The Express.
London, England, 1861-08-24 00:00:00

TO OUR ItILDERS.

%PORTING INTELLIGENCE.

A 'Ate edition et the E.cptvas is published every
evenh.g during the racing season, containing the
results of the day's races.

is the 28th of Jun* last the Baron us Vim
was riding with his son ALFRED, a young man of
the age of 25, on the Twickenham-road, when all
of a sudden the Baron was observed to strike his
companion several severe blows upon the head.
The sun dismounted, and ran for protection to an
old woman who happened to be upon the road,
whilst the father struggled over some palings, and,
after an absence of some minutes, be returned
and accompanied the wounded man to the town,
where a surgeon was sent for and the wounds
were dressed. The young man has recovered ;
but if lie had died, the probability is that
the Baron would have become entitled absolutely
to the sum of 30,000(., a life interest in two-
thirds of which he is at present enjoying. Such
were the facts proved by the evidence adduced
before the twelve jurymen assembled yesterday at
the Old Bailey to try the Baron us VIDIL. The
crime charged by the indictment varied between
that of wounding with intent to murder, the
punishment for which is death, and that of wound-
ing unlawfully, the punishment for which is im-
prisonment.

It is needless to say that the case as presented
to the jury was full of mystery. That a French
nobleman, moving in the best English society--a
member of the Travellers, and the intimate friend
of Englishmen of rank and Princes of the Russian
empire—should commit a deadly assault upon his
own sou in the public highway, seems almost in-
credible. At all events it requires explanation.
But unfortunately explanation is simply impos-
sible. The only two persons who knew anything
of the circumstances are the Baron himself and
his son. The son refuses to give evidence, and is
now suffering the penalty of his contumacy in
gaol, and the Baron, according to the present
rules of English law, cannot be heard. It is true,
that the story which the Baron told was evidently
false. But the circumstances were so pecnliar, and
the agitation of mind which he displayed just after
the singular Metirrenee, may perhaps be considered a
sufficient excuse for his disregard of truth. If,
however, the rules of English law had been such
as would have permitted the Baron to subject
himself to examination and crass examination, the
real history of the affair would probably have been
elicited. As matters stood at the trial, all that
the jury knew, and all the evidence from which
they were entitled to draw a conclusion, was the
bare fact that a severe wound had been inflicted
by the father upon the son. Nor would it be fair
to say that the jury would have been justified in
drawing any other conclusion than they did, or
that the Baron had been guilty of soy graver
offence than inflicting an unlawful wound. It
is indeed true that few important press•
cations have ever been got up with more
culpable negligence. For some time it seemed ti be
doubtful whether any indictment would tie pre-
ferred at all. The son—the person injured—not
only refused to prosecute, bat even declined to
give evidence. The ATTORSZT-011IgitAL, accord-
ing to some singular custom, was not disposed to
move. And when at length the Treasury did direct
a bill to be preferred they appear to have conducted
the business with such gross carelessness that some
of the most important links in the evidence were
wanting. Thus, although the size and weight
of the niling whips used upon the occasion were of
the utmost importance, and although one of them
was carefully deposited at the Inn at Twickenham,
still it appeared upon the trial that the whip pro.
deiced at the trial was neither that used by the
father nor that used by the son, but one which
had been handed to the police by the Baron's
valet. Indeed, it was actually proved that one
of the whips in question was still lying in the
possession of the landlady at Twickenham.

But even if the case for the prosecution had
been prepared with the utmost care, it is doubtful
whether a different result would hays been arrived
at. Certain dark insinuations were made by the
Baron's counsel against the character of the son,
which naturally occasion the utmost perplexity.,
It was loudly asserted that the silence of the son, ,
instead of proving an advantage to the father, had
proved a serious disadvantage, and that an un- ;
natural spite against his parent, not a natural love
fur him, was the real cause which prompted the son
to remain silent. It was even suggested that the
eon's motive in refusing to give evidence was not
so much the reluctance to bear witness against his
parent as the reluctance to undergo the cross-ex-
amination which is the inevitable coneequence
of appearing in a witness-box. If, indeed, the
real story be that the Baron, in a moment of par-
donable irritation, struck his sou with an excess of
violence, it is most unfortunate that he did net at';
once confess his fault, and explain how his moral
indignation made him lose for a moment his self-
control. In that case, even if ho had de-
stroyed the character of his son, he would,
at all events, have saved his own, and
would have commanded the sympathy of every
man of ordinary common sense. But as it
is, the Baron has not only destroyed his own cha-
racter but that of his son also. As the evidenca
stood, it was impossible for tho jury to come to any
other conclusion than that the Baron bad been
guilty of unlawfully wounding his sou, and for
this offence he has now to endure an imprisonment

of twelve months with hard labour. Nor is it
probable that when his term of punishment is com-
pleted ho will ha able to resume the same position
in society which he has occupied until now. On
the other hand, by the course of the defence which
the Baron permitted his counsel to adopt he has
effectually blasted the character of his son. Ac-
oording to the Baron's account that son is not
only weak in intellect--his conduct in life is not
only so questionable that he dared not appear in •
witness-box to be cross-examined, but he delibe-
rately insisted upon coming into court for the
purpose of creating a prejudice in favour of himself
and against his father. It is true that the son
is doomed to spend a month in prison because he
has declined to give evidence. But according to
his father he is no martyr ; he has taken this course
not to save his father but to save himself. Nothing,
however, as it turns out, could have been more
foolish ; for the result is that both have suffered.
Thu father has ruined both himself and his son ;
and the son, if he was actuated by spite, has done
less injury to his father than he would have done
by giving evidence ; if he was actuated by pa-
rental affection he has not succeeded in saving his
father, but in either case he has at all events
ruined himself.

Upon the whole, it is difficult to conceive a case
the result of which has proved more eminently
unsatisfactory than that of the Baron DE Vim.
The only means of dissolving the mystery in which
the circumstances are shrouded is a knowledge of
the real facts of the case. These facts, as we
have observed, are known only to two living
beings—one of whom declines, and the other, by
the law of England, is forbidden to reveal them.

Fr is not a matter of momentous importance, but
still it should not be omitted altogether from the
obituary of the age, that VERY'S Restaurant in the
Palais Royal is closed—and closed not to give way
to a successor, or to reappear, like many another
Mueslis of that quarter, with more Imperial
gilding and more copious display. VERY'S is de-
funct It has gone the way of all meats, as Bzsr •
VILLIERS and the RUCHER had done before. And
gastronomy must mourn the closing of one of its
last exclusive temples.
Although Lord 11101JUNAM took no notice of so
significant a fact in his wide review of the events
which come under the bead of Social Science, he
might have done so, for the demise of these great
gastronomic royalties is an unmistakeable symptom
of progress. It is a proof that even the wealthiest
and most fastidious can get unexceptionable din-
ners at far less cost than was necessary to support
such establishments as Vidtv's, and that the
science of cooking has been vulgarized for the use
of the many.

We have a theory of our own on this subject,
which, if true, would mark the decline of gastro-
nomy as a great public benefit ; and we have been
led to form and entertain this theory from an old
habit of comparing in the land of our neighbours
their butchers' shops with their taverns. Forty
years ago a French butcher's shop was worthy of
a place in DANTIB "Inferno." To glance at it
for an instant was a surfeit and a sickness.
But, on the other hand, if one turned to the esta-
blishments where these villanous viands were
rendered delicious by the art and mystery of
cooking, nothing could surpass their elegance, their
splendour. In the lapse of years we have con•
tinned to remark that as the butcher's shop im-
proved the restaurants deteriorated. And as the
material for cookery grew better, the science of
cookery was no longer needed. There are now
Parisian butcher fronts which rival our own,
whilst Vutv's has disappeared, and those who
replace him give about as good a dinner as at Star-
ewes, at five times the price.

Our theory, we know, would be disputed by the
Pariians, who are supremely unwilling to con-
fess the symptoms of decadence in any science
or any glory. Their doctrine is, that the Pallas
Royal is rococo, in other words, growing out of
date, whilst novelty, elegance, perfection, and
fashion, have taken their station on the line of
the Boulevards, where alone a man can now unexcep-
tionably eat or sip. And however they might
assent to TAILZYZAND'S doctrine of speech having
been given to disguise man's thoughts, they are
not advanced enough to admit that cookery was
invented to disguise his viands. The death of
gastronomy would dash a feather from their cap
which they could not consent to ; and if asked
who reads BRILLAT SAVAILIN, or what is become
of the Almanac des Gourmands, they say Pstyi.
Lows has gone out of fashion too, and what poli-
tical review is readable I—yet politics as a science,
survives deep in the breasts of those who cherish
but dare not expatiate upon them.
Yet gastronomy, or rather progress in good and
cheap eating, is not dead in the French capital. It
has merely changed quarters, and, instead of ad-
dressing itself to some score of gourmands, has
turned to the more profitable multitude. Fax
from the Nide Royal or from the Boulevards
either has arisen a large and populous—suburb it
was the other day, but now a quarter of Paris.
Thither the working and the poorer classes, driven
from the heart of the city by demolitions and by
mountainous façades, whose rents are beyond their
regards, have betaken themselves, and in such
crowds, that we have heard French soldiers, just
arrived from the wars, exclaim with child-like
astonishment, Muis c'est en dritable Plkisi !

The quarter is known by the poetic name of
Moat Parnasse. And, notwithstanding a sense
of the prosaic in its composition, it has still
given birth to some of the most splendid and most
gigantic establishments that are to be found in
any capital. Nothing can be more magnificent
than vestibule, staircase, and saloon—gilding and
images, carving and flowers, balustrades and foun-
tains, to the sound of whose sweet waters may
be consumed any of the thousand ingenious com-
positions of the bill of fare.
Yet these palacesare not for the selector "world."
No equipages throng their doors, save the costar-
monger's cart, or the truck on wheels of the itine-
rant vendor. These are caravanserais for the
working classes. And hither they flock, if they
please, in their Sunday suits, but much more often
in their week-day garb. Of course theprices are
suited to the class from which custom is sought.
And it is a source of satisfaction, which Lord
BILOVUHAY himself might have witnessed and re-
corded, to see hundreds of the humbler but intel-
ligent classes, no longer crowding into booths or
cellars for a meal of doubtful hue and suspicious
combination, or, if avoiding this, compelled to
take their repast " upon the thumb," but rrovided
like their betters with an ample, airy, and even
rich room, and clean, wholesome, and well-cooked
food.

The great popular restaurants of Mont Par-
nesse are certainly a vast improvement on our
gin palaces. For even supposing excess,
eating daintily is more moral than guttling,
and there is after all a certain degree of
self-respect connected with the possibility of tak-
ing a decent, clean, and wholesome repast.
French gastronomy, therefore, is not dead. Though
extinct at Vaav'm, and shorn of the men of
fashion and the wits who used to offer their wealth

and coin their genius in its honour, it has, like a
great malty other sciences, betaken itself to the
multitude, both for honour and for profit.
Seriously, this is a very great improvement.
The workman on either side of the Channel,
whilst unmarried, has been in the habit of making
the wine shop or the beer and dram shop his
eating place. lie often carries his viands with him,
or if he does not, the eating portion of his repast
is but the accessory to the drinking portion, while
morally and healthily the reverse should Le the
case. That the working man should consider his
food, its choice and preparation, more worth
care and thought than what he washes it down with
is desirable. And this is the result obtained by
his frequenting a house where some sort of
cookery is practised and professed. The best re-
medy, indeed, is a home and a wife. But as these
cannot be had by all men at all ages, it is im-
portant that a repast should be presided. over by
some care, served with decorum, and partaken of
with respect. Feeding has thus its morality, and
gastronomy, at least in its elementary develop-
ment, becomes a partillif civilization.

THE QUEEN'S VISIT TO IRELAND.

- •
Off nm. u LID IRISH MAGMATIC TATMOBAPII.)

DUBLIN, FRIDAY, 1 r.m.

In expectation that the Queen would visit the
Art Exhibition to-day the line of streets leading
from the Viceregal Lodge to the Exhibition build-
ing was crowded from an early hour in the morning,
but up to the present her Majesty has not left;the
lodge.
At eleven o'clock the Right H n. the Lord Mayor
drove in state to the lodge, and had the honour of
personally presenting the address of the corporation
to her Majesty, who briefly thanked his lordship for
the kind congratulations of the citizens of Dublin,
and intimated that she would on a future occasion
communicate a formal reply to the address.
tip to this hour there is nothing known of her
Majesty's intentions or movements. The general
impression is that she will not come into the city
to-day ; but notwithstanding this belief, the strata
continue thronged by thousands. The Prince
Consort proceeded, attended by Major du Plat, to
the Curragh camp, at half-past 10, and will return
before 4 o'clock

The Princeases Helens and Alice, and Prince
Alfred, accompanied by the Hon. Victoria and Mr.
Stewart Wortley, visited the Castle this morning.
They next went through the entire suite of apart-
ments of the Chapel Royal and St. PAtrick's Hall,
and then proceeded to Trinity College, where they
visited the Examination Hall, the Library, and
the Museum. They afterwards proceeded to the
National Education Board, where they are at
present

DUBLIN, FRIDAY NIGHT.

Great crowds occupied all the principal thorough-
fares for the greater part of the day in expectation
of seeing and welcoming the Queen. They remained
in the streets until an advanced hour, and some of
them were not disappointed, for about half-past
five her Majesty left the Vice-regal Lodge, accom-
panied by the Princess Alice, the Prince Consort,
the Lord-Lieutenant, and Lady Churchill, and
drove through the principal streets of the city,
without, however, stopping at any place,
or visiting any of the public buildings.
This was the• cause of some disappointment, as the
crowds who promenaded the city were anxious to
greet her Majesty.

DUBLIN, BArunnAy Mortorn.

The Queen and royal party, together with the
distinguished personages now at the Viceregal and
Secretary's Lodges, will leave by a special train,
at ten o'clock, this morning, for the Curragb, to
be present at a grand military review. It is said
there will be 20,000 troops on the ground, and no
doubt double that number of civilians will be
present.

CURRAGH, AUI3I7BT 24, 10.56 A.M.
Her Majesty has just arrived here by special
train.

11 A.Y.

On her Majesty's arrival here she was received
most enthusiastically. Them was also cheering for
her Royal Highness the Princess Alice. Weather
is now beautiful, and promises to be • line day.