The Sun.
London, England, 1868-05-08 00:00:00

THE CONVICT MICHAEL BAfIRETT.

The inquiry into the evidence offered on the tart of .the
defence is still proceeding at Glasgow, and ftirteen dis-
tinct affidavits have been transmitted to the Home Office.
Five of these are by persons who saw Barrett at the
torchlight procession in Glasgow on the night of the 21st
of November—namely, three weeks before the date of
the Clerkenwell explosion. These testify to the fact that
at that time he had short whiskers, and one of them refers
to the accident by which one of his whiskers was singed
by a torch. Two of the affidavits are by persons who saw
him frequently in Glasgow between that date and the
end of December, and corroborate the evidence of his
presence at the meeting at the Bell Inn on the night of
the explosion. Three are to the effect that on Sunday,
the Sth day of December, five days before the explo-
sion, Barrett was present at a christening in Glasgow—
these latter affidavits being sworn by the father and
mother of the child who was christened, and one of the
guests who was present on the occasion. One is by a
man who saw him on the 12th and 13th of December ;
on one of these days in company with Mullen, the
man who, as will be recollected, was stated on the trial to
have taken Barrett to 111`Nulty's (the shoemaker) on the
12th, the clay before the explosion. One is an affidavit
by his employers, which testifies to his good character,
but is otherwise immaterial, as he was compelled to dis-
continue work in the month of August, owing to ill-
health. One is by a man who spent two hours with
him on the morning of December 14 (the day after
the explosion), and one by a labouring man of his
acquaintance, who saw him on the quay at Glasgow on the
12th December. The inquiry is still proceeding, and addi-
tional evidence will probably be forthcoming ; but in the
presence of such a mass of testimony as to Barrett's pre-
sence in Glasgow during the entire period in which,
according to the statements of Mullany, his apprentice,
Morris, and his workwoman, Keppel, he was in London, it
is thought the Government will not permit the sentence to
be immediately carried into effect.
The Glasgow Herald says that on Thursday the affidavits
of fifteen persons were sworn to in the Justice of Peace
Court Hall, in presence of Mr. William M`Leau, justice.
Of the eleven persrals whose depositions were taken on
Monday by Mr. Lewis, Barrett's solicitor, nine took the
oath, two—one of whom, at least, made an important state-
ment —having failed to put in an appearance. In addi-
tion to those examined on Monday, six were examined
on Tuesday, but a note .of their evidence was not sup-
plied to the newspapers. We are informed, however, that
one of them speaks to having seen Barrett in Glasgow on
the day of the explosion at Clerkenwell. Witness
was quite positive as to the day of the menth ; but
on being asked by Mr. Douglas, J.P. Fiscal, what clay
of the month yesterday was, he was unable to tell. The
testimony of the other witnesses, we are told, referred
principally to the torch-light procession on the Green, at
which Barrett was present. The witnesses whose afli-
:lnvite were sworn to are almost exclusively Irish, and, of
:ours_, were not subjected to any cross-examination.

LAW AND POLICE,

_. _--a

THE OXFORD AND CANTERBURY MUSIC HALL COM-
PANY.—Mr. Kay, Q.C., and Mr. - J. Napier Higgins
appr:ared before Vice-Chancellor Giffard upon this peti-
qo:!, which prayed for a compulsory winding up of this
company, and, that it might stand over in order to give
;he shareliold( rs an opportunity of deciding at a meeting
summoned for the purpose, whether the winding up should
be voluntary or compulsory. The Vice-Chancellor made
an order for a compulsory winding up, to which, as he
11)8c:riled, creditors were entitled almost cx debito justitice.

HEAvY SENTENCE ON A GmlorrEn.--At the Central
Criminal Court, William Brown and Michael Forrest
were indicted for a robbery with violence. On the evening
of the 11th of March, about half-past ten o'clock, a lad
named Owen, living in Tuthill-street, Westminster, was
in a yard there feeding some rabbits. He heard a
disturbance, and, on looking out, saw three men upon a
man who was on the ground. The prisoner Brown
had his hand over the man's mouth, while the others
were striking him shamefully on the face and head, and
kicking him about the legs and body. Brown, while hold-
ing the man's mouth with one hand, had the other in his
pocket. He said at length, " I have got it," and ran away,
.as did also the others. The lad Owen followed, until he
met two policemen, and told them what he had seen.
They followed and arrested the prisoners. Owen knew
Brown by sight, but did not see the faces of the two other
men. The constables brought the prisoners back to the
injured man, who was then being supported by several
persons, and having been confronted with them he
ecognised them both, and then fell backward insensible.
Mr. Justice Willes, in sentencing Brown, remarked on
the enormity of his offence, and said that in such a case a
ae,avy sentence was necessary. The accused was then
ordered to be kept in penal servitude for ten years. The
other prisoner was aegnitted.

FORGERY BY A CLERK.—At the Mansion House,
Jefore the Lord ...Jayor, Alfred 'fender3on, 20, clerk, was
charged on remand with forging and uttering a cheque for
£3,1 15s. On the 4th of April Mr. Richard T. W. Cave,
C.E., of Liverpool-street, went to the University Boat-
race; leaving his clerk, the prisoner, in his office. He
returned in the afternoon and found that the prisoner had
gone for the day, that a drawer in his desk had been forced
open, and that his cheque-book was missing. He immedi-
ately went to the City Bank for the purpose of stopping the
cheques, when he ascertained that one for £36155., bearing
his signature, dated the 16th of January, and taken from
the cheque-book, had been presented and cashed, the per-
son receiving from Mr. John King, the cashier, four
notes, numbered from 82,667 to 82,670, and the rest in
cash. The prisoner went to his master's office on the fol-
lowing Monday morning, and he denied all knowledge of
the robbery. However, on the Wednesday after he passed
one of the notes to Mr. Edward Lyon, a clothier in the
Borough, and another to Mr. Hewett, a dealer in Black-
man-street, on both of which he wrote the name of a
person having rooms in the same house as Mr. Cave. In
the opinion of his master the forged cheque was in the
prisoner's handwriting. The Lord Mayor committed the
prisoner for trial.

A NOVEL POINT IN RELATION TO COSTS.— In the full
Exchequer Court, the case of Williams and another v. the
Neath and Brecon Railway Company and the Swansea
Canal Company, involved a novel point in relation to the
proceedings to recover costs where they had been awarded
by a committee of the House of Lords on a private bill.
A bill came before the House of Lords in April 1866, but
the promoters not appearing, costs were awarded by the
committee to the plaintiffs, who were petitioners against
the promoters. In October 1866 the plaintiffs gave notice
to the Swansea Canal Company of an application to the
taxing master to tax the plaintiffs' costs as against them,
alleging they were the real promoters of the bill. On
October 10 the plaintiffs delivered their bill of costs to
the canal company, and they were taxed on November 16,
and on November 30 the taxing master delievered his cer-
tificate. On April 16, 1868, the plaintiffs filed a declara-
tion, and signed a judgment against the canal company
without issuing any suit of summons. Mr. Henry James
now moved on the part of the defendants to set aside the
judgment on the ground that the taxing master's certi-
ficate was given too late, and also that the proceedings
were irregular for want of a writ. The question turned
upon the construction to be put an the 3rd and 6th
sections of the 28th and 29th of Victoria, chap. 27. After
hearing Mr. Watkin Williams in support of the judgment,
the court held it to be bad, and set it aside, with costs.

LORD EDWARD HOWARD AND THE INLAND REVENUE.
—ln the same court the above-named case was heard.
The facts were, that on the marriage of Lord Foley
with Lady Howard in 1819, divers sums, amounting to
£278,000, were settled upon trust for investment in the
purchase of land, with power of interim investment on
mortgage. N early the whole of this amount was invested
on mortgage. On the death of three of the trustees new
trustees were appointed, and on their appointment divers
sums owing on mortgage and forming part of the settle-
ment fund were transferred by separate deeds. The ques-
tion before the court was whether the appointment of new
trustees having been stamped with a 15s. stamp, the
transfers are liable to ad valorem. duty of 6d. per £lOO im-
posed on transfers of mortgage by the 28th and 29th
Victoria, chap. 96, sec. 17. After the arguments the court
took time to consider judgment.

RELEASE OF FENIAN PRISONERS IN DUBLIN.—
We learn that on Wednesday evening " Colonel'
N:,gle, one of the principal persons in the " Jacknell"
expedition, together with Patrick Nugent, in whose case
an abortive trial took place at the last Sligo Assizes, Fre-
d,_riek Fitzgibbon, Andrew Leonard, and Daniel Lee,
other members of the expeditionary force, were released
from custody. They intimate their intention of proceeding
to America on Saturday. Nagle on Thursday morning visited
Mr. G. F. Train in the Marshalsea Prison, and during tl e
clay went through the law courts.

THE DUKE OF EDINBURGH.—Direct communi-
cations which have been received from the Duke cf
E linburgh fully confirm the favourable reports which
have been published. His Royal Highness describes him-
self as well and comfortable, and quite recovered. For
tunattly, the bullet, although penetrating to the ninth
rib near the spine, and taking then a circuitous course
around the body to the position whence it was cut down
upon and extracted, seems to have been a small revolver
bullet, impelled by a light charge, and to have done the
minimum amount of mischief to the tissues.--British
Medic( 1 Jo:.:rnal.