Literary Extracts.

minister ' s house in Paris . When a livery servant came to fill his glass Avith Avine , he anticipated the movement by wiping it Avith all his might and main . The hostess , fearing that some little accident had occurred , signed to the valefc behind her to change the glass . The wiping process was recommenced , and the glass immediately changed to a thirdand a fourthuntil the general

, up , , , losing temper , whispered to his neighbour , a senator ' s wife , " Does M . le Mi . nisfcre mean to make game of me , hy asking me to dinner to Avipe his glasses ? " Tho lad }' , Avith some difficulty , got him to understand that what might be necessary iu a camp canteen was quite unnecessary in a Parisian dining-room . —London Society .

The Week.

THE WEEK .

THE COURT . —Her Majesty and the younger branches of the Royal Family continue afc Osborne . Tbe Prince and Princess of "Wales are in London , patronising the theatres , and other places of public amusement . I . AIPEEIAL PAELIAMENT . —In the HOUSE OE LOEDS on Tuesday , the 9 th inst ., the Lord Chancellor made a statement respecting the operation of the new Bankruptcy Act . During

the past year , he said , there were 7 , 324 adjudications in bankruptcyi anel the property recovered amounted to £ G 77 , 53 G . Of that sum , however , no less than 143 , 872 was swallowed up in costs , and if they added the £ M 0 , 000 paid for tlie salaries and ordinary expenses of the courts , they woulel have a total of £ 283 , 872 expended in dividing £ 533 , GG 4 . He remarked that

would be a cruestion for the consideration of Parliament whether such a state of things should be allowed to continue . At the same time , the act of 1 SG 1 had not proved a complete failure . The provision for voluntary arrangements between debtors and creditors had worked satisfactorily , and hael been made available for the distribution of upwards of £ 5 , 000 , 000 . This

statement was not followed by any discussion . On Friday the business was unimportant . On Monday tho only business was a motion by Lord Houghton for certain poor-law returns ; Avhich was , of course , agreed to . On Tuesday , the Lord Chancellor made a short statement as to the result of the act

recently passed authorising the sale of the small livings in his patronage ; while Lord Leitrim made another attack upon the Irish magistracy and police , whom Lord Granville warmly defended against the wholesale denunciations of their eccentric assailant . In the HOUSE OE COMMONS on Thursday , the Oth inst ., various notices of motion were given , including one by Mr . Baines of the re-introduction of the Borough Franchise

Bill . The people of Ireland are to have a solatium for the withdrawal of the Galway postal subsidy , —Lord Clarence Paget having announced , in answer to a question from Mr . Hennessy , that the Navy Estimates will include a vote for the establishment of a dockyard at Cork . —Mr . Milner Gibson stated , in answer to a question from Mr . Bentinck , that the

Government had no intention of bringing in a bill providing for the better security of railway passengers . Many of the recommendations of the Select Committes of 1858 , he said , had already been adopted by the railway companies , and he believed that the others were now under their consideration . —Mr Bazley called attention to the extraordinary robbery of Mr .

Charles Ashworth , at Shrewsbury , and asked whether the magistrates who so efficiently , though of course unconsciously , assisted the thief on that occasion had been removed from the commission of the peace . Sir George Grey replied that no complaint or official information on the subject had been brought before him . —On the motion of Mr . Moffat , a committee was

appointed to inquire into the defects of the Bankruptcy Act . — Mr . Hadfield obtained leave to re-introduce his Abolition of Qualification for Offices Bill ; and Lord Robert Montagu to bring in bills for the better protection of rivers , and for facilitating the utilisation of town sewage . On Friday , among the numerous epicstions put to the Government was one by Mr . Peacockc , respecting the reported dismissal of Mr . Coursol , the

Canadian judge who discharged tbe St . Albans raiders . Mr . Cardwell stated that he had received no report of Mr . Coursol ' s " dismissal ; anel whatever steps might be taken by the Governor General in the matter would be taken on tho advice of his responsible Ministers , and not at the instigation of the Colonial Office . —In reply to a question from Mr . Western , Sir George

Grey stated that the Government did not intend to bring in a general bill for the abolition of turnpike trusts ; and in answer to Lord Stanley , Sir C . A \ ood saiel that Sir John Lawrence had entirely reversed Lord Canning ' s policy in Oude . —Sir John AA alsb moved for papers relating to the notice given by fche United States Government for tlie abrogation of the Reciprocity

Treaty , and of the convention securing the neutrality of the Canadian lakes . The Hon . Baronet said ho regarded the course taken by the Government of Washington as the prelude to a declaration of war . Lord Palmerston explained that the notice with reference to tho lakes was to be viewed as a merely tern- , porary measure , designed to protect the commerce and property

of the citizens of the United States . He could not deny that events had taken place of which the Government of AAfishington had good reason to complain , and they were " amply justified " in having recourse to the step now contemplated . The convention ,, however , was open to renewal afc a future time . With regard to the Reciprocity Treaty , no intimation had been made to her Majesty ' s Government of a proposal on the part of the

United States to put au end to ifc . He declined to follow Sir John AValsh into a discussion of the state of our relations with America—a discussion which afc present would nofc be conducive to the public interest ; but he asked the House not to assume gratuitously that the American people were animated by feelings of hostility towards this country . Sir John Walsh withdrew his motion , and the subject dropped . —Leave was

given to bring in bills providing for new courts of justice . — Mr . Dodson , one of the members for East Sussex , was elected Chairman of Committees in the room of Mr . Massey , who goes to India as Minister of Finance . On Monday , Mr . Sheridan gave his annual notice on the subject of the fire insurance duty , and the Attorney-General intimated his intention of bringing

in a bill to alter tho law respecting tlie forfeiture of the goods of convicted felons . —Mr . Haelfield ' s bill for the abolition of the declaration required to be made by persons appointed to certain municipal and other offices was read a second time , anel ordered to be referred to a Select Committee . —Sir George Grey obtained leave to bring in a hill similar to that introduced by

the Government last year , bufc ultimately withdrawn , for securing uniformity in the enforcement of hard labour and other forms of punishment in our prisons . Tho right hon . baronet declines to deal with the much-vexed question of dietary , as he had found it impossible to devise a uniform scale . —Mr . JTewdegate brought in another bill for tho

commutation cf church-rates , and Sir Robert Peel laid before the House a measure , which was read a first time , for the protection of such inventions as may be displayed at the forthcoming Dublin International Exhibition . Ou Tuesday , Mr . Gladstone , in reply to questions from Mr . Roebuck anel Mr . A incent Scully , saiel the Government had no intention of

bringing in a bill this session for the revision of the tariffs , or for the purchase of any of the railways of the United Kingdom