The Express.
London, England, 1852-07-29 00:00:00

ELOPEMENT FROM LIVERPOOL.

Daring the past few days the conversation of nearly
all classes in Liverpool has been confined to an elopement
which has just taken place, and which, from the relative
position in life of the lady and gentleman, has caused no
little gossip, particularly in those plies " where merchants
most do congregate." The gentleman is a married mau,
with a family. The lady is a handsome young widow, well
known as the proprietress of on' of the leading hotels in the
immediate vicinity of the Exchange. The gentleman is
one of the wealthiest of the " merchant princes" of Liver-
pool, and a partner in cue of the leading firma of the
town. Luxuriating in the superabundance of this
world's goods, ho some time ago added to his
distinctive position as an influential british merchant the
character of ' lord and master" of an "old ancestral hall"
in a neighbouring county, which hal formerly Menthe
residence of a branch of one of the meet ancient families in
England. A few year. ego the head of tho ancient family
alluded to was compelled to dispose of the whole of his
patrimonial estates ant " lordly halls." The principal
family seat (which commands a beautiful view of the
estuary of the Mersey), together with ita extensive
demesne, was purchased by the wealthiest banker in
Liverpool, whilst a neighbouring mansion, with its
broad acres, scarcely inferior to the before-named, became
the property of the gentleman who is the sub-
ject of this narrative. Ile married the daughter of
his late and sister to his present partner, the fruit
of such marriage being four children with the pros-
pect of a fifth. The marriage took place under unusually
happy auspices. The father of the bride, who was then an
alderman of Liverpool, is said to have settled upon his
daughter the sum of 30,0*01., whilst the bridegroom inside
a settlement upon her of 10,000/.
Stich are the circumstances, so far as the hero of this
story is concerned, and it only remains to remark, as re-
parole the heroine, before narrating the flight of the fugi-
tives, that she is reported to be an exceedingly fascinating
personage, the mother of two interesting children, and that
she left her home on this occaason in possession of no less a
stun than 3,0001.
It appears that the fugitives left Liverpool on Tuesday
morning last, by the four o'clock early mail, for London.
The lady left her hotel alone, and (no doubt by previous
appointment) met the gentleman at tho railway station.
They were seen to enter the same carriage, and it his
since been ascertained from the officials in charge of the
train that thus in company they travelled to London. A !
letter is said to have been received from the gentleman on
Saturday, bearing the Folkestone postmark; whilst still
more corroborative proofs of the arrangements previously
made between the parties were discovered in the course of
yesterday.
The gentleman, whose annual income is variously stated
to amount to 4,0001. and 5,000,, independently of his inte-
rest in the Liverpool house, is said to have taken with him
upwards of 12,0001., which, with the lady's 3,0001., will for
some time provide the " ways and means" for their conti-
nental excursion. It is understood that a member of the
legal profession has been despatched in search of the gen
Orman, with the view of some arrangement being made
with regard to the family. It is currently rumoured that
steps will be taken fur procuring a divorce, and it is not
unlikely that the affair will be the means of calling into
requisition the services of the gentlemen of the long robe.

THE SOUTHEND WEECKERB.—Tho Shipping Ga
slate thus comments on the extraordinary act of piracy by
Bouthend boatmen, of which some particulars appeared in I
yestertlay'e e.zpreat : " Amongst our shipping
gence will be found • report from Sheerness, which we
have no doubt will be read with astonishment. Sheerness
is a garrison town, one of our principal naval stations, with
seldom less than 6 or 8 of her Majesty's ships, large and
small, lying in the harbour, the command of which is en-
trusted to • vice-admiral, an officer whom we know to be of
an active and energetic mind. A British vessel is wrecked
within two or three miles of these ships-of-war, and a pirati-
cal expedition immediately sets out from the fashierable
watering place of Southend, armed with axes for the
nefarious purpose they had in view. These men, with
their deadly weapons, drove off the crew of the vessel,
and then set about cutting and taking away the span,
rigging, and indeed everything they could lay their hands
upon. On the circumstance becoming known to the admi-
ral at Sheerness, one of her Majesty's steamers, with a party
of marines, was sent to protect the wreck ; the pirates wore
of course driven off; they retreated to Southend, the place
from which the expedition originally Oct out, and hero two
of the vessels were captured and taken possession of. One
would have supposed that this might have been sufficient to
deter them from any further attempt. No such thing, how-
ever; they returned again to their work—of course during
the absence of the steamer sent to protect the vessel—cut
sway her masts, anal n newed the process of plunder, until
at last it was found necessary to send another steamer, with
• party of marines on board, to remain by the wreck.
When we read of such occurrences on the coast of
Borneo, New Guinea, or other parts of the Eastern Archi-
pelago, we come to the conclusion that no punishment
would be too severe for such ruthless savagem ; and in what
respect, we ask, are the wreckers of Southend better than
the pirates of Borneo or the Celebes ? Really such seenes
arc sufficient to make a person blush for the civilisation of
the people on our coast. The diagneetul occurrence that
is recorded in our columns today has happened almost at
the very port of our metropolis. It has not been on the
wild coast of Cornwall, or the north-west of Ireland, but at
Sheerness, that this open violence has been perpetrated ;
and a place which is almost in hourly communication with
the City has shown an utter disregard of the laws of the'
country, and • hardened determination iti the commirsion
of crime, which could scarcely have been expected from the
rude race that irhabit the wild, of Connemara. We ear- '
neatly hope that the parties arc known, arid that they will
meet the punishment they so richly deserve."
BUFIT OF LORD DENmAN.—A bust of Lord Den•
man will, in the course of a few days, be placed in the hall
of the Law Institution, Chancery. lane, by the members of
that institution and the profession generally, to mark
their appreciation of his many amiable qualities sad the'
great ability displayed in the discharge of his arduous
duties while Lord Chief Justice of England. The bust,'
which is the site of life, is from the chisel of Christopher
Moor.