Vraniurial.

Mr, William Beresford and Mr. Ducane, Members for North Essex, visited their constituents in the Tendring Hundred on Saturday, and dined with them at Walton on the Naze. Mr. Beresford eschewed poli- tical speechmaking, and simply expressed his gladness at the good har- vest, and his indignation at Cardinal Wiseman. Mr. Ducane mad he was there to talk politics : and he praised Ministers for their India Bill, gloried in the upsetting of Lord Palmerston's Government, mildly re. preached the present Ministry for their course on the Jew Bill and the property Qualification Bill, but on the whole thought their measures are based on "principles of sound and temperate Conservative progress." Be referred to Mr. Locke King's County Franchise Bill, and said- " I trust I shall not be understood, by opposing that measure, to be op- posed in the main to any further change in our representative system. On the contrary, I think that resistance to progressive improvement forme no true item in a Conservative creed ; and if we persist in opposing all im- provement under the name of innovation, the day will soon come—as it came in 1831—when we shall be compelled to swallow the innovation di- vested of the improvement. I have every hope that in the next session Parliament will be enabled to devote its time and attention to the settle- ment of this great question. It will be a great and Herculean task, for on one side are those whose desires are boundless, and on the other are those who would fain act on the principle of leaving well alone.' What the provenone of the new Reform Bill will be it is impossible for any one to speculate upon, but, at all events, I will say this much, that while,. on the one hand, I trust the question will be dealt with in an impartial and comprehensive spirit, so,. on the other, I trust it will be settled so as to be regarded in the country in the light of a final settlement. There is in my opinion, nothing more detrimental to the progress of sound legislation than reopening and tampering bit by bit and piecemeal with so great and vital a question as that of Parliamentary reform." (Cheers.) The annual meeting of the Oxfordshire and Banbury Agricultural As- sociation, on Tuesday, Colonel North in the chair, gave Mr. Henley an opportunity of ingeniously talking politics in defiance of the society's rules. In his speech he referred to agricultural prosperity, India, the Chinese war, and the state of his party. He thought it a "great re- lief to every Englishman to find that about a fourth part of the naval forces of the country, which has hitherto been occupied some 15,000 or 16,000 miles away, will, in consequence of the treaty with China, be en- abled to return, and at all events, if not altogether discharged, be engaged in cruising nearer home, ready for any emergency."

On the state of his party he spoke more at large.

" At many of the meetings which have lately taken place in various parts of the country there has been a considerable quantity of loose talk by what I might almost term loose fish—(Laughter)—in reference to the Govern- ment. Persons who are now occupying similar positions to that which I have the honour to fill have been subjected to somewhat coarse remarks. Some have abused us for being Conservatives, and others have abused us be- cause they say we are Liberals. (Laughter.) Now, I am old enough to remember when the name Conservative' first came up, for unfortunately I am not a young man. I believe, however, that the three point, which were then raised, and the defenders of which were called Conservatives, are now scarcely known. At any rate they have long ceased to be attacked. Those three points were, first, an indiscriminate attack upon the Irish church ; secondly, a demand for church property to be put into secular pockets ; and, thirdly, the independence of the House of Lords. Those were the three points on which the Conservatives stood. Two of them were attacked furiously for many years, but now all of them have died away. I certainly don't see why we should be abused for being Conservatives and for not going whooping and halloaing about these matters when nobody makes any attack upon them. I do not think we have any right to be abused be- cause we have stood still solely because those parties who were opposed to us have given up attacking the questions which originally constituted Con- servatism. If similar questions should ever be raised again I do not think that the Conservative party will be found wanting in their defence. With regard to the future, I am sorry that I cannot pretend to say anything at all. You know very well that the Government are in this position. The parties who made the Reform Bill have chosen for the last six or seven years to find fault with their own work. Mind you, it was no work of the Conservatives. (Laughter and cheers.) It was no child of ours, and, therfore, we have had nothing to say to it; but the parties who constructed it have been themselves the very men who have amused themselves for the last six or seven years in singing out all over the country that it must be altered. In fact, they have dirtied their own nest to such a degree, that they have felt most uncomfortable in it. (Laughter and cheers.) They have never attempted to mend it themselves, but nevertheless they still say that it wants mending. The cry has now gone on for some years. As I said before, the Reform Bill was no child of ours ; but, at the same time if there is any possibility of our mending it so as to satisfy all parties, I see no reason why we should not make the attempt."

Mr. Langston, one of the Members for Oxford, being present, took up this theme, and took Mr. Henley at his word.

Mr. Henley had told them in reference to the Reform Bill that the Whigs had 80 dirtied their nest that they found it impossible to remain in it, and that the honourable gentlemen who had succeeded them in the possession of the nest were also so dissatisfied with it that they were determined at length to make an alteration. He was extremely happy to hear that a Conserva- tive Government were really disposed to try their hands in giving the country a better Reform Bill than that which had been passed under the auspices of the Whigs. Being a sincere Reformer at heart, he was most anxious to see Reform carried out to the fullest possible extent so long as it fully preserved the constitution of the country, and he was, therefore extremely happy to find that his right honourable friend and the present Government were pre- Pared to try their hands, because he now hoped to see all parties united in carrying a really good measure, such as would prove ultimately beneficial to the whole country.

On the same day the Sparkenhoe Farmers' Club met at Tamworth. Mr. Spooner occupied the chair, and he and Mr. Wewdegate were the shining lights of the board. But beyond a rap at Cardinal Wiseman there was nothing salient in the speeches of either. Mr. Webster, how- ever, in proposing " the House of Commons," and coupling with it some

allusions to Cherbourg, as a fact that would diminish the cavilling at Votes for national defence, called forth " hear, hear !" from Mr. Spooner,

and an opinion from Mr. Foley, a county Member, that whether John Bull likes it or not, he will have to dip his hands deeply into his pockets to provide adequate defences. " Whether Cherbourg is a menace or not, it is an accomplished fact, and must be treated in a business-like manner."

Some signs of political agitation show themselves in the North. There is a Northern Reform Union of Durham and Northumberland which boasts of having held thirty numerously attended public meetings, and of having been unopposed. The Council of the Union says that its object is "to disseminate useful political information, and to urge the middle and working classes to increased interest in political affairs, but free from the personal and class declamations of the Chartist times." In a few weeks the "winter campaign" is to be opened at Newcastle, when "Mr. P. A. Taylor, of London, the gentleman that the supporters of the Union have pledged themselves to contest the representation of Newcastle at the next election, and other well-known reformers of the advanced school, are expected to be present."

Sir George Grey presided over the annual dinner of the Northern Union of Literary and Scientific Institutes given at Alnwiek on Tuesday. He delivered a speech on the blessings of knowledge, and the uses of reading-rooms, including a defence of the much maligned light literature and newspapers.

Some days ago, the body of a Mr. Potbury was found dead in a quarry at Everton. At first it was supposed that in a state of inebriety he had fallen into the quarry. An investigation has shown that he must have died by suffocation, and have been placed in the quarry. A Jury have found that he was wilfully murdered by some person or persons unknown.

Sheffield has been the scene of one of those calamities which arise from panic. Strangely enough, the scene was in a'" Surrey Music-hall," and it was like our own calamity. when Mr. Spurgeon preached in the real Surrey Hall. There were, on Monday evening, gathered in the Sheffield Surrey Hall some three thousand persons. They were distributed in a pit, boxes, and galleries, as in a theatre. While a Madame Marietta was singing, some one raised an alarm,—it was said a pistol was fired,—people rose from their seats ; the songstress fled from the stage ; when the proprietor, Mr. You- dim, appeared, and, energetically appealing to the people, showed that no danger existed. The performances were renewed; but now a cry of " Fire !" arose ; Mr. Youdan's voice failed to calm the affrighted minds of his hearers; indeed, they did not stop to hear, but, rushing headlong down the stairs, crushed each other to death. Some descended from the galleries into the pit ; others dashed into the private rooms, and on to the stage. Five persons were killed on the spot, and two fatally injured. Had there been no panic, none would have been hurt or killed. A Coroner's inquiry which has been instituted seems likely to show that the noise of an explosion whence the first alarm proceeded was caused by an explosion of gas. A lad in the gallery, determined to have a smoke," struck a lucifer on one of the seats, and a small explosion immediately fol- lowed. Inspector Linley gave a striking account of the terrible confusion of the crowd. " The deceased Philip Child was one of the foremost. He slipped, and fell with his head on the stairs. I tried to gather him up, when a female named Taylor fell down the stairs and knocked me do and I fell into the corner. I got up as soon as I could. I then got hold wn, of a child, who was underneath several other persons, and I extricated him, and gave him to some other persons. I saw Alfred Dale fall head foremost on the second landing. He moaned, and said, ' Oh, dear !' Several per- sons passed over his body. I got him up, and handed him forward as soon as I could ; and also two other persons who were severely injured. Many persons were trampled upon. I caught a child, which had come over the people's heads, and which appeared to have been thrown down stairs. Several persons in falling down stairs turned summersaults." The inquiry is adjourned.

From time to time the inquiry into the cause of the fatal accident on the Oxford, Worcester, and Wolverhampton railway has been held. Some pro- gress has now been made towards, not only a verdict, but a knowledge of the causes. Captain Tyler, Government Inspector of Railways, has from ac- tual experiments formed the opinion that the guard did not apply his break at all that night, or else that he applied it within only a very short distance of the point of collision. I may say that the appearance of the break-screw tends to confirm that opinion. From its appearance in con- nexion with the nut attached to it, I am of opinion that it was not used on the night of the accident. The weld by which the eye of the strap is at- tached to the shackle is deficient, so that it was holding by only about a third of its section, consequently it had only a third of its strength. The iron is somewhat inferior, but it would probably not have given way if it had not been for this defective weld." The 'Foreman.—" The guard Cook told us that he applied the break when the separation was about six yards in width. Do you think, Captain Tyler, that if he had applied the break within six, or even sixty yards he could have stopped the train without the collision occurring? '

Captain Tyler.—" Yes, certainly."

Mr. Edwin M'Connell, engineer of the line at Wolverton, stated in sub- stance the same opinion. " If the guard in the hinder part of the train had applied his break there would have been no accident."

More evidence has been taken and the inquest is adjourned for a fort- night. At the commencement of the proceedings on Thursday, a charge was made by one of the solicitors who appeared for the injured persons against Mr. Bailey, the foreman of the jury, to the effect that before the inquiry he had been engaged in the interests of the company in inducing several of the sufferers to accept compensation. The foreman, (who is a Baptist minister,) gave a long explanation of his conduct, from which it appeared that he had been present on two occasions at interviews between two of the sufferers and the agent of the company, when the question of compensation was being dis- cussed, and that he had taken some share in them. Ultimately, in deference to an expression of opinion from the jury, the foreman withdrew, and the inquiry was continued without him.