The Sun.
London, England, 1849-05-10 00:00:00

those obeyed by thousands of menials? The reply will
still pri.sts! the priests! Frenchmen! your mis-
sion is the work of hell. It will bring down upon your
heads an universal malediction, fur which your past
pride and glory of warriors. The chil-
dren of the conquerors of Arcola and Marengo have,
alas, become the janissaries of the sacristy, and the
n
champions of the accursed mitre !•'
you glory
%s ll
all the prove a recompense. On this very day
e

It 'is said that several of the French soldiers have
refused to fight in the cause of Austria and Naples,
and have joined the Romans in defence of liberty
and republicanism.

STATE OF TRADE.
(From the Manchester Guardian.)
MANCFIESTER, MAY g.—The present upward tendency
in cotton, and the expectation that shipments would
now find their way into Hamburgh, gave rise, in the
ine thisarly
market,part
ofth e
which,day day, to an
however,anti ofhcipaatsionnotbeen
improvementrealsc,di.
Rather higher prices were at first demanded for yarns,
and for such cloths as are in current request; but it was
soon perceived that the continental merchants were
discouraged, and rendered indisposed for the slightest
upward movement, by the gloomy tenor of their advises,
received last' night ; from which it appears that the
German States were rapidly verging towards confusion
and anarchy. It was also found that the report of injury
from " frost," sustained by the growing cotton, is looked
upon as a repetition of one of those old stories which
are supposed to be stereotyped on the other side of
the Atlantic, for seasonable use in the manufacturing
districts. In the course of the day, therefore, the
sellers have gradually modified their demands, and
become willing to accept the rates of last week for most
articles. However, on the whole, the market is charac-
terised by much firmness, at previous rates. In yarns
for the continent the business has been very limited.
Qualities suitable for India, in Nos. 20 to 40, have been
purchased in a quiet way, and only to a moderate extent.
The buyers for home
smge, manufacturecandaanpgtee.dt
have operated more
sparingly than they had intended doing. In goods
thereoi.sin no
s strikingthe finer descriptions, confirmcloths,demand;ex-
cept
cla erinintinggood
so exceedingly
4
of
scarce, that a demand, theS')Eastern d
andnot
equal tr a
to e ,
that are
which lately existed, is insufficiently supplied. Light
goods are still the only ones that are wanted. Long
cloths, T's, and domestics, particularly the heavier sorts,
are certainly not becoming more easy of sale.
Rocurati-E, MAY 7.---The flannel market continues
very much depressed, and business is nearly at a stand.
In wool, also, there is very little doing, and prices may
be quoted a shade lower.
HUDDERSFIELD,
Mar B.—There is very little anima-
tion in our market to-day; but still a steady trade is
doing. Our fancy trade is suffering a little trom the
continued disturbance on the continent. The woollen
manufacturers are all anxiously looking to the sales;
and as they are fast approaching, nothing particular is
going on in that department of our trade.
HALIFAX, MAY s.—Although there was rather a
better attendance in the Piece Hall to-day, there has
been no improvement in the demand for goods, and
prices are slightly depressed. In yarns we have no al-
teration to report, and wools remain inactive, with a
downward tendency.
LEEDS, MAY B.—There was a fair market here on
Saturday- last; and, a good many orders being still out,
the woollen mills are very well employed. To-day
there has not been much business done. Indeed, so far
as the Halls are concerned, the Tuesday's, market is
now of less importance than the Saturday's.

THE LAW OF LUNACY.
Laws for the helpless are amongst the most charac-
eristic proofs of civilisation. Attempts to break
.hrough them are equally characteristic of human
nature. The man who rode a pony to death the other
day sent a donation to the Society for the Prevention
of Cruelty to Animals. The farce was absurd enough,
but the principle obtained a triumph, as grotesque,
albeit, as that of Silenus.
Men will ride horses to death, in spite of Mr.
Martin. But the general practice, at least, of ex-
treme cruelty will he stopped by enactments,
when well backed by local organisation for the
purpose of enforcing them. A habit grows in
sensibly upon the carter of sparing his beast. The
very jest passed by one man on his flagellating com-
rade, touching the danger of being too energetic
when the society is on the look out, is not without
its effect. It is often habit rather than feeling which
induces practices of cruelty—laws and benevolent
societies may alter the one, however small may be
their effect on the other.
A lunatic is, we fear, in a worse position than a
carter's horse. No one can have any interest in
ill-treating the brute—many have too much inte-
rest in starving the lunatic. The poor being,
whose very existence is an annoyance, if nothing
worse, to his relatives, cannot expect that they
should be very solicitous about preserving it. Bu
when this same preservation is productive of consit
derable expense into the bargain, we can easily un-
derstand that average human nature becomes some-
what neglectful of its duties under combined
temptation and infliction. In such cases society steps
in and claims fair play for humanity. But fair play,
we fear, is only to be obtained where both temptation
and infliction are absent.
Two unfortunate persons, Peter Sharp Anstey and
Henry Anstey, of whose perfect lunacy there appears
to be no doubt whatever, were placed years ago in
a' lunatic establishment near Bristol. Their father
left them the sufficient provision of 350/. each per
annum ; and one of their brothers, up to the time
of his death, saw that this provision was fairly ad-
ministered. On his death, some few years ago, the
remaining relatives thought, naturally enough, that
the money would be more comfortably enjoyed by
sane people, and they cut down the allowance, which
was as much the property of the lunatics as property
well can be, to 1101. per annum. The Lord Chan-
cellor, who has issued a commission to inquire into
the case, has inflicted no measured chastisement on
these gentlemen. For ourselves, we leave them in
his hands, as we have a more practical object to which
we direct oar observations.
The present proceedings are instituted at the in-
stigation of a society called "The Alleged Lunatics'
Friend Society." But for the existence of such an
institution, this most flagrant case would never, in
all probability, have been investigated at all. The
enactments in the statute-book require visitations,
and take care that no class of lunatics is subjected to
very unfair treatment. But no Act requires any
examination into the peculiar circumstances of each
individual, or of the propriety of placing him in the
particular position in which the visitors find him.
With this question the visitors have nothing whatever
to do. It is, therefore, left entirely to the bene-
volence of individuals to provide against the in-
justice of a case like the one we have alluded to.
The task is a thankless one—and in no other country
than England, where private individuals perform so
many of the local duties of Government, would such
a society have even been imagined. It is one of the
proudest boasts of our country, that its voluntary
associations allow no aim of benevolence to escape
their vigilance. Such a society can never pre-
vent cases of individual oppression. The honest
eye cannot penetrate all the recesses of the gloomy
madhouse. But the dread of its operations will have
an influence, as that of its fellow society
over the carter and costermonger, in altering
the tone and practice adopted towards the
helpless. Perhaps not one case in fifty will be
brought to light by its exertions. But even the in-
justice
influence. o the
We deem
remainingi forty-nine
therefore, w. 11
o
be u
rm
modifiedost
bounden duty to recommend with all the force in our
power this society to public support.
We must add another word on a part of the
matter to which we allude with reluctance. The
allowance to the lunatics was, as we have stated, re-
duced to 110/. per annum for each. On this "paltry-
sum" says the petition, " they were kept in a depart-
ment appropriated to and living with their noisy,
dirty, and idiotic, and lowest order of patients."
They were, says the counsel in his speech, " confined
in the worst department of the asylum with the
lowest order of patients—they were never taken out
for exercise, and kept in a most pitiable state—they
were lodged at night in miserable rooms"—and so on
with a whole catalogue of miseries. All this is sup-
ported by medical affidavits.
Now, in the name of common sense, a little more
than this might have been afforded for 220/. per
annum to two patients at the Fishponds, Bristol. If
the allegations be true, not alone does the treatment
of the patients at the hands of their relatives require
examination—but the manner in which they have been
treated by other people. The whole case deserves
the serious examination of the Commissioner of Lu-
nacy,
of the
andwectarsuesLtAhatiastthe matter will not rest till
the fullest investigation has taken place on all the
points

--
A SHILLING A WEEK !—Benjamin Franklin said
truly that a man who uselessly spent 5/. a year, threw
away the means of purchasing the use of 1001. a year, if
ho were a man of good repute. Now the man of thirty
years of age who uselessly throws away a shilling a
week—and there are few mechanics who cannot spare
mthaey r; with investment of three times that sum, might assure the
fivereduce
years;
h i s a
npda yi
fifteen to 255. Or for a shilling a week, a man aged
payment of 100!. to his family on his death, whenever it
n
merits in respect ofptilefitlsool.
to
2 /
which
17
iai
twenty-one may receive the payment of 1001. at sixty,
or, in the mean time, to any one he may choose, should
he die as he leaves the door of the assurance office.
Again, by paying a shilling a week from twenty-five to
sixty, a man may receive an annuity of 20/. a year for
life, alter that age; or by paying a shilling a week for a
child three months old, till it becomes twenty-one, a
marriage portion of 100/. may be provided. Go into the'
factory and tell a hundred mechanics that all this can
be done by a shilling a week, and they will laugh at
you, saying, p-rhaps, if they do not think you too weak
to understand them, that the clumsy friendly society
held at the beershop, to which they pay a shilling a
week and spend five shillings whilst they do so, beats
the calculation of scientific men and humane establish-
menti by a " long chalk."— The Reporter and Assurance
Chronicle.

Mr. Hodges, ALP.,
had artinterview with the Chan-
cellor of the Exchequer, yesterday, at his official resi-
dence, in Downing-street.

SOrITIIIVARK.
Charles Hunt, town traveller to the firm of Messrs.
Hart and Co, extensive trimming-manufacturers in
Union-street, was charged with plundering his em-
ployers.
The above firm had missed property to a consider-
able amount from their stock, but no suspicion was
excited against the prisoner, in whom the utmost
confidence was reposed, the more particularly as he
was supposed to be of a religious turn of mind, and
was class-teacher of a Sunday-school, to the duties of
which he strietly attended. On the preceding day,
however, during the absence of the principals of the
firm, he was observed by one of the clerks to leave
the warehouse with a large package, which he took
out into the street,:and the latter suspecting that
it was property which he intended to steal, went
after him and requested that he would return,
which he reluctantly did, when it was found
that the package contained a large quantity
of superfine cloth. On this discovery the prisoner
begged for mercy, declaring that it was his first
offence, but when his lodgings were subsequently ex-
amined other property belonging to his employers,
and which he had purloined from their warehouse,
was found. The prisoner was then given into custody.
One of the prosecutors said that although they had no
doubt they had been robbed to a considerable extent,
yet they had no wish to press the charge against the
accused, as he was respectably connected.
Mr. COTTINGHAM said that he could not consist-
ently with the discharge of his duty, listen to any
appeal on behalf of a man holding a confidential
situation such as the prisoner filled, when upon other
occasions he was compelled to send poor miserable
wretches for stealing a loaf of bread for trial. The
circumstance of the prisoner wearing the outward
garb of religion, such as being a class-teacher of a
Sunday-school, aggravated the charge against him,
and he was bound, therefore, to send him for trial.
The prisoner was accordingly committed.

ATTEMPT OF A HUSBAND TO
MURDER HIS WIFE.
BANBTJRY, MAY B.—This town was horrified last
night by a report that a man had murdered his wife,
about three miles from this place, on the Southam
road, by shooting her and afterwards cutting her
throat. The report proved to be too true, except that
the woman was not dead.
The parties are both natives of Banbury, and have
been for some years resident in Leamington, where
the husband, James Layton, has carried on the busi-
ness of a builder, and has accumulated some property
being the owner of nine or ten houses in that place,
They have a family of six or seven children, and a son
of the wife's, previous to her marriage with Layton,
resided with them. There appears to have been some
disputes -recently about the property, and Layton
accused his wife, her son, and one of her brothers,
with conspiring to defraud him of it. A solicitor of
Banbury had been employed in the matter, and had
written to Layton, making an appointment to be. in
Leamington to-morrow, on the business, and for
the purpose of showing that his suspicions were
groundless. Unfortunately for all parties, he did
not wait for this visit, but on Monday set off with
his wife to walk to Banbury. They were seen toge-
ther upon the road six or seven miles from Banbury.
One man who saw them thought they were
sweethearts, as Layton had his anal over his wife's
shoulder. ,17hen they reached the spot above referred
to Layton put a pistol close to his wife's forehead.
The poor woman says he put it quite under her bonnet,
and fired it. The piece of lead with which it was
loaded—not a bullet, but an oblong piece of lead—
struck her on the forehead, and the powder burnt her
face. He then took out a large table knife, with
which he cut her throat, and also wounded her hands.
She screamed, and several persons being within
hearing they ran to her assistance, and some of
them went in pursuit of Layton, who ran into the
fields, and dodged in and out of the hedges. He
was captured, and taken to the Bell at Great
Bourton, a village about a quarter of a mile distant,
to which place also his wife was conveyed in a ve-
hicle, which came up shortly after the dreadful
occurrence. Dr. R. J. Wise, of Banbury, was sent
for, who extracted the ball and sewed up the throat.
He also, seeing the dangerous condition of the
woman, proceeded to take her deposition. On the
following morning the Rev. W. Lloyd, a county
magistrate, attended and took the declaration of the
woman, which was as follows :
" 1, the undersigned, being convinced that I shall not
recover, declare that my name is Martha Layton, and
that my husband, James Layton, did fire a pistol at me
yesterday afternoon, about six o'clock, and that after-
wards he cut my throat with a knife; that he was not in
the habit of carrying a pistol with him, but that he has
carried one on two or three occasions to Banbury. I
do not know why he tired at me. We had not been
quarrelling; but he had been going on with me, swear-
ing dreadfully. He has many times threatened to mur-
der me, and did so on Sunday. He several times
sharpened a knife on Sunday, and many times before,
for the purpose of cutting my throat. I did not see the
knife. He has threatened to shoot rae many times with
a pistol. I never said anything to him to offend him, but
begged of him not to swear so, and to be quiet. He had
three pints of ale at the Harp, at Southam, at two o'clock.
I did not wish him to have more than one pint, but he
would have more. I had a little of it, and he had the
rest. He struck me when near the Victoria, and made
my mouth bleed. He had some brandy and water at
Fenny Compton-wharf. I am not sun that my husband
sharpened the knife for the express purpose of cutting
my throat, but I thought so. I saw a girl and a woman
going home from work on the road, and I wanted to
keep up with them, for I was frightened, but my husband
pulled me back. I was coming to Banbury to get some
advice from my friends about being separated from my
husband, but he did not know that. He said he was
coming to Banbury to get work. The knife which is
now shown to me I know to be on© of my husband's
kniyes. I make this declaration, firmly believing that I
shall not recover, and that I am on my death•bed."
The Rev. J. Ballard and Mr. John Loveday, two
other county magistrates, having arrived, they pro-
ceeded to take the depositions of the witnesses in the
presence of Layton, who was in the custody of the
parish constable. The prisoner is a good.looking and
well-dressed man, about forty years of age. When
he was first brought to the house he was very
talkative. He slept soundly for some hours during
the night, and ate a hearty breakfast; after that he
became taciturn, and scarcely spoke to any one.
Before the magistrates he exhibited no signs of regret
for what he had done, nor any trepidation ; the few
words he spoke were in a firm tone of voice. The
first witness said he met the prisoner and his wife on
the road. The prisoner was holding her up; her
face was discoloured, and she was bleeding from a
wound in the forehead. He thought she must have
had a bad fall. Neither of them spoke. He looked
after them, and after they had got out of sight he
heard a scream. He then went back, and met the
woman -holding up her hands, and bleeding from the
throat. She sunk to the ground just as he and
another person - got to her, and said her husband had
done it. This witness and some others proved the cap-
ture of the man. Some of them heard the report of
the pistol, and saw the prisoner moving backwards
and forwards, and raise his wife from the ground and
force her along the road. The surg:ton said he found
the woman in a state of collapse, with the windpipe
quite severed, and a wound from a bullet or a piece
of lead in the forehead. He produced the shot; it
was evidently a piece of thick sheet lead, rolled into a
round shape, about three-quarters of an inch long,
and cut with a knife to fit the barrel of the pistol.
This was so firmly embedded in the skull that he was
obliged to get a pair of forceps from a blacksmiths to
extract it. The woman had revived from the state
of collapse, but she was still in a most precarious and
dangerous condition.

One or two witnesses not being in attendance, the
magistrates adjourned the inquiry 1;c. eleven o'clock
to-morrow, then to be resumed at their clerk's office
in Banbury, to which place the prisoaer was removed
for safe custody.
The prisoner made no remark up on the evidence,
except an expression of dissent when one of the wit-
nesses deposed that he said when tak en, " I meant to
do it, and that will end it." He appeared to regard the knife (a large table knife, which vias bloody, and
was found in a ditch near the spot) vold the piece of
lead with some curiosity. The pis tol has not been
found, although diligent search has been made for it.
We understand the woman says, that after he shot her
he reloaded it.