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GBEAT BEFORM DEMONSTRATION…
GBEAT BEFORM DEMONSTRATION AT BIRMINGHAM. The Open Air Meeting. The great open-air demonstration in favour of Par- liamentary Reform took place at Birmingham on Monday. Soon after the vote of the House of Commons which resulted in the retirement of the late Ministry, it was determined that a demonstration of this kind should take place; in order, as it was said, that the true sentiments of the mass of the people of this town should be fully known, and that the people in other parts of the country might be induced to kindred action. Soon after nine o'clock on Monday morning the teeming population began to muster for the rally; the divisions from the auxiliary branches of the Re. form League in the district came in early. Coventry, Oldbury, Smethwick, West Bromwioh, DadleY, Nau. eaton, Bilston, Kidderminster, Stourbridge, ^1D8a" nor ton, Stafford and Wolverhampton, all contributed to the gathering multitude. At nearly all the manu- factories work was abandoned for the day, the various trade societies and co-operative societies of every class joined heartily and spontaneously in the movement and no element to mar success was interposed from any quarter. A few minutes before twelve o clock the Mayor (Mr. Edwin Tates) arrived at the central rendezvous, the Town-hall. His worship was received with applause, as were also Mr. Bright, Mr. Scholefield, Mr. Edmond Beales Mr. Mason Jones, and other leaders of the popular party, who followed. A preliminary con- ference between the joint committees of the Reform League and the Liberal Association was soon afterwards held, but no business of importance was transacted. Meanwhile the streets were filling rapidly with an eager but orderly crowd. It had been arranged that the procession should move in six divisions-the first to consist of the great body employed at the Metro- politan and other carriage building works, and the Birmingham jewellers; the second oomprised the Mayor, the borough members, the aldermen and town councillors, the members of the Liberal Association and of the Reform League; the third, of the auxiliary branches of the Reform League; the fourth, the Birmingham and district trade societies; the fifth, the temperance societies; and lastly, the friendly and other societies. They were to move from six different points, and rendezvous at the Town-hall. To marshal such a mighty body as was assembling required some skill, and could not have been done in the narrow streets and avenues of a town but for the spirit of order and discipline shown by the closely packed crowds who lined the way. By a quarter to one o'clock Mr. Glossop, the chief of police, had got his array into order and marching trim. There was a long line of carriages in a narrow street by the side of the Town-hall, in which some of the principal guests took seats, and they did so without the least delay and inconvenience. A few minutes before one o'clock the procession started. A mounted force of the police was in attendance to preserve the line; but the people did that for themselves. The route taken was through the principal thoroughfares, and the dis- tance traversed to Brookfield was about two miles and a quarter. Throughout the whole of that space, and every avenue leading to it, was one dense mass of people; every window, and parapet, and balcony, was filled with people. From every window streamed gay colours, blue greatly preponderating. There were scores of banners of the trade societies, many bands of music playing, and every accessory to produce a scene which it would be very difficult to describe. Brookfields, where this great gathering was to halt, is just without the borough of Birmingham, in the county of Stafford; it is a plot of some 50 acres, abut- ting on the Great Western Railway. The procession reached this at two o'clock, in perfect order, a large portion of the ground having been previously occupied < by those who had not chosen to join the moving mass. ] Unfortunately the ground was barely reached before ] there came down a pelting storm, which lasted full 20 1 minutes, but which the people bore with remarkable 1 good humour; but even after it had passed over the effect of the spectacle was much marred. It was a splendid eight notwithstanding, for over a ] space of fully a. quarter Of a. mile from the crest of the 1 rising ground, was to be seen one dense mass ot eagerly listening to the orators at the half-dozen plat- forms which had been prepared for the purpose. Then I the air rung with the great huzzas (as it had done at every stoppage in the streets on the way through the town), and the sentiments uttered by each of the speakers were received with the warmest acclamations. ] Mr. Mason Jones, Mr. J. S. Wright, Mr. Beales, and many other gentlemen spoke, and from each platform the following resolutions were put and carried unani- mously :—1. That the present House of Commons has, by its rejection of the very moderate measure of 1 Parliamentary Reform proposed by the late Go- vernment, proved itself utterly unworthy of our confidence and support, and that it in no sense represents the wishes of the commons of Great Britain. We, therefore, hereby pledge ourselves to demand, agitate for, and use all lawful means to ob- tain registered residential manhood suffrage, as the only just basis of representation, and the ballot to protect us from undue influence and intimidations in elections." 2. That this meeting tenders its warmest and most grateful thanks to the Right Hon. William Ewart Gladstone, John Bright, Esq., John Stuart Mill, Esq., and all the other true friends of Reform, who throughout the late discussions in Parliament vindicated the character and protected the rights of the people." 3. That this meeting presents its sin- cere thanks to Mr. Beales and the other members of the Reform League, for their exertions in defence of the right of public meeting, and of the true principles of Reform-Residential and Registered Manhood Suf- frage." Mr. Bright and Mr. Scholefield were present, but did not speak. Meeting at the Town-hall. nl In the evening a meeting was held in the Town- hall, for the purpose of presenting addresses to Mr. Scholefield and Mr. Bright. Mr. Edwin Yates (the Mayor) presided. Both Mr. Bright and Mr. Scholefield were enthusi- astically received by their constituents, who filled every portion of the large hall. The whole of the audience rosa as they entered, and cheered again and again for several minutes. The Mayor briefly opened the proceedings. He con- gratulated the meeting on the success of the open-air demonstration in the afternoon, which he hoped would at last convince the opponents of Reform that the people of England were in earnest on this question. Mr. George Dickson mo^ed, and Mr. Lampard, a non-elector, seconded the addresses to Mr. Scholefield and Mr. Bright. Mr. E. Beales, who supported the motion, was most warmly received. He cordially thanked them for the manner in which he had been received. It was.he said,a more than sufficient recompense for the insults and calumnies with which he had been assailed by the upholders of class legislation for maintaining the rights of the people (cheer sj.The legislature, as at present constituted, was a mockery of the rights of the unrepresented millions. For having warmly supported the rights of the people, and taken part in an agitation of no ordinary character, he was no longer revising barrister for the county of Middlesex (cries of "Shame! ) His object was to secure to the people the rights accorded to them by the constitution of their country, which in statute after statute ordained that no laws should be passed or taxa- tion levied without the assent of the whole commo wealth. He bore strong testimony to the qualities or Mr. Bright as a statesman and an orator, who had de- voted his great talents and his whole life to the ser- vice of his countrymen. If there was one man more than another who had done his best to maintain all that was valuable in the institutions of his country, that man was John Bright (cheers). The addresses, which were carried by acclamation, and presented by the Mayor, were as follows :— I To "WILLIAM SCHOLEFIELD, ESQ., M.P. Sir,-On behalf of the Liberal electors and non-electors of Birmingham, we desire to take this opportunity of pub- licly recognising the great services you have rendered to the town oi isirmmgham, especially in connection with the Liberal cause. Independently of your personal claims to our gratitude, you, sir, have a hereditary claim to the con- fidence of the Liberals of Birmingham. You bear a name long and worthily honoured in our political annals. As the friend and associate of Thomas Attwood,. your father was one of the founders of that great political union which virtually carried the Eeform Bill of 1832, and when, by that measure, Birmingham was for the first time admitted to the right of representation in Parliament, your father was unanimously selected as the worthy colleague of Thomas Attwood in the Reformed House cf Commons. Throughout your public life, you, sir, have trodden worthily in the steps of your father. ^hirty-f9Ur years aeo in the first Eeform campaign, Joshua Scholefield was one'of the trusted leaders of the political union-; and now, in this second struggle for Beferm, William Scholefield g occupies an equally honourable position. It is now nearly a 20 vears since you were elected to represent this borough in e Parliament. During the whole of that lengthened period j. you have deservedly commanded and fully received the con- fidence and respect of your constituents. Elected as a J: Liberal, you have abundantly justified the choice by your g unvarying, earnest, and consistent support of all Liberal i measures, especially those designed to extend the liberties I of the people, by correcting the anomalies of the constitu- ( tion, and conferring the franchise upon the industrial I classes, now excluded from their just share in the govern- J ment of this country. For these services we heartily and earnestly thank you, in the name of the Liberals of Bir- J mingham. We assure you that the confidence reposed in s you 20 years ago not only remains unabated, but increases, with the lapse of years; and we earnestly pray that., re- stored to perfect health, you may long be spared to continue your services as the representative of Birmingham, and to I witness the triumph of the great cause which you have so 1 honourably, consistently, and earnestly supported. J To JOHN BRIGHT, ESQ., M.P. ] Sir,-The meeting which has been held to-day—ia its objects, occasion, and circumstances recalling the great assemblies held in this town 34 years ago-affords us a fitting opportunity to address you on the present aspect of the question of reform; and on the distinguished part you have taken in this and all other movements of the Liberal j party, during the whole period of your public life. After repeated pledges, made only to be broken, we have lately witnessed the introduction into the House of Commons ofa moderate but honest measure fur the extension of the franchise. We have also witnessed the rejection of that measure by the combination of the Tory party with certain pretended Liberals. As the consequence of rejection we have witnessed the fall of a Liberal Government, and the acces- sion of a Conservative minority to office, but not to power. Therefore, in common with the Liberal paity throughout the country, we have felt ourselves compelled to re- commence a labour which we lately hoped had ap- proached its termination-the labour of obtaining from Parliament a substantial measure of reform, in re- cognition of the just rights of the unenfranchised classes. Without detracting from the claims of other statesmen who have laboured to bring about salutary mea- sures of Parliamentary Reform, we turn to you as the representative of this great cause, and as the eapeaial advo- cate and leader of your unenfranchised countrymen. The whole tenor of your public lifa inspires us with gratitude for what you have done, and with perf, ct confidence in your future course. Whoever else may prove false to the cause of the people, you will always remain true in the time to come as you have been true in times past. We turn, there- fore, to you as to one who has never forgotten his promises or denied his principle,, and who never can betray the cause to which his life has been devoted. We should trespass too greatly upon your time, do violence to your feelings, were we to recount ever so briefly the services which you have rendered to your constituents and your country. The page of history will record your plea for justice to India, your sympathy with misgoverned Ireland, jour ceaseless efforts to promote the welfare and to broaden the freedom of Great Britain. From tke moment you entered upon public life until now, you have been the advocate of all Liberal measures-of free trade, of financial economy, of non-intervention, of a free press, of religious liberty, of Parliamentary reform. So far as these have been accom- plished, we owe them greatly to your labours; so far as they have yet to be achieved, we look to you as their most prominent and most efficient advocate. In common with millions of your countrymen, we feel towards you sentiments of gratitude and affection which can be but faintly expressed in words. With eloquence unsurpassed, with energy unri- valled, with devotion unyielding, at all times and under all circumstances, undismayed by opposition, uninfluenced by calumny, yon have nobly and consistently advocated the prin- ciples of right and justice towards all classes of your country- men. Though unadorned with titles, though neither endowed with nor seeking the honours and emoluments of office, you have reaped a reward higher and richer than these. You have earned the confidence of millions of your fello-wciti- zens you stand the trusted and acknowledged representa- tive of the people's cause. Enshrined in the gratitude and affection of your countrymen, your name will live as long as England shall endure-enrolled with those of Cobden, of Russell, of Gladstone, and of Peel, conspicuous in that glorious band of patriot statesmen, to whom it has been given— Th' applause of listening senates to command, The threats of pain and ruin to despise; To scatter plenty o'er a smiling land, And read their history in a nation's eyes." Mr. Scholefield, as senior member, thanked the audi- ence from the very bottom of his heart for the unan- imity with which they had voted the address just presented to him. He declared his firm adherence to reform, and assured the people that ere long they will be under the guidance of such men as Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Bright, and not be governed by Tories. Mr. Bright, in an elaborate speech, denounced the present Government for opposing reform, and dwelt upon the rights and principles that the working men should have extended to them. He then pictured the political prllwîples of Lord Derby, wHoh he said were such as to lead him to despise the claims of five or six millions who are unrepresented in Parliament. The hon. gentleman concluded a speech which occu- pied more than an hour in the delivery in the follow- ing words:—You may work, you may pay taxes, may serve in the army and fight. Seventy thousand or more of your brethren are now living under the burn- ing sun of India, and twice as many more are serving in the ranks in different parts of the world; and you, the body of the people from whom these men are drawn, are not considered worthy to do so simple an act as to give a vote in your great town for your present or for any future representative (loud cheers). You are to have no vote — no share in the Government — the country you live in is not to be your country. You are to be like the coolies or Chinese imported into the West Indies or California. You are to work, but you are not to take root in the country, or to consider the country as your country; and, in addition to all this refusal of the commonest rights of the constitu- tion, you are insulted by the cheers of a great party given to the language which I have read to you to-night. You are to be told that you are so ignorant, and so venal, and so drunken, and so impulsive, and so unre- flecting, and so disorderly, that it is not even safe to skim as it were the very cream of you, to the number of 116,000—(cheers) -or it may be 204,000—to vote for members of the House of Commons. This is the Tory theory, this is the faith of Lord Derby; and I am not saying one word that is in exaggeration of the truth, for I have heard them over and over again voci- ferously cheer sentiments such as I have described. Now the Government that has been overturned was oertainly a very different Government. Lord Russell has no fear of freedom. The Government that was led by Lord Russell in one House and by Mr. Gladstone— (cheers)—in the other, was founded and acted upon the principle of trust and confidence in the people. Some said there was no great difference be- tween the Derby Government and the Russell Go- vernment. LGrd Derby asked Lord Clarendon to take office in his Government (laughter). There is some- thing shocking in the very audacity and effrontery of that offer. Lord Clarendon was an eminent Minister of a Government that brought in a bill which the Tory party declared subversive of the constitution, and then Lord Derby asked Lord Clarendon to keep the Foreign Office in the new Government, The Government of Lord Derby in the House of Commons, sitting all in a row, reminds me of a number of amusing and ingenious gentlemen who I dare say some of you have seen and listened to—Christy's Ministrels (laughter and cheers). The Christy's Minstrels, if I am not misinformed, when they are clean washed are white men; but they come before the audience as black as the blackest negro, and by this transformation it is expected that their jokes and their songs will be more amusing to the audience. The Derby Minstrels (loud laughter) pretend to be Liberal and white; but the fact is, if you come near them and examine them closely, you will find them to be just as black and curly as the Tories have ever been. I do not know, and I will not pretend to say, which of them it is that plays the banjo (laughter). But I have no doubt that in their manoeuvres to keep in office during the coming session we shall know something more about them than we do at present. In point of tact, when they pretend to be Liberals they are usurpers and impostors (hear, hear). Their party will not allow them to be liberal, and the party only exists upon the principle on which they have acted in all their past hiatory-of resisting and rejecting every proposition of a liberal character submitted to Parlia- ment (hear, hear). Now, what is this Derby principle ? It is the shutting out of much more than three-fourths five-sixths, and even more than five-sixths of the people from the exercise of constitutional rights. If any of you take ship and goes to Canada, he will find the Derby principle utterly repudiated; but in Canada there is no uprooting of institutions, and no distinc- tion of property, and there is no absence of order, or of loyalty. If you. go to Australia, you will find there that this Derby principle is unknown; yet there reigns order as it is in this country, contentment with the institutions of the colonies, and regard for law and for property. If you go to those great and glorious colonies ef this country, the United States of America -(oheers)-thero you will find the people exhibiting all the virtues which belong to the greatest nations on the face of the earth; there you will find a people passing through a tremendous war, a tremendous revo- lution, with a conduct and a success, with a generosity and a magnanimity, which have roused and attracted the admiration of the world (loud cheers). As you come to Ear op a, you will find in tha republic of Switzerland, in the kingdoms of Holland and Bel- gium, in Norway, in Sweden, in France, and now you are about to witness in Germany also, a wide-spread exercise of the franchise hitherto in our time unknown in this country; and neither emperor, nor king, nor noble believes that his authority, his interest, or his greatness, or the happiness of any one of his country- men, will be jeopardised by the free admission of the people to their constitutional privileges (cheers). In Germany a vote is to be given to every man of 25 years and upwards, so that, if we were to propose a measure that would give a vote to every man of 25 years and upwards in this country, we should be in advanoe of the great country of Northern Germany, which is now being established. What is it that we are come to in this country, that which is being rapidly conceded in all parts of the world is being. persistently and obstinately refused here in England. In the home of Freedom, the mother of Parliament— England, of which one of her poets has said— "Though o'er our heads the frozen pleiades shine, 'Tis liberty that crowns Britannia's Isle, And makes her barren rocks and her bleak mountains smile"— In this England five millions of grown men, represent- i ing more than twenty millions of the population, are to i be persistently denied that which makes the difference j between despotism and freedom all the world over (cheers). I venture to say that this cannot last very long. How does it stand at this moment, that the noble and illustrious lady who sits on the throue of 1 England—(cheers, and cries of God save the Queen") -she whose gentle hand wields the seeptre over the wide empire of which we are the heart and the centre 1 .-she was not afraid of the franchise which the late Government introduced during the late session? Seven times, I think, by her own lips or by her gen, she has recommended to Parliament the ad. mission of a large number of working men to the Parliamentary franchise, if this proposal was so destructive would not the Queen be the first to discover it; and if the bill of last session was so sub- versive, would the thirty millions.of the people of the United Kingdom not have been able to produce a single meeting in condemnation of it ? Look at the middle classes of your towns; they are by a vast majority in favour of it. Look at the meeting of to-day; the whole of the middle classes of Birmingham have sym- pathised with the proceedings of this day. If we go to the House of Commons-although it is elected, as I have said, by the landlords' compulsion in the counties, and by corruption, intimidation, and tumult in the boroughs.—Do not suppose that I am charging the House of Commons with what it does not itself admit and acknowledge. Have you read the reports of the commission for Yarmouth ? Did you not read that a late member for that borough is said to have spent no less t'rmn £ 70,000 to maintain his seat ? Did you read that one gentleman, the inferior partner of a brewery unbeknown, as Mrs. Gamp would say, spent £ 4,000 for the election of his senior partner?—that another person, knowing nothing of the borough, went down and spent X6,000 to contest it in a few days ? But do these things only happen in Yarmouth, or any other borough that is brought before the public ? It is only the sample of a very considerable sack, and for every borough which is theirs there are probably 10 or 20 other boroughs which are, to a very large extent in the same condemnation. Bat, notwithstanding this, the Parliament of England at this moment is about equally divided, and about half of the House was in favour of the late bill. Well, if this be so, what is there wanting in this poising and balancing of the scale ? It only wants that the working men of England should boldly throw their influence into the side which is for their interest, and that side will prevail. Now you have before you to-night my friend Mr. Beales, and you have the National Reform Laague, whose head- quarters are in London. Mr. Beales knows—you know-that I have preferred that the franchise should be established on what I consider to be the ancient principle of the country. I am not afraid of the prin- ciples of the Reform League. I have no fear of man- hood suffrage, and no man is more a friend of the ballot than I am. It is a great cause which is offered to yoar notice to-night, and it is a grand and noble flag under which you are asked to enlist yourselves. Now, what I would recommend you to do is this-and I imagine myself to be at this moment speaking in the hearing of every intelligent, and sober and thoughtful working man in the three kingJoma-let. us try tu mureim- together, let us not split hairs on this question; let us do as your forefathers did 34 years ago; let us have associations everywhere; let every workshop and every factory be a reform association; let there be in every one of them a correspondent or a secretary who shall enrol members, and shall in every way he can assist this great and noble cause. I would recommend that the passages I have lead from that celebrated and unhappy speech should be printed on cards, and that a card should be hung up in every factory and in every workshop, and in every room of every factory, and in every club-house, and, in faot, in every place where working men are accustomed to assemble. Let us raise the spirit of the people against these slanderers of a great and noble nation (loud cheers). There will come soon another election (renewed cheers). The working men may not be able to vote, but they can form them- selves into a powerful body, and they can throw their influence in every borough on the side of candidates who pledge themselves to the question of Reform; and, if they do this, depend upon it they will change many seats, and give a certain majority for Reform in the next Parliament. It may be necessary and desirable to meet Parliament again with petitions from all parts of the country, signed by numberless names. There is no effort'whiah the constitution and which morality permits us to use that we should leave unused and unmade for the purpose of furthering this great cause; and let us be sure of this, that we demand that the question of Reform shall only be dealt with by a Government honestly in favour of Reform. The address which hag been presented to me has referred to the time of 1832. I remember that time well. My young heart then was stirring by the trumpet blast that sounded from your midst. There was no part of this kingdom where your voice was not heard. And let it sound again (cheers). Stretch out your hand to your countrymen in every portion of the three kingdoms, and ask them to join a great and, righteous effort on behalf of that freedom which has so long been the boast of Englishmen, but which the majority of Englishmen have never yet pos- sessed (cheers). I shall esteem it an honour which my words cannot describe, and which even in thought I cannot measure, if the population which I am per- mitted to represent should do its full duty in the great struggle which is before us (cheers, and cries of "It will!") Remember the great object for which we strive. Care not for calumnies and for lies. Our object ia this, to restore the British Constitution, and with all its freedom, to the British people. The hon. gentleman, after speaking an hour, resumed his eeat amidst the loudest demonstration of applause, the cheering and waving of hats and handkerchiefs lasting several minutes. A vote of thanks to the strangers who had kindly assisted at the morning demonstration was acknow- ledged by Mr. Aaron Jones, and the usual vote to the Mayor for his courtesy ia presiding brought the pro- ceedings to a termination.
EPITOME OF NEWS.
EPITOME OF NEWS. A manhood suffrage association has been formed in Leeds. There is a new provision in a recent Act with res- pect to hackney carriages. A penalty of £ 5 is incurred by a driver, and £ 10 if the driver is the owner, of a hackney carriage not authorised by liceisse to be used on a Sunday, standing for hire within the metropolitan police or the City of London on a Sunday. Collision at Sea. — The screw-steamer Fairy Queen, laden with cattle, has brought the crew of the Dutch galliot Herman and the master's wife into the Tyne, the Fairy Queen having sank the Herman off the Tyne on Sunday, by striking her on the starboard side, which sank her in a. few minutes. The crew of the galliot had a narrow escape from being drowned. The opening of the Kalisch Canal has just taken place. It passes through Cairo, and spreads itself, with its different ramifications, over a great part of the provinces which border the eastern bank of the Dami- etza. branch of the Nile. The Suffolk Child Murder.—Mr. J. Alloway, governor of the Suffolk county gaol, has received a communication from the Home Secretary, granting a reprieve to Hannah Colthorpe, tha young woman under sentence of death for the murder of her illeaiti- mate child, at Sproughton, near Ioswioh. in October, 1865. She is to be kept in penal servitude during the term of her natural life. According to a Greenock paper, the appren- tice lads in the carpentering department of Messrs. Caird's shipbuilding yard "struck," because a man I had been employed who they considered was not t entitled to work there. This person left the place, i and the apprentices returned to their duty. f Joseph Dismore, in the employ of Mr. Hender- I son, of Rotherhithe, was working a barge down the 1 river Thames, when passing under London-bridge the I craft struck against one of the piers, the force of which concussion jerked him overboard and he sank and was i drowned. 1 It is estimated that since thecomfuencement of 1 the manufacture of locomotives in Newcastle nearly 3,000 of them have been made in that district, and of these upwards of 1,000 have been exported. Taking the average cost at .£2,000 each, it would result that the value of this branch of manufacture to Newcastle alone has not been less than £ 6,000,000. On Monday a large cotton and woollen mill at Greetland, near Halifax, belonging to the Victoria Mill Company, and in the joint occupation of several firms, was destroyed by fire, the damage being esti- mated at £ 10,000. The workpeople were at the mill when the flames were observed, but they all escaped I without injury, notwithstanding the alarm and con- fusion which followed the discovery of the fire. The adjourned inquest on the body of the boy Jefferys, who was found hung in a cellar in St. Giles's, was resumed on Wednesday. A letter was read from the Home Office, explaining that the Government could not offer a reward for the apprehension of the boy's father until the jury had returned a verdict of wilful murder against him. The jury then found a verdict of wilful murder against Richard Jefferys, the boy's father. A Fatal Mistake.-A bey named Thomas Hey, of Leeds-road, Huddersfield, employed at Messrs. Joshua Schofield and Sons, manufacturers, got out of the upper storey, the other day, intending to go down by the hoist. He got hold of the iron at the top of the hoist, which is a circular one, and then dropped down, but instead of going down inside as he intended, he fell outside, a depth of five storeys, and died from the injuries in 15 or 20 minutes. The deceased was 15 years of age. Whitebait in the River Liffey, Dublin.—Mr. W. Brabazon, author of "The Deep Sea and Coast Fisheries of Ireland," has made the agreeable dis- covery that whitebait in abundance is to be found in the River Liffey, Dublin. It appears that boys have been up to the present in the habit of catching them with a minnow hook, that they are to be found in large quantities along the banks of the river, and that the fishermen, always looking upon them as fry, have not even attempted to take them. Singular Case of Suicide at Etruria.-A young man named Abraham Powell, 18 years of age, I shot himself in the head in Etruria Woods on Sunday evening. He left the home of his father, a commission agent at Hanley, in July last, and nothing was heard of him by his parents till Monday morning, when they received a letter addressed by him from Liverpool appointing to meet him in the woods. It appeared he arrived at Ebruria by a train from Liverpool late on Sunday evening, and spbnt the afternoon at an inn there, where he stated that he had been travelling over great part of America, and produced a stiletto and a six-chambered revolver. He also threatened to blow the landlord's brains out. He was conveyed to the North Staffordshire Infirmary, where he died on Mon- day morning. The Late Suicide of a Man Unknown.- The man who committed suicide in M'Gainneas's eating-house, Dale-street, Liverpool, has been identi- fied as William Cooper, 25 years of age, a grocer's assistant, at Wigan. His sister at the inquest de- posed :—" He suddenly went off at noon on the day he killed himself at Liverpool, without assigning any reason. He has been keeping company with a young lady at Tamworth for some time, and I think she must have trifled with him, which has preyed upon his mind, for I know he loved her." Two Men Killed.—On Friday morning two men, named James Doyle and George Roberts, miners, were killed by a fall of coal in the California Pits belong- ing to the Earl of Dudley. The men were engaged in loading.a skip," when nearly, 20 tons of coals sud. denly fell from the roof of the pit, crushing both men in the most frightful manner. Doyle at the moment was standing near the SKIp, aua one or t-no iron bands placed to keep the coal in its proper position, fell across his neck, completely severing the head from the body. Eton College.-At the election the school numbered 339 scholars, being 20 in advance of last year. Among the sons of the nobility were the Mar- quis of Stafford, Earls Elgin, Pembroke, Ranfurly, Waldegrave, Guildford, Offaley, and Charleville; L^rds Wodehouse, Clifton, F. Gordon-Lennox, H. Somerset, H. A. Somerset, Dunluce, Manners, Lewis- ham, Godrich, Reidhaven, Macdonald, Seaham, Bel- grave, Bernard, Stopford, A. Kennedy, Rossmore, Inverury, and R. Graham; thirty Misters, and three Sirs. Approaching Marriages in High Life.—It is said that a. marriage is arranged and will shortly take place between Mr. Henry Arthur Herbert, of Muck- ross, Killarney, and M.P. for Kerry, and the Hon. Emily Keane, only child of Lord and La;]y Keaue. It is also reported that a marriage is arranged to take place immediately between George Malcoaason, Esq., of Old Court, near Waterford, and the young and beautiful widow of the late Arthur Uasher Roberts, Esq. A marriage is arranged to take place between the Hon. Augustus M. Ca the art and the Hon. Jean Orde Powlett, only daughter of Lord Bolton. New Zealand's Wants.-The census returns show, as all the preceding statistics of the colony have done, that the great want is a. very large infusion of robust, vigorous, and industrious women. We find that the number of males of European descent in New Zealand in December, 1864, was-exclusive of the military-106,508, or 61.91 per cent. of the whole popu- lation. The number of females was 65,578, or 38.09 per cent. Steps ought, to be taken by the various emigration agents throughout the country to supply the colony with honest, virtuous, and able-bodied women. The Bishop Designate of Nelson.—On Sun- day the Rev. Andrew Burn Suter, M. A,, the incumbent of All Saints Church, Mile-end New Town, preached his farewell sermon to his corigregration on his ap- proaching consecration as Bishop of Nelson, New Zealand. The Bishop Designate addressed the people from whom he is about to part in the words of St. Matthew's Gospel, What think ye of Christ ? The rev. gentleman was educated at Trinity College, Cam- bridge, where he graduated in 1853, when he was twenty-seventh senior optima in the mathematical tripos. He was ordained in 1856 by the Bishop of London to the curacy of St. Dunstan's-in-the-West, Fleet-street, and in 1859 was presented by his lordship to the incumbency of All Saints, Mile-end. A frightful accident occurred on Monday at the Relley Paper Mills, about a mile from the oity of Durham. A young girl, named Ellen, aged fifteen years, who had been employed at the mills, west into the "ducting" room to show a companion a new machine which had recently been erected. The young woman cautioned her not to go near the machine, but this caution was disregarded, and some portion of her wearing apparel being caught in the machinery, she was instantly drawn in and cut to pieces. When the machine had been stopped a most sickening spectacle presented itself. The girl's head and arms were com- pletely severed from the trunk, and she was otherwise so fearfully mangled that the remains could scarcely be recognised as those of a human beiag. Double Explosion at Hartlepool.-On Satur- day morning an explosion took place on board the schooner Wingate Grange, Captain Clarke, of Hartle- pool, at present lying in the Victoria dock of that port. The vessel had <<nly been in the dock two days, and had taken in a cargo of Shotten gas coal. By the ex- plosion George Levrie, aged 24, a seaman, was seriously burnt absut the head and hands, but his injuries are not likely to prove fatal. The vessel was ready for sea on Sunday morning, and the orew were preparing to move her, when another and more serious explosion took place. The decks were torn up some distance, and the flames rose to the height of the masts. A seaman named William Hanley, aged 19, was very much hurt about the face and hands. He was oon- veyed to the hospital, as Levrie had been on the pre- vious day. The vessel has sustained consuioraDi damage by explosion, and will have to discharge repairs.. on the body of a fejaale child, agea i»wu s ssi Koh»:ti skmK:-j • N'J. 6, Eton-road. Hampstead, was resumed on Tuesday C,stle. It was stated that the endeavours of the, police to trace either of the parents of the child had been without avail. The coroner remarked that this was exceedingly singular, as some one must be aiding and abetting the murderer or murderers. It was im- possible that a child could have lived two months without being known to some one other than the parents. Verdict, Wilful murder against some person or persons unknown." There were two other inquests at the same place on children, one of whom had also been murdered, and the other had died through the neglect of the nurse to whom it was entrusted. A Troubled Honeymoon.-A girl 18 years of age, and her husband, a youth of 20, named Richard- son, have been given into custody by the father of the former, on a charge of robbing him of .£60 in bank notes. They appeared at the session at Torrington, near Wisbech, and the principal witness was Zaohariah Randall, the prosecutor. He said that his daughter was married the day before (Sunday) at Wisbech, and that whilst they were in his house after the marriage he missed twelve £ 5 bank notes which he had put in a drawer in his bedroom. He asked his daughter if she I knew anything about the money, but she denied all knowledge of it, and then went out of the house with her husband. Both were apprehended a few hours after their wedding. Evidence was also given to show that they had bought goods and paid for them with bank notes of the same firm as those which prosecutor had placed in the drawer. Both prisoners were com- mitted for trial, the female being bailed out by her prosecuting parent. Gallant Rescue of a Lady from Fire.—A fire, which was very nearly attended with a fatal re- sult, baoke out about half-past three on Wednesday morning in the prsmises of Miss Pitts, 13, Lamb's Conduit-street. The whole of the inmates, except a lady named Emmeline Sarah Bedwell, on being arouse masaged to effect their escape in safety; but she being in the third floor back room was unable to leave it owing to the density of the smoke. Conductor Last: of the Royal Fire Escape Society, after mounting his machine found her almost suffocated with the heated smoke. Ho instantly seized her, carried her from the third to the second floor, and the escape being in front of the building, handed her over to Conductor Thompson, who earried her down to the street in a very exhausted condition. The flames were confined to the lower part of the premises. The fire was caused by an escape of gas. The property was insured. Narrow Escape of a "Fire King."—The Journal de Rouen relates that two days back the in- combustible man, known as the" Fire King," was going through one of his exhibitions at Dieppe, dressed in his apparatus in the midst of a quantity of burning fagots, when those which formed the vault over his head fell in. He staggered under the weight and went down, rose, and again came to the, ground, and finally managed to get out of the flames, but after making a few steps he fell a third time, almost suffocated. Immediate attention was paid to him, but his body was covered with severe barns. French Fenians.-The Illustration of Paris pub- lishes an account purporting to come from Head Centre Stephens of the grand dinner given to him in Paris by the Marquis de Boisay. A large party of senators, generals, and titled and deoorated person- ages were invited to meet the Fenian. Before dinner he conversed for a long time at a bay window with Viscount de la Guerronifere, in answer to whose ques- tions he gave an account of his career. When the chief butler announced Madame la Marquise est servie," the marquis requested him to give his arm to the Marchioness de Boissy to take her into dinner. Stephens confesses to have blushed a little at this dis- tinguished honour. At table he sat on the lady's right hand, and at dessert the Marquisjde Boissy, getting on his legs, introduced him to the company as the future president of the Irish republic." Married Beneath Her.-At Wakefield Police- court the other day a miner, named William Rotherey, about 20 years of age, was summoned for allowing his wife to become chargeable to the union. The wife is a person of very superior position to her husband, and it was much against the wishes of her relatives, who are persons of some social standing in the neighbour- hood of Wakefield, that she had married him. After living with her for a month he turned her penniless fium bho Kouoo, OD <somøbifling axouse, retaining all her clothes and a largenamber of valuables she had brought with her; and her friends refusing to have anything further to do with her, she had been compelled to throw herself upon the parish. It waa arranged that Rotherey, who was in receipt of 37a. a week, should allow his wife 8a. a week, which sum was stated to be barely, if at all, the interest for the things she had brought him. Murderous Assaults with a Hammer.- During the afternoon of Sunday a man and woman, named Alfred Jones and Mary Daffy, and representing themselves to be man and wife, went to the Model Lodging-house, in Millsands, Sheffield, kept by Mrs. Walker. They stated that they had been living at Doncaster, and had just come from Rotherham. During the evening a man was seen more than once lurking about the door, but little notice was taken of him. At twelve o'clock Jones went upstairs to bed, and the woman followed him. She had scarcely reached the first landing, when the man, who had been seen near the door, rushed up to her and commenced striking her over the head in a most merciless manner with a hammer he had. Jones sprang from the second landing to protect her, but the woman's assailant dealt him a tremendous blow over the head with the hammer, and sent him reeling and helpless. The woman's skull was fractured, and both she and Jones are in the infirmary. The name of their assail- ant is James Green, a shoemaker. It appears that some time ago he cohabited with Daffy, but they quarrelled, and she left him, and has since been living with Jones. Green has been apprehended. On Tuesday evening an inquest was held at the Prince of Orange Tavern, Brewer's-green, respecting the death of a young woman, 20 years old, and named Jane Isabel Murphy. She had been in service in Arundel-street, Strand, and obtaining leave of absence for a short time on Sunday week she stayed away longer than was intended, and then refused to return at all. She took lodgings near her father's house in Hemlock-street, Lincoln's-inn-fields, and was seen there about midnight on Monday last week, talking with her "young man." On Tuesday morning the young man saw her again, and after that she was missing. About eight o'clock on Sunday morning last a park constable, on duty in St. James's-park, saw the body of the girl in the water there. She had no bonnet on, and there was no money in her pockets. In one of a pair of black kid gloves a piece of parehment was found, having her father's address written upon it. It was evident that the body had been in the water several days. A verdict was returned, stating "That deceased bad been found drowned, but that there was no evidence to show how she got in the water." A Borough Member on the Malt Tax.—Mr. George Toouluie, M.P. far Shrewsbury, has written a letter to the chairman of the proposed Shropshire Chamber of Agriculture requesting that his name may be added to the list of members, and enclosing a cheque for -6100 in aid of the funds. On the subject of the malt tax Mr. Tomline says :—"My poor oon. stituents, who are working men, pay a, tax of 100 per cent. on their beer, supposing it to be made of malt and hops. This is easily proved. I have barley which I will sell at 21s. 8d. a quarter x wish to_malt it. The duty is 21s. 8d. That xs 100 per cent. Working men cannot know this. The anonymous writers m the press drink their olaret almost tax free. It iS not worth their while to mention the subject of malt, and thftv are silent Mr. Gladstone, we have seen, upholds thSFrtTto to"* b.s' i t?l0,k i? "W?: Y<»» organisation, I trust, will help to reform this great abuse, and obtain free trade for the working man, whether he work in a town or in the country." Intemperance, Indigence, and Over-crowd- ing.-A Bub-oommittee appointed recently by the town council of Liverpool to investigate the causes of the excessive mortality of the town have reported to the health committee that the chief causes assigned for the excessive mortality were intemperance, indi. gence, and over-crowding. As a remedy the com- mittee suggested the provision of decent dwellings for the working classes, the opening up of close and con- fined courts, and encouragement of cleanliness by securing an ample supply of pure water, and the sub- stitute of water-closets for the open privies. The sub-committee also recommended that the council should be asked to apply to Parliament for an Act to control the sale of exciseable liquors, in order to cheok P *.6 8Pread of drunkenness. The number ot deaths registered in the borough of Liverpool during the week ending the 18th of August were 518, an increase of 200 over the corrected average of the last ten years.