The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-01-29 00:00:00

JAYUARY 29, 1856.] i t. 911 Friday morning, as Mrs. Baines, of Rodney-street, was 'iving along the Aigbnrth road, the horse fell : she was awn out, and broke her arm. T1., 1 ,m RECTOR FEES.—We understand that the question of the Zuector fees is by no means settled, and that the Rector in ends to commence proceedings in the spiritual court for their every under the provisions of the 10th George 4 . The fee 4: 11 b y the old table is one shilling, including the registra ni and the auditor has only allowed sixpence. SECOND WRANGLER AT CAMBRIDGE. - A telegraphic 4.t /ae s-os'n`e was received on Friday morning, announcing that the second place in the highest in the mathematical honours a t, Cambridge had been awarded to Mr. Rigby, who was edu eirq in the Upper School of the Collegiate Institution, after rt illg . promoted from the Middle School, and was elected as 'attatng Scholar to Trinity College, Cambridge, in 1862. ,CHILD BURN T TO DEATH . — An inquest was held, on 41 rdaY, on the body of Richard Henry, aged two years, fi n of William Thomas, pilot, living in Glenvale-street, s reo, lc -road. Mrs. Thomas took the deceased to bed on ~.a " lrday, the sth instant, and left him alone for a few ntites. On her return, she found the candle removed, and (4e deceased in an adjoining room, in flames. He lingered a ntil Friday. Verdict, " Accidental death." &TRH Qu.rsinv CAMPBELL.—This case was heard on Satur in in the Court of Queen's Bench. Certain payments, made by guardians of the poor of Liverpool to the rector, the e r t v. Mr. Campbell, had been disallowed by the auditor. The Doint rested upon the construction of the secs. of the 10th urge IV., c. 11, as to a table of fees payable to the rector, 7 4 4 Which was to be fixed by certain commissioners for burials tlla.oemeteries. A rule for a certiorari had been obtained for ''"art had up the order of the auditor. Lord Campbell said the '"art had no power to alter these fees. Rule discharged. SAILING OF THS PERSIA.—The landing-stage and piers Were crowded on Saturday, at noon, to witness the departure of the largest vessel afloat, the new royal mail steamship rsia, on her first voyage to New York. Precisely at her advertised time of sailing, the noble ship fired a signal gun, rei began to steam slowly, but majestically, down the river. r appearance excited the greatest admiration, and many Was wishes were expressedon her account. The morning ,was beautifully fine ; scarcely a cloud was to be seen upon the tare of the blue sky ; while the sun shone warmly upon the scene smiling with the full glow of his undimmed countenance Von the progress of the great ship. Besides a fair cargo and the usual mail, she had about 70 passengers on board. L LociL Win ITEMS—The steamship Great Britain, having .7 11 . again taken up by Government, is being refitted and 7Palred for the purpose of being made available for the con c7ance of troops, in which branch of the service she proved V'efficient last year. She will leave the graving-dock on the 31 1 of February, and will sail henee., for Malta, on the Bth, With about 1,100 troops. The screw-steamer Sarah Sands is ' 4B O being refitted for the conveyance of troops to the ast. A- large batch of naval volunteers was forwarded to Lon E don Friday night. The complement of engineers having been obtained Captain Bevis, .R.N.,:has discontinued the examina ti, . 1 1 of candidates. ASSAULTING L Poiate-Ogrznan.—At the Police-eourt,'m S aturday, George Tinsley, butcher, was charged with an 'as !Suit upon Police-officer -SlB. The complainant was on ids °%t, in Breck-road,early -that morning, when his attention ) 111 3 :8 called towards -a .considerable disturbance in the neigh ., Urhood. On going to the place, he found the prisoner and :number of other men,ktipsy, and making a great noise. He quested them to desist, when they set upon him, wrested his "gel( away, and threw Lit ever a wall ; took off his ibelt, and t hreshed him with it; knocked him down, and the-prisoner, eeling on his.chest, fastened upon his nose with his teeth. ge called out for help, and the other men took to their heels, ~ndthe peisenerwedld have followed, but the officersuomeded 41 holding him.until - some one came to his assistance, and he t l lis secured. Mr. Mansfield remanded the .prisoner,`to give e police an opportunity of apprehending the others. SUICIZE 'AN AMERICAN CAPTITN.—A determined ,use of s uicide occurred on board the American barque St. Lawrence, lying-in the Huskisson Dock, on Friday'maorning. 4 -he .oßptain, -Charles Henry Webb, was heard snoring very eetoly at an vaily hour, and at a later period fro-called the ,u,rst-mate, :who .had only just joined the vessel, L and told him Pat he was going to die ; that' he tad 'beeie robbed on all : 4 _ 0 411113 by -his mates ever since he left America ;'lend that he , 4 0 1, 4 •now no 'wish to live. A doctor was sent for, but the `k it eueased-said he did not want him. The - surgeon perceived that he:had:been taking laudanum, and ordere&strong coffee be .immediately administered, but the deceased would not aheit, neither would he allow himself to betrought on shore. se' died the mane morning. At the inquest,- on Saturday, it Was. proved• that, on coming into poet, 'the St. Lawrence came eollisiotrviith another vessel ; that he had-since lost a law suit, and: had become very much depressed.; that he had ' t hreatened: o -poison himself ; and that 'on Thursday night !le:drank-an ounce of laudanum. A verdict of " temporary I nsanity" , wes returned. The decessedhada son on board, a sharp' lad, -about thirteen years old, .hesides , whom he has left a Widow.nrid five sous and three daughters in America. Tin CniaroNET.—This beautiful and mostieffeetive military : musical instrument, after manyrears of tedious and wearisome: :e xperiments, by professional musicians of various nations, te'y a eeo, mplikiits structure and intonationi.has at length received' Vse 'coup ‘de grace to its completion. Mc. Wynne, of the Liverpool - Local Pensioners' band,.who has already made some kodifieations on the above instrument, has added another ditionaltley, which, from its position and construction,:pro duces "four perfect notes (semitones),ammely, the extreme P s harp,cr-E flat in the chalumeau, and A sharp, or B flat eu t he centre of the stave - makingthe , cherd of E flat in the ejlalumeau complete, and the scale of the clarionet fully perfect in all: its chromatic tones, which comprise three and three quartersoctaves in the diatonic scale cf forty-six notes. The _ n kk sharper B flat (on the stave) have been imperfect since t h e arst invention of the instrument, producing only hoarse, husky, uncertain notes, not being in unison with the rich and sonorous koheaLnataral to the clarienet. The.deficiencies in those four hotes. •have been most sensibly felt-in the solo, the pause, Slow movement. Now they have received the ne plus 'ultra to theirperfection. This instrumencan be seen in the shop Window. of Jordan's Military Musicallinstrument Manufactory. ~,:FiateintrAn v. BAINES AND (10.-411 the County Court r ou ▪ ridaY;an action was tried, in which a sailor sued the owners of the; Black Ball line to recover payment of £l3 19s. on:alai-11 V' exchange. In 1854, plaintiff shipped at this port as-one of the crew of the royal mail ship Lightning, at that timecom- I llan.,_ ded by Capt. J. N. Forbes. After the vessel arrived at Melbourne, the plaintiff was "compelled" or " pressed" to I'elunteer on board H. M. ship Phantom. Capt. Forbes being übliged'to let him go, gave him ahill of exchange upon the defendants (who are owners of the vessel) to the amount el . „Sitned, stating on the face of the - bill that it was " for wages "e." The defence was that Capt._Forbes had no power to give such a bill upon the defendants,. and a very long argument place as to the acts of parliament bearing upon the case. : k t. , appeared that formerly an act provided that in such - cases the government should pay all wages due to the sailor on en t▪ ering the navy, and then sue the owners for the amount, but now the custom was to sue the ownersof the merchant vessel before paying the wages. Hie Honour said, upon the simple teems of the bill of exchange, he was bound to give a verdict for the.plaintiff; but added that if Mr. Forshaw could-make tut. an Argument upon the new act of parliament, he would, upon affidavit, grant a rehearing of the-case. - , IS• ITIELMIC ON THE HIGH SEAS.---One of the most singular • eidents teonnected with the annals ..of crime came to our itoowledge on Friday, on the arrival, at this port, of theship .0 4 ,•wen Williams, from the African coast. It appears that a • days.before her arrival, one of the hands, John Simmonds, 4 Manilla.boy, had been guilty of some act of insubordination or theft, and to escape punishment he took to the rigging, tarrying with him a marlin spike. He was summoned to. _eseend r andon refusal to do so, a seaman went after, him. Afte, r•chasing him about the yards and•sh r e nds for some time, L he was on fae point of effecting his capture, when the lad tna'ned.sharply round, and struck him aedolent blow on the head. The man fell upon the deck a . corpse. The young 1 1San was cgain summoned to surrender.himself, but be per sisted in maintaining his elevated positionovhere he remained the whole of the night. On the following morning, several blank cartridges were fired at him, to intimidate him. into descending, but t‘ese not having the desired effect, a loaded ,Pistol was next fired, and the ball taking effect, the lad came tumbling down the rigging. The wound :caused by the shot Was not of serious moment, but in the fall his ,collar-bone was brok en and he sustained several severe contusio ns. On the vessel's arrival in the river he was conveyed•to the Northern flospital, where he will remain until sufficiently recovered to . handed over to the police authorities. FATAL BOILER , E.ILPLOSION.—On Friday morning a boiler SPloded at the Tillage Colliery, Standish, near Wigan, belonging to Messrs. John Taylor and Sons. The works had lust been stopped for the men to breakfast. In the cabin' adjoining the engine -house, and on one side ,of .the boiler, Which was uncovered, were three persons — W. Yates, Martha Siding (who had brought her son's breakfast), .and Ellen Tarrison. These hadjust been left by George Kirkham, the engineer, who had gone into the engine-house for the purpose of setting the engine at work again. Before, however, he oad touched the engine the boiler blew up with a tremendous report. The boiler was torn to pieces, and several portions of it were hurled a considerable distance into an adjoining field. The engine -house, engine:bed, chimney, and cabin were de -111 olished, a the bricks, which .composed them, being scattered ol all directions to distance of 300 yards. Martha Riding, ho was a widow, 70 years of age, and William Yates were Gilled on the spot. The latter is one of the churchwardens of , Shevington, a very respectable man, and had only been 'Parried about three months. The engineer, George Kirk ham, had his head frightfully mutilated with the bricks, and Was also dreadfully scalded. He is not expecte d to live. Ellen Harrison was severely injured, but is expected to re cover. The immediate cause of this lamentable occurrence is cuPposesl to be the defective state of the boiler, which, l 'it Z,Ppears, could not withstand the extra pressure caused by no generation of steam during the temporary stoppage of the engine. - - • - MIBBVINN I NG, TILE IsTANT SAPPUO.—The second of a series of miscellaneous concerts was given in the course of the week a the Beaumont Institution, under the conductorship of Mr prank, Mori. ' The vocalists were Madame Clara Novello, Miss Sims Vinning (her first appea rance), Mdlle. Corelli, Mr. *jam Reeves, Mr. Farquharson, and Mr. Cooper. Of the singing of Madame Clara Novello and Mr. Sims Reeves it is scarcely necessary to speak. They were both in excellent voice, and were received with that cordiality and enthusiasm Which they deserve. But the great event of the night was the debut of Miss Louisa Vinning, a pupil of M r Frank Mori. ThoughP very young, she is an old friend, as well as an old La.„Veurite, of the public—being, in fact, no other than the infant Sappho," who created so much sensation in London a bout fifteen years ago. Miss Vinning was evidently born to , a singer. It is said of her that she could sing long before re could speak. Her parents, anxious to make a display of T he talents, had her instructed and brought be f ore t h e p ublic. 4 ne fashion of the metropolis flocked to hear the baby-singer ; and the press published her praises throu g hout the land. The task, however, of amusing an audience night after night f no trifling matter even for an adult—was deemed too much Thus se young a child, and she was withdrawn from public life. ;,, 1 7 - Lna the musical world lost its " Infant Sappho," but not for ~..er• On Monday evening she reappeared under her actual r ee lll „e, and by her prepossessing personal appearance created a s t .'ing in her favour, which her performances confirmed and as well The debutante possesses a fine soprano voice, j:72vell as a great amount of musical expression. She was it*applauded, and encored in all her songs ; and, at the ination of " I love the Lillies," by Mr. Frank Mori, she received a graceful tribute from the audience in a shower of loo Nnets. W e augur for Miss Vinning a brilliant future jr„'!_ndon paper.—[This promising vocalist is the daug hter of • Pinnin g , who is anxious to obtain the situation of organist In this town. It is an interesting fact that he was taken from his .. .father when a boy, by Joseph Garrow, Esq. , nep hew of sr o u n ge Garrow, and educated by him for the musical profes two Re was appointed organist at * To r q ua y , w h en onl y ve years of age.] THE SCHOOLMASTER ABROAD.—The following order was sent to a tradesman in a town not twenty miles from. Liver pool, a few days ago :—" Box lice oles, Two peneth cacocon cold, once ounce of therad ;" which, being translated, is—One box lace holes, twopennyworth cotton cord, one oz. thread. THE gas consumers in Manchester are complaining just now of annoyance from an offensive and sickening smell which has been for some weeks emitted from the gas burners or pipes, and the cause of which no one has yet satisfactorily accounted for. Aaroxek the patents sealed during the week ending the 19th instant, is one to Mr. William Henry Lancaster and M. James Smith, both of Liverpool, for consuming smoke, and for gene rating and diffusing heat in furnaces, and in furnace and other flues. COAL IN VAN DIEMEN'S LAND.—Messrs. James Baines and Co. have received intelligence from their agent in Hobart Town, that coal as good as Whitehaven coal has been found by Williams, the celebrated chartist, near that place; and he advised that no more coal be sent to the antipodes. AMERICAN COTTON Fon Russie.—The Russian consul at New Orleans, Mr. Jones, has forwarded to the " Economic Society," in St. Petersburg, various samples of American cot ton, and invites the society to endeavour to aim to avoid for the future drawing the supplies of this needful material from either London or Liverpool ; but rather to obtain it through American agency. This is mentioned in the Russian journals, as a proof of the good intentions and friendly sympathies manifested in the United States ! PICKING A LADY'S POCKET.—Mary and Jessie M'Guffy (mother and daughter), and Anne Johnson were charged at the Police-court, on Friday, with picking Caroline Greaves' pocket of £lO. Mrs. Greaves, who keeps a cigar shop in Houghton-street, stated that, on Wednesday last, the three prisoners came into her shop and asked if she could let them have lodgings, arta in the conversation the prisoner, Jessie M`Guffy, picked her pocket. Jessie M`Gaffy was sent to gaol for three months, but the others were discharged, as there was no evidence against them. 11BANTA Comm=Es.—At the weekly meeting, on Thurs day, a deputation, including a number of ladies, had an interview with the committee relative to an alleged nuisance from a slaughter-house kept by a person named Clarke, in Plumbe-street. After some discussion, during which Mr. Gladstone recommended the entire removal of every slaughter house from within the borough to some place at a moderate distance from the town, Mr. flaydeck gave notice that, at the next meeting, he would move that the license of Mr. Clarke's slaughter-house be withdrawn. Mr. Beckwith called the attention of the committee 'to 'the letter of Mr. Alderman Toulmin which appeared in the Weekly Mercury respecting the reported proceedings Of the Health Committee. A !mak .ened explanation ensued, in the course of which several gentle men affirmed the accuracy of last week's proceedings.—The Medical Officer reported an increase of mortality for the 'week ending SaturdaY;the 19th instant, as a consequence of the cold weather which prevailed from the 9th to the 16th inst. The deaths from all (causes, which in the previous week were 228, rose last week to '262, the corrected average of the same week of former years being 24 less than the mortality is accounted for bythe increased number of deaths from diseases of the lungs, whieh were 98 against 66 in the reams week. During the q - aarter ending the 29th DeceMber,:223l deaths were registered 'in the borough, including 157 On which in quests were held. This number is 100 less than the average of the same , quatter of the preceding eight years corrected for increase of poptilation. No death was registered from cholera, being the second quarter in which this has occurred during the last eight Tears. Diseases of the lungs caused 871 deaths, being 285 more than in the preceding 'quarter, but rather below the .oresage of the corresponding period of former years. ALLEGED MURDER ON THE HTGN SEAS.—On Thursday, an inquest was held on the body 'of Williasn Henry Barnes, late an American seaman on board the ship Driver. The de ceased died in the Northern Hospital, on Wednesday, having been stabbed in the abdomen while 'the ship was off Cape Clear, bya boy named Peter thnnolly,- a native of Liverpool. In the hospital the deceased made the fallowing declaration : " I bellevel am dying. I think it . wasen last Friday we ar rivedkore. When we were-a,bout twenty-two days at sea, one morthlng, about four o'clock, we made'Cape Clear. The third matt:gave orders to loose the standingiib. I went and loosed it, which I thought this Peter ouglitzto have done. When I cause on deck I asked him if he nrecut to loaf on me. He said, None of your dammed business.' I said, If you give me any of your cheek, I will small your face for yon: I Slapped him: back-handed across the mouth. He then stabbed me with a knife, which Ite took from a sheath by his side. I saw him strike me with the knife. I staggered and went aft te the cabin door, and•called!for the ship's doctor. While the -doctor was dressing nit theTaptaincame out of the after part -cf the cabin, and said 'to You-son of a bitch, have you got 4unother button-hole in you: - ?' captain, have mercy on "me until I get over this. '''Yes,' said he, for two pins -would tie you up and/log - you inttwo minutes.' The day we -docked I sent for Poter to conmilewn and see me, bat he did not come. Ido not know what he shipped as, but he is net an able seaman. He belongs to Liverpool." The prisoneris about sixteen yearg' old, round:faced, stout-built, and pock marked. His height is abouti6 (feet 4 inches. The prisoner, after being cautioned in the' usual way, said the deceased kicked and abusedaiim•very much, and that he had two 'wit nesses to prove it. He also , said that the deceased , had threatened to kill Um before, and he was afraid he would carry out that threat. The jary returned a verdict of man, slaughter" against the prisoner,mho was committed rtrial. EXTRA.ORDIITIiFir .POISOKFKG CASES AT MAKCSIMSTER.-- On Wednesday, three men mere placed at the bar of the Man chester City Court-house, before Mr. Rickards, Mr. Roe, and Mr. J. A; Turner, magistrates, on a charge of poisoning, which, in some of its main features, resembles the Rugeleys case. The prisoners were Thomas Bull Holland, a surgeon, James Monaghan, arida man named Barry. A man named Edward Dunn is: implicated in the same charge, but has been convicted foranother offenee;andis serving a period of imprison ment. Mr. Bratilengh appared on behalf of the Diadem In surance CoMpany, as presenter. It is understood that the prisoner Heiland, who is a surgeon, has made a confession or statement to Mr. Bradleugh, revealing the whole of Lis trans actions with the,ether prisoners, which statement is :to the effect that, being surgeon to the Diadem Insurance Company for the district, the prisoners had applied to him to pass John Monaghan (the,prisoner Monaghan's father) as a _good life, and that subsequently they were-in his surgery when lie was mixing a solution of white lead with water, and asked him if it could not he done without assuming a milky colour. He then shewed them that it could be mixed with whiskey so as to be colourless. There was reason to believe that some of this mixture was:iven to the old man Monaghan, who died some months age, when the prisoners and Dunn applied for £3OO, the sum for which Monaghan's life had been insured, but were refused:the money. His disclosures had also led to the belief that two other persons had been similarly poisoned. Mr. Bradleugh stated that the charge against the prisoners, along with Dunnt(who was in prison for embezzling money belonging to an insurance company,) was for having destroyed the life of one John Monaghan, the father of the prisoner James Monaghan, to obtain the sum of £3OO from the Diadem Life Insurance Company. His first application would he to the bench to liberate Holland from the dock, so that he might be examined as a Witness. There was reason to believe, from the disclosures helrad made, that he was willing to further the ends of jnstice,,and his evidence, was of great importance towards establishing the charge against the other prisoners. The magistrates' having consented torthe application, Thomas Bull Holland was removed from thadock to the witness-box, and subjected to a long and painful examination of some hours. The examination was most painful to:listen to, because Hol land prevaricated to an extent which rendered it almost im possible to get half-a.dozen consecutive sentences from him without the grossest contradictions. :Probably this was to some extent in consequence of a warning from the bench that he was not bound to answer any question that might crimi nate himself. Eventually the magistrates determined on granting a remand.—Acase was under investigation on Wed nesday afternoon, at Manchester, in addition to the above, in which two children in akturial club, and whose parents would be entitled to £6 each on their death, are ,-suspected to have been poisoned. DOCK COMMITTEE.—The weekly meeting of the Deck Committee was held on 'Thursday, Mr. Turner in the chain Mr. Mondel brought the subject of telegraphic communication with Holyhead formally before the committee an the following resolution :—" That it is now expedient that a system of electric telgeraphic communication' be established alougthe line of coast to Holyhead, and that the same be carried, out under the direction and at the cost of the Dock Trustees, and that a sub-committee be appointelte obtain estimates." Mr. Mondel, describing the origin of the present Semaphoreline, said that the act was obtained in 1825, and, in 1827, the line (comprised .of eleven stations, including Liverpool) was in operation. In the year 1849, the line was re-organised and improved at con siderable expense. The systemadopted was perhaps the most perfect which was extant at that time, and it did ouilice very well in clear weather, and during the day; but it was useless in thick hazy weather and at night. If the committee, thirty one years ago, felt themselves empowered to carry on : a system of telegraph which had been maintained at a cost of £1,500 per annum, from a time when the tonnage entering this port was only 1,200,000 tons per annum, surely they ought to keep pace with the times, and at once improve their commu nication with Holyhead. The question had recently been re ferred by the general committee to the Marine Comniittee, who endeavoured to make an arrangement with the Electric Telegraph Company, which would answer the purposes of the port; but the terms asked by the company were so high that he was convinced that it would be much better and cheaper for the dock trustees to establish a line of their own, along the coast, to Holyhead. Such an accommodation was posi tively required by the commercial community of Liverpool, by whom he did not mean the merchants and underwriters merely, but ineluded with them the mariners frequenting the port, the pilots, and the passengers and emigrants sailing from Liverpool, who had really a greater interest in the matter than even the merchant and the shipowner. It was of vital import ance in the case of vessels sailing from the port, to know the state of the weather at Holyhead ; and yet, during the last year there were more than sixty days, during which no [semaphore] telegraphic communication could be held in consequence of the fog. During the month of December, last year, no communi cation could be held for ten days; and, of the twenty-four days of the present month, sixteen or eighteen days were days upon which there was no communication. 'Now, it happened that this very foggy weather was the most favourable to ves sels quitting the port, as the wind which generally pre vailed then was from the south; but it also frequently hap pened that when this description of weather prevailed near Liverpool, a furious gale was blowing in the Channel, which caused sad havoc amongst the ships which had been thus tempted to quit the port, ignorant (on account of the useless ness of the semaphore during fog) of the state of the wind at Holyhead. From this cause several wrecks had occurred within the last few days. It was under such circumstances that the Tayleur sailed; and numerous other cases in point might be cited. The dock trustees maintained a life-boat establishment, at a cost of £2OOO per annum ; but accidents might occur at night or during fog, comparatively close to the port, and yet the men be unaware of them. The Ocean Monarch was lost within sight of Ormshead; but, if a tele graphic communication had existed along the coast, a fleet of steamers might have been despatched from Liverpool, which could have saved the whole of the 200 persons who perished by that disaster. In conclusion, Mr. Mondel urged that his proposition should be adopted, even upon economical grounds, as a large number of " repeating stations " would be ob viated, and the expenses of the line greatly reduced by the use which would be made of the electric line in conveying private messages.—Mr. Smith seconded the motion.—The Chairman did not see how, even were the telegraphic line established, they could dispense with the semaphore for sig nalling purposes.—Mr Mondel thought the semaphore might be dispensed with altogether.—The subject, the great import ance of which was admitted by nearly all the members of the committee, was referred to the Marine Committee.—After a short conversation, it was arranged to add Mr. Gladstone and Mr. Hubback to the committee, and the general business then terminated. THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD. GENERAL INTELLIGENCE. IT is stated that a new bank is about to be formed, called the " International and London Joint-Stock Bank," with branches at Paris, Brussels, and New York, and agencies in many of the other cities of Europe and America. It is to take the business of an already existing establishment. LORD CRA.NBOURNE, who has been totally blind from in fancy, lectured, last week, at the Kilndown Reading-room, Kent, on the " Crusades." Amongst the auditors were his lordship's brother, lord Robert Cecil, M.P., and Lady Mildred Hope, his lordship's sister ; A. J. B. Beresford Hope, Esq., the Misses Alderson, &c. ; and the room was densely crowded. The lecture excited much interest and attention. TICE Morpeth Grammar-School, founded by Edward VI., has been in abeyance for the last twenty years. "It is said that the bailiffs of a defunct corporation, who were the trus tees of the school, perverted their trust by granting a lease of 500 years of part of the school to the owners of an adjoining estate, at the inadequate rental of £lOO a year. This led to a Chancery suit, which became so venerable that it lasted nearly three generations of men, but which resulted, a year or two ago, in augmenting the revenues of the school to £540 a year." Since then the trustees and the Charity Commissioners have not agreed as to a scheme ; and the trust is once more in the Court of Chancery. - - NEGLECTED LAND.—The Court of Queen's Bench was last week called upon to decide, in the case of the Churchwardens of Holborne v. Heaton, whether land allowed by the owner to lie waste could be rated to the relief of the poor. The de- fendant had appealed from the rating to the quarter sessions of Stafford, where the rate had been. confirmed. The present court confirmed this decision, with costs, Lord Campbell re marking—" I think if Only a part is rateable, the whole is rateable. Part of the land produces grass or herbage, on which cattle may be turned, or which may be mowed and employed profitably. It is exactly the same as if the land grew barley or wheat, and the owner did not reap it, but allowed it to be devoured by crows and vermin. In such a case the property would undoubtedly be rateable to the poor." CAN 'TEID3 BE TRUE ?—The Inquirer newspaper of Satur day narrates the following:—" A lady in this country, who has travelled lately in America, has issued a book containing her impressions of what she had seen. She is not unknown in 'this country for her sympathy with our white slaves, and her name has an honourable place in the history of reforma tory schools. This lady, the Hon, Miss Murray, adopted in the Southern. States the tone of 'the society she found there and agreed heartily not only 'in what was - said of the white slaves in England, bat also in what was said of the black slaves in Carolina. She has, therefore, not hesitated to pub lish in her book opinions favourable to negro slavery, even to the extent of dogmatically -saying that the Almighty created negroes to live under restraint, and that slavery is a means ' designed by Providence for the making of some good 'Chris tian men and women.' As one of the queen's ladies-in-wait- ing, Miss Murray wished to dedicate the book to Her Majesty. It is understood, however, that on seeing the proof sheets, her majesty not only refused the dedication, but required that Miss Murray, if she published it, should resign her place at court." SHOCKING DEAnicBY FlRE.—Miss Caroline Luttrell, se cond daughter of Colonel Luttrell, of Kilve Court, Somerset, died on Monday last week, from the shock and exhaustion caused by accidentally setting fire to her dress while lighting the tapers on , a 'Christian tree. On Friday week, Mrs. Luttrell entertained some friends at a family , reftmion, and one of the amusements was to be the distribution of presents from a Christmas 'tree. During the evening the deceased young lady left the•eircle for the purpose of lighting 'the tapers on the tree, and desired none of the party to visit the room until she rang*thelzell. To insure that no intruders would enter, Miss Luttrell turned the key of the .door, ;and commenced lighting.uptthe tree. Unfortunately -she commenced lighting the lowerlapers first, and then reaehing up to light those on the higherlbranches, her thin evening dress caught fire, and she was immediately enveloped iu flames. :She ran to the bell and pullefl it violently, and afterwards unlocked the door and proceeded towards the room where the company were as sembled. On meeting her surrounded With flame and smoke, their:horror, it may be conceived, was extreme. Her brother, assisted by others, with great diffietilty extinguished the flame,lkut not until after receiving a-severe burn on the hand. Medictil assistance was immediately-sent for. Miss Luttrelre eyelids, face, and neck were found - toihave suffered most from thetilunes ; but it was first thoughtthat no fatal result would follow. The exhaustion, however,=and shock caused to the system were too great, and on Monday she died. The deceased was in her 25th year. 'EALWAY REFORM.—On Tuesday, a meeting of shareholders - inkrailway companies was held at the London Tavern, for ;the purpose of taking intseronaideration the seriously depre ceiated value of their property, and especially to consider a :Plan which it is believed willarrest further depreciation, and. -speedily place railway propertyia a sound and healthy con- After speeches from Malins, the chairman, Mr. Vance, Mr. E. J. Herapath, Mr. Buller, Mr. Goetz, Dr. Cowan, and other gentlemen, it was agreed to form an. association, to be called " The 'Railway Proprietors' Associa ttion," the ob i ject being thoprettection of railway property and ;its restoration to a fair and -legitimate value, restricting the 'closing the capital account,sand the suppression of ruinous 'tariffs by territorial arrangements. In the coursed a short r conversation, it was stated *that railway shareholders were - under great obligations to the press generally for the able and straightforward mannevin .-which they had defended their - Tights, and made known ii-djuries inflicted upon them. A -committee was then appointed, consisting of Mr. Leech, Mr. Hoare, Dr. Cowan, and `Mrs T. Tegg, Mr. Buller, Mr. J. J. Leon, Mr. Hobson, and:Mr:Mitchell, to carry out the objects 'of the meeting ; and the ,latter was adjourned to the 31st instant, for the pursrsecfsenrolling members and for general business of the association. FATAL Boar ACCIDITIIT. — On Wednesday (morning, be tween nine and ten o'clocki the Alma shore boats about 17 feet ' long, left Mntton.cove, Devenport, for Her Majesty's ship Exmouth, lying in the Sound. The boat carried twelve per csons :—viz., surgeon B. As:Anderson, paymaster Walter J. Bateman, surgeon Charles Harper, Mr. Fielders, midshipman; sergeant Stevens, marine artilleryman ; Mr. Best, wardroom ?steward; and Foyle andi Tdll, marines, all belonging to the Exmouth; Matthews anclanother person in the service of an isapholsterer at Plymouth, and,Fairfoot and Lamhle, watermen. The boat had her mainsail, foresail, and mixen set, and was -steered by Mr. Harper. Onamaring St. Nicholas Island, Dr. Anderson proposed going - to the eastward, but the watermen, :who were in the fore part. of the boat, said there was no danger. She, therefore, keptsher course, and passed over the .bridge of sunken rocks between the island and 'lltount-Edg scumbe. The wind was south'-west, not very strong; but the sea rolled heavily and filled the overladen boat,svrhich conse quently went down. Thosesathocould not swim clung to those who could. The boat rose keel ap, but soon sank - from the - number who got on her. She again reappeared, gunwale up, and was again borne -down. At length a boat approached from the Sanspareil, in charge of Lieut. Pollard, arias rescued six. The Sanspareirs gig saved another. The boatmen pulled immediately for the Mutton-sieve Inn, where Messrs. Ander son, Harper, and Fieklen promptly received medical care, and s are doing well. Best, the steward. is also recovering. Stevens, Toll, and Lamble are injured. Air. Bateman and: the other four were drowned. EXTRIORDIBTASIT Acerazassr occurred at Bath early on 'Tuesday. A vat of beer, containing nearly 400' barrels be longing to Mr. G. Bracher, of the Portland-brewerysexpfoded with such force and noise as to shake many of the neighbour ing houses, and induce a belief among the inhabitantsthat an earthquake had taken place. Beneath the brewery-14a court of houses running parallel with it ; and the floor-of the house in which the vat was is considerably above the floors of the houses in this court. Most of these houses were mono or less injured by the shock, and the beeteferced its way through the walls of three or four of them, the-inmates being startled from their beds toy the noise of the explosion—which is described as being likellat of a piece of ordnance—and the rushing of the beer. One,of these houses, situate immediately contiguous to that part oftthe brewery where theerat was, was oocupied by .a man and his wife and ten thildrensthe whole of whom had to escape into the street in their night clothes. Three a the children indeed, who were sleeping in , a turn - up bedstead in the.kitellenswere rescued with same odifficulty, having; been immersed, in the beer, which rushed through the walls, forcing out large stones, and inundating the • room to the depth of some feet. The house presented a most remarkable appear ance. Everything was saturated with :beer, the drawers of the tables, the . bailer, &c., were filled with the same liquor, which had overflowed all the furniture, and plaster and large stones lay about the floors, which were .covered with thick barmy -froth. The beer rushed from the'browery and houses beneath into the street, which was completely flooded with the liquor, and the scene presented was such -as is seldom wit nessed. The beer was of the best description, and had been brewed about twelvemonths. The vat was blown to pieces. FATAL eikBEIAGE.ACCIDENT.—On Tuesday, as Miss Par nell, the daughter of Mr. Hugh Parnell, of .:Upper Clapton, was proceeding in her father's carriage along Baker-street, at the back of the Royal Free Hospital, Gray's-inn-road, London, the whole ofThe coachman's seat, together with the footboard, suddenly gave away, and fell forward on the haunches of the horses. George Jacobs, the coachman, and a footman were on the box, and falling with it were unable to extricate them selves. The horses becoming frightened started forward at a wild gallop into the Bagnigge-wells-road, until they arrived close to the Howe of Correction, when, turning off on the pavement, the animals dashed headlong into a shoemaker's shop. The occupant-of the ship escaped by a back-door at the instant, or his death must have been inevitable. The horses and carriage were overturned, Miss Parnell was thrown forward with great violence, her head going through the front window of the carriage,the glass cutting her face in a fearful manner. Thecoachman and footman were entangled beneath the vehicle and horses. The latter plunged in a frightful manner, and the men for-several minutes lay directly beneath the animals' hoofs. Assistance having arrived, the suffeners were quickly extricated and the horses set at liberty. Miss Parnell; who was bleeding profusely from various severe wounds about her head and face, was removed to her father's residence. The coachman was most dreadfully injured; he was removed to the Royal Free Hospital, where he expired soon afterwards. The footman was not so severely injured. Coulon* GEOLOGICAL Drscovassr.—The new dock at West Hartlepool, which is approaching rapidly towards com pletion, has in its progress revealed several facts of great geo logical interest. Beneath the mud, sand, and silt of the "pool" or slake—which has extended considerably beyond its present boundary—there exist the remains of an ancient forest, with its timber, trees, and other plants, as they grew and decayed on the spot ; forming an accumulation of vegetable matter of considerable thickness. In this, besides the hazel nuts in great number and perfection, we are not surprised to find the antlers and harder portions of the stag—the hart of the olden time ; portions of the skull of an ox have also been found. The level of this forest is now nearly that of low water, conse quently below the present sea drainage. - Beneath the forest and the blue clay (the earth in which the trees grew), there is a thick bed of clay, sand, silt, and gravel—having numerous imbedded boulders of waterworn stones, many of them of several tons' weight. The whole bed is: the well-known " alluvium," " diluvium," or " drift" spread over the country, beneath the soil and above the stone. In cutting the timber pond at the north-west angle of the new dock, which is en tirely in this "drift," a portion of the tusk of an elephant was discovered some days ago. The fragment, which is about 18 inches long, is of that end which has been imbedded in the jaw, and exhibits all the ordinary characteristics of such a spe cimen. This is the first instance within our knowledge of the remains of elephants being found in the county of Durham, but, curious as it is, it should not, as a matter of scientific in vestigation, excite in us any feelings of surprise , inasmuch as this same "drift" has, in various localities on the Yorkshire coast, produced portions of the tusks and grinders of elephants, which are now preserved in the museums of York, Whitby, and Scarborough ; and in the well-known cave of Kirkdale, near Kirby Moorside, were discovered the bones of elephants and those of various other quadrupeds in great abundance. — Durham County Advertiser. A TAVERN, at Bristol, was struck by an electric flash, on Thursday, and much damage done. Two persons narrowly escaped with their lives. THE WILL OF THE LATE MR. THOMA.E3 CIIBITT is one of the longest on record, and extends to 380 Chancery folios, covering 30 skins of parchment. The personal estate exceeds £1,000,000, and is charged with the highest amount in the scale of probate duty, the stamp being £15,000. The widow has an immediate bequest of £20,000, and an annuity of £B,OOO. MURDER OT A CHILD.—On Thursday evening a child about three months old, named Wilfred Dakin, was murdered at Sheffield by his uncle, a knifegrinder named James Hill. It appears that Hill called at the house of the child's father, who as well as the wife were out at work, and said he would take the child out for a walk. In the house at the time there were only the child in question, his two sisters, and two neighbours' children. The uncle and child were seen walking together. At night the absence of the child of course created alarm, and, a search having been made, it was found in a place known as the " brickkilns." The bead was nearly severed from the body. The spot where the child was found is only about 100 yards from the house of its parents. On being asked why he killed the child, Hill said he did not know. Some circumstances are mentioned which tend to prove that he is insane. On Friday afternoon the prisoner was taken before the magistrates at the Town-hall, Sheffield, and, on being informed that he was ch)rged with the wilful murder of his nephew, he replied, " Yes, I cut his head off." He was remanded. THE PRICES OF BREA-D.—A very interesting little sheet is circulated by Samuel, Brothers, Ludgate-hill, London, showing the highest and lowest prices of bread (best and seconds) and wheat during each year for the last 21 years, that is from January 1, 1835, to December 31, 1855. From it we find that the lowest prices of bread were, in 1850 and 1851, —namely, 7d. per quartern for best, and sd. for second, flour being 40s. to 325. per sack, and wheat 445. 11d. to 355. 6d. per quarter. The highest price was in 1847, when best bread was is. per quartern, flour being 755. to 445. a sack, and wheat 102 s. 6d. to 495. 6d. a quarter. Taking the maxima of each, the price of bread, flour, and wheat do not appear to constantly observe the same proportion. Thus, in 1847, when wheat was 102 s. 6d. a-quarter and bread ls. old. a-loaf, flour was 755. a-sack ; while in 1855, when wheat was 83s. ld. a-quarter, and bread ls. a-loaf, both lower than in 1847, flour was 775. a-sack, or 2s. higher. Again, we find best flour quoted at 60s. in five several years, with best wheat varying from 78s. 4l d. in one year to 60s. ld. in another ; 10d. a-loaf for best bread, how ever, invariably corresponding with the 60s. for the sack of flour, The table altogether is of a very suggestive nature. DINNER TO THE CRIMEAN CORRESPONDENT OF " THE TIMES."—A very gratifying meeting took place at the London Tavern, on Saturday, when a dinner was given to Mr. William Russell, the Times' correspondent in the Crimea, by about 50 of his friends, to which number were added a few friend more or less connected with literature and art, The meeting was strictly social, and, therefore, of course, I have nothing to say of the proceedings, except that, as a journalist, I could not but feel that the press itself, as an institution of the country, was honoured in the person of a gentleman, whose celebrity rests solely and nobly on his having done his duty as a news paper writer. General Sir De Lacy Evans was present ; and were it permitted to record his tribute to Mr. Russell's ser vices, it would be most pleasant to me. Let me say, too, that a well-merited courtesy was paid to Mr. Woods, the accom plished correspondent of the Morning Herald, who was in vited to be present. Society was very well represented in the muster Which appeared upon this occasion. One story, which I heard 'of General Shirley, I will add- During one of the assaults, the general's eyes became choked up with the dust, which the terrible bombardment brought in clouds from Sebas topol. He sat down in a hole, where a shell had burst, to rub this dust out. Some Irishmen, hurrying past him to the attack, took it into their heads that he was weeping, and bawled out, " Don't cry, general dear, but stop there—sure we're going to take the place for ye !"—Correspondent of the ifeeerness Courier. MunnEn.—The Exeter police apprehended, on Thursday, a woman, named Mary Weeks, on suspicion of having mur 'dered her son. It appears that a few days ago the body of a fine boy, aged about four years, was found in the Exe river, 'near Starcross. A black apron was tied tightly around its face and head, and there were indications that the poor child had been foully murdered. Information was forwarded 'to the Secretary of State, who immediately offered a reward of £5O to any person who would give information about the child. During the past week a person residing in Exeter has com municated with the police, 'and the result is that the woman Weeks, who left Exeter on Wednesday for Plymouth, has been apprehended. She appears to have lived as servant in two or three public-houses in the city, and had an illegitimate child of the same age,4ind having similar appearances as the murdered boy. The <child was kept by a person in Exe-lane until a few days ago, vhen, in consequence of her refusal to keep it any longer, Weeks came and took her boy away, and said she would send it 'home to her mother, who 'resides at Sticklepath, near Okehampton. One night, at nine o'clock, a woman resembling the prisoner was seen, apparentlyweeping, standing near the river Exe, and a child's frock and another article of wearing apparel were subsequently found near the spot. It is, therefore, suspected that the boy was thrown into the river Exe, at 'Exeter, and that the black apron was tied round its face and'head to prevent its making any alarm and to facilitate its death, and that the body wascarried down by the current to the spot . near Starcross, where it was -discovered. THE EXPRESS 'OF .THE FRENCIL—The pregnancy of the Empress of the French is an event scarcely second to any of the present age in importance, not only to thedestinies of France, but to the interests of Europe and the world at large. Sinister rumours 'have been set afloat in Paris'by those dis affected to -the Bonapartist dynasty.: and it is.in the highest degree imperative that the gestation of her Imperial Majesty, and the birth of a direct heir to the empire, should receive the highest scientific attention, and be watched with the greatest and most impartial assiduity. We alluded to this subject in the last number of the Lancet : and we are informed, on good authority, that Dr. Locock wishes it to be mentioned, that certain of the points referred to by our " Correspondent," are not entirely correct. The Empress was in this , country in April last, and we believe that Dr. Locock was consulted at that time; and he was subsequently summoned to the Palace of the Tuileries. 'The Empress Eugenie did not become preg nant until the last weektin June. Dr. Loco& ava.s first con sulted in this country, and he then attended a consultation of distinguitthed physicians and surgeons in Paris liefore that auspicious event occurred. Dr. Locock has not yet been re quested to attend at the approaching accouchement of the Consort ,tif Napoleon III:; .he has not, therefore, declined to attend. There are reasons of state, in France, for and against his attendance, but if his presence should be called:for, we do not see why Dr. Locock should refuse his services.— Lancet. We read,,in a letter fromiParis :—" The Empress's ,secretary is wholly , occupied in replying to the expressions of-solicitude and good -.wishes which arrive from all parts of France, to gether, very often, with relics and consecrated articles, which ' the senders believe will assist powerfully in obtaining the desired result. Amongst the gifts, however, is one of a diffe rent kind,, namely, a, pigeon which was taken in its -cage by a voltigeur,. DR the occasion of the assault upon the Malakhoff, and upon the very spot. The authenticity of these antece dents of the bird having been ascertained, the present has been accepted and the donor rewarded." BRUTAL MURDER OF ,A WIFE AT BiTff...—Between twelve and one o'clock on Saturday night, the I.9th instant, a woman named Eliza Howell, living in Avon-street, was kicked in the abdomen by her husband, and bled to death in about twenty minutes. What renders the case more shocking is that the unfortunate woman was very near her confinement, and the life of her child as welbas her own has consequently been sacrificed. The prisoner, James Howell, was brought before the magistrates at the Guildhall on Monday, when a crowd assembled in the Market-place. Howell, who is about thirty years of age, is a costermonger, and is well 'known. about the streets as a hawker of oysters, nuts, &c., under the soubriquet of- " Ferret." His wife also carried about turnip greens, and was about the same age as her husband. Four children have been the fruit of the marriage, but they are all dead. The principal witnesses examined were a labourer named John Bnown and his wife, who occupied two rooms on the garret floor, adjoining prisoner's bedroom. From their evidence it appeared that at about half-past eleven o'clock on Saturday night they heard the prisoner enter his room, utter ing angry exclamations, and threatening repeatedly that he would kill her. About ten minutes afterwards the prisouer's wife came up-stirs, and when outside the door she said, "Are you in Jim?" He answered "Yes, I am you --; where have you been all nighter His wife said, " I was looking for yme-but I could not find you." The prisoner then appeared to come: out of the landing . and push her into the room. He pushed!her into the room, and the sound of -two blows was then heard. After the blows something fell iheavily, and the prisoner's wife cried oat " Oh," and said, "Jim, you have killed your child, and you shave killed me." She then said, "Jim, look, about and see what you have done." After she said that the prisoner ran down stairs as hard as he could. Brown and ,his wife, entering the deceased's room, forted her lying on the floor, avhich was covered with blood. She.said, "Jim has killed me;" and died in a short time. Her body was completely hlanched,:as was also that of the infant, whose life it was vainly attempted to save. It appears that the poisoner and his wife had been drinking together in the course.of the evening, and had,quarrelled at the ;Seven Dials public-louse, when the prisoner gave his wife a backhanded blow in the face. He afterwards .left, and the wife went away with another woman. AN FAOPEMENT ExIsA.COILDINARY. Harrogate was thrown into a state of excitement on Sunday, by an event which has supplied considerable food for gossip in the absence of more profitable engagements. On Saturday a young lady,,accom panied by a gentleman considerably her senior, wearing.a fine moustache, and having all the appearance of a military officer, arrived by the evening train at the Brunswick Railway Station, where they engaged a cab .to convey them to the White Hart Hotel. On their arrival at the inn, they repre sented themselves as a married couple, and, consequently, suitable accommodation was prepared for them. All went on smoothly and uninterruptedly until Sunday evening, when the old adage, that ``true love never does run smooth," was verified. About six o'clock that evening, two gentlemen, with a hasty business-,tike air, made their appearance, and, after making sundry inquiries about the railway station, pro ceeded to the residence of a police officer, to whom they con fided the secret of their mission; at the same time acquainting him that one of the mysterious strangers was a detective, and the other the brother of the fugitive lady, who having, it is said, just attained her majority, appeared to think that she had no further need of parental care or restraint. On their reaching the hotel, the "happy" pair were at dinner, which they were allowed to finish without interruption. When the repast had been well discussed and dessert served up, the waiter was requested by the three pursuers to conduct them to the room and introduce them by merely opening the door. The infu riated brother of the lady abruptly entered, and, like Hamlet's ghost, " made her blood run cold." She shrieked and fainted. No time was lost in parlying. A post chaise being waiting at the door, the lady was speedily placed inside, and hastily driven off by the detective and leer brother, and the gallant Lothario was left lamenting over his fate to the remaining policeman, who kindly advised him to take a comfortable night's rest, and then depart by the first train in the morning. The young lady is the only daughter of highly respectable and , wealthy parents, residing in one of the fashionable squares of London ; and her seducer (according to his own statement) is a married man, with half a dozen children, but is separated from his wife, and holds a commission in the army. Until recently he was admitted as a friend into the family circle, but his too close familiarities with the young lady hastened his expulsion. By way of eluding pursuit, they had taken tickets through to York, but left the train at Church Fenton, for Harrogate. The party in pursuit, therefore, on arriving at the former place, found themselves at fault, and the keen perception of the detective enabled them to return to the latter place and try Harrogate. The seducer had by him a pair of loaded pistols, which, on his arrival at Harrogate, he took from his pocket and deposited in his portmanteau.—Leeds Mercury. JENNY LIND has given forty guineas to the Cheltenham Hospital. The following advertisement appears in a Paris journal : " The parents of a young lady, aged twenty-one, handsome, well educated, and possessing 4,300 francs per annum—but affected with St. Vitus's dance—offer to unite her to a doctor from forty to forty-five years old, who will pay her i n c essant attention.' A FRENCH lady of property, who has just obtained a guar dian for her son on the ground of his inability to manage his own affairs, alleged against him, amongst other things, at the civil tribunal of Paris, that he had fitted up a studio at great expense, and " painted there a portrait of the Emperor, six times as large as life, although he had no taste whatever for drawing." A VETERAN BUPPOON.—On the 3rd, died, at Constanti nople, a certain mussahib (Imperial buffoon), named Said Effendi, at the age of 121 years and 7 months. He had served four Sultans as jester, and, notwithstanding his advanced age, the venerable old gentleman was often called up by the present Sovereign, and ordered to say witty things, and to perform antics, which latter he generally did with remarkable agility. THE WEATHER IN PARIS.—A Paris letter, of Wednesday, the 23rd, says :—" This has been one of the most extraordinary days ever seen at this season of the year. From morning to night we have enjoyed warm sunshi n e, and seen a deep blue sky streaked with light fleecy clouds, sailing gently before a soft westerly breeze. Windows are thrown open, fires let out, ladies show forth in spring dresses, Talmas and Lord Rag lans' are hung on their pegs, and people complain that a single coat is too hot. Should this weather continue but for three or four days, we shall see the trees sprouting in January." THE SHIPWRECKED MARINERS' SOCIETY has just received from the corporation of the Trinity House a gift of £5O, and from the East India Company their annual donation of £25; also notice of a legacy of £lOO, left by Miss Elizabeth Herbert. The value of the service rendered to our maritime population by this institution may be judged of by the fact that on the 18th it distributed £5OO among the widows of drowned seamen and fishermen ; and it is only lately that we had a notice of a disbursement by it of £5OO in one week, to relieve the distress caused among mariners and their families by the fearful ship wrecks on our coasts in the beginning of November. ACCIDENTAL POISONING.—On Tuesday, three gentlemen were accidentally poisoned at a dinner party at Provost M'lver's house, Dingwall, Scotland. It appears that the party consisted of Provost M'lver, Mr. L. M. Mackenzie, of Findon, two Romish priests, and several ladies. After dinner, and when the ladies had retired, the gentlemen were seized with pains in the throat and mouth, and in half-an-hour the two priests and Mr. Mackenzie were dead. Provost Inver remains in a hopeless state. The case is undergoing investi gation. It is believed that the roast meat was garnished with the root of henbane, and that the wine excited the chemical action of the poison. Mr. Mackenzie was about to become son-in-law to Lord Lovat. None of the ladies were affected. SUICIDE FOB ALARK.—David Lothian, a seaman of drunken habits, was sitting in a lodging-house at West Hartlepool, on Monday, where he declined to take any breakfast. He had a half-finished glass of ale before him, which he removed into the back kitchen, a room in which nobody was at the time. Tie staid away only about a minute; and when he returned he set down his tumbler, which was now empty, upon the table, and then threw a phial, which he held in his other hand, under the firegrate, with the exclamation, " There, that's done." A man said to him, in a jocular manner, not suspecting anything serious. " Aye, many a thing's done." I asked, " Are you breaking glasses ?" and deceased said, "You'll all know e'now." He then pulled off his boots, lit his pipe, and went up stairs smoking. A woman rose after he went out ; she said," What is he doing ?" and proceeded to pick up the broken phial from the fireplace, on which was the word poison ( laudanum.) He was found up stairs, quite sensible, and confessed to having taken laudanum in his ale. The stomach-pump and galvanism were applied, and, as he appeared to recover, he was taken to the police station, where he sank and died, In answer to a clergyman, he muttered something about having revenge." A witness said deceased did not appear sorry for, but, on the contrary, laughed at, what he had done. He didn't think he expected he would die. He thought that the deceased took the laudanum for a " lark," and that he had an attachment for a female in the house. THE SOUND DUES.—The conferences on the subject of the Sound dues were really opened at Copenhagen, on the 4th inst., by the Minister von Scheel,who stated that the Privy Councillor Bluhme was appointed plenipotentiary for Denmark, and then quitted the apartment. There were present the repre sentatives of twelve different states, among whom was the special plenipotentiary for Russia, the author on statistics, M. de Tengoborsky. Bluhme laid before the meeting the Danish proposals, consisting of a plan for the capitalisation of the Sound dues, the particulars of which are already known to our readers. His opening speech was interrupted, when he came to talk of Denmark's willingness to make concessions, by M. de Tengoborsky, who stated that it was Russia who was most eager to make advances, and had expressed herself against the abolition of the Sound dues, as Mecklenburg and Hamburg had previously done. Baron Lagerheim, the special plenipotentiary for Sweden and Norway, replied to Bluhme's speech. As all the documents and statistical tables promised by Denmark were not yet finished, and as a general view of the receipts of the Sound dues from 1840 to 1847 was de manded by some of the plenipotentiaries, the conferences were adjourned to the end of this month. After some formal difficulties with respect to the protocol, the meeting was dis solved. The number of vessels that passed the Sound in the month of December amounted to 591, of which 153 were Prussians, 109 Danish, 90 Swedish, 69 Norwegians, 68 English, 66 Germans of different states, and 27 Dutch. THE RITGELEY POISONINGS.—The coroner's inquest on the body of Mr. Walter Palmer terminated on Wednesday in a verdict that he " died from the effects of prussic acid, ad ministered wilfully by William Palmer." Additional evi dence has been collected which has led to the re-exhumation of the body of Cook, and to an enquiry into the conduct of other persons as accessories. The friends of Mr. Leonard Bladen, the collector for the firm of Charrington and Co., the brewers, who died suddenly in the prisoner's house, are desirous of having his body exhumed, and it is said that Government has determined that the whole of the circum stances connected with the mysterious deaths of so many persons shall be thoroughly sifted. An official inquiry is also in contemplation with respect to the conduct of Mr. Ward, the coroner of the district, in connection with charges against the prisoner. The reason why the body of Cook was re exhumed on Friday was, that an experiment had been tried upon a cat. Strychnine was administered to the animal, which afterwards died, and an examination of the body followed, the result of which was that strychnine was dis covered in the spinal marrow. It was then resolved to re exhume the body of the late Mr. Cook, which took place on Friday morning, at six o'clock ; and we understand that the examination of the spinal marrow of the body took place on Saturday, and that the result will be stated at the trial by medical witnesses. A WEDDING INTERRUPTED.—On the 25th of October last a family of distinction, residing in the Chaussee d'Antin, gave a grand banquet in honour of the signing of a contract for the marriage of their daughter, a young lady of great beauty, and possessed of 28,000 f. a-year, with Louis Elie Adolphus, Baron de Selhausen, a young man of 25, chief of one of the most ancient and distinguished baronial houses of the province of Silesia. In the midst of the banquet a rude-looking stranger arrived, and demanded to see the Baron. The concierge told him that on account of the joyful event of the day the family had given orders that no visitor should be admitted. The stranger insisted, and the concierge, getting angry, threatened to turn him out by force. At length, after a good deal of altercation, the stranger espied a large bell, and began ringing it furiously. This drew all the inhabitants of the house to the windows, and the man then cried in a loud voice that he wanted to see Baron de Selhausen—at the same time threaten ing to ring the bell until his request should be complied with. The concierge at last allowed him to go upstairs to the family, with whom the Baron was. Stalking into the middle of the room, the man cried out, " My name is Bozeluc, and I let out :carriages for hire. I have let out carriages to the Baron de sSelhausen, and he owes me 700 f. ; but he will never pay me, :for he is a swindler, and not a baron at all ! lam not the only man he has cheated—tailors, glovers, hotel-keepers, up holsterers, painters, gliders, all sorts of tradesmen, in fact, have been swindled by him ! Good people," added Bozeluc -solemnly, turning to the young lady's parents, "you had better put off the marriage, for I tell you again the man is no baron, but a swindler !" The marriage was postponed, and the soi discuit baron was, after some explanations, handed over to the custody of the police, until inquiries could be made about him. It was then ascertained that, instead of being a baron and a . German, he was only the son of a ruined tradesman of the Ile de la Reunion (Bourbon) ; that he had come to Paris to accept a place as clerk in a bank and that, finding his salary insuf ficient, he had taken to swindling, and had carried it on with such skill that be not only made a vast number of dupes, but contrived to gain access to very good society. He has been tried and sentenced to two years' imprisonment and 50f. fine. --Galignanis Messenger. LIABILITY OF UNDERWRITERS.—A recent trial in the Court of Queen's Bench of an insurance case at Lloyd's has excited much attention, the verdict apparently being little calculated to increase the confidence of mercantile men, whether at home or abroad, in appealing to English law upon points which depend in any way upon commercial custom. Mr. Engelhardt, of London, on account of the Netherlands sugar refinery in Amsterdam, bought of Messrs. Goodall, Chilton, and Co., a cargo of sugar which had just arrived off Plymouth from Bahia. On the cargo reaching Amsterdam it was found to be damaged. Lloyd's agent at that place imme diately took the usual steps on the part of the underwriters ; the injury was duly ascertained to have been caused by sea water ; and the captain made the requisite declaration that it was owing " solely to the labouring of the ship and the gales encountered during the voyage." The loss amounted to £1568, or about 19 per cent. The underwriters for some time took no notice of the claim, but after a lapse of three months announced that they would contest it. An action was accordingly brought against them in the Court of Queen's Bench. The ground of resistance was that, instead of the sugar having been damaged by the voyage, it was in a bad state at the time it was shipped. The bill of lading disproved this, since it certified that the sugar had been " shipped in good order and well conditioned ;" but Lord Campbell ruled that " this was no evidence at all against the underwriters, and hence, as Mr. Engelhardt had not summoned from Baliia the shippers (who have since failed and left the place) or witnesses from the plantations where the sugar was grown, the jury declared the claim to be invalid, and the underwriters tree from all liability. The case was especially hard, because on no inter pretation of it should the loss have fallen upon the buyers of the sugar. Either the damage occurred during the voyage and the underwriters were liable, or the sugar purchased of Messrs. Goodall, Chilton, and Co., on the faith of a clean bill of lading, was not what it was represented to be. Under these circumstances, Mr. Engelhardt has drawn up a narrative of the proceedings, pointing out to his brother merchants the serious results involved in the decision.- The chief of these is, that it must, for the future, weaken all reliance on the value of a clean bill of lading ; but there are also two other points of only slightly less importance—namely, the illustration it affords to the technical obstacles which may be interposed to the recovery of claims by buyers under policies of insurance on floating cargoes, and the way in which underwriters at Lloyd's will disregard or set aside the acts of their own public agents. In this case, observes Mr. Engelhardt, "Lloyd's own agent at Amsterdam was a principal witness, and came over to England to testify to the perfect regularity of the survey, the sale and all other proceedings in reference to the cargo, and to his firm belief in the justice of the claim." In conclu sion, it is to be remarked that Mr. Engelhardt and his cor respondents have been urged to appeal against the verdict, or try a new action. With their experience of legal technicalities and delays, however, they shrink from a further expenditure of labour, time, and money. "If the underwriters, or any of them," they say, "are disposed to submit the case to practical commercial men, whose decision would be prompt, just, and inexpensive, we are ready to join issue with them again, but sot otherwise." IN the Court of Common Pleas, lately, an action was brought to recover £32 10s., the price of a hundred thousand snowdrops. A verdict for the plaintiff was returned. TUE Bristol Mirror asserts that about ten days before Christmas a Cochin China fowl was lost at Bath, and was found alive, after a fast of 22 days, in an empty barrel. THE priory of Holy Island, familiar to the readers of Mar mion as Lindisfarn, is in process &restoration to the appear ance it presented in ancient days. THE Times says Sir George Grey has advised Her Majesty to remit the remainder of the sentence of twelve months' im• prisonment, passed upon Mr. Jackson, of Doncaster. IT is said that in future tickets-of-leave will only be granted to convicts on condition of the .licentiate absenting himself from the county of his old domicile and practices. His re appearance in which infers his apprehension and return to the hulks. TEE Messager du Midi states that surveys have been ordered for the extension of the railway from Paris to Cler- mont as far as the Mediterranean. The new line is to traverse the Gard and join the Montpellier railway at Marseilles. IT is stated that the new decree of the French government, which substitutes fixed duties by weight, on the importation of wool for ad valorem, amounts to a reduction of duty of about one-half. A LETTER from St. Petersburg says, that in the course of the last campaign in Asia more than 60,000 images of saints were despatched from that city for the edification of General Mouravieff's army. Ox Wednesday morning there was another general fall in the price of bread in London of one halfpenny in the 4 lb. loaf, the best wheaten bread being 9d. and in some places Sld.; and the full-priced bread 10/d and 11d. THE STEAMER BELGIQUE has put back to Southampton, with one boiler burnt, and five feet of water in her hold. She had proceeded 700 miles west of the Lizard, when compelled to return. The passengers and crew worked day and night to keep her afloat. THE Leeds Chamber of Commerce has now under discussion the propriety of forming trade associations in connexion with the chamber, the particular objects of which shall be to watch over the interests, and regulate, to some extent, the customs of the respective branches of trade in the district. THE arrangements on the Egyptian railroad give great sa- Asfaction. The railway carriages are very superior; each one costs £4OO. The Egyptian Transit Administration realised a profit of £75,000 last year, and this sum is likely to increase when the railway is made use of for the conveyance of . . Egyptian produce from the interior. A QUEER FISH.—A codfish about 181 b. weight was caught a few days ago in Brodick-bay, Island of Arran, by Andrew Hamilton, a seaman, and in its gullet was found a thick silver plated spur with leather strap attached. This unusually strange circumstance has excited no little surprise, and even consternation, among some of the natives. IN 1851, 5,000 widowers were married to spinsters, 2,400 bachelors to widows, and 2,700 widowers to widows. More • than 7,000 widowers stand here by the side of rather more than 5,000 widows. In one case, a widower of 90 was married to a spinster of 80. The youngest widower was 20, the youngest widow 10. LORD ASHBURTON has placed himself in communication with the committee of the Yorkshire Union of Mechanics' In stitutes, and offered to engage a gentleman at his own expense, for one year, to deliver a series of lectures before the members of the Yorkshire Mechanics' Institution, on subjects of interest to them, and to place him under the direction of the committee of the Union. POSTAGE TO THE EAST INDIES.—From the Ist of Febru ary the postage upon letters forwarded to the Fast Indies, rid Southampton, will be reduced to a combined British and Indian rate of 6d. the half ounce. Letters forwarded rid Marseilles will be liable to the same rate, with the addition of a French transit rate of sd. per quarter ounce. AT Castle Eden the other day, in an assault case, the Rev. Mr. Park, in announcing the decision of the bench, addressed the defendant in the following manner :—As the assault is not proved, we will dismiss the case on your paying the costs, but, if you refuse to do so, then we shall fine you for the assault! —.Darlington and Stockton Times. FROM statistics given by the Cornish papers, relative to the profits of mines during the past year, it appears that on every £5 share in the Buller Mine, there has been paid for the year just ended a dividend of £l3O, and the market value of a £5 share is now £650. Similarly, on a £5l share in the Basset Mine, £137105. has been paid, and the shares are selling—or, rather, would be purchased—if offered, at £4lO. EDUCATION or PAUPER CHILDREN.— A circular has been issued by the Poor-law Board relative to the education of out door paupers' children. It gives an abstract of an act passed in the last session on the subject, and, without requiring the guardians to carry into effect the provisions of the act, re commends them not to lose sight of it. The guardians are empowered to defray the expense of schooling for children of recipients of out-relief so long only as the parents are chargeable, and the cost is to be placed to the same fund as the parents' allowance is charged. Orphans and deserted children may also be sent to school by the guardians. The selection of the school or schools is left to the discretion of the guardians. THE NEW BILLS OF EXCHANGE ACT.—At the judges' chambers a decision of considerable importance has been given under the new Act on Bills of Exchange and Promissory Notes. A plaintiff named Smith issued a writ in one of the superior courts against a defendant named Evans, on a promissory note for £l3 ss. and costs. The defendant's attorney took out a summons to stay the proceedings upon the payment of the debt without the costs, on the ground that the parties resided within the same county-court district. The application was opposed, and it was urged that the new act authorised all actions on bills and notes to be brought in the superior courts, irrespective of the amount. Mr. Justice Crowder was of opinion that such was the law, although he thought with others of the judges that there had been an oversight or omis sion in the framing of the act. The plaintiff's attorney sub mitted that it was very important that a decision should be given on the point in reference to other cases. The learned judge decided that the summons must be dismissed, thereby establishing the principle that in all cases on bills of exchange and promissory notes under the new law the proceedings may be by writ of summons in the superior courts. By the new rules, costs are allowed in - all cases under the act. A RAILWAY ROMANCE.--A singular affair occurred on the Wear Valley Railway (Durham) the other day. A gentleman from Birmingham found himself seated in a first-class carriage, his vis-a-vis, and the only other passenger in that compart ment of the carriage, being a blooming lady, answering to the alliterative description of "fat, fair, ana forty." The train had scarcely moved a hundred yards from the station before the lady suddenly leaped from her seat and exclaimed to the other passenger, " How dare you, sir ! What do you mean ?" The gentleman, astonished, replied that he did not understand; he had done nothing to harm her. Again and again she sprang from her seat in apparent terror and rage, and declared with vehemence that her neighbour was a villain, and she would have him taken into custody at the next station. The gentle man protested his innocence, and asked what he had done; but the eccentric lady still kept leaping from her seat, raving against his treatment, till the gentleman decided that she was mad, and resolved, on the arrival of the train at the next station, to give her into custody. As her eccentricity did not abate, he, on the arrival of the train at one of the stations, was about to carry his resolution into action, when she sud denly sprang to the door, and screamed out " Guard, guard," at the top of her voice, and presently collected not only the , guard, but a crowd of people around her. She then com menced her accusation in words both loud and deep, protest ing that the gentleman had improperly pinched her legs, and the gentleman, horrified at the charge, protesting with equal vehemence his perfect innocence. At this juncture, when matters looked serious for the gentleman, the guard happened to recollect that he had placed a basket under the seat of the carriage containing a live goose, and, pulling it out, the mys tery was explained, the bird being the criminal, and having caused the lady's fears and the gentleman's apprehensions. This explanation was received with perfect good humour and satisfaction by the parties concerned, and the train renewed its journey amid the convulsive laughter and applause of the assembled multitude. A Memora, OF WILLIAM PALMEX.—It appears that Mr. William Palmer is a member of a very wealthy family, and is now in his 34th year or thereabouts. He was educated for the medical profession, was a pupil at St. Bartholomew's, recived the diploma of the College of Surgeons in 1846, and settled at Rugeley, his native place. He seems, however, to have paid more attention to the " turf" and what are com monly called sportipg pursuits than to his own profession, and to have confined his practice to his own family and friends. His name appears in the London and Provincial Medical Directory of 1851, and again in 1855, as that of one of the persons who had neglected to inform the editor of that work of the nature of their qualifications ; hence it has been hoped that his claim to be considered one of ourselves was not a just one. But his name appears in the list of the College of Surgeons ; and we may suggest, in passing, that it will be necessary for the future to be cautious in assuming the exist ence of no qualification, merely because none is recorded in the Directory. He married in 1847, Anne:the natural daughter of Colonel William Brookes and Mary Thornton, his house keeper. Colonel Brookes, who, after quitting the East India service, took up his residence at Stafford, died in 1834, leaving considerable property, and more than one natural child. To Anne Thornton he bequeathed, by a will dated July 27, 1833, nine houses in Stafford, besides land, and the interest of 20,000 sicca rupees, for herself and her children, and ap pointed Dr. Edward Knight, a highly respectable physician of Stafford, and a Mr. Dawson, her guardians and trustees. To Mary Thornton, the mother of Anne, the Colonel be queathed certain property, which was to pass to the daughter at the decease of the mother. Mary Thornton departed this life, it is said, while a guest at Mr. Palmer's house, in 1848 or 1849. Now, although the will of Colonel Brookes would seem clear enough to any one who was ignorant of the law, and al though, in the present state of the law, as w e are i n f ormed, it would be sufficient, yet it was discover e d b y t h e legal fraternity some years since that the; language conveying the bequest to Anne Thornton was not sufficiently forcible to con vey it to her absolutely, but only to give her a life interest in it; insomuch as at her decease it was liable to be claimed by the heir-at-law to Colonel Brookes. Under these circum stances, there was nothing unnatural or unusual in the idea that Palmer should insure his wife's life, in order to protect himself from the inevitable loss which must ensue in case of her decease; and, since her property consisted of 17 acres of land, valued at between £3OO and i.:400 an acre, besides nine houses, and the interest of the sicca rupees—probably alto gether worth at least £4OO per annum, upon which he had borrowed largely from his mother—there could be no doubt of his having such an interest in his wife's life as would jus tify insurance. Accordingly, in January, 1854, he insured her life for £3,000 in the Norwich Union, and in March in the Sun for £5,000; there was also an insurance in the Scottish Equitable for £5,000. It appears that proposals for insurance were made to other offices ; but there seems nothing unusual in this, for he might only have had in view to obtain the best terms, unless, indeed, such proposals were made after the full value of his wife's property had been covered. To proceed Mrs. Palmer died on September . 29, 1854, under circum s t ances w hich we shall proceed to examine, leaving only one surviving child, a boy of seven years ; and, as if to justify th e h us b and in effecting an insurance, an action was brou g ht w i t hi n a m onth by Colonel Brookes's heir-at-law to obt a i n possess i on of Mrs. Palmer's property. Palmer brought up the life poli cies on the Sun and Norwich Union on the 16th of October, 1854, and employed Mr. Pratt, the solicitor, to obtain the money from the offices. Mr. Pr a tt, w h o seems to h av e acted with entire bona fides, and the caution usual among lawyers, required to be furnished with evidence of the husband's pecu niary interest in his wife's life, took counsel's opinion on every step, and obtained the £B,OOO from the offices on the 6th of February, 1855 ; strangely enough, the £5,000 from the Scot tish Equitable was paid through a banker, unknown to Pratt. —Medical Times. H- it I