the meeting, and read the following draught of the
proposed memorial:—

"THE AFFECTIONATE AND CHRISTIAN ADDRESS OF MANY
THOUSANDS OF THE WOMEN OF ENGLAND TO THEIR SISTERS, THE
WOMEN OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA.

"A common origin, a common faith, and, we sincerely believe,
a common cause, urge us, at the present moment, to address you
on the subject of that system of negro slavery which still
prevails so extensively, and, even under kindly-disposed masters,
with such frightful results, in many of the vast regions of the
western world. We will not dwell on the ordinary topics—on
the progress of civilisation, on the advance of freedom everywhere,
on the rights and requirements of the nineteenth century
—but we appeal to you very seriously to reflect, and to ask
counsel of God how far such a state of things is in accordance
with His holy word, the inalienable rights of immortal souls,
and the pure and merciful spirit of the Christian religion. We
do not shut our eyes to the difficulties, nay, the dangers, that
might beset the immediate abolition of that long-established
system; we see and admit the necessity of preparation for so
great an event; but, in speaking of indispensable preliminaries,
we cannot be silent on those laws of your country, which, in
direct contravention of God's own law, 'instituted in the time of
man's innocency,' deny in effect to the slave the sanctity of
marriage, with all its joys, rights, and obligations; which separate,
at the will of the master, the wife from the husband, and
the children from the parents. Nor can we be silent on that
awful system which, either by statute or by custom, interdicts
to any race of man, or any portion of the human family, education
in the truths of the Gospel and the ordinances of
Christianity. A remedy applied to these two evils alone would
commence the amelioration of their sad condition."

This memorial was agreed to, and a committee was
formed for the purpose of collecting signatures and
transmitting it to America. The ladies present were
the Duchesses of Sutherland, Bedford, and Argyll;
the Countess of Shaftesbury, Lady Constance Grosvenor,
Viscountess Palmerston, Lady Dovor, Lady Cowley,
Lady Ruthven, Lady Bellhaven, Hon. Mrs. Montague
Villiers, Hon. Mrs. Kinnaird, the Lady Mayoress,
Lady Trevelyan, Lady Parke, Miss Parke, Mrs. Owen,
Mrs. Carpenter, Mrs. Buxton, Miss Buxton, Mrs. John
Simon, Mrs. Procter, Mrs. Binney, Mrs. Holland,
Mrs. Steane, Mrs. John Buller, Mrs. R. D. Grainger,
Mrs. Hawes, Mrs. Sutherland, Mrs. Mary Howitt,
Mrs. Dicey, Miss Trevelyan, Mrs. Milman, Miss Taylor,
Mrs. Robson, and Mrs. Macaulay. The ladies whose
names follow signified their concurrence:—The Duchess
Dowager of Beaufort, the Marchioness of Stafford,
the Countess of Derby, the Countess of Carlisle, Lady
John Russell, the Countess of Litchfield, Viscountess
Ebrington, the Countess of Cavan, Viscountess
Melbourne, Lady Hatherton, Lady Blantyre, Lady Dufferin,
Lady Easthope, Mrs. Josiah Condor, the Hon. Mrs.
Cowper, Lady Clark, Lady Paxton, Lady Kaye Shuttleworth,
Lady Buxton, Lady Inglis, Mrs. Malcolm,
Mrs. Seeley, Mrs. Alfred Tennyson, Mrs. Lyon Playfair,
Mrs. Charles Dickens, Mrs. Murray, Mrs. Charles
Knight, Mrs. Marsh, Mrs. Champneys, and Mrs.
Rowland Hill. An office was appointed at 13, Clifford
Street, Bond Street.

The annual meeting of the association for promoting
the Repeal of the Taxes on Knowledge was held at
Exeter Hall on the 1st inst., and was attended by a
crowded assemblage. Mr. Douglas Jerrold occupied
the chair, and on the platform were Mr. Cobden, M.P.,
Mr. Gibson, M.P., Mr. C. Knight, Mr. G. Cruikshank,
Mr. Wilderspin, Mr. Novello, Mr. D. Seymour,
M.P., the Rev. G. Smith, Dr. Watts, and others.
Speeches were delivered by the Chairman, Dr. Watts,
Mr. Knight, Mr. Cobden, Mr. Rodgers, Mr. Milner
Gibson, Mr. Bucknall, and Mr. Seymour; and
resolutions to the following effect were unanimously
agreed to:—

"That the duties on paper and advertisements, and the penny
stamp on newspapers, tend to injure literature, to obstruct education,
and to hinder the progress of the people in intelligence and
morality.

"That, as the newspaper stamp produces only a trifling sum
to the revenue, and as the advertisement-duty causes a positive
loss to the Exchequer, their retention can be attributed only to
a desire to restrain the liberty of the press.

"That, the Government having given notice to introduce a
bill for the amendment of the law relating to stamps on
newspapers, this meeting do appoint its Chairman, together with the
President and Committee of the Association, and the under-
named gentlemen, to form a deputation to wait upon the Prime
Minister, in order to bring under the notice of the Government
the pernicious effects of the newspaper stamp, and press the
repeal rather than the amendment of the Newspaper Stamp Act."

An addition to the first resolution proposed by Mr.
Rodgers, was agreed to, calling for a repeal of the act
which requires that securities should be given before
publication, to answer for libels. A deputation was
appointed to wait on the prime minister in order
to press the repeal of the Newspaper Stamp Act.
Lord Derby received the deputation on the 8th;
introduced by Mr. Milner Gibson, with Mr. Hume
as spokesman. In reply to the statements addressed
to him, Lord Derby particularised the advertisement
duty as very objectionable: but ministers had been
precluded from dealing with it from "financial
considerations."

The Leeds Mechanics' Institute had its annual soirée
on the 8th., Lord John Russell presided, and the
Music-hall was crowded to excess, that building being
insufficient to accommodate all the members. Mr.
Kitson, the president of the institute, read a report
which showed its favourable progress, and proposed
to provide increased accommodation by erecting a new
building at the expense of £8000. Lord John Russell
addressed the assembly in a most eloquent and interesting
speech, tending to lead working men to literary
study as a means of self-culture. Speeches in a similar
spirit, were delivered by Mr. H. Cole, Professor Phillips,
the Dean of Ripon, and Lord Beaumont.

There is not a single able-bodied pauper, male or
female in Marylebone workhouse: and while during the
corresponding period of last year there were 150 men in
the stoneyard, there are now only forty.

Government has granted the charter to the Crystal
Palace Company, but without authority to open the
Palace on Sundays. The prohibition rests on the legal
construction of a statute of George the Third, enacted
with a very different object. The proposed opening
will therefore require the express sanction of Parliament.

PERSONAL NARRATIVE.

THE Queen and Royal Family arrived at Osborne,
from Windsor, on the 29th ult., and remained there till
the 22nd inst., when they returned to Windsor.

The new chaplain for Pitcairn's Island, the Reverend
G. H. Nobbs, sailed on the 17th, in La Plata. Before
he sailed, he had an interview with Prince Albert at
Osborne, and was afterwards presented to the Queen.

The projected marriage between the Emperor Napoleon
and the Princess Wasa is broken off, and it is now
confidently reported that the Princess will marry Prince
Albert of Saxony.

A negotiation has been entered into for the marriage
of the Emperor with the Princess Stephanie, the second
child of the Prince of Hohenzollern. She is in her
sixteenth year.

The personal property of the late Earl of Shrewsbury
has been sworn under £100,000. The deceased has left
some trifling legacies; but the residue of his personal
property, and the proceeds of all his estates, at Alton,
Farley, and elsewhere, which the will directs to be sold,
are bequeathed to Mr. Ambrose Lisle Phillips, of Grace
Dieu Manor, Leicestershire, and Mr. C. Scott Murray,
of Danesfield, Buckinghamshire, both of whom seceded
from the Church of England some years since and joined
the communion of the Church of Rome. The property
had been previously left to Dr. Walsh, and, in the event
of his decease, to Cardinal Wiseman; but this was
revoked by a codicil in favour of Messrs. Phillips and
Murray, who are to divide the property equally between
them.

The executors of the will of the late Mrs. Mary Halford,
of Newcourt, near Exeter, have just paid the following
munificent charity legacies left by her will, The Deaf
and Dumb Institution, £1000; the Blind Institution,
£1000; the Exeter Dispensary, £1000; the Exeter Eye
Infirmary, £1000; and the Governesses Benevolent
Institution, London, £1000; all free of legacy duty.

The veteran comedian, Mr. Bartley, took leave of the
stage at the Princess's Theatre on Saturday the 18th