Northern Times. — 1857-08-27 (Liverpool, Merseyside, England)

ARTMENT. The humble petition of the undersia:ned, beiag householders residing within af3 miles doitaut from tie township of Albraham. in the county of Chester, Sheweth—That John Bebbington, late of Tilstone, in the said couoty of Chester, came'aeeper. was murdate i in the township of Albraham aforesaid, in the mouth of Aril last: That John Blagg, of the la' ter towaship, cordwainer, was shrutly afterw:r ls charged with having p trpetra-ed the said murder, by shoaling the sa d Jo` n BebAngton with a gun, and Blagg was comm tied to Chester Castle ta take his trial on Ouch charge, on which he was tried at the last Chester Summer before thp H oi. Mr. J - tice Crowd:r, when he was convicted of tha said murder, ant sen' eneed to he hanged. That the sai l lea-ned Judge, in his charge to the jury, sWed (as w s the tact) that the C 333 against Blagg was enti.ely supported by circumstantial evidence: That you petitioners fee' for the serious difficulty and responsibility of relying cn circumstan ial evidenee, more especially In Cases of murder in runs queer sf numerous instances of ; e sons having been convicted and executed on such uncertain ev.d..eco, whose innocence was afterwards clearly estab'isheo, thus inaintainicg the truth of tte maxim—" I'hat i is better a thousand guilty persons should sic pa punishment th in that one :nnoc:nt t erson should suffer." That the abolition of c p;tal punish:nent in all cases has been long strenuously advoc nod by a great number her Majesty's enightened subjects, as a punishment by no means ca'calated to re;ress even t e heinous crime of rounder, in which rpinian your petitioners respectfully I el.r, to concur; and on the beore stated grounds thsy hu:nbly venture to intercede on behalf of the. unfortunate convict. who o life they trust will ha spared; and they most earnestly entreat teat you will give the ca e sour serloas consideration, anti advise her most grac.oas Maj isty to extend her royal clemency to the miser.:ble convict by commuting his srntence from that of death to tr.:nsp:rt :Hog tor life. August, 18'7. We are gratified to learn that the untiring effarts of the chaplain of Chester gaol to bring the unhappy man to a proper sense of his awful Position have, in a great maa. sure, been crowned with success. During the last few days the convict has paid marked attention to the exhortations of the rev. gentleman, joined in prayer with arparent earnestness, and possed much of his time, when left alone with his attendant, in reading passages of Scripture that have been selected for his perusal. Although he has at times disputed the truth of portions of the evidence adduced against him, he has never denied his criire in so many words, or attempted to account for himself at the time of its perpetratiati: His sort owing wile has seen his several times since his conviction. In his interview with her on Tuesday Blagg disploy ed much more feeling than he had done on tbrtner occasions. The poor woman has both written and spoken to him with respect to the petitions that have been forwarded to the Sec:etary of State in very sanguine terms, so that it is not surprising that the unhappy convict has not thought proper to make a confession of ' his crime.-6hester Courant.  Govern►nent•house, Calcutta, Jane 7, 1857.  My dear Sir,—l have just read, in a report from th• magistrate of Mynpooree, the account of your conduct upon the occasion of the mutiny of a portion of the 9th Regiment of Native Infantry at that station on the 22nd ult. I have read it with an admiration and respect I cannot a lequately describe.  Young in years, and at the outset of your career, you have given to your brother soldiers a noble example of courage, patience, good judgment, and temper from which many may profit, I beg you to believe that: it will :never be, forgotten by _ .  I write this at once, that there may be no delay in making known to you that your conduct has not been overlooke I. You will, of course, receive a more formal acknowledgment through the military department of the Government of your admirable service. I am, my dear Sir, yours very faithfully,