The Sun.
London, England, 1848-08-16 00:00:00

AUGUST 16, 1848.

that Mr. Phayre was a Government contractor, and that
if such happuncd to be the fact he would challenge hial
!'or cause.

Mr. Phayre having been asked whether he was ever a
Government contractor, stated, with great vehemence of
manner, that he never received a single sixpence from
the present or any other Government.
Sir C. O'LocrieEN—Then, Mr. Phayre, wo challenge
you because you appear to be such an energetic indiNi-
dual.—(Laughter.)
Upon the name of Edward Bassett being called, the
Clerk of the Crown was proceeding to administer the
oath (neither counsel for the Crown nor for the prisoner
offering to challenge), and had proceeded as tar as the
words " juror, look upon the prisoner ; prisoner, look
upon the juror, you shall well and truly try," when the
Crown Solicitor said, " Stand by."
Sir C. O'LOCHLEN submitted that the words " Stand
by" had been used too late, and called on the Court to
allow the juror to be sworn. He stated that it was de-
cided in the case of " The Queen v. Frost," that if the
words " you shall well and truly try" had been used, it
was too late either for the Crown or the prisoner to put
in a challenge, and order the party to stand by. There
were several persons at the witnesses' table prepared to
swear that the words in question had been uttered by the
Clerk of the Crown before the challenge was given.
The CHIEF BARON having questioned the Clerk of the
Crown on the matter, stated that he had been informed
by him that the state of the facts was as follows :—ln
the first instance the juror was called. He (the Clerk of
the Crown), then asked the prisoner whether he chal-
lenged or not, and, no challenge having been made, he
proceeded to admiaister the oath to the juror without
asking the Crown Solicitor whether he should order
the party to stand by, who thereupon said " Wait,"
for the purpose of preventing him from putting the
oath ; and that, having rather hastily spoken some
of the words of the oath, the Crown Solicitor inter-
rupted him by saying " Stop." Now, such being the
state of the facts, it was evident that the Crown Soli-
citor used the words " wait" and " stop," for the put..
pose of delaying the administration of the oath, and, as
the Crown should not suffer by the mistake of the offi-
cer of the Court, the Court were of opinion that the
Crown was entitled to tender their challenge in the case
of this juror.
Baron PENNEFATHER concurred in the decision of his
Learned Brother, and the juror was accordingly or-
dered to stand by.
Several other challenges having been put in on behalf
of the prisoner, until he had exhausted his power of
challenging peremptorily, and also a great many per-
sons having been ordered to " stand by " by the Crown,
the following jury were sworn:—Samuel Waterhouse,
foreman; Edward Barrett, Richard Collier, Daniel Law-
rence, William English, Timothy O'Brien, Thomas
Jrlll n ton. ZVitl3o.n Duffy, Ll.an r_v Wharton, George
Halpin, Joseph Parsons, and Thomas Walsh.
Amongst the objections made to the jurors were the
following:—Upon the name of Mr. Thomas Stewart
being called,

Sir C. O'toonLEN objected to him on the ground that
he held an office under the Crown, and proceeded to ex-
amine him on the subject.
The juror, in reply to the questions put, stated that
he held a situation in the Four Courts connected with
the Court of Common Pleas, under the Hon. David
Plunket, who appointed him.

The COURT having considered the objection a futile
one, the prisoner's counsel challenged Mr. Stewart
peremptorily.
Sir C. O'LOGULEN next objected to Mr. W. Duffy,
upon the ground urged in the case of " The Queen v.
O'Doherty,"• namely, that he was a burgess of the city
of Dublin, and that by the charters granted to the Lord
Mayor, aldermen, and burgesses of Dublin, in the
reign of Henry V., and other Sovereigns, burgesses, as
part of the Corporation, were entitled to the property of
persons convicted of felony, and that consequently Mr.
Duffy was interested in Mr. Martin's conviction. The
Learned Gentleman then referred to the case of " The
King v. Law and Maguire," reported in the fourth
volume of Howell's edition of " The State Trials," pages
668 to 670, which was not in Court upon Tuesday,
when Mr. O'Doherty was on trial and handed in his
challenge.
The Crown having entered a demurrer,
The COURT ruled in favour of it, reserving the point
for the prisoner.
The Clerk of the Crown having then given the prisoner
in charge to the jury,
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL proceeded to state the case
for the prosecution, which, he said, was very similar to
the case of " The Queen v. Doherty," tried during
the previous week, although it differed in one point ma-
terially, and that was, that the prisoner, Mr. John
Martin, was not only the sole proprietor of the Irish
Felon, but was likewise registered as the sole printer
and publisher, whereas Mr. O'Doherty, the prisoner in
the other case ho alluded to, was only registered as joint
proprietor, and was neither the publisher nor printer.
The Learned Attorney-General then went on at some
length to state the law of the case under the late
Act of Parliament, and to mention the circumstances
under which Mr. Martin originally
,started the Felon,
namely, after the conviction and transportation of Mr.
John Mitchel, the proprietor of the United Irishman,
whose steps he professed to follow in the very first
number of his paper. He then read the several articles
relied on for the prosecution, from five separate copies of
the Felon, and contended that under the statute, if the
jury believed Mr. Martin to be the proprietor, printer,
and publisher of that paper, they could not hesitate to
convict him upon the indictment, for the articles them-
selves could not bear a second interpretation.
At the conclusion of the statement of the Crown case,
evidence was given to prove Mr. Martin's proprietorship
by Mr. Vernon, of the Stamp-office.
The Court ,was then adjourned to ten o'clock in the
morning, when Mr. Butt, Q.C., will address the jury for
the defence.

SERIOUS RIOTS IN ASHTON-
UNDER-LYNE AND LOSS OF LIFE.
ASHTON, TUESDAY—This town was last night thrown
into a state of great alarm, by the intimation received
by the authorities, that it was the intention of the Char-
tists and Repealers to create a disturbance, and draw
out the plugs from the various factories round the dis-
trict, so as to obtain a general turn-out of the hands
employed.
About a few minutes before twelve last night a police-
constable, named James Bright, was walking down
Bentinck-street, and when about fifty yards below the
Chartist meeting-room, he was shot through the breast
by some person not yet discovered, although the perpe-
trator was surrounded by at least fifty persons, armed
with guns, pikes, &c. Two other policemen were after.:
wards pursued, but they managed with some difficulty
to reach the Town-hall in safety. A messenger was
then sent to the barrack, but on his way thither he was
met by an armed mob, who compelled him to turn back.
Another messenger was next dispatched, and gained the
barrack by a different road. In a very few minutes the
military were under arms, and on the spot where the
mob had been collected, but previous to the arrival of
the military a large body of special constables, the bo-
rough police, and several mounted special constables
had attacked the mob, whom they soon put to flight, '
taking two of them prisoners. They also found a nitre
on the road, the shaft of which is about eight feet long,
and the blade about twelve inches, sharpened on both
sides.
An immediate search was made for arms, and they
arrested a man named Wm. Healey, of Newtown Moor,
a weaver, who had in his possession a loaded pistol, a
butcher's steel, powder, slugs, Chartist Manual, shot
bag, pike-head, wadding-purse, a slater's pick, shar-
pened knife. &c. A man named Wm. Penny was in his
company, and had some gun caps ; a third, named Thos.
Lees, cotton spinner, had two boxes of lucifer matches;
a fourth, named Wm. Eden, a shoemaker, had a pike-
handle, two knives, and two hall tickets. There were,
in the whole, twenty-two persons taken into custody on
the occasion. A quantity of ball cartridges have since
been found in the garden of Mr. Binns, of Dukinfield,
past which place a number of the Chartists moved on the
road to Hyde, where they succeeded in drawing the plugs
from the boilers of Messrs. Hibbert and Messrs. Thor-
niley's mills. Here also the police and specials were
promptly on the spot, and prevented any further outrage.
TUESDAY NOON.—Since writing the above, we have
learnt that a person named George Shawcross was shot
through the calf of the leg with some slugs, while pas-
sing the end of Bentinek-street, at half-past ten, and that
a man who works at Mr. Fowler's (the potter's), was
stopped in the street, because he had a muffler round his
mouth. The mob thought he was a policeman in dis-
, guise, and pierced him through the thigh with a spear.
This morning a number of pikes which had been found
in a field were brought to the Ashton Town-hall by the
police. The handles of many were quite new, and of
others the heads appeared to have been recently broken.
On their way to Hyde, about two o'clock this morning,
the mob stopped at the residence of Charles Hindley,
Esq., M.P., Dukinfield-lodge, in front of which are
placed some small pieces of cannon. One of these
pieces they carried with them, but finding it too heavy
baggage on their way they left it on the road behind
them.
Another man, named Bradshaw, has been wounded in
the thigh by a pike. He was attacked iu a square near
the church, and the weapon was driven almost quite
through his leg. The mob called themselves 4‘ the
National Guards," but when the military made their ap-
pearance they had departed.
Great fears were entertained by the authorities in
Manchester that some attempt might be made to disturb
the peace of the town ; every precaution, however, had
been taken, and there is not the slightest probability
that any attempt will be made there. The Confederate
clubs met last night in Manchester with closed doors :
all of them were said to be crowded.

GOVERNMENT RETRENCIIMENT.—We understand
that it is the intention of the Lords of the Treasury to
place the business of the Stamps and Taxes under the
Board of Excise, by which arrangement the salaries of
a chairman, deputy chairman, and commissioners will
be saved to the public purse.
MURDER NEAR NEWCASTLE.—The village of Birt-
ley, about four miles from Nowcastle-upon-Tyne, was,
on Saturday last, thrown into a state of commotion,
caused by the commission of a murder by one of the
workmen in the Birtley Iron Works. It appears that
on Sunday morning, George Watson and Thomas Reid,
who Mere employed in the above-named establishment,
went to their work as usual; something passed between
them in the course of the morning which led to a quarrel.
After several angry words had been spoken by both par-
ties, Watson raised a bar of iron and struck Reid on the
head, which laid his skull open. Reid immediately fell,
and expired in a few minutes. Watson was seized, and
has since been committed to Durham gaol on the coro-
ner's warrant, charging him,
on the finding of the jury,
with wilful murder.
ROYAL SAPPERS AND MINERS.—Four companies
will be added to the existing strength of the corps.
making 23 companies in all. The strength of each
i company is 100 rank and file.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, AUGUST 15.—Admiral the lion. Sir
Thomas Bladen Capel, K.C.8., will succeed Sir Charles
Ogle as Commander-in-Chief of this:port, should his no•
mination be approved by her Majesty, in which case
Captain Charles Eden, of the Victory, will remain
captain. Mr. Richard Haig, the highly respected and'
indefatigable secretary to Admirals Sir Charles Rowley
and Sir Charles Ogle, will be secretary to Sir Thomas
Capel. The Commander-in-Chiet entertained the fo!-
lowing distinguished guests at his hospitable table this
evening:—Admiral, Mrs. and Miss Prescott, Admiral
and Miss Douglas, Captain Eden, Captain Halliday,
R.M., Colonel Gibson; RM.A., Captain Ogle, of the
Victory. Captain A. Lowe, Dr. Rolph, Mr. James Hos-
kins, Flag-Lieutenant Cochrane, Mr. E. Ogle, Mrs.
Ogle, Mrs. Talbot, Mrs. H. Ogle, Mrs. Lowe, Mre.
Gibsone, &c.

The Cyclops steam-frigate, Captain the Hon. G.
Hastings, was paid off to-day.
Wind S. by E.; light airs and cloudy.
WooLwldn, AUGUST 15.—The Persian gun-brig and
the Teaser screw steam-vessel, have been towed from
Woolwich to Deptford by the Monkey and Charon
steam-vessels, to be brought forward at that dockyard.
The Spiteful steam-sloop was taken out of the basin
to .day, and will proceed down the river to-morrow to
try her machinery, and if found perfect she will not re-
turn to this port, but hold on to Sheerness, where she is
to be stationed as an advanced war steamer until com-
missioned.

The Niger steam sloop, fitted with a screw propeller,
was taken out of dock today, and if found perfect on
trial down the river, she will proceed to Sheerness and
remain there as an advanced war steamer.
The Princess Alice, Dover mail steam packet, Lieut.
Striven, arrived from Dover on Saturday last to have
some repairs effected, which will be completed in the
course of the present week.
The Medina steam-vessel was taken into the dock to-
day, which was vacated by the Niger. The Medina is
intended to serve as a packet on the Mediterranean sta-
tion, where the Merlin, a sister vessel, is already em-
ployed.
The Basilisk steam-vessel, building in this dockyard,
is ordered to be launched on the 26th inst., and she is
to be fitted with engines of 400-horse power.
The Ariel steam-vessel, fitting with smoke-consuming
apparatus by Mr. Haig, is nearly ready for trial. The
inventor appears to ye made great improvement in
his mode of attaining an object so desirable on bcard
steam-vessels, and the whole of the new works are under
deck instead of above, as in the first trial. The result
, is anxiously looked for, as, in the event of the plan
I being thoroughly successful, steam-vessels consuming
their smoke will be of great importance even during
peace, when engaged in the pursuit of slave vessels.
The Marino 6oeiecy's ship Iphigenia is ordered from
Deptford to Woolwich, and the boys to be transferred to
the Venus ; and the latter ship will be moored of Charl-
ton-pier as her proper station.
The Sinbad lighter, Mr. Follett, master, has arrived
from the western yards with stores for Woolwich and
Deptford.
A large quantity of mud, accumulated in the outer
basin, is ordered to be removed by contract. The quan-
tity amounts to some thousands of cubic yards.
Twenty-eight of the engineers and engine fitters re-
cently employed in the factory at Woolwich Dockyard
left this place on Thursday last to solicit employment on
the London and North-Western Railway, and on pro-
ducing a certificate of their previous employment were
immediately engaged in preference to hundreds of other
engineers applying from all parts of the country. The
places of the engineers who have resigned on that line
are nearly all filled up with careful and skilful men well
able to perform the duties they have undertaken, com-
pletely masters of their profession, and capable of re-
medying any disarrangement of the engines entrusted to
their charge.
UNEQUAL DISTRIBUTION OF PRIZE MONEY.—Mr.
Woodhead has given notice to Captain H. Chads and the
officers and crew of the Styx, steam-sloop, recently paid
off from the coast of Africa, who were actually on board
and entitled to share in the proceeds arising from the
capture of the slave-vessel Rolla, on the 17th day of
September, 1846, that the distribution will be made on
the 6th day of September next, at No. 1, James-street,
Adelphi, and where the list will be re-called every Wed-
nesday and Friday, for three months :
Commander (captain) ••• ••• £123 10 3',4
Third class (lieutenants) ... ••• ... 16 9 4.
Fourth class (surgeons, pursers, &c.) ... 8 4 8
Fifth class (warrant-officers) ••• ... 7 8 2f-
Sixth class (midshipmen, &c.) ... 4 18 9
Seventh class (petty officers, Ist class) ... 4 2 4
Eighth class ditto ... 3 5 10i.
Ninth class (ditto 2d class) ... 2 9 ‘Q
Tenth class (A.B.'s, marines, &c.) 1 12 11*
Eleventh class (landsmen, &c.) 1 4 84-
Twelfth class (boys, Ist class) ... 016 5,4!
Thirteenth class (boys, 2d class) ... 0 12 4
The new and unjust regulations for the unequal dis-
tribution of prize money are now coming into operation.
We truly hope that the Admiralty will see the justice
of procuring an Order in Council, cancelling this most
unfair and unintelligible system. The lieutenant has
ten times as much as the able seaman, and twice as much
as the officer next in rank to him (the mate, purser,
surgeon, second master, lieutenant of marines, &c.), but
the commander has seven times and a half as much as
the officer next in rank to himself, and nearly 70 times
as much as the A. B. The commander has indeed the
lion's share in every capture; not so the lieutenant, for
he may be sent away in a prize, and thus lose the oppor-
tunity of sharing in any captures made in his absence.
The commander seizes vicariously and gets seven times
and a half as much for his share as the lieutenant, or
master, who does the work. How can the Admiralty
expect lieutenants and subordinate officers to serve on
the coast of Africa whoa there is such an unequal, and
therefore unjust distribution of the rewards for such
hazardous services?—fierald.