the year, including a balance standing over from the
previous year of £148, the sum of £2,600, which (less a
moderate balance remaining at the banker's) had been
expended in carrying out the objects of the society and
in paying off debts incurred in former years. At the
conclusion of the business an appeal for immediate
pecuniary contributions was made, which was liberally
responded to by the company present.

The tenth anniversary festival of the Governesses'
Benevolent Institution was celebrated on the 18th, at the
London Tavern, the Earl of Harrowby, president of the
Institution, in the chair. The objects of the charity are
the relief of governesses in temporary difficulty, the
granting of annuities to aged governesses, the securing
of deferred annuities to governesses upon their own
payments, a home for the disengaged, free registration;
a college with classes and certificates of qualification,
and an asylum for the aged. The claims of the charity
were very ably urged by the chairman and the Rev.
D. Laing, the Honorary Secretary, and it appeared
from their statements that its progress had been most
satisfactory; that there were seventy–seven annuitants,
including the inmates of the asylum at Kentish–town,
who were not dependent on transient funds, but were
receiving their annuities from invested capital. The
benefits of the home had been extended to a number
of governesses, and the system of registration had
obtained engagements for 803 persons seeking them,
without any expense to themselves, and on the whole
from 2,000 to 3,000 governesses have received material
aid and assistance. Subscriptions to the amount of
nearly £1,200 were received.

The Registrar–General's Quarterly Return of Births,
Marriages, and Deaths has been published. The most
remarkable feature is the great increase of marriages,
which greatly exceed those in any previous return.
There were 158,439 marriages in 1852, against 153,740
in 1851. On the last quarter of that year there were
47,208 marriages, against 38,291 in the previous quarter.
There were 161,598 births registered in the March
quarter of 1853, a few less than in the March quarter
of 1852. The deaths in the same periods amounted to
118,241 and 106,682 respectively.

The annual conference of the Yorkshire Union of
Mechanics' Institutions was held on the 18th, at Thirsk.
Mr. Baines, of Leeds, took the chair at the morning
sitting; Lord Walsingham presided in the evening;
Sir William Gallwey, the Member for Thirsk, was
present; and some sixty delegates from different parts of
the great county formed the conference. During the
past year, the number of institutions in connexion with
the Union has increased from a hundred and twenty–
three to a hundred and twenty–eight, although three
have withdrawn, and five have ceased to exist.

A soirée took place on the 25th at Willis's Rooms, St.
James's–strcet, at the instance of the British and Foreign
Anti–Slavery Society, for the purpose of Presenting an
Address to Mrs. Harriet Beecher Stowe. There was a
crowded attendance. The room was elegantly decorated
with festoons of roses and leaves, and on a pedestal at
the back of the platform was placed a bust of Mrs.Stowe,
beautifully executed by Mr. Bernard in white marble.
On Mrs. Stowe appearing on the platform she was
loudly cheered. She was accompanied by her husband,
the Rev. Professor Stowe, and there were also on the
platform a number of ministers of religion of various
denominations. Mr. Joseph Sturge presided, in the
absence of the Earl of Shaftesbury, from whom a letter
was read, regretting his unavoidable absence, owing to
an engagement at Chatham to lay the foundation of a
church and to open a ragged school. A similar letter
was read from the Earl of Carlisle. The chairman
expressed his regret that, owing to the crowded state of
the room, and the delicate health of Mrs. Stowe, it was
impossible for each one present to have a personal
introduction to her. The address, which had been agreed to
the preceding day at a meeting of the committee of the
Anti–Slavery Society, was then read, and presented to
Mrs. Stowe amid loud cheering; and Professor Stowe,
in the name of his wife, made an eloquent reply. The
chairman then addressed the meeting: he expressed a
hope that all who had it in their power would do their
utmost to promote the growth of cotton and sugar in
India. A penny subscription had been set on foot, not
personally for Mrs. Stowe, but to enable her to promote
the abolition of slavery. One lady had collected as much
as £6, and in all about £1,300 had been raised. (Cheers.)
As there were various modes in which the money might
be beneficially applied, to tract societies and others, in
America, it was proposed to make it more of a national
tribute, by enlarging the subscriptions; and the noble
earl (Shaftesbury), who was expected to preside, had
given a donation of £10. (Cheers.) He recommended
that those who wished to discourage American slavery
should use Irish linen instead of cotton. (Hear.) A
chair was then placed for Mrs. Stowe in front of the
platform, and the audience passed below in succession,
after a caution from the chairman that they should not
attempt to shake hands with her.

A Teetotal Soirée was held on the 25th inst. at the
Whittington Club to celebrate the return to parliament
of Lawrence Heyworth, Esq., the steady and consistent
advocate of total abstinence principles. A large number
of persons were present, and Mr. George Cruikshank
presided. In the course of the evening Mr. Cruikshank
said, that the company were well aware that this was
the "Derby" day, and that tens of thousands of pounds
would change pockets on the occasion, so that a great
deal of mischief and misery would be the result to a great
many families. But this "Derby" day was not that of
the teetotallers. Their "Derby" day was the return of
Mr. Heyworth to the House of Commons, as the
representative of the borough of Derby. That was a result
which did not bring misery to any one, and it was
effected without any money passing from one pocket to
another. Members of parliament had a powerful
influence in making and altering the laws and usages of
this country, and this being so, it was most important
that they should have teetotal members of parliament.
The members of the House of Commons were of various
political opinions, and held different religious views, and
he was sorry to say that they too often occupied their
time upon frivolous and unnecessary topics. They
passed laws to punish the poor miserable boy who picked
a pocket, but they were not ashamed to buy with money
their own seats in the House of Commons. He
confessed he looked on the latter as the worst crime of the
two, and thought that the rich man who bought a seat
by bribery deserved more to be transported than the
poor uneducated boy who stole a pocket–handkerchief in
the street. He recollected the time when he felt proud
of the House of Commons as a body of honourable men
and as gentlemen; but recent events had exposed so
much bribery, treating, and corruption, that he felt
rather ashamed for his country now. They knew that
the old philosopher Diogenes used to go about in
midday with a lamp to look for an honest man. He much
doubted if any modern Diogenes would find many honest
men in the House of Commons; but he might at least
place his hand on one honest, straightforward, and
upright man, and that was Lawrence Heyworth.—Mr.
Heyworth, in returning thanks, spoke of the progress of
the abstinence cause. A bill had been introduced to
prevent the sale of spirits in grocers' shops in Scotland.
That was something gained. There was also a
committee of the House of Commons sitting on the subject
of beer–houses. When the bill relating to Scotland was
under discussion, he stated that 60,000 persons were
sacrificed by the use of intoxicating drink, and the only
way to remedy the evil was to prohibit the sale of spirits
altogether. That observation was received with some
surprise, but not with ridicule. It was even listened to
with respect, and, by going on in the same way, showing
the evil produced by the use of intoxicating drinks and
making converts to the cause, he trusted the time would
arrive when drunkenness would be no longer known
amongst them.

An interesting parliamentary return has been printed
respecting Day and Sunday Schools and Scholars. In
1818, there were 19,230 schools; in 1833, 38,971; and
in 1851, 46,114. In 1818, the scholars in day schools
numbered 674,883; in 1833, 1,267,947; and in 1851,
2,144,377. Of Sunday schools there were 5,463 in 1818;
16,828 in 1833; and 23,498 in 1851. The scholars in
1818 numbered 477,225; in 1833, 1,548,890; and in
1851, 2,407,409.