Vruitiurro.

The ceremony of laying the foundation,stone of a new building at Birmingham, for the use of the members of the "Birmingham and Mid- land Counties Institute," was performed on Thursday by Prince Albert. The Prince arrived at the railway station of the Great Western Railway a little after nine in the morning. He was received by the Mayor and Cor- poration, with an address of welcome ; to which he made a brief and suitable reply. From the station the Prince went in procession to the site of the new building ; stopping opposite King Edward's Grammar School to receive three addresses—one from the Governors' a second from the masters, and a third from the pupils of the school. On the site of the building, where a great company had assembled, Lord Calthorpe presented an address from the Council of the Institution, setting forth its objects; • which are pretty extensive, combining "the general features of a literary and scientific institution with those of a school of industrial science." In his reply, the Prince expressed his entire concurrence in these objects ; adding-

" And most heartily do I join with you in congratulating the country, that not even such a war as that in which we are now engaged, calculated as it is to enlist our warmest sympathies, and to engage our more immediate interest, can divert Englishmen from the noble work of fostering the arts of peace and endeavouring to give a wider scope to the blessings of freedom and

The Reverend Grantham Yorke offered up a prayer for the blessing of God on the work undertaken and with the customary ceremonies the stone was "well and truly filed." Two other addresses—making alto- gether seven—one from the clergy, and one from the Council and officers of the Queen's Hospital, were presented to the Prince ; and the perform- ance of the national anthem closed the proceedings.

The next ceremony was a luncheon in the Town-hall ; Lord Calthorpe in the chair, and a host of conspicuous country gentlemen supporting him,—including Earl Stanhope, Lord Stanley of Alderley, Lord Lyttel- ton, Lord Hatherton, Sir Robert Peel, Sir Harry Smith, Lord Ashburton, 111r. Spooner, Mr. Muntz, Sir Roderick Murchison Sir John Pakington, the Bishop of Manchester, and Lord Wrottesley. The proceedings after the luncheon were of the ordinary kind—toasts and speeches ; two of the latter challenging notice. Prince Albert delivered a speech, the object of which was to show the influence of science on the progress of human af- fairs joined with art, and the importance of studying the laws of nature. He commented on the exclusion of certain branches of knowledge—such as logic and metaphysics, physiology and psychology, politics, jurispru- dence, and political economy—from our great academies and seats of learning. The most salient passage in his address was the following. "In all our.operations, whether agricultural or manufacturing, it is not we who operate, but the laws of Nature, which we have set in operation. It is, then, of the highest importance that we should know these laws, in order to know what we are about, and the: reason why certain things are which occur daily under our hands, and what course we are to pursue with regard to them. Without such knowledge, we are condemned to one of three states, —either we merely go on to do things just as our fathers did, and for no better reason than bemuse they did them so ; or, trusting to some personal authority, we adopt at random the recommendation of some specific, in a speculative hope that it may answer; or, lastly—and this is the most favour- able case—we ourselves improve upon certain processes : but this can only be the result of an experience hardly earned and dearly bought, and which, after all, can only embrace a comparatively short space of time and a small number of experiments. From none of these causes can we hope for much progress; for the mind, however ingenious, has no materials to work with, and remains in presence of phenomena the causes of which are hidden from it. But these laws of Nature—these Divine laws—are capable of being discovered and understood, and of being taught, and made our own. This is the task of science; and whilst science discovers and leaches these laws, art teaches their application. No pursuit is, therefore, too insignificant not to be capable of becoming the subject both of a science and an art."

The other speech Of mark was delivered by Lord Ashburton, in pro- posing " Success to the Birmingham and Midland Institute." Amidst their festivities he raised a note of warning. The object of that insti- tution was not to appeal only to the reasoning powers, but to enlist all the faculties of the workman, so that instead of making fruitless efforts to raise himself above his mechanical calling, he might raise that calling into an art. And what would be the penalty if the boon be neglected ? "We seem to have forgotten, that by adopting absolute freedom of trade we have cast down the gauntlet of defiance to all nations; that we are fighting for superiority in our own markets, in those of the Colonies, in every house throughout the habitable globe, where there exists money or credit wherewith to pay. We expect to hold our ground—have we up to this time held our ground ? At the close of the war in 1815 we were superior in all the arts of peace—are we so flow? Has not the tortoise crept up to us while we were slumbering upon our assumed -superiority ? Let us take nearer dates. You have among you jurors of 1851 and jurors of 1855. Do they tell you that we have kept our place ? They do not tell me so. It would be strange indeed if we did keep our place, inferior as we are all in that scientific knowledge which cheapens and facilitates the applica- tion of labour, unless, indeed, knowledge be weakness and science a farce. We were ready enough to twit with ignorance our suffering army in the Crimea—are we, nobles, manufacturers, farmers, work- men, a whit less ignorant in our several capacities than they are ?" We must not look to Governments but to ourselves for a remedy. "But if we do remain with folded arms, and take so heed, or if we goon, feeding the people only with desultory information, diverting their minds from the serious work of preparation for the real business of life, treating them as the nurses of your towns are said to treat the infants committed to their care, ,quieting them with cordials, at the same time that they cloy their appetites and stunt their progress, why, then, the result is clear—our manufacturers must sink, the employment of our people must go; and then this England, of which you are so Justly proud, this storehouse of nations, this pattern land of order, this refuge of the oppressed,

Oh !it will be a wilderness again. Peopled with worse than wolves !'

peopled with starving, desperate outlaws." Prince Albert left the party, for Windsor, at four o'clock ; but the pro- ceedings did not terminate until six.

Mr. Labouchere has issued an address to the electors of Taunton. Ito appeals to his past conduct, and promises to give "an effective support to the present Government in the vigorous prosecution of a war which has been forced upon us by unjust and systematic aggression, as the only means of securing, as soon as possible, the blessings of a durable and ho- nourable peace." No opposition is anticipated.

The election for Wells took place on Tuesday and Wednesday. At the nomination, Mr. Sergeant Kinglake obtained the show of hands ; whereupon the supporters of Captain Joliffe demanded a poll. This took place on Wednesday ; and at its close the numbers were—Joliffe, 146; Kinglake, 121; majority for the Conservative candidate, 24.

Sir Robert Peel recently delivered a lecture to the Leamington Atha- mourn. The subject was "an Evening with the Poets, with recitals of beautiful and powerful passages ; or a Trip through Europe to the Seat of War, with a pocket edition of Sbakspere and the Poets." Sir Robert treated his subject in a fashion worthy of its discursive title, and inter- polated passages far enough from poetry and the poets.

"There they were fighting this war • and, although Sebastopol had fallen, there were still in the Crimea 200,000 Russians, commanded by the most able general since the days of Bonaparte, determined to hold it to the last extremity ; and so he would till Government gave greater action and power to the younger men of our army. (Loud cheers.) God knows, they are all brave enough, but the commanders are too aged. Lord Raglan was a very brave man—Sir Robert believed he received the keys of 13adajoz ; but to tell him at this distance of time that Lord Raglan was capable of commanding the forces of this country, was to make a sport of our army and a sport of the people. Although Gortschakoff might still hold out, yet from the fall of Sebastopol the security of England in the East had been gained. What he wished to impress upon every audience he addressed was, that, as they knew the war must cost much money and entail many sacrifices, they ought to recollect that those expenses and sacrifices at the present moment are not worthy to be compared to the consequences which might have re- sulted to Europe unless they had taken the matter vigorously in hand. He remembered saying, some time ago, that they were not fighting for the Turks, and the remark was received with a hiss. God forbid that we should fight to uphold Mahommedanism ; we are not contending for that decayed power, but to put a barrier against the aggressions of Russia, and at the same time defending ourselves against the consequences which would result if Russia were allowed to carry out her designs. They were also fighting to avenge the crimes and hypocrisy of the last fifty years. They wanted to make Russia feel the retribution which those crimes have entailed upon her. They also fought to avenge the crimes of the Empress Catherine, who mur- dered the Khan of the Crimea, where we are now fighting, and wholhought she was going uninterruptedly along the road to Constantinople ; also to avenge the crime of the same Empress in making what Burke—is man of the most refined genius—called the first direct inroads into the modern political system of Europe. He could say with all truthfulness, that, with the exception of the murder of the Innocents and the massacre of St. Bar- tholomew, no greater crime had been committed than the partition of Po- land.

At the last Ipswich Assizes, Baron Parke recommended the establish- ment of a Reformatory Institution for juvenile offenders in the county. This led the county gentlemen and magistrates to move in the matter ; and on Monday this week they mustered at Stowmarket in large num- bers, under the presidence of Sir William Middleton. The prominent persona who took part in the meeting were Sir Edward Kerrison, Mr.

Charles Austen, Chairman of the Woodbridge Quarter-Sessions, Sir Fitz- roy Kelly, and Mr. Cobbold M.P. It was resolved that it was the duty

of all to "make common cause" to abate the prevalence of juvenile crime • and that a Reformatory School for the whole county should be established. Trustees were appointed to receive subscriptions, and a com- mittee to manage the school. In the course of their speeches, Mr. Aus- ten and Sir Fitzroy Kelly admitted, that although the subject was sur- rounded with difficulties, yet the time for doubt had gone by and the time for action had arrived. They also pointed out defects in the existing law.

There ought to be power, Mr. Austen said, to send a boy to a reformatory school between the committal and the trial. It was impossible to exag- gerate the objections which he entertained to the section authorizing a term of imprisonment as a necessary qualification for admission into a reforma- tory institution. This might be obviated in either of two ways. A clause of a few lines would do it, enabling Magistrates in Quarter-Sessions, or Judges of Assize, either to make the whole term a term of soliteryconfine- ment, or at once to sentence the offender to a certain period of discipline in the reformatory: school. In a reformatory institution there ought also to be the means of inflicting punishment upon boys, the same as existed at Met- tray, where they had the power of placing refractories in solitary confine- ment, and also of inflicting corporal chastisement. Why not ? Had not most gentlemen present been flogged at Eton ? (Laughter.) Why should not the criminal child be flogged in a criminal reformatory ? We are treat- ing these matters with too much delicacy. There ought to be a means of inflicting punishment if it were wished to make these institutions effective. But the act gives no powers of the kind. Sir Fitzroy Kelly said, he hoped he might yet live to see the day when throughout every parish in this country not a child between the ages of six and sixteen should be without the means of obtaining an effective moral and religious education. Measures have been taken to establish a Reformatory School in Sussex. A site has already been selected ; donations have been promised ; and in the course of the month a county meeting will be held at Brighton to ap- point a committee to carry out the project. "The Duke of Richmond and the Earl of Chichester are among the leaders in the good work."

After considerable discussion, and in spite of a strong opposition, it has been determined to establish a Rural Police force in Berkshire. At

the Quarter-Sessions, held in Abingdon in October, a majority decided that the present system was "inefficient and insufficient." At an ad- journed Special Sessions, held at Reading on Tuesday, the subject was again discussed. Mr. Mount of Wasing attempted to arrest proceedings by moving an adjournment sine die. The Chairman, Mr. Robert Palmer M.P., ruled that this motion could not be put. Mr. E. P. Bouverie M.P. formally submitted to the Court a scheme for a Rural Police, con- sisting of 111 men, including superintendents and sergeants,—or one constable to every 4330 acres and every 1315 persons in the county,—at an estimated annual cost, including clothing, of 7200/. This might be raised by a rate of 23d. in the pound. Major Court seconded the motion. Mr. Mount then moved and Mr. Wroughton seconded an amendment, "that it would be inexpedient to incur this expense." Mr. Hogan Smith and Mr. Crutchley intimated, that if the original motion were carried the tenant-farmers would "have a perfect right to agitate for the establish- ment of County Financial Boards on the principle propounded by Mr. Milner Gibson." On a division, the amendment was negatived, and the original motion carried, by 44 to 28. Steps were immediately taken to carry out the scheme.

An attempt to establish a Rural Police for the West Riding of York- shire has been made several times, always without success. On Friday week, Mr. Wrightson M.P. renewed the attempt, at the Special Adjourned Sessions held in Wakefield. He moved a resolution, to the effect that " the officers now appointed (exclusive of boroughs and other places having police-rates of their own) for preserving the peace are not suffi- cient for the preservation of the peace, and for the protection of the in- habitants, and for the security of property in the West Riding ; and therefore it is expedient to adopt the provisions of the 2d and 3d Victoria, chap. 88, and the 3d and 4th Victoria." Mr. Denison, Member for the West Riding, was one of the most strenuous opponents of the proposed measure ; and after a long discussion Mr. Wrightson's motion was de- feated by a majority of 43 to 33.

Hitherto the turn-outs at Manchester have conducted themselves peaceably. It was estimated that on Wednesday there were 3370 on strike, and that the number would be augmented in the course of the week. Their employers have issued a very temperate address to the public. They state, that the rate of wages paid in Manchester was much higher than in other towns even when they conceded the advance de- manded in 1853; that even after the proposed reduction, the rate will still be from 10 to 20 per cent higher than what is paid for the same class of work in the neighbouring towns, the produce of which meets that of Manchester in the market of the Exchange. They cite the fact, that several firms, unable in consequence of high wages to encounter the strong competition in the cotton trade, have during the last ten years been com- pelled to yield to a power they could not overcome ; the list "including a Guest, a Poolley, a Marsland, a Thompson, a Morris, the Potters, a Yates, a Burton, Sibson and Rigg, and others : some of these were the largest spinners in Manchester ten years ago" ; and "three of these large firms are working under inspection." An advance in wages was made in 1853; the masters have since been convinced that it was an im- proper advance ; "and as other towns have long since withdrawn these advances, the masters in Manchester must follow their example." With regard to short time, they say- " Short time would not rectify the inequality of the wages paid in Man- chester, which is the ground upon which the masters have concluded to adopt the course they have done. Some of the masters concerned in this move- ment have considerably reduced their production during the last twelve months by working short time ; but when it is considered that not one- tenth, nay, hardly one-twelfth of all the cotton consumed in the country is consumed in Manchester, it will at once be seen, that unless a much more general movement of the trade to short time takes place, the mere reduction of the hours of working in Manchester would be powerless for good, either as it affected this market or Liverpool ; and the fact of cotton-spinning being so comparatively limited in extent in Manchester is, we believe, mainly to be attributed to those disadvantages attending its prosecution in this city to which we have drawn public attention." The operatives do not deny the fact of extra prices, but allege that the cost of living is greater in a large town like Manchester. The masters, while admitting the extra cost of living, reply, that the question is not one of good-will towards their workpeople in a time of bad trade and minimum profits, but a question of sheer existence for both masters and men.

Open-air Sunday "bread meetings" have begun in the provinces. The evil example of the Metropolis is followed in Staffordshire, and at Birmingham and Kidderminster. The proceedings at these places were mixed up with Chartist politics and Mr. 17rquhart's charges against Lord Palmerston,—a halfpennyworth of "bread" to much sack. The orators of these Sunday gatherings propose to reduce the price of bread, by pro- hibiting the exportation of grain, establishing public granaries, checking undue speculation, and conceding "a full and free representation" to the people.

The Taunton Courier mentions that the hills in the neighbourhood of Coombe St. Nicholas, Chard, Somerset, were covered with snow to some depth on Wednesday morning.

Deputies from the Belfast, Birmingham, Bradford, Hull, Potteries, Bris- tol, and Worcester Chambers of Commerce, met recently at Birmingham, and appointed Mr. Leone Levi as their London agent in Parliamentary and other public matters. It is anticipated that Mr. Levi will be ap- pointed agent for all the Chambers of Commerce in the United Kingdom.

The Government have offered 1001. reward for the conviction of the mur- derers of Mr. Stirling, a surgeon, savagely slaughtered on the highway at Gibside, near Newcastle ; and other parties have offered 4004, making a total of 500/. The police are on the traces of the supposed criminals.

The three officers of the German Legion who deserted, and were subse- quently apprehended in London, have been tried and convicted by a court- martial at Shorncliffe; where they have been ignominiously "drummed out" of their regiment.

A Coroner's Jury have pronounced a verdict of "Wilful murder" against no fewer than seven persons in the case of the aged woman Dorothy Be- wicke, who was killed in her cottage at Waterloo, near Matfen. Three men were pronounced guilty of the actual crime, and four women of aiding and abetting in the murder ; they are all in custody. The evidence was circum- stantial.