The Sun.
London, England, 1868-04-30 00:00:00

The Lad DE GREY and RooN, Deputy Grand Master :

Brethren, I an-tconfident in rising to second the motion
„hat I stalrohly gip* `F to the feeling which

mates every brother in this hail, fur I am confident there
is not a single man amongst us who has not heard with
feelings of indignation and horror of the cowardly
attempt that has been made in a distant colony to assas-
sinate his Royal Highness the Duke of Edinburgh,
who went there iu discharge of his duty as an officer
of the Royal Navy, where he was received with an out-
burst of loyalty and the most generous and hearty feeling.
In that distant possession of the crown, united with this
country and its sovereign, in the midst of rejoicing in that
colony, when the Duke of Edinburgh was attending an
entertainment for a charitable object, that moment was
chosen by a man who was found' to shoot his Royal High-
ness in the back, for the purpose of taking away the
life of one who had been innocent of a single injury
to any man—(hear, hear)—but was there solely in
the discharge of his public duties. I am confident there
is no one here but will cordially concur in the address, and
I have great pleasure in seconding it.
The GRAND MASTER put the motion, which was carried
unanimously. He then said : I will have the address
drawn up as speedily as possible, and I trust the brethren
will be satisfied to leave it to myself and the Deputy
Grand Master to present it to her Majesty.
It was then proposed that the address be presented to
her Majesty by the Grand Master and the Deputy Grand
Master, which was put and unanimously agreed to.
The Grand Master then proceeded to appoint his officers
for the year, and the Grand Lodge was closed in due form,

The Queen has been graciously pleased to signify
her intention of subscribing £250 towards the rebuilding of
the Medical Hospital of the
_Edinburgh Royal Infirmary.

THE COLLIERS' STRIKE IN SOUTH LANCASHIRE.
—The adjourned meeting of colliers' delegates has been
held at Wigan. The number present was 140, represent-
ing 6,600 union colliers. It was decided to continue the
strike and not to surrender.

THE SEIZURE OF THE TORNADO.—It is stated
that the protracted question of the terms on which the
Spanish Government is to deliver up the Tornado has at
length been amicably adjusted. The exact conditions of
the surrender have not transpired.

THE CLERKENWELL EXPLOSION.—At the Guild-
hall, Francis Peacock, a last-maker from Norwich, was
charged on his own confession with ha,‘ Lig fired the
barrel of gunpowder at the recent Clerkenwell explosion.
The prisoner belonged to the 3rd Middlesex Militia,
and came to London for training. He got drunk on
his arrival, and while in that state gave himself up to
the police. Alderman Gibbons reprimanded and dis-
charged him.

Mrs. BlLLurs.—Mr. Carttar, coroner for Kent,
has resumed and concluded at Deptford the inquiries
respecting the deaths of two illegitimate children. It will
be remembered that at the previous meeting of the jury
some rather remarkable evidence was given as to the
practice of Mrs. Billups, a midwife, who appears to
have largely assisted at the bringing of illegitimate chil-
dren into the world, and that it was suspected that she
either wilfully, or by reason of ignorance, had made their
sojourn here of the briefest possible character. In the
first case the deceased was the illegitimate child of Eliza-
beth Simner, and was born on the 2nd of April. Within
an hour of its birth, Mrs. Billups, prophesying that the
child could not live, sent it to a doctor naked and
wrapped in a blanket. The doctor's assistant saw the
child, and told Mrs. Billups's messenger that it would
die from exposure to the cold. It died two days after-
wards. After death the child's head was found to have
been flattened on one side, either by a fall or a blow. The
second inquest was respecting the death of the illegiti-
mate child of a domestic servant. On the 29th of March,
the servant, whose name was Jane George, left leer place,
and went to her mother's house. She complained of being
ill, but said nothing about what ailed her. The next
she gave birth to a child, and "Mrs. Einups
being
called in, took the child away an hour afterwards.
She took it ta the cellar in which she lives, and, as
in the previous case, she prophesied that the child
would soon die. The prediction was fulfilled on the fol-
lowing day. On a post-mortem examination being mach.,
it was ascertained that a quantity of water had been
imbibed, and that death had resulted from convulsions.
Mrs. Billups admitted having placed the child in a bath,
Billups.d
e some
In se:
aecrhe
but denied all knowledge of how it had imbibed the water
denints the body.
du
he coroner o r
oofn i\er
s. ma
case an open verdict was returned, in order that tIo
inquiries might be reopened if additional
evidence could
be obtained. " -