!Jr Vtuttilitto.

The Liskearfl election on Thursday, termizatecl in the return of Mr.

It. W. Grey, brother of election, Grey and private secretary to Lord Palmer- ston. There were two other candidates,—Mr. John S. Trelawney, and Mr. Haythorne Lode. All are Liberals, and all went to the poll. At the close, the numbers stood—Grey, 138; Trelawney, 118; Reede, 11.

There were two candidates for Tynemouth,—Mr. W. S. Lindsay, and Mr. Peter Dickson. At the close of the poll, on Thursday, Mr. Lindsay had 357 votes, Mr. Dickson 340.

The Earl of Bective, son-in-law of the late Mr. Alderman Thompson, has offered himself as a candidate for the vacant seat of Westmoreland. Hr. Strickland, of Sizergh Castle, has been announced as the Liberal candidate.

The let of April hab been fixed for the nomination at Durham, where the succession of Lord Seaham to the Peerage leaves a vacancy.

At a meeting in Sheffield, on Tuesday, the Mayor presiding, a resolu- tion declaring that Lord John Russell's Reform Bill deserves the vigorous and hearty support of the people, was adopted by an immense majority. The Chartists moved an amendment, but it met with small support.

At Redhili, as our readers are aware, there is a reformatory institution for young critninals, called the "Philanthropic Farm School" Since the opening of the school in 1849, 606 boys have been admitted, and 412 sent out to the Colonies in a position to gain their own living. The average expense of each boy is 301. a year; in gaol they would cost 100h The number now in the school is upwards of 160. On Saturday last, the friends of the institution, including Mr. Adderley, Sir Walter J ames the Honourable Arthur Rinnaird, and Mr. Gilbert A'Beckett,—LoreCal- thorpe occupying the chair,—celebrated the anniversary at the London Tavern. The tubscriptions of the evening amounted to 13001.

Not without opposition among themselves, the North-country seamen have gone out on strike ; and the consequence is, that only those who have signed articles have gone on board their ships. They complain that the shipowners employ "blacklegs" and strangers. It is probable that numbers of the men, yielding to patriotic appeals, will either join the Royal Navy or the Coast Guard Volunteers. The other day, the Shields men marched in procession to Sunderland ; and as they passed the naval rendezvous, cheered lustily, their bands playing "God save the Queen." The Mayor of South Shields addressed the seamen on Tuesday, warning them not to break the peace, and intimating that he was fully prepared.

A meeting of the middle classes of Preston was held in the Theatre on Wednesday, to consider the position of the borough in consequence of the long-continued strike. The tradesmen and others present passed resolu- tions in favour of an arbitration between the Masters and men. The speakers gave a gloomy account of the condition of the tradesmen : some of the smaller shopkeepers are in a worse position than even the opera- tives, having largely given credit in the hope that the strike would soon terminate. A committee was nominated—consisting of the Members for the Borough and the Northern Division of the County, the Vicar of Pres- ton, the Recorder, and the late Mayor, with a 'number of professional gentlemen, tradesmen, and others—to draw up propositions to be sub- mitted to the masters and workmen.

The spring weather has been unusually favourable to the farmers in the West of England. More Lent wheat than usual has been sown, and the winter wheat looks remarkably healthy. Wages have risen.

Cardiff benefits by the war. Coal is in great demand both for the Eng- lish and French services. Freights for Malta, recently at 25s. a ton, are now at 50s , with a return freight at the same rate.

The Assizes have produced thtee more convictions for murder. At Bodmin, James Holman was tried for the murder of his wife, at Crowan, Two lives were sacrificed, for the unfortunate woman was far advanced in pregnancy. Ohe night Holman ran to some neighbours and said his wife bad been murdered ; her body was found lying, face downwards, on the hearth—the face among the ashes; the front of the head had been beaten in by repeated blows. After a time, when he had been taken into custody on suspicion, Holman said he found his wife drunk ; she threw a billhook at him; he pushed her, and she fell on a "brandis" or trivet, which caused her death. A hatchet was lying near, and some blood got upon it ; he feared this might get him into trouble, and he threw it down a well : this state- ment was made after the hatchet had been discovered. The victim was a sober and industrious woman. Holman was supposed to have killed her with the hatchet. He had foretold her early death, and proposed to marry her sister when it happened. His counsel pleaded for a verdict of man- slaughter only ; but the Jury pronounced the crime a murder. The Judge passed sentence of death, without hope of mercy. At Shrewsbury, John Lloyd, a young man, has been convicted of murder- ing John Oittine, at Nesscliff. Gittins was shot early in the Morning, through a window, whilst he wasin slower room with a lighted candle. Circum- stantial evidence pointed to Lloyd as the criminal. He had formerly lodged with Gittins ; when Mrs. Gittins had a child her husband once told Lloyd to "go and nurse his bastard" ; but there seems to have been no ground for this insinuation. Sentence of death was pronounced. At Norwich, William Thompson, aged twenty-one, was tried for the mur- der of Lorenz Beha, at Tittlesball. The particulars of this case were noted at the time. Beha was a travelling jeweller ; Thompson had bought a watch of him on ctedit ; he was not prepared to pay an instalment which was due ; so he waylaid his creditor, butchered him in the road with an axe, dragged the body through a plantation into a ditch, and carried off a number of valuables and some money. No human eye saw the assassin at his bloody Work; but the circumstantial evidence left no reasonable doubt that Thomp- son was the murderer and robber. He was found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged.

At Norwich Assizes, last week, Peter Ashcroft and John Latham were tried for manslaughter, by causing a fatal collision on the Norfolk Railway, in January last, This trial arose out of the disaster near Harling station, where six lives were sacrificed. The line had been blocked up by anew: the down-line between Harling and Thetford was clear ; Mr. Howard, in- spector of permanent way, left orders that Briggs should pilot all trains both Ways on the down-line : Mr. Aahcroft, general superintendent, and Mr. Latham, Ma inspector of permanent way, arrived from Norwich with a train of labourers • Briggs told them his orders; they, as they believed the up- line was obeirtieted with snow, said they would proceed on that line to clear away the drift. While their train was going at a good rate, it encountered one on the RAMO rails under Mr. Howard's care, the up-line having been

cleared sooner than was expected : the collision ensued. It is evident from this statement that Howard departed from his own orders,—he had directed that all trains should go on the down-line, and all be piloted by Briggs. Though the accused set aside Briggs's orders, yet they, going up, went on the up-line; but Howard going down, went on the up-line. At the close of the case for the prosecution, the Chief Baron intimated that the worst offender was not in the dock—Howard. He commented in very strong terms on what he could not but deem an apparent mockery of Justice on the part of those who, in order to obtain for themselves the cha- racter of enforcing railway regularity and punishing offenders against it, had selected the two men at the bar as their victims, but had omitted to in- clude Howard, who, whatever might be said of the conduct of Ashcroft and Latham, ought most indubitably to have stood at the bar to answer for the deaths of the persons killed on this occasion, either alone or in conjunction with Ashcroft and Latham. Whether the prisoners at the bar ought to have been placed there at all, was for the Jury to say ; but he could not help ob- serving that they were on their proper line, and that, relying on the strict adherence of Howard both to his own orders and to the general rules of the °miry' it did not seem to him that they ought to be made responsible for the lamentable consequences which had ensued from a course of conduct on. the part of that officer which was so totally unjustifiable in him and unex- pected by them. The prosecuting counsel mid, after such an opinion had been given by the Judge, he was prepared to withdraw from the prosecution ; but he urged in Mr. Howard's behalf, that he had been placed in great difficulty, and that he had believed the up-line was closed by snow. Without hearing counsel for the defence, the Jury gave a verdict of "Not guilty " ; which was re- ceived with a burst of applause. A verdict of acquittal was taken with re- gard to several other indictments against the two officials.

At Coventry, Ford and Jeffcott, both young fellows, were convicted of complicity in the burglary at Coleshill. The chief witness against them was Lacey, formerly convicted for the burglary. In this case Mr. and Mrs. Per- kins, an aged couple, gallantly resisted the robbers, and Mr. Perkins fired at and wounded Lacey ; whose companions then retreated, carrying off the wounded man. The sentence was twenty years' transportation. The Judge awarded Mrs. Perkins Si. for her courageous conduct.

In December last, as Mr. Withers, a farmer of Wells, was returning home with his son from Bristol in a gig, five or six men stopped the gig, stunned Mr. Withers and his son by blows, and carried off nearly 1001. One of the gang, Samuel Kolbe", was subsequently apprehended ; and he has been tried and convicted at Taunton Assizes. Sentence, transportation for life.

George Cowell and ten other persons were brought up for trial at the Liver- pool Assizes on Tuesday, under an indictment for unlawfully conspiring to threaten, intimidate, molest, and obstruct certain workpeople at Preston, pre- venting them from accepting employment. Application was made by the counsel for the defendants for time to prepare their defence. The Attorney- General for the County Palatine opposed the application, on the ground that the great importance of the case required a speedy decision. Mr. Justice Cresswell agreed that the trial ought to take place as soon as possible ; but as many persons would not think the trial satisfactory if it were hurried on, and the defendants had not had much time to prepare for defence, he ordered the trial to be postponed till the next Assizes.

On Thursday, William Caitcheou, late cashier of the North-Western Rail- way Company at Liverpool, was tried for embezzling the monies of the Com- pany. Part of the money he seems to have applied to his own use—he said he had lent it to a friend; part he had sent to Goalen; the auditor of the Company in London. On this indictment he was found guilty. He was then indicted along with Goalen. Goalen pleaded guilty, and the prosecutors did not press the case against Caitcheou. Goalen had a salary of 6001.; he entered into large speculations, was unsuccessful, and the two prisoners together had misappropriated 10,000/. of the Company's funds : Caitcheou. had a salary of 150h, and he seems to have been led into wrongdoing by his superior officer Goalen. Mr. Justice Creswell sentenced Goalen to be trans- ported for fourteen years, and Caitcheou to four years' penal servitude.

George Walker, the Liverpool ship-broker who forged an indorsement to an order for money which was not intended for him, has been found guilty.