NEWS OF THE WEEK.

M TIE vacancy created by the death of Sir Cornewall Lewis The state of our relations with the -United States came again under the consideration of Parliament last night. Mr. Horsfall moved for papers and correspondence concerning the seizure of the " Alexandra " at Liverpool, which act he criticized as most arbitrary. Mr. Cobden followed with a sort of amendment, "to call the attention of the House to the motives of national self-interest, and to the obligations of implied international engagements, by which the British Government is called upon for a vigilant and rigid enforce- ment of the Foreign Enlistment Act." Mr. Cobden made a fine and statesmanlike speech, and was listened to with deep attention by a crowded House. But the feeling of the majority, as evinced in frequent cries and interruptions, was clearly against him. Mr. Horsman followed, with a strong pro- Southern speech, earning loud applause by such statements the following :—" The independence of the South is an t.teknowledged fact." Indeed, the House appearedin an exceed- ingly litailce mood all through the debate, the importance of which- was testified by the presence of both Mr. Adams and Mr. Mason in the diplomatic gallery.

Mr. Roebuck made a very violent and foolish speech on Thursday night in the House of Commons, on occasion of Admiral Wilkes's sins, in wItich he declared that, having originally sympathized with the North (when was that ?) he had found their conduct "unfit for the courtesies and the community of the civilized world." In the Trent case, he thinks, the Americans "truckled" to England. Since then, he says, in allusion to Mr. Adams's "permit," we have per- mitted the American Minister to become the "Minister of Commerce" for England. Mr. Roebuck, "speaking for the English people," says he is "prepared for war, and wishes the commerce of this country no longer to be subject "to the sneer- ing insolence of an upstart race. That is a louder bark than has been filled up by the selection of Earl de Grey; his appointment has been given to the Marquis of Hartington ; and his, again, has been accepted by Mr. Stansfeld, an inde- pendent Liberal. The arrangement; though accepted as inevitable, has not given uniform satisfaction. Earl de Grey has earned his promotion, but it is not usual or pleasant to see the heads of three great departments in the Peers ; while the rapid promotion of the Marquis of Hartington is an affront to all 'whomhe supersedes—that is, to one-third of the Liberal side of the House. Mr. Stansfeld's adhesion is a gain to the Government, and will be a great one, if his chiefs will only allow him a place in debate, often refused to subordinates. To himself his acceptance is most creditable, for he has, in fact, risked his career by accepting a post which silences him, but which will train him for others in which his ability may be of more direct service to the country. usual from Tear'em. But does not Mr. Roebuck see that the "tall talk" in America is as closely related to his own as it is possible for two modes of speech to be ? When, later in the evening, Mr. Crawford (to whom the Peterhoff, the ship which Admiral Wilkes has seized with so little pretext, belongs) said that he had heard Mr. Roebuck's speech "with distaste, and almost with disgust," and Mr. Newdegate reproved him with nearly equal severity,—the House felt that the only Yankee declaimer within its walls had been sufficiently set down. Lord Palmerston, to whom it belonged, however, to deprecate Mr. Roebuck's language, since he answered, or rather declined to answer, that gentleman's question, was ominously silent ; his influence having never yet been exerted, like Lord Russell's, to prevent misunderstanding and maintain an attitude of impartial dignity.

Mr. Adams, the American Minister in this country, has written one very foolish letter, and another very unwise one, which have been published within the last week. The first was a letter dated April 9th, addressed to Admiral Dupont commanding the Federal fleet in the Gulf of Mexico, and informing him that "amid the multitude of fraudulent and dishonest enterprises from this kingdom to furnish supplies to the rebels in the United States through the pretence of a destination to some port in Mexico," it gives him (Mr. Adams) " pleasure " to distinguish Messrs. Howell and Zirman's as an honest enterprise to furnish arms to the Mexicans ; and he accordingly requests Admiral Dupont to let the bearer pass. This curious document assumes that Mr. Adams has a right to discriminate between law. ful enterprises leaving the ports of this country, which the American Government chooses to permit and approve and those which it condemns and threatens. For, of course, a certificate that a ship bound to a neutral port is not to be searched implies that ships with no such certificate may and will be. This was arrogant enough ; the further blunder of diplomati- cally condemning France and favouring Mexico was simply an aggravation of the imprudence. But having had time to reflect, and having received an application from Messrs. rile and Spence for a similar certificate for the Sea Queen, Mr. Adams declined,—saying that he had "no authority to exercise any discrimination in regard either to the vessels or the voyages of Her Majesty's subjects." This is well enough, but the letter is unwise, because instead of availing himself of the opportunity to regret and apologize for the error he had committed, be tries to fasten on Messrs. Pile and Spence "a misconception of the course taken by me heretofore." There does not seem to have been any misconception, and Lord Russell has expressed in the House of Lords the natural dis- pleasure not only of the Government, but of all Englishmen, at the attitude which Mr. Adams had in his first letter assumed.

The same subject was raised in the Lords by the Marquis of Clanricarde, whose remarks drew a most spirited speech from Earl Russell. The Foreign Secretary blamed Mr. Adams severely, but stated, amidst loud cheers, that he had not com- plained to Mr. Adams but to the American Government. To place mail agents on board vessels sailing to Matamoros, as recommended by many merchants, would be to make precisely the same blunder as Mr. Adams, viz., to draw distinctions among British vessels. He had therefore preferred to release all vessels from their obligation to carry mails to Matamoras. He quoted many eases in which the Washington Cabinet had investigated complaints and granted redress, condemned the practice of presupposing that a friendly power wanted to violate international law, and in his happiest manner depre- cated being drawn by passion into proceedings not founded on justice. The speech was one of those which now an justify Earl Russell's high place in the councils Britain.

A case which promises to rank among causes menced before the Chief Justice on Thursda Calthorpe, in his book called" Letters from Head-Quarters," charged the Earl of Cardigan, in substance, with running away during the charge of the Light Brigade. The charge was one often whispered; but Lord Cardigan took no notice until he heard it was about to be embalmed in Mr. Kinglake's book. He then made this application, supporting it by the affidavits of Lieut. T. G. Johnstone, of Gen. Scarlett, of Capt. Percy Smith, of Col. Jenyns, of Col. Douglas, of Capt. the Hon. G. C. Morgan, of James Wightman, private, and G. Weatherly, corporal. Most of these witnesses affirm in distinct and peremptory language that they saw Lord Cardigan pass through the Russian batteries, and there defend himself against certain Cossacks, and that he was one of the last to retreat. Nothing can be more emphatic than their testimony, and we can only wonder why it was never brought forward before. So did the Court, which granted the rule nisi, but with the reserve that it might be discharged upon the ground of excessive delay. The third edition of Col. Calthorpe's book, the one complained of, was published five years ago.

Nine men perished on the 18th instant at the Botallack mine, the well-known copper and tin mine near the Land's End. They were ascending a diagonal shaft 2,000 feet long in a "skip," or carriage placed on a tramway, and drawn up by a chain, and had just reached the top when the chain broke. The skip went down with frightful velocity, and the men were found at the foot of the shaft dashed to pieces.

The revolution in Poland advances. The insurgents adhere to their plan of avoiding pitched battles, and training their men in a series of minor skirmishes, in which the Rus- sians almost invariably suffer heavily. Arms are rapidly entering the country, and the Central Committee has issued a decree imposing an income-tax upon property. Peasants, day labourers, and artizans are exempted, but all other persons with less than 100/. a year will pay two per cent., up to 250/. five per cent., and beyond that sum ten per cent, of their incomes. The money is not to be used for the daily wants of the guerillas, but to be held at the disposal of the Committee, elk employed, there seems little doubt, in purchasino.b arms, and, should foreign help arrive, in organizing a small regular army. Non-payment is punished by distraint, and betrayal of the tax-gatherers to the Russians by immediate death. Every province of old Poland, except Posen, West Prussia, and Galicia, is now in full insurrection. There is no Dic- tator, but the Committee relies, in military matters, on General Wysocki.

Rumours have been circulated all through the week of negotiations between Paris and Sweden, but the facts appa- rent are few. Carlscrona is to be fortified, and some vessels plated with iron. The Crown Prince has given toasts in honour of Poland, and the Polish agent, Prince Constantine Czartoryski, has been rapturously received by the leading circles of Stockholm. The Swedes are enthusiastic in favour of the insurrection, and it is said, on no official authority, that in the event of war Sweden will join France, and claim the restoration of Finland as her reward. That province con- tains 136,000 square miles,—nearly three Englands,—a popu- lation of a million and a half, and indefinite capabilities.

M. de Persigny has surpassed himself. The Moniteur of the 23rd instant actually contains an announcement that the Government will punish severely those journals which call the candidates put forward by the Opposition "independent candidates." That "designation is an insult to those candi- dates who enjoy the sympathy of the country and the confi- dence of Government." M. de Persigny chooses words oddly. One sympathizes with the afflicted or injured. Does he mean to imply that the confidence of the Government is a wound to the candidate demanding public sympathy? The Emperor had better nominate the Legislature at once, and so save his Ministers from the trouble of garotting the electors in order to make them free.

The Federal attack on Charleston has failed. The siege commenced on the 7th inst., nine Federal iron-clads, all of them turreted, opening fire on Fort Sumter at 3,000 yards. At four o'clock the "Ironsides" and the "Keokuk" withdrew, the former disabled, and the latter so injured that she became a wreck. The contrivance for removing torpedoes, a sort of huge "cow-catcher," attached to the bow of the Keokuk, wholly failed. Seven iron-clads remained within the bar, but the attack would not, it was thought, be renewed. The repulse will be severely felt in the North, and will accelerate General Hooker's advance on Richmond, which is to corn- mence on or about the 1st May. He crosses the Rappahan- nock by Port Royal, and moves straight down upon Rich- mond. The result will probably depend upon a battle fought half way to the city. Upon that battle will probably turn the future course of the war, for if the Federals win it they will have found an Abolitionist who can lead.

On Thursday the Premier asked for a Parliamentary grant of 50,000/. in aid of the subscriptions for a memorial to the Prince Consort. The resolution was adopted, very properly, without opposition, but the form of the memorial seems a bad. one. It is to be an Eleanor Cross, 150 feet high, and to cost 750/. a foot. It is, therefore, to be profusely ornamented, and will take years to complete. A building that height in Hyde Park will hardly be visible except in the Park itself, whereas had the ornaments been omitted, and the cross raised to double the height, it might have been seen from every part of London, and even from Windsor Castle. Beauty of design before all, but magnitude impresses the mind far more deeply than ornament. A mighty bell tower, higher than that of Bruges, with bells tolling only on the anniversary to the Prince Consort's funeral, would have been, had the funda. allowed, a far nobler memorial, and have trebled the sub- scriptions besides.

On Tuesday night Sir George Grey brought forward his measure for amalgamating the City Police with that of the metropolis. His speech was rather a feeble one, being rather designed to prove that all who had investigated the subject condemned the separate jurisdiction than that it was in itself a nuisance. He was answered by Alderman Sidney, who was laughed at, but several members announced their intention of' resisting the second reading. The City will exert its w hole strength to defeat the bill, on the plea that it abrogates the great principle of local self-government, and a good many boroughs will be taken in by that fair seeming argument. We also are friends to self-government, but then it must be the. house which governs itself, not the hall and the doorstep.

The Pays publishes an "exact analysis" of the note ad- dressed by M. Drouyn de Lhuys to St. Petersburg. It is unexpectedly decided in tone. The French Minister declares that the troubles in Poland are not the result of a temporary crisis, but of an inveterate disease, constitute an alarm to. Europe, excite the public mind, and may, "if prolonged, disturb the relations of Governments to such a degree as to produce the most regretable consequences." It is, therefore, the interest of all the Powers that the cause of such dis- turbances should be "definitely removed," and that Russia should adopt measures which would afford to Poland a pro- spect of "lasting peace." The notes from Great Britain and Austria are almost identical, and the correspondence produced a sensation in St. Petersburg. The answer is not expecte& just yet, as the Czar will doubtless consult his humble friends at Berlin.

The Archbishop of York (Dr. Thompson) has so much confidence in his clergy that he is sure none of them will allow Dr. Colenso to enter their pulpits. But for this moral secu- rity he would "take every legal means to prevent the evil." As it is, he proposes to them, to pray and study more, "that we may be able so to set forth to our own people the message of inspiration, so to hold up to them the glorious life of the Son of God, that truth may be more acceptable to them than error ;"—by which we suppose it is meant that not to Dr. Colenso alone, but to Bunsen, and Ewald, and all the greatest Hebrew scholars of the last century, error has been more acceptable than truth. It is difficult to believe Dr. Thomp- son sincere in assuming that no one can believe " in the glo- rious life of the Son of God" who is neither satisfied that Exodus is contemporary history, nor that it is tradition pre- served and dictated by God. So childish an opinion may be held by Bishops, but only when they have never been, or have ceased to be, scholars.

The sacerdotal power in France has gained anew and decisive victory. The seat in the Academy vacated by the death of M. Biot was to have been filled by M. Littre, a man whose chief claim lay- in philology. The Academy have long wished to produce an historical French dictionary, and M. Littre has been engaged in the preparation of such a dictionary for the last twenty years. Unfortunately, also, he is a Comtist, and a profound believer in that negative philosophy to which M. Comte, with apparent irony, gave the name of "positive." The priests, therefore, have got up a crusade against his election, proposed the Count De Came in his place, and. Monseigneur Dupanloup, Bishop of Orleans, has just issued an

electiOneering document, aimed nominally at the " positive" philOsophy, but also confessedly at M. Littre. The holy 'father repeats in France some of the recent language of Dr. Pusey ; he has imposed upon himself the task of reading up the infidel literature, and the "involuntary terror" which its denials have produced in him have forced him into this act of opposition to the contagion of unbe- lief. Nobody should act on impulses of involuntary terror, least of all Christian priests. The Bishop of Orleans has succeeded in frustrating the election of M. Littre, and putting M. Came (by eighteen to eleven) in the honourable place on which the former had counted with reasonable certainty. But he has also—and this must be consolatory to him—probably deepened the bitterness of M. Littre's scepticism by an act of gross injustice committed in the name of his Church. He has turned the due reward of literary merit into a reward for subserviency to the Church ; and he has once more thrown down that gage to French learning and wit which the Eneyclopmdists took up at the end of the last century with such disastrous results to France and the world. When the Church begins trembling attacks on philosophy, philosophy begins laughing attacks on the Church.

The Government of Prussia has taken one step farther towards despotism. In a debate on the 17th April, raised by Herr Twesten, the Premier remarked, apropos of Denmark, that "if the Government found it necessary to go to war, it would do so with or without the approbation of the Cham- ber." Deputy Lowe characterized this remark as a speech in the "Russian dialect," and Dr. Yirchow reminded the House that the Premier had disappeared, and moved, that in virtue of article 60, he should be invited to attend. M. -Von Bismark, who was in another room, hereupon reappeared, and sneeringly said that both the last speaker and the one who preceded him were perfectly intelligible in the next room. A deputy remarked on this insult that the Germans had a largo stock of patience, but that the Minister President was exhausting it fast, but the Vice- President decided that there was no ground for calling the Minister to order ! To tell the Lower House that it is a debating club is, therefore, in order in Prussia. It is hard to discover why the majority, which is composed of individuals who resent an affront with the pistol, put up with insolence like this to their collective body. Why not, at all events, pass resolutions condemning the Premier, and then, if power- less to do more, appeal to public opinion ? The Chamber seems almost to like to be kicked. The Bing, it is officially stated, has just sentenced a citizen to Spandau on his own sole authority for neglecting to salute him in the street. Why, we dare say he thinks, should not a father punish his son for being disrespectful ?

The Italian papers record, with pleasure, that Baron Ricasoli has visited the King at Florence. His Majesty was exceedingly gracious, talked politics for an hour, and at the end of the interview promised to visit the Baron in his ancient castle of Broglie. As the greatest misfortune of Italy is the enmity between the King and the Baron, the incident is of importance. With Ricasoli as Premier, Peruzzi Minister of the Interior, La Marmora Minister at War, and Prince Humbert Viceroy of Naples, Italy would have time to organize her final demand for Rome.

Small pox appears to be raging in London. The hospital for that disease is overcrowded, and the applicants are ten times times the number within. The Lords of the Privy Council have, therefore, called on all boards of guardians to enforce the Vaccination Acts, to improve the arrangements for vaccination, and to establish temporary hospitals for this disease alone. It is curious how little panic this disease, which is contagious, causes, when compared with the cholera, which is not, One cholera patient will clear a court, while men with the pustules strongly developed are allowed to mix with the crowd in lanes and alleys, and so spread the disease at every step. A. correspondent of the Times recommends that the Queen's Bench Prison, which is to be pulled down, should be turned into a cholera hospital. Why not take two or three of the condemned City churches? They can have no nobler function.

A company has been started, we see, called the General Steam Cultivation, which proposes to purchase and let to the farmers every kind of steam implement. It is quite time. If agriculture, as a business, is to attract capital like other trades, the soil must be cultivated with every resource of

modern science. Guano will pay where sewage will not, and steam ploughs and steam flails where hand labour would eat up all profit. Farmers are beginning to feel this, but the hire of the implements is still much too high. Each owner has a quasi monopoly in his own district, and thinks himself dreadfully used if he does not make fifty per cent. The com- pany, if it can but overcome the difficulty of scattering its agency over a wide surface, will commence a most healthy competition.

Signor Farini, the en-Prime Minister of Italy, is dying at Novalesa, and unable even to understand the token of grati- tude which has just been voted him by the Italian Parlia- ment. A commission appointed to consider a Bill for granting him a pension, and the means of paying his debts, has given in in its favour a brief but exceedingly good report. The Bill, which passed the Chamber without debate by 190 votes against 11, and the Senate by 65 to 15, gives him 1,0001. a year for life, of which 160/. reverts after his death to his mother, and 160/. to his wife. Besides this, 8,000/. is voted for the payment of his debts. The Commissioners reported against any greater gift "commensurate with his services," expressly on the ground that "in Italy political changes have brought too many ruinous losses, but power has enriched no one—a ground of satisfaction for ourselves, a deep lesson to coming generations ;"—a sentence warmly applauded by the Chamber. It was due in a large measure to the marvellous efforts of Signor Farini and Baron Ricasoli, that after the peace of Villafranca the Duchies, instead of acquiescing in Napoleon's kind arrangements for their future welfare under their old masters, insisted on preserving for themselves and for Italy their newly gained freedom. This deserved, as it has obtained, the profound gratitude of Italy, and has earned for Farini the honour of being coupled with the greatest states- man of modern times—Count Cavour—in the eloquent lan- guage of the Royal Commission. If the knowledge of this tribute to his services could but pass his failing senses, his death could hardly be regarded as an unhappy one.

The public should pay attention to events at Oxford. A measure for improving the system of examination, which gained the approval of Congregation, has been rejected by Convocation. In other words, the reforms of the men who know what Oxford needs, and who do the work of the Uni- versity, have been delayed by the country clergy, who have never educated themselves, and who neither know nor care how to educate others.

Mr. Glaisher and Mr. Coxwell, the aeronauts, have nar- rowly avoided a dip in the Channel. They ascended at 1.17 p.m. this day week, and reached the height of four and a half miles, when it became apparent that they must descend quick, unless they wished for a dip in the sea. At 2.46 Mr. Coxwell perceived Beachey Head, naturally became nervous, and let off ballast so rapidly that they descended the last two miles in four minutes, alighting near the railway station at Newhaven, and breaking most of their instruments with the impact. The most curious result of this ascent is the different chemical effect of light at higher strata in the atmosphere. Mr. Glaisher took slips of sensitized photographic paper, and arranged that similar slips should be exposed at the same time at Greenwich Observatory, and the amount of " colouration" noted every five minutes. The paper in the balloon was exposed to the full rays of the sun, with this extraordinary result--that at three miles high, the paper did not colour so much in half an hour as in the grounds of the Royal Observatory in one minute. This would seem to indicate that the chemical effects of light are largely due to its passage through the atmosphere, or at least to the density of the atmosphere through which it has recently passed.

The New Threes and Reduced Annuities are at 911 911. Bank Stock, 231 236. India 5 per Cent., 109# 109i ; ditto, Enlaced Paper, 1071 107; ; and the 51 ditto, 115k. Turkish 6 per Cents., 1858, 684; 1862, 69i 704. The Consolides, 47i 471. Greek Bonds, 28* 29; and the Coupons, 13# 13*. Italian Stock, 70; 71. Confederate Loan, 11 11 prem. Egyptian, 97/ 981. Mexican Bonds continue at 33i. A new bank has been started called the Bank of Otago, New Zealand, which intends to take advantage of the large business created by the Otago gold-fields.