The Press. — London, England, 1854-09-16 00:00:00

SEPTEMBER 16, 1854 year this progress is not so visit) e,, but from period to period the change between t mg/3 which it had left and things which it finds is ery striking. The association visits Liverpool next week, and the sub ject has given cause to the following sensible expla nation in a Liverpool paper :—" Since the British Association assembled in Liverpool in the year 1837, steam-ships and machinery have been constructed capable of crossing the Atlantic, the Indian, and even the Pacific Oceans ; and the electiio telegraph, the discovery of a distinguished English philosopher, has given means of communicating, in an unappreciable instant of time, across vast continents and beneath the waves of stormy seas. Probably before the asso ciation again visits Liverpool, we, or our sons, will immunicate as rapidly with New York and Calcutta as we now communicate with Vienna, Dantzic, Trieste, and Marseilles ; and the steam tonnage entering this port, which now amounts to upwards of twelve hun dred thousand tons yearly, will have increased to two or three millions." 3rain aub Valict. INSULTING OFFICERS OF THE 46TH.-OH Monday, at the Town-hall, Windsor, a lad named Thomas Simms was charged with insulting Major Maxwell and Adjutant M'Alester, of the 46th Regiment. The magistrates' chamber was crowded, as also were the anteroom, the staircase, and the passages leading to the hall. Mr. Voules defended : Major Maxwell deposed as follows: Yesterday afternoon 1 was in the High-street with Mr. M'Alester. I heard the words, " You don't recollect, do you?" Mr. M'Alester turned round immediately; so did I. I saw a civilian run off at once, down the street. Mr. M'Alester called to an orderly who was behind Its to catch him. This was done; he was brought back, and handed over to the police. I may as well state that my object is not to have the lad punished ; but I and other officers have been so frequently insulted in this way of late by lads that I thought this was a good opportunity of showing that such in- Nulls could not be offered with impunity. Mr. Yontss said he was very much obliged to Major Maxwell, inasmuch ie it rendered any defence of his client unnecessary. The offence 'barged was no offence in law ; but he must say that whatever might have occurred in another place was nothing now, and gentlemen in the position of the complainants ought not to be annoyed. The Mayor said it was perfectly clear that the charge, as stated by Major Maxwell, constituted no offence in law. The words used by the defendant might or might not apply to recent transactions, and the defendant must be discharged. He wouldadd, how ever, that the magistrates would be most happy to put a stop to any annoyance which might be offered to the officers or soldiers in garrison ; and be had already given strict orders to the police that if any disturbance arose to take the parties into custody. ANNE PARKER, a married woman, was charged at the Marylebone Police Court on Tuesday with en deavouring to destroy her two children in the Regent's Canal. She was accompanied by her offspring, who stood on either side of her. It was evident, from their manner, that they bad been well brought up, while they e xhibited the most sincere affection for their unfortunate parent, which was plainly recipro cated by her. She stated that she came from Plais tow, in Essex; that her husband had repeatedly deserted and ill-used her; and that she had made the attempt through trouble of mind. It was her intention to have destroyed herself as soon as she bad finished with the children. Mr. Long, observing that he would send her to a place where he hoped the advice of the chaplain would bring her to a sense of her guilt, committed her for trial. The prisoner, on parting from her children, kissed them affection ately. She remarked to them that they would soon be separated, when they would never see her any more. She urged them to say their prayers, and told them to inform their father what had been her instructions to them. A MENDICANT FRIAR OF THE CHURCH OF ENOLARD. An occurrence almost, if not quite, unprecedented took place on Monday, in the apprehension of a cler gyman of the Anglican Church for begging and va grancy. The name of the clerical mendicant is the Rev. Henry Herring, formerly curate of North Pick- ' enham, Norfolk. The charge was made before the Norwich magistrates. Sowter, one of the Norwich police, stated that on Sunday morning, as the con gregation were leaving the cathedral, he saw the pri soner standing in front of the great west door with the following placard suspended in front of him:— " The Lord ordained that they which preach the Gospel should live of the Gospel." The Church of England withholds from me the justice of that tribunal which the civil law grants to the common murderer! Such is the spirit of that Church which, professedly, invites the prodigal to repentance. I have spent 1,5001. in her service, and have been driven to pass three nights in the streets of Norwich, and six nights in the lock-up (a hole where there is only straw laid upon the stone floor), solely for the want of better and proper accmitriodatlon. The mayor and magistrates have encouraged me to apply to every one that has a heart to feel for the miseries of a fellow•creature. I earnestly solicit the sympathy and charity of an enlightened public to enable me to live day by day, and to defend myself from the ty ranny and persecution of the Bishop of Norwich. " Norwich-street, Sept. 2. " HENRY HERRING." In reply to questions, the prisoner said he had been . recommended by the mayor to apply to the bishop, and his lordship having refused to aid him, he had exposed the placard for the purpose of attracting the THE PRESS. sympathy of the public. Mr. English, chief con stable of the Norwich police, said he bad obtained the prisoner a situation as usher to a school in York shire, and his friends would have fitted him out with clothes, but he refused to avail himself of the oppor tunity. The prisoner, in reply, said the salary (121. a year) was so small that he should not have been able to live during the vacations. Mr. Palmer, one of the sitting magistrates, said his conduct was most disgraceful, and they must protect the bishop from the annoyances to which he sought to subject him. The prisoner had been guilty of an act of vagrancy, and if be repeated the offence he ought to be sent to the treadmill. Mr. Sultzer said he had also attempted to bring scandal on the bishop and the Church with out any reason ; and, after some further discussion, the prisoner was asked whether he was willing to give an assurance that be would not repeat the of fence. The reverend gentleman showed some reluc tance to give up his new profession, but ultimately promised, and was discharged. MORMONISM.—At the Middlesex Sessions, Andrew Hepburn was prosecuted on Wednesday for dis turbing wilfully and maliciously a congregation of these religionists It appears that, on the Isth of August, the defendant, a lec turer, entered the Mormonist chamber while a Mr. Marsden was preaching, and in a loud voice said, "What is the text r. He was requested to be quiet by Mr. Harrison, an elder, but be would not, and again called out," What is the passage—what is the Scripture ?" When the police interposed and were about to remove him, several persons interfered in his behalf. Mr. Mars deu asked the deacon to call the police, as lie could not roceed with the discourse. The defendant had been annoying t he Mor mons in this way for some months. The trial brought out a long explanation of the Mor mon faith, in which it was stated that plurality of wives—allowed by the sect in America—was for bidden in England. The defendant was found Guilty, and ordered for the future to let the Mormons alone, under a personal recognisance of 1001., with two sureties of 201. each. THE BinuAL SOCIETIES are again before the tri bunals. A poor woman applied at the Thames Police-office, on Thursday, for relief against flagrant injustice:— The applicant said her mother, who had been a member of the belied society for twenty years, died on Wednesday morning. As her sole representative and next of kin she was entitled to the sum of 91., and, upon making application to the secretary for the money, he said he could only give her IL and make a coffin for her deceased mother. The reason assigned was the losses of the society in the time of cholera and diarrhoea. It appears there are two societies of the same name—" The Friend in Need"—and each refers to the other all liabilities. Mr. Isonaat said that he had ascertained from hia experience as a magistrate that it was much easier to pay money to such societies as this " Friend-in-Need " burial institution than to get it back. Many persons had complained at that court that they could obtain no money at all from the secretaries of the two societies named after the death of their relatives who had been members, and were referred from one branch to the other and back again. He would advise the applicant to take whatever she could get, and not belong to any such institution until she made strict inquiries and ascertained whether it was solvent and the secreting an honest man. The rules of the society contained en arbitration clause. 4 - -- --- - - - iT ------ The magistrate was unable to interfere. By the Common Law Procedure Act an important alteration can he effected in the sittings of the superior courts after the present vacation. It is enacted that any one of the judges, at the request of the Lord Chief Justice or Lord Chief Baron, may try the causes entered for trial at nisi prius in Westminster or London, in either of the courts, on the same days on which the said Lord Chief Justice or Lord Chief Baron, or any other judge of the same court, shall be sitting to try causes at those placer respectively, or at either of them, so that the trial of two causes may be proceeded with at the same time. This provittion will materially lessen the delay of causes and the great expense of keeping witnesses in attendance for several days. glttitants anti Ofinuts. AN INQUEST was held on Saturday touching the death of Mr. William Nittle, aged fifty-four, a gentle man residing at 13, Charlotte-street, Fitzroy-square, who committed suicide by cutting his throat with a razor. The deceased was a native of Liskeard, and had formerly been in very affluent circumstances, but had become connected with mining speculations, which turned out unfortunate, and involved him in considerable pecuniary difficulties. Mrs. Stimpson, the landlady of the house, stated that the deceased had lodged with her about two months, and was at times very cheerful. For some time past there had been two men waiting about the house to serve him with writs, and that fact preyed heavily upon his mind. On the previous morning Mrs. Stimpson went up, as usual, to his room•door, but upon knock ing obtained no answer, and on entering saw the floor coveted with blood. Medical assistance was immediately procured, but life was found to be en tirely gone. The jury returned a verdict of "Suicide during a state of temporary insanity." A MARRIED FBMALE COMMITTED SUICIDE On Saturday last by taking sulphuric acid. She appears to have been a confirmed drunkard. There was no appearance of delirium tremens ; and on the corn ner's inquest the jury differed about the verdict. After holding out for some time, the minority gave way, and a verdict of "Febo de se" was returned by twelve of the jury. 875 AN ATTORNEY'S CLER.K, Thomas French, committed suicide in the Borough some days since. The inquest was held on Tuesday. He was in the em ploy of an attorney, who had entrusted him with money to pay for summonses, which he spent. He went to Long's coffee-shop, at 88, Friar-street, Blackfriars, and asked for a bed, for which he paid Is. On going into the bedroom he raked for a tumbler, and the servant took hi,m a coffee-jug, which was found the next morning to have contained laudanum. On being called at ten o'clock next morning he was found lying across the bed quite dead. Some evidence was given So show that family quarrels had preyed on his mind, and the verdict, in consequence, was " Temporary insanity." A Onti. WAS KILLED BY HER FATHER at Preston, in Lancashire, on Saturday night. The men, Owen M'Culloch, a tailor, went home about ten o'clock on the above night, when, provoked because a man had taken away a ferret during his absence, he rose, with a stick in his hand, to strike his daughter, who sat on a chair nursing an infant. The mother stepped between them and received a blow on the eye. In the affray ' however , both the child and the chair she sat on fell. When taken up the child was found to be insensible, and death ensued immediately. A coroner's jury returned a verdict of "Manslaughter," and the prisoner (who absconded early on Sunday morning, but surrendered himself on Monday) was committed for trial. AN ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT NORTHERN on the night of Friday week disabled one of the porters of the company. He slipped off the engine at the Holloway station, and the wheels passed over his foot. THE premises of the North-Western Railway at Wolverton were seriously damaged by fire on Sunday morning, The offices of the locomotive superintendent (Mr. *Connell), together with various books and papers, the property of the com pany, were destroyed. The fire originated in the coffee-room appropriated to the engine-drivers and firemen immediately under the offices in question. In consequence of there being no water, the flaws continued until the entire building was completely gutted. The wind, fortunately, was blowing at the time in a north-westerly direction. The cause of the tire is at present unknown. ON WEDNESDAY MORNING a fire broke Old in St. Paul's-churchyard on the premises of Messrs. Hitch cock and Co., dealers in silks, shawls, and other valuable property. The flames were discovered raging in one of the middle rooms of the warehouse in the rear of the premises. The London Fire Bri gade engines, followed by the West of England, with a powerful body of men, quickly arrived, and, after great exertion on the part of those preset*, the are was subdued, but not until property to a large saneant was destroyed. The cause is unknoitn. The pro perty is insured in several of the fire-offices. A Fier of a very destructive character happened the same day on the premises of Mr. Mott, a tailor, carrying on business in Prospect row, near the canal bridge, Old Kent-road. The flames when first dis covered were raging with great fury in the lower part of the premises, but fortunately the inmates wore out at the time, or they doubtless would have been suffo cated, for the flames had seized upon the stairs, and ascended almost to the top of the house, before their existence became known. The fire was not extin guished till the property was almost entirely con sumed. AN ENGLISH GENTLEMAN AND MS Wrri, who bad adopted the island of Eulsea (Negropont) for their residence, paid the penalty of their choice by the sacrifice of their lives. They were a Mr. and Mrs. Leeves. It seems probable that the murder was not wholly for plunder, but in part originated in the revengeful feeling entertained towards Englishmen and Frenchmen generally on account of their inter.. fering to put down tho buccaneering Greek incur sions into the Turkish provinces. It is very well known that many of the invaders were either profes sional brigands or palicari—irregular Greek soldiers, who are little, if any, better. When driven out of Thessaly by the Turkish troops, many of these are known to have taken refuge in the island of Negro pont ; and it is understood that Mr. Leeves, in a let ter written only a few days before his death, had ex pressed some uneasiness on account of the number of these desperate ruffians who were known :o be in his neighbourhood. An infant child, with a nurse and domestic, was spared. The crime was perpe trated on the 27th of August. A NORWEGIAN GENTLEMAN, named C. F. flawald, committed suicide in the Blackfriars-road on Tues day evening by shooting himself with a double barrelled pistol. His friends are said to be persons of affluence in Norway, and a few days since he sent to his mother for a remittance of money to pay for his lodgings, which he stated was sure to reach him on Monday last. Not receiving any answer to his application, he was apprehensive that she bad died, and that event had doubtless preyed on Lis mind, and induced him to commit the rash act.