Gybe Vrtuiturr,e.

The,Froe-tradog of Poole have succeeded in changing the political complexion of their Parliamentary representation. Mr. Seymour, the Liberal candidate, has been returned by about the same majority over his Protectionist opponent, Mr.. Savage, that the late Mr. Robinson obtained over the Free-trade candidate at the last election : the numbers are re- ported as 188 for Seymour) against 167 for Savage.

Somewhat unexpectedly, Mr. Cowling-has withdrawn from the contest for.- Cambridge University. At a late hour on. Wednesday evening, his committee sent his resignation to Mr. Wigram's committee—" They did not think it expedient further to prolong a contest which they had remon_ to believe would end in the return of Mr. Wigram, and which could only.tend to disturb, the peace of the University." On Thursday morning, the committee-rooms were denuded of their placards, and all the outward signs of the procedure of an election." Mr. Wigram's elec- tion will now be a mere matter of form,—unless a fresh candidate should start at the eleventh hour, of which there is no likelihood.

The proceedings at, the annual meetings of the Agricultural Societies of Nottinghamshire. and Liverpool, which were held on Tuesday and Wednesday, at Newark and Liverpool, were of a most uninteresting kind. At the.first, a f}ixtgle incident is worth noting. Mr. Hildyard was dwelling on the,benefits which the farmers would secure for themselves by exertions to keep the labourers employed and out- of the workhouse. Mr, Chewier' the cavalry-horse hero of the Crown. and Anchor meeting some.moothsaince, roared out, " It's all very well, that is; but how can we employ labourers if we hav'nt money to pay 'em with ?"• Mr. Hill- yard coolly remarked, that.incivilized-society no gentleman would think of rudely interrupting a speaker, brit would wait until he had finished what he had to say, and if he had anything to assert in opposition he would taine that opportunity of expressing his opinion. This rebuff was received with evident satisfaction by the meeting, and Mr, Chowler was literally "shut up."- The Liverpool meeting was not relieved from tedium even by Lord Stanley's presiding and oratory. A halting pun about liberal draining and profuse irrigation of glasses and of the physical man—anckan allusion to "competition," not enough reprobated to please some of the audience—were the only notable points.

The city of Worcester was visited for the first time by an engine and railway train on Wednesday; the Abbott's Wood branch line, from the Bristol and Gloucester at Spechley, having been completed with one line of rail. Worcester will now have direct communication with all the main lines. The Government Inspector went over the line on Wednes- day, and next Tuesday it will be opened for traffic.

The " annoyances and litigation" to which the North-western Rail- way Company have been subjected in respect of their joint share in the great railway station at Chester, have driven them to resolve on building

a separate station for their through-traffic. A deputation of direc- tors, with Captain Huish, the general manage,-, went yesterday, week to choose a favourable site. The present station, forming a central point for all the lines meeting at Chester, is considered to be the largest and hand- somest in the kingdom. The cost of its 'erection has been 100,0004. defrayed by four companies ; it is nearly 1000 feet long, and has every public convenience.

The national musical festival of the. Weill, called "the Eisteddvod," established by Gruffydd ab Cynan, Prince of Aberlfrau, in the year 1100, and continued triennially, with historic lapses, 'till the present day, was this year celebrated with much dignity of circumstance, in the ruins of, the ancient castle of Ithuddlan, mid-way between St. Asaph and RItyL The Queen and PrinCe Albert, lent the honour of their. patronage; the venerable Lord Mostyn was President ; the Marquis ,ef Anglesey and se- veral other Lords, with most of the Welsh Prelates, and " upwards of ' sixty of the moat distinguished gentry in the Principality," wore among the Vice-Patrons ; Mr. John Williams, M.P., was Chairman of the Com- mittee.

The proceedings of the festival were extended over four days. On the first day, Tuesday, the friends and supporters of the Eiateddvod went in procession to Penguern, and escorted the aged President on horseback. to the Castle, The ruinous halls had been fitted up for the occasion, by the architect, Mr. John Jones; who is also known, under the name of Tal- hausrn, as a most celebrated modem Welsh bard. The President initiated. the proceedings. with a speech of eloquent vigour, to be envied by younger

' _ men and the competition of the bards began. On this day the strife was in poetry only. The grand prize, of twenty-five guineas and a gold medal, was gained by Ynyswr Cynddyn ab Cynfarche, known to the English as the Reverend Evan Evans of Christhtou, for a poem on the subject of the Resurrection.

On Wednesday, there was a grand dinner with apc.vhes distinguished by an ebullient nationality, which the President and other influential per- sons with difficulty moderated. The Welsh party chafe at the desecra- tion of their national.festival by the introduction, as was particularly to be the case at this celebration, of foreign music, from England, Germany, and Italy. This day the musical contentions were witnessed. Tal- haiarn, in an address of impassioned style, exhorted his countrymen to a real display of the ancient spirit. The successful competitor, among ten, was Mr. Ellis Roberts, harpist to the Prince of Wales : his performance is described by the reporter of the Times (who shows generally a cove, reign contempt for the Welsh harp) as a really striking and beautiful performance.

"All the rest," says the reporter, " were in a style at least a hundred years behind the age. Some of the easy rondos and airs, with variations, of Alberti, Nicolai, and others, dedicated to juvenile performers on the piano more than fifty years ago, may be compared to them; with the proviso, that while Alberti- and Nicolai were always correct in their.basses, the Welsh harpers are always the coutrary." On Thursday, there was a competition in the performance of the Pe- nillion' —" poetical blossoms," improvised or recited to the accompaniment of the harp. This performance seems to have been little interesting to the English reporters, and to have been but moderately so to the Welsh themselves. In the evening there was a grand concert of vocal and in- strumental music : the musie was of the foreign kind which the Welsh party decried. The band, though not numerous, was entirely composed of efficient performers, and played with great vigour and decision. We never assisted," says the reporter we quote, "at a poncert where-. more enthusiasm was exhibited. As nearly all the pieces, and nearly all the performers, were unknown to the majority of the .audience, almost . everything came upon them with thefreshness of perfect novelty, and every- thing was heartily enjoyed. The overture to .Fidelio. introduced Beethoven , to the inhabitants of Dyfryn Clwyd (the vale of Clwyd), who gave the giant of the orchestra a reception worthy of his genius. Mr. Machin, with one of the delicious songs of the Gardener, from Il Seraglio, was applauded in a manner that proved Mozart to be as acceptable as Beethoven to the Welsh auditors. Mr. Sims Reeves created quite a furore."

An unfortunate accident put a premature termination to the concert on Thursday. Sonic portion of the carpentry supporting the audience gave way, and many ladies and gentlemen were instantly gulfed in a vault beneath.

" The effect was electric. The crowd that filled the body of the hall rushed spontaneously to the platform, and attempted to climb up the barriers, eager to render assistance ; and much harm was effected by well-meaning persons, who, stepping on the broken compartments of the, platform, caused other beams and fragments of planks to fall on the unfortunote persons below, who, as the fracture occurred in the, middle of the platform were cooped up together in such a manner that to extricate them was a diffieult matter. At length, however, an opening was afflicted behind the platform, through some canvass that covered one of the larger apertures of the decayed walls of the castle, and in a short time every one was got out."

Some persons were seriously hurt. Mrs. Dawson of Gronant, and Mrs. Thompson of Abergele, each had suffered a fracture of the leg ; and, Lady Johnson's ankle was sprained.

Yesterday's proceedings passed off with a success little diminished by the unfortunate occurrence on Thursday. The Committee of manage- ment promptly had the defective parts of the structure repaired and . strengthened, and the President set an example of confidence by very early taking his place close to the spot of the accident.

The musical feature of the day's programme was the performance of Handers Messiah.. The effect was immense : this performance it is opined, " has opened a new musical rem for Wales, the importance of which can hardly be over-estimated."

The proceedings of Friday were wound up by the quaint formalities of the Gorsedd Gwynedd—the Assembly of Bards—in conferring de- grees.

"The spot pitched upon for this very ancient ceremony was the castle- yard, within the precincts of the moat. The Assembly was convened about ten o'clock, by sound of trumpet, according to time-honoured usage. The '

twelve stones representing the months, with a large stone in the centre to signify the Gorsedd or throne of the Arch-Druid, were arranged as was the sacred circle of old, with a large entrance facing due South. None were permitted to approach the sacred circle but the Arch-Druid, Druids and their officers. The bards and ovates, at the invitation of the heads of the ceremony, then appeared in order, bareheaded, as they, were respectively to be installed in the various grades of distinction conferred ,npon them. The sword, which had been placed on the altar was toutheathed, by the assistant bard, and the presiding. bard pointed it to his own breekt,—a type of his resolution to injure no one, and never to use W'excppt in case absolute necessity. The nature of the ceremony having been expounded by the Arch-Druid of Gwynedd in Welsh and English, the bards and °voles were called upon to enter his circle, and take part in the installation of such per- sons as were found competent to graduate as bards. Those who responded to the summons were obliged to make their acknowledgments 1I1 verse. Others were summoned to take rank as Druids, which was only eligible to the, ministers of religion, the office of Druidism being purely spiritual. There were several initiated. In response to the summons to take grade as ovates, Gwvlim Arfon (William of Carnarvon—William Powis Sthith) came forward and claimed his right to that distinction in Gwynedd, (a psirticular division of North Wales,) as the editor-in-chief of a journal which devotes great consideration to the preservation and encouragement of Welsh litem- tore. This gentleman's claim was at once admitted by the Arch-Druid, who expressed his aenae_of the serildes performed; and he was forthwith invested with the green riband, (the sign of ovateship,) in addition to the blue ri- band, (the sign of bardism,) which had already been conferred upon him at a previous Eisteddvod. Gwylim Arfon replied in an appropriate address, which was received with loud cheers by the surrounding bards; and his address was placed upon record by order of the Arch-Druid.',

The managing Committee of the Eisteddvod have issued a report on the causes of Thursday's accident, in which they severely censure the builder of the structure--

" We attribute the accident entirely to the defective and unworkmanlike manner in which the timbers are put together at the West end of the Castle; most of the supporters upon which the whole fabric rested being in several pieces, and not protected by braces or holdfasts. Owing to these imper- fections, the superstructure was not sufficiently able to resist the oscillations which must have been anticipated from the applause that followed the per- formance of the first female candidate on the triple harp. We consider that such a palpable imperfection ought not to have existed, and that the con- duct of the builder or contractor, and also that of the other persons whose duty it was to receive the work from the contractor's hands and to report upon its efficiency, have been highly reprehensible. With regard to the culpable conduct of the builder in particular, we are unable to find words to express our censure and indignation." the reporter of the Horning Chronicle expressly fixes the blame on Mr. J ones, the architect and bard, and states that he departed for Liverpool to evade the storm of condemnation : but the reporter of the Times has a passage to the exact contrary—" We state with pleasure the opinion una- nimously expressed, that no fault is imputed to Talhaiarn, the architect, in the accident that happened yesterday morning."

The legal informations before the Penrith Magistrates arising out of the fracas between Lord Brougham's fishermen and the keepers of Sir Thomas Musgrave with the watchers of the Penrith Angling Association, were heard on Tuesday. The local interest in the affair being great, there was a very full attendance of the bench and the public : Lord Brougham was not present, he was represented by a solicitor and barrister; and his brother, Master William Brougham, the Marquis of Douro, and Mr. Wellesley, were among the numerous witnesses called for his side. It appears that Lord Brougham is desirous of trying the question whether the Solway Act applies to salmon-trout and other fishes as well as to sal- mon : ho contends that it applies only to salmon, and to salmon-fishing. ft was with the intention to put this question in issue that he took his men on the fishing expedition mentioned last week ; and the party of gen- tlemen present (their ladies joining them) were there to secure the most spectable evidence as to the res •gestai. The river had been similarly fished several days before, and notice had been given of the intention to fish on this occasion. In bringing to legal issue his interpretation of the Solway Act, however, Lord Brougham seems to have made his men liable to the penalties of Sir Robert Peel's general act regulating the periods of taking fish and the engines which may be used. The personal assaults seem to have happened by surprise, and equally against the desire of Lord Brough- am and of his opponents Sir George Musgrave and the Angling Associa- tion of Penrith. After eight hours of investigation, it was determined by the Bench that the fishermen had contravened the general act : one of them was fined 51.; the fine was paid; and the other cases were ami- cably dropped. The cases under the Solway Act were reserved for further

careful deliberation. The assault cases were mutually withdrawn. • Six hundred of the workers in Sir Elkanah Armitage's mill at Manchester have " struck " ; they say their employer has been paying them 25 per cent less than other manufacturers, and they demand equal wages.

At the Ruthin County Court, on Saturday week, before Mr. E. L. Richards, Judge, W. Pierce brought an action against the Mayor, Aldermen, and Bur- gesses of the borough of Ruthin, to recover the sum of 11/. 3s., the balance of an account owing for lighting the town with the self-generating gas. Mr. Adams, solicitor, appeared for plaintiff, and stated that the Mayor and Cor- poration craved time, as they were not yet in a position to pay the amount in full. Judgment was given for the plaintiff, and a month's time allowed for paynient.—Chcster Chronicle.

The inquest on the nine men killed at Brentwood was resumed on Mon- day. From the evidence thou given, it seemed that no blame rested on the people managing the passenger-train. The whistle was blown several times ; the speed was slackened to about ten miles an hour on approaching Brent- wood station ; and when the men were seen every effort was made to stop the train. The whistle seems to have been heard by few of the .people in consequence of the noise made by the steam of the ballast-engine, which stood near the men. It does not appear that means are taken upon the Eastern Counties line to inform drivers where men will be at work upon the road, though on some other railways this is done. The " gangsman" called out to the labourers to get out of the way, as a train was due; but he either was unheard or unheeded by those who perished. Snowdon, the driver of the pastenger-train, was examined. In the course of his statement he said— "I had no knowledge that they were ballasting near Brentwood "; but "if I had known the men were ballasting there, I should have come by the spot at the same speed. I have read the Company's rules, and I do not know of any regulations for drivers with respect to ballasting." The Coroner re- marked, that the Great' estern Company give forms to their drivers show- ing where repairs are going on. Mr. Ellis, a director of the Eastern Counties, said that this matter should be looked to, and the plan adopted if nee but Mr. Ashcroft, the superintendent of works, said there was nothing inine form which is not attended to on the Easiern Counties line,—meaning, it --would seem, that the form refers to repairs after the actual breaking up of any portion of the road, and not to the constant and ordinary ballasting. After the Jury had deliberated for some time, they returned this verdict—" That the death of the nine men has bean caused by misadventure ; and at the saws tiro the Jury express their regret that more caution had not been ex- ercised for the protection of the men employed on the line."

On Friday last, a large excursion-party came from Bath and Bristol to London. Oa the return in the evening, two trains were started to convey the visitors back. One safely arrived at its destination, but as the other passed the Wootton Bassett station it ran into a horse-box which was stand- ing upon the down-rails. The engine and tender plunged into a turnip- fieldand the driver and fireman were thrown off, but neither was seriously hurt. The coupling-iron between two of the carriages broke, and thus only four carriages left the road : the first was overturned, and the others were violently dashed together. Upwards of twenty passengers were hurt more or less. Mrs. Lewis, wife of the High Bailiff of Bath, was found insensible, and she was thought to be in danger; but she has rallied. Dr. Herapath, of Bristol, and Mr. Briggs, of the same city, were wounded in the head : Mrs. Healey, of Bath, sustained a frarture of the collar-bone. After a delay of some hours, the mail-train took forward part of the passengers, and the rest

were taken at a later hour by the goods-train engine. Much alarm was felt at Bath and Bristol, the laseof the excursion-party not arriving at the latter city till five o'clock in the morning.

On Monday, William White, a policeman on the railway, was charged be- fore the Swindon Magistrates with neglect of duty in omitting to see that the line was clear near the station. The station-master at Wootton Bassett stated that it was the prisoner's duty to see that the horse-box, which was on a siding, was properly secured. [No explanation is given of how the horse-box got on to the main line : it is suggested that the wind blew it there ; but if it had been secured by " scotches," or wooden wedges, it could not have moved from the siding.] The man endeavoured to excuse himself : he said that the day policeman told him, when he went on duty, that the line was clear; he had frequently looked up. the rails and saw that they were clear; he had many other thing's of more importance to, look to— arranging and watching luggage to be forwarded by down-trains, and at- tending to a signal-lamp which might have been disarranged if he had left it. The Magistrates thought the charge against White made out, and sen- tenced him to imprisonment for two months. The directors have issued orders that henceforth all dale on their line shall have fixed scotches placed upon them, to prevent carriages or trucks drifting by any possibility on to the main line.. These scotches are to be locked on to the rail, so as to obviate either wilful or accidental displace- ment. Within the last week, loos& rails hive been found placed by some miscreants across both the Great Western and the South Devon lines ; but, fortunately, the engines themselves have removed them. The companies have offered rewards for the apprehension of the miscreants.

A serious accident happened at the Machin station of the Great Northern Railway on Saturday night. A cattle-train was moved from the up to the down line , to allow two up-trains to pass; a down-train from London was expected, but it was thought that effective measures had been taken to stop it from running into the cattle-train ; from some mismanagement, however, the down-train dashed against the stationary one. The driver was thrown off the engine, and hurt internally ; one of the fireman's legs was broken, a lady passenger suffered fractures of ribs, and other persons were hurt. The two engines of the cattle-train and the one which drew the passenger-train were all so much damaged by the shock as to be rendered almost useless.

Part of the Hereford mail-train was forced off the rails, near Admaston, the other night, by running over two cows which had strayed on to the line. It does not appear that any passenger was hurt.

Sarah Chesham, of Clavering in Essex, was some time since tried for poisoning her two children and other persons, but was acquitted, owing to the insufficiency of the evidence against her. After her return home, her husband died under suspicious circumstances ; an inquiry took place ; and Sarah Chesham is again in prison, on the charge, made by GoVernment officials, of poisoning her husband.

The inquest on the body of Rebecca Uphill,. Mr. Seven's housemaid, who died at Brixton, near Laugharne, has terminated in a verdict of "Wilful murder " against Elizabeth Gibbs, the cook. Arsenic was found in the body of the deceased ; Gibbs had predicted both her death and Mrs. Severn's, for she had seen "corpse candles" ; she was observed to put a white powder in the broth that killed the girl ; and white sediment was seen in the saucepan, which Gibbs carefully washed out. She herself directed that the broth that was left should be put in the hog-trough ; it killed a sow, and seventeen pigs were made ill : these circumstances were mainly instrumental in exciting suspicion. Mrs: Severne had died about six weeks before, suddenly ; the doctor thought that cholera had carried off both her and the servant. The lady's body has been exhumed, and Mr. Herapath has detected arsenic in it. An inquest in this case has been commenced.

Seaton, a baker of Spalding, has killed himself by taking a large quantity of arsenic; to face the approaching publicity of his anemias con- duct in seucing his own daughter Police-constable Harrison, of the Constabulary Rural Police, stationed at the village of Llanrhystyd, having occasion to come to Aberystwith on busi- ness, left his wife at home. No sooner had the Policeman turned his back than a robbery was committed by a tramp at a farl-house not far distant from the village. The Policeman's wife having received information, imme- diately started off, and came up with the tramp with the stolen property on his person. She secured the thief, and detained him until her husband. re- turned.—North Wales Chronicle.

There has been another fire at Gravesend. It broke out at No. 25 Queen Street, and No. 24 was soon in flames. When the engines arrived, the efforts of the firemen were wisely directed to save the adjoining premises ; and they succeeded, though the entire side of the street was timber-built. Two houses were consumed, and two others damaged ; but the whole loss was less than might have been expected.