The Press.
London, England, 1854-10-07 00:00:00

THE PRESS.

lights, which are of a temporary construction, in
order to meet the emergency.—Scotsman.
Mr. G. J. R. Gordon, Consul-General at Monte
Video, has been appointed Minister Plenipotentiary
at Berne, in the room of the Hon. Charles A. Murray,
now her Majesty's representative at the Court of
Persia.
The members of the National Association for the
Vindication of Scottish Rights entertained their pre•
sident, the Earl of Eglinton and Winton, on Wednes-
day, in the City-hall, Glasgow, in testimony of their
gratitude to his lordship for his able advocacy of
their cause. About 600 gentlemen were present.
The Duke of Montrose occupied the chair.

MR. DISRAELI.
Mn. DISRAMLI, M.P., with Mrs. Disraeli, left Ply-
mouth towards the close of last week, and proceeded
to Trevina, the seat of Michael Williams, Esq., M.P.
The right honourable gentleman has addressed the
following letter to the Blackburn Protestant Associa-
tion, which was read at the last meeting of that
Society :

" Hughenden Manor, Sept. 15.
" Sir,—l have the honour of acknowledging the receipt
of your letter of the 7th inst., communicating to me the
thanks of the Blackburn Protestant Association, for certain
observations made by me at the close of the late session
of Parliament, with respect to the present anomalous con-
dition of the constitution of these realms, and the great
dangers which may consequently ensue to the rights of all
classes of her Majesty's subjects, both Protestant and
Roman Catholic.
" I beg you to offer the association my thanks for this
mark of their approbation, which I value. Public men,
in this country, depend upon public confidence. Without
that they are nothing.
" Far from wishing to make the settlement of this all-
important question a means of obtaining power, I would
observe that I mentioned at the same time, in my place,
the var:ous and eminent qualifications which I thought
Lord John Russell possessed for the office, and my hope
that he would feel it his duty to undertake it.
" In that case I should extend to him the same support
which I did at the time of the Papal aggression, when he
attempted to grapple with a great evil; though he was de-
feated in his purpose by the intrigues of the Jesuit party,
whose policy was on that occasion upheld in Parliament
with eminent ability and unhappy success by Lord Aber-
deen, Sir James Graham, and Mr. Gladstone.
" I still retain the hope that Lord John Russell will
seize the opportunity, which he unfortunately lost in 1851,
and deal with the relations in all their bearings of our
Roman Catholic fellow-subjects to our Protestant constitu-
tion. But, however this may be, there can be no doubt
that, sooner or later, the work must be done, with gravity,
I trust, and with as little heat as possible in so great a
controversy, but with earnestness and without equivoca-
tion ; for the continuance of the present state of affairs
must lead inevitably to civil discord, and, perhaps, to
rational disaster.
" Believe me, air, your very faithful servant,
" 11. Disitaitia.
" The Rev. Christopher Robinson."

MR. SERGEANT O'BRIEN, it is stated, has deter-
mined to offer himself as a candidate for Limerick
city, to fill the vacancy in the representation caused
by the death of Mr. Potter. The learned sergeant,
who is a Roman Catholic and a moderate Liberal,
was a candidate for Limerick at the last general elec-
tion, when he was defeated by a very small majority.
THE CONSECRATION OF THE VERY REV. DR. LEAHY,
a friar of the Dominican order, as coadjutor to the
Roman Catholic Bishop of Dromore, took place on
Sunday in Cork, the proceedings baying been con-
ducted with great pomp and magnificence.
THE collections in the several Roman Catholic
churches of Dublin on Sunday in aid of the Roman
Catholic University amounted to nearly 1,2001.
THE following announcement appears in the Free-
man's Journal:—
" His Grace the Archbishop of Tuain proceeds to Rome
at the close of this week, on the invitation of his Holiness,
to attend the great meeting of the prelates of the Church,
where the Irish hierarchy will be represented also by his
Grace the Archbishop of Dublin and his Grace the Arch-
bishop of Armagh, Primate."

A COURT-MARTIAL has tried the first lieutenant,
Glover, H.M.S. Rosamond, Captain Wodehouse, on a
charge preferred against him by the surgeon Littleton.
It appears that Mr. Littleton, speaking of the navy,
used the expression " Any pig will fatten in a sty," to
which Lieutenant Glover replied, " You ought to have
your t ingue pulled out for speaking of your service
in that way." Lieutenant Glover was reprimanded,
but the court considered the charge unnecessary and
frivolously preferred.
A SERIOUS FIRE broke out on Monday morning,
about three o'clock in Goswell-street, on the premises
of Mr. Pedroli, a tobacconist. A thick'fog prevailed at
the time, and prevented the flames from being seen
at any great distance, so that messengers had to he
sent off to the various engine stations. The fog was
so dense that the firemen had to walk in front of the
horses, with lights in their hands. Ere they arrived
at Goswell-street, the fire had seized on the whole
of Mr. Pedroli's premises, and ultimately extended
to some of the houses adjacent. Nearly five hours
elapsed before the flames could be extinguished.

SATURDAY,

Xato an Voila.

THE DISGRACEFUL AFFAIR on board the Dauntless
has undergone a thorough investigation by the civil
authorities of Portsmouth, before whom Lieutenants
Knight and Seymour were placed on a charge of
manslaughter. The details preceding and attending
the death of the girl Lodge, of which an abstract was
given in last week's Pitess,were recapitulated at great
length, four entire clays being occgpied in the pro-
ceedings. Finally, the Mayor pronounced the deci-
sion of the court, absolving Lieutenant Seymour
from all blame in the affair. Respecting the other
defendant, while pronouncing his acquittal, as far as
legal criminality was concerned, the Mayor said :
"The charge is the ht avy charge of manslaughter
against Lieutenant Knight, and should be accompa-
nied with a corresponding amount of evidence,
if the case is to be sent before a jury. It has been
said, justly sail, that there is no point on which we
can put our finger and say there is a point to show
that the deceased received a sufficient amount of
damage from any one individual to cause a fatal in-
jury. No blow appears to have been struck by any
one hand, as far as we can see. It appears she fell
twice out of the bed ; and according to medical testi-
mony those falls might have given such a shock or
caused such a concussion as to produce the internal
rupture from which she died. l'lnerefore Lieutenant
Knight, however reprehensible his conduct might
have been—however wrong he might have been in
introducing this girl on board contrary to the rules
of the service—however wrongly he might have acted
—and he did act wrongly—in supplying them with
stimulating drinks—however wrong it might be in
him to have let her out of the ship without stating
what was to be done for her, and putting her into a
boat without saying where she was to be sent on
shore—though he may not have displayed any of
those feelings of humanity that ought to have affected
him when sending her out of the ship in the state she
was, he having brought her into that place—however
reprehensible he may have been, we say, and we are
unanimous in that opinion, that there is no one point
on which we can lint our hand and say that there is
a sufficient amount of evidence before us for the pur-
pose of sending Lieutenant Knight to take his trial
on a charge of manslaughter. While we most
strongly condemn the course Lieut. Knight took on
this occasion, and think there is no excuse for him in
the conduct that was pursued by him, we still feel
that, in discharging our duty, we should anxiously
look to do that which is just and right. While we feel
his conduct to be leprehensible, we also feel that we
cannot, in justice to ourselves, on the evidence placed
before us, send him to take his trial on the charge
now made against him. Therefore, while we express
our strong opinion of the gross impropriety of the
conduct pursued towards the unhappy girl, we must
dismiss the charge of manslaughter against Lieut.
Knight. A court-martial, convened at his own in-
stance, will again review the conduct of Lieut.
Knight in relation to the occurrence."
Two CONFEDERATES, by name Sharp and Taylor,
have been examined on charges alleging that they
had obtained goods from divers tradesmen to
the value of 5001., by false representations. The
plan pursued by the prisoners was very ingenious.
Sharp assumed the character of a young tradesman
just starting in business. His first step was to take
a house, and, by representing that he was in daily ex-
pectation of receiving 500/. from a lately-deceased
uncle, induced some carpenter to fit up the shop on
credit. He then applied to some wholesale houses
to supply him with goods, hut, as it was necessary in
such instances to give references, Taylor established
himself in respectable quarters as a surveyor, for the
purpose of satisfactorily answering all inquiries rela-
tive to Sharp. The consequence of this arrangement
was, that goods were supplied to different amounts,
varying from 201. to 1501., all of which, in every in-
stance, disappeared with the prisoners a few days
after delivery. Both prisoners were fully identified,
and, evidence in two cases having been given, were
ordered for committal in order to their being tried for
the fraud.

The gross cost of all prosecutions in England anal Wales
during the year 1853 amounted to 195,3881. Bs. 7d. Of
this sum, 92,3981. Is. 7d. was incurred by cases prosecuted
on the circuits, 105,4401. 18s. 3d. in counties, and 28,5401.
Bs. 9d. in cities and boroughs. The number of prisoners
tried on circuits was 4,084; in counties, 15,595; in cities
and boroughs, 23,998. Of these, 19,448 were indicted for
felony, and 2,083 for misdemeanour. The number of pro-
secutors amounted to 19,858, and of witnesses to 70,807.
This return is exclusive of the Chester and South Wales
Circuit, of the county of Bucks, and of about a score of
cities and boroughs, of which Derby, Salford, and Wor-
cester are the chief. The sllowance to prosecutors and
witnesses is stated in most of the returns to be on the
scale sanctioned by Lord John Russell when Home Seere•
tary. The sums paid to counsel and solicitors, iu respect
of prosecutions by the Mint and Post-odice, amount to
6,2121. 1 la. 11

OCTOBER 7, 1854.

fittraturr.

La Comedie en Espagne ; ou, lea P ronuncia-
mentos. By Paulin Limayrac. Paris :
Librarie Nouvelle.
FRENCH literature of late years has not shone
with anything like its wonted brilliancy ; and
in no one department has the falling-oil been
more strongly marked than in that in which
the French were, by universal consent, pre-
eminent and unapproachable—vaudeville and
comedy. No one who has had the opportunity
of comparing the multitude of new pieces
which have been brought out at the Parisian
theatres during the last six or eight years
with those which were produced in the ten or
twenty years preceding—to go no farther
back—can have failed to observe that they
display infinitely less power of invention, of
dramatic tact, of knowledge of character—
infinitely less satire, less wit, less of that
brilliant, sparkling, mocking esprit which is so
peculiarly French that no nation has its like.
But, though the acted vaudeville and comedy
painfully exhibit this decline, it happens not
unfrequently that pieces unacted, or not written
to be acted, are published in which are found
vigorous satires on the men and manners of
the day which Beaumarchais might not have
disavowed—and charming tableaux of society
equal, not to say superior, to anything of
Scribe when he enjoyed all his éclat. Of the
latter class we particularly specify the proverbes
of Musset and Feuillet, which were never
destined for scenic representation ; and in the
former we may, by a stretch of indulgence,
range the comedy now before us.
M. Paulin Limayrac is little known in this
country, if known at all. But in Paris he is
esteemed as the author of sundry clever papers
in the Revue des Deux Mondes, the great French
review, and, more highly still, as of late years
the literary critic of the Presse newspaper. We
read his critical articles with great pleasure,
as they are always smartly written, always full
of shrewd common sense (rather a rare thing
in France), always teeming with esprit—often
striking out new views, and letting fall new
" notions "—and mostly displaying a laudable
desire to scratch and bite—which is quite a
refreshing thing to witness in a country where
it is the fashion for the author to say all
manner of fine things of the critic, and the
critic to exalt the author to the skies. But
from this commendation we expressly exclude
M. Limayrac's tartines (as the newspaper
slang of Paris would aptly designate them) on
politics and philosophy. Those on politics are
too Red for our taste; and those on philosophy
seem to us all bosh. Fancy, indeed, a French
feuilletoniste writing on philosophy with true
feuilleton flippancy !
" Gil Blas" professes to give pictures of
"life" in Spain and Madrid, but they are really
and truly of " life" in France and Paris ; and
this, be it observed, par parenthese, is a strong
argument in favour of Lesage being the author
of the book, in spite of the vehement asser-
tions of Spaniards to the contrary. " Gil
Blas "—like M. Limayrac—lays the scene of
his comedy in Spain, and gives his personages
Spanish names ; but the events, the characters,
and the tone of the dialogue are French, com-
pletely, thoroughly, exclusively French. The
fact is that the play was written for the French
stage with a French title and French•named
personages ; and its scene has been removed
to Madrid, its title Castillanised, and its
persona made dons and senoras solely because
the revolution in Spain happened to make the
public disposed to pay attention to Spanish
things and people. This is hardly, perhaps,
dignified in a literary point of view ; but qua
voulex voila p These are hard times for French
writers, and so they may be excused for trying
all honest means of attracting notice and
making money.
As an acted play we think this comedy would
have run the risk of being " damned with
" faint praise ;" for its plot is singularly flimsy
and uninteresting, and its characters are not
drawn with the coarse vigour necessary to
strike a miscellaneous auditory. As a literary
production, however—and it is as such only that
at appears before up—it deserves to be spoken