The Sun.
London, England, 1851-03-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 7, 1851.

DESIGNS EXTENSION ACT.
This Bill was read a second time, and their Lordships
adjourned.

GREAT NORTHERN RAILWAY.
The usual half-yearly general meeting of the pro-
prietors of the Great Northern Railway was held yes-
terday, at the London Tavern; Mr. E. 13. Denison,
M.P., chairman of the board of directors, in the chair.
The advertisement convening the meeting having
been read, and the minutes of th previous meeting con-
firmed, the common seal of the company was affixed to
the register of proprietors.
The following report of the directors was then sub-
mitted to the shareholders:—
" The accounts exhibit a balance on the net revenue ac-
count amounting to 52,552/. 17s. 7d., but as there is a
charge on this balance amounting to 16,164/. 13s. 9d.,
for dividend due to preference shareholders, to 31st De-
cember last, and 15,898/. 15s. 43. for interest due on
mortgage debt to the same period, the available balance
will only amount to 20,4891. Bs. 6d., which your di-
rectors propose to carry forward to the credit of
the current half-year. It has been the earnest endea-
vour of the directors to economize expenditure as much
as possible, but the requirements of an increasing
traffic, and the necessity of making ample provision for
a considerable expansion of it in the present year, have
called for an immediate and larger outlay in additional
sidings, buildings, and other works, and in rolling
stock, than was originally contemplated. To provide
for this extra expenditure, as well as the deficiency es-
timated at the last half-yearly meeting, and all future
requirements, your directors propose to take powers at
the present meeting to raise 750,000/. of additional
share capital. The share capital being paid up, the
directors recommend the conversion into stock
of the 25/. original shares and the A and the B half-
shares of 121. 10s., to take effect from Ist of May next,
at the rate of four of the original and eight of the half-
shares, for each 1001. stock of the various denominations;
transfers not to be allowed for a less amount than 10/.
stock, and to be for sums only that are equal multiples
of 101., except in cases of balance; and as the object has
been long since attained, for which the privilege to di-
vide the 251. shares into A and B half-shares was
created, the directors have decided that such di-
vision of shares shall cease on the 30th April next.
The works on the Towns' line are progressing satis-
factorily; and in b,half of the body of labourers em-
ployed over the several contracts of the Towns' line,
about sixty miles, the directors recommend a vote of two
hundred pounds for. their moral and religious instruction.
The arrangement with the York and North Midland
Company, referred to at tho last general tneeting, has been
ratified under the seals of their respective companies; aad
the Great Northern trains have been, since August last,
regularly working over the York and North Midland
line, to and irons York. The directors have steadily en-
deavoured to make traffic arrangements with various
companies, and whilst they have sought t protect the
interests of this company, they have deemed it wise to
concede something for the sake of arrangement, rather
than risk the expense and loss which would result from
active competition. With reference to the traffic from
Edinburgh, Newcastle, and other places north of York,
your directors have come to an arrangement with the
London and North-Western, the Midland, the York,
Newcastle and Berwick, the North British, the Cale-
donian and the Carlisle Companies, for a division
of this traffic. With regard also to the
traffic from Yorkshire and Lancashire, for which
the Great Northern Company competes with
the Midland and the London and North-Western
companies, your directors have made a proposition for a
division, which is under consideration. The subject of
traffic arrangements with the Eastern Counties Company
has been renewed since the last meeting, and a deputa-
tion from this company came to an understanding with
a deputation from the Eastern Counties Company, upon
all the points in which the two companies would compete
with each others; and your directors dwelt with the
question upon a basis which they considered liberal
towards the Eastern Counties Company, in the hope
that a permanent arrangement might be made to
secure the harmonious action of both. It is, however, to
he regretted that the Eastern Counties Board have not
ratified the arrangements made by their deputation.
This company, it will be remembered, possesses tha
right to work over the Eastern Counties line, between
Peterborough and Wisbech; and your directors have
madenrrengements with the East
which they Anglian Company by
Will work the East Anglian line from Wis-
bech to Dereham and to Ely, thus enabling this company
to communicate to and from' their main line to the
northern parts of Norfolk. This contract is made upon
the terms of paying to the East Anglian Company 40
IDer cent. of the income derived from the East Anglian
line, with a guarantee that the amount thus
paid s net
profits be less than 15,0001. a year,
being about the net
e
profits earned by the line for each of the two last
years;
the per tentage to increase upon an increase of traffic. Th
traffic of that line has been depressed by the want Which will
of free
communication to the west and to the South, wh
be furnished by the Great Northern
and there
can be no doubt of its improvement under the arras
This ange"
manta with this company.
y
company having
received from the Roysten and Hitchin Company
the line 'from Hitchin to Boyston, has been eeeeti's
leg it since the month of October last, and the
Extension to Shepreth will, it is expected, be ready for
traffic in May next. Your directors, feeling the impor-
tance of the completion of the line into Cambridge,
deemed it necessary to deposit in Parliament a Bill for
an extension from Shepreth to that town, and for a junc-
tion there with the Newmarket line; the Bill was, how-
ever, opposed by the Members for the University of
Cambridge, upon an assurance by the Eastern Counties
Company that the line granted to theta should be opened
ford traffic in June next, and the Bill was upon the second
rng withdrawn; and your directors trust the commu-
nication by the Great Northern line to Cambridge will not
be delayed beyond that Period. With the Manchester,
Sheffield, and Lincolushire Company, your directors
have been unable to come to any definite terms; and as,
long as that company
continues bound, under their pre-
sent contract with the Midland and the London and
North-Western Companies, to withhold from this com-
pany all facilities for traffie in respect of wbioh the Mid-

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT. land and the London and North-Western com-
HOUSE OF LORDS, March 6. pete, it is improbable that any permanent or satisfactory
The LORD CHANCELLOR took his seat on the Wool-
arrangement can be made. Your directors have
sack at Five o'clock.
bad under review their relations with the South
PETITIONS. Yorkshire Railway Company, and, finding the
The Earl of ENNISKILLEN presented petitions arrangements connected with the coal traffic
against the Papal aggression from the city of London-
involved many constantly recurring matters of difficult
derry, the town of Enniskillen and Manorhamilton.
adjustment, whilst the limited mileage (about 25 miles)
The Duke of ARGYLE presented a petition from of the South Yorkshire Company, naturally disinclined
Glasgow against the slave trade.
that board to second the extensive arrangements re-
CAPE OF GOOD HOPE—THE KAFIRS. quired by the Great Northern traffic, thought it better
Lord MONTEAGLE said he wished to ask the Noble to make propositions for permanent possession of the
Lord the Secretary of State for the Colonies a question, South Yorkshire line, and have been enabled to satisfy
of which he had given notice, and which related to a the South Yorkshire board that the mineral traffic,
matter of very considerable importance, especially at the which forms their chief source of income, may be safely
present time. He had received advices to-day left to the management of the Great Northern Company,
from the Cape of Good Hope which gave an account
upon the basis ultimately agreed upon; so that your di-
of some very serious transactions in that colony, rectors will henceforth, provided the arrangement meets
which, if true, were likely to affect in a material degree, with the sanction of the shareholders, take the management
not only the colony itself, but all those who had any of the South Yorkshire line, to work it in conformity with
the traffic arrangements on the Great Northern line.
connexion with it ; and he was quite sure that the
Noble Lord would see the propriety of communicating The basis agreed upon is, in effect, that the Great
Northern Company shall guarantee to the South York-
to the House the contents of any dispatches which
the Government had received with regard to the
shire Company a dividend of 3 per cent., and be entitled
present state of the colony. It was advisable, he thought, to carry 200,000 tons of coals, the present extent of the
to reassure confidence in the minds of all parties who traffic, to their railway; and that the dividend shall be
were interested in the colony that the rights of pro- increased by one-half per cent. upon every additional
perty and life were respected; and therefore, whatever 100,000 tons carried, until 800,000 tons shall be carried,
the truth was, it would be better to make it known to and 6 per cent. paid; any quantity carried beyond this
the public at once than to keep them in sus- is to be entirely free of charge. The dividend, when it
pence. It appeared that Sir H. Smith had been
has once reached 44 per cent., is not to recede, but is
liable..._L to fluctuate between 6 and 44 per cent., according to
under the necessity of proclaiming martial law through-
eeeh half-year's traffic. Any South Yorkshire shareholder
out the greater portion of the province, and he had not
willing to accept 4 per cent. as a definitive dividend, is to
only done this, but he required a levy to be made on all
persons between fifteen and fifty to defend the have the option of doing so. The present outlay on
frontier against the Kafir war, which appeared the South Yorkshire line is about 500,000/., and the
to be actually in progress. Letters had been published Great Northern Company will henceforth take the ma-
in the newspapers containing facts, which were extremely nagement of all further outlay, which may probably
important to all who had connexion with the colony, amount to 200,0001. or 700,000/. in all. The earnings of
whether in a commercial point of view, or by the ties of the South Yorkshire Company, for the last half-year,
affection or relationship. He now wished to know if the yielded a dividend of 24 per cent., and the effect of the
Noble Lord had received any communication which he arrangement agreed to will be that this company will not
pay more than 3 per cent., except as the traffic
could properly lay before the House as to the
incursions of the Kafirs, and as to the means of defence in minerals to the Great Northern line increases;
at the command of the Governor. For the purpose of
and the Great Northern shareholders have this satis-
factory security, that for every additional pound paid by
being in order he would eonclude by moving fur a copy
of the proclamation of Sir H. Smith. them to the South Yorkshire Company, they will be
Earl GREY, who was almost inaudible in the gal- earning, upon an average, at least 5/. upon their own
line. The coal traffic on the Great Northern line, though
testy, was understood to reply that he had received a
dispatch from the colony, which mentioned that an at- only in its commencement, is now yielding 1,200/. a
tack had been made by the Kafirs upon Sir Harry
week; and appearing likely to be a source of great and
Smith, and he regretted to add that :the en- permanent income, it requires very extensive as well as
counter had resulted in the death of several
economial arrangements in the principal coal field, freed
from the embarrassments which would be occasioned
men and two officers. The dispatch would be
laid on their Lordships' table as soon as possible, and he by the interposition of an independent company.
had given instructions to have it prepared for that par-
John Cattley, Esq., one of the auditors, is in turn to
pose. With regard to the last question of the Noble
retire, but is eligible for re-election, and is willing again
Lord, he had to state, that during the last two years the to undertake the duty. This is the period at which a
fourth of the number of directors, in rotation, retire,
forces of the colony had been greatly reduced, but Go-
vernment wee now on the point of dispatching additional and the following five are the gentlemen now in turn to
retire; they being eligible, offer themselves, and are re-
forces, and he hoped shortly to hear that the inaurrec-commended by the board far re-election, viz :—Major
Lion of the Kafirs had been put down.—(Hear, hear.)
Lord STANLEY said the reply of the Noble Earl Esq.;
Amsinek; Charles Chaplin, Colonel Colquhoun;
was satisfactory as far as it went, but the Noble Earl had James Meek, Esq.; and Thomas Wetherell, Esq."
spoken of a reduction of forces during the last two years, The CHAIRMAN, in moving the adoption of the report,
and he should be glad to know what the extent of that said the directors had endeavoured to embody in it all
reduction had been.—(Hear, hear.) that could be interesting to the proprietors, and it would
Earl GREY, who still spoke in a low tone of voice, therefore be only necessary to make one or two general
replied, that at the close of the Kafir war it was thought remarks.—(Hear, hear.) -Ne doubt the accounts on the
unnecessary to maintain the forces of the colony on a war whole would be satisfactory. It should be remembered
footing, and they were therefore reduced to the same that the line was only opened to Peterborough last sum-
mer, bat still the revenue returns displayed an increase
state that they were in before the war commenced. The
o last official document which appeared to have been over expenditure.—(Hear.) That increase amounted
issued by the Governor was the proclamation published in to about 20,0004, but under existing circumstances it
the Grahamstown newspaper, and from that it would was not thought desirable to divide that balance ;
appear, that the attack of the Kafirs in the first in-
and he hoped that conclusion would receive the
stance was most unjustifiable and unprovoked.—(Hear, sanction of the meeting.---(Hear, hear.) A few figures
hear.) A body of them, while partaking of the hospi- would illustrate the rise and progress of the line. In
tality of some British settlers, rose upon them and bar-
October last the weekly receipts were 22,866 Z; in Nov.,
barously murdered them.
23,516/., and in December, 33,541/.; showing that the
Lord MONTE AGLE was sorry to recur to the sub-
opening of the Peterborough line had not only proved
feet with which he had frequently troubled their Lord-
advantageous in itself to the public, but it had greatly
ships, but he could not help making a few remarks on increased their average receipts.—(Hear, hear.) No
the matter by which they were occupied. It should be doubt the meeting would remember that when this un-
recollected that the Cape was in a very different state dertaking was in Parliament the line from Peter-
to what it was when this Kafir war began.—(Hear.)
borough to London was strongly opposed.—(Hear.) It
If there had been any arrangement made at the begin-
was resisted on the ground that it would never pay, but
ning of that war it had been grossly violated in the the company convinced the Legislature that it would.
course of the contest. If British merchants and the line was granted in its integrity.—(Hear, hear.)
determined to supply arms and ammunition Now, what had been the result? Why, before the Peter-
trary to the law, to the natives Of the cone
borough line was opened, the returns were 22/. per mile
per week, but directly the communication was opened
district, those natives were not to be blamed
t
for using the means put into their hands. Knowing all from Peterborough to London, the average returns rose
these circumstances, he had to beg to withdraw the mo- to between 30/. and 341. per mile, and he had no
tion which he had made. hesitation in pronouncing that in five years' time
TAXES ON INCOME. the southern division of the line would pay as well, if
Lord BROUGHAM, after having read the resolutions
not better, than any other portion of the scheme.—
of which he had given notice to the House, showing an (Hear, hear.) The proposed splitting of the 50/. shares,
h
opinion that there ought to be a difference made in thee could not help feeling, would prove beneficial to the
tax imposed upon incomes derived from realised pro- Proprietors generally, and he trusted the recommenda-
perty and from professional labour, begged to withdraw lion
of the directors in that respect would be freely fol-
them.
lowed.—(Hear.) At all events, whatever independent
proprietors might do, it was his intention to act upon
the suggestion of that report, and he looked for-
ward to the day when the A and B shares
would be comparatively more valuable than the 504
(Hear, hear.) The meeting would perceive that the di-
rectors required additional capital, and they therefore
proposed to take authority for raising 750,0001.; but the
proprietors might rest satisfied that no more of that ad-
ditional capital would be expended than was abso-
lutely necessitated by the wants of the public and
the increase of the traffic.—(Hear, hear.) The Towns'
line would be opened towards the close of the pre-
sent year.—(Hear, hear.) The arrangements referred
to in the report as having been come to with' other com-
panies would have the effect of averting ruinous com-
petition.—(Hear, hear.) The arrangement with the
London and North-Western and the Midland was to
last for a period of five years, while that with the East
Anglian was to continue for twenty-one years, and he,
with the directors, were not in the least apprehensive that
these contracts or agreements would turn out disadvanta-
geous to either one side or the other.—(Hear.) He re-
gretted that the negotiations with the Eastern Counties
had fallen through; but as the directors are still open to
overtures from that company, he yet hoped the time was
not far distant when the two concerns would come to
work amicably together.—(Hear, hear.) The Bill for
connecting the „ Great Northern with Cambridge had
been successfully opposed by the University autho-
rities, urged on by the Eastern Counties Com-
pany; but the directors were in no way disheartened
by that circumstance, because the opposition had pro-
mised to join with them in forcing the Eastern Counties
Company to complete their Royston and Hitchin lino
without delay.—(Hear, hear.) He, as well as the di-
rectors, could not help thinking that the Sheffield, Man-
chester, and Lincolnshire Company bad rejected a most
favourable offer which this company
it would seem that the Sheffield, Manchester, and
Lincolnshire were under an arrangement to the
London and North-Western Company, which
prohibited them from rendering any facilities in assist-
ance to the Great Northern line.—(Hear.) The agree-
ment which the directors proposed would have thrown
a large additional traffic upon the Sheffield, Manchester,
and Lincolnshire line; and as the excuse of Lord Yar-
borough and the other directors of the Lincolnshire
Company was based upon arrangements which Parlia-
ment never contemplated when it sanctioned the
Sheffield, Manchester, and Lincolnshire line, and which
could not legally be maintained.—(Hear, hear.) How-
ever, the offers of the Great Northern board had been
rejected, and as the other side had accused him and his
brother directors of a want of courtesy in conducting the
negotiations, it was not improbable that he should even-
tually feel it necessary to publish the correspondence
which had passed between the two boards.—(Hear.)
The arrangement with the Yorkshire lines would increase
traffic upon both this and the Yorkshire lines. The na-
ture of the arrangement was fully explained in the re-
port, and it was therefore unnecessary for him to go
into its details, but he might as well mention that the
arrangement was intended to be perpetual.—(Hear.)
These were all the observations he had to address to the
meeting, and it now only remained for him to move the
confirmation of the accounts and adoption of the re-
port.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. PRESTON wished to move an amendment. At
the last meeting some allusion was made to a gentleman
at the board, and it was stated that he was a jobber, or
speculator, on the Stock Exchange. Now he thought
such a man was not a fit and proper person to sit on the
direction of the company, and he should therefore move
as an amendment that in future no person should •be
eligible to a seat at the board who made a practice or
profession of speculating on the Stock Exchange.
Mr. WATERS seconded the amendment, fully concur-
ring in the opinions expressed by the Hon. Proprietor
who had moved it.—(Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN admitted* at once that as a rule the
direotors of a railway company ought to have nothing
to do with the Stock Exchange, but it was unfair to
attack a gentleman at the board in this wat.--(Hear,
hear.) The gentleman against whom this amendment
was directed was a most useful and efficient member
of the board, and he should be sorry to see
lose the benefit of his services.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. PRESTON insisted that his amendment had not
been answered. It was not denied that the gentleman
in question was a speculator on the Stock Exchange,
and he must therefore take the allegation as true
(Hear, hear.) Now a railway director should be like
Caesar's wife, " not only pure, but above suspicion," and
he hoped the meeting would adopt his proposal.
Mr. WATERS reminded the meeting, that in the early
career of this company a gentleman, who wished to bey
on the board of management, was rejected on account of
his being connected with the Stock Exchange.—(Hear,
hear.) Now the director whom he now had in his eye
it was notorious kept a Ball ,account in: the Stock Ex-
change, and the 1,000 shares which he was said to hold
in this concern were not held in a loont2
fide manner.
The CHAIRMAN said all that he knew was that Mr.
Parker, the gentleman referred to, held a sufficient
qualification in stock to entitle him to sit on the direc-
tion.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. PARKER emphatically denied the imputation of
Mr. Waters. It was wholly unfounded in truth, and
nothing more than a pare fiction.—(Cheers.)
The amendment, after some further discussion—the
majority of the meeting
protesting against this prying
into the private affairs of rho directors—was withdrawn.
an
Mr. WATERS moved
_ . amendment negativing that
portion of the report which referred to the arrangement
with the An 1.
con-
vinced, if g lan Compute, as he was firmly con-
loss to the carriedrea out, it would result in clear
numoloar
He
Northern of 15,000/. per an-
had never made 15
00declared that the Fast Anglian
in the report to tha't 01. per annum, and the statement
had never made more jicat must be an error. The line
the returns of the East Ann iip,266L, while, according to
half-years yielded only 20%81'91 Company, the last three
be remembered that these 6 16s. lid., and it should
the legitimate deduction thatga
ores
.shere irrespective of
be made for wear
and tear of rolling stock, renewal 14
of
hear.) They had hampered themselvesway' 84c.—(Hear,
already with the
Lincolnshire liner, which had proved aale d lose to them,
and if the shareholders did not take
oars these gas-

rantees would sink them to a level with the Eastern
Counties.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. HERAPATH gave it as his opinion that the com-
pany had no power to grant guarantees either to the
East Anglian or the South Yorkshire, and he would
suggest that the question of these contracts should be
deferred for the consideration of a special meeting.
Mr. PRESTON thought the board ought to examine the
share register of these two companies before they made
any guarantee; and the same source of information
should be open to the proprietors.—(Hear.)
Mr. BAQSTER, the solicitor, said the contracts were
quite legal.
Mr. BERAPATH still insisted that they were not. The
company had power to enter into working contracts, but
not to make guarantees.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. BAGSTER said the power was not derived from the
special Act of this company, but from a clause which was
to be found in the General Clauses Consolidation Act,
The proposed arrangement, however, did not partake of
the nature of a guarantee, but it was simply a contract
for working and appropriating the receipts in a particu-
lar manner.—(Hear, hear.) It was unfair to make the
basis of this arrangement the present receipts of the East
Anglian line, because, owing to mismanagement, no less
than 60 per cent. of the gross earnings bad been swal-
lowed up by the working expenses.—(Hear, hear.)
This company, however, could work the line for 50
per cent., and therefore the difference between 60 and
50 would be profit of the proposed arrangement.—(Hear,
hear.) Besides, the East Anglian was at present shut
up at its two termini, but directly this contract came
into operation the line would be thrown open at both
ends, and then it could not fail to become a most
profitable undertaking.—(Hear, hear.) The meeting
should recollect this, that they could not lase by
the contract, while it would place 67 miles of additional
railway under their control to develop as a tributary.
Mr. GROVES told the meeting that one of the effects of
their guarantees with a Yorkshire company was to com-
pel them to run trains into York, which did not pay
working expenses; and to run trains between York and
Doncaster, which did not even pay the men's wages.—
(Hear.) Those two significant facts, he trusted, would be
sufficient to induce the meeting to pause before they
rashly sanctioned either the contract with the South
Yorkshire or the East Anglian.—(Hear, hear.) He
was afraid too many of the directors were interested in
the South Yorkshire.—(Hear, hear.)
The CHAIRMAN, assuming that they had the power to
make the East Anglian contract, wished to bring the at-
tention of the meeting back to the policy of that ques-
tion. Now it had already been remarked that practically
the East Anglian line had been shut up at both ends,
but remove that blockade, and the line would at once
become profitable.—(Hear, hear.) Granting that the
line only yielded 81. 10s. per mile per week, would not
that give them 14,8071. to meet the guarantee of 15,000/. ?
But the line had paid 101. and even 121. per mile per
week, and let them once get this agreement con-
firmed, and they might depend upon it the
line would become extremely profitable.—(Hear, hear.)
He, therefore, thought the proposed contract was sound
and politic, and he had no hesitation in strongly recom-
mending the meeting to sanction it.—(Hear, hear.)
With regard to the statement of Mr. Groves about the
losses at York, he begged to tell the meeting that it
was incorrect.—(Hear, hear.)
A PROPRIETOR stated that Mr. Brassey, the eminent
contractor, had assured him that a line like the East
Anglian could not be worked for less than 121. per mile
per week, and he hoped this contract would not be has-
tily adopted.
Mr. REYNOLDS said none but great trunk lines could
be worked at 50 per cent., and with the example of the
Eastern Counties and the Newmarket line before them
be thought it was their duty to pause before
they passed this contract. If there was one thing
more than another that was generally admitted
by railway shareholders, it was that the London and
North-Western, the Great Western, and the other great
companies of the kingdom would have escaped all the re-
cent difficulties had they kept to their respective trunk
lines and avoided guarantees.—(Hear, hear.) Now,
the East Anglian was a rotten concern, and he very
much feared the South Yorkshire was little better ; and
he for one would do his best to defeat these proposed
contracts, which were fraught with danger and objec-
tion.—(Hear, hear.)
Mr. PRESTON created some confusion by forcing him-
self upon the meeting, but the meeting would not hear
him; and the noise becoming greater than over,
Mr. REYNOLDS rose and said it might be an amuse-
ment to Mr. Preston to cause this uproar, but it was a
nuisance to the meeting, and unless that gentleman sat
down, he should move that he be turned out.—(Cheers.)
A PROPRIETOR having seconded the motion,
The CHAIRMAN informed Mr. Preston that if he per-
sisted in his attempt to address the meeting out of order
he should put the motion which had just been made, and
if carried steps would be taken to put it in force.
After another scene of uproar and confusion, during
which Mr. Preston behaved in a very frantic manner,
that gentleman was induced to sit down, and the motion
that he be turned out was withdrawn.
The amendment that the East Anglian contract be not
confirmed was then put to the vote, and negatived by a
large majority.
Mr. WATERS then moved as an amendment, that a
resolution which was passed at a former meeting, to the
effect that the directors be authorised to take such steps
as they should consider necessary for protecting the in-
terest of the Great Northern, either by treating with
other companies, or applying to Parliament, be rescinded.
but no one seconded the resolution, and it therefore fell
to the ground. He then moved a third amendment, di-
recting the board to charge the interest on the mort-
gage and the coats of management in future to revenue
account.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
ROUSE OF LORDS. March 6.
HEATHCOTE'S DIVORCE.
The proceedings in this Bill were resumed this after-
noon before the Lord Chancellor, Lord Brougham,
Lord Straegford, and Lord Laneshrough.
Mr. TALBOT proceeded with the evidence iu support
of the Bill.
Captain Courtney, RN., deposed that on 27th Nov.,
1847, he took the command of the Constance at Valpa-
raiso. He found the petitioner, Captain Heathcote, on
board the ship, acting as first lieutenant, where he re-
mained constantly until the 24th of November, 1849,
when he landed in England in company with the witness.
This concluded the evidence in support of the Bill.
Lord BROUGHAM inquired if the petitioner had any
other evidence to produce of the relationship of the
parties; at present they had no other evidence but the
lady's admission that G. F. Law was her brother. He
was said to have been in India from eight years of age.
Mr. TALBOT said they had not such evidence at pre-
sent, but he would take care to have it supplied.
On the motion of the LORD CHANCELLOR, the Bill WaS
then read a second time.
M'LEAN'S DIVORCE.
In this case the petitioner was a Lieutenant Cole, in
the Bth Regiment of Native Infantry, E.1.C., suing for a
divorce from his wife, Mary Lewis M`Lean, on the
ground of adultery committed with Captain Cristal, of
the same regiment, now deceased.
Mr. TALBOT stated the case. In 1834 the petitioner,
an officer of high standing in the Bombay army, mar-
ried Miss Pelley, daughter of a gentleman in the civil
service of the East India Company, at that time about
eighteen years of age, to wham he had been for some
time attached. For the first two years of their married
life they had lived at Bombay, but in 1836 they removed
to Sattara with the regiment. At this period the health
of Mrs. M`Lean required that she should reside in
England, where her husband accompanied her. After
residing in England two years, they returned to India,
and fixed their residence at Kurrachee, where they re-
mained until 1845, when Mrs. M'Lean, owing to the
entire breaking up of her health, was obliged to
return to England, but owing to his professional
engagements ho was not able to accompany her this time.
She returned by the overland route, but being delayed
by her illness at Cairo, she was overtaken by Captain
Cristal, the gentleman with whom the alleged adul-
tery was said to be committed. This gentleman
was a brother officer of the petitioner, and a most inti-
mate friend, both previous and after his marriage, and
meeting with Mrs. M'Lean at Cairo, he escorted her
to England, paying her the utmost attention.
After arriving in England, he visited her
friends at Cheltenham and other places where she was
then staying; and in the latter end of 1846 and the sum-
mer of 1847 he should be able to trace them living in
the same lodgings in Maddox-street, where there
was no doubt but that several acts of adultery
had been commited. In the latter end of that
year both Mrs. M'Lean and Captain Cristal
returned to India in the same vessel, and though he
should not be able to offer any evidence of what had
taken place on the passage, yet he should prove
that exactly six months and fourteen days after
she had rejoined her husband a child was born, which
was in every respect a full grown nine months'
child. When this fact was communicated to her
husband, his state of mind had been almost bordering on
insanity, and a military board was held on him and he
was discharged on the ground of ill-health. Two letters
had been written by Mrs. M'Lean to her husband,
in the first of which she denied the adultery,
but within forty-eight hours after she wrote again,
admitting that she had been unfaithful to him.
An action was brought at Bombay against Cap-
tain Cristal, and a verdict obtained against
him with 200 L damages, and subsequently a suit was in-
stituted in the Consistory Court in this country, and a
definitive sentence of divorce, a mensa et thoro, pro-
nounced.
The Learned Counsel then proceeded to call witnesses.
Mr. W. Ackon proved the serving of the copy of the
bill on Mrs. M‘Liaan on the 27th of February, 1851.
Mr. Pelley, father of Mrs. M'Lean, proved the mar-
riage of the parties at Surat in 1836.
Colonel Mackintosh deposed to the affectionate terms
on which Mr. and Mrs. M'Lean had lived together. He
had seen them both in England and India up to the
year 1840, and had always considered that a strong at-
tachment existed between them.
Mr. Crauford deposed to joining Mrs. M'Lean at
Cairo on her homeward route. She was then in a very
infirm state of health, and he escorted her as far as
Malta, where she appeared so much recovered that he left
her in charge of Captain Cristal who was an intimate
friend of her husband, and professed his readiness to
escort her the remainder of the journey.
Miss 111 Lean, sister to the petitioner, proved the
arrival of Mrs. M'Lean in this country, in company
with Captain Cristal. During the whole of her stay in
England, Captain Cristal visited her at various places
where she was staying, and when she again h-ft England
to return to India, that gentleman sailed with her in the
same ship.
Catherine Hodgkison, a domestic servant in the em-
ploy of Mr. Tomlinson, of 22, Maddox-street, stated
that on the 29th of December, 1846, Mrs. M'Lean came
to lodge at her master's. She was accompanied by a
little boy, her nephew, who remained for a few days, and
was then taken by his aunt to the station at Padding.
ton. On returning she brought back Capt. Cristal with
her, whom she stated to be an intimate friend of her hus-
band's, whom she had accidentally met, and who, she
proposed, should occupy the room which her nephew had
occupied, for a few days. A few nights after, after Mrs.
M'Lean had retired to rest, the witness heard Captain
Cristal's bedroom door open, and on looking out
of her own door she saw that gentleman
come out of his own room and go into Mrs. M'Lean's
bedroom, where he remained for some time. The next
night after that witness saw Mrs. M'Lean go up stairs
into Captain Cristal's room. She was in her night-
dress only, and in the morning witness saw
Mrs. M'Lean coming down stairs again in
a similar condition. This was repeated on the
next night, and on these three occasions the parties
were together more than a hour to the witness's own
knowledge. They stayed at the lodgings only a week ;
but in the summer of the next year Mrs. M`Lean re-
turned, and Captain Cristal often visited her there.
They lived there on the same terms of intimacy
as before. On one occasion in July witness
remembered Mrs. M'Lean coming home one day very
hot, and asking for some hot-water to bathe herself
with. Witness went down stairs to fetch it, and on re-
turning to Mrs. M'Lean's bed-chamber she met her
coming out of the sitting-room, which opened
into it, halt naked. Captain Cristal was in the sitting-
room at the time, but Mrs. M•Lean said when she went

Mr. GROVES had much pleasure in seconding the
amendment. It was high time they had a dividend, and
unless they got one now they never would have auy. ,
The CHAIRMAN said Mr. Groves was evidently an in-
nocent, unsophisticated Yorkshireman, and misunder-
stood the object of the amendment.—(A laugh.) Mr.
Groves thought the amendment would give him a divi-
dend?—(A. laugh.)
Mr. GROVES—Yes, surely.
The CHAIRMAN—Then you are very much mistaken.
—(A laugh.) The effect of the amendment would be
to delay all dividends.

Mr. -GROVES—Oh, then I'll have nothing to do with
it. I won't second an amendment of that sort.
No other proprietor would second it, and the amend-
ment met with the same fate as its predecessor.
The resolution for the adoption of the report was
then put and carried, after which a resolution was passed
authorising the directors to forfeit 720 shares of all
classes. Resolutions, in accordaece with other recom-
mendations in the report were also proposed from the
chair and agreed to, when the retiring auditors and di.
rectors were re-elected. A resolution was also
passed, fixing the remuneration of the two audi-
tors at one hundred pounds each. The meeting was
then made special, anti resolutions passed authorising
the directors to proceed with certain Bills which the
company have now pending in Parliament.
Thanks were then voted to the Chairman, and the
meeting, which was very numerously attended and was
protracted to a late hour, broke up.

_ -
UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.
OXFORD, MARCH s.—The examiners appointed by the
trustees of Dean Ireland's foundation give notice that
an examination will be holden in the schools on Mon-
day, the 31st instant, and the following days, for the
purpose of electing a scholar on that foundation.
Gentlemen who desire to offer themselves as candi-
dates are requested to call on the Rev. James Luna-
dale, M.A., of Balliol College, with certificates of their
matriculation, and of the consent of the head or vice
gerent of their college or hall on Thursday, the 27th
instant, between twelve and two o'clock. The scholar-
ship is open to all undergraduate members of the Uni-
versity who have not exceeded their hixte e nth term.

into the room that she was not aware that any pers,,n
was there. They left the lodgings in September, 1847,
to return to India, es Mrs. M‘Lean told her.

Dr. Sheckleton deposed to the return of Mrs. M`Lean
to Kurrachee, where she joined her husband on the 22d
December, 1847, and to the birth of a child on the 6th

of July following. The child was a full-grown nine
months' child, that there was no doubt of. _ _

JAMES G. LONSDALE.
WILLIAM LINWOOD.
JAMES T. B. LA.NDON.
NEW PnocTons.—The proctors for the ensuing year
will, on Wednesday next, being the second Wednesday
in Lent, be elected by the respective societies of St.
John's and Merton Colleges, and their names must be
announced to the Vice-Chancellor before nine o'clock in
the evening of the same day.
CAMBRIDGE, MARCH s.—At a congregation holden
this day, the following degrees were conferred:—
B.A.—H. W. Downes, Trinity; R. I. Livingstone,
Trinity (compounder); C. J. Vernon, Trinity; G. Ar-
mitage, John's; T. Bsdcock, John's; M. Bland, John's;
R. Lawrence. John's; R. 0. Lloyd, John's; W. Owen
John's; A. Watson, John's; S. J. Whottle, John's;
Soames, Caine; M. E. Stantrush, Caine; L. J. Stephens,
Caius (compounder); W. De Vear, Queen's; C. C.
Wharton, Catharine Hall; J. Ruston, Jesus; J. Sim-
monds, Jesus; F. J. Stockdale, Emmanuel.
At the same congregation the following graces passed
the senate:—
To authorise each of the persons who may be employed
to make a catalogue of the MSS. in the University
Library, to take one MS. at a time out of the Library
without the usual bond, but under such conditions as the
Library Syndicate may think necessary to prescribe for
the safe custody of the MSS.
To authorise the Vice-Chancellor to present to the
Rev. Benjamin Donne, M.A., of Queen's College, an
old pulpit belonging to the University, but now no
longer used.

By Lord BROUGHAM—It could not posiibly have been
a six months' child, though children were occasionally
born within that period. _ _

Mr. HARVEY produced the proceedings in the Con-
sistory Court, in which a judgment for a divorce a
mensa et thoro was pronounced.
Mr. Manvers, of the East India House, proved the
death of Captain Cristo'.
This completed the evidence.
The Bill was then read a second time.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, March 6.
(Before the CHIEF COMMISSIONER)
IN RE EDWARD KENEALY.
_ _ _

This insolvent, a barrister-at-law, was unopposed.
Mr. Cooke supported.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER, upon looking over the
schedule, observed that 1521. 14s. Bd. was
put down as
without consideration, and inquired of what that amount
consisted?
Mr. COOKE referred to the detaining creditors' debt,
the guardians of the West London Union, the prosecu-
tors upon an indictment at the suit of the Crown against
the insolvent.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER asked what the indictment
was for? The insolvent replied for an assault upon his
natural child, whom he had chastised, as he thought
properly, for what he conceived to be a disgraceful pro-
pensity to falsehood.
Mr. CooKE said it was . a grossly and shamefully ex-
aggerated case, got up by the guardians against the
will of the Poor Law Commissioners at Somerset-house.
It was a case where public opinion had run riot, and
had done a great deal of harm and cruelty to the in-
solvent.

ITALY.
The Corriere Italiano of Milan, of the 25th ult.,
announces that an ordonnance has been transmitted
by the Austrian Government to all the lieutenancies
of the parts of the empire which are still in a state
of siege, directing that uo journal shall be allowed
to mention, even incidontally, the titles of prohibited
works or pamphlets at present secretly circulating
among the public, notwithstanding the vigilance of
the police. Should they infringe this order, they
will subject themselves to the punishment of being
suppressed.
The Roman Journal, of the 24th ult., quotes the
following, dated Imola, 18th :—" The band of assas-
sius, who, some days ago fired a few shots on the
Pontifical and Austrian troops in pursuit of them,
sought refuge in the woods situate near the Tuscan
frontier, in the direction of San Casciauo. Traces of
blood, and clothes pierced with bulleti, were disco.
vered on the road. The discloLures made by one of
the assassins led to the arrest of fifteen individuals
within our district, having in their possession a
number of valuable objects and money, for which
they could not satisfactorily account."
An English society had given a splendid ball, in
the Palace Albani, at Rome. The Carnival com-
menced on the 22d. Although the weather was un-
favourable and that generally the affluence is not
great on the first day, yet there was on this occasion an ,
immense crowd in, the streets; And but few carriages.

The Learned COMMISSIONER asked what was the re-
sult of the indictment?
Mr. COOKE answered it came before the Court of
Queen's Bench, who adjudged the insolventP to only one
months' imprisonment in the Qwen's risen. The
guardians obtained a rule for payment of the costs of
the certiorari, which the insolvent offered to pay if time
were allowed him, and waited upon the board of guar-
dians at their own request, but that board, composed
of shopkeepers in Smithfield and Shoe-lane, &c., were
persons of too distinguished a station to receive a bar-
rister who waited upon them by their own invitation.
The insolvent then wrote a confidential communication
to the guardians, detailing his position and prospects,
but to his horror lie found, shortly after, his letter in-
serted totidem verbis in an affidavit which was read pub-
licly in the Court of Queen's Bench. Such was the treat
went this gentleman had received from the guardians,
who had been invited to oppose, and had they appeared,
he (Mr. Cooke) would not have been satisfied with the
few observations he bad now made. The insolvent when
arrested was in the act of receiving ii 13-guinea brief,
and repeatedly promised to pay if time were allowed him.
The CHIEF COMMISSIONER asked to whom those offers
had been made.

The insolvent replied, to Mr. Pontifex, the clerk to
the guardians, to whom he had spoken in the most un-
reserved manner, and had fully acquainted him with his
position.

- After some questions relating to property had been
disposed of, the insolvent was sworn to his schedule.
Th 9 cilia CONNIBB4OEII said the cxeditua had not

A race between ten hor,es closed the day, to the sa-
tisfaction of all.

thought fit to oppose the discharge, nor to make any
complaint QS to the conduct or character of the insolvent,
therefore it mai only fair to Eiupp3se hay w.q.e satisfied
to allow the benefits of tho law to be administered to
him. The Court considered insolvent entitled to the
ben,fit of the Act, and ordered him to be clischargA
forth Nith.

A letter from Bologna, of the 26th ult., states
that since the creation of military committees in the
Papal States, upwards of 130 banditti have been shot,
and that nevertheless robberies are increasing to a
frightful extent. The bands are mostly composed of
youths of from 17 to 24 years of age, who submit to
death with a most astonishing indifference. The same
letter states that the Austrians have occupied Forte
Urbano, a small fortress situated between Bologna
and Modena, hitherto used by the Papal Government
as a prison.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
HOME ClRCUlT.—Chelmsford, March 6.
CROWN SlDE.—(Before Lard Chief Justice CAMP-
BELL.)
THE POISONIN LeS AT CL AVERING.
Sarah Chesham, 41, widow, a masculine looking
woman, was indicted for the capital offence of feleni-
ously administering to Richard Chesham, her husband, a
quantity of arsenic, with iteent to murder him.
This case excie d a good deal of interest, on account
of the terrible celebrity gained by the prisoner, and the
reputation she has of being a professed poisoner. She
was tried in 1847 at these aseiz,s upon a charge of
poisoning two of her children, but although the evi-
dence was most cogent, and left very little doubt of her
guilt, she obtained a verdict of acquittal upon that oc-
casion. She has since then been implicated in another
charge of poisoning, when she again escaped justice; and
in 1849 a woman named May, who was convicted of poi-
soning her husband, and who was executed for that of-
fence, admitted after her conviction that she had been
instigated by the prisoner to the commission of the
dreadful act for which she suffered
Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Clerk conducted the prosecution.
The prisoner had no counsel, but one of the gentlemen
of the bar, at the request of the Court, put such ques-
tions to the witnesses as she suggested to be material.
Mr. BODKIN opened the case in his usual clear and
temperate manner. He intreated the jury to dismiss
from their minds all that they had heard or read in con-
nexion with the prisoner, and to be guided solely by the
evidence ; and he said that it was the more important
they should do so, because he should be compelled, in the
course of the evidence, to make reference to a former
charge of the same description that was made against the
prisoner. He trusted, however, that they would not
allow this to prejudice the inquiry, but that they would
come to a decision upon the facts that were proved on
evidence relating solely to the present charge.
The following evidence was then adduced :
Sarah Chesham deposed that she was the mother of the
deceased, and at the time of his death she occupied part of
the same cottage with him and the prisoner at Clavering,
in this county. She then proceeded to make the following
statement:—l remember my son being very ill in the win-
ter of 1849. He was first taken about that time, and he
continued ill until the fallowing May, and ho died in
that month. I was in the house with him shortly before
his death. He was not able to feed himself for several
days before he died, and the prisoner used to feed him
with milk thickened with flour or rice. I saw the pri•
soner give her husband something on the day before he
died, but Ido not know what it was. The prisoner did
not like anybody but herself to feed him, and she always
did so.
By the prisoner—l did not see anybody else give him
anything to eat but you. Some one may have given him
a cup of tea, but I know of nothing else.
The deposition of Mr. Willing, who was at the time
relieving officer of the union of which Clavering is a por-
tion, but who has since died, was then put in and read.
It was to the effect that the prisoner applied to him for an
order for the doctor for her husband, and he gave her
one, and he subsequently repeatedly visited the deceased
at his cottage. He always complained of pain in his
chest, of continual vomiting, and also that his
body was swollen, that his bowels were con-
stantly out of order, and that he always felt sick.
Upon one occasion he showed him his body, which ap-
peared swollen to nearly double its ordinary size, and his
arms and legs appeared like those of a skeleton. The
prisoner pulled down the bedclothes to let him see her
husband, and while he was looking at him exclaimed,
" Poor thing, he will not be a trouble to any one long."
She also told him that the deceased was continually
vomiting, and that if he got better for a day or two he
always relapsed again and became worse than before.
Mr. Hawkes said, I am the medical officer to the
Saffron Walden Union, and by direction of the relieving
officer I attended upon the deceased during his illness.
I first saw him about the 11th of February, and he com-
plained of distension of the bowels and violent pain in
the abdomen and sickness, and all these symptoms con-
tinued for a period of six weeks, when he was somewhat
better. The symptoms intermitted constantly, and some-
times they returned with greater, and sometimes with
less violence. The case was of such a nature that I
could not form any satisfactory opinion as to the nature
of the disease or its cause. All the symptoms, how-
ever, were such as would be the result of the adminis-
tration of small doses of some irritant poison. The
deceased also exhibited symptoms of a disease of the
lungs, and they continued until his death. A short
time before the death of her husband I told the pri-
soner that the na.ure of his disease was quite ob-
obscure, and that I thought she hap better have further
advice, but she declined, and said she was quite satisfied
with me. About this time I had talked in the village of
the necessity of having a post mortem examination of
the body in case death should occur, and the prisoner
came to me in a very angry manner, and said that she
had been given to understand that 1 intended to cut her
husband's body open. I told her I hoped there would he
no occasion for it, and that her husband would get well.
I had sent medicine to the prisoner and to her son, but
none of it contained arsenic) or any preparation of ar-
senic. The symptoms I have mentioned continued until
the death of the deceased took place. I made a poet
mortem examination of the body, and ascertained that
the immediate cause of death was disease of the lungs.
I afterwards removed the stomach and the intestines and
their contents, and they were carefully sealed up and
subsequently submitted to Dr. Taylor for analyzation.
By the prisoner—I remember the first Sunday I saw
deceased in February, and also sending him some medi
nine and a piece of wet rag to place upon his body. I
examined the body of the deceased before his death, but
did not observe any appearance of a bruise or hurt
upon it.
Mr. Thomas Brown said—l am a surgeon, and reside
at Saffron Walden. I was present at the post mortem ex-
amination of the deceased on the 20th of May, and as-
sisted Mr. Hawkes in performing the operation, and in
removing the stomach and the intestines from the body,
and I afterwards saw them sealed up and delivered to the
coroner, Mr. Lewis. I have had some experience in cases
of consumption, and I never saw any symptoms of
griping and purging in the early stages of that disease.
I should attribute these symptoms solely to inflammation
of the stomach and the coats of the intestines, and if I
found them intermittent and returning with increased
violence, I should attribute them to some irritating sub-
stance being taken into the stomach, either in the food
or some other way. I observed symptoms of inflamma-
tion in the bowels, such as would be produced by an ir-
ritant poison.
By the prisoner—I don't know who fetched the bladder
in which the contents of the stomach were placed. It
was brought to me by Superintendent Clarke.
Superintendent Clarke recalled—On the 28th of May
I searched the prisoner's house. It contained three rooms
on the ground-floor, in one of which the deceased died.
The prisoner was at home at the lime. I first :searched
the room in which the family lived, and in a kneading
trough that was in it I found a quantity of rice. Be,ore
this I had taken possession of some bottles and other
things. The prisoner made no objection to my doing
so. I found the rice in a bag, and when the prisoner
saw me take it up she said " She hoped I was net
going to take that away, as it was her father's, and she
had used some of it for her husband;" and she added,
" That if I took it away she hoped I would tell her fa-
ther of it." I tole her not to interfere with me, and I
should take away just what I thought proper. Two or
three times after this she repeated that she hoped I
should not take the rice away. I kept the beg and the
rice in my care until the 30th of May, and I then deli-
vered it to Dr. Taylor in the same state it was in when
I took it from the prisoner's house.
By the prisoner—I had no warrant with me when I
went to search the house.
James Pilly, a police-constable, said—l accompanied
Mr. Clarke to search the prisoner's house, and I saw him
take the rice out of the kneading-trough. When the pri-
soner saw him take out the bag of rice she appeared very
anxious, and exclaimed that she hoped we were not
going to take the rice away.
Ann Piny said—l am the wife of the last witness. I
was present when Mr. Clarke took the rice from the
trough. The bag of rice was placed in my possession
for a short time, and I then returned it to Mr. Clarke in
the same state in whiCh I received it. I searched the
person of the prisoner, but found nothing remarkable.
Mr. C. C. Lewis—l am one of the coroners for this
county. On the 20th of May last I held an inquest upon
the body of the deceased at Clavering, and I received a
parcel from Mr. Brown, which I afterwards delivered to
Dr. Taylor, of Guy's Hospital. The inquest was ad-
journed from the 20th of May to the 2sl of June, and the
prisoner was present as a witness on the second occasion.
No charge had at this time been preferred against her.
She made a statement upon oath, which I took down
in writing.
Mr. BODKIN then proposed to put in the statement
made by the prisoner, but upon a suggestion from his
Lordship that there might be a question whether it was
admissible, the Learned Counsel said he would postpone
putting it in for the present.
Dr. Taylor, professor of chemistry at Guy's Hospital,
was then examined. He deposed that he examined the
contents of the bladder handed to him by Mr. Lewis,
and applied the usual tests to them, and the result was the
discovery of the presence of arsensic. He also said
that
,the intestines presented the appearances which
usually accompanied the exhibition of arsenic. The whole
quantity of arsenic found by him was about the 25th
part of a grain, which, he said, was insufficient to occa-
sion death.

By the COURT—The whole of the arsenic was ex-
pended by the various tests that were applied to it, but
he could state positively that arsenic to the extent he
had mentioned was discovered in the intestines and in the
fluid of the stomach.
By Mr. BODKIN—It was possible that the arsenic he
found was the remainder of a larger dose that bad been
administered some days before, and be did not believe
that it had been administered very recently before
death. If the poison had been taken seven or eight
hours before death he was of opinion that a larger
quantity would have been found in the stomach itself
than on the coats of that organ. The portion of the
Pallon, that was absorbed and deposited in the stomach
might have been administered as long as twelve days,
but that which was contained in the fluid might have
been administered much mere recently. The symntotas
exhibited by the deceased would in his opinion be en.
tirely explained by the continual administration of small
does of arsenic. 1
By the LORD CHIEF JUSTlCE—Witness was of I
opinion that the arsenic must have been administered in
small doses, not at all calculated to produce death at
once, and when the administration of the poison
WAS re-
iinquiehed pr a time the P2An gel better.

By BODKIN—The effect of the ,ntinual adminis-
tratiori ci small doses of arsenic wouid be to gradually
cause the powers Of the body to languish, and would thus
tend to develop° any constitutional malady, such as con-
sumption, that might be in the system. Witness subse-
quently examined a quantity of rice that was handed to
him by Clark:, the police-officer, and he found that it
was all over arsenic; and according to the calculations he
had made he was of opinion that the rice, which was
about a pound in quantity, there were about sixteen
grains of arsenic. Every grain of rice was covered
with a minute portion of the poison, and the whole ap-
peared to have been carefully mixed up together, so that
every psrt of the rice was poisoned, and the interior of
the bag containing the rice was likewise covered with
arsenic. The poison consi.t,•d of the common white ar-
senic, which had the appear-sneo of II air. Wit;i6";;s was
examined upon the former trial of the prisoner for poi-
soning her children, and he upon that occasion, in her
presence, described the nature of arsenic and its mode
of action.
Mr. BODKIN then again proposed to put in the state-
ment made by the prisoner upon her examination before
the coroner.
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE said that before he ad-
mitted Ihe evidence he would consult Mr. Baron Parke
upon the point of it almissibilisy.
Upon his LORDSUIP'S return, he stated that his Learned
Brother concurred with him that the statement was ad-
missible.
The statement was accordingly put in and read. It
was to the effect that her husband had been in good
health until about tatelveraonths before, when he was
seised with pains in different parts of his body, and they
eventually settled in the bottom of his body, and he then
complained of suffering very great pain acd was almost
mad for two or three days when Mr. Hawkes neglected
to visit bim. She al,o stated that deceased was re-
peatedly sick, and she thought that the doctor had given
him something in his physic to make him sick. The
most material part of the statement was that the pri-
soner denied positively ever having given the deceased
any rice.

James Parker said—The prisoner is my daughter,
and I lived in the same house with her and her husband
at Clavering. I remember her husband dying. Before
this happened I had purchased two pounds of rice and
had eaten a portion of it on two occasions, and it took
no effect upon me whatever. I ate some of the rice the
first night I bought it, and the second time was a week
afterwards. I kept the rice in the kneading trough, and
I never put anything into it.
By the prisoner—I used to eat the rice without wash-
ing it. I do not know Mr. Lewis, the coroner, bur I know
the " crowner."—(A laugh.) I don't remember any-
thing particular happening about the rice one day when
he was going by the cottage.
Henry Prooth, assistant to a grocer at Clavering,
proved that about three weeks before the death of the
prisoner's husband be sold the last witness two pounds of
rice. It was in good condition, and he never heard any
complaints of it.
Hannah Phillips, the wife of .a labouring man at Cla-
vering, proved that she knew the prisoner before her
former trial, and remembered her coming home after it
was over. Witness was passing by her cottage some
time afterwards, when she called her in and began talk-
ing to her about her children being poisoned; and she
said that she did not poison them, but that some one else
had done so. She mentioned the name of the person,
and said that he had given the children a halfpenny a
piece to take what he gave them. The prisoner then
mentioned arsenic, and witness told her that she must
not talk to her about arsenic, for she did not know what
it was, and the prisoner then said there was very little
difference between the look cf arsenic and flour. She
also said that the arsenic she had had before she was sent
to Chelmsford for trial she had hid under a stump of a
tree in a lane at Clavering, and when she came back she
took it up again, and said that was the poison she had
intended to poison the woman with, but had not
the opportunity, and that she poisoned the child
first. She mentioned the name of the woman whom
she meant to poison. The prisoner did not tell her
all this at one time, but upon several different occa-
sions. Another time the prisoner told her that she had
bought some liver and lights and made a mincepie of
them for her husband, and she advised witness to make
one too, and said that if she did not know how to
" season" it if she brought it to her she would season it
for her, and she added that it would be no more harm
to kill such a man as her own or witness's husband than
it would be to kill a mouse. Witness had bad a quarrel
with her husband a short time before, and had told the
prisoner of it, and she said that her husband would not
dare to hit her, and if ever he did so she would put him
under the bricks. While the prisoner's husband was ill
she met her one day as she was coming from the doc-
tor's, and ask, d her how her husband was. She replied
that he was very ill, and she bad been for some medicine
for him, and that Mr. Hawkes had made a mistake, and
put the boy's medicine into his father's bottle. The pri-
soner then said they had takfa the boy's allowance off
and wanted him to go into the union, and she then turned
aside and cried, and said she bad sent her soul to hell all
through him. Witness did not know who she meant by
" him." On the Tuesday after the death of the de-
ceased the prisoner came to her and said that her mother-
in-law had beard what she had been saying about the
poison, and she wished witness not to say any more
about it, and she added that her trouble was great.
Shortly after the inquest the prisoner came to her, and
thanked her for what she had said before the coroner,
and began to abuse her; and she replied that she had
not said so much but that she could say a good deal
more, and she then called the prisoner" Sally Arsenic,"
and told her that she might hare had her husband alive
as well as other people if she had treated him properly.
The prisoner then told her that she might have gone in
and poisoned him if she had liked; and witness called
her a good-for-nothing wretch, and she also told the pri-
soner that if it bad been her she should have been hung
long ago. The prisoner replied to this, that she did not
care about the " under- set" so long as she had the good-
will of the heads of the people. The prisoner also told
her upon another occasion, that when she was at
Chelmsford before she did not intend to go home to her
husband, but to go and live with another man, and she
said that this man was waiting for her to take her away
while she was being tried.
Charles Cloydan, a labourer, of Clavering, deposed—
that in the harvest of 1849 he was at work with the de-
ceased in the harvest field, and saw him eat his dinner,
which was a meat pasty. The deceased complained of
pain in his stomach after he had eaten the pasty, and
frequently said that be had a gnawing and a sinking in
his stomach, as though something was feeding on it.
Dr. Taylor recalled—A sensation of gnawing and
sinking in the stomach would be one of the symptoms
consequent upon the administration of arsenic.
Caroline Cole, a neighbour of the prisoner, deposed—
that while deceased was ill she had some conversation
with the prisoner upon the state of her husband's illness,
and she told her that he was very ill, and that his body
was very much swollen, and she said she thought that
Mr. Hawkes had put something in his medicine. Wit-
ness told her that Mr. Hawkes bad doctored her and all
her family, and he had never done them any harm. The
prisoner, in reply to this, said she knew what her cha-
racter was, and if any poison had been put into the
medicine it was done in order to get rid of her. The
prisoner afterwards said, " If I have poisoned my chil-
dren, I have not poisoned my husband;" and sho then
began to abuse the witness Hannah Phillips, and said,
that" If she had an opportunity she should like to 'sea-
son' a pie for her and make her a ereaker.'"
This closed the case for the prosecution.
The prisoner, when called upon for her defence, made
a Ions: rambling statement, in the course of which she
asserted that she was innocent, and declared that if her
husband bad been poisoned the poison must have been
taken in some of the things which the people were con-
stantly sending to him while he was ill.
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE then summed up the case
with gre tt minuteness. and the jury almost immediately
returned a verdict of Guilty.
His LORDSHIP then put on the black cap, but his
emotion was so great that some time elapsed before he
could recover himself sufficiently to pass sentence. He
at length addressed the prisoner, and said, she had
been convicted by a jury of her country of the heinous
offence of administering poison to her husband with in-
tent to murder him, and he must say th ,t the evidence
adduced in in support of the charge was altogether
powering. He had not taken upon himself to intimate
any opinion until after the verdict was delivered, but
now that the jdry had stated their opinion upon the Case
he could not refrain from observing that he entirely con-
curred in the verdict they had given; and he must add,
that there would be no safety for mankind if, when such
guilt was clearly established, condign punishment did
not follow. He was afraid this was not the only crime
of which she bad been guilty. She had confessed to
having murdered two of her children, and although she
had escaped from that charge, justice had at last over-
taken her, and she had now only a short time to live.
He therefore entreated her to employ that time in re-
pentance and prayer, to endeavour to obtain pardon for
the many crimes she had committed. The Leerned Judge
then passed sentence of death in the usual farm.
The prisoner did not betray the least emotion during
the Learned Judge's address, and when he had concluded
she walked with a firm step from the dock.

WESTERN ClRCUlZ—Winchester, March 5.
(Before. the LORD CHIEF BARON.)
Frederick Grunes, Thomas Knott, William Fortune,
William Saunderson, and William Pearse were indicted
for having on the 31st of July, at the parish of Caris-
brook, in the Lie of Wight,
set
the property of her Majesty.
fire to a certain building,
Mr. Crowder and Mr. Phiun were counsel for the
prosecution; Mr. C. Smith appeared for Knott.
The prisoners, it appeared, were convicts in Park-
hurstPrison. Oh the night of the 31st of July, in con-
sequence of loud knockinas in one of the cols of the
prison, and cries of " Fire'" one of the warders got up,
and then diticovered a fire' raging in the roof of one of
the cell t. The warder unlocked several of the cell-doors
rally to bre4k Open their cell-doors, which
as fist as posilAe, and called upon the prisoners gene-
of them
did. &quo suspicion havii g be--n exci-ed, Grimes was
placed iu a dark cell. On the following day he sent a
naessas,T to
.Nlr. Shirlow, the deputy-governor, who went
to him, and Grimes then asked Mr. Shirlow to let him out.
Yis was refu3ed. fie then said ho did not deny that he
was concerned in settinr, firs to the prison, and if ho was
taken of the dark ce'll he would tell r.. 11 a/33UL it. Mr.
Shirlow refused to let him out. bud told him if he bad
anything to sty it would he taken down and used rigainA
him. lie th,-n said that on th!- Thortday he was .
employed on the ;and with aotoo otbnr convictß, one of
them (Saunders) slt., R pitcot:Eliot, and t;aid that ,--ould
do, and that they were going to set the " C" ward on
fire, and that he (Grimes) ettrig,qr.titi to he one of th.e
party. Th-y
talked it over on !he F,-ieoy. It was
to be done on the Sunday, hut the- %. ere peeve! fed.
It was again talked over, and he (Grimes) was to do it.
He went down stairs and got a dirty shirt from Pearse,
and got some other shirts which had been placed where
he could get there. lie put these in the ventilator and