The Press. — London, England, 1858-04-10 00:00:00

356 bringing an increased pressure on the other two moorings, the bow (stem) chain went. The wind and strong flood which swept up the Reach caused the forward part of the ship to incline towards the Dept ford shore. Mr. Prowse, the officer who was in charge of the vessel, Captain Harrison being absent on leave, immediately adopted every precaution to secure and protect the ship. Some steamers which lay between the Leviathan and the shore assisted in checking the canting of the ship inwards. With all expedition a large hawser was laid out to the Dread nought, and three powerful steam-tugs were brought to bear on the port bow in hauling the ship into her former position. Fortunately the squall was of short duration, but the weather continued boisterous, and the tugs were engaged until late in the evening in keeping the bow out, when the steamer was again secured by additional chains from Brown and Lenox, and the Thames Conservancy depot. The Leviathan has sustained not the least injury, and, as far as we could learn, none of the vessels that were lying inside her were damaged, with the exception of the stern of a dumb lighter being stove iu. As a matter of precaution, it was deemed prudent to have one or two of the tugs in attendance during the night, the weather continuing unfavourable. It should be stated that the moorings at the stern remained firm. Vcoilintial. SIR JOHN PAHINGTON, BART., M.P., presided on Monday, for the last time, in the Court of Quarter Sessions of Worcestershire. The right hon. baronet has for twenty-four years filled the office of chairman of quarter sessions for Worcestershire. In conse quence of the great pressure of his other duties, he finds it impossible longer to hold the office, and at the meeting of the court he gave in his resignation. In his remarks he said that his resolution had not sprung from his recent acceptance of office, be having for some time decided to resign at the Easter sessions of 1859, when he would have completed twenty-five years of service. The appointment to the office he now held, faithfully to discharge which would tax all his strength, had, therefore, only led him to antedate the carrying out of a prior resolve. The resignation was expected by the court, but for all that it was received with regret, and a committee appointed to draw up a resolution expressive of the gratitude felt by the court and the county for the services of Sir John, with a view to formally placing the resolution on the minutes of the court. Lord Ward will probably succeed the right hon. baronet, the election taking place at the ensuing Midsummer sessions. THE PRINCE CONSORT has accepted an invitation to be present at the annual meetings of the High land and Agricultural Society of Scotland, which are to be held at Aberdeen at the close of the month of August nett. Jr HAS BEEN DETERMINED to erect a statue of the late Duke of Devonshire, in his county town of Derby. Should there be any surplus funds they are to be devoted to some charitable purpose, such as the late duke would have approved of. 2ratu anb Vatic,. THE TRIAL of the Rev. Mr. Smith and his wife for a felonious assault upon Mr. John Leech, of Croydon, on the 3rd of February last, atWesterleigh, took place at Gloucester on Tuesday last before Mr. Baron Channell. The facts of the case must be fresh in the memory of onr readers. Mr. Leech, who years some ago had very intimate relations with Mrs. Smith, who had seen nothing of her for some years, at the close of January last sudden!) received a letter from her, stating that she was a widow, and expressing a desire to renew their intimacy. Mr. Leech, nothing loth, appears to have entered into the project rather ardently. After some further cor respondence he left town for Bristol on the 3rd of February, and, getting out at the platform, saw some person very like Mr. Smith going to the waiting room. However, Mr. Leech met Mrs. Smith at the station, and went on with her to l'ate. There he and Mra. Smith got out together. It was quite dark : Wet had not gone I should think more than 140 verde, when something occurred. I several times asked if she could find her way, and she said she could as soon as she c.itild find the hedge. When we had got about la° yards she called out " We're lost." At that time I was feeling for the hedge with my umbrella in front of me. I heard another voice, a man's, say, " I am lost, too." When I heard that I just turned my head half round, and could see the shadlw of some one approaching. When he came near me I received a very heavy blow on the back of my head. I saw the man, but not his features. I saw some thing of rather a light colour in his hands about fifteen or eighteen inches in length. It was as thick as my wrist. I also received two or three blows on the front and other parts of my bead with the same instrument. ( The witness here exhibited several scars, one on his forehead, sad the others on other parts of his head.) My hat got but I don't know bow. It was not marked. The E RES S, APRIL 10, 1858. largest cut was the first. When I received the blcws closed with him, And caught him by the collar with my left band, and his left wrist with my right. The last time I saw Mrs. Smith, before I was attacked, she was three or four yards off. When I closed we both fell ; he was undermost, and I fell upon him. I kept my hold upon him, with my left hand on his collar, and I held his left hand out straight with my right. At that time I noticed something in his left hand. I supposed at the time what he held in his hand was the bludgeon I was struck I called out " Murder," and " Help," and two or three men came from the station. Two lights were brought. One of the men lifted me off the prisoner. When the man was going away the light was going away, and my impression was that it was the same person whom I had seen go into the waiting-room at Bristol. I cannot tell what Mrs. Smith was doing at the time l was attacked. I believe the man to have been the male prisoner, but I will not swear. .......__ _ Mr. Huddleston said there could be no question about the identity of the prisoner. The evidence of several witnesses was taken simply to prove the identity of Mr. Smith, who was not de. fended by counsel, and who, when the case for the prosecution closed, addressed the court, and after frankly revealing the circumstances under which he bad met with and married Mrs. Smith, made the following remarkable statement 1— He had often observed that there was a melancholy about his wife, and she would sigh on his bosom and tell him that she was not worthy of him He had often corn plained of her staying so much in Kent, and that there must be some reason for her melancholy, though he could not tell what it was. She once told him of a letter she had received from the man Leech, and mentioned other circumstances which tended rather to :cite his jealousy. But he overlooked it, as she continued to bear him children and managed the house well. At length, on the •22nd of January last, she told him something which made him very unhappy, but he said he would forgive her if she would take an oath that nothing had happened since their mar• risge. She then knelt down and told him of the circum• stances under which the prosecutor Leech induced her to meet him at Canterbury and committed adultery with her, and that Leech afterwards met her in London and pro raised that, if sbe would go and live with him, he would marry her in seven years. The prisoner then proceeded to give a graphic description of his wife on her knees, with her children round her, imploring his forgiveness. The idea racked his mind that perhaps the children were not his own. His wife, however, assured him that she had never done anything wrong since she had been living with him, and as he believed she had told him the truth, he promised to forgive her after that discovery. He dwelt upon the wrongs which had been done him, till he forgot everything but himself. But he told his wife that he would forgive her if she would bring the man to Bristol, in order that he might retaliate. He designed, as he ( Leech) had lured his wife to Whitstable for his lust, he ( the prisoner' would lure the prosecutor to fate, and there give him a sound thrashing. It was under his directions his wife wrote the letters, which he dictated. He then stated how he had insisted on his wife writing the letters, and disguising herself, as she had done, on the promise which he made her that he would not do Leech any serious injury. He bought the revolver for his own protection in case the prosecutor should draw a knife upon him ; but he solemnly denied that he bad ever intended to use the pistol aggressively against Leech, for, had he done so, he would not have acted as he had, so as to lead to his detection. His only object was to do what he had done—viz., to give Leech a good beating, in order to solace his outraged mind. He owned that he could not justify his conduct, which he should always deeply lament; but ho hoped his conduct would be justly appreciated by the judge and jury, who could not blame him for the burning indignation which hail overcome his whale being. He implored the jury to put themselves in his place, and ask themselves what redress the laws of the land and courts of justice could have given him. He took the law into his own hand, but who could deny that he had sinned against human nature, or that Leech had had more than he deserved? The jury might find him guilty of an assault if they would, but he implored them not to find him guilty of a felony, which would ruin his prospects in life, and deprive his children of their bread. Mr. Huddleston having addressed the jury in de fence of Mr. Smith, Mr. Baron Channell summed up, and the jury, after a short deliberation, returned a verdict of Guilty against both prisoners of cutting and wounding with intent, &c., but they added that Mrs. Smith had acted throughout under the coercion of her husband. Mr. Baron Channell deferred passing sentence until the following day, when his lordship sentenced the prisoner, Mr. Smith, to four years' penal servi tude ; Mrs. Smith to find sureties to appear when called on. THE TRIAL or Gtoverm lAN! for the murder of an unfortunate woman in a house of ill.fame near the Haymarket commenced on Thursday morning, end terminated yesterday in a verdict of " Guilty." Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Clerk conducted the prosecution on behalf of the Treasury ; the prisoner was defended by Mr. Tindal Atkinson and Mr. W. S. Austin. At the conclusion of the sentence delivered by Mr. Jus tice Crompton, the prisoner said—l am not guilty, and therefore I cannot be sentenced to death. I am a minor, and not liable to the punishment of death. Mr. Justice Crompton—Tell him that by the laws of this country he is liable to c►pital punish ment in such a case as ibis whether a minor or not. The prisoner made no remark upon this, and he was removed from the dock, not having undergone the slightest change of features. The execution will take place in front of thelold Bailey, on Monday the 28th inst. lone Blarhet anti Ott g jnitiligence. FRIDAY EVENING. THE return of the Bank of England for the week ending Wednesday last, the 7th inst., shows the following changes compared with that for the week preceding : Increase in Circulation Decrease in Public Deposits Increase in Other Deposits Increase in Government Securities Decrease in Other Securities Decrease in Bullion Decrease in Rest.. Decrease in Reserve Bullion in both Departments Circulation, including Bank Post Bills The falling off in the Bullion shown by this comparison is partly due to an internal requirement for coin, usual at the expiration of one quarter and the commencement of another, and partly to an export demand fur the United States. The stock, however, is still very large. The de cline in the Reserve is caused by payments on account of public salaries and the dividends due to the Bank proprie tors ; and it is only such as is usual at such periods as the present. This will also explain the diminution in the Public Deposits and in the Rest. The diminution in the amount of Private Securities bears practical testimony to the limited demand for the money at the Bank, for they have considerably fallen off in the aggregate, although during the first four or five days of the mouth the inquiry was temporarily active. From the general character ni the return it is hardly possible to anticipate a change in the current rates of discount. The monthly Debtor and Creditor Account of the Bank of France, made up to yesterday, was published in the Moniteur this morning. It shows a farther large increase in the stock of Bullion, which now amounts to 15,313,2101., being 1,804,1101. more than was stated in the prece.ting return. The Circulation has been increased by 802,781, and it now rather exceeds 23,433,3651. The Treasury Balances have fallen off only 50,0151; but the Private Deposits have increased 349.5001. The dulness trade throughout France has led to a diminution in the dis counts of 722,2891., the amount now advanced under this head being only 15,313,2101. This, however, is only 1 540,0001. less than the c irresponding item in the aceounts of the Bank of England at the end of March There is an increase in the advances on Bulion, Stock, and Shares of 716,0801., or from 4,212,8331. to 4,928,9241., which may be taken as representing the amount of ass'.st• ante rendered to the jobbers and dealers upon the Bourse in the course of the month. The circumstances that have most affected the Money Market in the current week, have been the dispersion of the April dividends, and the payment of the first instalment of twenty per cent., or 1,000,000/., of the Indian Loan. These events took place yesterday. Pretionsly to their occurrence the market had felt, slightly, the eff!cts of a more active inquiry in order to meet the commercial se ceptances at maturity in the first week of the month; but this demand satisfied, it relapsed into its previous state cf quietude. Then the loan instalment falling due simel taneously with the monthly Consol Settlement in the Stock Exchange, created a moderate demand from that estatlish ment ; but it was most easily met by the increased means arising from the payment of the dividends. The con• sequence has been steadiness in the rates, the terms not having exceeds i , in most cases, two and a half per cent. With regard to the commercial inquiry we are compelled to say that, although there are symptoms of increasing activity in business, it is practically stationary. The Bank has received about 100,0001. in gold, princi pally from the stock on hand before the commencement of the present week. During the last few days about 410.5501. have arrived from Australia, only a portion of which has yet been delivered ; and it is probable that as the continental demand has ceased, the greater part will go into the Bank. Large arrivals of cotton and other commodities from the United States, while our own exports are decreasing, have turned the Exchanges against us for a time; so that instead of receiving gold from New York, we are sending it there. Fully 250,0001. are said to be already engaged. This drain will only be temporary, and it will be met, particularly if the supplies from Aus tralia come in at all regularly, without resort being had to the Bank, or at least only partially. The silver market is dull; and very little is being sent to India, and none to Chins. Consols have been drooping, though the decline has been very gradual. The lowest price of the week, so for. was at the close last night. when they left off at 96. to i. To some extent the market has been affected by sales of stock to provide the instalment of the Indian Loan, but mainly by an unsettled state of feeling caused by rumours of loans, of political changes here and on the Continent, and other matters without real foundation. Such reports are always incident to a dull state of business. To-day they opened at 96. to 4, and closed at 964 to j. Foreign Shares are in some instances lower, but on the whole business has been rather good in this department. Railway Shares have suffered from the same causes as the Funds, but besides those causes they have adverse specialties which have operated injuriously. Among these the most prominent is the traffics, which, though slight l y better Om the previous week, ere still compsrativel II