tht Vruniurto.

The election for Harwich was a very quiet affair. Sir Fitzroy Kelly' the new Solicitor-General, was chosen without any show of opposition, and was returned Member. All contest, and even all excitement, was "reserved for the general election." But Sir Fitzroy gave the electors the benefit of a long speech, the manner and matter of which were re. markable. The quasi-disfranchisement of Harwich, by the delay at issuing a writ for a new election during so many months, was a mak topic. The wrongs of the borough were pictured with an advocate's warmth, and quite from the " injured innocence " point of view. Mr. Prinsep was unseated " on grounds which left his character—and what is yet more important to yourselves, left your character—wholly without spot or blemish." Could it be credible that the borough had been so unconstitu- tionally deprived of its privileges, "after there had been one election, a se. cond election, and then a third election, upon which no imputation could be thrown—when amongst your worst enemies—and you have enemies, and let me say jealous and watchful enemies, so that it behoves you to beware-. not a syllable could be uttered, not a breath could be breathed against the purity and the legality of your conduct during three successive contested elections for this borough ?" Then the electors were given some very fresh facts against Free-trade; prefaced, however, by a distinct adherence to the principle of Sir Robed Peel's Tariff amendments. The preliminary admission of the principle was thus worded-

" Let me not be understood, in anything that falls from me, to set myself against the general principle of the system upon which a deceased Minister introduced vast financial reforms into this country. I believe that that prim. eiple was a right and just principle. It was that of the equalization, the fair, well-proportioned, equalization of the burdens of import-duties as well as of taxation in general, as diffused over all classes of the people, whether agricultural, manufacturing, or commercial." The original facts in contravention of the principle were these-

" Well, then, is it the labouring classes who have derived benefit—they who it is said, have obtained cheap bread ? Go into the villages of your counties, and see if you do not find almost countless multitudes of labourers, who after working until their bones and sinews ache, are obliged to choose between half. -starvation and the union workhouse. (Marks of dissent.) Such is the case, at all events, in many places ; and I deplore it as the effect of the changes that have recently taken place in our commercial legislation. It was but a few days ago that we heard the question discussed whether there was not an increase in the importation of corn to the amount of 3,000,000 or 4,000,000 quarters per annum. It is quite true, though the amount has been often and often exaggerated, that in the year 1850 we imported fully 3,000,000 quar- ters of corn more than we did in 1846 ; but does it necessarily follow that the people, the great bulk of the community, have eaten a quantity of bread the produce of those 3,000,000 quarters of corn over and above the quantity they had to eat before ? I deny that such is the fact, and I will prove it in one moment by reference to undoubted returns, forming a part of the statis- tical literature of the country. It is true that 3,000,000 quarters of corn have been imported more than were imported in 1846; but it is equally true that the growth of corn in this country has fallen off by more than a cor- responding amount as compared with 1846, and that the quantity grown and sold for the benefit of the agriculturists of this country in 1846 exceeded by more than 3,000,000 quarters the quantity grown in 1850. I again say, without entering into details, that I can prove this by reference to un- doubted returns made to both Houses of Parliament."

In the course of the week, it has turned out that the whole affair was but a temporary one. Sir Fitzroy Kelly is already a candidate for East Suffolk, in the room of Lord Rendlesham, deceased.

Mr. Adderley has published a long address to his constituents of North Staffordshire.

On the question of Protection, he repeats emphatically the avowal he made two or three months ago at Burton. "Whatever other modes there may be for the adjustment of taxation," he says, "at all events, until the nation changes its mind on the subject and ceases to retain its present repugnance to protective duties, I for one will not seek that kind of boon to a suffering class of the community, which would only more deeply injure them."

He thinks "the national feeling is already amply tested" upon this ques- tion. "The very repetition of the question, after such unmistakeable ma- nifestation of strong repugnance, would only excite a bitter and unprofitable strife, during which the agricultural party would have to reduce its claims to their minimum, while incurring the odium attaching to those claims to their very maximum ; and the claim itself, so imperfectly conceded as to do them little good, could not long be retained, though accepted at the sacrifice of all other and more attainable demands, and excluding the last chance of a fair redress."

On the subject of Colonization, he tells his constituents, that the value of his labours has been acknowledged by the tender of office—" I may mention to you, with a pride in which you will share, that my attention to that subject has been recognized by Lord Derby, in his offer to me of the Secretaryship of the Board of Control in his Government; an offer which I declined, be- cause I thought that I could prosecute my former labours more efficiently out of office, while I could afford him equally effectual independent support.' The religious endowment of the Roman Catholics he dismisses thus—"I was willing, while the Roman Catholic body acted the part of good subjects, that they should enjoy their share of national revenues : now that they have allowed foreign intrigue to mix and tamper with their allegiance I am for withholding from them the means which they have unfairly used, and I would take all care to guard the religion of this Protestant country alike from their overt pretensions and from their insidious influence."

On the broader topics of general politics, Mr. Adderley envelopes himself in a loose though somewhat skilfully folded mantle of Conservatism. "In a free country like this, I bow to the wishes of the community, as I have just expressed a readiness to do in one great instance; but I will never consent to any tampering with the institutions of the land, to pander to popular ca- price, or to indulge in theoretic experiments, or to trade in the rise and fall of excited expectations."

The address concludes with this frank and manly sentence—" If any con- siderable number of my old supporters should express dissatisfaction with this statement, I am the last man to be ambitious of serving my own party with- out their entire confidence, or of gaining temporary support for a special purpose from the opposite party, with whose general principles I disagree.

At Sunderland, Mr. Hudson appeared before the electors on Tuesday, as a "reformed character" ; to thank Sunderland for having stood by him "when all seemed to have forsaken him," and to confess that he has given up ProteCtion, and is prepared to give the people an extension of the franchise. The ci-devant Railway King met the electors in the Com- mission Rooms ; and the portion of his speech in which he gave up the Corn-laws is reported at some length. Looking back to the first speech he delivered in Sunderland, seven years ago, they would find that the position assumed by him then was, that if he

were about to give a constitution to a new country, the Corn-laws would not be a part of it : but this country was in an exceptional position, and he thougfit it out of all reason that the landed interest should bear such heavy burdens, while a fundholder could live in a garret yet be in receipt of 30,0001. a year ; this opinion he had restated in the House of Commons, and reiterated in a private letter to the late lamented statesman Sir Robert Peel. This was his case in 1845. He then looked forward to the Corn-laws being repealed. He had now nothing to eat up ; yet, while holding the highest opinion of the late Sir Robert Peel, than whom a more conscientious man

never lived, he could not but see that he had inflicted great misery upon interests nterests in this country by the hasty manner in which those laws

were repealed. He was of opinion that the great measure passed by that statesman was in peril in 1847, but for the wonderful discovery of gold in that year, which not only prevented a drain upon the banks, but had given a higher price to land. They had been told that Free-trade had produced un- precedented.prosperity in this country ; was it so in Sunderland? (Loud cries of " les, yes !" with some cries of "No !" from the table where Mr. Hudson's supporters stood, followed by cheers for Free-trade.) Were not shipwrights' wages 6s. per day in 1844 and 1845' and were they not now 4s. per day ? (Loud cries of "No !") He understood that was the fact. (" No !" and hisses.) Well, be that as it may, no one would oppose a repeal of the present Corn-laws more than their humble servant. (Loud cheers; in the mast of which an aged shipowner of the name of Bunter caused great con- fusion by shaking his stick at Mr. Hudson, and exclaiming he was a traitor.)

e went on to say, he would lend his best assistance towards an equaliza- tion of the burdens upon land, and proceeded to discuss the vexed question of the Navigation-laws. He did not consider these laws could be reimposed ; but thought that burdens, such as light-dues and the duty on timber, should be removed from the shipping interest. Though in politics, as in business, he thought the less change the better, yet he was favourable to an extension of the suffrage—how far he did not say. He considered the ballot un-Eng- lish. He would support a measure of national education based on the Bible ; would vote for an equitable settlement of Church-rates, but would not trust the venerable Establiahment to the Voluntary system ; and was unfavourable to a repeal of the Maynooth grant.

Among other specialties of the election movements, is one which we re- ceive in a broad-sheet from Gateshead, showing that the worthy Liberal Member, Mr. Hutt, has found one most unworthy opponent to his reelec- tion. Mr. Ralph Walters, a Newcastle solicitor who aspires to one of the seats in the House of Commons for Gateshead, endeavoured to forward his views, at a recent public meeting, by misrepresenting Mr. Hutt's votes and con- duct in Parliament. He stated that Mr. Hutt had given votes against Mr. Trelawny's motion for the abolition of Church-rates,—whereas, being ill, he paired off in favour of the motion ; that Mr. Hutt voted for giving Queen Adelaide an extravagant dowager's annuity of 100,0001.,— whereas he was not in Parliament at the time ; that Mr. Hutt voted the annuities of 50,000/. to King Leopold and 20,0001. to King Ernest,— whereas the grant to the first was made in 1817, and has never been the subject of a vote since, and the grant to the second was voted before Mr. Hutt was born, and all that he ever did was to refuse to violate the old engagement. Mr. Hutt sent his friend Captain Weatherley to ask Mr. Walters if the report of his speech was correct, and if so, to give him these explanations; when Mr. Walters, no doubt, "would at once adopt the only course open to a gentleman who has done unintentional wrong to another—that of making a frank and immediate reparation for it." Cap- tain Weatherley executed his commission, and announced that he was happy to say that he found Mr. Walters disposed to take the proper course : he had said he would be ready to contradict publicly his assertions if he found them inaccurate ; but he had asked for a little time to examine the facts. Mr. Hutt readily acceded to this, but requested that Mr. Walters should be diligent in his investigation ; and that he should give the con- tradiction of the false charges in writing, as well as his apology ; for that "words uttered at a public meeting, even if otherwise satisfactory, may not be distinctly heard or fully understood by all who are present, and the reparation which Mr. Walters seems to meditate might consequently fall short of what is due to me for the injury he has done me." Several days elapsing, Mr. Hutt felt that Mr. Walters was exceeding all reason- able indulgence in his time for investigating charges the real nature of which he might have learned in five minutes from the copy of Hansard's Debates which is in the library of the Philosophical Society at Newcastle. On the eighth day after his note was written, Mr. Hutt repaired to the North ; and learned personally from Captain Weatherley, that Mr. Wal- ters "acknowledged he was in error as to Mr. Hutt's vote on Mr. Tre- lawny's motion, but he refused to make that admission as to his other charges, though he alleged nothing to establish them." Mr. Hutt took "the last and painful step " of making a personal appeal to Mr. Walters ; he wrote and asked him if he persisted in his refusal to withdraw the charges. Mr. Walters "sent back the verbal reply, that he had given his answer to Captain Weatherley, and had nothing further to say.' " Thereupon Mr. Hutt closed the "disagreeable intercourse " with the following letter— "Gibs/de, 8th April 1852, Thursday evening. "Sir—As you have refused to retract the false charges which you made against me, after the falsehood of them had been pointed out to you, I am compelled to tell you that you have been guilty of wilful untruth, and that you are unfit society for men of veracity and honour. "Fours, bke , WILLIAM HuTr. "Ralph Walters, Esq."

Our readers will agree with Mr. Hutt, that he had "done everything in his power to confront his accuser, and to test the fidelity of his asser- tions" ; and they will also think with him, " that after such evi- dence of the veracity and candour" of his opponent, "his future state- ments will be more justly appreciated."

An alteration having been made in the mode of paying the men at the colliery near Newcastle, the aggregate effect of which was to reduce the average rate of wages, a number of the miners struck work, and also re- fused to quit the houses which they inhabited as colliers. They went farther, attacking other men who agreed to work, and damaging their houses. A fierce conflict between the disaffected miners and some constables ensued ; and eventually it was necessary to get soldiers from Newcastle : while these remained on the spot, the men were ejected from the houses.

A Commission of Lunacy held at Kinmel has declared that William Lewis Baron Dinorben, of Kinmel Park, Denbighshire, has been of unsound mind since January 1846. The inquiry was very brief : three medical men gave testimony, and Lord Dinorben appeared before the Jury ; there was no doubt If his unfortunate condition. Dr. Phillips Jones, who had attended him from infancy, stated that he had never known him to be capable of any act requiring the exercise of reason and sagacity ; the affliction originated from inflammation of the brain in infancy. As it was not necessary to fix a very early period as the date of lunacy, 1846 was assumed.

The Provincial chronicle of the week, like the Metropolitan, has its chap- ter of horrors. .

Dews, a gardener to Mr. Ayre, of Castle Rising, near Lynn, has murdered his wife and daughter and drowned himself. It had been noted of late that be seemed to be in a state of mental depression. Early on Saturday morn- ing, his body was found in a shallow stream not far from his cottage : there was a slight wound in the throat. When people went to break the news to the wife, they could obtain no answer from within the house : the door was forced, and it was found that both mother and daughter had been murdered. Their bodies were in a bedroom ; the woman's throat was cut, and the daughter's head almost separated from the body : the room bore marks of a desperate struggle. It is surmised that Dews attacked his wife while she was in bed ; that the noise awoke the daughter—a girl of seven years old— who ran to the mother and clung to her, and then the murderer destroyed both. The only explanation of the butchery was that Dews acted from an insane impulse ; and a Coroner's Airy having heard evidence proving that he had formerly exhibited signs of madness, returned a verdict of " Tempo- rary insanity " in his case.

Another tragedy was enacted on Saturday in the same county, at Out- well, ten miles from Lynn. James Pearce and William Day, two boys about twelve years of age, were " crow-scaring " in a field at Outwell Fen ; Pearce having a gun to fire off occasionally at the birds, with a little powder and wadding only. The two boys quarrelled; Pearce was struck in the eye ; and he fired the gun at Day, so close to him that the wadding was driven into his brain, and he died in a few minutes. Day was missed on the Satur- day ; his brother hunted for him all night; and at last, on Sunday morning, found his body buried in a dry ditch, and his cap underneath the ashes of a quitch fire, in which an attempt bad been made to burn it Pearce, when arrested, first said he did not kill Day, but he helped to bury him ; then, that he did kill him ; and then again, that he did not do it. At the Coro- ner's inquest, his family swore that they knew nothing of the murder till the body was found. A Jury returned a verdict of "Manslaughter "—much to the chagrin of the Coroner ; who said that Pearce would be tried for mur- der notwithstanding. After the verdict, some members of Pearce's family confessed that they knew of the murder on the Saturday afternoon, and that one of them went out and himself buried the body out of sight.

Mary Smith, a young woman living with her father at Burmantofta, near Leeds, was found drowned in the Aire : she had exhibited signs of despond- ency, and it is not doubted that she made away with herself. Her brother James, about the same age, had also shown depression of spirits ; his aister's suicide increased his sufferings ; and a few days after he hanged himself in his father's kitchen.

A lunatic named Armsworth has committed suicide, near the Farnborough station. On Good Friday he was sent from the Union-house to walk in the fields for the sake of his health, a person accompanying him as a guard ; though his quiet behaviour in the house had led to a belief that he was not at all disposed to suicide. When they were near the railway, an express- train was seen to approach ; the lunatic darted away from his keeper, ran on to the rails, and advanced to most the train ; the people in charge of the train tried to stop it, but there was not time, and the madman was crushed to death. The man in charge of the deceased had some impulses to try and pluck him off the rails, but his courage failed him ; and probably this saved his own life.

As a train approached the town of Barton upon the Humber, the driver and guard found that the breaks would not act ; the engine dashed on, and plunged through the walls of the station-house. The station-master had been alarmed by the cries of the people on the train, and he ran out of the office,—very fortunately, for the locomotive crushed a counter at which he had been sitting. The driver and stoker leapt on to the platform, unhurt ; but some of the passengers suffered.

Beresford, an iron-turner of Manchester, and Mannering, a woman who lived with him, his wife having fled from home, have been convicted of cruelty to Beresford'a three children. The children were severely beaten ; one was tied to a bed-post for the night, almost naked ; another was tied to a piece of timber in the ceiling at night ; and the third was confined in a cellar. It was proved that the cruelties had been practised as a punishment for very bad behaviour on the part of the children. This led to a lenient sentence—four months' imprisonment.

The extensive patent tallow candle factory of Messrs. Cooper at Manches- ter was burnt down on Tuesday night. The blaze was enormous.