Vrnuiutto.

Preliminary proceedings have already commenced in various counties for raising their quotas of Militia. The Lord-Lieutenants have issued addresses and delivered speeches inviting young men to volunteer; and holding out as a great advantage the proposed bounty, which would pay rent for two years, or produce one loaf per week if spread over the five. The contingency of the ballot also is made much of. Further proceedings will be taken next week, and Courts of Lieutenancy held throughout the counties.

The animal show of the Northumberland Agricultural Society was held at Belford on Tuesday. It was an average exhibition in respect of stock, and superior in point of implements. This latter feature is a cha- racteristic of all the English shows. When the yard was the most crowded with spectators, a heavy storm of thunder, lightning, and rain, broke over the field, and the peer and the peasant were driven pell-mell for shelter under the canvass tents. The Company were, prisoners for three hours and when liberated, the more distinguished portion set off for the Railway Hotel to dine.

Here Earl Grey presided. Among the guests were tord Lovaine M.P., Sir George Grey, Sir Mathew Ridley, the Honourable H. T. Lid- dell M.P., Mr. H. G, Liddell M.P., and other gentlemen. After din- ner, Lord Grey, Mr. H. T. Liddell, Sir George Grey, and Mr. Walter Johnstone, delivered the customary orations: Lord Grey complimented the county generally ; spoke warmly of the great improvements made in agriculture of late years, and in the dwellings of the labourers. On this latter topic all the speakers were especially eloquent. Mr. Liddell com- plimented the Dake of Northumberland, and Lord Lovaine returned the courtesy by praising Earl Grey. " The progress of agricultural science might be traced in what was going on at Howick, and it was written in the crops there as plainly as in any book that ever was printed." Sir George Grey testified from his own observation to the "great, marked, and rapid improvements which had taken placeof late years in the skill and industry, and general progress, of the Northern division of the county of Northumberland." The prizes were distributed by Earl Grey.

Mr. Layard and Mr. Bethel were entertained by their supporters on Tuesday at Hartwell Park, the seat of Dr. Lee.

At a hiring fair recently held in Wiltshire, there was not a sufficient " supply." of labourers to meet the " demand." Emigration seems to he fast turning the balance in favour of the wage-receivers.

Mr. Benjamin Bond Cabbell, the Member for Boston, has lately com- pleted a most extensive purchase—the whole of the town of Cromer with the exception of two houses, and about 12,000 acres of land. The pur- chase-money amounts to upwards of 60,0001. The property was lately possessed by the Misses Wyndham, two old ladies, who were much averse to improvements and alterations. To the inhabitants of Cromer the change of proprietorship is likely to be most beneficial, as the honourable gentleman has already given orders for most extensive alterations, the lay- ing out of new streets, &c.—Boston Herald.

At the present Assizes in East Sommaetshire, certain persons were sen- tenced by Mr. Baron Platt to periods of imprisonment varying from one to six months, for riotous conduct during the recent election, in the shape of an attack upon the committee-rooms of the " Blue " or Tory party. "It would seem," he said, " that at the election which has just taken place in this county, certain persons had been proposed as candidates, and that the prisoners had combined together, with many others who had not been taken, for the purpose of intimidating the voters ; and the re- sult had been that they had nearly demolished the house of the ' Blue ' party. It was very painful to see industrious fellows, as he had learned they were, brought up here as parties concerned in such an outrage. Several of them had received good characters. He also took into consideration the topic which had been urged in their behalf, the cry of cheap food : and it would be well if those who excited such men would look beforehand, before they tried to excite the passions of an ungovernable mob. They had, unfortunately, been the victims of those mob orators, who ought to have come forward with their money to have defended them ; for he was ashamed of his country when he saw that some of them were undefended by counsel ; it showed that those persona had their private ends to gratify, and then left the prisoners to their fate." [We believe that the real intimidation was practised by the landlords and their agents, who drove the voters to the poll. But that is not an offence against the law.] The trial of the prisoners engaged in the riots at Stockport took place this week at Chester, before Mr. Justice Crompton. The Irish prisoners, ten in number, were drst tried. Only seven answered to their names ; three for- feited their bail. The names of the accused are Thomas Feeney, labourer Patrick O'Hara, tailor ; Roger M'Dermot, labourer ,• Michael M'Dermot: throstle-doffer ; Thomas Murphy, labourer ; Thomas Garvey, labourer ; and Patrick Naughton, piecer. They were accused of riotously Resembling at Stockport, with divers other evil-disposed persons, and assaulting several of her Majesty's subjects, to their great disturbance and terror, and against the Queen's peace. The evidence adduced did not differ in substance from that which has before been published, but it was specifically directed against the prisoners. There were clear proofs that they all had been actively engaged m the various riots and encounters which preceded the burning of the chapels and the storming of Rock Row. It came out too, pretty clearly, that the causes of the riot were the long-standing animosities of the two races, both as regards competition in the labour-market and variance in religion. Of the accused, Feeney was proved to have acted as a leader; and the others as remarkably active combatants. The evidence against them relates only to incidents of the attack on the house of the Protestant Dr. Graham, and St. Peter's School, at the corner of Rock Row, and general assaults upon English- men who were present. All the prisoners were found guilty of rioting ; Murphy of maliciously wounding ; Naughton of an assault ; and Roger M'Dermot not guilty of assault. Sentence deferred. The next trial will be that of the English prisoners who were concerned in the riot generally and in the destruction of the chapels.

At Gloucester Assizes, on Wednesday, William Henry Barrett pleaded guilty to committing divers forgeries, by which he had put in circulation, false bills of exchange to the amount of 2000/. Barrett was formerly Sheriff of the city. When his forgeries were discovered he fled to Amenca ; but he was pursued and brought back to England. His sentence is transporta- tion for fourteen years.

Mr. Bourne, a surgeon practising at Wellon near Bath, was tried at Wells .Assizes for the manslaughter of Ann Noakes, who died, on the 21st of June, in consequence of excessive hemorrhage after a very difficult delivery. The ease was one of " arm presentation." Mr. Bourne was called in because the poor woman had not an order on the parish-doctor ; he attended her for nine hours, but left the house at four in the morning, to go to the assistance of a farmer's wife named Parker, to whom he was engaged. The cardinal point of the trial was, practically the question whether Mr. Bourne was justified in. leaving Ann Noakes in the hands of midwifes at a critical stage of her trouble. Before he departed, however, he told the women that they must instantly send for Mr. Marsh, the parish-doctor. Mr. Marsh lived six miles distant, and could not reach Wellon until six o'clock ; thus leaving her in great danger for two home. Mr. Marsh accomplished the delivery with in- struments, and the woman died from excessive hremorrhage. Evidence was taken to show that Mrs. Parker, the woman to attend whom Mr. Bourne left Ann Noakes, was in great danger • and it was shown that although Mre. Parker was delivered at half-past four, Mr. Bourne was obliged to remain with her until half-past six. Two medical men were examined upon the point as to whether it was dangerous to leave the patient for an hour ; and both decided that by all ordinary calculations it was not. One thought that a surgeon ought not to leave one patient whose life was in danger to at- tend another to whom he was engaged. They also thought that a patient ought not to be removed for less than an hour after delivery. Some evidence was brought to show that Mr. Bourne was a kind man and well spoken of by the poor. The Jury returned a verdict of " Not guilty," and the audience applauded.

At Cheater Assizes, William Thomas, the man who killed his mother at Prenton, has been acquitted, on the ground that he was of unsound mind at the time.

At Wells Assizes, last week, Christopher Smith pleaded guilty to the mur- der of John Bush, at Priston. It will be recollected that Smith accused himself of the crime, and gave a very circumstantial account of the way in which he perpetrated it. It now turns out that the supposed revelation was the mere whim of a madman. Amongst other absurdities, Smith said the famine in Ireland was the result of his breaking a vow about the use of to- bacco. The Jury pronounced him insane.

William Sparrow, who was acquitted of the Frome murder at last Taunton Assizes, has been convicted of burglary at Wells Assizes. He had been pre- viously convicted of a similar offence at the Sessions : the two sentences amount to twenty-five years of transportation. After the last conviction, Sparrow,. and Bird, another convicted burglar, managed to escape from the ill-contrived gaol at Wells, though both were heavily ironed, by breaking through a wall with part of a pair of tongs. They have since been retaken.

Eight men, masked, and armed with guns and pistols, broke into the house of Mr. berrard, a farmer who lives by the side of a carriage-road near Didsbury, not more than five miles from Manchester ; imprisoned the family in a room, regaled themselves for an hour, and carried off a quantity of plunder. All was done with the greatest coolness Ind deliberation.

The Liverpool Magistrates have ordered the charterer of an Australian emigrant-ship to repay the passage-money of an intending passenger, with 31. compensation, as the ship did not said for fifteen days after the time an- nounced when the berth was engaged ; the charterer not having paid-the owners the sum agreed upon.

The Reverend James Nisbett, formerly of Cleobury Mortimer, and up to last autumn curate of Shrawley, near Worcester, is in custody in that city on a charge of forgery. He obtained last year 255/. from Mr. Hughes, a

solicitor of Worcester, on security of a bill for 3001., purporting to be drawn by " William Mitchell " and accepted by " William Robert Nisbett." The bill was dishonoured; no Mitchell could be found ; William Robert Nisbett has been long in America. Mr. Hughes asserts that the whole bill is a forgery.

The inquiry at Coventry into the " accident " at the Berkawell cutting on the North-western Railway, was resumed and concluded on Monday. Mean- while, Captain Laffan, Mr. Moredale, Mr. Fairbairn of Manchester, Mr. Ken- nedy of Liverpool, and Mr. Marshall of Birmingham, had examined the en- gine. Mr. Moredale adhered to his original statement, that the stays were decayed—one broken through, and two out of four faulty ; and that the en- gine started in that condition. Then the stay on the same side with the broken one gave way, and the ash-pan fell to the ground. [In confirmation of this view, it may be remarked that Mr. James Letts, a passenger, subse- quent) quent deposed that the permanent way was ploughed up for ten or twelve yards. Mr. Fairbairn read along paper, learnedly describing the construc- tion of the ash-pan and the method of fixing it on to the fire-box ' • and gave it as his opinion, that the ash-pan must have been broken away by coming in contact with some obstruction on the line—something weighing 67 tons at least, dead-weight ; but he could not say what it could have been. Mr. Marshall and Mr. Kennedy agreed with him. Captain Laffan, R.E., deposed as follows. " I have seen the ash-pan, and have heard the evidence which has been adduced up to this time. I saw the ash-pan on Friday last, and again today. The ash-pan fell in consequence of the failure of the supports—such is my opinion. I see no appearance whatever to load me to suppose that the failure of the ash-pan was owing to any accidental obstruction in the way ; but I see every reason to believe the contrary. I see no reason to believe that there was any blow, but that the ash-pan fell in consequence of the failure of the supporta, one giving way after another. There was some defect in the engine, I think, at the time of starting." The Coroner asked Captain Laffan if he had any other evidence to offer ? Captain Laffan said, he was not conducting the inquiry : were he doing so, he should conduct it very differently. The Coroner said, he had never found it necessary to solicit the aid of a Government Inspector before, and he was not at all acquainted with the etiquette; but he should be glad to attend to any suggestion which Captain Laffan would favour him with. Captain Laffan said, he should suggest, then, that the guards and drivers of the two trains, and any of the passengers who happened to be there, might be called, in order to prove whether there was any obstruction on the line ; and if there were not, one leading point would be cleared up at once. Thenceforth the evidence was taken by Captain Laffan ; the Coroner writing down the depositions, and frequently being corrected by the Government Inspector for not taking the exact words of the witnesses.

The Jury returned the following verdict—" We are of opinion that the immediate cause of the accident was the defective state of the straps of the ash-box, thereby causing the death of William Floyd; and the Jury cannot separate without expressing their decided opinion that the inspection of those constructed engines should be made more minutely and more frequently, so as to insure the safety of the public."

An inquest has been held upon the body of Mr. Beddington, who was also killed ; but at present it is not concluded. Nearly the same evidence has been taken in both cases.

A dreadful accident occurred on the Midland Railway, between Draycott and Borowash, on Friday evening. While a train was proceeding. to Derby at its usual rate of speed, the tire of the driving-wheel of the engine broke, and a portion of disengaged tire striking against the body of the engine, knocked off what is technically denominated the " clack-box " and the es- cape-tap ; thereby causing two considerable openings into the boiler, through which the pent-up steam rushed out, filling the carriages with steam, and occasioning the greatest consternation among the passengers. In this di- lemma, Job Kirk, the engine-driver, being apprehensive that the engine would run off the rails, and being at the same time unable instantly to bring the train to a halt, got upon the step opposite to the broken wheel, intend- ing to leap off in case of necessity. While so standing, a sudden jerk, caused by the revolution of the imperfect tire against the engine, threw him from the step down upon the rails, and the train passed over him, fearfully crushing both his feet and ankles, and breaking both the bones of each of his legs. The stoker also leaped or was thrown off; but fortunately escaped without further hurt than some severe contusions about the head and face. The Midland Company supply tourniquets to their trains ; two were applied to the limbo of the sufferer, and he was conveyed to Derby. It was found necessary to amputate both legs ; but the man is expected to recover. Kirk was considered one of the best engine-drivers on the line.

A boatman has been killed on the Great Northern Railway, at Skirbeck in Lincolnshire, while trespassing on the line.

The inquest on Mr. Sard, the gentleman drowned by the sinking of the Duchess of Kent, was resumed and concluded on Wednesday. More con- flicting evidence was given as to which steamer was the cause of the disaster : the master of the Meteor steamer, while he thought the Duchess of Kent was trying to make a right course, considered that the tide had caught her head and turned her out of it. A solicitor complained of the conduct of the Com- mercial Steam-packet Company in not notifying to Mr. Sard's relatives that

they hadpropefty of his in their 'on. The Jury referred to this in their verdict— 'That the deceased John Sard came by his death through an accidental collision between the Duchess of Kent and the Ravensbourne steamers, off Northileet, on the 1st July 1852. The Jury cannot separate without expressing their feelings in terms of strong condemnation, in conse- quence of the neglect of the owners of the Duchess of Kent not advertising the property of the said John Sard in their custody, they having had the means of ascertaining the same from papers found in his luggage which was saved from the wreck."

Manchester was visited by a thunder-storm on Tuesday morning, which though of short duration caused the death of four men. Eight cottages were in course of construction in Ridgway Street, in the fields near Clayton ham- let. The workmen were busy in the interior. The lightning struck the East corner of the block, entered the roof, and ran along the whole range, some portion descending to the earth by every window. All the people em- ployed, and Mrs. Fletcher, wife of the owner, were struck by the lightning ; some were not hurt much, but four were killed outright. The fatal strokes occurred at three distinct places, two of the sufferers having been sitting together on a window-sill, while the others were at work in different houses.