CLIPPINGS FROM THE HOME PAPERS.

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume X, Issue 129, 31 May 1875, Page 2

CLIPPINGS FROM THE HOME PAPERS.

Eleven months of the financial yea* expired on Saturday, February 27, to which date the Gazette returns are made up. By theee it. appears that from the Ist April, 1874, to the 27th February, 1875, the Exchequer receipts amounted to £67,188,835, the Budget estimate for the whole year being £74,425,000. The expenditure has been £66,944,976, nnd the Budget estimate for the twelve months is £74,084,000. At present there are 28,968 licensed brewers in the United Kingdom, producing a revenue of £483,407. The subject o' the repeal of the duty is befoie the House of Commons. An order lies recently been rrade in »n English Court in a cause in which it ia stated that every judge on the Equity bench has held briefs. It relates to the will of a gentleman who died in 1829, leaving an estate which is now valued at £135,000. His three sons have been in litigation ever since, and the costs are said to amount to £10,000. A private society has been formed in London for the purpose of furthering cremation. The capital is to be £3500. It in stated that three millions of copies of Messrs Moody and Saokey'B hymnal are being printed for their London mission. During the last week of February, in London 2348 births and 1854 deaths wore registered. Allowing for increase of population, tho births were 148 below, whereas the deaths exceeded by 173, the average numbers in the corresponding week of the last ten years. A th : ef, who has been busy amongst the people attending the Moody and Sankey services in Liverpool, was recently brought up at the Police Court, charged with pocket-picking. He was seen to put his hand into the pockets of several ladies, nnd afterwards to kneel down between two "Christian workers," and p>ay earnestly. When searched, a number of pockel-haudker-cluefs were found upon him. Hs wbs remanded. There is a strong belief in England that the missing will of the late Lord St. Leonards, for which a reward of £500 was offered, is buried with him; it was seen in his hands a few days before his death. By his express desire the venerable ex-Chancellor was laH in his coffin in n dressing-gown which he usually wore, and in the pocket of this dressrng-gown is supposed to be the will. Steps will speedily be taken, it is said, to prove the truth or falsehood of this rumor. At the Westminster Police Court, the landlord of a public-house has been summoned by the Gaslight Company for £16 3s 9d, due for gas by tbe.fbrmer tenant of the houee who had left without paying the'rooney. The magistrate admitted that the case was a hard one, but ordered payment subject to the opinion of the Couit of Queen's Bench. A very painful incident has occurred at Bethesda, Dear Bangor. A dispute exists with the local clergy about burial fees, which the parishioners of Llandegni and Llanllechid wish to substitute for an old Welsh custom called "offerings." At the funeral of a Richatd Hughes, of Llanllechid, the sexton, by the vicar's orders, refused to allow the use of the parish bier except on the payment of a sovereign. This demand was resented, and the cclßo was brought to the churchyard gate in a trap, and buried without the service being read. It is believed probable that the Prussian Government will shortly take steps to restore the law, repealed in 1841, prohibiting the publication of churcii documents without the previous consent of the civil authorities. The construction of a network of railways in Switzerland, at a cost to the btate of sixteen millions of francs, has been sanctioned by the popular vote of the Canton of Berne. Several Germau Roman Catholic deputies have signed a spirited protest against the Pope's last Encyclical letter, in which his Holiness condemned the ecclesiastical laws of the Empire. The deputies call upon all patriotic Catholics who Bhare their views to sign the document. Another outrage by Spaniards on an Englishman is announced from Madrid. The master of a British vessel was put into a prison cell and barbarously beaten by the police. The English consul has demanded reparation for this treatment. Dr. Si^l, editor of the Ultramontane Valerland has been convicted by a jury, and sentenced to three months imprisonment. He was charged with having: written ia his paper th;.t Kullmann's attack on Prince Bismarck was a comedy got up for tho purpose of reviving the Imperial Chancellor's popularity. Mr Layard has presented his credentials to King Alfanso. According to the Madrid correspondent of the Times Mr Layard expressed Queeu Victoria's hope that his Majesty f a reign would be nimked by a constitutional, enlightened, uud toleraut policy. In (he King's reply, which was very complimentary in other respects, there was no echo or notice of these sentiments. The same reticence was observed in the King's answer to the German Minister.