The Week.

conversation arose upon the respective merits oi the AYhifcworth and Enfield and tho AYhifcworth and Armstrong guns , iu the course of which Jlr . S . Herbert stated that he had made au offer to Air . Whitworth "both to try his gun and to buy his gun ; '' but that with regard to the rifles , while the Enfield cost but £ 2 18 s ., the AVhitworth ivould cost £ 10 , . and that an expenditure of £ 10 , 000 , 009 would be necessary if the former wero to he at once superseded by the latter . Several members joined in the discussion as to the merits of the rival weapons before the

vote was disposed of . On Tuesday a quantity of miscellaneous business was disposed of , and at length Mr . Lindsay moved "That , in the opinion of this house , it is the duty of her Majesty ' s government to adopt , at the earliest possible period , the necessary measures to carry into effect the recommendations ofthe commissioners appointed in 1 S 5 S to inquire into the formation of harbours of refuge on the coasts of Great Britain ancl Ireland . " A long debate ensued and the motion was opposed by the government on the ground that they had already prepared proper

measures . On a division the motion was carried by a majority of 17 . On AA ednesday , on the motion for going into committee on the Aggravated Assaults Bill , Lord Enfield contended that the penalty of corporal punishment would tend rather to increase than to decrease the number of assaults committed upon wives , since the latter would not often be willing to prosecute their husbands . He also maintained that the law as it stood was sufficient for alt requirements , and on these grounds moved as an amendment that the house should go into committee that

day three months . After a discussion , in which the feeling of the house was manifested very decidedly in opposition to the infliction of corporal punishment , the house divided , and rejected the bill by 174 to 57—majority 117 . Jlr . Henley resumed the adjourned debate on the second reading of tho Ecclesiastical Commission , & c , Bill , which he supported . Jlr . G . C . Bentinck opposed the bill , and was speaking when he was stopped by the clock at a quarter to six , and the debate was summarily cut short .

GENERAL HOME NEWS . —His royal highness the Duke of Cambridge , it appears , is not desirous of leaving his present regiment , the Scots Fusilier Guards ; and Lord Clyde will accordingly be gazetted to the Coldstream Guards , in succession to the late Earl of Strafford . On Saturday , tho two hundredth anniversary of the formation of the

Grenadier Guards was celebrated by a sumptuous banquet hold in St . James's Palace . The Prince Consort , the colonel of the regiment , presided , and in proposing the toast of the evening , reviewed the services which the Grenadiers have performed during the two centuries of their existence , commencing with the siege and capture of Namur and ending with the struggle before Sebastopol . Archdeacon Robinson , the Alaster of the Temple , has intimated his intention of resigning the rectory of Thurfield , to ivhich he was appointed by Lord

Cranworth during the time ho was Lord Chancellor . Tho living , which is worth , £ 1 , 000 a year , is in the gift of the dean and chapter of St . Paul ' s , and it will be taken by the Rev . Thomas Dale , one of the canons residentiary , who has just given up the vicarage of St . Pancras . On Saturday a grand fietd day aud preliminary review of the volunteers took place in Regent's-park , under the command of Lord Eleho . There was a vast crowd of spectators , and during a part of the time the Queen was present . After the various evolutions had been executed ,

Lord Elcho addressed the mounted officers iu terms of high commendation , and requested them to convey to the men under their command his thanks for their efficiency . Lord de Grey has addressed a circular to the various commanding officers of volunteers , requesting them not to allow any volunteer to attend this day at the grand review , " who is not fit , in point of proficiency in drill , to appear before her Afajesty . " The number of volunteers who , it is expected , will be brought together to-day , is from twenty to thirty thousand . Mr . Commissioner Afurphy , of the Insolvent Debtors' Court , died at his residence at Kensington early on Sunday morning . The learned commissioner had been poorly

for some few clays , but his death was not expected . The deceased commissioner represented Cork for about twenty years , and resigned on being appointed commissioner of the Insolvent Debtors' Court in 1853 . He was a member of Lincoln ' s Inn , and was called to the bar in 1833 , and iu twenty years was appointed a commissioner of the court . The movement against "the aggression of the lords" has now extended to nearly every district of tho metropolis . Meetings have been held in the borough of Finsbury , and in Lambeth . 'The first was attended by

Jlr . Duncombe , who delivered a speech in entire sympathy with his constituents . Air . Shaen delivered an argument against the act of usurpation of which the upper house has been guilty . The other meeting was held at Hawkestone Hall , Lambeth . Jlr . AVilliams and Mr . Roupell , the members for the borough , were both present . A great demonstration was held in Jersey on Thursday night last , for the purpose of expressing sympathy with Garibaldi and rendering aid to the Sicilian fund . The proceedings wore of a highly interesting character ,

and were made more important by the presence of Victor Hugo and other distinguished champions of liberty . Letters were read from Lord Teynham , Signor Saffi , and others , which from their hearty expressions of good will " for the Sicilian cause excited great enthusiasm . Victor Hugo delivered a most eloquent speech , or rather oration , in which , while exalting Garibaldi and eulogising the patriotic struggle in which he is engaged , he advocated tho cause of the oppressed throughout the world . AVe have news of tho progress of the Great Jiasterv , down the Channel . She was seen off Plymouth on Sunday night , and by this time slie is far on her journey across the Atlantic- -A serious

investigation has been taking place at the Thames police court , during the last few days , which concerns the management of the United Kingdom Mutual Annuity Society , an offshoot of the United Kingdom Benevolent Annuity Fund . The association professed to be under the patronage of Lord Shaftesbury and the Bishop of Oxford , who , however , state that they never sanctioned the use which has been made of their names . Large sums have been subscribed by the benevolent , and annuities granted to aged persons elected by the subscribers . For a long time

past the annuities have been stopped , and the office closed , the consequence being that many poor persons have been plunged into the greatest misery . AVhen application was made to Air . Selfe to interfere on behalf of the annuitants , he at once communicated with the parties responsible for the society ' s affairs ; and Air . Tucker , a solicitor who attended on their behalf , promised to recommend his clients to do what was right . The committee are not prepared to pay off in full the demands which are made upon them , but are willing to agree to a settlement based upon a

compromise . Altogether the affair is one of a very extraordinary character . Another poor man appeared before Air . Selfe at the Thames police court , on Tuesday , to complain ofthe stoppage of his annuity by the United Kingdom Benevolent Fund . Mr . Selfe again expressed himself very strongly on the subject . The deaths in London , which hacl fallen to 969 in the first week of the present month , rose to 1 , 064 in the week that ended last Saturday . For the weeks corresponding with last week iu ten years , 1850-9 , the average number of deaths , after correction for

increase of population , will be found to be 1 , 070 , with which estimated result the actual number of deaths in last week very nearly agrees . The mortality exhibits au increase on that of each of the two previous weeks , which is probably due to the continuance of unusually cold , wet weather . Last week the births of 879 boys and 873 girls , in all 1 , 752 children , were registered iu Loudon . In the ten corresponding weeks of the years 1850-59 the average number was 1 , 495 . At the Metropolitan Free HospitalDevonshire squarethe aggregate number of patients

, , relieved during the week ending June 16 th was—medical , 958 ; surgical , 427 ; total , 1 , 885 ; of ivhich 432 were new cases . The trial , in which a proctor at Cambridge was charged with having unjustly detained in a " spinning-house" a respectable married womaii , has been brought to a conclusion in the Court of Exchequer . The jury

returned a verdict for the plaintiff—damages £ 50 . Henry Fayerman , who is charged with having committed perjury before a select committee of the House of Commons , was again brought up for examination before the magistrate at AA estniiiister . Air . Ribton stated that ho should reserve the defence , and the prisoner was then committed for trial . ft will bo remembered that , a week ago , wc reported the proceedings which had been instituted by the Captain of the Surrey Volunteers against the lessee of the Kennington toll-gate , for having required three

members of that corps who were returning home from drill in a cab to p : iy the toll . This demand was held to bo an infraction of an Act of George IA' ' ., by which volunteers in going to or returning from their place of exercise , or while employed on public duty , should be exempt from the payment of tolls . Afr . Elliott has delivered his judgment in this important case , and decided that the Act was only intended to apply to carriages which had been used in tho performance of some public duty , such as the conveyance of baggage or stores , or of sick or wounded soldiers these

. For reasons lie dismissed the summons . One of' the complainants asked for permission to appeal , and this having been granted , tho case will no doubt furnish ample material for numerous hair-splitting arguments in the Court of Queen ' s Bench . An indignation meeting of butchers has been held in Farringdon Hall , for the purpose of taking measures to oppose the bill now passing through the House of Commons , by which a tax will be imposed upon meat in the now city market . The tax was vehemently denounced as inquisitorial , unnecessary , and a burden upon trade . The resolutions were unanimously carried , and a petition to Parliament was also adopted . A

special , sitting of the Norwich magistrates was convened on AVednesday , at which the parties concerned in the case of alleged proselytizing attended , and as it was reported about tho city that some fresh disclosures were to be made , many other persons , ' were also present . Tho chief constable of the Norwich police—who has just returned from Brighton , where he has been jnaking inquiries after Euguine , the foreign priest who has been mentioned in connection with Master Van

^ - sittart ' s flight from school—proposed , as it was understood , to make a ' statement to the bench ; but when the magistrates had assembled ho proceeded with them into a private rooin . After an absence of about ten minutes the magistrates returned into court , and the mayor then said that a communication of considerable importance had been made , and the ease would therefore come on again on Monday . The Committee of the Stock Exchange have resolved , in honour of the review of volunteers

grand by her Alajesty in Hyde-park this da )' , that the establishment shall be closed entirely . AVe believe that a number of the establishments will also either close altogether , or at twelve o ' clock , in order to afford facilities for their employes and others to attend upon the occasion . An extraordinary scene took place iu the Thames Police court , on AVednesday , in connection with the United Kingdom Mutual Annuity Society and the United Kingdom Benevolent Annuity Fund , whose proceedings have recently been the subject of a deal of investi

good gation . Afr . Serjeant Parry attended before Jlr . Selfe , for tho purpose of replying to ' the serious allegations ivhich the worthy magistrate had made against the managers of the societies iu question . Afr . Parry appeared more especially on behalf of the Rev .