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The contested election for Oxford University closed on Thursday ; when Mr. Gladstone was returned by a majority of 124. During the last five days, the polling was very languidly sustained. Indeed, instead of sitting all day at the receipt of votes, the Vice-Chancellor held only short sittings. The majority has varied but slightly. On Saturday it was 134; Monday's poll reduced this to 1-25; Tuesday, to 124; Wed- nesday, to 119; but on 'Thursday, the last day, it rose to 124. The totals of each day were as folio ws.

Saturday 959 825 Monday 971 846 Tuesday 987 863 Wednesday 1004 885 Thursday 1022 898

lathe year 1817 a column was erected on the Blackdown Hills, Somer- set, to commemorate the victories of the Duke of Wellington. Uncared- for by anybody, it has, as we formerly mentioned, become ruinous ; and the inhabitants of the county since the death of the Duke, who was in a far-off way a Somersetshire man, seem to have felt the ruined pillar as a standing reproach to their patriotism. Accordingly, steps have been taken to get it repaired ; and last week a large meeting was held at Taun- ton for this purpose. Among the gentlemen present were, the Lord- Lieutenant of the county, Lord Portunus, Sir P. P. F. P. Acland, Sir Alexander Acland Hood, the Right Honourable Henry Hobhouse, Lord Hinton, Mr. H. P. Gore Langton M.P., Mr. W. H. P. Gore Langton M.P., Mr. W. Pinney M.P., Mr. W. F. Knatchbull M.P., Mr. A. Mills M.P., Colonel Tynte, Mr. Montague Gore, High Sheriff, and Mr. F. H. Dickinson. The speaking mainly consisted of eulogies of the lost hero ; and resolutions approving of the restoration of the column, and appoint- ing a committee to effect it, formed the practical business of the day. It was resolved that 20/. should be the maximum single subscription, and that the subscription-list should not be confined to the county of Somerset.

The electors of Stafford met in the Lyceum Theatre of that town on Monday, and presented a handsome silver salver to Mr. It. W. Philipps of the Northern circuit, "as a testimonial of their warm approbation of the zeal and ability with which he advocated the great principles of Progress, Free-trade, Reform, and Retrenchment, and as a mark of esteem for his private worth and courtesy of demeanour whilst a candi- date for the representation in Parliament of the ancient borough of Staf- ford, at the General Election 1852."

The Potteries School of Design celebrated its sixth annual meeting on Tuesday. Lord Carlisle presided ; Mr. Cole and Mr. Redgmvo, the Superintendents of the Department of Practical Art, and

derley M.P., were present. Lord Carlisle delivered an eloquent only on pottery and the influence of art. He stated that a summons to `Windsor Castle had alone prevented his sister, the Duchess of Sutherland, from attending the meeting. The report stated that the Board of Trade had recommended a plan for the future organization of the school, and had agreed to support it. This plan consists in a central school, forming the head school of the district, to be called the Pottery and Newcastle SehooL Government will grant 600/. a year to maintain a head master, a second master, and a modelling master. The sohool is to be governed by a council representing the entire district. Under this head school, local schools are to be formed for elementary instruction, whence the pupils are to be transferred to the central school. The report further showed a balance of 118/. in hand. Subsequently, Mr. Adderley, Mr. Redgrave, Mr. Cole, the Reverend Mr. Clark of Hartshill, Mr. Minton, and others, addressed the meeting. But the practical business lay in receiving and approving of the report.

The Guardians of the Tewkesbary Union resolved to reduce the sala- ries of eeveral officers, on the ground of the "cheapness of provisions." The officers appealed to the Poor-law Board ; who required the reasons for the reduction. The Guardians stated in reply, that the value of agri- cultural property had been diminished at least 30 per cent, that the rates had decreased, and that food was cheap. The Poor-law Board rejoined, that they had never "recognized the principle that the price, of the ar- ticles and of the produce referred to are to be the criterion by which the amount of salaries ought to be estimated and regulated, or that such sa- laries should be liable to vary as the price of food fluctuates." They further declined to admit that sufficient grounds had been shown for the reduction.

The coal-trade of the Midland counties is reaping advantage from the prosperity of the iron-trade, and coal and iron-stone continue in a course of more than proportionate advance. The coal-proprietors have raised the colliers' wages to 58. per day, and the thin coal and stone miners' to 38. 6d.

Up to the end of the year, 660 men had volunteered for the Glamor- ganshire Militia, leaving a deficiency of only 34.

We understand, that in consequence of the disclosure before the Com- mittee of the House of Commons, that Mr. Frail was in receipt of a salary of 300/. a year from "W. B.," the Surveyor of Taxes for the Shrewsbury district has surcharged Frail for Income-tax, which he has never paid before. Frail's friend and patron the Major has thus on- earthed a wary fox, which has been bagged by the lynx-eyed surveyor of Taxes.--Derby and Chesterfield Reporter.

The continued encroachments of the sea at Dover threaten to destroy one of the main attractions of the place—the shingle heath, The new Western pier conduces to this action of the sea ; and a deputation of the local Board of Health and other parties have waited on Mr. Walker, the Gladstone. PereevaL harbour engineer, to ask that some remedial measures be adopted. A jetty of sufficient length to retain the shingle was suggested, and Mr. Walker is to consider the subject forthwith.

Another of the actions against the London and North-western Company, arising out of the Bicester catastrophe, has recently been settled. Mr. Neville, one of the sufferers who sustained injuries, and who in consequence lay at Bicester for some time, brought an action against the Company to re- cover compensation. Ultimately it was arranged that the subject should be decided by arbitration. Under the award, Mr. Neville has been adjudged 300 guineas. It is said that the Company at one time offered him 20001. to settle the action, and that Mr. Neville demanded 3000/.

The investigation into Barbour's ease having only more confirmed the be- lief in his guilt, the sentence passed upon him was carried out : he was exe- cuted on Saturday. So long as he had the least hope of inducing any one to believe him innocent, he pretended that he was not the murderer of Robin- son. It was not till an hour before the time appointed for his death that he confessed his guilt to the chaplain of York Gaol. He said, "I am guilty and nobody had anything to do with the murder but myself." The sacrament was now administered to him; and henceforward he was continually praying with great fervency. As the fatal moment approached he lost every particle of fortitude, and he was assisted on to the scaffold in a miserable state of terror. The rain fell in torrents, and only three or four thousand persons witnessed the execution: double the number were present at the hanging on the previous Saturday.

Robert Thornely and Harriet his mother have been committed for trial by the Staleybridge Magistrates for the murder of the husband of the woman, in 1847. Robert gave himself up to the Police, and stated that he and his mother had poisoned the deceased with arsenic. Other evidence of a cor- roboratory character has been obtained, and chemists have detected arsenic in the corpse.

At Burnham Petty-Sessions, on Monday, John Pickett, landlord of the Plough Inn at Oxford, was charged, on behalf of the Society for the Preven- tion of Cruelty to Animals, with cruelly ill-treating and over-driving a pony. Pickett undertook, for a considerable wager, to drive a pony in a cart from Oxford to London and back, a distance of 110 miles, within twenty hours. We mentioned at the time that the task was performed—the wit- nesses before the Magistrates showed by what exercise of cruelty. Several persons deposed to the state of the poor little animal on the return journey : its body was wealed, apparently by blows from a whip and a thick stick ; it could only be made to go at all by severe beating when leaving a stop- ping-place; it looked "dead beat" ; and finally, the last stages were per- formed by a horse and cart having been attached to the pony and cart, which were thus dragged into Oxford. Several witnesses for the defence saw no cruelty exercised, and declared that the pony was not more distressed after its long labour than if it had been trotting thirty miles—in fact, it was quite "fresh." One of these witnesses was not able to say whether a- butcher's cart dragged the pony into Oxford—it was so dark he could not distinctly Bee if the cart were attached, and so on. Pickett's counsel besought that if the decision of the Bench were against his client he might not be sent to prison—that would be his ruin. The Magistrates pronounced the ac- cused guilty, and fined him 408., with 11. 138. costs—which was paid imme- diately, of course.

An inquest has been held at Brislington, near Bristol, on a young woman who has been accidentally poisoned in the Convent of the Good Shepherd. Of course, death in a convent by poison was calculated to excite the minds of good Protestants in no slight degree ; but the evidence given during the in- vestigation only proved the existence of a lamentable want of caution in dealing with dangerous drugs. Emma Forty, otherwise "penitent Melanie," was a young women of twenty-one; she suffered from a tape-worm, and was under medical treatment. Miss Sophia Ryder—daughter of the Protestant Bishop Ryder, and cousin of Lord Harrowby—" sister-attendant" in the convent, had charge of the medicine-closet ; from which she was in the habit of dispensing drugs in accordance with the directions of the physician to the establishment. Most of the bottles were properly labelled; but one, contain- ing an embrocation compounded of aconite and morphine, was not. Dr. • O'Brien, the physician, had ordered a medicine for Miss Forty, to be com- posed of pomegranate and quinine. Miss Ryder boiled a pomegranate and placed the decoction in a bottle, without putting a label upon it. One morn- ing the patient complaiued. The sister-attendant made her a draught—as she thought, of the decoction of pomegranate and quinine. Miss Forty be- came so unwell that she went to bed ; but it was thought that it was only an ordinary attack of her disease, and no surgeon was called in : some time after, one of the inmates found on turning down the bedclothes that the young woman was dead. The sad truth then flashed upon Miss Rydees mind— Miss Forty's draught had been taken from the bottle containing the embroca- tion, instead of that in which the decoction was placed. In the course of the inquiry, the Coroner commented in severe terms, both to Miss Ryder and to the Mother Superior, Anne Keasely, on the careless mode of treating the medicines of which they took charge. The Jury, after some discussion, re- turned the following verdict—" That the death of Emma Forty was occa- sioned by the administration of aconite, a poisonous drug, given to her by Miss Ryder in mistake for medicines prescribed for her. The Jury wish also to express their opinion, that much blame is attributable to the authorities of the convent for allowing a practice which prevails of permitting persons to dispense medicines, who from the want of the necessary education, are ignorant of their nature. The Jw v further express a hope, that in future such practices will be discontinued." A medical gentleman connected with the convent undertook that heneel Jrth a different system of dispensing medi- cines should be adopted.

The inquest on the seven persons killed on the railway near Oxford was resumed and concluded on Monday. Some more evidence was taken, but nothing new of much importance was elicited. In the course of his sum- ming-up, the Coroner remarked that one of the bodies had not been identi- fied, and now probably never would be. Since the collision, a pilot-engine had been sent before every train. He reminded the Jury, that from the station to the bridge, a distance of 300 yards, there was only one policeman ; and that, at the bridge, the pointsman, who was also a signal-man, had no fewer than fourteen sets of points, besides the bridge and auxiliary signals, to attend to. It was true that Captain Bruyeres had ex- plained, in reference to this Herculean task, that they were only bridge- signals ; yet it was clear, from what had occurred, they were necessary for the safety of the trains leaving the passenger-platforms at the Oxford. sta- tion. Again, they would remember that there was no other communica- tion whatever between the engine-house, the auxiliary signal, and Wolver- cot tunnel ; a distance of two miles was thus left without any signal or policeman ; and except from the plate-layers, who left work at dusk, there was not the least protection to the public. The Jury consulted for six hours, and then gave this verdict—" That the deceased persons came to their deaths from a collision that occurred between a passenger-train and a coal-train on the Bucks branch of the London and North-western Railway. That the collision took place in consequence of the

' passenger-train being started without orders from the station-master; and they find a verdict of manslaughter against Kineh, the guard of the said passenger-train on whom the responsibility of starting the train devolved; and they think engine-driver worthy of blame for proceeding at a much faster pace than is usual at first leaving the station. It appears from the evidence, that in consequence of repairs now going on at the Wolvercot tunnel, the whole of the traffic between Ozford and Islip is now carried on upon a single line ; and the Jury beg to express their, opinion that in all such cases a pilot-engine should be employed, in order to lessen the proba- bility of a collision. They consider also that a policeman or signal-man should be stationed between the swing-bridge and NVolvercot tunnel, as that part of the line appears to be at present quite unprotected, and as it includes a level crossing.. It appears also that part of the line on which the acci- dent occurred Is in such close proximity to the Oxford and Rugby line, that it is very difficult to distinguish on which an approaching train is travelling until it is close at hand; and they think that some distinctive mark should be adopted by the respective companies, so that their engines should be immediately recognized, both by day and night. And the Jury beg es- pecially to call the attention of the railway directors and the Legislature to the paramount importance of some means of communication being esta- blished between the guard and the engine-driver."

The Coroner ordered Kinch the guard to be taken into custody forthwith.

Two railway "accidents" have occurred at Chorley. A signal was ne- glected to be turned on, and a coal-train ran into a goods-train, doing a good deal of damage. An express-train, shortly after leaving the station, ran into a cattle-train which was in front: the progress of the latter had been impeded by slippery rails, and a curve had prevented the driver of the express from seeing the obstruction in time to avoid collision. The shock to the express-tram was not severe, and no person seriously hurt.

While a locomotive was running on an embankment on the Great North- ern Railway, near Essendine station, twelve miles North of Peterborough, the rails sank beneath it, and the machine was half-buried in the earth. The driver and stoker were pitched some distance, but were not much hurt. The sinking of the rails was caused by the continued rains : much of the earth had sunk from beneath the rails, leaving them still in their places. It was fortunate that no train was attached to the engine.

A man has been killed at the bottom of the shaft of a colliery at Warmley, near Bristol, by a bucket and 200 fathoms of rope falling upon him the rope having broken at a part which had a "hinge" placed on it as it ap- peared unsound. The rope had been in use three years. The Government Inspector declared that blame attached to the proprietors in allowing such a rope to be used. The Jury gave a verdict of "Accidental death."

On Thursday afternoon there was a great fall of cliff at Dover, in the rear of the Paris Hotel in Snargate Street. It is estimated that 10,000 tons of chalk fell. The late heavy rains led to the catastrophe. Its approach was foreseen, and no life was lost; but the destruction of property7a coach- builder's workshop, a portion of a distillery, and some wine and spirit vaults, having been overwhelmed—was very serious.

A little boy, the son of a farmer at Upper Newton, near Pontesbury, has perished in a singular way. He got into a bin with a dog to hunt mice ; while poking about with a stick, he caused a sack of corn to fall upon him- self, and his head was forced down between his knees. The boy's brother was attracted to the spot by the barking of the faithful dog, but too late to save the child's life.