Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Week.
to receive the evidence of a Ai-oman who avowed her disbelief in the existence of a Supreme Being . Sir G . C . Lewis , in reply to Sir J . Trelawny ' s question , stated that it was not his intention to propose an amendment of the law with a view to relieve persons entertaining such opinions ; and , at the same time , he defended the conduct of the judge . Mr . Collier obtained leave to bring in a bill to prohibit the payment of the expenses of conveying electors to the
poll in boroughs . Sir G . C . Lewis announced that he should shortly deal with the same question in connection with a more general measure . In the discussion which followed , Mr . Digby Seymour announced that he had withdrawn his motion for a £ 6 franchise bill in favour qf Mr . Baines . Mr . AA hite next moved for a return of all the members ofthe House who held situations under the Crown , tog-ether with the emoluments appertaining thereto . Sir G . C . Lewis , however , opposed the motion , telling the lion ,
gentleman that the information could already be obtained by consulting various papers . Mr . AVhite pressed his motion to a division , with the following result : —Ayes , 53 ; Noes , 112 . Mr . Hubbard obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend the law relative to Church-rates . The following day being Ash AA ednesday , the House of Commons met at two o'clock , and the sitting , which was an unimportant one , occupied only half an-hour . A few returns were moved for .
GENERAL HOME NEWS . —An influential deputation from the African Aid Society have waited upon Lords Pahnerston and John Russell , for the purpose of urging their Lordships to appoint a consular agent at Abbeokuta , the capital of the greatest cotton-producing country on the AVest Coast of Africa , and to adopt measures to induce the King of Dahomey , the great feeder of the slave-trade , to abandon his slave-hunthig expeditions , and devote his own attention and the industry of his people to the cultivation of cotton , as a
more profitable , as well as a more honourable business . The interview with Lord Pahnerston , was a private one , but at the Foreign Office , Lord John Russell , without binding himself to any definite course of action , indicated his willingness to consider the matter favourably . An important conference of the anti-churchrate party has been held in the Freemasons' Tavern . About fifteen members of * Parliament , ivere present , several of whom took part in the proceedings . Mr . Scholefield , M . P . for Birmingham , presided . A public meeting has been held at the Egyptian Hall on behalf of the St . Paul ' s Cathedral fund . The Bishops of London and Oxford were both present . It appears that the sum of £ 9000
has already been obtained for the great work of completing Sir Christopher AA ren's magnificent design . -In anticipation of a bill which the Home Secretary is about to introduce for the appropriation of the two vacant seats of Sudbury and St . Alban ' s , the Chelsea vestry , on behalf of that parish and of Kensington , has adopted a petition , setting forth the claims of that populous district to both seats . The question of the North Atlantic Telegraph was under discussion at the last meeting of the Geographical Society . Sir
Roderick Murchison gave the weight of his high authority in favour ofthe practicability of the scheme . Captain Sherard Osbom called attention to the fact that any apprehension which might be entertained as to the effect of the aurora borealis and the intense cold upon the electric current bad been set at rest by Captains jCellett and M'Clintock , who in a much more northerly lattitude had established telegraphic communication between their two vessels . The gales ivhich have just visited our coasts have occasioned a serious
loss of life . From Kingstown we deeply regret to learn the death of Captain Boyd , of her Majesty ' s ship Ajar , who , together with fourteen of his men , perished in a gallant attempt to rescue the crew of a vessel which had gone ashore . Such noble courage and self-sacrifice deserves , and will , no doubt receive , a fitting commemoration . Sixteen vessels were on shore , and many other cases of loss of life had occurred . Twelve men were drowned near AVhitby . An inquest was opened by Mr . Payne , at St . Bartholomew ' s Hosital
p , on Saturday , to investigate the circumstances causing the death of four poor fellows who lost their lives in one of the City Sewers . The evidence of the inspectors and the engineer conveyed the opinion that if the men died from suffocation , the noxious air must have suddenly entered the sewer , probably from some chemical matter being discharged into it . Mr . Wood , the medical officer who examined the bodies , said that three had died from inhaling carbonic acid gasand the fourth had been drownedAs it
, . -s-as evidently desirable so ascertain the cause of this sudden generation of gas , the inquiry ivas adjourned . AVe regret to state that an accident took place at the Crystal Palace station on Monday morning , which occasioned the death of two persons . 'They were crossing the line at the moment a train was coming up , and were instantly killed . No blame is attached to " the driver of the engine . A boiler explosion took place in a pit iu Staffordshire
belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury , l > y which , Ave regret to say , seven lives were sacrificed . An unusual occurrence took place in the City on Friday , being the seizure in the Old Bailey of 4001 bs . of gunpowder , that is , eight times
as much as the Acts of Parliament permits to be deposited in a house not occupied by a dealer in that dangerous commodity . The powder appears to have been left at a carrier's office , to be conveyed to different parts of the country . Garibaldi has written a letter to his English agent , Mr . Aslmrst . The gallant General pays a high tribute to the valour displayed by the British legion . He admits that there was a want of discilinewhich he appears to
p , attribute to the late period at ivhich they arrived . There has been another outbreak of the convicts at Chatham , but it was putdown by the authorities , and thirty-six of them , engaged in the mutiny , have been flogged . Lord Ilaynham has appeared as defendant in a somewhat singular trial in the Court of Queen's Bench . He had , it appeared , caused the arrest of a woman in the street on a charge of begging , but when she was brought before the magistratebe did not press the complaintand she was
dis-, , charged . The woman brought an action against him for assault and false imprisonment . The case turned upon the point as to whether the plaintiff was a beggar within the meaning of the statute . The jury returned a verdict for the defendant . In the Court of Common Pleas , Miss Fray , whose case has been frequently before the public , brought an action against Licut .-Colonel Hicks , the Governor of AVhitecross-stree . t Prison , for alleged illtreatment . The jury returned a verdict for the defendant .
The ludiau loan of £ 3 , 000 , 000 has been successfully launched , the applications being for more than double the amount required . The minimum price fixed by the Indian Council was 981 , but about £ 5 , 500 , 000 were offered at a price exceeding the minimum , and £ 7 , 500 , 000 below it . On Thursday the Bank of England raised its rate of discount to S per cent . FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE . —The French Government has lately laid before the Senate and Legislative Body the despatches which ,
passed bet-ween M . de Thouvenel , the French Foreign Minister , and the Duke , de Grammont , French Ambassador at Rome , during the early part of last year . They contain a history of portion of the negotiations between the French Government and Cardinal Antonelli , when the former endeavoured to induce the Pope to consent to a compromise which would give to the King of Sardinia the government of the three Legations , but only under the form of a Vieariat , which A'ietor Emmanuel should exercise in the name ofthe Pope . Between this compromise and the absolute annexation of tha Legations to Sardinia , the French Minister argued that the choice of the Papal Government must lie . His arguments were
met by Cardinal Antonelli with a determined opposition ; One of the Duke de Grammont's despatches contains along and interesting account of a conversation which took place at the beginning of last March between Cardinal Antonelli and himself upon the subject . The Cardinal emphatically declared that the Pope would yield to no compromise—that in his eyes there existed no difference between the absolute loss of the Legations by annexation and their " tempered loss" by the adoption of tho suggested A icariat : it ivas a
question of principle , and the Pope was not free to abdicate his rights . Let the provinces be evacuated of all Picdmontese forceslot them be placed in the same position as when the AustrUms quitted them , and " we will charge ourselves with re-establishing the Pontifical authority there . " Moreover , Antonelli demanded that Rome should be left free to form relations with and make appeals to other Catholic Powers . The last AA-ord of the Papal Minister ivas , that the Pope ivould never compromise .
Otherdespatches contain projects of conciliation suggested by France , and attempts to obtain promises of reform , and the refusals of the Papal Court to make any pledge , unless restored to the possession of the provinces annexed to Sardinia . Recent news from Hungary makes known that the Comitat of Hoiith is proceeding to levy a domestic impost , namely , an impost decreed by the Comitat itself without the concurrence of Government , and applied to its own purposes . This is an act of complete defiance
to the diploma which declared the establishment of those provincial imposts without the authority of the Government equivalent to an act of high treason . The Comitat of Pesth has voted an address to the Emperor ( under the title of King of Hungary ) , declaring that the confidence which the Imperial diploma of October had created has been wholly destroyed by the recent rescript . It declares that taxes are illegal until voted b y the Diet ; that an unreserved return to Constitutionalism can alone win back the country , and that
nothing but force shall remove the citizens from the lawful ground which they have taken up . The recent decree of the Municipal Council of Pesth , relative to freedom of industry , appears to have been somewhat misunderstood when first made known in western Europe . The Council have not re-established industrial corporations , or in any way endeavoured to limit anew the freedom of trade . The laws of 18 IS , which they re-enact , are stated to be in many respects much more liberal than the industrial laws of Austria . The Comitat of Odenburg has resolved to pay the taxes as heretofore , until the Diet shall have taken its resolution . The Conference of Karlsburg in Transylvania have determined upon
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software.
The Week.
to receive the evidence of a Ai-oman who avowed her disbelief in the existence of a Supreme Being . Sir G . C . Lewis , in reply to Sir J . Trelawny ' s question , stated that it was not his intention to propose an amendment of the law with a view to relieve persons entertaining such opinions ; and , at the same time , he defended the conduct of the judge . Mr . Collier obtained leave to bring in a bill to prohibit the payment of the expenses of conveying electors to the
poll in boroughs . Sir G . C . Lewis announced that he should shortly deal with the same question in connection with a more general measure . In the discussion which followed , Mr . Digby Seymour announced that he had withdrawn his motion for a £ 6 franchise bill in favour qf Mr . Baines . Mr . AA hite next moved for a return of all the members ofthe House who held situations under the Crown , tog-ether with the emoluments appertaining thereto . Sir G . C . Lewis , however , opposed the motion , telling the lion ,
gentleman that the information could already be obtained by consulting various papers . Mr . AVhite pressed his motion to a division , with the following result : —Ayes , 53 ; Noes , 112 . Mr . Hubbard obtained leave to bring in a bill to amend the law relative to Church-rates . The following day being Ash AA ednesday , the House of Commons met at two o'clock , and the sitting , which was an unimportant one , occupied only half an-hour . A few returns were moved for .
GENERAL HOME NEWS . —An influential deputation from the African Aid Society have waited upon Lords Pahnerston and John Russell , for the purpose of urging their Lordships to appoint a consular agent at Abbeokuta , the capital of the greatest cotton-producing country on the AVest Coast of Africa , and to adopt measures to induce the King of Dahomey , the great feeder of the slave-trade , to abandon his slave-hunthig expeditions , and devote his own attention and the industry of his people to the cultivation of cotton , as a
more profitable , as well as a more honourable business . The interview with Lord Pahnerston , was a private one , but at the Foreign Office , Lord John Russell , without binding himself to any definite course of action , indicated his willingness to consider the matter favourably . An important conference of the anti-churchrate party has been held in the Freemasons' Tavern . About fifteen members of * Parliament , ivere present , several of whom took part in the proceedings . Mr . Scholefield , M . P . for Birmingham , presided . A public meeting has been held at the Egyptian Hall on behalf of the St . Paul ' s Cathedral fund . The Bishops of London and Oxford were both present . It appears that the sum of £ 9000
has already been obtained for the great work of completing Sir Christopher AA ren's magnificent design . -In anticipation of a bill which the Home Secretary is about to introduce for the appropriation of the two vacant seats of Sudbury and St . Alban ' s , the Chelsea vestry , on behalf of that parish and of Kensington , has adopted a petition , setting forth the claims of that populous district to both seats . The question of the North Atlantic Telegraph was under discussion at the last meeting of the Geographical Society . Sir
Roderick Murchison gave the weight of his high authority in favour ofthe practicability of the scheme . Captain Sherard Osbom called attention to the fact that any apprehension which might be entertained as to the effect of the aurora borealis and the intense cold upon the electric current bad been set at rest by Captains jCellett and M'Clintock , who in a much more northerly lattitude had established telegraphic communication between their two vessels . The gales ivhich have just visited our coasts have occasioned a serious
loss of life . From Kingstown we deeply regret to learn the death of Captain Boyd , of her Majesty ' s ship Ajar , who , together with fourteen of his men , perished in a gallant attempt to rescue the crew of a vessel which had gone ashore . Such noble courage and self-sacrifice deserves , and will , no doubt receive , a fitting commemoration . Sixteen vessels were on shore , and many other cases of loss of life had occurred . Twelve men were drowned near AVhitby . An inquest was opened by Mr . Payne , at St . Bartholomew ' s Hosital
p , on Saturday , to investigate the circumstances causing the death of four poor fellows who lost their lives in one of the City Sewers . The evidence of the inspectors and the engineer conveyed the opinion that if the men died from suffocation , the noxious air must have suddenly entered the sewer , probably from some chemical matter being discharged into it . Mr . Wood , the medical officer who examined the bodies , said that three had died from inhaling carbonic acid gasand the fourth had been drownedAs it
, . -s-as evidently desirable so ascertain the cause of this sudden generation of gas , the inquiry ivas adjourned . AVe regret to state that an accident took place at the Crystal Palace station on Monday morning , which occasioned the death of two persons . 'They were crossing the line at the moment a train was coming up , and were instantly killed . No blame is attached to " the driver of the engine . A boiler explosion took place in a pit iu Staffordshire
belonging to the Earl of Shrewsbury , l > y which , Ave regret to say , seven lives were sacrificed . An unusual occurrence took place in the City on Friday , being the seizure in the Old Bailey of 4001 bs . of gunpowder , that is , eight times
as much as the Acts of Parliament permits to be deposited in a house not occupied by a dealer in that dangerous commodity . The powder appears to have been left at a carrier's office , to be conveyed to different parts of the country . Garibaldi has written a letter to his English agent , Mr . Aslmrst . The gallant General pays a high tribute to the valour displayed by the British legion . He admits that there was a want of discilinewhich he appears to
p , attribute to the late period at ivhich they arrived . There has been another outbreak of the convicts at Chatham , but it was putdown by the authorities , and thirty-six of them , engaged in the mutiny , have been flogged . Lord Ilaynham has appeared as defendant in a somewhat singular trial in the Court of Queen's Bench . He had , it appeared , caused the arrest of a woman in the street on a charge of begging , but when she was brought before the magistratebe did not press the complaintand she was
dis-, , charged . The woman brought an action against him for assault and false imprisonment . The case turned upon the point as to whether the plaintiff was a beggar within the meaning of the statute . The jury returned a verdict for the defendant . In the Court of Common Pleas , Miss Fray , whose case has been frequently before the public , brought an action against Licut .-Colonel Hicks , the Governor of AVhitecross-stree . t Prison , for alleged illtreatment . The jury returned a verdict for the defendant .
The ludiau loan of £ 3 , 000 , 000 has been successfully launched , the applications being for more than double the amount required . The minimum price fixed by the Indian Council was 981 , but about £ 5 , 500 , 000 were offered at a price exceeding the minimum , and £ 7 , 500 , 000 below it . On Thursday the Bank of England raised its rate of discount to S per cent . FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE . —The French Government has lately laid before the Senate and Legislative Body the despatches which ,
passed bet-ween M . de Thouvenel , the French Foreign Minister , and the Duke , de Grammont , French Ambassador at Rome , during the early part of last year . They contain a history of portion of the negotiations between the French Government and Cardinal Antonelli , when the former endeavoured to induce the Pope to consent to a compromise which would give to the King of Sardinia the government of the three Legations , but only under the form of a Vieariat , which A'ietor Emmanuel should exercise in the name ofthe Pope . Between this compromise and the absolute annexation of tha Legations to Sardinia , the French Minister argued that the choice of the Papal Government must lie . His arguments were
met by Cardinal Antonelli with a determined opposition ; One of the Duke de Grammont's despatches contains along and interesting account of a conversation which took place at the beginning of last March between Cardinal Antonelli and himself upon the subject . The Cardinal emphatically declared that the Pope would yield to no compromise—that in his eyes there existed no difference between the absolute loss of the Legations by annexation and their " tempered loss" by the adoption of tho suggested A icariat : it ivas a
question of principle , and the Pope was not free to abdicate his rights . Let the provinces be evacuated of all Picdmontese forceslot them be placed in the same position as when the AustrUms quitted them , and " we will charge ourselves with re-establishing the Pontifical authority there . " Moreover , Antonelli demanded that Rome should be left free to form relations with and make appeals to other Catholic Powers . The last AA-ord of the Papal Minister ivas , that the Pope ivould never compromise .
Otherdespatches contain projects of conciliation suggested by France , and attempts to obtain promises of reform , and the refusals of the Papal Court to make any pledge , unless restored to the possession of the provinces annexed to Sardinia . Recent news from Hungary makes known that the Comitat of Hoiith is proceeding to levy a domestic impost , namely , an impost decreed by the Comitat itself without the concurrence of Government , and applied to its own purposes . This is an act of complete defiance
to the diploma which declared the establishment of those provincial imposts without the authority of the Government equivalent to an act of high treason . The Comitat of Pesth has voted an address to the Emperor ( under the title of King of Hungary ) , declaring that the confidence which the Imperial diploma of October had created has been wholly destroyed by the recent rescript . It declares that taxes are illegal until voted b y the Diet ; that an unreserved return to Constitutionalism can alone win back the country , and that
nothing but force shall remove the citizens from the lawful ground which they have taken up . The recent decree of the Municipal Council of Pesth , relative to freedom of industry , appears to have been somewhat misunderstood when first made known in western Europe . The Council have not re-established industrial corporations , or in any way endeavoured to limit anew the freedom of trade . The laws of 18 IS , which they re-enact , are stated to be in many respects much more liberal than the industrial laws of Austria . The Comitat of Odenburg has resolved to pay the taxes as heretofore , until the Diet shall have taken its resolution . The Conference of Karlsburg in Transylvania have determined upon