SCOTLAND.
Mr. IIastie, M.P. for Paisley, according to yearly custom convened his electors by circular on the 13th instant, and gave them explanations of his Parliamentary conduct during the past session. Mr. Hastie's votes on
‘Styp And on Mr. Hume's "four points" had given dis- actio • of confidence was met by a counter-motion, "that the meeting had lost their confidence in Mr. Hastie "; and the latter seems to have been carried, by 167 votes to 160.
Three Government functionaries are now in Scotland: Captain Wash- ington, to make inquiries regarding the recent wrecks of fishing-boats on the North-east coast; Mr. Lefevre, to obtain information regarding the an- nuity-tax levied for the support of the clergy in Edinburgh and Montrose; and Mr. Kay Shuttleworth, charged with some commission regarding the education scheme, the precise character of which has not transpired.— Daily News, Thursday.
We learn that in consequence of the recent decision of Sheriff Alison regarding the right of the able-bodied poor to interim parochial relief, the parochial authorities of Glasgow have arranged to apply a labour-test to the applicants for relief, who may now be expected to become very numerous. This test, we understand, will, in the first instance, be to set them to work along with the firemen and scavengers of the city, in aiding the sanatory measures which are now being so vigorously enforced through every quar- ter of the municipality. Yesterday forenoon, the practical value of' the test was exemplified in the case of seven of the unemployed who applied for relief. When told of the conditions upon which it would be granted, four of the number refused to work; and their application was, of course, at once dismissed.—North British Mail.
By invitation of the patrons of the Dumfries Industrial School, on Fri- day last, Lord Ashley paid the establishment a visit as he returned from official labours in Edinburgh connected with the Board of Health. He was surprised and delighted at the progress of the institution within seven months. He made a speech encouraging the inhabitants in their efforts, and explaining the aid Government has promised to the Ragged School move- ment, by sending some 150 meritorious scholars, chosen from them, to the Colonies as free emigrants.
"In conclusion, he would impress upon them his conviction, that if ten years longer were to pass with the same inattention to the condition of the lower orders, it would be beyond the power of any statesman or combination of statesmen to maintain this empire in its present condition. He thought the lessons they had lately had from the Continent of Europe might teach them, that when the people were disaffected and determined to rise in mass, the finest standing army in the world, under most able officers, must fall before them; and if those who possessed property and station did not look to it, the people would rise some day against them or their children, when regret that the present opportunity had been lost would be unavailing."
The last connecting link of the railway communication between London and Scotland on the East has now been supplied by the completion of the bridge over the Tweed at Berwick. Hitherto it has been necessary to change carriages at that point, as trains could not pass the stream; but now the traveller can proceed from London to Edinburgh in the same vehicle.
The Scots Reformers' Gazette has a strange account of railway rigour-
" More than ordinary indignation has been evinced towards the officials at the Scottish Central Railway, in consequence of the unfeeling conduct they displayed in declining to convey the Dutchess of Sutherland along their line on Sunday last, on the occasion of her being summoned to the bedside of her dying parent, the Earl of Carlisle, at Castle Howard in Yorkshire. On the Friday evening pre- vious, the Datchess, who was sojourning at Donrobin Castle in Sutherlandshire, received intelligence of the alarming and dangerous illness of her parent, and summoning her with all speed to Castle Reward. She instantly posted off to Montrose, where she arrived on Saturday evening, and taking the last train reached Perth on Sunday morning. The mail-train for the Smith was then pre- paring for departure; but, to the astonishment of her Grace and attendants, on ap- plying for seats in the train, they were told they. could not be allowed to travel by it or by any other train on a Sabbath, it being against the regulation of the directors! Letters having been previously sent to all the stations to have engines ready to convey the Datchess through, it was imagined some mistake had occurred at Perth; and the secretary was immediately communicated with, and the sorrowing circumstances which compelled her Grace's attendance at Castle Howard. The train was delayed for a short time in order to have a final answer from the secre- tary. But the reply was—' No; the rules of the Company could not be departed from.' The mail-train started with the empty coaches besides the necessary mail- carriage, leaving the Dutchess standing upon the platform, actually crying. No- thing was left but to post onwards. She hired a steamer and crossed the ferry on to Edinburgh; which occupied the whole day. By the time her Grace reached Castle Howard, the Earl of Carlisle was no more. Her Majesty recently travelled to London on a Sabbath morning; and that fact, so vividly in our remembrance, leads IIS to presume to think that her Majesty cannot but be indignant at the treatment her Mistress of the Robes has received at the hands of the majority of the Scottish Central Railway directors."
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