31tiortIlautatto.

The death of the Bishop of Bath and Wells leaves another see at the dis- posal of the Government. Dr. Begot died on Monday, at Brighton, in the seventy-second year of his age. He was the third son of the first Lord Begot.

The Hongkong papers state that the Russian squadron arrived at Manilla on the 1st, and sailed again on the 11th March—destination unknown. The Russian frigate Diana sailed from Valparaiso on the 23d March, osten- sibly for the Sandwich Islands. The British frigate President, and the Trincomalee, were at Callao. • Last week the health of the Metropolis was somewhat improved, although the deaths were still in excess of the estimated amount. During the pre- ceding three weeks, the numbers were 1193, 1211, 1263; last week the number fell to 1093, an excess of 52 over the calculated average. Accord- ing to the report of the Registrar-General, "cholera of the malignant epidemic type has been entirely absent from London during the last four months" ; the 11 cases that have occurred coming under the head of "cholera mfantum," "English cholera," &e.

Viscount Palmerston had a dinner-party on Saturday ; which included the Sardinian Minister, the Duke and Duchess of Wellington, and the Earl and Countess of Clarendon. Viscountess Palmerston afterwards had a soirde.

The Fox Club had their fourth dinner of the season, at Brooks's, on Saturday.

Earl Granville gave a dinner to the Cabinet Ministers on Wednesday.

The usual official dinner given by the Chancellor of the Exchequer to celebrate the Queen's birthday is prevented by the recent death of Mrs. Gladstone's mother, Lady Glynne. The Bombay papers announce the sudden death of Lieutenant-General Stavely, Commander-in-chief of the Madras Army. He died of disease of the heart, at Ootaeamund.

The young Princess Agnes Borghese, the late Lord Shrewsbury's grend- daughter, is to marry the Duke of Sore, eldest son of the Roman Prince Piombino.

Captain Barclay of Ury, so well known for his pedestrian feats, died lately, n his seventy-fifth year. Fathew Mathew, who was once so noted for his success as a Temperance advocate, is in a sad state of health, having suffered from a second shock of paralysis.,

It is remarked that the Count and Countess de Chambord have not omitted to make their usual visit to Vienna this year. They arrived there from Frohsdorf on the llth instant.

Prince Lucien Bonaparte has returned to Paris, from his special expedition to the Italian towns.

M. Guizot has returned to Paris from Val Richer, for the purpose of voting at the French Academy in favour of M. de Sacy, the editor of the Journal des Debate.

The ex-Queen Christina is ill with an attack of scarlet fever.

A notice from the General Post-office informs the public, that "her Ma- jesty's Government having made arrangements for keeping up a weekly communication between the British fleet in the Baltic and the port of Dent- xis, by means of a steam-vessel to be detached from the fleet for the purpose, mails will hereafter be forwarded weekly to Dantzio for transmission by that vessel. The mails will be made up and despatched from London every Tuesday evening. and will be addressed to the care of the British Consul at Dantzic, who will deliver them to the naval officer appointed to receive them. All letters upon which the requisite amount of postage has been prepaid will be sent in these mails, unless otherwise addressed. Upon officers' letters the following combined British and foreign rates of postage must be paid in advance,—viz. not exceeding half-an-ounce in weight, 8d. ; exceeding half-an-ounce and not exceeding one ounce, 18.4d. ; exceeding one ounce and not exceeding two ounces, 28. 8d.; and so on, according to the scale for .charging inland letters. Ordinary soldiers' and seamen's letters, posted in conformity with the usual regulations, may be forwarded via Dantzie, pro- vided a combined British and foreign rate of postage of 5d. be paid in ad- vance. Newspapers cannot be sent by this route. Letters for soldiers and seamen serving in the British fleet in the Baltic may still be forwarded, under the usual regulations, for a postage of ld., by her Majesty's ships proceeding from England : but such opportunities will necessarily be un- certain."

The Reverend Mr. Berthon, of Fareham, has invented a "collapsing boat." He proposes to construct immense flat-bottomed boats sixteen or eighteen feet wide, which when stowed away would only occupy as many inches. Their draught of water, with 200 men on board, will not exceed twelve feet; and they will carry and work the heaviest guns now used in our ships. The plan is before the Admiralty.

The new steamer Simla has met with an accident on her first voyage. On her way from England to Gibraltar with the Indian mail for Alexandria, she struck upon a portion of a wreck, and the fans of her screw were broken. She was to proceed on her voyage from Gibraltar under canvass, at any rate as far as Malta, where probably her mail and passengers would be transferred to another steamer.

The Submarine and European Telegraph Company's line was opened from London to Liverpool last week. The wires of this Company are carried in pipes through the earth along the coach-roads. Liverpool and Manchester are now in direct telegraphic communication with Paris and Brussels. On the completion of the line, the Mayor of Manchester and the Prefect of the Seine exchanged friendly greetings.

• The first portion of the cable for the Mediterranean electric telegraph is now completed, and is lying in Mr. Brett's yard, near Greenwich, waiting for a steamer to convey it to Corsica. This section is 110 miles long, and weighs 800 tons. It will extend from the Continent to Corsica.

From Sir John Walsham's report on the agricultural statistics of Norfolk, it appears that that county contains an area of land devoted to farming pur- poses of 1,206,462 acres. Of these, 189,882 acres were last year devoted to the production of wheat ; 172,261 acres to barley ; 37,658 to oats' 4407 to rye ; 21,829 to peas and beans ; 3165 to tares ; 2751 to potatoes; 165,473 to turnips ; 841 to carrots; 13,618 to mangold wurzel; 725 to cabbages ; 167,869 to clover; 176 to flax ; 12 to hops; 4095 to "other crops" ; 17,796 were fallow ; 228,703 pasture ; 50,245 woods; 40,070 commons or waste ; and 12,759 holdings under two acres; leaving 72,114 acres unaccounted for. Of live stock, there were in the county at the data of the returns recently collected, 48,985 horses, 25,500 milch cows, 663,111 sheep and lambs, 104,078 pigs, and 80,393 "other cattle." The number of occupiers of land Wait 14,805.

"A Bottled Beer Merchant" complains to the Times that the brewers have already increased the price of their beer to bottlers Gs. to 78. per barrel, while the additional malt-tax is only about 2s. 6d., and does not apply at all to the beer now in stock.

The public should beware of the counterfeit half-crowns now in circulation, made of brass, with well-milled edges, and electroplated surface : their pe- culiar " ring " will detect them, and they are one pennyweight lighter than the genuine silver coin.

James Clack, a guard on the Bristol and Exeter Railway, has during a service of twelve years and nine months travelled a million miles.

M. de Bammeville's collection of rare engravings have been sold by Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson. The 743 lots produced no less than 23511. The "Madonna and Child seated in a cavern," by Mantegna, brought 721.; "The Balcony," by Mak, 551. 108. ; and "Hercules combating the Giants," by Pollajuolo, of which only one other example is said to exist, 89/.

A Tay fisherman near Kinfauns the other day brought up in his net an ar- ticle the like of which he had never seen before, but he thought it would do to plant his kail with ; and it turned out a serviceable dibble. A gentleman having beard of the fisherman's dibble, had it sent to him, and discovered that it was a fine old Roman sword, made of bronze, in excellent preservation after lying in the water so many hundred years.

A dog has saved the life of a man at Dunlappie Mill, near Arbroath. A ditcher was in the habit of fording a river by means of stilts ; one day the stream was very turbulent, and the diteher was swept away. The owner of the mill happened to be present with his dog ; without receiving any order, the dog dashed into the river, brought the man to land, and then recovered his hat and stilts.

A resident of Monahan, near Douai, recently died at the age of a hun- dred; and he has left a widow a year older than himself : they had been married eighty-two years.

Three hundred houses have been destroyed by one of those fires which so frequently ravage Constantinople. Prince Napoleon worked with his soldiers in combating its progress, and his clothes were burnt in several places. It is expected that by the beginning of August Madrid will be in commu- nication with the rest of Europe by means of electric telegraph.

Leipzic fair is very badly attended this year, owing to the war.

By the recent opening of a line between Augsburg and Ulm, a traveller may now proceed by rail from Paris to Munich direct.

Half an acre of land in Melbourne, intended for a timber-depot, has been sold for 5500/.

There seems to be no longer a dearth of house-room at Melbourne : many houses are now untenanted.

A fire at Hobart Town on the 21st January, destroyed property valued at 400,000 dollars.