The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-16 00:00:00

NORTHERN ITALY.

The Piedmentese Gazette, of the 11th instant, an-
nounces that M. John Gustavus Heckscher, former
Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Central Govern-
ment of Frankfort, and deputy of the Constituent As-
sembly, was admitted, nn the preceding day, to a pri-
♦ate audience by King Charles Albert. M. Heck-
scher :presented to the King letters from Archduke
John, Vicar of the Empire, notifying his accession as
Chief of the Central Government, and appointing M.
Heckscher Envoy Extraordinary to the Sardinian Go-
vernment.

TATTERSALL'S-THIS EVENING

QUARTER TO SIX., O'CLOCK.
CAMBRIDGESHIRE.
5 to 1 agst Dacia
8 to 1 agst Lanesborough
10 to 1 agst Chanticleer
10 to 1 agst The Cur
16 to 1 agst Geraldine
20 to 1 agst Loadstono
20 to 1 agst Wanota
22 to 1 agst Miss Sarah
30 to 1 agst Backbiter
30 to 1 agst Collingwood
30 to 1 agst Buscot Buck

DERBY.
5 to 1 agst Flying Dutchman
40 to I agst Escalade
40 to 1 agst Tiresome

The CHOLERA.—There are sTill some cases of
cholera occurring here, but their number seems to be
gradually on the decrease. On Wednesday there were
four cases; but since that time there have beeen only
two. It is calculated that about thirty-six cases, in all,
have occurred in Edinburgh; and of these, about
thirty have terminated fatally. In Leith, we are
sorry to say, that the epidemic appears to be spreading.
It first broke out there on the 9th instant; and it is re-
ported that, altogether, about a dozen cues have oc-
curred,..and of such a bad type, that most of the indi-
viduals seized have died after a few hours' illness. In
the neighbouring village of Newhaven the disease is also
progressing. It is stated that sixteen cases, and eleven
deaths, occurred up till yesterday afternoon.—ecot.sman.
INTERESTING ANTIQUARIAN DISCOVERY.—On
Fri-
day a valuable addition to the recorded Roman remains
in this country was made by Mr. H. Ecroyd Smith, of
this city, at Aldborough, the Roman Isu Brigantium.
On digging in the garden of the Black Swan Inn,
about three feet from the surface, a low wall was ex-
posed, and found to surround one of the finest Roman
tessellated pavements hitherto met with in Britain,being
12 ft. square, perfect, well-executed, and in the highest
state of preservation, the tessela remaining as fresh and
bright as when the room was last occupied, some, 1,000
years ago. It is only about 14 ft. distant from another cn-
rions pavement, found in 1832, on digging to bury a
calf, and next spring will, like the latter, have a building
erected for its preservation by A. Lawson, Eq., the pro-
prietor, and will be ready for public inspection.—
Yorkshireman.

APPOINTMENTS.—Mr. Leslie is appointed Pro-
vincial Secretary, and Mr. W. H. Menu, President of
Committee of Council for the province of Canada.—
Mr. Sullivan is appointed Judge of the Court of Queen's
Bench in Canada West.—Observer.

The Banffshire Journal announces the death of the
Rev. John hdwards, of Marnock, the clergyman to whose
settlement so great an opposition was manifestF•d, giving
rise to proceedings which ultimately led to the disruption
of the Church of Scotland in 1843.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.
(Before,Mr. Sergeant ADAMS, Assistant-Judge, and
a Bench of Magistrates.)
LORD ALEXANDER RUSSELL'S BLOODHOUNDS.—
On Saturday, George Rockl4, a celebrated " dog
fancier," John Jones, and Edward Wilkinson, were
indicted—under the 6th clause of the Act for the
Prevention of Dog Stealing, which runs as follows :
" And be it enacted, that any person who shall cor-
ruptly take any money or reward, directly or indi-
rectly, uneer pretence or upon account of aiding any
person to recover any dog which shall have been
stolen, or which shall be in the possession of any per-
son not being the owner thereof, shall be guilty of a
misdemeanour, and punishable accordingly"—for a
misdemeanour, in having wilfully and corruptly
taken six sovereigns for the purpose of restoring to
one Alexander Metcalfe three bloodhounds of the
value of eO9 guineas, which had been stolen from
Lord Alexander Russell.
Mr. Bodkin appeared for the prosecutor ; and Mr.
Prendergast, Mr. Payne, Mr. Parry, and Mr. Mellor
were engaged on behalf of the several defendants.
Mr. BODKIN said, this was a proceeding under the
provisions of a very important and very useful Act of
Parliament, which had been passed in 1845, with the
view of putting a stop to the offence of dog-stealing,
in the pursuit of which, as was well known, a system
most nefarious and most extensive had been carried on
in the metropolis and its vicinity. Valuable dogs
were stolen, and afterwards large sums were extorted
for their restoration. With regard to the present
case, it appeared that the noble prosecutor, Lord
Alexander Russell, who held a commission in the
Rifles, was at the moment when this transaction took
place sojourning in Scotland. His Lordship's groom,
Alexander Metcalfe, it seemed, arrived in London, on
his route to Scotland to join his master, by the Great
Western Railway, having with him three young
bloodhounds of an unusually rare and valuable breed,
which had been preserved in the Russell family
for upwards of two centuries, and a box of
ferrets. He proceeded to the Mint Tavern at Padding-
' ton, where he proposed to sleep, so as to be nearer
to the station in the morning, and before he went to
bed he caused the dogs and the box of ferrets to be
locked up in one of the stables attached to the house.
During the night, however, the stable was broken
open and the dogs were stolen. The landlord of the
tavern instantly rendered effective aid in tracing out
the parties and the dogs, and eventually, with the
assistance of two of the police, the animals were dis-
covered to be in the possession of the defendants.
The groom was very desirous to keep his appointment
with his master in Scotland, and therefore he adopted
a plan to facilitate that object, which, strange to say,
was sanctioned by one of the policemen who was
employed, although it was an illegal proceeding—
namely, he gave the defendants six sovereigbs and a
written agreement not to prosecute them, whereupon the
dogs were restored to him. No sooner had this trans-
action been accomplished than the other policeman said
he should do his duty, and at once took the defendants
into custody. In due course the parties were conveyed
before the magistrate, who after hearing the detail of the
matter, refused to recognise the agreement which the
groom had made, although a solicitor who appeared
on behalf of Lord Alexander Russell urged that it
MS the desire of his noble client that the under.
taking which had been given by his groom, that the
defendants should not be prosecuted if they returned
the dogs, should be acted upon. The Magistrate
eventually sent the case to the sessions, as he con-
sidered it to be one of importance to the public, and
ti
tt o
that a public investigation should take place in re-
spnecy The o f
L fe was it.satrantied CHAIRMAN here said, that before the
evidence
entered et rheadt
tuponhis ahgerewemouelndt,twakheinthhahtadopip)eoern-
ugiven by the groom, was altogether an illegal agree-
ment; and therefore that if the defendants intended
to make that document a portion of their defence, and
it happened that they were subsequently convicted,
the Court would feel itself called upon to visit them
with the fullest penalty that the law would allow.
The defendants Hockley and Jones, upon this,
under the advice of their counsel, retracted their for-
mer plea, and now pleaded Guilty.
Mr. BODKIN then said, that with respect to the
other defendant Wilkinson, that person appeared to
have been less guilty than the others, and, therefore,
as they had confessed their guilt, he would not press
the case against Wilkinson. He was assured that
Lord Alexander Russell would be satisfied with that
proceeding, the more so as his groom had, in the out-
set, given a promise that no steps should be taken
against the parties, and therefore, if the Court would
now bind the defendants over to come;up for judgment
should they be called upon to do so, that was all he
would ask.

The Learned JUDGE remarked that this important
Act of Parliament was especially directed against
these compromises, in order to put a stop to a system
which was most pernicious in its effects. The
Learned Magistrate at the Police-court had done per-
fectly right in declining to act upon the agreement
which had been entered into by the servant of Lord
Alexander Russell, and he must also say that his
Lordship had acted in a very high-minded manner in
expressing a wish that what his groom had undertaken
to do should be fully carried out; but, however de-
sirous the Noble Lord might be on that subject, the
law did not allow it.

The COURT then sentenced the defendants to pay
a fine of ls. each, and to enter into their own recog-
ilizances in the SUM of 401. each, and find two sure-
ties in the sum of 201. each, to appear to receive the
judgment of the Court when called upon to do so.
It was intimated t., the defendants that they would
not be called upon to come up for judgment unless
they had recourse to their old trade.