It is stated in the amended Votes and Proceedings of

the House of Commons, printed since the adjournment, that on Monday next "Lord John Russell is to state the intentions of the Government with respect to education in England and Wales, and to move for leave to bring in a bill on the subject."

The disclosure made by the inquiry before the Chatham Election Com- mittee, of the exercise of Dockyard patronage under the Derby Adminis- tration, has led to the production of papers bearing on the subject- It appears that, in 1847, the Lords of the Admiralty altered the mode of admitting and promoting persons employed in the Dockyards, in order "to remove everything that can warrant a suspicion that preferment will be the result, not of services, but of political favouritism." In September 1849, the power of checking and controlling all appointments was com- mitted to the Surveyor of the Navy, and it was ordered that all corre- spondence relating to appointments should be:made through him. This order was cancelled by Mr. Augustus Stafford, the Derby Secretary, in April 1852; and as no copies were found in the record department of the Admiralty, the correspondence on the subject has been supplied by Sir Baldwin Walker. It consists of two letters, the first from Sir Baldwin to Mr. Stafford, dated 21st April 1852, and commencing thus—" You having been pleased to inform me that great dissatisfaction existed among your political friends at the manner in which the promotions, &c., were made in the Dockyards " ; and it proceeds to state that the writer, looking upon the cancelling of the circular of September 1849 as a censure on his con- duct, begs to tender his resignation. On the 10th May 1852, Sir Bald- win addressed a letter from Somerset House to the Duke of Northumber- land. After stating that he felt bound to point out "the evil system which had been pursued of late," he writes-

" Your Grace is aware that the Secretary of the Admiralty thought pro- per to cancel, without the knowledge of the Board, their Lordships' circular of the 29th of September 1849, which directs that all papers respecting pro- motions and vacancies in the Dockyards should be sent through the Surveyor to their Lordships. This order of 1849 was only reverting to a system which had always been in force prior to 1845, and which was then discontinued, I have reason to believe, on personal grounds.

"The abolition of a system which was found to work well for upwards of three years, causing an annual saving of 130,0001. in the wages of the arti- ficers of the Dockyards, independent of upwards of 60,000/. in the steam- factories, without impairing the efficiency of those establishments, must be prejudicial to the public interest, and has tended much to lower the position of the Surveyor.

"Now there is no one to control the establishments, and the Surveyor can no longer be held responsible for the estimates not being exceeded, nor can he be answerable for the efficiency of these establishments; for the Board's admirable circular of February 1847, which directs that all advancement in the Dockyards shall be for merit alone, has been virtually thrown aside,- vacancies have been filled up which were not neceAssry, and men advanced not for merit but by political influence ; and in one instance a person has been promoted who is not competent to Ell the situation to which he has been appointed ; and that was done without any reference having been made to the Superintendent of the yard.

"Having stated thus much, I think it right to inform your Grace, that I attribute the inconsiderate manner in which I have been put aside by the Secretary of the Admiralty to my unqualified refusal to depart from their Lordships' circular of February 1847, by lending myself to recommend men for advancement on political grounds." In November last a correspondence ensued between Sir Baldwin Wal- ker and Mr. Stafford, arising out of a statement by Mr. Stafford in the House of Commons that there was no correspondence with the Surveyor of the Navy on the subject of the promotions in the Dockyards ; and also, that the Surveyor had not tendered his resignation. Hence the sting of these returns.

Some wholesome steps have been taken by the Admiralty with regard to admission and promotion in our Dockyards. In future, promotions will be made "on public grounds, and on public grounds alone " ; and when once admitted, workmen are to rise by merit and ability. "All persons in the Naval establishments" are informed, that any attempt, by principals or subordinates, to set aside the regulations, will be followed by dismissal. Such is the spirit of the Amended Regulations.

Lord Stratford de Radcliffe was received by the Emperor of Austria on the 24th March. He had also waited on Count Buol and other Austrian statesmen.

The new Hospodar of Moldavia, it is said, will be Lusca Pasoan° ; Russia and Turkey concurring.

It is reported that Marshal Radetzky has been recalled, and that the Archduke Albert will supply his place in Lombardy.

The Queen of Spain has bestowed the Order of the Golden Fleece on • the Prince of Prussia.

Lord Brougham has reached Cannes.

The Countess of Montijo was escorted from Bayonne to the Bidassoa on the 23d ultimo, by two squadrons of hussars : a guard of honour ac- companied her from Irun to Madrid.

Letters received at Madrid state that the Emperor of Morocco is in a eery precarious state of health. Should he die, a "terrible crisis" is prognosticated.

The Emperor of Austria has granted the golden medal for literary and artistic merits to Mr. Leone Levi for his work on the Commercial Law of the World.

We understand that it is certain that Government will this year at- tempt the collection of the agricultural statistics of one or more districts of considerable extent in England and Scotland respectively.—Gardener's Chronicle.

The Commissioners for the Consolidation of the Statutes—Mr. Bellen- den Ber, Mr. Chisholm Anstey, Mr. Brickdale, Mr. George Coode, and Mr. Rogers—met on Thursday for the first time, at the Lord Chancellor's residence in Upper Brook Street. It is stated that Mr. Bellenden Ear is to receive 1000/. per annum, and the rest of the Commissioners 6004 per annum each.

The Commissioners appointed by the Queen "to inquire into the Law of Divorce, and more particularly into the mode of obtaining Divorces vinculo matrimonii," have issued their first report : at the end they for- mulize their conclusions thus-

" That the distinction between divorce d mens4 et thoro and divorce d lineal() matrimonii shall still be maintained. That the grounds for divorce ci incited et thoro shall be conjugal infidelity and gross cruelty. That wilful desertion shall also be a ground for divorce d mensa et there, or else shall entitle the abandoned wife to obtain from her husband a proper maintenance by way of alimony. That divorces ci inensti et thoro may be obtained by the wife for the above-mentioned causes, as well as by the husband. That divorces d vincula shall be allowed for adultery, and for adultery only. That divorces ci vincula shall only be granted on the suit of the husband, and not (as a general rule) on the suit of the wife. That the wife, however, may also apply for a divorce ci vineulo in eases of aggravated enormity, such as incest or bigamy. That recrimination, connivance, and condonation, shall, if proved, be deemed and treated as bars to the suit. That recrimina- tion shall include any of the grounds for which divorces may be obtained ci mensil et there. That the existing mode of obtaining a divorce ci vineulo shall no longer be continued. That a verdict at law, and an ecclesiastical sentence, shall not be considered as preliminary conditions which must be complied with before it can be obtained. That a new tribunal shall be con- stituted to try all questions of divorce. That all matrimonial questions also which are now determined in the ecclesiastical courts shall be transferred to the same tribunal. That this tribunal shall consist of a Vice-Chancellor, a Common Law Judge, and a Judge of the Ecclesiastical Courts. That the party who seeks a divorce, whether it be a divorce d mensd et there or divorce ci vineulo matrimonii, shall pledge his belief to the truth of the case, and that there is no collusion between himself and his wife. That the evidence shall be oral, and taken down in the presence of the parties. That in gene- ral the process, practice, and pleading shall conform to the process, practice, and pleading of the Court of Chancery, as recently improved, with such additions as may be beneficially derived from the ecclesiastical system. That the rules of evidence shall be the same as those which prevail in the temporal courts in the kingdom. That the Judges shall have the power of examining the parties, and also of ordering any witnesses to be produced, who, in their opinion, may throw light on the question. That the Court shall be intrusted with a large discretion in prescribing whether any and what provision shall be made to the wife, in adjusting the rights which she and her husband may respectively have in each other's property, and in providing for the guardianship and maintenance of the children. That there shall be only one appeal from a decree of the Court, and that the appeal shall be carried to the House of Lords."

The Government Emigration Commissioners have just issued a notice that all Government emigrants will be required to sign a written agree- ment, that if they go to the gold-fields, or quit the colony within four years after landing, they must pay to the Colonial Government a propor- tionate part of their passage-money, at the rate of 4/. per adult for each year wanting to complete four years from landing.

The Agamemnon, 911 screw line-of-battle ship, has been lying at Ports- mouth since January, infected with a malignant fever. Her crew con- sists of 1000 men ; of whom, say official reports, 300 are "down with the fever," and the disease is on the increase. Nothing had been done up to Wednesday, except "turning the crew into a hulk, lashing that hulk to the infected ship, or vice versa, and fumigating her." Sir William Bur- net arrived on Wednesday to institute an inquiry ; and he ordered that accommodation should be found in Hasler Hospital for some of the in- fected men. Meanwhile, Portsmouth harbour is crowded with shipping, and it is feared the infection will spread.

According to a Parliamentary paper just minted, the number of voters in the employment of Government at Chatham who polled at the late election was 304; 171 of whom voted for Sir Frederick Smith (Derbyite) and 133 for Sir James Stirling (Whig.) Mr. James Boyd, a gentleman well versed in the subject of cotton-grow- ing, has been sent out to Cape Coast Castle, in the Forerunner steamer, by an eminent firm, to report on the prospects of growing ootton in Western and Southern Africa. It is hoped that the chiefs may be induced to employ their people in cultivating cotton in those districts where the slave-trade has been nearly extinguished.

About half-past eleven o'clock on Sunday night, the shock of an earth- quake was felt in South Wales and in Herefordshire. The movement and noise were very perceptible ; and many persons were alarmed, some think- ing that thieves had violently broken into their houses. The vibration lasted about three seconds at Hereford.

Mr. Little, a miser, has died at Wigan, leaving a large amount of pro- perty. No less than 2000/. in guineas and other coins was found secreted in different parts of the house, wrapped in rags and paper. The other property consists of lands and houses.

The Irish papers announce the recent death of Mrs. Mary Power, widow of Mr. J. Power, and aunt of the late Mr. Richard Lalor Shell, at the Ersu- line Convent, Cork, at the great age of one hundred and sixteen years. Mrs. Power till very recently resided at Bath, and at the age of one hundred and fourteen she made two visits from that place to London to see the Great Exhibition. She afterwards returned to Ireland, where her life was brought to a close about a fortnight ago by a severe attack of influenza.

Much gossip has been excited at Wells, for sonic weeks past, from the cir- cumstance of a report having got into circulation that the Bishop's butler, Mr. Box, was engaged to be married to a lady with a fortune of 60,000/. This report, so far as the marriage is concerned, was confirmed on Monday week, when the wedding took place in London. Whether the fortune of the lady extends to the sum above mentioned we do not pledge ourselves, but it seems certain that Mr. Box is become master of a sum of 20,0001., which is settled on him, leaving the lady mistress of a still larger sum.-1-coril Paper.

Seven months since, a person named Spriggs, who had been trading in the City as "Spriggs and Co., warehousemen," obtained goods on credit to the extent of 30,000/., converted them into cash, and, under a false name, sailed for Port Phillip in the ship Cleopatra. The creditors despatched Mr. Fal- coner, a retired officer of the Thames Police, in pursuit, armed with a war- rant from the Home Secretary, another from a City Magistrate, and with copies of depositions by creditors. Mr. Falconer embarked in the Sarah Sands steamer ; arrived at Port Phillip three days before the Cleopatra ; ar- rested the bankrupt when he landed, and is now on his way to England with his prisoner. Cash to the amount of 10,000/. was found on Spriggs, and he had some property on board the Cleopatra ; so that the creditors will get a considerable dividend.

M. Emile de Vauxonne, Judge at the Court of Appeal, and President of the Council-General and of the Municipal Commission of Lyons, went on the 25th March to the shop of M. Gobert, gunsmith, to get a pair of pistols repaired. By an inexplicable chance it happened that the pistols were loaded, and on M. de Vauxonne touching the trigger of one of them to show M. Gobert what the pistol required, the pistol went off, and the charge struck the gunsmith obliquely in the breast. He at once fell on the ground, crying out, "I am a dead man !" M. de Vauxonne, horror-struck at what had occurred, seized the other pistol and blew out his brains. When medical aid was brought to M. Gobert, it was discovered that the wound which he received is not likely to prove of any gravity. Madame V—, a person of property at Nimes, has been sent to prison for two years, and condemned to pay 5000 francs damages, for cruelty to a fe- male relative only seven years of age. The girl was addicted to theft ; she stole, among other things, a ring ; she admitted the theft, but refused to tell where she had concealed the ring. To extort this, Madame V— " tor- tured " her, after first confining her for some days in a dark room, with a small allowance of bread and water : the torture consisted in holding the girl's feet to the fire until they were blistered and almost roasted, and then burning her hands with charcoal. The obdurate girl still refused to tell ; Madame V— then denounced her to the Police as a thief; but she herself was arrested for cruelty.