The Welshman

LORD PALMERSTON AND REFORM When it first became clear that the late general elec- tion would give a large majority to the Premier, his detractors comforted themselves with the remark that he would not know how to use it. "The Tory Chief of a Radical majority," as an opponent described him, was expected even to quarrel with his friends, to refuse to move on at their bidding, and, in all probability, as it was charitably predicted, to be trampled under foot by their onward march. But we are bound to say that Palmer- ston has shown quite as much quickness in improving a victory, as he showed courage in fighting a battle. In the old Parliament he might show indifference to reform, because reform was then impossible. With a decided majority at his back in the House of Commons, he has taken the earliest opportunity to organise reform mea- sures. Last week we noticed his readiness to take up the cause of the Jews; this week we have to record his grappling with an Irish grievance which baffled and per- plexed all his predecessors—the Irish Ministers' Money. The question is but a small one, it is true eight towns in Ireland are assessed to an aggregate amount of some £ 12,000 or E14,000 a-year but, when it is considered that this was a personal tax, levied chiefly upon Roman Catholics for the benefit of Protestants, its irritating and galling character will at once appear. Many Ministers before Lord Palmerston would gladly have abolished it, if they could have found a substitute; Lord Palmerston cuts the knot by getting rid of it altogether, and throwing the burden upon the general funds of the Church. This is one step towards putting religion upon its proper footing of resting upon the generosity and loyalty of its adhe- rents and as such we hail it, and honour the Minister for I his boldness. But let us not forget the House of Com- mons, whose powerful backing emboldened Palmerston to take the step. The question gave us the first opportunity we have yet had to test the strength of parties. The Conservatives-the successors of the old Tories of the Church and King stamp-mustered in great force, for they are sensitive to any attack on the revenues of the Church; yet they were beaten, and beaten by the decisive majority of 139 votes, in a House of nearly 500 members. This is the first pitched battle between parties so that by its results we begin to see how firmly Palmerston is fixed in the saddle.—Christian Times.

THE PRUSSIAN MARRIAGE. Few would care to be so ungracious as to meet with any serious objections the proposals for endowing the Princess Royal on her marriage in a manner suitable to the dignity of the family and the generosity of the coun- try. The pride and good feeling of the community would I engage it to make the requisite provision, not only with- out objection, but with a desire to do the thing hand- somely." Independently of the general propensity to meet the wishes of a court with something more than agreement, there is in this case a peculiar sense of obli- gation, from the esteem which the Queen and her family have won, particularly from the most influential portions of the community. Ample provision has been made for the daughters of past sovereigns, and how inopportune as well as ungracious to raise any objection when it is Queen Victoria that asks! a )adywho has fulfilled the duties of her station better than most of her predeces- sors-who has exercised a more unfailing and a wiser lscretion, and has added to those public virtues qualities ,tlll conduct that engage a personal attachment. There Is SQmething odious in the very idea of raising objection en the request comes from such a quarter. Many ° rather continue an unadvisable precedent than make '? a beginning. We regard the marriage, therefore, and the proposed arrangemets, as settled matters and if a objections occur to us, it is not to the intended pro- ISlon for the young Princes, it is not to the course taken by the Crown through its Ministers, but it is to the system ? which this occurence reminds us. Unquestionably it is a bad system and it would be well, in allowing this t aSlOn to pass, if a resolve were made to amend the sys- tem On the next opportunity fi L?rd ??'aerston, indeed, challenged the gravest re- Sect '?"? "h<'n he placed one recommendation of the pro- P w en he placed one recommendatIOn of the pro- o.ed arriage on P0''1'0^ grounds. "'?'"?'?'?'g?t" he says, "independently of the pros- Dect Of ap iness which it offers to the Princess Royal, ? „ °"? to this country political prospects not undeserv ■ ing0f t e attention of this House. We all know how famlM 8 tend to mitigate those asperities which fron rltn to time must be produced by the diversities of 1" which inevitably arise occasionally between great mdependent Powers and I trust that this marriage > y be considered likely to produce an increase of cor- lahty and good will among the great Powers of Eu- rope." We have not hitherto found that the matrimonial alli- ances of England have materially assisted either in main- taining English interests or in securing our natural friends on the Continent rather the reverse. They have not seemed to diminish asperities" for indeed, if families differ upon a course of policy, the alliance rather embit- ters the antagonism than otherwise. But the term great "owers" is an ambiguous expression. It is sometimes used to mean the entire country, including the com- munity; sometimes personally to designate the great Po- tentates who are called Powers" and when we come to any decisive action, it is usually those persons who monopolise the consideration and sway the result. Now, alliances between these persons may strengthen them as against each separate country which they govern, and may thus, so to speak, strengthen a personal combination against the greatest communities in the world, those com- munities comprising the best, the wisest, and the ablest men. Perhaps we need not go very far in point of geo- 8/aphy or time to discover examples of such combinations. What has England to do with them ? If courts were appointed by peoples, and were the accredited responsible agents of peoples, there might be some advantage in having our agents allied by marriage with the agents of P'her parties; but there is not such responsibility, even "I this country for our plan of Ministerial rpsponsibility IS intended actually to cut off the responsibility of the COurt to the country. We can therefore secure no ad- vantage by these matrimonial combinations Even in the case of a responsible agency, principals might object to employing agents allied by marriage with the agents of separate an.l opposite parties. Few, for example, would P'efer to employ as attorney the son-in-law or brother-in- law of the attorney on the opposite side. It is possible to remove "asperities" in that way, to the great incon- venience of principals: and Lord Palmerston's recom- mendation tells a fortioti when the agent is so completely irresponsible. There are objections, therefore, to these recognised alliances with Continental courts, whose guid- ing principles, public morals, and modes of action, are entirely alien to this country. But if there ever were recommendations to an alliance with Prussia, those recommendations have been materially changed of late years. When The British crown passed to George the First, his daughter Dorothea was married to King Frederick William of Prussia. An alliance was contemplated between the eldest son of that Frederick William, afterwards Frederick the Great, and the English Princess M.iria but the match was broken off by Austrian intrigues. At that time the Prussian alliance appeared to be a gain to the British Government for Prussia was then the chief leader of the Protestant interest on the Continent-the de facto head of the Evangelical Church. But how materially has her position altered within the last half-century In the first place, it was broken up by Napoleon, who conquered and almost confiscated the dominions of the House of Hohenzollern and the trim- ming of Prussia during the war is never forgotten. The first of Napoleon's great combined army who went over to the Czar in 1812 was the Prussian General Yorke The treaty of Vienna did not simply restore the origi- nal relations to Prussia. In annexing to it the provinces of the Rhine with a Roman Catholic population, it greatly modified the political balance in Germany. The older provinces of Prussia were purely Protestant and as long as that was the case, the King could not but stand for Protestantism. As soon as he acquired Roman Catholic provinces, he had their interest to conciliate good feeling as well as selfishness would engage him to do so. There s, too, that sense of "impartiality" which was dramatized OY the present King when he inaugurated the neutral Cathedral of Cologne, with a still keener sense that pro- vinces bordering on Romanist foreign states demanded a peculiar tact in preserving their allegiance to the Hohen- zollern crown. These, perhaps, are grounds for what would otherwise appear to be a superfluous zeal of that house in conciliating the Itoman Catholic portion of its population. There was another ground. By doing so, it satis,tied the demands of a highly influential clergy, and obtained their agency on his behalf. The instances of this progress may be culled from the last twenty years of Prussian history. In brief, the political power of Prussia has been gradually sliding under the overl) ing shadow of Russia, and the spiritual power has been more or less assimilating itself to the Church of Rome. On purely political grounds, therefore, apart from the personal reasons and the happiness of a young Princess, the alhance is not one of which the expediency can be as- burned. Attention is challenged to these points by the very pecu- public manner in which the alliances of our arc contracted. The Royal Marriage Act, cruel in its operation upon individuals, forces upon the sovereign a special jurisdiction, and upon the country a ¡ special recognition of the roval relationships; so that we ar compe ed to meddle in ?''? might otherwise be 'he priva e a airs of that family. It is this meddling which drags the country into the affair at all otherwise it might consider itself quit of all these obligations upon suffi- ciently providing for the royal persons, without any re- f, erence to the unions that they may contract. We do not now consider whether E400,000 a year is or is not enough for the royal household. It may be suffl!;ient or ,fot MHic.ent, riiice the State itself fastens the household large and unavoidable expenses, with many other circumstances which leave the Sovereign no thorough control over the outlay. Taking all these things into accouut, there may not be sufficient money for the ;;arents In that house to make suitable provision when their hdpren inarcy. If so, the deficiency should be made good in the first instance. The family should be put in the way to support itself, without coming, on the occasion of marrying individual daughters, for parish provision. If the reasoning in this direction were pushed to an extreme, it might be a question whether the public would not be the better for being released from any necessary recognition of such unions. There would be no necessity to raise disagreeable and peculiar questions, when nothing but good feeling and good wishes should prevail; the country remaining absolved from any public responsibility, or from any political engageroen's as the consequence. It is a matter for consideration, whether this plan would not be most consistent with the irresponsible position of our court, with the" entangling alliances" that subsist be- tween courts to the embarassment sometimes of states, and with the preservation of our national independence and our natural political alliances.—Spectator.

THE CHURCH RATE QUESTION It has been announced in Parliament that the Govern- ment is seriously engaged in the preparation of a Church Rate Bill, which is to give universal satisfaction We shall be very thankful, if on its appearance it shall give any promise of that result. But, till then, we are scepti- cal, not because we doubt the good intentions or ability of the Government, but because the task has so many inhe- rent difficulties. The outcry against Church Rates has been loud rather than general, and those who have chiefly sustained it are not the persons to be content with any- thing short of abolition But abolition the Government cannot seriously contemplate. It would be unworthy of Ministers and unacceptable to the country. What is re- quired is a Bill that meets the want of Dissenters and does not compromise the Church. Parliamentary returns have shown that only four per cent. of parishes in England and Wales have refused to grant church rates. This siple I fact determines the amount of relief to be provided. The problem is not to construct an entirely new substitute, but to make some elastic provisions to meet the stringent I consciences of four out of every one hundred parishes. So srrilli indeed is the minority, that it might fairly be left without any consideration from the Legislature, but it is never desirable to permit the pressure of a remediable evil upon any section of the community, however small. At the same time it will never do to prejudice the rights of the Church in ninety.six cases in order to meet the inequi- table objections of Dissenters in the remaining four. Even if there were no principle of justice at stake, if Dissenters had not bought or entered upon the occupation of their property subject to church rates, and had paid less pur- chase money or less rent on that account, still the mere claims of ninety-six as against four ought to determine in whose favour lecris lation should predominate. It is now w — ■ ■w » matter of ascertained evidence that ninety-six out of every one hundred parishes do not refuse church rates, and are perfectly willing to pay them. This is a clear case against abolition. While the great probability that they would not as readily adopt any other arrangement is a strong argument against making any new system compulsory on those who 'He not disconcerted with the old one. Let the Government address itself itself to the preparation of a scheme which shall relieve this minority, and not be avail- able for such parishes only as may be disposed to adopt it. In the next place, no plan ought to be proposed which contemplates the raising of money by pew rents. Already in some churches pews are heavily rated, either by Act of Parliament or other authority any addition to these would be an unj rst burden, as well as in many instances an insufficient source of funds. But this is not the worst. Consider the mischief the pew system already does. What a hindrance it is to the exertions of the clergy to attract to public worship the poor and outcast among their flock How are they to invite the thousands around them to attend religious ordinances when every pew in the church is somebody's property, and if used must be paid for ? Indeed it is contrary to every hypothesis of the parochial system, which supposes every parishioner entitled to the benefit of the ministrations of his parish church. Further, no system of pew assessment, enforceable by legal process, could work well for the first attempt to recover from a pew-holder would infallibly drive him from the church, which would be a result infinitely worse than ordinary dissent. Besides this, it would act as a great discourage- ment to the building of new churches. How many churches have been built, and still are building, by the unaided bounty of private individuals ? Nearly all of these have a large portion of their sittings free for the poor. The securing this freedom was with many a chief motive to build. Yet, how is all this frustrated if the law comes in and says that, nolens volens, these pews shall be taxed, and in default of payment the magistrate shall distrain upon the occupant ? Such a state of law would certainly have the pffect, in many instances, of preventing such munificent acts of building and endowment as we have so often had to chronicle. But not only would an assessment on pews contradict the parochial system, drive people from church, and discourage church building and restoration, but it would in country parishes be altogether insufficient. Pew rents may amount to much in parishes where the churches are large and the population is flourishing, but in the sparse populations of the rural distriots, pew rents would yield absolutely nothing. We conclude, therefore, that any how, our new Church Rate Bill must not contemplate pew rents. But neither must it be content with providing for the management of a voluntary rate only. It was Mr. Packe, we believe, who proposed that churchwardens should be empowered to receive subscriptions, and that a parochial board should be formed, from which Dissenters-even though non-subscribers-should not be excluded, and that this board should manage the voluntary subscriptions so collected, and apply them to such purposes as those to which church rates are now applied. The weakness of such a proposal is, that it does not provide that any voluntary subscriptions should be forthcoming; and the injustice is, that Dissenters have no right to any share if. the management of funds collected solely for the Church. Their conscientious scruples, which keep them from paying the reasonable impost to which their property is liable, ought, in sheer consistency, to keep them from either subscribing to, or having anything to do with, Church funds. We sometimes have it said by Dissenters that they would willingly give a subscription to the Church, but that they object to a rate. Such talk is only deserving of contempt. If the Dissenter's objection to a rate for services lie does not frequent be really conscientious, he ought not to encourage them by even a voluntary contri- bution while if it be not consciedtious it ought not to be made or allowed for. The new bill must not leave the fabrics of our parish churches in danger of falling to decay for lack of funds. Whatever else is sacrificed they must be kept up. To be assessed for this can be no hardship to the bitterest Dis- senters, since they are pro bono publico, and are held in trust for other generations. Already these venerable and often costly structures-the pride and boast of our country, as they are its glory and defence—have, in many instances fallen into a wretched state of decay, or have been impro- perly repaired through sheer ignorance. In any new pro- visions for these structures it should be exacted that repairs should be done as soon as necessary, and in a style consistent with the architectural character of the building. To secure this, it will be necesi-ary to have a surveyor or inspector of churches, who shall periodically determine and examine the kind and extent of repairs to be done, and direct the necessary measures to be immediately taken. The rural deans are nominally the inspectors of churches; but their office has for many years fallen into practical abeyance; and in this particular it is a mere nullity; but some such officer as we have proposed is icry necessary, and in any new bill provision for one should be made. We have not attempted to sketch out a Church Rate Bill. We know full well the difficulty of doing so with the least hope of giving general satisfaction, but we have ventured to suggest some important considerations which no one drawing up such a bill ought to forget or ignore. The rapid growth of the Church in popular favour within the last few years will go far to do away with the bitter feeling that once existed towards the Church, and will, we believe, actually overcome the anti-church-rate mania but in the meantime some change in the law is actually necessary to meet the necessities of the Church in parishes where the rates are refused. All we contend for is that the expected bill should not be abolitionary, should not look to pew rents, should not admit Dissenters to manage the funds of Churchmen, should not sacrifice the fabric, should be enabling in its general character, and be the only alternative to those who refuse compliance with the present law. — Post.

THE CLAIM OF THE COUNTIES. I The argument of Mr. Disraeli s clever and characteristic speech in Buckinghamshire on Wednesday is adapted, as we need scarcely suggest to any of its readers—studiously and almost anxiously adapted—to refute itself. Nor shall we think it needful to call attention to the views of Reform which the leader of the opposition has put forth, except so far as they involve principles likely to receive a graver sanction than that skilful and amusing speaker has given to them. In assuming the numbers of the population now excluded-and which he wishes to keep excluded—from the county constituencies as the just measure of the Par- liamentary representation he would give to those consti- tuencies, he can only intend in a playful manner to indicate his approval of that American principle which transfers to the account of the masters all that political influence which cannot but spring into existence with the existence of a large slave-population, and yet cannot be trusted to their own care. Mr. Disraeli would establish a principle of vicarious representation of classes,—by which the more influential orders should be recognised as guardians of the orders beneath and, as such, have one set of representatives for themselves, and another for the brothers whom they keep. But looking at the matter from the point of view of those who may make in earnest that claim for the counties, the foundation of which Mr. Disraeli took so much care to undermine, can we, in fact, concede that the very large populations which they no doubt possess are inadequately represented in the House of Commons ? Of course any one who concedes the totally vicious principle of numerical representation must at once answer that they are not. As Mr. Disraeli calculates, and very possibly without any great error, you have one member in the counties for every 61,000, and one in the boroughs for every 25,000." It was this fact, we suppose, which induced Lord John Russell in his last Reform Bill to propose so great an addition to the number of the county representatives. We believe, however, that there is no class of interests in this country so strongly and adequately represented in the House of Commons as the county interests, and on this ground we should heartily deprecate the introduction of any bill founded, like the bill of 1854, on the principle of giving to the counties the members taken from the petty borough constituencies. There is no 'sufficient under. standing as yet in the country of that great principle of class-representation which can alone be a safe groundwork for Reform. AVhat does that principle assert but this fundamental axiom that the various interests of* the country shall be rendered again, as it were, in miniature with as much as possible of their variety as well as' of their strength-in the House of Commons. Now what is it that gives the most strength to any party in the House ? Clearly, great uniformity of interest,—that close cohesive force which is possible only when no member of a party intro- duces any convictions that are not equally shared by any other member, so that they move and think, as it were, in solid phalanx. If Essex has essentially the same wants and interests as Buckinghamshire, and Buckinghamshire the same as Huntingdonshire, it is clear that, except the few special local interests of each county, every one is really represented again in almost all the others. And in point of fact this is actually the case with the county con- stituencies in a far higher degree than with any others. From the different manufacturing towns, and sometimes I from the very same constituency, interests often conflicting, and ahvays very various, stream forth into the Legislature. Sheffield does not speak the mind of Birmingham, nor Nottingham the wants of Leeds. There are innumerable varieties of interest introduced in all these cases which quite prevent the representatives of the great cities from forming that strong cohesive mass of similar thoughts and feelings which we see in the country gentlemen. And what is true of the greatest cities is yet truer of the second- class boroughs. Some new variety of class opinion is represented in almost all of them The mercantile classes, denominational rights, the voluntary principle, and all modifications of educational reform, the interests of bankers, the interests of the army and the navy, the interests of literature and the press, the interests of philanthropy, the interests of the colonies, of law reformers and of medical reformers, all get an audience and a parliamentary repre- sentation from the boroughs. I In the counties it may safely be said that very few mem- bers have any chance of election who are not what we may call quarter-session men. They may be Liberals, and they may be Conservatives or Tories, but they are of one type of mind, and enter heartily only into one class of interests. The counties can never return men who represent any variety of social influence. They represent the land, and, like the land, they have a settled character, a wholesome fixity of view, an invaluable immobility of their own. They deserve vast influence in the country, and they have vast influence. They gite momentum to the final decisions of the Legislature, exactly because they at first retard its movement. But to augment their influence would be, we think, a totally false step. The reform which Parliament needs is the introduction of a de6nite principle which shall give influence to the unrepresented classes, without ex- cluding or swamping those which are now represented. The landed interest is, perhaps, better represented than any other, because it is necessarily more uniform in cha- racter, more monotonous so to speak, and contains fewer germs of latent political divergency than any other interest in the State. Lord John Russell's bill of 1854 proposed we believe, to take away 52 members from the petty boroughs, of which it gave 41 to counties and only 11 to town constitu- encies. This change was from one point of view no doubt qualified by the minority principle which the bill first sug- gested,—the principle of giving only two votes to each elector in all the counties and boroughs returning three members. But the only effect of this provision in the counties would have been to secure in general one Liberal quarter-sessions man in the Conservative and Tory coun- ties, and one Conservative quarter-sessions man in the Liberal counties. Now if the elasticity of our political system depended merely on the balance of the two great parties, this provision might ha ve secured that balance,- and to have recognised the principle of representing fairly a numerically smaller class is a great step gained. But that elasticity really depends far more on the variety of the elements which compose the majority of the House of Commons than on the numerical equivalpnce of any two nominal parties in the House. It is of vast im- portance that there should be no such dead invariable lines of antagonism between two rival parties as that which gives a kind of internecine character to the con- flicts of party in America. It is the great complexity of English political life which keeps up the fair influence of the smaller social classes. The minor interests are not absolutely extinguished here as they are elsewhere, be- cause no one knows when the least of these minor inter- ests may not hold the key of the political position. The various classes in the House not being divided into sharply defined compartments or schools,—but each re- presenting a certain prominence of social interest which is liable to be merged in the access of any great politi- cal principle,—there is a latent force in the House which will often develop itself so rapidly as to destroy the apparent predominance of any one section. And it is most wholesome that it should be so. It insures a re- spectful hearing and consideration to the various lesser parties which they could not otherwise secure. Now, if there is one class more than another that wants, and per- haps ought to want—for solid inertia is its merit and its function-this political flexibility, it is the class of county members, and to increase them as was proposed in the bill of 1854 would, we think, produce almost a revolution, rather than a reform, in the constitution of the House of Commons. We do not desire to deprive the counties of any of their influence, but we do not wish in any way to solidify the fluent elements of thought and energy we now have. Some modification of those fluent elements which shall give a fair share-and yet establish a limit to that share-of political influence to the operative classes, we heartily desire to see. But in no class of society whatever, neither in the agricultural interests nor in the interests of the city labourer, let us admit numbers as the true measure of representative claims. Hcoixonxist.

MR. DISRAELI ON REFORM. I It is now some five or six years since the results of the Reform Bill of 1832 were first audibly challenged, and the necessity for further changes openly canvassed. The dis- satisfaction then manifested was, however, but feeble and uncertain, and its permanence, no less than its sincerity, was generally called in question. War intervened, preceded by a year of excitement, and followed by a year of apathy. Reform was shelved and it was perhaps anticipated that a movement, not at any time popular, would have been effec- tually extinguished by four years of oblivion. The result, however, has been different. Reform was not dead, but sleeping. It has grown considerably in its sleep and a popular Minister, with a large majority, has pledged himself to introduce the subject in the succeeding session of Parlia- ment. There is too much reason to believe that many of the Minister's supporters look forward to an extension rather than to an abridgment to that injustice to which an impor- tant class of the community is subjected. by our present electoral arrangements. Fortunately, however, the Con- servatives are alive to the danger. We have for some time past been endeavouring to dispel the misconceptions which prevail so widely on the subject of Electoral Reform. We have asserted that if the principles of equity and the stabi- lity of the Constitutions shall lie found to regulate the construction of the new Reform Bill, none will welcome it more readily than the Conservatives, for that none have suffered so severely as the landed interest from the injustice of the old one. The Liberals boast, on the contrary, that this interest is to suffer still more-that its cup is not yet full and while the proportion of borough representatives is nearly double that allotted to county constituencies, endea- vour to persuade the world that themselves are the aggrieved party, and that the influence of the counties is excessive This clamour for protection against adversaries so inferior in number is, at all events, as complimentary to the character of our county representatives, as discreditable to the capacity of their assailants. The speech delivered by Mr. Disraeli to his constituents on Wednesday last was pregnant with grave reflections both upon this and other weighty topics likely ere long to arrest the popular attention. The Right Hon. Gentleman stated frankly that it was not his own wish to disturb our repre- sentative system that perpetual political changes interfered with national progress but that if changes were introduced it was incumbent on the landed interest, in the broadest acceptation of the term, to take care that the inj ury inflict- ed upon it in 1832 was now redressed. The English are a practical people, and the business of the passing day usually -outweighs, in their minds, every other consideration. They arc thus peculiarly liable, as it were, to let judgment go by default, rather than be at the trouble of appearing in court. What is true of the Englishman in general is pre-eminently true of the agricultural Englishman. And it is doubtless owing to this quiescent tone of mind that the very unfair position in which the landed interest was placed by the Reform of '32 has been so long permitted to pass unnoticed, and would probably have long remained so had not the party which originated that measure themselves forced it on the notice of the injured classes. Now, however, that this article has once been dragged to lio-ht, it can hide its head no more. Whether we take the population or whether we take the constituencies as the basis of our calculation, the anomaly is almost equally glaring. As Parliamentary Reformers adopt the first test, it is but fair, as Mr. Disraeli implied, to meet them on their ground; and then we shall find that the proportion of re- presentatives in the rural districts is less than half that awarded to our more fortunate municipalities. While, on the other hand, if we are guided by the number of electors, the inequality is but little reduced. The proportion of county members to electors throughout Great Britain is, in round numbers, one to two hundred and fifty, of borough members one to one hundred and twenty-nine, or very little short of double. And yet these, forsooth, are the injured classes who are oppressed by the predominance of the land In proportion to the patience with which the owners and occupiers of land have so long endured this injustice will, we trust, be the energy and perseverance displayed by them in procuring its removal, now that its magnitude is fully brought home to their understandings. Till this iniquity be redressed they will fight in vain for the ascendancy of Conservative principles, and may look on helplessly while the ancient institutions of the realm are tampered with by political quacks, who known nothing of the art of govern- ment, or corrupted by experienced placemen who know it only too well. It was probably under the influence of some such con- viction as this that the Leader of the Opposition, in his address of Wednesday last, proceeded so naturally from the subject of Electoral Reform to the position and prospects of the Church of England, and the general advantages re- sulting from the maintenance of national institutions. On the subject of church rates the Right Hon. Gentleman well observed that we can hardly suppose that there is any really national antipathy to a system which only 600 out of 12,000 parishes have been found to repudiate, and the ejection from Parliament of its great adversary Sir W. Clay, speaks volumes for the popular feeling. But, then, the malcontents are by the very nature of their position louder and more pertinacious than their adversaries. And it is thoroughly necessary that all the friends of the Church should be on their guard against a sudden surprise should acquaint themselves with the question in all its bearings, and be ready to show such a front to their opponents, that, whatever arrangement may be come to, the integrity of the National Church shall be insured There is a tendency in the present day to magnify the importance of individuals, and to imagine that a case bad been made out against our most valued institutions, when it can be shown that some minute fraction of the community is dissatisfied with their working. This mode of arguing is childish and effeminate, and should be met by a bold avowal that the State cannot take cognisance of such complaints. Otherwise, in Mr. Disraeli's own words, we are at a loss to understand how any of our national institutions can be upheld." We entreat the attention of those persons who are, in the main, lovers of the English Constitution, but who are apt to be led away by the unreal professions of Liberalism, to this more practical view of the question. In the eyes of some enlightened persons, institutions are encumbrances to civilisation. In our opinion, they might just as well assert that its fruit is an encumbrance to the tree. We consider the maturity of civilisation to be then attained when the institutions of a people have arrived at that state of perfection in which it is relieved from the necessity of depending on the services of individuals. When men of genius arise, they impart a stimilus to all arouud them, and enable their country to make great and sudden strides. But in the interval of their appearance we must have something more permanent to rely upon—a sys- tem so excellent in itself that it can be successfully admi- nistered by statesmen of average abilities. And such a system as this is most likely to be the result of institutions which have stood the test of centuries, and been subjected to every variety of criticism and contrast. Those persons who concur in Mr. Disraeli's remarks on the character of our institutions may, if they choose, sneer at the party by whom those institutions have been preserved est wmgo mem-but to opponents who have no choice between inconsistency such as this and a tardy acknowledgment that their previous abuses of Toryism have been wrong, much may certainly be forgiven. The dilemma is tantalising They cannot, however, expect that any but their own little cliques should imitate their perversity. The world at large forms a truer estimate of men and actions. It is undeniable that during the last twenty years the Tory party has openly resisted and defeated more than one serious attempt to change the character of our institu- tions. We need go no further back than the last two sessions of Parliament, which witnessed the rejection of life peerages, and of the periodical efforts at abolishing church rates and primogeniture. These are patent facts, and it is scarcely too much to believe that the presence of a powerful Tory party within the walls of Parliament has prevented the introduction of other measures of an equally pernicious character. An army is as useful to deter as to repel aggression, and that it is able to be inactive is often the best proof of its efficiency. We look forward to the contest-which on one of the points above glanced at we know to be approaching, and which cannot be far distant upon all—if not without anxiety, yet without diffidence. The battle, indeed, is not so unequal as at first sight it may appear. The one party is flushed with recent successes. The other relies on the intrinsic justice of its cause and the calm sagacity of Englishmen. The English public, when taken by surprise or heated by prejudice, has often done foolish things. But when allowed time for reflection it has seldom mistaken the interests of a class for the interests of the country, and has never deliberately become the tool of personal passion or the dupe of democratic plausibility.- Pi-ess.

THE TEMPTATION RESISTED. The farmers of Buckinghamshire are charmed with their Member-the Member for Bucks. Faithful to them he is not uncourted elsewhere. Invited to share the councils of the very highest in the land, he prefers to consult with those who attend the farmers' ordinary at Newport Pagnell. He appreciates them can they refuse to appreciate him ? Just before his last conference with those unsophisticated statesmen, he had encountered and overcome a trying temptation. As the House of Commons broke up, he received a cunning invitation from a great personage," a very great personage, who has received all that the favour of the Sovereign and the confidence of the people could bestow upon him in his distinguished career" that very great personage, said Mr. Disraeli, invited me to call upon him 10 confer with him on a subject of deep moment; and I told him that it was not in my power to wait upon him, as I could have wished, because I had to meet my constituents, with whom I was to have the honour of dining at a farmers' ordinary at Newport Pagnell." Courted by the chief of her Majesty's Privy Council, Mr. Disraeli did not waver in his feality to the farmers' ordinary. But that very great personage, clever. op he is, did not appreciate the farmers of Bucks far he exclaimed, "Good God! what can you have to say to- them ?" So that the very great personage felt the mortification, though he could not comprehend the nature of the converse between the spirit of an epoch and top- boots. But then, he has not attained one of the high honours of the state—"he has never had the honour of representing the county of Bucks." Though Palmerston is at thertop of the state, he is still below that level. But what could be the purpose of that mysterious con- ference, negotiated at two o'clock in the morning ? With what new honours was Disraeli to be tempted, in the hope of inveigling him from his party ? Was the right honour- able representative of Bucks to be offered that Viscoun'y of Lambeth which has gone begging, and which might aptly reward the new Conservative agitator for Parlia- mentary Reform. Or was a high post in a popular Go- vernment opened to him ? Sir George Cornewail Lewis is but a plodding financier, with no skill in rendering a budget picturesque or throwing a halo round the Income- tax. Was the Member for Bucks to be the Chancellor of the Exchequer in the Palmerston Cabinet ? His historic lore could exemplify the achievement of more improbable combinations. Indeed, he himself evidently contemplates a more striking union. Most men are High Church, or Low Church, or neither Mr. Disraeli is all. He admires the Low Church for checking priestly domination, and the High Church for checking the spread of latitudinarianism but himself prefers the via media." Of the broadest church, though not latitudinous, he placidly walks the way of political life in high-lows," prepared to aid reform on Tory principles, to settle church- rates on Church principles thus he is the very man to bring Catholic- Protestantism to bear upon finance all Chancellor of the Exchequer in a Liberal-Conservative Cabinet; humbly consenting to sit under Lord Palmerston as his diocesan in that spiritual office.-Spectator.

THE WANTS OF SOCIETY. We have nothing to say of political wants, such as Parliamentary Reform, new laws for the property of married women, &0. The every-day social or animal wants-wants of food, clothing, lodging, &c.-are to be our theme. They are imperative in their nature and must be gratified, or the means of gratifying them must be assured before we can Pay attention to the more refined wants of the mind. Only men in possession of some degree of leisure, or who can derive a living from their exertions, can attend to politics or the sciences, which rather increase 'knowledge than immediately add to wealth. Till every possible pursuit has its appropriate votaries, to whom it shall supply the means of subsistence, a leisure or opulent class is necessary to lead forward society, to point out the dangers in its path and protect its best interests. We have no intention to assume its functions or refer to such topics our business is to nctice the pur- suits of ordinary industry. We stated five weeks ago that the price of cotton is now 25 per cent. higher than it was last year the price of corn, however, is at present about 20 per cent. lower than at this time last year. It is to be inferred, therefore, that the want of cotton is now relatively more stringent than the want of corn. The cotton manufacturers and the public accordingly direct their attention to increase the supply of cotton. It must be remembered, however, that the price of corn last year, in relation to its price in 1853, the last year of cheapness, was upwards of 50 per cent. higher. Though 20 per cent. lower than in 1856, it is 30 per cent. higher than in 1853. The price of cotton, in relation to its price in 1853, is about 25 per cent. higher the price in the spring of 1856 having been about the same as in the spring of 1853. Though the price of cotton therefore is temporarily and relatively higher than the price of food, the rise in the latter, having regard to the longer period, is much the greater. That our pro- sperity is closely dependent on our manufacturing and commercial success, tve have continually and perseveringly taught, and it is now by everybody acknowledged. We have accordingly applauded and supported the exertions of the Manchester gentlemen to increase the supply of cot- ton but we cannot, therefore, forget that every branch of industry is necessary oue to another, which we have also perseveringly taught, and that the supply of food-much shorter, generally speaking, than the supply of cotton-is even of greater importance. Within this day or two there have been accounts of disturbances in two points of Spain, occasioned by dear bread, and on Ireland from the high price of provisions. We never heard or read of an insurrection or rebel- lion from a want of cotton or a want of clothing but insurrections, rebellions, and even great revolutions have taken their rise from a scarcity of food. It is certainly an error, therefore, to suppose just now that the power of the State or the influence of the public journals should be especially directed to increase the supply of cotton and coupled as the proceeding is in many minds with political motives, such as making England less dependent on America and promoting the cultivation of cotton in her own territories- which is only the old Protectionist doctrine of producing our food in our own country-it may end in mischief. Principle is always of value as a guide, and the principle that the State should not at any time especially encourage any species of in- dustry, should not now be forgotten. That it should remove obstacles out of the way of every branch of industry which the unw ise policy of protection has placed in it, is a great duty but it ought not to be hurried by its zeal, or the importunities of parties par- ticularly interested, to relieve one branch temporarily embaraassed by the condition of the markets, into the old system of patronage and protection. In domestic circles we hear more complaints of the continually high price of meat than of the high price of bread, which is natural enough, as the latter is so much cheaper than it was last year, while the latter is from 12 to 15 per cent. dearer. In relation to 1853 there is very little difference in the price of meat in the wholesale markets; and it is therefore the temporary rise of the price of meat as of cotton which excites attention and complaint. Some other articles, as silks, have risen in price much more than cotton. Wool, too, has risen, though not equally. But as the rise in silk is the consequence of defective crops, which we hope this season will remedy, and as this article is of inferior importance to cotton, it excites much less public atten- tion. The great fact which becomes apparent from these circumstances is, that consumption generally has overtaken production, and 'hat we really want larger supplies of bread and meit, of silk and wool, and of sugar, as well as of cotton and as we have no means of ascertaining the relative deficiency of each and the pressure of the demand for it, except by means of price, it is impolitic and unwise for the State to interfere in any way with prlce, or encourage the production of one in preference to another. The greatly increased demand for cotton and silk, like the greatly increased demand for leather, which is partly due to the substitution of shoes for sabots in many parts the Continent, is the consequence of the present rapid progress of improvement. The people everywhere are seeking better clothing and almost everywhere they much need it. This is extremely gratifying it might be deeply regretted should the progress be delayed or impeded but even this improvement, humanising as it is, is of less importance than the ample supply of those wants which, when not easily and amply supplied, may lead to great disasters At present the problem of the Srate encou- raging particular productions ar.d particular kinds of in- dustry is obviously become of intense interest and world- wide importance.—Economist

MR. BRIGHT ON PUBLIC AFFAIRS. I Mr. Bright does not write from Geneva in good spirits about the present state of public affairs, It is not to be ex- pected that he should but, certainly, he does not make the best of things Everything is going wrong "retrenchment has become an obsolete word." free trade has made little pro- gress for some years past," and Parliamentary Reform is in the worst hands it could possibly be viz., in Lord Palmers- ton's. In his gloominess about the present he has even grown a laudator teniporis acti, and goes back in memory to the good old days of Sir Robert Peel and the Duke of Wel- lington, when the military expenditure was only half the amount that it is at present, although a latge army is no longer necessary to maintain tranquillity in Ireland." Things must be very bad indeed to make Mr. Bright recur with fond regret to the past, and throw a last long lingering look behind upon the reign of the old Duke. But any reign is better than Lord Palmerston's. Lord Palmerston can do nothing well. He is the very genius of misrule, and a cheat into the bargain. Do not trust him. If he gives you a Reform Bill, be quite sure that there is some dodge at the bottom of it which will let in the enemy. It would be easy to double the number of electors and at the same time to increase the aristocratic influence in Parliament." There will be poison in the cup if Lord Palmerston is chief butler; do not put it to your lips. He is a magician who has contrived by his charms to fascinate the English public, but they will know what his gifts are some day, if they ac- cept them. Mr. Bright has an indefinite estimate of the capacity of the English public for being gulled. Such a belief is not, indeed, much more complimentary to the Eng- lish public than it is to Lord Palmerston, representing, as it does, the two in that well known and summary relation of knave and fool; but this in substance is very much the rela- tion, in Mr. Bright's eyes, of the English public and the Premier to each other. We hope that this melancholy view of the present state of public affairs arises in part from Mr. Brisht's distance from the scene of action-a distance which none lament more than ourselves. Things often sound worse at a distance than they really are. There is room for a morbid imagination to work; she has it all to herself, un- checked and unbalanced by the natural cheerfulness of action and a share in the business and realities of the scene. One part, however, of Mr. Bright's criticism on public matters certainly deserves the praise of disinterestedness. He protests against any trick to obstruct the free action of majorities, such as that proposed in Lord John Russell's first Bill as calculated to undermine the very basis of represen- tative institutions." Such a protest is, we say, most dis- interested in Mr. Bright, because, as it happens, he has just now lost his seat from the very action of the principle which he so stoutly vindicates-" the free action of majorities." Had Manchester returned three members, while each elector could only vote for two, Mr. Bright would probably at this moment be member for Manchester. As it is, the 4,000 votes that have been given for him have done him no more good than 4. and all those thousand voters are unrepresented in this Parliament. Is this result of the." free action of ma- jorities" a very fair one ? And is the representation of the people more faithful and more complete in this way than if those 4,000 had had their smaller share of the representatives of Manchester-one out of three ? It certainly appears to us that the latter would have been the more exact and more -faithful representation, and that Parliament would upoa this plan be a more true reflection of the puônt, With all its different shades of opinion, than it is now. It may doubt- less be said that one plan is as fair as another in the long run, that if one portion of a constituent body is wholly ex- cluded from the representation at one election the rival portion is wholly excluded at another, so that, taking one election with another, both sides get fair play. Thus in Manchester itself Mr. Bright's supporters, having been the dominant party since 1840, and having monopolized the representation all this time, now find it their turn to take the outside, and the opposite party have their innings. But, even if there is something like fair play in tho long run under the present system1 the mode and form of this repre- sentative justice are rather awkward, because justice is at- tained not by fair division at the time, but by an alternation of monopolies. At every struggle it is a matter of life and death for that session. Every election is a conquest which leaves one party on the field and the other nowhere. There is no quarter given if you do not conquer, you die. If the chances of things give something like justice in the long run on this system, it is only by an oscillation of life and death,-total extinctions and revivals. But why should time and chance do very awkwardly what we are able to do much better by regular arrangement ? Why should our elections be scenes of insolent elation on one side and mortified prostration oil the other, if we can by a simple plan produce a more tem- pered result ? There may be some—a good many, verhaps- who like the fever and the stimulus of the alternative which our present system presents, who had rather have a kill-or- cure medicine, who like an election all the better the more it is like a battle and the less quarter is given, who like the sphere of risk and the excitement of the genuine lottery or gaming table, and who shout Heads" or 41 Tails," All or nothing," with genuine glee. Elections on a more tem- pered and balanced plan may appear to these choice spirits rather tame affairs, but the mass of men had rather have more equality and evenness in the working of the repre- sentative system, even if it were gained with some loss of excitement. It may be added that the present free action of majorities" gives too much opportunity for the formation of cliques and schools that grow by the long monopoly of the representation of important places. Mr. Bright will not, of course, agree with us, and will think this, perhaps, one of the great advantages of the pre- sent system but we do not think that long monopoly of representation has been of any particular advantage to the Manchester School," which has thus acquired a sort of s'iffness and pedantry of its own, and sets up its own maxims, in defiance of general opinion. The Manchester School" had evidently bolstered itself up on the idea that the long monopoly of the great manufacturing capital had made it an established authority, and given it a right to lay down the law and teach the rest of the world on all subjects connected with social progress. As the exclusive repre- sentatives of the principal seat of the great movement of modern times, the metropolis of manufacturing art and invention, they have spoken ex cathedra, and invested them selves with a mission to put down war and do many other things; and, in short, regarded themselves as the "lights of the age." Had they only had their share of the repre- sentation of Manchester they might be more modest teachers, but monopoly gave them overweening confidence. This is only an incidental result of the present free action of majorities." The great argument is, that a representative system should provide as much fair play and equality, and that as an evenly and continuously, as possible; and with this object we do not think it would be amiss if the larger towns and some of the more populous counties were ex- cepted from the free action of majoritiea.Tiines.

THE STATE OF THE ENGLISH MONEY MARKET. I The future of the English Money Market is still involved in great obscurity nevertheless, there seems fair ground for the opinion which prevails in most quarters that, for some time at least, the worst has been experienced. We shall not be at all surprised if the recent refusal of the Bank of England to renew its loans on stock should prove the last of a series of restrictive measures but more than this cannot be hoped for at present. The efforts of the Bank to retain its stock of bullion have certainly been successful, however inconvenient they may have been to the commercial community. Money has been rendered, step by step, so tight that the English market has become the dearest in Europe. Of late even the artificial price offered for gold by the Bank of France has failed to attract the precious metal in any important quantities from this side and for the simple reason that the firms engaged in these bullion operations, although enjoying the highest credit, have been unable to borrow the requisite funds, unless at a rate which would materially curtail their profit. The mercantile classes, whilst suffering from the long-continued stringency of the market, have at least had the satisfaction of witness- ing a marked improvement in the Continental and American exchanges. The interval which usually elapses betwixt the arrival of each large batch of Australian gold is being quietly tided over, and heavy colonial remittances are now again due, nearly a million being known to be actually afloat; the American exchanges, after a somewhat pro- longed depression, have returned to a point which promises a steady flow of gold hither; and even Russia, the Govern- ment of which has annually to transmit to Western Europe an amount that exercises a considerable influence upon the exchange, now finds it convenient to permit the exportation of gold. Moreover, the last advices from Mexico encourage the belief that considerable remittances of silver will soon c -À come wrnwu. The prospect of large metallic supplies being thus well defined, and the firmness of the Continental exchanges Eromising that the gold, when it arrives, would be retained here to a greater extent than for some time past, there was, until within the last few days, some room to hope that the market would become somewhat easier. This prospect, however, is now obscured, owing to the renewed demand for silver for the East, and for gold for the Bank of France, which bids fair to absorb a large proportion of the expected remittances. For our own part, under present circumstances, we are inclined to rejoice that there is no probability of a hasty or important fell in the value of money. Hurried movements of this kind always lead to subsequent mischief, frequently of an aggravated character; for, amidst the general stimulus given to speculative enterprise, the English public are frequently induced, under the delusive encourage- ment of a temporary inflation, to embark to a dangerous extent in a variety of foreign joint-stock projects, tantamount in their effect upon the money market to so many foreign loans. So long as it is merely a question of the preli- minary payments, no inconvenience is experienced, but the subsequent steady succession of calls soon produces its effect in depression of the exchanges, stringency o the money market, nnd general disturbance of commercia transactions. The public will do well to disabuse them 3 elves of the hope that money is about to become cheap Apart from the acknowledged activity of trade, which na- turally operates as a preventive of a low rate of discount, at no former period were there so many joint-stock projects in course of elaboration, the promoters of which are only awaiting a suitable opportunity of launching them on the market. Then, again, the still unfavourable appearance of the Eastern exchanges constitutes a decided check. There is no doubt that the diminished demand for silver for the East, noticed during the last two or three weeks, materially promoted the improvement in the exchanges between this country and the Continent. Since the arrival of the last Overland Mail there has been a greatly increased demand on Chinese account, and that is certain to tighten the money market. In view of the rapidity with which the stocks of bar silver and silver coinage of the Continent have been draughted away to the East, and replaced by gold, the public are quite right in narrowly watching the Indian and Chinese vices, for of late years this silver movemont has to a surpri- sing extent determined the distribution of the gold received from Australia and California. This continued absorption of silver in Asia, and the finan- cial condition of France, are sufficient to altogether discou- rage the expectation of any important fall in the value of money. In the latter country the great financial speculators whose success has lured to ruin thousands of ambitious imi- tators, seem to have obtained a wonderfully accurate insight into the besetting weaknesses of the people, aud to work, with equal dexterity, upon the ihfirmity of judgment evinced in certain respects by the Government. On the one hand, we see great societies, whose sole object is the promo- tion of bourse gambling, priding themselves, amid general applause, upon the "support" which they have afforded to the national funds, The Government, on its part, instead of regarding this fictitious propping up of the Bourse as a serious evil, ultimately ruinous to a large class upon whom the Credit Mobilier Society and similar operators feed, and pernicious to the morality of the entire nation-weakly con- .nives, in return, at the financial manoeuvres of these parties, and permits them to add daily to the embarrassment* of the country. The gambling world of Paris, intensely absorbed in the speculative movements of the day, is utterly regard- less of the warnings so strongly impressed by recent expe- rience. Each transient glimpse of relief becomes a signal for committing the market to fresh liabilities, involving a constant drain of gold. At a time when the Bank of France, in being compelled to raise its premium on gold to the old scale, has just had a fresh proof of the difficulties of its po- sition, and at a time when the corn, wine, and silk crops is as yet uncertain, the purveyors of new material to the ap- petite of the Bourse are found engaged in attempts to Boat a new Spanish loan, a scheme for Roman railways, and, above all, that very questionable project, the "Grand Russian Railways." So long as the speculator continues to rush on thus recklessly in advance of the capacity of the market, what hope can there be for it ? What other prospect is there than that of a constant demand for gold in England and elsewhere to replenish, at whatever cost, the void occa- sioned in the coffers of the Bank of France ?—Daily News

M. Eugene Sue is seriously ill in Savoy, and an eminent physician summoned by telegraph has left Lyons to see [ him. The Persian government is said to have ordered a number of rifles on the most approved plan to be made in France for the purpose of arming the private guard of the Shah. A meeting of bankers and merchants has taken place at the residence of M. Baltazzi, at Constantinople, to again endeavour to organise a bank. The Emperor of Austria has sent decorations to several distinguished personages in Moldavia and Wallachia. The Emperor of Russia has done the same, including the Patriarch. Accounts from Constantinople, of the 14th inst., an- nounce that Baron Talleyrand has sent his secretary from Jassy to Constantinople, charged with a mission to the Divan. The mail from Algiers has brought news from Kabylia. Three divisions, of 8,000 men each, have commenced their march forward, followed by a strong reserve of cavalry. The Turkish Government has permitted the publication of the proceedings of the meetings held in favour of the pro- posed canal across the Isthmus of Suez. The action brought by Dr. White, inspector-general of unatic asylums, against the Waterford and Kilkenny Rail- way Company fnr-injuries recived in the accident at Dan- kitt, last November, has been settled between the parties. The damages were laid at £ 6,000. A pawnbroker, of Exeter, was summoned before the magistrates of that city a few days ago, and charged with illegally receiving in pledge several Crimean medals from soldiers belonging to the 1st Dragoons, who are stationed at the Exeter Bat racks. The Court of Aldermen having determined on the re- building of Newgate Gaol on the cellular system, the plans prepared for that purpose by Mr. Bunning, their arcbitect, have been adopted, and the works commenced by the demolition of the present north wing of the prison, con- taining wards in which several prisoners were usually con- gregated together, and also the condemned cells. That Lord Brougham is equal to anything and anybyody, no one doubts yet the following paragraph from tho Semaphore of Marseilles surprises us.—u Arrived in this town, M. le Baronet Sir Henry Brougham, evoy6 extra- ordinaire de rambassade de Paris in China." We are intimately convinced that Harry Brougham" would settle Commissioner Yeh in half an hour, either with eloquence, figures, the gloves, logic, or the single stick; it is less his name that astonishes us than the marvellous hodge-podge made by the southern journal.—Slobe. THE ApPLE AND PEAR CROPS.—the Exeter Gazitle says —From all the fruit-growing districts of this county we have the most encouraging reports of the irtite of the apple and pear blossom. JOURNALISM.—Tbe atmosphere of the Bankruptcy Court seems to be agreeable to the sister journals—the Morning Herald, Standard, and St. James Chronicle. After long hanging on hand, they were, we bear, disposed of last week at some thousands below the Auction-Mart valuation, to one of the messengers of the Court of Bankruptcy THE LATE REV. EDWARD IEVINQ.—The Irving Tablet, placed by certain parties in the crypt of Glasgow Cathedral, has been removed, the relatives of the deceased having ap- plied to Sir Benjamin Hall, who gave instructions only to allow such an inscription as they would agree to. The rela- tives, it appears, had been displeased with the reference made in the inscription to Mr. Irving's peculiar opinions.— Glasgow Daily Mail. CHINESE Miss i oNs. -Recent letters from the missiona- ries in China of the English Presbyterian Church, mention that Mr. Burns had been permitted to resume his labours at Swatow, in more favourable circumstances even than be- fore his arrest, enjoying favour in the sight of the rich and poor, the rulers and the ruled." This is l very encourag- ing. Mr. Carstairs Douglas continues his labours unmo- lested at Amoy. ARCHDEACONRY OF NORWICH. We learn that the Bishop of Norwich (elect) has appointed the Rev. Robert E. Hankinson, Rector of Haleswortb, to the vacant arch- deaconry of Norwich, Mr. Hankinson is well known and highly esteemed in Norfolk and Suffolk as a clergyman of great personal respectability, of sound .Evangelical views, and whose Christian courtesy and urbanity have endeared him to persons of all shades of opinion. The new Arch- deacon was formerly chaplain to Bishop Stanley, and has held several important and laborious spheres of duty in the diocese of Norwich.—Record. CRIMINAL RETURNS FOR THE METROPOLIS.—The Com- missioners of Metropolitan Police have issued. a return of the number of persons taken into custody by the Metro- politan Potice, and the results, in 1856. It appears from this return that the total number taken into custody amounted to not less than 73,240, of whom 45,941 were males. Of that number there were discharged by the magistrates 36,551, those summarily disposed of amounted to 33,451, and 3,238 were committed for trial. The pro- portion of male and female prisoners committed was 2,502 of the former, and 716 of the latter, and the total of both convicted was 2,053 males and 534 females. Of the priso- ners taken into custody 12 were charged with morder, 79 with cutting and wounding, 10 with manslaughter, 6,763 with common assaults, 2,914 with assaults on tne ponce, 185 with burglary. 2,601 with having atolen from the per- son, 18,720 with drunkenness and disorderly conduct, and 3,259 were taken into custody as vagrints. ALARMING lilgit TIDE IN THE THAMES.-On Monday afternoon, about half-past three o'clock, the waters of the Thames rose to an unusual height. Severn barges struck the bridges, and one heavily laden, named the William and Mary, was driven by the current against the Westminster bridge steam-boat pier, on the Middlesex shore, and bound- ing from thence came broadside on to the pier of the bridge, when she instantly heeled over and went down. The two men navigating her had a very narrow escape. The tide flowed over the wharf at Hungerford Market, at the Fox- under-the-hill, Strand-lane, the landing-places for steam- boat passengers at the Temple and Adelphi. The basements of the houses in Cannon-row, Westminster, were invaded by the tide. CELIBACY OF FELLOWS OF COLLEGES.— The following memorial has been addressed to the Cambridge University Commissioners by Fellows of Colleges -Gentlemen, -WC, the undersigned graduates of the University of Cambridge, beg leave respectfully to address you upen the subject of the compulsory celibacy of fellows of colleges. The time is ap- proaching when you, in conjunction with the governing bodies of the several colleges, will be called upon to carry the Cambridge University Act into effect. Among the many questions which will be submitted to you for deliber- ation and decision, we feel that none is more important in all its bearings, whether academical or social, than that effecting the restriction upon marriage, to which the tenure of fellowships is now subject. We, therefore, venture to solicit your earnest consideration of the subject, and to ex- press the hope that you will give your sanction to such changes in the present "conditions of the tenure of fellow- ships," as are calculated to augment the influence and ex- tend the utility of colleges of the University ot Cambridge Independent Press. THE MYSTERIOUS ADVERTISEMENTS.—TbeMlOW? amusing melange of communi?ations appears in -/? Tim" of Wednesday 1 0 E-.Reoeived reciprocated Ten thousand thanks. Foity-eight." "TuleMM.?M put two o'clock, and I have only received you r vester- day, written at three o'clock.— May ,?t0 A. W- Your message cheers me. Writè1. when yo? ?,? Tbave determined, like you, to wait.- ours, M. ?win.- Edith has left Kentish-town. A letter fin(j ber ad- dressed Edith, post.omce, pimlic?6.-?-Esiber. << On cc;oDt dressed Edith, post-office, Pimlioo.— of a wrong address 1 only received your letter (?ectiM attention to an advertisemnt, within the ^1 few ^ayg. I never yet doubted you, and now trust y implicitljr.—Y. Y., London, May 2-5" Godey.-Y°u have chosen to q rational, leave a che.rful home, where all a?reh.,a.ppyy who an ratiOBA" Take your own a'?.t'??, and ?? ?? ? ? ?u, boler venture to return t?lyouca_ 8^°iU PI roofil of lwdable success m the world. No prom18e8 bt to your sense. single farthing. You must ?"??ht to ur seusefit ad ?ou will then be gratefuml ufosr t d_OD. J. B' 9' »