The Week.

personal merit m the repeal of the paper duties , attributed the work to the Government of which he was a member , more especially the Chancellor of the Exchequer . Mr . Roupell , M . P ., addressed his constituents on Monday . He expressed his regret at the present position of the Reform question , and alluded in terms ot sympathy to the manner in which the House of Commons vindicated its privilege b y the repeal of the paper duties . Upon the war in America , he seemed to be unable to express

any definite opinion , but he contended for the duty of absolute non-interference . The proceedings terminated with a vote of confidence in the hon . gentleman . A large meeting has been held in Manchester to memorialise the Government , and of petitioning Parliament for the early removal of the protective duties of 10 per cent , on all cotton goods , and of 5 per cent , on all cotton yarns ( now levied under the Indian tariff ) when imported into British India . Resolutions iu accordance with the

object of the meeting were passed . The Court of Aldermen hacl to sit in judgment on Tuesday , upon a somewhat singular question . Mr . Joseph , a gentleman of the Jewish persuasion , presented himself to take the usual oath required from brokers in the city of London . The Town Clerk , in handing the gentleman a copy of the Olcl Testament , requested him to put on his hat , that being the form usual among persons of his religion . Alderman Salomons asserted thafc the court had no

power to require this act to be performed , but thafc it must be purely voluntary . Mr . Joseph having declared thafc the oath would be equally binding whether he took it with his head covered or not , the observance of the custom was not- insisted upon ; but Mr . Joseph afterwards , of his own choice , put his hat on . Thus a precedent has been established which ivill rule all similar cases in time to come . The tragic fate of the poor fellows who perished in the Hartley

colliery has produced a practical amount of sympathy most gratifying to contemplate , and equally pleasant to record . The Lord Mayor announced that at the Mansion House alone subscriptions amounting in the aggregate to £ 10 , 000 , or half the sum that was deemed necessary , had poured in day after clay in a steady , continuous stream . As the entire fund is now expected to reach nearly £ 30 , 000 , his lordship considered ifc no longer necessary to ask the public to send in their contributions . Mr . Dunn , the local inspector of mines , has been directed

by Sir George Grey to make a searching inquiry into the cause of the late calamity at the Hartley Colliery . In this work Mr . Dunn will be assisted by Mr . Kenyon Blackwell , who will report the result of the investigation to the Home Office . A fearful -accident occurred last week at Sunderland , attributable , ive fear , to the fashion of excessively ample skirts still in vogue Avith ladies . Mrs . Mounsey , Avife of the proprietor of some recently-opened ironworks , was inspecting , with other iaclies , a .

powerful machine for sawing iron , ivhen her dress was caught by it , and before effectual assistance could be rendered , she was drawn into the machinery , ancl almost torn to pieces . Our readers will remember the case of Maloney , Avho was convicted of murdering his wife in AVestminster in ' October last , mainly on the evidence of a stranger who said he entered the house accidentally at the moment the prisoner stabbed his wife . As even upon his showing the murder appeared to be

unpremeditated , the convict , after long inquiry on the part of the Government , has had his sentence commuted to penal servitude for life . The man himself , however , persists in his first statement that his wife stabbed herself , and considers that he has been unjustly condemned . A shocking crime , reminding us of Italian or Spanish scenes of violence , occurred in the Highstreet of Marylebone on Monday afternoon . Four or five drunken costermongers coming the street seized hold of a

up cart loaded with bones at a respectable butcher ' s door , and commenced assulting the carter by throwing bones at him . Tho butcher came out of his shop to assist the carter , when the gang attempted to enter his shop , ancl on his resisting , one ot them stabbed him with a knife , from the effects of which it is doubtful if he will recover . The whole of the gang are in custody , ancl several witnessesssivear to theperpetratorof thecowardly act .

The February sitting of the Middlesex Sessions commenced on Monday . The cases ivere not very important ; ancl though two of the convicted prisoners were sentenced each to ten years ' penal servitude , it ivas rather on account of their bad character ancl their often-repeated previous convictions than for the offences which have for the present closed their career . A singular case of apparent impropriety on the part of the governor of the House of Detention , who had refused to allow a judge ' s commissioner access to two prisoners , though he hacl gone to take an affidavit from them with a view lo have their cases removed

by certiorari to a superior court , was mentioned . At the Middlesex Sessions on Tuesday , Captain Codd explained the circumstances under which a judge ' s commissioner was refused admission into the House of Detention , to take a prisoner ' s affidavit . The commissioner brought no letter from the judge . The Court held it to be irregularity ivhich they hoped would not occur again . The policeman at Hendon , who nearly murdered his wife the other day in a fit of too-well founded

jealousy , was found guilty of a common assault , strongly recommended to mercy , and was sentenced to two months' imprisonment . A novel scene took place on Saturday in the Court of Exchequer . The celebrated painter , Sir Edwin Landseer , was summoned by a west-end tailor for the price of two coats , which he refused to pay for because neither fitted him . The plaintiff contended that the coats , as originally made , were a beautiful fitand thafc even after Sir Edwin ' s whims had

in-, duced him to make several alterations for the worse , they still fitted reasonably well . Sir Edwin , on the contrary , declared that they never did fit , and he offered , as the coats were in court , to try them on and let the jury judge for themselves . This was acceded to ; Sir Edwin donned the garments , and , one of the jurymen being a tailor , left the lvitness-box that he might examine their merits as " typed and moulded to the shape . " His report to his brother jurymen appears to have been

unfavourable , for they returned a verdict for the defendant . Mr . St . Aubyn , the operatic singer , brought an action in the Court of Queen ' s Bench on Tuesday against the General Omnibus Company for having , through the carelessness of their servants , caused his wife serious injury , by driving off the omnibus before she had cleared the step on getting out . The Company denied , and brought evidence to confirm tho denial , that ifc was any vehicle of theirs that caused the accident , but another omnibus

independent of the Company though running under the same name . The plaintiff , of course , lost the action . A startling accident occurred on Saturday in a tunnel on tho Midland line between Belper and Driffield . It appears to have been a habit with some labourers to walk through this tunnel as a short cut to their homes . On Saturday five labourers were surprised in the tunnel by two trains coming from the opposite ends . Three of the men prostrated themselves close to the wall ancl escaped ; the other two , who appear to have stood erect on the six-feefc

way between the lines , were caught ; one was killed outright , and the other had his arm dreadfully shattered . Another of the Black Ball line of Australian packets—the Empress of the Seas—has been destroyed by fire . The Empress of the Seas hacl scarcely left Melbourne , on her way to England , with a number of passengers and a considerable quantity of gold and Government stores , when a fire broke out on board . She seems to have been entirely destroyed ; bufc the passengers and

gold were saved . Mr . Lindsay ivill have to add another ship to his list of vessels which have run the American blockade . A brig , called the Fanny Lewis , Avhich left Charleston on NBAV Year's Day , with between 600 and 700 bales ot cotton , contrived to evade the Federal squadron , and arrived in the Mersey on Monday . FOEEIGN INTELLIGENCE . —The Moniteur gave an explicit denial to the statement made in a Brussels paper that Count

AValeivski hacl tendered to the French Upper Chamber , in the name of the Emperor , some assurances that the occupation of Rome was to be prolonged . In the first place , the Moniteur observes , no Minister having a portfolio speaks iu the name of the Emperor . That duty belongs exclusively to the Ministers without portfolio . But in any case Count AValeivski , tho official organ announces , never made any statement to the effect which the Belgian journal described . The French Government

have entered into negotiations with leading capitalists in this country for a loan of 4 , 000 , 000 ? . sterling with the object of promoting the financial measures of M . Fould . This necessity ivill raise the value of money here ; and ifc may probably lead very early to an advanced rate of discount . Letters from Frankfort makes a statement which we publish without by any means pledging ourselves to its accuracy . The statement is thafc an autograph letter has been addressed to the Emperor

Napoleon by the Emperor Francis Joseph , intended to serve as the basis of an understanding with France on the affairs of Italy . Austria requires from the French Government to refrain from any interference in the aggressive policy of Piedmont , and promises not to depart fromherdefensive attitude . Berlin letters announce that the committee of the Upper Chamber has adopted the measure upon the obligation of the military service without suggesting any modification . Ifc is expected that the Chamber itself will follow , or perhaps has al