the Vrobintes.
A dinner was given on Friday to Mr. Matthew Forster, the new Member for Berwick. Lord Howick was among the guests ; and his health having been proposed, he took the occasion to explain the state of his relations with Ministers-
" There was one occasion (and on the merits of the question then under dis- cussion I shall not enter here) on which, believing them to be wrong, and being compelled by my conviction to vote right, I did not shrink from the painful duty of opposing them ; but 1( do assure you I did feel it to be a most painful duty. I did not share the feelings of some persons I have seen in the House of Commons, who, when from a difference on one point or on two they had left office and the party with which they were connected, thought themselves bound also to leave all their old opinions and break off all their old friendships. Such, I trust, has not been and never will be my conduct. I have adhered to every opinion I ever professed ; and if I did not support her Majesty's Government on their Irish Registration Bill, it was not because I differed from them as to the object in view—not because I was less willing than they to place the repre- sentation on a sound and popular basis—but simply because I felt obliged in conscience to believe that the measures they proposed were ill-adapted to attain the end in view, and because I found that many gentlemen having the best acquaintance with Ireland—many of those gentlemen even, who, from the strength of party connexion, afterwards voted against the amendment I pro- posed—took the same view with myself as to the best means of regulating the franchise and registration in Ireland. But, gentlemen, if I differed from her Majesty's Government on this question, I have agreed with them on many more, and have only reserved to myself an independent right of judgment on their measures. And I have now supported the general principles of the com- mercial measures they have lately introduced."
A public dinner was given to Sir George Grey, at Devonport, on Monday, by his friends and supporters. About a hundred and fifty gentlemen sat down to dinner. Sir George dilated on the good deeds of 'the Whigs and Sir Robert Peel's difficulties : he bequeathed to Sir Ro- bert the financial measures devised by the Whigs; retaining, however, a reversionary interest for the latter—. "If excluded from office, the proposal of those measures would not rest with them. On Sir Robert Peel it would rest, and it would be for them to support 'him, against those who called him their leader, but who had prevented him from being of that use to his country that he would have been had be at a former period burst the bands with which they had bound him, and thrown himself with confidence into the arms of the Liberal party. But if it was too late for this—if he now were ashamed to do this—the people must, while it was in their power, take care that the measures proposed should be carried by those men who were sincerely desirous to carry them."
On Monday, the Directors of the Brighton Railroad, accompanied by about one hundred and fifty proprietors, formally opened that line as far as Hayward's Heath; whence they were conveyed by coaches over the Clayton tunnel, (not quite finished yet,) and thence proceeded again by the rail the last six miles to the Brighton station. About two hundred persons sat down to an entertainment at the Old Ship, in Brighton, to celebrate the event. The same part of the line will be opened to the public on Monday next.
An accident, by which fifty-one persons were killed, occurred on Tuesday, at Rotherham, in the West Riding of Yorkshire. A large barge was about to be launched from the building-yard of a Mr. Chambers. It is customary, both for the celebration of the event and for the ballasting of the vessel, to perform the operation with a cargo of people on board. In the present case, one hundred and fifty men and boys were on deck. On the removal of the supports, the barge, instead of gliding sidelong down the slips, capsized, and went into the water keel-upmost. Nearly two-thirds of those on board were thrown out to a distance, and picked up by the boats that went directly to their assistance ; but the remainder were enclosed and kept under the water by the barge's bulwarks, and were drowned long before she could be righted. The scene was one of intense excitement. The efforts made by the people to drag the barge over with ropes seemed at first about to be successful : several rose to the surface and were rescued; when the fastenings gave way, and the barge rolled heavily back on her deck, again shutting the drowning crowd within her mesh-work bulwarks. Before the chains and horses which then arrived could be made use of, all hope was past. The whole of the corpses were not recovered till two hours after the mishap.
Rotherham is a market-town in the West Riding of Yorkshire, shoat six miles north-east of Sheffield, situate in a valley near the confluence of the small river Bother and the Don, which runs by Doncaster. It contains about five thousand inhabitants, and is celebrated for the iron- works of Walker and Co., where cannon of the largest calibre are cast. The iron bridges of Sunderland and Staines were cast at this place. The coal and iron are chiefly supplied from mines in the neighbour- hood. A considerable trade in various other articles is carried on by the river to Doncaster and Hull. In the neighbourhood is Wentworth House, the magnificent residence of Earl Fitzwilliam.—Morning Chro- nicle.
In Manchester, yesterday at twelve o'clock, a portion of the cotton- factory of Messrs. Kelly and Gilmore fell down, by which five indivi- duals lost their lives. It appears that a new wing was building to the factory, and several rooms were erecting over the present building, when the new portion fell in. The mill, it is reported, had been hur- ried up too rapidly. The new portion had reached four stories high when it fell.
About ten o'clock in the forenoon of Friday last, a terrible explosion of fire-damp, or carbonated hydrogen gas, took place in the coal-works known as Rhodes Bank Colliery, near Oldham ; whereby four persons lost their lives, and two were severely though not fatally injured. At the time above-mentioned, six miners were in the works ; namely, Wil- liam Garforth, the overlooker, John Heathcote, a youth of about fifteen years, John and Thomas Garforth, and two others named Knight and Stewart. All the men had safety-lamps except one, and it is supposed that the inflammable gas took fire at the candle which was carried. The explosion was terrific, and was heard as well as felt at a considera- ble distance around the place. William Garforth and the lad Heathcote were taken out dead ; John Garforth died about seven the same evening; the body of Thomas had not been recovered on Monday, it being sup- posed to be blown to a remote part of the works. Knight and Stewart were removed soon after the explosion, and taken home. The Gar- forths have been most unfortunate : they were all relatives ; and Thomas had lost two children at Gladwick, by drowning, only a few weeks ago; about twelve months since he also lost a son by drowning, near the Blue-coat School ; and a month since, a nephew perished by the same means. An inquest was held on the bodies of the three miners, at the Black Swan, on Saturday, when a verdict of " Accidental death" was returned.—Manchester Chronicle.
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