The Press.
London, England, 1858-12-25 00:00:00

THE PRESS, DECEMBER 25, 1858.

melodrama rave or sneer according to his idiosyncrasy with unflagging
success; may the amiable yeoman, who, in consequence of being robbed
by his nephew, cannot pay his rent, be as pathetic as ever; may the
pantomime be as glorious to the juveniles, and the ballet as delightful to
their seniors. What more can we ask ?

Another newspaper quarrel has this week been made public, though the
circumstances are rather such as are common to all business occupations than
to the press alone ; and we merely allude to it for the purpose of expressing
our strong disapprobation of this system of societies." and the attempt on
the part of workmen to dictate to their employers. The attempt involves
a theory which is impossible to be realized, and must in the long run prove
suicidal to its authors. But the conduct of the workmen on this occasion
is blameless compared with that of the defendant, the editor of a rival
psper. The workmen whom Mr. HARRISON, the plaintiff, had discharged,
owing to their connection with " a society,' placarded the town of Sheffield
with bills, one of which the editor of the Sheffield Daily Telegraph per-
mitted to appear in his columns as an advertisement. For this offence the
plaintiff brought an action, and obtained 5001. damages from the jury. We
can only say we wish it had been double, as we can never be too careful to
preserve the courtesies of journalism, nor too ready to express our disappro-
bation of such practices as those in question.

The Westminster Play has this week been honoured by the presence
of Royalty, in the shape of II R li. the PRINCE CONSORT and II R.H.
his eldest son. The compliment paid to these illustrious guests reminds
us of the good old days of congratulatory verses, and we trust the Royal
visitors fully appreciated their classic beauty. The wit of the epilogue
is, if anything, a little below the average, though there are some good
jokes on crinoline, and a fair hit at the " inuscular Christianity" folks.

A letter has appeared this week in a morning journal, relating
to the condition of newly arrived emigrants in Australia, the purport of
which certainly does not surprise us. the demand for professional services,
more especially such as those of tutors and governesses, if extensive, denotes
a growth of intelligence and refinement in the colony which will naturally
create the supply required for itself—if limited, this demand can of course
afford very few persons a livelihood, whether emigrants or natives.
But it is to be considered that society in Australia is composed mainly of
two classes—the wealthy people who are not remarkable for intellectual
tastes, and the intellectual people who are not remarkable for wealth. It
will require another generation or two for the growth of a rich and
leisurely class, who are the natural patrons of the class of people
we refer to. There is a good deal of employment and constantly
increasing employment, to be found in London for " persons engaged in
tuition." The rate of remuneration is disgracefully low, we admit. But
an income may be made,—which is more than can be said of the same
occupation in the colonies.

The cat did it. That is the only conclusion we can arrive at with
regard to the Bradford poisonings. Mr. HopusoN didn't do it, and the
apprentice didn't do it. Such, at least, is the external aspect of the ease. It
appears that the crime of manslaughter is so evenly divided between them,
that neither can be saddled with the whole. In a strictly legal sense, how-
ever, GonpAnn probably came further within shot, so to speak, than his
master. He had been a pupil-teacher five years, and must, therefore, be
something like nineteen or twenty years of age. He might, accordingly, be
considered by his employer as possessed of sufficient intelligence to com-
prehend the instructions given to him, and the responsibility of deviating
front them in the slightest particular. He was aware that arsenic was in
the same room, and the tub containing it had been pointed out to him.
Altogether, 31r. Hoix;soN was, perhaps, entitled to believe that the risk
he was running was not greater than is often of necessity incurred in his
business. The assistant, however, notwithstanding the fact that
neither the material he served out nor the tub which held
it corresponded exactly to his master's description of the " daff,"
was careless enough to disregard the difference, and hence the
catastrophe that ensued. There can be no doubt that the culpability of
GoDnAito was extreme. Whether his act comes within the legal definition
of manslaughter is perhaps doubtful ; but it was probably felt that a pro-
secution directed against him would have worn too much the appearance
of shifting the masters guilt on to the servant, and have enlisted the
sympathy of the jury in his behalf. But, though we have no doubt that
Hopt;soN was rightfully acquitted, we cannot exonerate him from all
responsibility. We cannot consider that to have permitted the possi-
bility of a mistake of this kind was not a grave fault. The very neces-
sity of cautioning the boy so frequently, proved that all was not as right
as it should be. Allowance is, no doubt, to be made for the state of mind
produced by illness, the impatience of his customers' importunity, and the
carelessness which springs from lassitude ; but when all deductions have
been made, the residuum of moral guilt is considerable,—and we envy
neither himself nor his apprentice their state of mind at the present
moment.

How singularly illogical is the Irish mind, and from what odd points
of view do they look at things! The main point upon which Mr. REA, the
solicitor for the detected and arrested members of the Phanix Associa-
tion, intends to rely, is the fact that they are no worse than their neigh-
bours, and that there are plenty more at large—a reason almost as exqui-
site as that given by Sir Andrew Aguecheek in his challenge to Cesario,
and as logical as the argument of the Irish boatman, who, on being ob-
jurgated for not pulling in time, answered—`• Oh, now, how unrasonable,
ver Honor is. Sure, if we both pulled at onst there'd be a time when the
poor boat, good luck to her, would be left all to herself on the wide
eater."