The Sun.
London, England, 1861-12-21 00:00:00

THE SUN, (4DNDON, SATURDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 21, 1861.

the Epistle was not written by St. Paul, and in his
(Dr. Williams') own judgment it bore traces of being
post academic. Dr. Arnold was admitted to holy
orders after admitting that the authenticity of the
Epistle to the Hebrews was an open question, and
surely Dr. Williams was not a heretic by the opi-
nion he had expressed upon that Epistle, or upon
the Second Epistle of Peter. Again, with regard
to the Revelations of St. John, if every clergyman
who gave an opinion as to the interpretation of the
Revelations were prosecuted as a heretic, the Judge
of the Court of Arches would be of all judges the
most sitting and the most patient. The complaint
of the 11th article was on account of the opinion
that " the Deluge takes its place among geological
phenomena, no longer a disturbance of law from
which science shrinks, but a prolonged play of the
forces of fire and water, rendering the primeval
region of North Asia uninhabitable, and urging the
natives to new abodes ;" but on reference to the
book itself it would be seen that these opinions were
again the opinions of the author; and not of the re-
viewer, and the same was the fact with regard to
the descriptions quoted of the flight of the children
of Israel from Egypt, and the passage of the Red
Sea. But he had never heard that the present Dean
of St. Paul's had ever been accused of being a
heretic because upon this very particular of the flight
from Egypt he had expressed an opinion similar to
that of Baron Bunsen; and a miracle might surely
not be less a miracle because the Almighty willed to
bring it about by human means. But he would
put to the Court these questions. Were the state
ments of the Bible altogether so blasphemous
that merely to cite them, abridge them, or review
them was a crime that that Court would punish ?
and were comments made by such a person as Baron
Bunsen not to be noticed or reviewed by a clergy-
man of the Church of England ? For whom was
this review written ? If it had been written 100
years ago it would have been written in Latin ; but
we have left off now the habit of bringing these
difficult questions forward in what Gibbon described
as the decencies of the dead language. • Was
then, at the time when such theories as these were
started by Baron Bunsen, the greatest scholar, per-
haps, of his day, that a clergyman, for a book writ-
ten for the study of learned persons upon those
theories, should be punished as a heretic ? Was
the description of the Deluge itself so clear that no
second interpretation could be given to it? Where
were " the windows of heaven." that "opened ?"
Were "the fountains of the great deep" literally
"broken up ?" This was the language of poetry.
It did not shut out the researches of science, nor
did science deny the operation of God's interference
in bringing about the flood.
The case of "Dr. Williams" is expected to be
concluded to-morrow (Saturday).

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.—STAFFORD, Dec. 20.
(Before Mr. Baron Martin.)
THE BILSTON MURDER.
William Jones, 21, miner ; David Brandrick, 20,
puddler; Wm. Maddox, 28, puddler; Thos. Jukes,
28, snuffer maker; Samuel Bill, 26, puddler; Heze-
kiah Webb, 25, miner; and Thos. Lillcy, 24, potter,
were charged with the wilful murder of John Ba-
gott, at Bilston, on the 29th September last.
Mr. P. M'Mahon, Mr. Motteram, and Mr. A. S.
Hill conducted the prosecution; Mr. Kenealy de-
fended Brandrick ; Mr. Cook Evans defended Mad-
dox; Mr. W. J. Neale defended Jukes and Lilley ;
Mr. Claydon defended Bill; and Mr. H. Matthews
defended Webb. The prisoner Jones was undefended
by counsel,but in the course of the trial he expressed
a wish that the Court would assign him counsel.
Mr. Baron Martin declined to interfere in that way,
but Mr. G. S. Griffiths volunteered his services, and
with the sanction of the Court watched the case of
that prisoner.
Mr. P. M'Mahon opened the facts of the ease to
the jury at considerable length ; and then, with
the assistance of his junior counsel, called nearly 40
witnesses.
From their evidence it appeared that the seven
prisoners were all charged with being concerned in
the murder of a Mr. John Bagott, a tailor, at Bil-
ston, in this county, who came by his death, at an
early hour on the morning of Sunday, the 29th of
September last, in the sitting room of his own house.
At about 4 o'clock in the morning of that day it was
discovered that the house of the deceased had been
forcibly broken open and robbed, and when the
police entered the sitting room of the house they
found the deceased lying dead upon the floor, his
face blackened as if with soot, and every indication
of the house having been ransacked by burglars.
When the body had been examined by the surgeons,
they gave it as their opinion that the deceased had
been suffocated by pressure upon his mouth and
nostrils, or in other words, that he had been burked.
The excitement occasioned by the discovery was
very great, especially in the town of Bilston,
which has an unenviable notoriety for crime; but
great efforts were made by the police to discover
the perpetrators of the deed, and suspicion having
alighted on the seven prisoners, they were all, in
the course of a few days, lodged in prison upon the
charge. Thelevidence now adduced, of which we
propose:to give only an outline, established the fol-
lowing case :—A charwomao,..sa Rliva TtownPg,
stated that the deceased, who was a tailor and
draper, lived in Church-street, Bilston, at a corner
house, which had a side door in Stafford-street. The
charwoman was a married woman, living at Bilston,
but as the deceased was a bachelor, and kept no
servant, she attended upon him during the day, and
at night returned home, and slept at her husband's.
The deceased was an eccentric man, and rather
given to intoxication, which he usually indulged in
at his own house. On Saturday, the 28th of
September last, a commercial traveller called
upon him at about eleven o'clock in the morning,
and at one o'clock the deceased told the charwoman
to mind the shop, as he was going out, but he
would not be long away. It appeared he
dined with the:commercial traveller at a publichouse
in the neighbourhood, called the King's Arms, and
continued drinking till about 6 o'clock, when he was
brought home, leaning upon the arm of the com-
mercial traveller, in a state of intoxication. As he
entered his sitting room at the back of the shop he
fell down on the floor, and, not being able to attend
to his business, he remained in his room till about
8 o'clock, but by that time he Lad so far recovered
his senses that he lighted the gas and assisted in
serving customers till about 11 o'clock, when he
closed tho shutters, At 11 o'clock the charwoman
fetched a pint of sixpenny ale, which he drank, and
she also bought a bottle of port wine, two quarterns
of whisky, and a joint of Jamb for leis 'Sunday's
dinner, and at 20 minutes past 11 the deceased let
the charwoman out at the side door, in Stafford-
and turned the key of the lock after her. The
suppec things were left ready, there being 20 oysters,
and the wine and whisky on the table ; but the
next day the wino was found upstairs, but the
oysters and a portion of the whisky, as well as the
ale, appeared to have been consumed. As the char-
woman left the house the deceased bade her " good
night," and expressed his sorrow for the trouble he
had given her that day. Nothing more was seen
or heard of the deceased till about 4 o'clock in the
morning, when the police received information that
the house had probably been robbed. It appeared
that a young woman named Elizabeth Beards lived
with her father, William Beards, who had been a
collector, at a small house in an entry in Stafford-
street, about 40 yards from the house of the deceased.
She was sitting up on the Saturday night to let
in her brother, who was out very late; and at about
three o'clock in the morning she heard voices
in the entry. One man said, "—my
eyes, they'll know mo by my shoes." At about
half past three, she heard a man say " Bring
the trousers and jackets," and another man said,
" Hush, hush," and another man said " Come
lower down." When she heard this she turned the
handle of the door to disturb them, and the men
went away. The young woman went up to her
father, and told him what had occurred, and as she
came down stairs her brother came to the door and
called for a light. Ile then went out into the entry,
and brought in three jackets and a pair of trousers,
over which he sasd he had stumbled, as ho came
down the entry. Just before he had got to the
entry he had met three men, running down Staf-
ford-street from the direction of the house of the
deceased; but as the lamps at that hour (4 o'clock)
had all been put out, and the town was in perfect
darkness, it was impossible for him to know or to
describe the men whom he lied met. As soon as the
Beards came to examine the clothes which the son
had found in the entry, some one suggested that
they must hitve been stolen from Mr. Bagott's
shop, and the elder Beards immediately wont to
the police station at Bilston and gave information.
Police-sergeant Smith obtained a light, and, accom-
panied by the elder Beards, went to the house of
the deceased. They found the side door closed but
unfastened, and the back door, which led into the
back yard, in the same state. A further examination
showed that an entry had in the first instance been
effected by breaking open the door of an ashbole in
the side premises in Stafford-street. This led into
an outer yard, from which an entry had been made
into a brewhouse by breaking open the window and
shinattlost taern also;
inner
doornonrceerd leading
yoapredn,aad ton the
adjoining
alsothe
adjoininge door
house.
leading
g .atthence-
ing in this yard, under tigle sitting-room win-
dow, had been removed and an entry effected
by the coal-cellar, from which some one had
pushse backbY
the door
poinstt,o
so thoes
tohou cautbtionlf
in
nawthaye
door at the top of the coal-cellar stairs. Police-ser-
geant Smith stated that when he entered. the sitting-
room of the deceased ho found the gas still burn-
ing, but with a glimmering light. There were the

remains of the supper on the table, which he said
was strewed over with bottles, keys, and other
things. He examined the room with the candle,
and found the deceased lying on the floor, partly on
his back, and partly on his left side, his shoulder
against the end of the fender, and his head hanging
over into the fender. The poker was lying with the
handle upon the ground, and the square part resting
upon the neck of the deceased. The hands and face
of the deceased were quite black with slot or ashes.
The policeman raised him up, and unfastened his
stock and collar, and, as he did so, his head fell for-
ward. The body was still warm, and a surgeon was
sent for, but when he arrived, at half-past four, he
pronounced the unfortunate man to be quite dead,
and he thought he had been dead about three-quar-
ters of an hour. When the deceased was first dis-
covered his waistcoat was all unbuttoned and the
front of his trousers was down; the two middle
buttonholes in the fall had the appearance of being
recently torn, and the sides of the fall had the same
appearance. The suggestion made on the part of
the prosecution was, that these appearancea indi-
cated that a struggle had taken place with the
deceased previous to his death, and that suffocation
was caused by pressure upon his face, mouth, and
nostrils by one of the prisoners (Jones), who was
arrested the same night with black hands. After
examining the lower part of the house the police
sergeant went upstairs, and found a piece of cotton
cloth smouldering on the carpet near the bed, in a
room over the sitting-room. It had already burnt
through the carpet to the boards, and if it had
not been discovered as it was the bed would
have soon been in a blaze. The deceased was
in the habit of keeping all his doors locked, and the
bedroom door was found forced open. There was
a hatchet on the bed, which had been brought up
from the coal cellar, where it was used to break
the coals. The drawers had been forced, and a
cash-box, which had been broken open, was found
lying upon the floor. The burglars, however,
had missed a £5-note and a gold watch, which they
had turned over, but there was great uncertainty as
to what articles had been stolen, as the charwoman
was unable to state the extent of the robbery. She,
however, spoke to the loss of some coats, a waistcoat,
trousers, and pocket-handkerchiefs, which had be-
longed to the deceased, and also to a set of studs,
which he had bought about three weeks previously,
and which she had placed in his bedroom. She also
missed half-a pound of moist sugar from the sitting-
room. A store-room on the first floor was also broken
open, and bales of cloth were thrown about. The
surgeon was examined as to the cause of death, and
he gave it as his opinion that the deceased had died
of congestion of the lungs, produced by suffocation,
and that that was caused by pressure upon his
mouth and nostrils. There was au abrasion and a
clot of blood at the back of his head, as if his head
had been held down upon the floor, an indentation
made by a fingernail on the top of his nose, a graze
on the chin from which blood had flown, and his
blackened face, the surgeon thought, showed that
he had been " burked" by pressure from a black
hand. There were no bruises on the chest eater-
nally, but the lungs were found to be highly con-
gested. It appeared upon cross-examination that
the liver was diseased, and was like "nutmeg," and
the brain generally was in a softened state, but not
so much so as to render the deceased liable to fall
dead suddenly. The surgeon was a good deal pressed
upon this point, and ultimated admitted that a per-
son diseased as the deceased was, and suffering from
the effects of intoxication, might fall down suddenly,
bnt he expressed a very positive opinion that the
deceased had not died from any other cause than
suffocation. As soon as Police-sergeant Smith and
Police-superintendent M'Crea had made all neces-
sary examination of the premises they proceeded to
a place in Bilston called the Berry-yard, situate
about 200 or 250 yards from the house of the
deceased. This was a miserable place, where
there were several brothels, the resort of prostitutes
and other bad characters. On entering the yard
at about five o'clock the same morning the police
heard persons runnng up and down the stairs of
the first house on the right hand side of the yard,
and:they heard a woman crying. The door of the
house was fastened, and the key had been taken
out, but after waiting some time the police entered,
and found the prisoner Jukes sitting on a couch,
dressed as if he had just come in. It had been
raining in the night, and Juke's boots were wet.
They also took Lilley into custody in the same
house, He was in bed with a woman upstairs, but
his boots also were wet. The prisoner Bill was
also taken in bed with a womau in a house on the
oppsite side of the yard, and his boots also were
wet, as if they had been recently worn. Both the
houses where these prisoners lived and were taken
were brothels. The police superintendent took the
three prisoners, Jukes, Lilley, and Bill, to the police
station, and when he arrived there he found the
prisoner Jones already in custody. It appeared
that the prisoner Brandrick lived with his father
and mother at a house near Daisy-bank railway
bridge, and on the previous night (Saturday), at
about 10 o'clock, a policeman named Harrison, who
was on there, saw Brandrick go towards Bilston.
The superintendent told Harrison to watch for his
(Brandrick's) return home, and Harrison, acting on
instructions, wont to Brandrick's house at half-past
2 o'clock on the Sunday morning, and opened the
door, but finding there was no oue there he went
and watched for him near the bridge. At about a
quarter to 4 o'clock he saw three men coming
along the road from Bilston. He recognised Brand-
rick as one of the two foremost men, and the other
man, who:had the appearance of the prisoner Mad-
dox, was carrying what appeared to be some
new clothes under his arm. There was a third
man walking about a yard or two behind them,
whomithe policeman identified as the prisoner Jones.
When the policeman saw the three men approach
he made a rush at them, and Jones ran back, and
the other two men on the road. The man who had
the clothes threw them away. 'The policeman gave
up the chase and took possession of the clothes,
which turned' out to be a portion of the plunder
which had been taken only a short time before from
the house of the deceased. The policeman deposited
the clothes in a barn, and again watched near
Brandrick's house for about an hour and a quarter,
and then lifted the latch and went into Brandrick's
house. There was a candle on the table, which he
lighted, and having searched the house, he found
there was no one there but Brandrick's father and
mother. As Harrison left Brandrick's house he met
the prisoner Jones sauntering along the road from
Bilston in the direction of Brandrick's house and
took him into custody upan a charge of being con-
cerned, witb two others, in stealing the clothes,
which the policeman then got out of the barn. At
that time Harrison was not aware of the burglary
or the murder, and was about to take Jones to the
station, down Stafford-street, past the house of the
deceased ; but, when Jones got to the corner, he
said he would not go that way, but he would go
round by the Castle, as he wanted to get a glass of
ale. The policeman indulged his prisoner so far, but
he made no further request for ale. At the station
Jones was searched, and in his jacket pocket was
found a new set of studs in a box, which were iden-
tified by the charwoman as the property of the de-
ceased, and which she said she had placed in his
bedroom about three weeks before his death. The
prisoner, Jones, was asked how he could account
for the studs, and ho said, "I don't know."
Some money was also found in his pockets,
consisting of three half-crowns, a sixpence, and
sd. in copper. By this time the superinten-
dent had brought in Jukes, Lilley, and Bill
to the station ; and, when he saw Jones, who
was brought out of the cell for his inspection,
he noticed that his hands were very black, with
soot or ashes, as far as his wrists. The superinten-
dent obsessed to the prisoner Jones that his right
hand was very black, to which he made no answer;
hut the next time he was seen lie had managed in
some way to wash his right hand clean. The boots
were taken from the feet of Jones and Jukes, and
they were stated to correspond with traces on the
road to and from Brandrick's house ; and Jones's
right boot was said to correspond with an impres-
sion on the ground at the entrance to the coal
cellar. Jones's trousers also were made of fine cor-
duroy, and both the knees had been patched with
a similar material; and several witnesses proved
that they found impressions on the ground by the
entrance to the cellar, which appeared to have been
made by the prisoner's knees, and one in particular
by the left knee, on which the patch had been
sewed crossways. Evidence was given that at day-
light, but before 6 o'clock on the same morning,
Brandrick was seen to enter his father's house, near

the Daisy-bank railway bridge, and while there a
man dressed like Maddox, with a flannel jacket and
black billycock hat, was seen standing outside the
door. The same morning, at about 9 o'clock five
silk pocket-handkerchiefs which had belonged to
the deceased were found in a garden at the end of
the road where Brandrick lived. On the same day
Brandrick and Maddox were traced at several

places, in each other's company, till the same night
when they were at Birmingham. The witness
called to prove this latter fact was a man named
Rowley. He was the cousin of Brandrick, and
stated that Maddox came to his house on Sunday
evening ; and then startled the counsel for the pro•
secution by swearing, in answer to questions by
Brandrick's counsel, that Brandrick had been at

his house since 3 o'clock on the Sunday morning,
in contradiction to a number of witnesses who had
previously been examined.
At this stage of the proceedings the trial was ad-
journed, and the jury locked up for the night.

DECEMBER 20.
At the sitting of the Court this day the trial of
this case was resumed.

The general evidence being now concluded, a
great number of witnesses were:now:examined, with

a view to show that the several prisoners were seen
in company on the night previous to the murder,
and also at an early Ikur on the morning of the
murder. It appeared that on the Saturday night
all the prisoners had betn seen together, at the
King's Arms publichouse, between the hours of 11
and 12 o'clock. The same prisoners, or some of
them, had been seen at about 6 o'clock standing
near the Berry-yard, a shoit instance from the
King's Arms, at the time when the deceased was
taken home from the King's Arms in a state of
intoxication. They were seen to watch him as he
was taken home, and several witnesses stated that
in the course of the evening they were seen loiter-
ing about the street in the front of the house, and
peeping into the shop, up to the hour of 11 o'clock,
when the shop was closed. This evidence, however,
was not of so much importance as might in other
circumstances have been expected, for it was well
known that the deceased was an eccentric man, and
in a state of intoxication in his shop, and it was
only natural that idle people should be about the
streets on a Saturday night, and should occupy
themselves with watching the proceedings of the
deceased man. It was, however, shown by the
police that Maddox was out in the Berry-yard at
past 12 o'clock, and some men and women of low
character, living in the Berry-yard, gave evidence
that they saw all the prisoners out at various
hours of the night in company with one another.
The evidence was brought to a close at 1 o'clock
this day, and
Mr. Baron Martin then interposed, and said he
thought there was no evidence at all against Bill
and Webb, and very slight evidence against Jukes
and Lilley. His lordship said he could not say
there was not some evidence against Jukes and
Lilley, but it was very slight, and if the case went
to the jury his lordship said he should not be satis-
fied with their conviction, and he should sum up
very strongly in their favour.
Mr. M‘Mahon, on this intimation, withdrew from
the prosecution as regards the four prisoners, Bill,
Webb, Jukes, and Lilley.

Mr. Neale was then instructed to lead the defence
for the prisoner Jones, and addressed the jury at
some length in favour of that prisoner. He con-
tended that there had been no sufficient examina-
tion as to the cause of death, and that there was
some ground for believing that the deceased had
not been murdered at all, but that death had been
caused by some injury to the spinal cord, which had
been only partially examined. The learned counsel
then argued that there was no sufficient evidence
to convict the prisoner, and made a solemn appeal
to the jury to say he was not guilty.
Mr. Cook Evans then addressed the jury for the
prisoner Maddox, and contended, first, that death
was consistent with natural causes, and that, there-
fore, the circumstantialevidence failed to show that
any murder had been committed. He also contended
there was no evidence to show that the prisoner
Maddox had ever entered the house of the deceased
or knew that anyone had entered it with the inten-
tion to commit a murder. There was no evidence
that the prisoner Maddox had been seen with any
of the stolen property. The utmost that the evi-
dence amounted to was, that a man dressed in a
flannel jacket, and with a billycock hat, was seen on
the high road soon after the burglary with Bran-
drick and Jones, and that the man so dressed threw
away a bundle of clothes stolen from the house of
the deceased.

Mr. Kenealy addressed the jury for Brandrick,
and contended there was not sufficient evidence
that Brandrick was in Bilston on the night in ques-
tion. No policeman, but only prostitutes and brothel
keepers, spoke to the fact. The learned counsel
denied that the evidence of the policeman Harrison
could be relied upon, when he said Brandrick was
one of the three men whom he had seen on the road,
nor could the evidence of the woman who said she
had seen him at home be replied on. The evidence
of Rowley clearly showed that the prisoner was at
Birmingham by 3 o'clock on the morning of the
burglary, and consequently it was impossible he
could have had any part in the burglary, for he
would not call it a murder.

Mr. Baron Martin then summed up the evidence
to the jury. His lordship said the first question was,
whether there was any evidence to go to the jury.
As to the prisoners Webb and Bill, his direction
was that there was no evidence, and it would be
their duty to say that they were not guilty, and with
respect to the prisoners Jukes and Lilley, though
there was some evidence, it was agreed by the coun-
sel for the prosecution that there was not sufficient
evidence to convict, and it would, therefore, be their
duty to say that they also were not guilty. The
next question would be whether or not the deceased
man had been murdered, and that would depend on
the evidence of the police-sergeant Smith and the
surgeon Larkin, which his lordship read over. The
jury could not have any doubt that a burglary bad
been- committed, and probably they would be of
opinion that there was evidence on the premises that
at least-three men had entered the house, and it
Milne the duty of the jury, looking fairly at the
evidence, to see whether the deceased had not been
murdered by the burglars who had robbed the house.
His lordship then proceeded to review and read over
various parts of the evidence which tended to con-
nect the thtee prisoners with the offence.
At 20 minutes past 7 o'clock the jury returned into
court, and found the three prisoners William Jones,
David Brandrick, and W. Maddox guilty of mur-
der, and acquitted the other four prisoners.
Mr. Baron Martin said he entirely concurred in
the verdict, and could hold out no hopes of mercy.
His Lordship exhorted the prisoners to prepare for
death, for he warned them that they would soon
cease to live, and then pronounced upon them the
awful sentence of death in the usual form.
The prisoners were then removed.

TEE DUEL .BETWEEN CANNING AND

LORD CASTLEREAGIL

Unknown to Lord Castlereagh, without giving him the
slightest reason to suspect its existence, a party had been
formed in the Cabinet inimical to him, and the object of
which was to get him removed from his position as Minis-
ter at War, and Lord Wellesley substituted in his room
This was arranged by the whole Cabinet, with the excep
tion of his lordship, as early as the 4th April, 1809. Mr.
Canning . then said that the views which he entertained
regarding the future conduct of the war ware so utterly at
variance with those adopted and hitherto acted upon by
Lord Castlereagh, that they could no longer, with advantage
to the public service, form members of the same Govern-
ment, and that one orother must be called upon to resign. He
professed at the same time his own willingness to retire. The
Duke of Portland, with his whole Ministry, seemed to have
agreed in this opinion; but dreading the loss of the orato-
rical talents of Mr. Canning, they requested him to withhold
his proffered resignation, and suggested the most profound
secrey on the intended removal of Lord Castlereagh. This
injunction was strictly obeyed, and Lord Castlereagh re-
mained in entire ignorance that his removal had been re-
solved on, although it was quite fixed, and the King's
pleasure had been taken upon the subject. He continued
in this state of ignorance till the beginning of September
when Mr. Canning threatened, if the removal was any
longer delayed, to resign himself. This brought matters
to a crisis, and on the 7th September, the painful duty was
devolved on Lord Camden of communicating to his early
and dear friend, whom he had in a manner introduced
into public life. the determination of the Cabinet to call
upon him to resign. He did not, however, make him
aware how long his removal had been resolved on, or that
he had been allowed to conduct the war in Portugal, the
Talavera campaign and Walcheren expedition, after
his removal had been determined on. Lord Cas-
tlereagh, conceiving that the change had been resolved
on merely to strengthen the Ministry by the sub-
stitution of some other person in his room, agreed to
resign, but declined to accept the situation of President of
the Council, which was pressed upon him by Lord Camden.
So far all was well ; and, contrary to what might have been
expected in the circumstances, this extraordinary secret in-
trigue had arrived at the desired result without having been
discovered, or the real motives of the proceedings suspected.
But this lull in the political tempest was not of long dura-
tion. The story of the way in which it came out must be
given in Mr. George Rose's words :—" It was not till Lord
Castlereagh was shown the correspondence of Mr. Canning
by Mr. Percival that he expressed any resentment or un-
pleasant feeling on the subject. It was from that he learned
how early his removal had been consented to by his Ma-
jesty and his colleagues, and it was in that that he met with
passages which induced him to challenge Mr. Canning—a
proceeding which I still think, even admitting some mis-
conception on the part of Lord Castlereagh, his lordship
was utterly unjustified in adopting, If he had determined
to call out anyone, the Duke of Portland was the only de-
linquent to whom he should have resorted; and he had no
motive whatever, but an anxious desire to reconcile matters
in the best way ho could, and, if possible, prevent any
breach among the Ministers—constantly hoping that an ac-
commodation might be effected in some way or other, and
at last thinking that his (Duke of Portland), own resigna-
tion could afford an opportunity for such an arrangement
as might, to a certain extent at least, be satisfactory to Lord
Castlereagh. That, however, was defeated by Mr. Canning
urging a separate arrangement, as is proved by the extracts
of the correspondence which I made from the papers Mr.
Canning put into my hands on the 16th Sept." The re-
sult was that Lord Castlereagh, conceiving that the whole
was an intrigue of Mr. Canning's to get him removed from
office in order to facilitate his own advancement, and that
he himself had been ill-used by being allowed so long and
at so critical a juncture to retain the responsibility of office
when his removal had been not only resolved on by the
Cabinet, but submitted to his Majesty and approved by
him, sent Mr. Canning a challenge. The parties met and
exchanged shots. Mr. Canning's fire did not take effect;
but that of Lord Castlereagh inflicted a severe flesh wound
on the thigh of his adversary, which fortunately did not
prove mortal. Both parties, as a natural consequence, re-
signed their oittlatiens izi the. Cabinet Lord Wellesley