The Sun.
London, England, 1856-10-08 00:00:00

HANTS AND WILTS ADULT EDUCATION

SOCIETY.

BASINGSTOKE, TUESDAY, OCT. 7.

The third annual meeting of the Hants and Wilts
Adult Educatio❑ Society, and the conference of kindred
associations in union with it, were held here this day in
the Town-hall. The objects of the society are to promote
the establishment of literary and scientific institutions,
libraries, and reading rooms, and to encourage a spirit .of
inquiry and improvement by the delivering of lectures on
I.terary and scientific subjects throughout the c :unties
of Hants and Wilts. The chair was take❑ by th e,
Dean of Hereford. The rev, chairman, in moving the
adoption of the report, entered at length into the benefits
of the society and the competitive examinations, and
said he hoped these examinations might he continued,
and that in future years they might be attended not by
three, but by 30, or it might be 300 candidates for the
prizes offered by the society.
The prizemen were Mr. G. F. Skinner, of Lyrnington ;
Mr. W. Blake, of Alton ;..and Mr. W. Rowden, of
Abbott's Ann ; each of whom had passed a rigorous
examination, embracing the history and theory of the
steam engine, the physical geography of the British
Isles, and English history during the reigns of James 11.
and William 111.

Mr. E. CHADWICK made some remarks illustrative of
the advantage which had already resulted from the in-
troduction of the system of competitive examination for
civil appointments in the public service, as far as it had
gone. As one example of the bearing in educational in-
stitutions of such examinations as had already taken
place, it was noted in the last report of the Stockwell
Proprietary Grammar School, that another pupil had re-
cently gone through ae examination for an appointment
at the War-office, and obtaiued it against upwards of 80
candidates:

A vote of thanks to the chairman terminated the pro•
ceedings.

Count do Nosselrode and M. do Titoff, ea-Russian
Minister at Stutgardt, and his fatuity left Stettin on
Saturday last by steamer for St. Petersburg.
The Kin,; of Wurtemberg left Stutgardt on the 3d to
meet the King arid Queen of Prussia at Heiningen.
The Duchess d'Orleans, with the Count do Paris and
the Count d'Eu, has arrived in Genoa, where the
Duchess intends residing for somo months.

Lord John Russell and family arrived at Turin on the
sth. His lordship was present at a grand dinner given
at the embassy by Sir James Hudson, to which the most
distinguished diplomatists and Parliamentary represen-
tatives were invited.
THE BONAPARTE FAMILY.—It is known that when
Bonaparte had married the daughter of Francis of
Austria, the latter took some pains in having
researches made about the origin and lineage
of the Bonaparte family. But Napoleon declined to
take any notice of it, paying, " I a.n the Rudolph
Hapsburg of my family." Still, these documents have
been partly published of late -on the Continent,
and exhibit a most respectable appearance. Because, be-
sides the known fact that the mother cf one of the Popes
was a Bonaparte, the pedigree branches off to Constanti-
nople ; and there is no doubt that the Bonapartes de-
scended lineally from the Greek emperor. Amongst the
numberless facts and data relating to the great Bonaparte,
I do net recollect to have heard what was the coat
of arms of the Cirsican branch : and whether there bad
been any change in it when they had settled in Floraw,
or even sooner. Iu the coat of arms line, nothing is
perhaps so interesting as the stone armorials which stood
engraved on the house where Goethe was born at Frank-
furt :—"a winged lyre, surrounded by stars."—" Ha.
bent [ma fata lapides."7-Notel and Queries.