The Press. — London, England, 1857-06-27 00:00:00

626 Mr. JONES then suggested that an arrangement should be made for the payment of duty on small parcels previously to their being sent to India. The retail trade between England and India wuuld be greatly increased thereby, as it would put an end to the pernicious agency system, which subjected the trader in this country to a deduction of ten and even fifteen per cent. from the fair price of his goods by way of commission to the agent. The CHAIRMAN said the suggestion was deserving of consideration, but nothing could be done respect ing it until a communication had been had with the Indian Government. ,curt ano Her Majesty the Queen held a drawing•room on Tuesday, and on Wednesday gave a state ball at Buckingham Palace. The Archduke Maximilian of Austria, after attend ing the state ball, took leave of her Majesty, 'and quitted Buckingham Palace about three o'clock on Thursday morning, attend'd by Count %Achy, Count Hadik, Baron de Pent, Baron Bruck, Captain A. Wissiack, and Dr. Trogner. His Imperial Highness and suite were conveyed in three of the Queen's carriages and four to Woolwich, and embarked on the Black Eagle, which conveyed the Archduke to his own steamer off Sheerness. His Imperial High ness proceeded to Antwerp. The Duke and Duchess de Montpensier have arrived at Claremont. The Right Hon. B. Disraeli and Mrs. Disraeli were prevented by domestic affliction from attending her Majesty's state ball on Wednesday. Volitual. CABINET COUNCII 8 were held upon Saturday and Wednesday last, and attended by all the Cabinet Ministers. _ _ . HER MAJESTY THE QUEEN held a Court of Privy Council at Buckingham Palace on Thursday to pass an order for publishing a Letter Patent, by which the Queen grants to Prince Albert the Royal title and precedence of " Prince Consort " during their joint lives. THE ELECTION COMITTEES for Mayo, Cambridge (borough), and Rochdale, met on Thursday and Friday, and proceeded to business. Mr. Sholefield, chairman, Sir J. Hanmer, Colonel North, Mr. Puller, and Mr. G. Tomline, for the committee on the Mayo petition. Mr. E. James, in opening the case for Colonel Higgins, said he had to make a charge of organised conspiracy on the part of certain priests in the county of Mayo, of which conspiracy Dr. M‘Hale, Roman Catholic Archbishop of Tram, was the head, to prevent by violence and intimidation a number of persona from voting for Colonel Higgins, and compel them to vote for Mr. Moore. He should show that voters had been taken to the houses of the priests and sworn on the Bible to vote for Mr. Moore. Mr. James then entered at great length into details, and stated that the priests, Peter Conway, chaplain to Dr. M'Hale, and Mr. Joyce, headed mobs, attacked Colonel Higgins's voters, locked them up, or drove them off, thus preventing them from coming to the poll. Seditious placards were published, threatening all who voted for Colonel Higgins with the " curse of God;" while Conway himself, on one occasion, went , on his knees before a body of Colonel Higgins's voters and said, "My curse, as a priest, and that of i the Church of the people, be upon you seven times, lif you vote for Colonel Higgins." Mr. David Rutley, va city magistrate, corroborated these statements, and 'the committee adjourned until Friday, when several twitnesses were examined in support of the charge. iMr. Joseph Burke corroborated Mr. Rutley's evidence in the main, but said in reply to Sir J. Hanmer, "He was not aware of his own knowledge that any supporter of Colonel Higgins had been prevented from voting by reason of violence or intimidation." The Cambridge Committee appointed to try the matter of the petition complaining of the return of Mr. Steuart consists of Mr. Deasy (chairman), the Marquis of Blandford, Mr. E. Lockhart, Lord Mel gund, and Mr. Wyvill. Mr. Power opened the case, and observed that the election was won by a majority of six only, and it would be shown that nine voters who polled for Mr. Steuart had their travelling ex penses paid. Now, even a promise to pay a voter his travelling expenses, on condition that he gave his vote in a particular way, constituted bribery within the mearing of the Act of Parliament. Mr. Foster, the election auditor, produced the bills of the election agents. Mr. Barlow was then called, and stated that he was agent to Mr. Steuart, and that in paying travelling expenses be had acted under the dvice of counsel, and taken every precaution not to pay a farthing more than the actual money expended. -The messengers employed were hardly sufficient, in THE PRESS. consequence of the late period at which Mr. Steuart came into the field. After hearing some further evidence, the committee adjourned till Friday, when Mr. Power concluded his address. The Rochdale Committee appointed to inquire into the allegations of the petitioners against the return of Sir A. Ramsay, consists of Sir J. Yarde Buller (chairman), Lord Curzon, Mr. A. Stafford, Mr. Gregory, and Mr. H. Vivian. The committee met on Thursday, and Mr. Monk in opening the case for the petitioners stated that he should show that in the last election Sir A. Ramsay was returned by the aid of general and systematic bribery and corruption of the constituency. Public-houses were extensively employed, and he might state that of the publicans only sixteen voted for Mr. Miall, while sixty-three voted for Mr. Ramsay. Men were hired to break up , meetings by violence, and in one case, on the Friday before the election, a violent interference, instigated by Mr. Mills, a man whose name would frequently come before the committee as one who took an active part in the corruption of voters, took place with a meeting of non-electors, and the interference of the police had to be sought. He believed that be could convert Sir Alexander Ramsay's majority of 151 into a minority of 44. Abraham Rothwell was then called. He stated that be had been a voter for the borough of Rochdale for the last seventeen years, and had always voted for the Liberal candidate : On the Monday before the election Mills met him in the pig-market and made him an offer of 51. to vote for the Ccnservative candidate, and he told Mills that he had already had an offer of that sum from a man named Lee, a blacksmith. With Mills was a man named Butterworth, and Butterworth recommended him to accept the offer and vete for Sir A. Ramsay. He (witness) said he did not wish to offend his friends, and Mills said, " Put him down ; I'll poll him on the day." After voting he went to the Woolpack, in the market-place. Bcttomly was with him, ' and they went into the bar-parlour. He saw there Henry Metcalfe and James Clegg. Metcalfe asked whether he had voted for Sir A. Ramsay ; and when he replied that he had, he called him to the back door and gave him four sovereigns and ten shillings in silver, telling him he had spent the other ten shillings. The rest was paid to him by Metcalfe at the Red Lion on the Monday following. Since the election Mills frequently called on witness, and asked him not to give evidence about this petition. Mills also offered him money to go either into the country or to America. He offered him 101. at one time, and 201. at another. Mills also said to him, "If the other side offers you more, give me the first chance." On cross-examination by Mr. PHINN : Witness said he knew Peter Johnson. He did not tell Johnson that if he could get some money he should be off to America; but Johnson said to him he would give him money if he would write to the Rochdale papers to contradict his being bribed. By Mr. STAFFOItD: Peter Johnson offered him as much as 501. to induce him to go to America. On Friday the evidence was proceeded with. The Committees for the Pontefract,Wareham, and Marlborough petitions met for the first time yester day. THE ARCHBISHOP OF CANTERBURY has appointed the Rev. John Bowen, M.A., rector of Orton Longue ville, near Peterborough, to the bishopric of Sierra Leone, rendered vacant by the death of the Right Rev. Dr. Weeks. MAJOR GORDON, of Park, has published his address to the electors of Banffshire. He says he approves generally of the policy of Lord Palmerston, and is satisfied that "the time is come when it is not only safe, hut just and right, to admit to electoral rights a class not comprehended by the Act of 1832, but whose progress in the last quarter of a century entitles them to the exercise of political power." He would therefore lower the franchise and extend electoral privileges, and would have reform and economy in every department of the State. A DEPUTATION in favour of the Government gua ranteeing a minimum rate of interest on the Euphrates Valley Railway had an interview with Viscount Palmerston on Monday. The deputation consisted of the Earl of Shaftesbury, Mr. Andrew, M.P. (chairman of the Euphrates Valley Railway), and several members of Parliament. Lord Pal merston assured the deputation that the Government were fully alive to the great importance of the Euphrates route ; that they had supported, and would continue to support it; but he could not give an opinion as to giving the guarantee on the capital withom consulting his colleagues, and requested Mr. Andrew to put his proposition in writing, saying that it should have a proper amount of consideration, and that Government would be happy to aid it if in their power. timplitan. A MEMORIAL TO LORD CLIVE has been resolved on. A meeting of gentlemen was held at Willis's•rooms on Tuesday last, under the presidency of Lord Hill, for the purpose of taking into acknowledgment " the services of the hero who laid the foundation of the British Empire in the East a century ago, and which have hitherto been commemorated by no public SATURDAY, monument." Towards this the Court of Directors of the East India Company has expressed its cordial approval, and at the same time has signified its in tention to present a donation of 5001. in aid of its funds. The meeting was addressed by Lord Stan hope, Lord Dungannon, Sir J. W. Hogg, Bart., and other gentlemen, and the following resolutions were unanimously adopted : That inasmuch as the services of the great Lord Clive the founder of the British Empire in the East, have not been commemorated by any public momument, it is in the opinion of this meeting ( assembled on the 100th anniver sary of the victory of Plassy) desirable to record the national gratitude for those services by erecting a statue in some conspicuous site in Shrewsbury, the chief town of Lord Clive's native county. That a committee be appointed to promote subscrip tions, and take such other steps ns they may deem proper in aid of " The Clive Memorial," and with power to con vene a general meeting of the subscribers, when they shall consider it expedient. That the following noblemen and gentlemen be re• quested to act on such committee, namely—the Lord Lieutenant of Shropshire, the High Sheriff of Shropshire, the Duke of Cleveland, the Earl Stanhope, Viscount Dun gannon, the members for Shrewsbury, Sir It. Vivian, Sir L. Peel, Sir J. W. Hogg, the Mayor of Shrewsbury, and Dr. Kennedy. THE ANNIVERSARY MEETING of the Royal Society for the Protection of Life from Fire was held on Monday in the Council-chamber, Guildhall, for the purpose of presenting the various awards to those who had distinguished themselves in rescuing human life during the past year. 'Fbe meeting was held under the presidency of the Lord Mayor. The Council chamber was quite filled, and fifty-one cf the Fire-escape Brigade walked round the room. By the report it appeared that fifty-two fire-escape stations had been maintained by the society during the year ; that 390 fires had been attended, and seventy lives saved, some under circumstances of the most daring heroism on the part of the firemen. SIR WILLIAM MAGNAY has resigned his gown as alderman, owing to the inability of the City autho rities legally to investigate the charges brought against him in connection with the Brussels rail roads. Mr. J. Kearns, of the Red Lion-wharf, Upper Thames-street, has offered himself as a candidate for the aldermanic gown of the ward of Vintry, vacant by the resignation of Sir William. ALDERMAN LAWRENCE AND MR. ALLEN have been elected Sheriffs for London and Middlesex for the ensuing year. THE SOCIETY OF ARTS held their 103rd annual dinner at the Crystal Palace this week. Lord Stanley, M.P., presided. LORD PALMERSTON has conferred a pension of 70/. per annum upon the widow of thu late Mr. Hugh Miller, in recognition of his services to literature and science. Vrobinttal. THE OXFORD COMMEMORATION held this week was most brilliant. On Wednesday the usual " row " took place in the Sheldonian Theatre. Lord Palmerston's bishops appeared to be particularly unpopular. Political characters were not forgotten, and rounds of cheers followed the names of Lord Derby, Lord Stanley, Mr. Disraeli, and Mr. Cardwell. Mr. Glad stone appeared to have lost ground, for his name was received with mingled cheers and hissing. Lord Palmerston seemed to have a scanty force of ad mirers, and Cobden and Bright elicited only laughter. The army and navy were done justice to in every possible way ; and the mention of Sir W. F. Williams of Kars in particular, and of Major-General Sir Colin Campbell and Sir John M‘Neill, served as the signal for concentrated rounds of applause. Among those admitted to the honorary degree of D.C.L., were Dr. Livingstone, Sir Cohn Campbell, Sir Fenwick Williams, and Robert Stephenson. LORD STANLEY, M.P., last week attended a great meeting of the fanchester Cotton Supply Associa tion, held in the Town-hall, Manchester. The noble lord, in supporting a resolution moved by Mr. J. A. Turner, M.P., that it was indispensable to develop the resources of Great Britain's colonial possessions for the production of raw cotton, said the precarious nature of our supply of cotton involved some political considerations which were sufficiently obvious : Without wishing to overstate the case, be considered that our almost exclusive dependence on the United States for our cotton was neither desirable nor safe, however improbable it might be that the supply would he inter rupted either by war, by a social disturbance in the Southern States, or by a failure of the crop. This state of dependence was of comparatively recent origin, and it was increasing year by year. In considering how we were to remedy the evil, he by no means recommended exclu• sive attention to one part of the world ; but, after all, whatever we could do elsewhere, it was to British India that we must chiefly look. The two great Indian requirements with which it was in their power to deal practically, were the want of commu nication and the want of irrigation. The native sove reigns of India, as there was evidence to show, had been