Vrauiurto.

The Halifax election took place on Saturday. There was some talk of again bringing forward Major Edwards, a Conservative, who has oftener than once unsuccessfully contested Halifax ; but his friends flinched at the last moment. Consequently there was no opposition to the First Lord of the Admiralty. Sir Charles Wood was nominated by Mr. J. Crossley, and seconded by J. Baldwin. In his speeth on the occasion, Sir Charles touched on the death of the Emperor Nicholas- " It is difficult for us to speculate as to what may happen in consequence of the death of the Emperor of Russia, and God forbid that we should rejoice at any man's being suddenly called away from this world ; but if ever cala- mities were justly to be attributed to the will of one man, I think the pre- sent war, with all its fatal consequences,. is to be ascribed to the overween- ing ambition of the Emperor of Russia. It was necessary to resist his ag- gressive projects of aggrandizement, which threatened the liberties and the independence of his neighbour the Sultan, and which, if successful, would have placed the Czar in a position to exercise a predominant influence over the affairs of Europe. It was necessary, I say, to resist ; and until our re- sistance is made effectual, it is imperative upon us, at whatever hazard, to prosecute the war. But at the same time, we should be wanting in our duty to the country if we neglected to avail ourselves of the first opportunity of securing an honourable and a safe peace. I cannot but hope that the im- portant event which has just occurred may tend to facilitate this desirable consummation ; and if that should be the result, grieved as we must be at any fellow-creature being suddenly summoned to his last account, yet the death of one man may prove productive of inestimable blessings to Eunme and to the rest of the world."

Mr. Vernon Smith was returned for Northampton on Monday, almost without opposition. Captain Sturt gave way, because, it is believed, the Conservatives thought that Mr. Hunt, who had previously contested the boroughs had greater claims; and Mr. Hunt declined to oppose Mr. Smith, because he had no chance of success, and moreover because he declined to embarrass the Government. Still there was some dissatisfac- tion with Mr. Smith, on the ground that he had voted against the Sebes-

topol inquiry ; and the Radicals brought forward Mr. John Ingram Lock- hart. Mr. Smith was proposed by Mr. Barwell, and seconded by Mr. Bennett. Mr. Lockhart was proposed by Mr. Gurney, and seconded by Mr. Rymill. The show of hands was in favour of Mr. Lockhart, but he declined to go to the poll ; and Mr. Vernon Smith was declared duly elected.

Sir George Cornewall Lewis was returned again for the Radnor dis- trict of Boroughs on Monday, without opposition. Sir George reminded the meeting that he was not the first Chancellor of the Exchequer who had represented Radnor, for Mr. Robert Harley, afterwards Earl of Ox- ford, sat for that district in 1710. He commented on the suddenness of the death of the late Emperor of Russia ; and, describing the conciliatory policy towards England which actuated Alexander I., the successor of Paul, at war with England when he was strangled, trusted it would prove a happy prognostic of the course of Alexander IL, the successor of Nicholas, and that the new Emperor would follow a peaceful policy. " If, however, it should please this mighty potentate to continue in the course of aggression upon which his father had entered, and, if our reasonable hopes of a more pacific policy should be disappointed, then let him know that in England he will find a country prepared to maintain its own rights and the rights of other nations."

Mr. Horsman met with a like success at Stroud. He was proposed by Mr. Stanton, and seconded by Mr. Marling. As a matter of form, Mr. Clutterbuck proposed Mr. Merryweather Turner ; but he found no se- conder. In his speech, Mr. Horsman commented with severity on the mismanagement of the war and the neglect of the army.

If they went on with their inquiry, they would find the whole of the system the same. They were the slaves of routine; they were under bond- age to red tape. They wanted a younger, a fresher, and a heartier system, with more life and activity in it ; and, above all, they wanted a system adopted by which merit, and merit only, should be the first qualification for public) employment.

The Peace party at Manchester seem to have resolved to hold regular weekly meetings in the rooms of the Peace Society. They met on Tues- day last week, they gathered together on Tuesday this week, and next Tuesday they will meet again. Mr. Bright was the chief orator : his speech fills a large space in the newspapers, and it was much admired by the audience: He was told the other day, he said, that he might have been a Minister had he not opposed what is called "the national policy." Surely he and the Manchester Sohool are not to blame for standing oa the old ways, and for adhering to the principle of non-intervention. Instead of relieving op- pressed nationalities, this war has doubled the armies of France, Austria, and Germany, to the strengthening of despotisms. People don't know what war is. They are shocked by a " dreadful accident," but they only look upon war as "a great historical fact." We are warring for an unattainable ob-

fect, for " a phantom of the very wildest character" ; for "the sake of the all of Sebastopol and our military renown, we are paying the price of education, civilization, morality, nay life itself" ; we are " plunging the country into pauperism of the very worst and most oppressive character." Had we attended to our own affairs, we should have built up a cemmon- wealth that would have stood as an example of the world. Now the country is disgusted and bewildered; the House of Commons is scarcely lees so ; the Government is " a perfect anarchy"—be could not believe it is a war Go- vernment. Now, emphatically now- Russia is likely to make the most con- cessions. He would not oppose the Government of Lord Anybody—for it must be .Lord Somebody—unless he found that the Government were hack- ing out of their own terms; and then there is no opposition that can be con- ceived which he would not offer to such a Government. He hinted that it may be necessary to establish a league " for the purpose of teaching the people of this country the doctrine of non-intervention with the affairs of ether states."

Mr. Sturge, Mr. Ashworth, and others, addressed the meeting ; and it was resolved that the public should be asked to sign a memorial urging the Government to negotiate an early peace.

A meeting was held in the Manchester Town-hall, on Monday, in fit- your of the restoration of Poland. Mr. William Martin presided ; Mr. James Aspinal Turner, Mr. Absolon Watkin, Dr. Vaughan, and Mr. Gould, were the prominent speakers. A resolution expressing sympathy with the Poles and a desire for the restoration of the independence of their country, and an address to Prince Adam Czartoryaki, were unani- mously voted.

The markets in the manufacturing districts did not participate in the elevation of the money-market consequent upon the first news of the death of the Emperor Nicholas. The state of the Australian, American, end Indian markets, depresses the energy of the manufacturers.

At Oxford Assizes, on Tuesday, Dr. John Allen Giles, curate of Bampton wan tried for feloniously making a false entry of a marriage—false in date, in asserting there was a licence, and in stating that Charlotte Late was pre- sent. The whole charge was fully made out. On the 3d October, at six o'clock in the morning, Dr. Giles married Richard Pratt to Jane Green : there was no licence, though he entered in the register that there was ; no banns had been published ; the parish-clerk was not present ; Dr. Giles wrote in the book that Charlotte Late, his servant, witnessed the marriage, though she was not present. Pratt was an apprentice, a young man nearly out of his time ; Jane Green was servant to Dr. Giles himself ; Pratt had been courting her, and she promised shortly to give birth to a child. When this illegal marriage was bruited about, Dr. Giles attempted to escape the consequences by false statements, and he induced Charlotte Late also to de- clare she was present at the ceremony. After legal measures had been taken against him, he managed to get the Pratts shipped off to Australia : but this did not prevent their depositions before the Magistrates from being received as evidence on Tuesday. As to Dr. Giles's motive for his extraordinary conduct, nothing came to light during the trial to show that it was other than a desire to oblige the young people by secretly marrying them, to avoid exposure of the woman's frailty.

In his speech for the defence, Mr. Clarkson urged that the prisoner had made an error as to the date of the marriage, though he admitted that it was an unoanonical one; and he pointed out that he had no bad motive. He enlarged on the scholastic abilities of Dr. Giles—a double first-class man at Oxford at the age of nineteen, afterwards Head Master of the City of London School, and the author of many works. Several clergymen and publishers gave the accused a high character. Lord Campbell summed-up ; and the Jury returned a verdict of " Guilty," as regarded the whole charge, but added a recommendation to mercy. The prisoner then addressed the Court. at some length in mitigation of punishment. He referred to his early life, and his toilsome devotion to Literature, which had resulted in the publication of as many as a hundred and twenty volumes. He had entered the Church, a vocation for which he was entirely unfit, in obedience to the wishes of his father ; but he had been chiefly devoted to literature - and he auggeated that his devotion to his studies had rendered him unfit for the common affairs of life, to which cir- cumstance he attributed the errors which he had committed in connexion with this transaction. He implored the Court to deal mercifully with him, and afford him an opportunity of redeeming his character and becoming a useful member of society.

Lord Campbell said it was a most painful case. He believed Dr. Giles had no immoral motives for his original act ; but he had flagrantly violated a law of great importance ; had got rid of witnesses; had violated truth in his letters, and had called on his servant to state a falsehood. The sentence was one year's imprisonment.

The result of a trial at Durham Assizes shows that a woman may rob with impunity if in her husband's company. A Mr. Richardson was garotted and robbed at night in Darlington by one Bunting and his wife : the first attack was made by the woman, who pushed Mr. Richardson ; then Bunting seized him round the neck. Mr. Seymour urged that the wife could not be convicted, as her husband was present, and it must be presumed she was acting under his authority. Mr. Baron Parke assented, and the woman was acquitted. Bunting was found guilty, and sentenced to be transported for fourteen years.

Two cases of cruelty to ship-boys have recently come to light at Weida In a neighbouring village an African was found perishing of cold and hunger; he was succoured, but both his feet have dropped off from the effects of cold. It seems he was taken on board on the coast of Africa by the master of a ship, who turned him adrift penniless at Shields : the Negro cannot evens peak English. William Fenwick, master of a Shields vessel, has been fined for having a boy on board without the legal formalities. The boy was allowed to serve in an almost naked condition, and the cold has so affected him that he will lose a leg : he is now in hospital. Fenwick is liable to further legal proceedings.

Captain Johnson, for seventeen years Superintendent of the Police on the North-Western Railway, has been killed at Warrington. He had °barge of a train containing a detachment of artillery ; at Warrington he attempted to reenter a carriage after the train was in motion ; he fell, and was crushed between the carriages and the wall of the platform.

William Sykes, a miller of Attercliffe, was sewing a sack, when a knot caused a sudden atoppage and as sudden a release of the needle ; the man's hand flew towards his head, the needle entered his eye, pierced the brain, and caused his death a few days after.