The Week.

The inquest on the body of the convict Townley , who destroyed himself in Pentonville Prison , on Sunday week , resulted in a verdict of " temporary insanity . " An inquest was held on Monday evening at Tottenham , on the body of a woman named Elizabeth Purnell . The deceased had been domestic servant in

the house of Jlr . John Costell Thompson , a clerk in the Bank of England . The medical evidence showed that death had been accelerated by want . The other evidence gave a strange and by no means pleasant picture of tho mode in which Mr . Thompson and his family lived . He complained that his wife was such a drunkard that he Avas obliged to lock

up everything to prevent her selling them . He declared that the deceased had always had enough to eat . This latter statement , however , was contradicted , and the jury in their verdict found that deceased ' s death was accelerated by starvation , and that Mr . and Mrs . Thompson were censurable for their neglect . A fire ,

which caused the destruction of a largo amount of property , took place on Tuesday morning , at R . otYiorhitho , near the Surrey entrance to the Thames Tunnel . It began ou the premises of a boat builder , and speedily extended to an adjoining granary , where about 2 , 000 quarters of wheat were stored . Other buildings in that densely covered area wero also attacked and

more or less injured by the flames ; aud the destruction is estimated , taken altogether , at upwards of £ 20 , 000 , of which a portion only was insured . On Tuesday morning , at an early hour , a fire was discovered in the Royal Victoria Hospital , Netley , which was fortunately extinguished before it had extended beyond tlie room where it originated , although a number of public documents have been destroyed . Itis alleged that the fire was the work of an incendiary , the miscreant having thrown some combustible matter into the room .

Considering the number of helpless patients that occupy the wards of the hospital , the consequences of the spread of the fire must have been awful . A serious fire is reported from Newtonin-the-Willows , between Liverpool and Manchester , where Mr . M'Corquodale carries on an extensive printing establishment in connection , wo believe , with the London and North-Western

system of railways . The fire was very disastrous , and a large portion of the premises and of the plant was consumed . An explosion , attended with fatal results , appears to have taken place on board the Peninsular and Oriental Company ' s steamer the Hangoon , while on her voyage from Bombay to Suez . A quantity of gunpowder , amounting to about 71 b ., exploded in the

after saloon , and did much damage to the fittings of the cabin , besides setting fire to a portion of the cargo , which was , however , soon extinguished . But the most lamentable result was the death of a lady passenger and her child , who were near the spot when the explosion took place . A case of some social interest was decided on Wednesday by the

Master of the Rolls . A widow lady was left with three daughters , who were entitled under their father ' s will to certain property as they came of age . She married a second time , and when her eldest daughter came of age , and accepted an eligible proposal of marriage , the mother persuaded her to assign her share of the property to her ( the mother ) , and , as

it was alleged—though this was disputed—to conceal the assignment from her accepted husband . The marriage took place soon after this arrangement , and when the daughter ' s husband did come to know of the deed , he sought to have it cancelled on the ground that it defrauded him of his marital rights . The Master of the Rolls said the equity of the case

Avas clear , and ordered the deed to be cancelled . FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE . —The French Government have issued decrees appointing the commissioners for the Universal

The Week.

Exhibition of 1867 , and for the Universal Exhibition of Fine Arts , to take place in Paris at the same time . Among those appointed members of the commission are Earl Granville , Earl Cowley , and Jlr . Cobden . The French Corps Legislalif has appointed its committee to draw up the Address in reply to

the Speech from the throne . M ? vl . Schneider , Granier de Cassagnac , and Alfred Leroux are amoi ^ g the best known of the deputies entrusted with this task . The Vatrie states that Cardinal Antonelli ' s despatch on behalf of the Papal Government , in reply to the complaint about the letters of Monsignor Chigi , has arrived in Paris ,

and that its contents are entirely satisfactory to France . It is also announced by the Paris evening papers that the French Government has intimated to the Italian Cabinet that the interval of two years to precede the evacuation of Rome by the French troops will bo calculated from the 6 th of February , that being the day on which the King of Italy

left Turin for Florence . King Victor Emmanuel left Florence on Wednesday , for Bologna , and was to return to Turin OVA Thursday . The Turin papers deny that the two years preceding the evacuation of Rome by the French troops are to be calculated from the day of the King's departure for Florence . The Oplnione refers to the agreement dated 3 rd October last , according to which the period is to bo reckoned from the

date of the decree for the transfer of tlie capital . That decree Avas sanctioned by the King on the llth day » of December . The budget for 1866 was presented on Saturday to the Austrian Reichsratb , and " shows an important deficit ;" but the Finance Minister assures the people of the empire that in 1 S 67 " every deficit will disappear . " The Austrian

Government has at last conceded the extradition of General Langiewicz to Switzerland . From an early period of the late Polish insurrection General Langiewicz has been kept in captivity by Austria . Repeated requests for his extradition on the part of Switzerland , aud resolutions on the part of the Austrian Representative Chamber proved powerless until now to effect his

re ' ea = e . From Lisbon we learn that the Portuguese Ministers have brought in bills to abolish the restrictive system at present in force at the mouth of the Douro , and to permit the permanent import of foreign cereals into Portugal in consideration of a duty which is to be gradually diminished . —•—The new Spanish Minister of Finance , Senor Castro , has announced to the

Congress the withdrawal of the bill for the anticipation of the taxes , and declared that tlie Government relies upon the cooperation of the Chamber for a new bill to improve the financial position of the country . Queen Isabella has consented to permit the Crown lands to be sold for the benefit of tho nation , and they are expected to produce about £ 6 , 000 , 000 .

To Correspondents.

TO CORRESPONDENTS .

DEA r ON AND CORNAVALL . —Bro . Spry , of Devonport , has just published the JIasonic Calendar , for these provinces . It is admirably got up , and must be useful not only to every brother resident in thejprovince , but to all likely to visit it . The work is dedicated to Bro . the Rev . John Huyshe , P . G . Chap , and D . Prov . G . JI . for Devon , and an excellent portrait of the Avorthy brother serves as a frontispiece .

JERSET . —We have also received the Freemasons' Calendar for Jersey and Guernsey ( including Alderuey ) , edited by Bro . Dr . Hopkins , P . Prov . S . G . W . Warwickshire , and we can earnestly commend it to attention . _ G . W . —Three Installed Masters aro required to form a legal board . | R . K . —Apply to Bro , F . Binckes , 16 A , Great Queen-street , W . C .