The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-30 00:00:00

THE GREAT CORATHILL WATCH
ROBBERY.

In the Cour o Queen's Bench, on Thursday, the case of
" The Queen v. the Lord Mayor and Corporation of
London " came on. In this case a rule had been obtained
by Mr. Walker, watchmaker, &c., of Cornhill, calling
upon the Corporation of London to shew cause why a writ of
restitution should not issue, commanding them to restore to
Mr. Walker the sum of E 270, the proceeds of the sale of
certain goods stolen from him between Saturday night the
4th February, and Monday morning, the 6th February
18G5.

Mr. Mellish, Q. 0., with whom was Mr. Archibald,
shewed cause against the rule. He said the only evi-
dence that the money and property in question were the
proceeds of Mr. Walker's robbery was the statement of
one of the burglars- that they were, and of another
that they were not. This was a question of fact to be
decided. The Corporation were willing that it should be
decided. Yet he did not think it was right to allow this
court to assume a jurisdiction which it clearly had not.
The old rule of law was restitution on an indictment in
the place were the party robbed brought his appeal of
robbery. The 21st Henry VIII., and the statutes of
George IV., and 24th and 25th Vic., c. 96, sec. 100,
provided that the court before whom any such felony, &c.,
should be tried should have power, on conviction, toaward
writs of restitution of the said property, and order restitu-
tion thereof in a summary manner. _ _

The Solicitor-General, with whom was Mr. Crampton
Hutton, appeared in support of the rule. He said the
City had a right to say that this was not the right way
of getting this property out of their hands, but the ques-
tion their lordships were asked to decide was whether
they had power (and he hoped it would not be considered
an offence his saying so) to make the Corporation of
London disgorge. He contended that the sta-
tutes referred to did give their lordships juris-
diction. He contended that the statutes referring
to restitution were given at common law without
appeal of robbery, and further that the court before
whom the robbery was tried should also have power to
order a writ of restitution, which clearly it had not the
power to do before the passing of the statutes.
Mr. Mell;sh said that four persons had presented peti-
tions to the Corporation, giving the strongest reasons why
the property should be restored to them.

Arr. Justice Mellor said the court were of opinion
that the rule must be discharged. The statute of Henry
left untouched the process that then existed with reference
to the jurisdiction of the Queen's Bench, but gave the
right also to recover by action on the declaration, and also
power by the judge who tried the case to award writs of
restitution on application to them, the same as the
Queen's Bench had in case of judgment on an appeal.
The other learned judges concurred.

Two APPOINTMENTS.—Dr. Andrew Inglis has
been appointed Regius Professor of Midwifery in the
University of Aberdeen.--Mr. Francis Headlam has been
appointed stipendiary magistrate at Manchester in the
place of Mr. Fowler.

We understand that it is the intention of the
Government to refer the question of the extension to the
civil population of measures for the repression of conta-
gious diseases to a select committee of the House of
Commons.—British Medical Journal.

THE MURDER OF A CONSTABLE AT BRISTOL.—
The inquest on the body of Police-constable R. Hill, who
was stabbed by a young man named Pullin, was con-
cluded on Thursday. Elizabeth Paddock said she heard
the deceased ask prisoner to go quietly with him, and the
latter replied with an oath that if he did not unhand him
he would stab him. He had a knife in his hand at the
time, and she saw him strike at deceased. The coroner
summed up, and a verdict of Wilful Murder was
returned.
A. FACT FOR THE PEACE SOCIETY.—Dr. Hub-
benet, of the University of Kiew, and who was present at the
siege of Sebastopol, publishes some details of that memor-
able defence. He says that out of 169,000 men who suc-
ceeded each other in the town and fortress down to the Ist
November, when the typhus broke out, 30,000, or less than
one-fifth, remained valid and intact ; more than 76,000
were wounded and 15,000 killed ; 46,000 fell ill, and of
these 8,500 died.
The Wesleyan Methodists tanmenced their
annual gatherings on Thursday,
anotl as usual a large
:..nection have come from all
number of members of the c
parts of the country
o attend the various services in Lon-
don. The:, ,net this morning in the largo room of the
C‘"L..enary Hall, Bishopsgate-street, where an address was
delivered by the Rev. J. Romilly Hall, president of the Con-
ference. It was announced that Dr. Raleigh, minister of
Hare-court Congregational Church. Islington, will preach in
Groat Queen-street Chapel to-morrow morning, and that
on Saturday morning Mr. John Napier, of Manchester, will
preside at a breakfast meeting to be held at the City Ter-
minus Hotel, Cannon -street. The annual meeting will be
held at Exeter Hall on Monday.

THE MURDER IN IRELAND.—With regard to the
murder near Athlone, a Dublin correspondent telegraphs
as follows :—" Captain Tarleton, who farms ninety acres
near Athlone, but is not a landlord, was shot dead on
Wednesday afternoon in a lane on his own farm. Ito had
just left his workmen in an adjoining field, and was last
seen alive by them at half-past one o'clock, but the body
was not discovered till five. The shot took effect in the
head. No one confesses to have heard the shot. Eight
persons have been arrested on suspicion, two of whom
have since been discharged. The deceased was 35 years
old, and well liked. He bad received some threatening
letters, which he could not trace, since he discharged a
herdsman six months ago. He has latteey carried a re•
volver regularly on his person, and it was found in his belt
when the body was found."

VELOCIPEDES.—We have lately had an oppor-
tunity of examining velocipedes and seeing them in use.
Our attention was especially directed to the character of
the muscular exercise, and the degree in which the use of
this carriage might be open to the charge which was freely
brought against the old velocipede, Of inducing hernia. So
far as our investigation went, the results were very favour.
able. It seemed to us that the muscles of the body
generally, not those of the lower limbs alone, were brought
easily into play, and the mode of locomotion promised a
very agreeable method of taking useful and healthful
exercise. The position of the body and the mode of using
the legs do not seem likely to produce that violent action
of the abdominal narchs which was necessitated
by the old velocipede, and which was liable to cause pro-
tnsion of the intestines. We should, however, add that
the exercise, like all gymnastic feats, requires for safety
that it should be carefully regulated, that a high rate of
speed should only he gradually acquired, and that great
efforts should be studiously avoided. With these limita-
tions, we cannot see any probability of danger to health
in the employment of the velocipede. No doubt it is best
fitted fur the young and active, for very few learners
escape a considerable number of falls, which are not easily
Forne by those in whom age has diminished the elasticity
of the frame. Indeed, the most ardent velocipede riders
('and the purs'iit has become quite a passion in France) do
rot recommend it with any earn stlae;; tO those W 42 have j
1:941