1it Vrodurtg.
The Beverley election has resulted in the return of the Honourable Arthur Gordon ; but not without opposition. At the last moment, the Tories brought down, or sent down, an opponent, Mr. George Woodyatt Hastings ; who announced himself as a thoroughgoing Liberal, and a de- termined opponent of Lord Aberdeen. The nomination took place on Saturday. Dr. Sandwith proposed and Mr. Cresskill seconded Mr. Gor- don; Mr. George Ireland proposed and Mr. Charles Tiger seconded Mr. Hastings.
Mr. Gordon spoke frankly and boldly on several popular topics ; inter alia, on the war and the guarantees of peace—
It was his firm opinion that the Government v ere determined that the war should be carded on with the utmost vigour, until the objects for which it had been undertaken were effectually, firmly, thoroughly, and for ever secured—till the independence of Turkey was secured—till there was no danger from the aggressions of Russia ; that these should be secured by no useless wordy guarantees, no nonsensical pledges between the parties them- selves, but by some effectual guarantee, such as should insure Europe from such a disturbance again ; and that we should not close this war until the disturber of the peace of Europe had been punished as his conduct so richly deserved. If the Government did not pursue that policy, although that man whom he most revered on earth was at its head, he for one would not sup- port the Government. Referring to attacks made by Mr. Hastings on Lord Aberdeen, he said—" It is my highest bout to be the son of your present Prime Minister ; it is my greatest ambition to prove myself his not un- worthy son. And therefore I tell that gentleman, when he comes here and attacks my father, that I am not going to sit down before I tell him that those charges are utterly baseless and unfounded. I tell him that there is no man in England who has more the honour of his country at heart than the present Prime Minister. And I tell you that his very efforts to keep peace, in my opinion, prove that he will be the last to close the war till it is brought to a successful issue." . Mr. Hastings called on the Tories for support; and won the show of hands. But the poll, on Monday, told another tale .: the numbers then were—Gordon, 493; Hastings, 192.
It is worthy of a record, that this Beverley election has been carried through by Mr. Gordon without having recourse to any of the usual me- thods of gaining the favour of a corrupt constituency. He rejected ell the usual trumpery of ribands and colours, and had all his placard, printed on plain white paper; he would not even pay travelling ex- penses, though strictly legal. Thus one election has been conducted to a successful issue without the improper expenditure of a shilling or a glue of ale.
Through the liberality of Lord Stanley, an Athenteum of a superior class will be opened at King's Lynn on the 16th instant. A Museum wili also afford agreeable and rational entertainment for the people from the same date.
A handsome new Infirmary has just been established in Huntingdon- shire, at a cost of 9000/.
Scaffolding has been placed about the great West window of Norwich Cathedral for the erection of the Stanley memorial of painted glass. The works are expected to be completed by the 12th September, when the Musical Festival will commence, in St. Andrew's Hall.
A second Court-martial on Lieutenant Perry has been sitting in the Windsor Infantry Barracks, every day since Saturday. The charges brouolit
against him are, that on the trial of Lieutenant Greer, Perry, in a letter to Colonel Upton, made certain statements, to the effect that when he made a complaint in Dublin, Colonel Garrett reproached him and called him "a fool" for his pains ; that Perry had sent a letter to Colonel Garrett threat- ening an appeal to the General of the district ; and that Captain Nicholas aided and abetted others in ill-treating young officers; all of which state- ments Lieutenant Perry knew to be false and slanderous. On Monday,
Major-General Wetherell appeared before the Court, by the desire of Lord Hardinge, to state that the Court had been convened in order that Lieute- nant Perry might have the fullest opportunity of substantiating his asser- tions; and he recommended the Court to approach the inquiry with feelings the very reverse of vindictive against the prisoner. The witnesses subse- quently examined were Colonel Garrett, Major Maxwell, Major Fyffe, Cap. tam n Sandwith, Captain Nicholas, and Lieutenant Dunscombe. A vast variety of questions were put to the witnesses, and four other stories of ill-usage were frequently alluded to. Generally speaking, in all matters relating to the charge, the officers examined declared that they could not remember; they believed Colonel Garrett could not have used the words imputed to him; they never heard him reproach Lieutenant Perry. Some of the officers showed decided dislike of Lieutenant Perry : one said he was shunned because of his temper ; another on account of his swaggering manner, his contempt for everything regimental and military, his supposed de- bauched habits, and other imputations of that kind. Colonel Garrett did not remember ever to have received a letter threatening to appeal to the General of the district. The tenour of Major Maxwell's evidence was, that the other officers had good reason to complain of Perry ; who, it was believed, had told people in Dublin that one of the officers was known by a very ugly name, which he would not repeat. The inquiry is still pending. The Reverend William Bates, a Norfolk clergyman, has been adjudged to pay damages of 501. and 20/. in two actions brought against him for libel by two gentlemen named Blyth. The affair arose out of a parochial squabble.
At Derby. Assizes, on Saturday, seven men were tried for the wilful mur- der of Mr. Bagshawe, who lost his life from a conflict with water-poachers. The particulars were mentioned last week ; and the evidence at the trial was mainly the same as that given at the Coroner's inquest. Only two of the men were apprehended at the time of the affray : it was sought to im- plicate the others by a number of circumstances tending to show that they belonged to the party who were spearing fish in the Wye. Mr. Henry Mar- wood Greavcs, a Magistrate of the county, and executor to the late Reverend AV. Bagshawe, produced a lease from the Crown, sealed with the seal of the Duchy of Lancaster, whereby the right of fishery in the river Wye, at the place in question, was leased to his testator, and he stated that he had not only given the deceased verbal permission to use the fishery and preserve the fish, but had also written him a note to that effect ; which was produced. For the defence, Mr. Sergeant Miller submitted that the unfortunate de- ceased had no authority to apprehend persons poaching in the Wye. Mr. Justice Maule, however, ruled that Mr. Greaves was proved to be the owner of this private right of fishery, and that he had authorized Mr. Bagehawe to preserve the fish ; which would include an authority to apprehend poachers. Mr. Sergeant Miller then contended that the evidence utterly failed against several of the prisoners: it did not show any common design to resist appre- hension, and therefore the particular person who struck the fatal blow mud be pointed out : did any of the prisoners inflict it ? might not one of Mr. Bay,shawe's followers have struck it in the confusion ? or might not the fracture have been the result of a fall ? Mr. Bagshawe seemed to have more desire to punish the poachers on the spot than to apprehend them. In anY case, the crime was only manslaughter. The Judge explained the law to the Jury ; and pointed out, that if the poachers really believed the intention was to beat them and not to apprehend
them, death caused by their resistance would not amount to murder. After a short consultation, the Jury pronounced a verdict of "Not guilty 55 regarded all the prisoners.
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