The Sun.
London, England, 1869-04-08 00:00:00

THE SCOTCH LAW COURTS

Mr. MILLER asked the Secretary of State for the Homo
Department whether the first report of the Royal Com-
missioners to inquire into the Scotch Law Courts has been
Presenad to her Majesty; and, if so, when it may be ex-
pected to be laid before the house.
M. BRUCE said a report bad been presented, and it
was laid on the table yesterday.
POOR LAW (IRELAND) AMENDMENT BILL.
Mr. MAOMALION moved the second reading of this
bill, and in doin3 so the hon. gentleman said it was ahnost
similar to a bill introduced to the house in 1866. The
chief object of the bill was to extend the area of taxa-
tion for rating to the relief of the poor, and thus relieve
the towns from the burden of maintaining the poor driven
into them by eviction from the rural districts. Ho con-
tended, therefore, that there ought to be in Ireland the old
law of removal and settlement as it prevailed in England,
or a system of union rating.
Mr. BRUEN strongly opposed the bill, and moved that
it leo read a second time that day six months.
Mr. KNIGHT seconded the amendment, and urged that
union rating in England had proved a complete failure,
owing to the absence of that system of supervision which
prevailed in parishes where every ratepayer had a direct
personal interest in keeping down local burdens.
Mr. KAVANAGH urged that Ireland should be placed
in respect to its poor laws upon the same footing as Eng-
land.

Mr. gi FORTESCUE admitted the existence of great
irregulNities in various electoral divisions in Ireland,
and thought that further informatien was desirable. He
should therefore' support the second reading of the bill
with the view of referring it subsequently to a select com

Mr. DOWNING denied the necessity of further inquiry,
the effect cf which would be merely to shelve the question
for another session.

Mr. GREGORY thought the whole Subject should be
deferred until next session, as Parliament had quite
enough to do at present to settle the question of the Irish
Church.

Lord C. J. HAMILTON spoke until a quarter to six,
when in accordance with the rules of the House tho de-
bate closed.

The house adjourned at a few minutes before six.

THE NOBTVICII MURDER.

The circumstances concerning the Norwich murder
grow more bewildering than ever ; so bewildering that the
Home Secretary has sent to make inquiries about it. The
second letter received by the authorities is a most extraor-
dinary one. It is dated April 6, signed " One of the Pro-
fessors of Rhetoric for Gresham College, 1863," and runs
as follows :—.` I would not unjustly prejudice or condemn
any man, but as an injudicious use has been made of the
name of a certain gentleman—a use exceeding professional
license, a. calculated to injure 14,-is,f family--I beg
leave to say that the gentleman in question died on the
Christmas Eve of 1.848, he having for many years up to
that period lived with his wife, who had died two years
previously. It is true that he had for at least fifteen years,
and that to the pecuniary ruin of his family, kept Martha
Francis in a state of affluence, and distributed gifts with
A prodigal hand upon anybody but his affectionate wife •
and fathily. I had from six years of age (with the excep-
tion of eighteen mouths when I was at school) not lost
sight of the said gentleman; on the contrary, I, for the
last ten years of his age, at the utmost stretch of my exer.
Cons, assisted him, for he bad wasted an ample fortune.
I deny, therefore, is a base slander, that he had ever been
transported for any crime whatever. He was formerly a
builder, and might have done well but for his immorality.
Martha Francis was a handsome woman, and if she has
been murdered (which I doubt not) I am truly grieved.
such an one might look well at sixty, for, as Euripides
says :

' The very autumn of a form once fair
Retains its beauties '—
a sentiment which Plutarch says does not universally hold
good. If the horribly mutilated remains be those of
Martha Francis, I would say that the medical gentlemen
might well hesitate as to her age, for the textures and
tissues of such a lady, even at CO, might deceive an anato•
mist. lam almost unnerved Pray let there be no more
misrepresentations, for if you do death will not, after all
my sacrifices and sufferings, be unacceptable to me. If
the prisoner have committed the foul murder, let him
evince a redeeming quality, which, if a Christian, he
cannot do otherwise. This letter is no hoax, and I have
no objection to its being published, for, as an English-
man, I hate anything that is underhanded ; but
I do not wish my name to be made public." A
postscript follows this letter :---" Should the prisoner have
made a confession, I implore you not to insert this letter.
But of course you may inform the gentlemen of the press
the year that Mr. W. died, and that he had never been
transported. lam ready to drop. But what have Ito
do with the horrible matter?" It is remarked upon this
letter that it states only one important point, viz., that
Worseltine died in December 1848, while the theory
sought to be set up for the defence has been that Mrs.
Sheward left her husband in June 1851, for the purpose
of rejoining her old love. A memorial, praying
for a commutation of the convict's sentence, has
been signed in Norwich by 200 respectable citizens,
the list including many of the leading inhabitants.
The memorialists urge that the matter had for months
before the trial caused such sensation and discussion in
Norwich, and that the jurors who tried and convicted
Sheward were of the class liable to be much influenced
by such discussion and sensation. Mr. Stanley, the pri-
soner's 'solicitor, is also making inquiries as to the dis-
appearance of a young woman who was a servant in
Norwic!, and who is said to have disappeared very myste-
riously in 1851. The friends of this young woman reside
at Fakenham, Norfolk.

THE ST. ALBAN'S RITUAL CASE.—It will be
recollected that the great Ritual case, " Martin v. Macho-
nochie," was commenced in the Arches' Court, and went
on appeal to the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council.
Each party, by direction of Sir R. Phillimore, was to pay
his own costs in the Court of Arches ; but the Judicial
Committee condemned Mr. Mackonochie in the costs in
both courts. The legal charges were made out, and agreed
upon between the proctors on both sides, at £4,328 ; and a
sum has been accepted and paid of £1,500, in full satisfac-
tion of the expenses of the promoter.

MUNICIPAL DISENDOWMENTS. —ln Liverpool
there are several churches which are known as the Corpo-
ration churches, and which are mainly supported by grants
from the corporate funds, some obligatory and some volun-
tary. At a meeting of the Town Council, on Wednesday, the
Finance Committee proposed, through their chairman
(Mr. Robertson Gladstone), to discontinue all grants
which were not obligatory, on the ground that such
appropriations of any portion of the corporate funds were
not justifiable. After a vigorous discussion the matter was
referred back to the committee for reconsideration.

GARIBALDI AND BRAZIL.—A paragraph recently
appeared to the effect that General Garibaldi had expressed
himself strongly in favour of Brazil in the war which that
empire has waged against Paraguay. A correspondent of
ours, living at Manchester, and who gives the initials
"R. 5.," wrote to Garibaldi on the subject, and has
received the following reply, which sets the question at
rest Caprera, March 28, IS&.—Mr. S.,—The para-
graph: you sent me from the Diario do Rio is an invention ;
the Imperial Brazilian Eagle, like all the Eagles in the
world, endeavours to grasp ; and if the Republics of the
River Plate were to consult me, I should say to them,
`Cut the talons of the Eagle! ' Such is my opinion.—I am
yours, G. GARIBALDI."

DESTRUCTIVE FIRE ATLINCOLN. —A most destruc-
tive fire broke out at Lincoln early on Wednesday
morning in the Albion flour mill, belonging to Mr. Charles
S. Dickinson, miller and corn merchant. Shortly before
one o'clock one of the Great Northern Railway Company's
gatekeepers saw smoke and flames issuing from the roof
of the building connected with the engine-house, and
before half-au-hour had elapsed the fire had communi-
cated with the greater portion of the upper story, and it
soon became evident that there was no chance of saving
the mill and warehouses, in which several thousand
pounds' worth of corn and flour was stored. The city,
cathedral, and County Fire Office engines were brought
down to the scene of the conflagration; but the devouring
element seemed to bid defiance to the efforts of the
brigades, and when morning dawned a great part of the
extensive premises had been gutted,and the fire continued
to smoulder throughout the day. The destruction of corn
and fitir was immense, the damage being estimated at
from £12,000 to £15,090. Mr. Dickinson was only
partially insured, his policy being for 22,500 in a Man-
cheater office. The origin of the outbreak has not been
discovered.
Her Majesty the Queen held a drawibg-room to-
day at Buckingham Palace.
THE NORWICH MURDER.—The application for 78,
writ of error in Showard's case is expected to be mae.e
to-morrow.