Our Weekly Budget.

procession . Yesterday was fixed for the Prince ' s visit to Wick , en route to John o' Groat ' s , and great preparations were being made to do him honour , it having been arranged that the day should be observed as a public holiday . Meetings still continue to be held , in various parts of the

country , in connection with the recent Bulgarian horrors , but it strikes us that people are beginning to regard the Turkish question more dispassionately . We have , in the course of the last few days , entered on quite a new phase of the crisis , and it seems to be a question whether , after

all our hopes of a speedy close of the war , we may not see all Europe in a blaze . This , or some such feeling as this , has probably had an effect on the public mind , and we are just beginning to recognize the force of Lord Derby ' s statement , that it is not so much a question what we may wish

to be done as what can be done at this present grave conjuncture . Mr . Cross has been at Glasgow , where he was presented with the freedom of the city . The Conservative Working Men ' s Association presented him with an address , but Mr . Cross ' s visit being of an essentially non-political

character , the right honourable gentleman did not consider it would become him to make a party-political speech . The Earl of Carnarvon , on the occasion of his visit to the Derby High School , for the purpose of presiding at the annual distribution of prizes , took the opportunity of making a few

weighty remarks on the present aspect of the Eastern question , though of necessity the greater part of his speech was directed to matters educational . On Monday , Mr . John Bright was present at a soiree given by the Manchester Reform Club , and expressed his views at great length on the

same subject . Mr . Brig ht ' sviews mayor may not find favour —general favour with the public , but he certainly has the merit of consistency . He holds the same opinion now , intensified no doubt b y the occurrences in Bulgaria , which he held at the time of the Crimean war . To-morrow , it

seems , we are promised a Hyde-park demonstration , under the auspices of the Manhood Suffrage League , when two resolutions will be proposed , one warning the English people againt the aggressive policy of Russia , and the other condemning the recent action of the Liberal leaders .

Meantime , the Marquis of Hartington is now in Turkey , no doubt for the purpose of learning more directly what has been , and what is likely to be , the course of events . This is statesmanlike conduct on the part of the Liberal leader , and to

show how grave is the present juncture of affairs , we note that a Cabinet Council was held on Wednesday , the early part of November being , ordinarily , the time when such Ministerial gatherings are held .

Friday last being Michaelmas Day , a meeting of the Aldermen of the City of London was held in Guildhall for the purpose of electing a successor to Lord Mayor Cotton for the ensuing year . The civic dignitaries previously attended divine service in the church of St .

Lawrence Jewry hard by . On their return , the Recorder informed the Livery , who filled the hall , that they would be left to select two of the Aldermen who were eligible for the Mayoralty . The names of Aldermen Owden and Sir Thomas White were forthwith submitted to the Court

of Aldermen ; but the health of the former being such as to prevent him , for this year at least , from assuming the post of chief magistrate , the election fell upon Sir Thomas White , and when the Lord Mayor and Aldermen returned into the hall from their Court , the fact of Alderman White

walking by the side of his Lordship was indication enough that the choice of his brethren had fallen upon him . Alderman White then stepped forward declared , himself ready to bear the responsibilities of the Mayoralty , and expressed his thanks for the high honour that had

been conferred upon him . A vote of thanks to Lord Mayor Cotton was then proposed by Mr . Hubbard M . P ., and seconded by Mr . Roger Eykyn . Having been carried unanimously , the Lord Mayor appropriately acknowledged the compliment . Thanks were also voted to the late

Sheriffs , Messrs , Alderman Knight and Breffit , who severally responded . In the evening-, the Lord Mayor , according to custom , entertained the Lord Mayor elect

the members of the Court of Aldermen , and numerous other guests , at the Mansion House , covers being laid for about eighty . The customary toasts were given briefly , the usual compliments being paid to the host and his

successor . The experiments with the huge eighty-one ton gun at Shoeburyness , have , for the present , been brought to a close . Scarcely a hitch occurred throughout the whole proceedings , and the artillerists , who are qualified to give

Our Weekly Budget.

an opinion , appear to have expressed themselves highly satisfied with the monster ' s performance . We cannot say if the satisfaction of the soldiers quartered in the immediate vicinity of the butts is equally great . "We hardly think so , considering the amount of damage done to their

huts , especially those of the married men , which were so shaken by the terrible concussions , that the inmates have had to vacate them for the present . The gun ia said to have gone through its series of trials without exhibiting

the slightest damage in any part . Further experiments , when the gun will be fired at the 32 in . target , will take place at a later date . Meanwhile , some of our leading artillery oificers are leaving for Italy , to watch the trials of Sir William Armstrong ' s 100-ton guns .

As the first of October fell this year on a Sunday , the inaugural addresses which mark the opening of the winter session at our several medical schools were not delivered

till Monday . Dr . Blandford was the lecturer at St . George ' s , Professor Maudsley at University College Hospital , Professor E . B . Baxter at King ' s , Dr . Evans at Middlesex , Mr . Francis Mason at St . Thomas ' s , Dr .

Wiltshire at St . Mary ' s , Dr . J . Mitchell Bruce at Charingcross , and Dr . Allchin at Westminster . At Guy ' s there was a conversazione , which was very numerously attended , but at the other hospitals the usual address was dispensed with . Shortly after Easter a novelty in the way of exhibitions

was held at the Alexandra Palace , and proved a very great success . ^ We are alluding to the Costume Display which the public were invited to inspect . A second , on a somewhat larger scale , was opened on Thursday , and will remain so till Saturday next , so that our lady friends have an

excellent opportunity of seeing what London costumiers can do for them in the way of dress . We have not , up to the moment of writing , had a chance of visiting the present

exhibition ; but competent judges have decided that ifc is well worth a visit , and our experience of the first display fully warrants the belief that those who act upon our advice and go will be immensely gratified with what they see . We gladly note that one of the features to which the

greatest prominence is given is the manufacture of becoming dresses at moderate cost . It is easy enough for rich people to indulge their taste for dress , but materfamilias with a regiment of daughters , to do the thing becomingly , finds it no easy task in these days to buy material that is

good as well as cheap . Every effort to promote the manufacture of good clothing at modest prices deserves our encouragement . The weather of Saturday last necessitated , of coarse , the postponement of the great firework competition appointed for that day . Ifc was accordingly set down for

Thursday , and the day being fine , the two hours' continuous display drew a large attendance of visitors , who highly appreciated what they saw . We have alread y remarked that the holding of a Cabinet ; Council in the earl y days of October is an indication of

the gravity of the political situation in the East of Europe . All kinds of rumours are flying about , and we must probably wait some days in order to judge , if even then we find ourselves able to judge , of the course events are likely to take . Eussia , it is said , means occupying one of the

provinces of Turkey , directions having already been sent to the South Russian and Roumanian railways to hold themselves in readiness for the immediate despatch of troops . Then Austria , we are given to understand , will occupy Bosnia and the Herzegovina . All that is certain

is , that the Porte has rejected the terms of peace proposed by the Earl of Derby , but is willing to grant , 2 ^ 0-prio motu , others even more favourable to its Christian subjects . The renewal of hostilities came from the Servians , who , however , were repulsed in their attacks on the Turks , and

sustained heavier losses than on any previous occasion during the war . There seems , also , little doubt that Russia is , indirectly , fighting the battles of Servia . At all events there are several thousand officers and men of the Russian army in the Servian ranks . This must strike the minds

of ordinary men as being not very far removed from a Russo-Turkish war , but the ways of diplomacy , and especially of Russian di plomacy , are not easily comprehensible

by honest Englishmen . It is , however , as we have said , a very grave crisis we are passing through at this present time , and it behoves all Englishmen to do all they can to strengthen the hands of the Government .

In part of our issue last week occurred an unfortunate