The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-20 00:00:00

THAMES POLICE.

Richard Repson, a Lancashire man, was brought up
on remand from the previous day, charged with assault-
ing a young man named Charles Repton. The com-
plainant, who appeared to suffer excruciating pain, and
besides the support of a pair of crutches, had to be aided
into the Court by two porters, was accomodated with a
chair, which, however, from the nature of the injuries
he sustained, he found it very difficult to use.
It appeared from the evidence that the complainant
and the prisoner both worked for Messrs. Ditchburn
and Mare, at the Orchard House Iron Steam-boat-yard
and the former had been in the employment of the firm
for the last seven years. On last Thursday week he went
to the tool-house, where the prisoner was at work, when
the latter turned him out, and then gave him a kick be-
hind, inflicting the injuries under which he now labours.
It appeared that the kick took place directly in the
peritoneum,- a muscle full of the most delicate fibres.
From the motion of the complainant, who can scarcely
drag himself an inch, at every step, the whole of the
muscular system of the lower limbs appears to be thrown
into disorder, and it was most painful to witness the ef-
forts by which he endeavoured to drag himself along.
James Reeves, foreman in the establishment, proved
that previously to, the alleged assault the complainant
was in excellent health and spirits. There was no
quarrel that he knew of between the parties, but there
was a young man at present in the hospital suffering
from the effects of a kick inflicted by the prisoner.
Repson denied having kicked the complainant, but
admitted that he had pushed him out of the tool-house,
having directions not to-permit any person to be there.
He suggested that the complainant in reeling out might
have come in contact with an iron peg which protruded
from a wall without.
Barber, one of the warrant officers, by direction of
the Magistrate, examined the place to ascertain the pro-
bability of the defence ; but from his statement it did not
appear likely that the injury was sustained in the man-
ner suggested by the prisoner, and, in addition to this,
a pot-boy in the neighbourhood proved that he saw the
prisoner kick the complainant.
Mr. Hislam, surgeon, of High-street, Stepney, who
attended the complainant, having given it as his opinion
that the poor fellow is by, no means out of danger, the
prisoner was remanded until nest Saturday.

UNION-HALL.
Harrington Bache, a builder at Peckham, 'was charged be-
fore Mr. Cottingham, with forging a bill of acceptance for
501., purporting to be drawn by D. and M. Davis, with in-
tent to defraud Ebenezer Fitzgerald.

The complainant stated that he was in the habit of lend-
ing money, and that he discounted a bill of 501. for the pri-
soner, purporting to have been drawn by the above-named
parties. When it became duo, and he presented it for
payment, . he was then informed that the name of
the drawer was forged, and having communicated
this fact to the prisoner. he insisted on his im-

mediately accompanying him to Mr. Davis, to have the
matter cleared up. Complainant then, in the presence of the
prisoner asked Davis whether his name, attached to the bill,
was his hand writing. He disclaimed it ; upon which the pri-
soner asserted that it was, adding that he was present in the
room, and saw Davis write his signature to the bill. Davis,
however, having still persisted that he knew nothing what-
ever of the transaction, the complainant gave the prisoner
into custody.
The prisoner, through his solicitor, declared before the
magistrate that Mr. Davis had drawn the bill in question,
and as the latter person was not in attendance, Mr. Corm:G-
lum directed that the case should stand over for his attend-
ance.

A woman named Hickson was charged with having in her
possession a quantity of smuggled tobacco.
The defendant was stopped carrying a basket containing
tobacco, which she said was given to her by her sister-in-law,
whose husband belongs to one of the Hamburgh steam
vessels. She added that there were other articles in the
basket, and the tobacco being underneath she was not aware
of its presence. This latter assertion, however, was contra-
dicted by the officer, who said the defendant must have
known that the basket contained tobacco;
The MAGISTRATH said that as the defendant was not
known there before he should fine her twenty shillings, and
in default, sentence her to be committed for seven days.

CONFESSION OF A MURDER COM-
MITTED NINE YEARS AGO.
(From the Essex Standard.)
A report having been circulated in Colchester that a native
of Polstead, at present in the East Indies, had been appre-
hended for having committed a murder nine or ten years
back, and for which an innocent man was hung, we have
ascertained the following particulars :
On Monday morning last, Sir Joshua Rowley, Bart., of
Stoke-by-Nayland, received a communication from Colonel
Dear, of the 21st Regiment of Fusiliers, stationed in the East
Indies, with the copy of the Court of Inquiry on a case
which has caused a great sensation in that regiment. A
short time back a young man of the name of William
Towns, a native of Polstead, whilst on guard, mentioned
to one of his comrades that he was most miserable and
wretched, and was determined on committing suicide, or
else (pointing to a file of guns which were piled together
opposite them) he must shoot one of his officers, or commit
some deed in order that he might be hung, and that
justice might be satisfied. His comrade advised him to
get consolation from the minister of his persuasion ; but
at this period of their conversation three other soldiers
came up and inquired what it was that preyed so heavily
upon his mind. He then told them, that nine years ago he
went out poaching in Hintlesham Wood ; that he murdered
the gamekeeper; and that an innocent,taan was hung for it,
and he was present at the execution, with James Hills, of the
same regiment. He added, that he had not been able to rest
for some time ; and also stated that he saw both the men in
his dreams, and was haunted by their visions day and night,
till death would be welcome to him in any shape.
A court of inquiry followed, and the soldiers severally de-
posed to the confession of the prisoner, who made no attempt
to contradict them. Colonel Dear wrote for information on
the subject to Sir Joshua Rowley, who placed the communica-
tion in the hands of his brother, Charles Rowley, Esq., of East
Bergholt, as the murder was committed in the division of the
county for which that gentleman is a most active magistrate.
Thus—

" Murder may pass unpunished for a time,
But tardy Justice still o'ertakes the crime ;
And oft a speedier pain the guilty feels :
The hue and cry of Heaven pursues him at his heels."
It appears that, about nine years ago, the gamekeeper and
his assistant, in the service of Miss Lloyd, of Hintlesham
Hall, heard a party of poachers in the preserves, and when
they got there, finding only three poachers, they attempted
to take them into custody; but they were violently attacked
by the poachers, and Byam Green, the gamekeeper, was bar-
barously murdered, his skull being literally dashed to atoms
by a blow struck with a gun, which was left behind. A re•
ward was offered for the discovery of the murderer, and a
man of the name of Chalker, a French polisher, living at
Ipswich, was apprehended on the charge. At his trial, the
din was distinctly proved to have been his, as well as the
g which accompanied the poachers, and it was further
proved that he was seen in the neighbourhood, drinking,
before the fatal affray took place. The evidence, although
calculated to throw strong suspicion upon Chalker, was purely
of a circumstantial character, and it was a matter of doubt
whether the Government of the day would allow his execu-
tion to take place. however, in accordance with his sen-
tence, the prisoner suffered the extreme penalty of the law,
at Ipswich, protesting his innocence of the murder to the
last, but acknowledging having been one of the party of
poachers.
We are informed that Green, the keeper, left a widow and
a large family, as was also the case with Chalker.

ASSASSINATION.
(From the Gazette des Tribunaux.)
COUR D'ASSIZES DES BASSES PYRENEES (Pau).
Jacques Hourquebie exercised the humble offices of
garde champetre and garde forestier with rigorous in-
tegrity. The zeal with which he performed his duty
excited the hatred of all marauders. There was one, in
particular, who regarded him with a feeling of implac
able resentment ; this was the accused, Mathieu Labuig,
a man of a violent and passionate character, and great
bodily strength.
Jacques Hourquebie, it should be remarked, was de-
formed and of a slight make, and oppressed with infirmi-
ties, which rendered every movement of his body slow
and painful.
Mathieu Labuig, the accused, wearied with the con-
stant watchfulness of the garde, which formed a con-
tinual obstacle to his marauding propensities, and irri-
tated by an imprisonment which he had undergone for
the space of three years, ceased not to utter the most
horrible menaces against Hourquebie.
Fifteen witnesses deposed as to the threats uttered.
" They will not kill that wretch," said Labuig, speak-
ing of Hourquebie. " How I should like to cut off his
hump with my bill-hook; what delight to crush him be-
tween two millstones." On one occasion he actually
predicted the manner of his death, saying he ought to
be killed with the bill-hook and thrown in the mill-
dam. "Ah ! if I could find him between the dog
and the wolf" (parts of the mill which are called chien
and loiip). On one occasion last summer, the prisoner
offered 40 francs to a witness to detain the garde at a
cabaret until night, that he, the prisoner, might have
the opportunity of meeting him on his return home. On
the26th oflastJanuary, Hourquebie did not return home.
His step-brother, who is the instituteur communal, uneasy
at his absence, commenced an active search to discover
what had become of him. At some distance from
his house he found his brother's walking-stick,
and a loaded pistol, which he usually carried for his own
defence. There was also a large spot of blood on the
road. On tracking the marks of blood along the
road, he arrived at the mill-dam, where he found the
body of the garde horribly mutilated by what ap-
peared to be a bill-hook. Suspicion was instantly
fastened on the prisoner. The police searched his
house, and found a blouse which he had worn the
night before ; it had been washed in some places
only, and was hanging out to dry. On his being asked
to produce his bill-hook, he showed one that he was not
in the habit of using ; the one he actually used Was
afterwards discovered in a bee-hive. Footmarks were
discovered at the supposed place of the murder. They
presented an exact counterpart to the nails in the shoes of
the accused. The evening of the murder, just after the
" Angelus " had ceased, the garde was seen to pass, and
soon after the accused.

A witness deposed that about the same time ha heard
four piercing shrieks, at some considerable distance.
It appeared that before his arrest, the priibtier, Con-
versing with a endarme, said, " They cannot cOndemn
without proofs.' " They will find proofs,', said the
gendarme. The prisoner, after a moment of reflection,
said, as if it were a thought full of consolation, " They
do not now condemn to death."

This deposition caused a general shudder in the Court.
M. Laporte, Avocat•General, showed that tho Ugh
there was no direct evidence of the prisoner's guilt, there
mast be a moral certainty of it.
M. Lamargnere, with singular ability, endeavoured
to show that the evidence was consistent with the pri-
soner's innocence.

Labuig was condemned to 20 years' hard labour and
exposure. He is 60 years of age.

RAILWAY RETURNS.

We extract from the Railway Magazine the sums
received on the principal Railways of Great Britain for
the week ending on the day of the month prefixed to
each. The return includes the money received for
passengers, parcels, carriages, horses, mails, and mer-
chandise:—

Week
ended

Name of Railway.

Total.
X. s. d.

May 11 Arbroath and Forfar lO3 __ _...
9 24
11 Birmingham and Derby Junction 1,321 3 9
10 Birmingham and Gloucester 2,147 14 3
11 Brandling Junction 564 12 4
10 Chester and Birkenhead 547 17 4
14' Dublin and Kingstown 1,049 18 5
12 Dundee and. Arbroath 234 1 64
11 Durham and Sunderland 243 6 9
11 Edinburgh and Glasgow 2,412 15 11
12 Eastern Counties and North Eastern 4,371 15 1
11 Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr 2,064 5 10
11 Glasgow and Greenock B6B 18 8
11 Grand Junction 7,534 4 10
11 Great North of England 1,315 19 9
12 Great Western
10 Liverpool and Manchester
11 London and Birmingham
12 London and Blackwall " 1,044 9 0
11 London and Brighton
14 London and Croydon
16 London and Greenwich 854 12 2
12 London and South Western .......
9 Manchester, Bolton and Bury 755 11 9
11 Manchester and Birmingham 3,144 3 6
11 Manchester, Leeds, and Hull Assoc 5,766 5 3
11 Midland Counties
11 Newcastle and Carlisle 1,383 4 7
12 Newcastle and North Shields 299 5 0
11 North Midland
10 North Union and Bolton and Preston 1,272 12 0
7 Paris and Orleans 5,885 4 0
13 Paris and Ronen 6,145 0 0
16 Preston and Wyre 299 9 4
11 Sheffield and ,11,1ancliester 612 15 8
16 South Eastern
11 Taff Vale
12 Ulster 531 1 2
4 Yarmouth and Norwich ..
11 York and North Midland

THE WEST INDIA MAIL.—The following notice
was issued on Friday, at the General Post-office, St. Martin's-
le-Grand, and the branch offices General Post-office,
May 17, 1844.—Letters transmitted by packet, between the
United Kingdom and the colony of Berbice, in British
Guiana, will in future be liable to an internal colonial postage
of 2d. the half •ounce, &c., for the inland conveyance between
New Amsterdam, Berbice, and George Town, Demerara,
where the mails are landed and embarked. The internal rate
will be combined with the packet rate of Is., making the
total postage to be taken on a letter not exceeding half an
ounce, to or from Berbice, Is. 2d., and so on in proportion.
By command.—W. L. MABERLY, Secretary." The next mails
for Madeira, the British and Foreign Colonies in the West
Indies, Venezuela, Mexico, Honduras, Havana, Bahamas,
Cliagres, and New Granada, will be made up on he morning
of the Ist of June, to be forwarded via Southampton.
We are enabled to announce that Mr. John Young,
Member for the county of Cavan, and who, since the
accession of the present Government, has filled the office
of a Lord of the Treasury, is to be Secretary of the
Treasury, as successor to Sir Thomas Fremautle.-ob-
server: