The Sun. — London, England, 1832-01-17 00:00:00

"A- --, .t.•tit .-, :5 ., 0 • pa.- r , ,t, Is 0, iiliti ' • 1 0 4 it , , , u cloik, replied the Prince, with his usual i 7. 1 3 1 5104 1 'tY • • Tffer>infortunate old man is now alone ; he escapes from the observation of men, and yet he may be traced for some time longer. The Prince carried two watches : one a hunting. watch, which he was accustomed to wind up him self; and a town watch, which his v alet-de-chambre wound up. The Prince wound up his hunting watch on that occasion. After the retirement of M. Bonnie and Lecomte, the Prince snuffed the two wax-candles which had been freshly lighted in the c himney-place, and went quietly to bed. The wa x-candles burned only for about half an hour, and not two hours, as has been said. As for the Prince, the following circumstance makes it certain that he went to bed for the purpose of sleeping. The Prince laboured under an inguinal hernia on the left side, which no one knew but M. Bonnie and the valets-de-chambre. M. Bonnie had advised the Prince to take off the bandage every night on retir ing to rest. Well, this is just what the Prince doe-. The bandage was found in the bed,—the handkerchief carries with it the proof of his having reckoned on a to-morrow. It was the Prince's habit to make a knot in his handkerchief, which on going to bed he used, as every body else, to place under his pillow. I know well that there are cir cumstances which ill suit discussion in a public audience, but my courage, in not receding before any difficulty, will be able to explain all. " There surely does no , exist, in all these circum stances, any presage of the discovery of the morrow. Thus, then, in summing up the acts of the day of the 26th, what is observable ? A perfect calmness, an affable reception, a repast, at which great gaiety WAS displayed, a game at cards, and a farewell to all present, in these words, " a dernain." Having re tired to his private room, the Prince gave himself up, as usual, to his little private affairs; he wrote down his losses at play. It is known that at eight o'clock Lecomte came to the Prince's door, as his Highness had directed, —that silence alone answered to his voice. He ran to the apartment of Madame de Feucheres, whose conduct on this critical day ought to be well scrutinized. "What is it that she does ? She takes scarcely time enough to cover herself, which is natural enough; but what looks less so is her not going by the pri vate staircase, which led, not into her chamber, but from the lower corridor to the saloon preceding the Prince's sleeping-room. It was natural for her to have done what she says she did. She has said before M. le Conseiller-rapporteur : " I presume that in the state in which I was I must have pared by the private staircase." No, Madame, you did not go up or come down by the private staircase : this is a fact established by the instruction. " Madame de Feucheres went up with me, by the grand staircase," says M. Bonnie. She was between us two. She said to me while going up, "If the Prince does not answer, it will be necessary to force the doer." Having arrived in the waiting room, every one observed that the private staircase had remained open all night. This staircase, which leads, not into her chamber, hut (and it is an important circum stance) into the lower corridor, is accessible to all by the vestibule, and allows a passage from the park and the court to the door of the Prince. At the ex tremity of the corridor, and quite close to the stair case, opens a door from the sleeping-room of Ma dame de Frucheree. '~; Every one is struck with this circumstance ; and Manoury directed Lecomte's attention to it, by ob eerving— " You did not then close the bolt P" To which Le comte replied, " I believe I closed it. I did not pay at tention to the matter." Be pleased to recollect this declaration, which we shall be able to compare with that made to M. le Counsei&r-rapporteur. What I establish is, that even after the opening the chamber _Madame de Feuelseres did not wish to fix attention on the fatal private staircase ; but that she returned to her chamber by the .staircase of ho nour, which was the most unlikely thing for her to do. So a witness, Jerome Hippolyte, declares that he saw Madame de Feucheres descending the grand staircase, after the door of the chamber had been forced. It is now necessary that we should examine the appearance of the chamber where the Prince died. At the first blush, it struck the witnesses, parti cularly the valet de chambre, that the bed had been adjusted by hands not acquainted with the Prince's habits. The Prince arranged it so that his bed touched the bottom of the alcove, with an interval, however, sufficient to prevent the wood of the bed from in juring the wainscotting : the intervening space was very narrow, scarcely an inch, according to Hyppolite Jerome, who frequently made the bed. The women Bontemps and Dubois made the bed on the 26th—the bed which the Prince had lain in some hours before his death. The woman Bon temps has declared that the can take upon her to affirm that on that day (positively on that day) she had arranged the bed (relative to the alcove and wainscot) in its ordinary position. Well, it is found that the bed is a foot and a half from the bottom of the alcove. The manner in which the bed was pressed down, and the impres sion which it preserved, did not appear less re markable. The Prince usually lay and slept so much on the outside that his valets could hardly conceive how it was that he did not fall out while sleeping; and even in order to prevent such accidents as might arise from such a position, had taken the precaution to fold up a counterpane in four, so as to raise the edge next the chamber, and accumulate the feathers on that side; from which it resulted that the Prince found himself very much covered in on the side next the chamber, while towards the middle of the bed a heap or swelling was usually to be found. This custom of the Prince was not known to those who remade the bed after the perpetration of the et ime. They constructed an artificial depression in the middle as Dupin explained in these words:— • " I have Nae n his bed ; I declare that the depression of th e bed in the middle, and its removal from the bottom of the alcove, were entirely foreign from the habits of the Prince." M. Rouen Desmollets did not credit the allegation of suicide. What confirmed him in his belief was the slight and very gentle pressure which the body of the Prince would appear to have lefr. The im pression appeared to him to be such a one as a hand heavily laid on the bed, or a young prrsun, from twelve to fifteen years old, disposed so for an instant., would have made. The coverlet was turned up quite rightly, as it is usually turned up when the bed is about to he warmed, but the edges were not at all pressed down. It appeared to Manourv, that the bed was much rather like one artfully adjusted than unmade (plutot arrange que defait.) Another mistake. In the course of these pro ceedings my adversary has treated many things with levity. " I will not," said he, " trouble myself into the allegations touching the bed. I will not say a word with reference to the slippers." It is necessary, nevertheless, to explain ourselves on a matter that has made much noise. I address myself to you respecting a chair which, on the sup position of a feigned suicide, would have been placed near at hand to the Prince. M. Bonnie has deposed " that chair was usually placed between the Prince's bureau and the fasten. ing of the casement ; it was scarcely a foot from the body of the Prince. Wishing to assure myself whether all assistance would be useless, I displaced the chair with my foot ; but I positively declare that it could not have assisted in the alleged suicide of the Prince, even though he had had the free use of his hands to loop himself on the fastening of the window-sash, and even though he would have been able to mount upon the chair, it was not placed so as to facilitate the execution of such a project." And still more precisely to the same effect—" The chwr was not placed in the angle of the casement, nor sufficiently near to the body of the Prince to afford him assistance in hooking the handkerchief to the fastening of the window-sash ;in fact, it could not in any way have assisted him in committing suicide." Nlanoury, likewise, who entered first, and who went from the bed where he was first directed to the casement, did not meet with any obstacle." If," said he, " there had been a chair either before or at the side of the Prince, I should have necessarily thrown myself into it." Explanations which surely are not irreconcileable with the version of the proces verbal. MM. Bonnie and Letelliere, the physicians at St. Leu, have made written deposition to the same effect. The matter thus becomes formidable, and I will take it upon me to sav, that in treating these particulars with a sort of disdain, they have not answered a fact which is not without weight. The Prince had tender feet, which became swollen towards the close of the day. In order to guard them against the pressure of his slippers, he had a leather sole attached to the foot of his pantaloons, and it can he understood that in walking on a good carpet he might therefore dispense with the use of his slippers, which, however, were placed every evening in a convenient position where they were found every morning. The Prince did not use them. " I have never seen the Prince's slippers near his bed," say Leclerc and Manoury ; this is the first time that they have been found near the bed; and in truth, the perpe trators of the crime, when adjusting the disorder which i 'Ls consummation occasioned, persuaded them selves they were achieving wonders in placing the slippers which they found in the chamber close to his bed. It is very clear that those whose aim it was to cause the act of suicide to be credited, would have taken care to repair on the corpse those appearances of disorder the traces of which they bad endeavoured to efface from the bed, and from the chamber, and it is an observation truly puerile which has been ap plied to the clothes. Perhaps, indeed, they have pressed their attention on this head much too far. It is difficult on the suicide hypothesis to con ceive how the head-dress could have escaped being deranged by the suspending ligatures, and in that position the appearance of the rosettes in the silk handkerchief always appeared to me astonishing. That which prevented giving credit to the sui cide of the Prince was the absence of every sort of written document which might be used in evidence so as to place his officers, household, and Madame de Feucheres herself, above all suspicion. Not one word, notwithstanding the Prince employed his pen and recorded his losses at play. You well know, gentlemen, that the unfortunate persons who are driven to suicide never fail to take these precautions; never do they free themselves from this care. You have had a recent example in the death of the la mented professor (M. Nloiroud), the recollection of whom forces itself upon my thoughts in spite of myself. . _ If it could have been presumed that the death of the Prince could have been the effect of a crime, the necessary precautions would have been taken; but no one had any such suspicion. Thus, It must never be forgotten, that the proceeding began under the inevitable influence of this powerful prejudice; they have, therefore, stated, in a proces verbal drawn up by M. Lctellier, but signed by both, " After having carefully examined all the circumstances of the body, we have ascertained that the death was certain. The body was cold, the upper and lower limbs were stiff, whence it appears that death was certainly produced by strangulation." M. Letellier, for he it is who writes, says—" From the position of the body, and of the articles around it, as stated in the proces verbal, it is very probable that his Royal Highness, after going to bed, rose soon after, got upon a chair placed near, tied the handkerchiefs very tight, and kicked away the chair." What are we to think of this hypothesis, now that it is admitted that the chair was not near, and that the Prince could not avail himself of it ? The proces verbal continues—" Then the weight of the body made the knots of the handkerchief which passed into that which was tied round the neck slip by degrees until the extremity of the fee• rested on the ground. The body must have re mained in the position in which it was found, the stiffness of death, which had already taken place, having prevented a greater depression of the legs, so far as to make the heels touch." In the course of the afternoon comes the magi strate of the canton of Enghien. His first step was to direct that the body should be taken down and placed upon the bed; and from this period the state of things as they were at first could no longer be observed. About three o'clock the Attorney-Ge neral of the Court of Pontoise arrived, accompanied by MM. Godard and Deslions. These two physi cians drew up a proces verbal, in which they say— " Round the neck was a white cravat twisted twice round; the neck, at its lateral and upper part, showed a mark without ecchymosis, with a depression more decided towards the left lateral part of the neck, where the knot of the cravat was placed ; a single slight excoriation was observed at the left la eta! part. The tongue, of a violet colour, protruded from the mouth about an inch. The two feet, in the fore part, exhibited long recent excoriatiotis ; blood flowed from the canal of the ure►hra. The external state of the body, in the back part of it, which we merely examined, offered nothing besides worthy of remark. The right, side, on which the body lay ( which the physicians saw only upon the bed), exhibited the cadaverous lividness which ne cessarily takes place after death, towards the sloping part of the body. In consequence we are of opinion that the Prince probably (observe this expression) sunk under an asphyxia through strangulation ; but it is necessary to open the body in order to deter mine exactly the cause of death." Observe, moreover, that these two physicians have given no formal opinion as the cause of the strangu lation, and confined themselves to the conclusion that the Prince " probably sunk under au asphyxia through strangulation." When skilful physicians restrict themselves to conclusions so vague, so re served, it must be observed that they did not find in the cii cumstances observed about the body plausible grounds to justify them in giving a formal opinion. M. Marc, physician of the King, accompanied by MM. Marjolin and Pasquier, arrived at St. Leu on the 27th, at nine o'clock. He examined the state of the body, but did not then draw up any proces verbal. The Attorney-General, Bernard, who, in consequence of a wrong direction, lost twelve hours in a journey to Chantilly, where he supposed the Prince had died, arrived in the morning of the 28th. \ This Magistrate required that a new inspection should be made by MM. Marc, Marjolin, and Pas quier ; and these physicians made a proces verbal, in which we read—" First, that there was round the neck a rnatk which denoted the actio❑ of the ligature placed upon this part; that the characters o f t hi s mark leave no doubt as to the action of the ligature during life ; that the tongue, tum;fied and livid, pro truded from the mouth; that there exists no ap parent external cause to which death can be attri buted ; we are of opinion (say they) that it must have been produced by strangulation." Secondly— Some observations on the inner fastenings, which demonstrate how much the physicians were struck by this circumstance, which operated without their being conscious of it, upon their decision ; some re marks on the state of the clothes, which are of no importance ; and then, " the mark observed on the neck is very large, oblique, and is not prolonged beyond the surface of the mastoid apophyses ; we are of opinion that the strangulation was not effected by anoi her hand." - -- It is in the proces verbal of the post-mortem ex amination that the excoriation remarked on the Prince's body are described and explained. What is to be remarked here is this very important pas sage—" The characters of the mark leave no doubt as to the actio n o f t h e li gature d ur i ng lif e ." We have seen in the process verbal of MM. Godard and Deslions that the mark was without ecchymosis, a term which it is perhaps useful to de fine. Ecchvmosis is a slight contusion which does only injure the skin ;—the effusion of blood which it causes between the flesh and the skin. It must be observed that this fact, observed ex ternally, was verified at the time of dissection. The physicians of Paris observed and pointed out to the Attorney-General, that there was no ecchymosis —that is, no effusion of blood in the cellular mem brane, nor in the parts lying beneath the nape of the neck. The meaning of the word ecchymssis being well ascertained, I affirm, tbat if the suspension took place during the life of the Prince, it would have been almost impossible that strangulation should not have produced that effusion of blood between the flesh and the ski❑ which constitutes ecchymosis ; but if the suspension took place after death, the circulation of the blood being stopped, the mark without ecchymosis would be the only thing tha► could follow. I affirm, that Dr. Gendrin has de monstrated this in a consultation distributed among the members of the Court, and which is thus re sumed on the point—" If there is any inference to ' be drawn from the mark found on the person of the Prince of Conde, it is an inference contrary to that established by these examiners; for if the ecchymosis on the wrinkle of the ligature may be wanting when the individual has been hung alive, it is not less true that it is always wanting when the body has been hung after death." Thus the only conclusion which it is allowable to deduce from this mark is, the strong probability that the bo d had been tied up after death, in order to give the appearance of suicide. A passage which I extract from the depositions made by the physicians goes further to show under what influence they acted. I read there— " Continuing our operations, the Attorney-General, having taken cognizance of the above report, considering that the post mortem examination cannot fail to throw ad ditional light on the facts already established, to demon strate suicide, required that this operation should be pro ceeded with." Thus all those who were engaged in the first exa mination (instruction) have admitted, a priori, that suicide was established. No endeavour was made to discover the truth, in the absolute sense of the word : but to complete the demonstration of a truth already known. One circumstance, in which is more particularly found the evidence of the murder, presenting itself under the influence of the inner fastenings, tends to brighten the illusion. Care has been taken to tell you that the Abbe Pelier had, during a conversation, on Sunday, the Ist of August, acquainted the Prince with the march of Rambouillet and the pillage of St. Cloud : that the Prince, being much struck at this news, exclaimed, " Oh ! they have plundered," and retired very much absorbed. It is possible to think with this witness, that it was at this period the Prince conceived the design of taking measures to preserve his own habitation from a like misfortune. What, moreover, is certain is, that on the 10th or 11th of August, the Prince had in contemplation the project of a placard, which he propesed to stick up against the grating of his chateau. This fact has been attested by a witness, against whom no other objection has been raised but his profession. He has been accused of being a dentist. Well, he is a dentist ; that does not hinder him from being a witness. It becomes indispensable to go through his deposition. " The second time I had the honour of seeing the Prince," says AL Holstein, " on the]oth or 11th of August last, the Prince asked me with eagerness what was going forward at Paris, and what was said of him. I took the liberty of telling him that all appeared to be be coming tranquil; that no plundering bad taken place; that his Highness was loved, &c. ; and that he had no enemies.' To which he deigned to answer, smiling,— ' Oh ! I know it; they are the hares and the rabbits, on which I make a cruel war.' " He was then pleased to say to me, that the plunder of the chateau of St. Cloud had frightened him; that he was afraid that the thieves, checked i❑ Paris, would spread themselves in the neighbourhood, and pillage the chateaux and private property; and taking from the table a folded paper, he added, shaking this paper, ' Would you believe that I likewise have made a proclamation which I propose to have stuck up, and in which I declare that I have given all my property to King Philip, and in which I recommend that no injury may be done to my servants: oppressed with years and infirmities, I have only to die." It results from the declaration of this same wit ness, that when the Prince showed him this folded paper, he no longer attached any importance to it. It would not be easy to controvert the evidence of M. Holstein, for it would be necessary also to repu diate the testimony of Manoury, who thus expresses himself in the examination (instruction). " M. Holstein came almost every Sunday to St. Cloud. I have seen him there since July. One day, walking with M. Holstein, who had just left the Prince, I said to him, You have been a long time with Monseigneur.' M. Holstein replied, ' Has not this good Prince taken it into his head to make a proclamation?' I do not recollect sufficiently, in order to detail them, the particulars which M. Holstein gave me, but it was on this very day." I do not indulge in vain conjectures as to what this project had come to, but I will tell you, that when the dying chamber was entered, and at the moment of the examinations which were almost immediately made, the ashes in the fire-place de noted that many papers had been recently burnt. It was therefore on the night between the 26th and 27th that the burning took place; but on the morning of the 27th, a rigorous investigation was instituted throughout every part of the chamber; the chimney was examined, in order to see if any one could have introduced himself that way ; and, to use the expression of one of the witnesses, " they looked about every where, and saw nothing in the fire-place but the remains of the paper after it had been consumed." It is on the evening of the :27th that the frag ments of writing are found by Lecomte and M. Guillaume, secretary to the King'.. Cabinet ; and this is the declaration, full of honour, of the wit rie,s :—" The papers found by me have evidently been thrown down after the burning of those which were burnt underneath them, and looked like a fall of snow upon them. The state of the burnt papers, and the little appearance of compression they pre sented, induced me to presume that the apartment had not been put to rights since the papers had been burnt." Thus it was not on the night between the 26th and 27th of August that the papers were placed on the hearth, for in these nights they would have been consumed by the fire which destroyed so many other documents, and particularly all that the Prince had for many days written with an air of great mystery, and of which no further trace has been found.; and besides, in admitting that they had been thrown there after the burning, they would inevitably have been observed on the morning of the 27th upon the hearth, on which they would have glared from their whiteness, like snow : we must presume, then, that they are the remains of the placard which M. Hol stein had seen in the hands of the Prince before the 1 lth of August,and to which from that date he did not attach any more importance, and which he con sideted but as a memento of anxiety, and which he would have torn in pieces, and which a criminal foresight would have preserved. Yes, it was several hours after the opening of the chamber, after the scrupulous investigation which had been made there, that the fragments of the draft of the placard were thrown on the still warm ashes of papers burnt during the night. Lecomte opposes himself in vain to the objection. " In the forepart of the fire-place," h e Says, " he re n arked some burnt papers, but in the back there were some torn papers." No, Lecomte, this version is inadmissible; " tike snow abo've,"—this lively image explains every thing. It is, therefore, incontestably demonstrable, that a ith the design of abiising public opinion, and making it be believed that there has been ares-upiclaidcneed,, with which it was necessary to reproach th e memory of the Prince, there were intentionally t h rown, fragmentsduring paper, ownh which were ashes n o i n the otherfi than th os e of the draft of the placard written by the Prince in the beginning of August, and almost immediately after abandoned by him. This culpable contrivance, the innocence of which can never be established, is of itself a proof of culpability. Certain words, how ever, which are read on the fragments recovered, struck all persons present. This is very likely. M. Bernard said, " The truth is there; we must find at i" and with a patience which had however no other re sult than to remove an error, the two writings which Nave been read were put together. (TO BE CONTINUED.) On Saturday last the Duke DE CRILLON gave a grand entertainment in Paris, to which there were upwards of 500 invitations, on the occasion of the mar riage of his daughter with the nephew of Count Pozzo DI BORG°, the Rus-ian Ambassador, who, it is said, gave to the bridegroom, formerly a Captain in the Ex-Royal Guard, a fortune of 1,500,000 franca, with a promise of as much more after the Count's death. The Ex-Captain engages by his marriage•contract never to bear arms against France. The venerable Earl FITZWILLIAM is ex pected to return to his mansion in Grosvenor-square in the course of the present week, from Wentworth House, in Yorkshire. Notwithstanding his advanced age (84), his Lordship is in the enjoyment of excellent health and good spirits, and during the holydays he kept open house at Wentworth, where Lord MILTON and his eldest son, the Ron. W. C. WENTWORTH, Lord and Lady DuNnAs, the [lon. T. DUNDAS,M.P., and Sir C. WENTWORTH, have been on a visit to the Noble Earl. It is said that Ministers iatend to bring a Bill into Parliament to authorise the taking down the whole of York-street and Chapel -street, Westminster, and to build a new street from the Broadway, to come out opposite Emmanuel Hospital. This will be a great accomme da tion to the Members of Parliament who reside in the fashionable neighbourhood of Belgrave-square. TheFe improvements are to take place in consequence of York street presenting a disagreeable appearance to many of the apartments in Buckingham Palace. Mr. BURTON, the architect, has given in an estimate of the expence to the Commissioners of Woods and Forests. It is with pleasure we state that a gentleman, high in office at the Board of Trade, has been for several days in this town and neighbourhood, pursuing, on the part of Government, an extensive and minute inquiry into the state and prospects of trade, and the condition of the labouring classes. From the known talents, judgment, and zeal of the individual to whom this important task has been confided, we have no doubt that Ministers will, through him, obtain a body of authentic facts and infGr tnation, which will be exceedingly useful to them during the coming Session of Parliament.—Manchester Guard. HORACE Twlss, the Ex-Colonial Secre tary of State, and ALF., and now a practising Chancery Barrister, has recently met with a famous windfall. It will be remembered that Mr. Twiss had a portion of ground assigned to him, which formed a part of Carlton gardens—the east end. On this he erected a ♦ery hand some house, which, to the present moment, has been " To be let." The Commissioners of Woods and Forests, under the late Government, disposed of the ground behind Mr. Twtss's house to a person who has built stables on the site of it. This being deemed a nuisance, Mr. Twiss imme diately applied to Lord LOWTHER, at that time Chief Commissioner, for compensation, who, after various cor respondence, agreed, on the part of the Crown, to pay Mr. Twtss 1,2001. The contract was on the point of being closed when the Administration changed, and the new Government refused to ratify the agreem-nt from a suspicion that it had originated in a job. Lord DUNCAN NON, the present Chief, and Mr. Twiss, agreed, however, to refer the matter to Mr. SMITH, the Surveyor of the Crown, who, we are told, has awarded Mr. Twiss up wards of 3,0001 —Sunday Times. HERNE BAY PIER COMPANY.—A Special General Meeting of the Shareholders of the Herne Bay Pier Company was held yesterday, at the King's Head Tavern, Poultry, for the purpose of discussing a variety of matters connected with the interests of the Pier, and of tilling up a vacancy in the Company's direction. The report of the Directors was read, from which it appeared that the works had steadily proceeded at the rate of 200 feet a month, since the first pile was driven in July last, and that the pier is now advanced a distance of 1,300 feet into the sea, and planked to the extent of 1,000 feet. It further appeared that the Company are making a parade of 50 feet wide, which will extend for a mile or more along the front of the town next the sea, and which promises to form a delightful accommodation for riding and walking. The entire of the works are proceeding with amazing spirit, and it is the intention of the Company that they shall go on in the same manner, so as to enable passengers to land in May next. The pier will be so constructed as also to afford a delightful promenade, and to allow steam packets and other vessels to embark and land passengers and goods at all times of the tide. It is fifteen miles nearer London than Margate, and only seven miles from Canter bury A plan has been designed for regulating the future buildings of the town, preserving wide streets, and also, that several buildings, including a spacious hotel, are now erecting. The vacant direction was filled up, and thanks having been then voted to the Directors, the meeting separated. HORRORS OF THE SLAVE TRADE.—The Fair Rosamond and Black Joke, tenders to the Dryad frigate, have captured three vessels which originally had 1,100 slaves on board, but of which they succeeded in taking only 306 to Si e rra Leone. It appears that the Fair Rosamond had captured a lugger with 106 Africans, and shortly afterwards saw the Black Joke in chase of two other luggers ; she joined in the pursuit, but the ves sels succeeded in getting into the Bonny River, and landed 600 slaves before the tenders could 'take possession of them. They found on board only 200, but ascertained that the rascals in command of the slavers had thrown overboard 180 slaves manacled together, four of whom only were picket! up with the irons upon them.—Scotsman. An apparently judicious plan for the relief of large families ham been adopted in a neighbouring parish. For example, where a man has five children, and does not earn more than 12s. a week, instead of granting him relief in money, two of his children are received into a school, established for that purpose. They go in the morning, are taught, fed, and clothed, and return to their parents in the evening. By this plan the parish ensure the applica tion of the sum expended in improving the condition of the poor.—Essex Standard. ALICE PAULET, BY THE AUTHOR OF " SYMENHAM,"--" At every page of this Novel," says the Scotsman, " we meet with tokens of an intimate knowledge on the part of its author of the finest nuances of fashionable society and fashionable feeling, t,f great shrewdness of observation, and of a happy knack of making that tell upon his story. The work, altogether, is written in a sprightly style, and from the denouement being so highly complimentary to the power and the fas cination of the lair sex, cannot fail to be a favourite with the ladies." LETIIAM.—Of all the means employed to gain the love of the fair, there are few more queer and laconic than that displayed in the following courtship : Mr. APC— "Oh ! Miss D--, this world h as no charms, and it is void without you." Misc D— "Oh ! Mr. M'C--, if I thought you were in earnest." Mr. AFC— " In earnest—there's my hand, and me (puliing out his watch) I have just half an hour to stop. Go, corhult your upon the. übject, anti return and ; inform me of your determination." The lady obeyed, re turned within the time, accepted his offer, and the nup tials have been solemnized accordingly.—Montrosellevicw. HADDINGTON, JAN. 12, 1832.—(Extract of a letter.) -1n the immediate vi&nity of the filthy close, in Iladdington, where the first ease of cholera appeared (next close indeed), there was a great quantity of bones collected, above 100 tons, bid up for the purpose of bruising for spring manure. From this mass there was a very disagreeable effluvia. The bones have been since removed, and buried in a park. They were not brought from a distance, but collected in and about Iladdington.— Scotsma n. ALARMING INCREASE OF FEVER.—We that typhus fever is still increasing. In flies six or seven members are seized. In the medical men of long standing, there never was Glasgow,°inne:linr'eyiitinftaofl sa y ' on any former occasion, so many cases of fever. Although scarcely a street is clear of it, it rages more virulently in those which are narrow, and in which the poorer classes reside. In one of the wynds fever prevails in every house of a large tenement ; but there are numerous cases which never reach the knowledge of medi cal me n, from the attempts of the patients to hide its existence. In lodging houses this is particularly the case. It i s th e opinion of the medical profession generally, that the present remarkable diffusion of fever is occasioned by the poverty of the working classes. In the Old and Back Wynds the fever is raging to an alarming extent. In one land in the Old Wynds there are seven at present ill, and several people have already died in it. To such an extent has fever spread in that part of the city, that the ward officers dare scarcely venture to do their duty in seeing cleanliness enforced. In the Great and Little Dovehills the epidemic is also severely lilt— whole families being ill, with scarcely one member able to serve another. It has also greatly increased in Ander^ stop. The:fever hospital at Milend is now open for the rec eption of patients, and a number of cases have been adrnitted,-,, Glasgow Evening Post, BRISTOL, MONDAY. COURT MARTIAL—A NEW ONE TO Le held on CAPTAIN WARRINGT OA: The Court-martial assembled again to-day to receive the instructions of the Commander-in-Chief. It was nearly eleven o'clock before the President (Sir H. FANE) and the other members entered and took their seats. The audience part of the Hall was by this time very well filled. Immediately The PRESIDENT rose and said that he had communi cated with the Commander-in •Chief relative to the late melancholy affair, and that he had received a letter in reply which he should read to the Court. The letter was addres , ed to Sir Henry Fane, and the substance of it was as follows : " That your letter has been communicated to the Com mander of the Forces, and that his instructions to you are to dissolve the present Court-martial immediately." This Court, therefore, said the President, is dissolved. The letter further stated, that the members of the pre sent Court martial should hold themselves in readiness to form another one, for the trial of Captain Warrington of the 3d Dragoon Guards—that the charges again Captain Warrington should be forwarded to the Court, by Mon day's post—that the Court should immediately forward copies of the charges to Captain Warrington, and allow him a fair and reasonable time to arrange his defence—and that these things being done, the day for the trial should be fixed without loss of time. The PRESIDENT then said that the present Court would dissolve so soon as the minutes of its proceedings were read over and signed. The sensation caused by Colonel Brereton's death has not yet subsided, and the feelings of the people continue to vent themselves in the most unmeasured terms of the conduct and proceedings of the corporation. Great efforts are making to save the lives of the unfor tunate men who have been condemned to death, and Vie petition to the King on their behalf is receiving signa tures very rapidly. To-morrow morning the members of the late Court martial again meet, to receive the charges from London— to constitute the new Court—to communicate with Capt. Warrington on the subject, and to furnish him with copies of the charges. DESTRUCTIVE FIRE and LOSS of LIFE. (From the Glasgow Evening Post of Saturday.) One of the most destructive fires that have ever taken place in Glasgow within the memory of man, occurred this morning in Queen.strret, where a court of three sides (Queen's -court) of great extent, occupied chiefly as warehouses, has been burnt to the ground. The pi e mises consisted of two large lands fronting the street, five stories high, with garrets above ; the street floor being oc cupied as shops, and the other flats as warehouses ; be hind, there were also two large lands, of equal extent, one on the north and the other on the south side of the court, while a wall ran across the upper end, separating it from the premises occupied by Stirling, Gordon and Co., and other proprietors. These back buildings consisted also of warehouses ; and the whole property, back and front, is now one mass of ruins. How the fire originated is a mystery that has not yet been explained. It was first dis covered shortly after one o'clock, by a smell of burning in the adjoining street, and shortly after flames were observed issuing from the premises. No appear ance of fire was at that time perceptible from Queen street, but from Millar-street the flames were seen issuing from a back window of one of the warehouses on the second floor. The watchman in Queen-street could not at first get admittance to the court, the iron gate bring locked ; the alarm was, however, instantly conveyed to the police office, and a porter who kept the key of the gate was soon found, and admission obtained. The fire now began to show itself in front of the building, and by the time the first engines arrived, one of which was at the scene of the conflagration a few minutes after the first alarm was given, the flames were issuing fiercely from two of the front windows to the south of the entry to the court. A good supply of water was at hand, and one of the pipes was led up the front stairs, and played upon the fire. The strength of the flames, however, was so great, and had made such alarming progress in the interior of the warehouses, that the water produced no effect. The cotton yarn and goods with which the building was stocked presented materials but too apt for conflagration. The devouring element burst out in every direction with awful rapidity, and communicated to the other warehouses in a time incomparably short. All was now a scene of bustle and alarm, and every thing that could be done to save the goods in the warehouses was tried by the few persons who had collected together. The extensive warehouse of Messrs. Wingate and Sous, which was stocked with an immense quantity of silk goods, situated on the first floor, was entered by several people, and a great deal of valu role property, with the books, taken out before it was reached by the flames, but in that, as well as in the other warehouses, the destruction of property was immense. The fire ran from warehouse to ware house, and from flat to flat, with surprising rapidity, and the most zealous efforts of the firemen were completely set at defiance. The whole front of the extensive building was at last enveloped in flames issuing from about fifty win dows,theconflagration, court presenting a spectacle the most awful and im wpoesriengoexthtastocbajootnbeed imagined. the ravages and the whole court may be said to have been i n one to sheet of flame at the same time; the engines placed be hind, though wrought with all the energy for which our fire department is so remarkable, were as unsuccessful as those situated before, and produced an effect scarcely greater than a drop of water thrown into a furnace. Part of the roof of the first building at last yielded, and tell with a tremendous crash, and was soon after followed by the remainder. The spectacle at this time was aw fully sublime ; a dense cloud of dust and smoke rose from the fallen ruins which, for a while, nearly obscured the brilliancy of the flames, but as it rose over the burning ruin a wide sheet of fire was seen blazing to an unparal leled height, brighter even than before, and illuminating the whole sky, while the surrounding streets were almost as light as mid-day. A good deal of the property in the shops below had been saved ; but we regret to say that a promising young man, Mr. D. N. Penman, about twenty two years of age, fell a victim to his activity in endea vouring to save property from the shop of his father, Mr. Penman, bookseller. He entered the shop along with one or two others ; and while there the floor above fell, and completely obstructed all passage to the street, even upon the supposition that he was not instantly killed by the falling ruins. So far as has yet been learned, the others escaped ; and a fireman, who was inside at the time, was only saved by the shop window being broken down, and he drawn out by the people outside. But for this timely rescue, lie would instantly have fallen a victim to the fl imes, as a few minutes longer would b .ve placed him beyond the reach of the bystanders. An. other fireman, at a later period of the morning, was killed in a way which made the spectators shudder. He was standing in the back part of the court, on a ladder about two stories high, when it fells and precipitated him upon the spikes of an iron railing, where he was completely transfixed—the spikes having pierced him through the lanes anti bowels. The whole of the buildings were now completely gutted by the flames, and the walls were tot tering to their foundations. The front wall, which was of great ext e n t and height, threatened several times to tumble down, and at last that of one of the lauds fell with a crash that for a while stunned the spectators, and paralysed every exertion. It was moon after followed by the other with a similar crash, leaving exposed the back walls, and the gable, though the wide range of ruins behind were still hidden from the view. The sudden fall of the front walls excited a considerable degree of astonishment, though the circumstance is easily accounted for when it is considered the shops on the first floor were all supported by cast-metal pillars, betwixt which and the atones above were blocks of wood ; the wood was of course soon consumed by the fire, and the connection between the pillars and the immense weight above being removed, the overthrow of the walls was inevitable along the whole extent; besides, there was one separating wall in the front range ; and the other ranges were separated only by the staircases. The north and south walls of the north side of the court, fell nearly at the same time, and crushed a large portion of one of the rangei of workshops in Convener AlTellan's coach works ; but the most:valuable of the property in them had been previously removed. The gables of the front range, the stair cases, the gable of the north side, and the gable and part of the walls of the south side of the court, being all left standing, towards the afternoon showed symptoms of falling ; Bailie Smith instantly procured the aid of several tradesmen of experience, who proceeded to take measures for pulling down whatever seemed dangerous. The value of the property destroyed is estimated at 150,0001., but it is understood most of it was insured. The only property saved was from the warehouse of Messrs. Wingate and Co., and from the shops below. There were from 30 to 40 tenants in the property, which was rented at about 2,000/. Some idea may be formed of the intensity of the fire, when it is stated that the iron safes formed no protection to the books locked up in them. They became red hot, and for two hours after the walls had fallen, flames were seen issuing from the safes, which were all placed in the gables at the extremities of the building ; the iron 49911 were burnt off their hinges, and the greater number fan among the ruins, without any vestige of their ever having been in existence. A great many complaints were made by gentlemen among the crowd, that the fire engines and pipes were not in a proper state of repair, and that the arrange ments for directing the engines were incomplete : and investigation was loudly called for. It was complained of by h o [la e, that before the flames in the front range had reached the shops, and while it was thought they would be preserved, tlae engines were ordered from the front of the building to Miller-street, to protect adjoining properties, and that for two hours during which the fire was approaching the shops, not a d r ip of water was thrown upon it ; while others say that it was then impossible to save the shops, and that all that could be done was to secure the safety of the adjoining properties. It is impossible to reconcile the statements of different individuals present at various times and in different places. One account represents the firemen as inactive, and an other describes them as exhibiting the most astonishing fortitude and daring. We understand the Commissioners were this afternoon to examine thoroughly into the ground of the complaints. COURT CIRCULAR. Their Royal Highnesses the Duchess of KENT and the Princess Vicronta walked some time yesterday in Hyde Park. Prince TALLEYRAND, the French Ambassador, had an interview with Earl GREY and Viscount PALMERSTON yesterday, at the Foreign-office. The Belgian Minister came to town yesterday from Esher. His Excellency visited Viscount PALMERSTON in the afternoon, at the office of the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs. Viscount ALTHORT entertained a large party of the Members of the House of Commons at dinner last evening, at his residence Downing-street : among the company were Viscount Duncannon, Lord Cavendish, Sir Francir Burdett, Sir Ronald Fergusson, Sir Gilbert Heathcote, Sir G. Robinson ; Mew's. Bernal, William Brougham, Denison, Heywood, Kennedy, Littleton, Macauley, Stewart Mackenzie, Marshall, Ord, and Warburton. Despatches were received yesterday, at the Foreign. office, from Mr. CHAD, our Minister at Berlin. The Hanoverian Minister has arrived in town from Brighton. His Excellency bad an interview yesterday with Viscount PALmmtszox. The Minister from Buenos Ayres transacted business with Viscount PA LMERSTON ye,terd ly at the Foreign-office. I POLICE INTELLIGENCE. BOW-STREET. Yesterday a young man of respectable appearance, named Isaac Valler, was brought before Mr. IIALLs and Mr. FLoon, the sitting Magistrates, to show cause why an order of affiliation should not be made upon him at the suit of Maria Collins, spinster, for the maintenance of a female illegitimate child of which she had been delivered, and which was chargeable to the pariah of St. Martin-in the-Fields. Mr. James Palmer, clerk to the overseers, proved the delivery at the workhouse on the 6th of September, and that the child and mother were chargeable to the parish. Maria Collins, a respectable looking young woman, abou 22 years of age, deposed that the defendant was the father of the child of which she was delivered in the workhouse. The defendant denied the charge. Mr. Hearne, bookseller, in the Strand, one of the over seers of St. Martin's begged to call the attention of the Magistrates to the circumstances of this case, which, he said, were as gross as they were extraordinary. The young worn in had been an assistant at an academy, which she was compelled to leave in consequence of ill-health, and she went to reside at the house of the defendant, who was in the employment of Mr. Clarke, the hanker, at Clapham, as gardener. The defendant was a married man with one child, and the young woman was recommended to him and his wife on account of the high character they bore as a very moral and religious couple. In a very short time, however, the defendant and his wife prevailed upon her to occupy a bed in the same room with them, on the pretence that she would be nearer to Mrs. Valler in case she needed assistance. In a night or two after this, Mrs. Valler was called out to assist in the aceouchernent of a friend residing at some distance, and in the course of the 'ma night, the defendant went to Miss Collins's bed, and accomplished her ruin. The defendant again exclaimed, that the statements were void of truth, and that he never had the least connection with the young woman. Miss Collins here said, Before God and man, I so lemnly declare, that Mr. Valler is the father of my child, and that I never had criminal knowledge of any other man." Valler here said, " fly God, it is false ! and (pointing to a gentleman in the office), that is the real father of the child, and not me." The gentleman (a Mr. Adams, who holds a situation in Somerset House) thus pointed out, instantly came for ward and begged to be allowed to make a statement. He said that he held an official situation in one of the Govern ment offices, and he was applied to some time ago, on be ll ilf of the unfortunate mother of the child, to ascertain the particulars relating to some property to which she was entitled, in the neighbourhood of Croydon ; and hav ing done so, he was employed to make a will, in which she b-queatbed, in case of her death, the property alluded to, to the child of the defendant.—(This was before she found she was pregnant ; and she was very much attached to the defendant's child). At that time he did not know that any criminal connection had taken place between Valler and the young woman. At the request of the defendant, a young woman was called forward, who swore that Miss Collins told her that she went to Croydon with Mr. Adams about her property, and he took improper liberties with her by the way. Miss Collins and Mr. Adams both denied that statement in the most earnest manner. Mr. Hearne, the overseer, said, that having taken great interest in the case, he had been at the trouble of making inquiries into the character of Miss Collins; and, from her youth, be found it to have been, to the present time, per fectly irreproachable. _ _ The Magistrates, after consulting together, made an order of affiliation, declaring the defendant to be the father of the child, and directing him to pay 3s. 6d. per week for its maintenance. At this period the defendant went into a convulsiv e fir, and was carried out of the office by Dodd, the gaoler. On hit return he again asserted that be never was c nnected with the young woman, and be should appeal to the Sessions against the order of the Magistrates. Mr. HALLS said, that he wag glad he had so determined, and he hoped that lie would be able to clear himself, for a more abominable case, if true, he had never known. It seemed almost impossible it could be contradicted. The defendant left the office, and stated that he should apply to a solicitor and appeal against the order. Mr. Thomas Cowley, boarding. house keeper in Craven street, Strand, was brought up to have an order of affilia tion made upon him at the suit of his cousin, Maria, very pretty girl, apparently about 19 years of age. who had borne him a daughter, which she held in her arms. Maria Cowley being sworn, stated that she had lived in the defendant'■ house for a long time, and that she becalnx connected with him in that house. Ile was her cousin, and was a married man with two children. Mr. Palmer, the clerk to the Overseers, said, he under stood the defendant denied the relationship, and also denied that his name was Cowley, but he (Mr. Palmer) was pre pared to meet both objections. The defendant_Nly name is not Cowley, and I am not at all related to the mother of the child ; my name is Jones. Mrs. Elizabeth Cowley, the mother of the young wo man, was then called forward and sworn. She stated that her husband was the brother of the defendant's mother; witness had never known him to go by the name of Jones, and she did not know how he could be entitled to that name ; he was a " love child," and his reputed father was Lord Ranelagh. Mr. HALLS asked the defendant if he was a married loan ? Mr. Cowley yes, I am. Mr. HALLS —And have you children? Mr. Cowley— Yes, Sir, two. Mr. HALLS—And this took place in your own house ? Mr. Cowley—Yes, Sir. Mr. HALLS—Then I must say it is a very disreputable business. Mr. Cowley—lt was not the first time she had formed a connexion with one of my sex. Complainant—That is totally false, and I defy you to the proof. Mr. HALLS—IS she not your own cousin ? Defendant —I ratbtr believe she ie. Mr. Flood—Then it is disgraceful in you to make the assertion you have now uttered. Mr. Alo)es, another of the Overseers, said the defendant had turned the girl out of the house ten days after her ac couchement. The defendant did not deny this, and Mr. HALLS said he must be a b ru t e i n d ee d . The defendant here began to plead poverty in mitigation of the amount of maintenance for the child; but the Over seers said that he occupied a very elegantly furnished house, and the Magistrates ordered that be should pay the ex pence., and bs. per week. tec tin i cdi cep 1)y 10 , A any Yet dra ree Ku pos cei am Tr 'vet not , at