The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-08 00:00:00

THE CONVICT MURDOCK.

The Brighton Guardian contains a letter addressed by
Murdock's stepfather to Sir George Grey, as follows :
No. 8, Three Colt-street, Old Ford, Bow,
near London, July 28, 1856.

Elizabeth Tremlett, mother of John Murdock, alias
Joseph Williams, at present under sentence of death in
Lewes gaol, having forwarded a petition on behalf of
her son, to which up to the present time no answer has
been returned, it now becomes my bounden duty, as
father-in-law of the prisoner, most humbly to request an
answer to the petition, and I am sure you will pardon
any remars I may make on bebaif of the prisoner. HIP
age is 19 years, and I may truly say from the age of 12
years he was what is termed a useful lad to the police ;
that is, in plain terms, he was employed by them in many
caes to discover robberies, and no doubt was rewarded.
At the age of 14 he gave information against a man
termed "Jem the Lagger," and was, by order of Mr.
Ingram, police magistrate of the Thames police-court,
sent to sea. I went to a considerable expense at the
time he returned, and from that time, from what I have
since understood, he was employed by the metropolitan
police as a spy or scout ; be was allowed to carry a box
for the sale of jewellery, and was sent on different missions
by the police to discover robberies. Since I heard of his
desertion from the army I have been most credibly in-
formed that a police-officer, by.the name of --, at Strat-
ford, in Essex, employed him on a certain occasion. The
reward he received was 101. The prisoner, Joseph
Willams, alias John Murdock, was to have received 51.,
instead of which the said -- gave him 10s., and threA-
ened to have him transported if he attempted to claim
more. The prisoner at the time was allowed to carry
a staff. I frequently accused him of being a spy, and
he repeatedly denied it, stating he was in the pay of the
Commissioners of Scotland-yard at r. 24 a week, and in
confirmation of the same produced before aTharnes police-
officer in my house a staff. Having been severely cross-
examined by Mr. Huddlestone, and proved he bad not
stated the truth, the prisoner against whom he appeared
was acquitted. If I mistake not the case was brought
forward by the same policeman ; but another p 'liceman
of the name of can prove the fact. He came t me,
and I took him to the recruiting station at Soho-square,
where he was enlisted.
I should have stated that previous to this more than
one policeman has called upon me to know where he was
to be found, stating at the same time he was the best
scout they ever had. My answer to them at last was,
I would not have anything to do with such shameful
transactions ; if the Commissioners of Police wanted the
lad, let them take him and employ him.
The inference I now draw is this. If it had not been
for the emolument held out by the police the lad would
have followed a seaman's life. It has actually been stated
to me that he was induced by certain policemen to lead
parries into crime in order to leisure the conviction money.
I will pass over this, having furnished you with the out-
lines of the prisoner's life, leaving it to the public press
to decide upon the justice of the case.
I must once more trespass on your time to observe
that his mother and myself were always led to believe—
in fact, a private policeman, of the name of Charles
Mills, N division, generally in ,plain clothes, always
assured his mother he would be present at his trial, and
speak to his known humanity ; instead of which he
obtained leave to absent himsef, and did not return
until after his trial was over.
Your obedient servant,
JOHN PAGET TEEHLETT.

TILE MERCANTILE LAW AJ3IEIVDMEIVT
ACT.

This act has just been printed. It bears date the 29th
of July just past,
and is in substance as follows. It
commences by stating that its object is " to do away
with the inconvenience felt by persons engaged in trade
from the laws of England and Ireland differing from the
laws of Scotland." It then provides that, for the
future, no judgment or execution against the goods of a
debtor shall prejudice the title of a bona fide purchaser
of such goods before their attachment : tbat in any
action for the delivery of specific goods, the jury, if they
find for the plaintiff, shall declare specifically what are
the goods to which he is entitled, and what damages he
has sustained ; and the court may thereupon order the
defendant to deliver the goods without giving him any
option of paying their value and any damages to the
plaintiff instead ; that after the passing of the act, no
special promise
.in writing to be security for another
party shall be invalid from the fact that the conside-
ration for such promise does not appear on the in-
strument or in writing ; that any bond of security for
a firm shall cease to be binding unless there be any ex-
press stipulation to the contrary, or the contrary can be
assumed by necessary implication (?) on any change tak-
ing place iu the firm ; that a surety who discharged the
debt of which he is a guarantee for the payment shall be
entitled to all the securities held by the creditor in re•
spect to such debt ; that no acceptance of any bill of
exchange, either inland or foreign, made after Decem
ber, 1556, shall be binding on any person unless the ac-
ceptance be in writing on such bill, or if there be more
than one part of such bill, on one of the said parts, and
signed by the acceptor or his agent ; that with reference
to claims for repairs done, or supplies furn'shed to shiw,
every port within the United Kingdom, the Wands of
Man, Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney, and Sark, shall be
deemed a home port ; that all actions for accounts must
be commenced within six years after the cause of action
has arisen ; that judgments recovered against joint
debtors in the United Kingdom are to be no bar against
proceeding against the other debtors beyond seas, when
they come back to this country ; and lastly, that any
acknowledgment or promise made by the agent of the
party chargeable thereby, duly authorised to make such
acknowledgment or promise, shall have the same effec
as if such writing had been signed by the party himself.