The Sun.
London, England, 1839-09-12 00:00:00

THE LATE RIOTS AT BIR-
MINGHAM,

1
1 On Monday lit the Committee appointed by the
Town Council to investigate the cause of the late riots,
l cid their first meeting for the examination of witnesses,
in the Committee•m,m of the Town Hall.
ArlCraillo. '2;I:URGE opened the proceedings by stating
that., at a preliminary meeting of the Committee, he
had been elected chairman, and Mr. Pare secretary.
Before commencing the examination of witnesses, he
wished to make a few observations. The unhappy
occurrences which had recently taken place had given
through the kingdom a very unfavourable impression of
the conduct of the working classes of Birmingham, and
was likely to be made the ground for permanently fix-
: Mg in the town either a civil or military force, uncon-
nected with the inhabitants ; and it appeared of the last
importance that the public should know how far, as
a body, they were really to blame—that the character of
the people generally, who, up to the recent events, were
remarkable for their peaceful conduct aad obedience to
the laws, should not rest permanently under this impu-
tation, unless facts proved such imputation to be just.
Although Government had expressed their intention of
instituting an inquiry, it was understood that it would
be confined to the conduct of the Magistrates. It was
not known whether the evidence would be published or
not, and it appeared naturally to devolve upon the Town
Council, as the representatives of the ratepayers, to in-
stitute an inquiry into the whole of the circumstances,
which not only so deeply affected the character of the
town, but which were likely to be followed by so large
an increase of their rates. It was thought that it would

METROPOLITAN POLITICAL

SUMMARY.

The Morning Chronicle refers again to the subject
of the Corn-laws in the following termi:—" The battle
between the Corn-law monopolists and the rest of the
nation is about to recommence ; and as, since the sub.
ject was last agitated in Parliament, the working people
have had, to their woeful cost, a practical refutation of
the doctrine of the landowners, that they derive no
benefit from a low price of food, we may expect that
they will make common cause with the middle classes
in one great effort to be made for the abolition of the
corn monopoly. Great pains were taken to persuade
the operatives that a repeal of the Corn-laws might
swell the profits of their employers, but would be of no
practical benefit to them, as their wages would fall with the
price of corn. They were told again and again, that
the master manufacturers were anxious to reduce

be more generally satisfactory to have the public admit-
ted while the inquiry proceeded, and the Committee ap-
pointed bythe Town Council forthat purpose, had decided
upon that course. They were now ready to enter upon
the inquiry. Their sole object was to elicit the truth ; the
evidence tendered would necessarily be voluntary, and
their fellow townsmen would see that if all was not pro-
duced, that might have been, the Council will have done
all in their power, when they have afforded every one an
opportunity of coming forward to state what they knew
upon the subject. Should any parties, in the course of
the investigation, think the statements of any witness

incorrect, or that the conduct of any one had been im-
properly called in question, they would be at liberty,
either personally or by deputy, to have any suitable
written questions put through the Chairman to such
witness. The Committee would prefer witnesses coming
forward to give evidence, as far as possible to speak to
facts in the following order :
" 1. The character of the Bull Ring meetings, prior
to the 4th of July, and the measures taken tc prevent the
holding of such meetings.
"2. The character of the meeting on the 4th of July.
" 3. The state of the town in the interval, between

their wages to the Continental level ; and that all
they cared for was to swell their own profits. It was
answered, that the employers could not possibly reap
the whole benefit of the repeal of the monopoly ;
that the increase of demand for manufactures, the
consequence of a free trade in food, would necessa-
rily add to the demand for workmen, and raise the
rate of wages ; and that, therefore, the wages would
not fall into the, ratio of the diminution of the price of
food. It was
.also shown that wages, so far from rising
with the price of food, often fell when food was dearest.
Some of the Chartists, too, seemed to enter into the
views of the monopolists, though it is but fair to add,
that the chief ground of the Chartist opposition to the
late attempt to obtain the repeal of the Corn laws, was
the idea, that, by standing in the way of all prudent
reforms, the middle classes might be the sooner induced
to co-operate in agitation for the Charter. But expo-
[knee is the best instructor. The price of food is, and
has long been, excessively high ; while the workmen
have found that wages have for some time beep unu-
sually low. The cries of their children for bread bring
home to the workman the all-important fact, that his
condition can never be benefited by what is injurious to
his employers."
The Morning Post, in default of some more attrac-
tive theme for argument or speculation, launches the
following rodomontade phillippic against Ministers
" It is said that Sir It. Peel has blundered himself into
such a position with his Sovereign that his elevation to
office must be her degradation. No ; he has not done
this, but the Whigs have done it. They it was who,
after having acknowledged that they had lost the con-
fidence of Parliament, advised her Majesty not to ap-
point the Leader of Opposition to be her Minister,
because he would not accede to a point which her Ma-
jesty considered one of personal feeling, but which he
considered to be one of politisal duty. It was the Whigs
who advised her Majesty to prefer the gratification of her
personal feeling to the warning of Parliamentary divi-
sions. It was they who placed her Majesty in such a
position that she must either overcome the Parliament
or allow the world to see that she has been overcome by
the Parliament. This the Whigs basely:and treacherously
didolefthe ofrthe
A
.ss for
the promotionosneacrucrhi .
security
oAfn
of their
e nrno
ow upersonal
rnedtr theitrying advantage,to happinessh
he ee dip-
their Sovereign and themselves out of the difficulty, by
affecting contempt of the authority of Parliament.
They talk of the wild scheme of storming office
by Parliamentary preponderance.' What signify such
words as ' storming office ?' The constitutional
way to obtain office is by Parliamentary preponderance,
and we see nothing ' wild' in that plan which has been
adopted when there were wiser Courts to be dealt with

the 4th and the 15th of July.
" 4. The circumstances of the riots on the 15th,
more especially how far it was premeditated—how
many and what kind of persons they were who took a
part in it—what was the conduct of the police, mili-
tary, &c., and what measures had been taken to pre-
vent. the disturbance."

The Committee did not, however, impose any rule
on this subject, and would take such evidence as parties
tendering it could give of their own knowledge, calcu-
lated to throw light upon the subject. It was intended
that the investigation should commence precisely at
eleven o'clock each day, that the examination of no
fresh witness should be began after one o'clock, and
that the Committee should adjourn not later than two
o'clock.

Thomas Lucas, of Bristobstreet, surveyor, examined
—I had noticed the meetings in the Bull Ring about
a fortnight before the 4th of July ; they generally com-
menced between tight and nine o'clock every evening
except Saturday and Sunday. There was no regular
chairman appointed. The persons who addressed the
meetings were all strangers to me, except Mr. Fussell.
Extracts were read from various London newspapers,
and from the Northern Star. The people were always
very quiet. Two men were placed to keep the
horse-road clear between Nelson's monument and
Mr. Ford's. I do not know of any obstructions which
were offered to passengers or others, by the persons com-
posing the meeting. There was no attempt, on the part
of the authorities, to disperse the meetings, that I know
of. On one occasion I heard some comments made re-
spectinc, the Corn-laws. I heard no inflammatory lan-
guage of any kind ; no recommendation to arm. I ob-
served these meetings about half a dozen times previous
to the 4th, but did not generally stop. I was in the
Bull Ring about a quarter before nine on the night of
the 4th. There were several hundreds of people in
the lligh-street, principally about Nelson's monument.
I observed two of the London police attempting to
seize a banner ; the people endeavoured to prevent
them ; the staff of the banner broke. I also saw
many others of the London police there. The police
were driving the people in different directions. The
canner was lettered, but I do not know what it was.
Soon after the scuffle for the banner took place,
I saw the police driven away by the people ; some
of them took refuge in Peter's liquor shop. The
persons defending the banner took the pieces of the
staff, when broken, and struck the police with them.
The police struck the people who had the banner with
their staves. I saw several blows so stuck. I was
standing by the corner of the Swan-yard, in High-
street, and the police were within four or five yards of
me when they struck the blows alluded to. The ban-
ner was seized within a few yards of the Swan-yard. I

than the present. What is the Court to do against
Parliamentary preponderance: however wild' the
scheme may be of obtaining the Government by that
means ? Shall we be told that the Court will govern
'by appointments in defiance of Parliament ? That is
impossible. It were better, therefore, for the Whigs to
be wise in time, and not, by their insolent swagger, to
bring more pain and evil than need be upon those whom
they should reverence, but have duped."
The Times contains a leading article on the subject
of the recent Ministerial changes and appointments, in
the course of which, alluding to the retirement of Lord
Howick and Mr. Wood, our Contemporary says :
" In ordinary times, the secession of such a nobleman
as Lord Howick, even though he were followed into
privacy by a gentleman of Mr. Charles Wood's preten-
sions, would hardly excite any other remark than an
expression of surprise that two men, so long accustomed
to office, and both of them connexions of Earl Grey,
should quarrel with their bread and butter. But.
at a juncture like the present, the smallest outgoing
may be material in the way of indication, as empty
bottles set adrift reveal the direction of the under-
currents. Some have conjectured that Earl Grey,
who himself quitted office with a parting caution to
his colleagues against the pressure from without,'
has grown out of all patience at their continued con-
tempt of his warning, and is resolved at length to with-
draw from them all concurrence, countenance, or
aid, mediate or immediate, direct or indirect. There
is extant a considerable number of persons with
whom the opinions, or at all events the name, of
Earl Grey possess considerable weight—men long
dissatisfied with the downward tendencies of the
Melbourne Cabinet, and who are said to be
desirous of some decent opportunity to quit a
connexion which brings them so often into low
company and into shabby scrapes ; and if this be so,
there seems to be a very near probability that these
gentlemen, setting sonic value not only on the property,
but likewise on the character, which they have to lose,
may regard the secession of the Grey family as giving a
fit signal and a convenient opportunity for their own
separation from a distrusted and a disgraced Ministry.
In this view the loss of Lord Howick and Mr. Wood
may be a very severe one to the survivors of the Mel-
bourne party ; but we confess we find it difficult to bring
ourselves to concur in the conjecture upon which the
view is founded."

was not in the High-street more than five minutes.
The man who was carrying the banner seemed to be

going away with it. About eleven o'clock I was in
Worcester-street, and heard a cry of " To Holloway-

head—to Holloway-head."

There were then many

persons going in the direction of Holloway-head.
I left the High-street, because they said the sol-

diers were coming ; and as I observed the police were
becoming indiscriminate in their attacks, I thought it
was not safe to stop. I saw, the police striking persons

indiscriminately. I saw stones thrown in all direc-
tions. I believe they were thrown at the race. I went
to Holloway-head a little after eleven o'clock. There
were seven or eight groups of persons then collected on
the ground—probably 2,000 in the whole. I remained
there above half an hour. The people remained in groups
durinc, the whole of the time I was there. A person ad-
dressed' one of the groups, consisting of about three hun-
dred. I heard him say—" We are come to a pretty pass ;
rather than be under such a system as this (meaning the
police) they would prefer for the sake of economy to live
under a military government, and then they should know
what to trust to." Some person around inquired of the
speaker if he was one of the Convention. He said they
would have one or two of the Convention there presently.
Soon after, some person addressed the same group,
and said he was one of the Convention. He said,
" We shall meet again in an hour and a half." The
persons he was addressing were mostly stout lads, and
young men ; I did not see any women. No other person
addressed them while I was there ; the people were very
quiet. The first speaker said—those who were not pre-
pared to follow him in a determined manner to meet the
police, let them go quietly home. The people said,
" We are ready," and appeared very determined. Same
persons came up and said, '° Are you now satisfied they
are the London police, and not the Railway folks, for
they have got their cutlasses?" Directly after this the
groups moved from Holloway-head towards St. Thomas's
Church. I moved with them. 1 saw a man take a
stone and strike the palisades of the churchyard wall at
the bottom, near the stone work. He continued to do
so until the palisades were broken. About a dozen
persons then stood upon the stone work, and with their
hands rocked the palisades to and fro, until they pulled
them down. I heard no one direct them to do this ; it
seemed to be a spontaneous act. They broke the pali-
sades into pieces, about the length of a constable's staff,
and then armed themselves with the fragments. I should
suppose fifty did this, who then went down Exeter-row

The Morning Advertiser puts forth the following re-
marks, suggested by the Tory attacks on Ministers for
their conduct on the Slave Trade :—" When a party
be disposed to find fault, it is impossible for human in-
genuity to devise a course of policy to which an ingenious
malevolence may not take exception ; and such is pre-
cisely the position of the Tories in reference to the
late proceedings of Ministers for the suppression of
the Portuguese slave trade. It would be prudent,
however, in those making accusations not to forget,
as the Tories in their vindictive zeal have done, how
far these accusations may recoil upon themselves.
Had the Tories reflected upon this, after. allowing,
while at the head of affairs, years and years to elapse
without the least attempt to suppress the inhuman
traffic for which they had themselves given com-
pensation and stipulated by repeated treaties, they
would not now found their chief accusation against Mi-
nisters on the grounds that, without consulting Parlia-
ment, they ought at once to have blockaded the port
of Lisbon, and thus having commenced hostilities, made
the restoration of peace contingent on the abolition of
the traffic. It is singular that the Tories all the time
with engaged to abolish thee intention of enforcing
they were in power, after the Treaty of Vienna in 1815,
traffic
ffiewl:ic h
never Portugalon e
once
movedspecifically
the equivalent for which they had remitted hundreds of
thousands of British pounds sterling. Now their
new-
born zeal in the cause of humanity is so furious as to
brook no delay ; and they accuse Ministers for not de-
claring or rather commencing war for the enforcement
of treaties, the violation of which they themselves bad
for years witnessed with most peaceful complacency:,
The Morning Herald, speaking of the conduct of the
pon Don Carlos
Spanish General Maroto, says—" We hope the Morn-
ing Post and Mr. Peter Borthwick are at length con-
vinced of the treachery of the cold-blooded murderer
Marnto ; a wretch who evidently was ' planted,' to use
ftßoharestqlhauenegppuuaerogppeolseoe,f
aotnfhde
betraying London
thieves,nghfiosra ti cause,sn and that of the
p
ulated price the
infatuated Prince who trusted him into the hands of his
enemies. That the whole of this nefarious trickery was
not
o f
Donaccomplished
Car
Carlos. did not araipsefarorT to i any sagacity on the
parthave been in the
hands of his Iscariot General, as a sheep going to the
slaughter, ' That licks the hand just rais'd to shed its
blood.' It was owing to the awakened suspicions of
some of the faithful Navarrese, who, on .c, •
Leing one
strong place after another given up without a struggle
to the enemy, raised the standard of revolt, and preci-
pitated the plans of the traitor Maroto, who, we hope,
like the wretch Moreno, will meet with another reward
of his atrocities than that which the Christine Govern-
ment has promised him."
The Courier of last evening, in remarking on the
domestic policy of the present Cabinet, and especially
of its foreign policy, thus alludes incidentally to the
state of the country at the time when the Tories ,
quitted ()face in 1830 t-,-" When the Duke of Wel-
lington and Sir Robert Peel retired from
.office,. in i
November, 1830, they left the foreign and - do,

in a body. The great body of the people who had he en

previou;:y at Holloway-head had go- netowards the town
before the breaking of the palisades. They were not

w&itiatthel
tsiait‘evetainoeds lioefatrhde,
Ctiomet.
emd forsotom what
they down. e. n
rtrgoha tet eeprtecor:
broke the palisades and
armed themselves were chiefly strong youths. I went
with them in their rear down Holloway-head, as far as
the corner of Suffolk-street. Some of them stopped
there. I then left, and went along Bristol-street home.
Between the 4th and 15th of July, I do not recollect
being in the Bull Ring any night after eight o'clock. I
had no connection with any parties on the occasions I
have been speaking of. I made my observations from
curiosity. On the 15th of July, about two o'clock, I
heard a person ringing a bell in the streets ; he ap-
peared to be a bellman. I did not know what he said,
but was informed, that he was giving notice of a meet-
ing to be held at Holloway-head, at five o'clock that
evening, to consider what steps should be taken. About
a quarter past nine that night, I was coming past the
Town-hall, and saw a fireman running towards Con-
greve-street, where there is an engine-house. I went
down New-street to near the Hen and Chickens, when
I saw three or four dragoons on horseback. The street
was pretty clear. I went to the Seven Stars in Wor-
cester-street, where 1 remained about an hour. I then
left to go home. The streets were clear, and I went
along Bell-street, and down Lease lane, because the
bottom of Worcester-street was blocked up by the mili-
tary. While passing down Lease-lane, I met about five
of the London police. I stood aside to let them pass,
when, suddenly and unexpectedly, the policeman in the
centre struck me upon the left side of my forehead with
his cutlass. My hat was cut through, and a wound,
nearly two inches long, inflicted on my head, from which
the blood flowed.—(The witness showed the wound,
which was quite apparent.) No words passed, either from
them to me or me to them, before I was struck. There
were no other persons in the street that I saw. I
was so alarmed, that I did not notice a blow which I
must have received on my right arm, it being much dis-
coloured next day. The bruise wes such an one as
might have been inflicted by a staff. After the man
had struck me with his cutlass, he said " Who are you ?'
I said, " How could you be so indiscriminate ?" I heard
ono of them say something about a mistake. I took up
the word " mistake," and said, " I think it is a mistake
done on Purpose." A special constable, whoin I ltave

r{ P, SUNT, LONDONT ITURSDAY SEPTEMBER 1-2 1839

teen since at Knott, Hawker, and Coburn's, and who I I niestic affairs of the country in a condition border-
believe to be a partner in that house, came up after the ing on social dissolution. There never nits a pe-
blow I have spoken of was given, and after the police- riod of history at which England had been ruled by
man had left me ; he assisted me as far as the Rose and I a Ministry more utterly impotent, more universally
Crown, in Edgbaston-street, where I got my wound I disliked. The Tory party did not attempt to disguise their
dressed by a surgeon, and then went home. I had no sleep hostility, and the lower classes were in a state of open insur-
that night. The next morning I went to Lease-lane, rection. Within a few miles of the metropolis armed mobs
and observed blood on the spot where I was struck. were laying the mansions of thegentry under contribution,
About nine o'clock that morning I was in Bull-street, and what, we ask, was the protection which the Home
and saw a person who appeared to be a workman, Secretary had to tender to the affrighted inmates ? Why,
bleeding from a wound at the back of his head. I went from his place in the House of Commons he actually
with him to Mr. Southall's, to have the wound dressed. told them, not to rely on the constituted authorities for
He stated he was a stranger, and had never been in the protection, but to offer ' resistance' to the assailants !
town before that morning. On this same morning I Had the Peel and Wellington Ministry continued in
went to the public office to omplain, before the Magis- power two years longer, England must have gone back
trates, of the injuries I had received the previous to the customs of the midde ages ; every substantial
evening. I saw Mr. Shaw, the Magistrate, at the farm-house must have had its moat, its drawbridge, and
Public Office gate, to whom I stated the facts, and lie its watch towers, and all the mansions of our nobility
said he was afraid the police could not discriminate must at least have been secured against a coup de
who they struck, and it was well it was no worse. main. We have had riots in Birmingham this year, in
He then left me and went inside, and ordered the gate consequence of the incendiary declamations of Tory
to be closed. I went again in about half an hour to underlings against the Poor-laws, but those riots were in-
make my complaint, but the entrance to the office was stantly suppressed ; in Kent, Sussex, and Hampshire,
blocked up; and I could not get near. in 1.8:30, the fires were blazing in every quarter, and
The examination of this witness here closed, and the S!r Robert Peel, then Home Secretary, not only did
Committee adjourned. not suppress the peasant warfare in which they ori-
ginated. but was reduced to the humiliation of admitting
Isis inability to suppress them, and yet had the meanness
to cling to office after so disgraceful an admission !
Such was the internal condition of the country
when its incompetent rulers were driven from office in
1830. What was the state of affairs abroad ? Russia,
in violation of her agreement, had been allowed to
' appropriate to herself a large portion of the Turk-
ish territory, and to extort from her an enormous
sum of money, as an indemnity for the expenses of the
war. Persia had been allowed to fall into the hands
of the same power, without a single effort to prevent an
occurrence so perilous to our Eastern Empire. In Por-
tugal a sanguinary ruffian had not only been allowed,
but had been assisted by the presence of British troops,
to usurp the Throne of his legitimate Sovereign, and
had been permitted, with undisturbed impunity, to
offer a series of the most revolting insults, to the
British Monarch and the British people. The
French Government with a finesse too transpa-
rent almost to baVe duped a schoolboy, had gulled
the Prime Minister of England on the subject of Al-
giers, and that Regency had become an integral portion
of the territory of France. English influence abroad
had sunk to the very lowest ebb which it ever reached,
and so entangled and perplexed were all our
foreign relations, that the Tories themselves derided
Lord Grey, when he proclaimed the preservation of
peace as one of the principles of his administration."
The Globe makes the following observations on Mr.
Wyse's recent appointment to office as one of' the
Lords of the Treasury:—" Her Majesty's Ministers
have given great offence to the opponents of popular
education by the appointment of Mr. Wyse to office
as one of the Lords of the Treasury. Thie appoint-
ment is not only a source of satisfaction to the public, as
securing the services of a gentleman of high talent and
Liberal principles, but as evincing- a determination on the
part of Government to concede nothing to the senseless
clamour, raised by the conservators of ignorance, against
the education of the people by the only means which can
accomplish that essential preliminary to national improve-
ment. The No Popery' cry, which was substituted for
argument against the measure, although uttered with a
strength of lungs equal to any former occasion when re-
course was had to it for similar purposes, has been raised
in vain. The Government has fearlessly opposed the
cry, strong in the strength of the excellence of the
object, and in the efficacy of the principle they have
introduced for its accomplishment. The delu-
sions and misrepresentations, industriously circu-
lated and enforced by bigotry in high places, will
rapidly pass away ; and those who have become their
yictitns will then be astonished they were ever brought
under their influence, and will hasten to atone for their
temporary error by cordial co-operation with those they
now oppose. The Government can afford to wait, and is
eridentlydisposed to wait, with calm confidence for this re-
sult. The electors of Waterford are, as may be supposed,
highly gratified by the introduction of their justly popular
representative to office ; and have re-elected him with
an unanimity so cordial as to deter the Orange
party from even a show of opposition. Mr. Wyse's
speech at the hustings on Friday last contains senti-
ments highly cheering. There is no shirking of those
questions which interest the public mind, because the
changes they involve are essential to the attainment of
popular improvement. It will be seen that Mr. Wyse
is a firm and intelligent advocate of the Ballot ; as
necessary to the preservation of the franchise from
the baneful interference of those who have recourse
to fraud or force to;corrupt or, intimidate the voter."
The Standard recurs to the appointment of Mr.
Poulett Thompson in the following terms :—" The
merchants, manufacturers, shipowners and others of
Glasgow are, it will be seen, about to forward
an address to her Majesty expressive of the regret
and alarm with which they have heard of the ap-
pointment of Mr. Poulett Thompson to be Gover-
nor-General
_of
__Canada. _and ;earnestly entreating
her Majesty to rescind that appointment, and to
confer it on one not inimical to those, great in-
terests which he is sent to protect." This Address
is signed by Gentlemen of all political parties. But
what signify the merchants, the shipowners and traders
of Great Britain, or their opinions, so long as the
Court and the bedchamber arc on the aide of Lord
Melbourne and his protege. Even although the ground
on which he pretended to justify this appointment has
been cut away under his feet, what does he care ? He
is a small autocrat in his way, and must persist in his
privilege of doing mischief coule qui (Joule."

The King of Bavaria signalised his fete-day on
the 25th ult., by the free pardon of three students, who had
been condemned for high treason to an indefinite impri-
sonment.

THE LATE ALLEGED MURDER ON THE
THAMES.—Tuesday afternoon the jury empannelled to in-
quire into the circumstances connected with the death of
a young woman who was found in the Thames six weeks
back, re-assembled for the fourth time to prosecute the in-
quiry. On the last occasion of the jury assembling, a
woman of the name of Wallis made a charge against her
husband of having caused the death of the deceased, or some
other fema!e unknown, by knocking her off the brig Eliza
(on board of which he was employed) into the river. Tha
man denied the accusation, and said that he left the vessel
at half-past nine o'clock on the night in question, and did
not return. The Coroner, under all the circumstances, sent
Wallis before the Thames Police Magistrates, who, after
hearing the woman's statement, ordered the man to he dis-
charged, not believing a word she said. Tuesday Waller,
the beadle, said he had no more evidence to produce, and
gave an account of his taking the man Wallis before the
Thames Police Magistrates, who behaved in an uncour-
teous manner, and immediately dismissed him. The Co-
roner, in summing up, remarked on the strange conduct of
the Magistratcr,and said, " He, as an Officer of the Crown
and conservator of the public peace, was justified in send-
ing; the man to a police-office to be examined before the
Alagistrates." After some further remarks the jury re-
turned a verdict of—Found dead.

ENGLISH AND IRISH WIVES.—At an inquest
held on Tuesday in Lisson-grove on the body of a child
who had been overlaid by its mother, Mr. Wakiey, the
Coroner, was examining a witness as to the conduct of a
mother towards her children, when the latter said that her
conduct was generally affectionate, but she was in the habit
of hallooing loudly at them. Mr. Bell (the Coroner's
clerk)--Oh, that's nothing new with Irishwomen. A Gen-
tleman (addressing the Coroner with somewhat of enthu..
siasm)—lrishwomen are the best wives and mothers in the
world. The Coroner (in an ironical tone)—And they
produce the best sons, too. The Gentleman (modestly)
—I don't say that. The Coroner—On what grounds do
you form your opinion ? Gentleman—On prison statistics.
I know from experience that more than two-thirds of the
persons confined for want of bail in the New Prison, Cler-
keowell, are there for alleged assaults or threats of assault•
against their wives; and those wives are almost invariably
Englishwomen, who, when their husbands are so impri-
soned, seldom or never trouble themselves after their
welfare ; whilst, on the contrary, if it happens that an
Irishwoman causes her husband to be incarcerated, no
matter how cruelly he may have t reated her, she is sure
either to visit him or send him money or food. Coroner
_Well, there's some truth in that. I recollect when I
was overseer of the parish of St. Giles in the Fields that
an Irishwoman was pitched out of window by her husband,
and that he afterwards beat several large holes into her
head with the point of a smoothing-iron, and that, not-
withstanding this ruffianly treatment, when he was taken
before the Magistrates to answer for the assault, the too-
faithful and affectionate creature could not be persuaded
to say one word against her husband. Several of the Jury
bore testimony to the conjugal affection of Irishwomen,
but none of them would allow that they were better mo-
thers than Englishwomen. The Coroner slily intimated that
he feared the Irish gentleman had caught a Tartar on this
side the water. The Gentleman—Well, after all, if I had it
in my power to-morrow to chose a wife, she should be an
Eng lish woman. Laughter. )
FRIGHTFUL ACCIDENTS.—On Tuesday morn-
ing, while Daniel Sweden, a carpenter, employed by
Messrs. Miller and Co., engineers, at the Orchard House,
Blackwell, was engaged in chipping off a portion of a beam
of timber, his adze by some means slipped off the wood,
and hit him about midway between the ancle and knee, in-
flicting at the same time a frightful wound on the limb.
After the wound was partially dressed, the poor fellow was
removed to the London Hospital, where he remains in a
very bad state, both from the loss of blood and the extent
of the injury. Lewis Philips, a fine little fellow, six years
old, the son of a Jew, was received into the same institu-
tion, he having fallen from the second floor window on to
the pavement. His injuries arc of so serious a nature that
little hope is entertained of his recovery.
On Saturday night Mr. Hamilton, of Killyleagh,
with his brother of the 88th Regiment, Sir G. Cockburn,
and Mr. Fletcher, were returning to the Castle from a
dinner at R. Heron's, Esq , in an open carriage, when the
horses took fright and ran away with them. The carriage
was upset; the Messrs. Hamilton and Sir George Cock-
burn were pitched out, but received no material injury.
We are sorry to add that Mr. Fletcher fell under the car-
riage, was, much bruised, and had his left shoulder dislo-
cated ; for some time it was feared ho was killed. The
carriage was almost broken to pieces.—Dublin Evening
Post. - _

-
Tomorrow will be the anniversary of the death
of three distinguished indiyidnals.—Lord Burleigh, who
diethia-16113.—Gttivral, Wolfe,-k eft in 1759—and Charles
James Fux, who died in 1806.