The Sun.
London, England, 1845-01-10 00:00:00

LAUNCH OF AN IRON STEAMER

AT BLACKWALL.

Yesterday, was launched from the building-yard of
Messrs. Miller, Ravenhill, and Co., engineers, at Black-
wall, one of the most symmetrical specimens of an iron
steam-vessel that was ever sent into the Thames. Her
size is not large, but for speed, combined with the quali-
ties of a good sea-boat, her peculiar form, in our opinion,
designed, as it mast be, from results of scientific investi-
gation, is most eligible for the station on which she is
destined to ply—namely, between Dover and Boulogne,
or Folkestone and Boulogne. Under the load water-
line she is remarkably clean, and as she rises to the gun-
whale she is beautifully modelled—her bow flaring off
in a manner most pleasing to the ere, to counteract the
effects of wind and sea. She has a very handsome stern,
square, but tastefully moulded at the corners. Her
figure-head, a graceful nymph, representing Ondine,
which is the name of the vessel, is beautifully carved by
the Admiralty artists, Messrs. Hellyer and Son. Her
paddle boxes are proportionally small.
She entered the water about half-past two, in a man-
ner most gratifying to a large number of spectators, in
the yard of Messrs. Miller, Ravenhill, and Co., among
whom were Mr. B. Bass, solicitor, and Captain Bushell,
of Dover, some officers belonging to the Spanish navy,
and a party of ladies. A number of persons also as-
sembled at Blackwell Pier, and many excellent judges
among them expressed their admiration of the beautiful
vessel, as she was hauled into the East India Docks to
receive her engines. Miss Bushell named the Ondine,
as she rapidly glided off the plane, dashing a bottle of
Burgundy against her bows.
The following are her principal dimensions, &c.:—
Feet. In.
Length between the perpendiculars
Ditto over all, from taffrail to bowsprit l6l 0
Breadth between paddle-boxes
Depth, midships
Draft of water, about
Burden, in tons, 0. M., 282 72-94.
The workmanship of the builders has been performed
in admirable style, and the ornamental parts are in the
best possible taste. She will be fitted with two new en-
gines, of improved construction, of about 75- horse power
each. The saloon and fore-cabin will bed hi ly orna-
mented, and so arranged as to afford the-'
~ possible
b
accommodation for the numerous passenge ich will
be sure to avail themselves of the adva tic - which she
offers. There can be no doubt that' weed will be
such as to distance all competitortArlaway. But on
this point we shall soon have the result of experiment
to rely upon, and we predict that that result will indi-
cate a striking advance in the science of stem-navi-
gation.

A HORRIBLE SCENE.—The prison of Versailles
contains at this moment two men, named Delton and
Grasset, both condemned to death, and whose appeals to
the Court of Cessation have been rejected, but who are
waiting the result of petitions to the King for an ame-
lioration of their sentences. They had been kept in
separate cells until the severe cold came on, when they
were removed into one room, with a stove in it. The ~
were heavily ironed, both by the feet and hands, and},'
sentinel was constantly stationed in the passage, close`'
the door. The day before yesterday a violent quarrel
arose between them, and Grasset, on receiving some
gross apostrophe from Delton, rushed upon him head
foremost, and being unable to use his hands from their
being fettered, seized him with his teeth in the abdo-
minal region, and tore him in the most horrible manner.
Delton, rendered furious by the pain, contrived to use
his nails upon the face of Grasset, and disfigured him
terribly. The noise of their struggle and savage cries
brought in the sentinel and keepers, but it was not
without violence that these two beings, both on the
verge of an ignominious death, could be separated.
Galign ani's Messenger.
A SEVERE SENTENCE.—A young soldier of a re-
giment of Carbineers, named Isidore Carron, was sen-
tenced to death on Tuesday, by the Council of War of
Paris, for spitting in the face of his sergeant ! The con-
demned was the grandson of Colonel Carron, who was
executed, in 1822, for conspiracy again the Government
of the Restoration.

FIRE AT THE FORTUNE OF WAR TAVERN, WOOL-
wicli.—Yestkrday, about one o'clock in the day, an
alarm of fire was raised at the Fortune of War Tavern,
Green's-end, Woolwich, kept by Mr. Evans, a bighly-
respeetable licensed victualler, which seemed to assume
a most serious aspect at the first outbreak. Mr. f
In-
spector Clifford, of the Woolwich Rsub-dciovnissitoanble,os
police, was promptly upon the spot with some
miners'as well
asb
fire-enginesbarracks,
which, fromNviththse Royal sappers
supply ?i
appersaidt.
which they fortunate:y soon succeeded, the soldiers in
water, were soon got into play to subdue the tire, in
their best to
the most praiseworthy manner exerting
put
it out. It appears the origin of the fire arose, as
supposed, from a spark failing from a candle, with which
Mr. Evans had been down previously to the cellar, in
thus caused
which some straw was kept, but not discovered till some
when
of h
at
eh
denseotte
volumes,and o f smoke
t
h
com-
pletelytime aftfielrlwedartds he,
b
alarm to be raised and the prompt attendance of the
police and the sappers and miners to the spot.
BUTCHERS' CHARITABLE INSTITUTION. -- Last
7ight, the sixteenth annual meeting of the donors and
subscribers to this Institution was held at the Free-
masons' Tavern, Great Queen-street, Mr. William
Giblett, President, in the chair. The report stated, that
the charity was in a flourishing condition, and that five
additional pensioners had been elected in October last,
making in the whole 110 deserving persons who have
participated in the bounty of this Institution, and who,
by the philanthropy of the donors and subscribers, have
been rescued from a state of distress. During the past
year the committee have invested in the public funds the
sum of 600 L, which has increased the stock of the charity
to the sum of 8,9111. 6s. 7d. Three per Cent. Consols.
The officers of the Society having been duly eleeted, and
the usual votes of thanks given, the meeting separated.

LITER4.II4R4.
THE REFORMERS-04-.:F*4114# REFOR—
MATION. WM! ojick*, " 1845.
The object of thfcfristoribai. WWI ake the.
great religious movewegt:,Tilicik..4l4.44., • Europe:
a century before th*.ReforriaiitiOn:ll#j Luther,
better known and in 'Stitt-V,. It em-
braces a period of b w sl...ht years
—that is to say, from t jcinkm.mkrkke "the great
schism of the West ifr tileyell4.l3n, to :he end of
the war of the Hussites, towards the middle cf the
following century. A considerable portion of the
volume is—as might be expected from. its subject
devoted to a biographical account of John Huss, the.
famous Reformer, of iNhora the biographer writes kk
a spirit of animated panegyric, though we are not;
aware that his praises are, in any one instance, un-.
duly exaggerated. The work is a translation from
the French of M. Emilie de Bonnechose, and is per-
vaded throughout by a fervent religious spirit.

4:NNY MAGAZINE. C. Knight, -tendon, 1845.
k: 'he fourth volume of the New Series of this popu-
-1... .rnal had just made its appearance, and is em-
lar JOL with a lavish variety of illustrative wood-
bellished f which are finished off in a very superior
cuts, some the numerous original contributions
style. Among find an interesting one on the sub-
in the volume, 44,
ject of the Glacierof the Alps.

IRISH 1„41.1, WAYS.
The following Irish rajliyay projects have been laid
compliance with the
before the Board of Trade:. aig•
standing order—but how many be sanctioned we
are unable to say :
BELFAST AND BALLYMENA, PITY'; A BRANCH TO
CARRICKFERGUS.—Amount of capital, 385,0001., in
7,700 shares of 501. each ; deposit, 2/. 10z.. per share.
Amount of depositsc 19,2501. Total length of line, 35

miles.
CARLOW AND WEXI'f)RD.-- Capital, 300,0001., in
6,000 shares of 501. each; deposit, 21. 10s. Amount
of deposits, 15,0001. Length of line, 40 miles.
CORK AND BANDON.-Uapitat, 200,0001., in 4,000
shares of 501. each ; deposit, 2/. 10s. Amount of de-
posits, 10,0001. Lengtr. of line, 20 miles,
CORK AND LIMERICK (Vignolles'
1,000,0001., in 20,000 shares ; deposit, 21. 10s.
Amount of deposits, 50,0001. Length of line, with
Limerick branch to Holy Cross, 94 miles.
DUBLIN AND BELFAST JUNCTION.-Capital, 950,04 0/.,
in 10,000 shares of 501. each ; deposit, 2/. lOs. Amon nt
of deposits, 47,5001. Total length of line frotA
Drogheda to Portadown, including the branch from
Drogheda, via Navan to Kells, 79 miles.
DUBLIN AND DROGHEDA (Howth Extension).-
No additional capital has been, as yet, subscribed for
this line. Its length is 3 miles t. 4i chains.
DUNDALK AND ENNISKILLEN.-oPital, 750,0001., in
•2
15,000 shares of 501. each; deposit, /. lOs. Arwannt•
of deposits, 37,5001. Total length of ,fine, including
branch to Monaghan, 77 miles.
GREAT SOUTHERN AND WESTERN EXTENts:MN rao
CASHEL TOLIMERICK AND CORK.-Capital, 1,200,0001.,
in 24,000 shares of 501.; deposit, 21. 10s. Amout it of
deposits, 60,0001. Total length of line, 954. T
when completeted, will be the longest line of railway
undertaken by any single company in Great Britain.
The total length from Dublin to Limerick and Cork,
including the Carlow branch, being 218 miles.
, from Dublin to Cavan.
GREAT NORTH WESTERN,
vital, 750,0001.,
vin 15,000 shares of 501. each ; de-
ft, '2/. 10s. Amount of deposits, 37,5004'. Total
r h of line, 68 miles
•
cr,nt. VT WESTERN, from Dublin to Munis igar and
Athlonef with a branch to Longford.- Capital,
750,000/., In 15,000. shares of 501. each; deposit, 21.105.
Amount of de
.-to:.;its, 37,500/. Total length of line,
68 miles. 1..% the company that propose to ?un a
of their line along the Royal
considerable poftic6
Canal North Bank.
KILKENNY JUNCT:ON•-• -Capital, 200,0001., in 8:,000
shares of 25/. each • de,posi t, 1/. 10s. Amount a de•
posits, 12,000/. iotal 'Ong th of line, 26i miles.
LIMERICK AND ENN.`s• -Capital, 200,0001., in
4,000 shares of 501. each ; ieposit, 2/.155. Amount
of deposits, 11,000/. Total 101.;gth of line, 21 miles.
STC
LONDONDERRY AND ENICI.
ILLEN. Capital,
500,000/., in 10,000 shares trf 50t..
each ; deposit, 2/.
10s. Amount of deposits, 25,00 M. Total length of
line, 57 miles.
NEWRY, ARMAGH, AND ENNISKILL EN. ---- Capital,
90,0001., in 18,000 shares of 50/. eaoh ; deposi.t, 2/.
10s. Amount of deposits, 45,000/. *.Total length of
line, 70 miles.
WATERFORD AND KILKENNY.-Capitt 250,000
in 12,500 shares of 201. each; deposit, 14!, Amoun t
of deposits, 12,5001. Total length of liner 32 miles.
On this line the wooden rail is to be used as• a substi-
tute for iron. The wool is to be prepared by Payne's,
process, and the engines and carriages are to .be fitted
with Prosser's guide wheels. The invention' is ex-
ceedingly simple and ingenious.
WATERFORD AND LIMERICK .-Capital, 750.'0001.,
in 1,500 shares of 501. each ' • deposit, 2/. 10s. Anlount
of deposits, 37,5001. Total length of line, 70 miles.
ULSTER EXTENSION.-From Portadown to Ar-
magh. We ;lave not the survey of this line before us,
and do not know its exact length. It was originally
intended to run the Ulster line from Belfast to Ar-
magh, and capital wag taken for that purpose, so that
it will not be requisite to issue any new shares. A
thirteenth call for the sum of 21. 10s. has just b een
made. This will make the amount paid up of 321.. on
share of 501.

ARMAGH, COLERAINE, OR PORTRUSM—Capit al,
600,0001., in 24,000 shares of 251. each ; deposit,, 1/.
7s. 6d. per share. Total length, 63 miles. The pt•o-
spectus of this line has only been. recently issued- -a
partial survey has been made, and the engineer's re-
port is very favourable. The country through which
the line passes is exceedingly rich and populous. The
project appears very feasible, and we understand there
is ev(ry prospect of its being successfully prosecuted.
The notices of the preceding lines were all regu-
larly served before the last day of November, but
the following are yet to come in proper shape before
the Board or Trade. Next session must be their due
season for inquiry.
AtuLosE TO GALWAT.—This line was spoken of as
an extension of the Great Western from Lublin, via
Mullingar, to Athlone. A survey was made, but no
company has yet been formed to carry it out.
CORK, CovE, AND YOUGHAL.—Prelimirlarj steps
have been taken towards the formation of a company
to undertake the construction of this line. A partial
s“rvey has been made, and the traffic taken, and the
results have proved of a highiy satisfactory and en-
couraging nature. From all we have been able to
ascertain, we have reason to believe that this under-
taking will afford a most remunerative investment.
DUBLIN AND ARMAGH.—This project was mooted
by " Pierce and David Mahony, solicitors," but no
prospectus has appeared, nor, as far as we can ascer-
tain, has any company been formed, or evert a pro-
visional committee named, to bring the affair respect-
ably before the public. It is a revival of a project
which, in 1837, was set aside when it was attempted
to be put forward in competition with the Dublin L‘nd
Drogheda line.
HELLS TO LONGFORD.—CapitaI, 700,0001., in 14,000
shares of 50/. each ; deposit, 21. 10s. This line is de-
signed to extend the Kells branch of the Belfast

Junction into the interior to Longford. The pro-
spectus: was published, but we are not aware that
anythi more haA been done. We believe the project
will-ht warmly taken up on a future occasion.
:e-Ac.INGSTOWN, WEXFORD, AND WATERFORD. -AU
Announcement appeared relative to this line, which,
it is understood, originated with the English Great
Western Company. Be this as it may, a survey of
the line has been made, but no prospectus has yet
been issued. It is said that the necessary plans and
sections have been lodged, and that an application
will be made next session for an Act. This line in-
cludes Carlow also.

LONDONDERRY AND COLERAINE.—This line has
been before the public by means of a notice, but no
prospectus has been published.
PoRTARLINGrox AND TULLAMORE.—The notice of
an intention to apply to Parliament for a Bill for this
line was published since the 30th November, and the
notice states that the promoters intend seeking for the
suspension of the standing orders in their favour, so
as to obtain their Act next session. An arrangement
has been effected between the Great Southern and
Western and Irish Great Western Companies, by
which the line to Galway will run from Portarling-
ton via Tullamore.—Dublin Monitor.

SINGULAR SURGICAL CASE.---A healthy-looking
young man, in great pain and distress, applied to Mr.
Smith, surgeon, of Michinhanapton, having, as he stated,
swallowed a portion of the bone of a mutton. chop,
which still remained in his throat. ➢ir. Smith, on in-
troducing an instrument, fonnd very great resistance
about half way down the oesophagus or gullet; however,
by applying very considerable forceihe succeeded in
passing the instrument, together with the obstructing
substance, into the stomach. The operation, which of
necessity was attended with some degree of violence,
was followed with immediate and violent vomiting, when
a piece of gristle, with a large pin through it, was
ejected, and which, nu doubt, had transfixed this portion
of food so firmly in his gullet.—Cheltenham Examiner.
RUIkIoURED MEETING OF THE BISHOPS.--We un-
derstand that a statement in the Evening Post,
that there is to be a meeting of the Catholic Bishops on
tile 22d, is without foundation. It is certain, at least,
that in quarters where the fact should be known, if it
were true, no intimation of it has been received.—Dublin
Pilot.

APPROACHING MARRIAGE IN HIGH LIFE.--Mohun
Lal, the celebrated Orientalist, at present in Dublin,
will shortly lead to the hymeneal altar a beautiful young
lady, a native of the Irish metropolis, and her entire
family intend to accompany the happy couple to Persia!
Mohun gave 10,0001. towards the ransom of the Lady
Sale and Lady M‘Naugf.ten.—Limerick Reports.
Sir John Pechell, Bart., we are happy to learn, is
gradually getting better. The respected Baronet takes
carriage airings when the weather permits, and roccisr
visits in the Afternoon and the evenings, though still
unable to leave his sofa bed.

of the PUBLIC JOURNALS. I a pitiful case. The French expedition sought Mr.
MN Tan rirMara PAPERS or YESTERDAY. Pritchard ; Mr. Pritchard did not go to look for M.
GLOBE.--We add nothing in the way of argu- Dupetit Thouars or M. d'Atibigny ; and if either
moat to the articles which have already appeared in party sustained a loss by the meeting, it is only
?ur '4olumns on the injustice and impolicy of charg- the common rule of justice, that the volunteer must
Ir:g enormous tees on summary convictions which pay. Deprived of the right of sear, h grievance,
involve merely nominal penalties, and allowing those however, and of the Otaheite grievance, the slave-
lees to be taken by the magistrates' clerks in lieu trading—parti pretre, and Mole oppos Lion, will not
of fixed salaries. The fines are apportioned by the hare a foot to stand upon.
magistrates, according as the offences with which
they are called upon to deal are marked by
aggravating or extenuating circumstances. The dis-
cretion with which the law invests the magis-
trate is sufficiently wide. In cases of assault and of
trespass, the fine may range from the smallest coin of
the realm to five pounds. But, however frivolous the
charge, if conviction follow, and a farthing fine be
affixed, the costs upon the conviction are the same es
they would have been had the highest penalty allowed
by the law been inflicted by the magistrates. This is
so manifestly unjust in principle, and, in the great
majority of casee, so oppressive in practice, that it
requires only to be stated in order to show the neces-
sity for a more equitable mode of apportioning the
costs on summary convictions in trifling assault and
trespass cases. A correspondent supplies us with a
case which forcibly illustrates the observations we
have now made on the practice we have on former
occasions endeavoured to expose, with a view to its
abolition :
" At the Woodstock petty sessions, on Wednesday,
a trumpery charge was preferred against George Cooper,
a poor man, of Bladon, by Elliott, a gamekeeper to the
Duke of Marlborough. The magistrates showed their
opinion of the charge, which was not denied by the de-
fendant, by fining him one halfpenny, which, with the
magistrates' clerk's fees—thirteen and sixpence!—was
paid."
In this case, a fine of one halfpenny was the penal
infliction for the offence committed by the poor man
against the Duke of Marlborough's gamekeeper. And
sorely did the Duke's gamekeeper feel—who, doubtless,
thought the halfpenny fine was an affront put upon
him, and upon the illustrious individual of whose game
he was one of the authorised protectors. Our cor-
respondent adds !—" Elliott, the complainant, was
insolent to the Bench. He had the impudence to tell
the magistrates that he knew more than all of them
put together. The halfpenny fine evidently did not
accord with the fellow's expectations." And yet the
complainant, had his stomach for revenge not been of
most capacious size, might have been satisfied. The
Bench, it is true, had been considerate—perhaps
merciful—in its views of the charge against the
defendant. But then the clerk's fees were suffi-
ciently exorbitant to gratify the moderate desires, even
of a Duke's gamekeeper. Thirteen shillings and six-
pence is the average amount of a fortnight's labour
wages in that part of Oxfordshire. Had the poor
fellow not been able to pay, a fortnight's imprison-
ment, at the least, in a felon's prison, would have
been the alternative ; where he must hive
been maintained at the county charge, and
his family out of the parish rates. Lord
Denman's Act for discouraging the practice which
had grown up, of bringing actions for slander,
petty assaults, and insignificant acts of trespass, has
had a salutary effect upon the litigious propensities of
individuals who were prone to run to a lawyer upon
every trifling provocation, and upon those members of
the profession whose appetite for costs prevail over
their desire to protect the interests of their clients. The
dread of verdicts which leave the respective parties
in the action to bear their own costs, operates as a
valuable check on vexatious litigation; and thus saves
the time of the Courts and the pockets of the foolish.
If petty cases of the same kind, which are frequently
brought before magistrates in petty sessions, were
governed by the same rule ; and a frivolous complaint,
which results in a fine upon the defendant of a few
pence, were to subject the complainant to a moiety of the
costs, or to the payment of the whole, many of the
trumpery charges which consume the time of the
Bench, to the postponement of more important busi-
ness, would never be brought before the magistrates.
The parties would settle their differences in a way
better calculated to obliterate the recollection of their
quarrel, and to restore them to the tranquillity which
a trifling altercation had disturbed.
STANDARD. —The stability of the present
French Ministry is of too much importance to the
peace of Europe not to render all thinking men
anxiously alive to any danger with which Marshal
Soul: and M. Guizot's Cabinet may seem to be three-
-*fled. In this, as in all other cases, our suscepti-
bility to apprehension bears a direct ratio to the
value of the object in hazard. It is only upon this
ground we can account for the fears entertained
for the safety of a Ministry enjoying the most
ample and unreserved favour of tho Croon, the full
confidence of the Chamber of Pears, and, clear of all
actual or possible defections, a working majority of
at the least sixty in the Chamber of Deputies, which,
comparing the nneterical difference of the two assem-
blies, is jest equivalent to Sir Robert Peel's majority
of ninety in our House of Commons at the com-
mencement of his auspicious administration. In
such a state of affairs in France, we have
not the slightest apprehension of danger to
the present Cabinet, and we think that even the op-
position to it that exists will sink rapidly in proportion
as its structure and design shall be developed ; the
nucleus of that opposition is the slave-trading interest.
There is at this moment sitting in Paris a committee
composed of delegates from all the slave-holding
susses of the world, in communication with M.
Billault, and the other French slave-traders. The
slave-holders have taken fright at the English
law of last year, which, by giving a large prefer-
ence to sugar, the produce of free lobour,
holds .ut a strong temptation to the French Govern-
ment to imitate our Emancipation Act ; and it need
scarcely he said that were France to take this course,
she would give the death-blow to slavery all over the
-world—we believe as much to her profit as to her
own honour. Great Britain and France united
may govern the world, to the utmost extent
that free and enlightened nations can desire to
goiern ; they may command universal freedom,
end when a few years shall have thoroughly conso-
lidated the union, we trust that they will command it.
France, too, will have much less to pay for her half
of this proud position as joint guardian of the liberty
of mankind, than England has paid because, as the
, accession of France would extinguish slavery at once,
there would he no niter competition with slave la-
bour, such as England has been necessarily engaged
in. We repeat it, that independently of the honour,
France would reap a great profit from the imita-
tion of our Emancipation Act. The French
slave-owners, however, would have only a colunon
share in this national gain, while they would lose, or
think they would lose, in the deprivation of their pro-
perty in human flesh. They therefore, stimulated as
they are by the suggestions of their brethren of the
United States, of Cuba, and of the Brazils, will
employ every exertion to overturn a Ministry which
they believe to be too honest and too philanthropic
not to detest slavery. Were these persons more nu-
merous than they are, they would, however, fail in
an assembly of Frenchmen ; and, indeed, we know
of no weapon that could be employed against them
more likely to ensure their failure than the elope
upon the human flesh trade, and invective against the
Christian religion and natural humanity, forwarded
to the American Minister at Paris by Mr. Calhoun.
France has long since purified herself of the dross
of her revolution, but the noble spirit of freedom
and of universal philanthropy which adorned it still
remain. There is no danger, it is true, that France
will repeat the error committed in the case of St.
Domingo, turning an uneducated race loose to govern
themselves. Perhaps she will also avoid some errors
committed its our Emancipation Act, which left
an uneducated race too free from the neces-
sity of paying for their support and their liberty
by their labour ; but that, sooner or later,
she will govern the coloured population of her
colonies as citizen's, and not as slaves, we have
no more doubt, than we have of her maintaining
her high position among nations. Meanwhile, it is
not by a conspiracy of foreign and domestic slave-
oWners, that free and generous France will allow
a Ministry to be overthrown, even though that
conspiracy conciliate the aid of the parti pretre,
and obtain the accession of the French Lord
Palmerston, Count Mole—the French Lord Pal-
merston in his political versatility, in his greedi-
'mess of place, and in his Russian predilections.
France will not submit to a coalition like this. As
regards the right of search question, there can be
little doubt that the British Government would be,
merely for the sake of the peace of the world, and to
gratify the King of the French, disposed to
make every concession, and will make every con-
cession that can reasonably be demanded. And
independently of these considerations of more ge-
neral policy, it is plain that by coming to a per-
fectly good understanding with a nation so powerful
as France, and, as a nation, so resolutely bent
to suppress the slave trade, our Government will
adopt the course best calculated to effect our
common object. Let the officers of the British
and French navies cordially co-operate, as if they
were engaged in one and the same service, and
the slave trade will soon be at an end, despite
the slave-traders of the Brazils, of Cuba, of the
„United States, and of Nantes. For our own part, we
would, to secure such co-operation, be disposed to
submit to anything short of an indignity, and that
we are quite certain the present French Govern-
ment would not be likely to offer. Here is the state
of the case—the slave trade exists at present only
on account of the jealousies of Great Britain and
France, though the Governments of both coun-
tries ate most anxious to suppress it. What
sacrifice possible in the case would be too great for
the attainment of the common object? As in the
judgment of Solomon, the more sincere party will be
proved by the greater readiness to make sacrifices.
As respects the unhappy series of blunders at
Otaheite, which rendered it necessary to compen-
sate Dec. Pritchard, the opposition can make but

ATTEMPTED MURDER.
At the Bury sessions, on Monday last, John War-
burton, who keeps a house of bad character, m
Hamer's-yard, near Clerk-street, was brought up,
charged with attempting to shoot a young woman,
named Martha Ackers, and then endeavouring to
murder her, by striking her with the butt-end
of the gun. The complainant, a young woman,
about twenty-three years of age, said she had lived
at John Warburton's house for about six weeks.
She went to his house on Saturday night last,
about half-past ten o'clock. When she ,entered
the house, she saw Warburton, an old man, and a
woman, named Alice Ashworth, who lived with him.
As soon as she entered, he rose from his seat, and
pointed the gun ; it dii not go off. He then struck her
with the but end of the gun, and felled her to the
ground. She believed it was his intention to shoot her ;
for he came into William Walker's (formerly Jenkin -
son's) beer-house, in Clerk-street, about nine o'clock,
and then said he would shoot her. Complainant put
Mrs. Ashworth to bed, about five o'clock on Saturday
night ; she was tipsy, and they had some words.
Eliza Walker said, she saw the prisoner at half-past
nine o'clock on Saturday evening in his own house ;
he had a gun in his hand. He said, " You are wel-
come to come into my house at any time, but if
Martha Ackers comes any more, I will shoot her."
Prisoner then told her the gun was loaded,
and said that Martha had been insulting his
mistress. He appeared to have had some
liquor. Witness then left the house from fear.
Isaac Ramsden, a labourer on the Manchester, Bury,
and Rossendale Railway, said he went to Walker's
beer-house, in Clerk-street, on Saturday evening,
and also into the yard leading into the yard where
the prisoner resides. He heard a noise, and seeing
some boys run, went towards the prisoner's house
to see what was the matter. He saw the prisoner
with a gun in his hand, and heard him say he
would shoot the prosecutrix. He pointed the
gun at her, and the next moment he turned
the butt-end, and struck her several times on
the head ; she fell to the ground, and bled
very much. A young man named William Turner,
and witness, then went in and took the gun from him
They hadgreat difficulty in getting it from him ; they
each " loosed" a hand. He was very determined.
The young woman, Martha Ackers, was quite insen-
sible. She lay on the floor bleeding for several
minutes. Edmund Yates, a boy fifteen years of
age, said the prisoner sent him on Saturday even-
ing last to Mr. Peel's, ironmonger, for a penny-
worth of powder, a pennyworth of shot, and a half-
pennyworth of caps. After he had bought them,
prisoner began to load the gun, saying he would
shoot Martha (meaning prosecutrix) ; this was a few
minutes before nine o'clock on Saturday evening.
Mr. Superintendent Henhall produced the gun, which
was loaded with powder and shot. He found the
prosecutrix in the the prisoner's house on Saturday
night, about half-past ten o'clock. Prisoner was
committed for trial at the next Liverpool assizes.—
Manchester Guardian.

IMPROVEMENT of the DWELLINGS
OF THE LABOURING CLASSES.
(From the Builder.)
The master carpenters and builders residing in and
near the metropolis have resolved upon petitioning
Parliament early in the ensuing session for such a
modification of the window duties as will insure a
better system of ventilation than that which at pre-
sent exists, particularly in the dwellings of the la-
bouring. classes. The following is a copy of the
petition resolved upon at a meeting of the " Society
of Master Carpenters," held on the 23d ult., at the
Freemasons' Tavern, Great Queen-street, and which
has already been very numerously signed.
" To the Honourable the Commons of the United
Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, in
Parliament. assembled.
"The petition of the undersigned Master Car-
penters and Builders residing in and near the
metropolis,
"Humbly showeth—
" That your petitioners are desirous of adopting
every improvement in construction which may tend
to promote the healthfulness of dwelling-houses, in
accordance with the valuable evidence laid before
your Honourable House by Sanatory Commissions,
but that your petitioners have daily reason to observe
that a fatal obstacle exists to the improvements most
needed, in the present mode of assessing houses tc
the window duties.
" That the window duties, as now assessed, operate
as a premium upon defective construction, the occu-
pier having a direct interest in blocking up every
opening intended for the admission of light and air
that can possibly be dispensed with, to lessen the
burden of taxation.
"That under the existing system, an unglazed
aperture only seven inches wide cannot be made fer
rirposes of ventilation in a cellar in London without
the payment of an average duty of Bs. per annum,
although such an opening is now permitted to be
made free of duty in the town of Liverpool, by a
local Act of last session, 7 laud 8 Vict., cap. 51.
" That your petitioners are deeply impressed with
a conviction that the influence of light and air ere
intimately connected with the moral as well as the
physical state of the whole population. That the
exclusion of light is unfavourable to habits of per-
sonal cleanliness, and that the crowded lodging-houses
of the poor become necessarily abodes of diseases
when rendered by fiscal enactments gloomy recepta-
cles of dirt.
"Your petitioners therefore pray your Honourable
[louse to put an end to the serious evils arising from
this cause, by either a repeal of the window duties or
by such a limitation of their present burden, that
taxation may no longer keep pace with improvement,
and that there may be no check or hindrance to the
construction of light, cheerful, and well-ventilated
dwelling-houses for any class of the community.
" And your petitioners will ever pray," &c.

ESCAPE OF A MAN FROM CUSTODY UNDER THE
CNARGE OF MunnEa.—Yesterday, information that
a man named John Brough, who stood committed on
the charge of murder, and who was handcuffed to
another prisoner named Thomas Swinton, charged with
felony, managed to effect his escape the other day, to-
gether with his companion, from the custody of the
officer, Thomas Michel, whilst the latter was conveying
them from Biddulph to Stafford gaol. Brough is
described as being about forty years of age, five feet
ten inches high, slender made, sallow complexion, dark
hair, hazel eyes, large front teeth, which project, and
long visage. Bad on a large smock-frock, with buttons
down the front, barragan trousers, strong shoes, and
tommy hat. His companion, Swinton, is about twenty
years of age, five feet four inches and a half high, fresh
complexion, and dark hair and eyes. Had on a light
barragan jacket, dark cord trousers, blue cap, and a pair
of clogs.
AMERICAN Saws.—The Sheffield Mercury of Sa-
turday last says :—" Many of the artisans of this town,
as well as other individuals, have had their attention
arrested during the last few days, by the display in the
window of Mr. Eadon, the carver and gilder, in Fargate,
of a large lithographed show-bill of the firm of Worrell
and Co., machine and tool makers, New York. Some
of the lookers on contented themselves with admiring
the artistic cleverness of design, others in wondering
whether any of the Sheffield houses exhibit so large a
pictorial advertisement in America ; but there have been
not a few observers shrewd and interested enough to no-
tice particularly, that saws of all sorts, from the largest
circular to the smallest web, form a principal part of the
design, and are especially mentioned among the leading
articles of manufacture ; thus corroborating the correct-
ness of the statements we have often incidentally made
as to the great and successful efforts that are made to
rival us in this important class of articles by the manu-
facturers in the United States."
GLASGOW ANTI-CORN-LAW ASSOCIATION.—THE
LEAGUE BAZAA.R.—On Saturday evening a meeting of
the members of the Glasgow Anti-Com-law Association
was held in the Trades' Hall, for the purpose of taking
into consideration the proposal of the National Anti-
Corn-law League, to hold a bazaar in Covent-garden
Theatre, London, in the month of May next, on behalf
of the League Fund of 100,0001., and the propriety of
appointing a Local Committee for Glasgow, to aid that
important object„ by procuring contributions of manu-
factured articles from this city for the projected bazaar.
The chair having been taken by Walter Buchanan, Esq.,
President of the Association, the meeting was addressed
first by the Chairman, and then by Alex. Graham, Esq.,
W. P. Peter, Esq., the Lord Provost, &c., when resolu-
tions were unanimously adopted, declaring the entire
and unabated confidence of the meeting in the National
Anti-Corn-law League ; and pledging themselves to use
their best exertions to aid and assist in the promotion of
the objects of the proposed bazaar.—Scotsman.
REPRESENTATION OF THE ELGIN BURGHS.—A
vacancy in the representation of this district of burghs
by the retirement of our present Member, Sir Andrew
Leith Hay, being anticipated, requisitions have been got
up, in all the burghs, by the Conservative party, in
favour of Mr. Duff, of Haddo, and we understand that
that gentleman has consented to stand. It is also re-
ported that a canvas is going on in Peterhead, &c., on
the Liberal side, for Lord Kilmarnock, eldest son of the
Earl of Errol. The Whig party have issued a circular
calling upon the electors not to pledge themselves to any
candidate in the meantime, should the rumour as to the
retirement of the present Member prove correct. —Elgin
Courant.
A herring of an extraordinary large size, and in
the finest possible condition, was caught by Mr. George
Douglas, of'Wear-street, Bishopwearmouth, on Friday
last, in a pool left by the ebbing of the tide on the beach,
near Sunderland. The circumstance of a herring being
caught on the coast at this season of the year is very un-
usual. When cooked, it is said to have been much supe-
rior to the fish caught at the ordinary moon.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
OLD COURT.

(Before Mr. Justice PATTESON and Mr. Justice EaLE.)
Peter Wathins, 20, druggist, was indicted for the man-
slaughter of William Watts.
Mr. Bodkin prosecuted, and Mr. Wilkins appeared for
the prisoner.
From the evidence adduced, it appeared that the un-
fortunate deceased had gone to the shop of the prisoner
to purchase some tasteless salts, and the prisoner gave
him tartarie acid, it being proved, on his behalf, that
this was the result of accident, and that the bottle con-
taining the acid had been accidentally substituted for
that which contained the salts.
The jury, under these circumstances, at once returned
a verdict of Not Guilty, but at the same time expressed
their opinion that there ought to have been some clear
and distinct label upon the respective bottles, in order to
distinguish their contents.
Mr. Justice EuLE said he concurred in what had fallen
from the jury. There certainly should be every pains
taken to prevent such fatal mistakes as had occurred in
the present instance.
James Carr, 41, milkman, was indicted for feloniously
forging a signature to a certain deed, purporting to be a
conveyance of property, with intent to defraud Peter
Price.
Mr. Wilkins appeared for the prosecution.
The facts of this case will be fresh in the recollection
of our readers, as they have been detailed in the police
reports within the last few days.
The prisoner made the semi defence he did before the
magistrates, and asserted that he had been induced to
attempt to raise money upon the property under the
belief that his brother. to whom it belonged, and who
was transported, was either dead, or did not intend to
come forward and claim it, but he declared that he never
received, in point of fact, any benefit from the transac-
tion, and no meney was paid to him.
The jury returned a verdict of Guilty, but at the
same time recommended the prisoner to mercy, as they
said they believed what he stated in his defence was the
truth.
Mr. Justice PATTESON sentenced the prisoner to be
kept to hard labour for two years.
Thomas Bateman, 27, clerk, was indicted for feloni-
ously forging and uttering an order for the payment of
1001., with intent to defraud George Drake Sewell and
others.
The jury returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
The Court, at its rising, adjourned until February 3.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
(YESTERDAY.)
MANSION-HOUSE.

Thomas GrWiths was brought before the Lord
Mayor, in the custody of Daniel Forrester, the officer,
charged with forgery. Mr. Bush, solicitor to the
Committee of Bankers for protection against forgeries
and frauds, attended for the prosecution.
Mr. Bush stated that the prisoner hadfbeentin the
employment of Mr. Myers, the fishmonger, of Peter's-
alley, Cornhill, whose service he left about three
months ago, and that there was at • any rate one
forgery, besides that upon which the evidence was
ready, in the commission of which it would hereafter
appear the prisoner was concerned.
Mr. J. Pace, clerk in Dimsdale and Barnard's
banking-house, in Cornhill, stated that the pristmer
presented a cheque for 101., purporting to be signed by
Mr. Michael Myers, on Wednesday, between two
and three o'clock in the afternoon. It was not paid,
fcr eight or nine cheques purporting to be drawn by
Mr. Myers had previously been presented, and had
turned out to be forgeries. The cheque produced
was a considerably worse imitation of Mr. Myers's
writing than any of the preceding cheques. The pri-
soner did not say anything upon presenting the cheque,
which the witness, upon receiving, handed to Mr. Bar-
nard, one of the partners of the firm. The prisoner
was then called into the back parlour and given into
custody.
Mr. John Barnard stated that the prisoner at the
time he presented the cheque happened to be the
only person doing business. Witness, upon taking
him into the parlour, asked him whom he hud re-
ceived the cheque from, to which he replied from Mr.
Myers. Witness at once ran to Mr. Myers's shop,
which was within a very short distance, and took Mr.
Myers to the banking-house, and confronted him
with the prisoner, who said nothing.
The LORD MAYOR—Prisoner, have you any ques-
tion to ask this gentleman ? Prisoner—No.
Mr. Michael Myers stated that he had kept an account
at Messrs. Dimsdale and Barnard's banking-house
4,5 years. The cheque produced was not in his hand-
writing. The prisoner had lived 13 or 14 months
with him as his house servant, and lodged in the
house. _ . _

Here a cheque-book, from which it was evident
cheques had been torn, was produced, and identified
by the witness as his property.
Sophia Myers, daughter of Mr. Myers, stated that
she was in the habit of keeping the accounts of the
house, and occasionally filling• up cheques from the
hook produced. The cheque-book came into ase in
September, when the prisoner, who had access to the
place in which it was kept, was in her father's house.
She never signed a cheque. Her father and mother
always signed the cheques, and the signature in the
cheque produced was not that of either of them. Wit-
ness left the cheque-book out, never entertaining any
suspicion of any bad intention.
Daniel Forrester stated that he took the prisoner
into custody, and told him to be cautious what he
said in answer to the questions which he (Forrester)
might ask him. Witness found in the prisoner's
pockets two keys, one of which opened a box at the
prisoner's lodgings, in which box witness found a
piece of a cheque similar to that produced. The pri-
soner, when first questioned, gave a false address, but
after wards gave the correct one.
Remanded till Wednesday next.
The LORD MAYOR, acknowledged the receipt of a
201. bequest, minus 21. the duty, under the will of
Francis Bailey, Esq., for the poor-box of the Man-
sion-house.