Vrauturm

About one hundred and fifty of the Devonport and Stonehouse electors gave an entertainment to their Members, Mr. Tuffnell and Sir John Ro- milly, yesterday week. Mr. Tuffnell indulged in slightly freer aspira- tions since his official emancipation : he trusted that the Ministry, of which he is not now a member, would " look well to economy—not to knock off the pay of the really working man, but to abolish every unne- cessary office." He said it would be as impossible to turn the sun from his course as to alter the system of free trade. Sir John Romilly hoped his law reforms would not be found useless ; and he hoped that, "by the countenance of her Majesty's Ministry, he should be hereafter enabled to prosecute further beneficial measures of the same class." He referred to M. Lamartine's picture of the changes be noticed in our country, and added a Parliamentary contrast to the social contrasts drawn by the dis- tinguished Frenchman-

' M. Lamartine described the squalid and miserable condition of the people in 1822, and the vile spirit of acrimony which prevailed at all public meetings : he possessed a small property here, and sold it, apprehensive of the consequences. That traveller has visited us again recently, and has given a very different description of the country ;instead of squalid wretchedness, the work- men and their children were well clad, and the spirit of acrimony had vanished. The account may be highly coloured, but it is in a great measure true. Those gigantic fortunes which were made in former times are not so easily realized now; the middle classes are, however, more prosperous. Of all modern changes, none is more important or striking than is the character of the Members of the House of Commons. It is a complaint that eloquence has disappeared ; that there are not now those displays of fervid oratory which formerly existed. True, the House has kecome deliberative and busi- nesslike. Young Members go in knowing comparatively nothing, and they are shortly possessed of true knowledge. Formerly all attention was given to eloquence, and none to business. Now Members, whether in office or in opposition, devote themselves most sedulously to the improvement of those acts of Parliament which are introduced, whether favourable or not to their enactment ; and useful suggestions meet attention coming from what quarter they may."

The annual meeting of the Waltham Agricultural Society had its usual feature of a speech by the Marquis of Granby ; but this year there was less of political manifestation than in past orations of that junior Protec- tionist captain at similar junctures. Lord Stanley's contested position of course claimed a reference, and his letter to Mr. George Young was gratefully paraded as a reclamation which must silence all cavil as to his fitithful adherence to the Protectionist principle. The controversial ex- eiamation of the Times, " What has become of the Protectionists ?" was retorted in converse shape—" What has become of the Free-traders ?' since Mr. Bright asks for a Committee on Indian cotton, and Sir Charles Wood refuses to take off taxes on the home trade in articles of home pro- duce. These dialectics introduced a reflection phrased somewhat curiously —" I must say, I doubt—[he has come over to doubts]—whether the condition of the labouring classes has been benefited by your Free-trade measures." He gave t. e excellent advice to the tenant- farmers that they should continue their "admirable conduct in giving employment under the present adverse circumstances to the labour- ers" ; it would be at once consoling to their consciences and pro- fitable to their interests, to " support those people in industrial pursuits, instead of supporting them idly in the workhouse." Upon the subject of poor-relief, he quoted and vouched an exposure of false returns by the Poor-law officials, made by the National Protection Society. Those returns show a diminution of the total maintenance of the poor in 1849 compared with 1848: the National Protectioncers, Society has shown that "this reduction has been in the salaries of offi the building of workhouses, and that kind of thing ; but the actual relief to the poor in 1849 was greater than in 1848." Hence he passed to the statistics of trade, and quoted Mr. M'Queen's calculations to show that the foreign trade is but of little importance ; and that the vast home trade has fallen off, and continues to decline. He concluded with a frank concurrence in the advice which has elsewhere been lately given to his party, both as to their political and their agricultural conduct "I fear, from all I have seen and from all I have heard, that it is entirely hopeless to look for justice from the present House of Commons. I would therefore have you centre your hopes in a future Parliament ; and I think that if success is to be ours it can only be through the voice of public opinion, and by the experience of the evil effects of the onesided system that we are now undergoing. It is not a question of free trade, it is a question of taxation. It is a question as to whether taxes ought or ought not to exist in this country ; and if they are to be levied—which is nothing more than saying if this country is to remain a country—if taxes are to be levied, whe- ther they are to be levied upon foreigners or upon the British producer ? I hope that all will endeavour to cultivate their land ; because, in the words of Lord Stanley, if good farming will not answer, depend upon it bad farm- ing will not either.'

The meeting of the Canford Estate Agricultural Show was marked by the striking incident of a speech by the lady of the principal guest—in this instance, the Baronet of that ilk, Sir John Guest. The Califon' es- tate is Sir John's property, and the "yearly agricultural show " is de- scribed as, " more correctly the yearly encouragement given to his tenantry" by the liberal landlord, who subscribes nearly all the prises offered for competition. The meeting was held on the 22d ; and Mr. Divett, M.P. did the chief honours of speechmaking but after the prizes were awarded, Lady Guest rose from beside her husband, and said— "I am taking an unusual course, but I wish very much to peewee to you a toast which lies near to my heart—' The prosperity of the labouring class- es.' From a child I have had much experience of them. I passed some time with and lived among the mining classes ; and certainly a finer body of men does not exist anywhere than the mining classes. In my new home I am lees acquainted, perhaps, with poorer people ; but I hope to become more uainted with them day by day. My feelings are strongly in their favour, I am sure they will be borne out by experience. There is no finer set of people anywhere than the labouring classes of this country. Look at France; look at Germany. You go into a cottage in England, and you ace every attempt made to be as moral and decent as possible. Excuse me for making these remarks. To raise the condition and to expand the mind of the pea- santry should be our aim; for without those advances it is impossible that even the most experienced agriculturist can go on. Forgive me for tres- passing thus unduly upon your time, and permit me to propose 'The labour- ing classes.' "

At so unusual but so admirable an incident the audience were ex- tremely delighted ; and the kindhearted lady resumed her seat amidst deafening cheers.

At the Michaelmas Quarter-Sessions of the Cheshire Magistrates, the Reverend H. S. Joseph, chaplain of Chester Castle, quoted the following statistics to show that the increase of crime in his county is not so much due to want of employment and low wages as to other causes,—such as the lowness of the educational standard, the abundance of beer-shops, and the vile character of lodging-houses.

"Amount of weekly earnings, from September 1849 to September 1850. Flom 58. to 108. a week 97 — lls. to 18a. — 88

— 19e. to 27s. — 28

— 28s. to 408. — Unemployed 41

Married women 15

Boys and girls doing nothing 9 Apprentices 9

Servants 17 "In most of the summary convictions, I have not been able to ascer- tain what their earnings have been. From this table we see that the great majority of the prisoners could and did earn from lls. to 18s. a week."

Mr. Joseph recommended that lodging-houses should be subject to a licensing power in the Magistrates,just as beer-shops are ; and he for- mally suggested the establishment of an industrial school for juvenile va- grants, as promising means of diminishing crime. To the gravest objec- tion against this suggestion, its expense, ho made this anticipatory reply-

" I think, if we clearly look into this objection, we shall find that every child committed either to this prison or to the house of correction costs our county about 121. per annum, without a chance of the outlay being remune- rative : but if sent to the Industrial School, ho could be maintained at as expense of about 4/. ; and there would be every prospect of the child be- coming a useful member of society.

The Town-Connell of Manchester are pushing to a practical test their powers of compelling the manufacturers to consume the smoke of their furnaces. A report of the Council's Sub-Committee on the subject con- tains this very. encouraging summary of their successes-

" In conclusion, your Sub-Committee congratulate the Committee upon the fact, that, in many instances, chimnies which were at one time the worst in the borough, and which almost incessantly emitted dense smoke, are now amongst the best ; and upon the still more important and significant fact, that your Sub-Committee have obtained the favourable opinion of millown- era generally as to the practicability of preventing smoke at what are termed heavy mills, and that such prevention can be secured without loss. In several instances, parties who had most strongly expressed an opposite opi-

nion, have with evident pleasure assured your Sub-Committee that they no longer entertain any doubt as to the practicability of preventing smoke„ but also that such a happy change may be attained, if not with considerable eco- nomy, at any rate without loss."

Councillor Howarth added these interesting details- " He lately waited on Mr. Hugh Beaver, and ascertained that the quan- tity of coal formerly used per week in his manufactory was 78 tons. whilst by the consumption of smoke and the improvements consequent on the adoption of the system a weekly saving is effected of 28 tons. I vi- sited Messrs. George Clarke and Sons' manufactory,' continued Mr. Howarth, and they told me the saving they effected by consuming the smoke from their fires was upwards of 40 tons per week. They formerly used 140 tons per week, now they consume lees than 100 tons. They have expended up- wards of 12001. on new boilers to their steam-engines, in order to abate the smoke nuisance ; and they expect the outlay will be repaid by the saving of coal effected in a year and a half.' "

The local correspondent of a London journal observes— "No one who has visited this town recently, and who recollects the dense. clouds of smoke which overhung the borough, but must make a very pleasing

comparison in favour of the present appearance and condition of our streets ; and it is not less encouragingto find, from a statement made this morning-

by Mr. Councillor Ho that all this improvement has been effected not only without loos but to the positive advantage of the manufacturers. It is unquestionable that our manufacturers at the outset thought this legislative interference a great hardship ; indeed, when summoned before the Magis- trates, it has not been unusual to urge that the mitigation of this nuisance was a delusion, and that the consumption of smoke was utterly impossible."

The Wallasey embankment, which extends nearly along the whole of the North bank of the channel from Leasowe to the mouth of the Dee, has suf- fered considerable damage during the gale on Monday and Tuesday sennight, several extensive breaches having been made by the sea. One of these was made near Leasowe Castle, the grounds about which were inundated to a considerable extent, and the gates and the side next the shore washed away. Sir Edward Cust procured a number of men, who set to work for the of repairing the damage ; but such was the fury of the waves, that tterpm°C6rei were glad to make their escape. The consequence was, that the low land in the neighbourhood of Thurstaston, Caddy, &c., was under water, and the large croof turnips and potatoes, it is feared, have been seriously da- maged. ergo quantities of wreck have come ashore ; nearly one hundred puncheons of rum have been safely deposited in the Customs' depot at Hoy- lake, and it is expected that a much greater quantity will be secured. The cost of repairing the embankment rests with the Corporation of Liverpool, who have sent a body of workmen to the shore, for the purpose of renewing the wall. Such, however, is the extent of the damage, that four hundred men will be occupied for about a month.—Cheater Chronicle.

The man charged with the attack upon the Reverend Lachlan McIntosh, at Shaw's Temperance Hotel, Kendal, was tried at the Westmoreland Mi- chaelmas Session, Kendal, on Friday week. He gave his name Charles Montgomery, but his real name is Charles Vem, from Carlisle. He pleaded guilty to the charge of attempting to rob, and was sentenced by the Bench to eighteen months' imprisonment with hard labour, including one month's solitary confinement.

The inquest on Mr. Holiest was resumed on Tuesday: The evidence gene- rally resembled that given before the Guildford Magistrates. Mr. Keene, the Governor of Guildford Gaol, mentioned, in connexion with Smith's con- fession, ,n a conversation he had had with that man. Smith reiterated positively that Levi Harwood fired the fatal shot • and when they were running from the room he said, " I hope I haven't killed him." Superintendent Rolling- ton described the arrest of the men, how they accounted for their time, and what he found upon them. Levi Harwood had 2/. le. 6d. in money.. The penny token, before referred to, was found upon Jones. Samuel Harwood wore stockings without feet, and a bit of worsted found at Frimley matched with the fabric of hiestockings. The inquiry was again adjourned,till next Tuesday.

At the final sitting of the Coroner's Jury on the body of Mrs. Severne, of Brixton, near Laugharne, more evidence was given of a kind to increase the presumption that the lady died by the hands of Elizabeth Gibbs, the cook. The Coroner put it to the Jury, that Mrs. Severn having been clearly poisoned by arsenic, they had to consider whether she had taken it herself suicidally, or whether it had been wilfully administered by another person ; and if so, was Gibbs the guilty party ? The Jury returned a verdict sub- stantially of "Wilful murder" against Gibbs ; who is already in prison for the murder of a fellow-servant.

No further portion of the plate seized at Mr. Sirrell's was recognized at Liverpool, and it has been brought to London. Sirrell and M'Auley have been finally committed for trial • while M'Guire has been liberated. Appli- cation was made to the Lord Chief Justice, on Tuesday, to admit Sirrell to hail. He assented, and fixed the amount of 2000/. for Sirrell, and four sureties of 1000/. ; due notice to be given to the prosecutors when the prisoner will be produced, that they may object to the sureties if they think proper. The required bail was proffered on Thursday, and approved by Mr. Justice Tal- fourd. Sirrell was therefore liberated.

The five men accused of complicity in the burglary and outrage at Bir- mingham were brought before the Magistrates on Wednesday. Three of them, against whom there was no evidence, were at once set at liberty. The other two were Christopher Healey and Joseph Marshall. Though still very 'weak, Mr. Marston was able to attend and state his belief that Marshall was the person who attacked him with the poker, and that Healey attacked him with some other weapon. Healey is Mr. Marston's nephew, and is a work- ing jeweller : Mr. Marston had not seen him for years, except u.„glance a few days before the outrage, when he was in Mr. Marston's yard,--a yard,' apparently, let off to a stable-keeper. The men who attacked him appeared :to have their faces coloured. Ann Thompson, Mr. Marston's servant, spoke to having seen a man who resembled Healey in her master's yard some days before the robbery. Evidence was given which went far to prove that the tat left behind by the burglars belonged to Healey. The Magistrates were about to commit the two men for trial, without allowing bail ; but the Po- lice requested a remand, that more evidence might be given ; and this was seceded to.

Two men are in custody for attempting to pass bankers' bills which formed part of the contents of the mail-bag stolen between Wolverhampton and Birmingham. One case occurred at Stourbridge, the other at Birmingham.

Robert Meggitt, seventy-three years old, has committed a murder at Bonby in Lincolnshire. Meggitt was a drunken, violent man, a terror to his family and the neighbourhood. The other night he had been drinking ; after he tad been to bed, he rose again, roamed about the house, and threatened to attack somebody with a pair of tongs. His family disarmed him, and some neighbours were called in. One of these was a young man named George Sinderson : during the hubbub and scuffling, Meggitt stabbed him with a docket-knife, inflicting a mortal wound in the bowels. A Coroner's Jury have returned a verdict of " Wilful murder " against the old man ; who be- bayed with great levity during the inquiry.

Ogle Wallis, a man nearly sixty years of age, who stated that he had been • a comet in the Twelfth Dragoons some years ago, and who has the mark of a sabre-wound on his check, recently took up his quarters in Queen Square Tavern, Bath. During his stay of three weeks, he never paid the landlord, Mr. Coplestone, any money ; and on Thursday sennight he attempted to leave the place without discharging his bill. As he was going out, with a portmanteau and a stick, the landlord stopped him, declaring that he should not take away his luggage till he had paid ; high words ensued ; Wallis struck Coplestone with the stick, and cut his hands and fingers with a razor. Coplestone called for assistance ; his wife came; Wallis assailed and wounded her also ; then he ran off, but was speedily.apprehended. Coplestone was so badly hurt that it was necessary to take him to the hospital. His wife was able to appear before the Magistrates on the following morning. Wallis was remanded. When he was arrested, upwards of 4/. was found upon him ; in his trunk were papers showing that he became possessed of 40001. in 1848, on the decease -of his sister ; a razor was deficient in the dressing-case. Wallis declared that he owed the landlord nothing ; and that he attacked him in self-defence, using the razor because that was the best weapon at hand.

The other night, a burglar entered the house of Miss Dumbleton, a lady of property living at Northampton, and ransacked the lower rooms. He then disguised himself in a hat and coat which he found in the house, and entered a bedroom : it was occupied by a gentleman—Mr. William Davis, who with his sister was on a visit to Miss Dumbleton. When Mr. Davis awoke and challenged the intruder, the latter threatened him with a currier's knife if he should rise : undismayed, Mr. Davis sprang up, grappled with the thief, disarmed him, and threw him on the floor. The ladies were alarmed by the noise, and called the Police : the thief had taken away the key of the house- door; but the constables got in by a window, and found Mr. Davis still pinning his prisoner to the floor.

The large spinning-factory belonging to Messrs. Allen and Co., in War- rington, was destroyed by fire on Tuesday afternoon. A number of people— principally boys—were in an upper room at the time, and their retreat was cut of by the flames on the stairs. Alcock, one of the men, threw out a rope of cotton banding from a window, and by this the workpeople descended to the oaround; Alcock was the last ; the rope broke with him at a great height, and he was dangerously hurt by the fall. Another man who jumped from the factory fell upon the spikes of a palisade, and was wounded so badly that he has since died. Two hundred people are thrown out of work by the destruction of the factory.