tt Vtunititts.

The Sandon and Marston Agricultural Society had a Cabinet Minister for president at the annual dinner held last week. The speeches at the banquet were not more remarkable than the hundred other speeches de- livered at these meetings during the last three weeks; but the president of this Staffordshire banquet was the Earl of Harrowby, the .main topic was the war, and curiosity was naturally excited to hear what he had to say. At the outset, Lord Harrowby confessed that when he joined the Ministry i

he participated n the feeling that our soldiers had been neglected. But he felt also that there was much to be said. for those who had to extemporize a great war out of inadequate means. They had heard much lately about putting the right man in the right place, and it was important that this should be done ; but it was what no one was able to do at once, either in time of peace or war. It was impossible to know what a man was good for until he Was tried—and it might happen that, when tried, those whom they ex- pected equal to a duty to be discharged were entirely deficient in the quali- ties essential to the office. They in their ordinary avocations plunged their hand into a sack of corn and drew out a sample, but they could not know before testing it what it was worth. They took the best security they could find, and endeavoured, as every one should do, to put the right man into the right place ; but if it was found that they had the wrong man, and they continued the wrong man in the wrong place long, then there was certainly room for great fault to be found. He had always felt that this is "a just, necessary, and righteous war." If he had doubted that, the circumstances of the war must have dispelled his doubts. The thousands upon thousands of guns atSebastopol could not have been heaped up for purposes of defence, but of aggressions. There is another Sebastopol in the Baltic. And what position did Russia occupy even now ? Cowed as she herself was, she yet cowed Germany. Although the whole of Europe might be said to be in favour of the cause undertaken by the West- ern Powers, Germany was awed by Russia from assuming her proper posi- tion. The necessity would have risen at some time of an exertion on the part of Europe to establish its independence, unless she submitted to be entirely at the mercy of the Russian bear ; and there could be little doubt that a favourable opportunity had been taken, when England was in frank, firm, and cordial alliance with our noble and gallant neighbour, France. Well, he hoped that the war as now proceeding presented some features which might well satisfy, in some degree at least, public expectation, and that they would feel it was not their duty as soon as they had achieved a great success to patch up a,haety. peace. It was, he admitted, desirable hon- ourably to get rid of the war, but not until the cause which led to it had been removed. (Great cheering.) It would be poor economy of life and treasure, if, as soon as they gained an advantage, they made a peace, for- getful of the great object of the war—the future peace and liberty of Europe —which alone justified them in undertaking the war.

The Earl of Ellesmere delivered a lecture "on the war," at the Wore- ley Literary Institution, on Tuesday. Although, of course, the great theme was cleverly and instructively treated, yet not much of it would be new to our readers, whatever it may have been to the Worley au- dience. One point he put with new force—the national character of the war.

"There never was a war more essentially national. There have been Many ware in this bad world of ours which have depended on the will of kings, of individual statesmen, or perhaps of kingte favourites and kings' mistresses; the time has been when a woman of bad character at Versailles could set the world in arms by intrigues with the Ministers of the Crown ; and I have lived in times myself when a man, by the vast power that he had attained, by the lustre of his former achievements and his great talents, could, contrary to the advice of all who surrounded lum, contrary to the advice of his most faithful and more oompetent counsellors, launch the whole power of Franceand half the rest of Europe in an enterprise which proved the destruction of that power. I am alluding to Napoleon's former enterprise against Russia, undertaken at the individual will of Napoleon, after all his beat advisers had counselled him against it Now, this has been, in my opinion, emphatically a war of the people It is very usual, when people are unanimous in favour of great sacrifices and

great struggles, that they should be influenced either by fear, or by revenge By the expression fear,' I mean the anticipation of urgent and great dan- ger if they do not themselves strike a blow that shall prevent the necessity of a more serious war hereafter. By revenge, I mean retaliation for former insults and former injuries. Now, certainly neither of these influences had Ony great effect in bringing about the present struggle. . . . In mizApin-

ion, it is a war partly of sentiment and partly of instinct of future er; and I believe that sentiment is a sound one and that instinct a wise one.'

Lord Ellesmere gently rebuked the nation for over-confidence at the outset; and, without underrating the damage already done to Russia, he does not think it-sufficient to induce her to accede to the terms of peace

which ought to be agreed to by the Allies: he therefore holds to a con- tinuance of the war. His last words were "St George for-England, and God defend the right !"

The Duke of Cambridge, accompanied by Colonel Kinloch, paid an un- looked-for visit to the camp of the Foreign Legion at Shorncliffe, on Wednesday. After inspecting the buildings, the Duke witnessed, the regiments, 3000 strong, go through the manceuvrea of a brigade field.day, under Brigadier-General Von Stutterheim. The condition of the regi- ments. gave great satisfaction.

The bad custom of making deductions from the bounty offered to in- duce men to enlist as soldiers has produced a serious mutiny at Horfield Barracks, near Bristol. Several Irish Militiamen, who had entered the Land Transport service, arrived at the depOt at Horfield, on Wednesday. When they found that the cost of outfit would be deducted from the 51. bounty, they assaulted their officers, tore of their epaulettes, and flung stones at them. The officers called in the artillery, and a howitzer was brought to bear on the mutineers. Still they did not yield. The how- itzer was loaded, and the desired effect was produced. Thirty men were instantly arrested.

As might have been anticipated, Lord Mandeville, now Duke of Man- chester, has been succeeded in the representation of Huntingdonshire by a Conservative—Mr. Rust. The Liberal candidate, Mr. Heathoote, of Connington Castle, was not even nominated. The election took place on Tuesday, in the Shire-hall at Huntingdon. Mr. Rust was proposed by Mr. Hussey of Upwood House, seconded by the Reverend J. Linton of Hem- mingford, and elected unanimously.

The death of Mr. Tudway, on Saturday last, creates a vacancy for the borough of Wells, which that gentleman represented since 1852. It is remarked that Mr. Tudway's father sat for Wells from 1816 to 1830, and that his great-uncle sat for the same borough from 1760 to 1815. Cap- tain Yoliffe, a "Crimean hero," and Mr. Sergeant Kinglake, are spoken of as likely to be rival candidates for the vacant seat.

The "rumoured Coalition" still furnishes a sore topic among the Con- servatives. On Tuesday, Lord Galway availed himself of an opportunity given by the dinner of the Worksop Labourers' Friend Society to say "a few words in contradiction of the absurd rumour of an extraordinary coalition."

The suggested coalition was that of Lord John Russell, Mr. Bright, Mr. Gladstone, and Mr. Disraeli. Now, he should be very sorry if Lord John Russell had entered into the sort of coalition in question ; though he was not in a position to answer for him, or for Mr. Gladstone. Mr. Bright, as a member of the Peace Society, might very fairly be supposed to desire that an end should be put to the war. For his friend Mr. Disraeli, however, he thought he could answer more explicitly. As the leader of the Conservative party in this country, and as one who must, therefore, consult the feelings of those who acted with him, Mr. Disraeli—he thought he could undertake to say they might depend upon it—would never consent to any terms of accommodation with Russia which would not be likely to lead to an honour- able and a lasting peace. They all knew the "dodges" played by Indies. This rumour of a coalition might be one; but he believed 81.1014 a coalition to be utterly impossible. He believed they would find that for the sake of place and power Mr. Disraeli would, never endeavour to lead his party con- trary to what he believed to be the feelings of the people of England at the present moment. At the same time, they must recollect they had not gone to war to annihilate Russia—for who would think of going to war to annihi- late an enormous empire like that ? They went to war to protect a weak power against a strong one ; and, depend upon it, they had read a severe lesson to Russia.

Lord Galway was convinced that Lord Palmerston is now conducting the war in a far more satisfactory manner ; and he assured his hearers that the Conservative party are not the men to make a "peace at any price."

The Manchester folks anticipate that Mr. Bright will address his con- stituents before Parliament reassembles, at a "great meeting" to be held in the new Free-trade Hall. This building will be oven then incom- plete, but it is promised that it will be made "comfortable" for the oc- casion.

The Jews of Exeter, Birmingham, and Norwich, have agreed to pre- sent congratulatory addresses to Mr. Alderman Salomons on his election as Lord Mayor of London. At Norwich an amendment was moved, on the ground that the Alderman had "compromised a religious principle" by attending a Christian place of worship on the day of his election : but the opposition didsot meet with much support.

The Liverpool Chamber of Commerce sat two days this-week, Tuesday and Wednesday, in deliberation on the Bank Act of 1844; and arrived at a series of resolutions respecting that measure. Although "the Council see no reason for alarm in the present state of the commercial position and the general resources of the country, yet they cannot conceal from themselVes the fact that there is a growing apprehension in the public mind of approaching difficulties." Anticipating that the pressure for money, on account of war and food requirements, will cause a drain on the available banking capital, and bring about a state of things like that in 1847, when the reserve-notes were exhausted while a large stock of bullion was retained, they call upon the Government to anticipate and prevent any similar break-down in public confidence, by declaring its readiness to assume the responsibility expected from it—namely, to sus- pend the operation of the Bank Act of 1844.

The dinner of the Loughborough Agricultural Association afforded the chairman, Mr. Packe M.P., a platform for an attack upon the projected and partly tested plan to collect statistics of agriculture. Mr. Packe !set out with denying that there is a general feeling in favour of the collection of these statistics ; and proceeded to prove it by analyzing the circum- stances attending the effort to collect them in eleven counties—Norfolk, Suffolk, Hampshire, Wiltshire, Leicestershire, Berkshire, Worcestershire, Brecknockshire, Shropshire, Denbighshire, and the West Riding of York- shire. He insisted that the experiment had only succeeded in the West Riding of 'Torkshire, which could hardly be called an agricultural calm- ty—or half-county ; and that in the others the experiment either totally or partially failed. The occupiers and farmers distrust "the objects, utility, and proposed advantages of these returns." For his own part, he had react nothing to convince him that it would be to the advantage of the British farmer to have his concerns laid open. It us of no um to say the project could do no harm ; it ought to be proved that it would do some

Pod.

At the meeting of the Leominster Agricultural Association, Mr. Chan- dos Wren Hoskyns took a totally opposite view. He declared his firm conviction that accurate agricultural statistics are a great want. Some of the circumstances in past years, most trying to the farmer, might have been avoided, had we possessed the means of judging, before the time of harvest, what would be the probable rule of prices during the sale of the produce of that particular harvest. For instance,'in September and Oc- tober 1846, wheat was selling at 45s. a quarter ; in May and June of the following year the produce of the same harvest was selling at 1258. a quarter. It was therefore clear that the needy seller who went into the market in September had to sustain additional pressure with the further disadvantage of getting only 45$. for wheat which afterwards proved worth nearly treble that sum. We know every bale of goods that goes out, and every pound of sugar that comes into the country ; yet so ignor- ant are we of the quantity of corn we grow, that we don't know the amount between 10,000,000 and 25,000,000—for he had heard it guessed at these two extremes.

A public meeting was held at Hertford last week, in the Shire Hall, for the purpose of determining whether the Public Libraries Act should be adopted in that town. The Mayor presided ; and Mr. William Cow- per M.P. expounded the objects of the meeting and the nature of the act. It was resolved, by 66 to 4, that the Public Libraries Act of 1855 should be adopted in Hertford.

A large number of workmen are engaged in building the new Museum at Oxford, many strangers to the town. It occurred to Dr. Acland, that if a temporary building for their accommodation were set up, containing a kitchen, mess, and reading-room, it would keep the men from the pot- house. The authorities adopted the suggestion ; the building was rapidly completed ; and it was formally opened on Tuesday by the Vice-Chan- cellor and other gentlemen. A supper was prepared for the men; the Vice-Chancellor presiding, saying grace, and lecturing on the beauties of order and loyalty. The Vice-Chancellor departed at an early hour, but the workmen and the rest of the guests kept up the festivity until mid- night.

The accounts of the Norwich Musical Festival—presented after a delay of upwards of twelve months—show a deficiency of 1031. Os. 5d.; which has been made up by several kind patrons. This adverse result is attributed to local causes, such as the prevalence of cholera.

There has been a considerable decrease in the number of prisoners tried at the Quarter-Sessions just concluded in the Eastern Counties. This gratifying improvement is in some degree attributable to the operation of the new Criminal Jurisdiction Act; but still more to the abundance of employment, and the enrolment of poachers and other loose characters in the Militia.

James Elder, fourth engineer of the steamer Conway, has been tried at Southampton, under the Mercantile Marine Act, for knowingly endangering the lives of the people on board the steamer. While the vessel was pro- ceeding from Tampico to Vera Cruz, during Elder's watch at night, he al- lowed the water in the boilers to get too low, and then made matters worse by ordering the stokers to "fire up "-; after this, he had supplied more water, but too late—the ship was set on fire by the heat : fortunately, the flames were subdued, but the vessel had to proceed under canvass, and the repairs will cost a large sum. Elder was convicted, and sentenced to four months' imprisonment.

Abraham Baker, a young man, is awaiting his trial for the murder of Naomi Kingswell, at Southampton. The young people were fellow servants in a clergyman's family, and had been courting ; there was some disagree- ment; Baker thought he had cause to be jealous. On Saturday evening he bought a pistol, powder, and bullets; on Sunday forenoon he wrote to his parents, leaving them his property, and hinting that his end was approach- ing; he then entered the kitchen, stood behind the girl Naomi, and fired the pistol—the bullet passed through her brain. In rambling statements to the authorities, Baker has admitted his guilt.

"Alice Grey," a girl who has several names, is in Stafford Gaol on a charge of perjury. Her offence was very bad. She swore that two boys had robbed her of her little all; the boys denied it; but they were convicted : a sub- scription was made for their poor victim—that was th8 object she aimed at. Unfortunately for her, a reporter of the Birmingham journal saw her at Stafford, and recognized her as "Agnes Christie," who had charged a man at Birmingham with robbing her ; the Birmingham man had proved an alibi, but Agnes got a subscription. The reporter informed the officers of this. Subsequently, by the judicious employment of a photographic likeness, she was identified pretty extensively as a swindler.

Mullen, a stoker on the North Devon Railway, attempted to get on to a locomotive engine while the train was in motion—he stumbled, fell beneath the wheels, and was crushed to death.

A lad at Gwennap in Cornwall has unwittingly killed his little brother by snapping a gun at him, which another brother had carelessly left in a room loaded.

An infant has been suffocated in a cradle, at Durham, by a eat lying across its throat and mouth.

The very extensive ropery of Mr. John Hay, at Monkwearmouth, has been destroyed by fire : loss, 10,0001., principally covered by insurances.