11 JULY 1846, Page 4

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Sir Thomas Wilde, the new Attorney-General, was at Worcester, pre- paring to be reelected on Wednesday. About eleven o'clock on Tuesday night, Sir Denis Le Merchant arrived at the Bell Hotel, with the news of the death of Sir Nicolas Tindal, and bearing a letter from Lord John Russell to Sir Thomas Wilde, offering him the vacant place of Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas. Sir Thomas instantly accepted the ap- pointment, and announced the fact in a letter to the Mayor; and the prof- fered services of Sir Denis Le Merchant having been accepted by some of the leading electors, who were hastily summoned, it was resolved to sub- stitute him for Sir Thomas Wilde on the following morning. By day- break, copies of the letter from Sir Thomas to the Mayor announcing his elevation to the bench, and an address from Sir Denis Le Merchant offer- himself as a candidate in his place, appeared in placards.

The election took place in the GuildhalL The Mayor, with an expres- sion of regret at the loss of the services of Sir Thomas Wilde, nominated Sir Denis Le Merchant, of Common Place, Surrey, as Member for Wor- cester. No opposition having been offered, Sir Denis was declared duly elected. Sir Thomas Wilde then took leave of the constituency, with the expression of many thanks for the confidence and kindness he had expe- rienced at their hands. He heartily rejoiced that his place was to be sup- plied by Sir Denis Le Merchant; whom he had known for many years. Sir Thomas, however, abstained from entering into general politics. In returning thanks, Sir Denis Le Merchant avowed the identity of his poli- tical principles with those professed by Sir Thomas Wilde— He was an advocate of free trade in its widest meaning. Great honour was due to the Minister who had succeeded in carrying the Corn Bill; but greater to those who had for years struggled for the adoption of free commerce, and who had kept the question continually before the public mind. He was grateful to the League, and grateful to Mr. Cobden, for his unwearied exertions in the cause; and he was proud, when in the House of Commons, to hear his great merit ad- mitted by Sir Robert Peel, echoed by Lord John Russell, and acknowledged by the great majority of the Representatives of the People. The struggle was not yet over; and he would at all times exert his humble abilities in promoting the good cause, and extending the interests of the people. He was anxious to assist in redressing Irish grievances; and with regard to national education, he concurred in the pious sentiment of George the Third, that he should, not regard a real good

as obtained until every poor child in the kingdom could read his 'Bibfe. - The thanks of the constituency having been accorded to Sir Thomas Wilde for his past services, Sir Thomas expressed his acknowledgments in very impressive terms, with touching allusions to the death of Sir Nicolas Tindal, and to the sense of accountability under which he was himself about to ascend the bench of justice.

The Nottingham election also took place on Wednesday. Two candi- dates were put in nomination,—Sir John Cam Hobhouse on the Ministerial interest, and Mr. Feargus O'Connor on the Chartist. The auditors were mostly non-electors. Mr. O'Connor was proposed by Mr. Sweet; and Mr. W. Mott, who seconded him, spoke of Sir John Hobhouse as a " renegade "; quoting in proof a passage from a speech delivered by him in 1819, in which he violently attacked the Whigs as the enemies of Parliamentary reform, and avowed himself in favour of electoral districts, ballot, and the extension of the suffrage.

Sir John had some difficulty in obtaining a hearing, and it was only after Mr. Feargus O'Connor had interposed that he was enabled to get on. But he defended himself with a good deal of confidence in reply to Mr. O'Con- nor's seconder— His accuser evidently knew nothing of his career. Duringthe twenty-six years he had been a servant of the public, he had not in one single instance given a vote in opposition to the principles which he avowed in 1819. He had supported an extension of the suffrage long before it was popular in Parliament or espoused by any Ministry. When he went into Parliament in 1819, the Whigs were not the friends of Parliamentary Reform, and therefore he denounced them. For twelve years he remained in Opposition; and it was not till the Reform Bill was brought in that he joined the party who had introduced it. Sir John proceeded to enume- rate the various other ameliorations with which the Whigs were identified; and said that he could not hesitate to accept office under_ a man who had taken the lead in effecting these beneficial reforms. Lord John Russell had not selected as members of his Government the representatives of small constituencies, but had chosen the representatives of the most important of all the communities which compose this great country. This showed that he had implicit reliance on public opinion being in his favour. It was not the fault of the present Government that Sir Robert Peel was not in office; his perseverance with the Irish Coercion Bill left the Liberals no alternative but to vote against him. Sir John adverted to the intention of the Government to follow out the principles of commercial free- dom; and called upon the electors to mark their approval of such a course by again sending him to Parliament to aid in its prosecution.

After a Chartist speech from Mr. O'Connor, a show of hands was taken: the majority was declared to be in O'Connor's favour; but Feargus having declined a poll, Sir John Cam Hobhouse was declared to be duly elected.

On Thursday, Mr. Charles Wood, the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, was reelected for Halifax. His speech touched on the usual topics much in the current fashion. We extract a pes"ege relating to his own depart- ment— " The principles avowed by the present Government are the principles of ' com- mon sense '; and, acting upon them we may safely rely upon that support and assistance which will enable us to bear down in Parliament any opposition which may be threatened to such measures [as the equalization of the Sugar-duties They are the principles upon which 1 believe all sound legislation must p

in somequarters, upon some questions, there has been of late years a great dis- position to interfere tar beyond what I think the Legislature is justified in doing. Upon all those matters you are the best legislators for yourselves. The less Par- liament interferes in matters of that sort, the better. Taxes and duties must be imposed, because the interest of the public debt, the charges of the public ser- vice, must be defrayed out of the taxation of the country. But the taxation of the country, or rather the imposition of those taxes, ought to be so managed as to raise the greatest amount of revenue from the public with the least burden and inconvenience to the people of this country. That is the legitimate mode of im- posing taxes, and one to which, I hope, as speedily as may be consistent with the maintenance of the requisite revenue, the taxation of this country will be brought." The Chartists put forward a mock candidate; but the seconder was found to be a non-elector: so a show of hands was not taken, and Mr. Wood's election was declared.

Mr. Henry Vincent, the Complete Suffrage lecturer, appears as an op- ponent to Lord Ebrington at Plymouth. The machinery of a contest— not a very uncertain one—has been put in motion on both sides. Lord Ebrington's support of the Maynooth grant, and the part he has taken on some local questions, have encouraged, if they did not originate, the opposition.

Mr. Cobden announces his virtual retirement, in a letter to the electors of Stockport-

" The state of my health, and other private considerations, induce me to seek a temporary withdrawal from public life. With this view, I have obtained leave of absence from Parliament for the remainder of the session, and it is my intention, after making the necessary arrangements for leaving home, -to in abroad for a twelvemonth. I therefore most respectfully beg to be considered in the enjoyment of the privileges and immunities of private life: at the same time, I feel it my duty to place my seat at your free disposal, in case a dissolution should occur during my absence from England.

"Allow me to take the present opportunity of expressing the grateful sense I entertain of the confidence and kindness with which you have honoured me. To your favour alone have I been indebted for the opportunity of advocating, however humbly, in the British Legislature, the now happily triumphant principles of free trade. I thank all and each of you for the considerate forbearance with which you have allowed me to devote myself uninterruptedly to one absorbing question, and of assuring you how deeply I regret that a necessity should arise for suspend- ing my connexion with your important borough."

Mr. Monckton Milnes has addressed the following letter " to the electors and inhabitants of the borough of Pontefract." "26, Pall Mall, July 8.

" Gentlemen—The course of policy adopted by Sir Robert Peel having entirely dissolved the powerful political party which raised him to the direction of public affairs in 1841, I think it right to address to you a few remarks as to the part my sense of public duty inclines me to take in this peculiar conjuncture.

As I never anticipated either thegreat immediate benefit or the extensive ultimate injury from the repeal of the Corn-laws that many others have done, I should have preferred a settlement of the question which should not have been attended with so great a sacrifice of revenue, and with so much painful feeling on the one hand and so much triumph on the other: but when all hope of compromise was past, I could not consent to reject a measure which so large a portion of the community believed to be just, when the loss, whatever it be, must, as far as our part of the country is concerned, fall exclusively on my own class of society; the demand for labour being abundant, and the tenant-farmer free to make new terms with his landlord, as altered circumstances may require. "But the greater part of the late Ministers had been the stanchest advocates of the Protective system; and we, acting under the advice of Sir Robert Peel, in 1841 opposed the considerable advance in the direction of free trade then pro- posed by Lord John Russell; and thus, however conscientious may have been the change of opinion in the late Government, it was impossible that one party could forgive the suddenness of their conversion, or that the other could forget their

long persistence in error. They have therefore piore incurred the natural consvences of infirmity of purpose; and their opponents, whose Free-trade tendencies Parlia- ment has accepted and confirmed, are now the Ministers of England. "This occurrence is surely not to be regretted, when we consider that the al- ternative must have been the uncertain maintenance in power of a Government too weak to accomplish what it thought to be right; exposed to insulting re- proaches from former friends, who believed themselves betrayed, and to impedi- ments from opponents who believed themselves overreached; and only able to retain their places by continual appeals to the meanest interests and the basest passions. " Lord John Russell is at the head of the most numerous of the three parties in the House of Commons, and has thus the fairest claim to form a Government; but it is clear he cannot sustain that position with honour to himself and benefit to the nation, unless supported by some who have hitherto been opposed to him. It appears improbable that Sir Robert Peel, having retired to his wealthy privacy and his hopes of fame, will, for some time at least, attempt to organize a new Opposition; and it is not certain that the colleagues and followers, who have already endured and sacrificed so much, would invite him to a fresh competition. The Protectionists, to whom the present Government owe their accession to power, are not the men to have raised up an Administration for the mere pleasure of overthrowing it, and sport with the institutions of their country without prospect of advantage to their principles or their party. Every man, in fact, is free to act as he thinks best; and I cannot conceal from you my conviction, that it is the present duty of every true Conservative to give a fair and independent support to the Government of Lord John Russell.

" An Opposition may, nay must, form itself in the course of time; but let it be a real and not a nominal one—an opposition either to the practical misma- • ment of the Executive, or to an illiberal and exclusive distribution of the

offices of state, or to an attack upon some institution which we reasonably value. Let us, in a word, oppose measures which we believe to be wrong, and not the men who have been placed in a difficult and responsible position, almost without an intentional effort, by a series of singular events and the rapid change in the political views of a mature and experienced statesman.

" In the limitation of the hours of factory labour, in the amendment of the tenure of land in Ireland, in the improvement of the Poor-law in the prosecu- tion of public education, and in the wiser treatment and reformation of criminals, Lord John Russell has before him questions sufficient to call forth all his ener- gies, and on which it would be indeed grievous to see good intentions and saga- cious plans thwarted by the blindness and violence of Parliamentary faction. " Old party distinctions have passed away, and it would be well if old party names could be extinguished too. Let the new Government distinguish itself by a truly liberal, temperate, and judicious policy, and by patient, practical reforms, and the country will forget that it includes men who once offended it by their ex- clusive pretensions and oligarchical traditions. " With these hopes, and, I may add, expectations, I trust that I shall find my- self representing your feelings and desires, in supporting, as long as I conscien- tiously can, the Administration of Lord John Russell.

" RiCHARD MONCKTON An address to Sir Robert Peel was agreed to at a public meeting of merchants and manufacturers held at Birmingham on Wednesday. Sir Robert Peel makes the following reply to an address presented to him by the Manchester Chamber of Commerce. "Drayton Manor, July 4, 1846.

a Gentleme —I have this day bad the honour of receiving the address from the Chamber of Commerce and Manufactures at Manchester, transmitted to me by the President..

"That add-ess I shall not fail to communicate to the other members of the Go- vernment which has been lately dissolved. It was mainly through their cordial and zealous cooperation that I was enabled to conduct to a successful issue the measures which it was my duty to propose at the commencement of the present session, for the removal of many of the remaining restraints on commerce, and for the repeal of taxes on corn, cattle, meat, and all the first necessaries of life.

" To myself personally this address must be peculiarly gratifying, on account of the place from which it proceeds, and on account of your connexion with manu- facturing interests and occupations, to which I am so deeply indebted. My late colleagues will, I am confident, fully participate in the satisfaction which I have derived from an address which approves so warmly of our conduct, and does such ample justice to our motives. " In returning my acknowledgments, allow me to make a remark, which could not be addressed more appropriately to any other body, and in the truth of which no other body would, I am confident, more readily acquiesce. Although, as might naturally be expected, the measures for the repeal of the Corn and Provi- sion Laws were encountered by a very able and vehement opposition in Parlia- ment, yet full justice has not been done to the great moderation and forbearance which were generally displayed by that class of the community which is imme- diately and practically concerned in the occupations of agriculture. They were equally displayed by that class in every part of the empire, in Scotland and Ire- land, as well as in this part of the United Kingdom. During the whole progress of the measure through Parliament, there was no disposition on their part manifested to offer or encourage any obstruction not required for the purposes of fair discussion, or to insist pertinaciously on the continued maintenance of protec- tive duties for the benefit of a particular class.

" Of this I am confident, that nothing:' during the heat of the conflict which, now that it is closed, ought to patent the establishment of cordial har- mony and good-will between the agricultural and manufacturing classes. It is indeed to be hoped, that one of the happiest minks of the measures which have • been sanctioned (as I believe, finally and irrevocably sanctioned) by Parliament, will be the termination of constantly recurring and Irritating discussion, and the removal of all causes of jealousy and contention between those who, though occu- pied in different departments of industry, have interests that are inseparably interwoven.

" I thank you for the hearty good wishes you express for my welfare. I can claim no credit for any personal sacrifice in relinquishing office. With whatever pertinacity I would have adhered to it, if such adherence had been essential, or manifestly conducive to the final success of the commercial measures of the present session, yet, now that they are passed, I retire from office with feelings little akin to those of disappointment or regret. " I are satisfied that, in the inesent state of affairs, and in the present position of political parties, it is for the public advantage that the power which official station confers should be transferred to other hands, and transferred without a protracted struggle.

" Being so satisfied, I cordially rejoice on every private ground that I am re- lieved from a burden which was beyond my strength, and am exempted from- sacrifices for which nothing could compensate but the ability to render public service.

"Be assured that, in a private station, I shall give my continued support to those principles of commercial legislation which have been approved equally by the deductions of reason and by the results of practical experiment; and that 1 shall rejoice in the progress of all measures, adopted with due caution and cir-, cumspection, that shall be calculated, by extending commerce, to give additional security for general peace, and by insuring their just reward to skill and indus- try, to lay the best foundation for the intellectual and moral improvement of the people.

" I have the honour to be, gentlemen, your faithful servant, "ROBERT PEEL."

"Thomas Baxley, Esq., President of the Chamber of Commerce. " The Mayor of Manchester, &c."

The Earl of Essex's Free-trade opinions have virtually broken up the Watford Farmers Club, of which the Earl was Chairman. At an ordinary meeting of the Club on the 2d instant, Mr. Hubert, the Secretary, read. letters from some of the members, withdrawing their names; the Chair- man's opinions on the subject of free trade being assigned as the reason; Lord Essex defended the course he had adopted—

Had he not declared his change of opinion at the time be became Chairman, he would have exposed himself to the charge of duplicity. He advised those who anticipated injury from the abolition of the Corn-laws, to turn round and face the danger, instead of allowing themselves to be panic-stricken like a flock of their own sheep. If loss should arise, he was certain it would be confined to bad farm- ers; and such he advised to leave their farms before their purses were emptied or the soil they cultivated exhausted. He offered to release any of his own te- nants from their engagements; but he expected these who remained to do justice to his lands. As regarded the Club itself, it would be ridiculous to continue the meetings without the attendance of tenant-farmers; and he should therefore propose that the present meeting be adjourned sine die.

This proposal was agreed to.

At the quarterly meeting of the ironmasters of South Staffordshire, held at Birmingham on Thursday, it was resolved to maintain the present prices. Some of the manufacturers have been selling under the current rates, but they are considered to be alarmists; the demand for railway- iron in the district having given a stimulus to the trade.

A rather extraordinary case of mistaken identity has occurred at Brighton. A young woman named Dinning met a Mr. Harper at that town, formed an acquaint- ance, and on the 1st of October last went to London and was married; her husband lived with her for thirteen days, and then disappeared. The forsaken wife re- turned to Brighton. The other day she met Commander Mercer, a gentleman in his sixtieth year, and claimed him as her missing spouse: she was positive that he was Mr. Harper; and her importunities at length compelled Captain Mercer to bring the matter before the Magistrates. He proved that he was not absent from Brighton on the 1st of October, nor for a number of days following. The Bench were satisfied that Captain Mercer was not the husband; but at the same time considered that the poor woman had really thought he was.

Robinson, a waggoner of Mansfield, has been found dead under myste- rious circumstances on the high-road in Papplewick Forest, near Nottingham. He was driving his team to Mansfield, accompanied by one Shepherd; who tells a doubtful tale. He says that the deceased loitered behind the waggon with his dog while passing through the forest; as he did not come up, Shepherd went on, gave notice at a village that he had missed his companion, and then took the waggon on to Mansfield. Some people searched for the missing man. Near the eighth mile-stone from Nottingham,Robinson's dog was found in the road; it barked, and rams out as if wishing to prevent any one from going forward: near the faithful animal the waggoner was discovered, stretched on his back in the road, covered with blood, wounded on the head and neck, and braised on the body; he was quite dead. There was money in his pocket. His jacket and whip were found a mile nearer to Nottingham. When Shepherd appeared he- gira the Coroner, he wag searched: two or three spots of blood were found on the lining of his jacket; his shirt was very dirty on the right sleeve and shoulder, and there was a little blood on the wristbands. These marks, he declared, were prodaced by fighting with a servant-man. For twenty-five years he has borne a wed character. On the second meeting of the Jury, however, Dr. Lightfoot, of Nottingham, declared his belief that deceased had been run over by some vehicle; the injuries on the body were of precisely the description which would be caused by such an accident. No evidence was produced to show how Robinson met with the disaster, or whether it was accidental; yet this verdict was returned—" That the deceased has been accidentally run over and killed by some carriage or car- riages unknown passing along the highway."

A Policeman has been murdered at Dagenham, in Essex, apparently after a

desperate straggle. George Clarke, a young man of the K division of Police, was recently drafted from Mile End and stationed at Dagenham. On the evening of Monday week, he went on his beat near Dagenham; he should have met another constable early on Tuesday morning at a cross-road, but failed to do so; and nothing was heard of the man. A search was made: it was not successful. till Friday evening; but then Clarke's body was found in a corn-field belonging to Mr. Collins, at East Brook. There were many wounds on the corpse; some of them seemed to have been made by the cutlass which bad been carried by the man himself, and which was found near where he was lying, covered with blood. His truncheon was concealed in a hedge, and his hat was missing; but his watch was upon him, and 14s. in his pocket. The earth around the body for many yards was much trampled upon; as if there had been a severe struggle be- tween the deceased and'his murderers. An inquest was commenced on Saturday. No light was thrown upon the question as to who were the criminals, and hardly a suspicion was avowed. The witnesses described the state of the body: the wounds were all about the head, neck, and shoulders, the. skull had been corn- pletely smashed, portions of the bone- having been found lying near the corpse; there was a great gash through the windpipe; and there were many other in- juries. The inquiry was adjourned. Some of the Detective Police have been sent from London to unravel the mys. tery; and Government has offered a reward of 1001. for the discovery of the mur- derers. One surmise is, that the deceased had been mistaken for one of two con- stables who had excited the hatred of bad characters in the neighbourhood of Ilford, by frequently taking them before the Magistrates for their misdoings. On the morning of the murder, about three o'clock, Mrs. Page, a woman who lives in a cottage at a short distance from the place where the body was found, was awakened by the violent barking of her dogs in the yard; on listening, she heard a cry for help; but the continual barking of the dogs prevented her from hearing anything more.

Mr. Norris, the head gamekeeper of Lord Ward, at Himley, near Dudley, has

been dangerously wounded by Hall, an under keeper. Norris rebuked the man fix bringing dogs into.a preserve where the game was very young; Hell raised his gun and shot Norris, blowing away his left arm, and lodging a quantity of shot in his side; he then walked away, but told two men of the keeper's situation.

Another fatal accident has happened on the Lancaster and Carlisle Railway,

which has attained a bad eminence for disasters to the workmen during its con- struction. Some labourers were removing the timbers of a temporary viaduct over the river Lowther, on the borders of Westmoreland, when one slipped down, and fell on two men; one died on the spot, and the other was not expected to live many hours.

A very extensive fire-occurred at Sebum, near Cambridge, early on the morning

of. yesterday. week. Thirteen houses have been destroyed,including farming pre- mises, a mill, shops, and private residences. An area of at least five acres has been laid waste; even the trees and hedges of the gardens were burnt. The mill was a very fine one, five stories high; after it bad been on fire for some time the sails, which were in flames, got loose, and whirled round like a gigantic fire-work, producing a peculiar and beautiful effect. The supply of water was small; there was-nothing but pumps, and these had been almost exhausted by previous fires and the dry weather. Seventy-nine persons were rendered houseless by the cala- mity; but, fortunately, most of the property destroyed was insured: estimated loss. 6,000/.

The lire is believed to have been wilful; for it is said to have broken out in several places at once, and a number of fires have also occurred very recently in

the same town. An inquiry resulted in the arrest of Cornelius Harvey, a man of independent property, and of James his nephew, a grocer and draper. James Harvey's house was among those burnt; his stock and premises were highly in- oared in the Suffolk Fire Office; lie owed his uncle 8001.; and although the whole of his stock was saved, he claimed the full sum for which he had insured. Both were remanded.

Alarmed at the repeated fires, the inhabitants have established a patrol to watch the town at night.

At the village of Teddington' in Bedfordshire' some boys made a bonfire in an unoccupied barn; the building took fire, and fourteen houses, besides barns and out-

houses, were utterly destroyed. A woman who lay ill of consumption died during her removal from one of the houses. After the fire had been extinguished, the re- mains of a boy were found in the barn where the fire orieinated: they were those of the lad who made the bonfire, and it is supposed that the smoke prevented him from finding the door. The occupants of e burnt dwellings were all poor people, and uninsured.