The Sun.
London, England, 1851-04-08 00:00:00

COURT CULCUR
in Hyde-park, for
PrTnhcee QefieWenalaesnaanTnPer3inAcelsAltf'red, visited yesterday
accompanied. by the
athfteerEnoxohnibtithieon" Eof26thibeitiioundi3u:tirlydinogf"all Nations. Her
ilajesty and his Royal Highness were attended by the
Countess of Desart, lion. Flora Macdonald, Colonel
Beckley, and Lieutenant-Colonel the lion. Alexander
Gordon.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert received a deputa-
tion from the Button Burnishers of Birmingham, at
Buckingham Palace, on Saturday last. The deputation
consisted of William Lacy, Esq., (Mayor of Birming
hem), Mr. Joseph Stinton, Mr. Edwin Smith, and Mr.
Joseph Clewes, and wag accompanied to his Royal High-
ness's presence by G. F. Muntz, Esq., 111. P., W. Schole-
field, Esq., M.P., and R. Spooner, Esq., M.P.
His Royal Highness Prince Albert, attended by Lieut.-
Colonel Hon. Alexander Gordon, rode oat on horseback
yesterday morning.
t
Their Royal Highnesses the Princess Royal, the Prin-
cess Alice, and the younger members of the Royal
Family, took their accustomed exercise yesterday in the
gardener
The Royal dinner party at Buckingham Palace yes-
terday
of Buckinghamincluded
her
er
Palace.
Royal
Highness
the Duchess of
Kent, the Marquis and Marchioness of Chohnondeley,
the Marquis and Marchioness of Clanricarde, Lady
Fanny Howard, Baroness de Speth, the Earl and
Countess Cowper, th© Earl and Countess of Yarborough,
and the Right lion. W. E. Gladstone. The band of the
Coldstream Guards was in attendance during dinner, and
performed the following selections:
March of the Coldstream Regiment .... Costa.
Overture, "Part du Diable" Auber.
Walzer, " Herbts Blumen"
Selection, " The Sleeper Awakened" Macfarren.
Great Exhibition Quadrille
The Postillion Polka . Kcenig.
Her Royal Highness the Duchess of Cambridge
visited her Royal Highness the Duchess of Gloucester
yesterday, at Gloucester House.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
BRISTOL, APRIL 7.
Sroor ExcHANGE.—The market has been very flat and
inanimate to-day, with scarcely anything doing. The only
transactions reported were—Great Western, 87—South-Ease-
ern and Dover, 27.

LIVERPOOL, APRIL 7.
STOCK EXCIIANGIL—There is again a slight improvement
in the market, and a fair business has been done at better
prices.

MANCHESTER, Aprar, 7.

"Smelt ExcHarrax.—The share market has been very
heavy to-day, but prices were maintained at fully last quo-
tations. The transactions were as follow:—Manchester,
Sheffield, and Lincolnshire, New 1261. Preference, bi p.—
South-Eastern and Dover, 26 15-16.

MURDER OF A WIFE BY HER .HUSBAND
GLOUCESTER, SATURDAY NlGHT.—Another crime of this
nature, now unfortunately of too frequent occurrence in
this part of the kingdom, has just been perpetrated within
a few yards of our city.
The unhappy woman was a delicate young creature, only
in her 23d year, named Esther Curtis, and the mother of her
first child, about fifteen months old. She had lately been
subjected to much ill-usage at the hands oF her husband, a
labourer, named Edmund Curtis, of Victoria-street, in this
city. About seven o'clock this morning she left her home,
and went direct to-the White Lion beer-shop, a few yards
distant, to confer with her husband on some matter of do-
mestic import. Having exhibited considerable churlish re-
luctance to comply with her request of a minute's conver-
sation, Curtis at length complied. They had scarcely left
the house, however, before the landlady, Mrs. Wilkes, was
greatly alarmed by hearing the most piercing screams, pro-
ceeding from the garden by the site of the White Lion.
Mrs. Wilkes immediately ran out, but only to return
as speedily and shriek for assistance herself, im-
ploring a stout young fellow, named William Kirk-
land, " for God sake to come out, for Curtis was mar-
dering his wife !" Kirkland complied ; and on running into
the garden he found that Curtis with his left hand had
seized his wife by the collar of her dress and was forcing
down her head on the other side of an iron fencing erected to
part a garden from a pathway running para'lel. Holding
her in this position, with the pit of her abdomen resting
upon the top rail, with I:is right fist he was beating her in
the most ferocious manner about the region of the lungs.
With a view to separate him from the already senseless
victim of his savage ferocity, Kirkland seized him by the
collar of his coat from behind, but so insatiable was his
brutal appetite that, retaining his hold of the unhappy
woman, the brawny arm of Kirkland brought them simul-
taneously to the ground. Here, moreover, great difficulty
was experienced in releasing the motionless woman from
his grasp; and Kirkland could scarcely prevent a repeti-
tion of the assault while they were upon the ground. Ad-
ditional assistance having, however, by this time arrived,
Curtis was forced to release his hold ; and the necessary
restraint of several neighbours having been applied, ho
was prevented from repeating his violence, while brandy
and other restoratives were being applied by Mrs. Wilkes
and others to his wife, with the hope of producing re-ani-
mation. Every attempt which kindness and ingenuity
could suggest was made with this view, but without success;
already the livid hue of death had spread over the unhappy
woman's mutilated features. _ .

Having been released from constraint, Curtis, with brutal
composure had gone again into the tap-room, and was
calmly proceeding to refill his pipe with tobacco, when he
was told that he had better send for a surgeon, for his wife
was dying. "Let her die and be d-, and a d-- good
job too," was his brutal reply ; and without further care he
again sat himself down to his cups perfectly sober.
In the mean time the medical assistance of Mr. Alfred
Clarke, surgeon, had been procured for the woman. Mr.
Clarke only arrived in time to see the woman breathe her
last. In less than half an hour after she had entered the
White Lion she was a mutilated corpse, a victim of the
murderous ferocity of her husband. The body presents
marks of violence round the left eye; the immediate region
of the left temple is also discoloured by a blow, and already
(10 o'clock) the body is fast assuming general discolouration.
Curtis is now in custody, awaiting the result of a coroner's
inquisition, to be held on Monday.

THE MILITARY.—We are pleased to find that a
communication was yesterday made in the watch committee
by the mayor, that the gallant general in the command of
this district had issued a garrison order, that the soldiers on
leaving their quarters to recreate themselves among the citi-
zens, shall not carry thick and heavy walking sticks, Seve-
ral caseshave occurred, when soldiers have become inebriated,
and an affray taken place with the police and soldiers, the
former have been most seriously injured by the latter
when in the possession of such weapons. Upon a repre-
seutation of such conduct by his worship the mayor, to the
General in command of this district, a prompt order was
issued that the soldiers should be restricted to the carrying
of small canes, if they were disposed to have them.—
Plymouth Journal.
THE MANCHESTER BOILER EXPLOSION.—The in-
quest in this case was resumed on Saturday afternoon. John
Hartley, of Ancoats, Manchester, the maker of the boiler,
was examined, and stated that the price of it was 16s. per
cwt., the end plates to be thick, and the others 5-16.
It was of Thm neycroft iron, the next best to Low Moor iron.
He saw the boiler working short of water ten days before the
explosion, and named the fact to the engineer and to Mr.
Williamson. The engineer said it was owing to a leakage;
and it was agreed that the water should be let off that night
and the leakage repaired, but subsequently it was deter-
mined to work it a short time longer, and before any repairs
were done the explosion occurred. He thought the boiler would
stand a pressure of 8 )lbs. to the inch, and that the explosion
was caused by want of water. Christopher Ray gave evi
dente that on the 25th of March he found the boiler without
water, and told Egerton of it. The safety-valve also was
extra weighted to the extent of albs. per square inch. Da-
vid vid Reid, a sawyer, who was helping Egerton about
o dr.
engine at the time of the explosion, deposed
to
water
cumstances which plainly showed that there was
triedn the
in the boiler, and that Egerton knew it, for h
safety valve, and only a blue flame or heat came
the out. Mr.
Fairbairn, C.E., was next examined. He stated at, under
all the circumstances, he had not the least doubt that. on the
part of the engineer there had been great ignorance, reck-
lessness, and inattention, assuming that he had a knowledge
of the state of the boiler. The safety valve was of improper
construction, as it might fasten by oxydation. The boiler
was fed by a self-acting feeder, but it was too defective. The
turning of the fly-wheel to start the engine which had been
spoken of, if it were but for a revolution and a half, would
cause a rush of water into the boiler upon the red hot metal,
a quantity of highly elastic steam would be generated, and
the pressure become greater than the resisting power of the
plates. He conceived that there was a sufficiency of indi-
cating apparatus about the boiler, but that the engineer had
grossly neglected to attend to it. Higgins, the man who set
the boiler, was called Cu, but as he was not in attendance the
inquest was again adjourned to compel his attendance, and
will be resumed on Wednesday.
OATH OF ABJURATION (JEws) BILL.----The fol-
lowing is a copy of the Bill brought in by Lord John Russell
to regulate the mode of administering the oath of abjuration
to persons professing the Jewish religion :—" Whereas her
Majesty's subjects professing the Jewish religion are by law
capable of being elected to serve as Members of the House
of Commons, mid of holding divers offices in respect of which
they are or may be required to take the oath of abjuration ;
and it is expedient to direct in what manner that oath
should in all cases be administered to persons professing the
said religion; be it therefore enacted by the Queen's most
excellent Majesty, by and with the advice and consent of the
Lords spiritual and temporal, and Commons, in this present
Parliament assembled, and by the authority of the same,
that whenever any one of her Majesty's subjects professing the
Jewish religion shall present himself to take the said oath of
abjuration the words, Upon the true faith of a Christian'
shall be omitted out of the said oath in administering the
same to such person; and the taking of the said oath by such
person professing the Jewish religion, without the words
aforesaid, in like manner as Jews are admitted to be swora
_
to give evidence in courts of justice, shall be deemed to be a
sufficient taking of the oath of abjuration."
POISONING NEAR WISBECII —The proceedings
in
this case before the Wisbech Isle magistrates, which had
been adjourned from the 22d ult. to the 24tah, and then to
mass of
the 29th, were closed on Saturday. After
i,ea what she had
She replied, " I
evi-
dence had been taken the prisoner
me, for
to state, and cautioned in the usual mwaasnn-er: _
think it very hard that this should bel
hlaoideutgoeng
am as innocent as a new-born babe. p
however. felt it their
oiso n ing duty
hetor
will consider this, and set me at liberty. I sure I'm inno-
nocent." The magistrates, ho
commit the prisoner for trial on the charge of
mistress by putting arsenic in her pudding.
A society is about to be formed in Paris under the
patronage of the Archbishop, the object of which is to supply
bread to the poorer classes at 25 per cent. under the regular
price.
estre has
joined the Life Guards
Viscount Ing just
as cornet.
THE LATE MAIICHIONESS OP LAtisnowNE.—The
mortal remains of the above noble lady will be removed on
Friday next from Bowood, for interment in the family matt-
oleum, near that seat.