rouittrial.

The United States officer in charge of the Resolute, Commander Hartstein, landed at Portsmouth on Saturday. He was received by Sir Thomas Maitland, pro tempore Commander-in-chief of the port, and presented to the Lieutenant-Governor. At the house of the Chevalier Pappalardo, United States Consul, he breakfasted. Orders had been issued by the Government to provide the best accommodation for Captain Hartstein his officers and crew. On the same morning, Captain Peel of the Shannon caused his ship to salute the American flag. This having been done, the American ensign gave place to the English ensign. The battery, hoisting American colours then saluted the ship.

On Tuesday, the Queen and Prince Albert went on board the Reso- lute. They took with them the Prince of Wales, the Princess Royal, and the Princess Alice. As soon as the Queen set her foot on the deck, the royal standard was hoisted at the main. Captain Hartstein received her Majesty at the gangway, saying- " Allow me to welcome your Majesty on board the Resolute ; and, in obedience to the will of my countrymen and of the President of the United States, to restore her to you, not only as an evidence of a friendly feeling to Jour sovereignty, but as a token of love, admiration, and respect to your Majesty personally."

The Queen seemed touched by the manly simplicity of this frank and sailorlike address, and replied with a gracious smile, I thank you, Sir." Then she inspected the ship. Everything was found exactly as it was left when abandoned by Captain Kellet in accordance with the orders of Sir Edward Belcher. The sails and rigging were new ; the arms and instruments had been cleaned and set in order; -, Captain Kellet's epau- lettes were lying in a tin box on the table ; Lieutenant Pim's musical- box stood on a " what not " ; on the wall of a cabin was a picture of a ballet-girl ; a portmanteau containing officers' greatcoats was thrown carelessly on a chair. In the course of conversation, Prince Albert ob- served that Lady Franklin was very anxious for another expedition : to which Captain Hartstein replied, that he was not surprised that she should be so, for he thought it very possible that Franklin or some of his comrades might still be alive among the Esquimaux. Before the Queen departed, she invited Captain Hartstein to dine with her at Osborne. The Resolute was taken into Portsmouth with all due ceremony on Wednesday.

Captain Hartstein, it is announced, will immediately depart for the United States : he with his officers and crew will be carried back to their country in the British war-steamer Retribution. This early return pre- vents Captain Hartstein from accepting invitations he has received to dine with the Royal Geographical Society and other public bodies.

A further step has been taken at Manchester in the educational move- ment which arose out of Sir John Pakington's visit in November: The resolutions agreed to by Sir John and a few of the leading educational- ists of Manchester were submitted on Monday to a meeting held in York Chambers, King Street. Mr. Baxley presided ; and the persons present included supporters of the different parties. As amended, the resolu- tions adopted are as follows- " 1. That a rate for education is desirable. 2. That all schools deriving aid from the rate shall be subject to inspection ; but such inspection as is paid for out of the rate shall not extend to the religious instruction. 3. fhat all schools shall be entitled to aid out of the rate, provided the in- struction, other than religious' shall come up to a required standard, and that no child shall be excluded on religious grounds. 4. That distinctive religious formularies, where taught, shall be taught at sonic hour to be spe- cified by the managers of the school in each case, in order to facilitate the withdrawal of those children whose parents or guardians may object to their instruction in such distinctive religious formularies. 5. That there be no interference with the management or instruction of schools, other than may be needed to carry out the principles of the foregoing resolutions. 6. That the education rate be administered by local authorities, to be specially elected by and out of the ratepayers for the purpose."

Birmingham " pronounced " against the Income-tax at a full meeting held in the Town-hall on Thursday ; the Chief Magistrate of the borough in the chair. In a brief speech, the Mayor said, that although the tax may be righteous in principle it is vicious in administration. But the meeting clearly held that it is a bad tax, badly administered ; and, on the motion of Mr. Muntz, seconded by Mr. Scholefield, it was resolved,

"That the Income-tax laws, in their present form, are unjust, oppressive, and degrading, and ought not to be tolerated by a free people ; and that the people should be satisfied with nothing less than their total and immediate repeal."

An amendment was moved, approving of the principle of a tax upon income and property ; but it found no seconder. Another resolution was adopted, including a sweeping condemnation of the mode in which the Income-tax Commissioners have too frequently exercised their powers ; and declaring, "that the duties of additional Commissioners are such as no British Legislature ought to be allowed to impose, and no English- man ought to perform." Mr. T. Attwood and Mr. George Dawson were among the speakers.

At the annual meeting of the Owston Agricultural Society, held at Ferry, North Lincolnshire, Sir Montagu eholmeley denounced from the chair the proposed continuance of the double Income-tax beyond April 1857, and declared the mode of assessment essentially objectionable and unjust.

A certain party at Newcastle-on-Tyne, led by persons who espouse the views of Mr. Urquhart, held a meeting on Wednesday, to consider "the menacing aspect of our foreign affairs." The occasion for the meeting was the war with Persia. They denounced the Calcutta proclamation, as an evasion of law; and they adopted this very practical resolution- " That, in the hopelessness of either prevention or redress by the Par- liament, it is requisite to appeal to the laws against the subordinate agents executing lawless orders ; and this meeting pledges itself, in case the expe- dition against Persia shall be persevered in, to bring to trial for their lives, before the Central Criminal Court, certain of the officers and soldiers en- gaged therein !"

The electioneering troubles at Southampton continue. There is now, it appears, to be a deadly contest. The Liberal party have definitively split. Mr. Andrews, the Mayor, has announced that he did not seek the post of honour, but having entered into the contest, he will "poll the last man." The Conservatives trust that between the "two houses "— Andrews and Weguelin—their candidate, Sir Edward Butler, will be the fortunate man.

Colonel Sleigh has come forward as a Liberal candidate for the repre- sentation of Greenwich, at the request of many electors. A requisition is in progress calling on Major-General Sir William Codrington to stand for the borough. It is stated, apparently on authority, that General Cod- rington will no doubt comply with the requisition if it be as respect- ably signed as is expected."

Judge Halliburton better known as the author of "Sam Slick," lec- tured at the Manchester Athenmum on Tuesday, on the North American Colonies. He said he felt entitled to speak for the colonists, as his fa- mily had been a hundred and fifty years established on the other side of the water. He described colonial government as characterized by the grossest ignorance, neglect, and injustice. Not one of our Colonial Ministers had ever been in the Colonies.

"These Colonies, so dependent upon us, had no hostile tariff, like that of the United States ; and it was a sufficient commendation of any article to say that it was from England. The Colonies of America include upwards of 4,000,000 square miles and the population is most loyal. When the news arrived of the fall of Sebastopol, there were illuminations balls, and festivities throughout the whole of North America. Was this a people to whom we were coolly to give the cold shoulder ? Did we act wisely in so doing ? Had we sent out to the Colonies to say that we wanted soldiers or officers, and that we would pay them, we could have had them ; for there were more men with rides in their hands in British North America than there were soldiers at Sebastopol. And these men, too, knew how to use their rifles, and would do so cheerfully. Instead of that, we sent out

-and violated the laws of the United States, and gut the Ambassadors and Consuls sent away in disgrace. Served us right! We now know where to go the next time we want men who know how to fight. . . . . This question must be asked, and must be answered—Were the Colonies to be anudgamated with the United States ? ("No, no ! " and "Never !") Ho did not think the United States wanted them, and he was happy to say that they did not want the United States ; but still this alternative was on the cards.' There was a road called annexation, and it must be kept in view, for it led to the United States. Second, were they to form a con- federation, each colony constituting a little state of itself, and so have a sort of Congress presided over by a Viceroy ? There were difficulties in the way of the third alternative ; but they were not insurmountable. Could the Colonies be made part and parcel of England ? This was his favourite plan. But the colonists would not consent to such a union unless it were hewed on perfect equality. They had been degraded enough, and would be degraded no more. So far they had been treated with the utmost possible contempt. Every petty German prince had a place here, but the Colonies had none. Representation in Parliament was one thing they would require. The colonist felt that if he had been born in the United States, even the Presidentship would be open to him ; whilst, as he was, he was looked down upon with contempt by the Yankees, and not con- sidered an equal by the British. If he bore this any longer, he deserved to bear it. He naturally asked himself why Ireland should have representa- tion and the colonists none ? The House of Peers contains no colonist: The late Governor-General of Canada left the country knowing just as much a& it as when he landed in it ; and those upon whom titles had been con- ferred in connexion with grants of land in Nova Scotia for settling the co- lony neglected it until the land was made valuable, and then claimed it under their patents. In the House of Lords the colonists claimed equal participation with England. He wished that some man of political in- fluence in this country would take up the question."

The author of "Sam Slick" did not fail, of course, to relieve these businesslike arguments with a plenteous supply of wit and humour. He seems to have given great satisfaction.

At York Asaizes, John Hannah was tried for the murder of Jane Benham, Arnmley, near Leeds. Mn. Benham, an itinerant dancer, had been de- serted by her husband ; she lived for some time with Hannah, a young tailor of Manchester, and they had two children ; last Christmas they dis- agreed, and separated, Mrs Banham keeping the children. Hannah was anxious to live again with her, and seems to have had a deep affection for his children. In September last he went to Armley, and tried to induce the woman to rejoin him ; she refused ; and, in the parlour of a public-house, he cut her throat with a razor. The prisoner was convicted, and sentenced to.be banged. He was carried out fainting.

Mr. Orgon, the surgeon accused of forging another surgeon's name to a promissory note for 1501., was acquitted, no intention to defraud having been made out.

At Derby, John Thompson, a ticket-of-leave man, pleaded guilty to com- mitting three burglaries within two or three weeks after he had been liberated from prison. The Judge commented on the facts of the case, as illustrating the system of tickets-of-leave. He sentenced the prisoner to be transported for twenty years. Subsequently, the Grand Jury made a pre- sentment alluding to the great increase of crime, and reprobating the ticket- of-leave system.

At Maidstone, Thomas Mansell, a private of the Forty-ninth Regiment, was convicted of the murder of Lance-Corporal M'Burnie, as recently de- scribed; and was sentenced to be hanged. Before the trial commenced, a curious attempt was made to secure an acquittal by getting a Jury of Maid- stone men; capital punishment, it is believed, being held in abhorrence by many in that town. To effect this, the prisoner's counsel challenged to the full extent of his power.; the counsel for the prosecution of course tried to overturn this scheme ; there was some discussion ; and when a Jury had at last been selected, Baron Bramwell pointed out that a jury had nothing to do with punishment—the question for them was, "Is the prisoner guilty ?" It having been ascertained that one Juryman had a conscientious objection to death-punishment, he was allowed to leave the box, and a substitute was obtained. The case against the prisoner was clear, and the Jury almost immediately after the Judge's charge pronounced their verdict of "Guilty."

Expert thieves, probably from London, have committed a double burglary at Cardiff. They got into a seed-shop, and secured a little money; then they made a hole through the party-wall—a very thin one—into the shop of - Mr. Spiridion, a jeweller, which they plundered of 500/. worth of valuables. No doubt, they would have taken more, but they heard a policeman outside, who had been attracted by the noise they made ; the policeman hastened off for assistance, but on his return the burglars had fled. The only person who was disturbed within the houses was a young woman, who was so alarmed that she fainted, and thus she could not rouse the inmates in time. A number of men are in custody on suspicion.

A son of Lady. Girdlestone, who gave the name of "Charles Hernia." when before the Magistrates, has placed himself in a most unpleasant posi- tion. Ile had been to a low "casino" at Brighton ; after midnight, a po- liceman found him, intoxicated, brandishing an open clasp-knife, and threatening to stab some one ; the policeman took the knife from him, closed it, and, thinking the youth had been joking, returned the knife to him. But the infatuated drunkard reopened the knife, and repeated that he would stab any one who interfered with him. An "unfortunate girl" came up ; he first insulted her and then stabbed her in the groin. Ile has • been committed to prison. Luckily, the girl's wound does not threaten to be fatal.