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The annual banquet at the Mansionhouse, on Easter Monday, was not attended by her Majesty's Ministers. The distinguished company pre-

chided, however, the Duke of Cambridge, o Eastern princes,

p of Glouceste*Mr. seal 'Mrs. S ortley, Sir George

Sir Frederick Salt, and a number and military men. Trhicipal speech was the Com -chief, who spoke fofthe Army :—

"My Lord Mayor, ladies, d gentlemen, I beg to acknowledge the com- pliment which you have been pleased to pay the British Army. I always regard it as a high privilege to be permitted to respond to this toast, and, although I have the honour to be at the head of that Army, I trust it will not be deemed unbecoming in me to say that, notwithstanding we are not reputed to be a military nation, I flatter myself there is no army in Europe which, when called into action, can beat us in any respect. It is the fashion rather to decry this country as military Power; but the,nation hps always dont) the Army the justice to adult that, when summoned to she* what it can do in the field, it has always come up to its expectations. That is the state of the service at the present day, and I hope it will long continue so. The notice taken of the Army on occasions like the present tends in a great measure to keep up that high sprit, without which it cannot be efficient. Believe me, that the troops stationed in distant lands look with anxiety to see the estimation in which they are held in England. The first feeling that pervades all ranks is, What will they think of us at home ? ' and the public acknowledgment which their efforts receive from their countrymen produces a most beneficial effect on all branches of the -service. Although most of these whom I have the honour of addressing are not immediately connected with the Army, I am persuaded you all agree with the remark of the Lord Mayor, that the riches of this great and influential empire are, in a great measure, owing to the Army and Navy. For, if it were not.for the security in whioh you all live and pursue your daily avocations—if it were not for the safety in which you individually and collectively feel that your ships and your trade can go to every part of the globe, this great empire and its commerce could not thrive as they now do, and as they have done for a lengthened period. (Cheers.) We all, of course, wish that that security may for ever continue. Believe me, gentlemen, its continuance depends very much on your- selves. If the liberality hitherto shown in supporting the Army and Navy is still displayed, you may rest in security both now, and, I trust, for many ages to come. But you must not shut your eyes to the fact-that great efforts are necessary to attain this result. You cannot relax your exertions with- out to a certain extent deteriorating your national position. Nobody in this country, I am convinced, can wish to see any declension in that position. This is, I believe, a great and glorious empire, at the head of the civilized world. We give the tone to civilized society in every part of the globe. That is a position which a great nation ought to strive to maintain. May you ever maintain it! Viewing the Army and Navy in this light, I trust

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you will never allow their efficiency to be impaired. No doubt it is a very expensive thing to keep up those services; that is the effect of the very improvements which are taking place from day to day. The scientific ad- vancement in all departments calls for a greater outlay than used to be re- quisite. That is a natural consequence of the march of intellect in modern times. Why, the very means of locomotion, the facility with which you can move vessels and troops, our railways and our steam-ships—all these advantages, which none can appreciate more fully than the merchants and citizens of this metropolis, tend greatly to tame our position relatively to the rest of the world. Therefore, although in former times, owing to our insu- lar position, we were very secure in our daily life and occupations, we can- not disguise from ourselves the fact that the improved modes of communica- tion now existing have called for greater vigour in all our defensive prepa- rations. All that we desire—all that, I am confident, the country desires— is to be placed in a proper state of defence. Nothing can be more objec- tionable, nothing can be more lamentable, than a constant succession of panics. Believe me, these panics are the most costly things that can happen. The extravagance which ensues from them it is impossible to estimate. A wise and judicious annual expenditure is far leas burdensome and much more effective for its object. I trust I shall be forgiven for making these observations, but they involve matters which ought to be generally known. (Cheers.) I cannot sit down withoitt expressing my sense of the admirable spirit evinced by the country in the recent volunteer movement. I have said before that if that movement is well and judiciously organised, I be- lieve it will be found most valuable. But much—indeed everything—de- pends on the manner in which it is conducted. If it is conducted as a great auxiliary to the Army and Navy, nothing can be more advantageous to the general interests of the country. If, on the other hand, it is intended to displace those services, the result will be most unfortunate. As an adjunct to the regular forces, however, these volunteer corps are capable of render- ing good service to the State." (Cheers)

At the annual dinner of the " Thames Subscription Club," established "for the encouragement of the noble art of rowing," Mr. Sergeant King- lake, in responding to the toast of "The Members of the House of Com- mons," amused the company by relating some of the boating exploits in which he took part in early life at Cambridge, and how on one occasion in particular he acted as captain of an open six-oared boat, built under his own superintendence, which was rowed from Deal to Calais and back again, adding that on the return voyage, having a spare oar, he and his crew could not find in all Calais a Frenchman who would consent to take it. He stated also, that on a recent gala day at Eton he heard the Duke of Malakhoff remark, on seeing the Eton boys row, that now he knew where the gallant officers who fought the battles of the English in the Crimea were trained.

The Easter Vestry meeting for the election of churchwardens, held on Tuesday, in the schools of the district pariah of St. Paul, Knightsbridge, ended as usual in a row. The incumbent, Mr. Liddell, took the chair. After he had nominated Mr. Davidson as his churchwarden, Mr. Wester- ton rose and began to put questions to the chairman to "catechize" him in fact, on the use Made of offertory moneys ; questions the chairman declared to be irrelevant. When he refused to answer them, some one called out that "it was a confession of guilt" ! and Mr. Hall, the late churchwarden, insisted that it was a natural conclusion that some- thing was wrong 'when questions were not answered. Mr. Westerton refusing to be bound by the chairman's decision on a point of order, and Mr. Hall persisting in reading a list of the "perverts" to Rome, Mr. Liddell quitted the chair. Then Mr. Hall assumed his place, and nomi- nated Mr. Westerton, who was forthwith elected. In the course of the speechmaking, the following statements were made touching the prac- tices of the clergy of St. Paul. Mr. Hall complained that the judgment of the Privy Council, ordering the removal of the crosses and other decorations of the altar in the parish church of St. Paul, had been evaded. Though they bad been removed for a time, the crosses had been recently restored, and were set up over the com- munion-table, not upon it—a distinction without a difference—the super- altar remained, the embroidered altar-cloths were still used, the bowings and genuflexions still went on, the services were choral, the candlesticks and candles were there, and the latter were lighted ; the rood screen. re- mained, and the Ton Commandments, were merely printed on a piece of paper and pasted up against the wall, as though they wanted toget rid of the commandments altogether. St. Barnabas Church was; if possible, still more nearly assimilated to the Church of Rome, and to make it so the Latin language was used in the texts and inscriptions about the building ; the morning service was divided into foor or five distinct parts; the tinkling of little bells went on as one portion of the congregation was dismissed and another was admitted, and the Litany was murdered and mutilated by chanting and singing so that nobody could sunderstand it. Mr. Wester- ton told the meeting it was his intention to have asked Mr. Liddell several questions referring to the lights on the altar, and would have shown that they were paid for out of the money collected at the sacra- ment, contrary to the protests of the parish. He would have shown that Mr. Liddell and, his citrates encouraged confession, and received young women in the vestry and in private rooms elsewhere, and then enjoinet penance and granted special absolution. More than that, he would have shown that Mr. Liddell appropriated the offertory money to the establish- Ment of the mission in St. George's-in-the-East, by Mr. Bryan King and Mr. Lowder, which had been a source of misery and degradation to that un- happy parish. He believed that Parliamentary influence must be brought to bear upon these men, so as to compel them to show themselves in their true colours. They should be called upon to make some declaration, failing which they should be compelled to leave the church which they had dis- graced.

A resolution was afterwards passed, on the motion of Mr. Westerton, authorizing him as churchwarden, to take measures for removing ob- jectionable articles of furniture from the churches of St. Paul and St. Barnabas, and to indemnify him for any expenses he might incur.

The parish of St. George's-in-the-East has again become notorious. On Easter Sunday, Mr. Bryan King gaily decorated the altar with an ornamental cloth of strange device, crosses composed of red, white, and White and red roses, and vases of flowers. There were thirty-two wax tapers burning in the chandelier above the altar, and this piece of dis- play was festooned with roses and evergreens. The congregation, kept waiting outside while the Rector's friends were admitted by a private door, as soon as the doors were opened rushed with shouts into the church. The lighting of the tapers, the gaudy spectacle of the altar, added fuel to their passions. They took possession of the seats within the rails, and were turned out by the churchwarden. When the Rector and a procession of priests and choristers appeared, the mob pressed in upon them and drove them back. A second advance was successful, and the service was performed. But the mob behaved shamefully, made a great uproar, and attacked Mr. King as he quitted the church. Finally, the police entered and cleared the church.

The Beer interest, as opposed to the Spirit interest, held a meeting at the London Tavern on Thursday, and gave its most hearty support to Mr. Gladstone's measure for extending the licensing system. But they are naturally of opinion that " the licensing of retailers of beer through- out the kingdom, and more especially in the larger towns, would do more to bring the sale of wines into general consumption among the people than any other class created for the sale of wines only ; as it is to such houses that the working man generally resorts to take his meals, they respectfully submit that when such accommodation is provided, and a refreshment licence taken out, the beer-seller should be entitled to take out a wine licence, the same as an ordinary eating-house."

'William Dickinson, a journeyman clockmaker, has been fined 1/. 6e. or six months' imprisonment for having wilfully disturbed the minister of the parish church of St. George's-in-the-East. The case was heard before. Selfe and occupied a long tine. Dickinson was prosecuted and con- victed under the Act of Uniformity. There was some discrepancy in the evidence, but not much doubt that Dickinson was one of the least guilty of the many persons disgracefully rioting in the church on Sunday.

-A drunken soldier was arrested on Monday at Woolwich. he was one of a party who were insulting passers-by. His comrades ran to rescue him, and failing, began to break windows and destroy property. They were a hundred strong, The reserve force of police came up, twenty strong, as- sisted by two non-commissioned officers and some eiviliana. The soldiers formed up across the road. After a delay of five minutes, the police charged with drawn truncheons, and the soldiers fled.

Elizabeth Fasselow, a child seven years of age half naked, was brought up at the Mansionhouse, charged with walking the streets in a destitute con- dition. A policeman found her and took her to the London Union, where she was refused admittance, and he was obliged to keep her at the station- house all night. The excuse of the relieving officer was that she " was the wickedest and most troublesome girl " he had ever seen. The Lord Mayor

said his conduct was shameful. Whereupon, he said—" Oh ! but, my Lord, she's a regular bad one. She's got as good a father as she can wish for, but

she'll never stop at home, as her mother is dead ; and her father calls her a regular 'Jack Sheppard, for he told me that one day, when he locked her in the room up stairs, where there was a hand of pork, she tore her clothes into strips, made a rope of them to let herself down from the window, and ran away, pork and all. I myself ones sent her home but she threw her- self down on London Bridge, and kicked, and tore, and refused to go any further. She's no end of trouble to us, my Lord." The relieving officer was ordered to take her to the Union at once, and charge her father with her keep.

The girl was brought up again before the Lord Mayor on Thursday. She had been turned out of the workhouse, and Mr. Bowring, clerk of the City of London Uniou, defended the conduct of the Union authorities.

The Lord Mayor said—" Surely the union might take care of her and charge her father with the expense. However, it was certainly wrong in the relieving officer to refuse to receive her into the City of London Union." Mr. Bowring—" Since your Lordship again refers to that, allow me to say acted under my instructions." The Lord Mayor—" Then they were very bad instructions, Sir." Mr. Bowring—".It was a. course we were compelled to take'y the frequency of her appearance among us." The Lord Mayor (peremptorily)—" I want to hear no more from.you, Sir:" Mr. Bowring- " I think your Lordship might act with courtesy to one who is here as a public officer." The Lord Mayor—" Hold your tongue, Sir, if you please ; I don't wish to hear another word from you on the subject ; so.be silent." Mr. Bowring—" I shall not be silent ; I have a right to speak:" Tlie Lord Mayor—" I tell you again, Sir, that nothing can justify the conduct of your relieving officer in -turning that -little child away from the union, to wander about the streets at four o'clock in the rooming. Mr. Bowring- " Your Lordship is wrong there. You forget that she was in charge of a policeman at the time ; and our officer is bound to obey his instructions, as the city officers are bound to obey .theirs." The Lord Mayor—" I don't wish to hear any more from you. Take the child to her union." Mr.

Tiss;n she must go to Lambeth." The Lord Meyer—Then

Sir, send an officer with her there," Mr. Bowring--" ; let one of the city officers take her. She's in their charge now, and we've nothing to do with it." The Lord Mayor—" Your conduct does you-very little credit, Sir." Mr. Bowring—" That may be your Lordship's opinion, but other people may judge differently." The contest of tongues then ceased, and the child was sent home to her father,

Anne Johnson, a young woman who had already been twice imprisoned for six months for brutal assaults 'von her mother, was charged at the Worship Street police-office with stealing and pawning her mother's shawl. The culprit is described as a most worthies* and depraved creature, fre- quently abusing and beating her parent. The mother is an industrioueand honest woman, afflicted with a bad KU in addition to a wicked daughter. A more painful case has seldom come under publics notice.

A girl, only eleven years of age, Ann Ridley, has been remanded on a charge of having decoyed a child, four years of age, from home, stripped her and pawned her clothes. She induced the child to go with her: from Bouverie Street across Fleet Street, to Blackhorse Court, and there she robbed her little prey. The clothes were pawned in Shoe Lane. The in- spector gave such an account of the pawnbroker, that the Magistrate, Alder- man Hale, directed that the pawnbroker should be summoned for unlaw- fully taking in a pledge from a child under sixteen years of age.

Three cases of attempted suicide came under the notice of the magistrates on Tuesday. Anne Ginsty, who had only been married eight months, tried to kill herself with laudanum. It was not her first attempt at suicide. She believed her husband was unfaithful. The Magistrate said she was a foolish woman to poison herself because her husband was unfaithful. She was dis- charged on giving a promise never " to do the like again." The second case was that of Ellen Norton, a young woman who had contracted ac- quaintance with disreputable characters. She "stopped out late at night " ; her mother and sisters reproved her for it; so she swallowed a dose of mu- riatic acid, but was rescued by a policeman. She was committed to prison for a week, in order that the chaplain might talk to her. Mary Anne Hodges, the third would.be self-slayer, quarrelled with a mother-in-law, and tried to poison herself. Her father, in giving evidence against her, was moved to tears. He represented her as so patens of her step-mother, that nothing could be done with her. The Magistrate told her that her father's second marriage was no excuse for her conduct. He thought, how- ever, that it would be better for her if she were removed from home and maintained herself, and he remanded her, in order that some arrangement might be made.