Northern Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1859-12-10 00:00:00

BOROUGH SESSIONS.

(Before J. B. ASPINALL, Esq., Deputy Recorder.)
SENTENCES.-Thomas
_Darr, aged 23, carter, of em-
bezzling money belonging to his employer, Bernard
Bogue, one month.—Jane O'Hara, aged 17, and Honor
O'Connor, aged 39, were indicted for stealing money, a
carpet bag, and other property belonging to Hugh
O'Hara ; the former was sentenced to three days' im-
prisonment, and the latter was acquitted.—Francis
Murphy, aged 30. labourer, for stealing lead belonging
to William Ratcliffe, four months.—Bridget M'Caul,
aged 77, charwoman, for stealing weating ppparel
belonging to Margaret Butler, three months.—Alice
Maher, glias Molloy, aged 32, for stealing from
James Brian, four months.—James Eastham, aged 18,
labourer, was indicted for stealing beef belonging to
David Rushton, two months.—William Hughes, aged
45, labourer, for stealing tools belonging to. John Lee,
nine months.

THE CHARGE OF EMBEZZLEMENT AGAINST A CAP-
TAIN.—WiIIiam Benson, aged 36, late master of the
ship Pomona, who was charged and acquitted on the
previous day on the second count of an indictment
charging him with embezzlement, was again placed at
the bar on the first count, which charged him with
having embezzled the respective sums of £45, £l5, and
£3O, which he had received on account of Mr. R. A.
Munn and others, owners of the Pomona. Mr. Conway
appeared for the prosecution, and Mr. Deighton for the
defence. It appeared 'that the Pomona, having been
chartered to proceed to Calcutta, was there placed at the
disposal of the Government, for the conveyance of
troops to England. At Calcutta one of the officers paid
the prisoner £ls, in consideration of his daughter being
allowed a cabin passage; and that the prisoner also
received £45 from Lieutenant Hallows, fs,r a passage
from the Cape of Good. Hope. The £3O he received
from "a youn,g man who was desirous of a voyage for the
good of bis health, and who, on payment of that sum,
was entered on the articles as " captain's clerk." M r.
Deighton contended that the case should never have
been brought into that court; but being only a dispute
on accounts, should have been settled at a civil tribunal.
The money, he contended, was not received by the
captain on account of his employers ; and it was not
received in pursuance of his appointment, but merely as
compensation for ,the inconvenience he was put to by
the officer's daughter, and Lieutenant Hallows, occu-
pying the apartments allotted to the prisoner. The
Deputy Recorder' in suniming up the evidence, said
that with regard to the sum of £3O, he was not of
opinion that the circumstances under which it was re-
ceived and retained would constitute embezzlement, and
even if it slid, as it had been received more than six
months prior to the time at which the other moneys were
received, the law would not allow it .to be included in
the indictment. With regard_ to the other amounts, if
they considered that it was not received on account of
the prosecutors, that would be' an answer to -the charge ;
but they would find that the general effect of the in-
,structions which the prisoner received was to make as '
much money as he could on account of his employers.
Supposing they were satisfied that the money was re-
ceived on account of the prosecutors, then they" must
say whether the prisoner fraudulently neglected to ac-
count for it ; if they-could see their way at all to believ-
ing that he hadthe slightest idea that he was entitled
to the money, that would destroy the fraudulency of the
transaction, and entitle the prisoner to acquittal.--After
an absence of about an half-an-hour, the jury returned
a verdict of " Not guilty," adding that they believed he
had acted morally wrong.—The Deputy Recorder said
riso n e r 0.
had
he entirely concurred in that expression of opinion, and
he intended it to apply even more strongly to the re-
ception. th ebe4e
n tried
3 0 w l c
byh he first o
r alluded
both to. The
w hTohme
p
had -considered it
right
be to appen the same opinion to
their verdict. It would
muchfor the better for the prisoner
to account to his employersthe amount to which he
was a defaulter, as it was competent
r forig
ht
th. !TT toho take
such civil proceedings as theythought
pri-
soner was then discharged.
CONVICTION FOR FOR MURDER.—At the Northumberland
assizes, on Wednesday, John Wilson Moody, ono of the
mates of the American ship Mary, was tried fur the
wilful murder of Daniel Witham, a seamen under his
command. The outrage OR the deceased was accom-
panied with the atrocity which, we reget to say, has
been too frequently. displayed .in American ships, but
this time, fortunately for the sake of justice, the offence
was perpetrated within the pale of EnglOa law: Moody
fractured the seaman's skull by striking him with a
thick iron bar, and afterivards addressed to- the dying
man the most brutal language. The murder was com-
mitted in the Northumberland docks, on the river Tyne.
The jury found Moody guilty of manslaughter, and Mr.
Baron Martin sentenced him to penal servitude for life.

D.R. LANKESTEWS LECTURE ON WINES,'
SPIRITS, "AND BEER.-

Lankester delivered his fourth lecture last evening,
at tthe Concert-hall, Lord Nelson-street—the subject
being "Wines, Spirits, and Beer." Having_ been in-
troduced by the chairman, Mr. Nathaniel Caine, Dr.
Lankester said that in a former lecture he had stated
that the Pike water would act upon lead. Old cisterns
became lined with carbonate .er sulphate of lead, and.
would not, therefore, be likely ;to be acted upon by the
water ; . but if they took a piece of clean new lead,
placed it in a bottle of clear water, and corked it up for
a dew days, they would see the action on the water, lay
the tarnished appearance of the lead. Though this
test should fail, there we,' _no doubt that . under
certain circumstances lead was acted upon by the Pike
water, and he told them this, that the people of Liver-
pool must, not be poisoned with lead. Referring to
something which he had also said at the previous lecture,
he contradicted the popular error that gelatinous matter
was nutritious, and then proceeded to the subject for the
evening. Alcohol, he said, was a perfectly natural pro-
duction, and he warned people against speaking un-
advisedly upon subjects of which they knew nothing.
alcohol had a very curious effect upon the system, and
very extreme opinions were entertained regarding it,;
but this fact did not prove that it was altogether
inadmissable as a medicine, or an article of diet.
Many things which we take in small quantities would
be poisonous if taken in large quantities. One of
the most disastrous effects of alcohol on the system
was the production of disorganisation of the mucous mem-
brane, and persons ought therefore to be very careful
how they took alcohol on an
,empty stomach, especially
in the form of brandy, rum, or gin, without water, though
even with water they might produce the same bad effects
on an empty stomach. If he was asked as to how these
things should be taken, he would say—take them as
seldom as possible And then only as medicine. When
aged persons took alcohol it seemed to act as a suspen-
der of those processes of change which otherwise might
go on too fast. They were beneficial ,when the change
was • going on too actively, but it was just as .dan-
gerous to those in whom change does not go on
quick enough. This should act as a warning to those
having a tendency to rheumatism or gout. An immense
amount of disease was created by the moderate taking
of alcohol, and this, because people did not understand it
it should be taken with great care, and even then could
not be taken without fear of some evil result. Beer, he
said, no doubt acted as a sort of tonic. It was said to
be largely adulterated ; and at one time, though he did
not say it was the case now, strychnine was used for this
purpose. Re recommended persons, if possible, to brew
their own beer. Speaking of wine, he said that a cer-
tain kind was manufactured in France for the English
market, and to this, in order to make what was called a
strong wine, large quantities of alcohol were added.
Some wine would. fetch 305., while other wine would
be sold for as many guineas, not because it was nutritive,
but because it tickled the taste. The spirits distilled
in this country were brandy, rum, gin, and whiskey ;
and these, especially the Irish and Scotch whiskeys, and
those from private stills, were often very injurious, in
consequence of careless distillation. Every one must
remember that these thing could not be taken with
impurity, and every man, before taking them, should sit
down and think about what he is going to do; recollect
that he has a substance before him which is likely to
derange his nervous system, and reduce him to•a state
in which he is not able to take care of himself. They
should be careful lest they took more of it than was good
for them, and be drawn on to commit sins of witch it
had been too often the incentive.
_ .

At the-conclusion of his lecture, a 3 well as frequently
during its course, the lecturer was greeted with applause,
and on the motion of the Rev. 11. S. Brown, a vote of
thanks was tendered to Mr. Caine for presiding.