The Sun. — London, England, 1844-08-05 00:00:00

ebirlY Ebttion SUN OFFICE, Seven o' Clock. SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS. FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAY. GLOBE.—The conduct of the Admiralty in the case of Lieutenant Gray, tried last week by a Court-martial, at the instance of the French Government, for boarding and searching a French slaver, without an Admiralty warrant for that purpose. has induced considerable sur prise, mingled with disapprobation, throughout both branches of the service. The nature of the charges which Lieutenant Gray was called upon to answer ; the evidence adduced in their support ; and the decision of the Court upon the case—have also been freely can vassed in all circles. The general opinion is, that the proceedings taken against Lieutenant Gray are calcu lated to embarrass our officers when employed on such service as that on which that gallant officer was engaged at the time when the alleged disobe dience of orders was committed. Nor does the Bri tish Government appear, by its conduct in the trans action, to have sustained the honour and indepen dence of the British flag. A truckling to French dic tation—a disposition to gratify the incendiary ravings of the anti-British faction, which is endeavouring to rouse public feeling in France into a cry for a war with England—is recognised in this surrender of a British officer for trial, on such charges as those which were preferred against Lieutenant Gray. The extraordinary kind of evidence which was admitted by the Court in support of the charge against the prisoner, and the judg ment—apparently unsupported by the evidence—have also contributed to excite sympathy for Lieut. Gray, and to fasten a large portion of condemnation on the Admiralty, and on Lord Aberdeen, as Foreign Secretary. The first charge upon which Lieutenant Gray was put upon his trial was —" For disobedience of orders on the coast of Africa, on the 4th of July, 1842, in causing the French vessel Luiz d'Albuquerque to be detained and searched, she having at the time displayed her proper colours, indi cating the nation to which she belonged, and no sufficient cause having existed for suspecting such colours to be false." The evidence proved that Lieut. Gray received special orders to watch for a slaver, the description of which was furnished to him for his guidance. A vessel (the Luiz d'Albuquerque) strongly resembling that alluded to in his orders, hove in sight. He gave chase. She hoisted French colours. He came up with her—boarded her ; and, to ascertain her true character, overhauled her papers. The evidence before the Court martial fully showed that there were passengers on board whose names were not iaserted in the ship's papers. A further examination of the vessel exhibited food, such as is invariably used for the sustenance of slaves on their transit, and scarcely ever used for any other purpose. The searchers also discovered manacles for fastening the slaves to each other, and to the deck—the vessel had a slave-deck; and in other respects showed the kind of service in which she was engaged. But she hoisted French colours! And the boarding and searching of the Luiz d'Albuquerque was, therefore, lan affront to the French nation—an insult to the French flag! Do not Brazilian slavers sometimes hoist French colours and American colours, for the manifest purpose of inducing a belief that they are protected by those flags in the vile traffic they are engaged in ? Once on board, the only mode of satisfying the officer as to what she was, and to whom she belonged, was to inspect the vessel, and examine her papers. Everything on board tended to confirm the belief that the Albuquerque was a slaver. That she was really a French vessel could only be ascertained by the search he insti tuted. The papers produced, in order to induce a belief that she was French, were manifestly fabricated. " The log was written on sheets of raper apparently done that morning "—[the chase lsssted twenty-four hours.]. Capt. Foote, who commaried on the station to which Lieut. Gray belonged, and who was examined on the Court martial, was asked by Lieutenant Gray :—" Would you have been satisfied with my conduct if I had not examined the papers of the Luiz d'Albu querque under the circumstances ?" We beg special attention to the answer of Captain Foote :—" If I had received information that Lieutenant Gray had seen a vessel which hoisted French colours, and had not ascer tained her nationality, I should have been very highly displeased ; because I consider that the mere display of a French flag may be done by the most arrant Brazilian and Portuguese slaver, to avoid capture ; and it is very frequently done on the west coast of Africa, both with the French and American flags." Evidence was also given by British officers who had been engaged in the same service, that it was the practice, of British commanders to board ves sels suspected to be slavers, in order to as certain their nationality. In the teeth of evidence such as that we have epitomized, and notwithstanding the ab solutely exculpatory evidence of Captain Foote, the Court-martial found. that "the first charge was proved !" On the two others they acquitted the prisoner; and :they sentenced him to be reprimanded, and enjoined him to be "' more cautious in future !" To be sure they had one description of testimony to which we have not speci fically alluded—strong enough against the accused, in all conscience ; but not exactly the kind of evidence which courts of law,: whether military or civil, have been in the habit of receiving. The Court-martial which tried and convicted Lieut. Gray, and sentenced him to be reprimanded, actually received as evidence a leading article of La Presse, a French newspaper; which embodied a statement of Capt. Belle, the master of the Luiz d'Albuquerque. This statement—which, it must be admitted, emanated from a source of all others the most likely to be prejudiced, and was furnished by the individual most interested in giving an exaggerated, if not absolutely false, account of the transaction—was actually put in by the Admiralty, as a part of the proof in support of a charge against a British officer ; and it was admitted as evidence by the Court! The statement contained in the French paper is false upon the face of it. It is declared to be so by the untainted declara tion of the gallant officer whose conduct was the sub ject of inquiry. It is worth nothing—except indeed that it affords another proof of the length to which the war faction in Paris will proceed, in endeavouring to foment a hostile feeling between the two countries ; and of the pusillanimity of Lord Aberdeen. In this, as in the Otaheite affair, a show of resistance made by him to the claims, or even a disregard of the clamours, of the war party, would have intimated, in a way that would have been understood, that however much their bullyings might work upon the fears of their own government, they were treated as they deserved by that of England. STANDARD.—We understand that in consequence of the remonstrance of our Government, with reference to the violence offered to the (late) British Consul at Otaheite, in March last, by the French autho rities, a letter has been brought under the no tice of the British Ambassador at Paris, written by Mr. Pritchard upon the ith of November, 1843. This letter, we have been informed, consists of two paragraphs, one of which contains his resignation of the consulship ; the other is a protest, in his own name, against the deposition of Queen Pomare. We learn too that Mr. Pritchard, after the cessation of his consulship, followed up his protest by several acts tend ing to inculcate the belief that the Government of Great Britain would send a flee in aid of the Otaheiteans, so that upon the appearance of her Majesty's steam-ship the Cormorant, the greatest excitement was occasioned from the expectation that she was one of the coming fleet ; in consequence of this the captain was invited to withdraw, and Mr. Pritchard, who was arrested while on his way to the vessel, was subsequently put en board of her, upon the condition that he should not be landed on any one of the Society Islands. We learn further that the dispatch of Captain Brunt of the 13th of March, describing and justifying the expulsion of Mr. Pritchard, appeals to the very different conduct pursued with regard to Mr. Orsmond, the reverend colleague of Mr. Pritchard, who, if we may credit Captain Brunt, not only did not join his brother missionary, but endeavoured to dissuade him from the course he was pursuing. Upon Mr. Orsmond the highest •logium is pronounced in this dispatch. Such is the tenour of the important information we have received. This new view of the affair will be seen considerably to alter its character. The original wrong committed by Admiral Dupetit Thouars, in usurping the absolute sovereignty of the island, a wrong frankly and handsomely acknow ledged by the French Government, and, as far as time and distance would permit, repaired—this original wrong remains unaltered, but the consequences flowing from that wrong may be greatly coloured by circumstances. It is obvious that if some proportion is not ob served between the first provocation and the means of retaliation resorted to, there can be scarcely any extravagance of outrage which may not be justified, or which it will be lawful to punish. Our own quarrel with China affords an example in point. We were, we think, clearly the wrong-doers in the first instance, but the - Chinese retaliated so enormously beyond the just propor tion as to leave a heavy balance of injury in our favour, and we took care to exact it. Now, it is possible to believe that something of the kind may have arisen at Otaheite, even without giving credit to all the ex aggregations of the Sleek. And passing by this hypo -thesis of disproportional retaliation, we can imagine an other, which would relieve the Government of this country from all responsibility in this matter. After the complaint of the Queen and the British inhabit ants had been remitted in form to Europe, it is .plain that they were bound to rest there, as far as regarded their relations with this country. It was undoubtedly open to them to get rid of the usurped authority of their oppressors, if they could, and we should blame neither native Otaheitan nor naturalised Englishmen for making the attempt, could it be made with any prospect of success ; but though they were clearly entitled to vindicate their liberty by them -selves, having applied and, as it turned out, applied in every sense successfully for the mediation of Great Britain, they had no right to shift their ground, and call for the support of Great Britain in a civil war against the de facto government, either organised or • actually waged without her knowledge or consent. It is possible that Mr. Pritchard, having formally divested himself of the character of a British Consul, may have identified himself with the people among whom he had so long enjoyed hospitality and kindness ; and, adopting their feelings, may have gone further than, as a British subject, he ought to do in hostility to the de facto, though usurping, government. In this he would do no more than any honourable, warm-hearted man might be expected to do, though more, certainly, than any regular Government of o ur a g e could support him in doing. There seems to be something a =bus in allowing to a defacto Governm ent, founded no in wrong, any rights ; but still experience has shown, in the manifold evils of private war, that it is, . on the whole, conducive to the safety and happiness of the human race to allow to even a merely de facto Government such a pre .sumption of right as shall protect it from being irregularly attacked by other Governments, and to prevent other Governments throwing their shield (mar those who irregularly attack it. We carry the principle even lower than the case of Govern ments ; we carry it down to individuals. Suppose a ship attacked in the Channel by another bearing, say the flag of France. The owner of the ship attacked carries his complaint to Downing-street, whence it is duly remitted to Paris, and a just reparation is made. But suppose the owner of the injured ship "to take," as we say, " the law into his own hands," and upon the next opportunity to get foul of his late assailant, and again to get the worst of it, the British Government would certainly give him no help in the quarrel now of his own seeking. If the case of Mr. Pritchard's conduct at Otaheite has been similar to the case last supposed, we do not see why it must not be governed by the same principle ? We do not pretend to say that Mr. Pritchard has been moving a private war against the de facto Government at Otaheite; but, if he has been doing so, much as we may admire his generosity and courage, we cannot honour his prudence, or give him great credit for a care for the interests of his native country. We must say one word, too, for the members of the de facto Government in the Society Islands. In March that Government must have believed that they were exercising legitimately an authority derived from their Sovereign ; they are, therefore, scarcely to be blamed, if they vindicated that authority without any unnecessary violence or cruelty ; and if they found Mr. Pritchard, who was no longer a consul, exciting a bad feeling against their government, it was their right, as well as their duty, to deport him. The original wrong-doer in such cases is commonly the only wrong-doer, for they who derive from him a de facto authority which they are taught to believe also an authority de jure, must, to the best of their judgment, act upon that au thority. We say this much in justice to all parties, for as to the affair itself, we think it cannot possibly end in anything serious. Such misunderstandings must be ex pected to be constantly arising, but it is only when they occur between ill-disposed or extremely silly persons, that there can be any difficulty in accommodating them satisfactorily. IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. (THIS EVENING.) HOUSE OF LORDS. Their Lordships met at Five o'Clock. Several Bills brought up from the Commons were read a first time. THE POST-OFFICE INQUIRY. The Earl of RADNOR laid on the table a Bill relating to the unconstitutional conduct of the Secretary for the Home Department. Ile did not understand why that Secretary was under any necessity to be the agent of Foreign Powers. The Duke of WELLINGTON said that he thought it would be better to postpone any discussion till a future stage. The conversation then dropped. The Marquis of CLANRICARDE presented a peti tion from holders of Church property, complaining of certain acts of the Church Commissioners. The IN oble Marquis insisted that the Legislature had no more right to interfere with property of this kind than with an other property. (LEFT SITTING.) HOUSE OF COMMONS. (Continued from our Afternoon Edition.) The House resumed at Five o'clock. NOTICES OF MOTION. Mr. HAWES gave notice that next session he should move for certain returns relating to savings banks. Also for a Committee to inquire whether the Royal Academy had been favourable or prejudicial to the progress of the fine arts in this country ; and also for a Committee to in quire into the proceedings of the Trinity-house, Deptford, Stroud, and how far they had carried out the recom mendation'of that House made in 1834. Lord WORSLEY gave notice, that next session he should move for leave to bring in a Bill to facilitate the enclosure of commons. PRIVATE BILLS. Mr. GLADSTONE then rose, for the purpose of bringing forward the motion of which he had given notice some days ago, and which he hoped would meet with the general approbation of the House. The mo tion was founded on the recommendations of the Select Committee on railways. It went beyond these recommendations because the functions of the Select Committee were confined to Railway Bills. It was found desirable to apply the same principle which had been applied to Railway Bills to private Bills of other descriptions. The present measure was in order to establish greater certainty and uniformity with re spect to the law on this subject, and to make it more acceptable and intelligible to the public. It would also convenience those who introduced Bills into the House, because it would enable them to shorten those Bills. The clauses of the model Bill were about 350, and all Railway Bills which passed that House contained from 300 to 400 clauses. The expense a printing and engrossing those Bills cost a considerable sum of money. He did not propose that those Bills should pass into a law during the present session— (Laughter.) He would not have the courage to make such a proposition at the present period of the session, but it was desirable to have them printed, so that the attention of the parties, Parliamentary agents, and others interested in these Bills, might have their attention drawn to them. By having the Bills printed, they would, if susceptible of improvement, have the best advice and the soundest suggestions on the subject, and at the opening of the next session they could pass those Bills at once, so that the private Bills of the next session might derive the advantage of the improvement. The advantage of those Bills would be that instead of consisting of 300 or 400 clauses, the number of clauses would now be reduced to a moderate number of intelligible ones. He would now state what those Bills contained. The three Bills he proposed tt, lay on the table of the House comprised the whole of the Model Bill, as to its substantial enactments. But they broke up the subject matter of it into three parts, because it had reference to the three classes of under takings. The first Bill he proposed was a Bill which would apply, when it became a general Act, to all pri vate Bills that might be introduced into the House for the purpose of incorporating trading companies. In the second, he intended to include all thost provisions with respect to companies not merely seeking to be incorporated but requiring compulsory powers to pur chase and hold lands. This Bill would include railway, harbour, canal, and gas Bills, which require compulsory powers. With regard to the third Bill, that would be still more restrictive in the range of private Bill to which it would be applicable. This Bill would specifically correspond with the recommendation of the Railway Committee. •It would be applicable in its pro visions to Railway Bills, in respect to those features which belonged to them exclusively, and not in common with :other Bills for the execution of public works. Having described the general purview of those Bills, he had to say that in the first Bill, he did not mean to propose anything worth mentioning. except what was already in the Model Bill. In the second Bill he proposed to introduce an enactment which had been frequently recemmended to Government — namely, the introduction of an exceptional provision in the present law which provides for the compensation for lands by reference to a jury. Now he proposed that where the value of the land in question was not more than a certain amount-1,0001., the parties might have the option of settling the question by arbitration. He did not take it from the jury as a matter of course, but it would be optional for either a of the parties to remove it from a jury and refer it to another tribunal. It happened, singularly enough, that the proposition had often been made to them both from railway companies and from landed proprietors, that they should be allowed to submit these small valuations to arbitration. He, there fore, proposed to insert in the Bill a proposition to this effect. In the third Bill he proposed to add a second proposition, giving a discretionary power to the Government and the Board of Trade, of allow ing certain deviations in engineering works from the prescribed models, in cases where it was proved this could be done with increased advantage to the public, and without any detriment to private rights. In consequence of the advanced state of science, the estimates for public works could now be made with greater accurateness than they could be a few years ago. Another very important matter he proposed to include, was a general provision with regard to what was called the equal rates clause. At present there was not a perfect uniformity of privi lege as between the different railway companies as to the power of varying their charges. Some companies had no power of varying the rates of their fares at all ; others had the power to do so, provided the rate was made uniform throughout the whole of the company's line. That clause was now subject to some ambiguity. They could not devise a clause that should exactly define the rate in all cases, but it was obviously a subject of great importance and great difficulty. Sometimes it was for the interest of the public that there should be a power of varying the rates. At present, in some cases, it might be varied, but only to a rate that should be equal and uniform all along the line, though it might be more advantageous to have a lower rate along one part of the line than along another. He therefore pro posed to insert a clause giving power to make these variations with those exceptions and reservations in cases which experience had shown ought to be so limited. The lower to vary the rates applied also to the carriage of goods, but also with certain restriction s : He did not think there was any other particular which he had to mention to the House, and he therefore simply begged to move his propositions, and also to propose a slight alteration in the title of the Bill. Mr. HUME wished to know whether any power was taken by Government of interfering with the accommo dation for third-class passengers. It was quite a disgrace to Parliament to sanction a monopoly which obliged the poorer class to stand like cattle, exposed to the air. It was impossible to see a railroad, without feeling ashamed of this conntry, as compared with Belgium and other continental countries. Mr. GLADSTONE would not say that this might not be a fit matter for consideration at some other time, but he did not think it a proper occasion, when they were dissussing the general principles of railway mat ters.—(Hear, hear.) Mr. HUME asked whether any power had been given by the Bill which had been passed in that House, of re fusing the remission of the taxation of 5 per cent., when the accommodation provided for third-class passengers was not considered sufficient? Mr. GLADSTONE said he believed that under this Bill a discretionary power of that kind was vested in the Chancellor of the Exchequer. Leave was then given to bring in the Bill. Leave was also given to bring in a Bill for consoli dating in one Act certain provision s usua ll y i nserte d i n Acts of Parliament, authorising the taking of lands for undertekingS Of A public nature. THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, AUGUST 5, 1844. MERCHANT SEAMEN'S FUND ACTS. The House then went into Committee on these Acts, when Mr. GLADSTONE rose to move for leave to bring in a Bill to amend the law relating to the relief and support, in certain cases, of merchant seamen, their widows, and chil dren. The Right Hon Gentleman said the Bill which he wished to bring in affected the interests and prospects of a class of men which that House, as well as the whole country, regarded with fellings of great interest—he meant the merchant seamen of this conntry, a class who were the least disposed to complain.— (Hear, hear.) They were, it was true, dissatisfied with the state of theseamens' fund, but his only surprise was that they were not a hundred times more so. 'They did not object to the compulsory payment of a tax out of their wages, but they did wish to see the funds on a more satisfactory footing. He thought that the pensions that were given to these parties ought to equalised. The fund was in the nature of an insurance, and it ought to come back to the subscribers. It was contrary to all principle to consider it as a cer tainty. It was not of an eleemosynary charac ter. It should be administered as the savings banks were administered. They ought to make the best of it. It ought to be uniformly administered. He thought too much was devoted to the expenses of management, there was nothing like wilful mismanage ment of the fund, but the expense would be less if it were taken into the hands of a public department. Then with regard to the remedy, there was a great want of data on which to found calculations. He proposed that a measure should be passed for not less than seven, or for more than ten years. lie also proposed that the pension should be centralised but not the management. The effect of this would be, that there would be a uniform system of pensions all over the country. SUMMER ASSIZES. HOME ClRCUlT.—Guildford, Aug. 3. CROWN SlDE.—(Before Mr. Baron GURNEY.) George Hart, 17, and David Chilton, 17, were in dicted, under the statute, for unlawfully setting fire to certain growing heath and furze, the property of Robert Munro. Mr. Locke appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Charnock defended the prisoner. Mr. LOCKE, in addressing the jury, explained that the present indictment was framed under a statute which made it felony for any person to wilfully set fire to any growing crop of corn, heath, or furze, and subjected them to be transported for seven years, or for such term of imprisonment as the Court might direct. The Learned Counsel then went on to say that the prosecutor was a, gentleman residing at Godalming, and he possessed a good deal of property in that neighbourhood. On the day mentioned in the indictment the prisoners were observed by a woman to go up to the furze, and with a lucifer match set fire to it in several places. They ran off, but were pursued, and taken into custody, and on their being searched, a pistol and a quantity of gunpowder were found in the possession of them, and upon the other no less than twenty-two boxes of lucifer matches. The above facts were clearly proved in evidence, and the jury returned a verdict of guilty. Mr. Baron GURNEY sentenced the prisoner to be transported for seven years. Jane Filar, aged thirty, was indicted for the mur der of her new-born male child. Mr. Charnock defended the prisoner. It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner had been cook in the service of a gentleman at Guild ford. On the 28th May she appeered to be very ill, and at night one of the servants observed her to go down to the water-closet, and she followed her, and, according to her statement, shortly afterwards heard the cry of a child. An alarm was given, and the body of a child was taken out df the closet, and the surgeon who was called in to examine it, expressed his opinion, from certain circumstances, that the infant had been born alive. There was, however, no posi tive evidence as to this fact, except the testimony of the servant, who stated that she heard the child cry; but upon cross•examination she admitted that she might have been mistaken. The jury found the prisoner guilty of concealing the birth of the child, and she was sentenced to six months' imprisonment. John Smith, 17, was indicted for a misdemeanour. It appeared from the evidence of a police-constable named Timsley, that, about one o'clock in the day on the 26th Jury, he saw the prisoner bathing in the Surrey Canal, and he came out of the water quite naked, and just as a train was passing along the rail way he turned towards it, and behaved in a very indecent manner The jury found the defendant guilty, and Mr. Baron GURNEY sentenced him to be imprisoned for four months, at the same time remarking, that if the defendant had been convicted summarily by the magistrate, he might have been sentenced to hard labour ; but in the present form of proceeding by in dictment, he had no power to affix hard labour to the sentence. His Lordship got through all the criminal business by twelve o'clock, and he then proceeded to dispose of some common jury causes, and he will sit again on Monday (this day) for that purpose. The business on the Civil side hitherto has not con tained any feature of public interest. NORTHERN ClRCUlT.—Netccastle, Aug. 3. (Before the LORD CHIEF BARON.) Mark Sherwood, a grey-haired man above the middle age, and whose face bore traces of habitual indulgence in spirituous liquors, was indicted for the wilful murder of his wife, Ann Sherwood, on the 14th of March last, by cutting her throat. Mr. Ingham and Mr. Unthank conducted the prosecu tion ; the prisoner was defended by Mr. Wilkins. Mr. INGHAM stated the case, and proceeded to call the witnesses. Ann Sutherland—l lived at Oakwell-gate, in Gates head, at the time of this occurrence. The deceased was my mother's sister. On the 14th March she and the prisoner lived in Bradford. street. I was at the house about seven o'clock in the evening of the 13th. When I knocked my aunt came to the door. I went into the kitchen in the front room. I found no one in the room but my aunt. I asked if she had heard any word about her husband. She said yes, she had heard he was in the town. She said he was in the closet, and she told him to come out. He came out and shook hands with rne. He said something about forgiving, but I do not know to whom he applied the word. She upbraided him about selling a waistcoat and a pair of shoes. I told her not to mind, he would get his waistcoat back again. He said he would. She said it would be like all the rest of his gettings. He said he had got 3s. for it, and had made a bargain to get it back again for the same money. He said if she would give him 6s. he would go out and not come back again that night. She said if she gave it he would only drink it, and come in to her again. She said, " You know what you made me swear upon the Bible to-day, what you was going to do to me." I asked her what it was. She said she could not tell me what it was. She said she could not tell me or any one what it was, but she was glad I had come to see her living. She then drew her hand once or twice across her throat. He then asked herjto let him stop till six in the morning, and then he would go to Gateshead and look for work, and not trouble her any more. I asked her to let him stop. He came round the table, took me by both the hands, and going on his knees, said, God would bless me if I was a mediater of peace that night. He said he had a blister on his foot, and asked me to feel it, but I said, " Oh, yes," as I wished her to let him stop. I then went out, and bid them good night. I came the next morning a little after eight. I rapped at the door several times, and called out. The prisoner ran up the steps to the door and said, " Who are you ?" I asked for my aunt, and he said she had gone out to Gobbys, a woman called Richardson. He said she had got the key with her. I told him to tell my aunt I had been there, and would come back again. He said, " Yes, yes," quick, in his usual way. He went down the stairs steadily, for I listened at the door. I went to Mrs. Richardson, and my aunt was not there. I went back to my aunt's about eleven. I went to the door and it was fast. I rapped, and received no answer. I went to Mrs. Ormiston's and asked for my aunt. I borrowed a key from Mary Or miston, and opened the door. I went down the stairs. I saw my aunt lying on the floor with her hand stretched out, and I ran off directly to Mrs. Ormiston's and fell at their door. Cross-examined—I never heard him upbraid her with making whisky. The night before they had some words, and she took up her clothes and slapped a part of her person. I told her I did not like to see conduct of that kind, and I would not stop to witness it. My aunt was quick tempered. He did not say anything about my stopping all night. When I went in the evening the door was locked. My aunt locked it again. I saw no whisky. She said she had given him the last threepence to get him a glass. My aunt had no other residence at this time. I had no quarrel with the prisoner but once, a long time ago. Agnes Little—l live in Blandford-street, about twenty yards from the house of the deceased. I saw the last witness about eleven o'clock at Mr. Ormiston's back door. I ran down the stairs into the prisoner's house. I saw the deceased lying on her right side, with her throat cut. 'The prisoner was lying on his face with his great coat on. His hat had fallen off. I knew the deceased only to speak to Mary Ormiston. Gave an account of the room similar to that given by the last witness. The deceased used to come for milk to the house of witness's mother, usually between seven and eight. She did not come that morning. John Ormiston, brother to the last witness, stated that the prisoner and deceased rented the room they occupied from his father; they had been there two years and a half. I heard the alarm on the morning of the 14th. I ran down stairs, and the first thing I saw was the de ceased. Her throat was cut on the left side, and her head lying over to the other side. There was a great deal of blood where she lay. I saw no blood anywhere else. About eight days after I found in a drawer a piece of soap all bloody. The, prisoner, when I went in, was lying on his face near the window. There was fire in the grate. I sent for a policeman. Mr. Carr and Mr. Taylor came. I remained there till about three o'clock in the evening. There was only one window in each of the apartments, that in the front room looking into the street. The receipts for rent were given in the name of King. She was known by several names, usually Nannie. William Carr, surgeon—On the 14th of last March I went with the last witness to see the body of the de ceased. She was lying on the floor on her back. There was a wound in the throat five inches in length ; it was superficial on the right side, but deeper on the left. It was a transverse wound. This was joined by another wound from below the chin downwards. Both carotid arteries and jugular veins were divided. There was also a very free opening into the windpipe. The wound had been inflicted from left to right. Death would be instantaneous. I do not think the de ceased could have inflicted the wound herself. The wound must have been inflicted as she lay. There was no blood on any other part of her person. There were two tranverse wounds over the left jaw bone. A super ficial wound below the left eye. On the thumb of the right hand were two very deep wounds, and on the in side of the fingers of the same hand were three super ficial ones. The middle finger was not cut. On the back of the left wrist was also a trifling cut. There ap peared to have been a violent struggle. There was a cut on the gown in front, four inches and a half in length. It divided the gown, the lining, and a double handker chief. There were three cuts on the stays, one on each side of the busk, and one on the busk itself, dividing the case in which the busk is lodged. The prisoner, when I saw him, was lying on the floor, about a yard from the deceased, on his belly. He was quite insens ible, and appeared to h ave vomited. I turned him on his back, and on examining him I concluded he had taken a large quantity of drink. I sent to the infirmary for a stomach pump. Mr. Taylor came with it. We emptied the sto mach of its contents, whisky and water. After a very considerable time he recovered. He was not out of dan ger till about three o'clock in the afternoon. For some time at first he sunk, and was almost pulseless. His life was in very great jeopardy. He would have certainly died without medical assistance. I saw two razor blades taken out of the fire. There was a basin in the room containing blood and soapy water. His bands were clean, and seemed to have been recently washed. I examined his person on the Saturday, two days after. There were a few. insignificant scratches on the palm of each hand, and on the back of the ring-finger of the left hand. I made a post mortem examination of deceased on the even ing of Thursday. The stomach was empty, and firmly contracted. She must have been six or eight hours with out food. She had not been dead less than two hours. nor more than four, when I saw her at half-past eleven, The prisoner could not have been more than an hour in the state I saw him. Mr. Taylor gave similar testimony. Sarah Richardson—l live in the Castle-Barth, in New castle. I knew the deceased. She was not at my house on the morning of the 14th. Cross-examined—l knew the deceased, from her coming to my house for firewood. I was never at the house in Blandford-street. I never sold any whisky for her. I did not know she made whisky. I sell firewood. My husband is a labouring man. Thomas Jenkins—l am a policeman. I went to the house with Mr. Little, about half-past eleven. Dr. Carr was there. I made a bed for the prisoner in the corner next the fire. I went into the closet to get the clothes. The things were disturbed. The clothes were all off together at one side, as if they had been slept in that night. There was a jug on a low table beside the prisoner. It contained about a pint of whisky. There was a little fire in the grate, but it was not perceptible until I began to stir it, when the doctor told me to make a fire. Two razor blades dropped out. I got a light and went into the back room. I found a still, and wash working in a barrel. There were about two or three quarts of whisky in a jar. The prisoner had two coats, two waistcoats, trousers, and shoes. His hat was lying at one side. There was a small bottle of whisky in his coat pocket. Cross-examined--The clothes were off the bed, as if they had been thrown on one side by some one getting up. There was a hand-brush lying near the deceased. It was about a yard off. It appeared to have been worn a little. There was some blood on it. It was lying among the blood. Ralph Little, inspector of police, gave similar testi mony to that of the last witness. A towel, some pieces of soap, and other articles were found on the prisoner. The prisoner came to his senses at four o'clock in the afternoon. He looked at me and said, " Little, I know you, take my defence now." We were raising him up to keep him from sleeping, and he said, " Let me lie, for my days are numbered." I found a key hanging on a nail inside the door, which opens the lock. The day after I examined the prisoner's dress. He had his top coat on. There was vomit on it, and apparently marks of blood. I took his shirt off. There was a good deal of blood on the left wrist. Edward Latimer proved that the window was fastened in the inside. Mr. WILK'Ns addressed the jury for the defence, con tending that the facts of the case showed that this was in all human possibility a case not of murder, but of man slaughter. He could not deny that this unfortunate woman had come by her death at the hand of the pri soner at the bar ; but if they should think that the un fortunate blow was struck by the man without premedi tation in the course of the scuffle provoked by her, in which she was the assailant, and in the course of which she had by her taunts continued to irritate him to mad ness, it would be manslaughter only. He submitted that all the facts bore out this view of the case. His conduct as contrasted with her's the evening before—the time at which the unfortunate woman came by her death —the instrument which had been employed, and which, as the counsel for the prosecution had stated, the pri soner was in the daily habit of using about that hour — the hand brush lying on the ground near the hand of the deceased, all tended to show that the husband had in the morning been again assailed with violence and abuse at a time when he had the razor in his hand, and that in a moment of passion, arising from this violence, the fatal blow was struck, which deprived the unfortunate woman of her life. His LORDSHIP summed up. The rule of law was that when one person was wilfully the cause of the death of ano ther, he was prima facie chargeable with murder. If, how ever, the death arises from a blow struck in a conflict com menced without any such intention, and where the party inflicting the blow has been the object of personal violence, in some cases it may be manslaughter. It is, not, how ever, every amount of assault which would reduce the crime to manslaughter. An attack of a grievous cha racter, followed by instant retaliation, producing death, would frequently be of this kind, but in every case the nature of the attack, if any, and the nature of the re taliation must be taken into consideration. The offence would still be murder, if a slight attack were resented with a murderous weapon, such as would probably, in the knowledge of the party using it, produce death. No mere words would be sufficient provocation ; but, if there was any conflict whatever, the language accompanying it, if of a highly irritating character, and such as would naturally excite a man's anger as much as the most grievous assault, might very properly be taken into con sideration. The great question which they had now to consider was, whether they were satisfied that anything occurred on that morning which would bring the present case within the scope of the principles so laid down, and reduce the offence from the higher to the lower class. His Lordship then went through the evidence with great care and minuteness. The jury remained in consultation upwards of six hours, and finally returned a verdict of Guilty of murder. Sentence was passed on the prisoner in the usual form. WESTERN ClRCUlT.—Bodmin, Aug. 1. CIVIL SlDE.—(Before Mr. Justice WIG HTMAN and a Special Jury.) SEDUCTION.-KEA.SH V. HAWKE. This was an action brought by the plaintiff, a farmer, residing at Melluish, in this county, against the defend ant, to recover compensation for the seduction of his (the plaintiff's) daughter. Mr. Crowder and Mr. Butt were for the plaintiff; Mr. Cockburn and Mr. Greenwood appeared for the defendant. Mr. CROWDER having stated the case to the jury, called the young lady who had been seduced by the de fendant. She stated that her father was a farmer, re siding at Melluish; that she had three sisters, two older than herself, who were living in gentlemen's families, and one younger, living at home. In 1841 she went to live with the defendant (who was a widower), in the capacity of housekeeper. It was her duty to look after the house generally, and direct the other servants kept by the defendant. She took her meals with him, and was present in the parlour when he had company. At the time that she went there, a young man by the name of Fowell kept company with her, and used, once now and then, to come and see her. About three months after she entered the defendant's service, he commenced paying attentions to her. He first began by requesting her to dismiss her suitor, Fowell, which she did. He then grew more bold and warm, and assured her that he had never seen any one since the death of his wife that he liked as much as herself, and offered to make her his wife. She, in reply, made objections, on account of his family, who, she said, would not be willing, and because she had no fortune. He said he did not care for that, for that he had enough for them both. After this his attentions continued, and she considered herself engaged to him. She used to sit up with him at night, after the other servants were gone to bed, and for a time nothing could be more proper or respectful than his conduct. She was accustomed to take hot—water to his room. One morning, when she did this, he be haved very rudely to her. He did not, however, succeed in his wishes, but she got away from him, and went into her own room, where she sat crying. After a short time the defendant came in there, asked her to forgive him, and promised the offence should never be repeated. At first she said she would not forgive it, but would commu nicate the circumstance to her parents ; but the contri tion r e e x l e p n r t e e s d s . e d Sheb y the th defend en lNn a t n d t o awl down e s r t e a d i rs her a i p d u m r p a o d s e e , h a i n m d for the day. For some time after this his conduct was went on in this war for snore than a month, when one night she was awakened, about one o'clock, by q r u h i i t n e g p a ro per, and her confidence i n him wa s revived. r was s an t d he and pressed her mouth, and, notwithstanding resist ance on her part, he succeeded in obtaining possession of her res s oe,adfofrultlyhatdhise tffienneddsisanengdtsome upon H e one's took arm the round bedclothes in k. one I t person. ed ; hn t defendantln the morning told her s nothe to wasbe dreadfully would not lose her for all the lands which he possessed. After this their intimacy, con tinued, and she found her self in the family way. This she communicated to the defendant, who told her that it was not so. She repeated the same thing to him again, when he re quested her to go to a Mr. Moon, a surgeon, and say she had taken a bad cold, and request him to give her some medicine, This she did, and had some medicine, which did her neither harm nor good. After this defendant wanted her to take something to get rid of the child, as he said people would jeer them if she had a child before they were married. She re fused to do so. After some time a Mrs. Clements, the defendant's sister, came to the house. Before this de fendant had wished her (the plaintiff's daughter) to leave, saying that her sister had heard that she was in the family way, and that she wished to persuade her to the contrary. She refused to go. Mrs. Clements then came. By the direction of the defendant she told Mrs. Clements she was not in the family way, and offered to go to a surgeon and be examined. Mrs. Clements said she could not stay there, and she must leave, which she e s v h e e n i t n o g l d t h h e e y r a p n a d r e h n e t r s s e w l f h at e n h t a t d o d h e a f p e p n e d n a e n d t . , s Ta and d e accordingly did that day. This was in M a y. O n go i ng h s ant e saw him and Mrs. Clements, his sister. He then denied that he had ever promised to marry her, and Mrs. Cle ments asked her if he (the defendant) had ever done so. She fearing, if she said he had, that it would set him against her, said that he had not. Her wages were then paid, and she and her parents returned to their house. She afterwards wrote a letter to the defendant, to which she received no answer. Two more were written with the like effect. On the 22d of May, 1843, she met him in a lane riding on a horse and carrying a gun. She de sired him to stop, on which he flung up his arms and called out, "Be off ;" hearing this, she took hold of the bridle of his horse, on which he struck her arms with his gun and rode off. Subsequently, on the 17th of August, she was confined of a female child, the expense of which was borne by her father, with whom she now lived, and by whom she had been maintained ever since she quitted defendant's service. This witness was then cross-examined at great length by Mr. Cockburn, for the purpose of showing that she had kept company with other men. She, however, denied all this, and, with a very few slight variations, which rather told in her favour, stuck to the account she had given in her examination in chief. In the course of this cross-examination, it came out that after the child had then been born, she had met the defendant, a n d th a t s h e had supplicated e w aridtihnegohnor h hs i e m orsa t e o bboau m etk a , e pr her a c v h he i e l r d ry: curvetted t a h n e d a o n vis refusinganimal I nf o to r hear being vicious creature. She had her child in her right arm, and a small stick in her left hand, which she flung at the horse to keep him from her child. The defendant immediately summoned her before some magistrate in the neighbourhood, swore he was afraid she would do him some bodily harm, and she was thereupon com pelled to enter into her recognizance to keep the peace towards him, In the end a verdict was taken for the plaintiff, with damages 751. Mr. Justice Wightman after this took the several criminal cases that remained for trial, by which the busi ness was got through to-day. CROWN SIDE.—FRIDAY. MURDER.—EXTRAORDINARY CASE. Matthew Weeks was indicted for the wilful murder of Charlotte Din:tond, on the 14th of April last, by cutting her thioat. It is impossible to . describe the excitement occasioned by this trial. At an early hour the court-yard was crowded with persons who appeared to have come from all parts of the county, and during the day the Court was completely crammed. Mr. Cockburn, Mr. Oxenham, and Mr. Rowe con ducted the case for the prosecution, and Mr. Slade de fended the prisoner. It appeared that the prisoner and Charlotte Dimond were fellow-servants in the house of a Mr. Peters, a small farmer, residing at Penhale. Charlotte Dimond was a young woman 18 years of age, an illegitimate child with " but few friends ;" but she and the prisoner had for some time kept company, as it is called in this county : the girl, however, it would seem, was pleased with ad miration, and was not insensible to the attentions of others, and a person of the name of Prout had been favoured by her. On the morning of Sunday, the 14th of April last, Prout called at the house of Mrs. Peters, and saw Charlotte, and appointed to meet her that even ing at chapel. The prisoner an.d the deceased came down stairs together that morning. Mrs. Peters asked her where she was going : she at first ii2ade no answer, but then said she should not be at home at .milking time, but-that Matty (the prisoner) would milk h. r share of the cows. She and the prisoner then went avvi:y toge ther. She was dressed in a dark green striped ; . , rovvn and red diamond shawl, and a dark brown silk bonn;t, with light ribands, and had pattens ; and she had a black silk bag, trimmed with lace, on her arm, and wore cotton gloves. The prisoner had on a dark velvet frock coat, grey trousers; and his best boots. It was dirty, rainy weather. The prisoner came home alone, about half-past nine o'clock in the evening ; but the girl never came back again. Mrs. Peters asked him where Charlotte was ? He said he did not know. He then bad his supper, pulled off his boots, and went to bed. The next morning Mrs. Peters again asked him where Charlotte was, and he again re plied he did not know. She went up into his room and found his best stockings dirty up to the garterings. She asked him how they got so dirty. He said the weather and roads were dirty. She said, " Where is Charlotte ? as you went away together, where did you go ?" He said he went no further with her than Higherdown-gate, and he believed she went on the moor, and he went to a village about two miles off, and called on two families of the name of Westlake ; but that they were not at home. On Tuesday Mrs. Peters said, " Matty, you must know where Charlotte is, and if you don't tell me, I'll go to a magistrate before I sleep." He then said, "To tell you the trail), she's gone to Blissland, as Mrs. Langstone has got an easier place than yours." Mrs. Peters told him it was his fault, as she had never given her any offence, and she asked him how she could hav e g ot there after four o'clock. He said she was going to Mrs. Spiers the first night. Mrs. Peters said to him, "You jealous thing : it was your work to put away the maid ; and men be as plenty down there as they be at home with we." On the Wednesday morning she again spoke to him about Charlotte ; he said, she had a letter from Mrs. Langstone to go to Blissland. On the Friday the butcher came there to kill a pig. The prisoner asked to be allowed to kill it. He took a knife and put it to the throat of the pig ; b u t t;;: . n he stopped, and said some thins, had given him a turn. He then took another knife, b and plunged it violently into the le:: During the . ahout week many persons had spoken to the priseZ er the girl ; but he said he had parted with her at His , - 7- down-gate. He was then told that persons had seen him on the moor ; but he said they could not swear to him, as they had not spoken to him. On the Saturday evening Mrs. Peters said to him, " Matty, what's the talk about Charlotte—l hope it is not true ?" He did not speak, but went to another part of the kitchen. She then said, " Matty, I'm quite frightened; and, if you have hurt the girl, you ought to be hanged in chains." He did not answer. Her son and other servant then went to bed. She said to the prisoner, " Matty, you stop, I want to talk with you. I'm very much hurt about this talk." He made no answer, but went off to bed. The next morning (Sunday) he went out as usual to attend the cows in his everyday dress. He saw Mrs. Peters having a conversation with her son and another person, and he saw them go from home. He then went up stairs, dressed himself in his Sunday clothes, and came down stairs, having his umbrella in his hand, althouge it was a very fine day. Mrs. Peters said to him, " I hope you'll be back to dinner." He said he would. He then went away, but did not return. He had been in the habit of keeping Charlotte's best clothes in his box; but a green gauze handkerchief was not with them, and therefore she must have had that with her when she went out on the Sunday, and this was found in the prisoner's velvet jacket pocket after he had left the house. Suspicion now had become very rife, and in quiries were made, and it was found that the girl had never been seen since she was in the company of the prisoner. A person of the name of Corry had seen the prisoner and a young woman in a dark dress go into the moor on the Sunday afternoon. The prisoner limped very much in his walk. He watched them for about a quarter of an hour. Richard Pethick, a farmer, who was on the moor between five and six o'clock on the Sunday afternoon, saw a man and woman coming towards the Roughter-ford. They came within 300 yards of him, and then returned and went another way. He after wards returned and saw them again, they were thirty nine yards from him. He could distinguish the man's features and he limped. They appeared to be loitering. Sometimes they were close together, and sometimes she walked away from him. The woman had on a dark dress. He watched them for an hour, and was sure the prisoner was the man. They were. about 100 yards from Roughter-ford. A person of the name of Gard, a local preacher, was coming across the moor, and saw a man and woman loitering near the ford; they had both dark clothes on. This information having been received, foul play was more than suspected, and it was deter mined that the moor should be searched. Accordingly parties went out in different directions, for that pur pose. They soon found some marks of pattens and the impression of a man's shoe. They traced these a con siderable way across the moor until they lost the patten marks. They, however, proceeded on their way until they came to Roughter-ford, where in a wild spot, on this desolate moor, a long way from any human habita tion, in an old watercourse, they found the body of the poor girl lying on its back with the throat cut in the most frightful manner, the wound extending from the back of the neck under the left ear, round to the right ear. The carotid artery and windpipe were com pletely divided. Indeed, the head was all but cut off. A portion of the clothes was gone. There was no bon net, shawl, pattens, or shoes. Further search was then made, and about half-a-mile off, in a turf-pit, covered over, the parties found her shawl, bonnet, pattens, and shoes. It was now evident that the poor girl had come to her death by violent means ; and inquiries were made about the prisoner. He had not returned ; but it was found that he had called at a house many miles off, on the road to Plymouth, on the Sunday when he left Mrs. Peters, and he had there shown a black silk bag, which corresponded exactly with the one Charlotte Dimond had on the 14th of April. He was then traced to Plymouth, and was found walking with his brother and sister on the Hoe there. He was taken into custody • and in his pockets were fou n d th e gloves which Charlottes had worn on the last day she was seen alive. The prisoner's boots were compared with the tracks on the moor, and particularly with one adjoining the spot where the clothes were found, and they corresponded exactly. The girl's necklace was found on a bank close to the body. No blood was found on the prisoner's clothes. On the part of the prisoner it was urged that it was impossible. but the person who committed the murder must have been covered with blood, whereas there was not any on the clothes of the prisoner. Mr. Justice PATTESON summed up in the most careful manner and with the strictest impartiality, telling the jury that it was the duty of the Judge to lay down the law, and for the jury to decide upon the facts in ac cordance with that law, without any consideration as to the punishment or the consequences that would follow from the verdict they might give. That verdict in this case, he was sure, would be a conscientious one, and one that would do justice between the prisoner and the public. The jury retired for about half an hour, and the fore man then said, "We are of opinion that the prisoner is Guilty." The Learned JUDGE then put on the black cap and passed sentence of death upon the prisoner, assuring him that no mercy could be extended to him in this world. The prisoner throughout the trial, which lasted from nine o'clock in the morning till ten at night, never be trayed the slightest change in his demeanour until the Judge directed his body to be buried within the pre cincts of the prison, when he• fell back, apparently in a fainting state, and was carried from the dock. lie is only twenty-two years of age. OXFORD ClRCUlT.—Stafford, Aug 2. CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Sergeant ATCHERLEY.) MURDER.—li r na. Beard, 35, was indicted for the wil ful murder of Ann Griffiths, at the parish of Wednes bury, on the 16th of March last. The trial began at nine o'clock in the morning, and lasted till the adjournment of the Court at half-past seven o'clock in the evening, when the case for the pro secution had not closed. August 3. The trial of William Beard for the murder of Ann Griffiths, at Wednesbnry, was resumed this morning at nine o'clock, and lasted till half-past six o'clock in the evening, when the jury retired to consider their verdict, which has not yet been returned. Mr. Yardley - and Mr. Huddleston appeared as counsel for the prosecution, and the prisoner's defence was con ducted by Mr. Allen and Mr. Spooner. The deceased Antr-Griffiths lived at Wednesbury in the capacity of housekeeper to a gentleman named Crowther, reputed in the neighbourhood to be a person of considerable wealth, and, as he himself admitted, a man who is " above the frowns of the world." The pri soner had lived in Mr. Crowther's service from Decem ber, 1841, till September, 1842, and during the time that he was in his employ he used to go regularly on Wednes days and Saturdays with "slack" to some works belong ing to Mr. Crowther, whose habit it was on Saturdays to leave home about ten o'clock, for the purpose of going to the pits and paying his men. On the morning of Satur day, the 16th of March last, Mr. Crowther's servant left the house, about ten minutes past nine 0'c10.,,k , f or t h e purpose of drawing slack to his masters eoll'Aery, and in about 20 minutes afterwards Mr. Crowther himself went out, leaving Ann Griffiths alone in the - flouse, and pro ceeded to his pits. About a cparteia. past 10 o'clock a malster named Emery, whose m Althouse is about 50 yards from the wall adjoining Mr, crevyther's brew. (LEFT SITTING.' TATTERSALL'S.—THIS EVENING , QUARTER TO SIX O'CLOCK. ST. LEGER. 3 to 1 agst The Cure 6 to 1 agst Ithuriel 7 to 1 agst Bay Memos 7 to 1 agst Valerian 10 to 1 agst Red Deer 12 to 1 agst The Princess 12 to 1 agst Ugly Buck 15 to 1 agst Foig-a-ballagb THE DERBY. 15 to 1 on the Field. 25 to 1 agst Pantasa. 25 to 1 agst Newsmonger. 25 to 1 agst Alarm 25 to 1 agst Seaman 30 to 1 agst Nutbourne 30 to 1 agst Twig. NAVAL INTELLIGENCE. PonTsmot:Tir, AUG. 4.—The Excellent gunnery ship, Captain Sir Thomas Hastings, lint., still bears the flag of the Commander-in-Chief, Sir Charles Rowley, Bart., G.C.8., G.C.H., &c. ; it will be removed, however, to the Queen, 110, Captain Martin, on the latter leaving the harbour for Spit head, should the St. 'Vincent not be ordered from Devonport. Mr. Thomas Howels, gunner, R.N., has invented a new " pointer " for concentrating a ship's fire, which, having been submitted for the approval of the Board of Admiralty, their Lordships directed a trial to be made on board the Excellent ; consequently, yesterday five guns were fitted with the pointers, and a large target twelve feet square being placed at a distance of 400 yards from the ship, at the first fire all five shots pierced the target and tore it to shreds. It is believed that had the shot being directed in a similar manner against a ship, and struck her near the water-line, she must have sunk in a few minutes. The experiment, which is considered eminently successful, was witnessed by a large number of naval officers and spectators. The Collingwood, 80, Captain Eden, flag of Rear-Admiral Sir G. F. Seymour, is ready for sea. She was to have re ceived two months' advance on Friday, but some delay oc curred, and it is consequently postponed. We are informed that the recent transactions in the South Seas will probablti• alter her route on sailing, and that she only waits the answer of the French Government to the application from her Ma jesty's Ministers for satisfaction for the conduct pursued towards her Majesty's Consul, Mr. Pritchard. We are also informed that Mr. 'Pritchard will be reinstated in his Con sulate duties at Otaheite, and that he will return to that island in the Collingwood. The Scylla, 16, Commander Sharpe, sailed from Halifax on the 14th ult., for St. John's, Newfoundland, where she would relieve the Eurydice, 26, Capt. G. Elliott, ordered to Halifax. The Pique, 36, Captain the Hon. M. Stopford, touched at the Havannah, on the 15th ult., for water, &c., en route from the coast of Mexico to Halifax, with specie. The Illustrious, 72, Commodore R. Sharp, arrived at Ha vannah on the 20th of June, from Jamaica, to demand, in conjunction with the British Consul, satisfaction for some gross outrages put upon some English subjects in the island of Cuba. The Pique was ordered to remain to co-operate with the Illustrious. _ _ The Nimrod, 20, Commodore Glasse, was at Bombay on the 18th of June last from Trincomalee, where she left the Cornwallis, 72, Captain Richards, flag of Vice-Admiral Sir W. Parker, G.C.8., on the 27th of May, refitting for her re turn to England. The Clio, 16, Commodore Fitzjames, left Bombay on the 19th of May to join the Cornwallis at Trincomalee, whence both ships would sail for England. The Alligator troop-ship, 22, Master Commander J. N. King, arrived at Madras from China on the 25th of May, with troops. The Fox, 42, Captain Sir H. Blackwood, Bart., touched at Tangier (en route for the East Indies), to land important dis• patches on the 16th of June. The Comet steam-vessel, Commander Prettyman, on pay ing off the Vindictive, will proceed to Plymouth and Devon port with such of her crew and marines as reside in those localities. In Harbour—The Excellent, the Queen, the Victory, the Vindictive, the Seaflower cutter, the Fearless, the Comet, and the Echo steam-vessels. In Dock—The Prince 'Regent, the Athol, the Wanderer ; the Dwarf, and the Scourge (building). In the Basin—The Victoria and Albert, the Lily, the Fly _ ing Fish, the Daring, the Osprey, the Pantaloon, and the Waterwitch. At Spithead—The Colliagwood. DEVONPORT, AUGUST 2.—The Crane packet, 6, Lieutenant- Commander T. A. Lewis, sailed on Thursday for Falmouth, whence she sailed the same day with mails for the Brazils, via Madeira and Teneriffe. The Apollo troop ship, Commander Maclean, sailed on the 26th ult. for Newfoundland and North America, with two companies and a detachment of the Royal Artillery aboard, for service in those regions. On the same day the Hamoaze lighter sailed from Milford Haven, with Mr. Henderson, As sistant Master Attendant of this dock-yard, and a party of riggers, to rig and navigate the Juno, 26, recently launched, to Chatham. The Nile, 92, was docked on Wednesday to have her cop per cleaned and examined. The Madagascar, 44, Captain J. Foote, is ordered to be paid off to-morrow. Joseph Noble, the marine, who was sentenced to be hanged last week for stabbing Mr. Prothero, a midshipman of this ship, has had his sentence commuted to transportation for life. The Superb, 80, advance ship, was undecked on Wednes day, and will be taken to her moorings in a day or two. In Harbour—San Josef, Madagascar, and Confiance. In Dock—Kent, Ranger, Actaeon. In the Sound—St. Vincent. SHEERNESS, AI:G. 2.—A court-martial was held on Mon day on board the Ocean, 80, Captain Fisher, flag-ship pro tem. of Vice-Admiral Sir John Chambers White, K.C.8., &c., to try the master's mate of the Spy brigantine, Lieutenant- Commander Wooldridge, recently arrived from the coast of Africa, for acts of repeated drunkenness. The charges were fully proved, and the prisoner was sentenced to be dismissed her Majesty's service. The Lords of the Admiralty have ordered a new second class war steamer to be built at this yard, to be called the Fury, of the following dimensions :—Length, 190 feet ; breadth, 36 feet ; depth, 21 feet ; tonnage, 1,123 ; horse power, 460. Captain Superintendent Peter Fisher, R.N., went on survey on Tuesday to join the Harbour of Refuge Commission. In Harbour—The Ocean and the Raven. In Dock—The Monarch, the Vernon, nd the Herald. In the Basin—The Ama zon , th e Vulture, and the Cro codile. PROMOTIONS. Commander—John Marshall (a), and F. D. Schaw, from the retired list of 1830 to that of 1816. APPOINTMENTS. Lieutenants—Justus B. Kooystra* (1841), from the Mada gascar to the Collingwood ; R. Jones (b), to the Victory; A. F. Kingston (additional), to the Collingwood ; W. Southey, to the William and Mary yacht, for the Lightning ; J. R. Baker, to be agent for mails. Master—H. B. Yule, to the Porcupine. Mates—M. F. O'Reilly (of the Excellent), to the Albion ; W. F. Bishop, to the St. Vincent. Second Master—H. D. Beach to the Victory, for service in the Emerald (tender to St. Vincent) ; H. Pennington, to the Porcupine. _ _ Assistant-Surgeons—D. Dugare (acting), to the Victory, for service at Haslar Hospital ; J. T. U. Bremner, M.D. (ad ditional), to the San Josef, for service in Plymouth Hospital; W. Fasken, to the Illustrious. Clerk in Charge—J. C. Alldridge, to the Meteor. Midshipman—F. Egerton, to the Excellent. Boatswain—John Robinson, of the San Josef, to the Sheer Hulk at Chatham, vice Flynn, appointed Master Rigger of that yard. COAST GUARD. Appointments—Lieut. E. J. Voules, R.N., to command the station at Richam, vice Allen, removed. Removals—Lieut. J. Allen, R.N., from Richam to Challa borough Station, vice Tozer, to Gorram Haven, vice Lory, to Porthpean, vice Yu llack, D.D. ; Lieut. J. O'Reilly, R.N., from Flamborough Head to Hornsea Station, vice M. Leicester, superannuated. * We are informed this officer was twenty-five years a mate. HER MAJESTY. — The last accounts received in town from Windsor Castle are dated last evening, at which time her Majesty was in the enjoyment of most excellent health. Summonses to the Cabinet Ministers to hold themselves in readiness to attend at Windsor Castle are all prepared at the Home Office, but they have not yet been issued. Another Cabinet Council, which was attended by all the Ministers, was held at the Foreign Office to-day, at two o'clock. The summonses for holding this Coun cil were issued, by the direction of the Earl of Aberdeen, on Saturday evening. PRANCE.—The progress of religion among the working-classes of Paris—the children of the Revolu tion—may be gathered from the following paragraph in the Ami de la Religion :—" The monthly reunion of the operatives of the Faubourgs St. Denis and St. Martin took place on Sunday last, at seven in the evening, in the Church of St. Laurent, under the presidence of the worthy and zealous pastor of that parish. Notwithstand ing the temptations which the amusements at the fete of " La Villette," in the neighbourhood, might have thrown in the way, those honest people assembled in the church to the number of a thousand ; their conduct was most respectful during the singing of vespers and the prayers ; and their sympathy was ex pressed , in a lively mannerfor, the lay orators who addressed them on the subjects of labour, religion, and perseverance in moral conduct, the whole scene being exceedingly interesting." —Cork Examiner. WHAT PRICE WILL WHEAT FETCH ?—The only time (1826) when reaping commenced so early as the 22d of July, it was succeeded by a very wet season. This may be the case in the present year. Nothing but extraordinary bad weather can prevent abundance, or sustain prices of wheat from falling very considerably J)eITY their Pre§ent leyel,—Weßry.7, ~S i house, heard a scream come from Mr. Crowther's' :hoe se and a second in about half a minute afterwards, r e ,ut he seemed to have thought that there was noth in g the , screams which called for particular attention , Re bv took no further notice of the matter at the tim e. A 'lc)" the same time, but probably a few minutes later, a per aon in the employ of Mr. Crowther's butcher took- s• nue. meat to the house, and went, as usual, to the yard dt wa s but found it fast. He then went by the kitchen wino low t ,; the kitchen door, but that was fast also ; and not able to I ;:ain admittance he rang the hall bell, and w era , into an outt;Puse to take shelter, as there was a her ivy fall of rain and Oow. While he was in the outhouse het heard a door slam within the house; and he went Again.. and tried the door, and also rang the bell, bet nobody answered. Accordingly he went away, but returized again about 12 o'clock, and tried as before to obtain ad mittance, but without success. At a quarter to two o'clock Mr. Crowther returned home, and findi,ag tha t the bell at the front door was not answered, he, that round the house through a wicket to a glass door which opens upon what was called a " lawn," but which would have been more correctly described as/ a broad gravel walk planted with shrubs. The gl ass door was half open, and Mr. Crowther entered the house by that way: Upon going into the din ng-roteu , he found the fire out, and proceeding to the kitchen ate found the fire very low there, and remarked that the , kitchen-door, the pantry-door. and the cellar-door w all wide open. Mr. Crowthert;:en went up to the roils. occupied by the deceased, to see if she was there, and was surprised to find the bed um. ede, and her bor_ere about the room. He then went dos `1 again into the kitchen, and thence into the brew-house, w here the first. object that met his eyes was the murdered body of bill housekeeper. The unfortunate woman lay oy` the floor, which was covered with blood, and which app eared to have been trampled all about the brew-house. HeY hal! wt very much dishevelled, and had blood upon it, and a bloody knife lay at a very short distance from the body. least ten wounds had been inflicted on her! head with z. hammer, which was usually kept in then brew-house, 5.3 d there were other circumstances which.. led to the conclusion that she had offered some resist ance to the savage, whoever it was, who perpetrated this dreadful deed. The y h :d-door was locked, and there , was blood upon the bolt ; blood was also sprini'ded uport the brickwork adjoining the door-frame, and th ere were marks of a man's bloody hand open a shovel n ear tit e water-tub, and upon the handle of one of the pie ' ll Ps the yard, as if the murderer had sought for mea an ° efface the crimson evidences of his guilt. In Mr. Crow: ther's bed-room up stairs some trunks had been rem, Wei and opened ; a small fruit pie, which hed been left is the pantry, in the morning was eaten, and about tl. ree pounds of a neck of mutton, which was cooked, had been taken away. It was discovered, also, on the follow;i4 day, that a pair of trousers and a waistcoat Ivirich Crowther usually wore on Sundays had been reenoN ed. The waistcoat and the trousers were found on the Fri day following the murder in a flue in awhimsey, wrLAPPe a up in a plaid handkerchief ; and it was shown that the prisoner was seen on the day of the murder, n,bout o'clock, going in the direction of the whimsey, c l os e to which was found, on the Friday, the print of a'• single footmark, made with the right foot, which rese tabl ed ' according to the best of Mr. Hatton's (the chief c°1 1 " stable's) recollection, the footmark made by th, 3 Pre; sonar's right boot, which together with its fellow, hal been taken from him when he was apprehended on lb ! morning of Sunday, the 17th of March. The stronf part of the evidence against the prisoner consisteci. in: . the footmarks, which were tracked immediately after the discovery of the murder. From the glass door which opened upon the broad gravel path, or lawn, there were marks leading to the bottom of the lawn, as if l; man had run down on his heels ; and in a plougliell . field, which was separated from the lawn by a hedgn I.l .7ards of 40 footmarks, very distinct, mad.? ul jo ts , b 2d lefts. The left footmark showed a large pet _.. on the sole, _ .. oma of the nails in the patch being sivala 7l ' than those in the other part of the foot, the impres•s oll of which correspontld exactly with that produced by the prisoner's left boot, Lk respect of the number of ne their size, the vacant places left where some had b , t worn out, and the mark of the patch. These foottna Re; led all down the field into a lane called Riding-lane, foot-prints similar in character to those in the field, bit not near so distinct, were traced along the road wb jai the prisoner was supposed to have gone, as far as canal. He was, moreover, seen between eleven and btow,. past twelve o'clock on the morning of the Sieturdal 61 ' different points between the canal and the Boai'd house, when at half-past twelve o'clock he was fo•unfl , °7 a person who knew him, smoking his pipe in the k.'tnuen' The Board Inn is not a quarter of a mile from Mr. Crtn y ; ther's house; and the suggestion offered on the partt the prosecution to account for the prisoner's coming 5 4 ; near Mr. Crowther's house was, that, having committed itte murder, he had made a long detour to avoid detect` Lion, in the first instance, and had then come near ' ;he scene of his crime again for the express purpose of lulling suspicion. t that time, however, he must have knowo that there was it:ood on his jacket, on his trousers, bis shirt, and his boots, because that was found to be tb: case when he was apprehended the next morning; ana the Learned Judge left it to the jury to say, amongether points, whether it was probable that a person sva ° knew that he had just been guilty . of such a crime as murder, would have incurred the risk of exposing I.li° clothes to the observation of the company in a ,coblt°' s llittg L „ house. The prisoner accounted for the b l o od b y witnesses to show that his nose was .in the habit 01 bleeding, and that on the Monday preceding the SOO' day in question he had assisted in hang in g up a 11 which had justlbeen slaughtered, and it ce rtainl y was no proved, on the part of the prosecution, that the Moud stains upon his clothes and linen were fresh. Thera were some minor circumstances in the case, which 'Yell made up of very minute details, which poivted a t the prisoner as the party who might have committed the act/ but, on the other hand, it appeared that the Pris °nr was in the possession of very little money on die, Sa tt . tr " day, and that he bore a good character ; a nd it ' la . 8 C I; cumstance lint to be overlooked, that while he Wa.6 employ of Irlf. Crowther, an attempt was made to robl the house by three men, which attempt was frust:rateo by the resistance of the prisoner. The Learned Jonah summed up the evidence Wit* great care, and told the jury that in order to convict the prisoner it was not enough that his conduct was till to be viewed with strong suspicion, but th e facts mgt be such as to exclude from their minds all reasonabl e doubt of his guilt. It had always been said by judge* and he hoped always would be said, that it was b etter that nine guilty men should escape than th at one inna• cent man should suffer. The jury retired, and soon after ten o'clock came into Court and pronounced a verdict of Guilty. of Mr. Sergeant ATCSERLEY then passed sentetee, death on the prisoner, who heard it with perfect c' la ( s Bess, and merely said, "My Lord, I am as uuaocent the crime as you are." Thus ended these assizes. COMPARATIVE TRAVELLING ON DIFFETLYINT RAIL WAYS.—In Mr. Laing's paper, appended to the evident taken before the Select Committee on Railways, if is stated, among " other remarkable instances .° the effects of high fares, and limited a contren (-11 ; Lion in restricting the amount of travelling,o that the London and Birmingham Company carry I „ 3 s , per cent. fewer passengers per train, and 100 per c c ', fewer passengers per mile than the Glasgow and P i ; and 85 per cent. fewer passengers per train, and fewer per mile than the Ulster; while the Liverpool 0° Manchester Railway carries 60 per cent. fewer P i ; sengers per train, and 50 per cent. fewer per mile V! the Glasgow and Greenock (although the latter is ~1; posed to a sharp steam-boat competition), and :' o,v , he passengers fewer per annum, than are conveyed on 4 " Newcastle and North Shields line.—Railway Record. t BABIES.—It strikes us that more fibs are told ab lit babies than about anything else in the world. say they are sweet, yet every body knows they are sou'L we all say they are lovely, yet nine out of ten have no more beauty than a pug dog; we all praise their little pressive eyes, yet all babies squint; we call them lit's doves, though one of them makes more noise the ll i colony of screech howls; we vow they are no tre nt / yet they must be attended to night and day; we in_ k s', they repay us for all our anxiety, though they ta . "'„. every opportunity of scratching our faces, or po w •.. their fingers in our eyes;lin short, we make it our burl ness to tell the most palpable falsehords about W l° every hour of the day.—American Paper. RECOVERY OF LAND FROM THE SEA.I.:i Samuel Hemming, of Bedminster, Bristol, has suc cee d in reclaiming by extensive embankments, no leaf 03 00 1,600 acres of rich and valuable land from the sea on south bank of Lough Foyle, Ireland. lof THE WEATHER —Since our last, a great clei'd rain has fallen in this district, which has prevent .° good deal of hay from being got in, which remains ° Its effect on the growing crops, however, is most aff a , rent, and should fine dry weather set in for the gathering, we may anticipate most abundant crops , the quality will, in all respects, be superior. To ro* y beans, and potatoes have been materially improved the late rains.—Doncaster Gazette, Aug. 2. . a , On the ht inst., Mrs. BlßTHS allis Ch, Enfield, of s tla ught still-born. bi l 6 On the Ist inst., at Avenue-road, Regent's - p er , George Gilbert Scott, of a son. .--- -4 ---- MARRIED. .N" On the 30th ult., the Rev. Richard Keats , Vicar o f -, ( 1.0 fleet, Kent, to Matilda Eliza Louisa, only daughter of Kelly, late of the 20th Light Dragoons. On the 30th ult., at St. John's Church, Coventry, Ru e lite Kevitt Rotherham, jun.,•Esq., to Helen, youngest dagoir of the late John Ryley, Esq., of Hertford House , , Coventry. On the Ist inst., at Worth Church, Sussex, pet er tw-4 Esq., of Lincoln's Inn, barrister-at-law, to Fan o 9 l daughter of H. Hulbert, Esq., of Eaton- square. On the Ist inst., at Wath, Yorkshire , th e Rev- . nd per Senior Salman, M.A., Vicar of amton, Derbysh ire ':hter petual Curate of Shire Oaks, Notts, to Charlotte, 04 " James Simpson, Esq., of Wath. ind ert On the Ist inst., at St. George's, Camberwell, ---Sslrwortb" youngest son of Samuel Bevington, Esq., of a n ,. oortle , common, to Louisa, second daughter of Abraham "" Esq., of Homerton DIED. il l ii r tit' On the 11th of June, at Madras, Lieutenant ThaneS ave Watt, 10th Regiment Native Infantry. thl g On the 26th ult., in ondon, George F r ederic S to-ge, youngest son of Major Stone. gellit of On the 29th ult., Mr. Samuel Morton Hubert, gardens, Lambeth, aged 76. al ° On the 30th ult., Joseph Butter, Esq., of Bog en" West, Regent-square. the l tec . On the 30th ult., at Twyford, near Winchester, _,, 8 8, George Core , Rector of St. Michael's,:VV-inell • __ --- ----.., n o TOVS e Ng London Printed and Published by BLUR — -,„So. - of No. 112, Strand, Printer, at The Sus On-"" 7 0 01 toti Strand, in the Precinct of the Savoy, in the ''' Middlelex. Dimlay, An s.rust 5, ie44. • ~~~. ~ 7 1 11‘' 1 4%111: •- ~.. 1 .01 11.----" tki( "1 lh t rFtpr r Lon i s'e i, _Pt to Teti P( kr. 1 11.6 kei 4 To s