The Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1861-01-11 00:00:00

THE MURDER AT PLYMOUTH.

trIE INQUEST.-PROTEST OF TftE JURt.

The cbromx's jury re-assembled in the Guildhall on
Tuesday at o'Clock,.to hear the decision of the
•.
magistrates nspeetingr 0116' firodnetion of the prisoner,'
and also to take further evidence. the 4oa►tt was well
tilled by a larle number of persons, apparently tiniins
to hear every particular respecting this frightful deed.
Some of the Dtlicers of the 61st Regiment were also
present,
l'he jury hriiirgnrswered to their names,

. .
The f - losepli - and said that
. zone,
he had ti'dittd h_r_dy6:r thb. wrotting, ancrtling to
their request, and had laid hidore hiretheirj that
the prisoner, Robert Hacked, should before
the Coroner's Court at their sitting this evening. The
Mnycr replied fiat the magistrategftnelve in number, had
frilly 4onsidercii the matter, and that they had come to
the thiatilmwqe icsition " that they would grant no order
On the' subjleCt 74metef.'1 He (the Mayor) also said
th'a't! 1)o4d riot reftM itittrilsslan for him to be
brought thefe'i .54 NVoidd grant no- °Mei:" His
worship' at the :ante' tit& rushed' to'be understood that
it was not front any want of c6ia'riesi id tlit' coroner's
jury that the magistrates had arrived at
but tbei thOtight that it would answer no good end if
the pr'isVt.'-/e4 was produced ;' they.therefore declined to
make an order. fi6.;1‘1!4•61 further said,' that until the
same number of magistrates votel ?or granting the order
as had voted against it, he should decline rif ;41 i 'g any
further in the matter. It was for them (the jury) to'
consider that there was no chance of the prisoner being
brought there.

Mr, Langford—l beg to move an adjournment till
the tridn be bronght here.
beg to second it,
~ •
After a lengtheziEd disenssidn the jury retired for con-
sultation, and were absiiii atoitt three-quartets of an
hour. Their names having been Called o'er; the fore-
man read the following

" PROTEST.

" Guildhall, Plymouth, Jan. 8, 1861.
" The jury are of unanimous opinion that the refusal
of the magistrates to grant the order for the production
before the coroner and jury of the prisoner Robert
Hacked, charged with the murder of Lance Sergeant
Jones, has a tendency to frustrate the ends of justice,
inasmuch as it deprives the prisoner of the opportunity
of confronting his accusers, and also creates a precedent
subversive of the constitutional usages of the country.
"The jury, therefore, agree to adjourn till Friday,
the nth inst., at 6 p.m., trusting that the magistrates
will in the meantime grant the order for the prisoner's
appearance at that day and hour.
(Signed) "JosEPH Witts, Foreman."

The dotoner undertook to present the protest, after
which the jury and Witnesses were again bound corer to
appear at the tilde agreed upon; and the proceedings
terminated.

The feeling of the court was decidedly in favour of
he view taken by the jury.— Weßtern Morning Yeta.

THE DOUBLE MURDER IN MONAGHAN.

MONAGHAN, Jan. 5.

The murdered men, James and Robert Shaw, resided
in the towuland, and are said to have gathered a con-
siderable sum of money. In fact, I have been informed
that the two unfortunate men were worth considerably
more than £7OO. Although their circumstances, there-
fore, Were c'ansiderably above the average, yet they
seemed to hate lited miserably. They had neither
servant, bed, nor blanket. I was painted out
the place in which they slept, a stable (a portion
of their dwelling house), which was also occupied
by two horses, for one of which the murdered men
recently refused to take fifty pounds. It was also stated
—and I have reason to believe it—that for the past five
years they never undressed in retiring to rest, and yet
they seemed stout and healthy men. I give you this
preliminary sketch in order that you may better under-
stand the narrative of the murder. It seems that the
unsuspecting men repaired to the door to speak to the
persons outside. Robert would seem to be the first to
open the door, for, when found, he was lying inside on
the floor, his head being towards the interior of the
kitchen, as if he had been shot from outside. The
doctor described the wound that caused death as that
of a gun-shot, entering behind the ear, and going
out at the left side of the crown. While Robert was
being murdered, James seems to have lost his self-
possession, and must have passed over the body of
his murdered brother to reach the door, not availing
himself of a loaded fowling-piece that was found in the
house undischarged, and on reaching the door he was
fired at, the ball taking a portion of the skull and a large
quantity of the brains, which were found adhering to the
top of the door-post, the ball grazing the other part of
the side-wall, where its mark is visible. Thus you will
perceive Robert was shot near the door. James was shot
next at the door, and like Robert fell inside. When the
bodies were discovered yesterday, at one o'clock, James's
body was lying across Robert's legs, and from this fact
it appears evident that James was shot after his brother.
A second party is, I understand, also arrested, but the
evidence for so far is not clear against either of them.
Though this is, perhaps, as diadolical a murder as you
have ever recorded in your columns, yet there is one
thing about it different to many other murders. Tho
deceased men were quiet, harmless, and inoffensive.
Though nominally Protestants, I believe they have been
at no place of worship for many years, never were, so
far as I know, connected with any party, and always
lived on good terms with all their neighbours. At the
same time, I must observe that they could not have
been murdered for their money, as it was pretty generally
known that they seldom kept any in their house, and
what motive could have led to such an awful crime is,
for the present, a mystery, but it is one that I am sure
our very energetic Heal Constable Trimble will soon
unravel.—Be/fast News-Letter.

THE ACCIDENT AT ASTLEY'S AMPHITHEATRE.-311%
W. Batty has received a letter from the father of Smith,
the young man who was killed by the lion at the above
theatre, on Monday morning last, in which he expresses
his desire to see the last of his poor son, but complained
of his poverty as an obstacle to his undertaking so long
and expensive a journey, as from Landport, near Ports-
mouth. where he resides. Mr. Batty, who is deeply
grieved at the occurrence, and from the first moment
readily promised to defray all the expenses connected
with the funeral, immediately furnished the unhappy
father with sufficient funds to enable him to reach Lon-
don and provide himself with every requisite under such
melancholv circumstances. The inquest is adjourned
until Monday next, when the rumour about the crushed
jaw will, it is said, be thoroughly refuted. That death
was instantaneous there can be no doubt, although the
lion does not appear to have lacerated the flesh with the
intention of devouring him. .

EXTRAORDINARY AND GALLANT CONDUCT.-A VES-
SEL BROUGHT TO HER DESTINATION BY ONE HAND.-
A most extraordinary case in connection with naviga-
tion, and one illustrative of what the coolness and
energy of one man can effect, has just occurred on
board the schooner Diadem, of Whitehaven, which
arrived safely the other morning at that port from
Belfast, having on board the master, Captain Connor,
only, the crew having abandoned the vessel in Belfast
Lough last Saturday night, when she came into col-
lision with the schooner Caledonia, of Preston. The
sailors, it appears, left their own craft at the time of the
collision, and got on board the Caledonia, and have been
landed at Belfast; but Captain Connor, nothing
daunted, stuck to his post, and by his own unaided
hand brought his vessel across the Channel in safety to
her destination. Every credit is due to him for such
noble conduct in remaining by his vessel, and skilfully
navigating her into the desired haven under such un-
favourable circumstances.-Belfast Aews-Letter.
BANKRUPTCIES LAST YEAIL-It appears that the
number of bankruptcies gazetted last year was 1,266, of
which 643 occurred in the metropolitan, and 623 in the
provincial districts ; Liverpool figuring for 71, Man-
chester for 64, Birmingham for 201, Leeds for 107,
Bristol for 93, Exeter for 52, and Newcastle for 35. In
1859 the number of bankruptcies gazetted was 943; in
1858, 1.353; in 1857, 1,429; in 1856, 1,197 ; in 1855,
1,411; in 1854, 1,214; in 1853, 756 ; in 1852, 822 ; and
in 1851, 935-showing an average on the ten years of
1,123, or 143 below last year's total. Of the excess last
year 95 bankruptcies occurred in the metropolitan dis-
trict, which had 473 in 1851. 399 in 1852, 422 in 1853,
629 in 18.54, 656 in 1855, 569 in 1856, 664 in 1857,
563 in 1858, and 462 in 1859. The remainder of
the excess last year, 48, came from the provincial dis-
tricts, which figured for 462 in 1851, 423 in 1852, 334
in 1853, 585 in 1854, 755 in 1855, 628 in 1856, 765 in
1857, 790 in 1358, and 481 in 1859. Last year the
Liverpool district was 8, the Manchester 25, and the
Newcastle 1, below the average of the decade; while, on
the other hand, the Birmingham was 45, the Leeds 2,
the Bristol 25, and the Exeter 10, below the average.
Every district except the Liverpool (which was 5 below)
showed an excess as compared with 1859, the increase
being 14 in the Manchester, 50 in the Birmingham, 9
in the Leeds, 40 in the Bristol, 17 in the Exeter, and
17 in the Newcastle jurisdictions.

PARTICULARS OF THE ACCIDENT TO THE RIGHT HON.
ABRAHAM BREWSTF.R.—On Thursday, Mr. Brewster,
Sir John Keane, Mr. Osborne, M.P., and other gentle-
men formed a shooting party that day, and were for
some hours successfully engaged in the Newtown Anner
pheasant preserves. Mr. Brewster shot with a needle
breech-loading gun, made by Needham, of London. At
about four o'clock in the evening the accident occurred
to the right honourable gentleman. Cooke, the game-
keeper, informed the party that in the corner of the
plantation twenty or thirty pheasants were lying, and
immediately preparations were made to take the birds
on the wing. Mr. Brewster, it appears, had provided
himself with a pack of cartridges that were of less bore
than the barrel of the gun. In loading the left barrel,
it appears the cartridge ran out from the needle, and
when lie pulled the trigger the gun missed fire. While
the needle was protruding in the barrel he incautiously
used the loading rod, and drove the cartridge right down
upon the needle, causing the gun to explode. The
cartridge passed right through the centre of the palm of
his right hand, and at the same time the,loading rod, it
is supposed, through the fleshy part of his thumb.
Fortunately none of the bones of the hand were broken,
but the flesh was severely lacerated. Sir John Keane,
who was standing close to Mr. Brewster when this
accident took place, used eVery effort to check the
bleeding, and temporarily bandaged the arm. Dr.
Hemphill, Clonmel, was quickly in attendance, arrested
hcemorrage, and remained all night. Last night the
learned gentleman' passed a good night, and is to-day
progressing favourably. Mrs. French, daughter of Mr.
Brewster, and his son, Colonel Brewster, were tele-
graphed for, and arrived here last night by the 7 p.m.
train, and proceeded at once to Newtown Anner.
Though painful this accident, Mr. Brewster, with true
sportsmanlike feeling, insisted upon the shooting being
continued on Friday.—Clonmel Chronicle.