Vruninrinl.

Mr. Divett, the Liberal Member for Exeter, having signified his inten- tion of shortly retiring from the representation of this city, two candi- dates for the scat have already appeared—namely, Mr. Alfred Seymonr brother of Mr. D. Seymour, M.P. for Poole, and Major Porter, R.E. The former conies forward on Liberal principles, and the latter is a Conserva- tive and a stanch supporter of Lord Derby. Major Potter has already addressed. his partisans.

Lord Wodehouse, Under-Secretary of State for Foreign affairs, has been present at a public meeting at Wymondham, near Norwich, to aid in forming a local volunteer company. The meeting was well attended by local magnates and tenant-farmers. Lord Wodehouse came forward to stir up the natives. He said—

Many persons still felt some objection to joining these corps, under tho

idea that it was calling m upon the to do something out of their usual sphere, and to undergo inconveniences which they were not bound to sub- ject themselves to. He thought a moment's reflection would show any one that this movement was precisely in accordance with the general character of our institutions. There is not one of us who is not called upon every day to submit to considerable personal incouvenience in order to carry on what is in fact the Government of the country. Many gentlemen present acted in various positions of responsibility—either as overseers or as guardians of the poor, or as unpaid magistrates—all of them offices for which no remit- aeration was received, and which were discharged for the general benefit of the public, because it is the characteristic of Englishmen that they manage their own concerns. This Volunteer movement is based on the same idea— namely, that though it might be personally: inconvenient, and even expen- sive to us to discharge these local offices in our several counties, we are bound to undertake those offices ; so are we also bound to undergo souie per- sonal inconvenience and expense in assisting in the defence of our country. Every man is quite as much bound to contribute to the defence of his coun- try as he is bound to perform any other duty which might devolve on a citizen. One of the first principles on which any society could be based, is that each man should do his best in the defence of tho country. In other parts of the world, this is effected by the personal contributions of the in- habitants for the maintenance of an enormous standing army. The prin- ciple of our constitution has always, however, been opposed to the main- idea that it was calling m upon the to do something out of their usual sphere, and to undergo inconveniences which they were not bound to sub- ject themselves to. He thought a moment's reflection would show any one that this movement was precisely in accordance with the general character of our institutions. There is not one of us who is not called upon every day to submit to considerable personal incouvenience in order to carry on what is in fact the Government of the country. Many gentlemen present acted in various positions of responsibility—either as overseers or as guardians of the poor, or as unpaid magistrates—all of them offices for which no remit- aeration was received, and which were discharged for the general benefit of the public, because it is the characteristic of Englishmen that they manage their own concerns. This Volunteer movement is based on the same idea— namely, that though it might be personally: inconvenient, and even expen- sive to us to discharge these local offices in our several counties, we are bound to undertake those offices ; so are we also bound to undergo souie per- sonal inconvenience and expense in assisting in the defence of our country. Every man is quite as much bound to contribute to the defence of his coun- try as he is bound to perform any other duty which might devolve on a citizen. One of the first principles on which any society could be based, is that each man should do his best in the defence of tho country. In other parts of the world, this is effected by the personal contributions of the in- habitants for the maintenance of an enormous standing army. The prin- ciple of our constitution has always, however, been opposed to the main- tenance of a large standing army. He hoped that that principle would always be adhered to ; but, then, if we do not have a large standing army, we must, as reasonable MCI1, provide in scone other way a force which would be sufficient to piece us in safety, so that we might have no fear of any events either at home or abroad. He should say nothing, after all that had been said by so many having far greater autho- rity than himself, as to the purely defensive character of the Volunteer movement, but it must be acknowledged—and it is one of the advantages of the movement—that there is nothing in it offensive to any nation what- ever. It is simply a movement which shows that we were determined to place ourselves in such a position that we should be enabled to take oar own course, without having regard to anything but that which we believed to be to the advantage of the country and the promotion of general peace and tranquillity throughout the world. (Applause.) There are two as- pects in which this movement might be regarded, both of them very ad- vantageous to it. In the first place it provides for the defence of the cumin- try; and secondly—what is of no inconsiderable importance—it affords a healthy and useful recreation to all classes. We were in want in this coun- try of something which should bring different classes of society together, by engaging them in some common object which was at the same time useful and agreeable, and such a means of social intercourse and recreation was provided by Volunteer corps. There is no one who began to practice rifle- shooting who would not find it extremely amusing and attractive; a man felt that he was acquiring an art which some day or other might be useful, and which at any rate could do him no harm to learn."

Lord Wodehouse offered a donation of 601. and an annual subseription of 51. ; it was resolved to form a company ; some fifty persons joined on the spot, and 250/. were subscribed.

Lord Stanley was present at the annual dinner of the Manchester and Liverpool Agricultural Society, at Bolton, on Wednesday. Addressing the auditory in response to a toast, he explained his own and his father's views on the Volunteer movement-

" I do not know if many of those whom I have now the pleasure to ad- dress were .present at the Knowsley Review. If they were I hope they ell* joyed the sight ; but of this I am sure, that no one of the vast concourse there assembled can have enjoyed it half so much as he by whose invitation some 150,000 of his neighbours came to pay him the compliment of a visit at home. Perhaps you will allow me to express a hope that with that mar- vellous display of patriotic feeling which has been witnessed in this country during the present year, the Volunteer movement will not die away when the memory of the circumstances that gave it birth begins to fade, but that it will become a permanent part of the institutions of this country. I be- lieve it has done more than any increase of the regular army possibly could have done to elevate the position of England among the nations of Europe ; and I think so for this reason, that it has shown to every foreign population and to every foreign prince, that in this country, however it may be else- where, the Government and the nation are one—(0/seees)—and that who- ever contends with England has to do not merely with an army, but with the united nation in amis, It is a purely defensive movement. It has in it nothing of aggression. It can cause no fear, no jealousy, in any foreign country. And it is nothing new. It is only what our fathers under simi- lar circumstances did befoie us. It is only a practical recognition of the sound old principle that, in Case of emergency, in case of invasion or danger of invasion, the state has a right to the services of every able-bodied man. We cannot have great reviews and great Volunteer demonstrations every week or every naonth in the year, and it is not desirable on many aCCOUNA that we should; but there is one kind of Volunteer demonstration which we may have very often, and with comparatively little trouble—I mean there shooting matches, which are very common abroad, of which the first ex- ample in this country was set at Wimbledon, and which I hope before long we shall see introduced into every county in England. I hope that they will take a place among our national amusements, for they are an amuse- ment, as well as a means of military discipline; and I hope that we shall see one, at least, in every county in England, and if that is to be the case, I am sure that Lancashire won't be left behind. I have wandered a little from the subject ; my only excuse is that in talking to you about Volun- teers, I have been referring to that subject which I know has for some time past been foremost in my father's mind." At the annual meeting of the Stow-on-the-Wold and Chipping Norton Agricultural Association, held at Chipping Norton on Thursday, Mr. Henley, responding to the toast, "the Members of the county," defined the relation between a Member and his constituents—

"The men you have sent to Parliament have not been sent as delegates for this or that part of the country, but as representatives of the whole people of the United Kingdom, and it is our duty as well as our privilege and pleasure to endeavour as far as we are ii6le to fulfil the great and im- portant trust confided to us. It is most essential that we should regard the functions reposed in us with no narrow or circumscribed view. We are not the representatives of this country alone, but we have intrusted to us the interests of an immense empire. Our language, our people, and the spirit of our laws are day by day forcing themselves into the remotest corners of the world. Our commerce paves the way ; the spirit of freedom follows close upon the footsteps of the spirit of commerce, and it must be deeply gratifying to us as a nation to see that in all quarters of the globe, wherever amelioration takes place, that amelioration is founded on the example of this country. (Cheers.) Doubtless, that is something to be proud of, but it ought to make us necessarily thoughtful. We ought to take care that we do not abuse our privileges and allow freedom to degenerate into licence."

The Sparkenhoe Farmers' Club held its annual feast at Atherstone on Wednesday. Mr. Adderley, Mr. Newdegato, Earl Howe, Lord homers were the guests, and Lord Curzon occupied the chair. Mr. Nowdegate, in his speech, agreed with Mr. Hardy and Mr. Roebuck in vindicating the House of Commons from the charge of doing nothing. The business of legislation during the session had been very much akin to the farmers' season. It had been an unkindly session ; the weeds of legislation had grown apace, and the soil was somewhat unkindly. They had, however, been hoeing and scuffling to some purpose. They had been drilling away, and if they had not been able to produce an abundant crop of legislation, they had at least avoided acts of rashness such as he had alluded to, and, measures which it was quite possible would have brought forth „bad-fruits hereafter. When they considered how the House of Cora- 1a is composed; that it has to deal with all classes of opinion, and with

ery possible topic, they would see that any one would form a very erro- neous judgment on the matter if they thought all the time of the House of Commons is wasted which is not occupied in forwarding bills. They had to sift public opinion, and he trusted that they did do so. He would not say that they should have failed completely in their duty without the assistance of the House of Lords, but they-had showed during the session that they could submit to correction when they knew there was due occasion for its adminis- tration. They had, however, passed some useful measures during the session, while they had properly avoided bad ones. The Roman Catholic Charities Bill had, after an immense amount of labour, of which he had taken his share, passed. That measure was a message of peace and goodwill towards their Roman Catholic fellow-subjects. They had opened the courts of England for the administration of all Roman Catholic trust pro- perty; and, though a member of the Protestant Church of England, he rejoiced that they had almost strained the law to meet their wishes and obtain for Roman Catholics privileges to which all classes of her Majesty's subjects ought to be entitled. In acting in that way he believed that they had shown the same love of freedom, the same spirit of nationality, as that which now burned brightly in Italy, and which, thank God, over should, with undiminished lustre, in happy England. Let them, then, not under- value the House of Commons as a deliberative assembly ; and when the cry of reform was heard, let them reflect that they were asked to reconstitute the model representative body of the world, and at the same time think of the troubles and the sufferings which other nations of Europe undergo in their attempts to obtain similar privileges. (Cheers.)

Lord Lyttelton presided on Monday, at the Corn Exchange, Wolver- hampton, over the first public distribution of prizes and certificates awarded by the Society of Arts to successful candidates from South Staf fordshire.

He spoke much and eloquently on the good effects of emulation and competition, and in praise of the system adopted by the Society of Arts. Lord Lyttelton also combated the notion, which he said widely prevailed, that these examinations were unfriendly to religious attainments on the part of the students. It must be borne in mind that these examinations were for limited attainments in certain branches of knowledge, and had nothing to do with education in a large sense. There was no school, no party, no sect whatever in this country, deserving of the slightest notice whatever, who questioned that education without religion was an absolute absurdity— a contradiction in terms. To educate an immortal being without reference to his future state was not worth one single second of time. Moral disci- pline was the moral backbone of education. It would be an occasion for extreme alarm if the growth of the practice of competitive examinations were to induce a carelessness about religion ; and he would urge upon the parent to see that religion had its due place in the instruction communicated in the schools to which they sent their children, and that religion and mo- rality received the paramount respect which was their due from those per- sons in whose hands they placed their children's education. He had not feared the alarming result he referred to as likely to proceed from the exa- minations of the Society of Arts in South Staffordshire, nor did he think there was reason for any one else to apprehend them. (Cheers.) .

At the opening of St. Edmund Day and Sunday Schools, Salisbury, last week, the Reverend Prebendary Fane took occasion to observe that the greatest impediment in the way of popular education was the irregu- larity of the children's attendance. On entering school, the teacher had constantly to ask, "Where is John Brown ?" " 0, he's gone with his father's dinner." "And where is Mary Smith ?" " 0, she's holding the baby." "And where is James Smith?" " 0, he ain't got no boots." These were the three great curses with which a teacher had to contend. This statement was received with some laughter, but its truth appeared to be admitted by all that had practical experience of the matter.

Great excitement has been caused at New-castle-on-Tyne in mercantile circles by a letter which has been sent to the Town Council by the French Consul in the port, with regard to a provision in the French treaty, never dreamt of by nine-tenths of the persons concerned in mer- cantile matters on the Tyne. The substance of the letter addressed by M. de Pianelli is- " 1. The treaty between France and England, signed on the 23d of January last, provides, by Article 10, that in all that relates to local treat- ment, the dues and charges in the ports, basins, docks, roadsteads, harbours, and rivers of the two countries, the privileges, favours, or advantages which are or shall be granted to national vessels without exception, or to the goods imported or exported in them, shall be equally granted to the vessels of the other country, and to the goods imported or exported in them.' 2. In a despatch received from his Excellency the Minis- ter for Foreign Affairs at Paris it is expressly stated that the terms of this article secure for French vessels trading between the two coun- tries not only the same immunities, privileges, and advantages are enjoyed in the ports of the United Kingdom by its own vessels but likewise all those various, special, and private loted exemptions which, in many of them, are made in favour of vessels belonging to them or to their respective corporations. 3. In the port of Newcastle there are exacted several town dues upon goods imported or exported, as well as quay dues, charges on ballast, &c., from which vessels belonging to freemen' and goods carried by them, are exempted, but which, notwithstanding the treaty between the two countries, still continue to be levied. upon French vessels and their cargoes. It has consequently become my duty," says M. de Pianelli, "in accordance with the instructions of his Excellency the Minister, to claim of the hon- ourable the corporation of Newcastle and River Tyne Commissioners, in the name and on behalf of my Government, the concession to the French ves- sels and their cargoes of a full and equal participation with the freemen of Newcastle, and the most privileged vessels, in all such local privileges, im- munities, and exemptions."

The effect of this 10th article in the treaty will be to place the Fren.;h shipowner sending his vessel into the Tyne to coal upon the same terms as the freemen of Newcastle, and . protect him, upon a vessel worth 1000/., to the extent of 501. a year upon the voyages to Havre or Rouen over the British shipowners trading with those ports who are not free- men of Newcastle. Another privilege a French vessel has over an Eng- lish vessel, whether belonging to freemen or not, in a British port, is that the crew of the French vessel is allowed to consume stores duty free in port, which an English vessel engaged in the same trade is not privi- leged to do. .

At a meeting of the Newcastle Chamber of Commerce on Monday, .a short conversation took place with reference to the contents of the letter addressed by M. de Pianelli to the corporation. The general opinion was that the immunities claimed by the Consul were exacting, and ought not to be conceded. Mr. Brockett said he would look into the matter ; but he thought they should first see what steps the Council took. He was afraid the Frenchmen had a bad case. There were no coals what- ever exempt from some dues, by whomsoever shipped. They all paid the same duty, and the corporation received it. What the corporation did with it the Frenchmen had nothing to do with.

The nematiations to obtain a renewed inquiry into the murder at Road have advanced another stage. Mr. Kent wrote on the 4th instant to Mr. Waddington Under-Secretary for the Home Department, requesting an in- terview for the purpose of urging a public inquire,. Mr. Waddington, in a brief note, declined a personal interview with Mr. Kent, but suggested that any request should be submitted in writing. To that communication Mr. Kent forwarded the subjoined reply-

" Road, Sept. 7.

" Sir—In reply to your letter of the 5th instant, I have to regret that you could not see it right to afford me an interview in reference to the murder of my child, as I was most anxious personally to assure you of my earnest desire that ever; facility should be afforded for a public and searching examination of myself and the whole household.

"I regret also to observe by the reports in the press that the Home Secretary sees a difficulty in the way of granting a special commission for the purpose of such ex- aminatiou. It is suggested that the usual indemnity granted to witnesses giving evidence under a commission would prove an insuperable objection. I beg there- fore to say that, so far as myself and all over whom I have any control are con- cerned, we would not only not claim, but repudiate any such indemnity, if by so doing we could facilitate the granting of a special commission ; and I trust that after this intimation Sir George Lewis will reconsider his determination. If he should still see a difficulty, in his way, I beg to say that I should at any time be prepared to submit myself and my household to a voluntary examination by the Chairman of our Quarter gessions, or any other official whom Sir G. Lewis might nominate.

" I would only add that I have received a reqnest from Mr. Slack, a solicitor of Bath, to attend with my wife and family for separate examination at his privateoffice, and he asserts that he has the sanction of the Home Office for doing so. I am sure you will see that in declining to comply with this request I am in no way acting in opposition to the assurances I have given you.

" I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

" H. Waddington, Esq." "S. S. KENT.

It is new, however, probable that an examination will take place before Mr. Slack. Mr. Dunn has written to Mr. Slacken behalf of Mr. Rent, in which he says-

" Since your letter reached me, Mr. Kent has recived a further communi- cation from Mr. Waddington, from which I gather (although Mr. Wad- dington states that no direct intimation to such effect has been received by him) that you have been entrusted by 'the magistrates' to make the inquiry you are now engaged in. If such be the case, perhaps you will at once frankly inform me, and there will then be no longer any doubt as to who are the 'authorities' to whom you have before referred. With them will rest the responsibility of the course you are pursuing. And In such event, with- out expressing any opinion as to the propriety of that course, regard being had to all the circumstances, I have Mr. Kent's instructions to say that if you should desire to put any questions to him or to Mrs. Kent, or to any members of his family or household, he will be prepared to receive yen at Road. I shall be happy to meet you there, and afford you every facility for

IP

anon A Coroner's Jury at Stockport have found a verdict of wilful murder against, John Howard, seventy-six years of age. It seems that Mrs. Howard took to drinking, and was drunk every evening from the let of September to the day of her death, the 5th. One night she came home and broke the windows, and turned her daughter out of doors. The next morn- ing she was found in bed with her throat cut, and a knife beside her But it also turned out on examination that she had been stunned by a blow from some heavy instrument. The case against the husband is strong.

Thomas Herbert Irwin, a lieutenant in the 31st Native Infantry, has been held to bail by the Sunderland magistrates on a charge of flinging a boy from the pavement into the middle of the road, and thereby endanger- ing his life. The defence was put in by the prisoner's counsel. Irwin lead been for the last four years in the Indian campaign. When in the neigh- bourhood of Lucknow, he made the acquaintance of Miss Prior, and he was in Sunderland as her guest at present, staying in Norfolk Street. Mrs. Lewin and Miss Prior went into the ground opposite, where they had to re- monstrate with this lad and others for pulling the trees down. This lad then began to use very shocking language, and followed them so much that they had to eo into We house and complain to his client. He went out mad got the boy by the neck, and did throw him off the kerb-stone into the road, but not into the air ; neither did he strike him. His client instructed hira to say that he was as sorry as any man could possibly be, but he never ex- pected that it would result in this serious ambient to the boy—that his never intended to do more than shake him."

A preliminary inquiry instituted under a precept from the Bishop of•Et'i rP • Mr. Slack has been directed by the Magistrates to invite Mr. Kent and his family to be examined at Bath.

took place at Newmarket, on Wednesday, before clerical commissioners spe- cially appointed, as to the conduct of the Reverend Joseph Peinstan, curate of Fordham, Cambridgeehire. The commission was issued at the instance of Mr. W. D. Gardner, of Fordham Abbey, a Magittrate and Deputy-Lieu- tenant of the county. The charges alleged were lewdness and incontinency, brawling in church, and gaming, but after the examination of several wit- nesses the commissioners came to the conclusion that the evidence adduced before them was not sufficient, primfi facie, to afford grounds for the insti- tution of further proceedings; an announcement received with loud cheers for Mr. Peinstan, and groans for Mr. D. Gardner. This is the second in- vestition set on foot by Mr. Gardner into alleged misconduct of the Reve- rend Mr. Peinstan. On the last occasion he demanded an inquiry into the death of an infant of Mr. Peinstan's. An inquest was consequently held, but the Jury at once—after hearing the medical evidence—returned a ver- diet of "Natural death," and severely censured the conduct of Mr. Gardner.

The war between Mr. Price and the Agapemone is over. The Reverend gentleman has pursued his wife with indefatigable zeal. He has traced her from place to place, and he has ultimately captured her at Salisbury.

The Coroner's Jury, inquiring into the causes of the late railway accident at Helmshore sat on Saturday, Monday, and Wednesday.

Two of the witnesses on Saturday incidentally made two curious state- ments. Thomas Duckworth, cordwainer, deposed that a guard or porter had taken rum and smoked a pipe with his party as the train was running from Ramsbottom to Helmshore. He was sober, however, and capable of attending to his duty. Nathaniel Grindrod, spindle-maker, said that a porter came to the door of his carriage and put in his head and a lamp, and said "it was time for a small collection for having brought us so far safe on our way. He did not get anything." From this witness we learn that many persons jumped out of the carriages as soon as they found them sliding back towards Manchester. John Ashworth, mechanic, said he was asleep in a first-class carriage, where he had been placed by a porter at Salford. At Ramsbottom, "I was in a first-class carriage, with a third-class ticket, and the porter came upon the step and awoke us, and said, 'Well, chaps, you look very snug here; you have managed it sweetly, having only third-class tickets ; can ye do aught ? I think you should stand a glass.' I gave him three halfpence, and three others gave him money." This witness also said—" I was in the carriage the coupling of which broke at Helmshore. I was in the compartment next to the coupling. If we had stopped at Helm- shore before the snap, it was as much as could be said. The snap took place, as I thought, when the carriages rebounded in stopping." The other witness was Mr. Cooper, the Salford station-master. He de- scribed the size of the trains and the time of starting. Borke, a porter, whose duty it was to look after the couplings and chains, said they were all right. Cooper specially cautioned the drivers and guards to be careful. The guards were competent persona. "The second train was composed of a smaller class of carriages, and those used in the ordinary traffic. In the second train there were about seven of the Birkenhead Company's carriages of ten borrowed on the Friday previously. In the first place these were sent to Bury empty, to the company's workshops, and were there examined. It is true that the carriages were without lights. We do not find lights for excursion trains. The caution was not a special one because the train was a long one. There were three breaks—one in front, one about the middle, and the third in the last carriage but three. They were not break-vans but passenger carriages with breaks, worked from the outside. There was one of the breaks not under the care of a guard. That is frequently so. I never saw excursion trains with lights inside. They had all the proper side and tail lights. The curve would hide the second from the third when the accident occurred. Break-vans, are not used for excursion trains, because the passengers do not carry luggage, but carriages with breaks are as effi- cient as vans with breaks. From my experince I should say the train of thirty-one carriages was perfectly safe as to size and weight, and two guards would be sufficient for such a train. It is an advantage when there are two guards only to have extra breaks, because a guard can work several breaks on an incline."

Mr. Shaw, passenger superintendent, gave a full Recount of the excursion- trains, arid described the measures taken to prevent accidents. He travelled with the second train-

" I was in the carrtage about the tenth from the engine. When the train came to a stand at that point, it was the duty of the guards to get of and assist the passengers. Before doing so, it was their duty to release the break. If the breaks were not released, the engine could not start, the two engines themselves being sufficient to hold the train in case it remained to- gether. Immediately after the train came to a stand, I felt, from the re- bound of the 'carriages, a slight shock, and then heard something snap. The carriage the coupling of which snapped was four or five carriages be- hind me. At that point I looked out, and saw Chippendale, the guard, on the platform. Chippendale said he thought a portion of the train had broken loose and was moving back. I jumped out of the carriage instantly, and ran up to the engine in front. I ordered the first driver to detach his engine from the other one. I pt upon the engine, and told him what had occurred, desired him to make all the speed he could, and cross on to the other line leading down to Ramsbottom. We ran down the line, whistling all the way. I had two objects in view—first, to get before the carriages on the other line, which had been detached, and, if possible, to reach a crossing which is about half a mile below the Helmshore station, and to stop them by means of our engine. My second object, providing we could not catch them before reaching the crossing, and so turn them on to the other line, was to stop the other train which I expected to be following. We ran down the line about four hundred or five hundred yards, and I saw the carriages in front of us, and I felt sure that my first purpose was about to succeed ; but as I got a little nearer I observed some people on the line, and, getting nearer still, I found that the detached portion of the train had come to a stand. I stopped the engine before we got down

to the wreck, and then saw that a collision had taken place We don't profess ever to put on more than thirty or thirty-one carriages to any one train. Newell's break locks twelve wheels at once, and the ordi- nary break only four wheels. The breaks on this train to which the acci- dent occurred were ordinary breaks The fact that the last break in this train had three common carriages behind it is not in accordance with the rule, which says that the last carriage shall be a break van; but I con- sider there was no danger in having three carriages attached behind the break, seeing that the break carriage was laden with passengers. Sup- posing the last carriage had been an empty break-van, it would have re- duced the consequence of the collision, but, being a carriage full of passen-

Eers, the result would have been the same as actually occurred hould say that the breaks were not applied in time. One break, if applied immediately after the separation, might have stopped the train from re- ceding, and the occurrence been prevented. It was the duty of the guards to apply those breaks. They ought to have been applied immediately be- fore the train came into the station, and released when the train came to a stand. It was the duty of the guard to remain at the break after taking his break off until the train had been brought to a perfect stand, so as to allow for the pressure on the successive series of buffers to expend itself. Whether this was done or no I cannot say. Supposing that the guard had gone from his break without allowing for the rebound he would not have acted with common discretion, but rather with such a want of caution as would amount to an impropriety."

At the sitting on Wednesday, Colonel Tolland was examined. Ho had "no hesitation in saying that the accident must have been caused by the fracture of a portion of a screw coupling or of the side chains of two of the carriages, the screw coupling belonging to a carriage of the East Lancashire section of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Company, and the side chains be- longing to a carriage of the Birkenhead and Chester Company. I have been shown this morning the link supposed to have formed a portion of the screw coupling, and also the two side chains. The link -has evidently been re- cently fractured and is apparently of very good iron. That is the link of the coupling. It is the dark link now produced, as forming part of the screw coupling. The brown, rusty-looking link, also now produced, forms part of one of the side chains. That is fractured ; there seems to have been an old fracture in it, and the quality of the iron does not appear to be so good. The holdfast of the other side chains is also fractured; the quality of the iron does not look very good, and the weld is somewhat peculiar, and does not appear to have been a good one. I believe it to be quite impossible to prevent screw couplings and side chains from being fractured, unless they were made so strong as to lead to other very serious accidents, such as would ensue from an engine or a portion of a train getting off the rails, and from the extra strain to which I have alluded dragging every carriage after it, and lead to very lamentable accidents. The couplings and side chains of the East Lancashire carriage are a little stronger than those of the Birken- head are, but either are strong enough. The prevention of this class of accident should be sought for in some other way-than through the increased strength of time couplings-and side chains. I should say the strength of the bolts to the side chains are also ample. This class of accident may, in my opinion, be best avoided by attaching to all trains a sufficient amount of break power, and when the stations are situated on inclines, or such slopes as will cause carriages to run by, the action of gravity, down these slopes, by not permitting the guard in charge of the breaks at the tail of the train to leave his break. Another mode is, that the Legislature should not sanc- tion stations being placed on inclines where carriages will run away."

A Juror—" Do you think two breaks sufficient for such a train as this ? " Colonel Yolland—" Certainly not." He also said—" I think a train of thirty-one carriages on such a line is objectionable. I think the ordinary excursion traffic throughout the country is conducted in an objectionable manner, and that it would be better to make these trains of about the same length as others. Such long trains are unmanageable, and increase the risks."

The Asia, a steamer, belonging to the Greek and Oriental Steam Naviga- tion Company, was coaling at Cardiff. The process was nearly completed, when, on Thursday week, a body of gas which had accumulated in the hold exploded, from what cause is not known. The engineer, boatswain, and carpenter, all in their berths at the time, and four firemen, were severely burnt, and the vessel was much injured.