The Week.

foreisrn bonds and loans of all descriptions the charge of oneeio-htli per cent . ; to provide a supplemental license for permitting publicans to supply commodities to persons at fairs and other public gatherings ; to alter the present system of brewers ' licenses ; to issue licenses for private brewing , and to modify the alcholi p test of wines . On Friday , Mr . Seymour Fitzgerald elicited from Mr . Layard a statement on the subject of the allied intervention in Mexico . The hon . gentleman stated

that with the exception of a small body of marines , the British . -forces had been withdrawn , and it was not the intention of Her Majesty's Government to take any part in the proposed expedition into the interior . He added that although the Government did not altogether approve all the articles of the convention agreed upon by the Allied Commissioners and the Mexican authoritiesthe convention generallhad met their approbation .

, y Mr . Deninan raised a discussion on the Polish question , in the course of which Lord Palmerston expressed his sympathy with the Poles , ancl strongly censured the severities practised on that people by tho Russian authorities . He had , however , confidence in the humane character of the Emperor , and he advised the Poles to wait with patience and abstain from premature demonstrations . He added that this was a question in which the

Government could not hope to interfere with any useful result . Mr . Bernal Osborne then submitted his resolution , declaring it . to be expedient to suspend the construction of the proposed forts at Spithead until the . value of iron-roofed gunboats shall have been considered . The motion , which was seconded by Sir Morton Peto , gave rise to an interesting debate ou the question of armour-cased ships v . fortificationsin the course of

, which Lord Palmerston announced the intention of the Government to agree to the motion , ancl said that already the Secretary-at-AA ar had instructed the Defence Commission to re-examine the question of the utility of permanent forts as compared with floating defences alone , or in combination with floating defences , and to make a report thereon . That report would probably be in the hands of the House iu tho course of

a very short time , ancl the whole subject would be taken into consideration after the recess . On Monday a . long and somewhat lively debate took place on the financial propositions of the Chancellor of the Exchequer . The ball was opened by

Mr . Disraeli , who criticised Mr . Gladston's magnificent management of the national purse with great severity . The repeal of the paper duty last year he considered a fatal mistake , and he deplored the present financial position of the country , which was , he said , the price paid for that measure and tho commercial treaty with France . He taunted tho Chancellor of the Exchequer with providing the ways and means for an expenditure which he had so strongldenouncedremarking that

fory , merly the right hon . gentleman was in the habit of lecturing on political morality , ancl pointing the finger of scorn at the unfortunate wights on the other side of the House ; but they now saw the end of political morality . Mr . Gladstone , after explaining , in reply to some remarks from Mr . Bass , that it was proposed to modify the scale of brewers' licences originally decided upon , proceeded to deal with Mr . Disraeli ' s address .

The member for Bucks , he said , had told them some things true and some things new ; but , unfortunately , what was true was not new , and what was nofc new was nofc true . He then vindicated at considerable length the financial policy of the Government , and the commercial legislation of tho past twenty years . The debate was kept up with spirit on both sides for ¦ some time ; and at length the House went- into Committee of

AVays ancl Means . 0-n Titeschy , Mr . YP . Ewart obtained a Select Committee to consider the practicability of a simple and uniform system of weights and measures ; Mr . Whalley gave notice of his annual motion on the Maynooth Grant ; and the report on AVays and Means was brought up and agreed to . On AVoclnesclay , Mr . Bouverio moved the second reading of the Clergy Relief Bill—a measure which proposes to exempt

clergymen who secede from the Church of England from the disabilities under which they now labour . The lion , gentleman , m an able speech , showed that the existing state of the law was not only grossly unjust to individuals , but that such an alteration as he proposed would be beneficial to the Churcht itself . Sir AV . Heathcote , while arguing against the principle of the billsaid he ivas unwilling to to the second reading

, agree on the understanding that it was referred to a select committee . In the discussion which ensued , Mr . M . Milnes ancl L . ord Stanley supported , and Mr . Hubbard and Mr . Newclegate opposed the bill . Sir G . Grey , on the part of the Government , admitted that a change in the law was necessary , but objected

I to some of the details of the bill . He thought that a clergyman who had disgraced himself and the Church by personal misconduct should not be permitted to withdraw from ecclesiastical jurisdiction in the easy manner ivhich would become possible under the clauses of the bill in their present shape . Ultimately , on the motion of Mr . Bouverie , the bill was referred to a select committee . The Metropolis Local

Management Acts Bill passed through committee , and progress was made with several measures of less importance . GENEBAL HOME NEWS . —The returns of the Registrar General for the past week , ancl also for the three months of the year , have been published . In both returns the results are favourable . The number of deaths for the week is 42 less than the corrected average would give , being 1299 against 13-41 ,

while the last quarter wasless fatal to life than the corresponding quarters either of 1860 or 1861 . The fever cases are high ; but the diseases affecting the respiratory organs were less fatal than in many former winters . This may partly be accounted for by the fact that the temperature of the atmosphere was milder than it has been for several years past . The births for the last week were 2095 against an average of 1854 . It has been determined to afford the working classes , and indeed the people

generally throughout Her Majesty ' s dominions , an opportunity of contributing to the fund for the erection of a national memorial ofthe late Prince Consort . The sums hitherto received have been mainly contributed by the wealthier classes , and it is rightly felt that if the memorial is meant to assume the character of a national tribute , measuresmustbe adopted with the view of affording our humbler fellow subjects an opportunity of assisting in the work of rearing a monument " on a scale of sufficient grandeur . "

Steps are being taken to give effect to this proposal , and it is probable that the co-operation of the the ladies will be specially invited by the Council of the Society of Arts . We regret to announce the death of Sir James Clark Ross , the celebrated Arctic navigator , and nephew of the discoverer of Boothia . Sir James Ross discovered and planted the British flag- on the north magnetic pole , and afterwards sailing into the antarctic circle he reached within 160 miles of the south magnetic pole , being the highest latitude attained by any voyager . He died a rear admiral , and held honours from several scientific

societies . -Captain Brown , registrar general of seamen , who has clone so much to promote the naval reserve movement , has been created a Companion ofthe Bath . A similar distinction has been conferred upon Mr . AVatts , the chief constructor ofthe navy . The Metropolitan or Underground Railway has at length been so far completed that it may be said there is a continuous communication between Alctoria-street , Farringdon-strpet , and the Great Western Railway , at Paddingtonembracing a junction

, between the London and North-Western and the Great Northern on its way . A party of gentlemen interested in the line went through this portion on Saturday , now walking , now drawn by horse riower , and now by the locomotive . There was but one opinion among the visitors as to the convenience of the railway and the completeness of the work . It is expected that the line will be ready for working in the month of June , when

there will be one continuous communication formed betiveen the lines on the north side of London and the London , Chatham , and Dover Railway , so that a traveller may proceed from the extreme north to the extreme south of' the line without changing his carriage The last of the controversy that has been so long continued as to the usefulness of Mr . Train's street tramways may be said to have been decided on Saturday , when , after a two days' trial , the jury found a verdict

to the effect that the tramway was a nuisance , bufc some points of law were reserve . Several witnesses were called to prove the inconvenience the tramway caused , ancl the counsel for Mr . Train and the Lambeth A estry offered to call witnesses on the other side who would testify to the advantages they derived from it ; but Chief Justice Erie , who tried the case , intimated the evidence of 19 witnesses who did not experience the nuisance would not out-weigh the testimony of one who did Another

ship , direct from Charleston , with a cargo of cotton , tobacco , and resin , has arrived at Liverpool . The Captain reports hat when he left Charleston , several other vessels were about to follow his example , and run the blockade A curious will case was tried at the Kingston Assizes on Saturday . A grandson was also heir-at-law of a person who owned a public-house and some land at Frimley ; but about a month after his father's death a will was found , leaving it to the testator's other children . There was at first some doubt as to its genuineness , though that was not in the end insisted upon . But