The Express.
London, England, 1848-07-08 00:00:00

-".--',l-

MILITARY.
PoRTIDIorTII, JULY 7.—SUICIDA ON AN 0 FrICIDL—We
bare to record the unhappy death of Lkut. and Adjututa Jr nail**, of
the 91c rep., quartet al at lloalar-berrackc Gosport, who this alarm
lER put tin end to his eslitence by shooting himself with a pistol
through th- bead. It appears that the &owned officer had inspected
the convict guard rally ape men •ng and then went to his room.
Between seven End eight o'clock report of gee-WlllB was heard, and
on the quartermaster promeding to lb • apartment of Lieut leonine•
be plicovi red the °Workmate wan lying on the ground with the
back portion of Ids bead blown
Ma brother airs, Deceased was
inq
IS years ot
,' age,
and vv. much respected by officers. An uest ls
enainioned for this evening.

ILab) inttlitgence.

HOUSE OF LORDS.
Present: Lord Drangharn (preeiding) and other Peery, and also eight
of the Woman-WV Judges.
Nicuoteosen Divouee litoL.—At tour o'clock them was
a full house, and farther witnesses wire exemined by
Mr.
Talbot in support of this hill, beginuing with the packet of
letters mentioned on Thursday, delivered by an unknown
rerun to Mr. Nicholson at Brussels in 1847, after
he returned to cohabitation with his wife, which was
had
from the ecclesiastical court, where they
had been tiled, as part of the case made for the
divorce a menus dam,. It contained, among others, Se-
veral letters written in French by Mrs. Nicholson to Mone
oms
vicar Edmond, that is, 31. Insseler, who was stated by
of the witnesses to be " • gentleman born, butsschampatue
merchant." Mr. Wilmer, tho friend and solicitor of
Mr.
Nicholson, proved them to he in the handwriting of Mrs.
Nicholson, and M. Achille, Pintain, • Frenchman, mutilated
them into English, and he preyed the coinrrectnessfr of the
he
translation. Mr. Talbot read several pnaces om t
tranchition, which we forbear to record. It is enough to say
that they could not leave any doubt that &criminal connexion
took plaee frequently between the writerMonsiour
Edmond."—The noble 'cud learned lord presiding did some-
times, during the reading of the extracts. puzzle the French
translator, by asking the French for several expressions that
were in the extracts. The Frenchman had to refer to the
origirels.—Ruth Scott, the principal witneis, said she lived
with Mrs. Nicholson as her maid-servant for most of the
time she renided abroad, attic the separation in 1541. She
first accompanied her to Damn, where she (Mrs.
Nicholson) went
DMwOh Colanel and Mrs. Price, and
lived there till , nothing having occurred there,
From DMan Mrs. nehelson went to Valenciennes, accom-
panied by witness, and there (Jr the first time appeared
Monsieur Edmond, who lived at the same hotel, They next
went to Lill:, M. Edmond travelling with Mrs. Nicholson ;
and, after some days there, they went to Brute's, E.lmond
having his apartment. at the same hotel in each place. They
afterwards went to LiOee, where Mrs. Nicholson and M.
Edmond lived at different hotels; but he woe constantly
with her at her's up to • late hour at night. The meil'onen
remonstrated with her mister& about her goings on, and
gave non. e *o leave her, on sceount of " these goings on ;"
but, though she described some delicate situations, she raw
nothing criminal. From L'ego Mrs. Nicholson used to make
excursions alone to Brussels, Antwerp, sad Valenciennes,
and stay away a night or two each time, easing, on her re-
turn, she had met blonsicur Edmond, and they parsed at the
hotels foe brother ard aister. She took permanent lodgings
at Dr. Vankerkes, at Bruen le, Edmond residing at another
betel. He used to dine Perin. ntly, and pass the eve jog,
up
to 11 ti half-past 11 o'eark at night. Never stayed
a night to the knowledge of this witness ; but another wit-
ness, the wife of the next-door neighbour of Dr. Vanket kes,
frequently saw " Monsieur Edmond" come out from Van-
kerkes' between five and six o'clock in the morning. Mrs.
Nicholson and the maid (Ruth Scott) came once from Bres•
eels to England, and " Edmond" accompanied tie m to
Ostend, hut no farther. They returned to Bewails in Sep-
tember the same year, and there " Edmond" was again, and
they three went together to Paris and lodg, d tegethir at the
seine house, where the lady and E 'mond passed for brother
and sister for three months. Their goings on there made
the maid again remonstrate. but she did not like to leave, be-
caese she promised a friend of her mistress that sbe would
not leave till she came to Eneland.—Mr. Wilmer proved
that the lady admitted to him that she had written the
letters to " Edmond," and also that she was guilty on two
occasions only.—Lord 13rougham said that admissions of
adultery by the wife were of HO use. His lordship, addrees-
iug the house, said, as for his aan part he had no doubt at
all that the evidence was sufficient ; but the beet way would
be to orler it to be printed, and postpone the second reading
of the bill.—Ordered accordingly.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.
Wen l'ana.—Before Levi Denman and a special Js-y.
ELLIOTT V. TOPSIAN AND ANOTHER —FALSE IMPRISON-
NEWF.—In this case Mr. Serjeaut Shee and Mr. Browne
were counsel for the plaintiff, and
re 4 Mr. Watson, Q.C.oi ,
dants and
another learned gentleman, appea Cr the def
This was au action brought by • waitress at the Temple
Diaing.rooms, Fleet-street. better known as the " Punch
Tavern," against two gentlemen named Topham and Rein
'triton, to recover compensation in damages for f doe impri-
sonrnet t, und re the following circumstances appeared,
that on Jan. 27 in last year, thedetendante,with a gentleman
of the name of M'Cabe, were dining at the Punch Tavern, and
when about to pay the bill, which amounted to 11. 4s. 6d.,
the defendant Richardson laid down • sovereign
and Topham half • sovereign, the latter alto requesting the
plaintiff to give him change for smother sovereign, which he ' ,
placed on • book that was lyine on the table. Some little
time toter, Mr. Topham demanded his change from the
plaintiff, whereupon she denied ever having taken the
sovereign in question. A policeman was then called in,
and some angry accession ensued, the plaintiff asserting her
innocence, and producing the money which she had received
during the day, amounting to 61. 2s. Mr. Richardson, who
said ho was • county magistrate, and understood the law of
the ease, advised that another policeman should be sent for
to watch the plaintiff, which w. 5 accordingly done, and she
w...s subsequently taken to the Fleet-street police-station. On
arriving there, the defendant Topham stated that be did not
wish to press the charge, and probably the plaintiff would
regret in the morning what had occurred over night, upon
which she replied "No, fellow, I insist on being taken before a
magistrate, to vindicate my character. I have nothing to
regret." The defendant Richardson then advised Mr.
Topham to follow up the chance, observing that the plaintiff
would probably be committed to Newgate. Sae wu con-
sequently searched, and 11. 12i. 911. found upon her,
It 34. Bd. of which, she stated, was money belonging to her
employer, Mr. Kennels, and that she had entered the same
in her as Ount-book, which wail also found in hi r possession.
The remainder of the money was her own property. The
plaintiff was locked up ell that night, and on the
case bring heard at the Guildhall Police-court on the fel-
leeriest day, she RSA discharged. This imprisonment
bad been a serious consequence to the plaintiff, who bad
suffered much in mind and body, and had been obliged to
send for a surgeon, and go into the country to restore her
health. She was still suffering from the effect of it. The
plaintiff had been a widow for about two years—Several
witnesses were called to prove the plaintiff's case, but they
added no hew facts of any importance to those we have al-
ready stat d.—For the defence it was urged that the defen-
dant To .ham hail not been actuated by any malice in what
he had dune. It was clear that GI, sovereign was gone ; to
this day nobody knew what had become of it, and
when at the station the plaintiff hewn had insisted
upon the charge being persevered in. Although • verdict
must paw against Mr. Topham, it ought not to be for heavy
damages. When the charge of stealing the sovereign was
made against the plaintiff, there was no one else is the
dining-room but the defendants and their companion, hence
he concluded that she must have stolen it. As to the de-
fendant Richardson, there was no case against him. He had
not given the plaintiff into custody, and had only offered his
advice as a friend.—Lord Denman, in summing up, said that
he considerea the defendant Richardson had acted in • man-
ner which clearly rendered him liable; for in criminal
cases acce varies to a crime were prosecuted for having
instigated the principals to commit it. He (the
learneoljedge) thought that the defendant Topham ought
not to bye given the plaintiff into custody, because when
she requested him to count hie money, and see whether
he had not put the sovereign hack into his pocket, he said
that would be useless, as he did not know how much cash he
had about him. It was for the jury to say whether they
thought both the defendants liable, and wl.at would be a
full, fair, and temperate amount of damsges.—Tbe jury then
found verdict for the plaintiff against both the defendants,
damages 1(01., and 21. 19s. for expenses incurred by the
plaintiff io having a *elicitor to defend her when before the
magistrate, and also for the attendance of a medical man for
eight days.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
OLD COURT.
THE TRIALS FOR SEDITION.
Peters the lord Chief Justice of the Common Pica .
Alexander Sharpe, printer, was then arraigned, charged
with a misdemeanour on the 26th of May, and another on
the 4th of June, the indictment charging flint with sedi-
tion, attending an unlaseul insembly, and p.rticipating in a
riot.
Mr. Scrjcant Wiikins and Nlr. Robinson defended the

pri,Tcier.
The evidence for the prosecution, and a portion of Mr.
Serjeant Wilkins's speech for the defence, appeared in last
evening's Express. The latter w,; now republish, and append
the remainder of the trial.
At /the clew of the case for the prosecution, the court
adjourned for a few minute!, and en re-assembling,
Mr. Serj. ant Wilains proceeded to address the jury
on behalf of the prisoner. The state of terror and
alarm into which the country had been thrown had not been
occasioned solely by the meetings which had been held; but
the course the government had taken with regard to three
meetings had contributed in no mean degree to the state of
contusion in which things had been placed. Ile was thank-
ful to the government tor the precautionary measures taken
to preserve the public peace and to protect property, but
the gre:d military array that had been displayed, the great
numbers of policemen who hest been marched and paraded
about from point to point and from place to place, had
created in the minds of the people more excite-
ment than all the meetings that had been held
One of the witnesses, a tradesman, in one of the
other cases, said that the tradesmen generally in his neigh-
bourhood were not alarmed at the meetings, but at the troops
of Horse Guards that were riding about. He
would ask what was the cause of one who, but
a few short months ago, was monarch of France,
now being a poor, miserable exile, almost unheard of, and, he
would say, almost unpitied ? Why, it was an endeavour
to prevent a public meeting—a meeting where there would
have been a concentration of talent, of genius, of determina-
tion, and of mind ; and, had not the government interfered
with that meeting, who could aoubt but that Louis
Philippe would at the present time have occupied
his former throne, and all the awful scenes that bad
taken plate on the ether side of the Channel would never
have been heard of ? The learned serjeant said that in this
country there was one law for the rich and another for the
poor; to illustrate which, he read extracts from the speeches
of Cobden, Bright, Wilson, and the Rev. Ms. Bayley,