The Week.

Roebuck gave notice of amendments , the object of which is to reduce the term of residence necessary for qualification from two years to six months , and to introduce a lodger franchise for those who pay at the rate of £ 10 a year . Subsequently Jlr . Brig ht wished to know AA-hether there Avas any truth in the rumour that the Government intended to postpone the

committee ou the hill till after Easter . Jlr . Disraeli gave him a flippant reply , but no answer to his question . On the 26 th instant Jlr . Walpole gave his reasons for advising the respite of the convict Wager . The right hon . gentleman said he had acted upon a determination which he announced to the House last session , that so long as he held his present office

he ivould carry out the recommendation of the Capital Punishment Commissioners , aud not alloiv the capital penalty to be inflicted where it was not shown there had been premeditation of the murder He had Avritten to the judge who tried the case , and that judge had replied to him that in his opinion there was no premeditation of murder in the case of Wager , and that lie

thought the case was not one for the infliction of death . On the 26 th inst . the sitting was mainly taken up with a debate on Jlr . Jl'Cullaglr Torrens' hill in relation to artisans' and labourers' dwellings . The measure is that which ivas introduced last year , read a second time , and referred to a select committee . It provides for the demolition of buildings ivhieh are

unhealthy , and , if necessary , the erection of neiv buildings by the local authorities . The discussion was very interesting , and eventually the bill was read a second time . The other business had no special interest . GENERAL HOME JNJEWS . —Tho action brought by a gentleman named "Winterbottom against Lord Derby for closing an ancient right of ivay across a field on his lordship ' s property near Bury has been tried at the Manchester Assizes . The fact that there

had been a recognised right of way through the field in question ivas conclusively proved , by the evidence of eight old gentlemen , one of whom had reached the mature age of ninety . Lord Derby ' s land-agent , who was described by Jlr . James as a much greater man in that district than his master , affirmed that he had never known of the right which was sought to be established . The issue , however , appeared to turn upon the question

whether Lord Derby , as owner of the property , ivas bound by a privilege which had been conceded to the public by former occupiers ivithout his knowledge . The jury held that there was a prescriptive right of way to the use of the path which had been closed . They therefore returned a verdict for the plaintiff —damages , four pounds ; but there lies an appeal to the Court

of Exchequer ou the question whether , as the plaintiff has sustained no special damage in his own person , he can obtain compensation in a court of law . A shipping agent , carrying on business in King William-street , ivas charged on the 22 nd inst . before the Lord Mayor ivith having unlawfully neglected to finish a contract he had entered into with a poor man

named Cotton , a shepherd . It appeared that the complainant and two others in a similarly humble position of life bad sold off all they were possessed of to make up the sum necessary to secure berths in a certain vessel which had been advertised by the accused , and that after doing so they were informed that they could not have the berths they had

secured . The poor people had to come up to London respecting the matter , and much inconvenience and expense to them was the result . The Lord Jlayor considered the case against the shipping agent very bad , and ordered him to pay a fine of £ 15 half of ivhieh his lordship handed over to the complainants ' who , he remarked , had been shamefully treated . There has been a practical joke of a very absurd kind at Newport , Isle of

The Week.

Wight . A few days since two lads , clerks in the telegraph offices , one at Southampton and the other at Newport , were practising their telegraphing on the wires . The Newport boy asked the Southampton hoy if he had any news from Ireland Southampton , full of mischief , replied Yes ; the Fenians had attacked the fortifications of Dublin , and been beaten off with a

loss of 2 , 000 Avounded . He added that there ivas a Fenian fleet off Liverpool , and that an attack on the port was expected . This message was taken as serious by a bystander , who carried it to the clergyman of the parish . He thought it most important and road it out to his congregation , asking their prayers for those in peril . There was

quite a scene . Later the truth was discovered . ¦ - Application has been made to the magistrates sitting in petty sessions at JIarket Drayton for a warrant for the apprehension of Mr . Eyre on a charge of being accessory to the murder of Jlr , Gordon . The evidence was in most respects the same as that adduced at Bow-street in support of the charge against

Colonel JXelson and Lieutenant Brand- The magistrates granted the warrant , and Jlr . Eyre ' s counsel undertook that he should surrender . An inquest was held on tho 25 th instant on the bodies of the two young woman who were killed a few days since in Chureh-street , Camberwell , by the falling on them of a massive ornamental coping-stone from a shop front . The jury after hea . iing the evidence , returned a verdict of accidental death . On the 26 th inst . the Great Fasten , sailed from

Liverpool for JNeiv York . A most unfortunate accident happened at one of the capstans , while the anchor was being got a-weigh . Two men were killed on the spot , and several other men were wounded . Sir James Anderson was hurt , but not severely . At the Kingston Assizes James Longhurst was tried for the nuu-der of Jane Sax , neav Guildford , in June last . The evidence left not a shadow of doubt that the prisoner had cut the irl's

g throat because she cried out when he wished to take improper liberties with her . The jury found the prisoner guilty , and recommended him to mercy on the ground that the crime was not premeditated . Jlr . Baron Martin , in passing sentence of death , said he ivould forward the recommendation of the jury to the proper quarter . The Government has resolved to create a batch of new baronets . They are Jlr . Lawrence ,

surgeon-serjeant to the Queen , Mr . Bagge , M . P ., Mr . Guinness JI . P ., and the Right Hon . J . Napier . ——Mr . Eyre surrendered on the 27 th instant at JIarket Drayton , and the case against him of being accessory to the murder of Jlr . Gordon ivas gone into . Mr- JFitzjames Stephen opened the case , and spoke for about five hours . When he had concluded the court adjourned . The engine-drivers' strike has happily had a very brief

existence . The men connected with the Brighton station accepted the terms offered by the directors , and returned to their employment . The London men had an intervieiv ivith the directors of the railways , and an understanding was arrived at . The men are therefore at work again . The death is announced of Dr . John Campbell , n-ho in his time was one of the foremost members of the Independent denomination . Dr . Campbell was

a divine of considerable repute , but he was far better known as a journalist who wielded a trenchant pen . He was one of the successors of George Whitfield , and if he did not rival that distinguished man in pulpit oratory , his pen enabled him to exert a wider influence . He was pre-eminently a controversialist , and therefore gave and received many hard blows , but the personal bitterness wliich his numerous controversies excited was only ephemeral .

To Correspondents.

TO CORRESPONDENTS .

\ * All communications to be addressed to 19 , Salisbury-street , ' Strand , London , W . C . BEO . S . —We sympathise with our brother in the situation in which he is placed , and , as he is a linguist , there can be no doubt that many members of our Craft , now that his case is made known , ivill be Avilling to avail themselves of his services .