The Sun.
London, England, 1871-01-27 00:00:00

THE MEETING OF PARLIAMENT.

The Premier has addressed the following circular to the
Liberal members of the House of Commons :

"10, Downing-street, Jan 25.

" Sir,—The Session of Parliament will open on the 9th
proximo. The condition of affairs and the prospect of
early legislation upon matters of deep interest to the
country lead me earnestly to request your attendance
at and subsequently to the meeting of the House of
Commons. .

"I have, &c., "NV. E. GLADSTONE."

MR GLADSTONE AND HIS CONSTITUENTS.
(CENTRAL PRESS TELEGRAM.)

The Greenwich requisition asking Mr. Gladstone to
retire, is now repudiated by all political parties; a
rumour having been circulated that it had emanated from
the Carlton Club, the agent of the Conservative party at
Woolwich instituted inquiries, and received the following
reply :

53, Parliament-street, Westminster, S.W.,
January 25.
My Dear Sir,—ln answer to your letter of the 23rd
inst., I beg to state that neither the Carlton, nor any
of the leaders of the Conservative party, have anything
whatever to do with the proceedings at Greenwich.—l am
yours truly, J. E. GORST.
E. Hughes, Esq.

ANOTHER MIDLAND RAILWAY
ACCIDENT.

A collision happened at Lenton Junction on the Mid-
land Railway, half a mile from Nottingham, on Thurs-
day. A goods train was coming from Derby to
Nottingham at the same time that a passenger train
was passing from the Mansfield branch to Nottingham,
and the two were running on one line. The collision
caused a shock which knocked both trains off the rails,
doing muck damage to the rolling stock. No persons
were killed, but several are injured. It is said that the
signals were disregarded.

In order to economise in horses, a tramway is to be
constructed at Woolwich Arsenal to connect the new iron
pier with the T pier. A light engine will be used
thereon.

The death is announced of Lady Alderson, widow
of the late Sir E. H. Alderson, one of the Barons of the
Exchequer. Her ladyship was the mother of the Mar-
chioness of Salisbury.
A destructive fire has occurred at the cotton mills
of Messrs. George A shworth and Sons, of Rochdale. The
entire damage is estimated at about £B,OOO. About 200
operatives have been thrown out of employment.

An army circular, relating to the army reserve
forces, has just been issued, stating
,that no vacancies
which may occur in the rank of quartermaster of militia
while regiments are disembodied shall be filled up.
CABINET COUNClL.—Summonses have been issued
for a Cabinet Council this afternoon, at the First
Lord of the Treasury's official residence, in Downing-
street.

THE LIFEBOAT AND ITS WORK.—Richard Lewis,
Esq., the respected and able secretary of the National
Lifeboat Institution, delivered, last night, •his popular
lecture on "The Lifeboat and its Work," in St. Michael's
National School Rooms, Paddington. The hall was
crowded with a most respectable and attentive audience,
to whom Mr. Lewis delivered an interesting and
instructive lecture on the great and national
work now carried on on the shores of the British
Isles by the 226 boats of the National Institution. The
Rev. G. F. Bescott, who presided on the occasion, is
making strenuous efforts, in conjunction with the
parishioners and others, to present a lifeboat to the Insti.
tution, and it was principally in aid of that humane object
that Mr. Lewis gave his lecture. The proceedings closed
with a vote of thanks to the lecturer.

MIDDLE TEMPLE.—The undermentioned gentle-
men were yesterday called to the degree of the Utter Bar
by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple :
Hector Graham Browne, Esq. ; James Henry Nelson,
Esq., M.A., late Fellow of King's College, Cambridge;
Henry Denny Warr, Esq., M.A. and Fellow of Trinity
Hall, Cambridge ; Frederick John Staples-Browne, Esq. ;
Benjamin Law, Esq., M.A., Queen's College, Oxford;
Walter Mytton Colvin, Esq., LL.B., Trinity Hall, Cam-
bridge ; Charles Metcalfe Dick, Esq.; Francis Smith, Esq.;
George Laughton, Esq. ; Richard Ingram Dansey, Esq.,
8.A., Queen's College, Oxford; James Cruickshank
Roger, Esq. ; William Augustus Bonnaud, Esq. ; Ed-
mund Albert Nuttall Royds, Esq. ; George Charles
Kilby, Esq. ; Charles Colman Dillon, Esq. ; Jacob
Thomas Geoghegan, Esq., 8.A., Trinity College, Dublin;
and Edgar Hutchinson Little, Esq., M.A., Brasenose
College Oxford.

AN ILL-rsnn ORACLE.—There is an amusing
story told by the Pioneer of India as current just now in
Chumba. Rajah Gopal Sing, it is said, anxious to know
whether he really was as much detested as people pre-
tended, determined to inquire at the fountain-head, i.e.,
of the most popular Davee, or idol, in the State. The
idol, by the mouth of one of its chelas, pionounced that it
was a sad fact, and, moreover, Gopal Sing's raj would not
continue two months longer. With a fine sense of justice,
Gopal Sing in all his indignation allowed the audacious
chela to go scatheless, considering him merely as the inno-
cent medium of the insolent oracle. But upon the idol
itself he took shall) revenge by the infliction of a sound
flogging.

SOCIAL REFORM AMONG THE WORKING CLASSES
IN INDIA.—The " Working Men's Club and Institute
Union " have received an interesting letter from the elo-
quent social and religious reformer Baboo Keshub Chun-
der Sen, who states that his fellow-workers in Calcutta
have just formed an " Indian Reform Association,"
which is anxious to maintain a correspondence with the
London Union. They are about, he says, to establish
morning and evening schools for workmen, and they
started a cheap weekly paper for the enlighten-
ment of that class, at the price of less, than one-
halfpenny per number. Two thousand copies were sold
on the first day of its appearance. The Baboo speaks of
the social and mental condition of the poorer classes as
deplorable, and he hopes to create an interest on their
behalf on the part of their working brethren in India by
communications made to the Working Men's Club Union
in England. The Indian Reform Association will feel
grateful for any gifts of money, books (for translation),
periodicals, pictures, scientific and other education appa-
ratus. Tho Club and Institute Union in London will be
glad to be the medium of any communication with the
•
Indian Association.