The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-03-18 00:00:00

LIVERPOOL

it „a, he::
be offered, winhtiiceohated that there was no further evidence to
do You The Coroner, addressing the accused, said : William Dove
Wish to say anything to the jury in reply to the charge ?
The accused Nothing at all.
The Coroner then commenced his charge to the jury,
amidst the most profound silence in all parts of the court. He
Baid —Gentlemen, on bringing your mind to a calm, dis-
passionate, and impartial consideration of this important case,
Zoll must altogether disregard the various observations and
irag,gestions which have appeared in the public prints, respecting
enr/ever title, or plausible, or disinterested they may be,
beforn must confine your attention to the evidence adduced
aerd,e, Y°n. and upon that only you must determine your
tilet• I fear a very erroneous impression prevails relative
ie nature of an inquiry like this ; and modern practice
rovoirrig sanctioned the appearance of advocates, the
tha ea!itin has thereby gained ground. It seems to be thought
tl t this ;4 a court where an accused person is on his trial ;
d'at a charge is made, and that there must, of necessity, be a
ref Pee.' Now, nothing is more incorrect, or further from the
nature of a coroner's inquest. Our princ:pal duty is to
to Quire into, and ascertain the cause of death ; and if, in the
e'gress of the investigation, it shall appear that it has arisen
gm violence offered by another, then the law says—you shall
ttasti such a verdict as will send the party causing death before
Culler tribunal to answer the charge to be made against him.
ther death duty, therefore, in this case is to determine the cause of
d of Mrs. Dove.' If the circumstances 'attending her
death, and. the results f the examination of leer body after
to 8 satisfy you that she.died from poison, it will be for you
flora! Pots the evidence before yau, whether she took it her-
to destroy life or whether it was taken by accident or
,i,„litistake, or whether it was administered to her designedly by
-°l74e other person. Now, so far as the evidence goes there
b_e.t.na to he nothing from which you can for a single moment
beeeneve that Mrs. Dove destroyed herself. It has, however,
result' 11 uggested by the evidence that it might have been the
of accident that some of the poison, which was known to
z.
thaveheen in the house, might have been spilt, or got amongst
A/el.:Gout! taken by the deceased. The suggestion was made by
ileY, as an inducement to the prisoner and his mother
ieteonsent to an examination of the bady, and we may fairly
dee! that Mr. Motley's suspicions were aroused soon after the
kileat:,ttbut that being unwilling, and properly so, to believe
r
ie had been any foul play, ho ventured upon this suggestion
,iiiicorder to arrive at a solution of the difficulty
alej presented itself to his mind, viz., the cause of dead!.
it appears the poison was kept in the prisoners
4E; eases and that upon Mrs. Whitham expressing her alarm
liar little boy should get to it, the deceased assured her
-.e was no cause for alarm : meaning, no doubt, that it was
carefully taken care of by Mr. Dove. I think you will be of
°Pinica, that the poison could not have been administered or
ta,,lten by as:cident or mistake. Then comes the third proposi-
,"ons I have sit,..anitted to you, viz., was the poison administered
"e"ignedly by sum, other person, and if so, by whom ? If the
wevi;(l, °nee, irresistibly a,:sd conclusively, points out the person, it
be your duty nsl against that person a verdict of
wilful murder. The coronet ti-,en, at great length, went through
the whole of the evidence which 144 been adduced, commenting
°Pori it as he went on. Havirs; gone through it, ho said :
As I observed to you at the commencement of ply remarkai it
is upots the evidence adduced before yeti that you awe to form
Your opinion as to the cause and manner of death. -You are
not to supply the want of evidence by any hypothesis of your
own, and you are not to set up the opinions of other men of
acienco against the positive evidence of Mr. Morley and Mr.
Nunnelev. For the purposes of this inquiry you are bound to
receive and act upon their testimony. It may bo that other
men of science entertain different opinions. It may be that
in other cases where strychnia has been taken no trace of it
could be found after death. In this case the medical men have
been more fortunate, and tite7 tell us that the tests they have
applied satisfy them beyond ac,a, reasonable doubt of the
pretence of strychnia. But if anything were wanting to confirm
°Pinions carefully, deliberately, and impartially, formed
by
men of competent skill, and who have previews ezperiere cein
"eh cases, it is the further evidence they have given this
raorning. [The coroner Isere read over the further analysis
as given above.] This evidence, he said, is most valuable as
determining the p:esence of strychnia in the body of the
utbeceased after death. From the symptoms then before death,
°, aPPearancas on the examination of the body after death.
sir ° the analysis and its resulta, you will, I think, be con-
r,.iidneded to say that the cause of deaths, was strychnia. I had
to the prmibility of men of science differing upon the
results of analysis, and when they do so, having had equal
opportunities of forming a correct judgment, serious difficulties
I.l_l, be created. It is, however, very satisfactory to
'atrie" that as regards poisoning by strychnia, there
ope the same unmistakeable and distinguishing features
re n which all men of science aro agreed, and these
littit" "ptotaas during life. It may be difficult to say how
ne strychnia will cause death, what proportion will cause a
`ps:u ed amount of spasmodic action, how soon after taking it
`taiespasmodic action will come on, and how long it will con-
n° ? but its effects during life are well marked and settled.
After
reading further extracts from the
evidence, the coroner
1-et.ter ated his impression that lie thought the jury could have
110 doubt that the death of the deceased was caused by
strychnia, not taken accidentally, but by design, and should
they come to that conclusion they would then have tt
determine whether the evidence made out satisfactorily is
their •
minds the Dart who administered' it. It could not bt
°ltaPsteti that '
any of the Witnesses who had beet

COTTON : The cotton market continues quiet to-day, the
enquiry has been fair but holders offer so abundantly,
prices are barely so steady. The sales—including 330
Bahia, 6L-d to bad; 20 Maranham, ; 300 Egyptian,
6id 8d ; 500 Surat, 411 to are reported 8,000
bales, of which 1,000 are on speculation and for export.
Selma PIO IRON : Our market for Warrants closes at
7ls 6d to 725, cash i • 3 months, open, 70s.
SUGAR : There has been an improved and more general
demand, with a very strong market ; including Saturday's
business, the transactions comprise 60 hhds Demerara,
from 37s 6d to 42s for grainy, 80 hhds Barbadoes at 38s to
40s 61, 1,250 bags Bengal, at 45s 6d for Cossipore, 42s for
Benares, and 40a 9d for Date, 3,000 mats Mauritius at
38s 91, 50 hhds Louisiana at 37s 91 to 395, and 1,200 tons
clayed Manilla, to arrive, at 24s 9d per cwt. in bond from
the quay.
MOLASsES : 100 puncheons Demerara are reported at 17s
31 per cwt. from the quay.
Rurr : 100 puncheons Demerara at previous rates.
COFFEE: We have had more doing, 50 bags St. Domingo
having been sold at 48s, 240 bags Rio at 42s per cwt., and
300 bags Bahia, the price not reported.
TEA : A fair inquiry exists for Congou, and former prices
are sustained • Oolong and Scented Orange Pekoe are bath
difficult of sale, except at a reduction.
Rica : Upwards of 3000 bags Bengal have found pur-
chasars, at 9a for yellow cargo, to lOs 6d per cwt. for
middling.
SAGO FLOUR : 200 bags at 21s per cwt.
LINSEFD: 150 Calcutta at 61s per quarter.
LOGWOOD: 20 tons Jamaica, all faults, at £7 2s 6d.
FUsTIC: 100 tons Cnracoa at £5 lOs to £5 12s 6d per ton.
HEMP : 700 bales Manilla, price not reported.
CAT rid& . We had a very sharp market for sheep to-day,
and last week's prices rather exceeded. The best beef wes
also dearer, but a slow sale for middling quality, without
change in price for that description. 1,752 beasts, 4,733
sheep at market.

LONDON.

Coils —The supply of English wheat was not large this
morning, and the arrivals from abroad only moderate
All good dry qualities found a ready sale at 4s or 5s
advance upon last Monday's rates, but ill-conditioned
samples hung on hand, although freely offered under that
improvement. Foreign wheat may be quoted at 3s to 4; ;
barrel flour, is to 2s ; and country sack fully 2s to 3s,
dearer than on this day week. Fine malting barley was
Is to 2s, and other sorts Is dearer. Oats were a steady
sale without material improvement in value. Peas as
last noted, but beans were rather dearer.
The following public sales are:advertised for to-morrow :
—Sugar, 500 hhds. West India, 800 bags of Mauritius, 600
bags of Bengal, 5,500 bags of Madras, and 3,3,0 barrs of
Penang. Coffee, 250 bags, Pimento 300 bags, cochineal
350 bags. There has been a good inquiry for sugar,
and about 10,000 bags, chlefiy of Mauritius, sold since
Friday.
COFFEE has worn a steady appearance.
TEA.—A. limited amount of business done, chiefly in
greens, out of the fresh arrivals.
COTTON.-400 bales sold.
Oms.—Seal, pale, £55; yellow, £4B; brown, ..10 to
,e 42; sperm, £125 to £127 ; cod, £44 to &45; South Sea,
pale, t 46 ; olive Gallipoli, to £52 lOs ; Spanish and
Sicily, .C5O to £5l ; cocoa nut, 38s to 40s ; palm 36s to
39s 6d ; linseed, 34s 6d ; rape, pale, 51s to 53s ; brown,
495.
TaLLow—The market is quiet, with but little doing.
Prices are quoted as follows :—Town tallow, 51s to sls
6d nett cash; Petersburgh Y.C. on the spot, 56s ; March
to April, 52s ; April to June, 50s 6d ; Oct. to Dec. 49s 6d.
Arrival for the week ending March 26 last year, 1,350
casks, mil delivery 1,426 casks. The arrival last week
comprised 483 casks from Russia, and 8 from other places.
Total, 491 casks.
CATTLE.—Although the number of beasts is smaller, the
trade is excessively dull for them. Prices cannot be
quoted higher, indeed in some instances inferior qualities
have been sold lower. We are well supplied with sheep ;
but choicest Downs in the wool are not very plentiful, and
maintain full prices. The inclement weather causes a dull
trade amongst shorn sheep, which now form a large pro-
portion of the supply. Good lambs and calves are very
dear. From Germany and Holland there are 187 beasts
and 25 calves; Scotland, 350 beasts ; Norfolk and Suffolk,
2,700; and 120 from Ireland. There will be no market
here on Friday next, being " good Friday," but one will
be held on Thursday next in lieu thereof.
BOROUGU HOP.—Messrs. Pattenden and Smith, Hop
Factors, report that fine hops are still in good demand
at full prices ; socond quality are also more sought after.
YESTERDAY'S MARKETS.

BELFAST CORN : Only one barrel, two bags of wheat at
market. Foreign held for an advance of 203 per ton since
Friday, with the exception of Slide wheat, which is 103 per
ton dearer. No change in other articles.

----
A treaty of commerce has been conclude 1 between Eng-
land and Switzerland.
A telegraphic despatch from Lord Clarendon was received
at Madrid on the llth instant, directing that no more mules
were to be purchased in Spain for the British service.
Mr. Commissariat-General Filder's reply to the Crimean
report has been presented to parliament and printed. Tie
denies that he ever allowed roero form or usages to impede
the employment of the means he possessed, in overcoming
the unprecedented difficulties of his position.
THE EX-POSTMASTE It OF RATOELEY.—At the Stafford
assizes, on Saturday, Samuel Cheshire, late postmaster of
Rugeley, who had been convicted of unlawfully opening a
letter, was sentenced by Mr. Baron Bramwell, to be im-
prisoned for the term of one year, but without hard labour.
The French hospitals at Constantinople continue to be
in a very bad state. General Storks had offered whatever
stores wore wanted, but against the advice of the medical
men, the Intendants declined the offer. Miss Nightin-
gale overcame the difficulties of routine, and had presented
to the Superior of the French Sisters of Charity, port wine,
vegetables, and other stores. S.;.e intends also to send
similar articles to the French hospitals in the Crimea.
The Chat ivari, which is really about the best political
journal now in Paris, observes, that the very same news-
papers
which, throughout the year, have been doing their
utmost
foment
he promotedifferences
betweenßussian
England
erod, now
America,trying
into
the hope that a serious quarrel may come out of them.
Till lately no expressions in the vocabulary of vituperation
were tco strong for these
tajt°esuthe
• there is a prospect of a war between the two gloat nations,
.rnaßlsetwubeenw
[ whose greatness was indissolubly associated with the practice
, of free institutions, these journals neglect nothing to
, ensure the coming of a spectacle which would be so delight
theyin r3ott.an fancy
e ful in their eyes—that of the people of Great Britain and
1 the United States,settling to cut one auother's throats,