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Birmingham has been in a state of excitement the whole of this week with preparations for the election of a Representative in the room of the late Mr. Scholefield. At a meeting of the Liberal party, on Friday, it had been unanimously agreed to select Mr. William Scholefield, son of the late Member, and formerly Mayor of the town, as their candidate. Some doubt was entertained whether Mr. William Scholefield would allow himself to be nominated ; but a short address from him briefly announced his consent to serve if elected, though he could not appear personally among the electors, in the present circumstances of the family. This was enough for his friends. Canvassing for Mr. William Scholefield, and for Mr. R. Spooner, the Conservative candidate, was begun, and vigorously prosecuted. On Monday, there was a meeting at the Town-hall of the Complete Suffrage friends of Mr. Joseph Sturge; at which a resolution was passed unanimously calling on that gentleman to come forward, on the principle of advocating " an entire and complete representation of the people." A deputation forthwith waited on Mr. Sturge; who came in a few minutes, and accepted their offer; pledging himself to go to the poll if he had only twenty votes. He said he had no sympathy with Tories, but the people might expect as much from the Carlton Club as from the Reform Club : he would advocate the " six points" of the People's Charter, and the restriction of daily labour to eight hours. These sentiments were of course loudly cheered ; and the Chartists set actively to work to form a committee and canvass. This division in the Liberal camp gave fresh hopes to the Conservatives ; and all parties renewed the canvass with additional energy. The friends of each candidate talked confidently of success. Mr. Spooner's friends relied greatly on the continuance of division among the Liberals ; and there appeared no probability of reconcilia- tion. On the part of Mr. Scholefield's friends it has been said that they can beat both the other candidates. The Sturgeites profess no lent confidence, though with less apparent reason. At the last election, in 1841, the numbers polled were—for Mr. Muntz, 2,175; for Mr. Schole- field, 1,963 ; for Mr. Spooner, 1,825. The number of registered voters is 6,383.
The funeral of the late Mr. Scholefield took place on Thursday morn- ing, at the old church, Edgbaston, near Birmingham. His remains were followed to the grave by a numerous retinue of attached friends of all parties.
The strike of the colliers in Durham and Northumberland continues, with as little prospect of adjustment as ever. On Monday there was a muster of the pitmen at Black Fell, near Newcastle, at which it is esti- mated there were twenty thousand present, for the purpose of passing resolutions pledging resistance to the masters' monthly agreements, and " to continue the holy contest" until their claims are acceded to. In the mean time, the masters are endeavouring to procure a supply of labourers elsewhere ; and if the miners do not speedily return to their work, their places will be filled by Welsh miners, and by English and Irish agricultural labourers. The Marquis of Londonderry has ad- dressed a letter to his miners, urging them to return to work. The Marquis has already brought over forty Irishmen to work in his pits, and has ejected as many of his former workmen from their cottages; and he threatens, if they do not return to work by the 13th of this month, he will bring over a hundred more from his Irish e ;tates, and eject an equal number of those who are now in possession of his houses. A strong feeling of hostility exists towards the new hands. Two of the Irishmen were killed by an accident at Thorneley colliery, last week; and when their bodies were brought up, crowds of men and women assembled round the mangled corpses and cheered exultingly. Two attempts to shoot the " blacklegs" have been made, near Bishop Auck- land, but without effect. At the recent Quarter-sessions for Durham, upwards of seventy pitmen were brought to trial for various offences— chiefly riot, rescue, and assault ; and with one exception they were all convicted, and sentenced to terms of imprisonment, with hard labour, varying from six months to six weeks. The County Gaol is extremely crowded, there being about one hundred and fifty more prisoners in it now than at the corresponding period last year. All the prisoners are described in the calendar as without education, or barely able to read and write ; the former largely preponderating.
At a meeting of farmers, tradespeople, and labourers, at the village of Stratton St. Margarets, near Swindon, on Tuesday, more disclosures of the wretched condition of the Wiltshire labourers were made. It was stated, that during that and the preceding day, forty persons had been apprehended at Wanborough for felony ; most of them young men, who had probably become criminals from the pressure of want. One of the speakers was a labourer from the workhouse ; whither he had been driven by the insufficiency of his wages to support himself and family. The complaint of all classes was distress. A petition was adopted against excessive taxation and the Corn-laws.
Eddoweis Journal mentions that Lord Hill, at his last annual rent- audit, offered his tenants leases for eleven years at a reduction of from
seven to ten per cent ; with the promise in case they found the agree- ments not advantageous, of cancelling the leases and receiving them as yearly tenants. The Bristol and Gloucester Railway was opened on Saturday, with an excursion of the Directors from Bristol to Gloucester.
The Assizes have commenced. At Buckingham, on Thursday, James Holbrook, a carpenter, was found guilty of setting fire to a wheat-rick, the property of his uncle-in-law ; and was sentenced to be transported for life. The Oxford Chronicle makes a very strange charge against the Re- verend T. W. Allies, the incumbent of the village of Lauuton. Re- becca Savin, a young woman who was a member of the Wesleyan Church in the village, recently died ; requesting on her deathbed that she might be buried by the side of the members of her family in the churchyard. Mr. Allies, who is said to be a " Puseyite," refused to permit this, or even to bury the corpse at all ; and after remonstrances had been used, he would only consent that the grave should be made at the extremity of the churchyard, " where he had a place for that sort." The friends of the deceased, however, paid the proper fees to the parish- clerk, and dug a grave at the place the young woman had desired ; Mr. Allies having one also dug at the spot he had pointed out. After much squabbling, in which the Bicester Police refused to interfere, and the local constables refused to take the clergyman's part, the corpse was brought to the churchyard. Mr. Allies refused to officiate; and the body was interred ty the friends of the deceased, who sang a Wesleyan hymn over the grave. Mr. Allies then put on his surplice, went to the grave he had caused to be dug, and over that read the burial-service ! At Halsted, on Tuesday, Thomas Rust was committed for trial as the incendiary in two of the Essex fires at Pebmarsh. He confessed Iris guilt to the Inspector of Police, and repeated that confession before the Magistrates.
An atrocious murder was committed at Salford on Sunday night, by an excavator named Stew, on Alice Nolan, a factory-girl. The man had had the bans of marriage with the young woman published that day, without her consent, and she refused to marry him. They met at a friend's house, and remained together during Sunday, until the even- ing; when the man proposed to take a walk with the girl. He had previously borrowed a razor, and with this he cut her throat while they were in a lonely part of Salford. The murderer then returned to the house he had just left ; called out, " I've done it ! " and cut his own throat, but not in a way to cause death.
The Honourable Caroline Boyle, niece to the Earl of Cork, and Maid of Honour to the Queen Dowager, had a narrow escape from drowning last week, at Allarston, the Earl's seat, near Frome. Miss Boyle was on a pleasure-excursion on the lake ; and when pushing off among some willows, she lost her footing, and fell from the boat, where the water was sixteen feet deep. Miss Boyle clung to the boughs. Miss War- burton, her companion, threw to her the end of an oar from the shore. Miss Mary Boyle, who had been waiting the arrival of the boat at the further end of the lake, alone unmoored the boat, and, assisted by Miss Warburton, succeeded in dragging out the half lifeless lady, just as her strength was giving way and her hands were relaxing their hold.
Four persons have been suffocated in the Old Coal-mines at Beaufort in Wales. The mine being on fire, the individuals who perished foolishly ventured farther than the other miners to examine its state.
A brewer at Lewes fell into a copper of boiling liquor, on Tuesday, and expired in a few hours.
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