The Week.

inent laid before Parliament some time ago was not the report of Colonel Jervois , but merely a " covering letter . " After some discussion the motion was withdrawn and the House went into Committee of Supply . On Friday Sir George Grey , in reply to a question from Mr . Onslow , said the Government did not consider it necessary to order ships arriving from ports affected by the "Russian epidemic" to be placed in quarantine . —Mr .

Layard , in reply to Mr . Whiteside , said the Government had asked explanations respecting the presence of Mr . Loesom , one of General Grant ' s officers , and the Attorney-General for Louisiana at a meeting recently held at New York for promoting the so-called Fenian conspiracy . Mr . Seward ' s reply was that Colonel Leesom had not been granted leave of absence for

the special purpose of attending the Irish gathering ; and that the functionary from Louisiana was responsible to his own state , and not to the Government of Washington . —In answer to a question from Lord Eleho , Mr . Cardwell stated that four members of the Executive Council of Canada were on their way to England to confer with her Majesty ' s Government on tho

subject of the Canadian defences , and he promised 'that the result of the conference should be laid before Parliament with as little delay as possible . —A discussion was raised by Mr . MouscII on the railway system of Ireland , and Mr . Gladstone in ; imated that the Government would institute an investigation into the subject . After some other business , the House adjourned for the

Easter holidays . —Mr . Gladstone will make his financial statement on the 27 th inst . GENERAL HOME NEWS . —The mortality of the country is slightly lower than last week , but it is still high . The death rate in the ten towns was 30 in the 1 , 000 ; last week it was 32 . In London the rate was 3 D . The total deaths in theae towns numbered 3 , 200 , of which Loudon contributed 1 , GS 9 , which

is 25 S above the estimated number according to tho increase of the population . The number of births in tho Aveek were 2 , 20 S , or more than half the number bora iu the ten towns . —¦—The pauperism of the cotton manufacturing unions continues to decline , and according to Mr . Purdy ' s last return , in a larger ratio than latterly . In the first week of the present month the decrease marked on the

Guardians' relief lists was 3 , 750 . Throe -anions only exhibited any increase , and that , too , of a trivial character . The following unions had fewer paupers on their books , namely : —AshtonurKlcr-Lyne , 120 ; Blackburn , 810 ; Bolton , 130 ; Barnley , 430 ; Bury , 150 ; Chorlton , 160 ; Haslingden , 290 ; Manchester , 300 ; Oldham , 220 ; Preston , 310 ; Stockport , 150 ; and Warrington ,

170 . These were tho more conspicuous eases only . The class of adult able-bodied , included in ( he total number of paupers Avho were off the rates , amounted to 1 , S 30 . Tho out-relief was £ ' 1-7 S less than in the last week of March . The funeral of Mr . Cobden took place on the 7 th , at Lavington , near Midhurst—the body of the lamented statesman being laid beside

that of his only son , who died a few years ago . There was a considerable attendance of members of Parliament , including the Chancellor of the Exchequer , Mr . Milner Gibson , Mr . Bright , and Mr . Villiers ; and Lancashire was largely represented by deputations from public bodies . A partial suspension of business and other signs of mourning here and elsewhere

indicated the public sense of tho loss which the country has sustained in the death of Mr . Cobden . —•—At a ' meeting of the National Association for the Promotion of Social Science and the Society for Promoting the Amendment of the Law , held on Monday night , and presided over by Lord Stanley , Mr . Thomas Hare read a paper suggestive of such an organisation of the metropolitan elections as would call into exercise the greatest amount of the knowledge and judgment of the

constituencies , and as far as possible discourage all corrupt and pernicious influences . After the reading of the paper a long discussion took place , in which , amongst others , Sir . Stuart Mill took part , and at its conclusion Mr . Hare was accorded a cordial vote of thanks . Papers wore read on Monday evening at the meeting of the Geographical Society in favour of a further expedition to the

North Pole . The project for the expedition met with strong support . Among others , it is said , that Lady Franklin is in favour of the proposal . A meeting of the Ethnological Society was held on Tuesday evening . Mr . Crawfurd read a paper on ' ' The Occidental Negro . * ' He was decidedly of opinion that the negro was inferior to tho white man , and was not

capable of such high civilisation . He was , however , strongly opposed to slavery . A brief and interesting discussion followed the reading of the paper . ——The delivery of a lecture on " The American campaigns" lias afforded the Commander-in-Chief an opportunity of saying a word upon tho utility of cavalry . His Royal Highness is of opinion that the campaigns in America

have proved the advantage of having large masses of light cavalry , but that heavy cavalry , though very serviceable under certain circumstances , are not so generally useful . Another lesson he gathers from the manoeuvres of General Sherman is that in all future wars the spade will form an important element . On Saturday the twenty-second boat race between

Oxford and Cambridge was rowed on tho Thames , and Oxford was again , for the fifth year in succession , the victor . The race was a very exciting one , as it was known that Cambridge had made immense exertions to retrieve their lost laurels , and actually took and kept the lead for more than half the race . The Oxford men , however , appeared to have the advantage of bottom , and gathered vigour as their opponents lost it . The

difference between them at the goal was about three lengths Wo may add that the conduct of tho captains of some of the steam boats was most discreditable , and threw great difficulties in the way of starting . They went far to spoil the interest of a race which drew together to witness it many thousands more than had ever before assembled on the banks of the Thames . In the evening the two boats' crews and their friends dined

together , when all feeling of rivalry was forgotten . On Saturday , the final arrangements for the forthcoming review of volunteers at Brighton were completed . The chief command will devolve upon Major General Sir Robert Walpole , ICC . U ., and the total number of volunteers who have received permission to attend the review is over 22 , 000 of all ranks .

In the Court of Arches , Dr . Robertson , the Surrogate , has granted an application made on behalf of the Bishop of Norwich in connection with the pioceedings at the Norwich Monastery . At his lordship's request a monition , requiring the Rev . Mr . Drury to refrain from taking part in the services at the Monastery , was filed . At the Central Criminal Court ,

Captain Colborne has been tried on a charge of publishing a libel upon Mr . James Phineas Davis , an attorney . The alleged libel was contained in a pamphlet which professed to give a description of the Jew usurers of the metropolis . The defendant pleaded a justification , but no evidence was adduced to support the plea . A verdict of guilty was returned by the jury , and

the defendant was sentenced to pay a lino of £ 20 . On Saturday a man named Beaver was brought before Mr . Knox , the magistrate , on the charge of attempting to extort money from Madame Rachel by the threat that if she did not pay him £ 5 he would publish some suit she had in a county court in the newspaper ? . The defence was that Madame Rachel invited him to call , but this was positively denied , and the magistrate committed him for trial . In his charge to the