The Press.
London, England, 1856-03-08 00:00:00

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LONDON, SATURDAY, MARCH 8, 1656.

POSTSCRIPT.

A telegraph from Hamburg states :
Two Russian war-steamers, accompanied by three gun-
boats, have got out of Sweaborg by breaking the ice. These
ships have appeared in the Baltic.

Intelligence from Constantinople states that :

Lord Stratford do Redcliffe had presented a note from
the English Government, asking the Porte to allow, as a
guarantee for the promised reforms, the occupation by
English troops for an indefinite period of Varna, Gallipoli,
and Candia. It was thought at Constantinople that if this
question be discussed at Paris Russia will oppose it.

Reinforcements of French troops are no longer
directed on Kamiesch, but on blaslak.

Marshal Pelissier has been summoned to Paris.

The Turkish Government is reported to have
issued 100,000,000 of paper money.

Sir Thomas Redington has resigned his office of
one of the Secretaries to the Beard of Control.
The Earl of Derby entertained at dinner, on Wed •
nesday, at his mansion in St. James's-square, the fol-
lowing members of the House of Commons :—Sir
John Walsh, Sir William Jolliffe, Sir Joseph Bailey,
Sir Frederick Thesiger, Colonel Harcourt, Colonel
North, Colenel Somerset, Colonel Boldero, Colonel
Dunne, Captain Bateson, Mr. Liddell, Mr. Bankes,
Mr. Henley, Mr. Cole, Mr. Evelyn, Mr. Bagge,
Mr. Du Pre, Mr. Whitmore, Mr. Horsfall, Mr. Malins,
Mr. Vansittart, Mr. Cubits, and Mr. Eliot Yorke.
The Right Hon. B. Disraeli entertained at dinner,
on Wednesday, at his residence, Grosvenor•gate, the
following members of the House of Commons :—Lord
Henry Gordon Lennox, Lord Charles Clinton, Gen.
Hon. H. Arbuthnott, Mr. Hylton Jolliffe, Mr.
Farrer, Mr. King King, Mr. Fitzwilliam Hume, Mr.
Whiteside, Mr. Rust, Mr. Goddard, Mr. Gwyn, Mr.
Peacocke, Mr. Gathorne Hardy, Mr. Robertson, Mr.
Moody, and Mr. Lloyd Davies.
The Lord Chancellor, with Lords Granville, Stan-
ley of Alderley, Sundridge, Lansdowne, HarrowLy,
Panmure, Glenelg, Breadalbane, and Sydney, have
published a protest against the right of the Com-
mittee of Privileges to decide the question of life
peerages, with all hereditary privileges save one, on
the plea of the undoubted prerogative of the Crown,
the common Inature of the creation, anti the want
of principle or precedent warranting the house to
refuse admission to such a peer.
Mr. Layard has been elected Lord Rector for the
current year of Aberdeen University.
The Rev. Reginald Courtenay is appointed Bishop
of Jamaica. It is in contemplation to hop arate the
Bahamas for a distinct see.

General Williams is slowly recovering from Lis
severe illness at Tiflis.

Captain W. C. Harris and Captain Labalmondiere
have been appointed assistant commissioners of the
metropolitan police.
The Royal Commission of General Officers formed
to inquire into the Crimean report of Sir John
M‘Neill and Colonel Tulloch will hold its meetings
in the Great Hail of the Royal Hospital, Chelsea.
Mr. Saunders, of the Western Circuit, and Re-
corder of Devonport, has been appointed to the Re-
cordership of Plymouth, in the place of Sir William
Carpenter Rowe, now Chief Justice of Ceylon. *

THE PRESS.

THE CONFERENCES.

THE plenipotentiaries had their fourth and fifth
sittings on Tuesday and Thursday afternoons in this
week; the sittings on each occasion lasted four
hours. A sixth sitting, will, it is anticipated, take
place this day.
The statement by Lord Palmerston on Monday
(see Parliamentary Intelligence) of the signature of
preliminaries, was confirmed by a telegraph from
Berlin, announcing that the Emperor of Russia had
transmitted to • Count Orloff a declaration of his
approval of the act.
The Constitutionned this week has stated that it
has reason to believe—

That the allies of the 2nd December have given notice
to the Russian Plenipotentiaries that at the expiration of
the armistice concluded until the :11st of March, no pro-
longßt.on of it will be granted. Bekre that date, there-
fore, the preliminaries of peace which contain the callus
belli must be accepted and ratified by Russia.
The Le Nord of the 6th, says :

One thing is happily certain—that the Conference con-
tinues its work with a sentiment of moderation and equity
which is a guarantee, not material, like a treaty, but a
moral and excellent guarantee, of the successful termina-
tion of the negotiations. It is that the Emperor of the
French believes in Peace, every wise and intelligent man
in every country wishes it, and the interests of Europe
demand it.

HOUSE OF LORDS.-FRIDAY.

LAW.

The Mercantile Amendment Bill and the Mercan-
tile Law (Scotland) Amendment Bill were read a
second time.
Their lordships adjourned at half-past five o'clock.

HOUSE OF COMMONS-FRIDAY.
SOLDIERS' GRAVES IN THE CRIMEA.

Sir J. FERGUSON called the attention of the Ad-
ministration to the necessity of taking steps to obtain
a pledge from the Russian Government to secure that
the graves of the British officers and soldiers in the
Crimea shall be respected, after the country may
have been evacuated by the allied armies.

Lord PALMERSTON assured the house that the sub-
ject had not been overlooked, and expressed his con-
viction that no difficulty would arise in obtaining
such a pledge from the Russians, who had, he ob-
served, during the course of the war, invariably
observed all the courtesies customary among civilised
nations.

APPELLATE

lON OF THE PEERS.

On the motion for going into Committee of Supply,
Mr. BOWYER commented at great length upon the
anomalous stare of the appellate
,jurisdiction exer-
cised by the House of Lords. He enforced the
necessity of establishing, upon principles which he
described in detail, a Supreme Court of Appeal, pre-
sided over by special and permanent judges.
When Mr. Bowyer concluded his address, which
was considerably prolonged, and listened to with some
impatience, the subject was allowed to drop, and the
house went into Committee of Supply.

SUPPLY.

Several votes belonging to the Ordnance estimates
were agreed to in committee, after a miscellaneous

discussion prolonged for some hours.
The grant of 1,794,0001. on account of the works
and buildings at Woolwich and other arsenals gave
occasion for a protracted debate, in which the rela-
tive advantages of the contract system or of Govern•
ment manufactories for the supply of iron ordnance,
mortars, shells, Sec., were respectively upheld and
questioned by many hon. members. Ultimately the
vote was passed, and the house then resumed at one
o'clock.

The remaining business on the paper was rapidly
disposed of, and the house adjourned at half-past one
o'clock.

OFFICIAL DESPATCHES RESPECTING THE

FALL OF KARS.
THE papers lately presented to Parliament relative
to the " Military Affairs in Asiatic Turkey and the
Defence and Capitulation of Kars" are of too impor-
tant a nature, and too voluminous in extent, to be
summarily disposed of by a br,ef precis of their
cunt en Is.

The documents commence with a letter by the
Earl of Clarendon, dated August 2, 1854, to Lieut.-
Colonel Williams, informing him of his appointment
as commissioner at the headquarters of the Turkish
army in Asia. Letters to and from Lord Stratford
de Redcliffe, and to and from Colonel Williams,
follow, treating of the gallant colonel's interview with
and instructions from Lord Raglan ; certain losses of
the Turks; the state of things at Erzeroum; the
measures urgently required ; the state of the army;
and the defences and hospitals at Kars at the date
of Colonel W'lliams' arrival. Oa the Bth of Decem-
ber, 1854, Colonel Williams writes from Erzeroum t)
Lord Stratford de Redeliffe complaining of not re-
ceiving replies to fifty-four despatches sent to him
since the commissioner's arrival at Kars, and of the
dela/ in t4tendiug to his requests, and vroppying

SATURDAY,

the ultimate success of the Russians if these re-
quests be not attended to. Much correspondence
takes place on this point between Lord Clarendon,
Lord Stratford, and Colonel Williams.

On July 16, 1855, G2neral Simpson f‘trwards a
despatch detailing the particulars of a conference,
attended by General Pelissier, General La Marmon,
Vice-Admiral Sir E. Lyons, Vice-Admiral Bruai,
Rear Admiral Stewart, and General Simpson, at
which Omer Paella endeavoured to induce them to
send a portion of the troops from the Crimea and
transport them to Asia. His arguments failing to
produce any effect, the Turkish general announced
his intention of proceeding to Constantinople, to con_
suit with his Government ; and General Simpson
begs Lord Stratford "to use your powerful influence
to cause our opinion to prevail over that of his
Highness, for great public interests are at stake,
and serious consequences might result from his
success." Frequent despatches then appear from
General Williams as to the failing strength of his
garrison, and for the necessity of vigorous measly es.
On November 13, Consul Brant, narrating to Lord
Stratford the contents of a note he had received Irom
General Williams, adds (writing to Erzeroum): " I
ask from your Excellency is the Kars arniy to be
allowed to perish ? Is nothing to be done to re-
lieve it?"

Nov. 24, Consul Brant attributes all the danger to
the apathy of the Porte, and the cowardice and im-
becility of Selim Pacha.
Then follow the few remaining documents re-
lating to the catastrophe, comprising a despatch
trom General Williams announcing his surrender;
other despatches from Lord Clarendon to Lord Strat-
ford upon receipt of that intelligence ; and a volumi
nous abstract from Lord Stratford's correspondence
with the Turkish Government, from the arrival of
General Williams to the fall of Kars.

M. AND MME. GOLDSCHMIDT will give an evening
concert on Tuesday next at Exeter-hall, for the
benefit of the Nightingale Fund. The programme
is a most attractive one, and we cannot doubt that a
most brilliant attendance will reward the generosity
of Mme. Goldschmidt, and add a considerable sum
to the Fund.

Mr. Macaulay was lately burnt in effigy by the
Highlanders of Glenmore, Inverness, for the charges
brought against their ancestors by him in his last
volume of the "History of England."

THE LUNATIC POOR OF Sr. PANCRAS appear to be
no better cared for than their sane, brethren. The
report of the Lunacy Commissioners this week, dis-
closes a lamentable falling off in the care and pro-
tection of these unhappy people. No record is kept
of the number or mortality of the inmates. The
wards are crowded to excess; the stench of the place
unbearable : the bedding dirty and detective, and an
utter want of all care for the personal cleanlines,
convenience, or amusement of the inmates.

GENERAL BOSQUET.—We called to-day (Sept. 25,
1855) upon General Bosquet, who was very severely
wounded at the assault on the Malakoff, and, to our
surprise and pleasure, he was sufficiently recovered
to be able to admit us. We were shown into his
room, which forms one of the compartments of a
large wooden hut, and found him reclining in an
arm-chair, having been able to sit up only within the
last two days. He was struck by a piece of a
thirteen-inch shell under the right arm and on the
right side; it bad completely smashed all the
muscles and sinews, and his arm is as yet powerless
above the elbow joint. He showed us the piece of
shell by which he was struck ; it could not weigh has
than four pounds. It is astonishing how he es-
caped with life from a wound inflicted by so
terrible an implement of war. He appeared cheer
ful enough, and glad to causer UN peu, said he was
ordered away for change of air, but did not wish to
leave his post here, and fully coincided in my quota-
tion, " On ne marche pas a la gloire par le bon-
beim" In his room was a fauteuil taken from
Sebastopol, and which he had very appropriately
covered with the green turbans worn by the Zouaves
of his division.- —Mrs. Duberly's Journal.
THE CANADIAN PENINSULA.—The Great Western
Railway, joining all the large towns in that part of
the province, brings them within a few miles of each
other, and a trip we should have taken several days
to perform may now be accomplished in as many
hours—yet but a few months have passed since we
left the country. Thus rapidly do all material im-
provements progress in the Canadian peninsula.
Full of promise as is the whole land,
that, atter all,
is the garden of the province—the heart, the soul of
that great country. Canada will never cost English
Ministers another thought or care if they will brit
leave her entirely to govern herself as she thinks fit.
—Kingston's Western Wanderings.

I

MARCH 8, 1856.

Yalu an Volta.

THE. MARCH SESSIONS OF THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL
OUST were opened on Monday with the usual cere-
monies. The Right Hon. J. A. S. Wortley, M.P.,
Recorder, in his charge to the Grand Jury,
regretted the remarkably heavy nature of the calendar.
first edition contained the names of 110 prisoners.
regretted to find that there were no less than
seven charges of wilful murder and manslaughter,
that there were five prisoners charged with murder,
' that the cases involved the destruction of the
Ives of no less than nine human beings:—
During the last twelve months, after having for forty
years enjoyed the blessings of peace, they had been famili-
arised with all the horrors of war, and there was no doubt
that, during the same period, the most heinous crimes had
been committed by persons of high station, by persons also
holding a high position in the commercial and banking
community, and also by persons in a more humble position
f life; and in this court there had certainly been a most
4iusual number of cases involving the destruction of
human life. It was no part of his duty, or of that of the
grand jury, to enter into any consideration of the causes
that had led to this state of things, and whether it arose
from any peculiar circumstances in the state of the country
of the law ; but the subject was one that was entitled to
ire reflection ; and it certainly ought to urge them all to
everything in their power to extend education among
to people, and improve their condition, as the most
effectual means for the prevention of crime. Although
the cases to which he had alluded were of a very heinous
character, yet it would not be necessary for him to detain
them at any length by referring to the facts connected
with them, because none of them appeared to present any
difficulties in point of law.
learned Recorder then briefly referred to the
cases of Bousfield, Mrs. Somner, and three cases
of child murder, in all of which, he remarked, he
feared it would be the duty of the grand jury to find
bills. He then alluded to the remaining cases,
the court was opened.

.HE PRISONER BOUSFIELD, charged with the
murder of his wife and three children, was tried at
Central Criminal Court on Thursday. The
evidence differed in no material point from that pre-
viously given before the coroner. Mr. Ballantine
attempted a defence on the plea of insanity, but the
found the prisoner Guilty. Mr. Justice Wight-
man then passed sentence of death, without hope of
mercy.
WESTRON, the murderer of Mr. Waugh, is, by the
decision of the Home-office, to be condemned penal
servitude for life. _ _ _

Mn. WILLIAM DUNN, of Staines, charged by the
mtli-Western Railway Company with fraudulently
riding in first-ciass carriages with a second-class
• -ket, drowned himself last week at the Royal Baths,
,ewgate-street. He is said to have been seriously
lharrassed.

HANNAH BRAMWELL, charged with the murder of
infant by drowning it in the Serpentine, was
tried and Acquitted, on Thursday, at the Central
Criminal Cone.
`IRS. EMILY RYDER, who on the 2nd ult. destroyed
infant, was tried, on Thursday, and Acquitted on

.gr dof insanity.
THE RIAL OF RICHARD RAYNE AND JOHN CANE,

the murder of Mr. Robert Stirling, at Winlaton,
near Burnopfield, Durham, on the Ist of November
' has been postponed in order to enable the police
follow up some fresh and important discoveries.
THE TRIAL OF THE FOUR POACHERS, James Garver

the three Thurgoods, charged with the murder
- Sir John Tyrrell's gamekeeper, took place at
Chelmsford, on Monday, before Mr. Baron Alderson.
. identity of the prisoners was incontestably
proved, and strong circumstantial evidence to prove
that James Thurgood fired the fatal shot. The jury re-
turned a verdict, convicting James Thurgood of being
accessory to the murder, though doubting whether
really fired the shot. Sentence of death was
passed, and the other three prisoners, having pleaded
guilty to common poaching, were severally con-
demned to four years' penal servitude.
FREDERICK QUENNELL, charged last week with an
attempt to murder William Hurcum, while in the
Surrey Theatre, on the night of the 23rd ult., was
brought up on remand before Mr. a Beckett, at
ithwark, on Monday. Hurcum, who had suffici-
,ntly recovered to give evidence, stated that the
prisoner had several times during the evening of the
assault threatened to murder him, to have his blood,
do for him, and to be hanged for it also; and that
ile he (Hurcum` was on the landing taking his
It's money the prisoner struck him a violent blow
the head and knocked Lim down insensible.
Other witnesses corroborated this statement; saw
prisoner strike the blow with an iron rod, and

'card him exclaim, "I will kill you." An attempt
4as made for a further remand or summary treat
ment of the ease, on the plea of previous provocation,
Mr. a Beckett refused in so grave a case, and
prisoner was fully committed.
THE Stx PRISONERS charged with the murder of
Dorothy Bewicke, at Waterloo, near Maften, on the
Ist October last, were tried last week at Northum-

THE PRESS.

berland, before Mr. Justice Willes. The evidence
was purely circumstantial, turning upon the identity
of a strap and part of a certain halter, as well as an
ash stick, found in possession of the prisoners, with
those used to bind the murdered woman's legs, and
with a newly-cut hazel stick found under the
deceased's bed. The prisoners were broom-makers,
and in the habit of cutting sticks. Mr. Justice
Willes summed up with great care, analysing the
circumstantial evidence with remarkable closeness.
The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty in refe-
rence to all the prisoners.
_ .

AT THE OXFORD CRIMINAL COURT this week a child
of twelve years of age, William Sopp, was tried be-
fore Mr. Baron Bramwell, for the wilful murder, on
the 2nd of October last, of another child of four years
of age, Silas Rosier. It appeared from the evidence
and from the confession of the prisoner that the two
children went on the hills to cut furze. While the
prisoner was cutting the furze with his billhook the
billhook flew out of the handle and struck the de-
ceased a violent blow on the temple. "He tumbled
and rolled about on the ground," said the prisoner in
his confession to the constable,

" and I was afraid, if people thought I had tried to do it,
I should go to gaol, and I killed him." 1 (the constable)
said, " I suppose with the billhook you gave me last
night ?" He said, " Yes." I asked how. He said, " I cut
him on the head." I asked him if he cried. He said,
" No, he could not cry." I asked him if he made any
noise at all, and he said, " No."
After killing him the prisoner dragged the deceased
to the mouth of a neighbouring pit, and threw the
body down. The defence made by counsel was that
the child would probably have died from the first
blow, and there was no evidence to prove a deliberate
intent. Mr. Baron Bramwell, in summing up, said
the jury must decide whether the prisoner had such
mischievous discretion as to make him criminally
responsible. The verdict was Not Guilty.

ptlant.

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