The Sun.
London, England, 1851-07-25 00:00:00

DENMARK

AND THE DUCHIES

The new Copenhagen Cabinet has not as yet, pub-
lished a programme of the political principles on
which it is prepared to act. In spite of this uncer-
tainty, the public is extremely satisfied with the
KING'S choice of his Ministers.
One of the first acts of the Cabinet has been to
announce the adoption of Prince CHRISTIAN of Glucks
burg as the future heir to the Crown.

Dispatches were bent off yesterday evening from the
Colonial-office, for the Governors of Malta, Ceylon, and
Hong-Kong.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—York, July 23.
CROWN COUR r.—(Before Mr Justice W114.'2049 )
bVilliam Battersby, aged 22, and Eliza Wilkinson, aged
25, were indicted fur the wilful murder of John Wil-
kinson (the husband of the feraale prisoner), at Shef-
field, on the 3d of May last.
Mr. Boothby and Mr. Smith prosecuted, and Mr.
O►erend defended the prisoners.

The evidence on which the case rested was purely cir-
cumstantial. It appeared from the opening of the
learned counsel, supported by the evidence, that the de-
ceased John Wilkinson lived in Wilson's-yard, Sheffield,
and teat his family consisted of his wife, the female pri-
soner, a little girl, his daughter, ten years of age, and a
lodger, William Battersby, the prisoner, who was a
cousin of the female prisoner, and was employed as a
porter on the Manchester, Sheffield and Lincolnshire
Railway. It appeared also that from some cause feelings
of jealousy had existed in the mind of the deceased re-
garding his wife and the prisoner Battersby. On Saturday
May, as late as twenty minutes past
eleven deceased was seen quite sober by
jnoigsehpt, h
os3seekd, o f
tt,t
ahe hatter, who spoke to him, and that
the deceased then said to him he must get home
and get to bed, as he wanted to be up early next
morning to go a journey. He was also seen by
Charles Hatton, a grocer in Duke-street, Sheffield, about
the same time, at whose shop he called. His little
daughter, Ann Wilkinson, a very intelligent child, ten
years of age, stated that her father and mother and the
prisoner Battersby had supper together that night, and
that she went to bed atter supper. Battersby was
dressed in a fustian waiscoat and trousers. Tho waist-
coat had sleeves. Battersby slept in the same garret
with her, and father and mother slept in tke chamber
below. Battersby was washing himself when she went
to bed. Next morning she heard some one calling, and
went down stairs and unlatched the door which led
from the kitchen into Wilson's-yard. The door was not
lucked. Mrs. Johnston and her mother were standing
there. Her mother came towards her and took hold of
her wrist and pushed open the door which led out of the
kitchen into an inner rosin, and then cried out " Oh!
dear." Mrs. Johnston went into the house, and then
her mother ran out, still keeping hold of her wrist.
Battersby had his clothes on whilst washing. Sho then
fell asleep. He had a blue-striped shirt on and no shoes
on. Her mother had a gown on and no apron when she
(witness) went to bed, and no shoes on. Nothing particu-
lar took place at supper. A few Sundays before she had
heard her father say something to her mother about Wil-
liam Battersby; and she heard her father say the Friday
before this happened that he wanted a new coat, and her
mother wanted him to wait a bit longer. Her father
told her mother she was not to go into the town with
William Battersby. From the evidence of Mrs. Eliza-
beth Johnston, who lived next house but one to the
deceased, it appeared that tho prisoner came to her house
about a quarter past 7 o'clock on Sunday morning, the
4th of May, and said that she and her husband had been
quarrelling, anal that he was in such a rage that she had
run up stairs and jumped out of the chamber window, to
get out of his way, as she was afraid of her life. She had
then no shoes on, and suid she wished she had her boots,
and wondered whether her husband had gone to feed the
horses. Th(s door and the window she said were as she
had left there; and in answer to a question by the wit-
ness she said she bad not looked to see if the key was
in the door. Witness then went to the house of
the deceased, by the female prisoner's request, to
ask her husband for her boots. She shook the door
and called oist, and the last witness, the little girl, came
down and a pened the door. The female prisoner im-
mediately se iced hold of her daughter by the arms and
went into the kitchen, and through the inner door into
another roam. She immediately lifted up her arms and
cried out " Oh, do come and look." Witness went into
the room mid saw the deceased lying on the floor on his
face, with his throat cut. She immediately ran out of
the house and gave an alarm, and her husband and Mr.
Wilson, the landlord, went in. She returned and looked
about for some instrument by which the wound in de-
ceased's throat oould hare been made. She found none;

but her husband fund on the floor a white-handled
clisp knife. There was meat and butter on a table in the
kitchen, and the things on the table and the walls of the
kitchen and the ceiling were sprinkled over with blood.
The police were sent for, and the female prisoner then
said she wished " she had stood her ground, and her
husband had killed her too." Witness asked her what had
become of Battersby, and she said he had gone to Belp (a
place about 16 miles from Sheffield), to seehis father about
11 o'clock at night, and that after that she and her hus-
band had quarrelled, and she jumped out of the cham-
ber window about 12 o'clock to get out of his way.
Witness had been in the yard several times the night be-
fore, about twelve o'clock, and had heard nothing. Wit-
ness asked her where she bad been after she left her
house till next morning, when she called upon her?
Prisoner said she had come to her door and tried to wake
her up, and had thrown pebbles at the window, and that
she then went and sat in the petty till two o'clock; that
she was afraid to make more noise lest her husband
should follow her; that at two o'clock she was very cold
and went to Mrs. Lund's house and sat there till she
called on witness. Witness said to her there was a cut
on her husband's head. She answered he must have done
it as he tumbled down. Witness told her the police were
taking William Battersby's clothes. She said she hoped
there was no blood o❑ them, and that Battersby had cut
his finger on Thursday. The knife that was found was
not bloody. The window out of which the prisoner said
she jumped was open. The prisoner appeared to be much
distressed alter the body was found.
Mrs. Lund stated, that about two o'clock on Sunday
morning, the 4th of May, the prisoner came to her and
awoke her, and asked to ue let into the house, as she was
very cold. She said she had been quarrelling with her
husband about a new coat, and that he had threatened
to cat her throat with a razor, and that she had ran away
from him about twelve o'clock and jumped out of the
window, and that she had been sitting in the petty since.
She had no shoes on. Witness left her sitting by the
hearth, and went to bed,
Thomas Johnston, the husband of the former witness,
examined, said his house was nextdoor to the deceased's,
and about twelve o'clock, while in his bedroom, he heard
an unusual noise in deceased's house, a kind of rumbling
noise, as of chairs and tables being knocked about. He
looked out of the window, but saw nothing. This noise
continued three or four minutes.

Another witness, nistn,d Mary Ann Pearson, wbo
lived in Wilson's-yard, at the other side of deceased's
house, stated that a little before twelve o'clock on
Saturday night, the 3d of May, she heard a great
noise of rumbling about of chairs and tables in the de-
ceased's house, and heard something heavy fall down
stairs. She heard no voices. This noise continued
three or four minutes. She then heard some one run up
stairs to the garret and down again. The house door
was banged, and some one ran down the yard about
twenty minutes after. It was a heavy foot, and the per-
son had shoes on.

The policeman Rogers, and Inspector Attwood, who
took the female prisoner into custody, described how the
body was found. It was quite cold and stiff. The walls
and ceiling of both rooms were sprinkled with blood. I❑
the garret were found a pair of fustian trousers and a
checked shirt belonging to the male prisoner, spotted
with blood. They afterwards apprehended Battersby in
Wilson's-yard, on his return from Belp, where he had
been. Another police inspector, named Linley, after-
wards searched the deceased's house and found a bloody
stocking in the oven flue, and one partly burnt under the
oven, soaked in blood. The chamber window was 15
inches wide, 3 feet from the floor, and 12 feet from
the yard. There were flower-pots in the window, which
were not removed. A piece of lead was on the sill, and
in the opinion of Mr. Rayner, the chief constable, no
person could have got out of the window without remov-
ing that piece of lead. A poker with fresh marks of
blood on it was also found in the ash-hole. The pri-
soner Battersby, on being charged with the murder, said
he knew nothing about it, and came to Sheffield to de-
liver himself up whe❑ he beard of the charge. When
i❑ custody the female prisoner said she believed the de-
ceased had murdered himself, and that he had attempted
to commit suicide before by throwing himself into the
canal. The latter fact was proved to be true.
Mr. Wright, surgeon, of Sheffield, stated that he ex-
amined the body of the deceased on the sth of May, and
found several cuts upon the head, and the skull fractured,
particularly on the back part of the bead, which was
driven in, and the bone broken to pieces. He found
coagulated blood on the right side of the brain, which
had produced the death of the deceased. The palm of
the right hand was bloody, and the upper surface of the
thumb was wounded. There was also a wound on the
inside of the joint of the fourth finger, as if by drawing
a blunt instrument through it. The front part of the
windpipe was cut through. In his opinion this had been
done after death, and the injuries on the head of the de-
ceased could not have been inflicted by himself. The
poker produced might have inflicted them. The trousers
produced were marked with blood. The prisoner had a
superficial wound on his thumb, which would not, in his
opinion, account for the blood on his clothes. The shirt
and stockings produced were marked with blood. The
deceased might have fractured his skull by falling down
stairs, but not to the extent that it was fractured. This
evidence was corroborated by Mr. Carr, surgeon, of
Sheffield.

For the defence, the Learned Counsel for the prisoners
urged that there was a total aboonce of evidence to
fix the female prisoner with this dreadful crime. It ap-
peared that a quarrel had taken place, and the evidence
seemed to show that the deceased had offered violence,
to his wife. If, then, the prisoner Ba.ttersby had inter-
fered to protect her, as most men would have done, it
was possible in the row and struggle which took place
that the di cemed might have received the injuries of
which he had died, and all the appearances would be ex-
plained. -
- -

His LORDSHIP, in summing up, directed the jury that
they mutt tind whether the prisoners or either of them
were guilty of taking the life of the deceased. If they
were of opinion that the male prisoner had done this
alone they must then say whether the female prisoner
had assisted and abetted him. They must then consider
whether the offence amounted to murder or to man-
slaughter. The argument in favour of the latter conclu-
sion would have been more powerful had the death been
caused by less violence. It was difficult to account for
that violence on the latter suggestion. They would take
the whole circumstances of the case into their considera-
tion, and say whether, on a careful consideration, they
were justified in finding a verdict of manslaughter. It
was, however, only on a grave doubt that the charge of
murder was not made out that they could arrive at that
conclusion.

—The jury retired, and, after a short absence, found
the prisoners both Guilty of manslaughter.
His LORDSHIP, in passing sentence, said the crime of
which the prisoners bad been convicted approached so
nearly to murder, that he should not be doing his duty
to the country if he did not pass upon them a sentence
next in severity to that for murder. His Lordahip then
sentenced both the prisoners to be transported for life.
The female prison it fainted on hearing the sentence.
The trial occupied all day till seven o'clock.

HOME CI I? C VlT.—Chelmsford, July 24.
CROWN SIDE —(Before Chiet Justice JERVIS )
George Crouch Viall surrendered to be tried upon a
charge of having wilfully and feloniously set fire to his
dwelling-house, with intent to defraud the Essex and
Suffolk Equitable Insurance Company.
Mr. M. Chambers, Q.C., arid Mr. Rodwell were counsel
for the prosecution; too prisoner was defended by Mr.
Ballantine and Mr. Parnell.

This trial commenced on Wednesday afternoon, and
was adjourned until this morning, and occupied nearly
the whole of the day. It appeared from the opening
statement of the Learned Counsel for the prosecution
and the evidence that was adduced in support of it, that
the prisoner had carried on business in a small way at
Manuingtree as a hair-dresser, stationer, and dealer in
hardware for several years, and it appeared that in the
month of March, 1850, he effected an insurance with the
Essex and Suffolk Insurance Company for the sum of
3001. for stock and fixtures in his shop. The fire which
formed the subject of inquiry took place about half-past
three o'clock on the morning of the 17th of November
following, and a few days afterwards the prisoner made
a claim upon the company for 2031. for loss of stock in
trade, and 331. for fixtures. This led to the usual in-
quiries in such cases, and in the result the prisoner was
taken into custody, and committed for trial upon the
present charge. The case would have been disposed of
at the last spring assizes, but upon the application of
the counsel fur the prosecution the trial was postponed
to these assizes. The evidence against the prisoner
was of the same character usually adduced to sup-
port charges of this description, and consisted of a
variety of minute facts, all tending to show, in the first
place, that the fire was not an accidental one, and se-
condly to exclude the supposition that the act could have
been committed by any other person than the prisoner.
It was shown that about the time the fire broke oat the
prisoner and his wife and children were in the garden of
their house, and one of them was heard to say, " They
will be suffocated," or words to that effect, and it ap-
peared that although there were three water-butts
nearly full of water in the yard, the prisoner made no
use of them, and did not make any endeavour to extin-
guish the fire, which at that time could easily have been
cone, as the firemen subdued it very speedily when they
arrived. It likewise appeared that the prisoner's claim
for loss very far exceeded the value of the property that
was destroyed, and it was proved that the prisoner bad
take❑ a sackfull of different articles to a cottage in the
neighbourhood on the morning of the fire, none of
which exhibited the least appearance of having been in
smoke or tire. In addition to these facts evidence was
given that there had been an endeavour to make it ap-
pear that some person had male a felonious entrance
into the premises, and that holes had been bored in the
backdoor, by which a piece of wood had been removed
large enough to admit a hand, and by that means open
the lock, but it was pretty clearly made out that the
greater part of these holes had been bored from the in-
side, and not the outside, of the house. There were also
a variety of other little circumstances, all tending to es-
tablish the guilt of the prisoner.

---
Mr. BALLANTINE addressed the jury with his usual
zeal and ability fur the defence, and he endeavoured to
show that although they might feel that there was a
strong case of suspicion, yet that the evidence was not
sufficiently conclusive to compel them to find the pri-
soner guilty.
The CHIEF JUSTICE having summed up,
The jury, after a short deliberation, found the pri-
soner Guilty, and he was sentenced to be transported for
ten year J...

litter Holden, 39, labourer, was indicted for burgla-
riously breaking into the cellar of a shop, and stealing
some tobacco, cheese, and other articles, the property of
Samuel Harvey.
Mr. Rod well conducted the prosecution, and Mr. R.
B. Barton defended the prisoner.
This case was one of rather a singular character. It
appeared that the prosecutor is a grocer at Manning-
tree, and late at night on the 29th of April a police-
constable, who was passing the premises, observed the

trap-door of the cellar open, and this exciting his
su,picier, he watched about, and in a short time a man
came out of the cellar carrying a bundle. He at-
tempted to seize him, but the man mado a violent re-
sistance, and the officer was compelled to use his staff,
and struck several blows, as he imagined from the
sound, upon the head of the person, and he was some-
what surprised to find that they did not have the usual
effect, and the man at length succeeded in making his
escape, leaving his booty behind him. Upon a search being
made at the spot were the struggle took place the con-
stable found a false hand made of wood, which had evi-
dently received the blows intended for the head of the
thief, and which had been knocked from its socket. The
constable immediately set about to discover to whom the
hand belonged, but here he met with some difficulty, for
it appeared that there were other persons in Manning.
tree who had had the misfortune to lose a hand, and
who now wore a wooden one screwed upon a stump
similar to that which had been picked up; but at length
the officer got a clue to the prisoner, and upon seeing
him he immediately recognised him as the man he saw
come out of the cellar, and he was accordingly committed
upon the present charge. A good deal of the evidence
for the prosecution, in addition to that of the officer, con-
sisted of testimony to show that the hand which had
been picked up belonged to the prisoner, and one of the
witnesses, an old woman, swore positively that she re-
membered the hand a great many years, and that it was
the same he wore, aid represented that she knew it
particularly by the spring band that was round it. It
turned out, however, that this band was one which
had only been patented within the last three or four
years.
Mr. BARTON made an ingenious speech to the jury on
behalf of the prisoner, contending that his identity had
not been sufficiently established, and that the evidence
with regard to the hand that was found being that of the
prisoner was not sufficient to warrant them in finding
him guilty of so serious a charge.
A man named Finch was called as a witness, who, it
appeared, was one of the one-handed men of Manning-
tree, and he stated that he had been in the habit of lend-
ing the prisoner his hand, or, as the Learned Judge
facetiously remarked, " lending a hand " to the prisoner
on several occasions, since his own had been burnt many
years before ; and he said that the hand which was
picked up did not belong to the prisoner.
Mr. BARTON then called a woman with whom the pri-
soner cohabited as a witness, and she attempted to prove
that he was at home with her on the night of the rob-
bery, ancfalso stated that she had herselt burnt the pri-
soner's wooden hand some time ago. This statement,
however, was contradicted by another witness, who stated
that he had burnt it; and it was pretty clear that het
evidence was not much to be depended upon.
The jury eventually found the prisoner Guilty; and
as it appeared that he bore a very bad character, he was
sentenced by the Learned Judge to bo transported for
fifteen years.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
LAMBETH.

Two well-dressed women, one remarkably fine grown
and good looking, and the other rather alight, and not
very prepossessing in her appearance, presented them-
selves before the lion. G. C. Norton, and the former,
addressing the magistrate, said her name was Ann
Bailey, and that she was the person described in the
newspapers of Tuesday last, whose disappearance was
so mysterious, and who was believed by her friends
to be the individual that bad been murdered in the
neighbourhood of Norwich. She further stated that
the person who accompanied her was Mrs. Gooch,
another of the alleged missing parties, and that the
object of their attendance before his worship was to con-
tradict the statement that appeared in the newspapers,
and remove from the minds of her friends the impres-
sion that she had met with any violent or improper
treatment.

Mr. NORTON asked Ann Bailey if she had communi-
cated with her sister, Mrs. Faucett, who had made the
application on her behalf ; and she replied that she had
not ; that the feeling between her sister and herself was
not of the most friendly description, and, therefore, she
had no particular wish to see her.
Mr. NORTON thought it desirable that the parties should
be seen and spoken to by Mrs. Faucett, and directed
Sergeant Grant to take them to her residence for that
purpose.
In about two hours after Ann Bailey, Mrs. Gooch,
and Mr. and Mrs. Faucett, accompanied by Sergeant
Quiuriear, P 1, entered the court, when Sergeant Quin-
near addressing Mr. Norton said, that in consequence of
the statement which appeared in the newspapers on
Tuesday, on the evening of that day a person named
Neeves, who was foreman over Gooch and other work-
men when employed at the mansion of Baron de Gold-
amid, at Tunbridge, called at the station in Lock's-fields,
and informed Mr. Robinson, the superintendent, that
Gooch and Ann Bailey had been seen in the vicinity of
the Edgeware-road by a painter in the employ of Mr.
Piper, of 42, Eastcheap, and who, ho had no doubt,
could give some information as to where they could be
found. Mr. Robinson, upon this information, dispatched
him (Quinnear) in search of the man in question, whose
name is M'Kennelee, who informed him that he had
drank with Gooch and Ann Bliley, on Friday last, at a
public-house in the Edgeware-road, and that they were
living in that neighbourhood, but he could not say
exactly where. On that (yesterday) forenoon the young
woman, Anu Bailey, came to the station-house and said
that she and Mrs. Gooch had called at this court to con•
tradict the report that had gone abroad about them, and
that the magistrate had sent them to Mrs. Faucett, her
sister, and that Mrs. Gooch, not wishing to see her sister,
had gone home. By direction of Mr. Robinson, his su-
perintendent, he (Quinnear) accompanied the young
woman to the Edge ware-road, and took both her and
Mrs. Gooch back to the residence of Mrs. Faucett, and
requested the attendance of all the parties before his
worship.

Mrs: Faucett, in reply to a question from the ma-
gistrate, admitted that her sister, Ann Bailey, and
Mrs. G och, now present, were the persons she alluded
to in her statement to his worship on Monday last.
The young woman acknowledged that she had left her
place with Gooch, the painter, to be married, as he had
represented himself to her to be a single man, but the
ceremony had not taken place, and she dis-
covered that she had been deceived by him. The rea-
son, she said, why she had not informed her sister of
where she lived and what she was doing, was
that her sister and herself had never been on the
most kindly terms. She admitted that she still lived
with her seducer and his wife, but was solely under the
pr,t,ction of the latter, and appealed to Mrs. Gooch for
a confirmation of her statement, that nothing improper
took place between her and the husband of that per-
son atter discovering that he was a married man.
Mrs. Gooch acknowledged the fact, but said that the
sooner she took herself off the better.
Mr. Faucett, the brother-in-law of the young mount],
offered to tilts, her home and keep her till she was pro-
vided with another situation—an offer which she ac-
cepted, and thus the matter terminated.
Mrs. Faucets expressed her thanks to the magistrate
for his kind suggestion, and relieving many members
of her family from the most serious and unpleasant
conjectures; and

Sir. NORTON, in reply, said he was very glad the af-
fair had not turned out to be of so serious a character
as was at first apprehended.

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS, July 24.
Their Lordships met at Five o'clock to hear the
Royal Assent given by Commission to certain Bills.
The Lords Commissioners were the LORD CHANCELLOR,
the LORD PRIVY SEAL, and the Earl of CARLISLE.
The following were the public Bills which received
the Royal Assent:—
Survey of Great Britain.
School Sites Acts Amendment.
Landlord and Tenant.
Prisons (Scotland).
British White Herring Fishery.
Common Lodging Houses.
Lodging Houses.
Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction.
Highway Rates.
Loan Societies.
Militia Ballots Suspension.
Assessed Taxes Composition.
Public Works, Fisheries, &a.
Apprentices to Sea Service (Ireland) (No. 2),
Marriages (India).
Turnpike Acts Continuance.
Turnpike Trusts Arrangement.
Inhabited House Duty.
Burgesses and Freemen's Parliamentary Franchise.
Chorley's Waterworks.
Malmesbury Turnpike Roads.
North and South- Western Junction Railway.
Manchester Waterworks
"Va 4, Vale Railway and Dock.
Widows and Orphans Fund
Great Southern and Western Railway (Ireland).
Ministers'
Church of Scotland. of the Free
Great Western Railway (Railways to connect the Bir-
mingham and Oxford Junction Railway with the
London and North-Western Railway at Birming-
ham, &c.).
St. Patrick's Cathedral (Dublin).
York, Newcastle, and Berwick Railway (Branch to West
Durham Railway, &c.).
York, Newcastle. and Berwick Railway (Abandonment
of part of Bishop Auckland Branch, &c.)
Dee Standard Restoration.
Midland Railway (Purchase of Leeds and Bradford
Railway, and Increase of Capital).
Bolton, Blackburn, Clitkeroe, and West Yorkshire
Railway.
Stockton, Middlesbrough, Yarm, &c. Waterworks.
Cain Navigation (No. 2).
Cork and Waterford Railway.
Great Malvern Improvement, Police, Sewers, Water-
works, and Gas.
London (City) Sewers.
South Staffordshire Railway (Branches to join the Bir-
mingham, Wolverhampton, and Stour Valley Rail-
way, &c.).
Birmingham Improvement.
Newark-upon-Trent Improvement and Market.
Caledonian Railway (Motherwell Branch Extension and
Lesmahagow Branches).
Brighton Extra-Mural Cemetery.
East Anglian Railways.
Electric Telegraph Company.
Ulverstone and Lancaster Railway.
East Stonehouse Waterworks.
Waterford and Tramore Railway.
Midland Railway (Extension of Time, &c.).
Waterford and Limerick Railway.
Killarney Junction Railway.
Rehm Bridge and Roads.
Copper Miners in England Company.
Lublin, Dundrum, and Rathfarnham Railway.
Waterford, Wexford, Wicklow, and Dublin Railway.

Edinburgh Royal Asylum for the Insane.
Bath Improvement, Markets, Waterworks, and Bath

Commons or Freemen's Estate.
Great Northern Railway (No. 2).
St. Bartholomew's Hospital Estate.
Cubitt's Estate.
Upton's Estate.
L,thbridge's Estate.
Jackson's Estate.
Their Lordships then adjourned during pleasure.

On their Lordships resuming,
The Earl of ABERDEEN presented a petition from
Doneraile against the Ecclesiastical Titles Assump-
tion Bill.

CIVIL BILLS (IRELAND) BILL.
The Marquis of CLANRICARDE moved the second
reading of the Civil Bills (Ireland) Bill. The object of
'the Bill was to extend the jurisdiction of the assistant-
barristers in Ireland from matters in which 201. only
was in litigation to matters in which the amount in
litigation was 401. The Bill also codified and
embodied in one statute all the laws relating
to the jurisdiction of assistant-barristers in Ire-
land. It was a digest of all the laws relating to the civil
bill practice and jurisdiction of assistant-barristers'
courts in Ireland. It proposed to give to the,assistant-
barristers'courts jurisdiction in all cases relating to insol-
vency, thus doing away with the necessity for the
Commissioners for the Relief of Insolvent Debtors
going circuit—an arrangement which would greatly
facilitate the administration of justice.—(Hear, hear.)
The Bill made the Civil Bills Court a court of original
jurisdiction, giving the Court the power of awarding
costs to witnesses; it also gave the Civil Bills Court ab-
solute jurisdiction in all cases of legacy under 20/,
whatever might be the value of the estate upon which
the legacy was charged. It gave them power over eject-
ments in cases of tenants at will, just as if they held
under leases from their landlords. The result of such a
clause would relieve landlords from the necessity of
keeping their tenants under a perpetual notice to quit.
Under such circumstances the assistant-barristers would
be entitled to an increase of salary. At present they
received but 4001. a year. In future they would be paid
out of the consolidated fund. What their salaries were
to be would be best seen from the schedules attached. to
the Bill. In future, stamps were to be used in the
Bills Court, and the revenue derived therefrom, it was
calculated, would meet all the increased expense. Any
objections which might be
.urged against the different
clauses he should be most ready to discuss in Committee.
Tee Earl of LUCA N fully appreciated this Bill, which
he believed would turn out to be a very useful measure.
His objection to it was that the jurisdiction of these
courts had not been made more extensive. At a future
stage of the Bill he would attempt to extend their juris-
diction to the same extent as the County Courts in Eng-
land, namely, to 50/. He would also move in the Com-
mittee that the assistant-barristers be allowed to appoint
their own officers to carry out their decrees.
The Earl of ST. GERMANS would not oppose the
second reading of this Bill, but he must lament that it
had been brought down to the House on the same day
that the appropriation clause had been introduced into
the House of Commons. Had it been otherwise,
he would have moved that this Bill, with its 160
clauses, be referred to a Select Committee, whore 1t
would be better dealt with than in the House 11"
self. It was quite impossible for the House to go
nutely through the many clauses of this Bill in the Pre'
sent session.

Lord MONTEAGLE observed that the Bill had been
very carefully considered elsewhere, and, as far as be
could judge, no reasonable opposition could be offered to
it. They were all friendly to the Bill, and anxious to
carry it through Parliament. Ho thought that aid
could get through it in one day in a Select Committee►
especially with the atsistance of the law officers who had
drawn up the Bill. He should be sorry to make such
motion, if his Noble Friend should be of opinion that ti
would endanger the passing of the Bill during the pre'
sent session.

The Rill of GLENGALL thought that the juriscliv
tion of the Bill bhould bo extended to 501.
After a few words in reply from the Marquis of
CLANRICARDE,

Lord BEAUMONT objected on general grounds to
Bills of this importance being introduced into that Houss
at so late a period of the session. The principle of this
Bill was admitted on all sides, but it was entirely a ques-
tion of details, which would hare been better armor'
in a Committee upstairs.
CHELTENHAM IMPROVEMENT AND HEALTg

BILL.
Earl FITZHARDINGE moved that this Bill should
be recommitted, in order that further evidence might
be given against certain clauses of it.
Lord ABINGEIt, as chairman of the Committee,
thought the recommittal was unnecessary.
Lord REDESDALE considered it would be a bad
precedent if, atter having referred a Bill to a Committee'
they did not abide by the report of the Committee.
After a short discussion, their Lordships divide"
when there appeared—
Content „, ,„ 11
Not Content ... ••• .„. 19
Majority against the recommittal —8

The report was then received.
Lord BERNERS presented several petitions fr°r
agricultural districts complaining of distress and Pray-
ing for relief. Referring to one of these petitions (froth
what part of the country we could not hear), the Noble
Lord said he had received several letters from the chair'
men
.and vice-chairmen of boards of guardians confirm'
ing the allegations of the petition, that the manufactur"
ing operatives were beginning to press upon the land,
and that great distress existed among them. It WI
i stated n the newspapers that 6,000 of the operatives e;
Nottingham were thrown upon the rates. He wee'
himself to the relieving officer and found that the state.,
meet was substantially true, and that one-tenth of the
population were receiving relief. This waslnot a state
of prosperity, and the condition of Leicester was pO
better. The last Poor-law returns of the number re:
ceiving relief were fallacious, because they did n°`
give the whole eumbtx of unions and parishes that
came under the cognizance of the board. These re"
turns appeared to show a reduction of 60,000 in the
numbers relieved, but they did not state the cause
.0
this reduction, or that there was a great decrease 1°
the value of provisions, or that there was a decrease Io
one portion of pauperism, namely, in the 3ceoOur
vagrants. The increase of crime and the decrease of
deposits in savings-banks since free trade was seta'
Wished, could not be controverted. The petitioners au'
veried to the reports of the Select Committee of both(
Houses which sat last year to inquire into the law .01
settlement, as proving that this law was the chit
grievance under which the labouring classes suffered•
For 30 years he had attempted to improve their condi.
Lion, but, when he thought he had achieved some good.
he was met by the law of settlement, which thwarted
his efforts. An union settlement would be no benefit,
but the amendment of the present law of settlement WO
imperatively required, because, in proportion as the)"
decreased the area in which the poor man could labour,
they decreased the value of that labour. He agreed with
the petitioners that the relief of the poor was a nation*
object to which all ought to contribute according t°
their ability.
The Earl of MINTO presented a petition from the
ministers General Assembly of the
Church
of
andsc e
Scotland,
tl
al dnedr,s of
againstthe Papal aggression.
On the motion of the Earl of SHAFTESBURY, the
Chimney sweepers Regulation Act Amendment Bill was
read a second time.

The Earl of CARLISLE presented numerous peti-
tions from Wesley
an congregations against Papal or

The NOBLE EARL laid upon the table a Bill.for the
better administration of capitular estates.
Lord MON TEAGLE gave notice that he would move,
as an instruction to the Committee on the Ecclesiastical
Titles Bill, to except Ireland from the jurisdiction of that
Bill. He should also propose a clause exempting from
the penalties of the Bill ecclesiastics of the Romish
Church if they were not styled bishops, &c., of an/
particular see, but were styled, in the words of the Cha..
ritable Bequests Act, as bishops, &0,, exercising spiri-
tual functions within certain districts.
Their Lordships then adjourned.

HOT.ISE OF COMMONS. July 24,
(Continued from our Third Edition of yesterday.)
REGISTR A.TION OF ASSURANCES BILL

In reply to Dlr. MULLINGS,
Lord J. BU;iSELL said it was not his intention to
proceed with tb e above Bill this session, but it was
with reluctance t hat he abandoned the Bill, and the sub-.
ject would be renewed at the earliest opportunity next
session.

Mr. HAWES 6btained leave to bring in a Bill for
the arrangement clf claims of the New Zealand Compaq
on the Crown, and for regulating the affairs of certain
settlements estahli:thed by the said company in New
Zealand.

The Bill was read a first time, and ordered to be
printed.

Colonel DUNNE wished to know whether the Ge.•
'ferment proposed to proceed with the Irish Bills that
stood on the paper for this night, some of which were of
great importance?
The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said,
that he intended to be guided by such arrangements se
ho could make with the Irish Members upon the subject.
CUSTOMS' BILL—THE NAVIGATION-LAWS.

ed
On the motion for the third reading of this Bill,
amendment,lie
r Majesty,
praying
an
behuusMbriellaEddßreßsisES moved
presented
that she will be graciously pleased to direct the proper.
steps to be taken tor giving effect to those provisions of
the Act 12 and 13 Vic., c. 29 (for the repeal of the na-
vigation-laws), whereby her Majesty is empowered to
adopt towards any foreign country, in which a prefer.,
ence is given, directly or indirectly, to national vessels
over British vessels, such measures as may appear to
her Majesty justly to countervail the disadvantages to
which British trade and navigation is so subjected.
He said the Government had vaunted much of the great
advantages which already resulted from the repeal Of
the navigation-laws. The shipowners, who could
bear the best testimony on the subject, had, bow'
ever, come forward to state that directly the opposite
effect had been the result. They said they received a
much less amount of freight, which showed that their
rentuneration had been diminished, and, he must 3ax,
that they, in common with the cultivators of the soh
were unremunerated. Freights had decreased by 30 Per
eclat. Freights, from calculation, which, previous to the
repeal of those laws, had been 51. 4s. in 1850, had &lieu
to 31. 135. 6d. From Bombay, which had been 5/. 16s.
Gel., had been reduced to 21. 155., which was equivalent
to a diminution of 38 per cent., but, on a view of tbe ro"
dui :tion of freights generally, the decrease was equal ton
30 ,oer cent. They not only complained of a diminutior_
of f eight, but also of diminished employment, and no:,
with standing that it was alleged that the foreigner ooOs,a
not e ompeto with them, the fact was that the Bri!?
s!aipa were driven from the market, that Buglisa