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    832 -. ¦ THE 1E A B EE. [No, 888, Atotjs...

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    INTERCEPTED LETTER PROM LONDON. Oub coun...

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    SWDET ' MUSIC FOR THE MILLION.' " I'm ne...

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  • Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.

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    The Chelsea New Bridge. Some Years Ago T...

    thai capacity , we arc * sorry to say—rub their hands , trusting to the dexterous bad faith of Sir BenjaminHail . "Well might Mr . Wamee Tasxob write to the West Middlesex . Advertiser — a contemporary with whom we are delighted to shake hands—for Sir Benjamin had got his committee , and was the only Metropolitan member appointed to serve on it , and we all know what that means . The selection of that Committee , we affirm , was made with a view to the overthrow of the bill . The opinions of the majority were known beforehand . In anticipation of evidence , it was epigrammatically said , " The bridge , you know , is not to be free ;" and witnesses were examined accordingly .

    The " Vauxhall and Battersea Bridge shareholders—public nuisances—presented a petition to Parliament , and were heard by counsel . The Pimlico residents presented a petition , and were refused a hearing . Even their testimony was rudely rejected . The Government only summoned two official surveyors , a parish incumbent , and a medical officer of health , and very effectually strangled their own bill . The south and south-west

    Iiondoners discovered , too late , that they had been scandalously cheated . The Marylebone constituency , we trust , will make a note of it . At all events , the testimony of Sir De Lact Evans is not wanting . " He was perfectly astonished by the hostility manifested hy him ( Sir B . Haii ) to his own bill . " The word ' hostility' was afterwards qualified , but Sir De ! Lacy ' s intention is perfectly clear . It is clear , also , that Lord Palmerston has suffered his Commissioner of Works to baffle

    jind irritate a considerable metropolitan poj > ulation , the reasonableness of whose claims lias been more than admitted by the Premier . His words are , " It is an absurdity to make a park afc great expense , the chief object of which was to afford an outlet to the labouring classes , and then to put a toll upon the bridge , which would practically be no bridge at all . " Against that absurdity we protest , and we are confident that five hundred thousand persons are protesting with us . The agitation will not cease , nor will the conduct of Sir Benjamin Haxi , be forgotten .

    832 -. ¦ The 1e A B Ee. [No, 888, Atotjs...

    832 -. ¦ THE 1 E A B EE . [ No , 888 , Atotjst %% ; 185 7 .

    Intercepted Letter Prom London. Oub Coun...

    INTERCEPTED LETTER PROM LONDON . Oub country contemporaries are suffering from a peculiar destitution of town talk . Many of their most valued correspondents are ( or say they are ) at the sea-side , or in districts where partridges will be cracked at on Monday . Therefore the long columns of lively and exclusive intelli g ence will have to be got up , for a short time , in the subeditorial parlours of Datchefct , Blatchett , and elsewhere . But a letter was intercepted last "Wednesday , written from the Strand ( or its vicinity ) , which should have gone to Scotland ; and , since the address indistinct inclined to circu

    waa , we are - larize the contents for the benefit of our rural friends . The writer has been favoured by Lord Palmejiston" with a hint that it is intended next [ February to confer a vote on every adult male who has resided twelve months in the same locality . This , he is enabled to state , waa mentioned at the Trafalgar dinner at Greenwich , where , by the way , a curious incident occurred . Mr . Maoaui ^ ay came into the public room and had some sherry . Presently , laying his hat and stick on a table , he began to talk in an excited tone about the collar-bone of William ov Obangb and Gbandval the

    assaaain . In such a simple mnpner it came out that the immortal historian writes from inspiration . The anecdote should not have been mentioned ( the correspondent remarks ) , having been communicated to him in private ; but that it ie the common talk of the clubs ,

    Talking of clubs , an individual , not unknown to fame has" made very pointed overtures to a person whose name need not be divulged ; but the influence of a third party , understood to be primed by a late Minister , seems to have modified the whole plan , and thus the matter rests at present . This , it is believed , is a correct version of the affair . That incorrect versions are circulated is natural enough , seeing how few are privileged to glance behind the curtain of public life . It was amusiner . for example , to read the absurd

    accounts of Lord Pai ,: mebston ' s secret interview with Lotrrs Napoieon . Instead of yielding to the Emperor * the Premier held a high tone , which he maintained until two exalted personages came in , and in all probability shunted by their resolute attitude fifty years of the history of Europe . A . propos of PaIiMebston , there will be an engraving in Punch this day ( Wednesday ) fortnight which will please you . It represents the Premier looking over a return of the number of electors in the United Kingdom , with one eye

    shut and a straw in his mouth ; Leech has never been more happy . The first number of the Virginians you will not like . It is heavy , and unsuggestive of its author ; but Tjbiagkeray says that it will be his greatest work . You will be glad to have a mot from our literary circles . A gentleman named Smith sent up his card to Mr . Btjokstoite when at dinner , and JBfokstone , without pausing a moment , read the name aloud , adding , " Smith ! -why I really think I've

    heard that name before . " The whole town is in convulsions . Of serious literary intelligence there is not much to communicate . A forthcoming novel , however , is expected to produce a sensation . Politics , of course , are out of season . But a meeting of the leading Liberals was held yesterday , and among the gentlemen present we ob-Mii

    served Sir Joshua " WAiMSLEr , Mr . > njbb Gibson , and ( this , being the correspondent ' s own name , is in fairness suppressed ) . You know , of course , that a peerage has again been offered to Mr . " William Wii-mams and refused , the honourable gentleman observing , with Roman dignity , that he would live and die a Williams . This reminds one of Washin gton . It is

    gratifying to note a trait of such a kind in the character of a public man . Pleasant it is , also , to hear , in an unostentatious private manner , of the French Emperor ' s graceful bounties . Last week he sent a diamond snuff-box to the editor of a morning ( high church ) journal , which had , simply in the exercise of its discretion , called him " a greater man than Augustus , greater even than SouiOUQUis . " Reverting to political affairs , you will incur no risk in stating that Lord John EussBLii is positively anxious

    to reappear as Prime Minister . Without indicating the source of the information , it may be guardedly used . From Parliamentary to dramatic—there is no longer any doubt on a subject which has been rather anxiously discussed of late among literary notabilities —that at a theatre conspicuous for the comic genius of its manager a new farce will be produced , next Beason , from the racy pen of ——— ( we have again to suppress the name of the correspondent ) . You are now in possession of the town talk in these dull days , when one yearns to be murmuring Oasta diva along the pebbly shore .

    Swdet ' Music For The Million.' " I'M Ne...

    SWDET ' MUSIC FOR THE MILLION . ' " I ' m never merry whon I hear sweet music . " Poem by a Surrey Gardens Shareholder . In the golden age of the Surrey Gardens there were zoological shareholders who had a common Interest in the concern . The shares of raw flesh ( no cooked accouufcg J ) were

    fairly allotted under the special clause ; roaring dividends were declared with only a fair amount of growling , while the human auditors were always impartial . If the retired lion , who ' at some little place down in Surrey' is enjoying a modest competence , or the tiger who is making a rapid fortune on a tour of business with Wombwelii , —if these influential members of the former

    Surrey Company read the records of the fights between Coppook and Juilien , what brutal homilies they may read on the depravity of human nature ! The lion may improve on Dr . Watts , and tell his cubs that they should never let such angry passions rise ; their little claws were never made to pocket moneys , nor cook accounts . ' Nothing succeeds like success ' is an old worldly-minded maxim , but in the Surrey Gardens case we must reverse it ' Nothing fails like success . ' Here were gardens crowded with company—r-a most popular entertainment—JuiiiiEN himself , ' a name to conjure with , ' and the man who can manage a General Election -with ease—the renowned Coppock

    i—kindly directing the affair . Yet the whole affair has broken down . Over 33 , 000 Z . was raised from the shareholders ; and there is nothing to represent that money paid into the directors' hands but a building for which the architect is not paid . In addition to the 33 , 0007 . raised from the poor shareholders , the directors received the moneys paid for two seasons at the doors , and , as we all know , the Gardens were well attended . M . Jullien was not paid his nominal salary of 1000 Z a .. year , and , in addition , th © unfortunate

    maestro paid up 400 Z . in his shares , and go may be fairly said to have lost 2400 Z . in addition to sums advanced to the members of his orchestra . Where all the money has gone to i 3 a mystery . One hears stories of M . Juxlien , whose bad English and good feeling have been conspicuous ia the affair , saying to the chief director , " You are a fraud ; " but one hesitates to believe that shrewd men ( to say nothing of honesty , for it is old fashioned ) would so commit themselves to simple embezzlement . One may fairly attribute a great

    deal to sheer stupidity of management , but the sarcasm of Sheridan , that some one had muddled away his income in paying h i s debts , is not applicable to the directors ; they have muddled awny the income , but the debts are unpaid . We look up and down the report , but we cannot find any one who was paid . Architect , conductor , orchestra — all suffer . Some few hints are given as to the causes . M . Juixien says that he saw two thousand persons enter the Gardens one evening without paying ! The directors , we believe , gave free

    admissions away in grand style—a kind com pensation . How Alboni must have soothed the savage breast of some shareholder who had just paid up a call ; how the flattering reports eagerly , believingly read by the public , must have been illustrated by the fireworks still more' brightly , beautifully' red ; while to promenaders enjoying the alfresco fete , the clear and honest accounts must have seemed even ' fairer than the evening air . One part of the recent exposure is P ^ L *" * . ' and we cannot make a joke about it . We all have heard of that middle-aged « ministering angel , ' whose mulatto lips spoke comfort to many of our brave fellows out in the Crimea ,

    and whose hands smoothed away warn from many an aching head in the hospital or on the field . She lost her ' all' by the sudden peace , and those who saw poor old Mrs . Sisa . oot . i 19 going about doing good in the camp organized a benefit for her at tne Surrey Gardens . A mass of people helped some with time , others with money . A large sum was received at the doors , but tno snme mysterious and unnamed harpies wbo

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 29, 1857, page 16, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_29081857/page/16/