The Sun.
London, England, 1868-08-14 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

HOLBORN VALLEY VIADUCT.

The Holborn Valley Viaduct and improvements
'orm one of the three great changes of modern

London, and well deserve to rank side by side with
the other two—the Thames Embankment and the

vast Main Drainage scheme. The latter two have
been executed by the Metropolitan Board of
Works ; the credit of the former is due entirely to

,he exertions of the City Improvements Committee,

who certainly have planned their work well, and,

above all, have shown most commendable alacrity
in executing it when once the plans were decided
_ _.

•:' _
on. I❑ this respect their example is well worthy
imitation by those intrusted with the completion
of the Embankment. How the Holborn Valley
was ever allowed to exist so long is a sort of Cor-

THE SHEFFIELD TRADE UNIONIST CASE.-At Leeds
Assizes Justice Lush sentenced the three men, Armstrong,
Hinchcliffe, and Sanderson, to four months' imprison-
ment.

poration mystery. When it is done away with,
people will wonder how it was ever endured when
its inconveniences were patent to all who saw it. In

Paris it would not have been allowed to exist a

single year after it had ouce become a thoroughfare.
That it has been au all-important thoroughfare from

the earliest times we know. A return of the
annual amount of traffic passing up and down the
hill just 30 years ago shows that it was used by
20,000,000 pedestrians, nearly 900,000 horsemen,
157,000 hackney coaches, 370,000 carts, 78,000
stage coaches, 82,000 carriages, 135,000 omnibuses,
460,000 chaises and taxed carts, and 354,000 cabs.
Probably within the last 30 years the traffic has
actually doubled, except in the matter of stage
coaches; and all this has been dragged up and
hustled down one of the great main avenues to the
city at an incline of one foot in 15. It really seems
incredible. That there have been almost endless
propositions to improve, or at least alleviate, this
public nuisance is, of course, well known. Long
ago Alderman Skinner, who built Skinner-street,
proposed to build a bridge from Snow-hill across
the valley to Holborn ; and one of the late
Mr. Charles Pearson's improvements was to raise
the valley 17 feet. Nothing, however, was
attempted beyond complaining, and the usual
protest that " something must be done." So
Holborn remained very much as it was w hen
the " old 11)urne," or river, from which Holborn

takes its modern name, ran through its valley,
and underwent little material improvement from

the days when Henry V. paved it at his own ex-
pense, because " it was so deep and miry that many
perils and hazards were thereby occasioned as well
to the King's carriages passing that way as to his
subjects." There are, in fact, few thoroughfares
about the metropolis of greater antiquity than Hol-
born. All its associations and antiquities, how-
ever, could not save Holborn from the march of
modern improvement. The long threatening of
years came true at last. Designs were called for to
construct a viaduct and improve the whale neigh-
bourhood. Most of those sent in were very good,
but the committee decided to choose that of Mr.
William Haywood, not as the cheapest, but as in
their opinion the best and most comprehensive.
Since then Mr. Haywood has pushed on the works
with most creditable activity and success. To speak
of it, however, only as the Holborn Viaduct would
be to mislead the public. The Viaduct is an im-
portant portion, but still only a portion, of a
great work. Mr. Hay-wood's plans, in fact, con _
template the formation of what may be called a new
district, with three new streets independent of the
Viaduct itself. IVhen all is completed, these new
thoroughfares and their approaches will ba a boon to
the metropolis second to none in the way of street
improvement.
The Holborn Viaduct itself will be 1,400 feet long
from end to end, and a little over 80 feet wide. Of
this space 50 feet is given to a roadway throughout,
and 15 feet on each side of the foot ways. The Via-
duct forms a gentle curve from the western end of
Newgate-street, and then is continued in a straight
line to the western aide of Farringdon-street,
occupying near the whole of the space which recently
formed Skinner-street and a small portion of the

churchyard of St. Sepulchre. From Farringdon-
street westward it is carried by a gentle curve to the
end of Hatton-garden, occupying the sites of the
houses which formerly stood on the south side of
llolborn-hill, the greater portion of the old roadway,
and a large part of the churchyard of St. Andrew's,
Holborn. For all purposes of traffic the road may be
called a level, only sufficient inclination being given
to insure the surface drainage running off. The Via-
duct is built on a kind of doable system of arches.
Those which support the ro rdway are plain solid
double archways of 24 feet span, and built of the
same strength as ordinary railway arches. The foot
ways, however, are supported by a system of, so to
speak, cellular arches. These are 10 feet diameter,
and rise from one tier to three tiers. At the com-
me❑cement of the incline, where the dip down is
slight, there is only one tier or ground floor of these
footway arches ; but as the descent goes on increas-
ing with the slope of the hill, it becomes necessary
to add another tier of arches above the first in order
to keep the surface of the Viaduct at its proper
level. Thus, at one, the deepest, part at the foot
of the hill there are three tiers of these cellular
arches, one above another. All these arches are
lofty, clean, and well ventilated, and will be used
as cellars to the warehouses, which will be built
up by the side of the Viaduct. In front of
the cellars, and between them and beneath the
main road on either side, runs a subway along
the whole length of the Viaduct. This sub-
way is llf feet high and seven feet wide. It
has three rows of cast-iron brackets along its sides
—one for gas-pipes, one for water, and one
for telegraph wires. Thus these at any moment
can be reached and repaired without in any way in-
terfering with the footway above. The sewage is
provided for along the centre roadway in a similar
manner. All the brickwork of these portions of
the structure is most massive. In some parts the
rings of the arches are as much as eight bricks
thick, an ample guarantee of their strength when
it is remembered tiaat the Board of Trade only
exact five rings of brickwork for a railway arch.
In every case the foundations for the masonry have
been taken down to the London clay, and bedded
in four feet of solid concrete. In some cases the
clay was easily reached; in others more than 30 ft.
had to be excavated before it was got at. This was
mostly where the bed of the Old Bourne river and
Fleet Ditch bad left its deposits, and made the
whole soil soft and spongy. About 20 ft. below the
present surface of Farringdon-street the top of a
strong abutment wall was reached. This was, no
doubt, one of the abutment walls of the Old Bourne
bridge, and the supposition seems to be almost esta-
blished by the fact of a quantity of piles and old
strut timbers which had apparently once formed
part of a bridge being found close by it. These
pine logs, though they must now have lain some
centuries in the earth, were as sound and good as
on the day they were cut. Passing the corner of
St. Sepulchre's churchyard a few bones had to be
removed, but at St. Andrew's Churchyard the soil
was absolutely thick with them, so thick, indeed,
that it is estimated that the remains of nearly 2,000
persons were exhumed and sent away for re-inter-
ment at Ilford Cemetery. In the great mass of
cases these were mere bones, but there were fre-
quent instances where the bodies were perfect and
unchanged, though the coffins had decayed. In
one case, that of a man, the clothes were quite
perfect ; in another, that of a lady who had been
buried considerably over a century, the lace on
the grave clothes was perfect and only slightly
changed in colour. In both these, as in many
other cases, the bodies were absolutely perfect
in every feature, and were simply dry and like
tanned leather. The soil, however, as it was
di turned, emitted so obnoxious an effluvium
that the most powerful disinfectants had to be
used. At the corner of Hatton-garden, and
only about five feet below the pavement, was
found the skeleton of a very tall man, who was
buried in massive link iron fetters like those
which hang over the doors of Newgate. These
were wry rusty, but firmly riveted on to the skele-
ton. It was most probably the skeleton of some
murderer, who, according to ancient custom, was
hanged and buried in chains on the spot where his
crime was committed. These are all the discoveries
which have been made, though it was expected that

PROSECUTION OF AN UNQUALIFIED MEDICAL PRAC-
TITIONEIL-At the Hales Owen Petty Sessions, Thomas
Holland, of Oldbury, was charged, under the 2.7 th,
38th, and 40th sections of the Medical Act of 1858, with
having wilfully and falsely pretended to be, and with
having taken and used the name and title of a surgeon,
implying that he was registered under the Act ; and also
with having acted as surgeon to a filendly society for
affording mutual relief in sickness, contrary to the said
Act. It appeared that Holland had practised in Oldbury
for many years without any interference from the medical
men of the place, but having lately placed himself in an
antagonistic position to them in the club question they
felt it their duty to take the present proceedings to protect
their professional interests. Two cases were proved, and
fines of £5 in each case were inflicted.

FRAUDULENT BANKRUPTCY.—At the Leeds Assizes
John France, a mungo merchant, was indicted for conceal.
ing property within sixty days of his bankruptcy. The
accused, after being adjudicated bankrupt, was examined
before the registrar, but gave such evasive answers
that the commissioner had to be sent for to make
him divulge. On a subsequent occasion he acknow-
ledged that the accounts he had furnished to the
court were false, and it seemed that the accused had made
over property with a clear intention of defrauding his
creditors. Having been convicted, the learned judge
sentenced him to fifteen months' imprisonment.
HEAVY SENTENCE FOR ARSON.-At the Ipswich Assizes,
a man named Isaac George Tatum was indicted for
setting fire to some farm premises in the occupation
of Mr. Clements, at Lavenham. Early on the morning
of the 4th of July the prosecutor was awakened by
the noise of fire, and on getting up discovered that all
his buildings were in flames. Nine horses, twenty pigs,
and a large number of fowls were burnt to death, and a
number of stacks destroyed. The prisrner had been dis-
charged from Mr. Clements's service, and had been refused
when he asked for a re-engagement. He had been heard to
express a wish that his late master's place would be burnt,
and on the night of the fire was seen within a mile and a
quarter of Mr. Clements's premises. The jury convicted
the accused, and the Lord Chief Justice sentenced him to
twenty years' penal servitude.

SERIOUS CASE OF GAROTTING. —At the Southwark
i'olice-court, Thomas Condon was charged with assaulting
Miss Mary Curling, the daughter of the chaplain and
rector of St. Saviour's Church, Southwark, and robbing
her of a portion of a gold chain, worth 25, in Union-
street, Borough. The prosccutrix was passing Paviours-
Alley, Union•street, about coon, when the prisoner rushed
up against her, seized her by the throat with one hand
and snatched 'lei-gold guard chain wish the other, lie at
last broke the chain and ran away. She was rather
frightened at the time, and seeing two young men near she
called to them to pursue the prisoner. They appeared to
do so, but she saw nothing inure of them, and the prisoner
escaped. When apprehernled the prisoner made a state-
ment to the effect that hunger had driven him to the com-
mission of the offence laid to hi 3 charge. The magistrate
committed the case for trial.

MONSTER CONTRIBUTION TO THE POOR RATE.
The Mersey Docks and Harbour Board is about to snake
its first contribution for the relief of the poor of the parish
of Liverpool. At the meeting of the select vestry, Mr.
Bairstow, the chairman of the Finance Committee, stated
that a communication had been received from the chair-
man of the Dock Board, intimating that a cheque for
£105,000 bad been signed in favour of the parish, and
would be handed over a-9 soon as certain preliminary

x-14w

some interesting relics of bygone times might have joim ti tern to that line, and let them through the ►
been brought to light. Wham es Tunnel to the east end of London, which
One of the prettiest features of the whole Viaduct woul.' I yield them a very large traffic. lle believed
is the bridge which will crossFarringdon-street. It is their agreement with the Dover Company was not
to be in three spans, and its total length will be 117 bind ing, and he therefore saw no reason why they
feet and its width 80 feet. It is what is called askew shoul 'd not get clear of them.
bridge—that is to say it crosses the road diagonally, Mr . MAYNARD, the solicitor to the company,
the angle being 52 degrees from the straight line. stated as to the agreement referred to that no doubt
Thethree spans are formed thus-66 feetspan is given the ca, pital of the company was raised under a pros-
to the arch over the Farringdon-street roadway, and peaus wherein it was stated that an arrangement
the two side spans are formed by the arches over hadi been made with the London, Chatham, and
the footways, each of which is to be a little more DON 'er 'Company for working the line on certain
than the width of the present spacious pavement. adva uta geous terms. While, however, that ar-
The bridge will consist of six cast-iron orna- range rat .nt was represented as an accomplished fact,
mental ribs, the two outer ones, which will be seen the fornoalities required to render it legally binding
from either side, being of a most elaborate Gothic were n ?Ner completed, and it was therefore invalid.
character. Where the spans over the footway meet When, lhowever, the line was opened, an arrange-
the great centre arch, the six ribs are to be sup- ment w .as entered into between the contractors and
ported on hexagon granite columns, six, of course, the Do .ver Company whereby the latter agreed to
at each side. The iron ribs have not been fixed, work t. ae line at cost price, and that arrangement was
but the granite columns look more stately. They said to have received the tacit assent of the then
are five feet in diameter, and are formed at the direct( ifs, as to which he knew nothing, as the pre-
lowest face of grey granite, then a moulding of sent I)oard was not then in existence. They, how-
black granite, polished, then the hexagon column ever, did work the line under that arrangement with
of red granite, also polished and surmounted with a I the con tractors, who failed before the first year of
the wovking of it had expired ; and when the com-
mas before the Vice-Chancellor on a recent oc-
polished capital of black granite. The granites arc
from Aberdeen, Devon, Guernsey, and the Ross of Pant
Mull. At the four corners of the abutments ate four castor Ihe held that the directors had complied with
demi-columns of polished granite of the same kind, the at rangement by allowing it to go on. Under
but beyond this the interior columns of the abutments i these circumstances the Dover Company still retained
on the sideway from the kerb are of richly-carved possession of the line, but a suit had just been insti-
Portland-stone. The effect of the whole when com-
tuted by a debenture-holder, with the full concur-
pleted will be strikingly beautiful—indeed, there
rence of the board, which would determine the occu-
will be no viaduct of its kind like it in all Eng-
'Dation, and decide what payment the company
land. Between the 12 main columns which carry should receive for the use of their line.
the centre arch are powerful cross-bracing frames Mr. BURKE, Q.C., as a debenture-holder rather
of cast-iron. Little now remains to be done before than as a shareholder of the company, also repudiated
the six main ribs are laid, and the bridge in all its the manner in which the line was worked by the
great architectural and engineering features will Dover Company, who evidently reaped all the ad-
be finished before the close of the year. The vantages of it. Ile would have the directors nego-
tiate -with that company, and if they could not come
pierced iron balustrade which is to bound the
to a better understanding with them, let them join
footway on each side is of most elaborate design,
. INARD —We have had interview after
and so also are the lamps with which the ; some of the other southern lines.
interview with the directors of that company, but
bridge will be lighted. The four outer capitals Mr. I k
of the granite columns which support the side spans !
are to be surmounted with bronze statues. Cer- Iwe could never get them to commit themselves to
anything.
The CIIAIRMAN—AUd I have told them over and
tainly the city authorities are sparing no expense to
make this bridge--as it well deserves to be—the
which would not enable us to pay our debenture
great ornamental feature of the whole Viaduct. At over again that we would listen to no arrangement
each corner of this bridge four flights of steps,
each about 11 feet wide, will give access from holders.
Farringdon-street to the higher level of the
Mr. BURKE said, under these circumstances, they
Viaduct. Each of these stairways is to be en-
ought to bring in a bill themselves, which would
closed in stone structures, ample light and ventila-
enable them to form an alliance with some of the
tion being given to them. There will be four land-
other companies.
tugs on each flight of steps, which are to be formed
The CHAIRMAN stated that he had himself corn-
of single slabs of Park Spring stone, of such a municated with the directors of the East London
size that special trucks must be constructed to Railway on the subject of an amalgamation, but as
bring them up by rail. The buildings at the four 1 £65,000 was required to connect the two lines be-
corners of the Viaduct will rise several stories above fire that could be effected he was afraid it was
its level. The space beneath the steps will be ap-
hopeless. This company had not the money,
propriated for shops or warehouses, and above the neither, he believed 3, had the East London.
steps the floors are to be utilized as offices and for The report was then adopted unanimously.
general commercial purposes. The other business have been gone through, a.
The structures which are to adorn the four cor-
vote of thanks to the chairman and directors ter-
ners of this beautiful bridge the City Improve- urinated the proceedings.
ment Committee have most ai isely kept in their
own hands to secure beauty of elevation and uni-
formity of design. They will all be very
stately looking stone edifices, which will vie
in beauty and loftiness of elevation with any
of the best specimens of street architecture in
Paris or New York. For the rest of the line along
each side of the Viaduct, builders are not confined
to any particular design, beyond the very proper
restriction that no design can be adopted without
first being submitted for the approval of the City
Improvement Committee. This is to insure that no
small or inadequate structures shall be erected on
what will be soon one of the handsomest thorough-
fares into the city. Uniformity, of course, will
not be insisted on, but fine buildings will; so that
the very essence of the beauty of street architecture
—stateliness and diversity—will be thus combined.
No less than three new streets are to be made in
connection with the Viaduct. One is to lead from
the circus at the west end of the Viaduct to the
corner of Farringdon-street, near Ludgate -hill.
Another, front the same starting-point, will give
access to the new Smithfield Market; and the third
will lead up to the Viaduct front the south side.
The widening of Shoe-lane and of Newgate-street
is also intended ; and altogether, as we have said at
the commencement of this notice, it is contemplated
to construct a new district. These improvements,
however, are in some cases only just begun, and are
far too important to be disposed of in a few lines
at the end of a long article.

THE CRYSTAL P.4.LAcE AND SOUTH
LONDON. JUNCTION RAILWAY.

BARNSTAPLE.—SeveraI changes have taken
place in reference to election matters at Barnstaple.
Sir Charles Williams, of Pilton House, has declined
to become a candidate for the Conservatives, and
Sir George Stucley, the present Conservative M.P.,
has determined not to seek re-election. At this
moment, therefore, there is only one Conservative
in the field, Sir William Frazer, Bart., but a second
candidate will very shortly be introduced to the
electors. The Liberal party are still divided as to
Mr. Cave's colleague between Mr. Evans and Mr.
Thomas, the friends of the latter having been ac-
tively canvassing for written promises for him, as he
will not issue his address until he is sure that he
will stand a fair chance of being returned.
CHELSEA.—Sir H. A. Hoare, Bart., is vigorously
organising local committees and canvassing the
borough. The general committee, including most
of the members of the late Liberal Government,
now numbers nearly one thousand, and his success
is looked,3lpon as certain. Sir Henry is a staunch
supporter, of Mr. Gladstone.
CORNWALL (EAST).—Sir John Trelawny and Mr.
Brydgcs Williams attended a large meeting at Cal-
liu,gton, on Wednesday afternoon. A resolution
declaring that they were fit and proper persons
to represent the constituency was passed unani-
mously.
DEVON (NoRT11). —The lion. Mark Rolle, Mr.
Moore Stevens, and Sir G. S. Stucley, who retires
from the representation of Barnstaple, are talked
of as candidates for the Northern Division of the
county of Devon.
William Hutt has just pub-
lished an address to the electors, in which he says :
"Two national exigencies are prominently before
us—Effectual Incorporation of the Irish People with
the British Community, and a Master-hand to re-
gulate our Financial Affairs. Perpetual civil war
with our fellow-subjects in Ireland is equally in-
compatible with our honour, our prosperity, and
our safety. 'Taxation maintained merely for
the maintenance of lax and ill-regulated expendi-
ture is repugnant to every notion of political
morality, and a reproach to our national intelli-
gence. Yet both of these evils will oppress us so
long as the present Ministers are in office. It is
not—as Mr. Disraeli intimated—that they want
public support. The men want wisdom, and hold
opinions inconsistent with the welfare of their
c,untry. We have now to choose between Ministers
like these and Mr. Gladstone. Here we have a
leader of those lofty aspirations, powers of initia-
tion, and happy resources under difficulties, which
are among the highest prerogatives of genius. Mr.
Gladstone was one of the first to perceive, and
clearly and fearlessly to explain, the only true solu-
tion of our Irish complications. When Chancellor
of the Exchequer, he not seldom obtained for us a
larger national income by taking taxes off than
other Ministers had realised by laying them on ;
and no one, perhaps, ever more clearly understood
the rich contribution open to the public Treasury
from a firm and intelligent economy. Under such
a leader we may confront great emergencies, both
financial and political, and hope to see order and
beauty emerge from darkness and confusion. I
shall, therefore, give Mr. Gladstone loyal co-
operation and support."
GLAMORGANSHIRE.—From a report published just
before the general election in 1865 it appeared that
the strength of the Liberals at that time 'in—the
county was 4,184 out of 6,778 electors, and the clear
majority of the Liberals was estimated at 2,279. A
report has just been issued showing that the num-
ber of voters now on the register who voted in 1857
is 1,728 ; the number of new Liberal claims added
to the register from 1857 to 1867, 2,298 ; total
number of Liberals now on the register, 4,026. In
addition to the above, the Liberals expect to add
4,000 to the register under the new Reform Act.
With these facts in view it is believed the Conser-
vatives will make no attempt to disturb the present
Liberal members, Mr. C. IL M. Talbot and Mr. H.
H. Vivian.

The twelfth half-yearly general meeting of the
shareholders in this company was held yesterday at
the offices of the company, No. 2, Great Winches-
ter-buildings. Mr. J. E. Leveson Gower, the chair-
man of the board of directors, presided. The report
having been taken as read,
The CHAIRMAN, in moving its adoption, remarked
that he deeply regretted the withdrawal of the
Working Union Bill of the Southern Railways in
the House of Lords, as a clause had been introduced
into it with the consent of the different companies,
which had it been passed into law would have gone
far to get them out of all their difficulties. The
same measure might be introduced next session, but
as to that he could not say. At the same time the
principle of the clause he had alluded to having been
agreed to by all the companies, and by which the
whcle of the circumstances of the case would have
been referred to arbitration, he did not conceive
that there could be much difficulty in coming to
an arrangement on the matter. The London, Chat-
ham, and Dover Company, who at present worked
the line, were, no doubt, in difficulties, but he be-
lieved the directors of that company were desirous
of
tn daonignlgem whatnts w
bad and, although the present
caused great inconvenience to
entanglements
right
the shareholders and debenture-holders it might
after all be productive of advantage to both here-
after. Although the circumstances under which the
traffic of the line was involved remained unaltered,
he had much satisfaction in stating, on the part of
the directors, that the weekly returns prepared by
the London, Chatham, and Dover Company indi-
cated a very considerable growth in the receipts.
It had been said that this increase was merely tern-
porary, having been caused by the warm weather
and the Handel festival ; but that was not so, for
the mileage proportion of the receipts attributed to
this company for the twenty-six weeks ending 28th
June last was £6,506 against £4,880 for the cor-
responding period of last year, and showing an in-
crease of 33 per cent. It would, therefore, be seen
that the increase in the receipts commenced in the
winter, and not in the summer; and although the
directors did not admit the correctness of the re-
turns, or of the principle on which they were cal-
culated, they showed at least that their property
was increasing in value. He trusted, therefore,
that better times were in store for them. For two
years they had been struggling against bad times,
and he was afraid he must also say bad usage.
(Hear, hear.) But still they felt that their pro-
perty was a valuable one, and they were deter-
mined to stick to it. (Hear, hear.) For two years
they had struggled against many difficulties, but
they were prepared to struggle for two years more,
in the hope that these would be ultimately over-
come, and that their property would become remu-
nerative. The report the directors had submitted
might not be deemed satisfactory by the share-
holders, but he could assure them that when the pro-
perty of the company became hopeless, the directors
would tell them and advise them respecting it. He
considered that it was not so at the present time,
but that they were justified in going on and making
the most of it. Ile concluded by moving the adop-
tion of the report.
Mr. EDWIN Holm- having seconded the motion,
Mr. STANDRING repudiated the connection which
existed between this company, and the London,
Chatham, and Dover Company. In fact, that
company fed their own line at the expense of this
one, and he would have the directors cut the con-
nection with them altogether. In place of the
London, Chatham, and Dover, he would recom-
mend an alliance with the East London Railway
Company. A mall loop, little over Pi mile, would

HACKNEY.—On Monday evening a meeting of
the electors was held in Southgate-road, Mr. W.
Ward in the chair. Mr. Charles Reed attended,
and addressed the meeting on several important
topics, avowing himself in favour of reduced taxa-
tion, retrenchment, education, equalisation of the
poor-rate, the ballot, and the disestablishment of
the Irish Church, when the following resolution,
moved by Thomas Brain, Esq., and seconded by
Edward Cave, Esq., was carried unanimously
That this meeting, having beard from C.
Reed, Esq., a clear and lengthened statement
of his views and purposes with regard to the great
public questions which will in all probability oc-
cupy the attention of the new Parliament, are
of opinion that he is well qualified to represent the
borough of Hackney, and pledge ourselves to give
him our earnest and energetic support." It was de,

termined to hold another public meeting in the
school-room of the Southgate-road Chapel on Tues-
day evening, August 25, when ➢ir. Charles Reed
will attend.
NOTTINGIIANI.—A meeting of the supporters of
Six Robert J, Clifton was held at the Maypole

Hotel, Nottingham, on Wednesday night. The
hon. baronet urged upon the inhabitants of the town
to register, but said he should be sorry for any
voter to pledge himself to him, or to Mr. Osborne,
or to Mr. Marten, or anybody else, as he thought
that_ before the election took place a great many, if
they did pledge their votes, would repent having
done so. He was confident that a great change
must take place in the political feelings of England.
A great fight would occur on Mr. Gladstone's mo-
tion, but he thought it would be wrong on his part
to express any opinion thereon at such a distance
from the election. He (the hon. baronet) should ask
for no party favour or concession on the part
of any man. He should abide by his opinions
in spite of friends or foes, and if returned
for Nottingham he should carry out what he thought
best for the Queen and his country. The following
resolution was passed :—" That Sir Robert Clifton
be requested by the Independent Society to offer
himself as a candidate for the borough, and it
pledges itself to endeavour to secure his return."
The resolution having been carried, Sir Robert said
he would go to the House of Commons, if elected,
as he always had done —free and independent. He
had learned from his youth that Radicalism meant
retrenchment and reform. He should have voted
for the Reform Bill if he had been in the House of
Commons, in which case he should have voted with
the Conservative party. He had, however, always
voted independent of any party.
PENRIIYN AND FALIIOUTII.-0 a Wednesday even-
ing Mr. Jervoise Smith, M.P., and Mr. Hodgson,
Liberal candidates for the representation of Pen-
rhyn and Falmouth, addressed in the Newsroom,
Flushing, a crowded meeting of the future electors
of that. suburb, .newly added to the borough by the
Boundary Act. The chief subjects treated by the
candidates were the Irish Church and its disendow-
ment, the Reform Act and its imperLctions, the
necessity for the extension of popular education,
and the value of civil and religious freedom as pro-
mised by the programme of the Liberal party. The
candidates were cordially and unanimously adopted.

SCOTLAND.-Sir Norman Macd)nald Lockhart
addressed a meeting at Lesmahagow on Wednes-
day as Conservative candidate for South Lanark-
shire. A resolution in his favour was carried after
his speech.—A. Conservative candidate has ap-
peared for Berwick in the person of Major George
Wallace Carpeuter.—The committee for securing
Mr. Crum-Ewing's re-election for Paisley report
most favourably of his prospects.—The Liberals in
Selkirk and Peebles shires have couddence in their
ability to return Sir John Murray. There was a
meeting on Tues lay, at West Linton, at which a
committee was formed for securing his election.
Admiral Erskine had a thoroughly hearty recep-
tion at Milngavie on Wednesday. He addresse I.
a meeting there, and was thanked for his past
services, and voted a fit and proper person to
represent Stirlingshire in the next Parli tment.
—Mr. Orr-Ewing spoke at three places in Dum-
bartonshire on Wednesday, and received approving,
votes.—Mr. Jardine presented himself at a meet-
ing at Dumfries on Wednesday night. The friends
of Mr. Noel had mustered in great strength, and
there.was much interruption of the proceedings.--
ELECTION INTELLIGENCE. Scotsman.

SOUTHAMPTON. -On Wednesday night -Air.
George Moffatt, the present Liberal member, and
Captain Maxse, R.N., who comes forward as his
colleague, addressed the electors at the Victoria
Rooms. The meeting was very crowded, and of
an enthusiastic character. Mr. Moffatt made a
lengthened speech upon the chief poiitical topics of
the day, especially referring to his exertions to
amend the law of bankruptcy, which, he pointed
out, have only been partially rewarded. Captain
Maxse, who was well received, made a speech en-
dorsing the principles expressed in his address. Re-
solutions in favour of 'the two Liberal candidates
were unanimously adopted. The Conservatives
appear to be doing nothing as yet, and various
rumours are afloat as to the probabilities of a con-
test, but nothing of a definite character is an-
nounced.

STAFFORDSHIRE (EAST).—Viscount Sandon, on
behalf of the Central Conservative Association, is
inviting the electors of East Staffordshire to pledge
themselves to Mr. Meynel Ingrain and Mr. Smith
Child.
STOKE-UPON-TRENT. —The Conservative leaders
in the Potteries have announced their intention to
contest this borough at the approaching election,
but hitherto all their efforts to obtain a candidate
have been unsuccessful. Up to the present time the
Liberals have remained united on Mr. Melly, the
present member, and Mr. W. S. Roden, a deputy-
lieutenant of the county, mayor of Hanley, and
managing partner of the Shelton Bar Iron Com-
pany's Works (Eirl Granville's). Ai the constitu-
ency by the new Reform Act has been increased
from 3,500 to upwards of 15,000, an overwhelming
majority of whom are thorough-going Liberals,
there is not the remotest possibility of a Conserva-
tive candidate being returned unless there be dis,
card in the Liberal camp.

SURREY (MID).—M. Julian Goldsrnid, at pre-
sent member for Honiton, has issued an address
to the electors of Mid-S irrey, in which he
offers himself as a candidate for that divi-
sion. He says :—" Many and important are the
questions which the new Parliament will have to
approach ; but, first, it will have to decide whether
those who, when in office, have sacrificed long-
cherished principles, or those who have manfully
maintained their opinions through good and evil re-
ports, are to guide the destinies of this great country.
I doubt not what the answer of the people will be,
and I offer myself to you in order that you and I
may contribute our quota and assist Mr. Gladstone
in the work that is before him. Under his able
guidance the Liberal party will have to apply itself
to the reduction of our national expenditure, which,
in the hands of the Conservative Government, has
far exceeded all former limits. The abortive attempts
At reorganising the War-office made by the pre-
sent Administration have simply ended in in-
creased outlay ; whereas I am convinced that there
is room fox' far greater economy, combined with,
and resulting in, greater efficiency, in all the
chief public departments, and especially in those
of War and Marine. The new Parliament will

have much to accomplish in the amendment of the
law. It will have to devise the means to place the
relations between employers and employed on a
more satisfactory footing. It must endeavour to
ameliorate the sanitary arrangements in the great
centres of population, to improve the dwellings of
the working classes, and to purify and increase our
water supply. It will have to apply itself earnestly
to increasing the facilities offered to the people, both
for the general and the technical education of tbeir
children ; and, should other means fail, an approach
at least to the compulsory system will be absolutely
required. Aud, most important of all, it will have
to give its verdict on the subject of the Irish
Church. That verdict, I believe, will be a confir-
mation of the policy approved by the majority of
the present House of Commons, a policy to which I
have given a willing support."
TOWER HAMLETS.—Mr. E. Beales addressed a
meeting at the White Swan, Mile-end-road, last
night. Mr. W. Newton also addressed a meeting
of the electors last night. In each case a resolu-
tion pledging the meeting to support the candidate
was passed.
WORCESTER (CITY).—At last the address of the
Conservative candidate is out. Mr. Laslett, who
unsuccessfully contested East Worcestershire with
the lion. G. C. Lytteltou only a few weeks ago,
offers himself. His present principles are well
known. Ile strongly opposes the disendowment
and disestablishmeut of the Irish Church ; but iu
other respects he will not be acceptable to the Con-
servative body generally, although he is popular in
Worcester (his native city) on account of his chari-
table and public gifts to Worcester. Mr. Laslett
sat for Worcester some years ago as a Liberal, but
resigned his seat in consequence of some disagree-
ment with that party. Mr. Padinore, one of the
present Liberal members, retires ; Mr. S'aerriff, the
other (Liberal) member, offers himself for re-elec-
tiou ; and Sir Francis Lycett and Alderman Hill are
the other Liberal candidates. A working man
named Airey also offers himself.
WQRCUTERSIIIRE (EAST).—Mr. F, Veracoa has