NEWS OF THE WEEK.

T ONDON descends to-day into the streets to welcome the 1.4 bride of her future King. The obstacles, official and other, which at one time threatened to make the reception a form, have disappeared, and the metropolis, with its vast popu- lation, is in a fever of loyal excitement. No event in the history of the dynasty seems to have inspired the country with an emotion more pleasurable or more profound. The long and 'unbroken harmony which, since the accession of Queen Vietozia' has reigned between throne and people, the gratified desirefor a Scandinavian instead of a German affi- ance, the popular admiration for the unseen bride, and' the sympathy with any happiness bestowed by Providence on the reigning house, will all find expression in the rapturous greeting of the city, which, on this occasion, represents from her heart the feeling entertained by the Empire. It is a nation and not a populace which to-day will express its de- votion to the Prince, who continues the dynasty of its choice, and the fair lady who three days hence takes her place as his partner in their regard.

The arrangements for the day seem to be these. The royal cortege will leave the Bricklayers' Arms Station at about 1.55, and is expected to reach London Bridge at 2.15, Temple Bar at 2.45, the Park at 3.30, the Marble Arch at 3.40, and the Paddington Station, at latest, at 4.20. The civic pro- cession, which constitutes the greater part of the mere pageant, will strike off near Temple Bar, proceeding up Chancery lane, and the burgesses of Westminster, headed by the Duke of Buccleugh, will then lead the array. The car- riages will proceed at a foot pace apparently throughout the whole length of the route. The circulation of carriages is prohibited in the City after ten o'clock, from Temple Bar to the Park after noon and from the Park to the Station between three and five. They will not, however, be restricted in the evening, and will be allowed on the night of the illuminations, those occupied by spectators, however, being compelled to proceed in double lines. All persons who have obtained sittings or windows along the route are advised to occupy them early, as the crowd, especially in the City, is expected to be quite beyond precedent.

- The Bishop of Oxford is in favour of rejoicing on the wedding day in spite of Lent. " The Lenten fast was originally an appointment of the Church, with which the Archbishop of Canterbury had, and still has by law, a right to dispense, and from the communications I have received from His Grace, I consider that he has dispensed with it for the auspicious day in question." With this comfortable assu- rance that the Bishop of Oxford considers that the Archbishop - of Canterbury' has virtually sanctioned a remission of our austerities, we shall all take heart and be glad. No Stuart in exile ever exercised a wiser discretion in permitting what his adherents had determined to do. When the milk is spilt it is at least satisfactory to learn that the Archbishop of Can- terbury sanctioned the libation.

Mr. Higgs, Mayor of Sudbury, writes to us to defend the loyalty of his town, which is not, he says, going to submit to the dictation of a Puseyite priest. Mr. Molyneux has stopped "the church bells, but the belles of the town" will take part in the festivities—not a bad pun for a mayor. Sudbury, since its final disfranchisement, has kept itself from stagnation by a sort of civil war between the mayor, this Mr. Higgs, a clever but pugnacious Dissenter, and Mr. Molyneux, an ex- tremely High Church, hard-hitting, and acrid parson. We dare say the town will enjoy its _Re all the more from the blow it gives to the dominant ecclesiastical clique.

It is a curious illustration of the strength as well as the ease with which the English freo organization works, that while Parliament has not voted a shilling for the royal recep- tion, and the City grant is only some 30,0001., London will spend a quarter of a million merely to see the procession at case, and perhaps twice that sum in decoration and festive garniture. It is calculated that seats have been provided for 250,000 spec- tators, at an average, of nearly a guinea a seat, while along that long line of six miles there will be scarcely a house without some sign of rejoicing.

The debate last night on Brazil, which had not concluded when we went to press, was not one of the first order. All the speakers were oppressed with the feeling that the point at issue was a " trumpery " one, and even Mr. Layard could only reiterate that many months had been given to the Brazilian Government to think the matter over; he did not say how long—about as many days--to consider the final claim for compensation. Mr. Cobden urged the blow in- flicted on "the only constitutional government in South America," and indulged in a little ordinary claptrap on " secret " diplomacy ; while the Solicitor-General, skilfully balancing the arguments on the point of a needle, intellec- tualized the speech of Mr. Layard. The division, if it is pressed to a division, can scarcely affect the Government.

Our American news, which extends to 20th February, contains one important item of intelligence. The Senate has introduced and passed a conscription bill for the Union. All males between twenty and forty-five, not disqualified by physical weakness or essential to the support of widows and orphans, are declared liable for military service. Men from twenty to twenty-five are to be taken first, but the President may call out the remainder upon giving ten days' notice. No exemptions are allowed except to Governors and the highest class of judges ; even clergymen, after a debate, having been included within the Act, which extends to all foreigners who have declared their intention to become citizens. Evasion subjects the defaulter to the penalties of desertion, and re- sistance to two years' imprisonment. The measure will, it is believed, pass the House of Representatives, and is intended first to enable the President to resist foreign intervention; and, secondly, to gather an army when the nine months' men are released. A second Act authorizes the President to issue letters of marque.

The movement in the West, upon which we commented last week, has for the hour been stifled. The Kentucky pro- posal for a convention has been abandoned under menaces, and the Illinois proposition did not pass the State Senate, two or three of its supporters retiring. The Legislature of Ohio has been warned by General Rosencranz and a 1 officers that speeches for peace disgust them, . journals predict that the war is to be carried fierceness than ever. One of them affirms from other sources, that General Hooker is di slavery men from his army, and gradually fi determined Abolitionists—a course which will at least secure unanimity of action. The rejection of the French Emperor's offer has renewed Mr. Seward's popularity, and for the hour the tendency of the North is towards vigorous prosecution of the war.

The conduct of Russia in Poland is still excessively brutal. The troops seem to be let loose, destroy towns, murder at will, and make no distinction of friend and foe. The Globe pub- lishes, and vouches for a story, which in its cold atrocity seems rather to belong to the middle ages. Count Polytelo, member of the Polish Council of State, was living at his chateau, in the province of Lublin, when he heard that troops were to visit his house. Having taken no part in the insur- rection, he with his guests awaited their arrival in calmness. The Cossacks fired on the house, entered it, and attacked all the inmates with sabres and musket-shots. M. Joseph Woiciechowski and a servant were killed ; Major Bunn and Major Dunin, both old officers of the army, were hacked with sabres, and seven other persons were wounded. The Count escaped, being engaged in prayer with his children. All this while the officer in command—a Russian major—stood directing the carnage, and the soldiers obeyed with a readi- ness which showed that their discipline was unbroken.

The news from Poland still comes in snippets hard to read, harder to understand. All that seems clear is, that, as the Russians admit, the " insurrection is spreading," and its most active leader, Langiewitz, encourag- ing an outbreak in Lithuania. The reports of Russian vic- tories and Polish successes are worth about equal credence, but the armed bands increase in determination, the exiles are hurrying home, and the landowners are taking, though cautiously, part with the people. Warsaw has not risen, but the Russian authorities are evidently full of distrust. Externally hope grows no brighter. It seems to be under- stood that England will only protest, and France only follows English advice ; but the dread of their interference has checked the KineD of Prussia, and revived the old Russian idea of assigning Poland as a separate kingdom to a great Prince of the blood. As yet, all that is known is that neither Russia nor her ally are disposed to compel France to inter- fere.

The two years' probation enforced by the Czar upon Rus- sian serfs ended on Tuesday, the 3rd March. On that day twenty millions of serfs became legally and practically free. The event, perhaps the greatest which has occurred in Europe since Luther burnt the Pope's bull, has passed over with little comment, and apparently no disturbance. The difficulty in the way of the measure is not, however, removed. It is affirmed, though the statistics are very untrustworthy, that about one-fifth of the peasants have made agreements with their lords for the land, and the Government must either en- force some compromise on the remainder, or encounter a general revolt, or meet the proprietors' despair. At present its policy is plainly silence, but the broad results of the measure, so far as they threaten external order, ought to be known in England by April. Whatever they may be, Alexander the Second has been the instrument of an act which may com- pensate for some of the sufferings inflicted by kings on this generation of mankind. It is pleasant to know that the auto- cratic power which kept Europe in bondage for thirty years, and now crushes six millions of Poles, can, like all other evil things, be compelled to the service of God.

The Bishops, excepting the Bishop of St. David's, the Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, and one or two Irish bishops, have adopted the " brotherly-anxiety" line with Dr. Colenso. They hint, though they will not say, to their brother of Natal, that he has handled that Bible " which we believe to be the Word of God, and on the truth of which rest all our hopes for eternity"—as no Christian ought to handle it; they cite his own admission that he cannot use certain formulae in the Ordination and Baptismal services ; and they argue that, in this position, he is either bound to withdraw from his office, or to study and pray his way back into the regular orthodoxy. The Bishop of Hereford (Dr. Hampden), accidentally omitted from the list of signatures, writes to give in his adhesion, and explain that the letter does not judge Dr. Colenso half so harshly as he, as a Christian Bishop, could wish. Since the time when Dr. Hampden was him- self a heretic, the latitudinarianism of which he set the example Bas been sown far and wide ; but, of course, difficulties about the Pentateuch are much more wicked than difficulties about the Trinity. Dr. Colenso declines the affectionate invitation to resign, ignores the little difficulty about the Ordination and Baptismal services, and denies that Revela- tion ought to be bound up with the literal truth of "such a narrative as the Scriptural account of the Noachien deluge.' Here, at least, we can heartily agree with him. We had always understood that the " Word of God" became, not a book, as the Bishops say,—but " flesh, and dwelt amongst us, full of grace and truth."

Dr. Pusey has explained that his real objection to includ- ing a large range of belief within the English Church, is the oppressiveness of such a plan to the people, who always " want to be taught " the most literal doctrine of the Thirty- nine .Articles and other Church dogmas. Dr. Pusey, of course, standing in such close sympathy with the Age, knows- the heart of the people ; but the change in his tone is re- markable since the time when he used to write of those " Heaven's keys, as more than sceptred might," which he now speaks of as if they only opened and shut the Church of the Majority. Or does he, with worldly tact, but use a shaft from the quiver of his opponents ?

The Qualification for Office Oaths Abolition Bill passed its third reading in the House of Commons on-Wednesday by a majority of only three, and was saved by a speech from Mr.. Gladstone, who advocated it on the ground that the Church is no longer in any danger from the Dissenters, her remain- ing perils being purely internal. The debate is of still more importance, as severing the last threads of ecclesiastical sym- pathy which bound Mr. Gladstone to the Tory party, than even as a triumph of the principle of religious equality,. though not insignificant in that respect. Mr. Gladstone has now finally cast in his lot with the Liberal party. The Tories would scarcely receive him again, though he should im- plore them with repentance and tears.

The Civil Estimates have just been published, and display some curious facts. The most costly of the Ministerial de- partments is the Foreign, 72,3251.; and the next the Board of Trade, 62,1811. The cheapest is the Home Office, 26,2631.,_ and the remainder cost— Treasury ... .. ... ... £51,730 Exchequer ... ... ... £4,923,

Colonial ... .. ... ... 31,047 Public Works ... ... 30,857 Privy Council ... ... ... 20,637 Woods and Forests ... 26,839' Privy Seal ... ... ... 2,994 Record Office ... ... 20,235. Paymaster-General... ... 79,640 Poor-law Board ... ... 227,424 The last item includes the salaries of the medical officers all over England.

Sir George Grey has made a mess of his Bill for the preven- tion of Corrupt Practices at Elections. It will pass, of course, but the chief clause, which disfranchised the candidate's soli- citor for that election, has been thrown out. Imagine the- innocence of the Minister who believed it possible to pass- such an enactment. The best conveyancing bill yet devised was resisted, and finally thrown out, by the very men it is- now proposed to reduce to political silence. The proposal was absurd, and was, moreover, unwarranted, for the country solicitors are usually very strong partisans.

On Monday night Mr. Cobden called attention to the large number of obsolete vessels of war in the British Navy, con- fining his attention to the sixty-six large wooden line-of- battle ships, and the forty large frigates. The average ton- nage of these is, he says, above 2,200 tons—the tonnage of Lord Nelson's Victory. They employ vast crews, and, as• weapons of war, are perfectly useless. Mr. Cobden did not deny that we must keep up a very large number of smaller wooden ships, from corvettes to gunboats, for the foreign service in barbarous countries, and as a sort of " police of the seas." But for this purpose the smaller ships are far more convenient than the large, while the large are becoming a positive danger for actual war—" huge slaughter-houses," which will be set on fire by one broadside, and which, from their size, offer the maximum of advantage to the enemies' guns, and ensure the maximum of loss in ease the shells ignite them. Mr. Cobden's point was that the wooden navy ought, since 1858, to have been limited to the small ships, and he showed clearly enough that the French Admiralty had explicitly accepted that prin- ciple as early as 1856, after which period not a single three- decker had been put upon the stocks in France. Mr. Cobden attacked both Sir John Pakington and Lord Clarence Paget for nothaving conformedtheir practice in this matter to their theory, —having, both of them, engaged eagerly in the addition of this large, expensive, and useless class of wooden ships to the Navy. Mr. Cobden's speech roused Lord Clarence Paget, and stung Sir John Pakington to the quick. The former made no case at all for his stupid policy of adding to the large line-of-battle ships since 1858, but he undeceived Mr. Cobden as to the number of men now actually employed in manning them ; " the number in first-rates," he said, " is 1,086; in second-rates, 5,790; in third-rates, 2,300,—giving a total of 9,176, instead of 30,000," so that, of course, very few 'f these 106 large ships can be at present in commis- sk. 'it. John Pakington simply indulged himself in scold- ing IL. Cobden, showing in his virulent speech much more of that " charming woman's" nature, with which he some- what absurdly taunted Mr. Cobden, than his opponent.

All through the week Reuter's telegrams have been full of reports of a change of Ministry in Spain. They probably interest people who speculate in Spanish securities, but for the rest of the world they might as well be in Hebrew. The broad facts seem to be that Marshal O'Donnell has resigned, that the Marquis de Mirafiores, an old and feeble diplomatist, has taken the reins, that the object of the exchange is to faci- litate the return of the arch intrigante Queen Christina, and that for farther convenience the Cortes will be adjourned till April.

The Daily News correspondent in Paris affirms positively that a letter has been received from General Forey declaring that he can accomplish nothing with the force at his command. Puebla has been fortified till it will stand a regular siege, and though he might avoid Puebla, his position at Mexico would then be full of danger. The American accounts confirm this statement. The guerillas, it is said, become every day more active, cut off all straggling parties, carry off all provisions, and harass the French soldiery into a state of depression. One thousand men, too, have been sent home sick, and there seems to be no slight difficulty in providing transport for the re- mainder.

Cardinal Antonelli has resigned, but his resignation has not been accepted. His business agent, Chevalier Fausti, a personage of vast importance in Rome, has, it appears, been arrested on a charge of being in league with the National Committee. The charge seems to be true, but Cardinal Anto- nelli, in a transport of offended dignity, placed his seals in the hand of the Pope. The affair seems to have led to nothing, or to an increase of the influence of M. de Merode, a conse- quence greatly to be desired. That violent person is better suited than Antonelli to drive the Papacy on to a rock. A fanatio Secretary of State, who really believed in the Pope's power of placing kings under excommunication, would be very beneficial just now.

M. Von Vineke, once the leader of Prussian Liberals, is taking a line which would ultimately lead him into the ranks of the courtly minority. In the recent debate upon Poland, he warned his audience that the insurrection threatened their country, and that foreign Powers, in interfering, only sought an excuse for injuring Prussia, and went out of his way to say he had hoped great things of iferr von Bismark. Lord Falkland patting Strafford on the back is an odd, and may become a suspicious spectacle.

Nothing but cases of libel. Dr. Kenealy lately published a poem called " The New Pantomime," which was reviewed in the Weekly Review. The writer declared that the poem was " obscene, revolting, and infamous ;" that it " reflected a polluted mind ; " that the author was "a man to lash little boys till they stagger and fall down; " and that he had "in his heart somo of the darkest elements of the villain," with other abuse of the same kind. Dr. Kenealy accordingly laid a criminal information against the proprietor and editor of the Review, and the magistrate, Mr. Phillips, committed them both for trial. It is difficult to sympathize with a satirist who cannot bear abuse, but the case is not, we conceive, one involving the freedom of the Press. The distinction between criticism and libel is not easy to draw, but if the line can be overstepped, the Weekly Review overstepped it. The book may deserve all that is said of' it—and the action will sell an edition—but no critic has any right to make his contempt for a book a ground of libellous attack on its author.

Sir C. Wyke has left Mexico, surrendering the Legation, it would seem, to a Mr. Walsham. This person has addressed a circular to the Consul, intended, apparently, for all English- men in Mexico of the silliest kind. He says he has no official position, but will do all he can for British subjects, but they must recollect that " their conduct towards Sir C. Wyke was neither just nor generous." He hopes "he may have no more complaint on this head," and adds, " I think if I state that I at all events have the highest respect for Her Majesty's Minister, my countrymen will not let me make this request in vain." Mr. Walsham is unofficial, but writes an official circular to a Consul to request that some persons who are not under the Consul's authority will not complain or give cause of complaint—nobody can make out which—because Mr. Walsham has a high respect for Her Majesty's Minister ! Mr. Walsham intended, we suppose, to intimate that people spoke a little too freely about Sir C. Wyke, and certainly he has done it diplomatically. A short order relieving him of his unofficial office would, we should imagine, greatly relieve the minds of " his countrymen" in Mexico.

A report has just been presented to Parliament, signed " Robert Spencer Robinson," on the war waging between the merits of wooden ships armour-plated, and iron ships armour- plated. It is intended to create a diversion in favour of the five wooden ships whose armour-plating was suspended at the instance of the House last week. Mr. Robinson allows that iron ships admit of being built larger, stronger, and more durable than the wooden ships intended for plating. On the other hand, he maintains that the thin iron bottoms are either very weak, or, if strengthened, are very cumbrous and expen- sive; that they foul much faster ; that the ship loses its sailing qualities much more rapidly when zoophytes accumu- late on an iron bottom ; that it is all but impossible to test properly the quality of the iron employed ; and that the ravages caused by splinters of iron, when shots penetrate them, is much more fearful. Finally—and here, we take it, is the great climax of the argument—iron ships must be built by contract, but wooden ships would be built in "our own dockyards."

An important improvement in naval architecture has been satisfactorily tested this week. Tho steamer Kate has been tried at the Nore with a double screw— an arrangement which enables her to steer herself rapidly and easily without any use of the rudder, and to turn with the greatest facility where ordinary steamers find the operation one of much difficulty. Should the rudder be shot away, the screws, which are not at all exposed to the enemy's shot, would still give complete steering power.

The Bill to permit the use of the ballot in municipal elec- tions has been lost on the second reading last Tuesday by a majority of 35,-93 against, to 58 for it. Lord Palmerston urged his usual pertinacious and just objection to any divorce between political rights and open political responsibility, and argued, that if the objection held good for parliamentary elections, it holds good equally, though in a less degree, for municipal elections. In other words, the ballot might possibly facilitate, in some cases, impartial voting, but it can never facilitate the full use of electoral rights which involves the expression of political conviction even more than the posses- sion of a fractional interest in the choice of a representative.

At last we hear something (not very much) of that Union. party in the South which Englishmen were beginning to think a sort of Republican firs. Harris. A regiment is forming at Corinth, Mississippi, of Union men who have escaped from Southern persecution in Alabama and Mississippi, —of which six full companies are now complete. A thousand of these oppressed Unionists are now collected at Corinth, and formed into an encampment. The feeling of hatred to the South has been fostered by the cruelties practised to all suspected of Northern bias. One man (a certain Peter Lewis) and two women have been hunted down by bloodhounds—the women torn to pieces. Hundreds of families have been 4i:en out of Alabama in an utterly destitute condition, and the exodus has resulted in this regiment of sufferers thirsting tar revenge their wrong's.

The Italian Parliament has sanctioned the loan of 28,000,0001., after a very sharp but not dangerous debate. The principal argument of the opposition was that the Ministry might, by decent management, reduce the deficit to limits which would require a smaller loan. The reply was a promise to dismiss as many officials as possible gradually, and a very able demonstration that the Church and State lands were worth at least twice the sum assigned to them in the budget.

The Times' correspondent at Constantinople affirms that Servia is preparing for insurrection, and that the Sultan has resolved to check the first symptom of revolt as he did in Montenegro, and has collected 30,000 men on the frontier.

Consols were 921 92i for Money, and 92} 921 for the Account. New 21 per Cents., 761. India 5 per Cents., 1081 1081. Turkish 6 per Cents., 1858, are 69 691; ditto, 1862, 691 691.. Italian, 691 691. Greek, 191 191. Mexican, 311 31/. Peruvian Loan, 871 88. Russian, 961 961. London and South American Bank, 11 to 1/ prem.