The Liverpool Standard, and General Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1854-10-03 00:00:00

England some time I

invested with its insignia. Should the event
m reality occur, it will be, indeed, a startling evidenc(
that "truth is stranger than fiction." Brief space aP

nity ancl

quitted London, an insignificant and homeless wanderer ;
and within a few short months he climbed to sovereign
power—more singular still, he has fixed himself there ;
and if the rumour alluded to be a true one, he revisits our
shores, the favoured ally, if not also the personal friend of
our SOVEREIGN, the most powerful monarch who wields a
sceptre. Assuredly, so far as the human eye can see, his
star has been a lucky one.
Within little more than a week, the Whig firmament
has been deprived of one of its lesser luminaries by the
death of THOMAS LORD DENMAN, who sank under an
attack of apoplexy, on Friday se'nnight, at his seat, Stoke
Albany, Northamptonshire. His lordship was in his
76th year, and although never a luminary of the first
magnitude or greatest lustre, he for a long period occupied
a conspicuous position among the dei mirtores of the
Whig Pantheon. After a stormy, rather than a brilliant
career, Mr. DENMAN was made Attorney-General in 1830,
I a knight ; in 1832, on the death of Lord
TENTEBDEN, Sir THOMAS DENMAN was appointed Lord

Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, a position which he
retained till, in 1850, failing health compelled him to
retire, and he was succeeded by Lord CAMPBELL. His

lordship is succeeded in the peerage by his son THOMAS,
5. The

,vy, is Groom in Ordinary to the QUEEN, and
Commander of the Royal steam-yacht Victoria and Albert
By the death of Lord DENMAN many circumstances 01
imoortanee_ and some events of mnmAnt_ are hrrnirrht

d Lord DENMAN
second son, JosEPH, is a Commodore in the

n in 18,

Royal /

Tr. DENMAN cut no conspicuom

figure, legal or legislative, till the year 1820, when he
became associated with HENRY, now Lord BROUGHAM,
QUEEN CAROLINE during her memorable

in defendin
trial

)efore the House of Peel, which terminated as
everybody knows in the acquittal, if not in establishing
the innocence of that Royal lady ; however, it certainly
pushed Mr. DENMAN several stages on his way to that
eminence which, in all probability, without its aid,
he never would have attained. "We now look back,"

says the Times, " with amazement on the spirit which
pervaded the country at that time, and on the motives
which induced men of the highest ability and the purest
fame voluntarily to lend their advocacy to a client who
had, in a thousand ways, degraded her position and dis-
graced her sex. But men like LUSIIINGTON and DEN-
MAN- saw in the QUEEN a woman whose innumerable
offences against decency and virtue might, they thought,
be palliated by the unworthy treatment she met with
from her husband, and the furious spirit of opposition
which prevailed against GEORGE IV. and his Ministers
animated them to the contest, and embellished even the
worthless and repulsive object they consented to serve.''
The amazement of the Times at the generous simplicity
or, if it likes the title better, the furious factiousness of
the people which made them embellish " a worthless and
repulsive object," may, indeed, be a very natural feeling,
but the singularity most striking in the matter is the fact,
that while reviewing the extent of popular and forensic
delusion, the Times should have entirely missed any
traces of its own hallucination on the same subject. The
public was wild, delirious, and, of course, misguided. The
Times was also a good deal crazed in the same direction;
but " there wail method in its madness," and withal a
prudential consideration of the exchequer, is supposed, by
some, to have had quite as much as public spirit to do
with the course pursued by the Times; so it does not look
back with any amazement on its own vagaries.

De mortuis

nil nisi bonum,

is in general circumstances an admirable

rule of conduct,

but with public characters its application would some-
times lead to false results, and to this latter observation
the character and conduct of the deceased Lord Chief
Justice offer no exception. On the bench his lordship too
frequently allowed the partizan to take precedence of the
and, probal

in no instance on record did this

obliquity of moral perception appear to greater disadvan-
tage than when, in his conduct as Lord Chief Justice, he

led Lords CortnxnA.m and CAMPBELLiII reversing the sen-
tence on DANIEL O'CONNELL and his fellow-convicts under
indictments for conspiracy and. sedition. From that de-
cision and its consequences, the dignity of national justice
and the cause of social order received a serious wound;
and if the elastic vitality of the constitution was suf-

only ever

Until the other day, the British naval and military ser-
vices, particularly in their higher grades, were understood
to represent chivalrous honour and unimpeachable
veracity ; recent events have gone far to change the cha-
racter of this opinion. In the revelations of the Windsor
court-martials, the moral character of the military ser-
vice received a severe stab, scarcely less from what was
attempted to be concealed than from what was exposed in
all the deformity of its natural viciousness. The condem-
natory tones of public indignation had not ceased to vi-
brate in reprobation of the indecencies proved to exist in
barracks, when the general ear is again outraged by the
details of a yet more flagrant breach of morals and of
decency, which has occurred on board one of the
QUEEN'S ships, lying in Portsmouth harbour. As the
latter case is under judicial investigation, it would be ob-
viously unfair to offer such remarks as might prejudice
even guilty men before a legal tribunal ; but it would be
little less unjust to society to avoid all allusion to the
broad facts of the case revoltingand indelicate although they
are. On the night of Sunday, the 17th of last month,
two young women of tarnished reputation, were, at a late
hour, conveyed on board the steam-frigate Dauntless by
one of the marine officers, belonging to the ship. The
women were taken to the cabin of Lieutenant KNIGHT,
the officer referred to, where they were served with brandy
and wine, till intoxication of one at least, if not all of them,
ensued. The scene which followed it is unnecessary to trace in
all the repulsiveness of its horrid orgies ; suffice it to say,
that one of the unhappy females received such injuries as
to cause her death on the following Wednesday. Without
in the present condition of matters attempting to discuss
the question of guilt or innocence, as regards the fatal
result, enoughlas been established to prove that bru-
talising vice and filthy debauchery 'may be carried on in
HER MAJESTY'S ships, or in the officers' quarters of HER
MAJESTY'S army, without, to all appearance, infringing
the rules of either service. From the evidence adduced in
these inquiries, it seems not inconsistent with the regula-
tions for officers, and of course gentlemen, to bring with
them and introduce to their qnarters or cabins, as the case
may be, women of questionable repute, to keep them there,
and in their company carouse till past midnight—to in-
dulge in shouting, screaming, drinking, and riot, and, in
short, so to comport themselves as would not be tolerated
in any pothouse in the kingdom. Surely it is not too
much to expect of the authorities at the Horseguards and
the Admiralty, that they shall have better regulations
established in the departments under their control. If
they are unable to establish good feeling and gentlemanly
propriety among the officers, they may at all events pre-
vent them from snaking the mess-room or the gun-room
the theatre for such Circean displays. If they cannot
make the officers moral, they may at least make the mess-
room respectable, the ward-room decent. Difficulties may
arise in keeping strict watch over the !conduct of young
men while they are exempt from duty ; but little difficulty
need to stand in the way of preventing the introduction of
vicious associates, and the performance of profligate orgies
within the precincts of what ought to be the naval or
military officers' home. Of the legal bearings involved in
the case last referred to, I have purposely avoided speak-
ing ; that branch of the question is in course of investiga-
tion. Its moral complexion is of too dark a tint, the
features of too revolting an aspect to require a comment.
Intimation has been received that Mr. W. H. BARTLETT
has died at sea, on his return from the east, whither he
went a few months ago, for the purpose of inspecting and
illustrating the artificial remains and scenery of the
" Seven Churches." While on his return, and within
three days of land, on board the French steamer Egyptus,
he was seized with an illness which proved fatal on the
following day. The gentleman who was thus cut off in
the prime of life was well known as an accomplished
artist, an elegant writer, and an indefatigable traveller.
He was the author of numerous illustrated works, chiefly
historical, and all of them attained great popularity. It
is stated that Mr. MCLISE has received a commission to
execute his fine picture, " The Marriage of Strongbow,"
in fresco, for the adornment of the Houses of Parliament.
Among the-politico-literary gossip of the day, is a rumour
which points to an entire remodelling of a daily morning
newspaper, said to be m the favour, if not absolutely in
the pay of government. It is also said that Mr. B.
WEBSTER, lessee of the Haymarket Theatre, has become
a speculator in newspaper property, and purchased " The
Field," a country gentleman's paper, started a year and
a half or so ago by Sir JOSEPH PAXTON and some of his
pseudo-literary confreres. Another, and very apocryphal
rumour, has it that Diogenes, a rival, though not a veryl
successful one, of Punch, has found a purchaser at £5,000.
At the Strand Theatre, a petit piece apropos to the late
court-martial has been produced with considerable success.
It is entitled, "The New Wags of Windsor," and bur-
lesques with great spirit the sayings and doings which
formed such prominent features at those memorable in-
quiries. In it the flirtations of the officers with the mil-
liners and other delinquencies are brought to trial before
a jury of women, the counsel on both sides being also
women. The various scenes and incidents give ample
scope for satire, which is ably applied. Theatrical life
seems now more extensively varied than its proverbial
vicissitudes of yore would warrant a belief in. Attar
having made a successful operatic and dramatic adventure in
California, Miss CATHERINE HAYES, the Hibernian LIND,
gave a concert, in Honolulu, on the 23rd July, to an over-
flowing house, and on the 26th took her departure for
Australia. An ambulatory iron theatre is all but ready
for shipment to Australia, for the accommodation of Mr.
G. V. BROOKE, the tragedian, and a troupe of other per-
formers. Mr. BROOKE, it is said, has been engaged for
three years, at an enormous salary, to play in Australia
and California, the travelling edifice, like the Thespian cart
of the ancients, being made to supply the stage and ward-
robe-safe, as well as to save the enormous charges of
house-rent at the "diggings."

,f the 16

4TRALIA.

-0-.
ag from the Me/bourne 800

ter of the letter is the ooti

Mr. Samuel Wade, of this town :

LUCKY DIGGERS. of
We have received the following from a gene,A fieldg
the highest respectability, well known on the go.`""
DEAR SlR,—This morning
of Ballarat :
dividing of gold belonging to a party who have just fill:
coliu,
washing up a hole on the Ground Pits. Tlie_Pal„, half-
sist of ten, together with two boys, who I,lch
are
Idsc'--
shares. They divided six hundred-weight of 't bl
is the greatest weight that had ever been taken an
any party, out of one hole in the world. I do not a_e,
BI alwlasarat,
invitedl2th Jtfatet,el:4s4:il
that their good luck, or, I ought to say, their steady Psbel,
verance and industry, should be hid under a bushel'
Three of the party, one from Liverpool, and I feel al
that their friends and townsmen should hear of their rrt
fortune. They washed 571 lbs. of gold out of then The
bucket of earth that was got out of their claim, when the
broke in upon them, and prevented further Rork'
ing for the present, when they thought it wise to di6F"
of their shaft, which they did for £605. rd 13k
The names of these fortunate diggers are Ric'f\fiiliogi
shaw, Thomas Tyrer, Peter Plumpton, jun., We,
Richard Lomas, George Miller, Josh. Miller, -----;,,;601
and two others whose names I do not know. '3lr*"-- r
Balshaw is from Altcar, near Liverpool ; •
Air TSre
from Formby, near Liverpool ; and Mr. Peter F 1
.„001
jun., is son of Mr. Peter Plumpton, late of the lave"'
Tax-offices. A 0009
Messrs. Balshaw and Tyrer have made about X-, had
and £4,000 each during the last four months, havilovi
one of the best holes on the Canadian Flat' 'AO
" Jewellers' Shops." They also now have full shares dead
claim on the Gravel Pit lead, which promises to be
on theM guttc eEr.—sq. Yours, respectfully,&own Af /VA Ds'
Coll, •

LIVERPOOL ACADEMY EXHIBITIO)

SECOND N

)TICV

connected with the opening
to laborious amusements and sc'ellidt
3ritish Association have for the .:11,
ied so much of our time, sild
a portion of our space, es t° the
vent due attention from having been bestowed al ice
Academy and its interesting exhibition. Gladly `co
hailed the opportunity offered, by the disposal of het.iaa
matters referred to, of returning to an e1°139.0t4
tion of those works of art by which our resident
seek to maintain the honour of the town, and by get/e7
rivalry and emulative genius endeavour secure Or 'ter
place. in all respects equal to those held by the great tie
cantile emporia of Italy and Holland. Instead a reo-eir
lug the works placed before us in the strict order aow
catalogue arrangement, or noticing them according °ore-
precedence of their merits, it will be probably ;
convenient, if not so entirely correct, to take theibest
some degree in the order of their pretensions, as wo`
pretensions can best be ascertained : in this light the
work which demands attention is

TICE proceed

k or two o

led so lar

"Nature's Mirror," by Mr. Mark Anton' °t
scape of considerable magnitude, and deriving soraie,;the
its chief importance, from having been honoured
Academy's Prize of £5O. The picture under coanr
ation is remarkable in one or two respects, and 01°5,1;1
markable of all for the good fortune which has 3tte-
it. The

No. 21,

—Solitary pool, fringed round with rushes
With drooping willows, and with birch o'er'''. ;5 0'
is represented with fidelity and care ; the colour ':og
tural, if it is neither rich nor mellow, and by adllerivtersl'
strict reality the artist can, at least, plead thethe
ness of his copying, if he be not entitled to chile sip
merit of generalizing and ennobling his subject—if }3
tohas been, as the title would lead us to conclude, sitqaysr
lc
give the reflex of a bit of scenery possessing Ile Paftion
claim to such distinction, as it would appear ill 3 III„iti00,
he has been moderately successful. Careful elab°-
slavish copying of foreground accessories, raw e°lelle'iseei
a resolute disregard of most of the principles rece,'
in pictorial composition, distinguish this landsesPeosi#
many of those by which it is companioned. These refs re'
apply chiefly to that part of the canvass on wllielj the
presented the "Mirror" portion of the subject; ledl4
spectator's left, nearly a third of the space is 0°1340
r'
a bit of landscape in all respects at variance with the pry
o'
cipal subject. It has no harmony with the other I/
lOW
in atmospheric effect, is totally different in tone „
and if there be any sentiment in the picture at, 7fie,
portion is in sad conflict with the rest. What
oar
ment of artistic skill the Academy meant to hlitiowl
conferring their prize on this work it would
1ate,!41,,,
to discover, unless it be to reward mechanical 0.01,,,
he drsci
remunerate the undiscriminating pains of t „
master. On glancing over the list of subjects al bee,
names of the artists who for twenty-three -ears_.„,,Osehe'
received the honorary distinction of the A3adertii°at %,`":
these subjects and those names give indiecatie",be
prize was meant as the reward of attainments 11, '-he
branches of pictorial study, and as such might, 1)011
looked on as
a stimulant to excellence in the •dr
walks of art. If in future that reward is to be corl4e
as an incentive to mere labour alone, its value will as ofi
literated, and instead of its award being looked °lige t
honourable distinction, it will be regarded as a h.eiel
inferiority—as the mere wages of drudgery. As all,toog ,
or tenth-rate piece of landscape manipulation, Mr. A.:neeq:
work is entitled to a respectable place among its ce'i,sia,`o
as an illustration of the British school of landsoPeof
ing, it cannot be recognised; and the membell f the,/
Academy have not raised the public estimate ..A°bstl
judgment in bestowing such a mark of their aPP"
as their annual prize on so undeserving a work.
No. 62, " The Light of the World," by 31r; hi :s/
Hunt. In the treatment of this sublime subjee" '
Hunt, we have a strange jumble of the sinl&e pre:
natural with the absurd—of the elevating with4l a c°llo
,
posterous, and such a blending of the literal w"aib
ventional ideal, as to render the picture a serious sturaetl;s,
block in the way of the artistic amateur, and s t ellfrett
very like a rock of offence in the eye of the deveacogeiJ;iii
tian. In this picture we have the generallyr.ite esooo9
features of the Saviour carefully and by 110 Doti to
painted, the expression full of quiet benevolenq,llo
face most unnaturally lighted. The incident t
Feg
be represented is that figuratively described in a itooe,nor,
of Revelation, " Behold, I stand at the door IT scl"of
In compliance with this divine annunciation, /!uhe; setvt,
crowned with thorns, is represented as ill l:ltoecielt
knocking, with a common-place enough Os 41
.1 01 rti4c;m
at a common-place enough looking door ; will ° f S 00,
hand he holds a lanthorn, whence radiations °the 0s to
light proceed to various portions of the picture, 10")IP
within the lanthorn being somewhat profanelYthat
represent "the light of the world." To saY bjectiitiog
Hunt has greatly mistaken the nature of his o°/ tre' Dole
is still more extensively mistaken in his mode they ace,
it, is only stating the truth, but much less the 001,3
truth. The guise of his principal, indeed his ?giag' e
in the picture, is that of a mummer at a re`iiitY' free;
conveys the idea of meanness rather than 11°1, oefftfo:
have long ago been told that "there is but °tea leval'
the sublime to the ridiculous ;" but it has host 'ceeile
Mr. W. Holman Hunt to represent one of the ,37 'l3f
ficant and inspiring apothegms of our faithae ill a {the
which might readily be mistaken for an er,l6°,jeti "jebt
chanalian revel, and to represent the sacred 133'-"ted
Saviour in the habiliaments of a superanalVaceessitll6
watchman. Severe simplicity of costume aniples °do°
are the objects of especial adoration among as 1',0t9
school to which this gentleman belongs ; Uut sirup t 9
all of them, should beware of how they 01-"aog (1„"jill
in these respects by a sacrifice of every elln°" vreteld'
—of how they present meanness instead of ut:ix sub,-
grace ; .and, above all, of how they clothe theiraity. fro 4
conceptions in the garments of repulsive allsaur hire, i 5 f
No. 36.—" The Vale of Bersham, Denbigi's ,j'hi4„t
the Five Fords Mill," by Mr. J. W. Oakes' red°lc 11'
piece of fresh and sweet landscape painting, :one• pre;
nature, and instinct with summer and sane' rich tsto'
verdant earth and foliage, combined with tl aeraot,
ground and breezy sky, carry the mind of t.°:
involuntarily away from the turmoil, and nos wig"
and smoke, which surround and annoy the P° tDe
,itY
In populous city pent,
and lead him joyously over moor and mourd,aicr`ozlalli,'tel:
sylvan solitude, " where earth holds sweet -ell VA
with Heaven.' The picture is in all respects' obi'. torte
lanndcoitlosumrianngipiutliasticolenarisancdlevneartulithoauntd hthelngafaiw°,ssFO,
effect, which every where pervades the cativas'od dis
artist to be a zealous, as well as an attentive 3 A 4
31P 10*
nating, student of nature. " tist ceJ
No. 138.—" 'Twas Merry in the Hall' he ar 0410 3,
Douglas, R.S.A. In this little picture
and
has PtAicstfca
concentmted great variety of character sly ins rice
a group of revellers whose mirth is varTilloor t
al' p' yet in all exuberant and truthful. In area;
without glare : the drawing is in general c 0 onleoioa
grouping simple, yet expressive. It is °wld exPc
ture, but it shows how much of meaning asn. vol./ftto,
real artist can concentrate in little conlrs, J' is the
No. 69.—" Portrait of an Old Lady, Nition °ill/ ,cr
son. The portrait department of the ex ilenerelliot be he
is far from strong, those exhibited being g_ost The
merit. The one now under consideration.w_giete,"t;
chleasadseids.
falrteiihslewealnldarrsuagngg:dstiavnedepforifeerf;lll{ cholokoetila,eerliOt
hands are well drawn, and carefully touc.eu; its
the
010
style of the picture is broad and nlass.i„veess in to a ill
tints and handling which entitle Mr. Roberts° the
warm and rich, and there is a full pulPl'
and pore
.0
position as a portrait painter. of e 1 rs all
No. 47.—" Portrait of the Duchess k. 111,:ead eee'
Marquis of Lorn," by Mr. W. S. Ilerrle at del:, ie., 00
trait the artist seems to have ailnet has beeca'a ref the
beauty rather than power, and his effort 5,11, rsi.ool:
siderable degree responsive to his the 1,?:
lady is graceful and well drawn ; that
with more decision. As a whole, 010.
11140 g ca,-004
ously arranged and treated; the c l°,01; Ye,titatio°o4dePty
the disposition of parts easy anduan'-ce of lleeb)eti, 01040
help feeling that there is an appearwhole ° 1'69" 13e'i0
labour protruding throughout the the
wantcvo
ignov
ue
vigour in
ntrehheliiasimnracp
°dere
eos
nsoifo
hntirsoefaotfwme enebnl
treatment
ee nwseoos
ti have itrode
a capital portrait.

tej
4 a ti,
------------..".1"11.1.11c1.01t11
-,-, d COO
A CONVENIENT RELIGION.--J, .- - ozar, all
at Warsaw that the favourite of the v• f poi tioa 0
an independent government
a o
..otezocii, ft
Prince Nicholas, is to be created vicesthe rill
Russia. The prince, a member a the --
first turn Romanist. under Gee v-