311rtrupulio.

The annual meeting of the Royal Geographical on Monday was dis tinguished by the presentation of gold medals to Lady Franklin and Si Leopold M'Clintock. Lord de Grey and Ripon the President, after an eloquent retrospect of Arctic discovery, enterprise, hardihood, and devo- tion, turned to Sir Roderick Murchison, and said :—

"I have sincere pleasure in entrusting to you, Sir Roderick Murchison, this letter to Lady Franklin, with the Founder's Gold Medal, which the council have awarded to her es proof of the deep appreciation felt by the Royal Geographical Society for the services rendered to science by her late gallant husband, and also as a token of respect and admiration for the de- vdtednees with which she has pursued those inquiries which have resulted in clearing up the fate of the crews of the Erebus and Terror, and at the same time in making important additions to our geographical frnowledge of the Arctic regions.'

To which Sir Roderick made a suitable reply on behalf of the wife of his "deer friend Franklin," by a worthy eulogy on her noble conduct. , He also read the following letter which, he said, breathed the fulness of a ' grateful heart.

" 5, Park Place, St. James's, Nrny 24, 1860.

"My dear Sir Roderick—As you were the first to communicate the great honour that has been conferred upon me by the council of the Royal Geo- graphical Society, and as I know you were also the first to make the sug- gestion which was kindly and unanimously accepted by the council, I am sure you will do me the farther favour of returning my heartfelt thanks to them.

"To no one could I make this request more fitly, RS it seems to me, and with more confidence, than to the faithful friend of my dear husband and myself who during many long years, has made the cause of the lost crews of the Erebus and Terror his own, and to whose untiring and enlightened energy, exerted in behalf of our latest, and as it were, dying effort, the little expedition of the Fox has been so conspicuously indebted.

"In giving expression to my natural feelings on receiving this precious medal, you will feel assured that its chief value to me is the recognition by the most competent authorities which it testifies to, of the life-long services of my husband in the cause of geographical research, and especially of the crowning discovery of the North-West Passage by himself and his compan- ions, which cost them their lives. "In the contemplation of so just and so generous an act towards the dead, all personal considerations are well nigh absorbed, yet not so entirely but that I feel deeply the great and exceptional kindness of which I have myself become the object. Disclaiming, as I must ever do, all merit, for efforts which originated in the natural impulses of love and duty, and which never could have been successful without the steadfast help of all those who upheld and served me so well, I shall not the less cherish with great pride as well as gratitude, the touching and distinguished proof so generously ac- corded to me of the approbation and sympathy of the Royal Geographi- cal Society. Believe me, dear Sir Roderick, sincerely and gratefully yours, " JANE Fite/salmi.

"Sir Roderick Murchison, Vice-President of the Royal Geographical Society, &c."

The meeting rang with cheers when Sir Roderick on behalf of Lady Franklin, said he hoped that Parliament may bethus far generous as to re- ward the officers and crew of the Fox, and also provide for the erection of a monument to the memory of her husband and his companions in b. public place, on which shall be recorded that they died in being the fir..t to discover a North-west passage.

Lord de Grey and Ripon next presented a medal to the Captain of the Fox, saying :—

" It affords me great gratification Captain M'Clintock, to have to pi sent to you the highest reward the Royal Geographical Society can con viz., the Patron's, or Victoria Gold Medal, in acknowledgment of the vtekl, great and valuable services you have performed—services which are appre- ciated not only throughout this country, but, I may say, throughout all Europe and America." Sir Leopold M'Clintock expressed his gratitude to the society in modest and manly terms, and spoke with affection and admiration of his comrades and the lost ones they went to seek.

Lord De Grey and Ripon has been compelled by the pressure of his official duties to resign the presidency. Lord Ashburton has been. elected in his stead, and will immediately enter upon the duties of tho office.

The dinner of the Society took place at the Freemason's Tavern on Wednesday, and was as well attended as usual In the course of Si, evening, Lord de Grey and Ripon, the chairman, proposed the health a his successor, "Lorel..2.elr'unrton, the President Elect."

The Royal Free Hospital had its annual charitable dinner on 'Wed- nesday, Lord Leigh in the chair, and upwards of 1000/. were subscribed to this excellent institution.

The Society of Friends of Foreigners in Distress kept its fifty-fourth anniversary on Wednesday. Lord Taunton occupied the chair. During half a century this society has relieved the distresses of no fewer than 100,000 foreigners. The subscriptions of the evening amounted to 21601.

The British and Foreign ;Unitarian Society held its annual meeting, and ate its annual dinner, at the Whittington Club on Wednesday, Mr. Paget, M.P., in the chair. The president for the coming year is Sir John Bowring.

A public meeting has been held at Kennington to promote the esta- blishment of a museum in the south of London. Mr. Roupell, the chairman, told the meeting that a Select Committee of the House of Commons had just recommended the opening of public institutions from 7 to 10 o'clock on the evenings of the week days, and also the formation of branch museums in the crowded districts of the metropolis. It was resolved that a deputation should wait on Lord Palmerston, and crave the assistance of the Government.

"Religious . disturbances in St. George's-in-the-East " is a standing heading in the daily journals of Monday. The riots, indeed, go on ; but some improvement is reported. The bishop has forbidden the choristers to sit within the altar rails, and they have been consigned to the organ loft, the rector going with them. :‘ Processions of priests " have also been forbidden. But what kept the church comparatively quiet on Sunday, was the adoption of a strong measure—the police "refused ad- mission to every boy and girl who had the appearance of a rioter," ad- Two workmen in the employ- of the Messrs. Myers have been held to bail on a charge of conspiring with others to intimidate Mr. Myers and compel him to discharge kfunday, a non-society man. It was not clear, however, whether the society men wished the non-society men to be driven from the works, or whether they wished them to be removed to another part of the building, The charge of conspiracy did not seem to be made out.

Messrs. Myers and Son, writing to the nines, however, say that "the unionist plasterers at the Westminster Palace Hotel struck work, in order to induce us to discharge twenty of the non-society men employed on the same building, and that upon an order being issued that all must be dis- charged who refused to work with the non-society men, the operatives on strike returned to their occupation." milling those only who carried prayer-hooks. Nevertheless, some inde- cent persons gained admission. The text of the sermon was the well known verse :—" And I will pray the Father, and He shall give you another Comforter, that He may abide with you for ever." No text of Scripture could have been more appropriate for any decent congregation on Whit-Sunday, but no text could have been more unfortunately se- lected for St. George's. It was received with loud cries of "Hear, hear," "Bravo ! " and derisive cheers.

Mr. Rarey gave a final demonstration on Saturday in the Alhambra. His performance was of the most satisfactory description. Be operated upon three horses, of which the third was a white Arab, which had been badly brought up, and never groomed. After a desperate battle, the steady determination and unflagging tact of the horse-tamer succeeded, and the wicked Arab was conquered.

A few days ago an extraordinary application was made to the sitting Magistrate at the Southwark Police Court, by a young man for a passport to proceed to France, who produced, at the same time, the necessary recom- mendations and sureties as to character and proper conduct. In answer to the Magistrate, he said he was a journeyman shipwright, and that he wished to go to Cherbourg, in France, where there was plenty of work. Ile was asked why he required to go to Cherbourg to work, as there must be plenty of work in the United Kingdom, if not in the Government yards, in the pri- vate yards? The applicant replied that a short time ago he and about 500 others were suddenly discharged from the Portsmouth dockyard, besides other artisans, and the reasons assigned were the want of timber and other materials to go on with the immense work in hand. The ship-building trade was also just now very slack in the private yards, so that himself and a number of others could not get work in England. Understanding that they were much required in the dockyards in Cherbourg and other ports of France, he wished to go there. Fifty of the men were a short time ago taken away in a French vessel for Cherbourg, and all the rest, except him- self, had since followed, and had plenty of work. The applicant further added that he was not aware whether many from other dockyards had left on the same errand, but he knew that numbers of English shipwrights were working in the French dockyards. The Magistrate, after examining the applicant's security and finding him satisfactory, granted the application.

Ann Dent, the woman accused of robbing a Mrs. Fisher her employer, has been arrested. Her husband and Mary Shaw his niece, and the mother of his child, are in custody as accomplices. Mrs. Dent was acting as servant to Mrs. Fisher. She has made the following curious statement to the police. "I took the cashbox, containing 305/. in notes and gold and a gold watch, from my mistress, and went direct to my husband, John Dent, at a coffee- house near the Bricklayers' Arms. I found him seated there, and said to him Cabby, you are wanted.' He came out and asked me if I thought any one him, me in the coffee-shop.' I said I thought they did. He said I wish

you had not come here.' We walked on a bit, and my husband said, I will get a cab, and take you up.' He got a showfull (Hansom cab), and I went down to Gravesend with him in the cab. Another man drove us. When we passed through the tollgates, he told me to squat myself down at the bottom of the cab, to avoid being seen by the turnpike men. When we reached Gravesend, I gave my husband 51. out of the stolen money. He said that was not enough, and I gave him another sovereign, and a sovereign for drink. I also paid 3/. for the cab, and took the remainder of the money, gold, and bank notes, to Rochester. I walked from Gravesend to Rochester. On the Tuesday following, my husband, Dent, came to me at Cross's house at Rochester and took the notes to London to get them cashed, and took the watch with him as well. On the Sunday following, he came to Rochester and brought me 26/. of the money he had received for the notes. I asked him if that was all he had received for the notes I gave him. He said, ' Yes ; I had much trouble to get the notes cashed, and had to throw in the gold watch and chain.' I should not have committed the robbery, if my husband had not told me to do so, and he promised to take me to Australia.",

A truly novel accident occurred on Wednesday at the King's Cross Ter- minus of the Great Northern Railway. A train consisting of thirty-three carriages and three breaks, coming from Liverpool and other large towns, approached the station at a pace which created alarm. Signals to restrain the speel had no effect upon it ; the engine-driver reversed the engine, it is stated, and the guards put on the breaks, still it thundered on. The crowd i of expectants n the station looked on in wonder. The train dashed for- ward, dashed against the " stop " or stationary " buffer " at the end of the station, passed over it, and making its way under the principal entrance, bolted into the road, where it was brought up short by an embankment con- nected with the works of the underground railway. Many passengers were hurt. The stoker jumped off; but the engine-driver, Thomas Annis, stuck to his post like a gallant fellow, and escaped. The explanation of the accident is that James Warrener, one of the guards of the train, was drunk, and did not apply his break. He was found lying in his van, drunk. The engine-driver had done his duty. Warrener has been sent to prison by the Clerkenwell Magistrate for two months, with hard labour—a very inadequate punishment.