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538 THE LEAPEB, [No. 376, Saturday ' - ¦...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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! - Miscellaneo Us. T,« Co««.-The Grand ...
creature could not speak , and its inclinations , as we are informed by an old account , were altogether brutish . Yet this truly bearish child was christened by an archbishop in the name of Joseph Ursin ; the Queen of Poland stood godmother , the French ambassador godfather , and attempts were made to tame him ( for we may as well by this time adopt the masculine personal pronoun ) , and to teach bi . ni some principles of religion . These endeavours partially succeeded ; for ( if "vve may credit the account ) , at the sacred name he would learn to lift his hands and eyes to heaven . But he could not be taught to speak , though there was no apparent defect in his tongue . He was bestowed upon one of the lords about the court , who took him into his house as
a servant , lie could not be induced to throw aside his natural , or rather his acquired , fierceness ; but he learnt to walk upright on his feet , and went wherever he was bidden . " He liked raw as well as boiled flesh , " continues the account already alluded to ; could suffer no clothes on his back , nor ' ever wear shoes , nor anything npon his head . Sometimes he would steal to the Woods , and there suck the sap of trees , when he had torn off the bark with his nails . It was observed that , he being in the wood one day when a bear had killed two men , that beast came to him , and , instead of doing him any harm , played and licked his face and body . " It does not appear wheu or how this individual died , or what finally became of him . —Household Words .
Major Calder Campbell . —Major Calder Campbell , an accomplished poet and essayist , for many years a frequent contributor to the chief magazines of London and Edinburgh , died on the 13 th nit . at Universitystreet , in the fifty-eighth year of his age . He was much respected as a kind friend and a true gentleman . Gambling in China . —Strength rather than skill is displayed by the athletic , and they have few sports corresponding to the manly exercises of Europe . They lurl iron bars , and lift beams heavily weighted with stones , to prove their muscles . But such strenuous pastimes are not the most popular . Able-bodied gentlemen ¦ will spend half a day in kicking shuttlecocks with their heels , in flying kites , carrying birds on perches , rocking
in boats , or simply sauntering hand-in-hand through their gardens . Gaming , however , is the " universal passion . " A Chinese will stake his house , his family , Ms gown and petticoats , even his own personal freedom , everything except the graves of his fathers , on the hazard of the die . " Crabbed age and youth" are equally addicted to this vice . No place is sacred — no grade is free from it . The clergy gamble in the templeporch ; the soldiers gamble in their sentry-boxes ; porters in the streets gamble for the chance of the next customer ; and boys gamble for their cakes and toys ¦ with the shopman who vends them . Gaming-houses are , indeed , prohibited by the Government ; but they
afford the local authorities so fertile a source of revenue , that the prohibition is null , and justice is blind and enriched . These temples of fortune are often stained with violence and murder . Suicides are committed openly in them ; and so cheap is life in this redundantly' peopled empire , that nothing is more ordinary than for the corpse of a loser to lie unregarded amid an eager crowd of dicers and card-players . Even the ceremonies of this universally polite nation are laid aside in these receptacles of vice ; and the gamesters of Nankin and Canton are as rude and reckless of good manners as if they carried bowie knives at their girdles , and did homage to Stars and Stripes instead of the Green . Dragon . — Westminster Review .
Cromwell ' s Birthplace . —The house where Eobert Cromwell dwelt , whore his son Oliver and all hia family were born , is still familiar to every inhabitant of Huntingdon ; but it has been twice rebuilt since that date , and now bears no memorial whatever which even tradition can connect with him . It stands at the upper or northern extremity . of the town , beyond the marketplace , and on the left or river-ward side of the street . It is at present a solid yellow brick house , with a trailed court-yard , occupied by some townsmen of the -wealthier sort . The little brook of Hitchin , making its
• way to the Ouso which is not far oft" , still flows through the court-yard of the place , —offering a convenience for malting or brewing , among other tilings . Some vague but confident tradition as to browing attaches itself to this locality ; and traces of evidence , I understand , exist that before Robert Croinwoll ' s time , it had boon employed as a brewery : but of this or even of Robert Cromwell ' s own browing , there is , at such a distance , ia such on element of distracted calumny , exaggeration ) , and confusion , little or no certainty to be had . —Carlyla ' a Cromwell ' a JLettera
Peculation Discovered . — Soon after the commencement of the blockade of Kara it was ascertained , fortutunatoly before it waa too late to be irremediable , that the accounts of tho provisions in store wore totally falao , and that fraud and peculation had been earned on to an enormous extent . Tho storekeeper , Into whoso charge tho Bovoral magasinoB had boon given , had oitbor sold or otherwise mado away with largo quantities of flour and grain , thinking , no doubt , that ho would only have to dcaji with those as corrupt as himself , and that ho might thus oscupo detection ; but a most searching examination was made , as far as possiblo , and tho man ' s guilt was but too fully provod . It was quite out of tho question attempting to measure all tho flour when tho storehouses
-were tolerably full , but towards the end of the time it was found that large blocks of stone had been mixed with it in order to make it appear a greater quantity , and thus a double deceit had been practised . The culprit was confined in irons , but died before the surrender of the place . —Lake ' s Defence of Kars .. Mb . Hardy ' s Beek Bill . —A large public , meeting of the beer-sellers of the metropolis was held on Tuesday afternoon at the London Tavern , for the purpose of taking measures to secure the rejection of Mr . Hardy ' s bill for the regulation of beer-houses , coffee-houses , and oyster shops . Re-election of the Solicitor-General . —Mr . Keating , the new Solicitor-General , was on Tuesday reelected for Reading without opposition .
Births and Deaths in London . —The returns fiom the metropolitan districts exhibit a further decrease in the weekly mortality . The deaths which in the two previous weeks were 1050 and 948 , were in the week that ended last Saturday 915 . Last week was so favourable to the health of London that the number of its in . habitants who died was less by 154 than that which would have been placed on the registers if the average rate of mortality had prevailed . During the last three
weeks , the mean temperature of the air has been 58 degs ., or nearly 14 degs . higher than it had been in the three weeks preceding . The deaths arising from diseases of the respiratory organs continue to decrease ; the numbers returned in the last three weeks were 202 , 167 , and 139 . —Last week , the births of 84 G boys and 856 girls , in all 1702 children , -were registered in London . In the the ten corresponding weeks of the years 1847-56 , the average number was 1436 . —From the Registrar General ' s Weekly Return . letter to
The Franklin Expedition . —In a Mr . S . R . Graves , the Chairman of the Liverpool Shipowners ' Association , Captain M'Clintock thus maps out the course he intends to take in making the final search for Captain Franklin : — " I intend to sail about the end of June , from Aberdeen , and proceed to Barrow Strait , — ascertain that the provisions , stores , and boats left at Port Leopold and Beeching Island by the recent searching expeditions are in good order , in the event of my having to fall back upon them , —examine the state of the ice in Peel Strait , and , if practicable , proceed down it into the unknown area . Should I not suceeed here , I intend to return to Port Leopold , and proceed down
Prince Regent ' s Inlet to Bellot Strait , and there make another attempt to pass into and throug h the field of search to "Victoria Land * where I shall winter , and in the ensuing spring , before the thaw sets in , complete the entire exploration and search by means of sledges drawn by men and by dogs . In endeavouring to reach Victoria Land , it is my intention to avoid , if possible , any risk of becoming involved in the ice ; and , should I not succeed in reaching Victoria Land , I will return to Bellot Strait to pass the winter , as we know by experience that the retreat of the ship fr < im there amounts almost to a certainty . From Victoria Land , the homeward voyage is equally certain , but by way of Behring Straits . "
The Fall of Houses in Tottenham-court-road . —The inquest by Mr . Brent respecting the six persons who lost their lives by the falling of houses in Tottenham-court-road was concluded on Thursday , after a further adjournment on Friday week . Fifteen of the sixteen jurors then agreed to the following verdict : — " That the deaths of Frederick Bury , Anne Driscoll , John Garnett , Richard Turner , Jumes Revil , and Joseph Taylor , were caused by the falling of tho houses Nos . 140 , 147 , and 148 , Tottenham-cou . rt-road ; that cutting the holes in tho wall of 147 and 148 waa tho immediate cause of tlie accident , the party wall of 140
and 147 being very indifferent , requiring more than ordinary caution , which in this case was not observed ; that tho cutting away tho party wall between 147 and 148 was done in an unskilful and improper manner ; that the jury cannot separate without expressing their strong condemnation of the present conflicting state of the law as to tho district and polico surveyors , whoso duties appear to bo quite indopondent , and oven antagonistic ; and the jury sincerely hope that an immediate alteration will bo made in tho Building Act , as ut pro-Hont constituted . " A considerable sum hus already boon received for tho sufferers' widows and families .
Railway Shaiucuolukus , — A public meeting of railway shareholders was held on Wednesday at tho London Tavern , for tho purpose of taking into consideration a memorial to bo presented to tho Vico-Prosidcnt of tho Board of Trndo by numerous largo proprietors . Mr . J . E . Vanco having boon called to tlie cliair , oxplainod tho object for which tho mooting hud boon convened , and said tiint tho memorial hud already boon signed by persona representing not lcwi than 4 , 000 , 000 / . of railway properly , among whom where many directors . Tho memorialists sought to obtain redress of some of tho most manifest grievances under which ruilway property laboured , nnd which wih specifically detailed in langu-Hge oluar , prociao , and temperate in the mamoria ) . Those who had originated tho memorial hud boon shareholders for a long period , and woro proprietors of upwards of 200 , 000 / . worth of railway property . Resolutions wore passed lu accordance vvitli tho objects of tho mooting . Turn Nicw Bishop ov Nonwiui . —Tho ceremony of oonflrmlnd tho election of tho lion , ami Rev . John
Thomas PeJham , D . D ., to the Bishopric of Norw-T took place on Thursday . -The memorial was f ^ Si to the Right Hon . Robert Lowe yesterday ffif a deputation . J K iU - ^ J t > y Fire at Limehouse . —About ten o ' clock on Thurori night , a fire broke out La the extensive premises beln ing to Messrs . Wilkes , wheelwrights , Love-lane Lim house , and extending into Glasshouse-fields In -f " of the exertions of the firemen , the * flames were not ) dued until the workshops and other adjoining mem - belonging to Messrs . Wilkes were levelled with tf ground . Some damage has been done to the prouert ! of Messrs . Ravenhill and Miller by hasty removal
The Oxford Diocesan Spiritual Help Society — A meeting was held on Tuesday afternoon in the Slid donian Theatre , Oxford , to establish and inaugurate tin " society . The Bishop of Oxford presided , and several distinguished gentlemen were present , including Mr Gladstone , M . I * ., who was one of the speakers TUg objects of the association may be gathered from the subjoined resolutions , which were unanimousl y carried — " That in many parishes a population has grown up hi hamlets and places remote from the parish church and out of the reach of ministerial superintendence ' and that a population so circumstanced is too commonly found to fall away into religious indifference and moral depravity . That the scanty endowments of many of our parochial churches are inadequate to meet this iliiiiculty by the employment of an additional clergyman That though , through the piety of liberal beuofoctorT
much good has beeu effected by the erection of new churches and the formation of new parochial districts ii ' i this diocese , yet those districts , though often comprehending very large numbers of people , arc scarcely ever sufficiently eudowed to maintain one clergyman , much less to enable him to obtain the assistance uf a curate where necessary . That it is highly desirable to provide for the supply of curates to assist the incumbents oi parishes and districts where such aid is thus urgentlv required . That the pressing , though temporary , wants of our existing parochial system might be supplied , and the working power of the system might also be greatly increased , if duly qualiiied persons could be appointed to assist , under the sanction , of the Bishop , such parochial clergymen as might desire their aid for special purposes or on special occasions . "
Fall of a Catjucdual . —The Roman Catholics have been building a new cathedral in Cecil-street , 'Plymouth . On Thursday afternoon , the roof of the nave auJ the wall and root" f the south arcade fell to the ground suddenly , several men working below having hardy time to
escape . Nafoleon the Great . —The founder of the YrcucU Empire was a Corsicun mercenary , trained in t \ ie evil school , first of civil ^ then of foreign war . lie had never seen—his colossal meanness was probably incapable oi seeing—the beauty and grandeur of ordered freedom , or the moral privileges which belong only to the freo . With a mind of surpassing genius for war and statecraft , be had a heart most full of all sellishness , fraud , and
falsehood , most void of all noble thoughts , humanity , and God . Religion lie had none , but that -worship of his star which is the delirium of vanity in tlie heart of mi atheist . He gloa . ted with a pitiless heart over battlefields , writhing and putresi . ent with the victims ^ of mvulgar a vanity as ever turned the brain of a Xerxes . Ho divorced the bust of wives , tho foundress or his fortunes , to marry a princess ; nnd when his course of selfishness was run , and his last Held of murder lost , lie the
stood in shelter to see the Old Guard die . He was greatest mountebank m history . . Never for i . n hour did his soul rise above the most vulgar kingcnift : never dul he show a spark of sympathy with that which is really great in men . At homo , his dull , pedantic tyranny crushed thought and life , and turned a nation to a wendrilled camp ; abroad , his brigand oppression miulc native tyrants dear to their people . IIin memory may ue adored by a nation which dooms tho loss ol its cm honour and happiness compensated by tlie privilege oi trampling on tho honour mul happiness ol others . " may stand in tho place of God in tho title page and m tho soul of M . Tliicrs , whoso lying pngo will over uo w proper shrino . But arc moral beings to bow to sue i ni . idol , or to accept nt his hand tho law of moral nature . nnd the rulo of government for tho world
?—fiitua-New Oiclkans . — New Orleans in , of all othere , *' city of tho United Stutos where " iliu bubbling pn | - slons of the country" moat freely llml u vent . « conveniently situated , ia a flllbubtorliiK l "" f „ . '' , and a favourite point of concentration or tlio ' recUloss spirits of tho Soutli , who liud m tho "' i ^ ' soinowliut rowdy crowd which throng its HtruoU «'" "' a congenial fltmoaphero . It U not to bo m >\ ' »*™ ' ''™ , ovor , that tills ooiiHtltutos the sooioty ol Now UMo-While itrt fluctuating population is compel <¦> ¦ varied malarial * , its social attractions nro m bm » ¦ - ^ not groutor , than thoao of any other oily m ' , In its clubs tho visitor will find a con iu an I' . ''welcome ; ut its opera ho will bo fasoh . atoj l o " . ' ¦> of bounty more brilliant than can bo loum I l . u'i ° . . house of tho same limited dimensions , uiul hu have liimsoU' to blumo , if ho is oo . Honlod to oo II ¦» oxporlunuotf to tho range of his lorgnotto . —i > ft * a Afftgasina .
538 The Leapeb, [No. 376, Saturday ' - ¦...
538 THE LEAPEB , [ No . 376 , Saturday ' - ¦ "" ¦ ' ¦ ' ' ..-- — - ^ .- ' - — . . . 9
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), June 6, 1857, page 10, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_06061857/page/10/
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