The Sun.
London, England, 1861-03-21 00:00:00

THE

cibles, now a regiment of artillery, is under orders
to proceed to WoolWich to go through a course of
studies for the instruction of the corps.

IRON-CASED SHIPS.

At the Royal United Service Institution, on Mon-
day evening, Capt. E. P. Halsted, R.N., read the
second portion of his paper " On Iron-clad Ships,"
to a crowded audience. The main object of this part
of his paper, as of his first, which we before noticed,
was to show the advantage of employing iron in
the construction of ships of war instead of wood,
and that in ships plated with iron to resist the pe-
netration of shot, it is better to apply the armour to
iron ships than to wooden ones. As in the former
part of his paper, Capt. Halsted made the report of
Sir Howard Douglas against iron ships a subject
of severe criticism, and he quoted at great length
from that report for the purpose of showing that
the experiments made to estimate the resisting
powers of iron to the penetration of shot, and the
relative advantages of wood and iron ships, were,
notwithstanding Sir Howard Douglas's inferences
from those experiments, decidedly favourable to
iron. Experiments made by firing at a target of
iron five-eighths of an inch thick, backed by wood
and without any backing, at a range of 200 yards,
proved that the solid shot passed through and
splintered the iron into fragments, and that the shot
itself was also frequently smashed to pieces and
passed onward like a shower of iron. When the
iron was backed with wood the effects were nearly
equally dangerous, for the splinters of the wood
and the larger pieces of iron were spread about in
the same manner. It appeared, however, that
shells fired horizontally broke to pieces against the
sides of a five-eighth inch plate without exploding,
the gunpowder being dispersed like a cloud of black
smoke. From these experiments Sir Howard
Douglas concluded that, whether an iron ship was
built slightly, like the Ruby—on which the first
experiments had been made, and through which
the shot passed without breaking—or whether it was
built like the Simoom, with plates five-eighths of
an inch thick, which broke the shot, it was equally
unfit for the purposes of war. Capt. Halsted, in
opposition to that opinion, maintained that the da-
mage done by the splintering of the iron and the frac-
ture of the shot is not greater in passing through iron
plates of the thickness of five-eighths of an inch
than it would be in passing through wood, whilst
such a thickness of iron rendered a ship invulner-
able to shells fired horizontally, which prove so
destructive to wooden ships. He mentioned many
instances during the Russian war of the serious
injury done to wooden ships by the shells fired
through their sides, some of the ships having been
set on fire several times and completely disabled ;
none of which damage could have occurred to ships
built of iron with plates of the thickness on which
the experiments were made. The result of such
experiments, he observed, ought to have led those
who made them to ascertain the thickness of iron
through which the shot would not penetrate, by
making the target thicker and thicker; but that
had not been done. Captain Halsted stated that
in November, 1845, a model of a corvette armed
with plates of iron, to render it invulnerable, had
been sent to the Admiralty ; but though attention
was from time to time directed to the subject,
nothing was done about it until three years after-
wards, when the Gloire was built by the French.
A great part of Captain Halsted's paper was occu-
pied with denouncing the political administration
of the Admiralty, to which he attributed the wilful
neglect of the merits of iron ships since the change
of Ministers, in 1846, till within the last two years.
Whilst the wooden flag was flying at the Admiralty,
he said it was useless to attempt to bring to their
notice the advantages of iron, and thus the interests
of the country have been sacrificed to political
influence.
At the conclusion of this part of the paper, Cap-
tain Fishbourne, R.N., who was in the chair, said
that in the discussion on the subject he desired the
political part of the question to be avoided, and
that the advocates of wood and of iron should ad-
dress the meeting one after the other.
Captain Sullivan vindicated the officers of the
royal navy from the imputations which Captain
Halsted appeared to throw upon them, that they
had made the results of the experiments they were
instructed to undertake agree with the wishes of
the Admiralty. There could be no doubt that the
experiments had been fairly made and correctly
reported, and the impression produced on his mind
was the same as on that of Sir Howard Douglas.
The question, he said, was no longer whether we
should have iron-plated ships, for that seemed to be
settled, but whether the iron armour should be put
on to iron or on to wooden bottoms. He considered
that iron was quite unfitted for ships of war, be-
cause iron ships had not the strength of those built
of wood. If they took the ground they could not
be got off, and if they struck on a rock it went
through them as it would through a sheet of brown
paper. Iron ships might answer well for commer-
cial purposes, and on an open sea ; but they could
not without great danger be employed along the
coast, for which purpose the iron-clad ships would
be chiefly required. He instanced the Birkenhead
and Royal Charter as iron ships that had gone to
pieces under circumstances which a wooden ship
would have withstood, and he mentioned many
cases in which wooden ships had grounded and got
off without much damage when it would have been
impossible for an iron ship to have escaped. He
thought it was dangerous even to trust the lives of
troops in transport ships built of iron, and he said
he should not like to be responsible for having done
so.

Mr. SAMUDA expressed astonishment that any
one at the present day should affirm that wooden
ships are stronger than those of iron, if properly
built ; and in proof of the greater comparative
safety of iron ships he quoted the rates at which
insurance on the two classes of ships can be effected
at Lloyd's. He stated that whilst the usual rate of
insurance for first-class wooden ships is from 6 to
8 per cent. of their value per annum, the annual
insurance account of the Peninsular and Oriental
Company's iron ships did not exceed 2 per cent. In
opposition to the cases cited by Capt. Sullivan, he
mentioned several instances of iron ships that had
taken the ground and struck against rocks, and
were got off again with little damage, even after
having been exposed to a stormy sea for many days.
Mr. Samuda entered somewhat minutely into the
construction of iron ships to show their superior
safety to those built of wood, observing that an iron
ship when properly put together is equally strong
in every part as the plate of which it is made,
whereas a wooden ship depends altogether on the
fastenings of the planks to the timbers ; and the
caulking, to keep the ship water-tight, tends to
separate the planks from each other. With respect
to iron-clad ships of war, he considered the advan-
tage of iron was indisputable. The backing of an
iron plate with wood could afford very little support
to the iron, because the particles of wood must be
very much compressed together before the whole
support it was capable of giving could be brought
to bear, and the iron plate would be burst through
by the shot long before that amount of compression
took place. If, on the other hand, a plate of iron
was supported by another plate of the metal of the
same thickness, the resistance to the entrance of
shot would be doubled. There is, however, another
disposition of the iron in the construction of invul-
nerable ships which he recommended, by which the
strength might be quadrupled. Instead of building
an iron ship and then covering it with iron, it would
be much better to build the slip of solid plates of
iron of the thickness required for its complete pro-
tection. By that means the resistance of the iron
would be quadrupled instead of being doubled, and
with the same weight of metal. Had the Warrior:
been so constructed it might have been rendered
invulnerable, not only on thesidesl, but allover ,• it
would have weighed 270
tons
mseevuedraeld,feaeutdhiigfhaedr.optTedha
itnvulnerabple
was
the plan
s h
p andh floated
e s rwe coouml d-
be completely protected with a less l
wei *ght of metal,
anTdhweidtihsutuhsesiirouguwnassthhiegnhaerdiaolanornveedthtei iwednwater.
esday.
Yesterday evening the members again met to
resume the discussion, but as no one rose to advocate
wooden ships in reply to Mr. Samuda,
Capt. HALSTED spoke in reply to the observations
of the speakers of the preceding evening. He ob-
jected to Mr. Samuda's having brought forward the
question of the armour of ships, which would form
the subject of a subsequent paper, for he contended
that the construction of the ship itself was the first
thing to be considered, and the armour was an after
consideration. Capt. Halsted went over much of
the same ground as in the two preceding lectures,
and observed, with respect to the Warrior and the
other iron-cased ships, that at the head and stern
they are only ordinary iron ships like the Simoom,
through which it has been proved that even grape
shot would penetrate, though ordinary
explosive
and incendiary shells could not. He again referred
to the great advantage of being able to resist
spherical shells when fired horizontally, which a
fi plate would do; and he said he believed that a
la inch plate would break conical shot even when
fired by Armstrong guns. Capt. Halsted considered
that a wooden backing of teak, as in the Warrior,
was essential, according to our present knowledge,
and in this and in other respects he differed from
Mr. Samuda.

Yesterday morning a detachment consisting of 60
men and non-commissioned officers of the Royal
Engineers, under command of Capt. Fyers, arrived
in Liverpool from Dublin, i❑ the City of Dublin
Steamship Company's steamer Windsor. They
proceeded by the London and North-Western
Railway for Chatham, on their way to Corfu.
Another party of the same corps, consisting of 83
men and non-commissioned officers, one officer, 11
women, and three children, were to arrive in Liver-
pool, and sail for Dublin in the Windsor by the
evening's tide.

The Ist battalion 11th Regiment, commanded by
Col. Moore, and stationed in Portsmouth garrison,
are under orders to proceed from their present
quarters to Manchester. The 11th is one of the
best disciplined regiments that has been stationed
for some years in Portsmouth.

Yesterday the 4th company of Royal Engineers,
numbering 80 non-commissioned officers and men,
under the command of Capt. H. W. H. D. Dama-
rescbleft Chatham
garrison and proceeded to Dover,
for the P
ur ose of being employed in the repair of
the defences
ficationso that
part of the coast. The 30th com-
pany Royal
, Engineers, under the command of Capt.
A. S. Creykeafterbe
arrivedi at Brompton from Dover yes-
terday,
and
1g raised to its full complement
of 100 non-commissionedmediterr officers and Sappers, will
embark for the
itaonean. The 31st (Capt. A.
B. Fyers's) company of
eve3'nailnEngineers arrived at
Chatham on Tuesday
relieved bg fromth the Curragh
15th company.
Camp, where it was
The 31st companyhas also beenY placed under orders
to embark for the Mediterranean.
The command of the 37th and 38th companies of
Royal Engineers—the two new companies ordered
to be raised at Chatham—has been given to Capt.
L. C. Barber and Capt. W. C. Phillpotts, both of
whom have been ordered to join head quarters for
that purpose.
Lieut. MichaelePortelli, of the Royal Malta Fen-

Mr. FORD, one of the contractors of the Warrior,
explained the manner in which the armour was
dovetailed together to make it watertight, so as to
prevent the water from rotting the teak backing ;
and he stated, in explanation of the head and stern
not being cased with iron, that a ship so weighted
ut"mild not be a fast ship, which the Warrior was
tendQd to be.

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY ',EVENING, MARCH 21, 186 V

IRELAND.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

DUBLIN, TUESDAY MORNING.

The national banquet in honour of St. Patrick
took place last night in the Round Room of the
Rotunda. From 250 to 300 persons sat down to
dinner. The gallery was crowded by spectators,
including ladies, who paid I.s. for admission. The
chair was occupied by Mr. Neilson Underwood.
The names of but three priests appear in the list
of those who attended, and The O'Donoghue was
the solitary member of Parliament who gave the
proceedings the sanction of his presence, though
several others were invited. The assembly was
" national" in the mere sectional sense, represent-
ing the party which formerly went by the name of
" Young Ireland," _ _ .

The -Chairman reminded the assembly of their
responsibility. They occupied, he said, a serious and
critical position on the present occasion. The eyes
of their exiled brethren were centred upon them
that evening. The eyes of the Cabinets of Europe
were centred upon them, to see whether the Irish
people were a people deserving of liberty—whether
they were a people with a resolution capable of
achieving it. The voice of that meeting would be
,re-echoed in America and Australia, and he was
proud to tell his dear friend, Gavan Duffy, that
Ireland, which he thought lay like a corpse on the
dissecting table, had started into life under the dis-
sector's knife. He could conceive no grander sight
than that of Mr. Smith O'Brien as the chief
Minister of a free Irish Parliament, and nothing
could please him more than to see the learned and
able Moore, and the equally able and distinguished
O'Donoghue, moving for the recall of the political
exiles from Paris and Melbourne in a free Irish
Parliament opened by the Queen. Mr. G. H.
Moore, formerly member for Mayo, proposed the
toast—" The Irish People, the only source of legi-
timate power in this country," by which he said
he meant that no Government could exist right-
fully here except by the will of the Irish people.
The wrongs which justified the resistance of the
English people to James 11. were nothing to what
the Irish people endure; against which wrong,
he said, the hearts of the Irish peqple are in insur-
rection at this:very hour. All would be soon set
right, however, if those who talked so lavishly of
sacrificing their lives for Ireland " were only half'
as willing to sacrifice their prospects in life, their
energies in life, and their means of life for the same
object." The O'Donoghue, M.P., in giving " Ire-
land as an Independent Nation," disclaimed any
desire to establish the religious ascendancy of any
denomination, in violation of the principles of
religious equality. "We want to be free," exclaimed
the hon. gentleman, "we want to shake off the
domination of the English Parliament, because it is
revolting to our pride, to our very nature—because
it is an assumption of superiority on the part of
Englishmen which is derogatory to our manhood
as a nation ;" but he warned his audience that they
must be moderate, for they could not afford
" another 1848 ;" but they need not despair, for
throughout the length and breadth of Ireland there
was a deep sympathy for the French people—a
powerful, generous, and gallant nation, which has
proved over and over again that it has a heart to
feel for and a sword able to avenge the wrongs of
others." The Rev. J. Kenyon, in giving the " Pa-
triot Priests of Ireland," gave utterance to some
very rational sentiments. He said, "If the people
wanted to win their freedom they should win it
for themselves. It was a foolish expectation that
the priests should deliver them." Mr. Kenyon
said :

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

" Nothing was so fatal to their notions about all subjects,
foreign and domestic, as the confusion between religious
and secular matters. Everybody has to answer for his own
soul to God. Why should they dare to be throwing the
shadow of their littleness, their malignity, or perversity,
between the soul of the creature and the all-seeing penetra-
ting eye of his Creator. lie did not know from what quar-
ter religious toleration was most assailed. Whether there
were more Catholic, or more Protestant, or Presbyterian
bigots in Ireland he could not tell."

Mr. A. M. Sullivan spoke eloquently on '‘ our
exiled brethren, the men who in Europe and Ame-
rica signalised the genius of our race." Mr. Hol-
land said :

" The Volunteers would set a fine example of 'moral
force'—viz., 100,000 soldiers, 100,000 bayonets, and 1,000
pieces of cannon. (Laughter and cheers.) That was the
moral' force he would have ; that was the only moral
force that would ever achieve the independence of Ireland."
(Cheers.)

Mr. Holland concluded by calling on the meeting
to respond to the toast of " The memory of the men
who had lived, struggled, and died for the cause of
Irish independence."

The O'Donoghue was then called to the chair,
and, the thanks of the meeting being accorded to
the former chairman, the proceedings terminated.
The Bishop of Down and Connor has addressed a
circular to his clergy, requesting them to take steps
in their respective parishes to secure an accurate
enumeration of the members of the Established
Church in the forthcoming census.

EXTRAORDINARY SELF-SACRIFICE

BY A CHINESE WIDOW.

A Hong Kong paper contains the following ac-
count by an eye-witness of a voluntary sacrifice of
life by a disconsolate widow :
" A few days since I met a Chinese procession
passing through the foreign settlement, escorting a
young female in scarlet and gold, in a richly-deco.
rated chair, the object of which I found was to
invite the public to come and see her hang herself,
a step she had resolved to take in consequence of
the death of her husband, by which she had
been left a childless widow. Both being
orphans, this event had severed her dearest
earthly ties, and she hoped by this sacrifice to
secure to herself eternal happiness, and a meet-
ing with her husband in the next world. I
repaired on the day appointed to the indicated spot.
We had scarcely arrived when the same procession
was seen advancing from the josshouse of the
widow's native village towards a scaffold and gal-
lows erected in an adjacent field, and surrounded
by hundreds of natives of both. sexes. The female
portion,, attired in their gayest holiday costume,
were very numerous. The procession having
reached the foot of the scaffold, the lady was
assisted to ascend by her male attendant, and
after having welcomed the crowd, partook with
some female relations of a repast prepared for
her at a table on the scaffold, which she
appeared to appreciate extremely. A child
in arms was then placed upon the table
which she caressed and adorned with a
necklace she had worn herself; she then took
an ornamented basket containing rice, herbs,
and flowers, and whilst scattering them amongst
the crowd, delivered a short address, thanking them
for their attendance and upholding the motives
which urged her to the step she was about to take.
This done, a salute of three bombards announced
the arrival of the time for the performance of the
last act of her existence, when a delay was occa-
sioned by the discovery of the absence of a
reluctant brother, pending whose arrival let me
describe the means of extermination. The gallows
was formed by an upright timber on each side of
the scaffold supporting a stout bamboo, from the
centre of which was suspended a loop of red
cord, with a small wooden ring embracing
both parts of it, which was covered by
a red silk handkerchief, the whole lining being sur-
mounted by an awning. The missing brother
having been induced to appear, the widow now
proceeded to mount on a chair placed under the
noose, and to ascertain its fitness for her reception,
deliberately placed her head in it, then withdraw-
ing her
.head, she waved a final adieu to the
admiring spectators, and committed herself to
its embraces for the last time, throwing the
red handkerchief over her head. Her supports
were now about to be withdrawn, when she was
reminded by several voices from the crowd
that she had omitted to draw down the ring
which should tighten the cord round her neck.
Smiling an acknowledgment of the reminder,
she adjusted the ring, and motioning away her
supports, was left hanging in mid air—a suicide.
With extraordinary self-possession she now placed
her hands together before her, and continued to
perform the manual chin chins until the convulsions
of strangulation separated them, and she was dead.
The body was left hanging about an hour and then
taken down by her male attendants, one of whom
immediately took possession of the halter, and was
about to sever it, for the purpose of appropriating
a portion, when a struggle ensued. This is the
third instance of suicide of this sort within as many
weeks. The authorities are quite unable to prevent
it, and a monument. is invariably erected to the
memory of the devoted widow."

The Academy of Moral and Political Sciences,
Paris, on Saturday elected M. Drouyn de Lhuys as mem-
ber in the room of the late M. Horace Say.

[ADVERTISEMENT.] Pills and medicine invariably ag-
gravate and perpetuate diseases; their annoyance, dis-
appointment, and expense may be avoided by persons
in indifferent health sending only their address to E.
S. Barry, Esq., 77, Regent-street, W., London, and they
will reeeivP gratis and free by post the "INVALIDS' Owie
GUIDE," or Natural Restorer, without medicine or ex
P lase, of perfect digestion, strong nerves, sound lungs, and
refreshing sleep, to the most enfeebled, insuring the removb
of indigestion (dyspepsia), constipation, liver complaints
nausea, epilepsy, paralysis, debility, nervousness, palpitatior.,
cough, asthma, consumption,
dropsy, flatulency, diarrhma,
dysentery, biliousness, fevers, sore throats, catarrhs, colds,
noises in the ears, rheumatism, gout, impurities, eruptions,
hysteria, neuralgia, irritability, sleeplessness, acidity, palpi-
tation, heartburn, headache, despondency, cramps, spasms,
sinking, fits, bronchitis.—"l.7nQuestionably the salo>itQilide
to health.",

It was well, however, that it should be known that
those who made use of a deadly weapon in the
neighbourhood of a public highway incurred con-
siderable risk, if in doing so they did not exercise
great caution to prevent injury being done to those
who were passing along it.
The prisoner was then ordered to be at once dis-
charged from custody.

EQUITY COURTS.—MARcrI 19.
(Before Vice-Chancellor Sir James Stuart.)
THE EMPEROR OF AUSTRIA V. DAY.

Mr. Collier, of the common law bar (with whom
were Mr. G. M. Giffard and •Mr. C. T. Simpson),
for the defendant, Louis Kossuth, asked that the
motion to dissolve the injunction which had been
granted on an ex parte application in this case on
the 27th of February last might be fixed for
Thursday next, or for some other day this or next
week if the plaintiff were not ready on Thursday.
The defendants' affidavits had been filed, and it
was important to his client that the motion should
be disposed of as soon as possible.
Sir Hugh Cairns and Mr. Cotton for the plaintiff,
the Emperor of Austria, and the plaintiff's solici-
tors had only last evening received a very long
affidavit which was filed yesterday by Louis
Kossuth. It would be necessary to answer
this affidavit, and in order to enable them to d•
so the Austrian Government at Vienna would
have to be communicated with, and he under-
stood that Louis Kossuth's evidence was not
yet complete. It was impossible, therefore,
that the motion could be heard either this or next
week, and he would suggest that it should stand
over till the first day of Easter term, the 15th of
April next.
Mr. Collier said the postponement of the motion
would be productive of great inconvenience to Louis
Kossuth.

The Vice-Chancellor said he was willing to hear
the motion as soon as it could be brought on with
fairness to all parties, but that if it would not be
ready for hearing next week it must stand over till
Easter term.

Mr. Bacon and Mr. Wickens, for the defendants,
Messrs. Day, then asked for an order that the plain-
tiff should give an undertaking to Messrs. Day to
be answerable in damages for the loss sustained by
them by reason of the injunction already obtained,
in the event of that injunction being discharged.
The injunction had been highly inconvenient to
Messrs. Day, and had occasioned them heavy
losses.

Sir Hugh Cairns said that he was quite willing
that Messrs. Day's motion should be proceeded
with on the affidavits which had been already
filed. This offer, howaver, not being accepted,
nothing further passed with reference to the
matter.

HOME CIRCUIT.—LEWES, MARCH 20.
(Before Chief Justice Erie.)
Joseph North, 36, a respectable-looking man,
who appeared to be partially paralysed, and who
was lifted into the dock by the turnkeys, pleaded
guilty to three indictments charging him with
forging bills of exchange.
Mr. Ribton, who appeared for the prisoner, said
that he had heretofore borne a very good character
and had carried on a very extensive business as a
contractor at Brighton. He could not deny that
he had put in circulation the bills in question, and
that they were forged, but he was instructed that
the prisoner really intended to take them up, and
that he had, as he believed, completed an arrange.
ment with a money-lender at Brighton, who was
to advance the money for that purpose. At the
last moment, however, this person declined to do
so, and the prisoner upon this immediately gave
himself up and admitted his offence.
Several respectable witnesses were called, who
gave the prisoner a high character, and also stated
that at the time the offence was committed the pri-
soner was entensively engaged as a contractor at
Brighton, and had 80 horses belonging to him and
employed in his business.
Chief Justice Erie said he was at a loss to under-
stand how a man in the position the prisoner was
alleged to be, and who had so much property at
his disposal, could be pressed to raise £lOO, which
appeared to be the total amount of the bills that
were alleged to be forged.
One of the witnesses who had been called for the
prisoner said he believed that at the death of the
prisoner's father he had made himself responsible
for his debt, and that this had caused him to be
pressed for money.
Mr. Roupell, who was instructed for the prose-
cution, stated in answer to a question put by the
learned Judge, that there was no reason to believe
that the prisoner had put any other forged bills
into circulation than those that were now the sub-
ject of inquiry.
Chief Justice Erle, in passing sentence, said that
the offence of forging commercial instruments was
such a very serious one that under ordinary cir-
cumstances it would have been his painful duty to
have subjected the prisoner for this offence to a
long period of penal servitude. Taking into con-
sideration, however, the peculiar facts of this case,
and also the physical infirmity under which the
prisoner appeared to be labouring, he would not
pass upon him a sentence of that character, but he
feltit still to be his duty to inflict a punishment of
some severity, which was imprisonment and hard
labour for 18 months.
Wm. Nicholson, 36, labourer, was charged with
stealing a pair of corduroy trousers, value ls., the
property of Edward Whittington.
Mr. Gates prosecuted.
The fact of so trumpery a charge as this being
sent to be disposed of by one of her Majesty's judges
of assize created a good deal of observation in the
court, particularly in reference to the very peculiar
circumstances under which it was preferred. It
appeared that the prisoner had been staying at the
house of the prosecutor, and that after he had left an
old pair of corduroy trousers were discovered torn
in half, and one portion was subsequently found in
the possession of the prisoner, the other half being
left behind.
The learned judge, after the evidence had been
given, said the case appeared to him very unintel-
ligible with regard to the supposition of felony, and
that the act was one of malice rather than with an
eye to profit, which must have been very small in-
deed, and he left it to the jury to say whether the
prisoner ought to be convicted of felony under such
circumstances.
The jury immediately returned a verdict of not
guilty.
Thomas Wood, an elderly man,, stated to be pos-
sessed of considerable property, surrendered to take
his trial for the manslaughter of Sarah Linfield.
Mr. Connolly conducted the prosecution. The
prisoner was defended by Sergeant Ballantine and
Mr. Roupell.
The learned counsel for the prosecution, in open-
ing the case to the jury, said it was one of a very
painful character. The prisoner, 'who was a very
respectable and, he believed, kind hearted man, had
undoubtedly caused the death of the deceased
by shooting her with a gun on the 14th of August,
but he was bound to admit- that he never enter-
tained the slightest intention of causing such a
catastrophe, and that the fatal result could only be
attributed to negligence in the use of the weapon,
and in discharging it dose to a public highway,
without taking care to ascertain that no person was
near enough to be injured by the discharge. If he
should be able to make out negligence to this ex-
tent, the prisoner would in law be amenable to the
charge of manslaughter, and it would be their duty
to find him guilty of that offence, but his lordship
would have the power of passing any sentence that
he considered the circumstances of the case might
require.
The evidence for the prosecution was then gone
into, and it appeared that on the 14th August the
prisoner, who occupied a considerable quantity of
land at Worth, in this county, was in one of his
meadows, when his attention was called by a
labourer to a rook that had settled in an adjoining
field, and he said that the birds did great harm to
the wheat, and asked the prisoner to go and fetch
his gun and shoot the rook. He went for the gun,
and came back in a short time and levelled it at the
rook, and fired through the hedge, which adjoined
a public road, which it appeared, however, was not
much frequented, and the deceased, who was a poor
woman, passing by at the time, received the whole
of the charge in her face, and the lower jaw was
completely carried away, and she died almost in-
stantly. Immediately after firing the shot the
prisoner went back to the man and said he heard a
sort of snoring on the road, and he hoped to God he
had not hit any one. They then both went to the
spot, and found the deceased lying on the road in
the condition above stated, and the prisoner sent
for a surgeon, and exhibited the utmost distress of
mind at what had occurred.
Sergeant Ballantine was about to address the
jury for the prisoner, when they turned round and
.consulted for a minute or two, and the foreman
then said the jury were of opinion that, under the
circumstances, the prisoner ought not to be con-
victed of manslaughter.
Chief Justice Erie said he had no desire to inter-
fere in any manner with the conclusion the jury
had arrived at, but he would merely state that in
law, supposing a person to be doing the most law-
ful act in the world, if that act was attended with
danger to others, and he did not use reasonable care
and caution to prevent mischief, if mischief resulted
from the want of that proper care and caution, he
was responsible for the consequences.
The jury then deliberated a second time for a
minute or two, when they announced they were
unanimously of opinion that the prisoner was not
guilty.
Chief Justice Erle said he received the verdict
with great satisfaction, because there was no doubt
that the prisoner never intended to cause any mis-
chief, and he appeared to have been very sorry
afterwards, and to have acted with great kindness.