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A correspondence respecting political refugees and British ships of war has been presented to Parliament. It contains some curious passages, but does not show that any change has been made in the good old prac- tice of sheltering political fugitives. Mr. Elliott writes to Lord John Russell:— "In the present excited state of Sicily an announcement that political refugees could find a safe asylum on board her Majesty's ships, would pos- sibly be nearly sufficient to produce an outbreak ; but, on the other hand, it must be recollected that while a government and its agents are persecuting individuals in defiance both of law and justice, the persons flying from the police may fairly be considered as somewhat in the same position as those who are escaping. from the lynch law of a mob, and I doubt whether any captain would drtve back into the fangs of his pursuers a person who had once got on board and appealed for protection."

Lord Clarence Paget, in answer to inquiries from the Foreign Office, states that it is usual to trust to the discretion of the officer in com- mand ; but that the last instructions on the subject were contained in a letter to the Admiralty, written by order of Lord Palmerston in 1849. In this letter, which is reprinted in these papers, it is said:-

" His Lordship is of opinion that it would not be right to receive and har- bour on board a British ship of war any person flying from justice on a criminal charge, or who was escaping from the sentence of a court of law. But a British man-of-war has always and everywhere been considered a safe place of refuge for .persons of whatever country or party who have sought shelter under the British flag from persecution on account of their political conduct or opinions ; and this protection has been equally afforded, whether the refugee was escaping from the arbitrary acts of a monarchical government or from the lawless violence of a revolutionary committee. There seems to be nothing in the present state of affairs at Naples or in Sicily which ought to make a British ship of war stationed in a Neapolitan or in a Sicilian port an exception to the general rule ; and therefore, al- though the commander of such ship of war should not seek out or invite political refugees, yet he ought not to turn away nor to give up any who may reach his ship and ask admittance on board. Such officer must, of course, take care that such refugees shall not carry on, from on board his ship, any political correspondence with their partisans on shore, and he ought to avail himself of the earlist opportunity to send them to some place of safety elsewhere. Viscount Palmerston sees no reason, however, why the fact of a British officer having exercised this act of usual hospitality should entitle the government of the country to order him out of the port if the interests of her Majesty's service should require that he should remain there."

In the concluding letter of the series, Lord John Russell requests the Admiralty to call the attention of Vice-Admiral Fanshawe to the instruc • tions contained in Lord Palmerston's letter for his guidance in the present state of affairs in Sicily.

The Sicilian Committee have made known the fact that a few days before she died the late Lady Byron sent 401. as a subscription to the Garibaldi fund, "accompanying the gift with heartfelt wishes" for the cause of Italy.

The New York Board of Aldermen, moved thereto by Mr. Cyrus Field, Mr. Grinnell, William Cullen iryant, and others, have passed a resolution requesting the Mayor to invite the Prince of Wales to visit New York, and partake of its hospitalities.

The Queen has conferred upon Mr. Charles Lennox Wyke, C.B., British Minister at Mexico, the dignity of Knight Commander of the Bath.

The appointment of Sir Henry Ward to be the Governor of Madras was announced in the Gazette of Tuesday.

' In 'passing through Athens, the Greek Court made much of the Marquis de Lavellette. They are under the impression that the Frenchman was going to Constantinople with views hostile to Turkey.

King Leopold has sent the Sultan the Order of Leopold, in return, we suppose, for the honours and hospitalities showered upon the Duke of Bra- bant.

The Spanish General, Duke, one of the comrades of O'Donnell at Vical- varo, has been made Marquis of Castel Florite, for his service in suppressing the Carlist insurrection.

Volunteers of a peculiar class flock to Rome. They represent the defeated and disaffected, generally. In addition to Lamoriciere and our Irish boys, two nephews of M. de Villele, Minister under Charles X., have joined the Pope and put on his uniform.

Lamoriciere has placed Kalbermatten, Allegrini, and Schmidt, ill-omened names, on the retired list of the army. They were implicated in the trans- actions at Perugia.

The Queen has appointed the Reverend Charles Kingsley, Rector of Eversley, Hants, Prolessor of Modern History in the University of Cam- bridge.

- The Lord-Lieutenant of the county of Devon, Earl Forteseue, has been pleased to appoint Sir John &wring a deputy-lieutenant for that county.

The Reverend Dr. George Redford, an eminent Nonconformist minister, died on Sunday, at Edgbaston, Birmingham. He occupied a very distin- guished position among the Independents ; and in 18.56, the whole Noncon- formist body, through the late Mr. Angell James, united to recognize his great services.

Mr. Albert Smith, so well known for his amusing books, and so renowned for his refined showmanship, died suddenly on Wednesday morning. He was only in his forty-fourth.year. He was born at Chertsey, in 1816. His father was a surgeon there, in good practice, and his son was educated for the profession, at Merchant Taylors', the Middlesex Hospital, and the Hotel Dieu in Paris. Setting up for himself, Mr. Smith soon took up with authorship, and finally with showmanship, in both which pursuits he was popular and successful. He leaves a young wife to mourn his loss.

The remains of Sir Charles Barry were buried in Westminster Abbey on Tuesday. He lies at the foot of the grave of Robert Stephenson, and side by side with Telford. The pall bearers were Sir Charles Eastlake, Mr. William Cowper, Mr. George Bidder, Lieutenant-General Cast, Mr. Beres- ford Hope, Dean Mihnsn, Mr. Cockerel', and Mr. Tite. His chief Mourners were his five sena. Following them, came a procession of men

distinguished-id art, -science, literature, and political life. A. flag was hoisted on the Victona tower half mast high during the day.

Madame Ristori has had a narrow escape of being poisoned. Her physi- cian had ordered her a potion with fifteen drops of laudanum in it, but the chemist who made up the prescription put thirty drops by mistake. The symptoms produced by this overdose were for a short time alarming, but the lady recovered.

The Spanish General Elio, who has been set at liberty, refused to take the oath of allegiance or make any promises so long as he was, a prisoner. All that he could be got to say before being released was, that when he was at liberty he would respond as a man of honour to the magnanimity of the 4tieen. This conduct stands out in advantageous contrast to the pusil- lanimity of the Count de Montemolin.

The anniversary meeting of the Royal Geographical Society will take place on Monday next, at 1 p. m., at Burlington House, the president, the .Earl de Grey and Ripon, in the chair. During the ballot, the gold medals • will be awarded to Lady Franklin and Sir F. L. M'Clintock, R.N. The dinner will take place at the Freemasons' Tavern, at 7 o'clock, p. m.

In compliance with a suggestion contained in a letter from the Lord Chief Baron, a committee is in course of formation for the purpose of collecting a fund for the erection, in Trinity College, Cambridge, of a statue of the late Lord Macaulay.

Three thousand pounds have been collected chiefly from men of letters and their friends, in aid of the memorial church of George Herbert, the poet, at Bemerton. About 10001. are still needed to complete the work.

The Hallam subscription has reached 10001. The time has therefore come when the form of memorial may be considered.

The Reverend Frederick Leicester's collection of pictures was disposed of on Saturday, at the rooms of Messrs. Christie, Manson, and Woods. Twenty-nine pictures in all realized the large sum of 45651.

The Madras Irrigation and Canal Company have published a report which gives a most satisfactory account of the progress of their works under the supervision of Colonel Cotton, already one of the most notable among the benefactors of India. Their projects are comprehensive, and promise to be as beneficial to the shareholders as to the natives of Madras.

The Stock Exchange Committee have suspended the functions of four brokers—three, Mr. It. Johnson, Mr. T. Uzielli, and Mr. Sheldon, until March next ; and one, Mr. Bradstock, for three months. They bad been employed by Pullinger.

A case has recently arisen involving the question as to whether a cheque payable " to order " on demand may to endorsed by procuration of the payee. The Bank of England have paid a cheque "to order," endorsed by pro'cura- tion, and that procuration proves to be false. The Bank are accordingly made accountable for the amount. It may be as well for bankers to notice clearly that if they pay a draft "to order," endorsed or purporting to be endorsed by procuration of the payee, they do so at their own risk. Such drafts must purport to be endorsed by the payee himself, and in that case it would appear that the banker is not liable, even should the endorsement prove to be a forged one, and the money fall into wrong hands.

The Secretary of State has advised her Majesty to grant a free pardon to the Reverend Mr Hatch, which will be immediately prepared. In the mean time, an order for the immediate release of the prisoner was despatched from the Home Office on Saturday afternoon. This course was naturally to be expected from the conviction for perjury of Eugenia Plummer, the chief witness against Mr. Hatch. Baron Channel', who presided upon the late trial of Eugenia Plummer, when officially asked for his opinion, entirely concurred in the propriety of granting a full pardon.

The Health of London seems to be permanently improved. Last week, the number of deaths declined from 1111, in the preceding week, to 1090, or less than the calculated average by 58.

The steamer Mater, which arrived at Antwerp four days from London, had on board thirty-five Irishmen, who are on their way to join the army under General de Lamoriciere.