The Sun.
London, England, 1846-12-22 00:00:00

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DISTRESS IN SKIBBEREEN.
The following letter has been addressed by Sir George
Grey.,in reply to the statement of the Poor-law Union
of Skibbereen

" Whitehall, Dec. 9, 1846.
" Gentlemen,--I have given a careful and attentive
consideration to the statement which, on behalf of the
Poor-law Union of Skibbereen, you placed in nay hands,
and to the request which you have addressed to her
Majesty's Government, that a Queen's letter may be
issued, for the purpose of making a collection throughout
England fur the relief of the distress in Ireland.

•r The painful details which are annexed to your
written statement, and the information you have com-
municated to me in personal interviews, afford sufficient
proof, if indeed such were wanting, of the severity
of the distress in your district, and it is impossible
not to feel deep sympathy for the sufferings which you
describe.

" I have no reason to believe that you entertain a
doubt of the desire of the Government to adopt all
practicable 111 t e.,ures for the mitigation cf the distress
unhappily so prevalent iri Ireland. It is, therefore, un-
nece.,sary that I should here enumerate the measures
which have been taken by the Government with this
otject, or that I should advert in detail to the extent of
relief-wf rks now carried i n under the superintendence
of the Government, by which ab, ut 300,000 men are at
present employed. I am, however, desirous of stating
distinctly the conviction of the Government, that they
cannot, by any measures -within their power, meet all
tl-e cases of severe privation and distress which are to
be found under existing circumstances in Ireland.
- " Much must remain to be done by individuals, owners
of property, and by private charity. Her Majesty's
Government, at the same time feel that a Queen's letter
is not, at the present moment, the most appropriate
mode of raising funds for the relief of these cases of
distress. A Queen's letter is usually issued for the
purpose of making a collection in aid of funds already
raised by public subscription. I should therefore ven-
ture to suggest that, instead of looking to this in the
first instance, means should be taken f-or raising among
the wealthier classes in Ireland, as well as in England,
contributions for the relief of extreme cases of want and
destitution, not capable of being met by the existing
Poor-law, or by the works in progress or to be here-
after sanctioned ; and I entertain no doubt, that if due
precautions were taken for securing the proper applica-
tion of such contributions to the relief of urgent and
severe distress through the local agency, which can
alone be competent to their duty, liberal aid would be
afforded by private benevolence in this country. •
*4 In Cuggfsting 'contributions in Ireland,. I:d01320t:
overlook the fact, that much is being already done
there by individual charity, and that presentments for
public works will impose a heavy burden on the estates
of the landed proprietors ; but it must also be borne in
mind, that the maintenance of the destitute is in Eng-
land charged bylaw on the land and other fixed property
of the country, and that in Scotland, where in extensive
districts, the failure of the potato crop has been as
complete, and the consequent pressure on the people as
great as in Ireland, the landed proprietors are at the
present moment making great sacrifices and exertions
for the relief and support of their people. There are
also parts of Ireland in which the pressure is much less
severe than in others, and there is much property on
which the burden of the presentments for the relief of
distress has fallen lightly, if at all.
" I shall only add that, with reference to some of the
particulars contained in your statement, inquiries have
been instituted and directions given, which,.l trust, will
have the effect of mitigating the severity of the suffering
in your neighbourhood.—l have, &c.,
(Signed) " G. GREY.
" Rev. C. Caulfield, Rev. C. Townsend."

LETTER STEALIN G by a SOLDIER
SUNDERLAND, SATURDAY, DEC. 19.—Yesterday Fre-
derick Loyd Sims, a private in the 30th Regiment, a
depot of which is now stationed at Sunderland Barracks,
was brought before Joseph Simpson and John Scott,
Esqrs., two of the magistrates for this borough, charged
with stealing a letter containing a cheque on the Branch
Bank of England at Newcastle for the payment of 261.
The case excited considerable interest, from the circum-
stance of Sims being respectably connected, and having
obtained a local literary tame by the publication of a
volume of poetry, which have been lately very favour-
ably reviewed by the Sunderland and Newcastle news-
papers.

From the evidence adduced in the case, it appeared
that Sims was the person sent to the Sunderland Post-
effice for the letters addressed to the officers and soldiers
of the depot. On Wednesday, the 18th of November, a
letter was forwarded by Captain Macdonald, the pay-
master of the regiment, through the Newcastle post-
office, to Captain Heard, the commanding officer at Sun-
derland barracks, in which he inclosed a cheque on the
above-mentioned bank for the payment of 261. This
letter ought to have reached Captain Heard on the fol-
lowing morning, but it was never received by him; and
after much inquiry, . Sims, the letter-carrier, was sus-
pected and taken into custody, Whilst at the station-.
house he made a written confession, for the purpose, as
he says, of " preventing innocent parties coming under
suspicion, and in token of contrition and reparation for
the wrong he had done to others." In this docu-
ment he states that he was induced to commit the
offence by being involved in debts which preyed
upon his mind. He presented the cheque himself
at the bank in Newcastle, and receivad 261. in gold;
he endorsed the cheque in the name of Barker,
and sent 15/. by a Pest-office older to a friend in London.
The most extraordinary part of his statement is, that he
rut 201. of :he money in a purse, v hich he placed under
nis pillow on the night after his return from► Newcastle,
and it was stolen while he slept.

This part of his story was corroborated by a comrade
called bcf ore the magistrate yesterday, who deposed that
on the 20th of November he met the urisoner in the can-
teen. The latter chargM him with having :tolen the
money from under his pilbw, and cfrered to accept half
of it to say nothing about the matter, intimating that
with this money he would leave the country.
Sims declined making any statement before the magis-
trates, and was fully committed to take his trial at the
next Durham assizes.

GOLDICUTT v. BEA GIN.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sia,—The report of this case, contained in your
journal of the 18th, is inaccurate in one particular only.
Mr. Cockburn did not, as stated in your paper, apply to
postpone the case on Thursday evening, nor were any
affidavits read ; but there was much confusion at the
time, and your reporter may have easily mistaken the
object of Mr. Cockburn's application, which was merely
to ascertain whether (it being then past four o'clock) his
Lordship would take the case that evening or not.
Requesting the favour of your inserting the above in
your next number, I am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
THOS. FRAS. JUSTIUE, Defendant's Attorney.
17, Bcrners street, Dec. 21.

THE LATE SUPPOSED MURDER

AND SUICIDE.

LATEST PARTICULARS.

Throughout the whole of yesterday the police were
engaged in endeavouring to find out the names of the
unfortunate child and woman, whose bodies were dis-
covered near Waterloo-bridge, but without success.
No letter or anything else was found upon the deceased
likely to lead to their identity. A notice was last even-
ing sent to every police-station in the metropolitan and
City districts, with a request that the police on their
several beats would make inquiries of the inhabitants as
to whether they had missed any persons answering to
the description of the woman and child. Persons were
engaged yesterday afternoon -in the neighbourhood of
Belvedere and Commercial-roads, Lambeth, inquiring of
the wharfingers whether they had seen the woman -and
child upon their wharfs the preceding day, or if they had
heard a splash in the water, such as would be caused if
the unfortunate creature had precipitated herself into
the river. Up to six o'clock last night they had bee'
unsuccessful in their inquiries.- The clothing of both
having been washed, it was found that the child had
on a white lace cap and a light-coloured hood, a cho-
colate and blue coloured woollen turnover, a pair of
worsted leggings, and two frocks. It is believed to be
not more than 10 or 12 months old. It was an exceed-
ingly fine child, and had cut two of its upper teeth. The
woman had on a speckled straw bonnet, trimmed with
black crap, Adelaide boots, black worsted stockings, a
dark silk and cotton shawl, with bunches of flowers on
it, and a pair of dark jean stays. She bad no wedding=
apparently
and
ring on her finger, and the only thing found in her
ipocketfrom
26watos ansmyaelalrbso. box
She was
ll Her age eras
stature, s
at
had dark brown hair. It was found, upon examining
the bodies, that neither 'of the deceased had a single
bruise upon their persons, proving that they could not
have fallen from any great height. The appearances of
the bodies are such as to lead to the supposition that
they had not been in the water more than 12 or 18
hours ; but from what part of the river they went in it
is impossible to tell, as it is quite possible that they
might have been forced along with the tide for some
miles. The ligature which bound the two together was
, what is termed laycord ; it was passed three times round
their bodies, and fastened to the bonnet and cap strings
of the woman. The police who have seen the woman
declare that she was not known to them, and they are
of opint • 'on that she did not belong to the neighbourhood
of Lambeth.

MILITARY Courtn-MARTIAL.---Saturday morning
a general court-martial assembled at Portman-street
barracks, composed of the officers of the Brigade of
Guards, with Colonel Sir Ord Honeyman, of the 2d
Battalion Grenadier Guards, as President, when private
J. Buckley, of No. 4 company 2d Battalion Coldstream
Guards, was brought to trial for highly insnbordinate
conduct, and striking Sergeant Hadlam, of the Cold-
stream Guards, when in the execution of his duty. The
finding of the court and its proceedings will not be made
known until the court-martial is finally approved of by
her Majesty and his Grace the Commander-in-Chief.
On the same mor ing the proceedings of a district court-
martial were read to, the 3d Battalion Grenadier
Guards, on the Military Parade, Tower of Lon-
don, on private J. Orton, of No. 5 company,
who had been tried for desertion. The Court
sentenced the prisoner to undergo three months'
im-
prisonment, with hard labour
stationed
td
in square, a
on ,
aartet thett_hhear
Portman-street Militaryt h e
barracks,
minutes
n ut
e Prison,s
Chatham. On the same . morning, the 2cl battalion of
Coldstreamarrackswere
em
of a court-martial read on Lance-Sergeant Spencer and
Corporal Reeve, of that battalion, who have been tried
by a district court-martial for neglect of duty, by allow-
ing a prisoner under their charge to get drunk. The
evidence having been heard for and against the prisoners,
.Spencer was not guilty, who was therefore
the court came to the following decision—that Lance-
Sergeant
acquitted; and Corporal Reeve was found guilty, and
sentenced to be reduced to the rank and pay of a private
soldier,

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