2 FEBRUARY 1867, Page 2

Mr. Gladstone arrived in London on the 29th ult., after

a short stay in Paris, where he accepted an invitation from the Society of Political Economy. He made them a speech of some length, about which the French papers are enthusiastic, but it was delivered in English, and has not been reported. The only noteworthy sentence which has reached England implied that Mr. Gladstone hoped to witness the total abolition of English custom- houses. We suppose he really said he hoped to extinguish all customs except upon alcohol and tobacco, a practicable, if not a wise idea.