The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1860-12-24 00:00:00

The volunteer class at Hythe, which has just con-
cluded its course of instruction, is the largest that has
ever been at the Sthodl of Miiskbtfy. the total number
present Was 06; of whoni 32 are captains; 13 lieutenants;
i 4 ensigns; 2 nMf-OttiniiSaiiined ofdeelrs; arid 1 privrites
e 'shooting of several of the test maristnen was of
the highest order, especially at the longest ranges. The
" figure of merit" at the lower ranges was 45.02, or
just about the average for volunteers, which for the last
five courses has been 45.20. The average for the same
number of courses of officers of the army is 44.06.
The committee of the Clerical Fund and Poor Clergy
Relief Society have made during the past year grants to
ninety Poot:clergl-obti, incumbents and etirbit6, amotint-
ing to btM, and to eighteen Widows of clergymen,
£lll ; a total of £504. In addition to these grants of
money, they have distributed no less than one hundred
parcels of clothing, new and old, the estimated value of
which is £324. The society is one of the moat valuable
in the metropolis, as its bounty is given in money and
clothing to the poor clergy and their widows in Eng-
land.; Wales, and Ireland.
The Rev: liryan King; of St., deorgn'e-iii,the-East;
has addressed a second letter to the Bishop of London,
which is designed as a public and solemn protest against
the conduct of the bishop in St. George's parish. At
the conclusion of the letter, Mr. King significantly says :
" Even you, my lord, can scarcely be sanguine enough
to imagine that I shall respect the acts of your late
illegal aggression."
A statue in marble, seven feet in height, of the late
Sir William Peel, K.C.11., of the Naval Brigade, cke-
tuted by Mr. W: Tilted, at the eipense of the Right
Hon. Frederick Peel, M.P., has been placed in the
Painted Ilan, greeti*ieh• ElOspitak It i 3 a Wort of
tntioh merit, and is every way worthy of the subject.
Colonel Taylor succeeds to the position lately held
by the Right Hon. Sir W. Jolliffe in connection with
the Conservative party, and will be assisted by Mr. Whit-
more, and also by the Hon. Gerard Noel, member for
Rutland, who will fill the vacancy caused by Sir W.
Jolliffe's retirement.

Mr. Alfred Bunn died on Thursday at Boulogne.
Lovers of the drama will call to mind his long and
varied managerial career, while the literary reader will
possibly remember, amongst other 13 kodtiotions; his
" Word With IVen'alt,l' No.. 1 Whefeof Was "to be 'conti-
nued if necessary,'' go caustic was the satire, so telling
the personal hits in this brochure, that no further casti-
gation was necessary.

ANTICIPATIONS OF THE COMING SPRING

THE frost-bound surface of the earth, deeply
shrouded under its white wintry mantle of show;
over-arched b'y u Lid and austere firmament of
azure cold, and swept across by a sharp and
biting breeze that penetrates everywhere, fittingly
represents the surface-state of the mental world
at this season of the year. Without, all is
freezing and forbidding; within, all is cowering
and crouching. If we take delight in looking
upon the icy, chattering, and lifeless face of nature,
it is only in beholding a bold and striking contrast
to our recolleetions of the warm and Sultry sun-
nier months of fanner seasons. We gladly tast
brief glances backwards. Therein chiefly lie our
Christmas joys. We hardly ever dare look for-
ward. Hope, like the gayer flowers, seems dead,
or at least asleep ; and at this season we live
mainly on the memory of the past. With the
temperature of the atmosphere so many degrees
below " freezing," with the feet and fingers stilly
shrunken with numbness., and the head and lungs
almost stifled with cold, it is namely within the
compass of nature for the mind to rise and soar
away into the regions of the higher anticipa-
tions, social, moral, or political. But stay,-=the
longest night and the shortest day of the year
are now happily gone past. Every recurring
dawn, to some little extent, expands the duration
of glorious sunlight, and lessens the shadows of
these dreary long nights. The very thought,
new-born though it be, tends to recussitate our
hopes, and leads us back from a temporary fit of
despair to the gladsome regions of anticipatory
active and pleasurable delights. Bright and
benignant Christmas comes to inaugurate the
opening of the hope-inspiring season. A few
more weeks past and we shall have sunshine and
the bursting buds of spring. There is great
events awaiting the coming spring for their
development. The tocsin has been sounded for
war, and the merciful olive branch has been
tendered as then forthcoming to summon the
threatening belligerents to councils of peace.
The issue involves the welfare and prosperity of
all Europe. Let us awaken now from the torpor-
producing influence of the season, and forewarned
let us be forearmed to prevent, or if unavoidable
to take our share manfully, rightfully, and suc-
cessfully in the coming struggle.
The prosperity of the ensuing year of grace
1861, in a great measure depends upon the peaceful
adjustment of the Italian difficulties. More
especially does the question of weal or woe depend
upon the amicable settlement of the Venetian
question. GARIBALDI'S influence with theltalians
is irresistible : Austrian arms, in the celebrated
Quadrilateral, have also been considered all but
irresistible. The fates seem to have irrevocably
decieed that these two so-called irresistibilities
shall come into mortal conflict early in the begin-
ning of nest spring. If the issue is only to be
disposed of by an appeal to arms, it is really ter-
rible to think of the certain waste of blood and
treasure with the uncertain issue of the deadly and
mutually destructive •eonflict. The only chance
of peace seems to lie in the probability of Austria
listening to the intreaties of France to dispose of
Venetiaupon fair and equitable terms. Whichever
way our inclinations may lie, whether towards
the natural claims of Italian unity, or the legal
claims of Austrian sovereignity in Venetia, it is
equally impossible to deny the difficulties of ob-
taining a just and equitable solution, the de-
sirability of attaining a friendly arrangement,
and the highly problematical result of an armed
contest, Were the fight only between Austria
and Italy, we opine, the victory were easily
gained by the former—so easily, that were there
no distinct indications as to the intentions of
Louis NAPOLEON, we might set down the
challenge of GARIBALDI as something absolutely
Utopian. But GARIBALDI is a practical man,
and no mere optimist; and we learn otherwise
that he has not calculated without his host.
France undoubtedly has undertaken to persuade
or force Austria to withdraw from her her only
remaining Italian province. The resources of