The Express. — London, England, 1867-03-30 00:00:00

CONSTITUTIONAL LIBERALISM. "TUE DAY." Fries One Peunr—ollice, 49, Elael-sireet, birat9l. JOHN BROGDEN. ORIGINAL GOLD CHAIN MANUFACTORY, ltl, IIY.NIIIISITASTREET, COVKNT-OARDKN. - - - JOHN BROODER'S 18-oarst OOLD CHAINS. JOHN BROG DEN'S GOLD GUARD CHAINS. JOHN BROG DEN'S GOLD ALBERT CHAINS. JOHN BROG DEN'S GOLD BROOCH CHAINS. B ENSON'S WATCHES and CLOCKS. By special Appointment to 11. E. H. THE PRINCE or WALES. Prise Medal. London. 11aw lei Dublin. Class 10. 'V 111'11 F. 4 ometent, Key less, Repeaterallnenographs,&e. 11. a • K N—For Ihnh.gand Drawing R.S/Illi,Carrioges,i'hurches,,te. .IEII ELLEN, —Speciahtles in Monograms, CGstals, Diamonds, and Fine Gold. PLATE. and WOLKS of ART in Bronze, by Leading Artists. Yt:ltEN and De+eript ions. see Illustrated Pamphlet, post free. Watches and i 'locks sent to all ports 01 the world. J. W. BENSON, -LS, OLD HON NTREET. Steam Factory and City Mow Roems, :ot and do. LUDGATE-HILL Paris Exhibition. VW, En:dish Section, Class 23. :PRIZE MEDAL AWARDED.) ALLEN'S PATENT PORTMANTEAUS and Tit • V ELLI DMA. with *man. upeninga. LA DID:* WARDEMIE TRUNKS, DRESSING HAGS, with lilt,: thing.. DE.W.% ICH IiOX ER, WR MNO and DRESSING CARES, anti f(lo artieles tut home ur continental travelling. Illustrated catalogues po.t. tree. _ _ _ Furniture Catalogue of Portable Bed stesds, limners, Easy Chairs, Washtuuld-stands, Canteens, !Lc., poutinro.. _ _ _ J. W. ALLEN, Manufacturer and Patentee, 37, Wed Strand, London, St C. DAVIES'S BEST DIP CANDLES, 6ljd. per lb. ; palace paraffin candles, Is. ed. ; sperm, Is. W. and Is. 8 , 1.; botanic wan, ls. ; composite, aid., *l., and PM. moulds, 84. : yellow soap, 44a, and ans. per 11E11, ; mottled, 48a. •. best olza 011, 4 tat. per wall. ; for cash, at M. P. DAVIES and 811\'s, 6:1, SC Martin clans, W.C. B ROWN and POLSON'S CORN FIANTR for CUILDREN'S DIET. To &dada extra profit by the sale other kinds are sometimes oCere•l inticat of BPI iWik and POISON'S '•John Brown," •John Poison," Is Milled by the anion on each packet. gut oxpreolc• TO COILIMPONDINTS. ,dverthements Intended tor " The &press," London Reefing Paper, must he at the Once, 10. Menverle-street, by Two o'clock on the day of publlcatton. DRURY LAHR TRW ammo. ROB ROY. Messrs. Phelps, T. Swlnhnstrne, W. Harrison, Minim, I•arrett, and Haryourt Mesdames E. Cruse, R. O. Le Thiere, Hudspeth, and E. Itrouglzum.—To conclude with WANTED HUSBANDS FOR SIX. Miss Hudspeth. RAYMARKRE. Tan 11vmm10, DAVID GARRICK. Mom Sol/tern, Rack- Mow, chippeudialc, icomen.Clut, am ; MOIMISIMOI Mown, chip- Ae. —LEND MY, FIVE SHILLINGS. Mr. Itlickiit,sic. —And A REGULAR NIX. Mr. Mahan, de. ; Miss Hill, dc. PITICCNNIYIL Trim EVENING. NO. 1, ROTND TIM CORNRI. Mews. Mere arid Forrester —And IT IS NEVER, TOO LATE To MKND. Ile3ans. Vining, Y. Villiers, Varner, Mare, Calhaem, and Mellon; Mama Page and Rodgers. LYCEUM. Tram rutile , % 11t ME104a1,757Mr. Price and Miss rate Ilialtop.—Aad THIS DUI: CS MOTTO . Mr. Yachter, Mews. Jordan, Emery, Mae, Wlthlkontb, Mtapatrick, Mlaxa Hearade, Irtworthy, Grattan, and Carlotta leclormi BTUND, TITI9I Emma% MARRIED DAtiaTYRS AND YOUNG !WS DA NIAI ISKA LOA: OR, THL SLNSATIONGOAT. Megan. Th"rrie, James, 11014ou, and Tamer ; Mesdames Swsabereagh, Jiggles, Nortoe, Westhersby, ac.—yd A SUIT OY IWAILLY3. HOLBORN. TRI Evinotta, MT TURN NEXT. Mr. Delmore: three Foote and Lennon.—And FLYING SCUD. Meters. Neville, Del more, bleat), V.Ugh% ate. ; Mesdames F. lomphs, C. Mandan. Berle Foote. !Addeo, Lennox, Raymond, to. BZITAN NU. Twrs ETIVITNO, FAUST. Mrs. Lane and Mesdames Edwin, Jambe, and Booth. - After which THE TICK ET OF LEAVE. Messrs Esynolits, Cranford, Drummond, Blawood, and Elton ; and Wes S. NMI WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE. TIM DAT —Domini. 9h. las......Afterooon. 9h. 48ao. EO-3109.90W—Nlorning. lab. 23m......Attern00n. Ilh. kw LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 30. THE sixth Report of the Children's Employ ment Commission is devoted to an inquiry into an organized system of labour, common in some of the Eastern Counties, known as agricultural gangs, and exhibits, as the re sult of that system, a state of social demo ralization such as cannot be allowed longer to continue, now that its iniquities have been exposed, without becoming a disgrace to the whole country. These gangs, which are formed for the execution of field work, are composed for the most part of women and young persons, and children of both sexes from six years of age. The master is a contractor for the execution of . work, making a profit by the labour of these whom he employs. The strength of the gang varies from ten to forty members, but twenty is the ordinary number. The system is found in Nottinghamshire, Suffolk, Norfolk, Cambridge shire, and Huntingdonshire, but is moat prevalent inLincolnshire. In the latter county occupiers of three hundred acres are to be found who have no labourers in their regular employ, except those who work with the horses of the farm. Labourers are got as they are wanted : they come and go, and all the light work is done by these travelling gangs. Mr. LoNos and Mr. WRITS, the assistant commissioners who conducted the local inquiry, found as many as 6,399 women and children employed in this manner. These ano malous organizations are formed on the sole respon sibility, and for the profit, of the gang masters, who are described as men whom the farmers are not willing to have in their regular employ ; men who belong to the class of "catch-work labourers" —in must cases of indolent and drinking habits —in some cases of notorious depravity, and as a rule utterly unfit to have the care of young people. The women who belong to the gang are those who have forfeited their chance of better employment or whose habits are coarse and irregular. Withtheso are aasociatedyouthswho have been brought up in the system from their tenderest years, who have therefore lost all oppor tunity of early instruction, and been hardened by early association with vice. The hours of work vary from ten to fourteen a day, but sometimes the gang has to travel a distance of from five to six miles to the scene of labour, when the hours of actual work are necessarily reduced. One case is given of a little girl, six years of age, who walked eight miles to her work, and had to be carried the beat part of the way home by her sisters. For her day's work, including the dis tance travelled, the child received fourpence. Mr. WEITZ gives a summary of cases of a like kind : A ringmaster employing young children, and having had some as young as 7 or 6 years, used to take his gang to one or two farms six miles off, and two or three times some of the children came • distance of seven or eight miles. To another place "he had had • boy 7or 8 years and a girl of 9 come six miles." A ringmaster in another place "had one or two children of 8 years old walk five miles out and five back." Elsewhere, • woman, whose children began young, some before 7 years old, says, " Some of mine have gone four, five, six, and seven miles off ;" and adds that the little ones, clown to those at 4d. a day, have to go, " Not but what the little ones have all the same steps to set as the great, and all the same yards and miles to go." A boy 5 years old used to be carried home from his work by the others. And elsewhere, " Yon see the big ones come dragging the little ones home, and sometimes taking them on their backs when they are over- tired." A mother says of her boy that he had been six miles and further to work, and had come home so tired that he could scarcely stand ; and that they had also had THE EXPRESS, SATURDAY EVENING, MARCH 30, 1867. to send ont late in the evening to look for him as he did not come home, " and had found him dropped asleep in a cowshed." The moral mischief which results from the in termixture of tho sexes, in gangs of this kind, under no proper control, and subject to cha racters already corrupted, may be imagined. The Rev. W. B. H ASTINOEI, rector of Ludford, says that "on asking the best and most respects " ble mothers what they thought of the mixed " system, no language could express their detests " tion." In the gangs foul language is habitually used and applauded, and foul practices take place publicly and without remonstrance. A large farmer said to the Commissioners :—" The gang system " is very bad indeed ; there is always something " wrong going on. It is a bad thing for girls to "go to work in this way." All the evidence is of the same tendency. In the case of girls, the first effect of working in gangs with boys is the loss of that modesty which is the safeguard of virtue, soon followed by an absence of all pretence to I decency, and abandonment to the grossest moral and physical impurity. In some places the boys and girls bathe together. A policeman says, "Of " the girls, their boldness and shamelessness I " never saw equalled during some years of police " life and detective d.ity in the worst parts of " London." The report abounds with evidence in support of these general indications, but it is of a character which we may not print. It will be sheer hypocrisy if we continue to send out missionsto convertthe heathenwhile permitting this horrible system, which combines some of the 1 1 worst evils formerly found in West Indian and Ame rican slavery, to exist any longer unchecked. The system is of recent origin, and is the direct result of two causes; first, of the pulling down of cottages in what are termed close parishes, to avoid poor rates, and thereby driving the agricultural popu lation off the land into distant villages and towns; and secondly, of the formation, by the enclosure of wild land or otherwise, of large farms without providing an adequate number of cottages to contain the workpeople required to supply the demand of labour for the farms. We may expect that the pulling down of houses will cease now that the alteration in the law of rating, effected by the Union Chargeability Act, has removed the inducement under which labourers have so often been driven to a distance from the land which they cultivated. Many of the landowners are already showing them selves alive to the duty of providing cottage ac commodation on each farm, and the work will go on. But this gang system should at once be put under restrictions of a nature to destroy its worst ' effects. The Commissioners recommend that every gang-master shall be compelled to take out a license; that no boys under eight, and no girls under twelve years of age be employed in gangs; that the hours of labour be limited; and that females should work in separate gangs, if they must work in public gangs at all. It is further recommended that the provisions of the Factory Act should be applied to the case of children employed by the public gang-master, and there is reason to believe that such a measure would be well received by the parents, who need the help of a legal enactment. The Com missioners state that " There ia much in " the evidence that shows that the parents of " the children would in many instances be glad to " be aided by the requirements of a legal oblige " tion to resist the pressure and the temptations "to which they are often subject. They are " liable to be urged at times by the parish officers, " at times by employers, under threats of being " themselves discharged, to allow their children " to be taken to work at an age when it would " manifestly be to their greater advantage that " the school attendance should not be broken in " upon, or entirely discontinued ; and it is plain " that many naturally well-disposed parents would " welcome a regulation which would oblige them "to make some further sacrifice by which the " education and general well-being of their children " would be forwarded." But, in any case, there is no reason why the same legislative protection should not be thrown around the child employed in one of these public agricultural gangs, as has been accorded with the best effects to the children engaged in the trades and manufactures of a great part of the United Kingdom. If these regulations should be found incompatible with a continuance of the gang system, that might even be another ground for satisfaction. to give the public resentment satisfastion,and to cheek the agitation with which we were threatened. The Times has little doubt of the EniperorNapoleon'swish to purchase, and of the readiness of the King of Holland to sell Luxemburg, and says it is difficult to resist the im pression that the transfer had been prepared long before hand, at least between Prussia and France, and that this is the fulfilment either of the whole or of part of the agree ment to which Bismarck and Napoleon were strongly be lieved to have come at their Biarritz interview. Compen sation was to be given to France, but not at the expense of Prussia, and scarcely of Germany. Belgium, however, which border, on France only on its western and southern side, will now be shut in by her on a considerable tract of its eastern frontier, and will find fresh cause for uneasiness in this unexpected and startling transaction. The Daily News offers a variety of objections to an in tention attributed to Mr. Disraeli of increasing the number of members of the House of Commons by giving Scotland a larger representation. Scotland must be satisfied, but it is better to sacrifice some close boroughs to the attainment of that object than to sacrifice the House of Commons to the establishment of so dangerous a precedent. Um (sum WINDSOR CASTLE, MARcii 29. The Qneen, accompanied by Princess Louise, Prince Leopold, and Princess Beatrice, and the suite in attendance, arrived at Windsor Castle at half-past 6 o'clock last evening from Buckingh. K . Her Majesty drove in the Great Park this morning, at tended by Lady Churchill. Prince and Princess Christian walked in the grounds of the Castle. Princess Beatrice, attended by the Hon. Emily Cath cart, rode in the Home-park. The Right Hon. Cathonse Hardy left the Castle yester day. A committee of the Lords of her Majesty's Most Ho nourable Privy Council sat yesterday at the Privy Council-office, Whitehall, on matters relating to the cattle plague. The lords present were the Lord President and Lord Robert Montagu. Mr. Harrison and Dr. A. Wil liams attended the committee. A deputation from Torquay, introduced by Sir Law rence Palk, Bart., M.P., and Mr. Kekewich, M.P., and consisting of Mr. W. Kitson, Mr. J. Tapley Harvey, Mr. George Heartier, Mr. John Harvey, and Mr. W. Harvey, had an interview with the Right Hon. Gathorne Hardy at the office of the Poor-law Board, Whitehall, yesterday. Despatches were received yesterday at the Colonial. office from the Governors of Gibraltar and Malta. A deputation consisting of Mr. Philip Rathbone (Chairman of the Commercial Law Committee of the Liver pool Chamber of Commerce), accompanied by Mr. Graves, M.P., Mr. laird, M.P., and Mr. Baines, had an interview yesterday with the Duke of Richmond and the Right Hon, Stephen Cave, at the office of the Board of Trade, on the subject of the Admindty Jurisdiction Bill. The Hon. J. M. Henniker-Major, M.P., bad an interview with the Chancellor of the Exchequer yesterdey. OUR CONTEMPORARIES. (THIS DAY.) The Daily News describes it as a simple mockery of common sense that men of the calibre and knowledge of the unlearned and prejudiced squires of Shropshire should be empowered to entertain such questions of law as are invol►ed in the ease of Mr. Eyre. Sir Baldwin Leighton deems himself equal to the discharge of func tions from which Sir Thomas Henry shrank. A body of English country gentlemen have not been 'Aimed to imitate the conduct of the grand juries of Jamaica, who threw out bills against Ramsay and Woodrow in defiance of facts and law, and in contempt of the charge of the judge. Their conduct has been since condemned by the Governor of Jamaica and by the Colonial-office. A similar censure must fall upon the Shropshire justices. They have placed the institution of the unpaid magistracy of England upon its trial. Their verdict simply means that if they bad been in Mr. Eyre's cam they would have done just as he did, of which, we suppose, nobody has any doubt. Mr. Eyre was well advised, it appears, in taking cover in Shropshire. But in consulting his safety he has sacrificed what remained to him of his re putation. The man who dragged Gordon from Kingston to Morant Bay—from a region in which his victim would have the protection at least of the forms of justice to a district under martial law—hides himself in Market Dray. too, not daring to come to London to share the fortunes of his subordinates, and to submit his case to the adjudication .of the highest tribunals of the land. Market Drayton and Morant Bay will henceforth be pendants. Mr. Eyre sent . Gordon to a place where he knew he was doomed ; and has remained himself in a nook where he knows he is safe —in both cases dreading equal justice and a competent tribunal. The Jamaica committee have the best legal ad , vice, and will doubtless be guided by it. Mr. Eyre can still be indicted under the Colonial Governors Act, not indeed for murder, but for the misdemeanour of instigat ing to the commission of murder, and tried in London on that charge. Mr. Eyre's sole fault, according to the Times, was the Brat and grievous one in a governor, that he shared in a general panic and yielded to a public clamour. How anyone could believe in Cordon's guilt on the evidence taken at his trial it is difficult for us at home to under. stand ; but in Jamaica every eye viewed the conduct of the unhappy agitator through a lens which distorted and dis coloured all the acts. The Times approves, in short, of the decision of the Market Drayton magistrates, and gods it difficult to imagine how any tribunal can hold a deed to be criminal which is performed in bond fide obedience to an set of the legislature. The Te legnspit, while ►pproving the result, adds that the acquittal at Market Drayton does not of caves bar o th er proceedings elsewhere, and the Star makes a similar remark, observing further, that the proceedings will strike a blow at the whole system of administering jollities by unpaid, unprefemionsl, and necessarily prejudiced persons. The Timm does not dims the penitence which hes been expressed ►y some of the leading authors of the Boded• adios' Titles sin. The ease use one of the usurpation by a former prism of some of the highest attributes of so►ereignty in a foreign and friendly country, and what was dose, wee to vindicate the dignity of the nation, THE WEEKLY PRESS. The ErAtmiwr dwells on the disintegration which is going on in both the great parties in the state—reaching so far as a rumour, for which the Examintr will not vouch, of concerted action for the overthrow of the Derby go vernment between Lord Cranborne and Mr. Gladstone. Somehow or other leaders now do not lead, and the party disorganisation is not to be cured by the mere sending round of a big drum to stifle murmurs, and to stun discontent. Nothing will reunite the liberal party but the authoritative announcement of a new and definite policy, legislative and administrative. If • change of hands is only to replace an effete and feeble clique, and to resume a negative policy of liberalism abroad and at home ; and if the change is to be wrought by the aid of ultra-toryism turned mutinous with rage at the semi-liberalism of its chiefs, then we shall entertain but faint hopes of public good from the transmutation. In another column the Exarniuer says that public opinion throughout France is longing for some certain sound. If it be peace, it should be followed by its natural consequence, the abandonment of the Army Augmentation Bill and a reduction of the military force. If it should be war, the people will be prepared for the result. But if it be neither peace nor war, then they will have the burdens of the one without the security of the other. The Saturday Review trusts that we may now proceed without delay to the consideration of the Reform Bill in committee, and that we have got to the end of attempts to construe every change in the bill into a crowning mercy and great victory over the ministry. Surely the meek may be permitted to inherit the earth for three or four months more. This is all the ministry ask, and it is meek enough in all conscience. " Keep us in till we have passed the bill—your bill, not our bill remember—end then turn us out." This is what Mr. Disraeli and his colleagues beg for, and it is a humble and moderate request. They have given up all their views, wishes, and what they used to call principles, and it is not much to ask in return that, during the early months of summer, they may be treated in • kind and friendly way. The Saturday Review continues in another part of its columns to treat Mr. Gladstone as a target for the bitterest and coarsest invectives of which newspaper lan guage admits. The political kaleidoscope, says the Spectator, has shifted again. Last week it seemed certain that the go vernment would go out, this week everybody is talking of the ease with which, after their concessions, the bill may be amended into a fair compromise. There is, of course, the usual multiplicity of contradictory reports, but we incline to believe the following worth • moment's atten tion. Mr. Gladstone, though disgusted alike with the bill and the government, is aware that • great body of members of both parties would sacrifice anything, their consciences included, if they could only get reform passed out of the way, and is, moreover, reluctant to tell the liberals distinctly they must either obey orders or find another chief. Consequently he will strive rather to amend than to throw out the bill, and if Mr. Disraeli can keep honest for a month, can, that is, abstain from trying to hoodwink the House of Commons, which has too many eyes for his handkerchief, the hill as amended may pea., to the boundless relief of all politicians, who feel as if they were getting congestion of the brain from a surfeit of reform details. All things point, in the opinion of the Spectator, to a general European war. Napoleon cannot bear to be always baffled ; the American complication is over ; the French are in the dangerous mood which the idea that their influ ence is waning always inspires ; England is paralysed by internal dissensions, and indisposed in any event to inter fere with France ; Germany is exalted till it will bear no menace ; the East is stirring and heaving with excitement. We have still three months, for Napoleon must give the signal, and the Exhibition does not close till August ; but if he lives, and " the unforeseen does not arrive," Ger many will yet be welded into a harder unity by blows from the outside. Already the mere rumour of menace is doing Count von Bismarck's work, the federal draft is passing as rapidly as if the North German parliament were filled with soldiers, and, when it is proclaimed, the King of Prussia is Emperor of Germany, with a military dicta torship for three years. And we wonder that on all bourns there are uneasiness and hesitation ! Discussing the question of the railways and the govern ment, the Economist concludes that the state never ought to interfere to preserve the status or the credit of any par. ticular person, or firm, or company ; the government ought only to interfere in that last extreme case when all credit is about to cease, and the whole busineu of the na tion is going to cease. The stoppage of railway credit does not stop all other credit. Suppose some great lines do, as the Great Western now do, pay their dividend in deben ture stock, and devote their money income to clearing off due obligations. Of course a multitude of persons, and many of them in poor circumstances, and entitled to much commiseration, will be straitened ; they will get a piece of paper, which they must sell or pledge, instead of real money. But national credit and business will not stop ; men will not stand in the streets, ea on " Overend's Friday"—the silent deprivation of small inoomes will not bring the country to an end. Nevertheless, to enable the government to gain firm control, undisputed mastery, and, if need be, absolute ownership over railways, it would be well worth while to help them to some money. But it is only to gain something for the state that we interfere ; merely to help the railways we would do nothing. The Chronicle (a new and promising journal, the first number of which was issued to-day) thinks it an ignorant fallacy to say that any refonn bill is better than no bill, Two months hence it may be a very dangerous fallacy indeed. It is of vital importance that the battle should be fought at the next stage of the measure. On the motion for the Speaker's leaving the chair it will be the duty of the liberal party to put on record, in some distinct and unmistakeable form, what it is they intend to do when they get into committee. If the government accepts the principles thus laid down, the application of them, clause by clause, to the bill may be safely attempted ; but if Mr. Disraeli should resist or hesitate, no course will be left but to submit the issue to the test, already too long de layed, of a decisive division. THE HOME CIRCUIT AND LORD CHIEF JUSTICE BOVILL—Last evening the bar of the circuit entertained at dinner the judges of assize, both of whom were members of the circuit, and for some years were among Its leaders. The circuit is so numerous that no room in Kingston would contain them. The largest room obtainable—the Town-ball—was procured for the occasion, but still scarce one-half of the circuit could secure admission, and as it was it was very much over-crowded. About 100 pulls men of the bar received the judges as their guests ; and, although the Lord Chief Justice was the principal object of their attention. their respect was not less paid to Baron Bramwell, who likewisewas a leader of the circuit, and has now been for many years on the bench, and is one of the senior of the puisne judges. The leaders of the circuit were present to do the learned judges honour, and, as the tribute of reepoct was purely professional, it had the entire concurrence even of those who are members of the political party opposed to that to which the Lord Chief Justice had belonged. Mr. X. Chambers, Q.C., M.P., the Hon. G. Denman, Q.C., M.P., Mr. J. Brown, Q.C., Mr. fierjeant Parry, Mr. C. Pollock, Q.C.. Sir George Bony. man, Q.C., Mr. Hennen, the Bon. A.Theidger, Mr. Watkin Williams, and the other leading members of the circuit, with about 90 members of the bar, sat down to dinner, and the health' of the Lord Chief Justice and Mr. Baron Bramwell were proposed and received with every honour. Zrox Cousoz.—The school closes on Friday, the 12th of April, for the Easter vacation. The lower boys will return to the college on Wednesday, the Bth of May, the fifth and mirth forms arriving on the two sue- Ax seed ed in days. Th , the 6th e Newcastle A Scholarship Examination is Saturday of pril. HEALTH OF THE PRINCESS OF WALES. The following extract from a letter received by the Crown Prince of Denmark from Madame de Bille, lady-in-waiting to the Queen of Denmark, has just been communicated to the Danish Rigodag :—" Her Majesty the Queen found the Princess of Wales better than she ventured to expect. Of course her royal highness is still very weak ; but according to what the physicians state, a great change for the better has taken place within the last few days. The pain in the knee is reduced, and her royal highness sleeps much better. Last night she enjoyed four hours of quiet, natural sleep ; to-day she took her meals with pretty good appetite. Her royal highness speaks and asks questions about everything with great interest, and she hi so very happy at having her beloved mother about her. I saw her for a moment this morning, and altogether I found her looking much better than I had ventured to expect ; the voice was much stronger than I had believed it would be. We hope that with the help of God the improvement which has set in will continue, and the physicians entertain great hopes from the presence and nursing of her Majesty the Queen. Great care and quiet are still necessary, and it is probable that the recovery will be slow ; but we must all be thankful if the improvement will only continue even though it be but slowly." A telegram for. warded from London, by his Majesty the King of Den mark, addressed to the Speakers of the two houses of the Rigsdag, and received at Copenhagen on Tuesday, con. firms the report that the health of the royal invalid continues to improve satisfactorily; and also expresses the thanks of the King to the members of the Rigsdsg for the warm sympathy shown by them during the ill ness of the Princess. The Duke of Cambridge dined yesterday with the Earl and Countess Stanhope, at the noble earl's family residence in Grosvenor•place. TIM Duke of Rutland has for some days been honoured by the company of the Duchess of Cambridge, the Grand Duchess of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Princess Mary Adelaide, and his Serene Highness Prince de Teck. Among the company have been the Earl of Chesterfield, the Earl and Countess of Scarborough and the Ladies Lumley (2), the Earl and Countess Spencer, Lady Eliza beth Drummond, Lord and Lady Wharticliffe, the Rev. F. and Lady Adeliza Norman, Colonel Leslie, Captain E. and Mn Drummond, Miss E. Norman, Mr. and Mrs. Welby, Mr. Gilmour, the Rev. P. Mules, Mr. E. Norman, Re. Viscountessliolmeadale gave her second assembly this season last evening, at her residence, in Grosvenor- square. Previously to the reception the noble viscount and viscountess entertained his Excellency the Prussian Ambassador and the Countess Bernstorfr, and the Countess Theresa Bernstorff, the Earl and Countess Amherst and Lady Margaret Amherst, Lord Brabazon, Lord William Hay, M.P., Baron Beck Prus, the Right Hon. Mr. and Lady Mary Nisbet Hamilton, Miss Moulscy, Lc., at dinner. The Earl and Countess of Dartrey entertained at dinner last evening, at the family residence in Curzon street, Mayfair, the Archbishop of Armagh and Mrs, Beresford, the Marquis and Marchioness of Salisbury, the Earl and Countess Percy, the Earl and Countess of Claren don and Lady Emily Villiers, the Earl of Morley, the Earl and Countess of Belmore, the Right Hon. Robert Lowe, M.P., and Mrs. Lowe, Mr. D•lane, Hon. Miss Weetenrs, Mr. Edward Stanley, &c. Later in the evening the noble countess had an assembly. The programme of the Birmingham Festival is nearly arranged, and will probably include, nays the Athe neum,the following principal works:—Mr. Benedict'. Legend of St. Cecilia, Elijah, Se. Paul, The Messiah of course, Dr. Bennett's new work (which we learn is maned), Beethoven's Choral Symphony, Signor Roesini's Man, Alezawder's Feast, and Mr. J. F. Barnett's Cantata, The ne4ns4 Mariner. In and after the examination of candidates for Woolwich Academy, in January, 1868, no candidate will be allowed to °mint any marks in the voluntary portion of the mathematical examination, unless he shall have obtained one-sixth of the maximum assigned to that branch of the subject. A committee has been formed with a view to organise excursions to Paris at re-lured fares for efficient volunteers who intend to take part in the Easter review at Dover ; the excursions to leave London on Monday, the 16th, end Tuesday, the 16th of April, returning to Dover on Friday, the 19th, and Saturday, the 20th. Uniforms will not be worn. Further particulars will be published in a few diva. Under the title " A Song of Italy," Mr. Swin burns le about to publish a new poem of nearly 800 lines. . -- The Army and Nary Gazette regreta to hear that Mr. Duncan Gordon 80y.., the only midshipman who had gained the Victoria Crow, has been aentenced by a court martial at Bermuda to be dismissed the service. We (Army and Navy Gazette) believe that it is intended by the Admiralty to equalise the pay of chaplains and naval instructors. This will only be fair to an ill paid, and, for a long time, a very neglected set of officers. Mr. Young himself wrote a letter of self-defence to the Standard of yesterday, in which he gives an account of his career, commencing with the following eccentric observation :—" From muses too tedious to relate, I was born in the year I799,"—which reminds us (Spactator) of a philosophical observation in a private diary, attributed to a living politician when a boy of thirteen :—"On this day mamma presented papa with a fine boy. The suocession of phenomena which led to this event I leave for future investigation." THE PRINCE or WALES IN THE HUNTING-FIELD. —Yesterday his Royal Highness the Prince of W a le s hunted with his harriers. He was accompanied by Lieut.- Colonel Koppel and Colonel Kingacote, and came from town by an ordinary train on the South Western HIM which stop specially at Ratchet station to put down his royal highness and party. At the station yard the Prince mounted his hunter and rode to the place of the meet at Mr. C. B. Cantrell's, Riding-court farm, about a mile distant. His royal highness, after partaking of a slight refreshment at Mr. Cantrell's, proceeded with the Hon. A. N. Hood and a very large field, including Colonel Richardson Gardener, Mr. H. Seeker, Messrs. Stevenson, Boyce, Pyearoft, Jones, Alnutt, and several of the officers in garrison at Windsor. to a field on the farm. After drawing the fields on Mr. Cantrell's farm without finding, they went to Mr. Stephen Pullin's farm at Wraysbury, where they found several hares, which gave 1101114) good ringi ng runs without killing. They afterwards crossed to Mr. Nashe's farm at Langley, and soon found a hare which after a good run got away. In one of the runs the hare doubled and ran right through the pack without being killed. The scent was good, and the ground in capital hunting order. The prince and attendants afterwards left for town by the four o'clock ordinary train on the Great Western line from Slough. LATEST INTELLIGENCE. COUNT BISMARCK ON UNIVERSAL •ND DIRECT SUFFRAGE. Count Bismarck made the following observations at the sitting of the German Parliament on Thurs day : rniversal suffrage is a legacy which has been tmnemited to us by the national aspiration for German unity. The governments would prefers different system but they tays not proposed any substitute. I know nothing more abstrd or more pitiful than the Prussian law which sanctions elm• tion by classes and by indirect suffrage, caprice, and hardi ness, accompanying the tax-rated suffrage. It would not be prudent to combine the right to the suffrage with social or class distinctions. Indirect suffrage alters the exprme sion of public opinion; direct and universal suffrage will is troduoe talent into parliament. These observations were received with loud cheers. In the same sitting, vote by ballot, and the eligi bility of all public functionaries, including eccle siastics and judges, were adopted. THE CESSION OF LUXEMBURG. A telegram in the Indipendanee Belge says that Prussia has given her consent to the cession, but that there remain points of detail to be settled with the King of Holland. Nothing, it says, has been decided with regard to the demolition of the fortress. The fyiNklidcinee will not believe that the descendant of the glorious founder of the House of Orange has sold the population of Lux emburg at the rate of 500 fr. per head till it has become an undoubted fact. The Temps says : If France Is negotiating for this cession of Luxemburg, one of there things must happen. Either Prussia will refuse to evacute the fortress which she holds and will thus put her veto on an acquisition which we desire, and then it will be a disgrace or a war : or Prussia will consent to retire on condi tions, one of which, for example, will be the dismant ling of the fortress, which condition will not only deprive the acquisition of its value but will add thereto an insult, or filially, from an excess of condescension to which we have not been accustomed at the hands of M. de Bismarck hitherto, Prussia will yield Luxemburg and the fortress to us purely and simply; ►nd in our opinion, this last resolution would not be the least hurtful one to our national pride. We cannot, it ►ppears to us, see without irritation the negotiation between France and a neighbouring sovereign made to depend on the rcto or placrt of M. de Bismarck. CRETE. The General Assembly of Crete has decreed the establishment of a provisional executive govern ment of seven members, who are to act in the name of the King of the Hellenes. (REUTER'S TELEGRAMS.) FRANCE. LETTER OF COUNT WALEWSKI TO THE EMPEROR PARIS, MARCH 30. Count Waleweki has addressed a letter to the Emperor, in which he says : " Personal differences, independent of my will, having arisen between some members of the go vernment and myself, I do not hesitate, in the interest of harmony and concord, to pray your Majesty to accept my resignation of the post of President of the Legislative Body." The Emperor, in reply, accepts Count Walewski's proffered resignation, while expressing his regret at this step and thanking the count for the proofs of devotion which he has afforded to the imperial dynasty. The Senate yesterday rejected the proposal to send back the bill upon primary instruction for fresh deliberation in the Legislative Body. AUSTRIA. VIENNA, MARCH 30. A conference is asserted to have taken place between Cardinal Rancher and Baron von Banat, resulting in an understanding by which the ministry will obtain the absolute support of the Austrian clergy. BAVARIA. MUNICH, MAscif 30. The Minister of War is stated to have tendered his resignation, on account of the delay in carry ing out the bill brought forward by him for the reorganisation of the army. ITALY. FLORENCE, MARCH 29, Burma: In to-day's sitting of the Chamber of Deputies the bureau of the presidency was definitively con stituted. Signor Mari, the President of the Chamber, made a speech in which he said :—" Dangers for Italy do not exist in party rivalries, but in the financial condition of the country, which must be remedied at all cost. Other nations, after passing through wars and revolutions, and being reduced to extremities, have examined and adopted the remedies which their position required. Why cannot Italy do so also I The representatives of the nation ought to be animated by full confidence and they will be successful." The Minister of Finance then brought for ward the appendix to the budget with modi fications, and the bill for the provisional exer cise of the budget for three months. He also announced that to-morrow he will present several financial bills and report on the state of the treasury. To-morrow morning the bureaux of the Chamber will examine the bill for the provisional exercise of the budget, and immediately afterwards it will be discussed in the plenum. A meeting of those deputies who are favourable to the government will be held this evening. The Minister of Finance will, it is believed, be present in order to make an exposition of the financial projects which ho is shortly to lay before the Chamber. ROME. (via Marseilles.) ROME, MARCH 27. An enthusiastic ovation was given to the Pope during his progress from the Vatican to the churches of Santa Maria Minore on the festival of the Annunciation. The carriage in which his Holiness was riding was covered with flowers by the people. SPAM MADRID, MARCR 29. The Penaawiento Espanol announces that Senor Nocedal, the new catholic deputy, has written a letter declining to become a candidate for the pre sidency of the Congress, as he is opposed to liberalism and the parliamentary system of govern ment. RUSSIA. ST. PETERSBURG, MAsca .10. The Bank of Russia has reduced the rate of dis count to 7 per cent. The rate of interest for advances upon securities remains unchanged. AUSTRALIA. MELBOURNE, FIB. Ti. The discussion upon the tariff question has been renewed in the Victoria parliament. Additional taxes have been imposed, which has created great excitement in the colony. AMERICA. SOUTHAMPTON, MARCH 30. The Hamburg and American Company's steam ship Teutouia, from New York on the lith inst. , arrived here to-day with 122 passengers for this port, Havre, and Hamburg, but no specie. She was detained hours off Staten Island by a heavy snowstorm, and experienced strong north and north-easterly winds throughout her passage. (BY ATLANTIC TRLIORAIII.) NEW YORK, MARCH 29, 6 r.w. At New Orleans a new police force is to be formed irrespective of colour. Closing prices :—Gold, 1341. Sterling exchange on London, 109. Five-Twenty United Stat es Bonds, lo n ; Illinois, 11& ; Erie, 58i. Cotton: Middling Upland, 31. Petroleum, refined, 27. EXPRESS FROM PARIS. (TROY OUR OWN CORRESPONDINT.) PARIS. FRIDAY ETENTRO. The resignation of Count \Valewski, which I spoke of as probable two days since, was an nounced by himself from the chair of the Corps Legislatif at the opening of this day's sitting. President Walewaki said : I have a communication to make to the chamber, and beg • moment's attention. (Profound silence.) I wish to announce myself to the chamber that I resign the presi. dency of the Corps Legislatif. (Sensation.) Gentlemen ►nd dear colleagues, it is not without deep regret that I have taken this resolution, but in the high interest of union and concord I have thought it necessary to renounce the honour of presiding over you. Permit me, in quitting this crlir, to thank you for the courteous support which I have always met with on every beach of this assembly, without distinction. (Cries of "True, true.") I beg Vice-President Schneider now to take my place. Nothing can be gathered from the above short speech as to the true reasons for Count Walewski's retirement except that there is a screw loose some where. I believe I can supply the hiatus. The Emperor is not pleased with the way in which M. Walewaki has presided, and thinks a quicker man might have stopped a great many disagreeable things which have been said in the course of recent debates. lam informed that in the sharp contest which took place in the Bth bureau for the elec tion of a committee on the new press bill, M. Walewski supported M. Emile 011ivier ; whereas the Emperor favoured his opponent, M. Matthieu, who was ultimately named by a majority of only ono. It was observed to-day that when M. Wa lewski left the chair all the members of the left and the tiers parti pressed forward to shake hands with him, while almost all the members of the majority stood aloof. Count Walewski's resig nation, or dismissal—the words are nearly synony mous—ice considered universally as a loss to the cause of liberal reform. It is very probable that no new president will be appointed at present, and that Vice-Presidents Schneider and Alfred Leroux will occupy the chair alternately until the end of the session. There are again rumours of ministerial changes. General Fleury and M. Boitelle are spoken of as members of a new cabinet, and their mines would smell of powder. Baron Jerome David, who is one of the numerous unofficial cousins of the im perial family, aspires to be Minister of the Interior, and thinks his talent especially qualified to "direct " the next general elections. The party of which ho is one of the founders begins to be known by the name of the " Mamelukes." The Emperor was at the Exhibition to-day in company with the Duke de Persigny, and had an opportunity of seeing how unfit it is for the open ing, which is, nevertheless, to take place on All Fools Day. I suppose the telegram sent to stop the Prince of Orange did not reach him in time, as he has arrived in Paris. The A venir National says its correspondent at the Haguo writes as follows, " in haste," under date of March 28 : I learn this instant that the cession of Luxemburg to France it a fait arrurnpii. A despatch from Paris, arrived at the Hague, informs the King of the Low Countries that the bargain is concluded, and thereupon the King noti fied the cession to Prussia. I incline to think the words "in haste" are more accurate than anything else in this letter. It is scarcely news that as far as the King of Hol land is concerned, he would be glad to sell Lux emburg to France. But between hi■ notification of the bargain to Prussia and Prussia's consent to ratify by giving up possession, there is, I think, yet a wide gap. The Bourse opened rather firm, but towards the close there were heavy sales of the Soci4t4 ha mobiliAre shares, which immediately acted upon the Credit Mobilier, and produced a fall from the highest quotation, 462 fr. 50c., to 453 fr. 75c. Rente rose 2}c. for cash, and fell 121 c. for account, closing at 69fr. 15c. and 69fr. 12ftc. The Hungarian nation has just presented the Emperor Francis Joseph with the domain of Godollo. There is • fine chdteaa, and excellent shootiug in the forests on the estate, which is about 15 English miles from Path. It belonged formerly to the now extinct princely family of Grassalkosich, but had been lately bought by • Belgian company. Imprisonment for debt having now been abo• hiked in France the 103 prisoners in the gaol of Clichy will said one of the deputies no doubt illuminate. The steam packet communication between Poole and Cherbourg is to be resumed. _ WHITEHALL, MARCH 26.—The Queen has been pleased to the Right Hon . Robert Montagu (com monly Robert Montagu) to be Vice-President of the Committee of Council on Education, and to be the Fourth Charity Commissioner for England and Wales. — Gazette. THE BIEHOP OF OXFORD AND THE LAY CONE MUNICANTO or Ruainnu.—Thefollowing from the Bishop of Oxford has been sent to us for publication -" dington, March 27, 1867 :—" Gentlemen,-1 thank you for your letter accompanying an address from the mayor, the es-mayor, town clerk, and 13 churchwardens, with others, to the number in all of 2:r7 communicants, in Reading. It has given me much pleasure to receive this proof of confidence and affection. I thank God that my en deavours to do in; duty amongst you as your bishop for 21 years, are so generously and kindly appreciated. I attached very little weight to that other address towhich you refer. I felt convinced that it was not the voice of churchmen in Reading. I saw at once, from the few signs tures to it which meant anything, that it was put forth by those who are unhappily notorious for that narrow and prejudiced spirit, which must make them dislike any attempt of mine to maintain the distinctive doctrines and discipline of our reformed church, in that large spirit of toleration which is so essentially hers. I have ever sought, in setting forth plainly Jesus Christ and Him Cruci fi ed amongst you, both to declare freely His Gospel and to main tain those ordinances through which He is pleased to rem. municate Himself to the faithful members of His church. I am persuaded that it is on these principles alone that the office of a bishop ought to be administered within oar borders. For whilst our church discourages all unchari table condemnation of others, she professes to have re ceived " a doctrine and discipline of Christ commanded by the Lord " which we are bound, as we value our souls and the Raub. committed toour charge, to preavve inviolate. So have I endeavou red,avoiding all party Shibboleths. to ad vance through His grace the conversion and building up of our people in Him, convinced that thee true peace ma y best be secured among ourselves , and (may Goa Frans it) unity promoted with our separated brethren ; whilst thus only can those great catholic truths of the common faith be upheld, which are corrupted by the jwipists and set at nought by the unbelievers of every cass. Once again thanking you for your assurance of the existence of that confidence and affection, the expression of which through out the diocese has done so much to strengthen my hands for our Master's work, I solemnly commend you to God, and to the Word of His Grace, which is able to build you up, and to give you an inheritance amongst all them which are sanctifierL— I remain, ever very sincerely yours, in the common faith, S. Oxos.—To Henry F. Farebrother, John F. Bulley, and Henry B. Mandy, &qrs." !rr :t! 0; 'r I~