The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-04-05 00:00:00

nagement

DISASTROUS FLOOD AT DERBY

Great devastation of property has been occasioned at Derby
by a sudden and tremendous inundation which. occurred on
Friday morning last. Between 1 and 2 o'clock the water
of the brook which runs through the town, owing to the heavy
fall of rain in the night, overflowed its boundary walls, and
ran about one foot deep into the neighbouring streets ;
an alarm was instantly given by the night police, but the
flood swelled so rapidly that they were soon driven ftom
their stations. The rain came down a complete deluge, and
as the culverts of the brook course in Victoria-street would
not admit one-third of the waters that rushed along them,
all the lower streets were speedily inundated, and two rapid
currents were soon formed by the flood ; one running down
Cheapside, the Wadwick, and Victoria-streets, the other
along Willow-row, Bold-lane, and Saddler-gate ; these
streams met " fast and furious " in the Corn-market, where
by 3 o'clock the inundation was at least six feet deep ; it
thence forced its way through Thorntree- lane and every
yard and avenue which led to the river Derwent. About four
the rain abated, and at sunrise the flood was gradually
lowering. As it was market-day and Easthy fair, it was
impossible to describe the confusion which existed among
the inhabitants and the country people who were crowding
to the town with their various wares. It is a melancholy
circumstance that this disaster has been attended with a loss
of human life : a poor woman, named Ingram, fell into the
flood, at the back of her residence, in Upper Brook-street,
about. 6 o'clock ' • and in about hall an hour afterwards she
was found quite dead by her husband. Several other persons
have been seriously, but not dangerously, injured. Many
'horses, cows, calves, and pigs, have been drowned ; and the
gentlemen and tradesmen residing in the streets visited by
the flood have sustained great damage in their houses and
furniture, &c. Great loss has also been suffered by the shop-
keepers in the Corn-market, whose premises on the ground-
floor were inundated to the height of four feet. The draw-
ing-room of Mr. Joseph Strutt's house among others was
completely flooded. The solid stone bridge near St. John's
church was partly destroyed, and the most compact masonry
seemed unable in some parts of the town to resist the rush of
waters.

In the afternoon business was resumed, and the principal
streets which had been inundated were again passable, No
accurate estimate can yet be formed of the damage sustained,
bnt the amount must be something serious.
It is supposed that, as the flood rose to such a fearful
extent in two or three hours, a water-spout must have burst
over the town.

The following letter, dated Ist of April, has been addressed
by a respestable inhabitant of Derby, to a gentleman in this
town :

" All yesterday it was raining in torrents, and almost in-
cessantly, which continued with equal violence until about
three o'clock this morning, when the town had a most awful
appearance. You will be able to form an idea when I tell
you, that it nearly came in at our shop door, which you are
aware is in a very high situation; it stood four feet in Mr.
James Strutt's dining-room, and six feet in the Sadler-gate.
The cellars and ground floors of the principal inns have suf-
fered very much ; in fact there is not an inn in the town fit
to go into ; all the shops in the Corn-market are closed, and
have circulated hand-bills, promising to open their shops in
the course of next week, to dispose of their damaged goods.
Messrs. Massey, Mr. Sale, Messrs. Cooke, Mr. Walton,
Mr. Wild, Mr. tiellaby, Mr. Huggins, Mr. Wallis, and se-
veral others, are very considerable losers ; many pigs, and a
great quantity of cattle were swept away. You may think I
am exaggerating, but upon my soul I thought we were all
going together.
The worst part of the story is yet to be told, that 4, the
loss of life. I understand three people were drowned, among
whom was a poor woman, drowned in her own house, in the
Willow-row. There has been a great many accidents also in
Ashbourne, attended with the loss of several lives."

TIIE BANK' or ENGLAND.—The usual average. return.
under the old act of the liabilities and assets of the Bank of
England, embracing the period from the 4th of January to
the 29th of March, both inclusive, which appeared iu Friday
night's Gazette, gives the following results, viz.:—" That
the average of the 13 weeks ending the 29th March, as com-
pared with the average of the 13 weeks ending the 4th of
January, shows
An increase in the circulation of .. 320,000
An increase in the deposits of 709,000
An increase in the stock of bullion of
Wherefore it appears that the increase in the liabilities is
£1,029,000, and this represents the increase in the total
quantity of money in the 13 weeks ending the 29th of March,
as compared with the 13 weeks ending the 4th of January,
in so far as regards the administration of the currency by
the Bank of England. The yearly comparison is as follows:
The average of the 13 weeks ending the 29th of March, 1842,
as compared with the 13 weeks ending the 30th of March,
1841, shows
An increase in the circulation of 415,000
An increase in the deposits 0f....
An increase in the stock of bullion of
Wherefore it appears that the increase in the liabilities is
£1,860,000, and this represents the increase in the total
quantity of money in the 13 weeks ending the 29th of March,
18
as compared with. the 13 weeks ending the 30th of
42,
March, 1841, in so far as regards the administration of the
currency by the Bank of England."

ANIMAL MAGNEMM.

On Friday evening a lecture was given at the Medical Hair by
Mons. La Fontaine, who some time ago appeared before the Liver-
pool public. But very few persons were present ; amongst them
were several medical gentlemen. We noticed Mr. Nottingham, Mr.
Brett, Mr. Currie, &c. Mr. La Fontaine delivered his lecture in
the French language, Mr. Le Febre, Mr. Nottingham, and other
gentlemen occasionally interpreting. Mr. La Fontaine stated, that
from the interruptions he had met with the last time he appeared
in this town, and the misrepresentation he had undergone, he came
forward on the present occasion, in the hope of setting himself
right on the subject of animal magnetism. He had lately lectured
in Birmingham, Manchester, and Leeds, with great success, and
had there been listened to with politeness and attention, and those
who did not believe, at any rate refrained from interrupting. He
had restored the blind to sight at Birmingham—as was stated in the
papers of that town—and at Leeds he had performed several cures.
A young 1 ady was here introduced, upon whom the experi-
ments were to be performed. Mr. La Fontaine, in continuation,
said that animal magnetism was a phenomenon of which we could
not as yet give any explanation ; we could only shew the effects,
and he did so on the present instance that medical men might apply
it to their patients. Mr. La Fontaine now proceeded to mesmerise
the patient, and in the course of a few minutes he placed her in a
state of somnolency. Mr. La Fontaine's mode differed from Mr.
Braid's. although the principle is no doubt the same, both fixing the
patient's eyes on an object—Mr. Braid held up his lancet ease—Mr.
La Fontaine kept the patient's eyes rivetted on his own. The lec-
turer said he should divide his lecture into three portions. He
would first experimentalize on the subject before them; he would
then answer any questions asked; and thirdly, would perform on
any person present. If any one intended to interrupt him he would
beg them to retire. He begged that the judgment would be sus-
pended until they had seen his examples. At this stage of the pro-
ceedings two or three individuals, who instead of coming to listen,
evidently made their appearance for the purpose of throwing an air
of ridicule over the proceedings, indulged in unseemly and rude
laughter, which the lecturer checked by stating that he was not to
be put down by grimaces. Heuppealed to the good sense of the
meeting, whether he should not be allowed to go on without inter-
ruption.
Mr. La Fontaine said, that at Birmingham lie was listened to
with great attention, and societies bad there, as well as in Man-
chester, been formed for the purpose of investigating the subject.
Dr. Leveson and Dr. Elkington had both been present, who were
sceptics. Dr. Leveson had been sent to sleep under the magnetic
influence. An observation was here made that the patient appeared
sleepy before she came into the mom. Mr. La Fontaine said, if
he had previous to the lecture drugged his patients with opium or
other narcotics, how could they speak, act, or walk at his bidding?
Mr. Currie here stepped on the stage and commenced feeling the
patient's pulse. lie declared it to be 102. Considerable confusion
took place in consequence of several persons putting questions to
the lecturer, and some unseemly demonstration occurring from
several parties,—
Mr. NOTTINGHAM begged the meeting to give Mr. La Fontaine a
fair hearing. He was deserving of it at their hands, not only for
the sake of science but as a foreigner.
The LECTURER said, that while questions were put to him so
thickly, from the left and the right, it was impossible to go on.
Mr. NOTTINGHAM suggested that Mr. La Fontaine should meet
them on another evening, and that it should be understood that he
was to be allowed then to go on without interruption.
Mr. Currie then stuck pins in the patient's legs, arms, and head,
but no symptoms of pain were exhibited. He also tickled the soles
of her feet, without the slightest indication of annoyance being
felt. She was partly demesmerised, and again milgnetised,, until
thrown into slight convulsions. She was then dernesnicrised. Her
arms and shoulders were then thrown into a cataleptic state, when
experiments were tried with a galvanic battery.
A great deal of interruption took place, when the lecturer begged
that on Tuesday (he having previously announced that he would
meet the present company on that day, giving them a free admission)
some medical men would bring the blind, deaf, and dumb, and allow
him to operate upon them. He had that day operated on a man at
the infirmary who had been troubled with the rheumatism, and had
enabled him to lift up his arm, which he had long lost the use of.
The patient, on being tried with the galvanic test, said she felt
the shock in her shoulder, her arms only being mesmerised. Mr
Currie here appeared sceptical as to the administration of the shock
being so forcible as it was supposed, but be contented himself with
the doubt, rather than testing the effect of the shock.
Mr. LA FONTAINE asked if Mr. Currie had ever galvanised a
corpse. • He must be aware that the arms were thrown up in a con
vulsed state

A very irregular conversation then ensued, the upshot of which
was, that Mr. La Fontaine selected a gentleman out of the audience
to try his powers upon. Mr. Currie whispered something in the
ears of the party, which Mr. La Fontaine requested might be spoken
up. After some hesitation, the gentleman stated that Mr. Currie
told him not to shut his eyes unless he was asleep. Mr. La Fontaine
said if he succeeded with him he peed not fear that, for he should not
take that trouble. After a lapse of fifteen minutes no effect was pro
dared, and Mr. L. said he could not succeed with him. He could
not succeed with every body.

Mr. CURRIE said he had considered the subject, and that he came
there with an idea that animal magnetism was absurd, arid nothing
he had seen that night had tended to alter his opinion.
A gentleman, who appeared in a great bustle and excitement, at-
tempted to move a resolution, to the effect that the meeting con-
sidered the subject a humbug, but it was rejected unanimously,
and an amendment of adjournment proposed.
We may here remark, that the young lady (a native of Man-
chester) held her legs in one position, namely, extended, for 1 hour
and 38 minutes, until they were demesmerised. Another meeting
will take place this evening.

[As public journalists, we have devoted some space to this subject,
but without implying our belief or disbelief in the matter. We
were present at a private meeting at the George Hotel last night,
at which Mr. La Fontaine magnetised one of the servants of the

establishment, and placed her in a somnolent and cataleptic state,
She presented precisely the same appearances as the young lady

at the lecture on Friday evening. Mr. La Fontaine also operated
upon a person who, we believe, is connected with the Apotheca-
ries' Company. lie stated that he did not feel any effects, except
a sleepy sensation, and that he could have roused himself at any

time. He, however, presented all the appearances of a person
in a deep sleep. He described Mr. La Fontaine's action of pass.
ing his hands down his face as if pins were slightly pricking him-.

-krt. L. S

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

St a,—lf, in your next publication, you should have space which
could be devoted to this subject without excluding more important
matter, I shall feel obliged by the insertion, of a few remarks.
It appears to me that nothing which stands in connection with mes-
merism or the magnetizers is more obvious than the fact that one
of the leading features of the business is stage display and effect ;
and that the travelling professors who favour us with their visits
would seem to think that they cannot in any other way so com-
pletely convince their auditors of any assertion they may please to
make as by producing some extraordinary or shocking exhibition
in connection with it, apparently thinking that the truth of their
systems can only be demonstrated by the miracles they themselves
are able to work.

Opinions have been offered respecting the moral or non-moral
tendency of animal magnetism. On this subject, however, I would
rather be silent, having seen but few of such exhibitions. Those I
have witnessed would not induce me to think that the mesmeric
stage was better than any other.

Mesmerism appears to have met with much ill luck in Liverpool
of late, which may, perhaps, be partly attributed to want of power
in the miracle workers who now introduce it,—they do not seem
to go sufficiently far; for those who have attended to the literature
of the subject, even as far as its teaching in Liverpool is concerned,
must be aware that they are little better than the shadows of their
predecessors in the last century. As a proof of the great difference
between that which is done now and the things done before, we
may introduce the following extract, which is the title-page of a
book, printed for the author, and entered in Stationer's Hall in
1792

"THE
GENERAL AND PARTICULAR PRINCIPLES

ANIMAL ELECTRICITY
AND
MAGNETISM, &c.,
in which are found Dr. Bell's Secrets and Practice, as delivered to
his pupils, in Paris, London, Dublin, Bristol, Gloucester, Worcester,
Birmingham, Wolverhampton, Shrewsbury, Chester, Liverpool,
Manchester, &c. &c.

Showing how to magnetize and cure different diseases, to pro-
duce crises, as well as somnambulism, or sleep-walking; and in
that state of sleep to make a person eat, drink, walk, sing, and play
any instruments they are used to, &c. ; to make apparatus, and
other accessaries to produce magnetical facts ; also to magnetize
rivers, rooms, trees, and other bodies, animate and inanimate; to
raise the arms or legs of a person awake, and to make him rise
from his chair ; to raise the arm of a person absent from one room
to another; also to treat him at a distance. All the new experi-
ments and phenomena are explained

MONSIEUR LE DOCTEUR BELL,
PROFESSOR OF THAT SCIENCE,
and member of the Philosophical Harmonic Society in Paris, Fellow
Correspondent of M. le Court de Geblin's Museum; and the only
person authorised by patent from the first noblemen in France to
teach and practise that science in England, Ireland, &c."
On the next page is found the " certificate" granted to Dr. Bell,
in Paris, in 1 785, showing how he was admitted as a corresponding
member. and authorised to established "corresponding societies"
in Great Britain.

After looking carefully over the pamphlet of Dr. Bell, I think it
not improbable that Monsieurile Docteur, as he is pleased to call
himself on the title-page, had more important, and, perhapS, more
profitable business than magnetizing groves, or astonishing fish-
ponds, for, on the last page of the book we find the following :
" From these few experiments it is easy to conceive that any ani-
mate or inanimate body may be electrified or magnetized, which
you may please to call it; that is to say, to increase an action
which it had not before. All these are upon the principles of the
learned Dr. Mesmer, the first inventor as to the theory-; any inge.
nious mind may make one of his own (ride nzy new system of the
world) as to the effects which were known ten years ago. Never-
theless the pretended improvements made in this kingdom by some
modern practitioners are very wonderful, such as, by fixing your
eyes (with attention, abstraction, intention, &c.) upon the heart of
a man, a horse, or a dog, you may kill them instantly by stopping
the circulation of the blood according to Van Helmont ; and to sink
a ship at sea; this would be an excellent thing for an admiral, and
to magnetize a sword which would kill his enemies a mile off, or
through a wall six feet thick, If I knew these improvements, I
would carry a magnetized sword to Mons. de la Fayette, as a mem-
bee of the harmonic Society, but that he may do more execution{
with his own is my sincerest wish."

Whether Dr. Bell played any tragical, magnetical, or concealed
part in the French revolution or not is probably known to diplo-
matists, but he appears to have had very great undertakings.
Ire dedicates his book "To the ladies and gentlemen pupils of
my different classes," and afterwards remarks very wisely, " You
daily hear ignorance condemn what it cannot comprehend ; and
those half-learned beings, who laugh at you and me, and call them
impositions, because they do not strike their ideas ; neither will
they take the trouble of informing themselves of the truth. A
liberal-minded man—superior to prejudice--should investigate
matters before he passes condemnation ; but you, ladies and gen-
tlemen, who walk in a more enlightened path of life, and whose
education and birth place you high above vulyar prejudices, doubts,
and suspicions despise them, I hope, as you are convinced of their
fntility and uncharitable attempts." In short, the whole tenor of
the production is such as to render it a very valuable text-book fur
any " compagnie ambulante" of magnetizers.

Dr. Bell appears to have thought that the art of curing diseases
by animal magnetism was known in very early times, and deplores
the factor its having been lost during so long a period. He says,
" I have myself been looked upon by many ignorant people in
France, England, and Ireland, as a magician, by putting several
ladies and gentlemen into somnambulism, or sleep-walking, and in
that state, having made them eat and drink, sing, and play upon
the harpsichord, or any other instrument they were used to,,by
telling an unknown person their diseases, and 'prescribing for
them, &c." He adds, •• It be too long to recite the names of
the ancients who have written on this subject; I shall only mention
Find, the Mosaical Philosophy, Tentagelinus ' • the art of curing by
sympathy; Paracelsus, so much known by his alkahestical tinc-
ture, &c., Digby, Friend, Maxwell, Musgrave, Lord Bacon, and
many more who have treated on that subject. Among the many
who are supposed to have performed cures by touching was
Pyrrhus, King of Macedon, and Epirus, who used to touch his pa-
tients with his toe; the Emperor Vespasian, who performed many
cures by touching; Edward the Confessor and Queen Anne used to
touch for the scrofula, since their time called the King's evil.
Several kings in Europe have had that gift. Louis XVI., when
crowned, touched several patients, saying, the king toncheth thee,
God may cure thee. It is since Philip the First, king of France,
that his successors have practised it. Valentine Greatrak, from
the county of Waterford, so much known, and called by Boyle the
" Stroker," cured many by touching, particularly the Duke of
Buckingham, and several of the first people in England. Dr.
Gasner, at Ratisbone, in 1774 made several cures."

This doctor did well to guard his pupils against credulity, while
he was engaged as their teacher, still better when he endeavoured
to show how easy it is for men to do supernatural things.
The pamphlet in question contains many other indications of
want of development in the animal magnetism of the present day;
and as one item in the history of medicine, like many others, it
shows how great is the analogy found to have prevailed—and the
varying medical fashions of all tune—for, amongst professors of
the art of healing, as in theology, nothing, it would seem, appears
to have been, now and then, too monstrous to assert ; experience
has been despised, and learning, at times, regarded as contempti-
ble, and vagaries as remarkable as those we now see existed in
Rome with the sectarians of Celsus, and in England were known
when our forefathers admired the practical acumen of Sydenham,
and could boast the erudition of Mead. As far as the chronological
view of the matter is concerned, the greatest prejudice, supersti-
tion, and credulity marching onward with the most acute observa.
tion and extensive acquirements; but in the flitting varieties of
scene, which this medical history presents to our notice, we may
always rind some trace of the features of one class of men, whether
in ancient times they were called followers of "Esculaplus,
or sons of Podalirius, and Madson, whether adherents of
Empedocles, or Democritus,— if to pass over in any like Greatraks,
they cure by touching, or if as on the magnetism of our days,
the hands and eyes were together employed, whether they have
been called magnetists,allopathists, homeopathists, hydrophathists,
it matters not, they have been. and they are, those who while they
promise to cure the diseases of niens' bodies, only treat the weakness
of their minds, for no sooner as any one of these systems of folly,
destroyed, than Phcenix-like a something more glaring arises from
the ashes of its destruction.

Had I not been afraid of rendering this communication more
tedious than useful,—a few more details on the subject of Dr.
Bell's Pamphlet might have been given, for it is equally curious
and am usin g;—they may however be reserved for another occasion,
when I may also have an opportunity to state the result of my
own observations on individuals " magnetized" in public as wel
as on those not previously prepared for exhibition.
Whether mesmerism be true, or whether it be not,—whether thei
peculiar nervous excitement of delicate and hysterical patients,
supplying pheenomena. said to be the result of the operation of a
general " law of the animal economy," is not taking the exception
for the rule,—and regarding indications of disease, as one set of
the features of health,—presenting to the notice of the credulous,
the wondering, and the curious—an assemblage of the human
frailties,—calling them by the mistaken name of powers, which-
ever may be correct, I have DO hesitation in affirming that—the
subject is ill fitted for public—fur stage exhibition, and is of all
others the last one could fairly have supposed would have been
introduced to the indiscriminate notice of men women and children ;
yet I sin disposed think we need not fear that the thing will
make much progress in this way, as the cost of admission will
presently tend to blunt the general curiosity, and make speculators

very select ; and in conclusion, we may be allowed to remark that
however disinterested some Mesmerists have been or may be, to a
few just now famous, the words of St. Paul would apply .
Quos oportet redarg ill, qui universos domos—subvertunt,
doceutes gum non oportet turins lucri gratift.

MEDICUS

-
[Since the above letter, which is the production of a gentleman of
eminence in his profession, was in type, we have been favoured
by Mr. Hugh Neill (who, however, we may observe, is not our
correspondent " Medicos ") with a sight of the work alluded to.
—ED. L. S.]

QUALIFICATION OF SHIPMASTERS AND MATES

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD.

- -
Srk,—Two letters inserted in the Albion, signed " J.,"
have excited much attention ; permit me to offer one or two
remarks on them. The real opinions of "J." I cannot
make out, further than that he is decidedly against the for-
mation of the proposed board ; bat whether he is against all
exertions for improving the situations and elevating the mo-
ral tone of our mercantile marine, I am unable to make out.
From his second letter I should say not; and if I am right
in so thinking, why does not " J." point out the defects of
the proposed bill, and suggest those improvements that he
may think it requires? Gentlemen who step forward with
pure motives, to render what they deem will be an essential
service to the country, should be met in the same honoura-
ble spirit, and not with vituperation.
The following extract from " J.'s " first letter, I think
every candid reader will allow, conveys a slur, which, though
it may be beneath the high-minded gentlemen it affects, to
notice, may not be out of the way for a humble individual
like myself to comment on :
" Let us see whether the proposed enactment is founded
on any thing like common sense, or where the argument lies
for special surveillance. In the first place, I can say from
experience, and I am certain I speak the experience of the
larger portion of respectable shipowners, that proper pay-
ments, proper inquiry, and the ordinary thinking that any
man ought bring to a business in which he has a right to ex-
pect lie will succeed, leave shipowners using such means in no
difficulty about securing masters and mates competent in
every way. If, however, a class of shipowners should not
bring such appliances to bear, what other result than failure
can be expected ? And the cause of failure in this is now
wished to be made different from the cause of failure in other
matters of business, namely to be transferred from the prin-
cipals to the servants, in ()Cher words, the masters and mates
to he punished in the place of the shipowners."
Now, sir, I, for one, require something more than assertion
before I can even entertain a suspicion of the honouroble dis-
interestedness of the public-spirited gentlemen who have
stepped forward to carry out this noble measure; and when
I sven attempt to think of the desire here imputed to them,
by J., of wishing to shift their responsibility to the shoulders
of their servants, it seems so ridiculous, that tope it seri-
ous attention is out of the question.- =
As for J.'s monthly or periodical exarnination into charac-
ter, I have read the printed rough draft of the bill with much
attention, and have been unable to find it out. I find a
clause, indeed, for depriving them of their certificates in case
of gross misconduct; but that could only come under the
cognizance of the board (except in special cases of public no-
toriety) by the special complaint of their employers, whose
servants the board will really be. They are to be elected by
them, and the same power can eject them. How, then, the
board can ever become the dictators of the shipowners, as J.
seems to imagine, I am at a loss to conjecture, unless, indeed,
the board should discover the longitude; and even then I
doubt the shipowners' gratitude will fall considerably short
of the surrender of their rights.
In J.'s second letter he asks this question—" What would
be said to a board being appointed to examine engineers, en-
gines, or axles on railroads, each time they start, to prevent,
as far as possible, the risk of accident, and loss of life ?" In
reply, I have to observe that this principle is acted on in the
navy, and the result has been most beneficial ' • and that so far
from the proposed examination reducing shipmasters and
mates to the level of ticket porters, as he assumes, its ten-
tency will be to elevate them in the scale of society with the
liberal professions; and I doubt not, in a few years, if this
great national measure is carried, of finding the, honorary
distinctions of our scientific " societies" as prevalent among
the shipmasters as other denominations of gentlemen.
The fact is, Mr. Editor, that it is requisite for our mer-
cantile welfare, and national honour, (as I will endeavour to
shew in a future letter,) that our mercantile marine should
never in anything fall short of our rivals, who are striving
hard to outvie us. This measure will go a great way to pre-
vent such a catastrophe. Let, then, every patriotic heart
rally in remembrance of " by-gone days" of England's
fame, sound the supporters of this great and good measure
with their counsel and their influence, till it is firmly estab-
lished a monument that our enemies may fear and our country
for ever venerate

In conclusion, Sir, I would with due humility suggest to
the framers of the proposed bill, the advantages likely to
accrue by giving the Board the power of investigating into all
cases of shipwreck.
I remain, Sir, your obedient Servant,
B. W. TRACEY, Lieut. R.N.
Mates' Association, 11, Duke-street,

March 31st, 1842.
[We insert Lieut. Tracey's letter, Without committing
ourselves as the advocates of either side of the question.

JUDICIAL DISCRIMINATION,

TO THE EDITOR OF THE LIVERPOOL STANDARD,

SUL—There are few exhibitions in life more imposing,
both in their aspect and their consequences, than the crim-
inal trials in our courts of justice ; and there are few positions
more honourable, and at the same time more responsible,
than the office of judge. The administration of justice in
England, civil and criminal, has for a long series of years been
so impartial, that men have a decided objectimi to question-
ing its decrees. It is, on the whole unexceptionable, and an
example fit to be imitated by all the other nations of the
world.

But uprightness of intention, profound learning, and years
of experience can never overcome the infirmities of nature;
and therefore it is no reflection upon the purity of the ermine
to say, that individual and isolate decisions or sentences are
either above or beneath the merits of the particular case. It
is with these feeling that, using the undoubted privilege of a
subject of England, I take leave to exanline two sentences
passed upon two convicted prisoners at the present assizes,
by Mr. Baron Rolfe.
The cases came before the learned Baron in the Nisi Prius
court on Thursday last. In the first of them, a young per-
son, whose name I do not recollect, was indicted for having
wilfully and maliciously wounded (by stabbing) a horse, the
property of Mr. Entwistle, a naagistt ate of the county, resid-
ing at Foxholes, near Rochdale. The prisoner was commit-
ted for trial, and after he had been in prison nearly a month
he was admitted to bail by Mr. Justice Pattison. Mr. Baron
Rolfe after his conviction, sentenced the prisoner to one
month's imprisonment in Lancaster castle—a prison in which
the discipline is considered to be, at least, much severer than
Kirkdale, or any other house of correction in the county.
The horse which was stabbed by the prisoner was not mate-
rially injured, and at the time the offence was committed, Mr.
Entwistle was with his hounds trespassing, in violation of a
notice to the contrary, upon the farm lands of the prisoner's
father.

The second case was one of manslaughter—a very grave
crime in the eye of our law, for our law is more jealous of hu-
man life than the law of any country in Europe. I knosy well
that manslaughter is a crime the absolute degree of which is
to be estimated by circumstances ; but still it is a branch of
our criminal proceedings that receives the greatest investiga-
tion. The prisoner in this case was an ex-pugilist, a.reformed
boxer, named Sampson, and he was accused of having killed
a man named Ireland, by throwing him twice down upon the
flags of the causeway, opposite the door of his own (Samp-
son's) public-house. It was alleged, in extenuation, that the
deceased had used language of a disgusting nature towards
the wife and daughter of the prisoner; but whatever the lan-
guage was, it was not proved, and Mr. Baron Rolfe justly
remarked—that it would have been infinitely more satisfac-
tory if some evidence had been adduced in support of the
allegation. It was not, however ; nevertheless, the learned
judge gave the prisoner the benefit of it. The deceased died
in less than twenty-four hours after the violence had been in-
flicted upon him. The sentence on the prisoner was that he
should pay a tine offive pounds to the Queen.
These cases have suggested one or two considerations to
my mind which, without attributing any improper bias to
Mr. Baron Rolfe, I should wish to mention in your columns.
The first is the obvious disparity in the punishments directed
to be imposed for these offences. One case involved the
wounding of a brute animal, and the other the death of a
human being—a fellow-creature. The man that would stop
to make a comparison between the value of the two I shall
not allow myself to describe ; but as Mr. Baron Rolfe, in
administering the law, has apparently invited a comparison
between the two degrees of punishment, it may be worth
while to make it.

Mr. Entwisle's horse was not permanently injured; and
at the time it was injured he was in the commission of an
unlawful act, by trespassing upon anether's land. Ireland's
life was sacrificed to the unrestrainable vengeance of the
moment for using offensive expressions ; for which any other
but a man of ungovernable anger would have contented him-
self with calling is the police ; and if that had been so, Mr.
Rushton would have dealt with the offender as he deserved.
Unfortunately, the man's life was the penalty he paid for
his offence.

Who will say, under these circumstances, that two months'
imprisonment for wounding a horse is a just punishment, if
five pounds are sufficient to wipe out the guilt of killing a
man? The disparity is too apparent to be enlarged upon.
Another consideration which these cases have suggested, is
the effect of pecuniary punishments, so to speak, for such,
weighty offences against life as manslaughter. Merely to
fine a convicted party is not to punish him, especially if he
can afford to pay ; and I apprehend that thp original object
in prescribing punishments was imprisonment. I have no
objection—on the contrary I think it highly salutari, 'because
the tender point is reached by it, for fine and imprisonment
go together; but I do protest against nominal fines being
imposed for such offences as manslaughter.
In short, my high regard for Mr. Baron Rolfe's character
for just intentions and for impartial administration of the
law, cannot alter my opinion that in these two cases he has
not sufficiently discriminated the circumstances of each.
Sampson has, at least, escaped remarkably easy; but Mr.
Entwistle has the enviable satisfaction of thinking that the
offender against him will have been confined nearly twice as
long as his horse was, and that although the case of the
horse was not sufficiently important to call in' the aid of a
veterinary surgeon to the animal, the accused felt his liberty
sufficiently important to him to spend not far. short of twenty
pounds in endeavouring to obtain it,—besides making an
abject apology.--I have the honour to be, sir, your obedient
servant, PEN SATORE.
Great George-street, April 2.

Mr, Charles Pearson, the city solicitor, is likely to be ap.
pointed town-clerk of London. There are many candidates
for the former situation.
Several Irish families are already on the move from
England, to avoid a property taz.
The other day, at Oxford, a man was tried for stealing a
bee-hive. The hive was produced in court, covered with a
white napkin; in order to be identified by its marks, but on
account of its being filled with bees, the jury did not venture
to examine it, and the man was acquitted for want of evidence.
The number of bodies thrown on the coasts of France,
from Boulogne to Dunkirk, in consequence of the storm of
the 10th inst., amounts, says the Courrier du Nord, to 150
CONVICTION FOR MURDER, AND SUICIDE OF THE CON•
VICT.—At the Mold (Flintshire) assizes on Friday, Robert
Pierce, aged 24, was indicted for attempts to murder his wife
by the administration of arsenic. He was found guilty and
sentenced to death. On the following morning, when the
gaolor entered the condemned cell of the convict in the Cas-
tle of Flint, he was found suspended by the bars above the
door. The body was nearly cold when discovered, and it is
judged that he had been dead some time. It appears that
he formed a noose of his braces, and having attached them
to his neck and fastened them to the bars, he placed his
feet upon an earthenware utensil and a Bible, which he
kicked away, and thus left himself hanging. The.unfortu.
nate man confessed to having committed the crime for which
he was convicted, on the night after his condemnation.

Another "delicate affair" came before one of the police-
offices, Dublin, on Saturday. Mr. F., a gentleman of pro-
perty, charged Miss M., a lady, with a conspiracy to rob his
house. The prosecutor did not appear to support the charge.
Miss M. then explained, that Mr. F. bad been paying his
addresses to her, when she found that he was already mar-
ried, and broke off the intercourse. He then proposed to
settle £l,OOO -ayear upon and to marry her after his wife's
death, should that occur within a certain period, upon con-
ditions which she indignantly repelled ; and in revenge be
instituted the present accusation. The lady was discharged
from custody.

SOUTH LANCASHIRE ASSIZES.

CROWN COURT.—FRIDAY.
Mr. Justice Parke took his seat on the bench at nine
o'clock.

THE :MANCHESTER COACH ROBBERY.
James Thelwell, James Skerrett, and William Mooby,
stood indicted for having, at Manchester, on the 18th of Fe-
bruary last, feloniously stolen fifteen hundred sovereigns and
one hundred £5 notes, the property of Messrs. James Cun-
liffe and others; and James King and Bridget Jones were
indicted for having received the same, knowing them to be
stolen.
Mr. Baines and Mr. Hulton appeared for the prosecution;
Mr. Wigharn defended the prisoners Thelwell and Jones;
Mr. Wilkins and Mr. Overend the prisoner Skerrett; Mr.
Greene the prisoner Mooby ; and Dr. Brown the prisoner
King.
All the witnesses having been ordered out of court,
Mr. BAINES proceeded to state the case to the jury. He
said, after explaining the charge against the prisoners, that
it would be his duty in the present case to call before them a
very considerable number of witnesses, whose evidence would
run a good deal into detail, and that the best way in which
he could render assistance to the jury, would be to give them
an outline of the evidence, in order to render more easy their
task of following the witnesses. The prosecutors were Messrs.
Cunliffe, Brooks and Co., bankers of the first respectability
at Manchester and Blackburn, and who had been in the ha-
bit, for several years past, of sending parcels of cash and notes
from their establishment at Manchester to their other esta-
blishment at Blackburn. Those parcels were usually sent on
Tuesday and Friday every week, and the conveyance selected
for this purpose was the coach called the Perseverance coach,
which left Manchester at half-past four o'clock in the after-
noon, starting at the Old Boar's Head coach-office, Hyde's-
cross. It would appear from the evidence, that on Friday,
the 18th of February, the cashier of Messrs. Cunliffe and Co.
made up a parcel, consisting of 1500 sovereigns and £5OO in
£5 notes; that he enclosed it in a small leather box or port-
manteau, which was locked and fastened with a strap • and
that it was delivered to the porter of the bank to be taken to
the coach. The porter accordingly took it to the coach, and
placed it, as usual, in the front boot. This occurred about
four o'clock in the afternoon. Two of the prisoners, Sker-
rett and Thelwell, about the time that the porter had been
carrying the parcel, were seen coming towards the coach in
company, Skerrett having in his possession an old carpet bag,
of a drab colour, which was a good deal torn at one side.
Thelwell mounted the coach-box. Mooby was on the seat
immediately behind the coach-box; and when Thelwell and
Mooby had been in this position, the porter of the bank came
and deposited the box or portmanteau in the boot. Immedi-
ately after, Skerrett, who had been approaching the coach
shortly before with the carpet bag, came to the coach, mounted
the fore-wheel, began putting the carpet bag in the foreboot;
and he was observed, by persons about, to have his head and
shoulders in the boot, " rooting about," as the witnesses ex-
pressed it, and this he was doing for some time. While he
was in this position, the probability was that he had been
engaged in putting the box into the carpet bag ; at all
events, he certainly had the opportunity for so doing. He
was so long about this, that the persons who stood by had
their attention directed to the circumstance ; so much so,
that the individual who was holding the horses looked and
was about to approach him when he came down, and no
further observation was made. The coach started from
Manchester with thirteen persons, nine of whom were known
to the coachman, and the others were not so. When the
coach had reached within a mile of Bury, Mooby got down.
The coach then proceeded to Bury, and there the prisoner
Thelwell, who up to that time had been sitting on the box
seat, got down from the box and took out of the boot a
carpet-bag, which had then the appearance of being extremely
heavy, so heavy that when the man swung it out he fell off
the wheel with it. He went into a public-house with the
bag, which was a light drab coloured one, corresponding in
appearance with the one which was very light and apparently
empty, and which had been put into the boot by Skerrett.
Some conversation then took place between Thelwell and
the landlady of the house and her daughter. The coach
went on to Blackburn, and when it reached there the clerk
of the bank was waiting for the parcel, but the coach was
searched and no such parcel was to be found. What had
been charged in the present case was this—that the three
prisoners, Skerrett, Thelwell, and Mooby, had taken part in
the stealing of the parcel, and before he (the learned counsel)
described the evidence as it affected each, he apprehended
it would be quite clear, in point of law, that the jury should
be satisfied that Skerrett, at Manchester, was removing the
parcel but an inch from the place where it was left by the
owner, or the agent of the owner, with a felonious intent,
that that constituted a stealing of the property by him. If
they should be further of opinion that Thelwell and .Mooby
were joined with him at the time so to steal the property,
and near enough, by giving alarm or otherwise rendering
assistance, they would be equally guilty. If they believed
that Skerret had, at Manchester put the box into the port-
manteau, he apprehended that that would constitute a com-
plete act of stealing by him and the others, although the
property was not actually removed from the coach until
Thelwell arrived at Bury. This being so, he would take
the evidence as it affected each. And, in the first place,
with respect to Skerrett. Skerrett was a person who some
years had been horsekeeper to the " Perseverance" coach.
He left the employment in the month of May previous to the
present transaction. He, therefore, had an opportunity of
knowing what the practice at the bank was, and the days on
which the parcels might be expected to go. It had already

been stated that he was seen with The!well going with a car-
pet bag towards the coach—that he was seen on the wheel of
the coach putting a carpet-bag, which had the appearance of
being light and empty, into the boot—that the bag had a
rent in the side, and that that opening would afford him an
opportunity for introducing the box. The jury had more-
.

over been told of the circumstances under-which he was
standing on the wheel, and how he had had his head and

shoulders in the boot. After this, on the next day, Skerrett
who, up to this time, had been under the necessity of bor-
rowing money, had his stall better furnished than usual, and

seemed to be no longer in want of money. In consequence
of suspicion having been attached to him, the superintendent
of police went and took him into custody on the charge ; and
it would be material for the jury to attend to what passed on
that occasion. The superintendent asked him about the
carpet bag, and the statements he made about it were ex-
tremely contradictory in themselves. In the first place he
stated that the bag was for a gentleman he could not see;
next, that it was for a gentleman on the box; then, after-
wards, that it was for a gentleman sitting behind the box ;
and, finally, that it was for a stranger whom he bad seen
about half-a-dozen times, but whom he did not know. He
also denied that his head and shoulders were ever near the
boot whereas it would be satisfactorily shown they were.
This would be the case as regarded Skerrett ; and now as re-
garded Thelwell. Thelwell and Mooby had for some time
been porters with a Mr. Thelwell brother of Thelwell the pri-
soner, who kept a silversmith's shop, at Manchester. The
jury had been informed that Thelwell had been coming along
with Skerrett—that the former took his seat on the box be-
fore the porter put the parcel in the boot—that he got down at
Bury and took the carpet bag out of the boot, and went with
it into a public-house, and that he had a material conversa-
tion with the landlady. This transaction occurred on Fri.
day, the 18th of February, and it would appear that on the
Monday after Thelwell and Mrs. Jones, who was living with
him, were in possession of very considerable sums of money,
and that on Thursday, the day before the robbery, they left
their lodgings, alleging that they were unable to pay the rent.
A person named Wild would be called as a witness, and he
would depose that he had been for some time in a society
called the Odd Fellows, with Thelwell, and that he had been
desired by Thelwell to pay his contribution fur him, he being
unable to do so himself. On the Monday after the robbery
Wild was sent for by Thelwell, and was desired to meet the
latter at a public-house. He accordingly did so; and the
jury would find that the four pounds which Thelwell owed
him was paid on that occasion, and the` ne had told NI ild if
he would meet him next day, that h., should not want for
£2O or £3O, or £4O, if he wanted it. A bargain was then
made by him for a horse, and the jury would find that Jones
was seen with her hands full of sovereigns, and that she said
something important. On the day after this occurrence,
Thelwell was taken into custody by a police-officer. When
the police-officer came, he said to him, " I have come to
charge you with having had a hand in stealing a parcel from
the Old Boar's Head, in Hyde's-cross, in Manchester,"
upon which Thelwell remarked, " I have not been at Bury
for the last six months." The officer asked who had men-
tioned Bury; some further conversation passed; and this
was the case against Thelwell. With regard to Mooby, the
jury had already been informed that he was the brother por-
ter of Thelwell—that he was sitting in the coachbehind Thel-
well at the time it started, and that he had got down about a
mile from Bury, so as to be able to join Thelwell very spee-
dily. They would further find that on Wednesday, 23d Feb-
ruary, the two prisoners, Mooby and King—King being a
hawker in Leeds—came to a lodging kept by a person living
at Southend, near London. They seemed to be on terms of
intimacy with each other, remained in the house that day,
and had very considerable sums of money about them. Among
other lodgers in the house there was a person of the name of
Collins and his wife, who left the house suddenly on Thurs-
day morning. The landlord accordingly said to Mooby and
King the same morning, " I hope you haven't lost anything
by Collins." They said not. The same evening, however,
King said that Mooby bad lost £l7O in bank notes, and he
added, I have been more fortunate : for I have £7OO in gold
here, and that I have kept safe." The jury would find that
both those parties had gone to tradesmen in Southend—that
Mooby passed two £5 notes, one to a tradesman from whom
he purchased a pair of boots, and the other to a trunkmaker
—that he changed those two £5 notes, although he had only
to pay a sum of 12s to the shoemaker from whom he made
the purchase in the first instance—that the shoemaker asked

him his name, and that he gave the name James BeimOre—

. - that the shoemaker gave an invoice, and that that invoice
was subsequently found in the possession of King. Mooby
and King were afterwards taken into custody in London ;
they effected their escape ; they were taken into custody again :
they were then brought down to Manchester, and there all
the prisoners were committed for trial.

K great number of witnesse;WeiTexamined, who proved
the facts stated in the opening, when Mr. Greene addressed
the jury on behalf of Mooby, and Mr. Wilkins for Skerrett.
The jury consulted for ten minutes, and then found all the
prisoners guilty.—His lordship said that they must return
King guilty or not guilty.--The jury then acquitted King.—
His lordship then sentenced the prisoners to seven years'
transportation.

NISI PRIUS COURT.--FRIDAY.
The West Derby list was opened to-day.
WOOD AND OTHERS V. LLOYD AND ANOTHER.
Mr. CROMPTON stated the case, which was undefended.
The plaintiffs are ironmongers in Liverpool, and the defen-
dants were, the one the traveller to the firm, and the other
the guarantee for his integrity. After he had quitted their
employment, the next traveller in Wales found that his
accounts were falsified, and the action was brought to recover
the defalcation. A verdict was then taken for £37 155.,
being the whole sum claimed, minus £B, which had been
made a present of to defendant, the younger Lloyd, on his
leaving plaintiff's service without notice.

LIDDLE AND WIFE V. NIXON.
After an ineffectual attempt to obtain a postponement of
this case, Mr. Wortley withdrew the record.
TODD V. BOCHEIIBY.
Mr. WATSON opened the pleadings. The defendants,
Bocherby, Alison, and Brown, are workers of the Hunwich
Colliery, in the county of Durham. Alison and Brown had
suffered judgment to go by default, but the defendant pleaded
he was not liable. The action was on a bill of exchange for
£427, accepted by Alison, and for goods sold and delivered.
All that would be necessary was to prove the partnership.
Verdict for the plaintiff, £432, being the full amount claimed,
with interest.

THE SAME V. THE SAME.
The verdict was taken in another similar action for £360,
and £9 interest.

DAVIES AND OTHERS, ASSIGNEES V. BAKER.
Mr. HOGGINS appeared for the plaintiff in this case,
which was undefended. The defendant is a publican in War-
rington, and the plaintiffs are assignees of a brewer named
Robinson. The account was £69, on which there had been
payments received. Verdict for the plaintiff for the balance,
£33. It being stated that an assignment had been made to
defeat creditors, immediate execution was granted.

ORRELL V. PENHEAD.
Mr. CROMPTON stated the case, which was undefended.
Mr. Orrell who resides near St. Helens, had lent the defen-
dant £240 in cash, for which security was promised, but
never given. Some payments had been made, but the ba-
lance, with interest, was £223, for which a verdict was
taken.