The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-18 00:00:00

owner and driver of a four-in-hand, proferrsd a charge
of outrageous assault, &c., against William Ballantyne,
one of his servants. _ _

Complainant stated that on the previous day, about
half-past four o'clock, his carriage was, agreeably to his
order, brought into the yard, when the wheelers were
attached to the ♦ehicle, and while another servant was
gone for the leaders, he (complainant) accused the pri-
soner of having been indulging too freely in drink, upon
which he became extremely insolent and abusive.
Mr. LONG—TeII me what he said and did.

Complainant—When I told him be was the worse for
liquor, he said, " No, Mr. Savage, I am not ;" and as I
considered that his way of addressing me was unbecom-
ing in a servant, I told him it was his duiy to say " Sir;"
be then walked into the corridor and demanded his
wages, and, before I bad time to say a word, he gave
me a very violent blow upon the eye (the left eye was
much swollen and discoloured) ; after this he followed
me into the parlour, and, on his endeavouring to hit me
a second time, I seized hold of a poker in order to de-
fend myself, upon which he laid hold of a shovel, and I
thought his intention was to split open my bead. I ran
into the yard, and immediately I had done so the pri-
soner smashed several panes of glass, the noise occa-
sioned by which frightened my horses, and it was with
some difficulty that they were prevented from starting off
at full speed, and in all probability doing much mischief.
The prisoner gave me various other blows, and at last he
was taken into custody. I could net, of course, think of
fighting with him, he being merely a servant ; but had I
been attacked in the same way by a gentleman, I should,
no doubt, have acted differently.
Mr. Lows—What situation does the prisoner hold in
your service ? Complainant—Oh, he is groom and
coachman.

Prisoner—l deny it, Sir, you are your own coachman ;
you always drive yourself.
Thomas Marston, another of complainant's grooms,
said, that while harnessing the leaders, h• saw complain-
ant come out with a poker in his hand. The horses at
that moment took fright.
Mr. LoNa—Did you see any assault committed ?
Witness—l did not, Sir. I have no personal know-
ledge of anything :that might have taken place in the
house.

Mr. Loxes (to the prisoner)—What is your answer to
this charge ? Prisoner—Air. Savage struck me first,
and I was obliged, of course, to defend myself ; ho
fought at me with the poker and I did the same by him
with the shovel, and in the course of the affray the
windows were broken ; he was more to blame than I
was ; and if he had paid me my wages and let me go
when I wished him to do so, nothing unpleasant would
have happened.
Catherine Young gave evidence.to the effect that she
,saw complainant (her master) drag the prisoner forci-
bly into the passage, where they both fought with poker
and shovel ; in trying to separate them she received
many, severe blows upon her face and body.
Mr. LONG discharged the prisoner, telling Mr. Savage
that he might prefer an indictment at the sessions if he
,thought proper.
WORSHIP-STREET.

Richard Smith, doseph Isaacs, and Hoary Golden,
three respectable-looking lads, whose ages varied from
.1$ to 14 years, were charged with having administered
,powdered cantharides to Mrs. 11. Collins, the wife of a
salesman in Spitalfields-market, whereby her life had
been seriously endangered.
It appeared from the statement of Mr. Joseph Collins,
the husband of the injured woman, that on the morning
of the 14th instant his wife, while passing through the
market, was stopped by the oldest of the prisoners
(Smith), the son of a respectable tradesman in the
market, with whose family she was on intimate terms,
who invited her into his parent's counting-house to take
breakfast. She declined doing so, having an infant at
home which required her immediate attendance, and left
the market ; but on her return, in the course of half an
hour, she again saw Smith in company with the second
prisoner at the door of the counting-house, and was
again pressed by Smith to take a cup of coffee with him.
She then consented, and drank a small quantity from a
cup be handed to her, but hesitated while drinking it,
and on seeing that the second prisoner (Isaacs) asked
her to put more sugar in it ; but she refused,
as it was already so sweet she could scarcely
swallow it. She then left, but in about half an hour
became so seriously ill, that she was obliged to be
conveyed home, where she got gradually worse till the
evening, when her illness assumed such alarming
symptoms, accompanied by a copious discharge of
blood, that a surgeon was hastily sent for, who, upon
examining her, at once pronounced that she was labour-
ing under the effects of a powerful dose of cantharides,
and that her life was in imminent jeopardy. By the ju-
dicious treatment of her medical attendant the dan-
gerous symptoms had now considerably abated, but his
wife still continued in such a debilitatiod condition as
wholly to preclude her attendance at the Court. The
witness added, that shortly after his wife had been
brought home the prisoner Smith called at his house,
and anxiously inquired if she was ill or had taken any-
thing; but it not being then known to the witness that
he had been instrumental ia-Causing her illness, he was
allowed to leave unmolested.

Sergeant Easthope, 1 11, stated, that on the circum-
stances being communicated to him by the last witness
he immediately took steps which led to the apprehension
of the prisoners, and had since ascertained that the de-
leterious ingredient had been purchased at the shop of
Mr. Hawkins, a chemist in Union-street, by the lad
Gosten, who had presented an order for it in the hand-
writing of the prisoner Smith, bnt signed with a fictitious
name, the order stating that it was required for the pur-
pose of being administered to a pig. The sergeant
handed in the order alluded to, and also a medical certi
ficate describing the dangerous effects produced by the
noxious drug.
In answer to the charge the prisoner Smith said that
for some time past he had had a cutaneous eruption in
his face, and had been advised by several persons to take
a dose of cantharides to remove it. He had mixed some
in his coffee, and was drinking it, when he was called out
of the counting-house upon business, and during his ab-
sence the prosecutor's wife walked in, and, unasked by
any one, drank all that remained in the cup ; he, how-
ever, apprehended, on afterwards learning the circum-
stance, that no evil results were likely to ensue to her
from it. as he had himself drank twice the quantity
she had takeu without any serious effects being pro-
duced by it.
The prisoner Isaacs made a similar statement to that
of his companion Smith ; and the third prisoner, Gosten.
denied any further participation in the transaction than
having innocently executed the order at the chemist's at
the request of Smith.
Mr. BINGUAM said that he should discharge the
youngest of the prisoners (Gosten), as it appeared that
he had merely been an unconscious agent in the hands
of the other two ; but with regard to Smith and Isaac's,
he should require them to find bail for their appearance
on a future day, when the wife of the prosecutor had
sufficiently recovered to attend and give evidence against
them. •

The bail was immediately put in, and the prisoners
liberated.

THE SHAP WICK MURDERS.
BRIDGEWATER, THURSDAY MORNING.—Last evening
the inquiry into the cause of Mary Dimond's death was
gone into. The inquiry terminated in the committal of
the prisoner to take her trial at the next assizes for the
wilful murder of her mother. She evinced the utmost
nonchalance throughout the whole proceedings, and ap-
peared to be as little affected as the most careless ob
server. Once or twice during the day little matters oc-
curred which caused a titter in the Court, and no one
seemed to enjoy the smile more than the unfortunate
woman against whom such serious charges are made.
To-morrow inquests will be held at Shapwick on the
body of her husband, who died in 1843, and on the body
of her child. It will be recollected that both bodies
were exhumed, and the stomachs and intestines handed
over to Mr. lierapath, who is of opinion that arsenic is
to be found in both.

BILLS 'oft -ua ENSUING SESSlON.—Towards the
close of the last session a number of Bills were ordered
to be printed for consideration, with the view of afford-
ing business at an early period of the next session, in
order to preclude the objections which have for several
years been made, that many measures were delayed until
the session had far advanced. There are three Bills in
respect to railways, joint stock companies, and lands,
which have for their object an uniformity of practice in
these matters. The Bills are entitled " Railway Clauses
Consolidation,"" Companies Clauses Consolidation," and
" Lands Clauses Consolidation." These three Bills are
to bring into consolidation the laws relating to the ob-
jects mentioned, so that one law may prevail, and those
appointed to administer the laws on the several branches
have their attention directed to the matters under con-
sideration without, as now exists, being called upon to
refer to several statutes having reference to the same
subjects. The Medical Bill, which has been so much
discussed by the profession, stands for consideration, as
also the measure relating to the appointment of clerks
and other officers of petty sessions. The other Bills are
the Mines Registration and the Field Gardens : the ob-
ject of the former is to give to the Board of Trade a
general power over all mines, which are to be registered
and subjected to the superintendence of the Board, in
order to prevent the .useless expenditure of fortunes on
reckless speculations ; and the purport of the latter to
obtain field gardens for labourers, with the view of bene-
fiting their conditton. These Bills, and one. to con-
solidate parochial settlements, stand for consideration in
the House of Commons,. and are expected to be brought
forward at an early period of the ensuing session.
The mackerel season has commenced under very
favourable auspices for cur industrious fishermen.
1 Samuel Andrews, the most lucky of all our fishermen,
came on shore here last Friday with 11,000 fish, which
fetched 16s. per hundred. All our boats, with the ex-
ception of Andrews's, and one other, are engaged off
Plymouth, where there is a large fleet of mackerel boats
from various places.—Brighten Gazette.
ATTACK ON A GAMEKEErra.-011 Sunday evening
Henry. Tebby, of Cottesferd, gamekeeper to E. W.
Rousbey, Esq., of Cottesford House, was attacked by
three men, and so seriously injured that his life is con-
sidered to be in great danger. Oa Monday Jesse
Willis, a young man of Hethe, was remanded to Oxford
gaol by the Bicester magistrates for a.week, charged with
being one of the men. The keeper was too ill to attend,
and a medical certificate to that effect was put in. It ap.
peared that the keeper heard a hare cry, and on his
going to the spot ho saw three men. He recog-
nised one of them, and called him by name, Jesse
Willis. All attacked him, and beat him till he was in-
sensible. On Tebby somewnat recovering, he went to
the Rev. Mr. Msguire's house, Catholic priest of Hethe,
where every help was afforded him. Willis was ap-
prehended and identified by the injured man. Where
the affair took place, a large quantity of blood and three
bludgeons were found. The prisoner's shoes corre-
sponded with foot marks near the spot. Tebby is in a
dangerous state, labouring under concussion of the brain.