The Sun.
London, England, 1827-04-23 00:00:00

ELECTION OF MR. CANNING.

Our intelligent Correspondent at Seaford
writes us the following letter, dated twelve o'clock
on Thursday night : •
" Dear Sir—Our election does not take place
till to-morrow, towards the afternoon. A mes-
senger, who arrived at Mr. Fitzgerald's this
evening, express, waits to bear back the writ, and
I may send you a line by him ; but that, perhaps,
may be too late for you. I therefore write this
to say that the place was canvassed, on Satur-
day, by Mr. Fitzgerald, for Mr. Canning, and
with entire success ; and that, on Saturday even-
ing, a large assemblage of the voters, at the New
Inn, unanimously resolved to support the Right
Honourable Gentleman. Unless an earthquake,
or the eruption of a volcano, or of the sea, should
take place, of which you will, of course, have due
notice, you may, ) think, safely add, that the
election took place yesterday (Friday), and that
IN Tr. Canning's nomination was received with ac-
clamation, and that he was returned without op-
position. A letter from him, addressed to the
electors, was read by Mr. Fitzgerald, in which
he regretted the impossibility of his being present
at the election, but declaring his wish to seize an
early opportunity of paying his respects to those
who had so readily united to support him.
" By the bye, do you know that our little
borough has the boast of having given the great
Lord Chatham his first seat in the House of
Commons ? it was so. Your's, &c.

ic * * *

A second letter, received yesterday evening,
from the same esteemed Correspondent, states as
follows :

" Dear Sir—Perhaps you may have time to
say that the Election is over, as I statedin my
letter last night that it would be ; Mr. Canning
was unaninzously returned. He was proposed
by Thomas Chambers, Esq., and seconded, in a
short but neat address, by Charles Harrison,
Esq.; and a letter from the Right Honourable
Gentleman to the Electors was read by John
Fitzgerald, Esq. M.P. Perhaps you may be
able to add, that a dinner was given upon the
occasion, and also to insert the enclosed ad-
dress of one of the Electors, which is, I con-
ceive, in unison with the feelings or a great ma-
jority of the nation.
" Your's, in very great haste,

* * * * Nrr

t, In tendering my vote for the Right Hon.
George Canning, I hope I may be permitted to
say a few words expressive of my own sentiments
upon this occasion, and expressive, I am sure,
of the sentiments of every respectable inhabitant
of the town. Our little borough, which has been
the scene of many a violent contest, has been usu-
ally swayed by local more than by general motives ;
but, upon the present occasion, I can answer for
myself, and I think I can answer for all, that we
are not acting in accordance with the expressed
wishes of our respected Member, Mr. Fitzgerald,
or the wishes known, though not expressed, of
our noble neighbour Lord Seaford, I, for one,
am proud in having an opportunity of voting for
him, who, as the Foreign Minister of England,
has released her from the trammel; of the Holy
Alliance—for him who has recognised the inde-
pendence of South America, who is supporting
the cause of freedom in Portugal, and who is en-
deavouring to establish the liberties of Greece.
I am proud also in the opportunity thus afforded
me, of expressing my disapprobation of those
servants who have endeavoured haughtily to dic-
tate 'to their Royal Master--who would give to
George the Fourth the name, but would deprive
him of the power and the prerogative of a King ;
who would, in short, say to him, as. Tr inculo
said to Caliban, « You shall be King, and we
will be Viceroys over you.' "—Brighton Herald.

William Howard—l live with my daughter,whose
intellects are very weak, and an old housekeeper,
at Woodchester. Previous to last Michaelmas I
was in the habit of employing workmen for building,
I was also engaged for the trustees of the roads, and
attended one of their meetings on the 1 lth of Oc-
tober, when I was to have received a balance due to
me of between 200/. and 3001., but I did not re-
ceive it until the next day (Thursday), when the
money was paid me. On Friday, the 13th of Oc-
tober, at about a quarter before nine in the evening,
there was a knock at the outer door. I opened it,
and found Birt there, with a large stick in his hand.
He said he wanted work. I told him I had not got
any. He said I had. I told him I had given up
business, and had no work. He then said, " I
wanted some stone getting." I asked " What for ?"
He said, " For building.' I said, " I was not go-
ing to build any more, but would rather pull down
than build again." He said, " I was going to build
a row of houses." 1 asked " Where ?" He said,
" On the ground here," and walked towards the
gate of the garden leading to the ground. There are
two gates. The first was about six yards from my
door. I followed him. He went through the gate,
and left it open. I went to it and shut it. He was
then on my ground, about four feet on the outside
of the first gate. The other gate opens into the road,
and is a little further on. 113 I turned back the left
side of my head was towards the palings, and I had
not got two yards from the gate, when I observed
Matthews at the corner of my house, near the
palings, advancing towards the gate with a pistol in
his two hands. I saw its muzzle and butt, as he
sprang, or stepped quick, from the end of the house.
Birt said " Now's the time ;" and Matthews raised
his hands above the pales and presented the pistol to
me. I turned quick from him, and, whilst turning,
the contents struck my head above my left ear. I
am sure the prisoners are the men; I have no doubt
of it.

George Bekingham, constable.—l saw both the
prisoners at the Ram Inn, Worcester, at 8 o'clock
that night. I assisted in taking them afterwards,
Birt on the 20th, and Matthews on the 21st of Oc-
tober. The turnkey said to Matthews, " You are
the chap that was along with the girl in the 'lane."
Matthews burst out a crying, and said, " If he had
not been drunk, he should not have done it." He
went on saying, another person and he had been
waiting a quarter of an hour for Howard, and the
other person desired him to mark a stone to frill
(toss) up to see which should knock at the door.—
They did so, and it fell to his lot to go to the door.
but he objected, whereupon the other said he would
break a stick, which would make the old man come
out. That other person went and knocked at the
door; witness continued, "I saw this stick (a stick
was produced) lying on the ground at the end of the
house ; it was picked up in .my presence that even-
ing 20 minutes after nine, about ten yards from the
garden gate. I said to Matthews, "I am very sorry
for this. I little thought of this when I saw you at
the public-house." Matthews said, the stick and
pick (pitchfork) lay under a wall."
_ _

Cross-examined.—l have known Matthews these
I'2 years. He was a very wood lad; a hard-working
industrious man.

The prisoners, on being called on for their defence,
said they left it entirely to their counsel.

Mr. Watson called,

John Matthews (no relation of the prisoner).—l
live .50 yards from Mr. Howard's house. I have
frequently heard shots in the night time, in Lord
Ducie's wood. Mr. Long called on me that night
to tell me Mr. Howard had been shot. I had not
then heard any firing. About a quarter of an hour
afterwards I did hear a shot in Lord Ducie's premises.
I have known the prisoner Matthews many years.
He was always au honest, industrious, good lad.
Samuel Webb, mealman of Stroud, and William
Merritt, two very respectable-looking men, also gave
Matthews a very good character. They came unso-
licited for that purpose.
The Jury retired for about an hour, and then came
back with a verdict of Guilty.
Mr. Baron VAUGHAN pronounced the fatal sen-
tence of the law in a most impressive manner. Hit
Lordship seemed greatly affected.
Birt said, after the sentence, the blow was struck
with the pick.

The prisoners went from the dock with a quick
step. They are both sated in the calendar to be
twenty-one.

With this trial the Assizes terminated. Mr.
Baron VAUGHAN came into Court at seven o'clock
in the morning, but the proceedings were not over
until near three. There are seven prisoners in all
left for execution—the two whose trial we have just
given ; Mark and John Dyer, under the same (Lord
Ellenborough's) Act, for shooting at Thomas Mills;
and Joseph Ray, James Jones, and William Leach,
for a burglary at Horfield. This Circuit, which ends
here, has been heavier than was ever known.

PARIS, APRIL 16.—We have just left an
eminent French silk merchant from Lyons, whc
has been paying a visit to his competitors on
the other side of the Channel. He says that
the progress you have effected in your silk ma-
nufactures is really surprising ; he was in Eng-
land two years ago, and at that period he could
not have anticipated the wonderful improvement
you have made in almost every silk article, par-
ticularly in ribands and gauzes. He states that
you labour under certain disadvantages, which
he, as a French manufacturer, has not to en-
counter in the home market ; for instance, the
English ladies, even those of high rank, want
cheap articles, and grumble bitterly if they are
asked five or six shillings per yard for silk of the
best quality ; whereas in Paris, and most of the
princip-sl Frencit towns, a grisette will frequently
pay at the rate of four or five shillings per yard ;
you are, in consequence, compelled to manufac-
ture light and cheap goods, for which, having a
more certain sale, the really good quality is ne-
glected. The two articles appear, let us say,
in the South American market : they have
passed through so many hands before they reach
the real consumer, that the difference in price
between them is small, and in a few months or
weeks the difference in quality is apparent; on
this account a decided preference is given to
French silks. The merchant adds a circum-
stance which rather surprises us—within these
eighteen months, the tasteful French designs
which were so universally admired, have become
so altered, that the ribands and figured silks of
this season are absolutely ugly ; whereas those of
England are peculiarly beautiful. He fears that
the day is fast approaching when the French
will be driven out of every foreign market.

On Saturday afternoon an isignisition NIST t,s.tkene
at the Red Lion public-house, Wahearth, before
RICHARD CARTER, Esq., and a respectable jury; pie
the body of a female infant, whose mother, Mary
Brooks, is charged with having murdered.
In our Friday's publication, we gave the particu-
lars, as far as could be accurately collected from the
very brief examination which took place at Union-
half, and it will be recollected that the mother was
then committed to Horsemonger-lane gaol, to await
the decision of the inquest: Mr. Swift, a surgeon,
who had attended at the accouchement of the mo-
ther, said he was convinced she was occasionally
labouring under insanity.
Before detailing the substance of the evidence, it
may not be improper to state that Mrs. Brooks has
been, ever since she was confined in Horsemon;,see-
lane prison, in a state little short of actual madness.
She has had a strait waistcoat on all the time, and
was on Saturday night dreadfully agitated, and
calling aloud for her " murdered baby."
Martha Goulding deposed, that on Wednesday
morning last, Mr. and Mrs. Brooks, the latter of
whom she had known two years, became lodgers in
her husband's house, No. 7, Dean's-buildings, East-
lane, Walworth, bringing with them the infant, into
the cause of whose death the investigation was then
carrying on. Mrs. Brooks seemed a good deal
agitated, and talked about being hooted as she
passed along the Borough in her way. Mr. Brooks
told her not to heed it, and treated the matter lightly
as though he believed it was his wife's imagination.
On Thursday morning, between six and seven
o'clock, witness heard the child chuckling, as though
it was pleased at something. About seven she de-
sired her little boy to knock at their bed-room door,
and inquire if a fire should be lighted in their par-
lour below. Mrs. Brooks answered in the affirmative.
All was then silent for a short time, when witness
heard Mr. Brooks exclaim, in a great perturbation—
" Oh dear, oh dear !" Supposing something serioni
had occurred, she and one of her sons, a youth of
14, ran and forced open the bed-reom door. On
entering, she found Mr. Brooks endeavouring to
raise up his wife, who was lying bleeding from a
wound in the throat. There were two razors, one
of which was bloody, then lying shut on a chest of
drawers. Witness despatched her son for a surgeon,
and she assisted Mr. Brooks in supporting his wife
until one arrived. The infant, witness saw lyine.
across the bed with its throat dreadfully cut; it was
nearly dead. Mr. Brooks, before the surgeon ar-
rived, asked his wife " how she came to kill the
baby," and she answered, " that it was her only
comfort left, and she intended to have killed her-
self." She also said, " I killed my child, that it
should not be told of my misconduct."
Mr. Henry Brooks, the husband, was then called.
He had only been living with his wife about ten days
before the shocking event, having before that been
separated from her a year. During the separation,
however, he had occasionally visited her, and he al-
lowed her 1/. a-week for maintenance. In conse-
quence of his sister and his wife disagreeing, he took
the lodgings of last witness ; and on Wednesday
morning about four o'clock, removed his goods from
his sister's at Hackney thither. His wife carried
the baby, and did not accompany him. He break-
fasted on 'Wednesday morning with her, and re-
turned from his business in the city to dinner. He
went to bed about nine in the evening. His wife
likewise went to bed, but did not undress herself,
neither did she undress the baby. About six o'clock
the following ramming she got out of bed, and when
in the middle of the room, exclaimed, " Oh, Harry,
who is to have my child ?" He immediately jumped
up, and found that she had a razor in her hand
which she had taken from his dressing-case. She
had then taken the child from the bed. He said to
her, in answer to the question about the baby, " My
dear, who will take the child from you ?" and she
answered, " There are 50 men waiting for it."
Then he began to talk to her of the foolishness
of such remarks, and prevailed on her again to
get into bed. She still had all her clothes on, as
she had when she retired to rest the night before.
The razor he took from her, and put it under him
in bed. He then dozed, and was suddenly awoke
by something thrown on the bed, which he discovered
was the baby, with its throat cut. He saw his wife
on the floor with an open razor in her hand; and
although he sprang out of bed instantly, before he
could prevent her, she had drawn the razor across
her throat. She then sunk on the floor, and he
called aloud for aid, when Mrs. Goulding and her
son entered the apartment.
In answer to questions put by the Jury, it would
seem that he and his wife had lived most unhappily
together; that he had frequently threatened to have
bar placed in a lunatic asylum, conceiving her con-
duct, especially when under the effects of liquor, as
evincing an unsoundness of mind.
The Jury, having consulted together a short time,
returned a verdict of " Wilful murder against Mary
Brooks."