PUBLIC MEETINGS.

The Conservatives of Norwich held a field-day on Monday—the anni- versary of the " Eldon Loyal and Constitutional Club." Sir Samuel Bignold, one of the Members for the city, and Sir Henry Stracoy, the rejected for East Norfolk, were the speakers. Sir Samuel, a good Con- servative, expressed his delight at the advent of the Tones, and pro- phesied the extinction of the Income-tax in 1860, provided his friends remain in. Ile contended that Lord Derby is not pledged to bring in a Reform Bill.

However, if the Government should decide that the time had arrived for changes in the constitution of the country, he for one should have much greater confidence in any change enunciated by the Earl of Derby than by Lord Palmerston, because he believed that the former would introduce no changes which would at all endanger the balance of power—King, Lords, and Commons, which had so gloriously maintained the interests of all classes and worked so well for the State.

Sir Henry Stracey firmly believes that a reform bill will be produced next session.

He had no special information Oil the subject, and no further reason for saying so than his firm belief that Lord Derby did more than he promised. Sir George Cornewall Lewis, who had held the honourable office of Chan- cellor of the Exchequer, and was a man of great education, had lately stated that no Reform Bill would be acceptable which did not savour strongly of democracy. Sir Henry Straeey did not exactly understand this, as he did not see how any limit to democracy was to be secured. As far as he understood democracy it meant the government of the people, and he looked upon this as leading at any rate to the indulgence of the wildest pas- sions without any guard whatever ; he therefore looked upon democracy and revolution as synonymous terms. lie did not believe that Lord Derby would ever dream of introducing a bill leading to democracy without limi- tation, but he had not the slightest doubt that his Lordship's Bill would have a Liberal tendency—that it might even tend to lower the franchise and give members in proportion to the population of the country. [Sir Henry seems to have forgotten that it was Sir John Walsh, the Conserva- tive, and not Sir George Lewis, the Whig, who first used the phrase which he could not understand.]

The most interesting light in which Sir Henry appears is that of a convert to vote by ballot. lie candidly told his hearers that if he were in Parliament, and if the Re- form Bill introduced includes the ballot, he should be only too glad to sup- port the measure. The question of the ballot is one which Conservatives have always looked on with horror, and he must acknowledge that no one had a stronger feeling than he had on the subject. He had felt that the influence of property ought always to be felt, that it ought to be known how that property was represented—that is how persons voted ; and he had also considered that property would not have its proper influence if vote by ballot were established. But he had now had a certain amount of ex- perience in social and political life ; he had been engaged in two elections ; he had fought one contest single-handed, and as far as his experience went upon the latter occasion, he had been led to the conclusion that the Conser- vative cause could not have been injured by the ballot. He was quite con- vinced that the Conversative cause, not only in Norfolk but throughout the country, could not be injured by the ballot, if honesty of principle were to prevail without that abominable thing called the "screw."

Mr. Booker Blakemore and Mr. King King, two of the county- mem- bers attended the meeting of the Ross Agricultural Society on Monday. But they did not make the most striking speeches, dealing for the most with topics such as Cherbourg and the Atlantic telegraph. Mr. Brad- stock, a large tenant farmer, took a different line. He set himself to show that farming is not profitable.

For by the restricted terms of agreements the productive powers of the soil were limited, and past that limit tenants could not force it. lie had no hesitation in saying, that whoever was injudicious enough to attempt it by expensive manuring would find to his sorrow that, although the crops might look luxuriant through the winter and spring months, the storms of summer would blast all his hopes of a good harvest. The time was come, he was satisfied, when nine out of ten of the farm leases, with their extraordinary covenants, should be sent to the British Museum as curiosities worth pre- serving. (" Hear, hear !" and laughter.) It was high time that fair play was given to the English farmer—that he should be allowed to use his own judgment and experience in carrying out the system suggeted by the Honourable R. W. Clive, M.P., at the Bridgnorth and Ludlow agricultural meetings, of growing two white-straw crops in succession, and thereby be- coming more independent of foreign supplies and less dependent upon arti- ficial manure for increasing the fertility of the soil. He knew of no trade, science, or profession, that was so encumbered as the cultiva- tion of the soil. The great trading and manufacturing interests of the country were perfectly free to transact any amount of business they could, and all they had to contend with was excessive com- petition. Mines, collieries, and other sources of trade were worked to the greatest extent, and immense fortunes were amassed with impunity, but whoever heard of a farmer getting rich ? (" Oh, oh !" and great laughter.) Well, if they did not believe it, he would say no more about it. But he did contend that farmers should be left to their own skill and judg- ment; and, unless they were so left, it was useless to talk about improve- ment in agriculture, er of this country becoming independent of foreign supplies.

The South West Middlesex Agricultural Society distributed its prizes on Wednesday ; Lord Villiers in the chair. As no politics were talked the after dinner speeches had none of that general interest which has dis- tinguished other scenes of this kind. Mr. Hanbury, however, ventured the opinion that "her Majesty's Ministers are better employed than in making speeches at agricultural meeting, and next session will prove that he is not far wrong in thinking so" Some interesting discussion took place on Tuesday at Gloucester on church matters at a meeting of the friends of the Diocesan Society. The Bishop of Gloucester presided ; Lord Redesdale, Archdeacon Thorpe, Mr. Rolt, M.P. were among the speakers. The object of the meeting was to make a fresh appeal on behalf of the society in danger of dying out ; and to procure the cooperation of the laity. Lord Redesdale gave this version of the cause of the apathy of churchmen. He knew that many of the interests of the church had been neglected— indeed they were hardly understood—by the laity, and he was afraid that such a state of things had arisen from what was in a great degree the strength of the church—namely, the fact that it was an endowed church. In consequences of the endowment so many members of the church had their own wants provided for without doing anything for themselves that they were wholly forgetful of the wants of others. Looking to the wealth of the Church of England the amount collected by voluntary contributions for re- Egious purposes was ridiculously small ; no other community contributed so little, and he believed the reason was that so much was provided without a contribution being required.

Archdeacon Thorpe said the church cannot afford to be anything but self-relying. Something must be done ; but it is very strange and un- satisfactory that the sums raised for church purposes should be sub- scribed by such a small number of persons. Mr. Sotheron Estcourt eould not help remarking that it is always the same sponge that is squeezed, the willing horse that is flogged. Mr. Rolt found the defect in this fact that the population are collected in localities where there are not the parish church, the parish school, the parish clergyman. There should be all these for every 2000 persons. By that means alone can religion be made to form part of the universal scheme of this country's existence.

After a fierce opposition from Mr. Philip Muntz and Mr. Joseph Sturge, the Birmingham Chamber of Commerce has resolved to petition Government for a Parliamentary inquiry into the advantages that would result from the possession of Sarawak, and how far we could take it "in equity to Sir James Brooke, and the Sultan and natives of Borneo."

The state of the law with regard to the coining of foreign money has at- tracted notice in consequence of the plots to inundate Turkey with base moneys. At the opening of the Birmingham Sessions, on Monday, Mr. Recorder Hill said he should confine his observations to one case, that of Calvocoressi, charged with fabricating spurious coins. "To counterfeit the coin of this realm was, by the great and venerable statute of Edward

no less an offence than high treason (now reduced to felony,) the prerogative of the Mint being thus carefully guarded, because of the immense import- ance to the public of a genuine currency, the metal of standard fineness, and the weight fully equal to that prescribed. Nor even were the counter- feit as good in these respects as the genuine coin itself would the coiner escape the penalties of the law, whatever mitigation of them he might be held to deserve by reason of this equality. Neither is such a rule incon- sistent with justice. For to throw open the manufacture of coin would be to insure its deterioration. It would furnish an excuse for the possession of coining implements, at present unlawful, which if employed today for the production of money of the same value as that of the Mint, might, and most assuredly would, be used tomorrow by a horde of fabricators to pour into circulation a flood of those base tokens which even now, notwithstanding all checks, are but too readily circulated through the country, and especially among the humbler classes, who can but ill afford the losses imposed UP011 them by this nefarious traffic. Gentlemen, the protection which has thus been thrown around ourselves and our fellow-subjects has not been alto- gether withheld from other nations, although our law does not think fit to guard the interests of the foreigner with the same jealousy as those Of its own people. The defendant is accused of. having violated the provisions of the statute 43 Geo. III., by which his alleged offence is made a misde- meanour, punishable with a year's imprisonment. In eases of felony, which form the bulk of such as are brought under the notice of Grand Juries, difficulties now and then arise which have no place in misdemeanours. Felons are classed as principals or accessories, and the distinction between these two classes sometimes runs into refinements not easy of application. In misdemeanours, however, all persons who take any part in the criminal act are guilty in the eye of the law as principals. So here, a merchant who should order false coins, a master manufacturer, who should employ his workmen in their fabrication, and the workmen themselves would all be within the penalties of the statute, as soon as the offence thus perpetrated in concert is complete. And gentlemen, as I have already stated with regard to English money, every foreign coin is false and counterfeit, however unob- jectionable it may be in other respects, unless it has been struck by virtue of an authority furnished to the master by the sovereign power of the state whose emblems and superscription it bears. And finally, gentlemen, it is for the accused to show the possession of such delegated authority, and not for the prosecutor to disprove that fact."

Calvocorressi, having prayed to be tried by a mixed jury, and no fo- reigners having been summoned, his trial was postponed until next sessions. Moss was tried and found guilty of conspiracy, but recommended to mercy on the ground of his previous good character. Sentence deferred.

Murder and suicide of a terrible character has taken place at Porton, near Garstang. Robert Bond, a youth of some ability, who at twenty-five, had visited all quarters of the globe, fell in love with Mary Hannah Wainman, who resided with her brothers in an adjoining house. Bond's advances were not successful. As he was habitually under the influence of brandy he excited great alarm. Miss Wainman's brother took away a loaded gun from Bond's house. He asked for it, and significantly said he had another. So it proved. Standing at the door of his father's house, he shot Miss Wainman dead as she appeared at the door of her brother's house, and going indoors, he reloaded his gun and blew the top of his head off. A Jury has found that he acted under the influence of temporary insanity.

A similar crime has been committed near Rotherham. John Taylor Whitworth, in a fit of jealousy, cut the throat of Sally Hare, a young girl ef eighteen. Before she died, the girl made a statement. From this it ap- pears the lovers quarrelled about a young man. Whitworth proposed that 'both should take poison; the girl refused ; Whitworth then threw has down mai cut her throat, but she resisted, knocked him over, and ran away. She died of the wound. Whitworth tells a different story. He says she would have his knife; that he would not give it up ; and that in the struggle the knife entered the girl's neck. He has been committed for trial.

Sheerness has been in a state of turmoil, in consequence of the turbu- lence of the North Cork Rifles. Animated by feelings of enmity to all sea- men and marines, these fellows went about assailing all they met, and even pursuing them into private houses. Pickets sent to arrest the rioters took their part, and drove off the police. This state of things lasted from Thurs- day week to Monday. The only control applied has been the police !

The barristers who attend the Newcastle Quarter Sessions struck work on Tuesday. It seems that Mr. Digby Seymour the Recorder holds the sea. sins at a time convenient to himself, and permitting him to practice at the Hull sessions. The bar complains of this because it prevents' them from at- tending other sessions. The Town Council also regard it as an Mews". thence. But Mr. Seymour proved resolute, and on Tuesday only one bas. rister appeared in court, robed, and two unrobed, The Recorder lectured the barristers, on strike, and praised the one barrister who remained loyal to the court.

An escape of choke-damp in a coal-pit in Swansea valley, has resulted hi the death of fourteen men and seven horses. There were 200 men in the pit at the time, and the most intense agony was manifested by their rola- tives while uncertain of their fate. It is stated that a door confining the foul air to its proper place, was, by some means unknown, left unfastened.