The Sun.
London, England, 1866-03-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, MARCH 23, 1866,

ASSIZ

•ENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—LEwEs, March 22.
(Before Lord Chief Justice Erie).

THE EHIGHTON 11URDER.

John William Leigh, 27, described as a seaman,
was charged with the wilful murder of Harriet
Harton, at Brighton, on the Ist of February last.
The prisoner is a stout, determined-lookingyoung
fellow, wearing a small coal-black moustache. He
was seated during the trial, and he did not exhibit
the slightest emotion during any portion of the evi-
dence, not even when hie own mother was ex-
amined. The case appeared to create very great
interest, and the court was crowded during the
proceedings.
Mr. Roupell and Mr. Hurst conducted the prose-
cution ; Mr. Kemp was retained to defend the pri-
soner.

The learned counsel for the prosecution, in openoi
ing the case to the
the facts upon which the charge was sou
jury, gave a brief narrativeht to be
supported, and which lay in a very narrow com-
aillegitimate
com-
pass. The prisoner, it appeared, w
child, but he had been well provided san
for, but dis-
sipated all the means that were given him, and he
then seemed to have served in the Royal Navy, and
was present during the Crimean campaign. He
also served in China, and he seemed to have led a
roving, irregular life in different foreign countries
until about two years ago, when he made his ap-
pearance at Brighton, and he then appeared to have
courted the sister of the unfortunate deceased, and
they were married. The prisoner and his wife after
the marriage appeared to have kept a public-house
at Brentford, but he was unsuccessful in his busi-
ness, and the marriage appeared to have turned
out very unhappily, and his wife left him and re-
turned to the house of her sister at Brighton, whose
husband kept a public-house called the Jolly
Fisherman at that place. The prisoner seemed to
have remained at the house of his mother at Hack-
ney until the end of January, when he went down to
Brighton armed with a six-chamber revolver, and
evidently bent upon carrying out the deadly object
he had in view. He made his appearance at the
" Jolly Fisherman about half past ten o'clock at night
on February 1, and he appeared to have walked de-
liberately into the bar parlour, where his sister-in-
law was sitting with two customers, and he dis-
charged two of the chambers of the revolver at her
person, and the bullet from one of them passed
through her body. The other entered at the back
of the unfortunate woman, glanced upwards, and
lodged under her left armpit, from whence it was
subsequently extracted. The injuries, of course,
were almost immediately fatal, and the deceased
expired in a few hours. The prisoner, after having
acted as above described, rushed into the street, and
when Mr. Barnden, police superintendent, with very
great courage, attempted to take him into custody,
he discharged a third barrel at him, and he had al-
most a miraculous escape of losing his life. The
prisoner was secured, and the revolver being ex-
amined it was found that the remaining chambers
were loaded and capped, and a quantity of pistol
bullets were And in his possession.
The following evidence was then adduced :
Mr. Hastings, cabinetmaker, Brighton, deposed
that he saw the prisoner fire the revolver at the de-
ceased twice. She fell, and exclaimed that she was
killed, and he sent for a doctor. On the following
morning witness picked up a bullet in the room
where deceased was shot. When the prisoner fired
the first shot witness felt something strike him on
the temple. He knew the wife of the prisoner. She
was a sister of Mrs. Harton's.
Cross-examined—Witness believed the prisoner
generally carried a pistol about with him. Prisoner
used to drink occasionally. Witness was not aware
that the prisoner's wife was a woman of dissipated
habits, or that they lived on bad terms.
Stephen Loveday deposed that he was also at the
Jolly Fisherman on the evening of February 1, and
saw the prisoner come in and shoot at the deceased.
Witness was about a yard and a half from him at
the time he fired. The prisoner walked about a yard
and a half closer to the deceased, and fired a second
time at her. The deceased then came out of the bar-
room and walked towards the steps of the cellar.
Witness followed her, and found her lying on the
steps of the cellar, groaning. He assisted her into
th© taproom, and placed her on one of the forms,
and remained with her until the doctor came, which
was about ten minutes after.
Mr. Joseph Stevens deposed that he was a sur-
geon, practising at Brighton, and he remembered
being called in to see the deceased on the night in
question. He found her lying on a couch and ap-
parently very faint and ill, and a woman named
Wingfield was undressing her. She said that she
had been shot. Witness examined her. The bullet
had lodged in the left armpit, and he extracted it
from thence. (The witness produced the bullet.)
The wound he referred to was such as would be
caused by a bullet such as the one he produced.
The deceased died about 16 or 17 hours after she
had received the injuries.
Isaiah Barnden, superintendent of the Brighton
police, deposed that he took the prisoner into cus-
tody. He found him leaning against the wall of
Kerrison's Hotel, at the corner of Market-street and
the King's-road, about 30 or 40 yards from the
Jolly Fisherman. Witness went up and said,
" What is all this about ?" The prisoner replied,
Stand off, or I will shoot you," and at the same
moment he lowered the pistol to a level with his
chest. When the prisoner said he would shoot him
witness rushed at him and grasped the prisoner
with his right hand and touched the pistol with his
left. The pistol was discharged at the same moment,
but he turned a little on one side and the ball went
through his coat and trousers. Witness threw the
prisoner down, and the pistol fell from his hand and
some one called out that he had got the pistol. The
witness then produced a powder flask containing
gunpowder, a box of percussion caps, and a number
of bullets that were given him by the wife of the
prisoner, and also the revolver that was taken-from
the prisoner. He said that it was a six-chamber re-
volver, three of which appeared to have been dis-
charged, one had missed fire, and two chambers
were still loaded.
Cross-examined—He had known the prisoner
about Brighton for a twelvemonth or thereabouts,
and he was well known at that place. He had seen
him driving about in a dog-cart. He did not know
anything about the prisoner while he was living a
Brentford.

By the Court—The prisoner left Brighton to go
to Brentford about three or four months ago. He
was not aware that he actually went to Brentford ;
all he knew was that he lost sight of him from
Brighton about the time he had mentioned.
Elizabeth Sharp deposed that on the night of the
Ist February the prisoner and his wife went to
the tap of the Marine Hotel and had a pint of
stout, which
they drank together. The prisoner's
wife paid go, it.
She first put down threepence,
and witness, .
who was the barmaid, told her the
stout was fourpeo
tt • She then asked the
if he had any halfpeo prisoner
know I have not." it:, and he replied, " No, you
then drank some stout and
went out, leaving his wife drinkin
A very short
time afterwards witness heard twogp-istol shots from
the direction of the " Jolly Fisher,,an,„
which ,
about forty yards off. The prisoner . wls
quite sober
at this time.
Mr. Henry Payne, the landlord of the Marine
Hotel, which is nearly opposite the " Jolly Fisher_
man," deposed that on the night in question he was
in a room adjoining the bar, and on his being in_
formed that something had happened, he went out
leaning
into the road and saw the prisoneragainst
f went the wall on the opposite side. Witness
to-
wards him, and he pointed a pistol at him,an
`'Stand back," and he retreated a short d
distancesaid,
from him, and Mr. Barnden then came up, and the
prisoner was taken into custody. He afterwards
picked up the revolver that had been produced.
Caroline Winkfield deposed that on the Tuesday
before the act was committed by the prisoner she
was at the Jolly Fisherman, and the prisoner
came in, and the deceased told her that he had fire-
arms about him, and he should not come into her
house unless he was searched. He replied, "It is
nothing to you if I choose to have firearms on me
to protect myself." The deceased then said to him

In cross-examination the witness said that the
prisoner was taken from her charge when he was
seven years old, and she did not see much of him
except when he came to visit her when he was at
home for his holidays. She saw more of him after
he returned from China, and she then particularly
noticed his extraordinary conduct, and was induced
to believe that he was not in his right senses. He
used to complain of being thirsty when he ate the
green gooseberries and drank the vinegar.

In order to rebut this testimony with regard to
the state of mind of the prisoner,
Mr. Richard Turner, the surgeon of Lewes Gaol,
was called by the counsel for the prosecution, and
in answer to questions put to him he said that the
prisoner had been under his charge since the 2d of
February, when he was first remanded by the ma-
gistrates, and he had observed him particularly, and
had never seen the slightest indication of insanity
about him.

In cross-examination Mr. Turner said that he
I attributed the extraordinary conduct of the prisoner,
that bad been deposed to by his mother and the
• other witness,
tremens,
b delirium to no other form of insanity than
occasioned by his taking so large
t a quantity of
dent spirits. The effect of repeated
attacks of delirium tremens would be to weaken the
brain and cause Permanent insanity, and delirium
;
tremens was not likely toP
ete
but of course while the r
attackod uclT ors
lashed it ry
might insanity
be
considered temporary insanity,
off in a week or ten days. but
e this would
s pass
quite satisfied
that the prisoner's brain was not at all weakened,
from the fact that the moment he ca
me into prison
be was stopped from obtaining epi -rit
s, and this
sudden stoppage of stimulants had no effect
upon
him ; but if his brain had been weakened, this pro-
ceeding was very likely to have produced another
attack. From all he had seen of the prisoner, the
conclusion he arriyed at respecting him was thAt he

again, " You shall not come into my house unless I was particularly intelligent, clear-sighted, and all
you are searched, You are a thief, a murderer, and I his faculties were perfect,
a pirate." The wife of the prisoner was present, I Re-examined—He had no doubt, from the evi-
and he turned to her and said, "Nobody but you I deuce that had been given, that while the prisoner
could have told your sister that." She denied was undergoing his sentence of imprisonment he had
having done so, and the prisoner then went away. been attacked with delirium tremens, through being
Richard Knight, one of the Brighton constables, suddenly deprived of the stimulants to which he had
then gave the following evidence with regard to the i been accustomed, and that all the extraordinary
prisoner. He said that when the pri;,oner was in the , conduct that had been deposed to was attributable
lobby of the Town-hall in his charge, and he was to that malady.
about to be examined before the magistrates, the Chief Justict Erie then proceeded to sum up the
prisoner folded his arms and said, " I have got into caee, and he observed that the only question for the
a pretty good mess over this start of mine. Three I jury to consider was whether, at the time the act
months ago it first came into my head to do the deed was committed, the prisoner was incapable of dis-
-to kill three, Then I thought again I would not I tinguishing between right and wrong, and unless
_then I thought again I would. I came into this had been clearly established, it would be their
Brighton for the express purpose of doing it. I duty to convict him. He then referred to the evi-
have had quite enough of her nonsense, and I will deuce that had been adduced on behalf of the pri-
have no more of it. I have only killed one out of soner, and to the circumstances under which the
the three, and the other two have got to thank them- crime was committed, and said the jury must form
selves that they were out of the way and that they their own conclusions as to the state of mind of the
are not dead." The prisoner, he said, made this prisoner, and whether he was not perfectly well
statement entirely of his own accord, and without aware that at the time he took the life of this un-
his saying a word to him. happy woman he was committing an act of criminal
This was the case for the prosecution. wrong, for which he was responsible both by the
Mr. Kemp made a very able address to the jury in law of God and the law of his country.
behalf of the prisoner, and after observing that it The jury, without leaving the box, and in less
would be in vain for him to attempt to controvert any than five minutes, found the prisoner guilty.
of the facts with regard to the commission of the He was then asked by Mr. Avory, the clerk of
crime, he said that the only answer he was instructed arraigns, whether he had anything to urge why he
to make to the charge was, that at the time the crime should not be sentenced to die according to law.
was committed theprisoner was not in a state of mind The prisoner, who had got up from his seat when
to beresponsiblefor his actions. He said that the pri- the verdict was pronounced, replied in a loud and
soner had no means to get up his defence properly, indifferent tone of voice, " I have nothing to say to
and all he could do was to call a sergeant of police who justify myself."
knew the prisoner when he was living at Brentford, The learned Judge, who seemed a good deal
and his mother, and they would speak to his extraor- affected, having assumed the black cap, addressed
Binary conduct on a great many occasions, to his the prisoner, and said that he had been convicted by
drinking large quantities of brandy and other spirits, the jury upon the clearest possible evidence of the
and also to his having been looked upon as a madman. crime of wilful murder, and the interests of society,
This was all he was in a position to do for the priso- and also that a warning should be held out to others
ner, and the jury would say, when they had heard the not to be guilty of a similar crime, demanded that
evidence he should lay before them, whether they he should undergo the penalty for that offence that
might not reasonably come to the conclusion that was fixed by the law. He did not feel called upon
the mind of the prisoner was affected, and that he to do more than to exhort him to make a good use
was not criminally responsible for the dreadful act of the short time that remained to him in this world,
that had undoubtedly been committed by him. and having done this, he should now proceed to
Mr. Foy, a sergeant of the metropolitan police, pass the sentence of the law for the crime of which
stationed at Brentford, was then examined, and he he had been found guilty. His lordship then passed
stated that he knew the prisoner when he kept the the sentence of death in the usual form.
George and Dragon at Brentford, and his attention The prisoner exhibited the most extraordinary in-
was particularly directed to him on account of his difference both at the verdict and the sentence, and
extraordinary conduct. On several occasions he he laughed as he went down the steps leading from
shut up the house at 2 o'clock in the day, and kept the dock.
it so until 10 o'clock at night, and he would then His wife was in court during the whole trial, but
invite all the roughs of the neighbourhood to come she retired just before the sentence was pronounced.
in, and he would give them beer and spirits without
any payment. He would also go to the balcony in
front of the house, and when a mob collected, he
would throw out large quantities of silver among
them, frequently as much as £lO or £l2, and upon
one occasion £4O was thrown away by him, and he
said he saw one person pick up 275., which the pri-
soner had so thrown away. He once went to his
house, and the prisoner offered him half a pint of
brandy to drink, and when he refused it, the prisoner
drunk it off at a draught. He also used one of the
downstair rooms as a stable, and placed a horse in
it, and it remained there more than a week, and his
conduct was so extraordinary that he said the pri-
soner was generally known in the neighbourhood as
" Mad Leigh." He was obliged, it appeared, to
leave the house by the landlords, and he committed
some damage, for -which he was indicted at the Mid-
dlesex sessions, but when his trial came on he was
suffering from delirium tremens, and was unable to
plead, and he was sent back and tried at a subse-
quent session and sentenced to three months' hard
labour. This witness likewise preyed that directly
the prisoner took possession of the public-house, lie
placed a placard outside, on which was written " The
Cure will imitate the Devonport Brothers this even-
ing ;" and he used to dress himself in the most
extraordinary manner, and perform various antics
by tying and untying himself in a chair. He drank
very hard all the time he was living at Brentford.
The witness likewise proved that upon one occasion
the prisoner charged a man with robbery, and
while the case was under investigation he behaved
in the most extraordinary manner, and called the
magistrates " old boys," and they would not enter-
tain his complaint, and the man was discharged, and
the prisoner then gave him half-a-crown.
In cross-examination this witness said that the
prisoner did not act in the manner he had described
for the purpose of bringing custom to his house, for
when people came he used to give his liquors away,
and the police very frequently were called upon to
remove the mob that had assembled.
Mrs. Emma Motley, prisoner's mother, was then
called. She deposed that the prisoner was subject to
fits, and that while he lived with her he always car-
ried a revolver, and was in the habit of firing at the
nobs of the doors and the keyholes in the different
rooms. He went to China, and when he returned,
about two years ago, she observed a very great dif-
ference in his manner. 'While he was at Brantford
he would eat green gooseberries and then drink a
glassful of vinegar, for the purpose, as he said, of
washing them down. He used to drink large quan-
tities of raw spirits—nun, gin, and brandy—and
sometimes gin and beer. He always slept in his
clothes, and never took regular meals, but would
eat a bit of bread or a cold potato when he thought
fit to do so. When he first came home from China
he told her that lie had got a stud of horses and six
publichouses, and the first time she visited him at
Brentford he was wearing a shirt died magenta co-
lour. She said that she particularly noticed the pri-
soner's extraordinary conduct in May and June of
last year. After he was sent to prison she visited
him, andfound him in confinement, and he was quite
out of his mind, and fancied he was commanding a
ship, and called all the sailors about him. She
went a second time to see him, but was not allowed
to do so on account of the state he was in. She had
seen him drink nearly half a pint of raw spirits two
or three times in the course of half an hour, and all
the time he lived with her he was called " Mad
Motley." While he was in prison she was
informed that he was confined in a padded room,
and his shoes were taken off, and when she saw
him afterwards she observed marks of violence
upon his face where he had injured himself, and a
blister had been applied to his head. When he was
discharged from prison at the expiration of his sen-
tence, the prisoner again went to live with her, and
his conduct was just the same as it had been pre.
viously.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

ROYAL ARTILLERY S TEEPLECHASES —THURSDAY.
The annual military meeting which took place yesterday
at Eltham went off with the usual eclat. The chases were
run over the same ground as last year, and, the weather
being delightfully fine, there was a large attendance on the
course, including a number of the aristocracy and gentry
of the neighbourhood. The various contest.; were decided
as under:—
The Gold Cup, value 100 sovs, added to a sweepstakes of
5 sovs each, 3 ft, for horses the property of and ridden
by officers of the Royal Artillery; 12st each ; winners
extra About three miles.
Capt. Wortham's Oldca.stle, aged, 12st ...(Mr. Griffiths) 1
Mr Magenis's Vesta, aged, 12st (Owner) 2
Capt. Hunt's Jim Crow, aged, 12st 71b (inc 71b ex.)
(Mr Callow) 3
The following also ran :—Bravo, Alice gelding, Nigger,
Wedding Ring, Rear-Admiral, Casual, and Potheen.
Betting-2 to 1 agst Wedding Ring, and 3to 1 each agst
Jim Crow and Vesta. Won in a canter by 24 lengths ;
Crow a bad third.
Ths United Service Stakes of 5 soya each, 3 ft, with 60
added, for horses the property of and to be ridden by
officers of the navy, 12st each ; winners extra; 51b al-
lowed if ridden by officers who have never won a steeple-J
chase. Three miles.
Capt. J. G. S. Shaw's (14th Hussars) Merrimac, 13st 71b
(inc. 211 b ox.) (Capt. Knox) 1
Lord Charles Kerr's (Scots Fusilier Guards) Tommy,
6 yrs, 13st 31b (inc. 211 b ex.) (Owner) 2
Meerschaum also ran.
Betting-6 to 4on Merrimac. Won after an exciting
finish by a head; Meerschaum fell and did not pass the
post.
A sweepstakes of 5 sovs each, with 60 added, for horses the
property of officers in the navy, list ; winners extra.
Three miles.
Capt. Hon. R. Hare's Wizard, 6 yrs, 12st (inc. 141 b ex.)
(Owner) 1
Gondola, Rosa, Paddy, and Old Castle also ran.
Betting—Even on Wizard, and 3 to 1 agst any other.
The Wizard cantered in alone, the others having either re-
fused or met with mishaps.
The Hunt Plate of 30 soya, added to a sweepstakes of 3
soya each ; for horses that have been regularly hunted,
12st each.
Capt. Hon. R. Hare's (R.A.) Wizard, 6 yrs, 12st
(Capt. Tempe 1
Mr Magenis's (R.H.A.)Vesta, 12st„ (Owner)st) 2
Mr B. Hobart's (R.H.A.) Miss Emily, aged, 12st
(Mr Robinson) 3
Lord Kingston, Royal Marines, Jim Crow, Irish Lass,
Skylark, Bridesmaid, and Wedding Ring also ran.
Betting--Even on Wizard, and 3 to 1 each agst Irish
Lass and Lord Kingston. Won by a distance.
The Consolation Stakes did not produce a race.

LEWES SPRING MEETING—TuunsnAr.
The Craven Handicap of 5 sovs each, 2ft, with 40 added ;
for 3-yr-olds and upwards ; winners extra. T.Y.C. 25
subs, 13 of whom pay 2 sovs each.
Mr Chamberlayne's Indigestion, 4 yrs, 7st 71b
(Whitehorl 1
Mr England's Ethelred, 4 yrs, Est 121 b (Elphick 2
Mr. H. Padwick's Mineral, 3 yrs, Gst 91b (Grace 3
Dawdle, Progmore colt, Knight of the Whistle, Bunch,
and Carnizette also ran.
Betting-6 to 4 agst Mineral, sto 1 each agst Indiges-
tion and Carnizette, 7 to 1 agst Knight of the Whistle.
Dawdle was first off, but after running a few yards Bunch,
Mineral, and Indigestion went to the front, these being
joined by Ethelred in the dip. A hundred yards from
home Indigestion rushed to the front and won easily by
two lengths. Three lengths separated second and third.
Knight of the Whistle and Dawdle were next.
The Castle Stakes of 5 sovs each, with 20 added; two-yr-
olds, Est 121 b; three, 9st 41b; selling and other allow-
ances. T.Y.C.
Mr W. G. Benett's Pelerin, 2 yrs, Est 51b (£4O) (Mordant) 1
Mr Cameron's Venturous, 3 yrs, Bst 81b (.£4O) (Hibberd) 2
Mr D. Wyatt's Quiver, 3 yrs, Est 21b (X 10) (Milne) 3
Betting-5 to 4on Pelerin, and 2to 1 agst Venturous.
The latter made play to the distance, where Pelerin drew
up and won after a good race by a neck ; a bad third. The
winner was bought by Mr. Fleming for 40 guineas.
The Welter Cup of 50 sovs, a handicap of 5 soya each 2ft,
with 30 added ; gentlemen riders ; winners and profes-
sionals 71b extra. One mile and a half. 11 subs.
Mr W. E. Jones's Zeloo, 6 yrs, 9st 121 b (Mr Wickham) 1
Mr C. Somers's Disappointment, aged, lOst 51b (in 71b ex.)
(Clement) 2
Mr. I'. Read's Llangollen, 5 yrs, lOst 91b (inc. 71b ex.)
(Humpage) 3
Mr Mitchell's Varnish, 3 yrs, 9st 71b (in. 71b ex.) (Prior) 4
Betting opened at 5 to 4 on but finished at 5 to 4 agst
Zeloo, 5 to 2 each agst Varnish, and 5 to 1 each agst Llan-
gollen and Disappointment. Llangollen made play for a
mile, when Zeloo joined him, the pair going on side by
side to the dip, where Llangollen was beaten and Disap-
pointment challenged, but Zeloo within the rails, came
away and won easily by a length ; a bad third.
The Town Plate, a handicap of 40 soya ; winners extra.

Seven furlongs.
Mr R. Porter's Fortunatus, 3 yrs, 6st 71b (Mordan) 1
Mr P. E. Puebla, 4 yrs, 7st 21b (Neale) 2
Mr llamerton's Frogmore colt, 4 yrs, 7st (Jackson) 3
The following also ran:— Vigil, Disappointment, Pyrrha
Longstaff filly, Bunch, and Hopbine filly.
Betting-6 to 4on Fortunatus, sto 1 each agst Vigil
and Pyrrha, 20 to 1 "bar three." Fortunatus, Vigil, Pyrrha,
and Disappointment were first off, and formed the leading
division for quarter of a mile, when Pyrrha and Disap-
pointment gave way, Puebla and the Frogmore colt taking
their place. Rising the hill Vigil gave way, and Puebla
took a slight lead of the favourite ; but Fortunatus came
out opposite the enclosure and won a good race by a head;
three lengths separated second and third; the Hopi:due
filly was fourth, Vigil next.
_ _ _

A Selling Stakes of 3 sovs each, with 25 added, for 3,yr-
olds and upwards ; selling and other allowances. Seven
furlongs.
Mr Porter's Star Cross, 3 yrs, Est 91b (.£3O) (Mordan) 1
Mr Mitchel's Varnish, 3 yrs, 6st 91b (.£3O) l'Anson 2
Mr England's Queen Bee, 3 yrs, Est 61b(£30) ...(Milne) 3
Mr D. Wyatt's Irish Jig, 3 yrs, Est 61b(.£30) (Grace) 4
Betting-6 to 4 agst Star Cross, 2to 1 agst Queen Bee,
6to 1 agst " bar two." Varnish jumped off in front, the
favourite waiting until reaching the enclosure, where he
came out and won easily by half a length. Queen Bee was
a• bad third. The winner was sold to Mr. H. Wright for
40 guineas.

The Two-Sr--Old Stakes of 5 sovs each, with 40 added;
colts, Bst 101 b; fillies, Bst 71b; winners extra. Half a
mile.

Mr T. Stevens's Premier, Bst 101 b • ...(Payne) 1
Mr England's Lady Pam, Sst 121 b (inc 51b extra)
E. Forster 2
Mr Padwick's My Love, Bst 71b J. (
Grimshaw)) 3
The following also ran :—Knight of Downe Ink,
Nursery Girl, Pevensey.
Betting-5 to 4on My Love, 4to 1 agst Pevensey, 100
to 15 agst Knights of Downe, and Bto 1 agst Nursery
Girl. Premier made play with a slight load of My Lovo
and Lady Ham for a quarter of a mile, when the favourite
obtained a sliglrt advantage, but she gave way after pass-
ing the distance, and huger again taking up thu running

AQUA tICS.

THE OXFORD AND CAMBRIDGE EIGHT-OARED
MATCH,

PUTNEY, TIIIIP,SDAY.
As the Oxford and Cambridge boat race will
be rowed at so early an hour on Saturday morning
next, few out of thousands will be able to witness it.
Those who saw the gallant race of this morning be-
tween the Oxonians and the London Watermen
may, in-many cases, probably be content to take it
as a substitute. This race, which ordinarily pre-
cedes the University match, generally attracts a vast
number of spectators, and did so this morning—the
weather, from its peculiar fineness, being very in-
viting. Amongst the number assembled through
the whole course were many ladies, who watched the
proceedings with much interest.

Queen's County, now offers to pay up the money
with arrears of interest, and to add £l,OOO of her
own for the erection of an hospital or ward for con-
valescents and incurables of all religious denomin-
ations, upon condition that the hospital should be
placed under the care of the Sisters of Charity, with
every safeguard against interference with the religion
of the patients, and with free access to the clergy of
all persuasions. The Governors of the Infirmary,
31 Protestants and three Catholics, met to consider
this proposal, and it was negatived without a di-
vision.

The Government have determined that all the
members of the constabulary shall be furnished
with revolvers, which have been already supplied to
some of the men.

The Cantabs were out first, at about 10 o'clock,
and, after paddling up to Hammersmith, rowed
briskly down through Putney. They were doing
36 strokes at first, slightly increased it, and then
spurting towards the finish got up to 41.
The London IVatermen, at 11 o'clock, stepped
into their boat, and, under the direction of Harry
Kelley, the champion, who was their captain, rowed
up the river to Mortlake, it having been determined
that the " spin " between them and the Oxonians
should be rowed down with the tide, which was run-
ning very slack.

TIILTSD.AY EVENING.
The Chief Secretary was this day elected without
opposition for the county Louth. Ile was proposed
by Sir J. Robinson and seconded by the Hon. E.
Bellew. lie returned thanks in a lengthened
speech. The town is perfectly quiet.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC jOITRNALS.

TIMES.--The condition of the political world at
this moment suggests rather the eve of a coup d'etat,
or the proceedings of our misguided fellow-subjects
in the other island, than the ordinary course of a
constitutional and self-governing country. On the
one hand a small knot in the possession of power
and some adherents out of doors are dark as night
as to their intentions in a matter of the utmost and
most immediate importance ; and on the other hand
we see first one man, then another, protesting
against being either a conspirator or the victim of a
conspiracy. On Tuesday Lord Grosvenor and Sir
William Hutt broke loose from an understanding,
which, however tacit, they felt to exist till repu-
diated, and to be against the public interest. Mr.
Oliphant and Mr. Kinglake have followed their
example, the former asking for statistics, through a
Royal Commission,- for the new adjustment of
borough boundaries and redistribution of seats; the
latter giving notice of a question, with a view to
proceeding by resolution, and not going on with
the present bill till the introduction of a bill for the
redistribution of seats. There is a good deal more
than impatience here, and something more even
than the highly respectable objection which every
man of independence and common sense must have
to a leap in the dark upon any matter whatever.
There is more even than the very valid objection
which open-handed diplomatists have to the secret
agreements of which public treasures have some-
times been made the opportunity and disguise. There
is the principle, which lies at the base of our whole
constitutional and social system, that legislation re-
quires all possible information and light. The House
of Commons expects to know all the facts of the
case, the whole policy intended, and anything that
can bear upon the question in hand. Of course, there
are limits to forethought, and it is not possible to
foresee the consequences of a great change beyond
a very short period. But that is no reason why all
that is possible should not be both known and also
brought under simultaneous and comparative con-
sideration. To be told half a measure, and denied
the least glimpse of the other half, is to be received
with the right hand, while the left is kept under a
cloak. Why should we have mountains of Blue-
books, why nightly notices of questions that must
be answered, why a Parliament with open sittings
at all, if it is expected to accept a proposal the chief
import of which is that it will put a far more im-
portant one, with which it is inseparably connected,
out of the power of this Parliament ? 'Whether it
be, indeed, Constitutional or not, it certainly has
not been the practice of the House of Commons to
legislate in the dark. A dark curtain, never un-
drawn, may be a very convenient piece of machi-
nery in a novel which cannot otherwise sustain the
interest of the reader, and which only dooms it to
disappointment ; but in every department of real
life it is a suspicious and intolerable circumstance ;
nor is endured a moment longer than can be helped.
In the old nursery tale it might be very undutiful
to feel such a hankering after that one forbidden
room, but the result justified suspicion, and the dis-
obedience was rewarded. But, while men of note
in the House of Commons insist upon knowing all
about it, and resolve not to be hoodwinked, the
domino is still in vogue down in the country. In
places which arrogate to themselves special interest
in popular institutions there is performed the solemn
farce of a secrecy worthy of the Inquisition or the
Council of Ten. You have to go at least a hun-
dred miles from the metropolis for the best Enzlish
specimens of organized hypocrisy. The theatre has
driven it out of the market here, and it is only
where men don't know what acting is that they are
duped by the unprofessional actor. There has been
a special meeting of the members of the National
Reform Union " in a drawing-room" at Manches-
ter, attended by forty or fifty respresentatives of
branch associations. The object was to obtain
unanimous resolutions, as if by working men, in
favour of the Bill now in Parliament. Of course
everybody knows what the gentlemen who spoke
on this occasion would like to see done. But the
order of the day was to say nothing about anything
else but the bill. There was not one of the speakers,
we feel pretty sure, who had not had it dinned in
his ears a hundred times over, to the very moment
he rose to speak, " Now, mind, say nothing about
anything else. Stick to the bill. Don't drop a word
about rotten boroughs, new districts, or ballot, or
anything else. Leave all that to another day." As
far as this sort of men can be drilled into anything,
they showed wonderful discipline, but that which
was really uppermost in their minds could not help
coming out, and the worthy managers of the per-
formance must have been a little disconcerted now
and then. Here and there, in the midst of political
aspirations of a loftier and vaguer character, we
have some bits of common sense. Several of them
let out the fact that many populous villages in the
North, considerably larger than many Southern
boroughs, have positively no share in the represen-
tation, and would get very little by this Reform
Bill. They are included in no borough ; they have
very few freeholders, and, we presume, only a small
class of £l4 occupiers. These disclosures, of
course, were inopportune, but we cannot say they
were wholly gratuitous, for it so happens that
nearly the whole of the Branch Reform Associations
represented on this occasion are situated in villages
or townships of that very class, and have therefore
very little interest in the bill now in Parliament,
' except as the means to future arrangements, in-
cluding a redistribution of seats and an extensive
alteration of boundaries. All, indeed, were im-
pressed with the belief that this measure once
passed, they would be able to pick and choose from
a dozen other measures of more direct interest to
the working man. We are by no means sure they
are correct in this belief. All we see in the bill is
this—that if it does more than waste much valuable
time, and really becomes law, it will lead to an
early dissolution, to be followed by a general elec-
tion, in which money will flow more freely and to
more purpose than it ever did before, but whether
ending in a Liberal or a Conservative triumph it
passes our skill to forecast.
POST.—It is not difficult to understand that the
approaching downfall of an Administration which
includes many able statesmen necessarily inspires
some regret. The feeling which we have ourselves
expresse is, we believe, very generally expe-
rienced. In the course of the evening on which
Lord Grosvenor gave notice of his amendment, Mr.
Adderley accurately interpreted the sense of the
house in the high encomium he passed on the con-
duct of the Colonial Secretary, aril Mr. Cardwell
is not the only Minister whose services the country
can ill afford to spare in the present juncture. At
the same time it must be recollected that the Cabi-
net collectively is responsible for its departure from
the sound policy and the national principles which
Lord Pahnerston observed and carried out. The
Premier has not been advised so plainly as he might
have been that his position was untenable ; and
though the reticence of his dissentaneous colleagues
cannot for a moment be imputed to any un vorthy
motive, the hesitation which happens to be a public
misfortune is a political error it would be idle to
at t.
rapt to dissemble. The explanations which are
`:".
ordinaijiy made in such cases will be construed most
charitably. even as regards Lord Russell, Parlia-
ment and the Country will be disposed to make
every allowance that can in reason be expected.
But the question of con.deuce must be considered
on other and higher grounds. This will not be the
first time that Lord Russell has upset the coach he
undertook to drive, though it is an aggravated in-
stance of indiscretion. He had a tractable team, an
excellent start, and a straight road before him. He
was not labouring under any public pressure ; there
was nothing to excuse rashness ; and it was next to
impossible for him to miss his way. Of course it is
easy enough to go wrong, and if a man will gallop
down hill to the edge of a yawning gulf the chances
are ten to one that he comes to grief. Lord Russell
apparently conceived that he had a special mission
to fulfil, and, as Mr. Gladstone stated with re-
markable composure, less urgent matters were post-
poned to promote its success. At the very first
Council over which he presided the interesting sub-
ject was brought forward, and from that time to
this there has been no peace in the Ministry. The
Cabinet was made a nursery, and the country was
invited to rock the cradle of Reform. That, how-
ever, the country could not be prevailed upon to do.
It had nursed and racked into many of these abor-
tive creations, and besides, the caudle was thin and
watery. For months nobody cared to know whether
Reform was living or dead ; and when at last it was

They started at Barnes Bridge. The watermen
had the best station, and they started evenly. The
watermen drew a slight lead at the first, but soon
the gentlemen were level. The watermen rowed
very gallantly, and were gradually overhauled bit
by bit until below the bathing-place, where the Ox-
ford finished, with a lead of half a length. In the
middle of Corney-reach another start was effected,
and the watermen, as before, drew a slight lead, but
were again gradually outrowed off Chiswick Eyot.
There was a very fine spurt after that.