The Press.
London, England, 1854-04-08 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

the smokeless city " which Mr. Macaulay describes
n old days as " the fair, the happy, the glorious
Florence ;" but which the lecturer on this occasion,
remembering "the sea, the sea, the open, dec.,"
and forgetting the reigning Grand Duke, called
"the gay, the ever joyous, the ever free." Rome and
Naples complete the series. All the land scenes, except
one, are well painted, especially the pine-trees in the
mountain wind, " tossing in waves of pine ;" but the
sea in a brisk gale is more conventional than natural.
But the artists are German, and Germany has no
navy yet. Indeed, criticism is at present premature;
when we witnessed it this beautiful exhibition had not
been unpacked more than a week, and was scarcely
in fair working condition, but, from what we saw
then, we have no doubt it will become highly popular.
KAHN'S ANATOMICAL Muszuw.—Several new mo-
dels have been added to this collection. When it
was first opened a prejudice was entertained against
it in some quarters ; but why a museum should not
exist in which non-professional persons may receive
instruction in anatomy we really cannot tell, unless
indeed anatomical knowledge is to be a monopoly,
and confined to surgeons. There is no reason why
mothers should not witness the evil effects of tight-
lacing, and making children walk too early, demon-
strated in lectures and illustrated by examples. We
lately attended this museum, and heard an instruc
tive and interesting lecture delivered by Dr. Leach.
It was just what such a lecture ought to be—clear in
matter, conversational in manner.

tot* ltt, Xittraturt, tit

A CITSIOU3 DISCOVERY has been made in Paris. A
colossal statue of Louis XVI. had been ordered from
a celebrated sculptor early in 1830, for the city of
Bordeaux. It was in the mould when the revolution
of 1830 broke out, and it appears to have been for-
gotten, for it was only discovered a few days ago by
some workmen who were cleaning the site for some
new building, to be erected on the Quartier Beaujon,
in Paris.
THE first number of a new weekly journal, to be
called the Figaro, conducted principally by some re-
dacteurs of the extinguished Corsaire, appeared in
Paris on Saturday last. It promises to be amusing,
and if allowed by the Governmenl to live will pro-
bably command a considerable degree of popularity.
Ax additional sum of 40,000 rd. bko. has been al-
lotted to the new telegraph in Sweden. A short time
ago the Swedish Government was as unfriendly to
electric telegraphs as it still is to railways. It now
begins to see how useful they may be to themselves
personally.
vas some details relative to
THE Bergamo journal gi
the funeral obsequies of the celebrated Rubini. On
the coffin, which was covered with black velvet hand-
somely embroidered with gold, was deposited the
uniform of Director and Grand Master of the Imperial
Schools for Singing, to which he had been appointed
by the Czar. On this uniform were the decoration of
the Order of St. Ernest of Saxony, and the Grand
Medal of Merit in brilliants, and the decoration of the
Russian order of St. Andrew, which had been given
by the Czar. The Medal of Merit Prussia, and the
Medal of the City of Vienna, were also placed on the
uniform. Over the portico of the church of Santo.
Romano, on which the funeral was service performed,
was placed the following inscription : "The poor bless
your memory, because, when honourably enriched,
you came to their aid in your paternal solicitude, and
assuaged their sufferings without ostentation."
THE CHEVALIER FRANcOIS JOSEPH DE GIRARD, for-
merly deputy for Vaucluse, has just died, at the ad-
vanced age of ninety-three years. He was the last of
the three brothers Girard, celebrated for their im-
provements of spinning machinery, and last year the
Corps Legislatif granted him a pension of 6,000 f., as
a national recompense for the services rendered to
French industry by him and his family. This pension
descends to his niece, the Countess de Corneillan,
and her daughter.
FOUR kinds of publications are now privileged to pass
through the post, viz., n ewsp apers and stamped publica-
tions, which pass free; unstamped publications are now
charged at the rate of Bd. per lb.; parliamentary pro-
ceedings, charged 4d. and sometimes Bd. perlb. ; and
printed books, ls. per lb. Newspapers and stamped
publications are privileged to pass to all parts of the
world, except to Egypt, Portugal, United States, Chili,
China, Turkey, Foreign West Indies, Borneo, Grey.
town, Holland, Guatemala, Lucca, Mexico, Modena,
Papal States, Parma, Sardinia, Two Sicilies, and
Tuscany. The only parts abroad to which unstamped
publications are privileged to pass are Belgium,
Bremen, France, Hamburg, Holland, Prussia, and
the United States. Parliamentary proceedings are
only privileged to the British colonies and possessions ;
and books are only privileged to Cape town, Mauritius,
Ceylon, India, Hong-Kong, Gibraltar, Malta, New
Zealand, New South Wales, British West Indies,
Canada, Nova Scotia, Bermuda, Newfoundland,
Prince Edward Island, Monte Video, Gold Coast,
and Bt. Helena.

SATURDAY,

Obituarg.

PROFESSOR WILSON, the well-known " Christopher
North " of Blackwood's Magazine, died in Edinburgh
on Monday morning, at the age of 09. The origin
and early days of the deceased writer are summed up
in a paragraph in a letter from Sir Walter Scott to
Miss Baillie :
" The author of the elegy upon poor Grahame is John
Wilson, a young man of very considerable poetical powers.
He is now engaged in a poem called the ' Isle of Palms,'
something in the style of Southey. He is an eccentric
genius, and has fixed himself upon the banks of Windermere,
but occasionally resides in Edinburgh, where he now is.
Perhaps you have seen him; his tattier was a wealthy
Paisley manufacturer—his mother a sister of Robert Sym.
He seems an excellent, warm-hearted, and enthusiastic
young man; something too much, perhaps, of the latter
quality places him among the list of originals."
Wilson had been a student at Glasgow University,
entering at the age of thirteen, and proceeded, in
his eighteenth year, to Oxford, where he entered
Magdalen College as a gentleman commoner. Here
he began to display his poetic powers, and gained
the Newdigate prize. After leaving the university,
he became smitten with the genius of Wordsworth,
and repaired to the Lakes, bought a small property,
called Elleray, and cultivated the acquaintance of
the " Great Lake Poet," becoming himself, in latter
days, the "Admiral of the Lakes," and acting as
such when Bolton entertained Canning and Scott
with a splendid water fête on Windermere. In these
days Wilson played many wild feats. He attended
all the fairs, fights, running matches, races, and so
forth, in the country. He was a capital boxer,
singlestick•man, and wrestler, no great sportsman,
except as an angler, and now and then in pursuit of
the red deer. For some time he took up his abode
amongst the gipsies, learned a great deal of their
slang, and adopted their costume and their habits.
Afterwards he partially settled down, and went to
study law in Edinburgh. Little profit resulted from
this experiment, but he took to literature, and pro-
duced several isolated works, such as the " Lights
and Shadows of Scottish Life," which attained great
popularity, and the "Trials of Margaret Lindsay," a
pathetic Scottish story. In Edinburgh, about 1818,
the Professorship of Moral Philosophy in the Uni-
versity became vacant, and Blackwood's Magazine
was established. Wilson immediately became a
candidate for office in the one, and contributor to the
other. Sir Walter Scott's patronage mainly con-
tributed to his success in the first, his own abilities
won the second. Later in life the professor is de-
scribed as a stout, tall, athletic man, with broad
shoulders and chest, and prodigiously muscular
limbs. His face was magnificent; his hair, which
he wore long and flowing, fell round his massive
features like a lion's mane, to which, indeed, it was
often compared, being much of the same hue. His
lips were always working, while his grey flashing eyes
had a weird sort of look which was highly character
istic. In his dress he was singularly slovenly, being,
except on state occasions, attired in a threadbare
suit of clothes, often rent, his shirts frequently
buttonless, and his hat of the description anciently
called shocking. His professorial style of costume
was just as odd. His gown, as he stalked along the
college terraces, flew in tattered stripes behind him;
and, altogether, John Wilson, with all his genius, was
personally one of the most strangely eccentric of the
many eccentric characters existing in his day in the
metropolis of the north.
The RIGHT HoN. EDWARD PRICE LLOYD, Baron
Mostyn, in the county of Flint, North Wales, died
on Monday last, at Pengwern, near St. Asaph. His
lordship, who was born in 1708, was the eldest son
of the late Bell Lloyd, Esq., ofodfach. He married
in 1794, the third daughter of the late Sir Roger
Mostyn, Bart., and succeeded his grand uncle in the
baronetcy in 1795. The first baronets as S
wi ec
they
at War, and his baronetcy was gtede-
mainder to his nephew, the father of the noble lord
just deceased. He acquired the peerage by creation
in 1839. The deceased lord is succeeded by his son,
the Hon. E. Mostyn, M.P. for the county of Flint.
COLONEL ARILINE SIMCOE HENRY MOUNTAIN, C. 8.,
aide-de-camp to the Queen, and adjutant-general to
her Majesty's forces in India, died at Futtyghur,
in
India, on the 18th of February. Colonel Mountain
was taken ill when on march with the commander-
in chief, Sir William Gomm, from Cawnpore to
Futtyghur, and died in camp, mourned and lamented
by all. The deceased officer served as adj
in utant-
general to the army under Lord Gough China, and
was severely wounded during that service. On his
return to India he was appointed adjutant-general
to her Majesty's; forces serving there, and on the
breaking out of the war in the Punjaub had the com-
mand of a brigade, with which he served with so
much distinction at the battles of Chillianwallah and
Gujerat that, at the termination of the last battle, he
was romoted to te commnd of a division under
General Sir Walterh Gilbert,a and sent by him in im-
mediate pursuit of the enemy. At the conclusion of
the war he resumed his appointment of adjutant-