unman!.

One portion of the Duke of Newcastle's speech at Sheffield last week went over a much wider field than that which related to himself, to our relations with America, or the bearing of Mr. Bessemer's invention on the prosperity of Sheffield. It touched on the political condition of this country ; and is worth preserving, if only on account of the allusion to the future with which it closes.

"I believe there never was a time within the memory of most of us when all party politics were at so low an ebb, and party feelings so little influ- enced men, as at the present moment. I do .mot deny that this may have some disadvantage but I speak feelingly when I Bay that, isolated as I am from public life disconnected from every party whatever, I am a somewhat useless individual—(Cries of "Ho, to ." and cheers)—but this state of things has this great advantage that it is a season when all social improve- ments may be greatly promoted. For instance, we see at this moment per- sons of all creeds and political professions—men who entertain on a variety of subjects the most different opinions—uniting together without any party feeling to obtain one common end in the promotion of the education of the people. Still more recently we have seen an important movement made for the reformation of juvenile offenders. These are most important social questions, and I know that in the town of Sheffield they have never been neglected. I know that recently you have appointed a committee upon the subject of the reformation of juvenile criminals, who have reported at con- siderable length, with a view to the practical adaptation of the principles so ably discussed at Bristol. If I allude to these important social questions, I do so with the hope that another important point will not be forgotten—I mean the improvement of the physical condition of the people ; for I am convinced you must go to the root of the evil, and while endeavouring to promote the reformation of juvenile offenders, you must weed and root out the nascent seeds of vice before they have pervaded the minds of the young. Never let us forget, that while we should support schools, it is our duty to improve the special condition of the people, without which all our efforts will prove feeble and ineffective. If there is one politico-economic axiom more admitted than another, it is that crime is in exact Proportion to the poverty of the country. I know of nothing more certain than that if you succeed in rendering the situation of the labouring classes of the coun- try more prosperous, you will to a certain extent eradicate and prevent crime. Look at that country, a short distance across the water, which has afforded to every statesman a lesson that he should learn and ponder upon every hour of his life. What was the condition of Ireland some years ago compared with its present state? Seven or eight short years have elapsed, and the convictions in that country have been reduced from 21,000 in the year to not snore than 5000; and can you doubt that that state of things has arisen from anything else than the improved physical condition of the people ? Again, look at home at what has taken place in your own coun- ty, the West Riding, and you ;sill find that even within the last six months the diminution of pauperism is extraordinary, while in the neighbouring county, to which I belong, it has been reduced from 18 to 16 per cent. These are subjects not merely for rejoicing, but for instruction, and show us that while we support reformatories and education, we ought to continue to do everything which can better the physical condition of the labouring classes, and never forget that it is not the position, wealth, and patriotism of the aristocracy, but the industry, the enterprise, the riches, and the vir- tues of the middle classes, which, combined with the prosperity of the working population, produce the chief strength of the nation. With peace we may hope to continue happy and prosperous, for with these we may be assured of strength in war. Nobody knows better than an assembly of this character that the strength of a beam is just equal to the tensile power of its weakest part; and I trust we shall always endeavour to strengthen the weakest part in the body politic, that it may be enabled to bear that pres- sure which must ere long from many quarters be brought to bear upon it." (Cheers.) Crimean banquets seem to be the order of the day—within the last few days records of four have found their way into the Journals.

The Fourth Dragoon Guards seem to be pets of the West Riding. On Monday, the anniversary of the fall of Sebastopol, Mr. Youdan, pro- prietor of the Surrey Music-Hall at Sheffield, gave a pen and pocket knife to each of the privates and noncommissioned officers of the regi- ment who had gone through the whole campaign. Mr. Overend pre- sented the knives to the soldiers ; and Mr. Roebuck made them a speech, as follows-

" Soldiers, I have been asked to address you. I am sorry to say I per- fectly understand that you cannot hear me. That is not my fault. I have been asked to address you, in order that I may express on behalf of the town which I represent the Sympathy, which they all feel for you, not only in the position which you now hold, but that which you have held. And difficult as the task is, it is one from which I have no right to shrink when I reflect on the tasks which you have /performed on our behalf. Great in- deed have been the sufferings of the British army. Hereafter they will un- derstand, that great as may have been their sufferings, the pee* of this country are alive to everything that happens to our army; that we consider you our brethren • that we revere the institution to which you belong; and that we will direct all our efforts to render that institution beneficial to our country and glorious to yourselves. It gives me pleasure to be- hold you now again in times of peace. Not that I am one of those who hail the peace that has come with very great_ pleasure. But still you are here among your fellow countrymen. They have received you with that cordial sympathy which I know will cheer the British army in times to come, when difficulties may arise, and when they will have to face again the enemies of this country in the field. When that time comes you will be ready. When that time comes we will support you. When that tune comes you will do your duty, and we shall appreciate you for having done it. Be you assured that this is but a slight token of the feeling of the people of this country. It is the straw which shows you which way the wind blows. The men of England respond to you. They are with you. They know the difficulties that you overcame ; and they welcome your return from them. Men of peace we are. We know full well the blessings of peace, and it is because we do so know them that we appre- ciate you who are men of war; for by your efforts those blessings are main- tained. Itis a great mistake to suppose that the English army is in any way opposed to Englishmen. They are the protectors of England ; they are the protedors of our glory ; they are the protectors of our freedom. And here now is one striking instance that. your institution affords of the thorough confidence we have in you and in the institution to which you belong. We are not afraid of soldiers. We love you as brethren, and we know that you will protect us as such. Gentlemen, I have very imperfectly performed the duty imposed upon me. I beg heartily to return you the thanks of this town— of England, ay, and I may say of the whole world—for the deeds, the great deeds you have done, the gallantry you have shown, and the thorough de- votion you have always manifested to England and all that belongs to her." (Repeated cheers.) Colonel Percy Herbert and four of his brothers, including the Earl of POW1S, were on Thursday made burgesses of Shrewsbury. The demon- station was intended especially to celebrate the safe return of Colonel Herbert from the wars. He was escorted into the town by a squadron of yeomanry and a great company of equestrians, and met at the Welsh bridge by the civil authorities. At the Guildhall an address was pre- sented to him ; and in the evening a banquet was given in his honour. The whole town was on the qui vive.

Certain gentlemen of North Devon gave a dinner in honour of Colonel Morris of the Seventeenth Lancers, at Torrington, on Saturday ; and presented him with a sword. Colonel Morris was wounded in the Bala- klava charge. At this dinner, Mr. Buck, M.P., "the stout-hearted," made a little speech in very plain English, touching on an interesting question. Their gallant guest, he said, was not placed in the same position as Lord Cardigan, who, it was said, had paid 40,0001. for the present position he held in the Army, and who, when he met his friends at Leeds the other day, was obliged to "try hack" and first explain his conduct in the charge of Balaklava. There had been nothing in the conduct of their gallant guest so equivocal as to require such an explanation about the duties of cavalry officers as that made by Earl Cardigan at Leeds. Colonel Morris is a comparatively young man, yet he bears on his breast the cross of the Bath, the medals for Maharajpore and the Sutlej, the Crimean medal, and the French star of the Legion of Honour.

The medal men, cavalry, infantry, and sailors, now at Folkestone, were entertained at a public dinner on Tuesday, in the grounds of the Pavilion Hotel. The chairman was Sergeant Taylor, of the Inniskillen Dragoons. The speakers who acknowledged the "Army and Navy," were Major-General Sir Henry Barnard and Captain Haythorne. Mr. Raikes Currie addressed a stirring speech to the soldiers; telling them, as a Member of the House of Commons of twenty years' standing, that "there are good times in store for the noncommissioned officers and soldiers of the Army." Among the other gentlemen present, were Sir De Lacy Evans, Sir John Burgoyne, Brigadier-General Lord West, General Lawrenson, General Cameron, and Lord Templemore.

The West Cumberland Agricultural Association had its annual exhi- bition and dinner, at Whitehaven, on Thursday sennight. General Windham occupied the chair, with Lord Lonsdale on his right hand Lord Muncaster sat in the vice-chair his brother Captain Pennington from the Crimea, and Mr. Philip Howard from Corby Castle, on the right and left. The speechmaking followed the ordinary course ; and Lord Lonsdale, as usual, had something encouraging to say about farming- " Since I have known this town, agriculture has made a most important stride. Fifty years ago' it would have been impossible to conceive all the facilities and advantages which have been applied to agriculture, and the degree of perfection to which it has now attained, by the appliances for sow- ing, thrashing, and various other matters. We are in a progressive state —progression is the order of the day—and agriculture partakes of the general spirit. . . . . There are great schemes afloat to overcome the diffi- culties with which we are beset. Some are laughed at as chimerical and visionary ; but when we consider what has been accomplished in electricity and the appliances of steam to locomotion, surely we need not despair. A. great deal of attention is now directed to the scarifying and pulverisation of the earth by means of steam, and I know of some eminently practical men who are confident of success ; some engaged in the construction and im- provement of reaping-machines, others direct their attention to the beat means of turning the sewage of your towns to account for agricultural pur- poses. These are the three great problems in connexion with agriculture, and I hope those engaged in their solution will meet with success." Mr. Howard proposed the health of Mr. Nicholson, the son of a gen- tleman well known to them for his proficiency in the science of agricul- ture. At an early age Mr. Nicholson settled in Australia, where he had prospered, and where he had filled the office of Mayor of Melbourne. In reply, Mr. Nicholson reported progress in the colony—

Previous to the gold-discoveries, the colony produced all they required. Everything that was necessary was produced in abundance. The colony became an exporter of grain to a large amount. With the discovery of gold there came a change. Labour was not to be had for agricultural purposes, and the land was neglected for the mines. Provisions and other articles rose to fabulous prices, and they became dependent on other countries for the necessaries of life. Previous to the gold-discoveries, the annual value of the exports of the colony amounted to about 3,000,000/. After the gold- digging commenced, the exports increased te 20,000,000/. a year ; and yet,. strange to say, the embarrassments of the merchants became so great that the colony might be said to be insolvent. But the gold mania gut over after a time, and the colonists could now turn their attention to agriculture. In

another year they would not have to import a single article of food. Instead of siukiug, the colony would shortly be in a position to export 6,000,0001. a year over the imports. This was occasioned by the increased attention paid to agriculture. The difficulty through which Australia had passed was caused by agriculture being neglected ; when it was not neglected the colony enjoyed uninterrupted prosperity.

The Cheshire Agricultural Society held its annual show at Nantwich on Thursday sennight. It is said to have "surpassed any that had been previously held in Cheshire." After dinner, Mr. Tollemache, the chair- man, made some practical remarks on farm-agreements.

Some time ago he was as strong an advocate as any one for leases for a term of years, and had introduced them on his estate in Cheshire, and con- tinued them on his estate in Suffolk. However, since the total repeal of the Corn-laws and the new discovery of gold, great fluctuations have taken place ; and he believed that no human being could have such a notion of the future price of agricultural produce as to enable him to form a scale whereon to let farms for a term of, he would say, fourteen years. He con- sequently decided to try a portion of the Scotch system of farm-tenure. He said "a portion," for God forbid that the whole of it should ever be intro- duced into England. That system, which he adopted with the view of avoiding fluctuations in the rents, did not answer. His tenants (he alluded particularly to Suffolk) disliked it, and he therefore determined on adopting annual agreements, with clauses which secured to the tenants ample com- pensation, as he believed, for unexhausted improvements. His Suffolk te- nantry-, who were for the most part wealthy men, and who had been accus- tomed to leases for fourteen years, seemed perfectly satisfied with these new agreements, and under them were carrying out agricultural improvements with greater spirit than ever. They had been adopted with similarly grati- fying results on his estate in Northamptonshire. Such facts are worth more than columns of argument in the shape of letters and speeches, and he in- tended to introduce the same system on his estates in Cheshire.

The Durham Agricultural Society held its annual meeting in Durham on Friday and Saturday. At the dinner, Mr. Mowbray M.P., in pro- posing success to the Society, dwelt on a theme of great interest to the Durham farmers—the tenure of the Church lands. A vast extent of the county is held in mortmain by the great episcopal and capitular esta- blishments. These lands are let on long leases for lives, or a term of years, renewable by fines. No better system could be invented for re- tarding agricultural improvement; and Durham agriculture labours ac- cordingly under the reproach of backwardness. The remedy he recom- mended was the enfranchisement of this property. "All land held on mortmain in the county beyond what was to yield the incomes of the bishop and clergy, should be sold and allowed to pass into the hands of laymen."

The Cambridge Chronicle announces that "a joint-stock company of a novel character is in course of formation at Newmarket—a company for the breed of horses."

"It boasts of high and honourable names among its Committee,—the Duke of Wellington, Lord W. Powlett, Mr. C. C. Greville and Mr. W. J. Goodwin, of Hampton Court, for instance, besides many leading gentlemen of the neighbourhood ; and it has the great advantage of the Honourable E. T. Yorke M.P. as auditor. The manager secured Is that excellent judge Mr. Alfred Dyson, of Hambledon, near Horndean, Hants. For such an undertaking, Newmarket presents itself naturally to one's mind as the very best spot in the world." . . . . " The soil and climate," says the prospec- tus, spot most favourable to blood stock. It is the fountain-source of racing. The best horses in the world are to be found there ; and it is the regular resort many times in the year of that class most interested in pro- moting and encouraging the breeding of thoroughbred horses. It is also easy of access by rail to foreigners and colonists who visit England for the purpose of purchasing blood stock."

It is expected that there will shortly be a vacancy in the representa- tion of Colchester. There are three candidates in the field : two Con- servatives, Mr. A. Hamilton of Romford, and Mr. T. G. Miller of Upper Tooting ; and one "Constitutional Liberal," Mr. J. G. Rebow of Wiven- hoe Park. They are all opposed to the endowment of Maynooth.

The Art and Industrial Exhibition intended to inaugurate the new Mechanics Institution at Manchester was opened on Tuesday. This building had become necessary in consequence of the successful career of the institution. The number of members, and especially of those at- tending classes, had increased beyond the accommodation afforded. Mr. Heywood, in his inaugural speech, recalled the fact that Manchester was the first to set the example of these industrial exhibitions ; and that the announcement which the directors were able to make at the conclusion of the first, now twenty years ago—that after having been visited by upwards of 60,000 people, it had closed without wilful injury to any sing' le article exhibited—led to the opening of the Museum and other institutions in Manchester, and was the circumstance upon which Mr. Hume, in the House of Commons, founded his motion for the opening of the British Museum.

Apropos of a case of a drunken wife who was charged with assaulting her husband, and who has made a practice of selling her children's clothes and the household furniture, and nnsbehaving in a variety of ways, Mr. Mans- field, the Liverpool Magistrate, observed, that according to the law of this country, if the wife stripped her children and sold their clothes she could not be punished as a felon, the law holding that she took her own property. By a superstitious notion, or perhaps he might say a delicacy of feeling, the sanctity of marriage is so regarded that there is not any power, how- ever abominable the wife's conduct might be, to obtain a divorce ; and for a man to be linked to such a woman as this was a far greater punishment than if be carried a corpse upon his back until it rotted away from him. The Magistrate divorced the couple for a time, by sending the offender to _prison in default of sureties to keep the peace.

An accident on the Welsh coast has brought to light a Liverpool practice of breaking the law. An emigrant-ship, with a full crew, passed the Government inspection. Before she left the port she landed some of the men. But she ran ashore, and an inquiry elicited the fact that the men who weie landed had been hired to pass the ship through the Govern- ment office ! Mr. Mansfield, the Stipendiary Magistrate, has fined the cap- tain 2501.

A brutal "practical joke " at Brentwood has had a fatal termination. Three " gentlemen " plied John George, a baker, with liquor until he was dead drunk ; then red ochre was smeared over him ; and finally he was taken home in a wheelbarrow, with his head hanging down : he died from congestion of the brain and lungs. While a Coroner's Jury described the death as arising from congestion, they censured the disgraceful conduct of the gentlemen, and suggested that they should provide for the victim's wife and family. The Magistrates took a more serious view of the matter : they have committed one of the persons implicated, Mr. James Cooper, on a charge of manslaughter ; taking heavy bail for his appearance.

Edward Chater, a working engraver and printer at Birmingham, has been committed for having in his possession 104 forged Bank-of-England notes, apparently of his own manufacture.

A "Mr. Wyndham" has been hoaxing the people of Birmingham, and borrowing money, by pretending that he was sent to make preparations for a visit by the Queen of Oude. He got manufacturers to prepare for her re- ception; communicated with the authorities ; dined with the notables ; and borrowed Si. of one .rentleman, who declined to cash a check for 201. When suspicion arose, Mr. 'Wyndham disappeared. "It. Wyndham" contradicts this statement in a letter to the Times. He says on the authority of Captain Brandon, that there was a " misunder- standing," and that when the particulars are published they will exonerate him from the charges made against him.

A feat of real heroisfn was performed on Saturday at Southend. A man, bathing, had saimmed a hundred feet from the machine, when he was seized with cramp:. He called for help, and a young man swam off to rescue him. The draining person seized his rescuer, and both sank together. At this moment, Emma Ingram, a young woman living at Southend, dashed into the water with all her clothes on, and, swimming to the two men, rescued both. The person who first called for help offered the heroine —a shillnig !

Yesterday week, two ladies incautiously wandered along the sands between Tenby and Waterwinch, regardless of the tide. In turn, the tide utterly disregarding their presence, rolled on as usual ; and they were com- pelled to climb the cliffs for safety. After they made a lodgment and re- solved to pass the night there, some sailors descried them from above and hauled them up with ropes. This narrow escape has been prodigiously ex- aggerated by' the Munchausens of the neighbourhood."

By the upsetting of a mud-barge at Blyth, a little port on the Northum- berland coast, on Monday, four men were drowned. Not one in ten of the people of this locality, though most of them are employed at sea, brow how to sWim : the Duke of Northumberland now pays a person to teach the useful art to the population of the fishing-villages.