Northern Times. — Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-07-27 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCF. TRIAL AND CONVICTION OF BACON FOR ADMINISTERING ARSENIC TO HIS MOTHER. This case was tried at Lincoln. The indictment against the prisoner, which contained two counts—one for poison ing, and another for administering arsenic with intent to poison, was sent up to the grand jury on Thursday, and Friday was appointed for the trialto take place; but up to the time of the grand jury leaving the previoca night, Professor A. S. Tailor, who made the analysis, and who of course is the mast important witness, had not arrived, and the consequence was that no bill could be returned. On Friday morning a letter was a coved from the Pro fessor, stating that he was engaged in a trial at Durham, and that he could not come to Lincoln. The court th n proceeded to try a case of burglary, which lasted some hours. In the meantime Professor Taylor had been com municated with, and at 3 o'clock an answer was received from him stating that he could• not come until Monday. Just before 4 o'clock the grand jury came into court, and Justice Erie said—" Gentlemen, we are in a difficulty about one of those hills which has been laid before you ; we have just received a letter of great importance in connection with it; but I do not think that it would be proper to discuss it in public, as I fear it would defeat the ends of justice and do much injure. If you will retire attain to your own room, the efficer of the court shall put a question to you, which you will answer Yes,' or No ;' it cannot be done inpublte. In fact, we are in considerable difficulty!' What the nature of the question was, we canrot positively Say, but after Mr. Coleridge had been with the Grand Jury some time, his lordship was fetched to them by that gentle mar, and after some few minutes conference, the following telegraphic despatch was sent to Professor Taylor: —" The judge peremptorily demands your immediate attendance. Alt the bilis have ben found, and the grand jell , wait for you. Fail not at your peril. Seed answer insmeSiately." A message having been rec,ivid from Dr. Taylor; • stating that he would be in Lincoln on Saturday, the court appointed eleven o'c'ock to pro ceed with the trial. The learned ju lge took his seat at that tour. Every part of t'te court was densely crowded, but no proceedings took place till half-past twelve o'clock, when the grand jury came into court and handed in a true bill for murder, and a true bill for felony. The prisoner seas then put to the bar. Mr. Mellor, Q.C., and Mr. Brewer appeared for the C•own. Mr. Stevens, los direction of the judge, defended - the prisoner. During the whole of the trial the prisoner was weeping. Before the trial was pr ceeded with Mr. Mellor said, with his lordship's permission, he would proceed with the secemd eonat first,las he thought that the ends of justice would he better consulted. The judge said he wes quite certain that the e3d3 of justice would be safe in Mr. Mell 'l's hands, and therefore he should allow him to adopt what course he thought best. The indictment having been read the prisoner pleaded Not Guilty. Mr. Mu-Iler, Q.C., opened the case by stating that the charge was for causing to bo administered to the deceased a large quantity of arsenic. His mother was an aged woman, raked in Stam ford ; and was possessed of some property. On the 13th of May. 1855, she dined with her son and was taken very ill, was purged and vomited a great deal. She was taken home; she recovered, and was well on the Monday, but on Tuesday she was again taken ill and died. All the symptoms were those of arsenic, bat the medical men would not pledge themselves that her death was caused by it, although there was no doubt it had been administered. Professor Taylor, on his analysis, found about three quarters of a grain of arsenic. It was the opinion of Dr. Taylor that the poison had been administered shortly before her death. Although nearly three-quarters of a grain were found, it must not be forgot that she had shortly before her death been suffering from purging and vomiting, which, of course, would carry off a large qeautity. It was two years after her death before it was found, when the holy was exhumed from Casterton Churchyard. Well, where was Mrs. Bacon taken ill ? Why, at Bacon's house. Oae important fact was, that the prisoner's mother was possessed of several houses, which he believed he would come into at the death of his mother; and immediately after that event he took away the rent-book ; but it did not turn oat that the property was left in that way, as his mother divided it amongst the rest of the children. He (Mr. Atelier) should prove that the prisoner had purchased arsenic only eight days before his mother's death. He bad some time before endeevuured to procure that poison. He sent his lad for it, saying that he required it for hardening iron, but the chemist refused to sell it. The next time he procured it by stating that it was to poison rats. If they believed that he was the person who had administered the arsenie, they would say that he was guilty ; bu if there was any reasonable doubt, he should be very glad if they could acquit him, but they must do their duty manfully. The first witness called was Ann Bacon, who deposed 89 follows : I am the wife of William Bacon, of Stamford. Ile is the brother of the prisoner. In May, 18.55, we lived at Peter-hill, Stamford. The deceased Ann Bacon resided about five minutes' walk from or. I saw her on the Saturday before her death. She appeared quite we''. She was 63 years of age. On Sunday evening, May 13, 1854, I was sent for to go to Mrs. Bacon's house. I went and found the prisoner there. He was in the front room. I asked him bow his mother was, and he said she - was seriously ill. He further stated that she was taken ill at his house. I went up stairs, and saw inn Bacon; the prisoner did not go up with me, but followed shortly afterwards. In the prisoner's presence I asked Mrs. B icon how she was taken ill ? She said she was taken ill while having some broth. She was taken with violent sickness and purging—that it lasted till-she got home. I remained with her till ten o'clock that night ; she was sick twice in my presence. I did not notice what she threw up; she complained of pain and thirst. Before I left her, a draught came from Mr. Palmer's, I went home and sent her same barley water. By the Judge: Did it appear in the conversation what time the dinner was ? Witness : Immediately alter coming neer] church. Judge: That would be about one o'clock. Yes. Witness continued : The prisoner's wife was present when I was there. On the Monday morning, be tween six and seven o'clock, I went again to the house of the deceased. I found the prisoner in the room and Mss. Riley, The deceased was very ill about the same state I lel her the previous eight, or not so well. She sat up in bed and took same tea. She then got better; the purging and vomiting had ceased, and she was very cheerful. In the course of the day the prisoner and his wife came in to see the deceased. The prisoner was there frequently during the day. Medicines were administered to her during the day. Sometimes I gave them, and someimes the prisoner. When I left on the Monday night the prisoner was there with Mr. Wake. I am not sure whether his wife was there. On the Tuesday morning I was going down to see the deceased, when I met Mrs. Riley. When I got to the house, the deceased's limbs were very stiff, and she was in great pain. The priscner was in the house. I asked de ceased how she was, and she said she was very ill, that she could not think what was the matter with her. At eight o'clock on Tuesday morning she was unconscious, and remained so during the day. I stayed with her dur ing the day ; she died at eleven o'clock that night ; she was qvite stiff and rigid all day. I sent for Mr. Barker, the surgeon, in the morning; he came. I had some con versation with the 'prisoner on the Monday, as I was leaving the bedroom of the deceased. The prisoner referred his wife to a bottle that was on the dressing table, saying he thought his mother had better have some out of that. bottle. Immediately after Mrs. Bacon's death I saw a bottle in the prisoner's hands. He said, " This is no use now ; I may as well take it away." He took away a bottle ; it was a sq'iare ane, not an ordinary medicine bottle. It was whitish stuff in it. I cannot say whether it was thicker than water. There were other bottles and glasses on the table wh en he t oo k th e one awa y. Cress-examined by Mr. Steven : The prisoner is a white smith. Bacon's wife was backward and forward several times whilst I was there. Mrs. Bacon has been long absent from Stamford, and, as far as I know, conSned in a lunatic asylum. I had not noticed the bottle on the table before Bacon took it away. I was not present in London during any proceedings against the prisoner and his wife. Mrs. Riley said : I know the deceased. I was one of her tenants.' On the death of Mrs. Bacon the priscner collected the rents. He did so because he became heir to them. I remember her death ; for some time before had seen her every day. She was very cheerful a few days before her death. I saw her on the Saturday eight before her death. Whilst I was talking to her the prisoner came in. I next saw her on the Sunday evening. I was fetched to her by Thos. Bacon. He said the old lady was taken very ill, and he thought she would die. I went to her. She was in bed. She was very ill indeed. She was very sick, bat did not throw up much matter. She complained of her feet being cold and her limbs stiff. I made her barley water. She said she had dined at her son Thomas's, and was taken ill afterwards. She got better after the barley water, and had several I•ours rest. The sickness ceased between ten and eleven o'clock. The pri soner left about ten o'clock, and wok the key with him. Re returned about one o'clock., He asked me how she was, and I told him she was a little better. Be then left, and came again between three and four o'clock, and stayed about half an hour. Ile came agaid between five and six o'c'o_k. I remained w ith h er a ll d a y. O n Monday she was much better. I left her about nine o'clock, and went to my ownhouse. Bet ween fi ve an d s i x on T uesday mor ning the prisoner came toy house and said " his mother was worse, and he thought she would die now." I went to her house, and 'pris?ner went to Mr. Barber's. Mrs, Bacon bad a great desire to know what Mr. Barber thought o f her, and whether she would die. She was very feverish and delirious. At eleven o'clock that morning we put her iato a warm bath. She was very stiff. She appeared better whilst in the bath ; we put her to bed again; she was stiff, we could not dress her. The prisoner was in the house during the day. She died at eleven o'clock on Tues.lay night. The prisoner was there, but not his wife. On the Monday before her death, the prisoner told me he had taken the rent book. He told me that he had taken it "as it would he his right." In the coarse: of Tuesday William Bacon asked for the boot, and I said Thomas has got it. Whilst we were talking Thomas came in, and William toll him he should not have taken the book, when Thomas replied, " I have taken it." The vomits were thrown away. After her death Ilaid her out and placed her in the coffin. Ir the spring of this year I attended at Great Casterton churchyard, and saw Ann Bacon's body exhumed. The coroner, Dr. Taylor, and Mr. Jackson were prc&?nt. Crose-exemined : I paid my rent quarterly, and am not aware whether any tenants paid weekly. I know Mary Chapman as a tenant, but cannot say whether she paid weekly or not. I thought the attack of whieh she died was very much like the one she had in March. The prisener appeared very • kind and attentive to his mother. By the Court: i never saw the bottle that Mrs. B.:con spoke of. Ann Bacon recalled and ewes-examinee by Mr. Stevens : First mentioned aheut the bottles when she heard aen picion of Mrs. Bacon's death. By the Court: Oa the night of his fire he R as accused of having caused it, and also with having poisened his mother. That was the first - she heard of it. The pri soner appeared extremely kind and attentive. Elizabeth Blacker: I am a widow, residing at Samford. I went to nurse Ann Bacon on the sfonday berore her death. I found her in bed ; she complained of pains, area said she had been wry ill from the day beiore. She vves vary ill I got into bed with her, at her r, quest. After I had been in bed two hours she began to twitch all over, and she said she felt as if site was paralysed from head to foot. About two o'clock the prisoner came and staged one hour, and welt away. He came again about five, when lie went to Dr. Barber's. I only gave her tea during the night. I remained till eleven o'clock on the Tuesday morning. She waa worse when I left than when I went first. She.was convulsed all over." Edward Barber, Esq : lam a surgeon at Stamford. I knew the deceased, and atten led her in March, 1855. She was suffering very severe pain. I gave her some medicine, and she recovered. In May last I was ealled . to see her at her son Thomas's house. She was suffering from cramps and vomiting. She appeared to be suffering from a disorder like the secondary symptoms of arsenic. The symptoms urVer which she labaured were consistent with arsenic. Vomiting and purging are the natural effects of arsenic. The first action is vomiting. If given in a fluid it would be thrown up, hut if in a sufficient quantity to form a sediment it would be found in the stomach. At the time I thought she had died of disease of the brain, knowing nothing of the arsenic. Cross-examined by Mr. Stevens : I have attended cases of arsenical poisoning, and seen infl ea:nation of the bowels produced by it. If the whole of the arsenic were thrown up I do not think there would he any secondary symptoms. Mark Willson Jackson, Esq. : I am a surgeon living at Stamford. I was present at Great Casterton churchyard, in February lost, when Mrs. Bacon was exhumed, I took charge of the body. I made a post mortem examination of the body. Upon opening the b )dy the omenturn was loaded with fat. It was very 6rm, and had a peculiar redness upon it. It was firm, in an adipocerous condition. It was in a high state of preservation. The rest of the viscera was so firmly united that they could only be severed by cutting. It was a very peculiar condition, but it is such as is described as arising from the effects of arsenic. The cententa of the cheat were examined. The lungs were in a state of de composition. Those parts would not have been submitted to the action of the arsenic. I removed the whole of the contents of the abdomen, and delivered them to Dr. Taylor. They were sealed up in jars, and taken possession of by police-constable Mitchell. By Mr. Stevens : The coffin was in a good state of preservation; there were no holes in it. Professor Taylor was then examined, and the purchase of arsenic was clearly pro'ved. Mr. Stevens addressed the court for two hours on halalf of the prisoner. The learned judge was one hour Li summing up. The jury, hav'ng been absent some time, returned into court at nine o'clock with a verdict of guilty. The judge, having put on the black cap, passed sentence of DEATH. The court was crowded all day, and the greatest excitement prevails. THE NORTHERN TIMES.-LIVERPOOL, MONDAY, JULY 27, 1857. MIDLAND CIRCUIT.-LINCOLN, July 24. BREACH OF PRcJIISE OF MARRIAGE—YARNELL v. MOODY. —This was an action for breach of promise of marriage, in reply to which the defendlnt by his pleas had not only denied the making of the promise, but had also alleged that the plaintiff and defendant had mutually agreed to exonerate each other from the performance of the promise. Mr. Serjeant Hayes and Mr. Flowers were counsel for the plaintiff; Mr. Macaulay, Q C., and Mr. Baden for the defendant. The plaintiff, Elizabeth Yarnell, is a dress maker ht East Butterwick, about 34 years of age, and the defendant, who is about 27 years old, now lives at Don caster, but until recently lived at East Butterwick, he being captain and part proprietor of a bDat ply ing between the two places, and being in the habit of going with his boat backwards and forwards from one to the other. As long as about eight years ago an intimate acquaintance had become established between the plaintiff and the defendant, the latter of whom was frequent in his visits to the foT mer, and not very par ticular as to the time of making them. Jane Yarnell, the plaintiff's sister, living with her parents, at Bishop's Nor ton, deposed to the frequent visits of the defendant, at the plaintiffs house, and also that Fhe had several times heard him say that he intended to marry the plaintiff; that two days had been fixed for the wedding—one in July, 1853, and the other in April, 1855; but that on the days fixed the defendant did not make his appearance. Maria Mid dleton, the plaiwiff's aunt, a widow, proved that the defendant had once said that she should be the bride's maid, and no one else, and that she had actually bought a dress and a bonnet on purpose for the wedding. That was in 1853 ; and she had seen the plaintiff and the defendant together as late as August, 1835, apparently on the usual terms ; but that in December of that year he was married to another lady at Doncaster. The following letters were read as part of the plaintiff's case : Doncaster, July 25, 1851. My dear Elizabeth,—l ham awry to inform you we shall not be home before munday or tuesday next. I receivei your Letter which contained a many falsitys for I neither nursed miss Glow nor purposed to walk with her and I hope my Dear Elizabeth you will never believe that ever I said I was glad you was found out, for I think I have reason to say as little about that as yourself, so I hope you will not think no more about that fer I cannot help what they say bat I shad not say A deal more at present for it looks like rain we may be home on Saturday so I shall conclude with my kiud lose to you and all the family.—Your afFtctionate lover, R. Say (lost thou doubt my love my truth Or think my heart inclined for roving 0' no tis thine A heart of youth Faithful to the and ever loving. East Butterwiek Jan 2. My Noun Dear Elizlbeth,—l hope You have got the worst of the Row over but I have mine to coo yet. I havo not heard any one say any chin , Amiss Pykett says that wee was good blood to stair that old brusend gutted Deavil out as wee did, bat I shall not say A deal at present if I ham to come into your House by daylight please to let me know some way or another for I doret not at any other time I lay the blame upon myself for your stairing it out I was not there.—Your .affectionate lover R. MOODY. I was at Thorne on sunday so if you rote I received no Letter. Adue god bless you. Dear Dear Elizabeth if I ham ever to come into your House any more after this time please tell me for I should very much like to know your mind.—l ham still the same yours for ever. Doncaster, April 29, 65. My dear Elizaheth,—l received yours this ram-fling and was glad to hear from you but not about you going away. I think you might have said where you was going too but that is something you dont-whant me to know you talk about the sight of money p!easing me but the sight of you my love pleases me much better but I have never had one with money nor without sin I came to see you but I hown I have not acted as I hote to have don.to you but have you done so to mo. I do not know anything to the contray but you and God knows weather you have or not but if wee are cot to go together I hope God wil forgive us and if we shou'd never meet no more upon hearth I hone we shall meet in heaven. I can look back and think of the happy hours nay days and nights wee have spent together but have they come to an hencrat last. I ric ver yet intended having any one else but you my dear dear Elizabeth but you say we must part but as you have another ready you will care but little about that. I cannot get home before tuesday but I must conclude it will soon be post time so no more at, present from your loving R. M. Mr. 'Macaulay, on the part of the defendant, denied that the defendant had ever made any promise of marriage, but he had unfortunately, when he was only about 18, contraeted an improper intimacy with the plaintiff, which she herself had terminated in April, 1855. The expres sions in the letters referred to an intimacy of that sort, and not to any promise of marriage ; and it was very remarkable that if a day in April, 1855, had been fixed for the marriage, and the defendant had failed to make his appearance, no allusion to the subject should have been made in the letter of the 29th of that month. The defendant's aunt, who lived next door to the plaintiff at Butterwiek, was called, and proved that the defendant used to visit the plaintiff at night, and that one morning after he had been there all night his fat her and uncle came after him, and the plaintiff denied that he was there, but that he was discovered concealed in a closet. Another neighbour proved that in April, 1855, she heard the plain= tiff and defendant quarrelling, and that the plaintiff said, " You may go out and never come in any more, for I don't want thee; to which the defendant replied, " Well, well, don't let everybody hear." Mr. Sergeant Hayes having replied, The learned Judge, in summing up, com'nented upon the singalar circumstance that there was no reference to marr:sge in either of the letters, and that if the days were d, as had been suggested, there was no evidence of such necessary preparations as the publications of banns or the procuring of a marrisge license. The jury retired for a short time and than returned with a verdict for the defendant. ANOTHER BREACH OF PROMISE CASE V. DAVY.— Mr. Serteaut Hayes and Mr. Flowers were c-unsel for the plaintiff, and Mr. Macaulay, Q.C., and Mr. Boden for the defendant. The plaintiff. Sarah Hird, is the daughter of a farm bailiff, and the defendant is a farmer at Ulceby, about 40 years of age, and a man of some property. It appeared that about June, 1855, some sort of intimacy sprang up between the plaintiff and the defendant, who were in the habit of frequently seeing each other at the house of a Mrs Boothby, who lived next door to the plaintiff's father and mother. Mary Hird, the plaintiff's sister, deposed that she had often seen them together at Mr. B )(ehby's, and the.t defendant had said he would have her sister. On one oe asion in October last her mother sent her there to fetch her sister, and on that occasion defendant gave her a kiss. The witness said, "Oh ! you shock me, Mr. Davy.;" to which he answered, " Never mind, we shall soon be of the same family." IA June, 187,6, the witness was at home alone, and defendant came and asked her when she was going to be married. " she said, " Oh, Mr. Davy, it is your turn first." Ho asked her then when she was ready to be a bridesmaid ; and she replied, Any time." He then added, " Because me and your sister will not be long before we are married." On one occasion she gave him from her sister a pared containing her likeness, an orange, and some sweeteake. She had seen him sit on her sister's knee with his arm round her neck. The intimacy was broken off at the latter end of last year. Upon cross-examinseinn she said : I never heard my sister say she would have one of the Davys. I have seen her s't on his knee, and seen them kiss each other, and I believe I had heard her say to him, " Poor lad, it's time he had a wife ;" but I did not hear Mrs. Boothby say, Ala but he won't have you ;" or my sister add, " You don't know that, Mrs. Boothby." Other people were present on th'se occasions. The learned Judge asked Mr. Serjeant Hayes whether he thought the case ought to g on ? Mr. Serjeant Hayes: This sort of things is not unusual in that sta'ion of life. (Laughter.) Tne learned Serjeant then asked the witness whether it was not a very usual thing at Ulceby fer people who were engaged to be married to sit upon each other's knees ? The wit ness made no answer. Mr. Justice Cresewell : You know she was very much shocked. Mr. Serjeant Hayes : Yes, my Lord, but she may know the custom of the country. (Laughter). Mr. Justice Cresswell : The custom is sometimes varied by special agreement. (Laughter). Mrs. Boothby was then called, and she stated that she was a very old friend of the defen dant; that he used constantly to come to her house, asd sometimes send her next door to fetch gingerbeer, which the plaintiffs mother sold, but he never sent her to fetch the plaintiff. The plaintiff came with the gingerbeer, perhaps three or four bottles, and then they used all to drink it together. When asked what she heard the plain tiff and defendant talk about, she said, " I am hard of hearing ;" but she had seen her kies him, and sit upon his knee, though she had told her that he would no more marry her than he would marry the witness. After this evidence the plaintiff submitted to a nonsuit. MYSTERIOUS DEATH ON BOARD THE JASON STEAMER An inquest vas held on Friday, at Southampton, en the body of M. Amerlie Merrier, who was 'a passenger on board the Jason, from New Vork. The deceased was a merchant in an extensive way of business at Bordeaux. M. De St. Cyr, French Consul at G ilvevon, slid he came home in the same vessel, and he observed the deceased to ba an agreeable and aff.,b!e person, and in goof health. On the morning of the 22nd he was found by the 'waiter .dead in his ethic. From what he hid ben informed, he (M. St. Cyr) saw Miss Clara Lese, wh ) was a passenger in the . same ship, and made some inquiries concerning the un fortunate gentleman. She repiied that she was under an oath not to reveal anything. He insisted upon knowing all she knew, when she stated that the deceased had been in her state-room at half-past one, and told her under an oath that ha was going to commit suicide, and that hp wild be dead in the two ni; g. 11 , 3 added that he had not done so before, because his boly would have been thrown overboard. She stated that she was much frightened, and wished to give an alarm, but the deceased added that it was all a joke, and ho would see her in the Morning. It appeared that his life was insured, and in his luggage was found a letter from the ifisurance office, giving him permission to cress the Ad intie. Dr. Purdey, wh had seen the body, was ..unable to state the c4lie of death, and the proceelings were adjourned. The de ceased has left a widew and family, and was a highly moral man. M. Kossurn.—lt is hoped that this eminent patriot will be able to visit Plymouth towards the close of September, to deliver lectures in Plymouth and Decoeport. MARGATE AND RAMSGAPE Bairuar.—No persons have talked more, or done so little, as the people of Ramsgate and Margate on the scandal of sea bathing as prac'.ised at both places, but as for any wholesome regulation coming from their frothy babble, they might as well have held their peace; the offence still exists, still cries unheeded for redress, and becomes more intolerable every season. Are the magis trates of Sandwieh, who have the jurisdiction of these two towns, so blind to the welfare of the communities entrusted to them, so supinely indifferent to their duties, as not to see that such neglect of public decency must eventually drive away and deter all modest women from frequenting towns where that modesty is openly insulted. What husband or father would take his family to a place where, on the only promenade for recreation, his wife or daughter woull have their delicacy outraged by such sights as, during the bathing hours, are daily witnessed in either town ? If the corporation was awake to the interest of the inhabitants, or had the slighter insight into the responsibilities of their duty, they would at once assign a certain boundary far the ladies, and another for the gentlemen, and by pl 'cing one or two policemen, see that no vielati ot of the prescribed limits took place by either sex during the tidal period 01 bathing ; if this were done, and every machine driver punished who placed his bather in any but his allotted place, such disgraceful scenes as now take place every day would have an end. The authorities must, sooner or later, for their own honour and the reputation of the town, make such wholesome regulations as sh .11 give bathers the luxury of salt water, without a violation of all that appertains t' decency, and ladies the privilege of a promenade, without a shock to womanly virtue. - Era. laisu CRIME AND IRI , II PRBONS.—A t hick blue bock, of full three hundred pages, contains the thirty-fifth rep n't of the Inspectors-General on the general state of the pri sons of Ireland, in the year 1856,with copious appendices. The decrease in crime was so great in 1855 that the Inspectors-Generals scarcely expect d to be able to report a continuance of such progress in improvement in 1856 ; it is, therefore, with peculiar pleasure that they are able again to report that the reduction in crime steadily pro gresses; and the, on the whole, the criminal statistics for the last year may be taken as indicating great moral and social improvement. Felony and vagrancy, the result of pauperism, have wonderfully declined, although among females, misdemeanours and drunkenn ess h a v e i ncrease d - . The committals of 1856 were less than those of 11355 by 4,733, or 9.768 per cent. The total number of persons confined in 1856, in the various gags, was 48,060, against 54,531 in 1855, equivalent to a de crease of 6,471, or 11.87 per cent. Statietics prove that the females are far more likely tiS relapse into crime, or to recur to the gaols, than the men—a phenomenon which, it is hinted, may, in a great measure, be attributed to the want of deterrent and reformatory action in the female portions of the gaols, which are generally sneaking lamentably defective. Of 48.416 culprits committed last year 534 were ten years old and under, 6,551 between eleven and sixteen, 7,148 between seventeen and twenty 18.907 between twenty-one and thirty, 7,703 between, thirty-one and forty, and 7,601 of forty-one years of age and upwards. 11,156 could read and write. 9,5 could read imperfectly, 3,173 knew spelling, 2,347 knew the alphabet, and 22,115 were wholly illiterate. It is remarkable that the great bulk of the criminals were of the Romish per suasion • out of the total of 48,416 as man y as 42 814 were Papists, 4,589 only Protestants, and 944 Presby terians. In the state of education on committal there is a slight improvement, and something is hoped from the pro gress of education in the gaol schools. The health of the gaols last year was remarkably good. The expenses of gaols decreased last year by £2,567; while those of brides well increased by £697. The total net expenditure on gaols was £77,152, and that on bridewell £6 812. The report concludes with a commentary on the sections. of the Amended Prisons Bill. The decrease in crime includes all. classes of offences. Of 7.009 persons committed for trial or held to bail in 1856, 4,024, or 56.68 per cent, were convicted. Of these, eight wero sentenced to the scaffold, and the rest to penal servitude, imprisonment, and flagellation. Education is progressing to some extent among that part of the population which supplies the inmates of prisons, for the returns of 1856 give a higher per tentage of prisoners able to read and write than those for 1855. On the whole, nothing can be more satisfactory than the evidence of these eZeial documents. POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-SATURDAY. LIVERPOOL. BEFORE MR. DIXON. CAUTION TO CAR DRIVER..—Thomas Cotton, car pro prietor and driver, who lives at 14, Brook-street, and be longs to the Custom House stand, was charged with being drunk and incapable on the stand. Police officer 249 said he saw the prisoner on the stand in a state of stupid drunkenness. He had given the car to an unlicensed driver, which was an offence in itself. The officer, finding the prisoner in such a state, took him home in the car. His worship said the prisoner's conduct was most repre hensible, and fined him 5s and costs, and proceedings to be taken under the carriags act. "LICKING A BOBBY."—Two wicked looking fellows, named Dennis Early and Peter Ceean, were charged with having assaulted police officers 500 and 624. Mr. Bluck siefendel Early. Officer 500 said he was on duty in Byrom-street the previous afternoon, when he saw Early drunk and wanting to fight wi:h some one, but not being able to find any one willing to join him in mortal combat, on seeing him coming up, he said, " Here's a bobby coming, and I will lick him," at the same time striking him in the mouth, and broke one of his teeth, and otherwise assaulted him, as did also the other prisoner, but not so severely as Early. Mr. Black called a witness on behalf of his client, bat it did not alter the case. Early was fined £l, and the other 103. and costs. A BATCH OF INFAMOUS HOUSEKEEPERS SENT FOR TRIAL, —lnspector White brought up, on warrant, Mary Kearns, Mary Jervis (a black woman), Anne Halpin, Maria Ker gan (a girl), and Jane Cottrell, all keepers of infamous houses in Westmoreland-street. From the evidence, it appeared that the houses were kept solely for black sai lore, and the account given by the police and some of the inhabitants of the street, were frightfully horrible. The prisoners were sent for trial at the sessions. ANOTHER DRUNKEN CAR DRIVER.— James Slowey, the driver of a car, belonging to Mr. Bowman, of Marybone, was charged for being drunk and incapatle of taking care of the vehicle in Lime-street ; and there was a charge against him by the owner of the car for having broken it, but this charge could not bs sus tained it, in the form it was brought. The- policeman proved the case against the prisoner, and Mr. Bowman said the officer brought the car home broken, and the damage was done by the prisoner. Mr. Dixon : Why do you keep such a fellow in your employment ? Well, sir, there is not much difference between them—one is as bad as the other—but I don't intend to keep him any longer. The prisoner was fined ss. and costs. EMBEZZLEKENT BY A FAST g YOUNG MAN."—Thomas Mason, a young " s well," was brought up by bridewell keeper Scott, on a charge of having embezzled about £5O, belonging to his employers, Messrs. Partridge and Co , Molyneaux-place. The prisoner was about 20 years of age, and had all the exteriors that charac'erise the " fast young man.'' He was a clerk in Messrs. Partridge's office, and part of his duty was to collect money, and Mr. Partridge said about a fortnight or three weeks ago, he heard something about the prisoner having received money that he did not account for to him, he spoke very seriously to him about it, and promised to forgive him if he conducted himself properly in future. Since that, however, he found that the prisoner had received sums of money and had not accounted for them to him ; and he, therefore, gave him into custody. There were several c4es preferred against him, but of these three were selected as sufficient. Gentlemen from Messrs. Bowman and Grinnell's, Edward Higgins and Co , and Craig and Murray's, were produced, and those proved having paid the prisoner various sums of money, and took his receipt for same; and Mr. Partridge proved that such sums were not paid to, nor accounted for, to him by the prisoner. This evidence was deemed sufficient, and the prisoner was sent for trial. HOUSEBREAKING AND ROBBERY.—IVIIIimiI Wall, Joseph Burke, Anne Wall, and Mary M Bride, were brought up on remand, charged with being concerned in housebreak ing and robbery of clothes, &c., in the outfitting shop of Mr. Schwerseneky, Whitechapel, which took place in February last. Mr. Goodere defended. The facts of this case, as far as it went, appeared two or three days ago. The prisoner Burke was employed in the prosecutor's house as a tailor, and on the 10th inst. he entered the shop where Mr. Porter, the manager of the establi-hment, recognised some of the stolen property on him, and this led to the arrest by Smith and Thompson, two of the detectives, of all the prisoners, where they lived in Thomas-street, and on subsequent searching several pawn tickets, which led to the discovery of coats and other property, and these articles were identified by Mr. Porter as a portion cf the goods stolen. Mr. Goodere elicited from some of the witnesses that the husbands of the female prisoners Ire at present in gaol, suffering four years' renal servitude for burglaries and robberies, and he endeavoured to throw the robbery on them. There was another charge against the prisoners for having some towels, shirts, and other things that were stolen from the office of Messrs. Bates, Stokes, and Company's office, North John-street, on the night of the 15th May, and these were found in the prisoners room, and the prisoner Wall had a shirt on him with Mr. Bates's name on it. Mr. Goodere argued thit there was not evidence against the prisoners to send them before a jary, although they might be dealt with for not being able to account for the possession of the property. The prisoners were fully committed for trial._ _ A Spanish sailor named Joseph Founder, was remanded on a charge of having robbed another Spanish sailor of 210 dollars, in London, about eighteen months ago. BEFORE J. H SMITH. Frederick J. Smith, described as a boarding house keeper at 4, Rotunda-place, Waterloo-road, was charged with having inducted three Dutch sailors to leave their ship and go lodge at his house, and there he detained their clothes when they wanted to go away. The defen dant was fined and costs. Wrus.—Tne will of the Hon. Philip James Cocks, of Shipple Hall, Salop, was proved in London under £5,000 personalty. Sir James Eyre, ro.u., £l,OOO personalty. The Rev. G. C. Gorham, 8.D., Vicar of Brampford Speke, Devon, .X 20,000. William Emerson, Esq., £70,000. Richard Oglander, F.sq., of the He of Wight, £35 ; 000; l=aving many specific bcquetts of rings, &c , presented to him by Royalty. Miss Georgians Ann Vyse, of Stoke Poges, Bucks, £40,000. Thomas Jackson, Esq., Po:ts?a, £30,000. Mrs. Johanna Feai•on, of Frognall Hempstead, 00,000. Mrs Anna Gurney, of Cromer, Norfolk, £40,000. Mr. Robert Sherren, of St. Michael, Dorset, £6,000 ; and has bequeathed to the British and Foreign Bible Society £2OO ; Church Missionary. £2OO ; Religious Tr !et Society and Dorset County Hospital, £lOO each.— Illaslrateci London ews. TUE BRITISH ASSOCIATION MEETING ....More then one voice of protest reaches us against the selection of so late a date fur the meeting of the British Assciatioa this year. People who love to spend September on the Swiss lakes, at the baths of Lucca, or in the Bey of Maple', will have to choose between, Ireland and their customary autumn tours. The period is rather late for Killarney, and is too early for Dublin. We assume, of course, that the 26th of August has been chosen by arrangement with the Dublin committee; yet, we believe, Dublin is as empty at that time of the year as London itself—a circumstance which may not effect the scientific value of the gathering, but e.hieh may affect the social and pecuniary results. We would vier:se our friends to take their excursion tickets a fortnight before the time of meeting, to complete their visits to Killarney, Connemara, and the Giant's Cause way, and return to conclude their run in Dublin.— digienceunt. CAPIIME OF A GANG) OF SliEcTsrrAnuns.—The notoriety to which Barnsley has attained from the great number of cases of burglary and sheepstealing of which it has been the centre, has caused the police force to watch, with more than usual care, certain parts of the district. On Friday morning, three bad characters, one of whom was appre hended on a charge cf being concerned in the Manor Oaks burglary, some time since, were taken whilst in the act of sheepstealing. About one o'clock in the morning, police crms'able Boothmau (Oldworth), and police constable Shaw (Darfi old), met at a lonely place called torr's Mill, being armed with cutlasses, and accsmparied by two dogs. Alter going together for a short distance, the dogs became very impa•ient, which excited the suspicions of the con stables, and a halt was made. After a short eximination of the locality, the officers found, in a flail close to where they were, that some sheep had been driven into a corner; and on a still further and cautious investigation, they saw three men, evidently bent on securing some of them. Tae noise of the dogs pr: vented the proceedings of the sheep-stealers being watched any longer, and on the animals (ewo bulldogs) being slipped, they rushed upon the men furiously. Taken by surprise, while almost in the act, the .thieves beat a retreat by a dif ferent part of the field from which they had apparently entered, and by so doing, actually rushed into the arms of the officers, who, with drawn cutlasses, stood to receive there. Tue men were thunderstruck, and seemed to lose all self-possession, and were at occe secured, with scarcely any resistance, which they saw would be useless. They were disguised, and armed with weapons and instru menls, suitable alike for sheep-stealing, burglary, or any similar depredations. On being searched, each man was found to have a . large bag for carrying plunder, a for midable life preserver, a large pocket-knife, knee caps, a gauze veil for the face, and striped slope. They had also two butchers' knives, crowbar, and other instruments for forcing locks, &c. SPIRIT OF THE WEEKLY PRESS. "We trust," says the Economist," that in th e debate on Indian affairs which is appointed fo r next Monday, considerations of a practical kind may not altogether be lost sight of, and that what has to he done in the future may not be forgotten in the desire to find fault with the past. The emergency is too pressing to justify loss of time in generalities on the Double Government' or the Breach of Treaties.' Tile danger is too serious to warrant the perversion of the debate into mere faction fight. Our present duty is exclusively to consider what measures will be most effectual for the re-establishment of order and security in India. - When that object has been secured, it will he time enough to investigate the cruses which have led to the present crisis, and to discuss the larger and less pressing questions of civil and military administration which are indirectly connected with the subject." The Saturday Review also says :—lt is greatly to be hoped that India will never become the battle field of party. Party would be more fatal to our tenure of India than the mutiny of the three armies It has often been said that if the govern ment of India were to become in any sense the government of a parliamentary majority, it would not be worth ten years' purchase. We look, therefore, with considerable anxiety to the line which will be taken on Monday night by the principal parliamentary leaders. If the subjeat be apuroached temperately and dispassionately, with no tendency to precipitate condemnation, but with a due sense of the extreme solemnity of the occasion, the difficulty of the question, and the magnitude of the vast interests involved, we shall have good reason to look hopefully into the future. What is required at the present time is that men should ponder and inquire, and suspend their judgment. Nothing should be assumed. Nothing should be asserted without proof. But if the leading members of the House of Commons make up their minds hastily to follow a particnlar course, with reference rather to the interests of their party than to the interests of the nation, we shall have too much reason to anticipate, not that out of the present disastrous movement wilt be evolved much permanent good, hut that we shall be hurried into rash counsels and precipitate acts which will be followed by the downfall of our Indian empire. What can we make out of this business ?' is the natural inquiry of a feeble oppo sition. It is easy to suggest an answer. The best thing to be made of it is a character for fair=ness. for honesty, for moderation—for an enlightened desire to promote, in a great crisis, the interests of the nation, and to do nothing to embarrass the movements of those on whom has devolved, in so momentous a conjuncture, the conduct of public affairs-''' The John Bull thinks that if the Marriage and Divorce Bill, as it stands at present, should pass the House of Commons, and by the royal assent become law, there is likely enough to be an open rupture between Church and State. " Has Lord Palmerston realised this contingency ? Does he suppose that the clergy will show less pluck in suf fering for conscience sake, than Lord Campbell volunteered to inform the House of Lords that he was prepared to display in the event of the House of Commons entering upon a conflict, with the Courts of law? It is really quite refreshing to hear the Lord Chief Justice talk in such a tone of calm desperation of his committal to the Tower. To be sure he does not expect to be made a martyr of in the long run, for lie anticipates that the people will rise in his defence. But if the professional honour and rectitude of a lawyer make him resolve to run all risks rather than lend him self to a violation of the law, even for a purpose with which, apart from the illegality of the means proposed to be employed, he sympathises, how much more natural is it to expect that the clergy will run all risks, rather than lend themselves to a violation of the Divine law, for a purpose which they regard with abliorence." The Press looks forward with interest to the re sumption of the Civil Service debate on Wednesday no=t. '° On the uue Baud its a grievance so patent that not even the government journals can he I found to defend it—an injustice s') crying that the most submissive body of men in the country have become the most obstreperous ; on the other, a government which takes refuge in the labyrinth of official details, to avoid the performance of imperial obligations. Here is a question on which the new House of Commons has a fair opportunity of proving its common sense and its candour. How will they abide the test ? " " It was hoped, last session," says the Sunday Times, " that some means would be taken to re strain the perennial flux of the legislature within moderate bounds—that the Speaker would be empowered to interpose his authority, to prevent wild and frolicsome members from hurrying away the imagination of the house to Hong Kong and Timbuctoo, to the Suez Railway, or to the most profound depths of metaphysics and theology, when the subject under consideration, perhaps, is the affair of the Sound dues or the duty on paper. But it is quite clear that nothing has been done: Our legislators are as wild as ever. There is Mr. Gladstone for example, who retires for whole months to the cave of the seven sleepers, and then, when the national mind has drifted Heaven knows where, rises, like the witch of Ender, from the floor of parliament, and invokes the ghost of the forgotten lorcha. He might as well inquire why King Ethelred gave orders for massacreing the Danes The whole affair is entirely out of date. The nation is up to its eyes in the Chinese war, and it no longer sig nifies a jot, whether the Blue Iptt3r was flying on board a particular vessel, on a particular day. But Mr. Gladstone is no worse than his neighbours. Every gentleman has his own lorcha, with which he pesters parliament to death ; and from this plague we know not what or who is to deliver us. THE CRISIS OF INDIA. It is very necessary that a sufficient number of European troops should be thrown in to keep the native mercenaries in order. The distribution should be such as to prevent any alien rebels from consolidating their strength. But India is not to be preserved to us by a dead weight of military power. Such a vast population must always to a certain extent be governed through itself, partly by keeping it in check, partly by studying its feelings and the exercise of those influences which can guide without irritating. The skilful driver knows how to make his horses feel that there is a tight hand upon the reins if they are impatient, while " their heads are given to them" so long as they go at the properpace. So it is with adult children like the semi-barbarian Hindoo. Whatever differences may exist among Anglo-Indians, there is a common agreement in the fact that the. Hindoo has been treated too much like tha European. On grounds of common humanity, he might be persuaded to part with some of his usages—with his festival of Juggernaut or his suttee. The proposal to re-marry widows trenched upon his ideas of positive morality. But when he sees a law passed that threatens his social position, his very property is at stake. A law was passed that the convert to Chris tianity, notwithstanding the consequent loss of caste, should retain his land— a law " striking at the very foundations of property,". as our land owners would say. It injured individual in terests, for those friends and relations who would have succeeded to the forfeited • property saw their reversionary rights destroyed. Again, in the dis tribution of greased cartridges he sees a stratagem to deprive him of caste, and so to loosen his tenure upon his land. No pouring in of cornmon . soldiers, with the beet officers, could hold 150,000,000 men in check, if we irritate and alarm them while re moving them from the actual control of firm and skilful administrators. Quite as much as soldiers, are wanted men, or 'a man, Who' knows the native character—who has the experience and the heart to govern the barbarism, the energy and firmness to carry out his own counsels. Have we such men, either in London or in India? We cannot answer the question in the affirmative. We have Mr. Vernon Smith at the Board of Control; of whom it has lately been said in parliament that . every Anglo-Indian mistrusts him. But perhaps he is not the real governor. Is it Lord Palmerston ? If he is, does he understand ludian affairs? Is the Governor General, promoted from the Post office to sit at the head of the gigantic correspond ence ~of India during the time of apparent tranquility, the man who would be exactly selected for the present juncture ? On this important point we are absolutely destitute of information. But one thing the facts tell us—that the men appointed in India, or retained there, ought to be men suited to the present eircumstances.—Spectator. A CREW FOR THE FLYING DUTCHMAN. Garratt, the great gold-robber, was for some years the leader of the convict ton in Bermuda 4 His associates regarded him with admiration ; he was the master-spirit of their yellow-coated con federacy. Ultimately, Mr. Kirwan, condemned (justly or not) for the murder of his wife in Ireland's Eye, arrived in the colony. Garratt at once re signed the lead, and said, courteusly, he could not think of refusing precedence to Mr. Kirwan. Upon the same principle, the banks of the . Swan, in Western Australia, may be expected to become the scene of a social flutter; for an aristocracy is to be planted in. the soil. On the 25th of August a good ship will sail from England, bearing to The Swan Sir John Dean Paul, Mr. Strahan, Mr. Bates, Mr. Leopold Redpath, Mr. Robson, Mr. Saward, Mr. Agar—three celebrated embezzlers, three celebrated forgers, and the inimitable, vengeful Agar. With the exception of Agar and Seward, between whom an antipathy may naturally be supposed to rankle, many mutual feelings will harmonise this aristocracy of detested crime. Common reminiscences and a common fate unite them. What strange contrasts in their lives Paul looking back through the gratings of Milibank to that happier time when he sat with Baron Alderson on the bench of justice ; Strahan to his " elegantly planted park and residence in perfect taste ;" Bates to the hour of gratified ambition, in which he became the partner in a firm with a baronet at his head. Through Redpath's dreams may flit the auction at which ho bid successfully against the French Emperor for a wondrous work in buhl ; through Robson's the triumph of his dramatic productions— Whither is fled the visionary gleam? Where is it now, the glory and tie dream ? Neither Agar nor Saward can have sympathies with men or with regrets like these. The latter was for twenty years a miserable Jonathan Wild, a master forger, a burglars' agent, whose nightmare was Newgate; to the former penal . discipline has been the routine of years; he knows what it is to labour in the hulks he must have calculated, half a life ago, upon no euthanasia better than a ticket-of-leave. But, in some respects, Red path and Robson stand upon a level with him ; they garbled every day, and hazarded liberty for luxury ; they could scarcely have looked for perpetual winnings. Depend upon it, many a time and oft did a prophetic shadow of penitentiaries and the Australian settlements obscure the glitter of Chester-terrace, and the gaiety of Kilburn Priory. We do not believe that the three bankers ever imagined such a possibility; breaking the old bank in the Strand, and losing their com mercial reputation—that was, no doubt, the climax of fear in the minds of Paul, Strahan, and Bates. With four hundred inferior criminals they go—these social bankrupts —to Western Australia. Well, there is something upon which to congratulate even this criminal crew. It is a change—from the monotony of that hideous desert of brick and whitewash at Millbank, from the wards of Newgate, from the motionless hulk in the. Thames. They cross the ocean; they have a new life before them ; there will be freshness i❑ the sight of the Australian shores ; there is the prospect of tickets of-leave. But how the population will crowd to gape at the convict baronet, and revive the story of Redpath's " glory"—upon which ballad-singers have so unctuously expatiated ! How will the old "leading men" of the Swan River Settlement resign their precedence in favour of five gentlemen so accomplished, and, up to a certain point, so flattered by society ? Agar and "Saward will not be similarly respected ; they have only their dis torted talents to recommend them : they have never been gentlemen, or sat. on the bench, or inherited estates, or outbid Louis Napoleon, or achieved a dramatic success. But let the captain of the vessel " chartered at Lloyd's look well to his navigation: There is a story that the Flying Dutchman has for ages been wandering in search of a crew. And would not the seven great convicts prefer the perfidious barque, built in the eclipse, and rigged with curses dark, to the grey soup, canary-coloured •jackets, and dull severity of a penal colony ? Never, per haps, was a more remarkable band of criminals embarked together, or one in which mutual recog nitions were more likely to take place. The five " respectable" individuals moved pretty much in the same " sphere,'' except that their sympathies were different. Robson, although a poet, had not the delicate tastes of Redpath, and as for Sir John Dean Paul, his " seriousness" kept him apart from turfment and philosophical virtuosi.—Leader. THE NEW OATHS BILL. Lord John Russell's Bill for amending the statute law relative to the administration of oaths was issued on Saturday. It is entitled " A Bill to amend the Act Ist and 2nd Victoria, c. 105, intituled An Act for Removing Doubts as to the Validity of certain Oaths.'" The bill is as follows : Whereas in all cases in which the sanction of an oath is ri quired, the oath ought, by the cornmoa law, to be administered in such manner as will render it most effective and binding on the conscience of the person to be sworn ; but doubts have arisen whether such rule' of the common law be applicable to eases in which a special form of abjuration or special words of asserveration are . pre scribed by statute: for the removal of such doubts, be it declared and enacted by the Queens most Excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same 1. That, notwithstanding any statute or usage to the contrary, whenever any person to whom an oath is tendered shall object to its administration in the pre scribed or accustomed form, or in the prescribed words •of asseveration, and the same shall be administered to him in such form of words and with such solemnities as be shall declare to be biadiug on his conscience, the oath wino so administered shall be deemed to have been lawfully ad ministered and taken ; and every person so taking the oath shall, if guilty of false swearing, be liable to conviction for. perjury, and shall be subject to every other couscquence and entitled to every benefit to which he would have been subject or entitled if the oath had been administered in the prescribed or accustomed form, and wi'h the prescribed words of asseveration, and the prescribed or accus eruct solemnities. BARNUM SURPASSED.—At the Shoreditch County court, on Tuesday, a person professing to be a plaintiff brought an action against Mr. Anderson, the " Wiz trd of the North? , for having damaged a new hat lent to the conjuror to make a hot currant pudding in. The nominal plaintiff exhibited the damaged hat, which he then handed to Mr. Anderson, who covered it with a silk handkerchief, and restored it to the man in a perfect state. The trick having thus been successmul, and the hat made new again, the plaintiff had nothing to complain of, and was of course nonsuited, and Mr. Anderson ingeniously puffed_ COCKFIGHTING ESTRAORDINARY.--At the late petty sessions at Crumlin, on Monday last, Constable Charles Porter prosecuted no fewer than forty-six persons for having been present aiding and abetting at a cock-fight near Gregory's Lone Ends, in the parish of Killead, on Monday, the 22ad of June last. Mr. Young and Mr. Gibson appeared on behalf of the Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals; and Mr. Williamson, of Antrim, defended the accused. The cockfight seems to have been on a scale larger than has been heard of in this district for some years. It was deposed by some of the witnesses that there were not fewer than 500 persons present. In twenty seven cases fines, varying from £3 to 7s. 6d., were imposed, and the other cases were dismissed.—Be/fast News-Letter. CAN AND DEED BoxEs.—The next important thing to the posses- Mon of cash is, how (when you have got it) to keep it safely, either in the cotmting-house or at home. The same remarks apply to deeds and other valuable documents. We have seen a large and varied stock of both these thairable articles, manufactured expressly for Mr. E. T. Hall, of South John-street, that challenge attention. These boxes are made on new and admired principles, and possess patent locks, which defy the ingenuity of any "pick-lock" in the world to open, except with the legitimate key. To merchants, solicitors, and others, these new safes, on a small scale, must prove valuable ndeed --Northern Daily Times, 2181 May. 1857.