31lioult1111tung.

The following circular has been addressed by the Poor Law Board to the clerks to the guardians in all the northern boroughs :—

" Parliamentary Borough of —. Sir—I am directed by the Poor Law Board to request that you will have the goodness to procure for the use of her Majesty's Government, a return of the male persons resident within the above-named borough, or within seven miles thereof, who were assessed to the last poor-rate in any parish within the borough at the gross estimated rental and rateable values of Si. and under 61., of 6/. and under 71. of 71. and under 81., and 8/. and over. The object of the Board is to ascertain, with the greatest possible accuracy, the number of male persons resident within the Parliamentary borough, or within seven miles thereof, who are assessed to the poor-rate as occupiers of tenements within the borough, the gross estimated rental and rateable value of which are severally at and above 51. [A printed form, with instructions, is attached.] In addition to the above returns you are requested to obtain for the information of the Board, the following returns :—The number of tenements within the Parliamentary borough which, under the Small Tenements Act or any local Act, are rated to the owners instead of the occupiers ; and, when the assessment is under a local Act, the sum at which the owner becomes rateable instead of the occupier. Secondly, the total amount of parochial rates and assessed taxes which a tenement of the gross estimated rental of 51.,61.,71., and 8/. respec- tively, would be liable to pay in each parish within the borough, taking the last year as an average. "H. FLEMING, Secretary." The instructions state :—It is to be observed that the number of men only is required. All women entered in the rate-book are therefore to be excluded. It is to be observed that it is only the number of persons resident within the Parliamentary borough, or rather within seven miles thereof, that is required. Any person, therefore, who may be assessed in the rate-book in respect of a tenement occupied by him within the borough, but who does not reside within the above-mentioned limit, ought to be excluded from this return. It is only the number of persons assessed at or above 51. that is required. All persons, therefore, who are assessed in respect of tenements the gross estimated rental and rate- able value of which are below 51., ought to be wholly excluded from the return. When several persons are jointly assessed in respect of a single tenement, they should be entered as separate occupiers of tenements, calculated at a proportionate part of the whole value of the single tene- ment. Thus if A, B, and C are rated jointly for a tenement the gross estimated rental of which is 21/., and the rateable value of which is 181., each of these ought to be entered as occupiers of a tenement at a gross annual rental of 71. and rateable value of 6/. If either of them be a woman, or resides more than seven miles from the Parliamentary borough, such occupier ought to be wholly excluded.

Lord Ellenborough has made public the reply he received from Lord Brougham to his letter on the affairs of Italy. It is as follows :—

- Brougham, November 8, 1859. "My dear Ellenborough,—You might well expect that I should agree with you in hearty good wishes for the independence of Italy. "I can only repeat what I said at the great Edinburgh meeting t'other day, that, whatever may be my opinions upon the real cause of the war (which I had fully given in our House), it had led to a state of things which affords the Italians some prospect of success, provided foreign inter- ference is excluded, and that the best practical course for them to take is an union with Sardinia, although I retain my opinion upon the conduct of that Power. With regard to General Garibaldi, I confess my hopes of partisan or guerilla action are somewhat slender, admitting, as I do, his great quali- ties as far as we are acquainted with his public conduct and connexions. But ,I recollect that those Powers with whom Cato differed are said to have a preference for great battalions, and I wish we may not have to mourn over the kind of cause which he inclined to favour. At all events, I am sure neither you nor I would desire to have the peace of Europe at large disturbed even for the sake of Italy.

"Believe me, my dear Ellenborough, ever most sincerely yours,

"B. BROUGHAIL" Some Lord-Lieutenants, it seems, have thrown obstacles in the way of forming volunteer corps. Thus when Mr. Robert Barnett, of Meop- ham in Kent, offered to arm, clothe, and equip twenty-five men at his own expense, Lord Sydney refused the offer, and declared it to be a "crude idea" ! No wonder Mr. Deedes is obliged to write exhortations to the "men of Kent." A "Cambridge Undergraduate" tells the Times that Mr. Barnett is not the only sufferer.

"In the only three counties with regard to which I am competent to speak on this subject the influence of the Lord-Lieutenant has been em- ployed to prevent the formation of rifle corps. In Somersetehire and Dorset this influence has been merely passively obstructive, but in Cambridgeshire the proposal to form a University Rifle Corps has been met by an absolute refusal to grant commissions on the part of the Lord-Lieutenant."

Aoeordin4ta the•AfeMieur de Ia Flotte, ,"the corps d'armee, which is In ant in Chinn i will, it is believed, be composed as follows—The English will send 130604Enropeans and 6000 native troops. France will send a complete division, consisting of the 101st and 102d regiments, the 2d

• battalion of riflemen, 16 companies of marines, 4 batteries of horse ar- tillery, 2 corimmiies of engineers, 1 company of the baggage-train, and .500 sailors. The division, including sailors and marines, will be alto- gether about 20,000 strong."

M. de _Lesseps has gone to Constantinople. We learn from a tele- graphic despatch that "the Marseilles newspapers state that instructions from the French Government were received at Alexandria on the 27th of October to prevent any act that would interfere with the privileges of the Suez Canal Company. The works of the canal continue." What does this portend ?

Mr. J. B, Austin, in the Times, gives an interesting account of the "Aurora Australia" as seen by him from Kapunda, South Australia, on the 29th of August.

"On Monday evening, the 29th of August, just after dusk, the Aurora Australia' appeared like a large and brilliant pink cloud extending about 25 degrees or 30 degrees above the horizon, and 60 degrees or 70 degrees in length. It continued visible for about 20 minutes, during the last five of which splendid streamers' of pink and white light were shooting vertically through it. It was seen almost throughout these colonies at the same time, and on four nights in the same week ; but I only saw it twice—once as above, and again on Friday, the 2d of September, when the most gorgeously bril- liant display took place. It commenced immediately after sunset, and in- creased an splendour during the evening. The moon was in her first quarter. For several hours little was to be seen but a deep rich pink light over the southern part of the sky, but by degrees it extended, and about 9 o'clock a huge pillar of fire appeared in the west, where it remained until midnight. After the moon went down the brilliancy of the aurora in- creased, and from about half-past 11 till past 12 a beautiful pale, soft, greenish-blue light, like the dawn of morning, extended itself above the southern horizon for about 100 degrees to 110 degrees, and about 18 degrees or 20 degrees in height ; from this streamers, or radii of red, white, and blue' light shot upwards to beyond the zenith, fully half the sky being covered with this splendid illumination, the light from which equalled that of the full moon in England. These radii converged towards a point about 15 degrees north of the zenith, but did not themselves extend more than half that distance beyond the zenith. This was its 'last appearance,' and a splendid finale it was. Fifty of the largest comets blazing away at once could hardly have presented a finer sight. The powerful electric excite- ment in the atmosphere had an extraordinary effect on the telegraph wires, agitating the instruments violently in some places, and quite interfering with the transmission of messages."

Three bales of cotton, recently grown as an experiment in Clarendon, Jamaica, were sold on Tuesday on the Manchester Exchange, and fetched 7f,d. per cent ; this is about 20 per cent above that of ordinary American. There is no doubt that Jamaica is the place to grow cotton, and that is now universally admitted by those who have reflected on the subject.

Sir Arthur Magennis, now British Minister at Stockholm, is appointed Minister at Lisbon. The Honourable George Sulyarde Stafford Terning- ham, now Minister at Stuttgardt, is appointed Minister at Stockholm. Mr. George John Robert Gordon, now Minister at Hanover, is appointed Minister at Stuttgardt. Mr. Henry Francis Howard, now Minister at Lisbon, is appointed Minister at Hanover.

The Montreal Pilot has it on authority that "the Prince of Wales, accom- panied by the Colonial Secretary, and Other distinguished personages, will

• visit Canada in the end of May or the beginning ofJune next. The formal opening of the Victoria Bridge will then take place. The corporation having appointed a Committee to meet the Grand Trunk Directors, and cooperate with them on the celebration, we understand that Mr. Blackwell, at an in- terview with the chairman (Councillor Bristow), expressed the great felicity he would have in doing all in the power of the company to make the cele- bration worthy of the occasion, and of the illustrious visitors from England expected to be present at it. The bridge will be opened for traffic next month, but no public or general demonstration will be made."

The Marquis de Moustier, French Ambassador at Berlin, has been ap- pointed Ambassador to the Imperial Court at Vienna.

The Opinione of Turkey announces the arrival at Turin of Count de Cavour from Led, and Chevalier Massimo d'Azeglio from Genoa.

Mr. Seward, late Governor of the State of New York, is now at Turin, and has been presented to the King. As he is unacquainted with French or Italian, a dragoman was sought for amongst the iednioutese conversant with English, etiquette not allowing of a foreigner in that capacity. Gene- ral Solaroli was entrusted with the duty.

The Queen has granted the dignity of a Knight of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland unto Mr. Bryan Edwards, Chief Justice of Jamaica.

The Lord Chancellor has appointed Mr. J. B. Decent, hitherto Judge of the County Courts of Durham and Northumberland, to be Judge of the Middlesex County Court, comprised in Circuit No. 40, vacated by the re- signation of Mr. Sergeant Storks. Mr. William Henry Wiles, of the Northern Circuit, will succeed Mr. Dasent as Judge of the Durham and Northumberland County Courts.

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The Staatsanzeiger says that the health of the King of Prussia has im- proved. lately, and hela now able to make short excursions in a carriage.

Thomas Philip de Grey, Earl de Grey, who seemed to be until towards the end of last week in good health, -died rather suddenly on Monday morning, at his housein St. James's Square. He was in his seventy-eighth year. He held office under Sir Robert Peel in .1834-35, and was Lord-Lieutenant of Ireltuad. from 1841 to 1844. He then retired from public life. He was Lord-Liententineof Bedfordshire, Colonel of a Yorkshire Yeomanry corps, Mid a Knight of the Garter. The, Earldom of de Grey and the Barony of Grantham descend to the Earl of Ripon, nephew of the deceased Peer.

Mr. George Anthony, an artist, highly respected at Manchester, died, we 'egret, to my, from the effects Of .gastric fever on Tuesday. Mr. Anthony, though not so Well known assome of his brother artists in the profession, was a man of highly cultivated tastes, and stood high in their estimation as an art-critic. He was the author of art-criticisms which appeared for many years in one of the leading Manchester papers under the signature of 'Gabriel Tinto." His death will be a source of sincere grief to a numerous circle of friends, and none more than these amongst his brother artists.

The number of deaths in the metropolis last week was 1051; that is 123 below the calculated average. Deaths from bronchitis continue to increase.

It appears from a table of analyses of water used in London and Glasgow, that the old water supply of the Scotch city contained less impurity than any of the water supplied by the London companies, and that the new water supply brought from Loch Katrine is the purest supply of all. The water supplied to London is still very impure.

The Austrian Lloyd's steamer Bombay, coming from Constantinople, ran ashore on the 9th instant, near the island of Unie, in the Bay Quarnerio, in Austrian Elyria. The passengers, specie, and letterst have been saved. Several steamers have left this port to render what assistance may be re- quited.

Woollen cloth manufacturers are busy just now in making up their goods for the spring and summer of 1860. The looms are principally en- gaged at present on six-quarter goods, for whole suits, the patterns of which are rather of a peculiar kind,—consisting of fine hair lines woven diagonally in very fine wool, the principal shades being lavender and white, drab and white, tinted with orange, brown, black, and mauve. There will be also some shaded Cheviots in granite mixtures, some having diagonal, and some down line stripes. Perhaps, however, the greatest novelty will be a six-quarter material in fine wool knotted both on diagonal and straight lines with mauve, orange, dark red, and blue, whilst the ground is drab or other special colours.

The circular of Mr. Newton Crosland informs us that the produce of wine this year in the Bordeaux country "maybe considered as about a third of an average. The disease oldium, the hail in many districts, and the great eoulure' or falling off of the grape when it first comes out of its blossom, are the causes of this serious scarcity. The quality cannot be decidedly determined at present ; but as far as a cautious judg- ment can be pronounced, the wines appear to be ripe and delicate, but without much body, colour, or richnees.' Under these circumstances Claret will increase in price. The vintage of 1858 is of "extraordinary excel- lence."