The Week.

government ; and , on a division , was rejected by a majority of 30 votes against 6 . The House then went into Committee of Supply , when , among other sums voted , was one of £ 155 , 000 , being the contribution of this country towards the redemption of the stade dues . On Tuesday , the House held a morning sitting , when the Irremovable Poor Bill passed through committee . At the evening sitting , Mr . Coningham presented a petition from Mr . O'Malley Irwin—a person of some

notoriety , owing to his feuds with the promoters of the Galway Company—¦ embodying several charges of a most serious character against Mr . Lever , the member for Galway . Mr . Roebuck , Lord Dunkellin , and several other members condemned the conduct of the member for Brighton , iu bringing forward such a petition without having made inquiry respecting the allegations it contained , and without having previously communicated with Mr . Lever on the subject . Mr . Roebuck moved that the

petition be rejected ; but after a long discussion , in the course of which Lord Palmerston advised Mr . Coningham to withdraw the document the House divided , when a majority of nine appeared in favour of receiving the petition . Mr . Coningham , however , ultimately withdrew it . Lord Palmerston explained that the Government intended to oppose the two most important changes made in the Bankruptcy Bill by the House of Lords , viz . the striking ; out of the clause appointing a Chief Judge ,

and the substitution of official for creditors' assignees . Mr . T . Duncombe moved an address to the Crown praying for the appointment of an English consul at Pesth ; but the motion , being opposed hy Lord John Russell , was withdrawn . -AVeilnesday's sitting was occupied with the consideration of several bills of minor importance . The Criminal Proceedings Oath Relief Bill , the Irremovable Poor Bill , and the Metropolitan Act Amendment Bill all passed through committee .

GENERAL HOME NEWS . —Last week there was somewhat of an increase in the rate of mortality in the metropolis , the actual number of deaths being 1106 . Of births registered there were 1902—915 boys and 939 girls . The barometer had a mean height of 29 ' 592 inches , and the temperature of the air averaged 6 T 5 degrees ^ The ancient ceremony of trying the pyx took place in the Exchequer-office on AA ednesday . The Lord Chancellor , who presided , charged the jury at some length . He

commented upon the antiquity of the custom which tliey were mot to observe , and upon the responsibility of the duties which they had to perform . The jury then proceeded to make the assays of gold ancl silver , to ascertain if they were of the weight and fineness of the standard of the Queen ' s money , as laid down by law . At the close of the daj' the jury had prepared a report highly favourable to the state of our coinage , Lord John Russell , it is stated , is to receive a peerage and the

¦ Garter . The withdrawal of the noble Lord from the House of Commons will , of course , necessitate some alterations' in the constitution of the Government , Lord John will still , iu the Upper House , retain the office of Foreign Secretary ; but as the present Under Secretary , Lord AYoclehouse , is a peer , some change must be made in order that the Foreign Office may be officially represented iu the House of Commons . Tho early retirement of Lord Herbert from the War Office is considered certain , and rumour generally assigns the appointment to Sir G . C . Lewis .

In that case Lord De Grey might resume the post he so ably filled before Lord Herbert was raised to the peerage , leaving a vacancy at tho India Office for Lord AVoclehouse . The present Lord Mayor and Mr . AA'estern Wood , a son of the late Sir Matthew Wood , are in the field to succeed Lord John Russell in the representation of London . The civic banquet iu honour of Mr . Cobden took place at the Mansion House on Wednesday , the Lord Mayor presiding . There was a very numerous and distinguished

company present . The Lord Mayor proposed the toast of the evening , " The Health of Mr . Cobden , " which was responded to by that gentleman in an admirable speech . "The House of Lords" was responded to by Lord Talbot de Malahide , " " The House of Commons " by Mr . Bright , and " Our Foreign Guests " hy M . Chevalier . The inauguration of the statue of Dr . Watts , the eminent poet and divine , tooic place at Southampton , on Wednesday . —> - A full list is published of the

English subscribers to the monument about to be erected at Turin to commemorate the splendid services rendered by Count Cavour to the cause of Italian liberty . In this list w-e find the names of the Archbishop of York , Lord Palmerston , Lord Granville , Lord John Russell , Mr . Gladstone , Lord Clarendon , the Duke of Argyll , the Duke of Devonshire , the Speaker of tho House of Commons , Lord Clyde , Sir Robert Peel , Lord Shaftesbury , Lord Spencer , Mr . Mibier Gibson , and other well-known members of both Houses of Parliament . The highly successful meeting of the National Rifle

Association was brought to a close on Saturday . In the morning the prizes were delivered to tho successful competitors by the Duke of Cambridge , who complimented the volunteers upon the excellent shooting which had been displayed in the various contests . A field-day , in which 11 , 000 volunteers took part , was held in the afternoon on Wimbledon Common , under the eye of the Commander-in-Chief , and report speaks favourably of the manner in which the most complicated manoeuvres were

gone through . An abstract of the Irish census returns has , at length , been published . A decrease in the population of Ireland is shown , but the falling off is less than might havo beeu expected . The population on the Sth of April last was 5 , 704 , 543 , against 6 , 552 , 385 in 1851 , and 8 , 175 , 124 in 1841 . This decrease of about 12 per cent , during the last ten years is attributed chiefly to emigration ; but the Commissioners add that it must also be remembered " that the effects of the disastrous period

of famine and pestilence , which commenced with the potato blight of 1840 and 1847 , had extended over the first few years of the decade . " Dublin County , Carrickf ' ergus , and Belfast are the only localities iu the in the country in which an increase is shown . The Leeds Meeting of the Royal Agricultural Society was formally opened on Tuesday . The attendance was very large , and the meeting altogether promises to be one of the most successful ever held under the auspices of the Society .

Franz , the man accused of having been concerned in the murder of Mrs . Halliday , at Kingswood , was on Monday committed for trial on the charge of wilful murder . Madlle . Titiens , the celebrated vocalist , was examined , but she stated that the prisoner was not the German she had relieved . It is believed that the recipient of this lady ' s bounty was Krohn—the supposed accomplice of Franz—who still remains at large . Considerable excitement has been caused hy an extraordinary attempt

made by the Baron Do Vidil , a French nobleman , to murder his son . It seems that the Baron married a rich English lady in 1835 , but that his wife soon afterwards died , leaving an only son , who inherited his mother ' s property . Young Alclil , who has graduated at Cambridge , is now

twentythree years of age , and lives in chambers in London . The Baron , who led an easy bachelor life at the Clarendon , asked the son a few daj-s ago to accompany him to Clareinont , with the view of paying a visit to the Royal House of Orleans . They went there ; and it was while returning on horseback that the father is stated to have commenced the attack upon his son in a lonely lane . One or two persons fortunately came up , and the young man , bleeding profusely from serious wounds on the head ,

clung to them for protection . The Baron attempted to induce his friends to believe that his sou had fallen from his horse ; but finding the real truth had oozed out , lie fled to Paris , whither he was pursued by English detectives . On Monday he was examined at Bow Street , and remanded to Wednesday ; hut when the son , for i ^ wm the greatest sympathy was felt , was placed in the witness box , he declined to give evidence , stating hi effect , that his object in obtaining the warrant was to protect himself ,

and not to punish his father . As he persisted in this determination , Mr . Corrie ordered him to he taken into custody ; but upon the medical man informing the magistrate that confinement in prison would prove extremely injurious to his health , he was permitted to return home with his friends , and the case was adjourned till Friday . On Tuesday evening the depositions of John Rivers , one of the labourers who witnessed the attack , was taken . at Twickenham in the presence of two magistrates . This

was rendered necessary by the precarious state of tins poor man s health . The Baron , it appears , was a diplomatic functionary under the Orleans dynasty , and his patent of nobility is said to have been the last signed by Louis Philippe . On Friday , another , and , if possible , still more extraordinary outrage was committed . It appears that an army agent , named Roberts , and a Major Murray were closeted together at the office of the former in tho Adelphi , when , for some reason at present

shrouded in mystery , Roberts fired a pistol at Major Murray , wounding him severely . Major Murray , finding that the office door was locked , and that his assailant had provided himself with another pistol , seized the poker and tongs and dealt him a series of fearful blows which leaves his life in danger . The Major asserts that Roberts was a stranger to him until he accosted him in Hungcrford Market relative to an Hotel Company of which he is a directorand invited him to walk to his

, chambers to talk the matter over , when the contest took place . Roberts is alleged to have admitted that he accosted Major Murray in the street , and requested the favour of an interview on the subject of a company with which the gallant officer was connected . On entering Roberts ' s chambers , Major Murray—so runs this report—shot himself and then attacked Roberts . Roberts died later on Thursday afternoon . The Surrev Sessions commenced on Monday , the present calendar being com-