14 AUGUST 1847, Page 6

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Mr. John Walter, the new Member for Nottingham, made a triumphal entry into the town on Tuesday. Mr. Walter was escorted from Chilweli Hall, the seat of his brother-in-law, Mr. Charlton, about five miles from Nottingham, by a procession consisting of many thousand persons, with banners and music. At the Exchange, Mr. Walter alighted, and received an address of congratiilation; after which he addressed the electors from the window. His speech was long, but not striking, except for its overflowing gratitude, combined with wonder at his own luck. He lauded the purity of Nottingham, as putting to shame the purity of Tamworth, vaunted by Sir Robert PeeL Mr. Walter's hearers seemed to relish this compliment; and vociferously cheered the new Member throughout his speech and at itt5 close.

In the evening, Mr. Walter was entertained at dinner by a party of his supporters, in the Exchange. The chairman was Mr. Bewley, whose im- promptu nomination of the guest had such unexpected success; and about a hundred and fifty gentlemen sat down to table. In proposing Mr. Walter's health, the chairman glanced at the past history of elections for the borough— For twenty years before the late Mr. Walter appeared, the Corporation of Not- tingham had nominated whom it pleased; but in 1841, Mr. Walter beat Sir George Larpent and the Corporation with its long purse; and when he went into the House of Commons, his was the vote that drove the Whigs from office. on the dissolution of Parliament which followed, Mr. Walter again came forward; and it nearly "bankruptcied " Sir John Hobhouse to defeat him. Next came the memorable Compromise; and the Whip, playing false, brought forward that de- lectable specimen of philosophy and wisdom, Joseph Starge. (Laughter.) They all knew the result—Mr. Walter was not ousted for bribery, but was deprived of his seat by the grossest and basest corruption. Then came the gentleman on his right. [Mr. Jam Walter, just elected.] "He was beaten by Mr. Thomas Gis- borne; not by the weight of his character, but by a secret parse, for Mr. Gis- borne had not himself the means. Upon the present occasion no unfair means had been resorted to. Sir JoIm stood by the pump: he would have nothing to do with Mr. Gisbome, who had no money to spend; and the constituency, being left to their own unbiassed votes, left the Whigs in a most miserable minority. (Cheers.) Mr. Feargus O'Connor, whom he regarded with great respect, told Sir John Hobhouse and Mr. Gisborne at the hustings, that the one was a political vagabond and the other a political scoundrel; but what did he say of his other opponent, the Conservative candidate? He said he found in Mr. Walter a high- minded, honourable, virtuous young man. (Loud cheers.) knowing himself very little of Mr. Walter personally, never having seen him in his life before, but aware that Mr. Feargus O'Connor never had much good to say of any man, he knew, when he called the Whigs scoundrels and vagabonds, he told the truth; and he was equally bound to believe him when he spoke so highly of Mr. Walter." (Loud cheers.) Mr. Bowley read a letter from the Reverend Mr. Fraser of Segworth, godfather to Mr. John Walter, testifying to the hereditary virtues of that gentleman.

In returning thanks, Mr. Walter took occasion to make a statement of his political opinions-

" Gentlemen, the newspapers have thought fit to adopt a certain classification of party names, under which they have ranged most, if not all, the newly-elected Members for the ensuing Parliament I do not know, gentlemen, whether that particular classification had been adopted in order to guide or delude the public; but I do feel that it is quite inadequate to express the true relations in which Par- ties stand to each other; and I, for my own part, should most certainly decline to be classed in either of the categories thus mentioned. (Cheers.) The denomi- nations I allude to are these—Liberal, Peelite, and Protectionist.' Now, gentle- men, what is a Liberal ? A Liberal in these days has a most indefinite significa- tion. It may mean anything you please. In one sense of the word, I am per- fectly satisfied that all the gentlemen I see before me are Liberals: but they are not Liberals in the sense which wild and fanatical Revolutionists attach to that term; nor in the sense of those 'pure old Whigs,' generally the most proud and aristocratic class of the community, who, boasting themselves as descendants of our patriotic forefathers, exhibit their liberality by shutting up old men and women in separate cells of the union workhouse. Upon such liberality as this I decline altogether to take my stand. (Loud cheers.) What, gentlemen, is the next denomination? It is that of 13eelite. I mean no disrespect to those Members of Parliament who felt it their duty to support the measures of Sir Robert Peel; but if the word be used with reference to his past conduct, it can only signify a person who, having obtained office on one set of principles, afterwards turns round and leaves his friends in the larch by acting on a totally different set of principles. (Cheers.) I therefore altogether decline to have my name connected with any party designation which is associated with leaving one's party continually in the lurch. (Loud cheers.) The only remain- ing name is that of Protectionist. Now, I cannot understand what the present Protectionists can be after. There was a time when I myself should have been a Protectionist; them was a time when that individual to whose opinions I will more particularly allude by and by was a Protectionist: but I think we may just as well expect to see Queen Anne on the throne again as to see the return of the Corn-laws; and therefore I am not content to rank myself a Protectionist. (Loud cheers.) To what party, then, do I belong? Gentlemen, I belong to no ''Grty. (Loud cheers.) I decline to acknowledge any man my political leader. 'Oratinued cheers.) There was a man to whose political opinions, while he lived, was delighted to pay all the deference of a disciple and a son; but now he is taken from me, I can only say, as a distinguished statesman said of Mr. Pitt, my political allegiance lies buried in his grave: (Loud cheers.) Gentlemen, the opi- nions of my father, your late Member, were strictly Conservative in theproper sense of the word Conservative,' not in that paltry sense in which it has been need for party purposes, but in the highest and most patriotic sense of the word. (Cheers.) I mean that it was my father's ruling idea to preserve the old-established in- stitutions of the country, and to adapt them to the altered circumstances of the times without any sudden or violent revolution. (Loud cheers.) It was on this principle that he opposed that total invasion of the old charitable institutions of the country which the Whigs too successfully introduced in 1884. (Cheers.) It was on the same principle that he would have preferred a corn-law which would have tended to reconcile conflicting interests, which even the Free-traders them- selves would not long since have been delighted to adopt, and which would have been carried but for the obstinate resistance of the Protectionists. (Loud cheers.) On the same principle he opposed the Income-tax, as an invasion of the constitu- tion, introducing a new inquisitorial principle, such as had not been recognized be- fore; although he was not opposed to a Property-tax, to be levied under proper circumstances. (Loud cheers.) There is another point to which I wish to al- lude, because I am aware that upon that question there may be some difference of opinion between us.-I mean the currency question. My father was a strung sup- porter of Sir Robert Peel's Currency Bill. Gentlemen, I confess not only to have inherited his views on that question, but I entertain a very strong opinion of my own upon it. I have always entertained a very strong opinion in fa- vour of a metallic currency. (Cheers.) I believe no system of currency which is not based upon this principle can be safe for the country. Bank-notes and paper currency are very good things in their way; bat they are good only so far as they are convertible into that which they profess to represent. (Cheers.) We are often told that credit is the life of commerce: this is quite true; but too much credit, like too much meat or drink, may destroy the life it should maintain. (Cheers.) I have no hesitation in saying that I believe no measure could be

adopted so utterly subversive of the prosperity of the country as one which would depretaate our monetary standard, or introduce a fictitious paper currency in its

stead. (Load cheers.) I trust, gentlemen, I have now said enough to give you

a general idea of the principles on which I am about to enter Parliament So far as my own relations with my father have enabled me to ascertain his opinions, I

am prepared to act up to them. Whenever new or different circumstances arise, I shall be guided by analogy, and endeavour to act as I believe he would have acted." (Loud cheers.)

Subsequently, Mr. Walter proposed the health of the chairman; which was drunk in a handsome silver cup that had been presented to Mr. Bowley by the Conservative electors. Another toast was "the memory of the late Mr. Walter "; which was drunk in solemn silence.

• It Is amusing to find Mr. Walter challenging the classification which "the news- papers have thought fit to adopt," and doubting whether it hail been adopted "in order ID guide or delude the public,"—seeing that Ins own newspaper set the example of this classification. It was first used, we believe, by the Times. In a list of the whole House of Commons, each Member characterized as Liberal, Peelite, or Protectionist, published two or three days before the commeneement of the present election, and uniformly fol- lowed out by the same journal ever since.

Mr. Roebuck has addressed the following letter to his supporters at Bath— "London, August 5, 1847. "Gentlemen—My warmest thanks are due to those of you who in the late contest for the representation of Bath marked by your votes your continued con- fidence in my faith and honour. I beg of you to accept my thanks: my gratitude ia not the less because I was unsuccessful. The result has naturally given me great pain, on public as well as on private grounds. Levity in constituencies will inevitably tend to lower the morality of those who represent them. If pub- lic favour cannot be retained by honourable conduct, it will be used as a means for the promotion of private interests. And this baseness on the part of the repre- sentative will be excused, if not justified, by appealing to the unworthy because oscillating conduct of the constituent bodies of the country. If wretched feel- ings of personal spite, and hollow professions of pretended scruples, are to be rife among these last, venality and self-seeking will quickly be manifest among those who may win and wish to retain their favour. Old connexions friendships of many years, are not severed without regret My whole political life has be= passed in connexion with the constituency of Bath; and I do not pretend to that stoical philosophy which would enable me to say farewell without many painful emotions. This, however, is the last time that I shall address you. What my future career may be, time only can determine; but it will be impossible for me again to form the same intimate relations with any other constituent body as those which bound me to you. The majority of you have determined that these should not continue. If, then, I am again to take part in politics, I must apply to others, and ask of them to award me that confidence which you have as a body, with- drawn. Whether I shall be tempted to make the experiment2-.whether, if made, it is to prove successful—the future will disclose. In the mean time, permit Me to express to you, my faithful friends, my most sinews and heartfelt gratitude. That you may all, whether friends or opponents find worthy representatives in those who may hereafter act in your behalf, is really the desire your of '. ° "Gentlemen, yo obedient servant, J. A ROEBUCK.

Mr. Rice R. Clayton, formerly Member for Aylesbury as the nominee or the Duke of Buckingham, has addressed a letter tothat nobleman complain- ing of the withdrawal of his support. Mr. Clayton says that ho cannot attribute this loss of confidence to the votes given by him for the recent Corn-law and Tariff reforms, because he observes that his Grace continues his good-will to other Members who voted in the same way. Mr. Clayton proceeds to make a charge against the Duke: at the late election for Ayles- bury, his agent locked up a large body of electors in the George Inn, who were set free only on condition of voting according to directions. In proo4 Mr. Clayton refers to the poll-book, as showing how 269 electors of whom 89 were pledged to vote for him, split their votes between Mr. Deeming, " your Grace's friend," and Lord Nugent, the Liberal candidate. The Duke replies- " You will be pleased to recollect, that in the year 1842, at a meeting of the Agricultural Society, at the George Inn, Aylesbury, I stated, that in conse- quence of Captain Hamilton and yourself having voted for the alteration of the Corn-laws, I could no longer give you my support; and when, previous to the present election, you spoke to me upon the same subject, I stated that I could not give it to you.

" It isnot for me to answer any personal imputations which you are pleased to . throw upon myself: I am the proper judge of my own conduct.

"With regard to circumstances connected with the election which your letter details, [have, however, no hesitation in stating, that if such occurred, they were , without my cognizance, direction, or approbation."

At Carlisle Assizes, last week, John Thomson was tried for the murder of his wife, by poison. The investigation occupied two days, and the evidence was very voluminous. The sudden illness of the woman, her sufferings, and speedy death, were narrated. She was taken ill after eating of a veal pie. Mrs. Thomson gave some of the pie to a neighbour; and three persons who ate of it suffered greatly from internal pains; but not much was eaten, for as soon as its ill effects were found, the remainder was thrown away. The prisoner mentioned to one of those people that he had partaken of the pie, and it had disordered him. When the - woman died, Thomson did not appear much affected. Dust was found in the pockets of his clothes, which on unalyzation proved to be partly arsenic. Ar- senic was detected in the body of the woman by a post mortem examination. In some oatmeal at the prisoner's house there was also arsenic. A verdict of "Guilty" was returned, and sentence of death was pronounced. Before he left the dock, the convict declared that he was "an innocent man." But on the fol- lowing day he confessed his guilt to the Chaplain of the prison: for three weeks he mixed arsenic with butter, oatmeal, and other articles which were likely to be' taken by his wife. His object in seeking her death was that he might roarer another woman.

At Gloucester Assizes, on Monday, John Skinner was tried for the murder of his wife at Clifton. The couple were quarrelsome, and the prisoner seemed to have beaten the deceased: on the 2d of Jane last, Irwin, the woman's brother, remonstrated with Skinner: who drove him from the room by threatening with a knife, and struck him, forcing him down the stairs. Directly afterwards, -Mrs: Skinner was seen falling headlong from the window—which is on the third story —to the street: she was dead in a few moments. People heard her shriek as she fell; the window was closed after her fall; the husband was found lying on the bed, smiling. He said the woman had thrown herself oat. This was the case for the prosecution. For the defence, it was shown that the deceased was a strong, fully-developed woman; the prisoner a weak person in ill-health; the window was so small that great exertion must have been made to force a person through it A boy seven and a half years old was allowed to give evidence: he was on the- landing of the prisoner's room at the time of the occurrence, sleeping; he was aroused by the first noise, got up, saw the man Irwin forced out; and while the door was open noticed the deceased go to the window, open it, and throw herself out; the prisoner, on returning to the room, saw at once what had happened, and after a short pause went and buttoned up the window. This testimony was tin-, shaken by cross-examination; and the little boy made his statement with such a truthful demeanour, that the Judge expressed approbation' and an opinion that if tutored the child could not have so delivered the story. The verdict was "Nob guilty."

At Bridgewater Assizes, yesterday week, James Gould, a boy of fifteen, was tried for embezzling a number of letters and three pennies the property of the Postmaster-General. The prisoner was employed to carry letters from Radstock to Tirasbury, calling at Camerton and Radford; his wages were 7s. a week, and were his sole dependence. His landlady discovered a packet of sixteen letters in a pocket of his trousers; in another pocket were twenty-seven letters • and under the tiles of an oat-house, fifty-four others were found. On many of these the postage had been paid, the money having been intrusted to the boy to pay over to the Radstock postmistress. The prisoner was found guilty. In passing sen- tence Chief Justice Wilde made some remarks on the peculiar position of the culpnt. Here was a boy of the age of fifteen years engaged in a most confiden- tial situation, having to support himself away from his friends on 7s. per week, and in the daily habit of receiving pence for the postage of letters; no doubt, a situation in which he was exposed to much temptation and difficulty. The publit could scarcely be said to have been adequately protected by the Post-office au- thorities: it was their duty to see that those persons whom they employed fa situations like those the prisoner had occupied were paid such wages or rensig. neration as would be calculated to give some security to the public, by furnishing an adequate means of support; that did not appear to have been done in elea present instance. Looking at these circumstances, the sentence was, that AM prisoner be transported for seven years. The effect of this sentence would be that the lad would be sent to a prison where boys of his age were instructed. A somewhat novel case of breach of promise of marriage WRS tried on Saturday last, before Lord Denman, on the Midland Circuit. The plaintiff, an upholster of Birmingham named Ethell, owning to forty-five years of age, sought to recover compensation in damages from Miss Meredith, aged thirty. The parties became known to each other in June 1846. After an acquaintance of some few weeks, an attachment spring up between them; and Miss Meredith intimated to Mr. Thomas Ethell, the nephew, that she contemplated a marriage with Mr. Stephen, his uncle; requesting the nephew to communicate with her brother upon the sub- ject. He did so. The brother of the defendant at the time approved of the con- nexion; and it was subsequently arranged that the marriage should take place in the month of October. The defendant provided her marriage-clothes, and the plaintiff proceeded to make the necessary arrangements for the nuptials. A short time afterwards, Miss Meredith declined to fulfil her promise; and when requested to state the grounds of her refusal, she stated in the first instance, that her bro- ther would not give his consent; also that the plaintiff was too old, and that she did not like to marry a man of such an age. In the course of the evidence it came out that the plaintiff was at least forty- nine, and that the defendant had some property; facts of which the defendant's counsel made the most in defence. The Court considered that there had been a promise, and a breach of it; and the Jury returned a verdict accordingly, with a farthing damages.

At Croydon Assizes, last week, Mrs. Armsworth, the widow of a labourer, brought an action against the South-eastern Railway Company, for compensation on account of injury sustained by the death of her husband. In January last, there was a fall of chalk on the railway at Merstham; deceased and other men were employed to clear the line, the rubbish to be conveyed some distance from the spot; the men rode on the train, that they might shovel out the chalk at the appointed place: in one of these trips Armsworth rode in a waggon filled with chalk; the signal being given to shovel out the chalk, he began the work, but just then the engine gave a plunge forward, Armsworth was thrown off, and crushed under the wheels. This was the plaintiffs case. For the de- fence, it was shown that the man had no business on the chalk-truck: a waggon was attached to the train specially for the labourers to ride in, bus Armsworth and others would get into the chalk-trucks that they might set to work more quickly. It was denied that any signal had been given to the men to begin unloading when the engine was put in motion. The Jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff—damages, 100/.; 501. for the widow, and 251. for each of two children.

On Monday, Morris Perry was tried for the wilful murder of John Bailey, a constable of Batbampton. On the evening of the 28th May, a dispute arose be- tween two men, Dainton and Potter, who with other railway labourers had been drinking; the men agreed to fight; and the whole mob adjourned to a field. Perry seconded Potter; and Crowley, a man who had absconded, and against whom the Grand Jury has returned a true bill for murder, seconded Dainton. During the fight, Smith, a constable, arrived, and tried to quell the disturbance; but he was knocked down, and severely beaten. Presently. Bailey arrived, and told Perry to stop the fight; whereupon, said one witness, Perry knocked him down. He got up; Perry struck him again; the mob knocked him down, and then the prisoner kicked him in the stomach: Bailey died in a few moments. Some witnesses said it was Crowley, and not Perry, that struck the first blow. The Jury thought there was not sufficient evidence to show by whose hand the constable died; but, under the direction of the Judge, they found the accused guilty of the murder as one of the parties concerned in the crime. Sentence of death was pro- nounced; Chief Justice Wilde holding out no hope of a remission of the extreme penalty.

Richard Hall was indicted for the manslaughter of James Boyce. Hall is a publican of Stoke Lane; in May last, Boyce and another man, Langley, both in- toxicated, were quarrelling in the public-house, and began to spar; Hall said he would have no fighting there; Boyce collared the prisoner, knocked him down, and threatened to kill him. One Hiscox corning to the landlord's assistance, the two managed to turn Boyce and Langley out of the house, shutting the door upon them. With a hook and a stick the two ruffians forced open the door; Hall and Hiscox retreated to the bar and fastened the door. Their assailants soon cut a hole through the panel; Hall took down a gun, loaded it, and threatened to shoot Boyce; but this increased the others' rage, and Langley swore to his companion that they would enter and murder the landlord. At this crisis Hall fired and Boyce's brains were blown out. For the accused, it was contended that he was only acting in self-defence. The Jury took the same view, and their verdict was acquittal.

At Warwick Assizes, last week, Peter Leonard was tried for the murder of his wife, at Birmingham, in May last. The couple had both been drunk; some squabble arose; Leonard knocked or pushed his wife down the cellar-stairs; and she died of the hurts received in the fall. There was no defence as to the facts: the matter turned upon the intent of the accused. The Jury found him guilty Of "manslaughter" only; and he was sentenced to be transported for life.

While the mail-train was on its way from Bristol to Birmingham on Friday sennight, the engine ran off the rails, in a cutting at King's Norton; it ploughed up the road-way for some eighty yards, then ascended the embankment, and turned over, falling upon the rails. Just before the locomotive was upset, War- burton, the driver, exclaimed to the stoker, "Oh, we are dead men !" and in a few seconds he was killed; having been jammed between the engine and tender. The stoker escaped with a scalded face. The few passengers in the train were un- hurt; for although the carriages left the rails, they were but little damaged. Six passengers have signed a statement of their unanimous opinion, "that the acci- dent which caused the overturning of the engine and the instant death of the dri- ver arose from the furious driving of the tram to gain lost time which took place at two stations where it was delayed an unreasonable period. We also consider that great and unnecessary neglect and delay took place in getting forward the passengers: although but seven miles from Birmingham, they were left on the road from eleven o'clock at night till three in the morning."

The inquest was begun on Tuesday. Fletcher, the stoker, deposed that the train was not behind time at the last station, Bromsgrove; it was not going at more than the usual speed—about thirty-five miles an hour: the locomotive was One of Stephenson's patent long-boiler engines. Harvey, the guard, corroborated this statement as to the keeping of time; the speed was probably forty miles; there was no over-driving to make up for lost time. He found a chair broken. Re did not notice more oscillation than usual just before the accident.

• On the following day more witnesses were examined. Mr. William Wynn, in- spector and superintendent of the line, thought the engine bad broken a chair by a Literal blow. He did not think it safe for such an engine to run at forty miles an hour on this railway: thirty miles should be the maximum. The locomotive Must have been oscillating very violently. He thought these engines ought not to be used on any railway:, as they oscillate so much. Two others were at work On the line: he dal not think them safe; one was used on an incline where high speed is not required. Two years ago he came to the conclusion that these long- boiler locomotives were unsafe; but did not report so to the Company, as it was out of his department. Lamb, a plate-layer, did not consider the road so safe as it used to be with the smaller engines; it Lkes more labour to maintain the line now: a chair will break occasionally. Captain Coddington, the Govern- ment Inspector, said that the rails on this line are lighter than they would be laid now: the permanent way should be strengthened in proportion to the in- creased weight of the engines. Mr. Thomas Merchant, assistant engineer, sup- ported both the last witnesses. Mr. Saunders, the Secretary, denied the truth of the statement published by the six passengers, that the train was behind time.

After deliberating for half an hour, the Jury returned this verdict-

' "The Jury are unanimously of opinion, that the deceased John Warburton came by his death Instantaneously, ta consequence of the engine and tender attached to the' train which he was driving along the line of the Bristol and Birmingham Railway run- ning off the line at about the seventh mile stone from Birmingham, In the parish of King's Norton, and falling upon him ; the same accident having been caused by the engine itself being of much too heavy a description to be used upon the present light road at the rate at which It was then travelling, and with the light train to which it was then attached."

The adjourned inquest on the body of Mr. Topping, one of the twenty persons destroyed by the explosion of gun-cotton at Hall's factory, near Faversham, was resumed on Monday. The principal evidence was that of Robert Cheesman. Be had charge of the fires which heated the buildings that were blown up. The tem- perature he was directed to keep up for one workshop was 1200, and 110° for the other; and, "as near as he could say," that was the heat on the morning of the explosion. It would take two or three hours to raise the temperature eight or ten degrees. After deliberating for half an hour, the Jury found, "That the de- ceased Henry Topping was killed by the explosion of a certain gan-cotton factory, but how that explosion arose no evidence appeared." They attributed no blame to the Messrs. Hall or any other person. Mr. White, the chemist, remarked that this case was not singular in the inability to trace the causes of the disaster, for he never knew of more than one instance in which the cause of a powder-mill ex- plosion was ascertained.

From the proceedings at an inquest on the body of Mary Ann Milner, the mur- deress, who hanged herself in Lincoln Gaol, it appears that the woman committed suicide by tying a handkerchief round her neck, fastening the other end to a screw in a cupboard-door, and then leaping off a chair. The witnesses stated that there were no orders to watch convicts during their last hours, and for many years at least it had not been done. The verdict was "Feb de se."

A sanguinary duel has taken place at Dingle, in the neighbourhood of Liver- pool, between two Italians. Six Italian sailors met in a hollow by the road-side, and there two of them had a fierce combat with their stilettoes. The duellists hacked and slashed each other in a most frightful manner. Both are in the hospital, one in a dangerous condition. The seconds have not yet been discovered.