The Press.
London, England, 1854-03-11 00:00:00

226

THE MAU-MLITT OF THE COUNTY COURT for ex-
tensive credit in country districts was shown in a
trial lately held on the Midland Circuit. The pro-
secutor was a" tallyman," who had no less than 0,000
debts on his books, and stated that he summoned not
less than 250 persons on an average to these courts
every year.
MR. Ds Momvs, formerly member of Parliament
for an Irish county, was charged at the Mansion-
house on Wednesday with forgery, his wife being
also included in the accusation as an acces-
sory. It was shown that the prisoners had written to
a broker respecting some stock amounting to 1,5201.,
which was invested in the names of two trustees.
One of these he said was dead, and the stock must
be sold. Being informed of the proper steps to take
in such a case, Mr. De Molyns subsequently seat up
a certificate of the death of one trustee, and a war-
rant of attorney signed in the name of Simpson, the
survivor, for the sale of the stock. This operation
was thereupon performed, and Mrs. De Molyns called
at the broker's office and received the money. Sub-
sequently it was ascertained that the signature of
Mr. Simpson had been forged to the warrant of
attorney. Both the prisoners were consequently
arrested in London at a house where they had lived
under an assumed name. Mr. De Molyns, in de-
fence, said that the money was his own, having been
invested with the trustees for his benefit. After the
death of one he wrote to the other for power to sell,
and, getting no reply, signed his (the trustee's)
name to the warrant, believing the course to be per-
fectly legal and proper, and learning that there was no
other means of getting at the fund. The Lord Mayor
observed upon the extraordinary nature of the case,
which he felt bound, however, to send before a jury.
He consented to accept bail for the defendants'
appearance when the cause should be tried.
THE BURNHAM MURDER came under scrutiny at
Aylesbury on Wednesday and Thursday] last, Hatto,
the groom, being placed on his trial before the Lord
Chief Justice on the capital charge. The facts of
the crime have very recently appeared in our co-
lumns. It will be remembered that the murdered
woman was housekeeper to a farmer named Good-
win, and that her body was found in her room par-
tially consumed by fire, but with marks of death by
violence still uneffaced upon it. In order to connect
the prisoner with the crime, very voluminous evi-
dence, of a circumstantial character, was adduced,
the proceedings lasting two entire days. Ultimately
the jury returned a verdict of Guilty, and sentence of
death, without hope of commutation, was passed
upon the culprit by Lord Campbell.

gtaihnis nnb Oluttes.

PLACARDS offering 501. reward have been issued in
the metropolis by the friends of a gentleman named
Walsh, a surgeon, of Worcester, who has been for
some few days missing under the most extraordinary
circumstances. Mr. Walsh, it appears, arrived about
the Ist inst. at the Sussex llotel, Bouverie-street,
and afterwards left that house for the South-Western
Railway, to see a newly-constructed staircase, since
which time, notwithstanding all inquiries, nothing
has been heard of him, and it is feared that he has
been waylaid and murdered. The police are busily
employed in the matter.
A FATAL ACCIDENT occurred on Thursday week in
Rotten-row, Mr. Hentry John Blagrave, No. 8,
Southwick-place, having been thrown from his horse.
On being picked up he was found insensible, and
removed to St. George's Hospital, where he rallied a
little. A relapse came on, which continued till his
death, which is supposed to have been the effect of
concussion on the brain. Deceased, who was aged 34,
was in the possession of a large fortune.

AN Exri.osioN took place on Monday evening at
the firework manufactory of Mr. Coton, in the West-

minster-road, by which the premises were set on fire
and destroyed, and the lives of Mr. Coton and three
other persons sacrificed. Mrs. Coton, her sister in-
law, and two children were fortunately extricated
from the building without suffering much injury,
having been at the moment of the explosion in the
basement floor. The great quantity of fireworks of
all sorts in the premises did not all explode at the
same moment, but continual detonations lasted for
some time, to the terror of the neighbourhood, the
rockets, Roman lights, &c., being discharged in all
directions, and driving back on all sides the mob
assembled to witness the scene. The firemen from
the different stations were quickly in attendance, and
immense volumes of water were poured upon the
flames. It was, however, with great difficulty,
from the combustible nature of the contents of the
place, that the fire was at length extinguished.
The cause of this fatal conflagration is not known.
Mr. Coton and a boy had gone to the top floor of
the manufactory for the purpose of papering some
fireworks almost immediately before the explosion
took place.

SATTJRDAY,

FAREWELL BANQUET TO SIR C. NAPIER.
THE members of the Reform Club entertained Sir

C. Napier on Tuesday in celebration of his appoint-
ment as Admiral of the Baltic fleet. The coffee-room
of the clubhouse was selected as the scene of the

banquet, and was decorated for the occasion with the
flags of England, France, and Turkey in appropriate
union. As the room afforded space for only about
160 guests, many intending assistants at this festivity
were disappointed, and a large number crowded into
the ante-rooms, in order to hear the speeches, who
could not obtain seats at the tables. Lord Palmers-

ton occupied the chair, with Lord Dudley Stuart and
Sir De Lacy Evans as vice-chairmen. M. Musurus,
the Turkish envoy, Namik Pacha, Sir J. Graham,
Sir W. Woleswoi th, Admiral Berkeley, Mr. Keogh,

and Mr. Sadleir, were among the company present.
After the cloth was removed, the usual loyal toasts
were proposed in the customary order, and duly
honoured. The health of the Emperor of the

French was afterwards proposed by Lord Palmerston,
who accompanied it with a recognition of " his per-
fect good faith, his single-minded sincerity, his
energy of purpose, and community of determination,
which has inspired in our minds the same full con-
fidence in him that I am proud to say he has always
expressed in us." The last royal personage on his
list was the Sultan of Turkey, " who is," said the
noble lord,
" I am sure, an object of interest to this company; as he
is not only to this country, bat I may say to every honest
man in Europe. There are two circumstaucee which are
calculated, perhaps beyond all others, to inspire interest as
a man—the one is, the good deeds of the man himself ;
the other is, the evil doings of others to him. (Loud
cheers.) Now, in both these respects the Sultan is pecu-
liarly entitled to inspire interest in the minds of the men
of this country. That he is the object of evil doing on the
part of others is a fact too notorious to require explanation ;
for there never was a sovereign who, more than the Sultan
now is, was the object of the most abominable injustice on
the part of others—(loud cheers)—an injustice which is
only to be equalled by that which is described iu the old
fable of the 'Wolf and the Lamb.' But the wolf, this
time, has made a mistake—it is no lamb he has to deal
with. (Laughter and cheers.) As to the deeds of the
Sultan himself, speaking here as a member of the Reform
Club, it is surely a title to esteem that the Sultan is a
great reformer. Gentlemen, I give you ' The health of
the Sultan Abd-el-Medjid ; ' and I think that, by the manly
support of England and France fighting hand in hand in
his cause, the injustice with which he is threatened will
be defeated, and that he will be placed in the permanent
possession of those sovereign rights which he has always
exercised for the benefit and welfare of his people. (Loud
cheers.)"

M. Mt.:suites replied briefly, in French, to the
compliment paid to his Sovereign.
The toast of the evening—the health of Sir C.
Napier—then followed. In proposing this Lord
PALMERSTON said:—

" Gentlemen, there was a remarkable entertainer of dinner
companies, called Sir Robert Preston, who when he gave a
dinner at Greenwich, after gorging his company with turtle,
used to turn round to the waiters, and say, ' Now bring in
the dinner.' (Laughter.) We have now gone through the
toast which corresponds to the turtle ; let us now go to
dinner. (Continued laughter.) Let us now go to the toast
which is the real occasion of our assembling here this
evening—l mean The health of my gallant friend, Sir
Charles Napier, who now sits beside me, If I were to
address myself to a Hampshire audience, composed of the
country gentlemen of that county, to which my gallant friend
and I both belong, I would have introduced to your notice
an eminent agriculturist. (Great cheering and laughter.) For,
when it was my good fortune to enjoy his hospitality at
Merchistoun-house, he gave me most valuable instructions
as to farming, the state of feeding cattle, the growth of
turnips, wire-fencing, under-draining, and the like. ( Great
cheering and laughter.) My gallant friend is a match for
everything, and whatever he gives his mind to he generally
succeeds in it; but, however, he, like Cincinnatus, now
leaves the plough and puts on his armour, and is prepared
to do the same good service to the country which he has
always performed when an opportunity offered. (Cheers.)
My gallant friend has, indeed, made himself conspicuous
on every occasion and in every place where he had an oppor-
tunity of distinguishing himself. 1 pass over the earlier
exploits of his younger days, which are well known to all
in his profession ; but there is one remarkable exploit of
his life performed in the same cause of liberty and justice
in which he is now about to engage. In D 433 my gallant
friend volunteered to serve the Queen of Portugal against
the tyranny and usurpation of Dom Miguel. At that time
he commanded a modest fleet of frigates and corvettes, end
at the head of that little squadron be captured a very
superior force, including a large lime-of-battle ship. That
VMS a great victory—for it decided the cause in dispute—
it decided the cause of liberty in Portugal—it decided
between liberty and arbitrary power in Spain, where my
gallant friend at the bottom of the table ( Sir lie Lacy Evans )
also lent his powerful assistance, and with the same success
but my gallant friend here gave the first turn to the success,
and it is mainly owing to his victory that the Queen of
Portugal obtained the throne, and that the Portuguese nation
now enjoys its liberties. (Cheers.) A gallant friend of mine,
whose loss I deeply lament, who was equally distinguished
as a soldier and a diplomatist—l mean Lord William
Russell—told me that hearing one day my gallant friend was
in Valence, at a distance from the squadron which he had
under his command, he and Colonel Hare went to visit him,
and they saw a man dressed In a very easy way, followed by
a man with two muskets on his shoulder. He took one of

r

MARCH 11, 1854.

them for Robinson Crusoe ; but who should it be but the
gallant admiral, and a marine who followed him ? lie said,
' Why, Napier, what are you doing here?' Why,' said
my Fallout friend, ' I want to take Valenca: Said Lord
William, ` Valence is a fortified town, and wesoldiers know
how fortified towns are to be taken ; the trenches must be

opened, approaches must be made, batteries must be
erected, and a number of other things must be done, ac-
cording to rule.' Ah,' said my gallant friend, I have
no time for all that. I have got a number of blue jackets here
from the ship—(cheers)—and I mean to take the town by
letter; and so he did. He sent the governor a letter to sur-
render the town at discretion; and the governor, being a
sensible man, knew the sort of fellow he had to deal with,
and so surrender he did ; and, the trenches, approaches,
breaches, and batteries being all left undone, the town was
not the less handed over to the Queen of Portugal. The
next occasion in which my gallant friend took a part—a part
which I in my official capacity, and the Government of
which I was a member, felt deeply indebted and obliged to
the gallant gentleman—was the war in Syria, and there my
gallant friend distinguished himself as usual. On sea or
shore, all was one to him, provided he met an enemy; and
am full sure that there the enemy wished he was not to
ere found. (Laughter and cheers.) But not content with
acting a successful part as an admiral and a general, he
must needs act the part of a diplomatist too, and that with
equal success, for he went to Alexandria and landed there,
and persuaded Mehemet Ali to sign a convention which
eventually led to the peaceful evacuation of Syria, to the ac-
complishment of the purposes of the war, and which
rescued Syria from the horrors of invasion. Then I say
that, my gallant friend having had the good fortune to
succeed in all the operations he has hitherto undertaken,
we have reason to hope he will be equally successful in the
future as the past; and, bearing that in mind, I cannot
refrain from repeating an observation made to me by a very
discriminating and calculating friend of mine, who passed
some portion of his time inthe Eastatthe period to which I
have adverted—who saw a good deal of my gall an t frien d there,
and who, when he came home, came to me to give me some
account of what he had observed there. I mentioned my
gallant friend to him, and praised his boldness, his intrepidity,
his daring. My friend said, ' Yes ; all that is very true, but
there is another quality Sir Charles Napier possesses as
valuable as any of those, and a very important ingredient in
them—l never saw a man in my life who calculated so many
moves beforehand as Sir Charles Napier.' (Great eheering.)
Now, when a man calculates his movesbeforehand, and has
a spirit and genius to execute them, I think that the country
which places its fortunes in his hands may well feel confi-
dence in his success. (Cheers.)"
In responding to this speech, and the enthusiastic
cheers which accompanied the toast it introduced,
Sir C. NAPIER expressed his inability to give due ut-
terance to his feelings, and then proceeded to testify
some surprise as to where Lord Palmerston got all
his amusing stories. " Most of them," he added,
" are trne—some of them area little exaggerated in
my favour." Adverting to present circumstances, the
gallant admiral continued:—
" I cannot say that we are in a state of war, because we
are still in a state of peace ; but I suppose we are very
nearly at war. And I suppose that when I get to the Bal-
tic I shall have an opportunity of declaring war. (Loud
cheering.) And certainly, if f have the opportunity, I hope
it will end in a prosperous war ; because I can safely say
that this country never sent out such a splendid fleet as
that which is about to go into the Baltic in a few days.
And I think that my right honourable friend, Sir James
Graham, deserves the greatest credit for having, after such
a long peace, when we had no seamen, or very few, been
able to fit out such a magnificent fleet. Nor must I forget
the services of my hon. friend the Surveyor of the Navy,
who has corrected all the faults of his predecessors, which
for a number of years I was imprudent enough to point
out. But since he came I do not think it is possible to
point out a single fault in the construction of the ships.
He, in conjunction with the First Lord of the Admiralty,
and with his predecessors too—for I must not forget to
give the preceding Board of Admiralty their weed of praise.
—the Surveyor of the Navy had changed the whole style of
building ships ; instead of the small ships which were for-
merly built, he substituted enormous ships of the line with
the screw, which has altered the character of naval warfare.
(Cheers.) We have now a fleet well advanced—l do not
say that the fleet is yet in perfect order—but which I be-
lieve, considering the officers that have been appointed,
very soon will be. With the force that we have—l do not
say that it is equal to the force of Russia—but I believe
with the assistance of the screw we shall be able to attack
a very large and a superior force, and that every officer and
sailor on board the fleet will remember the words of the
immortal Nelson, ' England expects every man to do his
duty.' (Loud cheers.)"
Sir C. NAPIER then in his turn proposed a toest,
and gave the health of his official chief, the First
Lord of the Admiralty, to whom he assigned
" the merit of beginning the war—if it he war —by pra
ducing a fleet which does him infinite credit. That
awn
will in a few days leave Spithead, and any gentleman
who comes to see it will approve of it. And,
when the
fleet returns, I have no doubt it will be either in better
or worse order, as the case may be. (Laughter and
cheers.)"
Sir J. GRARASI replied, congratulating himself,
the present company, and the country, upon the
prospects before them:—
" Happy combinations abroad, fairly united) o
hs
at
home, and officers selected possessing equally the confi-
dence of Government and of the country —these form a
combination of circutostances of which any conntryd whey
well be mond. (Cheers.) had the pleasnre sad t
honour Of first niskanfl the it.:vaintence of my pliant esa