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Two inquests have been held upon victims of the Victoria Theatre catastrophe of Moridav , and in Ijoth instance ? the verdict was the same , namely , that the cause of death was accidental . It seems Drily humane ' to believe that no direqt blame can be laid at the door of any of the authorities at the theatre ; the manager , indeed , has shown such an anxious desire to alleviate the distress ' of the parents and friends of the victims as will win'him vcll-desei'ved esteem and gratitude . But . the evil remains out of which another and another catastrophe like that of Monday 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 lueifermatch by some means iguites and sets fire to the pocket of a man or a bov in some part of the house , and the word " Fire !' " ' , "He ' s on fire ! " is spoken ; there is a commotion ; the word " Eire ! " is passed from lip to lip ; the excitement becomes panic , and there is a rush to the stairs . The stairs are 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 ; arid 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 with 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 sale dispersal of a crowd under such circumstances ; The Victoria Theatre is upwards of forty years old , arid does not meet the requirements of the present day . In fact , it is only by comparing the old theatres of London with the hew that we entirely realise the abominations that we have so long quietly put up with .
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GATHERINGS FROM LAW AND POLICE COURTS . In April of 1856 an audacious burglary was coinniittod at the house of Mrs . Humphreys , n widow lady reeling at Stamford Hill , by four men in masks . An en . tranco was effected by digging a liolo through tho IuuImij wall , when tho ruffians proceeded to tic tho hands ami feet of the old lady and her servant girl , tho only inmates of the house , threatening to murdur thorn if tin 1 / spoke . Proporfcy to the amount of 2000 / . win then carried off . One man was convicted and Hontonooil to death for tho crime , but tho others have hitherto oluilml detection . A man named Gibson , one of two caught breaking Into tho promises of Mr . JKing , SumbrooUcourt , tho other day , has been identified by tho summt girl ns the burglar who tied her feet together , til '" enabled to do so from tho accident of tho follow ' * mn « k
laving fallon from his face , nnd thus allowing her ( u » w His foaturos before" ho could replace it . Browning and Perry , the men in custody clmrgo < l win » stripping a houso in Farringdon-fltroot of itw nxtua's to tho value of 10 QJ ., have boon brought up on remain ! , at Guildhall , before Sir P . Laurie , whore it was h 1 «« ' ( I that other parties who had churgos of a similar nature flgftlnat tho prlaonorfl declined to prosoouta on mioount of the . expense contingent on tho now sbalo of uHowuuoo
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POLITICAL FOttESHADOWINGS . The EAnr . of Carlisle . —At the opening of the new Mechanics' Hall , Holbeck , near Leeds , on Monday , Lord Carlisle , in speaking of the opportunities which educated men had t > f raising themselves in the scale of society , thus alluded to Mr . Bright ' 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 them
that there was no rank or class , he could assure , 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—pot 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 cc nduct . has made
Mr . Mowcrieff , M . P . —This gentleman 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 5 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 determined ,: in order , possible , to avoid the necessity of parties giving in claims arid proving the value of their subjects , 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 put 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 endto . it . Lord Derby ' s GoVernment intervened in 1852 ; but in 1853 , under Lord Aberdeen ' s Government ,- 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 occupancy to 107 ., and occupancy in . burghs to 5 / . " 6 f a rating franchise in England ; and he also proposed to enfranchise every man wjio paid 40 s . of assessed taxes to the Government . Gentlemen , f regret to . say that that bill met with no more support from our now ardent Reformers than the former one had done . . What 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 and infinitely more perfect than 1 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 household 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 the people . It is impossible to deny that outside tho pale of tho present franchiacd 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 the upper classes of . our working population—of tho artisans , especially the skilled artisans—are persons of as much mental cultivation certainly , and often of more than those who are now within the magic circle of the franchise . "
Introduce all that the Radical party require , I take it that ., I and every honest man will support him . fully . But I do not flunk , it is too much to believe that any Reform Bill coming from the present Government must fall short v pf that which we conceive we have a right to ask . Referring to Mr . Bright , he remarked , that gentleman had pledged himself not to ,. ft > und 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 you at their backs , but with you at their backs I believe that they are irresistible . Let your voice then be decided , and let it be heard . It will i 0 easv 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 LorcLs .
The Ballot Society . —The . weekly meeting ,. f the Executive Committee was held on Tuesday ; Major-General'Thompson , M . P ., in the chain 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—that 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 Robert Lowe , M . P ., and directions were given to . carry out Mr . Berkeley ' s suggestions . Meetings were decided to be 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 Stocktpn-on-Tees , when the corporation agreed to a memorial to Lord Derby , praying that , in any Government measure , the interests of so ancient and important a borough and port should not be forgotten . Copies of the same memorial Were also ordered to be sent to Lord J ^ Russell , Mr . Bright , . and thejnembers
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 ^ represerited . in Parliament ; A resolution id ~ th . it effect was carried unanimously , and a comuuttee was appointed to" prepare a memorial to the Earl of l > erby . A requisition 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 said that the Reform Bill of Mr . Bright would bo founded upon expediency , inasmuch as it would not embraco that complete and full extension of the suffrage wlu ' cb . is < Iisirable . —At Greenock , on Monday , Mr . Pryce gave a lecture on Parliamentary Reform in the New Town
Hall ; Provost Duff was in the chair . Mr . Pryce ' 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-Thames the inhabitants have met and put in their claim to be represented . —A meeting of the inhabitants of Renfrew was held on Tuesday . The Provost occupied the chair . A deputation from tho Glasgow Reform Association was present , and addressed the meeting , Ah association , oh the same principles as the Glasgow Parliamentary Reform Association , was formed . —Monday evening , the 17 tU 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 .
Mr . Clay , M . P . —At a Reform meeting at Hull , tho member for t ! ie 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 the meeting in favour of manhood suffrage , but ho was glad it had consented to waive the point , for ho was convinced that at present it would bo impossible of attainment . Tho honourable gentleman also stated that neither ho , nor those with whom bo was acting , wanted such a ey&tom of electoral districts as would deprive the counties of their legitimate influence in tho Legislature . As to tho ballot , ho said , I cannot believe that any man like myself
can have represented a largo town like this for many years— "that he can have gone through very severe and exciting olootlon oonteats , without being convinced of tho necessity of tho ballot for the protection of somo of Us voters * Ho continued , I do not know what Lord iDorby proposes , but I do know , j ; hat ho is a very able man ; and I do know that ho has one at .. least most sagacious colleague . I boliovo that the present Government contains many good and honest , men . I will not say that Lord Derby ' s Reform Bill must of necessity bo a sham Reform , Bill , or a trick or delusion . On tho contrary , I believe it very likely that it will bo an Improvement of tho present system . If Lord Derby will
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' 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 Ilavelock Statue for Trafulgarsquare . Two or three advertisements were issued , eachcontradictingthe 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 is , as we stated last week , Mr . Behnes has been chosen , after having violated every condition laid down in the advertisement . Mr . Behnes sent not only a three-feet model , but a life-sized bust , upon which he boldly affixes his name . Anothery rho always runs Mr . Behnes very hard : —also sent a threes-feet model and life-size bust , and ho as boldly affixes hia 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 » o ! 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 . A flams , we WO told , is engaged upon a model' for a raarblo statue oi Genera ! !* "r *>* St « F *^™ ' remembering the one in bronao at Charing- «» w 2 ~ y him , we certainly do not look forward very hopefully .- — iMendelsshon is to have a bronze statue , and , it is said , to bo erected in one of the parka ; the model is complete ,
and will rival tho worst work in the metropolis . How monstrous this is , when Baily is obliged to leave tho profession , having literally no employment—Wcoks , JMoy , Marshall , Woodlngton , and others , somo not half employed , others without a commission , and whoso every production is again to art *—Critic Scottish Talent in Paris . —Tho young Scotch girl , Miaa Thompson , who recently gained tho first prize for singing at the Conservatoire , has been engaged by tho directory pf the Grand Opera , and has made her dCbut within tho last few days j she has obtainod a vavy flattering success . Ouillavme Tell ia tho opera in whioh she haa performed . Foreign Bingora—especially British u _ nro so rarqly soon upon the boards of tha French Opera , thatntho appearance there of Miss Thompson may be noted as remarkable
Anti-Slavery Mkktino . —A very interesting soiree has been hold , at Leeds on thla subject . Lord Carlisle delivered a . graceful speech , and Mr . Balnea and Mr . W . E . ITorstor bore their testimony to tho unsorupulousnoss of tho American slave power , and tho rapid growth of anti-slavery principles in that country .
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Jan. 1, 1859, page 4, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2275/page/4/
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