Mort llautuits.

Lord Derby and Mr. Hume, both invited to attend the recent meeting at Manchester on the Russo-Turkish question, sent letters in reply. Lord Derby said, the state of his health—" slowly recovering" as he was " from a severe attack of illness," which for the last month had almost confined him to his bed—rendered his attendance impossible.

"So far," he continued, "as I am informed as to the merits of the Eastern question, right appears to me to be altogether on the side of Turkey ; and I believe that my opinions, as to the utter futility of the pretexts put forward by Russia in justification of her acts of unprovoked aggression, are shared by the great mass of my countrymen." Mr. Hume did not receive his summons until the morning of the meet-

ing: though he could not attend, he wrote—. "The invasion of territory, and the late proclamation of the Russian Go- vernment against Turkey, must secure from all independent people the strongest feelings on their behalf; and I hope it will be proved that our Go- vernment have been consistent in the support of the Turks. If victory is to be with those who are right, the Turks must be, as I wish them to be, suc- cessful; and it is quite possible that something advantageous to the liberty of Europe may yet spring from the hostilities now going on."

Three steamers—the Imperieuse 50, the Valorous 16, and the Despe- rate 8—proceeded to sea from Plymouth on Tuesday afternoon. They stood away to the West when outside the Breakwater.

Admiral Fanshawe, Superintendent of the Portsmouth Dockyard, has been selected to succeed Sir George Seymour in the command of the West India and North American station. Sir George Seymour returns home, at his own earnest request.

Mr. J. R. Colvin, one of the Judges of the Bengal Budder Adawlat, has been appointed to succeed the late Mr. Thomason as Lieutenant-Governor of Agra. The appointment is not only one of seniority but merit. It is said that Mr. Colvin, inn his judicial career, has never had a single decision reversed.

Sir Edmund Lyons, in the Terrible, touched at Lisbon on the 12th, and after two hours' stay steamed off for the Mediterranean.

Namik Pa.cha, commissioned, it is thought, to negotiate a loan for the Porte, arrived in Paris on Sunday.

Count Mensdorff Pouilly has, at his own request, been permitted to re- tire from his post as Minister of Austria at St. Petersburg.

The marriage of the Emperor of Austria is said to be fixed for the 24th April 1854.

The Princess Helen, eldest daughter of Duke Maximilian of Bavaria, has been betrothed to Prince George of Saxony. The Prince is twenty- one, and the Princess nineteen years of_age.

The fete-day of the Empress Eugenie was splendidly celebrated at Ma- drid by the French Ambassador. Tti Countess of Montijo, mother of the Empress, and the Duke of Alba, w ire present. The Duchess_of Alba was too unwell to attend.

Queen Christina of Spain arrived at Madrid on the 17th instant.

Lord Carlisle's travels in the Levant seem not yet to be over. He is now reported to have returned to Constantinople.

Massimo d'Azeglio, late Premier of Piedmont, is at Florence, living the life of an artist and devoting. himself to the study of painting.

Lord Normanby is residing in a villa near Florence, on. the Bologna roadrwhich he bought some years ago. Mr. Milner Gibson is on a yachting cruise in the Mediterranean. He sailed on the 11th from Malta for Corfu.

A French journal having stated that Lord Brougham had retired to Cannes "in order to devote himself to the care of his broken constitu- tion," Dr. Seve, " physician of the Brougham family at Cannes," has written to contradict the statement. Dr. Seve says —" Never did Lord Brougham enjoy more perfect health during the twenty years which he has visited our country." [Lord Brougham's letters to his correspond- ents in London certainly show no abatement of his wonted vivacity and vigour.] Cardinal Wiseman is at Rome, whither he retired after attending "the translation of the relics of St. Theodosia at Amiens." It is stated that his health has suffered severely from his efforts to establish the Roman hierarchy in England, and that probably he will not again come among us, but receive diplomatic employment from the Pope.

There has been a hind of theological rebellion going on at Freiburg in Germany. The Archbishop has excommunicated the Governor, and the civil functionary has retorted by arresting the Vicar who proclaimed the excommunication.

It is intended by the Board of Works and Buildings to obtain powers for the formation of the long-contemplated new street from Chancery Lane to Fetter Lane, and to widen Carey Street from the corner of Bell Yard to Chancery Lane, in the line of the proposed street. —Morning Chronicle.

Lord Shaftesbury has recently been visiting Manchester. On his re- turn to London last week, he forwarded a letter to the Times, holding up the public-spirited Corporation of Manchester as an example to all muni- cipal and corporate authorities.

I am just returned from a short visit to their town, where I heard and saw the many improvements that have been instituted by that public-spirited body. Vast thoroughfares are opened in many parts ; the streets, courts, and alleys, are regularly cleansed ; pavements are almost everywhere laid down ; the smoke nuisance is in rapid course of abatement ; public drains and sewers are constructed; the cesspools that remain will, I hope, be speed- ily removed ; and an abundant supply of good and soft water is so admirably distributed, that in a short time the smallest tenement will enjoy an un- limited quantity, at an almost nominal price. The benefits to the mass of the people are quite incalculable."

The Gazette of last night contains this notice of the division of the see of Cape Town into three dioceses- " The Queen has been pleased to constitute so much of the present diocese of Cape Town as comprises the Eastern Districts of the colony of the Cape of Good Hope, consisting of the divisions of Albany, Uitenhage,l'ort-Elizabeth, Fort Beaufort, Victoria, Albert, Somerset, Graaf Reinet, Cradock, Colesberg, and Queen's Town, and all portions of that colony not comprised in these divisions lying South of the Orange and East of the Ongars Rivers—and also the territories called or known as British Caffraria—to be a Bishop's see and diocese, to be called 'the Bishopric of Graham's Town' ; and her Majesty has appointed the Reverend John Armstrong, Doctor in Divinity, to be ordained and consecrated Bishop of the said see of Graham's Town. "Her Majesty has also been pleased to constitute so much of the present diocese of Cape Town as comprises the District of Natal, to bo a Bishop's see and diocese, to be called 'the Bishopric of Natal' ; and her Majesty has ap- pointed the Reverend John William Colenso, Doctor in Divinity, to be or- dained and consecrated Bishop of the said see of Natal."

The Admiralty have revived an old system of tickets-of-leave : tickets to be issued to every petty officer, seaman, and marine, going ashore, signed by the commanding-officer of the ship, and giving adescription of the holder and other particulars. Men found ashore without this ticket are liable to be apprehended.

The putting together again of the Royal yacht Victoria and Albert, so hastily mangled with intent to lengthen her, and which idea was subse- quently abandoned, will cost the country 10,0001.

The West Indian Royal Mail Steam Company have taken a colliery in Pembrokeshire for the purpose of obtaining anthracite coal, the great advan- tage of which for steam purposes has been recently acknowledged.

Mr. Stewart Majoribanks, of Bushey Grove, has given 10001., and Mr. Kirkman Hodgson, of Sparrow's Herne, 5001., towards the erection of a new church at Bushey.

The Earl of Harrington has signified his willingness to join the "United Kingdom Alliance for the Legislative Suppression of Intoxicating Liquors as Beverages," provided there is no responsibility attached to the CounaL An "affair of honour" has been nipped in the bud at Plymouth. Cap- tain Barber challenged Mr. J. W. Peard, Vice-Commodore of the Royal Western Yacht Club ; but before the meeting could take place he was sum- moned before the Mayor, and held to bail to keep the peace.

In noticing the performance of Madame Alboni in the Cenerentola at the opening of the Paris Opera last week, Galignanis Messenger says—" Phy- sically, Madame Alboni has arrived at a degree of embonpoint, which, after Lablache, entitles her to be proclaimed the greatest of living singers." According to Galignani, Mademoiselle Rachel has received a slight from the Emperor of Russia. On her first appearance at St. Petersburg, as Phedre, none of the Imperial family was present ; while the same play was ordered at the Palace, to be performed by the ordinary French troupe. It is said that Nicholas was offended at the inefficient corps selected by Rachel to ac- company her. [We have seen something of this in London.]

Mademoiselle Augustine Brohan is about to retire from the stage : the glare of the foot-lights has destroyed the sight of one eye and endangered that of the other.

Shakspere's Hamlet has recently been performed at Stockholm for the first time, with great applause. The translation adopted was Professor Hag- berg's. O'Donohue, the Irish exile, was so violent in his abuse of England in a recent lecture before the Irish Social Association in Baltimore, that he was not permitted to proceed in his, discourse. lie must have been rather strong.

John Mitchel, who recently escaped from Australia, has reached San Francisco, vid the Sandwich Islands. He was to be entertained at a public dinner before he departed for New York. His family accompanied him. The United States are to have female lawyers as well as doctors. Accord- ing to a Cleveland paper, Mrs. Emma It. Coe is qualifying herself for the practice of the law.

Of the sixty millions of the Russian Autocrat's subjects, about forty-five millions are nominally members of the Greek Church. The remainder are of very various creeds—Dissenters, RomanCatboliesrArmenians, Protestants,

Moravian, Mahometans, Jews, believers in the Grand :Lama, idolaters, and worshipers of the brute creation. The natives of Huahine, the second in importance of the Society Islands, have thanks to the introduction of Christianity, abolished their horrible Aeon Society, by which the offspring of the members were put to death. A portion of the cemetery of Pere la Chaise is to be set apart for the in- terment of Mussulmans.

The Norwegian Government have begun to persecute the Mormons, con- trary to the wishes of the majority of the bishops and clergy. A member of the Western Australian Legislature has made a motion to prevent "the further infusion of Roman Catholic girls into the colony." The Emperor of Hayti has decreed that Protestant Bibles, Testaments, and other books, shall be admitted into his island free of duty.

A functionary in Flanders has come into a fine fortune. He married an Englishwoman, who had left the Protestant religion for the Roman Catholic. A relative of the woman died recently; she was also a Catholic convert; she left her fortune equally between the Protestant and Catholic members of her family. It turned out that the Fleming's wife was the only Catholic mem- ber, and her share is 3,000,000 francs—at least so says Galignani.

The French Minister of Agriculture, Commerce, and Public Works, has nominated commissioners, to be presided over by himself, to report on the best mode of establishing regularity and security in railway travelling.

An electric telegraph is at work between San Francisco and San Jose.

The King. of Sardinia has authorized by decree the erection of vast build- ings at Turin as dwellings for the labouring classes.

It is calculated that an organ capable of filling the vast expanse of the new Crystal Palace would occupy an area of 5400 feet, would require a depth of 50 feet, and an altitude from the ground of 140 feet. It would cost 25,0001.

The receipts of the customs and indirect taxes of France steadily augment. In October this year they were 983,764 francs more than in 1852, and 2,140,615 francs more than in 18.51.

The revenue of the United States Government for the year ending 30th June was 61,337,574 dollars; there was a surplus on the former year of 14,632,136 dollars ; total, 75,969,710 dollars. The expenditure, including the redemption of more than ten millions of debt, was only 54,026,818 dollars.

On the 20th November 1847, there were 18,119 depositors in the Marylebone Savings-bank, and 301,6631. invested ; at the same date this year the totals were respectively 23,308 and 367,973/.

Provisions have risen to an enormous price at Florence. Three or four years ago the bread that now costs 13 peals could be had for 7 ; wine is three times the price it was, and oil more than double.

It is reported from Teneriffe that the cochineal crop has been damaged.

Mr. Drabble, who went to Paraguay, apparently at the instance of the Manchester Commercial Association, to inquire into the capabilities of the country for the growing of cotton, has reported that there is abundant fa- cility for the extension of the growth of good cotton, though the want of labour will be a great obstacle, but not insurmountable.

Messrs. A. 13. Savory and Sons warn the public, through the Times, of the circulation of sovereigns that have been filed at the edges and then remitted. The value is thus reduced from Is. 7d. to 2s. 7d. each.

A woman annoyed the passengers in Oxford Street, Manchester, by beg- ging, with an infant under her cloak, muffled up to shield it from the sharp weather. She was ruthlessly arrested—the " baby " turned out to be a bundle of shavings and rags.

The first mate and four seamen of the British ship Liverpool have arrived at New Orleans; the master, his wife, a lady passenger, and thirteen sea- men, having perished by the foundering of the ship while on her voyage from Shields to New York.

Within the last eighteen months, no fewer than forty foxes have been found dead in the vicinities Northward of Aberystwith, having died from the mange. The complaint seems to be rapidly spreading.— Welshman.

The last cargo of convicts to Van Diemen's Land was landed at Hobart Town on the 31st of May ; when the Hobart Town Gazette notified that henceforth transportation would cease to that country.

Constantinople has thirteen newspapers, Smyrna six, and Alexandria one; Servia has eight, Wallachia and Moldavia four between them.

The New York Exhibition is to be kept open during the winter.

There have been repeated shocks of earthquake at Athens. The alarm of the inhabitants came to a climax on the 7th of this month, the festival of St. Demetrius ; when the city was to be destroyed—according to the story of a boy, who was warned in an olive wood by St. Demetrius himself, who directed him to tell the inhabitants to fly. However, the fatal shock was postponed, for the 7th passed without the calamity.

The remains of an antique villa have been discovered on the banks of the Sarno, between Acerno and Scafati. The house contained ten rooms • and in it were found two human skeletons, a male and female, the skeleton of a bird, and a bronze implement of agriculture. The architecture of the house bears no resemblance to that of Herculaneum or Pompeii. During the last excavations made at Pompeii, several human skeletons and one of a dog were discovered pressed one upon the other. Two gold rings ornamented with cameos were found on the fingers of the left hand of one of the skeletons.

News has come from Valparaiso of the arrival of the master and doctor of the brig Chatham, of San Francisco, in the British brig Caroline Hort, Hort master. Mr. Snow, the master of the Chatham, gave a singular narrative. He left San Francisco in September i852, on a trading voyage in the South Seas. After visiting the Marquesas, Society, and Harvey groups, the ship was on her return to San Francisco, when, on the 5th of January, she was loat on a low sand island, hitherto unknown to mariners. There were armed natives on shore. The people of the Chatham were doubtful of their inten- tions; but on the master's landing, he was kissed and caressed—the savages had never seen a White man before. However, they knew how to rifle the wreck and the crew. The men passed a wretched night, fearing they were to be butchered. Next day they were mustered ; had spears given them, and were marched away, to be sacrificed, as they thought : but they were merely drilled. They discovered that the natives looked upon them as superior beings. The food was scanty, and that only cocoa-nuts and fish, as no vege- tables grew on the island. A boat was constructed out of the wreck ; and after one failure, the master and three others gained Humphrey's Island, on the 26th March. Two hands refused to go further in the boat ; so Mr. Snow waited there till the 10th August, when the Caroline Hort touched at the island. He reports that the natives of the new island had began to use the mariners ill when he came away, food becoming scarce. The Valparaiso Herald adds that the island abounds in pearl-shell ; and Captain Hort ob- tained a promise from Mr. Snow to keep the locality secret till Hort had time to obtain the first harvest of shell.