POSTSCRIPT.

SATURDAY.

One or two fresh items of intelligence, showing the prevalence of the mild reform agitation have come to hand this morning. The leading reformers of Leeds held a meeting on Wednesday morning, Sir Peter Fairbairn in the chair. Nothing was done, however, except to adjourn until Thursday evening, in order to give the working classes an oppor- tunity of being present. Sir Peter Fairbairn read a letter from Mr. Mat- thew Talbot Baines, one of the borough Members. It derives its in- terest from the fact that Mr. Baines was a Cabinet Minister under Lord Palmerston.

"I hope you will permit me to express through you my hearty concur- rence in the object of this meeting. The question of Parliamentary reform is one which mustreceive the earliest consideration of the House of Com- mons. Two bills have been already announced, and there may possibly be others. I presume these bills will be laid on the tables of the House imme- diately, and consequently: every Member will have the opportunity of ex- amining them, and of judging which bill is most deserving of the approba- tion of the Legislature. I can assure you that my own judgment will be fairly and conscientiously formed. In the mean while, I shall consider it a great advantage to know the views of my constituents with regard to the principles on which a new Reform Bill should be framed ; and I need not assure you that I shall consider these views as entitled to my most earnest and respectful attention. I will only say at present as to the principal question—that of the franchise—that I retain the opinion I generally and repeatedly expressed at the last election. There ought to be a large and li- beral extension of the franchise. It is now more than a quarter of a cen- tury since the last Reform Bill was passed. Within that interval the pro- gress of the people in knowledge has been wonderful and unprecedented. The franchise then given would be inferior, iq my opinion, to what might now safely be granted, and be granted also with great advantage. Acting upon this view, I supported, last session, the bill of Mr. Locke King, and also a bill for the extension of the county franchise in Scotland. It is un- fortunate, though true, that notwithstanding all the efforts made in pro- gressive education and otherwise, there still remains a large class of our po- pulation who are lamentably ignorant. On this ground I cannot support universal suffrage. There are other points to which it may be desirable to direct the attention of the Legislature, and I now have to repeat that I shall ba happy to know the views of my constituents on the various points con- nected with this important question, and I will thank you (the Mayor) to communicate to me a copy of the resolutions passed, and of the petition adopted." At Liverpool the Liberals are trying to establish a Reform Club upon the London model.

The following appointments are announced by the ministerial organ at Dublin.

"Mr. Hans Hamilton, Q.C., Assistant-Barrister for the county of Galway, has been appointed to the Chairmanship of the county of Armagh, vacant by the resignation of Mr. Edward Tickel, Q.C. Mr. W. W. Brereton, Q.C., Assistant-Barrister for the county of Kerry, has been appointed to the county of Galway. Mr. Stephen Copirv,er, Q.C., Assistant-Barrister for the county of Kildare, has been appointed' to the county of Kerry ; and Mr. Thomas Lefrov, Q.C., has been appointed Assistant-Barrister for the county of Kildare. Mr. Copinger is a distinguished Roman Catholic lawyer, who has consistently supported the Conservative party for many years, and his promotion will give a general satisfaction. Mr. Lefroy's appointment is also well deserved, not only on account of his own high position at the bar' but also as being son of the venerable Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench, and brother to the Member for the University."

Higher judicial changes are confidently spoken of as being likely to take place before the opening of Hilary Term.

A little progress in the Irish prosecutions was made at Cork on Tues- day: the evidence of the approver was taken in a closed court. Nothing new has come to light. Anne Walton, a young woman, described as "ladylike and extremely delicate," has been arrested at Fethard and lodged in Clonmel prison. Her offence is writing seditious letters, and inciting her Majesty's soldiers to mutiny. Some doubts are thrown out as to her sanity ; but it is said her behaviour in gaol and during the pre-

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Aigii9 arrived at S4utliaMptan on Timis withsdioes from New tetlie '11th. 'pile ship-load' of Filibmers, holuid for Met-. ragua, had slipped off from Mobile, carrying with 'thou. the efficer'of rvrnuqclAtel',AvIlPifillli„biaarded on suspicion._ The cutter was conye- niontly4aground, t is euripceicd that another' bracker.TtliNSfe,t's got alsoine cloys , earlier in a steamer. Washington. ad?ticeit 1414414thu negotiationapending Govermaent relatioritti.qaestions eenneeted with the:Claytem-Buivoer ;,Treaty would be eamPletaiu time to be submitted to the Senate early next month, and that the,setlleme.nt of these vexed questions would be on a perfectly fair and satisfactory basis,- Immediately after the ciompletion of this-negotiation-the question of-Mi international, copyright With Great 'Britain taken up, a treaty having been Slready •draughted by the State- Department.. Mr. Buchanan, it is stated, has demanded the removal of Mr. Douglas from the chair of the Committee an Territories, and IL:meeting of democratic senators has agreed, by-18 to 7, to exclude him from the chair.

In the case of the crew of the slave brig Echo the federal judges at Columbia, South" Carolina, have decided that the law- under Which the prisoners arc held is constitutional, and they are, consequentlY, to be detained in custody to await the action of the next grand jury on the indiotment charging them With piracy. .

The telegraph announces the death of the Henourable Robert Baldwin, at his residence, near Toronto, on the 9th December. Mr. Baldwin was a distinguished citizen of Canada; he had been Attorney-Genera/ of the Upper Province, and was an associate of Sir Hippolite Lafontaine in the Canadian Government, and bore an unblemished reputation.

The e mentions some incidents of interest. From Marseilles

it is stated hat "letters from Pera report that the Grand Vizier refused to carry out the reforms promised by Fuad Pacha at Paris. Audi Pacha had tendered his resignation, and Biza Paeha was preparing to follow him into retirement. Fund Pacha had not yet accepted the office of Grand Vizier."

"A Vienna despatch gives intelligence from Zante to the 16th. "It states that Mr. Gladstone had arrived in the island, and that a demon- stration had been made in favour of Greece. There was a current rumour that a portion of the fleet from Malta had been placed at the disposal of the Governor, Sir John Young."

A message from Stockholm, rid Berlin, reports "that the 'health of the Kina. of Sweden is seriously impaired. His appetite and power to sleep diminish, and his strength fails."

The case of Davidson and Gordon, so far as the taking of evidence, and the hearing of counsel were concerned, came to a close yesterday in the Bank- ruptcy Court. Mr. Commissioner Goulburn has fixed Wednesday, the 5th January, whereon to deliver judgment.

At the Middlesex Sessions, yesterday, before Mr. Assistant-Judge Pashley, Q.C., Thomas William Capron was tried for assaulting Mr. Mowbray Morris, manager of the Times. The assault was committed on the 5th November. Mr. Morris was about to be married on the 6th, for the second time. Capron heard this, waylaid him, and beat him with a stick. Mr. Morris would have confined the case to proof of the assault, but Mr. Capron would rip up old grievances, and the result was that Mrs. Capren's name was mixed up in the transaction. To account for the animosity shown by Capron towards Morris minute questions were put to the latter, referring to his relations with Mrs. Capron live years before. The answers showed that Mr. Morris had been very Intimate with Mrs. Capron, had taken her a row on the Serpentine, to Richmond, to Thames Ditton, to Greenwich, and other places ; that she had left her husband, who behaved very brutally towards her, beating her, even teaching her son to apply to her the vilest epithet that can be applied to a woman ; Mrs. Capron commenced a suit for divorce; but afterwards returned to her husband. She is now said to be in a lunatic asy- lum. Mr. Morris swore that he had never been ceiminally intimate with Mrs. Capron' and that Mrs. Morris was aware of the object of his visits. It ap- peared also that Capron had been fined for assaulting Morris in Paris; and had circulated pamphlets against Morris in the clubs to which he belongs. The Jury found Capron guilty of assault, and the Assistant-Judge, comment- ing with much severity on Capron's proceedings, said that if after this warn- ing he should at aux time repeat this offence, he would undoubtedly be looked upon by the Court in the same light as a felon was regarded who, having been convicted of an offence once, made his appearance a second time before the Court, and whose sentence on the first occasion of a few months' im- prisonment might on the next be of as many years' penal servitude. Al- though, therefore, the sentence of the Court now would restrain the liberty of the defendant only for a short period, yet if ever he should be brought before that Court again for a similar outrage, or for any breach of the law amounting to an indictable misdemeanour against Mr. Morris, he would be looked upon as a person requiring—not for his own reformation merely, but as a warnmo-* to all ill-disposed persons likely to break the peace—a punish- ment not at all to be measured by his present sentence, but totally of a dif- ferent kind, in the hope, therefore, that the defendant would abstain from any such conduct, and at once submit to the necessity of keeping the peace as long as he lived in this country, the Court would pass on him the lowest sentence which, in its estimate of what was due to the public, must be passed, namely, that the defendant be imprisoned for twenty-one days, that he be tined 501. and enter into his own recognizance of 1.000/., with two sureties of 250/. each, to keep the peace and be of good behaviour for two years. The defendant said he had attained his object, and of course should not think of anything of the kind again. He was then taken into custody.

Lieutenant Higginson was yesterday committed to take his trial by Robert Carden, for an assault committed upon Alderman Salomons. Brig- ginson had some grievance against the Alderman who had refused to hear his strange complaints against the Atlantic Telegraph Company. Meeting the Alderman in Lothbury, he struck at him, but was prevented from doing further damage by Mr. Cohen, brother-in-law of Alderman Salomons, who pinioned the Lieutenant to the wall. During his examination Lieutenant Higginson behaved very oddly, and kept up a smart fire of questions and statements. He refused to give bail to keep the peace and was locked up.

The omnibus case made some progress yesterday. Mr. Edwards, the counsel for the Saloon Company, begged Mr. Paynter to adjourn the case for a short time stating that some overtures had been made to him for an arrangement. Mr. Paynter willingly acceeded. About an hour afterwards Mr. Edwards stated that it had been agreed to submit all matters in dispute to arbitration. Mr. Paynter adjourned the case for a month.

Francis, a poulterer at Reading, who seduced Mary Newell, now under sentence of death for drowning her baby, was, on leaving the court, caught by a-very

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The picket-ship Isaac Wright'iv nTfAirtiday in the 'Mersey, She had on board, at the time the fire,hi-dice tint,.213ff pa:ism/gees forNew York. These were rescued by steam tags. . Stice'tietts towed, to New Ferry,- cad there, Upon application of the propernenties,-Captain Mends sunk her with the guns-of theHastings. linhirtunately the luggage of the poor emigrants was eonahm ad. !

' The Prineess Doria eldest daughter of John Earl of Shrewsbury,' expired on Saturday -last - at her :retideteeni in Rome after a lengthened ilMees, leaving i family of five obildtemesthree daughter and two eons. ,

.Escaping ontlnhistnreaent place of tilthedones. " Here interpo' Sett, 'MA, "the patine stir protection. They bndto ti,,fOr' the ,nob " 'hinge