Vrvitirrro.

Liverpool has been in a nutter for some days about another royal visit and reception, to come off on the anniversary of the visit of the Queen and Prince Albert in 1851. This time the royal lion was the Duke of Cambridge, who happened to be sojourning with Lord Derby at Enowsley. 'Ile arrived et Knowsley on 'Monday; and on Tuesday, ac- companied by Lord Derby, he entered Liverpool. The town was decorated from one end- to the other with flags ; the footivays were crowded with people ; heads appeared at every window. At the 'Town-ball, the Duke was received by the Mayor and Corporation, and- iishered into the drawingroam,'Where•a congrattilatory address was preeented to him. "We rejoice," said the Mayor, on behalf of the Corporation, "in this opportunity of -welcoming you to Liverpool ; and, kr-visiting one of the great commercial emporia of this country, you will find how deeply interested we are in a return of peace ; but at the same time you will .'find one sentiment, and one alone, pervading this whole community--that of-a determination to persevere in the war in which we are engaged, at all hazards and at every sacrifice, until its object ie attained."

The Duke made a becoming reply ; and after this ceremony, &proceed on the balcony, cheered by the people. He next paid a visit to the Ex- change; and subsequently, ezearted by the Mayor,-Lord Derby{-and Lord

• Hardwicke, visited such notable sights as Liverpool can show. In the evening, the Mayor gave a grand banquet ; at which, in addition to the above distinguished guests, the Bishop of Chester, Mr. Walpole, Sir Harry Smith, the local Members, and many other gentlemen, were pre-. sent. The speeches of the 'Mayor expressed the greatest sympathy with the French and Sardinian alliance ; and after the toast of the Queen, came bumpers to the Emperor, the King of Sardinia, and the Sultan. In pro- posing "Prince Albert and the Royal Family," the "Mayor said, address- ing his chief guest—

"-Sir, four years ago this very day our gracious Queen visited us. It was then a time of peace, it is now one of war ; but, whether in peace or in war, our sentiments of levet° our Queen and the Royal Family remain unaltered."

The Duke of Cambridge, after expressing his gratitude jar the recep- tion given him—a part intended, no doubt, for himself, but the pester part for our Army in the East—spoke of the warm affection which sub- sisted, when he was in the Crimea, between the French and English, and the personal feelings between himself and Marshal St. Arnaud and Gene- ral Canrobert. He dwelt also on the advantage which the French had • over us, at the outset, in organization.

When the war broke oat, we had no land transport corps at all, and no ambulance, and we landed in a oountry where no horses or forage could be procured. The commissariat was a department of the Treasury, and the officers arrived in the Crimea with little or . no experience of the work they had to perform. They were svilliog to learn, anxious to , do .their duty,.and desirous to receive suggestions. But, under all the circumstances, it.was not • to be wondered at that deficiencies manifested themselves which made every one impatient. Officers were impatient, men were impatient, and, said the "Duke, I was impatient." But he saw around him many-eminent mer- chants having establishments in every part of, the globe, and he would ask • them whether a space of- three, four, or five months, would enable them to form those establishments and make those ramifications in every part of the globe which are essential to the success of their undertakings and the liar- -raptly and efficiency of their action ? Time. must be given for establishing the necessary organization, and our establishments are now fast attaining an efficiency worthy of this great-country. The lesson to be learnt from these events —and he trusted it would not be forgotten after the peace—was not to starve our , establishments during a time of peace, or to maintain them in such a low state of efficiency as if we thought that war was impossible. Adverting to another topic—the duration of the war—he said he was glad to see that Liverpool, although interested in the return of peace, was unanimous for the continuance of the war until its objects are attained. In that sentiment he entirely coincided ; and he had a strong opinion that a peace concluded at the present moment would not be an honourable, durable, and lasting peace. Until such a peace could be concluded, he was for carrying-Wither war-with all possible vigour and determination; and• he was gratified to find that this also was the opinion of the inhabitants of Liverpool. Expressing a high opinion of the officers, he said that for himself he had been compelled, to his great regret, to leave the army in the East in consequence of the state of his health ; but now, thank God, his health was 'restored, and nothing would give him greater pleasure than to rejoin the army in the Crimea. (Loud cheers.)

.Sir Harry Smith in returning thanks for -the 'Army, warmly vindi- cated the conduct of our troops at the Redan. The 'Earl of Hardwicke, performing a similar task'for the Navy, said he was not an active member of that body : when Lord Derby was in office, he commanded•a ship, and he hoped that when his noble friend should be again upon the sunny- side of the Throne he might again enjoy the gratification iof serving his Queen and country in the exercise of his profession.

The Earl-of Derby echoed the words of the Mayor,. that the function of the House of Lords was. to check hasty legislation ; but, added. he, that House presents no barrier to freedom and improvement." The' House of Lords is continually receiving new infusions of blood ; but he had not made when in power a lavish use of that priv+i(ege- During the time when he was First' Minister of the Crown, he had only advised her Majesty to confer the dignity of the' Peerage,upon three indivi- duala,—the distinguished diplomatist Lord Stratford de Redeliffe, the learned and eminent' Sir Edward Sugden, and the late lamented Lord Reglan. Pos- terity, he thought, would confirm the worth and suitableness of 'these three persons to the distinction; and- he should .always look back with, pleasure upon the share he had had in opening to them the doors of the Howe of Lords.

The ball, which shortly afterwards began, was attended by a very bell- ' Bent company. That night the Dulte..of. dainhtidgesedurned.toi•Kuows-

ley ; bathe visited the docks,next vautproseatat.a concert given- in St. George's Hall in the.evening.

Once more. the annual banquet -of- the Hinchford -Agricultural and Conservative Club" has been held at Castle' Hedingham. -Saturday was , the chosen day ; Lieutenant-Cislonel- Brisepresidedi and the Reverend'J. Cox, the Right Honourable William Beresford, 'Mr. A. 'Majendie, Mr. Peacocke, Member foeldaldon, -were -among the orators. 'IThe chairman informed his auditors how deeply 'the country is indebted to the.13ritish aristocracy, and the, present efficient regimental system,- for 'the downfall of Sebastopol. Mr. Cox exulted in the fulfilment of Ditsraelra prophecy that the Coalition would continue until its members- were 'disgraced : he -gloated over the fact that-money. cannot be-raised to-pay for the.statue,of . Sir Robert Peel recently set up in Birmingham ; mid 'that the statue in Cheapside has been consigned to the care of the Commissioners of Sewers, —these things he and his audience• looked on with- •" more than ordinary satisfaction.' Mr. Cox objected to proposed systems of education which would erect Godless colleges and Infidel schools. - Now the good school is the rule, the bad the exception ; yet crimeis not diminished, and it is ne- cessary to establish reformatory schools -for young offenders. Objecting . to the attempts of those who would make hostility to the-Maynooth grant the basis of a party, he delivered some original notions on the franchise. The fact was all to be, loundin the thing called "the Bill, the whole Bill, and nothing but the Bill,".which made gentlemen bow to a class of persons who had the ten-pound -franchise ; and what was:the-remedy; for- this ? Why, they muat increase their constituencies. .11e-would not have recom- mended such .a step ; but the Whigs would dolt, to suit their own purpoae, by giving a vote to ten-pound householders in the county, and to five-pound cottages in boroughs, and by thus introducing the classes moat opposed to • them the Conservative interest - would be -in a ten times worse position than . it is now. When metcare once given 'the franchise 'they could. not go back -.and withdraw it. What, then, were they toaio? He would tell them what , his opinion was. The great body of the people is Conservative ; he believed . the people living in their rural_ neighbourhoods are Protestants and Chunsh- men, anclhe .always looked -with respect upon.them. Whenever there is a reform in Parliamentary representationsolled for, they mud say—" We will not have your Reform Bill, but every one...whose name is upon the rate-book shall have a vote, and then we. ;shill .net.feer the result." • That was his idea ; and, if he had been cast in a different lot, and had a seat in Parlia- ment, he would vote in favour of such a bill as infinitely preferable to the five-pound franchise. MT. Mejendie insisted, that what was promised by the-Free-traders has not been realized. There have been neither steady nor remunerative

prices of corn; but the present high prises enable some to make up for past losses. Mr. Beresford vindicated his course in Parliament ; narrated the changes since last year ; and admitted thet the present Government is a deeided,improvement on its predecessor. Lord Palmerston is a great improvement on Lord Aberdeen. Although a reckless politician, he is "an English Minister .at heart." Ur. Beresford firmly believed that the Premier is desirous of upholding to the utmost the honour of the country, of creating and maintaining a firm and determined Alliance with France, and with the resolution not to withdraw from, the war without seouriug an honourable peace. Lord Pancaure, it man of great mi- litary experience, is a great improvement on the "selfsaufficient" Duke of Newcastle. But there was another great change—and there was not any comparison to be made 'between the two men—for what a different Chan- cellor of the Exchequer had replaced Mr. Gladstone, whose splendid abilities he admitted, but whose conduct since he had left the Government was not such as to make us feel we were quite safe while he was in ; ,end that the man who assisted to plunge us into the, war should now turn back and seek to sacrifice the honour of England, to resign the alliance of France, and to

give a triumph to the despot of Russia—that that man should ever have been in the Government, was a despicable illustration of that system which put men into a Cabinet because they could make fine speeches and delude . the people •when they went down to an -election. Much astir. Bereaford wished to restore to the country the blessings ef peace, while ho had a seat in the House of Commons he would never consent to any conditions, not based on the principle that would keep the honour of England unsullied and

the liberties of Europe perfectly secure.

The Worcestershire Agricultural Society held its annual show at .Wor cester on Friday last week. The show of stock was scanty, but many county-notables and tenant-farmers assembled round the dinner-table t. .a.mong.them' EarlBeauuliamp, Lord Lyttelton the Lord-Lieutenant, Lord Elmley, tuidColonel Rushout. Lord Lyttelton took occasion to allude to the general condition of agriculture, and congratulated the farmers on having. tolerably prosperous times. 'He must say, that on all sides among the farmers he did not hear more admitted than that the present times were "tolerably. prosperous." (A Voice—" We can fuss pay our way, like," and laughter.)' That-was all very well in its.wav, but he would just tell them what ho had heard with

his own ears recently in the town of Birmingham. They were aware that the Birmingham people bad just erected in a principal part of their town .a statue to the late Sir Robert Peel : Lord Lyttelton chanced to be ,walking along the street near where the statue was erected, and saw an old fellow an passing look up to the statue, and heard him exclaim—" Ab, if you had been

alive, the farmers would not be putting so much money into their pockets as they are doing now." (Laughter.) For his own part, Lord Lyttelton did -not fall in with• either of these extreme views. He did not complain even if they were putting a good deal of money in their pockets ; but he hoped, if these were really prosperous times for agriculture, that care would be taken to effect a progress in the science of agriculture.

Earl Gifford is to find an opponent at Totness in Mr. T. T. Mackenzie ; whose address to the electors is dated from the Oriental Club. Mr. Mac- kenzie is for a vigorous prosecution of the war, and opposed to the May- • nooth grant. On the subject of education, and on "needful changes in our legal and military systems," he entertains sentiments which he has "xeason.to believe are in unison with the opinions of the great majority of 'Englishmeu."

The agricultural meetings have this season been prolific in good speeches; and among the most useful and original was one delivered by theEarl of Leicester, from the chair, at the annual dinner of the Dockieg. Agtieultural Association,' held last week at South Creake, near Eaten- hem. -Called to preside at many meetings in the course of the year, Lord Leicester yet felt 'that on no occasion' is he doing his duty more than when be assists in promoting the welfare and happiness of the labouring - population.

" We:are met together," he observed, " for the purpose of rewarding and encouraging the agricultural labourer. This association can do a great deal ; but a great dealrests with the owner of the- cottage in, which the labourer resides, and next with the oecupier of-the land on which he is employed. First as to the owner of- the cottage. I have the misfortune—at least the misfortune -as: far as I am concerned—to be a very considerable owner of cottage property. I have endeavoured, as far as' I can, to improve the cottage of the labourer; and in doing so I trust I hare both physically and morally -improved his condition. In the- first place, I have endeavoured in buildipg my cottages to provide such accommodation as will allow a human being to- live in the way its whteh a man should live. In the next place, I have en- oleavoured to build those cottages at as little possible loss to myself as.I °en., To expect a profit-from cottage -property without screwing the tenant, is im- possible. By not allowing lodgers to be taken in by enforcing a few other simple rules which it is necessary to make with the labouring classes, and by having my tenants in nearly every ease directly ender me as their land- lord, I firmly believe that I have improved their condition both physically and- morally. - Now, gentlemen,,as to the master who employe the labourer. When I, as an owner of eottaee property, have done as much as I pos- sibly can to improve the conditiOn of the labourer, much still rests with the master who employs him. ' I believe, gentlemen, a good master makes a good man. I believe, if a little more attention is paid in looking after the Isbourers we employ, we may-mike them, in many cases, much more

efficient, and give them a much greater interest in the soil on which /hey work and the prosperity of the master who employs them. I believe that - when we take labourers from another- farm, by making a few inquiries into their characters at the place-which they have left—by paying the same kind attention to them that we pay to our domestic servants—by taking, in short, en interest in them which we have not hitherto displayed—we might induce among labourers a reefed for character which at present does not exist sufficiently- in our district." Referring to the recent tea-festival at Benham, given by Lord Albemarle, and that happy innovation on the practice of giving largess to the labourers,

he said—" I believe that the giving of largess has a most injurious effect

upon our labourers ; in many cases I think it is the first introduction to the beer-shop. In saying this, I don't wish for a moment to lessen the number of holidays and indulgences which our labouring classes possess; for they

are few enough now, and I should be rather inclined to increase than to di- minish-them. it may be said that this custom of largess is an old custom ; but . if the custom, though old, is a bad one, there, is no reason why we should not abandon it Our forefathers lived on acorns and mast ; but that is no reason

why we should return to that food. If an old custom is a bad one, let us get rid of it, I believe that the plan carried out at Benham by Lord

Albemarle and the clergy and gentry of that district would prove of ines- timable benefit to the county if it were adopted throughout Norfolk. One of the great evils we have to contend against is the vice of drunkenness. As an employer, I find I can deal with men, let their vices be what they will, if they are not given to drunkenness. With the drunkard I can do nothing. On the Friday, when he is paid, he goes to his beer-shop, and he won't ap- pear again till Tuesday ; and then he will come back in such a state that it is useless to employ him." He hoped the society would endeavour to eradi- cate that great evil of the county—drunkenness ; and in aid thereof, he would give all that he has been accustomed to give in the way of largess, and double the sum, in furtherance of that object.

Touching on the question of education, he proposed the establishment of a library for the poor, and schools for adults. "The great difficulty we have to contend with is this : it is all very well to talk about schools and educa- tion, but we hold out such inducements to boys six or seven years old, that in a large family it would be very unnatural if fathers kept their sons at school when they can earn three or four shillings a week. Boys in this dis- trict of Norfolk can get certain employment when they are seven or eight years old ; they are removed from achool at about that age ; and I think the most desirable plan would be to endeavour, if possible, to teach those boys in adult schools, when they are old enough to see for themselves that it is de- sirable to learn."

The Earl of Ellenborough attended the annual dinner of the Winch- comb Agricultural Society last week, and made a speech. Mr. Holland M.P., who presided, had stated that during the last sixteen years 597 premiums, amounting to 11981., have been distributed to labourers; and Lord Ellenborough took upon himself to state that the object of the so- ciety is not to offer pecuniary reward for good conduct, but to give the -well-conducted person a public testimony that he is entitled to honour and respect. Soldiers who fight for Is. 6d. a day do not fight for that alone ; it is the hope of honour that is their reward. "And as far as we can in our humble way as agriculturists, we endeavour to promote the same feeling among labourers, by giving them the highest mark we can bestow of our respect and consideration." If these societies do not exist in the manufacturing districts, it is because "the numbers are so enor- mous that it is impossible to distinguish individuals." But that is no reason why they should not exist in the rural districts.

At the recent anniversary meeting of the West Buckland Agricultural Society, Lord Ebrington presided, in the absence of his father. In the course of his address he remarked, that although the children of the smaller farmers are making progress, yet, compared with the children of labourers who have the advantage of free institutions established by pri- vate benevolence and largely-endowed by the State, they are losing ground. This was the preface to an offer of 251. for three years to any farmer's son who should pass the best examination in English history, geo- graphy, and practical mathematics.

Other meetings of Agricultural Societies have recently taken place ; among them those of the Surrey Society and the Marlborough Associa- tion. Mr. Alcock presided over the former, and Earl Bruce over the latter. The topics dilated on were war, the price of corn, the necessity of improv- ing the dwellings of agricultural labourers, and doing something to arrest drunkenness among them.

The annual meeting of the Canterbury Diocesan Board of Education, held last week at Maidstone, was unusually well attended. The Arch- bishop of Canterbury presided ; the principal speakers, besides the chair- man, were the Earl of Romney, Earl Stanhope, Lord Sydney, Sir Walter Stirling, Sir Walter James, High Sheriff, and Mr. Deedes M.P. The report showed a flourishing financial condition—a balance in hand of 9011.12s. 5d. Archdeacon Harrison mentioned, that although the schools are progress- ing, great difficulties are caused by the early age at which pupils leave the schools. The increased demand for labour, in consequence of the war drafting off the men, has reduced the average age of the pupils to ten years, and the average period of school-attendance to one year and a half. Sir Walter Stirling urged the necessity of extending education by means of the Diocesan Board, especially when the people are seeking to augment their share of the duties and responsibilities of government. He thought the meeting would agree with him, that if the people were to legislate on matters of State policy—on the sacred subjects of religion and the Church—on the mysteries of finance, credit, trade, commerce, and ma- nufactures, and on those nicer questions affecting the honour and inde- pendence of the nation—it was right that they should comprehend the one and appreciate the other. They should learn that the policy of a state is to regard, not the interests of a particular party or faction, but the safety and welfare of all—that the first law should regard the general advantage, " salus populi, supreme lex " ; that the combination of Church and State was not "to render the Church political, but to make the State religious" ; that, allowing the greatest toleration to other sects and denominations, the Established Church must be maintained for the benefit of all classes, and of the cause of religion itself, at all hazards and at every risk ; that matters of trade and commerce should be conducted on the freest and most unrestricted principles, for the purpose of stimulating com- merce, protecting industry, and insuring the greatest abundance to the greatest number ; that the honour of a country was like that of an individual, "the immediate jewel of his soul," and that the wealth of nations could never form an equivalent to any nation for the loss of its independence. When these principles were sufficiently inculcated, then would be the time for an extension of the electoral franchise, and giving more power to the mass of the population. With regard to the various classes, he considered there are two of special interest at the present moment —he alluded to the agricultural labourer and the manufacturing artisan. The one they should seek to make more useful, and the other less mischiev- ous. The numbers of the first have been so thinned by emigration and the demands of the war, that it is hard to supply their places ; and the only way that he was aware of to repair the deficiency would be to increase the use- fulness of those who remain, which only could be accomplished by instruc- tion, and enlightenment. So, reversing the notion often applied to tailors— that much libelled class—that it requires nine to make a man, his object should be to make one tailor equal to nine men ; and as a decimal is now more in fashion than a nonal calculation, if they could make an agricultural labourer ten times the man he was before, it would reflect honour on the Diocesan Board and confer a public benefit at the same time. Among the happy results of education Sir Walter reckoned the bear- ing of our soldiers in the Crimea, who, superior in enlightenment to the Russian serfs, have been a match for superior numbers ; the bearing of the English nation in 1848, and again during the attempted Papal ag- gression. The last attempt, defeated by the intelligence of the people, was that of the Peace Society, who tried to induce the people to sell their birthright for a mess of pottage. The Earl of Romney took a view not so agreeable to the meeting, The course pursued by the Government with respect to the Queen's Let. ter showed a leaning against the principles of education adopted by the society. Then, the lower classes care nothing about religion, and are ensnared by infidelity, so sedulously spread among them. These facts call for increased exertion. As a remedy counteracting in some measure the evils arising from the children leaving school at so early an age, he proposed adult schools; and expressed his belief that the reason why young persons are disinclined to religion is, that when children they were crammed with it during the whole of Sunday. "That is what nobody would like."

As might be expected, the chief speakers concurred in declaring against any national system of education that does not include a sound religious basis. The resolutions agreed to, except one for establishing schools for adults, were formal.

The great interest felt in the reformation of young criminals has made the visit of M. Demetz to this country unusually appropriate. He had been staying at Heath House, near Bristol, with Mr. Commissioner Hill; and, on Saturday last, at the invitation of Mr. Hill, a meeting of ladies and gentlemen was held at the Guildhall of Bristol, to hear M. Demetz on the system pursued at Mettray. Among the company present were— Mr. William Miles, M.P. for East Somerset; Colonel Burrowes ; Reverend W. C. Osborn, Chaplain of the Bath Gaol ; Reverend E. Chapman, of Clevedon; Messrs. Lee, Thornton, T. C. Parr, H. Thomas, &c. ; Mrs. Sawyer, foundresa of the Park Row Asylum for Discharged Female Prison ers ; the Misses Hill, and several other ladies. M. Demetz, who wore the cross of the Legion of Honour, having been introduced to the com- pany by Mr. Hill, proceeded to deliver an address in the French language, of which the following is the substance.

"My attention was drawn to the subject of reforming young offenders by the numbers of children brought before me in the performance of my duty as Judge at Paris. Many of these were no higher than my desk ; and, as there were at that time no establishments for the reformation of juveniles only, I was obliged to consign all to prisons, where they were associated with grown-up criminals, most of them the most hardened of their class ; where, moreover, the treatment for children was the same as for adults, and which, consequently, I knew to be utterly unfit for them. M. de Courteilles and myself commenced the institution of Mettray in July 1839, by assembling twenty-three youths of respectable parentage whom for six months we occupied ourselves in training for teachers. We thus began the Ecole Preparatoire, or school for officials ; which I believe to be the most important feature of the in- stitution,—so important, indeed, that if that were to be given up Mettray itself must cease to exist. In January 1840, we admitted twelve young criminals, and very gradually increased the number. Mettray has first for its basis religion, without which it is impossible for such an institution to succeed ; secondly, the family principle for a bond ; and thirdly, military discipline for a i means of inculcating order. The military discipline adopted at Mettray is this,—the lads wear a uniform, and they march to and from their work, their lessons, and their meals, with the precision of soldiers, and to the sound

of a trumpet drum. But, as the sound of the trumpet and the drum leads men on to perform acts of heroism, and to surmount the greatest diffi- culties, may it not reasonably be employed with the same object at a reforma- tory school, where, in resisting temptation and conquering vicious habits, true heroism is displayed, and a marvellous power of overcoming difficulties must be called forth ? A striking proof of the hold the system had obtained over the minds of the boys, was given at the time of the revolution of 1848. France was then from one end of the country to the other in a state of anarchy, and all the Government schools were in rebellion. At Mettray, without walls, without coercion, there was not a sign of insubordination ; not a single child attempted to run away. It was in allusion to the absence of walls M. le Baron de la Crosse, Secretaire du Senat, observed—' Here is a wonderful prison, where there is no key, but the clef des champs ! If your children remain captive, it is proved you have discovered the key of their hearts.' During the revolution, a band of workmen came to Mettray with flags flying, and trumpets sounding, and, meeting the youths returning tired from field-labour, their pickaxes on their shoulders, thus addressed them My boys, do not be such fools as to work any longer. Bread is plenti- ful ; it is ready for you without labour.' The chef who was conducting the lads, and who behaved with the greatest calmness and tact, immediately cried, 'Halt! form in line.' The lads, being accustomed to march like soldiers, immediately formed. The chef then stepped forward and said to the men, 'My friends, you have learned to labour ; you have a right to rest ; but leave these lads; let them learn now, and when their turn comes they may rest as you do.' The men gave way, the youths marched home, and Mettray was saved—saved, as I believe, by our habit of military discipline. Had those lade been walking homewards without rule like a flock of sheep, the men would have got among them, carried away one or two, and the rest would have followed ; but, drawn up in line, they met the attack in one body, and thus it was repelled."

M. Demetz proceeded to give other interesting details of the system pursued at Mettray, and referred to the hopes which were to be enter- tained respecting it and similar establishments for the reformation of the young in crime.

/dr. Hill, addressing M. Demetz in his own language, thanked him on the part of the audience for the valuable information he had afforded, and for having given to the world the noble model of a reformatory institution which existed at Mettray. Mr. Miles M.P. and some of the other gentle- men also tendered their personal acknowledgments to M. Demetz, and the meeting separated.

There is a Reformatory Institution in Yorkshire, and it does not seem inclined to slumber over the task it has undertaken. At the first public meeting, held at York last week,—the Earl of Zetland in the chair,--a report was adopted recommending immediate action, and proposing a plan. The object of the society is to establish a single school-farm. The Earl of Carlisle has offered a site of forty-three acres near to Castle Howard on reasonable terms, and that offer the society has determined to accept. They also agreed upon the rules for the regulation of the so- ciety's affairs, and appointed a committee to conduct them.

At the opening of the Birmingham Court of Quarter-Sessions, on Tues- day, Mr. M. D. Hill, Q.C., the Recorder, delivered a charge to the Grand Jury, in which he reviewed the ticket-of-leave system, as it is called, be- ginning with the abolition of transportation. He showed how the im- pulse then given to the reformation of the criminal code has subsequently tended, almost blindly, to diminish the severity of punishments—even to diminish the duration of long imprisonments; which bore a deceptive appearance of novelty, since the prolonged imprisonment for which trans- portation was often commuted was overlooked while the larger sentence remained in use, He advocated two essential principles in the system of " penal servitude," which allow the prisoner to work his way out of pri-

son, and give the power of revoking his licence or ticket-of-leave if he does not behave consistently with the order of society. The system is imperfect, and its full benefits can only be attained when we have a thorough change in the law- " Such a change as will enable those who administer the criminal justice of the country to retain in custody all such as are convicted of crime until they have, by sure and unequivocal tests, demonstrated that they have the will and the power to gain an honest livelihood when at large. You must be content that they shall be retained until habits of industry are formed— until moderate skill in some useful occupation is acquired—until the hard lesson of self-control is mastered—in abort, until the convict ceases to be a criminal, resolves to fulfil his duties to God and to man, and has surmounted all obstacles against carrying such resolutions into successful action. But as no training, however enlightened and vigilant, will produce its intended effects on every individual subjected to its discipline, what are we to do with the incurable? Gentlemen, we must face this question. We must not flinch from answering, that we propose to keep them in prison until they are re- leased by death. You keep the maniac in a prison (which you call an asy- lum) under similar conditions. You guard against his escape until he is taken from you, either because he is restored to sanity or has departed to another world. If, gentlemen, innocent misfortune may and must be so treated, why not thus deal with incorrigible depravity ?" The present system is imperfect for two reasons. In the first place, it is not the practice to revoke the ticket-of-leave until the holder shall have committed a new crime, notwithstanding the most notorious neces- sity for revocation. Thus, lately, Mr. Jardine the Magistrate mentioned that he knew of some forty ticket-of-leave men living in the neighbour- hood of the court in notorious bad life, aiding in offence; yet unrestrained. In the second place, the ticket-of-leave is to be revoked without the safe- guard of a new trial ; and the omission of that ceremony, instead of leav- ing the Secretary of State greater freedom of action, checks him by placing upon him a responsibility to which our customs are repugnant, and the power is practically disused. Hence the system of penal servitude is blamed for not effecting results which could only be attained by carry- ing it out completely. Let the prisoner learn that each day's labour will tell upon his liberation ultimately, and upon the improvement of his con- dition in the meanwhile, and he will be trained at once in habits of in- dustry and habits of self-control. Let the punishment for lapses consist in subtraction from the fund created by his labour, to the mortification of his palate and the retardation of his freedom. These principles, suggested by Archbishop Whately, have been reduced by Captain Maoonochie to a system capable of practical application for adults; and they have been perfectly carried out at Mettray for juvenile offenders.

The Carlisle manufacturers have just advanced the wages of their hand- loom weavers 10 per cent; a second increase of that amount within a month.

Mr. Oliver was adjudicated a bankrupt, in the Liverpool District Court of Bankruptcy, on Saturday, on the application of the Bank of the City of Que- bec, whose debt is 60001. An attempt is to be made to annul this pro- ceeding.

The Ruabon colliers and miners are still on strike. Great distress prevails, though some hundreds of the workmen have removed to other parts to obtain employment.

Johanna Dutton, a farmer's wife, is in custody at Nottingham for the murder of one of her children, an infant three years old, which she is said to have drowned in a pond, after attempting to poison it with laudanum.

Two Russian cadets, 'Finns, have escaped from the infirmary of Lewes Gaol ; a feat, it appears, very easily accomplished.