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Leader (1850-1860), 3rd November 1855, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1049, Untitled Article

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      Untitled Article

      MR . F . O . WARD AND THE DRAINAGE QUESTION . A statement veas made on Wednesday , at the fortnightly , meeting of the Metropolitan Commissioners of Sewers , which will prepare the way for settling an important question . Mr . F . O . Ward , the advocate of tabular drainage as opposed to the system of wide drains , has for some time been urging the Court to investigate his statements and evidence , in order to procure the adoption of his plan for the intercepting drainage of the metropolis , in lif u of the plan which was considered to be settled . On Wednesday , however , Mr . Ward coupled this standing entreaty with a statement of a very grave nature ; he made a distinct charge of misconduct against Mr . Bazatgette , the chief engineer of the Commission . Mr . Ward accuses Mr . Bazalgette of having made serious engineering errors ; of having concealed those errors and sought to establish his own conclusions by tampering with the details , — such as altering the declivity of the ground in particular instances , omitting important data , and introducing without acknowledgment , formula ? prepared by persons who are not recognised by the Commission . Mr . Ward moved a a resolution for appointing a committee to investigate and report upon his own statement ; the committee to be assisted by three eminent professors of mathematics , such as Professor Willis , Professor Mose-Jey , Mr . Babbige , or Mr . Wheatstone . The Court postponed the consideration of the subject and oppointed a special day , on which Mr . Bazalgette could appear to state his own case in answer . Thus the way is paved for a preliminary judicial decision on the question between large and tabular drainage .

      Untitled Article

      TWO LETTERS FROM MAZZINI . The following letters have been elicited from M . Mazzini , by certain opinions in a provincial journal . They are addressed to the Editor . Sir , —You inserted , days ago , in your paper , a most extraordinary letter from Mr . D . Urquhart , in which , from the midst of copious unintelligible trash about confidence and foreigners , I read that I have been employed by Russia to circumvent Kossuth , and thereby cut him off from Turkey—that Kossuth declarer ! to him , in 1849 , at Kutayah , ^ hat I was a Russian agent —that in 1827 Italian deputies went to the Emperor Nicholas at Vognosieh for revolutionary purposesand that I , Mazzini , have made an admission to him , Mr . D . Urquhart , that money for an Italian revolution was coming from Russia . To these wild , unaccountable-for statements , I beg to give the following answers : — I have never been , nor shall ever be employed by any Power : I believe all actually existing Powers to be unworthy of employing any honest man labouring in the cause of Right , Truth , and Justice . I never have circumvented Kosauth , nor cut him off from Turkey : I think that the manner of viewing the Turkish question is one of the very few secondary points about which Kossuth and I are still suffering . I do not believe that Kossuth has ever declared to Mr . D . Urquhnrt that I was a Russian agent . Kossuth himself has settled the point in a recent number of the Atlas . I do not believe any Italian deputy h ' aving gone from the national party to tho Emperor Nicholas in 1827 at Vognosieh or anywhere else ; I was then , at all events , a simple student at the University of Genoa , possessed with no influence whatever on the national party . My political career began with my imprisonment in 1830 . I never have received , directly or indirectly , any money from Russia . I have never undergone the infliction of Mr . D . Urquhart's personal intercourse . I huve never teen him : he has never , to my knowledge , seen me . Mr . D . Urquhart is , therefore , simply lying , or labouring under a strange hallucination , whenever he speaks of personal admission made by me to him . Between the horns of the dilemma I grant him the choice . As for your suggestion thut a certain committee should call a public meeting in Sheffield , and challenge me amongst others to be present and have the matter investigated , I beg to state thut the challenge would prove altogether ineffectual . I never grant anybody the right of dragging me to the bar to answer questions which I despiso , and accusers who are not worth my notice . English patriots would really be very weuk and irrational , should they choose , on the first rambling affirmation , to doubt a man who was in 1819 — the time of Kossuth ' s alleged accusation—fighting for republican Italian liberty nt Homo , and who , during twenty-five years of his life , has ever unhesitatingly spoken , written , und , whenever possible , acted , ngainat kings , emperors , czars , popes , and all crowned and uncrowned Hob shamming truth and guidance on tins earth of ours . I do not believe in tho vitality of the Muhommednn Turkish Empire in Europe ; and I think it unjust , unwise , and unatatesraanlike to persist in making u gnlvanised corpso a barrier to the encroachments of a young growing , power like Russia , just as I always thought it unjust , unwise , and unstatcsmanliUo in Mr . Urquhart tliaC he should oppose , as ho alwaytt did , the

      free rising of our nationalities , in the hope of finding a useful ally against Russia in the rotten , doomed Austrian Empire . But I do not believe that Russia has any right of usurping what belongs to the Greek , Albanian , Bulgarian , Servian , Roumain , and other inhabitants of the soil . I do not feel bound to enthusiasm for a war which is fought side by side with imperial despotism , and which your Government has diverted from its proper liberal civilizing aim , for the sake of keeping up an immoral and absurd status quo , and of checking any national rising ; but I hate Tsarism under any shape , and I wish it to vanish as speedily as possible from the face of God ' s earth . I would not feel in the least guilty should I accept money from Russia or any other Power , for the sake of making poor forsaken Italy free , and of cancelling , there at least , the curse of Austrian tyranny ; but to no Power on earth would I yield an atom of my political creed , or of my absolute freedom of action . And the very frank - ness of this sfatement ought , at all events , to prove an additional pledge for the truthfulness of my declaration , that no such a transaction has ever taken place , and ( hat no man , sane or insane , will ever be able to prove before your committees anything to tha contrary . London , Sept . 22 . Yours respectfully , ( Signed ) JOSEPH MAZZINI . This letter produced a long , dreary , and tortuous article , to which Mazzini addressed a reply : — Sir , —I have read the article concerning my letter to you , in your number of September 29 th . I have been attacked by Catholic priests , Austrian spies , and the lowest police agents throughout Europe ; never in such a paltry , despicable , irrational , misinterpreting , calumniating way . They were either asses or scoundrels ; the writer of the article is evidently a happy combination of the two . With an everlasting farewell to the Urquhartist mud , in which I really cannot condescend to stoop twice , I am , J « M . Oct . 1 , 1855 . . ' '

      Untitled Article

      THE GALE . A very fearful gale raged , particularly along the southern coast of England , towards the close of last week ; and in the northern parts of the island heavy floods have fallen . The rivers Irwell and Mersey were swollen to overflowing '; and at Broughton , near Manchester , the former river rose above the left bank , arid the inhabitants of the neighbouring streets were coriunecl to their dwellings by a depth of several feet of water . The low grounds adjoining the Mersey , far into Cheshire , have been completely covered -with the floods ; and a great deal of damage has been done . The waters of the Thames at London rose to an unusual height ; several vessels came into collision , and bulwarks , spars , and rigging , suffered from the shock . The wind blow with such violence that houses in the suburbs were unroofed ,, chimney-pots were blown down , and young trees were uprooted . But the most serious results occurred , as we have said , on the southern coasts . At Plymouth , a Brazilian ship was driven ashore in Mount Batten Bay , but received slight damage . A Government emigrant ship drove about a quarter of a mile from her anchorage , but was fortunately brought to . At Dover , as we stated in our Postscript last week , the gale was very violent . At Deal , Rye , New Rotnney , Swansea , and other parts of the coast , several vessels " were wrecked or greatly injuml , in [ some cases with loss of life , and in every case with much sacrilice of property ; while around the Channel Islands , and on the north coant of France , the tempest was exceedingly violent . At Uumsgatc , we regret to add , some lives have been lost , not without considerable blamo attaching to the authorities and the lifo-bont-men at that harbour . From an eye-witness , " A London Clergyman , " who writes to the Times , we derive the following vivid account of the scene which took place on Friday ¦ week on' tho Rnmsgate p er : — " A heavy galp is blowing from the south-west , and ull Tinmjpgnto is crowding on the pier . A small Colchester oyster-boat is on shore . Already all chance of saving it is gone , and the crowds are hastening tosco the end . " She ia close in , within fifty yards of the outer wnll of th ^ pier , und there are four lives on board—precious , beyond words , to wives , or sisters , or children ; but amid all this hastening to see , there is nothing done to save . Is there no ono in authority hero to givo orders in thin emergency , and to see Inn orders obeyed i * Not one . Id not Kamsgate harbour called ' The Kefuge of the Do . ititnte ? ' and are there not lifobwats , and Munby ' s apparatus , and what not , provided by tho authorities V But where ai'G they to day V " Ono man is alroady lost , and tho throe survivors aro clinging piteouuly to tho masthead , which alone , of all their Httlo craft , is now visible to tho eye . But tho lifeboat ridc . 4 snugly within , and tho lilubuoyn , und tho Munby ' s apparatus , and the paraphernalia of tho ' Ranisguto Humane' ( if there bo such a tiling ) aro—who knowti whero ? And now a French screw giuibont , which has been lying in tho oiling all night , »« in groat peril , and comes rolling in upon tho sur ^ o , her ho row brokon , her rudder gone , and all unmunageublo . And there » ho drives over tho wreck of tho little oystorbont . And

      wliat shall save these three poor fellows , clinging for their life , from instant destruction ? Thank God ! the gunboat just shaves them ; and one fine fellow , -with that energy which love of life lends , springs from his frail perch aad just hits the bulwarks of the Frenchman , and is safe * " But two still hang on . And every wave is lessening : their chance of life . The craft is rapidly breaking iqv and soon the mast must fell . Crowds of pitying fellowmen are looking on , —but will no one save ? At last , there is the lifeboat . Good and precious minutes buyer been wasted , it is true ; but surely , now , this life-saving ; crew will do their dnty , and go in boldly and ! promptly to the rescue . No such thing . They hang back . They delay . This is not right , and that is not right ; aad wlien , at length , they reach the wreck , it is the time of the last Struggle of failing strength . One man is fresber than his fellow , and , catching the rope first , is hauled up through the angry surge , and his rescue is secured . But the other poor fellow , benumbed and paralysed by long clinging , and too feeble to extricate himself from the meshes of the wreck , sinks with the lifeboat at his side . Five minutes saved from delay would have been life . Another victim has gone down to an untimely graveanother victim to the want of management of those to wlioin the English people intrust their funds for the proper protection of human life . " The French gunboat is all pafe . Her Government can pay for the tugboat which has just rescued her , and all is right . But will you ask the authorities at Ramsgate who is responsible for the ' disgraceful exhibition ef to-day ?" Another letter to the Times from another eye-witness confirms this narrative in every particular . In answer , however to thc-e statements , an extract from the harbourmaster ' s journal has been sent to the Times , from , whiob , it would seem that all was done which could possibly be effected , but that some delay took place in manning the life boat , owing to the Ramsgate mariners being engaged succouring distressed vessels inside the harbour . The life- boat , which at length went out , got stove against the nVhing smack , and was run into Uroadstairs , upheld entirely by her air-chambers . The harbour-master adds that the crew , before making for Broadstairs " backed the life-boat out clear of the Raffle , throwing at the same lime a Carts' lifebuoy to the remaining smacksmanT into which he succeeded in placing himself , and the lifeboats crew endeavoured to haul him out clear , but , strange fatality , his legs were so fixedly entangled in the ropesand ringing , that they were obliged to desist . He , with great auparent presence of mind , released one ^ arm from . the lifebuoy and endeavoured to extricate hid legs , bat the cause which held him fast ( as a heavy sea broke over him ) drew him out of the lifebuoy , and he disappeared . The gale was very violent on Tuesday at Shields , and many vessels were driven towards tho shore . The pilotsbehaved with their usual gallantry .

      Untitled Article

      OUR CIVILISATION . Conviction of Stiuhan , Paul , and Bates .- — The trial of the bankers was brought to a close on Saturday . The facts of this case have been so often before oar readers , that we need not here repeat them ; and havetherefore little more to record , than that all the prisoners were found Guilty . On Mr . Baron Aldcrson auking the opinion of the jury , ns to whether the disclosure before the Court of Bankiuptcy was genuine or not , the Foreman replied thut their opinion was , that it was no disclosure within tho meaning of the act ; in which opinion the Judge entirely concurred . Tho latter then proceeded to pass sentence , and , with much emotion , said ho should have been glad , had it pleased God that tho tnsk had fallen to some ono else , since he recollected ono of the prisoners under very different cirouninfcances — sitting-, bo-iitle him on the judicial bench , and occupying a high . ofliue ; but , as ho could not conceive any woi-. so case of the kind , ho felt it his du * y to pass the highest sentence permitted by the law—viz ., that tho prisonerx bo severally Ti £ A . N . sroiiTrci > foh Fouktkkn Yicahs . Tho prisoness , who seenv'd ustoundodnt tlieir sentence , leant against tho dock as if they expected their counsel to make some observations to the Court ; but , after a short interval , they slowly retired in custody . Sir J . D . I ' aul was particularly affected , an < l , clasping hia hands , trembled violently . The prosecutor , Dr . Griffith , was observed to shed tears when the sentence was pronounced ; but tho judgment appearedtogivo satisfaction to a crowded court . Juvknii-k Rukpianihm , —John F . dwardfl , ft boy thirteen yoarn of age , in under remand at Westminster , charged with seriously wounding Mr . John Hodges . TUo youth , together with Homo others , was pulling a truofc about in front of Mr . llodyes ' n houso in Kliz . nfoeth-aquiiro , Ciii-ltiuu , when , on that gentleman endeavouring to drive thorn away , Edwards threw two stones nt him . Tlieflw ' struck him on the buck and did him liulo or no harm but tho second inflicted a wound upon bin haaii , itom tho effect of which ho f « ll to tlio « round H «» nrtul < : « M , «» il ^» 9 conveyed to a Hurgeon ' H . Ho is now » f ' olil \« ™ J ^ I ouBHlon of tho brain , and his condition <» r a tim ; w «»© t without daiiEcr ; but h < i i « »« w recovering . Hio Uoy , beSngaslc " % ' , « -. who wltn .-maJ hi * .. ^ conduct , howV could , do . uol . a clnm . lA . 1 U .... K , « »« J"J } ^ mo » t brutal and dtaffwrtintf term-, thai ho wonUlu t mind HOivlntf hor in tho flnnic w <> y .

      Untitled Article

      Nov . 3 . 1855 . 1 THE LEADE R . 104 g > ¦ "'

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Nov. 3, 1855, page 1049, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2113/page/5/