The Express.
London, England, 1847-10-27 00:00:00

FREE-TRADE WITH INDIA.

A meeting of the inhabitants of the Tower Ham-
lets was held yesterday evening at the Eastern Institution,
Commercial-road, to hear an address from Mr. G. Thomp-
son, M.P., relative to the industrial resoureill of India and the
causes which retard their complete development. The large
room war densely crowded.
The chair having been taken by Mr. Francis Carnac
Brown,
Mr. THOMPSON said that having recently been elected one
of their representatives in the House of Commons, he had
felt it his duty to bring before them on the earliest oppor-
tunity the merits of a question in which many of them felt
a deep interest, and one which, both no the house and out of
the house, he intended to make the subject of protracted
discussion. The subject which he intended to bring before
them w as the all-important one of free trade with India.
(Hear, hear.) It was most important in itself, but he
thought he should also be able to demonstrate that it was of
the greatest importance, as involving in its success the only
reasonable prospect of the overthrow of slavery and the slave
trade. (Loud cheers.) Ho should commence his observa-
tions with a few words about slavery which would lead him
naturally into the main thread of his argument. In the
United States of Ame.ica, a country boasting its decla-
ration of independence, every sixth man, woman,
and child was a slave. (Loud cries of "Hear, hear.'')
In that country sixteen millions of freemen had bound
themselves together to bold in bondage three mil-
lions of slaves. In Brazil there was a similar number, in
the Spanish colonies about a million more, and those of
France and Holland participated in the crime. It had been
stated be Sir F. Buxton in 1008 that the number of human
beings taken in Africa to supply the traffic amounted to 1,000
a day, and he (Mr. Thompson) believed that at the present
moment the number had not diminished. lie merely glanced
at these facts as leading him to what he believed to be the
only effectual remedy. That remedy lay in developing the
illimitable resources of India there we might find a
key to unloose the fitters of the African, as well
as immense employment and increase for our own
commercial and maritime power. The African slave
trade was kept up to supply forced labour for the
five following nrticlea auger, coffee. cotton, rice, and
tobacco. On that evening he ihould confine himself to ,
con.idering the capabilities of India for the production of
cotton. In 1776 tho American planters found such difficulty
in employing their slaves, that they deliberated on the pro-

priety of enfranchising them at once. At the mete period
the people of England wore principally woollen clothing,
when the East India Company commenced supplying them
with the cotton fabrics of the East. A great outcry was
raised by the clothmakera of the north, but at length
the cotton manufacture sprang up. For some time
the company supplied the raw material, but soon a
change took place which had the effect of reviving slavery
and the slave trade in America. An experiment was tried
on the shores of South Carolina, and the result was that in
1776 a single bag of American cotton was landed en the
quays of Liverpool. Fatal day for the cause of human
liberty ! The sample was approved of, and next vee:
came over. But mark the increase ! During ts,....:zty sub-
sequent yeses the imports amounted in val.:, to 2,5 millions
sterling. At this moment then. were England 7.5 millions
of capital invested in
millions of the
ropniation, who depended wholly on it
for support. Tho truth was, that except food itself, there
MU nothing so important to this country as an abundant
supply of cotton. (Hear.) The American planters bad
turned all their attention to it, and not only given up all in-
tention of liberating their slaves, but had increased their
numbers enormously. In 1785, the American planters sent I
us over one bag of cotton in 1843 they sent 792 millions of
pounds weight. (Hear, hear.) In 1785, they had 600,000
slaves which they found unprofitable, and were about to
enfranchise;: in 1840, they had 2,487,213, estimated by
Henry Clay (himself a sieve breeder) at 1,200 millions of
dollar, value. In 1785, their exports of cotton amounted
to • single bag; in 1811, they amounted in value
to 106,332,722 dollars, being considerably more than
all•their other exports put together. They had proportion-
ably increased the slave trade in Cuba and Brazil, because,
devoting their own energies principally to the cultivation of
cotton, they stimulated the production of slave-grown sugar
in those countries. Thus, while lavishing our blood and
treasure ever since 1844 for the suppression of slavery and
the slave trade in Africa, we had been feeding to fatness the
alaveholders of Cuba and Brazil. (Hear.) This was the
reason why now one cargo of slaves in four coming safe re-
warded the speculator, instead of one in three, as for-
merly. But England was in a pordrion she bad
resources enough within her own territory—to overthrow for
ever the whole blood-stained fabric of slavery. To prove
this be must transport them in imagination to the gor-
geous East. Our territories, there extending from Cape
Comorin to the Himalaya mountains, contained a popula-
tion of 200,0011,000, bound together by religious and social
ties, spread over • surface of 1,200 square miles, on which
another 100,000,000 might be easily maintained. Mount-
stuart Elphinetone had described it as having vast plains
covered with cotton and tobacco, fields laden with roses for
the attar, with sugar, indigo, silk, and flax in equal abun.
dance. He (Mr. Thompson) would proceed to show the
meeting how India could supply us with that which now we
obtained from the dismal abodes of slavery, where every wind
gathered up the sighs of bleeding, broken hearts. (Cheers.)
Why were we dependent on America for cotton ? Eleven
years since the directors of the East India Company had
published • volume of reports relative to the growth of
cotton in India, from which it appeared that there was not
an acre of land in that country to which the cotton plant
was not indigenous. (Hear.) But then en objection had
been started, that the natives were incapable of its cultiva-
tion. Why, they had cultivated and lubricated it for thou-
sands of years, although now their manufacture of textile
fabrics was fast passing away. Lost year was is fact ren-
dered remarkable by its being the first in winch not a single
article of Indian cotton manufacture was exported from that
country. He should here mention a curious fact, to show
what the company had done to promote its cultivation.
In 1839, when the United Statea Bank started the notable
speculation of buying up the whole cotton crop, that they I
might afterwards dole it out at what price they liked to the
manufacturers, a deputation from Lancashire came up to
London, and waited on the company to ask why a supply of
cotton could not be obtained from India? The directors re-
ceived them most graciously, and immediately hit upon a
novel expedient. Theyseleeted a person eminently qualified,
being a captain of native infantry—(laughter)--and sent
him to the United States for ten American planters to in-
struct the natives of India in a branch of c iltivation which
had employed them for thousands of years. (Laughter.)
Ten planters scattered over 1,200 square miles, to instruct
150 millions of people. (Hear, hear.) The result of their
mission was, that the American system was not adapted to
India, and that the natives knew perk-etly well how it ought
to be cultivated. What was the cause of our non-supply ?
He would tell the meeting. (Hear, hear.) The cause was,
that the East India Company first extorted one half the
produce in land tax, and then obliged the cultivator to sell
the other at a price arbitrarily fixed by them. (Hear.) But
for the monopolyof the India Company cotton might now be
selling on the quays at Liverpool at 21d. the lb. The price
the company had sold it at ranged from I Id. to Is. Id. the lb.
Such n monopoly must be put down. (Loud cheers) Mr.
Wardle, one of the council, had stated before the select
committee of 1832, that on a measure of cotton (we could
not catch the name) worth 81., the tax amounted to M. 165.,
leasing only 2!. 41. less than our Mussulman predecessors
had extorted. Besides this, there were taxes on everything
used in its cultivation. What men would work under such
circumstances? (Hear, hear.) Ile had told them that the
grower would be satisfied with a clear penny per pound, but
is hat with one tax and another he was no; left more than a
halfpenny. The cultivator received 25 per cent., and the
government took the other 75 per cent. (Hear.) He would give
them a few details, to show how the company was gradually
annihilating the trade of India. In one district one of their
collectors, Mr. Scott Waring, had raised the taxes to 46 per
cent, the consequence was, that whole villages became de-
populated, the Zeminders Hying from their lands, which
were rendered valueless y the exorbitant taxation. Such
was the result of what was called in India " the revenue
screw." In another case, a landowner having given leases
to natives to encourage them to the cultivation of cotton, the
exemption from taxes promised by the company was
immediately revoked, and the wretched cultivators turned
adrift with the loss of all their property. (Cries of "Shame.")
This was in 1835 ; and 111 1840 they rent to America for the
ten planters. (Oh, oh.) He believed that if free trade
were establithed in India, and the cotton-planting en-
coeraged, the result would be the destruction of the mono-
po'y of the states, and the raving of several millions of our
annual capital. Mr. Thompson concluded by stating that
although in parliament he should attend carefully to every
subject, this was pre-eminently his question, and concluded
by moving
That it has been demonstrated to this meeting. that India, a vast
British possession, peopled by millions of peaceable, intelligent, and
civilised Briush subjects, bas been gifted by nature with the capacity
of producing every tropical raw commodity which the capital and
industry of England require for the constant and profitable employ.
ment of her population, or for the supply of any other of their wants.
That it has been further demonstrated that England, although the
nsistreas of such a possession as British India, is rendered year by rear
more dependent fur the supply of raw cotton. which is the staple of
her principal manufacture and one of the main supports of her public
revenue, upon the United States of Amenca, • foreign country;
and that England is also dependent upon the same country
foe the supply of the tohae.o demanded by her population
both the coffee and the tobacco of Use United States
being the produce of save-labour. That, consequently, the
domestic peace and prosperity of this country, and the stability of a
large portion of the public revenue, are made dependent—first, upon
the vicisaitudes of the acetone, to which the cotton and lotuses. plants.,
in common with all other productions of any one country, is table;
secondly, upon the maintenance of amicable relations between this
country and the United states, and between the United States and
other countries ; thirdly, upon the submission of a numerous and in-
creasing servile population, and the continuance of internal peace
among the slave atatea of America. That this exdudve, unnecessary,
and unnsturelds " —prrpetasting, as it does, theelavery of mil-
lionsofmen—la the mune, to • great extent, as is now experienced, of
existing calamities ; sad manifestly pregnant with future evils to the
best interests of England. That the free agricaltaral population of
British India 'mild be the natural customers of this country in the
exact measure that they would, if permitted, become the =wets of
commodities fur the wants of England- That it hail clearly
shown that these Intelligent and deserving British subjects are ren-
dered incapable of competing with the produce of the United States,
by reason of the burtheas Imposed upon their soil and industry
Therefore, resolved,—That It is the duty of the people of England,
for the rake alike of England, of India, and of toe mitered through-
out the world, to require of the legislature the Immediate removal of
all imposts which &pries the agricultural energies lathe native popu-
lation ; and the irk ditU tioll of a strict and impartial inquiry, in India,
into the condition of the mauves, and into the conduct and the acts,
arising out of the peculiar government ruling over them, which
affect their well-being, and retard their prosperity.
Mr. W. Howirr seconded the resolutions, which were I
carried unanimously, and the meeting separated.

COURT OP SEWERS, GUILDHALL. CONDITION
OF NEWOATE MAILKIT. Yetterday the commissioners
of the Court of Sewers met at the court-room, for the
despatch of business; Mr. Deputy Peacock in the chair.
Amongst the subjects which were brought under the notice
of the court was a memorial from the inhabitants of New-
gate-market, complaining of the defective state of the traps
or gullies which communicated with the sewers. From the
want of proper means of carrying off the deposits which
entered the sewers, the effluvia which came from them was
most offensive, contaminatiog the atmosphere in the imme-
diate vicinity of the market, and causing the houses to be
filled with noxious gases, that while it had a tendency to
depreciate property it also was injurious to the health of the
inhabitants. The memorialida therefore prayed that the
Court of Sewers would cause such traps to In laid
down so would prevent the escape of the noxious
effluvia from the sewers, and thus improve the
sanitary state of the market and its neighbourhood.—
One of the commissioners observed that the nuisance of
which the memorialists complained was created by them-
selves. Instead of doing so they were bound to do, cart
away all the filth and refuse which arose from the slaughter-
ing of cattle and sheep, it was washed down the traps and
gratings leading to the sewers, and no doubt a most intoler-
able stench arose ; but the fault was not in the formation of
the sewers, nor could it be remedied any other way than by
the practice of washing everything down being abolished.—
The Chairman observed that if the inhabitants did not aid
in preventing the nuisance it would be out of the power
of the court to do so ; but the best coarse to
adopt would be to direct the surveyor to the court to make
an examination of the market and report thereon, which
was agreed (O.—ANTI-SANITARY MOVEMENT.—Mr. Hay-
wood, the surveyor, laid before the court a report as to
whether it was necessary for the commission to build a sewer
in Racquet.cturt, Fleet-street, or not. A notice had been
served on the inhabitants in the court inic,rmiog them
of the intention of the commissioners to afford them
as opportunity of propping up the houses, which the
late Dr. Lynch declared to be the hotbeds of fevers and
malaria fur the want of proper sewerage. As soon as the
notices were served the whole of the inhabitants met, and,
in a mrmerial presented by Messrs. Gray, Parkinson, and
others, they declared tho houses in the court to be as health
a locality as any place in the City ; that fevers, malaria, and
epidemics were unknown : while if a sewer was made, instead
of its being a benefit it would actually become a nuisance, as
it would be impossible for a sufficient supply of water to be
sent through it; so the refuse, instead of bring carried away,
would form a deposit.—ln this view Mr. W. Lawrence fully
coincided ; he thought they ought to pause before they made
large sewers is such places as Reequet.court, for there were
instances in which such an alteration had been found any-

thing but a blessing.—The Chairman though the report
would settle the matter, which was then rm ', and f
rasa
which it appeared that Mr. Haywood had insp. sled all the
houses and found that at the rear of every one . f them wu
ample and sufficient drainage; and consequent. a sewer in
the court was not required ;on which the coot oaaimouly
agreed to rescind the notice given. After th. disposal of
some unimportant business the court broke up.
PARIeII OF ST. PANCRAg.- —INTERFERE \ ~E OF THE
Pool-LAW COMNll,,:mrEpi...._y,st.rdiy a me ring of the
directors of
-am poor of St. Pancras took Flee in the new
-ertt,l'aion, adjoining the workhouse, King's-re..l, Camden-
' town, specially convened for the purpose of c,t slderieg the
report as to the new diet of the workhouse and s resolution
of which notice had been given in reference to the ht.: pro-
posed enlargement of the workhouse and out-.:.ear relief
. Mr. B. J. E. Wright having been called to the chair, Mr.
.Nl'Gahey, the clerk to the board, read a communication from
the poorlaw commissioners, requiring to low
been done by the vestry and directors of the paor with re-
gard to an order issued by the commissioners the 14th of
May last, directing the production of certei, hooks and
papers belonging to the board before them at Somerset
House. Accompanying this communication ssas also re-
ceived the following formal summons, calling lof the pro-
duction of the paper. in question, addressed tot he clerk :
we, the poor-law ennimismoners, do hereby memo, sou to attend
before u' on Tuesday, the d day of November sent, at • coo o'clock in
the afternoon, and to bring with you the originals at, copies of 34
resolutions at the vestry and of the directors of the poe of the pari,g,
at St. Pancras, dunning the duties of the clerk to the s. t vestry, gad
clerk to the said directors of the poor of the said part-h. ind of all the
paid °dicers employed in the administration of out-d• relief to the
paw of the said parish.
The board refused to come to any resolution upon these
documents, and they were understood to be left • -r the con-
sideration of the vestry at their next meeting.--:. trestATION
IN TH a DIETART.—Mr. Churchwarden Howell. waved the
adoption of the report with reference to an al,. ration sad
increase of the workhouse dietary, by which tie poor will
have an increase of 28 ounces of solid and 3 pints of liquid
food per week, or an increase in the solid food Irons 140 to
168 ounces. The report also provides fur semi 'g out the
rations at every meal, and prohibits the introdta it into the
workhouse by the friends of the paupers of any icics of on.
cooked food. Mr. Harrison seconded the adej on of the
report.—Dr. Bermingham condemced the new meters as a
decrease rather than an increase on the old on. from the
nutritious articles which had been abolished an. the substi-
tution of those which were not nutritious. Th poor bad
anchdee thes
been deprived of those nutritive articles, pea e.tr.'
butter, sugar, and suet pudding, to a great cites • ;
alterations which had been made were so subversive
of health that he looked upon them a- criminal.
The component parts of what wu called Irish stev were only
at the rate of 2 ounces of meat to one pint ..t stew. He
could not call it a nutritious article, as Irish stew ought
to be, but it was a " St. Pancras stew," and the. had takes
away one pint of good ex cheek pea-soup, and substituted
three quarter of a pint of the "St. Pancras ,:ew." Dr,
Bermingham further condemned the new diet...y as worse
than that given in poor-law unions and prisons, and moved
as an amendment "That the articles of bread potatoes
be each increased from 12 to 16 ounces per d.;, and that
8 ounces of suet pudding be allowed three tim, s a week to
children between the ages of 7 and 15."—h1. Reeking
seconded the amendment.—Mr. Douglas contermed that the
dietary of St. Panetta workhouse, as amended, was, with
one exception (St. Margeret'e, Westminster), upeidor to
that of any other workhouse in Loudm, and 'betel re a
sufficient dietary. The solids were increased train 140 to
170 ounce, counting the Irish stew as a solid, and from 21
to 26 pints of liquid per week. Mr. Dough. cited the
dietaries of the various metropolitan psi .sties and
poor-law unions to prove his case. an.. therefore
contended that it was a most sufficient dietary.—
The report was afterwards adopted by a majority of
20 to 2.—ENLAROING TOY. W0111:110US6.-11, Howarth
then proposed the following resolution of wb . h he had
given notice " That the vestrymen and rate-pa.. rs of this
parish have a right to expect that the members this board
who voted at the last vestry meeting against the projesition
for enlarging the workhouse, should take imeediate and
effectual steps for relieving the workhouse from one-fourth
of its present inmates, and for establishing such a system of
out-door relief in this parish as will is fettir, prevent a
greater influx of paupers into the workhouse th n it is cal-
culated properly to accommodate." Mr. Howarth said those
who had defeated the enlargement of the workhouse ou the
plea that its object was to carry out the worst matures of
the Poor-law Bill, the workhouse test, were bot...d to come
forward and carry out their principles of out-dose relief.
With that view he moved the resolution.—Mr. Goodwin
seconded the motion, and considered there was gasd ground
for a second appeal to the vestry.—An amend'', lit having
been proposed and lost, the motion was carri.sl, and the
board, after some routine business, separated.
MISERY IN SOUTHWARK.—Str,—PtIbIiC attention
has lately been somewhat directed to the sanitary condition
of this parish, metro especially in reference to Three Tuns.
court, White-street. At pr. sent, however, only ,he Fellersl
statement has been made, that much nectenity exists for
sanitary improvement, and even this has been qu. 'timed by
the parish authorities. The following statements may be
relied on. They come from one who has carefully. and
minutely inspected the court, for the purpose of aseertateing
the real facts of the cue. Three Tuns-court consists of
eleven houses, but some of them aro wholly and others par-
tially uninhabited, on account of their dreadfully dilapi-
dated condition. Each house contains three rooms, at
about eight feet square, with no back entrance to any.
There is no water in the court and but one privy, which
is iu a horribly filthy andition, the soil from it running over
and saturating the pavement around, whilst from its broken,
dilapidated state, together with the ruinous condition of all
the house., a dreadful stench pervades the atmosphere of the
whole court. There is no inhabited house which does not
contain same one intected, more or lees, with fever. There
are now about one hundred pereons, includind children,
living in the court. In one of the rooms there are nine
adults living. In three of the houses the ground-floor is en-
tirely gone. In one of these houses, in the lower room, four
adults and two or three children live, having no to d, but all
sleeping on some straw laid on the earth. One of those in
this room is a woman who was confined two or three days
since ; she lies, like the other; on the straw, and her child
appear' completely naked. The room contains no furniture;
a large stone is used as • seat. There are only three bed-
steads, and scarcely any other article of furniture, except a
few broken chairs, in the court. Three dcatks have lately
occurred from fever. Other places in this neighbourhood aro
very little better than Three-tuns-court ; indeed, many are
more thickly peopled.-3. C.
Ixocesr, N ESTERDAY. CHARGE AGAINST A
Creemisr.—Before Mr: Mills, at the Seymour Arms, Sey-
mour-place, Bryanstone-square, by adjournment, on the body
of Emma Elizabeth Tumor, aged 2 yearn, the child of a
dairyman in Adam•street West. The case at first appeared
to be an ordinary death from scarlatina, which was
proved to be present in the house, some other children of the
same family being afflicted with it ; but it assumed a new
feature in consequence of the assertion of Mr. Moat, a sur-
geon in the neighbourhood, that, on a post mores,' examina-
tion, he had found a considerable portion of morphia (the
principle of opium) in the fluid contents of the stomach.
This, involving as it did the character of a chemist, named
Squire, who had prescribed a powder for the child, led to the
adjournment of the inquest, in order to apply further chemi-
cal tests. Mr. Theophilus Redwood, professor of chemistry
to the Pharmaceutical Society, analysed the remainder of the
fluid found in the child'■ stomach, and found morphia pre-
sent, but in such very minute portions as scarcely to be dis-
tinguishable. This opinion led to a long discussion between
the two gentlemen, Mr. Redwood declaring that iodic acid
was a very uncertain test of the presence of morphia if pu-
trescence had commenced ; while Mr. Moat contended, that
poisoning by the means of opium would, for a time, preserve
the body from decomposition, and thus enable a fair test to
be made by that acid. Amidst this difference of chemical
opinion the jury retired for a considerable period, and then
returned a verdict, " That the child was found dead, with
certain indications in the heart and brain ; but whether from
the effects of morphia, or from natural causes, there wu not
sufficient evidence before the jurors to show," accompanied
with a strong expression of opinion by the jury of the danger
and illegality of the practice of chemists in prescribing for
ailing persons without seeing them.

I

pslterowns or shilling'. And, moreover, these crowns
will be another hindrance to a decimal coinage. For a crown
eo multiple of a rupee ; and if ever these two-shilling
view or rupees do come into use, and the proper subdivi-
Loos also, and men learn to reckon by them, it so plain that
the crown piece will have no place, and must is the end dis-
i"
;war from the coinage.
Would it not be as «ell that the Master of the Mint, be-
fore orders arc given for any new issue of coins, should con-
sult emocho,ly who knows something of commercial erith-
teetic ? What is the use of appointing
n a commission to report
asubjtet, and then utterly neglectg their advice ? D. •

THE RIGHTS OF TRADESMEN.
VISCOUNT BURY CLARK.

's attorney in the above cause, I
Sia,—As Lord Bury
have abstained:from noticing the letters addressed by
qr. cloth, the decadent, to Ow t,,,-•re of the various new,.
Pegs, giving his own Teraina of the ease, and I did expect I
that, having allowed him " the last word," even at the ex- •
peen of truth and justice, the matter would have dropped,
tad the public would have been no further troubled on the
subject. I ores, however, greatly astonished to find that a
gable meeting has been advertised, and held, for the pars
pm e of eynipaihising with Mr. Clark, and that not only is a
;memorial to be presented to the Lord Chancellor, hut that a
pablic subecription is to be attempted, to reimburse Mr.
Club his damages and expenses. •
strict to that public to whom Mr. Clark boo appealed,
who have in these times so many legitimate claims upon
their sympathy and generosity, and have at all times a right
to claim a due and equitable administration of the law ;
del, to my client, Lord Bury, whose conduct and motives I
canna allow any longer to pan misrepresents d ; and in jus-
nee to the learned judge, whose judgment ought not to be
wrongfully and indecently impugned by a party who elected
to leave ha cause in his hands in preference to submitting to
this verdict of a jury of his fellow-tradesmen ; I find myself
mat reluctantly compelled to break the silence I have pre-
served upon this subject since the trial, and to give a true
and unbiarned version of the case, in their pe that the public
will be no longer deceived as to the conduct of the respective
%Ales, and that blame may be allowed to attach where
bless alone is due.
The facts really elicited by the evidence will, I think, sa-
tisfy ill reasonable men that Mr. Clark unnecessarily pro-
voked any hasty and angry expression that fell from Lord
Bare; that he had no reasonable excuse for the assault he
committed. and that there is uo shadow of a pretence for
charging the judge with arbitrary and despotic conduct, or
of arriving at any but a just and equitable decision.
Lord Bury, a perfect stranger to Mr. Clark, the defendant,
in posting a letter at the latter's window, was attracted by
some pea-holders exposed fur sale, and 'which he thought
were sine; he entered the shop to examine them, and make
a purchase. Upon closer inspection,. he found they were
only sixpenny articles. lie asked Mr. Clark if he had none
of a letter description ? Mr. Clark answered, tartly and
unnecessarily, " Better ! what can you expect for six-
peace!" His lordship replied, quietly, "It is not
a question of price ; I want a better article, and
am trumpery things like these." The word trumpery, pro-
voked be Clark's offensive and uncalled fur ohaervat ion, was
merely descriptive of the article, and not applicable to Mr.
Clark himself. Mr. Clerk nevertheless replied, "Trumpery,
indeed you are a trumpery fellow ! and I desire you to
leave my shop ; if you don't, i will come round and turn
you oat." Ilia lordship, taken by surprise at this extraordi-
airy attack, threatened to give Clark a " —d knock en the
brad" if he ventured to lay hands upon him, and Mr. Clark
this sent his buy to fetch is policeman.
His lordship, scorning to sneak away like a delinquent,
quietly awaited at the shop door the policeman's arrival, to
see if Clark would venture to give him in charge, and, if not,
to remonstrate upon the impropriety of his conduct in the
presence of a third party. His lordship was thus standing
at the shop door, when, seeing a policeman approaching
slowly, and considering it was the one sent for, he went up to
• told him what had passed, who he was, and that he slid
act want any disturbance, bet wished him to accompany
him to settle the affair. Lord Bury returned to Mr. Clerk's
door with the policeman at his heels, and was quietly re-
entering the shop, followed by the policeman, his lordship
being at the time perfectly cool and collected, when Mr.
Clark, be a state of high excitement, and without a single
word passing between the parties, rushed from behind the
counter round to the shop door, and laying his hands
suddenly on Lord Bury's cheat, thrust him siolestly
backward.* out into the street. His lordship recovered
himself, and telling Mr. Clark who he was, and that he
should hear further from him, w: !keit away, the policeman,
who had been standing by the shop door, and who witnessed
the whole occurrence, proceeding upon his beat. Mr. Clark's
shop-floor is upon a lower level than the pavement ; vehicles
might have been passing, and the assault might have resulted
in very serious injuries to the plaintiff's person.
Lord Bury and the policeman swore most distinctly to the
fact* as above stated, and most distinctly contradicted the
wholly unsupported representation of Mr. Clark ; that he
(Clark) complained first to the policeman of Lord Bury's
conduct ; that the policeman then wallecd away ; and that
he (Clark) having then repeatedly and ineffectually re-
quested Lord Bury to leave the shop, at length, without any
unnecessary violence (his lordship not making much resist-
* =co), put him out. It was distinctly proved that there was
not a shadow of truth in this statement; had it been other-
wise, the case would have justified a very different c
inclu-
sion, and have merited the comments that have appeared in
the public journals.
I am timed further to state, that Mr. Clark's shophoy,
whom he scat for the policeman, and who did not return
until after the assault, admitted that be had wit-
nessed
several previous contentions in which Mr. Clark
had been implicated at his shop. Also, that Mr Clark,
after first cross-examining the policeman, to shake his
testimony in vain, then declared that he was not sober at the
time ; and further, that the policeman swore, that shortly
after the occurrence, Mr. Clark had accosted him and said,
" Oh, you heard me tell his lordship several times to leave
my shop before I touched him ;" that be (the policeman)
" No, Sir, I did not, for not a ward passed between
you•
," whereupon Mr. Clark rejoined, " Then you will be no
use to me." It will be seen how completely this contradicts
Mr. Clark's subsequent assertion in his letter to the papers,
namely, that the policeman wcut away and did not witness
the occurrence.
I trust you will consider my previous silence, notwith-
standing Mr. Clark's letters and the various comments which
have appeared founded upon his 'Trion of the case, and
which might well have provoked same observations on my
part, sufficiently indicative of my disinclination to trespass
upon your valuable space, and that you will in justice to all
parties find room in your next publication for this letter. I
• flatter myself that its perusal wiU eradicate from the minds
of the public the prejudices that have been sought to be
created against the learned judge and my client. Mud I
publicly replied to Mr. Clark's first letter, it would have
doubtless saved much waste of time and space, and spared
one the present painful duty.—CetARLES Don, 16, Great
Marlborough-street, 25th October, 1847.

THE MURDER IN BIRMINGHAM-THE
INQUEST.

1
- - -- -•
The inquisition in this case of quadruple murder
proceeded after our parcel was despatched on Monday night. ,
The following is the substance of the additional evidence I
adduced .
Wellings, the policeman, said when he first saw the dead
bodies of the children large quantities of blood had dis-
charged itself from their throats—that the woman herselfwu
in a sitting position, the blood gushing also from her throat
very profusely, There were no marks of blood upon the
chairs, nor any indication whatever that any other person
had been in the house; a candlestick was upon the chair be-
tween the two beds, but no marks of blood upon it.
The witness, Banks, having been recalled, said that he
had seen the woman, Wilkes, almost every day during
the last five months, and had known all about
her circumstances ; she had been much embarrassed 1
and distressed, and had been compelled to pawn her wearing
apparel for subsistence, her husband having died six months
since and left her destitute. She afterwards endeavoured to
obtain a living by keeping a small shop, first as a huckster,
and afterwards u au eating house keeper, but did not suc-
ceed in either. She was occasionally much depressed in
spirits about the privations she endured- was a woman of
temperate habits, and very much attached to her children.
Witness recommended her to apply to the parish officers for
relief, at the same time expressing an opinion that they
would give her Is. Gd. a week far each of the children; but
this she said she could not submit to. He bad been unfor-
tunate in his own circumstances, and on one occasion Wilkes
said that rather than go through what he had done she
thought she should put an end to herseif and children. Ile
her not to think of such a thing ; upon which she 1
beamed
replied that she had more than once thought it was better
she should put an end to them all than submit to destitution.
He (witness) did not mention those expressions to any one,
because he did not think she had nerve enough to kill a eat,
much less to kill herself and her children. He was nut aware
that she had once made a personal application to the parish
authorities for relief ; nor that her mind was affected, save
that on several occasions during illness she had been deli-
rious. In reply to questions by the jury, the witness fur-
ther said that he was not aware whether any man had been I
" paying attention" to Mrs. Wilkes lately; and that after 1
her husband's death she received about 201. from Odd Fel- :
lows lodges.
Mr. Joseph Hinton produced a plan representing the I
state of the apartment at the time the murder was disco-
weed. This has, however, been already sufficiently de-
scribed in this paper. The witness also produced various
articles which he had found in a pocket under one of the
pillows in the bedroom, including 12.5. 3d. in money; and he
stated that on the mantelpiece in the kitchen be had found 1
a small copy of the play of " Hamlet," which was open at
the page where Horatio utters his last soliloquy on the death
of the Prince.
Mrs. Jane Green, the mother of the unfortunate woman,
was next called, but the feeble state in which she was almost
incapacitated her from giving her evidence. She stated that 1
she was a widow, residing in Newhall-street; that on
Wednesday se'nnight she went to the workhouse, and I
sew*the assistant-overseer ; she represented to him that her
daughter was ill, and that she wished to put her children
iato the asylum. lie gave her a card to take to the reliev-
ing officer, to whom witness went on the following morning,
11,:ving previously obtained a letter from her master, Mr.
Ree ley, a button-manufacturer, The relieviog-officer pro-
mised to call upon her daughter the following Saturday ; but
she (wit.less) did Lot know whether he did so. She had
reason to believe, however, that her daughter had not re-
ceived any teller from the pariah. She hail been labouring
under an into nal disease for three years.
Thomas Ruttp:rferd, the relieving officer, deposed that be
called on Ann Wihkes on the 15th inst. Saw her, and told
his business, enquiri."g what was the nature of her appli-
cation. She replied the she wanted the whole of her Ail-
dem, to be taken into tile asylum, in order that she might t
go to *nice. She claimed it on the ground of her hue-

band's birth, settlement, and spprenticeship, To this be
(witness) replied, " Why, yours is no ordinary application,
Mis. Wilkes. Could you not manage if the guardians Wok
two or three of the children, and left one or two with
you ?" She rejoined that she could not; and he (wit-
ness) then told her that the board met at three
o'clock the following Wednesday, and that he was sure the
guardians would do what they could for her. She did not,
however, attend, and the officer added that the jury would
find, on reference to the pariah books, that the application
was duly entered, and that the name of Ann Wilkes was
ticked sit as not attending.—ln reply to • question by a
Wilkes,
the witness said that, at his interriew with Mrs.
he asked her if she wanted anything more of him,
and that she replied, she did not.
The witness Green, haring been recalled, stated that she
had frequently ass!sted her daughter in einsequence of her
distress, and that on the Saturday night before this act was
committed she had sent her a sovereign, having pledged her
OWE Ships* in order to do so.
Mr. W. 8. Coo, protestor of anatomy in Queen's College,
next gave a detailea statement of the nature of the wounds
inflicted upon the children, and upon the person of the
woman herself. She had been re moved to the hospital, and
the wound closed up, but she was still is • critical state and
scarcely able to speak. The wounds on the children might
have been inflicted by one person, and were of such a chi,-
teeter that they would be speedily fatal. In reply to ques-
tions as to the state of thi prisoner's mind the witness said
that she was calm and placid, and that she replied to the
simple questions which he put to her coherently.
The Rev, J. C. Miller, rector of St. Martin's, Birming-
ham, said I Dave had a conversation with Ann Wilkes
since she entered the Queen's Hospital. Nothing occurred
between us which could lead me to suppose that she was
1 convinced she would die, that she was devoid of all hope in
this world.—The Coroner thereupon said : Then it is be-
yond all doubt that I cannot hear you: Milks replied
that he wished it to be understood that he had called at the
hospital in consequence of a message he received to the effect
that the woman wished to see a clergyman and mike a con-
fession. lie accordingly attended, but he could not say that
she was apprehensive of immediate death.
The coroner having repeated his determination not to
hear the statement the rev. gentleman had remise I briefly
summed up the evidence, and at 11 o'clock at night the jury
returned a verdict of " Wilful Murder" against Ann Wilkes,
who was accordingly committed for trial at the next Warwick
assizes.