The Sun.
London, England, 1845-11-07 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY EVENYNQ_NOVEMBER 7, 1845.

IRELAND.
THE POTATO DISTEMPER.

LONDON AND SOUTH-WESTERN

RAILWAY COMPANY.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
ROLL'S COURT, Nov. 6.
LONG v. BUNNEY.
This was a petition in which the plaintiff, Ann Elizabeth
Long, a minor, by means of her friends, sought to impugn
a decision found before the Master. From the facts of the
case it appeared that the plaintiff was the illegitimate child
of a gentleman named Gilmore, who died in 1842, bequeath-
ing her a sum of money equivalent to 1001. per annum, as
well as other property. The widow of the testator having
contessed the validity of the will, one of the trustees of the
petitioner filed a bill in the Vice-Chancellor's Court, and
the defendant was appointed her guardian, thus setting
aside, to a certain extent, the will of the plaintiff's
father, which nominated a female, Mary Pointer, to the
guardianship of the petitioner during her minority.
The grounds on which the Vice-Chancellor had made
this order were, that the mother of the petitioner was
an illiterate person, and that Mary Pointer was not qualified
to supply her place, or superintend the education of plaintiff.
The petition contended that Bunney had an interest adverse
to that of the petitioner, being one of the executors of the
will ; and having sold some of the timber on the property,
which belonged to the plaintiff, and granted leases injurious
to her interests, consequently was entitled to be the party at
whose suit proceedings should be instituted.
The arguments in this case occupied the whole day, and
his Lordship expressed his determination to delay giving his
judgment, in crder to give the case full deliberation.

DUBLIN, Nov. s.—The indefatigable trio of Potato Com-
missioners have presented a third report to the Lord Lieu-
tenant upon the subject cf their inquiries into the state of
the crop. This document, as well as its predecessor, is some-
what prolix and not remarkable for the novelty of its sug-
gestions, many of which have been already laid before the
public, unencumbered with the multiplicity of directions
which overload the present report, and, therefore, being less
complex, better adapted to the tastes of a people who are
now by an unexpected calamity called upon for the first time
to follow a course of treatment foreign to their old and che-
rished customs. Indeed, so sensible are the learned pro-
fessors of this difficulty, that they wind up with the follow-
ing misgiving :
" There will be (they say), of course, a good deal of trouble in
doing all that we have recommended, and, perhaps, you will not
succeed Very well at first ; but we are confident that all true Irish-
men will exert themselves, and never let it be said that in Ireland
the inhabitants wanted courage to meet difficulties against which
other nations are successfully struggling."
Subjoined is the report :
" TO HIS EXCELLENCY BARON lIEYTESBURY, LORD
LIEUTENANT OF IRELAND, ecc.
" Board-room, Royal Dublin Society, Nov. 3.
" My Lord,—We have had the honour to lay before your Ex-
cellency reports on the disease in the potato crop, which have been
distributed extensively throughout the country. Representations,
however, have been made to us, that the recommendations being in
the form of reports, are not likely to be of that use which the more
simple form of instructions might enable them to be. We have,
therefore, thought It advisable to prepare the accompanying direc-
tions, in the hope that the methods recommended may be easily
understood and promptly carried into execution.
" We shall immediately lay before your Excellency our views
upon the course which should have been pursued with regard to
seed for a future year.
" We have the honour to be, your faithful and obedient servants,
"ROBERT KANE.
"JOHN LINDLEY.
" LYON PLAYFAIR.
" ADVICE CONCERNING THE POTATO CROP TO TIEFARMERS AND TO THE PEASANTRY OF IRELAND.
"The dreadful disease that has attacked your potatoes is one,
the effects of which you can only stop by strict attention to the ad.
vice of those interested in your welfare. Many plans have been
proposed, and after examining them all, we recommend the follow-
ing as the best.
" All competent persons are of opinion that the first things to
bear in mind are the following directions :
"1. Dig your potatoes in dry weather, if you can, and if you
cannot, get them dry somehow as fast as you can.
"2. Keep them dry and cool.
" 3. Keep the bad potatoes separate from the good.
"4. Do not pit your potatoes, as you have been accustomed to
de in former years.
"5. Recollect that if they got damp nothing can make them
keep ; and do not consider theta dry unless the mould which
sticks to them is like dust.
" Do not take them into your houses, unless you want them for
immediate use.
"Digging and Drying.—As you dig the potatoes, leave them in
the sun all day; and if you can, throw them upon straw, turning
them over two or three times. At night you may (gather them
together and cover them with straw, so as to keep off frost.
Next day take off the straw, spread them out, and give them the
sun again. Do this for three days running, if the weather
permit. If you put straw enough upon them at night, they will
not surlier.
" If the weather be unfavourable, and you have a dry loft or
outhouse large enough to hold them, you may spread them thinly
on the floor, allowing a free circulation of air, so as to dry them
there.
" They must be got dry.
" Sorting the Potatoes—As soon as they are dry you must sort
them. Pick them one by one, and put in one heap the very bad
ones, in another those which are not so bad, and in a third those
that are sontsd. Treat the bad potatoes as shall afterwards be di-
rected, and store the sound ones according to the dirctious given in
the next paragraph. You will know the very bad potatoes by
their unpleasant smell, and the second set by their skin look-
ing brown or dull, and not bright, as it generally does ; a very
little practice will teach you how to distinguish them easily from
each other.
" Storing.—When the potatoes are quite dry and well sorted,
proceed to store them thus :—Mark out on the ground a space
six feet wide, and as long as you please. Dig a shallow trench two
feet wide all round, and throw the mould upon the space, then
level it and cover it over with a door of turf-sod, set on their edges.
On this sift or spread, very thinly, the dry mixtures, or any of the
dry materials described below, and which you may call packing
stuff. Also, get some dry slacked lime, and dust all the potatoes
with it as well as you can. Then put one row of turf-sods, laid
fiat, on the top of the floor, all round the sides, so as to form a
broad edge, and within this spread the dry potatoes, mixed well
with packing stuff, so as not to touch one another. When you
have covered the floor in this manner up to the top of the sods, lay
another row of sods all round the first, so that the half of each
sod may rest on the bed of potatoes, and the other half on the first
layer of sods ; this will make another edge one sod deep, which
must be filled up with dry potatoes, and dry packing stuff, as before.
Then lay another edge of sods in the same way, fill it again, and
go on till the heap is made. When the building of this pit is
finished, it may be covered with sods at the top, and will be ready
for thatching. If rightly made, it will look like the roof of a cot.
Cage cut into steps.
" If you do net understand this, ask your landlord or your cler- ,
gyman to explain its meaning, and we are sure that they will give
you every assistance ; also recol!ect that the recommendation ap-
plies only to sound potatoes, after being well dried.
"You will lose nothing by applying these materials in storing,
for the turf can be burnt as you use up the potatoes, and the mix.
tune of lime with dry clay or ashes, which you are afterwards
directed to employ, will form a good manure, after having saved
the potatoes. The only difference is, that you must get what you
want now, ins'ead of waiting till Xnother time.
" After you have completed the heap, thatch it so as to throw off
the waters into the ditch and keep out the frost.
" In districts where there may not be spare turf sufficient to
form the pits in the above way, make them as follows :—Mark
out the spot, and make the trench as before. Lay on the ground
a floor of stones, about as large as apples, and over them as much
heath, brushwood, or twigs as will just cover the stones. On this
door form the heaps of potatoes, and packing stuff, just as de-
scribed, for the turfpit. Cover the sides of the potatoes with more
of the packing stuff, and thatch in the usual way.
" We must again impress upon you that to pit potatoes in your I
usual way is certain destruction to them.

A meeting of Proprietors of this Company, called by a
party who objected to the agreement entered into by the
South-Western and Great Western Companies, with regard
to certain projected schemes and extension lines, was an-
nounced to take place yesterday, at one o'clock, at the London
Tavern. At the hour named, in addition to the reporters,
there were about half a dozen persons present. The number
gradually increased up to two o'clock, when the chair was
taken by Mr. Gilbert, there being then about a dozen present.
The CHAIRMAN opened the business by stating that he had
taken the liberty of calling the present meeting together on
account of the Great Western Company having, by their re-
cent determination, agreed to support lines of railway, in
violation of the agreement formerly entered into between
them and the South-Western Company. The recent notices
given by the former Company to support new schemes, in op-
position to previous pledges, rendered some step necessary to
be taken by the Proprietors ; hence he had called the pre-
sent meeting. The Hon. Gentleman then moved the adop-
tion of a memorial to the Directors of the South-Western
Company, calling on them to annul the agreement entered
into between the two Companies in January last.
After some discussion the memorial was moved, but, after
waiting half an hour without a seconder being found, the
meeting broke up.

LONDOA' AND CROYDON RAIL

WAY COMPANY.

PROPOSED AMALGAMATION WITH THE LONDON
AND BRIGHTON.
_

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Non. 6.
(Sittings in Banco.)
COOK V. WETHERELL.

A meeting of the Directors and Shareholders of this Com-
pany was held yesterday, at the London-bridge station, for the
purpose of the Directors submitting, in the form of a resolu-
tion, the terms on which they proposed to amalgamate with
the London and Brighton Company.
Iv/LK/I/so/4, Esq., having taken the chair, proceeded to
state briefly the substance of the resolution, which he then
read, and which will be found in our advertising columns.
When he had concluded his address to the meeting, several
questions were put to him relative to the details of the
plan, all of which he said he thought it would be more pru-
dent to leave for the present in the hands of the Direc-
tors. In answer to another series of questions which
were put in reference to the constituion of the future
Board of Directors of the united companies, and
the mode of disposing of the existing staff of
officers, he said, in answer to the first of these questions,
that he concaived that the present mode of management in
all railway companies was a mere fiction. He called
attention to the manner in which all the breweries, banks,
and other great commercial establishments were conducted :
that was, by a regular number of partners, who made it their
business to apply themselves daily and unceasingly to the
affairs of their concerns, without which it would be impos-
sible for them to go on; and he contended that until railway,
companies were placed under the direcction and manage-
ment of a number of persons who would be equally re-
sponsible and interested, they could not go on satisfactorily,
either to themselves, the preprieters, or the public. He had
deemed it necessary to make these few observations on this
point as it was probable that this would be the last
meeting of this Company over which he should preside.
In respect to the officers, he had not the least
doubt but that they would be provided for, for it was not to
be supposed that faithful servants would be summarily dis-
missed. In answer to another question, he said the time for
amalgamation had not yet been definitively fixed, but he
supposed it would take place either in January or July next.
The question was then put, and the meeting expressed
their unanimous approbation of the terms of the amal-
gamation.

Mr. Sergeant CHANNELL, on the part of the defendant in
this case, moved for a new trial, and produced and read
several affidavits in contradiction of the evidence given on the
trial. The facts of the case have been before the public for
some time, so that it is not necessary to repeat them here.
The Learned Sergeant pointed out several inconsistencies
in the evidence given on the trial, and read to the court the
affidavits of several persons who, though not examined at the
trial, were alluded to by the witnesses, and who now denied
any knowledge of transactions in which they had been said to
have taken a part.
The rule to show cause why there should not be a new trial
was granted.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
(YESTERDAY.)
MANSION-ROUSE.

A young man, named David Thomas Darrell, was brought
before the Lord Mayor, for final examination, charged with
having plundered his employers, Messrs. Posey and Pellatt,
of No. 58, Bread-street, warehousemen, in whose employment
he had been for some time.
Mr. Wolfe, from Mr. Flower's office, who attended for the
prosecution, stated that he considered it necessary to make a
representation of the conduct of the partner of a highly
respectable concern with which tha prosecutors transacted
business, exceedingly prejudicial to the moral character of
that partner. It had been ascertained that the prisoner had
been robbing his employers, and the officer engaged in the in-
vestigation found in his pocket a small book, in which entries
were made in the prisoner's handwriting of certain turf and
other wagers with parties whose names were specified.
Amongst these names was that of the partner in the house to
which he had alluded, to whom the prisoner proved to be a
loser. It was quite impossible that the person who, by
such conduct, encouraged the destructive vice of gambling,
could have been ignorant that the salary of the unfortunate
prisoner was no more than 50/. a year, and yet the former
was known to have gone to the very warehouse in which
the latter was employed to bet upon the Derby with him,
and subsequently to call there for the amount of his win-
nings. He (Mr. Wolfe) was authorised to make this state-
ment by the prosecutors, who trusted that the public an-
nouncement of such a fact would, although it could render
no service to the prisoner, operate as a warning and a pu-
nishment to the gentleman whose betting-book presented a
more favourable appearance than that upon which the police
man had laid his hands.
Mr. Pusey said the prisoner was in the employment of the
house on the 18th of October last, and in consequence of in-
formation which he had received, he gave the prisoner into
'ustody. In his pocket was found a letter from a Mr. Peckiss.
The prisoner had previously mentioned that he had sent a
piece of Irish-wove fine linen for fronts, and apiece of long
cloth to Mr. Peckiss, and bad not entered them in the books,
although he had received the money for them. It was ascer-
tained that there was no entry of the kind in the books.
• Richard Pordage, a warehouseman at Messrs. Pusey and
Co.'s, stated that he supplied the prisoner with the articles
specified above out of his department of the business, and he
saw the prisonergo up to the entering-book, apparently for the
purpose of entering them, and heard him say that he had
made the entry.
The porter who took the articles to the Parcels' Delivery
Company said he saw the prisoner direct them to Peckiss,
Esq., of Aylesbury. He thought they were the prisoner's
private property, and he was told by the prisoner not to let
Mr. Pellatt see the parcel.
Mr. H. B. Peckiss, surgeon, at Aylesbury, stated that he
wrote the letter which had been found upon the prisoner, re-
questing that he would send to him the goods specified, and
he remitted to the prisoner, by a post-office order, the sum of
41. 15s. 6d. for the goods. Witness believed at the time he
was dealing with the prosecutors.
The policeman stated that he found in the possession of
the prisoner a pocket-book containing Mr. Peckiss's letter,
and the prisoner said, in answer to a question, that he had
sent the goods.
A similar charge, in which the prisoner is stated to have
sent goods belonging to his employer to a Mr. Sparling, and
received the value without making any entry, wa3 preferred,
and he was committed for trial upon both accusations.
An,elderly man, named William ,White, was brought up
on the charge of having attempted to pick' the pockets of
several gentlemen at the Post-office.
The prisoner was observed with a letter in his hand wait
iug about the Post-office, and as he did not attempt to post
the letter, it was suspected that he was in the neighbourhood
for another purpose. He was watched, and seen to dip his
hand into the pockets of several persons.
A policeman said he knew White to be in the habit of
trying to pick pockets.
The prisoner—Never in my life did such a thing—never
was in a prison before in my life.
Goocs (the turnkey) said the old gentleman was certainly
a pickpocket, although he might not have been in the Comp-
ter before. There was no doubt at all that the prisoner was
in the habit of attending the Post-office when the crowds
assembled to get in their letters, and that under the shelter
of a letter he was constantly picking pockets. He at first
said, upon being asked to whom the letterwas addressed, that
it was directed to his uncle; and upon being told that the
superscription was a female's name, "Oh then," said he,
'• it was to my aunt."
The prisoner was committed to Bridewell fos two months.
MAIILBOROUGH-STREE 7:
THE LATE EXTENSIVE WATCH AND JEWELLERY ROBBERY
IN THE CFTY.—PHOJECTEH RESCUE OF THE PRISONEOS--
George Gamble and Adolphus Win. Bodell were brought 1.2
for final examination, charged with stealing and obtaining
by false pretences gold and silver watches, guard-chains,
diamond rings, &c., to the amount of between 3,0001. and
4,0001. The Court was densely crowded the moment it was
opened, and a great number of persons had assembled in the
street to catch a sight of the prisoners as they alighted from
the prison van, on their being brought up from the New
Bridewell, Westminster. While in that gaol, it appears they
had concocted a plan of escape, by being rescued as they
were getting into the van to be brought up for final exami-
nation previous to their committal to Newgate for trial. On
Thursday fortnight they contrived to convey out of the
prison three letters, lay means of a fellow-prisoner named
Hall, who st3od remanded from Marylebone Police-court on
a charge of felony, and was that day brought up there for
further examination, the result of which was his committal
to Newgate for trial. Hall, it appears, had been paying
his addresses to a respectable female in the neighbour-
hood of the Regent's Park, and on her visiting him
in Newgate, the three letters were delivered to her,
concealed in some dirty linen. On discovering them, she
handed them to her father, who delivered two of them, but
mislaid the third ; and, on the following day, seeing in The
Sun newspaper an account of the prisoner's final examination,
he, after making inquiries, was induced to communicate these
facts to Mr. French. In consequence, two of the letters were
found to have been written by Gamble—one to a party in the
Haymarket, requesting him to have a carriage and post-
horses in waiting near the prison at the time the prisoners
were brought out this morning, and stating that it was the
determivation of the writer and his fellow-prisoner to attempt
their escape at all hazards, as it would most probably be the
only chance that would again occur in their lifetime. Effec-
tual precautions were, of course, taken by the police to frus-
trate their intention; and, this morning, before leaving the
prison, they were securely handcuffed. Several police con-
stables were also in attendance to see them placed in the van,
anel on their arriving at the Court similar precautions were
adopted. No attempt was, however, made, but additional
constables were in attendance during the day, and a con-
stable was expressly stationed in front of the cells they were
confined in, to prevent any communication whatever with
the prisoners.
Mr. Humphries, the solicitor, again appeared on the part of
the prosecution, and Mr. Wright, of Fenchurch- street, for the
defence.

The CIIAIRDIAN next laid before the meeting a proposi-
tion for forming a steam-packet company in connexion with
the Brighton Railway Company, in order to compete for the
traffic coming from the opposite coast. He also congratu-
lated the Company upon the fact, that the Croydon Company
were the first to establish the atmospheric principle ; and he
bad not the least doubt upon his mind but that in a few
years the atmospheric railway system would effect as great
a revolution in railways as steam had done in the former
modes of travelling, because the atmospheric plan would be
found to be safer, cheaper, and more rapid.
A vote of thanks was then passed to the Chairman, and the
meeting separated.

"Packing Stuff:—This, which is of the greatest consequence,
may be prepared in either of the following ways—some of you may
prefer the one, some the other:—

" First Way.—Mix a barrel of freshly burnt unslacked lime, with
wo barrels of sand or tarth, as dry as you possibly can get it. The
. _ _

. . -
lumps of lime should be broken into pieces as large as marbles, and
the, mixture should be left 24 hours ; at the end of that time turn
the heap well over, mixing the lime and sand (or other dry mate-
rials) till no lumps of lime can be found.

" Second Way.—Mix well equal quantities of earth and turf, or
dry sawdust ; put a few sods of lighted turf on the ground, place
the mixture on them by degrees till a large heap is made in a few
hours the tire will have spread through the heap, which is then to
be covered with earth so as to put out the tire. In fact, this is to
be managed just as if you were burning land. This burnt mixture
forms a very good kind of packing stuff, perhaps as good as the
mixture of lime with dry materials.

" What to do with bad potatoes.—When potatoes are only
slightly diseased, that is, when the disease shows itself only under
the skin in small dark spots, or, at most, spreading into the sub-
stance of the potato for about a quarter of an inch deep, with a yel-
low, or light brown, or blackish colour, and without any smell,
they may be eaten by the family without any danger. They should
be peeled and the diseased parts pared off before they are boiled ;
the parts cut off should be kept for making starch. Potatoes thus
treated are wholsome and palateable, but should be used for food
as quickly as possible, as it is not quite certain that they will
keep long with the greatest care.

" It is a pity to destroy potatoes for starch if they will other-
wise keep. Cut out the diseased parts, if it can easily be done,
and dust over the cut parts with lime and the potato also.
Get them dry as soon as you possibly can, and if you have
outhouses or sheds you should keep the potatoes in them, also
using the packing materials. In such cases you should allow
the air to circulate freely in the sheds, and frequently examine
your potatoes, which should not be laid in layers above two or
three feet in height. If you turn them frequently during the
first two or three weeks, and keep them very dry in this way,
they will probably keep. Although sheds or outhouses are to
be preferred, if you have them not and cannot construct them
out of cheap mrterials, you should store the diseased potatoes by
themselves, Just as we ha►e recommended you to store the sound
oues.

" If. with all your care, the diseased potatoes still get worse, dry
them thoroughly in kilns, or on hurdles placed over low turf fires,
after having cut the potatoes into two or three slices. It is only
very bad potatoes that you should break up into starch.
" How to save the value of very bad potatoes.—Although no.
body knows how to make bad potatoes into good ones, or to prevent
many of them from becoming worse, yet it is possible to extract
from bad potatoes, or from bad parts of them, a great deal which is
good. For this purpose proceed as follows :—Provide yourselves
with the following things,—a rasp or grater, which may be made
out of a sheet of tin, or even of sheet iron bent round, and punched
full of holes with a nail—a common coarse linen cloth, or hair
sieve, hand sieve, or common cloth strainer— and a pail, or tub or
two to hold water.

" To make the bad potatoes useful wash them clean, and then
rasp them into one of the tubs of water; the finer they are rasped
the more food you will produce from them. Having rasped a good
many, take the cloth and place it on another tub, then put the pulp
on the cloth and pour water on it, allowing the water to run
through. You have now two things to attend to, the pulp and the
starch.

To prevent hinderance to the other public business, the de-
positions were taken in the private room by Mr. Fitzpatrick,
the chief clerk. Between :30 and 40 witnesses have been
summoned to attend.

" First attend to the pulp ; squeeze out as much water as you
can from what remains in the cloth. You should wash it, how.
ever, till no smell remains. After you have squeezed it pretty dry,
complete the drying on a griddle, over a slack fire, and when it is
dry put it aside for use.
" Next look to the milky water ; it will then become clear, and
the milkiness, which is starch, will have settled to the bottom.
Pour oft the water gently till the starch is tolerably well drained,
then add more water, stir the whole well up, and let it settle again.
As soon as it is again clear pour off the water, and when you have
got rid of as much as you can, put the wet lumps of starch on a
shelf or other place to dry. In a few days: it will be fit to pack up.

In addition to the particulars which have appeared in The
Sun, Sergeants Wall and Gray, since the prisoners' last exa-
mination, have succeeded in tracing out, pledged at different
pawnbrokers shops, twenty-nine gold and silver watches be-
longing to Mr. French, on which upwards of 2401. had been
obtained, and ten other watches obtained by Gamble from
different watchmakers and jewellers under false pretences.
The circumstances of some of the latter cases are held to
constitute a larceny, and Gamble already stands committed
for trial for stealing goods similarly obtained. The amount
advanced in pledge on the watches, &c., belonging to Mr.
French is 600/. and upwards, and the actual value of the pro-
perty which will be restored to him is about 2,0001.
Some further evidence having been adduced, the prisoners,
who declined saying anything in defence, were fully com-
mitted on Mr. French's case, but ordered to be brought up
again in a week on other charges.
It appeared that Mr. French is likely to recover the
greater part of his property. In many instances where
there was a doubt, Mr. French refused to identify the pro-
perty, but gave it up to the pawnbrokers, a proceeding
that has given much satisfaction.

" Good wholesome bread may be made by mixing the starch with
the dried pulp, peasmeal, beanmeal, oatmeal, or flour. You must
bear in mind that starch is not food by itself.

" There will be, of course, a good deal of trouble in doing all
that we have recommended, and perhaps you will not succeed •ery
wall at first ; but we are confident that all hue Irishmen will exert
themselves, and never let it be said that in Ireland the inhabitants
wanted courage to meet difficulties against which other nations are
successfully struggling.

" ROBERT KANE.
" JOHN LINDLEY.
" LYON PLAYFAIR.

SOU'T'HWARK.
A policeman, named Corcoran, of the M division, was
charged before Mr. Cottingham with committing an assault
of an aggravated nature on Martha Wright.
The complainant stated that she is an unfortunate girl,
and that on Monday-morning, between four and five o'clock,
she was walking home to her lodgings in Kent-street, with
another girl, when the defendant came up and desired them
to go on quicker. They proceeded along, when the defendant,
without their giving any provocation, came up and struck
the complainant, and tore her bonnet off her head. She
turned round to remonstrate, when she was again assaulted
by the defendant, who struck her a blow on her nose, which
made it bleed, and he also kicked her. She then ran into
the house where she lodged, to escape from further violence,
and had not since seen her bonnet. She added that, as she
was outside the Court that morning, waiting to be called
in to give her evidence, a man came up to her, and, having
spoken to her about the transaction, gave her 10s. for the
loss of her bonnet, at the same time saying that there was
no occasion for her to remain there any longer, as the case
was disposed of. She further said that on previous occasions
she had been assaulted by the defendant, although she was
not aware of having given him any cause for it.
The complainant's evidence as to the assault on the morn-
ing in question, was corroborated by the young woman who
was in her company at the time, and the landlady of the
hmse in which she lodged proved that on her entrance her
nose was bleeding. The latter witness also mentioned the
uncalled-for abuse uttered by the defendant towards herself,
when she remonstrated on the violence exercised towards
the complainant.
The defendant denied having assaulted the complainant in
the manner described, and said that his attention was -called
to the spot where she and some other girls were quarrelling.
That on his arrival he tried to prevent any further disturb-
ance, and only received abuse for his pains. That finding the
complainant was obstinate, he merely took her by the arm to
compel her to go home, when she begat to abuse, him ; and

`Board Room, Royal Dublin Society."
THE MURDER OF MR. PATRICK CLARKE.

The Tipperary papers contain the proceedings had at the inquest
held on Saturday on the body of the last victim to the code of Tip-
perary. " The corpse," say the reports, " presented a frightful
appearance, the skull having been smashed in, and the face covered
with blood and brains."

After hearing evidence the jury returned the following ver-
dict That the said Patrick Clarke, Esq., came by his death in
consequence of a gunshot wound inflicted upon him in the after.
noon of Friday, the 31st day of October, by some person or persons
unknown, and of which wound he died."
" Throughout Saturday, Sunday, and Monday," says the Vindi-
cator, " the police continued to make the most energetic exertions
for the discovery of the perpetrators ; but, up to the present_time,
without any prospect whatever of success."
A reward of 3701., subscribed by the friends and relatives of the
deceased, has been offered for the discovery of the murderers, and
a meeting of the magistrates of the county is convened for Monday
next, at the Court-house of Nenagh.
ANOTHER MURDER IN MAYO.
A letter from Westport, published in the Mayo Constitution,

says :
" It is my painful duty to inform you that about eight o'clock
on last (Saturday) night, as a man named Peter Gibbons was
leaving this town (Westport) for his residence near Kilboyne, he
was waylaid opposite the Court-house here, and received a blow of
a loaded stick which broke his skull. He lived about two hours
after receiving the blow. An inquest was held this day by the
coroner, when a verdict of Wilful murder' was returned against
some person unknown. The authorities here are on the alert, and
it is to be hoped that the murderer ere long will be secured. There
was much rioting during the night, and never did I see more
drunken persons in this once peaceable town. I should have
stated that the unfortunate Gibbons had some dispute with some
persons at the last fair of Ballyhane, and that they got him set for
his murderer. The Milan lay near a wall until he saw his victim."

that with respect to her having lost her bonnet, she had thrown
it into the road herself, and if it were lost she was to blame.
The defendant then called two other policemen, for the
purpose of proving that the complainant was very violent
in her behaviour on the occasion, and also to contradict the
statement with respect to his having struck or kicked the
girl. The witnesses, however, varied in their accounts of the
transaction, and after a lengthened investigation, Mr. Cot-
tingham, after having made some remarks on the conduct
pursued to women in the complainant's unfortunate situa-
tion, against whom all hands were raised, and who rarely
had a friend to appear in their behalf, said that they were
entitled to the same protection as other females, so long as
they conducted themselves peaceably in their miserable
calling. That on the present occasion, from the evidence
adduced in support of the charge, it was made cut to his
satisfaction ; that he was aware policemen bad .an arduous
duty to perform ; but when a man in that situation conducted
himself in the manner the defendant was found to have dcne,
he was not fit, in his estimation, to be continued longer in the
force, for it was evident throughout the inquiry that he was a
passionate man, and had no command over his temper, and
that he had acted with a degree of violence towards the
woman which could not be justified under any circumstances.
The Magistrate added, that, instead of imposing a fine on the
defendant, he should sentence him to one month's imprison-
ment.—Committed accordingly.

THE AFFAIRS OF THE PUNJAUB.
The late movements of the Indian army in the north-
western provinces, the powerful force which is already col-
lected in Meerut and on the banks of the Sutlej, the depar-
ture of the Governor-General from Calcutta, and the conti-
nual disturbances and insurrections which agitate the king-
dom of Lahore, have directed the attention of the world to
the affairs of the Punjaub, and to the crisis which seems to
be approaching there. The whole force of the eorps within
reach of the north-western frontier is stated by the Indian
papers to consist of eight troops of European horse artillery, three
troops of native horse artillery, six companies of European
foot artillery, five companies of native foot artillery, ten
companies of sappers and miners, two regiments of Euro-
pean cavalry, five regiments of native light cavalry, seven
regiments of European light infantry, twenty-three regiments
of native infantry, and three regiments of irregular ca-
valry, all which may be estimated to amount to a force of
32,000 infantry, 5,800 cavalry, and 140 guns. The Bengal
Hurharu, from which we borrow this statement, complains
that the native regiments in this army are insufficiently pro-
vided with European officers, not having above fifteen British
officers of all ranks per regiment; but, without entering into
a technical discussion on this point, we have no doubt
that this army is one of the finest, if not the very
finest, ever assembled on the plains of India. The
presence of such a force clearly denotes a great politi-
cal object, and a considerable amount of respect for the
adversary we may have to encounter—that object is to re-
store the Punjaub to a state of tranquillity, and that adver-
sary is the Seikh army, which is still the best and most
formidable of the native armies of Asia, but which is
a permanent and insurmountable obstacle to the
peaceable government of the country, and even to the
security of our own frontier. If it were a mere question of
acquisition of territory, we believe that there is not a di-
rector in Leadenhall-street, or a member of Council in India,
or a statesman either here or there, who would not rather hold
back than expose the Government of India to the charges
and difficulties of a fresh conquest, and a still further ex-
tension of its dominions. But that neutrality which it has
been the disposition of the Government to observe, during
the sanguinary contests which have been going on for
some years in Lahore, actually imposes upon us all the
burdens of war. The strength of the Indian army
has ever been adapted to the amount of force required
to maintain our supremacy in the country; but the
foreign wars of the last seven years, the occupation
of Slade, and the necessity of maintaining a large
army of observation to keep in check so formidable
and uncertain a power on the other side of the Sutlej, have
imposed very heavy and extraordinary burdens on the mili-
tary and financial resources of India. Such a state of things
cannot be perpetual. No man will consent to maintain the
fire brigade upon his own premises because his neighbour's
house is continually in a blaze. The conflagration must be
extinguished. In the present state of Lahore, every adven •
turer who wins the support of the army may extort from the
feeble Government his own terms; and he enters the capital
either to be bribed or assassinated—probably both. Such has
been apparently the last turn in the fortunes of Prince Pe-
shora Singh. That enterprising personage, aftercapturing At-
tock and defeating the troops sent against him from Lahore, has
accepted terms offered to him by the Maharanee, mother of
the young Raja ; for a jaghire of a lakh of rupees and the
promise of a distinguished post at Court, he agreed to make
his entry and submission at Lahore. On the approach of
his rival, the Wuzeer retired with the large sums of money
he had appropriated to himself. Peshora has, therefore, pro-
bably re-entered the capital a great man ; and at no distant
period we may expect to learn that he is either the hero or
the victim of some new tragedy. It is obvious that these
incessant revolutions and convulsions are inherent in a bar-
barous state of society where no one man exercises a su-
preme and irresistible power. With them where absolute
despotism ceases anarchy begins. But if the British rule in
India has been distinguished by any virtue—if, as we believe
it to have done, it has rendered the greatest services to the
whole of the vast community it governs—those services con-
sist mainly in the substitution of a fixed authority and an en-
lightened deliberate control for the vicissitudes and excesses of
Oriental despotism. The two forms of Government are not
only hostile, but irreconcileable. They both of them aim at
power, but the one snatches at its immediate fruits by ad-
venture and crime ; the other insures its permanence by a
policy as temperate as it is certain and firm. Ere long, the
Government of Lahore will invoke that support which they
know to be the only secure protection of their lives and their
rank. They will forfeit their independence, and a collision
will take between the steadily advancing tide of civil Govern-
ment and British power, and the forces of the Seikh army.
The cavalry and artillery of that army are not, we believe,
materially inferior to our own native forces in those arms ;
and in speaking of Asiatic troops it is impossible to give
higher praise to an antagonist. But in this, as in all our
Asiatic campaigns, the presence of even a small proportion of
European troops turns the scale. In reality, the proportion of
British muscle and British spirit has on no former occa-
sion been so considerable; and although the Seikh army may
be very well prepared to fight a battle, and not to surrender
its high reputation without a struggle, neither the condition
of the Government of Lahore nor that of the troops can ad-
mit of the possibility of a protracted campaign. The next
Mails will probably inform us whether any negotiations have
actually been opened, which may lead to an invasion of the
Punjaub, and to the establishment of a settled form of go-
vernment there under a subsidiary treaty; or whether this
event will be postponed until some fresh convulsion occurs.
The departure of Sir Henry Hardinge from Calcutta, unac-
companied by any member of Council, but invested by a I
special act of the Indian Government with the full powers of
the Governor in Council during his visit to the north-western
provinces, appears to encourage the former supposition. But
the course of events in Lahore will doubtless accelerate or
defer the final determination of the Governor-General.—Times.