The Sun. — London, England, 1828-03-24 00:00:00

placed in a worse ,situation by receiving the ab solute property of one4hird, than if he'were to succeed to the whole of the entailed estate. It must be kept in mind that when C; the third, suc -ceeds, from his advanced . age, his tenure, accord ing to every law of pr‘)bability, must be very `shoorL In legislating in a Matter of this kind, the good of the community must not be defeated by a'regard for fanciful claims. We occasionally see individuals succeed most unexpectedly to - estates, by the extinction of a number of in 'ilividnals between them and the succession. But it would be absurd to tike these contin 'gencies in a q uestion of this nature. Every existing interest which would sell for one farthing 'ln the market is attended to. It is proposed to prohibit all future entails, and to allow each indi :vidual in possession to regulate his s uccession as Ott present, in cases of unentailed property. The Scotch Newspapers seem to regret that an ex ception is made of the estates of the titled 4 - iristocraey.—Morning Chronicle. We .have given the preamble of the bill, ha traduced by Mr. Potter .Macqueen, the Member f;i- the county of Bedford, to repeal the acts conferring settlements by hiring and service. Vv'e have before called the attention of our readers to this important subject. The benefits which, if the Bill should pass, will accrue to rich well a' poor, are indeed manifold. From the 4:ttracts we have already made from Mr. Layton Cooke's tables, it will be seen that from the E,000,000/. annually raised by poor-rates, nearly 2,000,000/. is consumed in law charges ; from 600,000/. is expended in litigation on hiring .snd service only ! Mr. Marqueen'S Bill is in tended effectually to cure this evil : it will also eztend relief to the unemployed poor, by the work which will be afforded them in other parishes, when it is known that settlement does 110 follow- It will terminate, moreover, those endless di.:ptites and harassing cases;',l'vliere set .tlerrients are obtained by) sleepingiorty nights in - 'fife cOurie of yearly hiring. and . serrice These 'are among some of the numerous advantages riellich this Bill 'Will afford. And we ask (in . the iirip . roved state of the laws so lately adopted. and fAind to he so beneficial to the commercial in terests), is labour to be the only article on wlsich at restraint equal to serfship is to be continued ? we trust that Mr. Potter Macqueen, and the p: - ,swerful end able Committee granted to Lira, will effect that which the policy of the wisest legislators have ardently struggled for, but ;n lain, from the opposition they have encoun tered from the selfish or contracted notions of the political economists of the day ;—that the fallacy of their views, now happily so obvious, induce the Legislature to act with prompt- Tess and decision in passing this Bill : PARLIAMENTARY PAPER. FILL TO lii.EPEAL SO mrcu OP AN V ACTS ILEIATINC 'IO THE RELIEF OR SETTLEMENT OP THE POOR, AS CONFER SIITTLEME:4Tc. HY lIIRINQ AND SERVICE. - kripte.,---The words printed in Italics are proposed to be inierie:d in the committee.] Whereas it is expedient that the settlement of poor per tors in any parish in England should no longer be ob -:ained by - means of hiring and ,;e4.-vice ;be it therefore enacted by the King's meet excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent ref the Lords Spiritual and Tempo ral, and Commons, in this present Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same ; that no person who shall be hired into any parish or township at any time after the first day of September, - one thousand eight hundred and twenty-eight, shall he adjudged or deemed to have or attain a settlement in any such parish or township, by any such Liring, or by continuing and abiding in the same service for one whole year, nr for any other space of time what ever, subsequent to the said first slay of September, one th*ugand eight hundred and twenty-eight ; any thing contained in an act made in the third year of the reign of King William and Queen Mary, entitled "An act for the better explanation and supplying the defects of the former laws for the settlement of the poor," or in an Act made in the eighth and ninth years oftheteigo of the said King *at tied "An act for supplying some defects the laws for the relief of the poor of thia.kingdom," or in any crt or acts referred to by the saidacts, or either of them, or con , stained in any other act or arts in force at the time of the pwassing of this act, or any law, wa.ze, or custom to the contrary, in anywise notwithstanding.— Times. The Ministerial vote in the House of Com mons on Friday last, for transferring the franchise of East Retford to the hundred, has had one effect, to which its supporters, however heedless they might be at the time, cannot afterwards long remain insensible,—we mean, the extinction of those sanguine hopes which eome persons had in their simplicity, given way to, that the Wel lington Cabinet, if but mediocre or perverse, on !natters where only statesman-like ability was re iuired, would at least endeavour to redeem them .eelves by a regard to the decencies of political obligation, should a plain question of renstitu tional right and public justice come before them. Ministers did not oppose an inquiry into the corrupt practises' prevalent at East Retford, nor can they claim the slightest credit for such a show of deference to the spirit of the House .of Commons ; because it le not in those boroughs the seats for which are openly con tested, and carried by the candidates olio bleed :cost freely, that the rank strength of ministerial enaprity may be said to lie. Such boroughs .. are , i n fact, a 3 open to men with full purses on the oppoeetion bench, as on that behind the Treasury. The Minister saw that lie would lose nothing by lending himself to the demolition . of.a ship and cargo which might as well, in the course of things, be seized upon by an enemy as an ally. He reserved his dexterity for a profit able conversion of the wreck. The Member: , for East RetfOrdinight be.nien of any party in .the State, of any town or province in Great Bri al,. But it would be a grand stroke of Parlia mentary science, if, by waiting patiently for time and tide, the Minister could manage to tow the drifted vesbeel into the strong hold of one of his own friend s e and patrons : what though that patron might be ti ) ,,e most notorious bucanneer that ever infested the poiet . ical ocean. In short, the Ministry appear to have helped to destroy an open borough that they might secure a close one, and have punished two or three hundred poor electors because they sold their votes in the pub c only to enable one rich and titled trafficker in the same species of merchandise to se ll wholesale, to the great shop in Downing 2treet, the franchise Thus transferred to the names of another body of electors. We cannot under stand the argument for turning over to the neigh bourhood of East Retford that privilege of which the town itself was unworthy. If stolen goods are in want of an o wner, is it usual to commit them, as a matter of justice, to the hands of any one who happens to !eve next door to the thief ? No ; confiscated property belongs to the C rown , and ought to be disposed of for the public benefit. Will it be alleged, then, by one honest and seri ., fall* Englishman, that as between Birmingham einel :be Drake of Newcastle, there exists the re motest question:how a right of representation should be conferred ? Is Nottinghainshire deficient in members representing the agricultural interest? Or did that county possess the slightest influence over the electors of East Retford, which was not .—eicrejoyed by Cornishmen,by Scotchmen, or Dutch '',- jam ' if Any of these latter personages ha d !;*L., „ prcilut money enough to buy the votes ? In :. ,q. =Li fact, East Retford was hardly ever represented by a native of the county. Nottinghamshire, therefore, having lost nothing, what title had she to be indemnified? But on the part of the areat commercial communities of Birmingham, Leeds, and Manchester, and so on, is there not deep cause to complain ? D o no t th ese vas t de positories of wealth and industry, and national pre-eminence, illustrate every thing in the social system which constitutes the want of special representatives, and contain within them all those principles and materials to which, un der any and every theory of our Consti tution, the right of representation can be at tached ? Not merely are numbers truly formid - able to he found in these great towns, but that power which is inseparable from useful know ledge, and property acquired by the most unex ceptionable means,—the application of intelli gence and peaceful labour to the comforts and well-being of society. Ministers, however, have mad© their choice,—an unworthy choice, — which humbles them in the esteem of the whole nation, and arms still more heavily than ever the heel of that inexorable aristocracy which tramples alike on Minister and people,—an aris tocracy too ignorant to see, too insolent to feel its duties ; and which nothing but the iron hand of necessity will ever force to a performance of them. Is this a power which an honest or pru dent Cabinet would wish to bolster up with fresh supplies of strength ? Is this the way for a Ministry to acquire the confidence of an en lightened nation There is one objection to the payment of fees in Courts of Justice, which appears, to us at least, unanswerable—vim that they must in every case act as an addition to - the losses, the injuries, or oppresSion, which have driven the parties of whom they are demanded for redress to the Courts from which the demand emanates. We are 'glaft; therefore, to see that Mr. Hume, in his mdefatigable endeavours to ferret out,- ex pOse, and correct abuses, has,turned his attention to one.of those heads of exaction and abuse, which is not the less flagrant and - -oppressive from falling, ss it does, almost exclusively on . the lower and middling ranks of society—we mean the fees demanded by Clerks of the Peace on the discharge of recoguizances, not, in fact, for feited. Indeed, if the whole system of the office of Clerk of the Peace were looked into, and the office put under FfiVe: inspection, restraint, and controul, a great evil would be remedied— and one the greater, as we have already said, from falling so especially upon the poor and the already injured. In Middlesex we have heard that the Clerkship of the Peace produces to the principal and his deputies not less than 5,000/. a year; and in Yorkshire, Lancashire. and other large counties, probably nearly as much. This is an evil which can only be set right by Parliament ; for we are told that, if the Magistrates in the different counties try to cor rect it, they are met, and actually, in some in stances, set at defiance, with the old hackneyed plea of vested interests, and of the office and its emoluments being the freehold of the holder.—. The first step which should be taken, after as certaining what the emoluments throughout the kingdom actually are, is ro put a stop to the du ties of the office tieing performed by deputies. The idea of a judicial office performed by de puty itself " out-Herods Herod." What would be thought of a Chief Justice of the King's Bench being, as some Clerks of the Peace are, an Officer in the Army, and his duties done by a locum tenens? But absurdity, unfortunately, puts no extinguisher upon abuse. Those who win continue to laugh at those who lose ; and the March of Intellect brings us no nearer to common sense in such matters, than if were the merest nation of simpletons who ever allowed themselves to be fleeced. One thing is certain, that if this and similar anomalies are ever over come, it will be by the uncompterable power of the Press urging Parliament unceasingly till the object is attained.—Morning Herald. The report of the East Retford Disfranchise ment Bill is to be further considered in the House of Commons to-night. We wish very sincerely we could prevail upon Mr. Secretary Peel to give it his farther attention. If the question were, " shall the nomination of two members he given to this or that individual?" we do not know one to whom we should be more inclined to give it than to his Grace the Duke of Newcastle, because we do not know one w , ;, - ho is more likely to use the influence such a nomination confers for the purpose of strength ening the landed interest. But, as we said on Saturday, the Duke is not immortal, nor are his seni:iments entailed with his estate;;; and honours, and it is always unsafe to hazard the interests of a great anti important class of the corn munity, by entrusting them to the judgment or caprice of any individual, however respectable. Of Mr. Peel's argument against detracting two Members from Nottinghamshire, thaeat present it returns only eight, we really cannot see the force. The' object in throwing the votes into the hun dred 14 to strengthen the agriculturists in the House of Commons ;. hut from Mr. Pe e l's rea soning it would follow, that they derive as much sup Fort from the boroughs as from the counties. Even supposing that Nottingham county had a real participation in the representation of its bo roughs, still six members might, we should think, very well content it, seeing that Middlesex has but eight There is, however, no truth more trite than that our boroughs all over Eng land may be, and in point of fact are represented , indiscriminately by gentlemen from every quarter of the empire, not only strangers to the county where the borough is situated, but strangers to the kingdom—by Scotchmen and Irishmen as frequently as Englishmen. Mr. Peel arrived on Friday a t an a verage of twelve members for each county, by a very simple process, namely, diyiding the number of members by the number of counties; but in order to get at the real average, we ought nfit :o take the number ' of counties as if the term had aro: constant meaning, but their magnitude and pomlation. And if Mr. Peel cal.cuLte according to that rule, he will find that six is perhapc more than Not tingham has any claim to. But we abjure the quackery of equalised representatio n as heartily as Mr. Pee) does, Our object is to strengthen the landed interest, now that a fair opportunity presents itself, not to strengthen a landed pro prietor, for doing which there never was a f t ur opportunity, nor is there now. We pointed to Yorkshire, which, by its being already divided into three ridings, each of them in itself a large county, may more naturally claim the two Members ofwhom the House is about to dispose, than any other; but we have no predilection for one county more than the rest, and we should say, if Nottingham must have eight Members, " giv e the forfeited franchise not to the hundred but to the county." This would be consistent acting. Mr. Huskisson seemed to he of opinion that the Bill, as altered by Mr. Cal vert, would more' readily pass the Lords. It may be so, but it is a poor reason for the Com mons doing what is wrong that the Lords will concur with them. We should much rather have the Lords correct the errors of their less dignified fellow-legislators, than confirm them. It is rather a curious demand to ask the vote of the Members of the Lower House, because it may please a set of men of whom they are alto gether independent, and of whose sentiment s they are, and must be, supposed to be wholly ignorant. Grant that the Lords alter or throw out the Bill when sent up, let the blame rest with them. The House of Commons has quite enough of its own burdens to bear. An impres sion has already been made, that Ministers wish to strengthen their influence by the proposition of Mr. N. Calvert—we hope it is a mistake, and we hope they will show it to be so in the only way they can. Those that are strong can afford to be just. If the present Ministry wish to bring their strength into question, they can not pursue a plan more likely to succeed, th an by giving way to individual interests where the interests of the nation call for. their attention.— Neu Times. CONFESSION OF JANE SCOTT, LANCASTEP., FRIDAY NICHT. After this miserable woman was removed from the dock, and led by the gaoler into the condemned cell, she became dreadfully agitated, and appeared to be in the deepest agony of mind, and shed tears in abundance. The Rev. Mr. Rowley, the Chaplain to the Castle, in vain endeavoured to soothe her, as also did Mrs. Leach, the Matron, till about four o'clock, when she became more composed, arid lis tened attentively -to the religious exhortations of the worthy Chaplain, and to those of the Matron, who employs herself at every opportunity in reading -to and affording spiritual comfort to the miserable creature. She haring been acquitted of the murder of her father last Assizes, had ever since entertained a strong idea that she would also be acquitted of de stroying her mother, in which she was upheld by her fellow-prisoners, who told her to cheer up, for they were satisfied that she.would be set at liberty these Assizes; and this expectation she had_ so strongly indulged in, that' after the Learned Judge had fixed her - • awful doom, she ac tually did not believe that she was to suffer. In the course of Thursday evening her sister vi sited her in the cell in the presence of the Matron. The interview was not of that nature that might be expected between them—the unhappy woman re ceived her with considerable coolness, but the sister shed tears, and earnestly intreated her to implore the forgiveness of the Almighty for her manifold sins, and called upon her to relieve her mind by confess ing if she knew any thins , relative to the s u dd en death of her sister's child,' a little girl about 18 months old, about two years ago. The miserable woman replied," Well, I will tell thee all about it. When you quarrelled with me I took the child out for a walk, and out of revenge to you I gave it some laudanum and killed it." The child died very shortly after the culprit brought it home, and it was thought, at the time, it had died in a fit. She also confessed that shortly after this she formed the reso lution of poisoning her own illegitimate child (as a young man had promised her marriage), a tine boy, about four yeais old ; that she went to the doctor's in Preston, and purchased an (mice of white powder, to use her own words (arsenic), and at tea time she says, Tommy was sitting at the table, and he cried; she then kissed him, and made him quiet; she then mixed the arsenic in some treacle, and gave it him all; that she then set him in the chair ; she took her seat opposite him, and watched him; she says, that almost directly after she saw the glass come over his eyes, and he died shortly. The miserable woman says that there was a bit of a stir made about it at the time, and many of the folks said they thought it had not died properly, .but she was never taken up about it. She says that she was brought up in a Sunday school, and from the age of fourteen years she- led a very dissolute life, and that through the instrumentality of others—women of the town ; and at the age of fifteen she was seduced by a man, whose name we forbear mentioning, at the house of one —, at Prestons who was tried at the Castle for maiming Mr. Horrocks some years back. The unhappy creature says that her poor old father and mother always behaved kindly to her, and en deavoured to keep her out of the streets, but so strongly had the Devil got possession of her, that she resisted all their attempts to save her, and by her dissolute habits and continually robbing them of their property and ready money, had, before their death, reduced them to the greatest distress.— She says that she always expended the pro perty she had deprived her parents of upon the bad women in and about the town, who urged her from one robbery to another. The miserable culprit states that on the afternoon previous to her administer big the deadly draughts to the old couple she met George Richardson (the yoesig man that she wished to marry), and the boy SfiOrrocks, who gave evi dence against her on her trial, and they went to a public-house and drank a quantity of ale, which Richardson paid for, and they then went away ; that she met them again at six o'clock, and they had more, to the amount of two shillings, and they wished her to rob her father of the money to pay for it. She refused; upon which one of them said " Oh, never mind your father and mother ; Let them go to Hell ; you can easily get rid of them, you know, and then all will be yours, and then you can de as you please." She said, " This so overcome me, and the j)evil was in me so, I left them at eight o'clock, went home, and I took the arsenic that I had in my pocket, and mixed it, first in hot water, and then mixed the meal in it, and made it into porridge, and gave it my father and mother ! They partook of it, and, as soon as I found I had poisoned them, I ran for Mrs Craig. I should not have done it only for the observations that fell from Richardson and Shor rocks." She admitted the justice of her sentence, and avows that her crimes are innumerable, She says that she did think of poisoning her brother's wife, but had relented. Thellev.Mr.ReWley,aftershehad detailed these horrid truths, asked how she could think of keep ing them so concealed from the time of her first trial ? The miserable Woman, with the utmost indifference, replied, " Because I thought I should get off." She has never got out of bed since her condemnation, and has refused food since Wednesday. She fre quently dreams, and calls aloud, " Oh my dear father and mother +. oh my dear Tommy ! (meaning her child); oh, do forgive me ! sau'e me ! save me!" She passed a very restless night, and this morning was visited by the chaplain, who found her more composed, and apparently resigned to her fate. Her execution will take place at twelve o'clock to-mor row forenoon (Saturday last.) Mr. Baron Bullock has not left the town, as he has several other causes to try, and should they not be terminated at the hour of execution, it is under- , stood the Court will adjourn for a time. The enor mity of the crimes of the wretched woman creates a horror in the mind of every person, and it is there fore expected that the multitude will he very great to witness the dying moments of the parricide, HORRIBLE CRIME.—A few days since, single young woman who was in the family way, and who resided with her father near Buxton, was by him turned out of doors. She wandered till night among the m oors, and about teer o'clock entered the cottage of a poor widow woman. She was soon afterwards taken in labour and delivered herself. In the course of the night she arose, made a fire, and threw the baby into it, which was almost instantly consumed to ashes. She has absconded, but the officers of justice are in pursuit of her. A person answer ing the description of this unhappy woman has been seen in a most piteous situation in the neighbourhood of Chapel en-le-Frith. We understand that the unfeeling father is frantic at the recollection of the brutality of his conduct towards his unfortunate offspring, and that her seducer has with difficulty been prevented frcra ccmmittinv tlicide: Macclesfield Courier, LENT ASSIZES. NORTHERN CIRCUIT.-LANCASTER, MARCH ~0. mumm. OF A FATHER. AND MOTHER BY THEIR DAUCLITER. , H . Jane Scott, aged 21, was indicted for the wilful murder of her mother, Mary Scott, by administering arsenic to her on the 14th May last, at Preston.— ' The prisoner was tried at the last ASsizes for the ' murder of her father, but acquitted. It appeared that on Sunday the 14th May, the deceased Mary Scott and her husband drank tea with several of • their friends, of which the prisoner was of the party; they then appeared in good health. On the follow , ing evening the prisoner went to the house of some of the neighbours in Preston, and entreated them to come to her mother's house, and said that her father and mother had been taken very . ill since they took their porridge. Several persons imme diately ran to the house, and found the deceased and her husband vomiting, and apparently labour ing under the effect of poison. Every means were resorted to, to preserve their lives, but they both died shortly afterwards. The deceased said, in the pre sence of her husband and the prisoner, that they were poisoned ; that they had taken porridge, and that they got ill immediately. The prisoner then said that she would be quit of the porridge, and took up the bason that had the porridge in it ; her father told her not to throw it out, but she did not mind what was said to her, and returned soon after with the empty basin. Upon her brother taxing her with having poisoned their parents, she strlck a• d abused him, and said that she would poison his wife. A druggist at Preston proved that about two months before the circumstance took place, the prisoner purchased at his shop a quarter of a pound of arsenic; she said she wanted to poison rats, for they eat her father's ,bread and cheese ; he at first hesitated to let her have it, until she said that she lived at a shop in Bridge-street, and: that her name was Scott. :In a fortnight after she purchased an ounce and a half more, and in -three days before her mother's death she purchased another ounce and a half; she said she wanted it to put in whitewash to poison bugs; he put a label on it with the words "arsenic, poison," on it; he told her it was poison, and that she should be very careful how she used it.l Upon examining the house, it appeared not to have been ,white-washed in any way, nor was any arsenic or rat-holes found. It further appeared that the pri ! soner has received the visits of a man named George Richardson, but on account of kis poverty he was unable to marry her. Three days before the death of her parents, she called Richardson into the house, and asked him when he would marry her ; he said he had nothing to marry her with, nor she either; she then told him that she w3lld have all the furniture in the two houses, meaning her father's house and the house behind it; and that her parents had made it all over to her. Whilst her parents were labouring under the effects of the poison, she said she was going to Manchester, and that she would come back wedded in a few days ; that she would sell the house in Bridge-street, and go to Liverpool and get into some sort of business. The medical gentleman who had attended the deceased and her husband examined the pan in which the porridge had been made, and found about an ounce and a half of the porridge at the bottom; he desired, in the hear ing of the prisoner, that the pan should be put aside, that he might examine it at leisure, and ;that it should not be meddled with.— After the patients were put to bed, he inquired for the pan, and it was shown him by the prisoner—it appeared to have been washed out, and all the par ticles of the porridge had been removed; he asked who had washed it out, and the prisoner said she had used the pan, and had washed out the porridge. She said that she had boiled the water in it which had been used by the stomach pump ; but he told her that it had not been boiled in it, for he had in spected all the water that had been boiled. He in quired after the basin of porridge, and she said that she had emptied it into the canal, which was about one hundred yards off; there were a fee.- particles of meal remaining in the bason, but not sufficient to make any experiment of. On examining the body of the deceased, it was evident she died from the effects of poison. The prisoner being called upon for her defence, said she remembered nothing at all about it. The. .Jury found her Guilty, of Murder; and :he was ordered to be executed on Saturday last, and her body to be dissected and anatomized. The prisoner was taken from the bar weeping bitterly. OXFORD CIRCUIT.-SHR.EWSBURT, MARCH 21. HUNTER V. REYNOLDS. Mr. JUSTICE opened the pleadings. This was an action by the plaintiff to recover from the defendant a compensation in damages for the seduction of his daughter. _ _ Ann Hunter said, I am the plaintiff's daughter. He is a carver and gilder, residing at Bridgenorth. My mother is nearly 60 years of age, and is greatly afflicted by ill•health, and distress of mind, in conse quence of my misfortunes. I am not twenty-one now, and in 1824 began to work at my business of a dress-maker, for which I had been educated. I used to go out to work. In 1824 I became ac quainted with the defendant, by his lodging at my sister's. He used to watch me when I went out and returned from work, and wait for me and walk with me. He did not visit at my father's house. He did this from 1824 to 1826. At last he told me he was going to leave Bridgenorth and go to Richmond, in Yorkshire. He made oaths and pro mises that if I would go with him he would settle 40/. per annum upon me, and marry me : lie persuaded me to leave Bridgenorth, to go with him. He left Bridgenorth the next day, and I went the day following. He met me at the New Hotel, Wolverhampton, and from thence we went by coach to Richmond, in Yorkshire. We lived there about three months, when his wife came from Bridgenorth. The defendant was out at the time. She showed me the certificate of her marriage, and I then gave her up the keys, and 1501. in money, which he had left me to take care of. He gave me Si., with which I went to my sister's, at Birmingham. She got me a situation, but I was un able to remain in it, arid I was in the family way; I therefore went home to my father's on the 21st of September, and on the 18th,of ,November was put to bed. The child is the defendant's, and is living; my father supports it. Cross-examined by Mr. CAMPBELL—We used to meet in the streets, never in the fields or in any house; he behaved always very politely to me ; I thought he was single, and I allowed him when walking with me to put his arm round my waist. At first I thought he was a married man till he told me he was not. The defendant is about fifty years of age, when he used to follow me about; I told him not to do so. I said he would be the ruin of me. None of my family ever new of my acquaint ance with him till I went away ; he took no liberties with me till we arrived at Richmond, where he re presented me to be his wife. The Jury, after a consultation of about ten minutes, returned a verdict for the plaintiff. — Damages, 701. NORFOLK CIRCUIT. -THETFORD, MARCH 21. At nine o'clock the avenues to the Court were crowded, in expectation of the following trial of John Kenney, a young man 22 years of age, for the wilful murder of William Moore, of Brisley. After. a great number of witnesses had been examined, Edward Johnson, the gaoler of Swaffliam, w as called. He had the prisoner in custody on Wed nesday, the 19th of December. After he was lodged in the House of Correction, witness began a conver sation with prisoner. Witness asked what he did for a livelihood. lie replied, " I work at my father's farm at Poxley." " What did you leave home for on Sunday night ?" " I cannot rest (sighing deeply), and I will tell you all about it." He then said, " I went to Carter's, at Rainham, with some - cows. On my return to Brisley-gretn, I overtook a boy upon a donkey, and asked him where he was going. He said, to Bintry Royal Oak. I s i 1 I would show him the way. I went past the Oak, and went back before he did, and waited on the road outside the town till the boy came. We went back again the same way, through ford, Elmham, and to Brisley, past the Church, along the Litcham road. About a quarter of a mile past the church the boy got off the donkey, in Elm ham-lane. I asked him to get off. The first thing I did was to push him into the bank near the gate. Before I did this, I had got the brace in my hand ready in ease he should make a noise. I should not have done it if he had not shrieked out, which pre vented my doing what 1 was going about. I put the brace round his neck, and tied it in a half knot, and pulled it tight till he could not make a noise. I searched and took the knife from his waistcoat pocket. I had it of him before, to cut a piece of bread and cheese. I then cut his throat. I don't know if it was two or three cuts. Then I cut him open all the way down. I cut a piece of his liver out, and laid it down where he was, close to him. I then left him, and went back over Brisley green, by Elmham, home. About an hour af ter I went to bed, but could not sleep. I got up about seven, but could cat nothing. On Tuesday I went to the Church, and saw the boy. I did not think I had cut him open so much. Mr. Quarles asked if I knew him; I said no, and went back to the Bell. " I feel easier now, and think I shall be able to get a little sleep to-night. I have not slept since I did it, nor can't eat." Next day witness went to the Chancellor Yonge, the magistrate, and reported what' had transpired, who, upon witness's suggestion, directed hint to take the prisoner to Norwich, round by the way of Ris ley. On arriving in sight of Brisley Church, witness asked prisoner what church that was. —He replied Brisley, and after proceeding a short distance in the lane, Kenney sighed and said, " that's the fatal gate where I first pushed the boy down. I pushed him on the - bank there. The-boy struggled away from me, and got to the gate. I then dragged him into the .eld through the gate, and began what I wanted. He called out very loud, and said he would tell his cousin of me, and kept calling out." A host of witnesses were examined with a view to prove that the prisoner was of unsound mind. The Jury acquitted him:upon the ground of in sanity. EXECUTIONS. SATURDAY, OSE O'CLoCY.—Field, Burnett; and White, the three men who formed part of the Sun ninghill gang of proaehers, and who were convicted and condemned to death at the last Berkshire As sizes, under Lord Ellenborough's Act, for wilfully shooting and otherwise ill-treating and robbing Mr. Crutchley's keepers, were this day executed, at 12 o'clock, on the new drop, erected at the south-west corner of our county gaol. Ihe hardihood evinced by all three, continued unabated to their last mo ments. At the 'above hour, accompanied by Mr. Ormond, the Under-Sheriff, the Rev. Dr. Williams, the Rev. W. Bushnell, of Beenham, Mr. East staff, and some of the under-keepers, they ascend ed the drop. Field was the first who was brought up, and he ran fearlessly up the steps lead ing to the platform, while the preparations were making by the executioner. When on the plat form, he gazed unconcernedly about him, and nodded to many in the crowd. Burnett next ascended, also with a firm step, and when half-way up the gangway, stopped and likewise nodded to some acquaintance. White was the last. They appeared engaged in conversation among themselves, (hiring which time Field was observed to kick with his feet backwards, in a sort of bravado, and to look round with the greatest indifference. The ropes were now adjusted, and the caps pulled over their eyes ; the executioner, who had already gone down, returned however, but whether at the suggestion of Field or not we cannot say, but healtered the halter with which Field was tied, to the fatal beam. They were shortly afterwards turned off. Burnet appeared to die immediately, but Field and White struggled very hard for some time, especially .the latter, who seemed violently convulsed-for, at least ten minutes after the drop fell. The -crowd was dense in the extreme, and might be computed at 4,000 persons. —Windsor Express. RARA AVM—Last week, THOMAS FREE- Dom', fisherman of Caversham, shot a fine specimen of the Scoter, Black Duck, or Black Diver. (Anal Nigra, Lin.—La Macreuse, Buff.) The Mercury gave it the name, last week, of the Black Duck of Lapland ! The particulars may be found upon reference to vol. 2d, pag e 289, of Bewick's Natural History of Birds. This curious bird is now in the possession of Mr. JOSEPH WARD, Bird, Beast, and Fish Preserver, London-street.—From a Cor respondent. A free stone coffin has been ndiscovered near Yatton, Somerset, in a grazing field, about a foot below the surface. The bones therein contained are the remains of some of the principal limbs—many pieces of the skull, a jaw bone, with some of the teeth remaining in it, several joints of the vertebrae, some of the ribs, &e. but they are by no means of large size. The place where this curiosity was discovered, is now the property of JONX SMITH Pt corr, Egg. the present High Sheriff of the county, who has given strict orders for the careful preservation of the ro ma i s. —Berks Chronicle. The attention of the miller of the Glen Mill, near New Monkland Church, was for several days last week attracted by the flying and flocking of crows and other fowls in a certain part of the glen braes. Surprised at this unusual circumstance, he vent down to the glen to explore the mystery, and found the body of a young' female lying on the brae side, much mutilated, especially in the countenance, by the pecking of the birds. The body must have been in this state for eight or ten days. It evinces marks of having been murdered ; and from surgical inves tigation, the unfortunate female had been with child. Her family, name, and residence, are u nknown.—Glasymo Free Press. KIDDERMINSTER.—We understand that the carpet-weavers of Kidderminster have received an unani mous notice from the manufacturers in that town, o f a material reduction in the prices of weaving, to take place to-morrow, the 25th instant. The reduction is stated to be at least 15 per cent. on the prices paid to the workmen 30 or 40 years ago, the only fluctuations whi c h h ave oc curred during that period bein g an advanc e during the pressure of the war , an d a return in 1816 to the former list. On the part of the masters, it is asser ted that the me asure is necessary by the p a y me n t of reduced wages for carpet-weaving in the north of En g lan d and Scotland ; that the improve ments in machiner y and materials h ave e sonle as a tempta tion placed tale trade on a totally different footi ng f rom that which it formerly o c cup ied ; and that the weavers, w i t h mo d era t e work, can earn more money th an i s required for the support to idleness and drunkenness. The workmen, ; it is said, do n o t o f denyhei r the families , r e l reasonableness na whichbln . reduction b u t assert, that to carry it to the extent s itess operates of proposed, would be most unjust and oppressive. ri E eto D r l s T is A a T b E ou D t to lN w r a O it O u L pon T t A he X D . WEi TAX.—It e t of i under stood in London, that a powerful deputation'of Lande d Proprietors TON, as Prime Minister, for the . purpost of. proving to the Government that th e A gr icultur a l i nterest of the country th is unduly depres se d, an d that o ne o f t h e remedies for the depression ought to be an increase of at least 200 per cent. upon the present importation duty of foreign wool—namely, from Id. to 3d. a pound. This proposal is to be accom panied, as we are informed, by another, to the effect, that English wool and yarn shall be exported duty free. Wh at countenance the Duke of WELLINSTON, and the Govern ment of which he is the head, may be disposed the so landed proprietors in both Mouses of Parliament, We . are unable to say, though from the observations of Mr. Husaisser; in the House of Commons on Monday evening, it is pretty clear that the free trade branch of the Administration, now, we fear, so powerless, will endeavour to maintain the principle which at present exists, for regulating the duty both on the import and export of wool. The woollen manufacturers of Yorkshire, whose prosperity is so deeply involved in this question, ought to be alive to the subject and be prepared, should the necessity ar wise, think the true to t 3 ke suc h measures as their own interests, and eas interests of the country i n general, require. It is under stood that the Corn question and the Wool question will be discussed simultaneously in Parliament, and the discus sion will, according to the present arrangement, ta k e place in tits House of Commons next Friday.—Leeds ilferoiry. APPROACHING EXECUTION. On Wednesday next, as will be seen by the,AV corder's Report, three wretched men are doorne< l . ll ; , expiate their . crimes on the scaffold. They were all convicted at the last Old Bailey Sessions, Ephraim Jonathan Shorter, aged .50, for uttering, forged 5/. notes, purporting to be of the Bank 0 1 England. There were seven indictments against this prisoner, besides the one on w hi c h h e was convicte d, all of which were clear eases, and in most of which the sufferers were licensed victuallers, to whom the prisoner was personally known. H e was tr i e d for passing a forged 51. note at the Britannia, in Gray's Inn-lane, and found guilty on most conclusive evi dence. When taken into custody three forged no tes of 5/. each were found in his possession, which were proved to be from the same plate as those .he had previously. At his own request his trial was once postponed, on the ground that he had witnesses on the road to London who would prove his having received the notes from 'a gentleman in payment for slates. No such witnesses, however, appeared .on the trial, or subsequently. In his defence he isitl that he had received them of Captain .Pittet, of Walworth, and Mr. Shotty, of Woolwich, in pay ment of a bill of 17.5/. When first under examina tion at the police-office in Hatton-garden,he appeared to treat the business with great levity, but as the charges against,him accumulated, his confidence for sook him, and he became sensible of his awful situatiot: Samuel Weedon, a labouring man, residing at Finchley, and rather over 30 years of age, was con victed of a daring burglary, in the house of Mr. Frederick Tootle a grocer, at Edgeware, f rom w hi c h gdods to a considerable amount, and a sum of money was stolen. A part of tl:e property was found it' Weedon's residence, and another part in the lodg ings of a man named Godfrey, who was convicted with him, but who has been reprieved, Weeder being proved to he the planner and instigator of the robbery. The principal witness in this case was an accomplice named Waters, who confessed that his only motive in turning King's evidence, was to save his own neck. George Wyeth, the third wretched being doomed, to suffer, is only 25 years of age; but has been long known to the police as a most desperate character; having twice before narrowly escaped .tcapital con , victions. The crime of which he was .found guilty was a desperate highway robbery on a person named Barton ; and although the value of the property stolen (two hats) was only 205., yet the circum stances were- of such a nature as to cause him to be considered unfit to receive the Royal clemency. MELANCHOLY SUICIDE. On Saturday evening an inquisition was taken is the Committee-room of the _Middlesex Hotpital, before T. STIRLING, Esq. the Coroner, en. view of the body of Elizabeth Denham, a remarkable tine young woman, aged only 20, who destroyed bers4ll by poison, under the following lamentable circum stances:— Mr. John Robinson, of No. 9, South-street, MarlL chester-square, deposed, that the deceased had oc cupied an apartment in his houi , e for the last several months. At the tame of her death she was em ployed as warehousewoman at Messrs. Gillow and Co.'s, upholsterers and ht , (l-ticl:zcn manufacteters, in Oxford -stre e t. F or t h e l ast t h ree or four weeks ‘vitness bad observed a great alteration in the man ners and person of the unfortunate girl. From being of a lively cheerful disposition, she had become very low-spirited and thoughtful,and excessively negligent . in her person. On Thursday evening last, on wit ness's returning home, he found the deceased in hi= hack parlour, very ill, and retching from the stornac.h. His (witness's) wife was attending on her. lie imp mediately sent for Mr. Carter, a medical gentleman residing in the street, who promptly attended. then it was discovered that she had swalloVed'a., quantity of arsenic. Juror—Can you account for the alteration in hec conduct which you describe ? Witness—l attributed it to her having formed an intimacy with a.young man who was formerly in Mr Gillow's employment, but was discharged for his profligate. conduct. Coroner—Did you see the deceased in coitipiny with this person at any time ? W itness —Certainly, repeatedly ; the day before she committed the rash act I saw them walking 'to gether in Oxford-street ; I passed them I observ ed that the deceased was in tears. The father of the deceased, a respectable-looking elderly man, was in court : he appeared deeply af flicted : he said that he had not a doubt but that hiF, unfortunate child had been the victim of a villain, who, after ruining her, had robbed her of every thing she had : the miserable father added, that at the time of his daughter's death, she was utterly desti tute, and be had discovered in her trunk a number of pawnbroker's duplicates of property which she had lately pledged. Th e Jury returned a verdict--" That the de ceased poisoned herself in a state of temporary de rangement." • Seventeen of the Royal line heroes; en gaged in the battle of Navarin, left this town on Wednes— day morning last, after a month's leave of absence to visit their friends ; it is a remarkable circumstance that they escaped the dreadful conflict without the slightest injury. —Most of them were on board the Albion.--Leicester Journal. BIRTHS. On the 22d inst. the lady of H. Cobb Cornwall, Esq. of Thavies'-Inn, Holborn, of a son. On the 21st iust. in Montagu-square, the lady of P. Christie, Esq. of a daughter. On the 22d inst. in Guilford-street, Russell-square, the lady of S. H. Woodward, Esq. of a son. On the 21st inst. the lady of James Hamilton Story, Esq. of a son. On the 19th inst. in Regency-square, Bright4n, thelarly of J. N. Wigney, Esq. of a daughter. On the 19th inst. at Gayton, near Northampton, the lady of the Rev..J. E. Gray, of a daughter. On the 21st inst. at Camberwell, Mrs. James Layton, jun. of a son. r of the R. E. of Castle ' MARRIED. .. - On the 20th inst. Henry Rodney Elliott, Esq. tif the Hon. East India Company's Bombay Establishment, to Mary, daughter of Thomas Simpson, Esq. Consul of his Majesty the King of the Netherlands at Stockton. san O d n er t so he n, l Member for that county, to church denominated Henry Maxwell, awl nie • ce to the Earl of Carrick and Lord Farnham. r ns t hat Sarah de n .hs county t.oAhl Johanna, n a oa n i ~dceeral eldest daughter Sanderson, daaltlidghAt le On the 23d inst. at Christ Church, Marylebone, by the as m embers of the Rev. Mr. Hutchings, Mr. jam " Kilner, of Castle -street, and Miss Elizabeth Madgett, of Castle-street; on which occasion, they, Free Thinking Christians, .denying the doctrine of the Tri nity, and oluecting to marr iage being nity, . celebrated as a reli the usual • rite, presented protest of their body against gious , the marr i a g e ce remony a ..; established by law. ---- DIED. 22d inst. Elizabeth, second danghter of the late On th e 11 n sorshie, Esq. Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and sister to u_thlolpinreseth.entl9l‘tihayionrofinthLaeitcet,intivrn_:quare, Jane, - ii,i;ments, and of the most amiable manners, but who, nfortunately, had long suffered severely in her health. a lady of great accom rnofanh)e,rynaerpshaew:, daughter of Mr. Llarriss, of Savile-heuse. the youngest Mary Steel, in her 88th year. , ine and brandy-merchant• On the 22d inst. at his how at Kingsland, Mr. Wm. in Upper Clapton, Mrs. and proprietor of the Kmg's Head, in Threadneedle-street. On the 21st inst. at the house of her brother, Mr. Ht.lair Okey, of Burton-street, Mrs. Elizabeth Lucy Shaw, of Hackney, aged 62. At t a l g ie e, h i house On the 17th inst. at Tynningha m , Ch arles, Earl of Had dington, in the 75th year of his a ge . At Northlands, county of Tipperary, Captain Hamm/re fry, late of the 19th Lancers, The Rev. John Williams, 8.D., late Fellow of Ezeter College, and Vicar of Probus, Carawal _______„ mmonamanamais PRINTED and PUBLISHED by M. YOUNG, a iky Sum OrficlT, No. 112, Slitstut V /*mei' quire P a he h a tire ft , <A N bY 181.43, which T' thi "fit 111 At 1 At 6, At At E that Orig latior Pttua 4 GLO MIL] ale A Pt 31 PM 'the p Pr( 7Super T, AI TIM, and lan fi fibi P. 4 AU and th, &Acre which E` 32,841 appoint ride, fu Welt, the Tel a