The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-13 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, FRIDAY MORNING, DEdEI4I3 Ett, is, 1844.

lead of whatever further quantity they might really want
for their own use, all the unoccupied territory of the is-
lands was to vest in the Crown by virtue of the sove-
reignty that had been assumed.
Your Committee have already mentioned, that it is
one of the fundamental principles of colonial law and
policy, which they believe to have been correctly laid
down by Sir G. Gipps, that " the uncivilised inhabitants
of any country have but a qualified dominion over it or
a right of occupancy only ; and that until they esta-
blish amongst themselves a settled form of government,
and subjugate the ground to their own uses by the
cultivation of it, they cannot grant to individuals not of
their own tribe any portion of it, for the simple reason
that they have not themselves any individual property
in it." Unfortunately, the original instructions given to
Captain Hobson, when he was sent out for the purpose
of establishing British dominion in New Zealand, were
not sufficiently precise upon this most important point.
They contained directions as to the manner in which he
was to proceed in purchasing land from the native=, and
they did not (as your Committee think that they ought
to have done) clearly lay down the rule that, sovereignty
being established, all unoccupied lands would forth-
with vest in the Crown, and that, except in virtue
of grants from the- Crown, no valid title to land could
be established by Europeans. This mode of framing
the instructions seems to have led the first Governor
into the error of acting throughout upon the assumption
that no part of the extensive and unoccupied territory of
New Zealand was to be considered as belonging to the
Crown, or available under its authority for the purposes
of settlement, until first regularly sold by the natives.
This is not indeed distinctly stated in the treaty of Wai-
tangi ; had it been so, this treaty would probably have
been attended with less injurious consequences than it
actually has been ; since in that ease there can be little
doubt that it would have been at once disallowed by her
Majesty's Government ; at least it is clear that the treaty
could not have been understood either by the Governor
of New South Wales or by the Secretary of State, in the
sense put upon it by Captain Hobson, singe both ex-
pressed their approbation of it, though the former bad
previously laid down the very different principle upon
this subject already quoted ; and the then Secretary of
State, Lord John Russell, after he had received and ap-
proved of the treaty, adopted in the most formal and
authentic; manner the views of Sir George Gipps. by
the advice of Lord Jehn Russell, in the month of De-
cember, 1840, a charter passed the great seal, by which
New Zealand was erected into a sepavate end inde-
pendent colony ; and this charter was transmitted,
together with instructions under the royal sign manual,
to the Governor, Captain Hobson. In this charter
and instructions, " actual occupation and enjoyment"
are clearly pointed out as alone establishiug
of property it; land to the natives ; and the rule is laid
down that all other lands must be considered as vested
in the Crown, in virtue of the sovereignty that had
been assumed, and that they must be dealt with word:
ingty. The treaty of Waitangi (which had previously,
reached England and had been approved), it may there-
fore fairly be assumed, must, when this charter and the
instructions which accompanied it were forwarded to the
colony, have been understood as bearing a meaning not
inconsistent with the terms in which they are pouched.
The lands held " collectively," of which the possession
was guaranteed to the aboriginal inhabitants of New
Zealand, must therefore, have been regarded as the lands
actually occupied by themi and cultivated in common by
a tribe, in the manner frequently practised, and the
forests as those actually used for cutting timber.
This is the interpretation which, consistently with the
ancient and acknowledged principles of colonial law as
laid down by fir George Gipps, and consistently also
with the terms of the charter of the coleus', and of the
royal instructions to the Governor, ought to have been
put upon the treaty ; had it been so, the most serious
of the evils which have since arisen would have been
avoided. If native rights to the ownership of land had
only been admitted when arising from occupation, there
would have been no difficulty in giving at once tg the
settlers secure and quiet possession of' the land they re-
quired, an-1 they would thus have been able te begin
without delay and in earnest the work of reclaiming
and cultivating the unceeupied soil. The proceedings of
the Commissioners appointed to inquirc; into the claims
to land would also then have been short and simple; they
would have had te inquire merely whether lands actually
occupied by natives had beep fairly sold to settlers by
the occupants, and with respect to wild lands? whether
Europeans claiming to have purchased them had done so
at such a price, or had incurred such an expense in re-
spect of them, 4s to give to the supposed purchasers not
a right to the lands (let' they could not derive a title
from parties who did not themselves polsess one.), but a
claim on the consideration of the Crown to have iirant,ed
to them as an indulgence more or less, according to
ciratliThitalres, of the lands they had nominally pur-
chased. With respect to the New Zealand Company,
as the extent of land to which they were entitled had
been already settled by a special agreement with the
Government and the award of Mr. Pennington, they
would at once have been put in possession of all that very
large proportion of the land on which they proposed
establishing settlements which was previously wild and
unoccupied ; and the question to bit detcrmincd by the
Commissioners would have reduced itself to that of
whether those inconsiderable portions of land "actually
occupied and enjoyed" by natives had been fairly sold
by the occupants—a question the decision of which one
way or the other would have been comparatively unim-
portant.
To have proceeded in this manner, and to have as-
sumed at once all unoccupied land to belong to the Crown
as a right inherent in the sovereignty, would have been
attended with no sort of injustice to the natives, and
would have been conducive to their real interests. The
unoccupied land, previously to European settlement, was
of no value to them; they were neither a pastoral people,
nor one living, like the North American Indians, by the
chase, and therefore requiring a great extent of country
for their support ; they derived their chief subsistence
from the produce of the soil and agriculture, rude as it
was ; and, according to the witnesses who have been
examined by your Committee, hardly a thousandth part
of the available land was thus made use of by them.
A very different policy, with respect to ownership of
land, has been pursued, and has been attended with very
unfortunate results. Mr. Spain, who was sent out from
this country by Lord J. Russell to investigate the claims
to land of settlers in New Zealand, appears to have
been furnished with no precise instructions as to the
object of the intended inquiry, and the mode of con-
ducting it ' • and as he, in common with the Governor
and the other colonial authorities, adopted the conclu-
sion that no land could be considered as vested in the
Crown, or in the New Zealand Company by virtue of
an agreement with the Crown, which could not be shown
to have been fairly purchased from the natives, there
was begun a protracted and most unsatisfactory in-
quiry as to the nature of these purchases. It was im
possible that the inquiry, having this object in view, could
be of a different character, since, if the point to be de-
termined was the validity of purchases from the natives,
it follows that it was necessary to ascertain not only the
bona fide nature of the supposed sale, but also the title
of the vendors to ths property of which they claimed to
dispose. The difficulty of arriving at any satisfactory
conclusion upon either point was insuperable. The evi-
dence as to the reality of alleged sales was almost inva-
riably contradictory and confused, as might reasonably
have been anticipated, considering what imperfect means
of communication there were between the parties, and
how little one of them understood the nature of such
transactions. As to the title of the vendors, the case
was still more hopeless. The evidence before your Com-
mittee, both oral and documentary, leads to the conclu-
sion that the natives of New Zealand, till they learned
to do so from Europeans, attached no idea of value to
unoccupied land, and that though they had some vague
notions of certain circumstances (frequently connected
with their peculiar superstitions) giving preferable claims
to particular tribes over particular districts, yet, practi-
cally, the right by which territory was held was that of
the strongest. Your Committee need hardly point out,
the manifest absurdity of attempting to apply the no-
tions of English law, with respect to landed property,
to such a state of society, and the utter fruitlessness of
an endeavour to disentangle the complicated and con-
flicting claims set up by different tribes to wild land ;
this inquiry having to be conducted by Europeans, igno-
rant both of the language of the natives, and of their
barbarous and superstitious customs, on which the claims
to land very frequently depended.

THE 114 ATE RAILWAY ACCIDENT
NEAR NOTTINGHAM.

INVEST Q Wt. 130LESTRIDGE,
3tio:vri*444g, Lwp. 11.-,-Shortly after six o'clock, last
night, Mn. Browne, coroner, and 4 very respectable jury,
assembled at the house of the deceased, 'for the purpoSe of
inquiring into the cause of his death.
The ConoNElt addressed the jury at some length. He be-
sought them to cast from their minds
.any impressions that
the verdicts in 0.44 PPI}PT qiplllTtigo99f riven
rise to, and trusted they would arrive at such conelustini as
the evidence which might be brought before them would jus-
tify. He considered it would be totally unnecessary to go
over the whole of the ground again ; and as he was most
4,4;00 tii4 the present inquiry should terminate before the
assiscs, which tafte'plice. oh Oatiirday neat, he wouid ptoz
pose to them what he thought the best mode of facilitating
the business—namely, to produce before them the several
witnesses, read over to each his depositions as given on the
former occasion, the jury, at the same time, reserving the
right pf putting any further questions which might suggest
thet4sebies to lheir minds. Tlini would answer all IpgPl
purposes, and save a great deal of time. should the jury
not agree to this, It was impossible that their labours could
terminate this week, for in the case of Mr. Deane, be (the
Coroner) took down no less than 148 closely-written pages
of evidence ; and to go through the same task again would
be the work of four days. He repeated, that it was highly
necessary, on Allr. Illghtfocitto iteconilt, that this lwirpoicompii
should close before the assiAes, as that gentleman would
then be arraigned for the crime of manslaughter.
The jury unanimously expressed themselves perfectly sa-
tisfied with the Coroner's proposition, and thought with him,
that it was necessary they should conclude their labours be-
fore Mr. Lightfoot took his trial.
Thu coroner 4nd jury then proceeded to an adjoining room
for the purpose of Viewing the body, The deceased did not
present any remarkable appearance,
It was ultimately decided by the jury, on a show qt' hands,
that they should meet at three o'clock this afternoon, and,
if necessity required it, continue their deliberations each day
to a late hour.

As a matter of form, a witness was called who knew the
deceived, 4nd was present at his death.
Tice jury then adjourned, shortly after seven o'clock, till
this day.

THE PERMANENCY OF GUANO
AS A MANURE.
This is a subject of great importance at present,
when the importation of this manure is going on to
a large extent, and when the propriety of using it,
and extending its use, must be occupying the atten-
tion of farmers in all parts of the country. Many of
the best practical agriculturists in this neighb iurliood
have long been satisfied of the permanent advantage
of guano to the land. At the Highland Society's
competition at Glasgow,. in October, for seed wheat,
Mr. Lorne Campbell, of Roseneath, who gained the
101. prize for white wheat,
weightexhibited
of whichfive varieties
e6t
5
ifromb s
. per
rs
bushel.farm , theaverse
Chevalier wheat, weighing
651bs. was after turnips raised upon guano, and although
sown as late as 23d December, was the heaviest crop
in the farm. At a recent meeting of the Rhin
Farmers' Club, and other agriculturists, held at Dru-
more, when Mr. M'Culloch, of Auchness, factor to
Colonel M'Dowal, of Logan, occupied the chair, the
same subject was discussed by those present. The
chairman, Mr. M'Culloch, said—ln 1842 I applied to
turnips, on three different plots of ground, which
were all contiguous, to the first guano, at the rate of
four cwt. per acre—to the second, bone manure, at the
rate of 30 bushels—and, to the third, good farm-yard
manure, at about 20 tons per acre. The crop grown
upon guano brairded first, and was singled four days
sooner than the other, and continued throughout
the whole season to have a more luxuriant appear-
ance ; and, when weighed, were about one-sixth hea-
vier than those grown upon bones, and about one-fifth
heavier than those upon dung. And the oat crop
upon the guano was superior in quality, and the
quantity of grain and straw was greater than upon
either of the other two plots, and now I can distin-
guish no difference betwixt the grasses in quantity
and quality. So far as I could judge from the fore-
going, added Mr. M'C., guano, as a permanent ma-
nure, has exceeded my most sanguine expectations.
Following up the matter as a sow-out, having ma-
nured the green crop with guano, Mr. M'Culloch said
he found his oats after a guano green crop decidedly
superior to the sow-out of other manuring. The
oats after bone manure were lightest. His pasture,
after guano green cropping, was an equally good and
thick sole of grass to any other. Mr. M'Bride, Balkeer,
having had occasion to make similar trials and ex-
periments with Mr. M'Culloch, corroborated his
views. Mr. Anderson, Drumore, stated that he had
grown potatoes with guano, at the rate of four cwts.
per acre, which yielded him as good a crop as po-
tatoes put in with fifty cart-load of sea-weed, and
twenty cart-load of good farm-yard manure. His
wheat crop was as good after guano manuring as after
ordinary manuring; his sow-out was also as good,
the pasture affording an equally good sole of grass
with guano as the ordinary manuring did. He had
also tried nitrate of soda, soot, gypsum, and guano,
as a top dressing for grass, and, on the whole, he
thought guano the best, and equally cheap. Mr.
M'Culloch had tried guano also as a top-dressing for
hay and pasture-land. The effect was rapid and great.
Both these gentlemen recommended the practice of
forcing on a portion of the hay land with guano early
in the spring, as a great benefit to horses and cattle,
for feeding in the house, after the turnip has become
scarce and fibry. A small patch, and a small quan-
tity of guano, will suffice to raise very early a great
quantity of good grass ; and the second crop, or after-
cut, will be as heavy and productive AS ever, while
the permanent pasture will be greatly benefited.—
Caledonian Mercury.

The policy adopted of entering into such an inquiry,
and of acknowledging the claim of the natives to pay-
ment for the unoccupied lands, has had effects very in-
jurious to the interests both of the settlers and of the
natives themselves. With respect to the settlers, by
preventing them for so long a period from obtaining pos-
session by a secure title of the land they required for
cultivation, it has given a most serious check to the pro
gress of improvement, and very greatly retarded the
arrival of the time when the colony would have been
able to produce food enough for its own consumption,
and also something to export in payment for the various
supplies it requires from the mother country and from
other quarters. To the natives this policy has been still
more injurious ; it has created a strong feeling of irrita-
tion between them and the settlers, from the existence of
which they cannot fail ultimately to be the chief suf-
ferers ; the large amount of property they have received
in payment for land which was of no real use to them
before, instead of being of permanent advantage to
f
t
to
mwcl
andt}
ahh:
vnueerei
ydemi
cnh:hh,
hhaNtuhiysaainpar:Toos.
ettona
admitted
by
tdeble,
mhaeeceritsneaktioenirees,
pvdproteraaehbtdot eihetdsdlaaecuet
tdohuncl speedily
chief
fc
quarrels
hasunac protector,vaid
excite
ehru
broken
aderiimprovidentlydsorneykna.ethnnawieagoffiomuhnhuuogtpesuthinrnnacee t
ofset
er,hcii,poenoeftanpmosnos
erssss
nwl
teyotemwlhhndv
iieeaecnsodi
r
h
d
fluence on their moral improvement." The worst con-
sequence of all, as it appears to your Committee, of the
course which has been pursued, is, that it has lowered
the authority of the Government over the natives, and
given rise, on their part, to claims which it is greatly
to be feared they will not peaceably be brought to forego;
and which yet cannot be allowed without the sacrifice of
the principal means of promoting the advancement of
the colony. We beg particularly to refer, in support of
what we have now stated, to the lung report of Mr.
Spain, the Commissioner of Land Claims, dated the nth
of'September, 1843, and to the dispatch of the acting
enclo-
sures.andititswillbeese 1843,documents
found that the effects attributed by your Committee to
ev r4°Orn of
rtehfeerenc 30th
e ofto October,
th
the policy which has been pursue tl are ,distinctly recog-
nised by those of the public servants in the ePlony
whom that policy has been chiefly maintained. It is 4130
peculiarly deserving of remark, that precisely the same
difficulties in establishing to the satisfaction of the mt•
tives the validity of sales of land alleged to have been
made by them, which, in the case of the settlements in
Cook's straits, have been attributed to the careless mode

DEATH OF LADY ELIZABETH PARSONS.—We re-
gret to annourve the death of this lady, which took
place on Monday morning, at 6,
Adelaide-orescent,
Brighton, to the great grief of all her relations
Her Ladyship was confined last Friday, and on the foi-
llowing day her infant died. She was then after at-
tacked with fever, from which she never recovered.
Lady Elipbeth was the eldest daughter of the late .E4rl
of Norbury, and was Married to the Hon. Laurence
Parsons, sou of the Earl of Rosse, on the 7.11 of May,
1836. and has left four children.
A DOG KILLING 60 RATS WITHIN THREE MINIJTES.
—On Tuesday a match for 54 a-side was decided at the
George, Gravel-lane, Southwark, which was for a dog (of the
bull-terrier breed) to kill 60 rats in the short space of three
minutes. The nuraber of rats were let loose, and the dog
iithia opal tb* au t apeed4ly eoffinaenped deiSrf)yinK
ouccentloci in killing the 'whole number tho atipo

of proceeding adopted by the Company's agents have
since been experienced to fully as great an extent with
respect to purchases made on behalf of the Government
in the northern part of the island by the Protector of
Aborigines himself. In the letter of Colonel God-

•
frey (one of the Commissioners of Land Claims) of the
10th of February, 1843, will be found an account of
the embarrassment created by the positive denial by
the natives of the validity of a sale of land which
Mr. Clark reported had been made to him, as agent to
the Government, with every possible precaution, in the
year 1840. If these and similar claims are rejected, we
cannot bat apprehend that, after the concessions already
made, much dissatisfaction, if not resistance, is to be an-
ticipated from the natives ; on the other hand, if the
claims are admitted, we see no security whatever that
additional payments now made for land formerly sup-
posed to have bren sold will give any permanent satis-
faction, aid will not, on the contrary, serve as a stimulus
to still more unreasonable demands hereafter, while, even
if such payments should be final, we cannot but regard
it as a great misfortune that large sums of money should
be so applied. In Mr. Spain's report, already quoted,
he estimates that from 5,000/. to 6,0001. will be required
to compensate the natives for the blocks of land al-
ready surveyed by the servants of the New Zealand Com-
pany in the southern part of the northern island ; and,
in making this estimate, it appenra (though this is nut
♦ery clear), that he contemplates leaving them in pos-
session of the grounds they actually occupy. If this
land 13 to be paid for at so high a rate, it is obvious that
it will create in the minds of the natives an expectation
that similar prices will be given for the land that will
hereafter be required, and thus an enormous charge will
be entailed upon the progress of future settlements.
Whi'e we were considering our report, additional evi-
dence of the magnitude of this evil has been laid be-
Yore us.

The land, it must be remembered, derives its only
value from the application of European labour and capi-
tal ; whatever is paid for it to the natives must even-
tually be taken from the price paid for it by settlers,
either to the Company or to the Government, and will
be so mach deducted from the fund, which ought to be
most carefully husbanded and applied to the great pur-
poses of promoting emigration, and of' meeting the first
and pressing wants of a young settlement ; as, for in-
stanett, the construction of roads and bridges, and the
building and Wowing of ehurehes, schools, and hospi-
tals, For these purposes, in which the British settlers
and the original inhabitants are equally interested, every
shilling is wanted which the emigrant can afford to pay
en: Web withent trenching too deeply on his available
capital ; and it appears to your Committee to be equally
contrary, both to real justice and to sound policy, that
large sums of money should be taken from a fund de-
voted to ohjeotg of *tlPll high importmv, in order to be
given to barbarous tribes, who at best will unprofitably
squander what is so improvidently placed at their dis-
posal.
Voig PTni4tr? have found it necessary to enter more
at length than we could have wished intq the fittestinn,
whether the ownership of unoccupied land ought to
have been considered as vested in the Crown or in the
uatlyp tribes? televise, in oar opinion, all the diffleultles
which have keen e*perieneed in the colonization of New
Zealand are mainly to be attributed to the erroneous
view of this questlen whiph has been Wit:4l by those to
whose hands the powers of government have' in these
islands been committed. But, erroneous as they believe
the poliey hitherto persned to have been, they tern ten,
sible of the great dif4culty which may now he expe-
vieneed in chenging it ; and, bearing itt haled the great
distance of these islandS, and the coniegtiellt impossi-
bility of knowing what may be the state of affuirs there,
when any instructions that may be sent out shall retch
the cioyerflor, they are not preparf;d t't tecnoVilenti that
he should be PereMptorify otdeeed to assert the rights of
the Crown as they believe them to exist ; all they advise
is, that he should have clearly explained to him what
those rights are and the principles on which they rest,
and ;-,liquld he directsd to adopt eopli tfleiesp:e* 90 he may
consider best earcidetcl to Meet the difficulties of the
case, and to establish the title of the Crown to ell un-
occupied land as soon as this can be safely accomplished.
He ought also, we conceive, to be directed to grant legal
to the actual occupants of hind, tmlesa nedee special
circumstances of 41i4se,reptring in thqse sales in which
it may seem to he proper reasonable payment from the
settlers for land so granted to them,
(To be continued.)

IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT

HOUSE OF LORDS, Dec. 12.

This being the day to which Parliament stood pro-
rogued, both Houses met pro firma.
The Lord Chancellor, the Earl of Haddington, and
the Earl of Dalhousie, at a quarter-past two o'clock took
their seats as Lords Comnanisioners in front of the
Throne, when

The LORD CHANCELLOR directed the Deputy
Usher of the Black Rod to summon the House of Com-
moms to hear her Majesty's Commission read for the
further prorogation of Parliament.

In a few minutes Mr. Ley, jun., attended by several
officers of the 'louse of Commons, appeared at the bar,
upon which her Majesty's Commission for the further
prorogation of Parliament was read by one of the clerks
at the table.

The LORD CHANCELLOR then, in the usual form,
declared that it was her Majesty's royal will and plea-
sure that her Parliament should be further prorogued
to 71'uesday, the 4th of February nest, then to meet for
the dispatch of business, and the Parliament was pro-
rogued to that day accordingly.
The Lords Commissioners then withdrew, us did also
the officers of the House of Commons.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
PRIVY COUNCIL, Dec. 12.
The Committee of the Privy Council for the affairs of
Guernsey and Jersey sat to-day again. The Lords
present were—the Lord Chancellor, Mr. Baron Parke,
Sir James Graham, the Chancellor of the Duchy of
Cornwall, and the Judge of the Admiralty Court. Their
Lordships sat at ten o'clock instead of eleven o'clock, as
on the former occasion.
THE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OP GUERNSAT.
Their Lordships proceeded with the further consi-
deration of the petitions of the bailiff and jurats of the
Royal Court of the Island of Guernsey, touching the
conduct of the Lieutenant-Governor of that island.
Mr. S. WORTLEY resumed, and concluded his address
on behalf of the petitioners.
Mr. ROEBUCK then proceeded to address their Lord-
ships on behalf of the Crown.

COURT 01 QUEEN'S BENCH, Dec. 12.
(Sittings at the Guildhall at Nisi Prius, before Lord
DENMAN and London Special Juries,)
This was the first day of taking speeiai jury cases in
the City of London. 'bp court was occupied the whole
ipopnin4 in trying an uninteresting case relating to the
non-delivery of some hops Thu case of the Queen v.
)oughts, Whioh was expected to cu:ne on during the
present sittings, is postponed until the sittings OW next
term, in consequence of the unavOiditioi9 Otteue of Mr.
Kelly.

SHERIFFS' COURT. Dec. 12.
PERRY V. PEACOCK.
The plaintiff in this action seeks to recover the sum of
201. for goods bargained and sold, and for goods sold and
delivered. The defendant paid 10/. into Court.
It appeared that in February last the plaintiff sold to
defendant a quantity of shop fixtures, including a bin,
counter, Ste., together with weights and measures, some
of which were removed by defendant, and some left in
plaintiff's hands, those removed coming under the deno-
mination of goods sold and delivered, and those left, un-
der the denomination of goods bargained and sold. It
was proved thqt 0!1 the day on which the goods were
clefOxictnt offered plaintiff 181. for them. After that
plaintiff said that he was anxious that no mistake should be
made concerning the price of the goods, and he used the
words, " I have this day sold to you a quanttty of fix-
tures for twenty ponads," to which defendant made iso '
stilefinicrant has often been requested to remove
the goods which had been left on plaintiff's premises, to
which he always replied that he did not want them at
presep

Mr. PEARSON, who appeared for defendant, said that,
in his opinion, the plaintiff had made out but a very poor
case. It was proved and admitted that eertaio fixtures
had been sold by plainta to defendant, but what was the
value of t►lose goods had not bees proved. Now he (Mr.
Pearson) would undertake to prove, by the evidence of
two experienced brokers, that the goods were not worth
more than 101, which sum had been paid into Court by
defendant,

Mr. Cook and Mr Gardner, the two brokers alluded
to, proved that on the 30th of July last, defendant em-
plowed them to make a valuation of certain fixtures
(which fornled part of those on account of which the ac-
lion was brought) ; the valuati,,n made by them
waa 81. 15s.

The jury. after some deliberation, found a verdict for
the plaintiff. They put the datuagea at 81, on account
defendant's adteisaion that the goods were worth 181.,
IW. having been paid into Court.
The Court rose at half-past eleven o'clock.

COURT OF BANKRUPTCY, Dec. 12.
The cases heard this morning before the lion. Com-
missioners were principally insolvencies from the country,
of no interest whatever.

WINTER ASSIZES.
MIDLAND CIRCUIT.—Derby, Dec, 11.
(Before Mr. Justice PATTESON.)
Sarah leeves stood indicted for having, at Whitwell, in
this county, on the 29d of July last, unlawfully and mali•
elously cut and wounded John Hall. with the intent to mur-
der, to do grievous bodily harm, &c. The prisoner, as usual
in such cases, was variously indicted ; but the Ldarned
Judge remarked, in his charge to the grand jury at the open,
ing of the assizes, if in the present ca,so death had ensued
the offence would have amounted to murder.
Mr. Wildman conducted the prosecution ; the prisoner was
undefended.

The case was similar in some respects to many which have
occurred during the present circuit. Wakes constitute an
annual joyous day or festival in the rural districts of this
part of the country, and it unfortunately happens that the
recurrence of these festivities is usually accompanied with
some brutal atrocity, On the 23d of July last, Whitwell
Wake took place, and amongst other persons who were
guests at a public-house kept by a person named Green,
were Hail, the prosecutor, a man named Ellis, another named
Sparrow, the woman Reeves (the prisoner), and various
other parties. According to custom drinking and dancing
was the order of the day and the night, and the prisoner was
among the party so early as three in the afternoon. At nine,
according to the evidence of the police, the prisoner, a mar-
ried woman, whose hus)and resided in the neighbourhood.
was quite drunk. About two o'clock in the morning, the
party having then left the house, wrestling and larking
commenced ►n the road opposite. Ellis and Sparrow were
wrestling together, when Hall, apparently for the purpose of
parting them, in a friendly spirit laid hold of Ellis's arm.
From what motive did not appear, but during this appa-
rently very amicable encounter, the prisoner plunged a
knife into the side of the prosecutor, Hall ; but, most for-
tunately, the intestines were not penetrated, or death must
have ensued. lie was the principal witness for the prose-
cution to-day.
It further appeared that during the same morning and
within a few moments of the time the prisoner committed
this murderous assault upon Hall, she also stabbed Sparrow
and others enjoying the festivities of the wake. The pri-
soner was afterwards apprehended at another public-house
by Holden, the constable of the district, and when taken
said (producing a clasp knife), "This is what I did it with."
The facts of the case were undenied, the prisoner's defence
being that she was so drunk she did not know what she was
about.

The jury returned a verdict of Guilty with Intent to inflict
grievous bodily harm (not finding with the intent to
murder), and
The Learned JUDGE deferred the sentence.
David Gosling and George Hall were indicted for burglari
ously breaking into the house of Samuel Cooke, at Ludworth,
on the 7th of August last, and stealing various articles of
wearing apparel. The two prisoners were old offenders.
The jury found them Guilty, aad
The Learned JUDGE sentenced them to 15 years' traria-
portation.—Hall immediately threw his hat into the body of
the Court.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.- -.York, Dec. 10.
(Before Mr. Justice COLERIDGR.)
MURDER.— Win. Kendra'', aged 22, farm labourer, and
John Kendrew. 24, shoemaker, brothers, were placed at the
bar, charged, the former by the coroner's inquisition with the
wilful murder of Mr. William Inchbald, at Dunsforth, in the
parish of Aldborough, in the West Riding, and the latter
with feloniously harbouring and maintaining William Ken-
drew, well knowing him to have committed a felony in
shooting William Inchbald.
Mr. WILKINS stated the case to the -jury, and then called
upwards of thirty witnesses, who clearly proved, by a chain
of circumstantial evidence, the case, the details of which have
been recently before the public.
The following additional evidence was given by the father
of the prisoners :—William Kendrew said--I remember
the Wednesday night before Mr. Inchbald was shot. I went
to bed at nine o'clock that night. No one lives with me.
My son William came to me about twelve o'clock that night.
He came to the door and he would come in, but I did'nt want
to take him in at that time of night. He said, "If I did'nt
open the door he'd got a double-barrelled gun, and he'd blow
say brains out." I let him in, and he slept at my house on
that night, and on Friday night next, September the 27th ;
I went to work in the morning,and at night when I returned
William had gone, and I never saw him again until now. I
found that a new fustian coat of mine was gone then, and in
its place was an old jean coat of William's. My son John,
the other prisoner, brought back my coat to me. I was
present when the police-officer searched my premises. The
gun was found in a pig-sty. I had never seen that gun
before.
Evidence was adduced in support of the charg'e against
John Kendrewl but it did not appear to be %inclusive.
Mr. Justice Cot.Ertirivat semmed up at considerable length,
going over the whole of the evidence, and commenting on
every fact as it was deposed to. His Lordship told the jury
that this was a case of circumstantial evidence, but it was
quite possible that a charge might be well proved by such
evidence. If they found facts and circumstances all tending
one way, and fitted together so closely that not a single link
of the chain was wanting or broken, there could be little
doubt that such a chain of evidence would be satisfactory.
It wa+ for the jury to determine whether this was such a case.
The jury retired, and, after an absence of 411 111111Utasi re-
turned with a verdict of Guilty against William Kendrew,
and of Acquittal as regarded John Kendrew.
His LORDSHIP, in a most impressive and affecting manner,
pronounced upon him the sentence of death, and told him to
give up all hope of earthly mercy.
The wretched man appeared wholly unmoved, and le t
liir in the Mofit Careless manner, 'ex(ilainal% as he went, 1
"Thank ye, it that be all."

BRISTOL, DEC. 11.—The Great Britain steamer is
released from her captivity; she passed through the lucks
this evening, and is now lying outside, Rho will pro-
pped 0 the riverls mouth to-Morrow morning. An at-
tempt was made to take her out by this morning's tide,
which did not succeed, in consequence of the prevalence of
easterly winds, the tide did not reach its expected height,
and she was obliged to be put back. In the course of the
day, a much larger portion of the side- wall of the luck
has been removed ; everything was done to repdgr her draft of water as light as posAble. clirectors intend
Bowling* to Loilkdop, where she wid not fail to prove
an astonishment to the thousands who will flock to
Titif bee r

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
(YESTERDAY.)
UNION-HALL.
Three females, named Elizabeth Langthorn, Mary
Ann Sullivan, and Martha Bridges, were brought
before Mr. Cottingham, charged with stealing a pair
of French clogs from the shop of Mr. Wilcoxon, King
William-street, City; a pair of cloth boots from Mr.
Dutton's, Stone's-end, Borough ; and two pairs, lined
with fur, from a shop in the Walworth-road.
George Daniels, shopman to Mr. Wilcoxon, said
that about three o'clock yesterday afternoon the pri-
soners came into the shop, and examined several pairs
of boots; they left without making any purchase.
After they were gone he missed a pair of French
clogs from a stand near where the prisoners had stood.
He instantly dispatched the shop-lad after them. The
latter overtook the prisoners near Adelaide-place,
where they each of them tried on the clogs. He went
in search of a constable, and on his return the pri-
soners were gone.
City-policeman 555 stated that, from the descrip-
tion given to him of the prisoners by the witnesses, he
went in search of them, and at five o'clock found
them in Edward-street, Whitechapel. He found on
Langthorn the pair of clogs; policeman 526 assisted
him in conveying them to the station-house. When
et the latter place, Sullivan became very violent, and
refused to be searched. She was handcuffed, when
the female searcher found three pairs of cloth boots
under her dress. While the latter prisoner was con-
fined in the cell at Moor-lane, she attempted to
strangle herself, by fastening a string round her neck.
Frederick Price, shopman to Mr. Dutton, of
Stone's-end and the Walworth-road, identified the
three pair of cloth boots as the property of his master.
They had never been sold. Ihe foreman identified
Bridges as frequently visiting the shop in the Wal-
worth-road, from which place two pairs of boots had
been stolen.
The clogs were identified by Mr. Wilcoxson's
shopman.
City policeman add said that the prisoners were
well known Whitechapel thieves. Sullivan was known
by the name of "Fhlin Poll."
Langthorn made ne defence.
Sullivan said that she purchased the boots of the
latter, and did not know they were stolen.
B.rldges said that she had nothing to do with the
robbery.
Mr. COTTIiGHAM said that he never heard of such
a wholesale system of shoplifting. Great credit was
due to the City constables in apprehending the pri.
soners, and tracing the owners of the property.
From their statement there was no doubt that
the prisoners were old thieves, but their avoca-
tion would now be stopped for some time. He com-
mitted them for trial.

FATAL ACCIDENT on the DOVER
RAILWAY.
FURTHER PARTICULARS.
The accident happened on that part of the line known as
the Wooden Viaduct, which runs over Blue Anchor-fields,
Bermondsey, about three-quarters of a mile from the termi-
nus above named, to the original line of the Croydon Rail-
way, between New-cross and that of the Greenwich line.
The viaduct is formed of massive fir timber, having upwards
of two hundred arches, each with a span of full twenty feet,
and supported by piles driven into the earth ; the whole, as
will be seen hereafter, was of great solidity.
It appeared that the ill-fated train left the Bricklayers'
Arms station for Dover at twenty minutes after twelve
o'clock, the engine being driven by Robert Buckley, an ex-
perienced driver in the employ of the Company, attended
by a fireman or stoker, named Aaron Wilkinson. It con-
sisted of eleven luggage waggons, a break, and a second-class
carriage, in which was deposited the packages for the fo-
reign mail, under the charge of an officer of the General
Post-office. There were in the break waggon the Com-
pany's guards, as well as the servants belonging to the
carriers—in all five or six persons. This carriage was the
last on the train, and fortunately escaped uninjured. The
whole of the others, excepting the second-class carriage,
were more or less shattered by the force of the concussion.
The engine, which is comparatively a new one, and of more
than ordinary power we understand, on quitting the station
proceeded along the line towards the viaduct, to use the ex-
pression of those who were present at the time, " as easily as
if she had nothing behind her." It is the practice pursued
by the engineers to have another locomotive engine in readi-
ness, to assist in driving all trains over the viaduct, which is
rather upon the incline. As the train advanced towards that
spot another engine followed in the rear, and, it is stated,
had just reached the break, when a terrific explosion oc-
curred, which was thus described by one of the guards to the
Directors, who met on Wednesday :—The first thing that
occurred, he said, was a smart explosion, which, the next
instant, was followed by another explosion of far greater
force than the preceding one, and which, with a subsequent
tremendous crash, almost stunned him. The concussion
threw him forward, and the carriage hi which he was was
so violently shaken that he thought it was falling to pieces.
He immediately jumped up, and got off the carriage to see
what had happened, but could perceive nothing in conse-
quence of a cloud of steam, and large pieces of burning
coke descending in a shower in every direction. For a
moment or so he was completely bewildered, it being too
apparent that some fearful accident had occurred. As soon,
however, as the steam and smoke had in some measure
cleared away, he discovered the line to be completely blocked
up with the waggons, which were spread across the two lines
of rails, and piled many of them upon one another. He, with
the rest of the guards, called to the engine-drlver, and also
his companion, the stoker, but receiving no answer, they
climbed over the pile of waggons in the direction in which
they expected to find the engine, a work not accomplished
without considerable difficulty, for they found that some of
the waggons were shattered, and that, to all appearance, the
viaduct had broken in. On arriving at the other end of the
train, they discovered that the engine had burst, and had
gone over the viaduct, and was partially buried in the earth
beneath, whilst the tender was hanging over the side of the
viaduct, torn and folded up, as if it had been made of mere
pasteboard. its carriage having fallen to the ground about
twenty yards from where the engine lay. It was evident
that the explosion must have been heard for a considerable
distance, as numerous persons were to be seen hurrying to-
wards the spot, but to obtain efficient aid, the pilot engine,
which was to have propelled the train from the rear, was
dispatched back to the station. In the meanwhile search was
made for the engine-driver and the stoker, and shortly the for-
mer, Robert Buckley, was found lying some 20 or 30 yards
up the line where the engine went off, with one of the large
waggons partly resting upon his body. From the dangerous
position of the waggons, some time elapsed before it could be
ascertained whether he was alive or dead. However, upon
reaching him he was found to be dead,' and even then the
body could not be extricated for upwards of an hour and a half.
The stoker was found in the rear of the train, lying on the
opposite rails, bleeding profusely, and apparently dead, with
the whole of his jacket, except the cuffii, blown off his beck.
Immediately upon the arrival of assistance from the station,
Mr. George, the secretary, who came with the engines, had
the poor fellow wrapped in blankets, placed in a second-class
carriage and conveyed to the station, and from thence taken
by a cab to Guy's Hospital, where it was found that he was
still living.
As soon as possible the line was cleared of all obstructions,
so that the regular traffic might not be impeded, and at an
early hour the Directors, who had assembled on the spot,
with Mr. Cubitt, the locomotive engineer, and Mr. Gregory,
of the Croydon line, considered it necessary to forward im-
mediate intelligence of what had happened to Colonel Pasley,
the Inspector-General of Railroads, and who arrived soon after
nine o'clock, when a strict examination was gone into, the
result of which is as follows ;
The bursting of the locomotive being the supposed cause
of the accident, their first object was to examine the engine,
as it lay imbedded in the earth. After getting off the viaduct
it had pitched head foremost into the earth, a depth of four
feet, and then turned over. They found the fire box was
blown out, as well as the whole of the fire bars; and the
inner casing, between which and the outer casing the steam
generated, was also torn away. The next point was to
examine what effect the explosion had had upon the viaduct,
and the probable cause of her getting off the same. They
found, upon inquiry, that there had been two explosions;
the first apparently took place about eighty feet from the
spot where the engine was lying. The fire bars at the bottom
of the fire box had been blown completely through the
viaduct into arch No. 134, making a hole three or four feet
square. The second explosion (the most severe of the two),
not only blew the fire box through the arch No. 133, but such
was the force of the steam, to use the phrase of our informant,
that the engine "jumped," and descended partly on the
rails and partly off, a distance of eight or ten yards,
crushing the immense pieces of timber that supported the
viaduct. The force of the explosion carried the ponderous
machine still further, rebounding as she proceeded, tearing
away the timbers of the viaduct, and finally throwing her
over the side, a depth of eighteen or twenty feet. The fire
bars and part of the inner casing of the fire box were found
at the bottom of the arches above mentioned. The front
door of the smoke box was discovered about 100 yards dis-
tant, to which place it had been blown. The engine does not
possess any peculiar construction, the form being similar to
the others employed on the game line; and according to all
accounts she had made several journeys before. The inner
casing of the fire box, where there is little doubt the mischief
originated, is of sheet copper nearly an inch in thickness;
and although General Pasley's opinion was not publicly made
known, we understand from good authority that he attri -
butes the cause to a flaw in the copper, or a defect in ri-
vetting the casing. So far as regards any defect in the con-
struction of the viaduct, he has pronounced it to be perfectly
safe and secure.

Throughout Wednesday workmen were busily employed
repairing the viaduct, which will occupy considerable time, as
the damage is extensive. One line, however, is uninjured,
and the trains continue to run as usual.
Upon inquiry last night, we ascertained that the stoker.
Aaron Wilkinson, was still alive, but in such a deplorable
state as to be unable to give any history of the shocking oc •
curience. His skull is fractured, his left arm broken, and
other portions of his person dreadfully scalded. His unfor-
tunate companion was about thirty-two years of age ; he was
a single man, and resided at Ashford, near Dover, where his
relations live. The Company give him a most excellent cha-
racter, and say he was one of the most experienced hands in
their employ.
The foreign mail, which was in the second-class carriage,
was taken out, and, by order of Mr. George, the Secretary,
forwarded by coach to the New-cross station, where a special
engine was in readiness to convey the same on to Dover, and
where it arrived about the usual time.
The Inquest upon the body of the unfortunate driver has
not as yet been appointed.

DIED. the
On the 7th inst., at South-hill-park, the Right o°'a<
Earl of Limerick, aged 87.
On the Bth inst., at Greenwich, Lavinia, eldest dallghter
Mr. Meddlicot, aged 19. A 1314/41
On the 18th of September, at Shikarpore, in Sinue.itery.
Captain William Timbrell, of the Bengal Horse Artit,etocast,
On the 16th of October, at Balicherries, near lice. I
Bombay, Francis Henry Denys, Bart, of Stratforcl-taisb,
On the 14th of October, at Meerut, Captain D• I'
the lOth
inst Cavalry. Pa'
..._
On the 3d ~ at Snow-hill, Mrs. J. Edmonds, "gipi*
giro'
SUPERSTITION, ENTHUSIASM, AND DEATII.—On On the sth inst., at Bletchingley, Surrey,
er
Saturday, November 23, Mr. Roots, of Biddenden, hay- Esq., aged 73.
cleithrOeeeantmt.hheedf7otrhthrionwst.a,
gAefdr.6BThomaa Nunn, of Great Jlll3
illg a daughter very unwell, and efforts by charm to re-
„Ad 11004*
store her proving ineffectual, he determined to take her
On, the 7th inst., Elizabeth North, of Hareu"-
lo the notorious enthusiast, Mr. Coachman, near Sinar-1.•
,he BO'
den, of whom Mr. Roosts is a disciple. The youngwornan On the Bth inst. at Midway. terrace, Exeter, .--- 0
objected to the removal, but her father insisted on her Tothill, Rector of Ilittisleigh, Devon.
going, and the oonsequence was that she died the next On the 9th inst., at Greenwich, Estl'' ate
going,
This occasioned considerable excitement, and sus- of Abingdon- street, Westminster. f Attie°
relict 0
pidion arose that some improper treatment had taken On the 9th inst., at Peckham, Sarah, the
place, and that the case required a judicial inquest. This Scott, Esq., aged 78. John Wadraaa'
01°
major •
was called on Tuesday se'nnight, but some circumstances On the 9th' inst., at Clapham New-park,
~,.
Henry Grote, late of the 33d Regiment, the
rendered it necessary to adjourn the decision till last
On the 9th inst., at New street,
Monday. It appeared from a post =orient examination I:fil'i
that the deceased's lungs were inflamed, but her death wiofonofthMer9. liii:t".inJ. Browne, aged 45.
ove, KentAivgtoa, ,
might ha been accelerated by the improper removal ; Vale, wife oftinst., at
ttircuoii.-grove,
.ged 15. ....- ---.;f
the jury, therefore, could not give a verdict of man- --...., Mr. anal ,
__ ,
.00,12,
slaughter. The enthusiast, Coachman, was very imp, r- Ltanion: Printed anu eahlished b MIiRDO. 1
.No. 1 pi
tinent to C. Willis, Esq., the Coroner, on his prudently N 1 ' Tie Su* °°"'lG2lll3il
o. 12, Strand, Printer, at
in OS
reproving him for pasisting in ilia folly and delusion.,- I
Strand, in the Precinct-of the savoy, ~ •
ei afrfah laiddleses, Friday, Numbs: 13,18,x.
lienagindg4tOri, Daly,
----