NEWS OF THE WEEK.

CORTES was opened on the 11th inst. by Marshal Serrano as President of the Provisional Government, in a very uninteresting speech, containing, apparently, no allusion to the great question, the form of government to be adopted. He said Spain had won her freedom without bloodshed, which is not quite true, as Alcolea was a real battle ; declared that the Deputies must consolidate the essential principles of Radical liberalism, the liberties of the Press, of association, and of worship ; admitted that the finances were in disorder, but hoped that they would be repaired by administrative reforms, by great reductions in the Army and Navy, and by "legislation" relative to the interest on the public debt,— " legislation " apparently meaning taxation after the Austrian and Italian examples. The address is reported by telegram to have been received with considerable enthusiasm, but there were some discordant cries.

Her Majesty's Ministers were entertained by the Fishmongers' Company at dinner on Thursday, but the speeches were of little political interest. Mr. Gladstone, who replied for the Ministry, declared that it was encouraged by the verdict of the country, and by "the constitutional character of that Sovereign whose delight it is to associate herself both with the interests and the convictions of her people," to attempt a great task, the reconciliation of Ireland, a task not to be accomplished in a day or by a single measure, but which might be accomplished through the affection which justice generates among mankind. Lord Granville, who replied for the Peers, observed that if the Upper House was "weakly," it was not for want of having its health drunk ; and Mr. Lowe discoursed on the obstacles in the way of reform, economy being considered meanness, and the House of Commons demanding rather than restraining expense. In allusion apparently to the new Law Courts, he denounced outlay on public buildings, saying that when millions were lavished we were told "a thing of beauty is a joy for ever," and we had to be satisfied with that, but did not explain why, as Government must have buildings, it should prefer ugly ones.

Mr. Bright rose to the toast of "Trade and Commerce," and made a very poor speech. He said the Board of Trade was, in reality, only a department for recommendations which were seldom accepted, remarked that we had not Free Trade, instancing the tax of 300 per cent. upon tobacco, laughed at the Archbishop of York for asserting that the Bishops, as Life Peers, were the most liberal element in the House of Lords,—a remark, by the way, which his Grace appropriated from a speech of Mr. Gladstone,— and then, having a Bishop in view, went at him with his head down. "If I had been a Bishop with an income of from £5,000 to £15,000 a year, it is very likely I might have been as full of humour as these right reverend gentlemen ; I might have been as merry as any of them, because I certainly should have had an inexhaustible source of rejoicing and merriment in the generosity, if not the credulity, of my countrymen." The singularly bad taste of this remark produced each a silence, that Mr. Bright "hoped to be pardoned for anything he pad said or left unsaid," to "speak as a Cabinet Minister being a thing strange to me." True, but surely it is not strange to Mr. Bright to speak as guest, as orator, or as statesman, and on this occasion he wounded his audience by feebly acrimonious attacks on an order of men absolutely unconnected with his subject. He sat down without a cheer.

The Fishmongers invited the new Primate, the Bishops, and many of the clergy, to dine with them two days before the Ministerial banquet of Thursday,—but the new Archbishop of Canterbury, in honour of whom the entertainment was given, was prevented from attending by the death of a nephew ; the Archbishop of York, therefore, shone out undimmed by any brighter lustre, and ventured to say that which seems to have jarred so unfortunately on the nerves of the Right Hon. John Bright, that the Bishops were a truly Liberal element in the House of Peers, being "the only life Peers in the House." And if a mere life-tenancy insures liberality, his Grace is of course right ; but we have a high authority for the statement that "the liberal man deviseth liberal things, and by liberal things shall he stand." The Bishops as yet have devised no "Liberal things," and hence we cannot look upon their standing-ground as in any way secure. If the Archbishop himself has not repented, he intends to try and stand by illiberal things, throughout the great struggle of the coming season. Dr. Binney, the eminent Nonconformist minister, made a speech later in the evening, in which he said that Dr. Hook, Dr. Wilberforce, and himself (Dr. Binney) had all commenced life together ; one had become a dean, one a bishop, and the third was still on the "shady side of the hedge," but "he did not regret it." Why should he? There are bishops and bishops. Dr. Binney is a sort of archbishop among Independents, though they don't call him "Your grace." Has he not led the way in teaching this generation "how to make the best of both worlds'?"

Both the Senate and the House of Representatives have now passed the Constitutional amendment making it illegal for any State to refuse the suffrage to any man on any ground of "race, colour, nativity, property, education, or creed,"—which is tolerably sweeping. It would not, we suppose, interfere with Mr. Disraeli's ground of restriction,—the non-payment of legal rates, or insufficient residence,—and it does not render the restriction on female suffrage illegal, but does make a property or educational qualification as illegal as a qualification of creed. This proposal passed the Senate by 40 to 16 votes, and the House of Representatives, we conclude, by a two-thirds' majority at least, without which it would drop. This amendment to the Constitution will become law as soon as the legislatures of three-fourths of the States, or conventions called in three-fourths of the States ad hoc, shall have ratified it.

At Wallingford this day week Mr. Justice Blackburn declared Mr. Vickers (Conservative) duly elected. The bribery case quite broke down ; on the question of treating, though Mr. Justice Blackburn did not at all think any had been brought home to the candidate or his agents, he did seem to feel a doubt whether there might not have been enough paid for from other quarters to void the election, but he decided eventually in the negative, though stating that "Mr. Vickers's seat had been considerably imperilled." At Cheltenham, on Wednesday, Mr. Baron Martin declared Mr. Samuelson (Liberal) duly elected, stating that he believed that "on the part of Mr. Samuelson, a more honest and pure election had never been conducted."

Mr. Justice Wiles gave judgment on Friday week in the case of the election petition against Mr. J. L. Phipps, Member for Westbury. The decision was important, as the first in which an English member has been unseated for intimidation. Mr. Phipps had not intimidated or done anything else personally, but it was shown that a local manufacturer, Mr. J. Harrop, had been authorized to canvass his own men, had canvassed them, and had, as the Judge believed, dismissed and retained men according as they obeyed his wishes or not. Consequently, Mr. Justice Willes unseated the candidate, but left each party to pay their own costs, and declined to give his reason for that departure from the usual practice. The sentence, for it is one, will, we hope, be a warning to every employer of labour in the country that intimidation, like bribery, only unseats the candidate on whose behalf it is attempted. A few more such examples, and we shall have honest elections.

The Irish Bishops do not seem to grow wiser. After receiving the refusal of the Governmont to allaiv the old Irish Convocation to meet at the present juncture, they have, with one dissentient, the Bishop of Down and Connor, put forth a document declaring, indeed, their wish to co-operate with the laity, but paying the laity so little respect that they do not wait for their opinion, but declare flatly that they have no right to regard the threatened changes as inevitable, and "are bound to protect against and resist them." After this, their warmly expressed wish to co-operate with the laity can only mean to co-operate with them provided always that they (the laity) shall agree with the bishops in feeling "bound to protest against and resist" the coining changes. The Bishops are not even as polite as the Scotch girl in the song ; she did promise an equivalent for agreeable counsel :—

" Come, counsel, dear Titty, don't tarry, I'll gif ye my bonny black hen Gin you will advise me to marry The man I lo'e dearly, Tam Glen ;" but the Bishops don't offer the laity anything for giving their agreeable counsel ; on the contrary, they expect the laity both to give their pleasant advice and pecuniary subsidies as well. The Bishop of Down and Connor has at least the merit of seeing and saying that this is indecent.

There is certainly something odd about the taste of suicides. It appears that in every million of the population of England and Wales, 66 persons committed suicide, on an average of nine years (the years between 1858 and 1866 both inclusive) ; of these 66 precisely 3 in every year committed suicide by gunshot wounds ; between 12 and 13, on an average, committed suicide by cutting and stabbing ; between 6 and 7 by poison ; between 10 and 11 by drowning ; between 28 and 29 by hanging ; and between 4 and 5 on an average by other and leas commonplace methods. Thus it appears that to those bent on suicide, the most popular mode by far is what one would suppose the most painful, strangulation, while the speediest death of all is the least popular, perhaps because it seems to involve a n ervous shock greater than any other ; while poisoning, which, if effected by opium at least, would be much the most painless, is the least common next to death by a pistol ball. 1860,—a very wet year,—appears to have presented the highest number of suicides among the nine years.

The Minority principle is not in luck. The Minority Member for Manchester, Mr. Birley, is said to be ineligible by reason of his having some Government contract, and it is supposed that his seat will have to be filled up by a new (and therefore, of course, a majority) vote ; and the Minority Member for the City of London, Mr. Bell, is just dead,—so that there, too, the vacant seat will necessarily be filled up by a majority vote. Baron Rothschild, it is said, will again come forward, and probably enough be elected without a contest.

The cotton manufacturers of Normandy have drawn up a petition entreating the Emperor to give notice of the expiration of the Treaty with England, and to return to the tariffs which can alone restore their lost prosperity. They say they are ruined by the treaty. England finds a new market in France, while they are undersold. Never, they say, were so many stoppages known, and they point to the tariffs of the United States as the cause of its prosperity. These gentlemen do not see that if, as they say, free trade benefits England so much, it must also of necessity benefit them, or explain bow it happens that the Treaty has so greatly increased the total trade of France, and specially the wine trade of the South. It is curious that jug while they are complaining of being undersold by England, Manchester should be complaining of being undersold by France. The truth is, we believe, that in both countries there is more capital employed in the cotton manufacture than is needed. People won't buy calico at any price unless they want it, and if one and a half yard is produced where one yard is wanted, prices must fall below the level of profit.

The Greek affair does not advance. According to the latest amounts, M. Zaimis has accepted the resolutions of Conference, but it is certain that eight days' delay has been conceded, and doubtful if acceptance has not been clogged with conditions rendering it worthless. The King is willing to yield, but the people are not, and it is said concession may involve the abdication of the poor little man. We note, as a sign of the times, that the Berlin Correspondence, the fly-sheet sent from Berlin to different capitals, and said to be more than semi-official, dwells on the ability of the Greek peasantry to resist any Turkish invasion. The Northern Courts seem uuabie to make up their minds whether

Greece should re3ist or not ; Russia, in particular, not desiring to see the imbroglio end in the expulsion of a second Russian Archduchess.

D. St. Boudoures, Foreign Minister of Greece in 1864, has communicated to the Athens correspondent of the Times a copy of a Cabinet minute, drawn up in December of that year, in answer to a demand for aid from Crete. The Cretans were then contemplating insurrection, saying they were loaded down with Turkish taxes, but their application was distinctly refused, M. Boudoures informing them that they could not succeed except by peaceful means. They rose, therefore, in spite of the remonstrances of the power said to have instigated the rising, and the assistance given, if any,—which we do not doubt—was given long after they had made their first attempts, not, indeed, until further refusals would have involved their destruction by the Asiatic and African soldiery employed against them.

We are informed that there is no oath or religions obstacle of that kind to the Jewish Senior Wrangler, Mr. Hartog, obtaining a degree; but the Vice-Chancellor usually admits candidates "in the name of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost." To this Mr. liartog, with a somewhat over nice but intelligible conscientiousness, objected, and the form was altered by a grace of the Senate. The whole of the educational course at Cambridge up to the BA. degree is open to all, of whatever religion they may happen to be.

A conference of Guardians from parishes in the East End of London was held on the 4th January, aud some other days, and it was resolved that the "house" ought to be more frequently offered to the able-bodied poor, that corn-grinding could be tried as a labour test, that visitation should be more frequent, that outdoor work on wages is, on the whole, dangerous, as tempting people to throw themselves on the rates, and that stowage room should be provided by the Guardians for the furniture of families temporarily compelled to ask relief within the house, a most excellent suggestion, tried successfully at Manchester. The Guardians, however, while recommending all these deterrents and precautions, are urgent in advising adequate relief in each case. Inadequate help brings in private charity, which is always ill-informed and often wasteful A paper was read on Monday, by Mr. Cooke Taylor, before the Economic Department of the Social Science Association, on the admission of women into the Civil Service. Mr. Taylor, like all advocates of that side, made his suggestion seem ridiculous by advising that female civilians with child might obtain leave as men do when they are sick,—forgetting that children should be suckled, and must be watched over by their mothers ;—but his main point was sound, that offices to which women are competent, should be as open to them as to men, that legal restrictions on employment should be removed. They make excellent telegraph clerks, for example, and would do the work of post-offices, perhaps, rather better than men, while their capacity in the department of education has been conclusively proved in America. That they would lower men's wages is probable, but then every needless penny paid by the State for work not more efficient is a burden on the taxpayer.

The Times devotes two and a half pages of its space to an analysis of the accounts of London Charities, drawn up by Mr. G. M. Hicks. The account, which is exclusive of the revenues of the great endowed Hospitals, shows that 12,040,897 is spent in London on different charities, and of this sum a quarter is spent on "plant," rent, furniture, stationery, and salaries,—an amount on which an immense saving might be made by judicious combination. It must be remembered, however, that although many charities, such as small hospitals, appear to be absurdly multiplied, dispersion is one element in their usefulness, and that although the salaried officials are numerous, it is not certain that the revenue would be raised without them. The harvest is gathered up in West London, in particular, with a very fine rake indeed. There are streets of houses where the applications for aid average more than one a day, and where officials call at least twice a week.

A Liberal party dined together at Croydon, on Tuesday, to celebrate the formation of an Electoral Reform Association, at which the members for East Surrey were present,—one of the faithful few among county divisions,—with Lord Houghton, who passed an elaborate panegyric on Mr. Locke King, as a politician always before his time, who predicted the eclipse (of Conservative opinions) before it happened, and had espoused Liberal measure a long years before they were carried. Of Mr. Buxton, Lord

Houghton said that his only fault was that "he was imbued too much with the enthusiasm of philanthropy, which was no very bad fault after all ;" after which he remarked that the main object of the House of Lords was to "do its duty to the people of this country." May be. But certainly, on superficial inspection, one would say that the first object of the House of Lords was to do as little as possible,—duty or no duty. It is certainly quite free from either Mr. Locke King's virtue of anticipating political reform, or Mr. Buxton's fault of an undue 4' enthusiasm of philanthropy." And Lord Houghton seems to think so, for be went on to ask " toleration " for it as the highest demand he could make. That defined, we fear, the true impression which its highly negative virtues are apt to excite. Perhaps a little more of Mr. Buxton's " fault " would do the House of Lords more good than anything else, and make it needless for Lord Houghton to implore toleration for it in future.

We have spoken elsewhere of the English objections to the Alabama Claims' Convention with the United States, which have been published in full. It provides that the Commissioners appointed by each Government shall meet in Washington as soon as may be, and take a solemn declaration to give impartial judgment on all the claims submitted to them without favour or affection to their own country. The four commissioners shall first appoint an umpire or arbitrator, and if they can't agree, the commissioners on each side shall name one ; and in any case where the commissioners can't agree they shall determine by lot which of the two so named shall act as arbiter in that case. The commissioners shall then proceed to arbitrate on all the claims submitted to them which have arisen since the ratification of the Convention of the Sth February, 1853, but not on any of earlier date. The only evidence they are to take into account is to be that furnished by each Government on its own behalf ; and all the official correspondence on such claims is to be presented, and one person is to be heard on each side, as counsel or agent, if the respective Governments wish. The arbiter is to be called in only if the commissioners have no majority without him, and the decision of the arbiter is to be without appeal. Nevertheless, if any two commissioners think that on any point it is desirable to have a 'crowned head for arbitrator, they shall so report to their respective Governments, who shall within six months agree upon a friendly Sovereign to whom the claim is to be referred. The decision of the commissioners, when they have a majority, or of the ordinary or special arbitrator, when they have not, is to be absolutely final.

Has Mr. Reverdy Johnson any malicious desire to prevent the success of his own Convention? If not, he really is a very unwise person, for speeches better calculated to induce the American Senate to refuse its sanction to this convention we can scarcely conceive, than those he has lately been delivering in England. Take that at Glasgow on Wednesday. No doubt he did criticize sharply the negligence of the English Government in permitting the escape of the Alabama, and he hinted also that the recognition of the belligerency of the South was unnecessary. But he went en to express his delight at our honourable conduct in acceding to arbitration, and to declare that his Government had not sent him to GreatBritain to make any demand which would "trench a hair'sbreadth on the honour of England." "The honour a England is as dear," he said, "to every true native American, to every true naturalized Scotchman, to every true naturalized Welshman, and to almost all naturalized Irishmen,—not to all,—as it is to you." And Mr. Reverdy Johnson went on to predict that if ever the shores of England were invaded, if the flag of America were not ranged by the side of England, America would be with us "in spirit," &c. That is all eloquently amiable, but frightfully undiplomatic. If the Americans wish anything now, they wish to maintain an attitude of studied coldness and reserve towards England; and Mr. Reverdy Johnson goes about blessing us with an effusion which is certainly admirably calculated to jar on the nerves of Americans, and induce the Senate to unravel the web of his diplomacy.

Australian meat seems at last to be arriving in England in large quantities. It was stated at a dinner given to about 200 gentlemen by the Messrs. Wean, that the Australian Meat Company had in 1867-68 exported 1,164,970 lb. of beef preserved by enclosure in hermetically-sealed tins exhausted of air. This beef is sold at 7d. per lb. without bone, equivalent to 511 per lb., and is said to be perfectly fresh and good, though it comes over nearly cooked. The Company is now trying mutton, and we see has opened an establishment in the Strand. Every attempt of the

kind deserves encouragement ; but those who make them should rely a little more on quantity and a little less on price for profit, and remember that a good article in universal demand will always sell in London without dinners in its praise. The butchers must be beaten, if they are beaten at all, by men who sell good meat cheap at a profit, without talking so much of the necessities of the poor, who can no more pay 7d. a lb. than 10d.

The Incorporated Law Society, which may be taken to represent the whole body of English Solicitors, protest, in a singularly able pamphlet, against any change in the site now fixed on for the Palace of Justice. They say they represent the suitors, which is in a great degree true, and that the suitors are to pay for the Palace, which is true, unless the estimates are exceeded, and that they will be exposed to great inconvenience if the Palace is built on the Embankment. We cannot condense all their arguments into a paragraph, but they certainly prove that the change will involve them, and therefore the suitors, in immense additional trouble. "It has been ascertained that in the transaction of the business of suitors from 12,000 to 15,000 visits are daily made by the solicitors and their clerks to the different offices, and nearly as many visits probably are daily made by them to the several Courts. If several hundred yards be added to the distance to be on each occasion traversed in from 12,000 to 15,000 daily visits to the offices, and as many to the Courts, miles on miles of wasteful traversing will be inflicted on the profession, and through them on the suitors, and weeks and months of delay will be added to the annoyances of litigation." The solicitors, it must be remembered, cannot move to the Embankmeut, for it has no accommodation, and must be paid for loss of time, while the expense of the new site will be at least £500,000 added to that of the old one. In fact, there is in London a "legal district," shaped like a pear, and the advocates of the new site want, the solicitors say, to plant the new Courts on the stalk.

The Rev. Llewellyn Davies has caused a curious and instructive correspondence in the Guardian, by asking for information as to what is meant by the "real and objective" presence of Christ in the Eucharist. Is there no "real and objective presence of Christ," he asks, without the Eucharist, i.e., in any place at any time that may be assigned, or in every place at every time ? He suspects that 'real,'' objective,' 'substantial,' are words intended to disguise 'corporeal,' and so it proves ; for a Mr. W. Waltham How writes to the Guardian to express his surprise at the correspondence, and to say that' the real presence' means not 'the real presence of Christ" but "the real presence of Christ's body and blood," basing it of course on the words "This is my body," &e. Half the clergymen who write about it seem to think that in order to give any real meaning to the Sacrament they must prove that something more is there than He who is life itself, and never to have dreamt that any effective mode of explaining what is always there, and always infinite,—the only true meaning, we suppose, of a Sacrament,—is a great deal better than a finite addition to the infinite, even if that were possible.

The improved demand for money and the adverse state of the exchanges have produced weakness in the market for Home Stocks, and prices are rather lower on the week. Consols closed to-night at 921 to 93 for delivery, and 93 for the March account. On the other hand, the postponement of the Eastern question, and the want of other means of employment for capital, have caused a firm feeling both in the Foreign and Railway Markets, and the quotations have been daily on the advance. Italian and Turkish Stocks have been in brisk request at improving rates. Caledonian Railway stock has been subject to severe fluctuation, but Midland and Metropolitan have been heavily purchased, and show a considerable rise. There has been more animation in the Money Market, and the best short-dated paper is not now taken in Lombard Street under 2i per cent. The stock of bullion in the Bank of England is £18,408,540.