it was
self-imposed—a quibbling distinction unworthy a man of large and enter-
prizing views. We will briefly epitomize the facts. Some six years ago
Mr. VINCENT SCULLY was the possessor of 10,0001. in cash, and 9,0001.
more in the promises of the late Mr. JOHN SADLEIR. Being sanguine
enough therefore to suppose himself the owner of 19,0001., he directed his
debtor, who was also his solicitor, and "did his business for him," to
invest the said sum in the purchase of land. The Castle Hyde estate,
near Cork, being for sale, was fixed upon as an eligible property, and Mr.
SCULLY accordingly became the buyer in the name of his uncle, a Mr.
EYRE, for the sum of 19,4251. Being anxious to complete the purchase
money and keep the estate, Mr. SCULLY repeatedly asked for his 9,0001.,
but eventually told Mr. SADLEIR that if he would not repay him, he must
re-sell the estate, and furthermore offered, that if he re-sold it at a profit,
lie should have half the difference. Armed with these instructions, Mr.
SADLEIR proceeded to London and arranged a re-sale of the estate, as he
said, to Mr. IxGRANt, at a profit of 600/. But now a disturbing
element intervened in the shape of a vacancy for Cork,
for which Mr. SCULLY was induced to stand, and then, of
course, it became an object with him to have the estate back
again, We do not, however, quite understand in what sense Mr. SCULLY
could have understood the terms of his solicitor's letter, dated London,
March Ist :—" Mr. HERBERT INGRAM is the purchaser of the estate,
" to re-sell. He understands our game, and agrees to say or do as I tell him."
But whatever might have been the meaning of these mysterious words,
one thing seems tolerably evident,—that soon afterwards 111 r. Scutax un-
doubtedly believed Mr. IsoftAt to have bought the property, and that he
urgently requested SADLEIR to pay the 9,0001. he owed him, towards
making up the necessary sum to repurchase it. It now, therefore, became
needful to find out what Mr. LXGRAM wanted for his bargain. Mr. SCULLY
accordingly came over to England, and saw Mr. INuat,tat on the subject,
both at Rickmansworth and in the House of Commons. That gentleman,
who was " difficult to be seen," expressed himself, when caught, to the
effect that the property was increasing in value—shrewd man of business!—
that Mrs. INGRAM "fancied the place "—affectionate husband !—and
altogether seemed "reluctant to give back the estate" at even 25,0001. To
cut a long story short, his "reluctance" is very easily explained. He hadn't
got it to give. Whatever might be SADLEIR'S motive in not wishing Mr.
INGRAM to accept the 25,0001.—whether inability to pay his own 9,0001.—
whether he saw a better chance of profit in another quarter, and wished to
prevent any one from taking possession in order that he might turn the
property to his own uses—it is impossible to say, and now matters very
little. But at all events, in February, 1853, Mr. SCULLY received a note
from Mr. INGRAM in the following terms :—" I have spoken to Mrs.
" INGRAM, and she is disinclined to part with the property before I see it."
After this Mr. SCULLY, as he says, got disgusted, began to regard the
whole affair as a shuffle, and finally gave up all idea of recovering the
estate. Yet in the face of this evidence Mr. INGRAM'S counsel had the
temerity to assert that "Mr. INGRAM never pretended that he had the
" estate, but only that he had the option of purchasing it." Why, what
does Mr. INGRAM himself admit ? " I might have asked him a price. At
" the Reform Club I will not swear I did not ask the plaintiff 28,0001. for
" the estate." But how can a man put a price on. property which is not
his ? For not even so daring an advocate as Mr. INGRAM'S had recourse
to the desperate pretence that Mr. SCULLY was asked to pay 8,5001- as a
bonus to Mr. INGRAM for resigning his preference. The 28,0001., then,
must have been represented to Mr. SCULLY as the price demanded by the
actual owner, and under that impression he continued till 1856, when he
discovered that Mr. INGRAM had never held the property for a day, and
that SADLEIR had mortgaged it two or three times over for large sums of
money. On the nature of the motives by which Mr. INGRAM may have
been swayed throughout this transaction we forbear to speculate. ut
we
cannot refrain from quoting certain well known lines relative to the tempta-
tions engendered by too rapid a career of prosperity :

The Tempter saw his time, the work he plied;
Stocks and subscriptions pour on every side;
Till all the daemon makes his full descent
In one abundant shower of cent. per cent.
Sinks deep within him, and possesses whole,
Then dubs director, and secures his soul.
Behold Sir Balsam ! now a man of spirit,
Ascribes his gettings to his parts and merit;
What late he called a blessing now was wit,
And God's pod providence a lucky hit.
In Britain's senate be a seat obtains,
And one more pensioner St. Stephen's gains.
The conclusion of Sir Balaam's story is well known, and must of course be
familiar to a man of letters like Mr. lIERBERT INGRAM. But, however,
there is time for him yet to pull up. SADLEIR'S suicide was a most fortu-
nate circumstance in his favour ; and since his evil genius has left
him, let us trust that Mr. INGRAM has given up dabbling in such !Try
equivocal transactions. We cannot help noticing that the damages
given
by the jury in this case seem somewhat strange. What proportion does
3001. bear to the injury sustained by the plaintiff ? While thz amount
does not in the slightest degree affect the stigma cast on Mr. INGRAM.
But juries are actuated by calculations incomprehensible to ordinary men.

The publication of the Birmingham Reform Manifesto has been fol-
lowed by a gush of political addresses in all quarters of the kingdom
The gentlemen in question are modest enough in their demands—