Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-07-11 00:00:00

TELEGRAPHIC NEWS. By British and Irish ltfagnetie Telegraph. THE PRINCIPALITIES. TRIESTE, THURSDAY. Despatches have been received from Constan tinople to the 3rd instant. Lord Radcliffe is said to have received from the Earl of Clarendon I nstructions to propose a joint military and judicial administration for the Principalities. PERSIA. News has arrived at Constantinople to the effect that the Persians were strengthening the fortifications of Herat, although by the Treaty of Peace they were bound shortly to evacuate the place. FRANCE. The Paris Three Per Cents dosed yesterday (Friday) at 66f. 80c., being a decline of 30c. BANKRUPTS. By British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph. Sir Edward Pack Barber, West-street, Smithfield, glass merchant. George Wythe, and Daniel Ha-ps, Woodford, Essex, hotel and boarding-house keepers, and lunatic asylum keepers. John Doherty, late of Liverpool, corn and provision merchant. Ebenezer Talbot and Samuel Grice, Mewarn, Sydney, Gloucestershire, ironfounders and engineers. Maurice Evans, and John William Hoare, Great St. Helen and Trinity Wharfs, Rotherhithe, export wine and bottle beer merchants. William Blackman, North Fleet, licenced victualler. John Borsley, Argyle-square, Kirg's Cross, builder. Nathaniel Pimperley, Lucas, lifaccle:-field, victualler. Thomas Nash, (the y ounger) Great Dover -street, brush maker. John G - rimshaw, Guisely, cloth manufacturer. John Lowndes, York-place, Vauxhall, Bridge-road, watchmaker. John Evans, Aberystwith, ship builder. John Down Gordon, Eldon-street, Finsbury, piano -forte manufacturer. 'William Clark, King's-lynn, dealer in china and glass. A letter from Chamouni, quoted by Gallignanes M'es sever, says that the gof 28th a young Fr enchman, whose on name mornin is not given, the set out ult. to ascend Mont Blanc, and in the afternoon of the 29,h succeedel in reaching the summit of the mountain ; he afterwards dese 11,1(31 in safety. Bath the ascent and descent were difficult, owing to the quantity of snow on the mount ,in, and to the blowing of a high wind. This ascent is the first ever made in - the month of June; the earlier: on record hitherto having been the Bth July. The administration of the Assemblee Nationale has sent round to the subscribers of that journal a copy of the decree Which suspends its publication for two months. Subjoined is the following note :-Notice was at the same time given verbally to our printer, M. Chats, that the decree of suspension was to be carried into execution forthwith, and that the journal was not to appear the next day. Our t firsk duty e v id ent l y i s to inform our subscribers of what has happened. A circular will, at a later moment, inform them of the line of conduct which the administration of the Journal considers it tecessery to adopt respecting them, in conseqnence of this measure of the government." PREVENTION OF ILLICIT DISTILLATION.-A bill has been introduced, bearing the names of Mr. Wilson and Sir Cornew all Lewis, but in reality prepared by the Irish Attorney-General, intended to "continue and amend" the 17th and 18th Vic., c. 89; also the laws for the suppression and prevention of illicit distillation in Ireland. The main feature of the new measure-which, I am happy to inform you (in reply to your question addressed to me), does not s pecifically trench upon the status of that useful body, the revenue police of Ireland-is found in a clause empowering the i nspector -general of constabulary to exercise the same Powers for ordering informations as are possessed by the Commissioners of Inland Revenue. The only clause which appears to me, at the first glance, to be of an insidious nature, is one in which the Lord-Lieutenant is given the Power of " appointing constables for the prev,:ntion of illicit distillation," the expenses of this special corps to be paid out of the inland revenue, "or in such other manner as the Commissioners of her ltijes!y's Treasury may direct." It is obvi ous t h at this clause gives his Excellency bP o wer of iote r f erence w i th the revenue police which may e un wisely employed. Constables may be appointed to discharge the duties which belong to the body especially organised for suppressing unlawful spirit manufacture, and thus a new police may be set up merely at the fiat of the Lor d - Lieutenant, which in certain places shall suppress, or at least damage, the character of the revenue officers. To supplement the useful efforts of the Inland Revenue Depart haent by the vigil ance o f t h e constabulary may be proper enough ; but it appears to me to be very improper-in fact, an insane course--to injure in any manner or degree the efficiency of a body admitted to he so necessary and vigilant as the Irish revenue police. I speak cautiously of the bill now brought before the House of Comtnoes, for the effect of its provisions cannot yet be very clearly per ceived ; but I refer to it for the purpose of calling upon the revenue police to watch their interests closely, and with the object of directing the attention of Irish repre sentatives to this movement of the ministry. I must in jus ice add, that so far as I ca-i at present judge, the bill is intended to obviate the necessity of recruiting the revenue force by throwing its duties upon the constabulary. --Correspondent of the Evening Packet, PAUPERISM AND THE Poem. LAW.-The ninth annual report of the Poor-law Board (for the year 1856) has been printed in the form of a blue-book of 100 pages, with appendices, &c. In the year ended Lady-day, 1856, the sum of £6,004,214 was expended for the relief of the poor, being equivalent to an increase of £114,203 as compared with the sum expended in the preceding year, or 1.9 per . _eat. The rate p er h ead on the population was 6s 3d. The increase was distributed over the counties as follows viz., in Staffordshire, 9 7 per cent. ; in Nottinghamshire, 9'5 ; in Ch es t er, 8 . 5 ; in Leicestershire, 5.8 inSalop, 5'7 ; in Bedfordshire, 5.6 ; in Middlesex, 54 ; in Aeglesea, 5.1 ; in Lancashire, 4.8 ; in Yorkshire (West Riding), 4 . 5 ; in Pemb ro k es hi re, 4 . 4 ; in Itteleor shire, 4.4 ; in Derbyshire, 4'2 ;in Yorkshire (East) 4.0 ;in Herefordshire, 3 . 9 ;in Durham, in Flintshire, 3.5; in Worcestershire, 3 . 5 • in Buckingham shire, 3 . 4 ; in Carnarvonshire, 3.4 ; in Monmouth, 3.1 ; in Carmarthen, 2'B ; in Merioneth, 2.8 ; in Cardigan, 2.1 ; in *Somerset. 2•I ; in Rutland, 1.7 ; in Devon, P 5 • in Gle -lorgan, 1.4 ;in C ornwall, 1 . 2; in North umberland, ; !n Alontgomery, 1.0 ; in Gloucester, 0 9 ; in Barks, 0 8; to Southampton, 0.8 ; in Oxford, 0.5 ; in Herts, 0•4; in Wilts, ; in Northampton, 0.1 ; and in Surrey, 0.1 per cent. cent The decrease was as follows ; viz.:-in Brecon, WI per ;in Suffolk, 0.6 ; in Denbigh 0.8 • in Essex, 0.9 ; in Westmoreland, o'9 ; in Warwick, 1.3% in Huntingdon, 1.4 L • in Cambridge, 1.5 ; i n B ent, 1 . 5 ; in Cumberland, 1.6 ; 11 1 Sunsicoin, 1.6 ; in Dorset, 20 ; i n Y or k ( North), 2 . 6 ; sex, 3.3 : and in N o rf o lk, 3.6 per cent. The in -crease is mainly at ributable to the high price of provi 'skills. An increase is also noticeable in the number of persons receiving relief. Subsequent returns, however, indicate a progressive decrease in the number of paupers, and the commissioners see grounds for expecting that both the number of paupers and the amount of expenditure will have a tendency to di m i n i sh. The average expenditure of the 23 years occurring between 1834 and 1856 was 6s. 2d. per head on the estimated population ; that in the year I 1855-56 having b een • slightly above the average. The 03MOILSSiOner8 report that they have endeavoured to avail themselves of every Practicable ori og i portunity , to promote the education of children in views have been shared and acted upon Boa - ds n es, b and that. their of Guardians. The average number of children attending workhouse schools sin number half-year ended at Lady -day, 185(,', was 17,666 boys, and 17,416 girls, and the average lumber of children attending district schools. 1,488 boys and 1,284 girls, £26,616 was the arnou'at paid to boards of guardians out of the Parlia laWntary grant in respect of the salaries of workhouse and district school teachers in the year ended Lady-day, 1856 ; only 21 1 persons were assisted to emi grate daring the pe a r Yer The number of insane paupers ch argea b le to the Poor om 1 rates on the Ist of January, 1857, wa s 27 ,643, of 1Twn7,192 were lunatics and 10,501 idiots. Th e total of 80 ,280. Maintaining these pauper lunatics appears to be vaccinators in Th e number of persons vaccinated by public 435,012, and ofEngland and Wales during the yeas was thou) 422,281 were successful, IMPE KIAL PARLIAMENT. (By British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph.) HOUSE OF LORDS.—FRIDAY. The House met at five o'clock. ADMISSION OF THE JEWS INTO PARLIAMENT. The debate on the Oaths Bill being expected, there was a very large attendance of peers, and the galleries appro priated to members of the House of Commons, ladies, and strangers were filled. Before the commencement of the discussion, on the motion of Earl Granville, the oaths, as proposed to be amended by the bill, were read by the Clerk at the Table. Earl Granville then opened the debate by moving that the bill be read a second time. He feared he might be considered presumptuous in calling upon their lordships to re-consider a question upon which they had before pronounced an opinion; but he trusted to be able to bring fo:ward grounds why they should change that opinion. The — oaths at present taken by their lordships had created disgust in the country that the name of God should be taken in vain. Cicrro once asked what two Augurs could meet in the streets of Rome without laughing in each others faces, and what would be the opinion of that great man if he saw members of Parliament calling upon the Deity to witness their declaration that a family that did not exist had no right to the throne. With regard to the question of admitting Jews to Parliament. he denied that the oath which had the effect of excluding Jews was proposed for that purpose, and contended that it would be persecution to maintain their disabilities. The introduc tion of Jews could not unchristianise an assembly which was open to all other religious opinions, and he challenged the opponents of the bill to point out any instance of dis advantage to the country from the steps that had been taken already in the removal of Jewish disabilities. He stitted that several of our colonies had treated the Jews in a more liberal spirit than they were treated in the mother country, and appealed to the peers, and espe cially to those of the Roman Catholic religion, not to oppose this act of justice to an influential and intelligent portion of the community. The Earl of Derby admitted that, in point of ability and talent, the Jews stood as high as any people in the world ; but he looked upon them as a separate nation, retaining faith in the restoration of their national rights, even though they were scattered over the face of the earth. No doubt they submitted in this country to the laws, and discharged faithfully the duties of citizens— that they were admitted to the highest places, and in trusted with the administration' of the laws ; but they were justly and properly excluded:lrom participating in the making of laws for a Christian people. The Jews retained their laws and customs ; they did not associate as a rule with their fellow-subjects ; their views were alien and foreign ; and between them and all other subjects of the Queen there was an impassable gulf. It was said that the continued exclusion would be a perse. cution of the Jews—that it would be depriving them of a right. But, though they had a right to security for person and property, and the free observance of their religious rites, he held that they had no right to be entrusted with the power to legislate for the community at large. Ad verting to the successive attempts to repeal the oath excluding Jews from seats` in the legislature, he re marked that their exclusion had always been looked upon as a constitutional principle, and that all such attempts had been defeated by their Lordships. He urged them on that occasion not to reverse the decision which they had formerly given, observing that, though in some cases, such as the Catholic Emancipation, and the Reform Bills, they had, in conse quence of popular agitation, altered their course. There was no similar plea for inconsistency in the present case. In conclusion, the noble earl moved that the bill be read a second time that day three months. Lord Lyndhurst reviewed the oaths by which persons had been excluded from parliament, showing that an improved and more liberal spirit had led to their abolition. With regard to the question before the house, he con tended that the arguments against the bill were totally untenable. The Earl of Winchelsea supported the' amendment, because he would not consent to the admission into the legislature of men who looked upon the Christian religion as an empty pageant. The Duke of Somerset supported the bill, and said he hoped that the Duke of Norfolk, now that he had obtained admission into Parliament, would not put his shoulder to the door to exclude the Jews. The Doke of Norfolk, considering that no religion was a disqualification for the exercise of the franchise, could not consistently oppose the removal of the disabilities of the Jews to sit in Parliament. Lord Dungannon opposed the bill on account of the moral effect it would have on the country. Earl Camoys, Lord Dufferin, and Lord St. Vincent having spoken, The Bishop of London supported the bill. He denied that its effect would be to destroy the protestant character of Parliament any more than the admission of Roman Catholics, and he did not apprehend that its christian character would suffer, for now that Jews were admitted to many offices in the State, christianity in the country had advanced. As an act of justice he demanded that Jews no longer be excluded. The Archbishop of Canterbury opposed the bill. The Earl of Albemarle, Lord Shaftesbury, and Lord Brougham supported the bill; and the Bishop of Oxford opposed it. The Earl of Shaftesbury said he objected so strongly to the present oath that he gave his support to the bill, thinking the alteration in the oaths should be made irre spective of the consequences, though he retained his objections to admitting Jews to Parliament. Their Lordships then divided. The numbers were — Contents present, 91 ; proxies, 41. Total, 139 Non-contents present, 109; proxies, 64. Total, 173 Majority against the bill The House adjourned at half-past eleven o'clock HOUSE OF COMMONS.-FRIDAY. The Speaker took the char at four o'clock. On the motion of Mr. Waldron, a return was ordered of the sums received by the sale of maps of the Ordnance Survey of Ireland, on the one and six inch scales. THE NORTHERN TIMES. LIVERPOOL ) , SATURDAY, JULY 11, 1857. 7HE FEANKLIN EXPEDITION. Mr. Horsfall moved an address for copies of memorials and addresses relating to the Franklin expedition, which had been recently transmitted to the Government from the merchants of New York, the Royal Irish Academy, the Royal Dublin Society, and other public bodies. THE IRISH MILITIA. In rPply to Lord Claude Hamilton, Sir John Ramsden said it was not the intention of the Government to recommend to her Majesty to call out any of the regiments of Irish Militia in the ensuing autumn• He might add that the rule which it was intended to follow was that none of the regiments embodied during the war should be called out for training. INDIAN OFFICERS ON LEAVE. Mr. Noel asked whether the government would give to those officers who were ordered to:re-join their regiments in India before the expiration of their leave, on account of the mutiny, a free passage, or whether they would be compelled to return there at their own expense. Sir J. Ramsden replied that the question was 'now the subject of communication between the war department and the India board. t r i THE CHINA AND INDIAN QUESTION. In answer to Sir J. Pakington, Sir Chas. Wood stated that the last accounts received from Sir M. Seymour were to the 101 h of May, and at that time no hostilities were taking place. No instructions had been sent out to divert the troops from China for service in India, but it was understood that the Governor-General had written to Lord_Elgin to ask whether any portion or the troops could be spared for India. On the motion that the Douse at its rising adjourn till Monday. In reply to Captain Vivian, Mr. V. Smith explained that the arrangements were made to send the 10,000 men intended to relieve the forP.A s before information reaC k ed the in India by sailing vessels , Government as to the mutiny , and it was int° nded that those arrangements should be carried out. With regard to the troops to be sent out in consectunee of that intelli gence, it was arranged that 2,000 Of them should proceed in steam vessels, and the othev. 2,000 in sailing vessels some doubt being entert4lllP.a which, at the present favour , able season, was the quickest means or transport. All the troops would have sailed between the 21st and 29. h of July, and it was hoped that the voyage would be made in 70 days. Sir Charles Napier regrette4 that steam vessels only had not been employed for the conveyance of the troops. In reply to Colonel North, Sir John Ramsden said, all that rested with the Govern ment in regard to the order cf the Medjidee had ,already been done. The Sardinian military medals were now in the hands of the Adjutant-General, who had received in structions to issue them immediately. In answer to Mr. Ayrton, The Chancellor of the Exchequer said it was intended to proceed with the prosecution of the Bury Times, and g iinst other papers that did not comply with the provisions of the act relating to registration. The Free Press was not considered to be a newspaper, aad would not be proceeded against. In answer to Mr. Turner, Lord Palmerston said he had received information some ago that the French had had an offer from a firm at Mar tinique, to supply them with 1,200 free negroes. They could not ultimately become slaves, but they must under go an apprenticeship, that they might degenerate into the slave trade as far as capital was concerned- He had communicated with the French Government, and had received an assurance that the contract should not go to the renewal of the slave trade, and that every means should be taken to secure the humane treatment of the labourers. He had received information that free negroes had been imported into the Isle of Bourbon, but it was not from a reliable source. The House then went into committee on the Probates and Letters of Administration Bill• The consideration of clause 40 was resumed, and The Attorney-General proposed, in consequence of the decision of the House on the former occasion, to negative the clause and bring up another in committee, fixing the limit. or local prouate at AZ,UOU, Out Law uptutuu House being against this course, Lord Palmerston with drew the proposition, and the clause, as amended, was agreed to. The several clauses of the bill were agreed to and some new clauses were added, after discussion. The House then resumed, and the bill was reported, with amendments. The Crown, &c., Suits (Scotland) Bill, and the Bank ruptcy and Real Securities (Scotland) Bill, were read a third time and passed. The Speaker announced the abandonment of the peti tions complaining of the returns for Lanark and Lyming- ton. The business on the paper was then disposed of, and the House adjourned at ten minutes past one. ELECTION COMMITTEES.-YESTERDAY. By British and Irish Magnetic Telegraph. GALAWAY. The Committee met for the first time this morning, when Mr. Wordsworth opened the case as one of bribery, and treating against the sitting member personally, and against his agent, Dr. Brown, who acted as Chairman of the C. , mmittee. Witnesses were examined in support of the case. BATH. This was also the first meeting. Mr. Slade opened the case for the petitioner, who was Mr. Wade the defeated candidate. The question is one of scrutiny. Mr. Tite was elected by a majority of three, and the petitioners had fourteen objections to the votes—on the other hand Mr. Tito had forty-two objections to the votes for Mr. Wade. LAMBETH. To-day was the first meeting of the committee. Mr. Edwin James, Q.C., opened the case for the petitioners, two electors of the borough, who complained that the election of Mr. Roupell, the sitting member, had been secured by undue influence, bribery, and treating. It was alleged that one hundred to one hundred and fifty public houses were opened, and under guise of committee-rooms about two hundred committee-men, and three hundred and fifty canvassers, were employed. Other facts of a similar kind were adduced ; and altogether the counsel contended there was sufficient grounds to unseat Mr. Roupell. MAYO: Mr. George Ilcnry Moore, the sitting member was under examination the whole of the morning. COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.-YESTERDAY. BRYORE LORD CAMPBELL. KINGSBURY v. D rER.—BREAcu OF CONTR ACT.—The plaintiff, a teacher of music and singing, brought this action agninst the defendant, an operatic singer, formerly known as Miss Dyer, but now Mrs. Haigh, to recover compensation in damages for breach of contract. The defendant had entered into an agreement with the plain tiff to become his pupil for three years upon certain terms, atd it was alleged that she had improperly broken that agreement. Mr. Prentice and Mr. Francis were for the plaintiff, and Mr. Malcolm for the defendant. When the jury had been sworn counsel agreed to a verdict being entered for the plaintiff for £2O. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.-YZSTERDAY. BEFORE CHIEF JUSTICE COCKBURN. RISBOURG V. BRUCKNER AND ANOTHER.—PRINCIPAL AND AGENT.—This was an action to recover £1,833 which had been paid for the purchase of a cargo of Galatz wheat, upon the groand that at the time of the contract the cargo was not in existence. Mr. Bovill, Mr. Huddlestone, and Mr. Ashton appeared for the plaintiff ; and Mr. Wilde and Mr. Honeyman for the defendants. The plaintiff is a merchant in France, and the defendants, Messrs. Bruckner and Jaeger, are corn-factors in London. The transactims now in question occurred in 1 853, when a long correspondence took place between the parties. On the 22nd November in that year the defendants wrote to the plaintiff offering the cargo, and said, " The vessel having left Galatz on the 12th October, and having passed Constantinople, may be ex pected on the English coast within a month." The plaintiff afterwards purchased the cargo. It turned out that the statement that the vessel had passed Constanti. nople was not true, she having, in fact, been taken into Constantinople on the 16th November, where her cargo had been condemned and sold. It was not at all imputed that the defendants had made the statements with the intention of defrauding the plaintiff, the defendants not, in fact, knowing that the statement was untrue. It was admitted, as between the parties to this suit, that the cargo had been fraudulently condemned at Constantinople, the supposed object of the captain being to obtain a better freight. A long correspondence was put in and a great many questions raised, but in the course of the discussion it was admitted that the defend ants had intended to act as agents for the plaintiff in buying the wheat, though they had made the contract in their own names, but it was said that they had exceeded their authority, and must therefore be treated as principals. It was further admitted that, after the plaintiff had seen the contract, he ratified all that the defendants had done. After a great deal of discussion, a verdict was entered for the plaintiff, subject to the opinion of the court upon the question of law. LONDON COURT OF BANKRUPTOY.-YESTERDAY. BEFORE MR. COMMISSIONER FANS. In re RICHARD SMITH —THE HASTINGS OLD MINK. — This was the first meeting under the bankruptcy of Rich ard Smith, hop merchant, butcher, and cattle dealer, of Salehurst, near Hurst-green, and of Sadlescorab, near Battle, Sussex. It appears that the liabilities are con siderable, not less than £40,000, of which .E tr,ooo is due to the Hastings Old Bank. The assets are expected to realise £lO,OOO or X 12,090. The bankrupt, it is stated, is brother to one of the partners in the bank. Mr. George Clements, merchant, of Hastings, was chosen trade assignee. Mr. Cannaais the omcial assignee, and Messrs. Sole, Turner, and Tarper ) are the solicitors under the bankruptcy. THE GLASGOW MURDER. THE TRIAL. OF MISS SMITH. OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. If on - Monday the intemst of the' public had partially declined, it was greater than ever of the 7th day. From an early hour, a crowd btsieged the doors of the Justiciary Court ; standing room was hardly to• be obtained ; and. th e pressure from behind became very severe. At last, the doors were opened. Like a peat-up mountain torrent, when swollen by melting snows, it sweeps away an obstacle interposed, by accumulated ice and boulders, the multitude surged in, and would, half bewildered, have lost themselves in the passages, had they not been prevented by iron inner gates, and the policemen who stood by each, as the genii foci. In a minute the whole of the portion of the court allotted to the public was filled. At ten, when the proceedings were resumed, the hall was more crowded than ever. The side galleries appeared, by a curious process of compression, to have acquired the power of holding nearly doable the number which they had formerly contained, crowds were standing near the further ends ; and even the gallery passage behind the judges, where the canopy projecting above the dies forbids a view of the speakers, was filled with attentive listeners. Of advocates especially there were present a greater number than had previou.ly at'ended, eager to be wit nesses of the single contest in which were now to be en gaged two of their foremost leaders. In the earlier stages of the trial the ability of the counsel engaged was con spicuously displayed in the rapid examinations of the elweseoutet, +Tin aAarrhincr of thA Thmtn of Faculty, and the confident assumptions of Mr. Young, so difficult to deny. Yesterday, however, the great battle really commenced. Hitherto there had been, as it were, marching and counter-mareting, manosnvring and concentration of forces ; now the leaders began to marshal in array the opposing bodies of evidence for the struggle on which the fate of the prisoner de pended. When the Lord Advocate rose to address the jury, the accused turned towards him, an I watched him uneasily and restlessly. Soon she recovered her self possession, and retained it during the greater portion of his speech. Her veil, however, which had been raised as she ascended the stair into the court, had now fallen, and this was not to be wondered at. A universal silence prevailed in the court. The Solicitor-General sat motionless, with his arms folded, and his mild grave eyes steadily fixed on the ground ; while the junior counsel for the Crown, Mr. Mackenzie, looked alternately at his prin cipal and a printed paper wbich he held in his hand. On the further side of the table sat the counsel for the defence—the Dean of Faculty, listening calmly but with compressed lips, now and then taking a brief note with a pen which he held in his hand ; Mr. George Young looking coolly at the jury, as if to put them at their ease ; and the junior, Mr. Alexander Msncrieff, writing as fast as his pen could fly for the service of his seniors. The Lord Justice Clerk is at once listening to the Lord Advocate, and investigating a printed copy of the letters, or his own notes of the evidence. Lords Ivory and Handyside are listening intently, their eyes fixed on the speaker. Two of the other judges, who are also present, li,ten, but now and then turn to survey the court. The jury, finding themselves personally addressed, become more fixedly attentive than hitherto, and several take snuff to clear their understanding. In one of the seats allotted to the Glasgow reporters an artist is making a sketch of the crowded court, the wig-thronged gallery on the further aide, the accused herself, and the other actors in the great drama now in progress, evidently with a view to its production in some illustrated news paper. Meanwhile the Lord Advocate, having made some preliminary remarks on the verification of the letters, and the management of prosecution in other respec`s, entered upon the more vital parts of the case, and began to draw the dark and mysterious out_ lines of this strange and lamentable story. One by one, each of the links of evidence was riveted into its P• lace He traced the course of the relations between the prisoner and the dead man ; and read many of the letters, of which parts had been formerly submitted by the clerk of the court. Very different were they read no v ; the passionate appeals which they contained fell from the speaker's lips vehemently and truthful, with the vivid ness of an able actor. The prisoner shud lered. Then he entered upon the proof ; and, by the aid of a mul titude of little points of circumstantial evilence, unveiled the secret history of the deceased and the accused during the months of February and March—an investigation which had to be all the more minute in con sequence of the rejection of L'Angelier's pocket-book as admissible evidence. Towards the close of a speech of five hours and a-half, he examined and rejected the various theories that might be propounded on behalf of the defence, and fixed, as it were, the final link in declaring that, un less on the fatal night of the 32nd of March, the de ceased had an interview with the prisoner in her father's house in Blyths wood-square, the idea of suicide, in the absence of motive, was impossible; and that if it was admitted that he had been there, the evidence against the prisoner was perfectly overwhelm ing. In many of the most terrible dramas, whether of real or fictitious life, there occurs some circumstance, which, of itself ludicrous, only heigh.e s the effect by contrast; as when poor Hamlet jests with the men who are digging a grave for the lady of his 1 ve. Thus, if it had not been for the solemn nature of yes'erday's proceed ings, it would have been positively amusing to have watched the countenances of the jury changing during the continuance of the Lord Advocate's speech. At first, they were only attention ; then they became graver; and by degrees their faces lengthened and length ened, and the corners of their mouths went down. It appeared as if they had been formerly easy in the idea of having to discharge a more agreeable office, and were now awakening to a painful sense of having to fulfil a stern and terrible duty. Tears stood in the eyes of two of the jurors ; but this may partly be accounted for by the magnetic influence arising from the fact of their being stared at by one man for five and a half hours, and staring at him in return. Bs this as it may, it will be curious to watch the reverse of this proceeding to-day, when the Dean of the Faculty will draw the opposite strings. Caledonian Mercury of Wednesday. The last and decisive day of this great trial has at length arrived. Of all the eight preceding, yesterday was p-r - haps the most exciting; for it was known that the Dean of Faculty was to address the jury, and his well-known abilities collected a greater assemblage than ever. The rush made by the crowd into the gallery at eight was alarming—parties, in a wild hubbub, bounding over the benches down to the front—and it had abated little daring the two hours that elapsed before the commencement of the proceedings. At ten, the galleries were filled to overflowing ; the back of the gallery behind the Judges, and the windows is t hat part of the court were crowded with persons standing. Several daring individuals sat in the corners of the gallery with their legs dangling over the front, and hats were deposited in perilous positions on narrow ledges beneath. For the first time the court and jury were in their places before the prisoner entered. Miss Smith naturally appeared somewhat worn, owing, no doubt, to the painful and pro tracted excitement of the last eight days, which must have been all the more intense within, because its outward manifestations were almost always so effectually subdued. The Dean, on her entrance, went up to her, and spoke a few words to her, smiling, in an encouraging manner, as he has done ever glace the third morning of the trial. Then, after the epeain i g of the court, and a brief pause, he rose to addre,.;sa the jury. Slowly he rose, and slowly, solemnly, and mournfully, the words fell from his lips. At first his voice was low, and yet it was always so distinct, that front the beginning to the close of his speecl4 it would have been difficult for any reporter to have lost either his words or his meaning. As he proceeded, his voice swelled louder and louder ; his right hand, which at first was laid uporr the table, was waved in , demonstration to the jury ; his eye-glass was occasionally raised to his eyes, as he read some portion of a letter, to show the devoted love which the prisoner bore to L'Angelier ; and his lips projected in contemptuous scorn when he spoke of the man who could betray her. Without following the Lord Advocate very minutely into all the cir cumstantial evidence which the latter had adduced, he struck boldly at the principal points of the accusation, and argued that they were, in the circumstance, incredible. The eye-glass being found inconvenient, a p air of spectacles were substituted. EVery word was emphatic ; every sentence was delivered in a powerful and deliberate manner, which chained for the time the mind of his anditors into a feeling that it was utterly impossible that he could be in the wrong. As he advanced, he became more vehement in his language, more excited in manner, more filled with loathing and' horror at the wickedness of the man through whose vile agency "a gentle, pure, and affectionate girl, the pride of her father's family," had fallen so low as to be capaNe of writing . these painful and disgusting letters, and then attempt to use them against her as an engine of terror and oppression. His emotion , inereased as he realto the jury, in quivering tones, the despairing letter of the 10th of February. It was in the last half-hour, however, that his eloquence became irresistible, and carried all before it. Every muscle of his face, every gesture of his hands, every motion of his tall and commanding figure, every tone of his deep and powerful voice, told part of the story. It would be utterly impossible foe one who merely reads his speech , to comprehend the influence which it appeared to exert on the minds of those who heard it, wnen deprived or the auxiliary power of his almost irresistible manner. Perhaps the most telling part of the whole was his introduction of the story of Eliza Fenning, and the warning which he drew from it.: while the solemn and awful appeal with which he concluded thrilled through the souls of all in court, and will be remembered by theca to their dying day. If the jury had c msulted immediately, the result could hardly have been doubtful. After an• attempt at applause, which was instantly checked, and a brief resting-time, the Lord Justice Clerk commenced his charg3. At first, while the echo of the eloquent words to which the court had just listened, had hardly died away, their power appeared to have extended to the bench; but as his lordship proceeded with the recapitulation of the evidence, their influence was lost.—Caledonian Mercury, of Friday. The dead man L'Angelier is not one whose fate there is any need to commisserate. His conduct to one who had been his victim was base and unmanly in the last degree, and can only be excused on the ground stated by the Lord Advocate, that by the law of Scotland an irre gular marriage might be held to have taken place, and that L'Angelier had a right to consider Madeline Smith as his wife, and to prohibit her union with another man. That the jury shouid declare the crime " Not Proven" is hardly surprising ; for the circumstances are as mysterious as any that have ever b =en related in a court of justice. If on the one hand the prisoner pur chases arsenic, and thinks of her complexion for the first time when she is distracted with terror respecting her good name, on the other hand she buys it so openly that a juryman might well think her conduct incompatiable with a murderous intention. In her first letter, after the purchase of the arsenic in February, she tells her lover that " I am taking some stuff to bring back the colour." Of course, the prosecution look upon this as a proof of consummate cunning; the defence declare it to be a corroboration of the prisoner's statement. If L'Angelier indeed poisoned himself he must have been the most extraordinary of men ; for he not only makes two unsuccessful attempts, and goes to the country for his heall afterwards, but he relates how he was made ill by his paramour's chocolate, says jokingly he would forgive her even if she were to poison him, and a month afterwards, just before he is supposed to poison himself, he tells his friends he is going to Blythswood-square, and actually loiters in the neighbourhood for the purpose of making the world believe that he is poisoned there. Was L'Angelier likely t ) commit self-murder, and in such a manner as wilfully to bring on Madeline Smith the sus picion of the deed ? These questions are now beyond human investigation. The jury by their verdict have de clared their inability to decide. In this verdict we must concur ; yet we see no reason for the cheering and the manifestation of joy which greeted it. AlNdeitne Smith goes forth free from the penalties of the law—that is all. —Tin cs. Tae nature and effect of this vard;ct appears to be as follows. In Scotland, as in Er gland, a criminal trial is a " wag-'r of law." The prosecutor undertakes to con vince a jury that the accused is guilty ; the accused, to satisfy the jury that he (or she) is innocent. The jury are not expec ed to do more than express the conviction produced on their minds by the statements of the witnesses and the arguments of the lawyers. Their conviction may be such as they would find it dfficult to assign a reason for ; still it is held to be conclusive as to the facts. In England the jury aro called upon to declare distinctly either that they hold the accused guilty or that they hold him innocent. The more considerate law of Scotland mak , :s allowance for that neutral state of mind in which plain, unprofessional men may have an impression of the accu , ed's culpablity too strong to admit of their conscientiously declaring him inno cent—too weak to admit of their incurring the responsi bility of exposing him to punishment. In this case they are allowed to have recourse to the temporising declaration —" not proven." Of this privilege the Jury on Miss Madeleine Smith have availed themselves, and the rather tantalising result of a protracted inquiry is simply this : —That L'Angelier died of poison, but not of poison ad ministered by himself ; that sufficient evidence has not been obtained to carry home conviction to the guilty, though suspicions have pointed strongly in a certain direc tion.—Daily News. The Lord Advocate declared that in this case " there was not a link wanting in the evidence ;" that " there was no loophole at which the unhappy prisoner could escape." Such was certainly not the opinion of the legal profession in this country, nor, as we are informed, in Scotland. And that was rather reckless language to be used by the first law officer of the Crown, in a case of life and death ; it was language which should hardly be used if the case was clear and cogent. But was this such a case ? The case of a girl, accused of poisoning her lover—a man who was not proved to have been with her on the fatal occasion ! Circumstantial evidence must often be resorted to, and inferences must be drawn from fads. But the inference of guilt must arise from the facts proved. And here — even if the man had been seen at the house on that night —the reception of the poison could only have been an inference. Teen, however, it would have been an inference from a fact ; here it was sought to make au inference upon an inference—nay, rather against the facts. For the evi dence rather tended to show that he was not there on that night—at any such hour as was supposed; or that if he were, she could not have seen him. Was this a case to characterise as one in which there was not " a link want- I ing," and in which there was no " loophole for escape ?" We rejniee that the Jury thought otherwise.—Morning Herald. -- The case against Miss Smith, legally considered, was lame and defective in the extreme. That she desired to be oat of the power of L'Angelier, and married to her other admirer, was perhaps established. It was proved that,. at dates corresponding with the illness of the de. ceased, she had bought arsenic for some unknown and as yet. ill•explained purpose. Tne arsenic bought at one shop was coloured with soot, and that at another with indigo. There was an entire want of proof of administra tion. Drs. Christisoa and Penny, while they looked for and found arsenic in the stomach, neither looked for nor found scot or indigo. Although seen in the neighbourhood of Miss Smith's house 'it half-past nine p.m. on Sunday night, there is no proof of his having had an interview with her. From that hour till Ito was found in agony and weakness at two a.m. next morning, he is not accounted for. There is a great chasm in the evidence. The pre siding judge pointed this out. The jury acted upon this conviction.--Vorning Post. There will be no disposition, we imagine, either north or south of the Tweed, to question the propriety of the verdict delivered in the case or Madeline Smith. Legally, that verdict sets the young lady free, to catch more men— if she can. Moran;, upon any supposition, she is any thing rather than Innocent. The conduct of which her own handwriting reveals her guilt is such as should consign her, if law could always execute justice, to a long period of penal or penitential seclusion. Her own letters left no mystery as to a secret which ended in becoming au illicit intercourse, characterised on her part from the beginning, and before what is by eourtesv called seduction had taken plane, by a degree of abarideßment of the modesty of her sex, which rendered p'.gtirns of them unfit to be read in court. It is very I furious, as the Lord Justice Ciort observed, that the first / letter was written by the lady. As usually happens, fickleness accompanied levity ; and she soon showed her self quite as determined to cast off her first love. as she had ' shown herself shameless in her advances, and self-surrender to him. iler later phase of feeling may be so far justified. as the vain and feeble character of L'Angelier, and the apparent absence of any prospect of what had begun so ill ending well with him, might incline a girl of her charac ter to listen to other addresses. But it is a plain abuse of language to talk of innocence in the same breath with the conduct of a woman who writes love letters to two men at one time—and deceives them both. The evidence in this extraordinary case may oe considered as made up of moral and circum stantial; and it was by the failure of a link in the atter portion of it that the case for the prosecution broke down. To get L'Angelier, and his threatened disclosure, out of her way by some means or other, was clearly the young lady's most ardent wish; and her little scrupulous ness in gratifying her ardent wishes not less clearly a pronounced point of her character. L'Angelier was too constant for her, as he was too modest : his fidelity to his own flame had become not less im portunate to her than his objection to her over-warmth. To get him away to the Isle of Wight —or any where—till she could land the second man hooked, was her eager wish, in default of getting back her letters, or securing his silence. There were at stake all the hopes on which she chose to anchor her life. A man she had, in her own mind, done with, stood resolved to frustrate those hopes. She lures that man to her by every simula tion of renewed fondness, These are facts ; the probable inferences they suggested were plainly pointed out by the presiding judge. Taken in connection with the young lady's repeated - purchases of arsenic—with the repeated attacks of illness, similar to those caused by poison, suffered by her former lover—with the cer tainty that he did die at last of a dose of arsenic, after having sought a last meeting with his dissembling mis tress at her own invitation —and with no probability that he administered that dose to himself —coupling all this with every minor circumstance, which we need' not now recapi'ulate—we only follow the lead of the Lord Justice• Clerk in expressing cur convic tion that had the Sunday night's meeting been proved, the proof of that point must have altered the ver dict.. While the decision of this extraordinary case remained in suspense we withheld all expression of our own opinion. And we have said nothing now that is not plainly deducible from unequivocal and uncontradicted evidence. The accused party is absolved of proveable guilt by the verdict of the jury, but self-convicted of deliberately written words anl deliberately performed actions, which justified the worst suspicions. —Globe. CIPrURE OF A SLIVER. A Portsmouth correspondent has received the following letter from the ccast of Africa : Sierra Leone, May 24.—1 send you an account of a rich prizecaptured off Lagos on the 16th of April, with upwards. of £5,000 in gold on board for the purchase of a cargo of slaves, which was made prize of and sent on board her Majesty's steam sloop Prometheus, 5 guns, C oarnander Charles W. Hope. On the 16th of April, while the Pro metheus was making a passage from Lagos to the Island of St. Thomas, she observed a sail in the offing, and altered' courseand chased her, and upon nearing her she was obser ved to tack and keep away, and, thinking she was not ob served, made all possible sail, setting studding sails with the hope of getting away, at the same time throwing over board a quantity of her cargo, also her anchors aad cables, and sawing her beams through to allow the vessel to work. Upon the Prometheus coming up with her, about 6- p.m., and firing a gun, she hoisted Spanish colours, whereupon Mr. Jameson, master of the Prometheus, was sent on board her, and, from the vagueness of the answers to the questions put by him, that officer proceeded to search the vessel, and found under a cargo of bread, flour, rice, bales of tobacco, and cases of goods, the leagers were full of water, planks for slave deck, and all the other gear complete for a slave cargo- When the slaver's papers were demanded he stated he had none ; he was, therefore, at once made prize of. The crew and money (upwards of £5,000) were removed to the Prometheus, and, on the 18th, after having made a good search and all the necessary papers haring been made out, she parted company with the Prometheus, and, after a passage of 21 days, arrived at Sierra Leone, in charge of Mr. Jameson as prize master, where she was condemned in the Vice-Admiralty Court on the 20th of May, after which the prize officer and crew embarked on board the Hecla for passage to rejoin their vessel. This fine prize was an American brigantine, named the Adams Gray, of New Orleans, where she fitted out and shipped all her stores, but called at Havannah, and sailed thence for the Coast of Africa with an American captain and Spanish supercargo. She had run down the whole line of coast as far as Porta Nevo, in the Bights, flying th e American flag, anchoring and communicating at various places among the men-of-war and shipping, but it appears she was not able to purchase her cargo of slaves, from some cause or other, as :at the time she was taken site was proceeding to the southward for that purpose. This is the finest prize that has ever been taken i❑ Sierra Leone, being a beautiful model, with all new sails and valuable stores." ACCIDENT TO A FRENCH STEAMER. FALSIOUTII, FRIDAY.—The French steamer Countess Emilie, Captain Rosse, of and from Dunkirk for Glasgow, burst her boiler off here yesterday evening. The chief engineer and stoker were sadly burnt. LORD FBRINGTON'S PRIZE SCHEME has fallen to the ground for want of competition among the farmers' sous. For the examination of this year only one candidate pre sented himself.—Plynouth Journal. COMMUNICATION BETWEEN HARWICH AND. THE Coy- TlNlNT.—Another attempt is being made t) establish communication between the Continent and Harwich, by a steamer running regularly between that port and Rotter— dam. A partiou of the Vienna and Trieste railway, from Liebach to Trieste, is to be open for traffic during the month, and an effort is to be made to establish a new route to India via Harwich, Rotterdam, and Trieste. fjomiclDE AT Kll , TsALE.—Private William Townsend, of the 99'1i Regiment, died on on 3rd ine., from the effects of the wound inflicted on him, while on parade, by Private John Andrews, of the Fame regiment. An invest was held on Monday, the 611 inst., and a verdict returned to the effect that " Deceased came by his death from a gun shot wound inflicted by John Andrews, but whether said wound was wilfully inflicted or otherwise, the jury were unable to determine." Andrews has been committed for trial at the ensuing assizes. THE SADLEIR ESTATES.—The estates of James Sadleir were sold, on Tues lay, in the Irish Encumbered Court, at the suit of the official manager for winding up• the affairs of the Tipperary Bank. The sale was most successful, and is worth special mention as a striking proof of the surpris ing increase, within a few brief years, of the value of land. in Ireland, Thus the first lot, Coolnamuck, which was purchased in May, 1852, for £8,500, was knocked down to an English speculator at £13,000. Lot 2, Kilconnel, purchased as late as March, 1854, for £5,300, was also bought by an English gentleman, the price paid being £12,200. Lot 3, Lisowen, purchased in Angast, 1855, for £BlO, realised £1,400. Gross total, £26,630, on a nominal rental of something over £1,200 a year, subject, however, to, deductions, which would probably reduce the profit rent to £l,OOO. The immense estate; of John Sadleir are not to be put up for sale until November next, They are valued at between £250,000 and £300,000. ROYAL HUMANE SOCIETY.—At the half yearly meeting of this society, on Wednesday,. Mr.. B. B. Cabbell, in the chair, honorary silver medals were unanimously awarded to the following psrsons, who had been recommended as being very deserving of the prize I—Mr. John Timothy, who saved Catherine Jones,. aged 60, at Menai-bridge, Anglesey, 28 h of November, 1856 ; Henry Bonner, licensed victualler, who saved William W. Gilliatt at Boston haven, Lincolnshire, 24th of November, 1856 Opossum, who. Griffin, seaman o f steward,her her Majesty's Maj e ship st.)a ' H si i i g ip hflyer, at sea, 2el G s a e v o e r d g c a of November, 1856; Lieutenant Augustus Bullock, R.N., her Majesty's ship Centurion, assisted by other seamen, who saved a seaman of the same vessel off Lisbon, 9;,b Oc tober, 1856 ; Mr. Edw. W m . M a y, officer, Royal Mail Steam-packet Company's st ea m er C o nway. who saved a seaman of the steamer L a Pl a t a , in the Bay of Biscay, sth of December, 1356 ; Lieut. J. C. Wilson, 11,N., her Majes y's ship Spiteful, w ho s a ved a Greek boatman in tl.e Pirmiss on the Ist of January, 1857 ; Francis Bauld, plater, who saved four women and tried to save another at Hatherton Lake, Walsall, on the 30th of January, 1857 ; George Moody, seaman, her Majesty's ship Raleigh, who saved Private Thomas Beezley, R. M., of her Majesty s ship Raleigh. at sea, on the 231 of December, 1856 ; Lieutenant Henry Christian, R.N., her Majesty's ship Rifleman, who saved Edward May, a boy of the same vessel, in the River Parana South America, on the 10th. of February, 1857 ; Mr. Erasmus Wilson, who, Bayed is; woma n, aged 60, in the Regent's Canal, Regent - A . O- 0n the 22nd April, 1857; William Balls, a?- ~ark,, Majesty's ship Monarch, who saved amen, her at Esquimalt Harbour, Vancouyeea -id Smith, A. 8., September, 1856 ; and a.:nd, on the 3rd of South America, on the 27,1) Justin, A. 8., at Caldera, to her Malesty'q alarch, 1857, both belonging .15 —,narch.