The Sun.
London, England, 1859-08-16 00:00:00

DWELLINGS OF TIIE LABOURING

CLASSES.

(From the Hertford Mercury.)
A public meeting was held at the Town Hall, on
Thursday evening for the purpose of submitting to
the inhabitants of Hertford the prospectus of the
local company for improving and erecting dwellings
for the working classes. There was a good attend-
ance of the leading inhabitants of the town and of
the working classes.
The chair was taken by the Right Hon. W. F.
Cowper, M.P., who was supported by Mr. Robert
Dimsdale and Mr. J. W. Chesshyre (who have
kindly consented to act as Honorary Secretaries of
the Company), and by other gentlemen. Mr. Mar-
tin, the architect, attended to exhibit and explain
plans and models of cottages published by the Cot-
tage Improvement Society. Mr. Stevens, the
architect of Christ Church, Ware, was also present
with plans of his own ; and Mr. T. Smith, of Hert-
ford, attended with drawings he had made of the
Albert cottages, similar to those erected in Hyde
Park in 1851.

The Cottage Improvement Society have seat out
840 sets of their plans to different counties, and
they have been extensively adopted. These cot-
tages are erected in detached pairs, with side
doors and porch entrance, at a cost of 155
guineas the pair. In some cases where building
materials are cheap they have been put up for £lO
less, but the cost has not hitherto exceeded this
sum. The cottages have gable roofs, and have a
pleasant rustic look ; as models they are not appli-
cable to the streets of towns, but should be placed
where land can be procured at a moderate price,
so as to allow of their being surrounded by
garden ground. They are suited for erection in
villages, or on plots in the suburbs of towns. The
society has two plans. In No. 1 Plan, there are
two rooms on the ground floor, viz., a living room
9ft. 4in. by 18ft. 4in., fitted up with dresser, and a
boy's bed-room 7ft. 10in. by 10ft., with a trap store
under. The model showed a press-bedstead in the
boy's room, which would enable the occupier to use
it in the day-time as a parlour. The upper floor
has a parentebedroom lift. 4in. by 9ft. 4in., and a
girls' bedroom lift. 4in. by 7ft. 10in., with a closet
4ft. Bin. by 2ft. bin. There is also an approach
over the staircase to an ample space in the roof,
which may be used as a store room ; and a fuel
place and pantry under the stairs. Outside each
cottage there is a watercloset approached by a
covered way. In the model exhibited, a scullery
was attached, but this addition would increase the
cost of erecting the cottages. No. 2 Plan is like
No. 1, except that sleeping is not contemplated in
the lower rooms, one of which is fitted up as a
kitchen, with dresser, sink, and oven, and the other
as a living-room; while one of the upper apart-
ments is divided into two sleeping-rooms, one for
girls, and one for boys. These cottages are so per-
fectly ventilated that the quantity of fresh air in-
troduced is greater than in much larger rooms im-
perfectly ventilated. The rooms are Bft. high.
Mr. Stevens' plans, which have the sanction of
the Society for Improving the Condition of the
Labouring Classes, are extremely attractive. The
cottages are flat-roofed, and the ceilings are conse-
quently of uniform height, which is an advantage.
They may be built semi-detached or in blocks.
Each cottage consists of four rooms. The ground
plan gives a living room llft. by 10ft., a boy's bed-
room 9ft. bin. by 7ft. 101 in., with a good pantry, a
wates.closet, and a fuel place. On the upper floor
there is a parents' bedroom, lift. by 10ft., and a
girls' room, 9ft. bin. by 7ft. 10in., and a large
landing. Mr. Stevens states that the cost of erecting
these cottages at £l7O the pair, in places where
buildings are, however, more cheaply constructed
than in Hertford.
The Albert Cottages are familiar to our readers.
They are built in fours, in flats, one cottage being
on the ground floor, and another approached by a
common outer entrance on the upper floor. We be-
lieve they cost about £9O per cottage, but they
contain ample conveniences for the cottage resident;
the principal objection to this plan in rural dis-
tricts is, that the garden attached must necessarily
be divided between two occupiers. It is more suited
for densely-peopled towns.
Other plans were upon the table, including one
for semi-detached cottages for artizans, at a cost of
£lOO per cottage. Comfortable dwellings on this
plan have been erected at Stratford.
The models and plans having been inspected by
the company.
The Right Hon. W. F. COWPER directed atten-
tion to the object of the meeting. He said this was
the second meeting which had been held for the
purpose of forming a company to improve and erect
dwellings for the labouring classes in the town and
neighbourhood of Hertford ; and he was happy to
find that 300 shares, representing a capital of
£1,500, had been subscribed for, and that donations
to the extent of £lOO, which would be applicable
to the general expenses of the society, had been re-
ceived. At the last meeting they had some discus-
sion on the prospects of the company in a pecuniary
point of view, and he ventured to say that he did
not think it would be a very profitable mode of in-
vestment. He happened to have some experience
in this matter, for he was connected with two so-
cieties, the objects of which were similar, and he
was the owner of a model lodging-house in London.
Having some money to invest, he desired to invest
it in a way which would do good to a number of
persons who had very bad lodgings and wanted
better, and so he became the owner of the lodging-
house in question. His experience, then, was
that, as a matter of business speculation, one must
not expect this to be the most profitable that
could be engaged in. (Hear, hear,) But they
had not come here to consider how they should
put out their money so as to get the largest amount
of interest, but because they wanted to employ the
money they had to dispose of for the benefit of
their fellow-creatures. (Cheers.) He hoped, never-
theless, they would be able to get a sufficient return
to justify any prudent person in investing his money,
while, at the same time, they would certainly do a
greater amount of good than by investing it in more
promising commercial undertakings. There was no
way in which they could do more good than by im-
proving the dwellings of the labouring classes, and
especially in the towns. Working men must live
near their work, and they had no opportunity of
choosing freely the houses in which they would
dwell as the higher classes had, and they must
therefore look to persons of capital to help them to
better homes. The house which a man lived in had
an immense influence upon him. The working man
probably spent 10 hours of every day in his dwell-
ing, and his wife nearly the whole 24 hours. Now
if their dwellings were unfit to live in ; if, instead
of being calculated to preserve health, they tended
to destroy it ; and, instead of by their decent and
comfort encouraging a feeling of self-respect in the
dweller, they made him feel uncomfortable and
wretched—they must have a most injurious influ-
ence on his character. The working man so housed
could not hold up his head so high, nor feel the
same self-respect, as he would if he lived in a com-
fortable home. What, then, could they do better
than to give the poor healthy and happy homes.
(Cheers.) Many houses were unhealthy and uncom-
fortable because they were damp. The foundations
of some were damp, others were built of porous
bricks, and others were damp because they were not
properly: roofed. And the dampness was the constant
cause of rheumatism and other diseases, of heavy
doctors' bills, and of much preventable poverty. The
difference between living in a well-built, well-
drained, and well-ventilated house, and a house
which was the opposite of all this, was strikingly
shown by returns which had been made of the
amount of disease and death in the model lodgings in
London, and amongst the population living in the
neighbourhood of those model lodging-houses. In
five years the mortality in 14 model lodging-houses
had been 8 per annum for every 1,000 living, whilst
the mortality amongst the people living in the dis-
tricts immediately roun cl[them was 27 in the 1,000.
I) • S. Smith calculated that if the same good
health prevailed generally in London as in the
model lodging-houses, there would be 23,000 people
living in the metropolis at the end of the year who
were now killed by
.the bad dwellings in which they
lived. In the lodging-houses, typhus fever, which
was always an indication of something wrong in
the house in whichitt occurred, was almost unknown.
Dr. S. Smith took iaps of London : on one he
marked in colours thevo
districts where the drainage
was best and worst; on the other he marked, with
the aid of the records of the Fever Hospital, the
districts where fever was most and
maps
and t prevalent.ou n d
th
He afterwards compared the
districts where the drainage was bad were
precisely
e
the districts where fever prevailed. (Hear, hear:)
Almost every medical man in the country would
agree that this was a fact corroborated by his own
daily experience.
Clearly, then it was duty to
endeavour to get good houses for
sworking men to
live in.— (Cheers.)
When they looked into the
wed-constructed cottage
matter they found that a
did not cost more than a badly-constructed one. It
only wanted a little architectural skill to erect a
good house for the same money as a bad
.one of the
same size would cost. They had to-night oeen look-
ing at plans and models of cottages, some of which
could be built at a very low rate. The cottages of
which models were in the room could be built at
155 guineas the pair, so that if the rent of each were
put at ls.9d.per week, it wouldproduce 5 percent. on
the outlay, which he thought would be satisfactory.
The arrangements of the model were excellent,
though he did not say they were better than others.
It would be thebusiness of the directors carefully to
examine the plans laid before them, and to select that
itvhiela gave the best accommodation at the cheapest
rb:‘,4A, Affording a sufficient number of sleeping apart-
.= nts'e fhe convenience of a scullery, and other ar-

rangements necessary to comfort and health.
(Cheers.) They hoped at the present meeting to
have the support and assistance of a number of gen-
tlemen who have been considering the matter, and
who might now have everything explained to them.
In Ware, Mr. Hanbury and some other persons had
erected model cottages, which had answered well.
They were not very economical, but he referred to
them as instances of success in giving good accom-
modation in the dwellings of the poor. He invited
the inhabitants of the town to take part in this good
work, assuring them that, while they got some re-
turn for their money, they would be largely re-
warded by the satisfaction they would feel at know-
ing that, through the instrumentality of this com-
pany, they had increased the health and comfort of
those amongst whom they lived. (Loud cheers.)
Mr. R. DIMSDALE, in moving the first resolu-
tion, said as far as he had been able to ascertain,
' public attention first began to be called to the sub-
ject of cottage improvement in the year 1832, when
the cholera broke out and committed great ravages.
In 1837 the subject was still further pressed on the
attention of the public by the alarming prevalence
of typhus fever ; and Dr. Southwood Smith, in the
course of some investigations he made in 1838, dis-
covered the startling fact that out of 77,000 per-
sons relieved under the poor law in London, more
than 14,000 had been subject to fever, mainly owing
to the bad and crowded state of the dwellings in
which they lived. Attempts were made to rectify
such a state of things, and in 1842 an association
called the Metropolitan Association was established
for the purpose of improving the dwellings of the
poor. That association was founded on the prin-
ciple of shares, but at that time there was no
Limited Liability Act, and so the company was
obliged to obtain a charter from the Crown, which
cost £1,400, an expense which had very much crip-
pled the company from the commencement of its
operations. Two years later, the Cottage Improve-
ment Society was established, on a different footing,
not by shares but by subscriptions ; and ultimately
that society obtained £40,000 to carry on its opera-
tions with. That society built cottages, and then
mortgaged them, so as to obtain money for build-
ing more ; and he hoped they would be able to do
something of the same kind at Hertford before
long. One gentleman had told him that he thought
the company should make some arrangement for
advancing money to landed proprietors to build
cottages ; and he (Mr. Dimsdale) thought that much
good might be done by carrying out that sugges-
tion, and lending money for the improvement of
cottages, as was now done by the Drainage Com-
missioners for the drainage of land. Associations
for improving the dwellings of the poor had been
established in various parts of the country, and on
the whole the result had been very satisfactory. At
Windsor a joint-stock company was established in
1852, with a capital of £6,000, and power to raise it
to £lO,OOO, which had been subsequently done. The
Windsor society was at this moment paying a divi-
dend of 6 per cent. An excellent society had been
formed in Marylebone, where there was a state of
things which could hardly be conceived, even by
those who were acquainted with the towns of Hert-
ford and Ware. This society, however, had only
paid 21 per cent. in consequence of having bought
up bad property at a heavy cost, and spent immense
sums of money in erecting comfortable dwellings in
place of the wretched old ones. But at Liverpool
the society had been more successful in a financial
aspect. It had completed 22 cottages on a plan
which was more expensive than any of the models
of those lying on the table before him, and the cost,
including land, was £4,200. The rentals, at 4s. or
ss. a week, produced a gross income of £3OB per
annum ; and after deducting £9B for repairs and
bad debts, there was enough to pay 5 per cent. on
the outlay. If the Hertford Company obtained
such a result as that they would be very well satis-
fied. The society at Hastings had paid a dividend
of 6 per cent., having started with a capital of only
£B5O, which had been increased from time to time,
and now amounted to £3,500. The society at
Brighton paid 5 per cent. It had been said the
establishment expenses of the company would be
so large as to swallow up all its profits. But he
held in his hand an account from the Brighton
society, showing that that society only paid £23
a year for salaries, and £6 for incidental expenses.
The report of the Ramsgate Society showed that
the preliminary expenses did not amount to more
than £22 12s. ; and as this company had received
£lOO in the shape of donations, it was clear that it
could be established and get a fair start without
intrenching at all on the share capital. He had
been told that there were certain landowners in the
neighbourhood so favourable to the company that
probably they would be enabled to purchase their
land on very reasonable terms--in fact, at a merely
nominal price ; and if so, there could be no doubt
they would be able to pay a fair dividend. He had
met with individuals who said they could not
take shares in this company because they did a
good deal in their own parishes ; but he believed
that excuse often came from gentlemen who were
doing very little, and that it was merely an excuse
to save their own pockets. But whatever gentle-
men were doing in their own parishes, he hoped
they would not let it prevent them assisting this
company in carrying out its laudable object. One
pleasing incident in the reform which had taken
place in the matter of cottage improvement was
the extent to which large manufacturers were
building cottages for their work-people, and he
hoped that through the example and influence of
this company the landowners of Hertfordshire
would be induced to build suitable cottages for their
labourers on their estates. If it did that, it would
indirectly do much good, in addition to the direct
benefit it would confer on the working classes by the
improved dwellings it might be able to erect. He
thought the present prospects of the c )mpany
were very good. They had already got 300 shares
taken, and as soon as the number amounted to 500
the directors would be prepared to purchase a plot
of land, and begin to build some of their model cot-
tages, According to an estimate which had been
furnished him, comfortable and convenient cottages
might be built for £BO each. The rent of these cot-
tages he thought they might calculate at about £6
each per annum, which would be a little more than
six per cent. ; and after striking off one per cent. for
repairs and one per cent. for a reserve fund, they
would be able to pay from four to five per cent. to
the shareholders. As showing the importance of
providing good ventilation, Mr. Dimsdale quoted
from the report of a French physician a statement
to the effect that scrofulous diseases were almost en-
tirely attributable to a deficient supply of fresh air ;
and he stated that in Sheffield there was a plot of
wretched cottages called the " Barracks," where the
mortality was exceedingly great, but ventilating
shafts having been introduced into the chimneys, a
considerable diminution in the number of deaths was
the immediate result. Dr. Farr had stated that the
annual rate of mortality ought not to be more than
seventeen in a thousand, but in the metropolis it
was no less than thirty-three in a thousand, show-
ing that a large proportion of deaths in the metro-
polis arose from preventible causes. Mr. Dimsdale
then stated that this meeting had been called to see
how far the tradesmen of the town were prepared
to s'ipport the company. If the scheme were not
taken up by a certain time it must drop, for it could
not long go on floating between heaven and earth,
as it were ; but he hoped the result of this meeting
would completely establish the undertaking. He
concluded by moving the following resolution :
" That the erection of model cottages and the im-
provement of existing dwellings for the labouring
classes is an object deserving of every encourage-
ment."

Mr. J. J. GRIPPER, in seconding the resolution,
said there was one important argument in favour
of the object of the company which had not been
touched upon. They were doing all they could to
educate the poor and to improve their morals, but
this would be useless unless their dwellings were
improved. In this and other towns many of the
poor were obliged to live in wretched hovels, where
there was not proper sleeping accommodation for a
family, and such a state of things must almost in-
evitably counteract any attempt to improve their
minds and their morals. It could not be expected
that the tradespeople of Hertford could take a large
number of shares, but if a good many of them too
a few shares each, they would very materially as-
sist in establishing the undertaking.
The resolution was agreed to unanimously.
Mr. J. W. CHESSICYRE, in moving the next reso-
lution, said they must not anticipate a large return
for the capitol they invested in this company, and it
occurred to him that Mr. Dimsdale had mentioned
a rental which was rather more than the labouring
classes could afford to pay. One of their principal
objects should be to provide the poor with a decent
and convenient dwelling, at a rental which they
would be able to pay, and at the same time have
something left with which to procure the common
necessaries of life in abundance. He believed the
rents of cottage property in Hertford averaged from
2s.
to 2s. 10d. a week, and as the object of the com-
pany was to benefit the labouring poor, he thought
tney must be content to receive ls. 9d. a week for
their cottages. That was as much as a labouring
man, under ordinary cticstances, could afford to
pay ; and that would produce a gross income of £9l
o
a year for every plottwo cottages, which they
were informed could bef built for £l6O. Some of their
of l
directors were owners
and in the neighbourhood,
and would perhaps sell
theysome of it to the company
at a moderate price.could get half an acre
of land for £l2O, they couldwtir
theild on it six model
cottages, which, together land, would cost
£6OO. Letting those cottages
at
a rental of ls. 9d.
a..yreek, would produce a return of 4s_i per cent. on
a the outlay, which ho thought wasmuch as they
ought to calculate on in such an undertaking The
cottages which he had referred to as being -
built for

£l6O a pair, were not for mechanics but for labour-
ers, for whose special benefit the company was
formed. But he thought the company might with
advantage to itself turn its attention to lodging-
houses, which were very much wanted, and were
generally highly productive as investments. It
would be impolitic of the company, with its limited
capital, at present to extend its operations beyond
the immediate neighbourhood of Hertford : nor
would it be proper for them to take upon themselves
the responsibility of the landowners of this county
to provide proper accommodation for the use of the
labourers who work on their estates. He hoped
that this undertaking would be properly taken up,
so that it might be carried out successfully. Although
it might not produce a large return for the capital
invested, yet on the other hand there could be
no loss. The value of the share capital would be
well maintained, for the class of cottages they pro-
posed to build would always command' in the open
market a rental of 3s. or 3s. 6d. a week. He had
been told by some persons that if they get £5,000
it would be a mere trifle, and that they would be
able to do very little good ; but he believed that if
they got that sum they would be able to effect a
very material improvement in the dwellings of the
labouring classes. They would build a good many
excellent model cottages, and perhaps those who bad
very bad cottage property in the town would be
ashamed of it, and set to work to improve it. Mr.
Chesshyre then remarked that the share list afforded
very gratifying evidence of the interest which the
county took in this movement, and stated that
amongst those at a distance from the town who had
taken shares were the Hon. and Rev. Vernon Har-
court and the Hon. Mrs. Harcourt, who had each
taken five shares, and that in the list of donations
was the name of the Marchioness of Salisbury.
Some support had been received from the clergy,
but considering the benevolent object of the under-
taking, fewer clergymen had taken shares than he
, should have expected. He concluded by moving
• the following resolution :—" That the plan proposed
- for the establishment of a Joint-Stock Company,
under the Limited Liability Act, to be called the
- Hertford Building Company (Limited), is highly
to be commended."

Mr. T. SMITH seconded the resolution, express-
ing his cordial approval of the movement, and
offering to render the society any professional ser-
vices in his power gratuitously. He urged the
importance of having three bedrooms in all the
cottages which the company might build, remark-
ing that he had erected a great many cottages for
gentlemen in different parts of England and Ire-
land, and he had made it an invariable practice to
have not less than three bedrooms.

The CHAIRMAN said the meeting would be happy
to hear any observations which Mr. Stevens and
Mr. Martin. might wish to address to them.
Mr. STEVENS then explained his plans. He said
he prepared them about 18 months ago, after hav-
ing seen those erected by Mr. Martin at Tunbridge
Wells, a model of which was on the table. The
principal peculiarity of his plans was the introduc-
tion of a flat roof, which enabled the walls to be
carried higher and the rooms to be made square.
With regard to the cost of carrying out his plans,
he admitted that the cottages could not be erected
for £l6O a pair. His general estimate was £l7O a
pair, but that had to be modified according to cir-
cumstances. In some places buildings could be
erected a good deal cheaper than in others, and if
he went to a cheap place his cottages could be
erected for less than £l7O a pair, but if went to a
dear place they would cost more than £l7O. Hert-
ford was certainly not a place where they could
build cheaply, and he doubted whether Mr. Martin's
cottages could be erected at Hertford for £l6O a
pair. One advantage his plans possessed over Mr.
Martin's, and that was that they could be erected in
a row, whereas Mr. Martin's must be detached. He
should be happy to render his services to the society
if his plans should be adopted, but he must be can-
did with them and tell them that he could not offer
his services gratuitously, as Mr. Smith had done.
In answer to a question, Mr. Stevens said the roofs
of his cottages were made of flat tiles and cement,
which was a non-conductor of both heat and cold.
Mr. MARTIN in explaining his plans said the
object had been to produce something like a decent
home with sufficient accommodation for the very
poorest labourer, at a cost which he could afford to
pay. He admitted that his plans would not do for
towns where land was expensive, but they were in-
tended for rural districts or the suburbs of towns
where land could be obtained at a very cheap rate.
With regard to the cost of erecting his cottages, he
said a good many had been built at different places,
and the cast had hitherto always been within the
estimate. In no one case had they cost more than
the estimate, but in one instance they cost £lO less.
Mr. HATCHARD remarked that a great advantage
to the poor would arise from having these model
cottages built in the suburbs of the town, where
they might each have a portion of land which the
labourer might cultivate without having to carry
his tools and his produce so far ashe had at present
in going to and from his home in the town to an
allotment garden. The children might also find
employment and amusement in the garden, and be
kept from the corrupting society which they are
now compelled to associate with in the courts and
alleys of the back streets.

Mr. Chesshyre proposed, and Mr. R. Dimsdale
seconded, a vote of thanks to the chairman, which
was carried by acclamation.
The CHAIRMAN, in returning thanks, pointed out
that a great improvement might be made in many
old houses by introducing modern fire-places and
stores. In the old-fashioned fire-places 9-10ths of
the heat generated by the fuel consumed passed up
the chimney without doing any good; but by mo-
dernising the fire-place and putting in a stove with
fire bricks the heat would be thrown into the room.
The modern system of ventilating rooms by causing
a stream of fresh air to pass from the back of the
fire-place, where it became heated, might also be
introduced with great advantage.

Several gentle-tnen then put down their names
for shares, and the proceedings terminated.

DISCOVERY OF BOMBS AT MILAN.

A very mysterious affair, having reference to the
discovery of " Orsini bombs," has recently occupied
the public mind at Milan. It will, perhaps, be re-
membered that a short time ago, immediately after
the departure of Louis Napoleon from Turin to
Paris, it was reported that a magazine, containing
no less than 700 of the above missiles, had by
chance been discovered in the capital of Lombardy.
Upon inquiry it was said that their fabrication had
been traced partly to Milan, partly to Genoa. The
first impression, of course, was that a renewed
attempt at taking the life of the French Ruler had
been contemplated. This opinion gained the more
strength from the circumstance that he who had
overthrown the Roman Republic in 1849, again
had appeared in 1859 upon the stage of Italy as a
traitor to' the interests of that country. In the
Lombard and Piedmontese Press the fact cf a ()Teat
number of bombs having been found was alluded to
the next day to the discovery, but, as will be un-
derstood, with that caution which the Sardinian
Press law and the presence of French authority
imposed upou the editors, both at Turin and Milan.
Since then, however, the discussion of the subject
has suddenly been dropped. The occurrence is no
longer treated in the journals, though it continues
to be spoken of, as we are informed, in private
circles—at least, in such where the ears of the spy
are supposed to be absent. The solution of this
riddle is now publicly given in an interesting com-
munication irom Turin, and we hasten to lay it be-
fore our readers, exhibiting, as it does, the police of
the Imperial Government in its true light—viz., a
huge institution for agens provocateurs.
It appears, then, that the existence of the maga-
zine of bombs is an authentic fact, but that the ex-
planation is a very simple one. The missiles had
been fabricated in January and February last on the
first news of an intention of the French Government
to wage war against Austria ; but so far from there
being any desire to employ them against the life of
Louis Napoleon, the real object had, on the contrary,
been to make them serviceable for an insurrection
against the hateful rule of Austria. However, the
French police, in consequence of the sudden change
of Imperial policy with regard to Italy, wished to
make use of the discovery of the bombs for the
furtherance of reactionary designs. It tried to
make it appear as though a new plot had been
found out for the destruction of their Imperial
master. The little trick was to be managed in this
way. A Piedmontese carabiniere, i.e.. gendarme,
happened to have been the first to discover the
depots of the war missiles at Milan, and immedi-
ately made a report thereon to the loell authorities.
The fact was forthwith communicated to the chief
of the secret French police, M. Pietri, who there-
upon had the Piedmontese gendarme summoned
before him to find out whether the man could be
made useful in the concoction of a certain design.
M. Pietri, a Corsican by birth, is himself an old con-
spirator, well versed in the intricacies of political
craft, and therefore ready enough to turn his ex-
perience in such matters to the benefit of the Bona-
partist cause. Now when the Piedmontese crtra-
biniere came into the august presence of this ci-
devant conspirator, and present chief of the secret
police, he was at once startled from his propriety
by a very significant proposal. M. Pietri, without
further ado, offered him the handsome sum of
/00,000 francs if he would renounce the honour of
having discovered the magazine, and leave both the
discovery and all further procedure to the French
authorities. The purport of the proposal is plain

enough. The magazine of war 'rnissileS was to be
converted into an arsenal of assassins; and in order
the better to do so, the French police had nothing
for it but to buy at itA own price the silence of the
original detector of the bombs.

Fortunately, the Piedmontese carabiniere proved
an honest man. He refused the bribe, and de-
nounced the proposal to his superior. A formal
protocol was drawn up on the matter before the
competent Sardinian authorities—a protocol it
would be most interesting to see published
verbatim. It would shed such a light on the
means of government employed by French Im-
perialism as would startle public opinion through-
out Europe. It is true we cannot hope at the
present moment that the world will be favoured
with such a revelation from official Sardinian quar-
ters, albeit the time may yet come when the hatred
against the Traditore will bring to light many a
strange occurrence, the record of which lief as yet
hidden amidst the leaves of official Turin portfolios.
As it is, the bomb affair has been hushed up at the
request of th French police. They had no interest
in giving the matter greater publicity, and they
therefore instructed the Sardinian Government, and
the journals of Milan and Turin, to drop the subject.
Happily, however, there is still a free press abroad
which cannot be influenced by Napoleonic agencies.
That press will ever and anon reveal some of the
secret doings of the despot who has worked his way
to the eminence on which he sits by a course of con-
duct of unparalleled profligacy.
The whole affair recalls to mind the sham con-
spiracy by which the Napoleonistic Government
tried, a year or two ago, to involve the name of
Ledru Rollin. It also brings to recollection the
forged Orsini letter, with the aid of which the
same useful Pietri, whom we have already men-
tioned, gained the adherence of a portion of the
Italian democrats for a war which was to end in
the betrayal of the cause of Italian independence.
Here we have the Imperial system, as represented
by Napoleon 111. and his associates, developed into
a regular " school of escrocs." If we remember,
moreover, that even the peace of Villafranca, as is
now proved by the concurrent testimony of Prus-
sian, English, and Russian statesmen, has been
brought about by means of a forged mediation
scheme which the French Ruler, in his personal
interview with the Austrian Despot, foisted upon
the latter, a conviction forces itself upon us that
the Government of the great French nation has
fallen into the hands of an unprincipled set of
sharpers, who are carrying out on a larger stage
the practices of the haunts in which they passed
their noviciate. It is a degradation of the govern-
mental principle such as has not yet been witnessed.
When Chancellor Oxenstierna sent forth his son,
recommending him to " see by what men the world
was ruled," he alluded to the ignorance and folly of
the crowned heads of his time. But sadder and
sterner would have been his parting admonition
had he lived in an era that allowed a Napoleon 111.
to become the arbiter of Europe.—Morning Ad-
vertiser.

THE EXCAYATIONS AT WROXETER.

The Midland Counties Archie°logical Society (of
Birmingham) recently made an excursion to
Wroxeter and Shrewsbury. A pleasant drive
brought the excursionists in sight of the Old Wall
at Wroxeter, a fragment of Roman masonry stand-
ing very conspicuously in the centre of the buried
city, and in a few minutes more the visitors were
dispersed in all directions over the enclosure, trac-
ing the course of the excavations, and eagerly
hunting for coins, bits of pottery, fragments of bone,
and the other "small deer" usually to be found in
remains of ancient buildings. So earnest was the
search, so active the gestures, so frequent the sud-
den descents into subterranean chambers and ruined
hypocausts, that had one of the savage destroyers
of Uriconium suddenly returned, he might have
fancied that a new colony of Romans had revisited
and undertaken to re-construct the city of their
forefathers. After amusing themselves in this way
for an hour or so, the visitors assembled beneath
the Old Wall, to hear from Mr. Wright an account
of the excavations. After having sufficiently ex-
plored Uriconium, the visitors went on to the
ancient church at Wroxeter, the gateway of which
is guarded by two massive columns taken from the
ruins. In a garden close by is another column,
probably a Roman milestone, surmounted by a
carved capital evidently detached from some public
edifice at Uriconium. Wrroxeter Church is itself
worth a special visit. The chancel is pure Norman,
the nave late decorated, and the tower mainly per-
pendicular, with fragments of decorated, showing
that it has undergone restoration. The interior of
the church is sadly disfigured, especially the nave,
one side of which is choked up by an enormous
, pew resembling the huge State bedsteads in use in
the Jacobean period. In the chancel are several
remarkable monuments, consisting of altar tombs,
surmounted by effigies. Of these one was erected
to the memory of Sir Thomas Bromley and his wife.
Sir Thomas was Chief Justice of England, and was
one of the executors to Henry VIII. The next
monument, the tomb of a member of the Baker
family, is noticeable for the touching sim-
plicity of its inscription, which sets forth that
the wife of Philip Berker fell ill and died, being
aged 33 years, and that the next day her loving
husband, " being then in perfect health," also fell
sick, and died 17 days thereafter. Their bodies
now repose in the same tomb, on the top of which
rests their effigies, habited and coloured as in life.
The Berkers were lords of Haughmond Abbey,
which came into their hands at the Dissolution,
and, according to Spelman, did them an ill-turn, for
none of the direct heirs male lived to attain the age
of 21. At last the family died out, and were suc-
ceeded by the Corbets, on which, according to local
tradition, the same ill-fate attends, although they
sought to avert it by ceasing to live in the Abbey,
which has now fallen into ruins. On the other
side of the chancel is one of those wonderful monu-
ments which discredited the taste of the 17th cen-
tury—overloaded with false ornament and clumsy
statues of weeping cherubs, one of whom is most
ludicrously poking his fat forefinger into his eye. A
walk fro.n the church down a pretty lane led those
who cared to see it to the ancient ford by which
the Romans crossed the Severn, and after this had
been visited the excursionists remounted their car-
riages, and went on to Shrewsbury. Among the
places visited at Shrewsbury were the Museum
where Dr. Johnson exhibited and explained numer-
ous objects found at Uriconium, and brought to
Shrewsbury- for safe keeping. Among them were
pins, brooches, rings, and other articles of personal
use, coins, pieces of pottery, glass, human and
animal bones, Corinthian capitals admirably carved,
and which must have surmounted columns at the
least 20 feet high. Several skulls, remarkable for
deformities eminently puzzling to physiologists
and phrenologists, were also exhibited, and, right
or wrong, the general opinion seemed to be that
they had belonged to some of the savages by whom
Uriconium was destroyed. Next to the Museum,
St. Mary's Church was the chief object of attrac-
tion. This church has a fine nave of the transition
period. The chancel is decorated, and is remark-
able for having on the north side an early Eng-
lish window, filled with stained glass, illus-
trating the life of St. Bernard, supposed to have
been made from the designs of Albert Durer.
Every window in the church is filled with old
stained glass, collected and given by the Rev. W. G.
Rowlands, the late rector. The east window, which
is under repair, is what is called a " Jesse window"
—that is, at the base a figure of Jesse, from the
centre of which rises a tree, on the branches of
which are portrayed patriarchs and prophets, cur
Lord himself being placed on the apex. This win-
dow has survived two churches. It was given by
the Charltons to the Grey Friars, thence, at the
Reformation, taken to Old St. Chad's, and trans-
ferred to St. Mary's when St. Chad's was pulled
down, about 70 years ago. The Abbey Church, in
the Foregate, was also the subject of much interest.
Originally a cross church, belonging to a house of
the Benedictine order, it is now simply a Norman
nave, with middle pointed west window. It was
intended to have formed the cathedral of that
Bishop of Shrewsbury (suffragan to Lichfield),
nominated by Henry VIII., but never consecrated.
The abbey buildings were originally very extensive.
Birminultant Gazette.

GUY'S HosPITAL—At a Court of Committees of
Guy's Hospital, held on Thursday, the 11th inst. his Royal
Highness the Duke of Cambridge was unanimously chosen
a Governor.

[AM:ERTTS'EMENT.]—It is ever a pleasing duty for a
journalist to introduce to his readers some discovery calcu-
lated to benefit that vast portion of our fellow creatures
which has the strongest claims upon our sympathies. It is
with tl .is feeling that wo call the attention of invalids
to the following extracts from Du Barry's interesting
report of CIIVCB without medicine of indigestion (dys-
pepsia), flatulency, constipation, nervous, bilious, and
liver complaint 3, cough, asthma, consumption, and
debility by Du Barry's Revalenta Arabica Food :
Cure No. 52,422—Bridgehouse, Frimley, 3d April, 1854.
I hive suffered these 33 years continually from diseased
lungs, spitting- of blood, liver derangement, deafness, sing-
ing in the ears, constipation, debility, shortness of breath and
cough, whieli have been removed b 3: your Revalenta Arabica.
My lungs, liver, stomach, head, and ears arc all right, iliy
hearing, perfect, and niv recovery is a marvel to all my
acquaint maces. James Roberts, timber merchant.
in tins, at Is. Gd. ; lib., 3s. ; 21b., ss. Od. ; 51b., 125.; 121 b.,
263. The. 101 b. and 12th. tins carriage free, on receipt of post.
3111.:e order. Du Barry and Co., 77, Regent-street, London
Fortnum, Mason, and Co., 182, Piccadilly; Abbis, 60,
Graceehurch-street ; 4, Cheapside ; 63, and 150, Oxford.
street ; 33() and 4.51, Strand ; 49 and 60, Bishopsgate.
street ; 85, Tottenham-court-road. Also at Dublin,
Bewley and Draper ; at Edinburgh, Raimes and Co.;
at. Liverpool, Nixon and Thew; at Manchester, Sharp and
Scott; at York, Raines, Blanchard, and Co.; at South-
ampton, Randall and Son,

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.—GLOUCESTER, AUG. 15.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Byles.)
Wm. Clarke was charged with using force, vio-
lence, and restraint, and practising intimidation
upon one Charles Talbot, in order to induce or com-
pel him to refrain from voting at the election of
burgesses to serve in Parliament for the borough of
Cirencester, and by divers devices and fraudulent
contrivance, preventing and interfering with the
free exercise of the franchise of the said Charles
Talbot, and thereby compelling him to refrain from
giving his vote at the said election.
'Mr. Cooke and Mr. Cripps prosecuted; Mr.
Powell and Mr. H. James defended.

The Judge had the prosecutor hound over to pay
all the defendant's costs in case of acquittal.
Mr. Cooke, in stating the case, said defendant
was prosecuted to maintain freedom of election, of
which so much had been said in late years. At the
last Cirencester election parties were nicely ba-
lanced, and Mr. Clarke's candidate won by six or
seven votes. Admiral Talbot was not the prosecu-
tor in this case, but was subpoenaed by the Conser-
vative party, and had come from his command at
Cork, at great inconvenience to himself.
Mr. Cooke put in a copy of the election writ,
which was taken as read.
Mr. L. Bevin proved the return, and that Admiral
Talbot and defendant were both on the register.
Admiral Charles Talbot—My house is in the
Wratermoon-road, Circencester. I held a command
at Cork from November to January last, but my
furniture remained at Cirencester in charge of a
servant. On the day of the election there I came
down to vote, and telegraphed for a fly to be ready
at the station. I arrived there six or seven minutes
before four o'clock in the afternoon, and found
the fly waiting. I got into the fly at the station-
gate. The people pressed forward at the great
gate and stopped the horse. After a great deal of
difficulty I got out of the fly and tried to go out at
the smaller gate. I saw there was an immense
crowd, and that it was hopeless for me to attempt
to go through. I turned and saw the large gate
open, and went towards it. There was a great rush,
and I was knocked over by another man. When I
got up I was embracPcl by Clarke, who cried out," I
will take care of the admiral." I desired him to
let me loose, but he kept pushing me back from the
gate. That went on for several minutes, and as
soon as I could release myself from the embraces of
my friend, Mr. Clarke, I turned to the station, but
saw by the station clock that it was four or five
minutes after four. I was prevented by these
means from recording my vote.
Cross-examined—The train was 20 minutes be-
hind time at Gloucester. I have not said that we
were 20 minutes behind at Cirencester, but we were
late. The train was due there at 3.40. I did not
notice whether the driver of the fly was drunk or
sober. I told him to " drive on." I got in, but I
do not know that he saw me, for his back was to-
wards me. Did not see the driver flog the people
until they took hold of the horse. That was when
the obstruction was made. The people walked
before me in the genteelest manner, but would not
let me go a-head. Clarke was not one of them. I
was knocked down by falling over somebody.
(Laughter.) Then Clarke took hold of me.
Mr. Powell—Did he endeavour to keep the mob
away from you ?
Admiral Talbot—He protected me in a certain
way. (Laughter.) I have not said he protected
me from the mob. He did not keep them from me.
I did not attempt to go to the poll, becuse it was
after four. On the Monday following I preferred
a charge of assault against Clarke. The magis-
trates deliberated some time, and fined him 50s. and
costs. I was subpoenaed by Mr. Daubeney to ap-
pear before the magistrates on another charge. I
came again, and gave evidence against Clarke on
this charge. I had gone to Ireland in the mean-
time. I left Cirencester on the 14th February. I
did not go there again until the day of the election,
nor since, except to attend before the magistrates.
I have not since endeavoured to let my house and
furniture. I consulted no professional man, but
stated my case to the magistrate's clerk, who said,
" That's an assault," and Clarke was accordingly
summoned for an assault.

A number of witnesses were called by the de-
fence, to prove that Clarke called out to the mob to
let the admiral come out, and that the driver of the
fly appeared to be drunk, and excited the people
by lashing them with his whip. It was also proved
that Clarke and others went to meet several trains
that day, by which they expected voters would
come on the Liberal side, and that Clarke and
others were at the station for the same purpose
when Admiral Talbot came there.
The jury, after a brief absence, returned into
court with a verdict of guilty.
The judge reserved sentence until the next
case was decided, but intimated that he should not
allow the costs of the prosecution.
Jermyn Colbourn, Lavinia Susannah Colbourn,
and Walter Mullis, surrendered on an indictment,
charging them with using undue influence, and by
abduction, duress, and fraudulent device, impeding
and interfering with the free exercise of the fran-
chise of and by one John. Kibblewhite, at Ciren-
cester, he being a person qualified to vote for the
election of burgesses to serve in Parliament for the
borough of Cirencester aforesaid.

Mr. Powell and Mr. H. James prosecuted; Mr.
Cooke defended Mr. and Mrs. Colbourn ; and Mr.
Cripps defended Mr. Mullis.
Mr. Powell, in opening the case, said no doubt
these people, who had made themselves amenable
to criminal law, were influenced and set on by
people of station in the county. They were all in
the service of a rich man named Pole, and having
drugged the old man who was drinking there, they
had him conveyed to a place where he was ordered
to be kept until the poll was closed next day. But
he made his escape, and walked part of the way
towards Cirencester, and was taken up by a return
fly, arriving at the polling-place in time to record
his vote after medical relief had been afforded him.
This case differed very much from the last, and he
hoped, if the defendants were found guilty, they
would be fined, so that their punishment should
reach those who were screened behind them, and
who had instigated them to this serious offence.
John Kibblewhite—l am a labourer living at
Stratton. Mr. Pole is the squire of Stratton. On
the day before Cirencester election I was at the
Plough, and Mullis, who is gardener to Mr. Pole,
asked me to go and open a drain at his house next
day. I went there, and afterwards went to hear
the nomination speeches, and went back to work.
In the afternoon Colbourn invited me into the sad-
dle room, where I had a glass of beer and a pipe.
Mrs. Colbourn invited me upstairs to have some
tea, and I went. I had only had three half-pints
of beer. I had one cup of tea, but the second she
poured out was of a dark colour, and tasted queer.
Colbourn was in and out all the time. I told Mrs.
Colbourn the tea was too strong, and she must
please to put some more sugar in it. She did so,
and I drank it. Ido not remember anything more
till next morning, when I found myself at a public
house at Ashton Keynes, about half-past seven. I
was very sick and ill, but when I got a bit better I
went down stairs and out of the house. I went along
the road and was sick several times. A fly came by
and picked me up, and took me to Cirencester. I
was taken to the Bear, where a doctor came, and
towards evening I went and polled. But I was very
ill all the next week, and lay a-bed four days. I
am (30 years old. I have always voted for the Blues
(Liberals.)
David Cole—l keep a beer-house at Ashton
Keynes. Kibblewhite was brought there about 10
o'clock at night by Colbourn, and his wife and
Mullis. Colbourn said I was to keep him there
till four o'clock next day, so that he should not go
to the poll. lie said he was sent by Mr. Pole. He
said I was to be sure and keep him, and charge any-
thing I chose in reason. If I did not like to keep
him I was to send him anywhere where he could be
kept. He appeared to be drunk and helpless. He
was carried out of the carriage into the kitchen,
and up to bed. They remained and had some beer.
A fter they left my wife showed me a small bottle.
I stayed up with Kibblewhite till one o'clock.
Colbourn said to his wife as they were going away,
" Have you left that with Mrs. Cole ?" He said to
rue, " You see that be has 20 drops when he wakes.
It won't hurt him, for we have given him 20 drops
before." He was very bad during the night. I
went to him four times, for I was frightened. He
had nothing at my house. On the Sunday Colbourn
came and asked me what I had let the man go for.
He gave me 1,55., and asked the for the bottle, which
I gave him. He said his master would be pleased
to see it.

Cross-examined—Told Mr. Ponsonby what I have
said to-day. I never had £5O for voting or giving
es it!( nce.
The Judge directed the jury to ac /nit Mrs. Col-
bourn.

Mrs. Cole corroborated her husband's evidence.
Mrs. Colbourn gave me a little bottle tied over with
si ring. Colbourn was in the room then. Took
care of the bottle and gave it to my 'lust and.
The Judge said witness had acted with great pro-
priety, folk Id she administered those drops nolKdy
knew what the consequences might have been.
Dr. Smith said Kibbh:white suffered under some
narcotic.

Mr. Cooke and Mr. Cripps having briefly ad-
dressed the jury,
The Judge, in summing up, condemned the pro-
secution as having been instituted against inferior
and subordinate agents.
Mr. Powell said Mr. Pole was originally in-
cluded in the charge,but the magistrates dismissed

the charge as against him, in spite of every effort to
implicate him.
Guilty. One month's imprisonment each. Clarke
to receive judgment when called upon.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE-Aug. 15.

MANSION-HOUSE.—Martin Doran, a short
but brawny Irish tailor, who looked as if he had
recently rolled in the mud, and who stood at the
bar on a straight leg, a crooked leg, and a crutch,
was charged with drunkenness and assault.
John Tewey said he lived in Fireball-court with
his mother and other relatives. On the previous
night, about nine o'clock, he saw the prisoner strike
his mother with a crutch, and went up to him for
the purpose of taking it from him, when the pri-
soner bit him in the fleshy part of the arm, and
twice on the thigh, bringing away a portion of his
(witness's) clothing at each mouthful.
Police-constable, 616, said he was in Houndsditch
on Sunday night, when he heard a row in Fireball-
court, and upon going down he found the people,
according to their usual practice on Sunday even-
ings, fighting by dozens, like cats and dogs, and
head over heels. Very great complaints had re-
cently been made on the subject, and as the pri-
soner was the most violent c f the party, and as it
was the second time he had been fighting that
night, witness took him into custody.
Prisoner—My lord, its I as ought to bel the com-
plainant, for there's such a set of vagabonds lives
down that court I was forced to move away ; and I
now lives in Cook-and-Hoop-yard. Well, as I was
a going past there last night them vagabonds all
pelted me and knocked off my hat, and so we got
into a scrimmage, but it wf.s his brother's own wife
who bit him, for she got hold of his arm thinking
it was mine, and didn't she stick her teeth in.
(Laughter.) Why them vagabonds, my lord, is an
awful set. They got at it with shovels and chop-
pers, and pokers and tongs, and they goes at it in
such a style that the police officers durstn't even
look up the court.

The Lord Mayor—l know the character of Fire-
ball-court too well. People there seem to conduct
themselves in these disgraceful rows more like
savages than civilised beings.
Mary Tewey, wife of the first witness's brother,
positively denied that she had bitten, or offered to
bite any one, and said the prisoner was swinging
his crutch round in such an awful way it wus a
wonder that he did not kill three parts of the
people.

The Lord Mayor—lt is quite clear, prisoner, that
you committed a most unprovoked assault.
Prisoner—No, and indeed I did not.
The Lord Mayor—And that you were drunk.
Prisoner—Yes, I was. I was too stupid drunk
to remember about the bating I got. (Laughter.)
The Lord Mayor—You must pay 10s. for the
assault and ss. for being drunk, or go to prison for
14 days.
The prisoner was then taken below, and his
daughter rushed away to raise the money to release
him.

GUILDHALL-A NEW FEATURE IN SKITTLE

SHARPING.—Joseph Wells, a thick-set swarthy
individual, about 35 years of age, described as an
optician, of 21, Wellington-street, Newington-
causeway, was brought up before Alderman Phillips,
charged under the following circumstances :
William McMullen, a simple-looking Hibernian,
who stated that he came from the north of Ireland,
and at present held the important office of gate-
keeper at Woolwich Arsenal, deposed as follows :
' About the Ist of last month I met the prisoner
near Hungerford-market, and he accompanied me
to a beer-shop in Fetter-lane, where we had a glass
of cider each. While we were drinking it a strange
gentleman came in and hoped he was not
interrupting us, and would we mind his joining in
our conversation. The prisoner said he did not
mind if it was the same to me. The strange gen-
tleman then wanted to pay for a round.
Alderman Phillips—A round of what ?
Witness—A glass of ale each, sir.
Alderman Phillips—Which, I suppose, you did
not mind-either. (Laughter.)
Witness—Well, sir, I did not have it. The
strange gentleman then said he had just come from
the country, having received £7,000 between him
and his brother, and that, as he had got £6OO from
the bank to furnish himself with an outfit, he did
not mind spending a sovereign or two in our com-
pany as we appeared to be nice-looking gentlemen.
(Great laughter.) The prisoner was agreeable to
have a glass round, but I declined, and the strange
gentleman then proposed a game at skittles, or
something of that sort, and the prisoner then
offered to throw a weight of 211bs. a certain dis-
tance for a wager. The stranger said he would
take the wager for a cold supper and a dozen of
cigars, upon which he asked me to accompany them
to see the wager proved. I assented, and they then
took me through several back streets, and brought
me to a beer-shop of the sign of the " Three Lions,"
which is, I believe, also in Fetter-lane. The pri-
soner asked the landlord if there was a : hooting-
gallery near where they could throw 'a weight
given distance. The landlord said there was not,
but that he had a skittle-ground, which would
answer the purpose equally well. We all three
went into the skittle-ground, where we found an-
other strange gentleman playing by himself.
Alderman Phillips—You appear to have found
them all gentlemen. '(Laughter.)
Witness—Yes, sir, they were all gentlemen.
(Renewed laughter.) The first strange gentleman
did not like to interrupt the second stranger,
but the prisoner said it did not matter. The
first stranger, noticing the skittle ball in the
hands of the other, suggested it was made of
stone, and bet a sovereign that it was, which he
lost. He then made a bet of two sovereigns that he
would knock down the nine skittles in three throws.
The first throw he hit the ceiling—(laughter)--the
second he hit the wall, without touching the pins—
(renewed laughter)—and the third time he hit the
wall again, the ball knocking down three of the
pins as it fell, and he of course lost his bet. The
second stranger asked me why I did not play the
first stranger, who represented himself as a gentle-
man of property, and the prisoner urged me to make
a bet of £5 that the gentleman of property—
(laughter)—would not knock the skittles down in
three times. I said I had no money, and they urged
me to pledge my watch and chain, for which I had
given £7, upon which a question arose as to its
value, and they made a bet between themselves it
would not fetch £3 in pawn ; and they asked me to
pawn it to settle their wager. I at length con-
sented to do so, as they said I could redeem it in 20
minutes, but when I returnad with £2 10s., which
was all I got on it, they pressed me to make the bet
they had previously urged upon me.
Alderman Phillips—Had you any money before
you pledged your watch ?
Witness—No, sir. But they said the gentleman
of property did not know that, and as he was sure
to lose, it was all the same. I accordingly made
the bet, and the gentleman of property knocked the
whole of the nine pns down in two throws easily.
(Laughter.) He ultimately tried again and knocked
them down again in two throws. The stranger we
found in the ground pressed me to write a cheque
for £5 on any banker and give it to the old fool,
meaning the gentleman of property, as he was fresh
from the country, and would not know any better,
but I refused to do that, as I could not write. He,
however, said he would write it for me, and I after-
wards gave the piece of paper to the gentleman of
property, who asked if it was good for £5, and
showed it to the landlord, who assured him it was
all right. The prisoner then drew me aside and
advised me to run for my life, as by taking the ad-
vice of the second stranger I had committed for-
gory, and there would be some trouble about that
cheque, and I might get seven years' trans-
portation for it. He got me outside the house and
detained me several minutes, advising me to get
into the main road as soon as possible. I refused,
and said I would go into the ground again to see
the other two gentlemen, as I wanted to get my
watch back, but he assured me it would be quite
safe. I was resolved to return, and when I did I
found the two gentlemen were gone.
Alderman Phillips—Really, you seem to have
fallen into such gentlemanly company that it is
difficult to know who you mean when you call
them all gentlemen. Did you have any bet with
the prisoner ?

Witness—No, sir; but he was the one conspiring
with the others to get my money.
Cross-examined by Mr. Lewis, for the prisoner
—lf I could have won I would have accepted the
money. I would not have minded the swindle if I
had got their money. I first told a policeman in
Woolwich, who said I had been picked up by a set
of skittle sharps.
Alderman Phillips said there was no occasion for
Mr. Lewis to address him on the case, as there was
no evidence against the prisoner, about whose
character he had no doubt, but at the same time
there was a looseness about the prosecutor's con,
duct not at all to his credit.
The prisoner was then discharged.

LAMBETH.—THE STRIKE AT THE LONDON
GAS COMPANY'S WORKS.—Martin Ryan, one of
the stokers lately employed on the works of the
London Gas Company, in Lambeth, and at present
out on " strike," was brought up on a warrant, and
charged before the Hon. G. C. Norton with vio-
lently assaulting Edward Macklin, and also with
using threats and intimidation to induce him to
leave his employment.

The complain'ant said that for some time he had
'keen in the employment of the London Gas Com-
pany as a flue-cleaner, and on Saturday evening