The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-24 00:00:00

Dreadful Murder at Derby,

DERBY, Dec. 23.
We have to record another dreadful murder in the county
town of Derby, which for atrocity exceeds the one perpe-
trated two years ago by Richard Thorley. The details of
the present tragedy will be gathered from the following
statement made to our reporter by Sergeant Thorpe, of the
borough police force :

Thorpe said— I was on duty cn the Lcndon-road at a
quarter to 1 o'clock this (Friday) morning, when James
Potter, a bailiff, aged 55, and who resides in Traffic-street,
London-road, met me. I said to him "Potter, are you not
going home ?" and he replied " Not unless you go with
me." I said "I will go with you if you like," and we went
hick to his house together. Potter said " I cannotget into
the hous,p, and my wife has locked me cut," which I after-
writ ds found W 39 a correct statement. I said " The shutters
are open, get through tho window." He said "No, I will
not, unless ycu go with me." I said " Very well, go in.;
that's a good fellow," Ile got through, and I asked it there
was any one inside, and he said nor, but I was to cc-mo in.
Potter then struck a light, and I got through the wir''
him, When he lifted the window I noticed that he trtm-
bled very much. I rau to the Druids' Aims, Ccl:•e '-
some matches, and re: urned to Potter's hr.--

to

me to go up stairs, but I told him to go firs', as I
the road. Potter then took Me to a front bedroom
the second storey, and, he said "There is no`orld
I asked if any one was above, and he told mo to come into
the attic. I accompanied him into the attic, but found
no one there. We then returned to the bedroom on dm
second floor at the back of the house, a lodger being fact
asleep in the front bedroom. I asked Potter to go in, but
he would not, and I went in. On the bed lay Potter's
wife quite dead, and one leg out of bed, her head towards
the window, and one arm stretched out, while, blood
was trickling from the bed clothes. Potter was about
to leave the room, when I seized heft! a -him and
said " What does this blood mean? What is this? Come
here." He replied, "Oh dear lOh dear I is she dead ?" I
said, " She is. What does it all mean ? ' He made no
reply, and I went down stairs and called two women who
were passing down the street. They got through the
window, went and looked at the body, saw the woman was
dead, but would not remain in the house, as they were
frightened. A little girl was passing,' and I sent to the
Druids' Arms, and so n afterwards Mr rant and Mr Bor-
t:eon, surgeons, arrived. On examining the body a short
wound was found under the right breast, which, on being
probed, was found to be of great depth. I remained with
the body until seven o'clock this morning.

To."

Soon after 1 o'clock Inspector Fearn arrived at Potter's
house, took him into custody, and charged him with mur-
dering his wife. He replied, "sho has run me into debt very
much lately." Inspector Fern replied that that was 115
reason why ho should have murdered her, and he replied,
"The man you met on the stairs did it, not me." Fearn
told him he had met no man on the stairs,

Potter has been in a low, desponding way for some time,
and was jealous of his wife. The poor woman, at nine o'clock
on Thursday evening, went to Inspector Green, who lives
in the same street, and said that her husband would have to
be taken to the asylum, as he was abusing her very much,
and calling her a prostitute. There was a man lodger in the
front bedroom, also three grandchildren in another bedroom.
and another grandchild in a third bedroom. None of the
ohildren heard any noise, but the lodger said Potter and his
wife were quarrelling when he went to bed. The woman
was alive at twelve o'clock on thursday evening, as hor
married daughter lest a little before that time; and there
is no doubt the tragedy was committed a few minutes
before Sergeant Thorpe met the murderer.

On searching the bedroom where the body was found,
Sergeant Walker found by the side of a chest of drawers
a spear, which had been unsheathed from a walk-
ing-stick, and with which the deed was perpetrated. Mrs
Potter was 50 years of age, and had had a largo family,
but they were all grown up, and sonic resided at home, The
body awaits an inquest.

NOVEL ACTION FOR A PULPIT CUSHION.—YeB4
terday, at the Sheriffs' Court, Red Lion-square, en
action in the Queen's Bench, Mee v. Stayplten, was tried
before Mr Under-Sheriff Burchell and a jury, to recover
£l7 103 for a pulpit cushion presented to a clergyman, and
for the hire of a pattern, extending over a period of nearly
six years. Several pleas were pleaded, and the statute of
limitations was relied upon. Mr Day was counsel for the
plaintiff, a court milliner in Brook-street, Grosvenor-Fusre,
and Mr F. H. Lewis for the defendant, a gentleman of for.
tune, residing at Reigate. The plaintiff's case was that, on
Sept. 14, 1858, in which year ladies busied themselves in
making altar cloths, pulpit cushions, and slippers for the
lton ordered a cushion and materials for
zplaintiff's shop in Regent-street, and received a
paiisof
Mrs S
pattern at is a week, which she had kept ever since, The
clergy.
the
price now charged for the long credit for the pulpit cushion
was £1 15s, and £l5 15e for the hire of the pattern. The
plaintiff's wife and an assistant were called, and a bock was
produced, the entry in which was September, 1858, and the
goods delivered:in Albemarle street, where the defendant
then resided. In order to support the plaintiff's case the
defendant and Mrs Stayplton were called. Ho knew nothing
tf the order of the pulpit cushion, and the lady said it was
I ordered at Bath, and, as she believed, in December, 1857,
and consequently beyond six years from the time the action
was c.-annienced. !'he lady could not find the plaintiff, and
had inquired of her sister, Lady Edwards, when at Bath.
Mr Day
commented in strong terms on the shabby defence
which had been set up against a tradesman as uubLecruing
a gentleman of fortune. Mr F. 11. Lewis nettle a forcible
speech for the defendant, who had adopted the defence rather
than submit to an extortion. lie called upon the jury to
diemiis all prejudice from their minds, although a fellow-
tredesman had brought the action, fir if they did not the
sooner the jury system was abolished the better. He defied
them to find on the evidence any other verdict than one for
the defendant. Mr Under-Sheriff Burchell told the jury
that the question was, whether the goods had been delivered
within six years. lie begged them to dismiss all prejudice,
and to decide on the evidence. Far better to do justice,
though apparent injustice, than to give a verdict which the
evidence could not bear out. The jai y retired, and on their
return into court gave a verdict for the defendant.

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HIGI WATER AT LONDON BRIDGE.
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Z.)-440aR0w.-Morning, llh. 16m.—Afternoon, 11h. 50,-n.

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LONDON, SA I URDAY, LEO. 24, 1861.

Christmas Eve is again amongst us. Pleasant
thoughts and kindly greetings are all around net.
Families gather round the old hearthstone; cbildrEn
count the days of the holidays; and old friends
meet together with cordial words and lively re-
miniscences. Even cut of doors it is impossible to
forget the merry time. Holly and misletoe deck
the places of public meeting—and the very shop
windows are gay with appropriate adornments and
devices. Christmas has always been a traditional
holiday amongst ns. Englishmen are not too
f‘aocus for holiday making and joviality since the

days of the maypole and boar-hunt are over, and
the grave nineteenth century has brought its busi.
nese and its bustle. No time for play or leisure—
the high pressure must be kept up—even at the risk
of a snapping spring; and the eagerness for "a
sensation," in any shape, and the love of morbid
excitement, may partly owe their origin to the in-
cessant strain put upon mind and body in these days
of overwork. But in spite of hydra-headed monster
of work and worry, the old love of Christmastide
has still been kept up. Through all fluctuations
of manners and changes of social politics, King
Christmas has held his own. SHAKSPERE in his
" Hamlet" has told us how "so hallowed and SO
gracious is the time," that •' the bird of dawning
croweth all night long." SCOTT has assured us
that in the olden days—
'Twas Christmas broached the mightiest ale;
'Twas Christmas told the merriest tale,
A Christmas gambol oft would cheer
The poor man's heart through half the year,"

And in spite of all our innovations and contempt of
primitive manners, Christmas gifts, Christmas
boxes, Christmas holidays, and Christmas feasts
betoken the continuance of peace and goodwill on
earth. Sailors out at sea think of the far-off yule
logs ; colonists, struggling through the early days
of a settlement, turn in half humorous, half pathetic
remembrance to the recollection of the fun and
frolic of the dear old land. It is a time when the
rich think perforce of the poor, and when each man,
with a lingering ray of the old divine and universal
charity, pauses to ask how he may best help his
neighbours. And such remembrance is much needed.
Christmas, so universally welcomed, comes with
cheerless garb to many a sorrowful hearth. There
are homes where an empty chair, vacant since last
Christmas, will fill the happy season with gloom.
There are hunger.stricken abodes, where the poor
man is ready, in mockery, to join in the chorus so
pathetically sung by one of our minstrels—
" Nor meat, nor malt, nor bread, nor wine;
Ah, a merry Christmas tide is mine l"
There are hospitals where the maimed and diseased
toss heavily on their couches ; there are work-
houses and asylums where the victims of " the
grisly family of death" seek temporary care and
solace. There are, too, miserable garrets where vice
and crime reap their sure reward. There are troops
of children growing up amid rags and dirt and
ignorance to fill our prisons, without a friendly hand
being stretched out to stay their progress; there
are streets and lanes in Christian England where
heathenism reigns triumphant; there are moral wastes
amid our ever-growing thoroughfares more terrible
than their physical desolation. Can all these keep
Christmas ? Yet surely at such a time we should

have a thought for all, and he keeps his feast poorly
indeed who,if GOD has blessed him with the means
of enjoyment, does not strive in some degree, how-
ever small, to lighten his neighbour's load. The
scup-kitchens and other places for providing the
hungry call upon us with a special claim when our
own boards are so Leavily laden. The bitter winds
that whistle so coldly rouni our warm and shel-

tered dwellings remind us of the half-clad wretches
who shiver outside the night refuges, unable to find
admittance into their crowded wards. Over 500
applications have latterly been made in one night
to the Playhouse-yard refuge alone, and many
could not be received. Five hundred in one night
It gives a painful idea of what a houseless hungry
army must be wandering over London, when we
add to this amount the numbers that nightly seek
shelter of the Field-lane, the Dudley Stuart, and
other refuges, besides those admitted into the casual
wards of the workhouses. Surely none need say he
has no claims upon him when his fellow citizens
are in such bitter need. Again, at this happy time,
when scattered families reunite, and the little are
first and foremost in the merry game or round the
Christmas tree, parents must cast a thought to those
desolate little ones who are dependent on strangers
for care and kindness. There are orphan asylums
and schools which are among the noblest institu-
tions of our land. There are hospitals where kind
hands supply the means of enjoyment to helpless
little sufferers, and these have a special voice to
plead through the bright eyes and the rosy cheeks
at the fireside. There are institutions for instruct•

ing the ignorant, for reclaiming the depraved, for
lending a hand to the struggling sinner who is
striving to mend his or her ways, and homes where
the tempted, but not yet fallen, are saved from ter.
rible temptation. All these ask help in the name
of that mighty universal love which sends the sun
and the rain upon just and unjust alike, There
are hospitals where the sufferings that
afflict humanity in so many direful forms
are soothed and lightened, where the acci.,
dents and catastrophes inseparable from our
busy life secure prompt and skilful attention, be the
victim peer or peasant ; and establishments where
the blind, the crippled, the aged, find appropriate
tendence, and where the feeble intellect is carefully
trained and the slumbering faculties developed.
None need go far to seek such places. They meet
in the great thoroughfares, they speak through the
columns of the press, they call loudly for help
through the suffering he sees around him. Surely
at Christmas time they will not be unheard, but the
open hand and open heart will minister to their
nccessities, remembering in the midst of the ex-
change of social gifts and courtesies that it is more
blessed to give to those of whom you cannot hope
to receive.

There is no need to fear that a speedy retriba.

tion will not come upon Prussia, for there are
already signs and tokens of an approaching storm
that threatens to lower upon the nation. The beat
proof of the non-necessity of the whole of this Schles-
wig-Holstein affair is the insuperable difficulty
that exists in the way of any arrangement. Again
and again there are rumours of difference and re.
ports of disagreements, instead of all being settled,
or in the way of being so. To judge from what w•
heard at the outset of the bu3iness, we had reason to
believe that all was pre-arranged, and in a fair
way of action ; that, in short, when peace was con-
cluded all would go smoothly as a marriage bell.
Instead of this, we find that nothing definitive is

done or in a way of doing. The only thing that we
may venture to say looms in the distance at present
is that Prussia will have a great deal to do in the
adjustment of the abstruse question whose solving
is such a hill of difficulty. That much might per-
haps have beeen predicated at the outset by sharp.
sighted iridividals, who were not taken in by the

fair-seeming and pretentious declarations that were
so profusely showered down when first the disputes
relative to the Duchies assumed a serious form. The
King of Z'',A XONY is the last-mentioned personage
who Las taken up this unsatisfactory cause, and he
has not Eltricated himself with more success than
the rest of them, as it appears. In fact, Herr VON
BISMARK is the dens ex. marhina, and the virtual
manager of all the complicated mar ceuvres and
machinations, In vain do the others who have
taken part in the affair suggest this and propose
that, the wise man of the Berlin Cabinet re•
serves
his judgment; but when he speaks the,
fiat goes forth, the doom is settled. When
this hero of Germanic policy makes his declara-
tion, it is as if the fabled King of Gods and men
gave the nod at which all Olympus trembled, or as
if the mighty Grecian oracle of old had put forth
its asseverations. It Remo, then, as it it were wiser

to study the purport of his remarks, if we wish
to arrive at an accurate knowledge of what is going
forward. The last news is that he has addressed
a circular note to the States which voted against
the cessation of Federal Execution. Doubtless, this
mandate was destined to strike terror into the
minds of those recusants who hung back and did
not follow in the track which Prussia pursued.
When that nation led the van, it was in truth a
shame and a scandal for all the petty States not to
follow in the path. As such was not the case, no
wonder that the wrath of the guardian genius of
Germanic policy should be excited, and that be
should give forth to the world his opinion upon
such a momentous topic. It cannot be said that he
has shirked his duty, onerous though it be,
❑or refused to play the part that has de-
volved upon him to perform. He states plainly
enough that it was quite opposed to the laws of the
Germanic Confederation to transform the execution
into occupation, and that Prussia would noc be in-
fluenced by the decision of the majority, but re-
served to herself the full right of judgment and
liberty of action. It would be really more consistent
to say that no one else should have a voice in any
management, and that Prussia should reign
supreme in all matters of importance. It has been,
indeed, a perfect farce to talk of nationality, and of
carrying out the wishes of the majority of the
States. For once and for ever it may
be considered settled that such notions
are unfounded, and such views untenable.
The idea that the popular opinion will be of any
influence in the settlement of the question that
possesses a common interest is quite a mistake, and
no one can blame Herr BISMARK for not informing
the parties concerned in the matter that they need
not trouble themselves about it, for he is quite come
petent to take the lead and keep the mastery to
himself, since he takes every available opportunity
of putting his veto upon the suggestions of
others, and contradicting their plans, right or
wrong, What with the threats contained in the
circular of M. BISMARK'S, and one thing and an.
other, it may be looked upon that this step is the
beginning of the evil, and that W 3 shall soon see
the ulterior results of these strange manoeuvres.
This ill omened war into which the Germanic Con-
federation has plunged with such reckless baste and
fierce vehemence, will cost all parties concerned in
the affair pretty dear before they have done with it.
Prussia had already circumvented Austria, and
usurped her rightful place as the natural head of
Germany, now she is trying her finished hands in
the subjugation of the smaller States, treating them
with open defiance and undisguised contempt.
When the doom of vengeance has been wreaked
upon these tributaries in the affair, Prussia herself,
the fountain head of the offence, will meet her fate,
and who can sympathise with her. When the eay
arrives in which the course of French policy is
turned into a different channel from that in which
it now so peaceably flows, there will be dealt a
terrible retribution for the injuries of Germany
and the wrongs of Denmark on this pretentious and
unprincipled kingdom. It is very significant to
notice the speed with which the Berlin plans of
conquest have been carried out. Prussian officials
have bee❑ placed at the head of all important de•
partments, This shows the feeling at work, and
the dexterity with which all independent and na-
tional sentiments will be put down. The Austro-
Prussian allies are indeed treading down all before
them beneath the iron heel of conquest ; and how
many victims have they dragged in triumph at
t teir oar of victory. Surely shameless exhibitions
of power can do nothing but lower them still lower,
if possible, in public opinion. A great General
never shows to such advantage as when he exhibits
magnanimity in the hour of success, and dec:ines
to take advantage of the opportunities that are
afforded to him to the fullest extent; but it is
evident that such noble generosity is quite beyond
the comprekension of German minds.

MR MILNER GIBSON, M.P. AND HIS CONSTI.
TuENTs.—We learn that the President of the Board of
Trade is about to visit Ashton-under-Lyne, and during his
stay in that borough he will, on Jan. 24, address his con•
stituents in public meeting, in accordance with the right
hon. gentleman's annual custom.
UNCOVERING OF THE MACKENZIE PORTRAIT AT
THE BRITISH ORPHAN ASYLUM, SLOUGH.—Yester-
day evening, at six o'clock, the half-yearly examination and
distribution of prizes to the children of the British Orphan
Asylum took place in the large room of the institution at
Slough. Among those present were Mr CharlesWoolloton,
vice-ohairman of the board of directors. (who presided),
the Revs. J. Wallis, A. G. Bagbie, and G. Robbins,
Messrs. W. Gray, W. F. Low, &c. Previous to the ordi-
nary proceedings the company assembled in the vestibule,
where the portrait of Mr Edward Mackenzie, of Fowley
Court, was uncovered, after a few words from the chairman.
The portrait was executed by Mr W. Salter. Mr Mac-
kenzie is depicted in his robes as high sheriff of Oxford-
shire. The portrait was painted in compliance with the
vote of the general court of governors, to commemorate the
gift of £14,000 by Mr Mackenzie towards the purchase of
the house and grounds at Slough. After the uncovering of
the portrait the company adjourned to the boys' school-
room, where the children whose terms in the institution
had been completed received a parting admonition from the
directors, and were addressed by the Rev, J. Wallis in very
suitable terms. The prizes were then distributed by the
chairman, this part of the proceedings being diversiffA by
various pieces of music played by the girls and recitations
by the boys. The children then adjourned to the dining-
hall, where they were regaled with cake and wine, and
then dismissed.

STRANGE FREAK OF A CONVICT.—Thomas Chink,
a convict employed on the dockyard extension
works at St. Mary's Island, Chatham, has caused his own
death by indulging in an extraordinary taste. He was em-
ployed with a gang of convicts in unloading a barge of gravel.
In this gravel were some dead mussels and cockles, The
warder prohibited the men from touching these shell-fish,
but Chick disobeyed, and ate some, He was reported and
punished for his disobedience. But a worse penalty had
been self-inflicted, for some days after he was taken ill, Dr.
Burns, chief surgeon at St. Mary's Convict Prison, pre.
scribed what he considered necessary for an attack of colic,
and nothing serious was apprehended, but the man suddenly
died, It was found, on making a post mortein examination,
that the intestines were much inflamed, and two feet of them
actually gangrened, which had caused death. The inflam-
mation could only be accounted for by the man having per-
sisted in eating the poisonous dead molluscs, There was
nothing to indicate any other cause for the inflammation.
Mr Thomas Hills, coroner, having held an inquest on the
body, and received evidence to the above effect, the jury
gave a verdict of "Died from gangrene of the bowels."
HORRIBLE AFFAIR AT NEW YORK.—John
Donovan, a man suffering apparently from delirium
tremens, was recently committed to the prison known as the
Tombs, at New York. He seemed perfectly harmless, and
was put into a room with about 14 men who had been com-
mitted for drunkenness. Early on the morning of the 2d
instant, the night watchman, Mark Finlay, heard an alarm•
Lag cry,followed by persons shouting " Murder I" " Help I"
" Police !" &c. Finlay hurried to the spot. and, looking
through the grating cf the duor, saw Donovan in the
act of assaulting several of his fellow-prisoners with the
poker, an iron bar, some three or four feet in length, and
weighing six or seven pounds. Donovan was called upon
to stop his bloody work, but ho paid no attention to the
night watchman, Those prisoners who had not been die-
aided were running from him and screaming for help. Be-
ing unable tc cope singlehanded with Donovan, Finlay ran
to the sixth precinct station house for help, when Captain
Jourdan instantly despatched officers Barr, Crane, Curley,
and others to the prison to assist in securing Donovan. On
entering the plane where the prisoners were confined the
most sickening sight was presented. There lay dead on
the floor two prisoners, named M'Donald and Kennedy,
with their skulls crushed in and the brains scattered abou ,
while near them was the prostrate form of William George,
with his skull fractured, and apparently in a dying con-
dition. The lunatic, who was still flourishing his murderous
weapon. had upset the stove, on which he had paled
two or three benches for the purpose of setting the prison on
fire. Donovan was called on to surrender, but failing to do
so officer Crane fired several shots at him, but without effect.
One of the bullets, however, lodged in the right shoulder of
G. H. Hill, inflicting a serious wound. At this juncture
Donovan attempted to run up a flight of stairs in the east
end of the room, when all the officers present rushed upon
him. They applied their locusts freely, and soon succeeded
in disarming Donovan, who was taken into a cell, and thus
presented from doing further harm.—.n,9 Fork