Migultuutgus.

The _Right Honourable Richard Lalor Shell has been appointed her '.Majesty's Minister Plenipotentiary at Florence, in the place of . the late Sir George Hamilton. He will remain for a short time in England, for thmpurpose of assisting lateen-ping into effect the contemplated reforms in the lSint.—Globe.

It is understood that Lord Stanley of Alderley is about to resign the Under-Secretaryship for Foreign•Affairs.--Morniny Chronicle. -;.....Lieutenant-Colonel B.. :Clarke, Royal Artillery, has, in consequence of the death of Sir Patrick Ross,- assumed the temporary governorship of St. c„ Helena.

The unusual appeamnce of a French fleet in one of our Southern ports mess communicated to the 2'imes. on Wednesday, by a correspondent at :.;Torquay, writing on Monday. "The French fleet, consisting of six sailing-vessels and one screw steam- -.',easel, anchored in Brixham Roads between two and three o'clock this after- ' noon.” . On Tuesday, the fleet was "still at anchor about two miles from Berry Head." " Captain Storey, of the Coast Guard service, boarded the -cildmu-al's ship yesterday, [Monday,] at 4 30-p. en., and ascertained that the fleet were from Cherbourg, .and bound tb Brest; and that they put in here from stress of weather, although the wind at the time was duo North and - -moderate. The wind' remains the same now) and they are still at anchor. • • the sailing-ships have their sails loose today,.and the steam screw frigate is getting her steam up. The fleet consists of six line-of-battle-ships.and 1.:ene steam-frigate, under the command of . Admiral Deachenes, in the Fried- • :Amid; and a Vice.Atimiral. The two Admirals' ships are three-deekerar and :::the other four sailing-ships two-deckers. I should add, that the ships all look in good order and clean,. and that theylandled their canvass tolerably .1;quick on coming to an anchor."

..ia'he fleet took its departure on Wednesday. The steam-frigate went out morning,--and is supposed to have gone to Dartmouth; as soon as she hove in sight on her return, at three o'clockp.m., the ships got under weigh. "They were alLatanding to the :Westward under single reefed-topsails,. top-

gallant sails, jib, spanker, &c., akfour delook pan. ; at Cve .ni. they were not in sight. "The whole of the fleet got under weigh in the most slovenly manner, and not at all lika ships of war, much less like ships of the.)ine. I sailed round the Friedland and Yalmy, the two flag-ships. They are two beautiful vessels, and in very. nice order about the hull, but not particularly so about the masts and rigging. In the'latter there is a great want of neatness, and things do not look so snug as about our ships of the line. " The French Admiral very kindly allowed all who applied -permission to go on board, and numbers availed themselves of his loudness. An officer from one of the ships landed here, and proceeded- immediately by train to London."

The Standard of Tuesday had some precise information on the subjec of the carrier-pigeons, whose wonderful flight front Sir. John Ross's ships to Scotland we mentioned last week.

" Many contradictory statements have appeared respecting the arrival of these.pigoans ; and more than one paragraph, reporting that ' three of these birds, bringing important despatches, have returned,' has found its way into the public prints. We are glad to have it in our power to give an authentic account of these aerial messommrs.

" On Sunday the 13th of this month, a carrier-pigeon was observed sitting • on the top of a pigeon-housel'at Aimanhill, which, being under repair, was shut up ; and on the Wednesday following, Miss Dunlop (this lady presented the_pigeon ta Sir John Ross) was informed by a friend, that a strange: car- rier-pigeon had taken refuge at Shewalton, the seat of the Lord Justice- , General. The pigeon was secured-and taken to lass Dunlop; who at-once recognized it as one of the young pair, both of which Sir John-Ross had in- . timated to her his intention to send off as soon as he was frozen in for the winter,-and promised to send despatches by them. No letter has, however, been received ,• and although another bird of the same kind-has been seen_ in the neighbourhood which it is thought may be the nude of the one caught, it had not, up to the 24th, been secured. " When the..pigeon in question was taken into the house where it had been reared, and in which are forty nests, the little creature tlew at onceinto _the nest where it had been hatched.

"The foregoing is a simple statement of the fact, and is of great interest in more ways than one. II e should be glad to receive any remarks upon the -flight of these birds from any ornithologist of repute. The probable position of Sir John Boss would be to the Westward of Barrow Strait."

[It is possible, however, that Sir John Ross has been caught, and. fixed for the .winter, in the Middle Ice, at the entrance of Davis's Straits,many hundred.miles nearer home than Barrow's Straits : it will be recollected that some of the recent aceounts.stated that he was uncertain:whether he • should not return to England, when last seen in ]arrow's: Straits.]

Cardinal Wiseman has assumed-the-functions of his hierarchical dig- . -silty, and "given out of the Flaminian •Oate of Rome," on the ,7th•Octo- ber, a-pastoral letter to his Metropolitan. flock,: which. was.:publielp read in all the Roman Catholic -chapels in London last--Sunday.. -Dr: Wise- man announced himself as "Nicholas, by the Divine mercyy, of the holy ,Roman Church, by the title of St. Pudentiana, Cardinal:Meat,. Arch- bishop of Westminster,• and Administrator Apostolic of --the diocese of Southwark." Referring to the-acts of the Pope in the -reestablishment of a Roman Catholic hierarchy in this kingdom,. he proceeds, in further announcement, to explain the-mode of conferring the special " cardinali- . teal" dignity on himself- '.' As if still further to add solemnity and honour before the. Church to this noble act of Apostolic authority,. and to give an.additional mark of paternal benevolence towards the Catholics of. England, • his Holiness was pleased to raise us, in the private consistory of Plonda.y.the 30th of September, to the sank of. Cardinal Priest of the Holy Boman Church. And on the Thursday next-ensuing, being the-3d day of this month-of October, in public oonais- . tory, he delivered to us the insignia of this dignity, the cm-dinalitial hat; assigning us afterwards for our title, in the private consistory which we at- -tended, the church of St. Pudentimia, in which St. Teteris grotuuledly be- lieved to have enjoyed the hospitality of the noble and partly British family of the Senator Pudens."

"Thus, then," he exclaims, "the great work is complete ; what you have so long desired and prayed for is granted! Your beloved country has re- ceived a place among the fair churches which, normally constituted, form . the splendid aggregate of Catholic communion : Catholic England has been restored to its orbit in the ecclesiastical firmament, from which its_ light had long vanished ; and .begins now anew its, course of regularly-adjusted action round the 'centre of-.unity, the.source of jurisdiction, of lightrand of vigour. " Then truly is this day to us a day of joy and exaltation of spirit, the crown lug day of long hopes, and the opening day of bright prospects. How must the saints of our country, whether Roman or British, Saxon or Nor- man, look down from their scats of bliss with beaming glance upon this new evidence of the faith and church which led them to glory ; sympathizing with those who have faithfully adhered to them through centuries of ill re- pute, for the truth's sake, and now reap the fruit of their patience and long suffering ! And all those blessed martyrs of these later ages, who have fought the battleaof the faith under such discouragement, who mourned, more than over their own fetters or their own pain, over the desolate ways of their own Sion, and the departure of England's icligious glory—oh how must they bless God, who bath again visited his people ! how take part in-our joy, as . they see. the lamp of the temple again enkindled and rehrightening--as they behold the silver links of that chain which has connected their country with the see of St. Peter in its vicarial government, changed into burnished gold ; not stronger nor more closely knit, but more beautifully wrought and more brightly arrayed ! "And in nothing will it be fairer or brighter than in this?. that the glow of more fervent love will be upon it. Whatever our-sincere attachment and

unflinching devotion to the Holy See- till now, there is a new ingredient cast into these feelings; a warmer gratitude, a tenderer affection, a profounder .admiration, a boundless and endless sense of obligation for so new, so great, so sublime a gift, will be added to past sentiments of loyalty and fidelity to the Supreme See of Peter ! " In order that thanksgiving may be made with all- becoming solemnity, he enjoins. that there shall be, on the Sunday after the reading of his pas- toral letter, [that is, tomorrow,] " a solemn benediction of the blessed sacrament, at which shall be sung the To Dawn, with the usual versieles and prayers, with the prayer also Fidelium, Deus, _Pastor of Rectory' -for the Pope" ; and the recital of " the collect Pro Gratis:aim Aotione; or thanksgiving, and that for the Pope, in the mass of that day and for two days following." Dr:lillathorne was enthroned as Roman Catholid Bishop of Birming- ham on Sunday. The " cathedral " was densely crowded by tatholic,s,

and by the curious public. Pontifical- high mass was celebrated by the Bishop, • assisted by .Dr, WeedalLand a very numerous retinue of .peiests. 4‘ Altogether from the number of ecclesiastics engaged, and the ,splendour of their habiliments, the proceedings were extremely imposing.'

A sermon was preached by Dr. Newman, now Father Superior of the Oratorians, in Birmingham; and his notoriety attracted a large attend- ance of Protestants. The subject of discourse was the miracle of Christ's walking on the sea ; which was thus made applicable to the present con- juncture of religious events- " God's work was slow, but in the end was sure to be accomplished. His faithful church would ultimately be gathered together in one fold, and the Catholics of England now rejoiced in the restoration of the Roman hierarchy. The people of _England, who for so many years had been separated from the See of Rome, were about, of their own will, to be added to the Holy Church. The preacher contrasted the present with former times : Catholic bishops might now go forth with their crosiers in their hands, and children clad in white testified to the revivification of the Church. The whole face of society was changed from what it was in former days. Christ walked upon the waves, and cried, 'Peace, be still.' They now enjoyed the blessing of that religion which was known only by one name—a holy hierarchy ; that re- ligion which throughout eighteen hundred years had, under the patronage of the saints, ever remained the same. Roman Catholics had, however, become tired of those blessings, and three hundred years ago they were deprived of the hierarchy. The mystery of God's providence was, however, now fulfilled. He (the preacher) did not recollect any people on earth, buethose of Great Britain, who, having once rejected the religion of God, were again restored to the bosom of the Church. The hierarchy was restored—the grave was opened, and Christ was coming out."

In conclusion he said, they knew the piety, the zeal, and the simplicity of the great Pontiff. They knew that the Holy See ordered all things for the glory of God, and not for the obtainment of political power. Let them not on a day like that indulge in a feeling of triumph, but let them express to Almighty God their gratitude for the blessings he had conferred on them. Let them have no fear from the roaring of the lion going about to terrify the weak ; let them pass by heedlessly, and they might be sure they would receive no injury. He had no fear for the zeal of the Pope, the Bishops, or the priests; but he confessed he did fear the degeneracy of the Roman Ca- thohc people. He urged them to be Roman Catholics, not only in name, but in practice ; for they who continued in the commission of sin were not true members of the Catholic Church.

In the evening, Dr. Ullathorne preached an inaugural sermon, which chiefly dwelt on the functions and duties of the episcopal office—

The office of bishop was not voluntarily assumed, but was an appointment by the Holy Pontiff; to whose authority the Catholic clergy were bound to submit. The duties and responsibilities of a bishop were purely spiritual, not secular or political; and as the interests of eternity were infinitely more important than those of time, so the office of bishop was higher and its du- ties more onerous than those of an earthly prince or potentate.

The Bishop of London has given the following reply to the memorial of the Westminster clergy presented to him last week, " craving direc- tions" how to act with reference to the Pope's revival of a Roman Catho- lic hierarchy in this country. "Fulham Oct. 28, 1860. re "Reverend and dear Brethren—The sentiments expressed in the address which you have presented to me are in entire accordance with mine, and I am persuaded that they will be responded to by the unanimous feeling of Protestant England. " The recent assumption of authority by the Bishop of Rome in pretend- ing to parcel out this country into new dioceses, and to appoint Archbishops and Bishops to preside over them, without the consent of the Sovereign, is a schismatical act, without precedent, and one which would not be tolerated by the Government of any Roman Catholic kingdom. I trust that it will not be quietly submitted to by our own. " Hitherto, from the time of the Reformation, the Pope has been contented with providing for the spiritual superintendence of his adherents in this coun- try by the appointment of Vicars-Apostolic, Bishops who took their titles as such not from any real or pretended sees in England, but from some imaginary dioceses in partibus infidelium. In this there was no assumption of spiritual authority over any other of the subjects of the English Crown than those of his own communion. But the appointment of Bishops to preside over new dioceses in England, constituted by a Papal brief, is virtually a denial of the legitimate authority of the British Sovereign and of the English Episcopate ; a denial also of the validity of our orders, and an assertion of spiritual juris- diction over the whole Christian people of the realm.

" That it is regarded in this light by the Pope's adherents in this country, is apparent from the language in which they felicitate themselves upon this arrogant attempt to stretch his authority beyond its proper limits. A journal which is generally believed to express the sentiments of a large portion of them at least, (not, I believe, of all,) points out in the following words the difference between the Vicars-Apostolic and the pretended diocesan Bishops. Alluding to certain members of our Church who are accused of a leaning towards Rome, it says—' In this act of Pope Pius IX they have that open declaration for which they have been so long professing to look. "Rome," said they, "has never yet formally spoken against us. Her Bishops, indeed, are sent here, not as having any local authority, but as pastors without flocks • Bishops of Tadmor in the Desert, or of the ruins of Babylon, in- truding into territories which they cannot formally claim as their own." This specious argument is once for all silenced. Rome has more than spoken ; she has spoken and acted ! she has again divided our land into dioceses, and has placed over each a pastor, to whom all baptized persons, without exception, within that district, are openly commanded to submit themselves in all ecclesiastical matters, under pain of damnation • and the Anglican sees, those ghosts of realities long passed away, are utterly ignored.' "The advisers of the Pope have skilfully contrived so to shape this en- croachment upon the rights and honour of the Crown and Church of Eng- land, that his nominees to imaginarydioceses will not actually offend against the letter of the law by assuming the titles which he has pretended to :con- fer upon them ; but that it is contrary to the spirit of the laws there can be no doubt. As little doubt can there be that it is intended as an insult to the Sovereign and the Church of this country.

"With respect to the conduct proper to be pursued by you on this occa- sion, it ought, in my opinion, to be temperate and charitable, but firm and uncompromising. . "You will do well to call the attention of your people to the real purport of this open assault upon our Reformed Church ; and to take measures for petitioning the Legislature to carry out the principle of the statute which forbids all persons other than the persons authorized by law to assume or use the name, style, or title of any Archbishop of any province, Bishop of any bishopric, or Dean of any deanery in England or Ireland, by extending the prohibition to any pretended diocese or deaneries in these realms. "It is possible that such prohibitions might not had e the effect of prevent- ing the assumption of titles by the Papal Bishops when dealing with their own adherents ; but it would make the assumption unlawful, and it would mark the determination of the people of this country not to permit any fo- reign prelate to exercise spiritual jurisdiction over them. "But there are other duties besides those of protesting and petitioning, the

performance of which seems to be specially required of us by the present emergency. Unwilling as I am to encourage controversial preaching, I must say that we are driven to have recourse to it by this attempted usurpation of authority on the part of the Bishop of Rome, and by the activity and subtilty of his emissaries in all parts of the kingdom. We are surely in upon for a more than ordinary measure of watchfulness and diligence fulfilling the promise which we gave when we were admitted to the priesthood, 'to banish and drive away all erroneous and strange doctrines contrary to God's Word.'

"Let us be careful, as well in our public ministrations as in our private monitions and exhortations, to refrain from doing or saying anything which may seem to indicate a wish to make the slightest approach to a church which, far from manifesting a desire to lay aside any of the errors and su- perstitions which compelled us to separate fro& it, is now reasserting them with a degree of boldness unknown since the Reformation, is adding new credenda to its articles of faith, and is undisguisedly teaching its members the duty of worshiping the creature with the worship due only to the Creator. "After all, I am much inclined to believe, that in having recourse to the extreme measure which has called forth your address, the Court of Rome has been ill advised as regards the extension of its influence in this country, and that it has taken a false step. That step will, I am convinced, tend to strengthen the Protestant feeling of the people at large ; and will cause some persons to hesitate and draw back who are disposed to make concessions to Rome under a mistaken impression that she has abated somewhat of her ancient pretensions, and that a union of the two Churches might possibly be effected without the sacrifice of any fundamental principle. Hardly any- thing could more effectually dispel that illusion than the recent proceeding of the Roman Pontiff. He virtually condemns and excommunicates the whole English Church—Sovereign, Bishops, clergy, and laity ; and shuts the door against every scheme of comprehension save that which should take for its basis an entire and unconditional submission to the spiritual authority of the Bishop of Rome.

"That it may please the Divine Head of the Church, who is the true centre of unity and the only infallible judge, to guide and strenghten us in these days of rebuke and trial, to open our eyes to the dangers we are in by our unhappy divisions, and to unite us in one holy bond of truth and peace, of faith and charity, is the earnest prayer,

"Reverend and dear brethren, of your affectionate friend and Bishop,

"C. J. LONDON.

"To the Reverend the Clergy of the City and Liberties of Westminster."

An Exeter paper, Trewman's Flying Post, gives " the following official letter with reference to the supposed sanction of Government to the steps- recently taken by the Pope." The letter is a reply to one written by a

citizen of Exeter. " Downing Street, 28th October 1850.

" Sir—I am directed by Lord John Russell to inform you, in answer to your question whether a list of Roman Catholic Prelates contained in a news- paper is correct, that he has no other means of judging than you have yourself, —namely by reading the bull of the Pope in the newspapers. To the second question, whether the creation of the above Popish bishoprics, or the appointments thereto, have received the sanction and approbation of her Majesty's Ministers,' I am directed to answer, that they have not re- ceived such sanction and approbation. I am directed further to state, that Lord Minto, when at Rome, was not consulted on this measure, and never gave any countenance to it.

"I have the honour to be, Sir, your obedient servant, R. W. Gnaw."

The objectors to Sunday trains conceived that the governing body of the Great Western Railway would be the most open of those bodies to an appeal for the prevention of the practice which encountered their an- tipathies : we mentioned that communications had been addressed to the Directors by portions of the inhabitants and even the authorities of EOM towns, as in the case of Bristol and Oxford, and that the agitators found an influential backer in Bishop Wilberforce. The Board of Directors have reconsidered the whole question, and have replied to the memorials pressed on them, in the following well-written letter ; and no doubt the example of the Great Western Company will influence all the other com- panies in the English division of the island.

"Reverend Sir—In reply to your letter of the 3d instant, I am desired to inform you, that since the receipt of the memorial from the Lord Bishop of the diocese, and other clergymen residing in and near Bristol, as well as similar memorials and letters from others, the Directors have felt it their duty to reconsider the whole subject of Sunday excursion-trains. " It may be here mentioned, that the consent of this company to provide. occasional trains of that description was only given after experience had shown that there was, on the part of persons employed incessantly in shops or factories during every other day in the week, a growing requirement for relaxation during the Sunday, by passing it either at the sea-side or in the country, instead of remaining to spend both their time and their money at some suburban tavern.

" With one or two exceptions, every Metropolitan railway company had afforded the facility of cheap trains to the trading and poorer classes, whose subsistence depends on their continued labour from the Monday morning until Saturday night, to enable them to quit London early on the Sunday morning and return home at night. "It had been ascertained that persons resorting to those trains conducted themselves for the most part dung the Sabbath withexemplary decorum and propriety. Many who, while in London, never quitted their rooms to attend Divine service, were known to go to church in the country ; attracted to it, there can be little doubt, in numerous instances, by relations or friends, whom they were enabled to visit by means of those cheap fares. A decided improvement, not only in the character and habits, but also in the health of the industrial classes of the Metropolis, has been remarked as mainly to be ascribed to the opportunity of change and relaxation afforded by that system.

" The Directors having satisfied themselves that such cheap trains were alike beneficial to the company and conducive to the welfare of those classes, (peculiarly entitled, as they conceive, to every such consideration,) thought it obligatory upon them to accord the same facility to the public as other com- panies did ; the only means of travelling into the West of England being exclusively under their control.

"After a very careful deliberation of them atter, weighing well the va- rious objections urged against Bitch excursion-trains, as adverted to in the memorials, I am desired to acquaint you, that the Directors cannot perceive in them sufficient grounds to justify the reversal of their former determina- tion. Entertaining very high respect for the motives and feelings of all who have signed those representations, they regret that it is not consistent with their sense of duty to withhold from the trading and working population of this country such social and moral benefits and relaxation from their daily labour as railways can alone confer by a system of cheap trains—calculated as they believe such excursions are to promote a better observance rather than a desecration of the Sabbath by those who do not wilfully misuse them. "I have the honour to be, Reverend Sir, your faithful obedient servant,

C. A. SAUNDERS, Secretary.. "London Terminus, Paddington, Oct. 25. "Reverend R. A. Taylor, M.A., St. Werburgh's, Bristol."

The line of electric telegraph from Crewe to Chester, Birkenhead, and Holyhead, is now being staked out by the Electric Telegraph Company.

We bear that the reduction of one half in the usual fares to Burton- upon-Trent, on the Midland branch line, has realized the expectations of the directors, more money having been received by the reduced prices than for the full fares.—Leicester Chronicle.

The Common Law Commissioners are prosecuting their labours with exemplary diligence. We have reason to believe that their report will be ready before the meeting of Parliament, and that it will contain some va- luable recommendations. The attention of the Commissioners has been especially directed to the effects of the County Courts Extension Act upon the business of the Courts at Westminster Hall. It is apprehended, not without great reason, that, in addition to the inducements of a cheap tribunal and a speedy administration of jdstice in the local courts, the existing costly and complex mode of proceeding by action in all courts of common law will contribute still further to crowd and increase the popu- larity of the inferior tribunals. To remedy this evil, we anticipate that the report will enforce the necessity of the utmost simplification, eco- nomy, and despatch, in all future proceedings in the common law courts, and the abolition of all technicalities which impede a speedy trial on the merits.—Globe.

The Registrar-General's quarterly returns of the births and deaths, and of the marriages, in England and Wales, are "favourable in a high de- gree." The return of the births and deaths extends to the 30th Septem- ber • that of the marriages to the 30th June last-

he deaths were but 86,044; whereas the deaths in the same quarter of 1849 were 135,358. The last number is of course swelled by the mortality- from the cholera ; but the provincial returns generally concur in declaring that sanatory measures have increased the chance of life throughout the kingdom. The Registrar thus sums up the results of his tables— "The mortality is much below the average, and the public health has never been so good since 1845 as in the present quarter. The rate of mor- tality. is 1.901 per cent per annum. At this rate one in 211 persons living died in three months. The chances of living through this quarter were 210 to 1; the average chances of living through three summer months (1839, 50) for persons of all ages, being 192 to 1. "The rate of mortality in 506 districts, comprising chiefly small towns and country parishes, was 1.693 per cent per annum in the quarter ; the average summer rate (1840, 50), being 1.832 per cent. The rate of mor- tality in 117 districts, comprising the large towns, was 2.206 per cent per annum ; the average rate (1840, 50) being 2.517 per cent. The juxtaposi- tion of the figures in the table suggests the melancholy reflection that more than seven millions of people, inhabiting the Metropolis and all the cities and great centres of industry, are still exposed to a mortality which is not inherent in their nature, but is due to the artificial circumstances in which they are placed. The waters, the sewers, the soils, the churchyards, the houses, emit poisons. To every 10 natural deaths, 4 violent deaths—deaths from these poisonous exhalations—are superadded." The marriages are returned by more than 12,000 churches or chapels, 2869 registered places of worship connected with the Established Church, and 623 superintendent registrars' offices. The results are given collec- tively, and in groups showing the special movement of particular districts. It is noteworthy, that the average increase of marriages invariably accom- panies prosperity, and the average decrease attends a reverse of prosperity in manufacturing and commercial pursuits : the remarkable exception of agricultural Lincolnshire may be held to prove the general rule- ' The marriages in all England in the quarter ending June 30, 1860, were 59,018. The numbers in the spring quarter declined rapidly from 1846 to 1848, and rose still more rapidly up to 1850 ; thus following and portray- ing the state of the country. London, Cheshire, Lancashire, the West Ri- ding of Yorkshire, and South Wales, presented the greatest fluctuations, and the greatest increase of marriages in the June quarter 1850. The marriages increased in Middlesex, Hertford, and Buckingham ; in Essex and Suffolk the marriages declined, as they did also in Devon and Cornwall ; in Shrop- shire, Staffordshire, Worcestershire, and Warwickshire—the coal and iron re- gions—the marriages increased ; they increased also in Leicestershire, Not- tinghamshire, and Derbyshire—the seats of the thread, lace, and other manufactures. In the great agricultural county of Lincoln the fluctuation was in an opposite direction; the marriages rose from June 1846 to June 1848, and then declined. In the East and North Ridings, Durham, Northumberland and Cumberland, and Westmoreland, in Monmouthshire, and North Wales, the marriages increased in 1850. The marriages in Ports- mouth and Plymouth declined ; in Bristol and Cheltenham they increased ; in Stoke-upon-Trent, (the Potteries,) in Coventry, and in Birmingham, Liverpool, and Manchester, the increase was considerable. It was still greater in Leeds ; Halifax and Sheffield shared in the general advance. Hull, Wolverhampton, and Salisbury—where cholera was exceedingly fatal in 0.649—have little more than the average marriages."

Of births, 146,970 were registered. " The births are invariably more numerous in the first and second than in the third and fourth quarters of the year ; and they are in the last fewer by -8,757 than in the previous June quarter : the number and the proportion to the population are, however greater in this than in any of the come- !pending quarters since 1839. 'The increase of births is greatest in London, in the West Midland Counties, and in the North Western Counties, Cheshire, and Lancashire."

The bearing of these details on the statistics of our population, is thus shown- " The excess of births registered over deaths in the quarter was 60,926; which, if all the births were registered, would be the natural increase of the population. In the same time, 53,703 emigrants sailed from three ports of England; 1394 from Plymouth, 7684 from London, and 44,625 from Liver- pool. This leaves a narrow margin for the increase of population ; but many of the emigrants entered at the English ports are from Ireland, which has been for many years diffusing a stream of natives over England as well as America. The progress of the whole fixed and moving population of the country can only be determined accurately from a comparison of the returns of births and deaths, of emigrants and immigrants, with periodical enumera-

tions." •

Sir Edward Lytton Bulwer sends to a morning paper a contradiction of the provincial report that he has "lost the use of both his ears, and been in -a very desponding way ever since." " Permit me to inform you," says Sir Edward, with sarcastic facetiousness, "that I have as much the use of my 'ears as ever I had ; and, if I am in a desponding way, (which I am not my- self aware of,) it must be rather owing to the use of my hearing than to any loss of that faculty, since it does not seem to me that the average quality of talk (and the rumour in question is perhaps a fair specimen of it) pos.

sasses much that is calculated to cheer the animal spirits, or contribute to intellectual enjoyment—I should rather say the contrary."

We are glad to understand that the committee for the management of tie Bombay steam fund have presented the widow of the late Lieutenant Wag- horn, through their agents in this country, with a Government annuity of 251. for the remainder of her life, out of the unappropriated balance of the fund in their hands. This fund was constituted by the proceeds of a public subscription at Bombay, in 1833, for the purpose of promoting the great ob- ject of steam communication with England ; and the amount raised has been appropriated from time to time in accordance with that design. The sta- tion-houses for the overland route across the Desert were constructed by these means.—Times. [The memory of her husband now deservedly insures to Mrs. Waghorn three pensions—all of them very moderate ones ; one from the Crown, one from the East India Company, and the one above mentioned.]

"A clergyman of the Church of England, with the approbation of his Royal Highness Prince Albert," proposes, in an anonymous letter to the Morning Chronicle, "to give a prize or prizes of one hundred guineas for the best essay or essays on the following subject "-

`•

In what manner the union of all nations, at the Grand Exhibition in 1851, may be made the most conducive to the glory of God in promoting the moral welfare of mankind."

He is " anxious, previously to the final arrangements, to avail himself of the opinions of the leaders of the public mind," and would be extremely obliged by any suggestions from the editor or the correspondents of the jour- nal, to enable him to present the proposition before the public in a form meat calculated to accomplish the object he has in view.

A correspondent of the Horning Chronicle, in a letter describing the pro- bable extent to which our scientific instrument-makers will enter the com- petition of the Hyde Park Show, next year, announces a remarkable inven- tion. " We have even an eminent engineer in Lancashire, famed for the vastness and colossal proportions of his wondrous works, devoting his mind and energy to the production of such an instrument as will far outstep our imagination or sight,—such a machine as shall in a moment detect the yet unknown inaccuracy of our most perfect national scales; which shall show by one sensitive touch how the devoted labour, the painful sight, and the unceasing study of years in obtaining accuracy of division, have been misap- plied. This machine will quickly, palpably, and satisfactorily show to us a difference of the 70,000th of an inch, and will give us the means of pro- ducing scales of precisely equal length [with each other]."

The Commissioners of Inland Revenue have fined the Dundee and Arbroath Railway 1001. for overcharges on Parliamentary or third-class passengers, besides taxing the whole of the money paid by the passengers at the rate of five per cent, as if it had been paid by first and second class passengers. Similar overcharges made by the Stirlingshire Midland Junction are to be dealt with in the same way, under the General Railway Act.

The Boston Transcript [United States paper] suggests, on the authority of a correspondent, "that a line of first-class packets will agree, provided 100 passengers can be obtained, to furnish a passage to Liverpool and back, with good accommodation and excellent fare, for GS dollars each passenger—to leave Boston about the middle of May next, and to sail on the return about the 1st of August. It is stated that the trip can be made, including the ex- penses of three weeks' residence in London and three weeks devoted to ex- cursions in various parts of England, at a cost of 100 dollars."