The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-24 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 24, 1863

thought they were, adding that he had then left the Post-
office. I found Mr. Freston at thy office when I returned.
I gave a "sold note" to Calder, together with a cheque, and
gave back the acceptance lettar for 72 shares to Mr. Freston
for verification, in the presence of Calder. I was in attend-
ance at Guildhall Police-court when prisoner was taken
there in custody on this charge. He came to me and said,
" Mr. Bennett, if I had inown these things were going to
be brought to you, I would not have done it for double the
money." I turned away, making him no answer.
The convict Calder was called, and deposed that after
meeting the prisoner at the Obelisk on the 3d July, they
went together to the Oxford tavern in the Westminster-
road, when the prisoner handed him the five letters of allot-
ment, saying he wanted to convert them into money, and,
accompanying him to Copthal-chambers, showed him Mr.
Bennett's office. The prisoner remained outside while wit-
ness went in. Witness received a check for £lO odd from
Mr. Bennett and handed it to the prisoner, who gave him
£6 as his share.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sleigh, witness said he was con-
victed at the last session of the Central Criminal Court, and
that before his conviction he had mentioned the prisoner's
share in the transaction in question. Witness received
first of all £1 for his share, and afterwards £5 more on the
completion of the transfer of the 72 shares. He had no
reason at that time to btlieve that it was not a perfectly
fair and legitimate transaction in the way of business. He
had known the prisoner about a fortnight or three weeks
before. Witness had been a clerk to Mr. Freston, of Furni-
val's-inn and in Coleman-street, until about 15 months
ago. He had been in other employment since, but not
permanently.
Edward Hancock, a city detective officer, apprehended
the prisoner at his house in Manor place, Walworth, on
the 31st of August, on a warrant. On being told the
charge against him, the prisoner said he did notunderstand
it, Witness told him that Calder, who had been convicted
and sentenced to six years' penal servitude, said that he,
the prisoner, had given hi►u the letters of allotment, and it
was for him now to say where he had received them. At
first he said he did not know Calder, but on the way to the
police-station he said a man of that name used to come to
his beershop, and that a short time ago he met him in the
Blackfriar's-road, and had a glass of ale with him.
Mr. Sleigh, in a brief address to the jury on behalf of the
prisoner, confessed the difficulty he felt in struggling against
the facts stated in evidence. He could only say that the
prisoner had made a solemn asseveration that his share in
the transaction in question was an innocent one. To say
the least, much of the evidence against him was tainted
with suspicion, and if the jury thought the case was sus..
ceptible of doubt they would give the prisoner the benefit
of it.

Mr. Justice Byles, in summing up the evidence, remarked
by the way that the witness Dowle had been exposed to a
great dealt of temptation, but had probably remembered the
old •fashioned injunction, "If sinners entice thee consent
thou not." Another man, who had given evidence on the
trial, had unfortunately not listened to that advice, and the
jury knew what had become of him. Addressing himself
to the facts, the learned judge dwelt upon the circumstance
that the prisoner was found in the possession of the letters
of allotment the day after they should have arrived in Lon-
don in course of post. If the jury believed Calder, he was
only the cat's paw in getting rid of the shares. Who stole
them there was no evidence to show; but that was imma-
terial, for whether the prisoner stole them or received them
knowing them to have been stolen, in either case he was
guilty, It was for them to say whether there had been a
conspiracy on the part of the witness for the prosecu-
tion, in which case they would acquit the prisoner, but, if
they believed there had been no such conspiracy, they
would probably think the case had been made out against
him.

The jury returned a verdict of guilty.
Mr. Metcalfe, counsel for the prosecution, said he ought
now to state that with respect to a man named Macdonald,
tried and convicted there last session for passing a check
which had been stolen from a post letter, the prisoner Jes-
tico was discharged from the Post-office for having induced
him to missort money letters.
Mr. Justice Byles, in passing sentence, said the prisoner
had been convicted on irrefragable evidence of the offence
chargedin the indictment. It appeared that he hail already
seduced one man into being an accomplice, who had been
convicted and consigned to six years' penal servitude.
Whether the allegations now made against him as to having
seduced another was true or not, ho (Mr. Justice Byles) did
not know, but he was not going to act upon that. The sen-
tence he had to pass upon him was that he be kept in penal
servitude for eight years.
Helen Hannah Margaret Englehart, a respectably-dressed
woman, was indicted for manslaughter.
Mr. Orridge conducted the prosecution, and the prisoner
was defended by Mr. Sleigh.
The case was a very painful one, and its investigation
occupied the Court a considerable time. The prisoner and
her husband were married in April, 1859, and resided at
Eltham-green, in Kent. She had a child before her mar-
riage—namely, in October, 185 S—by her husband. Its name
was Constance Augusta, and at the time of its death it was
barely five years old. Mr. Englehart was in the habit of
coming to London daily to attend his business, and of re-
turning home in the evening. The principal witness was a
young woman named Jane Maynard, their domestic ser-
vant, and according to her the child had dirtied the carpet
in the dining room on the 31st of July last. It was then
between 5 and 6 in the evening, and the teathings had been
taken into the room. The prisoner was then up-stairs dress-
ing.. On returning to the room she was angry at what the
child had done. The child was then sitting on the floor,
and a milk jug was upset beside it. She called the servant
from the kitchen, and telling her that she had often pro-
mised the child a cold bath, but would now give it one,
ordered her to prepare a cold bath and put it on the sink
in the back kitchen. This the servant did, and the pri-
soner having taken the child downstairs and stripped it
quite naked, put it into the bath. She tied a duster round
the child's mouth and dipped its head two or three times in
the water. Then she took the child out of the bath and
placed it on the edge of the stone sink t' drip. That done,
she put it on the floor and wiped it, giving it immediately
afterwards some cod liver oil, which she poured from a
bottle into its month. In doing that she spilt some of the
oil on its breast, upon which she took the child up, and
holding it with one hand under the sink, pumped water on
its head with the other four or five times. The child did not
cry while that was being done. She took the duster off the
child's mouth on removing it from the bath. She kept it in
the bath about 10 minutes. After wiping the child she took
it upstairs to the top of the house, but had not been gone
more than two or three minutes when she brought it down
in an insensible state. She then said she had let it remain
too long in the cold bath, and she ordered the servant to
prepare a warm one, which was done. The prisoner put the
child into the warm bath, but as it did not recover she told
the servant to go to the house of a Mrs. Wood, a neighbour,
for some brandy. Mrs. Morrison, another neighbour, was
at her gate when the servant returned, and she accom-
panied her into the house. The servant had then sent for a
doctor. On seeing a bruise on the right temple of the child,
Mrs. Morrison asked how it had been caused. The pri-
soner's reply was that she had let it fall downstairs. She
had not before said anything to the servant about letting it
fall. The servant was in the kitchen while the prisoner was
upstairs with the child. The kitchen door was open and
close to the stairs, and the servant said she must have heard
the child fall if it had fallen, but she did not. Mrs. Morri-
son took the child from the warm bath, and putting it into
a warm blanket, kept it there until a surgeon came. The
prisoner explained to her that she had put, the child into a
cold bath as a punishment, that on taking it out it was blue
and cold, and she put it into a warm one; that she had be-
fore putting it in the warm bath taken it upstairs, and was
returning with it when her sleeve caught the bolt of a little
gate at the top of the stairs and the child fell over the
baluster to the foot of the stairs, Mrs. Morrison remained
with the child until 10 o•clock. It died next morning
about 5. Mrs. Morrison, who assisted in washing it after
death, described it as being covered with bruises from head
to foot. It appeared that for some time before the prisoner
had given the child cold baths with salt put in the water,
on the advice of a surgeon, with a view to strengthen it,
and a suggestion on the part of the defence was that the
cloth was put over the child's mouth to prevent its swallow-
ing any of the salt water. The servant said the prisoner's
general treatment of the child was unkind.

Mr. David King, a surgeon at Elrham, deposed that he
was called to see the child about a quarter to 7, and that he
found it in a state of collapse and almost pulseless, so much
so that he thought it would have died immediately. He
remained with it about an hour. The result of a post
marten: examination which he made went to disclose a large
quantity of extravasated blood on the brain. That, lin his
opinion, was the cause of death. There was a fresh bruise
on the right temple, and that, he believed, had caused the
extravasation. There was also a recent bruise on the top
of the left foot and other minor old bruises, which might
have been produced by the child tumbling about the house.
In cross-examination, he said a fall downstairs might have
caused the appearance on the temple. It was a delicate
child. The plunging a delicate ehild into a warm bath
after it had been taken out of a cold one would rarely pro-
duce such extravasation as in this case, unless the brain
had been previously diseased. There was no disease about
the brain of the child in question.

Mr. Blakeley, a surgeon, in reply to the Judge, deposed
that he knew the child, and had attended it about a year
ago. It was a weakly child, suffering from general debility
and he recommended, among other things, cod-liver oil,
and occasionally a cold water bath, with salt in the water,
to strengthen the system of the child. Ile thought the
child ought not to have been kept longer in a cold bath
than five minutes.
Mr. Sleigh, fnr the defence, contended that what the
prisoner had done was at the worst a mere error of judg-
ment in keeping the unfortunate child longer in the water
than was consistent with prudence or safety, but that would
not constitute the crime of manslaughter. That, he sus-
pected, was the only conclusion warranted by the evidence,
and he commented on the testimony of Mr. Blakeley, the
surgeon, who had some time before recommended to the
prisoner the use of cold baths with salt in the water for the
child, and of cod-liver oil, with the view to strengthen its
weak constitution. He dwelt upon the prisoner's weak state
of health, and upon the pain and grief she had experienced
m reflecting oh the painful result of her error of judgment

in her treatment of the child, and on those groun she com
mended her to the merciful consideration of the jury.

Mr. Justice Byles, in presenting the case to the jury, ad-
verted to the tender age of the child and to its being—adopt-
ing
creatureprisoner herself
which wah
alighte b efo
gustre
coroner
a
wind might blow over." 1t was important, he said, that
they should bear in mind the state of the child and its age.
It was born before marriage; but any one would think that
languagel
little e of
weaklythe
that would be far from sufficient to overcome a mo-
ther's maternal instincts towards her own offspring. On
the other hand, there was evidence that the prisoner's gene-
ral behaviour towards the child was unkind. Nobody pre •
tended that the prisoner intended to kill the child, but she
was charged with manslaughter, and it became necessary to
inquire what was the cause of death. According to the medh
cal man, the child did not die from the effects of the cold
bath, however improper or cruel, but from the blow on the
temple, which, he said, undoubtedly was the cause of the
extravasation of blood on the brain, all the other organs be-
ing healthy. The extravasation on the brain being the cause
of death, the question arose was that extravasation caused
by a blow inflicted by the prisoner after she had taken the
child upstairs, or by a fall ? If they believed she had given
it a blow, and that that was the cause of death, she was
guilty of manslaughter; but there was no direct evidence
that she had, and they were not to convict on mere suspicion.
The jury, after some considerable deliberation, returned a
verdict of Not Guilty.
The prisoner was then tried on the same evidence, and
convicted of an aggravated assault upon the child by forcing
it into the bath.
Sentence was deferred.

The Castle Hedingham Witchcraft Case.

On Tuesday Emma Smith, 36, and Samuel Stammers,2B,
were placed at the bar before Mr. Bernardiston and a full
bench of magistrates, sitting in petty sessions at Castle Hed-
ingham, charged with having unlawfully assaulted an old
Frenchman, named Dummy, on the night of August 3, and
thereby caused his death on the 4th inst. The female pri-
soner is the wife of a beer•shop keeper in the village of
Ridgwell, and Stammers is a master carpenter. Nearly all
the 60 or 70 persons concerned in the outrage are of the small
tradesmen class. The victim of this belief in witchcraft was
deaf and dumb, about 80 years of age. For the last. seven or
eight years he resided in Hedingham, in a wretched hut,
and previous to that he lived in Braintree. There is little
doubt that he gained his living to a great extent by telling
fortunes, if not by pretences to witchcraft. In the hovel
were found numberless scraps of paper and between 400
and 500 walking sticks, a number of umbrellas, some French
books, several tin boxes, a hoard of foreign coins, chiefly of
the French empire, and about a ton of rubbish, which it
was found impossible to classify.
Mr. Cardinall appeared to conduct the prosecution, and
Mr. Jones defended Stammers. Mr. Smith was undefended.
The first called was
John Pettit, a shoemaker, living at Hedingham. He saw
an old man called Dummy, about 11 o'clock on the night of
the 3d of August, at the Swan Inn, at Siblo Hedingham.
There were about 40 or 50 persons in the tap-room. Emma
Smith said that she had been in a bad state for nine or ten
months, and she attributed her ailing to being be witched
by Dummy. She said it was all through what Dummy had
done to her. She asked him (Dummy) to go home with
her to Ridgwell, and she told him that she would give him
three sovereigns, and would use him well. When this was
told to the old man he refused, and drew his fingers across
his throat. He meant he would rather have his head cut
off, or his throat cut, than go. Witness saw a man named
Gibson dancing about with Dummy, and Gibson fell on him.
Shortly afterwards witness saw the old man sitting out-
side the Swan. Mrs. Smith was there, urging him to go
home with her, He refused ; upon which she caught hold of
his coat and began to drag him towards the brook, about two
rods off. Witness thought they both fell into the water—
but he could not see well on account of the persons that in-
terfered with the view. He presently saw Dummy on his
hands and face in the brook, which was not deep there.
Some one said, " He is trying to get out on the other side."
Mrs. Smith then crossed the bridge, and, as he was trying to
get out at the other side, she pushed him back into the water.
She pushed him back a second time; but afterwards Dummy
got out. Witness saw the prisoner Stammers standing at
the side when the man was first thrown in. Witness did
not see him do anything,
nor what became of him. There
were so many people about, witness could not see. When
the man got out he went and sat on a heap of stones oppo-
site the Swan Inn. Mrs. Smith appeared anxious to get him
to the water again, or to go home with her. She struck him
,
several times across the shoulders and arms with a stick.
She struck him once on the head
Reel witness said to her,
"Don't hit him with a stick, 'specially on the head." She
was partly behind him. She said she would not hurt him
on any account. Witness heard the blow. She laid the
stick down, and began to kick him. She kicked him on the
side. Witness asked him not to do so, and she said she
would not hurt him, as her boots were thin and soft.
Fifty persons were standing by, and Stammers was there.
A number of persons told me Mrs. Smith and Dummy
and the crowd went down Watermill-lane. 'Witness
laid
ten
heard that Dummy was carried. The brook ran down
the side of the lane to the river, and was deep there.
The street was full of people. Witness heard a female
voice say "Put him or swim him in the millhead." wit.
ness then heard a splash in the water, and went down to see.
He saw Dummy in the water, and Stammers was in theact
of Being him oat. Mrs. Burry was helping him. Mrs, Smithback
towards h Swan, was standing c!ose by. Witness asked "Who dii it?"
Mrs. Smith said " A drunken man fell in the ditch:,
uMprosn.
th e Bruty
grass.and
appearedthe
read, and
to
be in his um m y
throat,
and he was quite wet. Ho lay on the grass 4
minutes or
a quarter of an hour. He appeared so weak that without
help he c old not have
iea
theH He afterwardswall for
support.
He
knocked at the door of Mr. Ames, the butcher,
ernt
g u p
on.
who refused
to let him in. Ultimately Mrs, Bruty and an other female
helped him to his hut, witness following. Witness recom-
mended him to change his clothes, and he kissed witness's
hands. Witness left him. He appeared much
exhausted,
and was in a very different state from what he bad been
when witness first saw him at the Swan.
Henrietta Garrod said that sh was ten Years of age.
She lived th her mother at Hed eingham,
Ore the night
of the 3d August she went to the Swan for some supper
beer. She went into the tap-room, and ,
stood on a form
to see them twisting old Dummy about. Gibson twisted
him about, and they fell. Dummy fell on Gibson firet.
Gibson then turned him about again, and fell on him.
Witness was there an hour and a half, when her mother
came for her, and took her home. About half an hour after-
wards witness heard a noise at the Swan and ran down to
see what was the matter. Dummy was comin-
g- out of the
Swan, and Mr. Smith was with him. She asked him to
go home with her, but he twice refused, and drew his
hand across his throat. She asked several people to give
her a stick, and
as no one gave her one she took Dummy's
stick from the window, and hit him twice across the top of
the head with it, and several times on the shoulders and
arms, She had first taken his hat off and flung it in the
water. She said, ~ You old devil you served me out, and I
will serve you out." lie tried to get bold of her clothes.
She dragged him to the brook and shoved him in. He tried
to get out on the other side. Then Samuel Stammers ran
through the brook to the other side, and pushed him in
again. Dummy got out and went to the stone-heap and
sat down. Mrs. Smith asked some one to lift him up, and
the old man walked down towards the water-mill, Stammers
and Smith holding his shoulders, In some way he got on
ffl
hued
to the ground and s himself, and made a growling
Smith got hold of
noise. Mrs. the collar of his coat, which
came up and covered his head, and she dragged him along
the road. Some one helped her. They dragged him to the
side of the sluice water. It Was
a girl larger than witness
that helped her. Mr. Smith then caught hold of Dummy's
shoulders, and Stammers of his legs, and they threw him
into the sluice. The Water covered him, and witness
could only see his arms* Witness could not recognise
that were there, thou
many
because she was looking at old Dummy. Stammers
jumped in and got Dummy out of the water, and laid
him on the grass. Dummy tried to get the mud and
the water out of his throat. Stammers assisted him to
the Swan gates. Dummy then went to Mr. Ames,and held
up his arms to show that his sleeves were all torn. He had
a crying in his eyes, and was green and muck-wet all over.
Mrs. Harrison and Mrs. Bruty then helped him on his
way
home. fie was shivering with cold.
Mr. Sinclair, surgeon to the Halstead Union, said that
on Thursday, the sth August, the deceased was brought in.
There were bruises on the shoulders. He pointed to indi-
cate that he was hurt on the back of the head,the shoulder,
and the left side. In a day or two afterwards indication of
chest affection showed themselves. There was inflamma-
tion of the lungs and bronchitis. Death took place on the
4th September.
•-... ere
e poet morton;exatnination showed that
there was total disorganisation of the lungs,that the kidneys
were diseased, and that there had been recent inflammation
of the brain. Death was attributable to those causes com-
bined, but more especially to the disease in the lungs and
kidneys. Having heard the whole of the evidence just
given, he was of opinion that the treatment deceased had
received gave rise to a great shock to the system, producing
fever, which set up the causes which resulted in death.
The immersion in the water,and the sleeping in wet clothes
would produce fever. The blows described had not, in his
opinion, caused death. He had no doubt whatever that
death resulted from the treatment deceased received.
After other evidence,
Mr. Jones addressed the bench on behalf of his client
Stammers.
The Chairman said that the bench had resolved to send
both prisoners fur trial at the next assizes.
The prisoner P
she had to say Whyinfluence she should not he committed for trial.
She replied in a
Peculiar voice, and evidently under the
-- "Ile superstitious fear, that she would tell the
truth. The man cane to her house first, He spat upon her,
and told her that after a time she should be ill, and she was
ill• A doctor came but could not
to her twice in ono night,
cure her. The man (Dummy) ) came to her si.;°P ten months
ago, and asked leave to sleep in her
when shed. She let him ;
but in a few days, nle
en she wanted him to leave, he 14:
signs and write upon a door that she should be 111 in te I days, Ile made her ill and bewitched her, and she wepta llt
'
filet 11,6,N,

everywhere, but no one could see her right again ; she was
afraid, for no medical man could do her any good.
The Chairman—Are you aware of the nature of the
charge against you; that you caused the death of deceased
by your conduct on the 3d August ?
The Prisoner—That night 1 I will tell the truth. That
night I went to the Swan very bad. I went up to the old
gentleman and asked him to go home with me, to do me
good. He said he would not go. Gibson took him up and
put him in my face, as he said to kiss me, but I did not want
him to do that, as I had a husband of my own. A number
of plaiters (of straw, for bonnets) came in and said, "How
bad this woman is." There were 40 or 50 people there,
few of them men. They got him out. Some shoved him,
some stoned him, and did more to him than I did. I begged
and prayed that he would go home with me, but he de-
clared he would not unless he liked. Ido not deny that I
put my hand to his head, but I was so bad I could not lift
a dog ; and this man here (Stammers) took him by the
heels and thighs and threw him in the water, and then he
(Stammers) jumped in and got him out. I may die any
moment. There was one there who did not touch him, and
that was Mrs. Bruty, who said she was afraid of him. That
is the truth.

Stammers simply said he was not guilty.
The Chairman committed the prisoner to Chelmsford
Gaol for trial at the March assizes.

Bail was accepted afterwards for Stammers, himself in
£5O and two sureties of £5O each. Similar bail would have
been taken for the female prisoner, but as it could not be
procured she was conveyed to prison.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TlMEse—lf the abolition of slavery is being fought
out in America by the largest armed hosts in the
most obstinate battles history has recorded, the "sup-
port" that can be given to the " cause of Emancipa-
tion" by a public meeting, a few speeches, and a
string of resolutions, is very superfluous. A straw
carried to a conflagration, a drop of water poured as a
contribution into the Gulf Stream, would have as
much practical effect as the " support" that can be
given by a little discussion to a cause that has four
armies behind it, and counts half a million of
slaughtered men as the sacrifice it has already de-
manded. Emancipation, if this civil war is serving
it, has long passed beyond the point at which it
could derive aid or assistance from any expression of
sympathy. The addresses of encouragement to the
North made at the meeting in the Leeds Music
Hall are of as much avail for assisting the question
at issue as the exertions of the Spenish Coastguard
officer who, when reporting a shipwreck to the
authorities, added that he gave the unfortunate
crew of the stranded ship every possible assist-
ance—through his speaking trumpet. But the
second purpose of the Leeds meeting was
to strengthen the British Government in con-
tinuing that neutral policy which, notwithstand-
ing all evidence to the contrary, the North and its
friends in this country will seem to think is always
in danger of yielding to some pressure. The Go-
vernment certainly requires no " support" in a
policy which completely represents the general feel-
ing of the nation. From the first, the nature of the
conflict plainly warned us that any interference in
the quarrel could produce nothing but difficulties
of all kinds ; and among the many explations of
English feeling made by Mr. Forster, the chair-
man, to the representative of the Federation, he
might fitly have added that no admiration of the
manner in which the South has borne itself in the
war has as yet created any strong movement in
favour of England taking any part in the struggle.
He should also, in fairness, have abstained from re-
presenting the differences of opinion as distinctions
of the feeling of classes. This was unjust, and
we must add, notoriously incorrect. There is not the
slightest ground for ascribing Southern sympathy,
as is too commonly the case with our most wrong-
headed Radicals, to the " upper classes," to men of
rank and title, and opposing it invidiously to the
feeling of the nation at large, the middle ranks, the
commercial interests, and the working men. All these
sections of society have abundant opportunity of
making known their beliefs and convictions ; and if
they have not spoken out, in the tone approved by
the Emancipation Society, it is because they found
heir feelings pretty accurately represented by those
" upper classes" who have so offended Mr. Forster
by an independent judgment that does not happen
to jump with his own. It' Americans take Mr.
Fortner's description of English sentiment on this
subject as a correct expianetion, they will be fur-
ther from understanding us than ever. As the
real object of the Leeds meeting seems to have been
the clearing up of popular misconception on both
sides of the Atlantic, the chairman, as the self-ap-
pointed exponent of British feeling, ought not to
have spoken in the narrowest spirit of the platform
of Exeter Hall. What could be gained by mystifying
the American clerical representative, the Rev. Mr.
Channing, to such an extent ? We beg him not to
believe that the manufacturing population are
not such ardent Abolitionists as Mr. Forster

asserts, or that they heve borne the distress the
war has inflicted en them more by reflections

on the blessings the negro is to derive from it
than the subscriptions and the relief given by
the District Committees. , To prove this argument,
Mr. Forsier should have gone a step further,
and assured Mr. Channintg that if slave-grown
cotton ever agai❑ finds its way to Manchester the
spinners will indignantly refuse to touch a hank of
it as a thing accursed in its origin, and that they will
prefer continued suffering to full work at full wages
from the polluted bales of New Orleans. Any feeling
as to the question of slavery had as little to do with
the endurance of the cotton-spinners in their dis-
tress as it had with their condition when they were
prosperous. Then, like their employers, they cared
little whence or how the material of their indus-
try reached them, and would gladly flock to the

mills to-morrow, if supplied on precisely the same
conditions as before the war broke our. What the
men have nobly felt during the pinch of the cotton
famine is that the calamity was brought about by
nu act of their rulers, and that the disaster was one
that no possible action of the Government could
remedy; and they also fully appreciated the gene-
rous manner in which all classes of their coun-
trymen came to their assistance in the time of need.
If a clear understanding of the state of feeling
on both sides does not grow out of an observation of
facts, we fear that public meetings called to set
matters right by mutual explanation are not likely
to produce it. The expounders are apt to be men of
extreme views and strong opinions. They give
everything their own colouring, and leave very much
unsaid. Both the English and the American advo-
cates at the Leeds meeting require a good deal of ex-
tension and correction. Both suppressed much that
bears vitally
.on the question. Can Mr. Charming
explain when President Lincoln's Proclamation be-
came a " noble and generous offer," when its author
still describes it as merely an act of military neces-
sity ? It does not spring from the "law of kindness"
to the negro, but the desire of damaging his master,
and involves about the same degree of real bene-
volence as General Gilmore's incendiary shells. Mr.
Lincoln's real opinions on slavery are those he re-
peated and affirmed in his inaugural address in
March, 1864 when " he declared he had no purpose,
directly or indirectly, to interfere with the institu-
tion of slavery where it exists ;" adding explicitly,
" I believe I have no lawful right, and I have no
inclination, to do so. Those who nominated and
elected me did so with a lull knowledge that I had
made this and similar declarations, and had never
recanted them." It is Mr. Lincoln's misfortune
to have become, under the pressure of the merciless
philanthropists of his party, an instrument for ex-
terminating the whites. But a Liberator of the
blaeke, on the benevolent theories of Wilberforce
and Clarkson, he neither has been, is, nor can be.
Their successors of the societies that are, as far as
England is concerned, extinct bodies, still use all
the phraseology in vogue thirty years ago, the " man
and brother" period of Emancipation, and seem to
think that freedom to the American negro would be
what it was to the petted and protected " African"
of our West Indian colonies. Oar Abolitionists are
dreaming of "raising the black race" to a higher
status. Their coloured freeman is an imaginary being
that unhappily the " free soil" of North America
will not allow to become a reality. There the
liberated black is the most despised of Pariahs—
kicked, cuffed, spit upon, driven out of every field of
employment, by law expelled from some States,
massacred in any popular tumult in others, detested
in all as a nuisance. These are the facts that make
freedom to him a most cruel gift—facts that our
early Emancipationists had not to dread for the race
as a consequence of their principle. Will any Ameri-
can make it clear to English minds how it is possi-
ble that the people of the North can make really
free a race they thus socially despise and hate with
an intense hatred ? Englishmen do not think that
such contradictions can be reconciled, and therefore
believe that, with the exception of a few tarmacs,
those who make Abolition the purpose of the war
are not sincere. Other objects are too evident to
allow the assertion to pass unchallenged that philan-
thropy is all that is to be enforced at the cannon's
mouth. President Lincoln is perfectly indifferent
on the principle of Abolition, and uses it only as a
weapon of attack. A restoration of the political
union, " with slavery or without it," he himself
defines as the object of the war. The purpose is
distinct enough, but a high degree of morale cannot
be claimed for the means employed to effect it. The
fact is that English public opinion on the Civil War
remains the same as when that of the most eminent
men of America was identical with it. We think
now, as Lincoln and Seward, Scott and Everett,
thought before the actual outbreak, that the rupture
of the political compact was a catastrophe that war
would only aggravate. Passion has swept people
and leaders alike far beyond this point. But to make
complaint that spectators of the horrible con-
- not approved the plunge into national

ruin is unreasonable almost to childishness. The
communities of Europe have merely retained the
power of reflection which Americans have lost in
the excitement of battle. While grieving over the
incidents of the war, we cannot applaud its purpose,
which still seems unattainable by force. Whatever
may rise out of the wreck, it will not be the old
Federal Union of America. When reason could
make her voice heard, that was the prediction of
American statesmen, and is still the general con-
viction of Europe. This is the real explanation of
what Americans in their present feverish state of
mind cannot understand, and causes the English
" want of sympathy" to appear to it, as Mr. Chan-
ning said, the " wonder of wonders."

HERALD.—The Polish enlistment case has termi
nated favourably to all parties concerned except
her Majesty's Government. For the sake of avoid-
ing a little unpopularity with its Radical supporters
the Government, so ready to pounce upon steam
rams and Alexandras, declined to interfere with
Lieut. Styles, who was manifestly infringing the
laws of the country, and left to the Russian autho-
rities the responsibility of vindicating our munici-
pal law. The infraction of the Foreign Enlistment
Act was, however, not only clearly proved against
Lieut. Styles, but actually acknowledged by his
counsel, and it is to the consideration of the pro-
secutors that this foolish young man now owes
his liberty. The object they had in view was
stated from the first by Mr. Poland to have been
not so much the punishment of the accused as the
prevention of a mad enterprise which might have
led to the most mischievous results. This having
been attained by the pledge voluntarily given by
Lieut. Styles, and the decision of the Recorder, they
virtually abandoned the prosecution. Lieut. Styles
is lucky in having had to do with the Emperor
of Russia. It might have fared worse with him
had the prosecutor been Earl Russell at the suit of
Mr. Adams.

POST.—The anti-slavery meeting held on Mon-
day evening last in the Music Hall, Leeds, may,
fairly be regarded as a type of a class of public de-
monstrations with which the past two years have
made us familiar. The subject selected on these
occasions is the American Civil War, regarded from
an ultra-Federal point of view; the platform inva-
riably contains a solitary member of Parliament,
surrounded by a few unknown clergy men and civic
notabilities, and the bulk of the audience is com-
posed of that large class of persons which is always
ready to attend any meeting whatever the admis-
sion to which is gratis. The resolutions are always
carried by acclamation, and as their several pre-
posers and seconders, more frequently than other-
wise, affect to speak in the name of the entire Eng
lish people, the proceedings of the evening are
invested with all the appearance of a popular de-
monstration. The meeting over which Mr. Forster,
the member for Bradford, presided, wanted none of
the characteristics we have noted. That gentleman
sustained the part of the solitary legislator. Of his
companions on the platform we confess to having
never before heard even the names. With respect
to one of them, however, our ignorance is excusable.
He was, after the chairman, the most brilliant
star of the evening. The Rev. W. H. Channing,
an American clergyman lately arrived from the
Northern States, kindly consented to furnish the
good people of Leeds with the true version of the
history of the great civil war, and to clear up many
of those misconceptions which the hon. chairman
regretfully admitted were entertained in this
country both in respect to its origin and to its pos-
sible consequences. It is needless to say that Mr.
Channing fulfilled his task to the complete satis-
faction of his hearers, and the meeting cheerfully
and unanimously endorsed the sentiment that the
present war is prosecuted by the Northern States
with a view to the wider dissemination of the prin-
ciples of civil and political liberty. The speakers
at the Leeds meeting having in the first place as-
sumed that which they were bound to prove, made,
as might have, been expected, extremely plausible
speeches in favour of the Federal Government, If
you begin by boldly asserting that the North is
warring against the South for the sole object of
abolishing slavery, and that the Southern States
have organised a resistance from no other motive
than a desire to retain in servitude those who ought
to enjoy the most complete liberty, it is of course
easy to prove that the population of the North are
very good and philanthropic, whilst that of the
South are in a corresponding degree base and
wicked. And this is precisely what Mr. Forster
and the Rev. Mr. Channing did on Monday even-
ing in the Music Hall at Leeds, and what Mr. John
Bright has done over and over again, both in his
place in Parliament and on the public platform.
:‘ The principle at stake," as Mr. Forster expressed
it, "is simply this, whether upon the continent of
America the principle of slavery or the principle of
freedom shall predominate." In the truth of this
statement we cordially concur, though we may give
to it an interpretation somewhat different from that
attached to it by the hon. member for Bradford.
The contest between the North and South un-

doubtedly does involve a question of freedom or
slavery, since its involves the question whether six
millions of human beings who have hitherto enjoyed
the privileges of self-government shall continue
to do so or not. That this issue is at stake

in the present contest no one can deny who admits
that the Southern States prefer an independent
government. That the victory of the North would,
aowever, result in the emancipation of the South-
ern slaves, is, to adopt the most favourable view,
extremely problematical; but even assuming that
it did, the question would still remain open—
whether the enfranchisement of between three and

four millions of negroes war not rather dearly
purchased by the extermination or enslavement of
twice that number of whites. Negro emancipation,
in connection with the American civil war, is one of

those topics on which but very few men can be
found to speak dispassionately, and it is no great
matter for surprise that a member of Parliament
who prides himself on being considered fanatical
in his views upon that subject, and an American
clergyman, fresh from New York, should have re-
presented the war in which the Northern States
are engaged as a religious crusade specially favoured
by Heaven. When a gentleman like Mr. Channing,
who, it may be presumed, is acquainted with the
principles of the American Constitution, describes
the President's emancipation proclamation as "an
honourable and proper proceeding," end when he
adds, " If ever there was a noble and generous offer it
was contained in that proclamation," we. now tha t
it is useless to argue with him. Two centuries ago
the English people discovered that the doctrine of
Divine right in kings could not be sustained, and
we cannot but be astonished at finding the descen-
dants of those who, in the reign of George 111.,
raised the standard of independence in the Ameri-
can colonies, now investing an elective magistrate
with a species of Divine sanction to which, even in
the middle ages the Lord's anointed did not ven-
__

ture to lay claim.. According to the gloss given by
the present generation of American patriots to that
article of the Constitution defining the office and
duties of a President, a state of war converts a re-
sponsible governor into a despot, and empowers a
magistrate, elected for a brief number of years, by a
stroke of his pen to confiscate the property of many
millions of his fellow-citizens. But it might be asked
if the emancipation proclamation was the honour-
able and proper proceeding which Mr. Channing
describes it to be, why did not the President of the
United States extend its operation to the slave
population of Maryland, Western Virginia, and of
such portions of the Southern States as were sub-
ject to the dominion of the Federal Government ?
On what principle, let us ask ." the friends of the
slave"—for to this title the gentlemen who
shared the platform at Leeds with Mr. Forster
and Mr. Channing aspire—on what principle was
it that the Federal Government, who, we are told,
are warring for the abolition of slavery, conferred
the blessing of liberty on the slaves of the disloyal
alone? Charity is proverbially said to begin at
home, and why not also the sister virtue, philate•
thropy ? The work of emancipation, whenever it
is in reality commenced, will, it is universa4 ad-
mitted, necessitate the exercise of considerable cau-
tion. Why, therefore, does not the President of the
United States, by way of getting his hand in, begin
by manumitting the slave population of Maryland ?
These are questions which the true friends of the
slave in this country ask, but to which they have
never yet succeeded in obtaining satisfactory
answers. Pending the time when those answers
will be given, we must be pardoned if we stigma-
tise the speeches made in the Leeds Music Hill as
mere hypocrisy and cant. So long as this unfortu-
nate war I asts we may expect that meetings will from
time to time be held similar to that which we have
now noticed. There is, however, one consolation
which the real friends of liberty in this country can
lay to heart, and that is, that no one, either on this
or on the other side of the Atlantic, is deceived by
demonstrations of this kind.

Full benefit of reduced duty obtained by pur-
charing Iforniman's pure Tr,a ; very choice at 3s. 4d. and
4s. " High Standard" at 4s. 4d. (formerly 4s. Bd.), is the
strongest and most delicious imported. Agents in every
town supply it in packets.

[ADVERTISEMENT]. Holloway's Pills and Ointment.
—ln angry or indolent sores, and all skin diseases origi-
nating in impure or weak blood or depraved secretions the
joint agency of Holloway's Pills and Ointment is perfectly
irresistible. It is of little consequence how long these
disorders may have lasted. or how sluggish, obstinate, or
maligeant they may seem, the daily application of the
Ointment to the parts affected, and a course of these match-
less Pills will most certainly affect a cure, not temporary or
superficial, but complete and permanent. Both the Oint-
ment and Pills are composed of rare balsams, unmixed
with mercury or any other deleterious substances. They
are accordingly as mild and eafe as they are powerful.

Dreadful Tragedy-.—Two Children Murdered
by their Father.

On Tuesday evening a frightful tragedy was enacted at;
West Bromwich, which occasioned much excitement
throughout the town and neighbourhood, by a man named
Benjamin Holding, who is employed as a " bundler" at
the Albion Iron Works, Wednesbury, having murdered his
daughter and son, aged respectively four years and fifteen
months, by cutting their throats. It appears that Holding
left off work about three o'clock on the afternoon of the day
in question. About five o'clock he was sitting in the
kitchen quietly reading the newspaper, when he asked his
wife to go to his father's, who keeps a small greengrocer's
shop, about sixty yards distant, to fetch some potatoes. ILL
a few minutes after he went to his father's house himself,
when on seeing his sister and mother, who were just entering
the doorway, he said, " I have done it." His sister replied,
"Done what, Ben ?" He answered, " I have murdered
the two children, which I have wanted to do for some tim!,
and you can make the best of it and the worst of it." 111 e
mother and sister, in great alarm, immediately ran off to
Holding's house, where a heart. rending and horrifying spec-
table presented itself. One litt e girl, Mary Jane Holding',
was lying dead on the floor. On lifting the body a
pool of
blood was discovered beneath it, while her throat had been
so deeply cut that her head seemed as if it would fall 'lf
Tha little boy, whose throat was also cut in a similar wan-
ner, was lying on his back on the sofa weltering is
blood. A large carving knife, about 13 inches long covered
with gore, was found on the floor of the room. The police
were called in, but Holding did not attempt to escape.
The prisoner, since he has been in the police-station, has
conducted himself in a quiet manner. At eleven o'clock
yesterday (Wednesday) morning Mr. Kite, police-sergeant,
went to him to ascertain the state of his mind. 11e
replied to all questions in a rational manner, but (said
that he had been " feeling badly in his kead," and had been
low in spirits for three or four years previously. The
Boner, in explanation of his conduct, said "it was trouble;
but little more than this remark escaped his lips. An le,
quest on the bodies was held yesterday evening at the Red
Lion Inn, before Mr. E. Hooper, the coroner for the district,
when the above facts were elicited in evidence.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

NEWARK-WEDNESDAY.

An average supply of wheat at our market, with a fais
demand, at about 2s per qr lower than last week's prices.
Barley not much in request. and prices rather lower. Beans
commanded good prices. Oats a fair show, and in order to
effect sales prices gave way 6d to is per qr.
White wheat new, 42s to 46s ; Barley, grinding.. 219 to 32e
Red do. 4os to 42s ; Oats, old, .. 27s to 30s
Old white 4es to 48s 1 New do 22s to 249
Red do. 39s to 43s 1 Beans.. 38s to 41s
I3arley, malting.... 358 to 398 1 Beans, new.. —8 to --'0

HULL—TUESDAY.
At to-day's corn market there was a fair supply of Eng-
lish wheat, principally of the new crop, which was taken,
off slowly at a decline of 2s to 3s per qr upon the prices or
last week. Foreign at late rates. A good show of barleP
at is utder last week's prices. Oats were not much in re-
quest, at rather lower rates. Beans were scarce, and 10
prices were made Peas unaltered.
Wheat.... Old white.... per qr 46s Od to 48s 03
Old red
NeNI white .. ~
New red .... ~
Barley.... English malting 3Bs Od to 40s Od
Grinding 26s 6d to 28s Od
Saal and Oderbruck
Holstein and Danish 3os32s oOdd too
Ns s (4
Grinding.
Oats English, old 26s Od to 28s Od
Archangel and R 13
Riga, per st oBl2ld to ,d
,
Friesland and Dutch osl3d to 08132 u
Swedish and Danish osl2kd to osl3d
Beans ....English, old, per qr
New pigeon 42s Od to 44s ed
New tick 4os Odto 42s Oda
Egyptian
Peas Foreign boilers ...
Grinding
34530 s Odod tt!,
33,35:
06(1
33s 6d tc 34s Od
Tares .... Spring
Indian Corn
3 -4
se
001
Linseed, feeding s2s Od to 56s Od
crushing
Linseed cakes (Hull) £lo 0 400 s
Foreign Bl5 oto 9 0 ue,
Rape cakes 6 0 oto 0 0 ,7
Beres .. 5 5 oto 510 u
to
od toxo .5208 1

LYNN—TUESDAY.
At this day's market the:show of wheat was not so liberal
as last week, growers reluctantly selling their samples at 2s
per qr less money There was a better supply of barley, but
malting sorts were is cheaper. Beans and oats met a slosv
sale at 6d to is lower.
White ..45s to 47s 1 Barley 36s to 3SS
Red .. ..41s to 44s I grinding ..28s to 325
Beans .38s to 41s I Oats .22s to 264
New ..—s to s 1 Peas —s to -^4

COAL Is
frfoes of Coal per Ton a

AItKET•
the close of the market.

s. d.
Bat ea'sWest Hartley 15 9
alker Primrose 12 3
Car way and Duffryn
Malting 2O 0
Edon Main ...17 3

8. do

Wars End.
Haswell . ..18 9
fieugh 119.11 17 G
East Hartlepool 18 £
South Hartlepool. l7 6
Kelloe .... . ... 17 6
South Kelloe l7 6
Hetton 18 9
Tunstall
Ecuth Iletton 18 6
,et, 34 ; sold, 29.