The Press. — London, England, 1855-12-22 00:00:00

?Seri 1214 into Mr. Cook's sitting-room, and found Mr. Cook, Palmer, and a third person present. Mr. Cook having asked Palmer to have some grog, he replied, "Not till you have drunk yours." Mr. Cook upon this immediately drank his, and had scarcely done so when he pushed the glass from him, and cried out, "There is something in it—it burns my throat awfully." He repeated this several times. He shortly after went with Mr. Fisher into the latter's sitting-room, and then expressed a fear " that he had been dosed." He then gave Mr. Fisher some 8001. to take care of, and suddenly became violently sick. The sickness continued, and Mr. Fisher sent for a doctor, who gave a composing draught. The next morning Mr. Cook came into Mr. Fisher's room, and said that he had taxed Palmer with having dosed him, that Palmer had denied it, and continued Mr. Cook, " I suppose he did not do it." Mr. Herring, another friend, stated that on the 14th he and other persons in the town were taken violently ill, and that on the morning of the 15th Mr. Cook came into his room, and began to talk on racing matters : During the conversation the name of Mr. Palmer was mentioned, but I cannot recollect by which of us. I re marked, " How about that brandy and water you had ?" and he replied, I believe, " Oh, that villain (or some other strong expression) did me." From the previous conversa tion I remarked, " You mean Palmer," and he said " Yes." I had some bets with Palmer, but not then, and have both won and lost. I have a bet against him now for next year. I have laid him 25,0001. to 1001 against Danube for the next year's Derby. I then remarked, " It is a very curious thing to accuse a gentleman of such a thing ; what could be his motive ?" and he replied, in a sorrowful tone, " You don't know all." He then continued the conversa tion about racing matters, and I interrupted him by saying, " Good God, if you suspect this man of such a thing, how can you go back and breakfast with him ?" He again replied in an absent manner, and walking towards the door, said, " Ah ! you don't know all." Other evidence, to show the nature of the transac tions existing between Mr. Palmer and Mr. Cook, having been given, the coroner summed up, and the jury in a few minutes returned a verdict "That the deceased died from the effect of poison wilfully ad ministered to him by Mr. Palmer." The coroner then made out the warrant of committal to the county gaol at Stafford, for Mr. Palmer's trial at the March assizes for the wilful murder of Mr. Cook. AN AcrioN FOR LIBEL, brought by Mr. Mackey, a solicitor at Southampton, against Major-General Bullock, of the East India Company's service, was tried in the Queen's Bench on Saturday last before Lord Campbell. The action arose out of proceedings at the last Seathampton election. A petition was presented against the sitting members by the Con servatives, and one of their witnesses, Masters by name, was ordered to be tried for perjury. The plaintiff, Mr. Mackey, was employed as his solicitor, and the defendant, General Bullock, conceived that he did not do his duty towards his client; and, being a person who, according to one of the witnesses, never gave up a notion when he had once got it into his head, he made public his opinion. Mr. Mackey had brought one action against him and had ob tained damages, but the defendant was only the more resolute in asserting his opinion, and specifi cally charged Mr. Mackey with deliberate false swearing in a court of justice. On this occasion General Bullock pleaded a justification, and called his wife, who stated that she wrote all General Bullock's letters, and had prepared " the pleas." There was direct opposition between her evidence and that of the plaintiff as to some points of the case. The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff, with 5001. damages. THE CASE OF PEW V. ROSENTHAL Was tried in the Court of Exchequer on Saturday last. Mrs. Pew had lived with a gentleman of that name, and had been left 2001. a year, with other property ; Mr. Rosenthal was a wine merchant in Mincing-lane. The parties had met at a boarding house in Glou cester-place, Hyde-park. The gentleman was polite, the lady obliging. An intimacy and correspondence ensued ; the gentleman in his letters signed himself " Pineapple." On one occasion when Mr. Rosenthal was ill at Brighton, he requested Mrs. Pew, then at Ramsgate, to come and nurse him; and, as there does not appear to have been any regular money settle ment between the parties, it was out of this transac tion that the claim for 701. arose. When Mr. Rosenthal recovered, he did not desire to continue the intimacy, but Mrs. Pew persisted in coming to Mincing-lane, and in urging her claim for money expended. Being at one time very noisy, Mr. Rosenthal gave her in charge to a policeman. Hence the claim for false imprisonment. Concerning the expenses, Mrs. Pew swore that she never received a sum of 501. from the defendant, but her acknowledgment was produced in these words : I beg to acknowledge, with many thanks, the loan of 501., which shall be repaid in three months. Her answer to this was, that she had sent the acknowledgment without the money, as, otherwise, the defendant would not have been likely to send her THE PRESS. the 501. she wanted. The case was heard through, and then, after a long contest between the jury, one being for a farthing damages and the other eleven for forty shillings, a verdict was taken for the plaintiff with 40s. damages. A BURGLARY as bold as successful was effected at Messrs. Emanuels, the well known jewellers and goldsmiths, on the Hard at Forum, between Satur day night and Sunday morning last, and property to the value of 3,0001. effectually carried off. The rob bers, who throughout the affair appear to have displayed the peculiar ability of their order to the highest degree, effected an entrance at the back of the premises in Wickham-street, through an unin habited ale and porter store, the door of which was only secured by a padlock. Once in the store-house, closing the door, they ascended to the upper storey, ' got through the root', and passing on to the roof of ' Messrs. Emanuel's workshop, picked a hole out., got through, descended the stairs, broke open the lower door, and crossed the small yard separating the house from the workshop. The kitchen window of this Was speedily forced, and a clear route through the lobby of the house into the front shop at once ob tained. The burglars then appear to have carefully examined the stock, and, confining themselves to articles of small bulk, proceeded to collect the most valuable rings, brooches, bracelets, &c. Only one watch of high finish was taken, and one revolver. The robbers having gathered about 3,0001. worth of jewellery, retired as they came in safety. One of the members of the firm and his family were in the house at the time, and he admits to have been alarmed by a noise once or twice, but, after opening his bedroom door, attributed the noise to an adjoin ing house. The burglary, moreover, was committed close to one of the borough police-stations, whilst the front entrance of the premises is within a dozen paces of the dockyard gates, where the dockyard sentries and police are at all times stationed. No clue as yet has been obtained to the robbers. ALICE GREY was brought up on Wednesday a second time before the magistrates at Wolverhamp ton, charged with perjury in the ease of the two boys Randall and Perry, convicted of robbery on her evi deuce. After a very brief investigation, the prisoner was fully committed to take ber trial at the next Stafford assizes. In appearance she has grown pale, but seems to have lost none of her self-possession by imprisonment. On being asked the usual question, it' she had anything to say in her defence, she re marked, " I think you are very prosy, that's all I have to say." An intimation that bail might possibly be found was decidedly negatived by the magistrates, and the prisoner removed to the county gaol. THE CASE OF DR. VAUGHAN, WhiCh SLOOd for trial at the Central Criminal Court on Thursday, has been removed by certiorari into the Court of Queen's Bench, application being made to a judge at cham ber; for that purpose on behalf of Dr. Vaughan, when an order was made for the writ to issue. A RIVAL IMPOSTOR TO ALICE GREY Was last week arrested at Canterbury, in the person of one Mary Chippendale, a young woman who has exercised her talents for the more simple object of gaining for herself a comfortable home for a certain period, and then decamping with anything of moderate value at hand. She is believed to have lived upon the public in this way for the last two or three years : at one time imposing on some pious old lady, representing herself as afflicted with relicious doubts, and seeking the aid of an instructor to guide her in the right path ; at another appealing to the Catholic priests of the neighbourhood, as the daughter of a Baptist, hating her father's creed and longing for the true faith, to reach which she broke away from the house of her cruel parent, but unhappily fell into the water butt, and so claimed shelter, clothing, and kindness. At another time she is the niece of Dr. Hook, then a lone girl rudely assaulted, then an heiress in search of her grandmama. This last character fortunately ruined her. Playing off this last character, with a liver-coloured setter as her companion, and her dupe as her friend, last Friday, at Canterbury, the in spector of police detected her in some manner, and apprehended her as an impostor. The next day she was brought before the magistrates, and was re manded for a week to enable evidence—which, from all reports, will not be wanting—to be got together. THE GREAT FRAUD CASE OF DAVIDSON AND GORDON VMS tried this week at the Central Criminal Court, before Mr. Baron Alderson and Mr. Justice Coleridge. The trial opened on Wednesday, with several indict ments. On the first of the two counts the prisoners were charged with having after their bankruptcy embezzled and secreted a certain portion of their estate, in the shape of money, to the amount of 2,6001., and three bank-notes of 5001. each. Mr. Ballantine, in opening the case for the prosecution, proved the date of the adjudicature of their bank• ruptey on the 21st of June,lBs4, and of two duplicate notices of adjudicature having been served, in con tradiction to the evidence given on a former trial, Mr. Ilamber, the Messenger of the Bankruptcy Court, taking this opportunity to admit and correct SATURDAY, his previous error, in deposing that he had only left one duplicate. Evidence was then produced to prove the delivery, on the 17th, to different firms, by the prisoners' orders, of spirits to the value of 4,300/. ; that in the course of May the prisoners received acceptances for upwards of 2,6001.: that on the same day a cheque for the amount was presented at the Union Bank, and cashed in five 5001. notes and one 1001. note; and that on that very night the prisoners were seen at sea on board the Dover and Ostend boat. On the 27th and 29th of June, and the first week in July, three 5001. notes of the five previously paid by the Union Bank were received by three mercantile firms in London from Aix-la-Chapelle and Antwerp, and it was with the embezzlement of these notes that the prisoners were charged. At this period of the proceedings Mr. Baron Alderson took objection that there was no evidence to prove that these three 5001. notes had ever actually been possessed by the prisoners. Mr. Ballantine urg ed that there was sufficient to go to a jury upon thse points, but Mr. Baron Alderson said be saw no evidence to prove the fact. Mr. Sergeant Byles, for the defence, argued that no act had been com mitted which constituted an offence within the juris diction of the court, that the fiat of bankruptcy was not issued till the 21st of June, when the prisoners were abroad, and that the court under such circum stances had no jurisdiction. Mr. Ballantine then abandoned the charge of "embezzlement of notes," and continued the second count for " embezzlement of money," which be contended was supported by the evidence in the account-books kept by the prisoners when abroad, showing an expenditure after the issue of the fiat of bankruptcy. Mr. Baron Alderson, intimating that the prisoners were charged with expending English moneys, whereas it was proved that they expended foreign moneys, declined on the suggestion of Mr. Ballantine to amend the indictment, and pointed out that the real matter for the court to consider was, whether the prisoners had committed any offence over which the court had any jurisdiction. Mr. Ballantine then argued the case in favour of the jurisdiction of the court with great ability, but at the close of his address Mr. Baron Alderson and Mr. Justice Coleridge argued that there was no evidence to prove an offence com mitted in this country, and the jury accordingly returned a verdict of Not Guilty. On Thursday and Friday the prisoners were again put upon their trial, charged with having within the last three months of their bankruptcy obtained from their creditors goods under false pretences, and with intent to defraud. The delivery of large quantities of goods from various firms within the time specified was proved in six cases; and evidence being given to show that the prisoners, since 1853, bad raised money upon false warrants, the case for the prosecution was closed. Mr. Sergeant Byles made an able defence on the part of Davidson, contending that, although his conduct rendered him amenable to punishment under the Bankruptcy Act, it did not make him liable to the penal consequences of the act under which the indictment was framed. The court ad journed at the close of the learned sergeant's address, and on Friday resumed the case, when Mr. Montague Chambers argued upon similar points in defence of Gordon. Mr. Justice Coleridge summed up with great care, and the jury, after a brief consultation, returned with a verdict of Guilty. The learned judge then sentenced the prisoners to two years' imprisonment and hard labour. THE case of Mr. Nash v. Lord Ernest Vane Tempest was tried at the Queen's Bench on Tues day, before Lord Campbell and a special jury. This case has already been so frequently before the public that the facts are patent. No new points were elicitt,d, except the habitual drunkenness of Mr. Nash, and his general mismanagement of the theatre ; and Lord Campbell, in summing up, pointed out to the jury that Mr. Nash did not complain of the assault, but of the pecuniary loss he had been sub. jected to by the conduct of Lord Ernest. The learned judge then went through the evidence with great care, commenting severely upon the gross mis. management of the theatre, and recommending moderate damages. The jury returned a verdict for 251. damages. THE HOME SECRETARY is about to enforce the act of Parliament compelling parents to subscribe towards the cost of supporting their children when in the Reformatories. Mr. W. Morgan, of Birming ham, has been intrusted by Sir George Grey with the important functions of agent to the Secretary of State tor the purpose of taking proceedings under the Youthful Offenders Acts for recovering contributions towards the maintenance of children detained in the Reformatories. This appointment extends over the counties included in the Midland, Oxford, and Western Circuits, and includes nearly all the prin cipal Reformatories at present established in Great Britain. THE BURNOPFIELD Mumma, murder shows signs of being cleared up. Richard Rayne and John Cain were brought before the Newcastle magistrates on Wednesday, charged with the murder of Mr. Ster-