The Press.
London, England, 1853-05-21 00:00:00

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AMSTOM—The official declaration of the poll
which was made on Saturday last was looked for
with much interest, the contest having been exceed-
ingly close, and the statements so conflicting on the
slay of the election as to occasion some doubt as to
the real issue. The numbers, after a minute exami-
nation, were declared by the Mayor to he :—For 3lr.
Lee, 747; Mr. I). Martin, 737. Majority for the
Liberal candidate, 10.
IIARNSTAM.E.—There arc already three candidates for
this borough, both seats for which have been declared
vacant. Lord Ebrington has again come forward, as
an avowed Ministerialist. Mr. Tite, the architect,
has also issued on address, in which he declares him-
self a supporter of the Government. The only Con-
servative candidate is Mr. Guinness, who comes
forward on the same principles as those which were
advocated by the late members.
HAMVICH.—Sir William A. Frazer, the late un-
seated member for Barnstaple, and Mr. Montague
Peaeocke, have put forth addresses to the electors of
this borough.

Tim 'Nemirow.En SOCIETY for Promoting the
Enlargement, Building, and Repairing of Churches
and Chapels held their annual meeting on Monday.
The I,ord Bishop of Oxford took the ehair. Among
other members present were the Earl of Powis, the
Bishops of Bangor, Salisbury, t iloncester and Bristol,
St. Asaph. and Hndon'. The customary formal
business having been transacted the meeting pro-
ceeded to consider applications received, and granted
assistance for the following objects Building
churches at Itranston, in the parish of Burton-on-
Trent ; Northam, in the parish of St. Mary, South-
ampton ; Mithian, in the parish of St. Agnes.
Cornwall ; Holyhead, Willaston, in the parish of
Neston, Cheshire ; Idridgeliar, in the parish of
Worksworth, Derbyshire. Rebuilding churches at
Burbage, near Marlborough. and Pontyreh, near
Cardiff. Enlarging, &v., churebes at Brompton
Regis Somesetshire ; Southbonrne, in the parish of
Eastbourne, Sussex ; Leigh, near Sherborne, Dorset ;
East Loekinge, near Wantage, Berks ; Brighston,
near Newport, Isle of Wight ; Shottesbmoke, near
Maidenhead ; and Langhorne, Cormarthenshire. The
grants formerly made for building a church at

THE PRESS.

Brightside, in the parish of Sheffield, and for enlarg-
ing the churches at Little liallingltry, CreNem,
Great Crosby, and Manilla, were increased under
the peculiar circumstances or those cases.
THE thirty-seventh annual meeting of the Peice
Socirry was held on Tuesday evening in Finsbury
Chapel, Mr. Henry Pees, of Darlington, in the ab-
sence of Mr. C. Hindley, M.P., presiding.
THE twentieth annual general meeting of the
BRITDI AND FOREION SAILOIDi. SOCIETY was held at
the London Tavern on Tuesday, Rear-Admiral C. It.
Moorsom, V.P., in the chair. The report stated that,
in consequence of a donation of 501. having been
given for the purpose of providing additional mis-
sionaries to labour on the Thames, two had been
added to the staff, which now amounted to eight. By
this means a more efficient system of ship visitation
had been established, and the major part of the
15,000 sailers who are said to he always within the
port of London are brought into contact with Christian
men and Gospel truth. During the past year 1,130
Bibles had been sold by the society's agents to sailors
in the port of London alone. In connection with the
Sailors' Church, in which three services are held
every Sabbath and two during the week, a Sunday
School and a Relieving Society have been established,
and are in efficient and useful operation. The re-
ports from auxiliaries in various parts of Great
Britain and Ireland are of a very satisfactory nature.
The total receipts from all sources unmounted to
2,0010. 4s. sd.
THE annual meeting of the BRITISH AND FOREIGN
ANTI-ShAVERY Smiewri drew a crowded audience to
Exeter-hall on Monday. The Earl of Shaftesbury
took the chair, and Professor Stowe and the Bev.
Charles Beecher sat close at hand. Much excitement
was manifested by the audience in consequence of
its having been intimated that Mrs. Stowe would be
present. So dense was the throng that many hun-
dreds were unable to obtain admittance, and at an
early stage of the meeting a holy who ;tad fainted
was removed front the hall by the policemen in
attendance. The report gave a satisfactory account
of the progress and prospects of the society, and
stated that increased interest was being manifested
in the free-labour movement, but nevertheless the
efforts which the slave power in America was making
to extend and perpetuate the system demanded
increased watchfulness and unabated exertion on the
pan of the society. The second resolution having
been moved by the Rev. W. Brock,
- - -• • •

"That the meetinc, impressed with a conviction of the inherent
ainfulness of Isllll.l,llOhling, and of the doctrine that a human
being may Ie made a chattel, and become property to his fellow-
Mall, deem it incumbent ittsM them to 11101441 L to the principle of
imusettiate and unconditional emancipation, as the only one that.
is Vllll4OOll with the riolutaof the KIM'S', Mill the ditty of the
master. And regarding' the litililitelOttlet, of slavery In t'lu•istian
communities as a disgrace ►o humanity, a distentior to eirilisa-
that, and MI 01*trap upon reliq , would affirm it as their con-
viction that it is the duty of elinstions, of all denominations, and
in all countries, to lift up their voices in imeompromising con-
demnation of an iniquity so iniinstriiiis: and to employ all nutt•ul
and pacific Illealla W ethict 11:4 re al ;"
the 'Rev. Samuel Ward,of Canada, a negro. seconded
it. He urged that slavery in America was sanctioned
more by t.l►e conduct. of the people of the northern
states than by the acts of the inhabitants of the
southern. The north always had a majority in Con-
gress, and had assented to all the laws relating to
slavery which had been passed in that assembly.
The eonduet of the people of the north anise from
the feeling of pre.',ltilice which existed against all
negroes in the United States ; and this feet he en-
deavoured to prove by various anecdotes illustrative
of the state of degradation in which the black race
was kept. Another resolution was moved by Profes-
sor Stowe as follows :

" That. with a view to the correction of publie sentiment on this
atlitieet siMe-lioblilig Eton iiiiiii hies, it is of the first impornume
that those who are earnest in eonklemnation of slavery should ob-
serve consistency; nutl therrfore that it is their duty to elleoll-
ntge the tic‘clopment Of the natural resOltrees oft eountries
a here slavery does not exist, and the soil of which is adapted to
the oroalli of the prthinet +—especially lii eotiou—noa partially
or chiefly raised by slave labour; and this Meeting would ear.
nest)) revottimend liatt, lu itil eases Where it is pria•lleable, a tie-
'idea 10444.1141 re Attalla lie given to the pnalnrta of free labour.
by all who enter their protest against slavery."
It was it known fact. said the professor, that Great
Britain took four-fifths of the cotton grown in the
slave states, and he was quite sure that their demm-
eiations of slavery would be useless if they did not
let the slaveholders feel that they would no longer
possess themselves of a commodity which was the
produce of slave labour. Had it not been for the
assistance of the cotton-consumers of tireat Britain,
who were as blameable as the cotton-growers, the
system of slaNery would have been abolished
long ago.
Tin-: sixteenth annual meeting of the AnoithimEs.
l'itorEcrioN Socirrr was held on Wednesday night,
at the Friends' meeting-house, White Hart-court,
Lombard-street—Mr..l. Hell in the chair. The chair-
man. referring to the fact that England possessed 42
colonies scattered over the globe, warmly insisted
upon the necessity for such a society as that. to watch
them, and to prevent injustice to the natives. This
country of all others had a mission to and had
confided to it. the blessings of civilisation, which it,
was its duty to communicate to others ; yet it was

SATURDAY,

melancholy to see that, instead of imparting as its
first blessings to the heathen the principles of peace,
it presented the sword, accompanied by cruelty and
force. From the report, which was read by Dr.
Hodgkin, the hon. secretary, it appeared that a legacy
of 1(X1. had been received, but, notwithstanding this,
the society was still in debt. The report having been
adopted, and other resolutions carried, a vote of
thanks to the chairman terminated the proceedings.

THE tenth annual festival of the oOVERNESiEW
BENEVOLENT INI4TITIMON was celebrated on Wednes-
day at the London Tavern, under the presidency of
the Earl of Harrowby. The objects of the charity
are the relief of governesses in temporary difficulty,
the granting of annuities to aged governesses, the
securing of deferred annuities to governesses upon
their own payments, a home for the disengaged, free
registration, a college with classes and certificates
of qualification, and an asylum for the aged. The
claims of the charity weie very ably urged by the
chairman and the Rev. 0. Laing, the honorary
secretary, and it appeared from their statements that
its progress had been most satisfactory. There were
77 annuitants, of whom 22 were inmates of the asylum.
These 77 individuals were dependent not on transient
sources, but received their income from invested
capital. There were 154 immediate provident annui-
tants. The balance•sheet for Issl exceeded 20,000/.
The total amount thus saved by the self-sacrificing
class of governesses had exceeded 100,0001. Assist-
ance had been rendered to those in difficulty to the
extent of 1551.; '2lO persons had been received into
the house ; $OB persons had been provided with en-
gagements without charge ; and the governesses
attending 14$ free lectures were 137. On the whole
from 2,015) to 3,000 governesses had received material
aid and assistance. The proceedings of the evening
were highly encouraging, and subscriptions to the
amount of nearly 1,2001. were received.

OVER the destinies of the HORTICMTVRAL FETES
AT Ctuswtcx the weather holds undivided sway, and
on Saturday last decided that, between wind and cold
and the fear of rain, the brilliant company which are
wont to throng the gardens on such days of attraction
should be wofully thinned. The tardiness of spring
also denuded the grounds of the society of much of
their beauty, so that the first fete was held upon turf
where no young grass was springing, and beneath
trees still unprmided with their vernal garniture of
leaves. A corresponding prevalence of winter fashions
was also observable among the toilettes of the lady
visitants—sombre furs and velvets predominating
where richly•tinted summer costumes are ordinarily
displayed in unbroken va►iety. That portion of the
exhibition, however, which, being nurtured by science,
is now almost or altogether removed from the influ-
ence of the merely natural seasons, stood forth in un-
diminished luxuriance, and proved, perhaps, only the
more striking in comparison. The display of azaleas
was extremely tine, forming immense pyramids of
blossoms of every hue. One marquee was devoted to
roses, of which there was a perfect wilderness, in-
cluding many rare varieties of the tea, yellow, blush,
Se. The exotic orchids from Mexico, India, and
other tropical countries, of which the specimens were
also very tine, were much admired for the bizarre
and fautastie forms of their blossoms. The wonder
really was where, with such a sluing as has just
commenced, such magnificent and finely-developed
plants could have been produced. The bands of the
Coldstream', Ist Life Guards, and Grenadier t;nards,
were stationed in various parts of the grounds, and
performed during the (lay the customary selection of
popular and operatic music.