The Press.
London, England, 1855-06-30 00:00:00

RUSSIA.

The Northern Bee of St. Petersburg of the 14th
publishes an order of the day addressed by the Hett-
man Adrianoff to the Cossacks of the Don, in which
he calls them all to arms, great and small, old and
young, with their standards and the sacred images of
their respective parishes at their head. This levy
en masse of the Cossacks of the Don will have their
head-quarters at the town of Novo-Tcherkase.

The Grand Duke Nicholas reviewed on the 21st
the troops at Helsingfors and Abo, and inspected the
fortifications of Sweaborg.
On the 17th an imperial ukase appeared at St.
Petersburg requiring the formation of a rifle corps
from the miners employed in the Altai.
A letter from St. Petersburg of the 13th, in the
National Gazette of Berlin, says
Many of the Jews in Russia have been of late years con•
verted to Christianity. The number of those who have
been thus converted amount in this capital to 80,000.
They have been up to this time exempt from military ser-
vice, but in consequence of the present war, an imperial
ukase has just ordered that one in thirty shall be taken for
the conscription.
. _ _

The Goiatitutionnel asserts, upon the authority of
a letter from Warsaw, that three American officers
had requested permission of the Czar to be allowed
to join the Russian army in the Crimea.

UNITED STATES.

New York mails of the 13th inst. have come to
hand by the steamer Pacific, which brought also
210 passengers, and 1,500,000 dollars in specie on
freight.

A-Know-Nothing Convention met at Philadelphia
on the sth, and was sitting when the packet left.
George Law is to be their presidential candidate.
In all parts of the States the condition of the crops
is cheering, and a plentiful harvest is expected.
A reaction against the Maine Liquor Law is taking
place.
The sailing of recruits for British service has been
stopped at New York.
From ➢lexico it was announced that Santa Anna
had gained advantages over the revolutionists.
Jamaica alvices state that great destructions have
been caused by the spring storms.
Five English war-ships had left Honolulu to join
the French in attacking Petropaulovski.

THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION in search of Lieutenant
Kane sailed from Now York on the 3rd. The expe-
dition will proceed up Bathn's Bay, visiting the most
prominent headlands,

SATURDAY,

Court an cfastun.

Her Majesty held the last levee of the season on '
Wednesday. On Thursday the Queen and Prince
Albert were guests of the Duchess of Cambridge,
who gave a grand banquet at her apartments at St.
James's. Her Majesty on Tuesday held a Privy
Council at Buckingham Palace.
Apartments are being arranged at St. Cloud for
the reception of her Majesty and Prince Albert, who
are expected in Paris early in August.
The Earl of Westmorland, British Ambassador
at Vienna, has demanded leave of absence.

A Cabinet Council was held at the Foreign-office,
Downing-street, on Saturday afternoon.
The Duchess of Beaufort gave a grand ball on
Tuesday evening, in celebration of the marriage of
his grace's sister, the Lady Henrietta Somerset, with
J. Morant, Esq., nephew of the Earl of Errol. Up-
wards of 500 of the most distinguished members of
the aristccracy attended the ball.
Miss Coutts had her first assembly for the season
at her residence in Stratton-street on Tuesday
evening.
The Queen and Prince Albert, attended by Lady
M. Churchill and two equerries, visited the British
Museum on Saturday last. The object of her
Majesty's visit was to inspect the new Assyrian anti-
quities lately arrived from Nineveh, the results of
the last excavations of Mr. Loftus and Colonel Raw-
linson. They were received by Sir H. Ellis' K.H.,
Colonel Rawlinson, C. 8., Mr. Panizzi, and other
officers of the establishment, and proceeded in the
first instance to the Nimrod Gallery. From thenco
they returned to the Medal•roorn to inspect the
highly interesting series of drawings made by the
artists attached to the late expedition, representing
the lion-hunts, repasts, and other adventures of Sar-
danapalus. Among the other curiosities exhibited
to her Majesty on this occasion were the gold objects
discovered in the late excavations. An alabaster
vase, containing the remains of the sweetmeats of
Sardanapalus, various ivory objects, the remains of
the throne of the king, and several inscriptions
relating to Nebuchadnezzar, Sardanapalus, Tiglath-
Pileser, and other kings of Assyria. They also ex-
amined the collection of ancient gems, gold objects,
prints, &T.

THE DWELLINGS OF THE INDUSTRIOUS
CLASSES.

THE Association for Improving the Dwellings of the
Working Classes in the Metropolis held their eleventh
annual meeting on the 22nd instant- Lord Itadstock,
Lord Ebrington, Mr. Wilkinson, Dr. Southwood
Smith, and several other advocates of sanitary reform
were present at the meeting, over which Mr. Tottie
presided :

The report stated that dwellings for sixty families had
been completed in New-street, Golden-square, and were
then fully occupied. They consisted of sixteen sets of two
rooms, and forty-four sets of three rooms, and had been
eagerly sought after. A great amount of improved accom-
modation had thus been afforded in a neighbourhood where
the visitations of cholera had been virulent. Two substan-
tially-built freehold houses, giving accommodation to
twenty-four families, had been purchased in Albion-build-
ings, Bartholomew-close, and dwellings for 108 families
in Nelson-street, Bermondsey, were on the point of com-
pletion. In the improved dwellings of the association, in
the Old Pancras-road, not a single case of cholera had oc-
curred, out of a population of 693 ; in Albert-street, Mile-
end New Town (population 350), a mother and three
children had died of cholera in a family of ten persons, but
in the remaining filty-nine families not a single case had
occurred. In the lodging-house for single men, in the
same street, only two cases of cholera had occurred out of
an average population of two hundred. At the Soho
Chambers, out of an average of eighty-eight, there was not
a single case of cholera, and only seven cases of diarrhoea;
while in the immediate vicinity oft .is building the inhabi-
tants were dying daily in large numbers, and the epidemic
while it lasted was more general and fatal than in any equal
area of England during any visitation of the epidemic. In
the twenty-three houses for families in Pelham•street and
Pleasant-row not a single case of cholera occurred, and the
total number of deaths from all causes in the dwellings,
out of an average population of upwards of 2,200, was
twenty, of whom thirteen were children. There had been
an addition of more than 4001. to the net profits for the
year, and the directors recommended that a dividend at the
rate of two and a half per cent. per annum on the amount
of the paid-up capital in the association should be declared,
and that the sum of about MO/. required for this purpose,
in addition to the 1,7521. 2s. profits of the year, should be
taken from the guarantee fund. During the last year the
directors had apportioned capital to the extent of 65,0001.
among the towns of Liverpool, Bristol, Wolverhampton,
and Sunderland, which with the branches previously formed
at Brighton, Dudley, Ramsgate, Torquay, Southampton,
and Newcastle-on-Tyne, absorbed a capital of 103,6251., and
the formation of branches at Manchester, Birmingham,
and in other towns, was under consideration.

THE COMMITTEE OF THE HOUSE OF LORDS, ap-
pointed to consider Earl Shaftesbury's bill for the
limitation of the hours of labour amongst needle-
women, report that it is inexpedient to proceed with
the consideration of the measures

JUNE 30, 1855.

Volituat an titutral.

THE annual meeting of the Archaeological Institute
of Great Britain and Ireland, will be held at Shrews-
bury from August 0 to 14.
ANOTHER FAILURE connected with the west end of
London was announced on Tuesday, a fiat in bank-
ruptcy having been granted against Mr. R. Kirkman
Laws, who hai for many years been engaged in dis-
count transactions in the neighbourhood of Regent-
street. Members of the aristocracy will, it is said,
be the principal sufferers by this event.
AN EXTRAORDINARY SCENE took place in Hyde-
park on Sunday afternoon. A few days before
placards had been displayed throughout the metro-
rlis inviting the working classes and others to attend
in Hyde park on Sunday to see "how the aristocracy
observed the Sabbath." In obedience to this call,
several thousand persons assembled in the l'ark be-
tween two and three o'clock in the afternoon. A
great number of policemen were distributed through-
out the park, but did not interfere with the free
movement of the persons assembled, the vast majority
of whom appeared to be artisans, accompanied in
many instances by their wives and families. The
equestrian ride in Rotten-row was deserted, but soon
after three o'clock a variety of carriages began to
make their appearance in the drive running along
the north bank of the Serpentine. The crowd took
up a position on each side of the road, extending
from the Achilles statue to Serpentine-bridge, and as
each carriage passed along indulged in loud hissing
and groaning, accompanied by deafening cries of
" Go to church ;" "Why do you allow your servants
to work on Sunday ?" " Shame on you !" "Down
with the Sabbatarians !" "Away with the Sunday
Bill." In the majority of instances the occupants of
the carriages did not venture to return down the ride,
but went home evidently astonished and disgusted
with what they had seen and heard. The crowd re-
mained until nearly eight o'clock. A great number
of the members of the Legislature were present
looking on.
THE BILL OF THE SCINDE RAILWAY COMPANY WaS
read a second time in the House of Lords on Mon.
day, and passed the committee on the merits next

day.
A PRIVATE REFORMATORY FOR JUVENILE CRIMINALS,
whose term of punishment has expired, has been
established in the New Forest, by Mr. Compton, M.P.
for South Hants; Mr. Castleman, a director of the
South-Western Railway, and others. The present
reformatory is held at a farm-house; but a suitable
building is to be erected, which will hold forty boys.
The boys are now engaged in agricultural pur-
suits, but it is in contemplation to teach them other
trades.
IN THE WEEK that ended last Saturday 1,075
deaths were registered in the metropolitan districts.
In the ten corresponding weeks of the years 1845-54
the average number, if raised for the increase of po-
pulation, would have amounted to 1,015 deaths; the
actual number was therefore in excess of the esti-
mate by 60.
ARRANGEMENTS for the erection of four out of the
twelve new bishoprics proposed by the Commis-
sioners on Cathedral and Collegiate Churches have
been submitted to the Government, and, it is said,
agreed to. The seat of the first will be at New-
ca,tle-on-Tyne, and will comprise the whole of the
archdeaconry of Northumberland, including, amongst
others, the towns of Tynemouth, North and South
Shields, Wark, Hexham, Knaresdale, and Bedling-
ton, at present forming part of the see of Durham.
The second new bishopric will be formed out of the
diocese of Rochester, and will comprise the archdea-
conries of St. Alban's and Essex. The seat of the
bishopric will be at St. Alban's. The third see will
be formed out of the present diocese of Lincoln, the
seat being at Southwell. The fourth new see will
be formed out of the present diocese of Exeter, and
will comprise the whole of the county of Cornwall.
The seat of the see will be at St. Coluinb, near
Truro, the proceeds of which valuable benefice will
be made over in perpetuity by the present rector and
patron towards the endowment of the bishopric.
THE DUKE AND DUCHESS OF NORTHUMBERLAND
gave an interesting tete on Monday at Sion•house,
after the laying of the foundation of a new district
church at lsleworth. His grace, in addition to giving
the land for the site, has presented the munificent
sum of 2,0001. for the building and endowment of the
intended edifice, the Duchess Dowager presenting
the liberal donation of 5001.
SIR JOHN RENNIE, C.E., returned from Portugal in
the Madrid mail-packet on Sunday last. He has
been out to examine for the Portuguese Government
the seaports of Portugal, and see what improvements
can be made in them. It is understood that his
opinion is that amelioration of the bars of Oporto
and Figuero would be attended with very great ex-
pensa, and that the only bar withwhich anything can be
done is that at Vianna. lie advises the Portuguese
Government to make Lisbon the commercial centre,
and to run a railway to Oporto.

THE PRESS.

ADMINISTRATIVE REFORM.

THE Administrative Reform Association held another
meeting at Drury-lane Theatre on Wednesday, Mr.
Morley, as before, presiding. The chief speech of
the evening was made by Mr. Charles Dickens, who
kept his audience in a perpetual state of amusement
by a succession of piquante remarks and anecdotes.
Mr. T. M'Cullagh and Mr. Bennoch afterwards
spoke, and then Mr. Layard took the opportunity of
explaining some of the statements which had been
made the subject for comment and contradiction in
the House of Commons.
The hon. member said :

With regard to the statement he had made at the
last meeting as to the levity of Lord Palmerston, the
noble lord had expressed astonishment that he should
have made such a charge, and immediately afterwards
proceeded to give a most jocose account of the meeting
which had taken place, and which he called an exhibition
of private theatricals—a description which was received by
loud shouts of laughter. Aher such a repudiation as that
of the noble lord, he k Mr. Layard) certainly did feel as-
tonished at the exhibition which he then witnessed, and
he would now ask whether that was not a strong confirma-
tion of what he had uttered with reference to the noble
lord's conduct? (Hear.) The noble lord's illustration
was, he thought, a most injudicious one; for, while in
theatricals the parts assumed were for the amusement
of the audience and foreign to the actors, in this instance
they were not playing a part, but giving vent to the
earnest feelings and deep convictions of the mass of
the people. The motion which he had brought
forward on the subject of Administrative Reform had
been lost by a large majority, and why it had been so
lost might be easily explained. in the first place, to his
great astonishment, he bad found all parties vieing with
each other, as to who should take the initiative. Mr.
Disraeli claimed the credit of inventing the term
"Administrative Reform"—(laughter)—and he (Mr.
Layard), instead of being among the leaders, discovered
that he was at the tail of the movement. (Laughter.)
He entreated the country to reflect that they were but at
the beginning of the war, and that if they wished to get out
of it with honour to themselves, and with due regard to
the interests of the nation, they must follow up the move-
ment that had been commenced, and must insist upon a
change in their administrative system. (Cheers.) Already
success had to some degree attended this movement. A
short time ago General Sir De Lacy Evans—(cheers)--a
true friend of the soldier—in a report of the conduct of his
division in repelling a sortie of the enemy mentioned
among several officers who had distinguished themselves
by their gallantry, the name of a non-commissioned officer
—Sergeant Sullivan. (Cheers.) When the despatch of
Sir De Lacy Evans was reproduced by Lord Raglan in his
despatch to the Government, the name of the sergeant was
omitted. (Cries of " Shame !") He acknowledged that
it was a shame, but the blame did not rest upon Lord
Raglan so much as the system which excluded all mention
of the names of men below a certain rank in the army.
The system seemed, however, to have been changed ; for,
in a recent despatch of Lord Raglan, referring to the attack
upon the enemy's works on the 7th of June, the name of a
corporal—Corporal Quin—was mentioned. (Loud cheers.)
To have effected so great an alteration in the military
system ought to be some reward to Administrative Re-
formers, because the change thus made would be an en-
couragement to the whole of the army, and would show
them that at any rate the people at home were not un-
mindful of what they were doing for their coontry. The
association were engaged in a just cause, they had the
voice of ever well-thinking Englishmen with them, anti
success must ultimately attend their efforts. He was glad
to hear from the chairman that the association were about
to direct their attention to three important branches of
the public service—namely the army and navy, diplomacy,
and the civil service, in each of which the most thorough
reform was required. He called upon the people not to
believe one word uttered by those whose business it was
to deceive them as to the efficiency of the public service.