The Sun.
London, England, 1869-08-14 00:00:00

THE VACANT LORD-J USTICESHIP.

xpressious of regret at the 1033 of a most amiable

ind one who never forgot the friendships formed duriu,
his career at the lAr."

FANATICISM IN SPALI:

" Henry D. Jencken," the English barrister, who—as
we have already noted= was recently savagely attacked
at Lorca, an ancient Moorish town, situated in the middle
of the great valley running between Murcia and Almira,
Spain, writes to the Tinze3 describing the circumstances
of the attack upon him. lie had been taken, be says, for
one of the " Tios del Sain," or child-stealers, to whfln
reports have imputed the horrible crime of catching and
butchering young children, for the purpose of using the
fat of their entrails to repair the telegraph wires. Some
local suits, which he was vigorously carrying on,
caused many men interested to speak evil of him, and he
became eminently and unpleasantly disliked. He had
been warned of danger, but took little heed to it, and
walked about as if nothing were amiss. "On the evening
of the 20th of July," he says, " I had strolled into the
Paseo, or public walk, the ordinary evening promenade of
the townspeople, and Sauntering down the main road.
I was met by a woman leading a child by the hand,
whom I greeted with the customary salutation, Buenas
tardes.' Suddenly she turned round, and, crying
`Antonio,' ran in the direction of some small houses fifty
yards distant. As I had no idea that the. cry of alarm
referred to me, I slowly sauntered lick, but before I had
proceeded 100 yards I noticed three men following me.
Instantly they closed in upon me, and commenced a most
desperate attack upon me. For the first two or three
minutes I successfully warded off the thrusts made at my
stomach with long knives, when one of the men, doubling
upon me, struck me a furious blow on the back of my head
with a stone. I staggered forward and sank upon my knees;
but, still ret;ining my senses, I warded off several thrusts
of the knives aimed at my throat and chest. One thrust,
however, penetrated my cheek and broke the bone of my
upper jaw. Regaining strength, I sprang to my feet arid
ran for about 100 yards. By this time a crowd had
collected, for the cry Tio del Saiu ' had been raised,
when a terrible blow upon my left temple was inflicted by
a second stone burled at my head. I fell flat upon
my face. The crowd then instantly seized me
by the beard and hands, and dragged the along
the road for some distance with such violence that the
back of my watch (a gold hunter) was literally ground off.
At this juncture some few Volunteers, attractec. by the
noise, arrived on the scene, and I was made to stand up and
my hands were bound behind me with cords drawn so tightly
that they acted like ligatures, causing serious loss of blood
from my wounded arms and hands. The crowd had now
increased to hundreds, who raised the cry, Cortarle la
cabeza' (cut off his head), Revanarle la barriga' (rip up his
belly) ; and, brandishing their kni yes in myface, they pushed
me onward into the main Paseo which leads to the town.
The scene presented was truly wild. The wild fierce cry,
" A la plaza a cortarle la cabeza " (to the public square to
cut off his head) was raised by hundreds of voices. One
of the ruffians, brandishing his kilo in my face, made a
thrust at my chest, but, missing his aim, his knife only
passed through my clothing, inflicting a slight wound.
Another man struck me with a heavy stick, breaking one of
the bones of my left hand. Nothing could exceed the
excitement of the mob. I was struck on the face, bleeding
and wounded as I was ; my beard pulled, and when-
ever I staggered or halted, faint from loss of blood,
with blows and imprecations they urged me forward.
Gradually we approached the Plaza rublica, the crowd
forcing their way into the Council Chamber, along witl
the guards who had now surrounded us. I was pushed into
a chair, a group of wild, excited faces filled the back o
_ _

the judgment•liall, with the military in front, this crewel
outside still continuing to cry, Cott:ale la caheza.' One
gentleman, induced by curiosity to enter the hall, took
compassion on me, and unfastened the cords that bound
my lacerated and wounded hands. By this time my Spanish
secretary, Senor Cervetto, had arrived, followed shortly by
the Alcalde and the Judge of the town, accompanied by my
worthy friend Senor Don Begin() Mercader, whom I had
engaged as advocate in the causes I was conducting. The
prompt, energetic meaiures taken by these gentlemen at
once quieted the infuriated mob. Some twenty of the
ringleaders were immediately arrested, and the crowd
dispersed as soon as they learnt the seriousness of the
crime committed. Senor Mercader had in the meantime
caused his carriage to be placed in waiting for me, and in
this I was conveyed from the Town Chamber to his
hospitable house, where under the care of skilful surgeons,
I have so far recovered that 1 hope within a short time to
be able to leave Lorca."

A man, giving the name of Joseph Kay, went to
the Bow-Line police-station about ono o'clock on Thursday
morning, and confessed to Laving cut the throats of his two
children whilst they were asleep in bed. A constable went to
the man's house in Palace-road, Hackney, and found his
wife and four children in bed. The children were all alive,
and apparently in good health. The man was brought up
yesterday at the Mansion-house, when it was stated that ho
was weak in intellect. The Lord Mayor remanded him for
a week in order to have a report whether there was a tem-
porary or permanent break-down. The wifo was o rdered
some relief from the poor-box.

The fatal boiler explosion on the Thames, which
wo recently recorded, was the subject of an inquiry by the
coroner on Thursday. A lighterman's apprentice, named
Towers, was told that he stood in the same position as au
accused person. The captain's body has not yet been found.
The body of the lad Joseph Williams was horribly mutilated.
Williams's brother told the coroner on last Sunday afternoon
at four o'clock he was on board the Edward steam-tug,
which was then lying off the Tower. There were two
engineers, named Bartley and Randall, on board at tho
time. The accused, Towers, was also these. Bartley
told Towers to got into the boiler and screw up the bolts.
Towers then got inside the the boiler and Screwed up the
bolts. Bartley said, " Don't play with it; screw it up."
Towers denied that he got into the boiler. The men,
another witness stated, were all sober. It was customary
he said to put inexperienced persons without examination
or proof of qualification in charge of boilers.
ILL-TREATMENT OF A LUNATIC. —A cruel ease ot
ill-treating a lunatic has just occurred at Plympton, a
village near Plymouth, and an inquiry into the circum-
stances has taken place before the local magistrates.
The defendant's name was Horn, and the lunatic,
towards whom he had most cruelly behaved, was Mr.
Snawden, .a gentleman very respectably connected. It
appeared from the evidence adduced by Mr. Crewes and
his wife, neighbours, that on the 17th July last the de-
fendant, who was in charge of Mr. Snawden, threw him
down, and for some time kept his legs across his neck,
after which he beat him with a stick. The defendant sub-
sequently called for the handcuffs, which were brought by
a servant, and the lunatic's hands were then fastened
behind his back. Snawden was then led away to a tree
and tied to it, the defendant making use of the expression.
" The next time I shall put it (meaning the rope) round
your neck." The neighbours gave information to Mr.
Bewes, a magistrate, who went to the spot and found
Snawden tied to the tree. The bench inflicted a fine of
£lO, which was paid.
FATAL ACCIDENT TO A GROUSE SHOOTING
PARTY.—On Thursday last, the Rev. Henry Reynolds,
Peppard Rectory, Henley-on-Thames, accompanied by his
son, Mr. Price Morris, and several other gentlemen, went
up in the mountains, near Nantglyn, Denbigh, in Wales,
to enjoy a day's grouse shooting. As they were returning
home, Mr. Price Morris, the Rev. 11. Reynolds, and two
others being in a dog-cart, the horse, which was a very
high-spirited one, started off at a frightful pace down the

bill. It had not gone far when it dashed against the
embankment, throwirul the occupants of the car out into
the road. The horse was immediately killed, and the car
shattered to pieces. The unfortunate pleasure-seekers
were taken up senseless and conveyed to the village in a
cart. Three doctors were almost immediately in attend.
ance, but Mr. Price Morris was beyond medical skill, and

he succumbed to his injuries some two hours after the
accident occurr3d. Mr. Reynolds is in a very precarious
state, and but faint hopes are entertained that be will
recover. Mr. Reynolds, jun., has received but few injuries.
The fourth occupant, a little boy from the neighbourhood,
has sustained no injury at all. Much sympathy is felt
for Mr. Price Morris, who was a solicitor in Denbigh. An
inquest was held on Friday afternoon, at Nantglyn, by
Dr. Evan Peirce, when a verdict of Accidental Death was
returned.