The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-15 00:00:00

112,012 103,761

London
Liverpool 313 ---
Bristol
Other English ports
Ireland
• 76t 159
Scotland
B'4
Germany 732
France

2,775
1,194

Total

1,021
199

23,855 15,157 7,508

CRIMIN.iL COURT.-( THIS DAY.)

(Before the Lord Chief Baron.)
TRIAL OF DR. SMETHURST.
This morning the trial of Dr. Smethurst, who stands
indicted for the wilful murder of Miss Isabella Bankes, at
Richmond, was resumed.
Sir John Lawrence was amongst the distingutahed per-
sons who occupied seats on the bench. The court was very
much crowded.
Upon the prisoner being placed at the bar,
The Clerk of the Court read to him the indictment and
the coroner's inquisition, by both of which the prisoner was
charged with the wilful murder of Isabella Bankes.
He pleaded not guilty.
Sergeant Ballantine, with Mr. J. Clark and Mr. Merry-
weather, appeared for the Crown; Sergeant Parry, with Mr.
Giffard, defended the prisoner.
It will be recollected that the prisoner was a person who
had for some years practised medicine, and about 30 years
ago he married a lady, still alive, and who was in advance
of his own age, and he was living with her in January, 1857,
when he resided at No. 8, Rifle-terrace, a boarding-house,
kept by very respectable people. Miss Bankes was a lady
about 43 years of age and of considerable private means, to
the extent ofabout £l,BOO. In 1858 she obtaimd a life interest

in £5,000 in the funds, but at her death that would, of course,
pass away. In the autumn of the same year she went to re-
side at No. 8, Rifle-terrace, -where the Smethursts were resi-
ding. An acquaintance sprang up between them, and the
landlady, seeing that there was some familiarity between
Dr. Smethurst and Miss Bankes, spoke to Miss Bankes, who
left the house and went to reside at a similar establishment
in Kildare-terrace. On the 9th of December, 1858, Dr.
Smethurst met Miss Bankes at a church in Pimlico, where
they were married. Dr. Smethurst went back to his wife
for a day or two, and it would be found that Smethurst and
Miss Bankes afterwards left their respective boarding-
houses on the 11th of December. Nothing was heard of
the lady until the 10th of January, 1859, when Miss Louisa
Bankes, received a letter from her sister. That letter
was answered, and on the 15th of February Dr. Smethurst
and Miss Bankes, calling herself Mrs. Smethurst, went to
live at Old Palace-gardens, Richmond. They appeared
to live on the most affectionate terms, and Miss
Bankes went for long walks, and appeared to be
in Very good health. Up to 28th March they
lived there, and then commenced the illness which
terminated in death. The prisoner made inquiries as to
who were the best medical men in the town, and, on
recommendation, Dr. Julius and Dr. Bird, his partner,
were called in on the 3d of April. Dr. Julius treated her
for an ordinary case of diarrhcoa, having obtained from Dr.
Smethurst a full account of the nature of the symptoms.
Dr. Smethurst took a most active part, was in close attend-
ance on the deceased, and never allowed the medical men
to be alone with her. Dr. Smethurst also suggested medi-
cines, innocent in their character, but in which he said he
had faith. Dr. Julius continued to attend her from the
3d of April to the 15th, when she left Old Palace-gardens
and went to Alma-villas. Dr. Julius was extremely puzzled
by the symptoms, and was astonished to find that all his
remeelies were unavailing. Under these circumstances, he
requested Mr. Bird to see her ; and from that time to the
day of her death Mr. Bird attended her, in connection with
his partner. The unfortunate lady died on the 3d of May,
and the present indictment was in consequence preferred
against the prisoner.

Mr. Sergeant Ballantine, in his opening speech, laid the
whole of the above details before the jury, and then pro-
ceeded to call evidence to prove the case against the prisoner.
The evidence adduced to-day was similar to what has
already appeared in The Sun. The trial is expected to last
three or four days

THE NEW PLENIPOTENTIARY FOR
CENTRAL AMERICA.

The country will view with considerable satisfac-
sation an awakening sense in the silent bosom of

the Foreign-office as to the importance of Central
America. Secret diplomacy only demonstates its
operations by outward and visible signs, leaving
the public to speculate upon their significance ; and
by these signs the public must judge of the inten-
tions of Lord John Russell. Long ere the stars
and stripes decorated the free banner of the United
States, the King of Great Britain had recognized
territory in Central America. The woodcutters of
British Honduras are as ancient a race as the
Pilgrim Fathers; but the wood-cutters remained
faithful when the sons of the Pilgrims shot down
their fellow.subjects on Bunker's Hill. And the
wood-cutters still desire to remain faithful, notwith-
standing the threats and blandishments of their
northern cousins. British Honduras, including the
Islands of Ruatan and Bonaca, is a British colony,
as much as Canada or the Cape of Good Hope; and
its title is unaffected by the Clayton-Bulwer treaty.
as all American politicians know, though some are
not honest enough to avow it. About two years
ago the present Foreign Secretary was indis-
creet enough, in his place in Parliament, to speak
with indifference of the value of her Majesty's pos-
sessions in Central America. Mature reflection
has, we believe, however, altered his opinion. In-
deed, credit must be given to the Foreign-office for
having recently greatly amended its ways. The
public opinion, freely expressed in this and other
journals, has at length reached the recesses of the
Foreign-office, and repentance is evidencing itself
in acts having a tendency in the right direction.
We expressed hopes that something would be done
to restore the confidence of the colony when Sir
W. G. Ouseley was sent out, last year, as Minister
Plenipotentiary to Nicaragua. The well-known
manly character, instinct with British feeling, of
Sir W. G. Ouseley, rendered him a peculiarly fit
instrument to reassure the drooping confidence of
the colonists, and to unmask the aggrandising ten-
dencies of the United States. I: is suspected that
Sir William's line of policy was of too bold a
nature to be sanctioned by the traditions of the
Foreign-office, and' it is not unlikely but that
this has caused some complications, working
personal annoyance to himself—and it is known
that he has suffered greatly in his health in
the warm, moist climate of Nicaragua. Be the
cause, however, whatever it may, it is, we under-
stand, the intention of the Foreign-office to recall
Sir W. G. Ouseley, and to supply his place with
Mr. Charles Lennox Wyke, who was presented by
Lord John Russell to the Queen, at Osborne, on
Friday, and will take his departure by the West
India mail on the 17th for Costa Rica, via Panama,
the directors of the railroad across that isthmus
having, through their president, Mr. D. Hoadley,
now in England, in reference to the Australian
postal contract, placed a special train gratuitously
at his disposal, as they did when Sir W. Ouseley
proceeded from Aspinwall to the same destination.
The Foreign-office list for the present year fur-
nishes a short biography of Mr. Wyke. He was
formerly a lieutenant in the Welsh Fusiliers, and
afterwards, for three years, a captain in the Gene-
ral Staff of the late King of Hanover. In 1845 he
was appointed vice-consul at Port-au-Prince, and
' in 1852 he was named as consul-general for Cen-
tral America, on the retirement of Mr. Chat-
field; and in 1854 he was raised to the diplo-
matic rank of Charge d'Affaires. Mr. Wykes'
name and reputation are necessarily shrouded
in the haze which hangs over Central A•oerica ;
but, from such information as may be gathered
from a perusal of such of his despatches as the
Foreign-office have made public, it is evident
that he is a gentleman of considerable ability,
and thoroughly English in all his thoughts and
feelings. Unless Mr. Wyke be crippled in his
actions by secret dispatches from home, his coun-
trymen may expect shortly to see some practical
evidence of a sound policy which, while respecting
the rights of the Republics of Central America and
assisting in the development of free routes of transit
shall at the same time maintain the rights of her
Majesty, and of her Majesty's subjects, in this
hitherto neglected but important corner of the
Queen's dominions.—Liverpool Albion.

THE TREASURY CHEST.—The liabilities of the
Treasury Chest on the 31st of March, 1858, are returned at
£3,206,643, and the assets at £4,537,344, leaving a surplus
balance available for the service of the Chest amounting to
41,330,701.

PROROGATION

OF

PARLIALMENT.

HOUSE OF LORDS-(SATURDAY).

The ceremony of proroguing the Imperial Par-
li anent, by Royal Commission, took place to-day
with the usual formalities.
Shortly after two o'clock the Lord Chancellor
and the other peers named in the Comthission
entered the house in their scarlet robes, and took
their seats in front of the throne.
The usual preliminaries haying been gone
through,
The LORD CHANCELLOR then directed the
Usher of the Black Rod to summon the "faithful
Commons to the bar of their lordships' house to
hear the Royal assent given to certain bills, and
also her Majesty's most gracious speech proroguing
Parliament."
The Usher of the Black Rod then. retired, and in
a few minutes the Speaker and a number of the
members of the House of Commons appeared at the
bar.

The Royal commission having again been read,
the Royal assent was then given to the following
bills :
Income Tax Consolidated Fund (Appropriation) ; Stamp
Duties; Military Savings Bank; Universities Incorpora-
tion Act Amendment; Queen's Remembrancer ; County
Cess (Ireland) Acts Continuance; Universities (Scotland);
Constabulary Force (Ireland) ; Manufactories (Ireland)
Acts Continuance; Cambridge University Commission
Continuance; Law of Property and Trustees Relief Amend-
ment; North-Western Territory (British America) Coinage;
Probate and Letters of Administration (Ireland) ; Turn.
pike Trusts Arrangement ; Railway Companies Arbitra-
tion; Marriages (Lisbon) ; Imprisonment for Small Debts;
Militia Law Amendment ; Bankruptcy and Insolvency
(Irelarid) Act Amendment; Customs (No. 2) ; East India
Loan ; Militia Pay ; Reserve Volunteer Force of Seamen ;
Government of India Amendment ; Inclosure Acts Amend-
ment; Stock-in-Trade Exemption; Ecclesiastical Juris••
diction Continuance; Episcopal and Capitular Estates
Act Continuance ; Corrupt Practices Prevention Act
(1854) Continuance ; Weights and Measures Act Amend-
ment ; Turnpike Act Continuance ; Dublin Police ; Chari-
table and Provident Societies ; Inclosure ; European Troops
(India) ; Divorce; Sale of Gas; Charitable Trusts Act
Continuance; Sessional Division; Law Ascertainment so-
ciety; Poor Law Board(Paymentof Debts); GalwayHarbour
and Port Amendment; .Fishing Vessels passing the Nore ;
Chester and Holyhead Railway; Westminster New Bridge;
Newcastle-under-Lyme Burgess Land ; Bombay, Baroda,
and Central India Railway ; Chichester Harbour Embank-
ment; Herne Bay and Faversham Railway (Margate Ext.) ;
Lancashire and Yorkshire, and East Lancashire Railway
Companies ; Leeds, Bradford, and Halifax Junction;
Nuneaton and Hinckley Railway ; Victoria Station and
Pimlico Railway; Berks and Hants Extension Railway;
British and Canadian Telegraph Company ; South Staf-
fordshire Railway ; London and North-Western Railway
(Denton to Staleybridge) ; and several other bills.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then rose and read
HER MAJESTY'S SPEECH.

" MY LORDS AND GENTLEMEN,
" We are commanded by her Majesty to release you from
further attendance in Parliament, and at the same time to
convey to you her Majesty's acknowledgments for thit zeal
and assiduity with which you have applied yourselves to
the performance of your important duties during the session
of Parliament about to close.

" Various circumstances have occasioned inter-
ruptions, and prevented the completion of important mea-
sures which her Majesty pointed out to the attention of
her Parliament at the beginning of the present year, but
her Majesty trusts that these matters will be taken into
your consideration at an early period of the next session.
" The war which has broken out in Northern Italy hav-
ing been brought to a close by the peace of Villaf?anca,
overtures have been made to her Majesty with a view to
ascertain those held by the great Powers of Europe, for the
purpose of settling arrangements connected with the pre-
sent state and future condition of Italy, a plenipotentiary
would be sent by her Majesty to assist at such conference,
but her Majesty has not yet received the information ne-
cessary to enable her Majesty to decide whether her Ma•
jesty may think it fit to take part in any such negotiations.
"Her Majesty would rejoice to find herself able to, con-
tribute to the establishment of arrangements calculated to
place the general peace on satisfactory and lasting founda-
tions.

"Her Majesty, in accordance with the stipulations of the
treaty of Tiensiag, has instructed her plenipotentiary in
China to repair to the Imperial Court at Pekin; and her
Majesty trusts that such direct communication with the
Imperial Government will have a beneficial effect upon the
relations between the two countries.

" Her Majesty commands us to inform you that she
looks forward with confidence to the continued mainte-
nance of those friendly relations which so happily subsist
between her Majesty and all foreign Powers and States.
" Her Majesty is glad to be able to congratulate you on
the complete restoration of tranquillity in her Indian do-
minions.

" It will be her earnest endeavour to promote their in-
ternal improvement and to obliterate the traces of those con-
flicts which her Majesty witnessed with such deep concern.
" The financial arrangements of that portion of her Ma-
jesty's empire will continue to engage her Majesty's serious
consideration.

" Her Majesty has had much satisfaction in giving her
assent to the bill which you presented to her for the forma-
tion of a naval and military reserve force. A complete and
permanent system of national defence must at all times be
an object of paramount importance.
" Gentlemen of the House of Commons,—
"Her Majesty commands us to convey to you her cordial
thanks for the readiness and zeal with which you have
provided the necessary supplies for the year.
My Lords and Gentlemen,—
Her Majesty commands us to express to you her heartfelt
gratification at witnessing the general wellbeing and con-
tentment which prevail throughout her dominions. The
happiness of her people is the object dearest to her heart.
At the termination of the reading of the Royal
Speech,

The LORD CHANCELLOR said—By virtue of
the commission which has just been read, I declare,
in the name of her Majesty the Queen, that this Par-
liament is prorogued until Thursday, the 27th day
of October.

During the proceedings few visitors were pre•
sent.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.-(THIS DAY.)

MARLBOROUGH-STREET.

OBTAINING GOODS UNDER FALSE PRETENCES BY A
NOBLEMAN'S COACIIMAN.—Henry Findon, coachman to
Lord Lurgan, was brought up on a warrant by Shillingford,
an officer of this court, and who had apprehended him at
his lordship's estate, Lurgan, County Antrim, charged
with obtaining a lady's side saddle, from Mr. Peter Worsley,
saddler, 57, South Audley-street.
It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner in May
last was in Lord J. Manners' service, in Brook-street,
Grosvenor-square, and without any authority from his lord-
ship he went to thopprosecutors, and by saying that he was
sent for it he obtained a lady's side saddle. When Lord J.
Manners was spoken to about it he denied having sent the
prisoner for the article. Prisoner had since obtained
another situation in Lord Lurgan's family.
Lord J. Manners' steward said his lordship,Tor the benefit
of his health since his accident, had gone to Malvern.
Prisoner was remanded for the attendance of his lord- '
ship.