The Press. — London, England, 1856-02-02 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 2, 1836. , Into Rub Volitt. MARRIAGE WITH A DECEASED WIFE'S SISTER has been declared legal by the Court of Session in Scot land, in the great case of Livingstone v. Livingstone, which has been pending for several years. The Lord Ordinary, in giving judgment, declared that he would willingly defer to the authority of the Scotch Confession of Faith it he could, but, sitting Ks a civil judge, he was obliged to decide that Marriage with a deceased wife's sister is not inces tuous by the law of Scotland, and that the issue are legitimate." THE BANKRUPTCY OF WILLIAM PALMIER, in an appeal against the fiat, was inquired into on Mon day, berme Mr. Commissioner Balguy, at the Bir mingham District Court of Bankruptcy. The petition of bankruptcy, presented early in January by Mr. Spittle, ironinaster, for a debt of near 1,0001. on a bill of exchange drawn by Palmer and accepted by his mother, was duly adjudicated on witti the view of setting aside an anteriorly dated bill of sale for 8,0001. held by a Mr. Wright, solicitor, by which the whole of Palmer's property had been swept off. Mr. Smith opposed the adjudi cation on the plea that Section 104 of the statute, allowing the bankrupt from seven to fourteen days to be heard against the adjudication, had in this instance been over-ridden, the bankrupt having been arrested at Padwick's suit on the 13th December last, and on the 17th removed to Stafford Gaol by coroner's war• rant on a charge of murder. Mr. Commissioner Baiguy coincided with this view, and expressed his opinion that the bankrupt, by Section 104, had a clear right to dispute the adjudication. Mr. James then withdrew the petition, but intimated that he should at once prepare a second for the prosecution of a new fiat. Is THE ACTION OF JONES v. WELCH, tried on Monday at Nisiirrius, the complainant, a homceopa tido doctor, sought to recover 581. for professional attendance upon defendant's daughter. In the course of cross-examination by Mr. James, Q.C., a prescrip tion of the plaintiff's was handed to Mr. Watkins, a member of the College of Surgeons, one of the plaintill's numerous witnesses, to prove that the charge of a guinea per visit was not an inordinate one. The prescription ran thus .—" aconite 40z., belladonna 40z., with a lotio ordinaris of silica.' Mr. Watkins confessed that he could not understand the prescription, that belladonna and aconite were only used externally by regular practitioners, and the "folio inaris " was beyond him altogether. The plaintiff here explained : The prescriptions of homoeopathists are totally different f orn those of the old practitioners. They do not, as was formerly the custom, pour down the throats of their patients vast quantities of medicine. They have distinct medicines for each particular disease. In each bottle of the medicine prescribed for the defendant's daughter, there was one millionth part of a grain of aconite, and the same proportion of belladonna. The loth) ordinaris was a tincture of prepared ground flint. Mr. James, Q.C., suggested that the lotio ordi naris of silica was simply pump-water with a flint in it, to which explanation the plaintiff agreed. The jury ultimately returned a verdict for the defendant, 251. having been paid into court. AN IMPORTANT CAB QUESTION was brought before Mr. Arnold, at Westminster, on Monday. It will be remembered, that the Act of Parliament 16 and 17 c. 33, in its Schedule A., declares "where two or more persons shall be carried inside any hackney carnage (-4nglid., cab) one sum of GI is to be paid for the whole hiring, in addition to the fares fixed by the act. Two children under ten . years of age to be counted as one adult person." The interpretation of this clause gave rise to so many disputes that the metropolitan magistrates held a meeting, and decided, after full deliberation, t. at a cabman, when carrying one child under ten years of age, was not entitled to compensation. Out of this decision the present case arose, Mr. Side, of the Borough, summoning Samuel Smith, a cabdriver, for refusing to carry a child under ten years of age. The defendant, in reply, said that he could only charge for two children, and would not carry one. Upon this Mr. Arnold observed that : He could not charge for carrying boxes, unless there were more than two persons in the cab, and if he were to refuse to carry a child because he could not charge for it, lie might refuse to carry boxes by the same rule. The Cabman : I am bound to curry the boxes for nothing, if I have only one or two persons in the cab, be. cause the law says I am to do so, and if the child is put in a box Pil carry it, by act of Parliament. Mr. AusoLn : The Itith and 17th \'ic., cap. 33, sec. 17, says," Every driver who shall refuse to admit and carry in his carriage the number of persons painted and marked on such carriage, or specified in the certificate granted by the Commissioners of Police," shall he liable to a penalty. How many are you certified to carry Defendant : Five. Mr. AR\;; Then, why refuse to carry this child as a third person ? Defendant : Because a child is not a person ; it is not a person by your worship's own decision ; because, if it THE PRESS. is a person, a cabman has a right to charge for it as an extra; and if be can't charge for it, why, then it can't be a person. Mr. ARNOLD: It is nonsense to assert that it has been decide I a chill is not a person. Defendant: It has been decided that two is a person, and that one isn't. Under your decision, a child under ten years of age don't constitute a person, and, therefore, as it isn't a person. I refuse to carry it. Mr. ARNOI.D: It was your tints to have taken the child, and, if there had been a refusal to pay for it, to have brought the matter before me. Defendant : It has been decided by you that it was not to be paid for, and I should, therefore, have carried the child for nothing. Mr. Arnold said that the magisterial decision was that the driver was not entitled to charge for one, not that he was not to carry one. He regarded the question much in the same light as that of carrying luggage. Mr. I'aynter, who was present, entirely agreed with Mr. Aruoli, when, upon the defendant's solicitation, the case was adjourned for a week far legal opinion. la w th S at ti le di P' b, 1, aI w bi sc hi al b, bI al tl re B 01 cl tl sl 01 AI tl al 01 ti rr el OI b 1% tl 11 p 1 f ri lr tl tl SI t.i ri 3 1 0 f, tl tl a 0 r ti c a li THE RUGELEY POISONING CASE. APPLICATION was made in the Court of Queen's Bench on Tuesday, before Lord Campbell and Justices Coleridge, Wightman, and Erle, by Mr. Sergeant Wilkins, for a writ of certiorari, to bring up the depositions, &c., in the case of the Queen v. Palmer, with the view of obtaining for the prisoner trial at the Court of Queen's Bench, or of removing the venue to some other county than Stafford. Two affidavits were banded in, one from William Palmer, of ten counts, pleading that the prejudice against him is so great in Stafford and the midland counties, that he cannot hope to find twelve unbiassed jury men ; that the principal evidence he will have to rely upon, will be that of scientific; men resident in London; that the attendant expenses of obtaining such witnesses at Stafford would be ruinous to his friends; and, finally, that he is innocent of having committed one of any of the murders he is charged with. A second affidavit, by Mr. Smith, his solicitor, corroborates Palmer's statement, and adds that the local newspapers have so excited the public mind against the prisoner that it is impossible to hope for an impartial trial " at Stafford, Warwick, or any of the midland counties." Lord Campbell, after a brief conference with his brother judges, intimated to Mr. Sergeant Wilkins, that as soon as the indict ments were laid before the court, the point should be considered. A rule nisi was ultimately granted, Lord Campbell promising to deliver judgment on the last day of term. On Thursday the case was again brought before the Bench, when, Mr. James and Mr. Huddlestone having appealed against the rule, Lord Campbell de livered judgment in favour of the rule being made absolute, and that a writ of certiorari should issue. His lordship then expressed his strong desire that from this time until the trial should be over there might be no more discussion on the subject. Mr. Justice Coleridge, with Justices Wightman and Crompton, concurred in the opinion of the Chief Jus tice, and the rule for the certiorari to bring up the depositions, &c., was made absolute. After the trial it would be quite legitimate to criticise the conduct of the jury, or of the judge, or the guilt or innocence of the prisoner; but pending the trial such discus sions were much to be deprecated, and if any case of the kind were brought before the court where the party was actuated by improper motives the court would know how to deal with it. He (Lord Camp bell) had no doubt the prisoner would have what he was entitled to—a fair and impartial trial. At pre sent the law presumed him to be innocent, but if he should be eventually found to be guilty be would suffer the penalty which the law provided. The body of Mr. Cook was exhumed last Friday, in order that Dr. Monckton, Dr. Harland, and Mr. Bamford might make an examination of some por tions which were not, on the former occasion, sub jected to minu'e inspection. Before the medical gentlemen commenced operations, Mr. George Pal mer, solicitor, and Mr. Smith, the prisoner's attorney, gave notice to Messrs. Lander and Gardiner, the solicitors for the prosecution at Ilugeley, that they should insist upon being present, with a view to an examination of the spinal marrow and brain; these two important organs never having been examined before, although they would be those primarily affected by the administration of strychnine. Pro fessor Bolton and Mr. Oliver Pemberton, surgeon to the Birmingham General Hospital, attended at Rugeley on Saturday morning, where they met Dr. Monckton, who was deputed by the Crown to make the re-examination. The result is not yet officially known, but it is credibly reported that so far as the examination went there was nothing discovered to show that death had resulted from the administra tion of strychnine. A re-examination of the brain was impossible, from its having been thrown amongst the abdominal viscera after the first examination. Notice has been given to the solicitors for the Crown, by Mr. Smith, calling on Dr. Taylor for his reasons for supposing Mr. Cooke bad died from tetanttaproduced by the administration of strychnine; 111 and also to know whether Dr. Taylor founded his opinion before the spinal column and brain had been examined, and also upon what data. Mr. Smith also required a statement of the condition of each organ he hail examined in reference to Dr. Taylor's evidence, w herein he said that no other medicine but iitrychnine could produce tetanus. A long array of medical gentlemen have been con sulted with regard to Professor Taylor's opinion, and a most voluminous correspondence (containing some important instances contradictory of the effect said to have been produced by the drugs found in the body of the deceased) will be produced at the trial. A PAINFUL CASE OF THE BRUTALITY OF A HUSBAND towards his wife, was brought before Mr. Ingham, at the Thames Police -court, on Tuesday. Nathan Fer nandez, aJew, was charged by his wife with gross and cruel ill-treatment:— On Wednesday fortnight, between one and two o'clock in the morning, he came home in a sate of intoxication, called her names, and, after knocking her down, kicked her on the eye, and rendered her insensible ; when she re covered he attacked her again with great fury, threw her down, kicked her on the arms, ribs, face, and other places, as hard as he was able, accompanying his brutality with the most dreadful oaths and exclamations. She became insensible again, and in that state was removed to the hospital. While she was there under medical treatment, her husband visited her, and asked her to make it up, which she refused to do, and lie then called her very bad names, and said, " I'll rip you tip like a bullock." On Friday evening last she left the hospital, and went home. He asked her to make it up, and not go before a magis trate. She refused to make any promise, and he struck her on the back of the head with his fist, and stunned her. In answer to the magistrate, the complainant stated that her seventeen years of married life had been nothing but a series of cruelties; her ribs were broken ; her bead, her arms, her whole body, in fact, was scarred with the marks of his brutality. Several witnesses having fully confirmed the complainant's statement, and the prisoner being unable to get a single neighbour to speak favorably of him, Mr. Ingham sentenced him to six months' hard labour. THE LATE FATAL POISONING AT DINGW.iiLL, by which two Roman Catholic clergymen—Revs. J. Gordon and Angus Mackenzie—and Mr. Mackenzie of Findon, out of a dinner party of five, were killed, has been inquired into, Lnd found to have arisen from the cook mistaking a root of monkshood or wolfsbane for horseradish, and using it as garnishing and sauce to the roast beef. This root is exactly the same size and colour as horseradish, but contains the most deadly poison. The whole of the five gentlemen shortly after dinner became suddenly and seriously ill, with vomiting and burning sensation in the throat. Provosts ➢l'lver and 11PDonald, who were of the party, feeling afraid they were poisoned, used violent active exercise to master the effect, and took powerful medicines, which happily overcame the disease. The three other gentlemen died very shortly in great agony, in spite of every effort to save them. The bodies of the deceased have been dissected, but as coroners' inquests are not held in Scotland, the report will not be made public. THE BODIES OF THE Two CHILDREN, GREEN, supposed to have been poisoned in Manchester, have undergone a post-mortem examination. Scarlet fever was pronounced the cause of death, and the coroner's inquest resulted in a verdict accordingly. THE INVESTIGATION into the late fall of Messrs. Hopkinson's buildings in the New-road, causing the death of one Elizabeth Saunder , , .;as licen adjourned till Tuesday next for the purpose of obtaining the evidence of the district surveyor. FROM THE LONDON GAZETTE. Tuesday, Jan. 29. BANKRUPTS.—A. M. JUDD, Upper-Street, Islington, licensed victualler—J. CLAYWORTII, Gracechurch-street, poul terer—J. H. Tauacorr, Sutherland-terrace, East Brixton, stationer—J. nosEn, Lower Thames-street, wine, spirit, and. beer merchant—H. FAIRWEATHER, Norwich, upholsterer—G.T. BATE. West Bromwich, Staffordshire. grocer—S. BARNES, Old bury, Worcestershire, draper—G. Wai.Es, Worcester, licensed victualler—S. B. WOODHOUSE, Leicester, dealer in general hosiery•-W. Sin itTcErmLoughborough and Quorudon,Leicestei shire, manufacturer of hosiery—B. FARMER, Bristol, builder— F. BRAKE, Wißand. Devonshire, innkeeper—J. It. Gummow, Wrexham, Denbighshire, builder—E. LEEcE, Whittle-lee-Woods, Lancashire. cotton spinner—R. HUGHES, Bury, Little Lever, Bolton. and Manchester, Lancashire, paper manufacturer. SCOTCH SEQUESTRATIONS. —N. STEWART, Perth, wine merchant—J. Is NES, Glasgow, sewed muslin manufacturer—H. FEROUS, Kircaldy, brewer. Friday, February 1. BANKRUPTS. JAMES LOMAX, Wallington, victualler— SAMUEL BAYLEY, Macclesfield, cotton spinner—JOSEPH Duos SEWELL and THOMAS PaTriNsow, Newcastle•upon-Tyne, chemists—H ENßY FIELD, Staverton-row, Walworth-road, grocer—sJogN SHOOLBRED, Jermytostreet, taiIor—RICHARD GILL and HENRY Eng, St. Thomas, Cornwall, builders — FREDERICK ROBERTS, Wrexham, provision dealer—EDGAß CROWE, Colchester, boot and shoe maker—Timms' IlEstiso- Tog, Birmingham, straw dealer—GEOßOE FossEr and JAMES STEEL, Millwall, timber merchant—CHAßLES WILLIAMS, for merly of Wilby-terrace, Mile-end, and now of Whitecrosa Prison, tea dealer. "" THE BRIDGEWATER CASAI, With the old Quay navigation, in all seventy miles of waterway, has A l just been leased for a long period to the North Staffordshire Railway Company, iby which they at once open a communication between the 3iersey sad Humber.