The Sun.
London, England, 1853-02-02 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT-( THIS DAY).

OLD COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Cresswell.)
John Ferdinand Pries, charge&with forgery, was this
morning brought up to the bar, and pleaded Not Guilty.
William Hawkens Adams, 44, a clerk in the Post-
office, was placed in the dock, charged with embezzling
the sums of 2,3, and 4 shillings, the moneys of the Post-
office.

Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Clarkson appeared for the prose-
cution ; and Mr. Payne for the defence.

It appeared from the evidence that it was part of the
prisoner's duty to receive, from the bankers' clerks, par-
cels of notes, which having fulfilled their duty in London,
were to be sent back to the banks in the country from
which they had been issued, to be re-issued—to fix, and
receive the proper amount of postage. It appeared that,
on the 4th of January, the prisoner received from the
clerk of Messrs. Glyn and Co. a parcel of this descrip-

a d

tion, for which he charged and received 6s. 2d., but did
not account for it at the Post-office. On the 11th Jan.,
he received two parcelsfrom the clerk of the London and
Westminster Bank, and a parcel from Mr. Masterman's
clerk, on which he charged 3s. and 25., more than be ac-
counted for.

Mr. Justice Cresawell having summed up, the jury re.
turned a verdict of "Guilty."

Sentence deferred.

COURT CIRCULAR.

WINDSOR, FEB. 1.

The following had the honour of dining with her Ma-
jesty yesterday :—Her Royal Highness the Duchess of
Kent, their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of
Nemours, her Serene Highness the Princess Adelaide of
Hoheniohe, the Lady-in-Waiting to the Duchess of Kent,
the Baroness de Speth, Viscount and Viscountess Strat-
ford de Redcliffe, and Colonel the Hon. C. B. and Mrs.
Phipps.
The band of the Grenadier Guards attended in the
Castle and played during dinner.
Her Majesty's private band attended afterwards in the
evening, and performed the following compositions :
Overture, " Le Serment" Anber.
Selection, "Le Pi 6 aux Clercs" Herold.
March a la Romaine Hummel.
Finale, " Martha" Flotow.

The Queen and Prince, with the Duke and Duchess
of Nemours, drove out in an open carriage yesterday
afternoon. Lord Charles Fitzroy and Lieut.-Colonel F.
H. Seymour were in attendance on horseback.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert, with the Duke of
Nemours and Prince Edward of Saxe Weimar, accom-
panied by Mr. Henry Seymour, Mr. Challoner, and Cap-
tain Tottenham, went out shooting this forenoon, at-
tended by Lieut.-Colonel F. H. Seymour.
Their Royal Highnesses the Duke and Duchess of Ne-
mours, with the Comte d'Eu, the Duc d'Alencon, and
the Princess Marguerite of Orleans, left the Castle this
afternoon for Claremont ; and the Viscount and Vis-
countess Stratford de Redcliffe left for London.

The Duchess of Norfolk has succeeded the Viscountess
Canning as Lady-in-Waiting to the Queen.
Earl Somers has arrived as Lord-in-Waiting, in place
of Lord Elphinstone ; and Captain the Hon. M. West
has relieved Lieutentant-Colonel the Hon. N. Hood as
Groom-in-Waiting to her Majesty.
Lord Alfred Paget has succeeded Lord Charles Fitz-
Roy, and Lieut.-Colonel the Hon. A. Gordon, Lieut.-
Colonel F. H. Seymour, as Equerries-in-Waiting to the
Queen and the Prince.

The Committee on Education of her Majesty's most
honourable Privy Council had a meeting yesterday at
the Privy Council-office, Whitehall. The Lords present
were the Lord President, the Earl of Aberdeen, the
Duke of Argyll, Lord John Russell, the Chancellor of
the Exchequer, and the Right Hon. Sidney Herbert.
A deputation from the Steam-ship Owners' Association
of London, consisting of Mr. Moffatt, M.P., Mr. W. J.
Hall, Mr. Pratt, Mr. Robinson, and Mr. Morgan (sec-
retazy), and accompanied by Mr. Duncan, M.P., Mr.
M‘Gregor, M.P. (Glasgow), and Mr. Clay, M.P., had
an interview with the Right Hon. Edward Cardwell and
Lord Stanley of Alderley, yesterday, at the Board of
Trade.

A deputation from the town commissioners of Brighton
had an interview with the General Board of Health yes-
terday at their office, Whitehall. The deputation con-
sisted of Dr. King and Mr. Cornford, and were attended
by Mr. Slight, clerk to the commissioners.
Lord and Lady John Russell arrived at their residence
in Chesham-place yesterday, from Richmond.
Dispatches were sent yesterday from the Colonial-office
to the Governors of the West India Islands.

The Judicial Committee of the Privy Council sat yes-
terday. The lords present were :—The Chief Justice o:
the Common Pleas, the Judge of the Admiralty Court,
Sir E. Ryan, and Sir J. Patteson. Heath's petition for
extension of patent was heard, and adjourned.

The quotation of gold at Paris is about at par (accord-
ing to the new tariff), which, at the English Mint price
of 3/. 17s. 10d. per ounce for standard gold, gives an
exchange of 25.17 ; and the exchange at Paris on Lon-
don at short being 25.05, it follows that gold is about
0.48 per cent. dearer in Paris than in London.
By advices from Hamburgh, the price of gold is about
4254 per mark, which, at the English Mint price of 3/.
17s. 104 d. per ounce for standard gold, gives an exchange
of 13.51 ; and the exchange at Hamburgh on London at
short being 13.48, it follows that gold is about 0.35 per
cent, dearer in Hamburgh than in London.
The course of exchange at New York on London for bills
at 60 days' sight is 1091 per cent., and the par of exchange
between England and America being 109 23-40 per cent.,
it follows that the exchange is nominally 0.08 per cent.
against England. At the present rate there is no profit
on the transmission of gold between England and Ame-

WAGES OF SHIPWRIGHTS IN HER MAJESTY'S DOCK-
YARd, DEVONPORT.—A, meeting of the working ship-
wrights in her Majesty's dockyard, Devonport, was
held at the Temperance Hall, in that town, on Monday
evening. The chair was taken by Mr. Cripps, and the
hall was crowded with artizans. The object of the
meeting was to petition the Lords of the Admiralty for
an increase of wages, and the following is a copy of the
petition agreed to :—"To the Hon. Lords Commissioners
of the Admiralty, the humble petition of the shipwrights
employed in her Majesty's dockyard at Devonport, most
humbly sheweth : That your petitioners are labouring
under disadvantages which, if brought under your
lordships' notice, would, they believe, lead your lord-
ships to take them into most favourable consideration.
Your petitioners would beg to show that they are now
in receipt of wages at the rate of 4s. per day, whilst
shipwrights in the merchant service are in receipt of
from 6s. to 7s. per day. Your petitioners be-
lieve that they are called on to be equally re-
sponsible for the performance of their work,
and are in all cases to be as arduous in their engage-
ments, and as respectable in life as those of their fellow
mechanics who are working in the merchant service.
Your petitioners would, therefore, humbly beg your
lordships' kind consideration of their statements, and
humbly pray that your lordships may see fit to increase
the wages of your petitioners, to place them on an equal
footing with mechanics of the same calling out of go-
vernment employ.—And your petitioners will ever pray,
&c." After the above petition had been received, a dis-
cussion arose as to the mode of transmitting it to the
Admiralty board ; a few argued that it should be pre-
sented the master shipwright, Mr. W. Edye, and the
commodore superintendent ; but the majority were, in
favour of sending the petition direct to their lordships,
through the representatives of the borough, H. Tufnell,
Esq., and Sir G. Berkeley, which it was determined to
do. A committee was appointed, which the chairman
said would remain in office, until either the prayer of
the petition was granted, or their grievances were laid
on the table of the House of Commons. Three cheers
were given for the petition, three more the Queen, and
the meeting separated.

A FAMILYSUFFOCATED.—On Friday morning great
excitement prevailed in Springburn, a village to the
north of Glasgow, by the intelligence that a family, con-
sisting of the mother and four children, were found suf-
focated in bed. The father, John Burns, a labourer, em-
ployed on the night-shift of the Springburn Colliery,
left his dwelling-house in Fyfe's-land, about half-past
five o'clock on Thursday evening, to follow his nightly
occupation, at which time his wife and children were
in their ordinary state of health. On his return fl om
his employment, between eight and nine o'clock
on Friday morning, he, endeavoured to enter his
house as usual, but was astonished to find the
door fastened, and to hear no noise of any person
within. He knocked at the door repeatedly, but, re-
ceiving no answer, he became alarmed as to something
being wrong. He then proceeded to look in at the
window, and in doing so he heard the low moanings of
his wife. He then quickly forced an entrance by the
window, and the poor man lid the misery of finding his
wife and four children lying in a state of insensibility.
He communicated the painful intelligence to some of his
neighbours, who came to his assistance, and were not
long in discovering that one of the children, a boy about
eight years of age, was quite dead. Dr. Walker, of
Castle-street, was as soon after as possible in attendance
on the living, and pronounced that the boy died from
suffocation, caused by noxious air. The woman was too
ill to be able to give any account which might lead to an
idea of the manner in which the fatal effluvia had been
generated. The fire was completely extinguished in the
morning, but it is supposed that a large fire composed
of impure coal had been left burning when the family
retired to bed, and "the house not being well ventilated,
led to the melancholy catastrophe.—North British, Mail.
THE NATIONAL CLUB.—The noblAen and members
of Parliament belonging to the National Club intend to
have a parliamentary dinner on the re-establishing of
Parliament. The Earl of Clancarty will preside on the
occasion, and Mr. Perceval, the late candidate for the
University of Oxford, will be of the party. The majority
of the dinner list has already been filled up with they
names of leading members of the club.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SIR,---Under the heading " Fraudulent Gold
Chains," A jeweller (?) has professed to give some

cautionary and instrUCtive, advice to purchasers of
such articles ; but as I consider his remarks calcu-
lated to mislead the public, as well as to disparage
many an honest jeweller, I should be glad, through
the same medium, the public press, to rectify an
impression that may be given by this very ignorant
fellow-craftsman of ours. He advises that a " bill

be requested describing the article•as solid sterling
gold," or "solid standard gold ;" and further says,
" If the shopkeeper hesitates and talks instead of
giving ivinc, such a bill, they may be sure a fraud is in-
tended." • Now, Sir,. I should think it very hard to
have my honesty impeached on my beginning to
" talk" in reply to such a demand, though I should
feel compelled to do so in the following strain, if,
for instance, I had been selling a gold chain :
" Sir," or " Madam" (as the case might be), " you
must know that the best quality of chains, made
by the best and most respectable London jewellers,
is never standard,' unless made such to order,
and oftentimes not solid,' as there are certain
patterns where such would be a needless waste of
gold—would double the expense of the article with-
out making it, for all practical purposes, any the
better ; and there is legally no quality that might
not be called gold from standard down to what will
just bear the test of aqua fortis without turning
green." For such a statement of truth, it would
surely behard to be put down among rogues and
swindlers, when by quietly signing such a docu-
ment I should seal my own condemnation as
such. It has been regretted by fair-dealing
tradesmen in this business, that there could
not be one legal standard for all such
manufactured articles ; but every one must see
that this would be attenL I not only with diffi-
culty in articles of complicated make, but in a two-
fold way materially abridge the manufacture and
sale of all such articles,—first, by the increase of
intrinsic cost in such things, and then by the duty
which inevitably attends such a guarantee.
If the quality of such articles were brought
up to anything like standard, it would art
but annihilate the trade, leaving it in the hands
of a few manufacturers, and in the power of only
a few to purchase. I hesitate net to say
that nine-tenths of the manufactured jewellery
coming under the legitimate character of gold, as
I have shown, is below the quality of what is
usually made for the best—that is, of 60s. gold ;
and yet a fair-dealing trade is carried on in such
qualities, the articles being sold at a propor-
tionately lower price, and so coming within
the means of the many. But according to
this knowing " jeweller,' the Hall mark is no
protection. If he means that the mark itself
is no protection, I must beg to dispute his assertion;
for it is not only a security that the article is
stamped as gold, but that it is gold of the quality
marked by the stamp (18 or 22 carat), the forgery
of which stamps is attended with such serious
consequences that the instances of forgery known
have, I believe, been but few. But perhaps he
may only mean it does not secure the articles being
all gold, because the stamp is not on each part of
it ; but unless he had been more explicit, it is
impossible to meet his assertion, the obscurity of
which certainly has more tendency to mislead than
to enlighten. His suggestion as to the purchase
of watches I consider equally fallacious. The
dial and dome being of metal, would not
warrant the inference that the watch was a bad
one. If, to meet the circumstances of different
classes, there must be different prices in this arti-
cle of such immense utility and request, then the
gilt dome and dial are rather a security than not
for the watch being a better time-keeper than it
would otherwise be, for the very obvious reason
that the value is taken out of the case, instead of
the works ; and the purchaser might be rather de-
ceived than protected by the advice of our friend,
as the gold dome and dial, I fear, would no more
insure a good watch than the gilt ditto ditto would
be certainty of a bad one.