Vruniiltiol.
Mr. George Cubitt, of Denbies, near Dorking, has been elected Mem- ber for West Surrey, in the room of the late Mr. Henry Drummond. He is a Conservative but professes a dislike of faction. The Govern- ment should be checked when it is wrong, but supported when it is right. There was no opposition.
Mr. Alderman Padmore has been elected Member for Worcester with- out opposition, in the room of Mr. Laslett. In declaring Mr. Padmore duly elected, Mr. Wood, the Returning Officer, said that forty years ago he and Mr. Padmore came to Worcester with their aprons on as working men. He mentioned the fact in order that the working classes might see that it was possible for them to raise themselves to high positions.
A crowded meeting assembled in the Philosophical Hall, Huddersfield, on Monday night, to consider the Government Reform Bill. The reso- lutions passed were to the effect that the meeting welcomed the extension of the suffrage, but that the measure before the country was objection- able in so far as it did not repeal the rate-paying clauses, it did not provide for the representation of many important towns, and said nothing about the ballot. Let them accept it, said Mr. Leathern the principal speaker, in the hope that it would be modified for the better in Com- mittee ; let them accept it with feelings of gratitude, because it would admit 600,000 of their fellow-citizens to the franchise.
The Salford Town Council held a special meeting on Wednesday, when a petition to the House of Commons was adopted, urging the claims of that borough to an additional Member, under the arrangements of the now B.eforni BilL A deputation was nominated to present a memorial to Lord Palmerston on the subject.
A large meeting of Reformers took place at the Town Hall, Leeds, on Wednesday, pursuant to a requisition to the Mayor signed by upwards of 700 of the principal inhabitants. The Mayor presided. Resolutions were passed approving of the provisions of the measure generally ; but declaring that it is desirable to revise all existing Acts of Parliament connecting the right to vote with the payment of rates. An amendment by Mr. Carter, a Town Councillor, disapproving of the rate-paying clauses of the present bill, and the omission of the ballot, was negatived.
At an influential meeting of Liberal electors, held at Maidstone, reso- lutions were adopted approving of the Reform Bill, only as an instalment of the changes absolutely required, and requesting the borough Members —Messrs. Lee and Buxton—to vote for Mr. Duncombe's motion in favour of the ballot.
The mayor, aldermen, and town council of Carlisle, have, adopted a petition to Parliament on the subject of the Reform Bill. The most notable items in the petition are—that the Parliamentary franchise should be assimilated to the municipal franchise ; that the rental of pre- mises—if Government should determine to limit the franchise to some "specified value of occupation—may be taken as the standard of their value ; and, that no deductions whether for poor-rates or other liabilities may be made therefrom. The petition also regrets that in the appor- tionment of Members to constituencies more equitable arrangements have not been made.
The Reformers of Leicester accept the Bill as an " instalment." The Bradford politicians declared on Monday evening, that the manufactur- ing districts are most unfairly represented, and that " the reduction of small seats, which Lord John Russell proposes to make with the exten- sion of larger ones, does not go far enough, and in this respect a much nearer approximation to his measure of 1854 would have been more con- sistent."
In the event of North Lincolnshire having a third member given to it, Lord Worley is reported to be the candidate ; and it is expected that Sir Arthur H. Elton will come forward, on independent principles, for the third seat to be created for rffiat Somerset under the new Reform Bill. An association has been formed at Birkenhead for promoting free- trade principles, and the inhabitants are requested, in the event of the new Reform Bill passing, to withhold their promises to any candidate who might be put forward on Tory principles, as a liberal candidate would be nominated at the proper time. It is understood that Mr. John Laird is to be the Tory candidate, and Mr. 'William Jackson is spoken of by some of the Liberals. Up to Thursday, the candidates for the Nor- wich vacancies were not determined on.
At the York Assizes, on Friday, Michael O'Brien was tried for robbing the dwelling-house of the Reverend John Wynn and for assaulting him with intent to murder him, at Nappa. on the 1st of January last. About three o'clock in the morning, Mr. Wynn was made aware of the presence of burglars in his house. He secreted himself in a dark closet, which the thieves sought to enter. One of them struck him on the head with a hay spade. A struggle ensued between them, which lasted twenty minutes. " 'Liver up, 'liver up," cried a burglar, or " I will give you the knife." Another blow aimed at Mr. Wynn struck the door first, and then cut him down the forehead. Loss of blood induced him to comply with the thieves' request, and he gave them 231. They stole other articles—a great coat amongst them, in the pockets of which were found, after it had been in their possession, a pair of razors similar to those which " the pri- soner and a taller man had been offering for sale three days before the bur- glary." Mr. Wynn's boy, who had concealed himself under the bed, watched the struggle, and identified O'Brien as " the leaser of the bur- glars." Sentence of death was recorded. The least the prisoner might expect, said Mr. Justice Blackburn, was penal servitude for life.
A verdict of wilful murder has been returned against John Fenton, the Walkeringham ;innkeeper. At the adjourned inquiry on Wednesday, a good deal of circumstantial evidence was adduced against him.
The magisterial investigations at Southampton into the charge brought
against Frederic Carman, steward of the Accrington troop-ship from Calcutta of having poisoned William Henderson Horner the captain, and Walter Bevan Cooper the chief mate of that ship, have resulted in his liberation on the ground of insufficiency of evidence to convict him. The two deceased offi- cers died within a few hours of each other on the 14th and 15th of last No- vember from some irritant poison ; the nature of which, however, was not determined. They had treated the crew and even the women and chil- dren on board with great cruelty. Carman had suffered many indignities at their hands. Suspicion fell on him, as steward, of having put tartar emetic into the " scouse " which the captain and mate had for breakfast. The bench expressed their indignsOon at the cruelties which had been practised on board the Accrington, and hoped a full inquiry would be made. Carman retired amid the congratulations of his fellow-seamen and the cheers of the people outside the Court.
The coroner's court for inquiring into the explosion at Burradon Pit has, begun to take the evidence of the workmen. Two pitmen, William Wil- liams and William Dryden' have been examined. Dryden had left the pit before the explosion, as he feared that he heard such a catastrophe would occur. Williams asserted that he had been afraid to go down the pit for six weeks before the explosion took place.
Mr. Sergeant Ballantine, retained on behalf of the relatives of the persons killed iterfanBurradon Colliery explosion, has obtained an adjournment of the inquiry for a week. Mr. Lockey Harle conducts the case un the part of the Government. No conclusive evidence has yet been deduced as to the actual state of the pit, but the inquiry is of the most sifting and searching kind. Many large employers of labour in the North have interested them- selves in the welfare of the bereaved, and contributed very handsomely to their support.
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