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Leader (1850-1860), 13th June 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 560, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      he should bo christened after the holy man . AccordiBffly , the child was born , and hence the name . Alexander has communicated the fact to the Reverend Metropolitan of Moscow , Philaref , in a letter in which it appears that he expressly stipulated that the Empress should be " happily and safely delivered ; " otherwise , the bargain . would not have held good . But what vain old fellows these saints are , who will do anything to have a child christened after them !

      THE DANUBIAN PRINCIPALITIES . The Kaimakan "Vogorides has received the Grand Cordon of the Iron Crown from the Austrian Government . It has been suggested that this is a testimony of approbation for his conduct in opposing the Union . Iii the negotiations concerning the organisation of the Danubian Principalities , the partisans of the Union of the two provinces have often brought forward the name of a Prince of the Royal Family of Belgium , the Comte de Flandres , as a candidate for that eventual constitutional throne . The representative of Belgium at Constantinople has even been accused of lending an active aid to that candidateship . Such an intervention would have been not only a signal maladresse , but a positive infringement of treaties on the part of a state which is bound to strict neutrality . The Moniteur Beige

      has accordingly denied in formal terms these ' , and has published the correspondence exchanged between the Belgian Minister of Foreign Affairs and the Belgian represenrative at Constantinople . It is quite evident from these diplomatic letters that neither the Belgian Government nor its representative has ever in the slightest degree interfered in the questions relating to the Danubian Principalities .

      PRUSSIA . The King and Queen have left Berlin for Toplitz . A long and excessive draught has prevailed in the neighbourhood of Berlin . The light sandy soil flies about in clouds for want of moisture , and penetrates through doors , windows , and walls ; and the heat and aridity are so great that the trees in the woods frequently burst into spontaneous combustion . Two firework shops have been blown up , destroying the lives of four or five persons . A railway station , also , suddenly burst into flames , without any apparent cause .

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      THE ALLEGED MALVERSATIONS IN THE DUCHY OF LANCASTER . ( From the Preston Guardian . ') It will be se € n by our Parliamentary report that Mr . Coningham has obtained a committee of some sort to inquire into the allegations contained in the petition of Mr . Francis Bertolacci . As the accusations in that petition are to be submitted to a ^ wasi-judicial tribunal , we will not at present enter into the details of the case between the late auditor and the inculpated noblemen ; but we may express a hope that the investigation will be conducted openly and searchingly—that , in short , it

      will be a real , and not a sham inquiry . Shall we confess it—we have our misgivings ! After Mr . Baines ' s assurance that his predecessors were most anxious to meet the charges preferred against them , and to show cause for the removal of an apparently high-minded and honourable man from his office , because he appeared unwilling to gloss over flagrant irregularities , wo hoped that a full committee would have been nominated in the usual manner , and that Mr . Coningham would have been placed at its head . Instead of this , the government seem to have constrained the honourable member

      for Brighton to refer the choice of hia committee to a select little body of cabinet nominees , and to limit the members to a manageable number—five . This first step does not look veil , and we wonder that Lord Cavendish —who certainly has the honour of his relative at heart — did not assist the mover of the resolution to relievo himself from- an unusual compact . What on earth have the general committee of elections to do -with the case of the Duchy of Lancaster ? We have Mr . Henry Hansard ' s rules and orders of the House of Commons lying before us , in which the mode of appointing committees is specified , and to save quoting the rules applicable to the matter under notice , wo m « y observe that in tho hitherto almost , if not quite , invariable order of things , Mr . Coningham would have been entitled to nominate his own committee . Why , then , delegate tliia function to a body appointed for contrary

      purposes ? Tho question is not answered by referring to the debate on Thursday night week . Lot us , however , hope that the progress of the investigation will remove any suspicion arising from its false initiation . Wo assume that the committee will sit with open doors . Public feeling will not tolerate a secret investigation into such a matter as this petition . Tho quasi ' judicial character of tho tribunal is a powerful reason against concealment . Nothing will certainly atTord us more pleasure than to find Earl Granvlllo innocent of all just cause of complaint | lmt wo oan assure tho amiable young nobleman , whoso inaiden speech of Thursday week does groat credit to hia understanding and hla heart , that his motive will be defeated by a clandestine inquiry . Tho triumph of Karl Granville and his companions will bo , at all events , incomplete , unloss tho trial—if wo may so spook — -b © conducted openly , People aro very suspicious

      about the affairs of the Duchy , and no one can say that this distrust is not warranted . The public fancy that there has been gross jobbery in the management of the estates . Perhaps the public are in error , but we cannot say that we think they are . A short time since a review of the internal economy of the offices showed that there were 69 persons em ployed ,, whose salaries alone amounted to 7936 ? . ; the surveys and valuations came to 1668 ? . ; and the general expenses were 4781 ? . per annum . We also find that £ The ten years' total revenue was 390 , 819 The sum received by the Queen was 121 , 000 The outgoings were 269 , 819 The antiquity of an abuse we hold to be no palliation for its continuance , but certainly the present system is not a thing of modern growth , nor , by-the-by , is it confined to one duchy . The affairs of the Duchy of Cornwall are as wastefully conducted . Here we find that— £ In ten years the receipts were 566 , 537 The outgoings were 288 , 478 Leaving for the Queen ... 278 , 059

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      A DANGEROUS TICKET-OF-LEAVE MAN . A POUCEStAN was nearly killed in the Haymarket last Saturday morning by a ticket-of-leave man . Sergeant Crocker observed two men in the Haymarket about twenty minutes past two o ' clock . In one of them he thought he recognised a burglar who had recently entered the residence of Lord Panmure ; but , not being certain , he sent for a police constable , one Murrell , who knew the man better . On the two officers approaching the men , the latter ran off in the direction of Leicestersquare , pursued by Crocker and Murrell . The suspected burglar was speedily caught , and recognised by the constable ; but the other man escaped The two officers walked with their captive as far as James-street , Haymarket , when the sergeant left in order to try and find the other man , and Murrell , the constable , continued to conduct his prisoner to the station-house . They had not walked far , when the burglar , who goes by the name of Melbourne , suddenly pulled out a pistol and shot the constable in the mouth . The sergeant , who was at no great distance , and who beard the report and the cries for help , hurried back , and found Murrell still grasping his man , though bleeding considerably and almost stunned . Melbourne then fired another pistol at the sergeant , but it took no effect . Before the arrival of Crocker , however , some of the ' swells' who haunt the Haymarket at that hour of the morning had rushed upon Melbourne , and handled him so severely that , upon being brought up in custody the next day at Marlborough-street , he exhibited a very battered appearance . It was with great difficulty that the police rescued him . He was well known to tho constables as a housebreaker , and in 1853 he was tried for that offence , and sentenced to be transported for seven years ; but he was afterwards liberated on ticket-of-leave . He was now committed for trial . The pistol had been loaded with a stone , which had lodged in tbe constable ' s chin ; but the wound was not mortal , and ho gave evidence against the man on Saturdny morning . Wjhoi-. esal . e- Shoplifting . —Two women , sisters , and the wives of artisans at Plymouth , are now in custody at that town , charged with shoplifting on an immense scale . Goods sufficient to stock a shop with were found by the police at their lodgings . Their courage- must have beon equal to their dishonesty ; for one day they went to a draper ' s shop , stole a parcel of silk braid , and afterwards had tho audacity to mako a second visit with tho braid still in their possession . Extjsnsivjs Fraujd . —A young man of tho name of William Jones has been examined at tho Guildhall police-office on tho charge of haying attempted to defraud Messrs . Dont and Allcroft , wholesale glovers of Wood-strcot , City , of 16 * 00 ? . worth of goody . Early in last month , tho young man went to tho firm , and , after stating that ho came from Messrs . Jones and Evans of New York , and of Melbourne in Australia , and that ho was transacting business for them , selected stock to tho amount of 1600 / ., and gave instructions for its shipment , adding that ho would call again tho next day and settle tho account . On leaving , ho took with him a pair of gloves and a scarf as a sample , but nothing more was soon of him until a week afterwards , when ono of ( ho men at Dont and Alloroft ' a observed him walking down Wood-stroet . Ho stopped him , arid inquired when ho was going to pay for tho goods ho had selected , Jonos denied that ho hud over uoloctod any goods , on which ho was tukon into tho counting-house , whuro , on being spoken to by ono of tho partners , ho confessed tho whole fraud , and bogged for mercy . Ho was givon into custody , and it was then discovered that tho sonrf and glovos of which ho had defrauded Messrs . Dont and Co ., had boon pawned for Is . 6 d . Ho was remanded . DlfiPALOATIONS OB OlWlOiaiB OP SAVINOtS-MANKS . A return published on Monday gives full particulars of

      defalcations discovered to have taken place in 8 avinT banks since the 1 st of July , 1851 . withTrI ? a ®~ respondence thereto relating * De ? alca « ons luv ^ T M » ^^^ S ^^^ S ^ Assault by a Solicitor on a Brother Sotto , ™ -On the Mayor of Birmingham leaving the b 22 S Dee ' s Hotel given to the Duke of Cambridge on E week , he asked Mr . Hodgson , a solicitor and the ^ Mayor , to take his place as chairman . This was cordingly done ; but , if we may rely on Mr . HodraW subsequent statement , Mr . Collis , another solicitor tnlrt him that it was the desire of the Mayor that thefesr j vities should be speedily closed . Mr . ' Collis denies th " and says the suggestion was merely one of his ow n On the following day , the Mayor inquired why the nartv had been cut short . Mr . Hodgson attributed the fLf what Mr . Collis had told him . Mr . Collis thoa j ^ l note to Mr . Hodgson , asking him if he adhered to the statement , and the latter replied that he did , thoughex pressing himself in very conciliatory language . Shortlv afterwards , Mr . Collis went to tlie office of his brother solicitor , and , holding up the letter , said , " Do you withdraw this ? " Mr . Hodgson answered , "No but—— - " At that moment , he was struck on the face by Mr Collis , and , according to his 6 wn account , he received some dozen blows , causing a flow of blood . The poker was also brandished over his head . A t length , he became insensible , and , when one of the clerks burst the door open ( for it was locked ) , Mr . Collis threatened to "lay him straight" if he interfered . When the case was brought forward at the police-tourr , Mr . Collis said Mr . Hodgson admitted that his letter was a tissue of falsehoods , and offered to write any apology . He then began writing it , but suddenly seized the tongs , and called out '" Murder ! " on which , Mr . Collis says he knocked him down three times . The offender was committed for trial . His counsel threw up his brief on hearing Mr . Collis in open court call Air . Hodgson a liar . A Moktal Blow . —A dancer and singer at Evans ' s Hotel , Covent Garden , named Hiltlebrarid is now in custody under a very serious charge . He is in the habit of appearing in the saloon of the hotel , towards the small hours of the morning , as ' Ethiopian serenader ; ' and en the night of the Derby day he was going home to his lodgings in Church-street , Waterloo-road , when he met a man named Rowland White , - who was intoxicated . It would appear that this man struck Hildebrand , who returned the blow with such force as to knock his adversary down . White rose , with his mouth bleeding profusely , and exclaimed , " My jaw is broken ; he kicked me on the jaw . " He -was assisted by the proprietress of a ' coffee-house in Wellington-street , where the circumstance occurred , and was afterwards conveyed to King ' s College Hospital . llildebrand , in the meanwhile , walked off ; but he was taken into custody at Evans ' s on the night of Friday -week , and on the following day he appeared before tlie Bow-street magistrate . A young woman , named Jane Hicks , with whom he cohabits , and who performs as a pose plastique at the Coal Hole , was with him at tho time , and she confirmed Hildebrand ' s assertions that he merely acted in selfdefence . Tho allegation that he had kicked the man , Hildebrand solemnly denied to tlio police , saying , "So help me God , I did not ; " but he acknowledged that ho struck White two or three times . Mr . Nicholson , of the Cole Hole Tavern , and some others gave Hildebrand an excellent character for sobriety and steadiness , the police stated that White was known to them as a constant drunkard . The accused was remanded , and admitted to bail . During the progress of tho case , a constable brought in tho intelligence that White hail just died at tho hospital . Tho young woman Hicks faulted and fell back , and was taken out of court insensible , liw inquest has terminated in a vordkt slating that Wnito was killed by Hildebrand in solf-defonoo . Wife-beating . — James Shadrooli , a middlc-agod man and a carpenter , has beon sent to prison for «* months , with hard labour , for an assault on "J ^ wrotchod-looking woman , whom ho frequently ill uses , and on tho present occasion noarly murUorca . « accused her of being drunk , but this appears to lmvo been a falsehood , tho neighbours giving the woman « very good character . Tho man , however , wm JJ intoxicated , and this was all tho defence he couldI oj * Tho wife , who ia always kept very short of money , assisted with a small sum from tUo poor-box . A Violent Man ano his Violknt Swtk « - --a a Hiekmott , ono of the guardian * o tho I ™; £ * £ , & Old Town , owns a cottage and piece of »" ™ " ? of ground at Bromley , which la In tho ^^ William Moyco , a gardener . Wwhl iff to < WJ £ a tenant , Mr . Hiekmott obtained a writ , of ^ case s oh wont on Monday morning with a aUorlft s ofllcoi anu policemen ( for Moyco had tho oilmraotw o « / Violent person ) to tho promises . The ni , « i w « r qi to give up possession ; but ho fl / nd ho would * door of the cottage was than troken opon , w » * oaicera began to remove tho furniture . ««}

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      OUR CIVILIZATION . < £

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      660 THE Jkg A P JLg- r » t > . 377 , Sattjbda * . — : —— ¦ - ¦ ~ * ^ ' *

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), June 13, 1857, page 560, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2197/page/8/