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At Chichester, on Tuesday, Lord Arthur Lennox, newly appointed Clerk to the Board of Ordnance, was reelected Member for the borough, without opposition. In vindicating his support of the Maynooth endowment, he remarked the contrast between the heap of petitions sent in against the bill, and the fact that the subject was only two or three times mentioned in the course of his recent canvass.

Sir Charles Douglas, Commissioner of Greenwich Hospital, was re. elected Member for the borough of Warwick, on Wednesday, without op. position.

Mr. Cripps, newly appointed a Lord of the Treasury, was reelected Member for Cirencester, on Thursday, without opposition. His speech in returning thanks was devoted to a vindication of Ministers, and of himself for supporting them. He adduced proof that Sir Robert Peel had not been a traitor to the interests which had placed him in power, but had fulfilled in his commercial policy his declared intention-

" The first act of my 'political life was to attend a meeting of that great party which the dissolution of Parliament had sent to the support of the Goverrunent which was inevitably to take the place of Lord Melbourne's. That meeting was held in the diningroom of the all-but acknowledged Premier. and we received with vociferous cheers the announcement made of the amendment which was to bring to an end the then Administration, and which—I nearly remember the very words—declared the resolution of the whole party to be that they. would take into their deliberate consideration the laws which regulate the trade in corn and the importation of provisions, as soon as they had a Government in which the House of Commons had confidence.'"

Defending the Income-tax, he made some statements respecting it- " I have the greatest possible hope that that tax, if again renewed, (which it can- not be without the consent of the House of Commons, who it was to be remembered gave a general support to its reenactment for another three years,) will not be reenacted without regulations calculated to deprive it of its most obnoxious fea- tures. Of course, so recently connected with the Government as I am, and occupying so subordinate a situation, I mean to speak with no fulness of authority; but I am sanguine enough to think that it may4ret be dispensed with; unless the Government should think, as I am inclined to think, that greater relief might be given by a remission of the more inconvenient Assessed-taxes than by the abolition of the more profitable and least onerous portion of the Income-tax." After censuring the Anti-Corn-law League for interference at elections, he made good use of Lord Melbourne's testimony in favour of Sir Roberi Peers policy; reading the Viscount's recent speech at Fishmongers Hall- He concluded with an assurance that he should regard his official ap- pointment solely as an inducement to increased exertion in the publi- service.

The excitement and bustle of the election at Sunderland increased as the day of nomination approached; both parties growing more and more active in their efforts to secure support. A meeting of Colonel Thompson's friends was held on Monday evening; and Mr. Cobden appeared as one of his advocates, with a capital speech—plain, forcible, and amusing. He began by introducing himself as Colonel Thompson's pupil Then he touched very effectively on the interest which persons engaged in shipping have in a free corn-trade; showing how the uncertainty and suddenness of the demand here oblige merchants abroad to send their corn in any ships that may happen to be in port, whether foreign ships or English. He alluded to some placards, in which Colonel Thompson had been denoun- ced as an Infidel and Socialist— "I was reading yesterday the life of Wilberforce, (an old friend of Colonel Thompson's,) and I find that in the commencement of his career as an agitator against that most horrible traffic in human beings the slave-trade, he and his friends were denounced as the disciples of Tom Paine and the friends of Marat and Robespierre in the French Revolution. Ay, and then genteel people— persons in broad cloth—used to make it a boast that they did not belong to the Wilberforce party of Abolitionists. Who is there now that would stand up and defend slavery and the slave-trade? And in less time than Wilberforce abolished that odious traffic, we shall have achieved the triumph of Free-trade principles; and the very men who are now opposing us in this holy crusade will be the first to turn round andsay, we were always Free-traders." He paid a compliment to Lord Howick, whose loss they had to supply- " I deeply regret that loss, because he stood prominent amongst his class or order in that House for the honest and unflinching advocacy of Free-trade principles. He did not advocate the abolition of the Corn-laws, and the abolition of the monoplies in sugar and coffee, and other things—he did not advocate them as a man who acted as a mere litician. He had the frankness to avow in the House of Com- mons, that he , during the three years of discussion which had then taken place, seen reason to change his opinions materially as regarded the laws which restrict the supply of the first necessaries of life. He said, what we will all remember, that he did not consider it a mere question of politics but he thought the question of free trade was one the nature and circumstances of which in- volved a great moral duty in the Legislature of this country. He did more, by that earnest speech, to take the question out of the category of party politics than was done by any speech made in the House of Commons. He served as a connecting link between the Free-traders in that House and the Whig aristocracy who are to be found in the House; and I much regret that he is not there still, so that he might cement that union, and make us one combined body in our cause. But you are called upon to nominate his successor. Now, if there is one thing that I cannot possibly forget, more than I can do another in this contest, it is the fact that you were previously represented by such a man as Lord Howick. If any constituency can be considered pledged—I say pledged in honour, to return a man of kindred sentiments to the House of Commons on this .question, you are: or I cannot tell how he can face the public again, after having, as I heard him in the House of Commons, state that he was requested by three- fourths of the constituency of this borough to take that honest and striughtfor • ward course which he did take in the advocacy of the question."

Mr. Cobden devoted great part of his speech to a very adroit disparage- ment of Mr. Hudson as a candidate. He ridiculed the idea of his coming down to bribe the town of Sunderland and its 56,000 electors by the pro- mise of making a railway or a dock. He asked whether Mr. Hudson him- self had even made such a promise, publicly? He answered his own ques tion, by reminding the electors that only a Mr. Wright and a Mr. Spoor had done so; and that they had really no claim upon Mr. Hudson. He cast a doubt upon that gentleman's power to do any such thing; inferring from his undertakings and his projects that his means were already deeply engaged and bespoken. With respect to Mr. Hudson's influence in the House of Commons, he believed that as an interested party he could exer- cise it more effectually in the lobby than in the body of the House; for he would be regarded as a deeply interested man. His debitt as a publics

speaker in Sunderland has exhibited an intellect below that of the lowest Member in the House of Commons; which is saying a great deal. A railway, argued Mr. Cobden, would even tend to injure the coasting-trade of Sunderland. Mr. Cobden advised him to stick to the lobby-

" You are mistaken if you suppose that Members of Parliament can now act in the Meese of Counnons for the promotion of private jobs. Great improvement has taken place in these things. Nothing has given Inc more satisfaction than the complete change which has lately taken place in the management of private business. Is a railway proposed to be made? then a Committee is appointed to et upon it; and the House takes care to select for members of the Comnittee just such men as have no connexion with the railroad, or with the country through which it passes. The rule is, if you have a railway projected through the county of Durham, for example, they choose the members of the Committee from the county of Sussee or Hampshire, or from Ireland or Scotland; and if the railway had to pass through Sussex or Masts, the Committee would be selected from the counties of Durham or Northumberland, or other places equally remote. Don't let men say, then, that they can manage private business in the House of Commons. The system is altered."

Mr. Bright also delivered a long speech, mainly on the general subject of the Corn-laws, and on their connexion with the prosperity of the coun- try and of the working classes. In the course of his speech he pointed to two pregnant illustrations-

" So far as the Funds and Railway Shares are concerned, it is notorious that when the price of bread is high these are low. In 1840 and 1841, the shares in the North Midland Railway were down to between 50/. and 601. per share; and now they are up to between 170/. and 180/. There is not a railway in the king- dom which did not fall thousands—some of them millions—of pounds in value during that period; and since the price of bread has decreased, and consequent comfort and prosperity have prevailed, these railways have risen to double and in some cases to treble their former value."

- Colonel Thompson briefly addressed the meeting; and it separated.

Mr. Hudson also met his friends on the same evening, and made a long speech, chiefly in reply to attacks upon him by Colonel Thompson's ad- herents. He remarked that he had no need of the support from hired lecturers. He complained of handbills attacking him: and from this part of his speech we gather that the Mr. Botterill, whose appearance as a can- didate myetified the people of Sunderland, was a great-uncle of Mr. Hudson, deceased, and that he had bequeathed money to his grand- nephew. As to the staple question of his opponents, Mr. IIudson avowed himself a Free-trader: but afterwards he objected, that a free trade in corn would make a free trade in everything else inevitable—there would no longer he any "protection "—employment would altogether cease in the shipping-trade—wages would be beaten down; and yet again, later in his speech, he said that the difference between himself and the other party was chiefly one of degree! He attacked Colonel Thompson and his friends for squandering the money of the League; and he promised to exert him- self in promoting the trading interests of the borough. These were the chief points in a very rambling speech.

The nomination took place, in front of the Town-hall, on Wednesday; when Colonel Thompson and Mr. George Hudson were proposed. The proceedings were throughout interrupted by noise and sometimes by violent contests and fightings between the rougher adherents of the two parties. Colonel Thompson's speech was short, terse, and forcible, but chiefly of local application. In the course of it, he made a charge against his oppo- nents— " There has been offered 1,000/. to one of my leading committee-men to let us be in the minority for the first two hours. (Loud cries of" Name, name!" from Mr. Hudson s side of the hustings.) Not from the Tories; no, no, not by the Tories, but by railway-speculators. ("Hear!" and great confusion, with loud cries of "Name! ") Now, you can judge whether every honest man is not bound to put his foot on so foul an intent as that You know the intent is to swindle the railway shareholders; and if there are any here who do not know it, they are right in making the inquiry. I beg of you, therefore, that you come to the poll within the first two hours, in order to put down a plot like that; and if you know any railway shareholders, or are such yourselves, it is right you should know there is such a plan abroad, and let all be done which honest men can do for effecting the object in view."

Mr. Hudson delivered a longer speech. Ile defended the Corn-laws, but declared himself ready to " meliorate " them; though he thought the pre- sent amount of protection not excessive. He denied that he would injure the trade of Sunderland; and averred that, on the contrary, he would pro- vide employment for its poor by the investment of capital. And he denied the story just told by Colonel Thompson; observing that the Colonel had not dared to name the person said to have made the offer. The show of hands was in favour of Colonel Thompson; and a poll was demanded for Mr. Hudson.

, At its close, on Thursday, the numbers were—For Hudson, 627; Thomp- son, 497; majority, 130.

Mr. Charles Buller fulfilled, on Wednesday the 6th instant, his annual ctistom, by appearing before his constituents at Liskeard to give an ac- count of his conduct in Parliament during the session. At this meeting it was authoritatively announced, that Mr. Kekewich, a Conservative who possesses about two-thirds of the household property in the borough, and has contested every election since the passing of the Reform Act, would not be a candidate again; an announcement which caused great satisfaction to the Liberal electors. Mr. Buller's speech consisted of a rapid and very general retrospect of the session; glancing at some chief points rather than surveying the whole, and especially defending his conduct in supporting the Maynooth endowment, respecting which he knew that he differed from some of his constituents. He remarked that he owed no apology to his Liberal electors for supporting Ministerial measures merely as such-

" In former times, when parties ran high, when office was the prize for which two despefate factions were contending, and for which the interests of the country were sacrificed, a member of the Opposition who voted for Ministers would appear before his constituents in the light ot a recreant from his party and his principles. I think, however, that there now exists a higher and severer test of the public measures of this country. Constituent bodies know what the measures are before Parliament; they are capable of judging upon what principle any questions are discussed, and by the principles discussed will they try the conduct of those in- trusted with the duty of representing them. It would not be enough for sue to tell you that Sir Robert Peel had endeavoured to carry out certain measures and that I had strenuously opposed him. It would not satisfy you that I had done that. I shall have to show you that his measures are bad, and that I have opposed them because they are bad. And I think we must consider that it is not the meanest triumph of Liberal principles that they have been carried out by our political opponents." Discussing the Irish measures, he insisted on the justice of repairing the

oppression of former times, and on the policy of that just course, to recon- cile a people so alienated from the English— "I do assure you that I look with great terror on the state of feeling which is grow- ing up in Ireland. 1 believe that throughout the world there does not exist such alienation of one people towards another as exists between the Irish and the Eng- lish. I do not stop to inquire whether that feeling is just or not just in its origin. It has some foundation; but that it is carried far beyond the hounds of justice is indubitable. When I fairly consider the matter—when I deal with the feelings of a great nation like the Irish nation—I cannot be content with mere controver- sies—I cannot be content with seeking for that which never can be attained, and which if attained would end in mischief to them. When I look on the great fact of the deeply-instilled alienation on the part of the Irish people, and when I look at the position of England with Europe and the world, I ask myself, if we could exist with one-third of this great nation alienated from us? It is a prospect frightful to any man who loves his country, and urges us to take steps as speedily and as effectually as possible to remove the existing causes of alienation. I mud then look at the working of the institutions of the country to see if there is any- thing which tends to keep alive this feeling."

Towards the conclusion of his speech, Mr. Buller expressed his regret that he did not meet his constituents under circumstances which promised more favourably for the general welfare of the country; fearing that the re- cent wet weather might seriously injure the harvest. The agriculturists had borne up manfully against their trials; and he could have hoped that their condition would have been more prosperous—that they would not be called upon to combat with such difficulties as those which they were now threatened with. When Mr. Buller finished, lie received the thanks of the meeting, voted unanimously with hearty cheers.

At the Wesleyan Conference, which has been sitting at Leeds, the Reverend Joseph Stanley, of Bristol, was elected President for the ensuing year, by a large majority; the numbers being—the Reverend J. Stanley, 191; the Reverend W. Atherton, 57; majority for Mr. Stanley, 134. It had been suspected that Mr. Stanley was for many years kept out of the chair on account of his taking a Liberal view in politics.

The second annual conference of the Archmological Society, at Win ' chester, closed on Saturday, after a very successful week's proceedings.

The ceremony of laying the first stone of the monument to be erected by sub- scription to the memory of the late Earl of Leicester, better known in his day as 'Coke of Norfolk," took place on Tuesday last, in liolkham, in that part of the extensive park which stretches before the North front of the house' at the distance of a quarter of a mile from it. Lord Colborne officiated; a large party of county gentlemen were present, and a number of people from the neighbouring towns and villages. The Earl of Leicester was profusely hospitable on the occasion, not only to his noble and gentle guests, but also to the country-folks.

At Appleby, on Saturday, Richard Simpson, the farmer of Iffiddleshaw Head, near Kendal,. who murdered his mother by beating her over the head with a poker, was tried for the crime. He and all his family were great drunkards, and several had been insane. The prisoner had received a wound in the head a short time before the murder, and he had frequently conducted himself in a very strange manner. After two hours' consultation, a verdict of acquittal was given, on the ground that Simpson was suffering from a temporary atteck of insanity when he killed his parent.

Richard Bennett, who fired a pistol at the Reverend Mr. Moore in Preston, On Saturday week, was tried for the offence, at Manchester, on Monday. There WU no proof that the pistol had been loaded, and Bennett was acquitted of the felony.: it was also shown that his mind had been disordered at times, and on this ground he VMS acquitted of the minor offence of assault. Mr. Baron Rolfe declared this acquittal of the man as to the minor charge on the ground of insanity to be an unusual proceeding; and he directed the prisoner to be kept in custody till her Majesty s pleasure should be known, in order that the construction of the acts of Parliament bearing on the subject might be considered elsewhere.

The condemned pirates at Exeter have been further respited till the 25th November. This step has been taken to afford the Judges an opportunity of fully considering the points of law raised on the trial during the approaching Michaelmas term.

The town of Reading, unused to deeds of blood, was startled on Saturday by a report that William Spicer, a basket-maker, had murdered his wife. From the evidence which has been given at great length at the inquest, the suspicion attach- ing to the man has been strengthened. The inquiry commenced on Saturday evening, was resumed on Monday, and then adjourned till Friday. About mid- day yesterday week, the neighbours heard a noise in Spicer's house, as if some one had fallen into a cellar; but as the man was seen in the house, it was thought that no mishap could have occurred, or he would have called for assistance. Mrs. Spicer not being seen, however, some people went into the house in the evening; Spicer was there, and said he did not know what had become of his wife. He went into a cellar, however, in the dusk, and said his wife had fallen into it. Two men searched the cellar, and there they found the body of Mrs. Spicer at the bottom of the stairs, with her face against the wall. She was lying on her right side, with a great wound in her temple. The head was dreadfully cut and bruised, and there was a great deal of blood on it. Her cap was off her head, and her clothes smooth upon her body, though her legs were in an upward position, resting on the steps. Spicer was quite unconcerned at this discovery. Mr. Hooper, a surgeon, male a post mortem examination of the body; and gave it as his opinion that two wounds about the temples could not have been caused by the woman's falling down the cellar-stairs. He thought that a stone, about the size of an egg, which had been found in the cellar, with a stain of blood on it, would pro- duce such wounds: in fact,when compared, it was found to correspond with them. The wounds were sufficient to cause death if inflicted by the stone, though of themselves, as wounds only, they would not destroy life if force had not been used. The blow would have the effect of stupifying or stunning any one. Mrs. Spicer had a small suns of money in the I unds, which her husband wished her to withdraw, that he might set up in business; but she would not do so: at her death it would come into his possession. He had ill-used hie wife some weeks ago, and she complained of his general conduct towards her.

Hubbard, an idle and improvident framework-knitter of Leicester, has murdered his wife by cutting her throat. The couple were in distress from the man's bad conduct, and he wanted to c,o into the workhouse; the woman refused, and said she would go to her mothers at Birmingham, and earn a maintenance for herself: hence the murder. The Coroner's Jury have returned a verdict against the husband.

Anonymous complaints of the insecure state of the tunnel on the Gravesend and Rochester Railway having been sent to the Board of Trade, Major-General Pasley made a close inspection of it, early on Saturday morning. He declared it to be perfectly secure.

A man has been killed on the Leeds and Selby Railway by a bull bet, • to Earl Fitzwilliam. lie was in the box with the animal, and was found Loilk: on the train's arriving at Selby, his head having been dreadfully lacerated by the bnIL John Caldwell, the guard whose leg was fractured by the late accident on the

Eastern Counties Railway, died, in the hospital at Cambridge, on Friday week.

had received severe injury besides the fracture of the limb. An inquest was held on Monday; but the evidence WRS to the same purport as that given at Littlebury last week. The most probable cause of the accident would seem to be the unsoundness of the end of a rail. A verdict of "Accidental Death" was re- turned, with a deodand of 18. on the engine, and is. on each of the carriages; with a recommendation to the Company to cause direction-posts to be placed at the commencement of every decline. It was stated that such orders had already been given.

The inquest on the body of Richard Peaks, the stoker, was resumed and con- cluded at-Littleborough on Wednesday. General Pasley was examined. He had inLirm ed into the cause of the accident, and questioned the Railway-officers. 44what I heard from these persons, and from the examination I made, I fotmed an opinion as to the cause of the accident; which was, that it must have arisen from excessive speed in descending a gradient stated to be 1 in 157, along a carve of which the radius was stated to be two miles, on a new railway not thoroughly consolidated; and I think it possible that the outer rail of that curve may not have been raised quite so high as is usual in curves in proportion to the radius. On seeing the rail, I formed the opinion that it was split by a downward blow, such as it might receive from the jumping of the engine." • In a railway newly opened, it is possible for a subsidence to take place in a particular rail, and for two or three of the sleepers to be a little deranged; but still in that case no accident would happen if the speed were moderate. On the other hand, if the speed be excessive, a very slight subsidence is sure to cause an accident." He thought that at this spot the speed should be moderate; in descending such a de- cline the steam should be altogether or nearly shut off. "1 supervised and re- ported on the line before it was opened. I cannot say I examined every part of its I examined it so as to enable me to fonn a judgment as to the general state of the line and its fitness for traffic. The line was in very good order—much better than many other railways which I have inspected, and on which no acci- dent has happened. It is impossible to examine the position of every sleeper and every rail separately. Instead of a day, it would take me a month to do 80. I inspected this line from one end to the other; and I must say I con- sider it one of the best lines, and in the best order; of those I have inspected." [The Times reporter remarks—" I understand that the line was inspected by General Pasley in one day; and that the engine on which he stood, or was seated, went down the incline in question at from thirty to thirty-five miles an hour."] The General was asked, if he did not think it necessary that he should have subordinate agents minutely to inspect new railways. He said, it was unneces- sary to make a very minute examination, "as there are plate-layers all along the line to see that all is right after each train passes." "If you expect me personally to examine every detail connected with the construction of the railway, you ex- Feet what is impossible and unnecessary.' Contradictory testimony was given as US the speed of the train. In sumnung up, the Coroner remarked, that his im- pression, as far as he knew of the subject—and he had learned something of it from the numerous inquests he had held, at which it necessarily came under his attention—was, that there must be more than ordinary risk connected with these curves, unless the greatest caution were observed: in fact, every accident which had come under his notice had taken place at a curve. A verdict of "Accidental Death" was returned, with a deodand of 1501. on the engine; and this remark Was added—" The Jury beg to express a hope that no swift train will be allowed to run upon any part of the line below Stordord until it has become much more consolidated and settled. They also hope that no train will be allowed to run Without at least two tracks between the tender and the passengers' carriages, and that posts or marks may be at once put up allowing where every incline

begins and ends." .

Three men have been killed and fifteen others seriously injured by an explosion of fire-damp at Moira Colliery, near Ashby-de-la-Zouch. No blame is attributed to the managers of the mine; the gas having exuded from the roof of the pit.

Richardson's ambulato7 theatre was destroyed by fire on Monday night, at Dartford. The loss is estimated at 1,200/.

The town of BugeIey has been much injured by a flood. A number of mill- pools were so swelled by. a heavy fall of rain that they burst their banks, and a torrent:of water rushed into Rugeley ; having first made two great gaps in a park- Wall, and swept away waggons, carts, and other articles, in its course. The damage done is estimated at 2,000L, or more.