The Sun.
London, England, 1847-05-17 00:00:00

RAILWAY FINANCE.

The CHANCELLOIIoet;EXCIIEQUER gave
notice that, to morrow, he should move for the appoint-
ment of a Special Select Committee, to inquire into the
financial position of the various railways in the country,
and the various points touched upon in the debate of
this evening, with relation to railways.
QUARANTINE LAWS.
Dr BOWRING wished to ask a question of the Right
Hon. Gentleman below him, the Vice-President of the
Board of Trade. It was reported that a considerable
change was to take place with regard to the quarantine
laws. He wished, therefore, to know if any new regu•
lations were contemplated, and what they were.
Mr. MILNER GIBSON said that, with regard to
vessels from Egypt and Syria, they were to be put under
the same regulations as were applicable to vessels from
Turkey, and they were to be admitted under free pra-
ague, provided they had clean bi!ls of health, and were
not laden with susceptible articles. There were further
regulations under consideration.
BERINGTON'S KNAPSACK AND GIRDLE.

Mr. WAKLEY wished to ask the Right Hon. Gen-
tleman the Secretary at War, %that steps have been
taken to investigate the merits of the knapsack and
girdle invented by Mr. Berington.
Mr. FOX MAULE recollected that the subject was
brought under the consideration of the House when the
army estimates were brought in last year, but he did
not recollect that he had said anything which could
induce the Hon. Gentleman to suppose that he
would subject the knapsack to any inquiry. He himself,
however, had looked at the knapsack; and he had no he-
sitation in saying that he did not think it deserved
the encomiums which had been passed upon it.
It was considered most inconvenient, and in the next
place was thirteen ounces heavier than the knapsack at
present in use; which was eight pounds in weight (as
we understood). (" Hear," from Mr. Wakley.) He bad
therefore not thought it advisable to advise the use of
the knapsack of Mr. Borrington.
RIOTS AT TAUNTON.
Mr. B. ESCOTT wished to ask a question of the
Right Hon. Baronet the Secretary of State for
the Home Department, which had reference
to the preservation of the peace of the country.
He perceived by the newspapers of :this mornit, that
considerable public violence had taken place in the west
of England, particularly in 'Milton, in consequence of the
dealers in corn affixing what prices they chose to their
commodities; he therefore wished to know whether the
Right Hon. Gentleman was able to state whether the
reports were founded in truth or not; whether there
was reason to fear that the alarm which prevailed
in the west of England would extend itself to
other parts ; and whether he had received any
information on the subject, which, consistently with his
dnty, he thought proper to lay on the table of the
House?

Sir G. GREY said he had received information from
the civil authorities of Exeter, stating that disturbances
had taken place on Friday and Saturday in the west of
Cornwall and Exeter, and in one or two other places i❑
consequence of the high price of provisions; but al-
though he had seen accounts in the news-
papers of disturbances which had taken place
from this cause in Taunton, he had
not received any official information on the subject ; but
in consequence of the prompt measures taken by the
local authorities, order had been restored in those
parts of the country to which he had referred, and he
hoped there was no cause for alarm.—(Cheers.)
(LEFT SITTING.)

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER, May 15.
IMPORTANT CASE.-CHILTON V THE LONDON AND
CROYDON RAILWAY COMPANY.

This was an action for assault and false imprisonment.
Sir F. Thesiger. Mr. Sergeant Channel!, and Mr.
Peacock, appeared for the plaintiff; and Mr. Kennedy
for the defendants.

Sir F. THESIGEIt stated that Mr. Chilton, who is one
of her Majesty's counsel, on the evening of the 15th of
October, 1845, took a ticket to proceed from Sydenham,
where his family resided, to London, by the Croydon
Railway, in a first-class carriage. He was very well
known to the officers, and there was no difficulty in iden-
tifying him. Mr. Chilton lost his ticket, and stated the
fact upon his arrival at the London terminus to Smith,
an officer of the company. Ile offered to pay one shilling,
which is the fare from Sydenham to London, but Smith
insisted upon having Is. 3d., being the whole fare from
Croydon to London, which Mr. Chilton refused to pay,
whereupon Smith gave him into the custody of a police-
officer. Mr. Chilton refused to go without being forced
to do so, whereupon the constable laid his hands upon
him, and Mr. Chilton said that was sufficient. and he
would go with the officer, and he accordingly went to
the station-house. Mr. Chilton, fearing that his
family might be alarmed at his absence, offered to
pay the is. 3d., which Smith refused to re-
ceive, and insisted on the charge being taken.
The charge was entered, "For having rode in a
railway carriage without paying his fare." It happened
that a Mr. Roberts, a solicitor, was passing by, who,
knowing Mr. Chilton, offered to become bail, which was
accepted. Mr. Chilton having been detained about half
an hour. The next morning Mr. Chilton attended be-
fore a magistrate, who made an order fur the payment
of Is. 3d., but afterwards rescinded it, feeling that he
had not the power to make such an order. On the 17th
of October Mr. Chilton wrote to the company, com-
plaining of Smith's conduct in the matter, and request-
ing that the by-law, which was supposed to give such
power to the company, should be abrogated. This,
however, was refused. Much correspondence followed,
and ultimately Mr. Chilton brought his action. The
defendants pleaded, first, not guilty ; arid, secondly,
justification under the by-laws. To this last plea the
plaintiff demurred, and the Court, upon argument held
the plea to be bad. This state of facts came out in
evidence before the Court yesterday.
The CHIEF BARON suggested to the defendants to
apologise.
Mr. KENNEDY, however, declined to do this, and ad-
dressed the jury, observing that the arrest was made by
the defendants' officer, upon the belief that the by-laws
of the company gave him that power, and the company
always conceived they had that power, until the Cburt
upon the decision respecting the demurrer, declared that
they had Rot. The power, however, was necessary, not
only for the benefit of the company, but fcr the security
of the public, and the Company would go to Parliament
to get the power.
The CHIEF BARON, in summing up, :expressed his
belief that Parliament never would grant the power in
question, as it was one which no body of men oeght to
possess over the subjects of this realm.
The jury returned to consider their verdict, and after
a lengthened consultation, same into Court, and returned
a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages 500/.

QUEEN'S BENCH, May 15.
WALLINGTON V. LAMBERT.

This was an action to recover a sum of money from
the defendant, Sir 11. Lambert, of Oxfordshire, as a
director of the Great Welsh Junction Railway Company,
in respect for maps prepared for that railway by the
plaintiff. The delend'int's liability was not established,
as he was only a director' conditionally, and the jury
returned a verdict for the defendant.

MURDER OF A WOMAN BY HER
HUSBAND AT BIRMINGHAM.
On Friday evening an inquest was held at the Grand
Turk, on Ludgate-hill, on the body of Margaret Leonard,
about 40 years of age, wife of a man named Peter Leonard,
a paper hawker, and residing in Tanter-street, who died in
consequence of injuries received from being thrown down
stairs by her husband, on the morning of Saturday last.
They had for a long time past been in the habit of having
quarrels, which often resulted in blows, one or both being
generally in a state of intoxication •, and from the evidence
' it will be seen that this was unhappily the cause of the
quarrel in the present instance, which resulted in the death
' of the woman. The husband himself was present in custody,
and cross-examined ene or two of the witnesses. He did
not appear much concerned as to the result of the investi-
gation; but when any portion of the evidence was parti-
cularly against him he became agitated, and trembled very
much. The excitement created by the event became very
great in the neighbourhood of Tenter-street, when it was
known that the death of the woman had taken place;
and towards the close of the investigation the room
was crowded by persons anxious to hear the pro-
ceeding. The first witness called was Mary May, wife
of James May, comb-maker, and residing nearly oppo-
site the house of deceased in Tenter- street. She
knew the deceased, Margaret Leonard, who, she believed,
was quite well on the morning of Saturday last. About half-
past seven o'clock that morning witness saw deceased and
her husband come home together, and go into the house, both
of them appearing to be intoxicated, as might be inferred
from their staggering walk. On going in they shut the door
after them. Witness heard loud talking between them, the
husband cursing the wife, calling her bad names, and order-
ing her to get up from the floor, where she was lying, to
fetch some coal and make him breakfast. She answered, " I
will, Peter." After this, witness went on with her employ-
ment, and did not hear any more, until the husband himself
came over to her door, about ten minutes past eight, when be
said, " Will you come over to my house, and help to get Mar-
garet out of the cellar? for I'
ve shoved her down there; but
passion is the devil " Witness went over immediately, along
with a neighbour, Mrs. Forty, who had also been asked. On
looking towards the cellar, down the stairs of which the man
said his wife had fallen, they found the door shut; but
having got a light, they discovered the unfortunate woman
lying with her legs and feet on the two lower steps, and her
body stretched outwards, with the head doubled up under
the right shoulder. Her face was covered all over with clotted
blood, and there were also two pools of blood on the cellar
floor. Leonard himself was asked to help her up stairs, but
he said, " No, let the dirty - lie and die ;" but witness,
with the assistance of Mrs. Forty and another neighbour
who came in, had the deceased removed up stairs, where
they laid her down by the fire-place, and washed her,
being all this time in an insensible state and speechless,
but groaning heavily, and making a noise; blood was
streaming, also, from both ears. Witness and the other
neighbour wished to put the deceased into bed, but her
husband said ho would not allow her to go into a bed of his,
and when they wanted to put the pillow below her head he
refused, using words equally indecent with the above. He
was still drunk, but soberer than when he went into the
house. Other evidence proved the determined purpose with
which apparently the prisoner had sought to murder the
unfortunate woman, and his heartless indifference to her
agonies. The jury, after a consultation of about ten mi-
nutes, returned with a verdict finding Peter Leonard Guilty
of " Wilful murder."

- _
NORTH DURHAM.-Mr. Robert Duncomb© Shafto, of
Whitworth, has issued an address to the electors, and
has become a candidate on the Whig and Lambton
interest.

NORTH CHESHIRE.—The only names as yet men-
tioned as likely to go to the poll are E. D. Davenport,
Esq., of Capesthorn, and J. Cheetham, Esq., of staly.
bridge, Inth Liberals.—,Manchester Express.

MR. COBDEN, M.P., at FLORENCE
Free-trade principles are gradually gaining ground in
every part of Europe. The particulars of Mr. Cobden's
triumphant march through France and Spain have I
already been amply recorded in the pages of this
journal. From Spain the Hon. Member for Stockport
proceeded to the other great peninsula of the south of
Europe, where he has won the same golden opinions and
been honoured with the same grand receptions. He has
shaken hands with the Pope, and held familiar conver-
sations on his favourite topic with many of the savans
litterati of Italy. Florence, the seat :of the fine arts
from time immemorial, and of free-trade for the last
century, has not been backward in rendering homage to
the representative of the enlightened principles of com-
mercial intercourse which bid fair soon to become the
basis of all the fiscal codes of the continent. We have
received from the 'Tuscan capital the particulars of a
grand banquet in honour of the English free-trader,
which, took place Jhere on the 29th ult. As many as 110
persons assembled in the magnificent gallery of the
Borghese Palace, where the feast was prepared.
The presidential chair was occupied by the Chevalier
Vincenzo Peruzzi Gonfaloniere, of the city of Florence,
and the select circle around him included many persons
distinguished by name, by talents, and by fortune.
The guests having done justice to the delicious viands
and exquisite wines which overspread the table, the Pre-
sident rose and proposed the health of " the Grand
Duke Leopold of Tuscany, the Sovereign of the State."
The Vice-President, Signor Emanuelle Fensi, then ad-
dressed Mr. Cobden in Italian, as follows:
" To the fervid and sincere prayers for a long and
prosperous life, to the aprlause which you have received
in other parts of Italy, and especially in the Eternal
City, we are rejoiced to-day to be able to add those of
our own Florence—Florence, in which letters, together
with the arts and sciences, first revived after the dark-
ness of the middle ages, and which heard freedom of
trade proclaimed in its bosom sixty-six years ago, thus
giving a great example, by which, when it is developed
and adopted by all nations, the misery of many millions
of men will be relieved, and the most powerful obstacle
that is opposed to the fraternity of nations—diversity of
interests—removed.' Florence honours and admires in
you, Sir, the head of that League' which, with imper-
turbable constancy, with immense sacrifices, and van-
quishing obstacles which appeared insuperable, effected
in your country one of the greatest, and at the same time
the most peaceful of revolutions, thus affording to the
whole world the spectacle of the irresistible force with
which an idea is developed when armed by science and
the force of persuasion alone, and when with inde-
fatigable activity it is peacefully and legally sustained by
worthy men. Continue your labours, U Richard! gather
other laurels so much the more to be desired, because
they are not stained with blood, but are covered with
the benedictions of the human race. We shall continue
to admire and to applaud you—we who—thanks to an
enlightened prince, courageous in his endeavours to
vanquish the prejudices of his age, and to put in practice
the liberal doctrines with which he was imbued—have
experienced for three generations the efficacy of free
trade in alimentary substances, which has averted from
our country the scourge of famine; as the same freedom
in trade, not excluding that of instruction, and the free
interchange of immovable property produced by the
abolition of fiefs, has banished distress from our land,
or restricted it to its least painful limits, if the generous
idea of the free interchange of produce and articles of
commerce generally has become law in the great country
to which you belong, the great example must be fol-
lowed by other nations. We offer, in the mean time,
fervent prayers for your felicity and your glory, which
is our own, and we cry with one voice—Long live
Richard Cobden !' "
After the toast had been duly drunk, and the applause
in a degree subsided,
Mr. COBDEN rose and spoke as follows:—" Gentle-
men, I should feel much embarrassed if I believed that
this splendid demonstration was intended as a personal
compliment to myself; for, whatever may be thought of
my merits in other countries, I can have no title to pre-
eminence as a free trader in an assembly of Tuscans.
But, no; we meet here as brethren in a common faith,
myself a younger brother, to unite our vows in favour
of that commercial liberty which Tuscany, of all the
nations of the earth, was the first to put in practice upon
sound politico-economical principles. o,her people, as
for instance the Dutch and the Swiss, owing to the acci-
dentals of their geographical position, may have always
enjoyed peculiar exemptions from commercial restric-
dens, but to Tuscany is undoubtedly due the glory of
having preceded by half a century the rest of the world
in the application of the theories of economical science
to its legislation. Here political economy was first
erected into a commercial code. Let us render a solemn
homage to the memories of those men who gave to the
world so great a lesson in statesmanship. Honour to
Bandini, who a century ago discovered the truth—of
which more than half the civilised world is still igno-
rant—that liberty of commerce is the only safeguard of
nations against the evils of scarcity, and their surest
guide to agricultural and commercial prosperity !
Honour, immortal honour, to Leopold, who taking the
torch of science from the hand of Bandini, entered upon
the then dark and untrodden path of free trade, and
guided only by its pure light, proceeded onwards with
an unfaltering step, undeterred by the obstacles which
ignorance, prejudice, and self-interest threw in his way!
llonour to Ncri, John Fabbroni, Fossombroni, and the
rest who have preserved his great work from the attacks
of sophistry in our day! These are the real benefactors
of mankind, to whom we ought to decree honours and
monuments, whose peaceful triumphs will shed blessings
upon myriads yet unborn, long after the causes and con-
sequences of blood-stained victories are lost in oblivion
and nothingness. Gentlemen, I am not in the habit of
addressing my hearers in terms of flattery, and I should
like it to be understood that the few words I have to
add are ititsnsled for those who may chance to read my
remarks in other countries rather than as complimentary
phrases offcad to a Tuscan audience. Upon this my
first visit to Italy, I have felt naturally curious to wit
ness the efftcts of free trade, particularly in corn,
upon the myral condition of a people. I must
confess that I entered Tuscany with feelings of en-
thusiasm, such as a devotee experiences in visiting
the shrine of his faith. But I have endeavoured to cast
an impartial eye upon all that I have seen, and if what
I state as the result of my observation be erroneous, it
will be open to correction by others. During the last
eight months I have been travelling in nearly all the
countries of southern Europe, and I am bound to state,
without wishing to disparage other nations, that I find
the condition of the population of Tuscany superior to
that of any other people I have visited. The surface of
the country resembles that of a well cultivated garden;
the people are everywhere well-dressed; I have seen no
beggars excepting a few lame or blind; and in this
season of the general scarcity there is less of suffering
from want of food here, with a perfect freedom of ex-
port and import of corn, than in probably any other
country in Europe. I find such industries as are natural
to Tuscany carried on with success, and that, in par-
ticular, of its indigenous straw manufacture has attained
a development which has surprised me. But I do not
confine my observations to the material condition of the
people. Where a country had enjoyed for fifty years
the advantages of commercial liberty, I expected to find
the spirit of free trade entering into the character of its
people, abating their national prejudices, destroying the
spirit of egotism, and imparting to them a sentiment of
brotherhood towards other nations. And in this respect
I have not been disappointed in the inhabitants of
Tuscany. I am only repeating the opinion of every
traveller when I say that they are eminently courteous
and mild towards strangers. Foreigners make this
country their favourite abode, not merely because here
there is no impediment to a cheap and abundant supply
of luxuries and comforts from every part of the globe,
but because they find a charm in the amiable cordiality
of the Tuscan people. Such is the description of the
only country in southern Europe which enjoys the ad-
vantages of free trade, and I will not add a word of
comment, but leave the facts I have stated for the in-
struction of other nations. Gentlemen, I thank you
heartily for this cordial reception of a fellow•labourer
in our good cause. The remembrance of this happy
evening will always be a source of the highest gratifica-
tion to me. I conclude by drinking to the rapid exten-
sion of free-trade principles all over the world."
A number of speeches in Italian were afterwards de-
livered, for which we cannot find room. The whole
affair passed off most satisfactorily, and the gallant
Italians vied with each other in paying every attention
to the fair lady of the illustrious free trader, who accom-
panied her husband to the banquet by special invitation.