The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1841-01-29 00:00:00

CONTEMPORARY PRESS,

THE RE-FORM ACT.
(From the Morning He► ald)
1, the other day; asko the •Hon.
candidate for Canter-

the conservativ

i a tau

way, whether he would " repeal
l'he eery appropriate and cutting
was, that• " could he erase

records of the crimes,
h attended the pro-
-could he blot out the history
•ages at Bristol, Nottingham,
im, and Newport—could he re-
omes those miserable exiles, who, in the
eir disappointment at the non-fulfilment
;, had turned their arms against their
s and betrayers—could he, moreover, restore
hopes and expectations the Reform Bill had
he would then perhaps give a different an-
was impossible, he would content
ng to the question in the negative."
t puts such a question, and gets such
_ it is certain that its zeal has
.outrun its dis-
ion, and that it has placed a weapon in the hand of
n enemy to strike down its own friends.

ore to

swer, bi

g print

ge, wh

Moreover, such reading as is carried on in the work-rooms
was instituted solely by the, governor's authority, and has
always been exclusively under the direction of a turnkey, not
of the chaplain.
And, lastly, you will remember that one charge against me
is, that, in accordance with this rule, on a Sabbath day I
objected to the use of one of Hannah More's Tales, a mere
story book of amusement, being read instead of the Bible,
though it was quite clear I was then acting within the com-
pass of my duty, as here prescribed.
" Every such chaplain shall, on every Sunday, and on
Christmas Day, and Good Friday, perform the appointed
morning and evening services of the Church of England."
This I have always done, under the sanction of the bishop
of the diocese, and in accordance with the legal opinion of
the town-clerk as I trust I have already clearly proved.
" And shall preach at such time or times, between the
hours of nine and five of the day, as shall be required by the
rules and regulations to be made as directed by this act."
Having had no rules laid before me, I have taken the ex-
treme, and preached twice on every Sunday.
Not a word, gentlemen, hitherto as to preaching every
day of the week, as I have constantly done.
" And shall catechise or instruct such prisoners as may be
willing to receive instruction."
This rule I have alwaYS religiously observed. Never has
a prisoner or an officer sought my instruction Without receiv-
ing the best aid I could render him. Mr. Eacheldor, when,
as he thought, on a dying bed, five or six months since,
sought my instruction. Notwithstanding all my vileness, he
unbosomed his'soul to me. Notwithstanding his conviction
that my life ought (if his present thoughts be just) to have
been designated a continuing lie, he sought, earnestly sought,
the benefit, and, as he then felt, the comfort of those ex-
temporaneous prayers, which have for so long a period led
him to doubt my orthodoxy. A dying bed, gentleman, un-
folds the real secrets of the heart : it unfolds a man's real
belief of character far more effectually than evidence taken
on oath, when the mind is under the government of impetu-
ous and angry passions.
I hope, gentlemen, most truly that each one of you may,
when pressing a dying pillow, experience that Sweet tranquil-
lity and support which will,. I believe, be mine when, under
similar circumstances, having all these, my supposed offences,
before my eyes, with a conscience void of offence to God and
man, I shall breathe my departing spirit into the hand of him
who gave it.
The regulation proceeds—
" And shall likewise visit the prison on such other days,
and perform such other duties as shall be required by the
rules and regulations." _ _

What duty, under this part of the act, have I neglected ?
None is pretended. Nay, have I not pressed, beyond per-
haps what was deemed proper, to be entrusted with the real
and effectual superintendence of the schools ? a duty in which
I should gladly have exerted my energies: but you declined.
It was, I might almost say ungenerous, in the inspector of
prisons, knowing my intense anxiety and desires on this sub-
ject, to endeavour to elicit, by evidence, that I did not teach,
did not examine the children habitually, when he well knew
that I should have been acting without orders, nay, in spirit
contrary to orders, if I had so demeaned myself.
" And shall administer the holy sacrament of the Lord's
supper to such prisoners as shall be desirous, and as such
chaplain may deem to be in a proper frame of mind to receive
the same."

• My explanation on this subject, given to you in answer to
questions proposed by Captain Williams, has been well bruit-
ed about the prison, and is in reality at the foundation of that
extremely bitter feeling which now prevails against me ; and
yet, as you know, my reply was strictly in accordance with
this law, as has been my practice.
_

" And such chaplain also 'shall frequently visit every room
or cell in the prison occupied by prisoners."
What may be the legal extent of the word frequently I do
not pretend to know. One male turnkey, (Gillet) the only
one who was asked the question, as to the frequency of my
visits, told you that they were sometimes every day,
.some-
times thrice or four times a week. Now, gentlemen, whilst
his opportunity for judging only extended to one landing,
(there being six distinct wards, with three landings on each,)
and no motive I suppose can be assigned, why I should visit
his particular' department more frequently than any other;
surely, I must have come up to the magic quantity of visiting
through wards, workrooms, and cells, which the word
" frequently" means. Gillet also told you, that many pri-
soners speak to me, one by. one, in a cell ; and that each of
such conversations occupied from five to ten minutes. He
told. you the truth, when he said, he had known me to be
thus occupied for two hours, i. e. in one of four wards.
Miss ‘Davis tells you, that I 'do not very frequently go
thrOugh her workrooms, nor on an average occupy more
than half an hour ; she, however, supplies you with a very
sensible reason. " There are not manyfernales who wish to
speak with Dr. Buck in private." The routine is, to walk
through the different landings and workrooms ; wait a few
moments to ascertain if any female wish my assistance ; and
then to depiirt -half ari hour on an average might be suffi-
cient, though I believe had a watch been looked to,. more
time must have been alloived,'hi. the 'niere' walking through
the lantlirts, and'idoking into-the' differet&cells;' could not
be accotnilli,shed 'within suth narrovr The, governor
in7rhy presence.told you that'll 6 could not nnike'44B'requilred
daily visits theough the prison under three houtsr,

"'And' Shall direct stick' books to be distributeit gird read,
and such lessons to be taught in such prison; as lieittiy deem
properfor the religious and moral instruction of the pri-
woners

Had the first clause of this: rule been remembered by a
visiting justice, now Qne to pass sentence on me, one of my
fancied crimes, would not have aPpeared in the long cata-
logue of accusation, I "will also" add that if the inspector
had had the latter. elapse :in his band at the moment, he
would not have, asked the matron of the 'prison for the cha-
racter of the tale or story bOok called the Two Shoemakers,_
seeing that the judgment of the Chaplain was by the tty,-Of
the land final on that pOirit:
•

" And he 4411 visit ihose who, are in Solitary confine,
91
went. •

It has not I think been attempted to charge against me
that I ever avoided this duty. Remember what the gover-
nor has told ypu—" He eines not think the term" skulking'',
applicable to any part of the chaplain's condct.
The next clause to that quoted relates only to prison,
where prisoners convicted of capital offences are confined,
and is therefore omitted. The law continues.

"Every such chaplain sholl:comminicate from time to
time' to the visiting justices, aayahuseoi-imPropriety which
may have conie his knowledge."
I have attempted to obey, this clause, this most important,
this,most dangerous Part of mg dutm,,-; My, success, how-
ever, has not corresponded with my 4c§ir4;lYor I have sel-
dom made a representation,WAich..hgenbfev,ehtually turned
into a charge against myseff. Tho`,SamergSfilt has followed
my having truly, honestly, and .faithfully, according to my
bounden duty, reported abuses all,d iniOrwrieties, which have
come within my own knowledge, to.the-mspector of prisons.
If I had not a witness, to support by oath the representation
made by me, that. representation has been charged against
me as a falsehood; althoughat tbelime of the original con-
versation, I eiOessly stated " that I could call no witness.
And he shall further, keep it journal, in which he shall enter
the time of his attendance on the performance of his duty,
with any observations which may occur to him in the execu-
tion thereof."
.How faithfully and fully I have obeyed this law you well
know: how often I have been reproved for obeying the law,
according to the best of my judgment in a proper manner, I
well know.

"'And. such journal shall be kept in the prison. And
there shall be kept in every prison a book in which the chap-
lain, and every other officer of the said prison, not residing
within such prison, shall regularly insert the date of every
visit made : and every such entry shall be signed with the
name, and proper handwriting of such chaplain ; and shall
contain such remarks as may be thought necessary on the
occasion of any such visit."

There is one other clause, ordering the chaplain to make
an annual report, to the magistrates, at each Michaelmas
sessions, on the condition of the prison, &c., which law I
have always obeyed. In October, 1839, in particular I per-
formed my duty, as I had done in the preceding year. You
have now, gentlemen, before you every clause of the gaol
act, which concerns me as a chaplain. I defy any man on
earth, to prove that I have done less than my duty; every
candid man will acknowledge, that in points purely clerical,
I have done much .more than I need have done, and we all
kuow—donari videtur, quad nullo jure cogente conceditur,
speaking in the fear of God, and in the fullest conviction,
that I am uttering a solemn truth, I declare. that to the
best of my belief, I have, on an average, from the date of my
appointment, (omitting from the calculation the few days I
have been actually disabled by illness), been occupied, on
gaol business, within the walls of the prison, about five
hours daily, and, on business, exclusively arising out of my
office, performed without the walls, something less than one
hour. My habits, as well as the times, entered into my
journal, would, if any one gentleman I address had know-
ledge of me in my private walk, convince him that the
above is a very close approximation to the truth. The time
of leaving my residence is from nine to half-past nine :my
time of return to dinner, from three to four, and sometimes
five. The only variations that I am aware of, were, whilst
the sons of a gentleman, now present, were private pupils at
my residence. During that period, twice in the week, I
was home by two o'clock ; but on such occasions I generally
contrived to leave my house, an hour earlier than usual in
the morning; and that when acting on the committee of the
dispensaries, I was usually there by 'one, and generally
returned to the gaol before two ; making up by a later attend-
ance the time lost to my employers. My time, therefore,
speaks for itself, as I have not a single acquaintance in the
town, the visiting of whom might become a drawback on
my time. My evenings at home have always been devoted
to reading, study, and the preparation of those mathematical
calculations of which you have heard, and which requiring
the aid of an extensive library, and voluminous tables for
their preparation could only occupy my time whilst at my
habitation. But some friend present may say, (for I hope,
gentlemen, that althoUgh I have of late only seen frowning
visages, that I have really many friendly minds attend-
ing to my artless, my unprofessional tale), some friend may
say, your statement of the tithe passed within the walls of the
prison, is so different to that sworn to, that great as is my
desife to think favourably, there still remains a difficulty to
be overcome. . .

--Gentlemen, Babel was a mighty structure, but God over-
threw it. Sodom and Gomorrah, were for the age, powerful
states, but the Lord overwhelmed them. Nieneveh was a
wonderful city, but the same mighty Being so destroyed it,
that not a vestige of its site can be traced. I require the
same power, to overthrow the mounds cast up round about
me ; and I have not bowed my knee, and my heart, in prayer
before God, on this,subject, in vain—he hath delivered—he
does deliver—and rtrust he will yet deliver. Ido not wor-
.ship a God so removed from me by infinite distance--so re-
mote from me by diversity of nature, as not to be touched
with tne feeling of my infirmities ; but One, who, having
been tempted in all points like myself, yet without sin, knows
how to commiserate in my sufferings, and to pluck me from
the snares of the fowler. Mr. Salmond .distinctly swears,
that the average number of hours of miattendance, is two
and a half on the week days, but that including the Sundays,
the average may be three hours. 'three hours is the utmost
average.. Hence then, he swears, that I am not so much as
eighteen hours within the walls of the prison, during the six
working days. lie aids,-shave no data pn which I found
my opi!tion!. . ,

The justices will allow me I am sure to add two hours as a
fair weekly average for my attendance on them in committee.
They will also allow, that I must at least have occupied to
the extent of three hours weekly in the chapel, calculating
one half hour for each attendance, it being well known that
rather more than that time, is really so expended. Then we
must add one hour, for Mr. Archer's short, but friendly
visits, and an equal period for the Governor's calls. The
latter items are under rather than over-rated,for when friends
drop in, to chat with each other, time soon flies away.
Now, gentlemen, we will balance our accounts. Business
you know can never go on well without such a process.
Time passed in teaching or learning .... 9 hours.
Do. in mathematical calculations 6 do.
Do. in the committee-room .... 2 do.
Do. • in the chapel
Do. in conversation with surgeon 1 do.
Do. in converse with governor.. 1 do.

22 hours

Time accounted for without visiting a cell, a ward, a work-
room, a hospital, a school, any one person in solitary, or con-
versing with any individual prisoner, twenty-two hours.
Mr. Sammond swears that my time within the walls of the
prison is 15 hours or 18 at the utmost.

- Mr. Batcheldor swears 21 or 21 hours is the extreme.
Thus one runs altogether into negative numbers. the exist-
ence of which some mathematicians profess to deny. The
other issometimes negative, sometimes positive, a most fit-
ting emblem of the variableness of all his ways.

Gentlemen, either these parties err in givincr an account of
the way in which my time is spent within the walls of the
prison, or there must be some lamentable error in what they
state as the time of my attendance, or, which is the real
truth, they mistake in both, having no data on which to found
their calculations.

I need, I am convinced, only state to you, as men not ig-
norant of calculations, that the mathematical papers, needful
to the formation of such societies as have been referred to,
could not be made in my limited vestry, without the power
of momentary reference to tables of many different kinds.
The one fact, that no one line could be written without the
use of tables of logarithms and of the probabilities of life, will
at once convince you, that not one hour has been lost to the
corporation of Liverpool by my innocent, and to me most in-
teresting, pursuits ; always, however, carried on in my own
abode.

I have certainly shewn some of the results of my specula-
tions to Mr. Batcheldor, as I have also done to one of the
trustees now before me.

As to Mr. George Batcheldor, I gave him instruction at
very irregular intervals during the periods he has mentioned,
so irregularly indeed, that I declined receiving, as the last
payment, more than one half of the stipulated sum. These
lessons were appointed to be given, and were actually given,
on nearly every occasion, during the hour devoted to the pri-
soners dining, washing their cans, and taking their short ex-
ercise in the yards, a period, when I could not have visited
them beneficially ; when, indeed, I could not have done so,
without hindering the turnkey attending me from taking his
food, and thus be the cause of hindering him being ready for
his afternoon duties. This, I may state, is an hour when the
inspector would not have imputed blame, had I passed it
over a newspaper, or in a walk, or in bathing, or in any other
innocent manner • but that I should endeavour, by extra ex-
ertion, to providefor the wants of my family, was a vice he
must expose; it might form an excellent paragraph for his
next report to be laid before parliament. The chaplain of
the Borough Gaol of Liverpool being in circumstances of
pressing povery, arrising not out of his own extravagant
habits, but from the wretchedness of a collateral branch of
his family, occupies an hour in teaching a person living within
the prison, in his own vestry, also within that prison ; an
hour, when his public time could be of no benefit to those
under his pastoral care. Dreadful, indeed ! "Is this gaol
business Mr. Batcheldor?" was particularly asked three se-
veral times by the inspector, as though the reply would be a
death-blow to the fame,•andyeputation of-Dr. Duck.
The Frenchman who is supposed to have given me lessons
daily, is 'a poor Italian refugee, of good family, and very
superior attainments ; and was introduced to me by Mr.
R—, of Sandon-terrace, a most philanthropic individual,
as a person for whom he wished me. if possible, to exert any
interest I might have, for his welfare, he being extremely
poor. Our communications were usually conducted in the
French language ; and as Signor L—, the individual in
question, desired me to Anglicise for him a short prospectus
of about a dozen lines, as a private tutor in French and Ita-
lian, and Mr. Batcheldor happened that day to pay me one
of his affectionate visits whilst 1 was correcting the page,
he has very innocently fallen into the error of supposing,
either that I was instructing him, or was myself receiving
instruction. Signor L— called, perhaps in all, six or eight
times upon me : it could not have been more frequently, he
being an usher in some academy on the Cheshire side of the
river. He sometimes came a few minutes before chapel,
attended the service, and departed soon after,—never having
occupied a single hour of my time from public duties.
I return, gentlemen, to the consideration of the fact, that
so far from neglecting my duties, the ardour and intensity
of attendance upon them has materially injured my health.
My physician and surgeon, the surgeon of the prison, the
governor, matron, taskmaster, and every subordinate exa-
mined, have testified to the weak state of my health, my
frequent exhaustion, and apparent unfitness to go through
the„ardnons labours devolving on me. You have also, I
believe, ample evidence before you, that in the performance
of nay duties 1 carried away infection, which, through me,
was imparted to evert, member of my family. The inspector,
when he first heard of this painful proof of my zeal in the
performance of my `duties;` earnestly said, " You have, of
course, been remunerated for the expenses into which you
were consequently led ?" " Not so," I replied ; " you do
not know Liverpool 'so well as I do." The very man who
at that time thus spoke endeavours now to show, that I have
neglected every duty ; that if exertion has been undertaken
above my powers, it has been foamy private gain; that, in
fact, the exhaustion„ and distress, on my lungs, (brought
•about by active duties and by constant speaking and preach-
frig,) are only the results of my Sitting quietly at my table,
in the study of the 'Mathematics, which-has been a leading
pursuit of my life, and my -chiefest recreation for more than
'thirty 'Years. Hours'of study in such pursuits have never
yet injured mY;health, but have often been a refreshment,
When suffering under bodily and mental fatigue. • The cauFS
of my illness maybe more correctly traded to the following :
Daily meditation, for daily preaching. '—
Constant ecinversatiOniviith separate prigUners.
Frequent extemporaneous prayer with different persons.
Visiting between fife and six hundred prisoners, on an
average fromtfour to-five times•each, weekly..
Mental anguish, from the constant sight of crime and of
human suffering.
Anxiety, arising out of a knowledge that every word uttered
by me might at some future time be tortured into a charge
of guilt.

The petty annoyances and insults heaped on me by those
having power in the prison.

The sense of the marked reserve and distance with, which
I have been treated by the magistracy from the very
_day I
accepted office under them.
Each one of these, and much more, all combined, acting
on a nervous frame, will account for days of pain and nights
of anxiety, without requiring the aid of a daily lesson, of in-
struction in algebra as an, aggravation.
Gentlemen, allow me most respectfully to say, that the
prosecution of any officer of a )prison, in consequence of in-
formation at which an inspector may arrive, may become
quite essential, quite praiseworthy ; but as the truth, and
the unexaggerated truth only, is required to be developed,
the enquiry should be conducted without personal feeling.
An open, straight-forward, manly course should be pursued.
In such a case no one would be more submissive than your
chaplain ; who, having been educated in a military school,
knows well the respect that is due, and is most desirous of
complying with, all the needful demands of subordination.
Justice, however, demands that, when a charge, which at
first sight appeared grave, has been shown to have no foun-
dation in truth, to be utterly incapable of sustainment, the
inspector, dropping the office of prosecutor, should at once
say, my information has in this instance failed. In a word,
he should be as ready to acquit of blame which may have
been wrongfully imputed, as to press for conviction where
the proof has been clearly established.
Gentlemen, I believe I have now replied to thirteen
charges. Remember, 1 had no previous notice of their na-
ture, so as to be prepared to judge of the impor-
tance of the different parts of the produced evidence ;
no skill, to conduct in the most beneficial way, my cross-
examinations ; no legal aid, to assist in preparing the manner.
or matter, of my defence. If, therefore, labouring under the
effects of the most painful imputations, against a character
hitherto without a stain ; if, in a sense of conscious inno-
cence ; I have been led, on some occasions, through a very
long investigation, and long reply. to give way remarks
offensive to any one gentleman I address, or to Or you will,
I hope, impute them to the novelty of my situation. Clergy-
men, in modern times, are not to be expected to be pleaders
for others or themselves. I have on no occasion designed to
offend, but to clear himself of groundless imputations. Let
me, then, entreat, that no feeling of displeasure at any of my
remarks may be allowed to divert the evenness of your judg-
ment. If I were guilty on any one point which has been ar-
gued against me, I would now come forward and say so. Not
all the consequences with which 1 might be visited, for ac-
knowledged crime, could deter me from avowing my own
shame, were I guilty on any one of the charges which have
been pressed so severely against me.
With the breastplate of truth I have endeavoured to defend
myself. That it will eventually prove a successful defence
I can have no doubt, God having said to my soul, " No wea-
pon formed against thee shall prosper. I will bring thy
righteousness to the light. Truth will, it must prevail."
Gentlemen, I have told you the truth, the whole truth, and
nothing but the truth, so help me God!

STONE FOR THE NEW HOUSES OF PARLIAMENT.—Chas.
Wright, Esq., of North Anston, has been offered after the
rate of £1,500 per acre by gOvernment, for the stone con-
tained in' two fields of about 16 acres, at the above place,
wanted for the erection of the new houses of parliament.
This very liberal offer, we understand, has been rejected,
notwithstanding the fields were to be re-delivered to Mr.
Wright, on a sufficient quantity of stone having been ob-
tained from them for the purpose alluded to. The land is
totally unconnected with any building, and only of an ordi-
nary description, so far as the soil is concerned.—Shofield
Independent.
THOMAS HOOD.—We learn with regret—and we think
those who have so often laughed at his whims and oddities,
will sympathise with us—that Tom Hood has, and has been
'for some time past, in a state of lingering disease, which
leaves 'in the minds of his admirers fears for his continuing
good health. Were this all that sympathy and good wishes
required of us, we might end here with their expression ; but
we fear that he who has contributed so much and so fre-
quently to the innocent mirth of millions, has, superadded
to the merely bodily inflictions to which all humanity is sub-
ject, one of the most annoying, and, unfortunately, we may
add, one of the most usual accompaniments of genius—the
res anguske domi. On this latter point we hope we may
fact 1 e atvheant sendpaipainful
u itl b
rumours
o. Aut ltlnthis
events,head
concealxpyreocvaentnoubtemi
t k e
then a—
have reached us. Let not the thousands of thousands who
have enjoyed his " quips and cranks," have to reproach
themselves, should these rumours turn out to be only too
well founded, with their own remissness, in the event of a
s
allda darkening
si no closegmu ch falling
indebted. u p o theet
notlatter
the,
reproach
of
fe t:hoe
deathwhom
of Chatterton, and the neglect, in his latter days, of Burns,
'find a liter, and as melancholy an instance.—Court Journal.

SIR COLIN CAMPBELL.—It is understood that Sir Colin
Campbell departs, for his government in Ceylon, on the 30th
instant. Holding himself high rank in the army, he will
assume the command -of the troops in the island; and Sir
R. Arbuthnot, the present commander of the forces, will
proceed to Hindostan. Mr. Mackenzie, the former gover-
nor, being a civilian, a military commander was required;
but by the new arrangement a saving will be effected of
£2,500 per annum—the amount of Sir R. Arbuthnot's sa-
lary—the two departments now centering in the same person.
—Britannia.

CORN-LAW DEFEAT.—At the corn-law meeting at Lind-
ley, yesterday week, the whigs dared not even move a chair-
man. When the lecture was commenced, a man of the name
of Sykes, who comes to Huddersfield every day with an ass
load of milk from Fixby, rose, but Finnigen (the lecturer)
declared he should not speak at all, unless he first told him
(Finnigen) what he intended to say ! Finnigen is a Pat-
lander, and of course had a right to 'make an Irish bull. The
milkman told him he would speak upon the subject of the
lecture as he pleased, (the lecturer having agreed to a dis-
cussion,) and this formed a sufficient reason for this Irish
lecturer to slip away. After Sykes had cut up the lecture to
the best of his ability, Mr. Pitkethly was called upon. He,
lamented that his friend Sykes had frightened the great man
away, as he had prepared some questions for him. The
whigs hereupon raised a tumult, and made a push towards
Mr. P., but the people formed so closely round him that they
dared not approach. They then howled and yelled in such a
manner that nothing could be heard, and the meeting there-
fore broke up in an uproar.—Halifax Guardian.
A NEEDLE FOUND IN THE lIEART OF A Cow.—A.
valuable cow, the property of Mr. Jacob, of the House of in-
dustry, in Shrewsbury, appearing to dislike her food and to
show symptoms of uneasiness, in the end of last week, was
suspected of suffering under inflammation, and was immedi-
ately killed ; but, every part of the carcase appearing sound
and wholesome, the butchers were greatly puzzled to ac-
count for her malady, till on the heart being handled, a
hard substance, like the end of a nail, was discovered pro-
truding from near the centre of it. Several persons stand-
ing round urged the substance being cut out; but, on consi-
derable force being exerted, the cause of the animal's dis-
tress was extracted without cutting, in the shape of a large
stocking needle, which had penetrated upwards of three
inches through the substance of the heart, and become fixed
within it. From the head of the needle being turned towards
the ribs, it is suspected that the poor animal had lain down
upon the weapon, which had penetrated through the hide,
and transfixed the heart. The needle appears to have re-
mained in the heart a long time, as it was quite firmly em-
bedded, nor was there any slough or inflammation as from a
recent wound ; but the blood at the bottom of the cavity of
the heart being prevented returning by the needle, had be-
come a substance, arid impeded the natural action of the
vital organ, which brought on the symptoms that induced
its proprietor to destroy the cow.

EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE.—On: Monday morning last,
the Red Rover, coach left Glasgow at six o'clock. An out-
side passenger, who appeared to, be an 'old soldier, took his
seat behind the coachman. He was then somewhat groggy,
but, tasting at every stop, got quite intoxicated, and had
fallen asleep unobserved. When about seven miles from
Edinburgh, a gentleman seated beside the driver thought be
observed something pass him, and looking about called to
the coachman to stop, saying, " The poor fellow has fallen
off." The coach was then going at a rapid pace, and had
proceeded about 50 or 60 yards 'before it could be brought
up. On coming to a halt, a carter passing caught out, " For
God's sake, driver, stop and take that man from under the
wheel I" On alighting, it was found that the old soldier, in
falling, had got one of his feet fixed between the fore spring
of the coach and the boot, while his body had been thrown
outside of the near front wheel, and had thus been dragged
forward, the wheel grazing slightly the inside of one of his
legs. He was carefully released, and put into the basket ;
it being impossible at the time to ascertain the extent of his
injury. On arrivin,, at Edinburgh, it was imagined a corpse
would have presented itself; instead of which, however, the
veteran was discovered in a sound snoring sleep. Being un-
known, he was sent to the police-office ; and next morning,
on the gentleman who had seers him fall' calling to inquire,
he found him " hale in lith an' limb ;" and observed, that,
it was a striking exemplification of the truth of the proverb,
that " Providence is kind to drunk folk and bairns."--
Caledonian Mercury. .

A Goon SHOT.—During the recent storm, when every
" puny whipster" was arming himself with a fowling piece,
and going forth to slay the poor birds that were to be met
with in the fields, the master of a vessel at this port thought
he too would equip himself with his gun, and essay to distin-
guish himself as a marksman. Many were the times he
loaded and levelled ; but the objects of his aim invariably
went away unscathed, and left our hero amazed at his mar-
vellous ill luck. At length he obtained sight of a hare in a
snow drift ; and, trusting more to his heels than his optics,
our seaman laid down his gun, and gave chase to poor puss,
whom he quickly secured amidst the snow. When he got
her, however, and was contemplating her fate, it suddenly
struck him that she afforded no proof of his being cunning of
aim, and that to secure the desired boast amongs his friends,
his victim should bear some marks of his unerring skill as a
shooter. Accordingly he placed a cord round the hare's neck,
and tied her to a gate, and, then cautiously retiring to a re-
spectable distance, prepared to carry his deadly intentions
into solemn effect. The piece is placed against his shoulder,
the trigger is pulled, and poor puss is—what ?—writhing in
agony ? No such thing. She scuds once more across the
plain ; for our hero managed completely to miss her, and,
instead, cut the cord that bound her to tie stake, and so left
her once more at, liberty to enjoy her wonted haunts. The
sailor's looks and reflections, as his prize scampered away,
will present themselves quite plain enough to every mind
without the aid of our description.—Whitehaven Herald.