ELECTION TALK.

HALIFAX. We understand that the friends of Mr. Protheroe have already liberally subscribed for the purpose of petitioning Parliament against the return of Mr. Wortley. The Returning Officer, it is said, acted with great partiality, and actually objected to some votes tendered for Mr. Protheroe, whilst he received others, in circumstances precisely similar, in favour of the Tory candidate.—Bristol Mercury.

SC OTL AND.

Within the last few days, a large number of friends of Libefal prin- ciples in this borough, have served upon the Overseers notices to be entered upon the rate-books, in order to entitle them to vote at elections. —Halifax Express.

HEREFORD. The Hereford Tories had made so sure of success, as toprepare a triumphal arch for their hero to pass through ; and had, before the summing up of the numbers, with the consent of the Dean, actually set the Cathedral-bells ringing right merrily. These rejoicings, together with the banqueting preparations, &c. usual on such occasions, were proceeding with great alacrity, when, to their utter confusion, they ascertained, upon the announcement of the poll, that their man was rejected !

NORFOLK, WEST. At the West Norfolk election, Sir Jacob Astley having asserted that Lord Charles Townshend admitted to him that he would " coerce " his tenants to vote for the Conservative candidate, Lord Charles peremptorily denied it, or, in other words, gave the lie direct to such a statement; the consequence was, that a hostile message was sent to Lord Charles ; but their mutual friends interfered, and both were bound over to keep the peace, themselves in 10001. and two sureties in 5001. each. Sir Jacob's sureties were Mr. Coke and Sir IV. Folkes. —Lincoln Mercury.

FIFESIIIRE. The result of the contest in this important county should encourage the Reformers everywhere to act with concert and

firmness. The large landed proprietors, with the exception of Mr. Ferguson, and one or two others, were all marshalled against Captain Wemyss. Money and the unscrupulous use of influence were the weapons of his opponents. The Captain, however, relied on the courage and honesty of the middle and poorer classes of the freeholders, who united in his favour, paid their own expenses, and have returned

him by a triumphant majority. Economy and activity have supplied the place of wealth and influence. No Member has been more honour- ably returned than Captain Wemyss. It is a victory of which his inde- pendent supporters may well be proud.

Captain Wemyss's speech on the nomination-day is very characteristic and amusing. It contains some hard hits at his old friends, the Tories-

" Gentlemen (he said), all call themselves Reformers now, but they do this just because they can't help themselves. If all were truly Reformers, what was

the use of getting Lord Melbourne turned out of office, and bringing back the

old party again into power ? Gentlemen, such professions are mere political cant. I do not mean to detain you as to the history of the breaking- up of the late Cabinet ; but would recommend you all to read the speech of Sir John Cam Hobhouse, lately delivered at Nottingham. He tells us that the late Administra- tion had prepared three bills ; and I was not aware of the fact until I had read

Sir John's speech. These bills comprehended large measures of reform. They

related to the Irish Church—the English Church—and, to use, a Scotch phrase, English burgh reform. I have no doubt in the world that the prospect of these

highly-necessary and beneficial measures caused great alarm to the Tories, and that some back-stair influence was at work, until the King at last consented to the change. In the propriety of the contemplated measures of the Whigs, gentle-

men, I decidedly concur : and had they been brought forward in last Parliament, would certainly have supported them. The Irish Church must be reformed,— ay, most sweepingly reformed. What would you say or think, if a squadron of

cavalry were to attack such a meeting as this, and actually kill some ten or

twelve of you, all because some one sued for 21. 8s. to the minister? The English Church also, gentlemen, must undergo a great change. We must have the Bishops sent back to their incumbencies. I have no doubt, that long ago,

they may have behaved clerically in the House of Lords, and attended alone to the spiritual welfare of the people ; but it is notorious that they arc now political

intermeddlers. ( Cheers.) I will tell you what—it was the conduct of the Bishop of Exeter that made me vote against the Bishops, and I never gave a more conscientious vote in my life. (Immense cheering.) With regard to the

Tithe system of England, we must have the tithes commuted ; and there must

not in future be a parcel of dominies doing the office of the parish clergyman, while the functionary himself is allowed to be spending all his time in fox-bunt- ing—a sport, by the by, I am myself very fond of—and cricket games. ( Great cheering.) Gentlemen, I am not a Voluntary, because I think that society has not yet attained to that state of purity in which the voluntary principle would

prove efficacious. The next question, gentlemen, is English Corporation Reform. A great deal has been said about corruption in the Scotch burghs, not excepting even the burgh of Cupar ; but we, living here, gentlemen, have little idea of the mass of corruption which prevails in the English borough system. Considering

this, I have been quite astonished that the Whigs were soon able to mature their measure of English borough reform. I am opposed to all factions, whether they

be Outs or Ins. I think that the sooner political parties are brought to an end,

so much the better for the country ; and, I fear, that if this is not the case soon, it will be attended with the worst consequences. I don't pledge you as to what I will du in Parliament ; but this pledge I gave you at the last election, which I now also voluntarily repeat—that if at any time you should become displeased with my Parliamentary conduct, I bind myself to restore the trust into your hands, on being called upon to do so by a majority of the constituency ; for, gentlemen, I assure you, that the only value in my eyes which attaches to it arises from this circumstance, that the holding of it is a mark of your confidence." ( Great cheering.) The voting soon put Captain Wemyss far ahead of his antagonist ; and the final numbers were—for Wemyss, 1051; Lindsay, 584. INVERNESS-SIIIRE. Mr. Charles Grant has been returned by a majo- rity of 7 over his opponent, Mr. Macleod ; the numbers at the close of the poll being 260 and 253. Mr. Grant spoke on the day of nomina- tion like a practised orator; his superiority over his opponents was very manifest. There are one or two passages in his speech worth extracting- " We hear of Conservatives and Destructive'. The true Conservative prin- ciple is wise and seasonable improvement. The true Destructive principle is resistance to all improvement till you become the victims of innovation. It is easy fora statesman to fold his arms and say—, I take my stand upon the Insti- tutions of the country ; I will admit of no alteration.' But all is change around hint—nature changes, the seasons change, time and circumstances change, mind and manners change ; the relations of states, the interests and obligations of nations, the wants, and feelings, and habits of mankind—all change. Need I dwell on the important measurea of Parliamentary Reform ? You are well acquainted with its nature and merits, more particularly with that portion of it which relates to Scotland. But I cannot mention this subject without recalling that great man to whom the nation owes Parliamentary Ile- form—I mean Lord Grey. ( Cheers.) On his devotion to the public service I need not enlarge. How often have we seen him

• Just alike to freedom and the throne, The master of our Fissions and his own;'

guarding, on the one hand, the prerogative of the Crown and the interests of the Aristocracy, and on the other protecting the privileges of the People, and communicating to them larger measures of constitutional freedom ! Happy the nation which possesses in its bosom such a statesman ! Happy the monarch who can appreciate the value of such a servant ! I anticipate for him still higher honours, or rather continued honours (for a higher honour than that of passing the Reform Bill it is not in the power of fortune to confer)—I antici- pate that the time is not far distant when the eyes of the nation will again be turned to him, and the Snrereign shall recall him to his councils. ( Great cheering.) . . . . Nothing is more easy than to prontince the word revo- lution; it has constantly been used as a watchword to retard the progress of im- provement. But who are the real revolutionists—those who &sire tamely im- provement, or those who resist it till it be too late? Who were the authors of the French Revolution ? Not the Robespierres and Marats ; those miserable monsters were but the spawn of that convulsion. It was those who might have averted it by caution,• but failed to do so. The real authors were the nobility, the aristocracy, the ministers, who for thirty, forty, or fifty years disregarded the prognostics gathering around them; who, though warned and advised, and urged to the correction of abuses, took their stand on the conservative principle, and rejected the smallest concession to the wants and the growing intelligence of the people. With many who use the word revolution,' the real fear is the correction of abuses."

Mr. Grant polled 257 votes at the election of 1830; his opponent 210. Now the former received 260, the latter 253. It would seem, therefore, that Grant's friends are firm, but that the Tories in Inver- ness-shire, as elsewhere, have been active in making votes.

Krotanwoct. It has been industriously reported that the return of Dr. Bowring for Kilmarnock was irregular, and that it would be peti- tioned against. But we have reason to believe that such a statement is rather the offspring of his opponents' wishes than their steady reso- lution. The Scuts Times states that the only irregularity was that the poll was not opened at Rutherglen till four o'clock on the first day ; which was caused by the letter officially directed to the Sheriff of Lanark having been missent by the Post-office to Glasgow. In conse- quence of that, the Sheriff of Lanarkshire did not receive it till the morning of the day when the poll ought to have opened. He took im- mediate steps to remedy the mischance, and the poll was opened at four

o'clock. It is plain that the evil equally affected all the candidates ; and it is not likely that the House of Commons will set aside an election on account of an accident which had no effect on the general result. The

Scots Times quotes two cases where similar delay occurred at the last election, and the returns were not impeached. That journal says, there-

fore, that there is little chance of Dr. Bowring's return being im- peached, or set aside. It gives great credit to the electors of the Kilmar- nock district for having elected Dr. Bowring, not one of whom a week before his election had any personal acquaintance with him.

IRELAND.

CORK. The Reformers have already obtained subscriptions to the amount of 6001. to prosecute the petition for unseating the Tories, Chattcrton and Leycester; not a shilling of which was solicited. The fund will be increased to 1000/., and more if needed. It is be- lieved that the Tories will not defend the return, and that Baldwin and Callaghan will be declared the sitting Members. In the city of Cork, 500/. was subscribed towards defraying the expenses of the Reform candidates in the county ; and almost all the expenses of the Reform candidates in the city have been defrayed by subscription. At the close of the proceedings of Friday, at the Cork election, Mr. Feargus O'Connor, as usual throughout the contest, addressed the electors. He alluded to the members of his own family voting against him for the Conservatives, and said he owed his triumph over the aristocrats of his county to the hbnest frieze-coated men of Cork." " Why, I say (quoth Feargus), did not my family vote for me ?" A person in the gallery—." I tell you, Feargus; because you are going to marry Mrs. Nisbet. Is she an Irishwoman?" " She is, and a Re- pealer !" exclaimed the gallant and ready Feargus, amidst the loudest cheers.

The address of Carew O'Grady to the county of Cork beats all com- petition. He says—" I told the electors of Limerick that there was a

penumbra of independence in the county of Cork, which was not then able to lisp freedom on its tongue." " This is an epoch at which men should be steady, when we see our winter fields irrigated with human blood and tops dressed with human brains." " If you return any except an unconditional Repealer, you send a walking monument of Repeal extinction, and carve on it this inscription—Hic facet " Donuts. The Conservatives are preparing for the next election. The names of 769 persons, who have given notice of their intention to register, are posted in the committee-room of West and Hamilton.

On the other hand, the Anti-Tories are on the alert; and have formed a Registration Society.

KERRY. Another of the newly-appointed Ministers has been utterly beaten. Mr. Maurice Fitzgerald, though personally popular, has not been able to withstand the political odium excited against him

joining oining the Tory Government. It was a great point with O'Con- nell to carry this election. He was present at Tralee, using all his in.

fluence in behalf of his relative, Morgan John O'Connell, and Mr. F. W. Mullins. His efforts were completely successful: at the dose

of the poll, the numbers stood—for O'Connell, 757; Mullins, 542; Fitzerald, 375. There was no violence, nor rioting ; but, the Tories say, abundance of " mental terrorism," or priestly influence.

Mayo. Sir W. Brabazon and Dominick Browne have been elected. to the exclusion of the lukewarm Whig, John Browne, one of the late Members. The numbers were—Brabazon, 828; D. Browne, 623; John Browne, 430.

Roscosutow. Mr. Barton, it is said, will petition against the return of O'Conor Don and 1 itzstephen French, in the county of Roscom-

mon. No expense will be spared to unseat them. His father (for- merly of the house of Sneyd, French, and Barton), is said to be worth 600,0001. in estates in Kildare, Roscommon, Spain, Por- tugal, &c.

Wexroan. Here Mr. Henry Lambert, who distinguished himself as an opponent of the O'Connell rent, has been forced to retire : and two Reformers, Maher and Power, defeated two Tories, Cliffc and Redmond ; the final numbers being—for Maher, 770; Power, 761; Cliffe, 590; Redmond, 569.