The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-19 00:00:00

BIRTHS IN THE WEEK.

Total ...
... 1,576
*ln this number are included 20 by Scarlatina, 43
by Typhus Fever, and 17 by Diarrhoea.

ALARMING RAILWAY ACCIDENT.—BIRMINGHAM,
TUESDAY.—An accident of an alarming character occurred
to a goods' train at an early hour this morning on the Bir-
mingham and Derby Branch of the Midland Railway. Seve-
ral waggons and trucks were thrown off the line, and their
contents were strewed on both sides of the railway. On the
train being stopped it was found that the accident had been
caused by the breakage of a waggon belonging to the Great
Northern Railway Company. Two waggons belonging to
that company were completely smashed, and seven or eight
others, the property of the Midland, were damaged more or
less. The expected up mail train from the north, due in
Birmingham at ten minutes to two, created serious apprehen-
sions, and immediate steps were taken to prevent its ap-
proach. Communication with Birmingham by electric tele-
graph was completely cut off, inasmuch as one of the posts
and the wires at the Water Orton station had been broken
down, and for all immediate useful purposes destroyed, by
the carriages coming in contact with them when the collision
occurred. Fortunately, however, the messengers and sig-
nals succeeded in staying the progress of the mail train, and
on its arrival near the spot where the accident took place the
passengers proceeded to assist the officers and servants of
the company in removing the overthrown goods and broken
waggons from the line; but it was upwards of two hours and
a half before the line was open, and the mail train able to
proceed onwards westwards.

THE THURGOLAND MURDER.—This mcst atrocious
murder still remains shrouded in mystery. John Firth, the
brother of the murdered man, who is in custody, was brought
before the Barnsley magistrates for the second time on Mon-
day, and again remanded. The only fresh facts that have
transpired since the termination of the coroner's inquiry
have reference to the movements of the prisoner prior to his
meeting with his brother on the night of the murder. On
that evening he left his work about half-past six, but it was
near nine o'clock before he met with his brother George (the
deceased). No account whatever has been given, nor any
mention made of the movements of the accused' between
those periods. Since the inquest, however, it has transpired
that about eight o'clock on the night in question he was seen
at the Gate public-house, on the road to Dodworth (where
he afterwards called, in company with his brother and a man
named Trigger), by two men, who accompanied Frith, sen.,
front Penistone to Barnsley. The prisoner refused to allow
his father to stay at the house, and accordingly they pro-
ceeded to the town, where he met his brother. On his return
in company with his brother, about an hour afterwards, the
prisoner delayed his departure until the rest of the company
had cone, though some of them resided in the neighbourhood
of the murdered man. It is thought that he then watched
his opportunity, his brother being overcome with excess of
liquor, to recover possession of the gun, and accompanied
him towards Partridge Dale, where he lived. No trace of
the gun has yet been discovered. Sir George Grey has offered
a reward of 50/., on behalf of the Government, tor the disco-
very of the murder.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Fe& 18.
;Sittings in Middlesex, at Nisi Prins, atter Hilary Term,
before the LORD CHIEF BARON and a Special Jury.)
THE GREAT REVENUE CAUSE.
THE ATTORNEY•GENERAL V. THE LONDON DOCKS C 035.
PANT.
For the eleventh time this important case came on
for trial, and, as will be seen, was brought to a final
ending.
The LORD CHIEF BARON proceeded to sum up the
evidence in this case at ten o'clock. He said—lt is sa-
tisfactory to think that as this case now stands no charge
is made on the personal honour, character, or conduct of
any of the directors of the London Docks. I should have
thought it a national misfortune if anything like a system
of plunder had been carried on in which the directors, or
any of them, had participated. But I understand that
the Solicitor-General disclaims any charge against the
directors of the London Docks of having, as a body,
acted dishonestly or dishonourably, or that their supe-
rior officers have sanctioned any frauds, either on the
merchant or the revenue; but he says that a certain
lax system has prevailed in the docks which it
was incumbent on the Customs to put an end to.
I say again, that it is satisfactory to know that he has
entirely abandoned—not abandoned, but disclaimed any
such charge as that which ho was supposed to have
brought against the company. The course which I shall
adopt in presenting this case to you will be this; I shall
first call your attention to the manner of the discovery
by the Customs officers of that which they considered
irregular, and the circumstances of the seizures by them.
I shall explain to you the application of the law to the
facts and the several counts of the information, and I
shall then leave the facts of the case to you, to whom
their determination exclusively belongs. There are
many facts of the case as to which the conduct of the
Solicitor-General yesterday will materially tend to
shorten your labours. He very properly stated some
points upon which he considered the explanation given
by the company was sufficient. We may at once dis-
miss from our minds the long episode of Davis's corner;
it forms, in fact, no part of the investigation in which
we have been engaged. It is a matter on which
you need not be called upon to give any opinion what-
ever. If, indeed, it were necessary to enter upon it, I
should be disposed to think, independently of any con-
tradiction, that there was great exaggeration on the part
of the witnesses for the Crown. One,_ I think, spoke of
having seen tons and tens of tons taken there and con-
verted into wet scrapings. The whole statement, how-
ever, is so pointedly denied by such a number of wit-
nesses, who were acknowledged by the Solicitor-General
to stand unimpeached in character, and who are of such
respectability that it is impossible not to give credence
to their testimony. It is plain that whatever may have
taken place at Davis's corner, which might be deemed
an irregularity or improper, as against the merchant,
was without the knowledge or sanction of the company
or their superior officers. The question that will have
ultimately to be determined by you, will be whether the
Customs were justified in seizing certain parts of the
sugar and cocoa which are included in this information,
and you will have to say what is your opinion upon cer-
tain of the counts with reference to those particular parts
of the sugar and cocoa. But before I proceed to the facts
of the case, I wish to address a few observations to you
personally,: which I think are called for on the occasion.
This is, I believe, the longest trial in the experience of
the administrators of justice in the City of London. I
think that the trial of Elizabeth Canning lasted seven
days, whereas we have now arrived at the eleventh of
this inquiry. The loss and inconvenience to you must
have been great and serious ; but it will be a consola-
tion to you to reflect that, on this occasion, you have.
shown that the valuable institution of which you are a
part, that of trial by jury, is fully adequate not only to
the ordinary occasions which arise, but to an important
investigation of complicated facts, protracted over a
period of many days. I must bear my testimony to the
exemplary patience, intelligence, and attention which
you have throughout exhibited. In the first place, I
must say that there ought to be no removal of goods
whatever in the docks unless under the sanction and eye
of au officer of the Customs. The officer Cleaver appears
to have remarked that certain bags were removed in a
manner that excited bis attention. Upon this he told his
superior officer what he had seen, and they went and in-
stituted is search. They found a considerable quantity
of sugar and cocoa witich appeared to them to be good,
sound, end merchanteble articles, of which the company's
servants gave no account, or only that they were sweep-
ings; but subsequently finding in some of the cocoa a
certain quantity of dirt, they abandoned that as pos-
sibly being what it was represented, but they hold the
rest; and to this your opinion has to be given. Now,
the Crown says some of these goods were never entered
at all, and I own I my much doubt whether there is
any evidence on this part of the case, and I think you
may dismiss this from your minds. Some, they say, is
found in the docks without having passed the scale. Of
this there is some evidence, but not sufficient, I think for
you to found your judgment on. Some, they say, was
taken from the piles and carried to Davis's corner or
elsewhere, and there dealt with as the property of the