The Express.
London, England, 1866-05-10 00:00:00

MISCELLANEOUS TOPICS.

The Daily News describes the annual statement which
Mr. Massey, the Indian finance minister, made a little more
than a month ago to the Governor-General in Council, as
of the colourless order which the proverb regards with
satisfaction. It is to the land that we must look for that in-
crease in the Indian revenue which is absolutely necessary to
meet the growing expenditure of the country. Only about
one-third of the land is yet cultivated, and this yields over
20,000,0001. of the annual income. Yet this enormous sum
is only a very low rent for the land occupied, and is no
burden whatsoever upon the cultivators. With good ma-
nagement of the land some future generation might posi-
tively conduct the affairs of India without the imposition
of a single tax.
The Times is entertained by Mr. Newdegate's explana-
tion of Mr. Whalley's extraordinary performances. If Mr.
Whalley is a protestant! says Mi. Newdegate. We can
only say this out-Whalleys Mr. Whalley. We wonder
what is Mr. Newdegate's idea of a Roman catholic. A
Jesuit might do • great many things. But to act Mr.
Whalley is a pitch beyond even a Jesuit. Certainly, if
Mr. Whalley be a Jesuit in disguise, we have before us
in the most conspicuous form the danger against which
our ancestors took such extraordinary care to guard. But
at the same time, if he be so, what value can there be in
tho..e declarations which Mr. Newdegate is at the same
time so anxious to preserve' . . .

The Post describes hydrophobia as a disease which is at
once the most preventible and horrible, and insists that
the law should be put in force against a class of dogs
which, though they may each have an owner of a more or
less temporary character, are turned out to obtain their
living, and are continually going mad. An ownerleas dog
—or a dog whose owner turns it out to subsist at other
people's expense—has no right to exist in a civilised
country where the gallows is an institution.
The Star has not the shadow of a doubt that the Church
Rate Abolition till will command a decisive majority at
every stage of its progress in the Commons ; and the
liieftraph insists that nothing leas than a wide-spread ex-
hibition of the rankest bisotly can prevent its becoming
law.

the Court.

WINDSOR CASTLE, M 9.

The Queen went out in the grounds yesterday
afternoon, and again this morning, accompanied by
Princess Helena.

Her Majesty held a council to-day at 1 o'clock. Present
—Earl Granville, Earl Russell, the Duke of Somerset,
the Hight Hon. Sir George Grey, and the Hight Hon. W.
E. Gladstone. _ _

Prince Alfred was introduced, and took his place as
Privy Councillor, and the Earl of Cork and Vice-Admiral
Lord Clarence Paget were sworn in members of her
Majesty's Most Honourable Privy Council.
Earl Granville, Earl Russell, Mr. Gladstone, and Vice-
Admiral Lord Clarence I'aget, had audiences of her
Majesty. _ . _

Mr. Helps was Clerk of the Council.
The Earl of Caithness and Colonel the Hon. A. Liddell
were the Lord and Groom in Waiting.

Prince Alfred, attended by the Hon. E. Yorke, went to
London this afternoon.

The Earl of Caithness and Colonel the Hon. A. Liddell
have succeeded Lord de Tabley and Major-General Sir
Henry lientinek as Lord and Groom in Waiting.

The Prince and Princess of Wales, attended by the Hon.
Mrs. A. Hardingc, Lieutenant-General Knollys, and Major
Teesdale, visited the Botanical Gardens, Regent's-park,
yesterday forenoon.
The Prince of Wales rode out in the afternoon.
The Princess of Wales took a carriage drive, attended by
the Hon. Mrs. A. Hardinge. _ _ _

The Prince of Wales, accompanied by Prince Alfred
and Prince Teck, and attended by Earl Spencer, Lieute-
nant. General Knollys, Major Teesdale, and the Hon. E.
Yorke, dined with the President and Council of the In-
stitution of Civil Engineers, at Willis's Rooms, in the
evening.
•

- -
At the Council held yesterday by the Queen at Windsor
Castle an order was passed extending the operation of
the provisions of the Cattle Diseases Prevention Act re-
lating to the slaughtering of animals to the 30th of June
next.

A deputation consisting of Lord Belhaven, Sir T. E.
Culebrooke, Bart., M.P., Mr. Dalglish, M.P., Mr. Graham,
M.P., and the Lord Provost of Glasgow, bad an interview
with the Marquis of llartington at the War-office yester-
day, on the subject of Glasgow Barracks.

Despatches were sent yesterday from the Colonial-
office to the Governors of the Cape of Good Hope, Natal,
and St. Helena.

Yesterday afternoon his Royal Highness Prince
Arthur, attended by Major Elphinatone, was present at
the Royal Military Academy, Woolwich, to witness the
annual athletic and other sports of the gentlemen cadets
at that ebtablishment, and to distribute the prises to the
successful competitors.

LONDON SURGICAL Homs.—Her Royal Highness
the Crown Princess of Prussia has become • patroness of
this institution, and has graciously forwarded 301. is aid
of the funds.

His Excellency the French Ambassador enter-
tained the following company at dinner last evening at the
French Embassy, Albert-gate :—His Excellency the Italian
Minister, his Excellency the Saxon Minister, the Duchess
of Marlborough and Lady Cornelia Churchill, the Marquis
and Marchioness of Lansdowne, the Earl and Countess of
Tankerville, the Earl and Countess of Cork, the Earl and
Countess Stanhope] and Lady Mary Stanhope, Bares end
Baroness de Bands, Baron Beck Fri* the Marquis de
Tamisier, the Marquis Caumont is Force, Hon. Francis
end Mrs. Stonor, Mr. Henry Mure, &c.