The Sun.
London, England, 1844-12-23 00:00:00

STATE OF TRADE.

The imports of the week have been very insignifi-
cant, and a very large fleet of vessels, which must be
in the immediate neighbourhood, have been prevented
getting in, owing to the still continuing easterly winds.
Holders of produce on the spot are reaping consi-
derable advantage from this circumstance, and per•
haps, on the whole, adverse winds were never less
seriously felt; for, so late in the year, we seldom find
the market for goods brisk, and importers have
always abstained from pressing sales until after
the first week in January. The stock of cotton
is, from the same cause, getting into smaller
compass, and the excess over last year is now only
about JOO,OOO bales. There has been a quiet
market this week, without apparent change in prices;
but buyers have the best of the bargain. Strenuous
efforts are making to obtain the abolition of the duty
on this article, the work being committed to the hands
of influential parties. In Liverpool, generally speak-
ing, there seems a strong feeling that no particular
claim exists to entitle cotton alone to be exempted
from duty. The soap trade are making an effort for
a remission of their duty, and, as it seems to us, with
a more general ground for the application ; they
complain bitterly of the system of collection, as
it now exists ; and whilst, perhaps, a modi-
fication of that system would satisfy many, yet
they go for a total repeal. This is a branch of ma-
nufacturing industry which is in a great measure
confined to this immediate neighbourhood, and might
be, as we hear, very considerably increased, even if
the trade were freed from the annoying survey to
which they are now subject, whilst, at the same time,
it is thought the revenue would be very much assisted.
It is evident from what is passing in all quarters,
that there will be again an anxious session, and the
door will be opened to all sorts of speculative invest-
ments, in the hope of a favourable change of duty to
assist the articles purchased.—Liverpool Mercury of
Friday.

SEASONABLE ligNiwousercr.—Mrs. John Master-
Man, jun., after having attended prayers at St. Dionis•
back Church, Fenchurch-street, on Friday morning, with
the other ladies of the Committee of the Infant School of
that neighbourhood, distributed blankets, flannels, and
other useful winter clothing to upwards of 60 mothers of
the infants under their care, the benevolent contributior
of that lady.
ACCIDENT TO THE CHAIRMAN Or THE GLOUCES-
TERSHIRE QUARTER SESSIONS.—A rather serious ace!
dent befel Mr. Purnell, the chairman of the Gloucester
shire Quarter Sessions, this week. He was skating.;,
along with some other gentlemen, on a pond near hi.
residence at Stinchcomb Park, near Dursley, and, in
consequence of a fall, his thigh bone was broken. Air
Purnell is an accomplished skater, and fond of the exer-
cise, and one report is that he was skating backward.,
and cane in contact with another gentleman, who was
doing the same, but comirl in an opposite direotion, alba
that the accident was ocesetobed by *ail:asks.

JUDGESat the CENTRAL CRIMINAL
COURT, 1845.
The following is a list of the Judges who will preside
in rotation at the sittings of the Central Criminal Court
during the year 1845, up to the commencement of
Michaelmas T'erm :
January B.—The Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer
(Sir Frederick Pollock), Mr. Justice Patteson, and Mr.
Justice Erie.
February s.—Mr. Baron Alderson, Mr. Justice Wil-
liams, and Mr. Justice Cresswell.
March s.—The Judges of the Norfolk and North
Wales Circuits.
April 9.—Mr. Baron Gurney, Mr. Justice Coleridge
and Mr. Justice Coltman.
May 14.—The Lord Chief Justice Denman, Mr.
Baron Alderson, and Mr. Justice Coltman.
June 18.—The Lord Chief Justice Tindal, Mr. Justice
Patteson, and Mr. Baron Gurney.
July 9.—The Judges of the Norfolk and North Wales
Circuits.
August 20.—Mr. Justice Williams, Mr. Baron Rolfe,
and Mr. Justice Cresswell.
September 17.—Mr. Baron Parke, Mr. Justice Wight-
man, and Mr. Justice Erle.
October 29.—The Lord Chief Baron of the Exchequer
(Sir Frederick Pollock), Mr. Justice Coleridge, and Mr.
Justice Menlo.

IRELAND.
CHARITABLE, BEQUESTS ACT.
DUBLIN, DEC. 19.—The following is the opinion of
the law officers of the Crown upon the case submitted by
direction of the Lord-Lieutenant, in consequence of the
representation made by Dr. Murray, Roman Catholic
Archbishop of Dublin, who had transmitted to his Ex-
cellency the published opinion of Mr. O'Connell respect-
ing the operation of the Charitable Bequests Act as re-
gards the regular clergy in Ireland i—
" QUERIES ON THE CONSTRUCTION OF THE 7 ♦ND 8
VICT., C. 97 (CHARITABLE BEQUESTS BILL, IRELAND),
• - FOR THE OPINION OF THE RIOHT HON. THE AT -
TORNEY ♦ND THE SOLICITOR-GENERAL.
" First,—Whether the provisions of the 10 Geo. 4,
cap. 7, which are referred to in the 15th sec., of the
Charitable Donations and Bequests Act, render any
donation or bequest to any member or members of any
religious order or community in the said provisions men-
tioned unlawful ?
" Secondly—Whether the Charitable Donations and
Bequests Act is calculated to prejudice or raise any
' doubt, by implication or otherwise, as to the pre-exist-
ing rights of any member or members of such religious
order or community as aforesaid ? And if it be, what
alterations would it be desirable to have made in the Act,
for the purpose of preventing such implication or doubt ?
" Thirdly—lf a devise, donation, or bequest for cha-
ritable purposes be invalid, as being contrary to the
policy of the law, would it be the duty of the Commis-
sioners to sue for the recovery of the same, and apply it
to other charitable purposes—or how should it be reco-
vered or disposed of ?"

" OPINION.-(COPT.)
" First—There is no provision in the Roman Catholic
Relief Act, making devises, donations, or bequests to,
or in trust for, religious orders, communities, or societies
of men of the Church of Rome, bound by monastic or
religious vows, unlawful. But a court of equity would
not enforce a trust in favour of such a religious com-
munity, as it would be against the policy of 10 Geo. IV.,
cap. 7.
" We are, however, of opinion that the 10 Geo. IV.,
cap. 7, does not, either expressly or by implication, ren-
der a devise, donation, or bequest to a member or mem-
bers of such religious order unlawful. A devise, dona-
tion, or bequest to a member of such religious order, for
his own use, or upon any trust not contrary to law,
would, in our opinion, be valid.
" Secondly—We are of opinion that the 7 and 8 Vic.,
cap. 97, has not in this respEct made any alteration in
the law, and that it is not calculated to prejudice or raise
any doubt, by implication or otherwise, as to the pre-
existing rights of any member or members of such reli-
gious order or community.
" The 22d section provides that nothing herein eon-
' tained shall be taken to avoid or render unlawful any
donation, devise, or bequest which but for this Act
would be lawful, except as to the time within which the
deed, will, or instrument containing such donation, de-
vise, or bequests for pious or charitable uses is hereinbe-
fore required to be executed and registered.'
" This latter part of the section, as to the time within
which the instrument is to be executed, refers to the 16th
clause of the Act, which clause applies to members of
the Established Church, to Roman Catholics, and to all
Dissenters.

"Notwithstanding the enactment in the 22d section,
above mentioned, it has been suggested that the proviso
at the end of the 15th section contains an express legis-
lative declaration that a devise, donation, or bequest to a
member of a religious order is illegal—we do not concur
in this opinion.

" The 15th section of the Act was intended to facili-
tate the endowment of the Roman Catholic secular clergy
—and we are of opinion that the proviso in that section
was added to prevent any question being raised that
it authorised a donation, devise, or bequest to the com-
missioners and their successors for the benefit of any
but secular clergy.
" The proviso does not, in ouropinion, either expressly
or by implication, render illegal any donation, devise, or
bequest, which but for the passing of the Act would
have been lawful. The 22d section of the Act renders
this construction of the proviso quite clear. The sta-
tute confers no benefit on the regular clergy—but it
creates no disability, either expressly er by implication.
" Thirdly—lf a charitable donation, devise, or be-
quest be invalid, as being contrary to the policy of the
law, it belongs to the Crown to dispose of it by the
sign manual for such legal charitable purposes as to the
Crown may seem proper. And when it belongs to the
Crown, by sign manual, to dispose of property given or
devised for charitable purposes, the proceedings should
be an information filed by the Attorney-General, and
not a suit by, or in the name of, the Commissioners of
Charitable Donations and Bequests.—Attorney-General
v. Mathews, 2 Levins, 167 ; Clifford v. Francis, Free-
man's Equity Reports (Ed. 1823), p. 130 ; Attorney-
General v. Syderfin, 1, Vernon, 224 ; Moggeridge v.
Tha,ckwell, 7 Vesey, p. 74.
" It is to be observed, that by the former Charitable
Bequests Act (40 George 111. c. 75, Irish), in case it
should be inexpedient, unlawful, or impracticable to ap-
ply a charitable donation, devise,' or bequest, strictly
according to the directions and intentions of the donor
or donors, the Commissioners were authorised to apply
the same to such charitable and pious purposes as they
should judge to be nearest and most conformable to the
directions and intentions of the donor or donors.
" This enactment is omitted from the Act of last ses-
sion. " T. B. C. SMITH.

" Dec. 13, 1844." " RICH. W. GREENE.
MEETING IN THE DOMINICAL CHAPEL

There was a very numerous meeting held this day, in
Denmark-street Chapel. Alderman Staunton presided.
After resolutions were passed, strongly condemnatory of
the Charitable Bequests Act,
Mr. O'CoNNELL addressed the meeting. Tie com-
menced by adverting to the Extraordinary Gazette of
last nighty When he last spoke in opposition to the
board, he did not know how it was constituted. Now
he had the names of its members officially announced,
and any remarks which he had to make in reference to
the Catholic Prelates who had consented to act upon it,
should be with the great respect and veneration.—
(Cries of " Hear, bear.") It was a triumph of one
portion of the Catholic community over another, and he
was one of the defeated party. This was regarded as a
triumph by the Government, who could not wait
to announce it in the ordinary course, but adopted
the mode used in time of war—they announced
their victory in an Extraordinary Gazette.—(Hear, hear.)
He regretted not been able to agree in opinion with these
venerated prelates; but, after all, they were like himself
only fallible men, and, with great respect, he expressed
his opinion that they were in error. He feared that the
Bill would have the effect of seriously checking Catholic
bequests. Men would not like to have, their affairs ran-
sacked by a board, the majority of which were hostile
to his religious belief. Mr. O'Connell stated that he
had keen a letter frem Rome, and from a quarter entitled
to the most implicit credence, stating that a Mr. William
Peter, an English agent, was in that city negotiating a
I concordat with England, in connexion with the Austrian
envoy.
ANOTHER MURDER IN TIPPERARY.

The Evening Post contains the following:—" A letter,
we understand, has been received in town, announcing
the lamentable intelligence that another murder has
been committed in the northern division of Tipperary.
The victim of agrarian crime, in this instance, was Mr.
Henry Carden, who resided near Templemore. It was
stated that he was fired at yesterday, and died soon after.
No details are given. The Tipperary papers contained
some weeks since accounts of proceedings on the part of
Mr. Carden against some tenantry."
ATTEMPT AT MURDER IN MEATH.--A letter from
Athboy states that an attempt at assassination was made
in that neighbourhood. An extensive grazier, whose
name we have not learned, went out yesterday evening,
accompanied by his brother to look at some cattle, when
they were fired upon. The brother, it is stated, was
wounded, but we hope not dangerously.
FUNERAL OF THE LATE EARL OF LlMERlCE.—There-
mains of the late Earl of Limerick, with those of the late
Lord Glentworth, grandson, and Lady Mary Pery,
daughter of his Lordship, will arrive at Limerick, on
Saturday, and be laid in state at the family mansion, in
Henry-street, until Monday morning, from whence they
will be conveyed for interment in St. Mary's Cathedral,
followed by the executors and relatives of the deceased.
A CURIOUS ESCAPE FROM SHIPWRECK.—As an out-
ward bound vessel was bearing up for this port on Tues-
day evening, she was driven by the fury of the storm,
bowsprit foremost, (in Creden Head, with such force that
the bowsprit was shivered in atoms. The recoil sent her
back some hundred yards from the rock, and, notwith-
standing the fearful concussion, she was enabled to reach
this port in perfect safety.—Waterford Chronicle.

DEATH or A FEMALE WHILST WATCHING A
CORPSE.—On Friday Mr. Baker held an i nquest at
the Gun tavern, Gun-docks, Wapping, on view of the
body of Eleanor Thomas, aged seventy-five years. It
appeared by the evidence of a brother of the deceased
that on Wednesday evening, about seven o'clock, the
deceased was sent for by some neighbours residing in
Well-street, Wapping, to sit up during the night with
the corpse of their mother. She was then in her usual
apparent good health. About four o'clock in the morn-
ing deceased was suddenly seized with illness. Her
brother was sent for, and she was removed to her own
house in Gun-street, in an apparently lifeless state. Mr.
Betson, a surgeon, was in a few minutes in attendance,
but, upon examination, he pronounced life to be quite
extinct. The gentleman said he attributed death to an
attack of spasms in the stomach. Verdict in accordance
with the medical testimony.
The subscription for public baths in Birmingham
alremly amounts to 4'600/, a fair earnest of the accom-
plishment of ale philanthropic purpose in Tiew,

JO
11
SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNAMe,„..
PlO TIM EVENING PAPERS OF SAT e.:
lIIIVALL3-,A
GLOBE.—It is curious to observe lierk fN
most intelligent persons will believe, oicigect
lieve, when their credulity is urged Ay 'xi cap
their ease or their interest. Th-i+etaitfic
know how they deal with the poorer:; :
entirely shut their eyes to a matter offiliti
experience. Of late they have even written and
talked a great deal about it. No one new in-
dulges in the notion of any innate difference be-
tween the classes distinguished in the artificial order
of society. All are admitted to be equally endowed
with a natural sense of justice—a capacity to appre-
ciate kindness, and a tendency to r tsent injury.
Yet wealth, holding the lion's share of political power,
uses it mainly in a scrupulous care of itself—seldom
thinks of poverty till its miseries show some upward
tendency—and withal believes that nothing more is
necessary to the permanence of such a system than
the occasional passing of a few Acts of Parliament,
recognising the existence of the labourer only in
order to make sweeping regulations as to how long
he shall work, or how his wages shall be paid, or on
what conditions he shall enter a workhouse. Rick
burning and Chartism are dreadful things ; but
we treat them too much as our ancestors did thunder
and lightning :—we deeply deplore their effects,
and do not deeply investigate their causes. We hate
already drawn attention to the spirit which seems
to have animated the Legislature in the reforms
of the last few years—to the remarkable facility with
which right principles have been adopted and forced
into practice in one direction, and the extreme difficulty
which has attended their introduction in another. But
the doings of Parliament present to us the opinions and
feelings prevalent upon this subject among the wealthier
classes, upon so large a scale, and so modified, as to ex-
hibit but half their errors and inconsistencies. Let
them be examined as developed in the local legislation
of large towns, or in the local influence of wealthy in-
dividuals in rural districts, and their want of what has
been well termed " Christian principle" becomes still
more strikingly apparent. In all municipal arrange-
ments, the safety, the comfort, the health of the rich
are first cared for, and the poor are left to take care of
themselves. Mansions replete with everyluxury and con-
venience that taste or ingenuity can suggest, are every-
where found the near neighbours of hovels less fitted
fur human habitation than the huts or wigwams of the
least civilised savages on earth. No house pays so
good a profit to its owner as that tenanted by the pool.
man. None is constructed with so little regard to
the health or comfort of its tenant. The " gentry "
everywhere bend the municipal authority to the drain-
ing, ventilation, and cleansing of their own dwellings,
and leave those inhabited by " artisans and labourers"
destitute of the benefit of these processes. Superior
intelligence, the fruit of a better education, places the
resources of modern science within the reach of the
former. These are freely used—for themselves.
They are equally applicable to the condition of, and
far more needed by, those beneath them ; but how
seldom are they so applied ! These are no hasty or
ill-considered assertions. They are based upon sf
careful and painful review of evidence which is only
too ample.

STANDARD. The Bishop of Exeter has
written and published a letter to the churchwardens
of St Sidwell's and St. James's parishes, in Exeter,
in reply to an address from those parishes. Every
one is prepared to expect eloquent and graceful
writing from the Bishop of Exeter ; but the
reply before us possesses merits beyond eloquence
and grace. It is kindly, affectionate, and even pa-
thetic ; a picture of the struggle of an able, honest,
and warm-hearted man, between the wish to con-
ciliate cn one side, and a severe sense of duty on the
other. The Right Rev. Lord considers himself as
(if we may use the phrase) amagistrate in the Church,
not required perhaps to be over vigilant in detecting
evasions or transgressions of the Church's laws, but
under a peremptory obligation to see those laws exe-
cuted to the best of his judgment, arid in their exact
spirit, without reference to the motives of those who
put their power in motion ; further, as a magis.
trate, strictly bound to make all the legal.
provisions against any probable disturbance of the
Church's peace, even though at the cost of .offering
violence to his own feelings, in seeming to take part
against those on whose side substantial right and
justice are manifestly arrayed ; lastly, as a magis-
trate who would betray bis trust if he allowed
his authority to be treated lightly. This is plainly
the Bishop of Exeter's view of the nature
and duties of the episcopal office ; and we can
imagine no better conception of the nature
and duties of the office, were a bishop merely
"a civil magistrate ;" but we have a higher esti-
mate of the office of a bishop—we regard it as not
merely in name, but as, in fact, paternal, and we
think that as a father has power to restrain or to relax
the domestic rule, as his judgment shall direct, so
has a bishop considerable power to modify even the
Church's laws in the government of his diocese, not
indeed by a direct action, but by the exercise of a
mild influence. These remarks will, we trust, acquit
Its of any want: of respect either for the Right Rev.
Lord personally or for his office, and we will now
proceed to state strictly but fairly what appears to
us to be the case made in the Bishops reply.
Changes have, within the last few years, been made
in the forms of Divine worship. These changes
have been universally introduced by perverse men,
either frivolous coxcombs or treacherous emissaries
of Romanism, and consequently they have given
great offence, and excited no small jealousy, in the
people. There is a passage in the reply to which we
refer with high gratification, because it proves that
in the course which he has thought himself bound to
adopt, the Right Rev. writer is not a Irolutiteer—
proves that before he sought to provide for the peace
of the Church by commanding a general uniformity
with the change proposed, he tried to secure that
peace by dissuading all from any change, but that he
dissuaded many in vain :
" If I should order my clery, as your latter seems to
suggest, to continue the services of the Church as they
now are, without any change, any one of them might
say to me—' We cannot, conscientiously, do what you
thus illegally order ; we are bound, by our ordmatton
vow, to " minister the doctrine and sacraments, and
the discipline of Christ, as the Lord bath com-
manded, and as this Church and realm hath re-
ceived the same ;" we have, moreover, solemnly de-
Glared that " we will use the form, in the Book of Com-
mon Prayer prescribed in public pra:, er and administra-
tion of the sacraments, and no other ;" and the statute
which requires this declaration from us, requires also
that we "conform, in all points, to the things appointed
and prescribed in that book." We will be faithful to
these engagements, and will not serve as ministers in
this Church ifj this our faithfulness is not permitted.--
How could I answer this ?

" You may imagine that I am here proposing an ex•
treme case, which is utterly unlikely ever to present
itself in real practice. But your imagination would bo
unfounded. Several such cases have actually occurred,
and similar ones are likely to occur every month. Al-
ready they have caused to me much perplexity, and
have produced practical effects seriously injurious
to that great object which you value, and which it is
among my first duties to seek to place on the firmed
footing—peace in the Church, which cannot be secured
without uniformity in the worship of Almighty God."
This, we confess, opens to us a wholly new view of
the question—a view of which the whole episcopal
bench ought to have the benefit, in company with the
Bishop of Exeter.

AWFUL FIRE ON SATURDAY.

still larger portion about a quarter of an hour after-
wards, which carried with it the whole of the mas-
sive timbers of the floors down to the basement with
a tremendous crash, upon which the engines were
enabled to bear more powerfully upon the ruins,
which still continued to burn fiercely.
As soon as the ruins were sufficiently cooled to
enable the firemen to enter the premises, they did so
from the back upon the ground floor, and near the
wine-cellar they found a man standing immovable
from intoxication, who was immediately handed over
to the care of the police, and was conveyed to the
station-house. At that moment one of the brigade-
men heard the moans or stifled cries of a person
coming from the front of the house. Hastening
round to the front he descended the area, and break-
ing open the kitchen window could plainly distin-
guish a man lying in the ruins, and still alive. Every
exertion which humanity could prompt was instantly
made to rescue the unfortunate being, who was lying
near the front kitchen door, with his feet under a
dresser, and a massive beam pressing across his knees,
while heavy joists, &c., were lying on his shoulders.
He was evidently sinking fast, and, notwithstanding
some warm brandy and water was instantly procured
and administered, he became insensible, and when at
length he was, by means of jacks to raise the timber,
extricated and conveyed on a police stretcher to a
surgeon's in the same street, it was found that life
was quite extinct. The deceased was John Birkmyer,
a policeman of the E division, No. 152, who had been
assisting in the endeavours to extinguish the flames,
and the body was immediately removed to the work-
house of St. Giles's-in-the-Fields.
As soon as the confusion which necessarily prevails
on such lamentable occasions had somewhat subsided,
great fears were entertained that Mr. Farey's clerk,
a youth, named 'William Robinson, about fifteen
years of age, who slept in one of the attics, had
perished in the flames ; and as soon as the ruins were
sufficiently cooled an active search was made for his
remains, which were not, however, discovered until
three o'cleck in the afternoon, when they were found
nearly at the top of the ruins, in a dreadfully burned
state, nothing remaining but the head and back, and
portions of the arms and legs. The remains were
shortly afterwards placed in a shell and conveyed to
St. Giles's workhouse.
Upon the police being mustered on their return to
the station, after attending the fire, it was found that
another policeman, named John Wright, No. 128 E,
who was assisting in Guildford-street, as well as
Birkmyer, was also missing ; and, up to a late hour
last night, no trace of him had been discovered, and
every fear is entertained that he also has fallen a vic-
tim, and that his body is now in the ruins. A man
named Charles Jenkins, a jobbing groom, lodging at
the Guildford Arms public-house, in the same street,
who was seen actively assisting at the fire, is also
missing, and very little doubt exists that both have
perished. It was believed that the man Jenkins, hear-
ing, about five o'clock, that a valuable dog belonging
to Mr. Farey was in the kitchen at the time of the
outbreak of the fire, was anxious to see if he could
find it, and ventured down the area steps, and into
the kitchen, in search of it (that part then being
uninjured by the fire), when he was seen by the two
policemen, Birkmyer and Wright, who followed him,
to compel him to come back, arid, at the instant they
were doing so, the roof falling in, carried down with
it the upper floors to the first floor, under the flooring
of which were iron rafters, and on it two massive iron
.chests, each weighing (it is stated) 1,100 weight, the
whole of which was then forced down to the base-
ment, burying the three individuals under the ponde-
rous mass.
The following statement of the outbreak was given
to our reporter by Dilley, the coachman of Mr. Farey
" I was suddenly aroused from my sleep by a loud
knocking at my door. I immediately got up, and,
upon looking out of the window, I perceived that a
large body of fire was raging in the pantry at the back
of my master's house. As soon as I got on my trou-
sers, I ran out, and thus made the best of my way up
the stairs, and shouted 'Fire ! ' I succeeded, I think,
in awakening some of the inmates ; for shortly after-
wards I heard a loud screaming at the top of the
building. Finding the fire was progressing, I hastened
back, and called to the neighbours to come and render
assistance. I was soon afterwards joined by Charles
Jenkins, the groom, who ran into the house several
times to save what property he could. The flames
descending and the smoke being so oppressive, I en-
deavoured to persuade him not to enter the house
again. He replied, laughing, Oh, Dilley, have a
little pluck, my boy, there's no danger; I will go and
get master's favourite dog (or bird).' Having said
this, he dashed into the house, and I never saw him
afterwards. There was no other way of escape ;
therefore I am of opinion that he perished in the
flames. I have not the slightest idea how the fire
originated."

Relative to the means which were employed to
awaken the youth in the attic, the following state-
ment of Mr. Farey, jun., will prove that nothing
which humanity could suggest was left undone in
order to accomplish his rescue :
" Immediately I was made sensible of there being
a fire upon the premises, I ran out of my own room,
which adjoins that of the servants' on the third floor. I
called out to the parties below, and advised them in-
stantly to escape. Finding I could not descend, I
hastened towards the parapet, knocking as I went most
violently at the servants' door. Before reaching the
parapet, I found the boy Robinson was missing. I
ran back and called him ; but receiving no answer I
knocked still more violently at the door of his cham-
ber. The heat was so oppressive that I was forced to
retreat, but upon reaching the parapet a second time
I revived, and again returned and broke the window;
of the boy's room. All these attempts to awaken the
lad proving useless, I was obliged to leave the room,
and just reached the parapet in time to save my own
life."

The building in which the fire originated is totally
destroyed, with the entire of the splendid furniture,
books, pictures, drawings, jewellery, instruments, &c.
Information of the melancholy cccurrence has been
forwarded to Mr. Wakley, M.l'., Coroner, but it is
not yet known whether the inquest will be taken on
the two bodies found, or delayed until the other two
are found.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
PRIVY COUNCIL, Dec. 20.
(Before the Lord Chancellor, Sir James Graham, Baron
Parke, the Judge of the Admiralty Court, and the
Chancellor of the Duchy of Cornwall.)
THE CASE OF TIIE LIEUTENANT-GOVERNOR OF THE

ISLAND OF GUERNSEY.
The Committee for the affairs of Guernsey and Jer-
sey, consisting of the above-named members of the
Privy Council, re-assembled yesterday, for the further
consideration of the petitions of the bailiffs and jurats of
the Royal Court of Guernsey, complaining of certain
acts of the Lieutenant-Governor.
Mr. BURGE, Q.C., resumed his reply, at the conclusion
of which their Lordships rose.
In this case no judgment will be delivered, as the Com-
mittee report to the Crown.

COURT OF CHANCERY, Dec. 21.
THE CORPORATION OF GLOUCESTER V. WOOD AND OTHERS.
—JUDGMENT.—THE LATE MR. JAMES WOOD'S WILL.
When this case was called on, the LORD CHANCELLOR
inquired of Mr. Swanstone, counsel for the Corporation
of Gloucester, whether his clients acceded to the terms
of the order of Vice-Chancellor Wigram?
Mr. SWANSTONE said they did.
Mr. WALKER—It was not an order of his Honour,
but a proposition suggested by the Court.
Mr. SWANSTONE —The Corporation of Gloucester are
ready to accede to the proposals that have been made,
and they will submit to any order the Court may here-
after think proper to make.
The LORD CHANCELLOR then said he had considered
this-case with great care and attention, and the con-
clusion he had come to was, that the money in litiga •
tion ought not to be paid to the executors pending
the appeal to the House of Lords against Vice-
Chancellor Wigram's decision. On looking at the
judgment of the Court below he observed that hie
Honour at the time stated, that in a question of such
importance, where property of upwards of 200,0001. was
in litigation, it was not likely that either party would be
satisfied with the decision of a puisne judge of the Court,
and therefore he (the Lord Chancellor) considered it a
proper case for an appeal, and that the proceedings were
not frivolous. After some further remarks, his Lordship
said, suppose he was to order the money in dispute
to be paid over to the executors, they would not feel
themselves justified in distributing it. Under
the present circumstances, therefore, he thought it
had better remain invested in the Funds, under the con-
trol of the Court, until the appeal to the House of Lords
was decided. At the same time he was of opinion that
the executors were at full liberty to apply to have any
portion of the fund paid over to them on their giving sa-
tisfactory security. It was asked by counsel for the execu-
tors that, in the event of loss by a decline in the funds, the
Corporation should make it good. Now he could not
make any order on that point, as the Courts had always
considered Consols in the light of money : if the
price fell, the executors would lose (in case the appeal
should be in their favour) ; but if it was higher, they
. would have the advantage. In conclusion, his Lordship
ordered the money claimed by the Corporation, under a
codicil in the will of the testator, to remain invested in
the Funds pending the appeal, with liberty to the
de-
fendants (executors to the will) to apply to take any
.portion of it out, on giving sufficient security.
A long discussion ensued respecting costs.
His LORDSHIP directed the costs of the present mo-
" tion to be paid by the Corporation.

VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, Dec. 21,
(Before Sir J. WIGRAM.)
VIVIAN V. COCI(RANE.
In this case a question has arisen between the plain-
tiff; the Rev. J. W. Vivian, Rector of the parish of
St. Peter-le-Poor, in the City of London, and the
proprietors of the National Bank of Ireland,' Broad- .
street, as to the principle upon which tithe was to be
taken on the house and premises used for the business
of the bank, whether it should be levied on the amount
of the reserved rent, or on he value of the house in
its improved state. The question is an important one
to the owners of property in the city, and at a former

. stage of the proceedings his Honour had stated that
his decision was not likely to be final on the matter.
It had been postponed on one or two occasions,, but
was given this day.
His HONOUR, after remarking on the novelty and
importance of the case, said the plaintiff was the
rector of a parish in London, and the defendant re-
presented the National Bank of Ireland, who are
lessees for years and occupiers of a house, the tithes of
which are claimed by the plaintiff. The lease under
which the bank occupancy was made in consideration
of a reserved rent, and of a covenant by the lessees to
expend 2,0001. in building, &c. ; that sum had been
duly expended according to the covenant. The right
of the clergyman to tithes of 2s. 9d. in the pound on
the reserved rent was not disputed, but the plaintiff
claimed to be paid 2s. 9d. in the pound on the im-
proved value of the property arising from the expen-
diture of the sum above stated. The question at issue '
was, then, on which of the two valuations the tithes
were to be paid, and this depended on the statute of
37th Henry VIII., c. 12, which is an Act regu-
lating the payment of tithes in London. His Honour
read the decree in that Act, and after going minutely
into the details of the case, said it was one presenting
great difficulties, but he thought his decision must be
in favour of the plaintiff and his claim to the tithe ; he
therefore directed an account of the said tithes to be
taken on the value of the premises, but without costs.

COURT OF QUEEIV'S BENCH, Dec. 21.
Lord Denman was occupied the whole morning in
trying, at the Guildhall, with a London special jury, an
indictment against Rowland and others fora conspiracy,
illegally to procure an award in a case of arbitration
against the prosecutor.lLyon Samuels. The case, which
will probably last to a late hour, is devoid entirely of
public interest.

COURT OF EXCHEQUER, Dec. 21.
(Sittings at Nisi Prins, at Guildhall, before the LORD
CHIEF BARON and Special Juries.)
MUTT AND OTHERS U. GILES.
This was an action of covenant brought by the trustees
of the Western Australian Company to recover from
the defendant the sum of 1,250/., being the amount of a
call of 1254 per share on ten shares held by him in that
Company. The action was undefended.
Mr. Martin and Mr. Peacock appeared for the plaintiffs.
The Western Australian Company was established in
the year 1841, with a view of promoting emigration to
the western ports of Australia, and of encouraging its
cultivation. 5001. was the value set upon each share,
one fourth of the amount to be paid at the time of pur-
chase. Calls of 1251. on each share taken was
subsequently made, and the object of the pre-
sent action was to recover the third call against
the only solvent shareholder out of six who had not
met the call. The defendant had put several pleas on
the record, one of which was, that he had not had notice
of the call by circular in the manner required by the
Company's deed of settlement.
Evidence having been gone into on the part of the
plaintiffs, and his Lordship having summed up, the jury
returned a ♦erdict for the plaintiffs—Damages, with in-
terest, 1,3431. 15s.

CRIM CON.—MIJLLETT LLYOD.
Mr. Sergeant Talfourd and Mr. Hoggins conducted
the case for the plaintiff, and Mr. Cockburn and Mr.
Walesby appeared for the defendant.
This was an action to recover compensation in da-
mages for the domestic loss sustained by the plaintiff,
by means of criminal conversation had by the defend-
ant with his wife. The damages were laid at 2,0001.
Mr. Sergeant TALFOURD proceeded to state the
case. The plaintiff was a young gentleman of about
30 years of age, and was a paper manufacturer, and
a wholesale stationer, in an extensive way of business
in the city of London. The defendant was some
years his senior, and was one of those persons who
had taken upon themselves, or had assumed to them-
selves, the position of public instructors—he was the
proprietor of several newspapers. One was published
under the title of Lloyd's Weekly Newspaper, a three-
penny affair, he believed, Lloyd's Penny Sunday Times,
and Lloyd's Penny Miscellany. He now resided at a
villa on Forest-hill. The plaintiff was married on
the 9th of September, 1836. He was then a young
man of twenty-two years of age, whilst the un-
happy lady was some three of four years
younger. The marriage had been one of sincere affection
and strong attachment. At the period of his union
the plaintiff was in a salaried employment, but shortly
afterwards he had commenced business on his own
account, and being successful, he had looked forward
to that full enjoyment of his domestic comforts, to-
wards which all men with a family were accustomed
naturally to yearn. Up to the time, within a very
brief period, when this lamentable event came to pass,
there had never been a breath even that could inter-
fere with that happiness—a happiness which had been
increased and added to by the fact of his wife having,
borne him four children. The defendant also, he re-
gretted to say, was a married man with three children.
The connection between the plaintiff and the de-
fendant had not simply been of the most intimate cha-
racter, but it had amounted to brotherly friendship.
The defendant had dealt with the plaintiff for paper to
the extent of 12,0001. per annum, and at the moment
when this affair took place was then a debtor to him
to the extent of upwards of 4,0001. That sum, it was,
however, but-fair that he should state, had been regu-
larly paid as the bills had severally arrived at maturity.
He had merely mentioned the fact in order to show the
extent of the transactions which had been carried on
between the parties. The plaintiff, too, had been
one of the securities for the defendant at
the Stamp-office. Such, then, it would be
seen, were the relations in which these per-
sons stood the one towards the other. They
were those of the closest friendship. They were on
the most intimate, and friendly, and cordial footing.
Some time after the plaintiff had been married he be-
came the proprietor of two mills, the one at Bristol,
and the other at Tonbridge, and until that period he
had never slept away from home. Then, however,
such a course was absolutely necessary, for he could
not carry on his business without; but upon no occa-
sion had he left his wife without a female companion.
Subsequently the defendant, it was remarked, had
become a frequent visitor at the house when the
plaintiff was from home, and that the lady took rides
with him alone. In the month of April, however,
the matter was seen by the servants ; for Mrs. Mul•
lett was observed to go out in the absence of her hus-
band, and to remain away for some time, but to con-
trive in most instances to reach home before her hus-
band's return. On the 27th of April, at length, she
went out, and never returned, leaving all her trin-
kets, and even her watch behind her. The plaintiff was
left to seek where he best could consolation for the de-
privation of the partner in his best hopes, in his best
wishes, in his best expectations, and above all the mother
of his children, whilst the defendant, deserting his own
wife, had taken to his arms a paramour in the person
of the wife of his most intimate friend. With that
paramour was he now living at Forest-hill, where
she was known as Mrs. Lloyd. The house, it ap-
peared, stood back from the road, and was approached
through a gateway leading into the front garden.
That gate since the plaintiff's wife had flown there
had been kept locked, so that, contrary to all former
custom, even the tradespeople were not permitted to
come up to the house. But this difficulty it would
be proved had been overcome by the plaintiff, and the
identity of the female now living and passing as Mrs.
Lloyd, being in reality Mrs. Mullett, the plaintiff's
wife, would be most clearly established by evidence
which could not be impeached, for that lady had her-
self come down without her bonnet, and spoken to a
gentleman who was well acquainted with her. There
could not, therefore, be any dispute as to the fact of
the supposed Mrs. Lloyd being the real Mrs. Mullett.
George Cox, jun., produced an accredited copy of
the marriage register between the plaintiff and his
wife. The marriage took place the 10th of Septem-
ber, 1836.
George Luck—l am uncle to the plaintiff's wife.
I have known the plaintiff and his wife during the
whole of their lives. I was in the habit of visiting
them after their marriage, in the Deptford-road. He
is now living at his mill, I imagine, in the country.
They had lived most happily together until just be-
fore this event. They have four children.
Isaac Henry Sercombe—l attend from Somerset
House, and produce the bond entered into by the
defendant to the Stamp-office, and the plaintiff is one
of the securities to that bond. In August last that
bond was withdrawn, and another substituted. The
defendant there is not a surety. The bond is for the
payment of the duties on Lloyd's Weekly London
Newspaper.
Mary Walsh—l was servant to the plaintiff. On
the 27th of April Mrs. Mullett :left. My mistress
said she should go away on the 26th of April, and
on the next day she did so. Prior to her doing so,
however, she gave all her trinkets and her watch into
my care. The plaintiff was aware that she was going
away, because she told him she would on the pre-
ceding evening. Upon that occasion she had come
home late, when he asked her where she had been.
She would not tell him ; whereupon the plaintiff said
he would make her. She again refused, but he said
she should tell him, or he would make her. Upon
this, she said she should go away from him altoge-
ther. The plaintiff, in a tone of astonishment, ex-
claimed, " That surely she would not think of doing
so ; did she remember her four children ? Could she
abandon them ?" My mistress cried very much, but
persisted in her determination to leave. The plaintiff
then said, if she had resolved upon adopting such a
step he would place her in proper care, and make her
an allowance ; he would place her with her father.
She said she would not go there, for her father was
nothing to her.
Cross-examined—I have lived three and a half
years with the plaintiff and his with. They lived in
the most comfortable and affectionate manner, and
with kindness and attachment: to their children.
I never heard any angry words pass between them
until the last three months. I have never seen her
cry during the whole of that period. I have known
the plaintiff to come home late at night ; one o'clock
Was the latest. I have heard Mrs. M'illett complain
of his being la,te. But they did not have words about