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A letter was received from Lady Truro , presenting the law library of her late husband to the House . Adjourned to the 31 st . In the House of Commons on the 29 th February , Mr . Roebuck brought forward a motion condemnatory of the Commission to inquire into the report of Sir John McNeill and Col . Tulloch on Crimean affairs , but , after some discussion , it was withdrawn . In Committee of Supply , £ 6 , 500 , 000 was voted on the Army

Estimates . On the 3 rd of March , Lord Palmerston explained that the Preliminaries of Peace had been signed ; he also denied that this country was at war with Russia . In Committee , the Militia and Ordnance Estimates were voted , and £ 26 , 000 , 000 towards supply for the year from the Consolidated Fund . On the 4 th , Sir De Lacy Evans brought forward his motion against the system of purchase in the army , but it was withdrawn , Lord Palmerston undertaking to have it inquired into by a mixed commission . On the 5 th , Sir Wm . Clay ' s Bill for the

Abolition of Church Rates was read a second time , there being , on a division , 221 for , and 178 against it . On the 6 th , after a long discussion , Lord John Russell withdrew his resolutions on Education , and moved that the House go into Committee on the subject on the 10 th of April , which was agreed to . On the 7 th , Sir Benjamin Hall brought up a report , recommending New Roadways through St . James ' s Park , so as not to interfere with the ornamental inclosure , and the House again went into Committee of Supply . On the 10 th , a majority of

259 against 106 decided in favour of the second reading of the Police ( Counties and Borough ) Bill . On the 12 th , Commissioners of Supply ( Scotland ) and the Reformatory Schools ( Scotland ) , and the Bankruptcy ( Scotland ) Bills , were read a second time , and leave given to bring in a Bill for the More Effective Punishment of Persons inflicting Aggravated Assaults on Women and Children . On the 13 th , Sir Charles Napier ' s motion against the Lords of the Admiralty was brought

forward , but the result only served to damage the reputation of Sir Charles himself . On the 14 th , after various explanations relative to affairs in the East , Sir George Grey announced , that shortly after Easter a bill would be brought in for the Reform of the Corporation of London . Several votes having been taken in Committee of Supply , leave was given to bring in various bills , and the House adjourned until the 31 st .

ACCIDENTS AND OFFENCES . Covent Garden Theatre was totally destroyed by fire on the morning of the 5 th , just as a Bal Masque , given by Mr . Anderson , the Wizard of the North , was about to be brought to a close . The value of the building is estimated at , £ 100 , 000 , and the loss of Mr . Gye about £ 25 , 000 . There is a doubt whether it will be rebuilt , but a subscription has been opened for the purpose , which her Majesty has headed by a donation of £ 1 , 000 . In the mean time , Mr . Lumley is about to open Her Majesty ' s Theatre , and the Covent Garden company are to appear at the Lyceum .

On the 6 th , Wm . Bousneld was convicted , at the Central Criminal Court , of the wilful murder of his wife and three children , by cutting their throats , in Portlandstreet , Soho , on 3 rd February . At Leicester , on the 6 th , Wm . Fowkes was found guilty of murdering hiss nephew , by shooting him , on the 25 th November last , atSwanston . The deceased had lately come into the receipt of £ 700 , which the uncle was anxious to obtain . Another fire took place at Messrs . Scott Russell and Co . ' s shipbuilding works , at Mill wall , on the 12 th , but the leviathan vessel now building was uninjured .

On the 14 th , a man named Alexander Smart committed suicide by throwing himself from the whispering-gallery into the nave of St . Paul ' s Cathedral , a distance of nearly 150 feet . On the 15 th ., a package of her Majesty ' s plate , valued at about £ 500 , was stolen from the waggon of Mr . Thungood , the carrier , whilst being conveyed from

Buckingham Palace to the Paddington Station , to be conveyed to Windsor . The robbery took place whilst the men in charge of the waggon stopped at a publichouse for refreshment . The chest has been found near Yictoria-park , but the plate has not been recovered .