Society, were the Marquis of Lansdowne, the Earls
Granville, Harrowby, and Carlisle, the Bishop of Oxford,
Dean Milman, Mr. Joseph Hume, and other Members
of Parliament. The Marquis of Lansdowne opened the
proceedings by stating the objects of the meeting; and
resolutions were passed, of which the following were
the principal:—

"That the success of literary and scientific institutions, and
mechanics' institutes, in the cultivation of literature, science
and art, and in the diffusion of useful knowledge, might be
powerfully promoted by the combination of many institutions in
union with the Society of Arts, on the basis of perfect security
to the continued independence of the institutions, and the
freedom of their self-government.

"That the pecuniary conditions of union should be calculated
to protect the society from loss, and to afford to the institutions
the full value of the payments which they may make."

The report of the Royal Commissioners for inquiring
into the state, discipline, studies, and resources of the
University of Oxford, which was issued on the 19th,
recommends the assimilation of colleges; an extension
of the curriculum further beyond classics and mathematics
than it reaches at present; the extinction of
mischievous distinctions of wealth and rank; and the
resuscitation, for legislative purposes, of "congregation;"
which is to consist of heads of houses, proctors, the
senior tutor of each college, professors, and public
lecturers. By the side of such an institution, the
commissioners think that the Hebdomadal Board and the
Convocation might safely be permitted to exist in their
present shape—the former retaining its general
superintendence and a joint initiative with Congregation on
the measures to be submitted to Convocation; the latter
retaining its veto on measures that have passed
Congregation, and losing only its power of nominating to
professorships.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE.

The Rajah of Coorg, who has come to this country
for the education of his daughter, was presented with
his daughter to her Majesty at an audience on the 17th.
The Rajah was also present at her Majesty's state ball on
the 19th in his Oriental costume of great magnifience.

Sir Stratford Canning, Ambassador Extraordinary
and Minister Plenipotentiary to the Ottoman Porte, has
been raised to the Peerage, by the title of Viscount
Stratford de Redcliffe, in the county of Somerset.

Lieutenant-General Lord Frederick Fitzclarence,
G.C.H., has been appointed Commander-in-Chief of
the East India Company's forces on the Bombay
establishment, in succession to Sir Charles Grey, who
comes home invalided through the infirmities of age.

Mr. Rickards has been elected Professor of Political
Economy at Oxford, in the room of Mr Nassau, Senior,
whose term had expired.

General Rosas, the ex-dictator of Buenos Ayres, has
arrived at Plymouth, in the neighbourhood of which
place he intends, it is said, permanently to reside.

Colonel Fordyce, who lately lost his life in the
Caffre war, has by his last will bequeathed a pension to
the widow of every soldier who should fall under his
command, a shilling each per day to all disabled soldiers
of his corps; and left the means of purchasing
commissions for his five most deserving sergeants.

The offices of Lord Justice-General and Lord
President of the Court of Session are conferred on Lord
Colonsay, one of the junior judges of the Court of
Session, better known as Mr. Duncan M'Neill. The
vacant judgeship has been conferred upon Mr. Adam
Anderson, who is succeeded as Lord Advocate by Mr.
John Inglis; and the office of Solicitor-General, thus
vacated, has been conferred upon Mr. Charles Neaves,
the Sheriff of Orkney.

Lord John Russell has taken a lease for several years
of Gart House, near Callander, the mansion of Admiral
Houston Stewart, M.P. for Greenwich, as an autumn
residence for himself and family. Gart House is
delightfully situated on the banks of the Teith.

The Hon. G. Smythe and Colonel Romilly had an
"affair of honour" on the 20th, in consequence of some
expressions in a speech made by Captain Smythe which
Colonel Romilly regarded as exceeding the fair licence
of a political contest. Mr. Osborne and Captain Vivian,
the friends of the parties, being unable to effect an
accommodation, a hostile meeting took place between
Mr. Smythe and Colonel Romilly this morning, when,
after an interchange of shots, Colonel Romilly having,
through his second, the Hon. John Fortescue, M.P.,
declared himself satisfied, the parties left the ground.

Obituary of Notable Persons.

Mr. ALEXANDER MACKAY, the author of the "Western
World," and lately the Commissioner in India of the Manchester
Chamber of Commerce, died on his passage home from
India, on board the Company's steamer Aydalia, on the 15th
ult., in his thirty-second year.

Mr. JOHN DALRYMPLE, the eminent surgeon, died at his house
in Grosvenor Street, on the 2nd inst., in his forty-ninth year.

Mr. W. H. MURRAY, late of the Theatre Royal, Edinburgh,
who only a short time since retired from professional life, died
very suddenly on the 6th inst., in his sixty-third year.

JOHN CAPEL HANBURY TRACY, third son of the Hon. Lord
Sudely, died at Genoa, on the 4th of May.

The Right Hon. Earl CORNWALLIS died at Linton Park, Kent,
on the 21st, in his seventy-third year.

COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES.

By the Overland Mail from Bombay of the 17th of
April, we learn that the troops for Burmah were all
embarked by the 30th of March. The whole force was
to unite before Rangoon on the 5th of April, and
Rangoon was expected to be in our possession by the
10th of the same month. The forces would then
advance as speedily as possible further up into the
country before the rainy season, and would then await
reinforcements and the return of more favourable
weather. The expedition under Sir Colin Campbell
returned to Peshawur on the 27th of March. Three
days afterwards, however, new outbreaks upon the
frontiers were reported, and it was expected the troops
would again be sent off.

The overland mail brings News from Hong-kong to
the 30th of March. Governor Sir George Bonham was
returning home for a temporary absence, to recruit his
health. Major-General Jervois would assume the
government pro tempore; but it was expected that the
next (January) mail would bring out a commission to
Dr. Bowring as Plenipotentiary and Chief Superintendent
of Trade.

A Hong-kong letter says—"The emigration to California
is still in progress. Upwards of fifty ships have
sailed, taking, it is estimated, about 15,000 emigrants."

The West India Mail has brought advices from the
different colonies to the end of April. There is no
political news of importance. Jamaica was quiet, but
the state of agricultural affairs fearfully depressed. Very
many of the largest and most productive sugar estates
are being thrown out of cultivation. The commerce of
the island is also much depressed, having lost nearly all
its foreign trade. Cholera has entirely disappeared.
Small-pox is prevalent in many parts of the island.

In Demerara a shock of earthquake was felt on the
14th of April. No damage was done. On the same
day, the islands of St. Vincent and Grenada, several
hundred miles distant, were visited with similar
concussions. There had been another arrival of coolies
from the East Indies to the number of 300. These
people, who were brought by the Zenobia, have been
allotted to the different estates in the county of Berbice.
The weather during the fortnight had been propitious
for vegetation; and the planters were looking forward
with confidence to an improved crop. There had been,
however, a good deal of sickness; the yellow fever,
though materially abated, still pursuing its deadly
career.

Labouring hands were very scarce at St. Thomas,
owing to the number of persons who had gone to work