10 MAY 1845, Page 7

zbe Vrobintes.

Sir Watkin Williams Wynn, who had vacated his seat for Denbighshire by ac- cepting an honorary office under the Crown, the Stewardship of the Hundreds of Yale and Bromfield, was proposed for reelection, at the Shire-hall, on Wed- nesdav. He was obliged to undergo lectures—from a Free-trader, for opposing repeal of the Corn-laws; from an agriculturist, for betraying the farmers; from a third elector, for supporting the Maynooth grant; and from a fourth, fix having supported a Government which had betrayed his constituents as farmers, robbed them as churchmen, and insulted them as Protestants. There walk however, no opposition, and he was declared duly elected. At a meeting of the Board of Heads of Houses and Proctors in Oxford Uni- versity, on Monday, the Vice-Chancellor communicated to the Board a memorial from members of Convocation, very numerously signed, conveying their "earnest entreaty, that the University of Oxford having been precluded by the intervention of the Proctors from publicly expressing its opinion upon the 90(4 Tract for the Times, the matter may again he submitted to Convocation." The Board passed

the following resolution—" That the Board gladly recognize in this memorial the cordial desire of members of Convocation to cooperate with the Heads of Houma and Proctors in their endeavours to maintain the statutes of the University, an& to secure integrity of subscription to the Articles of Religion. That the Bmrd.1 retain the same opinion of the 90t4 Tract for the Times which they exp .rmed. to the University at the time of its first publication, and upon which they ap-: pealed in February last to the judgment of Convocation. Trusting, however, o the moral effect of the decision then pronounced by the University, upon a kindred, subject, and considering also that the question of a faithful subscription to the Articles of Religion is at present submitted to a high ecclesiastical tribunal, the Board are of opinion that a formal censure of the tract need not, under existinir circumstances, be brought before Convocation. And the Vice-Chancellor is re-' quested to communicate these resolutions to those members of Convocation by' whom the memorial was presented to him."

Chester races began on Tuesday, and were well attended; the sport being good. On that day, the Queen's Plate was won by Mr. Salvin's Alice Hawthorn. Tina chief race was that on Wednesday, for the Cup or Tradesman's Plate of 2001., added to a sweepstakes of 25/. each: there were 123 subscribers, of whom 52 "de.; dared" and paid only 51. each; and twenty horses ran: the prize was won in a canter by Mr. Skerratt's Intrepid, ridden by Arthur.

An appalling accident happened at Yarmouth on Friday afternoon—the SU,

pension broke down, with hundreds of people upon it, causing an immense sacrifice of life. The bridge was suspended from two piers, and is said to halter been capable of affording standing-room fern much larger number of persons thaw had gathered upon it. It was the chief means of transit from the reilway-tertain nus to the town. Mt. Nelson, a Clown at Cooke's Equestrian Circus, had em• trounced that he should ride in a floating tub drawn by four geese from the draw- bridge on the quay to the suspension-bridge across the North River; and at fivr o'clock thousands of people had assembled on both sides of the river to see him. Few people were then on the bridge; but as Mr. Nelson entered the North Rivers the numbers on it increased until they amounted to some hundreds—" from throat to six hundred"; most of whom pressed to the South side of the bridge. A large proportion of the crowd consisted of children. A gentleman who paseed, over the bridge about this time noticed, that "the crown of the bridge, instead of maintaining its convex form was completely flattened." The Clown's floating car had reached Bessey'sWharf and there was a loud shout to announce his coming: lathe midst of the shout rose a louder and shriller sluiek from the bank of the river—one of the suspension-rods was seen to snap, then another, and another; the chains on one side gave way, and the bridge fell on that side like the leaf of a table let down, pouring the crowd upon it into the water. There was a frightful splash and struggle—the water boiled up against the bridge— and then all was still, except that the river was strewed with people striving for life. Great numbers of boats instantly made for the place; the whole town seemed to rush to the shore; and the most strenuous efthrts were made to save, the victims. It is said, that as the bridge gave way there was no cry from the, crowd upon it--not a sound escaped under their sudden fate. As fast as they. were taken out of the water, the drowned people were carried to the nearest houses or to their own homes, and every endeavour was made to revive them At one house, to which sixty-eight persons were carried, only three were revived; and there were at one time fifty corpses lying in the house. The streets wore err strange and hideous aspect, with the carrying about of dead bodies, and the, wandering of affrighted people in search of their lost friends. It was soon wow,- tabled that snore than a hundred had perished. Nets were stretched across tkar river to intercept the dead bodies floating with the tide, and the vrater was care, fully dragged for some hems. Many bodies were found entangled with the iron- work of the bridge; And of those not a few must have antlered a very pilau& death.

' Some of the escapes were extraordinary. A woman who was thrown into thm water with her child, seized the child's clothes with her teeth, and paddled herself to a place of safety. "One man who was precipitated from the bridge caught a hold and maintained it: a female made a desperate clutch at his ankles and. succeeded in reaching them: the brave fellow looked down, and though in fearful perilhimself, encouraged her to hold tight, and she was rescued. The man re- fused get into the boat, telling the occupants to pick up those who were float- ing about the river; subsequently, however, he was obliged to release his hold, and he fell into the stream: we are happy to say that a rope was thrown to him immediately, and he was brought safely ashore." Just as the bridge fell, two gentlemen in a gig passed through the tell-gate; and the horse actually had Iriin feet on the bridge, when the alarm was given, arid they succeeded in polling bin

back. • Mr. Coroner Ferrier and his Jury began their arduous and mournful labours om Saturday; but hitherto the proceedings have only been formal, in order to faci- litate the interment of the bodies; very little evidence as to the cause of the accident having been taken. That little was important. J. B. Thorndike, r youth, deposed that he was on the suspension-bridge when the accident took

tin.a cracking noise and observed 'that one of the connecting links had-1r He stood in the carriage-way, and about the centre of the bridge. He the ends of the severed link being about two inches apart. He did not apprehenit any danger from what he saw. There was, however, a sudden rush to the Yarn mouth shore; but several persons laughed, and then ran back to their places. To the best of his belief, five or ten minutesd between that time and the time when the bridge fell Sufficient time elapsed between his first the link break and the fall of the bridge for everybody upon it to have gone off. By Tues- day, 75 bodies had been identified; and the number lost was then estimated. at 130 or 140. On that day, the Jury passed a resolution requesting the Town- Council to assist them with means to procure the aid of some eminent engineer he the investigation; and the inquest was adjourned, the Jury to be summoned egaim when the Coroner should think fit. Several reports were afloat as to the Meal, cieney of the structure; but they are as yet too unauthentic to merit notice. From lists which have been published, it appears that a large number of the sufferers were children, and nearly all the rest young people.

By Monday, the broken platform of the bridge had been cut away, and sever4 of the sunken portions dragged out; so that the navigation was once more free,.