The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-19 00:00:00

Witness—l should think so, from the records of Dr.

Taylor.
The Lord Chief Baron then commenced summing up,
but he said, as it would be impossible for him to conclude
and go though the mass of evidence that had been given
within any reasonable time, he should only make some
general observations upon the case, and should go through
the evidence on the following morning. The case was
undoubtedly one of the greatest importance not only
to the prisoner at the bar, but also to the public, and
the prisoner was entitled to the benefit not only of the fact
that no poison was found in the body of the deceased, but
to any other doubt such as would operate in the minds of
reasonable and conscientious men; and unless the jury
were satisfied of his guilt in such a manner as they
would be satisfied in reference to any important event in
their own lives, that a certain state of things existed, the
prisoner undoubtedly ought to be acquitted. The ease was
one of the most remarkable in all its circumstances that
he ever remembered in his now long experience, and the
evidence that had been brought forward in support of the
charge of murder against the prisoner undoubtedly de-
served their most serious and grave consideration. The first
material question they would have to consider was whether
it was made out to their satisfaction that the deceased
lady came by her death by poison ; and then came the
more important question, so far as the prisoner was con-
cerned,—was it proved by reasonable evidence that it
was by his hand that poison was administered ? He
then entered into a narrative of the facts, and said
the jury would remember that the prisoner was first
taken into custody on the 2d of May, the lady at that '
time being alive. He was then only charged with adminis-
tering poison, and at that time, of course, every one con-
cerned was ignorant of the facts that he had a wife living
and that the deceased was not his legal wife. His own
counsel felt it due to himself to state that no justification
could be offered kit the prisoner so far as this matter was
concerned, and it was clear that he had not only violated
his moral duty, but that by going through the ceremony of
marriage with tho deceased he had committed a breach of
the law and a felony. The circumstances under which that
marriage took place, and under which the prisoner deserted
his lawful wife, would probably for ever remain a secret ;
but, however bad the conduct of the prisoner might have
been so far as these matters were concerned, he was not to be
punished at this time for those acts, and the jury ought not
to allow the circumstances to which he had alluded to have
any weight, excepting so far as they operated with the
other facts in the case upon the question whether the pri-
soner was guilty or innocent of the more serious crime
laid to his charge. It appeared to him that it was a most
important subject for their consideration, the position
of the deceased at the time the fatal event occurred, and
also what she believed to be her own position with regard
to the prisoner. In the letter she wrote to her sister she
stated that she was happy, and she also told her sister
when she first saw her during her illness, that when she
got well it would be all right. What did she mean by
that expression, and ' what would have become of the
prisoner if she had got well, he having a wife living ?
In the will that had been made by the deceased she
appeared to have been studiously called " spinster," and
she signed it in her maiden name of Isabella Bankes,
and how she could have done this knowing that she had
gone through the ceremony of marriage with the prisoner,
and might, therefore, naturally have supposed herself en-
titled to the name of Smethurst, was certainly a very
mysterious and extraordinary circumstance. He could not
help abo observing upon the circumstances un ler which
that will wasmade. The prisoner certainly told a falsehood
to Mr. Senior, the attorney, and he did not appear to scruple
to state what must have tended to degrade most seriously
this unhappy lady for the purpose of having the will pre-
pared in the form he required. If he had told the attorney
the truth, and said that he had gone through the ceremony
of marriage with the lady, he would never have drawn up
the will in the form in which it appeared. Another portion
of the prisoner's conduct at this time was certainly matter
for very serious consideration. At the very period
when this unhappy woman was lying in agony and
misery on her death-bed, and when, according to the
prisoner's own statement, she was in such a condition as
not to be able to bear the excitement of seeing her own
sister, he took into her bedroom, on a Sunday, an entire
stranger, an attorney, and there a will prepared by himself
was read over to the unhappy woman, who executed it
under the circumstances of degradation to which he had
alluded. He could not contemplate this scene of suffering
and privation, when this poor dying creature had all her rela-_
tives excluded from her, and an attorney was thrust into her
presence, and she was allowed to pass into the other world
without one word of religious consolation, as if she had been
a beggar and an unbeliever in a heathen land. (The learned
Judge appeared to be a good deal affected while making
these last observations.) He then proceeded to say that the
learned counsel for the prisoner bad endeavoured to show
that ho had no pecuniary motive for the death of the
deceased, inasmuch as he would be entitled to receive the
interest on the L5,000—£150 a year—during her lifetime;
but, on the other hand, it should not be forgotten that if the
will of the deceased were acted upon he would at once come
into possession of £1,700 or £l,BOO, which would have
-+ed to 12 years' purchase of the dividend. It had
aracrah- '-t Dr. Julius ought to have interfered sooner
been said tn... •• ~speared to him that he had acted very
than he did, but it .... -.rid the deceased were supposed to
properly. The prisoner - -4 it was a very serious thing
be persons of respeciabilltY,
,f"— I.r such circumstances
to roa.,lte a charge of p?if.torting...un% to :upport it at that
. - e other por-
then referred to son...
time. The Parned Judge .
when there was no posittle eVldenc
. . ..,.... o'clock tj::.e Court
and at 20 minutes to su.
aditionosurnedof th.e caret
......a1m................""1
____....

SALLOON ACCIDENT AT NEWCASTLE-ON-
TYNE.—The ateident to Captain Hall, in falling from his
balloon Florence Nightingale as he was descending on
Monday night, near Boldon, is more serious than was at
first thought. His spine is seriously injured, and there are
but remote hopes of his recovery. From the nature of the
injuries, he appears to have fallen head foremost to the
ground from the balloon, his head and left shoulder coming
first in contact with the earth, the body and lower extre-
mities being bent over so as to break the back. The bal-
loon is reported to be picked up off Whitby, but there is no
certain int ormation. _ _

THE CANADIAN MAILS.—The Montreal Ocean
Steam-ship Company's screw-steamer Indian left the
Mersey at half-past one o'clock yesterday, for Quebec and
Montreal, with the mails for the Canadian Provinces, 145
passengers, and a full cargo of goods.
We ( Worcester Chronicle) regret to hear that Mr.h
Francis Rufford, formerly member of parliament for this
city, and chairman of the Oxford, Worcester, and
Wolver-
hampton Railway Company, is now an inmateof a
asylum at Sutton Coldffeld. e Potts, M.P.
lunatic
We are glad to hear that Mr. Georg 0
°awed a
for Barnstaple, whose dangerous illnes.s w
able to leave own toy hjil inaline re
short time since, is now recovered suf:ficiently
Devon, ewe in the south of
to have been

LONDON GAZETT.F,-( THIS EVENING )

At the Court at Osborne House, Isle of Wight, the 12th
day of August, 1859, present, the Queen's Most Excellent
Majesty in Council.
Her Majesty in Council was this day pleased to appoint
the Right Hon. William Francis Cowper to be Precedent
of the Committee of Council, appointed for the considera-
tion of all matters relating to Trade and Foreign Planta .
tions, in the absence of the President of the said Committee
for the time being.

WHITEHALL, AUGUST 19.
The Queen has been pleased to appoint the Right Hon.
Edward Pleydell Bouverie to be Second Church Estates
Commissioner in the room of the Right Hon. Charles,
Viscount Eversley, resigned.
WAR-OFFICE, AUGUST 17.
The Queen has been graciously pleased to make and
ordain a Special Statute of the Most Honourable Order of
the Bath, authorising the following appointments to the
said Order :

To be an Extra Member of the Military Division of the
Second Class, or Knights Commanders, viz. :
Colonel David Edward Wood, C. 8., of the Royal Artil-
lery. _ _ _

To.be an. Extra Member of the Military Division of the
Third Class, or Companions, viz.:—
Lieut.-Colonel Henry Wylie Norman, of the Bengal
Army.

COUNTY OF SALOP.
Owing to the death of the Hon. R. W. Clive, late M.P.
for the c)unty of Salop, a new writ will be issued for the
election of another representative, at the end of 14 days.
CROWN-OFFICE, AUG. 16.

MEMBERS RETURNED TO SERVE IN THE PRESENT;
PARLIAMENT.

Borough of Bodmin—James Wyld, Esq., of No. 51,
Gloucester-road, Regent's-park, in the room of William
Michell, Esq., who has accepted the office of Steward or
Bailiff of her Majesty's Manor of Northstead.
AUG. 18.

Borough of Devonport—Sir Arthur Buller, Knt., in the
room of the Right Hon. James Wilson, who has accepted
the office of Steward .of her. Majesty's Manor of Hemp-
holme.
BOARD OF TRADE, WHITEHALL, AUG. 17.
• NOTICE TO SHIPOWNERS AND MASTERS.
The Right Hon. the Lords of the Committee of Privy
Council for Trade and Plantations have received through
the Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs, a copy of a De-
cree which was published in the Monitore Tocano of the
22d ultimo, instituting a new system of measurement for
Tuscan and foreign vessels, in the place of that formerly in
use.

The following is a translation of the Decree :
The Government of Tuscany, considering that the pre-
sent system of the computation of tonnage is burthensome
to the commerce of Tuscan vessels, inasmuch as it differs
from that adopted by the principal maritime powers in the
points of mensuration, which yield as the result a smaller
amount of tonnage ; and being desirous of securing to ship-
pers the advantages to be derived from a similar method of
computation ;

On the proposition of the Minister of Finance, Com-
merce, and Public Works—

DECREES :-.

Art. I—The capacity or burthen both of sailing and
steam vessels, whether national or foreign, shall in future
be reckoned in tons, their dimensions being measured in
the following manner :
Length—For a one-decked vessel—From stem to stern
along the level of the deck, that is from the poop to the
prow (internally). For a two-decked vessel—Add to the
first length that which is comprised between the stern-post
and the stem, measured along the floor of the second deck,
and divide the sum of the two lengths by two, to obtain the
medium length.
Width—At the main beam or point of the greatest width
of the vessel. For vessels having an inner fixed planking,
from one surface to the other of that planking. For those
with a moveable planking, or with no planking, between
the two inner beards. . .

Height.—At the point of the greatest width. For a
one-decked 'vessel—From under the floor of the deck,
without reckoning the aperture for the mast, or the cross
beams of the deck, to the upper side of the floor of the store
room (pagliolo). For a two-decked vessel—From under
the Boor of the deck as above, to that of the gangway, and
from under that to the store room.
Art. ll.—These three dimensions shall be expressed in
metres and their decimal fractions, and after multiplying
such products into each other, the produce shall be divided
by 3.80, and the quotient shall indicate the amount of the
tonnage of the vessel.
Art. lll.—The computation of steam-vessels shall be
reckoned in a similar manner, but forty per cent. shall be
deducted from the amount of tonnage for the space occu-
pied by the engine and its accessories.
Art. IV.—The Minister of Finance, Commerce, and
Public Works, is charged with the execution of the present
decree, which shall have effect from the Ist day of August
next.
Given in Florence, 20th July, 1859.
C. BON-COMPAGNI,
Commissioner Extraordinary.
R. BUSACCA.,
Minister of Finance, Commerce,
and Public Works.

Sealed (L.S.), E. POGGI,
Minister of Justice and Grace.
COMMISSIONS BY LORDS-LIEUTENANT.
Worcestershire—Robert Berkeley, Esq., to be Deputy
Lieutenant.
County of York—North Riding—William Cayley Wor-
sley, Esq., to be Deputy Lieutenant.
King's Own Light Infantry Regiment of Militia—Ed-
ward Corbett Strutt, Gent., to be Ensign..

Ist Regiment of King's Own Staffordshire Militia—Cle-
ment Moore, Gent., to be Ensign.
2d Regiment of King's Own Staffordshire Militia—En-
sign Henry Fanlkner to be Lieutenant, vice Martin, re-
sign ed.
3d Regiment of King's Own Staffordshire Militia--
Lieutenant William Lee Gresley to be Captain, vice Mar-
tin, resigned.
Oxfordshire Regiment of Militia—Lieut. Henry Moody
to be Captain, vice Turville, resigned; Ensign Edward
Ramsay to be Lieutenant, vice Moody, promoted.
Royal Carisuirvonshire Militia Lieut. Owen Massey
Jones to be Captain, vice Rowlands, resigned.
Kent Militia Regiment of Artillery—Stephen Matthew
Crowe, Gent., to be Second Lieutenant, vice Bonham Car-
ter, promoted.
Ist Regiment of the Duke of Lancaster's Own Militia—
Metcalfe Johnson, Gent., to be Surgeon, vice Jas. Henry
Brooks, resigned.
Ist Company of Lancashire Volunteer Rifles—George
H. Robertson, Gent., to be Ensign.
Dumfries, Xt., Militia—Ensign Wm. Mitchell to be Lieu-
tenant, vice Thomas Hugh Vans Dalrymple Hay, resigned.