The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-22 00:00:00

.....—. '',is did not exactly satisfy Lord Can-
or another a._ 've. been that he was desirous of
nine, or it may n.... -.mime the originator of the
and William Snoxhill, 20,
visiting with his disple- 'red to Mr. A. G. R—., ... (Before Mr. Creasy.)
were indicted for a nes, lem.eanour. The
.9s
I.'
C walledi n
chargeupon (t)cf)
ther e report. James Harris, a boy,
was framed under the 3d and 4th Victoria, c. 97,
ogrte.ntleTmhane report was
'b-
charge
.I‘e report,
theacc
=Met
ftoarryhaOvripnhganassPisrteesas
i;nhseprweaasdieng
at_
o_, .
sec. 15, which enacts "That every person who shall
and he gave, as his authority, our friend Mr. - wilfully do, or cause to be done, anything in such
and to obstruct
from him, at last, Lord Canning has learne::l4 manner asany engine or carriage using
the truth of a matter which escaped the vigilance, •21y railway, or to endanger the safety of any per-
orconveyed in or sport the same, or shall aid or
police. short I°ll •
assist therein, shall le guilty of a misdemeanour,
perhapsm e was
ssrs. concealed
T. E. z by
atnhde
ctroemacish.qenryy'
a , ofi the A
time ago received a consignment of 1,0(10 Enfield
discretion of the court before which such person and being convicted thereof, shall be liable, at the
rifles, complete with all apparatus. D., healling cu•
this, went to purchase four of them, and was ti; shall have been convicted, to be imprisoned, with
‘,ll
told that the whole 1,000 had been sold together *O-e without hard labour, for any term not exceeding
to a native: He talked about it as a strange cir-
two ~saes." The offence charged against the pri-
cumstance, and so it got into the columns of the sonars cies that they did unlawfully discharge a
Englishman,and to the knowledge of every one in-
a train, with intent to endanger the
loaded gun
terested in the fact except the Commissioner of Po- safety of the pcysons then passing along, and being
lice, whose business it was to know it. Can you upon the Great bidnhern Railway, near Potter's-
wonderi tlt
after this that there is a feeling of insecurity bar, in this county.
in Calcutta? You are aware how, of late years, the gr. Cooper prosecuted ; Mr. Poland defended
government of Bengal, with Halliday at its head,
Harris.
has sought to advance the natives, and place them The younger prisoner, when called upon to plead,
in offices of trust and authority not expressly re-
said , "I am not guilty, for I only fired at a bird
served for the members of the East India Company's over a quick hedgs and didn't mean to hit the
covenanted service. Well, among others of these ap-
train." Snoxhill •said he was there by accident,
pointments, they have been placed in charge of the and had nothing to do with the gun.
post-office throughout the country, the security of From the evidence of several witnesses it ap-
which has not been improved by the change. It was peared that on the 23 instant a ballast train was ou
discovered the other day that one of these native its way towards London on the Great Northern
postmasters had been opening letters and making Railway-15 platelayers and labourers being in
use of their contents for seditious purposes. He was the break van. .&out a mile from Potter's-bar
banged by a military officer. But how many are there are two cuttings, with a short piece of level
undetected. . . . Do you remember a work between them; and, as the train emerged from
that appeared several years ago, called " Revela- one and was entering the other, a gun was fired,
tions of an Orderly, by Panneh Kowrie Khan," and the persons in the break were startled by a
exposing the abuses of the Company's courts t Its number of shots striking the side. On looking
author was a Mr. Wyatt, one of the oldest and out they saw the prisoners in a field, the
most respected of the tmcovenanted judicial officers younger one with the gun in his hand, and the
of Government. The poor man has been hanged other pointing to tie train and laughing. The train
by the Kotwal, a Mahomedan, at Bareilly. This was stopped at Potter's-bar, and on an examination
man has given the Government another practical of the break twelve shot marks were found. The
lesson of the trust that ought to have been reposed gun had been charged with small stones, about the
in the natives. Besides poor Mr. Wyatt, this ras- size of peas, and several were extracted from the
tally native official put Mr. Robertson, the judge, side of the break, laving penei rated-nearly half an
Dr. Hansborough, and Dr. Hay (son-in-law of the inch. The under guard, who had charge of the
late lientenarit-governor, Mr. Thomason), on their break, and several of the men, went back to where
trial, and caused them also to be hanged. Will the the gun was discharged, and there they found the
people of England, after they come to the know- prisoners, who were taken into custody. The gnu
ledge of such facts as these, suffer their country- was then loaded with small stones.
men in this land to be subjected to the jurisdiction The defence set up by Mr. Poland was that the
of courts presided over ,by natives ? I hope not, boy was sent into the field to scare birds with the
and that you and other good men will bestir them- gun, and was entrusted with powder, but not shot;
selves to prevent a repetition of the attempt. that, seeing a bird on a hedge, ho put a handful of
Similar sentiments are expressed in the following gravel and small stones into the gun and fired,
letter : when the train came out of one cutting, and be-
fore it completely entered the otherAthe contents
struck the break, which was at the end of the
train.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.—Oct. 21.

Calcutta, August, 1857

You will have read, I doubt not, with• intense
interest, the dreadful accounts that have gone home
by this last two or three mails. I thank • God,
matters are brightening now a little. But it is
fearful to think of the imbecility and indecision
that have marked, and still rule in many quarters,
the councils and acts of our governors and of men
holding important commands. Gen. Grant is leav•
ing for Madras at this moment, under a salute from
the guns of Foit William, and he goes terribly dis-
gusted, I hear, at the opposition he has met with
from Government in the plans be proposed to meet
the present crisis. Sir C. Campbell, I believe, is a
man not likely to allow himself to be snubbed, and
one may expect to see something like energetic
measures being adopted soon. We have been peti-
tioning for martial law for Calcutta and neighbour-
ing districts, but have not yet got it. The Mohur-
rum commences to-day, and the volunteers, of which
I am a humble member, have lots of duty before
thew.

The jury, after the learned Judge had summed
up, adopted the view suggested for the defence,
and acquitted the prisoner.
Mr. Creasy quite concurred in the verdict, and
said such a boy as Harris ought not to be entrusted
with a gun, and he hoped would not he again.
Joseph Enight and William Cole were indicted
for having str.,,len eight coil sacks, the property of
-Lea and 00., coal merchants, of Highbury, and
other place.
Knight pleaded guilty.
Cole was found guilty.
Mr. Creasy deferred the sentence.
Mr. Poaud prosecuted ; Mr. Ribton appeared
for Knight ; Mr. Metcalfe for Cole.