The Sun. — London, England, 1863-09-24 00:00:00

The Leigh 1 fay -making Case.—Defence of tree Magistrates. The justice d at Leigh have published a defence of , their conduc t in the form of a letter written by their clerk, Mr. 'B' ,ichard Marsh, who asserts that the facts of th's case have been distorted and misrepre vented. Tie says :—" So far as the course pursued by the j u stices, in point of law, is concerned, the Athert on Bench is frilly prepared to sustain the convi'ati ons it felt bound to pronounce, and it will await with confidence the judgment of a superior tribunal, should the defendants be advised to have ita decision reviewed. In the meanwhile, however, it is due to the justices who convicted in this case to put the facts in their true light, and so to pre- Tent the further circulation of the gross mis-state- I meats which have been, and continue to be dissemi nated. Such misrepresentations, though they pro duce but little effect on the intelligent and well disposed, may, nevertheless, mislead the ignorant, and are calculated to excite hatred against the ma gistrates personally, and to bring their administra tion of justice into disrepute in the estimation of the labouring classes. It is, therefore, hoped that the press will act in the interests of justice and truth, and give publicity to the following account of the matte?. Long before the bench interfered the attention of the local police had been called to the numbers of working people in a state of drunken ness on a Sunday in the vicinity of Leigh and Athereon. In the early part of July a man was summoned before the magistrates for being drunk tb a previous Sunday, when he stated as his de fence that he got the drink for making hay on that day'; and on the next Sunday, July 12, the police found a cart filled with drunken men returning from a day's haymaking in the neighbourhood, and on the following day (Monday) a clergyman made a formal complaint to the magistrates that he and his congregation had been disturbed while in church by the noise of the haymakers at work in an adjoining field during the hours of Divine service ; and in addition to this, the police stated to the magistrates in open court that Sunday haymaking was be coming very general in the neighbourhood, and that mach drunkenness and disorderly conduct was pro duced thereby. In consequence of such a state of things, Mr. Superintendent Orton's officers on the next Sunday, July 19, visited the fields of the de fendants, Howarth, Battersby, and the Cleworths, having been informed that aaymaking was then going on. In the fields of each of these defendants the police found numbers of men, some at work, and others in a state of intoxication ; and upon inquiring from some of the men themselves it appeared that they received no wages for the Sunday's work, but only their meat and drink, or, as they expressed it, "a good blow out." In the defendant Howarth's field the greatest number of the men were employed in spreading the small grass coils. In Ole worth's field part of the hay was in windrow, and the re maining portion was grass which appeared only to have been shaken out that day. Consequently that portion could not possibly have been fit for carry ing in less than two days ; moreover, the weather was fine and settled, and there was no appearance of change foreboding damage to the crop. So much therefore for the truth of the assertion that the Cleworths had a meadow of hay ready for carrying, which, from the state of the weather, they were ap• prehensive of being lost, and were therefore com pelled to resort to Sunday labour as a work of ne cessity to save the crop from ruin. " Such was the case in its general hearing and antecedents with which the magistrates had to deal when the defendants abovenarned, with some of the men employed, appeared before the bench at Ather ton to answer the charge preferred against them under the Lord's Day Act. And now, it may be asked, what were the magistrates to do ? It will be observed that the desecration of the Sunday, flagrant as it was, was not in this case a breach of any Act of Parliament only ; besides being an in fraction of the law, this Sunday haymaking was the producing cause of drunkenness and disorderly conduct among the working people, and it there fore became the duty of the magistrates to use every legitinv.tte means to put an end to this open violation of law, attended as it was by such mis chievous consequences. "The statute under which the defendants were summoned is precise enough in its terms, and the bench considered the facts proved in evidence fully brought the defendants within its scope. No case of necessity was made out on behalf of any of the haymakers, and therefore there were no grounds for extending to them the execution contained in the statute. Still, however, the bench was unwilling to convict, the object of the magistrates being re pression rather than punishment, and the court offered to let the defendants off en payment of the costs only ; but this clemency was misconstrued into nn indication of timidity on the part of the justices, and was indignantly declined by the de fendants Cleworth, who refused to pay either pe nalty or costs until compelled to do so. " The bench thus set at defiance had but one course to pursue in order to make the law respected ; and to put an end to the repeated and indecent pro fanation of the Sunday, with its attendant conse quences of drunkenness and demoralisation ; they, thereforeemost properly convicted the offenders in the penalty of 53. each, and the casts of the prose cution. The defendants and their sympathisers sought to impute unfairness and partiality to the magistrates for having dismissed the case against the coalhoavers, also summoned with the haymakers for a breach of the Lord's Day Act ; bat in this case of the coal labourers it was satisfactorily shown that their Sunday work was a work of necessity, which brought them within the proviso of the act. In such a case, had the magistrates convicted, how would their conduct have been attacked as oppres sive and unjust; yet this acquittal, humane and discriminating as it was, has been tortured into a partial and one-sided application of the law by those who seek to raise the howl of popular preju• dice against the proceedings of the Atherton jus tices and the local police. `` Public feeling has also been appealed to as to t he conduct of the police when they proceeded to enforce the sentence of the petty sessions. What are the facts? Oue of the defendants of the five against 'whom distress warrants were issued is alleged to have been in indigent circumstances, and sympathy has been sought to be evoked by the pic ture of the co nstable's cruel mission to his poverty stricken dwelling; the poverty of this individual has in the first pl ace been grossly exaggerated; but besides this it appears that he was not distrained upon at all, for th e police retired leaving his volu ble wife mistress of the field without removing an article of his property. As to the dwellings of the other four defendants, they are confessedly comfort ably fax nished ; their y a rds well stocked, and on them the police most and costs p r °petty levied sufficient to satisfy the penaltywhich np to the last the defendants obstinately ref used to pay. The property so distrained consisted in all of only two pieces of household furniture a n d new, which have since been sold by public action, to be bought in with much parade by or on behalf of the owners. "Thus, therefore, the police, " far fr om acting harshly, acted upon the side of leniency, for they halted in the execution of their duty at the first and only cry of poverty that was raised. As to the en forcement of the penalty and costs against the other four defendants, it would be difficult for even their advocates to suggest how the magistrates or police could have acted with greater moderation, unless indeed the authorities were to suffer the law to be come a dead letter, and its execution to be resisted by every sturdy and contumacious offender. The magistrate s o f the Atherton bench at pre cent only desire to repel the imputation of partial and oppressive adadeistration of justice. They are not responsible for the poli c y, b e it good or had, of an y piece of legislation on whi c h it is their duty to an t. It may, however, be well to tell the def en d ers of Sunday l a bour that the act o f Charles 11, on which they h ave e:::pEnded a great d eal of ignorant l criticism, is not th e only legislation o n the subject to be found in our statute-book. This statute is only an extension of various acts of the legislatur e passed in preceding reigns, the principle of whi ch may be traced back even to the days of our Sax on ancestors ; and so far from the statute in question having become forgotten or obsolete, its existence has been recognised in several acts of parliament relating to the same subject down to the reign of his late Majesty William IV. Indeed, the observ ance of the Sunday, not as a pharisaical Sabbath, but a day of repose from the ordinary labours of the week, is a time-honoured' institution among all classes of Englishmen; and it deserves the support of all who are the real friends of the working com munity—'it humanises by the help of conversation and society the manners of the lower classes; it en ables the industrious working man to pursue his occupation in the ensuing week with health and cheerfulness.' The Sunday is in every sense the poor man's holiday,' to which every hard-handed peasant in the kingdom is entitled as his inheritance —a birthright which the law in • its humanity will not allow him to sell. The Atherton magistrates, therefore, deserve not the reproach but the grati tude of the labouring population in their neighbour hood for protecting them against those who, for their own interest, seek to deprive the weekly la bourer of his Sunday's pri%ilege, and who are sordid enough to get a day's work out of their poor neigh bours by the temptation of drink instead of the payment of honest wages." The Ghost Visiting the Lord Chancellor, BASINGSTOKE, Wednesday. THE PATENT OF DIRCKS AND PEPPER, ON THE OPPOSITION OF LOIBL AND SONNHAMMER, WILD, KING, AND OTHERS. Yesterday afternoon the Lord Chancellor was visited in his lordship's library, at his mansion, Hackwood Park, near this town, by no less a personage than the übiquitous Ghost and a number of gentlemen all claiming more or less legiti mate relationship with him. Messrs. Luibl and Sonnham mer, the proprietors of the Pavilion Music Hall, at the top of the Haymarket, took him down. Mr. Wild, of the Al hambra, Mr. King, of Bath, and Professor Pepper, of the Polytechnic, and others, were also in attendance, supported by their respective legal advisers. The facts of the case are as follow :—l n February last, after Messrs. Dircks and Pepper's ghost had turned ou t a "hit" at the Polytech nic last December, they obtained a provisional specification,with a view to patent ; i n th e f o ll o wing March, just before it was time to obtain the Great Seal, the other parties above named lodged objections according to the Patent Law Amendment Act. On account of these objections the patentee obtained a further month's provisional protection to answer them. Affidavits were further filed on both sides, and the Lord Chancellor fixed yesterday for the disposal of the case, so far as the issue of the Great Seal was concerned. Messrs. Loibl and Sonnhammer were represented by Mr. Bower, jun. (Bower, Son, and Cotton, Chancery-lane); Mr Wild by Mr. Mayhew, Mr. King by Mr. Clarke, Messrs. Dircks and Pepper by Mr. Hughes (Hughes, Kearsey, and Co., Bucklersbury). After disposing of some legal technicalities, which his lordship adjusted to meet both sides, Mr. Bower went into the merits of the case. He put in a number of affidavits tending to prove that the invention was by no means new, and that it had been exhibited in London and throughout the country as far back as 1845, the pa rentage of it seeming to rest on Herr Dobler, the cele brated n i t e o hp n r r his et e oh f pp e er r mai r el e :t d oaerlrsi eo exhibited complete,l ht o hi lordship st pavilion ad o oef no a:h r h'haidosplaybillutasek benefitew naoasf brated conjuror. He H nret ate t m h o e 3diealrsgt period, aagtee. lighted up," and his lordship had the pleasure of witnessing the ghost business very conveniently. He was also shown ghost photographs, taken by King, of Bath, and Sylvester, of New Bond-street, in 1860. Mr. Sylvester is also a ghost exhibitor, and has met with singular success at Canterbury Hall. As Mr. Pepper is in the arrangement there was no opposition from that quarter. Mr. King was also a patentee in rivalry with Mr. Pepper, and has undertaken to indemnify all his customers against any hostile action on the part of that gentleman. In the course of the argument his lordship said he remem bered seeing the same thing when a boy, 55 years ago ; it was exhibiied by Belzoni, the celebrated traveller, and an account of it published. It was urged that by Messrs, Pepper and Dircks exhibiting it in December last year at the Polytechnic, it was a publi cation that barred the right of patent. On the other side, affidavits were put in from Sir David Brewster and Profes sor Wheatstone, testifying that the invention was new. The Lord Chancellor delivered a very clear and elaborate judgment at considerable length. He reviewed all the affi davits, and said the objectors had no grounds before him; tney came in at the last moment and wanted to overturn all the three hearings of the Attorney- General, who must have been satisfied of the merits Lefore he remitted the patent for the Great Seal. If he withheld it the patentees had no remedy, no appeal elsewhere; but by granting the patent he placed them in a position to prove and maintain their right to it. Nor would this inflict any wrong on the ob jectors, as they could try the value of the patent in a court of law. His lordship then directed the Great Seal to issue with all costs and charges against the objectors. The case extended over three hours. CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT—Sept, 23. OLD COURT. (Before Mr. Justice Byles.) Charles Jestico, a man of middle age, described in the calendar as a "dealer," was arraigned upon an indictment charging him with feloNiously receiving certain valuable securities which had Fern stolen from a post letter, well knowing them to have been stolen. Mr. Clerk and Mr. Metcalfe prosecuted ; Mr. Sleigh de fended the prisoner. The prisoner had been a lettercarrier in the General Post Office for 17 years, but relinquishing that situation he had latterly kept a beershop in St. George's-circus, Blackfriars road. There he became acquainted with one Robert Dowle, who lodged in his house, and to whom, on removing to Chelsea, he let the shop, which Dowle has since used for the sale of boots and crinoline, having of the same time a resi dence at 30, Manor-place, Walworth, It appeared that to wards the end of June last Mr. William 11. Nicholson, a banker at Rochester, and a shareholder in the Scinde Rail way, was, with others of the shareholders, offered by the company a certain number of new shares, which were then being issued. He and members of his family signed five let ters of acceptance of such new shares, representing in the whole 115 shares of £2O each, and in respect of 72 of which Mrs. Phillips, his sister, had signed. They were then selling in the market at £1 per share premium. On the Ist of July Mr. Nicholson enclosed the five letters of acceptance in a letter addressed to Messrs. Upward, of 15, Throgmorton street, hisbrokers. That letter, which was posted at Roches ter by one John Lough, his servant, never reached its des tination; and the prisoner, with an accomplice, was found dealing with the letters of acceptance, which had been en closed in it, the very next day after it should have been de livered in London in the ordinary course of post. On the 2d of July, about 2 o'clock in the day, the prisoner called upon his acquaintance, Dowle, at the shop in St. George's circus, and after some ordinary conversation as to how he was " getting on" asked him to have something to drink. Dowle had an apprentice named Redpath, a boy of 12 or 14, whom the prisoner sent out for seine beer and gin. While the lad was absent on that errand the prisoner pro duced a quantity of gold and silver, and asked to speak to Dowle privately. With that view they went to the private bar of the Duke of Clarence Tavern, hard by. There, ad dressing Dowle, the prisoner said it was a pity a smart young man like him should be " hard up." Dowle replied it was, but he could not help it. The prisoner said he had it in his power to make his fortune, and with that he pro duced a pocketbook, from which he took a half sheet of letter papar, pat tly written and partly printed. Opening that, which proved to be one of Mr. -Nicholson's letters of accep tance, he said, " This is what we are doing now ;" explain ing afterwards that it was one of several allotments of shares he bad in the Scinde Railway. He asked Dowle if he knew any stockbrokers. The reply was that he knew two. "So much the better," said the prisoner, adding that if he would go and sell the shares next morning his (Dowle's) share of the profit would amount to £24 or L.A Dowle led the prisoner to believe that he would do so, and made an ap pointment to meet him the same evening, but which he did not keep. The prisoner, as he was leaving, said the matter about which he had spoken was only a trifling affair, but he had something in his pocket representing £4,000. To realise that, however, would require a journey to St. Peters burg. Dowle, on parting with the prisoner, went forth with to the Bow-lane Police-station, and made a communi cation on the subject to the authorities there. He met the prisoner next morning, according to appointment, at the Obelisk in the Blackfriars-road. The prisoner taunted him with not being quite smart enough, and then, pointing to a man who was approaching, said " If you won't do it, here's a man that Ns ill." The person referred to, one John Calder, is now a prisoner in Newgate, having since been convicted and sentenced to penal servitude. Dowle and the prisoner parted, and as they did so the latter told Calder to walk on to the Oxford publichouse, in the West minster .road, and he would join him there. Mr. Francis Austin, a stockbroker, of 25, Tokenheuse yard, was called as a witness for the prosecution. He said he remembered Mr. Bennett, a stockbroker, bringing him the five letters of acceptance in question on the 3d of July, and their having a transaction with respect to four of them were°n then at 72 share s , b e i ng excepte d . T he shares allnt re par e p s r e e n in t e i premium n sharestho market.o each, The f and ur the p letters of minus on them was £43. Having completed the transaction he handed Mr. Bennett a cheque for the amount, less his brokerage, declining at that time to deal with the allotment of 72 shares. Mr. Frederick Bennett —I am a stockbroker at 2, Cop ns me w e ith conversationthe fi veletters with him ra n f I wento alai-chambers. On the of July a man named John allotm ent nth in e ' same day to Mr. Austin, and sold the shares at £1 premium. Ca l question,ler called Aftern The fifth allotment, representing 72 shares, was also sold, subject to inquiries as to the genuineness of Mrs. Phillips's signature. As I left my office to go on this business I met the prisoner Jestico, about two minutes' walk from my door. I had known him when I was a clerk in the Post office. He was at that time a lettereatrier in the same office. I spoke to him and asked if he was in the habit of delivering ruby letters at the office of Messrs. Freston, solicitors, in Col eman -street, and if they were respectable people. Calder has Elven me their names as referees, The prisonersaid he THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 24, 1863 thought they were, adding that he had then left the Post office. I found Mr. Freston at thy office when I returned. I gave a "sold note" to Calder, together with a cheque, and gave back the acceptance lettar for 72 shares to Mr. Freston for verification, in the presence of Calder. I was in attend ance at Guildhall Police-court when prisoner was taken there in custody on this charge. He came to me and said, " Mr. Bennett, if I had inown these things were going to be brought to you, I would not have done it for double the money." I turned away, making him no answer. The convict Calder was called, and deposed that after meeting the prisoner at the Obelisk on the 3d July, they went together to the Oxford tavern in the Westminster road, when the prisoner handed him the five letters of allot ment, saying he wanted to convert them into money, and, accompanying him to Copthal-chambers, showed him Mr. Bennett's office. The prisoner remained outside while wit ness went in. Witness received a check for £lO odd from Mr. Bennett and handed it to the prisoner, who gave him £6 as his share. Cross-examined by Mr. Sleigh, witness said he was con victed at the last session of the Central Criminal Court, and that before his conviction he had mentioned the prisoner's share in the transaction in question. Witness received first of all £1 for his share, and afterwards £5 more on the completion of the transfer of the 72 shares. He had no reason at that time to btlieve that it was not a perfectly fair and legitimate transaction in the way of business. He had known the prisoner about a fortnight or three weeks before. Witness had been a clerk to Mr. Freston, of Furni val's-inn and in Coleman-street, until about 15 months ago. He had been in other employment since, but not permanently. Edward Hancock, a city detective officer, apprehended the prisoner at his house in Manor place, Walworth, on the 31st of August, on a warrant. On being told the charge against him, the prisoner said he did notunderstand it, Witness told him that Calder, who had been convicted and sentenced to six years' penal servitude, said that he, the prisoner, had given hi►u the letters of allotment, and it was for him now to say where he had received them. At first he said he did not know Calder, but on the way to the police-station he said a man of that name used to come to his beershop, and that a short time ago he met him in the Blackfriar's-road, and had a glass of ale with him. Mr. Sleigh, in a brief address to the jury on behalf of the prisoner, confessed the difficulty he felt in struggling against the facts stated in evidence. He could only say that the prisoner had made a solemn asseveration that his share in the transaction in question was an innocent one. To say the least, much of the evidence against him was tainted with suspicion, and if the jury thought the case was sus.. ceptible of doubt they would give the prisoner the benefit of it. Mr. Justice Byles, in summing up the evidence, remarked by the way that the witness Dowle had been exposed to a great dealt of temptation, but had probably remembered the old •fashioned injunction, "If sinners entice thee consent thou not." Another man, who had given evidence on the trial, had unfortunately not listened to that advice, and the jury knew what had become of him. Addressing himself to the facts, the learned judge dwelt upon the circumstance that the prisoner was found in the possession of the letters of allotment the day after they should have arrived in Lon don in course of post. If the jury believed Calder, he was only the cat's paw in getting rid of the shares. Who stole them there was no evidence to show; but that was imma terial, for whether the prisoner stole them or received them knowing them to have been stolen, in either case he was guilty, It was for them to say whether there had been a conspiracy on the part of the witness for the prosecu tion, in which case they would acquit the prisoner, but, if they believed there had been no such conspiracy, they would probably think the case had been made out against him. The jury returned a verdict of guilty. Mr. Metcalfe, counsel for the prosecution, said he ought now to state that with respect to a man named Macdonald, tried and convicted there last session for passing a check which had been stolen from a post letter, the prisoner Jes tico was discharged from the Post-office for having induced him to missort money letters. Mr. Justice Byles, in passing sentence, said the prisoner had been convicted on irrefragable evidence of the offence chargedin the indictment. It appeared that he hail already seduced one man into being an accomplice, who had been convicted and consigned to six years' penal servitude. Whether the allegations now made against him as to having seduced another was true or not, ho (Mr. Justice Byles) did not know, but he was not going to act upon that. The sen tence he had to pass upon him was that he be kept in penal servitude for eight years. Helen Hannah Margaret Englehart, a respectably-dressed woman, was indicted for manslaughter. Mr. Orridge conducted the prosecution, and the prisoner was defended by Mr. Sleigh. The case was a very painful one, and its investigation occupied the Court a considerable time. The prisoner and her husband were married in April, 1859, and resided at Eltham-green, in Kent. She had a child before her mar riage —namely, in October, 185 S—by her husband. Its name was Constance Augusta, and at the time of its death it was barely five years old. Mr. Englehart was in the habit of coming to London daily to attend his business, and of re turning home in the evening. The principal witness was a young woman named Jane Maynard, their domestic ser vant, and according to her the child had dirtied the carpet in the dining room on the 31st of July last. It was then between 5 and 6 in the evening, and the teathings had been taken into the room. The prisoner was then up-stairs dress ing.. On returning to the room she was angry at what the child had done. The child was then sitting on the floor, and a milk jug was upset beside it. She called the servant from the kitchen, and telling her that she had often pro mised the child a cold bath, but would now give it one, ordered her to prepare a cold bath and put it on the sink in the back kitchen. This the servant did, and the pri soner having taken the child downstairs and stripped it quite naked, put it into the bath. She tied a duster round the child's mouth and dipped its head two or three times in the water. Then she took the child out of the bath and placed it on the edge of the stone sink t' drip. That done, she put it on the floor and wiped it, giving it immediately afterwards some cod liver oil, which she poured from a bottle into its month. In doing that she spilt some of the oil on its breast, upon which she took the child up, and holding it with one hand under the sink, pumped water on its head with the other four or five times. The child did not cry while that was being done. She took the duster off the child's mouth on removing it from the bath. She kept it in the bath about 10 minutes. After wiping the child she took it upstairs to the top of the house, but had not been gone more than two or three minutes when she brought it down in an insensible state. She then said she had let it remain too long in the cold bath, and she ordered the servant to prepare a warm one, which was done. The prisoner put the child into the warm bath, but as it did not recover she told the servant to go to the house of a Mrs. Wood, a neighbour, for some brandy. Mrs. Morrison, another neighbour, was at her gate when the servant returned, and she accom panied her into the house. The servant had then sent for a doctor. On seeing a bruise on the right temple of the child, Mrs. Morrison asked how it had been caused. The pri soner's reply was that she had let it fall downstairs. She had not before said anything to the servant about letting it fall. The servant was in the kitchen while the prisoner was upstairs with the child. The kitchen door was open and close to the stairs, and the servant said she must have heard the child fall if it had fallen, but she did not. Mrs. Morri son took the child from the warm bath, and putting it into a warm blanket, kept it there until a surgeon came. The prisoner explained to her that she had put, the child into a cold bath as a punishment, that on taking it out it was blue and cold, and she put it into a warm one; that she had be fore putting it in the warm bath taken it upstairs, and was returning with it when her sleeve caught the bolt of a little gate at the top of the stairs and the child fell over the baluster to the foot of the stairs, Mrs. Morrison remained with the child until 10 o•clock. It died next morning about 5. Mrs. Morrison, who assisted in washing it after death, described it as being covered with bruises from head to foot. It appeared that for some time before the prisoner had given the child cold baths with salt put in the water, on the advice of a surgeon, with a view to strengthen it, and a suggestion on the part of the defence was that the cloth was put over the child's mouth to prevent its swallow ing any of the salt water. The servant said the prisoner's general treatment of the child was unkind. Mr. David King, a surgeon at Elrham, deposed that he was called to see the child about a quarter to 7, and that he found it in a state of collapse and almost pulseless, so much so that he thought it would have died immediately. He remained with it about an hour. The result of a post marten: examination which he made went to disclose a large quantity of extravasated blood on the brain. That, lin his opinion, was the cause of death. There was a fresh bruise on the right temple, and that, he believed, had caused the extravasation. There was also a recent bruise on the top of the left foot and other minor old bruises, which might have been produced by the child tumbling about the house. In cross-examination, he said a fall downstairs might have caused the appearance on the temple. It was a delicate child. The plunging a delicate ehild into a warm bath after it had been taken out of a cold one would rarely pro duce such extravasation as in this case, unless the brain had been previously diseased. There was no disease about the brain of the child in question. Mr. Blakeley, a surgeon, in reply to the Judge, deposed that he knew the child, and had attended it about a year ago. It was a weakly child, suffering from general debility and he recommended, among other things, cod-liver oil, and occasionally a cold water bath, with salt in the water, to strengthen the system of the child. Ile thought the child ought not to have been kept longer in a cold bath than five minutes. Mr. Sleigh, f n r the defence, contended that what the prisoner had done was at the worst a mere error of judg ment in keeping the unfortunate child longer in the water than was consistent with prudence or safety, but that would not constitute the crime of manslaughter. That, he sus pected, was the only conclusion warranted by the evidence, and he commented on the testimony of Mr. Blakeley, the surgeon, who had some time before recommended to the prisoner the use of cold baths with salt in the water for the child, and of cod-liver oil, with the view to strengthen its weak constitution. He dwelt upon the prisoner's weak state of health, and upon the pain and grief she had experienced m reflecting oh the painful result of her error of judgment in her treatment of the child, and on those groun she com mended her to the merciful consideration of the jury. Mr. Justice Byles, in presenting the case to the jury, ad verted to the tender age of the child and to its being—adopt ing creatureprisoner herself which wah alighte b efo gustre coroner a wind might blow over." 1t was i mpor t an t, h e sa id, th a t they should bear in mind the state of th e c hild an d it s age . It was born before marriage; but any one wou ld think that languagel little e of weaklythe that would be far from sufficient to overcome a mo ther's maternal instincts towards her own offspring. On the other hand, there was evidence that the prisoner's gene ral behaviour towards the child was unkind. Nobody pre • tended that the prisoner intended to kill the child, but she was charged with manslaughter, and it became necessary to inquire what was the cause of death. According to the medh cal man, the child did not die from the effects of the cold bath, however improper or cruel, but from the blow on the temple, which, he said, undoubtedly was the cause of the extravasation of blood on the brain, all the other organs be ing healthy. The extravasation on the brain being the cause of death, the question arose was that extravasation caused by a blow inflicted by the prisoner after she had taken the child upstairs, or by a fall ? If they believed she had given it a blow, and that that was the cause of death, she was guilty of manslaughter; but there was no direct evidence that she had, and they were not to convict on mere suspicion. The jury, after some considerable deliberation, returned a verdict of Not Guilty. The prisoner was then tried on the same evidence, and convicted of an aggravated assault upon the child by forcing it into the bath. Sentence was deferred. The Castle Hedingham Witchcraft Case. On Tuesday Emma Smith, 36, and Samuel Stammers,2B, were placed at the bar before Mr. Bernardiston and a full bench of magistrates, sitting in petty sessions at Castle Hed ingham, charged with having unlawfully assaulted an old Frenchman, named Dummy, on the night of August 3, and thereby caused his death on the 4th inst. The female pri soner is the wife of a beer•shop keeper in the village of Ridgwell, and Stammers is a master carpenter. Nearly all the 60 or 70 persons concerned in the outrage are of the small tradesmen class. The victim of this belief in witchcraft was deaf and dumb, about 80 years of age. For the last. seven or eight years he resided in Hedingham, in a wretched hut, and previous to that he lived in Braintree. There is little doubt that he gained his living to a great extent by telling fortunes, if not by pretences to witchcraft. In the hovel were found numberless scraps of paper and between 400 and 500 walking sticks, a number of umbrellas, some French books, several tin boxes, a hoard of foreign coins, chiefly of the French empire, and about a ton of rubbish, which it was found impossible to classify. Mr. Cardinall appeared to conduct the prosecution, and Mr. Jones defended Stammers. Mr. Smith was undefended. The first called was John Pettit, a shoemaker, living at Hedingham. He saw an old man called Dummy, about 11 o'clock on the night of the 3d of August, at the Swan Inn, at Siblo Hedingham. There were about 40 or 50 persons in the tap-room. Emma Smith said that she had been in a bad state for nine or ten months, and she attributed her ailing to being be witched by Dummy. She said it was all through what Dummy had done to her. She asked him (Dummy) to go home with her to Ridgwell, and she told him that she would give him three sovereigns, and would use him well. When this was told to the old man he refused, and drew his fingers across his throat. He meant he would rather have his head cut off, or his throat cut, than go. Witness saw a man named Gibson dancing about with Dummy, and Gibson fell on him. Shortly afterwards witness saw the old man sitting out side the Swan. Mrs. Smith was there, urging him to go home with her, He refused ; upon which she caught hold of his coat and began to drag him towards the brook, about two rods off. Witness thought they both fell into the water — but he could not see well on account of the persons that in terfered with the view. He presently saw Dummy on his hands and face in the brook, which was not deep there. Some one said, " He is trying to get out on the other side." Mrs. Smith then crossed the bridge, and, as he was trying to get out at the other side, she pushed him back into the water. She pushed him back a second time; but afterwards Dummy got out. Witness saw the prisoner Stammers standing at the side when th e man was first thrown i n . Witness did not see him do a n y t hi ng, nor what became of him. Ther e were so many p eo p le about, witness cou ld no t s ee. When the man got out h e went and sat on a h ea p of stones oppo site the Swan Inn. M rs. Smith appeare d a nxious to get him to the water again, or to go home with her. She struck him , several times acros s th e shoulders an d arms with a stick. She struck him o nce on the head Reel witness said to her, "Don't hit him with a s ti ck, ' spec i a lly on the head." Sh e was partly behind hi m . S he said s h e wo uld not hurt him on any account. Witness heard the blow. She laid the stick down, and began to kick him. She kicked him on the side. Witness asked him not to do so, and she said she would not hurt him, as her boots were thin and soft. Fifty persons were standing by, and Stammers was there. A number of persons told me Mrs. Smith and Dumm y and the crowd went down Watermill-lane. 'Witness laid ten heard that Dummy was carried. The broo k r an down the side of th e l ane t o th e r i v er, and was deep ther e. The street w as f u ll o f p eo ple. Witness heard a femal e voice say "P u t hi m or s w im him in the millhead." wit. ness then he ar d a splash in the water, and went down to s ee . He saw Dummy in the water, and Stammers was in theact of Being him oat. Mrs. Burry was helping him . Mrs , Smithback towards h Swan, was standing c!ose by. Witness asked " Who dii it?" Mrs. Smith said " A drunken man fell in t he ditch:, u M p r o s n . th e Bruty grass.and appearedthe read, and to be in his um m y throat, and he was quite wet. Ho lay on the grass 4 minutes or a quarter of an hour. He appeared so weak t hat with out help he c old not have iea theH He afterwards wall for support. H e knocked at the door of Mr. Ames , the butcher, ernt g u p on. who refused to let him in. Ultimately Mrs, Bruty and an other f ema l e helped him to his hut, witness follow in g . Witness recom mended him to change his clothes, and he kissed witness's hands. Witness left him. He appeared much ex hausted, and was in a very different state from what he bad been when witness first saw him at the Swan. Henrietta Garrod said that sh was ten Years of age. She lived th her mother at Hed e ingham, Ore the night of the 3d August she went to the Swan for some supper beer. She went into the tap-room, and , stood on a form to see them twisting old Dummy about. Gibson twisted him about, and they fell. Dummy fell on Gibson firet. Gibson then turned him about a gain, and fell on him. Witness was there an hour and a half, when her mother came for her, and took her home. About half an hour after wards witness heard a noise at the Swan and ran down to see what was the matter. Dummy was comin g- out of the Swan, and Mr. Smith was with him. She asked him to go home with her, but he twice refused, and drew his hand across his throat. She asked several people to give her a stick, and as no one gave her one she took Dummy's stick from the window , and hit him twice across the top of the head with it, a nd several times on the shoulders and arms, She had first taken his hat off and fl ung it in the water. She said, ~ You old devil you served me out, and I will serve you out." lie tried to get bold of her clothes. She dragged him to the brook and shoved him in. He tried to get out on the other side. Then Samuel Stammers ran through the brook to the other side, and pushed him in again. Dummy got out and went to the stone-heap and sat down. Mrs. Smith asked some one to lift him up, and the old man walked down towards the water-mill, Stammers and Smith holding his shoulders, In some way he got on ffl hued to the ground an d s himself, and made a growling S m ith go t hold of noise. Mrs. the collar of his coat, which came up and covered his head, and she dragged him along the road. Some one helped her. They dragged him to the side of the sluice water. It Was a girl larger than witness that helped her. Mr. Smith then caught hold of Dummy's shoulders, and Stammers of his legs, and they threw him into the sluice. The W ater covered him, and witness could only see his arms* Witness could not recognise that were there, thou many because she was look i ng at old Dummy. Stammers jumped in and got Du mmy out of the water, and l a id him on the g rass. Dummy tried to get the mud and the water out of his throat. Stammers assisted him to the Swan gates. Du mmy then went to Mr. Ames,and held up his arms to show that his sleeves were all torn. He had a crying in his eyes, and was green and muck-wet all over. Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Bruty then helped him on his way home. fie was shivering with cold. Mr. Sinclair, s urgeon to the Halstead Union, said that on Thursday, the sth August, the deceased was brought in. There were bruises on the shoulders. He pointed to indi cate that he was hurt on the back of the head,the shoulder, and the left side. In a day or two afterwards indication of chest affection showed themselves. There was inflamma tion of the lungs and bronchitis. Death took place on the 4th September. •-... ere e poet morton;exatnination showed that there was total diso rganisation of the lungs,that the kidneys were diseased, and that there had been recent inflammation of the brain. Death was attributable to those causes com bined, but more especially to the disease in the lungs and kidneys. Having heard the whole of the evidence just g i ve n, he was of opinion that the treatment deceased had received gave rise to a great shock to the system, producing fever, which set up the causes which resulted in death. The immersion in the water,and the sleeping in wet clothes would produce fever. The blows described had not, in his opinion, caused death. He had no doubt whatever that death resulted from the treatment deceased received. After other evidence, Mr. Jones addressed the bench on behalf of his client Stammers. The Chairman said that the bench had resolved to send both prisoners fur trial at the next assizes. The prisoner P she had to say Whyinfluence she sh ou ld not he committed for trial. She replied i n a P e culiar voice, and evidently under the -- "Ile s uperstitious fear, that she would tell the truth. The man cane to her house first, He spat upon her, and told her that after a time she should be ill, and she was ill • A doctor cam e b u t could not to h er t w i ce i n ono n i g ht, cure her. The man (Dummy) ) came to her si.;°P ten months ago, and asked leave to sleep in her when shed. She let him ; but in a few days, nle en she wanted him t o l eave, h e 14 : signs and write upon a door that she should be 111 in te I days, Ile made h er ill and bewitched her, an d s h e wepta l lt ' filet 11,6,N, everywhere, but no one could see her right again ; she was afraid, for no medical man could do her any good. The Chairman—Are you aware of the nature of the charge against you; that you caused the death of deceased by your conduct on the 3d August ? The Prisoner—That night 1 I will tell the truth. That night I went to the Swan very bad. I went up to the old gentleman and asked him to go home with me, to do me good. He said he would not go. Gibson took him up and put him in my face, as he said to kiss me, but I did not want him to do that, as I had a husband of my own. A number of plaiters (of straw, for bonnets) came in and said, "How bad this woman is." There were 40 or 50 people there, few of them men. They got him out. Some shoved him, some stoned him, and did more to him than I did. I begged and prayed that he would go home with me, but he de clared he would not unless he liked. Ido not deny that I put my hand to his head, but I was so bad I could not lift a dog ; and this man here (Stammers) took him by the heels and thighs and threw him in the water, and then he (Stammers) jumped in and got him out. I may die any moment. There was one there who did not touch him, and that was Mrs. Bruty, who said she was afraid of him. That is the truth. Stammers simply said he was not guilty. The Chairman committed the prisoner to Chelmsford Gaol for trial at the March assizes. Bail was accepted afterwards for Stammers, himself in £5O and two sureties of £5O each. Similar bail would have been taken for the female prisoner, but as it could not be procured she was conveyed to prison. SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS. TlMEse—lf the abolition of slavery is being fought out in America by the largest armed hosts in the most obstinate battles history has recorded, the "sup port" that can be given to the " cause of Emancipa tion" by a public meeting, a few speeches, and a string of resolutions, is very superfluous. A straw carried to a conflagration, a drop of water poured as a contribution into the Gulf Stream, would have as much practical effect as the " support" that can be given by a little discussion to a cause that has four armies behind it, and counts half a million of slaughtered men as the sacrifice it has already de manded. Emancipation, if this civil war is serving it, has long passed beyond the point at which it could derive aid or assistance from any expression of sympathy. The addresses of encouragement to the North made at the meeting in the Leeds Music Hall are of as much avail for assisting the question at issue as the exertions of the Spenish Coastguard officer who, when r ep or ti ng a s hi pwrec k to the authorities, added that he gave the unfortunate crew of the stranded ship every possible assist ance—through his speaking trumpet. But the second purpose of the Leeds meeting was to strengthen the British Go vernmen t i n con tinuing that neutral policy which, notwithstand ing all evidence to the contrary, the North and its friends in this country will seem to think is always in danger of yielding to some pressure. The Go vernment certainly requires no " support" in a policy which completely represents the general feel ing of the nati on . F rom the fi rst, the nature of the conflict plainly warned us that any interference in the quarrel could produ c e no thi ng b u t diffi cu lti es of all kinds ; and among th e many exp l at i ons o f English feeling made by Mr. Forster, the chair man, to the representative of the Federation, he might fitly have added that no admiration of the manner in which the South has borne itself in the war has as yet created any strong movement in favour of England taking any part in the struggle. He should also, in fairness, have abstained from re presenting the differences of opinion as distinctions of the feeling of classes. This was unjust, and we must add, notoriously incorrect. There is not the slightest ground for ascribing Southern sympathy, as is too commonly the case with our most wrong headed Radicals, to the " upper classes," to men of rank and title, and opposing it invidiously to the feeling of the nation at large, the middle ranks, the commercial interests, and the working men. All these sections of society have abundant opportunity of making known their beliefs and convictions ; and if they have not spoken out, in the tone approved by the Emancipation Society, it is because they found heir feelings pretty accurately represented by those " upper classes" who have so offended Mr. Forster by an independent judgment that does not happen to jump with his own. It' Americans take Mr. Fortner's description of English sentiment on this subject as a correct expianetion, they will be fur ther from understanding us than ever. As the real object of the Leeds meeting seems to have been the clearing up of popular misconception on both sides of the Atlantic, the chairman, as the self-ap pointed exponent of British feeling, ought not to have spoken in the narrowest spirit of the platform of Exeter Hall. What could be gained by mystifying the American clerical representative, the Rev. Mr. Channing, to such an extent ? We beg him not to believe that the manufacturing population are not such ardent Abolitionists as Mr. Forster asserts, or that they heve borne the distress the war has inflicted en them more by reflections on the blessings the negro is to derive from it than the subscriptions and the relief given by the District Committees. , To prove this argument, Mr. Forsier should have gone a step further, and assured Mr. Channin t g that if slave-grown cotton ever agai❑ finds its way to Manchester the spinners will indignantly refuse to touch a hank of it as a thing accursed in its origin, and that they will prefer continued suffering to full work at full wages from the polluted bales of New Orleans. Any feeling as to the question of slavery had as little to do with the endurance of the cotton-spinners in their dis tress as it had with their condition when they were prosperous. Then, like their employers, they cared little whence or how the material of their indus try reached them, and would gladly flock to the mills to-morrow, if supplied on precisely the same conditions as before the war broke our. What the men have nobly felt during the pinch of the cotton famine is that the calamity was brought about by nu act of their rulers, and that the disaster was one that no possible action of the Government could remedy; and they also fully appreciated the gene rous manner in which all classes of their coun trymen came to their assistance in the time of need. If a clear understanding of the state of feeling on both sides does not grow out of an observation of facts, we fear that public meetings called to set matters right by mutual explanation are not likely to produce it. The expounders are apt to be men of extreme views and strong opinions. They give everything their own colouring, and leave very much unsaid. Both the English and the American advo cates at the Leeds meeting require a good deal of ex tension and correction. Both suppressed much that bears vitally . on the question. Can Mr. Charming explain when President Lincoln's Proclamation be came a " noble and generous offer," when its author still describes it as merely an act of military neces sity ? It does not spring from the "law of kindness" to the negro, but the desire of damaging his master, and involves about the same degree of real bene volence as General Gilmore's incendiary shells. Mr. Lincoln's real opinions on slavery are those he re peated and affirmed in his inaugural address in March, 1864 when " he declared he had no purpose, directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institu tion of slavery where it exists ;" adding explicitly, " I believe I have no lawful right, and I have no inclination, to do so. Those who nominated and elected me did so with a lull knowledge that I had made this and similar declarations, and had never recanted them." It is Mr. Lincoln's misfortune to have become, under the pressure of the merciless philanthropists of his party, an instrument for ex terminating the whites. But a Liberator of the blaeke, on the benevolent theories of Wilberforce and Clarkson, he neither has been, is, nor can be. Their successors of the societies that are, as far as England is concerned, extinct bodies, still use all the phraseology in vogue thirty years ago, the " man and brother" period of Emancipation, and seem to think that freedom to the American negro would be what it was to the petted and protected " African" of our West Indian colonies. Oar Abolitionists are dreaming of "raising the black race" to a higher status. Their coloured freeman is an imaginary being that unhappily the " free soil" of North America will not allow to become a reality. There the liberated black is the most despised of Pariahs— kicked, cuffed, spit upon, driven out of every field of employment, by law expelled from some States, massacred in any popular tumult in others, detested in all as a nuisance. These are the facts that make freedom to him a most cruel gift—facts that our early Emancipationists had not to dread for the race as a consequence of their principle. Will any Ameri can make it clear to English minds how it is possi ble that the people of the North can make really free a race they thus socially despise and hate with an intense hatred ? Englishmen do not think that such contradictions can be reconciled, and therefore believe that, with the exception of a few tarmacs, those who make Abolition the purpose of the war are not sincere. Other objects are too evident to allow the assertion to pass unchallenged that philan thropy is all that is to be enforced at the cannon's mouth. President Lincoln is perfectly indifferent on the principle of Abolition, and uses it only as a weapon of attack. A restoration of the political union, " with slavery or without it," he himself defines as the object of the war. The purpose is distinct enough, but a high degree of morale cannot be claimed for the means employed to effect it. The fact is that English public opinion on the Civil War remains the same as when that of the most eminent men of America was identical with it. We think now, as Lincoln and Seward, Scott and Everett, thought before the actual outbreak, that the rupture of the political compact was a catastrophe that war would only aggravate. Passion has swept people and leaders alike far beyond this point. But to make complaint that spectators of the horrible con - not approved the plunge into national ruin is unreasonable almost to childishness. The communities of Europe have merely retained the power of reflection which Americans have lost in the excitement of battle. While grieving over the incidents of the war, we cannot applaud its purpose, which still seems unattainable by force. Whatever may rise out of the wreck, it will not be the old Federal Union of America. When reason could make her voice heard, that was the prediction of American statesmen, and is still the general con viction of Europe. This is the real explanation of what Americans in their present feverish state of mind cannot understand, and causes the English " want of sympathy" to appear to it, as Mr. Chan ning said, the " wonder of wonders." HERALD.—The Polish enlistment case has termi nated favourably to all parties concerned except her Majesty's Government. For the sake of avoid ing a little unpopularity with its Radical supporters the Government, so ready to pounce upon steam rams and Alexandras, declined to interfere with Lieut. Styles, who was manifestly infringing the laws of the country, and left to the Russian autho rities the responsibility of vindicating our munici pal law. The infraction of the Foreign Enlistment Act was, however, not only clearly proved against Lieut. Styles, but actually acknowledged by his counsel, and it is to the consideration of the pro secutors that this foolish young man now owes his liberty. The object they had in view was stated from the first by Mr. Poland to have been not so much the punishment of the accused as the prevention of a mad enterprise which might have led to the most mischievous results. This having been attained by the pledge voluntarily given by Lieut. Styles, and the decision of the Recorder, they virtually abandoned the prosecution. Lieut. Styles is lucky in having had to do with the Emperor of Russia. It might have fared worse with him had the prosecutor been Earl Russell at the suit of Mr. Adams. POST.—The anti-slavery meeting held on Mon day evening last in the Music Hall, Leeds, may , fairly be regarded as a type of a class of public de monstrations with which the past two years have made us familiar. The subject selected on these occasions is the American Civil War, regarded from an ultra-Federal point of view; the platform inva riably contains a solitary member of Parliament, surrounded by a few unknown clergy men and civic notabilities, and the bulk of the audience is com posed of that large class of persons which is always ready to attend any meeting whatever the admis sion to which is gratis. The resolutions are always carried by acclamation, and as their several pre posers and seconders, more frequently than other wise, affect to speak in the name of the entire Eng lish people, the proceedings of the evening are invested with all the appearance of a popular de monstration. The meeting over which Mr. Forster, the member for Bradford, presided, wanted none of the characteristics we have noted. That gentleman sustained the part of the solitary legislator. Of his companions on the platform we confess to having never before heard even the names. With respect to one of them, however, our ignorance is excusable. He was, after the chairman, the most brilliant star of the evening. The Rev. W. H. Channing, an American clergyman lately arrived from the Northern States, kindly consented to furnish the good people of Leeds with the true version of the history of the great civil war, and to clear up many of those misconceptions which the hon. chairman regretfully admitted were entertained in this country both in respect to its origin and to its pos sible consequences. It is needless to say that Mr. Channing fulfilled his task to the complete satis faction of his hearers, and the meeting cheerfully and unanimously endorsed the sentiment that the present war is prosecuted by the Northern States with a view to the wider dissemination of the prin ciples of civil and political liberty. The speakers at the Leeds meeting having in the first place as sumed that which they were bound to prove, made, as might have, been expected, extremely plausible speeches in favour of the Federal Government, If you begin by boldly asserting that the North is warring against the South for the sole object of abolishing slavery, and that the Southern States have organised a resistance from no other motive than a desire to retain in servitude those who ought to enjoy the most complete liberty, it is of course easy to prove that the population of the North are very good and philanthropic, whilst that of the South are in a corresponding degree base and wicked. And this is precisely what Mr. Forster and the Rev. Mr. Channing did on Monday even ing in the Music Hall at Leeds, and what Mr. John Bright has done over and over again, both in his place in Parliament and on the public platform. :‘ The principle at stake," as Mr. Forster expressed it, "is simply this, whether upon the continent of America the principle of slavery or the principle of freedom shall predominate." In the truth of this statement we cordially concur, though we may give to it an interpretation somewhat different from that attached to it by the hon. member for Bradford. The contest between the North and South un- doubtedly does involve a question of freedom or slavery, since its involves the question whether six millions of human beings who have hitherto enjoyed the privileges of self-government shall continue to do so or not. That this issue is at stake in the present contest no one can deny who admits that the Southern States prefer an independent government. That the victory of the North would, aowever, result in the emancipation of the South ern slaves, is, to adopt the most favourable view, extremely problematical; but even assuming that it did, the question would still remain open— whether the enfranchisement of between three and four millions of negroes war not rather dearly purchased by the extermination or enslavement of twice that number of whites. Negro emancipation, in connection with the American civil war, is one of those topics on which but very few men can be found to speak dispassionately, and it is no great matter for surprise that a member of Parliament who prides himself on being considered fanatical in his views upon that subject, and an American clergyman, fresh from New York, should have re presented the war in which the Northern States are engaged as a religious crusade specially favoured by Heaven. When a gentleman like Mr. Channing, who, it may be presumed, is acquainted with the principles of the American Constitution, describes the President's emancipation proclamation as "an honourable and proper proceeding," end when he adds, " If ever there was a noble and generous offer it was contained in that proclamation," we. now tha t it is useless to argue with him. Two centuries ago the English people discovered that the doctrine of Divine right in kings could not be sustained, and we cannot but be astonished at finding the descen dants of those who, in the reign of George 111., raised the standard of independence in the Ameri can colonies, now investing an elective magistrate with a species of Divine sanction to which, even in the middle ages the Lord's anointed did not ven __ ture to lay claim . . According to the gloss given by the present generation of American patriots to that article of the Constitution defining the office and duties of a President, a state of war converts a re sponsible governor into a despot, and empowers a magistrate, elected for a brief number of years, by a stroke of his pen to confiscate the property of many millions of his fellow-citizens. But it might be asked if the emancipation proclamation was the honour able and proper proceeding which Mr. Channing describes it to be, why did not the President of the United States extend its operation to the slave population of Maryland, Western Virginia, and of such portions of the Southern States as were sub ject to the dominion of the Federal Government ? On what principle, let us ask . " the friends of the slave"—for to this title the gentlemen who shared the platform at Leeds with Mr. Forster and Mr. Channing aspire—on what principle was it that the Federal Government, who, we are told, are warring for the abolition of slavery, conferred the blessing of liberty on the slaves of the disloyal alone? Charity is proverbially said to begin at home, and why not also the sister virtue, philate• thropy ? The work of emancipation, whenever it is in reality commenced, will, it is universa4 ad mitted, necessitate the exercise of considerable cau tion. Why, therefore, does not the President of the United States, by way of getting his hand in, begin by manumitting the slave population of Maryland ? These are questions which the true friends of the slave in this country ask, but to which they have never yet succeeded in obtaining satisfactory answers. Pending the time when those answers will be given, we must be pardoned if we stigma tise the speeches made in the Leeds Music Hill as mere hypocrisy and cant. So long as this unfortu nate war I asts we may expect that meetings will from time to time be held similar to that which we have now noticed. There is, however, one consolation which the real friends of liberty in this country can lay to heart, and that is, that no one, either on this or on the other side of the Atlantic, is deceived by demonstrations of this kind. Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur charing Iforniman's pure Tr , a ; very choice at 3s. 4d. and 4s. " High Standard" at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Bd.), is the strongest and most delicious imported. Agents in every town supply it in packets. [ADVERTISEMENT]. Holloway's Pills and Ointment. —ln angry or indolent sores, and all skin diseases origi nating in impure or weak blood or depraved secretions the joint agency of Holloway's Pills and Ointment is perfectly irresistible. It is of little consequence how long these disorders may have lasted. or how sluggish, obstinate, or maligeant they may seem, the daily application of the Ointment to the parts affected, and a course of these match less Pills will most certainly affect a cure, not temporary or superficial, but complete and permanent. Both the Oint ment and Pills are composed of rare balsams, unmixed with mercury or any other deleterious substances. They are accordingly as mild and eafe as they are powerful. Dreadful Tragedy - .—Two Children Murdered by their Father. On Tuesday evening a frightful tragedy was enacted at; West Bromwich, which occasioned much excitement throughout the town and neighbourhood, by a man named Benjamin Holding, who is employed as a " bundler" at the Albion Iron Works, Wednesbury, having murdered his daughter and son, aged respectively four years and fifteen months, by cutting their throats. It appears that Holding left off work about three o'clock on the afternoon of the day in question. About five o'clock he was sitting in the kitchen quietly reading the newspaper, when he asked his wife to go to his father's, who keeps a small greengrocer' s shop, about sixty yards distant, to fetch some potatoes. ILL a few minutes after he went to his father's house himself, when on seeing his sister and mother, who were just entering the doorway, he said, " I have done it." His sister replied, "Done what, Ben ?" He answered, " I have murdered the two children, which I have wanted to do for some tim!, and you can make the best of it and the worst of it." 111 e mother and sister, in great alarm, immediately ran off to Holding's house, where a heart. rending and horrifying spec- table presented itself. One litt e girl, Mary Jane Holding', was lying dead on the floor. On lifting the body a poo l of blood was discovered beneath it, while her throat had been so deeply cut that her head seemed as if it would fall 'lf Tha little boy, whose throat was also cut in a similar wan ner, was lying on his back on the sofa weltering i s blood. A large carving knife, about 13 inches long co vered with gore, was found on the floor of the room. The p olice were called in, but Holding did not attempt to escape. The prisoner, since he has been in the police-station, has conducted himself in a quiet manner. At eleven o'clock yesterday (Wednesday) morning Mr. Kite, police-sergea nt, went to him to ascertain the state of his mind. 11e replied to all questions in a rational manner, but (said that he had been " feeling badly in his kead," and had been low in spirits for three or four years previously. The Boner, in explanation of his conduct, said "it was trouble; but little more than this remark escaped his lips. An l e, quest on the bodies was held yesterday evening at the Red Lion Inn, before Mr. E. Hooper, the coroner for the distric t, when the above facts were elicited in evidence. COUNTRY MARKETS. NEWARK-WEDNESDAY. An average supply of wheat at our market, with a fais demand, at about 2s per qr lower than last week's prices. Barley not much in request. and prices rather lower. Beans commanded good prices. Oats a fair show, and in order to effect sales prices gave way 6d to is per qr. White wheat new, 42s to 46s ; Barley, grinding.. 219 to 32e Red do. 4os to 42s ; Oats, old, .. 27s to 30s Old white 4es to 48s 1 New do 22s to 2 49 Red do. 39s to 43s 1 Beans.. 38s to 41s I3arley, malting.... 358 to 398 1 Beans, new.. —8 to --'0 HULL—TUESDAY. At to-day's corn market there was a fair supply of Eng lish wheat, principally of the new crop, which was taken, off slowly at a decline of 2s to 3s per qr upon the prices or last week. Foreign at late rates. A good show of barleP at is utder last week's prices. Oats were not much in re quest, at rather lower rates. Beans were scarce, and 1 0 prices were made Peas unaltered. Wheat.... Old white.... per qr 46s Od to 48s 03 Old red NeNI white .. ~ New red .... ~ Barley.... English malting 3Bs Od to 40s Od Grinding 26s 6d to 28s Od Saal and Oderbruck Holstein and Danish 3os32s o O d d t o o N s s (4 Grinding. Oats English, old 26s Od to 28s Od Archangel and R 13 Riga, per st oBl2ld to ,d , Friesland and Dutch osl3d to 0 8132 u Swedish and Danish osl2kd to osl3d Beans ....English, old, per qr New pigeon 42s Od to 44s ed New tick 4os Odto 42s Od a Egyptian Peas Foreign boilers ... Grinding 34530 s Od od t t ! , 3 3 , 3 5: 0 6 ( 1 33s 6d tc 34s Od Tares .... Spring Indian Corn 3 - 4 s e 0 0 1 Linseed, feeding s2s Od to 56s Od crushing Linseed cakes (Hull) £lo 0 40 0 s Foreign Bl5 oto 9 0 u e , Rape cakes 6 0 oto 0 0 ,7 Beres .. 5 5 oto 510 u to o d to xo .5208 1 LYNN—TUESDAY. At this day's market the:show of wheat was not so liberal as last week, growers reluctantly selling their samples at 2s per qr less money There was a better supply of barley, but malting sorts were is cheaper. Beans and oats met a slosv sale at 6d to is lower. White ..45s to 47s 1 Barley 36s to 3SS Red .. . .41s to 44s I grinding . .2 8s to 325 Beans .38s to 41s I Oats .22s to 26 4 New ..—s to s 1 Peas —s to -^4 COAL Is frfoes of Coal per Ton a AItKET• the close of the market. s. d. Bat ea'sWest Hartley 15 9 alker Primrose 12 3 Car way and Duffryn Malting 2O 0 Edon Main ...17 3 8. do Wars End. Haswell . ..18 9 fieugh 119.11 17 G East Hartlepool 18 £ South Hartlepool. l7 6 Kelloe .... . ... 17 6 South Kelloe l7 6 Hetton 18 9 Tunstall Ecuth Iletton 18 6 ,et, 34 ; sold, 29. Walls End. Balmont l6 9 Caradoc lB 0 Casaop l7 9 Ships at mark, Foreign Mail Packet List. MAILS DUE. Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. ..... . Oct. 19. via Marseilles .... . Oct, 13. brazil and Cape Verds, by British packet. Oct. 5 Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. Helena.. Sept. '2B. China, Penang, and Singapore, via Southampton... Oct. 2. via Marseilles ...Sept. 21. Falkland Islands O• • • Gibraltar, via Southampton Sept. 25. India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Southampton Oct. 2 via Marseilles Sept. 27. India (Bombay), via Southampton .. Sept. 26 ' via Marseilles Oct. 5 . Portugal.... Malta, Egypt, and Aden, via Southampton Sept. ,4 " via Marseilles Oct. 11 ,; ‘ , Newfoundland Oporto and Vigo U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. packet.... Sept. 30 ) by U.S. packet.... W.C. of Africa, Madeira, and Canadian T by en riff e packet. Sept. 2,5 * e Bahamas, via New York . Oat. 22. Mexico.. All parts of 'West Indies, including Chili, Peru, 1 Sept. 2B. California. and British Columbia LEWES SHEEP FAlR.—This annual fair, which 1 0 the largest and most important of this description held in the county of Sussex, took place on Monday on the Downs overlooking the town of Lewes, and brought together a large concourse of persons bent on business and pleasure. The average number of sheep sent to this fair for some years back has been about 30,000, on one occasion recently the number having been 36,000; but this year, owing to a variety of causes, the supply fell considerably short of this, only 24,000 being penned. For the most part, however, the sheep were in first-rate condition. There was a Large at' tendanco of fiockmasters from all parts of the county, be sides many dealers who had come from distant grazing dis tricts. At the commencement of the fair rather stiff prices were asked by the sellers, which had the effect of check ing sales to some extent, as the purchasers had evidently made up their minds to act with caution. Finding it of no use, however, the buyers gave way, and a large number of sheep changed hands at a comparatively high figure. The prices for ewes, in which a brisk trade was done, varied from 30e. to 475. 6d., although one exceptional lot was purchased so low as 275, per head. Lambs were in great request, and commanded higher prices than have been obtained at this fair for ten years previously, they ranging from 245. to 365. each. There was a good supply of ram! for letting and hire, for which the demand was active, as a they moved off at prices ranging from 9 to 15 gulag{ per head. There was a tolerably fair supply of lean stock arid horses, but they did not appear to bo much in request. A drove of about 100 Irish heifers met with a ready sale, at prices averaging about ten guineas each. Several smart showers of rain fell during the day, but this did not inter fere with business to any material extent. Births. -- - GONER.—On the 22d inst., at 35, Eaton - place, the Hon. Mrs. Leveson Gower, of a son and heir. MIDDLETON.—On the 18th inst., at Applecross House, Bess-shire, N. 8., the Lady Middleton, of a son. SCLATER.—On the 23d inst.. at 15, Lower Belgrava.street, the wife of Philip Lutley Sclater, Esq., of a son. WESTALL.—On the 22d inst., at 11, Milner-square, Isling ton, Mrs. T. Westall, of a son, Marriages. K I NG—HAMILTON.—On the 22d inst., at saint Alpheget Greenwich, Henry S. King, Esq., of Manor House, Chigwell, Essex, to Harriet Eleanor, eldest daughter of Admiral and Lady H arr i et Baillie Hamilton. OuLD—BAstnE.—On the 22d inst., at St. Andrew's, Thornhill,quare, Edwin Ould, Esq, of:Princess-terrace. Regent's-park, to Mary, fourth daughter of Jas. Bashes Esq., of Huntingdon-street, Barusbury-park, Deaths. BARRETT —On the 21st inst., Ann Ranger, wife of Mr. J. Barrett, Esq., of Merrick-square, Newington. DICKINS.—On the 21st inst., Anna Eliza, wife of Fred. 0. Dickins, Esq , of East Mulling. Kent, aged 53. llrrcacocK... -On the 22d inst., at Norfolk-crescent, Hyde• park, George Hitchcock, Eq., aged 58. Moon.—On the 19th inst : , at Buntingford, Herts, William Henry Moor, EFq., M.D., aged 33: MORLAND,—On the 21st inst., at Abingdon, Elizabeth Rose, relict of the late Benjamin Morland, of Sheepstead, Burks, aged 91. MUIRHEAD.—On the 18th inst., at Orcadia Villa, Island of Bute, Dr. Alexander Muirhead, R.N. WArrort.—On the 19th inst., in London, the Rev. Wm. Walton, 2M.A.,F.R.5., rector of Great Moulton, Norfolk, aged 73. , London : Prin W - Wt.' z,d and 1 - Nblished tr y I LLIAM ANDRE, of No. 112 Strand, Pr i n ter, at THE S UN ''UN Office No. Ir, Strand, in the Precinct of the Savo y , in the county of September 21, .IbOa ik Th, t, l oBe r rem vow, Passe cor m , "ccou t r i., tel 11: ken, .Thi At Aarth kbils tow Th( eh a , their Por .t reef friar; XT: t9ie c , Ni F 1 1I 011 1 . ,orr ra ge , lq a:va Ar Tr .„INa ; 1E65, ou