The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-03 00:00:00

THE LATE LIVERPOOL FIRE.

We have much satisfaction in announcing that the
claims on the, various insurance offices are nearly all
satisfactorily settled. The Liverpool Mail of Tues-
day says—
" The extent of these fires, the destruction of mer-
chandise, and the enormous amount of loss sustained,
exceed anything of the kind ever experienced in this
or any other port.
"The immediate cause of the conflagration re-
mains in perfect obscurity; but our own conviction is,
that it arose entirely from spontaneous combustion ;
and if argument were wanting to support this con-
viction, it would be the confirmed fact that cotton
and oil deposited togethe9will, of itself, from natural
causes, ignite—hence we think the disaster.
"We congratulate the merchants of Liverpool
upon the prompt and immediate settlement of their
losses. We may say, from authority, that up to last
evening claims to the amount of 355,4001. had been
paid, although it is but this day four weeks since our
columns contained an invitation to all sufferers to
send in their claims. The amount of property burnt
and not protected by insurance is, we are happy to
say, but small—and from our observations we believe
that the settlements made by the gentlemen repre-
senting the united companies interested have been of
a satisfactory character ; indeed we must congratulat'
the companies upon their choice of representatives in
this importent affair. The method adopted of making
the settlement of each claim simultaneous by certi-
ficate, removes all rivalry between agents; and the
requiring but one statement of stock held by claim-
-1 ants is a boon to the merchant, inasmuch as all unne-
cessary exposure of his stock is avoided.
" We offer our full share of praise, and we are
quite sure that the merchants of Liverpool will join
us in thanking the companies for the cheerful and
prompt manner in which these serious losses have
been paid—losses which nothing but combinations of
wealth and capital could combat—and we should do
a needless violence to our feelings did we not thus
record our sense of the high dignity and reputation
of these societies."

MOST EXTRAORDINARY STORY.
The following strange story, relating to a supposed
series of horrible attacs upon a young lady at Brad-
ford, Yorkshire, is detailed in a letter to the editor of
the Bradford Observer:—
On one evening in last January the heroine of this
tragic narrative had occasion togo up stairs with some
linen. After passing through her mother's bed-room
and dressing-room, the furniture of which she noticed
to have been somewhat discomposed, she passed across
into another chamber. Upon entering this she was sur-
prised to observe, among other signs of confusion, that
all the drawers of a chest were open. This in some
degree alarmed her, but being, though a very mild,
gentle, yet an equally courageous young lady, she
proceeded to scan the room more closely, when she
perceived a man partly crouched under the
bed, but with his head protruded somewhat to-
wards the window. At the sight of him
she quietly put down the linen, which she
had in one hand, on a chair, and, walking to the door,
took the key from the inside, and locked it on the out.
She then gave the alarm, but as there were none
but women and children in the house, some mi-
nutes necessarily elapsed before assistance could be
procured, and in the mean time the man made his
escape by the window, and over the yard wall, taking
with him some of Miss Rigg's dresses, nor was he af-
terwards taken.

One Wednesday evening, about a month ago, at
the hour of nine o'clock, the Rev. Mr. Rigg being
absent from home on ministerial duty, Miss Rigg,
who had been sitting in the back parlour, with her
mother and brother, had occasion to leave them for a
few minutes. In about six or seven minutes a candle-
stick was heard to fall, and there ensued an unac-
countable scuffling and noise, then a stifled scream,
followed by one louder. Mrs. Rigg thinking the
noise was up stairs, and that one of the children, who
had just retired to rest, must have set herself on fire,
directed Mr. H. Rigg to run and see what was the
matter, and she herself hastened after as fast as her
feelings of alarm would allow. She had, however,
just reached the door leading down to the cellar,
which she had to pass in order to go up stairs, and
which was standing partially open, when Miss Rigg
came out pale as a corpse, and bleeding about her
neck, though from what particular parts the blood
proceeded was not at first easily seen, her neck and
shoulders being covered with blood, and her white
dress from her shoulder downwards presenting a
frightful appearance. " Mother," she cried, " a man
in the cellar has stabbed me." Her agonised and
agitated parent laid her on the sofa, and sent im-
mediately for her medical attendant, afraid herself to
look on what was done. On the arrival of Dr. F., it
was found that she had been mercifully preserved
from serious injury. 'When the miscreant attacked
her, she was in the act of mounting the cellar steps,
and consequently, on that narrow ground. he could
only assail her from behind, in which position her
long and thick curls interposed between his blade and
her neck, and there can he little doubt saved her life.
She had;-hoWever, one deep cut, four inches long, on
the shoulder, with four smaller ones near it, and
a slight wound on her breast. In making his
brutal attempt, the ruffian had held her by
one shoulder, but her dropping the candle pre-
vented him from seeing precisely where to
strike. He had, however, besides inflicting the
above-named wounds, severed a large portion of her
hair, which, from its great profusion and strength of
curl, must have required a very vigorous and deter-
mined stroke, or perhaps a succession of strokes. Miss
Rigg distinctly heard her mother direct her brother to
see what was the matter, as her assailant must also
have done, and this made him quit his hold. Re-
treating by the front cellar, or under kitchen, he
made his escape by the bkisek door, and over the yard
wall. He had been in the upper rooms, had ran-
sacked the drawers, and secreto some articles of
value, among other things, some sliver spoons, and
had taken the razor with which he atteopted Miss
Rigg's life, from her father's dressing-room. Jn his
alarm he secured nothing ; the silver spoons he At-
tempted to take with him, but dropped in getting over
the wall, and the razor was found crusted with blood
on the other side of the wall.

What was the reason of his brutal attempt is known
to himself and God. It is not easy to conjecture it.
It may have been that he thought that Miss Rigg had
seen him, and he feared through her means discovery.
He may have been the same man whom she had pre-
viously encountered, and in that case, with the fear of
discovery may have been united the desire of revenge.
Still, that the man, unmolested, apparently unob-
served, should either from fear of discovery, go the
very way to insure discovery, or should so harbour
revenge as to determine to attempt the life of an in-
nocent, unoffending girl, seems at first incredible.
Yet subsequent circumstances render it almost certain
that the latter is the true solution.

At any rate, the attempt must be admitted to have
been one of the most cruel, unprovoked, and brutal,
that was ever made ; and one would have tho
that every heart would have swelled with indignation
against the perpetrator, every hand would have been
ready to seize and consign him to justice, and that all
would be inspired with one common feeling of sym-
pathy with the sufferer.
A man was taken on the Friday after the attempt,
on suspicion of being the guilty party, to whose fea-
tures Miss Rigg could swear as identical with those
of her assailant, with the exception of his whiskers—
features which every one knows can be diiguised at
pleasure. Yet with this testimony; and 'the full evi-
dence in the Court of the circumstances detailed above,
the Magistrates not only dismissed the man, but,
though he was known to be fellow of bad character,
they did not even interrogate hh as to where he had
been on the evening in question.
conduct
And what has been the consequence of th,
of these Magistrates ? Listen, Sir. Last Sunday' even-
ing, during service time, as Miss Rigg was going
the back parlour for a book, a man followed her and
struck her violently on the arm twice with some heavy
instrument. She fell shrieking to the ground, and her
cries brought assistance, which frightened away the
incarnate fiend who had attacked her. He left the
house without taking or attempting to take anything.
Her arm exhibits a dreadful contusion from above the
elbow partly to the wrist.
Here seems an infernal plot against the life of this
young lady, than whom there never lived one. gentler
or more amiable. It can scarcely be doubted that it
is one and the same man who has been concerned in
all three attempts. It is remarkable that the last time
he had his face blackened, as though determined not
again to run the risk of having his features recognised.

TUB NON-INTRUSION Non-Intru-
sionists are at their old game, trying to frighten the
conntry into a concession of their claims, by a show
of earnestness in their threatened secession from the
Church. Finding that vague declarations had no
effect—that such phrases as "suffering to the death,"
" forsaking, their stipends,' and "going to the hill-
sides," were regarded as mere figures of speech, they
put forth their celebrated boothy scheme, in the hope
that a formal and detailed plan would look something
serious—bat it would not do, the public laughed at the
wooden kirks as much as they had done at the pseudo-
martyrdom, and Dr. Candlish's manifesto fell still-born.
Still not dishEartened; they have made a new attempt to
work on the fears of the godly—another sham move-
ment, intended to draw the constitutional party from
the stronghold behind which they are entrenched.
A general circular, drawn up, it is said, by the leaders
.. in Edinburgh, but subscribed chiefly by adherents in
the country, has been issued, calling a convocation of
the whole clergymen, to be held in Edinburgh, on
Thursday, the 17th of November, and to continue as
many successive days as may be found advisable.
That the clerical muster is intended merely to
date the Giiiceninaent, without at all committing its
meMbers to any definite step in the fulfilment of their
pledge to leave the Church; might be pthered from
the circular itself.-Aberdeen-actuld, :.. 2.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS.
RULES AND ORDERS MADE UNDER THE STATUTE STH
AND 6TH VIC., C. 116, INTITULED 44 AN ACT FOR I
TILE RELIEF OF INSOLVENT DEBTORS."

It is ordered-1. That everylpetition for protection
from process under the statute passed in the Parlia-
ment holden in the sth and 6th years of the reign of
her present Majesty, intituled " An Act for the Re-
lief of Insolvent Debtors," shall be taken to the Chief
Registrar of the Court of Bankruptcy, in Basinghall-
street, or to the Deputy Registrar of the district
Court of Bankruptcy in the county (as the case may
be) between the hours of eleven in the forenoon and
two in the afternoon, who shall file and number such
petition, and such Chief or Deputy Registrar shall
'.thereupon allot such petitions by ballot to one of the
Commissioners in London, or of the district Court in
the country where there are two Commissioners, and
such petition shall be prosecuted before such Com-
missioner, or before the district Commissioner, where
there is only one Commissioner : provided always
that any one Commissioner in London or the country
may, in the absence of any such Conimissioner, act
for him.
2. That every such petition shall be, as far as the
case will admit, in the form set forth in the schedule
marked A No. 1, annexed to these orders, and shall
be supported by an affidavit in the form set forth in
the schedule marked A No. 2, in the schedule annexed
to these orders ; shall be sworn (unless otherwise
ordered by a Judge or Commissioner of the said
Courts) before the said Chief or Deputy Registrar,
and filed at the same time with the said petition.
3. That the schedule to be annexed to such petition
shall be in the forms now in use in the Court for the
relief of insolvent debtors.

4. That each sheet of such petition and schedules
shall be signed by the petitioner, in the presence of,
and shall be attested by, his attorney, who shall ve-
rify such attestation by affidavit, to be filed with such
petition.
5. That every petitioner shall, immediately after
filing his said petition, deliver over to the official
assignee appointed to his estate all books of accounts,
bills, notes, securities, papers, and writings, relating
to his estate and effects.

6. That the protection from process to be given to
any petitioner upon filing his petition shall be called
the " interim order for protection," and shall be set
forth in the schedule marked A No. 3, annexed to
these orders.

7. That the time for hearing the matter of such pe-
tition shall be appointed to the Commissioner acting in
the same, such time not to be less than five or ex•
ceeding eight weeks .from the date of the advertise-
ment of the intention to petition'required by the afore-
said statute, and shall be advertised in the form set
forth in the schedule marked B No. 1, annexed to
these orders, in the London Gazette, and in one news-
paper circulating within the county in which the peti-
tioner resides, three clear days, at least, before the Ap-
pointment of such sitting.
8. That the time for making a final order, unless
cause he shown to the contrary, in the matter of such
petition, shall be appointed by the Commissioners act-
ing in the same, of which time notice shall be given
as aforesaid ten days at least beFore the time appointed,
which notice shall be by advertisement in the form set
forth in the schedule marked B No. 2, annexed to these

orders.
9. That the final order shall be in the form set forth
in the schedule marked A No. 4, annexed to these
orders, and shall be inade in duplicate, one copy to be
filed with the proceedings, and one copytobe delivered
to the petitioner.
10. That all bills of fees and disbursements of any
attorney or messenger for business done under the
aforesaid Act shall be taxed by the Court in which
the petition shall have been filed, according to the table
of fees eet forth in the schedule marked C No. 1, an-
nexed to these orders, provided that any charge re-
specting any action at law or suit in equity shall be
settled by the proper officers of the Court in which such
business shall have been done.

11. That until further order the forms of proceed-
ings under the same Act, not herein specially provided
for, be, mutatis midandis, in conformity with the like
proceedings in bankruptcy.
The schedules referred to in the above rules would
only be interesting to practitioners and suitors in the
Court,_who may easily obtain them from Mr. Johnson
at the Court of Bankruptcy. We subjoin, however,
as interesting to all parties, the table of " Fees and
Disbursements to be allowed to the Attorney of Peti-
tioning Debtor',' :
C. No. I. (above referred to.)
Instruction for petition ~..

Filling up the same and form
Filling up schedules and
forms per folio of .ninety
words, for the first ten folios
Ditto, for each subsequent folio
Attesting petition
Filling up affidavit and form
Attending with petitioner on
registrar, presenting and
filing petition, witnu.sing
ballot, and afterwards on
Commissioner for the ap-
pointment of official as-
signee, time of first exami-
nation and fqr protection: .
Paid house registrar for
building fund and fee-
Paid messengers for atten-
dance, for advertisbg first
examination towards Ga-
zette (ls.), and for news-
paper, whatever shall have
been actually paid for ad •
vertisement and newspaper,

£ s. d. X s. d:
0 6 8 As revised.
0 2 0

O 0 8
O 0' 4
034 0 6 8
010 0 3 0

1 0 0

0 11 0

and
Attending Court on first ex-
amination or adjournment .
Paid house registrar for build-
ing fund and fee
Paid messenger, for attend-
ance, pens, and paper
Paid messenger for advertising
the sitting of the Court, for
making final order, towards
Gazette (Is), and for news-
paper, as above, and
Attending Court, if final order
not made, and on all ad-
journments
Attending Court when final
order made
Paid • house registrar and fee

0 5 0

Paid messenger for attend-

ance, pens, and paper ....
Necessary attendance on the
Court when any order made
Necessary attendance on the
Court when no order made
Letters, when necessary, each
(if circulars Is. each only)
postage-stamp included ..
All copies (when necessary)

per folio.
Instructing or attending coun-
sel (when necessary)
Drawing briefs (when neces-
sary) per sheet of ten folios
(ninety words)