lEtt CS.

A striking letter from Mr. Cobden, addressed to Mr. Robertson Glad- stone, was read at the meeting of the Liverpool Financial Reform Asso- ciation, on Wednesday evening. It suggested the publication of a " Na- tional Budget," not as a complete financial scheme, but as a plan that " should commit those politicians, of all shades, who now join in the vague cry for economy and retrenchment,' to some practical measure worth contending for."

" I suggest that you take for the basis of your budget the expenditure of 1835. The whole cost of the Government in that year, including interest of Debt, was 44,422,0001 For the twelve months ending the 5th April last, it amounted to 55,175,0001.; being an increase of 10,753,0001. The interest of the Debt was less by 87,0001. in the latter than the former year; making the comparison so much the more unfavourable to 1848. The estimated expenditure for the cur- rent year, ending the 5th April 1849, (see Lord John Russell's speech 18th February last,) is 64,596,0001; so that we may take the increase to be, in round numbers, 10,000,0001. since 1835. Do you see any good reasons why we should not return to the expenditure of that year? Englishmen love precedents; and they are not easily persuaded that anything is utopian or impracticable which has been accomplished within the last thirteen years; and this is one reason, though I will find you a better, why you should base your budget upon that of 1835. * * * We are now actually expending more upon the Army, Navy, and Ord- nance alone, than sufred for the maintenance of the whole civil and military establishments under the Duke of Wellington's Government! When these facts shall be generally known, the country will, I think, be in the humour for re- sponding to your appeal, if you inscribe as your motto upon your banner' The E:ienet." diture of 1835 '; which will be a reduction of 10,000,0001. from this year's b " would not advise yon to complicate your plan by proposing any new imposts, to rouse the antagonism of interested parties, or any modifications or substitu- tions of existing taxes, to destroy that simplicity of . object which, above all things, is necessary to the success of a pub 'c agitation. But there is one tax from which the dominant class in this country has exempted itself for half a cen- tury, which exemption it would be disgraceful to the character of the British people any longer to tolerate—I mean the Probate and Legacy duty. * * * I assume that the Probate and Legacy duty upon real estate, entailed and nn- entailed, will yield, at a moderate estimate, 1,500,0001. By the above plan, you would have a disposable surplus revenue of 11,500,0001—viz. ten millions from the reduction of expenditure, and a million and a half from the increased pro- duce of the Probate and Legacy duty."

The surplus thus acquired, Mr. Cobden proposes to employ for the redaction of taxes set forth in the subjoined table. NATIONAL BUDGET.

.Proposed redaction of Expenditure £10,000,000 .Proposed Legae' and Probate duty upon:real estate, whether

entailed or unentailed 1,500,000 Proposed amount of surplus revenue £11,500,000 PROPOSED REDUCTIONS OF

CUSTOMS DUTIES.

Tea—Doty to be reduced to one shilling per

Timber and Wood—Duty abolished Butter, cheese, and upwards of one hundred the tariff—Duties abolished Total Loss upon Customs

EEC/SE DUTIES.

DUTIES AND TAXES.

Lou of Revenue.

pound £2,000,000

945,000 smaller Items of 516,000 £3,461,000

Malt—Duty abolished £4,260,000

Hops— „ „ 416,000

Soap— .

850,000

Paper— „ „ 720,000

Total loss on Excise

£6,246,000 TATES.

Window Tax—abolished £1,610,000

Advertisement Duty—abolished 160,000

Total of Taxes 21,770,000

Total loss upon Customs, Excise, and Taxes 211,477,000

"I repeat, that I do not propose this as a complete financial scheme. Many articles are omitted which I should not wish to be considered to have willingly ex- cluded, or be thought to have overlooked. I have gone again and again through the dismal catalogue of our fiscal burdens; and if there be any item of the Cus- toms or Excise duties which you are sorry to miss from the above table, be as- sured that the omission has caused me equal regret. Bricks ought especially to stand one of the first on the list for a prospective budget. Tobacco is a very strong case; but it involves so large an amount of revenue that I could not in- clude it. The Wine-duties also call for a revision; not to name others. Then there are some duties and taxes, the modification of which does not necessarily involve a loss of revenue, and which may be dealt with independently of the pre- sent plan. The duties on Foreign and Colonial Coffee ought to be forthwith equalized. The Property and Income tax should be revised, and a just discrimina- tion made between fixed and precarious incomes. For the stamp upon newspapers, a stamped envelope might be substituted, bearing upon those only which are transmitted by post; and the Stamp-duties, generally, call loudly for an equitable revision. I mention these examples to show, that by adopting the proposed Na- tional Budget,' you would not be precluded from effecting other financial reforms. On the contrary, I believe if the industry of the country were further disburdened to the extent I have named, there would be an accruing surplus revenue from the remaining sources of taxation, which would afford the means of continually making further modifications and reductions of duties. This would have been the case in times past, notwithstanding all the restrictions upon our commerce, if the in- creasing income had not been swallowed up by Government extravagance. For instance had not the expenditure been increased since the time of the Duke of Wellington's Administration in 1830, then, notwithstanding the very large amount of taxes and duties since remitted, there would now have been a surplus revenue, without the Income-tax. "A word or two as to the mode by which I would reduce our expenditure to the amount of 1835. The great increase since that year has been upon the

Army, Navy, and Ordnance. In the year 1835, our armaments cost us 11,657,0001: for the twelve months ended on the 5th day of April last, they reached, including 1,100,0001. for the Caffre war, 19,341,0001; and I expect that the charge for the present year will not be much less. • • It will be self- evident, then, that if any material retrenchment be effected, it must be mainly upon our armaments, the cost of which has been increased 7,000,000L; and this daring a period of profound peace. * If we take into calculation the present reduced value of commodities, it will be found that 10,000,0001. expended upon our armaments now will go much farther than 11,657,0001. did in 1835; and I suggest that you propose the former sum as the maximum expenditure for the Army, Navy, and Ordnance, by which you will gain about 8,500,000/. of the proposed saving of 1,000,0001. I by no means, however, wish to commit your Association to ten millions as the minimum cost of our armaments; for I have a strong belief that you will live to see the waste reduced to less than half that sum. The above-named amount will be three times as great as that of the United

States; greater than that incurred for the same purpose by Russia, Austria, or Prussiaaand, judging by her promised reductions, nearly if not quite as large as that of France.

" The remaining 1,500,0001, to complete the proposed reduction of 10,000,0001., you will have little difficulty in saving from all the other heads of expenditure, in- cluding the cost of collecting the revenue and the management of the Crown lands. "I repeat, emphatically, all hope of any material relief from taxation hinges upon the question of a large reduction in the cost of our Army, Navy, and Ord- nance. It it be objected that I do not specify the particular regiments or ships which I propose to reduce, my answer is, that the only way in which the public can restrict the Government at all in its warlike expenditure at a time of peace,

is by limiting the amount of money. Disband a regiment or pay. off a ship today, and the amount saved may be spent tomorrow upon steam-basins, or for fresh fortifications at Gibraltar, Labuan, or Hong-kong. This was the view entertained by Sir Henry Parnell, a great Whig authority; who, in his work upon Financial Reform, written when the Duke of Wellington was at the head of affairs, whilst arguing for a redaction in the expenditure of our military departments,'. says- ' Fix upon a much smaller sum, and tell them that they must make it answer.' There is another good reason for this course. Some influential persons, who are opposed to any diminution of the strength of our armaments, yet contend that the present force may be kept up at a very reduced cost. In their eyes, your maxi- mum sum may represent a much larger establishment than you contemplate. These parties, probably, would be as willing as myself to put an end to the crimes and cruelties imported into the slave-trade by the interference of our costly fleet of cruisers upon the African coast; or there may be other savings contemplated by them; so that, perhaps, in their opinion, with an expenditure of ten millions nearly as large an effective force as at present may be maintained. " But I am prepared to contend for changes in our Foreign, Colonial, and Do- mestic policy, (though I will not attempt to do so at length now,) calculated to facilitate a reduction in the amount of our armaments. First and foremost, we must insist that the principles of noninterference in the affairs of foreign countries, so loudly professed by politicians of all parties, shall be carried into practice in the policy of our Government. Daring the whole of last year, a fleett as formid- able as that required by the Americans to watch over their commerce in all parts of the globe, was maintained in the Tagus, out of the taxes of the British people, for the service of the Court and Government of Portugal. At this moment, we have as large a fleet in the Straits of Messina, engaged in an armed interference between the King of Naples and his Sicilian subjects, with no more interest or right on our part than the Government of the United States would have to send a squadron off Holyhead and assume the character of an armed mediator between England and Ireland. For three or four years we have had a fleet in the River Plate, interfering in the endless andinexplicable squabbles of the Monte Videans and the Buenos Ayt eans, and which has at last ended in a ridiculous failure. I would wish to see our Government spare the people this useless expense, by sim- ply following the ride, observed by individuals, of leaving other nations to settle their quarrels, and minding its own business better.

" I am also aware, that any great reduction in our military establishments must depend upon a complete change in our Colonial system; and I consider such a change to be the necessary consequence of our recent commercial policy. • • * We have now declared that, for all commercial purposes, the Colonies shall in fu- ture stand in precisely the same relationship towards us as foreign countries. For seventy years we have denied ourselves the right, by statute, to tax them for Im- perial purposes. Under these altered circumstances, will anybody be found, even amongst the Protectionists, ay, even Lord Stanhope himself, who is prepared to maintain that henceforth the only exclusive connexion we are to preserve with our Colonies is the monopoly of the expense of governing and garrisoning them? Once let them see that free frade is the irrevocable policy of the country, and the Protectionists themselves will join with me in demanding an exemption from the expense of the thirty or forty little armies, which (exclusive of the troops in the merely military fortresses of Gibraltar, &c.) are maintained at the cost of this country in all parts of the globe; together with the little army always afloat, for the purpose, incredible as such folly may hereafter appear, of transporting reliefs of soldiers from England to serve as policemen for Englishmen at the Antipodes I We have only to give to the colonists that which is their birthright—the control over their expenditure and the administration of their own local affairs; and they will be willing, as they are perfectly able, to bear all the cost of their own civil and military establishments. "And, finally, I contend that we must endeavour to act at home more in ac- cordance with the good old constitutional principle of governing by the civil and not the military power. We are, I fear, tending towards too great a reliance upon soldiers, and too little on measures calculated to insure the contentment of the great body of the people."

The reading of Mr. Cobden's letter was frequently interrupted by ap- plause, and its close was greeted by three distinct rounds of cheering. Mr. Lawrence Hayworth, M. P., promised his support in Parliament to any plan of financial reform which Mr. Cobden might propose. He moved the following resolution; which was carried unanimously— "That this meeting has heard with the greatest gratification the admirable and comprehensive letter of Richard Cobden, Esq., M.P., to the President of the Asso- ciation and pledge themselves to exert all their influence to procure the adoption of his National Budget as a measure of immediate reform, and an important pre- liminary step towards those further reductions in expenditure which the meeting believes to be practicable, and demands a complete system of direct taxation, Which is the great and final object of the Association."

We understand that it is in contemplation to hold a great meeting in the Free Trade Hall immediately after Christmas, probably on the 4th of Ja- nuary, at which Mr. Cobden, Mr. Bright, and Mor. Gibson are expected to be present. We are not at liberty to enter into details, but may state that the important questions of Parliamentary and financial reform will be then dis- Ceased; and it is not unlikely that a scheme of operations having reference Particularly to a general registration of electors will be developed.—Mart- cheater Times.

The result of the polling for the West Riding election was declared by the Under-Sheriff, in public meeting at Wakefield, on Monday. Both the candidates were present. Mr. Denison arrived on a white charger, and was girt with the sword of a knight of the shire. Sir Culling Eardley was ac- companied by Mr. Baines of the Leeds 3fercury, and was still suffering from indisposition.

The Under-Sheriff stated that the votes stood as follows at the close of the poll—

For Mr. Denison 14,743 For Sir Culling Eardley Eardley 11,795 Majority for Mr. Denison 2,948 He therefore declared Mr. Denison to be duly elected Knight of the Shire for the West Riding of York.

The new Member then addressed the constituents.

Inter alia, he congratulated the assembly on the fact that the county had em-

phatically declared it would not return any man to Parliament who would not pledge himself to support the connexion between Church and State. Both in Church and Education matters the Voluntaries were in a small minority. On the Education question, he was proud to tell them all, that he should have an able colleague in the person of Mr. Cobden. "Mr. Cobden had distinctly declared

that it is impossible that the children of the working classes can be properly edu- cated upon the voluntary system: and again I say, I rejoice to state that on this subject he perfectly agrees with me." With respect to the trade of the vast po- pulation he now represented, it would be his duty to attend to every proposition for giving the labouring classes employment at fair wages. Healthy employment is the greatest enjoyment for mankind; and, whether a man be rich or poor, he is not doing his duty to the state when he is idle and unemployed. "If the work- ing classes are unoccupied, the amount of the increased poor-rate is but a small matter compared with the baneful effects which are produced upon their own minds; and I know that, when half-a-dozen men are standing at the corner of the; street unoccupied, and not receiving wages, they cannot be in a worseposi- tion either for themselves or for those who stand around them: and therefore I say again to you, working men, that I will do all I can to obtain for you employ- ment at reasonable wages. But that, of course, must.depend upon the state of trade, in foreign countries as well as at home. I am happy to say, there are now symptoms of our trade reviving with foreign countries- and as the countries of Europe get into a calm and settled state, I look forward with confidence to re- newed activity in the manufacturing districts, and that, by degrees, they will get into their former habits of taking and consuming your manufactures. (A cry, "I wish it may be as you say.") I don't pretend to be able to do all that I wish to do; but I say, as a humble individual whom you have sent into Parliament, that I will do my beat." (Loud cheers.)

Sir Culling Eardley entered into explanations of points whereon he had been misrepresented—unintentionally.

He recurred to the use made by Mr. Denison of Mr. Cobden's name—" Now whereas the newly-elected Member for the West Riding advocates religious eda cation, and only religious education, as that which ought to be conducted by the State-L(Loud cries of " No, no, no! ")

Mr. Denison—" I never said so."

Sir Calling Eardley—" I am willing to be corrected by my honourable antago- nist himself, but by no one else; and if I am not greatly mistaken, the words he stated were, 'to education based upon religion he desired the State to contribute.'"

Mr. Denison—" I repeatedly explained, in the course of my canvass, that I was anxious that the Inspectors of the different schools should not interfere with re- ligions education. (Cheers.) I distinctly stated, that I approved of the Minutes of the Committee of Privy Council, which ordered the Inspectors not to interfere with the religions education of schools, but to report upon the secular education only." Sir Culling Eardley—" I am addressing many persons who have been eiocated at Oxford, and know what logic is. I never stated that Mr. Denison was an ad- vocate for a system of education where the Inspectors were to inquire into the kind of religion taught in each school, but that he was an advocate for a system of education in which the teaching of religion was one of the stipulations; and I again repeat, in Mr. Denison 's hearing, that he stated that the only kind of educa- tion to which he wished assistance to be given, was an education based upon religion. He cannot deny it—he knows he cannot deny it. (Cries of " It won't do.") You may say as you please it won'tdo,' but there stands the man himself—let him deny it if he can. On the other hand, Mr. Cobden has distinctly stated, that the only system of which he approves is a system of education purely secular."

Sir Culling endeavoured to account for his defeat. Fifteen hundred votes, changed from one side to the other would have reversed the election. Now be found that 1,100 electors who voted for Lord Milton in 1841 voted for Mr. Deni- son in 1848. Make what they would of it, 1,100 Whigs, or tenants of Whigs, in the agrialtural districts, had changed their principles, either from conscientious feeling or from receiving letters from their landlords. He left those who knew the state of agricultural districts near large towns to judge whether the other 400 were not to be accounted for there.

In conclusion, he defended himself from the imputation of intolerance and bi- gotry, which were alleged against him because he refused to give State education to the Roman Catholics. But what did he refuse, and to whom refuse it ? He refused an education based on religion, and he refused it to all. If intolerance were the expression of strong religions feeling in a way to injure other persons, who were the really intolerant? Himself, who refused religious education, by the State, to Roman Catholics and all others alike—his own religionists included; or those who would give it to every religions party but that of the Roman Catholics?

The proceedings ended with the chairing of Mr. Denison.

The electors of Leominster assembled last week and heard an address from Sir Edward Bnlwer Lytton in explanation of his politics. A con- siderable portion of his address consisted of a reference to his former poli- tical services.

He entered Parliament when very young, during the Reform discussions; and the ten-pound householders were indebted to such men as himself for the suffrage they were now called on to use in the spirit it was given. Tim reduction of the tax upon political knowledge was one of his achievements; and he voted for in- quiry into the Pension-list. He left the House of Commons before the abolition of the Corn-laws was proposed by Sir Robert Peel. Always Member for an agri- cultural district—brought up among agriculture, and himself a country gentle- man and farmer—his natural prejudices were not in accordance with the views of Mr. Villiers and Mr. Cobden. He might reasonably decline to give an opinion on a past question; but he was there to tell the whole truth, and to prevent any man from being deceived with regard to him. He said at once, then, that he looked on the abolition of the Corn-laws as a hazardous experiment. The fears he once en- tertained, and still entertained, were, that the free trade which it was intended to encourage would be free trade only on one side. Foreigners do not ap- pear so ready to open their ports to our merchandise as to send us their corn; and if there should be distress in the agricultural districts at borne, the falling-off and loss to the manufacturer would be greater than his gain in the foreign market. It is found that " the rate of wages is regulated by the price of corn, and that in proportion as bread became cheaper wages became correspond- ingly lower. My forebodings are already in process of being realized in many districts." (AVoice—" Nonsense, nonsense! ") "No, it is not nonsense': wages have been reduced as the price of wheat has fallen." However, the law is passed, and it is the duty of every wellwisher of his country to see the experiment fairly carried out. The contemporaneous question of financial reform was deemed by Sir Edward of such importance that he did not touch on constitutional reform in his address. The adaptation of our expenses to our income should have the first attention of Parliament: while we wait for constitutional reform as a means to obtain financial reform, our debts are still increasing. These must be reduced rather than in- creased; and the object of their reduction will enlist men of all political opinions, Tory, Whig, and Radical If efforts at retrenchment of our superfluous and un- necessary expenditure prove unavailing, then go for constitutional reforms. He was for the ballot; not as a perfect measure, but because no better mode of pro- tecting the voter had been shown. He was also for an extension of the suffrage —for such an extension as would satisfy the people; for if he could not settle things, he would sooner always leave them alone. He thought Reformers should be more strenuously devoted to popular education. Give him that, and he did not care how much he extended the suffrage.

Than the endowment of the Roman Catholic clergy, he thought no measure could be more improper or impolitic. He disapproved governing a people through its priesthood, after attaching by donations the priesthood to the state: that was not civil government, but pnestcraft rale.

If at no former time was he an exclusively party man, still less at present was he one. He was glad that party was broken up, and that the interests of the people were no longer to be viewed only by such lights as shone through the rents of faction.

Mr. Peel and himself would be supported by electors of various opinions; but Sir Edward met his opponent in a frank and generous spirit. " With reference to Sir Robert Peel, whatever may be my opinion upon his policy during any part of his life, I shall only speak of him here with that respect which is due to his illustrious name. If I ever felt any sentiments of disrespect towards him, I beg to say that I should be the last man to give utterance to them when I have his son for my opponent. (" Hear, hear!" and loud cheering.) And if I do not extend to his policy the respect I pay to his name, it is simply because I cannot ga- ther from the past any clear assurance of what will be Sir Robert Peel's policy for the future. His son is now supported by Tories and by Radicals. A year hence, is it the Tories or the Radicals that will be best pleased ? who can say? Not I. But I must say that I have a greater distrust of Sir Robert Peel's fellow con- verts than I have of himself: That one man should recover his sight, if long blind, by a flash of lightning, may be strange, but it does not prove him an im pastor; but when some fifty or sixty blind men say they have also recovered their sight by the electric effect of the same flash, I am rather more disposed to doubt of their honesty than to believe in the miracle. (Great laughter and cheers.) While I believe that Sir Robert Peel acted conscientiously in changing his opinion, I cannot believe that the whole body of his followers were struck by the same flash of lightning. Gentlemen, it remains for you to decide between ns. All I can say with regard to myself is, that I have had the advantage of being tried in Parliament; I have always acted consistently with my honest opinions, and have always done my best to redeem all the promises I have ever made to my constituents. I believe that so large a number of voters are not pledged either one way or the other, that it is at present very uncertain which way the election will go. (A Voice.—" We'll all vote for Peel.") Gentlemen, that exclamation shows you the uncertainty I must feel, and the unpleasant pre- dicament in which I am placed. They will vote for Peel, and that, gentlemen, while I calculated by their manner that they would vote for me! I now come to the important question, how is it that these men cannot make up their minds either one way or the other? If I could form a reasonable conclusion why the worthy electors of this borough did defer the promise of their votes, I should be happy to wait their pleasure; but I cannot understand why they do not promise their suffrage either to myself or to Mr. Peel There are but two candidates, and the question is; which of these two gentlemen you prefer as your representative. If you select me, with all my faults, I will do my best to serve you. If you do not, all I ask of you is to say so. I tell you plainly, if you will not make up your minds soon, I shall make up mine. I shall take up my hat and go." (Laugh- ter and cheers.)'

Though Sir Edward declared his readiness to stand the fire of questions, none were put; but a vote of thanks for his speech was carried by accla- mation.

Sir Joshua Walmsley has offered himself as a candidate for Bolton, in the room of Dr. Bowring; and has been accepted by leading parties among the electors, .at public and private meetings held to receive the declaration of his sentiments, In .a published address, Sir Joshua thus enumerates his main objects- " To render the House of Commons the just reflex of the public mind, it is ne- cessary that every male resident of full age, in the occupation of premises rated to the relief of the poor, should be entitled to a vote at each Parliamentary elec- tion: that such vote should be taken by ballot: that the duration of parliaments should be limited to three years; and that a more equal system of electoral dis- tricts, based on population and property, should be established throughout the kingdom. . . . Whilst I repudiate 'finality,' I am persuaded that the mea- sures I.propose are calculated to give a new, healthy, and enduring tone to the institutions of our country, and to increase the means and the happiness of the people."

A meeting was held last week in the Town-hall of Birmingham to re- ceive a deputation from the Colonization Society. Lord Lyttleton presided; Lord Ingestre, the Honourable W. H. Leigh, the Honourable and Reverend G. M. Yorke, Mr. blunts, M. P., Mr. Scholefield, M. P., and Mr. Adderley, M. P., were present; and the "general attendance was, for a mid-day meet- ing, good." Mr. Francis Scott, Mr. Wriottesley Russell, and Mr. Mark Boyd, addressed the meeting on the usual topics. A resolution was proposed by Mr. Adderley, and seconded by Mr. Scholefield, that the Society's objects are good, and that a branch society should be formed at Birmingham. Mr. Brewster, a Chartist, opposed the motion, with argu- ments to show the incorrectness of the notion that the country is over- peopled, and to convince the meeting that emigration is neither necessary nor desirable. Several hands were held up against the resolution, but it was carried. Mr. Muntz stated that he approved of the meeting, because he approved of the giving information to those who intended to emigrate; but he opposed emigration and colonization, as " excrescences of an attempt to make up for bad government at home." He moved a vote of thanks to the noble chairman; which was carried by acclamation.

A portion of the Manchester, Sheffield, and Lincolnshire Railway, ex- tending from Lincoln to Hull, was opened for traffic on Monday. It ex- tends to upwards of forty-five miles. The Northern terminus is at New Holland, on the Humber opposite to Hull; where the trains run on to a long pier, whence steamers convey passengers and goods to Hull.

The branch railway which joins the town of Torquay to the South De- von line at Newton Abbott station, was opened for traffic on Monday. It is at present six miles long, but does not enter the town; a rather long tunnel having for a time prevented its extension so far. The line runs through a very picturesque country. It is expected that it will prove very advantageous to Torquay, especially by affording a means for sending to

London and to many large towns great quantities of fish, that have hereto- fore been wasted or used as manure. The opening was celebrated by a special train running from Exeter, speeches at the terminus, a procession, feasting the poor in the market-place, and a dinner and ball in the evening at the Assembly Rooms.

At the Liverpool Assizes, on Monday, a number of the Ashton Chartists pleaded " Guilty " to indictments for sedition. In sentencing them, Baron Alderson told them, that instead of endeavouring to obtain universal suffrage, they ought to endeavour to obtain universal temperance, sobriety, and virtue: they should begin at the proper end, be come good and virtuous citizens, and political power would come to them—all these advantages must come from themselves. He inflicted the punishment of imprisonment for different periods under one year. Joseph Constantine and five others were then tried for treasonable conspiracy at Ashton-under-Lyne. After the defence had made some slight progress, the prisoners, acting on advice, withdrew their pleas of " Not Guilty," and pleaded " Guilty." Baron Alderson said, it was plain that all of them had been present at. the murder of poor Bright, though his actual murderer had escaped to Ame- rica. Constantine, Kenworthy, Stott, and Tassiker, were sentenced to transports; tion for life; Sefton and Walker to transportation for ten years.

At York Assizes, on Monday, Thomas Whitehead, aged sixty-four, was indicted for the manslaughter of George Taylor, of Sheffield. The prisoner had practised thirty-five years as an uncertificated surgeon; and he undertook to cure Taylor of a bad arm, after he had been discharged from Sheffield Infirmary. A number of witnesses described the treatment. Whitehead cut a swelling with a pair of scis- sors, and dressed the wound with pledges of tow and ointment, till the bone was exposed for four inches. At one time he cut off a lump of flesh " as big as a fist "; at another time, "prized off pieces of the bone with a strong pair of scissors." Taylor reentered the infirmary, and immediately died there; and the surgeons of the establishment and of the town swore that in their belief he was killed by the prisoner's treatment. In summing up, Mr. Justice Maule said—" A person was not responsible for medical treatment merely because it was unsuccessful; but if the failure arose from a want of the reasonable and ordinary skill which a person ought to have who undertook such a case, then the person adopting the treatment would be responsible for the consequences, and would be guilty of man- slaughter if death ensued. The prisoner had sworn that he possessed skill which no regular surgeon would pretend to. The art of surgery was progressive, but all that medical science could aim at was to cure what was curable. The prisoner's affidavit was evidence of gross ignorance." He was found guilty, and sentenced to be imprisoned for one year.

Joseph Ratcliffe and Joseph Constantine, aged respectively thirty-one and twenty-one, were tried on Friday and Saturday, at Liverpool Special Assizes' for the murder of James Bright, at Ashton-under-Lyne, on the 14th of August last. Bright was the policeman who was killed by a mob during the late Chartist and Confederate excitements in the North. A number of witnesses swore positively that Ratcliffe drove a pike into Bright's thigh; and some witnesses declared that it was he who fired the shot which killed Bright; but on this last point there was contradiction. The evidence against Constantine failed. Under the direction of Baron Alderson—that the evidence, if believed, showed that Ratcliffe was present at the killing of Bright, and active in it, even if he were not the actual killer— the Jury found Ratcliffe " Guilty "; but they recommended him to mercy. Con- stantine was acquitted. Baron Alderson, in passing sentence on Ratcliffe, said that he was a " melancholy instance of a man sacrificed to his bad politics." Earnestly beseeching him to use his short time in repenting of his violent passions, the Judge passed sentence of death, but promised to forward the Jury's recommen- dation.

In the course of the trial, Mr. Pollock, counsel for the prisoner, applied to have an interdict placed by the Judge on any report of the proceedings during their progress. The Judge " recommended ' abstinence, but declared that "he had no power to enforce it."

On Wednesday, Malkin, the young man who stabbed his young sweetheart, Esther Inman, at Hunslet near Leeds, was tried, and convicted of the murder. He was recommended to mercy by the Jury; but in passing sentence of death, the Judge said he could hold out no hope of a remission of the capital punishment.

On Thursday, John Bleasdale was convicted of stealing coal, by mining under Wigan. Sentence, seven years' transportation.

The inquest at Wymondham terminated on Tuesday. The additional evidence then adduced was similar to that given before the Magistrates, and already noted. The verdict was " Wilful murder" against Rush.

Mrs. Jenny and the maid are recovering. Extraordinary efforts have been made to discover the assassin's fire-arms, but as yet in vain: ponds and ditches are drained, plantations searched, clang-heaps turned over and every conceivable place of concealment in the vicinity is explored.

Judith Holdsworth, a young woman of Clayton, near Bradford, has been poison- ed by her husband, an old farmer and blacksmith, to whom she had been married a few years. She died after taking porridge which he made for her: she saw him put something in the mess, and it had a strange taste; she accused him of poison ing her, and his answers and conduct were suspicious. A post-mortem exami nation detected arsenic in the woman's body, and there were other proofs that she had swallowed poison. A jury has returned a verdict of " Wilful murder " against Holdsworth.

A fire at Preston, on the extensive premises of Mr. Clayton, an engineer and boiler-maker, has destroyed property worth some 10,0001.