The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1861-07-02 00:00:00

POLITICAL INTELLIGENCE.

THE GREAT SEAL—Tbe anticipations of our Morn.
Mg contemporaries respecting Loideamphell'a suceeepor
on the woolsack are perfectly correct. In • few hour.
Sir Richard Bethell will receive the Great Seal froiu
the hands of Her Majesty. An no writ of Parliamenl
can issue without the seal, any delay in its transfer
would be productive of much administrative lucent's-
nience, and the immediate appointment of the new
Lord Chancellor is almost • matter of necessity. Upon
the death f Lord Csmpbell the Great Seal Wilt taken
possession of by Lord Granville, and returned to Her
I Majesty, in whom hands it now reinaina. So unprece-
dented are the present circumstances connected with
the cuatody of thi great national emblem of authority.
that we believe the Queen herself will sign the State
documents to which it is affixed until the new Is r I
Chancellor shall be in the full exercise of his authority.
The appointment of Sir Richard &Abell was sue which
the legal profession as will as the political world bad
foreseen as all but inevitable. None other in all respecte
so good could have been made. His transfer from the
Lower to the l'pper House will presente to the public
all the advantage of his constitutional experience in
almost the greatest office of the State; while the highest
judicial office of the Court of Chancery will be, it is
needless to say, most arpropriately filled by the most
eminent member of the equity bar. With referen,e to
the eac.ney among the biw officers caused by Sir It.
•lktiiri, .i pruniotisei, 'so hove at pu etent only to bay
that no arraii...mr:iits hove been made. The rumours
which prevaiepon the bubjeci are therefore rumours,
and nothing more,

In cotkequence of the elevation of Sir It. Dettloff to
the woolsack, Mr. S. Griffiths has homed an address to
the el.etors of Wolvcrlianipton. Ile announces himself
to be a liberal, and an advocate of all measures tend Mg.
to enlarge commercial inteleourse with the world. Idee
eepecially alludes to hi connexion with the iron
trade as qualifying him for the representation Of the
borough. Mr. Weguelin has also conic forward in
the liberal interest and Mr. Snavely Hill in the con-
servative. The nomination took place yesterday, and
the polling to-day (Tuesday.)
In the expectancy that a writ would be issued for the
borough of Wakefield, three candidates have offered
themselves for election Sir John Dalrymple, and
Major Edwards, conservatives, and Mr. Smethurst, of
Cliorley, liberal. The letter gentleman, if elected, will
give au earnest support to the present administretion.
He is also in favour of the ballot, and, though • church-
man, will vote for the abolition of all compulsory
church-rate*.

The writ for the election for the county of Longford
has been homed. There are four candidates in the field
—Colonel Luke Whit*, Major Francis Forbes, Captain
Kirwin, and Thomas O'Herron, Esq., Attorney-General
for Ireland, and all profeai liberal principles.
The Bill to amend the law of Church-rates, prepared
by Mr. Cross, Mr. Bank Stanhope, Mr. Heneage, and
Mr. Portman brie been printed. It provides that any
person desirous to avoid the payment of church-rates
must give notice in writing to the churchwardens, any
time between the Ist January and the let March in
each year, and he will be exempt for that year. The..
notiten may be withdrawn, if desired, by the person
sending them. The vestry may, if it thinks lit, permit
these notices to remain in force in subsequent years
No person giving such notice shall be entitled to vote in
reference to the appointment of any churchwarden or in
reference to any church-rate, nor to have any seat in
the church appropriated to him so long as the notice
remains in forte. The word "church' is to include
chapel, and district churches are to be as pariah churches.
The owners of tenements under the yearly value of BR
are to be assessed aa they are present to the poorlaw,
but they may claim estinption by sending in a written
notice before the lit March. The juriaiotion of the
Ecclosiaatical Courts in determining the validity of
church-rates ii, to be abolished, and rates are to be re-
covered from those persons liable to pay them in the
same manner as.poorrates. .

Mr. Cobden addressed a molt enthusiastic meeting of
his Constituents at Rochdale, on Wedneaday eveninf.
The hon. gentleman in the course of his remarks said
that he looked upon this treaty with France ow the
final stone of the pillar of free trade. The honour
was not due to him, but to the present Government
and their Chancellor of the Exchequer. (Applause.)
Ile then went on to speak of the advantages of drinking
French wines over port and sherry, and said that since
the treaty had been 'nada a friend of lois had looked
over the drinking songs of Simians', and he found that
in a past age they were nearly all in honour of French
sines, but the drinking songs were no longer no. His
friend accounted for it in this way, that when the
people drank the French winea they became merry,
when they came to drink port and sherry instead they
grew atupid and went tosleep. (Loughter and applause.)
Ile was not so sanguine as to the effect of this treaty
as to suppose that a great trade would spring up at
once, but he was sure that our social and political
relations with that country would and must be
firmer and more trustworthy. He repudiated
the ides that France was contemplating an
attack upon England. and they ought to pause before
they bell:wed the ipee dirit of not over-wise admirals on
that, subject. As to the naval armaments of the two
nations, he made an estimate that spring, and, including
the ten years preceding 1&58, this country had. deapite
all the outcry of the people of England SO to the navy
of Frauoe, spent half as much more as that country did.
There had always been a sort of tacit understanding
between the two countries that England should have a
nave about doable that of France. The fact was that
while England load apent on her navy hallos much more
as France, she had bail an advantage over that country
oof 20 per cent. She could build her engines at 30 per
oent. lesa, while her coals and stores each coat he 20 per
cent. less. What was the reason of all this expenditure,
then? Why, it was through the invasion panic and the
the admirable mismanagement of the Admiralty.
In 1850 it was seen that the application of steam to
ships of war was necessary, and that >u k ships would
superaede all the old nailing line of battle ships. Well,
what did France do; why she at once began to apply
steam to the new vessels she was building, and the old
die had built ; hut tine example was only in part
followed by England. SI e knew as well as France the
aolvautages of applying steam to her ship.. Our
Admiralty still continued to build sailing vessels after
the plan of old, and thus money was foolishly and
uselessly wasted. He then came to speak of five years
later, which included the Crimean war. A few vowels
had been covered with iron plate', and the French
Government, seeing tloe advantages of them, built two
iron covered shine, one of which was called La Gloire.
But our Admiralty since then had constantly been
amusing themvelves at Shoeburyness by getting Mr.
Whitworth and Sir Win. Armstrong to make cannon
which would send shot through these iron-plated ships.
The people out of doom could only correct this state of
thimpo. The idea which had been palmed off upon the
pulolic, that the French were building vessels to invade
this country was ridiculous, and he ventured upon his
toonscience to assert that no greater delusion
than that had been paloned upon • people
sines the days of Titus Oates. During the time
he was negociating the treaty with France,
the ride nooveinent in this country was being
carried on with Cl,!, greatest vigour. The speeches de-
livered at some of those meetings were of the met irri-
tating kind. At one of the meeting* • Somersetahire
farmer on being a,kel what, supposing th • French
were to invade England, he would charge than for hh
coroi, replied Cult it would only be bought by them at
the p ice of their bleed. He did not belie, e. amid he
had as good an opportunity of judging as ally WOO.
that the French nation ever contemplated invading
this country. lf he had ever believed it, if he had seen
that France was creating a navy equal to ours, he
should have been a traitor to his Queen cud country if
he had not denounced it with all his might. Before
France should have a navy equal to ours, without rea-
sous for having such navy, which she had not now, be
would vote one hundred millions sterling for the defence
of our country. After giving the statistic, of the wee
and boys in each navy, and other facts connected there-
with, the hon. gentleman went on to speak of what he
called the most lamentable, the most deplorable civil
car which was now going on in America. After briefly
speaking of co-operative societies and Parliamentary
lteform, the hon. gentleman resumed his seat amidst
great applause.

A meeting to inaugurate the opening of the
New Training College in connection with the British and
Foreign School Society, which has been erected at Stock.
well, was held on Wednesday. Lord John R•saell whoiiaa
for • long series of years taken an satire interest in the
operations of the society, presided. It appears that the
r.ew college is intended for the training 4.1 one hundred
female teachers, and tl:at the old institution in the
Borough-road is to be used exclusively for the training
of young men. The noble chairnsin, in a brief hut in-
teresting speech, spoke strongly in favour of an edam.
tion for the poor which was based upon scriptural princi-
ples ; commented in language of praise upon the practi-
cal acquaintance with cookery and domestic employmeht
which the institation afforded ; and indulged in a remi-
niscence of the labour,. of Wilberforce and Brougham,
W. Allen and S. Gorney, on behalf of the British and
Foreign School Society.
Bishop ('olenso (states the Summary of a Natal con-
temporary) has published a pamphlet, in the shape of •
letter tattle Archbishop of Canterbnry, on the proper
treatment of po'ygamy as found existing in the case of
converts from heathenism. The brochure is • clever
recapitulation of his Lordship's previously published
views on this question, fortifledisy authorities since 001' I
lected, and facts that hove subsequently transpired.
Dr. Coleus* does not consider polygamy to be • gin in
the case of heathens, neither does he hold it to be, in a
religious point of view,a crime under any circumstances
Our own impressi,m of the pamphlet is, that ea • matter
of expediency it will not have a happy effect on any of
the morals either of this or any other community. His
lordship is insicrre. and his arguments are strong and
specious; but we fear his seal in discussing and main-
taining that which he conscientiously believes to be
right, will mislead transgressors, who art sure to place
noon opinions emanating from so high an authority an
interpretation rather different to that contemplated or
desired by the learned author.
We are sorry to have toannounte that Lord Arbinger,
the brother-in-w of Lord Campbell, died at his seat
near Dorking, on Mundsy. The coincidence of his lord-
ship's death taking plaoe on the day following
that of his distinguished relative, is eertainly a singular
one.

The London Gazette of Tnesday night announces the
creation of an order of knighthood for India, to be
called "The Most Exalted Order of the Star of India."
The order is established for the purpose of affording to
the princes, chiefs, and people of the Indian empire a
public and signal testimony of the Queen's regard,
whereby her resolution to take upon herself the govern-
ment of the tsmrituries of India may be commemorated,
and by which her Majesty may be enabled to reward
couspicious merit and loyalty.
The anniversary dinner of the Licensed Victualler's
School took place at the Crystal Palace on Wednesday.
Cowards of 2000 sat down to dinner in the Central
transeept, ender the presidency of Mr. U. T. Bros.
,M 15. supported by Lord Ferinoy and Mr. Harvey
Lewis, the numbers for Marylebune. The chairman,
it. proposing the toast of the day said that they would
ho pleased to hear that within the hut few years 1,500
children, as well clothed, as happy, SI intelligent, and
as well brought up as the children before them, had
bees sent into the world by the society, and of this
number some 300 or 400 received kb, and 700 £3 each,
as • gift or. leaving the schools (cheers.) Of the prollta
of the Mora*, Adoertaise, L 16,700 was devoted to Illt•
acanthi and pensions. The chairman aonnlndsd by
Idviell the tee* wildsh was cordially rewind