The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-04-04 00:00:00

Thomas Aldridge Shirley was tried at Norwich assizes,
on Wednesday, for shooting his uncle, William Page, with
murderous intent. Page had often lent money .to his
nephew, and had at last put an execution into the debtor's
house : Shirley went to Mr. Page, and fired a pistol,
which shot away his jaw. He was found guilty, and re-
ceived sentence of death.
A parcel of watches, stolen during the riots in Glasgow,
have been found secreted in a dunghill, and others have
been picked up in the shops of the low brokers. A gold
watch was recovered in rather a curious manner. A fel-
low, named Kilian, was undergoing examination before
the sheriff in Gorbals, when he lifted his leg as if to scratch
his ancle, and immediately a gold watch popped out of
his boot. It was identified as one of those stolen from
Messrs. Finlay and Field.
THE POISONING CASE AT LLANELLEN.—At the Mon-
mouth Assizes Mary Howells and J. Price were charged
with the murder of W. Howells, husband of the former
prisoner. It will be recollected that at the Coroner's
inquest it was proved that the deceased died of poison,
and there was strong evidence that it had been adminis-
tered by his wife and the man Price who, there was reason
to . believe, had olhabited together immediately after
Howell's death. To the great surprise of all, the Jury
returned a verdict of " Not Guilty."
FATAL COAL-PIT ACCIDENT.—On Wednesday, an acci-
dent took place at a coal-pit at Malinslee, Shropshire,
called " the Lodge," which resulted in the death of eight
men. The pit was worked by a steam-engine, and was
175 yards deep. About half-past five o'clock, these un-
fortunate men were descending the pit for the purpose of
going to work, when about 40 or 50 yards down, the pins
which held the main shaft broke, and the poor fellows fell
to the bottom, and the chain rope, about two tons weight,
getting off the barrel, fell on them.
CONVICTION FOR PERJURY.—At the late Carmarthen
assizes, Thomas Thomas was (in the words of the Judge)
convicted of wilful and corrupt perjury. For the sake of
obtaining the reward offered by the Queen, he made a
false charge, on oath, against three men, and the conse-
quence of his so doing caused them to be committed for
trial on a most serious charge, and confined in prison as
felons, and on which, if they had been convicted, they
would have been subjected to transportation for life. The
prisoner was sentenced to be transported for seven years.
The Morning Post calls the attention of the police
authorities to swarms of unwholesome-looking people,
abounding more in beards and whiskers than in clean
linen, who throng the cigar-shops and lounges of the West
End. They are thought to be for the most part foreign
propagators of sedition, whose mission here and in Ireland
is to do the work of the Republican Propaganda of Paris.
If this be so, they are the proper mark for every just
man's indignation, and no chastisement can be too severe
for the union of so much crime with so much impudence.
OBSTINACY.—A young girl, named Ann Waters, aged
about thirteen years, who was living with a relation at
Cwmbrane, Monmouthshire, from whom she experienced
much kindness, having been lately reproved with sharp-
ness for some neglect, sulked, left the house, and re-
mained away without her friends having any knowledge
of her retreat, for four days, during which time it appears
that the poor creature took no sustenance, and slept out
in the open air. She at length returned home, but in
such a weakly state, from self-inflicted privation, that she
languished for a short time and died.
At Hereford, John Beavan, aged 26, pleaded guilty to
an indictment charging him with the manslaughter of his
brother, whom he struck at a ball they were at together
in fun ; the other returned the blow rather severely. The
prisoner struck him a second on this, but it not appearing
violently ; but it was a most unfortunate blow, as the
next moment the poor young man lay a stretched corpse
at his brother's feet. Judge Cresswell sentenced him to
be confined in prison for the remainder of the day, as he
could not for a moment imagine he meant to injure, much
less kill his brother.
A brutal outrage and robbery were perpetrated at
Coggeshall, Essex, on Saturday week. Three men with
their faces blackened entered the house of an elderly man
named James Finch, and in order to make them confess
where their money was concealed, placed him and his
housekeeper on the fire, where their clothes were much
burned. They then put a rope round the old man's neck
and drew him up to a beam until he was almost strangled.
Being at last convinced that they had made a mistake as
to money being in the place, the villains decamped, after
regaling themselves with ham and other provisions.
FATAL ACCIDENTS IN SHOOTING.—The annals of the
neighbouring county of Shropshire present two very melan-
choly instances of fatal occurrences of this kind, the one
in the death of the only son and heir of the late Andrew
Knight, Esq., of Downton Castle, which happened some-
where about twenty years ago, and the other in the very
recent death of that excellent nobleman, Earl Powis. But
the remarkableness of these two events occurring in the
same county, and amongst those of its higher-born classes,
would not be matter for observation were it not for a most
singular, not to say extraordinary, coincidence which is
equally connected with both of these sad catastrophes,
namely, that at the time of Mr. Knight's accident his life
was in a lease of property belonging to the Bishop of
Worcester, and that the life inserted in that lease to sup-
ply the place of Mr. Knight was that of the late Earl
Powis ! Worcester Herald.
CURIOUS DEFENCE.—At the Midland Circuit assize,
held at Derby, a man, named James Turner, was indicted
for stealing some potatoes, on the Ist of February. The
prosecutor, it appeared, missing the potatoes, traced foot-
steps from his own door to the house of the prisoner, and
on entering, found the potatoes he had missed, which
were immediately given up by the prisoner, who said he
kaid, In4,llem at his door the previous night. Th. ~.;
taining the Ist and 2nd verses of the 22nd chapter of
Doutcronomy-, ,rhioh wore to the effect, " that if a
brother's ox or sheep went astray, or if he lost his raiment,
or anything belonging to him, they should be taken in and
kept by the finder until the loser should seek them, when
they were to be restored to him." The Judge stated it to
be his opinion that the text in question was not an irre-
levant or improper defence. The prisoner was acquitted.
A fatal and destructive fire occurred at Barnard Castle
on Monday last. It broke out on the premises of Messrs.
Weatherilt and Marshall, drapers. An assistant, named
Loaditan, jumped from the third floor into the street, a
height of 40 feet, and was so severely injured that his life
is despaired of. The progress of the flames was not
arrested until the stock was destroyed, the premises
gutted, and the adjoining premises, belonging to Mr.
Bayles, cabinet-maker, were considerably damaged. The
servant girl was rescued from her perilous situation by
means of ladders, but Mr. Weatherilt was burnt to death
in his room, and when his remains were discovered, after
the fire, they were found to be reduced to a cinder. The
uninsured damage is estimated at £3OOO, which will
principally fall on Mr. Bayles. The stock and fixtures
were worth about £lOOO, insured for £6OO. How the
fire originated is yet unknown.
SALE OF THE BEAUTIFUL SERVICE OF PLATE OF THE
RUKE OF BUCKINGHAM.—On Thursday, the sale of the
beautiful service of plate of his grace the Duke of Buck-
ingham was proceeded with by Messrs. Christie and Man-
son, the auctioneers, of King-street, St. James's, the
rooms being crowded by the nobility and gentry. There
were 163 lots disposed of; some of the pieces of plate
being of the most magnificent description. A candela-
brum, with arms of the family, standards, and heraldic
supporters upon a plinth, surmounted by a palm tree,
from which spring branches for six lights, (presented to
the duke by the officers, non-commissioned officers, and
privates of the Bucks Yeomanry Cavalry), and weighing
340 ounces, sold for 10s. per ounce. A magnificent side-
board dish, with medallions, one of the coronation of
George 11., and the other a crest, surmounted by wreaths,
and suspended by ribbons, the border richly chased, sold
for Bs. ld. per ounce. A pair of beautiful ewers, chased,
with shells, fetched 9s. 6d. per ounce. The other articles,
consisting of vases, goblets, ewers, dishes, &c., fetched
sums varying from ss. to 10s. 9d. per ounce. The cellar
of wine, sold on Tuesday and Wednesday, fetched remark-
ably high prices, champagne selling from 755. to 80s. per
dozen.
At Exeter Assizes, on Saturday, Ann Fisher was tried
for the murder of her husband, Richard Fisher, by poison-
ing him with arsenic. It appeared that her husband, who
was a farmer possessed of some property (X 500), was con-
siderably older than herself. It was also stated in evi-
dence that an intimacy existed between the prisoner and
a man named Leach, to whom she had been previously
engaged ; and a chemist named Woods proved serving
the prisoner and Leach with arsenic. The jury, however,
returned a verdict of acquittal; no doubt influenced by a
most barefaced perjury by a woman, described of the
most revolting aspect, who declared that the prisoner,
while in gaol awaiting her trial, confessed the murder to
her, with most horrible additions, many of which were
proved by other witnesses to have beep impossible. On
her cross-examination, the wretch admitted she had
charged several men with rape, without the charge being
brought home to any of them. The motive of the woman
in making such a statement appears as incomprehensible
as her tale was incredible ; and though the case was, in
circumstantial evidence, very suspicious, a doubt and
mystery was thrown over the charge by evidence so dis-
gusting and malicious, as to prevent the jury from safely
arriving at any other verdict than that of acquittal.
AIRS. BUTLER'S READINGS.—This lady was invited to
read two of Shakspeare's plays at the Literary Institution
at Highgate. The plays selected were Macbeth and The
Merchant of Venice. The first was read on Saturday,
and the second on Tuesday last. On both evenings the
room was crowded to overflowing, and the deep and silent
attention in which the audience were held was only inter-
rupted by the bursts of enthusiastic applause which were
elicited by the delivery of some of the most striking pas-
sages. It would be difficult and almost invidious, where
all was excellent, to point out the particular parts that
pleased us most. But in the Macbeth it was impossible
not to be impressed by a sense of the mystery and terror
which invested the incantations of the witches, and by the
eminently firm, distinct, and forcible delineation which
was given of the hero. Indeed, we not only admired the
Macbeth more than the Lady Macbeth, finely as that
part was portrayed, but we doubt whether Mrs. Butler's
conception of the character is not the most true to Shak-
speare which has ever been witnessed. The Merchant of
Venice afforded a more ample display of her versatility
than the Macbeth, and it would be hard to decide whe-
ther the grave or the comic parts of the play were most
perfectly rendered. It is remarkable that in her reading
Mrs. Butler never once reminded us of her father, whom
she must have so often heard, while she was continually
recalling to our recollection her aunt, Mrs. Siddons,
whom she probably never heard read at all.—Times.
THE BILE INFALLIBLY CURED BY HOLLOWAY'S PILLS.
—Many who suffer from bile are uncons • us-of-it ; they
epo
complain of sick headaches, r
deran nt and sinking at
the stomach, loss of appetite, lo ess of spirits, want of
ve
energy, feet, hands, and face swelling, and know not that
these symptoms denote 'tiff imperfect action of the liver,
and if not remedied may lead to dropsy. Holloway's
Pills will always be found to act directly upon the liver
and 00niaell, and carry off the redundancy of Alan-fours,
and thereby im:nediately restore the patient to a full en-
joyment of he..llth. The blue bill is a mercurial and,
destructive nrdicine, which no ono Should take. _Jain&