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seamen , the greater part of whom were stated to be connected with the coal and coasting trade . The walls were hung round with placards bearing such inscriptions as these : "We protest against the Mercantile Marine Act of 1850 , " " We ask but our rights , ' " We seek but justice , " "Use us as men , " &c . The meeting addressed by Mr . G . Riddle , a seaman , one of the deputation to the Board of Trade , who complained in bitter terras of the tantalizing way in which the Board of Irade had acted . They had promised to send an answer that evening , but had not done so , consequently the deputation was unable to say what would be done . He proceeded at great length to point out the various grievances of which they complained . A resolution was carried by acclamation , pledging the seamen to abstain from going near any ship or shipping office till they had an answer from the Board of Trade .
No less than seven fires , some of them of considerable extent , and one resulting in loss of life , broke out in the metropolis yesterday . One of the largest was en the premises of Messrs . Ogleby and Co ., spermaceti and oil refiners and wax chandlers , Paradise street , Lambeth , by which considerable damage was done . A second took place at 23 , Skinner-Btreet , Clerkenwell . It originated in the apartment of a Mrs . Smith , and on some of the neighbours entering to render assistance , they found her ly ing on the second-floor completely enveloped in flames , and so frightfully burned that the flesh peeled off her
body when touched . A medical gentleman promptly attended , who gave it as his opinion that she could not possibly live a couple of hours . The fire was speedily extinguished . The other fires were in Chapman-street , St . George ' s-in-the-East , at No . 6 , Upper Seymourstreet , Euston-square ; on the premises of Messrs . Grosvenor and Chater , paper merchants and stationers , Cornhill ; on the premises of Mr . "Vizetelly , printer , Peterborough-court , Fleet-street ; and , lastly , the factory of the Patent Fire Lighting Composition Company , Battle bridge , which was wholly burned down . hurst
The trial of Thomas Drury , farmer , at Dodding , for the-wilful murder of Jael Denny , by strangling her with a rope , came on for trial yesterday , before Lord Chief Justice Campbell , at Chelmsford Assizes . A number of witnesses were examined , whose evidence went to show that Drury and the girl had kept company for a long time , the consequences of which had begun to make their appearance , and , as he wished to marry another girl , he was at great pains to make it appear that" the trouble she ( Jael Denny ) was in" was not owing to him . H e had been to htr mother trying to prevail on her to sign a paper to that effect , butshe refused , and it was only a tew days after that that the girl was found lying dead in a field near Drury's house with a rope twisted
round her neck , the end of which was lying loose between the thumb and fingers of the right hand , she being lefthanded . The body , from the waist to the shoulders was ¦ very black , and on one of the wrists there were marks of teeih . A surgeon who examined the body , said it was impossible that she could have done the act herself . The marks of the teeth wore just of the character that would be inflicted by such a mouth as the prisoner ' s . The further hearing of the case was adjourned till to-day . An extensive attempt has be on made at Rochdale and in the neighbouring towns of Todinorden , Iiacup , Middleton . Castleton . ' ilcy wood , and LiitU ¦ ¦ borough , within the last lew weeks to get into circulation forced Bank of England notes . It is supposed that a large party arc
connected with the issue of these forgeries , and the attention of the Lancashire count ) ' police having l ) e « iii called to what was going on , they have MU'cceded in a | ipn-ht inlint >; two of the utti'rcr . s , who , it . sipix-ars , are men moving m a respectable sphere of life , bring ilanncl nianu ( at : Uir < TK at Rochdale . U | Km <> iie nl tiiest ; nun , na uied John Whittles , no less than thirty-five forged £ ; ~ > JJank of Kngland notes weie found , and four £ 10 forged m / t . e . s . The other prisoner , Joshua Butter worth , is charged with paying two £ <> and one £ 10 Hank of Kngl . ind notrs to Air . Kccleti , publican , Castlelon , and two £ - > notes ( all forgeries ) also to Mr . Ilorton , publican , Rochdale , lioth prison * lft have been remanded by the magistrates at Rochdale , in the expectation that other payments will be discovered further criminating them .
The Cork Reporter of Thursday contains a brief outline of the meeting held there on that day lor the purpose" of protecting against the Ecclesiastical Titles JJill of Lord John JtiiHHell . The attendance is said to have been extremely numerous . The Mayor presided , and alter the Right Reverend Dr . Delany , Roman Catholic ISi . shop of Cork , had addressed tile nicetiiij ; , explaining the position the Catholic hierarchy and clergy of the second order would bo placed in if the proposed bill became law , several resolutions condemnatory of ( lie measure XTere proposed and unanimously adopted . Meetings of a similar import have been held , as promised , in ( ialway jinil . Belfast . The Clare " demonstration" has been postponed to the 17 th instant . The Dublin Invent ny I ' ost . htateH that , the Duke of Wellington is adveise to the Ecclesiastical Titles Hill .
Thomas Reeves , a house painter , u ^ i ' d / j ' , who took a deep interest in the Anti-i'apal aggression nicuMues , was with others listening to Lord John Iv , u : . sell ' . s spereii beiiif * read in the Turk ' s Head , Windmill-street , the other night , when he became much excited , anil suddenly / ell a lifeless corpse to the ground , A post tnortrm examination proved that he h .-. d died of disease ol the heart , produced by excitement . An excise ollieer in Nottinghamshire iian been convicted in two penalties of £ /}()() each , upon tin : pr , > ., eeution of the Crown , for having received certain stuns o ( money , and neglecting to take an account of some malt .
An Austrian despatch nrrived at . Berlin on i hursday morning with a negative answer to the proposals made to Austria by Prussia . The Piussian < » overninent . \ n h-. i ' nl to be resolved to adhere fiiinly l <> the pi opnsaln made , and to prefer a n turn to the o | il Diet , to a new conformation without theii lu'lilinent .
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The conduct of public men , in this sheer failure of government , has not been reassuring . They have waived their power to serve the country—or they have lost their power . The explanations do not satisfy us that Lord Stanley was willing to accept office . He was unwilling to refuse it , but not sufficient is said to prove that he really undertook it , and then rallied his friends to his support ; on the contrary , he suffered himself to be put off with weak excuses . Either he was lukewarm , or his friends are the feeblest set of Sybarites in the country . Perhaps both alternatives are true ?
THE CRISIS—TO BE CONTINUED . Still , under a Provisional Government ! For the men who have resumed office can only be regarded as Ministers ad interim . It is a Government pronounced incapable , by its acts , by public opinion , by the withdrawal of Parliamentary confidence , by its own resignation . It has voted no confidence in itself . It is reappointed only because its successors cannot be found . It is reinstated at the suggestion of the Duke of Wellington , simply that " her Majesty's Government may be carried on "—meaning the action of departments in the public offices .
Lord Aberdeen positively declined office . Sir James Graham has not stated that he was asked to form a Ministry ; but he has stated that , with Lord Aberdeen , he thought it impracticable to form a Ministry in the face of the Anti-Papal agitation created by Lord John's Durham letter . Other statesmen acquiesce—Lord Clarendon , Mr . Gladstone , and many more . While we write , it is doubtful whether even Mr . Disraeli is not acquiescent—much as his feelings , his hopes , his opinions as to the right course , must have been outraged by the " unconstitutional" compromises which have been effected . The broad facts are ,
that we remain under a Provisional Government appointed by the advice , of the Duke of Wellington , because all leading public men have flinched from assuming - the responsibility . The ruling class has abdicated its right to take the Government , but has admitted no other class ; thus , by that combination of default and of the dog-in-the-manger principle , we are saddled , not with a Government , but with a Non-Government .
A large step made in the progress of anarchy ! Not one party has appealed to the country . Not one has ventured to do so . We do not mean in the formal mode of a general election , but in the direct mode open to all political parties . There is no popular party in the House of Commons , not one that relies on the People , and derives strength from the People . One leader of the party that stands in the . place of a popular party has expressed his
satisfaction with the promises of Lord John Russell ! A party not without representatives in Parliament , the National Parliamentary and Financial Reform Association , has issued an address to the country , which has fallen still-born from the press— because it fell short of any bold , distinct , anid decisive measure . It was less hold , distinct , and decisive than previous addresses by the Nairn ; party , when then ; was not , as there in at present , an opportunit y opening to realize the movement .
Why is this ? The question is important , and we beg our readers to face it candidly and boldly . Do not let them blame us for stating what we believe to he the truth . It . is a time for out-speaking . We believe one reason to be , that the . leaders ol" the popular party are not ; agreed . amongst themselves ; if they were , it is inconceivable that they should have left the millc-and-water address of | , ho Parliamentary i ' ve . Association as the sole appeal to the country . Another reason we believe , to he , that some of the ; party , now thoroughl y embued with Parliamentary and routine habits , deliberately and consciously prefer to attach themselves to the order of things that be , rather than to any truly national movement . A third reason , that other men of
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greater heartiness are sulky discontent with their fellows , or a still more culpable indifference . A fourth , that most of these men are afraid of the middle class , their constituents . They will rather retain their seats by succumbing to the prejudices of that class , than command a place in Parliament by force of their own strength and a national support , lhe ldoJworship , which a contemporary has denounced as leading to the break-up of parties , is succeeded by a general scepticism , a political atheism , under which public men are paralyzed . During a juncture most opportune for action , most suitable for another great move of the general progress , our " popular party" has abdicated as much as the ruling class ; and its members all but avow that they do so under
fear of the middle class . For these reasons—for this degeneracy of our ruling class—for this presumed veto of the middle class on all bold , popular action—we are denied a real Government—we are handed back to Lord John Russell ' s Non-Government . England is left to the Police and the Beadle . This is not a state of things consistent with " the safety of our institutions . " It casts the most damaging slur on the working of our political system . It saps all faith in the constitutional action of the Crown , under the advice of the Privy Council ; it makes thinking politicians doubt the absolute wisdom of a system which
leaves the final appeal in a crisis to a young matron and a very old gentleman ; it suggests doubts . It tends to destroy faith in the sense of honour among public men , whose elite—elite de facto—can reaccept office on terms so humbling , not to say degrading ; it abolishes all faith in the action of the Opposition , which , rather than inconvenience a lady , permits the existence of such a Government by a process of passive sanction , sufferance , or blinking and winking . It destroys faith in popular representatives , who do not stand forward as a bold
compacted body , but yield up the rule of the country to the Non-Government—because the head of that Non-Government , the man who had lately run away from the position which himself had made , now frightens them with the ghost of Protection , with the Pope , or some other Old Bogy . They talk , indeed , of " principles " ; they threaten to make the dreaded appeal , as children out of doors with some erring nursemaid threaten to " tell Ma "; reluctantly they yield against conscience ; but are they not to be silenced by the cry of " H ° gy ' coming " ?
Yes , under that dread of Bogy , public men consent to be frustrated , nullified , stultified ; we are to take our measure even of " financial reform" from the author of the most ridiculous essay in that branch ever witnessed ; our home policy from the Premier , who , in a shadowy dread of the Pope , has roused a real danger in Ireland ; our colonial policy from the meanest , most tyrannical , and weakest Government that ever provoked colony to rebel , and yielded ; our foreign policy from the Minister who , to say nothing of old misdeeds , but so lately assisted at the betrayal ol' Italy , Sicily , Hungary , Schleswig-IIolstein , Hesse Cassel , and all " Germany . " Our public men consented to rate themselves lower than that Cabinet , and to let the country take its policy from the self-convicts .
Our country , so rich and so poor , so strong , so oppressed by gratuitously-endured evils ! But , we nay , this political nightmare cannot last . The Non-Government cannot rule . It is anarchy . We may tide over a time of " prosperity" and holiday ; but we are drifting upon the rocks without anchor and without watch . Contempt will be followed by discontent ; political agitation will profit in the next season by the , weakness of political quietists in this . Unless Nome party Htrong enough in will , noble enough in purpose , Hteps forward to insist on a conduct of affairs worthy of the country , on measures suited to the timo both in plan and largeness , we shall , at the next overclouding of the sky , have a roaring agitation—with what precise object , with what results , who can now tell ?
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UNIVERSAL SUFFRAGE THE NKX . 1 REFORM . Oni < : great movement ban received a powerful ii «* pulsdfrom the-interregnum—tho movement for universal suffruge . Everybody feels that it has ilonfi no ; even the 'limes talks of going to " the circumference . " The existence of a Non-Government invites the great mass of the People to rise up once more and claim its rights . It is idle for their opponents to Hlumber in the sleep of prejudice mid trust ; to the quietude of to-day , when events aie growing too
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There is nothing so revolutionary , because there is nothing so unnatural and convulsive , as the strain to keep things fixed when all the world is by the very law of its creation in eternal progress . —Dr . Arnold .
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SATURDAY , MARCH 8 , 1851 .
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[ and boldness indulging a 222 mt &ea * rr ___ Satcbpay ,
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Leader (1850-1860), March 8, 1851, page 222, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1873/page/10/
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