The Dorset County Express and Agricultural Gazette.
Dorchester, Dorset, England, 1862-04-01 00:00:00

THE REVISED CODE.

The Government education scheme has formed the
chief topic of debate in the House of Commons
during the past week. The Old Code said that the
Government money should be given to schools upon
what might be called a "pass" examination. An
inspector looked over a school, and if he considered
the school worthy of the grant,—if the children had
attended so many days in a year, and there was no
material defect in some essential particular which
should induce him to " pluck " it,—the Govern-
ment money was paid in due comae. There was no
difference between a school just not bad enough to be
rejected, and a school of the highest excellence,
worthy of all commendation. The middling, the
good, and the nearly bad were bracketed together,
and treated in all respecta alike. The New Code,
on the other hand, proposed to pay in direct pro-
portion to ascertained excellence. It said the true
foundation of sound education, is to read well, to
writs well, and to cypher well; and it added, we
will pay so much for every child who has attained the
proficiency we require, and we will not pay a six-
pence for one who does not attain that proficiency.
Now common sense would say that such a test was
a perfectly equitable one. It is the test that is sup-
posed to enter into our every day relations in life,
and is based on that scriptural injunction which
says that "He that will not work, neither shall he
eat." But no sooner was the New Code propounded
than a host of opponents to it arose in all parts of
the country, predicting a general bankruptcy and
speedy extinction of managers of schools, masters,
mistresses, teachers, pupil-teachers, scholars, educa-
tion, and even of religion! They asserted that the
moment all fixed payments were withdrawn, and the
schools left to their own exertions, and the masters
paid for what they did, they must sink. The con-
fession, it must be admitted by the most superficial
thinker, was most damaging to the Old Code;
nevertheless, " vested interests" were at stake ; the
sacred precincts of the breeches pocket were
threatened; and the legions of assent and dissent—
the creeds of all colours which hays hardly a civil
word for each other on ordinary occasions—rallied on
this, and petitioned against any alteration in the
educational system. The Vies-President of the Corn.
mittee of Council showed incontrovertibly, that if
Government aid were extended to the 15,000 schools
not at present receiving the grant—and it must
ultimately—no less than five millions sterling would
have to be annually extracted from the taxpayer's
pockets, for educating the children of the poor in
a manner which "the sticklers of things as they
are" themselves admitted would not bear the test of
examination. But notwithstanding this, the
, marshalled phalanx of Mr. Lowe's opponents found
their advocates in the Tory press of the country, and
in the Tory party in the Lords and Commons, and
Government has been driven to a compromise. The
Vice-President of the Council of Education, like a
captain whose vessel has been caught in a storm, has
been obliged to throw into the heavy sea of prejudice
a portion of his valuable cargo. The modifications
accepted by Government were briefly summed up by
Mr. Lowe on Friday night. A substantial portion
of the grant to each school is to be given
on the general report of the inspector, and
only pelt of the grant is to be paid for
results. We shall therefore have inspectors
and examiners. By continuing the former the
general dread of insolvency which has been so
manifest among the managers of schools will, we
trust, now give away, while the latter, under the
gentle warmth of success will, it may be anticipated,
eventually succeed in leavening tho whole lump.
Again, the Government concedes the principle of
grouping by ago; and pupil teachers now engaged
are fully secured in their pay for the whole of
their terms. With regard to future revisions, they
are to be more formally submitted to the House.
Mr. Lowe, however, warned his opponents,
that all this would cost money. The
concessions, he said, " will involve on
the part of the public a very great pecuniary
sacrifice, and must be a grave abatement from the
principle of certainty so generally asked for" The
House will no doubt accept the doubly-Revised
Code, which unless we greatly mistake will soon
want revising again. The defects in the system
which even the managers have confessed, which the
inspectors have allowed, which the commissioners
have condemned, and which Mr. Lowo has exposed,
cannot be continued at a cost of a million sterling a
year, merely for the sake of pacifying the opponents
of a reform which only asks that money's worth
should be received for the money given.

FORDINGTON FIELD AND THE
DUCHY OF CORNWALL

When Oliver Twist was conducted into the awful
presence of the parish guardians, he was bidden by
Mr. Bumble to "bow to the board." Not being on
general conversational terms with boards, Oliver at
a venture made his obeisance to the table, which was
large and long, covered with green baize, and duly
garnished with goosequils and foolscap. It was
not until he had received an admonitory nudge from
the beadle that he discovered that the power he was
to salute was embodied in sundry stout gentlemen
in white waistcoats, and that they, in fact, were the
board. Those whose dealings with boards have, to
their sorrow, been numerous or protracted, may be
pardoned if they too, sometimes, labour under the inn-

pression that those with whom they have to transact
business are quite as hard, inanimate, and as
unimpressionable as a wooden table. A board has
no heart, you cannot mollify it, or work upon it
sympathies, for it does not possess any. A board
has no sense, and cannot be reasoned with. It is
not open to conviction ; and to endeavour to con-
vince it is a labour as unprofitable as biting a file,
or filling a bottomless bucket, or twisting a rope of
sand. When you "go" before a board you merely
I commence the work of Ixion and Sisyphus. When
you " lay your grievances" before a board, the
offering is as useless as the sacrifice of poultry and
yams to some gourmand idol of Ashantee. To
"appeal" to a board is like appealing to the nether
millstone. To "cast yourself on the mercy" of a
board is like imploring pardon from an Eton peda-
gogue when the triate lignum is already prepared
and the rod brandished. A board can't feel and
wont hear. It is like a clock which goes on ticking,
with aslow remorseless regularity, and which cannot
be stopped. It is like one of the "melancholy mad
elephants," which Mr. Dickens found in the Cock-
town Cotton Mills—a huge machine whose wheels re-
volve, is hose pistons work up and down from morn-
ing till night, and which sucks in and t,. • ; to
pieces those who incautiously approach too near it.
Some men have tried to snap their fingers at boards,
to defy them, to laugh at them, and to do without
them; but they seem to form the platform of our
1
social system, and few persons can interest them-
selves in public affairs without coming into collision
with one of these vexed and irritating institutions.
All who come within the sphere of a board feel its
maleficent influence. It is an Upas tree, and its very
shadow blights and withers. It depraves and
corrupts its own servants and component members,
Those composing it may be just, liberal, and charit-
able individually, and in private life, but formed
into a board they will scarcely fail to be harsh,
tyrannical, and unjust. Such are a few of the attri-
butes of a board, which, as Lord Eldon said of a
corporation, "has neither a body to be kicked, nor a
soul to be saved." Among the institutions we
possess, we have a board to manage the affairs of
the Duchy of Cornwall—for the benefit of the eldest
son of the reigning sovereign—composed, no doubt,
of several very estimable noblemen and gentlemen,
but which in its entirety is as unpractical as was
Tenterden Church Steeple for warding off the fate
that befel the isle of Goodwin. Within the hat
few years farming operations have undergone a
revolution such as the world never saw before.
The old time-honoured implements with which
men were accustomed to till the soil and gather in
its produce have been one by one superseded in
favour of modern inventions. The flail has pretty
well given wayto the thrashing machine,the reaping
machine is fast superseding the sickle on lands
where it can be used. Farmers' clubs and agricul-
tural associations have become, if not formally and ,
legally, in spirit and in truth, part of the institu-
tions of the country; and everywhere, and in no
county more than in Dorset, is an improved and
improving 53 stem of husbandry distinctly visible.
But even in Dorsetshire, in the closest proximity to
the county town, there is one foul blot upon the
escutcheon of our agricultural fame—one dark spot
where no improvement can be made, where all
things are doomed to continue as they were from
the beginning. The circumstance is so notorious,
the fact so patent, that we need not state that we
allude to that extensive tract of land, measuring
some 4,500 acres, belonging to the Duchy of Corn-
wall, two-thirds of which are amble. The system of
tillage which the renters of this land are compelled
to pursue is barbarous and absurd; for not only is
the three-course system necessary to be pursued
over the old field except on the garden farm, but
the farmers prohibited, by ancient custom, from
ploughing their land except at stated periods. No
matter whether the season be early or late—the
weather wet or dry, the work of tillage can only be
performed at stated periods of the year. No matter
how hot the sun may shine, nor,how full the land of
couch, the plough-share must not penetrate the
soil, because of the common-right, till a certain day
of a certain month arrives. No wonder that the
land is full of couch, that greatest of all pests to the
agriculturists. We question even when our old
friend Mr. Wallace Fyfe passed through Fording-
ton Field, and saw how luxuriantly the couch-gram
was growing, whether his fingers have not itched to
set up a mill for the manufacture of couch paper
from the thousands of tons of that root which might
be there oollected. It would beat his bean-haulm
theory into the last century. Look at the past
month, for exadiple. The rain has poured in torrents
almost daily, and yet this is the only month
allowed for the tillage of the soil, if the farmer
would put in his spring corn at the usual period.
Talk of farmers' clubs, and agricultural societies,
forsooth—they are of no use to the farmers who
rent this land ; for however experienced they
may be, whatever improvement they might wish to
make, how much soccer, they might be capable of
enriching the property, the power of doing so is
prevented by the restrictions which a barbarous
system has thrust upon them. And the restraint
which the Board of Council, or what-
ever else it may be called, puts upon
the farmers, is precisely on a par with the cottage
property in Fordingtou. We have often thought
when we have heard of "improved agriculture and
model cottages," what at. open field have we in the
immediate vicinity of Dorchester for an experiment
in that direction. The cottage property belonging
to the Duchy is acknowledged by all who have seen
it to be a disgrace to a civilised community. It is 11
an incubus upon the borough, and hangs like a dead
weight upon the shoulders of the ratepayers. And
is there no member of the Council, no officer of that
Board to ever visit the property? We have heard,
' it is true, that a reeve is appointed, but the only
function he is said to possess, is, besides the col-
lection of cottage rents, the privilege, should he find
three pigs in a stye within his jurisdiction, to turn
out the middle one, and take its place should he be in
want of a night's rest. And the function of the reeve
seems to be pretty much on an equality with those which
the:Board itself exercise, unless it be for evil. You may
recommended, most wisely, entreat most earnestly,
remonstrate most perseveringly, and its only answer
to your communication will be " We are not
aware," "We see no reason to depart from," "We
are not disposed to enter," "We are unwilling
to recommend," and concluding, like those "doleful
creatures" in the " Latter-day pamphlets," with
the perpetual "honour to be." We pen our
remarks in no spirit of towards any individtu
connected with the Duchy, but simply to bring the
matter before their serious consideration. What is
wanted in the town is an improvement in the cottage
property—such as would induce one to point to it,
and with pride exclaim, "that is the property of
the eldest son of our beloved Queen." On the land,
what is indispensibly necessary, is the, abolition of
the narrow " lawn " (land) system, the common
right of pasture, the three-year course prescriptioe,
and, inshort,!the whole of those usages which belong
to a semi-fendal and half-barbaric age. Let the
board take the matter in hand, resolve to act in
accordance with the spirit of the age, and they will
receive the sincere and hearty thanks of the inhabi-
tants of the ancient and loyal borough of Dorchester. '

DORCHESTER PITCHED CORN MARKET, Saturday.
March 29th.—The attendance was good, and a fair
amount of business was done at late rates, except for
barley, which was more in demand, and a slight ad-
vance in price was obtainable.
LECTURE ON THE LATE PRINCE CONSORT. —A
full report of the lecture by H. Monte, Esq., will
sppear in the Telegram of Thurtiday next.

PRISONERS FOR TRIAL AT TUE EASTER SESSIONS.
--J•tmes Linnie, assault and robbery at Wyke
Regis; Job Dyke, stealing coal bags at Beaminater ;
Thomas Henry Aaron Turner, for being in acowahed
with intent to commit felony at Mapperton. —On
Bail :—George Travers, stealing coal bags at Beam.
meter ; Joseph Davie, obtaining money by false
pretence at Bnckland Newton.

A General Meeting of the Shaftesbury Farmers'
Club and Agricultural Society will be held at the
Townhall, on Saturday next the 6th of April, at
half-past 3 o'clock precisely, to determine what
premiums shall be offered for competition this (the
first) year. [Full report in the next impression of
the Dorset County Express.]
A REMARKABLY DIRTY SPOT. —We have been
requested to call the attentionmf the Town Surves or
to the exceedingly dirty bit of road opposite Mr.
Galpin'e foundry. A row of narrow paving stones
from Dorford Chapel to the raised walk would enable
pedestrian', especially Mice, to go this short distaioe

without wading nearly knee-deep in mud, and would
be a benefit to the town generally.
Ovsizsesns.—The following gentlemen were ap-
pointed overseers for the several parishes in dr: Dor-
chester division of the county on Saturday last :
Abbotsbury, Win. Little and James White ; Athol-
hampton, G. James Wood and John Pain ; Bincoinbe,
Wm. C.ike and Wm. Read ; Bradford Pcverell, Peter
Barrett and Francis Fookes ; Broadmayne, Hy. Duke
and Wiliam Croad ; Broadway, John Gale and
William Rogers ; Buckland Ripers, William Miller
and John Gale; Burleston, George James Wood and
John Hooper; Charininster, Wm. Wallace Fyfe And
Robert Devenisli ; Chickerell West, John Laver and
Robert Clark ; Chilfrome, Edward Pope and Henry
Davis; Compton Abbas, Joriph Paull and Thomas
Chick ; Coinpton Valenee, John Chick and Henry
Davis; Dewlish, Robert Rogers and James Harding;
Dorchester Holy Trinity, Edward Gould and John
Herbert Jones; Evershot, Thomas Roth well and John
Trenchard ; Fleet, Jasper Marsh and John Marsh ;
Fordington, Thomas Grigg and Henry F. Harvey ;
Frampton, William Watts and William Groves;
Froome Vauchurch, Henry Cox and Thomas Cox ;
Kingston Russell, Thomas Sansom and George
Hansford ; Knighton West, Elizabeth Cosens and
George Christopher; Langton Herring, Richard
Kellaway and Thomas Terrell ; Littlebredy, Norris
Roper and Richard Legg ; Litton Cheney, William
Bligden and Richard Groves Gels; Longbrody,
John Cox Fooks and Charles Fry ; Maiden Newton,
Ewd. Chileott and Wm. Clements • Melbury Setup-
ford, Robert Guppy and Henry Miler ; Osmington,
William Chileott and Richard Andrews; Ower-
moigne, James Alner and John Best; Piddlehinton,
Stephen White and William Jeanes ; Piddletown,
William Joseph Paull and William Hill Hinman ;
Portisham, Henry Hawkins and William Symes ;
Portland, Christopher Mitchell and Benjamin
Collins; Poxwell, William Mayo and John Mayo;
Preston and Sutton Poyntz, William Sears and
William Gale ; Radipole, G. F. Wadsworth
and Joseph Drew; Rampisharn, John Peach
and Elizabeth Peach; Stafford West, John
Goldring and George Flower; Stinsford, Stephen
Toghill Harding, sen., and George Galpin ; Stratton,
Mark Green and Alfred Chileott ; Swyre, John
Symes and John Bryant; Tincleton, John Bridle and
Edward Bridle; Toiler Fratrum, Edward Whittle
and Thomas Yeates ; Toiler Porcorum, Thomas
Gale and William Galpin ; Tolpuddle, James
Crane and George Spicer; Upway, John
Hardy Thresher and John Lipscombe ; Warm-
well, William Baby and Thomas Homer
Saunders ' • Watercotnbe, Thomas Homer Saun-
ders and Thomas Chapman Saunders; Whit.
combs, Arthur Leonard Cooper and James Green-
slade ; Winterborne Abbas, George Richard,' and
James Symes ; Winterborne Came, Josiah Hill and
William Hawkins; Winterborne Herringstone, John
Allen Pope and Joseph Vincent ; Winterborne
Monckton, John Bryant Phelps and James Lake;
Winterborne St. Martin, Charles Hawkins and
Daniel Symonds; Winterborne Steepleton, Henry
Groves and James Shittier; Woodstord, Charles
Atkinson and Joseph Warne, Wyke Regis, James
Winzar and William Collins; Wynford Eagle,
Thomas Bridge and William Bridge.
THE CHARCOAL FILTER.—We regret to have
again to draw our Local Board of Health over the
coals. One would have supposed that after the
numerous letters which were published respecting
the charcoal stench trap opposite Dr. Penton's house,
there would have been an end of such experiments,
but this, it appears, is not the case. Last week
another "filter" was laid down opposite the
premises of Mrs. Groves, and on Saturday the stench
which passed through the "absorbent" charcoal was
unbearable, and the trap had to be covered over to
prevent, as far as possible injury to health. It is
usually supposed that Boards of Health were
created for ridding their own locality of eiisting
nuisances, but the Dorchester Board, unhappily,
works in the opposite direction in bringing nui-
sances never before existing to our very doors.

THE 3RD DORSET RIFLB VOLUNTEER CORPS.—
Fridays, private target practice at Maiden Castle
in the afternoon ; and for battalion drill at the
following places :—April 11, the officers and non-
couitoireioned officers of the 3rd and 6th D. R. V.,
and the whole of the tat D. R. V. Corps at
Bridport. The whole of the 3rd D. It. V. Corps,
and the officers and non-commissioned officers of
all the other corps in the battalion at Dorchester
on a day to be named. —May 1, the officers and
non-commissioned officers of the let and 3rd
D. R. V.' and the whole of the sth D. it. V.
corps at Weymouth. All drills in future to be
conducted in strict conformity to the new edition
of" The Field Exercise and Evolutions of Infantry,"
dated January 7th, 1562.—8 y order of the com-
manding officer; T. Newman, Sergeant-Major.
The Army and Navy Gazette states that a depute-
tion' consisting of the Duke of Marlborough, the
Earl of Shaftesbury, Lord Overstone, Lord Ducie,
and several other members of both Houses, waited
on the Secretary for War to urge the advantages of
appointing a commission to inquire into and report
on the condition of the Volunteer force; a request
which was at once acceded to by Her Majesty's
Government. The names of the commissioners are
not published; but if their duties are well performed,
the report will necessarily be • most valuable and
important document.
WEYMOUTH. ROAD-MARINO. When the
Town Surveyor, a short time since, asserted at a
Board of Health meeting. that there tias no great
art in road-making, we were almost inclined to dis-
pute his statement We had long entertained the
notion that road-making did require • considerable
deal of skill, tact, and experience, but we confess
that our opinion of late has been considerably modi-
fied. Provided that such roads as we see, in King-
street, opposite the railway station, in Upwey-street,
and, indeed, in half the parish streets in the town
be called roads, we are willing to admit that our
former notions were most erroneous. We believe
any old woman, however limited her experience,
would, were she to have the management of them,
give us better roads. Indeed, we do not believe
there is an old lady in the county who would have
attempted to mend the road in King-street, in such
a manner and with such material as King-street road
was mended with a few weeks since. May we be
permitted to ask if the corporation is satisfied with
such a state of things! If they are, all we can say,
they are easily pleased, but if they are not satisfied,
why do they allow them to exist? We are sure that
we speak the sentiments of every rational being when
we say that the roads under the jurisdiction of the
Board of Health are a disgrace to Weymouth.

COUNTY PETTY SESSION!, Friday—Before Captain
Manning ; R. H. Swaffield, R. F. Eliot, and Spencer
Meade, F.aqrs., and Major Steward.
PORTLAND.—Job liaison was charged with leaving
his wife chargeable to the parish.—Mr. W. J.
Hill appeared for the overseers, and Mr. R. N.
Howard for the defendant.—Mrspalson stated that
' her husband left her to lodge at Mrs. White's.
That was about eight mouths ago. He formerly
'left her, and went to Portland, and she did not
know where it was she found him. On the last
oczasion of his leaving he allowed her 3s. a-week,
and he had sometimes given her 4s. 9d. He told
her if she was not satisfied she might go where she
bad come from. She went to the overseers, and
obtained relief. She did not know why he left her.
In cross-examination, she said she had been married
about 12 months when they first parted. They
were married in 1858. They always bad rows.
She never was lazy, and he had never accused her
of Iselin/lazy, for he had no right to do so. She re-
fined to wash his son's clothes when he took the
boy loin her. He had found her in lodgings since
she was last at the court. She had to go to his
lodgings for her food, in the morning at 8 o'clock,
for breakfast; 12, for dinner; and 5, for supper.
He kept her on broad and cheese, and she asked for
• bit of butter. She bad to go to another house to
lodge.—Mr. Howard said the defendant had unfor-
tunately married the woman who did not agree with
him in habits and disposition, and there was therefore
frequent disturbance and quench,. Work being
scarce at Broad winsor, defendant Game to Portland,
and chs his wife following him there, he agreed to
to take her in, hoping she would have learned •
lesson from the past, but she neglected the defen-
dant's son, refused to wash for him, and defendant
was obliged to go into fresh lodgings with him. He,
however, allowed his wife ss. a week, being one-
third of his earnings. She was filthy, idle, and often
lay in bed till 10 or 11 o'clock in the morning. He
called a man named John Hardy to support the ease
for the defence.—Captain Manning said he had been
greatly pestered by these parties. They had been
frequently coming to him' and he bad no doubt
from all that he had learned, that the defendant had
used his wife very badly, and that if it had not been
for her daughter and son-in.law, she would have
wanted for bread. No doubt there were faults on
both sides, and the woman had admitted that she
refused to wash for defendant's son, by his former
marriage. He had, however' to tell her that if
a win married a widow with several children, he
was compelled to keep them; so if a woman married
a widower, she was in duty bound to look properly
after his children. There were some discrepancies
in the evidence, and the case would, in the present
instance, be dismissed.--Robert Pearce, William
Elliot, and William Woolledr, were charged with
wilfully damaging a door. The defendants live at
Weston.—Mrs. Sander said she was in the kitchen
on Panchard-day, and saw defendants throwing
stones and panabards at her door. After they had
run away she went to Elliot's father and asked him
who was the constable, as the policeman was not at
home. When she returned to her house they came
again, and Pearce was very saucy, and all of them
threw something at her door. They told her they
were keeping guard over her house. The door was
indented and cut by the stones. She had left the
house now, but had not settled with her former
landlord, and therefore did not herself know the
amount of damage done.—P.C. Fripp, on being
called, said he considered the damage that had been
done had been fully half-a-crown. —Captain Manning
said he believed it was an old custom to pelt people's
doors on the eve of Shrove Tuesday, but that, how-
ever ancient the custom, it could not be tolerated.
Some years ago be had fifty eases brought before
him. There had been much lees of these games
carried on since, and it was to be desired that the
custom should entirely cease.—Mr. Howard said that
in the case of one of the boys there must have been
a mistake in the identity, as he was poorly on the

night in question, and in bed at six o'clock, and th'
boy who did the damage was willing to pay the land
lord. Under these circumatances the case was d isni lased .
—Henry Summers was charged by Matilda West,
with assaulting Philip Stone, a lad about 8 years of
age. It appeared that the complainant was the
boy's aunt, and that the lad was the defendant's
atep-son.—Mr. Howard, who appeared for the
defendant, said the boy was a very bad one, and
that the defendant only did his duty in correcting
him, but the aunt said that the cruelties he prac-
tised upon her nephew was shocking.—The Bench
told the defendant that the penalty in his case was
£2O, or six months' imprisonment, but in the pre-
sent case, hoping he would not use unnecessary
severity towards him in future, he would be fined in
the mitigated penalty of .£l.--John Rudd, a lad
about 14 years of age, was charged by P.C. Fripp
with allowing a cart, laden with sca•weed, to remain
in the centre of the road, near the Traveller's Rest,
upwards of 18 hours. It appeared that as the boy
was driving the sea-weed home, two of the felines
of one of the wheels of the cart broke, and that be
consequently took the horse out of the shafts,
leaving the cart in the road. The boy's father did
not return till 7or 8 at night, and he allowed the
vehicle to remain there all night, although P. C.
Fripp went to the house and told the man's wife it
must be taken away. The magistrates' clerk said
the summons should have been taken out against the
boy's father. The summons therefore was dismissed,
and a summons against the boy's father ordered.
WYKr. -Mary Bilk, and William Bilk, her son,
were charged by a by named Robert James Steven-
son, with assault. There was also across-summons,
charging the lad with assaulting Mrs. Bilk. The
evidence on both sides was heard, and the magis-
trates came to the conclusion that they were "six
of one and half-a-dozeu of the other," and accordingly
dismissed the case. _ .

WYKE. —W AS IT A REAL MURDER, MILES'S
BOY, OR A Hoax A curious story has been in
circulation during the lad few days, which Yent.la-
tion may, perhaps, throw some het upon. It ap-
pears that Mr. Stone, baker, at Wyke, has an old
bedstead which he slept on when a boy. When it
came into the possession of his father, how or where
it came from he has no knowledge. A abort time
since he determined to eut the bedstead smaller for
hie eon, aud in *awing through the teeter found a
hole made by a gimlet, in which was • small piece of
paper rolled up and sealed. On taking out the
paper he found it to contain the following Mr.
Thomas Miles, from Dorchester, was murdered
here July 4th, 1713." Perhaps some of our readers
can inform us if there is a tradition of a person
named Miles, residing in Dorchester 89 years ago,
having been murdered.
PO RT LA ND. W ESLEY N DAY SCHOOL.— On
Wednesday evening a public ten meeting was held in
the schoolroom, Fortune's Well, in connection with
the day school. After tea a public examination of
the children took place, by Mr. Epaley, from the
Wesleyan Normal Training Institution, London,
hich was highly creditable to the master, and gave
great satisfaction to the parents of the children and
the friends of education who were present. Ad-
dresses were also delivered by the Revd& G. HOWL
and H. Jutanni, and blears. H. Raggett and
Thomaa Anderson, of Weymouth. The meeting was
numeroualy attended, and called forth a spirit of
deep sympathy and delight. The school, we are
happy to say, is in a state of great prosperity, which
will no doubt continue to increase.

blOßDEN.—Tamrsualics Socurrv.—A public
meeting in connection with the above society wu
held in the Temperance Hall on Wednesday evening,
when Mr. J. Veer occupied the chair, and
addresses were delivered by Messrs. J. D. Knapp, J.
Knapp,—Ballam, and A. Bartlett. The addresses
were interesting and humorous, and the audience
was large and attentive, and seemed highly pleased
with the speakers, who earnestly appealed to their
listeners to help forward the Temperance cause.
The meeting closed with the addition of some names
to the pledge book. The sooiety has been establishel
but one year and four months. A Temperance hell
has been erected, and 165 names have been reoorded
in the pledge books of the members.— Communicatf d

BLgNDFORD. —The _ Rev. W. B. Randall, of
Wareham, delivered a very interesting and instruc-
tive lecture at the Congregational Chapel, on Monday,
to a large audience, wha listened with evident
feelings of satisfaction to his pourtmyal of" The
Black Sunday, 1662," when two thousand clergymen
voluntarily left their livings rather then suhecribe to
what they conscientiously did not believe. Reference
was also made by the rev, gentleman to the
Bicentenary celebration, (for which upwards of
.C 20,000 has been raised by the Nonconformists,)
with the view of showing that it was not the inten-
tion of the celebrators to revive old feelings of
animosity, but with the sole desire to raise sufficiert
means to build chapels in those districts destitute of
religious instruction.

WIMBORNE.—Srzniat hurry SEBRONS, Friday,
March 2bth.— Before J. T. Baskett, Esq.
Henry Peverell, a clay-wolker at Lytchett Matra-
vers, was brought op by Superintendent Baynton,
on the charge of assaulting with intent Elizabeth
Joyce, aged 14, on the previous Tuesday. It ap-
peared that the girl called at a house wherein pri-
honer was lodging, and sat in the same roam for ten
minutes, and that she then left. She saw prisoner
following her, and admitted, on cross-exami-
nation, having walked across the path of a four-acre
field with his arm around her waist • she stated that
he threw her down near a stile, where she stayed
twenty minutes with the prisoner, without crying
out. There were no external marks of violence or
signs of any struggle, nor was a shred of her dress
torn or injured; but the prosecutrix deposed to the
necessary legal proofs.—The policeman Woodrow,
who took prisoner in custody, said that on the spot
where prosecutrix alleged the assault occurred there
were no appearance, of any scuffle, only two tip
marks being perceivable on the grass. Prisoner
went back to his lodgings the same night, and was
taken out of bed by P.C. Woodrow, to whom he
refused his name.—The prisoner was committed by
the worthy magistrate, after being addressed for
three-quarters of an hour by Mr. F. W. Freeman on
behalf of the prisoner.
SUDDEN DEATH. —On Saturday night last a man,
aged 35, was found dead an Corte Heath. An
l
inquest was to be held on the body yesterday.
COURT OF BANKRUPTCY, LONDON, TUEEDAY, March
25.—Before Mr. Registrar Winslow—Re Habgood
and ZIA:M. —Thia was • first sitting under the Bank-
ruptcy Act of 1861 for the proof of debts and choice of
assignees under the bankruptcy of Henry Hahgood and
Henry John Eaton, described as builders of Wi.nborne
Minster. Mr. John Linklater represented a number of
creditors, and lifri Charles Henry Lovell, of South-
square, Gray's-inn, appeared for the petitioning creditor,
Mr. John Samways, of Evershot, brick manufacturer,
whose debt is £142 18s. 6d. Mr. Linklater said he did
not wish to coked the choirs of assignees, but he had
received instructions from • number of creditors in the
country to examine the bankrupt. Henry Habgood was
then called, and stated that he had been 18 months in
partnership with the bankrupt Eaton. He had not been
engaged in any transactions with Eaton. except in the
contract for the Lunatic Asylum. The partnership
oommenoed in August, 1860. There were several
contracts sent in by other parties; he did not take the
contract from Rogers and Ball, but from the Committee
of the Asylum. He believed they (bankrupts) paid
Rogers and Ball £lOO. Both Eaton and himself made
the contract with them. At the time he entered into
the arrangements with Eaton he was what he ir now.
Mr. Linklater —You are a bankrupt now, what were you
then? —A builder at Wimborne, where I lied carried on
business for 30 years. I had a variety of occupations—l
was a painter, • plumber, a glazier, and an auctioneer,
and all my occupations were carried at Wirnbormi, I
had no occupation elsewhere. I was solvent when I
entered into partnership with Eaton. I bad more
money than I owed. I had stook-in-trade worth
£3OO. and my book debts were about £6OO. I don't know
if my • tner had any capital when he joined me. I did
ingot e if he had, and he said he bad an interest in the
busineis which lie was carrying on with his brother as
bricklayers. When I entered into the eontract to build
the Alum, I had about £2OO in ready money. The
contract I have been told le a profitable speculation.
, The contract was for £26.000. I believe we have dons
one half the work, £13,000, and we have received
upwards of £9OOO. We have elm done extra work. A
written contract was prepared by Mr. Drnitt. He
became surety for vs to the National Provincial Bank.
Mr. Lewin is • ereditor of oars. A bill of hie became
due in October last, which was dishonoured, as we were
disappointed by the panes in the sittings of the com-
mittee. We had other means of paying our trades-
psoples' claims than what we got from the committee.
We had borrowed £3OOO from the Bank. On the sth
of Oct_ber we assigned the contract to Mr. Druitt.
I don't know how recently that was before we received
money from Mr. Druitt. I had very little to do with
it, my partner had more. Our place of baldness era s
at Charmiusteri We had an office there and kept books.
1 I did not keep them, as I sin a very poor accountant.
1 I attended the partnership place of business sometimes
three and sometimes once a week. I found some
difficulty at Christmas et meeting our engagements.
The difficulty was want of money (a laugh), and upon
that we stopped the work, and from that time we
began contracting our engagements, as we found that so
far as the partnership was concerned, we were insolvent.
I did not communicate to Druitt at Christmas that we
were insolvent, but my partner may have done so. I
often had communications with Druitt.—Mr. Linklater
—Now having found yourselves insolvent in December,
why did you pay him £BOO in February ?—Habgeod—
I believe my partner did that.—Mr. Linklater—But did
you not join him in a cheque?—Bankrupt—Yes, we got
£lOOO in February, which we paid into the Bank, and
then gave a cheque for MO to Druitt. I don't know
if there were any dishononred bills laying out at that
time. The messenger and official assignee have got
information of all the property that forms part of our
estate.—Mr. Linklater—Have you removed or ooncealed
any property ?—Bankrupt—l have been constantly
removing property.—Mr. Linklater—Have you con-
cealed anything ?—Bankrupt —Certainly not.—Mr.
Linklater—Has any property been removed to
Bournemouth ? Do you, know an inn there?—
Bankrupt—Yes. I purchased it two years ago
for my son-in-law. I have put furniture into the
house. I will not undertake to say that it
is as long as • month ago. The furniture I seat was
part of a bedstead and two mattresses There is no
entry in my hocks of the furniture sent to my son-in-law.
It was sold to him, and he paid for it before it was sold.
I had borrowed money of him—sometimes £5, sometimes
£lO. There is no account of that in my books. I never
heard of any materials being sent to Waters. I know
of some material being sent to my brother George
Habgood. They were sold to Mr. Waterman two months
ago. I don't know who removed them. I had one
share in the Wilts and Dorset Bank. It has been trans-
ferred to my daughter, who lived with me, for" services."
It was transferred since Christmas, but not sines the

meeting of my creditors. It was not done
bearable I thought I should be made •
ban k rept If I had paid all my partnenship
debts I should not have a flea•bite. bfy daughter ie
about 26 years of age. I had a etore of furniture
opposite my house. I stored other persons' furniture, .
hut did not charge them rent. I had a store for the
convenience of placing furniture in it, which, as an
auctioneer. I had to selL My brother became security
to the National Provincial Bank for £1,600, and when
he called upon me about six weeks ago I transferred the
share to him, but he did not then take possession. /
don't know that he took palmation in the very sleek of
my bankruptcy. I will nyt swear whether it WAS fa
week or an hour before my bankruptcy. I cannot tell
without referring to my transfer. My brother still
remains in possession. Just before my bankruptcy,
Mr. Waters, of Salisbury, sold some horses Ile is not
related to my son•in-law. There were three horses.
did not give him instructions to sell them, nor do I know
who did. I had no part of the money. I don't know
who did. My belief was, and is, that I was always
solvent. I don't know if I signed a cheque tot rm.,
on the Bth February, payable to ourselves. I don't
know lithe banker's book produced is my banker's book,
I know nothing of the books. I did not keep the
books. The bankrupt Eaton was then milled and
examined at such length that time and space compel ne
to reserve is evidence in detail. A great numNi elf
proofs having been admitted on behalf of Dorsetshine
and Wiltshire creditors, Mr. John Samways, of
Evershot, brick manufacturer, and Eh. Edward
Jennings, of Poole, timber meretant, were dose'
assignees, and accepted theoffiee. The Cotirt appoieted
the 10th of May next, at eleven o'clock, for the
next sitting, with renewed proketion to the
bankrupt, and ieserved the question of allowance,
—On Wednesday some discussion took place in reference
to allowance and accounts. The assignees and other
creditors concurred in requiring further accounts front
the bankrupts, but declined to sanction any allowance
to them of any kind. The Commissioner said the cue
was one of very frequent occurrence under the hew
Bankruptcy Act. The bankrupts having given so
everything, were requ'red to furnish voluminoes accounk
at their own cost. The proposition was monAtrous, and
the Lord Chancellor's attention should be called to the
subject with a view to an alteration of the law. Is.
justice WAS daily and hourly occurring. Creditors,
influenced by most vindictive feelings, refined any
allowanco. Bankrupts now said they must prepare e
purse beforehand, and in nine eases out of ten did so,
This was the obvious refund& refusal of allowance. There
was • ...lieu in the Act that set forth that if there
were special circumstances in a case that might render
it necessary that a bankrupt should be resisted in
furnishing accounts, a sem might be allowed that was
reasonable and just. Having regard to the requirements
of the case before him, he should consider the refusal of
an allowance to the bankrupts might be regarded as
" special circumstances," whicn entitled him to make
the bankrapte an allowance for the purpose of furniebittg
the required accounte. With the consent of all parr.**
he would further name Messrs. Hart, iwootintants, who,
he was sure, would do justice between all parties. An
order was xmade accordingly, after a remark that
creditors thought it rather hard to have vindictive
motives horded to them by the Court—a remark that
was wholly uncalled for by the circumstances of the SM.
IS was stated during the proceedings that Mr. Cont.
missioner Holroyd had required a bankrupt who was
without allowance to furnish srestioti Which Would entail
upon him & cost of several hundred pounds.