Public Amusements

riage will be celebrated by various forms of rejoicing—dinners , balls , illuminations , & e . Prince Alfred has advanced a step in his profession . He has received an acting order as lieutenant , but an examination at the Eoyal Naval College still stands between his Eoyal Highness and confirmation in this rank .

GENERAL HOME NEWS . —The mortality of London has fallen below the average . For the last week the deaths fell to 142 G , which was 57 lower than the corrected average for the last ten years . For some weeks previous the deaths had been above the average . The births are as much above the average as the deaths are below them . In the City the same healthy condition of things is found to prevail . It is stated by the Observer that Mr . Gladstone will be ableon " the budget night" to

, , announce an increase of income to the extent of £ 3 , 000 , 000 , and that the expenditure for 1863-6-1 will fall below that of 1862-63 by " more than two millions . " The Army and Navy Gazette , indeed , asserts that the military expenditure alone will be reduced by an amount which will enable the Chancellor of the Exchequer to remit twopence of the income tax . There will it is said , be a decrease in the land forces of something like '

5000 men , but tbe promised saving will mainly be effected under the head of " warlike stores , " for which £ 2 , 200 , 000 was voted last year . The Army and Navy Gazette assures us that with all this pruning , " the advocates for efficiency will have no cause for lament . " In the report to the Central Belief Committee , by Mr . Farnall , it is stated that a further decrease of 4-900 has taken place in the number of in receipt of

persons parochial relief in the cotton manufacturing districts . Comparing the return of the Gth of December with that of the 17 th inst ., we find a total decrease of 32 , 583 ; but notwithstanding this partial , and we fear , only temporary improvement , the pauperism of tbe present time is 2-11-2 per cent in excess of that of the corresponding period of last year . The unions of Asbton-tmucr-Lyne , Blackburn Glassop , Hasliugden ,

Manchester , Oldham , Preston , Salford , Stockport , Rochdale , and Todmorden , are now in a position to avail themselves of the provisions of the Rate in Aid Act ; and it would seem from an announcement made , that Ashton and Glossop have already received the necessary authority for casting a portion of their burden upon their neighbours . The Poor-law Board have issued an order requiring the unions of Cheshire to contribute from their " common funds " the sum

of £ 8097 in aid of the poor rates of the Aston-under-Lyne anion . A similar order has been issued to the Derbyshire unions for the assistance of Glossop—the amount in this case being £ 1718 . The ship Hope has arrived at Liverpool , from New York , with 1010 barrels of flour and 987 tons of guano , which are to he sold—the proceeds to be handed over to the Central Relief Committee in Manchester . The George Griswold , which recentlleft New York for Liverpoolwith a large l

y , suppy of provisions for the Lancashire operatives , will , in accordance with instructions from official quarters , be welcomed on her arrival in the Mersey , by salutes from Her Majesty ' s ship Majestic , anel the batteries on each side of tbe river . A first instalment of £ 500 has been received in Manchester from the Watercolour Painters' Lancashire Relief Fund . The Artists' Committee hope that their collection will realise 4-500 guineas A

. movement is on foot to provide a suitable cricket ground for the artisans , clerks , & c , of East London . May it prosper . Sir Michael Seymour is expected to succeed Sir Henry Bruce as naval commander-in-chief at Portsmouth . This would cause a vacancy in the representation of Devonport , and speculation is busy among the politicians of trie borough as to the gallant Admiral ' s successor . Sir James Hope and Mr . Otway a brotherinlaw of Lord

- Clarence Paget , are mentioned on the Liberal side , while it is taken for granted that Mv . Ferrand will again come forward in trie Conservative interest . It is stated that Colonel Adair , the Liberal candidate for the borough of Cambridge , will be opposed by Mr . Powell , who formerly represented AVigau . The ceremony of the confirmation of the Rt . Rev . Dr . W . Thomson , Bishop of Gloucester anel Bristol , to the of Yorkhas taken

Archbishopric , place at St . James , Piccadilly . ¦ The proceedings of the Thames Conservancy Board are creating considerable alarm among the wharfingers and owners of property along the banks of the Thames . The board proposes to obtain a bill still further to increase its powers , and the passage of this bill promises to be warml y contested . A meeting of persons interested was held on AVednesday , at the Fishmongers' Hall , and resolutions were passed appointing a committee to take steps to oppose the bill . A subscription

was entered into , and considerable sums were put down . A meeting was held on Wednesday , at the London Tavern to take into consideration the question of transportation to Western Australia . Major Sandfoi-cl occupied the chair , anel stronglysupported the sending of convicts to Western Australia . These views were supported by other speakers , and it was shown that there was in the colony indicated a great want of labour , and that convicts as labourers would be gladly welcomed by the

colonists . Eventually it was resolved to present a memorial to the Colonial Secretary on the subject . The British North American Association has promised its support to the scheme for opening up a direct route between Canada and British Columbia . The subject was brought under the notice of the Association on AVednesday by Mr . Malcolm Cameron , who has arrived in this country as a delegate from the colony . Mr . Cameron pointed out the importance of facilitating

communication between England and her promising dependency , and he quoted a good deal of evidence to show that few serious pnysical difficulties stand in the way of connecting by a good road or railway the shoves of the Atlantic and the Pacific . Miss Fray , who is not unknown to the frequenters of the courts of law , has again appeared in the Court of Queen ' s Bench to prefer an action against one of the judges , Sir Colin Blackburn , claiming £ 50 damages from the learned judge as the amount to which

she had been wronged by an unjust decision of his . Miss Fray once brought an action against tire Countess of Zetland , to whom she had been lady's-maid ; she afterwards raised an action against her own solicitor ; anel it was for unjustly deciding against her iu this case that the action was now brought against the judge . Tlie Court , of course , at once dismissed the application . The inquest on the labouring man Champion , who was found severely hurt and in a dying condition at a

stable door in a lane in Nine-elms , as far back as December last has been brought to a close . The surgical testimony went to prove that the man died from injuries which could not have been inflicted by accident , and suspicion pointed to one or two

men with whom he had been drinking in the course of the night he met with his death , but there was no clear evidence tending to criminate any of them . After repeated adjournments , the jury eventually returned a verdict that tbe death of the deceased was caused hy violence , but by whom inflicted there was not sufficient evidence to show . A dreadful murder has been committed at the village of Ashby-Folville , near Melton . Two farm servants were left alone in a

farmhouse on Sunday afternoon , while the family were at church , and it appears that one of them , a lad of sixteen , shot the other—a young man named Harvey—dead . The murderer at once absconded , but he was apprehended on the following morning at Leicester . He had in his possession the deceased ' s Prayer-book , and a pawn-ticket for Harvey ' s watch . The prisoner , when taken into custody , said he had killed his fellowservant " by accident . " We continue to receive accounts of

. the disastrous effects of the recent gales . The saddest narrative which has yet reached us is that of the loss of the ship Premelia Flood , which foundered about twelve miles off Holyhead on Tuesday week . Caught in the dreadful hurricane which swept along the coast on that day , the vessel became leaky and disabled , and the crew were making preparations for abandoning herwhen she was struck by a tremendous seawhich at once

, , sent her to the bottom . Every soul on board perished , with the single exception of the captain , who caught hold of a piece of Wood , to which he clung for upwards of twenty hours . At length he was cast ashore near Carnarvon , and he now lies in a very feeble state . On Saturday , the loss of no fewer than three ships were reported at Lloyd ' s , and we regret to say that in each of the three cases nearlall hands went to the bottom

y . One ofthe ships fo-rndered at sea ; the two others went ashore , but the loss of life was the same in all . Miss Burchell , the daughter of the well-known railway solicitor , has been burned to death by her clothes catching fire in her bedroom . On the same evening , two of the corps de ballet at the Princess ' s Theatre were also seriously burnt ; one has since died , and the other is in a dangerous state .

FOEEIGN Ii-TEraifiEN-cE . —It is announced that the Prince of Lehuugen , the grandson of the late Duchess of Kent , by her first husband , and therefore distantly related to our Queen is to be put forward as a candidate for the throne of Greece . The Prince is a Protestant , and Post-Captain in the British navy . He is aged 33 , and married to the Princess Marie of Baden The suppressed discontent of the Poles , of the existence and