23 JULY 1853, Page 7

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The election for the seat in West Cornwall, vacated by the death of Mr. Pendarves, took place on Tuesday ; when Mr. Michael 'Williams, of Trewince, was returned without opposition.

The contest for the vacant scat in North Derbyshire has terminated, after one day's poll, in the return of Mr. Thornhill. Mr. Evans, the son of the retiring Member, found himself in a hopeless minority on the first day, and, under the advice of his committee, he withdrew.

The annual gathering at Tiptree Hall, the farm of Mr. Mechi in Essex, took place on Wednesday. The principal novelty is the method of irri- gating his land by liquefied manure distributed by steam. Next in im- portance was an improved digging-machine. There are 360 sheep and 40 bullocks kept on the produce of the farm, which consists of 170 acres. The list of company includes the names of the Earl of Harrowby, Lord Kinnaird, Viscount Ebrington, Mr. Chadwick, Dr. Southwood Smith, Mr. Raymond Baker, Mr. Charles Knight, Mr. Fisher Hobbs, Mr. Gar- ret, and several foreigners. All partook of luncheon and listened to speeches in the barn.

The Archaeological Institute terminated its sittings at Chichester on Tuesday. Lord Talbot de Malahide rendered especial thanks to the Bishop, to the Dean and Chapter, and to the municipal authorities of Chichester, for the efforts of the former to restore the Cathedral, and for the hospitable reception given by the latter to the Institute.

The foundation-stone of a school for commercial travellers was laid at Pinner on Wednesday, by Mr. Maaterman M.P. Prince Albert was pre- vented from performing the ceremony by indisposition. Dr. Vaughan, Head Master of Harrow, offered up the prayer on the occasion.

At Huntingdon Assizes, last week, an action for breach of promise of mar- riage was tried. Mr. Hart, a farmer in good circumstances, promised to marry Miss Jackson, the daughter of a farmer at Cockayne Hailer. At the time he proposed he was forty-one, and the lady only seventeen. Ile seduced her, and then married another woman. Miss Jackson had a child. The Jury gave 500/. damages.

At York Assizes, on Saturday, a verdict for 1101. damages was given against Mr. Wilkinson, a card-manufacture, at Neaten, for the seduction of the daughter of Mr. Wilkinsou, foreman to card-makers at Linley. The case was peculiarly painful. The couple were cousins; they " courted "; the young woman was seduced ; a few weeks after her confinement she died : it was alleged that her death arose from a "broken heart"—from shame, and from sorrow at the defendant's desertion of her.

At Lewes Assizes, Miss Hannah Here, of Drayton, near Bognor, has ob- tained 400/. damages from Mr. George Duke, for breach of promise of mar- riage. Miss Home is twenty-eight ; her father is a man of property ; she has expectations of a fortune of some 90001. Mr. Duke is a gentleman farmer, forty-five years old, a widower for the second time, and has three children. Miss Home's father had shown an aversion to the match, but at length the couple were formally engaged. Mr. Duke then made inquiries about the lady's money prospects; and he found that the receipt of the 90001. was only contingent upon her surviving her mother for twenty-one years, with other qualifications. It was alleged that this discovery induced the defendant to break his promise. However that might be, there was really no substantial defence to be offered by his counsel, who admitted that a verdict must go against his client.

At the same Assizes, John Broome was tried for defrauding Mr. Hamp of a large sum of money by cheating him at cards. It appeared, however, that Broome was asleep when two other men were cheating the prosecutor ; so the Judge directed an acquittal.

At York Assizes, Messrs. Thompson, Seymour, and Priestman, Directors of the York and North Midland Railway Company, surrendered to take their trial for the " manslaughter " of a driver and stoker. The Grand Jury ig- nored the bill against them, and they were arraigned on the Coroner's in- quisition. It was alleged at the inquest, that the "accident " by which the men perished arose from the bad condition of the permanent way ; and the Coroner's Jury held the Directors to be responsible for this. Though the Grand Jury threw out the bill, they expressed an opinion that the "acci- dent" arose from the defective state of the permanent way, and that fur- ther inquiry should be made into the matter. When the three gentlemen had pleaded " Not guilty," the counsel for the prosecution announced, that after the Grand Jury, under the Judge's direction, had pronounced the Di- rectors not criminally responsible, he should not offer any evidence against them. They were then formally acquitted.

Caroline Sherwood, the young woman who strangled her illegitimate child in a field near Brighton, has been convicted of the murder, and received sentence of death.

Sarah Smith, the woman who stabbed her husband at St. Leonards during a drunken squabble, was tried for murder at Lewes; but the Jury convicted her of manslaughter only, and she was sentenced to ten years' trans- portation.

Sarah Baker has been convicted at Stafford Assizes of the murder of her child, by throwing it down an old pit-shaft. The poor creature was seduced by a wretch who deserted her when it was apparent she would become a mother : he fled the country for a year, that he might avoid the liability of supporting his child ; then returned, and married another woman. Sarah struggled hard to earn a living by cinder-washing. A vain attempt was made by her counsel to get an acquittal on the ground of insanity. The Jury recommended her to mercy on account of her desponding state when she committed the crime, and all the distressing circumstances. Sentence of death was pronounced ; but of course the Judge promised to forward the merciful recommendation to the proper quarter.

An unmarried woman who calls herself Ann Brookes, living at BirmMg- ham, has murdered her two little children, and attempted to destroy herself. At night she administered a narcotic poison to the children in milk ; they -were found dead in bed next morning. On that morning the woman herself swallowed laudanum; but by medical aid her life was preserved. The father of the children is reputed to be one Brookee, whose name the mother assumed.

A frightful outrage has been perpetrated at Barnet, by four Irishmen, upon a poor woman, Mrs. Brogsden, who was travelling afoot from Maccles- field to .Deptford, and had lain down in a barn which the men entered. On Monday, two of the ruffians were in custody; and for the capture of the rest a Government reward of 100/. has been offered. The woman survived in great agony until Thursday, and then died.

Five convict lunatics, confined in an asylum at Fisherton, attacked a keeper on Saturday last, overpowered him, and got possession of his keys, which enabled them to escape from the house. The Police were soon scour- ing the country in pursuit, and two of the five convicts were recaptured the same day.

The tempestuous weather of last week caused many disasters both by land and sea. From many parts of the country come sad accounts of waste of property by floods,—hay washed away, growing crops spoilt, and buildings al or destroyed. The agriculturists in the Reading district are great sufferers. At Nottingham, culverts burst, and the lower parts of houses were inundated : the lower lands were covered with water. Further accounts from Wales swell the list of losses. Many bridges have been swept away ; while in some places the hay has been floated off the fields, potatoes have been washed from the ground, and numbers of moveable articles have been carried along by the rivers converted into torrents. At Laugharne, a large piece of the ancient castle-wall fell down. In several localities animals were killed by the lightning. "Altogether, such a widely-spread devastation oc- casioned by heavy floods has not been known for many years." Around Banbury the floods were very extensive; and at Brackley the country, for several miles, looked like a vast lake. In Leicester, factories and dwellinghouses were invaded: in some places the residents had three feet of water in their lower rooms. A number of men made a good deal of money by conveying people in carts through the streets that had been con- verted into rivers. A large mass of earth fell down at Brandon Hill, in Bristol, from the rain having undermined it; and much damage was done to houses situate below.

A violent gale prevailed on the coast North of Flamborough Head on Thursday sennight. Several ships were wrecked, in some cases with a loss of life. An iron screw collier, the Countess of Strathmore foundered off Whitby. Two vessels went to the rescue of the crew—fifteen in number, with three passengers. The master' the mate, and a seaman, perished : the mate was washed from a ladder ; the rope broke to which the master was attached; and the seaman died from exhaustion. A boy who had been got to land from a wrecked vessel at Hartlepool also died from exhaustion.