The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1840-05-15 00:00:00

\>~~\ THE MURDER` OF LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL EXAMINATION OF COURVOISIER THE VALET, AT ,BOW - -STREET. , (From the Morning Herald of Tuesday.) The investigation which took place betbre the police author ities, at the .residence of the deceased nobleman in Norfolk street, Park-lane,. having produced a sufficient train of cir cumstantial evidence against the accused, to enable those engaged in the enquiry to send the case before the chief ma gistrate at Bow-street, the valet Courvoisier was removed 'from Norfolk-street at twelve o'clock on Sunday night, in a hackney-coach, and conveyed as privately as possible, to the station-house of the F division, guarded by several consta bles. He was then locked up in one of the cells, and closely watched during the night. At an early hour in the morning, fhe fact of his having been sent to the station-house soon transpired, and a great crowd of persons collected in a Bow street; for the purpose of obtaining a sight of the accused. During the day, the street in front of the court, and opposite the station-house, was nearly impassible, and towards even ing it became necessary to call out several constables to keep the footway clear. The curiosity of the public was further excited, by the rumour that Richard Gould and Jarvis and his wife were also at the station-house, and that another in vestigation would take place upon the subject of the murder of Mr. Templeman, which proved to be correct. At ten o'clock, Mr. JARDINE took his seat on the bench, for the purpose of disposing of the night charges, which being more numerous than usual, occupied his attention until a quarter to two o'clock, by which time, Mr. Hobler, the soli citor, arrived, to conduct the prosecution against Courvoisier, on the part of the commissioners of police. Mr. Flower, of Hatton-garden, was also in attendance on behalf of the pri soner, and on the bench we noticed, besides the chief magis trate, and Mr. Jardine, Lord Montfort, Major Anderson, the Hon. Mr. Byng, Mr. Dyer, son of the police magistrate, Mr. Yardly, secretary and chief clerk to the commissioners of police, and several other gentlemen. None of the relatives of the deceased nobleman were present. At two o'clock, the prisoner was brought from the station, in custody of Inspector Peirson, of the A division, and three constables, and placed at the bar. He is a middle-sized man, rather stoutly made, and aged, we should suppose, about 30 ; the expression of his countenance is dull and heavy, and there is not much of a foreigner in his general appearance; he has a down look, and his face and lips were deadly pale. As soon as he was placed in the dock, Mr. Flower, the so licitor, addressing the chief magistrate, said that he had re ceived instruction to attend on behalf of the prisoner, and on his going to the station for the purpose of obtaining an inter view with him, he found, contrary to the usual practice, that he could not he seen, even by his professional adviser. Mr. HALL—I believe the usual practice is in all cases of a serious nature to obtain the order of a magistrate to visit a prisoner. You may now, however, retire for a short time with the prisoner, before the examination is proceeded with. The proceeded was accordingly allowed to leave the bar with Mr. Flower. They remained absent for a short time, and the prisoner having again taken his place in the clock. Mr. Barnaby, the chief clerk, asked him—ls your name Francois Benjamin Courvoisier. Prisoner—lt is. Mr. .Hobler then stated that he was instructed by the com missioners of police to conduct the inquiry against the pri soner, who was charged with the wilful murder of the late Lord William Russell. It was not his intention at present to produce more evidence than would be necessary to entitle him to pray for a remand until some convenient day in the course of the present week. Mr. HALL—Does the prisoner understand English enough to enable him to know the nature of the evidence you are about to bring forward? -Mr. Hobler—Oh yes, he understands English, and can speak it very well. Mr. Nicholas Peirson, an inspector of the A division, was then sworn. Mr. Hobler—Did you attend at the house of the late Lord William Russell ? Witness—l did ; I went there between five and six o'clock on the evening of Wednesday last. Mr. Hobler—Did you on that occasion go into his lord ship's bed-room ? Witness—l did. Mr. Hobler—ln what state did you find his lordship ; alive or dead ? Witness—He was dead. Mr. Hobler—What establishment had he kept there? Witness—A man servant and two female servants, as I was informed. Mr. Hobler—'Was the prisoner in the house at the time you went there, and was he named to you as one of the esta blishment ? Witness—Yes, sir, I understood that he was one of the servants. Mr. HALL—Did you address him as such? Witness—No, not at that time. Mr. Hobler—Did you afterwards speak to him as one of the servants ? Witness—l did, and he told me himself that he was one of his lordship's servants. Mr. Hobler—What did you observe when you first went into his lordship's bed-room ? -- Witness—l turned down the bed-clothes, and found his lordship lying dead on his right side. Mr. HALL—Sitting here, I am not supposed to know what has occurred elsewhere ; and I wish you to state whether, from the appearance which the body presented, you were of opinion that death was produced by violence? Witness—That was my impression. His throat was cut; I saw blood upon his face, and a great quantity of blood on the bed-clothes, and also on the floor. Mr. Hobler—Do you mean on the floor by the side of the bed ? Witness—No, it was under the bed, as if a great quantity of blood had soaked through the bed and the two mattresses. Mr. Hobler—Did you attend that night at the inquiry held before the coroner? Witness—Yes, I was present part of the time, towards the close of the proceedings. Mr. Hobler—Were you in the room when the jury returned their verdict? Witness-1 was. Mr. Hobler—What verdict was given ? Witness—The verdict was " Wilful Murder against some person or persons uniznown." Mr. Hobler—Did you assist in searching the house that night ? - Witness—l did, and since then. Mr. Hobler—And have yon found any property belonging to Lord William Russell. in the course of those searches ? Witness—l have found property, which I have brought here. Mr:. Hobler—Describe to the 'magistrates what that pro perty consists of, and where you found it. Witness—On Friday last 1 examined the butler's pantry, having previously searched the house as well. Mr. Hobler—Had the room you speak of been described to you as the butler's pantry before you made the search there? Witness—Yes, it was ; and the prisoner himself told me • it was his pantry, before the search was made. • ' Mr. Hobler—Now state the result of your search. Witness.—On searching the room I observed a skirting board between the side of the fire-place and the sink, and perceiving that a small piece of the lime,, or plaster, had been recently removed, and, by tearing - some more of the plaster., I got my two fingers inside of the skirting-board, and then, by a sudden jerk, about nine or ten inches of the board in length, and about six inches hi',breadth, came away with the pull. Mr. HALL.—Did this board come away as if it had been . . recently removed from its place? - Witness.—Yes, it did. Mr. Hall.—Did the wood appear to you to be sound or decayed? It was perfectly sound. Mr. Hobler.—Now state what you discovered. Witness.—At the moment I pulled away the skirting, I saw the gold net purse I now produce. It was lying about two inches from the skirting, on the inside, as if it had been pushed there. Two constables were in the pantry at the time, and I immediately called their attention to the cir cumstance. I then took the purse out, and it is now in the same state as when I found it. Mr. Hobler.—Now, then, tell the magistrate what it con tained. Witness.—lt contained the five gold coins I now produce, wrapped in this piece of paper ; also five gold rings, one of -which is a wedding ring. After I drew out the purse, I saw a riband in the same place, or a little farther in , and having pulled away another piece of the skirting, 1 took up the ri band, to which was attached a Waterloo medal, with the name of the " Hon. Captain Russell, Aid-de-camp," inscribed upon it. On the inside of the skirting, and far ther on, I found a £lO Bank of England note. "afterwards searched the room, and found this watch ring hidden in the wall, about seven feet from the ground, behind a leaden pipe affixed to the wall. Mr. HALL.—Before you searched the pantry had you any conversation with the prisoner about the rings or any other property which were missing ? Witness.—l had ; and before I found the rings the pri soner told me that his lordship was in the habit of wearing rings, which, he said, were missing with the other property. Mr. HALL.—After you found the articles you have de scribed, did you mention the fact to the prisoner ? Witness.—l did. He was in the back parlour at the time, and I placer) the articles on the table, and said to the pri soner, I have found these rings and other property concealed in. your pantry. Mr. HALL.—Did he make any reply to that ? Withess.—Yes, he did ; he said 1 know nothing about them. lam innocent, my conscience is clear. Mr. HALL.—Did he say that the rings were those which were missing? Witness.—No, be did not. He merely said I never saw the medal before. Mr. Hobler.—Did you afterwards take him to the pantry, and show him the place where you found the things? Witness.—l did. Mr. Hobler.—What observation did he make when you pointed out the place to him ?. Witness. His answer was the saine—" I know nothing about them. lam innocent." Mr. Hobler.—Did you then continue your search in the room, and did the prisoner remain there while you were so engaged ? Witness.--He did for some time. room when I found the watch ring. Mr. Hobler.—Were the articles you found afterwards iden tified as his lordship's property? Witness.—Yes, his lordship's late valet identified them. Mr. Hobler said he did not mean to go farther with the case at present. Mr. HALL considered that some further evidence ought to be given. The witness then proceeded to state. I searched the bed room of the prisoner, and found a bunch of keys, I think ten in number. I also sear c h e d hi s person, an d i n hi s r i g h t hand trousers' pocket. I found a go ld l oc k et, w i t h h a i r i n it, and is in silver. While I was e xam i n i ng t h e l oc k et, t h e • pr i s oner said " It is mine." Mr. Hobler—Did he tell you how long be had it? Witness — l did not ask him that question. Mr. Hobler—Did you afterwards search his box for any property or instrument ? , Witness—l did, but discovered no property in the box. I found, however, a screw-driver and a chisel in it. And on Wednesday night I found a hammer in the pantry. H av i ng applied the end of the chisel and screw-driver to the marks on the drawer, and also on the door of the plate-cupboard, I found them to correspond. When I showed the prisoner the chisel he said, " That's mine," but the hammer and screw driver he said belonged to the house. Cross-examined by Mr. Flower—l first went to the house, No. 14, Norfolk-street, on last Wednesday, in the afternoon. I found a great. many persons and several of the police, amongst whom was Inspector Tedman. 1 found the rings and other articles last Friday at one o'clock. The prisoner told me that his lordship wore rings. He gave me that in formation before the rings were found. I cannot say how many persons had gone to the pantry nefore I went there. The prisoner is a Swiss. Mr. HALL—I suppose, Mr. Hobler, you have no farther evidence to bring forward at present. Mr. Hobler—No, sir, I have no more to offer now, but in a day or two I shall be prepared with additional evidence. Mr. HALL — What day would you name for farther hear ing? Mr. Hobler — On Thursday , if you ple ase . Mr. Ham, (to the prisoner) Is it your wish to make any observations now ? Prisoner—No, sir, none at all. Mr. HALL—You are now remanded until Thursday next, and you will be sent from hence to the Westminster Bride . ffiu , in . Tothill-street. ;i? ut glikiver—l hope.,sosnire,r , in the mean time, that I m a y b e , 4.... tier. Wray you may, on my order, as his pro *-/ti ' -- - i i C'4 . -- - -. • 4.- - !,:.:1 - ; 4cry .. r, —k. l l AV- Z- 7 00 QV lix 4..1/7. He was not in the ~. ~'~~\ N The prisoner was then removed from the bar, and was af terwards conveyed in a coach, handcuffed, and strongly guarded to Tothill-fields' Prison. The removal of Courvoisier to Bow-street, on Sunday night was effected in a very private manner, the police-officers who since the melancholy occurrence have been in charge of the house not being aware of the intention until a few minutes before the removal took place. In fact, we under stand, it was effected as soon almost as it was determined on. Courvoisier had for the first time since he had been in the custody of the police retired to bed, on Sunda} night, in the back attic, the room to which he had been restricted since suspicions were first entertained against him ; and on being informed, about half-past 11 o'clock, by Inspector Pearce, that he was his prisoner, and that it was his intention to con vey him to a station-house, he without hesitation or making any remark, beyond a fervent declaration of his innocence, arose from the bed and commenced dressing himself. In the meantime a hackney-coach was procured, and Courvoi sier was taken to Bow-street. Or. alighting, Courvoisier was conducted into a private room, where the charge was entered by Inspector Musgrove in the following manner : " Francois Benjamin Courvoisier, charged with the wilful murder of Lord William Russell, on the 6th instant, at No. 14, Norfolk-street, Park-lane," which, having been signed by Inspector Pearce, Courvoisier was placed in a cell by him self, a serjeant of police remaining in the cell with him until he was conveyed over to the police-court. He was dressed in a brown frock coat, slate-coloured figured Valentia waist coat, black trousers, and boots. He is in stature above the middle height, or if anything rather under, of rather sallow complexion, with full face, the features of which are strongly marked, and has dark brown hair. Soon after 10 o'clock yesterday, Mr. Philipps, the under secretary of state for the home department, visited the house, where he remained until after 11 o'clock, and on leaving pro ceeded direct to the Home-office. Mr. Wing, his late lord-. ship's family solicitor, also arrived at the house between 11 and 12 o'clock, for the purpose of proceeding with the inves tigation and examination of the premises. In the course of the former, we understand the depositions of some of the servants of Major Anstruther, next door (No. 15,) were taken, but to what purport we have been unable to learn. We.understand that on the day subsequent to the murder (Wednesday) Inspector Beresford, while obtaining from Cor voisier a list of the articles supposed to have been stolen and removed from the premises, asked him for a description of the seals attached to his late lerdship's watch, when Cour voisier fetched a wax impression of a seal bearing the arms of the Bedford family, saying that one of them bore that im pression. That seal was the one found on Saturday, by In spector Pearce, behind a leaden water-pipe, not far from the skirting board behind which the articles first discovered were found. Behind the same pipe was also found a signet ring, usually worn by his late lordship, which had been bent and nearly broken, apparently for the purpose of being destroyed. It is also stated that, on an examination being made, on the morning after the murder, of the bed in Courvoisier's room, it appeared to have been rumpled and disturbed, but had no appearance of a person having slept in it. During the whole of yesterday the house was besieged by: messengers from the royal family, the cabinet ministers, numbers of the nobility and gentry, anxious to pay a tribute of respect to the memory of his deceased lordship, urgently requesting that they might do honour to his obsequies, by their carriages, at the funeral, following in the mournful cortege. It is also stated that her Majesty and Prince Albert sent a similar request, but we understand the whole were most respectfully declined, it being the wish that the inter ment should take place as privately as possible. About four o'clock Mr. Commissioner,Mayne and Mr. Hobler, jun., the solicitor for the prosecution, arrived at the house from the examination of Courvoisier at Bow-street police court. They were shortly afterwards followed by Superintendent Baker and Inspector Pearce, when a further minute examination of the several apartments was entered into, but, we believe, without any further important disco veries being made. Mr. Mayne remained until near seven o'clock, about which hour Mr. Wing also left, but Messrs. Baker and Pearce remained to a much later hour. About 10 o'clock the outer coffin was brought in a hearse from the establishment of Mr. Richards, the undertaker in Holborn, whose shop had been thronged throughout the day by persons anxious to see it. It is a remarkably neat and plain coffin, covered with exceedingly fine black cloth, and studded by rows of richly-gilt nails on each side, and the lid being divided into three compartments or pannels, in the centre of which, on the sides, and at the head and foot, are massive gilt handles, unadorned by any embossment. In the centre compartment on the lid is a large brass plate, on which is engraved the following inscription : " The Right Honourable LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL, The son of Francis and Elizabeth, Marquis and Marchioness of Tavistock. Born August 20, 1767, Died May 6, 1840, Aged 72 years." To the leaden coffin, in which the shell is placed, is also attached a leaden plate, on which is engraved— " LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL, Died May 6, 1840, In the 73d year of his age." (From the Times of Wednesday.) TUESDAY EVENlNG.—Throughout the day the crowd in front of the residence of the late Lord William Russell has been fully as numerous as on any of the preceding days, and great diappointment was generally expressed when it was found that the remains of his late lordship had been removed from the house at the early hour of six o'clock, the general opinion being that the removal would not take place till a much later hour. During the day the examination of the premises has been further proceeded with, and we understand that part of the gold key attached to the watch of the deceased, which is still missing, has been found in the back pantry, only used by the valet, Courvoisier. It was discovered in a small aperture near the floor, between some bricks and the wall. In the course o f the day the following description of the gold watch was forwarded to the different police-stations, and to the various pawnbrokers of the metropolis :—" A gold horizontal repeating watch, with silver dial, jewelled in four holes, engine-turned case, with Breguet pusher, No. 1212, made by Barral and Contain. Two private numbers made by the persons who last cleaned the watch will be found inside' near tne hinge—Nos. 6119 and 10,085. For the last two or three days inspector Beresford has been • engaged in making inquiries as to the truth of the statements made by Henry Carr, which have been found to be perfectly correct, and fully exonerate him from any suspicion of having been concerned in the perpetration of the diabolical murder. One of the persons who accompanied Courvoisier on Sun day night, on his removal from Norfolk-street to the station house, was Serjeant Driscol, C, 2 who, after the charge had" been entered against the prisoner, and he was removed to a cell, remained with him therein during the night, and up to his removal to the police-office about two o'clock on Mon day. During that time Courvoisier remained very firm and free from all the symptoms of agitation. He frequently ex pressed his confidence that he should be eventually honour ably acquitted of the dreadful charge alleged against him, and told Serjeant Driscol that when again at liberty, he should not forget him for the civility he had shown him. In the Times of this morning appears a letter dated from No. 1, Charles-street, Grosvenor..square, and signed " C. Barry," in which an inquiry is made as to where his lord ship's dog was on the night .tbe murder was committed. It appears that the dog in question, which was a very great favourite of his lordship's, was usually kept during the night at the stables, but was taken to the house in 'Norfolk-street to be fed in the morning, and was also generally in the room with his lordship during the evening. On the evening pre vious to the murder the dog remained at the house until about nine o'clock, when it was fetched away by the coach man, and taken to the stables for the night. FUNERAL OF LORD WILLIAM RUSSELL, On Tuesday the remains of the above ill-fated and la mented nobleman were removed from his late residence and the scene of his mysterious murder, No. 14, Norfolk-street, Park-lane, for interment in the mausoleum of the noble house of Russell, adjoining the parish church of Chenies, in Buckinghamshire, about four miles from Rickmansworth, and twenty-two from London. (From the Morning Herald of Yesterday.) NORFOLK-STREET, WEDNESDAY EVEN IN n—The mystery in which the melancholy and dreadful death of the late lamented Lord William Russell is enshrouded, appears to be still as impenetrable as it was on the day the perpetration of the horrid murder was first discovered. Nothing to justify a suspicion that the murderer was a person unattached to the establishment, or unacquainted with the premises, has trans pired. The following particulars, obtained from a gentle man who has minutely inspected the premises, may not prove uninteresting to our readers : The butler and valet's pantry (for Courvoisier acted in both capacities) is a small back kitchen, exceedingly dark, having on entering the room, a small glass window in the corner, on the left hand, looking into a small back area. To the right of the window in the other corner is a door leading into au arched or vaulted closet or scullery, which has also a small window looking into the area, and from that room is the entrance into a hack coal vault. Just under the win dow above mentioned in the pantry is a leaden sink, sup ported by wooden legs, the part underneath being open, while a leaden pipe communicating with the sink lets off the water into the drain. The sink being under the window, the open space beneath it was consequently very dark and under that in the right hand corner, it was that Inspector Pearce, of the A division, in the course of the minute examination he and the other officers made, found that a small piece of the plas tered wall had, above the skirting-board, been recently chipped away, the result of which was the discovery of the purse (made of blue and gold-coloured beads, with a gilt clasp,) the £lO Bank of England note, the five gold coins, the four gold rings, and a wedding ring. Opposite the door l ea di ng f rom the bottom of the kitchen stairs was a large closet, with folding doors, resembling a wardrobe, be hind which is a leaden pipe, communicating from the front area to a large cistern in the back vault. The closet, which reached up to within about 18 inches of the ceiling, was higher by about five or six inches than the pipe, yet it was in the centre, behind that closet, that the signet ring was discovered, bent and nearly broken, pushed in between the pipe and the wall, to accomplish which the person who secreted it must have crept between the top of the closet and the ceiling, a task not very easy. Again, opposite the sink, and between that and the pantry door, on ripping up a portion of the flooring, which appeared slightly defective, it was that Ser jeant Collier, E 20, found the locket, containing a lock of the hair of the late Lady Russell, tied together by a bit of thread, which the late Lord William Russell had believed to have been left behind at Brighton ; and further, in the vaulted scullery, between the window and the vault entrance, was a largeoof, plate rack, reaching to within 16 or 18 in c h es o f the the ends of which were let into the wall, and it was above one of the upper ends that the seal en graved with the r arms of the Russell family was found, pushed in betwee n th e m ortar and th b t e o e n his a t h b i u p n , ad watch. a part of the It is gold key which between w the a wa s li attached has . th ere f o re evident those articles could not have been se cre t e d , as has been described , b y any but a person well acquaint e d with the premises, who b ad free access to the apartments i n question. d it will cost a considera blehas been nearly pulled to pie ces,an again, his late lordship The house during the sear ch, which is not yet concluded, sum to put it in proper . order having taken it on a lease, of whi ch three years are still un expired.ln a morning paper o • e t after the evi , tha_ the valet f this day there is a letter inserted in which the writer expresses his surpris dence given at the inquest by inspector Tedman, Courvoisier was not immediately suspected of being the mur derer. In answer to that, we can state that the suspicions of inspector Tedman were excited against Courvoisier immedi ately on his reaching the house on the morning of the 'mur der, and it was in consequence of Mr. Tedman expressing those suspicions to the superintendent and other inspectors engaged in the case, that so minute an examination of the premises has been made. Courvoisier will be brought up from the Westminster bridewell to Bow -street police court to-morrow (this day), at one o'clock. He does not, we understand, appear in the slightest degree depressed in spirits, nor has he expressed any desire to make any communications respecting the mur der of his late master, beyond stoutly persisting in his entire innocence. He has had two interviews with Mr. Flower, his professional adviser, preparatory to his next examination. Numerous letters have been daily received at the house by inspector Tedman, from persons in all parts of the country, offering suggestions which, in the opinion of the writers, would lead to the elucidation of the deep mystery in which the dreadful transaction is enveloped, but, singularly enough, the whole of them have been previously acted upon by the police authorities. On e letter (from a member of parliament) expressed the surprise of the writer that the candle-box, candlesticks, and fireplaces in the house h ad n ot been ex amined to ascertain that no extra candles or fire had been used on the night of the murder, more especially the former, as it was in evidence that the rushlight in his lordship's room had been blown out immediately after the commission of the murder. It is, however, almost needless to state, that all that had been long previously done. The dog, about which so much has been said, and which was an especial favourite of Lord William Russell, it has been already stated was on the night of the murder, as cus tomary, at the stables. He has since been, as usual, daily brought to the house, but from that attachment so peculiar to the canine race, immediately on entering the house he ap pears unhappy, wandering from room to room, laying down for a minute or two in one, then whining and jumping up and running into another, and from thence in a few minutes into a third, and at times he places his head on the knee of a person next him, looking him in the face imploringly, as if requesting him to restore his deceased master. The lamentable and violent death of the late Lord William Russell is another proof of the uncertainty of human life. On the afternoon of the day previous to his murder, while at Brooke's Club-house, in St. James's-street, be met with the Earl of Erroll, who addressing him, said, " Ah, Russell, how are you ?'; His lordship replied, "Erroll, lam so well, that I am going to take a fresh lease of my life," little dreaming that ere the morrow dawned, he would be deprived of that life by the hand of an assassin. The remains of Lord William Russell having now been removed and interred, the inducement to visit Norfolk-street is not so strong as it was before, and this day the crowd has. not been quite so numerous as on the previous days. The desire to ascertain whether any fresh discoveries have been made tending further to implicate the valet, Courvoisier,has, however, much increased, and throughout the day the house has been besieged by messengers from the nobility, &c., making inquiries to that effect. Evasive answers have how ever been invariably returned by the police having charge of the premises, and on our reporter applying to them to ascer tain the truth of a report which was circulated through the neighbourhood in the course of the afternoon, that the whole of the missing property, with a trifling exception or two, had this morning been discovered in a portion of the premises in which they could not be anticipated to be secreted, he was informed they could give him no information on the subject. The fact of Mr. Commissioner Mayne being hastily sent for, and his arrival about one o'clock, and also Superin dent Baker, and Inspectors Pearce, Tedman, and Beres ford, with several serjeants, &c., being for hours busily en gaged on the premises, and extending their researches even so far as the removal for examination of the flowers and shrubs which adorned the balconies of the drawing-room windows, tended greatly to strengthen the truth of the re port, And in addition we can state, from authority on which we can rely, that something most important and tending to strengthen the suspicions against Courvoisier, has been discovered, and will be made public at the examination to morrow (this day). Between four and five o'clock, Lord Normanby, Secretary of State for the Home Department, visited the house, over which he was conducted by Mr. Mayne, &c. His lord ship closely examined the places pointed out to him as being those where portions of the property bad been secreted, and also those portions of the premises still under examination, and he expressed his approbation of the conduct and exer tions of, the various persons engaged in unravellinc , the mysterious transaction. His lord Ship left about six o'clock, as did also, soon afterwards, Mr. Mayne, &c. The whole of the witnesses have received directions to be in attendance at Bow-street, to give evidence at the further examination of Curvoisier. At a late hour this evening it was stated that the watch 7orms one of the articles which have been discovered to-day. EXAMINATION OF RICHARD GOULD. (From the Morning Herald of Tuesday.) Shortly after the prisoner Courvoisier was taken from the bar, Gould was brought forward and placed in the dock, charged with burglariously entering the premises of the late John Templeman, and stealing therefrom a quantity of silver money. Mr. Hobler appeared to prosecute. Mrs. Thornton, who inhabits one of the cottages in Po cock's fields, and other witnesses who had been examined when the prisoner was tried for the murder of the deceased, last sessions, at the Central Criminal Court, repeated the evidence they gave on that occasion respecting the situation of the cottage of the deceased, and the circumstances attend ing the murder, together with the fact of the silver money having been found at. Allen's cottage, where the prisoner lodged at the time, &c. Serjeant Otway, of the A division, then reated the evidence he gave on Saturday with respect to the apprehension of the prisoner at Gravesend, on board a vessel bound for Sydney. He also detailed the conversation which he had with the pri soner, with reference to the reward offered by the Secre tary of State, for the apprehension and conviction of the person or persons by whom the murder was committed. He then repeated, from memory, the whole of the con fession which the prisoner made to him in the House of Correction, last Saturday night. The following is a verbatim copy of that confession, as it was taken down from the lips of the prisoner : CONFESSION OF RICHARD GOULD. " It was first proposed, in consequence of showing his notes, but it was not finally' settled till Sunday morning, when I was at Jarvis's, and then it was arranged that-we should go on Monday night, and I went away early on' Sun day, because Jarvis expected his brother ; but before I went, Jarvis got a piece of wood (out of the garden), which he used as a dibber :' he made a hole in it, through which he put a piece of string, so as to hang it on his Wrist. After that I went to the Flora Tavern, York-place, and gotdrunk. I was to have seen Jarvis early next morning ; but in conse quence of lying in bed so late, Mrs. Jarvis came down to Allen's, and brought a message from Jarvis, stating that I was not to go near their honk till after the public=houses were closed at night; but I did go with her, as she had got breakfast ready, and said there would be no fear of being ne ticed. .I then went to the Rainbow, and stopped till near 12 at night, and then went -to Jarvis's, being a few minutes past 12. Me and Jarvis went out together. Mrs. Jarvis stopped under the portico to watch, in case any one came she might give the alarm. I went in first by the window, and broke a bit of paper out and a little bit of glass, and then I got my finger in and undid the button. I then got in, and Jarvis got in after me. After I got in, the chisel Jarvis brought I got from him, and broke the door open. We could not find anything but the silver in a box—no half-sove reigns or gold there. Jarvis went into the bed-room. He said, as I could not find the notes, most likely he (Mr. Templeman) had-them under his head. He then said, "We must make him quiet and fast." Jarvis then struck him with the stick. The old man then jumped right out of bed. Jarvis then knocked him down, and held his hands while I tied them with the clothes-line we brought with us. Jarvis then tied the stocking over his eyes. We then made another search for the notes; and I found them wrapped up in some other papers in the drawer where we had found the silver in the box. We had before overlooked them. I told Jarvis they were no account, only ' barber's notes,' and we left them behind: I then said we had better step off as quick as we could. The old man had then come round by this time and said, 1 .know you.' I jumped out of the window. Jarvis said we should be sure- to be found out. He then said, I would rather settle him than be found out,' and went back into the room. He then came out of the window the same way as we got in. We went to Jarvis's house, where Mrs. Jarvis was out side of the door. I wanted to divide the money. He said, I had better plant it for a bit, as all the cottages about there would be sure to be " frisked." I agreed, and then said I would make haste and show myself somewhere in case of being suspected. I promised to meet Mrs. Jarvis the next morning at the Three Goats Head in Wandsworth-road. The fire being out, I said I had better put the piece of wood out of the way, and I took and threw it into the New River that night, and a dark lantern I threw into a pond in Po cock's-fields. I then went up by the Angel, and went to a coffee-stall at the corner of the New-road, where I had some coffee, and stopped about half an hour. There was a man there selling some pictures to a young woman. He sold her four for Gd. I asked if there was a tobacco-shop open ;he said he did not know. I then asked him to sell me a pipe, and I then went home -(it was then near two o'clock), and went to bed. Next morning I placed the money where it was found, and took about nine shillings from it. The stock ing it was in was an odd one belonging to myself. I then went to a coffee-shop opposite the Three Goats' Head, Wandsworth-road, and had my breakfast, and then went to a public-house and waited till Mrs. Jarvis came • we had a pint and half of beer and a quartern of gin. We then re turned towards Jarvis's ; when we got to Lambeth-walk I bought the shoes for is. Gd., and paid' or them with silver. When we came out I proposed to throw the old shoes away, as they were not worth anything. She said, Don't do that, Dick, I'll go and sell them ; if they only fetch a quartern its better than nothing." She went and sold them for twopence in Oakley-street, Lambeth. I asked her if she had said any thing to the girl Thornton in the morning, when she saw her, She said, no, she had only asked her what was the matter, but she did not stop to answer. She said she had seen a man come along of the name of Ellis, and she told him she was going to her sister's for a screw.' I told her she had better go there, she could then give an account of herself if she was suspected. She went, and 1 waited at the General Wolfe, Gray's Inn-lane ; we then went to the Belvidere, Penton ville, and she got a quartern of gin on trust. We then went to Thornhill-road, Islington, when we met Ellis ; we spoke to him. I left, and went to the Rainbow. She went home. I agreed to go to her house to tea when it got dusk. She came to the Rainbow to me and told me there was a " Rare stink abont it," and I had better keep away that night and come in the morning. I then went home, and was appre hended at half-past 11 that night." After the serjeant concluded, Gould said—Did you not, before I made that statement, tell me if I disclosed all I knew respecting the murder, I should be entitled to the reward of £2OO and a free pardon? -Otway—l showed you the letter of the Secretary of State, offering the reward on the terms stated. Mr. Hobler—Did you persuade the prisoner to make any confession ?• Otway—Certainly not ; I made no attempt to persuade him. I merely called his attention to the letter offering the reward. Mr. HALL—It is quite clear that this person is not enti tled to the reward, because, by his own statement, he has not only been a party to the robbery but to the murder also. Mr. Hobler—Certainly, that is my view of the case. Gould (to Otway)—You stated to me, in order to induce me to confess, that I could not be tried again for the mur der. Otway—Yes, I did say so. Mr. Hobler—Did you tell him that he could not be tried for the robbery ? Otway—No, I said nothing of the sort. Gould—He told me, when he first saw me on board the vessel, that he was sent by the Secretary of State on purpose to let me know that a reward of £2OO was offered, together with a free pardon, to any person concerned except the actual murderer. Mr. HALL—That is precisely what he says now. Gould—l at first declined, and said I should not give any information about it, and that I would rather go abroad at once. The officer then endeavoured to persuade me to con fess, and said, " If I lay you down a certain sum of money, will you give me the information ?" lat last, by his per suasion, agreed to tell what I knew. Mr. nobler (to Otway)—Did you make any offer of mo ney to the prisoner? Otway—No, I did not ' • but he himself, after reading the order of the S ecretary of State twice over, proposed to name the murderer on condition that he should receive £lOO and the amount of his passage out to Sydney. Mr. HALL asked Gould if he had any further observation to make? Gould—No, sir, I have not. Mr. HALL—You are now remanded, and will be brought up again next Wednesday. The prisoner was then removed, and Jarvis and his wife, the latter with a child in her arms, were placed at the bar. Mr. HALL asked inspector Miller if he had any evidence to offer against the prisoners.a t e v e r any aga . t d Jarvis. c ea s regards hi s w if e ? MMiri.leHr—None —ne whatever you _Miller—No, none, - except what has been ..lreaci fo y r elicited. Mr. HALL asked Jarv is if he was still worki ng the same master ? Jarvis replied that he was discharged by his master last Saturday, but he was at work elsewhere. .He lived, he said, at No. 4, Chads-place, Gray's Inn-road. Mr. HALL then ordered both Jarvis and his wife to be dis charged on their promising to come forward at any time their presence might be required. They were then taken from the bar. RICHARD GOULD AND THE UNDER-SHERIFFS. Several very incorrect statements relative to the prbceed ings adopted by the under-sheriffs in reference to the man Gould having been made public, and some of them being of a character requiring contradiction, we lay before our readers the following statement, which is derived from a source upon which reliance can be placed. Messrs. France and Jackson, the under-sheriffs, having humanelyundertaken the prisoner's defence, they were exceedingly anxious that the trial should have been postponed from the last to. the present session, as they had good reason to believe that in the interval the pri soner would make some communication likely to forward the ends of justice, and that it would not be necessary to try the prisoner at all upon that charge. The_prosecutors, how ever, resisted the application for a postponement, and the trial accordingly took place, and ended, as our readers are aware, in the acquittal of the prisoner. After the trial was over, Baron Alderson had aconference with the under-sheriffs, and his lordship observed that it was clear that the prisoner was a bad character, and asked what was to be done with him. The under-sheriffs inforithed his lordship that they understood that he had a relation in Sydney, and that if some of his re latives here would get him clothes they thought they should be able to obtain a passage for him. Baron Alderson inquired how the expenses of the pasiage-money would be defrayed, and said that he should be very willing to contribute aportion of the sum, which might be required. His lordship was informed that it. would not be necessary that he should do this, as the sheriffs' fund might be rendered available for that purpose. A diffi culty then arose as to what should be done with the prisoner up to the period of a vessel being provided for him, as it was feared that if he were suffered to go at large he would return to his bad acquaintances and get into some fresh scrape, and it was arranged that he should go to the Compter • arid he remained in that prison for nearly a month. In the mean time an application was made to Mr. Alderman Pirie on the subject of getting the prisoner a passage to Sydney, but the worthy alderman observed that it would be impossible to send him abroad in his own name, as from the notoriety he had acquired he would very probably be ill used by the sail ors, and, indeed, it was doubtful whether any captain would take him on board ship, and that the only way to arrange the matter .would be to ship him as a passenger under another name ; and for the reason above stated this course was adopted. During the whole of the period the prisoner was in the Compter no communication whatever took place rela tive to any further charge being preferred against him, and the under-sheriffs were not at all aware that it was intended to prefer such charge against the prisoner ; and, in conse quence, when the ship was ready, the prisoner's relatives having supplied him with clothes, the passage-money was paid, and he was sent off to the vessel, but no sum of money, as has been stated, was given to him before he went on board. This step had, moreover, hardly been completed, before the warrant was sent for his apprehension upon the charge upon which he is at present. in custody. RECANTATION OF THE PRISONER GOULD. (From the Times of Wednesday) About an hour after Gould was_remo'•ed from the bar on Monday evening last, at the conclusion of his examination, he expressed a wish to the gaoler td see the magistrate again, saying that he had something to communicate that he should not disclose to any other person. Supposing that he was about to make some further disclosures respecting the mur der and robbery of Mr. Templeman, Mr. Hall ordered him to be he brought forward, and he was accordingly again placed at the bar, when the magistrate told him that he was ready to hear whatever he wished to say. Gould then said he merely wished to inform the magistrate that the statement he had made to Otway, the police serge ant was not true. Mr. ! Do you mean to tell me now, that the confesSion which was taken down from your own lips, and by your own desire, and which you heard repeated to-day by the officer, word for word, without any denial on your part, is untrue ? _ _ Gould—l do mean to say so—it is false from beginning to end. The officer induced me to make it, by holding out to me that I should be entitled to the reward, and could not be tried again, if I told the name of the person who actually committed the deed. Mr. Hall shook his head, and the prisoner, having again declared that the statement be had made was untrue from first to last, left the court in custody of the gaoler, and was again locked up, and soon after taken from the cell to the House of Correction. There can be no doubt but that his sole object in making the " confesSion" to Otway, by which he sought to fix Jarvis with the murder, was the reward which was offered by the se cretary of state ; and as soon as he found that no credit what ever was attached to his statement, and that his cunning had overreached itself, and was moreover likely to produce per sonal consequences which he did not at first anticipate, he made up his mind in the interval between his removal from the bar and the time he was taken to the House of Correc tion to deny the whole of his previous declaration, and thus avert the danger in which be found himself placed by the ad mission he had made of his own participation in the guilt both of the murder and robbery. HORRIBLE MURDER IN BIRMINGHAM. The town of Birmingham and its neighbourhood was, on Thursday morning, thrown into great confusion, in conse quence of the body of a young woman, named Harriet W right, being found in the canal, near Walmer-lane. Sus picion- immediately attached to a young man named Josiah Lilly, and information having been dispatched to the station house, constable Brough immediately went to the residence of Lilly's father, and apprehended the youth in bed. An inquest was held on the body of the young woman on Satur day, and the case excited universal interest. The prisoner was brought up in custody, and placed in front of the witnesses. He was a young man of prepossess ing appearance, abodt 17, red hair, fair cOmplexion, with a remarkably intelligent face. He was respectably attired, and preserved the utmost firmness during the lengthened exami nation. The jury, having proceeded to the examination of the body on the side of the canal; and remarked that it ex hibited no external marks of violence, returned to the inquest room. It would appear that as a boatman named Thomas Morris, was walking along' the banks of the canal; early on Thursday morning, his attention was attracted to a man's hat on the footpath, under Walmer-lane bridge. On further scrutiny he also observed a woman's bonnet lying on the surface of the water ; and being apprehensive that a body was in the canal, he procured a hook from his boat, and ob taining the assistance of his brother they dragged the water. In a short time they pulled up the body of the deceased, and having conveyed it to the Dog and Duck public-house, they searched the pockets, and .among other articles they found the following letter, which had been addressed by the pri soner to the deceased, whilst. recently confined in the House of Correction for neglect of work:— " Dear Harriet,-4 hope you will receive these few lines with as much affection as they are .sent; my condition must Certainly be grievoirs'to you. However, if you have the af fection for me which I believe you live, I should not have . written to you, the time being so short, only. that you should not think I had fOrgOttenyou. I hope I shall have the plea sure of receiving a letter from you, short as the time is. You will please, to let my mother know that ypu have heard from me, and•ask her to send me some money to come out with, as I.dare say you have none to spare, and even if you have I had rather it came from my mother; and a clean shirt also I want. If you think proper to come a. mile or two on the road to meet me, I shall be very happy to see you, as it will be the only chance you shall have of seeing me for more than a week. My reason for that I shall tell you, which I hope shall be next Friday week. I wrote to my mother in prefer ence to you the last time, but have left her out this time and thought of you, as rhave always done. I cannot say now what I could wish, therefore I shall conclude with hoping that you will attend to what this contains. My best love to you, and remember rile to'my mother.—l am, your's affec tionately, " JOSIAH LILLY." Thomas Morris and his brother having terminated their search of the body. immediately despatched a messenger-to the police-office, and on the arrival of Serjeant Brough at the Dog and Duck, he took possession of the man's hat found, and, accompanied by another officer, they proceeded to the house of the father of the deceased. The old man upon being shown the hat immediately recognized it as Lilly's. The officers accordingly proceeded to the prisoner's house, and found him in bed. The father opened the door. They told the young man that they had come to apprehend him on a charge of drowning a young woman in the canal. He ex claimed, " Good God, is she dead?" adding, " If I am hung for her, I shall die innocent !" The officer told him to take care what he said, and showing him the hat, inquired if it was his ? He replied, " Yes, it is ; it was taken off me last night for a trap." He was then asked when he saw the de ceased last, when he replied " about half-past 9 last night." The prisoner having been taken to where the deceased was lying, and, after being desired to look upon her, he exclaimed, in bitterness, " Oh ! I have seen enough of her," and turned away his face. • The prisoner, upon being locked up, was shortly afterwards visited by Inspector Edmonds, who, having known the pri soner was anxious as to his fate. Upon entering his dungeon he said to Lilly, " Oh ! Josiah, how came you to drown the young girl?" He replied, " I did not do it, but lam as bad as if I had. She said she would drown herself, and asked me for my neckerchief, which I refused to give her. She then seized my hat from my head, and threw it down by a heap of stones by the canal side. That was the last time I saw her." The prisoner and the deceased; it appeared, were seen walking together very socially, about nine on Wednesday night, and about a quarter past eleven Lilly was seen return ing in great haste without his hat. A short time after the prisoner was apprehended `he solicited from the gaoler the use of pen and ink, when he wrote the following letter to his mother : " 3 o'clock, p.m. Thursday. Dear mother,—lt is with the most painful reflection I now console myself to write to you, hoping that the heavy trial under which you are labouring God will give you strength to bear it, wishing now I had taken your good advice. But, dear mother, to repeat such now is folly ; my earnest wish and prayer to God is, that he may give you faith to believe that innocence shall not suffer. I will endeavour, with the help of God, to bear the imprisonment which I am certain of receiving before trial with the greatest firmness, knowing myself to be innocent, and hoping for God as my protection. " I am your unfortunate son, " JOSIAH LILLY." The following remarkable circumstances respecting the prisoner and the deceased were also written by himself at the same time " My name is Josiah Lilly, born 23d August, 1822 ; reared in a respectable manner, by a mother only, who gave me a liberal education upon me, bound me apprentice to a good trade, in which lam told to have been very skilful. Unfor tunately got acquainted-witli a youth whose habits were not what they should have been, which caused me to absent my • self from my master's employment, in consequence of which I was committed to the House of Correction one day and whipped. Before I got well of the correction I fell in love with the unfortunate girl—the shame 1 had for my miscon duct forbade me opening my mind to her, and at length I resolved to leave town, which I did, and was absent a fort night, when my master promised that if I returned to my work he would not punish me. I went to work, and in the course of the following week I and the deceased commenced an ac quaintance, which was in May 1837. Soon as her father had found out what was between us, he ordered me out of the house, and forbade her speaking to me. She being deter mined not to be ruled by her father on that point, we pro posed being married secretly. The banns were published, after which I heard her character to be that which I knew would not suit my circumstances, and I absented myself again, and was absent about four months. Being desirous of seeing my friends, I wrote to that effect, and the deceased went up to my master, and paid him some money to make it up with him again, so that I should come to work again. Alter I returned, her father being still as obstinate, we agreed to go and live together off hand, which we did, and took a furnished room in Ludgate-hill, where we lived a fortnight ; after which, in consequence of one day's lost time, my ill disposed master sent me to the House of Correction for 14 days. After I came back, feeling determined not to work for him again, I left the town, and was absent four weeks. When I returned, the deceased was gone to live with her father again. We still carried on our acquaintance, though against her father's will, and always bore the character of being a loving couple. This being read by any of the members of her family, will be corroborated as the truth. " Written by JOSIAH LILLY." It appeared that the prisoner had on more than one occa sion sworn that he would be hung for her. The evidence of the surgeon went merely to prove that there were no ex ternal marks of violence upon the body of the deceased be yond two marks .on her wrists, as if they had been caused by the pressure of a strong hand. The Jury having retired at half-past 11 o'clock in the evening, shortly re t urne d with the following verdict find that the deceased came to her death by drowning, an d we find a verdict of wilful murder against Josiah Lilly." The most death-like stillness pervaded the room when the verdict was announced ; and the prisoner, who, throughout the inquiry, had preserved the utmost firmness, suddenly fell back insensible. On recovering, his countenance presented a ghastly appearance ; and during the signing of the depositions he wept bitttrly. He was committed for trial to the county gaol. TRIUMPHANT MEETING IN SUPPORT OF LORD STANLEY'S IRISH REGISTRATION BILL One of the largest, most respectable, and most important meetings ever held in this town, took lace on Wednesday, in the Amphitheatre, Great Charlotte-street, for the purpose of considering the propriety of petitioning the legislature to pass the excellent measure recently introduces into the H ouse of Commons by Lord Stanley, for the amendment of the re gistration system in Ireland. The stage, the circle, and every part of the vast building was crowded—so crowded, in deed, that it was apparently impossible for them to accom modate one additional individual. Among those present we noticed— The Rev. Hugh M l Neile, Rev. F. Could, Rev. J. R. Con nor, Rev. R. P. Buddicom, Rev. G. Mansfield, Rev. Dr. Byrth, 'Rev. J. C. Hamilton, Rev. Mr. Gladwin, Rev. J. Burton, Rev. W. Bradwell, Rev. T. Bold, Rev. C. Morrall, Rev.. J. C. Richards, Rev. D. James, Rev. C. Lawrence, Rev. H. S. Joseph, Rev. Dr. Tattershall, Rev. H. Car penter, Rev. J. H. Stafford, and Rev. Andrew Knox, Sir Thomas Braneker, Mr. T. B. Horsfall, Mr. C. Robin son, Mr. M. Edwards, Mr. Hulton, Mr. J. Proctor, Mr. J. Sheppard, Mr. J. Howtuld, Mr. D. Watson, Mr. J. R. Preston, Mr. J. Rigby, Mr. G. Langtry, Mr. Browne, Mr. J. Parker, Mr. J. Aspinall, Mr. T. Carson, Mr. T. Porter, Admiral Oliver, Mr. R. Horsfall, Mr. E. B. Lyon, Mr. W. Huson, Mr. W. Dixon, Mr. T. Sands, Mr. T. Moss, Mr. J. B. Lloyd, Mr. Byrnes, Mr. T. Woodward, Dr.. Jeffreys, Mr. Dyson, Mr. Ashley, Mr. Ellison, Mr. Gibbetson, Mr. J. F. Tinne, Mr. T. Murray, Mr. W. M'lvor, Mr. J. Myers, Mr. T. Leather, Mr. E. M. Brodie, Mr. T. Dover, Mr. J. B. Clough, Mr. C. Lawrence, Mr. G. Grant, Mr. F. Shand, Mr. D. Gibb, Mr. C. Horsfall, Mr. N. Robinson, Mr. Brandreth, Mr. N. Smith, Mr. J. Davis, Mr. Cottlton, Mr. Thompson, Mr. Glazebrook, Mr. Barber, Mr. Muncaster, Mr. W. P. Burley, Mr. Brownrig, Mr. Sandbach, Mr. J. S. Leigh, Mr. Jones, Mr. R. Gladstone, Mr. C. Bushell, Mr. Falkner, Mr. C. T. Dunlevie, Mr. J. Cooper, Mr. J. Holmes, Mr. Stanistreet, Mr. G. Ker, Mr. Montgomery. Mr. Ingram, Mr. J. W. Wainwright, Mr. Chubb, Mr. R. Rigby, Mr. J. Gilfallan, Mr. J. Holme, Mr. R. Leyland, Mr. J. Bourne, Mr. W. Shand. Mr. C. S. Parker, Mr. R. Redson, Dr. Baird, Mr. D. Ledson, Mr. J. Shand, Mr. J. B. Braneker, Mr. Birkett, Mr. J. Robertson, Mr. Bourne, Mr. Foster, Mr. G. G. Hornby, Mr. John Penington, Mr. H. S. Bourne, Mr. Moss, &c. &c. Mr. Aspinall, Sir T. Brancker, the Rev. Fielding Ould, the Rev. Hugh M`Neile, and other champions of our pro testant creed and constitution, who were expected to take part in the proceedings, were loudly cheered on making their appearance and taking their seats at the table. On the motion of Mr. CORNELIUS BOURN E, seconded by Mr. DUNCAN GIBE, Sir THOMAS BRANCKER was unani mously requested to take the chair. The CHAIRMAN, in commencing the proceedings, said— Gentlernen, as our political opponents have thought fit to hold a meeting, for the purpose of petitioning against the bill now before the House of Commons, for the amendment of the registration of voters in Ireland, known by the name of Lord Stanley's bill, it has been considered advisable that we should hold a meeting to express our opinions thereon— (hear, hear)—in order that the petitions issuing from the meeting held in Clayton-square may not be considered as expressing the opinions of this great community. (Hear, hear.) The friends of ministers are very loud in calling for " justice" to Ireland ; but it appears to me that their mean ing of the term " justice" varies from one year to another, inasmuch as two or three years ago they wished to carry something very like the present measure —(hear, hear)—but finding it would operate against their interests, they now turn round and oppose a measure which will tend, more than any thing else, to put down that system'of fraud and delusion which has been prevalent in the Irish registries for so many years. (Hear.) We also wish for justice to Ireland— cheers—for strict and substantial justice to all parties, in order that the respectable, honest, upright voter, on both sides the question, shall be the person entitled to return members to Parliament, and not those who get on the list under false colours. (Loud cheers.) The chairman con cluded by calling on Mr. James Aspinall to move the first resolution. Mr. JAMES ASPINALL then came forward, and was re ceived with enthusiastic cheering. He said—Gentlemen and brother Conservatives ! It is with feelings of deep regret I am called upon to move the first resolution, on two accounts —first, knowing my inability to address an assembly like the present ; and secondly, on account of the indisposition of the gentleman who was expected to undertake this part of the proceedings—l mean Mr. Adam Hodgson. (Cheers.) But however unable we may be to express our feelings, yet, when on any occasion we are called upon, our duty should get the better of our feelings, and we should do our utmost to pro mote the cause we have espoused. With your permission I will read Mr. Hodgson's letter, which exactly coincides with my own views. Everton Wednesday Morning. "My dear sir,—lt is with feelings of great regret and-dis appointment that I find myself entirely unable this morning to attend the meeting. It is an occasion on which I should have particularly wished to be present, and to express what I feel. I think the question simply is, whether a bill, honest in its object, just in its principles, wise and equitable in its provisions, and effective in its operation for purposes the most necessary, is to be rejected by the House of Commons, because it crosses the path of an Irish agitator, and opposes a barrier to dishonest proCeedings, and corrupt and corrupt ing influences. Whether an assembly of English gentlemen, sitting as the legislator s of a free country, are to be cowed and bullied, and made to eat their words by the blusterings and frantic menaces of a man whose influence is as disgrace ful to those over whom it is exercised, as it must be disgust ing to every right-thinking man in the country. I trust the meeting to-day will respond with an indignant negative, and do their part to resist that downward and reckless course by which the constitution is endangered, and with it, I am per suaded, the best security for the civil and religious liberty of this great empire.—Believe me always, most sincerely yours, A. HODGSON." Perhaps, gentlemen. it may be necessary for me to make a few remarks in addition; and as this is the first'time I ever presumed to address a meeting in this theatre, I'-claim your attention for a few moments. The meeting reAlay was called in consequence of a meeting that was heldlast Mon day week, in Clayton-square, purporting to ' speak the opinions of the people of Liverpool. (Hear.) I thought, with a great number of other conservatives, that those'opinions could not be our opinions; and having consulted each other, we determined to appeal to the conservatives of Liverpool. I am glad to see when I look to the back of the' gallery, that we have not appealed in vain. (Cheers.) Gentlemen, I have always found that when any subject cannot be defended by argument, it is invariably supported by scurrility and, abuse. (Hear.) I have weighed attentively the speeches of those gentlemen who addressed the meeting in the square, and I say unhesitatingly, that more disgraceful language was never used in attacking the private character of any indivi dual. (Hear.) I well remember the time when the name of Edward Geoffrey Stanley was held up as one of the brightest ornaments of our universities, and as one of the most rising young men in the nation. • I well yemember when he was a member of Lord Grey's administration, and a reformer, that there was nothing too good, or too great,' to be heaped upon him. But *hat is he now ? He stopped with my Lord Grey when he saw reform had .gone as far as he thought safe, but because he will go no further he is every thing that is bad, every thing that is• disgraceful—nay every opprobrious term has been heaped upon him which could be found in the English tongue. (Hear.) I well re member the time when Mr. Edward Geoffrey Stanley (as he then was) was not called either " a sprig of nobility," or " the accident of an accident," or " insolent, arrogant, and impudent." I cannot recollect all the foul words that are applied to him, but I refer you for them to the columns of the Liverpool Mercury, in the report of the proceedings in Clayton-square. Look at the flag which Ras at the feet of the gentlethen who spoke on that occasion. lam sure if those gentlemen had any correct feelings within their breasts, they would not have suffered it to be there. They could not have seen it, I think ; I' hope-they did not. On that flag was inscribed " Scorpion Stanley." (Hear, hear, and Shame.) Now I ask you if this was any argument against Lord Stan ley's bill? (No, no.) They protested against the bill, yet their only argument was personal abuse of Lord Stanley. (Hear.)' Was it fitting, then,, that the result of that meet ing should go forth as the opinions of the people of Liver pool ? (Cries of " No, no.") lam detaining you too long. (No, no.) I am not prepared to speak. (Cries of "Go on.") This resolution was put into my hands when I came here. My heart and soul are with it, and with every word of Mr. Hodgson's letter. Mr. Aspinall then moved the adop tion of-the resolution, which is as follows : " That this meeting, in common with all true friends of Ireland, deplores the existing system for registering electors in that country, and is fully persuaded of its lamentable ten dency to promote deception, fraud, and the most appalling perjury ; that, by reason thereof, many persons not entitled to exercise the elective franchise retain it by means the most disgraceful, and that the mischievous consequences of such a system require the immediate remedy of an act of parlia ment." Mr. NICHOLAS ROBINSON said his friends, the chairman and Mr. Aspinall, had so fully explained the origin and pur pose of the meeting, that he should content himself with merely seconding the resolution. The CHAIRMAN then put the resolution, and it was car ried amidst great applause. Only three hands were held up in opposition to it. The Rev. HUGH M'NEILE was next introduced to the meeting, and he was saluted with many distinct rounds of cheers. The applause having subsided, the rev. gentleman proceeded to speak as follows :-1 have been requested to move— . " That this meeting has Apserved with much satisfaction the introduction into the Hffse of Commons, by Lord Stan ley, of a bill, entitled `"A Bill to amend the laws relating to the Registration of Voters in Ireland ;' and that this meet ing, upon a careful consideration of the wise provisions of that bill, considers it in many respects calculated to remedy the evils in the registration system of Ireland." Sir Thomas Brancker, gentlemen, fellow-townsmen, and fellow-operatives,—l do not feel that, as a clergyman of the national church, I need offer any apology for taking part in a cause which involves the question of national morals. (Hear.) By the friends of truth and honesty and fair deal ing, no apology will be required ; and to the friends of fraud and perjury, no apology is due. (Loud cheers.) Sir, if the agitation of this question during the recess had been confined to Ireland, we might have been well content to leave our opponents in the hands of the men of Ulster. (Hear, hear.) I for one should have been quite content to have allowed the report of the meeting held in Belfast last Saturday week to have gone forth through the length and breadth of Great Britain, as more than an answer to all the flagrant abuse of Lord Stanley, all the wilful misrepresentations of his bill, and all the insolent threatenings of the repeal of the union, which form the staple commodity of the Corn-Exchange orations in Dublin. (Hear.) Yes, sir, to the brief, clear, and statesman-like enumeration by Mr. Dunbar of the bills similar in principle to that proposed by Lord Stanley which had been introduced by the friends and members of the pre sent government ; to the practical appeal to facts made by Mr. Bates, illustrated by the state of the register in Belfast; to the logical examination of this bill by Mr. Emerson Ten nant (cheers), with his triumphant refutation of the misre presentations that have been heaped upon it ; and, though last not least, to the crushing grasp of the Presbyterian giant, Dr. Cook—(immense applause) ;—to these men of Ulster, I say, we might quietly have consigned the great wholesale agitator, with all the petty retailers of his— (A sudden burst of cheering drowned the conclusion of the sentence.) But the fact is, sir, that the agitator had failed to excite any thing like popular enthusiasm in Ireland upon this subject. (Hear.) He had meetings certainly, but they were meetings more calculated to disappoint than to encourage even his own party—(loud cheers) ; they were the laborious results of local effort, rather than the spontaneous outbreakings of any general feeling. (Hear, and cheers.) I say this upon the authority of an unwilling, and therefore so far an unsus picious, witness ; I say it upon the authority of that organ of the press at once ministerial and revolutionary, which re joices in the name of the Dublin Monitor. (Hear.) Hearken to his eloquent lamentations. (Hear.) He says : " A fatal feeling of apathy, joined with a suspicion of all new schemes of agitation, has taken possession of the popu lar mind." I should not at all wonder. (Hear.) He says further:— " There is no wisdom in disguising this truth, of which we daily see most lamentable proofs. It is true, that always a certain demonstration can be made by Mr. O'Connell in favour of the expedient of the hour; but even his vast abili ties, comprehensive and splendid as they are, cannot impart anything like the tone and potency of former times to even the most popular movement of the day." I still quote from the Dublin Monitor:— " Take Stanley's odious registration bill, for instance—a bill which, if it ever becomes law, will, as assuredly as the sun will rise to-morrow, destroy the Irish elective franchise conferred by the reform act ; and in what manner, we ask, has the call to meet and petition against that infamous and detestable measure been responded to by the country ? Why, that we have had meetings, it is most true—that many more will be held, is also true ; but where is the zeal—the activity —the alertness—the simultaneous uprising—above all, the living bond of union and brotherhood among all classes of liberals, which was everywhere observable under the cheer ing influence of the Catholic Association? Turn which way we will we can now perceive no union among reformers—no cordial attachment to great principles—no fixed determina tion to resist oppression, at all commensurate with the crisis of affairs at which we have arrived. An 'isolated meeting here and there congregated, after great exertion, is not the evidence of national activity. They merely indicate how dead the people have become to questions vitally affecting their own interests, when, in such a momentous crisis, the movement is so partial—so exceedingly sluggish." So matters stood in Ireland, and the recess was drawing to a close, but, sir, just then, within a few days of the time fixed for the discussion of the bill in parliament, and when it was supposed there would be no time left to disabuse the mind of the public and of the House of Commons with regard to the sentiments of this great and influential town — just then, a meeting was convened, the chairman of it was put into communication with the government, and a petition with as many signatures as could be had was sent off ; addi tional sheets, as they were filled, were sent up from time to time up to what was supposed to be the last moment. But a delay has occurred. Sir Thomas Braucker I will not dis tress your feelings nor those of our kind friends around, by dwelling upon the atrocious deed that has occasioned that delay ; but I will ask you to say whether through the delay that has unexpectedly overtaken us, it has not become our bounden duty to disabuse the minds of the people of this country, and the minds of the members of the senate, and to show, to make it plain and palpable, that the party mana ging the meeting of last week do not represent either the wealth, the intelligence, the sound principle, or the parlia mentary constituency of this great and influential town? (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Not the wealth, Sir Thomas Braucker, for with the exception of my old friend Mr. Rath bone (hear, hear), against whom I find it my privilege to be once more opposed, and one or two others—l say with these exceptions, where were the merchant princes of Liverpool many of whom I see here ? (Cheers.) Not the intelligence Sir Thomas, for with the exception of our eloquent surgeon — and eloquent he is—he is an admirable speaker ; and he, on Monday week, seemed disposed to suit the action to the word, and bray Lord Stanley in a mortar, if he had but had him (hear, and laughter),—with this exception where, I say, were the literati, the philosophic tribes of Liverpool that day? (Hear, hear, hear.) Not the sound principle Sir Thomas, for with, the exception of a venerable alderman of Irish extraction (loud cheers and laughter)—l am sure you will not suppose I mean any reproach in that, for I am of Irish extraction too (continued cheering)—but I was going to add what I do not like so well. of Irish extraction, and of Italian creed. (Hear, hear; hear.) With that exception, I say, where was the sound principle of this town? (Hear, hear.) Not the parliamentary constituency, for the last time it was tried it polled, by a majority of between 400 and 500 votes, for two supporters of Lord Stanley's bill. (Loud cheers.) But, Sir Thomas, they met in the open air without being afraid of interruption. That is their boast. Well, I hail that boast as their unconscious tribute to the good st.nse, to the love of order, to the attachment to constitutional li berty that they can calculate upon in their political opponents. (Hear, hear.) Sir, we set too high a value upon the privi leges of the British constitution to attempt to interrupt any of our fellow-subjects when they are in the lawful exercise of those privileges—(hear, hear, hear) ;—and, therefore, when . . they convene 'a meeting for any specific object, to petition parliament, for example, against Lord Stanley's bill, they may have it anywhere, in any street, in any square—(hear) — and may fully rely upon conservative honour, upon conserva tive principle, upon conservative regard for decorum and the rights of the people, that no conservative will interrupt them in the exercise of their rights. (Loud cheers.) But one of their organs has threatened us, that if we dare to have a meeting out of doors we shall be interrupted. I should not at all wonder—hear, hear)—so little regard have extra bawlers for liberty for the real exercise of liberty, and for the even-handed justice of our constitution, that they would in trude themselves where they were not invited, and in the overflowings of their liberality disturb their fellow-towns men in the exercise of their lawful privileges. (Loud cheers.) What means their challenge to a discussion out of doors where brazen lungs would be of more use than either rea son or argument, and where the consequence could scarcely fail to be some unhappy collision among the less informed, and more easily impassioned parties that would assemble? (Hear.) Well, sir, we think that Lord Stanley's bill should pass into a law. We know something ofthe nature and working of the disease ; and we hail this bill as containing at least some approach towards a remedy. The working of the pre sent system is admirably described in an extract 1 have here from a petition lately presented to the House of Commons from the city and liberties of Cork. It says— " The names of all persons once placed upon the register remain there eight years, though such persons should have died or parted with the property or qualification in right of which they had been registered ; persons who have registered in one right have been also permitted to register again in other rights, and persons have also registered again and again in the same right ; in all which cases of expired qualifica tions, and repeated registration, the names remain on the re gister, without distinction, so that the list affords no means whatever of ascertaining the real number of voters, and a distinct certificate is granted, and remains outstanding, in respect of every expired qualification and repeated registra tion." Some of these are hard words. The thing itself is monstrous ; and it certainly is well that the features and movements of this monster shouldbe exposed in detail before the British public, that they may perceive the eggregious deformities of the beast. To exhibit all these iniquities would require a volume, yet it is necessary there should be some popular ex hibition of them. Sir Thomas, I will make a trial of one speci men. (Hear, hear.) It works through a number of indivi duals, and therefore the best way of giving a specimen is to trace an individual case. I will suppose the case of one Tom Cassidy. Tom registers in 1832 upon a certain right. In 1834 his qualification expired from some cause—the expira ration of a lease, or some other cause. He ceased then to be a legal voter, but his name remained up on th e •list ; then there was 'one Tom Cassidy upon the list but no such legal voter. In 1835 Tom Cassidy registered upon another right, and his name was again put upon the list ; then we have two Tom Cassidy's upon the list, and only one legal voter of that name. In 1836 his right again lapsed—his qualification ceased; then there were two Tom Cassidy's upon the list, but not a voter at all of that name in the district. (Hear.) Let us trace him a little further. In 1837 be registered again upon a new right, and then went Toni Cassidy a third time upon the list. So matters stood : three Tom Cassidys upon the list, and one Torn Cassidy a voter till 1839, when Tom Cassidy died. Then, there were three Tom Cassidy's upon the list, and ne'er a voter at all of that name in the parish. (Hear, hear, hear.) Then comes an election. Upon the eve of an election, when the Romish priests, thoSe gentlemen who take no part in politics, come to examine the register, they find Tom Cassidy, 1832, Tom CaSsidy, 1835, and Tom Cassidy, 1837—then there are three good votes, provided they could find three good Tom Cassidys. (Hear.) Enquiry is made, and the first news that comes to "his reverence " is that Tom Cassidy is dead. Now in ordinary honest hands that would put an end to the matter, and in Protestant hands so it does ; but let me tell you that a graduate at Maynooth is not an ordinary hand. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) Nothing daunted by the death of Tom Cassidy, he seti about finding persons, that the votes upon the list may not be lost. Now there is in the parish a young man called, Michael, or as they say there, Mikel Cassidy. He may be a distant relation ; the surname is the same, and that is a part of the qualification. (Hear, hear.) The priest sends for him ; he gets him into a real tete a tete in the sanc tum sanctoriim, and says to him, " Mikel, yer rogue, is not yer name Tom ? " (Laughter.) I desire it to be under stood, that the expression, "yer rogue," is an Irish appella tion of endearment, and not a term of reproach. My Irish hearers in this meeting will be at no loss to understand that, and if our English friends will only to call to remembrance, a tenth part of the entertainment they have derived from the volumes of Miss Edgeworth, they will have abundance of proqf of the accuracy of the interpretation here given; but e.V"n Miss Edgeworth, with all her graphic powers of description, can' give no idea of the mixture of persuasion and authority—classically of the suaviter in modo, with the fortiter in re, and more classically still of the combina tion of mavourneen and nabochlish, with which a good stout and well fed priest canvasses a poor trembling bog trotter. (Hear, and laughter.) " Mikel, my jewil, is n't yer name Tom ? " Now, tho' Michael is young, he is no fool. Mikel smiles a bit, and with great meekness he says, " Is n't it yer riv'rence that should know dhe best, for was n't it you that kristen'd me ? " (Loud laughter) " Tom Cassidy ye are the very man that registered in 1832—g0 to the elec tion, and support yer church, and support that ornament of yer church the great mimber whose piety is equal to his vera city, and when I say that, I say multum in parvo, which as ye do not understand Latan, Mick, so much the bether. (Laughter.) Gn to the election I say, and give yer vote, and if they ask who for, here is a paper for you to shew : swear that you are Tom Cassidy that registered in 1832—lave the rest to me ; do not talk much : it any heretic attorney asks you questions do not answer him ; and drink no whiskey till the election is over." (Immense laughter.) A similar pro cess discovers another obedient son of the church for Tom Cassidy 1835, and another for Tom Cassidy 1837, so, by the working of the present registration law in Ireland in compe tent hands, three living men record their votes upon the name and qualification of one dead man: (Hear, hear.) Now, sir, this will account for that otherwise unaccountable state ment made by Mr. Bates at the Belfast meeting with regard to the Belfast register, which I have copied here. He says— " Although the electors fairly entitled to vote in this bo rough now only amounted to about 2,000, yet there were no less than about 5,600 names on the register, for every one of which names a"vote might be tendered, and could not be re fused at the poll." Sir, this ought to be called the perjury encouragement sys tem. (Hear, hear.) And yet I can fancy that something may be said upon its behalf. I can imagine an excuse, a strange sort of an excuse, for this system, Sir Thomas. It is agreed by all sound moralists and it will be responded to by every generous heart susceptible of the emotions of grati tude, that " one good turn deserves another." Well, now, sir, if the church can do a good turn to the inhabitants of Purgatory by prayers and masses, lightening their pains by hundreds of years, is it too much to ask in return that the inhabitants of Purgatory should do a good turn to the church, by lending them their names, and qualifications, and votes, for two—four—six—or eight years ? (Loud laughter.) I have seen, Sir Thomas, the printed paper s o f some of the Purgatorial Societies, but they are all on a small scale com pared to this—this is the great Purgatorial Reciprocity So ciety, of which the British Parliament are the secretaries and Irish Romish priests the treasurers. (Cheers) Yet this is the system with which our liberals are so enamoured that they cannot bear any approach even to an attempt to alter it. (Hear.) It is not merely that they object to certain provi sions of this proposed bill, but they object to go into the in quiry entirely ; they object to go into committee ; they refuse to have any change made in the present system. I will give you a specimen now, Sir Thomas, of their oratory upon this subject. It is a simile. There is nothing that requires in a speaker a more complete mastery of his subject than a Simile or illustration. Now, referring to the Liverpool Mer cury of last Friday, I find this illustration ascribed to Mr. W. W. Currie, " town councillor," for so he is called. He says-- " Lord Stanley put him in mind (if he might use the simile) of a gardener, who had a garden full of vegetable plants, into which some weeds had crept, and who, in order to get rid of the weeds, took his scythe and spade, and cut or dug up the whole garden, destroying; flowers and weeds together. But they would not let Lord Stanley get into the elective garden of Ireland." You will observe that Mr. Currie here admits there are weeds. Well. • He represents Lord Stanley as coming with a very inappropriate weapon, namely, a scythe. What do we say ? We say, " take the scythe into committee, examine the garden, examine the size of the blade, see if it cuts too indiscriminately, and if it does, reduce it to the hoe, and put it into hands that know how to weed." (Great cheering.) But what say they ? They say, " No, we won't go into committee ; we won't examine the garden ;" although they have acknowledged there are weeds in it. " We want not to have either the hoe or the scythe ; the weeds are working favourably for us, stand out of the way;—(hear, hear)—we will have no change whatever." (Hear, hear.) Now, I ask, Sir Thomas, in the face of this, who are the farmers of abuses? Who are the corruptionists ? (Hear, hear.) Who are the defenders of the weeds ? (Cries of " the Whigs, the Whigs.") Lord Stanley's bill proposes a remedy chiefly by two provisions. The first and the simplest that I would call attention to, is the annual revision of the list, whereby you observe we should get rid of Tom Cassidy in his proper time and place. The annual revision has for its object not to deprive any bona fide legal voter of his franchise, but simply to remove once a year from the roll the names of those who have died, of those who have changed their residence to some other part of the country, or. who have in any other way ceased to be legal voters. (Hear.) Who, I would ask, could refuse that this should pass into a law? (Cries of " Nobody.") Surely the men who refuse annual revision must be epicures in corruption ! (Cheers.) Why, this annual revision was loudly demanded by the very men who now denounce, and loudly denounce, it. (Hear, hear.) When this part of the reform bill was in the House of Com mons in committee in July 1832, Mr. Daniel O'Connell spoke thus : " By a subsequent clause these certificates of registry are to stand good without renewal for eight years; but - I call for an annual scrutiny. We can have no self-protection with out it." See what a singular coincidence there is between his illustration and mine ! "If a voter on a certificate — John Moroney for instance—dies, there will still be a John Moroney living when the polling time arrives. In England the scrutiny is annual, as it ought to be in Ireland." "At the election a John Moroney may come forward, and if you exclude an annual scrutiny the fraud cannot be detected that he is not the person to whom the certificate was originally granted. It is impossible that this plan can last longer than a year, because in a reformed parliament the common-sense English plan will be extended to Ireland. I must really suggest that it would be better at once to give us an annual scrutiny, and put us on the same footing with England." " I cannot help again observing, that unless there is an an nual scrutiny great facilities to fraud will be afforded, be cause when once a certificate is obtained it is to last for eight years, and into whose hands soever it may fall, that party will be able to vote, because the production of the certificate is made conclusive evidence of the right. So that a party may die, and the franchise be terminated, yet the certificate may be made available, the only thing required being to swallow a single oath at the hustings. Why not, then, ex tend to Ireland the system adopted in England ?" - So spoke Mr. O'Connell in 1832. (Hear, hear.) Lord Stanley, profiting by the experience of what Mr. O'Connell thus predicted, demands an annual scrutiny. (Hear, hear.) In the meantime, however, the perjury-encouragement sys tem has been found convenient by the par excellence re ' formers ; the purgatorial reciprocity society has enabled the priests to keep the requisite number of joints to the agita tor's tail (hear); and now when Lord Stanley asks for that annual scrutiny for which Mr. O'Connell himself in 1832 asked, Mr. O'Connell turns round, and, with incomparable insolence, dares England, threatens—aye lie threatens—that if the English parliament shall dare to pass a certain bill, his millions shall violate the integrity of the empire, and dissolve the legislative union. (Hear, and cheers.) This threat was repeated by Dr. WIlale; it was repeated again, after his own fashion, by Priest Maguire ; and, crossing the Channel , it was reverberated from Clayton-square. (Cheers.) The aforementioned alderman said,—" The resolution told them, that if this bill should pass into a law, it would add to the arguments in favour of a repeal of the union. Just consider for a moment," exclaimed the speaker, " add to the argu ments for repeal? Why, it will carry the repeal s. ' (Tre mendous cheers.)" Now, for a gentleman who professes a vast attachment to the British constitution., the high privi lege of which is that parliament shall pass laws—l say for sucha gentleman to stand forth to browbeat parliament, and to threaten them with a dissolution of the integrity of the empire if they dare to pass a certain law, this is the radical version of liberalised liberty. (Hear, hear, and cheers.) But it was objected in that same meeting in the Square against Lord Stanley's bill, that it threw difficulties in the way of the poor claimant for his right. (Hear.) There are two clauses in this bill; the one is for exacting costs from frivolous claimants, and the other is an enactment of costs against frivolous objectors to claimants. Now one side of this has been sedulously put forward, and the other side has been as carefully kept back. (Hear, hear.) Mr. Rathbone is reported to have said, after describing, and as I think misrepresenting, the difficulties in the way of a claim ant, introducing the unfortunate poor man —" . Suppose this unfortunate man failed to establish his rights, he was to be fined £5 !" (Hisses and groans.) Here's a grievance Now I think, it' Mr Rathbone had intended to communicate to the people of Liverpool sound instruction, and correct views concerning Lord Stanley's bill, he would have added to this " that suppose any person to object to the claim of this un fortunate man, and not to establish his objection, he als o must be fined £5." (Immense cheers.) This clause gives protection to the poor honest man against frivolous objec tors, whilst the other clause is not designed as a hindranc e to ie honest man, but as a hindrance to a fraudulent knave. (Cheers.) I say this clause which gives protection to the honest poor man against a frivolous objection, would not have answered the purpose of exciting hisses and groans against Lord Stanley ; and it was studiously suppressed on Monday week in a speech professing to contain a description of the bill. (Cheers.) Now, sir, it may have been inadvertence , it may not have arisen either from ignorance of the provi sions of the bill, nor from any design to make a false impres' sion upon the auditory. I am willing to grant that Mr' Rathbone could not be expected to sift every clause in the bill ; I am willing to grant that this suppressin veil as las", yers say, although it amounted to deception in the minds of the auditors, did not originate from any assertio falsi in th e mind of the speaker. lam willing to grant this, but I an t , sorry to say there is another statement recorded in this spee ch for which no such apology can be made. ,He is reported to have said further concerning this unfortunate man, " he wa g to go from his place of work when he was perhaps earning only 9s. a week, and he had to go to establish his registra tion." Here is an attempt to excite compassion for the poor man—a little touch of pathos, by a reference to the amou r t of his hard earned wages, and' it is imputed to the Briti sh public that Lord Stanley's bill imposes additional hardship' upon the poor man, by dragging him a distance from howe to make good his register. • Now what is the fact ? (Hear . hear.) The fact is, and what will the people of Liverpo, think of the information they received from Clayton-sq st eer when they know the fact—the fact is, that the present systein of registration obliges the poor man to go to the assize tow% no matter what the distance may be—(hear, hear,) --4° , Lord'Stanley's bill provides, for the first time, to make th'' lists parochial—it brings the registry to the poor man's door (Long continu'id cheers.) I quote again from the lang ua e ( e i of one of those gentlemen, who•in co-operation with Ll° Stanley, prepared this very bill. " be denied."' says Mr. Emerson Tennant , th, a ! it is a facility extended to him to have the registry brae:, to his own parish and his own door, as this - bill- will do t ° l the first time, instead of dragging him from the farm to ttl d e , quarter sessions town to b e reg i s t ere d ? Will it be deni er ' that it will be a signal facility to him to have his name eall_ e in the parish in which he resid es , an d reg i stere d a t onc e, without of scsin without the tedious delay of calling over a l ong thousand names ?"- These are the advantages to be attained, which are P 1 per to be attained, and by your help they will be attain!, (Cheers.) In like manner Nlr. Emerson Tennant dig-St„e.,s_ of certain other objections which were advanced by Crawford in Ireland, and reiterated, encored, in Clay ton, square. With your permission I will read a -quotation fr°7, Mr. Tennant's speech upon this subject ; it would be m a i graphic if we substitute:, another name for Mr. Crawi br and quite as true : " Why, Mr. Crawford seems to know as little of the pr i °7 l tice under the present- law as he manifestly does of the he discusses, and which will, I believe, very shortly be I° "t He seems to be ignorant that in his own county, a lmost ,s i his own dcor, on the estates of the noble marquis near D i o o (Lord Downshire), arid other landlords, these partial" are at present, and have been for years, inserted in every ir e tice to register; and I have yet to learn that any extenso disfranchisement has taken place in consequence." It was to this Mr. Rathbone referred, I suppose, when he s„ . , in the square, " it was an inquisitorial notice, that it v ,.. impossible for a poor man to mention all these particulairs,; considering the irregular way in which these things " .t e . e done in Ireland." I want just to tell you what tl_7r, things are, and I will do • so in the language of Tennant : he says, " The number of particulars re, vired instead of twenty is ten, and what are theY.: irst the name of the claimant." Now certainly the re ; some justice in Mr. Rathbone's remark, that owing W.! 0 irregular way in which such things are done in Ireland, itr very hard to get the real name of the claimant. (Il ea Here is the substantial difficulty in the way of an hoilem man—it is hard for him to know his own name, when t ,rie. very man that christened him assures him it is another D a- I I (Hear, hear.) " Second, his professiosf." It is hard email,. for some men to • write down what their professio l , Third, his residence." I can easily conceive it a ° .i t o that would require the ingenuity of a lawyer for a ma" to has no qualifying residence to write down a residence, son' a ii. qualify him. (Cheers.) " Fourth, the nature of the qua fication." It is still harder to write down that which e ' '' t he not ; it supposes he knows the farm without going t°, 4 . priest ; it supposes a bona fide tenancy as his real quahl'r.) tion and it is very difficult to write that down. (li ej sy " Fifth, its situation." It does not require much geogrsp for a man to write down where his own house is ; he is the required to give the longitude and latitude, but merely „„ 4 name of the town-land, or the name of the street, or per b le the name 9f the square. (Hear, and laughter.) " Sixtb i ' t he must tell in what right he claims ; seventh, he must teh l occupying - .,enant ; eighth, the value." I quite believe l a te difficult at all times to state the real value, and it is still t " in difficult to state the imaginary value. " Ninth, the live s w his lease, and tenth, the date of his possession withi n " a a last twelve months." So that, literally, as Mr. Elme r : it Tennant says, all that is required to be done is to write a" were the following : u , " William Sharman Crawford, gentl eman , C raw fords i b l, rn - claims to register out of land situated i n th e p ar i s h of " v t l e• wood, barony of Ards, as a freeholder, himself being th e ae nant in possession, the value of 4:50 per annum, and his . ' in fee." , s e in That is it. It is practically d one i n a ll t h e c l a i ms 110 "; t a- England ; although not enumera t e d i n t h e l etter o f the : : oa , tute, they are complied with in every schedule in o peranop Mr. Tennant thus strips th e case o f t h e attr ib ute d hard' of which so much was made at the meeting in Clayton-s c l u slng and which Mr. Rathb one ca ll s an i nquisitor i a l p l an ten sips to deprive the poor man o f hi s franch i se. (H ear .) MO it is argued that the o bj ect o f re q uiring'all these particu, o t is to afford means of making frivolous objections ag nl e ntl claimants, by the detection of some flaw in his notice; ~a s e in the case of such flaw, or the omission of any one of t'i t he items required, the 2.5 th clause renders it imperative onto barrister to reject the claimant." Such is the (Me e his stated by Mr. Crawford, and reiterated by the party o n side. Now listen to the answer : I A ail' It is really inconceivable that M r . C raw f or d shot-P. - t l,i . thorise by his name so obvious a misrepresentation as a il}" Why, if there be one provision in the bill which more Tao than another bespeaks an anxious desire to facilitate allii,rtlas, tect the bona fide franchise, it is the one connected wit" a tea very clause. I wish particularly that this should be att e „ j v as to. At the present moment, the law, harsh and arbitra; s i e sr , it is, stands as Mr. Crawford has described. (Hear , :.' ets l• and loud cheers.) The slightest error in the notice is ; ir e]," Will it be beli eve d, th a t b y thi s very bill th a t ev il is en: ter done away with, an d th e o b s t ac l e no l onger a ll owe d to o l o ble cept the acquisition of the franchise ? Hear what the n ol t re and high-minded legislator, who really purposes thew s„r of the people, d es i res t o enac t. A n un i n t en ti o nal ei7,01; i present is fatal ; but turn to clause 26th of the bill, and " a pd be found, for the first time, that it shall no longer be s, ° „' s of p in' mistake an assistant-barrister is to be compelled to red"' ar mistake or omission into which the claimant may hav e t ali' tentionally fallen, and which was not obviously meant to Tro pp lead the public. Mr. Crawford makes his quo tatioy s the 25th clause ; this provision is in the 26th, and it is T 1 de' ' And be it enacted, that no misnomer or inaccuff: e ., amiY, scmiption of any person or place named or described• t er of schedule to this act annexed, or in army list or regisyose voters, or in any notice required by this act, shall in ail pe to, prevent or abridge the operation of this act with re s P - oah such person or place, provided that such person or Placiese, ii be so designated in such schedule, list, register, or not t joy to be commonly understood; and that every assista n ha ll be rister shall have power to correct any mistake which s4ts, as proved to him to have been made in arty i of the said li s te d iii to any of the particulars by this act required to be ins' , t such lists respectively.' " ~ ,ht 0 1 1 • So that no technical mistake shall interfere with th e rb iron, the poor man, whereas a technical!nistake now rna de i c a y no nt does interTere with his right. (Cheers.) But, sir, ~e v erY forbear adducing one clause more, because it go es to L t ec tions point which causes the whole real gravamen of the oui os es O s , against this bill. I have already said, that it 10°P..,ainf' enact costs against frivolous claimants, and costss&icriejja; frivolous objections. Now the costs against frivo lon ants will have this operation undoubtedly. It is n°"eatire that, throughout the Roman Catholic counties, th e h ods m a n agement of the registratio n of electors is in itl:e_awes, of the Roman Catholic priests, who return tl serve the notices, attend the court, and bring up th . e,.. ia ptS ants. It is equally well known that' of these elal u rat io thousands come unwilling victims- -to the reg t. 's a fter: court, compelled to accept the franchise, 1 waie. o ,. the :: wards they are compelled to use at the . bidding fication priest. whichWo r s t their e a i l r l t o h w e n y are conscience compelledte tells s o t s h w em ear th to ey d o vat possess. What is there, now, to prevent this system of