16 JUNE 1855, Page 8

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The Commissioners appointed to inquire into our Cathedrals and Col- legiate Churches, for the purpose of suggesting improved management and working, and the means of rendering the establishments available M. the erection of new Sees, have made their third and final report. The report is signed by the Archbishop of Canterbury, the Archbishop of York, the Bishop of London, the Bishop of Oxford, the Honourable and Reverend Montagu Villiers, Sir John Dodson, Sir James Patteson, William Page Wood, Dr. Christopher Wordsworth, Dr. Hook, and Dr. Selwyn. The Commissioners propose that a Cathedral Commission be appointed by act of Parliament for ten years ; to consist of two Arch- bishops and two Bishops, to be chosen by the Bishops of the two Pro- vinces, and four other members of the Church of England to be appointed by the Crown. One duty of these Commissioners would be to revise all statutes regulating cathedrals and collegiate establishments. They also suggest various improvements relating to the patronage of canonries the severance of canonries from archdeaconries; the public worship of cathedrals; the restoration of their choirs; the readjustment of salaries ; the restoration of statutable duties, as in the case of bedesmen; the appropriation of funds for the repair of the fabric ; and throw- ing the cathedrals open to the public at all seasonable hours,, free of charge. The most important part of the report, however,. relates to the erection of new sees,—a subject considered with reference to the question of the increase of number, the probable amount of revenue available, and the appropriate choice of sites for sees, and of churches available as cathedrals. Population and territory are not the only consideration, but the want of supervision either in the state of the population or of the clergy. The Commissioners propose a per- missive bill, empowering the Crown, under certain conditions, to divide existing sees or to create new sees, and also from time to time to unite the offices of bishop and dean. Among the places regarded as most in want of episcopal aid, are St. Columb for Cornwall, Westminster, Glou- cester and Bristol (to be again divided), and Southwell; those places also affording facilities for the creation of additional bishoprics. The Com- missioners also propose, in the case of a bishop's becoming incapable through advanced age or protracted infirmity, a revival of the power to- appoint a coadjutor bishop "cum jure suocessionis" ; the bishop to sur- render a portion of his episcopal income in favour of such coadjutor.

The last protocol of the Vienna Conferences has been published as a. Parliamentary paper. Like the other documents of the series, it gives a- summary of the speeches on the occasion, and annexes the formal pro- posal of pacification made by Austria. Count Buol, in opening the pro- ceedings, with much solemnity of manner, traced the paternity of his proposition to the rejected proposal of M. Drouyn de Lhuys for a direct settlement of the third point by Turkey and Russia in the presence of the Conference, and Lord John Russell's remark that the best conditions would be those which while most conformable to the honour of Russia. provided sufficient security for Europe. The gist of the Austrian pro- posal was—first, that Turkey should be received into the council of Eu- ropean Powers, with the understanding that in that incorporation it is customary for two powers who quarrel to refer their dispute to the rest ;- secondly, that the two sea-bordering Powers in the Black Sea were to equalize their forces, neither to possess a larger number of ships than Russia now possesses; and the other Powers were to have a right to in- troduce ships, not exceeding the force of two frigates; fourthly, that Os Sultan should retain the power of closing or opening the Straits.

The result of much discussion was, that the Plenipotentiaries of France, England, and Turkey, stated that Russia having repeatedly and categorically rejected the principle of limitation, their instructions wens• exhausted, and the Conference was at an end. Prince Gortschakoff and M. de Titoff denied that they had rejected the principle of limitation;. but admitted that they had rejected the modes proposed. Russia will never consent that any arrangement based on that principle shall be "imposed" on her by the Allies. Russia always would declare "that all limitation of forces which might be sought to be imposed on Russia would be regarded by her Plenipotentiaries as an infringement on the sovereign rights of their master, and an insurmountable obstacle to peace."

In closing the matter, Count Buol said that Austria had fulfilled the task she had undertaken ; but she would always remain ready "to trans- mit to the belligerent Powers the overtures which one or the other of • them might have occasion to address to him."

Lord Hardinge has fulfilled the promise he some time since gave in the House of Lords, and has dealt severely with the offenders in the recent" flagrant instances of " practical joking " in the Army. First as to the- Fermoy case. There are two Lieutenancies vacant in the Thirtieth Regiment : in the usual course promotion would go to the delinquent.' Ensigns, Neville and Saunders; but, as punishment for their "gross misconduct," they are passed over ; theirjuniors get their steps; and Neville and Saunders are declared ineligible for promotion until two quarterly reports of good conduct have been received at the Horse Guards. Neat as to the Canterbury ease. Our readers may remember that a young Cornet of the Enniskillens, Edward Baumgarten, was subjected to great indignities ; that, at the instigation of Lieutenant Webster, Baum- garten sent a challenge to Cornet Evans ; that Webster, Evans, and Lieutenant Hartopp, his second, knew the duel was a mock duel ; that Sergeant Brodie intervened and stopped the duel, which led to his arrest by Webster. It appears that, on the complaint of Baumgarten, Licute- tenant-Colonel M'Queen had previously warned the delinquents that they would be punished if they had again recourse to practical joking, and that it was then concerted between them that Baumgarten should be pro- voked to a mock dueL Severely condemning their unmanly and unbe- coming conduct, Lord Hardinge thus deals with them. Cornet Evans, of the Sixth Enniskillens, is cashiered. Lieutenant Web- ster, of the First Royal; is to retire from the service by the sale of his com- mission. Lieutenant Hartopp is most severely reprimanded ; and his con- duct is to be reported every three months by his commanding-officer, for the information of the Commander-in-chief.

Lord Hardinge considers Sergeant Brodie's conduct in preventing the duel most praiseworthy; but it would have been better if he had reported his apprehensions to his commanding-officer the previous night. Cornet Baum- garten is directed to be more on his guard for the future, and his attention is called to certain sections in the Articles of War.

The Regius Professorship of Civil Law in the University of Oxford, recently vacated by the death of Dr. Joseph Phillimore, has been filled up by the appointment of Dr. Travers Twiss, Vicar-General of the Arch- bishop of Canterbury, and recently Professor of Political Economy in the same University.

Colonel Sir Thomas Troubridge, of the Seventh Fusiliers, has been appointed Director-General of Army Clothing. It will be remembered that Sir Thomas was severely wounded at Inkerman.

The custom of swearing-in the Chancellor of the Exchequer, in the Exchequer Court, was observed on Saturday ; when Sir George Lewis, in his state robes, took the oaths, before the Lord Chief Baron and four of the other Judges.

The Sebastopol Committee have not yet been able to agree on their report. Twk.a this week they have met in anxious and not harmonious deliberation, and on Thursday they again adjourned until Monday. " It is known," says the Times, "that the Members are very much divided in opinion ; and the solution of the difficulties may yet occupy a longer time than some are willing to anticipate." As we are now in the very midst of June, this opens up an ominous prospect.

Lord Monteagle has entered on the journals of the House of Lords a protest against the third reading of the Newspaper Stamp-Duties Bill, under seven heads. His main objections are—that the revenue sacrificed lay this "ill-advised" measure would pay the interest on the permanent debt contracted this session ; that the relief conceded to newspaper- proprietors, far from being sought, was earnestly deprecated by them; that no attempt is made to protect any parties likely to be injured ; and that the loss of this permanent income will be an obstacle to the reduc- tion of war-taxes on the restoration of peace.

The anniversary dinner of noblemen and gentlemen educated at Eton was held on Saturday, at Willis's Rooms: the Earl of Malmesbury presided over a very large party.

The Marquis of Salisbury, as Lord-Lieutenant of Middlesex, gave a grand banquet on Saturday to the Magistrates of the county and the officers of the five regiments of the Middlesex Militia.

Two former Presidents of the UnitekStates are now staying in London— Mr. Van Buren and Mr. Fillmore.

The King of Sardinia is about to visit Paris and London. His physicians have advised this journey for the sake of his health, impaired by his do- mestic afflictions. Prince Eugene de Carignan will be Regent in his ab- sence.

The King of Portugal will visit Turin shortly. It is rumoured that he is to be betrothed to the King of Sardinia's eldest daughter, the Princess Clo- tilde, who is now in her thirteenth year.

Rossini has arrived in Paris, and may be seen strolling about his favourite prom nades upon the boulevards. It is hoped that his health will be com- pletely restored : his malady seems to be purely nervous.

Rear-Admiral Boxer, the energetic harbour-master at Balaklava, died re- vently, in that port, from cholera.

The Baron de Bode; whose case has been so frequently before Parliament and the public, died on Saturday last, at his residence in Albert Street, Morn- ington Crescent.

Mr. Charles Cochrane, once famous as a candidate for the representation of Westminster, and well known as the promoter of the "street orderly " system, died on Wednesday, at his residence in Nelson Square, Blackfriars Road, of inflammation of the brain. His age was only forty-eight. Mr. Cochrane took much benevolent interest in the concerns of the poor in the wretched districts near the New Cut.

Mr. Arthur Guinness, the head of the Dublin firm which has a world-wide celebrity for its "stout," died on Saturday last, at the good old age of eighty-eight.

The remains of Dr. Gaisford were intered in Christchurch Cathedral on Saturday. The estimation in which the deceased was held was testified by the immense number of friends who attended his funeral.

The news of the last American mail intimates that Lady Franklin is at last resigned to the belief that her brave husband is no more : she has re- quested that a marble tablet, to be erected to the memory of Sir John and his devoted companions of the Erebus and Terror, might be taken by the Kane expedition and erected on the White Cliff at Beechy Island, by the side of that commemorating the fate of Lieutenant Bellot, of the Belcher ex- pedition.

Messrs. Strahan, Paul, and Bates, a very ancient banking firm near Temple Bar, stopped payment on Monday. At Brat their liabilities were rated at 350,000/. • but now it is said they more probably amount to from 500,0001: to 700,0041. The suspension was attributed originally to imprudent ad- vances on shares and to contractors of the Lucca and Pistoja Railway ; but more searching inquiries place the matter in a worse light : it is believed that the firm have long been insolvent, and that the speculation in Italian railways was merely a desperate effort to retrieve their position. In the City, the bank was held to be " dying out," and their bills had lately been hawked about for discount : few City men will lose by the failure. The chief customers were the nobility and gentry of the West-end : it is reported that one nobleman will be a loser to the extent of 40,000/., which was the balance of his account,—for the assets are looked upon as trifling, or nil.

The affair is already in the Court of Bankruptcy, and a rigid investigation is demanded by the press. Messrs. Strahan and Co. also carried on business in Norfolk Street as navy agents, under the title of " Halford and Co." ; and their suspension will be a blow to many naval officers,—gentlemen not so well able to bear such a misfortune as the wealthy customers of the bank.

The London and Westminster Bank has taken advantage of the closing of Strahan's bank to open a branch near Temple Bar : the clerks lately in the service of Strahan and Co. have been engaged to conduct it ; and the manager is Mr. Ward, a gentleman who has served in Strahan's for thirty years. The Union Bank of London also intend to open a branch in the same locality. But the chief customers of Strahan and Co. have already opened accounts at Coutts's.

Orders were received at Portsmouth Dockyard on Tuesday, to prepare and render fit for immediate service the whole of the ships' boats and others ca- pable of carrying guns or armed men, a boat expedition being wanted for the shallow waters of the Sea of Azoff. The utmost activity prevails in their equipment. The Dockyard Battalion's armed launches are already pressed into this important service. Powerful steamers will carry out this formidable and numerous flotilla.

A new dock for the repairing of ships has been opened at Portsmouth, The new Royal yacht, the Royal Victoria and Albert, was the first vessel to enter, and has given a name to the dock. The dock is 335 feet long-50 feet longer than any other in the Royal Dockyards ; and it has cost 63,0001.

A correspondent of the Dumfries)Courier hints that Lord Murray is the generous donor of the annuity of 1200/. to Mr. T. F. Kennedy.

The seven brothers forming the firm of " Messrs. Baird," of the Gait- sherrie Iron-works, in the central iron district of Scotland, have purchased estates within the last five years of the total value of 956,000/. These gen- tlemen have been the architects of their own fortunes. They were the eons of a respectable farmer, and inherited but small portions. They are now among the largest iron-manufacturers in the world.

Government are in negotiation with the Peninsular and Oriental Steam Company for the establishment of a bi-monthly postal communication with Australia via Singapore.

The Pope omitted to return the visit of the abdicated King of Bavaria be- fore he left Rome. The slight is said to bo in payment of a piece of negli- gence committed by the reigning King of Bavaria, who, when in Rome, re- ceived the Pope at the top of his palace-stairs instead of at the bottom.

It is said that half the population of Paris are reduced to actual privations by the excessive price of all kinds of food.

The journal de St. Peterabourg publishes above four columns of "lee passages lee plus reruarquables" in the "eloquent discoure " lately delivered in Parliament by Mr. Gladstone. [Of course.]

A letter from Galatz of the 24th May states that 400 vessels have gone up the Danube for cargoes since the restriction on the navigation has been re- moved. The stocks of grain are nearly exhausted, and the price is high. The crops promise to be unusually abundant.

Cases of cholera occur at Venice, Pesth, Prague, and Vienna ; but the die- ease is not yet epidemic.

Russia has been much afflicted by the " rinderpest " or cattle plague, and extraordinary precautions have been adopted to prevent the introduction of the scourge into Prussia.

The Austrian Government requests the Directors of the Railways in the empire to plant young trees, of a description indicated, at convenient dis- tances along the lines ; intending them to replace eventually the poste upon which telegraphic wires are at present affixed.

The Canadian Legislature having passed a "Maine Liquor Law," the Governor-General declined to sanction it by his own authority, but forwarded it for the decision of the Imperial Government.

A Toronto journal states that it is intended to remove the seat of govern- ment to that city : an inspection of the buildings fitted for public offices has been made.

The little village of East Clyth, in the extreme North of Scotland, which contains some sixteen or twenty houses only, has been thrown into general grief by a disaster. Thirteen youths went in a haddock-boat to Skerriemore, to collect bait ; on their return a squall upset the boat in deep water, and every soul perished.

CRYSTAL PALACE.—Return of admissions for six days ending Friday June 15th, including season-ticket-holders, 34,416.