The Press.
London, England, 1858-02-06 00:00:00

THE PRESS, FEBRUARY 6, 1858.

130

no doubt about the sincerity of the acclamations
which met the Royal Princess at every step ; and
amidst the cheers of the people the sharp cheerful
tone of the church-bells was heard ringing
merry peals. At Temple Bar, which was gaily
decorated with flags and evergreens, there was a
short delay on the City side, the Lord ➢iayor present-
ing, not the keys of the City, but a bouquet of choice
flowers, which was graciously received. The snow
fell heavily, but it did not chill the en-
thusiasm of the crowds which lined Fleet-street,
nor drown the hearty cheers which rose at every
point as the royal carriage approached. Here, too,
the banners were thicker than ever. On Ludgate-
bill they were so numerous that it was impossible to
catch a glimpse of St. Paul's until close under
it. Every variety of national standard, Union Jack
and Prussian eagle, was displayed, besides much other
bunting the precise significance of which it was not
very easy to discover. In Cannon-street the win-
dows of all the great warehouses were filled with
well-dressed ladies, while the broad thoroughfare
was packed with people. On London-bridge an
enormous crowd was collected. Every available spot
bad its knot of sight-seers ; some even mounted to
the top of the Monument; and amidst the enthusi-
astic greetings of the crowd and the merry peals
of the church bells the Princess passed out of the
ancient city of London.
At a quarter to one o'clock, the time designated
for the arrival, the procession entered the terminus,
amidst strains of music, loud cheering, and waving
of handkerchiefs irom the many ladies who were
accommodated with seats in the station. The Royal
party were received by the directors, and were imme-
diately condurted to the train. The earliest occupant
of the state carriage was a little Italian greyhound, a
favourite of the Princess Royal. The carriage in
which the Royal party rode is the one which her
Majesty and other royal travellers use in their
journeys on this line. Her Royal Highness was
supported on the arm of her husband, the Prince
Frederick William, to the royal carriage, and entered
it with a light and elastic step. She was followed by
the Prince, her husband, and after him Prince
Albert, the Prince of Wales, and Prince Arthur
entered the royal compartment. Prince Albert then
called the Duke of Cambridge, who was standing at
some distance amidst the crowd which now sur-
rounded the princely party, and invited hint to join
the party, which he did. On either side of the royal
carriage the press of people was now very great, and
the cheering was loud and continual. The great
object of attraction was of course the newly married
couple. and more particularly the young Princess.
With great good taste and feeling on her part she
remained standing all the time the engine was pre-
paring, and now on to one side, now to the other, she
directed her regards, and repeatedly acknowledged
the truly affectionate cheers which echoed all around
her. The royal cortege arrived at Gravesend soon
after two p.m., and received by thousands of people
collected from all parts of Kent one of the hear-
tiest receptions ever accorded to royalty. Both the
Prince and Princess were sensibly affected by the
warmth of this display of popular feeling. The em-
barkation took place without delay, and, after a
lengthened and painful leave.taking, Prince Albeit
and his two sons returned from on board the yacht,
and amid the thunder of the guns from the forts and
the squadron, and the blessings of thousands of
Englishmen and women, the Princess left her native
land.

The royal squadron arrived in the Scheldt on Wed-
nesday morning at eleven, and reached Antwerp at
four. The Prince and Princess were received on
landing by the King of the Belgians, the English and
Prussian Ambassadors, the consols, and the civil and
military authorities of Antwerp. The royal party
drove at once to the railway suction, and left by spe-
cial tram at five for Brussels. Immense crowds
lined the quays and the streets traversed by the pro•
cession, and the Royal couple were everywhere re-
ceived with enthusiastic acclamations. The Princess
Royal looked remarkably well. On Thursday the
Prince and Princess left Brussels for Cologne, where
they arrived at six p.m. the same evening. Yester-
day, en route to Madgebargli, they were to pay a
passing visit to the Hanoverian Court. This day
they arrive at Potsdam, and on Monday the entry
into Berlin will take place.

HIS EXCELLENCY COUNT CREPTOWITCH, the Rus
sian Minister, having been recalled, a sale of the
Count's personal furniture and effects took place
last week, and was concluded on Saturday.
The articles disposed of were only the per-
sonal effects of Count Creptowitch. The general
furniture of the very splendid mansion of Chesham-
house is the property of the Russian Government.
His Excellency Baron Brunnow is expected to arrive
in London as Russian Ambassador towards the end
cf February.
MR HORSMAN, M.P., AND THE IRISH SECRETARY-
SIIIP.—Mr. Horsman attended a meeting of his con-
stituents, at Nailsworth, last week. Some disappro-
bation having been expressed at his relinquishing
the post of Secretary for Ireland, Mr. Horsman gave
his reasons for the step. He referred to the dis-
turbed state of Ireland at one time and its present
more prosperous condition. "Now," he added, "we
have, by one act after another, removed all those
disabilities, all those oppressive acts, and Ireland has
sprung forth into religious peace, into agricultural
improvement, into commercial prosperity, until from
one end of the country to the other it is absolutely
in a state of peace and tranquillity equal to the town
of Nailsworth. Therefore, as far as the difficulty of
the office went, I found it took a great deal of inge-
nuity to occupy myself more than two hours a day
with that once important office and now one of the
highest paid under the State ":

I remember Sir Robert Peel once told a story of a man
who gave warning to his master that he must leave his
place . " Well, John," said the master, " lam sorry you
are going to leave ; what are your causes of discontent?"
" Well," said John, " I want three things—more wages,
less work, and I should like to have the keys of the cellar."
Now, gentlemen, is Ireland I had high wages—greater
altogether than any Secretary of State; I had very little
work, because my place was almost a sinecure ; and I may
have had the keys of the cellar, because I had the giving
away the patronage and most of the good things in Ire-
land. But, gentlemen, I did conscientiously feel on the
whole that, having in order to retain an office which did
not give me very much work to give up a great deal of
independence and freedom of discussion upon general
political subjects unconnected with lrelani—fur instance,
such a question as the war with India or Russia—holding
a subordinate place in the Government, I was not able to
speak a word, and, of course, under the rules of official
subordination and discipline it was my duty to vote always
as the Government voted ; and feeling, on the whole, that
the mere empty distinction of office and the mere emolu-
ments did not compensate for the sacrifices it entailed, and
that my leaving it could be of no loss to the public service,
as my place could be easily supplied, I did feel that, with-
out the abandonment of any public duty, I might resign
that office, the holding of which was an advantage to no
one but myself.

CONVICTS AND CONVICTED MISDE NEANANTS, by a
return moved for by Mr. Macartney, M.P., amounted,
on the Ist of November (All Saint's-day), 1856, to
1,453 convicts and other prisoners in confinement in
the various criminal prisons of Ireland—viz., 860
males and 593 females. Of these 249 only wer3
convicts. The entire cost of maintaining all con-
victs in Ireland sentenced to transportation beyond
the seas amounted in 1856 to 5,0431., against 6,6.191.
in 1855, 6,850/. in 1854, 5,3691. in 1853, rind 7,01/.
in 1852.

SIR GEORGE GREY has replied to the Society for
the Promoting the Due Observance of the Lord's
Day, with reference to their recent application that
Government interfere to prevent the Crystal Palace
Company from evading Act 21 Geo. 111. c. 49., that
the application for the interference of Government is
" premature," as no violation of their charter has yet
been committed by the company.
SOME NEW INDIAN BISHOPRICS it is not improbable
may be created out of the diocese of Calcutta, now
vacant by the death of Dr. Wilson. So long ago as
1842, Bishop Wilson urged upon the Government of
the day the necessity of a subdivision of his diocese
by the appointment of a bishop for the north-west
provinces. It is thought that the following sees will
be erected :—One for Arracan, Pegu, and Tenasseem,
one for Assam and the north-east frontier, one for
Orissa, and one for Berar and the Nerbudda dis-
trict.

THE NEW PASSPORT REGULATIONS facilitate the
obtaining of the Foreign-office passport by British
subjects. The passport of the Foreign-office has
always been the best with which an Englishman
travelling abroad could be provided ; but great com-
plaints have been made of the difficulty of procuring
it, the regulations hitherto in force requiring that
applications for it be accompanied with a recom-
mendation from some person known to the Secretary
of State, or of a banker. The Emperor of the French
has now intimated to our Government that his Con-
sul-General and Consuls in the United Kingdom will
no longer grant passports to other than French sub-
jects. Thereupon Lord Clarendon now consents to
grant his passport to British-born subjects, lonians,
and foreigners naturalised here, upon the recom-
mendation of the mayor or chief magistrate of any
corporate town in the kingdom, or of any magistrate
or justice of the peace, and the new regulations are
framed accordingly.

THE CONVOCATION of the prelates and Clergy of
the province of Canterbury, appointed to sit yester-
day, the sth of February, was further prorogued to
Wednesday, the 10th of February.
THE NAVY ESTIMATES were laid on the table of the
House of Commons on Thursday evening.
THE LONDON CORPORATION BILL IS to be read a
second time next Friday, the 12th inst..

THE following are the names of the members to
be proposed by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to
form the select committee on the Bank Acts :—The
Chancellor of the Exchequer, Mr. Disraeli, Sir J.
Graham, Mr. Spooner, Sir C. Wood, Mr. G. A.
Hamilton, Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Cayley, Sir F. Baring,
Mr. Vance, Mr. Cardwell, Mr. Blackburn, Mr. Wil-
son, Mr. Horsfall, Mr. Weguelin, Mr. Hankey, Mr.
Hope Johnstone, Mr. Ennis, Mr. Puller, the Earl of
Gifford, Mr. Fergus, Mr. John L. Ricardo, Mr. Price,
Mr. M. Tucker Smith, and Mr. G. C. Glyn.

letrovolitan.

LAUNCH OF THE LEVIATHAN.

TIIE Leviathan was safely launched last Sunday,
between the hours of twelve and three p.m. It. was
at first intended that the launch should take place
on the Friday previous, and everything was got ready
accordingly, but so unfavourable was the weather
and so loud the clamour raised amongst the work.
men respecting the danger of launching a ship on an
" unlucky day," that the attempt was put off until
the following morning. All was ready at an early
hour on Saturday, but the wind was still blowing
strong from the westward, and with a force on the
broadside of the vessel three times in excess of the
hauling power, so that the result of letting the huge
vessel float would probably have been only her going
on shore immediately afterwards, or "setting up" to
London-bridge, broadside on, with irresistible force.
Nothing of this kind, however, was to be appre-
hended on Sunday. The weather was fine, clear, and
calm, with scarcely any breeze, and what little there
was all in favour of the vessel and a high tide,
which ran up with unusual swiftness, and as the
flood relieved the weight upon the launching ways
some of the hydraulic machines were set to work for
the last time, to push the monster as far as possible
into the centre of the river. She moved easily, and
with a low rate of pressure. The operations became
from this moment of the most intense interest.
There were about eleven feet of water under the
vessel's keel when the rams were first applied,
and everyone watched with the greatest anxiety
the vessel's progress. Twelve feet, thirteen
feet, fourteen feet, were successively announced,
as each hollow reverberating sound announced an-
other great subaqueous push from the ram.
All eyes now became fixed on the vessel, and
at fourteen feet a slight movement was observed at
her stern, when loud and general cries of " She
moves," " She floats," resounded through the yard.
The steam-tugs, four in number, which had been
made fast to the vessel, stem and stern, by means of
immense hawsers, now began to pull, and for a few
moments might be seen to roll as if in the agony of
their exertions, while the huge vessel looked as if
she did not mean yet to yield to their efforts. But
her apparent stillness was, in fact, only an optical
delusion on the part of the spectators. She had
moved, and was moving, and in another moment the
huge timbers of which the cradles were constructed
shot up their heads above water like a shoal of por-
poises, and the yard, the opposite shore, and the
boats on the river, all rang with one hearty simulta-
neous cheer as the Blue Peter run up to the fore
announced that the Leviathan was at length fairly
afloat. But while majestically moving ahead a
sudden and perilous check was put on her progress.
One of the barges used in sustaining the river moor-
ings got entangled in her paddle-wheel. Hundreds
of men pushed, and hauled, and shouted at the
refractory little barge, but all to no purpose, until at
last Captain Harrison thundered the sentence,
" Scuttle her," through his speaking-trumpet ; the
ringing sound of the axe was heard, and in a mo•
ment the barge disappeared under the ship's bottom.
At this time, nearly every one who has been
actively engaged about the vessel stood on her deck
anxious for the honour of accompanying her in her
first trip, although it was only across the river. Idr.
Hope, the chairman of the compacy, together with
his brother directors and a large party of noblemen
and gentlemen, was at the bow. At the moment
when the sinking of the barge enabled the men to
announce from below that the ship was clear of
every obstruction and fairly afloat, the chairman ad-
vanced to Mr. Brunel, and, shaking him warmly by
the hand, congratulated him on the final success of
his stupendous undertaking; and it is needless to
add that Captain Harrison, now fairly installed in
his command,
with his Union Jack flying at the
stern, his standard of England at the main, and his
Blue Peter at the fore, was also the object of nume-

rous felicitations. Nothing, in fact, could be more I
general than the feeling of satisfaction exhibited,
nothing more sincere than the wishes universally
expressed that the career, at last so auspiciously
inaugurated, might be a long and prosperous one.
The vessel moved at a quarter to two o'clock, was
fairly afloat at half-past two, and at three o'clock
swam tranquilly and majestically at her appointed
moorings on the Surrey side of the river off Deptford
Dockyard. Her draught of water when moored was
164 feet aft and 14 forwards, and at the present
moorings she will, at the lowest tide, have nineteen
feet water under her keel.

THE Law AMENDMENT SOCIETY held a meeting on
Tuesday evening, when Mr. Hastings read a report
on a proposed bill for providing an index to the
Parochial Registers of Baptisms, Marriages, and
Burials in England. The committee strotgly recom-
mended the plan, and saw no reason why the work,
if gradually and economically effected, should draw
on the revenue of the country to any burdensome
extent. The registers would pass free through the
Post•office, in pursuance of the Registration Act.
The report was accepted, and ordered to be printed
and circulated.
DE. WILLIAMS, R.N., F.R.S., Medical Inspector of
ber Majesty's Customs, was presented with a magni-
ficent service of plate on the 30th ult. by the medical
officers of the Royal Navy, in token of their respect
for his services.

-
THE READING-ROOM OF THE BRITISH MUSEUM was
Visited for the first time on Thursday afternoon by
her Majesty and the Prince Consort, who were
accompanied by the Prince of Wales and the Princess
Alice. The Royal party entered the room so unos-
tentatiously that their presence was not noticed.

A DEPUTATION FROM THE HAVELOCK MEMORIAL
FUND waited on Lord Palmerston on Monday to
request permission to have a site in Trafalgar square
for the erection of a monument to that distinguished
general. Lord Palmerston gave no definite reply to
the request.
A PROPOSITION that the freedom of the City of
London be conferred upon Sir John Laird Muir
Lawrence, G.C.8., Chief Commissioner of the Pun•
jaub, and brother of the celebrated Major-General
Sir Henry Montgomery Lawrence, K.CB., will be
moved shortly at a Court of Common Council.
THE WESTMINSTER ABBEY SERVICES were repeated
last Sunday. Halt an boor before the service com-
menced the nave was filled, and hundreds were
unable to obtain admittance. An additional barrier
having been placed at the door, all crowding and
inconvenience were prevented. Very few of the
" working classes" were present—a fact which was
quite apparent from the attire of the overwhelming
bulk of the congregation.