The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1857-02-28 00:00:00

AN EXTRAORDINARY CASE.

At the Court of Queen's Bench, an action, Smith v.
Lakeman, which had occupied the court three days, and
was instituted to try 14 issues by direction of the Court
of Chancery, has just been decided. It appeared that
the plaintiff is a native of Virginia, and teara the title of
Captain, and the defendant is a sharebroker, carrying
on business at No. 2, Exchange buildings. The plaintiff
came to this country in 1833, and became acquainted
with the defendant, whom he employed to dispose of
10,000 American Mining shares, of which, as
the defendant sated, subsequently, he had sold
some, and invested the money in railway secu-
rities for the benefit of the plaintiff. In the meantime
a bill in Chancery was filed against the plaintiff, by a
person named Low, who had previously applied to the
defendant (Lakeman) for the amount, knowing that he
held shares of the plaintiff's; and Mr. Lakeman then
produced a memorandum signed by the plaintiff,
acknowledging that he owed various sums to Lakeman,
an item being for £1,560. The defendant held also
another memorandum, and the chief ismes were to try
if these dacuments were genuine. The plaintiff admitted
that one of the memoranda was genuine, and given
to defendant with a view to defraud Low, but
denied that he signed the other document merely
as a witness, and the interval between the upper
part of the, page and his signature, was supplied with
an acknowledgment of debts which he never sanctioned.
He also added that deferidant and he had spent the
evening in dissipation, And when he signed the disputed
instrument he was only recoveri)-4- from the effects of
intoxication. Lord Campbell, in ain st clahorale awn-
ming up, commented. strongly on the extraordinary
circumstances of the' case. The 'plaintiff (he said)
appeared in a very unfavourable light, but if' his stUte-
ments with respect to the second, document were true,
the defendant was guilty of forgery and perjury. The
jury returned a verdict for the defendant on all the issues.

An imperial ukase just issued at St. Petersburg allows
the importation of foreign salt into Bessarabia during the
present year.
The Bavarian Minister of Public Worship has just
addressedito:all the Bavarian bishops a circular, directing
them not to permit Jesuits and other foreign priests to
officiate in the churches.
The Veritc of Lille announces the discovery at Cartig-
flies, near Avesnes (Nord), of a quarry of very valuable
black marble. In the marble have been found shells of
great beauty and in excellent preservation.
Captain F. B3rkeley M.P., arrived in Cheltenham a
few evenings ago for the purpose of being admitted a
member of the Cheltenham Royal Union Lodge of Free
masons. The ceremony was performed in the usual
manner.

An Antwerp journal contains the following paragraph :
" This morning Madame Scholte was safely delivered of a
son. Considerable interest was excited by this event, as
the newborn child has a mother, a grandmother, a great
grandmother, and a great great grandmother, making five
generations all living at the same time."
FASHIONABLE ARRIVALS IN AUSTRALIA.-117 ithin the last
week, at the lowest calculation, 800 Chinese have arrived
from Bendigo, the van of a large army now mustering in
Melbourne. On the road to the Buckland, which is their
general goal, string succeeding string, marching in Indian
of those interesting exotics, with, in many instances,
a MOM,
'ed "boss " heading the " polers ;" and their con-
rivalling the wayside cockatoos, have caused
tinual jabb';
quite a sensatiou
• among the few inhabitants, who take it as
an undoubted evkieu: e of a sudden change in the weather
that the "locusts"swam,:so numerously in the month of
,
November.—Ovens Constilatio%.
with previous an-
DR. LIVINGSTONS—In accordance,
• friends of Dr.
nouncement, a private meeting of tn.. ,
a subscrip-
Livingstone took place on Wednesdaylast, an,
tion was at once commenced for the purpose of ,;:lauring
a testimonial of respect to the enterprising misgiou,737
and traveller, A committee was also appointed, along
with a secretary and treasurer, and the business of the
meeting was altogether most satisfactory. We under.
stand that a joint request to Dr. Livingstone, by the
Manchester Chamber of Commerce and the Mercantile
Association, that he will permit the members to announce
his presence at a public meeting in our city, is exciting
considerable interest among large and influential classes.
—ll4andiester Examiner.

gqon the list of subscriptions to the memorial to the late
Captain Thompson, we find given as "an offering from
seven schoolboys, who would like to be such a soldier as
Major Thompson was." SJventeen private soldiers con-
tribute 8s 6d; and two guineas come " from a rough
soldier who has shed tears over Captain Thompson's
memory." We find also entries from " two working
men," " a mechanic," "in memoriam (.E50)," &c. It has
been suggested by influential members of the general
committee that the memory of Captain Thompson could
not be more consistently honoured than by vesting a
portion of the funds that may be contributed, in the names
of trustees, for the purchase of regimental steps, which
would eventually place a younger brother (already in the
army) in that rank which was awarded to Captain
Thompson for the services and sufferings which led to his
untimely end.
A FRACTURE ON THE STAGE.—The There of Nantes
says ;—" A somewhat ridiculous incident occurred at the
last performance of the Favourite. In the scene where
Fernand rejects with indignation the presents of the
King, M. Masset, who played the former part, has,
accordiac to the traditional customs, to draw forth his
sword suddenly, and then, after breaking it, throw the
pieces at the King's feet. But on the present occasion the
pieces of the inoffensive weapon, which had already served
several tithes for the same purpose, were badly soldered
together, so that when Fernand, in his heroic indignation
drew forth his faithful steel, he exhibited to the assembled
court only a-broken blade of about Six inches in length,
the, rest of the weapon remaining in the scabbard. The
effect on the spectators was prodigious ; and neither
Arnal, Ravel, nor Grassot ever caused an audience to
laugh more heartily. M. Masset, however, did not allow
himself to be disconcerted, for he went on bravely with
the part, changing the words, in speaking of his sword,
Je la brise a vos pieds,' into. 'Je la jette a vos pieds.'
The hilarity of the house, however, continued to the end
of the piece.

DARING BURGLARY WITH VIOLENCE.—On Thursday,
about one o'clock, a daring burglary, accompanied with
considerable violence, was committed at the house of Mr.
Samuel Hall, an extensive farmer, living at Slade •Hooton,
in the township of latughton, about five miles from Rather_
ham, near Manchester. Four men gained admission to the
house by forcing open the kitchen window. Unfo- tunately
the noise, which must have been caused by breaking open
the window, did not arouse Mr. Hall, and he lay, uncon-
scious of the fact that robbers were, in his house, till they
reached his bedroom door. A few seconds after he awoke,
he was alarmed by the presence of three rough locking
fellows at his bed side. Being himself an old man, he did
not attempt to resist them. One of the fellows wore a
" slop" over his clothes, and a black mask over his face,
and, with threatening voice and gestures, he demanded Mr.
Hall's money. Unfortunately, there was no one in the
house who could render any effective opposition to the
fellows ; and raising an alarm was impossible, as the house
is in a very lonely position. Mr. Hall replied that he bad
no money; after which the masked ruffian dealt him a
savage blow over the head, with a heavy, blunt weapon,
which fractured his skull. The fellows then proceeded to
ransack the house, and succeeded in carrying away six £5
notes, £27 in gold, six silver teaspoons, two silver
'etlespoons, a silver patent lever watch, a silver plated cup
with lid, two pounds of tea, one pound of tobacco, and a
box of cigars, with which they decamped.

TEM FRENCH POST OFFICE AND THE FRENCH PEOPLE.—
The Journal des Debats, in a recent article, has published
some very interesting particulars respecting the French Post
Office. The reduction of the rate of postage which has taken
place in recent years, has caused, it would appear, an immense
increase in the amount of correspondence transmitted through
the bureaux of the post. In 1847, the number of letters thus
sent amounted to 126 millions. In 1856, it amounted to
252 millions, or just double. The sum received for
these letters had much increased, but, of course, not in
the same proportion. Thus, in 1847, it reached 45
millions of francs, and, in 1856, 48 millions—being an
increase of three millions. The Debats does not say how
much the expenses of administration have augmented with
the augmentation of its labours. The figures just quoted
suggest some interesting calculations. Thus, the population
of France being thirty-six millions, and the number of letters
written by it being, in one year, 252 millions, it follows
that each individual wrote, on an average, seven letters per
annum. We know, however, that such a result as this is purely
fanciful ; figurative in a double sense. There are few people
who use the pen with any facility, who do not write more
than seven letters a year. Business houses, too, send off
letters by hundreds and tens of hundreds. The various banks,
joint stock companies, and similar establishments, are equally
prolific in their production of correspondence. It follows,
therefore, that an immense number of people in Franco
never write at all--cannot write, in fact. This we know
to be the case. At least one third of the male population
of the country are calculated to be ignorant how to write.
Probably this estimate is under the mark. France contains
an enormous population of agricultural labourers and little
farmers, separated from all c3mmunication with the great
cities, and plunged into the darkest depths of ignorance.
Sorcery, witchcraft, and miracle workers, are believed in by
these people with uncontaminated sincerity. Reading
and writing are, of course, accomplishments which they do not
possess. Hence the small amount of correspondence which
passes through the post each year-7small, we mean, when
compared with the total number of the population. If religion
fulfilled her proper office, she would strive to enlighten all this
ignorance ; strive with a will, and sure, ed in carrying her point.
But in France, even more than in England, religion is a trade.
The chief thought of most of those who pi ofesq it, is how to
make it profitablo to them. lather Hiatt mcn, are
the things to be gained.