C4E 31ittropoliff.

Peace was proclaimed on l'uesday, with the customary formalities. Although there had been but short notice, very considerable crowds gathered in the streets, and accumulated in masses at the points where • the proclamation was read : windows also held a goodly array. At • twelve o'clock a procession emerged from St. James's Palace. It con- sisted of a troop of the Second Life Guards, under the command of ' Lieutenant-Colonel Ogilvy ; the Beadles of Westminster, walking two and two, with staves ; the High Constable, with his staff, on horseback; the High Bailiff and Deputy-Steward of Westminster • Knight Marshal's men two and two ; drums, Drum-Major, trumpets, and Sergeant- Trumpeter; Sir Charles Young, Garter King of Arms, on horseback ; three Pursuivants, habited in their tabards—Mr. J. R. Planche, Rouge . Croix, riding alone, followed by Mr. H. M. Lane Blue Mantle, and Mr. G. W. Collen, Portcullis riding abreast and flanked on each side by , three sergeants-at-arms, three of whom carried each a gold mace ; four heralds, also habited in tabards, riding two and two abreast—Mr. W. Courthope, Somerset Herald, Mr. G. Harrison Windsor Herald, Mr. T. W. King, York Herald, and Mr. A. W. Woods, Lancaster Herald ; Mr. It. Laurie, Norroy King of Arms ; followed by another troop of Life Guards, bringing up the rear. In front of St. James's Palace, the trumpeter having blown three blasts, the Garter King of Arms read the following • proclamation.

"BY THE QUEEN—A PROCLAMATION.

"Victoria R.—Whereas a definitive treaty of peace and friendship between us and our allies and his Imperial Majesty the Emperor of All the Russias was concluded at Paris on the 30th day of March last, and the rati- fications thereof have now been duly exchanged ; in conformity thereunto we have thought fit hereby to command that the same be published through- out all our dominions ; and we do declare to all our loving subjects our will and pleasure that the said treaty of peace and friendship be observed in- violably, as well by sea as by land, and in all cases whatsoever - strictly charging and commanding all our loving subjects to take notice hereof, and to conform themselves thereunto accordingly. "Given at our Court at Buckingham Palace, this 28th day of April, m the year of our Lord 1856, and in the 19th year of our reign. "God save the Queen."

The crowd gave three cheers' the trumpeter blew three blasts' and then the procession moved on to Charing Cross ; where the Norroy Bing of Arms read the proclamation, "looking towards Whitehall," according to ancient custom. Up the Strand the procession moved to Temple Bar. Here the ceremony was peculiar. The gates were closed. Three- sum- monses were blown on the trumpet, and three knocks given on the gate. From within, the City Marshal asked "Who comes there ? " The reply was, "Officers of arms who come to publish her Majesty's proelama- lion of peace." The Puisuivant alone was first admitted ; but on exami- nation of the Queen's warrant by the Lord Mayor, the gates were thrown open and the procession rode in. At Temple Bar the proclamation was published, and again at the Royal Exchange. At all the points there were immense crowds. The most remarkable characteristic of the cere- mony was its spontaneity.

• the civic event of the week is a Mansionhouse banquet ; not one of the ordinary kind, but a banquet given by the Lord Mayor to Lord Brougham and the members of the Law Amendment Society. The Lord Mayor, himself a barrister, proposed the health of Lord Brougham, and gave a summary of his efforts in law-reform. It had been early Mr. Brougham's good fortune to become conspicu- ous in the great cause of law-reform in connexion with Sir Samuel • Romilly; and under that distinguished man his Lordship had first sha- dowed forth those great legal reforms of which the public had now the benefit. Thirty-four years ago had Lord Brougham sketched pro- jects of reform which were still subjects of discussion, but many of which, he was happy to say, were on the point of being accomplished. One very popular law, with which all present were acquainted—he hoped not from disagreeable personal experience—he meant the County Courts Act—was due to the exertions of his distinguished guest. Every one was aware that the object with which those courts were instituted was to bring cheap law home to the door of every man ; and it was Lord Brougham

• who first enforced, in an eloquent speech, the necessity of a reform which had only been completed a year or two back. Lord Brougham as President of the Law Amendment Society, was constant in his attendance, and took the greatest pride and pleasure in his office. Under his auspices there had byen originated in that society many reforms which were subsequently car- ried out in the Legislature ; a fact which many Members of Parlia- ment then present could verify. One important subject was at pre- sent under discussion, a subject deeply interesting to the fairer por- tion of the company—he meant the state of the law as it regarded married women ; and there was no doubt but that when the Legisla- ture came to deal with that difficult subject, it would derive the greatest benefit from the investigations previously carried on under the auspices of his distinguished guest. Another law which had received the greatest at- tention from the Law Amendment Society was the Limited Liability Act ; and their exertions had, and would, greatly tend to make it ultimately be- come a working and efficient act of Parliament. He should not detain the company with any further details of the public usefulness of Lord Brougham. He is a living instance of the immense power of one great mind towering above its fellows and his whole career, shows the benefits such a mind might confer on humanity, wherever its whole energies are turned in the right direction. (Much cheering.) Lord Brougham made a speech of some length in reply ; mainly, after exchanging compliments with the Lord Mayor, on law-reform, and the - duty of the City thereanent. He would not use an exaggerated figure of speech and say that the City of London is "the cradle of English

• liberty " ; but he would say that it is the capital of the commercial world..

In that capital he would lift up his voice in favour of the Law Amendment Society, and say that even for the purposes of trade no one more than the commercial body should take an interest in the improvement of the law. He trusted, therefore, that this great meeting would not be thrown away, but that the mercantile body of London would henceforth do, what he grieved to say they have not yet done, give to the question of law-amend- ment all the support in their power,. and to which it is fairly entitled. Far be it from him to dwell on the merits of the Law Amendment Society ; but he would give a sample of how far the community had a direct interest in its progress. If a noble Duke, [the Duke of Manchesterj whose attend- ance on the potentate of the City was prevented by the command of a higher potentate at the other end of the town, were present, he would admit that his solicitor, by adopting a simple legal amendment, had saved from 4000/. to 50001. a year in the administration of his Grace's estates. Ile was not going over the number of bills that had been originated in the Law Amend- ment Society, and passed through its influence, but would just give one in- stance from the proceedings of the House of Lords. The Lord Chancellor's measure for the assimilation of the Scotch and English mercantile law ori- ginated in the Law Amendment Society towards the close of the year 1852, and was discussed there for several successive days by deputations from the great towns of England and Scotland, and even of Ireland. From that so- ciety an application was made to Lord Derby for the appointment of a Coin. mission to inquire as to the beet means of assimilation; but the noble Earl soon after leaving office, his successors were applied to, a commission was issued, and the result was that a bill to assimilate the lam-received the sanction of the Cabi- net. Lord Brougham denied the truth or fairness of the objection sometimes urged against the Society's operations, that it did not proceed systematically —that it took one measure now and another measure then, and acted on no plan of law-reform which had the character of being symmetrical : the principle on which they had mainly acted was that laid down by the late Jeremy Bentham—namely, the substitution of natural for technical pro- cedure. If he could only hope to live to see the day when to all those amendments of the law there were added this one, the adoption of which by other countries had been so eminently useful—the system of Courts of Reconcilement, which would put an end to suits that ought never to be instituted and ought never to come before a court, and so prevent a vast amount of painful and expensive litigation, he could go to his account and think that they of the Law Amendment Society had not lived in vain. (Much cheering.)

The speaker for the "Rouse of Lords," the Earl of Ilarrowby, described himself as condemned to a labour like that of Sysiphus—rolling up the stone of law-reform to see it roll down again year by year; and the Lords as "a Conservative body—co'nservative, that is, of the law's defects." Mr. Lowe, speaking for the Commons, enlarged on their great anxiety for law-reform. But that House had multifarious duties, and law-reform is arrested by the pressure of public business. The House of Lords, however, enjoy very great advantages for dealing with the subject of law-reform over the House of Commons, in that it was relieved from the duty of checking the public expenditure, and possessed within its own body a number of noble and learned lords, who, enjoying, through the liberality of their country, a considerable amount of leisure, and being, as it were, raised to a serener atmosphere, have ample time, as they have special knowledge and aptitude, for considering and propounding improvements in the law ; and blind indeed would the House of Commons be if it did not listen to the suggestions in that respect which are offered to them by its chosen sages. He cited an instance to show the disadvantage under which the House of Commons labour in dealing with questions of law- amendment. The partnership bill to which the Lord Mayor did him the honour to allude was introduced into that House on the 28 of February, and, though read a second time within a week afterwards, it has not yet got into Committee, such is the pressure of public business in that branch of the Le- gislature. Had it originated in the House of Lords, it would have gone into Committee the next week after being read a second time.

The anniversary festival of the Redhill Philanthropic Farm School for the reformation of juvenile offenders, kept on Wednesday at the London Tavern, drew together a good number of the conspicuous supports of the institution, and resulted in a handsome subscription. The account of Redhill by the Reverend Sydney Turner showed, that since 1849, 875 boys had been admitted, of whom 175 were admitted during the past year. Out of 308 boys who had been assisted in emigrating from Eng- land, only 39 lapsed into crime. There are now six houses or depart- ments at Redhill, but more are desirable. The receipts of last year amounted to 15,6171.; the payments to 14,5301.; leaving a balance of 1087/.

The chief interest of the speechmaking lay with the Chairman, Karl Granville ; who strongly insisted on the necessity of maintaining such institutions, especially at a time when the disuse of transportation had directed the attention of the public to secondary punishments. It was felt that means should be devised not merely for punishing crime, but for reforming and reclaiming criminals. It was a task too difficult and an experiment too dangerous for a Govern- ment to undertake ; for, let routine be sneered at as it might, unless a go- vernment was conducted by rules and strict system it could not last for a month. Now, in a matter of this kind, while a principle is firmly upheld and adhered to, a certain elasticity is required in carrying out and a certain discretion must be vested in the agents of such a system. At the same tune, it is in the power of Government to assist them ; and something has been done by means of a minute which has been agreed on by the Government for the purpose of assisting such institutions. It is proposed to pay half the salaries of schoolmasters in reformatory schools, and to grant money for building schools when they are required. The money for carrying out that minute must be voted by the House of Commons ; and he thought this a favourable opportunity of urging on the number of Members of that House then present the desirability of giving the re- quired grant their vote. He pointed out the connexion generally of education and the reformation of crime, and stated, that while he did not wish to interfere with voluntary efforts, he yet hoped that advantage would be taken of the means at the disposal a the Committee of the Privy Council for the promotion of education ; adding, that he believed the usefulness of that system is becoming more appreciated, instanced as it is by the increas- ing demands made on the House of Commons for the vote for educational purposes. The subscriptions amounted to nearly 1400/. M. Demetz, unhappily absent from illness, sent a letter in English, highly praising the manage- ment of Redhill, and forwarding a donation of 20/.

The Duke of Cambridge presided over a large meeting held at Willis's Rooms on Monday to inaugurate a project for erecting and endowing a church at Constantinople, where divine service may be performed ac- cording to to the rites of the Church of England, as a monument to the Bri- tish soldiers who have fallen in the war with Russia. The proposition commanded the full assent of the meeting. To show the character of the assembly, it needs only to be stated that the first resolution was moved by Earl Granville and seconded by Sir Edmund Lyons that the second was moved by the Duke of Newcastle and seconded by the Earl of Elgin; and that the Bishop of Oxford, Mr. Sidney Herbert, and Sir John Pakington, also addressed the meeting. A sum of 6001. was there and then subscribed.

In January last a petition was presented to the Birmingham dommis- sioner in Bankruptcy, praying that William Palmer of hugely might be ad- judged a bankrupt, on the ground that he had committed an act of bank- ruptcy by remaining in prison fwenty-one days after an arrest for debt. Palmer, at appears, was arrested for debt in December; but on account of his ill health, he was allowed to remain in his own house. While in such custody, he was arrested for felony, and placed in Stafford Gaol. Mr. Com- missioner Balguy was of opinion that Palmer's remaining in prison after his arrest for felony was not such "a lying in prison" as was contemplated by the 69th section of the Bankrupt Law Consolidation Act, 1849, and re- fused to adjudge him a bankrupt. The petition was then carried before the Lords Justices, and finally before the full Court of Appeal. On Tuesday the Court decided that there was ground for an adjudication against Palmer, and that declaration Was ordered to be remitted to the Birmingham Com- missioner.

A corpse was found in the Thames on Sunday, which had a remarkable resemblance to the person of Foschini the assassin, while the dress corre- sponded with what he was known to have worn : but it ultimately turned out that it was not his body.

Alderman Cubitt has decided that an omnibus-conductor can refuse to admit into his vehicle a person of huge dimensions: his size was a "rea- sonable objection" to his admission to a vehicle licensed to carry a certain number of persons, each entitled to so many inches of sitting-room.

The Lady Superior of "All Saints' Home," in Mortimer Street, having to give evidence against a thief at Marlborough Street Police Office, "in- toned" her statement !

The cashiers and clerks lately dismissed from the Provident Institution Savings-Bank have issued a circular charring the Controller with unjustly obtaining their dismissal, suppressing their memorial to Prince Albert, and offering to retain them in the service if they would sign an acknowledgment that they had been altogether in the wrong, which they declined to do.

It is notified by advertisement that the Committee of the Bank have di- rected their solicitors to prosecute "the authors of the malicious and false reports which have caused so much alarm and annoyance to the depositors."