11 SEPTEMBER 1858, Page 2

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The visit of Queen Victoria to Leeds ranks among the most successful of her visits to the great towns. Great preparation had long been made'

the event was looked for throughout the West Riding ; it was the first time that a sovereign of England had entered its capital. On Monday

thousands arrived in Leeds from all parts, but they sank into insigni- ficance when compared with the tens of thousands who poured in on Tuesday. The Earl of Derby, the Earl of Hardwieke, Earl Fitzwilliam, Lord Goderieh were among the distinguished strangers who hastened to meet their sovereign. The object of her majesty in going t3 Leeds was to open the new Town-hall, a noble building second to St. George's Hall at Liverpool alone in size and beauty. The Queen, accompanied by the Prince Consort, the Princesses Alice and Helena, started from Osborne early on Monday, and reaching Lon- don passed by branch railways, from the South-Western to the Great Northern line, and by that route reached Leeds. The train kept good

time' and the immense masses of people assembled outside the station, and the elect within it, saw her Majesty soon after six. She was re-

ceived by the Mayor Mr. Peter Fairbairn, and Lord Derby, and passed out of the station to ; her carriage through a hedge formed of the mem- bers of the corporation.

"Once her carriage was seen outside the station," says an enthusiastic reporter, "there arose such a cheer as has seldom been heard before. It

was the cheer, not only of the thousands to whom she was visible, but the cheers of all along the line of route ; it was caught up and passed from street to street, overcrowded housetops, and into places far removed from where the Queen would pass—one long-sustained outburst of loyal enthusiasm such as we have never seen equalled before, and such as we never expect to hear surpassed even in England. Slowly from the railway the royal carriage de- scended into the streets—a little speck among the great mass of human beings who, shouting and cheering, pushing and throwing their hats and handkerchiefs into the air as if they were demented, thronged up the streets, half wild with exultation and delight." Her Majesty drove straight to Wood.sley House, escorted by the 18 Hussars and the Yorkshire 'Yeomanry. Woodsley House is the home o the Mayor, and it was given up to her Majesty. There she dined, ana there abode all night; the reporter not forgetting to tell us that Dir• Mayor Fairbairn dined in his own house at the Queen's table. Leeds was magnificently illuminated that night.

Early on the morrow the town was all a-stir. The morning dawned in mist, but neither cloud nor rainfall arrested the steadihflow of the hundreds of thousands who had come to see the Queen. ' e houses os

of route were hemmed in by platforms and galleries, and the the e

dre,ets were literally jammed with people. No fewer than 29,000 men ong,ing • friendly endly and benefit societies acted as special constables and hel supplemented the labours of the metropolitan and district police. The aueenovith her procession of attendant peers and gentlemen, started from vreodsley House for the Town-hall, preceded by the corporation, and eseorted by cavalry, about half-past ten; and the sun which had re- . ed obscured by the clouds until that moment, broke forth and lighted up the scone. "The greatest scene along the whole route of her Majesty's procession was at Woodhouse Moor, where the children of the charity aud free schools were mustered to the number of nearly 29,000, of almost every age and every re- lieiou.s denomination. It was asgrand sight,—the greatest of all that met the scene at the Townhall, though this, the Queen's eye, except, perhaps, again quite different in kind, and suggestive of different associations. , was chit he banks of the reservoir which bounds the western extremity of the ,,eues of Woodhouse Moor were collected some 60,000 or 70,000 persons, who tad made the best of the vantage ground which was here presented. Tier shove tier they rose in dense masses to the height of perhaps thirty or forty feet, and it may be questioned whether such a multitude was ever before seen packed into so small a space. In the centre of the amphitheatre formed by these living walls stood the children, in two huge divisions (including teachers) of more than 16,000 each, divided into districts, parishes, and schools, and distinguished by their orange, crimson, or blue banners The children were disposed upon two immense platforms or galleries, be- tween which the Royal cortege passed, each being about 170 yards in length; depth 27 and 45 feet respectively. In the centre was a sort of elevated pulpit for the general director and his assistants, and above this was a tall rostrum, in which stood the musical conductor, the movements of whose baton were to sway and to modulate the fresh young voices of the ersseu beneath him. From this centre, radiating equally on all sides, were posted signalmen, with huge-boards, on which were printed in the largest of letters the various signals, as • Prepare to cheer!" Sing!' ' Silence !' and 'Dismiss! As the cortege came in sight, the signals.' Prepare to cheer!' rose up on every side ; but they were needless : the difficulty was to keep the children quiet, for all the children strained their throats and waved their hats and handkerchiefs with such a vehemence as threatened to make them still more ragged than many of them were already. Then the conductor waved his wand; and slowly swelling upwards, like a vast organ of human voices, came 4God save the Queen !' With the first notes, her Majesty held up her hand ; and the carriage halted in the centre of the moor amid the children' while the great choir of singers went pealing forth their anthem with sucha truth and sublimity as seemed to move even the most distant hearers. When this was over, the procession continued its way, and the hymns of the children continued ; the long soft notes of every psalm resounding far and near, and making itself heard above the cheering, even when the procession was wending its way through the most crowded parts of Leeds." Through four miles of people the Queen drove to the Town-hall, where the crowd was so closely packed that the huge barriers gave way under the pressure, and where the cheering was doubled in violence. As the Queen entered the building, she paused at various points to sur- vey the architecture, and then passing into the hall, the select and splendid gathering within rose and shouted as lustily as the crowd without. The Queen took her place on the dais ; the Princess Alice stood on her right and the Prince Consort and Princess Helena on her left. Then the Bishop of Ripon read a prayer composed for the occasion and other prayers. After this religious ceremonial the corporation presented an address to the Queen, explaining the origin and purpose of the noble edifice which the public spirit of Leeds has raised for public purposes. Lord Derby summoned to the dais, handed to her Majesty a reply which she read aloud— "Mr. Mayor and Gentlemen—I accept with pleasure your loyal address, and I thank you sincerely for the cordial welcome with which I have been received.

"It is highly gratifying to me to witness the opening of this noble hall, a work well worthy of your active industry and enterprising spirit, and while it will reflect a lasting honour on the town of Leeds, I feel assured that it will also secure to the thriving community whom you represent the important social and municipal advantages for which it is designed."

An address was also presented to the Prince Consort to which he made suitable answer. The next performance was the knighting of Mr. Peter Fairbaim a ceremony her Majesty performed with the sword of General Grey; the last performance was tne announcement by Lord Derby on behalf of the Queen that the hell was opened.

The Queen stayed to take luncheon, and then entering her carriage on the railway once more, started off for Scotland.

After the Queen had departed from Leeds an inauguration banquet was held in the Town-hall, Sir Peter Fairbairn in the chair. Speeches were made by the Mayor, Sir Harry Smith, Mr. Monekton Milne's, Mr. Matthew Baines, Lord Goderich, Mr. Edmund Denison, and Mr. Bee- croft, one of the borough Members. Mr. Beecroft thus spoke of the hall—

That which, in his estimation, ennobled and consecrated this building, was not so much its architectural merits, (great as those are,) but the pur- pose for which it had been erected—the design which it is intended to sub- serve. He saw in the magnificent pile, and in this noble hall, the symbol of a grand idea. The whole formed a sort of fano, which would enshrine through succeeding ages the noblest principles of their great Saxon ances- tors' representative institutions—local self-government ! It was not as a festive-hall, not as a concert-room, not as a place for the public meetings of his constituents, that the building more particularly commended itself to his judgment and affections—though these were purposes to which on occa- sions it might be fittingly applied—but it was because he regarded this place as the home of- manly patriotism, as the abode of civic virtue, as the cradle of self-respecting independence, as the stage on which would be en- acted self-government by Municipal institutions that he especially admired and venerated it. (Cheers.) Lord Goderich said he was proud that such an edifice had been erected in a Yorkshire town- ,. But there was also another reason for satisfaction—the building showed

the vigour and vitality of the corporation of this town He had always "nought municipal institutions to be of the greatest value to the country. It Was sometimes said that the House of Commons was the tree of English freedom; but if it-were so, it was because that tree struck strong and amp into local institutions Long might England cherish and preserve them. Other nations, which envied the happiness of this country, had en- deavoinsd to imitate its noble institutions ; they had set up chambers of Peers and chambers of deputies, but they had failed in their attempts be- cause they had planted their tree without its roots. It was a great source of

satisfaction to witness proofs that in Leeds, at all events, the corporation knew its duty. (Cheers.) Mr. Edmund Denison congratulated his fellow-townsmen upon the fact that they had at last roused themselves to a real appreciation of the importance of having good public buildings and encouraging to the ut- most intellectual pursuits. They had shown that they were convinced there were other matters well worthy of their attention, besides making broadcloth, simply .for the purpose of making money. Mr. Milnes re- minded his hearers that Leeds had once had a King of its own ; but that day the inhabitants had taken the Queen of this country and had crowned her the Queen of Hearts in Leeds.

Mr. William Coningham, Member for Brighton, addressed his con- stituents in their Town-hall on Monday. The great object of the meet- ing was to hear from the lips of Mr. Coningham a history of the session interspersed with comments and opinions. Going back to its early days he gave this account of the expulsion of the Palmerston cabinet— Lord Palmerston's Administration seemed as if it would have lasted for ever, but long-sighted politicians saw rocks ahead, and saw there were great dangers in front. That little cloud on the horizon, which was no bigger than a man's hand, gradually assumed a threatening aspeetthe band of "99 assassins" were likely to prove fatal to the Administration ; for an amendment one morning appeared on the votes and proceedings of the House, to which the name of Mr. Milner Gibson was attached. Who framed that amendment he did' rit know, but it was generally believed that a great many cooks had a finger in the pie. The question then was, what were they to do ? Were they to be general supporters of Lord Palmerston's Ad- ministration or not ? To vote in favour of the Amendment was to be guilty of censure, and to vote against it was virtually to support the Conspiracy Bill, which would have been a disgrace to the country. Other dangers beset the Pahnerston Ministry, particularly the resolution of Mr. Wise, the Mem- ber for Stafford, which proposed to abolish the office of Lord Privy Seal, then held by a noble Marquis. That would have been, if they had not been defeated upon the Conspiracy Bill, a defeat for them, and a more damaging one than the other, because one was a defeat upon a question of foreign policy, whereas the other would have been a permanent disgrace. The de- bate upon the Conspiracy Bill took place, and no one knew what the Tories were going to do, and, in fact, they did'nt themselves know ; for some whom he spoke to in the morning, who said they were not going to vote against Palmerston again—were found voting against him in the evening. The fact was the right honourable Member for Bucks whipped his party up, for he saw the time was come and that Lord Palmerston's popularity was gone, and that there would be no danger in opposing him, even if in a minority. Many there were who were afraid of facing their constituents again, and there was only a majority of 15 against the Government, and the Ministry resigned. But they did not resign merely upon that question. They were irreparably damaged, and if they had succeeded then, they would have had to encounter Mr. Wise's motion, and it was inevitable that upon that they would have been destroyed ; and it was the opinion of many shrewd and well-informed men that their resignation upon the Conspiracy Bill was a deliberate and premeditated net. Referring to the Cardwell debate, and its effect upon the Liberal party he said that an- attempt was made to form an independent Liberal party in the House of Commons, and a meeting was held in No. 11 Committee Room, in which about 120 or 130 Members assembled to see what was to be done, and act according as they might see fit. They passed a resolution declaring that in the formation of any future Ministry broader and more Liberal princi- ples should be adopted. Now there was a section in that committee-room violently oppo.ied to Lord Palmerston, and pledged to prevent him return- ing, to power. Mr. Coningham was not one of that section, who, because Lord Palmerston had made one mistake would exclude him from power for. ever. To make a civil war among the Liberal party would not enhance their interests—and the country was not prepared fur an ultra-Radical Ad.- ministration; therefore he was for giving an opportunity of forming.an Ad- ministration upon a broader basis, and he had good reason for knowing that that was the iutention of the leaders of his side of the house. If they had done that there would have been an extinction of men who held office by relationship to the Elliotts and Greys. (Cheers.)

The meeting passed a vote of confidence in Mr. Coningham.

Mr. Alderman Salomons has offered himself as a candidate for Green- wich, in the room of Mr. Townsend. The election cannot take place until after Parliament has met again.

Mr. J. King, proprietor of the Snfirolk Chronicle, offers himself as a candidate for Ipewich at the next election, to vindicate the cause of purity of election. He will only stand on condition that the electors should choose him without personal canvass, committee, or the expendi- ture of a single shilling beyond the disbursements required by law.

A monument to Sir Isaac Newton has been erected at Grantham, and will be inaugurated on Tuesday, the 21st September. Lord Brougham is to deliver the inaugural address, and among those who are to partici- pate in the proceedings the undernamed have been already announced— Dr. Whewell Master of Trinity, Professor Graham Master of the Mint, the Lord Bishop of Lincoln, the Right Honourable the Earl of Harrow- by, Sir Charles Eastlake, Major-General the Honourable Sir E. Cast, K.C.H., Mr. Robert Stephenson, M.P., &e. There will be a procession to the site of the statue on St. Peter's Hill, and after the inaugural ad- dress the mayor will present to Lord Brougham a copy of Peincipht. At the conclusion of the outdoor ceremony a ci.jerner will take place at the Exchange Hall, for which many tickets have already been taken. About 1400t has been subscribed towards the cost of the statue, and we understand that only about 501. more is required. The sculptor is Mr. W. Them!.

The workmen employed in constructing Sunderland bridge have pre- sented a short but hearty address to Mr. Robert Stephenson and the en- gineers with whom he recently visited that town. Mr. Stephenson said that "the advance of mechanical science, and its application to useful purposes, must always go hand-in-hand with the skill and also with the comfort of the working classes. The alterations and improvements which you are so admirableecarrying on could not have been executed at the time when the original bridge was designed. If the engineer, there- fore had even designed the bridge as it is now intended to be made, his menial labour would have been vain and useless, fur there was not suffi- cient skilled labour in the country to realize such an idea. Skilled la- bour is the great fulcrum upon which all our social progress depends, and that the success of this progress is just in proportion to the skill of the labour brought to bear upon the great works so thickly scattered throughout our country."

At the half-yearly meeting of the Liverpool Chamber of Commerce on Monday, the President, Mr. Bushell, referred the late commercial crisis to overtrading. From this he passed to joint stock banking, and the principle of limited liability.

Mr. Bushell has never been in favour of limited liability. In commerce the principle is unsound, and would lead to fearful evils; and experience of late in reference to banking, and the facilities which joint-stock banks had given for overtrading, leads us seriously to reflect whether any measure which would clip the wings of those banks, and expel from commerce some of the men who ought never to have achieved power, is not a good one. But he did not say that, because some few banks had disgraced themselves

by disgraceful management i

, all other joint-stock hanks n the kingdom should be called in question, or that any amount of suspicion should be per- mitted to rest upon them. With regard to limited liability on joint-stock banks, the law now permits joint-stock banks to limit their liability ; and it remains to be seen whether proprietors would compel present or future banks, or both to place themselves under that principle. One thing is cer- tain; no joint-stock bank can be established anywhere under an unlimited liability principle ; and if increased banking facilities were required for commerce, they must be provided, if provided at all, by joint-stock banks under the limited liability principle. One advantage, at all events, would be that the discounter would have to consider the bills themselves—to re- gard the face of the bill rather than its back—to consider whether the bill represents this legitimate operation in commerce, whether it was drawn and accepted by men of such position and capital as justified their drawing such gigantic amounts. He wished again to guard himself from the suspicion that his remarks had reference to all banking companies. He knew there were joint-stock banks in Liverpool conducted on principles of the very highest character, and it would be impossible for them, while managed as they were, to fall into the evils which had overtaken some of their brethren. In any change in the management of banks he desired to see a diminished number of directors, so well paid that it should be worth the while of men of high character and position to give their whole time to the management. Then they would have a system of Joint-stock' banking, which would be in- :lately preferable to that which had hitherto been carried on.

Mr. Charles Holland, late chairman of the Chamber, maintained that the license of unlimited liability of banks had caused the evil which had led to the late crisis, and he hailed the principle of limited liability of banks as the greatest boon that had ever been conferred upon the com- mercial community. The system of loaning the money of depositors right and left had received its death-blow from limited liability, and he trusted never again to see the occurrence of a panic like the last.

Croydon will not consent to surrender church-rates. Last week a rate of 2d. in the pound was proposed ; the dissenters divided the parish against the motion ; they were defeated on a poll by 679 to 454 votes. Last year, the minority was 454 votes strong.

Mr. Henry Burbridge, late assessor and collector of income and assessed taxes for the town of Richmond, has been committed by the Richmond Ma- gistrates on a charge of embezzling the public money to the extent of 713/. He had also collected taxes after his legal right to do so had ceased.

The master and two mates of the American bark Delphos, New Orleans, have been fined 51. each for assaulting the cook, a coloured man. The ruf- fians had assailed their victim with that unmanly weapon "the knuckle- duster," a steel instrument that fits the knuckles like a glove.

Two young persona have recently died under the operation of chloroform, a girl near Epsom, during the extraction of a toot, a boy at Heathencote, near Towcester, under examination for a diseased foot. In neither case was there any blame attributable to the medical men. The patients seem to have died of apprehension as much as anything. But, in regard to these cases, Mr. Watkins the surgeon in the Heathencote case made a remark which seems to be worth attention. He said he was under the impression that the use of a cotton handkerchief of much stouter texture than the silk, cam- bric, or lawn handkerchiefs, which he had most frequently used, might pos- sibly have prevented the due admixture of atmospheric air with the vapour, and thus the chloroform might have entered the air passages in a more con- centrated form than that which was considered perfectly safe—namely, five per cent ; and this Opinion derives some weight from the report of the fatal case at Epsom, on the same day, in which the chloroform is said to have been placed on a "napkin."

Five men have lost their lives in consequence of an explosion of gas in the Independent Gas Factory. Haggerstone.

Four persons have been killed and seven severely injured by a boiler ex- plosion near Leeds. The engineer, himself a mere youth, left the boiler in charge of a boy. The latter allowed the plates to grow red hot : to cool them he used cold water, and thus blew up himself and several other persons.

Another excursion-train has met with what is called "accident." It was on the return journey from Southport to Chorley, and contained about 800 scholars, teachers, and friends of the Chorley National Schools. While halting at Lostock, near Bolton, on a siding to allow a passenger train to pass, the said train ran into it, smashing the break van and severely; injur- ing eight passengers. The guard had not shunted the excursion-train clear off the main line, but had left a portion on the line!

Mrs. Bucknell, the mother of the young man, Baker Bucknell, who murdered his grandfather and grandmother at Creech St. Michael, has died of a broken heart, brought on by the anguish resulting from the crime of her son.