The Week.

the evening , the Attorney-General for Ireland confirmed Sir Robert Peel's view of the prospects of Ireland , while Mr . Hennessy condemned generally the way in which the government of his country was administered . —Mr . G . Bentinck took a gloomy view of the present state of our army and navy , and denounced the " cheese-paring" policy of Mr . Gladstone , and the famous utterance of Mr . Disraeli about our " bloated

armaments . " —Sir George Grey , in answer to a question from Mr . Hadfield , said the object of the Royal Commission which which had just been issued was to render the declaration demanded of the clergy " clear and intelligible . " —Lord J . Manners expressed a hope that the Government would lose no opportunity of giving friendly advice to the United States of

America with a view to putting an end to the present war . On Monday , Mr . Layard stated in reply to a question from Mr . AV . E . Forster , that information had been received that a massacre had taken place at Soochow , after that city had been captured by the imperial troops , with the assistance of some English officers ; but no details of this affair had yet reached

the Government . The whole matter would , however , be fully investigated .- —Mr . Layard also , in answer to a question from Lord Naas , said the Government had received no official information of the dismissal of Mr . Lay by the Imperial Government of China . —In reply to a question from Lord Robert Cecil , Lord Palmerston said her Majesty ' s Government had

remonstrated with the Governments of Vienna and Berlin on the subject of the proclamation of Prince Frederick of Augustenburg at various places in the Duchies under the protection of German troops . The Prussian Government replied that it disapproved of the proceedings in Sclileswig , and that orders would be sent to put a stop to them ; but Holstein was occupied by the troops of the Diet , over whom it had no control .

With regard to the allegation that the war in Schlesivig would practically annul the treaty of 1 S 52 , the noble lord said such a doctrine was most preposterous . It would amount to this , that whenever a powerful state found the existence of a treaty with a weak nation inconvenient , it had only to open hostilities to put an end to solemnly contracted engagements . In this case , the Prussian Government had , since the outbreak of the

war , declared that it intended to abide by the treaty of London . — Mr . Bentinck mentioned a rumour that the army was to be reduced ; but Lord Palmerston asked the hon . gentlemen to wait and see what the Government proposed in the army estimates . —Leave was given to bring in a bill to continue Sir John Lawrence's annuity during his Excellency's tenure of

office as Governor General of India . —Mr . Gladstone also obtained leave to bring in a bill permitting , by way of experiment , for two years the making of malt duty free for feeding cattle . He proposes that the malt so made shall bo mixed with linseed meal in the proportion of one tenth . A bill was brought in for amending the law relating to the collection of

the land , assessd , and income taxes . The Chancellor of the Exchequer does not purpose to disturb the machinery of the local commissioners , but he aims at bringing the collectors more under the control of the Revenue Board . The bill further provides for the repeal of the obligation at present imposed upon parishes of making defalcations good . —Sir George Grey ,

in moving for leave to bring in a bill for the amendment of the law relating to the confinement of lunatic prisoners , defended the course he took in the case of the convict Townley . He submitted that , as the law stood , no other course was open , to him , but it was clear , in his opinion , that some alteration in the law was necessary . He proposed that in a case of alleged insanity the responsibility of selecting properly qualified medical practitioners to examine the

prisoner should devolve upon the Visiting Justices ; but that the Secretary of State should have the power to institute a further inquiry , in the event of his having any doubt as to the soundness of the opinions embodied in any certificate which might be forwarded to him . Mr . Bright and Sir John Pakiugton defended Sir George Grey against the strictures which had been made upon his conduct in connection with the Townley case , but the

member for Droitwich , at the same time , said he could not understand on what principle of justice Townley had ultimately escaped from the full consequence of his sentence . Leave was given to bring in the bill . On Tuesday , in reply to a question , Mr . Milner Gibson stated that experiments bad been made with the view of establishing fog signals at Cape Race , but so

far the results had not been very encouraging . —In answer to a question from Mr . Peacocke , Lord Palmerston said that when intelligence of the Danish evacuation of the Dannewerke reached Copenhagen great dissatisfaction was expressed by the people of that city , and riots , which were promptly suppressed , occurred in the streets . The noble lord also made a statement

somewhat similar to that made by Lord Russell in the Upper House respecting the views of her Majesty's Government as to the engagements into which Austria and Prussia had entered as signatories of tho treaty of London , The Government had no guarantee that the two great German Powers would evacuate the duchies as soon as they had secured the objects

they profess to have had in view , but they could not be released from the pledge by which they , in common with the other Powers , bound themselves to maintain the integrity of the Danish Monarchy by anything which might take place between them separately and Denmark . —Mr . Buxton moved the following resolution : — " That this House , while only imputing to Admiral Kuper a misconception of the duty imposed on him

deeply regrets the burning of the town of Kagosima , as being contrary to those usages of war which prevails among civilised nations , and to which it is the duty and policy of this country to adhere . " Mr . Longfield moved the omission of that part of the motion relating to Admiral Kuper , submitting that that officer had only carried out the instructions of Colonel Neale . Sir John Hay , who seconded the amendment , urged the same

plea , and denounced any attempt to remove the responsibility from the shoulders of the Government . Lord Stanley disapproved of the manner in which it was sought to obtain redress for the murder of Mr . Richardson , and maintained that our mode of dealing with the Japanese , was calculated to frustrate rather thau promote our object in making a treaty with the

Government of Japan . The debate was continued at great length by Lord R . Montagu , Mr . Layard , Mr . AV . E . Forster , and other members . Lord Palmerston moved the previous question , which was negatived , so that the question stands adjourned , it being generally understood that the motion is to be withdrawn . The House did not sit on the following day , it being Ash

Wednesday . GE > EBAL HOUE NEWS . —The mortality of London continues high . The deaths last week were 1 , 655 . The corrected average for the last ten years is 1 , 431 . This makes an increase of 174 over the estimated number . The births were 2 , 078 ; the average estimate is very nearly the same , or 2 , 069 . The Estates

Committee of the Ecclesiastical Commission have put forth a report , from which we gather that they propose to make grants which will be represented by a capital sum of £ 700 , 000 . Among these grants is one to augment to £ 300 a-year all benefices in public patronage where the population amounts to 8 , 000 , and to assist in doing a 3 much for all benefices in private patronage , provided half the augmentation be supplied from novr-eeclesias tical sources . On the same arrangements they propose to