The Press. — London, England, 1857-05-16 00:00:00

MAY 16, 1857. fall. I saw the man take her away. While going to the station•house, Fox said, " I am only sorry I had not more of these things, or a revolver, and you would not have got away, as I did not mean to be taken." Mr. Andrews, surgeon, deposed that he found the deceased in a dying state, occasioned by a pistol shot wound, the ball of which had passed through the upper part of the thigh, making its exit at the back part of the thigh. The wound was caused by a bullet, according to the best of his judgment. She died in a few minutes after she was wounded, upstairs on the bed, from the hemorrhage. There was a flight wound on the fingers of the left hand. When the coroner had summed up, the jury, after a few moments' consideration, returned a verdict of " Wilful murder " against Stephen Fox. The pri soner was examined before the magistrates the same afternoon. The evidence was similar to that given at the inquest. When it was concluded the prisoner was asked what he had to say in answer to the charge. He replied : Of course the reason why I did it was because she de. ceived me. I had promised her marriage, and she con• seated. I went to her house on Monday evening, but she was not at home. I left about nine o'clock. I went again on Tuesday at six o'clock, and she was not at home then. I went there again, and stopped till a quarter past ten, when she returned home. I went into the front room and asked her the reason of this unpleasantness. She said it was my own fault. I said, "Be it so." I said, " Give me a decided answer, yes or no, and I will leave you for ever." She said, " No, Stephen, I will meet you tomorrow (Wednesday) evening precisely at eight o'clock." She did not meet me, however. This morning at seven I saw her again. She said, " Stephen, forgive me." I said, " No, I can't.' I had kept company with her two years, and we never had a miss•word till last Tuesday evening. The prisoner was fully committed for trial.—The third murder was committed at Wokingham. A man named John Blackwell, a shoemaker living in the town, had recently exhibited violent religious delusions, and the parish officers had determined to remove him to a lunatic asylum. On Wednesday night a man named Rance was appointed to sleep with him to prevent mischief. Rance agreed with two men occupying cottages on either side of Black well's that if he required assistance in the night he should knock loudly on the walls. Soon after mid night one of the neighbours was awoke by a loud noise. He went to Blackwell's cottage, and saw Blackwell standing over Rance, who was lying on the floor quite dead. Being frightened, he went into his own cottage, and shut the door, at which the maniac presently knocked, saying, " I have killed the devil, and I am the king of kings." Blackwell then went away, and was not found till Thursday morning, when he was seen kneeling in the street and praying in an incoherent manner. From the appearance of Rance's body, it seemed as if he had been first knocked down, and then bad re ceived several severe cuts in the throat and hand. The maniac's own account of the matter before the magistrates was as follows: That man offered to be my protector, and wished me to sleep on. When I had a certain evidence in my mind that eternity was coming, I couldn't sleep. I got out of bed, but he pulled me back. He said," You feel warm ; " and I said, " I don't feel everlastingly warm." I had a presentiment that he was a devil, and I. determined to kill him. I struck him a blow, which almost levelled him, but the second did quite. I then got a knife, just as he managed to get the door open, and stuck him in the neck. The knife didn't cut, but I managed to hag and jag away till I had done the job. The prisoner was removed to the county gaol. i',llD3 anb Volta. THE ROYAL BRITISH BANK. Mn. COMMSSIONER HOLROYD delivered judgment in this case on Thursday last at the Court of Bank ruptcy. The learned commissioner, before pointing out the legal liabilities of the company, observed : I think this is not a case for further delay. I do not believe that a scene of greater reck lessness, fraud, and criminality of conduct in the management of a banking establishment was ever exhibited in a court of justice than is disclosed by the examinations taken in this court under the adjudication of bankruptcy against the Royal British Bank ; and I may observe that these examinations will be admissible in evi dence against the parties in case of a prosecution. Mr. Commissioner Holroyd then at length entered upon the question of the legal constitution of a joint-stock bank, and delivered the following as his opinion of the criminal responsibility, of which there could be "no doubt.," of the directors and general managers of the Royal British Bank It is not necessary on the present occasion to go in detail into the facts brought to light during this most pain ful inquiry, or to single out any particular persons as delinquents ; that will be for elsewhere and hereafter ; but having regard to the course pursued in the management of the affairs of the Royal British Bank, in defiance of the Act of Parliament to regulate joint•stock banks, and of the provisions in the charter, I think that the directors and general managers of the bank are open to some one or more of the following charges:— lit, commencing business before all the shares were sub scribed for, and at least half the amount paid up, and THE PRESS. repaying part of the sum paid up without leave of the Board of Trade, contrary to the form of the statute ( 7th and Rth Viet., cap. 113, section 5), and the terms of the charter, page 53. 2nd, making, declaring, and publishing false statements and balance-sheets of the assets and liabilities of the bank. 3rd, declaring dividends when no profits had been made, but, on the contrary, when the affairs of the corporation were greatly embarrassed and large losses had been incurred, and when, ac cording to the terms of the charter, not a single farthing ought to have been allowed for dividend. 4th, conspiring to raise the price of the shares of the com pany by illegal means and with a criminal view. sth, can apiring when in a state of insolvency, and when the losses of the company had exhausted the "surplus or reserve fund" and one•fourth port of the paid-up capital—l say, when in such a state, conspiring to obtain a supplemental charter from the Crown by false representations and by false reports and balance-sheets, and making dividends when nut justified in so doing, and thereupon issuing new shares or obtaining deposits for new shares at a premium, with intent to cheat the public and in contempt of the pre rogative of the Crown. 6th, making such repeated gross misapplications of the funds of the bank by large loans to some of the directors and other persons on terms of the utmost risk, in total disregard of the discretion vested in the directors by the charter, with consequent serious loss to the corporation ; embarking in a hazardous speculation by laying out large sums of the bank money upon an undertaking qu'te foreign to the business of banking—l refer particularly to the Welsh mines—and thereby also incurring heavy losses; not exercising proper superin- tendence and control over the general manager in con ducting the business sod affairs of the company; and though the directors found that the losses of the company had exhausted all the " surplus or reserved fund," and also one fourth of the capital actually paid up, failing to call a special general meeting of the proprietors and to submit to the meeting a statement of the affairs of the company as directed by the 71st article of the deed of con stitution, all which several instances of misconduct under the sixth head were in direct violation of the terms of the charter. THE TRIAL OF BACON AND HIS WIFE for the murder of their two children has resulted in the acquittal of Bacon and a verdict of " Not Guilty " on the plea of insanity against Mrs. Bacon, who will be confined for life as a criminal lunatic. The details of the case are familiar to most of our readers. The most conclusive evidence was furnished by. respect. able witnesses—Mrs. Munro, her mother, Mrs. Payne, and several neighbours—that on the Sunday previous to the murder Bacon had called upon and a•ked Mrs. Munro to come early the following morning and stop with his wife during his absence at Reigate ; that he left for Reigate about six o'clock on the Monday morning (29th December) ; and that Mra. Munro, on the Monday afternoon, on going to the house, found it closed, and could not get in. The next morning, on going down again, she met Mrs. Bacon, who declared that the two children had been murdered that morning by a burglar, who got into the house through the window, so that all belief of collusion between Bacon and his wife was satisfactorily dispelled. Tthe trial on Wednesday, though it acquits him most fully of the foul charge, leaves him yet to meet as serious a one for the poisoning of his mother, whose sudden and mysterious death a year or two since was recalled by the suspicious circumstance which appeared to envelope the murder of the children. Of the insanity of Mrs. Bacon there is not the least doubt. She was confined in St. Luke's last year from June to October ; and in her delusions had frequently threatened to destroy the lives of her dearest relatives. SECOND EDITION. SATURDAY AFTERNOON. LATEST INTELLIGENCE. The Paris correspondent of the Post (second edi tion) writes _ _ _ Pasts, Friday Evening. I have reason to believe that intelligence has reached Paris stating that the Shah had ratified the treaty of peace; that hostilities had ceased, and that the British forces were under orders to prepare for fresh destinations. The news from Berlin is favourable also. It is believed in diplomatic circles here that Prince Napoleon's mission has succeeded. The King of Bavaria reached Lyons today, and will be the guest of the Emperor on the 17th. The official despatches from General Outram detailing the results of the expedition against Mo humra are published in the Gazette of last night. The details of Sir James Outram's despatch differ in no degree from those already published of the capture of Mohumra. A despatch from Cap tain Wray gives some details of interest regarding the flying expedition sent up from Mohumra to Ahwaz, a small town on the left bank of the Karoon, about 100 miles from its mouth. The operations against the enemy were conducted as follows, under the orders of Captain Rennie, I.N.:— At 3 a.m., Ist April, our little fleet left Kest Oomerrs, an Arab village on the left bank, where we had remained during the night. Soon after daylight, we came in sight of Ahwaz, and found the Persian army collected behind a ridge on the right bank—crowds of horsemen, apparently some guns on the ridge, and infantry innuxerable. Anchored at 'one and a half miles from the p'ace. Some horsemen came down, but a rifle-shot sent them off at full gallop, and no one attempted to come very near again. Heard from the Aruba that Aliwaz was not occupied, and that the troops that had been there had gone up the river the day before, frightened by the appearance of our steamers, and that nothing now remained but thirty horsemen ; that they had no means of crossing, excepting by two boats and two canoes. It was therefore determined to land all our party (300 men ), advance up to the left bank upon Ahwaz, and endeavour to destroy the enemy's depot of grain and ammunition. The two gunboats were sent off in advance up the river, and took up positions within shell range of the enemy's ridge, and opened fire. In the meantime the troops pushed on; the Persians still collected, though in reduced numbers, on the opposite bank of the river, at about 1,000 yards from us. At twelve o'clock, the troops approached the town, when the Arab sheik came out, tendered submission, and informed our party that the enemy were retreating, and with our glasses we saw a large army of 7,000 men, with a perfect swarm of Bukhtiaree boisetuen, and live or six guns, retiring fiom a eery strong position, before a body of 3 00 infantry, three small steamers, and three gunboats. The enemy retired in tolerable order, covered by their horse, the Shah zada himself travelling in a green palanquin carriage, the wheel-marks of which we had seen in the several encamp ing grounds on the river. The town was tilled with flour, wheat, barley, &c.; fifty five mules and a horse were also found, besides fourteen boxes of new flint muskets, Tower mark, each containing ten. A party cros-eti the river, examined the enemy's camp, and set fire to the remains of their magazine. The Arabs had blundered it before we arrived, and had carried off the powder, ball, ammunition, and muskets, the cases of which we found, but the enemy had left. a great quantity of loose shot on the ground, which could not be destroyed or carried away. The weather was hot but pleasant, and the troops healthy. Her Majesty will hold a Privy Council this (Satur day) afternoon, at Osborne, Isle of Wight. Captain George Greville Wellesley, R.N., C. 8., was sworn in Commander-in-Chief of the Indian Navy at a Court of Directors held on Wednesday last. The Committee on the Law of Lioel will sit on Monday next, at one o'clock, for the examination of witnesses. SIR GEORGE GREY'S CONVICT BILL.—The meeting at the Mansion-house yesterday, convened by the Lord Mayor, was of a very influential character. Among the thirty-eight members of Parliament pre sent were—Messrs. W. Ewart, R. A. Slaney, C. Neate, R. B. Wingfield, W. 'rite, E. Akroyd, Viscount . Bury, and Samuel Gurney. The following resolutions were adopted : 1. Resolved—That it is considered by this meeting highly desirable to introduce clauses into Sir G. Grey's Trsnsportation Amendment Bill, now before the House of Commons, empowering the Secretary of State for the Home Department in certain cases to substitute for fixed periods of imprisonment and transportstion a proportionate number of hours of labour to be performed by convicted criminals in this country or in the colonies as considers. tions of economy and expediency may dictate. 2. And also to provide in all such cases for the moral and religious instruction of each criminal, with an allow. ance of fold, bodily comfort, &c., and recreation corre. sponging in character and amount with his conduct and industry in confinement, so as to excite motives, powers, and habits of industry, self reliance, and self c‘ntrol, and thus to render criminals the voluntary instruments of their own maintenance, punishment, reformation, and release. 3. That the justices of any county, city, or borough, in quarter sessions assembled, be empoweerd, with the consent ...if the Secretary of State for the Home Department, to enter iuto an agreement with the justices of any other county, city, or borough for the transfer or exchange of any prisoners whilst undergoing their sentence, so as enaule them to effect a better classification for the purpose of applying and earning into execution the objects specified in the foregoing resolutions. 4. That a committee be appointed to carry these reso lutions into effect by petitions to both Houses of Parlia ment, and by such other proceedings as they shall deem advisable. The meeting was adjourned to Monday, at noon. The deaths of General Sir James Macdonnel, G.C.8., Colonel of the 71st., Rear• Admiral D. H. O'Brien, and of Admiral Gosselin, senior admiral of the fleet, are announced in this morning's papers. The gallant services at Waterloo of Sir James Mac donnel are well known. The buildings and orchard of Hougoumont were entrusted to his charge, and hcw the ganant hero held his position against the brave and impetuous attacks of the French is matter of history. The gallant general died last night after a protracted illness. City, Eleven o'clock. Consols for Account