Mr Layard has been elected Lord Rector of the
Aberdeen University, by a majority of three out of the
four nations over Colonel Sykes.

The Royal Geological Society have awarded the
Wollaston Palladium medal to Sir Henry de la Beche,
the chief author and promoter of the Government
Museum of Practical Geology and School of Mines.

Mr. Henry Reeve has been appointed editor of the
"Edinburgh Review," in the room of Sir G. C. Lewis,
Chancellor of the Exchequer.

The Earl of Cardigan has succeeded his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cambridge as Inspector-General
of Cavalry of the United Kingdom.

Mr. C. H. Darling, late Governor at the Cape, has
been appointed Governor of Newfoundland, in the room
of Mr. Kerr Baillie Hamilton, appointed Governor-in-
Chief of the Leeward Islands.

Obituary of Notable Persons

VISCOUNT PONSONEY, who for many years represented this
country at the Porte, died on the 22nd ult. at Brighton, in his
eighty-fifth year.

LORD KENYON died lately at Gredington Hall, in Flintshire,
aged seventy-eight. He was son of the distinguished Chief-
Justice of the Queen's Bench.

Mr. BENBOW, M.P. for Dudley, died at Hastings on the 24th
ult., aged eighty-seven. He was a director of the North-
Western and the Shrewsbury and Birmingham Railways.

CAPT. SIR PHILIP BROKE, BART., R.N., died at Broke Hall,
Ipswich, on the 24th ult., aged fifty-one. He was the eldest
son of the gallant victor in the fight between the Shannon
and the Chesapeake.

Mr. C. R. DOD, the author of the "Parliamentary
Companion," and many other highly useful works of a similar
character, died in London last month.

EARL STANHOPE died on the 2nd inst., at his seat, Chevening,
near Sevenoaks, in his seventy-fourth year.

DON CARLOS of Spain, the younger brother of Ferdinand VII.,
and the pretender to the Spanish throne, died at Trieste on
the 10th inst., in his sixty-seventh year.

Mr. COPLEY FIELDING, the celebrated water-colour painter,
died lately in his sixty-ninth year.

SIR GEORGE LARPENT died in London on the 8th inst., aged
sixty-seven.

GENERAL PRINCE ANDREW GORTCHAKOFF died at Moscow
on the 27th ult.

COLONEL SIR F. HANKEY, G.C.M.G., died on the 13th inst.,
in London, aged eighty-one.

LORD ERSKINE died at his house in Sussex on the 19th inst.

COLONIES AND DEPENDENCIES.

By the arrival of the Overland Mail we learn that
tranquillity, with one or two trifling exceptions,
prevailed throughout India.—The ambassadors from Ava,
who had lately visited Lord Dalhousie, at Calcutta, were
so hard pressed for money at Rangoon on their journey
homeward, that one of their number actually sold a gold
watch, presented to him by the Governor-General, for
about one-quarter of its value.—The opening of the
Exhibition at Calcutta took place on the 25th of
January. Numbers were present at the inauguration,
who were highly delighted with the display and arrangement
of the pictures, and the other objects of art.—The
railway was opened on the 3rd of February, and the
distance to Burdwan and back (132 miles) was performed
in six hours.—The Madras railway was progressing fast,
and an experimental trip had already been made.—The
Exhibition in that city was to be opened on the 29th of
February.—Subscriptions to the Patriotic Fund in
Bombay amounted to £10,000, and the Bank of Bengal
had given £500.

The West India mail brings little intelligence. From
St. Thomas's we learn that yellow fever had again made
its appearance, principally among the shipping.—In
British Guiana the weather was very changeable, and
symptoms of earthquake were observable. Several
houses had been blown down by the strong winds which
prevailed, and so violent were the seas which broke
over the coast, that the whole of the seaward defences
had been washed away. The district of Kingston was
entirely submerged at every tide, and many of the
inhabitants were compelled either to remain at home or
use boats as a means of transit.—The West India islands
are reported to be generally in a healthy state.

The recent arrivals from the Cape of Good Hope
bring no fresh intelligence of the state of the British
Caffre frontier. A dreadful tragedy has taken place on
the Dutch frontier. The Caffres, under Makapan, had
murdered Field Cornet Potgieter, and several men and
women, with revolting cruelty. Prætorius collected
500 men and four guns, and hunted the Caffres to
certain caverns, 2000 feet in length and from 300 to
500 feet wide. Not liking to venture an assault, he
attempted, on the 30th of October, to blast the rocks
above, and so to crush the enemy. But this failed,
owing to the loose nature of the soil. He then resolved
on a blockade. On the 6th October, Commandant-
General Potgieter was shot by the Caffres, and his
body fell within the outer defences; but they were
instantly stormed, and the body recovered. As the
siege went on too slowly, he blocked up the openings of
caverns with loads of stones and trees, brought and
thrown down by friendly Caffres, coöperating with the
Dutch. This reduced the enemy to extremities. Day
by day they died or were shot down. The women and
children rushed out to get water, and many died
drinking it. At length possession of a part of the caverns
was obtained; and much of the property of the
murdered men was recovered. But the stench rising
from the dead Caffres—900 bodies were found—
compelled the Dutch to raise the siege on the 21st
November. Prætorius next led his men against another
Caffre chief, Mapala, who fled at his approach. In the
kraals the remains of the murdered men were found
cut up and roasted with fat! Mapala took up a position
where he could not be assailed.

The advices from Melbourne contain accounts of
serious disturbances at the Ballarat gold-diggings. On
the 29th of November a monster meeting was held at
Ballarat; the Australian flag was hoisted; the leading
agitators addressed some 2000 persons, many of them
well armed; but the meeting passed off quietly. Two
clergymen from Melbourne endeavoured to persuade the
committee to give up a project they had recommended
of burning the gold-digging licenses; but without effect,
and a large quantity was burned. Next day, November 30,
the Commissioners Rede and Johnson appeared at the
head of a body of mounted and foot police, having their
swords drawn and their bayonets fixed, to collect the
licenses. Mr. Rede first essayed persuasion: he told the
insurgents that if they memorialised the Governor they
would gain their rights; that a commission had been
appointed to investigate their grievences; and that Mr.
Fawkner was one of the number. This name the diggers
received with three cheers. But the tumultuous assemblage
cried, "We will not have drawn swords and fixed
bayonets"—"Where is the Governor?—send up Sir
Charles"—"We want justice, and we will have it."
When Mr. Rede said he must collect the licenses, they
replied, "We have burnt them." Amid great excitement
and noise, Mr. Rede read the Riot Act; and
expressed his determination to apprehend all who had
not their licenses. A great cry then arose, "To the
camp, boys, to the camp!" For some distance the
diggers followed towards the camp the retrograding military
force; when suddenly there was a shout of "Not to the
camp, boys, not to the camp! Back to our own ground
on Bakery Hill." During this period a detachment of
the 40th and 12th Regiments had formed near the bridge.
Of the diggers some went to the Eureka, some to the
Red Hill, where they hoisted the flag—"The Southern
Cross;" while the commissioners and commanding-
officers were holding a consultation on the new road, at
a loss as to the intentions of the diggers. At length the
military and police formed themselves into divisions