The Sun.
London, England, 1850-01-07 00:00:00

IN RE FERRIS-REFUSAL OF CERTIFICATE.

In this case his Honour gave judgment. The full
particulars of the case have been before the public within
a few days. The judgment of the Court was that the
certificate should be refused.

CRIMINAL COURT.-(THIS DAY.)

OLD COURT.

This morning the January Session of the Central
Criminal Court was opened at the Old Bailey, by the
Lord Mayor, the Recorder, Mr. Alderman Gibbs, Mr.
Alderman Sidney, Mr. Sheriff Lawrence, and Mr.
Sheriff Nicoll.

The Grand Jury having been sworn,
The RECORDER proceeded to deliver his charge. Re
said the calendar contained the names of ninety-five
prisoners, and the offences with which they stood
charged were, as it regarded many of them, of a serious
character. The crimes of violence against the person
were not nunerous, but they included two charges of the
greatest importance, one being a charge of murder and
the other a cue of the violation of a child under ten
years of age. There was also a charge of arson, that was
to say, the setting fire to a house, and persons were
in the house at the time it was set fire to,
which was a statutable offence. The bulk of the cases
comprehended in the calendar were, as usual, crimes of
the felonious acquisition of property, of a nature, and
by the various stratagems to which persons of a dis-
honest character resorted. Out of the list of 95 names
in the calendar, no less than 50 were cases of larceny,
where the object was theft, and that number might be
stilly further enlarged by charges of burglary turning
out, on investigation, to be only simple larceny. Cases
of burglary, though they did not necessarily involve
larceny, yet, as they necessarily involved the breaking
into a house with the intent to commit a felony, the in-
ention, ordinarily speaking,., was the acquisition of

property, and was generally followed by stealing pro-
perty in a dwelling -house. However, his observations
on the present occasion would be brief, inasmuch as the
cases in general presented what they called matters of
fact for the determination of a jury, to which the law
was easily applicable—that was to say, if the fact con-
tained in the depositions should be made out by credible
testimony, it would be required at their hands, in the
discharge of their duty, that the cases should be put in
the course of further inquiry. So far as his investiga-
tion had extended, his mind was satisfied there was
enough comprehended in the depositions, if the witnesses
were persona of credit, to warrant the grand jury to put
the partie:, on their trial. He would apply that obser-
vation to a very painful and serious case of murder. He
wished not to prejudge the case at all, but he might
save them some little trouble if he stated at once he was
quite sure, that if the facts which were stated in the
depositions were made out by the witnesses, they (the
grand jury) would feel it their bounden duty to put the
party on her trial. With regard to the offence of arson,
the mode in which it was said to be committed in this
instance was the setting fire to a house. There should
be evidence, in order to make out the offence, of the
burning and consuming some part of the house, however
trivial, although the fire was immediately afterwards
extinguished. But there was a case in the law books
bwohaerrdeeda flsmall
o f faagrgoootm
,haevin dn g been set on t
he
boards fire on h
were
s scorched
ht e
de
and blackened, but no part of the wood was consumed,
it was not held to be arson. The burning
of clothes would not satisfy the law, which was
highly penal in the case of arson where persons were in
the house at the time the house was set on fire. There-
fore what the grand jury would require to be proved
before them was, that there was a reasonable evidence
that the party charged did the act, that it was wilfully
done, and that it was done so as to satisfy the object to
the extent that some part of the fabric of the house was
burnt. There were two cases of manslaughter, one of
which was stated to have been occasioned by a blow
given by the fist to a drunken man, and which was
alleged to have caused death; and the other was by a
blow which occasioned death to the party struck.
Any unlawful violence in the prosecution of an un-
lawful purpose, which terminated in death, would
render the party liable to be tried for the offence of
manslaughter. There was a case of the violation of a
child under ten years of age, and on that subject the law
was that, under ten years age, the consent of the child
was immaterial, the law deeming a child of that tender
age not to be in a condition to give consent to a pro-
position which, ordinarily speaking, it could not com-
prehend. Between ten and twelve years of age females
were under the protection of the law to the extent that,
even with the consent of a party between ten and twelve,
it was a high misdemeanour to have intercourse with a
female of that tender age. There was another case,
which he alluded to merely because they had got an Act
of Parliament very recently coming into operation,
affecting the bankrupt laws. A party was charged with
not surrendering under a fiat of bankruptcy, and the
offence, which had been variously dealt with under
former Acts of Parliament, in future, was to be dealt
with under a recent statute. As the matter was new,
he merely alluded to the section under which a party
was amenable to public justice in case of not sur-
rendering. It was the 251st section of 12 and 13
Vict., c. 106, which made the offence of not sur-
renderit.g punishable with imprisonment. Thei.
there was a provision where a bankrupt did not '
discover his estate that he should be deemed guilty of
felony, and be liable to transportation for life, or for not
less than seven years, as the Court should direct, or be
liable to imprisonment for any term not exceeding
seven years. Addressing, as he did, a body of mer-
cantile men, he had trespassed to that extent upon their
time in order to make them acquainted with a new legis-
lative provision relating to bankrupts; and baying made
these observations, he would remit them to the discharge
of their duties.

The grand jury then retired, and the officers of the
court proceeded to swear in the petty jury.

BOW-STREET.-(THIS DAY.)
A respectably-attired man, named George Walker,
who described himself as a general dealer, cirrying on
business in Frith-street, Tottenham•court-road, was
charged under the following circumstances:—
Horatio Brown, a cab- driver stated that between nine
and ten o'clock on Saturday night he was on the rank in
Parliament-street, opposite the Horse-Guards, when he
observed the prisoner coming up the street in a light
spring cart, and driving at a furious rate. Perceiving
that he was driving in a direction that would lead to a
collision with one of the cabs, he called out to him to
stop, but the prisoner took no notice of the warning, and
the result was, that the shaft of his cart struck th,
witness, and threw him to the ground, where he re
mained for some time insensible. When ho recovered he
found himself in the hospital, with injuries on his arm,
back, and knee.

Police•constable, F 167, stated that some other cab.
man stopped the cart, and gave the prisoner into his cus-
tody. The prisoner was drunk.
The prisoner said he had been spending the day with
his daughters in the Old Kent• road, but although he ha(.
been drinking he was not drunk, nor was he driving
furiously.
Mr. HALL said there was a discrepancy in the Mice
Act, so far as it related to cases of this nature. It gave
him no more power
to punish such offenders as this than
it did to punish a fruit woman for ob.tructing the pave-
ment with her basket. A clause in the Act, however,
empowered him to award compensation to a party in-
jured by the furious driving of another; and he should,
therefore, fine the prisoner in the full penalty of 405., and
order him to pay the complainant 403. more, or in default
of payment to be committed for 21 days.—The money
was paid.

Thirteen lads, whose ages varied from 12 to 15 years,
were charged with sliding in Trafalgar-square.
The absurdity of
this case ,was roc in the least
diminished by the fact of each prisoner having been
arrested and charged by separate policemen.
One of the constables stated, in answer to questions
from the Magistrate, that the prisoners " struck out
their slide on the terrace opposite the National Gallery,
and it was dangerous to persons passing to and fro.
Mr. HALL fined the prisoners in penalities varying
from 2s. to 4s.—The fines were paid.
Two fashionably•attired young men, who gave the
names of Fork= and Smah, were also charged with
sliding in the square.
Police-constable A 57 stated that about half-past
twelve o'clock this morning he warned the prisoners off,
but they heeded him not, and passing by again, at two
o'clock, he still-found them "at it" and took them into
custody.
Mr. HALL asked Foxham what he was? The pri •
sorter repin d that he was a solicitor. He did not deny
that he was sliding when the policeman came up at two
o'clock; but the officer could not have warned him off,
as he had not been in the square before.

The prisoner Smith said the same,-adding that he was
a gentleman of independent means.
Mr. HALL fined them 20s. each, or eight days' im-
prisonment.—The'fine was paid.

MARLBRO -STREET—(THIS DAY.)
EMBEZZLEMENT.—Catherine Connor was charged with
having embezzled various sums of money belonging to
her master, Mr. Samuel Clift, dairyman, 7, Air-street,
Piccadilly.
The prosecutor stated that the prisoner was employed
by him to carry out milk. Latterly, from some irregu-
larity in her accounts, he was led to suspect that she had
not been as honest as he imagined, and from subsequent
inquiries he found that she had received several sums of
money, amounting to 325., not a single farthing of which
had been accounted for. On being taxed with receiving
the money, she admitted that she had done so, and was
very sorry for it. He then gave her in charge.
Mr. James Euston, 29, Charles•street, proved paying
the prisoner 12s. about a fortnight ago. On receiving
the money, she wrote paid to the bill produced.
Sev.ral other cases having been proved against the
prisoner, Mr. BINGHAM, at the request of the prosecutor,
remanded her until Wednesday next.
ROBBERY BY A BOY.— IVilliern Jones, a boy about
14 years of age, was brought before Mr. Bingham,
charged with stealing a valuable diamond ring, the pro -
perty of Mr. John George French, surgeon, 41, Great
Marlborough-street.
It appeared that the prisoneri had434n in the ser Tice
of the prosecutor as page, and from s( '"cause or c .ther
the prosecutor discharged him on We 'lay last, Fre-

vious to the prisoner quitting the house, one of the
female servants missed a valuable diamond ring from the
prosecutor's dressing•csse. Suspecting the prisoner had
Laken it, she searched him, but did not succeed in finding
it. It was, however, subsequently found at a pawn-
broker's in the neighbourhood.
Godfrey, one of the detective police, said he tcok the
prisoner into custody on Saturday night. On their
way to the station he admitted to witness that he had
stolen the ring, and gave it to a woman who sold it to
Mr. Neat, the pawnbroker. Witness went there and
found that to be the fact.
The prisoner was remanded.

NATIONAL PARLIAMENTARY and
FINANCIAL REFORM ASSOCIATION.-(THIS
DAY.)

A public meeting was held this afternoon at the
London Tavern, to enable the Council of then ational
Parliamentary and Financial Reform Association to
explain their intended mode of operation during the
present year. The large room was crowded
as on the last occasion of ..the society
holding a meeting in the City, while very
many were unable to obtain admission. A few ladies
were accommodated with seats in the gallery. On
the platform we observed, amongst other well-known
Reformers F. O'Connor, Esq., M.P., W. Williams,
Esq., C. Gilpin, Esq., D. W. Wire, Esq., W. Bunin,
Esq., J. Irving Scott, Esq., G. W. M. Reynolds,
Esq., W. Clarke, Esq., and W. Miall, Esq.
At one o'clock Sir Joshua Walmsley, M.P., ac-
companied by the other members of the council,
entered the meeting, and were received with loud
cheers. Sir J. Walmsley was voted to the chair.
The CHAIRMAN opened the proceedings by calling
upon H. Tyndal Atkinson, Esq., the Honorary
Secretary, to read the advertisement convening the
meeting. . _

This— having been done, the Secretary read the
treasurer's report, from which it appeared that the
receipts from the 29th of January to the 31st of last
December, 1849, amounted to 1.980/. 175., and the
expenditure to 1,8791. Os., leaving a balance of 101/.
10s. in hand.

The CHAIRMAN intimated that a vast number of
letters had been received from many staunch friends
of the people, who were unable to attend, but he did
not propose to take up time by reading all of them.
lie, however, proposed that some of them should be
communicated to the meeting, since it had been
charged against them out of :doors that they never
had any of their old reformers present at their as-
semblies. These letters would answer that charge, and
prove beyond all dispute that not only the views but
the purses of a numerous body of well-tried Re-
formers were with them.

The meeting was proceeding when our report
left. We shun give a full report in our Third
Edition.

MR. SIDNEY HERBERT'S PLAN
OF EMIGRATION.
TO THE _EDITOR OF THE SUN.
Sira,—To the friends of humanity and morality
the proposed plan of emigration by Sidney Herbert,
Esc', must be truly welcome; and in that system,
with proper management, a powerful remedy for the
over- population, starvation, corruption, and oppression
of the lower clas,es will be found. But I feel asto-
nished that no person has yet suggested a better mode
than the proposed one for conveying the intended
objects of their solicitude to the colony destined to
receive them.

Having considered this matter, I have ventured to
propose a plan which I hope may prove of some
assistance to the public.
It must be well known to all persons the large
number of ships, officers, and men belonging to the
royal navy now unemployed ;
The ships rotting at their various moorings, their
sails and rigging rotting in the sail-lofts ;
The officers, to the number of about 4,000, on half-
pay unemployed ;
The men idling about the streets, or in foreign
service ;

And the country paying all to keep idle.
With these facts before you, you may see how and
in what way these emigrants could be forwarded in
the cheapest and most expeditious way to the colony
intended to receive them ; and added to all this, the
money subscribed could be applied to fit out, instead
of being used to pay the passage of the emigrants.
Let then the Queen and Government be petitioned
to cause four of the old class " seventy-fours," which
would take out 800 each, and thus comfort, safety,
and cheapness would be combined, and a great
national benefit conferred.

I am, Sir, your humble servant
A NAVAL OFFICER.

THE BRITISH POLITICAL, COMMER-
CIAL, ECCLESIASTICAL, AND HISTO
RICAL GAZETTEER, and Travelling Road-
Book and County Atlas.
This national and instructive work progresses in
excellence and interest, and reflects the highest credit
on the indefatigable proprietors. The present number
contains three splendidly finished maps of the counties
of Buckinghamshire, Hertfordshire, and Berkshire.
It is also embellished with a beautifully executed
engraving of " The Menai Suspension Bridge, with
the Britannia Tubular Bridge in the distance." The
research and industry of the compilers deserve our
warmest commendation.

FIRE ABOARD AN INDIANIAN AT BLACILWALL.—
On Saturday morning, about halt-past seven o'clock, a
fire broke out on board the splendid ship named the
Ganges, an East India trader, lying in the dry dock of
the canal-dock, Blackwall. The vessel, which was

nearly 1,000 tons burden, was under the command of
Captain Deas, and was advertised to sail for China on
the 4th of next month. It appears that the vessel had
been taken into the above dock a few weeks previously,
for the purpose of being re-coppered and smoked, to
destroy the vermin in her. On some of the ship
carpenters passing along the side of the ship on
Saturday morning they noticed smoke pouring forth
from the hatchways on the deck. An instant alarm was
raised, when it was found that the cuddy, state rooms,
and all they contained, ware in a general blaze. A
messenger was dispatched fur the engines, and in the
course of a few minutes three belonging to the West
India Dock Company arrived, followed by numerous
others. The engines having been abundantly supplied
with water, were set to work, but several hours elapsed
ere the fire could be entirely extinguished. The mizen-
mast fell into the river with a terrible crash, but no one
received the least injury. Subjoined is a copy of the
official report of the damage done:—" Main deck, the
cuddy, the state rooms, sail cabins, and contents, burned
eut; the poop and deck nearly destroyed; the stern
frame considerably damaged by fire, and mizen-mast
fallen over the stern. The vessel was insured in the
Phoenix- offi ee. _ _ _

THE M A.NCHESTER SAVINGS BANK.—Mr. Pratt
has recently visited the Manchester Savings Bank, and
spent some. time in the examination of its counter busi-
ness, as well as the mode adopted of keeping the books,
and checking the daily entries. Ile has since addressed
a letter to :Mr. G. E Marsden, the deputy chairman of
the bank, ir, which he says that he has no hesitation in
expressing his opinion that the different checks in ope-
ration, and the mode of conducting business generally
(under Mr. Neild, the actuary) are a sufficient guarantee,
not only to the depositors, but also to the truitees and
managers. Ile suggests, however, that the auditor or
aecuuutant engaged shoull be directed to attend once
,or twice a month, and examine, with the ledgers, in the
manner which he bred himself dune, the books which
might be produced by the depositors on the day or night
of his attendance. If this were practised
if
he was confi-
dent no fraud could be committed, or even it were so,
the discovery would be immediate.
His Serene Highness Prince Frederick of Hasse
honoured the establishment of Mr. C. F. Hancock
with a visit on Saturday.