The Week.

learned counsel , who is assisted by Jlr . David Morgan Thomas , did so . Eventually , however , tlie point was Avaived for the time , and Dr . Smith proceeded to state the case . The panic has driven at least one poor man out of his senses . An inquest has been held afc Clapham on the body of James Christie , a large shareholder in the Bank of London , ivho , haunted by the fear of ruin , committed suicide . The jury returned a verdict

to the effect that the deceased committed the act while in a state of temporary insanity . Householders who keep dirty chimneys either from thoughtlessness or to save themselves tho trouble or expense of employing a sweep will , perhaps , take warning from the cases which were heard , under the Metropolitan Fire Brigade Act , at the Clerkenwell police court . In

nearly every instance the persons whose chimneys caught fire Avere fined by Jlr . D'Eyncourfc . The case , " Ryves v . the Attorney General , " was resumed on the 2 nd instant . Several witnesses were called to prove the birth and position of Dr . AA'ilmofc , and the authenticity of several certificates signed by him : The case will not be resumed till

Wednesday next . An inquest on the body of Samuel Stringer another of the sufferers by the gas explosion in the residence of Mr . Gambart , Regent's Park , was also held . The jury found a verdict of accidental death . In August last a young man named Dominique Carroll , was committed for trial on a charge sacrilege . Subsequently he was sentenced to seven years'

transportation . About a month ago one of the real culprits , believing himself at the point of death , confessed that Carroll had nothing Avhatevev to do with the crime , whereupon this declaration was at once for warded to the Home Secretary . It is announced that a free pardon had been granted to Carroll . The Prince of Wales went to Colchester on the Sth inst . and reviewed the llth Hussars . The Duke of Edinburgh Avent

nfco the City , and was mtide free of the Merchant Taylors ' Company . After the ceremony his Royal Highness took luncheon with the officers of the company . A breach of promise case ivas tried in the Court of Common Pleas . The suit was instituted by a young lady named Myers , against a 3 fr . Harris , both of the parties being Jews .

One feature of the evidence was that the defendant , as was alleged , had burnt the letters he had addressed to Miss Myers . The jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff—damages , £ 60 . A case of some interest to the sporting public was tried at the Survey Sessions . A commercial traveller named Hodson , of whose respectability ample evidence was forthcoming , was

charged with stealing a sum of money from the person of one Hartley or Hargreaves , on the Derby Day . Ifc appeared that the prisoner bad made some bets ivith the prosecutor , but on being informed ; rightly or wrongly , that he was " a welcher , " he , together with some other persons , insisted on having his money returned ,.. and employed force to accomplish that object .

There appeared to be no doubt as to the facts , and the jury therefore returned a verdict of guilty , with a strong recommendation to mercy . The Chairman , while taking a lenient view of the offence , very properly pointed out that even on the Epsom racecourse persons were not afc liberty to take the law into their own hands ; and sentenced Jlr . Hodson to a month ' s

imprisonment , but without hard labour . The Avorkmen engaged at Guildhall making preparations for a visit of the Duke of Edinburgh , were suddenly subjected to a serious danger , a scaffold giving way . ' several men fell from a considerable height to the ground . Many of them sustained serious fractures . AVe regret to announce that on the evening of the Ofch inst ., the directors of the Agra and Jlasterman ' s Bank decided to suspend payment , All throiuh the present panic the bank has been

The Week.

assailed with Innumerable rumours , wliich have spread to India , where the bank has branches . The effect was a withdrawal of confidence , resulting in the managers there telegraphing for assistance . This the directors ivei-e unable to afford . During the present crisis they have lost about £ 3 , 000 , 000 by the Avifhdrawal of daposit and current accounts , and no money could be

spared without sacrifices which the board considered would be unjustifiable . The directors were obliged to suspend . A grand choral festival took place iu AA ' esfeminster Abbey on the 6 th inst ., in aid of the Bishop of London ' s Fund . The Dean of Westminster preached the sermon , in which be urged the obligations of Christian charity and the advantages of a

Avelldirected zeal . There is some further news of the Abyssinian prisoners . They have long since set out for the coast , and are soon expected to arrive in Egypt . The ease of Mrs Ryves , AVIIO claims to be the Princess Olive of Cumberland again came before the Court of Probate . Jlr . Nethercliffc , the expert , was examined Avith reference to the genuineness of the

signatures of George III ., which were attached to the petitioner's documents . His examination lasted the whole day , and had not concluded when the court rose . At the Surrey Sessions , an application Avas made to the Deputy Chairman requesting him to discharge from further punishment a Jlr . Hodson , now under sentence of imprisonment for stealing money from the befcfcingman who was mobbed at Epsom on the Derby Day . Statements " were brought forward to show that the sentence ivas an unusually seA'Cre one ; and ib was also mentioned that eleven of

the jury , after hearing the sentence , had united in drawing up a petition to the court , begging for the reversion of the judgment . The Deputy-Chairman referrsd Jlr . Hodson ' s friends to the Secretary of State , and said he himself would readily assist in procuring a mitigation of the sentence . FOREIGN INTELIG-ENCE . —The news in reference to the proposed Conference is conflicting . One story has ifc that the Emperor

Napoleon is to preside . That , to say the least , is most unlikely . Another is that the most anxious desire has been expressed by France thafc Count Jfensdorff should be present . Then we are told that Prussia accepts the Conference without conditionadding , however , that the imminence of Avar has not been caused by the Schleswig-IIolstein question , about which Prussia Avould never have gone to Avar , but' by tlle threatening

armaments of Austria and Saxony . Austria , on the other hand , Ave are assured , only accepts the Conference on the understanding that A enetia is not to be discussed . If so , the Conference might as well never take place . It seems certain , however , that the meeting ] of the plenipotentaries will be held at the latter end of next week , and that the bellicose Powers have promised not to begin hostilities until a definite result of some kind had been arrived at by the Conference . An important

announcement was made by JI . Rouher in the Corps Legislatif . He said that hitherto all negotiations with England for a new treaty of extradition had proved fruitless ; bub the present treaty had been prolonged for six months to give time for further negotiations .

To Correspondents.

TO CORRESPONDENTS .

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