The Week.

exercised that power . Vv e may state , however , for the information of those of our readers who may be curious on this point that Dr . Longley's immediate predecessors made M . D . ' s as well as D . D . 's and M . A . 's . —Mr . Thomas Baring called attention to the arrival in the Mersey of the Confederate cruiser Georgia ) and raised once more the whole question of tlie course adopted by the Government with reference to the Southern vessels of

war which have been built in this country . A long debate followed , in which the Attorney-General , Mr . Cobden , and other members toolc part . The Attorney-General said the Georgia was to be dismantled and sold , and , as to amending the Foreign Enlistment Act , the Government had no intention at present of proposing a measure on the subject . The House was counted

out during a speech by Mr . Morritt on the malt tax , standing adjourned for the holidays . GENERAL HOME NEWS . —The mortality of London has stood at nearly the same level for the . last three weeks . The number last week was 1 , 306 , which is 24 more than the corrected average . There is a marked decrease in the deaths of persons under

20 years of age . The births were 1 , 936 ; the corrected average for the last , ten years was 1 , 964 . Tlie Whitsuntide holidaymakers have been more favoured by " the skiey influences " than they usually are . From morning to night there was scarcely a cloud in the sky , and the consequence was that a large portion of the population was out of doors and out of

town . The steamboats and the railway trains were alike crowded , Greenwich , Woolwich , the Crystal Palace , Richmondpark , Epping Forest , and Hampton Court being the principal attractions . Some of our readers may consider it an aggravation of their sufferings to be reminded that wc have had very hat weather for tlie last two or three days ; but this great heat is a phenomenon of some meteorological

interest . At Aldershot on Sunday the thermometer registered a temperature of 83 ' 5 deg . in the shade , and at Birmingham on the same day it stood at 80 . Mr . Arnold , of the Aldershot Observatory , says that so high a maximum has not occurred in the month of May for the last six years ; while Mr . Plant , of Birmingham , " has no former record of such extraordinary heat in tbe middle of May . " In some parts of Northumberland

there was heavy rain on Monday ; at one place , Stocksfield , a stream was swollen to a great height , causing a large amount of damage to property . The Conference met again on Tuesday , and , after a sitting of upwards of three hours , adjourned until Saturday week . The Daily Neivs states that the German Powers repudiate altogether their treaty engagements towards

Denmark , asserting that tho war has liberated them from all Euch obligations ; while Denmark and the neutral Powers insist that the treaty of London is still binding on all its signitaries . According to this statement , the Conference has not yet been able to agree even upon a common basis of discussion . The weekly statement of the Poor-law Board shows that the

cotton manufacturing unions were relieved of the burden of 4 , 430 paupers in the first week of the present month . More than half that decrease is assignable to four unions , namely , Asbton-under-Lyne , 490 ; Manchester , 800 ; Cborlton , 610 ; and Preston , 670 . Happily , the pauperism at the latest date i s 167 , 000 below the highest point it reached during the cotton

famine . There still remains on the rates 28 , 600 adult ablebodied paupers . The out-relief last week , diminished by £ 242 . Lord De Grey has adopted the strong measure of summarily dismissing two persons occupying good positions in the War Office , who had been in tbe habit of devoting a portion of their time to throwing dice and playing for considerable sums of money . A milder punishment has been meted out to a few junior clerks ¦ who failed to report practices which they must have known to be

" irregular . " A deputation of some 500 clergymen waited upon the Archbishop of Canterbury , on Thursday , to present the Oxford Declaration , a document which , as our readers are aware , affirms , in the strongest terms , the plenary inspiration of tbe Bible and the dogma of eternal punishment . The Bishops of Gloucester , Carlisle , Rochester , St . Asaph , and

Bangor , and the Primus of tho Episcopal Church in Scotland , were with the Primate on this occasion . The Archbishop , on behalf of himself and the prelates who were present , thanked the deputation for the protest , ivhich his Grace and the other bishops accepted as an assurance that the clergy will never be disposed to propagate opinions which tend to subvert the

fundamental doctrines of Christianity . On Saturday evening the Salters' Company entertained his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge to dinner at their hall in St . Swithin ' s-lane . The Duke was received at the entrance to the hall by Alderiv . an Gibbons , the master , and by the wardens of the company . A guard of honour was drawn up in front

the hall , supplied from the City Rifle Brigade , of which his Royal Highness is honorary colonel . There was a brilliant company assembled and the evening was pleasantly spent . The site of the Prince Albert Statute in Dublin has been the occasion of much discussion and some rioting there . After fixing upon College-green for a site the Town Council have been

weak enough to refer the matter to a committee for further consideration . This has brought out from the Lord Lieutenant , a letter which the Queen addressed to him upon the subject so far back as the 24 th of February , in which her Majesty evidently approves of the site in College-green . An attempt was made in the Council the other day to allow this expression of the Queen ' s wishes to settle the question , but a small majority approved rather of sending this letter for the guidance of the

committee to whom the matter had previously been referred . Lord Houghton , who , as Mr . Moncton Milnes , represented Pontefract in the House of Commons for a quarter of a century , has been presented by his friends in that borough with a piece of plate , as a mark of their "high appreciation" of his services as their representative in Parliament . The noble lord , in acknowledging the gift , reviewed the history of the eventful

period during which he held a seat iu the House of Commons , noting more especially the vast commercial changes effected by Sir Robert Peel and his distinguished pupil , Mr . Gladstone . He also dwelt upon the Reform question , which has been suddenly galvanised into an appearance of life by the recent pro-nunciamenlo of the Chancellor of the

Exchequer . He said the su-fvaga " was a solemn duty which men of this country were called upon to perform , and if their fellow-citizens believed they could perform their duty faithfully , honestly , and independently , then , and then only , had they a right to demand and receive it . " He spoke of LordPalmorston as " governing the country with signal prudence aud

good sense , holding the balance between contending parties , acting fairly and justly by each , doing his duty to the past recollection of tbe constitution and to the future hopes of the nation . "—The electors of Halifax have presented a piece of plate to their representative , Mr . Stansfeld , as a protest against the course taken by the Conservatives in forcing the hon .

gentleman , on account of his connection with Mazzini , to resign big office in the Government . The presentation took place in the presence of a vast concourse of people . The hon . gentleman , in thanking his friends for this mark of their sympathy and confidence , went over the history of the events which led to his resignation , and acknowledged with gratitude the generous and gallant stand made in his defence by the Prime Minister . Mr . W . E . Forster , the member for Bradford , also addressed thc