The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-08 00:00:00

THE TVEDNESDAY„DECEMBER 8. 1841.

.. ~
to t,t tii). case as having occurred to one of
their own daurrliters, but he trusted that such an event
could not possibly occur out of the Darbon family, and
that no respectable female would endeavour to form a
clandestine conneetiun at,4ith aw old Man aft!alust the
wisho (if lia. ktiiilY: 1-tieY bad seen that when the
..
daughters were absent they .came to see him clandes-
tinely and by stealth ; and that it was stipulated the
Marriage should not take place till Mr. and Mrs. Allen
Were out of the way. Hp would show, further, that the
plaintiff had crideaVoilrect to undermine the affections of
the father for his children, and if he proved that he
would ask them, whether that would not satisfy them
that the only object of the plaintiff was a mercenary one?
On the 2d of January, 1840, she wrote; expressing a wish
to see him twain; and that he had explained .to his
daughter that her visit was on family business On 14th
March she said she would never release him, and that he
seemed to prefer hiS obdurate daughters to her, and to
marry• her in privacy if he chose to do. On
25th April, they had some of the articles he purchased
referred to. She said she would come to town again if
he wished it ; she - wanted very few -under robint,-,,5, and
asked him if he preferred the blue chequered silk! telling
him to send to the Bon-in-Tine to avoid suspicion.
Mrs. liarbon had yesterday denied that there
were any nightcaps sent, but on 29th. April she
wrote to say she bad sent the patterns to him. Think of
a gentleman of eiglttrtwo haVitig lidtlefli§ of ladies
dresses :lent k him! One was a pattern of body of dress
and the other of 'slips, leaving the matter altogether to
his good taste--4he thought three petticoats enough—
the night gowns for' summer wear; aril thre'tilght-
caps—(Roare of laughter)--and not too much over the
face.—(Renewed laughter.) Then there was the number
of fingers' length of the dresses and -slips, and night
gowns, one yard and a half long.—(Bursts of lAtighter;)
Let the jury only Wilk these letters,' and
say holy could the old gentleman resist them.
In other letters she anticipated that - when - the
family returned to town they would break off - the
marriage. He thought the course -pursued when they
found that the daughters were averse to het introduction
into the family, was most: artful, insidious, and impro-
per. He would show,' from the letters of the plaintiff,
that -s'ae resorted to the most insidious arts to provoke
the old gentleman to a breach With his fatuily. - The
plaintiff requests hitt to...break at once from hiS cruel fa-
mily and do her justice ; and in another lettee'she calls
on him ,to fly from the ' trammels of his base family.
On the 12th of July she endeavours to persuade him
that he is not the master or his own house, and then
she iettS Wicked enough, to Suggest that the daughter was
treating him cruelly—she calls her au unnatural daugh-
ter, wanting in duty and affection to him. There was a
confirmed attempt to undermine the daughter in her
father's affection, and to reprceent herself as being ready
to fill her place. -On the 18th July, she says his family
had caused him to treat her unchristianly; as the best
means of punishing them, he was to make them some-
what less in their portions, and make herself pro-
per repara.tion. In atiellieP letter she suggested to
him that if he did not take care his family would en-
deavour to prove him insane. That was the 7th of May,
1840, and the letter was of a very important nature, for
it contained not less than five postscripts.—(Laughter.)
She told him in it he was surrounded by spies,
and that she would not submit to a paltry pe-
cuniary recompence. Now there could be nothing
in his conduct on which to found a charge
of insanity, except his absurd connexion with her, and
the voluminous correspondence that had taken place be-
tween them. He thought he had shown that a most dis-
graceful, and unjustifiable clandestine correspondence
had been carried on between the parties, and finding
an invincible repugnance to any connexion on the part,of
his family, .they wickedly attempted to poison the old
man's mind against his:daughters, He now came to another
branch of the case in which his Learned Friend had
shown that, however vacillating and unsettled the de-
fendant had shown himself throughout, they' had at
length got him • to purchase the ring and the li-
cense, and that to throw himself off the hook af-
terwards was unpardonable, and entitled the plain-
tiff to a large measure of damages. But the man-
ner in which the ring was procured showed the easy
gullibity of the tilt! gentleman. On the 2d March the
elaintiff's mother suggested the purchase of a ring, and
a statement that he intended marriage, and had been pre-
vented by the opposition o(Jsi family, and that the money
and stock waa . Intended a:" have been a part of
the marriage portion. On-. the 22d of March, the-
mother again returned to the charge, and it would seem
that the affair was then entirely off. He was requested
to write a statement that he intended 'marriage, and he
did so to get rid of their importunity. Now, it was clear
from these letters that the engagement was then off, and
that the purchase of the ring was only intended
as an atonement to the wounded feelings of the plaintiff.
In 1836 it appeared that the engagement. with Kitchen
had been broken off. Mrs. Darbon said that she had
mentioned the subject to Mr. Rosser in 1837, and that
when she again alluded to it in 1840 he appeared to re-
collect what she had before stated to hire. He would
not stop to inquire whether Mr. Rosser had really been in-
formed of this affair in 1837, but he would put it to the Jury
whether, supposing such really to have been the case, it
was not extremely probable at Mr. Rosser's advanced
period of life, that the whole should have escaped his
memory. It was the characteristic of old men that they
recollected perfectly the transactions of their youth,
while they forgot recent occurrences. it was clear,.
from all that had taken viace, that if Mr. Rosser
had received any commuutention on the subject in
1837, he had entirely and completely forgotten it.
When, however, he found he was completely enclosed
in the net of the family, suspecting that the young lady
might entertain some lingering attachment for some
ether individual, he wrote for an explanation, and that
explanation had been afforded by the three letters
which had that day been produced, and which she
told Mr. Rosser she had preserved, for the pur-
poses of affording him every explanation and satis-
faction relating to the affair. That statement, how-
ever, struck him (Mr. Thesiger), as -rather remark-
ab!e, for the letters were dated October, 1836, at which
time the affair with Kitchen was broken off; and the
engagement to.air. Rosser did not take place until 1837.
He would ask if those letters of Mr. Kitchen's, which
had been read, did not indicate that he was a
young man of the kindest feelings—they showed 1
the highest respect for his parents, and the deepest
feelings of respect and esteem for Miss Sophia Darbon.
He (Mr. Thesiger) could not iu those letters perceive
the slightest ground for suggesting anything reflecting
on the character of Mr. Kitchen. Yet how did they
think Miss Sophia Darbon spoke of that young man
when attracted by a more valuable prize? In her letter
of 23d April, 1840, addressed to Mr. Rosser, after stating
that she thought she had fully explained to him all the
circumstances alluded to, sufficiently to convince him
of the non-existence of any previous engagement, she
said that she had preserved one or two letters, which she
hoped would remove all his scruples. In her letter of
the 29th of April following, enclosing the letters •of
Kitchen, she, after explaining the circumstances of
the money transactions between herself and Mr Kitchen,
observed, speaking of Mr. Kitchen, " I entertained
no sort of regard for him beyond good wishes
and ordinary Christian . feelings." In her next
letter to Mr. 'Rosser she spoke of Mr. Kitchen as
a " degraded being," stated " she was too horror-struck
at his (Kitchen's) addresses not to feel thankful that
since 1836 she had lost all clue to so despicable
a fellow ; that she thanked God for her escape
from so degraded a creature. His Learned Friend
had yesterday, in commenting on one of the
letters of Mr. Rosser, written after the commencement
of the present action, made use of no very mild terms
in characterizing certain expressions therein made use
of, alluding to the young lady's escape from destruction,
body and soul, and had challenged him (Mr. To to pro-
duce any passage from the young lady's letter, warranting
such an expression. He accepted the challenge, and wouldp
now read a passage from the young lady's letters, which
was a complete justification. In her letter of June 30,
1838, alluding to this attachment, she said, " I am well
assured that it was a particular interference of Provi-
, donee alone that shields me from total destruc-
tion, body and soul, if you knew all ; and
fortified my spirit to spurn with indignation the treat-
ment •that was threatened to unsullied and indigent vir-
tue." That letter also contained a passage showing that
Mrs. Darbon herself had not been altogether blameless.
It was as follows :—"lt was my mother's imprudence
that exposed me to all those miseries." .. Mr. Rosser
could not believe that this attempt to blacken the cha-
racter of Mr. Kitchen was part of the artifice. He (Mr.
Thesiger) should show them that nothwithstandia,g all his
Learned Friend had said of her ardent affection for this old
man,the gratification of which alone she sought, was influ-
enced by mercenary motives, he should show that from
beginning to end her views and those of her family had
been directed solely against his property. He had Leen
foolish enough to tell them shortly after the acquaint-
ance commenced, that he was possessed of considerable
wealth, . and frOm that hour they had determined
to place him such a position as might make him a pro-.
Citable speculation fur all of them. On the 22d of No-
vember 1839, the cloven foot appeared. They had
at that time advanced a considerable way in
their design, although they had not got quite so far as
the purchase of the license and the ring. At that tune it
appeared Mr. Rosser had shown symptoms of retir-
ing, and they determined to retain him, by appealing
at once to his feelings and his fears. The young
lady, in her letter. of November 22, 1839, after saying
she could not believe Mr. Rosser after his many broken
promises, proceeded :—" The least you can do is to end
the affair by making a handsome settlement upon me.
It must not be by your will, for that you may alter. If
you do not settle enough, the only thing you can do is
to marry me. lam entitled to a handsome settlement
for your breach 'of promise of marriage. Your letters
produced in' Court would procure -me heavy damages.
It is all the consequence of your own folly in list-
ening to the advice of friends. You had better,
to secure yourself from public ridicule, marry
me." So that this young lady who was so full of
affection for this old man! told him that his making love
to her must expose him to public ridicule. The
concluding paragraph of the letter was as follows :
" If you still refuse to marry me, or to make a handsome
settlement upon me, depend upon it I to mortify
your daughters, inform them of the Bad( moneys.—
P.S. I would accept of a bond for sixty pounds
a year, in addition to the twenty pounds." In sub-
sequent letters ' she threatened him with informing
his family of th'lßank moneys, to show, as she said, how
she had cheated them, and was constantly holding a
writ over his head, in terrorem. After hooking her
gudgeon still more completely, she induced him
to purchase the license and the • ring,-- When.
she rose in her demands. In one of her letters
written after that transaction, after taunting him With his
many breeches—(A loud laugh)—the Learned Counsel
supposed she meant breaches of promise—she said that
she could not think of accepting the amount she would
have done before the purchase of the license ; that-rto-
moiety less than an income of 1001. or 1201. a-year for
life would induce her to refrain from proceeding

against him; and in another, in reply 4,0 an offer on his I
part of 601. a-year, she says, " As you. are .so far com-
mitted, it remains for yourself to make me amore worthy
offer." And this was the young lady who was worn to
L.• skeleton ry her iihrejuited lote fur this .old man:
Now, with regard to the eAti&nde to preie this state of
agonised feelings, with the exception of the mother,
Whose evidence could not be much relied on, the only
witnesses called were the milliner in Regent-street
Who had tried a bonnet on for die young lady,
when, in company with. Mr. Rosser, and to whose shop
the young lady •again went a few days ago, accompanied
by her -attorney and .Mrs. Bennett, who had seen her
once three years ago, and again a few weeks since,
It was evident Miss I)arbon was an accomplished actress,
and she had got up a face of agony for the occa-
sion. Her real character could be better judged of
from her. letters. He was,•flianliful to his . friend
for having put in Mr. Rosser's letters-,,,written• since the
action, beeause.they showed what must be the state of
mind of that unfortunate old gentleman. He could not
justify these letters, but he would read them one letter
written by Miss Darbon after she had dropped
the mask, which.. he.. thought was some sort of
exause
.for one of the...letters which Mr. Ros
ser had written. That letter %vas dated June 9, .1841.
There was then a letter of the 9th of January, 1841,
commencing " Mr. Rosser—Dear Sir." In this letter
the tithihtiri spohki of Mr, Rosser's aggravated and
dastardly conduct ;" of his "prevarications and jealousies
without grounds." " Your very abominable and utterly
groundless charges," she continued, " drove me to dis-
tfnti'dti, '.ithri I feel toeettle you a total disgust.
exceed Nothing can
le beenif your very horrid treachery,
your You have all
through the piece." She
"en all the charges ; she did nut fear any of his false-
hoods," could meet him,"aga
and she knew him to he tt Vain, Unstable man,"
In conclusion, she said, ."J have reason to believe if you
had fulliiled your marriage. contract. you would, per-
haps, have treated me unspeakably ill." Here, then,
was the lady's own measure of her.-loss ! Could it be a
happy Union forher? Could she.praend to say she had
suffered so much in the loss of the splendid establish-
ment in Red Lion-square, whichhad been .spoken of
by the law-stationer ? Could she:pretend all this, when
she herself said that . she could anticipate nothing but
ill-treatment ? But take her own character. See
how smooth, how coaxing, how submissive she
could be, as long as- she thought it. possible to
accomplish her object,
.The moment -.all hope was
relinquished,- that moment dropped the mask from
her face, and her real countenance and character •ap-
peared—that moment she appeared as the little vixen
which these letters indicated her to be., She then pro-
ceeded to the most violent and .anmeasured abuse of this
old gentleman, for whom She might have had
some consideration and forbearance on account of
his very advanced period in life, and the unnumbered
acts of kindness of which, for nearly four years, she had
been made the subject. This was the whole of the care
on the part of the defendant which he proposed to offer;
he did not, the Jury would observe, contend that the
delbnclant was entitled to their verdict. He
blushed to say that the plaintiff must recover on ac-
count of the promises which had been given. his
object, however, in introducing the :particular part of
the correspondence of the plaintiff, had been to enable
the Jury, in the exercise of a clear and dispassionate
judgment, fully to appreciate the motives:which had in-
stigated this unhappy, he had almost said unhallowed
attachment, and to award such., damages only as they
thought the justice of the ease, .or the conduct
of both the parties, • deserved .at their hands.
I sincerely wish (said the Learned Counsel), that
there was a power in this country, which was pos-
sessed in one of the ancient States, of preventing the
follies and indiscretions which are occasionally com-
mitted by persons who have arrived at an advanced pe-
riod of life, by putting them under a careful sort of
pupilage not exactly amounting to the restraint
which it is suggested by this lady that the
children of Mr. Rosser might be disposed
to place on her ; and I am indebted to one of my
Learned Friends for a very apposite passage of a very
distinguished writer, in which he alludes very particu-
larly to the subject :
" Children from marriage we by laivs restrain,
Why not prevent them when they're such again ?
Why not forbid the doting souls to prove
The indecent fondling of preposterous love ?"
I will not, Gentlemen, offer any further remarks
on the conduct of these parties. I leave the matter
in your hands, with the most entire confi-
dence that you will prevent so dangerous and perilous
an example as that of a person in the situation of the
plaintiff, and with the assistance of. her mother,
taking advantage of a doting old .:naan- to make
a property of him, drawing him into the snare,
until it was impossible that he could retreat without ex-
posing himself to scorn and ridicule, threatening him, un-
less he consented, to do that which was the original ob-
ject of the parties, and then having the exquisite effrontery
to stand up in a Court of Justice to demand a verdict
for tortured feelings and blighted hopes, and to expect,
that such a case as this could be recommended to au in-
telligent and dispassionate Jury.
The Learned Counsel then put in the letters which
he had referred to in his address.

(The trial was proceeding when we went to press.)

EXCHEQUER-(THIS DAY.)

WOOD AND ANOTHER V. PARKIN.

This was an action brought by Messrs. Wood and
Ellis. , solicitors, to recover the balance of an account for
work and labour done, amounting to 3951. 18s. 4d.
Mr. George, and another clerk to the plaintiffs, proved
that the work charged in the bill which had been deli-
vered had been done. It consisted in soliciting a patent
for wood paving and paying the expellees incident
thereto ; the money out of pocket was upwards of 2001.
In his cross-examination by the defendant, who ap-
peared in person, the witness denied any knowledge of
any agreement between the defendant and Mr. Wood,
that the firm were to make up a direction for the Com-
pany that was proposed to be formed, and that if they
failed they should charge nothing—if they did succeed
they wire to be appointed solicitors to the Company.
The defendant was pursuing this line of cross-examina-
tion, but in so irregular
a manner that his Lordship in
terf red.

Ina very short address to the Jury the defendant re-
peated the above statement, but acknowledged he could not
prove it. He complained that the plaintiff's had, contrary
to his instructions, completed a patent that was useless,
and gave up the proceedings for a patent that would have
been most valuable, and said he had entered into an ar-
rangement with a Mr. Grub, by which he was to be re-
leased from all responsibility.
His LORDSHIP (Baron Gurney) said, in fact, the cause
was undefended, and from the specimen of the waste of
time which had taken place then, the jury would be sa-
tisfied that if all persons abstained from employing ad-
vocates, 365 days in a year would not be enough to try
the causes .which came before them.
The Jury immediately found a verdict for the sum
claimed.

BARRETT V. ABBOTT.
Mr. Sergeant LUDLOW stated that this was a horse
cause, but both parties were highly respectable gentle-
man engaged in the practice of the law, and both car-
rying on business in Doctors' Commons. Ifi Februaty
last the defendant was in possession of mare which he
said was too quiet for him. The plaintiff wished for
such a horse, and upon the representation of the defen-
dant as to the perfect quietness of the mare; purchased
her for 10/. She was delivered on a Saturday at the
latter end of February—next day she was put into the
chaise with the intention of driving from Tottenham to
Hampstead; the moment the groom left her head she started
off at full speed, and nothing stopped this quiet mare but
the heavy roads, and the still heavier hill, at the end of
the journey. A few days after she was again put into
the chaise, in which the defendant and his son drove to
town. On the road she started off, and nothing stopped
her until both were thrown out, and the chaise dashed
to pieces. The plaintiff was injured on the head and
arm, and his son on the knee. Of course he could not
drive the mare again ; and as the defendant refused to
take her back, she was sold. The plaintiff sought to re-
cover for the damage done, for the money paid for the
horse, allowing for what she fetched, for the keep of the
horse until she was sold, and for such other damage as
the Jury thought he was entitled to.
The case, as stated, was proved by the son of the
plaintiff; and an inspector of police, who saw the latter
accident.
A farrier at Tottenham had been employed to shoe
the mare in question ; it was anything but a pleasant
operation, for without, the very greatest care she would
have knocked him into one forge while she remained in

the other.—(A laugh.)
Wm. Groombridge, son of the livery-stable keeper,
drove the mare at the latter end of March. Without any
cause she ran away and began kicking—she was very
violent. He had been used to driving 14 years.
An hostler from Stanmore, where the defendant re-
sided, gave evidence of her running away while in the
possession of the defendant. The cost-of repairing the
chaise was proved to be 71. lOs. ; it could not be shown
what was got for the horse, as she had been bartered.
A gentleman behind the bar addressed the Jury for
the defendant, and contended that the evidence clearly
pro ed that the mare at the same time of the sale was
perfectly quiet, and that she had been frightened subse-
quently. He called the groom and footman of the
defendant, his brother-in-law, who was the attorney in
the cause, his father, and a Mr. Oliphant, all of whom
had frequently seen and ridden behind the mare. She
was perfectly free from vice, and was perfectuiet.
On only one occasion did they speak to the mare haqving
been driven in single harness.
Mr. Sergeant LUDLOW replied, and his Lordship
having sulmord up, the Jury found for the plaintiff,
damages

COMMON PLEAS-(THIS DAY)
PARKER V. TAYLOR.

This was an action of trespass under the Interpleader
Act. The defendant having obtained judgment
upon a bill of exchange against a person named
Stockbridge,- residing in Clapham, put in an exe-
cution, and levied the amount of the judgment
debt, notwithstanding the protest of the plaintiff, Par;
ker, who claimed the goods seized as his, under a bill
of sale and transfer alleged to have been executed to
him on the 10th of August, the day before the seizure
by Stockbridge, who was his brother-in-law. The bill
of sale was alleged to have been executed in satisfaction
of a debt of long standing. The goods having been sold
under plaintiff's protest, under these circumstances he
brought the present action.
The defence was, that the whole proceedings between
the plaintiffand Stockbridge was a contrivance to defraud
the other creditors, the allegation of debt resting
only on the evidence of Stockbridge himself, and the
transfer having been made subsequently to the judgment
obtainei by the defendant, when the execution was im-
minent, and only the day before it was levied.

tyrgRA,T u RE.
BLACKWOOD'S ,s;Titil.7l;Aidi NOVELS, Vol. I.

MO:wood, Edinburgh, 1841.
The pretent volume contains two of Galt's ear-
liest arid Wiest Rap, the " Annals of the Parish,"
and the " Ayrshire Legator§,'° together with a
memoir of the author, written by his friend, Mr 4
Moir. This memoir is chiefly taken from Mr.
Gait's own autobiography; but the letters in-
terspersed throughout it are original, and im-
press us with a highly favourable idea of his
frank, manly, and social character. It was un-
fortunate for his reputation as an author,
that his works appeared about the same
time that the Waverlev novels were de-
lighting or astonishing the world; and -being
also chiefly devoted to Scottish subjects, Were,
by the majority of readers, pronounced to 'be
imitations. But nothing was ever further from
the truth, for Galt, in his own peculiar line, was
quite as original as his Master; and in his ad-
mirable sketch of "Leddy Gripps" in the "En-
tail," displayed a power of minutely pourtraying
character every way worthy of his illustrious
contemporary. If Galt had not the exuberant
fitney and chivalrous enthusiasm of Scott, he had
quite as much humour, and of a more decidedly
Scottish cast, for it was dry, and grave, and
caustic, and pre-eminently shrewd ; whereas Sir
Walter's—though we do riot forget his " Cuddie
Ileadriggs," &c.—Lad more of the frank, sunny,
English bonhounnie and cordiality about it. We
have little doubt that "Black wood's Standard No-
vels" will be a successful speculation, for it is
proposed to comprise in the collection some of
the cleverest fictions of modern times.

PICTORIAL SHAKSPERE. Part XXXVIII.
C. Knight, London, 1841.

This Part contains the Sonnets of Shakspere
—or rather the last portion of them—and is em-
bellished, as usual, with a variety of appro-
priate illustrations.

THE COMMLISIONER. Part I.
Curry. Dublin. 1841,
As this is only a First Number, we must see
more of the work before we can venture to pro-
nounce a decided opinion. At present, all we
can say is, that it promises well.

ALEXANDER'S EAST INDIA MAGAZINE.

" The Origin and History of the Indian Navy,"
written in a brief and hurried style, forms, ne-
vertheless, a useful paper, from the correctness
of its data. " The Ceylon system of the Universe,"
with its thirty-four heavens, one hundred and
thirty-six hells, and doctrine of materialism,
gives a curious exposition of Cuigalese belief
" Papers on Mal va' informs us that the notori-
ous Holkar still lives, though in a most preca-
rious state, and has adopted Dundee Row, a boy
of eleven years of age, of the Holkar tribe, son
of a common Sowar, and thereby entirely shut
out the restoration of Martin Row. " Life at
Melbourne" contains some valuable meteorolo-
gical observations upon the district, and consi-
ders the chief causes of its great sickness of late
*to arise from its river of generally impure water.
Honololu, both in its shipping and internal trade
is reported to be on the increasing and improve-
ment.

THE BRITISH ALMANAC AND COM-
PANION, 1842.
Knight and Co., London.
We have always much pleasure in noticing an-
nually these twin publications. The Almanac
originally planned by Mr. Knight, and followed,
as regards many of the arrangements, by nume-
rous others, has created a complete revolution in
the mode of constructing these useful works;
and it is gratifying to find that, unlike most re-
volutions, the gradual progress is still towards
further improvements. In the publication for
the ensuing year there are several tables,
monthly notices, and astronomical phenomena
which are new, or formed on a different plan
from that adopted on former occasions; the in-
formation is copious and interesting; and consi-
dering the quantity of matter, the small price,
and the lucid and simple arrangement of the
details, it may be pronounced the cheapest pub-
lication of the day. Nothing, in fact, but an
enormous sale, could enable the publishers to
give, at the trifling cost of one shilling, a work
of ninety-six closely-printed pages, containing
such a variety of intelligence, obtained at great
expense. The " Companion " still maintains its
high character for able treatises on different sub-
jects connected with natural history, public
health, and public improvements; for numerous
statistical tables, Parliamentary intelligence, and
a condensed chronicle of remarkable occurrences.
The papers which we recommend to especial
notice, are " The Effect of the-Penny Postage,"
" llailways,of Great Britain," and " The Corn
Trade, froni 1828 to 1841."

GRAND JUNCTION CANAL
COMPANY.

Yesterday the half-yearly meeting of the Proprietors
of this Company was held at the Crown and Anchor Ta-
vern, Strand. The chair was taken by Thomas Poyn-
der, Esq. From the report of the Managing Committee,
read by Sir Francis Head, it appeared that the net ton-
nages for the half-year ending the 30th of June amount-
ed to 56,927/. 13s. lid., being 711/. 163. 10d. less than the
previous six months, which was occasioned by the severe
frost in last January and February, and besides decreas-
ing the Company's receipts, created an expense for ice-
breaking of nearly 1,0001. Last August the London and
Birmingham Railway Company completed their experi-
mental culvert for conveying water from their deep cutting
at Tring into the canal summit level, the result of which
is to be brought before the arbitrator. The Committee
have, since the last meeting, effected great reductions in the
ordinary expenses of the canal by the discharge of ineffi-
cient servants, and by substituting as lock-keepers a num-
ber of the Company's carpenters and bricklayers, who
still work as mechanics, without extra wages; and by an
alteration in the system of dredging, the annual pay-
ments for labour, lock-keepers, and dredging have di-
minished to the extent of 5,0001 The consolidation at
14 Wharf, Paddington, of the workshops and store-
houses at fourteen different parts of the canal, is ex-
pected to effect a saving of 5,0001. a-year, making, on the
whole, a reduction in the Company's ordinary expenses
of about 10,000 L annually. Under these prospects a
dividend of 31. 10s. per share was recommended. The
cash =court was as follows :—Net tonnage, 56,9271. I3s.
I Id. ; single boats, 704/. 4s. ; wharfage, &c., 225/. 135.5 d.;
rents to Midsummer, 5,8061. Bs. 4d. casual receipts,
869/. Os. 2d., making a total of 64,532/. 19s. 10d. Out
of which the various payments amounted to 23,4871.
14s. 5d., leaving a balance of 41,045/. ss. sd. The ex
penses incurred by the Company through the inunda-
tion last January amounted to 1,0211., and the amount of
unclaimed moneys to the 30th of October, 1841, was
15,447/. 12s. 7d. The report was unanimously adopted,
and a vote of thanks .was passed to the Committee of Ma-
nagement, when the meeting adjourned.

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE AT MESSRS. GREEN
'WOOD'S STEAM SAW-MILLS, CHAPEL-STREET, CURTAIN
ROAD.—Last night, between nine and ten o'clock, a fire
broke out in the steam saw-mills, belonging to Messrs.
Greenwood and Company, in Chapel-street, Curtain-
road. Immediately after the fire broke out, the fire-
engines were sent for and promptly arrived. From
the combustible .nature of the property on the premises,
the flames gained rapid ascendancy. The engines were
got into active operation, and torrents of water were
thrown on the flames, and by eleven o'clock the firemen
succeeded in subduing the fire, but not before immense
damage had been sustained. The fire commenced in the
engine-house. The stock and premises are insured. At
eleven o'clock a dreadful accident occurred to a man as-
sisting the firemen. He had both arms severely frac-
tured, and was conveyed in a cab to the London Hospital
in dreadful agony.
NEW INFIRMA RY.—A tradesman at Wool-
wich, who is a maker and mender of various articles,
writes over his door, " Hospital fur umbrellas—none
turned out incurable."
ANOTHER CHILD BURNT TO DEATH.—On
Tuesday afternoon an inquest was held by Mr. Higgs at
St. George's Hospital, Hyde Park-corner, on view of the
body of Henry Wiggins, a child aged five years. It ap-
peared from the evidence of William Hallett, of Shep-
herd's Bush, brickmaker, that about twelve o'clock on
the morning of the 25th of November last, witness was
at work in one of Mr. Bird's brickfields, opposite to the
White Horse at Shepherd's Bush, when, hearing a vio-
lent scream; he looked round, and saw two children
running out of a shed iu the field, evidently in great
alarm. Witness instantly went to the shed, and there
found deceased enveloped in flames. Witness, assisted
by deceased's father, who also hastened to the spot, im-
mediately extinguished the flames, but not before de-
ceased had been most dreadfully burnt. In spite of every
care and attention he died of those injuries on Saturday
morning last. Verdict—" Accidental Death."
We stated, a few days ago, that Sir Robert
Peel's agents were on the Continent, collecting statistical
information relative to the prices of food and rates of
wages ; but, from some information we have since re-
ceived, we are disposed to fear that those gentlemen are
not applying to the best sources if they really wish to
be accurately informed. Our vice-consuls up the Baltic
are, no doubt, very respectable men, but the are most
of them, if not all, engadge in the corn trayde, and, in
many instances, connected with the very men who lire
and thrive by working the averages. However honour-
ably men may be disposed, they are often themselves un-
conscious of the extent to which their facts and opinions
are biassed by their wishes and interests, and it would
be a wonder, indeed, if the consular body on the Baltic
were exempt from the infirmities which attach to human
nature. The hint thus thrown out may be useful, if at-
tended to in time. Sir Robert Peel's wish must be to
receive his statistical information in as complete a form
as possible orm
as possible, and as nearly approaching to
accuracy.
DUBLIN SOCIETY.--The Society having com-
municated to the Lord-Lieptenant their intention to dis-
continue the news-room on the Ist of January, they have
been informed by Lord Eliot that " his Excellency wille
recommend to her Majesty's Government to petition Par-
liament (so Lord Eliot expresses himself) for a grant of
5,3001. for the current year ending 31st March, 1842."—
Dublin Pilot.

CHUIiCH-YARD POETRY.
(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
SHEFFIELD, DEC. G.—Being in the Court-room
at Ecdledall to-day, I picked up the following
rich and racy thing, which I thought too good to
be lost, and therefore send it you. - I was fortu-
nate enough to get possession of the original
copy, given by the defendant, and have it now in
my possession.
At the Court of Requests for the manor of Ec-
cle6all (Sheffield, Earl Mitzwilliam's manor) a
person was summoned before the Commissioners
on Monday last for V. 4s. 2d., being the value of
a grave-stone ordered by him for his wife's grave.
His defence was, that his instructions had not
been followed in the inscription, he having writ-
ten a verse and given it to the plaintiff, who had
altered it. The following is a copy verbatim et
literatini, of the author's production:—
" ficrse sickness and alliction come
Blasted my flower just in my bloom.
in love I lived in peace I died , •
my life was asked but god denyed."
The plaintiff had corrected this morceau in the
following manner :
" Fierce sickness and affliction came,
Blasted my flower just in. her bloom,
In love she lived, in peace she died,
Iler life was asked—but God denied."
After a lengthened hearing the Court held that
he plaintiff had no right to recover.
[The original epitaph in the above is as great a
curiosity as can be conceived; but the stone-
cutter, inspired by a generous emulation, has in
his alteration made it little less of a phenomenon.
Not the least curious part of the business is, that
the action was dismissed, " on the ground that
the sense of the inscription had been altered"—a
result that seems to us to be decidedly illegal,
inasmuch as there was no sense to be altered !
Had the word " nonsense" been substituted, the
decision would have been legal enough ; but
scarcely so as it at present stands.]

SIR FRANCIS CHANTREY.
• As every incident connected with the late lamented
Sir Francis Cbantrey now assumes a mournful in-
terest, we subjoin some lines which appeared in one
or two literary periodicals of the day, on occasion
of the chance-medley by which Sir Francis, when
at Holkham, shot a brace of woodcocks, as his first
feat in arms. If we recollect aright, the Mar-
quis of Wellesley wrote some elegant lines in Latin on
the event, which were translated into Greek by Lord
Brougham, and all three are inscribed on the pedestal of
the pctrifAction of the birds effected by the great sculp-
tor, which he presented, in commemoration of the event,
to his host :

Chantrey, by genius prompted to excel,
When first the fatal tube he tried,
Sad victims of his new-found skill,
Two beauteous woodcocks died.
Repenting quick the cruel deed,
And urged by pity to atone,
He calls his magic chisel's aid,
And turns them into stone.
Thus sacred justice is appeased ;
Each bird in breathing marble lives ;
While the immortal fame they gain
The sculptor shares and gives.
Russell•square, Nov. 1830.

"V. T.

NEW TORY MAGISTRATES.

-.
BATH, DEC. 7, 1841.—The recent appointment of
Tory Magistrates to most of the boroughs in the coun •
try having-created much interest, and the city of Bath
being one of the number, the following resolutions were
this'dayagreed to at a meeting of the Town Council,
and carried by a majority of 26 against 7, which majo-
rity would have been further increased but that many
Councillors were absent, being lessees, and not feeling
justified in attending on that account:—
That while this Council disclaims any undue inter-
ference with the powers granted to her Majesty by the
Act providing for the regulation of Municipal Corpora-
tions in the appointment of Magistrates, it feels itself
called upon to express its extreme surprise at the utter
disregard shown by Sir James Graham, the Secretary
of State, to its recent recommendation of gentlemen
qualified to fill the Commission of the Peace for the city
and borough of Bath.
That the list forwarded by this Council to fill up the
three vacancies in the Magistracy, contained the names
of ten gentlemen of long residence in this city, of un-
exceptionable characters, of considerable property, and
possessing the general confidence of the inhabitants, and
that, notwithstanding such recommendation, her Majes-
ty's Government have thought proper to appoint seven
gentlemen whose names were not included in such list,
and who have not been recommended by any legally-con-
stituted authority.
That this Council most respectfully submits to her
Majesty's Government that such a disregard of the
wishes of the inhabitants of a great city, when made
made known through their legally-appointed civic repre-
sentatives, is calculated to weaken that confidence which
should exist between the Government and the people, and
to diminish that reverence for the scat of justice which it
is the interest of society to uphold.

STOPPAGE OF MOORCROFT
IRON WORKS.,
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING CHRONICLE.

SIR —As Sir Robert Peel may continue to assert that
amount of distress in this country is exaggerated, a
few facts may be worth his consideratiol ; I therefore
beg to enclose you one. It is a copy of the original, pre-
sented to me this morning by some poor workmen who
solicited charity to keep their families from starvation.
I am, sir, your obedient servant, T. B.
Wolverhampton, Dec. 4, 1841.
" Moorcroft Iron Works, in the county of Stafford.
" We hereby certify that the bearers hereof have been
employed for many years in the above works, but are
now thrown out of employ in consequence of the stop-
page of the above works, and we kno•+ving them to be
honest, industrious men, and willing to work if they can
obtain employ, have granted this ccrtlficate under our
hands.
(Signed) " THOMAS VERNON, Agent.
" JOHN THOMPSON, Stock-taker.

"Nov. 28, 1841.
" les these men, there were above 400 men and
boys deprived of work by the stoppage of these works,
and the distress in this neighbourhood is truly appalling.
(Signed) " THOMAS VERNON.
" JOHN THOMPSON."

DREADFUL FLOOD.—We cannot recollect a
more tempestuous night, since the 6th January, 1839, than
that of last evening. During the day the rain came down
heavily, accompanied by frequent gusts of wind. As the
evening advanced, a very strong gale arose from the
south-east. Towards eight o'clock, the flat of the city
became inundated with a flood, caused by high tides and
the great fall of rain during the day. A river flowed
through the principal streets ; and in many houses on
Hammond's marsh the water was four feet deep, at least.
The flood completely subsided at nine o'clock. The rain
descended in torrents during the whole of last night
and the greater part of this morning. We have not re-
ceived any reports of casualties from our sea-port cor-
respondents, which leads us to entertain a hope that
the gale was confined to our city.—Cork Examiner, of
Friday.
BANK OF BRITISH NORTH AMERICA.—
Yesterday an extraordinary general meeting of the pro-
prietors of this Company was held at the offices in St.
Helen's-place, Bishopsgate, to receive a proposition from
the Directors relative to the unissued shares. The meet-
ing was numerously attended, and James John Cum-
mins, Esq., presided. A series of resolutions prepared
by the Directors were passed unanimously, by which it is
provided that the 2,741 shares not yet issued shall be
offerod to the existing proprietors at the rate of one for
every six, two for every twelve, and so upwards, on con-
dition of their paying on or before the sth of January a
deposit of 101. per share, and making further payments to
the amount of 401. per share on or before the Ist of
March, 1843, when they will be entitled to receive the
whole arrear of dividends, which will at that time amount
to 91. per share at the present rate of dividend, which is
six per cent. per annum. The present number of shares
is 20,000, upon which 40/. is paid, making the capital
subscribed soo,ooo/. A vote •of thanks having been
passed to the Directors the meeting adjourned.
FATAL ACCIDENT IN THE WEST INDIA
Docics.—Yesterday forenoon, about eleven o'clock, a
shocking accident, attended with fatal consequences, oc-
curred in the West India Docks, to a youth named John
Brundell, 15 years of age, in the employ of Mr. hatch,
Plumbers employed
plumber, of Osborne terrace, Commiejveastihael.-.
export dock.'
road, East.
It appears that Mr. Hatch has some
on board the ship Good Intent, lying
t teconadi
coals
n forc e
At the above hour the deceased, who
upon the workmen, was desired to fetchi sommue
the fire at which they were heating tdieir irons. Some
time having elapsed and the deceased
unsuccessfully, at length groans were hneoa
appearance, search was made after
open, and
aendtimone
from the hold of the vessel, whriehlmw,asf‘trdintoakpinrogeeheids
going down the unfortunate youth was discovered lying
manner.
insensible on some chain cables with his skull shattered
in a shocking He
ashore, and conveyed in a ceabwtaos theimm
but he expired shortly after his admission.
Londonatel y
Hospital, brought
ToOTH-
ACHE,—At a late meeting of the Lon-
don Medical S •
that he could Society,
el a short time ago,
ache, provided tuhreey ttivieerem
Dr. Blake stated
notos most desperatet d caseswith orfh
et ouomt ha --
tis m, by the PP
um
licAaltion of the following, remedy to the
decayed tootha reduced to an impalpable pow-
der, two drachms ; nitrous spirits of ether, seven
drachms. Mix them well and appli them to the tooth.
HOPKINS AND DREWITT S FAILURE.—By
reference to our advertising columns it will be seen that
the late bankers are declared bankrupt. This was, per-
haps, under the peculiar circumstances of the case, the
only step to be taken to secure 20s. in the pound, without
drawing ruinously upon Mr. John Drewitt's private es-
tate.—Brighten Guardian.
A person who had laid some night hooks down
in the river Tivy, Cardiganshire, a little time ago, and on
going the following morning to visit his lines, he found
a crane attached to one of them. An eel had taken the
bait, and was caught by the hook, and the crane after-
wards took the eel as a bait, and he got hooked himself.
—Carmarthen Journal.
The celebrated German female traveller Baroness
Dinglage, of Hanover, died of fever, in Cairo, on the 15th
ult. She was about 50 years of age; she travelled alone,
and was preparing to set out on a visit to the ruins of
Thebes. Fevers have been this year extremely fatal in
Egypt. No less than 40 persons daily died of them in
Alexandria.