The Express.
London, England, 1851-07-07 00:00:00

The July session of the Central Criminal Court com-
menced this morning, before the Right llon. the Lord
Mayor, the Recorder, Aldermen Sir C. Marshall, Lawrence,
and Felonious, the Sheriffs, Gunder Sheriff., &e., &c.
It amsears by the first edition of the calendar that there
are IU9 prisoners for trial at the present session.
The Recorder, in his charge to the grand jury, said he
regretted that he could not congratulate them upon any
decrease ie the number of prisoners at the present session,
which was rather larger than usual at this period of the
year, and he was also sorry to see that there were several
very serious cases to be disposed or There were two
charges of murder, one, in which a mother was charged
with the murder of her child, and another in which a hus-
band was accused of the murder of hi, wife. He was afraid
that in both these cases it would appear to be clearly
made out that the deaths were the result of the treatment of
the accused parties ; and if the grand jury should come to
that conclueion upon the evidence that would be laid be fore
them, he apprehended they would be of opinion that,in the
absence of any explanation, it would be the proper course
to return true tills, so that the came might undergo full
inquiry before the petty jury. There was also a charge
against a hoy, very young, of having fired a gun at another
teerson feloniously, in which it appeared to him that a doubt
might tithe whether the act was not the result of accident;
and, of course, if the grant jury should come to that opinion,
they would hesitate before they found a bill; but it,
however, the matter were left in doubt, then, of mime,
it would be more satisfactory to bud the bill, and
have the matter fitH7 investigated. The only a.-
a uinfng charge to which he should direct their at-
tention was one of a very serious character, in which a
person of respectable position, a solicitor, was charged with
wilfully setting fire to his house, with intent to defraud the
insurance company with whom he had shortly hcfore ef-
fected en insurance. Ity the statutes of the 7th Wm. IV.
and Ist of her present Majesty, this offence was created
one of a very serious kind, and subjected the party
convicted of it to very severe punishment. The grand
jury would, therefore, carefully consider the evidence
that was laid before them, and if it should appear to them
to make out a prima facie case of guilt, theu of course it
would be their duty to return a true bill. The learned
Recorder then called the attention of the grand jury to the
provision of Lord Campbei.'s Act, which has just received
the royal assent, and explained to them the nature
of its provisions, lie raid that, by one of the pro-
visions of this act, any person who should be
apprehended at night armed with any dangerous
weapon, and being suspected of an intention to commit
felony, tor any petunia apprehended under similar circum-
stances, with his face bl ickencd, or having ekeletou keys
upim him, should he deemed guilty of a ntistlemennour, and
be subject to three years' imprisonment, awl upon a second
conviction such persons were liable to be transported.
Same other clauses of the act referred to the administration
of chloroform for the purpose of committing felony ; and
the pr.nishment for this offence was increased to
transportation for life. T h., act likewise made
a misdemeanour the committing any violent
is-
sault, although there might not be any actual wound
and no indrurnent was made use of. By other
clauses, persons who were convicted of throwing anything
upon the rails of a railway or the carriages tnivelling. upon
it, or pulling up any portion of the rails, or doing any act
of a similar kind likely to endanger the safety of the pas-
, sewers, was deemed guilty of felony, and was liable to be
r transported for life. The-e, he said, were important alters-
, lions, and he tad therefore felt it to be his duty to call the
attention of the grand jury to them, and he should now dis-
miss them to the perfornuince of their duties.
The grand jury then retired.

SURREY SESSIONS.

THIS DAY.

These sessions commenced this morning, at the Court
House, Newington-causeway, before Thomas l'uckle,
and a bench of magistrates. The calendar contained the
nausea of only thirty-nine prisoners, three of whom only
can read or write.

FATAL AFFRAY VIVI THE POLICE.—An uproar
which took place yesterday in Shoe-lane, ha, ended in the
death of a man named John Hogan, who expired this
morning. The place where the riot took place is Plump.
tree-court. it is wholly inhabited by the lower orders of
Irish, and about midnight ou Saturday a gener4 quarrel
seems to hare broken out amongst them. 'fhe row was so
great at 3 o'clock on Sunda• morning that the whole
neighbourhood became alarm' d, and a body of police were
sent for. This seems to hate caused greater irritation on
the side of tho belligerents, who made a must determined
re,i•tance to the police, several of whom were severely
kicked and injured. It became neco.ary for them to use
I their staffs, and it is alleged that llogan't death is the
result of his having been struck by cue of them on the head.
Some hours elapsed before quietness could be restored.
When it was found that llo,ran was dead, the execrations
against the police arc said to hare been frightful. The
whole affair will undergo examination before Payne,
the coroner, who has had notice of the death of Hogan.

Ttlii 12in LANCERS.—This regiment, 452 strong,
arrised at I'urtemcuth from AVinelie,ttr, at neon on Satur-
day, fur embarkation for the Cape. They were met at the
railway terminus by Major General Lord Frederick Fitz-
claretwe, Lieutenant Governor; Colonel Yea, ith regiment,
the acting Brigade-Major, 'Town Major Maitland, Major
Harvey, and other officers, and by tae bands of the three
regiments in minima, viz., the 7th, Tbth, and 93th, by the
whole of whom they were accompanied to the clock
yard. Only three men, we hear, were missing on their
leaving inehestcr, one c f wlvem was a volunteer
from the fith Dragoons, another a volunteer from the Ilth
Bussing, whilst the other was a recruit. Ou arriving
in the Dockyard, the troops at once embarked
in the Charlotte and Berkshire, freight-ships, which lay
alongside the jetty ; head-quarters going on board the
Charlotte, and m the evening they were towed out of har-
bour by the Echo, to Spitheed, where they remained all
night. At six o'clock yesterday (Sunday) morning they
gut under wcigl , and by ninu had rounded St. Helen's and
were out of eight. The Lieutenant-Governor, Major-Gen.
Lord F. Fitzelarence, has visited the Char! itte and Berk-'
shire, and has made minute inspections of their 11CCOMMO.•
datiOLIP. dec. On Saturday night his lordship made a fare-
well visit to the regiment at Spithead, and was
heartily cheered by the men on leaving. The Lith
having been supplied with a new carbine, they will be
practised iu its u-c en the voyage out to the Cape. The
men appeared in very good spirits previous to embarkation.
One a them, as the regiment marched along queen-street,
l'ortsca, to the Dockyard, managed to dart out front the
ranks end ran up an adjacent street, but wit, followed and
soon brought back. lle said he did not intend to desert,
he only wanted to get something to drink. Ile had hand-
cuffs on, being a prisoner under punishment for some dis-
orderly conduct at Winchester.
LIEEr.-COLONLL F. It. CHESNEY, R.A.—The
raitcd &ivies (iazdte states: "The honorary degree of
Doctor of Civil Laws has been conferred by the Oxford
University on this officer, who was the first to survey the
Euphrates and 'Tigris, and to conduct an expedition down
those rivers, and has written an admirable work on the
countries lying between the Nile and the Tigris."

MOVERE2iTS OF INFANTRY IN IRELAND.—This
week the following changes of stations will take place :
The depot 73rd will leave Dublin for Londonderry ; the
depot of the 31th is to proceed /roan Londonderry to 31u1-
Hagar ; the 39th is to move from Newry to Dublin ; and
the depot of the fr/nd at Carlow is to move to Dublin ; the
hi battalion of the 71st at Mullingar is to go to Newry.
SECOND BATTALION 410 Tit lIIFLES.—The batta-
lion is still at Cork. The Sidon has again been found not
seaworthy, and goes to Plymouth; another vessel will
therefore be required to convey one division to the Cape of
Good Rope.
A DESPERATE SUICIDE was committed a few
days ago in Lancashire, at a place called The Ilillins, near
Oldham, by a man throwing himself headlong down a coal
pit, upwards of 200 fret deep. The name of the unfortu-
nate man was William Loft, a collier; and at the inquest
on his body, he!d ou Thursday evening, by Mr. Rutter,
county coroner, the following particular* of the shocking
case were elicited. Mary Needham, a woman who lied
near Lolt, stated that on Tuesday night last, she saw him
leaving his house in a hurried manner, without hat or coat,
and asked him what be was going to du ? Ile made no re-
ply. but walked in the direction of an old, disused coal-pit
in the middle of a field. There was an old rail fence round
the pit, and she saw him bend down nadir the rails and
throw himself head-foremost into the shaft. It appeared
from ether evidence that deceased had a wife and araily,
and lived on bad terms with the former, owing to inequality
of temper, and committed the rash and fatal act in a fit of
temporary insanity. The jury returned a verdict to that
effect.

NEW MINES IN WATERFORD.—The Waterford!
Nero, in a letter dated Kilmaethomas, July 2, has the fol-
lowing:—" Mining agents and impectors from the firm of
Rothschild and Baring, of England, are almost ovary
second day visiting And inspecting the m ly-di•covered
mines, and have been this week seeing the Marquis of
Waterford, on whose property they are, to make the neces-
sary arrangements with him, and to begin to work them at
once. Judging from all the circumstances which have
already transpired relative to these works, it is extremely
probable that, in tho course of a mouth or so, two or three
thousand of our starving labourers will be employed in
these valuable works; and nowhere is to be found a finer
or more honest set of labourers than live iu the vicinit of
these mint:. The three mines are situated in the parish of
Cloaca, in this county.