The Sun.
London, England, 1868-10-14 00:00:00

LAW AND POLICE.

THE " END " OP THE LONG VACATION.—On the 24th
instant at common law, and the 28th in Chancery, the
long vacation, which commenced on the 10th August, will
terminate, and the various offices be opened at the usual
time.

POLICE EVIDENCE.—Another case in which a magis-
trate refused to convict on unsupported police testimony
was heard on Tuesday at the Clerkenwell Police-court.
The charge was that of dog-fighting, and there were two
constables whose evidence was rejected.
A HIGHWAYMAN CAPTURED.—The inhabitants of New-
bury Speen, &c., have had a bit of " sensation " during
the last few days. A man calling himself " Captain
Hawk," wearing a mask, and dressed in the fashion
of the highwayman of romance, has been stopping
respectable people in the road, presenting his
pistol to their head, demanding their purse. The other
night, however, his intended victim " tackled " and
succeeded in capturing him. He was taken before the
magistrates, and now stands remanded. In his lodgings
were found a large number of the highway novels. He
is by trade a painter, and is described as inoffensive.

CRUELTY TO A CHILD.—A revolting case of cruelty by
a father-in-law towards a boy, 11 years of age, has been
investigated at Cirencester. The details are almost too
revolting for publication. The prisoner was sent to prison
for four months.

It is not only in Ireland that judges are dying
and retiring in order to give patronage to Mr. Disraeli.
The furor has spread to Scotland, where Lord Curriehill
has just resigned his judgeship, and will be succeeded by
Mr. George Dundas, sheriff of Selkirkshire.
At a meeting of members of Convocation held on
Tuesday afternoon, in the hall of Magdalen College,
Oxford, it was resolved to present a requisition to Sir
Roundel' Palmer, asking him to allow himself to be put
in nomination for the vacant seat. The Conservative party
have put forward the name of Mr. Mowbray.

The Times of India is responsible for the following
story of a recantation, which significantly foreshadows the
new order of things at the India Office :—We hear, on the
best possible authority, that the Duke of Argyll
has recently addressed a letter to a gentleman well
known both here and at home for his writings on
Indian politics, in which his grace distinctly renounces all
projects of annexation for the future, trusts that the remain-
ing Native States may be well governed, without requiring
constant interference, and "entirely approves of the experi-
ment made in the Mysore case." The Duke of Argyll has
previously advocated annexationist's doctrines.

MANSLAUGHTER BY A BUTCHER. —An inquest
has been held at Yeovil, Somerset, on the body of John
Williams, a butcher, aged 2S. Some days ago deceased
had an altercation with another butcher, named Slade, in
the market, and received a blow from the latter, which made
him insensible for the time. On the following morning he
was found lying dead in the closet of a public-house in the
town. A post-mortem examination shewed that death had
resulted from congestion of the brain, caused by external
violence. The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter
against Slade, whowas committed on the coroner's verdict.
DEATH OF A PAUPER THROUGH DRINKING.—A
melancholy case of sudden death has been investigated by
Dr. Lankester, at the Islington Union. An inmat 6;
named James Dowsett, 56, who had been accustomed to
running of errands, was sent with a parcel to a
house in the Caledonian-road. On his returning
home by way of Liverpool-street, Islington, a
liquor pipe leading from the King's Arms vaults
burst, and in a few minutes the gutter was filled with
port wine. A large number of people at once filled
pitchers of every kind, and deceased, amongst others,
drank freely of it, and soon became intoxicated, and lay
quite insensible in the street. He was speedily taken to
the union, where, by means of a pump, one of the nurses
extracted at least a pint and a half of port wine from his
stomach, and he died before medical assistance could be
obtained. A verdict of death from being poisoned by
alcohol, accelerated by a fall, was returned.
THE EXPLOSION AT BARNSLEY. —The adjourned
inquiry touching the deaths of Mr. George Morris and
ten others, who lost their lives by the explosion at the fire-
works manufactory on the 7th instant, was resumed on
Tuesday, by Mr. Taylor, coroner, at the Court
House; Barnsley. The jury returned the following
verdict :—" We are of opinion that the deceased
persons came to their deaths by an explosion of fire-
works at Barnsley, on the 7th day of October, 1868 ;
and we are likewise of opinion that the direct cause
was the recklessness of Maria Cooper in placing a tin of
composition on the stove where it exploded. We conse-
quently return a verdict of manslaughter against Maria
Cooper, as to all parties dead except herself. We are
likewise of opinion that children of such tender years
ought not to be employed in such a dangerous occupation.
And the jury further say that there appears to have been
no proper regulation in conducting the works, and that the
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