11 DECEMBER 1847, Page 7

11Lbe glrobinces.

In a Convocation of Oxford University, on Friday, it was resolved, by 52 against 10, to petition both Houses of Parliament against the elevation of Dr. Hampden to the see of Hereford. Several meetings of the clergy in various dioceses have been held with the same result. The English Churchman declares that an address has been submitted to Lord John Rus- sell, " by a majority of Bishops, respectfully and mildly, but strongly warning the Minister of the deep and widely prevalent feeling of the clergy at large on the occasion of the intended appointment of Dr. Hampden." This document is said to be signed by the following Bishops—London, Winchester, Lincoln, Bangor, Carlisle, Rochester, Bath and Wells, Glouces- ter and Bristol, Exeter, Salisbury, Chichester, Ely, and Oxford.

The reports from the factory districts continue to improve; employment gradually extending, in spite of the flatness customary at this season.

We are informed that Mr. John Cooke, of the Chace, near Ross, has sold the Snigsend estate, at Corse and Staunton, near Gloucester, to Mr. Feargus O'Connor [on account of the Chartist laud scheme]. The estate comprises about 250 acres, and the price was 12,000L—Worcestershire Chronicle.

A tragedy similar to that which recently occurred at Birmingham has just been perpetrated at Bath: the wife of one R'edout, a jobbing brewer, who lived in a secluded place near the city, has murdered her four children and destroyed her- self. The husband had been absent brewing; a neighbour noticed the non- appearance of the woman, and this led to a frightful discovery: in the cottage, lying on the kitchen-floor, was the mother with her throat cut, a razor close by; in the adjoining room were the corpses of the four children, also dead, with their throats cut. The ages of the children ranged from nine months to six years. A large tub was almost full of blood and water, as if the mother had held the chil- dren over the tub while she butchered them. The murderess had exhibited pre- vious signs of mental derangement.

Two milers of Netherton, near Dudley, a mother and daughter, having quar- relled at work, the mother threw a piece of red hot iron at the daughter; it entered her side to a considerable depth, and the young woman died in a few minutes, in great agony. The unhappy mother is said to be notable for industrious habits and cleanliness: the daughter was dissolute and dishonest; she had been sus-

pected of pilfering, and the mother accnaed her of it; the daughter answered ureverently ; and the piece of hot Iron was thrown in a moment of passion.