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MONDAY, JULY 29TH.

Ox Saturday, the Court of Probate and Divorce rose for the holidays. Since the commencement of the legal year in November last, Sir Creswell Creswell, who has sat a greater number of days than any other judge in Westminster Hall, has cleared off nearly the whole of the heavy arrears which had previously accumulated. This result is due to the Act of last year which enables the Judge Ordinary to dissolve marriages when sitting alone. During the above period, the court has pronounced one hundred and sixty-four decrees for the dissolution of marriage, ten for judicial separation, and nine decla- rations of nullity ; twenty-five petitions have failed, making a total of two hundred and one divorce causes, in addition to a vast number of notices. Fifty-nine testamentary causes were also decided. Had It not been for Miss Shedden's petition, and the Graham will cause, which occupied respectively fourteen and eleven days, the court would have disposed of all the business before it. The number of new cases already on the paper for next term is forty. — Mr. William Dawton, paper manufacturer, of Eswick, was charged, on Friday, before the county magistrates at Exeter, with having defrauded the revenue to the enormous amount of 18,800/. by evasions of the paper duty. There were eleven counts in the in- dictment, but the Inland Revenue had agreed to accept a judgment of 1400/. under the first count, to which the accused accordingly pleaded guilty. — Another lady has been killed by her crinoline. Dr. Brodhurst, of 20, Grosvenor-street, had just gone up-stairs on Tuesday, leaving his wife writing, when lie was recalled by hearing her scream. He rushed down, and found her on fire, the sleeve of her white muslin dress having caught as she stretched her hand over the taper. Every means was tried to extinguish the fire, but the unfortunate lady had steel hoops on, which would not yield, and had to be cut off before the fire could be extinguished. She was dreadfully burned on the arms and legs, and died on the following day from the effect of the injuries. Dr. Gull, in giving medical evidence on the case, observed, that a little sulphate of soda put into each dress by the laundress would render it perfectly incombustible, at the cost of about one- tenth of a farthing per dress. The jury returned a verdict of acci- dental death.

— The summary of the Board of Trade returns for the month has been published, and shows an increase in exports from 9,236,000/. to 10,362,000/, the increase being chiefly in cotton. The total exports of the half-year have been 60,143,000/. against 62,01%000/. in the corresponding half of last year—a decrease of three per cent. The imports for the month have fallen off, the principal items being:

Imported. Exported.

Month of 1860. June, • 1861. Month of 1860. June, 1861.

Flax, cwt.

Hemp, cwt. 201,725 74,603 '151,350 133,667

Raw silk, lb 922,957 .169,922 413,185 302,143 Cotton, cwt. 2,102,048 1,349,472 219,085 252,388

Wool, lb.

23,540,637

19,682,520 4,442,468 6,611,118 Tallow, cwt. 86,287 54,465 353 6,286 The import of cotton from America has been 927,000 bales, half that of the same month in the preceding year, and from India 350,000 bales, or double the quantity in July, 1861. — The appointment of Sir IL Peel has been received with com- mendation by the Conservative journals in Ireland: The Daily Ex- press thinks him almost an Irishman, and Sanders's News Lefler speaks admiringly of his capacity. Both evidently expect the new Secretary to be favourable to the Orangemen.

TUESDAY, JULY 30TH.

• — The election for Andover came off yesterday. There was no Opposition to the return of the Conservative candidate, Mr. Beaumont Coles, who represented the borough from 1847 to 1857-

— The Select Committee of the House of Commons appointed to consider the question of granting public aid towards the education of destitute children, have agreed upoh their report. They consider that for the first class of children in question, those who have ac- quired criminal or vagrant habits, sufficient provision is made by the Industrial Schools Bill, which ought, at least, to have a full trial before any further Government grant is made to this class. For the next, or destitute class, comprising orphans, children of out-door paupers, &c, education ought to be provided, under Mr. Denison's Act, by the guardians of the poor, but the committee are of opinion that, unless that Act be altered so as to make it compulsory upon the guardians to make the child's being sent to school an absolute con- dition of relief, this provision will not be sufficiently carried. out. Children receiving in-door relief are provided for in union schools. After deducting these classes, there remains a residue, of the num- bers of which, however, the committee had no evidence. With respect to the education of this class, the committee have evidence that, with strenuous local exertion, the poorest and lowest town dis- tricts can maintain schools under the Privy Council system, and the poorest parents are able and willing to pay the necessary fees. Aid to ragged schools where children are fed or lodged is simply aid in relief of the poor rate. As for ragged schools which do not feed or clothe, they have at present certain grants from Government, some of which have been grossly abused, and should be discontinued. The committee recommend that admission should be secured for the destitute class into Government schools ; and such children as are not reached by the Industrial School Bill now before Parliament, should be left to the missionary exertions of the ragged school mana- gers, without Government interference.

— George Smith was tried at Lincoln Assizes on Monday for the murder of his father. The deceased was a cordwainer, who had saved enough from his earnings to buy four houses at Ilkerton, in one of which lie lived, and had a balance of 156/. in the savings-bank. The prisoner was the oldest of three sons, who all lived with their father, and it appeared in evidence, that having learnt by inquiry that if his father died intestate he would succeed to all the house property, he had made arrangements to marry on the strength of the fortune he should thus acquire. On the first of May, he went to Nottingham with a friend, and attempted to draw 401. of his father's account at the savings-bank, but was refused, not having his father's signature. He then obtained a loan of a pound on the bank-book, and bought a pistol for 4s. 6d., which he subsequently showed to a girl he met at a public-house, telling her lie would shoot his own father if he offended him. On his arrival home, about twelve, his father opened the door, and was remonstrating with him on his late hours, when the prisoner shot him over the left ear with the pistol, causing his immediate death. The two younger sons appear to have been too much fright- ened to come down stairs when they heard the report of the pistol, but ran to the window, crying " Murder ! George is murdering father." Their sister and her husband, who lived next door, were soon on the spot, and found deceased quite dead. The prisoner soon afterwards came in, and when accused of the murder, declared his innocence, and asserted that his father had shot himself with a pistol, which he (the prisoner) had since thrown away. The jury found a verdict of guilty, and the prisoner, who repeated his previous state- ment, that his father committed suicide, with great coolness and effrontery, was sentenced to death.

— The nomination for the City of London took place yesterday in the Guildhall. Mr. Gibbs proposed, and Mr. White seconded, the Lord Mayor. Mr. Hodgson, M.P., and Mr. Hall performed the same offices for Mr. Wood. The Lord Mayor was received with tremendous cheering. When the enthusiasm of his supporters allowed his voice to be heard, the right honourable gentleman said,—" The occasion which has brought inc before you to-day a few weeks ago was entirely unforeseen, and I little thought, when the possibility of a vacancy in

the representation of the City was first mentioned, that I should have any personal interest in the matter. I come forward, however, in obedience to a requisition signed by so large a number of gentlemen, by gentlemen of such high position, the result of a movement so spontaneous and so unanimous, and expressed in language so emphatic, that no one with the slightest spark of public spirit within him could possibly- resist it. I, at least, could not resist it, and I have therefore resigned that seat which for fourteen years uninterruptedly I have occupied, and I have taken leave (in a Parliamentary sense, but in no other) of my friends at Andover: I do not think that they will impute blame to me for having so responded to your call ; on the contrary, I think they will rejoice in seeing that the man whom they had chosen for their member was thought worthy to be the repre- sentative of the great interests of this the most important body in the world. It can hardly be necessary for me to appeal to the antecedents of my public life, but, as aspersions have been freely circulated with regard to me, I claim your permission to say that I have always been in favour of free trade; that I have always been in favour of civil and religious liberty ; that I voted for the admission of Jews to Parlia- ment, and that I voted five years a,go for the abolition of church rates, because I then felt, as I now feel, that church rates imposed on those who cannot participate in the ministration of the Church are a grievance from which they ought to be relieved. Parliament has, however, recently shown a disposition to deal with this question in such a manner as to relieve dissenters, and at the same time to pre- serve the rate. I therefore voted against Sir John Trela.wny's

do my best to serve you efficiently ; but if, on the contrary, it is your pleasure that I should retire from public life, I shall be satisfied with having endeavoured to do my duty on this, as I have endeavoured to do it on all previous occasions." Mr. Western Wood then stood forward in his turn, and his friends, stimulated apparently by the reception which their opponents had given the Lord Mayor, broke out into cheering so long and so well sustained that the Conservative demonstration was quite thrown into the shade. When comparative silence was restored, Mr. Wood said: "In appearing here to solicit your suffrages, my first duty is to thank you siucerely for the kind reception you have accorded to me. I have ventilated my political opinions sufficiently to make them known to every elector of the City of London, and there is no need, there- fore, for me to detain you here by recapitulating them. I will only say one word in reference to the single point on which there is any want of harmony between my principles and those of the Liberal electors of the City of London. I refer, as you may suppose, to the question of church rates. All that I require on that point for the Church is the right to the machinery of a rate on all those who volun- tarily submit themselves to her jurisdiction. I would not compel the members of any denomination to pay church rates who do not volun- tarily submit themselves to her jurisdiction. I am quite aware that the time has fully come when this vexed question ought to be, and must be, settled ; and all that I can say is, that if nothing short of immediate and total abolition can effect that, settlement, so let it be. If, when the question comes to be discussed, I have not been induced by argument to change my conscientious convictions, I shall bow with submission, and without alarm, to the decision of the majority. I will say further, too, that if in the mean time I am convinced of my present error, I will freely confess my mistake, and act as readily upon that conviction as I now conscientiously resist it. In present- ing myself to the constituency of London, I have not pretended to any claim on its notice. If I have any claims from my antecedents, or any hereditary claims, I ask you to throw them over. This is no contest between Inc and the Lord Mayor; it is simply and purely a contest of political principle. Without hesitation, I call on the whole body of the Liberal electors of the City of London to come forward in support of those principles which for so many years they have never abandoned. I ask you to present yourselves at the poll on Tuesday morning one and all, to return your Liberal candidate and keep out the Tory." The show of hands then took place, and resulted in a majority of fully three-fourths for Mr. Wood. A poll was then demanded on behalf of the Lord Mayor, and fixed for the following day. — "Dr." Griffiths Jones was brought up yesterday before Alder- man Hale for further examination, on the charge of forging the will of Mrs. Sophia Ileitis. The "Doctor" is the individual who obtained a diploma by inducing a medical student to personate him at Aber- deen, which he himself had never visited. The landlady of the house in which Mrs. Bellis lived, deposed that she was deaf and nearly blind, and had told her to write to "Dr." Jones. On his arrival she talked to him, and became much excited, speaking of him afterwards as an angel from heaven. Mr. J. E. Gardiner deposed that he was Mrs. Bellis's agent, and was asked by her to draw up a will, which he re- fused to do, not considering her in a fit state of mind. He did not believe the signature genuine. Dr. Jones then introduced Mr. Fitch, a solicitor, who deposed that he took Mrs. Bellis's instructions, and considered her a very shrewd, intelligent woman. He left the will with Dr. Jones. This witness, being pressed, admitted to having prepared a draft will for Dr. Jones, which he forgot when he signed an affidavit that no other will executed or unexecuted was in exist- ence. Mr. R. Huthmans, a mechanical engineer, at Oxford, de- posed : "Dr. Jones married my wife's niece. I was at his house on the Wednesday referred to. Dr. Jones told me in Mrs. Bellis's pre- sence that she had obstinately refused to see another medical man; but I recommended him to call some one in, and Ile sent the nurse for Dr. Murphy. In the absence of the nurse Mrs. Bellis ex- pressed a wish to execute the will, and Dr. Jones asked me to call up his man to witness it with me, and I did so, and on returning to the room I heard him assuring her that her wishes should be carried out, and that she should be buried by the side of her son Frank. Dr. Jones asked me to explain the will to her, and I told her that she was leaving all her property to Dr. Jones, except 500/. to the Society for the Prevention ot Cruelty to Animals. She said that was quite correct. She then attempted to sign the will, but her hand trembled, and the ink falling from the pen, blotted the will. She then asked Dr. Jones to assist. her, and he held her hand while she signed her name to the will produced. I gave her the will and she handed it to Dr. Jones. She appeared in full possession of all her mental faculties." The accused was committed for trial, bail being refused. — Mr. R. A. Westbrook, a solicitor, divorced from his wife, has been charged with stabbing Mrs. Cathrey, at whose house he resided. He had gone to the Opera with Mrs. Cathrey, where something occurred which annoyed her; and on their return a quarrel arose at supper, when, according to the evidence given by Mr. Cathrey, a son of deceased, a knife was thrown at his mother, which struck her in the abdomen. Mrs. Cathrey withdrew the knife, and whispered to Mr. Westbrook that she was wounded, whereupon he sent for the doctor, who had attended Mrs. Catlirey for twenty years. This gentleman explained the character of the wound which had injured the bowels, and deposed that Mrs. Cathrey considered it accidental. Mr. Westbrook admitted most of the facts alleged ; and the only other evidence of importance was that of Mrs. G. McCarthy, who swore that Mrs. Bryant, a fourth person present at the supper, had told her that Mr. Westbrook stabbed deceased with an oath. This Mrs. Bryant denied; but Mrs. Hare, another witness, reaffirmed the same fact. Mr. Cathrey, son of the deceased, was recalled, and deposed to having heard Mrs. McCarthy threathen Mr. Westbrook, which Mrs. McCarthy partly denied. The jury finally gave in a verdict of manslaughter. It was proved that the deceased wore no stays, and had on a thin dress and three petticoats, through all of which the knife passed. Mr. West- brook was said in the course of the inquiry to be a man of very violent temper. The knife thrown was a light supper knife, sharpened from use on both sides. The dress does not appear to have been examined. A knife to fall with such force when thrown must have struck with its point slightly downwards. — Mr. T. Dawson, medical officer, North Isles, writes to the Times to announce an important discovery. It is nothing less than a new bank of cod, at a place called Rockall, three hundred and sixty miles south of North Isles. The bank was discovered by Captain Rhodes, master of the Resolution, of London, who had a hint of its existence thirteen years ago from the mate of an Irish vessel. He sailed with two vessels on the 2nd July, and returned on the 13th of the same month with twenty-seven tons of the largest cod. Mr. Dawson says the bank "is haunted by blue sharks ; but according to Captain Rhodes they caught the fish as fast as they could pull. The livers of the cod, he states, were also very rich, and produced large quantities of oil. I have examined the cod ; they are very large and very thick ; the tusks are very thick and fat, but shorter than usual, while the ling are the same as those caught at other places. This solitary rock in the ocean, which will for a time become the El Dorado of our cod smacks, rises about the height of a ship above the sea." The two vessels have again started for the fishing-e.round, and when they return Mr. Dawson will forward more particulars of their suc- cess, and Captains Rhodes and Gardener will be most happy to give every information for the guidance of others.

— The report of the Commissioners of the Thames embankment has been published, and the following paragraph contains the sub- stance of their recommendation; "Having regard to these and other considerations, we are of opinion that we shall best fulfil your Majesty's instructions and provide for the requirements of the public by establishing a spacious thoroughfare between Westminster-bridge and Blackfriars-bridge by means of an embankment and roadway; and that the new thoroughfare thus created should be continued on eastward from Blackfriars-bridge by a new street, according to the line formerly laid down by Mr. Bunning, the City's architect, from the west end of Earl-street, across Cannon-street to the Mansion-house. Without such a street no relief whatever would be given to the crowded thoroughfares of Ludgate-hill, St. Paul's-churchyard, and Cheapside." The road would be about 100 feet wide, and pierced with a low-level sewer. A space of about 120 feet will be left between the road and the river-wall, which the Commissioners re- commend should be laid out in gardens for the accommodation of the houses. The Templars are to have their own plot to themselves, a poor compensation for a road running just at the foot of their gardens, and shutting them out from the river.

— Mr. W. Codling, M.D., of Guy's Hospital, supplies the follow- ing recipe for rendering muslin dresses incombustible : " Muslins, &c., steeped in a seven per oent. solution of sulphate of ammonia, or a twenty per cent. solution of tungstate of soda, and then dried, may i be held n the flame of a candle or gas-lamp without taking fire. That portion of the stuff in contact with the light becomes charred and destroyed, but it does not inflame, and consequently the burning state does not spread to the rest of the material.'

WEDNESDAY, JULY 31ST.

— Yesterday's Gazette announces the elevation of Lord John Russell to the peerage by the titles of Earl Russell, of Kingston Russell, in the county of Dorset, Viscount Amberley, of Amberley, in the county of Gloucester, and Ardsalla, in the county of Meath. — Mr. O'Malley Irwin, whose petition for inquiry into the "false and fraudulent practices" of Mr. Lever, with regard to the Galway subsidy, gave rise to such warm discussion in the House of Commons, has adopted another method of assailing that gentleman's character. Mr. Lever appeared yesterday at Westminster Police-court in answer to a summons obtained by Mr. Irwin, charging him with the publica- tion of a defamatory libel. Mr. Irwin was examined in support of the charge, and conducted himself in the most extraordinary manner, contumally launching out into incoherent invectives against the de- fendant, and persisting in giving the most evasive answers to the questions of the defendant's counsel. After a desperate attempt to avoid giving a direct ansiver, he was forced to admit that he had been convicted of forgery in 1834, had been imprisoned in Kilmainham Gaol in consequence, but had since denied those two facts upon oath. The upshot of the case was that the magistrate dismissed the sum- mons, observing that the case for the prosecution had not been sup- ported by any evidence whatever.

— Mrs. Amelia Littleton, the wife of a gentleman of independent fortune, was found drowned in the Long-pond at Clapham, last Mon- day week. Reports were subsequently circulated in the neighbour- hood that the deceased had been seen near the spot early on the . same morning quarrelling with her husband, and that cries of "Mur- der !" had also been heard on the common. Pending the inquest on the body of his wife, the husband committed suicide. At the inquest evidence was adduced confirming, the above reports, and attributing the suicide of the husband. to his dread of encountering the suspicions which were directed towards him, though actually innocent. The verdict was "That the deceased came to Iher death by drowning, but there was no evidence to show how she got into the water."

— Mr. Cardwell was yesterday re-elected, without opposition, for Oxford. — The contest for the City was decided yesterday. The polling' commenced at the usual hour, and Mr. Wood immediately took a decided lead, which he maintained throughout the day by majorities varying from 129 at 12 o'clock, to 472 at the close of the pull.

The numbers were—

Wood 5747 Cubitt 5241-506 The election was conducted in a very quiet and orderly manner, and no special interest attached to any of the proceedings. The constituency numbers over 16,000, after allowing for deaths, double entries, &c., so that not two-thirds of the electors have recorded their votes. On the occasion of the contest in 1843, be- tween Mr. Thomas Baring and Mr. Pattison, more than 12,000 voted, though the constituency was smaller than at present.

— The Duke of Buckingham died on Monday night at the age of 64. Though buried in comparative obsemity for the last twenty years, and only known durin....,c, that period as an author, the history of his splendid fortune and his desperate ruin is still remembered, and though since that ruin he took no part in politics, his political memory lives in the " Chandos clause of the Reform Bill." His Grace, Richard Plantagenet Temple-Brydges-Nugent-Chandos-Gren- ville, was Duke and 'Marquis of Buckingham and Chandos, Earl Temple, Viscount and Baron Cobham, and in the peerage of Ireland, Earl Nugent. He married in 1819 Lady Mary Campbell, sister of the present Marquis of Breadalbane, from whom he was afterwards divorced. By her he had two children, the Marquis of Chandos, who suceeds him in the title, and Lady Anne Gore Langton. — Mr. H. R. Williams, a large importer of cheap French wines, ,has compiled a table from official sources, stating the importation of wines during the first six months of the present year, .compared with the corresponding six months of the years 1857-60, with a view to showing the increased consumptionconsequent upon theChancellor of the Exchequer's reduction of duty. He sums up his statistics in a letter to the Times: For the first six months of the years 1857-9, the average importation, after deducting 204,303 gallons of foreign and colonial wine exported, was 3,355,103 gallons for home consump- tion' paying a net duty of 923,542/. 17s. Comparing this with the last half-year, I find that 6,105,578 gallons paid duty as under : Class A .£32,736 5 , gallons,

Class B 266,226 gallons, at 2s. 9d. ...... 23,294 15

Class C 4,503,984 gallons., at is. 5d. 544,231 8

Class D 111,626 gallons, at 2s. lid 16,278 16 Class E 564,874 in bottles, at 28.5d 68,255 12 Arrears unclassed 4,143 at oltl duty 1,196 5 6,105,578 £685,993 1 Adding 5s. percent. 1,715 0

Giving a net total of £687,708 1

The increase on the present half-year, compared with the above period (1857-1859), is 2,750,475 gallons, or more than 45 per cent.; the loss to the revenue is 235,8341., but there is a clear gain to the public of 987,000l.—a result which cannot fail to be as satisfactory to the trade as it is highly beneficial to the consumer. — The origin of the Ministerial whitebait dinner is not generally known. It dates as far back as the time of Pith Sir Robert Preston, a merchant, and M.P. for Dover, had a cottage at Dagenham, in Essex, whither he sometimes used to escape from the toils of political and mercantile life. His most frequent guest was Mr. Rose, Secre- tary to the Treasury. On one occasion the two invited their mutual friend, Mr. Pitt, who was then Premier, to join them. He was so pleased with his reception that he accepted an invitation for the next year. The meeting of the three friends became annual. Lords Camden and Farnarough joined the party a few years afterwards, and the place of meeting was transferred to Greenwich, and the cost of the entertainment was defrayed by the several guests, though Sir Robert always insisted upon providing buck and champagne. This meeting, at first purely gastronomic, with some modifications, soon became a regularly established Ministerial dinner, always held at the end of the session.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 1ST.

— The unopposed return of Sir Robert Peel for Tamworth took place yesterday. Previously to the nomination, the new Secretary for Ireland was asked by an elector for an explanation of his vote against the repeal of the paper duty, and whether lie considered that vote consistent with his acceptance of office under the present Go- vernment. Sir Robert Peel replied that his vote on that question was given on the ground that it was undesirable to select the moment when a great European crisis seemed to be impending for the remis- sion of a certain source of income, and not as in any way hostile to the principle of free trade. After the Mayor had declared that Sir Robert Peel, being- the only candidate, was duly elected, the right honourable Baronet addressed his constituents at some length. Perhaps the most significant portion of his speech was that re- lating to the Galway contract. He hoped that, though as A de- partmental question Lord Palnterston might feel himself bound to

• stand by the decision of the Postmaster-General, "the decision of the Government would ultimately be in accordance with the unani- mous desire which had been expressed by the people of Ireland." (Cheers.)

— Sir George Grey was also re-elected for Morpeth yesterday.. 'return was unopposed, and the proceedings consequently devoid of interest.

— In Selkirkshire, on the contrary, the seat vacated by the re- tirement of Mr. Lockhart was the subject of a hot contest, which ended in the return of a member of the same political views as his Predecessor, the numbers at the close of the poll being :

Majority for Scott ... 22 The contest was attended with great excitement, and resulted in some rather riotous proceedings, the Earl of Dalkeith and other sup- porters of Lord H. Scott being assaulted at the doors of the hotel where both committees sat.

The declaration of the poll for the City took place at the

Guildhall yesterday, and was chiefly characterized by the persistent refusal of a large body of Mr. Wood's partisans to allow a word of the Lord Mayor's speech to be heard ; only ceasing from a systematic clamour when earnestly requested by Mr. Wood to give his defeated opponent a fair hearing. The majority for Mr. Wood . is slightly in excess of that which was stated at the close of the poll, being 506. The liverymen, it appears, were principally on the side of the Lord Mayor, as out of the 3500 who recorded their votes, 2230 did so in his favour.

— Mr. O'Malley Irwin appeared before the public yesterday in a

fresh character, that of a petitioner for protection in the Insolvent Debtors' Court, having been arrested in the early part of the year at the suit of Mr. Lever, M.P., for the cost of an unsuccessful action. The Commissioner, on giving judgment, said the evidence did not warrant the conclusion that the costs in question constituted a debt contracted without reasonable expectations of payment, and he could not, therefore, refuse protection. He should appoint a day for the final order, and in the mean time renew the protection. — A case of lead stealing from the Dockyard at Portsmouth came before the magistrates of that town on Monday. A foreman of works, a timekeeper, and four others were charged with having stolen . two hundred-weight of lead, entrusted to them for the purpose of filling up interstices in the stonework of the docks. The notions of honesty entertained by some of the dockyard labourers are curious. One of the prisoners asked an accomplice to come again to fetch some sheet lead away. The latter replied, "I don't now about that ; if I don't mind what I am about I shall find myself in Percy-street" (where the borough :gaol is situated). The prisoner then.said, " Oh ! you mustn't mind, it's front the Crown. It ain't like taking any thing front outside. Steal all you can front the Crown." The fore- man and timekeeper were acquitted ; the others committed for trial.

The annual meeting of the Highlands Agricultural Society

commenced on Tuesday, at Perth. The implements, of which there are 850, contributed by 135 exhibitors, form the principal attraction. Of these, 429 are in the classified sections competing for prizes, 117 in the extra class, and 304 in the " general collection," in which exhibitors declining._ to compete for prizes can display their manufactures to an unlimited extent. A great defect in the department, however, is said to be the entire absence of any covering whatever, both hippie- meats, exhibitors, and visitors being exposed to the vicissitudes of the weather. The trial of the ploughs (of which there are 65 varieties shown) began on Tuesday, and by Wednesday night the competitors were reduced to three—Hornsby, of Grantham ; Allan, of Dunkeld ; and Ponton, of Linlithgow. To-day, the show- yard and cattle department open.

— Lord Herbert continues. in much the same condition. His lordship, accompanied by Lady Herbert and the Marquis of Ayles- bury, kit town yesterday for Witton House, his lordship's country residence.

— The knighthood of the new Indian order has been conferred

upon Lord Combermere and Sir George Pollock. Lord Contbermere, a veteran among veterans, was an old campaigner when he coin- menced his career of success in the Peninsula, having served against Tippoo Sahib, and distinguished himself at the battle of Malivelly fought in 1799. In 1826, be added a fresh triumph to an already long list by the siege and storm of Bhurtpore. Sir George Pollock, though not dating his first campaign from the last century, served at Bhurtpore in 1805, and since then has distinguished himself in the first Nepaulese and Burmese wars, and in command of the army in Affghamstan in 1841.

— The Chairman of the Select Committee on the Diplomatic Ser-

vice has proposed a draft report which recommends a variety of inno- vations. It considers the service as now a regular profession, and no longer a "mode of education" for the younger branches of the aristocracy. It recommends that twenty-one be fixed as the lowest age for admission, and that all who enter shall go through a period of probation, not exceeding two years, as unpaid Att aches ; that the existing system of examination be continued, with further provision for securing familiarity with French ; that all paid members of the Corps Diplomatique shall be termed " Secretaries" instead of " At- taches ;" that a permanent officer, with the title of "Keeper of the Archives," should be appointed to each embassy, who would dispose of much business, which now necessitates the employment of more Attaches than are really required by the service ; and, lastly, that the Diplomatic Service being. "a portion of the Foreign De- partment of State serving abroad," the two services should be amalgamated as far as possible. An Attache should spend at least six months of his probation in the Foreign Office. Foreign (Ace clerks should be freely transferred or exchanged from that service to the other, and vice versa'.

— A correspondent of the Times suggests a very simple explana- tion of the potato disease. He considers the cause to be innutrition of the plant, producing fungus in the tuber, and caused by the ex- haustion of the potato-nourishing element in the soil, consequent upon the continual growth of the crop on the same ground. Experiments made to illustrate this theory appear to have dime so aucce,ssfully,

Lord Henry Scott, Conservative ... 158 Hon. William Napier, Liberal ... 136 FRIDAY, AUGUST 2ND.

— The Times announces that Lord Elgin has been selected to succeed Lord Canning, and we understand that he will proceed to India in October. Lon' Canning will remain a few weeks to initiate his successor into his duties, and then return.

— Dr. Letheby's sanitary report upon the Citycondemns the City water in very severe terms. Instead of containing an average of 19 grains of solid matter, as the New River water does, the water holds from 20 to 127 grains, the pump of Bishopsg,ate-street Without being the very worst. The sparkle of the water arises from organic decay, and most of the springs filter through overfilled graveyards. Nevertheless, the mortality of the City is only 2 per i cent. n excess of that of the country generally. The houses in the City have diminished by 15 per cent. during the decade, and the population by 12 per cent., so that the remainder is supposed to be i more crowded than before. We doubt that. A house s a house in the census, but five stories hold more than four, and Londoners find the air a cheap site.

— Another wharf fire broke out in Tooley:street at eight o'clock yesterday. It commenced in a wharf belonging to Messrs. Curling and Co., 200 feet long by 60 feet broad, and filled with goods, in- cluding 8000 bales of jute. This wharf is surrounded by others filled with combustibles' but the fire, though unusually brilliant, was fortunately subdued by the engines which hurried up from all sides, and only one wharf was destroyed.

— The Bridge Commission have decided to erect a new bridge over the river at Blackfriars, to replace the ruinous Blackfriars Bridge, and have accepted the plan of Mr. Page. The bridge will consist of only three arches, the centre one being of the gigantic span of 280 feet, or 40 feet wider than the centre arch of the struc- ture at Southwark. The two side arches will be 220 feet span each, but from the springing of the arch to the crown will only be a rise of 20 feet, which in a span of such extent only amounts to the most gentle curve. The cornice beneath the parapet is of an exceedingly bold and handsome design, with a parapet above of solid granite. The piers, however, form the most massive and noble looking features of the whole. These will be four in number, all of grauite. Each on its extremity will be surmounted with a Doric column of polished red granite, 40 feet in height, 23 feet in diameter at base and capital, and no less than 18 feet diameter in the column. Each of these, though built hollow, will weigh upwards of 500 tons. Their capitals will reach to the summit of the bridge, and it is intended hereafter to surmount them with colossal groups of statuary. The whole structure will only be a few feet longer than the present bridge ; but its width will be nearly double—namely, 76 feet against 42. There will be two footways of 14 feet wide, instead of as now two of 7. There will be two tramways of 8i feet each. These will be in the centre of the bridge, leaving two roadways of 16 feet each for the light traffic, and omnibuses going and corning. The cost of the new bridge is estimated at from 245,000/. to 250,000/.