30 SEPTEMBER 1848, Page 4

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The annual meeting of the Waltham Agricultural Association was held at Waltham-le-Wolds on Monday. The show of stock was rather small, but very good; the ploughing was skilfully performed. The dinner, in the Agricultural Hall, was attended by the Marquis of Granby, Lord Charles Manners, M.P., Sir Frederick Trench, M.P., and other gentlemen of local influence; the Duke of Rutland presiding. The after-dinner speaking exhibited remarkable heartiness. In rising to thank the company for drinking his health, the Duke of Rutland was so overcome by his feel- ings, that he was obliged to resume his seat, and was affected to tears. He stated, that in a few months he should have completed half a century in the office of Lord-Lieutenant of the county. The Chairman gave some account of harvest prospects-

" From the statement I received from various farmers, as well as from my own farm, I believe that the produce will be infinitely greater as to good corn than three weeks ago I could by any possibility have expected. I was in despair for several days; but we have to thank the Almighty Dispenser of all good, who in his chastening has shown mercy, that he has granted us a harvest which 1 firmly believe will remove from us the miseries of famine, even in the slighest degree, until anotheryear. I fear, however, that a considerable drain must be made upon our granaries' in consequence of the failure of the potato crop; which, I am sorry to say, is equally bad both in England and Ireland. It has been to me a matter of regret ever since the disease made its appearance, that the holders of allot- ments should cling so closely to that plant. I have endeavoured to induce them to set some other plant, such as mangold vrarzel, beet-root, or even white corn; and where that has been done the parties have derived great advantage. I am aware that it is in your power to do much towards encouraging your labourers to trust less to their darling potato; and you will be doing them a great benefit if you shall succeed in introducing some plant that shall serve equally as well. With regard to foreign importation, I can state, not only that it has much decreased, but that there is a much less proportion in the warehouse now than last year. In the seven months ending 5th August 1847, there were imported 1,333,330 quarters of wheat; whereas in the seine period this year, the import had only been 786,000 quarters. Of flour, in 1847 it was 3,165,629 cwt.; III 1848, 885,922 cwt. Of Indian corn, it was in 1847 2,543,293 quarters; in 1848, 768,946 quarters. Of Indian meal, in 1847 it was 974,880 cwt.; in 1848, 161,720 cwt. Of all other sorts of grain in 1847, it was 4,912,444 quarters; in 1848, 1,094,000 quarters. The quantity grain remaining in the warehouses on the 7th September 1847 was—wheat, 35,000 quarters; flour, 20,322 ewts.; other sorts, 59,544 quarters. There has also been a considerable diminution in cattle. The number of live animals imported in the month of August 1846 was 15,678; in 1847, 28,571; in 1848, 20,122. In the seven months up to 5th August 1846, the number was 42,550; in 1847, 90,560; and in 1848, 72,467. The article in which there has been a greater increase than in any other is bacon: and that, I believe, is to be attributed to the extraordinary diminution in the number of pigs held by farmers in Ireland. Compared with the amount in 1841, it appears that there is a diminution of 790,000 in that country."

The Duke recounted the experiences of a recent yachting excursion-

" I never in my life was more astonished than in seeing a farm belonging to Mr. Littledale, at Birkenhead. It was most extraordinary; and I shall most un- doubtedly request my bailiff, Mr. Cattle, to _go down and look over it. The day I was there, I met the bailiff of the Duke of Bedford, who told me that he was go- ing to tell his lord and master that they knew nothing of farming at Wobanl (Cheers and laughter.) I was at an agricultural show in Argyll, at whiah the greatest importance seemed to be attached to premiums for the best stock, the most deserving labourers &c., like those given here. At Invernesa, 1. was at a very large wool fair; and what struck me as being very extraordinary was, that not a single tod or even sample was shown. Such is the good fact' there between man and man, that they are content to purchase large quaeaties of wool without ever seeing what it is. Then again, I extended my excursion to the Orkney Islands, and there also I found the same anxiety to push the improvement of agri- culture to the utmost. I met there a gentleman who was building a magnificent castle, and who had on his estate four mode/ farms, with 11,000 persons, for whose welfare he was anxiously looking. He had so often crossed his sheep with a,nre now nearly pure. At Kirkwall, I

Leicester and Cheviot flocks, that they ea

bought for the use of my echoer,— a pure Leicester sheep that weighed 104 pounds, and that was not me-a inferior to Mr. Guy's." (Laughter and cheers.) More than one spe paer alluded to Lord George Bentinck; and Mr. New- batt, of Sleaford, rekluested the Chairman to convey to the Duke of Portland theAcondoenc At thel ineeetLfgthoef Assthe7Diaatirolinn.

gton Horticultural Society, on the 21st, and Mr. Disraeli were among the guests; and were lionized Lord Hardinge

by the mantas of Londonderry. Lord Hardinge seems to have been de- puted tota.°P°an "the Ladies ": after an allusion to that subject he en- large" on the policy of keeping the Army efficient, and alluded to the jar- of Major Edwardea in the Punjaub. Mr. Disraeli entertained the com- pany with a very ingenious and agreeable speech on flowers and the ladies.

A deputation from the London Society for the Promotion of Coloniza- tion attended in the Town-hall of Southampton on the 21st, to expound the principles of the association, and to assist in forming a branch society. The chair was occupied by Mr. D. Brooks, the Mayor. Mr. Francis

Scott, M.P., Mr. Arthur Mills, Mr. Mark Boyd, and the Secretary, Mr. G. W. Kingston, developed the views of the parent society, in speeches containing the usual array of statistics and the standing arguments in fa- vour of emigration. It appears that 15,0001. has been subscribed; which, under the arrangement sanctioned by the Government, would assist 3,000 able-bodied persons to transfer themselves to the Australian Colonies. Various resolutions were unanimously adopted; among them, one esta- blishing a local branch of the London Society.

A public meeting was held on Monday in the Guildhall at Bristol, to celebrate the reduction of the port-dues. Mr. Pountney, the Mayor, pre- sided; and in the course of his address referred in eulogistic terms to the Free Port Association, which had been mainly instrumental in getting the act passed during the last session. The effect of the alteration has been, to transfer the docks and river from a private company to the city, and to re- duce the dues at once from 3s. to Is. a ton: by November, the dock-dues would be decreased by at least 10,000/. per annum; and the mere antici- pation of the change had inareased the tonnage from foreign ports by 25 per cent. It was determined to keep as a general holyday the day on which the reduction of dues took effect.

The Jewish Synagogue newly erected at Canterbury was consecrated on Tuesday. The ceremony was performed by Dr. Adler, the chief Rabbi, assisted by the Reverend Dr. Cohen of Dover. The scrolls of the Law were deposited in the ark by Sir Moses Montefiore, with the customary solemnities. A cold collation at the Guildhall Concert-room, followed by a ball, terminated the proceedings.

The camp at Kersall Moor is now broken up. Eight companies of the Thirty-third Regiment, which had been stationed there about two months, marched on Monday morning for Berwick; and the remaining two com- panies were to march on Wednesday morning, for Tynemonth. The re- moval of the regiment, we believe, is regarded with the utmost satisfaction by the soldiers, who have suffered not a little from their exposure during the late unseasonable weather.—Manchester Guardian.

David Lightowler, a Chartist orator, was committed to York Castle, on Monday, by the Halifax Magistrates, on a charge of drilling a party of men at Tong Moor, one Sunday morning in May last. The principal witness was an approver, one Thomas Shepherd, a collier. Negative evidence was given in Lightowler's favour; but the Magistrates considered the case sufficiently made out to warrant them in sending it before a Jury. The prisoner was accordingly committed for trial, but liberated on finding two sureties for 1001. each.

The miners at the Hopwood Colliery, near Middleton, turned out against an attempted reduction of wages. They have resolved not to work for less than the rate recently paid, that being lower than it was a year ago.

An inquest on the body Of Lord George Bentinck was held on Saturday, at Wel- beck Abbey, by Mr. Falkner, the Coroner of Newark, and a jury of gentlemen farmers. The Jury inspected the corpse. "Death," says the report, "bad left no pa'nful trace upon the features of the departed nobleman; a cheerful smile was diffused over the face."

William Parks, a footman who waited at the breakfast-table on the morning of Thursday week, deposed that Lord George never was in better health or spirits than at breakfast: he took no luncheon, and for the greater part of the morning he was occupied in his dressing-room, writing letters. He remained at home till twenty minutes past four; then set out for Thoresby, where he was go:ng to spend two days with Lord Manvers. Richard Lenthall, a stable-keeper at Welbeck, drove Lord George's valet, Mr. Gardner, to Thoresby. "On the road, Mr. Gardner drew my attention to his Lordship; and on turning round, I saw him walking past the Reindeer Park corner, by the footpath towards Thoresby. I never saw him afterwards alive. I went forward to Thoresby. His Lordship never reached there. I left his Lord- ship's valet at Thoresby, and returned with the carriage to Welbeck." Richard Evans, a labourer, saw Lord George as he walked towards Thoresby. "I saw Lord George Bentinck standing still against the gate, and about two yards from the place where he was found dead. I was about two hundred yards from his Lordship, and was going on the old Worksop road, which crosses that on which the gate is situate. I thought it was the Marquis of Titchfield. No person was near him. I thought he was reading something; but could not see, at the dis- tance I was from him."

Richard Evans junior was with his father, and also saw Lord George. "On Thursday afternoon, I was returning home with my father and John Mee; when we saw a gentleman, whom I did not know, standing against the gate on the road in the meadow. We thought at the time that it was the Marquis of Titch- field. My father and Mee passed on the road, and I stood for a minute or so looking at the gentleman. While I WBB standing, he turned round, and looked towards the Kennels. I thought he was reading, as before he turned round he held his head down. Be was still standing at the gate when I walked on. I was about two hundred yards from the gate. it was about half-past four o'clock."

Mr. Smith, the constable of Welbeck, said, few persona passed along the foot- path. The Duke of Portland frequently walked by that path in the afternoon. It happened that he did not go out on Thursday, or he woad probably have been the first to find the body of Lord George Bentinck.

Richard Lenthall, the stable-helper who drove Mr. Gardner, related the finding of the body. "I was called out of bed at night, and asked if I had seen Lord George on my way home, as he had not reached Thoresby. I got up, and, along with the gardener and George Wilson, went to search for his Lordship. We took lanterns with us, and followed on the foot-road I had seen him taking. We found the body of his Lordship lying close to the gate which separates Kennel Water- meadow. He was quite dead, and lying on his face. His hat was a yard or two before him, having evidently been thrown off in falling. He was lying flat upon his face, and one of his arms was under him. I left the men with the body, and immediately started for Mr. Base, of Worksop, surgeon. A few minutes before we found the body, Mr. Base had passed on horseback, and asked what we were searching for. We declined telling him, as we had no idea that any harm had come to his Lordship, and did not wish to set any rumour afloat." George Wilson accompanied Lenthall. "A little after ten o'clock on Thurs- dayeZe t, I, along with Richard Lenthall and William Gardner, went along the Path to the corner of the Deer Park. We found his Lordship lying near a gate which be had passed through. He was lying on his belly and face. His hat was about a yard and a half before him. His hands were under his body, and in one he grasped his walking-stick. The stick was partly underneath him. I felt at his leg, and it was stiff and cold. A break was sent for from Welbeck, and in that he was removed to the Abbey. I had not seen him that morning. There was a little blood upon his face. The blood appeared to have flowed from his Lordship's nose. Besides that on his face, there was some on the grass. The body was not moved till Mr. Hasa came. I and Gardner carried lights with us."

Gardner, the valet, was absent in London on the day of the inquest: the Coroner thought his presence was not required.

Mr. Shirley Mills, assistant of Mr. Ward, surgeon, was at Welbeck when the body was brought there. "It was then about two o'clock. Life had been ex- tinct some hours. I was present when his Lordship's clothes were removed. There were no external marks of violence, except a considerable contusion about the left eye. It was such a contusion as would be produced by a fall. The bridge of the nose was also injured a little, and the left side of the tongue ap- peared to be injured by the teeth. There was also some extravasated blood under the skin of the chest, and the right side. His pockets were opened in my pre seuce; and in them was 121. 1.0s. in gold, and 11. 8s. 4d. in silver, and in his pocket-book there was a check for 1001. and two Si. notes, besides other papers. I was told that there was also a promissory note for 5,0001.; but that I did not see. His betting-book, his gold pencil, and gold watch and chain, were also found in his pockets. He had two valuable rings on his fingers." Mr. Ward, Lord George's regular medical attendant in the country, gave evi- dence of the post mortent examination. "1 have this day opened the body, and am of opinion that he died from spasm of the heart. There was very little food in the stomach; but there was no morbid appearance beyond congestion, which prevailed over the whole system. There was emphysema of the lungs, and old adhesions from former diseases. The heart was large and muscular, and covered with fat. It contained no blood, and bore the appearance of irregular contraction."

A Juryman inquired as to the state of the brain of the deceased ? Mr. Ward—" It was perfectly healthy, with the exception of a little venous congestion, in about the same ratio as the other organs."

[Mr. Mills had stated the cause of death in nearly the same terms.] A Juror asked if Mr. Ward supposed that the blood which was found on his Lordship's face and on the grass had been produced by the rupture of a blood- vessel in the bead? Mr. Ward said, he believed it had not: his opinion was that blood had flowed from the nose in consequence of the. deceased having fallen upon his face.

The Jury immediately returned a verdict of " Died by the visitation of God, to wit, of a spasm of the heart."

A murder and suicide were discovered on Sunday morning, at Toxteth Park, Liverpool. Robert Howarth had separated from his wife, but she went to him once a month to receive an allowance. She called on him for this purpose on Friday; and nothing having been heard of her lubsequently, on Sunday morning Howarth's house was entered. In a bedroom up stairs, the woman's corpse was found lying on the floor, in a pool of blood: it appeared that great violence had been used towards her. On removing the clothes, the man was discovered in bed; he appeared to be asleep, but he was really dead. There were no wounds on his body. A cup was found in the kitchen containing a mixture supposed to com- prise arsenic. At the inquest, on Tuesday, a surgeon stated that he bad found a quantity of what appeared to be a compound of arsenic in both bodies. The in- quiry was adjourned, that a more precise chemical investigation might be made.

Lydia Bateman, the wife of a farmer of Winster, near Bakewell, after her hus- band had gone out in the morning cut the throat of one of her children; attempt- ed to destroy another, who got away by struggling, though not without two or three wounds on the breast; and finally cut her own throat, though not boa that the wound proved immediately fatal. It was stated at the inquest, that the wo- man had exhibited weakness of mind. Verdict, "Wilful murder."

Two fatal accidents happened after a review at Heaton Park, near Manchester, last week. Mr. Denham, a farrier, one of the Wonky troop of Yeomanry Cavalry, who had been on duty during the day, was returning home in the evening; Ins horse grew restive, ran against a cart, and fell down, Mr. Denham falling under him: he died in half an hoar. Mr. Hobday, a partner in a Manchester house, had gone on horseback to see the review; on his return, the horse shied at a heap of stones, began plunging and rearing, and at length fell back on his rider. Mr. Hobday died in a very short time.

The timber-store of Messrs. Rigby and Wright, in Nelson Street, Liverpool, was destroyed by fire on Tuesday morning. There was a large quantity of valuable timber on the premises, and the damage is estimated at 2,0001.