The Sun.
London, England, 1851-10-14 00:00:00

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.

PORTSMOUTH, MoanAr.—The Chatham transport
sailed yesterday from Spitbead with a company of
Royal Sappers and Aliners for Bermuda.
The royal yachts Victoria and Albert and Fairy,
Captain Lord Adolphus Fitzclarence, G.H.C., are
expected to return to this port from Liverpool to-
night.
The Admiralty telegraphed to the Commander-in-
Chief at this port yesterday that the report from
Gloucester relative to the Franklin balloon was a
hoax. This official information was speedily dissemi-
nated throughout the port by the kindness of the
Pc:at-Admiral.
The Ranger, 10, is hourly expected at this port
from the coast of Africa, and the Sidon and Retribu-
tion from the Cape of Good'Hope.

THE SEARCH FOR SIR JOHN FRANKLIN.-At the
meeting of the Edinburgh Town Council on Tuesday, Bailie
Dick pressed the Lord Provost to send a memorial to the
Lords of the Admiralty as to the propriety of sending another
vessel in search of the missing vessels of discovery in the
Arctic regions. The Lord Provost had been assured it would
be too late to send any vessel in the present season. In the
view, however, of reminding the Admiralty
.0; to the pro-
priety of sending out a vessel early in the spring, he had no
objection that the matter be remitted to his committee. He
should put himself in communication with the relatives of
the officers in London and elsewhere, and would prepare
such a memorial as would have the desired effect.

BLACKWOOD Houss.—NAREOW ESCAPE PROM
E.q. has had a narrow escape from fire. On
E. Hope Vere, ._ ,
family
had .
FlRE.—Blackwood House, Lanarkshire, the seat of William
three o'clock the following morning Lady
fromsaga nmandn, happily
the evening of the bth, the
usual. About
Elizabeth Hope Vero was awoke by a strong smell of burn-
ing, which seemed to proceed from the large drawing-room
immediately below her ladyship's room. On alarmidg the
an inspection, it was discovered that
floor of the drawing-room was nearly
caught fire below the grate, and been
ohomtfakhyteihinrneggsmaller piece of wood. In a short time
the
bthghhuoneerui
nfistmeter
ignited
iohnrd,
in so prompt and orderly a manner that, although a large party were as-
sembled in the house, many of them were unaware of the
danger they had escaped until informed of it at the break-
fast table. From the situation of the room where the fire
originated, nothing could have saved the house from total
destruction had it not been arrested in the first stage.—
Edinburgh Courant.

ATTEMPTED SUlClDE.—Yesterday morning, be-
tween eleven and twelve, a young man of respectable ap-
pearance attempted suicide by throwing himself from th•
tunnel bridge into the Regent's Canal. It appeared that he
was in company with two other men, and before they could
stop him he jumped on to the bridge and threw himself into
the water, at the same time wishing them good bye. Az.
sistance was at once at hand, and he was conveyed on shore
and restoratives applied, happily with success.

We understand that Mr. N. T. Hicks, whose per-
formance of Mazeppa has attracted such crowded audiences
at Astley's Amphitheatre for about 300 nights during the
past and present year, concludes his engagement at that
house this evening, when he will join the highly-talented
corps dramatique at the Marylebone Theatre, at which house
fiat 111,116M1C0 is fixed for )j day next.

THE GOLD REGIONS.
A company has been advertised for working one of
the California mines belonging to Colonel Fremont.
The title is to be the Agua Fria Gold Mining Com-
pany, and the proposed capital is 100,0001. in 11.
shares, to be paid in full. It is situated to the south-
east of San Francisco in the Mariposa district, and,
according to the prospectus, the vein of gold quartz
to be explored is supposed to be of an average thick-
ness of four feet, commencing at the summit of a bill
,of 150 feet above an adjoining creek, and containing
18,000 tons between that and the water level. Speci-
mens :of the vein, assumed to be of an average
quality, have been essayed at the United States Mint
and in London, and have also been tested at the
Bank of England, and would give a gross value of
8701. per ever. Almost inexhaustible profits are there-
fore held out as the prospect of bringing machinery
to bear upon this single spot. Unlike some pre-
vious concerns that have been noticed, its direc-
tion is entirely composed of persons of unques-
tionable respectability, and there is also reason
to believe that those who are interested in the
mive, as the original lessees under Colonel Fre-
mont, are acting with perfect sincerity. They have
deposited, it is said, specimens to the value of 5,0001.,
in token of their good faith, to be applicable as a
guarantee for all expenses previously to the working
of the mine, and they also appear to have backed their
representations with the best evidencce that was avail-
able. In the face of these things, however, it is ne-
cessary to caution the public against wild anticipa-
tions. The speculation is a legitimate and desirable
one, but it is still thoroughly a speculation. Assuming
the machinery to be safely on the ground, and large
gains in course of realization, those gains must be
shared in a great degree with the persons employed.
There are also other contingencies to be taken into
account—possible contests regarding rights, the diffi-
culties of supervision, &c. It is, moreover, to be
noticed that if even these points be set aside, the real
question of profit to the English shareholders must
depen tirely upon a mater upon which the pros-
peobs itee not explicit, namely—the consideration they
are to pay to the lessees for the privilege of working.
It is announced that "the terms on which the assign-
ment has been received are such as, under the cir-
cumstances, must be considered most liberal ;" but
their precise nature should, if possible, have been fully
stated.
The last accounts from Sydney regarding the gold
region reached to the .6th June, but were extremely
meagre. Full particulars to that date have now ar-
rived, and it will be seen from the following extracts
that they are very satisfactory :
Extract of letter dated Bathurst, 231 Jane, relative to
the Turon gold diggins:—
"I started in company with -, and reached the
Turon about 1 o'clock, followed the river up about two
miles, and found the -- party. After partaking
of dinner joined the diggins on the river bank, and tried
111,7 band at the rocker. Continued at this that afternoon
and next day, and then cried enough.' We got some
gold dust, but not much, and from all the inquiries I
Leiade I found that every one procured some, quite suf-
ficient to repay the working man, but not enough to
maize it worth a gentleman's while to forego his other
occeoations and more legitimate modes of making
money'.A party of three men, by working steadily,
may realise from two to three ounces a-week; and as it
is all dust there, and every shovelful contains some, all
may get a certain proportion. There have been no lamps
dug up at the Turon, so there is
.less chance, and Con-
sequently less excitement. My opinion is that it will re-
solve itself into a steady article of production, a new ex-
large popula-
port from the colony, upon which a very
tion may be employed, but without any detriment to the
other branches of industry in the country. A propor-
tion of the population will become gold-diggers, but
sufficient, in a very short time, for all the other wants of
the cobnists will be procurable at present wages. All
gloomy apprehensions have completely subsided in this
di:Alio:, and I should, hope before lung will in all others.
Shepherds and men acustomed to light work will never
attempt to get a living by digging; as soon should I think
of doing so; and should Suture discoveries, like the
Turon, require constant steady hard work to be re-
munerative, there is Nile fear of old hands taking
to ii."
Extract from letter dated Bathurst, 25th June, relative
to discovery of gold and its efEct on sheep farmers in
the neighlsourhcomi.
I am happy to state that everything at my station
up to this period is going on satisfactorily, not a single
person leaving, nor any inclination evinced to do so. In-
sterofkrf apprehensions of scarcity of labour, there is
every reason to anticipate a plentiful supply from the dis-
appointed parties at the diggins.
" Thoji are flecking here from all quarters, some well
equipped, others the reverse. At the same time fresh
fields of gold are almost daily discovered, and the metal
will no doubt be obtained in other parts of the colony,
and thus equalise labour in the several districts. Yet I
am inclined to think the largest field will be found here,
and if so, I think that existing interests will be rather
improved than injared, and that fresh resources will be
developed. The carcase of the sheep will be more pro-
fitable, while the fleece in the London market will main-
tain a remunerative price. On the whole, the gold dis-
covery will ultimately be attended with glorious results,
ante colony will advance rapidly.
" The proportion of the fortunate is small compared
wi* the bulk, but that will always be the case when
every man thinks he has as good a eha/Ice as his neigh-
bour. lam informed that at the Turon the gold has
not yet been found in lump:, but there is abundance in
small parcels, and most persons at work find a more cer-
tain return for their labour, procuring nearly loa per
day on average.
" I could purchase gold here to a ?valley-re if I had the
•
fund.:-31. per oz. for dust free from quartz; the piece
weien the Governor purchased was ()Greet to me at
645. per ca."

ALLEGED POISONING BY A

MOTHER.

BATA, OCT. 10.—The circumstances of an extra-
ordinary charge of poisoning, which was preferred
against a very respectable looking woman yesterday,
have been already briefly narrated in The Sun. At
the private investigation before the magistrates the
prisoner stated her name to be Elizabeth Slater,
UV charge against her being that of attempting the
lire of her child, by the administration of poison.
This morning a public examination wss commenced
in the Sessions Court of the Guildhall, before Mr.
F. Dowding (mayor), and several other magistrates.
The prosecution was conducted by Mr. Williams,
of the firm of Taylor and Williams, and the prisoner
was defended by Mr. Hellings. The alleged husband
ef the prisoner, Mr. Slater, and who it transpired is
really Mr. Crosby, a solicitor, in practice at Bristol,
was in attendance, and took notes of the evidence.
The prisoner, whose real name is Elizabeth Lewis, has
hitherto carried on a highly respectable seminary, in
conjunction with her mother, at Redland, near Bristol.
She appeared very faint and ill, but occasionally passed
notes to Mr. Crosby during the proceedings.
Mrs. Searle,
No. 28 et, wife of James B. Searle, chemist, of
, ivertou-street, Widcoeibe, daposed that the
first time the prisoner carte to her house Was on Sa-
turday, the 7th of June last. She then took furnished
aparthients for one week, stating that her husband,
2 r. later, would be there on Monday, and, if he
ppwed of the rooms, they would take 'them for a
month or six
weeks. The- prisoner appeared in the
f_amily-wa y. She gave her name as Mrs. Slater. On
Monday she went to the railway n
to meet her
husband, and returned with
agentleman who called
himself Mr. Slater. He remained a short time, and g
tifhetnnarz,lw7 again. [The witness was here asked
Mr. ertsbliem'!n Was present, when she pointed out
wn.o was sitting by tin gs .3 ,a, the side of Mr. Hel-
. prisoner was confined on Tuesday,the
10:h, of a girl. She was attended by Mr. Lawrence,
surgeon, who was recommended by witness. The
primer remained4tahboouft
Jul
month at Mr. Searle's,
leaving on the
The child was dry
nursed, and healthy.the
chihreisoner arranged with
Thuely.
witness for nursing
sum to be paid
being 10s. per week, besides the
a for washing.
A fortnight after the prisoner left, r she called, in
the baby.
company with Mr. Slater, and
the end of another fortnight the At
'lnez went into the drawing-room, anyd cajled again.
to bring the baby up to there, which she desiredd. witness
she afterwards entered the room ea id. When
, r. Slater was
ietaaging upon the sofa, and Mrs. Slater steedi
by him. Witness heard the 'prisoner say as I close
tered the room, " Shall I, or will, you ?" ens de Mr. Slater replied, " I don't care which: The baby w
in elle room at the time. The same night the bab
was taken very ill, being very sick and relaxed in I.
bowels. It also shrieked very much, and kicked
about. The baby was restless almost immediately
after Mr. and Mrs. Slater left, and became worse in
the night. Next morning, Mr. Evans, surgeon, was
cti:lea in to see it, and upon his recommendation the
child Was sent to witness's sister in the country.
During Um time the prisoner called with a gentleman
wituess did not know, and finding the infant gone, told
fherormsihne ought not to have sent it away without in -
her wheng het-
to
told her if she would write to
she ;
-,,.w4hed to it 'shewould get
see again,
was brought home. afterwardsTi wrote, . and the child
loe ing day, eeemeanineed prisoner called on the fol-
on the lath ea serpterabebry Mr. Slater. That was
mained about two • They took tea and re-
with them alone part ea hours, the child being
teem the child heal heenutle time. 'Witness told
had had great trouble witvherivt. unwell,
ell and she
their satisfaction at the way the Theychild "pressed
and the baby was not worse on that d was nursed,
Saturday ortnight the prisoners calledevening. Last
again b t
eleven and twelve o'clock in the morning- T -wee°
was asleep in the parlour on the sofa. gW. itueb; baby
the prisoner alone with it. On her return the left
ball,
wa.,.. still asleep, hut putting out its tongue and movinf
its lips. The prisoner was sitting on a chair leaning
over the child, end with her hand near its face. she
sail to her, "Mrs, Searle. the baby has been inclined
to Zre sick." Witness replied, "I am sorry for it, for
she has not been sick for a long
time." The baby
was sick, and witness was going; to fetch a towel to
wipe its mouth when the prisoner told her not to
mind, and wiped its mouth with her pocket handker-

chief. After the prisoner left the child was a gain
seized with sickness and diarrhcea, but not so vic lent
as before. The next visit of the prisoner wau on
Saturday last, when she asked if she could ha. ee a
room to herself. Witness told her the drawing-
rooms were let, and she had no room except a bed-
room, where she would be alone. She accepted that,
and the baby was taken to her. She said she was
very glad to see the baby so much better. ,Vi tness
left the room, and on her return the prisoner was
nursing the child, and again said it was
inclined to be sick. The baby vomited,
and had diarrhcea afterwards ; but not so violent,
and it seemed very weak and prostrate. The pri-
soner called again last Tuesday. She appeared very
excited. She inquired if she could have a room alone.
Before that, on going into the parlour, witness found
the prisoner in a corner of the room with the child in
her arms, where she could not be seen from the shop.
A police inspector was in the shop, but prisoner did
not know it. She was afterwards in the bedroom
about twenty minutes with the child. When the
child was brought down to witness, she found it had
been sick over its nightgown. The child was very
prostrate afterwards, and suffered from sickness and
diarrhcea, and remains very ill now. The nightgown
and napkins were given to the police inspector. The
child appeared, also, on these occasions to have a dif-
ficulty in swallowing.
Cross-examined by Mr. Hellings—The prisoner
came to my house on the 9th of June, and was confined
on the following day. Once or twice the baby sucked
to relieve the mother ; that was all. She did not con-
tinue to suck for ten days. I don't know how long
she did. I can't swear anything about it. When she
used to suckle her the baby was fed upon milk and
water. During the month the baby had tops and bot-
toms and different foods. Mr. Lawrence was applied
to by the prisoner to recommend a nurse for a month.
I said I had no objection to take charge of the child
myself, as Mrs. Slater said she was going to London,
and that was agreed to. She appeared to be very
fond of the baby, and I think it likely she told me
to take all possible care of it. She made me a present
of a shawl before she left. When she left she did
not say " Mind take care of the baby." She directed
me to inform her if anything happened to the baby,
and I would not swear she did not give me directions
if it was ill to call in Mr. Lawrence. She came to
see the baby about a fortnight after she left, but I do
not know that my husband wrote to her first. I
believe not. The baby never would retain much
milk on her stomach ; she was sick when she took
much ; she would never retain it. Tops and bottoms
and arrowroot were given it—the former are farina-
ceous food manufactured entirely for babies. I swear
the prisoner never wrote to me requesting that I
would get Revelenta. We got Revelenta for the baby.
When we get letters of no importance we destroy
them at once generally.
The proceedino, which had lasted nearly six hours,
were then adjourned.

MURDER BY A FEMALE AT DAVENTRY.

The town of Daventry has been, during the last
week or ten days, in a state of great excitement, in
consequence of the murder of a married woman,
named Elizabeth Pinckard, who resided in a lonely
house about a mile from the town. It appears that on
Monday last the husband of the deceased left home
about nine o'clock with a horse and cart, to attend a
fair some few miles dstant, and was accompanied by
his son, a man of middle age, holding a small farm in
the village of Thrupp. They were absent the whole
day. Towards the afternoon a person, named Bird,
happened to pass the house, and seeing the door
open he entered, and discovered, to his horror, the de-
ceased in a sitting posture in one corner of the room,
a corpse. She had a piece of narrow tape, such as is
used for apron strings, tied round the throat, and one
end was fastened to a small hook in the window-blind.
On the husband's return, he at once suspected that
she had been murdered, though the prevailing opinion
at the time was that it was a case of suicide. Cir-
cumstances, however, have come to light, which
have induced the police of the town to effect the
capture of Mrs. Pinckard, the wife of the deceased's
son, on suspicion of having murdered the old lady.
The deceased, it seems, some time since had left her
by an uncle the interest of 1,0001., which at her
death was to he divided among her children. She
had only one child, the husband of the prisoner. The
inducement fur depriving the unfortunate female of
her life is supposed to have been to obtain possession
of the 1,0001. her husband, it appears, was in diffi-
culties, and there was a distress on the farm. The
prisoner was seen to leave the house of the deceased
about three-quarters of an hour prior to the dis-
covery of the murder. The body when examined was
covered with wounds and bruises. The inquest was
resumed on Friday last at the Town-hall, when
evidence was adduced confirming the above details.
It was again adjourned. The prisoner is about fifty-
five years of age.

[The following appeared in our Third Edition of
last night :—]

FRANCE.
Tree Messager has the following on the Ministerial

crisis :

" We have to request the reader not to confound
the information which we are about to give with the
approximate news which find their way so easily
into journals, and often unknown to the chief editor.
At a Cabinet Council held a few days back, with the
President of the Republic in the chair, that high
functionary proposed plainly to his Ministers to repeal
the law of May 31. That proposition was ener-
getically opposed by the majority of the Cabinet, and
particularly by M. Leon Faucher. The President
having persisted, the Ministers then tendered their
resignation. The Minister of the Interior declared
that for his part he would not keep his portfolio
unless the l?, in question was maintained, and
M. de Persigny sent away on some foreign mission.
Two days after this council, the Prefect of Police
waited on the President of the Republic, and, after
long and fruitless efforts to convince the head of the
executive power of the danger of repealing the law
of May 31, also tendered his resignation. We are,
consequently, in the midst of a ministerial crisis; it
ie even more than a mere ministerial crisis, for the
withdrawal of M. Carlier indicates a change of sys-
tem. Different opinions may be formed of the Pre-
fect of Police, but it is the judgment of the public
which fixes the signification of political men, and
public opinion has made of M. Carlier one of the
personifications of resistance to the revolution. The
withdrawal of M. Carlier consequently would signify
that the Government is no longer disposed to persist
in the political system which it has hitherto pursued.
What could confirm this indication is the fact that
well-informed persons assert that M. E. de Girardin
had, three days ago, a conference with the President
of the Republic. M. Veron, it is said, openly ad-
vocates the formation of a De Lamartine Ministry,
which, perhaps, M. de Girardin would enter. In
the event of this combination succeeding, measures
of the highest importance would be proposed at the
same time as the abrogation of the law of the 31st
May, such as the abolition of the octroi duties, a re-
duction of the land-tax, and in order to make up
for the deficiency of the budget that this would
occasion, a considerable reduction of the army. There
is finally on the lapis a combination much less eccen-
tric, but which is more difficult of realization. It is
contemplated to form a Ministry, of which M. Odilon
Barrot and M. Casa Bianca should be members. It
is not probable, however, that M. Barrot would enter
the Cabinet without conditions, and certain conditions
would not be agreed to. All this is grave. It is pos-
sible, however, that from this mountain there will
only iisue a few phrases, in a message, perhaps. It
is, however, the duty of the journals to inform the
public of what passes. Public opinion once warmed
is a force by which many resolutions are deetroyed."