The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVEN INa DECEMBER 14, 1863.

DO NO ti FORGET YOUR APPOINTMENT.
—We Sup at EVANS', Covent-garden, atter Jullien's
Concert.

IIINAHAN'S LL WHISKY v. COGNAC
BRANDY.
This celebrated Old IRISH WHISKY rivals the finest
FRENCH BRANDY,
It i , Pure, Mild, Mellow, Delicious, and very Wholesome.
Sold In Bottles, 3s. Bd., at the Retail Houses in London ; by
the Agents in the principal towns in England ; or wholesale
at

8, GREAT WINDMILL-STREET, W.
Observe the Red Seal, Pink Label, and Cork branded
Kinahan's LL Whisky."

THE best TROUSERS for gentlemen to wear
are those mad by ELSTOB, of 60, New Bond-street
They are neither so low in price as to necessitate their being
carelessly put together, nor so dear as to gain only the
wealthy purchasers. "In medio tutisimus ibis."
ELSTOB'S TROUSERS, TWENTY-ONE SHILLINGS

GUILDT-lALL, 11th December, 1863. The
COMMITTEE for LETTING the CITY'S LANDS
will MEET at GUILDHALL, on WEDNESDAY, the
16th December (instead of Thursday, the 17th December inst.),
as previously advertised, at One o'clock precisely, to receive
PROPOSALS for LEASES of a HOUSE, No. 4, Mitre-
street, Aldgate, and Two Houses, Nos. 5 and 6, Little Cole-
man-street, Finsbury.

Plans of the Property may be seen, and Forms of Tender
obtained, upon application at the Architect's Office, Guild-
hall. .

FERDINAND BRAND, Comptroller.

Fearful Murder in the Waterloo Road.

It would almost seem that some localities in London are
doomed to bear a fatal reputation, either from having been

;he scenes of crimes or accidents, or from possessing evi

reputations gained in other ways. Waterloo-road is, un-
fortunately, particularly distinguished on account of the
doubtful reputation attached to it in times not far gone by ;
and al though great efforts have been made by the police and
the parish authorities to remove some causes which have at-
tached an evil stain on this thoroughfare, it would seem that
their efforts are doomed to be ineffectual, and that from time to
time the familiar name must be again brought before the
public in connecti on with some new horror. The tragedy
of which Eliza GrimwOod was the victim, from the mystery
attending the circumstances, and from the fact that the
perpetrator has never been brought to justice, was enough
to impress the name of the locality on the public mind for
a long time, even had the road not borne a name which
history will not let die. After the lapse of years a sudden
and fearful accident occurred by which a number of lives
were lost through the imperfect manner in which a large
gr ating was fixed, and yesterday morning a tragedy occurred
which, from its barbarous and worse than brutal nature, can
be matched by few deeds of blood on record..
At a house on the left-hand side as you descend the road
from Waterloo-bridge, and not far from the scenes of the
tragedies alluded to, lived a man and woman who occupied
a back room on the second floor. The man, whose name is
Samuel Wright, is a bricklayer by trade, and had worked
at the buildings now being erected for the Strand Music
Hall Company. The woman, the victim of the tragedy,
was named Maria Green, Wright, who appears to have been

of a somewhat dissolute charao er, was a widower with two
ehildren,who, however,were not living with him. The woman
had been ranked among that class generally, and too truly,
termed " unfortunate ;" but it appears that for about 11

months she and Wright have been cohabiting as man and
wife. There would appear to have been some redeem-

ing qualities in the unfortunate woman, for, although
her character was apparently lost past all hope of redemp-
tion, she was of an industrious nature, and strove to make
the home comfortable, assisting, by taking in washing, to
add to the joint income. It seems that, during the time they
occupied the lodging in the Waterloo-road their conduct
gave no great offence to their fellow-lodgers and neighbours
though Wright was occasionally in the habit of neglecting
his work, and his unfortunate paramour was not of sober
habits. Jealousy on the part of the woman would appear
to have been the cause of a great change in their domestic
habits, and to have led to the crime just committed. The
woman discovered a circumstance which happened on the
night of Saturday, the sth inst., and which caused a quarrel
between her and Wright. The effects of the quarrel were that
Wright neglected his work until Friday last, and during the
week altercations occurred between him and his wretched ,
partner which led to blows and the infliction of a black eye
on the woman. They were, however, in company at a public
house on Saturday night last, when the woman drank a
quantity of gin and ale, which rendered her intoxicated,
and in this condition she was removed to her home by a
woman who had been with her and Wright. The man also
betrayed symptoms of intoxication, but went home with
the two women. As nothing was heard of them from this
time by the other lodgers, it was thought that they had
gone to bed—but about half-past three o'clock yesterday
morning a woman named Ireland, who occupied a room
underneath that in which Wright and G. een lived, was
aroused and alarmed by a repeated knocking on the floor
above. She rose, partially dressed herself, and proceeded
up stairs with a light, to ascertain the cause, On the stairs
she met Wright, who was dressed with the exception of his
coat, and whose shirt-sleeves were smeared with blood.
Mrs. Ireland, though terribly alarmed at the appearance
which Wright presented, asked him what was the matter.
He replied with much calmness, " Go and see," and then
went down stairs. On entering the room the woman was
seen lying near the fire-place, but:her face was so covered
with blood that she could scarcely be recognised. In an-
swer to some exclamations from Mrs. Ireland, who was na-
turally horrified at the sight, she said, " He's cut my
throat." Mrs. Ireland returned to her room to finish dress-
ing, and locked herself in. In a few minutes Wright re-
turned up stars and knocked at her door. Ireland told
him she would not open it, but would fetch a policeman as
soon as she was dressed. He replied " All right," and then
returned to the room where his victim was lying in the
agonies of death. In the meantime Mr. Redbourne, the son
of the landlady of the house, being aroused, came down
stairs, and on meeting with Mrs. Ireland and hastily hear-
ing what had occurred, dressed -.himself and remained
in the passage to prevent the escape of 'Wright, whilst Mrs.
Ireland went out to look for a policeman. This precaution
appeared to be needless, for Wright quietly returned to the
room where the poor creature was lying, and remained
there without making any effort to escape. Newton 76 L,
the policeman on the beat, was found after 'a short time.
He proceeded to the house with Mrs. Ireland, and on going
up stairs found Wright standing at the window, while his
victim was then lying near the door, showing that she
must have either been removed from the fire. place, or must
have dragged herself across the room in the vain attempt
to obtain assistance in the agonies of death.
Mr. George Harrap, who manages the Waterloo-road
business of Mr. Dodd, the parish doctor, was sent for, and
on his arrival shortly after four it was found that two deep
cuts had been inflicted on her throat—one from left to right,
and another in the opposite direction, by which the head
had been nearly separated from the body. At first sight it
would appear, as both the woman and the man were dressed,
that neither had been to bed, but on examination it was
found that the woman had apparently lain down on the bed
when brought home, and that the first assault upon her
had been committed while so lying. It was evident that
she had been beaten on the face apparently with the poker,
which was found covered with blood, and it would seem as
if a struggle had then ensued, during which she had fallen
or rolled off the bed. On the table was a razor with which
the wounds had evidently been inflicted, and also a table
knife ; and in answer to an observation the murderer said,
"It's all right. It can't be helped. She took the knife
and I took the razor." When informed that he was charged
with murder he asked to be removed from the room at
once, as he did not like to remain where the body was. On
further examination a basin of water was discovered in
which he had apparently washed the blood from his hands
on returning up stairs. He was then searched and removed
to the Tower-street station-house, near the lower end of
Waterloo-road. On being told that he was charged with
murder, he said, coolly enough, "That's right ; it's right
enough." Ho was immediately placed in a cell, where he
slept-for some time. He passed the greater part of yester-
day in a state of stupor, only once saying "Is she dead ?"
The murder was not generally known in London yester-
day, but a few
people gathered about the house in the latter
Part of the day. In discussing and commenting on the
crime their attention was naturally drawn to the windows
of the second floor, where the horrid deed took place, and
here, beneath these windows, was a board announcing that
a certain music-hall was the "most elegant room," and
offered the " best entertainment in London"--a
ghastly
commentary on the deed of blood which has ttakentakenPiece

within.
Thv, landlord of the house removed- the nnmber from the
tt-,Or (taring Cite (Lly tc, prevent tike, house beevalius
iaau-
titied with the murder.

MR. CHARLES KNIGHT,

The Veteran Author, Editor, Printer, Pub-

lisher, Historian, Encyclopedist.
(From the Athenceum.)

Mr, Charles Knight may be considered as a Literary
Elder in many senses, and in every sense a good one.
Byron said he hated an author who was all author. Byron
would, it may be presumed, on this account at least, have
liked Mr. Knight : as many of the poet's successors have
been proud and happy to owu they did on higher grounds.
Certainly, he has been an author : yet vet all an author,
Indeed, it may be said of him, that he has been a professor
in every branch of the book trade, from the humblest to the
highest. He has been a printer. He has been a publisher.
He has been a compiler, a reporter, an editor, a critic, an
author; and it is not too much to say of him, now that he
puts his case before us, as a whole, in his ripe age, that in
all these departments of intellectual trial he has gained some
distinction. There may be cases of a somewhat similar kind
in our rich literary annals. Richardson was a printer,
Dodsley, the publisher, wrote plays. Jerrold set up copy
before he supplied it. Cottle "sold the books he did not
write." Lackington wrote a book, but it was only about
his own experiences. Lord Campbell reported the House
of Commons. Tom Moore wrote leading articles. Byron
started a newspaper. But we do not remember an instance
in which one and the same gentleman could boast of the
same infinite variety of literary occupation of Mr. Knight.
What man has set up newspaper copy and written a History
of England—published Poor-law reports, and composed a
tragedy in verse—reported the Parliamentary debates, and
edited a compendious cycloptedia of universal knowledge?
Eves in the amount of effort achieved, the number of
pages printed, Mr. Knight's literary labours are remark-
able. His works would fill a very large shelf—almost
a library. They are on all sorts of subjects ; but chiefly
perhaps on those connected, more or less closely, with social
reforms and popular education. Probably Mr. Knight has
written and edited more pages than Hume, Gibbon, Byron,
Moore, and Wordsworth all put together. Within the last
ten years he has produced more literary matter, original
and edited, than Dickens, Lytton, Tennyson, Trench, and
Browning all combined. We happen to be writing these
remarks away from books of reference, but we have a very
recent and pleasant recollection of eight octavo volumes of
history, twenty-two quarto volumes of Cyclopeodia, four
volumes of " Half-Hours with the Best Authors," ten
volumes of the " Stratford Edition of Shakspere," one
volume of " Shakspere Studies," and two octavo volumes
of " Once upon a Time." When it is considered that these
works are the productions of a man otherwise engaged as a
publisher, they become still more remarkable. People were
amazed that Richardson should have found time, in the
course of a long life as a man of business, to write the
stories of " Pamela," " Clarissa Harlowe," and " Sir
Charles."

In these several capacities of printer, publisher, reporter,
editor, and author, Mr. Knight has seen a good deal of
mankind, and especially of the eminent of mankind. In
his early youth, as the son of a Windsor bookseller, he
was familiar with George the Third and his Windsor
circle ; a little later, as a local printer, he became ac-
quainted with a knot of young Etonians who were barn
tor fame, including Praed, Moultrie, and Macaulay. After
his removal to London, his friendships extended right and
left round the circle of poets, wits, philosohers, and politi-
cians ; and in this magic circle Mr. Knight has lived for
nearly 50 years.

Is Sergeant Shee to get the Vacant
Judgeship ?

It is now a great many years since the public
saw with indignation two eminent lawyers shut out
from the ordinary course of preferment in their pro-
fession on account of their political opinions or for
reasons connected with the zealous exercise of pro-
fessional duties. Mr. Brougham and Mr. Denman
had no special right to the rank of King's Counsel,
nor would it have been decorous or even reasonable
in any public speaker or public writer to clamour
for their advancement. But when it became notori-
ous that they lay under a ban by reason of their
politics, and that it had been declared they never
should be allowed to rise above their then positions
at the Bar, the public protest was very loudly made,
and their exclusion was felt as a general grievance.
Unless we are much misinformed, something of the
same kind is now happening, and a very eminent
lawyer has been avowedly excluded from the English
Bench because he is a Roman Catholic. It is very
commonly believed that upon the last vacancy this
gentleman was named for the appointment, and that
his religion was made a ground of objection. The
whole profession will agree that no other objection
could have been urged. It can bEr nothing to us or to
the public what competent man succeeds Mr. Justice
Wightman, but it is of great consequence that any
remnant of the old rags of bigotry and intolerance
should hang about our Council Chamber, and
should narrow the choice of selection of our public
servants. • If it be a homage paid tio.the boar pre-
judices of the nation, it is very cowardly; if it be a
real substantive conviction that a Roman Catholic
can never be an upright English judge, it is a mon-
strous folly.
There ought to be only one rule in the selection
of judges, both in England and Ireland—to choose
the man who will make the best judge. The best
judge is the man who, possessing the learning of
his profession, has strength of mind to put off the
form of his politics and the form of his faith at the
door of his court, to take them up again as he goes
out. If he cannot do this, be he Whig or Tory,
Churchman, Dissenter, or Catholic, he must be a
partisan judge; if he can do this, it is of no conse-
quence what his politics or form of religion may be.
In Ireland, where the Protestants are the most edu-
cated and wealthy part of the community, it is
almost a qualification for the Bench to be a Protes-
tant; in England, where the Catholics, although
very few, are second to none of our fellow-subjects
in respectability and loyalty, it is declared to be an
absolute disqualification to be a Catholic. All this
is an anachronism, and we ought to be ashamed of
such folly. In a Liberal Government such an os-
,entatious intolerance is especially odious.—Times.

VIE WAR IN NEW ZEALAND.

(From the Sydney Herald.)
The last fortnight or so has been the most stir-
ring in incident of any that we have had for some
time, although there are signs that would lead me
to expect that it will be exceeded by the next in in-
terest. There has been a very unusual amount of
fighting, and a very unusual amount of bloodshed,
at least amongst the natives, during this period.
They have ventured upon an entirely new system
of tactics, and have found themselves thoroughly
worsted in every respect and at every point. The
news which my last letter contained relative to
natives who had left Mere-Mere, and had ventured
into the vicinity of the great South Road, and even
to Pukekohe, on the west of that road, was the first
indication of the new policy, now said to be the
plan of William Thompson, who has been acting as
generalissimo of the forces for some little time back.
It was not then known on how large a scale the
new tactics were about to be carried out; but it has
since appeared that not less than from six to eight
hundred natives must have been thrown into the
waste triangular belt of forest which lies along the
Waikato River to the westward of the south road,
and terminates at the village of Waiuku (now a
military post), while it contains the settlements of
Mauku and Pukekohe, besides the townships of
Cameron and Tuakau. The forest is here very
heavy, and in places exceedingly swampy—so
much so as to be all but impassable for man,
while it is entirely so for beasts. The idea
of the campaign was certainly a clever one,
and does the general who planned it great
credit. The large body of natives was to
split into two or three divisions, and then at their
own time to come down upon one after another of
the settlements, all of which were occupied as mili-
tary posts, although most of them very inadequately
garrisoned. One of these bodies it undoubtedly was
that committed the murders of Mr. Armitage and
his two European companions, of which you must
have heard. In this matter there is little doubt
they received no small assistance from the treachery
of the friendly natives who accompanied the party
as a convoy for the provisions to the Bluff. Having
succeeded in this exploit it seems probable they
were on their way to some other point of attack
when they fell in with Captain Swift and his fifty
heroes (for such they seem to have been). Their
numbers on that occasion were certainly not short
of 200 men, and it is a subject for wonder and just
pride even to a regiment of British troops that a
detachment so weak, and having lost its commis.
sioned officers at the very beginning of the action,
should yet have fought as they did for many hours
against an overwhelming force, and have finally
defeated and driven them off. Happily Lieut.
Butler, who behaved with remarkable courage, even
shooting two natives dead with his revolver after
being brought to his knees by a most severe wound,
is rapidly recovering. Our loss in numbers was
providentially very slight, while that of the
Maories now appEars to have amounted to
between twenty-five and thirty men placed
hors de combat. The deepest regret is felt here
for the death of the gallant Capt. Swift, who was
by far the most promising officer of his regiment
(the 65th). His body was brought to Auckland,
and buried with all military honours on Sunday the
13th, being followed to the grave by the governor
and all the ministry, besides a large part of the
most respectable of the inhabitants. On the same
day on which Captain Swift's party was engaged
there was fighting at two other points, so proving
that the enemy were at least in three divisions in
the district. One of these was a mere skirmish near
the south wall at the Razor-back redoubt, where no
one was even wounded on our part, although the
body.of one native, apparently a man of some im-
portance, was found in the bush where he had been
shot, after the fighting. The other was in the neigh-
bourhood of Manku, and was brought about by the
energy of our own local forces, who, having reason
to suspect that natives were in the neighbourbototd ,
sallied into the bush and came upon a large
party
of little short of 100 men, engaged in the
of
devastation upon such of the settlers' bouses
isolated in the forest. The fight that work
as
were
ensued was
men only num-
sharp but short, for although
our
bein more at
bered 50, they had the advantage of g
home in the forest than the alaories, and most of
them had the vast additional advantage of being
armed with the short breech-loading carbine,
which is by far the deadliest and most effective
After about half nu
times
weapon in the forest.
hour's hard the natives took to flight,
some as near as
fighting,
at ten yards' range
,
behind them seer pt
leaving everything their
killed and wounded, upon whom they seem
to look as the most important trophies of victory
that could fall back into the Pakeha's hands. All
their plunder was rescued, and their hats burned
at once by the foresters. The most hardly con
tested, and probably by far the most deadly, of
these fights to the P4tiv-6:. took place on the 14th,
at rnkehohe. Thu n,.tivea had evidently kept an
eye for some time upon this place, as they carefully
timed their attach to allow the convoy ,'bieh
had come up on the Saturday to go down again on