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    February . Both met for a short time ; heard the Royal assent given by Commission to the Bank Issues Indemnity Bill ; and put a few questions to the Government . In the House of Lords , Lord Panmure read the following letter from Sir Colin Campbell , which he said completely refuted the stories with respect to disagreements between the Commander-in-Chief and Lord Canning : — " Now that I am about to leave Calcutta , I would beg , with the greatest respect to the Gov « rnor-General , to record , the deep sense of the obligations I entertain towards his Lordship . Our intercourse las been most cordial , intimate , and unreserved . I cannot be sufficiently thankful for his Lordship ' s confidence and support , and the kind manner with which I have been favoured to my great personal satisfaction . When at a distance , with the

    ordinary mode of transacting business in this country , they could hardly estimate the gain to the public service which , had thus been made ; but I owe this explanation principally to my own feelings of satisfaction . " —In the House of Commons , Lord Palmerston said that , oa the reassembling of the House , he should move the r « appomtment of the select committee on corrupt practices at elections . Sir George Orey gave notice that he would , on an early day after the reassembling of Parliament , move for leave to bring in a bill to reform the Corporation of the City of London ; and he also said , in the absence of Lord Palmerston , that Ministers will state their opinions with reference to the Government of India shortly after the recess .

    The Mueder at Bolton . —It appears that the sentence of death upon Aaron Mellor , besom-maker , who was found guilty at Liverpool Assizes , on Monday week , of the murder of his wife at Bolton , will not at present be carried into execution . Mr . Justice "Wightman , who tried him , has discovered a mistake in the jury panel , which may perhaps be held to have invalidated the trial . Amongst the jurors summoned were two , one named Thome and the other Thorniley . When the names of the jury were called over , Mr . Thorniley

    entered the box , but the clerk of the court understood that , it was Mn Thome , and the name was entered in the panel ; therefore the prisoner had not the challenge of Mr . Thprniley . There was a similar case in the year 1703 . His Lordship has suggested that judgment should be respited until the judges have met in chambers and considered the subject . The counsel assented to this , and a case will be prepared for their decision . If the objection hold good , a new trial at the next Assizes will probablv take place . v

    Fair and Foul Illusions . —For once in the way , we are enabled to praise an advertising doctor , and we seize the opportunity of doing so with delighted avidity . Professor WUjalba Frikell , describing himself as 'Physician to their Majesties the Emperor and Empress of Russia , ' announces that 'his new and original entertainment , performed without the aid of any apparatus , entitled " Two Hours of Illusions , " will commence at eight , and terminate at ten , o ' clock . ' Here we have a physician candidly avowing that his professional practice consists in the production of illusions . How much more honest and respectable is such a physician than an M . D . who professes to care diseases by means of

    homoeopathic globules ! Those illusions are merely harmless , hut the illusions of Dr . Fiikell are not only harmless , but amusing , and hence probably in some degree medicinal . Entertaining illusions are "better cores for low spirits than quack medicines . These pretended specifics are illusions of the nature of the Jack-o' -lantern , and lead those who are deceived by them through long and dreary mazes into final grief . The patent medicine is the lantern ; the advertiser of it is the Jack , or knave , that goes about with his imposture under the patronage of the Government , -whose stamp is a warrant to the British Public that the rascal ' s good-for-nothing or pernicious compounds are genuine . —Punch .

    West Coast or Africa . —Commodore Wise , on the night of the 20 th of October , seized two canoes full of slaves off Cabenda . Their owners intended to have conveyed them to a barracoon fifty miles northward . The steam-sloop Alecto , 5 , Commander James Hunt , took her sixth prize into Sierra Leone on the 18 th of November . The . case of the Spanish barque Conchito , Etigenio Bayona , master , seized by an English vessel in . the roadstead of Whydah , for being equipped for the slave trade , was heard in the British and Spanish Mixed Court of Justice , on the 5 th of November . The barque was condemned to the crowns of England and Spain .

    Thb Bishop of London continues his benevolent ministrations . Ho preached on Sunday morning at St . Thomas ' s Church , Charterhouse , in aid of the Golden Lane Schools , established by the Rev . William Rogers , one of her Majesty ' s chaplains , the foundation-stone of which was laid by the Prince Consort last year . A liberal collection followed his Lordship ' s appeal for aid . Equalization op Poor Rates . —A mooting of ratepayers was held at the Literary and Scientific Institution , in tho Borough-road , on Monday nigh IT , for the purpose of petitioning tho Legislature to pass nn act for the equalization of poor rates , and for uniformity of assessment throughout the metropolis .

    -Relief of Soldiers' Wives and Families . —A numerous meeting of ladies and gentlemen was held on Monday evening , at East Ooombe , near Blackhoath , tho

    residence of Mr . M . Mott , in behalf of the wives and families of the soldiers who have lately gone out to India . Lord Shaftesbury presided , and the following resolutions w « re agreed to : —" That it is desirable an association be formed with a view of extending relief to the wives and families of our soldiers and sailors gone out to India ; and that it be also of a more permanent character , for the purpose of d irecting its attention to the condition of the wives and children of our soldiers and sailors whenever they are removed on service , whether in war or peace , in distant and foreign countries ; and that a committee ( consisting of gentlemen "whose names were read ) be formed for the purpose of carrying out the foregoing resolution , and of organizing a central board in London for receiving subscriptions and devising ulterior measures . " It was arranged that the first meeting of this committee should take place on the following Monday .

    Kkfokm of theCity Corporation . —In the Court of Common Council , on Tuesday , a bill for effecting a better regulation of the municipal government was read and passed ; the object being to deposit it in Parliament . Rugby School . —In consequence of Dr . Geulburn ' s resignation , of the head-mastership of Eugby School , both the old and present Rugbeians have presented him with a piece of plate , as a mark of their personal esteem and regard . . Shipwreck . —The Susan Crisp , of London , has been wrecked in Plettenbergs Bay , when five of the crew were diowned .

    The Elections . —Mr . Hunt ( Conservative ) has been returned for North Northamptonshire by a majority of 326 over Mr . Vernon ( Ministerialist . ) Mr . Dent has b « en returned foT Scarborough by a majority of 93 over Mr . Cayley . Mr . Milner Gibson , has been returned for Ashton- ^ under-Lyne by a majority of 132 over Mr . Mason . The Leviathan , —Further attempts were made on Wednesday to move the Leviathan ; but , after four hours ' hard labour , and a succession of mishaps , causing the apparatus to break down in several parts , the attempt was adjourned sine die . During the operations , she jerked a distance of between thirty , and forty inches , but made no continual progression .

    The Indian Question . —The adjourned meeting to promote the extension of the missions in India of the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel m Foreign Parts , was held at Willis's Rooms , St . James's , on Wednesday . The Right Rev . the Bishop of London presided , and the chief speakers were Lord John Manners , M . P ., and Mr . Justice Coleridge , who both insisted on the necessity of spreading Christianity among our Indian possessions . Resolutions to this effect were unanimously carried . —A public meeting was held on Thursday

    evening at St . Martin ' s Hall , to consider the condition of India and the working of the double government . Lord Bury , Sf . P ., was in the chair ; Mr . Roebuck was the chief speaker ; and resolutions were passed in favour of vesting the government in the Crown , under the control of the House of Commons , and of reforming that House , as the chief step towards better administration throughout the whole empire . The meeting refused to receive an amendment by Mr . Collett , advocating ' restitution ' to the native princes and people . A petition to Parliament having been adopted , the meeting separated .

    A bold Suugical Opkratiou . —Professor Syme performed ou the 8 th inst . at the Royal Infirmary , Edinburgh , in presence of a large gathering of medical men , a very delicate operation . A man was suffering from ¦ cancer of the tongue , and the professor , having thrown the patient into a state of insensibility by means of chloroform , cut the organ away bodily at the root . To effect this , he made an incision in the integument covering the chin , sawed through the lower jaw , and completed the operation . Very little blood was lost , and the man was able to walk out of tho room , and is now recovering . A similar operation has been successfully performed in Italy ; but the mode of procedure was different .

    The RECOUDKRsmr of Poolb , rendered vacant by the appointment of Mr . Hodges to the Chief Justiceship of the Cape , has been conferred on Mr . William Major Cooke , of the Western Circuit and Hampshire Sessions . Plam of Lucknow . —Mr . Wyld has just published a plan of tho Residency and Palace at Lucknow , in which all the points of interest are marked , including the line of road between Outram ' s position and Allumbagh . The publication is most opportune , since the forthcoming Indian mail will probably ^ pnfer importance on every street and building indicated by the engraver . Certainly the skeich will be serviceable to all who care to follow Sir Colin Campbell ' s operations in detail .

    Sir Henry Havelock . —Tho Colonelcy of the 3 rd Buffs , which has just become vacant by the death of Lientenant-Genernl Wodehouae , will bo conferred on Major-General Sir Henry Ha-velock , and not upon Sir Richard Airoy , as had been anticipated in some military circles . Monument to Eugicnk Suk . —Mr . John Stuart Mill has sent a subscription of ten pounds to tho collection at Brussels for erecting a monument to M . Eugono Sue . Tine Webtminstku Pi-ay . —Terence's Adelphi has been performed this year by tho Westminster scholars , with great ability and success . Tho scenery and accessories were all now , and presented a groat improvement on

    those of former years . —The winter speeches , also ' hav « been delivered at St . Paul ' s School ' Misplaced Lenity . —A General Order issued by the Commander-in-Chief , reprehending the lenity of members of General Courts-Martial on the trial of officers convicted of grave offences , was read on Thursday mornuur in tie garrison mess-room at Woolwich . Rear-Admiral Sir Francis Beaufort FRS F . G . S ., F . R . A . S ., &c , died at Brighton on Wednesday He served with distinction during the last war with France . Sin Geokgk Caylky , a gentleman distinguished for his scientific attainments , died on Tuesday , in the eightyfifth year of his age . Herr Kosnig , the celebrated comet-a-piaton player has just died at Paris .

    A New Currency . —We have received the following letter from a distinguished man who is modest enough to sign himself l A Fanciful Financier . ' The fanciful men of one generation are sometimes the practical men of another ; at any rate , the originality of our correspondent ' s suggestions deserves the attention which ¦ would be due to the authority of his name if we were at liberty to publish it : — "Sir , —Although the Government seems to consider it to be no part of its duty to do anything to relieve the distress -which has been caused among the working classes by the commercial crisisdistress which it is pleased to call ' local '—I conceive that now would be the time to try an experiment which

    might lead to very great results . Let the Government temporarily relieve—not particular districts , but the whole country—from the burden of certain taxes that interfere m « st with its comfort and its industry—let it commence , in fact , the abolition of the customs-duties , say to the extent of ten millions . To make up for the deficit thus created , let the Treasury—not the Bankissue , in payment of officials and other modes of expenditure , notes , as small as is consistent with safety , with the expressed condition that these notes will be received at any future time by all tax-gatherere , &c—bythe Government , in fact—in payment of taxation , atajixedpremium . The amount of this premium need not be arbitrary .

    The . collection of taxes always costs so much per cent , which will be saved by the Treasury . Beside ? , the issue would have something of the character of a loan . The two advantages of this measure would be , in the first place , a great relief to the country and stimulus to its energies ; and , in the second , the establishment of a New Currency—at any rate for a time , probably for ever . Notes , which the Government is always ready to buy as it were at a premium , will be as readily exchangeable against gold , at money-changers and elsewhere , as are uow bank-notes . Every one feels the necessity of an increase of the circulating medium ; but most people naturally shrink from anything like a forced currency . The system I propose might be extended gradually , if found to be successful , -until its natural limit was reached . I

    conceive that the amount of one year ' s taxation , less the expenses of collection and a certain discount , might fairly come to be represented by this new kind of paper . The Government would have , however , carefully to watch in what kind of favour it was held , to cease its issues and destroy what it received , if the notes ever showed a tendency to fall below par . But this would never be the case if the premium were properly calculated . A bold Minister and a patriotic House of Commons—disdaining routine—might thus not only establish that immense desideratum—a New Currency—but inaugurate a system by means of which , at all critical periods , the Chancellor of the Exchequer could relieve , not Lombard-street only , but the whole country . Yours , &c . —Fanciful Financier . "

    Extraordinary Meteor . — "A meteor of extraordinary brilliancy was seen in this neighbourhood , " says a writer from Wokingham in the Times , on Wednesday evening , about ten minutes before eight . It was of a blood red colour , and traversed the heavens from north to west . The labourers who saw it were quite terrified at its appearance . At four A « M » this morning , the sky presented an extraordinary appearance , the heavens being illuminated in the north-west with a bright fiery red , as if lighted up by a conflagration . "

    Hills v . Shepherd .. —An action was concluded in the Court of Queen ' a Bench yesterday ( Friday ) , arising out of the seduction of Miss Hills by Mr . Robert Ezekiol Smith , of which the public have already heard more than enough . Tho claim was made by the father of the young lady against Mr . Shepherd , an attorney , for the recovery of 60 / . paid to him for conducting the prosecutions against Mr . Smith . Mr . Hills now asserted that he never gave any authority for tho prosecutions . Ibis Mr . Shepherd denied , and said , tho plaintiff , in . fact , owed him 200 / . more . Tho jury returned a verdict for Mr . Hills for tho amount claimed , lesa 5 / . 17 s . 2 d ., the coats actually incurred in the actions .

    Roman Pavjkmknt .. —During the process of excavating a drain through tho lied Lion Hotel , Colchester , lust week , tho workmen found a very beautiful specimen of Komnn tesaeluted pavement , about thirty inches beneath the service , which was saved entire , nnd w «' bo placed amongst other antiquities of tho town . JEssex Standard .

    Untitled Article

    120 S THE LEADER . [ No . 404 , December 19 , 1857 .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 19, 1857, page 1208, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2222/page/8/