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    1002 THE LEADER . [ No . 493 . Sept . 3 , 1859 .

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    tjis Teturn to New York , the city of his adoption , where , say his friend ^ , he has heen steadily rising to fame nnd fortune . There are no further accounts sf Mr . John Mitchell ' s future movements ; but , as his popularity has been sadly damaged by his insane career as a , journalist in the United States , he is pretty certain , should he venture on Irish soil , to meet with but an indifferent reception from many of his former disciples and admirers .

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    GENERAL HOME NEWS .

    TnE Cour . T . —The Queen and Prince Consort , with Prince Alfred , Prince Arthur , Princess Alice , Princess Helena * and Princess Louisa , arrived on Monday afternoon at Buckingham Palace from Osborne , and ( with the exception of Prince Alfred ) left for Scotland by the Groat Northern , railway at nine o ^ clock the satne evening , arriving at York at two o ' clock the next morning . At Biggleswade , where the first stoppage took place , her Majesty expressed her perfect satisfaction with the arrangements made for her convenience and comfort . Shortly afterwards the curtains of the royal carriage were drawn , the lights dimmed , and her Majesty retired to rest . The

    royal travellers were not disturbed until their arrival at St . Margaret ' s station , Edinburgh , at eight o ' clock in the morning , when they immediately proceeded through the Park to Holy rood . The Prince of "Wales met his parents at the station . Early in the afternoon the Queen , having taken rest after her journey , walked put in the grounds of the Palace , accompanied by the Prince Consort , her Majesty having previously viewed the new fountain from a front window , and expressed Ler admiration ' of it . At four o ' clock her Majesty , accompanied by her children , drove to Dalkeith in open carriages , and spent a short time in the grounds and interior of the Palace : The Prince Consort did not leave

    the palace at anytime during the dnj-. The Queen gave a dinner party oh Tuesday night . Her Majesty left Edinburgh-for Balmoral at nine o ' clock the next rcorning , arrivingat home at six in tlic evening . It was a very wet afternoon . Piiiuce ' Alfked . —The Prince arrived at Dover at eleven o ' clock on Mpnday night , accompanied by Major Cowell , and embarked immediately on board the" Admiralty yacht Vivid , Commander Allen , which had been brought -there from Woolwich for the purpose of conveying his Royal Highness to Calais , whence he proceeds , by way of Paris , to Marseilles , to join the Euryalus in the Mediterranean , his leave of absence having expired .

    The Governok-GenerAl , and Lord . Stanlev , !—A paper from the pen of Lord Canning revives the question as to the Indian executive in Oude . It is in reply to the last of the despatches of Lord Stanley . The Governor-General says , in this minute , that he does not seek to prolong the discussion , but only to rectify some mistakes or misapprehensions . Lord Stanley had intimated that the celebrated Oude proclamation was altogether objectionable , because merely intended as a menace . His lordship had also said that tho proclamation had been cancelled and not acted on . Lord Canning quotes fjroiu despatches of Mr . Montgomery to show that the pi'bclamation has not in tiny sonse beon cancelled , nnd that compensation was not only

    adopted but put in force . Where there has been persistence in rebellion , says Lord Canning , the sentence of confiscation has been a reality , nnd not merely a menace . This Pl . bjcio IfKALXH . ^ -It appears from tho report of the Registrar-General that tho health of London is now in an nverage stnte . Tho deaths in the week ending on Saturday lost wore 1 , 217 . Last week the births of 840 boys nnd 870 girls were registered . . . Tins Tuscans and LonD NonaiANnr . —Tho head or the illustrious liouse of Phipps hna got into hot water with some of the most distinguished champions of tho liberal cause in Tuscany . Tho Marquis had printed tho speech ho made in the House of Lords on tho affairs of Italy , nnd added some notes .

    In ono of those he spoke disparagingly of the Pro » visional Government of Tuscany , and oven represented tho Socrotnry-General of tho Foroign Ministry ns guilty of " rogueries . " Tho Secretary wrote to the Marquis with great indignation . To this Lord Normanby made no reply , but ho seems to have replied to M . Ubaldina Poruzzi , another member of the Provisional Government , who also complained of being unfairly attacked , and of tho publication of a "little adventure " which , If true , would have beon most dJshonpurnble to the writer . Tho whole affair has laid Lord Normanby open , on tli \* occasion , to the severe rebuke of tho SoorotaryT General , that " age and dgqronltudc seem to give a Uoonao to tarnish with impunity tho reputation of honest men . " n

    Almogbd ConnuPTiQN at Beuwicu . — Tho JNorthorn Reform Union liavo beon prosocutlng tliolr Inquiries Into the political condition of

    Burwick-upprirTweed , where there has been suen a closely contested election . They assert that gross bribery : was practised at the last General Election by the Conservative party of Berwick . That the petition against Messrs . Gordon and Earle was withdrawn by the Liberals upon condition that Mr , Earle should vacate his seat and allow Mr . Marjoribanks to be returned unopposed . And thirdly , that while the body of the electors were entirely ignorant of this arrangement , there is reason to believe that not only Messrs . Gordon , Earle , Marjoribanks ; and their legal agents , but also the Secretaries to the Treasury of both the late and present Administration , were privy to the transaction . These are serious accusations with which the House ' of Commons will have to deal , for Mr . John Brady has given notice that he will call the attention of the House to the circumstances when Parliame nt meets . . . ¦

    Post-Ojtfice Regulations . —An important postoffice notice has been issued iu our columns to-rday , by which the public will learn that " on the 12 th September next the late evening delivery will be extended to many additional places within about six miles of the General Post Office . Certain conditions are stated as necessary to be complied with , as to letter-boxes and care in attaching the proper initial letters . .. The Rival Ciiukcii : mex . — On Sunday there was a repetition to some extent of the flagrant scandal in St . Georgc ' s-in-the-East Church . -The nToriiincr service was conducted by the Rev . Frederick George ' Lee , S . C . L ., of St . Edmund Hall , Oxford . Mr . Lee appeared at the altar , in the Vestments of a

    Roman Catholic priest , the ordinary ecclesiastical habit of a clergyman of the Church of England being entirely slispensed . with . The reading desk was also ignored by him . He knelt in front of the altar and intoned the ' . prayers , and when the time came for reading the lessons that duty was performed by a layman , who ascended the desk habited in a pinin white surplice . At the close of the " communion service 'Mr . ¦ Lee ( who had previously , dispensed with the Litany ) ascended the pulpit in his robes , con- ' sisting of a yellowish white cloak fastened close round the neck , all the trimmings consisting of broad gold lace embroidery , with a cross woven into the back . The sermon , or rather the last half of it , consisted of a general condemnation of the press on account of its malignity ; of the Church , on account of its apathy ; and of the mob of St . George ' s parish , who

    were followers of Beelzebub . His sermon , so long as he kept to his text , was one of a much higher character , both for lucidity of argument and sound evangelical teaching , than one generally hears in London pulpits . Although of the simplest character , it was clearly the work of a gentleman and a scholar . There was an overwhelming congregation at the afternoon service . The Rev . Hugh Allen , M . A ., the lecturer nominated by the vestry , preached a sermon of a highly explosive character , upon the subject of damnation . Towards the close the rev . gentleman begged the congregation to depart peaceably , but 1 , 000 persons waited for what is called the rector ' s service , which commences at four o ' clock . At four o ' clock tho churchwarden announced that the service was suspended , and after a few hisses and groans , the churchwarden , with the assistance of tho police , succeeded in clearing the church . *

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    DIMINUTION OF RAIX . The following interesting observations are taken from the Illustrated London News : — In the quarterly return of tho registrar-general ending with June it is stntcd " the deficiency in the fall of rain from the beginning of tho year is 1 ;] in . Tho deficiency in tho years 1854 , 1856 , 1856 , 1857 , 1858 , amounted to the average fall oS one yearviz ., 25 in . From a careful examination of the fnll of rain ( year try year ) from the year 1815 it would seem that tho annual fnll id becoming smaller , and that there is but little probability that the large deficiency will bo made up by excess in futuro years . " Should this ' statement , made by Mr . Glaisher and adopted by the registrar-general , in a document issued by authority , be confirmed , it will

    constitute ono of tho most important dlseovorios over made by meteorologists . Undoubtedly it noods to bo veriflod by observation in many quarters ; and now that attention is directed to tho subject , tho registers of rain-fall , which have beon kept in many places for a number of years , will , on bding referred to , soon confirm or disprove it . We venture to say at once , however , that it hpcars highly probablebecause consistent with nmnyother phenomena—that tho quantity of rain which falls on tho onrth Is vary slowly and gradually diminishing . Last week Sir Samuel Poto reminded tho public that Pimlico was afow years ago a moro swamp , and norscus still living may remember Lambeth a marsh . An old friend of ours wont enipo-ahnotlng In hie youth , amidst rushes and . wator , where Bedlam now

    stands . . It has been lately stated more than once that the Thames , npw rolls a much smaller volume of water to the sea than formerly , though tlie ^ faot was ascribed to the removal of old London-bridge , and the increase of people on its banks ; but it is now more probably explained by less rain falling on the surrounding country . We will not refer to the filling up of the port of Rye and the increase of land in that neighbourhood and other parts of England as evidence of the gradual increase of dry land and a decrease of the space filled by water on the surface of the globe , because there are places where the sea makes encroachment , and it would be difficult to ascertain , without going into many particulars , which increase preponderates . We must remark , however , that in all countries

    traces of dried up streams are met with ; but within the historical period there are few or no examples of new rivers coming into existence . It was mentioned incidentally the week before last in our journal that the Dnieper at Kiey . was drying up . The redoubted plains of Troy can with difficul ty be recognised or traced because the rivers mentioned by llomer , whose descriptive topography is not doubted , either cannot be found or they are now such insignificant streams as to fall far below the descriptions of the poet . Crossing over to the other side of the Mediterranean it is known that about the mouths of the Nile the water is becoming shallower ; while there is reason to believe , from the growth of sand in the neighbourhood of the river , and other circumstances , that the volume of its waters has been within tht

    period of history sensibly diminished . The Baltic Is known by recorded observation to bo decreasing . The Adriatic derives its name , from a town that is now eighteen miles . from ' .. the shore , and was once a flourishing- seaport . North America , is smsibly draining . The rivers arc slowly , like the Nisi-gara ; wearing away the rock , and occupying a lower bed . America on the Pacific ' Ocean is notoriously rising-, or the ocean -which surrounds . it is sinking . The Deluge is a very early event in the history of mankind ; and it is consistent alike with sacred and profane history to suppose that over since , that period , as well as immediately after , the-first lew days when the dove found her resting-place ,, the waters o £ the earth have gradually dried up .

    A , theory has lately been started that the globe is continually increasing in size . In tho opinion of Captain Alfred Drayson the earth grows , and he assigns a number of good reasons for his opinions : Every day almost we read accounts of plants and animals found many fathoms deep which have atone time flourished on its surface . We see the surface continually strewed , autumn after autumn , with leaves and branches and trunks of trees and numerous plants , which wither and continually form a new coat , though it be as thin as a coat of paint , on the surface . We read of fossil coal being found close at hand , and of modern formation , which , as coat above coat become deposited , will by-and-by become deep - seated coal . The bulk of the vegetable products that annually cover the earth and annually decay , adding , probably , to its size , are formed from the water which falls from the atmosphere . They derive their subsistence from it much more than

    from the earth . The same may be said of uien and animals . Tho bulk of the human body consists of water ; and of the whole , as of the bodies uf tiniiriuls , some elements always remain , increasing the solid matter of tho globe . As the population of the earth increases , this conversion of fluid into solid mutter increases . It is probable that as imui is multiplied on the earth , grudually , and tho animals he feeds on are multipled with him , there takes place , from this cause , a diminution , however small , of the water of the atmosphore . As the space covered by writer on the surface of the globo diminishes , evaporation will bo pro tanto diminished . There will bo less water taken , up , and less will fall . With nil these and n great many similar facts the diminution of wiim as asserted by Mr , Qlaishcr , is consistent . "They , run togethor * and ono explains tho other . Wo merely state a few facts , and enter not into any of the speculations they suggest .

    Wo must , howovor , remark , that on tho uniformity and stability of the laws of nature instinctively assumed and believed , rest all knowleitgo nuu all reasoning . If ifc bo . a fuel , therefore , that tho quantity of , rain which fivlls has boon continually diminishing through a period of fortyfour years , tho slow and gradual diminution ot'ruin must be considered as ivgoneml fact—us tho normal condition of tho globe . If this bo true , it is Gr adually , though extremely Blowly , decreasing i » | Iuia matter and increasing in solid matter . Most ot the changes which geology trnuoB in tho crust of lh « globo have beon in progress for ninny ugc'Si " »}* from the light which tho gradual diminution ai ml " reflects on many goologlcul phenomonn , we- vero inducod , at starting , to doscrlbo It ns ono of the most momentous discoveries , should it bo confirmed , tlm < observation has over made .

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Sept. 3, 1859, page 1002, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2310/page/6/