The Sun.
London, England, 1853-09-19 00:00:00

FIRE AT BALMURAL.

On Friday afternoon one of the cottages occupied by
the masons engaged at the new palace at Balmoral was
discovered to be on fire, and, being contiguous to the
Royal residence, the utmost alarm for a time prevailed.
In a short time a number of men were on the spot, the
Royal family being not only present, but actively en-
gaged in efforts to extinguish the flames. "We are
assured by a spectator," says the Aberdeen Herald,
" that when a line of men was formed to convey water
to the burning pile from the river, Prince Albert at once
took a position, and continued working steadily
throughout shoulder to shoulder with a sturdy Highland-
man. The Prince of Wales and Prince Alfred were al-o
actively engaged while her Majesty stood by the whole
time and gave such directions as she thought would tend
to assuage the fire, and deeply interested by the efforts of
the men to save their clothes' chests in which many of
them had considerable sums of money." The fire is
supposed to have originated by a spark getting among
some brushwood in one of the cottages were a woman
was baking, and as they were all five composed of timber,
the flames were speedily beyond the power of control.
No damage has been done to the new buildings.

MR. PETO, M.P.—This enterprising gentleman, who
is one of the representatives of his native city, Norwich,
in Parliament, has taken a 14 years' lease of the old
castle and grounds of Murthly, Perthshire, from Sir
William Drummond Stewart, Bart., at an annual rental
of 8001. Mr. Peto will enter into occupancy of this de-
lightful residence in the course of next year. It is be-
lieved that, consequent upon his location in that county,
there is every probability of a Baptist chapel being
erected in Dunkeld, the member for Norwich being one
of the wealthiest and most liberal laymen belonging to
that body.
THE LATE COL. HUTCRINSON.—A mural monument,
in beautiful white marble, has just been executed in
memory of this officer, and it is said will be erected in
Trinity Church, Cheltenham,
THE MAILS.- SOUTHAMPTON, Saturday, Sept. 17.—
The Royal mail steam-ship Magdalena, Captain George
Abbott, sailed this afternoon, with the usual British and
foreign West India mails, and the mails for the Pacific,
Central America, and California, in charge of Lieut.
Brydges, R.N., Admiralty agent. The Magdalena
takes out 120 passengers, among whom are Major Wynne
Lieutenant Dennison, Assistant Staff-surgeon Shiell,
&c. ; also a large cargo, and specie value 84,0001. ster-
ling. The Peninsular and Oriental Steam Navigation
Company's ship Tagus, Captain J. K. Joy, left at two
p.m. to-day, with the mails for Vigo, Oporto, Lisbon,
Cadiz, and Gibraltar, 47 passengers, a cargo of general
merchandise, and specie value 25,2051., for Liston. The
Ripon, Captain It. Moresby, will leave on Tuesday, the
20th inst., for Gibraltar, Malta, and Constantinople,
taking out the heavy portion of the East India, China,
and Mediterranean mails.
A NEW COMET.—On the night of the 11th of the
present month Mr. C. Brubns, of the Observatory at
Berlin, discovered a pretty large nebulosity in the con-
stellation Lynx, near the stars A: and t of Ursa Major,
which was ascertained to 'oe a new comet by its motion.
At 1 hour 12 minutes after midnight its right aseen ion
was 126 deg. 59 min., and its declination 44 deg. 52 min.
north ; the former was increasing at the daily rate of
1 deg. 27 min., and the latter was diminishing about
half a degree. This object was easily seen with the
" comet-seeker."
THE LAST OF THE BETTING-OFFICES.—Within the
last few days, owing to the Doncaster Races, the betting
offices have revived, and probably next month, on ac-
count of Newmarket, they will show symptoms of
vitality before their extinction. By the Ist of December
they must cease to exist. In England and Ireland, such
places must not be kept or used, unclog stringent penal-
ties or imprisonment. They are declared by the new act
to be a common nuisance, and contrary to law. Scotland
is exempted from the operation of the new law, and it is
open to persons who have not been cured of the mania to
resort thither.

E TTYe' AL —VI ArAL COUNT.
(T•iIS DAY.)

OLD COURT.
The Sc-pteui..er sessions of the Central Criminal C9urt,
eiiig the eleventh of the present mayoralty were opened
t`iis moving before the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor
tie Recorder, Aldermen Farncomb, Sidney, Wire, and
C cr len, attended by the sheriffs of London and Middle-
:ex and other civic functionaries.
The first edition of the calendar contains the names of
74 prisoners, being 21 fret') London. 38 from Middlesex.
1 from the A •iniralt,,, 4 from Kent, and 10 from Surrey.
Ile case from the Admiral y is that of Henry Branchett,
,scribed as a labo.irer, who stands charged with steal-
ing 580 ozs. weight of gold upon the high seas.
The grand jury having been sworn and empannelled,
The RECORDER proceeded to charge them. He said
it this season of the year, when the husbandary
Lions connected with the harvest afforded a greater
amount of employment to the industrious population
t an usual, they generally found the calendar compara-
tively light, and he was happy to cotigratulst; them
upon this fact, that the present calendar was no excep-
tion to that rule. On the contrary, he found, on looking
over the calendar, that the number and character of the
offences were of a light description as compared with
former years, and the labours of the grand jury
would
tiierefore not occupy any lengthened period of time.
there was one circumstance connected with this calen-
dar which he could refer to with particular satisfaction,
and that was this. It was generally supposed, that while
the increased prosperity of the country had diminished
,rimes against property, it had increased those of violence
and cruelty, but the records of this court went to eh°
that such an impression was founded in error, for while'
it was undoubtedly true, hat offences against property
nad decreased, it was equally clear, that so far as the
metropolis at least was concerned, crimes against the
erson had diminished in a corresponding degree. Nene
of the cases in the present calendar called for remark
but one single exception ; and that was the case of
person named Mobbs, who was charged upon the return
of the coroner's inquisition with the murder of his own
wife. There had been no preliminary investigation be'
fore a police magistrate ; but, nevertheless, if the el'
lence at all bore out the statement in the depositions
Laken before the coroner, the grand jury would have no
lifficulty in returning a true bill against the prisoner.
.Much attent.on had been lately called to cases where
.ssaults hard been committed by a husband and s
wife, both by the Legislature and the public
press, and an impression prevailed that such
uses were greatly on he increase ; but on looking over
lie records of this court he did not find the slightest
vidence of any increase of that description. On the
..:ontrary, there was reason to believe—and this was not
Las own opinion only, but the opinion of all the °thee°
the court— that the great improvement which had re'
eently taken place amongst the classes where these
~utrages upon the wife were generally found, had
ended materially to reduce this character of offences'
He was rather disposed to attribute the increase which
lied taken place in the number of cases brought before
the public, not to any actual increase in the crime itself,
out to the readiness which the press afforded for
;lying publicity to them, coupled with the facilities
which were now given to the injured parties for bring'
mg the offenders to justice. On that account, there'
fore, he did not think it would be necessary or wise to •
call upon the Legislature to magnify the punishment
which attached to these cases, as that would only iry
crease the indisposition of the wife or her friends to pro'
secute. It would be much safer and more prudent to
let the law remain as it was, and he was eatis•
tied that, combined with the power which public opinion
exercised over the minds of persons who were predis.
posed to resort to acts of violence against their wives,
it would be found sufficient to meet all emergencies. it
was unnecessary for him to detain them with any corn'
ments upon the nature of their duties, and therefore,
with these observations, he would at once request theta
to retire to their room, where there were cases ready to
be brought before them.
The grand jury then withdrew, and in a short time
several true bills having been found, the trials were int"
mediately proceeded with.

afARLBO.ROIN.H-STREET.—(TILIS DAY).

A DISHONEST SERVANT. —Mary Regan was brought
before Mr. Bingham, charged witu stealing a purse con'
taining some silver and copper coin, the property of Mr•
Wm. John Sanders, landlord of the Three Tubs, Bey
wick-street.

Prosecutor stated that the prisoner had been in his
service as cook for about a fortnight, during which time
he had been constantly missing money from the till.
Not being able to detect the thief; he communicated
with the police, and Serjeant Godfrey, a detective officer
of the C division, advised him to mark some silver and
copper money, and place it in the till, which he did on
Saturday night. On Sunday morning Godfrey called
upon him, and in his presence he examined the contents
of the till, when he missed ss. 6d. in silver and eleven-
pence halfpenny in copper, all of which he had previously
masked in the presence of the officer.

Godfrey deposed that he went on Sunday morning to
prosecutor's house, where he saw the prisoner, and in
the presence of the prosecutor asked her what she bad
done with the money she had taken out of her master's
till. At first she denied doing so, but afterwards she
admitted that she had taken elevenpence halfpenny,
which she had in her box up stairs. He then went up
stairs to her room, and in a work box he found the purse
produced, cootaining ss. 6d. in silver and elevenpence
halfpenny in copper, ail of which prosecutor identified as
belonging to him. Witness then took her into custody.
The prisoner was remanded fur a week.

DEATH OF THE EARL BROWNLOW.-- This noblenisit
died on Thursday last, at his seat Belton House, near
Grantham, Lincolnshire, in the 75th year of his age.
The noble lord was the father of the late Lord Alford,
who-e heir has ju t Established his claim to the estates
left by the last Earl of Bridgewater. His lordship slis
well known for his munificence in furthering the design°
and extending the influence of the Church of England,
in various parts of the country, and was always amongst
the first to assist any scheme which met with th• 1,1”
proval of the bishop of the diocese in which the greatest
portion of his large estates are situate ; and in London
many churches of recent erection owe much to his libe-
rality. Particular mention may be made of the district
church of St. Barnabas, Pimlico, the foundation stollo
of which he laid.

DEATH OF COL. COLQUHOUN, R.A.—Col. James Nis'
bet Colquhoun, of the Royal Artillery, and Inspector of
the Carriage Department at the Royal Arsenal, Wool-
wich, since April, 1852, died on Saturday the 17th lost.,
at his quarters in the east wing of Woolwich-barracks,
of disease of the lungs. The deceased was of very active
habits, and introduced many valuable improvements into
the department under his superintendence. He also
spared no exertion in recur ng the means of rendering
the naval, garrison, and field guns as efficient as the
nature of the duty they were constructed for would per'
mit them to be made, and spent many an anxious hour,
with the workmen in instructing them as to the bop
manner in which they could carry out his numerous
plans and suggestions ; the men, knowing they bad a
competent judge of their work when it was finished,
entered cheerfully into his views, and the carriage de:,
partment is now in a high state of order ; and about BOu
hands being employed in it, is able, by the aid of ma-
chinery, to complete or repair an incredible quantity
the stores required by the services which bad previously
been supplid by contract. Colonel Coiquhoun served 1.
Spain from 1812 to the close of the war. He was emplo9e
under Lord John Hay during the civil war in Spain'
and he served also at, the Syrian campaign of 1840-41'
The deceased entered the service as second lieutenant,
June 1, 1808 ; was promoted to first lieutenant Septet°.
ber 8, 1810 ; Captain, Nov. 6, 1827 ; brevet major, De-
cember 2, 1836 ; brevet lieutenant-colonel, November
10, 1840 ; regimental colonel, Nov. 9, 1846 ; and brevet
colonel, Nov. 11, 1851.
DEATH OF THE SUPERINTENDENT OF HONDTRAS--":.
We regret to announce that her Majesty's steamer /3na
zard, which arrived at Port Royal on Saturday evening
last from Ilondura4, brought the melancholy intelligence
of the death of B. E. Woodhouse, Esq., her Majesty
superintendent of that place. The Buzzard not having
brought letters or papers, we are unable to give furthe
particulars of the lamented gentleman's demise. Ile ar
pears, however, to have died after a very short illness.
Jamaica Paper.
FIRE IN MIRK-LANE.—Y,sietdriy (Sunday) n cgs al
at a few minutes before seven o'clock, a fire of a very
alarming character, broke out in a spacious range or
premises, numoered 12, in Mark-lane, City. The pro-
perty in question was tenanted by several merchants as
offices, amon.zst the owners were Mr. Brodock, a colo-
nial merchant ; Messrs. Crawley and Masters,
of t Winhe
e
merchants, &c. The fire was discovered by one
City police, whose attention was attracted to the pre-
mises by a strong smell of burning wood. The engine
belonging to her Majesty for the protection of the Cus„
tom-house, two of the parih, that of the West of Eng-,
land Company, and six of the London Brigade were
speedily on the spot, and a plentiful supply of water was
obtained, the fire for a considerable period defied the ex-
ertions of the brigade. The flames were not subdue
until Mr. Brodock's premises, together with those 01
Messrs. Crawley and Masters, were damaged by fire and
water. The counting-house of Mr. Lane, another mer-
chant, was also severely injured by fire and w..ter.
It
was impossible to learn whether the property destroyed

was insured, as no one slept on the premises.
ADVANCE IN THE PRICE OF WHISKY.—The Cork dis-
tillers have advanced the price of whisky threepence
per gallon.
REPRESENTATION OF GALWAY. The report gains
ground that a vacancy in the representation of the
borough is on the eve of taking place by the appointment
to a colonial situation of Mr. Anthony O'Flaherty. Tht
following persons are said to be already in the field as
candidates for the seat :—Sir Thomas Redington, Mr.
Henry Grattan, Mr. John Reynolds, and Mr. Richard
A, Eirwan.