... HO-USE OF LORDS. THURSDAY, FEB. 24. IONIAN ISLANDS.—Earl GREY having inquired when a copy of the commission under which Mr. Gladstone had undertaken his mission to the Ionian Islands would be laid .before Parliament, the Earl of Derby objected to the promulgation of a document which might, he remarked, provoke a premature debate upon the whole question, which was not yet ripe for discussion. ...

... We are at length in possession of the Ministerial pro- ject of Parliamentary Reform. While yet in ignorance of its principles and details, we asked for it a full and candid hearing. Now that it has appeared, we are com- pelled to remark that no worse could be wished for it by the bitterest enemy of its authors. The country has for months waited patiently for the development of a Tory scheme of ...

... ANDREWS V. HUFF. Mr. M. Chambers and Mr. Griffiths were for the plaintiff, and Mr. Serjeant Pigott and Mr. Orridge for the defendant.—It was an action to recover damages for the non-fulfilment of a contract to marry the plaintiff, to which the pleas were that no promise had been made, and that the plaintiff had exonerated and discharged the defendant from the performance of the promise. There ...

... Etc (Ereamof IJtmcf), KEEP IT DRY. IT is not that a small bird sings With aught of warning voice, And bids distrust anointed kings, Or chiefs, the People's Choice. We trust them all, with all our soul, We know their honour's high But still we think, upon the whole, TVc'll keep our powder dry. No Monarch ever broke his word, Far less the oaths he swore, Or if such things have e'er occurred ...

... Efte GTmirt, A CABINET COUNCIL was held on Saturday. A MEETING of members of the House of Commons was held on Tuesday at the official residence of the Earl of Derby, in Downing-street. About 208 members attended. Lord Derby was accompanied by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Sir E. B. Lytton, and Lord Stanley. HER MAJESTY has been pleased, on the recommenda- tion of Lord Stanley, to approve ...

... NEWPORT POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MONDAY. (Before the MAYOR, Ex-MAYOR, WM. L- A. HOMFRAY, Esqrs.) ROBBERY BY A SERVANT.—John Horam was charged with stealing 2s. 3d., the property of his master, John Placltmore. The prosecutor is a butcher in Commercial- street, and prisoner had been in his employment. Having missed money at diffeient times, on Saturday he put sotte marked money in the till. Shortly ...

... FRIDAY, FEB. 25. COLLECTION OF RATES.-Earl GREY moved for a select committee to inquire into the operation of the Act 13 and 14 Vic., for amending the assessment and collec- tion of poor rates and highway rates upon small tenements, and of another act passed last session, respecting the municipal franchise. He believed that in consequence of these acts the constituencies by whom the town ...

... SERMONS AT THE PIER HEAD AND ELSEWHERE. Very soon after the explosion the Rev. G. Howe announced his intention of seizing the opportunity to impress religious truths upon the minds of the people. Accordingly on Sunday afternoon last a vastjerowd,' numbering some 2000 people, assembled on that part of the pier head be- tween the West and East Bute docks, near the spot where the late explosion ...

... ptoptt gtol gitfellipr*. THE PORT TRADE appears to improve slowly, and the dock and the river to wear a better aspect than they have for the past month. Slight as is the improvement it is hopefully looked forward to by the hundreds of unemployed labourers who throng the wharves and quays, or from dire necessity, break stones for parochial relief. If our large colliery pro- prietors but did ...

... ■personal, A LAWYER TAKING IT COOLLY AT 140 DEGREEs.-Baron Alderson, in a letter to his son, says: — I have been obliged at last to send for Sir Benjamin Brodie, to see me for my sciatica, and to-day, by his order, I have been stewed alive in a vapour bath. Dreadfully hot, I can tell you-140 degrees, while a hot bath is only 98 degrees. Yet it was not unpleasant after all; for hot air does ...

... METROPOLITAN CATTLE MARKET, FEB. 28 » BEASTS met a ready sale, and rates ranged from 3s 4d to 59 per stone, of prime all sold. Demand for Sheep brisk at 3s ly' „0 5s 4d; a fair sale for Calves at 3s lOd to 5s per stone; there 16 change in the value of Pigs, and small find a ready sale. SMITHFIELD HAY MARKET, TURSDAY, MARCIl t- Trade better. A demand for good hay and clover. meadow hay, 75s to ...

... THE CONSULAR APPOINTMENT AT JAPAN —On the motion for adjournment until Monday, Mr. M. MILNES called attention to the recent appointments of consuls and vice-consuls to Japan, in connection with the evidence and report of the committee on the consular service, He proceeded to comment upon the appointment of Captain Vyse to British vice- consul at Jeddo, inquiring why an officer in the Blues ...