The Week.

administered . Earl Granville granted the returns , and com . plimented the noble earl on the speech which he had made . —In reply to the Marquis of Clanricarde , Earl Russell said the decision of the judge of the American Prize Court in reference to the Dolphin had been received . The doctrine relied on was that laid down by Lord Stowell and Sir W . Grant , but he offered

no opinion as to whether the case was rightly decided , considering the circumstances . —In reply to another question . Earl Russell said that no communication had been received from the Emperor of the French proposing the recognition of the Southern States of America . His lordship added that he had not changed his opinions on the subject of recognition .

— Several bills were advanced a stage . On Monday , the Royal assent was given by Commission to several bills . —Lord Brougham withdrew the Suitors Conciliation Bill , in which he proposed to render County Court Judges useful as arbitrators in suits by consent of parties , and introduced another measure for the establishment of " Courts of

Conciliation . "—After a brief discussion on the case of the expelled settlers of Taranaki , New Zealand , Lord Russell appealed to the Marquis of Clanricarde not to bring on a debate on the Polish question , as a reply of Russia to the notes of the three Powers had not yet been received . The noble Marquis , of course , postponed his motion . On Tuesday , Earl Russell said

he had no information as to the knouting of ladies in Poland b y the order of General Mouravieff . In reference to American affairs his lordship stated that about an hour before he came down to the House , the French Ambassador had called upon liim , aud stated that he had no orders to make any propositions such as it had been reported the French Emperor intended to make , in respect to interference in tho American war . — The Earl of Derby then drew attention to the cession of

the Ionian Islands . In doing so he designated that cession as impolitic , and expressed strong doubts as to whether it was desired by ( the bulk of the Ionian Islanders . Earl Russell defended the course which the Government had taken . In the HOUSE OP COIIMOSS on Thursday , 25 tli int ., Sir G . Grey , in reply to a question from Mr . Dawson , with reference to

the recent melancholy death of a London seamstress , said he did not think it was possiblo to establish a system of registering milliners' establishments , but , if a private member brought in a bill for the regulation of these places of business , he promised that the Government would willingly consider it . —A conversation took place on the Crawley affair , and , although some

members appear to have objected to the cost of bringing Captain Crawley and the necessary witnesses from India , the decision of the Government to hold the court-martial in England was generally approved . —Mr . Layard stated , in reply to a question from Mr . Bright , that King Leopold ' s decision on one of the points in dispute between England and Brazil had been

received , and would be at once printed . —Mr . Iluasey Vivian called attention to the circumstance that the Small Arms Committee bad , in point of efficiency , placed the Whitworth and other rifles before the Government arms . Lord Hartingtou said the Government were not prepared to re-arm the service until every test had been applied with the view of ascertaining

which was the best weapon . Meanwhile , however , the Rill Brigade and the 60 th rifles would be armed with the Whitworth , which would thus have its merits fairly tried . —A debate then followed in reference to the manner in which the estimates were presented . General Peel contended that there was a regular excess of expenditure owing to the vote of credit system . Mr . Baring , Mr . F . Peel , and the Chancellor of the Exchequer all spoke in support of the system ; and , after a few words from Mr . Disraeli , a discussion arose on the question of small

arms-This and some other subjects being disposed of , the House went into committee of supply , and was occupied for some time with the Irish education and other votes . On Friday , the House held a morning sitting , which was occupied with the consideration of the clauses of the Public Works Bill , which finally passed through committee . Mr . Bentinek ,

the member for Norfolk , and Mr . Busfeild Ferrand contended that the bill was inadequate to meet the crisis , and that a system of emigration ought to to have formed part of the Government scheme for the relief of the distress . Mr . Ferrand , of course , strongly denounced the Lancashire manufacturers , and accused them of standing aloof while their workpeople were starving .

Mr . Turner , Colonel Wilson Patten , and Mr . Villiers replied tothese reckless and unfounded charges . Mr . Adderley expressed his regret that no provision was made for emigration , and stated that some of the colonies , in sending home money for the relief of the distress , desired that a portion of their contributions should be devoted to this purpose . Colonel William . Patten . ,

however declared that in no case was such a condition attached to the contributions received from the colonics by the Central Relief Committee . —At the evening sitting , a long debate took place on Mr . Bernal Osborne's motion for a select committee to inquire into " the present ecclesiastical settlement in Ireland , " ending in an adjournment . On Monday , Mr . Layard stated ,

in answer to a question , that no reply had yet been received from Russia to the notes as to Poland . —On the report of the bill for lending money to the distressed districts to carry out public works there was a short discussion . The bill was , however , ordered for a third reading . —On the report of supply being brought up an interesting discussion took place in reference to recent decisions in the American prize courts . Mr . Peacocke said that in the cases of the Dolphin and the Pearl a .

new principle had been introduced into international law , and ' he complainod that the government had not made any representations to the government of the United States on the subject . The Solicitor-General replied that there had been no new principle introduced by the recent decisions . The decisions were in accordance with the dictum of Lord Stowel 1 ,

and we ourselves had acted upon the same principle . He paid a high compliment to the ability of the judges of the American Prize Courts . Lord Robert Cecil continued tho debate very much in Mr . Peacoeke's tone , and Mr . C ' obden replied to him . Mr . Seymour Fitzgerald made some observations , and then the matter dropped . —After a brief discussion on cur diplomatic

establishments , the adjourned debate on the Irish Church was resumed , and occupied the greater part of the evening . A motion for an adjournment of tho debate was negatived , and another for adjourning the House carried , thus getting rid of the question . On Tuesday , the House had a morning sitting , at which some progress was made with the Irish Fisheries Bill .

—At the evening sitting , in reply to Mr . Horsfcill , Mr . Layard said that the clearance of the Gibraltar , alias the Sumter , had been stopped , because she was shipping guns of heavy calibre , which it was thought were intended to be used as an armament for her . It had since been ascertained that they could not he used for that purpose , and the clearance would now be granted .

Lord Robert Cecil put a further question on the subject , and read a letter from the ' owners of the vessel , in which they stated that the Collector of Customs at Liverpool informed them that if the guns had been for the Federals they would not have been stopped . The Solicitor-General declared that there was not the slightest foundation for such a story , and said the fact that it had been made should be a warnilg to the House to be be verycautious how they accepted any statement from the same source . In reply to Mr . Forster , Mr . Layard stated that no communi-