ZiortlInutuns.

Admiral Bowles has resigned his appointment at Portsmouth. The cause of this step is the indiscretion of the Admiral in publishing, without the consent of the Lords of the Admiralty, official documents touching the insubordination on board the Princess Royal.

The ,Daily News, under the heading of "the Army Purchase System," prints the following appropriate illustrations of its working. We com- mend it to the reader's attention :

"As the existing practice of buying and selling commissions in the Army is likely to be considered during the coming Parliamentary session, the fol- lowing illustrations of its working are not without interest :— " The Gazette of December 20 informed us of the following arrangement — ‘ Coldstream Guards—Lieutenant and Captain and Brevet-Major Lord Bingham to be Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel, by purchase, vice Burdett, who retires.'

"In Hart's Army List is told that Lord Bingham served the Eastern campaign of 1854-'5 as Aide-de-camp to the Earl of Lucan, including battles of Alma, Balaklava, and Inkerrnann? Lieutenant-Colonel Burdett served in the Crimea from December, 1854, and was at the fall of Sebastopol (medal and clasp): This officer did not buy the grade which he has just sold. "The London Gazette of November 29, announced—' Coldstream Guards — Lieutenant and Captain and Brevet-Major Goodlake to be Captain and Lieutenant-Colonel, by purchase, vice Newdigate, who retires.' " Reopening liares.tfreeti List, we find that Goocllake, the buyer, served the Eastern campaign of 1851-'5, and was present at the battles of Alma, Balaklava, Inkermann, and Tchernaya.' He is decorated with the Vic- toria Cross for his broom-. Newdigate, the seller, on the contrary, does not appear to have served against the enemy. It is certain, however, he did not purchase his Lieutenant-Coloneley—the step which he has disposed of to Goodlake.

"Here, then, we have two recent instances of officers who have seen little or nothing of war selling what they did not buy to officers who have seen comparatively much of war. Such is the 'purchase' system. Gentlemen with good luck,' who remain quietly at home, may put a few thousand pounds into their pockets by selling what the public has freely given them to soldiers who have risked their lives in the service of their country. "It would be interesting to know if the bargains were done at regulation par, or at the conventional premium, about which the Home Guards prudes affect to know nothing."

The remains of Lord Macaulay are to be buried in Westminster Abbey on Monday next at one o'clock. They will lie in a grave dug in Poet's Corner, surrounded by some of our most distinguished men of letters.

The Peninsular and Oriental Company have shown great public spirit in promoting the -enrolment of Naval Volunteers. They have stimulated the crews of their ships to enrol by offering to continue the payment of wages to the men during the time they are absent on drill, provided the drill be taken while the company's ship is in port. This handsome con- duct deserves public acknowledgment. It is a "bright example."

Another Arctic expedition is preparing to start next spring. Dr. L I. Hayes, the surgeon of the Kane expedition, will be at the head of it. and it will be entirely sustained by the scientific associations of the United States, who have entered into it with great interest. The leading object will be to complete the explorations commenced by Dr. Kane, and settle the question of the open Polar Sea and the other scientific problems con- nected with it. The French Geographical Society, and other eminent societies, have expressed a wish to contribute to the funds of this expedi- tion, but there is a very just ambition to make it exclusively American. The amount required is only 30,000 dollars. As there is no reason for following the course of former explorations again, Dr. Hayes proposes to push rapidly up the Kennedy channel, and directly on towards the pole with as little delay as possible.— Canadian News.

The next meeting of the Royal Geographical Society will be held on Monday, the 9th instant. Papers to be read :-1. "Journey up the White Nile to the Equator, and Travels in the interior of Africa, in the years 1857-58," by Mr. J. Petherick, F.R.G.S., Her Majesty's Consul at Khartum. 2. "Proposed Railway Route across the Andes from CaL dere to Rosario, yid Cordova," by Mr. William Wheelwright, F.R.G.S.

Mr. Robert Bourke and Mr. Gruneisen, of the Conservative Land So- ciety, have just returned from a novel mission to Ireland. Their object was "to introduce the freehold land system, as yet unknown in that country, but also to ascertain 'whether the plan of model lodging-houses

Major Riversdale Glyn, an officer who went through the Crimean and Indian campaigns, and won distinction by devotion and gallantry, has died on his way home. He stuck to his duty too long, fell ill, and never re- covered.

John Douglas Montague Scott, better known as Lord John Scott, died suddenly on Tuesday, at Crum:don Lodge, near Rugby. He was the second son of the fourth Duke of But:clench. Lord John Scott was a great sup- porter of our national sports, and a mighty hunter.

One of those men who prefer to live rather in the memory of those who have laboured in the same vocation as themselves than in the public esteem, who silently perform the task allotted to them whatever be its weight or respon- sibility, without heed of repute or reward, has quietly been gathered to the tomb. On the 27th ultimo the Reverend John Sharpe, Rector of Castle Raton, died at the patriarchal age of ninet,y. His last moments passed as tranquilly as the current of his long life. Endued with sound learning, a high critical faculty in classic and medireval lore, he, after publishing an admirable translation of "William of Malmeabury " Jointly with Mr. Petrie the Keeper of the Records at the Tower of London ,_prepared the materials for that valuable compilation the " Monumenta Histonca Bri- tannica." Those who have occasion to elucidate the History of the King- dom before the Norman Conquest will all readily bear witness to the cor- rectness and worth of this work, which is being pursued, under a different system, in the collections for the uses of British History sanctioned at the present time by the Treasury and the Master of the Rolls.

"King Maximilian of Bavaria intends," says the Post Ampt Gazette, " to make a journey to Spain in February. His Majesty's absence will extend over several months.'

The Dover Chronicle is informed from an authentic source that Lord Clyde will in all probability, arrive in Dover from India by the overland route, via Marseilles, on or about the 15th January next.

We are happy to announce that instructions went by last mail from the Duke of Newcastle, the present Secretary of State for the Colonies, to Sir Hercules Robinson, the Governor of Hongkong, sanctioning a mitigation of the sentence which Mr. Tarrant is now undergoing for a libel on Colonel Caine. The mitigation is left to the discretion of his Excellency Governor Robinson.—China Telegraph.

The effects of the late severe weather are still shown in the returns of the Registrar-General. No fewer than 1677 persons died last week in London, an excess of 221 above the calculated average. Nineteen infants were suffo- cated in bed. Ten nonagenarians died, one of whom was 99, and three of whom were 97. The deaths from pulmonary disease, exclusive of phthisis, were 470; phthiais was fatal in 154 eases.