Miortilattano.

The Commissioners appointed to inquire into the best means of Man- ning the Navy are the Right Honourable Charles Philip, Earl of Hard- wicke, Richard Plantagenet Grenville Nugent Chandos Temple, (com- monly called Marquis of Chandos,) the Right Honourable Edward Card- well, Vice-Admiral William Fanshawe Martin, Sir James Dalrymple Horn Elphinston, Bart., Captain John Shepherd, Royal Navy, bearing the rank of Commodore - William Schaw Lindsay, Esq. John Shepherd, Esq., Deputy-Master of Trinity House ; and Richard Green, Esq.

The Gazette of last night contains a list of names of officers appointed to the Order of the Bath. To be Knight Commander, Major-General Charles Van Straubenzee.

To be Companions—Cokne/s—Henry Hope Graham, 59th Regiment, Tho- mas Holloway, Royal Marines, Franklin -Dunlop, Royal Artillery. Lieu- tenant-Colonels—Frederick Charles Arthur Stephenson, Scots Fuailier Guards, Thomas Conyngham Kelly, 38th Regiment, Samuel Wells, 23d Regiment, William Augustus Fyers, Rifle Brigade, Wm. Beveridge Thom- son, 3d Bengal European Regiment, Richard Drought, 60th Bengal Native Infantry, Charles Hogge, Bengal Artillery, Henry Frederick Dunsford, 59th Bengal Native Infantry, Robert Farquhar, 6th Bombay Native Infan- try, Keith Young, 50th Bengal Native Infantri, Frederic Freeman Rem- mington, Bengal Artillery, George Bouchier, Bengal Artillery Charles Harris Blunt,_ Bengal Artillery. Majors—William Drysdale, 9t1; Lancers, and Dighton 3taenaghten Probyn, 6th Bengal Light Cavalry.

The Reverend Alfred Poole has written a letter to the Times in which he declares that "the whole of the filthy and disgusting statements" made public by the Reverend Mr. Baring at St. James's Hall on the 11th, are, so far as Mr. Poole is concerned, "entire and deliberate false- hoods." Mr. Poole further states that he has made this denial to the Bishop of London, who has admitted that he looked with suspicion on the evidence for those statements ; but that the Bishop refused either to try the truth or falsehood of these accusations under the Church Disci- pline Act, or to bring Mr. Poole and his accusers face to face ; that the Bishop had suspended Mr. Poole on grounds "quite irrespective" of the evidence furnished by Mr. Baring, namely, upon admissions relating to the practice of confession made by Mr. Poole in conversation with the Bishop ; that Mr. Poole's legal advisers are engaged in prepariaff measures that may be necessary to carry the case before a higher tribu- nal ; and that be is willing to prosecute Mr. Baring, if, Mr. Baring will remove certain technical difficulties now in the way. The Reverend F. A. Marriott, one of the clergymen of St. Paul and St. Barnabas, has also entered the lists in behalf of those gentlemen in general, and Mr. Poole in particular.

" Paterfamilias " remarks in the Emes that neither Mr. Poole nor Kr. Marriott answer the important question—is the practice of habitual auricular confession enjoined, recommended, and encouraged by Mr. Liddell and his Curates ? The Reverend Robert Liddell partly answers the inquiry of " Pater- familias." He says, "we do unequivocally hold the doctrine of the Church of England, which views confession as an exceptional case, and Leaves it entirely to the penitent's own option." "We do not presume to enjoin private confession, because our Church has not done so. Neither do we recommend or encourage it, if our people can effectually 'examine their own consciences to the avoiding of all scruple and doubtfulness ' Neither do we permit persons under age to come to us for such a purpose without the knowledge and approval of their parents or guardians But there may be exceptional cases, in which persons might require and seek confession, even habitual confession."

Saturday was rather slack in political entertainments. There was one : Sir John and Lady Pakington had a dinner-party at the Admiralty.

The Marquis of Lansdowne had a very crowded reception on Wednesday evening • and on the same night Lady Chelmsford gave a ball, which was attended the Duchess, Duke, and Princess Mary of Cambridge. The Queen has conferred the honour of knighthood upon William Rae, Rot , M.D., Companion of the Bath, and Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets ; and. upon James Prior, Esq., Deputy Inspector of Hospitals and Fleets, Royal Navy.

The Lord justice Clerk Hope, an "able, upright, and indefatigable" judge, died on Monday at his residence, Moray Place, Edinburgh. He had been unwell for some days ; he died of paralysis just as he had finished a letter to Mrs. Hope. Born in 1794, he filled the office of Dean of Faculty for many years, and became Lord Justice Clerk in 1841. When his bre- thren on the bench heard of his death they adjourned the courts for the day- The great Methodist leader, Dr. Jabez Bunting, died on Wednesday, at his house in Myddleton Square. He was eighty years old ; and had been a minister for fifty-nine years.

Mr. Robert Brown, the famous botanist, who earned from his friend Hum- boldt the title of " Botanicorum facile Princeps," died on the 10th. Ire WAS the author of several works and Keeper of Botany at the British Mu- seum.

dry Scheffer, the great French painter, died on the 15th: he had just re- turned to Paris from England, where he had been attending the funeral of the Duchess of Orleans.

The family and friends of the celebrated Lady Morgan have been for the last two weeks labouring under the greatest anxiety on account of her rapidly failing health. It is now understood that her ladyship is in imminent dan- ger, and her medical advisers have renounced all hope. The numerous in- quiries after the illustrious sufferer at her residence in Albert Gate, prove the extent of the sympathy evinced for her in the world of literature and fashion.—Daily .2Vetes.

The overcrowding of troops in Chatham Barracks having, apparently, led to an outbreak of measles and small-pox, the authorities have combated the evil by erecting a hospital-tent On an open piece of ground.

Pursuant to orders given by the Emperor, all the French regiments of infantry of the line are to receive rifles in exchange for the smooth-barrelled muskets with which they are at present armed.

Wheat and barley of this year's crop have been received in Paris from Algeria.

On Tuesday the thermometer in the shade at Paris marked 94°.

Athens is to be lighted with gas, and a railway is to be made to the Pineus—some day.

A telegraphic despatch received at Naples announces that the electric ca- ble between the citadel of Messina and the new fort of Reggio was success- fully sunk on the 4th of this month.

A noble iron steamer has been launched from the building-yard of.Pal- mer and Co. at Jarrow, on the Tyne—the Hudson, built for the North German Lloyd's, to run between Bremen and New York. The Hudson is 345 feet over all, 40 feet beam, and 26 feet deep ; tonnage, 3000. She is in- tended to carry 625 passengers, and a crew of 75. She is a ship of noble proportions.

A new steamer for the Peninsular and Oriental Company—the Ceylon— was launched from the yard of Messrs. Samuda, at Poplar, on Saturday. There was a novelty—the ship had been fully masted and rigged while upon the stocks, and all her internal arrangements had been nearly completed. The Ceylon is 300 feet long, with a tonnage of 2376. She is destined for the Indian service.

The Melbourne Argus states that three tenders were made for the great railway works in Australia ; one from Messrs. Randle and Holmes, for 7,010,324/. in cash ; one from Messrs. J. Musson and Co. for 5,826,2231. in cash, or 6 per cent debentures at par ; and the third for 5,449,202/. on the mime terms as the second. A tender was also given in by Mr. Gabrielii, in conjunction with Sir Morton Peto, but from informality it was not received. The other three were referred to a committee of public officers. M. Regnault, one of the chief functionaries of the Western Railway of France, has invented a new indicator for announcing the departure of trains at the different stations along a railway line. The apparatus consists in a dial-plate, with a hand which may move right or left, according to the di- rection in which the train is to start. The stationmaster at the terminus from which the departure takes place has only to press with his finger on a knob with which the dial-plate is provided to make all the apparatuses of the same kind along the line mark the departure ; the hands remain in the same situation even when the communication is interrupted, and, (this is the most important point,) should an inattentive stationmaster press on the knob of his indicator while the hand marks the impending arrival of a train, the hand will not obey this wrong impulse, but remain where it is, and thus call the stationmaster's attention to the mistake he was about to corn- The Registrar-General records the fact that the population of London now appears to be in a very healthy condition. The number of deaths, always lower at this season of the year than at any other, fell last week to 963-117 less than the calculated average, and 19 less than the average, making no allowance for the increase of the population.

There was a violent thunderstorm at Liverpool and the vicinity early on 8aturday morning. The lightning did some damage at several places ; the Methodist chapel at Waterloo was struck, the lightning traversed a large Portion of the interior, and caused considerable havoc.

On Saturday evening, Reading and the neighbourhood were visited by a very remarkable hailstorm. For fifteen minutes there fell torrents of hail- *ones of large size, breaking the windows and conservatories, and greatly damaging the plants in gardens. The great fall of hail and rain produced floods in some spots. Manchester, Huddersfield, and adjacent places, experienced a thunder- storm on Tuesday el eaing. No damage seems to have been inflicted.

The midland and northern counties were visited by a succession of violent storms on Tuesday and Wednesday ; glass was shattered by hail, crops knocked about, and buildings damaged by li,ghtuing. A man was killed by the lightning near Leeds while cutting a sod for a lark ; and a young girl was struck dead near Pontefract. For nearly a fortnight Manchester has had lightning almost every day.

On Tuesday night last a heavy thunderstorm occurred in the vicinity of Snowdon, and it is supposed that the lightning must have cleft one of the mountain masses in the Pass of Llanberis, as about three miles up the pass immense heaps of rock block up the road and render it completely impass- able. The disjointed rocks, riven from the heights above, must amount to many hundreds of tons.

A great racing feat has been performed at San Francisco : a celebrated rider, Jack Powers, has ridden 150 miles in 6 hours 43 minutes on 24 horses, all Californian. lie had undertaken to perform the tail in eight hours. About the 130th mile a trick was played, which does not appear to have been a fair one, with a view to deceive the uninitiated—Powers appeared to spit blood, and seemed very weak indeed : but the blood came from a small bladder which he had in his mouth. Of course those not in the se- cret now betted against the rider, and were robbed.

Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson have sold an autograph of Shakspere for 315/. ; it is a signature affixed to a mortgage-deed of a-house in Black- friars, dated March 11, 1612-13, and is said to be the finest specimen known. It was purchased for the British Museum. Sonic quarto editions of the plays of Shakspere were sold at large prices. The "Tragedy of Romeo and Juliet," 1609, brought 861.; a fine copy of the Sonnets, 1609, 1541. 78.

The new Big Ben weighs about two tons less than the old-13 tons 10 cwt. 1 qr. 12 lb. The diameter is 9 feet ; height outside, 7 feet 6 inches ; inside, 6 feet 41 inches; thickness of sound bow, sl inches ; thickness of thinnest part, 3 inches.

The number of merchant steamers employed by the United Kingdom in 1849 was 414, with a tonnage of 108,321; but the total had swelled in 1857 to 899 vessels, with a tonnage of 381,363.