Vont.

MONDAY, DECEMBER 23B.D.

Tun nomination for Nottingham is fixed for Thursday. The sup- porters of Lord Lincoln and-Sir Robert Clifton appear equally con- fident of success. The former had recovered sufficiently from his recent severe indisposition to address his supporters on Thursday last in the Exchange Room. On the church-rate question, and the mis- understanding which seemed to exist with regard to his views on ques- tions affecting the Nonconformist body generally, he said: "Two years ago he did say he would vote against the abolition of church-rates, not that be advocated the present system, but he said he wished, he hoped, and expected then to see a compromise which would satisfy all parties, which would relieve Dissenters and Nonconformists from objections to which, he thus publicly stated, he felt they very conscientiously and very justly objected. (Hear,) But then he stated that he did not wish to see such a measure carried before he saw the necessities of the Church amply provided for; but he now said that church- rates were merely a source of grievance and annoyance to both parties. ((fear.) Neither party desired them—(cheers)—and for this reason he was prepared to vote for Sir J. Trelawny's bill for the unconditional abolition of church-rates. (Great cheering.) And now he would say a few words with regard to the protest which had been put forward bv the Dissenters of the town. He must not pass over those bills mentioned in tile protest without saying one or two words. He confessed that he thought the grievances for which those bills were proposed as a remedy were a scandal to the Church of England. (Cheers.) He did not mean by this that he pledged himself to support Mr. Dillwyn's Bill as it was amended last session, because he thought there were a great many objections to it. What might be brought forward next session he could not say, but this much he would say, that the whole object of that bill he should give his cordial adherence to. (Applause.) Though be did not wish to see the Church deprived of what was her own—(a Voice: " +Vol so !")—he did not wish the Church to lay claim to what was not her own. (Cheers.) And now, with regard to Mr. Hadfield's Bill, he must say that, whatever were the opinions of the Legislature in 1826, at the repeal of the Test and Corporation Acts, whether they thought it necessary for the security of the Church that such an oath should be exacted, he did not think so in the present day, and he looked upon the exaction merely as a grievance to which every Dissenter and Nonconformist was justly entitled to object, and he would therefore support any bill that had for its object the abrogation of the oath. (Cheers.)

He was willing to advocate a 101. in counties, and a 6/. franchise in boroughs, though he would not pledge himsslf to introduce a measure for such an extension of the suffrage. His Lordship concluded with a brief allusion to the American question:

"This was a time of great anxiety and suspense to this country. We saw now, on the other side of the water, two nations who had, until lately, been under one government, in the midst of all the horrors of 'a civil war. How much more fearful if we were shortly dragged into it? But he thought they would agree with him, that an insult had been offered to our flag, and that, if the answer to the message that had gone forth from this country be net satisfactory, war was inevitable. We must pray and hope that the war may be averted; but, if it could not be, we must then give support to the Government. (Hear, hear.) We must then aid it to avenge that insult which bad been offered to our flag; we must show to America and the world at large that England would not permit its proudest boast—the right of asylum—to be invaded with impunity. (Great cheering.)"

--- The seven men who were apprehended some three months ago for the murder Of a tradesman at Bilden, named Ba.gott, were tried on that charge on Thursday. All the circumstances of the murder having been fully given at the time, it is only necessary to state that Jones, Brandrick, and Maddox, three of the prisoners who were proved to have entered the house on the night in question, were found guilty of wilful murder, and Jukes, Lilley, Webb, and Mill, the evidence against them being very slight, were acquitted. The three first were accordingly sentenced to death, and Maddox has since made a fall confession, in which -he confirms the: justice of the verdict, Jones, Brandwick, and himself, alone having been con- cerned in the murder.

— The death of the Prince Consort was naturally the subject of nearly all the sermons delivered in London on Sunday. At St,, Paul's and Westminster Abbey the melancholy event was referred to in most impressive language by Dr. Milman and' the Dean of Westminster, respectively. Dr. Cumming also made it the principal topic of his discourses both in the morning and evening ; and Mr. Spurgeon preached on the,subject to an enormous congregation at the 'tabernacle. A pastoral has just been issued by Cardinal Wiseman, in which he thus refers to the subject : "Among public occurrences I need not do more than refer to the one which at this moment most fills men's mind in the removal from his high place in the nation of the Prince Consort. So sudden and so unexpected has been this blow, that one as yet can hardly believe it real. No one, perhaps, had ever anticipated it, or taken it into any calculation of worldly chances; no one can yet estimate the effect it may have on great national interests. But, going no farther than its first and present consequences, we must all feel deep sympathy with the Sovereign, to whose house he was the cause of virtuous heppmess' round whose throne he shied manly grace. Whether any opportunity will be afforded to Ca- tholics to approach the Queen with an expression of their loyal condolence I know not; but should it be permitted to them, I trust the occasion will not be allowed to pass without advantage being taken of it."

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 24TH.

— The funeral of his late Royal Highness the Prince Consort took place in the strictest privacy in the Chapel. Royal of St. George's, Windsor. The funeral procession consisted exclusively of the house- hold of his lute Royal Highness, and the three great- officers of state ; the Lord Steward, the Lord Chamberlain, and the Master of the Horse. At the chapel were assembled a large number of persons of rank and distinction, including the Archbishop of Canterbury, seven or eight Knights of the Garter, several of the leading members of the Government, the Bishops of Oxford, Chester, London, and Wor- cester, &c. Lord Palmerston had not sufficiently recovered from his attack of gout to be present. The chapel was hung and carpeted with black cloth from one end to the other, the only space left-un- covered being the course of the bier from the door to the entrance of the vault. The procession arrived at the chapel shortly after twelve o'clock, and at twenty minutes to one the coffin was brought imme- diately over the royal vault. The funeral service was commenced by the Dean of Windsor. After the usual lessons had been read, a German chorale, which had been a favourite of the late prine, was sung : "I shall not in the grave remain." Lother's hymn, "Great God, what do I sec and hear," was then sung; and the machinery for lowering. the coffin into the vault was shortly set in motion ; the choir chanting, "I heard a voice from Heaven" (Croft), and another German chorale. The earth was then thrown upon the coffin ; Garter King at Arms proclaimed the style of the departed Prince, and all the mourners advanced in turn to gaze for the last time at the coffin. The Prince of Wales, who had re- strained his feelings throughout the service, burst into an uncon- trollable flood of tears as he glanced for a moment into the gloomy chasm, and there was not one of the mourners who was not in turn visibly affected. Dr. Elvey then played the "Dead March in Saul" upon the organ, and the sorrowful assemblage slowly dispersed. The day was observed in London with a sincerity and depth of grief pro- bably never before manifested on any similar occasion. All business was suspended, blinds were down in nearly every house, black shutters were up in many windows, and a universal air of gloom seemed over everything. In all the principal towns in the provinces, also, the memory of the prince appears to have been honoured by every possible mark of respectful grief. In many eases special services, at- tended by the mayors and corporations, have been held. — " A Civilian" writes to the Times to call attention to the fact that the Admiralty have invited tenders for the purchase of 25 ships now lying at Devonport, aggregate tonnage 17,209. At a recent sale of a similar nature, France did not hesitate to become a purchaser, and " A Civilian" asks if it is prudent, now that the chances of peace and war are trembling in the balance, to allow America the oppor- tunity of obtaining these "crack ships" of former days. "A Civilian" also suggests the expediency of adopting the plan originated in the French army, of a specially organized corps for the purpose of establishing and maintaining telegraphic communication between the general in command and detached bodies of troops. The value of such a corps in Canadian campaigns would be immense.

— Mr. "Mauq, the well-known American savant has resigned his post at the Washington Observatory, and joined the Confederate army. In a letter to Admiral Fitz-Roy, he explains the motives which have induced him to take such a step. After numerous com- plaints as to the tyranny, contempt for the constitution and disre- gard of the rules of civilized warfare which have characterized President Lincoln's Government, he asserts his undiminished confi- dence in the ultimate success" of the South : "Though not so mighty in number nor so rich in warlike supplies as the

enemy, we are 8,000,00 of people thrice armed, in that our quarrel is just. Fighting for our homes, we are. Mighty in battle. In mere lust the enemy is fighting for power and comanest;, we, for fire.sidos, the graves of our fathers, dear life, and all that is preempt* the heart and civilization. Our cause is holy; theirs hellish. We cannot, we Will net, be subjugated. The South presents the remarkable spectacle of an army,having in its ranks the first men and best talents of the country. To sufidne or Conquer such an army is simply an impossibility, for its soldiers are fighting for all that makes life dear to them. I fight with a price upon my head and a halter round my neck. Not I alone, but every man of mark or substance among us. Lincoln's men are not made of such stuff; for they are for the most part mere hirelings, and their armies in battle are strength- ened by no such hope and moved by no such fears as those which inspire us. They 'talk -of is-reconstruction of the Government and a reunion of the pecple. Simply, and in few words, reannexatioe to the British 'Crown is more possible." With regard to the reports that the South is suffering from internal

disunion, Mr_ Maury says : -

"I vary much desire that the friends of free government in Europe should be

informed nformed as to the tree state of things with us; for year information

being chiefly derived through our enemies, of course, one-sided, and gene- rally, also' it is not only erroneous, but wilfully-mendacious. . The papers at the North that plead our cause, or dare tell the truth about this war, are suppressed by Lincoln's mere sic jubeo. A large 'majority of us, they would have you believe, are opposed to secession and this war. Saving some of the Western counties of this State, and a few in East Tennessee, I have never known the people so united on any subject. The MASK; if possible, are more enthusiastic than the men; they are of one mind, and the clergy are as earnest as the women. In the week the clergy are, of their own free will, drilling and being drilled to arms; their churches are given up to the women, who, with needles and sewing machines, congregate there to make clothing for the soldiers. On Sundays, from the pulpit, the holiness of the war and the righteousness of our cause are preached to the people. In battles, you find clergymen among the foremost of the fight. We have on our side a bishop for a general, holy. divines for colonels majors, captains, and soldiers in the ranks. Never was a people more united and in earnest than the people of the Confederate States are at this moment.

He also refers to the 'notion thatotheproduce of the Confederate States will prove inadequate to the support of their population:

"Yes;'-You'briverlieartl'sonsething too of our starving—of our inability to pro- duce'bresnIstuffs and provisions enough.lbr our own use, &A. To make you be- lieve that would be requiring you to renottnee your belief in physical geography, for that shows that within the ConfederateStates we have the finest of climates; our lands are unsurpassed in fertility; We are a grazing, and a farming, and a planting people. Educated in the South; I never saw a beggar until I entered the navy and went to New York. Such is the habitual abundance that the very few poor who are found among us are provided for without calling on the people for poor-rates. Our Southern, haw a recognize no such tax. The staples of Georgia are cotton and rice, yet thesensus shows that according to population Georgia furnishes as much wheat as New York, and New York is one of the wheat- growing States of the North. Never have the grain crops of the South been MOTS abundant than they now are. The blockade of our ports, admitting it to be effectual, would not interfere with uses to the necessaries of life. It may cut of our supplies of tea and coffee, and the various articles of merchandise that we have been accustomed to receive from abroad; but this does not amount even to a privation for we submit to these wants as a self-denial and a discipline that is all for our good."

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 25TH.

— A meeting of Liverymen of the City of London was held in Guildhall on Tuesday,. to consider the propriety of presenting an address of condolence to her Majesty on the death of the Prince Consort. The Lord Mayor took the chair' and was supported by Mr. Crawford, M.P., and Mr. W. Wood, M.P., the Sheriffs, and Undersheriffs, and several Aldermen. After the Lord Mayor had opened the proceedings, Mr. Crawford, M.P., moved that an address of condolence should be presented to her Majesty. This having been carried, Mr. Western Wood, M.P., moved the adoption of the follow- ing address: "To THE QUEEN'S MOST EXCELLENT MAJESTY.

"May it please your Majesty,—

"We, your 3Iajesty's faithful and loyal subjects, the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor Aldermen, and Commoners of the City of London, in common hall as- sembled, beg leave to approach your Royal presence with feelings of deep and respectful sympathy to express our sincere condolence with your Majesty in the great affliction with which it bath pleased Almighty God to visit your Majesty in the death of your beloved and illustrious Consort, his Royal Highness Prince Albert, and also to express our heartfelt grief at. the loss which the nation has sustained by the removal of one who, placed in a position subordinate, but yet not less difficult than that of a reigning Sovereign, succeeded in winning the affections of all, and who at the same time, honoured with his advocacy all the useful institutions of the country in such a manner that wherever there was progress to be hastened, or serious work to be forwarded or developed, his sympathetic, active, and energetic concurrence was ever to be reckoned upon

sad who by his domestic conduct as a husband and a father, first gained the esteem and then the affection of the nation. "While we bow with humility and resignation to the will of the Supreme pispenser of Events, yet at this time of grief we beg to assure your Majesty of the loving and loyal sympathy of your Majesty's devoted subjects, and of their earnest prayer that your Majesty may be graciously supported by the Almighty, and that it may please Him long to spare your Majesty to guard your Royal fatally, so precious to the nation, and also to guide the destinies of this great empire to His honour and glory."

The motion was carried unanimously, and after a vote of thanks to the Lord Mayor had been adopted, the meeting separated.

— Admiral Bedford Pim writes to the Times of Wednesday, calling attention to the absence of any preparation for the employment of our gun-boats in the coming struggle with America. The Secretary of the Federal Navy has liberally bestowed uporcunhis experience on the subject in his report to Congress:

"In his report to Congress he alludes to the difficulty of maintaining a blockade as rigid and effective as the peculiar nature of our maritime frontier, which has through a large portion of its entire length a double coast, inner and outer' would admit.' And then he points out the reason, viz. Our principal naval vessels are not, from their great draught of water, adapted to blockade a shallow coast which has been guarded with extreme difficulty.'

"Again: Most of our public armed vessels being of such a size and draught of water that they could only render imperfect blockading service, immediate measures were taken by the department to carry into effect the policy of the Government in advance of the special Session of Congress, by contracting for the construction of twenty-three vessels, which should be of light draught, but heavy armament. Many of the first ordered are already in commission, and the others are in rapid progress towards completion.' "The Secretary of the Federal Navy concludes by stating that there will be an addition, when they are completed, of fifty-two new steamers peculiarly adapted to the required blockade.' "I cannot conceive anything more strikingly :opportune and valuable to us at the present moment than the above practical opinion of the highest naval autho- rity in the Federal States. I would ask even the most unthinking what, in all probability, will be our condition, as strangers quite ignorant of the intricate American navigation, with only large ships and with all the hardships and difficulties of a notoriously stormy season before us, when the natives themselves, thoroughly conversant with the coast and during a favourable period of the year, could render only Imperfect blockading service, and blockaded with extreme difficulty.'

— Sir Culling Eardly writes to the Times, on Wednesday, to suggest a method of arbitration, by which peace may be preserved without loss of our national honour:

"I think it can in this way :—Arbitration by a third power has been proposed, depositing in the mean time with such power the persons to be arbitrated upon. I ask whether this scheme cannot be modified.

"1. The persons must be deposited where they were taken. An English deck is English sod. They must be deposited with England. It was an outrage to take them. It must be repaired by restoring them. The restoration must be on parole, and subject to adjudication. There is nothing in Christianity to prevent man or nation asserting just rights. St. Paul, as we heard in the Second Lesson this morning, protested against being scourged, a Roman, uncondemned; and we pro- test against voyagers under our British flag being seized, uncondemned.

"2. Arbitration by a sovereign has been suggested. But arbitration by the sove- reign himself would not secure perfect law. Moreover, every chief sovereign of Europe is committed to our view. I would suggest a sovereign nominating two accredited admiralty judges' either both to be Continental, or else one to be Eng- lish and one American; the two, national, to appoint beforehand a third as arbiter; the judgment of the majority to be binding."

Sir C. Eardley makes the above suggestion in consequence of having been, the other day, chairman of a large prayer-meeting for peace in London, and he feels it,. therefore, incumbent on him to make some effort in striving for peace.

— Three more of the diabolical attempts at human life, known as " trade outrages' " are reported from the neighbourhood of Sheffield. It appears that the nail-makers in the employ of Mr. Favell,. of Rotherham, have been on strike for some time. Several men, how- ever, had remained at work, and among them were John Hattersley and Charles Butcher, both of whom occupied workshops at Thorpe Hesley, a village near Sheffield. Butcher lives in a house adjoining his workshop, and about eleven o'clock on Saturday night was startled by a fearful explosion in the latter. • On investigation he found that the roof had been blown off, and nearly the whole build- ing laid in ruins by the explosion of a can of gunpowder, which had been let down the chimney. While searching the rains another report was heard, which proceeded from Hattersley's shop, where a similar infernal machine had been exploded. No one was hurt in either case, as the nailmakers had fortunately all left work. An attempt at a similar outrage had been made at another workshop in the village some days before, but had providentially been defeated by. the discovery of the can containing the gunpowder banging in the

chimney before a fire was lighted. • — We extract a most important letter on the Trent case : " There is perhaps no class of questions affecting the international life of States which have been shifted from their foundations of abstract principles, mid are governed by the use and practice of nations more completely than those which regard the mutual rights and obligations of belligerent and neutral Powers. It is, therefore, of peculiar im- portance at the present moment, while the affair of the Trent may still be open to a peaceful solution, that it should be established be- yond a doubt that Great Britain is proceeding strictly according to the use and practice of nations in demanding from the United States of America that the passengers taken from on board the Trent should be set at liberty, and further, that in making this demand she requires the United States to regulate their conduct by no other rule than that to which she has herself conformed when she was herself a bel- ligerent. The precedent to which Great Britain may appeal on this occasion is the more remarkable because it has reference to passengers who were military officers engaged in the service of the American pro- vinces, then in active rebellion against the mother country. On August 7, 1777, the Dutch brig Hendric and Alida was captured on the high seas by his -Britannio Majesty's ship Ardent, under the command

• of Lord Mulgrave, and was shortly afterwards brought into Ports- mouth for 'adjudication as prize of war. The brig was bound, ac- cording to her 'ship's papers, from a port of Holland to the Dutch settlement. of St. Eustatia, one of the Leeward Islands. She was laden with a cargo of arms and ammunition, and she had on board as passengers five military officers, with their servants. These officers were furnished with commissions in the rebel army, granted by Ben- jamin Franklin, who was at that time actively engaged as one of the Commissioners of the rebel provinces at Paris, in endeavouring to ' procure from M. de Vergennes the recognition of the independence of the United States. The case of the ship and cargo came on for adjudication in the Prize Court on the 23rd of November, 1777. The King's Advocate (Sir James Marriott), who was of counsel for the cap- tors, contended that,the brig was not really bound to St. Eustatia, but had a hostile destination to some port ot New England ; that she was armed with guns, and had on board not only gunpowder, arms,. and naval stores, but five military officers going avowedly to serve in the provincial army. He therefore urged upon the Court with great vehemence that it was its duty to condemn the vessel ou the grounds of false papers, and to decree the cargo to be sold as contraband of war. The Judge of the Admiralty Court, Sir George Hay, who at that time presided in the Court of Prize, after hearing arguments of counsel at great. length, adjudged the ship and cargo to be Dutch property, and directed them to be restored to the claimants, on the ground that " the Dutch had a right to carry in their own ships to their own colonies or settlements everything they pleased, whether arms or ammunition, or any other species of merchandise, provided they did it with the permission of their own laws," and "if they act con- trary to them," he added, "I am no judge of the laws of Holland," He further went on to say that the armed state of his ship and the character of the passengers, coupled with the declaration of a former master and part-owner, who was on board, as to an illicit destine- tion of the ship, were concurring circumstances sufficient to justify the seizure and the bringing in of the vessel for adjudication as to .her true destination. It results from this case that neither the cargo, which was undoubtedly of a military nature, nor the pas- sengers, whose character as military officers going to the provincial army was fully recognized by the Court, were, under the cir- cumstances of the vessel having a neutral destination, regarded by the Court as 'contraband of war. On the other hand, the passengers were not treated as prisoners of war by the British, Government, as it appears from other sources that they were set at liberty not long after the vessel was brought into Portsmouth, and some time before the case of the ship and her cargo was heard and decided in the Prize Court. The arguments of counsel and the judgment of Sir George Hay in the above case will,Pe found in a collection of decisions of the High Court of Admiralty during the time of Sir George Hay and Sir James Marriott, published in London in 1801, and republished at Boston in the 'United States in 1851—D. C. L."

- THURSDAY, DECEMBER 26TH.

— Lord Ebury writes to the Times in favour of the reference of the affairs of the Trent to arbitration. His principal argument is founded on a comparison of the present difficulty with a duel—" the duel national, and the duel personal. Twenty years ago duelling was recognised as the only honourable way of settling private differences, and when the changes in the articles of war, constituting an appeal in case of wounded honour, were made by Lord Hardinge, precisely the same objections were made to them as are now made to the arguments of those who contend for an analagous system for settling 'national differences. At present,-certainly, there is no constituted tribunal for arbitration in such case, but no one can say that the difficulty is in- surmountable. Our statesmen are bound, if by nothing else, by the Treaty of Paris, to attempt their solution.

— Lord Bury and. Mr. Horatio Ross, acting for the Volunteers of England and 'Scotland respectively, have arranged the terms of an annual rifle-match between eight picked shots of each country.The shooting is to take place every year at the meeting of the National Rifle Association, and Lord Elcho having generously offered to pre- sent a suitable prize for the occasion, it has been resolved that " The Elcho Challenge Shield" shall be shot for next year, and shall remain for one year in the possession of the winning nation, after which it is to be shot for again, and that the names of the eight successful champions of each shall be engraved on the shield; each of them also to receive some small prize for permanent possession.

FRIDAY, DECEMBER 27TH.

— The nomination for Nottingham took place on Thursday in pre- sence of a tremendous crowd. The Earl of Lincoln was first pro- posed, and having obtained a partial hearing through the intercession of his opponents, addressed the crowd amid continued interruption of the most uproarious nature. Sir Robert Clifton was then proposed, and was received most enthusiastically, A show of hands VMS then taken, which resulted in an immense majority for Sir Robert Clifton, scarcely a hundred hands out of the vast crowd being held up for Lord Lincoln. On the previous evening Lord Lincoln addressed a numerous body of his supporters at the Exchange-rooms, Mr. Alder- man Cullen in the chair. His Lordship explained his views on the Revised Code at some length: " He could not see why we ought to go on voting enormous sums for educa- tion—why we were not to look into those sums because large amounts might be voted to other objects. They did not consider, perhaps, that in 1840 the grants to education were only 80,0001.; that in 1850 they had increased to the enor- mous sum of 125,000L; and that they had now increased to fi00,0001, Whim, he asked, was that to cease? (Hear.) They could not see any limit to that expen- diture, and a candidate who came before them and pledged himself to economy in the public expenditure ought to look at this in the first instance. Not that he (Lord Lincoln) undervalued education. Education was one of the props of this country. He looked upon it almost, if not quite' as valuable to the country as the efficient defence of its shores. (Cheers) Then came the second question—the unsatisfactory state of the elementary education in our schools. It went to prove that the younger scholars in our schools had not received a proper amount of education in the elementary branches—reading, writing, and arithmetic; and it was to remedy that defect that the Revised Code was brought forward. But let it not be supposed that, because he said that the present system of education ought to be revised, he was in favour wholly of the new Revised Minute. On the contrary, he thought there were many points in that Minute which required great modification. It was, of course, impossible for him to state all the points which he would wish to see modified, but there were three points more especially ; one was where it demanded that scholars should have attended 16 times out of the last 31 days before the examination took place. Why there might be a thousand reasons why the scholars might not get to school during these periods—ill state of health, bad weather, and a thousand others. That certainly required modification. (Cheers.) In the second place there was the refusal of the second and third annual grants to those scholars who were above 11 years of age. Now, he considered one of the evils of the present system was the early withdrawal of scholars from the schools. There was another, and if possible, a greater reason against the Minute, and that was the grouping by age the money payments depending thereon. (Hear.) Now, he thought the pay- ment by attendance was the only capitation grant for childreu of their tender years. Then there was the question as regards schoolmasters- He confessed that he should be the last to wish to advocate anything that could interfere with the rights and interests of the schoolmasters; but he did think there were several things in the Minute which were decidedly in favour of the schooltnasters. To quote but one, he wculd say that the formation of evening classes, and the pro- posed capitation grant, substituting 12 attendances for 50, as the requisite number before the child remunerated the school. He thought that no man ought to pledge himself to vote either for or against the Minute until the question came before Parliament in March next, when it would be discussed (Cheers.) No one ought to pledge himself before he had heard what the Pre- sident and Vioe-President had to say on the subject."

With regard to the American question, he thought that much as we valued peace, we should value our proudest boast, the right of asylum ; more, should maintain it at all costs.

— A meetinr,c, of engine-drivers and firemen, to the number of mealy two hundred, was held at Manchester on Wednesday, to pro- mote the ten-hour movement among their body. An engineman from the Great Northern presided, and representatives from all the principal railways in the kingdom were present. The chairman announced to the meeting the progress of the movement throughout the country. A deputation of enginemen had recently had interviews with Messrs. Bazley and Turner, the two members for Manchester, both of whom had expressed their sympathy with their cause. Mr. Cobbett, M.P. for Oldham, had also evinced a deep interest in the subject,. and would introduce it into the House of Commons. In conclusion, the chairman said : "An engineman ought to be a man with full physical energy, with a clear head and a steady eye; and with the momentous interests at stake, with the hundreds of lives dependent upon his steadiness and vigilance when he was conducting his train, he ought not to be so far overwrought as to be unable to perform his duty. (Cheers.) Mr. Cobbett had mentioned to them the case of an accident where a railway guard, an engineman, and a fireman were proved to have been asleep when a serious accident occurred. These men were convicted and punished; but Mr. Cobbett admitted that the question had never been asked how many hours they had been at work, and whether, therefore, the real guilt was not attachable to their employers rather than to themselves. He (the chairman) believed that rail- way directors would find it cheaper in the end to employ more bench], rather than by overworking a small staff to involve the companies in extra risk. They had the authority of a man of keen observation and high position, and a man, perhaps, better acquainted with railway management than any other man in the country, who had, moreover, ridden more miles on a railway engine than any other man, excepting enginemen themselves—Mr. George Wilson—(cheers)—in attestation of the vigilance necessary for such men and the general efficiency of those whom he had met; be hoped that all would strive to deserve that credit, and that they should eventually Obtain an amelioration of their condition."