The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1848-12-19 00:00:00

FRIDAY

THE ASHTON MURDER

Joseph Ratcliffe and Joseph Constantine were charged
with the wilful murder of James Bright, at Ashton-under-
Lyne. The indictment set forth that the said Joseph
Ratcliffe did, on the 14th August, feloniously shoot at
and kill one James Bright, and it further charged Joseph
Constantine with aiding and abetting in the said murder.
The Attorney-General prosecuted, and Messrs. Pollock
and Ovans defended the prisoners. Mr. H. P. Roberts
was solicitor for the prisoners, and Messrs. Hall and Tay-
lor for the prosecution.
The prisoners are both young men, and were attired as
the factory operatives of the district in which they reside
usually are.

The Attorney-General opened the case by stating that
he should confine himself to a simple narrative of the
events of the night on which the murder was committed.
He showed that, on the 14th of August, a simultaneous
rising of chartists took place at Ashton ; that the police.
man Bright, while in the execution of his duty, was
seized in the street by two or three men, by one of whom
he was wounded by a pike, and immediately afterwards
was shot. It would be shown that Ratcliffe and Con.
stantine seized Bright, and that when he said he knew
them, the former ( Ratcliffe) struck him with a pike, and
afterwards fired a pistol at him. After this, Ratcliffe and
Constantine moved off with the mob. Ratcliffe went to a
house and assumed a disg4ise, and was apprehended on
the 22nd August on board the Ocean Monarch; he was
then disguised; he admitted the charge laid to him and
regretted his guilt. Constantine was taken a few days
after.
A great mass of evidence was then given, which pm.

Dec. 19,194.

pied the court the whole day, and at its rising the case
was adjourned.
[The prisoner, Ratcliffe, is a wheelwright ; his master—
a Mr. Buckley, of Warrington-street, Ashton—was un-
able to attend the court to testify to his good character,
from severe indisposition. A friend of the prisoner, how-
ever, was provided with a letter which set forth, in the
strongest terms, the uniform good conduct and integrity
of the unfortunate young man ; who, although frequently
entrusted with sums of money, never betrayed his trust.
Constantine. who is a weaver, has nothing in his appear-
ance indicative of ferocity or brutality.]

SATURDAY.
Mr. POLLOCK made a most brilliant speech in behalf of
the prisoners charged with the Ashton murder, and called
a witness to prove that it was not Ratcliffe who, :Amer
Bright with the pike.
The learned ATTORNEY-GENERAL, at great length, re-
plied. He held it as indisputable that both prisoners
were present on the night of the murder ; hut was willing
to admit that there was not a general combination among
all the bo3y to murder Bright. Some of the leaders,
however, might have resolved upon it. He was also
willing to admit, and the jury might take it as relieving
the case, that the shot which killed Bright came from the
higher part of Bentinck-street, Bright at the time stand-
ing below it : and it was a mistake to suppose, as some of
the witnesses had stated, that when shot he was facing
Stamford-street. The Attorney-General carefully con-
trasted the evidence of each witness, and raised the hypo-
thesis that there was every likelihood that Bright had
been fired at twice, once ineffectually by Ratcliffe. Effec-
tual or not, however, his lordship would tell them that
the offence was the same. He was willing, as the evidence
was so slight, to withdraw the case against Constantine
from the attention of the jury.
The learned judge then carefully summed up, and after
an absence from court of about an hour, the jury delivered
a verdict of guilty against Ratcliffe, but with a strong
re-
commendation to mercy, as Bright did not fall by his
hand. They acquitted Constantine.
His Lordship then put on the black cap, and, after
giving the prisoner some excellent advice as to the folly
and wickedness of the late rebellious proceedings, sen-
tenced him to death in the most solemn terms, as follows:
—I have now discharged my duty. May God Almighty,
may the holy blessed Saviour, that most worthy Judge of
all, suffer you not to be sent from him. May the Lord
have mercy on your soul.
His lordship's sentence was painfully interspersed with
the sobbing and weeping of a female in court, said to be
the prisoner's wife. The prisoner himself betrayed
scarcely any emotion whatever, and, after addressing a

few words to his solicitor, was removed from the dock

Whilst the jury were Considering their verdict, the IS
chartists, charged with tumultuously assembling at
Ashton-under-Lyne, were placed in the dock, when the
Attorney-General stated that he had determined to pro-
ceed against only eight of the prisoners. The rest will
be discharged on finding sureties to keep the peace for
two years.

!Loral Aft,trtus.

The Rev. William Falloon delivered two sermons at
Skerton, near Lancaster, on Sunday last, for the schools
in that township.
ALTCAR COGRSING MEETING.—This meeting came off
on Thursday and Friday. The Cup was won by Mr.
Arden's Nimble, the Molyneux Plate by Mr. Webb's
Wrestler, and the Croxteth Purse by Mr. Segar's Lorle.
On Wednesday evening, his Wotship the Mayor
entertained the Judges, the Earl of ,Sefton, the High
Sheriff (Sir Thomas Hesketh, Bart), Sir Thomas B.
Birch, and a distinguished company, at the Town-hall.
The leading members of the medical profession in this
town—twenty-six in number—have memorialized the
Royal College of Surgeons "to receive the certificates of
attendance from the College of Chemistry, recently estab-
lished here by Dr. Sheridan Muspratt."
On Tuesday, the owners of the ship Mahtoree applied
to the magistrates. to claim damage from Frederick Ste-
vens, mate of the Jenny Lind, for running into hnd injur-
ing the former vessel. It was shown that the mate was
acting in conformity with the direct' of the dock-

,actions
gateman, and the Magistrates referred the case to the
dock committee.
ACCIDENT ON THE RIVER.—About half-past eleven
o'clock on Friday morning.. a flat, having two men on
board, sank off Birkenhead. The catastrophe was wit-
nessed by Captain M'Clure, of the Mersey steam-boat,
plying between Liverpool and Tranmere. He immediately
took measures to rescue the men from their perilous-
situation, and, after considerable exe. tion, succeeded in
his benevolent design.
DINNER AT THE TOWN H.,..m..—The Editor of the.
LIVERPOOL STANDARD having appealed to us as to the
comparative correctness of two statements of a transaction,
at the Mayor's Dinner, on Tuesday week, we beg to say
that the evening passed in perfect harmony and good feel-
ing, and that not the slightest offence was either given or
taken by any gentleman present,. so far as we are able to

WRECK AND LOSS OF LIFE.—The brig Ann Paley, of
Liverpool, Thomas Lister, master, the property of Vivian
and Co., of this town, was driven on shore at Tacumshane,
county of Wexford, on Wednesday morning. In a short
chp. tic tntnl wrPrk_ Of a crew of ten men but

three were saved. The master was drowned. The cargo,
which consisted of fruit, was lying on the beach; and it
was not expected that anything of value would be saved
from the wreck.

-a •• •
MAnTra.l• LUTHER.—A lecture will be shortly delivered
in Liverpool, on the life, character, and writings of Dr.
M. Luther, the great German reformer. The lecturer is

able writer for aseries of the leading journals and periodi-
country, and as the translator and annotator

cals in th

lecture, we understand, embraces an examination of the
life and character of Luther, as a man, a father, a refor-
mer, a patriot, and a writer,—points enough to excite the
attention of every Protestant. _

EAST INDIA COTTON.—Mr. Hugh Fleming, secretary
of the Manchester Commercial Association, has received
a letter from the East India Company, informing him
that they have instructed their agent, Mr. William Rath-
hone, of Liverpool, to forward to him 612 bales, four half
bales, and four bundles of cotton, from Bombay, per the
ship Pemberton. This cotton is the produce of the col-
lectorates of Dwarwar, Belgaum, and Khandeish, of the
season of 1846.7, and is to be disposed of in the usual
manner. The larger portion of this consignment consists
of native seed cotton ; but that portion of it which is from
Dwarwar is grown from American seed. The accounts
seem to indicate that this shipment is for the most part of
a superior quality. The previous consignment of 620
bales, all Surat, was disposed of last week at from 31d to
31cl per lb.
PORTRAIT OF THE LATE LORD GEORGE BENTINCIC.7
We have had a further opportunity of examining this
beautiful portrait of the lamented Lord George Bentinck,
now exhibiting at Mr. Grundy's, Postoffice-place; and
we must in justice say, that our previous high opinion of
its merits have been more than confirmed. The features
are full of the high intellectual character of the original;
and we almost wonder, as we gaze upon them, that such
a man could either mingle so prominently as he did during
a portion of his life in the exciting scenes of the turf, or
devote himself so sedulously as he did in after years to
the dry statistical details, in the working out of which he
so greatly distinguished himself, to the great benefit of
his country, and the annoyance and discomfiture of tricky
officials and time-serving opponents. There is a shade of
melancholy spread over his noble countenance, which
would rather lead us to imagine that it was that of a poet
than of either the daring speculator on the turf or the
celf-dpontincr statesman. An ain.irable etching, taken

by Mr. Samuel Reynolds, the celebrated engraver, is also
exhibited by Mr. Grundy ; and, when finished, will form
a memorial and a truthful likeness, which every admirer
of its highminded and chivalrous original will be desirous
of possessing. We may observe that the painting can.
only remain at Mr. Grundy's during this day and
to-morrow, and would therefore advise our friends not to
miss the opportunity presented to them.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

WHOLESALE RECEIVING OF STOLEN GOODS —On Wed-
nesday, a large quantity of property, consisting of artizans'
tools, house-fittings, &c., was discovered by two police-
officers, on the premises of Daniel M'Annally, marine-store
dealer, Regent-street. Upon some of the instruments
were the names of the persons from whom they had been
stolen. Two or three large concerns in the town, who
had been robbed of tools, were represented in court,
among these were Messrs. Geo. Forresters and Co.,
Vauxhall Foundry. Mr. Rushton sentenced him to two
months' imprisonment, and revoked his license.
Row BETWEEN POLICEMEN AND SOLDIERS.—On
Fri-
day a corporal and four privates belonging to the 46th
were brought before Mr. Rushton, charged with assault-
ing the police on the preceding night, in Richmond-row.
The military and police bore marks of the violence of the
conflict. From the evidence of Police-constable John
Bradley, 508, it appeared that the corporal and three sol-
diers jostled, purposely, some gentlemen, and threw theca
off the footpath ; they were equally rude to a woman, and
on the officer remonstrating they used bad language, and
reproached him with being only a common policeman.
In Richmond-row they repeated the offence, and then the
police interfered. Several other soldiers, however, had
by this time joined the offenders, to the number of fifteen.
The police, too, mustered to the number of eight, and the
soldiers having undone their belts, used them as weapons.
and a regular battle commenced. The alarm having
reached Rose-hill station, Mr. Superintendent Reding
tpurirsnoenderosuwt weriethcoamcommitpteetd fenotrtria
force,l. and captured the pri-
soners. The corporal being the most active, and threat-
ening to use his bayonet, the superintendent knocked
him down. Several gentlemen assisted the police.—The

ME. COBDEN ON EDUCATION.—At a meeting of the
Lancashire School Association, last week, Mr. Cobden
spoke strongly in favour of a State provision for education,
and had, in the course of his remarks, " Although there
was a difficulty in agreeing to a plan, in consequence of
some of their very best friends having changed their views
on this subject, he was bound to say that he thought there
never was a time when there was so much strength of °Pi-
nion in this country in favour of the principle of State
education as there was at present. It might take the di-
rection of the present system, as under Mr. Kay Shuttle-
worth, or of that which existed in Ireland, or it might
take some other direction ; but of this he was satisfied,
from what he saw in parliament last session, and in this
country, that a national system we shall have some time
or other; aud, therefore, if the Dissenters as a body stood
aloof from national education, and declared themselves
hostile to the principle, or if any considerable section of,
they would be found in a false position, and that,
the Dissenters maintained that position, he believed ilta
in spite
of their hostility, it would be adopted, but it might not
t
be adopted on so broad and liberala basis as it would ao
with their co-operation,"