The Week.

Heathcote , Mr . AValpole , and other members expressed thenapproval of this course . — -The Misappropriation by Servants Bill was read a second time . — -The adjourned debate on Mr . Dalglish's motion for a select committee to inquire into the constitution of the Board of Admiralty was resumed . Several hon . members urged that the motion should be withdrawn , and

finally Mr . Daglish yielded to these suggestions and withdrew it . —Mr . Cox moved the second reading of the Sales of Settled Estates Act Amendment Bill . The object of this bill was to enable Sir Thomas Wilson to get rid of some of his obligations in regard to Hainpstead-heatk . A clause in the bill , liowev er bound him not to infringe upon the rights of the public over

that heath . The bill was opposed by Lord Enfield , and on a division was negatived by 78 votes to 24 . Some other bills -were advanced a stage . GENERAL HOME NEIVS . —The health of the metropolis continues to improve , though the mortality has not yet reached the ^ oint which the average of the last ten years would indicate .

The deaths recorded last week were 1191 , -which is 48 above the average number . Among the causes scarlatina must be set clown as one of the chief , the disease having proved fatal in 97 instances . The births were 1879 , which is 15 above the ten years' average . A curious announcement appears in the -Gazette . The Duke of Somerset has been created an Earl with

the title of St . Maur . The second title of his grace has hitherto been that of Baron Seymour—the only instance , so far as our present list of Dukes is concerned , in which a peer of that rank lias had no subsidiary title higher than that of Baron . " St . Maur" is , of course , only another and older form of " Seymour , " and has been adopted by the Dukes of Somerset as their mode of spelling the family name . Lord De Grey was waited upon , on Saturday , by a deputation from the Committee recently

formed in London for the purpose of watching the progress of the Volunteers Bill . The deputation strongly protested against the clause in the bill giving commanding officers the right of dismissing privates without a proper inquiry ; but the noble Earl pointed out that on dismissal every volunteer had the rig ht to appeal to the Secretary for War , who could order him

to be reinstated if it could be shown that injustice had been done . He also reminded the deputation that courts of inquiry -were frequently held . These courts were recognised " permissively , " but" he could never consent to give " disciplinary authority" to an entirely irresponsible body . He could not agree that the bill threatened the liberties of the volunteers ;

but , at the same time , he promised to consider one or two points submitted to him by the deputation . Mr . Farnall ' s weekly return shows a further decrease of 1556 in the number of persons receiving parochial relief in the cotton manufacturing districts . Mr . John Cheetham , who presided at the annual meeting of the Cotton Supply Association , said ho calculated

this year ' s imports of cotton at 1 , 800 , 000 bales—1 , 200 , 000 bales from India , and the remainder from various other sources . Estimating the weekly consumption at 25 , 000 bales , and the . weekly exports at 10 , 000 or 11 , 000 , the supply on which he relied would enable them to put the operatives on 3 days' work per week . It is stated that a " distinguished veteran general of cavalry '

recently sont a challenge to " a nobis lord , who served in the Crimen , and who lately filed an affidavit on behalf of Colonel Oalthorpe . " The' - ' noble lord" repaired to Paris on receiving the challenge ; but , after waiting there some time without seeing anything of his opponent , he returned to London just as the general left for France . The general is in Paris now , but it is understood that steps have been taken to prevent a duel . Sergent , the man who robbed the Staieybridge Relief Committee of a large sum of money , was apprehended ou Saturdav . The

inquest on the body of Mrs . Mary Bailey , of Stockport , has resulted in a verdict of wilful murder against her daughter , Alice Holt , who was recently committed for trial on a charge of defrauding an insurance society by passing off another woman as her mother , and thus obtaining a medical certificate at a time when the deceased was lying ill . Mrs . Bailey died in March last ; the body was exhumed about a fortnight ago ; and

a post-mortem examination led to the discovery of an enormous quantity of arsenic . Holt had purchased arsenic on two different occasions . An inquiry has been held relative to the death of a girl of 18 at Poplar , who had been attended by an unqualified medical practitioner . The jury declared that the conduct of this person , " a chemist , in prescribing and visiting the deceased

daring a dangerous illness , was highly censureable . " Another Canadian steamer lias been lost . The Nonvegian , sister ship to the ill-fated Anglo-Saxon , went ashore on St . Paul ' s Island , at the mouth of St . Lawrence , on the night of the 14 th instant . Fortunately the passengers , crew , and mails were saved . The Norwegian , sailed from

Liverpool for Montreal on the 5 th . She is the seventh st-amer that the company has lost since its formation . ¦ The new asylum of the British Orphan Institution at Slough , was inaugurated on Wednesday . The ceremonial was a brilliant aftiiir , the Prince and Princess of Wales taking a leading part in it . The asylum is exactly opposite the railway station .

The Prince and Princess arrived at four o'clock , and were conducted to the building , and thence into the grounds , where a dai ' s was erected . Here an address was presented to the Prince , who replied , and then declared the building dedicated for ever to the purposes of the institution . After some further ceremonial their Royal Highnesses proceeded to another part of the grounds , and there planted two trees , after which

they took their departure . A inunifieent donation was made known in the course of the day . Mr . Mackenzie has given no less than £ 12 , 000 to the institution , which is one of the most excellent of our many charitable bodies . The magistrates at Loughborough Petty Sessions have been engaged in hearing a case—one of a class now happily unfrequent . It is a charge against the Marquis of Hastings and some of hie gamekeepers

for having been engaged in cock-fighting . The offence was committed on a Sunday at Donnington Hall , the seat of the Marquis . The fact coining to the knowledge of the Society for Preventing Cruelty toAnimals it instituted a prosecution , and the case was heard on AVednesday . The charge was clearly proved , and the Marquis was fined £ 5 and his keepers smaller amounts .

The "Alexandra ease" was opened in the Court of Exchequer on Tuesday . There were altogether 98 counts , but the substance of the information was that several persons had built ancl equipped the Alexandra for service against the United States . The information was laid under the Foreign Enlistment Act , and the Crown claimed the forfeiture of the vessel . Several

witnesses were examined for the prosecution , but broke down , and on Thursday the Lord Chief Baron , in summing- up , expressed a pretty strong opinion that the case of the Alexandra did not eome within the provisions of the Foreign Enlistment Act . To do so , she must have been equipped and armed for the Confederates . Naturally , after this summing up , the jury

returned a verdict for the defendants . The Attorney-General tendered a hill of exceptions to the ruling of the judge . IKDIA AND JAPAN . —The Bombay mail has arrived , but contains no intelligence of much moment . According- to the Bombay Gazette , the prizes offered by the Bombay government in November hist , for the purpose of stimulating and improving the cultivation of cotton , have failed to produce any effect ; and " the government now states that the realisation of good prices