The Welshman

THE NEW MINISTRY. The following is the result of ijto Ministerial pro- ceedings Lord Chancellor—Lord Cottenham. President of the Council—The Marquis of Lansdowne. Lord Privy Seal-Earl of Minto. Secretaries Hoiiie Department—Sir G. Grey. of State < Foreign Affairs-Lord Palmerston. of State ? Colonial Affairs-Earl Grey. First Lord of the Treasury—Lord J. Russell. Chancellor of the Exchequer—Mr. C. Wood. Chancellor of the Duchv of Lancaster—Lord Camp- bell. Paymaster-General—Mr. Macaulay. 'Forests-Lord First Commissioner of Woods and Forests—Lord Morpeth. Postmaster-General— The Marquis of Clanricardc. Board of Trade—Earl of Clarendon. Board of Control-Sir John Cam Hobhousc. Chief Secretary for Ircland-Ir. Labouchere. First Lord of the Admiralty—Lord Auckland. Lord Lieutenant of Ireland—Lord Besborough. Commander-in-Chief—Duke of Wellington. Master-General of the Ordnance—Marquis of Anglesey. Master of the Mint—Right Hon. R. L. Sheil. Secretary of the Board of Admiralty— H. G. Ward, Esq. Attorney-General—Sir T. Wilde. Solicitor-General—Mr. Jervis. One of the Lords of the Treasury—Lord Ebrington. Lord Advocate—A. Rutherford, Esq. The Duchess of Sutherland will be Mistress of the Robes. Judge Advocate—Mr. Charles Buller. (Admiral D. Dundas. Captain Hon. F. Berkeley. Lords of Admiralty ? Hon. W. Cowpcr. ? Vice-Admiral Sir Wm. Parker. Captain Lord John Hay. Joint Secretaries of ( T. Parker, Esq. Treasury. f H. Tufnell, Esq. Secretaries of Board f Right Hon. G. S. Byng. of Control ( T. Wyse, Esq. Foreign Right Hon. E. J- Under Secretaries Stanley. of State Colonies-B. Hawes, Esq. Home—Sir W. Somcrville. Colonel C. Fox, Surveyor. Board of Ordnance ? Hon. G. Anson, Clerk. ( Lord C. Paget, Secretary. The Times has the following observations on the New Cabinet:— As the Cabinet, of course, professes to be only a revival of the old Whig Cabinet, it admits of no other criticism than a general inquiry into the merits of such a revival. Before we drop a word on that subject, it may be as well to relate briefly whatever has come to our knowledge of a nature to throw light on the construction of the Cabinet as it now stands. We believe we may say that Lord John Russell has spared no pains to increase its strength by the addition of new elements. On receiving her Majesty's commands to form a Ministry he sought an interview with Sir Robert Peel. The ex- Premier received him with every sign of cordiality, gave him a general promise of assistance, and undertook that he would not oppose any measures Lord John might bring forward, simply because they proceeded from that quarter. To this he added expressions, the force of which may have been overrated, but which implied the absence of all wish for a return to power. On this, it is said, Lord John ventured to ask for what he considered a fair pledge of Sir Robert's sincerity. He requested that the ex-Minister would acquiesce in three of his late colleagues, whose names our readers will probably anti- cipate,-Lord Dalhousie, Lord Lincoln, and Mr. Sidney Herbert, accepting seats in the new Cabinet. To this Sir Robert is said to have replied, that he felt unwilling to interfere in so delicate a matter, that he would offer no opposition, but could certainly not recommend a step which would be liable to unfavourable comment, as indicating a too great tenacity of office on the part of those'youthful statesmen. As we yesterday intimated to our readers, Lord John Russell returned on Wednesday from Osborne House, charged with an expression of her Majesty's wishes that the Duke of Wellington would still continue in command of the army. To this request his Grace yielded a dutiful compliance, in conformity with his views under somewhat similar circumstances in 1827. At the same time he said that he considered his political life now ended, and that he should now never open his lips in Parliament, except on subjects connected with his office. Lord John Russell hereupon felt himself encou- raged to make the same request he previously made with imperfect success to Sir Robert Peel. The Duke at first returned much the same answer as his late colleague. He was subsequently, however, induced to give his con- sent to a letter, of which Lord John sent copies to the above-mentioned three members of the retiring Cabinet. Their replies left Lord John Russell no hope of their assistance as members of his Government-for the present at least. Some of our readers will possibly he grieved to find that a Cabinet which has risen into power on the back of the measure carried by the League, should bear so little outward sign of sympathy with that body. In the first place, however, they will discover some pledge that their misgivings are not founded in fact in the circum- stance that Lord Grey now views in a more favourable light the difficulties that led him to break with the Cabinet attempted last December. The question, too, of offering a seat to Mr. Cobden received, we are informed, long and repeated discussion. Of course the admission of a great and triumphant agitator to the councils of her Majesty and the Executive Government of the nation was a proposal likely to present some unfavourable aspects to persons such as Ministers, YV hig or Conservative, usually are. We have reason to believe that no unhealing jealousy was displayed. There are circumstances, however, which will occur to all our readers as offering at least a temporary impediment in the way of that gentleman's acceptance of office. His business, It is well known, is one peculiarly dependent on personal superintendence, so much so that Mr. Cobden himself considers a period of political retirement necessary to make amends for the loss he has suffered by his generous deon to a public cause; and on the same ground a magnificent subscription has been set on foot by his friends and admirers. However, a com- munication has, we believe, been made by Lord John Russell, with the acquiescence of his intended colleagues, expressing his deep sense of Mr. Cobden's services and consequent claims, and conveying also the prospective offer of a seat in the Cabinet, contingent on Mr. Cobden finding himself some day in sufficient health and wealth to discharge that great responsibility without danger to his life or fortune. Proposals have also, we have reason to believe, been made to two other prominent members of the League and, although in one case they were, also from private reasons, unsuccessful, it is not impro- bable that at least one gentleman who has distinguished himself by his public advocacy of Corn Law repeal will enter Lord John Russell's Government. The Cabinet which has resulted from these nego- tiations and failures of negotiation is not more aris- tocratic than Cabinets usually arc and therefore need not on that account excite the suspicions of the most thorough-going friend of the people. That it does not contain more of the popular clement is clearly not owing to any lingering spirit of exclusion in the leader. He has done his best to give it a comprehensive character, but found himself limited to the personnel of which it was inevitable that a Whig Ministry should be composed. It deserves, what it will probably obtain, a fair trial at the hands of all parties. We are not aware of any particular objection to which it is liable, unless it be the right hon. baronet selected for that very im- portant and arduous place, the Board of Control. Surely it was not necessary to inflict on us, by his return to office, the painful recollections of his former most unfor- tunate official career, especially when his qualifications are such as to assure us that his failure was something more than misfortune." The Atlas remarks :—The Cabinet Lord John Russell has formed is purely Whig but for its composition his lordship is not altogether responsible. lie attempted to procure Sir Robert Peel's sanction to the retention of three seats in it by three of the most youthful and most liberal members of the late Government—Lords Dalhousie and Lincoln, and Mr. Sidney I-Ierbert without success. While professing a desire to be able to support Lord John, and pledging himself to obstain from organised opposition, all that Sir Robert would do in that respect was to abstain from interference; and though the Duke of Wellington appears to have signed an approval, or consent, to their remaining, these three rising statesmen refused to become part of a Whig Cabinet. In this refusal they acted prudently for they would have had little power in the new Administration—would have been obnoxious to reproaches for joining it—and would have foreclosed a re-union with their natural chief on his return to office and these sacrifices would have been made merely to give the new Ministry the gloss of moderate Conservative progress. While, however, thus liberal in his offers to his former opponents, Lord John sought for no assistance amongst those friends whose opinions are still more liberal than his own. Compelled by Sir R. Peel's eulogy, lie recognised Mr. Cobden's claims for Cabinet office; but he postponed the offer of office to Mr. Cobden until that gentleman's health and his fortune would justify his acceptance of it-a post- ponement which is certainly liable to these observations —that Mr. Cobden's health is not seriously injured, and only requires a few months' repose, and that Sir. Cob- den's admirers arc prepared to plal:e him beyond the necessity of pursuing a business that will deprive the country of services it can ill afford to spare. Thus, in substance, the old Whig Cabinet is revived. In some instances the offices are, it must be, admitted, better distributed. Lord Clarendon is, for example, likely to make a much better Trade Minister than Mr. Labouchcre did; Lord Auckland, and not Lord Minto, at the Admiralty, is a great improvement; Earl Grey will, in all probability, turn out an admirable Colonial Secretary, and Lord Campbell, though in an anomalous position, is sure to originate many useful law reforms. The Home-office is, however, far too important a post for a politician of Sir George Grey's light calibre; Lord Clanricarde, though not without considerable ability, has no especial qualifications for the Post-office, which really demands a man capable and determined to recon- struct and re-adapt it to the increasing wants of the community in Lord Minto, the public can only recog- nise the spirit of jobbery Lord Morpeth, Mr. Macaulay, and Mr. Labouchere, though useful in Parliament, are all of little value in council; while sending Sir John Hobhouse back again to the Board of Controul, is as objectionable a step as Lord John Russell could have taken. But the most serious want is the absence of any financier of reputation from the Cabinet and this defect is the more alarming, as the Whigs have, as a body, al- ways proved themselves deficient in knowledge of finance. Mr. C. Wood has, doubtless, sound currency views; but to entrust the finances of this great country to him, is, to say the least of it, a hazardous experiment. Why Mr. Francis Baring refused to return to the Treasury is not stated. In the Earl of Besborough, Ireland will have the ser- vices of a Lord-Lieutenant whose pecuniary interests are identical with her prosperity who has the reputation of knowing her wants and ardently desiring her improve- ment, and who was, in the days when the Whigs were bloody and brutal," the* only exception to Mr. O'Connell's anathema; but assuredly it would be impossible to select a less ornamental Lord-Lieutenant, or one whose habits arc less in conformity with vice- regal dignity. His lordship may become a useful, but we can hardly hope he will ever in society become a very popular, governor. However he is an Irishman, and there is some tact in yielding to the popular cry, Ireland for the Irish."

POLICY OF THE NEW GOVERNMENT. I Lord John Russell, has thus addressed the electors of London, soliciting a renewal of his trust as their repre- sentative in Parliament:— TO THE ELECTORS OF THE CITY OF LONDON. Gentlemen,—The Administration of Sir Robert Peel having been dissolved, Her Majesty has been pleased to confer upon me the office of First Lord of the Treasury my scat in Parliament has, therefore, become vacant, and is again at your disposal. When you did me the honour to ask me to represent you, I consented to become a candidate, not merely or chiefly because the distinction of representing the city of London was a just object of ambition, but because I wished to obtain for the principles of commercial freedom the sanction of your approbation. Although I was elected by a very small majority, and the elections of 1811 were adverse to my hopes, and favourable to the doctrines of protection, every year that has since elapsed has witnessed some relaxation of re- striction, and advance towards the establishment of the principles for which I contend. Finally, we have this year seen Sir R. Peel propose and carry a measure for the total repeal of the duties upon foreign corn. You may be assured that I shall not desert in office the principles to which I adhered when they were less favourably received. I cannot, indeed, claim the merit either of having carried measures of free trade as a Minister, or having so prepared the public mind by any exertions of mine as to convert what would have been an impracticable attempt into a certain victory. To others belong those distinctions. But I have endeavoured to do my part in this great work according to my means and convictions first, by proposing a temperate relaxation of the Corn Laws, and afterwards, when that measure had been repeatedly rejected, by declaring in favour of total repeal, and using any influence I could exert to prevent the renewal of the struggle for an object not worth the cost of conflict. I trust that the measures of commercial freedom ichich still remain to be accomplished will not occasion the renewal of angry conflict. The Government of this country ought to behold loith an impartial eye the various portions of the community engaged in agriculture, in manufactures, and in commerce. The feeling that any one of them is treated with injustice provokes ill-will, disturbs legislation, and diverts attention from many useful and necessary reforms. Great social improvements are required; PUBLIC EDUCATION IS LAMENTABLY IM- PERFECT; the treatment of criminals is a problem yet undecided; the sanatory condition of our towns and valages has been grossly neglected. Our recent discus- sions have laid bare the misery, the discontent, and outrages of Ireland they are too clearly authenticated to be denied; too extensive to be treated by any BUT THE MOST COMPREHENSIVE MEASURES. Should you again elect me your member, it will be my duty to consider all these important matters, in conjunc- tion with those whom her Majesty shall be pleased to call to her councils. At the present moment any further explanation of my views would be unauthorized and imperfect. I have the honour to be, your most obedient and faithful servant, I July 3, 1846. J. RUSSELL.

DISBANDING OF THE LEAGUE. I On Thursday week, about 200 of the principal mem- bers of the Anti-Corn-law League assembled in the Town-hall, Manchester, to decide on the best course to be adopted under existing circumstances, with respect to the continuance or otherwise of the League. Mr. George Wilson, chairman of the League, pre- sided, and entered into a history of the rise and progress and proceedings of that body from its commencement to the present time. The details were of much interest, but of too great length for quotation. Mr. Cobden followed, and in a sp?ech of great power, submitted to the meeting the course which the Council of the League had agreed to recommend, and which was comprised in the following series of resolutions That an Act of Parliament having been passed pro- viding for the abolition of the Corn Laws in February, 1819, it is deemed expedient to suspend the active operation of the Anti-Corn-law League, and the exe- cutive council, in Manchester, is hereby requested to take the necessary steps for winding up and closing the affairs of the League with as little delay as possible." That after the payment of the first instalment, the subscribers to the £ 2o0,000 League fund be released from all further liabilities." That in case any serious attempt shall be made by the Protectionist party to induce the legislature to re- trace its steps, or to prevent the final extinction of the corn-law'in February, 1849, the gentlemen who have hitherto so ably fulfilled the duties of the executive council be hereby authorized and required ta call the League into new existence." That the council of the League, whilst discontinuing its own operations, cannot be insensible to the intima- tions given by the leading Protectionists, in both Houses of Parliament, of a determination to contest the ensuing general election, with a view to obtain the repeal of the Corn Importation Bill; and under these circumstances, the council offer their earnest recommendation to the free-traders in the Parliamentary constituencies to con- tinue their vigilant attention to the registration, so as to be able to return a decided free-trade majority to the next House of Commons." That this meeting views with feelings of unfeigned admiration and gratitude the long, arduous, and valuable services rendered to the League by George Wiison, Esq., and we hereby authorise the executive council to present to him and request his acceptance of a sum not less than EIO,000 to be paid out of the funds of the League." I "That the members of the executife council of the League arc entitled to the warmest gratitude of the League and of the country for their high-principled, laborious, and most successful exertions during the seven years of our constitutional agitation; and that a committee be appointed, consisting of Joseph Brother- ton, Esq., M. P. and such gentlemen as he may asso- ciate with himself, to determine on some suitable testi- monial to be presented to those gentlemen out of the funds of the League." All the resolutions were carried with the utmost unanimity, and the speeches which were made upon them were marked by all that talent, business, fact, and comprehensive views which have uniformly distinguished the proceedings of the extraordinary body whose unpre- cedented labours have been the great means of achieving the greatest commercial victory in the annals of this commercial country. TESTIMONIAL TO MR. COBDEN.—A meeting was held on Thursday at the Town-hall, Manchester, pursuant to a requsition to the Mayor, numerously signed by mer- cantile and manufacturing firms of the highest eminence, for the purpose of considering the propriety of present- ing a grand national testimonial to Mr. Cobden for his indefatigable exertions and distinguished services in the cause of free trade. The Mayor, Mr. W. B. Watkins, having taken the chair, read the requisition to convene the meeting, and proceeded to point out the strong claims of Mr. Cobden upon the generosity of the public. Mr. Robert Hyde Greg made a powerful appeal. The public character of the meeting would prevent him, lie said, from entering upon subjects which could not well be publicly discussed without hurting the feelings of Mr. Cobden. All present felt, he was assured, in sympathy with the object of the meeting they had all heard of the advantages that were expected to result from a re- peal of the Corn Laws, and all were sensible how much they were indebted to Mr. Cobden i:1 realising those ad- vantages. With respect to pecuniary sacrifice, although he had not had the slightest communication with Mr. Cobden on that subject, he had no doubt, from informa- tion he had received, that the amount of his sacrifice during the last seven years had not been less than of actual loss. These were painful matters to allude to, and the less said about them the better; but no persons could doubt that the sacri?,ces in a pecuniary point of view, in health, in family comfort, which had been made by Mr. Cobden in the cause of free trade, must have been great in the extreme, and for a mere cold vote of thanks to be passed to him would be in the highest degree disgraceful to the country. Mr. Greg then alluded to the well-deserved compliment paid to Mr. Cobden by Sir Robert Peel in the House of Com- mons on Monday night, and concluded by moving a re- solution for carrying the object into effect. Mr. Brown, in seconding the resolution, also paid a glowing eulogy upon the character and conduct of Mr. Cobden. The resolution was carried by acclamation. The Mayor read letters from Lord Radnor, Mr. Brookes, Lord Ducie, Sir J. Walmsley, and Mr. Ricardo, approving of the ob- ject of the meeting, and promising their assistance in furtherance of its object. Mr. Brookes authorized his name to be put down for £500, and Messrs. J. and Nathaniel Phillips, & Co., for ;Clooo. Lord Ducie sug- gested that a meeting should be held at Covent Garden, to carry out the view of raising £ 100,000. The sub- scriptions amounted to nearly i;20,000 before the meet- ing separated. -♦—

MISCELLANEOUS INTELLIGENCE. 01 A magnificent and sumptuous entertainment was given last Friday evening by the members of the Reform Club to his Highness Ibrahim Pacha. From a parliamentary return it appears that the com- mission to inquire into the potato disease cost One of the last ministerial acts of Sir Robert Peel was the recommendation of Mr. M'Culloch, to her Ma- jesty, for a pension of JE200 for the services he has ren- dered by his writings on political economy. We have reason to believe that this act of kindness was entirely spontaneous, and it is the more creditable to Sir Robert Peel, as on various occasions Mr. M'Culloch has openly censured some of those measures brought forward by the right honourable baronet.- Tinies, Another instance is related of the kind consideration felt by Sir Robert Peel for the afflicted family of the late Mr. Haydon. Not content with the prompt pecu- niary assistance extended to that lamented artist in the last hours of his life, nor with the liberal sum trans- mitted to his bereaved widow and orphans, the Premier made permanent provision for a son of the deceased, by appointing him to the situation of landing-waiter in the Customs. The France observes that the fall of Sir Robert Peel has the air of a triumph and this is the general opinion manifested by the Paris journals. A report has been in circulation to the effect that the new Government intend to prohibit railway companies, the works of which have not been commenced, from making any calls of capital for the space of one year. Some measure of that kind would be deemed acceptable, but it seems nevertheless to be a stretch of governmental power so arbitrary and unusual, that the rumour does not admit of general or ready credence.-Cily Articl of the Morning Post. Mr. Serjeant Talfourd was sworn in on Thursday, as Queen's Serjeant, before Lord Lyndhurst. This honour was unsolicited, we believe and was the last act of the retiring Chancellor's judicial life. On Wednesday evening the subscription for the family of the late Mr. Haydon had increased to nearly EGOO exclusive of the respective pensions of £50 from the Queen, and £2,) from Lady Peel, already settled upon Mrs. Haydon. A subscription amounting to upwards of £ 1,000, has been made to the Council of King's College, for the f' 0 purpose of endowin g ^-Chinese Professorship. Among the promoters of this praiseworthy object are the Duke of Portland, the Archbishop of Canterbury, Lord Bex- ley, Lords Ashley, and Francis Egerton (now Earl Ellesmere and Viscount Brackley). The Irish Society dined the Earl of Lincoln, at the Star and Garter Hotel, Richmond, on Wednesday last. Several English and Irish Liberal members were present, and one and all highly eulogised the noble Earl's administration of affairs as Secretary for Ireland. A boy has died of locked jaw, in Guy's Hospital, oc- casioned by a very simple accident. He was playing with some other boys, on Thursday week, when by some means he ran a large nail into his shoe, which pene- trated his right toe. He took no notice at first of the accident, but on Sunday he was seized with violent pains in the stomach, which were shortly followed by a stiffness in the back. His parents became alarmed, and next day called in a surgeon, who found the lad to be labouring under tetanus, or lock jaw. He was removed to the hospital, where he died. Preparations are making in most of the principal towns of the kingdom to celebrate the repeal of the Corn Laws with suitable festivities. At the top of Richmond-hill, on the right hand side, is to be seen, painted on a board which is placed in the window, "Preparatory School for Boys of both sexes." During the examination of a bankrupt of the Jewish persuasion, in the Exeter Bankruptcy-court, the bank- rupt's father said Jewish persons were married very early. He himself married at fourteen. There is not a single instance of a physician being elevated to the peerage, though there has been of all the other professions, military and learned. On Saturday week, a flock of 74 sheep were killed by lightning near Puddy, in Somersetshire. The accounts from South Lancashire state, that not the slightest apprehension of opposition from any quar- ter is entertained, and it is anticipated that as soon as the day of election shall have been appointed, Mr. Brown will be returned without difficultv. The most important intelligence from the Continent during the past week, is the semi-official announcement of the Journal des Ddbats that the accession of the Whigs to power will not in any way disturb the entente cordialc between France and England. So that Lord Palmerston's Paschal visit to Paris would seem not to have been altogether without its results. The French session appears likely to be unusually prolonged, but less and less apprehension of the General Election, which cannot now be long delayed, is expressed by M. Guizot's friends. The Courts of the Tuileries and St. Peters- burgh are making further approaches to a better under- standing. And when we add to this that the Sultan has hurried back from his tour to Constantinople, in conse- qucnce of the illness of a favourite wife, and that the new Pope seems to be popular in Italy, we have ex- hausted all that is notable in the circles of Continental politics. In February last, an English coachman, named Pye, in the service of Mrs. Maxwell, having in the Bois de Boulogne unbridled his horse, and the animal being suddenly frightened by the smacking of a carter's whip, it became restive, and struck an old man, named Ber- gounioux, with such violence that he died. Pye was tried on Saturday for his negligence, and sentenced to six days' imprisonment, and to pay 300f. a-year to the widow Bourgounioux for her life. Mrs. Maxwell was declared by the tribunal to be responsible for this pay- ment. A public oven, at which the poor may bake any quantity of bread and other victuals at a very trifling expense, has been established at Paris, in the Rue Jean-Pain-Mollet, near the Hotel de Ville. Dangerous riots took place on the 10th and 20th of June, at Nancy [Lorraine,) owing to a rise in the price of bread. The troops were compelled to fire on the people, and several persons were wounded. On the 22nd, the disturbances appeared to have ended. The ceremony of the coronation of Pope Pius IX. took place on the 21st ultimo. His holiness went in great state from Monte Cavallo to the church of St. Peter. In his carriage were seated Cardinal Pignatelli, Archbishop of Palermo, and Cardinal Monico, the Patriarch of Venice, and everywhere on his passage he was saluted with the loudest acclammations. We learn from Lisbon that tranquillity was in a great measure restored throughout the disaffected districts. The Miguelite insurrection in the province of Minho was making no progress, and troops had been marched from Chaves and Oporto to disperse the rebels. The financial crisis still continued in Lisbon. The Dutch fleet, stationed at Flushing, has been formed into three divisions, and sailed oil the ist in- stant the first for North America and the Gulf of Mexico, for the protection of the national interests dur- ing the war between the United States and Mexico the second for Batavia and the Indian Seas; and the third for the Mediterranean (the coast of Egypt and Syria). Accounts from Monte Video to the 23d of April state that General Rivera had gone up the Uruguay to at- tempt to arouse the Gauchos of the interior, with whom he has more influence than any other person, against Oribe. They also state that the province of Tucuman had pronounced against Rosas. The eruption of Mount Hecla still continued, accord- ing to the latest accounts of the 15th of April. The pillars of fire rose from three new craters to the height of fourteen thousand English feet, and were broader than the largest river in the island --the Pierrsen. The lava has already formed several high hills. Pieces of Pummice-stone or scoroe, weighing 2 cwt., were thrown to a distance of a league and a half. The ice and snow which covered the mountain for many centuries, are wholly melted; and the river Rangen has, in conse- quence, frequently overflowed its banks. A man in New York, in a fit of jealousy, shaved his wife's head while she was asleep. The woman was celebrated for her beautiful hair. An advertisement in an American paper gives the following as part of the description of a runaway ap- prentice He is thick set, usually wears a glazed hat five feet high, and iron shoes with cross eyes." Persons of delicate complexion are particularly sus- ceptible of the influence of the atmosphere at this pecu- liar season and ladies, whether frequenting the crowded saloon, the close assembly, the rural ride or drive, the summer promenade, or the aquatic excursion, should invariably have recourse to that invaluable preparation Rowland's Kalydor," which is found to be the most gentle yet powerful preservative which science has dis- covered for the preservation of female beauty and grace. --See 4 (it t.

MURDER OF A POLICEMAN. A most atrocious murder was committed in the course of last week at Dagenham, in the county of Essex. The unfortunaate victim was a constable of the K division of rural police, named George Clerk. He was about 20 years of age, and had only been a slioi t time in the force, and a few months stationed at Dagenham, His conduct had been most exemplary, and his steadi- ness appeared to give satisfaction not only to the police authorities but to the inhabitants of the village gene- rally. On the 14th or 15th of May last, Clarke was ap- pointed to night duty on the beat where he met with his death, succeeding a constable named Batfoy, 140, well known as being a vigilant officer. The beat com- menced at a. place called the Four Wants (cross roads leading to Dagenham, Ilford, Hornchurch, and Chig- well), and extended a considerable distance along unfrequented roads, having deep ditches on either side covered with duckweed, some parts of the beat being extremely lonely. On Monday night last, at 9 o'clock, the deceased and three other men were marched from the Dagfenham station to go on duty, the deceased being left as usual by his sergeant at the Four Wants. The following morning, at 1 o'clock, he was met by Sergeant Parsons, between the Three Wants (roads to Barking, Dagenham and Ilford), and the Cottages," that beiKlg the proper time for the deceased in accordance with his duty to be there. It was also his duty to have been at this spot at 3 o'clock the same morning, but on the sergeant's arrival there he was missed. After waiting some con- siderable time Sergeant Parsons returned to the station, and reported Clarke absent. At 6 o'clock on Tuesday r morning, when the other men came off duty, the poor fellow was not among them, and then some anxiety was manifested by his brother constables about him. A report of his being missed was sent up to the principal station of the K division, and a letter despatched to Bilsden, near Woburn, Bedfordshire, to the deceased man's mother, inquiring if he had returned home, to which a reply was returned in the negative. Suspicions were then aroused that Clarke had been the victim of some foul play, and the Dagenham Waters, and numer- ous ponds in the vicinity of the village, were dragged for his body but without any trace of it being discovered. Throughout the whole of Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday the search was continued, and it was not until late on Friday evening that the body was found in the manner and in the horrible condition subjoined. The constables having failed in finding the body of the de- ceased in the water, commenced searching the corn and potato fields belonging to a gentleman named Collier one of the constables remarked that there was a strong and very unpleasant smell in the atmosphere, and on his proceeding a few paces further he discovered a policeman's staff, much cut and chopped about, lying in the ditch which separated the potato from the cornfield. This circumstance left no doubt that the body was not far off, a fact more strongly supported by the discovery at no considerable distance of a police cutlass sticking in the hedge, and covered with blood and human hair. About 10 or 12 yards further on towards the centre of the field was immediately after discovered the body of the deceased man, face uppermost, in a most dreadful state of decomposition, and so shockingly mutilated and covered with blood that scarcely a single feature was discernible. Mr. Collins, a surgeon, residing in the neighbourhood, was sent for to examine the wounds of the deceased before the body was removed from the field. The result was that the whole of the back part of the poor fellow's head was found completely beaten in. There were other dreadful injuries, and the brutal murderers had absolutely resorted to the horrible practice only hitherto known among savages, of scalping their unfortunate victim. The scalp was lying by the side of the body, and with such violence had the deceased been thrown to the ground, that, notwithstanding its hardness, occasioned by the dryness of the weather, the body had made a complete indentation. The corpse was with much difficulty removed to the ruins of an old house near the Four Wants. Here a further examination of the body was made and on the removal of the deceased's stock, a frightful wound in the throat several inches in length presented itself, besides several others, and the thick leather stock was found to be cut through in several places. There was also a wound passing completely through the neck from the right to the left (correspon- ding with the cuts in the stock), precisely similar to those made by butchers in the sticking of sheep. These inj uries had evidently been inflicted by a sharp double edged knife or dirk. At the back of the neck was a deep cut, believed to be done with a cutlass, extending down to, and nearly severing the spine, as also a similar wound on the shoulders. The forefinger of the deceased's left-hand was cut off, and there were other frightful wounds and injuries about his body, leaving no doubt of the fact of his having been murdered. An examination of the spot where the body was found leaves no doubt on the mind of any one but that the struggle between the unfortunate constable and his assailants must have been of a most desperate character. The corn is trodden down for a distance of 10 or 12 yards around where the body lay in every direction, and here and there are to be seen several patches and spots of blood the poor fellow, too, was found to have a quantity of wheat tightly grasped in his right hand. That there was more than one person engaged in the murder there cannot be the slightest doubt, as the deceased was too powerful a young man for any single individual, armed as he was, to have coped with, and it will be remembered, moreover, that there were three or four different sorts of weapons used in killing him. At 2 o'clock on Saturday afternoon the inquest on the remains of the murdered man, George Clarke, was opened before Mr. C C. Lewis, the coroner for the Southern Division of Essex, and a jury, at a cottage close to the Four Wants, in the parish of Dagenham, and within a short distance of the place where the body was lying. After examining several witnesses the in- quest was adjourned for a fortnight.

DREADFUL MURDER IN IRELAND.—Some 48 hours after a heterogeneous majority of 73 members of the House of Commons had declared by their votes against the necessity of the Protection for Life (Ireland) Bill, a most atrocious case of murder occurred in the county of Cavan, where the slumbering system of "Molly Ma- guireism appears to be reviving, invigorated by a long abstinence from active operations, and fortified by the notion that the English Legislature has, by its recent act, pronounced finally against the adoption of any ex- traordinary measures for the detection and repression of crime. The particulars—and more horrifying ones have been rarely recorded in the annals of assassination- are thus given in the Fermanagh Reporter;—" BEL- TUUBET, June 30.A terrible outrage, which ended in murder, occurred last night on the lands of Dcrry- craghan, near this town. Three men came to the house of Tom Burns, dragging him out of his bed (in which were his wife and three children), one carrying him by the feet, the other two by his arms, and mur- dered him in a most cold-blooded manner. Two of the ruffians held Burns by his arms against a table at his own door while the third deliberately groped for his short ribs, and discharged a pistol filled with duck shot. The shot spread upwards, and touk effect in his lungs and heart. Poor Burns lived from 1 o'clock last night until some time to day, and on the police being sent for he gave information against the three men, neighbours whom he knew and identified. They arc now in Cavan gaol. Their names are Smith, Farel'.y, and Reilly, who fired the shot. Burns had ceased to worship as a Roman Catholic, attended the Church of England, and had given information respecting Ribandism, for which he has been murdered. Captain Gibbons and amounted policeman, with constable Harrison and sub-constable Mortimer, composed the party who so promptly arrested the murderers of Burns. In the same direction, but nearer Killeshandra, shots have been fired at men named Donohoe and Hassard, arising out of disputes about land. A gun was taken from Hassard, for which three men were also committed." Another account says, that the murderers deliberately felt for the beating of the unhappy victim's heart, then placing the muzzle of the pistol to the spot fired into his body. EARLY WORK FOR REPORTERS. — The Liverpool Albion of last week reports the speeches at a meeting of shopkeeptrs' assistants held at the Clarendon Rooms, in that city, at six o'clock in the morning, to promote the closing of shops at seven o'clock in the evening. LIBERATION OF 130NIIED Coit-All the stock of foreign wheat in bond at Gloucester (69,184 quarters) has been released this week under the new corn importa- tion act, at the duty of 4s. per quarter. On Thursday the duty rose to 5s. It is computed that the amount of duty paid in London, on Wednesday, was little short of E500,000 and in Liverpool, duty was paid on 200,000 quarters of grain, independently of flour, Gloucestel, Journal. NEW RrFL E BALL.—On Friday, a numerous party of officers of the Royal Artillery, assembled in the marshes at Woolwich, to witness experiments with a rifle ball one ounce and three quarters in weight, formed in the shape of a sugar-loaf, which was found to carry 1,200 yards with such decided effect as, at that distance, to perforate a target of wood two inches thick, and some of the bullets were dug out of the ground from a depth of several inches after having passed through the target. Mr. Lancaster, from previous experiments, had ascer- tained that the conical form of a bullet gave it a great advantage over balls of a spherical form, as it requires less windage, and consequently the momentum is greater with an equal quantity of gunpowder. The spherical bullet also loses a great part of its force by spinning on its axis during its progressive motion. The experiments were so satisfactory, that Mr. Lancaster contemplates making further trials with bullets of a similar form, made to be fired from six-pounder guns, and if the same .? -T)s, an d if the same superiority of power and rane is attained with them, the principle will be found an immense saving, and of ^reat advantage to the British seivice.