The Sun.
London, England, 1857-12-28 00:00:00

MO NID A Y VIET ENING ' n C R 42 It'74"
LONDON, _ "t 1

ciety at Pinney', which contains 100 boys and 47
girls, has now bl en paid for and freed from mort-
gage, but that while the annual expenditure of the
institution amour': is to 5,000/. the gross income is
only 4,3271.
The musical arra. ngements of the evening were
under the direction , of Mr. Lawler, assisted by the
Misses Wells and MI Perren. Mr. Harker acted
as toastmaster.

SERFI)OI r IN RUSSIA.

(From the eseess) sndent of the Times.)
BERLIN, Dec. 22—For
expec-
tation has been grey/irk,
some years past the t
• more and more rife in
Russia, and thence throvagjt Europe, that the abo'i-
tion of serfdom was soon about to be decreed. As
long as the late Emper or Nicholas was alive the
accession of his successor was looked forward to as
the period for the advent of the new era ; and as
long as the war lasted the return of peace was the
event that was to herald in the removal of this in-
cubus on the productive pov. Tars of the State. These
periods have come and gone, but serfdom is not
yet abolished ; Alexander I, who commenced the
great work, was cut off sudde my in the midst of his
reforms; Nicholas was divesed from following
them up energetically by his fatuity for an enor-
mous army, and serfdom is the basis of the Rus-
sian recruiting system. Alexander 11, who at his
accession found the nation at wnr, was by that cir-
cumstance prevented at that moment from realiz-
ing the fond hopes that had been entertained of him.
At the conclusion of the peace lie was oven obliged
to take a step apparently in the opposite direction
—viz., to assure the Russian nobility of the inviol-
ability of their agrarian rights, which precluded
the idea of any sudden abolition of serfdom.
Since that period, however, a variety of innova-
tions have been introduced by the Emperor
into the eternal administration of Russia, which
like many others carried out in the reign of his
father, are all converging to the same end
of gradual abolition, though to the eyes of
foreigners at a distance there often seems to be bui,
little connexion between them and the end pro-
posed : the Russians themselves, however, are so
thoroughly cognisant of their tendency and their
number, that they have at length. fixed even the
day when, according to their expectations, the total
abolition of serfdom was to take place. That day
was the 18th inst., the fete of the late Emperor
Nicholas, a date which at least has this significance
that it recognises the interest the late Emperor
took in the subject, and it is also a matter of popu-
lar belief that the Emperor Nicholas on his death-
bed urgently recommended this abolition to his son
and heir for speedy execution.
Although the Emperor Alexander has not yet
abolished serfdom in Russia, and although it may
be many years to come before any measure can be
passed that will realise the idea contained in those
words, there is mot the slightest ground for doubt-
ing that he is labouring most strenuously towards
that end, as most of his home measures and his
foreign policy since the peace of 1856 abundantly
prove. Within the last two months, unless a very
generally received report is unfounded, a special
committee has been formed in St. Petersburg,
under the presidency of the Grand Duke Constan-
tine, for the purpose of expediting every measure
in connection with this subject, and the experience
of the last few days shows that its labours have
not been without good rzsults. That the exis-
tence of this committee should be kept as secret
as possible will excite no surprise, when it is
borne in mind that the expectations of twelve
millions of human beings in Russia are just now
at the highest pitch of tension, looking for an
almost immediate deliverance from bondage ; that
local and sporadic revolts of serfs against their
owners are no longer as rare in Russia as
they used to be ; that the spirit of liberty is now
abroad among the people ; that both in Kieff and
in Moscow the students of the universities have
lately made the boldest demonstrations, arid
offered resistance to the military and police, and
that in St. Petersburg language has been uttered
at public meetings that reads like the ordinary
clap-trap spoken at the public meetings in Eng-
land. There exists every possible reason of danger
and difficulty for approaching this matter with
the greatest secrecy, forethought, and precau-
tion. The abolition of serfdom is a subject of
much less interest to the philanthropist than
is usually supposed, for the Russian serf, born
and bred in the position of a bondsman, is fir
from the wretched being philanthropists think he
must be, and his enfranchisement, while giving
him an opportunity, and perhaps compelling him
to work out his own independence, will, in all pro-
bability, at least in the first generation of these
unheroic Sclavonians, produce them more misery
than happiness. To the economist, however,
any measure must be of great interest that imme-
diately affects property valued at hundreds of
millions of roubles, and which promises indirectly
to open up and stimulate the productive powers
of a country larger than all Europe. To the poll-
tioleax fe-w events can. be more xnemerirtteen %Amami a
fundamental change in an institution which for up.
wards of 200 years has served as the basis of the
whole internal polity of a nation of 70,000,000 of
people. He may well fear lest a too rapid impetus
imparted to the aspirations of these impressionable
Slavonians may bring Europe to witness a flood of
uncontrolled liberty and revolution such as that
produced in 1848 by the well-meant innovations of
Pio IX. in 1846.
As the subject bids fair to force itself soon upon
the notice and interest of Europe at large, I send
you herewith a few memoranda as to the nature and
extent of serfdom in Russia, as well as of the mea-
sures that have already taken with a view to its
eventual abolition.
Serfdom has been of various kinds at different
periods of the history of Russia, and at the present
moment the position of the peasant is very various
in different parts of the empire. In the Baltic
provinces of Esihland and Liefland serfdom has
been entirely superseded by a series of statutes en-
acted by Alexander I. between 1804 and 1819,
which were subsequently amplified in 1849 for
Liefland, and in 1856 for Estbland ; in Courland
no advance has been made on the legislation of
181', and in this latter province the enfranchise-
ment is not yet complete. In the kingdom of
Poland also ukases have made the enfranchise-
ment of the bondman dependent solely on his
having the will and the means to pay the commu-
tation price for his services or the value of the
fee simple of the land he occupies ; on his making
due application to the local official appointed to
arrange these commutations the owner is bound to
accept the prices fixed by the Government sur-
veyor, and accord the serf his freedom. In Poland,
therefore, serfdom is in process of self-abolition ;
and in Russia Proper also serfdom has been
abolished on the domains of the Crown and sorx.e
private estates, and has generally of late years been
much modified and mitigated.
Serfdom originated in a ukase issued by Czar
Boris Godunow in 1601, for the purpose of rest ra'n-
ing the nomadic, unsettled habits of his subjects,
who, as many Arab tribes do in the present day,
were constantly changing their places of abode for
more promising localities or more fruitful pastures ;
and he enacted that every peasant should settle
definitively on the land he had cultivatzd on the
previous Juriew's day. They thus became by this
sole ukase (glebte adscripti) assign .d to the soil (in
Rusian, Kreposttyi). The admiuistra ive mea-
sures necessary fur watching over the maintenance
of this state of things entailed registration and offi-
cial surveillance ; and eventually in the course of
years the lords of the soil, availing themselves of
the inability of the peasants o change their locality,
extorted from them compulsory labour on their own
estates, and even menial services about their own
dwellings. The relation, which had originally been
that of "privileged villenage," was thus a. on con-
verted here and there into "pure villenage ;" and
the two relations exist still side by side in Russia,
and even on the same estate. It took a long
period, however, to break down the vested intereet
that the peasant originally bad in the land he cul-
tivated, and which amounted to the whole usu-
fruet, after deducting a small payment in natara
or in 1 %hour. By constant encroachments on the
part of the lords of the sea the state of these vil-

ieius sank by degrees into that of " villeins regar-
dant,".ancl "villeins in gross," but the Russian
serf was always a fixture on the estate, from]which
he could be as little separated as the estate from
him. It was not till the time of Peter the Great
that the system of serfdom obtained its present
form, which offen e -rtain features peculiar to
Russia, and different from the villenage that for-
merly existed in England, or the Horigkeit, that
hold its ground in Prussia even up to the com-
mencement of this century.
One of these features of serfdom peculiar t) Rus-
sia, and which forms the tenure of the I trger Nut
of the land in that country, is of a very commu-
nistic. nature ; a whol, villig-e or other community
occupies a ceitsin tract of land, from which the
whole number of male per.sants pays a fixed poll-
t.tx to the lord of the manor—that entire body
offering an aggregate liablity for the shortcom-
ings of any individual member. The community
miaow:, themselves diVide the whole area of the
land out into homesteads according to the number
of adult males or married couples among thew.
Each such homestead occupied by a man and his
wife, and children, if they have them, is called a
tiaglo, and this one family cultivates the whole of
the tiaglo, or as much of it as they can, until the
increase of married couples in the community ren-
ders it necessary for the number of tiaglos to be in-
creased also, which is done by dividing or diminish
ing the existing homesteads. As the land is, as a
matter of course, of various excellence in the dif-

ferent parts of the estate, the various families are
shifted about in compliance with communistic fair-
ness to all the different homesteads, so that each
cultivates the good, bad, and indifferent land turn
and turn about. Although this occupation of the
land is about the most disadvantageous arrangement
that can be conceived in an economical point
of view, and is perfectly destructive of any feel-
ing of property or home, it is strictly in
harmony with the instincts of a nomad
tribe, and insures to each of its members at least an
existence on a footing of perfect equality with his
fellows. When in the course of time as many hands
have been assigned to agricultural labour as the
land requires, and there still remains a surplus of
employable population in the serf village, certain of
its members turn their att.2ntion to differenthandi-
crafts, but in all cases work for the common-
wealth, which assures them in return their existence
in and a provision for their old age. Where large
amounts of work require to be contracted for, the
whole community, as represented by its Galowa,
or chief, joins in seourity for the completion of the
work or the fulfilment of the various conditions
attached to it. Although it frequently happens
that under this arrrangement, and favoured by
auspicious circumstances, such as good harvests and
an equitable owner, Az7c., these communities accu-
mulate wealth, chiefly in their surplus agricultural
produce, not only are their individual members all
kept down to the average degree of poverty of the
whole number, but their accumulated wealth re-
mains unavailable for the purposes of further eco-
nomical
improvement. In the interest of the
State, therefore, this feature of serfdom as the most
injurious to the economical development of the
country calla most urgently for abolition.
Another feature of serfdom in Russia which calls
the most loudly for abolition in the interests of
probably be the first to
bhaumabaonilitsyh,edrdiswthheiCh will
ocialul
called Obrok system. This
obtains incases where domains, formerly large, and
with a large number of serfs allocated on them,
have in the course of time been so split up and sub-
divided by sale or inheritances that small portions
of them are to be found, on which ten, five, or even
only three serfs are inscribed. These plots of land
being too small, wad the number of serfs being too
few to admit of agriculture being carried on there
profitably, the owner either lets out his serfs for
hire to other proprietors, or gives them his permis-
sion to fvllow any ha'sdicraft tney may have learnt,
and exercise any talent they may possess on pay-
ment to him of an obrok or poll-tax. In this case
the owner generally builds a dwelling-house on the
land of that the serfs ought to have tilled, and lives
on the obrok they pay him out of the earnings they
make elsewhere.

These two classes constitute the whole number of
actual serfs in Russia, which amount to about
12,000,000 ; but it is usual, though not strictly
correct, to include among the serfs six classes of
peasants also, amounting to an equal number.
There are, Ist, about 40,000 peasants who enjoy
the usufruct of the land on which they are inscribed,
•n condition of their supplying horses, vehicles, and
drivers for theposting traffic; every 28 males supply
one vehicle, three horses, and a driver; they receive
a small money payment for the distance driven,
and their land is free from any ether obligation
than the above. 2. There are about 120,000
peasants employed in the forests of the State which
supply timber for the fleet. They receive a small
money allowance in addition to the usufruct of the
land they cultivate, and are free from all taxes or
other obligations than that of labouring in the
forests. This is evidently the " common soccage
tenure" of the law-books. 3. There are also about
800,000 peasants attached to the different appan ages
or domains set aside for the support of the various
members of the Imperial family. The peasants,
however, who are the best off in Russia are, 4, those
on the Crown domains, in number about 9,000,000.
They are not ylebce adscripti, and they are at liberty
to leave their domicile and acquire personal pro-
perty in the prosecution of trades and professions.
The greater part of them, however, are distributed
in villages and the joint-stock communes, such as
are described above. 5. nacre are also peasants
who have been liberated from serfdom by their
owners, to the number of about 1,400,000 ; these
are free from all forced labour, or obrok, but are
still liable to be taken as recruits, like all other
peasants; they can even possess serfs attached to
any property they may become possessed. of. There
is stall further, 6th, a class of free peasants who
have never been serfs, numbering about 225,000
males. Their position, however, is in realty nor
nearly so free as that of the liberated se, fs, unless
they have had a portion of land settled on them by
the lord of the manor, or have themselves acquired
some landed property.

THE CRUSADE AGAINST THE MORMONS.

The latest intelligence received in the united
States of the progress of the expedition against
Utah is contained in letters published by the St.
Louis .Repubtican from the army to Nov. 3. The
Hormonehad run off nix bunched.;Echt of
Colonel Alexander's camp, near Hams Fork, Green
River. At the date of the letter it was supposed
that Colonel Johnston had concentrated his forces
with Alexander, and that in a fortnight from that
time Colonel Cook's command would be with them.
They expected to winter on Henry's Fork, Green
River. There was a gocd deal of suffering from
want of provisions and clothing, and the horses
were giving out from want of forage. Governor
Cumming and the other territorial officers were de-
termined to get into Salt Lake City if possible. The
Mormons were determined on resistance to either
the military or civil officers. A skirmish had taken
place between Colonel Alexander's troops and the
Mormons, and three or f)ur of the latter were cap-
tured.
The St. LO2ti.3 Democrat learns that news has
been received at Fort Leavenworth from Major's
and Russell's trains, that the government animals
were dying in great numbers on the Plains.
The foll•wing remarks are from the New York
_Herald, written before the receipt of the above :
" We observe that some little anxiety is expre-s
ed in different quarters for the safety of the Utah
expedition, under the command of Col. Johnston.
ec
whether arising from the t' that no fears need be enter-
We apprehend, however, from a careful examina-
ttai%ned offotrhiets
safety,subj
Mor-
mons or the severity of the weather. When last
heard from, in the beginning of October, the mile
body of the expedition, numbering over 1,000 bayo-
nets and two field-batteries—one a six and the
were encamped ou
side— of Salt L,ke City,
Hotahraer,saFolr2k-,polu4n3dmerilehsatttheirsy
that vicinity and go into win-
under command of Colonel Alexander ; and it
would appear from his report that he in' ended to
tseelrecqtuasortmer. Thereesplacein are many points, both on Bear
and Green Rivers—a few marches only from Ham's.
Fork, where an abundance of fuel can be h id, and
where our troops can make themselves coinpara
tively comfortable for the winter, and where, also,
by throwing up slight field works and arranging
judiciously their 500 waggons and 12 pieces of
artillery, they can defend them successfully
against the entire Mormon ho,t, even if led on
by the redoubtable Kimball, backed by his
twenty-five sous and thirty wives. There is also
an abundant supply o f provisions, with the ex-
peition, notwithstanding the loss' of the 78 wag-
gons which were burnt by the destroying angels
under command of the saintly Bill Hickman, as
the Government had taken the precaution to throw
forward au extra quantity of subsistence stores to
meet all emergencies. In addition to the force
above alluded to, Colonel Johnston, on the 13th of
October, was in the vicinity of the South Pass, 95
miles in rear of Colonel Alexander's command, with
some 100 infantry and 125 dragoons, and long ere
this he has no doubt joined ,he araey and assumed
command of it. Besides these troops, there were
at the same time six companies of the 2d Dragoons
under Colonel Cooke, making forced marches to
join Colonel Johnston ; and we observe from the
report of Indian Agent Forney, f otn Fort
Laramie, that they passed the post on the 24th of
October: . When Colonel Cooke joined the main
body—which he doubtless succeeded in doing
some time since, unless stopped by the
snows in the vicinity of the South Pass and
the Wind River mountains—our Utah ft roes were
swelled to over 1,600 efficient men. It is to be re-
,retted, now that the Mormons have declared war
and thrown down the gage of battle, that our troops
did not arrive one month earlier in the season in
front of the strongholds of the bellic ise saints ; for
we believe that our gallant men could have forced
the mountain passes, and either captured or de-
stroyed Brigham Young, this Mahomet of the New
'World, and his fanatical followers. It must be
remembered, however, that when this Utah expe-
dition was organised no one believed the Mormons
would offer any resistance ; and it was not until the
retura of Captain -Van "net from Utah that any
opp -sision was anticipated, and even the great
majority of the people and the press remained
incredulous; and it was only when the captain's
judgment was backed up by Brighatifs proclamation
and the destruct'on of our provision trains, that
the country was undeceived and the government
found a Mormon war on its hands. Had the Mor-
mons offered no resistance, our troops would have
had ample time to reach the Salt Lake Valley,
and would now be bashing in tbe smiles of the
Mormon beauties, instead of breasting the fierce
winds and cold storms of a Rocky Mountain winter.
In considering this speck of a rebellion and civil
war, it might be interesting to speculate as to the
result. That the goVernment will grapple with it
with all necessary energy, and in one short 'and
decisive
.campaign Will quell it, is quite certain ;
but that in doing 80 We shall kill Mormonism, or

-
rather purify it of polygamy—for that appears to
be the great objectionable feature, admits of a great
doubt. The sword has never yet convinced a man
his religion was false ; and we very much doubt if
it will over convince the Mormon that it is wrong
fur him to surround himself with a dozen wives, or
that Brigham Young is not a true prophet. We
are inclined to believe that a good strong corps of
parsons would do more to suppress Mormonism
than half a dozen regiments of the United States
troops ; and we would recommend, now that Kansas
has stopped bleeding, that Mr. Kallock, and ;the
other three thousand New England parsons—their
occupations being gone—be organised into regi-
ments, and sent to Utah, in order to teach the
Mormons the errors of their ways. Should the
church militant fail, we can then use the strong
arm of the government.

"We may not, however, have to fight the
Mormons, after all, for already indications are
abroad that the saints are on the eve of another
hegira. Orders have been issued to the faithful in
England and Wales prohibiting further emigration
to the United States, as the Almighty has
pointed out another place for them to go to. All
their missionary establishments in the United
States have been broken up, all their settlements
on this side of the mountains andin California have
been abandoned, and from every point of the com-
pass the Lord's annointed are hurrying to place
themselves beneath the banner of his prophet
amidst the valleys of the mountains. All these
signs indicate, in our opinion, as we have just
stated, that the Mormons are about to take
at other flight. Having defied the authorities
of the United States, Brigham is too keen an ob-
server not tc see the consequences. He is well aware
th he must stand and fight it out or run the country.
He is also well aware that he cannot contend with
the United States Government with any hope of
success, for when Captain Van Vliet, as he states
in his report, told Brigham and his friends Atat if
they opposed the United States troops this fall, the
Government would send next year a force which
would overcome all opposition, their answer was—
' We are aware that such will be the case, but when
those troops arrive they will find Utah a desert—
, every house will be burned to the ground, every
tree cut down, and every field laid waste. We have
three years' provision on hand which we will
' cache and then take to the mountains, and bid
defiance to all the powers of the Government.
" That Brigham will carry out his threat of
making a Moscow of Utah is quite possible, but
that he will shut himself up in the mountain canons
with even three years' supply of provisions, and
our troops occupying all the arable land, so that he
must starve when his provisions are consumed, we
do not believe. A. man might very well take care
of himself in the mountains ; but if he had thirty
wives and thirty or forty small children to look
after and provide for, as has the virtuous Heher C.
Kimball, the undertaking would be much mote
difficult. We are, therefore, of the opinion that
the Mormons intend to favour some other country
with their presence, where they will not be annoyed
by the stars and stripes—and there is no country
more inviting or more convenient than Sonora.
The Mormons have been quieitly, but steadily
pushing their settlements towards Mexico, and they
already extend 400 miles to the south of Salt Lake
City—more than half-way to the Mexican frontier
—and should they decide upon moving iu that di-
rection they can be beyond our boundary before
we can reach them, as the country to the south of
Salt Lake City can be traversed at all seasons of the
year. We trust the saints will decide upon such a
move, and thereby relieve us of the disagreeable
duty of exterminating them. In Sonora they would
have the opportunity to develop the beauties of
their religion, and if it contains within itself the
seeds of its ()endestruction—as we believe itidoes—
it will crumble to pieces and disappear, and will be
numbered with the numerous false religions that
have sprung up and had their day, and are now
only known in history."

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—NEWCASTLE, DEC. 26.
(Before Mr. Justice Crompton.)
Lavine Leipchitz was indicted for maliciously
setting fire to his dwelling-house with intent to de-
fraud the Phoenix Insurance Company. There were
other counts in the indictment, including one for
the capital offence of firing a dwelling-house, some
persons being therein.
The Hon. A. Liddell, Mr. Davidson, and Mr.
Blackwell prosecuted ; Mr. Dighy Seymour defen-
ded the prisoner.
Mr. Liddell stated the case at some length. The
prisoner came to reside in Newcastle in Feb. last,
and took a small house and shop in Buckiegham-
stre t, where he and his son carried on the business
of a pawnbroker. Shortly after entering into pos-
ses.ion the prisoner effected au insurance with the
Phoenix Insurance for 8001. On July 5 the prisoner
was seen in Houndsditch, London, where he called
Upon a waterproof manufacturer named Kauffman.
After obsr,rving that the brado of o. pawnbroker was
very bad, and he wished to start as a waterproof
' manufacturer, Mr. Kauffman informed him that he
must provide himself with a stock of naph ha for the
purpose of dissolving the indiarubber. The prisoner
bought 4,i gallons of naphtha, which was put in a
large battle and packed in a box, and sent by sea
to.. the prisoner's address at Newcastle. This box
was subsequently found in the prisoner's house.
The prisoner's business would be shown to have
been
,of the very poorest description, the goods being
of the commonest character; and on the part of the
prosecution it was suggested that the whole stock
was comparatively valueless, and the insurance for
8001. was effected for the sole purpose of defraud-
ing the company. An old feather-bed smelling
strongly of naphtha was on the floor of the shop a
few days before the fire. When the fire broke out
it was shown to have burst out in different places,
and the moment an alarm was given the prisoner
would be shown to have been at the place, partly
dressed, and two women who lived in the house
came out with their dresses off, but were observed
to have their stays on, laced. The prisoner would
be shown to have taken no part whatever in endea-
vouring to put the fire out. After the fire the pre-
mises were shut up and placed in the charge of a
police-officer. The next day a small vessel was
found smelling strongly of naphtha, and on examin.
ing the shop the wooden shelves were found partly
burnt, the goods also, and on the floor, partly
burnt, a feather bed, from which on analysis 2oz.
of naphtha were extracted. No other tools or ma-
terials necessaty to carry on the manufacture of
waterproof were found, and on the part of the pro-
secution it was suggested that the conversation in
London was only a ruse, and the naphtha procured
fur the express purpose of firing the shop. The
prisoner made a claim against the company for
7801., which was refused, and on inquiries being
made the prisoner was taken into custody. To prove
this case the following evidence was called :
Dinah Huudspeth, the owner of the house in
Buckingham-street, proved letting the house to the
prisoner. His son was with him on each occasion
when be came, and the agreement was signed by
the son. The policy was shown to have been
effected by the prisoner for the sum of 8001.-6501.
on the stock, and the remainder on the fixtures and
fly nituro.
. Mr. Kauffman proved that the prisoner called on
Lim in Houndsditch early in July, and had a con-
versation respecting the waterproof trade; he told
the prisoner he nutp,t provide a s:ock of indiarubber,
naphtha, and nece4s iry to ds. The prisoner stated
that he wasi short of money, and ho lent him 2/.
The prisoner gave him a note of hand for 101. for
the 21. lent, and the instructions he gave him as to
the mode of managing the waterproof business. He
went with him and purchased four gallons of naph-
tha. It was put iu a tin and carefully packed iu a
wooden box. The box produced is the same.
Joseph Sampson proved that the box was shipped
from Hay's-wharf for Newcastle. The person at
whose shop the naphtha was bought proved that
-when she filled the bottle,. Kauffman, who acted as
interpreter for the prisoner, ordered the bottle to
be filled quite full, so that it might not make a
noise, and the box to be tightly fastenel down, so
that there might ba no smell
Witnesses were called to show that the shop was
one of the poorest description, and the general cha-
racter of the goods of very small value.
Joseph Craigie was ou duty the night of the fire.
He ha' been in the shop ou different occasions,
and observed the stock was very small. On the
19th of July he was passing the shop about half-
past 12 o'clock, and saw a light which appeared to
se gas inside ;he pass--d the place again about 1
o'clock. Thsre was no light then. He got 300 or
400 yards past when he beard cries of " Fire 1"
from the direction of the shop. tie ran back and
found ,he shop in a blaze of fire. The windows
and k-hutteis were blown out. He produced a
woolen vessel called a kit which was found in the
house ; it smelt strongly of naptha, and it smalls
still.

Another police-officer saw the shop on the night
of the fire. He looked through a crevice in the
door, and the whole place seemed in a blaze'. He
gtvo an alarm and ran for the engines. Tho pri-
soner gave no a.isistance in tryin to get the fire
extinguished. Examined the house alter the £.•e.
Everything was burnt. The ntxt day he found
the remains of a bed on the floor, and everything
mixed up.
William Fleming lived near the prisoner, and
was out the night of the fire ; he heard the alarm,
and ran to the prisoner's shop. He broke in the
doer, but could not get in for the flames. Ho
went round to call the prisoner up. The top part
of the house was entered by stairs outside. He met
the prisoner and a woman coming out of the door.

They were partly dressed. The prisoner had no
trousers on, nor shoes, nor coat, nor hat. He had
ion a shirt and drawers.
Charlotte Brabant lived opposite, and saw the
fire break out. She ran to the prisoner's door, and
knocked, calling out " Fire !" In a few minutes
the prisoner and his son and two women came out.
The prisoner had on a shirt and drawers. The
witness went away and dressed herself, and came
back in five or ten minutes. When she got back she
saw the prisoner and his family at the I,ot of the
stairs. Could not say whether or no the worn* n
had stays on. The prisoner was lamenting about
his boy. She saw smoke before flames.
Robert Brabant—Heard cries of "Fire" on Sun-
day morning, the 19th July, and went over to pri-
soner's shop. Did not see the prisoner. First saw
him standing on the steps of the house door.. After-
wards went upstairs to seek him. No fire on stair-
case. Prisoner was looking in the bed for a child.
I told him the child was in my ho roe. I assisted
in putting out the fire. Did not see prisoner
assist in doing so. Short, police constable, was pre-
sent when I took the kit away.
Cross-examined—Prisoner appeared to be in
great distress for the child when I saw him. There
was a little smoke on the stairs. I could see the
prisoner. He was searching the beds for the child.
He was shouting, " Sheptie," my child." There
were plenty of people assisting in putting out the
fire.

Re-examined—Did not see prisoner attempt to
rescue any goods. Sheptie, the child, was in his
shirt.
Thomas Story, police-constable—Got to the fire
ten minutes before two. Saw the flames arise from
the centre of the floor from something bulky lying
on the floor of the shop. The shelves were on fire.
A great deal of flame, red flame. Have been to a
great many fires. This one was " more redder."
John Jackson was present at the fire. Saw some-
thing like a bed in the middle of the shop.
By the Judge—Nobody had been in the shop
then. When he next saw it the shop was in a
blaze. Never saw the prisoner assist in putting
the fire out. First observed smoke, and then some
flame : a few minutes afterwards a burst of flame.
Prisoner cried out, " rm ruined."
George Allison, police-constable--I was present
at the the. Saw flames arising from " all over"
the floor—flames dark red, mixed with smoke.
Prisoner was standing in front of thq people doing
nothing. I examined the place on the 31st July
with Inspector Potts. Prisoner and his son turned
over remains of the fire with shovels. Found re
mains of bed-tick, pillows, &c. Did not find any
tin can, or remains of one. Found an empty box
in the cellar-kitchen on the morning of the fire, but
no tin can anywhere. Did not look for the can
particularly. As we turned up the tick and feathers
there was a considerable smell. Returned to the
shop on the Ist of August. Potts and witness put
portions of feathers, &c., into a box and took them
to Mr. Richardson's surgery, and gave them to Dr.
Adriani. Afterwards received them from him.
Inspector Potts—Went with the hat witness to
the prisoner's shop on August 1. Was there on the
night of the fire. The fire had not extended to the
cellar. In the office found some sticks (produced).
The table in the office was charred—shelves in the
shop were burnt down—furniture upstairs was not
damaged. When we turned over the things foui.d
a strong smell of naphtha in two places ; from the
bed in the middle of the shop, and ft om a child's
frock. If there had been a tin case of the size de-
scribed I must have seen it. Found nu traces of
indiarubber or gutta-percha.
Adrian Adriani, an assistant to Dr. Richardson,
analytical chemist, received some feathers from
Potts, from which he extracted a liquid which
smells strongly of naphtha. The feathers when re-
ceived smelt strongly of naphtha.
Cross-examined—Never heard of naphtha used
for bed-ticks. Have heard of bees'-wax and soap
being used to prevent feathers coming through.
Can't say but naphtha and indiarubber might be
used for the same purpose. Naphtha is highly in-
flammable.
Re-examined—Have no doubt-that the feathers
were strongly impregnated with naphtha. Naphtha
burns with a smok§ red flame.
Thomas Richardson, analytical chemist—Cm
smell a faint trace of coal naphtha in the kit now.
It smelt more strongly when before the magistrate,
the feathers and child's frock smell strongly of coal
naptha. Naptha produces a sooty and reddish
coloured flame. The smoke is very dense and black.
When the air is admitted there is less smoke, and
the flame is brighter. With an ample supply of
air there would be no smoke.
Elizabeth Daglish was called to identify the tick
of the bed, as one she had pawned with the prisoner.
Had never put any naptha on the tick.
Robert Davison noticed a smell of naptha while
he assisted in putting the fire out, but did not call
attention to the fact then. Witness was assistant
in a chemist's shop.
Isaac Pattinson, an appraiser, said—On Aug. 13
I went to prisoner's house and -valued furniture. Its
value was 311. 4s. The gas fittings and bench and
small table in the value were worth about V.
These articles were valued at the price they could
be replaced at.

Mr. Seymour addressed the jury for the prisoner
and commented forcibly ou the improbability of the
prisoner's purchasing naptha for the purpose of set-
ting fire to his houseat a shop where be was known.
Why should the prisoner use naptha for such a
purpose when a lucifer match would have pro-
duced the same effect, and not been so liable to de-
tection The policy of insurance became void by the
introduction of so inflammable a spirit, yet the pro-
secution would wish the juryto believe that prig, nor
set fire to his house by means of naphtha, with a
view to obtaining the insurance money. The
learned counsel remarked on the absence of all evi-
dence of the amount of business the prisoner was
doing, the only evidence on - the point being
that of the observations of policemen on the night
of the fire. As to the origin of the fire he would attri-
bute it to accident, the subsequent heat igniting
the naphtha. The prisoner's conduct on the night
was exactly what you would expect from an inno-
cent man surprised in the middle of the night by a
fire in his house. Had be been guilty, would he
not have affected anxiety to quench the fire, and
been foremost among those working to subdue the
flames ? After sifting the evidence for the prosecu-
tion in a most searching manner, the learned coun-
sel concluded his addres to the jury by cal ing
upon them to say that the case on the part of the
prosecution bad not been proved, and return their
verdict of not guilty.
His Lordship summed up the case with great
care, and at considerable length.
The jury retired for a few minutes, and then
brought in a verdict of not guilty.
This case brought the business of these unusually
protracted assizes to a close ; judge, bar, witnesses,
and public officers having been kept away fi °in their
Christmas cheer—a fact that, from some of the ob-
servations which reached our ears at the rising of
the court on Christmas Eve, seemed to have any-
thing but a beneficial effect on the tempers of some
of the persons already named. The jury were more
fortunate, being all inhabitants of Newcastle, and
consequently at home.

GLASGOW CIRCUIT COURT.
(Before the Lord Justice Clerk.)
THE EAGLESUA3/ POISONING CASE.
THIRD DAY—THURSDAY.

The court met this morninc, at nine o'clock.

Frederick Penney, Professor of Chemistry in the
Andersonian University was examined . by Mr.
Clark. The reports of the analysis had satisfied
him of the presence of prussic acid. "I am aware,"
he added, "it has been said by Orfila that prussic
acid may be produced by decomposition alone, but
I don't concur in that view. Special investigations
have been made to decide the point, but the re'ults,
without exception, have been aegatived. More-
over, we would be frequently meeting with prussic
cid in our analysis of substances after death, if
this specula ion had any foundation."
This closed the case for the Crown. There was
no evidence for the defence.
Mr. Herriot then addressed the jury for the
Crown, and Mr. Moncrieff for the defence.
The Lord Justice-Clerk having summed up the
evidence,
The jury retired, and, after an absence of ten
minutes, returned with a verdict unanimously
finding the prisoner guilty of murder as charged in
the first count of the indictment.

Tire Lord Jusice-Clerk then addressed the pri-
soner, imploring him to spend the remainder of
his time in exercises suited to his position at tLe
foot of the scaffold. He then assumed the black
cap, and sentenced the prisoner to be hanged, at the
public place of execution in Paisley, on Thursday,
the 14th January. His lordship, in passing toll-
thrice, appeared much affected.

We understand that the prisoner, while Leing
conveyed to Paisley, in aceordalice with the sen-
tence, confessed to the officers that were with him
that he was guilty of the crimes which were laid to
his charge, and of the murder for which he was
condemned, but he seemed to be at a loss to explain
what motive c mld have prompt©d him to perpe-
trate such an at, ocious

GREAT WESTERN AND SOUTH WESTERN RAILWAYS
COMPETITION.—We have been given to understand that
the competition between these companies for the Wer
mouth traffic, 4:ending, of course, that of the Channel
Islands, revolts in a loss to the latter company
of some-
thing like 2001. a week, or at the rate of 10,000/. a year,
and to the former company of 400/. a week, or at the
rate of 20,000/. a year. Have the companies no mutual
friends who can step in between them, aP lkiut an end to
so costly a game 7—Scraped..