The Express.
London, England, 1853-12-05 00:00:00

SOUTH WA R I ('Ks lIW EL-off.
.

WARWICK, SATURDAY.
The election of a " knight of the shire" to till the
vacancy consequent on Lord Brooke's succession to the
Earldom of Warwick, took place at the Shire Hall this
morning in the presence of some three hundred peraota.
Mr. Evelyn Philip Shirley, of Eatinglon Park, a conserva-
tive, and son of a former member, was the only candidate;
there had been rumours of opposition, but these died awq
several weeks since, and, in fact, there was very little pro.
bability that any liberal candidate would succeed, for South
Warwickshire is at present as cicse in conservative hands as
anything can be.

Ten o'clock was the time fixed for the election, but Sir
William Cradock llartopp, the sheriff, did not come into
court until nearly an hour later, which 4. clay caused a good
deal of murmuring, and drew forth not a few unpleasant
maledictions from the farmers in the body of the hall.
The formal business having been hastily run through,
the Ben. B. PEILCY proceeded to nominate .jr. Shirley.
In the present state of things it became the duty of c,nsti
tuents to be even more careful than ever in the selection of
persons to be their representatives, especially at a time
when, though the agitation on the subject of the Reform
Bill had scarcely subsided, they were threatened with a
new Reform Bill, to be attended, it was to be hoped, with
less questionable results. Amongst those who had been found
treacherous they would not meet with the honoured names
of Brooke, and Guernsey, and Newdegate, and Spooner,
and as a fitting successor to one of these he named Mr.
Shirley, knowing him to be a man incapable of selfish in.
consistency, and believing him to be a man not of shifts
and expedients—an ingenuous rather than ingeniou, mad
and a man of character, possessing the requisite knowledge'
combined with the experience necessary fur a membet of
parliament.

Mr. W. DICAINS, Chairman of Quarter Sessions, ,econded
the nomination.

No other candidate having been proposed, the High
Sheriff declared Mr. Shirley duly elected.

Mr. SHIRLEY felt that it was not so much by words as
deeds that he should manifest his sense of the great trust
confided to him and the confidence reposed in him ; and is
place of a fine speech he should endeavour to pursue a
consistent course of action in the House of Commons. He
should go to parliament an independent man, prepared to
support such measures as might be consistent with the
safety of the state—the maintenance of the apostolic church
of these realms, and the preservation of its connexion with
monarchy. He should be ready, too, at all times to support
the agricultural interest, and he hoped that by such con-
duct he should be found to be what was said in the lan.
guage of a well-known political club—" • safe and good
man." (Cheers.)

The hon. gentleman retired amidst partial cheering ; and
a vote of thanks was duly moved to the sheriff. Then
were brought forth the famous sword and spurs, with which
the new knight was girt and invested " according to ancienl
custom," and the proceedings termin►ted.

THE T) ATJIOUTH BRIBERY COlDllsSlox.

- • -

The inquiry was resumed on Saturday. In the
course of the day, Mr. Penniston, tobacconist, the vier.
chairman of Mr. Greg's committee, stated that from the
first election in 1832 it had been common to give suppers at
the houses of publicans during the contest. He (Mr. Pen-
nistoa) was treasurer for Mr. G. F. Young in the election ef
1832, when he contested the borough with Mr. Sanderson
Ilderton. That election cut Mr. Young 82:i1., Mr. Ilderton
1,5001. In 1835 there was no contest. In 1837 there was a
eery close contest. Sir:Charles Grey opposed Mr. Young. Mr.
Young, however, had offended the liberals, and was not
supported by them. It cost him 1,0001. for that election.
He believed Sir Charles had to pay 2,000/. The next
election was in 1841, when Mr. Henry Metcalfe,
then a liberal, defeated Mr. William Chapman, a tory.
Mr. Metealfe'a expenses wore between seven and eight
hundred pounds. Mr. Chapman, he understood, spent
above two thousand. There was no contest in 1847. So
that there were three warm contests before the last eke-
tion, which was the moat extravagant of them all. At the
last election the Duke of Northumberland's agent, Mr.
Laws, was Mr. Taylor's leading attorney, and he thought
something like direct influence was used to induce the
tenants on the estate to vote for Mr. Taylor. He could Rot
say so of his own knowledge, but it was reported that the
present duke took a more lively interest in the politics of
the borough than his predecessor. The tenants upon the
Lawson estate were also always brought to the poll like a
flock of sheep to vote for the tory. He knew many of the
latter named persons to be liberal in principles. The great
body of liberals in the borough were tradesmen ; some good
men, and unbribable.

The inquiry was adjourned until Monday. It is hoped
that it will be brought to a close nest week.

CLAIM OF STALYBRIDGE TO PARLIA-
MENTARY REPRESENTATIoN.

The following memorial has been addressed to
Lord Aberdeen by the inhabitants of Stalybridge :
To the Right Hon. the Earl of Aberdeen, First Lord of
the Treasury, &c.—The memorial of the undersigned
gentry, clergy, solicitors, merchants, manufacturers, and
other inhabitants of the town of Stalybridge, in the counties
palatine of Lancaster and Cheater, in public meeting
assembled. Humbly showeth,—That in the opinion of
your memorialists, the happiness of this great empire
mainly depends upon the prosperity of trade and com-
merce. That, in order to promote this prosperity and give
to industry the fullest possible scope, it is of the greatest
importance that all towns having large populations em-
ployed in manufacturing and commercial pursuits, with
great wealth depending upon the success of those pursuits,
should be represented in the legislature. That Scaly-
bridge had, in 1851, a population of 22,077 inhabitante,
and that it has now, it is believed, a population of up-
words of 25,000 souls. That there are 4,126 houses
and other property rated at 51. and upwards;
and it is the terminus of three railways. That it
possesses a steam and water power equal to that of 3,000
horses, contains houses and other buildings worth about
1,900,0001., pays a rental of not less than 95,0001. per annum,
exclusive of chief or ground rents, and has a very large
capital engaged in trade and commerce. That there are
five district churches and ten chapels and places of worship,
to nearly all of which are attached day and evening schools,
and several of the schools have libraries and reading rooms
connected therewith. There is also an excellent mechanics'
institution, which has been established since 1825, and
which is rapidly progressing. That the Stalybridge Savings
Bank is in a most prosperous condition, having had, up to
the 20th November, 1852, the sum of 61,2711. ss. 110. de-
posited by 1,924 depositors, and 1,062/. 16a. Id. deposited
by five friendly societies, making a total of 62,3341. 2s. 01d.
deposited in the bank by the industrious part of the pope•
lation of this district; and out of this sum 61,5931. Is. lid
was invested with government, and 7411. Os. lid. was in
the hands of the treasurer; and the deposits now in
the hands of the treasurer and invested with govern-
ment amount to about 67,4531., showing a very consi-
derable increase since the last balance was struck.
That Stalybridge is, therefore, clearly entitled, in the
opinion of your memorialists, to the privilege of returning
at least one member to the Commons' House of Parliament,
to watch over and promote its interests. That your me-
morialists, therefore, pray your lordships to take these pre-
mises into your consideration, and introduce a bill early in
the ensuing session to confer upon this large and important
town the invaluable privilege of electing one or more mem-
ber or members to the Commons' House of Parliament.
And your memorialists, as in duty bound, will ever pray,
Re."

Stalybridge is one of a group of manufacturing towns in
North Cheshire within the circle of a few miles, haring an
aggregate of about 60,000 to 80,000 inhabitants, when: Mr.
Disraeli, in his memorable and most unscrupulous speech
on the insufficient representation of counties, described as
"a rural population."

GOVERNMENT INQVIRY INTO THE SANITARY
STATE or NEWCASTLE.—The following letter has been re-
ceived from the Home Office, in reply to the memorisl
lately forwarded from this town, in favour of an inquiry
Into the causes of the recent mortality :--tt Whitehall, Nov.
30th, 88. Sir,—l am directed by Viscount Palmerston
to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 24th instant,
is reference to a memorial from inhabitants of Newcastle-
upon-Tyne, praying for inquiry into the causes of the late
mortality in that town, and to inform you that a commission
will be appointed to make the inquiry prayed for in the
memorial. I am, sir, your obedient servant, H. Fitzroy.—
George Robinson, Esq., M.D."—Netreastle Guardian.

ANOTHER BLOW AT HUNGARIAN NATIONALITY.—
The Emperor of Austria has just issued a decree directing
that, from the Ist of January next, public instruction shall
be given exclusively in the German language in all
the state colleges of Hungary. At present, the professors
in these colleges give their instruction in Latin, Hungarian,
and German.

LIGHT GoLD.—Serious complaints are made by
retail tradesmen in various pins of the metropolis of the
loss and annoyance to which they are subjected by the cir-
culation which has been given to a considerable Lumber of
light sovereigns and half-sovereigns. Resides the spurious
coinage referred to a day or two ago in the Daily Ncies,,
which is made of good gold, but thinner than the money 01
the Royal Mint, half-sovereigns and sovereigns are current
of less than the proper diameter, having been diminished
in value by being ground round the edges, after which they
have been remilled to deceive the eye.
_ _ _

TUE MURDER NEII2 LEIGIITON BUZZ tßD.—Bar-
rows, the man who is in prison charged with the murder
of Charity Olenniser, has confessed to the crime. He say`
that he beat out her brains with a humor.