The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1850-04-23 00:00:00

THE COUNTESS OF GORLITZ'S MURDER

(From Galignani's Messenger.)
Most of our readers must remember the circumstances
connected with the death at Darmstadt of the Countess
of Gorlitz, and the suspicion which was attached for some
time to the Count, her husband, who holds the post of
Chamberlain to the Grand Duke. This suspicion was
caused principally by the earnestness with which the
Count attempted to prevent a dissection of the body, but
that was fully accounted for subsequently by evidence
showing that the Countess had so great a horror of dis-
section that she had solicited her husband frequently to
promise that, in the event of her dying before him, her
remains should not be exposed to such a proceeding, and
had made this a special injunction in her will. If any sus-
picion, however, had continued to attach itself to the
Count, it has been fully removed by a trial of the mur-
derer at Darmstadt, which, after lasting more than a fort-
night, has just been terminated. It may he necessary,
even .for those who paid attention to the case when it was
before the public more than a year ago, to relate the lead-
ing facts briefly. The Countess, who was in possession
of a handsome fortune independently of that of her hus-
band, was a woman of unbounded charity, but of an
eccentric character. She had for some years resided in
apartments of the house separated from those of her hus-
band, with whom, however, she was on the best terms,
visiting him from time to time, and receiving his visits.
She had always a considerable surer of money in her secre-
taire, and had also a rich collection of jewels. She had
caused extra locks to be placed on her secretaire, her
drawers, and the doors of her rooms, and opened the
outer door of her apartment to her husband and the con-
fidential servants. One evening, on the return of the
Count from the palace of the Grand Duke, where he had
been dining, he went, as usual, to see the Countess, but
could not obtain admittance, and soon afterwards an
alarm was raised that a fire had broken out in the apart-
ment of the Countess. A locksmith was sent for; the
.outer door was broken open ; the secretaire in the sitting-
room of the Countess was on fire, and she was found lying
dead on the floor, with her body partly consumed. At
this time no suspicion was entertained of her having been
murdered. It was at first supposed that the secretaire
had taken fire from the bongie ; but, subsequently, as this
alone could not account for the carbonization of a part of
the head and body of the Countess, it was imagined that
she had perished from spontaneous combustion. When
suspicion fell upon the Count it arose entirely from the
anxiety that he displayed to prevent an autopsy, from
which it was imagined that he might have administered
poison, and then attempted to destroy the body to pre-
vent detection. Nothing but the absence of motive for
the crime and the well-known affection which had sub-
sisted between him and the deceased prevented his being
sent to trial. Some time had elapsed, and this horrible
affair was still involved in mystery, when circumstances
occurred to throw suspicion upon the valet of the Count,
John Stauff, who occasionally waited upon the Countess.
It was proved that on the evening of the calamity, and
whilst the Count was at the palace of the Grand Duke, he
had on various pretexts induced the other servants of the
household to go out, and remained alone in the house for
nearly two hours, with the exception of a visit to the palace
to ascertain whether the Count was there, for the evident
purpose of convincing himself that he could commit his
intended crime with impunity. Another circumstance
to excite suspicion was that the keys of the outer doors of
the apartment of the Countess were not to be found, thus
proving that some person in the house must have used
and then concealed them. It was supposed that money
and jewellery belonging to the Countess had been re-
moved, but of this there was no positive proof in the early
part of the investigation. A considerable quantity of
jewellery remained, and the count was not able to say
what was missing. When Stauff had been s- 'steel

dr. new
circumstances came to light. It was proved that V
he had
sent articles of jewellery to his father, Henry Stauff, and
that he had charged his brother James to bury some jew-
ellery at the foot of a tree. Many of the articles found
there were proved to have been the property of the C-
tess. Henry and James Stauff were therefore al_
rested, and the three were brought last month for trial
before the tribunal of Darmstadt. The evidence on this
occasion left no doubt of the guilt of John Stauff, and
there could be no doubt that his father and brother knew
that he had obtained the property by foul means, but

,oun-

so ar-

there was nothing td show that they had been directly or
indirectly parties to the murder. It was also proved that,
after the murder of the Countess, John Stauff had pur-
chased some verdigris, and mixed it with some sauce
-

awn was being prepared in the kitchen for the Count,
with the intention of poisoning him. The medical evi-
dence at the trial was curious and interesting. Some of
the most eminent
_physicians of Germany, and Baron
Liebig, the celebrated chymist, were desired by the court
to give their opinion as to the way in which the death of
the Countess had been caused—whether she had been
burned intentionally or accidentally, and whether sponta-
neous combustion ih her case was probable. The medical
men performed several experiments on dead bodies ex-
posed to fire, placing burning furniture, and even a fac-
simile of the secretaire, in a closed room, to ascertain
whether the extensive carbonization of the body of the
Countess could have been produced by accident, and they
reported positively to the contrary. On the question of
spontaneous combustion, Baron Liebig, and the other
scientific men who joined in the report, declared not only
that it was impossible in the case of the Countess, but
that spontaneous combustion of the human body in any
ease is impossible. They declared that the ordinary be-
lief on this subject was a delusion ; that they had care-
fully examined the evidence in all cases of spontaneous
combustion that had been reported, and found it all so
defective as not to weigh for an instant against their con-
viction of the physical impossibility of such an occurrence.,
The only point on which the medical men and chymists
differed—but that was of no importance as regarded the
charge against John Stauff—was as regarded the degree of
danger to human life in the verdigris introduced by him
into the sauce intended for the count. One chymist de-
clared, for instance, that if he had taken the same, it
would not have injured him seriously, as the strength of
the verdigris had been in a great degree carried off by
ebullition ; another, on the contrary, declared, as the
result of several experiments, that the strength of the
poison was materially increased by the ebullition. The
whole trial was remarkable for the skill and impartiality
shown by the president, and the anxiety which was evinced
by the court to elicit the truth, without having recourse
to any of those objectionable means which have some-
times been witnessed in the courts of the continent. John
Stauff was found guilty of the murder, and sentenced to
imprisonment for life. His father and brother were found
'legree, and only sentenced to a few

guilty in a mino
months' imprisonment

etneral I+lEqrliant).

Mr. Robert Stephenson, M.P... was, on Thursday
elected a Fellow of the Royal Society.
The Huddersfield Chronicle describes a goose's egg,
which weighed upwards of thirteen ounces.
FREE TRA DE.—A lively calf, without disease, was sold
in Saffron Walden market, on Saturday, at is. 9d.
A LARGE PIKE.—On Saturday, Mr. John Enock
caught a pike in the tiver Thames, near Windsor, weigh.
ing upwards of 221bs.
The Earl of Balcarres, who last year established his
title to the earldom of Crawford, has now claimed the
ancient dukedom of Montrose.

Mr. Orridge, governor of Carlisle gaol, was killed on
Sunday week through falling over a bannister at a friend's
house in the dark.

The Lord Mayor and Lady Mayoress of London en-
tertained her Majesty's ministers at a grand banquet, on
Wednesday last.
Five Chartist prisoners were released at Southwark
Police Court on Thursday, on their giving bail to keep the
peace for five years.
The man and woman who were sentenced to three
months' imprisonment, for fraud on the Duke of Wel-
lington, had plundered his grace of no less than £3OO.
Louisa Susan Hartley is in custody, in London, charged
with having attempted to poison her father, a porter, by
mixing arsenic in his coffee.
The corn mill of Mr. Martin, at Cadley Brook, near
Preston, was washed away on Monday, by the stream
swelling through the heavy rains.

The Manchester people are trying to establish a homoe-
opathic dispensary on a large scale. The Earl and Coun-
tess of Wilton are liberal subscribers.

A superb chair, richly carved and ornamented, and
formed of bog oak found on the Marquis of Downshire's
estate, has been made at Lisburn for the Queen.
A steamer, which arrived in London last week from
Antwerp, brought twenty-six Belgian horses, consigned
for sale in the metropolis.

A BREATIIE BEFORE BItEAKFAST.—The space to be
travelled by persons visiting the grand industrial exhibi-
tion in 1851 will be seven miles and a half.

The Nottinghamshire Guardian states that Mr. Tan-
ner, of Buckholt, has lost nearly 220 sheep, which had
eaten sprouted corn.

It does not appear probable that Government will pro-
duce any measure this session for the better management
of Savings Banks.

A desire for emigration has set in at the Isle of Man.
Above a hundred young persons left last week intending
to go to America.

The government sale of bark in the Forest of Dean was
at prices varying froml.£3 155. to £4 ss. per ton; which
was ss. per ton under the prices of last year.
Air. Brotherton, of the National Provincial Bank of
England, was found drowned on the 17th instant at New-
port, Montgomeryshire.

- One hundred and thirty-three " Liberals" voted against
the repeal of the taxes on knowledge on Tuesday last.
The majority only numbered 190 altogether.

The life of a locomotive is estimated at one hundred
and fifty thcusand miles; the value of a first-rate engine,
£2,500. It follows that every mile it runs costs 4d.

At Bow-street, on Tuesday, the H,onourablihenry
Plunkett, after being locked up for the night, was fined
£5 for being drunk and disorderly, and assaulting an officer
in the execution of his duty.
Two lads, named Douglas and Chester, about twelve
and fourteen years of age, are in custody in Manchester,
charged with stabbing and assaulting Samuel Warburton,
a youth about the same age.
The Hull public baths, erected by the bankers, mer-
chants, and gentry of that town, in elegant style, a few
years ago, are to be closed in a few days, for want of sup-
port.

The largest number of post letters ever delivered to one
individual occurred on the morning of the Bth April,
when the editor of the Pandit/ Friend received one thou-
sand six hundred and eighteen pre-paid communications.
The vessel Earl Belcarras, which has arrived in London
from Bombay, has brought 5336 bales cotton, as a portion
of her carko, consigned to order. This is a remarkably
large and-important arrival of cotton, from the East Indies.
At one of those dangerous sports called steeple chases,
an unfortunate jockey was thrown from his horse, on
Wednesday last,,in the county of Waterford, and killed on
the spot.

Sir George Grey has introduced a most important bill,
empowering the Board of Heslth to establish a general
public cemetery, pursuant to the recommendations of
their late report.
It is understood to be in contemplation to erect a
monastery on an extensive scale near the Roman Catholic
Chapel in Rugby, land having been purchased for that
purpose.
A young man named Hill, living at Harley, near Much
Wenlock, accidentally shot his sweetheart on Saturday
week, with a walking-stick gun which he was handling
carelessly, not knowing it was loaded.
The postmaster-general has appointed a son of Mr.
Rowland Hill, aged 17, as an additional clerk to that gen-
tleman, at a salary of £9O per annum, with a prospective
increase, according to length of service up to £5OO a-year.
There was a crowded meeting at the Town-hall, Old-
ham, on Wednesday night, to originate a freehold land
society, on the principles of the Birmingham scheme, for
enfranchising working men.
On Sunday week, a gentleman, on coming out of Christ li
Church, Salford, had his pocket picked of a small black
pocket book, containing a promissory note for £l,OOO, a
£25 dividend warrant, and various memoranda.
The whole of the colliers in the Aberdare Valley—or
rather, as many of them as the masters would take into
employment—have signed the agreement and returned to
work.

The Duchess of Or leans and her two children ar
shortly expected in this country. During their stay they
will reside in the house belonging to Lady Byron, at
Esher, close to Claremont.

Immense quantities of starfish have recently floated
into Morecambe Bay, and hundreds of farmers' carts have
been employed in carting them away, as they are consi-
dered an invaluable manure for potatoes.
The two Irishmen accused of the murder of the old
woman at Newport have confessed their guilt. One of
them knocked her down—the other broke her head with
a stone, and then robbed her.

A convent has been established in Charlotte-street,
Glasgow, under the superintendence of a Madame Courier,
and on Sunday last three ladies—two of them Irish and
one French—took the veil in St. Andrew's Chapel.
There lives in Edinburgh a lady, in the use of all her
mental faculties, whose brother, by the same mother,
died 122 years ago, in the 14th year of his age. She is
upwards of ICO years old. The brother died in April,
1728.

On the 6th ultimo, a collier in the employ of Mr. E.
Radcliff. of Stannington, planted a root of rhubarb in the
pit, thirty-seven yards below the surface, and on the 9th
instant he cut six or peven stalks about twenty inches
in length.

While a " bank girl," named Martin, was pushing an
empty skip near the mouth of a coal-pit, in the neigh-
bourhood of Wolverhampton, on Friday week, she acci-
dentally slipped, fell down the shaft, and was killed by
the fall.

After the launch of a ship at Arbroath, yesterday week,
another vessel, which was on the patent slip, came down
in consequence of one of the bolts giving way, and was
only stopped when the cradle grounded ; but fortunately
no damage was done.

GAs.The Chester Gas Company offered to light the
Chester Railway Station for 4s. 6d per 1000 cubic feet.
This not meeting the views of the Railway Companies,
they now manufacture their own gas at 2s. per 1000 cubic
feet !

The bullion in both departments of the bank of Eng-
land has decreased from £16,935,762 to £16,759,035,
being a difference of £176,721. The paper in actual cir-
culation had increased from £20,469,409 to £21,199,538,
being a difference of £730,129.
VERY LIKE A WHALE.—The story about the sea
serpent, circulated in the recent American papers, turns
out to be founded on nothing more than the fact that a
troop of whales had been seen, which are said to have had
all the appearance of a single animal,
At Newcastle police court, on Thursday, a number of
parties were fined one pound each for cock fighting. The
informations were laid by the London Society for prevent-
ing cruelty to animals. It was the first offence or the
parties would have been more severely dealt with.
On Thursday, as Mr. George M`Kay, gardener to Vis-
count Doneraile, was in the act of discharging a gun in
the garden, at Doneraile, it unfortunately burst
• n•

or rather

fractureC

lis skull so severely

tne breech flew out, anu
that he died in a few hours.
Last week a young man, named Thomas George, about
18 years of tlge, was discovered lying dead in a bar,
7sTunney, n- '•

.e.. w, _a his throat cut, his skull frac.
tured, and his pockets rifled. A labourer has been appre-
hended on suspicion of the murder.
The Daily News understands that Sir R. Peel had a
lengthened interview of many hours with her Majesty, on
a certain day last week, and that Sir Robert called at
Apsley House, after having visited Buckingham Palace.
MOLD.—What is termed " rearing" the Alarket Hall,
at the Cross, took place at the Star Inn, on Wednesday
evening week, at seven o'clock ; 106, including the work-
men, sat down to an excellent supper and a plentiful sup-
ply of cwrw da.
During the past week, the divers have been engaged at
the wreck of the Royal Adelaide steamer. Their efforts
to recover the cargo are not attended with much success.
On Sunday last, a few cart-loads of hides, wool, &c., were
landed at Margate.

As two men, three wDmen, and six children, were
crossing the river Don, on Tuesday, in a boat, they were
overturned and precipitated into the river. Two men
plunged in, and rescued all, except two of the children, a
son and daughter of John Dawson, of Sheffield.
A sale of stock bred on the famous farm of Earl Grey,
at Howielc, took place a few days since. The prices were
from thirty to forty per cent. below what the noble owner
realised twelve months since. The noble lord must be
very good humoured if these prices do not open his eyes,
especially as they are going lower.
FIRE.—A calamitous fire happened on Friday at the oil
and rosin factory of Flux and Co., Lambeth, and almost
the whole of the factory and machinery was destroyed.
Eight poor families have been rendered houseless and
have lost their furniture. Some of the men were very
much injured by the boiling over of the rosin.
Last week, three successive and very numerously
attended meetings were held in Leeds, the very centre
and hotbed of voluntaryism, and at each of them resolu-
tions were enthusiastically carried against leaving the
educatiou of the people to voluntary efforts, and in favor
of a national system.
We stated last week that Sir Dick Lauder was fined by
the magistrates for misconduct at a railway station in
Edinburgh. This week Sir William Don was brought
up on the same charge, but acquitted. The two knights,
with other gentlemen, had been dining, and were guilty of
" a lark."
Last week an organised gang of twenty persons were
found stealing turnips on a farm near Bath. Seven of the
thieves were captured, after a desperate resistance. They,
had been in the habit of selling green grocery in the mar-
ket and streets of Bath ; and many of the farmers had
suffered from their depredations.
Active preparations are set on foot for the opening of a
Penny Bank in Manchester. One gentleman in Man-
chester, a retired banker, has shown such a deep interest
in the object that he has not only offered to provide a
banking-house free of expense, but has promised his at-
tendance three hours a day for the first twelve months.
The extent of the intended exhibition of industry next
year in London may be guessed at from the fact, that the
catalogue is expected to form three quarto volumes, the
charge for which will be a guinea; and that the commis-
sioners expect about £40,000 for the copyright. May they
get it, or one quarter that amount.
A MATTER OF TASTE.—A report appears in several of
the provincial journals that recently a lady, who was
about being married to a gentleman of her own standing
in society, ran off with his groom while the latter's mas-
ter and bridal party were awaiting at church the attend-
ance of the faithless fair.

The subject of the- adulteration of coffee continues to
excite an increased degree of interest in the mercantile
circles in London, and it is exciting much surprise that
Sir Charles Wood has hitherto leant a deaf ear to every
remonstrance on the subject, notwithstanding the repeated
statements and remonstrances that have been presented
to him.

ROYAL ADELAIDE.—The following is copied from the
Jersey Times of the 12th instant :—Drowned in the Royal
Adelaide, on her passage from Cork to London, the 30th
March, Anthony Le Ber, Esq., and his family, consisting
of his wife and six children, three sons and three daugh-
ters, the eldest 16, and the youngest 8, leaving one
daughter.

The stoves used in St. James's Church, Stafford, are
heated with coke : and partly from overheating and poison-
ous gas several persons have been taken out in a state of
insens,bility. On Good Friday, when the organist at-
tempted to play, he found the pipes not filled, and on
going to ascertain the cause, found the organ blower
lying insensible on his back. He ultimately recovered.
The Cornwall Gazette tells a marvellous story of the
discovery of an original portrait of Charles 1., by Van-
dyke. It bad been kicked about amongst rubbish, and
was supposed to be a valueless rag. It was purchased for
25., the dirt was brushed off it, and the possessor has
been offered £2OOO for it, but it is considered worth
£20,000 !

A printer of Greenock having been fined for printing
news on unstamped sheets of paper, now prints upon
clgth, which is not specified in the act, and calls his jour-
nal the Greenock " Newscloth," in allusion to that
material. In the debate on the paper duties on Monday
night, Mr. Gibson handed a copy to the Chancellor of
the Exchequer.

EXPECTED COMET.-Mr. Hind has written to the Times
stating that the great comet which astonished the world in
1264, and which is supposed to have returned in 1556, may
be looked for in the course of this or the next year. If it
does not renew its visit within that time, he thinks there
will be good reason to doubt the identity of the bodies of
1264 and 1556.

The Durham Chronicle, a liberal paper, having an aver-
age circulation of one thousand copies weekly, and about
sixty advertisement?, was sold by auction a few days ago,
by order of the assignees under the bankruptcy of Mr.
John Hardinge Witch, the late proprietor, for the sum of
seven hundred pounds, to Mr. Wheeler, parliamentary
reporter. London.

The City of Glasgow, the first of the fine screw-ships
from the Clyde to New York, has sailed from Glasgow,
and opens a new and comn3odious`channel for passengers
and goods to the United States. The Atlantic (one of
Collins's new line) will leave New York on Saturday
next, for this port; a very satisfactory trial had been made
of her engines.

An Irish beggar went by mistake to the Loughborough
police station, on Sunday week, and urgently implored
relief, declaring that he was utterly destitute. He soon,
however, discovered that he had " come to the wrong
shop" as he said himself. for he was searched by a police-
man ; and as money and provisions were found upon his
Persons, he was locked up till the following day, when
h.! was taken before a magistrate, who committed him to
p:ison for a fortnight.

The storm of Friday week, at London, was extremely de-
structive. A man, unknown, was struck dead by the
electric fluid near the Nightingale, Lisson-grove, and re-
moved to the Paddington dead-house. A billy-boy, eighty
tons burthen, was also struck near to Hungerford Sus-
pension Bridge, and instantly sunk, the crew, three in
number, escaping almost by a miracle.
Some London lads have lately devised the new trick of
furtively smearing ladies' dresses or gentlemen's cloaks
with some slimy liquid, informing the unlucky wearers of
the supposed mishap, and assiduously assisting them to
wipe and cleanse the soiled garments. A trifling reward
is usually bestowed upon th attentive tricksters, one or
two of whom are said to wear dresses like stable boys.
THE ARCTIC EXPEDITION.—The Lady Franklin, Capt.
Penny, and the Sophia. Capt. Stewart, sailed from Aber-
deen on Saturday week, for the Arctic regions, in search
of Sir John Franklin. The two vessels left the harbour
amid the cheers of some thousands of spectators. The
Lady Franlin is a first-class clipper brig, built at Aber-
deen, and the Sophia is equally strong, though less sharp
in her model, and was built at Dundee. Ihe expedition
is under the command of Captain Penny.
A CURIOUS EPISTLE.—A candidate for matrimony, for
whom banns of marriage had been duly published, waited
upon Mr. Conyers, the registrar of marriages, in Driffield,
and was very pressing for that gentleman to fix a time for
tying the matrimonial yoke. Mr. Conyers fixed the fol-
lowing day ; but instead of the parties presenting them-
selves, he received the following curious epistle :—" Mr.
Oconous hi rite to inform you that C— W— as rued of
married to morrah morning with M— D—, of W—. Mr.
Oconous Driffield.
A deputation from Liverpool, Bristol. and Hull, on the
subject of the Merchant Seamen's Fund Bill, consisting
of Mr. Nelson Wood. Mr. Nicol, Mr. N. Bold, and Mr.
Allen, of Liverpool, accompanied by Mr. Cardwell, M.P.,
Sir Thomas Birch, M.P., the Hon. H. Berkeley, M.P.,
Mr. T. Baines, M.P., and Hr. James Clay, M.P., had
an interview with the Right Hon. H. Labouchere, on
Wednesday, at the office of the Board of Trade.
CHURCH RATES.—Not twenty miles from Sunderland,
a summons before a bench of magistrates to pay church
rates was supported by a dissenting lawyer, and opposed
by a churchman. We suppose that by some mistake,
the two learned gentlemen had, before the hearing, ex-
changed briefs, and, not having discovered the error till
the case had proceeded some length, they had stuck to
their briefs, in error—the only feasible solution of the
occurrence, our P. D. suggests, fees-ible.
PLEASURE GARDENS NEAR DONCASTER.—On Friday
last, Joseph Paxton, Esq., visited Doncaster, for the pur-
pose of meeting the mayor and corporation, in reference
to laying out Hexthorpe Flatts as a public pleasure
ground. The whole of the ground proposed to be appro-
priated for the pleasure and pastime of the peaceful inha-
bitants of Doncaster, was inspected. Its admirable site,
the salubrity of the limestone air, its contiguity to the
river Don, being situated in fact, on its very brinks, and
its easy access to the toiling mechanic, were points much
dwelt,upon by the visitors.
The' report of the Registrar of Joint-Stock Companies,
for the year 1849 is just printed. There were 165 com-
panies provisionally registered during the year, of which
ten related to California. Only 68 were completely re-
gistered in the year. In the period 134 failed to obtain
complete registration, in which class the California com-
panies are prominent parties. The amount of fees paid
in the year was £2,927, of which £2,891 6s. was paid at
the head office in London, and the remainder in Dublin.
THE WESLEYAN INSURRECTION.—The British Ban-
ner says—" The Wesleyan Delegates from York to the
late Methodist Conference in London have been tried for
the crime of attending it. Mr. Taylor has been found
guilty by a majority of if; 25 against, and 20 for him—
the majority, it seems, consisting of four preachers and a
supernumerary. Mr. Coultas was found guilty by a ma-
jority of 3; 15 against and 12 for him."—The "Confer-
ence" alluded to was the meeting of Methodists opposed
to the late proceedings of the ruling body.
At the Middlesex Sessions, on Monday, Mr. Sergeant
Adams and the county magistrates decided against the
appeal of several publicans who had been refused their
licenses by the justices of St. Martin's-in-the-Fields, on
account of keeping " betting lists." The learned judge
said the bench was unanimously of opinion that these
Netting lists were " gaming," and, therefore, by the
publicity given to the proceedings there, the trade would
have a distinct intimation that the licenses of those who
persisted in keeping betting lists would be endangered.
On Monday, William Laidler, John Bennett, John
Jones, John Sullivan, and Henry Tiddiman, were found
guilty of extorting an I 0 U for £6O from an old man,
by threatening to charge him with an abominable offence.
The charge was brought home to the prisoners through
the intrepid management of a young niece, who secreted
policemen in the room whilst the men were completing
the bargain with her uncle. Tiddiman, who pleaded
guilty and turned approver, was sentenced to two years'
imprisonment and hard labour. The others were trans-
ported for life.
LAW OF PUBLIC MEETINGS TN SCOTLAND.—At the
Edinburgh Police-court, on Wednesday, W. C. Sleigh,
Esq., barrister, London, and Mr. Russell, Edinburgh,
were charged by the lord provost with a breach of the
peace in having moved and seconded an amendment, at a
meeting called to oppose the Marriage Affinity Bill, of
which he was chairman. The evidence showed that the
noise was on the side of the prosecution ; but for speaking
without the consent of the chairman, Mr. Sleigh was
fined two guineas, and Mr. Russell one guinea, and both
ordered to find sureties foe six months.
George Watts, a journeyman tailor, residing at West
Bromwich, has completed a piece of fancy needlework,
consisting of upwards of four thousand pieces of cloth,
sewed together with different-coloured silk. There are
three hundred figures formed by pieces of cloth upon this
(toyer; amongst which are scenes illustrative of Paradise,
the Death of Abel, and the Crucifixion ;. animals, flowers,
ships, bridges, and fortresses. The whole is the work of
his own hands, and occupied five years and nine months,
from two to three days in the week having been devoted
to its completion.
A DISTRESSED AGRICULTURIST.—The Western. Times
tells a story of a " distressed agriculturist" :—" A farmer
dropped in here on Wednesday last to pay his rent, put-
ting on a long face to correspond with the times. On en-
tering the house he told his landlord that times being so
bad he couldn't raise the money at all, and, dashing a
bundle of bank-notes on the table, There,' said he,
that's all I can pay.' The money was taken up, and
counted by Mr. —, the landlord, who said, Why this
is twice as much as you owe." Dang'ee, give it to me
again,' said the farmer, ' I'm dashed if I ain't took it out
of the wrong pocket.' "

A WATERSPOUT.—One of these singular phenomena
of nature, which seldom occur in those latitudes, hap-
pened on Saturday afternoon in the Bristol Channel. As
the Fanny and Jane brig, 118 tons, from London to Bris-
tol, with a cargo of wines and general merchandise, was
proceeding up channel, when about twelve miles off Pad-
stow she had her masts, bowsprit, and everything above
deck carried away by a waterspout. She wa3 taken in
tow by the Alert, of Bridport, and brought into this port.
Vessels distant from the brig at the time of the occur-
rence only half a mile, escaped uninjured.
SHOCKING ACCIDENT.—On Saturday week Mrs. Jen-
nion, of Widness, with her two children, aged eight years
and fifteen months, went to Mr. John Hutchinson's
chemical works, in Widness, to meet her husband, and
she left the two children standing eight or nine yards
from a large fire whilst she went to the office, and
just as she returned to them a brick or stone fell into a
panfull of boiling chemical liquid, and caused some to
overflow into the fire. An explosion took place, which
threw out the whole of the fire upon the woman and the
two children. The infant died almost immediately, the
eldest child is not expected to recover, and the poor
woman is dreadfully scalded.
A MlSTAKE.—Thackeray having, in his Pendennis,
associated the name of Catherine Hayes, alluding to a
murderess of that name, with those of several other per-
sons of infamous notoriety, including Bluebeard, all Ire-
land has been astir, and Thackeray has been consigned
by the Irish press to " everlasting infamy." In conse-
quence of this extensive blunder, the author of Pendennis
has been compelled to explain, through the Morning
Chronicle, that he did not at all nude to the amiable and
beautiful young lady now performing at her Majesty's
Theatre, but to a woman who long since died at Tyburn,
and was one of the characters in a satirical and unsuc-
cessful novel written by him ten years ago.

An old woman, named Mary Carpenter, was acciden-
tally burned to death, in London, last week. The de-
ceased, who was possessed of several freehold houses, was
looked upon as beirg one of the most extraordinary cha-
racters probably ever heard of. A few years since she had
a number of dresses made so short that none of them
would reach down to her knees. Part of the leg was ex-
posed, but the other was encased in white stockings, tied
up with scarlet garters, the ribbons extending to her feet
or flying about her person. In this extraordinary dress
she would sally forth to market, followed by immense
crowds of men and children.

SHOCKING DEATH OF A CHILD.—A sad occurrence
happened in Bedford-street, Gloucester, on Saturday
evening week. A little girl, aged two years, daughter of
Mr. Stephens, builder, had been undressed preparatory
to being washed for the night, and some hot water had
been poured into a pan for the purpose. While the ser-
vant was fetching some cold water, an elder brother of
the little girl, about four years of age, picked up his sister
(she being undressed,) and in the presence of the uncon-
scious father, who was drawing a plan in the same room
at the moment, said to his little sister " come ; let me
put you into the pan ;" and be then lifted her into the
scalding water. Mr. Stephens was unaware that the
servant had put hot water into the pan until the screams
of the child convinced him of the fact. She was imme-
diaiely lifted out by the father, and the usual application
in such cases were applied by Mr. Clarke, surgeon, who
was called in, but the poor sufferer died on Monday.
SIR ROBERT PEEL'S MODEL FARMER EXPOSED !—The
Morning Herald gives the following :—" Mr. Caird,"
writes a correspondent, " is a tenant of the Earl of Gal-
loway, and occupies what used to be the best farm belong-
ing to the earl in the district of Baldoon. As much as
four guineas an acre used to be the average rent of land
in this district. • It is situated in the fine valley of allu-
vial soil below the town of Wigton, in the shire of that
name. In truth, it is land equal to any in the Carse of
Gowrie. This farm now presents the picture of want
and desolation, slovenliness and poverty. Whilst his
neighbours' rick-yards are teeming with stacks of
corn, the finest white wheat, the best barley, oats, and
beans, the great Mr. Caird's betoken want of care, want
even of common industry ; for such is the natural rich-
ness of the soil that the commonest labour bestowed
upon it amply repays the tiller. As a consequence of all
this neglect, Mr. Caird's rent to his lordship has been
long suffered to be always in arrear, whilst all his neigh-
bours have paid their rents in full. He is universally
considered a bad neighbour, a bad farmer, a bad tenant,
and the whole neighbourhood pray that his peripatetic
labours for a London newspaper may long employ him far
away from Wigtonshire.” Can Sir Robert Peel be Ogui.
zant of time facts

THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

THE TAXES ON KNOWLEDGE.—The foil mving Lanca-
) shire members voted on Wednesday last in favotr of Mr.
Mr. Milner Gibson's first resolution for repealing the taxes
on knowledge (including the paper duty, the newspaper
stamp, the advertisement duty, and the duty on foreign
books) :—J. Bright, S. Clair, W. S. Crawford, W. J.
Fox, G. Greenall, J. Pilkington, Sir J. Walmsley, and
T. M. Gibson. The following members voted against
the motion :—Sir George Strickland, C. P. Grenfell, Sir T.
B. Birch, J. Brotherton, J. Duncuft, T. Greene, A.
Henry, Col. Linsay, J. W. Patten, R. A. Thicknesse,
and M. Wilson. Absent :—R. B. Armstrong, W. Brown,
J. Heywood. R. Walker, C. Hindley, E. Cardwell, and
J. Hornby.
EXTRAORDINARY CIRCUMSTANCE.—On the 3rd in-
stant, a fat cow was slaughtered by Mr. E. Boddington,
of Rugby. In the belly he found three calves, one of
which, under the ordinary course of nature, should have
dropped twelve months ago ; the other two were twins,
with which the cow had gone six months. The first calf
weighed 81b.; the hair was very long, and the teeth pro-
minent, At the time the cow was expected to be calved
she lost flesh, and this was attributed to some disease ;
she afterwards gained flesh, and was taken to the bull,
and stall-fed. Mr. Walker, veterinary surgeon, accounts
for it in this way :—At the time the calf should have been
brought forth, it escaped through a lesion in the womb
and lay in the abdominal cavity twelve months ; that this
lesion closed up afterwards, and the twins were soon af-
terwards formed in the womb. There were eleven stone
of fat in the cow.—Leicestershire Mercury.
FORTUNATE RECOVERY.—On Friday, the 15th March,
Miss Sparks, a lady from Preston, in Lancashire, lost her
purse, containing four five-pound notes and five sovereigns
and a half in one of the streets of Longton, in Stafford-
shire. She immediately gave information to the police-
office, and the greater part of the money was scon restored
to her. It was ascertained that a travelling tinker and
his wife (the latter apparently a gipsy, and well-known in
the neighbourhood) had exchanged three five-pound notes
and had left the place. They were Bank of England notes,
as were likewise those which Miss Sparks had lost, though
she could not recollect the numbers. The fugitives were
on Saturday apprehended at Newcastle, with twenty so-
vereigns and a half sovereign in their possession. The
female prisoner acknowledged that she had found the
purse, which was on Sunday discovered in a heap of ashes
where she said she had placed it after abstracting the
money. On Monday they were discharged with a repri-
mand.—Staffordshire Advertiser.
SINGULAR STORY OF AN RAGLE.—On Saturday, an
eagle belonging to Peter Grant, Crathy—favoured by the
strong gales of wind experienced in more places than
Crathy on that day—escaped from her prison, a wooden
cage, casting her domus aside, to the utter astonish-
ment of her owner, who next morning discovered the loss
of his pet, and considered it irreparable. But his fears
were soon dispelled. On the second day after her exit he
betook himself to the hills, and to his no small surprise,
mingled with delight, he saw his favourite hovering above
him. He took aim, but kindness got the better of his
sporting propensities ; and in a few minutes, to his won-
der, she descended gradually, when she rested within a few
yards of her late residence, to which he hurriedly and
joyfully proceeded. Strange to say, the runaway quietly
submitted to his approach, and to her own capture and
recommittal to her former place of confinement, which, I
suppose, her guardian will now make more secure than
before. Her return is the more surprising, as she had
only been three or four months in Grant's possession,
having been trapped young, and considering that eagles
are the most untameable of the feathered tribe.."—lnver-
ness Courier

A Coon PROPHET. - Some writers bless their stars
every morning, and congratulate their readers on Eng-
land's being so unlike the continent, in offering an impe-
netrable barrier against democracy. What delusion !
We know of no country in which the democrat has more
cause to rub his hands and be delighted. ife cannot look
up without perceiving all the classes above him engaged
in the labour of pulling down each other. The landlord
and the manufacturer have had a long tussle, and each
has floored the other more than once. Now, both have
set upon the lawyers ; and when the lawyers have been
well beaten, they will help to pull down the clergy. It
will go the round. And none are more fierce at the work
than the Conservatives and Tories. For our part, we are
contented to sit quiet and applaud in contemplating this
labour of love.. For, after all, it does but work things
back to what they ought to be. But it is curious to see
these very champions and classes of society, so full of
aristocratic and feudal notions, that they bemock and
contemn all other countries which get rid of them, in-
dulge in the same levelling tendencies and efforts,. and
rush to the self-same goal with the nations of the conti-
nent, although by other paths, and under deceptive ban-
ners.—Daily News.

HORSEWHIPPING EXTRAORDINARy.—OIIe fine sun-
shiny day last week the gay promenaders and humble
passengers in the fashionable Buchanan-street, Glasgow,
were unexpectedly treated to a spectacle rather rich ofits
kind.. It would appear that a certain hon. citizen had
conceived, whether on veritable grounds or otherwise is
not averred, that another gentleman was on too friendly
terms with his wife. Of course this was an "offence"
for which no "gentleman" could condescend to seek re-
dress in any ordinary way, or through the constituted
tribunals, and hence the injured husband resolved to
obtain satisfaction in the only way his righteous indigna-
tion and his honour could permit him to adopt. Armed,
therefore, with a good horsewhip, he sallied forth in quest
of his cowardly foe, and caught him in the thronged
thoroughfare above referred to. The sequel is soon told.
All the compassion of the incensed " gentleman" forsook
bis breast ; his blood boiled in his veins, and having sum-
moned to his aid a sufficient quantum of manly courage,
he then and there proceeded to inflict that amount of
corporeal punishment which, as he conceived, the object
of his resentment so justly merited. The number of
stripes inflicted were not exactly noted. It may suffice to
state, that the unfortunate offender considered them
enough, as he instantly retreated, and took refuge in a
shop, whose open door invited him to an asylum within
its grateful precincts.—Glasgow Chronicle.
MERCANTILE MARINE BILL.—On Wednesday last a
very numerous meeting of shipbuilders, shipowners, and
others connected with shipping in the metropolis and the
principal outports, was held in the London Tavern, Mr.
Joseph Hume, M.P. in the chair, when resolutions were
passed condemnatory of the Government Marine Bill,
now before parliament ; also, a resolution appointing a
committee to frame a comprehensive maritime code, to be
laid before the executive. Mr. Lockett, chairman of the
Liverpool Shipowners' Association, spoke ably to the first
resolution, and our townsman,. Mr. James Aikin, suc-
ceeded him in on equally practical address. Many other
speakers of note in the commercial world succeeded them.
The whole of the resolutions were unanimously carried ;
and the concurrent testimony of all present served to
show that no possible amendment of the bill now before
parliament could render it an effective measure this ses-
sion, much less a measure that should be satisfactory to
those called upon to carry it into operation, the conviction
being that ministers ought immediately to withdraw the
bill, and take the counsel of practical men. We are gra-
tified to find that on Friday evening Mr. Labouchere
withdrew the Mercantile Marine Bill for the purpose of
introducing another bill upon the same subject, with
amendments, and postponed the second reading of the
Merchant Seamen's Fund Bill to a future day. With
respect to the Merchant Shipping Bill, the right hon.
gentleman said so many serious objections had been
made to it that he did not feel inclined to press. the bill
for adoption, at least during the present session of Par-
liament. The subject was one of the utmost importance,
and he hoped to be able next session to present to the
House a measure that would meet the objections which
had been made to the present bill, and which, he ad-
mitted, were in many respects perfectly justifiable,

" NEVER DESPAIR."—Mr. D. P. Miller, late lessee of
the Adelphi Theatre, Glasgow, gave an entertainment at
the Concert-hall, Lord Nelson-street, on. Tuesday last,
to a crowded and most respectable auditory, who testified
their satisfaction by hearty plaudits. We believe he will
repeat it on the 2nd May.
THE CHARGE AGAINST THE CREW OP THE JOHN R.
SKIDDY.—On Saturday several of the passengers who were
on board the John R. Skiddy, lately wrecked on the Trish
coast, appeared before his worship the Mayor, at the Town-
hall, in support of a memorial complaining of the crew, by
whom it was alleged the passengers had been shamefully
ill-used and plundered, It stated in the memorial that the
sailors, including the mates, were veryabusive to the female
passengers and children, some of them were knocked down
and trodden on whilst the men were on the deck, particu-
larly the females. A portion of the crew went below and
broke op e the boxes and other packages belonging to the
passengers, their object being to possess themselves of the
cash, in doing which much property was destroyed. The
memorialists further state, that, so far from the Irish being
the abandoned set of villains described by the captain, they
behaved with kindness, many signal acts of which were
experienced by the passengers. The memorial is signed
by a dozen people, who represent their losses at sums vary-
ing from £2O to £6O. A number of the parties complain-
ing were examined by the Mayor and Mr. Rushton, but
their statements were very confused and indefinite, no
single case of the nature complained of being spoken to ;
and, eventually, the matter was left for the investigation
of Lieut. Hodder, the government emigration agent.—
Yesterday, one of the crew of the vessel, whose name is
Thomas Thompson, was placed before Mr. Rushton, to
answer a charge preferred by one of the passengers,
Joseph Gazely, in behalf of his son, a youth, who was also
a passenger on board, and whose trunk, he said, had been
broken open and plundered by the prisoner. The com-
plainant having made his statement, Mr. Rushton said
that he and his brother magistrates had fully investigated
the memorial which had been presented to the Mayor,
and that they had found that it contained statements con-
siderably exaggerated. The case brought before him was
one he could not doubt. A box had been broken open,
and property abstracted from it. It was not, however,
within his jurisdiction to proceed against the prisoner,
inasmuch as the vessel had been stranded on the coast of
Wexford ; but he would afford the complainant every
possible facility, if he chose to proceed to that locality,
and to prosecute.—The complainant said he could not do
so, unless he was assisted with funds for his expenses.--
Mr. Rushton said he had no fund to which he could resort
for such a purpose, and offered to detain the prisoner, if
The
ccomplainanthief
e ffiweaenrt eedf tti
theme
stilt) cpown seied ecerlhl
eodwehne
hs
ehhoeull et
fd
of the
the complainant, and stated that some of the crew (a few
only) had broken open some of the passengers' boxes ; but
he could not identify them, as they were between decks,
and nearly in the dark at the time.—Mr. Rushton re-
peated that the memorial put forth great exaggerations,
for it appeared that one or Lwo of the crew only had be-
trayed their trust. He then left it to the complainant to
decide, during the day, whether he would proceed to
Wexford, in which case the prisoner would be sent over ;
otherwise he must discharge him. Lieutenant Hodder,
R.N., of the Government Emigration Office, was present,
and Mr. Rushton recommended the complainant to get
his advice, as he knew more of the matter than any one
else.—Another applicant also appeared on a similar charge,
and was also (shoed to cousult Lieut. Hodder.

HYAM'S ESTABLISHMENT,
LIVERPOOL,

IS AT 63, LORD-STREET.

TJYAM'SI AT ESTABLISHMENT,B szOL.eigiprOrN,
HYAM'S ESTABLISHMENT, LONDON,
IS also AT-36-GRACECHURCH-STREET.
HYAM;I
ArS TAB,L6 ISHMENT, MANCHESTER
II YAM; ESTABLISHMENT,S alsoA
o
HYAM'S ESTABLISHMENT, BIRMINGHAM,
IS AT
HYAM'S ESTABLISHMENT, DUBLIN,
IS AT--30----DAME-STREET.
lIYAM'S ESTABLISHMENT, GLASGOW,
IS AT

H"M'S ESTABLISHMENT, BRISTOL,
IS AT- I 7--UN/ON-STRE ET.

HYAM'S EST#LISHMENT, BRISTOL,
IS also AT 42-WINE-STREET.

HYAM'S ESTABLISHMENT, LEEDS,
IS AT-42-BRIGGATE.

H YAM'S
A STABLISHMENT, HULL,
IS AT

11YAM'S ESTABLISHMENT, EXETER,
IS AT

rpHE advantages to the Public of purchasing their
I CLOTHING at these magnificent Temples of Commerce
are, that they can procure the very finest description of Cloth-
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Low Prices; and that they also have the opportunity of select-
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