The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1842-07-29 00:00:00

BRISTOL AND GLOUCESTER RAILWAY

THE Directors of this Undertaking will receivo-Proposals
for LOANS OF MONEY ON DEBE TURES, to
be issued under the provisions of the acts o 'arliament, in
the month of OCTOBER next, in not less than
£2OO, for terms of three, five, seven, or t 'years, on Interest
at the rate of £5 per Cent. per Annum, payable Half-yearly,
at the Banks of Messrs. MILES, liAttFono, and Co., Corn-
street, Bristol, and Messrs. BARNETT, HOARE, and Co.,
Lombard-street, London.
For Moneys immediately advanced the security of Loan
Notes under the Seal of the Company will be given, which
may be exchanged for Debentures in the said month of Oc-
tober.

Tenders, expressing the Sums and Terms of Years, to be
addressed to the undersigned, at the Company's Office,
Exchange Boildings, Bristol.

By order of the Committee of Management,
ROBERT FLETCHER, Secretary
Office, Exchange Buildings, Bristol,

;0/11- May, 1812

NEW SONGS.
Just out, price 2s. 6d: each,.

LAND AND SEA, dedicated to Wm..gm iTu, Esq.; and
OUR COUNTRY AND OURAUEEN, dedicated,
by permission, to the Right lion.rouNTE4s of SEFTON.
By JESSE BA ING.

May be had of the Author, at his Residence, 18, Russell-
street, Liverpool, and at all respectable Music,Warebouses.

rip SHARPLES, AGTNT for the Sal(of LONDON
IL to BRIGADE FIRE ENGINES, IWES, BUCKETS,
GARDEN ENGINES, PUMPS, WitTABLE WATER
CLOSETS, BATHS, &c.,
61, GILL-STREET, LIVERPOOL.

At Staffordshire Assizes, on Saturday, Lewis Wardle, by
trade a butcher, who had already appeared at the bar nine
times, although only twenty-two years of age, stood indicted
for assaulting Richard Myatt, putting him in danger of his
life, and stealing from his person £3O in gold coin, and two
£5 notes. He was found guilty, and sentenced to transpor-
tation for life.
STEAM NAVIGATION ON THE TiinaiEs.—The number
carried by the Iron Steamboat Company, on Sunday last, to
and from the various stations between London-bridge and
Chelsea, was 30.000 ; the wooden boats of the London and
Westminster Steam Company carried upwards of 20,000 on
the same stations ; the seven steamers of the Watermen'a
Company conveyed from the Adelphi-pier, Blackfriars-
bridge, and Old Shades, to Greenwich; Woolwich, BlaCk-
wall, Wapping, and Charlton, 10,000 passengers, and brought
back about the same number. The old Greenwich and
Woolwich steamers conveyed to and from those places 30,000
souls, and there was an immense business doing between the
railway-wharf at Blackwall and Gravesend, Greenwich, and
Woolwich. The earnings of the Railway Company's steam-
ers, the Blackwall, Railway, and Brunswick, between the
terminus and Gravesend, exceeded 3001. The Star and
Diamond packets, the Father Thames and Sons of the
Thames, the Eagle and the Falcon, and other Gravesend
steamers were all well filled, and the number of visitors who
landed at Gravesend and the adjoining village of Northfleet,
was about 36.000 ; the various steamers making about 80
trips to and from those places. The steamers which carried
down passengers to the Rotherville-pier at Northfleet for sd.
each were fearfully crowded. The anxiety to obtain a cheap
trip in those boats was so great that more than 1,500 persons
were left behind at London•hridge, Greenwich, and Wool-
wich. The city of Canterbury and Red Rover took down
1,000 persons on Sunday on an excursion to Herne Bay and
Margate ; and, notwithstanding the fares have been lately
raised and restored to the old footing, those two vessels are
daily crowded with company. Every village between Rich-
mond and Gravesend has now its steatn-boat piers for the
accommodation of passengers ; and the banks of the Thames,
above and below the bridge, have become the outlet for a
vast portion of the people of the metropolis every Sunday
during the summer season. Wandsworth, Putney, and
Richmond received 12,000 visitors on Sunday and Monday,
and the rural villages of Erith, Greenhithe, Purfleet, and
Grays, on the Kent and Essex shores, are beginning to be
visited by the. Londoners; and arc certainly preferable to
the close streets of Woolwich and Gravesend. There are
now 140 steam-vessels navigating the Thames, in addition to
the General Steam Navigation Company's fleet, and the
Irish, Scotch, and foreign steamers. There will be at least
30 more next season, and the Watermen's Steam-packet
Company have just determined on building five more, to be
ready by the spring of 1843.

EXTRAORDINARY ESCAPE.—On Saturday last, the coro-
ner for Warwickshire summoned a jury on an inquest, near
Cheltenham. They proceeded with the surgeon and the po-
lice to view and examine the body, which lay on six chairs in
a small room, on the ground floor, adjoining a kitchen in the
house, the property of the deceased, and in this room there
was scarcely room for all to stand. The two last jurymen
were just entering it, followed by a reporter of one of the
Cheltenham papers. and Superintendent Russell (a nurse
and two female neighbours had just retired from it, by desire
of the coroner,) when an extraordinary noise like cracking
was heard, arid in an instant every board in the floor was
cracked to pieces, and the whole floor gave way in the centre,
with the joists and beams under, precipitating 12 of the jury,
with the coroner, surgeon, and police into the cellar below,
and over them rolling, with the chairs on which it rested,
the body of the deceased. The clouds of dust enveloped all
in momentary obscurity. At length the party in the cellar
were presented to view, but no means of any egress were
observable, the ordinary entrance to the cellar having been
stopped up with broken and still falling timber and rubbish.
One of the two jurymen managed to escape from being near
the door, and being rather a tall man, he recovered
by placing his foot on the hare head of the coroner, who was
in the cellar below, being landed on his feet there. Not a
voice or outcry was heard up to this time, but all were as
silent in this painful situation as he about whose death the
living were assembled to inquire ; but immediately on his
being assisted up the coroner gave orders for a ladder to he
sent for to enable the others to get out, and himself cleared
the way down the steps, directing the jury and others the
safest and quickest means of escape, and superintended, with
the aid of one of the jury and a policeman, still in the cel-
lar, the elevating the body out of this premature and uncere-
monious grave into which it had, carrying the living before
it, been thus cast ; the end wall and the rest of the floor out-
, side the door-way all the time appearing ready to fall. We
are happy to say no limbs were broken, although sundry
sprains, scars, and bruises were complained of by all. The
inquiry immediately proceeded.
ROYAL MATCHMAKING IN SPAIN.—On the night of the
18th instant, the eldest son of the Infanta, Donna Carlota
arrived at Madrid from Corunna, attended by an escort of 12
horsemen, who had been despatched to meet him. It is set-
tled that both he and his parents are to leave this city
shortly, they for Seville, and he to join his regiment—one of
the few points on which the Regent has of late expressed
himself decidedly, and on which his authorityis unquestioned
by all parties. The young man might have remained here
uninterruptedly, I am assured, if his mother could have
kept her ambitious diplomacy quiet; but her temperament
is of a character that little brooks delay or self-denial of any
kind. Her matchmaking propensities have displayed them-
selves in his favour with quite as much family pretension
and as little prudence as those of Louis Philippe were an.
nounccd on behalf of his own offspring. She insisted upon
having him nominated to a captaincy in the regiment of
Hussars de la Princesa, that he might enjoy the enviable
privilege of escorting the Queen in her daily drives, and car-
ried her point with the docile Senor Gonzales triumphantly.
The Regent, however, saw the possible results of these
" opportunities" in a different light, and resolved not to let
the question of the Royal marriage (already a sufficiently
difficult one) be embarrassed by such a female coup
d'eclat. He therefore sent the favoured regiment of Hussars
out of town, and all things arc arranged that the young
Prince shall follow them, and " attach himself to the career
that he has chosen.'' Donna Carlota has made some move-
ments in other quarters with similar want of tact and ill
success. The court intrigues and family influences, which
were so powerful some ten years since, are now sadly shorn
of their glories. The Moderados appear to have retired
to
despair (for the present at least,) and cannot be moyf.q....
come out of their hiding places ; while the Nation!!!
11%_11_ lit,La
adopt a bolder tone, and say openly that they y_ 1, `
family.
made a catspaw of, even to please one of th_oy,tio,),l
o to
Nothing remains but for this branch of thtoereßsgo'
quit the capital for the present, and
result
of themselves
with the best grace they may topublic opinion
on their case, expressed through thetheitegent decidedly and
irrevocably.

MARCH OF BARBER-ISM.—The following choice moreeau
is an exact copy of a written bill exhibited at the window of
a barber in Barbican :—" Mos eau have there Hare Dresst
Hear at a moderate charge. Plese to Walke hie Gentel-
rnen. No Watinge. Altvayes Reddy."
PiN-111oNEY.—A tax was very anciently levied in France
for providing the Queen with pins, from whence the term
pin-money was adopted into our language, to dbsignate that
provision for married women with which the husband is
most privileged to interfere.

A lady paying a visit to her daughter, who was a young
widow, asked her why she wore the widows's garb so long ?
" Dear mamma, don't you see ?" replied the daughter ;
" this saves me the expense of advertising for a husband, as
every one can see I am for sale by private contract."
REASONABLE ENOUGH.---All American editor says, "We
don't mind recording the deaths of the people without being
paid for our trouble, though that is not fair : but panegyrics
on the dead must be paid for—we positively cannot send
people to heaven for nothing.

FLEUR-DE-LIS.—It seems generally agreed by the French
antiquaries that these were originally designed to represent
the heads of spears, which seems very probable, as they cer-
tainly bear very little, if any, resemblance to lilies. Such a
change is not uncommon in ancient blazonry', from the
painter's imperfect representation of the thing intended.
The lions in the arms of England were originally leopards.
RECOGNITION.—A lady, accustomed to give herself airs of
importance, on being introduced to a gentleman of rank for
the first time, said, with much cool indifference, " 1 think,
sir, I have seen you somewhere." " I think it very likely,
madam," he replied with equal coolness, " as I am always
somewhere."

KIi:EPING VP APPEAR AN CES.-Dr. Franklin says—" The
eyes of other people are the eyes that ruin us. If all but
myself were blind, I should never want a fine house nor fine
furniture."

ARAMAN LANGUAGE.--Some idea may he formed of the
richness of the Arabian language, from the fact that it con-
tains one thousand different words for sword, four hundred
for lion, four hundred for serpent, and eighty for honey.
What a language to make war or love in.

- -
It was said of a lady, who had just completed her fourth
decade, and who played very loudly on the piano, while she
never alluded to her age except in a whisper, that she was
forte upon her piano, but piano upon her forty. But the trial
of trials comes ten years later. To that female, therefore,
be awarded the palm of fortitudinis fortitude forti3Bima,
who has shown that she knows how to bear her fiftytude with
fortitude.

GUINEA. will be GUINEA.—A correspondent informs us
of an estate on the Northside, where the canes are all rotting
for want of cutting, and yet where there are a hundred and
fifty free emancipated basking in the sun in glorious inde-
pendence, who refuse to work at any price ! " Guinea bery
tired—hie ! Quashie free man! Quashie no work when he
no like—Busha may go to the debit, and him cane too ! !!"
Alas ! poor, poor Jamaica!—Jamaica Standard.

AN AFFECTIONATE LOVER.—A lady, who had £50,000
of fortune, ran away to Scotland with a gentleman she liked
vastly ; but she was a little doubtful of him, and bad a mind
to try him ; so when they stopped to dine and change
horses, and all that, she said, "Now, as I have a great re-
gard for you, (as, I dare say, you have for me,) I will tell
you a secret. I have got no fortune at all, in reality, but
only £5,000, for all the rest is a mere pretence ; but if you
like me for myself, and not for my fortune, you wont mind
that." So the gentleman said, " Oh, I dont regard it at
all, and you are the same charming angel that ever you was,"
and all those things that people say to one, and then went to
see about the chaise. So he did not come back; but when
dinner was ready, the lady said, " Pray, where is he ?"
" Lor', ma'am, said they, " why, that gentleman has gone
ever so long!" So she came back by herself, and now she's
married to ppmebody else, and has her £50,000 fortune all
safe.---Afactame d' Arblay.

SENATORIAL ORATORY IN AMERICA.—Mr. Sevier, of
Arkansas, recently addressed the senate on the subject of a
private claim, and his speech on the occasion is so unlike the
usual run of congressional speeches, that we can publish the
whole of it without burthenin4 our columns or fatiguing our
readers—which cannot be said of many speeches in either
house. Here it is entire :—" Mr. President-4 hope the
Senate will indulge me in taking up a bill that has passed the
house five times and the Senate seven. It is for the relief
of an old man in Arkansas, who is in feeble health, and has
not long to live, and I want it passed before be dies." We
may state, in the hope of inducing other members to imitate
this style of oratary, that Mr. Sevier's speech was altogether
successful. He gained his point without provoking a reply,
and the subject passed off without calling forth any allusions
to the abstract principles of democracy, the public lands, eur
revolutionary forefathers, universal suffrage,• free trade,
liberty in general, or war with England.—Baltimore Amer-
ican.

APPROPRIATION OF TIME.—" My dear Tom," said an
exquisite to a brother idler, "how do you spend the 24 hours ?"
"In charity," replied his friend. "In charity " Yes ;
firstly I give 12 hours to sleep, and of the remaining 12 I
give two to dress, four to eating and drinking, four to the
play or opera, and two to smoking and building." " Build-
ing ?" " Yes--castles in the air ; and Ido assure you 'tis
most agreeable pastime. And now what do you think of my
disposition ?" " Equitable as 'tis amiable, Tom," replied his
friend, " and I must take a leaf out of your day-book."
" My waste book call it, " said Tom, in which the initials
L.S.D. may be appropriately construed lounging, smoking,
drinking; and the sum total the luxury of indolence—the
doke far niente."—Crowquill, i❑ Bentley's Miscellany.

In the vale of Llanrhaidr-yu-Mochnant, near Oawestry,
in Shropshire, a fine load of hay, with the waggon, was last
week totally consumed in consequence of a workman drop-
ping a lighted stick in the hay after lighting his pipe.
At Oxford Assizes, two ,ruffians, named Brownsell and
Smith, were sentenced to transportation for life, for com-
mitting a highway robbery, near' Chipping' Norton, on the
person of Mr. Charles Forty,`ofStow-on-the-Wolti.
How TO CALCULATE THE INCOME TAX.—Rule—Take
the pounds as pence, and multiply them by the number of
pence given in the pound. Example :--,-Vhat,rnustu person
pay annually to Government whose, income is £1,200 per
annum 1--1,200d.—X5 by 7d.—x3,5 answer. „
Upwards of 445 convicts have escaped while under trans-
portation at Hobart Town ; and a, tabular report, with their
names and descriptions of their persons, with the' rewards
for their apprehension, has been forwarded ',tot the, police
, „
courts of the metropolis. •
A remarkable instance of the 'effect of the new'tariff was
afforded in the port of Exeter. One Mereintileliciuse en..
tered at the customs a cargo of bides, and pidd'Abeht Zit)
for the duty according to the' new scale; bet had the duty
been paid on the same cargo two dayi'before,'it`Would have
amounted to £4OO. It is easy, therefore, to anticipate the
extensive influence which the chit* must exercise on the
affairs of commerce.—Exetei• Geizette. '

Eton School broke up on Monday for ,the, hOlidays. The
number of scholars for 1842. is 649, being an increase of 24
since last year, and upwards of 300 since the commencement
of the present century, when the numbers were only 357.
From the foundation of the College upwards of 2,256 scholars
have passed to King's.

A melancholy case .of suicide occurred here on Monday
morning. A respectable young man, but recently married,
was found•suspended by the neck in an out-house belonging
to his sister. It was said that for years past he was subject
to fits of insanity ; and, strange to say, he himself lately
carried on a correspondence with the governor of a Lunatic
Asylum in Ballinasloe, asserting that he was a fit subject to
be taken care of in that establishment. It is said that some
quarrel with a near relative was the cause of the rub act.—
Dublin paper.

A meeting was held on Tuesday by the wine trade, at the
Commercial Sale-rooms, Alincing-lane, London, and was
most numerously attended by the influential members. The
object was to take into consideration the equity of obtaining
a reduction of the duty on stock in band, in the event of a
treaty with Portugal coming into operation. Arguments
were used in favour of the reduction, the cogency of which
cannot be doubted. It was unanimously resolved that par-
liament should be petitioned for the reduction, and a com-
mittee was appointed to carry the resolution into effect.—
Times. . . .

-.....--
THE LEAGUE.—At a meeting held last week, at Halifax,
Mr. Feargus O'Connor thus expresso(' himself—" I am not
just the man to keep the secrets of the League. Now let
every man pay particular attention to the following disclo-
sure coming from Mr. Acland, the principal !pouter of the
plague.' Acland said to me, ' Well, Mr. O'Connor, we
shall either have a repeal of the corn laws or the charter in
six weeks.' I replied, 4 Indeed !—how ? Mr. Acland said,
c d
1 ate
Well, I tell you in confidence, that the ebject of the
League's present meeting in London is to take into consi-
deration the propriety of stopping all the mills upon a given
day ! ! And they will do it I ! Speaking upon the
project, Mr. O'Connor said, " Now, this piece of meditated
villauy requires but little comment. Oh ! how loud these
men were in condemning the assertion of the Duke of
l
castle, ' that he bad a right to do what he liked with his
owetwi.;
But this scheme cannot hut fail.
The harvest has already begun in this district, with the
most encouraging prospects ; the weather being all that could
be desired for ripening the crops; and,
owing
entire absence of tempests, they are standing to the almost
(more i ng ne as ipt.
aecxi a
excellent
lyl e ri int
state for the sickle. On certain soils
Herefordshire) the wheat is described as looking thin, but
we believe than on the whole a full
In this market the price of wheat i average will be realized.
ranging between 665. and 68s. ; the average of the kingdom,
published for the last week, a
declinewas 655. Bd. From the pro-
mising state of the weather
it is hoped that the result of the is now expected; and
so favourable as to preclude the
country, for the purchase of foreign food.—
approaching harvest will be.
of exporting mach
of the precious metals, withdrawnnecessity
from the currency of this
Journal.
PRESTON GUILD. the celebration
—The for
of this antique festival arrangements There is
are rapidly progressing.,
every promise of a goodly company on irorcester
the occasion; I own-
ley Pa,ler, Esq., has presented the fund the handsome
sum of one hundred guineas.Tltioe following programme of
this ancient festival has been approved by the mayor, the
stewards of the Guild, and the Guild committee :—Monday,
sth September, 1842, the Guild court to be held, the Guild
books to be opened, and the legal business of the Guild to
officers, gentlemen,
be transacted. Tuesday, 6th September, the procession of
the Guild, the mayor, corporation, Guild °fili
and companies of trades and societies, to
ttiiiec
~j.)tahris September,ciu II ;
at3O'' the Oratorio of
Tuesday evening, a concert. e 9
u icbreakfast; regatta
the mayoress' procession witNliViaddieess
dnesday evening, adressthe
church.Aballels.siaThh,uaitstdhaey,psartii,shsep
Brand miscellaneous '
concert,
races ; Thursday evening,
a ,g treat to the scholars Friday, 9th September, races
te w er,Wit; public
of all
theu
OF THE SEXES AT r:,_
is plenty of
SEPARATION
s)art of the world,— ‘j""A---
" Curious enough,
Friday evening, costume hell.
iwnotsen:els don't meet. ThereeYcept at balls,
concerts,
ssichsooocllsa;i.
&c.'dtneull social intercourse, but
hospitality
and
female acquaintance, her when the gnddhie
frau sees be Lord and molter is
evening and when it 1 •
sent out for the . , . ius turn he invites 1• he lady is non est invent a. 1 on.. i his
friends, t
a ladies' party, and i --4" uy accident
popped in a les ane is , ti pure ignorance sat down
as smt _ 1, ,I i per:,,. but did not t - Professeur— • (24e—inquired
for bend le - smiles and
the matter, the lady of the whispers tripled ;
to to house spoke French, and I scarce any Gernian—w • very little
de cerises, on a little plate, with as ()tiered some gateau
here all the ladies used the knife a sharp-pointed knife, for
point into the morceaux after I as. a fork also, digging the
veyed them to the month, taving cut them, and thus eon-
I had been guilty of in
Afterwards I heard what a sole-
cismgetting into a harem in the remaining, almost as bad as
smiled graciously, said I east—apologised to the lady, who
knew I was au En / need not be annoyed, for the ladies
g ander,
blanch for all lt. which name in Germany is carte
Inds of eccentricity—do
extraordi-
nary
and absurd things the most
they hear you possible, uo one is surprised when
Saxony. are an Englander."—Slauford's Thuringian

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE

FRANCE

On Tuesday the King of the French opened the session
with a speech from the throne.
Previously to proceeding from the Tuileries to the Cham-
ber of Deputies the King presided at a Cabinet Council. On
his way to the Chamber the King was cheered by the people.
Within doors more of solemnity was observable and ob-
served than on any former occasion. On entering the
Chamber (at 20 minutes past one o'clock), his Majesty was
deeply affected. On either side of the throne were the
King's four sons, the Dukes of Nemours, Aumale, and
Montpensier, and the Prince de Joinville. The Ministers
were in front of them. _ _ _

On attempting to address the chamber, the king's grief
and agitation were extreme. For some moments he felt
unable to proceed. His emotion soon communicated itself
to his auditory, and changed into sobs the cheers of enthu-
siasm with which on his entrance the king bad been hailed.
On uttering the first words his voice faltered, and he burst
into tears. " " So contagious was this burst of feeling," say_
our letters, that there was not a dry eye in the Chamber."
During the delivery of the whole speech, his Majesty's voice
frequently failed him. At every such pause the cheering
was renewed, and at the close the Chamber for many minutes
rang with cries of " Vive le Roi !"
The speech over, his Majesty sat down and remained while
the deputies were sworn in. On the King's way back to the
Tuilleries he was most enthusiastically received by the people.
We are sorry to add, from our correspondent's letter, that
his Majesty seemed much altered by the calamity that had
fallen upon him, his family, and the country.
The effect of these circumstances on the Bourse was favour-
able. The funds opened at an improvement on Monday's
prices, and continued to rise gradually, but steadily, up to
the moment when our correspondent closed his despatch.
In the Chamber, his Majesty's reception was all that could
be wished. Before the King's speech was delivered the 3
per cents. were done at 77f. .45c. ; afterwards (on the Bourse)
at 77f. 66c. The 5 per cents. at 117 f. 65c.
THE SPEECH.

" Gentlemen, Peers, and Deputies,
" Under the grief which oppressed me, deprived of that
dearly beloved son whom I considered destined to replace
me on the throne, and who was the glory and support of my
old age, I have deemed it imperative to hasten the moment
of your assembling around me. We have together a great
duty to fulfil. When it shall please God to call me to
Himself, it is necessary that France and the Constitutional
Monarchy be secured against being for a moment exposed to
any interruption of the Royal authority. You will therefore
have to deliberate upon the measures requisite for prevent-
ing, during the minority of my beloved grandson, this im-
mense danger. _

The calamity that has befallen me does not render me
ungrateful to Divine Providence, which still preserves to me
my children, worthy of all my tenderness and of the confi-
dence of France.

" Gentlemen, let us now secure the repose and safety of
our country. At a later period I shall call upon you to re-
sume your accustomed labours relative to state affairs."

THE EAST

Private letters from Beyrout of the Ist instance announce
that there had not been any fresh disturbances at Lebanon.
The Emir Abdallab, of Gazir, had quitted the British
frigate on board which he sought protection. He had re-
ceived a formal promise from the Turkish authorities that he
would not be further molested, on condition that he should
not return to his district for some time. The French cor-
vette Cornaline had arrived at Beyrout.
Intelligence from Alexandria of the 6th instant states that
Said Pasha, the son of Mebemit Ali, a youth of 22 years of
age had been appointed admiral-in-chief of the Egyptian fleet.
The Viceroy had suffered a severe loss by the death of Selim
Bey, one of the most distinguished officers in the Egyptian
army, and general-in-chief of the artillery, who died of a
coup de soleil, in the 33d year of his age. The plague con-
tinued to rage at Alexandria.
Constantinople letters, dated the 7th instant, confess a
total dearth of political news in that capital.
The Smyrna journals of the 9th instant are utterly barren
of news. The French Admiral, Lasusse, had sailed from
Smyrna for Salonica.
Athens' letters of the 10th instant state that the Greek
ministry, finding the treasury nearly empty, were about to
apply to the French government for a fresh loan. They bad,
moreover, adopted extreme measures of severity against such
persons as were in arrear of their government taxes. It was
said that at Messenia alone 3,000 individuals had been ar-
rested. The ministry, who were entirely de Voted to French
interests, were becoming every day more unpopular.

LEGAL INTELLIGENCE.

EXETER ASSIZES.—JULY 23.
(Before Mr. Justice CRESSWELL.)
DEVONSHIRE SUPERSTITION.

Elizabeth Small was indicted for stealing from the person
of William Harding the sum of £2B.

Mr. Kirkwick conducted the prosecution ; the prisoner
was defended by 31 r. Roe.
This case presents an instance of the most extraordinary
superstition on the part of the prosecutor, and to persons un-
acquainted with the dreadful ignorance that still spreads
itself like a dark cloud over many parts of our agricultural
districts would seem necessarily to belong to days long past.
We would not willingly say a word to check the philanthropy
that embraces within its generous concern all the mighiy
family of man, and that pours its heralds of mercy, its teach-
ers, and its missionaries, into the remotest regions of the
globe ; but surely a case like the present, disclosing as it does
the most abject and debasing ignorance within the immediate
circle of our own land, must strike upon the ear of pity, ren-
dered sensitive by a compassionate concern for others, with
an additional force and a louder call than accompanies similar
appeals from far-off shores. As long as it shall be true that
true charity begins at home, cases like the one we are about
to disclose call for every exertion on the part of the educated,
intelligent, and religious portion of our community, to exert
themselves to their utmost to raise our own countrymen and
brethren from the miserable and infatuated ignorance in
which they are sunk, and by which they are so much de-
based.
__ . _ _ _ _

It appeared by the evidence disclosed in this case that the
prosecutor, who kept a beer shop at Sandford, in this
county, was, in the month of April last, in a feeble state of
health. He happened upon some occasion to see the pri-
soner, who is an old gipsy woman. He fell into conversa-
tion with her on the nature of his complaint, and she was
enabled to persuade him that ons of his neighbours had
looked upon him with the evil eye, which was alone the
cause of his malady, and that until the baneful influence of
this evil eye could be counteracted, it was impossible that he
could get well. Greedily swallowing this miserable super-
stition and fraud, the prosecutor was induced to give her the
first half-a-crown, with which she crossed her hand and per-
formed other absurdities. - It is hardly necessary to add that
the evil eye was not removed by this one offering at the shrine
of superstition. The parties met again, and the prisoner at
this time succeeded in obtaining from her infatuated victim
double the sum be had before given to her. Still the evil
eye glared on him with its malignant influence, and none of
its consequences were removed. He saw her again, and
again gave her 55., which, no doubt, convincing her of the
extreme credulity of the man, she ventured to test it still
farther. She now informed him that it was necessary that
be should get together all the money he possibly could com-
mand ; that he should bring that money with him to a place
on a neighbouring common which she indicated, and that he
must then kiss her hand and show the money; and having
done this, she promised she would bring before him the per-
son whose evil eye he was then suffering, and cure him of
his complaint. It will hardly be believed by our readers
that such was the infatuation of this poor ignorant rustic,
that after this conversation he went to a person' for
whom he occasionally worked, and borrowed of him £25,
which this person immediately lent him, on his saying that
he wanted it for some private purpose. Having borrowed
the money, he went to the spot indicated, and there, as he
stated, saw the prisoner. She desired him to produce the
money, which he did in his hand, when she said that he must
for a short time give it into her possession. This seems to
have alarmed even this infatuated man, and he somewhat
demurred at the proposal. On hearing this the prisoner
made a snatch at the money, succeeded in getting, and set
off at full speed across the common. The prosecutor stated
that he was too feeble to follow, and that she escaped with
the booty which she had thus obtained. He did not see her
for some time after, and when he did he gave her into custody.
To this evidence was added the testimony of the policeman
by whom the prisoner was apprehended, and who deposed to
her having immediately recognised the prosecutOr when she
was taken, and admitted, in answer to an interrogatory put
to her by him, that she remembered his kissing her hand.
Another witness also deposed to the fact of having seen her
near the place where the prosecutor stated that he had met
her. - . . -

Mr. Roe having addressed the jury, called two witnesses
to prove an alibi. They differed, however, in several parti-
culars on their cross-examination, though it did not appear,
from anything elicited from them, that they had any interest
in giving the testimony they did, they not being related to
the prisoner, nor yet of the gipsy tribe, but simple peasants

of this country.
Mr. Kirkwicke having replied on the case.
Mr. Justice Cresswell summed up, pointing out the per-
fect agreement of the evidence for the prosecution, and the
discrepancies in that for the prisoner.
The jury immediately found her guilty, and she was then
sentenced by the court to a year's imprisonment