311isultautung.

A Cabinet Council, attended by all the Ministers, sat for two hours and a half at the Foreign Office on Saturday.

The orthodox banquets were given on the eve of the opening of Par- liament. Lord Aberdeen entertained a party of his supporters in the House of Peers, including the mover and seconder of the Address; and Lord John Russell entertained a similar party selected from Members of the House of Commons. On the other side, Lord Derby gave a grand dinner to thirty Peers, supporters of his Administration; and Mr. Dis- raeli received a number of Members of the House of Commons, including the most conspicuous adherents of Lord Derby's party.

The American Minister was not present with the Diplomatic Corps in the House of Lords on Tuesday : the Master of the Ceremonies had an- nounced that all Foreign Ministers must appear in full Court costume ; whereas Mr. Marcy has ordered that American diplomatists shall not wear Court dresses.

The Turkish Ambassador was greatly cheered on his way to the House of Lords at the opening of the session on Tuesday.

The Marquis of Londonderry has completely recovered from his late indisposition, and will shortly come to town to perform his duty as Gold Stick in waiting on the Queen.

At a Court of East India Directors, held last week, Mr. John Peter Grant was appointed a Provisional Member of the Council of India.

The Lord Chancellor has appointed Sir John Eardley Wilmot, and Mr. Edward Cooke, Judges of the Bristol and York County Courts respect- ively, in the place of Mr. Arthur Palmer and Mr. E. H. .F.Isley, who have. resigned on account of ill-health.

According to a statement in the Globe, the Army will be increased by 11,000 men.

A plan is said to be in contemplation for establishing a Minister of War in this country, who should be charged with the affairs of Army, Navy, and Ordnance.—.Daily News.

Major-General Sir Joseph Thackwell was summoned from Cork to London by a telegraphic message : it is supposed that it is in prospect to give him a command in case of war.

Major-General Sir James Maxwell Wallace, it is said, will be Colonel of the Seventeenth Lancers, and Major-General Thomas Erskine Napier, Colonel of the Sixteenth Foot.

At the request of the Lords of the Admiralty, the Board of Trade have instrueted the shipping-masters throughout the United Kingdom to give every possible assistance towards the entry of seamen in the Royal Navy.

Orders were received at Plymouth, on Thursday, for the screw-ships Hogue, 60, and Edinburgh, 58, to proceed Eastward. The Hogue is fully manned, but the Edinburgh is short of hands.

Gun-boat armaments were sent to Constantinople by the last two Black Sea steamers which left Southampton up to Monday.

We understand that the Admiralty have appointed Mr. Peter Welling- ton, Master R.N., to commission the Heels, 6, paddle steam-sloop, and with half-a-dozen other Masters of the Royal Navy and a competent complement to proceed to the Baltic, to make careful surveys and sound- ings of the approaches.—Standard.

The Gazette of Tuesday contained copies of Orders in Connell of gene- ral interest. By the first, dated January 30, 1854, the period of training and exercise of all the regiments and corps of Militia in England and Wales is extended for and during the present year, so that the whole period shall not in any case exceed fifty-six days nor be less than three.

By the second, dated January 30, 1854, made in pursuance of the 7th and 8th Victoria, the county of Northumberland is divided, for the purposes of the said act, into two divisions, to be called the Northern and Souther* divi- sions, which include respectively the various places set out in the order. 13.■ a third, of the same date, it is ordered that from and after the 8th of February 1854, except as therein excepted, burials be discontinued in the churchyards of Charlton, Kent; St. Paul, Chatham ; All Saints, Poplar; Hackney, Whited:lapel, and Stepney. And by other Orders in Council, of the same date as the former, notice, in pursuance of the act of the last ses- sion of Parliament, is given' with regard to the closing of burial-grounds in various parts of England, to the various parishes mentioned in the said last- mentioned orders.

The health of the Metropolis is decidedly improved. Last week the number of deaths was 1178; the calculated average 1195. The decrease of deaths has been coincident with a proportionate rise in the temperature.

Vice-Admiral Robert Elliott, an officer actively engaged in the Medi- terranean during the Peninsular war, died recently, at the age of eighty- six. He was blind for the last eight years of his life.

The Marquis de Turgot has completely recovered from his wound.

The Princess Dowager Cohary, great grandmother of the King of Portugal, died recently. She held large possessions in Hungary as a fief, which will now return to the state.

The Marquis de Hautpoul, who figured under the regime of 1830 and the Republic, cited recently at Toulouse.

M. Alexander de Bodisco, Russian Minister, to the United States, died lately at Washington.

General Almonte, Mexican Minister at Washington, has been appointed -commander of the Mexican army.

The Emperor of Austria sent an autograph letter expressing his warmest synm.:thy with Marshal Radetzky on the death of his wife. The letter also contained reiterated expressions of the "warmest gratitude" of the writer to the Marshal.

The Empress of the French has undertaken to provide for two of the children of the woman Ilubschen, who worked as a railway-navigator to support her sick husband and family. They are to be trained up—a boy to become a good workman, and a girl to be an industrious and honest work- woman, not as a "monsieur" and "mademoiselle."

Prince Demidoff has purchased the villa of San Martino, in the island of Elba, which was occupied by Napoleon ; and he is constructing in it a mag- nificent "Musee Napoleon." Hereafter steamers between Marseilles and Malta will touch at Elba, and enable tourists to visit this collection of art.

Letters from Konigsberg state that Mr. Sturge and his two friends, who have gone on a mission of peace to the Czar, passed through that town on the 26th January, on their way to St. Petersburg.

"Victor Hugo and his; family are about to leave Jersey, it is said, for a resi- dence ha Portugal.

Mademoiselle Wagner has been appointed "royal chamber singer" to the King of Prtunia.

Mademoiselle Rachel has given 40,000 rubles for the use of the military invalids at St. Petersburg.

Mademoiselle Georges, once a favourite French actress, has been so re- duced in circumstances that she has applied for the situation of umbrella- taker at the Great Exhibition in Paris.

A young barytone is making a sensation on the stage at Florence. He was a poor uninstructed youth, a sand-beaver on the Arno, before his fine voice was discovered by his patrons. Rossini pronounces him the finest barytone yet heard.

The Shipping Gazette states, that a number of Russian ships at Liverpool have been sold to British subjects, and taken over with the officers and crews to be navigated under the British flag. Information on the subject has been forwarded to the Board of Trade.

It is remarked in reference to the talk about Russian resources, that while theRussian fleet has been the work of years, England, during the past year, completed and commissioned the following powerful screw steam- ships,—the Duke of Wellington, 131 guns, in February 1863 ; the St. Jean i d'Acre, 101, in May 1863; the Royal George, 120, n October 1853; the Princess Royal, 90, in October 1853; and the Cressy, 80; in December 1853. In the present year, although one month has only just expired, three line- of-battle screw steam-ships have been commissioned,—the James Watt, 90, in January 1854; the Cresar, 90, in January 1854; the Nile, 90, on Febru- ary 2, 1854. Within a few more months the following, now nearly ready, will be commissioned, if required—the Royal Albert, 131, to be launched in April next ; the Marlborough, 131; the Hannibal, 90, launched at Deptford; the Orion, 90, ready for launching at Chatham ; the Algiers, 90, at Devon- port ; the Majestic; 80, fitting at Sheerness ; and the Irresistible, 80, in an advanced state at Chatham.

It is announced that the Russian officer who commanded the port of Se- bastopol in the absence of the Admiral has been cashiered for having suffered the British frigate Retribution to enter the port, contrary to the existing re- gulations. It is further said that this officer has been sent as a private soldier to a regiment in the province of Orenburg.

A number of persons have been arrested at Milan for walking on the Corso with black pipes, which the jealous Austrians considered a revolutionary " demonstration. They were sent to Mantua the same night.

The Queen, through the intervention of Lord Aberdeen, has granted 501. to Miss Mackay, the great granddaughter and only descendant of the famous Flora Macdonald.

Three large caies have been brought by a vessel from Dunkirk, containing presents to the House of Lords by the President of the French Senate, and intended for the library of the House.

The late Mr. Thomason, Governor of the North-west Provinces of India, has bequeathed his valuable library to the Government College at Agra.

The library and collection of MSS. of George Earl of Dfacartney, the Am- bassador to China, who died in 1806, were sold by Messrs. Puttick and Simp- son last week. Some of the manuscripts fetched a good price. "Two folio volumes of letters and documents addressed to Sir G. Downing, British Min- ister to the States General of the United Provinces of the Netherlands, 1644 to 1682," sold for 152/.

The Duchies of Parma and Modena have acceded to the treaty of com- merce concluded between Austria and the Zollverein.

Austria makes some progress in her customs revenue. In 1860, the import, export, and transit duties, produced 19,710,000 florins; but in 1862 the to- tal had increased under the new tariff to 22,904,000 florins.

A new mining company has been established at the Cape of Good Hope, with a capital of 50,0001.

A company has been formed at Vienna for establishing a telegraphic line between Trieste and Athens, vi tt Dalmatia and the Ionian Islands. Cargoes of wheat for England have been bought at Lisbon, at 62s. a quarter on board.

Castor-oil plants have been found on the banks of the 1Jmgeni, in Natal ; and a merchant has directed that a quantity of the nuts shall be collected to be sent to England to ascertain their value for the production of oil.

In 1810, Cincinnati in Ohio had a population of 46,428; in 1853, it had increased to 160,188.

John Mitchell has been writing in his paper, the Citizen, in favour of slavery !

The Maine at Frankfort recently-presented a lively aspect,—thousands of persons skating on it by day, and at-night by the light of torches ; while sledges, hazard-tables, grog-shops, andeating-houses, were in abundance. Mr. II. Adams and a band of divers are engaged on the wreck of the Birk- enhead, at Danger Point, Cape of Good Hope ; and so much property is re- covered that Mr. Adams will be amply rewarded.

In the Dutch colony of Surinam, the manumission of slaves is going on "in real earnest." Sunday schools are about to be established.

Mrs. Douglas has been sentenced, by the Judge of the Superior Court of Norfolk in the United States, to be imprisoned for a month for teaching Negroes to read and write : the law would have warranted a more severe punishment.

As an encouragement to native produce, the State of Georgia offers a purse of 501. for "the best-looking baby" to be exhibited at the annual fair of the State.

The Madras Athemetem states that a native suitor was committed one day. last month by the Chief Justice for contempt of Court, wader rather novel circumstances. He had brought an action against Certain persons, which- was unsuccessful: when the verdict was pronounced he took oat a knife and began to cut his throat before all the public. Of course he was in seized, and Sir Christopher Rawlinson sent him off to gaol for the attempt to perpetrate a felony ; "an act of authority which will tend to confuse still further the native notions as to what a man may do with his own."

There has been a terrible earthquake at Finana, in Spain. It occurred on the 13th of January. Between two and three o'clock in, the morning, during complete darkness, and while every one was asleep, the soil was sud- denly shaken and turned over by a series of violent shocks following each i

other n rapid succession' and accompanied by a prolonged noise resembling the rolling of thunder. It crumbled down the greatest parlor the Alcazaba, an ancient castle of the Moors, broke bows to pieces, and caused large chasms in nearly all the streets. Eight persons were afterwards dug out in a terrible state of mutilation.

The arrivals of precious metals in London last week amounted to 800,0001. ; the exports were 450,0001.

M'Kay, the Queen's Highland piper' has become insane. He wrote to Colonel Phipps that he had documents proving that he was lawful heir to the throne, but he had no wish to dispossess her Majesty. He requested an interview with the Colonel : this was granted, and when the poor lunatic arrived at Windsor Castle he was given into the care of proper keepers.

The Times on Tuesday remarked—" We might almost suppose that memory was playing us false, when we recall with difficulty that last year at this time Lord Derby was Premier and Mr. Disraeli Chancellor of the-Exchequer." There Must have been considerable difficulty in recalling the fact that-Lord Derby and Mr. Disraeli were in office on the 31st of January 1853.

The passengers of the Euxine, a steamer belonging to the Peninsular and • Oriental Company, complain of the shameful overloading of that vessel with munitions of war and other aupplies for the fleet at Constantinople, shovelled in at the last moment, which made her a mere log on the waters. They en- countered bad weather in the Bay of Biscay, broke a crank-pin and had to put into Vigo • subsequently they got to Gibraltar, one day before the ship was due at Constantinople.

A gold (rushing and amalgamating machine, invented by Mr. Belden, and first exhibited in the New York Crystal Palace, has for some time been at work in the City Road. It is reported that it is a most successful invention, extracting the gold from the matrix at a very small expense, so that masses containing minute proportions of gold can be worked at a profit. The Times warns the public to be slow in believing the tales of those who take aurifer- ous earth or rock to be worked by the machine as to the whereabouts that the said earth or rock came from, or people may chance to buy shares in mines at home or abroad which will not turn out to produce gold ore identi- cal with that operated on by the machine.

"B. W." sends to the Times an account of an extraordinary hurricane which swept past Galloway House, in Wigtorishire, on" die 20th' of last month. The tornado came from the sea, struck a wood, prostrating giant trees and clearing a space of fifty yards square, and then mounted upwards ; it afterwards passed between Galloway House and the chaplain's residence, and at a distance of three-quarters of a mile passed into the upper regions : this spot was marked by the same results as seen on the shore—a wide gap was made in a belt of wood by every tree being uprooted. This hurricane was very brief, but of enormous power. Fortunately, no residence or human being happened to be in the line of its progress.

Dr. Elliotson has called attention to a very painful case—that of two ladies, daughters of a partner in a very eminent trading firm, now gone, who are at present in great poverty the evils of poverty aggravated by sickness. The intellect of one has sunk in the struggle ; the other, from a sick bed, watches the success of a small shilling volume of poems which she is about to pub- lish. Mr. Nottage, of 67 Upper Thames Street, receives and applies sub- scriptions which have already come in. From the specimens' the poems ap- pear to be really. worth publication on their own account. There is some- thing very touching in this animated and hopeful satire on Hope, from one who has so learned to test fortitude by adversity.

HOPE.

Hope was a rosy maiden. With laughing merry eyes; But she always shut them pretty close When storms were in the skies.

" Pho I pho !" she cried,' 'tis but a sham, The sun is peeping out; He has only been inquiring What the moon has been about."

One day she lost a treasure : " find it," was the cry; "Or if I don't, I'll do without, Or know the reason why." Her little lambkin sicken'd : "Cheer up, my pet," she cried, "I haven't heard these dozen years Of any lamb that died."

The clouds at last have broken, And it's raining very fast. "Yes," sung the merry maiden,

"Too heavily to last,"

Her rosebud droop'd unkindly: " You naughty little thing! But still I have my lovely birds,

How charmingly they sing "

The dead leaves lay by thousands: " 'Twould be very sad," said she, "But I see the green buds breaking out Upon the mother tree."

The coffin by the cradle Told the struggle that was o'er: Hope whisper'd in the mother's ear, "'Ti, but an angel morel" Her bark upon the quicksands Ten thousand floods o'erwhelm Hope look'd above, "This is the time For God to take the helm."

Death is standing by her pillow, She feels the icy kiss : She lifts her arms, "I go to God,

Where Hope dissolves in Bliss."