Vruniurial.
The dispute between Mr. Childers and Mr. Overend as to the last Par- liamentary election for the borough of Pontefract has $ last been decided by Sir John T. Coleridge. The award, which is as follows, was made known at a meeting of Mr. Childers's supporters at Pontefract at the end of last week.
"Sir John T. Coleridge, the referee appointed by Sir George Grey and Sir John Pakington to settle the question between Mr. Overend and Mr. Childers, hereby makes his award, by which he declares that Mr. Overend, as a man of honour, ought, and the referee directs that he shall, forthwith make vacant the seat, and that he do not become a candidate, or in any way interfere, oppose, or attempt to prevent, the election of Mr. Childers on the vacancy to be occasioned." , In consequence of this decision Mr. Overend will immediate,ly accept the stewardship of the Chiltern Hundreds. A writ for a new election, however, cannot be issued until after the meeting of Parliament, as the Speaker has no power to issue a warrant in the event of a vacancy occurring in the representation unless it shall have been caused by death or accession to the peerage. Mr. Childers is the only candidate at pre- sent in the field, and it is expected that he will be returned without op- position.
The Conservatives of Pontefract have endeavoured to push forward Lord Pollingtun as an opponent of Mr. Childers, but without success.
Sir Francis Goldsmid is a candidate for the seat at Reading vacated by Sir Henry Keating.
The annual show of fat stock at Horsham took place on Wednesday. At the dinner in the evening Mr. Seymour Fitzgerald, late Under- Secretary for Foreign Affairs, presided, and made a speech, in the course of which he spoke of our relations with France. "We are possibly, I am afraid, entering upon troublous times. After long years of general and happy peace there seems to be such an uneasy feeling abroad that men's minds are full of the anticipation of war. Now, I am not an alarmist. I am not one of those who think it possible that there should be an invasion of this country. On the contrary, I believe that the present ruler of France for a long time has shown an earnest desire to cultivate an intimate alliance with this country. Long may that alliance subsist and endure, and I cannot conceive it possible that it should be in At the seventh annual exhibition of the South Durham and North Yorkshire fat stock and poultry show, in Darlington, there was the usual banquet, which went off with more than the usual spirit. The chair was occupied by the Duke of Cleveland, Who touched upon the topics of the day with a combined moderation and frankness highly in favour with the company. On the subject of volunteers, for instance, he spoke with the ex- perience of an officer who had had twelve years active service; but while he expressed strong approval of rendering the country thoroughly pre- pared for any events in the unsettled state of Europe, he deprecated pre- parations which imply that we are likely to be invaded tomorrow.
"All these things are catching, just like an epidemic." ("Hear, hear !" from Air. H. Pease.) My opinion is at the present moment—and I have no hesitation in saying so—I put the greatest faith in the present Emperor of the French. He has always hitherto acted, and he is at the present mo- ment, acting as our bravest and firmest ally ; and he has given no signs of ceasing to be such. He is well versed in war and is a very clever man, is equally ambitions with his uncle to make France the greatest country in the world, but takes different means of doing so. The first Emperor thought only of military glory, of which he undoubtedly earned a fair share, transporting his forces into every part of Europe, and subduing all before him. But did he enhance the position of his country in acquiring all the military glory for himself as an individual ? Certainly not, but it was not till too late that he found out his mistake. Now, the present Em- peror is equally ambitious to make France the richest country in the world, but he adopts different means in order to gain his object. He thinks that the only way of doing so is to be on the'best terms possible with England, the greatest commercial countryin the world, and to increase his own imports and exports. Under these circumstances, I do not think that we are in any danger whatever, so long as the present French Emperor remains on the throne. But you all know, as well as I do what a country France is, and how many revolutions it has seen, and if 'anything was to happen to the Emperor of the French, and they were to have another revolution, I do not know what might happen. Therefore, I think it may be perfectly neces- sary to put our country in a proper state of defence." These remarks were afterwards strengthened by Mr Philip Howard, of Corby Castle' in proposing the health of the Chairman. "Our noble Chairman says that although adequate preparation in the shape of defences becomes a great nation' that it would., nevertheless, be unwise at this moment to show any want of confidence in an ally who has hitherto acted loyally and faithfully to this country. I may venture to add in corroboration one instance of the goad faith of Louis Napoleon. When the important dependency of the British Crown,—when India was afflicted by an unaccountable mutins,—when the upheaving of the great insurrec- tion was at its height, what did the Emperor of the French do ? Why, gentlemen, he offered to the Administration of this country to allow our troops destined for India to quell the rebellion, to pass through the French territory, enabling them to go by rail through France, and so arrive earlier at their destination. That offer was not accepted, but nevertheless such conduct in a foreign Sovereign is an unusual mark of confidence. As you well know, gentlemen, some of the freest nations in the world, for instance, the Swiss Confederation, and the United States of America, constantly exercise their populations in the use of arms, but they do that on the prin- ciple of insurance and not because of any want of confidence in neighbour- ing nations with whom they may be allied ; and I say if we find it necessary to arm we should do so on a general principle, and not upon any mut- grounded specific apprehension of the intentions of any given Power."
The manner in which these remarks were received showed that they had completely hit the temper of the Durham and Yorkshire men. [Evidently the Duke of Cleveland does not belong to the anti-Gallican section of the Conservative party.] Mr. Charles Buxton, Member for Maidstone, engaged in a public dis • mission in that town on Strikes and Trade Societies on Wednesday. His antagonist was Mr. Facey. Both acquitted themselves ably. The meet- ing decided that trade societies are beneficial; that strikes are not bene- ficial; and they condemned the "declaration." The Leeds Chamber of Commerce have adopted a memorial to Lord John Russell condemning the conduct of Mr. Bruce in his dealings with the Chinese, and praying that everything may be done to avoid a war and effect a peaceful adjustment of differences. The manufacturers of Blackburn have held a public meeting and have resolved to build a new Exchange.
At present, so far as we know, Rochdale alone enjoys the preeminent position of refusing to arm in defence of the freedom and independence of England. A public meeting there has agreed with a Mr. John Ash- worth that the rifle movement is the result of groundless panic. Mr. Ashworth's ignorance of the origin of the movement may be pardoned; but the stigma on Rochdale is the same. (Loud laughter.) any danger. Heaven knows that 'oh thli Side of the Water there is no man who does not feel that anything like hostilities with France would be the greatest national calamity which could befall us. I believe that equally among the people of France the same feeling is commonly entertained. Such, at all events, is my confident opinion, and I believe that I have very good reason for entertaining it. Surely, then, upon the part of the Sove- reign of France personally there can be no desire to enter into anything like a quarrel with this country. Let him for one moment consider what his position is as ruler of France in alliance with this country. So long as France and England are combined, what coalition is there possible on the face of the earth which could give a moment's anxiety either to the one Power or the other ? It is not only that, but so long as we are combined our commerce must increase, and we fetter the whole world in those chains which I believe to be more firm, more enduring, and stronger than any others which you can fancy in political life. Nothing, in point of feet, can be better or more durable than the fettering together of nations by bonds of common interest and association. If this, then, be the position both of the people of France and the ruler of Francs, what reason can there be to anti- cipate anything like a rupture of the amicable relations which have so long subsisted between this country and our French neighbours ? Still less, what is there to give rise to that panic of invasion which has been so com- mon throughout the country of late ? At the same time I think it not only the interest but the duty of every man present, and of every man who loves his country, to contribute to the utmost in his power to that movement which, I am happy to say, has been so general throughout the country, and the object of which is to improve and increase, by voluntary means, the de- fences of the country." (Cheers.) The company had the benefit of speeches from Captain Virynciltam, Sir Charles Burrell, and Mr. Stephen Cave, all Members of Parliament. Captain Wyndham talked about volunteers. They must be taught to know their right hand from their left; as well as to shoot straight. Mr. Cave spoke encouraging words on the position and prospects of the British farmer.
Briggia.,Shaw, Chappell, Earnshaw, Cookson, and Marsden, the ruffians engaged in the gross assault upon two young women near Mahler, have net with due punishment at the York Assizes. It may be remembered that they collectively fell upon the girls and subjected one of them to the last outrages. Briggs has been sentenced to penal servitude for five-and-twenty, and the others to the like punishment for twenty years.
At the York Assizes, Mr. Justice Wightman presiding, a juryman ob- jected to take the oath on the ground that he had conscientious scruples. The Judge—" What scruples ? " Juryman— 'I consider it contrary to the Bible in several places." The Judge—" Do you object to take the oath ? " Juryman—" Yes, I do."
The Judge—" Very well, then, you can leave the box ; but you must sit there (pointing below it) and remain every day till the end of the assizes. It would be very easy for any one, by stating that he had conscientious scruples, to escape theidtity I5f a juryman altogether."
The juryman accordingly took the place assigned to him, amid con- siderable amusement in Court.
The testimonial about to be presented to Sir John Pakington by the county and city of Worcester was inspected by the Prince Consort at Windsor Castle last week, andis now being exhibited by Messrs. Mannings, of the Cross, Worcester. --A description of the testimonial—which consists of a silver shield, forty inches in dituneter,has already appeared. The fol- lowing inscription is engraved on the rim of the shield—" Presented to the Right Honourable Sir John S. Pakington, Bart., G.C.B., M.P., by the county and city of Worcester, in grateful recognition of his services for twenty-four years as chairnian of the county quarter sessions. This shield also illustrates his public and official career as First Lord of the Admiralty, Secretary of State for the Colonies, and an able advocate of general educa- tion." The presentation will be made on the 28th instant, and will be fol- lowed by a dinner at the Guildhall, presided over by Lord Lyttelton, the lord-lieutenant of the county.-a-Aris' a Birmingham Gazette.
The Bury and Norwich .Post says that its "readers may recollect that in May last we mentioned the fact of an aged woman being an inmate of the Sudbury Union-house, who was not only the widow of a seaman that served under Nelson in his last battle, but who herself served in that glorious action. She was one of a class now, and almost from that time, extinct. Six women, selected we may suppose for their own and their husbands' good character, were appointed to each ship of war to act as nurses, and on this occasion it fell to our veteran to hand out the powder to the boys who served the guns. Our paragraph attracted the attention of some members of the Royal Navy, who gave an opinion that she might be eligible to a pension from the funds of Greenwich Hospital, and a petition for such a grant was presented to the Admiralty; but the official answer returned was that she had no claim. The results of the previous investigation, however, moved the board of guardians, in compassion to her early impressed habits, to make her an out-door allowance, and some small donations were sent in by the in- quirers. But a pauper's allowance is a bare subsistence; and if that is all that can be legally claimed, surely, at this moment, when we are all thinking of the defence of our shores, the Widow of Trafalgar' ought to have some claim upon the sympathies of her countrymen and country- women for having-borne her part, however humble, in the achievement which destroyed the fleet of France and gaveus the undisputed mastery of the seas for the remainder of the war. *Almost in octogenarian, she cannot long require assistance ; but a few comforts for the inclement season of the.. year would be very accePable. The clergyman of Stoke-by-Nayland (the Rev. C. M. Torlesse) would doubtless answer any inquiries, and be the al- moner of any contributions which might be forwarded."
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