The Week.

he is not likely to forget . Alderman Salomons and Sir Charles Bright was triumphantly returned . Mr . Locke and Mr . Layard had the luxury of an unopposed return for Southwark yesterday . Both gentlemen made addresses to the gathering ; but the proceedings were not of a specially interesting character . Finsbury has done its share towards raising

the character of the metropolitan boroughs . It has placed Mr . Torrens at tbe head of the poll , with Aid . Lusk in the second place . Mr . Cox was completely beaten . The sturdy men of Finsbury have never forgiven his conduct towards Mr . Stansfeld . The most noteworthy of the unopposed returns yesterday was that of Mr . Bright and Mr . Scholefield at

Birmingham . Mr . Bright , on being elected , made a speech in which he dealt chiefly with reform . There could be no mistake as to his meaning . He told his hearers plainly what was wanted by the people , and what must be given to them before long ; The balance of the returns on Wednesday is , we believe , in favour of the Conservatives by one or

two votes . But they have lost one notable man , Mv . Seymour Fitzgerald , who is ' , beaten by Mr . Hurst , a Liberal . The Liberals lose their Secretary of the Treasury , Mi ' . F . Peel , who , at Bury , is beaten by Mr . R . N . Phillips , a more advanced Liberal . Colonel Luke AVhite , Irish Lord of the Treasury , is beaten at Kidderminster jby a Mr . A . Grant , aud Lord Alfred Paget loses

his seat for Lichfield . Lord Bury has failed to secure election at Dover . Mr . Samuel Morley is chosen for Nottingham , and Sir Robert Clifton is above Mr . Paget on the poll by twenty-one votes . The royal borough is wrested from the Conservatives . Mr . Labouchere and Sir A . Hoare are the members for AVindsor , in lieu of Mr . Vansittart and Mr . Vyso . At Tynemouth , Mr . Trevelyan beats a Tory — Mr . Hodgson ; and at Newcastle , a good Radical — Mr . Joseph Cowen — takes the

place of a mild AVlng , Mr . Somerset Beaumont . Sir Charles Wood and Mr . Villiers have both secured their seats . Mr . Gladstone , junior , has taken a seat previously occupied by a Tory at Chester . Mr . P . A . Taylor gets a Liberal colleague in place of a Tory at Leicester . On the other hand , at Carlisle , Mr . Lawson loses his seat , which is taken by Mr . Hodgson . Mr . Lawson ' s advocacy of the

Permissive Bill has , no doubt , led to this result . At Nottingham there was a good deal of disorder in the course of the day , but the poll was proceeded with . At Grantham , however , there was a riot . The polling booth was smashed , and tbe poll had to be postponed to the next morning . Dr . Pritchard , who now lies in gaol at Glasgow , is said to have confessed

that he poisoned his wife and mother-in-law . Mr . Robert Debenham , the surgeon who was charged with manslaughter for shooting a man named Solomons , whom he says he thought was a burglar , was tried on AVednesday at the Central Criminal Court . After a lengthy hearing tho jury acquitted tho prisoner . FOREIGN INTELLIO-ENCE . —M . Drouyn de l'Huys , Earl

Cowley , and the Dutch and Belgian Ministers have exchanged the ratifications of the sugar convention which was concluded on the 8 th of last November , and which is to come into operation on the 1 st of August . The Opinion Nalionale of Paris makes a ridiculous mistake in dealing with the resignation of the Lord Chancellor of England . Confounding the office of Lord

Chancellor with that of the Chancellor of the Exchequer , it expresses deep regret that a vote of censure passed by the House of Commons should have compelled jthe resignation of Mr . Gladstone . An accident took place on Thursday , the 6 th inst ., on the line of railway between Lyons and Marseilles . Three persons were killed ancl twenty wounded . A strike of an entirely novel kind has broken out in Marseilles . It appears that some six thousand bachelors have met and pledged themselves

The Week.

to renounce matrimony until damsels abjure expensive ways and take to domesticity and economy in dress . This is , indeed , a new and [ heroic movement of the famous men of Marseilles . Aux armes , citoyens— 'that is , close your arms steadfastly against the advances of the too , too dear sex until economy sets in . Some negotiation is apparently

going on for the recognition of Italy by Spain . In the Spanish Congress , on Thursday evening , the Minister for Foreign Affairs refused to enter into a debate on the subject , on the ground that certain negotiations concerning it were already pending between Spain , Italy , and other Powers . It is stated that the Pope , being applied to on the subject , offered no

opposition . It is reported in Paris that there is to be a reduction of the French army by about 30 , 000 men , a proceeding which will relieve the Exchequer to tbe amount of 30 million francs , besides affording an additional evidence of the pacific tendency of the French Government . The Italian Government has presented a report to the King upon

the recent negotiations with Rome . The negociations , it appears , were adopted at the request of the Pope , the Italian Government stipulating that tho conferences should be strictly confined to the filling the vacant sees and other ecclesiastical matters , all political questions being entirely excluded . At the commencement of the negociations the Papal

Government exhibited a conciliatory disposition , and hopes were entertained of a favourable conclusion to the conferences ; but subsequently , from some unknown influence , the Papal Government altered its tone , ancl became exacting , which ended in

the negociations being broken off . The Madrid papers publish the conditions agreed upon for the evacuation of San Domingo , according to which it would appear that , the Dominican Government acknowledges that the country owes the independence it is about to enjoy , solely to the magnanimity of the Spanish people .

A complete estrangement now appears to exist between the Papal Government and tho representative in Rome of the Emperor of Mexico . A telegram from Rome reports several circumstances whieh show how unconcealed is the anger of the Pope and Cardinal Antonelli , at the independent course taken by the Emperor Maximilian . The Spanish Ambassador at

Rome has announced to the Papal Court the recognition of the kingdom of Italy by Spain . Apropos of this subject we may mention that during the recent debate in the Spanish Congress thereon , one speaker , who opposed the recognition declared that , let the Queen and Government do what they might , he personally would never recognise the kingdom of

Italy . This is cruel , ancl no doubt will be fatal to Italy's prospects . The rumours that cholera had broken out in Constantinople and Smyrna prove to be wholly unfounded . A short quarantine has , however , been imposed upon vessels sailing between the two ports . The rumours about a revived effort for a Congress of European States receive no confirmation Some of the German papers , indeed , talk of the report still as if there were something in it ; but the French press generally regard it as a mere canard . The Cologne Gazette originated the story on the faith of a telegram from London .

To Correspondents.

TO CORRESPONDENTS .

* * All communications to be addressed to 12 , Salisbury-street , Strand , London , W . C . ANSWEE TO NUMEROUS ENQUIRERS . — "The K . T . and K . M . Statutes " may now be had at Spencer's Masonic Depot . PERSEVERANCE . —The subject was brought under the notice of Grand Lodge in March , 1864 , and we believe the matter rests in the same condition as stated by us in our issue of March 5 th , 1864 .