Or Zan:Tato.

The Mrmsionhouse banquet to her Majesty's Ministers, which annual- ly occurs at this season of the year, enjoys also its share of interest de- rived from the great events of the day, and from the fact that during the period of its celebration, on Saturday last, the Queen's messenger from St. Petersburg arrived in London with the "no answer" of the Czar. The Ministers who dined with the Chief Magistrate of the City were Lord Aberdeen, the Lord Chancellor, Lord Granville, Lord Clarendon, the Duke of Newcastle, Mr. Gladstone, the Duke of Argyll, and Mr. Sidney Herbert. The French, Turkish, Austrian, Prussian, American, Bavarian, Danish, Sardinian, Neapolitan, Dutch, Portuguese, and Peruvian Minis- ters, were also present; and among an illustrious company of Peers and Commons there were some of the recently-appointed officers of the East- ern expedition—General Sir de Lacy Evans, Brigadier-General Eyre, Bri- gadier-Generankirey, and Colonel Pennefather. Dublin sent her Lord Mayor, and Edinburgh her Lord Provost ; and there were several other chief magistrates besides.

In proposing the toast of the Army and Navy, the Lord Mayor said that was a momentous day for England, for it had been stated that it might be regarded as the last day of European peace. Lord Hardinge, speaking for the Army, expressed the greatest confidence in Lord Raglar... Admiral Berkeley, speaking for the Navy, said he had run a gallant race for the command of the fleet ; and, rather than be left behind, he had offered to serve under Admiral Napier ; but he had not been a successful competi- tor. In proposing her Majesty's Ministers, Lord Mayor Sidney called upon the citizens of this great empire, one and all, to give them their con- fidence and support ; for if they drew the sword, it would only be after every means of maintaining peace have been exhausted ; and when the sword is drawn, neither Government nor people will hesitate to carry on the war with vigour, so as to insure a speedy return of peace. Lord Aberdeen replied-

" My Lord Mayor, my Lords. Ladies, and Gentlemen, on the part of her Majesty's Government I beg to express to you our acknowledgments for the honour you have conferred upon us, and for the splendid hospitality with which we have been received. It is in moments of national difficulty and trial that these testimonies of the support and good-will of our fellow-coun- trymen become doubly valuable, and at a moment like the present you may believe that they are fully appreciated by us. My Lord Mayor, in this hall, a year ago, I declared that the policy of her Majesty's Government was a policy of peace. (Cheers.) I repeated that declaration elsewhere, and, in- deed, on all possible occasions ; and, if our expectation has been disappointed, it has not been for want of efforts to realize that policy. Indeed, if thikbad not been the case, if the truth and sincerity of our declarations had not been admitted, we should not have received that general assent and support throughout the country which it has been our fortune to experience. (Loud cheers.) I shall not think it inconsistent if, even at this crisis, I repeat that declaration ; for although it is too true that very shortly we may have to seek peace by other means than those which we have hitherto employed, still peace is our main object. And, my Lord Mayor, in pursuing this ob- ject, it is a great satisfaction to her Majesty's Government to be acting with an ally from whom we have from the first experienced the utmost cordiality, truth, and loyalty. (Loud cheers.) I recollect that my distinguished friend, (Count Walewski,) whom I see near me, joined with me last year in the

hope of peace. I have no doubt we shall pursue that object together and by the same means ; and, although war may be carried on with vigour and with energy, still I think we must entertain a firm resolution to terminate that war as speedily as it possibly can be terminated, consistently with the na- tional honour." (Loud cheers.) En speaking for the Foreign Ministers, Count Walewski alluded to the fact that nearly all the Powers of Europe and America were present as a proof how well the world looks upon the coming struggle. Peace they had desired and exerted themselves to maintain ; their efforts had been fruitless, but he might be permitted to cite the words of his Sovereign— "Le temps des conquetes eat passe sans retour."

"Hee guerre enterprise pour defendre le bon droit, pour soutenir le foible (entre le fort, et pour sauvegarder lea traites, ne put, ne dolt, inquieter per- Bonne. Les anus lea plus fervents de la paix doivent eux-memes envisager sans crainte une semblable guerre, ear elle ne peutgue raffermir dans l'avenir les bases sur lesquels repose la paix du monde. L'intime union qui exists si heureusement, non seulemeet entre lea deux Gouvernements de France et d'Angleterre, mais entre lea deux marines, et qui existera, yen ai la convic- tion, entre lea deux armees—cette union qui se consolide de jour en jour davantage, eat la garantie la plus certaine qui puisse etre offerte centre le retour des evenements regrettables qui out si tristement marque le commence- ment du eiecle—eette union qui s'etend, qui se manifesto d'un bout du monde raurre, et dont la cordialite et rintimite n'ont pas, 4e crois, des precedents dans rhistoire, inaugurera glorieusement la nouvelle ere dans laguelle nous entrees, et qui a ete si fortement caracterisee par le Souyerain que eel rhonneur de representer." Count Walewski was greatly cheered both in the course of his speech and after beast down. The Bishop of London returned thanks for "the Church," the Lord Chancellor for "the House of Peers," and Mr. Gladstone for "the House of Commons."

"If there be one respect more than another," said Mr. Gladstone "in which I should venture to claim for the House of Commons—not for the pre- sent House of Commons in particular, but for the House of Commons of English history—any peculiar credit, it is this, that whereas it has so fre- quently been the tendency and the vice of popular assemblies to enlarge un- duly the province of their own power by acts of overweening aggression, this House of Commons, of which we as Englishmen are proud, has known, almost at all periods, and sometimes even in very stormy periods of history,

hew to maintain at once its own rights and privileges, and to respect the

rights and privileges of others, whether it has been in relation to that august assembly which shares with the House of Commons the great duty of legis- lation, or whether it is in respect to those municipal and local institutions which are equally characteristic of the genius of our country. At all times the House of Commons has known how to observe and maintain the bounds of what is due to them as well as of what is due to itself, and to uphold their authority with the same zeal and anxiety which it has shown in ruaintaining its own. And I need not say that we are glad to see the head and the pat- tern of that local and that municipal power in the body over which you so worthily preside. My Lord Mayor, I might indeed have been more fortu- nate in the moment at which I address you. In other years we have had more flattering accounts to present to the country, and less urgent demands to make upon it. It has been the happy fortune even of her Majesty's pre- sent advisers to make proposals to Parliament, in days less critical and under neees.sities less urgent, which have had the effect of greatly lightening the burdens of the people, and of assisting to enlarge the resources of our in- dustry and of our commerce. At the present day, the ease is far otherwise. It has been our duty within the last few weeks to urge upon Parliament, and it has been the choice and the pleasure of the House of Commons to answer readily to that call, to make additions to the charge that weighs upon the people for great public purposes connected with the honour and the duty of the country. And as a member of the Government and as a representative of the people, in either capacity I cannot too strongly express my sense of the manner in which that demand has been met, not only within the walls of Parliament but throughout the country, without the slightest symptoms of murmur or discontent. I believe that if we seek the reasons of this con- tentment, they are these,—first of ell, I find the reason of it in the free in- stitutions with which we are blessed ; and secondly, in the conviction which pervades every class and every rank of the community, that if a time has arrived for increased demands and augmented burdens, at least the devoted endeavours of the Government and of Parliament have not been wanting in order to avert that unhappy necessity. And as they have used every effort to avert it, so there is a like conviction that now, when that necessity has arrived, they will face it as becomes Englishmen, supported by the energies of their fellow-countrymen and by the sympathies of Christendom." (Loud cheers.) At a meeting of the Court of Common Council, on Wednesday, it was unanimously agreed that the Court should petition Parliament to abolish or alter the oaths of allegiance, supremacy, and abjuration, and that all classes of her Majesty's subjects may be rendered equally eligible to hold public offices of trust without reference to their religious opinions.

The new Alderman for the ward of Cheap, in the room of Mr. Alderman Thompson, is Mr. Hartley Kennedy. Mr. Thorpe, nephew of the late Alder- man Thorpe, was nominated, lost the show of hands, and demanded a poll But in the interval, satisfied that the majority of voters was against him, he withdrew.

The Literary Association of the Friends of Poland dined together at the London Tavern on Thursday, instead of dancing at the Guildhall ; and 10001. was subscribed in aid of the funds. The gathering is remarkable for the persons who took an active part in it, and for the fact that the flags of Poland and Turkey hung aide by side in the name The lard Mayor presided ; and among the more conspicuous persons who spoke were, Lord Shaftesbury, Prince Czartoryski, Lord Dudley Stuart, Lord Harrowby, Lord Beaumont, Lord Albemarle, and Lord Yarborough. The House of Commons was represented by thirteen Members ; and on the whole the proceedings, deriving interest from the events of the day, were well sus- tained .14 nunierene meeting of persons who sympathize with the operatives of Preatest was held in St. Martin's Hall, on Wednesday ; Mr. William Coningham presiding. Among the speakers were Mr. George Cowell, Mr. William Newton, and Mr. Lloyd Jones. The resolutions proposed, and carried without dissent, condemned the conduct of the manufacturers and magistrates at Preston, expressed sympathy with the operatives, and pledged the meeting to give them extraordinary and continuous support.

At a crowded Meeting of the inhabitants of Lambeth, on Thursday, a resolution was passed to the effect that the meeting viewed with great alarm the Settlement and Removal Bill now before Parliament. The Borough Members spoke on opposite aides ; Mr. Williams opposing, Mr. Wilkins-se commending the bill..

The rector of St. James's, Westminster, has found that although the population of the parish amounts to 36,400 persons, there is not free church accommodation for more than 810 adults. He proposes, as a remedy, to raise 15,0001., to be expended partly in increasing the free seats in existing cherishes atid chapels, and partly in erecting a new church. The Bishop of London subscribes 10004 on condition that 4000/. be raised in sums of not less than 500/. Lord Derby, Lord Bristol, and Sir Walter Farquhar, have promised 5001. each.

The Council of King's College have appointed the Reverend Mr. Perowne to the new Professorship of English History, and the Lecture- ship of Modern History.

Mr. C. H. Hoole, of the Islington Proprietary School, has obtained the open Lusby scholarship at Magdalen Hall, Oxford.

The Lambeth Baths and Washhouses, in the Westminster Road, were publicly opened on Wednesday, in the presence of the Archbishop of Canterbury, Mr. Wilkinson, one of the borough Members, and other gentlemen. There are a first-class and a second-class swimming bath for men, and private baths for both sexes.

Last week, two Frenchmen, named Martin and Moriam, attended the weekly meeting of the hfarylehone Board of Guardians, and applied for the use of the bakery of the workhouse in order to perform an experiment in bread-making. They assert that they can produce 150 four-pound loaves from a sack of flour, now producing only from 90 to 100. The bread, BO made, has been tested by chemical authorities in France, and they report that it contains all the qualities of the best bread and nothing prejudicial to health. The plan is a secret known only to insinventors. The application was granted.

The experiment -was made on Thursday, and was perfectly successful. Two sacks of flour, under seal, -were issued by the workhouse authorities. One was worked up by English bakers, and produced 90 loaves weigh- ing 360 pounds. The -other was worked up by the French bakers, upon the new principle, and yielded 134 loaves, weighing 520 pounds. It is admitted that the experiment was fairly performed. Many scientific men were present.

The branch railway from London to the Sydenham Palace was opened on Monday, by the Directors of the London and Brighton and the Crystal Palace Companies. The line runs to the top of the hill, and the station is connected with the Crystal Palace by a glass-covered. way.

At the close of Wednesday's sitting in the Court of Chancery, the lord Chancellor said, that as it appeared to be the wish of the temerity of the gentlemen composing the Chancery bar that the Courts should sit here during the next two terms, he would, in accordance with such wish and for the convenience of the public, sit at Lincoln's Inn and not at Westminster the next two terms. This decision was not, however, to preclude him from resuming the sittings at Westminster at some future time, if he so thought

Lord Palmerston has directed that the Churchwardens of St. Anne, 'Soho, should be summoned for not keeping two fire-engines in proper and complete order. At the fatal fire in Prince's Street, near the church, there was no parish-engine present ; it seems that there was no engine-keeper. The Churchwardens promised the Marlborough Street Magistrate that an -engine- keeper should be appointed ; and the summons was ordered to stand over.

The Police have captured, in flagrante della°, one of a gang of burglars who had plundered two houses in Upper Brunswick Terrace, Islington. The thieves had not time to carry away their spoil : it was found in the gardens of the houses. Henry Freeman, a well-known thief, was discovered in a dust-hole. He has been committed by the Clerkenwell Magistrate.

Robert Clarke has been committed by the Worship Street Magistrate for burglary. At nine o'clock in the morning, a servant of Mr. Smith, of De Beauvoir Square, entered a bedroom; Robert Clarke was in the room, and rushed under the bedstead to conceal himself; the servant retired, and told her mistress. Clarke ran down stairs, and left the house ; but Mrs. Smith raised an alarm ; and the burglar was apprehended brjoseph Case, a car- penter, from whom he struggled in vain to escape. A number of valuables belonging to Mr. Smith were found on the robber. The Magistrate awarded the gallant carpenter ten shillings.

Charles Thomas Jones, an attorney- of long Acre, and John A. Pull, his clerk, have been committed by the Bow Street Magistrate for conspiring to defraud the county of Middlesex of 2/..5s. The money was obtained for the expenses of a prosecution at the Westminster Sessions ; but it turned out that no solicitor or counsel had been employed by the prosecutor, who ex- pressly refused the services of the accused.

James Martin, a shoemaker of Clarence Gardens, St. Pancras, and his wife, have been found dead in bed with their throats cut. it would appear that Martin murdered his wife while she was asleep, and then out his own throat, his corpse falling across his wife's. He was behind with his rent, and he feared that his goods would be seized, and himself and wife driven to the workhouse. He left behind a letter to his landlord announcing his intentions.

Mary Anne Deneh, a domestic servant in Lower Brooke Street, in her twenty-first year, has committed suicide in a most determined manner. She was found in bed with a rope twisted three times round her neck and the ends grasped in her hand; a phial was found in the room which had contained laudanum : she had swallowed the poison, but it was insufficient to kill her ; then she strangled herself. A fellow named Stephen Pitt had seduced the unfortunate girl, refused to assist her with money, and had gained the af- fections of another woman, as the deceased had heard: hence her self- destruction.

The master's offices and storehouses at the Pier Head, Wart India Docks, were buret down early on Tuesday morning, in consequence of the upsetting of a naphtha lamp. i?ortuuately, the flakes; of burning matter which flew about did not set fire to any of the shipping. Two houses were destroyed, and many others more or less damaged, by a fire which broke out early on Wednesday morning, in High Street, Shad- well.

The post-boxes which were abolished some time since in the Queen's and Whitecross Street Prisons are to be restored. The prisoners have suffered much inconvenience from the change, and the keepers have represented the matter effectually to the Post-office authorities. The arrivals of grain in the Thames last week amounted to 224,225 quar- ters.