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    « introduce all that the Radical party r...

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    Talk of the Studios.—"If you wish to mak...

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    — ¦ ¦ —? ¦ . • POLITICAL FOEESHADOWINGS....

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    GATHERINGS FROM LAW AND POUCH COLUITS. I...

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    In The Teeth Of Those Who Assert That Th...

    Two inquests have been held upon victims of the Victoria Theatre catastrophe of Monday , and in'both instances the verdict was the same , namely , that the cause of death was accidental . It seems ; only h . mvumc to believe . that no direct blame can be ' laid at- the door of any of the authori ' i ies at the theatre ; the manager , indeed , has shown such ah anxious desire to alleviate the distress of ' the parents and friends of the victims as will win him . well-deserved esteem and gratitude . But the evil remains ¦ out of which another and another ' ' , catastrophe like that of Mdnday afternoon may . spring . This is in the utterly wrong construction of the " Victoria Theatre with reference

    to the ingress and egress of the audience . A Iucifermatch by some means ignites and sets fire to the pocket of a man or a bov in some part of the house , and the word " Fire ! " or , "He ' s on fire ! " is spoken ; there is a commotion ; the word " Fire ! " is passed from lip to lip ; the excitement becomes panic , and there is a rush to the stairs . The stairs arc steep and narrow ; every moment the panic-race for life becomes wilder ; the sixfoot-wide staircase is choked by some , hundreds of struggling men , women , and children ; and loss of life , more or less tremendous , is

    inevitable . And this , may occur any night . It is impossible to foresee or to avert it , for vrith an audience like that ' of the Victoria Theatre it is impossible to prevent alarm from becoming panic fear , and there are no provisions for the safe dispersal of a crowd under such circumstances . The Victoria . Theatre is upwards of forty years old , . and does not meet the requirements of the present day . In fact , it is oiily by comparing the old theatres of London with the new that we entirely realise the abominations that we have so long quietly put up with .

    « Introduce All That The Radical Party R...

    « introduce all that the Radical party require take 4 THE LEADER , ffl ? 458 > Januar y 3 , 1859 .

    Talk Of The Studios.—"If You Wish To Mak...

    Talk of the Studios . — "If you wish to make a mess of everything :, have a committee , " said the Times a short time ago , and it has never been better exemplified than by the Committee for the Haveloek Statue for Trafalgarsquare . Two or three advertisements were issued , each contradicting the former , and at last , after dallying about for seven months , there appears a final request for " a statue to correspond with General Sir Charles Napier , " the sketches to be two feet high ; - —ciphers , mottoes , sealed letters containing the estimate , of cost , and all the usual humbug . It was only when artists began to inquire where such sketches were to be received , that it occurred to this wonderfully wise committee that

    there ought to be some place provided for the purpose , and the Suffolk-street Gallery was at length fixed upon , and two months are occupied about the selection , when it might have been accomplished in two . days . The result 13 , as we stated last week , Mr . Behnes has been chosen , after having violated every condition laid down in the advertisement . Mr . Behnes Bent not only a three-feet model , but a life-sized bust , upon which he boldly affixes liis name . Anotherwho always runs Mr . Behnes very hard—also sent a three-feet model and life-size bust , and he as boldly affixes his prices . , Statues at per foot ! The manly and honest course to be pursued was to have excluded such

    works , to mark their contempt at such proceeding . But no ! the committee divided their votes between the two , and passed entirely over the one admirable sketch marked " Vola , " a work that should have had their suffrages , fulfilling every condition , and the only work eminently fitted to be cast in bronze . London will therefore have an inferior statue , and a thoroughly competent sculptor has been treated with neglect . —Mr . G . Adams , we are told , is engaged upon a model for a marble statue of General Napier for St . Paul ' s ; and , remembering the one in bronze at Chnring-crosa by him , -we certainly do not look forward vary hopefully . — Mendelsshon is to have a bronze statue , and , it is said , to bo erected in ono of the parks ; the model is complete , and will rival the worst work in the metropolis . How

    monstrous this is , when Baily is obliged to leave tho profession , having literally no employment- — "Wooka , J ? oley , Marshall , Wbodington , and others , somo not half employed , others without a commission , and whoso every production is a gain to art . —• Critic . . Scottish Tajlbnx jn Paris .- ^ Tho young Scotch girl , Miss Thompson , who recently gained the first prize for singing at the Conservatoire , has been engaged by tho directors of the Grand Opera , and has made her debut within tho last few days ; she has obtained a very flattering success . Guillaume Tell ia tho opera in which aho has performed , Foreign singers—especially British —ara ao rarely aeon upon tho boards of tho French Opera , that the appearance there of Miss Thompson may bo noted as remarkable .

    ANW-S & AVJQSRy Mbbwno . —A vary interesting aoirdo has beon hold at I ^ eds on this subject . Lord Carlisle delivered a graceful speed ) , and Mr . Balnos and Mr . W . E . Forstor bore their testimony to tho unacrupuloueness of tho American slave power , and tho rapid growth of anti-slavery-nrlnolploajn that country .

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    — ¦ ¦ —? ¦ . • Political Foeeshadowings....

    — ¦ ¦ —? ¦ . POLITICAL FOEESHADOWINGS . The Eari . of Cabusle . —At the opening of the new Mechanics' Hall , Holbeck , near Leeds , on Monday , Lord Carlisle , in" speaking of the opportunities which educated men had of raising themselves in the scale of society , thus alluded to Mr . Blight ' s diatribes against the aristocracy . This was the only point ( he said ) , however obliquely , he would touch upon in connexion with current topics—topics on which men ' s minds were so busily engaged outside ; but he felt it his duty to say that there was no rank or class , he could assure them , however exalted in position , however it might sometimes be represented to be in feeling—no , not our gracious and beloved Queen on the throne—not the nobles in their ancestral halls—not the clergy in their venerable cathedral—not the gentry in their comfortable homes , who to any possible extent—of course there were sometimes queer exceptions—who would grudge to the great body of their countrymen that advance and superiority which they may make by their own talents ; or deserve by their own cenduct .

    Mr . Mohcrieff , M . P . —This gentleman has made another speech to his constituents at Leith . He said , referring to the measures of the former Government under which he held office : — " I own I don ' t quite understand what a rating franchise is or is to be ; but I know that in 1852 we were very anxious to find some mode by which upon the valuation already in existence the franchise might be determiriedj in order , if possible , to avoid the necessity of parties giving in claims and proving the value of their subject ? , and in order , if we could / to assimilate the mode of registration to that which was adopted in England , ¦ . where' the overseers for the poor ,, both in county and borough , made out the lists of voters . Well , that bill of 1852 , as you know ,

    met with a very cold reception from the country , and the resignation , of Lord John Russell ' s Government necessarily put an end to it . Lord Derby ' s Government intervened in 1852 but in 1853 , under Lord Aberdeen ' s G overnment , this question again came to be considered ; and in 1854 Lord John Russell brought in another bill , in which , as I have already stated , he proposed . to . reduce the county oeeupaiicy to 10 / ., and occupancy in burghs to 51 . of a rating franchise in England ; and he also proposed to enfranchise every man who paid 40 s . of assessed taxes to the Government , Gentlemen , I regret to say that that bill met with no more support from our now ardent Reformers than the former one had done . AVliat is the reason that the gentlemen , who

    come down from the London Reform Association , choose to encumber us with a rating franchise which it is utterly impossible to carry out , while they have ready made to their hands a machine infinitely more convenient arid infinitoly more perfect than any they have had in England for that very purpose ? I will tell you why , because the proposition was made by men who probably knew nothing earthly of what Scottish poor law was , and who never had heard of the Scottish valuation roll . The question is apparently househ o ld suffrage—at all events , a suffrage dependent upon the occupation of tenements in burghs . Well , then , I say ,

    let us fix where the line is to bo drawn . I am not disposed , and not prepared to go the length of a household suffrage . I don ' t think that would bo beneficial to tho people . It is impossible to deny that outside the pale of the present franchised class there lies a vast amount of intelligence quite as able to wield that political ¦ weapon , and from independence also , peculiarly well fitted to wield it . I say tho qpper classes of our working population—of tlio artisans , especially the skilled artisans—are persons of . as much mental cultivation certainly , and often of more than those who are now within tho magio circle of the franchise . "

    Mb . Quav , M . P . —At a Reform meeting at Hull , tho member for the borough attended , and urged that its resolutions asked nothing more than Lord Durham had asked for thirty years ago . Mr , Clay intimated , in his speech , that there was a strong feeling in tho meeting in favour of manhood suffrage , but he was glad it had consented to waivo tho point , for lie was convinced that at present it would bo impossible of attainment . Tine honourable gentleman also stated that neither ho , nor those with whom he was acting , wanted such a system of electoral districts as would deprive tho counties of their legitimate influence in tho Legislature . As to the ballot , ho said , I cannot boliovo that any man like mysolf

    can have represented a largo town like this for many years—that ho can havo gone through very severe and exciting election contests , without being convinced of the necessity of tho ballot for the protection of some of its rotors . He continued , I do not know what Lord Derby proposes , but I do know that ho is a very able man ; and I do know that ho lias ono at lciist most sagacious colleague . I bolieva that ( Uo present Government contains many good and honest mon . I will not say that Lord Derby ' s Reform Bill must of necessity bo a sham Reform Bill , or n triok or delusion . On the contrary , I boliovo It very Ukoly that It will bo an improvement of tho present system . If Lord Dorby will

    , I it that I iind every honest man will support him fully . But I do not think it is too much to believe that any Reform Bill coming from the present Government must fall short of that which we conceive we have a right ta ask . Referring to Mr . Bright , _; he remarked , that gentleman had pledged himself not to found his bill upon any particular programme , but it might safely be understood that the bill would be pretty much like the resolutions which the ' -meeting" had . accepted . The Radical party , said Mr . Clay , in the House of Commons are not very powerful in numbers ; they have no influence at all unless they have 3 ' 6 u at their backs ; , but with you at their backs I believe that they are irresistible . Le ' t your voice then be decided , and let it be heard . It will be easy to make it-heard in the House of Commons , but let it also speak in such tones of thunder that it makes its way through the deaf doors of the House of Lords .

    The Baudot Societv . —The weekly meeting t . f the Executive Committee was held on Tuesday ; Major-General Thompson * M . P ., in the chair . A vote of thanks was given to Mr . Baines , of Leeds , for his explicit declaration in favour of the ballot at the recent Reform meeting- Mr . Miles was examined by ¦ the committee as a witness to the working of the ballot in his native state , New" York . In reference to the . recent articles in the Times , "On the . American Elective System , " he admitted the existence of electoral corruption in New York City . He said that in the rural districts the political-system was much purer—tli . it the Times was wrong in assigning , as the cause of such corruption the ballot , or the failure of the ballot . A ' letter . was

    read from Mr . Berkeley , M . P ., suggesting that a ballot meeting ' . should be held in Kidderminster , to answer the anti-ballot speech of the Right Honourable Hubert Lowe , M . P ., and directions were given to carry out Mr . Berkeley ' s suggestions . Meetings were decided to bo held at Sheffield , Cirencester , Windsor , and other places . . ¦¦ Provincial : Movements . —One or two Reform meetings have been held in South Durham , of which the latest was at Stockton-on-Tees , when the- ' corporation agreed to a memorial to Lord Derby , praying that , in any Government measure , the interests of po ancient and important a borough and port should riot be f . irgotten . Copies of the same memorial were also ordered to be sent to Lord J . Russell , Mr . Bright , and the members

    for the Southern Division . —A public meeting was held at Doncaster , to consider the propriety of impressing upon the present Government the claims of the borough to be represented in Parliament . A resolution to tint effect was carried unanimously , and a committal ! was appointed to prepare a memorial to the Earl of Dorby . A requi s ition to the Mayor for a Reform meeting had been prepared , but was not yet presented , it having been decided that the meetings should be separate . —At a Reform meeting at Ayr , one of the speakers suid that the Reform BilL . of Mr . Bright would be founded upon expediency , inasmuch as it would not embrace that complete and full extension of the suffrage which is desirable .-r-At . Greenock , on Monday , Mr . Pryeo gave a lecture on Parliamentary Reform in the New Town

    Hall ; Provost Duff was in the chair . Mr . Pryco s address gave full explanations of the programme of the London Committee , and a committee was appointed to watch the Reform question , and convene a public meeting when necessary . —At Kingston-on-Thnmes the inhabitants have met and put in their claim to be represented - —A meeting of the inhabitants of Renfrew was held on Tuesday . Tho Provost occupied the chair . A deputation from the Glasgow Reform' Association was present , and addressed the meeting . An association , on the . same principles as the Glasgow Parliamentary Reform Associution , was formed . —Monday evening , the 17 th instant , is fixed as the occasion on which Mr . Bright is to deliver an address on Parliamentary Reform , in St . George ' s Hall , at Bradford .

    Gatherings From Law And Pouch Coluits. I...

    GATHERINGS FROM LAW AND POUCH COLUITS . In April of 18 . 0 G on audacious burglary was committed attho house of Mrs . Humphreys , a widow lady raiding at Stamford Hill , by four mon in mnhks . An entrance was effected by digging a hole through tlin kitchen wall , when the ruflianu proceeded to tio tho hands nml feet of tho old lady and her servant girl , the only inmates of tho house , threatening to murder thuin if they spoke . Proporty to tho ( amount of 2000 / . wan then carried oflF . - One man was convicted and noi > tim < : td to death for tho crime , but tho others have hitherto oludi'd detection . A man named Gibson , ono of two <> mit ? ht breaking into the promises of Mr . King , . S : inibro < . > kcourt , tho othor day , has boon identified by tho sorvniTt girl fts the burglar ' wlio tied nor foot together . ti \ m I " enabled to do so from tho accident of tho fullow ' u •>" lhlc

    having fallen from his faco , and thus allowing hor to pi' his features before ho could replace it . , Browning and I'orry , tho men In , custody charged wlil » stripping a houso in Farringdori-Hti'oot of Itn lUtunw to the value of 100 / ., have been brought up on remand , at Guildhall , before Sir P . Laurie , where it was ntatwi that other parties who lud charges of a -plinilur imdiro rtBalnst tho prisoners dooHnod to prosoouto on necoiint of tho expense contingent on tho now eoulo of allow "' 10 "

• Citation
  • Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 1, 1859, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_01011859/page/4/