The Sun.
London, England, 1850-05-20 00:00:00

YORK, MAT 17.!

STOCK EXCHANGE. —The transactions to-day were 'as fol-
low :—Great Northern, 6/. Bs. 9d.—Midland, 32% —North
British, 7%—York, Newcastle, and Berwick, 13—York and
North Midland, 16.
GLASGOW, MAY 16.

STOCK EXCHANGI.—The transactions to-clay were as fol-
low :—Glasgow and Greenock, Preference, GNl—Scottish
Central, 12%.

THE LATE SIR JOHN BARROW, BART.—The cere-
mony of laying the foundation stone of the monument to the
memory of this esteemed gentleman took place on the Hill
of Road, near ITlverston, on Wednesday last. The ceremony
was numerously attended, the trowel for the purpose being in
thee hands of the eldest son of the deceased, Sir George Burrow.
The humble thatched cottage at Dragley, the birthplace of
the deceased, was tastefully decorated, and his alma muter,
Town Bank School, was festooned with flowers, and flags
were flying from the belfry.

Peter Pearson, lately residing at Juniper-green,
in the county of Edinburgh, was placed at the bar,
chatged with murdering George Wilson, surgeon, and
Jean Ritchie or Wilson, at Juniper-green, on the
• night of the 17th or morning of the 18th March last.
. The prisoner, who is a stout-built robust man, ap-
parently between forty and fifty years of age, was
placed manacled at the bar, and was carefully guarded
by three police-officers. lie wore a morose and sullen
aspect, and, with his head sunk forward on his breast,
he manifested not the slightest interest in the pro-
ceedings, and appeared utterly unconscious of what
was going on.
Mr. Dees, Mr. Montgomery Bell, and Mr. Mait-
land appeared for the Crown ; and Mr. Robert
Robertson and Mr. G. R. Ogilvie for Pearson.
On the prisoner being placed at the bar,
Mr. Robertson, on his behalf, pleaded insanity in
bar of trial. He stated that he had known the pri-
soner—who had been a tenant of his—for upwards of
ten years, and so far as his judgment entitled him to
form an opinion, the prisoner had been an insane
person, ever since he knew him. In the year 1838
he took up the religious notion, founded upon an
us passage of Scripture,
ethrraotnehoe omutgehrptrettaotioanbaonfdoan
his father's house
He accordingly. left his father end his family,
and never agtp returned to the house. After
-leaving his honM4 . 1838, he all,Piloted himself till
1843, when he came to him (Mr. Robert,son), as his
in ary of 'calling upoa
himimmetodiparteotleacil
tdhloimrd,agaforietahtesepmu repioms ea g
encroach-
ments upon his property, but finding them untenable,
he (Mr. Robertson) bad declined to do anything in
the matter. On that occasion he became perfectly
furious, and he was in consequence sent to the
Asylum at Morningside. He remained in
that institution for two years and
eight months,
and was liberated on a medical certificate, in the
autumn of 1846. Since that period Pearson had
never supported himself, and had never been able to
settle at any business or trade. He was originally a
mason, but he had been entirely supported by his fa-
mily. In March last the events recorded in the in-
dictment took place; and he trusted to be able to
prove that on the 18th of March he was perfectly
insane, and that he was still in that condition.
Professor Miller was then called in, and stated that
he (Professor Miller) had no doubt that he was at that
moment a dangerous madman.
Dr. Spittal thought him a dangerous madman.
Lord Moncrieff said he supposed that the Court
could come to no other conclusion than that the pri-
soner at the bar was not a fit person to go to trial on
the charge against him.
Lords Cockburn and Ivory concurred.
The deliverance of the Court was then read, to the
effect that as the prisoner at the bar was not a proper
object for trial, the diet be deserted pro loco et ten:-
pore ; and that he be conveyed to the prison of Edin-
burgh, and taken thence to the general prison at
Perth, to be there detained subject to the future orders
of the Court.
The prisoner was then removed from the bar.—
Edinburgh Advertiser.

A very alarming and destructive fire broke out
shortly before daybreak on Saturday morning in the
FIRES AND LOSS OF LIFE.
premises belonging to Mr. J. R. Spencer, a carpenter
and builder, carrying on business at No. 50, Jamaica-
street, Commercial-road-East. Mr. Spencer, his
wife, and family, made an attempt to escape by the
front-door. While in the act of opening the door the
flames completely prostrated the proprietor and one
of his sons. Their cries for assistance having reached
the constable, he forthwith broke open the doer, and
succeeded in saving the lives of the whole of the resi-
dents. Mr. Spencer, however, and a boy, were se-
verely burnt. Owing to the inflammable nature of
the stock within the building, the house was, in less
than a quarter of an hour in flames from' bottom to
top, and before an engine had time to get to the
scene the two-houses on either side, occupied res-
pectively by Mr. S. D. Jones, a butcher (No. 49),
and Mr. W. H. Halsey, a painter and Glazier (No.
51), had taken fire. For some time the destruction
of the greater part of the street appeared certain, and
the residents commenced removing their furniture to
a more distant place for protection . Fortunately an
abundant supply of water was obtained from the
East London Company's mains, from which the
firemen, under the direction of Mr. Fogo, the dis •
trict foreman, set their engines to play, and they
eventually, succeeded in extinguishing the flames, but
not until Mr. Spencer's property, including the work-
shops behind his dwelling, were all but destroyed, and
the premises of Mr. Jones, the butcher, and Mr.
Halsey, the painter, &c., much burnt, and the furni-
ture belonging to both parties severely damaged by
hasty removal. Mr. Spencer was insured in the
Union Pire-office, Mr. Jones was insured in the same,
and Mr. Halsey was similarly protected by an
assurance in the Phenix Fire-office. On Saturday
afternoon the neighbourhood of Tooley-street, South-
wark, was painfully excited owing
to a fire, which
unfortunately was attended with a loss of life, break-
ing out in the private residence of Mr. 11. Bunn, No.
11, Brook-square, in the before-mentioned street.
The cause of this fire has been traced to a spark
flying from the grate in the first-floor front, and set-
tingofwearfionugr
years of age apparel in flames. At
tibtyoy
unfortu-
natelyabout happened to be in the room, and before be
could run away the flames encircled his body, and he
t at period a na
n a
fell in the midst of them. Several persons on seeing
the smoke issuing from the window and hearing the
screams of the poor child rushed up to render assist-
ance ; they succeeded in confining the fire to that part
of the house in which it commenced, but the child
was burnt almost to a cinder. A medical gentleman
was soon in attendance, but not in time to be of any
assistance, life being quite extinct.