311isrrI1annino.

The Secretary of State for India has made the following appointments in his Council for the ensuing year—Vice-President, Sir James Weir Hogg; Chairmen of Committees—Finance, Mr. W. Arbuthnot ; Major-General Sir Robert Vivian, K.C.B. ; Revenue, Mr. T. Prin- sep ; Judicial and Legislative, Sir T. Erskine Perry; Public Works, Colonel Sir Proby_Cautley, K.C.B. ; Railways, Mr. Eliot Macnaghten ; Political, Mr. J. W. Eastwick ; Public, Mr. J. P. Willoughby.

The Right Honourable Sir John Young, formerly Lord High Com- kaissioner of the Ionian Islands, will succeed Sir William Denison as Governor of New South Wales, Lord Lyons our Minister at Washington and Sir Edmund Head, Go- vernor-General of Canada, are appointed extra members of the Civil Divi- sion of the second class, or Knights Commanders of the order of the Bath.

Lord Napier is appointed and gazetted Ambassador to Russia; Sir John Crampton, K.C.B., Envoy to the Queen of Spain ; Sir Andrew Buchanan, Envoy to the King of the Netherlands. Mr. John Saville Lumley, late Secretary of the Embassy at Constantinople, is appointed in the same capacity to St. Petersburg.

The Russian Mission in London having been raised to an Embassy, Baron Brunow, Minister Plenipotentiary of Russia at the Court of St. James, has been appointed Ambassador to the same Court.

The Reverend John Barlow, who has retired from the active duties of the secretaryship of the Royal Institution, has been succeeded in his office by Dr. H. Bence Jones.

John Maclean, Esq. C.B. has been appointed Lieutenant-Governor of the territories of British Kairaria.

Lieutenant-Colonel Edward Stanton, C.B., has been appointed Consul- General at Warsaw.

The Empress of the French quitted England on Thursday morning, and embarked at Folkestone in the Reine Hortense for Boulogne. Ste had left London on Wednesday evening, travelling by the night mail on

the South-Eastern railway. The Empress was accompanied to the sta- tion by the Duke of Athol. The fact of the Imperial presence was not known to the general public on the platform until just previously to the mail leaving, when a few persons approached the carriage in which the Empress sat. As the train moved out of the station' a loud outburst of cheering bade the august traveller God speed'„onher journey home- ward."

Before she left London, her Majesty visited the British Museum, the Smithfield Cattle Show, and the exhibition of Madame Tussaud.

Mr. Bright and Mr. Cobden had an interview with the Emperor of the French, during Mr. Bright's short sojourn in Paris last week. Mr. Cobden proceeds to Algiers, but will return to England in time for the opening of Parliament.

The Council of the Bradford Chamber of Commerce, resolved on Thursday, to invite Mr. Gladstone, Mr. Cobden, and (in consequence of a suggestion made to one of the members by Mr. Bright) Mr. Milner Gibson to a public dinner in that town.

A Chapter of the Garter is to be held on Monday to instal the Duke of Newcastle.

Sir William Hayter is to be entertained at dinner, and receive a testi- monial from the Liberal party, whom he has served so well. Lord Pal- merston is to preside.

Lord Robert Montagu is to be the new Tory ":whip" in the Commons, a position in which be may be more useful to his party than in expound- ing international law.

The Earl of Aberdeen, who had been in precarious health for some time past, died at Argyll House at half-past one o'clock yesterday morning. The Earl was the last survivor of that race of statesmen who settled the map of Europe at Vienna in 1815, and he lived long enough to see the work of that year set aside by greater events than the strokes of diplomatic pens. The Earl's official career commenced as Ambassador to Austria ; at Toplitz, in 1813, he negotiated the alliance with Austria against Napoleon. In 1828, after the Administration of Lord Godericla and Mr. Canning terminated its brief career, the Earl was placed at the head of our Foreign Office, under the premiership of the Duke of Wel- lington. Following the fortunes of the Duke and Sir Robert Peel, the Earl acted with them during the days of the Reform Bill. During the short tenure of office by the Tories in 1834-5, the Earl was Secretary for Colonies ; but in 1841, when Sir Robert Peel resumed power, he had the seals of the Foreign department assigned to him, and held them till the dissolution of Sir Robert's ministry in 1846. In 1852, Peel was gone, the Liberals were weak in administrative power, and the Earl of Aber- deen became the head of an administration of "all the talents." Under his ministry we "drifted" into the Russian war, and were apparently drifting also on the rock of disaster when Lord John Russell broke up the administration by his resignation. The Earl retired into the privacy he loved ; for, although it was his lot, during a long life, to be mixed up in public concerns, his tastes lay in the library and the studio. Few men had more carefully cultivated the mind, or better adorned at once the peerage and letters.

The Thames has greatly overflowed its banks at Egham, the meadows being deep under water; Runnymead, consisting of about 160 acres presents the appearance of a lake, and the lower road to the royal boroud. of Windsor has been impassable for some time.

A very lively correspondence on Overcrowded Dwellings has cccupied the columns of the Times this week. Mr. lienry Tucker began it byit letter descriptive of the state of things in the Royal County of Berks, where fathes, mothers, children, and lodgers, sleep in one small room. Letters from other counties speak the same tale, so that it seems evident our poor rural populations are living in a state discreditable to humanity, in which all the decencies of life are set aside. Some valuable suggestions have been made; one in particular, that landlords should keep a cottage register, and require a removal to a larger house as a family increases; another suggestion goes to the prohibition of lodgers where there are young families. But the 'state of our rural population does not more de- mand attention than that of the inhabitants of our towns. The City po- lice, for instance, are not better provided than our villagers. It is one of the unsolved problems of the present day how to provide comfortably for the poor, and also make the rents pay a return upon the capital ex- pended. Whoever discovers the mode of erecting cottages, which shall give ample room to a family, and yet yield a fair per eentage in rent, will confer a boon on his fellow-creatures. It is idle to talk of remedies which do not meet both requirements—those of the tenant, and those of the capitalist.

The general committee of the British Syrian Relief Fund met oh Wednesday. Lord Stratford de Redeliffe enclosed a letter from Lord John AuBsell, stating that the Government would subscribe 50001. to the fund? 23,000/. has been subscribed altogether, of which 15,000/. has been sent to Beyrout for the relief of the sufferers, and 2500/. invested in the Three per Cents as a reserve. Lord John Russell has given the

f we use ut the telegraph to Constantinople, and twice contributed 501. [The work has been well done, and reflects credit on the givers and dis- posers. May we hope that equal energy will be shown by another com- mittee, and not less charity, in favour of the distressed Christians at Coventry ?] A letter from Copenhagen states that the proffered mediation of the English Government lytween Denmark and the Germanic Confederation, in the affair of Schleswig Holstein, has been declined by the Prussian cabinet. The question will consequently come before the Diet of Frank- fort in one of the approaching sittings of that assembly.

The Empress of Austria has arrived safe at Madeira, and improved in health. 'I he crew of the Victoria and Albert have received 5001.; Captain Denman, a gold snuff-box ; and Commander Christian and Dr. Minter, massive gold rings, all set with diamonds.

The King of the Belgians has just completed his seventieth year. Extensive alterations are in preparation at the Hall, Madingley, for the reception of the Prince of Wales during his studentship at Cambridge.

The Guardian states that the bishopric of Worcester has been offered to and declined by Archdeacon Law.

Sir Baldwin Walker, K.C.B., will shortly hoist his flag on board the Euryalus, 51, as successor to Admiral Keppel, who is ordered to the Brazils, to relieve Sir Stephen Lushhigton.

Mr. Monier Williams late professor of Sanskrit, at Haileybury, and Pro- fessor Max Muller went to a poll on Friday week for the vacant Boden Sans- krit professorship at Oxford. Mr. Williams polled 833 votes ; Mr. Muller, 610. Mr. Williams was therefore elected.

The head mastership of Nottingham Grammar School has been conferred upon the Reverend Frederick Teelin,g Curios, M.A., of Sidney Sussex Col- lege, Cambridge, second master of Botelees Grammar School, Warrington.

The now Annual Poultry Show opened at the Crystal Palace on Wed- nesday: the collection is a very large one, there being no less than 956 pens of poultry and water-fowl, 366 of pigeons, and 86 of rabbits. Dork- lugs, Hamburgs, and Cochin-Chinas are very fine ; extensive in number and of a high class and quality. The game and farm-yard fowls are also presented in rare perfection ; there are Aylesbury and Rouen ducks, English and Crimean geese, and pigeons of every variety. The pheasants are also very at. tractive; and youngpeople, and " children of a largergrowth," will be pleased by the four Lilliputian African horses, three sheep weighing unitedly fifty pounds, and six of the smallest cows ever seen in this country, but yet, per- haps, large enough to supply all the genuine milk sold every day within a mile of St. Paul's. The Show attracts an immense number of visitors, and will be continued today, with the addition of a grand instrumental concert in the afternoon, and at a shilling admission.

Mr. Trail, the police magistrate, has published his report to the Board of Trade upon the loss of the steamship Connaught : he reviewathe history of the ship from her being built in the Tyne to her disappearance after being burnt to the water's edge on the 7th October last. Mr. Trail finds that there is nothing to prove negligence on the part of any person either in the construction or navigation of the vessel. Mr. Palmer, the builder, suggests that the leak occurred by reason of the labouring of the ship injuring the teed wastepipe which was under the water-line ; the pipe was liable to injury, and by being placed behind the boilers was not likely to be noticed. Re- specting the fire, Mr. Palmer's idea is that great heat must have been pro- duced in the after superheater and funnel, and that by urging the fires under the starboard boilers aft, the ship having a heavy list to port, the heat and flame would strike with extraordinary force on the starboard side of the superheater and funnel, and might have raised the temperature of that sur- face to such a degree as to ignite the lagging of the boiler, and the fire so aommenced would be communicated probably to the dry coal in the bunker with the floor of the ladies' cabin, and thence rapidly to the other parts of the ship. Mr. Trail offers two very important practical suggestions. One of these suggestions relates to the important duties of engineers, and to their competency and responsibility. It has been considered hitherto that the competency and responsibility of masters and mates afford a sufficient gua- rantee for the safety of ships and passengers. Now, however, that steam has taken the place of wind, and paddles and screws the place of sails, skill of another kind is required. By the Passengers Act the law has anxiously provided for the accommodation and proper sustenance of passengers by sea, but something seems wanted to provide for their safe conveyance by re- quiring some public test of the competency of engineers, and imposing upon them the same responsibility as masters and mates are subjected to by the Merchant Shipping Act. "It would be well, also, if masters and mates of steamships were required to have some practical knowledge in the engineer's department, so as not to be wholly dependent upon the judgment and dis- cretion of others. A knowledge of steam, though. I believe not absolutely necessary, is considered a most important qualification for the command of a steamship in the Royal Navy.' Captain Harris signs and concurs in the report.

A complaint is made to the Times as to the conduct of the South-Eastern and Brighton and South Coast Companies. They travel over the same line of rails to Reigate, and until lately the season ticket-holders of each were allowed to use either train. Now, the companies having disagreed, the holders of tickets are obliged to use the line from which they obtained their ticket. It constitutes a just grievance that the contract should be thus changed.

Sir John Herschel contributed to the Times yesterday, observations on a subject deeply interesting to Englishmen at the present moment—the cli- mate of Pekin in winter. The mean or average temperature of the whole year is 52 degrees of Fahrenheit's thermometer, that of the hottest month (Jtily), 52, and of the coldest (January) 24, each to the nearest whole degree. The corresponding temperatures for Greenwich are respectively 49, 63, and 34; so that the winters there are, on an average, 10 degrees colder and the summers 19 degrees warmer than in London. Of course, individual days occur much hotter. The highest and lowest temperatures in the shade re- corded in each of the six years (1850-1855) to the nearest degree above zero of Fahrenheit's thermometer are as follows—

Highest. Lowest. 1850 96 8 1851 96 7 1852 100 2

1853 se 5

1854 101 4 1855 99 9

The thermometer in a London winter seldom descends to 9 degrees, and eery rarely indeed to 2. Generally speaking, the degree of moisture of the atmosphere varies between somewhat wider limits than at Greenwich, and the annual amount of rain and snow is somewhat greater,—about one- twelfth. The temperature of solar exposure is, of course, very great in sum- mer. A blackened thermometer .exposed to the sun is observed to rise, on

some one day of every- year, to a maximum height of from 130 to 138 de- grees Fahrenheit. These observations are taken from Russian sources. M. Scatcholf registers the observations (lay and night ; they are published in extenso, and distributed by the Russian Government gratuitously to learned. societies and persons, of whom Sir John Herschel is one.

The Royal Agricultural Society held its half-yearly meeting on Wednes- day. The next show is to take place at Leeds, on July 15th and following days.

Professor Lconi Levi read a paper before tho Society of Arts on Wednes- day, "On Italian Commerce itud Manufactures." He gave a rapid sketch of the histery of the commerce of the great Italian status of the middle ages, and then passed on to speak of the principal productions of that country in the present day. Its agricultural riches were considerable. In the South, the vine, the olive, and the mulberry were chiefly cultivated ; but the sys- tem of agriculture, and particularly of irrigation, was less perfect than in the North. Silk was a most important product ; the straw work of Tuscany, the marbles of Carrara, the mosaics of Florence, the various wines of Italy and Sicily, and many other products, were worthy of attention. The in- dustriea of Italy were most varied, but they wanted growth and expansion. If all the States were taken together, the author was of opinion that their imports would amount to about 30,000,0001. sterling, and their exports to about 26,000,000/., with a mercantile marine of 700,000 tons. In the manufacture of cotton and woollen goods he thought Italy might ultimately excel, having plenty of water power, abundance of dye woods, and great ar- tistic skill.

A subscrip.ion for a statue to be presented to Lord Johu Russell is com- menced at Milan, " as a grateful acknowledgment of his efforts in the na- tional cause."

A monument is to be erected at Boston to the memory of the late Mr. Herbert Ingram ; it is to consist of a statue by Mr. Monroe, the sculptor, and will cost 2000/.

The Christmas vacation at Eton College commences on Thursday. The holidays terminate on Wednesday, the 16th of January, on which day the lower boys are expected to return. On Thursday, the 17th of January, the fifth form return, and the sixth form arrive on the following day, when the whole school will have assembled. The Earl of Jersey, one of the students, who has been dangerously ill is, we are happy to say, improving in health. The Queen, who is godmother to this young nobleman, has sent several times to inquire after his health.

The Working Men's College Volunteers assembled on Sunday, and marched to Christ Church, Lisson Grove, to hear a sermon from the chap- lain, the Reverend F. 1). Maurice. Captain Thomas Hughes (author of To»t Brown's School Days) is the commandant.

Mr. Fernando Wood, Mayor of New York, having received an order from the Governor for a day of thanksgiving, issues a proclamation, which states- " Whilst, in my judgment, the country, either in its political, commercial, or financial aspect, presents no jiatures for which we should be thankful, we are yet called upon by every consideration of self-preservation to offer up to the Father of all Mercies devout and fervent prayer for His interposi- tion and protection from the impending evils which threaten our institu- tions and the material interests of the people."

A despatch from Washington says that Mr. Taney has resigned the chief justiceship of the United States Supreme Court, after holding it for a quarter of a century.

The Secession movement in the South has seriously affected the price of slaves. Hands worth 350/. a month ago will not fetch now 150/.

A vessel sailed from Charleston on the 16th, bound for Liverpool, under the "Palmetto flag," which is the State flag of South Carolina.

The Emperor visited the ex-Minister M. Fould, at his hotel, on Sunday, and remained nearly an hour with him.

There is a rumour in Paris that M. Drouyn de Lhuys is about to replace M. Thouvenel at the Foreign Office.

Count Lucchesi-Palli, on a mission from King Francis II., had an inter- view with the Emperor at the Tuileries on Sunday.

The Austrian Ambassador in Paris openly denies that he has ever coun- tenanced the idea of the sale of Venetia.

It is reported in Paris that an Austrian note has been received, complain- ing in energetic terms of the preparations for war making by Piedmont, and specially of the formation of a Hungarian legion at Genoa under Colonel Turr.

M. Emile Girardin has resumed his old character as director of the .Presse.

Signor Mazzini has returned to England.

Letters state that the mass of the population of Rome is now suffering great privations, owing to the high price of bread, and that expedients of all kinds are being adopted by public and private charity to supply food for the poor.

A Turin letter in the Siècle has the following—" I have just seen a per- son arrived from Caprera, who has given me some details about Garibaldi. The General has sent away all the aides-de-camp who accompanied him, and has now with him only his son and daughter, his friend Deideri, and his private secretary, Basso. The mass of letters he receives from all parts of the world is enormous, and some of them contain strange propositions. Dr. Riboli, a distinguished physician of Turin, and a great partisan of phre- nology, has written to Garibaldi, entreating him, to allow his head to be examined, remarking that he believes it to be one of the best organized and the most remarkable known."

Count Pepoli, Royal Commissioner in Umbria has, by a recent decree, ap- plied all the houses and furniture lately belonging to the Jesuits, now suppressed, to the purposes of public instruction.

There are in the Neapolitan provinces twenty-one archbishops, sixty bishops, three grand abbots, a grand prior, an archpriest of the royal church, and an upper chaplain. 'Very few have abandoned their dioceses. The of- fenders altogether do not amount to a filth of the whole number.

The Saxons in Transylvania have sent another deputation to Vienna for the purpose of protesting against the re-incorporation of their country with Hungary.

Trieste has sent a deputation to Vienna, praying the Government to be re- leased from the liability of conscription in the present arrear. The Prussian Government are still engaged in furnishing the new rifled cannon to all the rest of the German States.

There is some talk, according to the Russian journals, of a horse traction railway in Persia, from Teheran to Tauris, to facilitate the means of trans- port for passengers and merchandise towards the Black Sea, with extension to Trebizond, or by Erivan and Tiflis to Poll.

The Spanish Government has given orders, that an iron-plated screw- frigate of 44 guns, al 1000 to 1200 horse-power, should be constructed at and d named th Tetuan. Advices from Constantinople state that Omer Pasha is seriously in- disposed.

In reply to a petition of 250 Hebrew congregations, a declaration has been published by the Prussian Government, intimating their intention, for the future, to avail themselves of the services of Jews in the various depart- mentsof. the State. This is carrying out the spirit of the law enacted in 1848, but which hitherto had been almost a dead letter.

The Volunteer movement in Stockholm continues to progress. Upwards of 7000 persons are already enrolled.

The Russian colonization of the country on the Amoor is advancing, 230 peasant families having been sent there during August.

Accounts from Melbourne to the 26th of October, inform us that Mr. Stuart and his companions have been driven back by the Natives, after having penetrated as far as laL.19, long. 134. The country was found to be rich and fruitful.

Some experimental practice with the 40-pound Armstrong gun took place on Monday, on board her Majesty'a ship Excellent, for the purpose of test- ing a new description of carnage for naval service. The carriage is similar in its chief points of construction to the old 24-pounder depressing carriage used at the siege of Gibraltar. Some further experiments will take place from the Illustrious, which will move her position in Portsmouth harbour temporarily for that purpose.