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THE SMALL-POX.~~

OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT.

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OUR LONDON CORRESPONDENT. LONDON, THURSDAY. London has behaved well over this thanksgiving- has done well, one should say, i-o respect of making the very most of its grand old picturesque self-almost as well as if the aid of Messrs. Beverley, Telbin, and John O'Connor had been sought to decorate the streets. Fleet-street looked bright; the Strand was positively splendid, and the triumphal arch between Fleet-street and Ludgate-hill, although it wore a_ second-hand air, was worth travelling a considerable distance to see, even by a 'bus that travelled at the furious rate of half a mile an hour. Oxford-street wore a more floral aspcct than the other route. The procession was by far the least picturesque part of the scene. The streets were magnificent; the procession certainly was not—and you know I am It loyal subject. There was little occasion for fault-finding as regarded arrangements made for pre- serving order by the police. The roughs were not very disagreeable to the fore: indeed, both on Sunday and Monday the horse-play and blackguardism of the young ruffians", that so disagreeably leaven a London crowd, was more apparent than on the thanksgiving day itself. As for the general public, never did they come out in greater force. From my position in front of a club in Pall Mall, I could see the pavements and part of the roadway densely packed with spectators, and even then there were crowds far up and down Waterloo-place who had no chance of seeing anything. y hen the ranks were broken, and the roadway was given up to the public, shortly after the procession passed, the whole width of the street was occupied by foot passengers so thickly as to make locomotion inconvenient and tedious. Vehicles there were none, and there was no room for them. I followed in the wake of the procession nearly to the Cathedral, and found the whole rente thronged with people. On passing up to Oxford-street, I found that line just as thickly occupied by spectators so that, altogether, some five miles of wide street were absolutely as full as they could hold of people. After the proces- sion had passed both routes were given up to pro- menaders intent upon seeing the decorations, which were profuse, and, on the whole, tasteful. Indeed, it was evident to any person accustomed to see London illuminations that this time the day-light part of the spectacle was the beat. The weather, which was rather threatening in the morning, held up well, and was as fine as could be expected for the time, although there was a Marchy greyness in the sky, and a chillncss in the air, that told us what time of the year it was. As for thanksgiving, I am afraid London thought yery little of that; but it dressed itself up both showily and tastily,, and seemed to thoroughly enjoy its holiday. Very"little business was done except by the local rail- ways, by refreshment-shops, and public-houses, and this was business necessarily connected with the holiday— Mn the estimation of Cockneys. If we may credit Madam Rumour, the Reform Club is shortly destined to become a political agency—which it certainly has not been ever since it was organized. Colonel Akroyd and Mr. Bass have been censured, says Madam Rumour, the former for having given his adherence to the West Riding moderate Liberal mani- festo, and the latter for having undertaken the conduct of the Conservative candidate's case at Devonport. The sticklers fur the ct proprieties have taken umbrage at the backslidings of these two conspicuous members of the Liberal party, and have expressed themselves accordingly. So poes the rumour, but I am in a position to flatly con- tradict it. That Colonel Akroyd and Mr. Bass have trimmed may be admitted; but the Reform Club remains what it was when it was the most accessible club in London—non-poli'ical. That amazing statesman, Mr. Vernon Harcourt, is exercised in his mind because the Land and Labour Leagues, Fenian brotherhoods, and pot-house politicians in general are to be deprived of the right of howling sedition and blasr-h. my in the public parks. i'oov Ristorieu« Pi 1 he ever assist at one of these meetings, winch periodically take place around the Reformers' tree ? Did he ever hare his hat knocked over his eyes for politely declining to bare his head 'in memory of the Manchester martyrs-the ruffians who shot a policeman, and were righteously hanged therefor ? This outcry against the Parks Bill is worse than absurd- is sickening. If there were not hundreds of other places suitable for public meetings, one might excuse the clamour against putting them down m we parks but there are. A. debate (!) on the Parks Bill which occurred last week, eventuated in a war of words that, saving the presence of the debaters, differed very slightly from what in the vestry-hall of St. Pancras would be de- nominated a "row." The Spectator is grieved. "The countercheck quarrelsome was freely bandied about. Mr. Gladstone lost his temper. He must, it would seem, kick away calumny, and, of course, like everybody else who kicks at nothing, he hurts himself." The Tichborne case is now becoming deep]}- interest- ing, and it is certain that the present phase of the case bidfó fair to enable the jury to make up their minds, if they have not done so already. This cause ce.Ubre has during the past few days been much talked of; it has divided public interest with the Queen's visit and the Alabama claims; and I feel confident that there is a, decided preponderance of opinion on one side. I judge this by having turned the conversation in this direction on several occasions, and by finding opinion almost uniformly on one side-on which side it may not be advisable to say. A strong Conservative feeling in the County Palatine is a great fact. How far Liberal opinions may pervade the Lancasterians I will not pretend to say, but that there is, at all events, a strong leaven of Conservatism is beyond dispute. This is evidenced by the representa- tives of no fewer than ninety Conservative associations having met in^^MK^ater to make arrangements for giving Mr. DisnBTa*iitting reception. Tuesday and Wednesday in week will be great days for the darty that this distinguished statesman represents. He ( will be fully reported, and his extra-Parliament a'-v utteranccs will be flashed all over the kingdom, and his salient remarks all over the world. Tho Newspaper Press Fund now consists of 2G2 members. There are 1,456 newspapers in the United Kingdom and British Tsles, besiles between GOO and 700 magazines, &c, So that scarcely one newspaper out of six sends a representative to this society What can be the reason for this ? A report has been pretty widely spread in print that the Lord Mayor was knighted on the occasion of the civic address to the Queen at Windsor. The report is altogether without foundation, but there is little doubt that he will be knighted. I venture to say that Lord Mayor Gibbons counts upon this honour, which he may faiily expect in honour of his happening to be Lord Mayor—not very complimentary this — on the occasion of the Queen's visit to the city. If the Queen's Re- membrancer has any duties in accordance with his title, he will doubtless remind ITer Majesty of the Lord Mayor's probable wish in this matter. The determination of that very rich foundation, St. Bartholomew's Hospital, to establish a convalescent hospital at Highgato is sa. far important that it indicates a growing desire on the part of our hospital authorities to take their convalescent patients away from tire smoke of London, and the fetid atmosphere of crowded wards. It is a great pity that more is not done in this direction. The convalescent would more speedily recover, and funds would thus be spared. One of the very worst and most dangerous neighbour- hoods in London was, not very long since, that in which the well-known St. Alban's Church was erected. The other evening I made a perambulation of this locality, and find it marvellously improved. To say that the establishment of this far-famed ritualistic church is the sole cause, would be to say too much, but it has un- doubtedly had a bcnencial influence. It is not a mere Sunday church, but it opens every day, and nearly all day, and you may often see silent v.-orshippers there just as you would in a Catholic Cathedral. The various lay agencies connected with the church, and the continuous labours of the clergy among the poor, arc evidently pro- ducing' a very humanizing effect. The St. Alban's district is to a very great extent reformed, and a neigh- bourhood once notorious lor its thieves, prostitutes, and receivers of stolen goods, has become civilized and respectable. The opinion that may be entertained as to the character of the services at St. Alban's is, of course, a very varied one. When a gentleman invites a few friends to dinner, it would be very ungracious to accuse him of having a political object in view, and we have no right to say that Mr Gladstone is an exception. But still when we read that the Premier has been entertaining the United States Minister and Miss Schenck, among others, at dinner in Carlton House Terrace, it is difficult to avoid the reflection that the" indirect claims must have turned up during the conversation. Whether this be so or not, this friendly dinner party is of good omen in the Alabama affair.

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