The Sun. — London, England, 1845-03-21 00:00:00

f 0 Iv ° • be le l e e 5 1 , 0 1 thel"" g et of t j l solo b . c 1, 1 01 1 1 ~ ed ou a s e . i , t be „ &thi6 to tb at e i b nec nts . he Y to ,tter .11 THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 21, 1845. T 7 LITERATURE. ELATIONS OF SPAIN IN 1845. By an English Resident. Were Spain a country more worthy of public noticeor of any great i mportance i n t h e b a l ance o f Powerin Europ e , th e revo l ut i ons w hi c h h ave ta k en P ne l ace th ere within the last forty years would form o hi o the most interesting f e at ures i n mo d ern st "'T.f Even in her fallen state, however, Spain cannot fail to excite interest. She has played a great d llt on the s t age o f nat i ons ; she had the glory of ci s eoaerin g t h e new world ; she in consequence al ined undivided dominion over the whole of South Ataerica and in h er wars w ith th e anc i en t i n h a bi tan t s attracted the the eyes of all civilized nations, while in the o Nv "rld, both for the extent of her territory, the po wer of her arms, and the ability of her kings and ar` st nen, she justly occupied the very first rank. ovv sh e is the least among the nations. Her vast rsessions h ave one after another been wrested from s e t 1.33, foreigners, or the revolt of her children, and of immense colonies scarcely now a speck remains. " i ce Peru, New Granada, Florida, Louisiana, and rtstates, other dstricts large enough for independent .ea, have slipped away, and her colonial empire has p'Y'ritiled to the Canary Islands, two of the Antilles, t ono „ 1 , Leo and Cuba, and a spot or two on the s°iiaern coast of Africa. The Low Countries, Italy, he Y, nay the one half of civilized Europe owned N.; s waY—her navy, even so late as 1782, com forted seventy sail of the line and frigates, besides of smaller war vessels, is now reduced to one ship or t ee line, a f ew fr i gates, corvettes, and brigs, if ilin ela these can he said to exist, for during the last e • Years no uniforms have been made for the and to ev e ry mem b er o f it, w ith ou t excep ti on , tl e ll - six months' pay is due. "In the crumbling th Y and prevalent ruin of Spain," says the writer, W i.ere are no more melancholy fragments than those no , i s the may be seen, or scarcely seen for their rarity, th e ",,e glorious ancient ports, from whence went forth tiee,_"nauistadores in one century, and the Armada thr ee invincible in the next ; and into which for frer hundred years flowed in lordly galleons the lau ß i l led. wealth of both the Indies. The Armada tno remnant behind. The merchant service, k i l " once exten d e d through the world, has sunk into krtandful of generally inferior vessels, and a great to th ef the passenger and carrying trade is transferred m ight e B Ships of England and America. 'ow are the ss o „ i4 Y falle n !' I s th ere h ere a requ i ta l f or t h e ra a 'les of M ex i co an d P eru ?" N ever was t h e 44:, pronounced against a wicked nation so visibly is kr ie d t, into effect. The mighty man and the man of the Judge and the prophet, and the prud en t an d ta all s ecient ; the captain of fifty, and the honourable to e ' a nd the counse ll or are gone , an d th e t err ibl e killoiation "I w ill g i ve c hild ren to b e t h e i r pr i nces, &l ed i thes shall rule over them," is literally ful- Iti evc i Such is the melancholy condition of the apthoin en whose dominions the sun never set. The tal e • of these "R eve l a ti ons o f Sp a i n " b eg i ns hi s 1 ., s eout the time when a babe began to rule over it, a kt gives th e f o ll ow i ng conc i se out li ne o f i ts eats 1 0 4 , e The events of the year 1843, in Spain, have been of tepttY e xtraordinary a character, and the principle of ak t r e ntative governmen t i n th e P en i nsu l a h as b een kt 4 b y such s evere an d unusua l t es t s , t h at t h e soc i a l r b „t tieal state of that rental kable country seems a t tla at ' v mlis period to have claimed a more attentive in- The spr i ngs o f soc i ety h ave b een st i rre d f rom Si ta ' ▪ e Pths pillars of the Commonwealth rudely orders subverted, ai.d laws defied; the executivehiefe the State has been exiled and deposed; a child c iltioe raised to the exercise of sovereignty before the t• d recognised by the Constitution; a Minister, after ly k lk h Ys: tenure of power, has been expelled from office ~'"ses',ll a ,ce plot, and like the Regent, five months before, 7, l at o .„7 l ,iged to fly for his life ; Parliament has been 91 f closed, its scrutiny contemptuously evaded, h P):1 111e "us audaciously usurped ; the heads of the k hts, t ? Party have been thrown into dungeons without e llar th t t the lives of numerous citizens forfeited without r.`"e Sovereign has been brought forward in an in hit "'• attitude, and a military government, or the law s of dishonest civilians, established." 4l ok s• dr aws, apparently with great truth, the cha tit: of the leading personages, l including Espartero, N z ae r ,r, Lopez, Olozaga, the Marchioness of Santa ;Stasai:l l leen Christina, and her two daughters, and ate o",aes historical details of the intrigues, plots, and a is tei aa - t he principal actors, as well as the schemes of Lea r e e k rs) among whom the French Ministers and "a to chateau" perform a conspicuous part. The ,glraef the royal conspiracy is interesting. It was conspiracy to ruin Olozaga, to bring back sti t ia, and to destroy the Constitution, got up in likee barefaced manner by the Camarilla, at the oft which was the clever and notorious Marqueza Ptrt e ,,_ o lli ta Cruz, who ho says is a very fascinating eci i t, ) f most elegant and distinguished manners,. Lilskip intellectual attainments. Of Queen Chris- Pl)li e a ° he speaks on the whole favourably. "In her Zka,a`aPacity she has always been remarkable for rahties, two of them virtues, and two of them • e • resolution, insincerity, and L ata et f• Olozaga was cruelly betrayed, and his de bellWas resolved on and effected because he had aaete: e " patriotism and virtue to yield to the Na t of the Camarilla. The poor child had been S i b ) her lesson well, she recited it before the as cliselecl co uncillors to perfection ; but of the falsehood ft tit 6 151 4 tn ents not a doubt can remain, judging the Original document signed by the Queen till 41 h ah ,, same regular, unshaken, and school -I,,skYertwriting, which she had invariably ena lieli st nee her majority was declared," and ta a,a ploaag a re f use d a t fi rs t t o g i ve up till 8 lal lVn it to a hundred senators—from the s eaoll, with a signature shaky and scarcely ti l l ife s , - :: . and What was known to the patriarch l her d p ) ! 0 1 . 4 ' These, and other manifest proofs, cleared fl_kat•llirtter of Olozaga, and hushed le up this tr ansaction.. The "R ve a . ions in a g X i '°4„ ; L eh interest, and though given loose, t o lte % e ett style, abounding with many Spanish a t '' Oa t ' P r oduced often for display rather than use, k 1 4 e ,e,essarily introducing the characters of some dough this country—among others that of Lord Isetitar a sanot in the most favourable light, they will aja °' service in estimating the remarkable revo tiOar',,elight about by Louis Philippe, Christina, it k alie e f, a a ez• We give the following extract as a die d k:Ten of the work, premising that the Queen ten°h- in bad health, and that the King of the rs i l )l , l ,Ce contemplated a marriage between her 'Lie Duke D'Aumale : #0 .14 11 4PPearance of Queen Isabel Maria to the eye of O at h ; 4et. is that of a precocious but somewhat care- N ll t • s ickly girl—exceedingly pale, and with k s e. eith er NBut expressive or interesting in her coon oti. 'Alt that her brow is circled with a crown, at ~k t e4 „ ts,th:l f unparalleled youth to emerge from legal 'COith 're is little there to arrest your attention; you iipieeder forbidden nor attracted ; you deem her more o ki thui her age, but this precocity, as compared ‘ 4 3'4 4 l ri d , is universal in the Peninsula. iit l ok more closely, you will see a shade pass Vintq l , - ",, er t Over her brow and features, indicative of cN of disposition, and of a character somewhat ti t i lla a f ti c l lastin y ; and you will not be far mistaken if e 18 . conclusion. But your eye is soon arrested . h i i s tej kith C face beside her, all radiant with vivacity Ca It I n n : co ; younger, yet less frivolous ; more Ci k - ,JoYous, yet with more of sentimen . t. Infanta Luisa, her sister—a charming child 1 1 . tf ' ll atme radiant with the highest beauty, the s. k w th e ra , sitting of the Cortes, where Josi t , Ind. In the " n kli s z, of her royal sister was declared, this darling i taati ee sal all the admiration. N' t; tto Isa bel is said to be of a rather wilful nature, , 4 / 4 1,!1at ; h ve tttsh fits• at times not a little obstinate, and „ck h 'ut , s 4 i ntelligence as well as in temper. These ~‘at o' ea si.r," inherited in part from both father and 1 1 4 4 4 % 4 4 she has thrown her whole soul into her N f 4l li!vvas likewise a maternal failing, for M!n -lty'Nll,,„l,la official interviews with Queen Christina Oitiss t ":l,y . to lock out the listening Camarilla: the ; 14ttlptt k e , erill Istsitiit)le;ts Olozaga's door. Camarera Mayor, the Marquess de ; t ta k r o g kio rt z t ' i n( Ar BO notorious throughout Europe, is a ?R am rig Person, of most elegant and distinguished I t t ke,Ate s „' high intellectual attainments—one of the 1e 55,,1 4 ; f i d. !a of the Court of Spain—and to these 11)i t 'ai , e toe:‘llndebted for her influence over the Quel l . e,Losi„mu that she wears one of the proudest an I%• ,karg oi ' 3 amongst the historical names of Spain. tZoll, r aos 4i i°, F Santa . Cruz, in the time of Philip 11., Ltihe oceatioaustrious admiral, who defeated on nu- Zi t ist of b us the Moors of Africa, and completed the 1 ) ,,a of 6 ' o urtugal by destroying Don Antonio's ex- Q't the ,vessels fitted out by France. It was not 1, 4 (\ t eat A r ""lte` of Medina Sidonia, who commanded isa ns .a a n. k s t t o cl aca ted. bel has been very imperfectly and irregu sii„Plisie. That she should be little enlightened is `w e dge ; that she should be deficient in ordinary L ;ti ta tt dot a Mere corollary of her inadequate tutoring. ;IllekttiNt,sish‘o:teltogether three months in the hands of qik; , t ;' ; ithd i nstruction was confined to her political 411 s under the guidance of Arguelles, to tit s . i % and ,7eriPreviously entrusted, she was rather in kithakreaPrieioacturY• About the court, they say that tl i'tr iY char_ a 11. ter , ist disimulada ; and fibbing, en 1 / 4 1tq to a b e ic of her age in young girls, is h er. / cry much the contrary of being • F o y th Ilto4 Poti l ast th h ittt cler iee . ree years she has been in constant qy 4 (I Wi t h w ith her mother, and inevitably thus im :lk s /k1 j o( Z i a strong dislike for the Progresistss, as a 1 2 1 1 , a od dtl alY• It was they who drove Cristina l' a ll f s°l atiss w t h° hay ° always thwarted that prin ttNit_ en wit , t endencies. Never, therefore, could ty p sist k :s or ofadtlectionate respect to the lessons o l i ef t ttl i k t wh l cl ati , d I° zaga, both of them eminent Pro- Il e r . Espartero she could only see the P wed her mother of the regency, and r titi al l Ornb i „ces, and P la n. Still, being obliged to keep up 4 5 41 P ' s Parte a le entire power of the State being tit t 4 ts to y th e f orc e' she was taught to be false and dec e i t. of circumstances, and trained by 4.tt ott a , he r 10 _ An intimate friend of the master who aeh ol ai, eorres'aigoast; wrote things concerning her in a Unerentl • k ' , 4 lls , 44 e, 4 , 4 lu.ltlenee which I should be sorry to 3ti•et f„ winch r . llati on f p Ler imputing rather to the 0 character at her age, than to P O sa e 3 bad in her disp.,ition." t s ari but they are taken principally from the first fu raiall Au imperfect view of the work. The second volume is chiefly dedicated to a description of " men and manners" in Spain, and the women are not forgotten. 'We have also graphic accounts of the state of agriculture, smuggling, the price of getting up a pronunciamento, and many other peculiarities of that primitive and singular people. Altogether it contains the best modern de scription of the country that we have seen, not even " Inglis's Spain" excepted. The author sums up his remarks with the following conclusions, which we trust are well-founded : "In the midst of all these broils and dissensions, and in defiance of the turbulence of her sons, Spain is de cidedly and visibly advancing. The progress, to be sure, is slow and feeble, but may be traced in every direction. Material improvement develops itself in despite of Poli tical obstacles, comfort begins to be comprehended, and faction cannot check the tendencies of the age. New communications are opened, new roads constructed, old ones repaired and made more available to the commu nity ; minerals are explored, and foundries established for the melting of ores, with the aid of British skill and capital ; the public vehicles are multiplied ; inns with passable accommodations start up here at d there for the first time in the lapse of centuries ; opposition on the bustling road gives its spur to speculative enterprise. The shipwright's cheerful sounds begin once more to be heard, and the Guadalquivir is about to be made navigable to Cordova. Happily, these are matters in which governments have no concern, and the local Ayunta mieatos and Provincial Deputations in not a few quar ters make an honest and successful application of the local taxes. New companies spring up for the working of profitable mines, and fostering of manufacturing in dustry. An association has been formed for the dere lopment of the colonial wealth of the Filippines ; im proved agricultural processes are likewise at intervals introduced ; a system of telegraphs is about to be esta blished ; even a railway is more than spoken of. No roseate tints of fancy are added to this picture, but facts are stated which prove what a mighty thing is national vitality. The incumbent weight on the acanthus makes it sprout into more fantastic shapes, but still the growth is incessant ; and if scoundrels were not at the top of the tree, the plant would wax tall and beautiful." NAVAL AND MILITARY SKETCH BOOK. Part 11. This interesting periodical goes on with increased spirit. The translation of Eugene Sue's interesting rautical romance of " At a r G u ll" i s con ti nue d i n the - present number, and is beautifully illustrated. It is to be regretted that the names of the artists are not given. The sketch of Atar Gull and the Pirate is one of the most spirited things we have ever seen. The whole of the illustrations of this part are worthy of the highest praise. Many of the nautical sketches are not inferior, to the happiest effects of old Pocock, that prince of marine painters, who painted not mere fancy pictures of ships, hut actual portraits of actual crafts whiph had " braved the battle and the breeze," and carried "the meteor flag of England" in triumph over every sea. The other service will in this Part find also many of their gallant deeds illustrated by the pencil of the artist. The sketch of the siege of Cuidad Rodrigo would, if elaborated, become a fine historical picture. The time chosen is the march of the forlorn hope to the attack of the breach ; the subject is handled in a thoroughly artist-like manner, and the varied expression of the countenances of the soldiers in the foreground is beautifully given. The effect of the whole is admirable. The literary contents of this part are of a very varied character. We have biographical sketches of officers of both services, tales of " moving accidents by flood and field," humorous anecdotes, &c. ; in short, there is something to suit every taste; and if the Naval and Military Sketch Book goes on as it has begun, we augur for it a long and prosperous career. REMARKS AND COMMENTS ON THE MEDICAL AND CHEMICAL EVIDENCE ADDUCED AT THE TRIAL OF JOHN TAWELL. By G. L. Strauss. This is a pamphlet of most painful interest, and if Mr. Strauss be right, a very heavy responsibility rests upon the medical men on whose evidence a verdict of guilty was returned against John Ta well. It struck us from the beginning that the medical evidence given before the Coroner was of a rather slovenly character, and in this opinion we were borne out by an article, which appeared shortly afterwards, in the Medical Times. The contradictions in the medical evidence, as given before the Coroner and at the trial, are most important, and are thus pointed out by Mr. Strauss : " Mr. Champneys stated before the Coroner, that not the slightest trace of the peculiar odour ofprussic acid was perceptible during the post moi tem examination ; and, probably, aware that the absence of this odour militates most decisively against the supposition of free prussic acid being present, he, as well as Mr. Norblad, endea voured to accornt fur the absence of this odour by assuming that cyanide of potassium might have been administered instead of prussic acid ; this proposition, however, is quite untenable, as these gentlemen them selves seem to have discovered afterwards, since at the trial they made no mention whatever of cyanide of po tassium. (Mr. Cooper had probably told them in the meantime that cyanide of potassium in solution is rea dily decomposed, even by weak acids, such as carbonic acid, with evolution of hydrocyanic acid ; and in the stomach the cyanide encounters one of the strongest acid, known to us—viz., hydrochloric acid.) Mr. Champneys, however, mentioned to the Coroner that during the examination he thought he smelt prussic acid, that he made a remark to that effect to Mr. Norblad, who replied that he perceived no smell. As this is a most important point, I think it will be better to quote from the evidence as taken down before the Coroner : " Question—By a juryman—Would not the smell of prussic acid be discovered if there was no other thing in conjunction with it, to destroy that effect (smell) ? " Mr. Champneys—lt was very unusual not smelling , the prussic acid, but I mentioned during the examina tion that I thought I smelt prussic acid, but Mr. Norblad did not think he did, and afterwards, on opening the stomach, I did not think I did at all. " The Coroner—Then you abandoned that idea of smelling at all ? " Mr. Champaeys—Yes, Sir. " Mr. Norblad likewise stated before the Coroner that there was no smell of prussic acid perceptible. " At the trial, however, Mr. Champney asserts most positively that he in reality smelt prussic acid immedi ately upon opening the body, and that he mentioned something to that effect to Mr. Pickering (before the Coroner it was to Mr. Norblad), that this was not a mere passing conjecture of his, but a fact, of the reality of which he was most positive. In cross-examination he stated that neither Mr. Pickering nor Mr. Norblad did smell it; and that he himself did not perceive it after having opened the stomach. Mr. Pickering, on his part, asserts that it was upon making the first incision in the stomach of deceased that Mr. Champney a called his attention to the smell, and that he himself did perceive the smell of prussic acid. Here we have more contra dictions and discrepancies than would be considered quite sufficient to overthrow the evidence of witnesses in any common case. Mr. Champneys positively contradicts himself. Be fore the Coroner he admits that he simply fancied he smelt prussic acid, and tells the Coroner that he aban doned that idea subsequently altogether; at the trial, this passing conjecture having had two months' time to grow, had ripened into positive certainty. " This assertion of Messrs. Champneys and Pickering was laid hold of by Mr. Baron Parke in his very impar tial summing up, in order to prove that the prussic acid existed as such in the stomach previously to the con tents of the stomach being subjected to digestion in the sand and water baths. It is this assertion which has most materially contributed to decide the issue of the trial; and yet it would have been so easy to confute it, simply by pointing out the discrepancies and contradic tions which appear on the face of the evidence on this point." Now, if these gentlemen really smelt prussic acid, how comes it that tests were applied in the first in stance, to discover oxalic acid, vitriolic acid, in fact, every conceivable poison but prussic acid ? How comes it that neither of these gentlemen who smelt prussic acid on opening the body, mentioned the fact to Mr. Cooper, for— " ki rem Mr. Cooper's own evidence, it appears that be himself was the first to hint at a suspicion that prussic acid might be present—' Well, if this woman has taken poison, it can be no other than prussic acid :' these are Mr. Cooper's own words, as given in cross-examination." Besides, as Mr. Strauss very properly remarks in a note— " Had Messieurs Champneys and Pickering really smelt prussic acid, they would have continued to smell it. Do these gentlemen imagine that a definite minute proportion of odour enters into the composition of prussic acid? Perhaps the acid in This case retained only suffi cient to give a taste of it to two noses—which supposi tion would at once satisfactorily account fur Mr. Nor blad's inability to smell it." _ Then, as to the quantity discovered. Mr. Cooper found only one grain in the contents of the stomach. Mr. Strauss says— " I myself have taken as much as three drops of pure anhydrous prussic acid—(equivalent to about 2.1 grains) —of course largely diluted with water, without feeling any very considerable inconvenience ; and if Mr. Nor blad will read Liebig's lectures on Organic Chemistry' (Lancet), he will find that a cat can stand, without in convemenco, from two to three drops of anhydrous prussic acid, diluted with from four to six ounces of water." " I may venture to assert, that one grain of prussic acid introduced (into the digestive apparatus in a high state of dilution, will not be sufficient to destroy life. Messrs. Champneys, Norblad, and Pickering, and also Mr. Cooper and Mr. Baron Parke, however, deem even less than one grain quite sufficient to cause death. On this point these gentlemen take their stand, more parti cularly upon the case of the seven epileptic patients in one of the hospitalat Paris, who are reported in Eng lish works on the subject of poisoning by prussic acid, to have died from so small a dose as 7-10ths of one grain of this deleterious substance. Now this is a most egre gious blunder, occasioned probably by confounding the medicinal acid of France with that of Scheele." " The physician who treated the seven patients in question, prescribed eleven gramme% fifty centigrammes of hydr )cyanic sirup, which he intended to be prepared according to Ilagendie's formula, " Had the sirup been prepared according to the phy sician's intention, every one of the seven patients would in the 172 grains of hydrocyanic sirup which were ad ministered to him have received only one grain and one third of absolute acid. But having been prepared by mistake, according to to formula . of the old codex, the amount of pure and absolute prussic acid administered to each of the patients, was two grains and one-fourth, on the most moderate calculation, i. e. if the acid au sixierne was used; if the acid au troisieme was used, the quantity of pure acid amounted to six grains for every patient." " Can there be a grosser blunder than this ? And yet it is upon such and similar (ex uno discs onincs) authority, that a fellow-creature is about being con signed to an ignominious death ! " It is by such evidence and such authorities that one of the most clear-headed judges of the land has allowed himself to be completely misguided." The highest authority in Toxicological science is undoubtedly M. Orfila, and— " M. Orfila, states in his celebrated work on Toxico logy, that the mere detection of prussic acid in the di gestive apparatus, or in matter rejected,by vomiting, does most decidedly not entitle the physician and chemist, charged with medico legal investigations in cases of suspicious death, to affirm that this acid has been in reality administered to the subject of the investigation. Prussic acid is formed in some cases in the animal organismus, even though the individuals offering this phenomenon be in a state of perfect health. It is a well-known fact, that the perspiration of some per fectly healthy individuals exhales the peculiar odour of hydrocyanic acid, and sulphocyanide of potassium has been detected in the saliva, by Tiedemann and Gmelin. Moreover it would be very absurd indeed to deny that prussic acid may be formed in the decomposition and putrefaction of organic matter, just as likely as ammonia, acetic acid, and other similar compounds, to the forma tion of which the simple decomposition of organic matter gives rise. Bitter almonds and pomaceous seeds may be present in the stomach, and subsequently upon the distillation of its contents, yield hydrocyanic acid. Ferrocyanide of potassium is a perfectly innocuous substance ; this may by chance have been partaken of ; (as is frequently the case in manufactures of fer rocyanide of potassium—vide Liebig's Lectures on Organic Chemistry, in the Lancet) ; and would, of course, upon distillation, yield a considerable amount of prussic acid. "In the year 1841, M. Orfila was called in to refute the evidence of two physicians and four chemists, in a case of suspicious death. The physicians and chemists in question asserted most positively that a certain Mon sieur Pralet, procureur at Chamtery, had died from the effects of prussic acid. M. Orfila proved, however, most clearly and satisfactorily, that M. Pralet died from apo plexy, and not from prussic acid. " According to M. Orfila, the detection of prussic acid in the digestive apparatus, &c., assumes the value of positive evidence, only in such cases where the sub ject of the investigation has exhibited previously to his or her death the characteristic symptoms which are con stantly attendant upon poisoning by prussic acid, and where the post-mortem examination reveals the patho logical alterations produced by the action of this delete rious substance upon the animal organismus." Now, were these symptoms observed i n th e case of Sarah Hart ? " Mr. Champneys states that he smelt at the mouth of deceased, and that he could not perceive any odour of prussic acid. Had prussic acid been administered, he must have smelt it, especially as the quantity must have been considerable enough to cause death within from ten to fifteen minutes. lie, moreover, states that her eyes were fixed; he does not mention a word of that peculiar brilliancy of the eye which is generally considered one of the characteristic symptoms of poisoning by prussic acid, and which persists even for a considerable time after death. I myself have seen three cases of poisoning by hydrocyanic acid, and this symptom existed in every one of them. With regard to the repeated screaming of deceased, I will admit that this would not very much militate against poisoning by prussic acid, since its re sults from Coullon's experiments that animals poisoned by prussic acid scream repeatedly during the second pe riod of the action of the acid. It is, however, gene rally held, that after, or rather with that peculiar shriek usually emitted by persons poisoned with prussic acid, and which has not improperly been termed " death scream," all power of volition ceases, and complete insen- sibility supervenes. " The absence of the peculiar odour of prussic acid militates, however, most strongly against the supposition of poisoning by this deleterious substance. Mr. Champ neys, as well as Mr. Norblad, seem, indeed, to have felt this difficulty—at least they endeavoured, before the Coroner, to account for the absence of the characteristic odour of prussic acid. " The brain is found in a perfectly healthy state ; the lungs are found perfectly healthy (this statement, however, Mr. Champneys modified at the trial, inas much as he asserted, in et oss -examination, that he found them slightly congested), with the exception of some old adhesions of long standing ; the stomach and the abdominal viscera likewise are found to be perfectly health-, though rather fat : the internal surface of the coat of the stomach is found to be covered with more mucous than is usually the case, anditscontents are found to manifest an acid reaction. There is nothing whatso• ever to indicate the action of a poison. The acid reac tion of the contents of the stomach is owing, as is now generally admitted by chemists and physiologists, to the presence of free hydrocloric acid in the gastric juice. " Not one single pathological alteration is found in the brain, nor in the heart and lungs, stomach and ab dominal viscera of deceased; however Messieurs Champ neys, Norblad, and Pickering seem to have settled to their own perfect satisfaction, that some poison or other must have been administered, the notion that deceased might have.died from natural causes seems to have been scouted altogether and unanimously by these gentlemen. This point being thus satisfai....tority settled, there re mained simply one slight difficulty, viz., to find out what kind of poison had been administered to deceased. " All they know is, that death has ensued suddenly, and that the contents of the stomach are acid. It is upon these very slight indices that Mr. Norblad comes at once to the conclusion that oxalic acid has been the cause of death ! in which opinion his colleagues seem to have joined at once, since it results from Mr. Cooper's evidence, that the contents of the stomach were tested in the first instance for oxalic acid. Now, it is very true that oxalic acid causes death, in some instances, almost as rapidly as prussic acid, especially when the acid is dissolved in a copious amount of water, so as to facilitate and accelerate its absorption ; it is true, moreover, that in such instances no remarkable alteration is observed in the brain nor in the abdominal viscera ; but the lungs exhibit a number of spots of a lively red tint, and the blood is either black in the two vasculary systems, or the venous blood is black, and the arterial blood of a vermilion tint. Nothing of the kind was observed in Sarah Hart's case, and yet Mr. Norblad actually stated at the trial (in cross-examination) that he firmly believed deceased died from the effects of oxalic acid, until he saw the special test for this acid fail detecting it." They did not examine the bronchial tubes—they did not examine the spinal chord, and they say no thing as to the appearance of the blood. " We are therefore justified in assuming that the ap pearance of the blood was perfectly natural, and this natural appearance of the blood militates altogether against the supposition that death was caused in this in stance by prussic acid." When Mr. Champneys was first called in he at once determines that his patient has been poisoned. " Having made up Lis mind upon this point, he pro ceeds, about three minutes after the death of deceased, to open one of her veins—not as he very naively stated be fore the coroner, with a view to bring her back to life, but in order to ascertain the cause of her death from the state and appearance of her blood. How this object could be accomplished, I must confess I am altogether at a loss to divine. At the trial, indeed, Mr. Champneys, who has then had two months' leisure to find out the absurdity of such a proceeding, declares that he bled de ceased simply in order to satisfy the parties present that nothing was left undone ; but this after-statement has surely not the power to annul the deliberate statement made before the coroner. This part of the evidence is very wavering and contradictory in every respect. Mrs. Ashley, for instance, stated before the coroner, that de ceased died immediately after Mr. Champneys' attempt at bleeding her, whilst at the trial she asserts most po sitively that deceased was dead when Mr. Champneys bled her. If deceased was really still alive, bleeding, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, was highly improper, and could only tend to accelerate death. " The fact, perhaps, ig, that Mr. Champneys fancied at the time, he had to deal with a case of cerebral oonges- tion, or Of apoplexy, and that bleeding would restore animation." With regard to the cause of death, Mr. Strauss says : It is my most conscientious conviction that Sarah Hart died from natural causes. It is of course quite out of my power to point out the precise cause of her sudden death. I neither witnessed the symptoms exhi bited by her during the few minutes immediately pre ceding the extinction of life, nor have I seen her body after death. It would perhaps have been easy to come to a correct conclusion on this point, bad the postmor tem examination been made by men of sterling science; however, as it is, the cause of death will probably re main shrouded in mystery. " My conviction that prussic acid had nothing what ever to do with the poor woman's death, is based chiefly and principally upon the absence of some of those symp toms which my own experience (limited as it is) has taught me to expect invariably in cases of poisoning by this acid; and moreover upon the total and complete absence of any of the pathological alterations which I should invariably expect, at least in all cases where the acid has not destroyed life instantaneously, but after the lapse of a few minutes or so. In all cases of poisoning by prussic acid, without exception, the venous system is found gorged with very fluid blood of a dark violet or black tint ; the liver is gorged with blood of black colour. The brain is in most cases overgorged with blood, which in many instances is found to have extra vasated ; the lungs are almost invariably gorged with blood of a deep violet or black colour ; the oesophagus, stomach, and intestines are generally in a state of greater or lesser inflammation, &c. &c. &c. Of all these indica tions of the action of prussic acid, we have none in this instance. How is it possible that any professional man, possessed of the slightest knowledge of his art, can, in the face of these facts, come to the conclusion that the death of Sarah Hart is chargeable upon prussic acid ; simply because some prussic acid was obtained by dis tilling the contents of her stomach ?" He thus concludes:— " I have now arrived at the conclusion of my remarks. I beg it to be distinctly understood that I do not know Mr. Tawell, and that I am induced to step forward in his defence, solely because I believe him innocent of the crime imputed to him. " In conclusion, I beg to propose two simple ques tions : " 1. If the facts and allegations averred by me are true (and I challenge the strictest inquiry into their correctness)—will any impartial and unprejudiced man be bold enough to assert that Mr. Tawell had a fair trial, and that he has been condemned On indubitably conclusive evidence ? " 2. If I have succeeded in shaking the medical evi dence adduced against Mr. Tawell, and to render the principal fact in the case doubtful, would his execution, under the present circumstances, not positively amount to legal murder?" DISPATCHES AND LETTERS OF VICE ADMIRAL LORD VISCOUNT NELSON ; with Notes by Sir Nicholas- Barris Nicolas, G.C.M.G. The present volume contaios the Nelson dispatches and letters from the beginning of l 795 to the end of 1797, and include an account of Admiral Hotham's actions with the French fleet; c•f Nelson's proceed ings in the Mediterranean in 1798 ; of the battle of St. Vincent, and of the attack on Teneriffe, in which he lost his arm. These documents are many of them of a most interesting character, and as materials for the future historian they are invaluable. It is im possible to read this volume without admiring the de lightful style of Nelson's writings. Clear, distinct, and terse, his letters and dispatches are models of correspondence ; and whether he be making a report to his superior officer, or issuing his directions to those under his own command, his meaning cannot for one instant be misunderstood. COURT CIRCULAR. WINDSOR, THURSDAY.—The Queen, accompanied by the Princess Royal, and attended by the Dowager Lady Lyttelton, took an early airing this morning in a pony carriage and four, in the Great Park. His Royal Highness Prince Albert rode out in the forenoon on horseback, attended by Major-General Sir Edward Bowater, Equerry in Waiting. The Prince also walked out this morning. Their Royal Highnesses the Prince of Wales and the Princess Alice were taken for pony and walking exercise in the pleasure grounds and Home Park. In the afternoon her Majesty, attended by the Vis countess Canning, Lady in Waiting, took an airing in a pony phaeton. The Honourable Colonel Grey, Equerry in Waiting, was in attendance on horseback. Prince Alfred and the Princess Royal were taken out walking. Prince Albert walked out again this afternoon. Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Kent visited the Royal Family at the Castle in the afternoon. The Bishop of London held a Confirmation yesterday (Maunday Thursday) of the juvenile nobility and gentry in the Chapel Royal, St. James's. The Rev. Dr. Wesley, the Rev. Mr. Pack, and the Rev. Mr. Povah assisted at the ceremony. His Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge was present. About thirty of the juvenile nobility and gentry were confirmed. The Earl of Ripon and the Countess of Jersey were among the nobility present. Her Majesty's royal charities were distributed on Monday and Tuesday last (being Passion Week) to the necessitous and aged poor. There were upwards of one thousand persons relieved, in' various sums, from a crown to five pounds. These persons had been previously selected by the Lord High Almoner and by the Sub-Almoner, upon the recom mendation of the clergy, nobility, and gentry, in the seve ral metropolitan districts. The Royal -gate Alms were also paid to 168 persons, 13s. each, being 6d. per week for six months. This charity is of very ancient origin, and was formerly paid to the poor at the gate of the Royal Palace at Whitehall. Yesterday being Maunday Thursday the distribution of the Royal Charities was made in Whitehall Chapel with the customary formalities. The company who at tended to witness this distribution being admitted by tickets. At three o'clock a procession walked from the Almonry-office in Scotland-yard, consisting of the Yeomen of the Guard (one bearing the alms), the Sub- Almoner, the Venerable Archdeacon S. Wilberforce ; the Secretary and Yeoman of the Almonry, Joseph Hanby, Esq.; four children from the national school at Westminster, and attendants. The following anthems were performed : " Hide not thou thy face." " 0 Lord, grant the Queen a long life." " Who is this that cometh from Edom ?" The recipients were granted an addition to the usual bounties of money, and Maunday pennies, a sum of thirty shillings, in lieu of provisions heretofore distri• buted in kind. There were present from the Chapel Royal, in addi tion to the choir, the following clergy :—The Sub-Dean the Rev. Dr. Sleath, the Rev. Dr. Vivian, the Rev. Dr. J. H. Dakins, the Rev. Mr. Packman, the Rev. Mr. Povab, and the Rev. Mr. Clarke Haden.. One of the recipients has reached the great age of ninety-eight years, but being too feeble to attend she was represented by a deputy, as indeed were several others who from age and infirmity could not attend this highly interesting ceremonial. A Cabinet Council was held yesterday afternoon at the Foreign-office. The Ministers present were Sir Robert Peel, Lord Wharncliffe, the Duke of Buccleuch, the Earl of Aberdeen, Lord Stanley, Sir James Graham, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Earl of Haddington, Earl of Ripon, Lord Granville Somerset, the Earl of Lincoln, and the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert. The Council sat two hours. A Deputation of gentlemen connected with the Scotch Banking system had an interview with Sir Robert Peel yesterday. The Ecclesiastical Commissioners for England had a meeting yesterday afternoon, at the office in Whitehall place. There were present the Bishop of Bangor, the Bishop of Chester, the Bishop of St. David's, the Bishop of Hereford, the Bishop of Lichfield, and Lord Ashley. Sir David Davies arrived at his residence in Berkeley street yesterday. Dispatches for the Governor of the settlement on the Gambia, and also for the Governor of St. Helena, were sent off yesterday evening from the Colonial-office. DUTCH MAIL THE HAGUE, MARCH 7.—The Minister of Finance has published a notice, stating that the total amount of the Treasury bonds issued by virtue of the laws of Dec. 27, 1840, and June 19, 1843, still in circulation on the first of this month, was 2,461,80011. We observe, by the Amsterdam Stock list, that the New Four per Cents. were sold on Saturday last at 100 for the first time since that stock was created. THE HAGUE, MARCH 18.—The Government has pre sented to the Second Chamber a project of law for modi fying the budget of the national debate for 1844. This budget, as modified, amounts to 35,790,941 florins 95 cents. The Government has given notice on this occa sion, that of the eighty millions of florins (in francs 169,312,000) of the Two-and a-Half per Cent. Debt due by Belgium, only 6,420,000 florins had been disposed of, and that consequently the remain ing sum of 155,765,800 francs had been negotiated with Messrs. Rothschild at the rate of 60 per. cent., which, by the reduction into francs, may be 601. So that, with these 80 millions, a capital sum of 86,420,000 florins of the national debt at 2i per cent. has been paid off._ Tho accounts from the rivers say that the water is falling, but the ice is still quite firm, the frost being very severe. IIAMBURGIT, MARCH 14.—The ice in the Elbe is still very firm in some places—two feet thick. Thermometer to-day is at two degrees above zero. A steamer was seen off Cuxhaven on the 13th, but was obliged by the ice to put to sea again.—Ham bursh Borsenhalle, March 14. DUTCH FUNDS.—AmsTsansm, MARCH 18. Money. Bills. Actual Debt, 2% per Cent.— .• •• • • 63% 64% Ditto, 3 per Cent • • • •• 78% 79M Ditto, 4 per Cent.• ••• •• ••• • •• 99% 100% Ditto, 5 per Cent.. ... .......... Amort Syndic, 4% per Cent Ditto, 3% per Cent .. • • 93% 91% Commercial Company, 4% per Cent • • 150% 151% -Dutch Papers, March 19. THE PREMIER'S DREAM. (From Punch.) Scene, Downing-street, the PREMIER, in the garb of RICHARD THE THIRD, on a sofa, with a tapestri e d window at the back. (Six figures are seen to pass at the back, each of which in turn addresses the PREMIER.) FIRST FIGURE (a small Tradesman). Let my approach Tour soul with anguish fill, See my small profits, my exhausted till; Feel thou the pain which now my bosom racks, A wretched victim to your income-tax. SECOND FIGURE ( a briejless Barrister). Another martyr, Peel, behold in me, Without a brief--almost without a fee ; Briefless I am, but so would not appear; I pay the tax on what I do not clear. THIRD FIGURE (a lean curate). Alas! you're made me feel what I endure; Mine is a wound, but not without a cure. Out of that cure an income-tax I give; If I've no living, how am I to live? FOURTH FIGURE (a half-pay Captain). Peel, my allowance could not be well shorter ; To my half-pay why will you give no quarter ? FIFTH FIGURE (a poor Widow). Why dig your hands into poor widow's purses ? But, with the widow's sevenpence, take her curses. SIXTH FIGURE (a poor Artist). E'en the poor artist is compelled to give Out of the means on which he scarce can live. 'Tis hard the income-tax on him to lay, Whom even princely patrons poorly pay. [The figures all vanish, the PREMIER starts up, rushes to thefrant of the stage, looks round, and sees nothing. THE PREMIER. 'Twas but an idle vision fill'd my brain: Shadows, avaunt! ROBERT'S himself again. [He begins making some calculations about the Sugar Duties, and the scene closes in.] TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sin,—l read in your paper of yesterday a letter, signed " Charles Sibley, 20, Vere-street.' There are several Vere-streets in London, and I do not know which it is. May I, therefore, trouble you with the inclosed sovereign to transmit to that gentleman, which is a trouble I hope you will not think too great on such an occasion.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant, F. H. Swansea, Tuesday Evening. [The sovereign has been forwarded, and we shall be happy to forward a hundred more for such a truly cha ritable purpose.—ED. Sun.] M. TRIERS'S HISTORY OS' THE CONSULATE AND EMPIRE.—The first and second volumes of Mr. Forbes Campbell's authorised English translation of this im portant work have just appeared. Having filled, at different times, the high offices of Minister of the Inte rior, of Finance, of Foreign Affairs, and President of the Council, M. Thiers has enjoyed f acilities beyond the reach of every other biographer of Napoleon, for pro curing, from exclusive and authentic sources, the choicest materials for his present work. As guardian of the archives of the State, he had access to diplomatic papers and other documents of the highest importance, hitherto known only to a privileged few, and the publication of which cannot fail to produce a great sensation. From private sources M. Thiers, it appears, has also derived much valuable information. Many interesting memoirs, diaries, and letters—all hitherto unpublished, and most of them destined, for political reasons, to remain so— have been placed at his disposal ; while all the leading characters of the empire, who were alive when the author undertook the present history, have supplied him with a mass of incidents and anecdotes which have never be fore appeared in print, and the accuracy and value of which may be inferred from the fact of these parties having been themselves eye-witnesses of, or actors in, the great events of the period. On the 9th instant an accident, fatal in its conse icieuigehncsesa,lioeccrtounr7wrediatooseCcollootnheels C a cc h a i r d l e e n s t a 1 B a l y y ei a , u . a h t t B fi u r d e: and who was so burnt that he died from the injuries. The deceased was seventy years of age, and brother to General Sir Henry Bayley. On the inquest a verdict of " Accidental death" was returned.—Exeter Post. DEATH OF THE LORD BISHOP OF ELY. The Right Rev. Prelate who, for the last nine years, presided over the see of Ely, closed his earthly career at two o'clock yesterday morning, to the great grief of all his relatives and friends. Foi some time past his Lord ship's health had been declining ; but within the last three or four weeks the decay of his strength, and the diminution of his vital energy, became so evident to his medical attendants, that no hope of his Lordship's restoration to health could rationally be entertained. llis immediate connexions a ere therefore fully prepared for the melancholy event which took place at the epis copal palace in Ely, where he had resided from the com mencement of that ilness of which we have now to re cord the fatal termination. The deceased prelate was born in they year 1770, and had therefore entered upon the 76th year of his age before he breathed his last. 11e was not a man of showy talents, or remarkably ambi tious of literary distinction ; and, though n.it a very brilliant ornament of the episcopal bench, he was rather a learned, and, certainly, a discreet man, fur he does not appear to have placed himself in the front ranks of any party, either in Church or State, although it could never be said that he was at all backward in the perfor mance of second or third rate duties, whenever the pro gress of legislation in matters ecclesiastical called for his active interference. The subject of this notice, the Right Rev. Joseph Allen, D.D., successively Bishop of Bristol 'and of Ely, passed his school and college life without attracting much attention at the places of his education, or bringing down uprn his .h.:a.d . either the reproaches, the jealousy, or the admiration of his contemporaries. He received his university education at Trinity College, Cambridge, and ob tained a fellowship there; but soon afterwards he ac quired a far greater advantage in being apvinted tutor to Lord Althorp, now Earl Spencer. It is so much a matter of course for the preceptor of an Earl to become a dignitary of the Church, that nothing less than a sense of extreme unfitness ever si:uts out from their hopes so pleasing a consummation. Soon after the completion of Lord Althorp's education Dr. Allen was, by the father of his pupil, presented to the vicarage of Battersea, in Surrey, and he likewise received a prebendal stall in Westminster Abbey ; which preferments afforded him for many years the pleasures of a residence in the metro polis, and the more substantial enjoyments derivable from the possession of 1,5004 a year. He thus became a member of that eminent corporation the Dean and Chapter of Westminster; and these reverend personages are the patrons of the living of St. Bride, in the city of London. Dr. Allen had not for many years belonged to their body when the pastoral office in that important and populous parish became va. cant, and the result was that the late Bishop of Ely found himself a pluralist with an increase to his income of 5624 per annum, which raised its aggre gate amount to no less a sum than 2,000/. a year— almost enough for a bishop. But fortune seemed never weary of heaping her favours upon Dr. Allen, for after enjoying this large revenue during a period long enough to accumulate wealth, he saw the Whigs, to their own surprise, as well as to the astonishment of the world, in possession of Downing street ; and he likewise had the pleasure of seeing that his quondam pupil was a leading member of the new Administration. Mitres, crosiers, and all the ensigns of episcopl authority, naturally presented themselves to the imaginations of the lear ne d p ersons w h o h a d superintended the education of the Whig nobility ; and the chapter of accidents afforded th em a ri c h harvest of deaneries. and bishoprics. A mongs t thi s num b er was th e see o f Bristol. Bishop Gray, who for seven years had go verned that diocese, was in 1834 removed from this world to a better, and the subject of this memoir reigned in his stead. He was now a member of the House of Lords, with increased income and influence. To do him justice, there is no reason to suppose that he ever misapplied either, though his name will not descend to posterity in connexion with any great public services or any remarkable sacrifice of personal convenience or advantage. He was, however, by no means unmindful of his public duties, for when in the possession of full strength and vigour, he was a frequent attendant on the debates of the House of Lords, and took a strong in terest in all legislative enactments connected with the Universities and the Church. His Lordship voted against the third reading of the Irish Church Tempora lities Bill, and he also opposed the second reading of the Bill respecting tithes in Ireland which was introduced in 1334. He refused to give his assent to the removal of the Jewish disabilities, although he voted in favour of the ad mission of Dissenters to our Universities. On the third reading of the Poor-law Amendment Act he opposed that measure. This independence of spirit reflects upon his name some credit, for we need scarcely remind any reader that the new poor-law was a favourite measure of the Bishop's patron. When Dr. Allen was translated from the see of Bristol, in October, 1836, that bishopric was united to Gloucester under the provision of an Order in Coun cil ; and Dr. Monk, then Bishop of the last-mentioned diocese, became Bishop of Gloucester and Bristol, while Dr. Allen—his friends being still in power—had the good fortune to be translated to the Bishopric of Ely, which formerly was worth 10,000/. a-year, but which, by recent legislative enactments, has been reduced to 5,500/, After having presided over this see for a period —as already stated—of nine years, the Right Rev. Pre late quitted this world, leaving behind him a reputation not so brilliant as to excite envy, but quite sufficient to secure respect.--Times. DOMESTIC POULTRY. (From the Gardeners' Chronicle). Amidst the various projects suggested for the benefit of the rural population, we hail with satisfac tion the announcement from the Zoological Society of London, of the intention of the Council to encourage an Exhibition of Domestic Poultry at the Gardens in the Regent's Park, in the course of the ensuing summer. The little attention at present paid to the rearing of poultry in England is too plainly shown by the fact that more than two hundred and fifty millions of eggs were imported from the Con tinent in 1841, 1842, and 1843 ; and, more over, that in the two latter years duty was paid on the importation of live and dead poultry to the value of 600,0001. Surely, this ought to stimulate us to be stirring, and if possible to promote the rear ing of poultry, one of the modes of doing which may be anticipated to be the improvement of their breeds. Thirty years ago six sorts of fowls only were es teemed —namely, Ist, the game ; 2d, the white or Eng lish ; 3d, the black or Poland ; 4th, the Dorking ; sth, the large or shakebag ; and 6th, the Malay breed. The case is now altered. Our space does not at present permit our enlarging on this sub• ject farther than to quote one instance of farm management, as regards poultry, mentioned by Mr. Arthur Young, as practised by Mr. Boys, of Kent :—" The labourers' wives and families who live on Mr. Boys' farm do the whole; he supplies them with what offal corn is necessary, and they re turn Mrs. Boys the grown fowls ready for market, at 3d. each; 6d. for turkeys and geese; and 3d. for ducks ; and the account, well kept, states a profit of 201. a year, after all the expenses are paid and the family well supplied ; and she has, likewise, all the eggs without any payment. This is a system equally beneficial to the people who undertake it and to the farmer." This plan is still followed in some parts of England, where circumstances render it practicable. It is in the belief that it will tend to promote such and simi lar arrangements that we augur well of the proposed measure, and anticipate that part at least of the four or five hundred thousand pounds, at present paid every year to our neighbours, may be usefully em ployed at home, to the benefit of the farmer, and the employment and profit of the family of the cottager. MURDER AND SUICIDE. MANCHESTER, THURSDAY.—A most distressing case of murder and suicide by the murderess, took place on Tuesday, in the neighbourhood of Oldham-road, in this town. It appears that about half-past four o'clock .in the afternoon a neighbour called at the honse of the de ceased, whose husband is a respectable working-man, named John Fairhurst. and finding the door locked, she peeped through the keyhole and saw Mrs. Fairhurst standing in the middle of the floor with the child in her arms, and a long piece of rope. She opened the door, and then threw the rope into the cupboard. After some conversation the neighbour left her, and in about half an hour afterwards a person. who had occasion to call at the house, opened the door and saw Mrs. Fairhurst hanging by a piece of rope attached to a nail which had been driven over the staircase. An alarm was instantly made ; she was cut down an d carr i e d up sta i rs, an d upon the parties getting into the bed-room the infant daughter of the deceased was seen hanging from the tester rail of the bed. Tho infant was quite dead, al though warm. No cause can be assigned for this shocking act, but it is thought that the circumstance of the husband having threatened to put the child out to nurse had preyed upon the mind of the mother, who, it appears, determined upon putting it to death, and then terminatinc , her own existence. An inquest was held upon the bodies yes terday. Hannah Lawrenson, sister of the deceased, said—The deceased. Sarah Fairhurst, was the wife of John Fair hurst, maker up, cf Hampson-street. She was forty years of age. The child's name was Elizabeth, and she was fourteen months old on Monday. My sister appeared during the last month to have changed in her mind, and had been making complaints about her family. About three weeks before she had been seen walking round a coal-pit, as was supposed with the intention of throwing herself in. Her husband was in employment, and she was not in want of anything. Her husband was a kind husband to her, and the infant was her only child. She was a passionate woman, and latterly has been very desponding and low spirited. She had fre 'iuently said that she had been an undutiful mother to Lao child, but I do not believe that. John Fairhurst stated that he was a maker up. On Monday morning he left home at eight o'clock, leaving his wife and child at home. He had never heard her threaten to destroy herself, but had heard that she had done such a thing. He had occasion to speak about taking the child from her if she did not get better. She overheard the conversation, and she beg ge d t h at t h e child might not be taken from her. Witness promised that the child should not be taken away, and she ap peared to get better. She was of a covetous disposition. The CORONER said he thought there could be RO doubt that the deceased Sarah Fairhurst had committed the act while in a state of temporary insanity. The jury returned a verdict accordingly. Mr. A. J. Baker Cressy.ell, M.P. for Northumber land, has just added to his extensive estates in that county by the purchase of the large and beautiful estate of Elling ton, near blorpeth. EXTRAORDINARY SOLAR — PHENOMENON. The following letter, describing some remarkable appearances of the sun, which have been recently ob served, recently appeared in a Morning Contempo rary.:— " write to inform you of a most extraor dinary phenomenon which has to-day been observed at Cambridge ; and I do so because, although the event is one which must interest the scientific world to a very high degree, yet the results of the minute observations made by the Plumian Professor will not be completed for some days; and I thought that, in the mean while, the results of my own observations might not be unacceptable. " The morning was beautifully fine and the sky cloudless, if we except a few cirrocumuli in the S.S.E„ which appeared like thin pieces of white gauze floating in the sky, scarcely a breath of air stirring, About twenty-five minutes past ten my attention was drawn to the sun, which, though apparently une clouded, seemed to shine with less than usual lustre, and his rays appeared slightly tinged with green. "I immediately put on the dark glass of my achro matic telescope, and with a power of about forty, directed the instrument to the sun's centre. I here saw distinctly a small dark spot, surrounded succes sively by violet, blue, green, yellow, orange, and red rings, separated by comparati ve ly d ar k r i ngs , an d be yond the exterior red ring the same recurred in the same order, but the colours then were much more faint, and at last hardly visible. This appearance in creased in intensity until five minutes past eleven, after which the colours began to fade, and exactly at twelve all trace of colour disappeared. However, I cc ntinued my observations, and soon found that t he phenomena had not concluded, for the colours now began to return in a reversed order—i.e., at the sun's centre was now a spot of purely white light, and each colour was replaced by its complementary one; and, most astonishing to relate, this appearance of the sun's disc increased in intensity of eeour until five minutes before one, and then began to fade, vanishing completely at 35 minutes past two, after which every thing resumed its ordinary appearance, and nothing more could be discerned unusual through out the day. " A few words respecting the causes of this extra ordinary phenomenon. It is well known that if two convex lenses of small curvature be placed in con tact, and a pencil of sunlight be allowed to fall upon them, that the appearance presented by the reflected rays is that of a dark spot surrounded by coloured rings, from blue to red; and that the transmitted light exhibits a bright spot surrounded by rings of the complementary colours, which are commonly known as Newton's rings.' " Now, if two thin films of vapour, extremely near together, passed between the sun's disc and the eye of an observer, the scientific reader will immediately see that the transmitted rays might produce the ap pearance I have described as taking place after twelve o'clock ; but to produce that observed before twelve, the rays reflected from the earth by these two films of vapour must have been again reflected by a third film, and thus brought to the eye in a manner some what analogous to that in which the mock sun is formed. As this third film moved away the pheno menon must vary, and at last disappear, and the sun's transmitted rays now reaching the eye without any , reflection, would change the appearance to that ob served from twelve o'clock to half-past two. . " I cannot, however, yet explain why the periods of maximum brightness should be equidistant from noon, as I am at a loss to know what functions the sun's hour angle the motions of these laminae of vapour could be. " The correctness of the above hypothesis is re markably confirmed by micrometical Admeasure. ments which I took off the angular magnitudes of the red and violet rings. I found these to be nearly Pa the ratio of 43 to 30—i. e., nearly in the ratio of the square roots of the lengths of the un dulations corresponding to red and violet rays, which is exactly what ought to be the case if my hypothesis is correct.* " The colours in the spectrum before noon were fainter than those observed afterwards ; and some light must be lost by the second reflection : if my hypothesis be correct, this is another remarkable con firmation of its truth. I have written the above in great haste, which I hope you will excuse. "I am, Sir, your obedient servant, "THEODORE F. ELLIS. " Trinity College, Cambridge, Sunday, March 9." * See Airy s " Mathematical Tracts," p. 296, last edition, where it is proved that if a be the diameter of any one of Newton's rings, and the corresponding undu lation, that a 2 varies as T,, and a varies as for dif ferent coloured rays. VI ti ILAN 'f POIACE• (From Young England.) "Indeed, the watch ought to offend no man; and it is an offence to stay a man against his will."—Much Ado about Nothing. One of the most singular circumstances connected with the Hampstead tragedy was brought to light at the examination before the magistrates at Marylebone Po lice-office, on Tuesday. A police-constable, who had been previously examined, came forward to add some thing to his testimony which he had before omitted, and which it appears was brought to his recollection by a voluntary statement made by the prisoner Hocker to another policeman in his cell, to the effect that he had given a shilling to the constable in charge of the corpse of Delarue. A policeman finds an individual at a short distance from the body of the murdered man ; this unknown man " having a cloak very much muffled about his head," with a most unaccountable spirit of benevolence offers to treat the policeman, that he had never spoken to before, with a little brandy—yet the suspicions of the amiable officer were not aroused ! The mysterious man then took a shilling out of his pocket, and asked the po liceman to get some brandy with it. What did the con stable do?—arrest the man offering him money under such circumstances? No. Baldock merely replied, "I must not take it. lam not allowed to do so." The stranger pressed him again; and the vigilant functionary took the t•hilling, and " had no further conversation with the man, and did not see where or when lie left." All this seems most unaccountable. It was plainly the duty of the policeman to have detained, as a witness, the man who was in the neighbourhood when the murder was committed ; and if he had reasoned for a moment on the motives which could have induced a strange wan in such a place to offer him a bribe, lie would certainly not have allowed him to walk oft' without seeing where he went to, or when he left. Yet the papers are constantly taking of the vigilance of our police ! THE TRACTARIANS. TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN. Sin,—Here and there, in general society, you meet with men who say they think people are exceedingly silly to dis turb themselves about the attempts of the Tractarians; that their revival of obsolete observances is a matter of in difference; and, in short, that we should do just as well under the Romish as under the Protestant system. I would ask such men, if they ever travelled beyond their own provincial frontier,—whether it ever occurred to them to contrast, for instance, Ireland, with England, Italy with Holland, Bohemia with Prussia, or the Catholic cantons of Switzerland with the Reformed ones? If they have tra velled, or even read books of travels with common attention, they must have found that, while Protestant countries generally present an aspect of comparative prosperity and enlighten ment, the great masses of the people of those lands in which the Roman Catholic religion is predominant, are sunk in sloth, ignorance, superstition, poverty, and sensuality. This appears to me a fact worth remarking, and I say—Beware, then, of the Tractarians, who assuredly would, if they could, drag us back to metheval darkness, and make us the blind slaves of a wily and arrogant priesthood. I should add, that 1 have nothing whatever to say against individual Roman Catholics. I am acquainted with but few, and these are, I believe, estimable men. I am, Sir, yours with much respect, Exeter, March 15, 1845. NOTATOR. THE WEATHER.—We are delighted to state that a great and favourable change has at last taken place. This has been one of the finest days of the season. The wind has left the east, where it has been fixed for weeks, and it now blows a gentle breeze from the west. The sun has shone all day with great brightness, the temperature is mild, and the barometer is nearly as high as it has been for the last twelve months. ERRATUM.—In the account published yesterday of the estimated cost returns and not profits of the rail ways from Paris to Lyons, and from Lyons to Avignon, the sums were given in francs in place of pounds sterling. TIIE FLEET PRISON.—The Fleet Prison, in Far ringdon-street, which was purchased a short time ago by the Corporation of the City of London, giving 25,0001. to her Majesty's Government for the property, is about to be disposed of by auction. The building covers nearly an acre of ground, and at various times has had above 1,000 inmates in it. The prison included within its walls the governor's house, the public kitchen, the fair, the coffee-gallery, &c., &c., and it has been computed, upon actual measurement, that there are nearly three millions of bricks, 50 tons of lead, 40,000 feet of paving, &c., &c. Applications have been made for the ground by some public companies. DESTRUCTIVE FIRE IN ESSEX.—Last night, shortly before eight o'clock, a very destructive fire broke out upon the extensive premises belonging to Mr. Hoperoft, lamp-black and colour manufacturer, situate at Strat ford, Essex, near Harrow-bridge. The flames, when first perceived, were raging furiously in the lamp-black factory, a building 70 feet Jong by 25 feet wide. The stock being of an easily ignitable character, not many minutes elapsed before the flames broke through the roof. h was d With all speed intelligence of the outbreak furnished to the engine stations in town y _,the inha bitantswga reounte scene,p ed et owing to e brought ffi c er. D a u p r n i private t t ein h e e n ti g me e to the thusoccti to the firm hold the fir e n ohadthi nothing alreadyceeld prevent obtained, theit at entire became apparent that contents of the building from falling a prey to the fury of the flames. Engines from Jeffrey and Wellclose square stations were quick in arriving, and owing to the exertions of the firemen and inhabitants the flames were eventually extinguished—not, however, until the whol of the stock in the manufactory was consumed, and the roof burned oft • The origin of the fire has been traced to the accidental ignition of some spirit. Unfortunately I*, Boperoft i 5 uninsured. ADVENTURES OF PHILIP CLINTON. A striking and original work of fiction is now in the course of publication in a London weekly newspaper called the Sentinel. It is entitled " Philip Clinton; or, a Tale of Modern Times," and is written with the in tention of embodying certain political occurrences connected with the movement which took place a few years ago among the working-classes for obtaining the " Charter." It is well-known that these attempts failed as much through the folly and treachery of some of the leaders, as from a want of proper organiza tion among the people themselves. A fine scope is thus opened for the skill of the writer, who, in de scribing these events and unmasking the villany of baser agents, may preach a useful lesson, and unfold a moral of the greatest importance to all classes, namely, the necessity of education, political and otherwise, to fit the people truly to comprehend their duties as well as their rights, and to enable them to distinguish their true friends from their false misleaders. The work opens with great spirit, and immediately interests the reader. There is a domestic story of singular beauty interwoven with the detail of political matter, which of relief and contrast to the work, and carries the reader forward with an intense relish of the characters and the subject. In tracing the political occurrences of which we have spoken, the author treads on ticklish ground. for he must necessarily sketch the characters and doings of certain well-known popular leaders; nevertheless, he walks over the " glowing embers" fearlessly. The work must excite great notice, and its progress will no doubt be watched with consider able anxiety. SPORTING INTELLIGENCE. TATTERSALL'S—YESTERDAY. CHESTER CUP. Tho betting on this event was trivial in amount, and at prices so nearly similar to those laid on Monday as to render comment superfluous. The following were the average quotations at the close:- 11 to 1 agst Mr. Jaques's Semiseria—take 12 to 1 12 to 1 agst Mr. A. Johnson's Obscurity—t. and aft. of. 13 to 1 agst Mr. A. Johnson's The Era—taken 13 to 1 agst Mr. W. Scott's Cataract 25 to 1 agst Mr. Bell's Winesour—taken 25 to 1 agst Duke of Richmond's Strathspey 30 to 1 agst Mr. Davis's Yheomun-ac-Knuck—taken 33 to 1 agst Mr.H. Stebbing's Celeste—tak. and aft. off. 40 to 1 agst Mr. Cuthbert's Queen of Tyne—taken 40 to 1 agst Mr. Hesseltine's Fitz Allen—taken 40 to 1 agst Mr. Irwin's Ould Ireland—taken 45 to 1 agst Mr. J. Day's Portrait 50 to 1 agst Mr. Ongley's Mystery 500 to 8 agst Mr. Collett's The Dean 1000 to 15 agst Mr. Irwin's Faugh-a- ballagh—t. sev. times 1000 to 20 agst Mr. Hutchinson's Ratan—taken DERBY. The speculations on this race, although not generally important, were in some respects of considerable interest. We may instance Clear-the-way, Pam, the Cobweb colt, and two or three outsiders. Against the first of this lot 14 to 1 to nearly 2001., laid in the early part of the af ternoon, was followed by current offers of 15 to 1, those who wore so liberal in their investments on Monday showing very little disposition to add to their responsi bilities ; 18 to 1 was taken freely about Pam, and 20 to 1(a fall of three or four points) to two or three hundred pounds about the Cobweb colt, whose opponents, we strongly suspect, were willing to go on ; 25 to 1 was taken in fifties about Newsmonger—the same to a small amount about Miss Whip colt ; 1,000 to 30 each about Mentor and Pantasa, and 35 to 1 in fifties about Old England, and a few ether bets, of which the list of prices appended will be a sufficient index :- 12 to 1 agst Forth's lot—taken to 1001. 10 to 1 agst Mr. Greville's Alarm 15 to 1 agst Lord Stradbroke's Idas--taken 15 to 1 agst Mr. Ferguson's Clear-the-Way 15 to 1 agst Colonel Anson's Kedger 18 to 1 agst Lord Chesterfield's Pam—taken freely 20 to 1 agst Colonel Peel's Cobweb colt 25 to 1 agst Lord Chesterfield's Newsmonger—taken 25 to 1 agst Lord Glasgow's Miss Whip colt 1,000 to 30 agst Mr. St. Paul's Mentor—taken 1,000 to 30 agst Mr. Mostyn's Pantasa—taken 35 to 1 agst Mr. Gully's Old England—taken 1,000 to 25 agst Mr. A. Johnson's Annandale—taken 40 to 1 agst Mr. Lintott's Cabia Boy (1,000 to 20 laid once) 1,000 to 20 agst Mr. Coleman's Young Eclipse—t. freely 1,000 to 10 agst Mr. Merry's Collier—taken 1,000 to 10 agst Mr. A. Hill's Libel—taken 1,000 to 8 agst Mr. Irwin's Hermit—taken. IRISH RAILWAYS. (From the Dublin Evening Packet . ) We learn from the l e tt er o f our London Correspon dent, that Government is about to issue a Commission to inquire into the merits and demerits of projected railways for Ireland. This is as it should be. Specu lations are running fea r f u lly hi g h, a n d a re-action w ould prove ruinous to the country. We are desi rous that every schem e s h a ll un d ergo a scru ti n i s i ng investigation by a competent tribunal, and be disposed of according to its merits. It is our first duty to cau tion people against gambling—that is to say, against the purchase of shares of scrip at a premium, where they are not competent judges of the intrinsic value of the undertaking wherein they are about to embark their money. The worst consequences are likely to result from Stock Exchange gamblings. After giving this cau tion, our next duty is to b espea k f or eac h pro j ec t it s due share of consideration from the Government. The rejection of some lines by th e B oar d o f T ra d e h as given satisfaction to many, while the rejection of others has caused loud complaints in very influential quarters. We do not intend t o do more than report progress. Our opinion as to the propriety or impro priety of any of these rejections would be of no value, as we do not comprehend their schemes, and we shall therefore carefully abstain from the expression of our opinions, merely premising that caution should mark every step taken in these great under takings, which, if conducted with skill and honesty, must lead to great public good. In the way of re porting progress, we may mention that the rejection of the line called " the Royal Canal Scheme," has caused very general dissatisfaction at this side of the issued were as 14,000 out of the 20,000 shares were held by parties resident for the most part in Dublin, who entertained a favourable opinion of the project, and reposed confidence in the directors, many of whom are highly respectable and esteemed to be wealthy, as merchants and landed proprietors. The disappointment felt in this respect seems to have been augmented by the circumstance of the Gal way project having been more fortunate, though in bad odour among our merchants generally, not one of whom be longs to the direction, which presents the names of but few landed proprietors. The proprietors of the stock of both the Grand and Royal Canals (between which lies the course of the proposed Galway line) are loud in condemnation of the report of the Board of Trade, whilst the public are completely at sea respecting the grounds upon which the decision has been founded. The Galvray line, from its junction at or near Sallins, (twenty miles from Dublin), traverses a barren and waste bog, more than forty miles i n length, while he Mullingar project follows the bank of the Royal Canal, running through some of the richest lands in Ireland, toward s M u lli ngar and Longford, near which latter town it forms a junction with the Shannon. The reasons o f th e Board of Trade for the rejection of this li ne are looked for with considerable anxiety, as no Irish rail way project appeared to attract more gen e r a l atten tion. It is an extraordinary fact, that th e s h ares o f . the Galway scheme are heavy the market, and have fallen in value since the decision of the Board of Trade was announced ; while the d e t erm i nat i on o f the Directors of the Mullingar Compa n y t o procee d to Parliament, in opposition to such decision, has caused the shares of the latter scheme t o ad v a nce . The Board of Trade and the Railway Commissioners for Ireland have, within an interval of a few years, pronounced the most contradictory opinions respect• ing three of the principal projects now before the public. the V attentionehavesaidof so h much, o for the purpose of drawing Commission about to be formed to all the circumstances of the case. We understand that the marriage of the Right Hon. Lord Gifford with Miss Berkeley, daughter of our Hon. and Gallant Representative, Captain M. F. F. Ber keley, R.N., will take place early in the ensuing month, and that a family party will shortly assemble at the Ridge on the happy occasion.—Gloucester J ournal. [ADVERTISHMENT.] — TBE EARL OF ALDBOROUGH AND H O LLOWAY'S PILLS !' AN ASTOUND ING C URE BY THI S MIRACULOUS MEDICINE , AFTER EVERY O THER MEANS HAD FAILED I—See extract of his Lord s hi p ' s l etter, dated si r ,—l beg to acquaint y ou t h at your pills Villafes s r A H I e el s ! i o n w a ly i : e ghorn, the 21st February, 1845. To Pro have effected a cure of a disorder in my liver and stomach, which all the most eminent of the faculty at hone, and all over the Continent, had not been able to effect, nay, not even the waters of Carlsbad or Mamenbad.—Signed, Aldborough." These wonderful pills will cure any disease of the liver or stomach. Sold (also Holloway's Ointment) at Professor Holloway's Establishment, 244, Strand (where advice may be had gratis), and by all medicine vendors throughout the civilised world. 1 (CIT S ' , of ' s ea ind op, Ol e r ho Of UI