The Sun. — London, England, 1863-12-21 00:00:00

Extraordinary Infatuation of a Devonshire Heiress. The following appears in the Western Morning _News of Saturday :—" Gossip has been busy for some weeks past with an instance of infatuation on the part of a young lady, which bears out the old saying that truth is stranger than fiction. The names of the parties in question are known to us, but the object of withholding them will be obvious, although * the correctness of the incidents narrated is guaran teed. Miss Nemo, as we shall call her, is the daugh ter of a clergyman and a doctor of divinity, not long dead, and who resided at his rectory in the county of D evon . Nemo is about 25 years of age, good look ing, and accomplished, and it caused no small trou ble to the family some time previous to her father's death to find that she had formed a clandestine ac quaintance with a stonemason to whom was en trusted the repair of her father's church. On this discovery Nemo was sent to Exeter to reside with e. brother, that there might be broken the tie she had formed. Only a short time afterwards she eloped with her " lover of lo w degree" to H—, where she remeined with his friends until the marriage preliminaries could be arranged. On the morning fixed for the wedding, the bridegroom not being orthcoming at the appointed time, the lady went in search of him, when, to her astonishment, he in formed her that he was in no particular hurry, and should not marry yet. On finding herself thus de ceived, the unfortunate girl ran away, and waded into a sheet of water waist high in her wedding dress, from which predicament, however, she was luckily extricated by two labouring men, taken back to where she had been staying, and eventually home. A few days afterwards the stonemason lover called at her residence, but was refused an interview by her brother. He then went to another of Nemo's relatives, a lady of wealth and position, with whom he endeavoured to turn his heartlessness to pecu niary profits, offering to marry somebody else . if a hundred pounds were g iven him, adding the interesting information that three other ladies were already in ,love with him. This extortionate demand was refused ; but the mercenary man was offered a handsome present if he became the husband of either of the three candi dates he had mentioned. This, it seems,i9 id C d u i p dn it o; suit " his book," a nd fortunately h effected that which nothing else could do—deter mined Nemo to throw offaltogether, the result being t;l9.t he is now a presiding and unmarried genius in a common public-house. A short time after this oc currence the father of Nemo died, leaving he r a ver y respectable income ; but in order to prevent her from forming a conne ction with anybody beneath her, the receipt of this income was made to be con tingent on her remaining single, to revert to her only if she become a widow. Her brother having aucceeded her father in his ecclesiastical office, Nemo resided alone at lodgings in Exeter up to the middle of last summer. Oae morning, however, she was seized with a fit of infatuation, which surpassed even that which we have already narrated. While sitting at her open window she saw on the opposite side a man begging from door to door. She rang the bell for her servant and ordered the man to be fetcsed. He was introduced into her room, served with refreshments, during, or after which, Nemo requested to hear his history. The beggar informed her that he was connected with a very high family in Ireland, from whom he ran away when he was 14 years of age, and had not returned since. He travelled in foreign parts,and eventually enlisted in a foreign army, where he struck his superior officer and was sentenced to be shot. That punishment, however, was subsequently mitigated to bard labour for life in the mines. He underwent some years of his punishment, which was the cause of deformity on his right side, oue shoulder becoming considerably lower than the other. After some years he succeeded in escaping from the miner, re turned to England, enlisted as a soldier, but having deserted from his regiment, he was taking up, punished, and turned out, branded with the letter 1) on the shoulder, which mark he showed our heroine. Since that he had been compelled to earn his livelihood as a beggar. This pathetic recital seems to have moved the susceptible heart of Nemo, for she forthwith interested herself for him with various contributors to the Strangers' Friendly Society, and rigged him out with linen and outer garments, brushes, combs, and other articles necessary fcr the proper performance of his toilette. This done, she visited him at a notoriously common lorlging heuse in a back lane, but being disgusted with that habitation, she obtained lodgings for him at en eating-house, where, when he was duly in stalled, she visited him, exchange visits being made by the gentleman at the lady's lodgings. Not con tent with these marks of favour, she purchased for him a handsome ring, receiving one made of his hair in return, the latter, as well as the former, being of course paid fcr by Nemo. Thus matters continued up to a short time ago, when, on being remonstrated with on the impropriety of such a connection, she absented herself suddenly without leaving the slightest notion of her whereabouts being enter tained, until her return, when it transpired that she had gone off with the man to Devonport, and l ' , (11 married at a dissenting place of worship, the I nterssting office of bridesmaid having been per form ea by an old woman, a sextoness at one of the zesetes churches, whom Nemo had Wien with her. llone v by this time was eetting short, and the pair retureesto Exeter the lady visiting her friends and inforrei se th ' rm of the high respectability of her husband:: conn ect ions, aud eventually so softening their an ger t hat they agreed to give her money and fi h t es h b e a r n o d tit in fo te r Ireland, to which countr y she said her . take her. He was consequently a dmitted to sever a l no end of dresseein terviews with the family, and sro provided for Nemo be fitting h l bier entran ce • at e .4 - siiiiic i en t money was polite Irish society." given her to enable them to pa y a visit to her relatives in London, while their boxes in which was her e on of the f a mily plate, w 1." ere f°-L'rcled to l tve rt.ool to await the pair when they reaelied that kindly en route for I re l an d. They were rece ived krreny by their London friends o ften during a , whom they visite d 'Neel newly-made husban d took it into 4 1 when the hie head one evening to go down into the kitch et. of a friend's house to smoke a pipe, an d not rehlriiinr. b in what his wife considered reasonable time, ag e search of him, but search ed in vain.when iZenhisto in misgiving, Nemo proceeded to their lodgin g , m e she found her boxes broken open, and that every article of value they contained had disappea s ,4 . Without delay she sought aid, and starched th e metropolis for days—her Efforts being eventually crowned by finding her husband in a low pot-house, every penny he had taken from her having been squandered. Nemo induced her degraded spouse to go with her to the railway station, when, on making the names of her relatives known, she obtained a pass for both to Exeter, but on their arrival there they were entirely discarded by their former friends. Having by some means obtained a little money, the couple proceeded to Plymouth, and only a few days since were located in anything huts first class house in one of the Three Towns. An offer was sent the lady by her friends to receive her again if she would leave the man who had treated her so badly ; but this Nemo, with womanly heart and head, peremp torily declined. She will shortly become a mother, a nd she has expressed her determination to oeg, or even • It occasion no the husband of her rash choice. on no surprise to the reader to learn that it has been found by a letter from Ireland, couched i n ajlie b sculiar diction, that the man's high connection s are a myth. So ends for the pre sent this remarkable _ u and painful episode in the lifeof en accompli'lted svueshire heiress. withoTtt— ---------- ~. ;four complet e pa.Tt, effi c i en t, durable, and Frll7.:No-.:ii \ ~ ;!tiNE. Siinpb.,,, a WILCOX AND G!BBS' ad th e requirements of a noise l ess . II arranted to 1 0 1 1 ) i r e on appli ca ti on a t i\p,cori‘,f : . ;; - :: l, ,!t il_i , : t e r, i, 4 n t e :vv .l . `ro t i 1 B e , t. , t is. i r , , met with the. iii,[a;‘,...nn;i..:•El:fslify.tizu'r.ll.l.—___lyto.lloavi;;T:estin has and rills._ Y 6 °llltril , pprohation for curing h n, 44 same unit - _ , Ts.il a as that which this lingttentreceived. r.rual ailments f it ,tid dle.cliarges, burns, blistered gii4s.al_a sores, deep tileere, arc a t onoe soothed and / ,, t , ' , ; ( : . a,and many similar affections, soundnes by Holloway"s' ointment. With on the road to and his pills die wealtLy may save thernscl vc Th o u ii c itment fi,ring, and the poor may help then3selves to h eaith 'h :tit'.. since th , se medicaments are reasonable in price, and can b e el3+•.sed in every bani!et, 'They ', a ce eff cted cure s of stiff .ints, swelled lepl clad nicera:cd limbs, and opened rr e t " le L ,...,,, r,_, ~t a li,, ppy tutu,: ;Ai t.: r -.3VL ry 111 , 1 j (.! Of I''.:CCiVi2Xy had {~~_ ~•Tt r George Townley's Alleged Insanity. (F, ont the Lancet of this day.) The act was not accordant with the expressions in his letters, nor was his habitual disposition. His conduct at the time of its commission was altogether different from that usually exhibited on such occa sions. His bearing when he brought the bleeding body of his victim into the presence of her aged uncle has no parallel in the history of the course pursued by mere criminals. He avowed himself as the " murderer ;" said he knew "he should be hanged ;" and at the same time declared, " She has deceived me, and the woman who deceives me dies." This occurred on the 21st of August. For three months he:had bean under confinement ; for three months the terrible crime he had committed, in all its horrible reality, had been present to his mind. Who can tell the nature of those struggles of self against self which in that term had wearied and worn a brain predisposed to yield to such pernicious influences ? It is not until efforts are made for his defence that Dr. Forbes Winslow's experience is brought to the examination of the condition of a mind which for so long a period had been subjected to the influences of prison confinement; recollections of her whose life he had taken, morbid discipline of the reason for its own justification, a determined resistance of the recognition of the fairness of the law which had been violated, and a resolve to defy tt with its commands. The train of thought thus induced is further comp licated b y the conviction n sthimha there a we re six conspirators plotting against v i e w to his destruction, and a chief conspirator at their head. These mental conditions, accompanied by an avowed disregard for all moral and reli gious observances or obligations, Dr. Winslow por trayed as forming the elements of a condition, on which his opinion was asked and given. He affirmed that at the time of such visit, after the lapse of three months from the commission of the crime, the prisoner was a min whom it would then be dangerous to permit to be at large. Dr. Wins ' low abstained from committing himself to thestate soent that the prisoner was irresponsible for his crime at the date of its perpetration. When pressed on the point he put the case hypothetically, and we apprehend that few will dissent from his conclusions. In reply to Mr. Macaulay's quest : on, " If the pre sent state of mental derangement existed on Aug. 21, would it be likely to lead to the commission of the act then committed ?" Dr. Winslow said, " Most undoubtedly ;" and proceeded, " Assutioing him to have been on Aug. 21 as he was on Nov. 18 and yesterday, Ido not believe that he wrs in a con dition of mind to estimate like a sane man the nature of his act and his legal liability ;" and also added, in cross-examination." that the condition the prisoner presented then, so far as mental excite ment went, might not have existed at the time of the commission of the act." We are particular in pointing out the guarded nature of this opinion, in asmuch as it has been urged by some contemporat ies that the plea of insanity has been unduly raised in the present case. So fer at least as the principal medical testimony goes, it amounts to this—that a man labouring under a delusion that he is the object of a conspiracy, with a chief at its head ; that he is himself a free agent, not to be controlled by either divine or human law ; that the life of a fellow creature is of little consequence in comparison with a personal wrong—such peculiarities manifesting themselves in an individual with an hereditary disposition to insanity, is a man dangerous to him self and to society—one likely to commit crimes, and one whcse responsibility for acts so committed ought not to be estimated by the standard usually applied to sane men. THE LATE GALES. On Friday afternoon the Government steamer Meduse, BS9 tons, 320 horse-power, Master Com manding J. H. Allard, arrived in Great Yarmouth roadstead, and anchored off the Britannia pier. After receiving on board two experienced masters of smacks and a North Sea pilot, the Medusa was to start on a cruise in the North Sea and to the mouth of the Elbe, in search of ere missing smacks, 13 in number. The gunboats attached to the Pembroke at Harwich, and the Cornwallis at Hull, are also expected on the same service. Reports of a most contradictory nature prevail with reference to the missing smacks ; but as 17 or 18 days have elapsed since the gale, but little hope is entertained as to the safety of the 91 men and boys on board. Late on Saturday night a portion of the passen gers and crew of the bark Prince Frederick William, 347 tons, were landed at Dover, and are now at the Sailors' Home. The bark was bound from New castle to the coast of Malabar,and in the North Sea became so damaged that she wee taken in tow by another vessel, from which she parted company, leaving the mate and four men on board the vessel which had her in tow. The only hope for the Prince Frederick William is that, notwithstanding her crippled state, she may be able to make either Yar mouth or the Downs. At 11 o'clock on Saturday night eight men of the Swedish brig Mory Svere were landed at Dover. This vessel became water logged off the Texel in a heavy gale. One man was drowned; the remaining portion of the crew were picked up by a Dantsic brig, and are now in a very destitute condition at the Sailors' Home. There is every reason to believe that there are several vessels knocking about the North Sea in a disabled condition. The following laden collier vessels have sailed from the Tyne nearly a month : —The Spray, the James, the Quayside, the Brad ricks, the Lady Mary, and the Esther. Of the safety of some of those laden collier vessels there are scarcely any hopes. In fact, it is leanest certain that some of them have foundered and drowned their crews. It is fully anticipated that there will be a considerable loss of Tyne seamen in the late gales. Some of the crews of vessels that are known to he lost have suffered very much from exposure. One man belonging to the Ganges, which became waterlogged on her passage from the Baltic, perished from the effects of the cold, and the re mainder of the crew were exposed to the fury of the gale without food or drink 48 hours before they were rescued. The north-east gale of Thursday was very violent in the North Sea. The other steam ship which arrived in the Tyne to-day was obliged to Le for thirteen hours, in consequence of the force of the storm. The only casualty that occurred upon the Northumberland coast was at Amble, where a Scotch vessel, the Cygnet, of Aberdeen, drove ashore. All the crew but the mete were rescued by the coastguard. He was washed off the rigging and drowned. The vessel is completely e be °een to pieces. T he schooner Matilda, of Aberdeen, has gone into Arbroath She „ s dismasted and otherwise damaged. Caetlehillal hrte l i u g t ht her masts in the Pentland Firth about a I N while on her voyage in ballast to masted vesa,j. is supposed she is tbe same dis _.which was seen in the Firth the day the Larne of Leith was wrecked, and which was has duei e r t supposed the down with all hands. The to h oe e a xposed to th e e last fortnight been tossing fury of the gales, in a dis been endured b y h ali.l'bblaloeutditi'dstate, and greet ilard ships have in conse quenceer crew. - 's Tea is choice and Horniman . d strong, moderate in price, and wholesoamegetnozprlothereese advantages have secured for this Tea 4 ce. It is sold in learn, from Public opinoose g packets by 2,2 80 Ag ents. In the unavoidabl e absence of the colo ssal. berry, it is gratifying to Lon, that green peas were gathered from au open garden a t Vent nor , in the Isle of Wight, last week. ti on , all nervous, m nous, [ADVERTISEMENT.]—OOIIBIII7II?a every only ag. liver, and stomach complaints, 1 stage, are descriptioo ,r,i,‘ A . r • -te t and accelerated by drugs of every - . but ~ r, e rfee,ly curable by Du Barry's health restoring Revalcut a Arabica Food, as proved by thousauds of cases which had __ ure No. 62,914. been considered hopeless. We quote a few. 1-; Miss Lange, 13 years 01 age, cured after the medical men had abandoned all hope, of her recovery front the last stage of . pulmonary consumption, with f ,•aritil cough, . _ j..ow checks expectoration exhaustion, spitting of blood, perspiration:, 1 II emaciated to a skeleton. She is now, thank God, a . perfectly iftsaire de healthy, blooming, fleshy gift—N. Lange, Cen" -- „_,,,,„ Police. Cure, No. 42,270. Mr. James Roberts, of r ruu . , ' , Surrey, of thirty years' diseased lungs, spitting of blood, liver derangement, and partial deafness.—Cure, No. 47,121. Au Elizabeth Jacobs, of extreme nervousness, indigestiOn, gatherings, low spirits, and nervous fancies.—Cure, l'io. 54,816. 'the Rev. James 'l'. Campbell, Fakenham, Norfolk, of indigestion and torpidity of the liver, which had resisted all medical treatment. In tins, Ilb, 2s 9d ; 21b, 40 ed ; 51b, I is; 121 b, 220; 241 b, 408. Barry du Barry and C)., No. 77. tt egent-stzeet, London; ela n F or:num and :Mason; and all g t oecrs and. , :hernilts in every town of the United Kingdom THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1861 GREAT FIRE IN THE CITY. On Friday night a fire broke out in a part of the city 4 zou T sl h y e estimated property ni o f densely crowded with warehouses , which. in a few hours t d h e e st rwohyoedlepartofpreorm z property and lo n 3 ar 0 ,00 one firm alone which has been consumed was insured at nearly £40,000, and that i s said to be har dly equal to the e o reh to Ldlissoe,o variously loss they have sustained. Others have suffered to a greater or less extent. The fire occurred in a block of buildings used exclusively for warehousing purposes, and situated be- ' tween Wood-street and Milk-street in one direction, and between Clement's•court and Feathers-alley in another. The locality abuts upon what used to be the it of the old City Compter, and some of the property which perished in the conflagration is said h have been once used as a resi dence by Judge Jeffreys. It was chiefly occupied by Messrs. Grant, umbrella and parasol manufacturers, Messrs. J. and It. Morley, as a shirt factory, Mr. A. S. Henry and Co., Mr. William Gibson, and Mr. J. F. Bunting, warehouse men. The various places were mostly divided by thin party walls, which in modern times hr.d been run up for purposes of business or convenience, and which would not be tolerated under the stringent building regulations of the present day. Thick walls of great thickness, which appear to have most w ith s t oo d t h e rage o f th e fi re en d prevente d Its spreading, are left standing, and some of them are said to have survived the Fire of London. On the ground floor Mr. Bunting had a small offic!, or warehouse, and there the f , .e originated according to the prevailing opinion. His warehouse, end the far more extensive one of Messrs. Mor ley, which was also on the ground floor, were die ick 3 by a slender partition wall, which the fire soon destroyed end then spread in other directions. The upper part of the premises over those of Messrs. Morley were occupied by Messrs. Grant, end had an entrance from Clemenes.coret• which was also common to the warehouses of Mr. Bunt ing, Messrs, Henry, and Mr. Gibson. The first se mp• toms of the fire were discovered by Peter Grant, a young man in the service of Messrs. Grant, but no relation to them. He and two women servants were left in charge of the pro mises of Messrs. Grant at night, and at about half-past 10 on the evening of Friday he came down stairs,es was his cus tom, to fasten the str-et door. On the way he felt a strong smell of fire s and on reaching the passage on the basement, finding it filled with smoke, he celled in a polio-men. A message brought Inspector Foulger forthwith from the Bow lane police-station and a fireman from the headquarters of the London Fire Brigade in Watling-atreet. Smoke was then seen oozing from crevices in the door of Mr. Bunting, and the fireman jocosely said if he had a bucket of water he would put out the fire wherever it was. The door wen broken in, and, though the place WPI of smoke, the inspector and the firemen at fi-st searched it in vain for fire. While they were so engaged the heated smoke seemed to break into flame spontaneously, and the whole place was speedily in a bleu. The fire spread first into the warehouses of Messrs. Morley, and then into the premises above. By the aid of the telegraph 13 engines, six of which were steam fi,e-engines, including that of Mr. Hodges, were brought to the spot. There was en abrndant supply of water, and they played upon the burn ng mass both from Milk-street and IV ood-street. The current of air in Clement's-court and Feathers-alley served to fan the flame, but by about 2 o'clock the engines had obtained the mastery over the fire, though it was not wholly quenched until some horrs elerwe.rds. One after another the floors and parts of the burning roof fell with a noise resembling a discharge of ardllety, end alarmed the whole neighbourhood. A great crowd col lected about the spot and a strong body of police was pre sent to keep order. For unately, no lives were loot, though the two women servants of Melsrs. Grunt had.a nsr:ow escape. In the erection of this party wall between the offic e of Mr. Bunting and the warehouse of Messrs. Morley, had the mode of construction bcen adopted which is now in sisted upon under the compulsion of an Act of Parliament, the fire in all probability would have been confined to the small room in which it oziglna.c3, considering that there was plenty of water readily available, that the lad Gram had early discovered the existence of the fire by the smoke before any misct !et had bon done, and that the premis2s which were afterwards destroyed were detached from ad jacent property by Clement's-cow. t. As it is, two out of four of Melsrs. Grant's warehouses, the shirt factory of Mehra. Morley, and the warehouses of Mr-ars. Henry, Mr. Gibson, and Mr. Bunting have been completely destroyed, with all that they contained, and several of the adjacent buildings scented or otherwise injured. The principal sufferers appear to be the Messrs. Grant and Messrs. Morley, the former of whom, directly and indirectly, gave constant employment to a large number of p- Tie, who Rill now for some time to come be thrown out of work. the morning of the 18th Eares, who was under-keeper to Mr. Fountain, saw a man in a field, not belonging to his mas ter, pick up a brace of partridges which he had just shot. On going up to him to take away the birds he asked hi his name, when he gave him a name which turned out to be a false one. He reused, however, t 3 give up his gun, upon which the prosecutor Eares tuned his back to the prisoner, who struck him instantly on the shoulder, causing him to drop his gun (a double •barrelled one), and, after striking him while on the ground severel times, the prisoner caught up the keeper's gun, put it to his shoulder, end fired it at him, with such restilts as are best told by the prosecutor's own words. Thomas Eares, after detailing the accounts of his finding tha prisoner running aster a brace of partridges which he had shot with a single-barrelled gun in his possession, and getting f',.om him the birds and a statement that he was one of George Brrton's sons, went on to tell the facts just narrated, end said that when the prisoner put his gun to his shoulder he took aim at him, being then about five yards off, fired, end hit hint in the head. (The pro secutar, who wes still suffering from the effects of the wounds, appeo-ed in Col—t W :th his head bound up in a handkerchief.) I: wes fig it enough for the prosecutor t - ) see the person distinctly, so P 9 to identity him, and leave no doubt in his mind that prisoner wee the man. After firing the gun the prisoner took it awry a ith him. So severe were the hurts that the prosecutor had gre - It difficulty in walking towards home, end as he was making his way home he was met by a man named Curtis, who ti , d up his head, put him into his call, and drove him to Mr. Fountain's head keeper. Earn admitted on cross. examination that his gun might have been cocked when it was Hocked from his heads. Two witnesses were then called,who deposed to having seen the prisoner that morning, about 7 o'clock, tunring away from the plan where the attack wrs made, to one of whom he said with a fiurricd me"ner, "Don't you say a word," end by this witness he was seen to be funning and looking back. A Mrs. Grc3nwood, who livid nearly opposite the pileoner, spoke to his having gone past her window about the time in question, coming from the direction of the pace above referred to, ereqscd in a dark slop and clerk trousers, and wearing a cap. Another witness, who had gone into a public house in the neighbourhood about a quarter to 1 in the aaelnoon of the day of the event--e Sunday the 18th of October, said he saw the prisoner there at that time. who asked him whether he had beard the" rout out" that morn ing, end on his replying " No," the prisoner said he had heard a keeperhad b-3n knocked about, and likewise a gun taken from him, and if he (the a itness) would go with him he wou'd show him where it wes, for if they went and got it they might sell it. A young MPII named Lake proved thedis covery of the gun, hid in a fence, bounding a piece of grass, and near Wes, acre-road, which is clew° the field where the partridges were Pled ; while the suuerintendent of po lice, Mr. Larnbey, who took the prisoner to the prosecutor's house, by whom he was identifiet hiving just previously taken enother mat named Burton, under the supposition that he was the criminal, but who wrs not identified by Bares, wes enlled to speak to a statement of the pr'sone . .'s, in which he arid that he went to bed between 11 rnd 12 on Saturday night, and did not get up till between seven and 8 the next morning, when he went with his father end brother up the Lynn-road. The sr-geon's eNidenc3 was to the effect that there NV/9 a wound on Eare's head about three inches long end two aide, the sc - lp being tors off the bone, which wrs leid byre; that the bone wrs f . ..eetur- 1, end marked by the passage of two or three she's, and that there were wounds on the left shoulder es well. But of ail the evidence "io most remarkable was that of a men named Crisp, who profess:: 1 to have been actuate(' simply by the wish to have justice done, and who, there ore, had told his stay to the polic-men since the h--...!ng by the magistrates. He said, "I am a drover, end live about the r )rne.y. On the 18th October I saw the p:' - toner, who came tome about a quarter pest nine, and put his arm round my neck, saying I have got in`o a mess." What sort of a eno , .s,' slid I. I have bc,n shooting some birds,' said he. Have got them I said. 'No, I gave them to the keeper, who asked me for my gun, which I relsed to part with, when I hit hi m with it end broke it into pi ces, and then took the keeper's gun end shot him with it.' He then went on to say, I have hid the gun, but I have it, and I thirk it will fetch us two pounds.' Oh, lad, lad said I, you won't have the opportunity; you'll be took before the day is out; I won't have anything 'o do with it for 20 sovereigns.'" It is needless to say that shin 'tncls was severely handled in cross-examination by Mr. Bulwor, end that 'hat cross-ex amination did not tend to raise him in the estimation of the audience, Mr. Duliver, i 1 h's address 'a the jnly, pressed two poin , s upon their attention—the first, which was not so im portant as the other, 'beng whetb Er the prisoner was the man who committed the assault; the second being that, it this were: ), was the can fi-ed with the intention of *:10.3g life ? The first point, he said, was a question of identity. resting on the testimony of Bares, the prosecutor, and as to *Hs the lenned counsel urged that under the circum sta aces of the trinsacion end at the time spcc'fi:d it might be fa4.rly presumed that he would not take a vel d t accurate notice cf the person attacking him. He reminded the jury that there was a variance in the d , s-,etiptioa given by the witnesses of the prisoner's dress, and that though the pro- secutor said the prisoner had gone away with the guns, none of the w itucsses saw him with one. As to the intention, eeid Mr. Bulwer, all the facts show that the inference is that the shot wes entirely at eiden'el, a view borne out by the piosccutor's evidence. He bagg• I the jr y not to p..y the slightest attention t i such a fellow as the men Crisp, whose evidence was an afterthought, end given, not to the mag:sirates, but privately to a policeman, end reminded them of the terrible consequence to the prisoner of a verdict of guiltyofwmoeun_dZgowf the murder.ithiettweontrtoountson on His Lordship began his summi ng up w i t h exp l a i n i ng t o which the pri stheejr wasury the indict d, red then, aster rereerking that though the piisoner'e counsel had properly enough said that Earee's evidence, under the circums'ences, wee not such as to be entirely relied on, yet it was evidence that they, the juty, wee to judge of, reminding them that he had said he was in such en attrtude that he could not see who the man was. Hie lordship then went through the whole of the evidence in det til, treating with bcora the testimony of Crisp, whose conduct ho drsc ibed es to intffebly bare that it would be better to by this case without it ff. possible; and that as it was not given bef ( o a re ra t o h d e e j o u r et p ic r z e r: d d in t g ah o e b n v e . z i a ly in ve tte 3 p b r ie i: fsc?rnoelth4BeiPwrcisseenpcieisoners carnet know who they are going to incet, end what they may have t'• oppose), but privately to a policemen, it had baler be excluded. His lordship then noticede on or two slight variances of time rad dress, reading end commenting on that part of the evidence, drew particu lar attention to the acceent given by the piisoner to the super . ntendent of police of how he had spent his time the night before the and with reference to the wounding said ....A s to this, there cannot be arty doubt that a wound was inflicted : i t r h a e wquan3lui on s t l hn ,; e so i:3 n , w B i u t n h , w w h h a i e t h i n h t e er ; t no w w a s s t i o t b d e on lo e aded N , e o n w d , deliberately aims end fires it, there is no doubt about the intention; but if he picks up another man's girl, not knowing whether it le leaded or not . , end pulls the trigger, it is for the ju , y to say how for they think these was an intention to kill. To convict on the first count„ you must be sati.fiA that t'ae WP3 fired with the intent to murder—if not, you must then consider whether it was done v. ith the intent to do g cievav s be lily harm--but if you think the prisoner was the man, but that ho did not intend to murler or to do grievous bodily harm, then you must convict him of unlaw_ally wounding. Aft:er a few minus'' eeliberation the ju-y found the pri soner guilty of wounding with intent . t t do grievous bony herrn. His lordship, in noticing the base and cowardly nature of this att - Lek, made uron a Iran who, so i'rom piovokireg any violence, was going away from the prisoner, and that for the mere offence of reaching where there wits no vio lence the punishment wits rsually slight, but that it was high time to put a stop to such Bets of violence as this by awarding he .vy punishment. If the jury had found the prisoner guilty of wounding with intent to murder, the punishment would have b - en penal servi,ude for life ; as it wax, the sentene 3 would be 15 yeers' pencil iervitude. NORTHERN CIRCUIT—LivEnOOOL, Deo. 19. CIVIL COURT. (Before Mr. Juetica Williams and Special Juries.) THOMAS V. Pin. This errs rn action t ) re :over damages for false imprison ment of the plaintiff by g:vie; him in:3 custody upon a charge of felony, end (ilea for bre..king open his bases and conveying his gocds. The plus were a juKificat:on on the ground that a felony had 1): - committ -1, and that defeu dant had reasonable g.ound to suspect the plaintiff of the felony, rid that the pods were concealed in his Loxes. There wig also a denauteer to the pk 's. Mr. Brett, Q.C., and Mr. R. G. Williams were for the plaintiff ; and the Attorney-General, Mr. James, Q.C., and Mr. Potter were for the plaintiff. The plaintiff ~ e s waster of the balk Premier, and defen dant is ebip's hribend of the same v- esel, rnd uncle to the ()weer. The vusel had just a•:.ivcd at Plymouth from Ha vennah, when defendant came on board and handed plaintiff a letter irom the owner discharging him from his post, al leging as reeeon that he had received money from the con signees without autholl;,y. Defendant then t !ok possession of the cabin and °vet., thing h it, ordering plaintiff to leave the ship inst7ntly, end not allowing him to take away his clothes or any other property belonging him. The following day plaintiff went on bored end obtained his clothes rid other property, but his wilting disk end a tin box were de tained on the allega'.:on that they contain" 1 uropeity be longing to the ship. IA the desk were plaintiff's certificate from the Board of Trade of eimpetcncy for a foreign going chip, some L2O in money, and other property. The nest mot .iing defendant went to the het 1 where plaintiff was staying, taking a policemen Ni ith him. Ile told plaintiff that the cabin had b:eu broken open dutlng the ni g ht, and the desk and box containing the ship's pa pers stolen, and that he sun): etc:d pieintiff of having done it. He then in. sieted on searching h's boxee for the miss in g articies. The police officer refiteed to search v• pla'nliff were given in charge,whereupon defendant charged him with the felony. Nothing was found upon the search, and plaintiff was then taken to the police-office, where the charge errs abandonf 1 The case for the defendant wee that the cabin window had been broken open in the night and the things taken; and, as plaintiff was most interested in the possession of them, there was reasonable ground for suspecting him. With respect to tb.o loss of the certificate, it was urged that he was not thereby deprived of his living, as, under the Mer chant Shipping Act, it might if lost be renewed upon ap plication to the Board of Trade. His Lordship commented upon the extraordinary cir cumstances of the case and the difficulty there was in sup posing a felony had actually been committed, and left it to the jury to decide in the first place whether defendant had made out that fact w:th reasonable certainty. The jury found there had been no felony committed. His Lordship then addressed them on the subject of da mages, directing them to assess the damages under the different heads separately, with a view to the ulterisr pro ceedings. The jury fixed the damages at £lOO for the false impri sonment, £25 far the money and other goods, and £5 for the loss of the certificate ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE, [NORFOLK CIRCUIT—NoItroLx, Dee. 18, (Before Mr. Baron Martin.) His lordship arrived here yesterday afternoon from Cam bridge, and eter attending Divine service at the Callardrel, opened the commission for the county of Nor:olk and for the city of Norwich. The calendar for the county, which apparently unneu ally heavy for the time of year, contains the names of 22 pti 'miffs, who are charged as follows : One with shooting with intent to kill one aXi ma!iciors shooting, one with slabLinga ix with bu-glary, one with rap; one with bigamy, there with arson, four with robbing faun the. person with violene3, two with concealment of birth, one with re riving stolen goods, and one with en nencural offence. The city calendar contains the names of two prisoners, charged with forge:y and robbery. The leataed Judge, in He charge to the grand jury for the county, in remarking upon the numerous tea's of erson he had had to try upon what may now be called this Circuit, du , ing the prat fortaight, eeid,—l had occesion at Cambridge to regret that I had acted upon a scale of punishment with respect to the crime of arson ; had I known the extent to which this crime exists in these counties I moat certainly shou'd have inflicted much more severe een tenets. The class (leas( s I have met with is this :—Persons who suppose they have some ground of complaint against the relieving officer, or because their wages aro not so high as what they think they Filmed be, or bocause they have received some offence of a trifling kind, proceed to set fire to stacks of grain without in the least considering who the owner is, whether he has given them any offences, or whether any one at all has injured them. It certainly seems to me that if that offence continues these must be severe examples made. In many counties in Englend, especially in the eastern counties, the quantity of grain which is stacked in the fields is enormor a, and if persons are allow: :' to set this grain on fi-e, real) , without c ouse, but apparently from a feeling of general ha're i to a'l man kind, it is en offence which milt Le put down with seven) punishment. Aceerdmg to my experience, severe preish went do put down crime. Tnc Judges r - e in the ht bit of sentencing persons to very severe punishments, but it offences of this kind are persevered in, E mere punishments must be resorted to, end, as I have se.id, in my experience they ere effectual for that put d: George Bone, aged 22, ch scribed in the calendar as a groom, w. - e charg 3 with stealin4 from the parson of John Fox a silver watch and key and Bs., at Stenfied, on the 26th of October, 186 1 , with violence, and from the statement of Mr. Drake, who was the counsel engaged for the prose cution, as well as ;rom the es idence of one of the wit nesses named Parke, who was present at the transac tion and s.w ell that went on, it appeared that on the day in question Fox, the prosecutor, a respectable look ing sort of tradesmen, had b 7 on at a neighbouring eillage call: - 1 Brisley, staying in a publichouse in' that place crom 2 p.m. till 10 p.m., and while there the evitnrs Parke (who was a cripple, suppor'ed on a el atela) and the prisoner came in, and after some little time spent in drinking and talking they all three left together and took the road to Fox's home, calling at two or three publichouses ca the way. On arriving at a spot where fovr cross-roads meet, it being then about 11 at night, the moon shining brightly at the time, the prisoner, without any pi wocation or warning, suddenly shack the prosecutor so violent a blow a :th his fiat as to knock him down, end then proceed:A to heat end kick him, the prosecutor I aging for mercy. Parke, who stood a little distance off, end whether iron unwillingness or from inability or fear, owing to his weakness and lame ness, not attempting to help, heard the prisoner say, " Give me some money end I will let you go," upon which the prosecutor gave him whet money he had, when the prisoner allowed him to rise, end went away. The hasten man shortly efeerwerds felt for his watch, and then discovered that besides his money he was minus his silver watch, which he had pulled out at the inn in the prisoner's pre senc3, and which though like other watches, "made to go," was not meant by him to be parted with at that time end place, nor was anything more se In of it Oil some few days afterwards, when the prisoner brought it to a pubrcen in the neighbourhood and offered it for sale. In the mern while Mr. Fox, the prosecutor, having told his story to a policeman, a search was made at the Swan lon, in Bris ley, where prisoner and Parke occupied beds in the same room, and on one of the beds, which had been very recently slept in, w:s found a watch well, identified by Fox, as one that was attached to the watch on the day of the attack, and shortly afterwards the watch and the prisoner were found. The prisoner, who was undefend'd by counsel, en deavour- Ito show, first, that the attack was provoked by Fox challenging him to fight, can: - quence of whieh, seeing that Fox was the bigger man, he thought it wiser to kacck him down at once end then to kick him, probably to prevent his getting up again ; secondly, that if the watch were stolen somebody else did it, for ho had nothing to do with that part of the matter ; thirdly, that Mr. Fox was so chunk and knew so little what ern found hi: . guilty, l It_e o w t as about that he gave him the money ; and, 2 ;our.hly; 14 :so reliance could be placed on anything Parke safd. The ;, however, crme to a very different conclu4ion. and h avi shooting at Ta a l 111° J n a t e , h8 ; s i s ta a P v t a ison ment hard labour. aged 18, a laboueer, was charged with southure, ou eassEares, gamekeeper to Mr. Fountain at him. 1 th of Octeber, wile intent to murder Mr. Metcalfe and eared for the prosecu tion ; Mr. Bulwer defended The ease excited no little inteerrisoner. evidence of the wounded man it w a ib in court, and from the and brutal an assault Nv?s coinanast7d as n that as cowardly imagined, The outline ef the story, as; la can we" be 0 by the le-irn' counsel for the prosecution was, that Elbulat 7 o'clock on appeared was 39ate;i.et'd to is HOOD V. HORSFALL AND OTHERS. This was an action under Lord Campbell's act, brought by the plaintiff as administratrix to recover dataages for herself and children for the death of her husband, result ing as it was alleged from the negligence of the defendants. Mr. Aspinal, Q,C., and Mr. C. Russell were for the plaintiff; and Mr. Brett, Q.C., sad Mr. Baylis for the de fendants, The defendants are extensive iromongers at Liverpool, carrying on business under the name of the Mersey Steel and Iron Company. The dec2ased was in the service of the defendants as a hammeremith, and had been so for 30 years. It appearci that the defendants had recently built a new shed containing a number of boilers, and an extensive eet of steam hammers. The decsasel was at work at one of these hammers. All the boilers, except the one at which he was working. were carried up through the roof; but that one, end part of the chimney connect- I with it, was within the building. Arornd that chimney there vr a a large hole in the roof, which had been left in order to prevent the con tact of the heated chimney with the building ; there was also a man-hope in the roof close by. One flay, while de ceased was engaged at work, he was attack by a heavy block and pulley, rad severely injured in the head. Where the block r-td pulley came :rem could not be ascertained, but it was supposcl to have come through one of the holes in the roof, where it was provcl the shed was in an unfinished state, end workmen might have been about at the time. It was also proved that the ordine - .y vibration of the roof we . s great, the sulgeltion being that the f of articka from the roof might have b- en caused by that. His Lordship observed that the law relating to such cases wee still unsettled, and tinder all the circumstances of this case it was very desirable that some arrangement should be come to, wi►hout bincung the defendants by any eltrission of liability. Ultimat3ly it was agreed that a nonsuit shoulti be entered; and that defendants should pay to the plaintiff such a tum as Ifs lordship, under all the oireumstarces, shor 4 `iink rersonable. THE CRIMINAL NOVEL, The principle that holds good political economy holds equ:ly good in lit 3raturc—that the demand creates the sup ply. The author, therefore—or more frequently the authoress—of the criminal nuvel is perhaps not prqwerable for more then half the evil that springs from the perform- ance. He knows what his r:adeu require, and supplies them ss ith the article, which may be said, in a comprehen sive sense, to be made to order. Almost eve:) , one professes to condemn the criminal novel as unfit for general perusal, though for his or her own private reading it is supposed to be innoxious. "It does me no harm," thinks the mature matron, "though it is certainly unfit to be placed in the hands of young rersons." But what the mamma reads the daugh*.4r also will read, so that the romantic poison, if poison it be, finds its way all through the household, as well _ . as into the mistress's boudoir ; for Miss t3llB her maid, who tells the cook—rid all pant over the forbidden page by The novelist would find no market, who should present the supporters of circulating libraries with a fiction in three volumes not seasoned with the proper ingredients. What is wcntcd is excitement, no matter how produced. Life is becoming tame; the current of English society—on the striace, at least—runs smoothly, and if it were not for the activity of burglars and pickpockets, our sympathies would actually stagnate. Occasionally a murderer comes to our relief, and the whole British public thrills with a pleasing horror. While the criminal is undetected, every- Lody appears on the look-out. If we enter a tavern or a r lffee-house, if we are boxed up in an omnibus or in a rail way ca-riage, we may elbow him there, with his garrotting cord or his clasped knife in his pocket: At the breakfast table, nothing else is talked of. If justice takes its due course, end avenges the shedding of innocent blo td, a momentary she ^k is felt by the whole nation, aster which the sensation dies gradually away, leaving the popular mind, in a state of eager craa:ng for another. To fill up the interval, the ctim'nal novelist offers his services , which are generally quite in harmony with the inci dents of our social experience. Nothing in fiction "takes" like a wel-plentrd murder; the reader being 'et into the sccrct, bccomes a sort of acclmplice before the fact —sees the victim lcd towards the wood, the ruin, or the pool; hears the st-b, the lush of blood, or the plunge of the colds() t7n . ..0 the water. If the de: i be prpetrat:i for money it still creates a powerarl tw:tt3l.ng of the Loves; but if for revenge, or through the jealousy of love, the reader al most Lcomes one with the heroic rssassin, and dreads his detection, rs if he or she were to suffer with him. By reflec tive and artistic shill, the suspense is protractel through volume a: , r volume, ;th hair-bre:A. o i escap altcrnat ing wi h moments of irr,quillity and' remorse, or with generous t aciifircs. or acts of dating designed to awaken admiration in female bosoms; until at length, fa the corn plie . 44 0 n of incidents, the chuos cf tentiments and motives, the suec- , e.ion of enjoyments end sufferings, or the pressure upon the essa,:sin of wrongs unconnected with his guilt, which, on the mind of Vie reader, operate like expiations, it become matter of doubt whether we ought to desire escape or punishment. Our feelings are, however, most commonly interested in the fate of some gentle sinner, who early in life makes a mistake which colours her destiny, and qualifies her to be come the heroine of a criminal navel. This mistake is gene tally a marriage, contracted through rashness, through passion, through vanity, through pique, through craving for opulence, with an individual whom she does not love. In real life no one, while sowing this fatal sececcan by any exert:on of sagacity foresee what fruit ic will bear. We need not apply any epithet to the womrn who takes the step. She feels her propel appellation stamped upon her heart in characters of fire, rid shudders and sickens as often in secret Ehe reads over the agonising inscription. Some who have rdvanced thus far in the path of iniquity stop shoat thue, and expiate, by a life of wretchedness, the eror of their youth. With these the novelist has nothing tl do. To figure in fiction, a woman must efface her first uffence by a Eicand,—by elopement, by adrltary, by bigamy, or at times even by assassination. Of course the novelist does nut defend these acts of his heroine; does not say in so many welds that what she does is right ; ho only clothes her with all sorts of vir tues and graces, except one ; gives her taste, fancy, kindness to equals, compassion for inferiors, and, above all. beauty, accomparied by every conceivable fascination. Sometimes, indeci, by way of variety, like Aurora Floyd, she tak 1 to ►he horsewhip, or, with her own fair hands, like Lady Audley, pushes en intrusive ht ;band down a well, or like Ellen Middleton as innocent young girl int') a liver; but then it is only in cell-defence, end to cut the Gordian 1 - sot of difficulties, which seem otherwise insur mountable. As for the readers, it may be said that they will tolerate anything provided it be suilciently disguised, or even if the novelist pretend that it is disguised. We all know that there is no sophistry like that of the heart, which nearly always . _ possesses the rower to excuse what it lows. Accordingly, the most grave and virtuous ladirs are generally able to de fend their passions for pi urient descriptions, which they maintain are not only harmless, but instructive, because they afford a pictr , 's of life, such as it is. They might be told, if it were worth while, Prat in this great scheme of things, called life, there are many nooks and recesses into which the eye of a chaste woman should not pry. It is cot Lain, however, that the nearer approach made by novelists to such nooks and la ' , ...saes, the greater is the delight of their rer 7evs, who hang fascinated over those gulfs of sin which they ere emulated thus to enter, at least in imagination. If qurstionc 1 on this point, they will take refuge in affected bluntnes: of perception, they do not, they say, understand what em:ein prasages me :n, nor en they quite discern the th:ft of insinuations which, nevertheless, heighten the interest thcf,take in the story. It most confessed that there are men, as well as women, tea readily interested by the - e fenole novelists who tread habitually on the verge of forbidden wornd, and undertake to unveil the mysteries of the feminine nato.e. The administration of the novel reading public is no longer excited by apt repr: - .:entations of character, end by a series of drrmatic incidents and situations. What is now sought is a disclosure of the sablle notions rid fluctuations of the female heart. These r-e, it way be adnaiLted, an important subject of study. But in the case before us, it is not the general system of sentiments, emotions, passions, that are anatomise I end depicted, but only such as are closely allied w:th vice end crime. A woman with a pure heart and unsoiled name creates no interest whatever in the reader, unless through some probable combination of events she is threatened with the loss of what makes her estimable. No reader feels much solicituJe about tracing the arduous procc3s by which the soul sometimes works off its stains and pollutions, and emerges from darkness into light. If such an aim were kept in view by the writers of fiction, they would be accused of converting a novel into a rotor mato' y. Wns.t the readers prefer to Boat over is the much sadder proe as by which innocence is undermined; by which ail the fine qualiL:es of mind and heart are blig,ht;:d; by which features once soft end lovely are render::: hard ; by which the eye that once drooped with modesty is in vested a ith a confident s'are in one word, by which beauty itself is made lo ;thsome through its association with v a in No doubt, the treatment of such a theme way with the loiliest purpose which can regulate t d i l e velopmen t b 3 re e e re n ations of literature. Tragedy in its mast sublimneit hag waded is based on crime. But the mind, when v:tiOedeterioration, of through its horrors, is conscious no inroad of effeminacy, of no lination to swerve from the right path to the wrong. 'nit on the contrary, nerved cud strengthened t c virtue. No ingenioUs reader can pretend that any effect akin to this is produced by the perusal of a criminal or sensation novel. An:old historian, describing the career of a nation now extinct, observes quaintly that it was invigorated by cold, and enervated by warm baths. He meant to utter an im portant truth, which his language, however, scarcely em bodies ; he meant to say that, in the vigorous period of a nation's progress, it loves what strengthens it, and that afterwards, when it has become effeminate, it delights in what augments its effeminacy. It is the same with litera ture; books do not create the virtue or the vice by which society is braced or relaxed at different periods of its pro gress; they are merely an indication of the principles by which internally the mass of the population are actuated in different stages of civilisation. The criminal novelist pro vides the mental fare which the taste of his times can alone digest. He does not create the appetite for the highly flavoured viands to which his art gives birth, he only ac commodates his cookery to the palates of his guests. In doiig this, he knows it is needless to attempt the c;rcum scription of his sallies within the limits of probability or even of possibility. No matter what nature determines, provided the criminal novelist decides otherwise. He has taken accurately the dimensions of hie readers, who, as ex peritnce has taught him, seek for nothing beyond the stir ring of their blood, by incessantly awakening their curiosity, by suggesting certain associations, by inflaming the fancy, by stimulating prohibited desires, by steeping the imagina tion in the temporary Lethe of voluptuousness. MR• JUSTICE MEE. (From the Saturday Review.) Appointments to the Bench of late years have been so uniformly good that the selection of the right man to fill a vacant judgeship is not often sup posed to call for any special commendation. We take it for granted that the great prizes of the Bar will be given to those who have fairly won them by their character and success as advocates, and it is very rarely that the expectation is disap pointed. The appointment passes as a matter of course, as something almost inevitable, and no one imagines that there is any occasion to congratulate the Government on the conscientious performance of a duty which it would be disgraceful to neglect. But the selection of Sergeant Shee to fill the post left vacant by the sudden death of Justice Wight man is something more than the choice of the advo cate who, by common consent, had the first claim to the promotion. A judicial appointment which has won the cordial appoval of the profession stands in need of no apology or commendation ; but the first occasion on which a Roman Catholic lawyer has been ad mitted, in England, to the position which the Ca tholic Emancipation Act opened to the members of his Church is too important as a precedent, and too significant as a triumph of the principle of tolera tion, to be passed over in silence. If experience had not taught us how much bigotry can remain in the hearts of those who are readiest with the cant of civil and religious liberty, it might well have seemed impossible that the special form of Chris. tianity held by an honourable and distinguished advocate should be supposed to detract from his fitness for the judicial Bench. Argument in support of such an objection there could be none, for even Exeter Halt would not venture to insinuate against Mr. Justice Shea the kind of suggestion which it thought becoming in the case of the unfortunate Mr. Turnbull. But argument is not necessary to sustain bigotry, and there are no donut some who would have rejoiced the more at the continued exclusion of Mr. Sergeant Shee from the Bench because it would have been impossible to attribute it to any other motive than religious prejudice. It is only by slow degrees and painful effort that a nation ever really acquires the spirit of toleration ; but a step once gained in England is gained for ever, and Lord Westbury's disregard of the fanatical objec tions to the appointment of a Roman Catholic judge will give fresh force to a lesson which, with all our boasting, Englishmen are slow to learn. It is no doubt a natural instinct of the human mind to deprive those who differ from us in religion of pecuniary emolument and professional distinc tion, and, as a means of enforcing uniformity of sentiment, the method, if only carried out far enough, is extremely efficacious. If those who ob jected (and it appears there were some such) to the recent appointment had professed to be moved by a sincere desire to convert the learned sergeant to ti.e Church of England —or, failing that, to make his position as a member of his own Church as 11111C0121- fertable as possible—there would have been a logt cal, it no other, argument in favour of their prin ciple of persecution. But the awkward position of our English bigots is that they profess not to be lieve in persecution, and, at any rate, do not venture on the bold pretensions which (granting their own assumption of infallibility) were really unanswer able when put forth by the persecutors of the middle ages. The modern fry of petty persecutors da re not take the only ground on which th eir p ract i ce can be justified. They would exclude an adherent of a different faith from the Bench, not with any hope of correcting or even punishing his theological errors, but on the pretence, which they do not them selves believe, that'a Rom:Ai:Catholic judge cannot be trusted to do justice in a Protestant country. Such a theory is not only peculiarly inapplicable in the case to which it has been sought to apply it, but it is contradicted by all experience, and openly flouted by our own practice in Ireland and else where. It is quite clear that, whatever mischief a judge who reverences the Pope may be supposed capable of doing in England, where the Roman Catholics are few in number, and as a rule, high in station and loyal and tem perate in the political feelings, would be infi nitely aggravated in a country where the influence of theßowan Catholic priesthood is exercised chiefly over the lower clesses, and hr.s certainly, in times within our memory, been associated with move ments not conspicuous either for loyalty or legality. And yet in Ireland, where Ribbon Societies have to be put down, and the VACS of justice to be held equally between Orange and Papal ruffians, it is the practice to rely upon the uprightness and pro fessional honour of a itoman Catholic Bench, and it is not pretended that the trust is ever betrayed. The hottest zealot of Exeter Hall would scarcely have fancied that he saw in the career of Sergeant Shee any trace of fanatical blindness to the demands of justice in a case where the interests of a co-reli gionist might be concerned ; but the objection, if it nad taken a formal shape, would no doubt have been that it was bad to make a precedent which, though safe foe once, might be fraught with infinite danger on future occasions. The assumption of the influence of religious bias over the minds of laymen is made much more freely than experience warrants, and if there is any class of men to whom it is more than usually absurd to attribute a weakness of this kind, it is the class of successful lawyers from among whom the Bench is recruited. The whole training and habits of thought of a practising barrister are one course of correction for tendencies of this de scription. A lawyer is as much open to intellectual bias as any man in the world, but he scarcely knows how to import into his forensic or judicial duties the p .rticular feelings and opinions which he may en tertain on politics or religion. The old lawyer who, when asked whether he was a Whig or a Tory, replied that he was a special pleader, is often referred to in a sense by no means complimentary to the sincerity of the profession ; but there is another sense in which it is perfectly true that a judge, how ever warm may be his political feelings or his religious faith, is of no politics and no reli gion when he sits upon the Bench. Very few men have ever acquired a position at the Bar which entitled them to aspire to judicial office without having learned to lay aside their own per sonal feelings entirely when once they were engaged in forensic business, and only the narrowest of all bigotry would say that this gift of impartiality is enjoyed exclusively by the members of the Estab lished Church. The truth is that the murmurs—if murmurs there were—at one of the best appoint ments that could have been made, were but the echo of the old intolerance which lurks in some coiner of the hearts of most of us. There will be a long battle yet before this or any other country will be fairly quit of the devil of persecution, and no blow struck in the cause of toleration ought to pass with out recognition. In this cenee the appointment of Mr. Justice Shee deserves an acknowledgment be yond what is ordinarily accorded to the selection of the fittest man for a post of high honour and re sponsibility. (Front he Spectator.) Lord Palmerston has filled up t h e vacancy o n the Bench caused by the decease of Mr. Justice Wight t man by the appointment of Sergea nt She - , au ac of justice the more acceptable because it ca.rries the loyn, g period has . been principle of religious toleration for °IWO into sub btantial practice. The law throw all pFsts, except the woolsack, open to Catholics thirty-syx years a3o, but no Catholic in alt that but would . not allow the raised to the English bench. lho secret feeling i n the middle class tits been that of Cromwell, who and Majesty' s imme diate tolerated all opinions, mass," and statesmen who . know that Judges of ever - conceivable creed have still done honest justice have no better man bent to the ignorant clamour. It is time that a rule which proscribes one-fit(h of her system. Mr. Sergeant Shoe with whom csanataie cillsa have eere selected sw ep t n s d t i ,, a n teLord Palmer. to commence a fairer is a thorough lawyer, and andwill, we believe, by his is not an Ult ramon t an e do much to remove 3 7 conduct on the bench, do popular prejudice. -____ (From (/w Lo;;doit Review.) The recent appointment to the vacant judgeship has received the warm approval of the Blr. By his geniu and chlracter Mr. Justice Sheo has 10:1; tnoVrTed the priz?. To have refused it him any longer would have been to say that no Roman Catholic lawyer, however eloquent, however dis tinguished, however fitted for the office, was to bet made a judge. That is an announcement which not English Government would make, and which the English nation is not prepared to receive. In these days questions of theological import are rarely, ever, mooted before a common law judge ; and when the interests of the Church of England are not directly or indirectly involved, no Englishman wishes to see unnecessary barriers interposed b tween merit and success. The only tangible dif ference between a Catholic and Protestant Ju d g e, as far as the public are concerned, is that it might possibly be deemed inconvenient for a Catholic to attend the English cathedral service while on cir cuit. The difficulty will probably be found one rather of theory than practice. A year ago Mr. Shee was appointed to travel one of the circuits in the south of England as a deputy. It was , found that he did not object on religious grounds to eV° the commission and attend Divine service in the usual way. Judges, who are Dissenters, or even Unitarians, do so without reproach; and what they may do, a Roman Catholic may do also. Were it even otherwise, two judges invariably travel the spring and summer assizes in company, and an arrangement would easily have secured the presence of one upon occasions where the presence of a judge was made important by sound and ancient custom. It is a tribute to the discretion of tb° Government to be able to say that, while the con ecientious feelings of the new judge on religious subjects need no vindication, no contretemps is eVeir likely to occur under the regime of Mr. Justice Shee' In his elevation to the Bench the Bar loses its greatest orator; and perhaps its only orator pro* perly so called. Those who have heard Mr Shee to his finest speeches have heard something that is not easily reproduced. There are other and younger, speakers at the Bar, whose genius a eloquence are of the highest order. The, age, the presence, the dignity, and the fi re, of Mr. Justice Shee placed him at the hea d , all. It is said usually that he was not a successful Parliamentary debater. His style perhaps is te e purely oratorical for the House of Commons in the present day. But at the Bar, in the conduct of case of great public interest, when he had enjoyed full time to prepare his line of argument and to rise to the level of the subject, Sergeant Shee could hold Westminster Hall breathless with suspense and interest for hours. Mr. Gladstone is a fluent and accomplished rhetorician, qualified by his cultiva tion and his nature to ravish the ears of a business like assembly of educated gentlemen. It will be long before he ever shakes and thrills an audienc e , as Mr. Shee has often before now shaken cro wdec,' courts. Since the appointment of the present Lord Chief Justice of the Queen's Bench the bar had not another speaker of the sort ; and Mr. Shee's year s and presence have of late given him an advantage which even Lord Chief Justice Cockburn did not possess while at the bar. The new judge's chief difficulty will be to subside into a president, in the court where he has been so long an orator. Great advocates, it is said, make bad judges. It is to be hoped that Mr. Justice Shee will be an excepticni to the rule, which he will no doubt have rasa temptations to trar gress. For some years Mr. Sergeant Shee has led thell in virtue of his rank of Queen's sergeant and his paten s of precedence. Of late, his appointment to th Bench has been almost demanded on the part of t he profession. It has been a growing habit with eh° l3 ; ce , lors to make their appointments to judgesh i, l l . i ; serve Parliamentary purposes. Men have begun" talk as if a seat in Parliament and success as a u s. hater in the Commons were necessary stepPin,F stones to the Bench. The idea is distasteful to tc' s , bulk of the profession, which sees sonic of its ab le " and most 'learned leaders excluded by circumstan ces at this moment from the House. They naturally feel that genius and profound learning are nA re i important qualifications for a judge than politic activity and interest. Why are X and 1 all° and A ane B not judges? They are masters of th e English law, and their character is qual to their experience and talent. Barristers will naturally continue to think it a poor answer to say that these lawyers have not had the luck to be elected some' where to serve on the other side of Westminst er Hall. The honours of the bar, in their opinion, should be for the bar alone. At the bottom, accords iogly, of the enthusiasm with which Mr. Shees elevation has been welcomed, there is a strong sen timent of the kind. It is said indeed, that the bar intend to signalise the event by a dinrer given to the new judge himself. We cannot wonder at it. We can well understand that no vacant judgeship could be more popularly bestowed than on a lawyer who is both esteemed for his personal dualities, and who, in a certain sense, is the father of the profes sion— the Grand Batonnier of the order of Esg ish advocates. COUNTRY MARTIETS, •f NORIVICII—SITURDAY. There was a good supply of wheat to-day, but th e general decline in the price of wheat caused a dull mak e " Millers were not free buyers, and tales made were effected at a reduction of is per qr on late prices. A lair show of barley, and late prices were about maintained for malting sorts; inferior, dull. Flour 6d cheaper. White wheat. 44s to 46.1 Red wheat 43s to 420 Malting barley ...36s to 37s 1 Chevalier barley 34s to 358 Distilling d 0..... 30s to 32s I Oats.. Flour, 28s Od to —s ed per sack from the miller. NOTTINGIIAM—SATURDAY. A tolerably good; show of wheat to-day, mostly in f air condition. The demand was firm, and late prices madefot : the best sorts I , inferior, is per qr lower than last wec;" —White wheat, from 40s to 45s ; red wheat, Barley—malting, 30s to 40s ; grinding, 27s to 30 s . old, at 24s to 31s Od; new, 20s to 256. Beans sol d st to 43s per qr, ; new, 35s to 375. .39s to R 4 J 9. GRANTHAM—SATunDAY. .01d white wheat, 44s to 4Ss ; red, 39s to 42s . per 36 1 e t v . ; new white, 40s to 455; red, 32s to 428. Malting ,_ 33s to 36s per qr ; grinding, 23s to 30s; oats, 0 1 d , gGe 28s; new, 20s to24s ; beans, 38s to 40s ; peas, 34 /3 to NORTHAMPTON—SATURDAY. e hilt There was a fair average show of wheat to -do Jl o cd the attendance was only moderate, and buyers pto vices.sparingly, at a slight reduction upon !ast week 's P —White wheat, 40s to 45s ; red, 37s to 40s ' • to —s per qr. Barley, 35 s to 37s—grindin 28s to Pets; Oats, 288 to 32s per 24 stone. Beaus, 38s to 42. . 34s to 40s per qr. YORK--SATURDAY. beat We were supplied with a moderate quantity of vc_d from the farmers. Prices generally maintained fa r;u" dry lots, with an improved demand. i s s to .. "01 Wheat, red 3Bs to 41s uats.... ........ 7,, to 40- NV hite do 42s to 46s Beans ......... • ....... to ... ..,. Barley .28s to 32s leas •' fl o ur, 303 Malt, 588 to 60s per qr.; rye, 328 per qr.; to 32s per sack. LEI CE STIIR—SATURDAY. 36 New white wheat, 40s to 456; red, j3Bs to 41s F i ef stone. Old red, 39s to 41s per 36 stone. - BarleY, new, 336 to 38s goats r., grinding, 29 to 32g ; t ? 25s to 30s ; new , 228 to 25s per 24 stone. goon'' old, 3 , 3 s to 42s per 38 stone ; Roux, 30s to 35s per 20 atone. GENERAL BRAGG (according to Colonel Fre' mantle's account of him) is in appearance the least prepossessing of the Confederate Gener als. He is veil thin, he stoops, and has a sickly, c adaverous, haggara appearance, rather plain features, bus b y bl ac k e yebrovi s t which unite in a tuft on the top of his nose, and a stu b b y iron-gray beard; but his eyes ara b ri g ht and pierctill He has the reputation of being a rigi d disciplinarian, °11.5 of shooting freely for insubordination. I understand lo 3, rather unpopular on this account, and 4 6 0 by reason oi his occasional acerbity of manner. Births. lkirrLirr.—On the 17th inst , at Busted Sall, Sussex, the wife of F. R. Butlin, Esq., of A Mayfair, DiouNsoN.—On the 1841 inst.,. i 4 11, Chesterfield-street, ~ o a son. DAvis the wch inst., ilt 13_, Cernwaiivillas, s on. DAB the wife of N. Boillton Davis, Evq , of A SOIL • the wife of W. 11. Dickinson, m.D A uc : Dß . N.--On the 17th j e nst_., the wife of the Hon. and ©o , Artuur s ug den, Di wdigate Rectory, of a Bon. Marriages. Atvzy.--Il o wirr.—On the 17 t h i nst., at Argy l e Church, _ mariaino . :E q d u au ar g e h , te r r h o o i ro . as Alvey, Esq., of Pentonville , the late Thomas Howitt, Esq., °' Grantham. lIA.Ynow — TAYLOR.—On the 17th inst., at St. Mathew % ,Du;dayntlin Grosvenor E Denmark. hill, Mr. Riehd. Ha how, ofFenchurch-street, a sciloi c ar ie k ul , sen.,tt,os.iaAlnieee, and,third daughter of Jot . De Crespigny - P 3 sr Deaths. BilowN,_Oa the 17th inst., at Kentish-town, Fredic. 11 * Brown, son of the late Commander 13ourmaster 13rowlit lt.N., aged 21. EDE,—On the 17th inst., Joseph Ede, Esq., of Islington, aged 79. GooDwlN.—On the 17th inst., at lleigham, Norwich, 110 Rev. Wm. Goodwin, M.A., aged 68. Hops.—On the 18111 inst., at Langham - plac e, Adrian JOllO Hope, Esq. LANG —On the 18th haat.. at Beddington, Surrey, James A. Lang, Esq. SIIILLINGFORD.—On the 15th inst., William Shillingford, Esq., ot Ensham Oxon. TosswlLL.— y On the , 18th inst., Mr. Tosswill, of 2, Buc k ' lersbury, city. W ED DERBURN.—On the 16th inet , at Camberwell, Chas, W. Wedderburn, Esq. • London : Printed and Pulynabed by WILLIAM ANDIIk: of No. 112, Strand, Pri nter, at TILE SUN (Nike No• 1 Strand, , n f!Ae Precinct of (he lavt,y, :n the CoWi t i ° ex.—Mow-tan Strand, 21, 1663. Tozetl et vain carpet : Inert a l %tell( Wells, rninst( St. Al' Wrexl tritsi bridg( .ATI Tr' ittvesi out e 1: Mays Mem' per cc and I With( Prc Cr' Tit, here SCAB Pai atree Th Mere scale Pa lame LA BE ANI