ZurrlInuraus.

Sir Henry Bulwer has been appointed to the post of Ambassador at Constantinople in succession to Lord Stratford de Itedcliffe. Sir Henry has served as a diplomatist for thirty years,—at Vienna, the Hague, Paris, Brussels, Constantinople, St. Petersburg, Madrid, Washington, Florence.

The Honourable Edward Morris Erskine, now Secretary to her Majesty's Legation at Turin, has been appointed Secretary to her Majesty's Legation at Washington. The Honourable Lionel Sackville West, now First Paid Attache to her Majesty's Legation at Berlin, has been appointed Secretary to her Majesty's Legation at Turin.

The City Article of the Times of Thursday contained an account of a correspondence which has passed between Captain Maconochie Welwood, one of the shareholders of the Western Bank of Scotland, and Sir Archi- bald Alison, the functionary under whom any investigation should be conducted into the concern. Captain Welwood desired to know if the directors could not be prosecuted. He referred Sir Archibald to exami- nations which have lately been conducted in courts under his own sheriff- dom, including that of Monteith, who was proved to have been a debtor of the Western Bank for 123,8061., and to have informed the directors of his total inability to pay or secure the amount just a month previous to the half-yearly meeting when they recommended their last dividend of 9 per cent. The admission pf Mr. Flemming, the interim manager, that there was " no doubt in the world a large amount of the debts in sus- pense to the bank were valued at the balance of 1856 and not written off, and that debts which were exhausted prior to 1856 were carried for- ward at that date," was likewise cited as a strong indication that the crime specified by Lord Campbell as one from the consequences of which no directors could henceforth escape, namely, that of publishing false balance-sheets and declaring deceptive dividends, must have been fallen into. Sir Archibald says the facts referred to cannot be taken as legal evidence. Then he vindicates the directors.

The Western Bank, he says, conducted its business in a confidence " founded on the belief in strongly inculcated by statements made by the most respectable Members of Parliament, and in the Times and other popu- lar journals, that no limits could be assigned to the progress and prosperity of British commerce under the system of free trade, and that all danger of a collapse was prevented by the restrictions imposed by statute upon our cur- rency, so that every real transaction could stand upon its own basis." ".It may be very true,' continues Sir Archibald, " that the fallacy of all these sanguine views has now been completely demonstrated, and that the ruin of the Western Bank may be in a great measure traced to a long course of acting upon them. But that does not prove that the persons so acting upon them were guilty of criminal acts. It only shows that they shared in a de-

lusion then common, in truth all but universal, in the ' country and strongly inculcated by all its leading practical men." " The fact, "he adds, " of the Western Bank Directors having paid dividends upon the shares when they should have made calls for losses does not of itself either infer criminal intent, or evince a recklessness, in law equivalent to it ; for in nine eases out of ten in previous years the same conduct had been attended not only with no loss, but with immense profits to all concerned. And the same happy result might probably have ensued in this instance, were it not that a tornado suddenly and unexpectedly arose from the drain of gold to .Ame- rica, which our monetary laws necessarily rendered the means of occasion- ing such a run upon the Bank of England and all other banks as involved them all in difficulties, and compelled many of them, including the Western Bank, to stop payment."

There were a good many parties on Saturday. Lord Palmerston gave a banquet to the Duke of Malakoff; and Lady Palmerston afterwards held an assembly. The Speaker had his twelfth Parliamentary dinner. The Earl and Countess of Malmesbury had a dinner-party, including the Duchess and Princess Mary of Cambridge. In the earlier part of the day, the Duchess and Princess had attended Miss Coutts's afternoon reception. Sir John and Lady Pakington gave a dinner-party at the Admiralty ; Lady Molesworth also entertained a circle of guests.

The Speaker is indefatigable in feasting the Members of the House of Commons : he gave a thirteenth banquet on Wednesday.

The Duke of Malakoff dined with the Earl and Countess of Derby on Wednesday.

Marshal Bosquet is alarmingly ill at Paris : he has been visited by the Archbishop of Paris.

It is said that M. Thiers is about to publish his memoirs, in a single volume, entitled " Simple Notes, by Adolphe Thiers, ex-Minister."

According to the Augsbury Gazette, the Emperor Napoleon III. is said to have received a petition, with numerous signatures, in which the Count de Horny is asked for as Vospodar of Moldo-Wallachia !

The Reverend E. W. Benson, one of the Masters of Rugby School, has been appointed Master of Wellington College.

"Big Ben " has reappeared in more than his pristine vigour; Messrs. Mears of Whitechapel have recast him ; he has been hung, and rung—to the astonishment of the teeming population of that uninviting neighbourhood. The new Big Ben is ornamented with Gothic figures and tracery ; and his tone is perfect—E fiat ; he is about two tons lighter than he was, and is pro- nounced all the better for the diminution.

If the Atlantic cable is safely deposited, there will be established a tele- graphic communication from Constantinople to New Orleans. It is calcu- lated that a message leaving the Turkish capital at two o'clock in the after- noon would arrive at New Orleans at six ! The first message direct from Constantinople to London, on the 2d instant, came " in less than no time it left at 11.45 in the evening but arrived at 8.57 the same evening, beat- ing the sun by three hours. [Thus is realized a step in the calculation of the prophet who foresaw the time when even the traveller himself might reach his destination " sooner than he could stop at home."] It is stated that Hull is to be the great intermediate station of the Trans- atlantic and British and Irish Telegraph Company for the transmission of messages between America and the continent of Europe. A four-wire cable is now being laid in the neighbourhood of Hull for this purpose. London, Liverpool, Manchester, and Glasgow will be placed in direct communication with Hull, as well as with Yalentia, on the Irish coast, whence messages will be received from America.

A slight increase is made in the wages of the artisans and labourers in the Royal Dockyards. Our Government is about to make a present to the Emperor of the French : it is not a very handsome one. It is the " hearse " which conveyed the body of the Exile of St. Helena to the tomb. It was constructed from the lower portion of the carriage in which Napoleon was wont to ride about the island. This makeshift vehicle has been deposited at Woolwich since 1819 ; it has fallen into decay, but is to be furbished up before it is sent to France.

The Madrid Espana announces the receipt of news from the Philippine Islands to the effect that the Captain-General, in obedience to orders from home, had despatched a battalion of 500 men in the French vessel Durance to Canton, to assist the English and French in garrisoning that city.

Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson have sold the collection of autograph letters fonned by the late Mr. Croker. The amount produced was 12151. There were 200 letters written by or to Nelson. One portion of these, the correspondence (private and official) principally of naval and military men and statesmen, and Nelson's letters in reply, and his sea journals, sold for anos. Love-letters to Lady Hamilton produced from 1/. to 161. each.

The large New York publishing firm of Harper and Brothers, which sus- pended during the crisis, have resumed business by paying in full. There has been an important sale of short-horned cattle, belonging to Mr. Cartwright, at Aynho in Northamptonshire. A cow, "Lady Spencer," brought 140 guineas; a splendid bull, "Second Duke of Cambridge," was smocked down at the same price. The total sum produced amounted to nearly 30001.

A specimen of the martin was lately trapped on the hill of Stracathro instead of a rabbit. It is twenty-four inches long, with rather a fierce appearance. It is seldom to be found in this quarter, but it is not so rare in the West Highlands. It is six inches longer than the one Goldsmith speaks of in his History of Animated Nature, where he says it is the most beautiful of all beasts of prey ; and we might congratulate Sir James Camp- bell on his getting rid of so formidable an enemy to the game in the district. The fur of these animals is very fine and highly prized.—Brechin Ad- rertiser.

The health of London is now good. The number of persons who died last week, 1056, was 69 less than the preceding week, and 161 under the corrected average.

Mr. Peter M. K. Godfrey, late Lieutenant on board the Formidable at Sheerness, has by an Admiralty order been struck off the Nary list, in con- sequence of his having deserted from his ship while under arrest in his cabin, pending a court-martial ordered upon him.

The city of Toledo having resolved to present 70,000 piastres to the first person who should take a locomotive into that city, M. Salamanca took charge of the first locomotive which arrived there, and received the sum.

In our paper last week on " Irish University Reform " a misprint escaped correction. It must have been perfectly intelligible to those who under- stand the arrangements in Dublin University ; but strangers may not so readily guess that the " Professorship of Trinity " should have been printed "Professorship of Divinity."