The Sun. — London, England, 1828-12-29 00:00:00

11G( ri Aoti • i• A .„..A ' l lO e r n have already c ntr) trecrtd the security, as they will hereafter largely contribute to the honour and dignity of the nation. The first of these great systems is that of fortifi cations, commenced immediately after the dose of our last war, under the salutary experience which the events of that war t►ad impres.ed upon our coun trymen of its necessity. Introduced under the auspices of my immediate predecessor, it has been continued with the perseverance and liberal encou ragement of the Legislature ; and combined with corresponding exertions for the gradual increase and improvement of the Navy, prepares for our extensive country a condition of defence adapted to any criti cal emergency which the varying course of events may bring forth. Our advances in these concerted systems have, fur the last ten years been steady and progressive, and in a few years more will be so com pleted as to leave no cause for apprehension that our s,a-coast will ever again offer a theatre for hostile invasion. The next of these cardinal measures of policy, is the preliminary to great and lasting works of public improvement, in the survey of roads, examination for the course of canals, and labours for the re moval of the obstructions of rivers and harbours, first commenced by the Act of Congress of the 30th April, 1824. The report exhibits in one table the funds appro priated at the hat and preceding Sessions of Con gress, for all th, se fortifications, surveys, and works of public impro, ement ; the manner in which these funds have beet, applied, the amount expended upon the several wort s under construction, and the farther sums which may he necessary to complete them.— In a second, the works projected by the Board of Engineers, whi- h have not been commenced, and the estimate of their cost. In a third, the report of the annual Board of Vi sitors at the Military Academy at West Point. For 13 fortifications erected on various points of our Atlantic cotter from Rhode Island to Louisiana, the aggregate expenditure of the year has fallen a little short of one million of dollars. For the wept-twee of five additional reports of reconnoesances and surveys since the last Session of Convess for the civil constructions upon thirty seven different public works commenced, eight others for whteh specific appropriations have been made by Acts of Congress, and twenty other incipient sur veys under the authority given by the Act of 30th April, 1824, about one million more of dollars have been drawn from the Treasury. To these two millions of dollars are to be added the Appropriations of '250,000 dollars, to commence the erection of a Breakwater near the mouth of the Delaware River: the subscriptions to the Delaware and Chesapeake, the Louisville and Portland, the Dismal Swamp, and the Chesapeake and Ohio Ca nals; the large donations of lands to the states of Ohio, Indiana, Illinois, and Alabama, for objects of improvements within these states, and the stuns ap propriated for Lieht Houses, Buoys, and Piers, on the coast, and a full view will be taken of the muni ficence of the nation in the application of its re sources to the improvement of its own condition. Of these great national undertakings, the Academy at West Point is among the most important in itself, and the most comprehensive in its consequences. In that institution, a part of the revenue of the nation it is applied to defray the expenee of educating a com petent portion of her youth, chiefly to the knowledge and duties of military life. It is the living armory of the nation. While the other works of improvement enumerated in the reports now presented to the attention of Congress, are destined to ameliorate the face of nature; to multiply the facilities of commu nication between the different parts of the Union to assist the labours, increase the comforts, and enhance the enjoyments of individuals, the instruction ac quired at West Point enlarges the dominion and ex pands the capacities of the mind. Its beneficial re sults are already experienced in the composition of the army, and their influence is felt in the intellec tual progress of society. The institution is suscep tible still of great improvement from benefactions proposed by several successive Boatels of Visitors, to whose earnest and repeated recommendations 1 cheerfully add my own. With the usual annual reports from the Secretary of the Navy and the Board of Commissioners,will be exhibited to the view of Congress the execution of the laws relating to that Department of the public service. The repression of piracy in the West In dian, and in the Grecian Seas, has been effectually maintained, with scarcely any exception. During the war between the Governments of Buenos Ayres and of Brazil, frequent collisions between bellige rent acts of power and the rights of neutral com merce occurred. Licentious blockades, irregularly enlisted or impressed seamen, and the property of .Isenest commerce seized with violence, and even plundered under legal pretences, are disorders never separable from the conflict of wars upon the ocean. With a portion of them, the correspondence of our commanders on the Eastern aspect of the South American Coast, and among the Islands of Greece, discover how far we have been involved. In these, the honour of our country and the rights of our ci tizens have been asserted and vindicated. The ap pearance of new squadrons in the Mediteranean, and the blockade of the Dardanelles, indicate the danger of other obstacles to the freedom of commerce, and the necessity of keeping our naval force in those " seas. To the suggestions repeated in the report of the Secretary of the Navy, and tending to the per manent improvement of this institution, I invite the :avourable consideration of Congress. A resolution of the House of Representatives, tyquas sieg that one of our small public vessels should be sent to the Pacific Ocean and South Sea, to examine the coasts, islands, harbours, shoals, and reefs in those seas, and to ascertain their true situa tion and description, has been put in a train of exe cution. The vessel is nearly ready to depart ; the successful accomplishment of the expeditio n may be greatly facilitated by suitable Legislative provisions; and particularly by an appropriation to defray i ts ineeseseary expenre. The addition of a second, and, perhaps, a third vessel, with a slight aggravation of the costs would contribute much to the safety of the citizens embai ked on this undertaking, the re sults of which may be of the deepest interest to our country. With the report of the Secretary of the Navy will be submitted, in conformity to the act of Con gress of 3d March, 1827, for the gradual improve ment of the Navy of the United States, statements of the expenditures under that Act, and of the mea sures taken for carrying the same roes effect. Every section of that ftate contains a distinct provision, looking to the great object of the whole, the gra dual improvement of the Navy. Under its salutary sanction, stores of ship-timber have been procured, and ;Ire in process of seasoning and preservation for the future uses of the Navy. Arrangements have been made for the preservation of the live oak tim ber growing.on the lands of th e United States, and for its reproduction, to supply at future and distant days, the waste of that most valuable material for ship•building, by the great consumption of it yearly for the commercial, as well as for the military ma rine of our country. The construction of the two Dry Docks at Charleston and at Norfolk, is makirg satisfactory progress tctstards a durable establish ment. The examinations and inquiries to ascertain the practicability and expediency of a Marine Rail way at Pensacola, though not yet accomplished. have been postponed, but to be the more effectually made. The Navy Yards of the United States have been examined, and plans for the improvement and the preservation. of the public property the rein, Portsmouth, Charlestown, Philadelphia, Washing ton, and Gosport, and to which two others are to be added, have been prepared, and received my sanction ; and no other portion of my public duties has been performed with a more intimate conviction of its importance to the future welfare and security of the Union. With the report of the Postmaster-General, is ex hibited a .comparative view of the gradual increase of that establishment, from five to six years, since 1792, till this time, in the number of Post Offices, which has grown from less than, two hundred to nearly eight thousand; in the revenue yielded by them, which from sixty-seven thousand dollars; has swollen to upwards of a million and a half, and in the number of miles of Post Roads, which, from five thousand six hundred and forty-two, have mul tiplied to one hundred and fourteen thousand five hundred and thirty-six. While, in the same period of time, the population of the Union has übout thrice doubled, the rate of increase of thesioffices is nearly forty, and of .-the revenue, and of travelled miles, from twenty to twenty-five for one. The increase of reve►►ue, within the last five years, has been nearly equal to the whole , revenue of the Depart ! ment of 1812. The expenditures of the department during the year which ended on the Ist of July last, have ex ceeded the receipts by a sum of about twenty-five thousand dollars. - The excess has -been occasioned by the increase of mail conveyances and facilities, to the extent of near eight hundred thousand miles. It has been supplied by collections from the postmas ters, of the errearages'of preceding years. While the correct principle seems to be, that the income levied by the department should defray all its ex pences, it has never been the policy of this Govern ment to raise from this establishment any revenue to be applied to any other purposes. The suggestion of the Postmaster-General, that the insurance the safe transmission of moneys by the mail ought to be • assumed by the department, for a moderate and com petent remuneration, will deserve the consideration of Congress. A report from the Commissioners of the Public Buildings in this City exhibits the expenditures upon them in the course of the current year. It will be seen that the humane and benevolent inten tions of Congress, in providing, by the 'Act Of 20th May, 1826, for the erection of a penitentiary in this district, have been accomplished. The authority of further legislation is now required for the removal to this tenement of the offenders against the laws, sentenced to atone by personal confinement for their crimes, and to provide a code for their employment and government while this confined. The Commissioners appointed conformably to the Act of 2ii March, 1827, to provide for the adjust ment of claims of persons entitled to indemnifica tion under the first article of the Treaty of Ghent, arid for the distribution among such claimants of the sem paid by the Government of Great Britain UPP. der the Convention of 13th November, 1826, closed their labours on the 30th of August last, by award ing the claimants the sum of one million one hun dred and ninety-seven thousand four hundred and twenty-two dollars and eighteen cents, leaving a ba lance of seven thousand five hundred and thirty seven dollars and eighty-two cents, which was dis tributed rateably amongst all the claimants to whom awards had been made, accarding to the directions of the Act. The exhibits appended to the report from the Commissioner of the General Land Office, present the actual condition of that common property of the Union. The amount paid into the Treasury from the proceeds of the lands, during the year 1827, and the first half of 1828, falls little short of two millions of dollars. The propriety of further ex tending the time for the extinguishment of the debt due to the United States by the purchasers of the public lands, limited by the Act of 21st March last, to the 4th of July next, will claim the consideration of Congress, to whose vigilance and careful atten tion, the regulation, disposal, and preservation, of this great national inheritance has by the people of the United States been entrusted. Among the important subjects to which the atten tion of the present Congress has already been in vited, and which may occupy their further and de liberate discussion, will be the provision to be made for taking the fifth census or enumeration of the in habitants of the United States. The Constitution of the United States requires that this enumeration should be made within every term of ten years, and the date from which the last enumeration com menced was the first Monday of August of the year 1820. The laws under which the former enume rations were taken, were enacted at the Session of Congress immediately preceding the operation.— But considerable incomenicsces were experienced from the delay of legislation to so late a period.— That law, like those of the preceding enumerations, directed that the census should be taken by the Marshals of the several Districts and Territories, under instructions from the Secretary of State.— The preparation and transmission to the Marshals of those instructions required more time than was then allowed between the passage of the law and the day when the enumeration was to commence. The term of six months, limited for the returns of the Marshals, was also found even then too short ; and must be more so now, when an additional po pulation of at least three millions must be presented upon the returns. As they are to be made at the short session of Congress, it would, as well as from other considerations, be more convenient to com mence the enumeration from an earlier period of the year than the first of August. The most favour able season would be the spring. On a review of the former enumerations, it will be found that the plan for taking every census has contained im provements upon that of its predecessor. The last is still susceptible of much improvement. The third census was the first at which any account was taken of the manufactures of the country. It was repeated at the last enumeration, but the returns in both cases were necessarily very imperfect. They must always he so, resting of course only on the communications voluntarily made by individuals interested in some of the manufacturing establishments. Yet they con tained much valuable information, and may by some supplementary provision of the law, be rendered more effective. The columns of age, commencing from infancy, have hitherto been confined to a few periods, all under the number of 45 years. Import ant knowledge would be obtained by , extending those columns, in intervals of ten years, to the ut most boundaries of human life. The labour of tak ing them would he a trifling addition to diet al ready prescribed, and the result would exhibit com parative tables of longevity highly interesting to the country. I deem it my duty further to observe, that much of the imperfeciiiins in the returns of the last and perhaps of preceding enumerations pro ceeded from the inadequateness of the compensatiorts allowed to the Marshals and their assistants - in tak ing them. closing this communication, it only remains for the to assue . e the Legislature of my continued e wriest wish for the adoption of measures reeom heretofore, and y et to b e ac t e d o n mended by me by them : and of the cordial eonaurrence on my part in every constitutional provision which may recei% e their sanction during the Session, tending to the ge neral welfare. JOHN QUINCY ADAMS. Washington, December 2. IS2B. ----- Early on Saturday morning, an alarming fire broke out in the premises of Mr. Box, oil and colourman, Wheler-street, Spitaltields ; from the combustible nature of the materials in which Mr. Box dealt., the fir e raged for a time with considerable fury, the prompt attendance, however, of the p.,rish and other fire engines, together with a plentiful supply of water, stopped the progress of the devouring element; the damage was confined to Mr. Box's premises, which were reduced to a complete ruin. The cause of the fire has not been ascertained. KNUFSFORD MEETING.—It Wollld Seem, from the preparations that are making at Knutafurd, that it will rival that of Penenilen-heath i❑ importance. Those with whom it has originated have at least taken a hint from that important meeting on the advantages of concert and—what was so much condemned in this neighbour hood—military array. Mr. John Elliott Turner, the Se cretary to the Loyal Wellington Club of Stockport, has issued a circular to all the members of the Club, calling on them to muster at Bucklow-hill, two miles from Knuts ford, where they are to fall into procession, and so enter *the field of action, in all the parade of a grand procession. At the head of it we may expect to behold that jovial, but not very brilliant baronet, Sir H. M.sinwaring, and that loyal and consistent eulogist of his King, Trafford Traf ford, Esq., of Ootrington. There is eves y reason to ex pect a strenuous opposition, and the meeting is generally looked forward to with iuterest.—Mancliester Gazette. TIIE EDINBURGH MURDERS. THE TRIAL OF WILLIAM BURKE AND HELEN AVDOUGAL. (From the Caledonian Mercury of Saturday.) We have heard a great deal of late concerning " the march of intellect," for which the present age is supposed to be distinguished; and the phrase has been rung in our ears till it has nauseated us by its repetition, and become almost a proverbial expression of derision. But we fear that, with all its pretended illumination, the present age must be characterised by some deeper and fouler blots than have attached to any that preceded it; and that if it has brighter spots, it has also darker shades and more appalling obscurations. It has, in fact, nooks and corners where every thing that is evil seems to be concen trated and condensed; dens and holes to which the Genius of Iniquity has fled, and become envenomed with newer and more malignant inspirations. Thus the march of crime has far outstripped " the march of intellect," and attained a monstrous, a colos sal developement. The knowledge of good and evil would seem to have imparted a fearful im pulse to the latter principle ; to have quickened, vivified, and expanded it into an awful and un precedented magnitude. Hence old crimes have be come new by being attended with unknown and un heard-of concomitants; and - atrocities never dreamt of or imagined before have sprung nir up amongst us to cover us with confusion and dismay. No one who reads the report contained in our last of the regular system of niurder, which seems to have been organised in the city, can doubt that it iss 'most v.-holly without example in any age or country. Murder is no novel crime; it has been done in the olden time as well as now; but murder perpetrated in such a manner, upon such a system, with such an object or intent, and accompanied by such acces sory circumstances, was never, we bert!ve, heard of before, and taken altogether, utterly ir;4nscends and beggars every thing in the shape of tragedy to be found in poetry or romance. To show this, we shall endeavour to exhibit a faint sketch of the more pro minent circumstances attending the murder of the woman Campbell or Docherty, as proved in evidence at the In the morning of a certain day in October last (the 31st);, Burke chances to enter the shop of a grocer, that of Rymer, where he sees a door beggar woman asking charity. He accosts her, and the brogue instantly reveals their common country. The poor old woman's heart warms to her countryman, and she tells him that her name is Docherty, and that she has come from Ireland in search of her son. on the other hand, improves his advantage by pretending that his mother's name was also Doc herty, and that he has a wonderous affection for all who bear the same euphonious and reve►•ed name. The old woman is perfectly charmed with her good fortune in meeting such a friend in such a country man, and her heart perfectly over flows with delight. Burke, again, seeing that be had so far gained his object, follows up his professions of regard by invit ing Mrs. Docherty to go with him to his house, at the same time offering her an asylum there. The poor beggar accepts the fatal invita tion, and accompanies Burke to that dreadful den, the scene of mauy previous murders, whence she is destined never to return. Here the ineffable ruffian treats her to her breakfast, and as her gratitude rises, his apparent attention and kind ness increases. This done, however, he goes in search of his associate and accomplice, Hare, whom he informs that he has "got a shot in the house," and invites to come over at a time and hour agreed upon "to see it done." Betwixt eleven and twelve at night is fixed upon by these execrable miscreants for destroying the unhappy victim whom Burke had previously seduced into the den of murders: and death; and then Burke proceeds to make the ne cessary arrangements for the commission of the crime. Gray and his wife, lodgers in Barke's house, and whom the murderers did not think it proper or safe to entrust with the secret, are removed for that night alone ; another bed is procured for them, and paid for, or offered to be paid for, by Burke. By and by the murderers congregate, and females cog nizant of their past deeds, as well as of the crime which was to be perpetrated, mingle with them in this horrid meeting. Spirituous liquor is procured and administered to the intended victim--they all drink more or less deeply—sounds of mirth and re velry are heard echoing from this miniature of pan demonium—and a dance, in which they all, inclu ding the beggar woman, join, complete these infer nal orgies. This is kept up for a considerable while, and it. the immediate precursor of a deed which blurs the eye of day, and throws a deeper and darker shade around the dusky brow of night. At length the time for " doing it" arrives. Burke and Hare get up a sham fight, to produce a noise as of brawling and quarrelling, common enough in their horrid abode; and when this has been con tinued long enough as they think, Burke suddenly springs like a hungry tiger on his victim,. whom one of his accomplices had as if by accident thro Nil down, flings the whole weight of his body upon her breast, grapples her by the throat, and strangles her outright. Ten m'nutes or a quarter of au hour elapse while this operation is going on, and ere it is completed; during the whole of which time, Hare, by his o‘vn confession in the witness-box, sat upon the front of the bed, a cool spectator of the murder, without raising a cry or stretching out a hand to help the unhappy wretch thus hurried into eternity by his associate fiend Burke. As to the women (Helen ill‘Dougal, Burke's helpmate, and the Nvife of the miscreant Hare) they seem to have retreated into a passage closed in by an outer door, " when they saw him (Burke) on the top of her" (Docherty) and to have remained there while ho was perpetrat ing the murder, without, however, uttering a single sound, or doing a single act, calculated to interrupt the murderer in his work of blood, or to procure as sistance to the dying victim.' Ilese she-devils were familiar with the work of death; and one of them, the wife of Hare, confessed it in the witness-box. She had seen, she said, such " tricks" before. No language can add to the impression which these facts are calculated to produce. '1 he succeed ing events, however, are not less picturesquely hor 'Vying. The murder was committed at eleven o'clock, and in an,hourafter, or at twelve, Burke fetches Paterson, the assistant or servant of a teacher of anatomy here, to whom he was in the habit of sell:ng the bodies of his victims, to the spot—the murdered body being by this time stuffed under the bed and covered with straw ; and to that truly dreadful place, tells him th:st 1 , (1 lias got a sub ject for him there, which will be ready for him in the morning. The (lemons then appear to have re created themselves with fresh doses of liquor; and about four or five in the morning, the two women already mentioned, with a fellow of the name of Brogan, ss L o had joined the party after the deed was done, laid down in the bed, beneath which the mur dered body of Docherty, not yet cold in death, had been crammed, and went to sleep, some of then► at least, . , coolly as if nothing of the kind had occur red. When daylight returned, the tea-box, so often mentioned in the course of the trial, was procured, and the slaughtered body crammed into it, and sent off by the porter M'Culloch, to Surgeon's-square after which Btule and his accomplice Hare set off for Newington to obtain the whole or part of the price of the subject they had procured by murder, and actually got five pounds, being one half of the price agreed upon. Such is an imperfect and feeble outline of ...the facts of this case, in the course of which was dis closed- the horrid and appalling fact, that, in certain holes and dens, both in the heart and in the out skirts of this city, murder had been reduced into a system, with the view of obtaining money for the bodies murdered; and that it was perpetrated in the manner.least likely to leave impressed upon it any .evident or decisive marks of violence, being inva riably committed by means of suffocation or strang ling, during partial or total intoxication. The pub lic is therefore to consider the present as only one out of many instances of a similar nature which have occurred. Hare's wife admitted that she had wit nessed many " tricks" of the same kind; and Hare himself, when undergoing the searching cress-exa mination of Mr. Cockburn—a cross-examination such as was never before exemplified in any Court of Justice—durst not deny that he had beet' con cerned in other murders besides that Of Docherty— that a murder had been committed in his own house in the month of October last—that he himself was a murderer, and his hands steeped in blood and slaughter; we say he durst not deny it, and only took refuge in " declining to answer" the questions put to him ; which the Court of course apprised him he was entitled to do in regard to questions that went to criminate himself so deeply, and but for which caution we have little doubt that he would have confessed not merely accession, but a principal share in several murders. In fact, this" squalid wretch," as Mr. Cockburn so pictu resquely called him, from the hue and look of the carrion-crow in the witness-box, was disposed to be extremely communicative, and apparently had no idea that any thing he had stated was at all remark able or extraordinary. Daft Jamie was murdered in this miscreant's house, and he has mentioned some circumstances connected with the destruction of this poor innocent, calculated to form a suitable pendant to the description we have already - given of the murder of Docherty. Jamie was enticed into Hare's house by Burke, the usual decoy-duck in this traffic of blood(the appearance of Hare himself being so inexpressibly hideous that it would have scared even this moping idiot), and he was plied with liquor far a considerable time. At first he refused to imbibe a single drop; but by dint of coaxing and perseverance, they' at last induced him to take a little; and after he had once took a little, they found almost no difficulty in inducing him to take more. At length, however, he became overpowered, and laying himself down on the floor, fell asleep.— Burke, who was anxiously watching his opportunity, 'then said to Hare, " Shan I do it' now ?" to which Hare replied, "He is too strong for you N et; you had better let him alone for a while." Both the ruffians seem to have been afraid of the physical strength which they knew the poor creature possessed, and of the use he would make of it, if prematurely roused. Burke, accordingly, waited a little, but getting impatient to accomplish his object, he sud denly threw himself upon Jamie, and attempted to strangle him. This roused the poor creature, and, muddled as he Wat with liquor and sleep, he threw Burke off and got to his feet, when a desperate struggle ensued. Jamie fought with the united frenzy:of madness and despair, and Burke was about to be overpowered, when he called out furiously to Hare to assist him. This Hare did by tripping up Jamie's heels; after which both the ruffians got upon him, and at length, though not even then without the greatest difficulty, succeeded in strang ling him. We have heard other and similar details, but we refrain for the present from inserting them. And all this has happened and has been carried on in a Christian country, and in the Metropolis of Scotland, without a breath of suspicion having been excited as to the existing of such hellish atrocities, till Gray lodged information at the Police Office of the murder of the woman Campbell or Docherty. It was said at the trial, that the public mind' had been excited and inflamed on the subject to a de gree wholly unprecedented; but how is it con ceivable or possible that even the lightest whisper of snch infernal deeds—of an organized system of murder—could find, e its way to the public with out producing this excitement, without kindling up every feeling of horror and indignation which the darkest and most unheard of atrocities could possibly rouse in virtuous and untainted minds ? This was a natural result of a great and unparalleled crime, or rather system of crimes; it was a result which no power or influence could prevent; it was a result which, even if it had been possible, ought not to have been prevented. But as this excitement exist ed—as'it had more or less pervaded every mind— and as it might eventually, if not controlled, have interfered with and affected the administration of stern abstract justice, it was right, nay it was neces sary, both for the sake of public justice and also for the satisfaction of the country that the prisoners should be ably and powerfully defended. Under this conviction, the head of the Bar of Scotland, in conjunction with some other of its brightest orna ments, came for Ward to offer their gratuitous services on the occasion ; and certainly never was there a defence in any case conducted with more consum mate ability, never perhaps was there a trial in which higher talent, greater experience, or more splendid and overmaster ing eloquence were displayed. In these circumstances, however, a conviction has been obtained against the pannel Burke—the prime murderer—the immediate and direct agent by whom the crime charged was committed—the agent also, we firmly believe, by whom not three but thirteen persons were slaughtered, with the intent of excarribing their murdered bodies for gold; this monster, we say; has been convicted, and adjudged to suffer the highest punishment of the law ; and, with a sort of poetical justice, he who made sub jects of others, is to be made a subject himself, and he now knows that his vile carcase, when the hang man is done with it, will be subjected to the same process with the bodies of his murdered victims. The idea of hanging him in chains would have been out of all keeping with his crime ; and hence, thought once entertained, it was most properly and judici ously abandoned. But the conviction of Burke .:lone will not satisfy either the law or the country. The unanimous voice of society in regard to Hare is, Delendus est; that is to say, if there be evi• deuce to convict him, as we should hope there is. He has been accessory before or after the fact in nearly all of these murders ; in the case of poor Jamie he was unquestionably a ; and his evidence on Wednesday only protects hire from being called to account for the murder of Decherty. We trust, therefore, \ that the Lord Advocate, who has so ably and zealously performed his duty to the country upon this occasion, will bring the " squalid wretch" to trial, and take every other means in his power to have these atrocities probed and sifted to the bottom. (The Trial concluded from our Paper cf Saturday.) At half-past eight the Jury retired, and after an absence of fifty minutes returned a verdict finding William Burke "Guilty" of the charge; and the libel against Helen M`Dougal " Not Proven." The LORD ADVOIDATE having moved for the sen tence of the Court, Lord MEADOWBANK said, it is impossible, in con sidering the whole circumstances in this distressing case, not to advert to that extraordinary—that most unexampled, and that atrocious system, which every, one must feel has been developed by the evidence ' which has been broughtforward. lam sure, and I speak in the presence of your Lordships, who can correct me if I am wrong, that in the whole history of the country—l may say, in the history of civilised society—nothing has ever been exhibited that is in any respect parallel to this case. Murders have been committed before now, crimes of all descrip tions have unhappily been too COMMON ; but we had flattered ourselves that our country was in a great measure tree from the stigma of any great or heinous atrocity committed within its bounds. That there should have been found, therefore, not one but many, leagued and combined together, in order to sacri fice their ueoffending fellow -creatures, for the wretch ed purpose of disposing of their bodes, is to the last degree humiliating. The very announcement of such a system is sufficient to raise ideas of horror which it would be vain to search for words ade quately to expre,s. When I take a view of the other features of this case, it exhibits a picture of iniquity which the greatest stretch of imagination can hardly take in, yet it was so clearly brought out in proof, that I am sure it mnst carry conviction to every one who heard th e ev id ence . Th ere i s no i doubt that it s the duty of the Court to pronounce sentence on the prisoner; and I now suggest that he be detained in the Tolbooth of Edinburgh, and that he suffer death on the scaffold on the 28th day of January next, and his body be given for dissection. Lord MACKENZIE expressed his concurrence. 1 The LORD JUSTICE CLERK then addressed the `NN prisoner nearly as follows :--William Burke, you now stand convicted by the verdict of an intelligent and respectable Jury of the atrocious murder charged against you in the indictment, upon evidence which could not leave a doubt of your guilt on the mind of any one who heard it. Iso fully concur in the view which has been so eloquently given by my Learned Brother of the nature of the offence, that I will not occupy the time of the Court with commenting on it. A crime more atrocious, a more cold-blooded, deliberate, and systematic preparation for murder, and the motive so paltry, was really unexampled iu the annals of the country. It is now my duty to in form you, that if- ever it was clear beyond all possi bility of a doubt that the sentence would iu any case be carried into full execution, this is one of those cases. The only doubt I have in my mind is, whether, to satisfy the violated laws of our country and the voice of public indignation, your body ought net to be exhibited in chains, to bleach in the winds, in order to deter others from the commission of si milar offences. But, taken into consideration that the public eye would be offended by so dismal a spectacle, I am willing to accede to a more lenient execution of your sentence, and that your body should be publicly dissected. I trust that if it is ever customary to preserve skeletons, yours will be preserved, in order that posterity may keep in re membrance your atrocious crimes. His Lordship then pronounced, with due solemnity, the sentence of the law. The scene altogether was singularly striking and impressive. The prisoner stood with unbleuching firmness. Not a shade passed across his counte nance, not a muscle of his features was discomposed during the solemn address of the Lord Justice Clerk consigning him to death. At this moment, as indeed throughout the whole trial, by betrayed that indifference to his situation which could only spring from utter recklessness of life, or be the calm of settled despair. The female prisoner, on the other hand, was greittly agitated. During the whole course of the trial she had betrayed great restlessness and anxiety. Her face was often deadly pule, and although the expression of her features was not upon the whole disagreeable, it frequently as sumed a haggard anti ghastly appearance, like that of a person in the jaws of death. At the moment when sentence was being pronounced on Burke, she was drowned in tears, and seemed to feel deeply for the wretch who had evidently no feeling for himself. The streets in the vicinity of the Court were crowded till a late hour in the morning; but the police succeeded, throughout the whole day and night, in keeping the multitude at a distance from the doors of the Court, preserving the conimunica tion with it uninterrupted. At the same time every precaution was taken to preserve the public peace. The high constables of the city and its dependencies mustered at six o'clock in the eveniag, and the police received a temporary reinforctmennt of up wards of 300 men, who were on duty the whole time. In order, however, to repress effectually any disturbance, the infantry in the castle, and the ca valry at Piershill, were under orders to march at a moment's notice into the city. Notwithstanding this, however, a mob assembled in the course of the night, and proceeded to Surgeon's Square, with the intention of attacking the lecture-rooms. But a strong body of students, armed with pistols, and flanked by two detachments of police, showed so formidable a front, that they were compelled to re heat without accomplishing their object, or, indeed, doing any mischief. Some pitiful tutlians then pro ceeded'to the College, and broke several windows in Dr. Munro's apartments, from North College street. A few days ago Mr. Morrison, one of the Macers of Court, apprehended at Glasgow, a girl who had been servant to the Haires, and who had fled after being cited as a witness on Burke's trial. She has been brought back to Edinburgh, and is in custody to await any further proceedings which the public prosecutor may think proper to institute. 111 E, ARMY. A Detachment of the Coldstream Guards left town on Saturday afternoon, to join the Ist Battalion stationed at Manchester. A Detachment of the 16th Regiment of Infantry unived in town, from Sheffield, on Saturday after noon, on route to Chatham. A Detachment of the lath Infantry left town this morning, for Chatham. STATE OF PUBLIC SECURITY. (The following circulars have been issued from the Home. office.) Whitehall, Nor. 21. Sir,—l urn directed by Mr. Secretary Peel to re quest that you will transmit to me as soon as possible, for his information, answers to the questions sub joined, relative to the state of the watch in the parish of -. " How many evening or night patrol and watch men ? What their hours of duty ? What their pay? For what time appointed ? Whether any and what incidental expenees ? How many watch-boxes, and where situated ? " Whether any and how many day patrol or street keepers ? What their duties ? What their pay ? By whom, at what time of the year, and for what time appointed ? " Whether any and how many inspectors, direc tors, supervisors, or superintendents of the day or night watch, or day patrol ? What their pay ? Whe ther any person set over the inspector, director, su pervisor, &c. ? Whether the constables keep watch and ward, superintend, or in any manner interfere with the watchmen ? " Whether any, and what, directions or regulations are given to the night or duy watch ? " What the amount of the watch-rate per quarter? How the rate is made ? How much in the pound ? If the watch-rate is included in the rate for lighting, or in any other rate, state the amount of the separate expense of the watch, and deduct it from the total amount of the rate. " Whether the watch and police of the parish of --, or of any district within the parish, is regu lated by commissioners, or others appointed by act of Parliament ? "Js the parish of - united with any other parish for the purposes of watching or of the police'? And is there any, and wkat put of the parish, on a different footing with respect to the watch, from the remainder of the parish ?" Mr. Peel is aware that information upon some of these questions has been already -received from the parish of -, by the Police Committee which eat during the last session ; hut he is very desirous of receiving from you full information upon ail the questions together. I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, S. M. PHILLIPPS. The Vestry Clerk'of the parish of Whitehall, Nov. 21. Sir,--117r. Peel desires me to request, that you will transmit to me, for his information, together with your answers to the several questions which have been lately addressed to you by Mr. Peel's direction, a copy of the yea►ly account of the receipt, the ex penditure, and disbursements of the watch department of the parish of -. I am, Sir, your most obedient humble servant, S. M. PHILLIPPS. The Vestry Clerk of the parish of Whitehall, Nov. 2). Sir,—l am directed by Mr. Secretary Peel to re quest that you will inform him whether the night or day-watch in the parish of are regulated, or money raised for their payment, under the provisions of any particular act of Parliament ? And if that is the case, he requests you to transmit to me, for his information, the title and chapter of the act. I am, Sir, your most obedient humble ,tervant, S. M. PHILLIPPS. The Vestry Clerk of the parish of—. FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE. .• FRENCH PAPERS • (From the Gazette de France, dated Deo, 06 end V.) , CORFU, NoF:1 1.---Ou the 4th of this Mouth Vice-Admiral de Rigny left Patraa with his equadroo. ? , for Navarin, having learnt that Rear-Admiral Roar' mel bad arrived there. Gen. Idaisos had likewt 4 returned to Navarin from the eacarsion whisk be s bad made into the iutetior of the country. Letters from &Utica, of the let of this mouth, an" nounce that Capt. Antony Kriesi has received ths,;-; command of the flotilla in the Gulf of Arubraeia; stead of the femme Colonel Passau% who las 'Weak ' recalled by the Greek Government out account of conduct in the expedition against Presses, in whichop faithful to his character as a pirate, he captured sive,. sal lonian merchantmen. (When we read iu lettere: from the east acco un t s o f th e ac ti ons o f t hi s p i rat icel , . Corsican, we are surprised that Count Cepa tries could have intrusted an important command a man of this description). The remainder of the, , , Greek troops at Eleusis were to go to Salons. Par - ;:' nano is to have another command. The Seraskier Redschid Pacha has left Arta for Salagora for a considerable number of troops whir he has.collected, and has attempted to recover tee 4, session of the two little penins u l as o f 'L ogaro n al l°' Ceronissa, situated in the Gulf of Arta, and w hich, the Greek flotilla had seized upon. To exeollf. , this operation, he was obliged to pass a very mirrovq) ; isthmus which joins these two peninsulas to the con tinent. But the Greeks, though inferior in numbers ' defended themselves with so much bravery, that & P .' Seraelcier, after having suffered considerable loss, W 0 obliged to renounce his project, and to return to Sala" gora. lie has now formed a plan to line with troop s all the coast of the G u lf o f A r t a , an d to cut o ff 0 1 : the communications from the Greek flotilla which there. The son of Hussein Aga, of Prevesa, had Wit h this view received orders to occupy with his troop the positions of Aearnania; and all the vesse which were-in the Gulf of Prevesa have bac ° , equipped to be sent to the entrance of the Gulf. Gazette of Corfu. PARIS, DEc. 26.—Letters from Corfu, date ] December 10, announce that the Ambassadors `vie still at Poros on the 4th•of December; it iv° supposed they would soon leave that place P r Malta, but they had not yet received the peratir sion which they had asked of their Government to leave Poros. FIIIINCH Foyle.-PARIS, Dec. Q6.—live- per Cleo* 106 f. 75e.; Four per Cents. 100 f. 50e. ; Three 1 0 Cents. 73f. 90e.; Bank Stock, 1,877 f, 60e. • Neepoli°,, 'lentos, 77f. 60e. ; Royal Spaniah Loan, 711 ff. : Spin"' Rentes Perpetuellee, ; Haytian Loan, bBof. 91. change on London, one month, 26f. 26c. ; three moot° 25f. 6c. GERMAN PAPERS. VIENNA, Dec. 17.—1 t is reported that infortet tiou has been just received here, that Queen Ms da Gloria of Portugal will very shortly leave hea l don to came to this city. C oun t Barhacena i s •' d to be eommissioned to accompany her Majesty hither' Metalliques, 95 9-16. ; Bank Shares, 1,095. CONSTANTINOPLE, Nov. 25.—Though, since the last post, the Turks have received the joyf u l riee l that the Russians have abandoned their positiol.o before Shurela, and raised the siege of Silistria, Porte has not published any thing o ffi cial u r irroffici f on the subject. This is an evidence of the spirit ° A indifference which distinguishes the Turks in ge°; as well as in bud fortune. Besides this, the Muse' " .: mans had declared in the month of August, that 1, 7 Russians had failed in the campaign, so that thef t retreat seems a thing of course, and has made 1111 . e impression on them than in Pere, where , es pecial', after the fall of Varna, it was thought likely til ° ' the Russians would winter in Bulgaria. The continued bad weather seems to cheek di ° operations of the Grand Vizier, and is a grea t hindrance to the communications. T ar tars 'th at used to came in three or roar days from Shunt' now take ten or twelve days. The Porte is tau' . ing active preparations for the next campaign- N Ot ., withstanding the blockade now declared. s hips der' arrive; and within these four days 200,000 kil9e of corn have been received, by which the Or gumption of the capital has been secured for tit ° months • the prices, however, rise, from apprehe l . l " , sions o f what may happen. On the 19th and 19th inst. 27 merehanttaet laden with corn, arrived at Constantinople ; were from Alexandria, the remainder from Mer, ° : donis. and Syria. Soon after their arrival in P" Dardanelles, Admiral Ricord, with a ship. of V:. line and four frigates, appeared at the entrance 7. enforce the blockade. The ships from Alexsuldt' were pursued on their voyage by Greek emigr e ' but vigorously defended themselves. As the Rost blockade will obstruct, if not wholly prevent, tr arrival of provisions for the capital, the Porte, ' la order to get rid of useless consumers, issued an ord e r on the 23d inst an t, b y w hi c h a ll unmarr i e d Grew and Armenians, not natives of Constantinople, to leave the ct i tal in a fortnight, and rotten to tb°: own homes. afiz Ali Paella, hitherto e o r nmaav" of the camp on the Dardanelles, is appointed Go / ° r nor of the Castle of Tenedos, and is succeeded I° the camp by the former Grand Viaier, Selika ° Ali Pacha. The Governor of Silistria has seat ° courier with the news of the raiaiug of the siege: The head quarters of the Grand Viaier were si Aidos, where all the reinforcements that daily moil(' are assembled. The deep snow that has fallen el the Balkan is nu almost insuperable obstacle to ‘' operations. • BUCHAREST, DHC. head-quarters o f Count Wittgenstein are still at Jassy, where moiltvii the Russian Generals now are. Generals Diebit° and Bug are to lose no time in drawing up the pe t , for the next campaign, and are to make the requi sl ia preparations for it ; 12,000 infantry, which belong o to the corps besieging Silistria, have gone tad winter-quarters in Wallachia; 6,000 infantry °,7. most of the field artillery are distributed in ?deldal l o General Langeron has the command in chief of tht' l l .. troops. The other corps that were employedbef Silistria are posted between the Danube and Val ° and have thrown up entrenchments at Orsova, 0 .; zardjick, and Debit's, under the protection of 100 they will wait for the spring. Varna itself is e ti o, to have a garrison of 5,000 men, and is the 0 ° quarters of General Roth, who commands all IL I,o Russian troops on the right bank of the Datill A tr o t The citadel of Yarna is untouched and pro/i t 'd with every thing neeessary; so that any attempt the Turks to get possession of it would prob° r fail, especially as part of the Russian fleet is e t ir tioned there. It seams, indeed, that the Turke,b, tend to remain quiet, and take advantage of r e winter to recover after the hardships they have d og dergone. Only small marauding parties hover re this side of Mount Htemus, and all serious ohs t 0 tions have ceased since an action at Paravaib.. l ( which it is said the vanguard of the Grand Vie h l or had attacked the Russian advanced posts, but, ° J ` . / an unavailing contest of several hours, not be l e % able to get possession of the road to Varna. treated beyond Aidos. It is affirmed by scouts that thirty thousand "I't j , have gone into camp between Aidos end Bott/SL, and it appears from their proceedings that this pz i tion is intended to be the winter-quarters of t corps. te FROM TnU Dinumig, Duo. 17.---Aieorume authentic accounts from the Rnssium head-quarlA, of the 7th of December (N.S.), the Turks had 6 ? leeted 30,000 men at Aidos, whence it was prestO e that they intended to proceed to act on the of_ a l l , sive; when, all at once, without having made , off serious attempt, they withdrew from their posit i° o before Paravadi tonards Ardone and Shun,lat that the Russians were divided Irchn the Turks the Kemtchik. The larger half of the Russian ar ° o is about Bebadeg and Banurdjik. The fortifical i° o of Matchin, Hirsova, and Koatendji And Yarns, hi e been repaired, and other points fortified which essential to the defence of this part of Bulgarie•jo After the beginning of November, after all the rol e !tad been rendered impassable by ruins and ile" ,tn t tea, 0 A 0 0 I 2 I I* / I II r 4orath 0 4 IR: Paid b Birolii T CO, ( 41 tet I WILT ".............., 134.1 TON on bei ~►ac Re _ li BTI whi( borb Wall in ti Con tO ti the Thi app Pup this Hip din ger nal attti ma of has Wit phi to so BS mei B'l trE ch Al