The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-14 00:00:00

ART-UNION OF LONDON.

(Continued from our Afternoon Edition of yesterday.)
Mr. EWART, M.P., moved a vote of thanks to Lord
Monteagle and Mr. Wyse, M.P. He would not de-
tain them with many observations, as they were then
on the stage and about to perform the comedy of
" The Wheel of Fortune."—(Laughter.)
Mr. CHRISTIE, M.P., seconded the motion, which
was carried unanimously.
Lord MONTEAGLE, after passing a high eulogium
upon their conduct, moved a vote of thanks to the
Committee. The Noble Lord, in alluding to the Bill
which he had introduced into the House
of Lords on the subject of art-unions,
stated, that he had received, with respect
to that measure, the most strenuous exertions
of his Royal Highness the Duke of Cambridge.—
(Hear, hear.) His Royal Highness had not only
attended on every occasion that the Bill came before
the House, but he had thrown in the weight of his
exertions and of his high experience of the subject.
He had also received great assistance from the Mar-
quis of Northampton, who was the president of the
first scientific Society in this country. The Noble
Lord then proceeded to eulogise the Society, and to
express the pleasure he felt in its having been so
largely supported by the public, and concluded by
moving the vote of thanks.
Alderman J. JOHNSON seconded the motion, which
was carried unanimously, after a few observations
from Mr. Wyse, bearing testimony to the great exer-
tions of the Committee.

Mr. T. L. DONALDSON, as Chairman of the Corn-
mittee for General Purposes, returned thanks, and
concluded by proposing a vote of thanks to the Ho-
norary Secretaries. The motion was carried, and
thanks having been returned by Mr. Gordon,
The Duke of CAMBRIDGE said, he must now re-
quest the meeting to permit him to vacate the chair
in favour of Lord Monteagle, as this happened to be
the Queen Dowager's birth-day, and he had to go
to Bushy Park.

His Royal Highness retired amid much cheering,
and the chair was taken by Lord Monteagle, when
the drawing commenced.
Among those who were most successful, we may
mention :

The Countess of Arundel and Surrey ... £3O
The Countess of March . . .
Lady Lushington ••• •SO
The Earl of March ..
The Right Hon. Earl Grey
A. Cooper, R.A. ...
Miss C. Hennington, near Lonsdale, a prize of••• 400
Mr. P. W. George, 92, Cheapside
Mr. Saunders, of Barton-on-Trent
Mr. J. Flamanck, of Tavistock
Silentio
Edward Hazlitt, Hounslow l5O
Mrs. Watlington, Upper Bedford-place lOO
Mrs. W. H. M'Queen, Tottenham-court-road lOO
Mr. Stephen Maberley, Dublin Post-office
Mr. IV. Collingwood, Liverpool lOO
Charles Gildon, Port Philip, Australia Felix
Joseph Chandler, Pipe-lane, Bolton
H. L. Leod, Columbia . • 80
H. Luscombe, Andover
A. Scott, Nova Scotia .. BO
P. Morris, Lombard-street
John Gliddon, Camden New Town - • 80
Thomas Rawlings, Stourbridge .. BO
A. J. Symington, Paisley
henry Hill, Wolverhampton
Wm. Davis, Wincanton
T. Sambrook, Arundel Wharf .. 7O
Samuel Walker, Leeds
Mrs. P. Cruickshanks, Hyde-park-gardens. 7O
Charles Coombwell
Rev. C. Parker, Epsom
Rev. Mr. Bacon, Norfolk
Dr. Callum, Dartford ...... ......
Dr. Smyth, Glasgow . . .
Branstone, Old Change
John Keat, Croydon . . 60
Musgrove, Mount Pleasant, Leeds ... 6O
H. Stridfield..
R. Winter, Bedford-row
Thomas Hopwood .
W. E. IValmslev, Adam-street, Adelphi.
E. Pritchard, 'Montgomeryshire... ... ....
A. C. Turbot, Reading
Buckley- Ward, Leicester ... .
E. H. Brady, Suffolk
Edward Branch, Islington ..
D. Rawlings, Stourbridge..
Greig, Plymouth .... .. . 50
E. S. Tyson, Bradford ......
Cockshot, Clitheroe .
E. W. llazlewood, Bridgnorth .
Hawkins, Royal Society ......
Minor prizes varying in amount from 401. to Si.
were also declared. The total number of prizes, 283,
in the drawing occupied two hours and a half.
At the conclusion of the proceedings a vote of
thanks was carried unanimously to the two young
ladies who had officiated at the wheels, and who were
each presented with a copy of the exquisite engraving
of "Raffaele and the Fornarina."

Thanks were also voted to Alfred Bunn, Esq., for
;he use of the theatre, and the meeting then broke up.

DELIBERATE ASSASSINATION OF
A GAMEKEEPER'S SON.
(Abridged from the Staffordshire Mercury.)
It is our painful task to record the perpetration of
one of the most atrocious and cold-blooded murders
chronicled in the annals of crime. The scene of the
catastrophe is a sequestered spot, called Halmerend,
about two miles from Audley, on the estate of Sir
Thomas Fletcher F. Boughey, in this county, and
only about a mile and a half or two miles from the
place where Beech, the policeman, met his fate, while
attending a gamekeeper last year. It is also remark-
able that the murder was committed on the night of
the anniversary of Beech's funeral, being just twelve
months since the interment of that unfortunate officer.
The name of the deceased ii William Cooper, a
labourer, and an unmarried man, about twenty-three
years of age, son of Thomas Cooper, gamekeeper to
Sir Thomas Boughey. Up to the time of his murder
he was still living with his father. The house at
which he resided is situated at the extremity of an
eminence which commands a view of the sur-
rounding country and of the woods below, and,
as it is far removed from any public thorough-
fare, it is a very secluded spot. Another
house adjoins it, which is occupied by Thomas
Shooker, a labourer on the estate. The deceased was
in the habit of going out occasionally in the night with
his father, to assist him in watching the game—a
circumstance well known to the gangs of poachers which
infest the neighbourhood, for he had sometimes
been engaged in conflict with them, and assisted in
their capture. The last occasion on which he had
been out was on the night of Saturday, July 27,
when nothing unusual occurred. On Sunday even-
ing last the deceased left home between five and six
o'clock, stating that he was going to attend Audley
Chapel, where sermons on behalf of the Sabbath
school were that day delivered. On his way he
called on Daniel Colclough, a collier, who resided
about a quarter of a mile nearer Audley, with whom
he walked in company to the chapel, where they
arrived a little after the opening of the service, and
remained together until it was concluded, which was
about eight o'clock. On leaving the chapel they
went to the Boughey's Arms Inn, where they
met with William and Samuel Cooper, two of
Colclough's relatives, with whom deceased and
Colclough adjourned to the King's Head beer-
house, where they drank a pint of ale each, over
which they sat in conversation until about eleven
o'clock. Among the company present no persons of
known suspicious character were noticed. At eleven
o'clock the deceased and Colclough, and Samuel and
William Cooper, left the house, and George Dean, a
resident at Scot Hay, left at the same time. The two
Coopers, after a parting salutation, turned immedi-
ately in the direction of their own homes, and de-
ceased and Colclough, in company, took the direction
of theirs. They were accompanied as far as Halmer-
end Chapel by Dean, who there parted with them to
go to Scot Hay. Colclough and the deceased con-
tinued in company without seeing any one, except a
known friend, until they arrived at Colclough's house,
at which time the clock announced the hour of mid-
night. Deceased, as he stood before the door, took a
draught of water, and after bidding his friend good
night, pursued his way home, which was about a
quarter of a mile across the fields. On his arrival at
home about a quarter-past twelve o'clock, the family
and neighbours were gone to bed, but his father was
awake. The back door, which is the usual and
readiest entrance, was left unlocked. When the de-
ceased had approached the door, and had put his
right hand upon the latch to open it, his body would
very naturally be turned half round towards the left
hand ; at that precise moment, some vile miscreant,
who would appear to have been lurking behind a low
wall, about seven yards to the left of the deceased, or
else at the corner of the house, at the same distance,
fired a gun, and the unfortunate man received the
contents in his breast. The report of the gun, as
well as a dreadful shriek of the victim, was heard by
his father, and also by the neighbours, Shooker and
his wife, who all hastened to the spot. The father
found the door partly open, and his son lying partly
within and partly without the house, having his
head on the threshold and his body in the yard. It
was broad moonlight. The father lifted up the head
of his dying son, and asked what was the matter ?
Raising his eyes expressively to his father, indicating
that he was sensible of the question, the poor fellow
made an effort to reply, but " there was no voice,
nor none to answer," the power of speech was gone
for ever. One affectionate farewell look of recog-
nition concluded the tragical interview. With the
assistance of Shooker he was placed on the floor in-
si3e the house, and his clothes were removed from his
breast, which was covered with wounds, which bled
slightly. Life was fast ebbing out, and in ten