Zbe Vrobtrotes.

A meeting of the electors, freeholders, and inhabitants of the county of Buckingham, convened by the High Sheriff, was held at the County

Hall, in Aylesbury, on Saturday, "for the purpose of considering the distressed state of the agricultural and labonnng classes, occasioned by the new Tariff, and of obtaining for them that redress which justice de- mands and the present condition of the country renders indispensably necessary." Mr. James Trevor Senior, the High Sheriff, took the chair. Among the landowners present were, Earl Stanhope, Lord Nugent, Sir J. Dashwood King, Sir Harry Verney, Captain Pinfold, Dr. Sleigh, Mr. William Bickford, and a numerous body of leading farmers. The

body of the hall was much crowded. Earl Stanhope proposed the first resolution- " That the agricultural, the manufacturing, and the other industrious classes of the United Kingdom, do not receive that protection to their industry to

which they are entitled ; that they have already been grievously injured by the effects of the new Corn-law and of the new 'Tariff; and have a right to de- mand from Parliament that they shall be fully and effectually protected in the home market from the competition of foreigners, who, being far less burdened with taxes are able to undersell them."

Lord gtanhope described the present position of the agriculturists, after a succession of bad harvests, with the last excellent in quality but not of more than average abundance— The average price of wheat was now lls. per quarter lower than it was during the corresponding weeks of last year; and they were all aware that the returns on which these averages were taken—not, as they ought to be, from the growers of grain, but from corn that had been sold over and over again, and which had passed through a variety of hands, so that the prices of grain, ruinous as they were, did not exhibit the actual prices received by the farmer. He resided in Kent, at equal distance from two great markets, at one of which good wheat last week sold for 42s., and at the other it brought only 40s., and the very best wheat did not produce more than from 44s. to 45s. But this state of things was not confined to Kent, for in Warwickshire the price of the best wheat was only 408. With regard to oats, they were all aware that this article formed a principal part of their importations from Ireland, and its price last week was only 9s. per quarter in Mayo, and he believed that a tenant of his in Devon- shire had sold it at lie. It was impossible to say to what extent this down- ward movement might reach. The future appeared no better— Mr. Joseph Saunders, an extensive corn-dealer of Liverpool, was of opinion, that if they should have a fair harvest, as they had every right to anticipate this year, the price of wheat would be reduced to 35s., oats to 12s., and barley to 18s.: and did they suppose that this was an accidental circumstance ? No; it was the natural result of the Corn-law, which had been enacted'at the latter end of the month of April last year. Let them just see what had been the re- stilt of that law. In eight months after it had passed there was imported into this country foreign wheat and wheat flour, amounting to 3,000,000 of quarters, stone of which was required by the necessities of the country, and which, if the present law had not passed, must have paid the duty required by the former law or not have been imported at all. In the course of five weeks, 2,000,000 of quarters had been introduced at the 8s. duty, thus lowering the price to an amount most ruinous to the British farmer. And did they think that this was a mere temporary calamity, that would pass away like a cloud in summer ? The remedy which he proposed for the existing evils was a system that would prevent altogether the importation of foreign corn when it was not required, and then when it was required, that would admit it at a low duty. Lord StanhOpe said, that what with the losses which had been sustained by the agriculturalists in corn and cattle, they had been plundered to the amount of several millions, and that at the instance -of a Ministry calling itself Conservative. Here the Earl was inter- rupted—

A Voice—"Hah the Duke of Buckingham !"

Another Voice—" It was the 'farmer's friend' did that ! "—("No, no ! " laughter and cheers.) A Third Voice—" Where is the 'farmer's friend'?" ( Uproar.) Earl Stanhope—With respect to the 'farmer's friend,' he would do him the justice to say that he had voted with him in a minority of four against the new Tariff.

Dr. Sleigh supported the motion, with general advocacy of the Corn- laws and attack on Free-trade and the factory system. Lord Nugent opposed the motion ; and, to show that it was no ques- tion between the "land and the loom," he mentioned several great !landowners who were for Free-trade principles— Who, he would ask, was the Duke of Bedford ? was he a manufacturer ? Who was the Duke of Sutherland ? who were the late Dukes of Norfolk, of Cleveland? and who was the Duke of Hamilton ? There were no less than six Dukes' who possessed the largest amount of property in the kingdom, and they were all stanch advocates for the return of Free-trade principles. Who was the Marquis of Westminster, the Marquis of Breadalbane' the Mar- quis of Lansdowne, the late Earl of Leicester, Earl Spencer, Earl Fitz- wih'iam, the Earl of Radnor, Earl of Clarendon, Earl of Scarborough, Lord Lovelace, Lord Dude, and Lord Kinnaird, who were only a few of the most prominent champions of the principles of Free-trade ? And besides these. there was Lord Grenville, a man who was not fond of hasty or violent change, or who indulged in strong or exaggerated language, or ever over-stated facts.

He moved as an amendment-

" That it appears to this meeting, that every successive law passed for regu- lating the price of agricultural produce under the name of protection, from the law of 1815 to that of 1842, has had the effect of lowering instead of raising its price, and of greatly aggravating the fluctuations and uncertainty of markets in a manner injurious to the consumer, and consequently to the farmer. That it impoverishes his customer, and makes him dependent on the speculations of importers and contractors, instead of upon his own skill and industry ope- rating under a system of prices regulated by the natural and steady balance of -demand and supply."

The amendment was seconded by Mr. J. C. Olive, of Woodlands; who was followed by Mr. Buckmaster with a long speech for Free-trade. Sir Harry Verney then moved a second amendment, praying for inquiry into the peculiar and heavy burdens on land ; pointing to the 501.-tenant- at-will franchise as tending to prevent the granting of leases, and to the fluctuating corn-duty as a cause of unsteady prices, and recom- mending, therefore, a fixed duty. Another speaker spoke against ma- chinery as the cause of the distress. Mr. Howard, the Duke of Buck. ingham's steward, supported the original motion. Some one calling out, "Where's his Grace today ? " Mr. Howard said, that the Duke was disappointed that the meeting had been held without consulting him.

Eventually, Lord Stanhope's motion was carried by a large majority.

Mr. Cobden and the deputation of the League had a great meeting in the Assize Hall of Taunton, on Saturday : about 1,200 persons were present, including 800 farmers. Mr. Cobden is said to have been very effective in unsettling the faith of the farmers in their "political land- lords." One gentleman took notes, and was expected to reply ; but he left the ft'Llt before the close of Mr. Cobden's speech ; some one asking him, if be hit faint Thanks were voted to the deputation with three times three cheers. Mr. Moore and Mr. Bright proceeded to Plymouth, where they had a meeting on Monday night. On Tuesday night they had a public tea-party at Devonport.

Meetings to oppose the Government measure of Education for the manufacturing districts have been held, by the Committee, teachers, and friends of the Bath Sunday School Union ; by "the friends of civil and religious freedom" at Liverpool ; and by the Congregational Dissenters of Manchester and Salford ; one of whom,' the Reverend Dr. Halley, complained that the Methodists do not join in the agitation against the bill.

The leading Conservatives of Nottingham dined together on Mon day at the George the Fourth Inn ; apparently to celebrate the victory which Mr. Walter junior ought to have achieved, though he did not. Mr. T. Moore, the Chairman, averred that Mr. Walter's defeat was to be attributed solely to the bribery of the opposite party. Mr. Rawson said that it would not be difficult to trace out the bribed electors almost to a man. Proposing the health of the late candidate, he said that he ;night indulge in classical allusions to a son rushing to the breach which his father was unable longer to defend, and seizing the falling spear and shield ; but he would refrain. He did not refrain from a poetical allu- sion to Mr. Gisborne's boast, in a congratulatory address, of having " put down at the same time Tory influence and corruption " ; though the language of his heart must really be- " Ah mel they little know how dear I bought that boast I made,

Under what torments inwardly I groan. While they adore me [Gisborne!) on the throne of hell."

Mr. Charlton also insinuated against Mr. Gisborne a bold stroke in the way of treating ; having observed that on the morning of the poll he left the hustings, seized with an ominous desire for his breakfast- " 1 will not dwell upon the means which were resorted to; the facts we all know. When Mr. Gisborne went to his hotel,

'To cloy the hungry edge of appetite By bare imagination of a feast.'

we were in a majority of 64; and in an hour afterwards our majority was con. verted into a minority of between 30 and 40."

Another prisoner is pronounced to have been killed by the rigorous treatment of Northleach House of Correction. An inquest was held at Cheltenham on the body of Richard Jones, who died soon after his dis- charge and the inquiry closed on Friday. Jones had been sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment, and to be flogged in the last month: the term expiring on the 1st March last. After his admission to the pri-

son, his health became bad, and he was affected with dropsy ; but he died of consumption. John Barton a fellow-prisoner, said that the soup

was so thin, that two sheep-heads served to make it for all the pn- soners, forty. Jones was kept on the tread-wheel when he was too weak to stand. The prisoners were removed from the wheel in a state of perspiration, and placed in cold damp cells, with stone floors. Jones used to walk about the yard, complaining of pain, and crying like a child. The Under-Turnkey, Harding, said that he was shamming ; and once struck him with a key on the leg, so that he was lame after it. Thomas Lamy, another prisoner, said that Harding gave Jones some extra rounds for complaining : he heard Harding say, when he struck Jones, "I will make you remember Northleach as long as you live." John Ralph Bedwell, the Prison Surgeon, described the state of Jones's health. He suggested that the man should be discharged, as perhaps he might then recover ; and the Secretary of State was written to ; but he would not consent. The flogging, however, was dispensed with. When he was discharged, Mr. BedweR advised him to apply for medi- cal assistance as soon as he reached Cheltenham. Richard Townsend,

the Governor, said that he importuned the visiting Magistrates to ob- tain his discharge, but without success. They used to give only three

shillings a week for the meat of which they made soup for the pri-

soners: the gruel diet was thin, but as good as Mr. Townsend dared to make it. There had now been a great alteration in the prison-diet ; an

order having come down from the Secretary of State on the 16th February. The new allowance, Mr. Townsend thought, was sufficient to support the prisoners in their work. Among the other witnesses, were Elizabeth Jones, the mother of the deceased ; Dr. Hartley, Sur- geon of the Cheltenham Hospital ; and Joseph King, a discharged pri- soner, who was himself too weak to give evidence. The Jury returned the following verdict-

" That the deceased, Richard Jones, died from the ill-treatment he received while in Northleach House of Correction, from hard labour, want of food, and from no other causes."

The Jury also desired the Coroner to record their declaration, that the authorities of Northleach were deserving of censure for their con- duct throughout the affair.

A fatal explosion occurred in Stormont Main C lliery, at Wrecking ton, near Newcastle-upon-Tyne, on the morning of the 5th instant. Thirty persons were at work in the western part of the mine, where the explosion occurred; and of that number, twenty-seven, men and boys, were killed. The explosion did not sound as if it were very violent,

and the damage done to the mine was trifling. The principal loss of life is attributed rather to the mephitic vapour than to the fire. The immediate cause of the explosion is conjectured to have been some carelessness with a light. An inquest was held on the bodies, and the Jury returned a verdict of " Accidental Death."

The steam-frigate Rattler, built like the Archimedes, with a screw propeller, the invention of Mr. Smith, was launched at Sheerness, on Thursday. The extreme length of the vessel is 195 feet ; extreme

breadth, 32 feet 81 inches ; depth in hold, 18 feet 71, inches; burden, 888 tons. The Archimedes took down a party of scientific and nau- tical gentlemen to view the vessel and the launch.