The Sun.
London, England, 1841-12-16 00:00:00

THE MURDER NEAR WALSALL.
CORONER'S INQUEST.
BIRMINGHAM, Monday Night.—This morning an in-
quest was held upon the body of the unfortunate old
' man, named Matthew Adams, ivho was most cruelly mur-
dered at the Delves, near Walsall, on the morning of
Wednesday, the Ist inst. It will be recollected by our
readers that the Government had offered a reward of
1001. for the apprehension of the offenders, and it is sa-
tisfactory to know that, through the diligence of Ray-
mond, the Superintendent of the Walsall police, there is
every reason to believe that the crime has been traced to
the actual perpetrators.
The circumstances of the case as detailed in the evi-
dence were briefly these :—Matthew Adams was an
old man nearly
seventy years of age, deriving his
means of subsistence from the rent of some houses.
1 A few days before the occurrence of this catastrophe
he was known to have collected his money due
in respect of this property, and it is thought that
the hopes of obtaining it led to a burglarious en-
trance of his premises on the morning in question ; and
although there is little reason to suppose that the life of
the old man was originally intended as a sacrifice, yet
there is no doubt, from the preparations of the burglars,
that they were resolved to carry their intentions into
effect, regardless of the consequences that might ensue.
As it was, 1 hey made their entrance through a pantry at the
back of the house, and it would seem that the old man,
hearing the noise, came down stairs, partly undressed,
to ascertain the cause of it. Here he was assailed by
.the
burglars, and the old man making a strenuous resist-
ance, was violently struck upon the head with a hammer,
which caused his death. A woman living near heard
the noise at this unusual hour, and opened her window
to satisfy herself of the cause, but one of the party
threw a stone at her, and caused her to retreat. She suc-
ceeded, however, in perceiving. three men, and immedi-
ately raised an alarm, on which aparty of navigators living
near pursued tile ruffians, though they did not succeed in
capturing them. Superintendent Raymond was quickly on
on the spot, and instituted a strict search of the premises,
but found nothing except a loaded pistol, which was left
in the pantry. From inquiries which he made, he found
that a young man of the name of Boswell had fre-
quently been seen discharging a percussion-cap pistol ;
accordingly he went, in company with one of the police-
men, to the house of the suspected party, whom he found
at breakfast with his mother. Raymond forthwith taxed
him relative to the pistol, but he declared that he knew
nothing about it, and that the pistol which he had been
seen to use was at that moment in the house. At the
direction of Raymond he produced it, but still there were
circumstances of suspicion which seemed to justify his
detention as a prisoner, and he was immediately taken
into custody. It was soon afterwards discovered that the
pistol found in the; pantry had been repaired by a lock-
maker in Park-street for the prisoner Boswell; and addi-
tional suspicion fell upon him from the fact of his at-
tempting an escape from prison.
At the inquest four persons, named Joseph Wilkes,
James Wilkes, Thomas Boswell, and George Giles, were
charged with the commission yf the crime.
It was not only proved that the:pistol found in the
pantry had been repaired by Mr. Bagottt the locksmith,
for the prisbner Boswell, but a confession- of. that pri-
soner to Superintendent Raymond was put in evidence.
From this it appeared that the four prisoners went'
the house of the deceased with the view of effecting a
robbery. They made their entrance through the roofing
of the pantry ; they then attempted to force the door
which led into the house, but heard the old man cough,
and were induced to refrain. They remained here
quietly for nearly a quarter of an hour, when the old
man came down stairs, and, on hearing it, Joseph Wilkes
went round to the front door to meet him, and struck
him several times upon the head with a hammer, thus
fractuling his skull in two places. It was admitted by
Joseph Wilkes that he struck the deceased, but without
the intention of killing him ; and it further appeared
that, inasmuch as Joseph Wilkes was a young man, his
brother James went to his assistance, and thus received
a blood stain on his frock. Against the prisoner Giles there
appeared but a comparatively trifling case, but he was
implicated by the evidence of Boswell and 'Wilkes.
The Coroner having summed up the evidence,
The Jury unanimously came to the verdict, "That the
deceased had come to a violent death ; that Joseph
Wilkes was principallyimplicated in the murder, and that
the other prisoners were principals in the second degree."
The Coroner then issued. his warrant for. their
com-
mittal to the Stafford Assizes

Cod have been kept in salt water ponds in dif-
ferent parts of Scotland, and found to maintain their con-
dition unimpaired. Of these ponds there are three—one
in Galloway, another in Fife, and a third in Orkney. That
in Galloway is at Logan, the seat of Colonel M4Dowall ;
it is a basin of 30 feet an depth, 160 in circumference,
hewn out from the solid rock, and communicating with
the sea by one of those fissures that are common to bold
and precipitous coasts. _ _

Last week the inhabitants of Worthing were
much surprised by the appearance of a pack of fox-
hounds, with the huntsmen in full chase. It appears
that Mr. Richardson's fox-bounds found a fox, and had
an excellent run of an hour and a half, when reynard,
being hard pressed, ran into Worthing, followed Ly hunts-
men and hounds iu full cry. The fox was killed in the
ornamental shrubbery of the Crescent, which was sadly
destroyed by these unusual visitors.
Meetings have been held at Welshpool, and other
places in Wales, to petition the Queen for a new order of
knighthood, to be called the order of St. David, and the
establishment of a professorship of the Welsh language
and literature in the Universities of Oxford and ("Attu-
bridge.
THE LATE HORRID MURDERS.--OFFERS
or REWARDS.—Tuesday's Government Police Gazette
contains the offer of a reward of 501., to be paid by her
Majesty's Government, for the discovery of the person
or persons who early on the morning of the sth instant,
at Denton's-green, near the town of St. Helen's, in the
county of Lancaster, brutually and cruelly murdered
Mr. Henry Grayson, of Rainford, in the same county,
farmer.
Majesty's Also,
pardona furtherto
ay accomplicereward of 50/. by the personal
representatives of the • unfortunate gentleman, and her
information. Likewise the offer ofgaivig
rnewtahred
by her Majesty's Government, and her Majesty's free
necessary
els
os aort,
y
pardon to any accomplice who shall give such 'informa-
tion as shall lead to the discovery of the porson or per-
sons who, on the night of the 30th ult., broke into the
dwelling-house of Matthew Adams, of Delves Bank, in
the parish of Wednesbury, in the county of Stafford,
and most barbarously and violently beat and wounded
the unfortunate man, who was 74 years of age, and the
the only inmate of the house, from the effects of which
he lingered in a state of insensibility until the following
morning, when he died. Also for the discovery of the
murderer of a male child, two months old, which was
found on the 3d instant cruelly mutilated, in a wood be-
longing to Lady Hippesley, in the parish of Stow Easton,
in the county of Somerset.
RESIGNATION OP MR. SERGEANT ARABIN.
—We are happy to hear that the above Learned Gentle-
man is going on very favourably, considering the painful
operation he underwent on Saturday last, but it is under-
stood that he will never resume those judicial duties
.that he has performed for many years, hence the Judge-
ship of the Sheriffs' Court for the City, and his seat in
the Central Criminal Court, will become vacant. We
understand that Mr. Ryland, who has long been the
,senior barrister in the former Court, will be elected to
the first situation as successor to Mr. Sergeant Arabia
without opposition. We hear-that the Learned Gentle-
man has declared that in the event of his elevation to the
Bench he will, if business and public convenience require
it, preside three times weekly, instead of twice a fortnight.
The Earl of Aberdeen, and several of the Ca-
binet Ministers, visited Sir R. Peel yesterday morning
at the Right Honourable Baronet's official residence in
Downing-street.

ON THE Loox-ouT."—The Rev. John
Peel, brother of the Right lion. Sir Robert Peel, Bart.,
accompanied by Mrs. Peel and family, arrived at
Mivart's yesterday, from Canterbury ; and in a
few
Waresley House, near Stourport.—
days Hotel
leave for
Tory Paper.
AMERICAN CHEESE.—Amongst the recent
arrivals from the United States have been large quan-
tities of cheese. This cheese is subject here to an im-
portthe freight and other ex-
stconsiderably exceed a half-
penny per pound, thus adding to its original value in
ex-
penses, se duty t
wey o
are
re 12s.
ss per
ured, cwt.;
m and
u
America not less than 2d. per pound, or some 40 or 50
per cent. on its cost price. Yet this cheese is selling
a
here at prices which bring it into direct competition with
cheese of British manufacture. And here let it be ob-
served, that, so far as labour enters into the question
under consideration, there can be no difference in wages
which may enable the American farmer to undersell the
English one ; for the wages of agricultural servants in
the States are nearly three times as high as they are in
this kingdom. Our inability to compete on equal terms
with the Americans in the manufacture of cheese must
therefore be found in the high rents to which the British
farmer is liable—another blessing which we owe to the
legislative preponderance of the landed interest —Man-
chester Guardian.

SIR WALTER SCOTT'S NOVELS,—What
would Sir Walter Scott have said if he had seen his im-
mortal Novels on sale at a few pence each week? We
think " This is popularity" would have escaped him. His
family have done wisely, in these times of Jack Shep-
rhaacr
tde s,
s to
fe
rtbring healthy reading to every one's fireside;
and werNy have it in the powerfully drawn cha-
racters
The prize ox which fell into the kitchen of the
hair-dresser's shop at the corner of Vere-street, Clare-
market, on Monday, was obliged to be slaughtered there .
this morning, all attempts to get it out promo. unavailing.
CHRISTMAS BOXES,—A lady at Bath, a short
time since, sent her servant, " a recent importation" from
the country, for a leg of mutton. The man executed his
commission, and informed his mistress that he had given
9d. per lb. for it. The lady, surprised at the price, in-
dignantly ordered him to take it back, and tell the butcher
better the
leg message,of mutton was not to be
she would have no inferior meat at her table, and that he
The butcher at
firstt declared
must send the best he had in the house. John took back joint,
had in the city ; but recollecting himself, he asked John
the name of his mistress, and upon being informed
, he
danced round the shop in vexation—,
and t
hat delivered
a
Confound my
stupidity," said he, " take this leg, say it's 9d. per lb., and
make an apology to your mistress for me, and I will give
you two guineas at Christmas. How long has James left
your mistress ?" The new servant was however, too
honest to allow his mistress to be cheated, and told her
the whole of the conversation.—Liverpeei Courier.
OXFORD PROFESSORSHIP.--It will be satis-
factory to many of our correspondents to know that the
defeat of the " Tractarian" candidate by a majority of
at least two to one is certain.—Tory Evening Paper.
" THE LONGEST LINK. --But eight miles
remain to be finished of the railroad between Batavia
and Buffalo, which, with the Boston road, will complete
a continuous road from Boston to Buffalo, 600 miles, the
longest in the world.--,New York Weeny llerald.