The Sun.
London, England, 1863-02-21 00:00:00

The Attempted Murder of a Chinaman.

Yesterday Sequi, a Chinaman, was brought up
on remand before Mr. Setfe, at the Thames Police-
court, charged with stabbing another Chinaman,
....034.aa and John Ahqu_s, —c su
American ehip, which arrived in the port of Lon-
don about a month ago.

It will be recollected that the prisoner stabbed
his countryman with a long knife in the abdomen,
and also plunged the knife into his shoulder, on
the night of Thursday, the 12th inst., in Narrow-
street, Limehouse. The prisoner left his victim
bleeding on the ground, and threw the knife into
Regent's Canal Dock, a few yards from the spot
where the sanguinary deed was committed, and
made his escape. The wounded man was found
lying on the ground, weltering in his blood, and
with his bowels protruding. He was attended by
Dr. Arnold, of Brook-street, Ratcliff, who advised
his immediate removal to the London Hospital,
where he still remains. Ahqua made a long state-
ment on oath before Mr. Selte, and in the presence
of the prisoner in the hospital, 311 the 13th inst.;
and he stated that he did not provoke or strike the
prisoner, before he was stabbed, and the only cause
he could assign for the atrocious act was that he
lent a coat to the prisoner and taken it away from
his lodgings again. A woman named Emma Sar-
genson, living in New-court, Biuegate-fields, Shad-
well, stated in her evidence on the 13th inst., that
Ahqua took Sequi from the Sailors' Home in Pop-
lar, " hindered" him of three berths in as many
ships, and reduced him to a state of utter destitu-
tion. This woman, who has cohabited with China-
men, made a laboured defence for the prisoner, who
was lodging in her house at the time of his appre-
hension, but all her statements were denied by
Ahqua.
A Chinaman, well known in this court, offered
his services yesterday as interpreter, and handed an
engraved card to the magistrate, on which was in-
scribed " Taon Albert Arr Hee, the original Chi-
nese Juggler, 19, King's-row, Walworth, S." Time
officers of the court said Hee was a respectable
man, and could be depended upon. He was sworn
in the ordinary manner to interpret faithfully.
Inspector Beare, of the K division, who had
charge of the case, said he feared there was not the
least hopes of Ahqua's recovery, and it was a mat-
ter of astonishment to many that he had survived
such a frightful wound as the one inflicted upon
him, and all his intestines came out. On Thursday
it was reported that Ahqua was much better, and
that it was possible he might recover. An un-
favourable change had since taken place, and the
death of the patfent was shortly expected.
Mr. Selfe inquired if the house-surgeon of the
London Hospital was in attendance.
Inspector Beare—No, sir. You stated last week
that he had no occasion to be here unless the man
died. _ _ _

Mr. Selfe—That is not exactly what I said.
There must be another remand, and you had better
request the attendance of Dr. Arnold, of Brook-
etreet, Ratetiff, and Mr. Jackson, the house-surgeon
of the London Hospital, when the prisoner is again
Drought up.
Inspector Beare—l will take care both gentlemen
are here, sir, next week.
Mr. Selfe—Has the knife with which the wounds
were inflicted been found ?

Inspector Beare—No, sir. There is no possibility
of finding it. The prisoner admitted he threw the
knife into the lock, or entrance of the Regent's
Canal dock.
Mr. Selfe—Yes, I know he did ; but if the knifek
could be recovered, it would be an important l.n
in the chain of evidence.
Inspector Beare—The place where the prisoner
got rid of the knife is near the river Thames, the
mud is very deep there, and I don't think, sir, there
is any possibility of ever finding th;olhEnn Blumberg,ite.
Maria Blumberg, the wife o
stationer, 1, Gill-street,Limehousfe, said that Ahqua,
the wounded man, hired a lodging
Wednesday, the 28th of January last.
in her house on
Ahqua went out
last. On the even-
ing of Thursday, the 12th ins
came in again at half-past nine, and soon after ten'
was visited by the prisoner, who gave to Ahqua some
silver. Ahqua put the money in his pocket. Some
conversation passed between the two Chinamen in
thoirown language, and Ahqua gave back the money
ho received to the prisoner. Ahqua then said in
English, 4, I am going out, and shall be home again
at eleven." He then left with the prisoner, and
never returned. On the following morning she
heard for the first time that Ahqua was stabbed and
in the hospital.
In answer to questions by Mr. Selfe, the witness
said the two Chinamen were quite sober when they
left her house. They did not seem to be good friends
as they were leaving her house. The prisoner had
often visited Ahqua before the day in question.
Thomas Bell, hammerman, of 54, Wellington-
street, Stepney, Said that on Thursday night, the
12th Inst., about hot_past 12 o'clock, be was pass-
ing along Narrow-street, Litnehouse, and heard a
man call out murder and police. He looked round
and a man passed him and went on 10 or 12 yards,
and called out murder and police again. He went
up to the man, who pointed to his stomach, which
was covered with blood. He asked him what was
the matter, and the poor fellow was unable t 4
answer, and tell. He caught him in his arms ann
laid him on the pavement, and discovered that all

his bowels were out. He sent fcr the police, and
so''or Dr. Arnold, of Brook-street, R,ltcliff„ and
bf:rwards aecorripl.nied the wounded tri.;ti to tit,

Isaac Excel!, a police-constable, produced the
pawnbroker's duplicate of a coat which Emma Sar-
genson, the prisoner's landlady, gave to him.
Mr. Selfe—What has this to do with the case ?

Witness—This duplicate refers to the coat which
Ahqua took away from the prisoner's lodging on the
day he was stabbed.

Emma Sargenson here said the coat was pawned
by Ahqua, and his name is on the duplicate.
Mr. Sate—No; it is not. The name here is John
Quin.

Emma Sargenson—yes, sir; that is what A hqua
called himself. He took the coat out of the pri-
sonet's room, and pawned it on Thu. sday.
Mr. Selfe—The wounded man did not call himself
John Quin, but John Ahqua, and the coat was his
ow❑ ;he lent it to the prisoner. How came you
by the dupiicate if Akin i pawned his own coat ?

Emma Sargenson—A hqua took the coat away,
pawned it, and then put the duplicate where the
coat was.

Mr. Selfe—Very well ; your statement will be
taken for what it is worth. The prisoner is now
remanded gain until this day week. Dr. Arnold
will then attend the court.

A mechanic who had been directed by the police
to attend, and who could only confirm the evidence
of Bell, said he had lost a day's work, for which he
would have received 55., if he had not complied
wall the request of the police.
Mr. Selfe said there was no fund at his disposal
to remunerate persons who attended the court by
direction of the police. constables.
The mechanic said he saw the Chinaman bleeding,
and with his bowels out, on the footpath, and he
went and brought two police-constables, and also
fetched Dr. Arnold from his surgery in Brook•
street. He was directed by Excell, the police-
constable, to attend the court to give evidence.
Mr. Selfe—l cannot give you any compensation
for coming here.
The Mechanic—Then I shall lose 6s. by this job.
Mr. Selfe awarded the man 2s. 6d. from the
poor-box, with which he appeared very much dis-
satisfied.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlMES,—There will he throughout the country
universal approbation of the tone in which the
aff.iirs of Poland were discussed yesterday in the
House ot Lords. Although it dees not become the
politicians of a great nation to indulge in bluster and
rodomontade, yet there can be no reason that they
sl ould smother every human feeling, and, in obedi-
ence to etiquette, see public crimes committed with-
out a word of protest. Such base decorum had
never been a characteristic of Englishmen, and the
public will be pleased to find that no diplomatic con-
siderations have prevented Lordßussell from speak-
ing freely what every man of humanity and honour
must think of the Russian and Prussian Govern-
ments. In an eloquent speech Lord Ellenborough
denounced the military tyranny wt.ich had driven
Poland to revolt, which had surrounded the private
houses of Warsaw at night, and seized every man
whose opinions were supposed by frightened com-
mandants to be dangerous, or who had mEtsie himself
obnoxious to some private enemy. Well might he
ask whether the Prussian soldiers, who have just
celebrated the 50th anniversary of German inde•
pendence, would, at the bidding of an infatuated
monarch, turn their arms against a people who are
struggling to free themselves from a rule in com-
parison with which the first Bonaparte's was happi-
ness and glory. But the best service which Lord
Ellenborough performed was to elicit the straight-
forward avowals of Lord Russell. In a speech
which cannot fail to make a deep impression on
Europe, the Foreign Secretary gave a history of
the insurrection and the causes which led to it.
He recalled to the minds of his hearers the de-
monstrations which took place at Warsaw ; the
churches filled with people, the patriotic hymns,
and the general wearing of mourning. all being in-
tended to keep alive the flame of national sentiment,
but without any very positive resistance to the Go-
vernment. Then he gave substantially the same
account of the movement as has appeared in these
columns. The principal landowners desired only
very moderate reforms. Their wishes, or at any
rate, their petitions, were limited to the grant of
Constitutional Government, of a representative
Assembly, and of a Polish administration which
would favour the religion and language of the
country. The prejudices of high rank and the timi-
city of wealth prevented %nee. men from being re-
volutionists after the fashion of those of humbler
station, and they only asked what their country
was entitled to according to the spirit, if not the
letter, of the Vienna treaties. The only petition to
which the Russian Emperor could fairly object was
that for the reincorporation with the legal " king-
dom of Poland" of those provinces which had been
annexed to Russia in the first partition of 1772.
But even this they had reason to suppose the Em
peror might grant. But if the Russian Government
deserves the reprobation of Christian Europe, what
language of scorn is too severe for ihe Prussian King
and his Ministers? It now appears that not only does
the Convention allow the Russian trot ps to pursue
the Polish binds on Prussian soil, but that the Prus-
sian troops have actually been en ployed in seizing
the fugitives who sought the hospitality of their
country, and handing them over to their Russian
oppressors. Whatever may be our hostility to the
bear, there is no doubt of our feeling to wards the
jackal. Lord Russell certainty spoke in the very
mildest terms to the Prussian ambassador when he
said that "the Prussian Government, by taking any
share in the suppression of the insurrection, dots in
some way make itself responsible after the fact for
the measures of conscription that have been adopted."
Lord Malmesbury also, in the name of the Opposi-
tion, felt it necessary to condemn the extraordinary
conduct of the Prussian King. Indeed, it was im-
po.sibie that in a free country there could be any
difference of opinion on an act which could never
have been committed by a humane and manly Sove-
reign. Though we have no wish to breed disquiet
in Europe, yet we cannot refrain from pointing with
satisfaction to the deep sympathy which begins to
be felt in France for these unhappy Poles. The
French are not so much accustomed to political de-
monstrations as they were in former ; society
leaves the tStirs of Europe to the Emperor, and the
press seldom speaks without the word being given
by some superior power. Bat, whether the.inspira-
tion in this case has come from above or from the.
heart of the people there is an ever deepening cry of
indignation against the proceedings of t he t avo no!a h-
ern Sovereigns. To the feeling of his subjects it is
certain that the Emperor will give diplomatic ex-
pression. It is said that M. Drouyn de Lhuys has
been instructed to write a despatch to Berlin stating
the dissatisfaction of the French Government at the
Convention for the surrender of Polish fugitives.
I In this matter the Governments of England and
France will be completely in unison, and it is to
be hoped that Austria, which, unless report flatters
her, has taken a most dignified course and refused
all co-operation with the Czar, will join the cause
of humanity and justice. It may be that the anger
of his own subjects will bring King William to
reason—and of this there are already signs—but we
think that nothing short of a strong European re-
monstrance will put an end to the misdeeds of the
Russian Government in Poland.

HERALD.—The Premier has but to inquire in the
City the opinion about the refusal of the Govern-
ment to legalise a general holiday on the wedding-
day of the Prince of Wales. Everywhere, as the
subordinates of the Chancellor of the Exchequer
must have been thoroughly able to perceive, there
is a feeling of bitter disappointment, attended by a
wonderment, at the lurking motives and reasonable
cause for such a decision ; and one can sympathise
with the keen regrets expressed in the banks and
the large commercia, houses that the class which
is incessantly and actively engaged in attending
to the
in
epecuniary interests of their employers, and
consequence, is the least favoured with
these bright intervals of relaxation, is just the
very one to be most oppressed by the " Govern-
ment" determination. Mr. Alderman Salomons,
who is the representative of one of the wealthiest
and most important joint-stock banks, pressed the
question on Tuesday as to whether or no the
Government were prepared to bring in a bill for
making commercial engagements failing due on the
wedding-day of the Prince payable as is by law
provided for Christmas-day, so as to enable all tier
N?iajesty's subjects to enjoy the day of that auspi-
cious event as a general holiday. Lord Palmerston,
in reply, returned a supremely cautious negative,
on the ground that " any unnecessary interference
with the arrangements of the commerce of the
country is a thing to be avoided ;" and that there
was " uo precedent" for such a measure as suggested.
If the marriage of the heir apparent to these realms,
and its immediate influence over the mighty desti-
nies and interests that are affected by such an auspi-
cious event, :lend only an occasion of " unnecessary
interference," &c., perhaps the good-humoured
nobleman at the head of the Government will define
proper and fitting " necessity" for us in anyone
tuture public event for which we may be preparing.
ay on which the future monarch of this happy
United Kingdom weds the Princess Alexandra
of Denmark will be a sacred one, in all estimable
likelihood, to generation upon generation yet to
come, for a direct Regal succession may be e sta-
dished such as few of the present lieges of the
-xisting Sovereign have witnessed. Surely this
vedding-day is a fitting one fora general holiday ;
,urely this eager, insatiable quest of gain, which is
peculiarly a distinction of the present age, may,

for one brief interval, be stayed, that all classes
may sanctify, in one manner or another, the
to :rri.lge or the Prince of Wiles, the exp, cted ruler
of the prople, and the Roy al sun who may himselt
found a likyal race for our descendants to honour
and obey. As for the latter half of the noble lord's
excuse, it smacks of the Polonius order of evasion.
No precedent ! Why, wt.° would care to have a
better one than the occasion itself would furnish
for ages to come P Does the noble lord expect to
see a Prince of Wales married again in his lifetime ?
There is no argument for such an absurdity; one
would not throw anything but epithets on a man
who dashed a pail of cold water in your face when
sou were abon to salute him. So we c\n but con-
demn the noble lord and the Cabinet a,s foolish,
shortsighted, and disdainful of the stir and excite-
ment which are going on around them tonibing
this matter of the Prince's marriage. We can but
assure them that they are regarded as beingpossesse.d
of some strange, inscrutable, and unascertainable
reasons for so directly flying in the face of what:
their fellow subjects are determined to observe and
carry out. If this denial be a specimen of the
" Liberal" feeling and " Liberal" sympathy with
benefits and indulgence to the people, no one
need be surprised that the present Ministry are
determined that the town, as well as the country,
shall experience and adopt " the Conservative re-
action" which all their friends so loudly decry.
The fact is, the Government will not be able to
adhere to their decision. When the nation chose
to mourn for the Duke of Wellington, eleven years
ago, all business was properly suspended by a coun-
cil edict, and surely this marriage day is as rare,
and to be as well remembered by all classes as the
burial of one of our great chieftains. We cannot
conceive a more injudicious and hasty determination
than this denial to the aspirations for a great popu-
lar rejoicing which everywhere encounter us ; and
we do not believe that there is a single act by which
Ministers will give the coup de grace to the good
humour and toleration already ex ended to them
all over the country, than by their distinct an-
nouncement that they are not willing to aid in cele-
brating one of the few public occasionson which the
whole nation is determined to enjoy a high holiday
and supreme festivities.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

,►I,

LIVERPOOL-FEB. 20.

At this day's market there was a fair attendance of both
the town and country trade, but wheat met a slow demand,
at a reduction of Id per cental on the week. Flour met a,
slow inquiry, and prices remain as last quoted, except for
French, which is down is per sack. Indian corn was still
neglected, but realised fully former rates. Oats and oat-
meal al w, but easier. Barley and peas neglected. Beans
6d per qr cheaper.