The Week.

GENERAL HOME NEWS . — A thunderstorm passed over the metropolis on Saturday , and caused much damage . It is said that considerable injury has been done to the spire of Bow Church , that the grasshopper on the Royal Exchange has been split , and that Blackfriars Bridge was struck by the electric fluid , and several persons knocked down . A general order has been issued by the Queen ' s command , expressive of her satisfaction and gratification at the soldierlike bearing and high state of efficiency of the

different corps present at the review of the volunteers at Edinburgh . A terrible accident has happened at Dover from the bursting of a gun with which Artillery volunteers were practising Three persons were killed on the spot and several others seriously injured . An accident , attended with very serious consequences , occured at Pendleton on Monday . AVhile the people were at work in the rope manufactory of Mr . J . Parry , a large brick building connected with it suddenl and buried those at work in its ruins

y gave way , , . and when extricated it was found that three were killed , four dangerously wounded , and several others more or less injured . At the Guildford Assizes , on Tuesday , the extraordinary scene was presented of the high Sheriff of the county appearing in custody , charged with proceedings insulting to the Queen and the judges . The offence charged against the High Sheriff was the having posted on the outside of Mr . Justice Blackburn's court a placard

protesting against the " unlawful proceedings of the learned judge in ordering people out of court . " Mr . Evelyn in answer to the allegation made against him , entered into a justification of his act , asserting that the course he had taken was right and proper . Lord Chief Justice Cockburn , in addressing the High Sheriff , told him he was altogether wrong in his law , and said that the course which he had adopted was an insult to the Queen , and set her servants , the jud at defiancebtelling the officers of tho sheriff not to obey

ges , , y their orders . He acquitted him of intentionally acting wrongfully , but he had clearly done so , and the sentence of the Court was that he pay a fine of £ 500 A man has been examined , charged on his own confession with committing the Road murder , but there does not appear to be any evidence that he did so ; and he bas

contradicted all that he originally stated , alleging that he was in distress . The August session of the Central Criminal court commenced on Monday . On Tuesday David Werayss Jobson was found guilty ¦ of threatening to publish , with the view of extorting money , libellous matter containing a charge of cowardice against Sir James Fergusson in face of the enemy while in the Crimea , and sentenced to twelve months imprisonment . On Wednesday , Yoiingman was arraigned on the charge of murdering his mother and three others

at AValworth . The prisoner exhibited great coolness , and pleaded not guilty . At the request of counsel , the trial was postponed till Thursday , -when he was found guilt } -. Mary Allen , the schoolmistress , was found guilty of inhuman and revolting cruelty to the child Caroline Lefevre , and sentenced to three years' imprisonment with hard labour . POREION INI-ELLIGENCE . —A letter from Beyrout , dated 22 nd ult . states that 500 families were to leave Damascus for Beyroot

, , under the escort of 1 , 000 Algerians . Fuad Pacha had arrived on the 17 th , bringing with him 150 , 000 piastres—a mere drop in the ocean—to indemnify the Christian victims . The conduct of Fuad Pacha seems to be suspicious , and the chiefs of the different tribes appear to treat him with contempt . The representatives of England , Austria , and Prussia at the Court of the Tuileries have received the full powers necessary for converting the protocol of the 3 rd instant into a formal convention . It is expected that

before the departure of the Emperor for Savoy and Algeria , the ambassadors of Russia and the Porte will have likewise received full powers , and that the convention will then be definitively signed . The JDebats published on Friday an article which created much sensation in the Paris corn market , urging the necessity of taking steps to prevent tho disastrous results of a bad harvest by throwing open the ports for the admission of ever } ' kind . of grain . The Prince Imperial had a narrow of being

escape burnt to death at the camp at Chalons , owing to the tent in which he was sleeping having caught fire . On the last grand field-day the youthful Prince , after having been present at the sham fight in an open caleehe , mounted a pony and passed along the front of the troops , side by side with his father , it is almost needless to say to the intense delight ofthe army . A report has reached Genoa that 8 , 000 men have landed near Reggio , and that the Neapolitan

garrison has evacuated the fortress of Scylia ; but it is generally considered premature . The boldness of Garibaldi ' s forces , and the disorganisation of the Royalists , become every day move perceptible . The Feloce , the single war steamer of the Sicilians , cruises off the Neapolitan coast with impunity , and actually practises "her guns" against the battlements of ' Castcllainare and the vessels of Naples . On the other hand , the King and the Court part y are doing their best to organise a vigorous resistance , several annexationist newspapers have been suppressed in the capital ; and it seems to be a question whether the ' town shall not

be placed in a state of siege . There was a meeting of the Emperor of Austria and the King of Bavaria at the opening of the Salzburg and Munich railway , when toasts were proposed by the two sovereigns , which have created some sensation as intimating that unity has been established between Austria , Prussia , and the other German States , for the mutual defence of each other . From Vienna we learn that the Reichstath had terminated their sittings . At a private sitting of the committee a resolution had

been adopted that a constitution based on the federative system demanded by the Hungarian delegates should be granted to all the provinces . The report of the Financial Minister states that the deficit for the year 1861 is estimated at 30 , 000 , 000 of florins , and that the estimated deficit of 87 , 750 , 000 florins for 1860 had been increased by more than seven millions . In Sicily , the official journal of the 5 th promulgates the Sardinian Constitution as the fundamental law of the country , and contains the

proclamation of the prodictator , Depretis , and Secretary of State , 1 ' . Crispi . The Sicilian Ministry has again been modified . Garibaldi has addressed to Queen Victoria a letter , introducing Prince Pandolfini to her Majesty as representative of Sicily . The document , which is at once manly and simple , announces Garibaldi ' s assumption of the dictatorship of Sicily , and claims the kind attention of the Queen to the representations of his envoy . The King of Sardinia has issued a decree enacting that the

Sardinian citizens belonging to Savoy or Nice , who are desirious of retaining their Sardinian nationality , must declare their intention to that effect before the syndic of the place where they intend to settle . Prince Panilo has died from the wound of a pistol-shot , aimed at him at Cattaro by a Montenegrin refugee . INDIA AND CHINA . —Tho Overland Mail brings intelligence from Calcutta to the 5 th ult ., and from China to the 23 d June . The news from India is not of much importance . With , the departure

of the late Governor of Madras for England the Trevelyan question had lost its interest , and the public attention was fixed on a bill brought , in to supersede the Disarming Act , just expiring , under which the disarmed rebels were to be enabled to resume their

arms , under licence , without power of search by the magistrates , and a very strong opposition on the part of the Europeans was being raised against it . From China w-e learn that Lord Elgin and Baron Gros had arrived at Hong-Kong , and it was expected would at once proceed to the north , whither Sir Hope Grant and Admiral Hope and the whole of the expeditionary army had already proceeded . The rebels were carrying everything before them , and Soochow had fallen into their hands . It was thought that the

success of the rebels would induce the Emperor to accede to our moderate demands , which would give him a large force to send against his rebellious subjects , COMMERCIAL . —A proposition has been brought forward for organising the A ohinteers' Assurance F'riendly Society , and it appears to be under good auspices . It has been formed for the purpose of raising a fund from the public and contributions of 10 s . 6 d . per annum from the A'blunteersto bo devoted to giving

, compensation to those who may unfortunately meet their death while on duty , or for partial compensation in case of injury or continued illness . The liabilities of the society will not accrue until a fund of £ 2 , 000 shall have been raised . The late accident at Dover shows the utility of such an institution . At the annual meeting of the Royal Insurance Company , hold at Liverpool , the report disclosed the following favourable results : —The fire premiums received in the year 1859 amounted to £ 228 , 314 , showing

an advance of £ 32 , 166 in a single year , and an increase in three years of more than 50 per cent . In the life department the report possesses increased interest as it embodies the result of the actuary ' s quinquennial valuation . This presents a balance of profit of £ 60 , 647 , enabling the company to apportion to the participating policies a bonus of £ 2 per cent , per annum on the sum assured . In the last year 1015 life policies were issued for the total sum of £ 4-34-, 470 , being the largest amount of business in any one year .

The actuary's report , with appendix , is in the shape of a pamphlet , and constitutes a valuable document , since it discloses the entire monetary and life statistics of this branch of the business . The mortality experienced by the company , appears to have been unusually low , and the illustration of this by two coloured diagrams , renders the ratio of mortality clear at a glance to the unprofessional eye , and is contrasted on the second diagram with the principal standards of mortality previously ascertained , with which

it compares very advantageously . A dividend of 3 s . and a bonus of 4 s . per share , with a further bonus of 2 s . per share from the profits of the life branch—the whole amounting to 9 s . per share—were declared free of income tax . The following railway dividends have been declared : —London and North AVestern , at the rate of 5 per cent . ; Midland , 6 . V per cent . ; Gt . Western , 3 per cent . ; Bhickwall , 3 per cent . ; North London , 5 per cent . ; Northern and Eastern , 5 and 6 per cent , guaranteed ; Royston and Hitchin , 6 per cent , guaranteed ; Furness , 7 per cent . ; Mid Kent , 3 per cent .