311tortIlautnn

Two Cabinet Councils each attended by all the Cabinet Ministers, have been held this week.

Mr. Disraeli, as leader of the House of Commons, has issued the usual circular to his party supporters, earnestly requesting them to attend at the opening of the session, as business of great importance will be imme- diately proceeded with.

At a meeting of the Council of India, on Tuesday, at the East India Vouse, Colonel Henry Marion Durand, C.B., of the Bengal Engineers, was elected a member of the Council of India.

The Gazette of Tuesday contained copies of several addresses trans- mitted from her Indian subjects to Queen Victoria. Two come from Bombay ; one from Poona, one from Madras, one from Moorshedabad- these are native addresses. The European inhabitants of Calcutta send one, and the Madras Chamber of Commerce another. The tone of all these addresses is scarcely tinged with that peculiar and high wrought flattery hitherto characteristic of Oriental effusions.

• The following Royal warrant has been issued abolishing, in accord- ance with the wishes of Parliament, the religious State services which marked the anniversaries of Gunpowder Plot, the execution of Charles I., and the Restoration of Charles II. "Victoria It. Whereas, by our Royal warrant of the 21st day of June 1837, in the first year of our reign, we commanded that certain forms of prayer and service made for the 5th of November, the 30th of January, and the Nth of May, should be forthwith printed and published, and annexed to the Book of Common Prayer and Liturgy of the United Church of England and Ireland, to be used yearly on the said days, in all cathedrals and col- legiate churches and chapels, in all chapels of colleges and halls within our Universities of Oxford, Cambridge, and Dublin, and of our Colleges of Eton and Winchester, and in all parish churches and chapels within those parts of our United Kingdom called England and Ireland. "And whereas in the last session of Parliament addresses were presented to us by both Houses of Parliament, praying us to take into our considera- tion our Proclamation in relation to the said forms of prayer and service made for the 5th day of November, the 30th day of January, and the 29th day of May, with a view to their discontinuance. And whereas we have taken into our consideration the subject of the said addresses, and after due deliberation we have resolved that the use of the said forms of prayer and service shall be discontinued. "Now, therefore, our will and pleasure is that so much of our said Royal Warrant of the 21st day of June, 1837, in the first year of our reign, as is hereinbefore recited, be revoked, and that the use of the said forma of prayer and service made for the 5th of November, the 30th of January, and the 29th of May, be henceforth discontinued in all cathedral and collegiate churches and chapels, in all chapels of colleges and halls within our Universities of Oxford, Cambridge and Dublin, and of our Colleges of Eton and Win- chester, and in all parish-churches and chapels within the parts of our United Kingdom called England and Ireland, and that the said form of prayer and service be not henceforth printed and published with, or an- nexed to, the Book of Common Prayer and Liturgy of the United Church of England and Ireland.

"Given at our Court at St. James's the 17th of January 1859, in the 22d year of our reign. "By her Majesty's command, S. H. WALPOLE."

One hundred members of Parliament have now identified themselves with the Newspaper and Periodical Press Association for obtaining the Repeal of the Paper Duties. This amount of strength, organized with- out fuss or noise and in the course of a few weeks, speaks well for the cause. Nothing succeeds like success, says the French proverb. Now, an agitation that starts with 100 Vice-Presidents, each writing M.P. be: hind his name, must be held to have commenced its career with a very remarkable success. The rest will follow. Arrangements are in pro- gress for a deputation to the Government—and it will include leading men connected with the press of Scotland and Ireland, as well as of England.-21ilumautn.

"C. L" sends to the Times a letter received from the chemist Liebig on the uses of sewage manure. He says.—

" I am firmly of opinion that if England wishes to remain an agricultural country she must use as manure the mghtsoil and similar residues produced in large cities. This necessity would be increased in the event of a war with America, when the supplies of guano would cease. The price of corn de- pends upon that of guano, and it is most unnatural that, in a country like England, the production of corn and meat should be so dependent on the supplies of foreign manure. The heads of even the most enlightened agri- culturists have been turned by a theory propounded by Mr. Lawe--viz., that nitrogen or ammonia are the most necessary ingredients in manure, and that consequently solid excrements are valueless, the urine alone being of use. These views expose utter ignorance and prove that in England lead- ing agriculturists do not pay sufficient attention to the fundamental prin- ciples of chemistry." It is interesting to remark that Lord Palmerston, the author of the famous definition of dirt—matter in the wrong place, recently recanted his belief in the value of town sewage as a manure for agricultural puis- poses.

The Times yesterday [January 18] published the following paragraph- " We are requested to state that circumstances which have supervened since the acceptance of his mission will probably detain Mr. Gladstone in the Ionian Islands until some time after the commencement of the session. It is hoped, however, that he will return in time for the more important de- bates. ' The Herald also contained the following—" As erroneous state- ments with respect to Mr. Gladstone and his mission have appeared in the columns of several of our contemporaries, we think it necessary to state that it was the honourable gentleman's intention, when he left England, to re- turn early in February. Circumstances may detain Mr. Gladstone longer than he originally intended, but there is no doubt that he will be in his place in Parliament in time for the more important matters of the session." These statements agree with our own information.—.Daily News, Jan. 19.

The Prince of Wales arrived at Frankfort on the evening of the 14th, with his suite, and passed the night at the Hotel d'Angleterre. The royal traveller left the next morning for Italy, by Munich.

We regret to learn that the Earl of Ripon is suffering from severe indis- position, at his villa at Putney[lleath. In consequence of the illness of the noble earl, Viscount and Viscountess Goderich have been summoned to the family circle assembled at Putney.

The Queen having expressed a wish that her god-daughter, the Princess- Victoria Gowiamma of Coorg, should be confirmed, the ceremony has been performed at Raw Church, by the Lord Bishop of Winchester. The Princess was accompanied by her father, the Rajah of Coorg, the Dowagez Lady Hardinge, her guardian, Sir James Weir Hogg, and Sir John and. Lady Login, under whose care her Majesty.has now placed the Princess.

Captain Burton and Captain Speke, of the expedition to East Africa, have succeeded, after the most trying eforts, in reaching and surveying the great lake of the interior, and are on their return to Zanzibar.

According to a telegram from Vienna, General Count Mensdorff is to hold the office of Austrian ambassador at St. Petersburg.

The Grand Duke and Duchess Constantine of Russia have arrived at Palermo without touching at Naples.

The Duchess of Parma left her capital on the 13th for Venice, in company with Princess Margaret, intending to pass some days with the Count de Chambord and the Duchess de Berry.

Queen Christina, the Duke of Riazaree, two of their children, and a suite of thirty-three persons, arrived at Marseilles two days ago on their way to Rome.

The Honourable William Preston, the American Minister to Spain, and the Honourable J. Glancy Jones, American Minister to Vienna, arrived at Cowes yesterday in the United States mail packet Fulton.

Count de Hatzfeld, Prussian Ambassador in France, who left Paris for- Berlin shortly after the stir about war began, died at the Prussian Capita} on Wednesday.

A great-grandson of perm, the wealthy founder of Pennsylvania, and the friend of James II., has just expired, at a very advanced age, in the hospitat of the benevolent Colston, at Bristol.

Masai Pasha, the brother All Ghalib who was drowned recently in the Bosphorus, has been killed by a carriage accident at Rouschouch. Thus de- part the first and second sons of Redschid Pasha.

The Reverend Dr. Wall, Vice-Provost of Dublin University, has given, towards the formation of five scholarships, of 20/. per annum each, for the encouragement of Semitic learning, and for promotingthe inquiry already instituted into the original state of the text of the Hebrew Bible, the sum, of 2000/.

The Rev. T. H. Leary, B.A., of Brasenose College and St. Mary Half', Oxford, has been appointed to the Head Mastership of the Grammar School, Derby.

The Carlisle Journal reports the presentation of a handsome testimonial to Mr. Donald of Linstoch, a recognition of his services as honorary secre- tary of the East Cumberland Agricultural Society for twenty-five years. A dinner was also given to him.

The Homeward Had tells an interesting anecdote illustrative of the career of the new Governor of Madras when, as Mr. Trevelyan, he was assist. ant to the President at Delhi. "He did not quit Delhi without leaving a lasting memorial of his labours. The city was increasing in spite of high prices and deficient supplies, and the lower classes suffered much from the exorbitant house rent demanded of them. Mr. 'frevelyan, in order to remedy this, applied for 300 beegahs, or acres, of waste land, and sold the leases on certain building conditions, at low rates, to the ryots. From his own funds he contributed enough to secure a fine broad street through the centre of the new quarter, and thus, to the great benefit of the inhabitants, arose Trevelyanpur. Curiously enough, the erection of this quarter of Delhi, a benefit in itself, led to one of the greatest benefits that has been conferred on India. From it sprang the abolition of the transit duties. Finding that the trade of the place was strangled by these vexatious im- posts, the founder set on foot a series of inquiries, which resulted in his appointment by Lord William Bentinck to inquire into these obstacles to trade, and the appearance of his reports in the newspapers of Calcutta gave the final blow to a system which public opinion had aundy condemned."

"The Emperor of the French," says a Paris correspondent of the Nov* "is about to increase the number of his receptions. The high funetiounies

of the state and the ladies of their families will be received on Tuesdays and Thursdays. On the same days will be given a grand dinner to which all the wives of general officers will be successively invited with their hus- bands.

The following garrison order has been the source of much bitterness at Malta—" All guards to turn out to the Archbishop of Malta, and all sentries to carry arms and present arms when the Most passes." Captain Sheffield, of the 21st R.N.B.F., having refused to obey the above, has been ordered under arrest, and will in all probability be tried by court-martial. It is a case of conscience with Captain Sheffield, who, it is reported, is ready to submit to any punishment rather than do homage to the Host. This pre- senting and carrying arms to the Host has long been a cause of complaint. with the Protestant soldiers at Malta, particularly the Presbyterians, when Highland regiments have been stationed here. Some years ago General Aitchison, now Governor of Dover Castle, while commanding a company of Artillery at Malta, was dismissed the service for refusing to sulute the Host. —.Letter from Malta.

At a recent meeting of the Chapter of Ely it was agreed to undertake, as soon as possible, the restoration of the octagon and lantern of the cathedral as a fitting memorial of the zeal, energy, and liberality of Dean Peacock, in the restoration of the fabric.

In compliance with a suggestion from Sir 7. E. Eardley Wilmot, the judgejudge, the attorneys practising in the Bristol County Court, appeared on for the first time in professional robes. The change appeared to give satisfaction to the public, as well as to the learned gentlemen them- selves, and it will have the salutary effect of distinguishing regular prac- titioners from a number of individuals known as "agents," who haveleen permitted to exercise the functions of advocates in certain cases in this court.

A powerful and most effective weapon, known as Terry's patent breech loading rifle, is by the order of the Secretary of State for War, to be sup- plied immediately to several cavalry regiments. The peculiar advantage of this weapon is to make one man equal to ten; the carbine may be loaded with facility at the time of a horse being at full gallop, because neither biting the cartridge nor a ramrod is required, and there is no risk of blowing off the hand while loading. The Small Arm Committee have submitted the carbine to the severest tests, making a most favourable report on its pecu- liar advantages, and hence its adoption in the army. Only some few months ago Terry's Rifle was subjected to a test by Captain Richard Hewlett, of the Excellent gunnery ship, and 1800 rounds were fired without the car- bine requiring to be cleaned, or missing fire ; the same carbine was tested on Southse,a Common by order of the Lieutenant-Governor Major-General the Hon. Sir James Yorke Scarlett, and twenty-five rounds were tired at 300 yards' range from the butt; and the General himself made a centre hit. An officer on the ground, one of the instructors of musketry, then took the instrument and struck the target afloat twice out of three times, at a dis- tance of 10E10 yards; yet the barrel is but thirty inches in length. Times.

The return of the Registrar-General again exhibits a high rate of mor- tality. The deaths last week rose to 1429, or 100 above the calculated average. Four widows died, whose ages were, 96, 99, 99, and 101.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—Return of admissions for six days ending Friday January 21st, including season-ticket-holders, 7973.