The Sun.
London, England, 1849-01-30 00:00:00

SOUTHWARK.

Michael Knight, a respectable looking man, was
brought up from the station house at the rear of this
court, where he had been for some hours, having been
previously taken out of the river in an exhausted
condition, into which he described that he had been
thrown by two men for refusing to give them some
money.

A fireman belonging to the floating fire-engine
moored off the Southwark-bridge, stated that while
on board that morning, about three o'clock, he heard
the cries of some person in distress at some distance
off, and a splashing of water as if he was in the river.
The witness got into a boat alongside, and rowed
towards the spot from whence the noise proceeded,
and on approaching a barge that was moored off
Bankside, he saw a man in the river struggling to
keep his head above water, by holding on to a plank
that projected a little beyond the others, but he was in
such an exhaustedconditi9n when witness got there,
that he must have sunk in a very short time. Witness,
however, extricated the man from his perilous situa-
tion, by dragging him into his boat, and some police-
men having by this time been attracted to the spot,
they got him on shore, and subsequently to the
station-house, where a change of clothing being pro-
cured, and proper attention being shown to him, he
soon recovered sufficiently to be enabled to give an
account of the circumstances which led to his being
found in the river. Witness was present when he
made the statement, which was to the effect that he
had been over in the City with some friends, and
on his return home, on walking along Bankside,
he was accosted by two men, one of whom asked him
for some money; which he refused to give him, and
that, immediately upon his refusal, he had his watch
forcibly seized from his pocket, and on his resisting,
being near the river side at the time, his two assailants
pushed him off Bankside into the water, and left him
to struggle for his life. The witness added that the
man appeared to have been drinking, but was not in-
toxicated.

Policeman 133 M stated that Knight subsequently
varied a little in his account of the transaction. He
said that he had been thrown into the river by two
men, as already described, but said that his watch
had not been taken from him, for he had not one in
his pocket at the time. The policeman added that he
found some money, as also a tobacco-box, in Knight's
possession.
In reply to Mr. COTTINGHAM,
The policeman said he had been down by Bankside
a quarter of an hour before the circumstance hap-
pened, but did not observe any persons about there ;
that he did not hear any cries for assistance, and that
when he came up the first witness was in the act of
dragging the man into his boat out of the river.
Mr. CoTTINORAM questioned Knight, who said
that he had been seven years in the employ of Mr.
Hales, a tallow chandler, and that being out with some
friends on Sunday until a late hour, as he was walk-
ing home he was interrupted by two men on Bank-
side. They demanded money front him, which he
refused to comply with, and that they then pushed
him into the river, and that he certainly would have
been drowned but for the assistance -rendered to him
by the man from the fire-engine, who got him into
the boat when he was exhausted and in a sinking
condition.

Mr. COTTINGIIAM said that the complainant's ac-
count of the circumstances attending his being
attacked in the way he described, and thrown into
the river, was of a most serious nature, and that the
police, on being informed of it, would, no doubt, en-
deavour to discover the perpetrators of such a despe-
rate act. The magistrate added, that Knight had to
consider that his life was saved by the prompt at-
tention of the man from the floating fire-engine.

THE ENGLISH DRAMA IN VIENNA.—The Vienna
correspondent of the Morning Chronicle says :—A glance
at the theatres is sufficient to show that the influx of the
wealthier classes is on the increase. The Holf Burg
Theatre, or Holf National Theatre (new style), a shabby
building enough, still maintains its superiority over all
the other theatres of Germany. Here may frequently
be seen Schiller's and Goethe's best pieces, played by
masters of their art. Our own great dramatist, too,
cuts a very respectable figure on these boards, to say no
thing of Sheridan's School for Scandal, and some of
Knowles's plays. Shakspare invariably draws a full
house. " Gods and groundlings" alike do honour to his
immortal works. Lear, Hamlet,and Macbeth are each cast
in a style that would do credit to the haunts of Kean
and Kemble. Kate and Petruchio, Benedick and Bea-
trice, the Merry Wives of Windsor, have all had a hear-
ing within the last three weeks. Falstaff is an especial
favourite, though it must be confessed, rather un-English.
I saw him a night or two ago—a fat, phlegmatic German.
The audience, however, were delighted, and roars of
laughter accompanied his hasty retreat in the clothes-
basket. The same actor (La Roche) is perfection in
Shylock. Comedy carries the palm at present; whether
it is that the good easy folk have enacted enough tragedy
for themselves of late Ido not pretend to decide, but
most true it is, that at the performance of a serious piece
the uneasiness displayed by the unhappy few, who drop
in to shed tears, presupposes an unusual share of nervous
sensibility.
ROYAL MATERNITY CHARITY.—Last evening the
annual general meeting of governors of this institution
was held at the London Tavern, Bishopsgate-street,
William Barry, Esq., in the chair. The secretary, 1)r.
Rayner, read the annual report, which stated
that the number of tickets granted for the mid-
wives' attendance upon poor married women from
January 1 to December 31, 1848, amounted to
3,548, and the number actually delivered during the
same period to 3,170, being an increase of 307 over the
preceding year, Only 16 deaths of mothers had oc-
curred out of the total number succoured, and in only 45
instances the assistance of the medical staff was rendered
at the accouchements. The accounts showed the re-
ceipts of the past year, inclusive of the charity's funded
property, to amount to 1,7571. I Is., and the disburse •
ments to 1,8051. 104. 1 ld.; leaving a balance due to the
treasurer, on the 31st ult., of 471. lts. 11d. Six poor
disabled midwives are at present receiving 11. per month
from the midwives' superannuation fund, and there is
placed to the credit of that fund 218/. 10s. Id. in the
savings bank, in addition to 2001. invested in the Three
per Cent. Consols. After a lengthened discussion, the
report was received and adopted by the meeting, which
was rather numerously attended; and the consideration
of the propriety of altering certain of the charity's rules
was deferred to a future occasion. _

THE NORFOLK MURDERS.—On the afternoon of
Saturday week a mistake was committed at the Bell
Inn, Orford-hill, Norwich, which, for a time, caused con-
siderable anxiety and alarm; and, as various false or
exaggerated statements respecting the occurrence have
been in circulation, we have made inquiries upon the
subject, and have ascertained that the following are the
real facts of the case:—lt appears that Mr. J. Cann, jun.,
solicitor, had been requested to bring a carpet-bag, be-
longing to a gentleman, to Norwich, when he visited
this city on Saturday, the 6th, It seems that on leaving
home the matter entirely escaped his recollection, and he
arrived in Norwich with only his own carpet-bag, and
put up as usual at the Bell Inn. Soon after his arrival
he had to go out on business, leaving the carpet-bag in
his room, and during his absence the brother of
the gentleman whose carpet-bag he ought to
hare brought called and inquired for him. He
was told by the waiter that Mr. Cann had gone
out, upon which the gentleman requested to be shown to
his room, saying that he would wait tor him. The waiter
pointed out the room, which the gentleman entered.
After remaining for a short time, and Mr. Cann not re-
tnrning, the gentleman, perceiving a carpet-bag in the
room, concluded that it was his brother's, and accord-
ingly took it away with him. On his return, about four
o'clock, Mr. Cann missed the carpet-bag, and as it con-
tained a number of important documents relating to the
prisoner Rush, he became exceedingly alarmed, conceiv-
ing that the carpet-bag had, in all probability, been
stolen by some friend or accomplice of that individual.
This feeling was strengthened by the fact that the gen-
tleman who had been seen carrying the carpet-bag down
stairs was an entire stranger to the waiter. Fortunately,
however, the matter was soon after satisfactorily ex-
plained by the gentleman returning the carpet-bag, with
its contents, as soon as he had discovered the mistake.—
Suffolk Herald.
DIATH OF ROBERT KERSE OF THE TROWS.—
Many of our readers will peruse with deep regret the
announcement of the death of Robert Kerse, which took
place suddenly, at his fishing cottage at Makerstoun, on
the afternoon of Wednesday last, from an attack of the
prevailing epidemic, aged 79 years. Few men, in his
station of life, have enjoyed a larger share of the friend-
ship of all classes, from the highest to the lowest, and
none have contributed more to the sport and enjoyment
of the lovers of angling, than the subject of this notice.
Belonging to what may not improperly be called a family
of " hereditary fishermen" on the Tweed, Kerse spent
the greater part of a long life in the pursuit of that oc-
cupation, having been tacksman of the fishings at the
Trow Craggs for the long period of 45 years, in the
course of which he came in contact with many noble
and distinguished sportsmen, as well as with some of the
leading literary characters of the day, with all of whom
he was an especial favourite. His extreme simplicity of
character, obliging disposition, and enthusiasm as an
angler, has often caused a day at the Trows with " Old
Rob," to be looked forward to by the youths of his na-
tive district (many of whom are now far distant from
the Banks of the Tweed), with an elasticity of spirit,
which none can understand but those who have experi
enced its delightful and exhilarating influences. The
pages of, Blackwood's Magazine have more than once
borne testimony to the celebrity of the name of " He o'
the Trows," as a fisherman.—Kelso Mail.
The King of Prussia has just conferred on M.
Guizot, member of the French Academy, the order of
merit for the arts and sciences.