Zioullautatts.

The following singular correspondence, respecting the true position of: the Prince Consort, has been published in the Daily News, the Globe, and the Horning Post,—in the last-named journal with a. suggestion that it may be a hoax.

" To his _Royal Highness Prince Albert.

" Killiney, near Dublin, January 3. "Ma it please your Royal Highness—I have recently read with much pain and indignation, articles that appeared in the public journals contain- mg most unjust and anti-Christian accusations against your Royal Highness ; and, moved by sincere sympathy and loyal duty, I beg leave to offer, with unfeigned respect, the following observations to your Royal Highness. " The charges audaciously preferred against your Royal Highness may be comprised under two heads, first, that your Royal Highness improperly in- terposes your advice to the Queen on affairs of state ; and, secondly, that your Royal Highness is invariably present when her Majesty grants au- diences to her Ministers. Upon each of these points I will say a few words. " 1. It is utterly incorrect to allege that your Royal Highness is disen- titled to give advice on affairs of state to your royal wife. It is true that your Royal Highness cannot act as the political head of the state ; but when the Queen voluntarily selected your Royal Highness to be her consort, you be- came her head by sacred right of marriage ; and your Royal Highness is bound, by that superior relation, to afford all advice and assistance to her Majesty in executing the arduous responsibilities of royalty ; and for her Ma- jesty to forego that help, would be to deprive herself of the most important and impartial counsellor in her dominions. For what objeot can your Royal Highness have in view but that the best interests of the British crown may descend unimpaired to your royal posterity ? Depend upon it, Sir, that no presumed principle of public polity can or ought to sever your Royal High- ness from your assigned rightful headship over the Queen of these realms. " 2. The peculiar position of a female Sovereign renders it highly decorous and eligible, that in all interviews with her Ministers the Queen should en- joy the protective presence of your Royal Highness ; and the manly, open interference of your Royal Highness, should be wisely considered as an ef- fectual safeguard against even the surmised exercise of sinister influence. " In the hope that these Christian considerations will prove cheering and sustaining to your Royal Highness, I have the honour to be your Royal, Highness's obedient humble servant, THOMAS MULOCK.."

" Windsor Castle, January b.

" Sir—I ant commanded by his Royal Highness Prince Albert to ac- knowledge the receipt of your letter, and to thank you for your kind com- munication.

I have the honour to be, Sir, your very obedient servant, " Thomas Mulock, Req." " C. Game."

A Cabinet Council, attended by all the Ministers, was held at the Foreign Office on Tuesday. The Council sat four hours.

A second Cabinet Council was held at the Foreign Office on Thursday; when all the Ministers were again present. The sitting lasted two hours and a half.

The Convocation of the Province of York meets on the lst February; the Reverend W. Vernon Harcourt, Commissioner of. the Archbishop, presiding.

The text of the charter of the new Wellington College has been pub- lished. It recites that upwards of 100,0001. has.been subscribed to Sound a college for the education of the children of deceased military 01Seers who have borne commissions either in the Royal Army or the East. India Company's service ; and it appoints as Governors of.the College, Prince Albert, the Duke of Cambridge, the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Duke, of Buccleuch, the Duke of Northumberland, the Duke of Wellington, the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Marquis. of Salisbury, the Marquis of Angle- sey, the Marquis of Dalhousie, the Earl of Derby, the Earl of Aberdeen, the Earl of Ellenborough, the Earl of Ellesmere, Lord John Russell, Viscount Hardinge, Viscount Gough, the Bishop ofLondon, Lord Seaton, Lord Raglan, Mr. Sidney Herbed, Sir Jams Graham, Mr. Spencer Wei^ pole, Sir Howard Douglas, Sir Edmund Antrobus, Sir James Weir Hogg, Sir Alexander Woodford, Mr. Henry Richard Cox, Mr. Peter Richard Hoare, and the Reverend George Robert Gleig. This corporation is em- powered to hold property to the annual value of 15,000/. ; and to do all matters appertaining or incidental to a body corporate. The Queen will be the Visitor of the College. Every Governor hereafter elected by the body to fill vacancies must be approved of by a Secretary of State. The Duke of Wellington, the Commander-in-chief, the Master of the Ord- nance, and the Secretary-at-War, for the time being, will be always Go- vernors. The charter is dated the 13th December 1853.

Among other excellent administrative reforms for which the country is indebted to Lord Palmerston, not the least important or useful is the change which has been recently made in the arrangement of the " ca- lendars " of prisoners tried at Quarter-Sessions and Assizes. Those who are in the habit of attending criminal courts must have been frequently amused with the fantastic absurdities in which some provincial officials and printers revelled in this particular ; and will observe with satisfac- tion that one uniform size, type, and arrangement, is to be now provided. Tabulated statements are to be prepared, setting forth the name, age, trade, and educational acquirements of all prisoners ; the names and ad- dresses of the magistrates who committed them ; the dates of the war- rants under which they were apprehended, and the days on which they were received into custody ; their offences as charged in the commit- ments; when and before whom they were tried ; the verdicts of the juries, and the sentences and orders of court. When properly filled up, these are to be forwarded to the Home Office and bound up for future re- ference ; and by this means the whole system of criminal jurisprudence will be placed more immediately than ever under the control of the cen- tral authorities. The attention of the Government might be directed with advantage to another kindred improvement,—namely, the abolition of the monopoly in cause-lists, which is so vexatious an evil on some cir- cuits ; half-a-crown being charged in many instances for a slip of paper Coataining a dozen lines of print.

Mr. Sames Aytoun, well known as a bold and honest Liberal politician, who once stood as candidate at an election for Edinburgh, in order to rouse the flagging spirit of the Whigs, has of late years resided much in France ; and he addresses to the .Edinburgh Courant the result of his ob- servations there, for the purpose of vindicating Lord Aberdeen's Govern- ment from what he regards as unfair treatment. The backwardness in the East, he says, has not been on the English but the French side. The prevailing impression in France is, that the French throne could not stand a general war, with the consequent departure of troops from the country. But, independently of that fact, the common belief is, that Louis Napoleon is not sincere ; that notwithstanding big language, he has a per- fect understanding with the Russian Embassy in Paris ; that his Ambas- sadors and Admirals have orders to do everything in their power tq avoid a collision with Russia ; that without doubt, if Louis Napoleon found it for his personal interest to change sides and join with Russia against England, he would not have the slightest hesitation in doing so ; and that therefore it is the duty of an English Cabinet to be cautious of a French alliance, and not to trust it too far. Such are Mr. Aytoun's impressions, derived from conversation in French society, and strength- ened by a curious accumulation of circumstantial evidence. It may be observed, however, that according to past experience, France is the very last to receive the confidences of the inscrutable Emperor.

A long despatch from Commander Maguire of the Plover, in the Arctic Seas, has been published, narrating his adventures in the ice within Beh- ring's Straits, between August 1852 and August 1853. The chief point of interest, however, does not lie in the voyage, but in the bearing and conduct of the native inhabitants towards the ship and crew when they were in winter-quarters, two miles East by South-east of Point Barrow. The Esquimaux came down in numbers from their settlement hard by ; invaded the ship ; staid all day ; pilfered with great dexterity and au- dacity ; and quarrelled with the seamen. At one time there were about 500 on and around the ship. One fellow, a chief, carrying a Hudson's Bay gun, was extremely intrusive, and remained on board twelve hours.

During this period, Captain Maguire states, one of the visitors tried "to force back the after-ladder doors; and my stopping him brought about a slight scuffle between us. That did not seem to have satisfied him, as he soon afterwards came in contact with the quartermaster of the watch ; a quiet but rather short-tempered powerful young man, who, before anybody could interfere, gave him a lesson he will not soon forget; he dealt him fair English blows about the head, each of them sufficient to stun any one except an Esquimaux : but he received them until they had the effect of quite taming him ; when he was put over the side in the presence of at least sixty of his countrymen, few of whom offered to interfere, and the remainder looked on with indifference."

The natives were present one day when the crew were cleaning, dis- charging, and reloading their arms : that made them more respectful. " As a peace-offering they brought all the articles stolen from the ship for several days." After this, they were not allowed to board the ship ex- cept a few at a time. When the men went ashore, the natives played them tricks. One day a large powerful man tried to force his way over the ship's side ; a knife was drawn on the second master, Mr. Hull ; whereupon Mr. Simpson, the surgeon, produced a Colt's revolver, and " explained to him the use of its six charges ; which had the effect of keep- ing them quiet for the remainder of the day." It is remarked that the Esquimaux are gentle when in small parties, but impudent when in num- bers. They stole three sails, and Captain Maguire took possession of the chief's gun until they were restored. There was a regular attack made on the ship, but by firing over their heads the savages were kept away ; a carronade was mounted on a sledge, and the village was menaced with a visit : the sails and all the articles missing were then restored. They had been cut in pieces, and the pieces neatly sewed together by the women. Some of the fellows made themselves very troublesome ; but the patient forbearance with which they were met succeeded admirably, and no blood was shed.

It is stated that the Admiralty have determined to despatch the Plicenix, in the spring, to Beechey Island, to communicate with Sir Edward Bel- cher and convey stores.

Mr. John Sadleir, one of the Junior Lords of the Treasury, has re- signed his office. It will be recollected that Mr. Sadleir lies under the uncontradicted accusation of arresting a debtor who possessed an adverse vote for Carlow.

We have reason to believe that the Lords Commissioners of the Admi- ralty, on Monday last, unanimously decided upon recalling Vice-Admiral

the Honourable Sir Fleetwood Pellew, from the command in chief of her Majesty's ships on the East India station ' - and that Rear-Admiral Sir James Stirling proceeds immediately to take upon himself the vacant command.—Morning Herald.

Lord Harris, at present Governor of Trinidad, is spoken of as the probable Governor of Madras. His successor at Trinidad will probably be Captain Charles Elliott, R.N., now Governor of Bermuda.

Lord Brougham, who is in capital health, was expected to leave Cannes at the end of this week, on his way to London, to attend Parliament.

A report having been circulated that Lord Howden was about to fight a duel with Count Esterhazy, the Austrian Minister at Madrid, Lord

Howden has published a letter contradicting the report. In the late duel between M. Turgot and Mr. Soule' he declined to act with Count Ester- hazy, for reasons which applied to the whole diplomatic body. The best relations subsist between them.

The Duchess of Orleans narrowly escaped with her life on the 2d in- stant, at Eisenach. While driving in a sledge, the shafts broke, the horses galloped off, and the sledge was overturned. Fortunately, the Duchess was only frightened, not hurt.

It is stated that the Count and Countess de Chambord are at Eisenach, and that they pay constant visits to the Duchess of Orleans.

The Emperor of the French has sent 401. to the Societe Franeaise de Bienfaisance, founded in London by Count d'Orsay and others, fourteen years ago, for the relief of destitute Frenchmen in England.

William Carr Beresford, Marshal in the Portuguese service, General is the British Army, and a Peer of Great Britain, died on Sunday, at Bedge- bury Park. He was the illegitimate son of the first Marquis of Water- ford, and was born in October 1768. Educated in the Military Academy at Strasbourg, he entered the Army in 1786; and served in Nova Scotia, the West Indies, Toulon, (when Napoleon assisted at the siege and cap- ture,) Corsica, Egypt under Sir David Baird, at the Cape of Good Hope,, and Buenos Ayres. Returning to England in 1807, he joined the Army, in Portugal a few days after the battle of Vimiera ; and was intrusted: with the execution of the convention of Cintra. He made the campaign with Sir John Moore, and covered the retreat at the battle of Comma. In 1809 he was appointed to the command of the Portuguese Army ; which he organized, and led through the Peninsular campaign. At Al- buera he commanded in person, and defeated Soult ; but suffered great loss himself. In the subsequent battles and sieges Beresford bore his part ; and was desperately wounded at Salamanca, but recovered so as to take part in the conflict at Vittoria. In 1814 he was raised to the Peer- ' age as Baron, with a pension of 2000/. a year ; in 1823 he was made a Viscount. Under the Duke of Wellington, Lord Beresford was Master- General of the Ordnance. In 1830 he married the widow of Mr. Hope of Deepdene. For many years he has lived in retirement, at Bedgebury. By his death, the Colonelcy of the Sixtieth Rifles, and the Sixteenth Foot, as well as the Governorship of Jersey, are vacant. Lady Beresford: died in 1851.

The Colonelcy of the Seventeenth Lancers and the Governorship of Sandhurst are vacant by the death of Major-General Taylor. Ho en- tered the Army in 1804, and was made Lieutenant-Colonel on the 18th June 1815.

The project of a Staff Corps is about to be carried out in India early in the year. It is to commence experimentally with the Commissariat, who are to form a distinct corps, separated from the regiments, but with the - privilege of effecting exchanges with other Staff officers.—United Service Gazette.

The Reverend Frederick Maurice, soon after his dismissal from King's College, retired from the offices he held in the Queen's College, London, as lecturer on Moral Philosophy and English Literature, and Chairman of the Committee of Professors. He retired because he was not reelected unanimously. The journals publish the farewell correspondence between him and his brother Professors ; in which the latter, through the Reverend Richard Trench, express their affectionate regret at the loss of his ser- vices—services which had mainly contributed to secure for the College " the first charter which the Crown of Great Britain has ever granted solely for the furtherance of female education." As a token of affection for the institution, Mr. Maurice asks the Committee " to consider his share of the fund raised for paying for the charter, and discharging our obligations to the Governesses' Society, as the property of the College." The Professors request Mr. Maurice to permit his portrait to be taken so that it may hang in their hall of meeting ; and the pupils have presented him with a " beautiful inkstand."

Among the lecturers announced for the year at the Manchester Athenaeum, are the following Members of Parliament—Lord Stanley, Mr. Napier, Mr. Walter, Mr. Keogh, Lord Goderich, Mr. Isaac Butt, and Mr. Monckton Milner.

William Maltby, a scholar of the old school, and the successor of Pro- fessor Person in the office of librarian to the London Institution, died on on the 5th January, in his ninetieth year. His oldest friend was Samuel Rogers ; with whom he became acquainted at the age of nine years, when they were schoolfellows at the school of the Reverend Mr. Pickbourne of Newington Green.

The Reverend John Cook Richmond, a citizen of the United States, duly furnished with passports, travelling in Hungary, has been outraged by the Austrian authorities. He was forced to leave Kecskemet, on the 28th December ; and in the night, while resting at Felegyhaza, his room was rudely entered by soldiers, who broke the door down and threatened to shoot him dead if he did not instantly rise. He showed them his passport ; they carried him off, and rifled his pockets. He demanded per- mission to write to the American Minister at Vienna, but was refused. Subsequently, however, the officer in command did write. Matters now rapidly changed. Liberty and his papers were promised if he would depart. He refused ; and said that the question must now be settled between the Austrian Empire and the United States. Mr. Richmond, who himself gives the account from which we write, says- " 1 told the officer that it was easier to arrest an American citizen than to set him at liberty. It was finally resolved, on my part that I should demand satisfaction from Austria through the American Ambassador, and on his that I should remain under police observation until the answer came down from Vienna. This last was only a ruse to alarm me ; for in an hour my papers and passport were sent to me, with a wish that I should leave the place. This I shall do as soon as it suits my convenience. I have not been invited to pay for the broken door."

Mr. Richmond has appealed to the Federal Government.

It appears that the English engineers captured on board an Egyptian frigate at Sinope have been shamefully treated by the Russians. They were taken to Sebastopol, transferred thence to Odessa, and then marched eighty miles into the interior. They were treated as common sailors, and only allowed threepence a day. One of them was the chief engineer in the Pacha of Egypt's dockyard at Alexandria, and fully en- titled to rank as an officer. As yet the remonstrances of our diplomatic agents have produced no effect. There are five engineers in Russian hands.

" W. Ewart," in a letter to the Times, dated " Cannes, January 3," gives a shocking account of the lazaretto at Naples. The passengers from Marseilles, mostly British, were taken to Nisida, and there placed in a " dreary room without compartments, and without glass windows. In this place they were condemned to remain ten days. Among them were several English ladies." Separated only by a low wall from their place of exercise were 800 convicts ; who sent in a petition for money, and threatened to pay their neighbours a visit if their demands were not granted. The money was given. Through the night, dreadful cries were heard, "more befitting the infernal prison-house described by Dante than any modern receptacle, even for convicted felons." Mr. Ewart adds-

' It is time to ask, 1. Whether these statements are or are not true ? They are received as true at Naples, and they were stated to me and to others by the very persons who were confined in the lazaretto. " 2. Whether it is to be endured by the British Government that British subjects should be thus treated ? Whether any Government has a right to convert the condition of a traveller into that of a malefactor; and, under the plea of sanitary regulations, to subject him to well-founded apprehension, imprisonment with felons, and moral contamination ?"

Russia is likely to paya heavy penalty, for the aggressive conduct of

the Emperor, i not only in war but in commerce. It appears that the shipments of linseed, last year, were unusually large. But " for next season's shipmenta," say Messrs. Edwards and Eastty, " we have not heard of a transaction' either from the South or North of Russia. In the present political uncertainty, English merchants have not dared make their ordinary advances of hand-money to the dealers for up-country pur- chases during the winter ; and the probability therefore is, that much of last harvest's seed will remain unshipped, in the absence of the usual arrangements for its conveyance down to the various places of shipment on the breaking up of the ice."

The thaw which set in on Saturday has, happily, continued, and the country is once again free from snow ; the rivers are navigable, and in the Metropolis the waters in the Parks present nearly their usual appear- ance. The thaw has extended far over the country, and the communica- tions with all parts are again opened. The influence of milder weather has not been without its effect in Scotland and Ireland ; although there have been great fluctuations of temperature in the latter. In France the change has also been perceptible ; and by the latest accounts the naviga- tion of the Rhone was open.

Mr. E. J. Lowe of Nottingham has published some meteorological tables of the year 1863. They show that it was an unusually depressed year.

"The year 1853 has been remarkable for its low mean temperature, every month, excepting January, being below the mean for the last forty-two years. The temperature ranged over 68.2°, only rising to 82° ; and never reaching 80° in either July or August. Frosts occurred every month, except in June, July, and August: 1853 was also remarkable for the great amount of cloud in every month excepting January and May—for the whole year (on the average) three-fourths of the sky was overcast. The mean pressure was below the average in every month, excepting August, November, and December ; the range of the barometer for the year being an inch and a half nearly. The barometer descended below 29 inches in five months, and did not reach 30 inches in October. The amount of evaporation was small. The amount of rain was scarcely more than an average, yet it was spread over 192 days."

Some interesting tables have issued from the Health Office, comparing the loss of life by war and by pestilence. It appears that in twenty-two years of war, there were 19,796 killed and 79,709 wounded ; giving an annual average of 899 killed and 3623 wounded. In 1848-'49, there were no fewer than 72,180 persons killed by cholera and diarrhwa in England and Wales, and 144,360 attacked ; 34,397 of the killed were ablebodied per- sons capable of getting their own living ! Besides these deaths from the great epidemic, 115,000 die annually, on an average, of preventible dis- eases ; while 11,419 die by violence. Comparing the killed in nine great battles, including Waterloo-4740—with the number killed by cholera in London in 1848-'49-14,139—we find a difference of 9399 in favour of war. In cholera visitations, 12 per cent, sometimes 20 per cent of the medical men employed, died. The London missionaries die as fast as those in foreign countries, and there are some districts in London which snake the Mission Society ask themselves whether they have a right to send men into them. From the returns of twelve unions it is found that 3567 widows and orphans are chargeable to the cholera of 1848-'49; en- tailing an expenditure of 121,0001. in four years only.

At the termination of his visit to the Queen at Windsor, on Saturday, the Marquis of Lansdowne went to Bowood. The Earl and Countess of Granville have returned to town from a visit to Mr. Sidney Herbert, at Wilton.

Lord Hamilton Chichester died on the lot instant, at Malta.

Lord Dudley Stuart has arrived at Constantinople, and has been presented to the Sultan.

The Marquis de Castelbajac, the French Ambassador, refused to be present at the Czar's Te Deum at St. Petersburg for the butchery at Sinope.

The King of the Belgians was too unwell last week to leave the Palace of Laeken during the inclement weather to hold a Court reception at Brussels : the Duke and Duchess of Brabant officiated in his absence, the Duchess receiving the ladies. Mr. Mason, the United States Minister to France, has arrived in London, en route to iaris.

Prince Leopold of Saxe Coburg Gotha is on a visit to his brother the King Regent of Portugal.

The Duke of Parma arrived at Madrid on the 2d January.

Charles Lucien Bonaparte, Prince of Canino, has sold his Italian estates to the banker Torlonia, for 450,000 scudi' his title of Prince he sold for one scudi, to mark his appreciation of such vanities.

The Marquis de Turgot has been raised to the rank of Grand Cross of the Legion of Honour—but not for his duel with Mr. Soule.

The Earl of Ellesmere has purchased many hundred manuscript plays, those sent to the Licenser between 1737 and 1824. They frequently contain remarks, and passages omitted in the acted plays.

It is stated that the Bishop of London has intimated to the parishioners of Barking, Essex, that the clergy are on no account to refuse admission to the bodies of Dissenters into parish-churches for the purpose of having the burial-service read over them.

A new and elegant translation of Sir Walter Scott's novels is appearing at Stockholm.

The elder Didot, the celebrated Parisian printer, has just died, at the age of ninety-three.

Mr. Kight, an aeronaut, after two failures, succeeded in ascending in his balloon from Bombay. Unfortunately, the machine was carried seaward, and descended into the ocean ; many vessels put off to aid Mr. Kight, but it was feared that he had perished.

" Sam Day " the noted jockey has got his thigh broken by an accident, while on a visit to Mr. Way, at Denham House, near Uxbridge. He suffered a similar misfortune at Goodwood races in 1852.

One Peter Sosnowsky died at Moscow on the 11th October, at the age of a hundred and twenty-two.

A terrible fire occurred at New York on the 26th December. It broke out in Front Street ; sparks falling in showers fired the sails of the ship the Great Republic, 4000 tons burden, also the Walker, and the clipper White Squall. There was a high wind blowing furiously ; and the air was alive with sparks. The three ships were totally destroyed. All night the flames raged; it was so cold that the water froze as it fell upon their sides. The

White was cut adrift, and floated away, a burning mass before the wind. When the sun rose, her hull was burning low ; the water poured into her evaporated with the heat, and the sun, rising clear and cloudless, formed a perfect rainbow out of the mist from the ship. At nine o'clock she had burnt to the water's edge. It is estimated that the total value of the property destroyed by this fire is 940,000 dollars ; of which 735,000 dollars' worth are insured. The destruction of the Great Republic is regarded as a national calamity. She was quite new, and was loading for her first trip. A cask thrown overboard from the Rattlesnake in 21° 7' North latitude, 151° 31' West longitude, has been picked up at Hanula, Island of Ohan. The native who found it brought it to Honolulu. It contained a written direc- tion, requesting that the contents might be sent to the British Admiralty, in order that the current might be determined which had floated the cask until picked up. It had been 100 days afloat, and had traversed 300 miles ; show- ing a nearly Westerly current of three and a half miles in twenty-four hours, including the action of the wind on the exposed surface of the cask.

In Sweden and Norway, complaints are made of the want of snow—Lon- don could have spared them some last week. In those Northern climes snow in winter is necessary to keep up communication ; and in parts of Sweden there has been quite a famine from the stoppage of it, and from so much food having gone into the spirit-still.

The usual salutes and return of salutes by men-of-war on arriving at one port from another, on going out of harbour, &c., are abolished by Admiralty order. The standard of England and the flags of foreign nations will alone receive those gunpowder compliments in future.

There is henceforth to be a telegraphic communication between England and the Continent during the night as well as the day, and on Sundays.

The telegraphic wire is now complete between Stranraer and Carlisle ; and consequently the chief towns of Ireland are brought into full communication with those of Great Britain.

A self-acting break, which is under the control of the engine-driver, in- vented by Major Robins, has been exhibited before Prince Albert at Wind- sor, on the South-Western Railway. It is said to have acted in a successful manner in stopping a train.

Mr. Hallewell of Leeds states that malt dried by gas yields ten per cent more of saccharine matter than when dried by a cinder fire.

The Great Western Railway have commenced a coal-traffic from the Forest of Dean and South Wales. The broad waggons of this line will hold a large quantity of coals. It is expected that London and the towns on the railway will be supplied with coals at a great reduction on the prices they have paid for fuel from other sources.

The imports of gold and silver specie into London last week amounted to 1,050,0004 ; the exports were under 300,0001.

A company is proposed to be formed in London for constructing railways at the Cape of Good Hope. The intended capital is 600,0001. The promo- ters ask for a guaranteed dividend from the Colonial Government.

It is computed that the land-carriage of flour to the diggings in Victoria costs something like 624,0001. a year.

The last advises from Sydney report the departure for England of numbers of persons who had realized fortunes : several instances were mentioned of people who had from 100,0001. to 200,000/.

In the year ending 30th June last, the exports of the United States, in- cluding 5,500,000/. of specie, amounted to 46,100,0001. The exports of Great Britain for the eleven months ending 5th December last, exclusive of specie, were 80,784,5151. The exportation of corn, peas, beans, and potatoes, from Poland, has been prohibited from the beginning of this month.

By the junction, on the 1st instant, of the Steuerverein with the Zollverein, a population of 70,000,000 are now combined in the customs-union.

A merchant of New York is said to have discovered guano islands in the Caribbean Sea. He sent out ships with some degree of mystery, and they subsequently entered New York and other ports with cargoes of guano. Another report assigns the discovery to Baltimore merchants : the islands are not in any national jurisdiction, and so quite open to Yankee " annexa- tion."

In 1852, Quebec had a population of 42,052; Montreal, 57,715; Toronto, 30,775.

Slave-ships are fitting out at Oporto in the most open manner. The street-cleaners of Paris have recently been reorganized. No fewer than 2500 men and women are employed daily in cleansing the thorough- fares. Captain Eyre, of the Forty-seventh Regiment, has been convicted by a court. martial at Malta of fraudulently appropriating money. The sentence is seven years' transportation. The culprit will be sent to England.

The Town-Council of Berun, in Silesia, have been sent to prison for arson. The town possessed an unprofitable the-kiln; the Council in secret conclave resolved to burn it, as it was insured ; one of the members set it on fire, the insurance-money was obtained, and placed in the municipal treasury. The crime was subsequently discovered, and the Government law-officers pro- secuted the Councillors.

The brokers of Liverpool who resisted the Police when they interfered with the snowballing on 'Change seem to have acted under a misapprehen- sion. They considered the Exchange as a private building ; but as it is used as a thoroughfare between a number of streets, they were in error.

The New York Herald has been mulcted in 10,000 dollars for libelling the management of the New York Italian Opera.

At the recent reception at the Tuileries, an English lady, finding it very cold in the antechamber, put her satin mantle, which was lined with ermine, under her feet ; saying, at the same time, most audibly, that she would complain to the Emperor. This British boutade has highly amused the Pa- risians.

At the breaking-up of the Court reception at Brussels, last week, there was much confusion in the snow-covered streets,--while the wind was blowing furiously and the snow drifting, ladies could not get their carriages, and were struggling through the snow in their court dresses ; and some of those who thought they were fortunate in obtaining their carriages were upset in the deep drifts.

The Hueieal World tells a curious story of Mademoiselle Sontag. Before Mademoiselle S. had made her appearance a week in London, a lady sought her out and requested her with all imaginable courtesy to enliven with her talents a small private party at her house. The request was complied with, and the evening passed off delightfully. Next morning brought a warm letter of gratitude from the lady, and a "small token" in the shape of a bank-note for 1501. This Mademoiselle Sontag considered she could not ac- mt with propriety, and she instantly set out for the residence of her patroness. When she reached it she learnt that the lady had only come up from the country for a few days, and had just started on her travels, no one knew whither. So the note was retained.

In France and Belgium the custom of sending cards on New-Year's Day— the "droit de visite' —has been little practised this year : the money saved boa been devoted to alms giving.

An interesting story of female devotedness has come to light at Valence. A woman named Hypsen, a Prussian by birth, has been working in male attire as a "navvy" on the railways for five years. She had an infirm hus- band and four children ; the family were starving ; she disguised herself, worked hard, and had her wages advanced for her assiduity : with her earn- ings she supported her pretended "father" and "brothers and sisters"—her husband and her children. When her secret was discovered, gifts poured in upon her from the neighbourhood, and work more suited to her sex has been provided.

A wolf has been killed on the confines of the Arde'cbe and the Haute Loire which was four feet long without the tail, and weighed 240 pounds. M. Lc:int, who shot it, heard a splashing in the river by his house at night; he thought it was his dog, and sent his boy to open a gate for its admission. The boy had a narrow escape from the wolf; the dog rushed upon it, and struggled with it till M. Lomt had time to fire; be hit the wolf, which then became furious, and tore the dog to pieces ; it then crawled away to die.

A fine tiger in the Hull Zoological Gardens having suffered much from the growth of its claws into the fleshy part of its feet, Mr. Taylor, a vete- rinary surgeon, has drawn the claws with a forceps—after the tiger had been

ez to the action of two pounds eight ounces of chloroform and bound with ropes.

Cabmen are not obliged by law to "knock and ring" for their fares. The other day, one refused to knock at a door for a gentleman who was in his eab—he said this is a free country, and he was not bound to knock. The gentleman, an Irishman, had his repartee—" Then, by the law of this free country, I sentence you to remain in the cold for fourteen minutes without addition to your fare you

, and the sentence was carried out. Had the driver been detained ,fifteen minutes he could have demanded an extra sixpence.

At the parish-church of St. Peter, Liverpool, the baptisms average 150 weekly.

An orphan child of one of the oldest of the Irish Baronets has been re- cently admitted into the Wanstead Infant Orphan Asylum.

The number of corpses deposited in the Morgue at Paris in theyear 1853 amounted to 395-30 fewer than in 1852. There were 254 men, 51 women, and 90 new-born infants.

There are now 270 associated curling clubs in Scotland, numbering 12,000 cambers.

A donkey recently died at Fornham All Saints, in Suffolk, at the vener- able age of upwards of seventy. He formerly belonged to the Cornwallis family. His last owner fed him on bran and other soft food, as he had no teeth to eat grass.

A man was cured of hydrophobia at Udine, in Friuli, by swallowing vinegar in mistake for a medicinal potion. A physician at Padua heard of this, and tried the remedy on a patient : he gave him a pint of vinegar in the morning, another at noon, and a third at sunset ; which cured him.

In an old fort at Algiers a skeleton has been found enclosed in a wall : it -is conjectured to be that of Geronimo, a Spaniard, who was thus murdered, in 1569, for refusing to abjure his religion.

The roof of the barracks at Malaga fell in lately, and carried down the floors with it. It was early in the morning, and most of the soldiers were in the building. The loss of life has been great.

Several hundreds of Mormons lately left Copenhagen for America.

Iceland is in danger of starvation, owing, it is said, to the system of mono- poly enforced by Denmark, which has kept away the supply that would have been insured by a free commerce. Food is to be sent from Copenhagen.

James Murray Rawlings, described as a young clergyman of the Church of England, was charged yesterday, before the Bow Street Magistrate, with uttering a forged check for 801. Se., drawn on the Union Bank of London. He tendered the check to Messrs. Hewitt and Company, -drapers, High Holborn, in payment of a shawl and boa worth ten guineas. The foreman declined to cash it, but offered to send the goods anywhere, or to send to the Union Bank and get the check cashed. Saying he was in a 'hurry, the prisoner left the shop. The foreman followed him. He attempted to pass the check at another shop ; and was challenged as a swindler. He said the check was genuine ; but he had been driven, by great distress, to make " eighty " of the original " eight," and place a cipher after the 44-13."--Remanded.