Monmouthshire Merlin

THE DOUBLE MURDER IN ESSEX. The police authorities, who have been engaged in the investigation of this case, have been put in possession of information which may, to some extent, explain the mo- tive for the perpetration of the crime. It appears be- yond all question that before the unhappy woman now in custody consented to marry the murdered man she had for a lengthened period been keeping company with his brother. The woman, however, seemed to be desirous of securing for herself the best position in her sphere of life, and discarded her first choice for his brother, the deceased, who had at the time various opportu- nities of earning a better living. Shortly before the marriage took place the deceased was informed by the prisoner that she was pregnant, and he at once made the necessary arrangements for making her his wife. Almost immediately after their union an estrangement on her part seemed to arise, which continued up to the period of her confinement, which occurred only a few weeks after the marriage ceremony had been performed. Soon after she was able to resume her domestic duties, the quarrels became more frequent, and on several occasions she was heard to tell her husband that he was not the father of the child, and that she loved his brother much better than she did him (the unfortunate deceased). This seemed to irritate him very much, and he retaliated by treating her most unkindly. Whenever an opportunity offered, he absented himself from home until late hours in the night, returning very frequently in a stupid and be- sotted condition. As a rule, however, he did not drink sufficiently to render himself thoroughly intoxicated, but was generally quarrelsome and provoking. About two years after they were married the deceased seemed to have accepted the truth of his wife's statement, and to have alienated his affections from the child. So far, in- deed, did he carry his animosity, that on one occasion he held the feet of the poor little creature to the fire, and burnt them to a dreadful degree. With this offence he was charged before the local magistrates, and was sen- tenced to nine months' imprisonment in Springfield Gaol, Chelmsford. From this period the wife seemed to be- come reckless, and after husband's release from prison seemed to lose all attachment to her home. She appa- rently became resolved to follow her husband's steps whithersoever he went; and it is a well ascertained fact that they constantly visited the various district country fairs in company. It is also known that on numerous oc- occasions the child had been left absolutely tied in the cradle alone for upwards of twelve hours in a spot the most lonesome and desolate that can probably be found throughout the entire county where the murder has been committed. All this time they led a most wretched life,. and indeed up to a few months ago they were seldom, upon good terms. As the period for the birth of the se- cond child approached the husband became more affec- tionate towards his wife, and this seemed to continue up to the end. The taunts, however, were never entirely forgotten, and it is believed that after leaving the mo- ther's house on Sunday a violent quarrel took place be- tween them, and was more or less continued up to the night of the murder. It has been ascertained that the man went up-stairs to bed before his wife, and no doubt she waited until he was asleep before she commenced her murderous attack upon him. On Friday afternoon the wretched woman was removed by Mr. Superintendent Flood to Springfield Gaol, Chelms- ford, to await her trial at the ensuing Lent assizes.

The five good service pensions of £100 each, vacant by recent deaths, and the appointment of officers to regi- mental colonelcies, have been distributed among the fol- lowing officers :—Major-General W. B. Ingilby, Royal Artillery; Major-General J. H. Bainbrigge, late Fort Major at Guernsey; Colonel the Earl of Longford, K.C.B.; Colonel E. R. Wetherall, C.B., now Chief of the Staff in Canada and Colonel G. Vaughan Maxwell, C.B., 88th Regiment.-Army and Navy Gazette. THE TROOPS FOR CANADA.—SAFETY OF THE PARANA. -The Secretary of the Admiralty forwards the following intelligence, received by the Persia, which has arrived at Liverpool in eight days from Halifax. The Adriatic left Halifax for St. John's on the 8th Jan. The Magdalena arrived at Halifax on the 4th of Jan. The Melbourne arrived at °n a. Jtll ot Jan. The Parana arrived at Sydney, Cape Breton, on the 6th of Jan. The Canada arrived at Halifax on the 8th of Jan. The Australasian arrived at St. John's on the 9th of Jan. The Cleopatra arrived at Halifax on the 9th of Jan. Her Majesty's ships Orpheus and Hydra were at Halifax. DIABOLICAL ATTEMPT TO BURN A WHOLE HOUSEHOLD. —A fire was discovered on Saturday morning on the pre- mises belonging to Mr. O. Waller, the proprietor of the Oxford Arms, Oxford-street, Lower road, Islington. It I appears that some diabolical miscreant, after the family had retired to bed, had succeeded in pulling out the gas piping, then cutting it, and after igniting the vapour, had passed the piping again into the building. Fortunately, owing to the timely discovery, the fire was soon extin- guished, only the window frames and shutters being burnt. The brigade describe the cause of this fire as "doubtful," a term well known to the insurance com- panies. It was only after the decease of the Prince Consort that it could be known how great was the amount of business performed by his Royal Highness. Few people have an idea of the enormous quantity of documents that is incessantly being sent from the Foreign, Home, Indian, and Colonial offices, and the Army and Navy Depart- ments, for the Queen's perusal and signature; and the Prince made it his duty to inspect all these papers so as to give Her Majesty the least trouble. None are better aware of how much the Prince Consort did in this way than the Ministers themselves and there has been a very general order from the Cabinet, through all the de- partments of State, not to intrude anything on the Queen except what is absolutely necessary for carrying on the [business of the country. The Duke of Newcastle and Earl Granville have both been to Osborne to see that these instructions are practically carried into effect, by giving a general superintendence to the matters to be sub- mitted to the Queen, and thus lightening as much as pos- sible the additional labour thrown upon her Majesty (by the lamented death of her beloved Consort.—Court Jour rial. SHOCKING TREATMENT OF A CABIN BOY AT SEA.—At the Hull Police Court, on Saturday last, Captain Bientz, of the Russian brig Urho, was charged with ill-treating a cabin boy, eleven years of age. It ap pears the vessel left Riga for Hull on the 29th of December last, and, on the voyage, the captain beat the boy at various times all over the body with a thick rope, and ultimately he used the cabin firepoker, and inflicted upon him such severe injuries that the mate on several occasions remonstrated, but without effect. On the vessel being boarded in the Humber by a Hull pilot, that officer's attention was called to the treatment the lad had received, the barbarity of which was so apparent that he at once informed the police of the circumstance. The Russian consul, Mr. Helmsing, was also communicated with, and he wint on board the vessel and saw the lad, He was in a most emaciated state, and was covered with sores and bruises. The medi- cal officers at the Infirmary, upon examining him, gave it as their opinion that he could not possibly recover for six weeks.-The magistrate said, unfortunately, none of the ill-treatment had taken place within his jurisdiction therefore he could not interfere although he hoped the Russian consul would take care to report the case to the Russian authorities. AN ESCAPED LUNATIC FROZEN TO DEATH.—The frozen corpse of a man, about 25 years of age, was found on Saturday morning in a field in the village of Bushbury, about two miles from Wolverhampton, On the previous j'day he had gone to a farmhouse near the church, and inquired for the minister, and, notwithstanding that he was told to the contrary, he maintained that that was his residence. He said he came from Lees, not Leeds and replied to the farmer that it was no business of his what he wanted with the vicar." Later in the day, the same man was seen running across fields, and leaping r fences and ditches, without any apparent purpose. The spectators all thought him insane, but no one adopted means to have him placed under protection. The body, when found, was only partially attired. The remainder of his clothes was found in a gravel pit in an adjoining field. Two printed documents were found in his posses- sion, both of which had reference to religion, and one re- lated to the Church Defence Association of Oldham. The unhappy man is supposed to be a lunatic, named James Beaumont, who, on Saturday, the 11th inst., escaped from the Borough Lunatic Asylum of Birmingham, and is known to have wandered into the neighbourhood of WoL- verhampton. The body bears no marks of violence, and there can be little doubt that death arose from exposure to the severe frost of Friday night. TERRIFIC FIRE IN WHITECHAPEL, LONDON.-—A fire, involving a great loss of property, broke out on Saturday morning, in the extensive brush manufactory belonging to Messrs. Smith and Co., well known by the trade as carrying on one of the largest businesses in the same line in the metropolis. By the tin>e the firemen arrived the whole building presented a great sheet of flame, and as the fire rose bundles of bristles were forced like rockets high into the air, and when the bandages round them gave way, the hog's hair, iu a perfect blaze, kept drop- ping, similar in effect to some grand pyrotechnic display, such as is frequently witnessed at our public gardens. These things falling upon the house of Mr. H. J. Adam, and the stock in Messrs. Smiths' open yard, it was at one period feared that every house within a radius of a. quarter of a mile would have been levelled to the ground. Fortunately a good supply of the East London Company's water having been obtained, the engines were at once set to work, and copious streams of the opposing element were thrown not only into the blazing buildings, but also over those surrounding, by which expedient Captain Shaw, with great tact, succeeded in saving from destruc- tion the houses numbered 95, 96, and 97 opposite, let out in tenements. By great perseverance the fire was entirely extinguished before ten o'clock, but not until the first- named building, and the stock in the open yard, were destroyed, and several other premises belonging to the neighbours damaged. The losses will fall on the Royal, and Leeds and Yorkshire offices. The property on the premises was worth JU0,00, aad ow: insurance ,Ff0 lgogt4

MISCELLANEOUS NEWS. ♦ The report of Col. Laughton's death, Bengal Engineers, is contradicted. The squadron lately lying at Gibraltar will, owing to the pacific turn of affairs, go into the Mediterranean. The Count de Paris's new work, entitled "Lebanon 'and Damascus, is said to have met with a very favour- able reception from the critics of Paris. It is a curious circumstance, and in some measure a sign of the times that the Invalide Russe promises its new subscribers as a premium a complete colleution of the constitutions of all the States of Europe. Advices from Berlin state that the two officers who murdered a boy at an inn at Magdeburg have just been tried by a court martial. Lieutenant Sobbe, of the 38th regiment of Silfie, has been condemned to five years con- finement in a fortress, and Sub-Lieutenant Putzki to two vears of the same pnnishment- ACCIDENT TO THE TROOP SHIP "VICTORIA."—Intelli- gence has been received from Queenstown to the effect that the steam troop ship Victoria, which left that port: on the 6th instant for Halifax with the right wing of the 68th Regiment, had put back that morning badly dam- aged. The Victoria lost her boats, had her bulwarks stove in, and suffered considerably on her upper decks. Many of the soldiers were much bruised. The weather was frightfully tempestuous. THE TREATMENT OF FEDERALIST PRISONERS AT RICH- MOND.—Sir James Ferguson writes to the Times:- Among the American news is a statement extracted from a letter from Baltimore, professing to give a cor- rect account of the treatment of the prisoners,' who were exchanged on the James Paver on the 3rd inst. The writer alleges that the prisoners at Richmond were treated with great brutality. He does not particularise j the acts of which he complains, except in stating that,: 'from the 21st of July, the date of their capture, until; the 15th of December, they were liable to be shot if seen at the windows.' Now, as I visited Richmond for three weeks in the month of October last, I am in a position to testify that the foregoing allegation is untrue, as regards. that period at least. While at Richmond I daily had occasion to pass the tobacco warehouses in which the Federalist prisoners were confined. There were invari-' ably numbers of them sitting on the window sills and looking into the streets. Neither the sentries posted beneath nor any one else ever seemed to interfere with the practice. The buildings in which they were confined were not unlike English military barracks in appear- ance. I did not visit the interior of any of them, having no business there, but I was told that there would be no objection to my having an order to do so. I was by many credible persons assured, moreover, that the treatment of the prisoners was humane and gentle, and I recollect when in America seeing, in a New York paper, a letter from a Federalist officer, a prisoner at Richmond, in which he stated that such was the case. The writer of the letter in question says, I it was related to him' that in one instance one of the prisoners, a young man, was shot dead at the window by a person in the street. It is impossible to refute a charge so vague, nor do I wish to set myself up as the advocate of the South, but as I can testify that what the writer alleges on his own knowledge is untrue, there need be little reliance placed on that; which he states from report. I must say, however, that such an occurrence appears to me most unlikely, as I have never seen a town in America, or elsewhere, more orderly than was Richmond in October last, although considerable numbers of newly raised corps were can- toned in the neighbourhood. For their prolonged de- tention these prisoners have to thank their own govern- ment, who have till now refused to make exchanges." THE IRISH IN AMERICA.—Irishmen, lately returned, represent the state of their countrymen, particularly on the sea-board cities, as very wretched. Employment is scarce and ill paid, and the working classes are either forced to join the army or subsist on charity. Even be- fore the civil war, the fancy sketch of the New York Herald had been corrected, and our countrymen dis- covered the truth that fortunes were not to be so easily made beyond the Atlantic. They discovered, too, that Irishmen were in favour only so long as they supported this caucus or that convention, voted thick or thin, did all the white slaves' work on the cheapest terms; and when native soldiers failed to sustain the national honour, there were the Irish in multitudes to do the fitting. The truth is, almost every native American holds the Irish in ab- horrence. Their smartest writers—men of the Bostonian order-who are now in London or Paris, and have lately been instructing the British mind about its ignorance of the causes of the war, talk in the London papers of the wretched Irish," who are in the pay of every low de- magogue, and befoul American society with their igno- rance and clamour. If Irishmen emigrate now they must Plake up their minds to enlist. No other avocation is open, and they are wanted very much on the Potomac. In- deed, so urgent is the demand that the A ew l'o i-k Heralci suggests the immediate formation of a society whose duty should be t..issue tracts for the Irish people, holding out such inducement as the country affords. Young men should be most affectionately requested" to cross the Atlantic. These inviting little tracts could be sent through the Post-office to every parish, and "would be generally read by the people." Two results would reward the labours of the society-first, England would be deprived of a large portion of her fighting populat on, and America would be enriched by the accession. The tracts could set out all the nice farms to be had for nothing in the rich rolling prairies, with a gratuity of so many hundred dollars to each family to commence operations. They would be conveyed at the expense of the State to their location in the west, where every happiness and > comfort awaited the sons of old Ireland. The New York JItrald Reed not waste so much argument on a foregone resolution. Our countrymen have had enough for tho present of exodising. They understand the true state of affairs beyond the Atlantic sufficiently well to keep them at home. They have accurate information about land, labour, and wages on the other side, and, if they be ex- ceptionally pinched this year, they are hopeful, and await better times. American remittances have ceased-a sure sign that money is not quite so plentiful, for Irish affec- tion is as strong as ever. Our countrymen are valued so long as they are serviceable, and whenever they exercise the rights of the constitution they are denounced as "low," "nasty," turbulent," and so forth. There is an end to the emigration. it can never be revived. Let American agents, if they be wise, stop at home, for if they come they will return without a battalion for the grand army on the Potomac.—Freeman X Journal. FEARFUL TRAGEDY IN BonviA.—A letter from Bolivia thus describes a terrible tragedy :—" Another bloody drama has been enacted at La Paz. I wrote you in my last that General Fernandez, one of President Acha's ministers, was generally charged by the people with being responsible for the massacre, ordered by General Yanez, of the 23rd of October, in which forty persons of note, including ex-President Cordova, fell, besides a large number of Cholos that Fernandez's motive in this mas- sacre was, first, to clear the coast of a good many influen- tial men who might stand in his way, then to overthrow the government of Acha, and step into his shoes. Fernan- dez was not long in verifying this estimate of his plans. In conjunction with Morales, he pronounced against Acha in the South, while Col. Babza. who commanded in La Paz, was to pronounce against him in that city, Acha being absent Osuru. Babza and several other officers, on de- mand JAR: people, had previously been dismissed by Preside. • [ha on account of their complicity in the Yanez ma. .ere, and Yanez himself had been ordered to be tried. So, the disaffected officers having joined Babza, at half-past four o'clock on the morning of the 23rd of November, battalion No. 3, commanded by Babza, at- tacked battalion No. 2 in the streets. The fight was furious, and lasted nearly four hours, when Babza was wounded and defeated, with the loss of a great many ruen, and sought refuge in the house of Mr. Carter, the United States minister. Yanez in the meantime had barricaded himself in the palace, and at the head of 40 men resolved to defend himself against the populace, men resolved to defend himself against the populace, who were shouting for his head. The palace was as- saulted with fury. Many shots were exchanged, until cannon were dragged and pointed against the gates. Despair having seized upon Yanez, he seated himself in the corridor and ordered his soldiers to remain tranquil. Then bars of iron were brought against the doors by some, while others from neighbouring roofs fired at intervals through the windows, whence it was thought that he might try to escape. At last the doors were forced, and Yanez, armed, escaped from the palace to the roof of the contiguous police building. A shout of Yanez announced that be was seen by the populace, when two shots were fired at him, and he fell, from a "eight of nearly twenty yards, to the roof of the printing Thence he was dragged to the Plaza in the midst thousands of people. Placing him before the door of P Loretto, in which he had ordered the massacre of ex- rresident Cordova, the crowd forced him to kiss the v ^a P8' yet red with the blood of Cordova. Then he was struck by all who could get near him, women even taking part in the vengeance. After the body had laan a'time exposed in the streets, it was placed m a cart, an<j followed by a vast crowd to the cemetry, amiu he laughs, the jeers and the curses of thousands. A nen Leopoldo Davilla his lieutenant, who cursed the mourning women who came to the Loretto i to seek for murdered husbands and fathers a month! before, was seized, brought to the public Plaza, and torn to pieces, a young Indian woman concluding the shocking performance by punching out his eyes with a pointed Lieutenant-Colonel Shanchez was billed [n tll0 coach-house of the palace. Many others fell during the corning, including 60 Cholos killed and 150 wounded, he midst of the excitement one of the prison WA3 ken open, and 150 criminals increased the terror of the People by the clanking of their chains through the streets.: > wonderful to relate, no robberies or outrages were committed by the people after they had sated their ven- geance on the assasins of October; but the 10,000 Cholos quietly retired to their houses, and the city was as still aa 01 j ^e outbreak. At the last accounts President returned to La Paz and resumed his authority. i £ command was in the hands of General Perez. who the cntlr% oonfidsftog of the people. A foroe had The six associated Australian banks have given notice of the proposed issue of a further amount of £ 1,600,000 six per cent. debentures for the government of Victoria. Tenders, upon which five per cent. deposit must have been previously paid, will be received up to Tuesday, the 28th, at the London and Westminster Bank. The de- bentures will bear interest from the 1st of April next, and they will be delivered to the subscribers on that day on payment of the balance due thereon. THE LAST OF THE O'NEILLS.—A case of considerable interest, involving a large amount of property ("Alex- ander v. Alexander"), was decided on Tuesday in the Court of Chancery Appeal, by the Lord Chancellor and the Lord Justice of Appeal. The last Lord O'Neill, of Shane's Castle, in the county of Antrim, lineal descendant of The O'Neill—so famous in Irish history—died without an heir in 1855. The Rev. Chichester O'Neill came into possession of the estates, with a life interest, under the will of the late earl, with remainder to his children. The latter, being minors, were beneficially interested in the arrears of rent, which then amounted to about £ 50,000. They were payable by 2,500 tenants, of whom 300 paid from L30 to £40 a-year, 1,000 from £10 to .£20, and 900 under £10. By a compromise the executors of Lord O'Neill's will sold the arrears to the Rev. Chichester O'Neill for £20,000, payable in six yearly instalments. The arrears were nearly all collected, and realised £ 49,709. The main question involved was whether the executors had a right to sell the property in that way. Master Brooke, to whom the matter had been referred, declared the execu- tors liable for a sum of £49,000, which was reduced by credits to about £ 34,000. But the Master of the Rolls had declared them liable to the extent of £25,000 only. From that decision both parties appealed, namely, the executors of the will and the guardians of the minors, the former holding that, as they acted in good faith, they were not liable at all. The Court reversed the decision of the Master of the Rolls, and affirmed the decretal order of Master Brooke. The effect of the decision is to rendei the executors liable for about £ 34,000. THE DUKE OF AUMALE ON THE LATE PRINCE CONSORT. —Meetings continue to be held in various parts of the country for the purpose of drawing up addresses of con- dolence to Her Majesty. The Duke of Aumale presided at one of these gatherings held at Twickenham. His Royal Highness, in opening the proceedings, said :— The great blow which has struck your Queen has been felt everywhere. Here the lattprince was known to be free from party ties or class prejudices-to be the most unostentatious, wise, and sagacious adviser of the Crown; the spirited, enlightened, and successful promoter of all good and useful undertakings. Abroad, also, it is well established that his intiuence and great faculties have always been used to help the cause of peace, liberty, and civilisation. (Hear, hear.) All this was well known for some time past; and it is now perhaps more than ever felt and understood. The best and most popular of our French Kings, Henry IV. said one day, in one of his pub- lic addresses, When I am no more you will regret me." The thing happened as he had predicted his great popu- larity began after his death. Well, the late Prince might have said the same thing. (Hear, hear.) Certainly, he was esteemed and popular during his life but it was only at the hour of his departure-it was only when he was lost to this world, that the whole extent of his merits and virtues was fairly appreciated. (Hear, hear.) And I dare say that is the greatest praisa which may be bestowed upon his memory. Personally this good and illustrious man has always given me so many proofs of his friendship that I have looked upon his death as one of my own family's bereavements and your Queen has always shown to me so much kindness that I could not neglect any occasion of conveying to her the sincere ex- pression of my devotion and gratitude. ANOTHER VERSION OF MR. SEWARD'S THREATENED INSULT OF ENGLAND.—On Thursday evening, Mr. Fen- wick M.P. for Sunderland attended a dinner in that borough of the East Chester Ward Agricultural Associa- tion. In referring to the American affairs he noticed the account which appeared in the Times respecting the con- versation between the Duke of Newcastle and Mr. Seward, and remarked that the conversation between the Duke and Mr. Seward had gone further, and that the latter> had said, "if England g-oes to war and burns New) York, she will be destroying English capital, and might as well burn Liverpool or Manchester." The Duke (said Mr. Fenwick) represented England well on that occasion, and his answer to Mr. Seward was, We would rather burn Liverpool or Man- Chester than submit to insult.' In glancing at the general aspect of the civil war, Mr. Fenwick said he was sorry to find that a mode of warfare had been adopted altogether unknown in past history—a mode far worse than the employment of the Red Indians, which Lord Chatham so vehemently reprobated in our struggle with the American colonies. The harbour of Charleston had been destroyed by the Federalists, who had thus set themselves to take from mankind one of the bountiful gifts of God. Adverting to the inefficiency of the block- ade of the Southern ports, Mr. Fenwick said that at the commencement of the approaching session of Parliament a member of the House of Commons who was well known in that district would be prepared to show that since the so-called blockade was established no fewer than 600 ves- sels had entered the Southern ports unchallenged by Fe- deral cruisers. In these circumstances it would be the duty of England and France, as well of every other mari- time State in the world, to protest against the blockade and insist on its removal. VERDICT AGAINST A CLERGYMAN FOR REFUSING TO BAP- TISE A CHILD.—At the Wandsworth County Court, Edward Hussey and Sarah Evans, sued the Rev. John Symon Jenkinson, the Vicar of Battersea, for the sum of JE6, as compensation for damages for refusing to baptise their child. Mr. Pearce, instructed by Mr. Haynes, appeared for the plaintiffs and Mr. White, barrister, for the defendant. This is the case which excited so much attention some time ago upon an application made by Sarah Evans to Mr. Dayman, one of the magistrates of the police court. The hearing of tho case occupied the attention of the court on Thursday for several hours, and did not terminate until seven o'clock in the evening. Both the plaintiffs were examined, and from whose evidence it appeared that they were cohabiting together as man and wife, and lived in Battersea. On the 27th of September last the female plaintiff was delivered of a male child, and at the appointed time, and as soon as she was able, she went to the defendant's church to have it christened. The defendant told her to read the 7th commandment, and she told him that if she had sinned her child had not committed any sin. He said he would not christen the baby, as it was nothing but a heathen, and that it would go to a certain place. She went a second time, and she was again refused. It also appeared that on each occasion they were accompanied by sponsors. They were put to considerable expense in going to Doctors' Commons, and communicating with the Bishop of Winchester, who ultimately directed the defendant to baptise the child. The Rev. Gentleman was examined, and he denied having made the observations imputed to him. He admitted re- fusing to baptise the child, but said he gave orders for the christening before he received the Bishop's letter. He also stated that the child was not baptised until after he received the letter. The jury gave a verdict for the full amount claimed. LIABILITIES OF TRUSTEES OF SAVINGS BANKS.-As the Bilston Savings Banks case has induced many persons to inquire what are the liabilities of the trustees of Savings Banks in England, the following official exposition of the law by Mr. Tidd Pratt, before a Parliamentary Committee in 1858, will be read with interest The act which you are now coming to is the 7tli and 8th Vic. c. 83.— Yes The statute reduced the rate of interest to the trustees from the 20th November, 1844, to £3 5s. per cent per annum, and the interest to depositors was not to exceed X3 Os. lOd. per annum. Depositors were required, on making their first deposit, to sign a declaration, which was to be annexed to the deposit book. Will you state the purport of that declaration ? They were to sign the declaration required by the said recited act, viz., that they had not money in any other savings bank. The act then provides for the punishment of any actuary, &c. who shall receive money from any depositor, or person desirous to become such, and shall not, on the next day on which the institution is open, pay the same to the trustees or managers. Provision was tobemadein the rules that every depositor should, once in every year at least, cause his book to be produced at the office to be examined. Section 6 provides That no trustee or manager of any savings bank shall be liable to make good any deficiency which may hereafter arise in the funds of any savings bank, unless such persons shall have respectively declared by writing under their hands, and deposited with the Commissioners for the reduction of the National Debt, that they are willing so to be answerable; and it shall be lawful for each of such persons, or for such persons col- lectively, to limit his or their responsibility to such sum as shall be specified in any such instrument. Provided always, that the trustees and manager of any such institution shall be, and is hereby declared to be, person- ally responsible and liable for all moneys actually received by him on account of, or to or for the use of such institu- tion, and paid over or disposed of in the manner directed by the rules of the said institution and an abstract of the above provisions shall be enrolled as one of the rules of the institution.' The Act then provides that, after the 20th of November, 1844, where trust accounts are I made, 'the sum shall be invested in the name of the trustee and of the person on whose account such sum is deposited, and re-payment of the same shall not be made without the receipt of the trustee, and the person on whose account such deposit may have been made.' This Act does not extend to Ireland, where the liabilities of the trustees are greater. Mr. Pratt thus explains the difference What is the difference which that clause makes between the case of the Irish trustee and that of the English trustee ? In the case of an Erfglish trustee or manager, he is not liable to make good any deficiency,, unless he has signed a paper limiting the amount; ano he may limit the amount. In Ireland, every trustee and manager is liable for any deficiency, except he has signed a document limiting his liability, and which limit must not be leu than £100." Why there should be one law for England and another for Ireland on such 4 subject its it to i»powiW« 19 _I DEATH OF SIR EDWARD JOHNSON.—"We regret to an-I nounce the death or Sir Edward Johnson, K.C.S., at his residence, Greenhill, near Weymouth. The deceased, who was born in 1785, was nominated a knight of the Order of Charles III. of Spain in 1835, for his services during the Peninsular War, and promoted in 1847 to be a knight commander of the first class. He was a de- puty-lieutenant of the county of Dorset, in which his estates were situate. CHINESE AMBASSADORS TO EUROPE.-The Government has, I hear, just authorised several officers to take service in China. A lieutenant of the artillery commands the Chinese artillery at Shanghai, an4 a lieutenant of engi- neers has been named director of the fortifications of Pekin. It is also announced that the new Emperor of China intends sending ambassadors to London, Paris, and St. Petersburg. One can now say, The great wall no longer exists," as Louis XIV. said, There are no longer any Pyrenees.Paris Letter. As a proof of the interest which the Prince Consort took in the Australian colonies, we (Australian and New\ Zealand Gazette) may mention that his Royal Highness had intended to present to the Acclimatisation Society of Victoria a collection of red deer, pheasants, partridges, and other game; and at the time of his lamented and premature death the collection was being prepared at Windsor—for in his desire to carry out his object most thoroughly His Royal Highness, not content with the mere gift, was having the animals and birds specially; fed and trained, to enable them the better to endure the voyage. THE MOVER AND SECONDER OF THE ADDRESS. — The Hon. William Henry Berkeley Portman, who is to move j the Address to the Queen in the House of Commons in reply to Her Majesty's Speech, is the eldest son of Lord Portman, and heir to the barony. He was born in 1829, and was educated at Eton, whence he removed to Morton. College, Oxford. In 1852 he was elected member for) Shaftesbury, but was subsequently chosen one oP the members for the county of Dorset. Mr. Western Wood, who is to second the Address, is son of Alderman Sir Mat- I, thew Wood, who was M.P. for the city of London from 1812 to 1843, and Lord Mayor in 1815-16 and 1816-17. | He is a younger brother of the'Rev. Sir John Page Wood, rector of St. Peter's, Cornhill, and of Vice-Chancellor j Sir William Page Wood. He was elected towards the close of last Session member for the city of London, in the room of Lord John Resell, who was elevated to the peerage. MISSING VESSELS—There have been more than the usual losses of grain-laden vessels this winter on tlieii passage from America to Europe, and we subjoin the names of those reported from the 31st of December to the present time, being a period of little less than three weeks:—The Oriental Queen, for Queenstown; the Boyne., for Fleetwood; the Aberfoyle, for Hull; the. Elizabeth Leavitt, for Dublin; the Harriet Gann, for Gloucester, the Ellen, for Queenstown; the Queen of Sheba, foi Cork the Grace, for Belfast; the George Marsden, th< Duchess, the Samuel Killam, and the British Tar, fo Queenstown all from New York. In addition to these four vessels have been recorded as missing, namcly-tbt Christen Svendsen, for the United Kingdom the Cous; and the Ulster, for Londonderry; the Annagann, fo: Dunkirk; all from New York and, besides these, severa more vessels are much overdue, for which fears are enter tained that they will never reach their destination.- Liverpool Albion. EFFECTS OF FROST.—A remarkable instance of the effects of severe frost on iron occurred at the Ordnance wharf, Chatham, on Saturday. During the day a party 01 convicts were employed in removing a number of the large 10-inch guns from one t:1:. of the establishment to another, in readiness for embarkation. In order to faci- litate the operation the large steam orane was brought into requisition to lift the guns, but scarcely had one of the 10-inch guns, weighing 95 cwt., been attached to the 'I gear than the massive chain which held it suddenly] snapped just as the cannon was only a few feet from the ground. What makes the accident appear the more re- markable is the fact that not the slightest flaw could be detected in the metal of which the chain is composed,! the chain itself being made to sustain double the weight, and only a few days before having been used in lifting weights of seven tons. At the moment of the gun fall i mg, although several of the convicts were at work within a couple of feet of it. not one was iciurod. SAVINGS BANKS.—The return which has just been issued shows a strange variety in the practice as to taking security from the officers of savings-banks. In the west of England, for instance, the Exeter Savings-bank, with deposits amounting to £ 1.089,769, reports that it has taken security from its officers to the amount of £35,700, while the Bristol bank with £482,374 has taken security for only d61,200, the secretary, the actuary, and the foui clerks all giving security for the same sum—namely, £ 200. In the north the Manchester bank with £ 1,277,825 holds security for £ 10,700, while the bank at Newcastle- upon-Tyne with £4\:14,944 returns the security taken at only Xl,275, and the Macclesfied, with £243,208, only £ 1,100. Some banks have taken security from then officers for only £100, among them banks with deposits reaching £40,000 and J. 54,000. Four savings-banks—at Durham, Harewood, Rugeley, and Southwell—are de- scribed as having only one officer apiece. One of these banks, with £26,000 deposits, only open one hour a week, another with £39,(J00 deposits is only two hours a week, and a third with £40,000 only twice a month. There are other banks with deposits amounting to £60,000, £ 80,000, X96,000, even £U6,000, only open once a fort- night, and banks with £ 18,000, jE32,000, and dE:39,000 only once a month. BOAT ACCIDENT IN PLYMOUTH SOUND, — On Monday morning, about half-past nine o'clock, a waterman's boat- belonging to J ohn Thompson, of South Down, who was assisted by his brother, left Mutton Cove, Devonport, with nine persons belonging to the screw steam-frigate Warrior, 40, Captain the Hon. A. A. Cochrane, for the purpose of conveying them to their ship just inside the breakwater in the Sound. The wind at the time was from the southward and eastward, very squally. She from the southward and eastward, very squally. She proceeded out between St. Nicholas Island and Mount Edgeeumbe, and when 20 fathoms north-east of the red buoy off Picklecombe Point, being under mixen and fore- sail only, a heavy sea came in over her stern. The occu- pants rushed forward, and she sank under them, and did not rise again. The accident was observed from the screw steamship Revenge, 89, Captain Charles Fellowes, which was anchored to the westward of the Warrior, and r boats from her and from the Warrior were dispatched at I once. They succeeded in rescuing only six, one of whom, the waterman, died on board the Revenge. Those lost, are two watermen, and Joseph Edgeeumbe, A.B., aged 34, belonging to Wilcove, near Devonport; William Burn-, thall, A.B. William Hart, 23, belonging to the carpen- ters' crew and Frederick Shields, 21, gunner, belonging to the Royal Marine Artillery. The waterman's boat was too small for the number of persons in her, and the gun-1 wale was down near the water's edge on departure. Thompson, the owner, had two wooden legs. THE SECOND PROSECUTION OF "ESSAYS AND REVIEWS." —It has already been stated that a second prosecution has been commenced in connection with the volume now so generally known as "Essays and Reviews." While: the case of the "Bishop of Salisbury v. the Rev. Row-| land Williams," now awaiting judgment, was under dis- j cussion in the Court of Arches, the Rev. James Fendall, j M.A., Rector of Harlton, near Cambridge, proctor in convocation for the diocese of Ely, filed articles against one of his representatives, the Rev. Henry Bristow; Wilson, B.D., Vicar of Great Staughton, near St. Neots, the author of the essay entitled, "Seances Historiques de Geneva—the National Church." First] of all, the articles set out that Mr. Wilson, who! graduated at St. John's College, Oxford, in 1825, was pre-1 sented by the President and Fellows of St. John's to the vicarage of Great Staughton, in 1850, and instituted! thereto by the Bishop of Ely that by his essay he has offended against the laws ecclesiastical, &c. Mr. Wilson i is articled and objected to" on the ground that he has depraved and denied the following passages of Scripture i and formularies of the church Genesis, 3rd chapter, 20th verse-" And Adam called his wife's name Eve, because she was the mother of all living." St. Matthew, 19th chapter, verses 4 and 5—"And he answered and said unto them, Have ye not read that he which made them at the beginning, made them male and female, and said, for this cause shall a man have father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife, and they twain shall be one flesh." Also the following from The Form of Solemni-1 zation of Matrimony:"—"Almighty God, who at the beginning did create our first parents Adam and Eve, ana did sanctify and join them together in marriage," &c. The passage from Mr. Wilson's Essay which is cited as depraving or contradicting these autho- rities is the following :—" Thus some may consider the descent of all mankind from Adam and Eve as an un- doubted historical fact; others may rather perceive in that relation a form of narrative into which in early ages tradition would easily throw itself spontaneously. Each1 race naturally necessarily, when races are isolated-! supposes itself to be sprung from a single pair, and! to be the first, or the only one, of races. Among a particular people this historical representation became the concrete expression of a great moral truth, of tho brotherhood of all human beings, of their community, as in other things, so also in suffering and frailty, in physical pains and in moral corruption. And the force, grandeur, and realities of these ideas are not a whit impaired in the abstract, nor indeed the truth of the concrete history as the representation, even though man- hood should have been placed upon the earth in many pairs at once or in distinct centres of creation. For the brotherhood of man really depends, not upon the ma- terial fact of their fleshy descent from a single stock, but upon their constitution, as possessed in common of the same faculties and affections, fitting them for mutual re- lation and association, so that the value of the history, if it were a history strictly so called, would be its emble- matic force and application." Mr. Wilson is challenged with regard to his views on the separation of doctrine and practice, the nature of .clerical subscription, and many other subjects treated of in his essay. He has en- gaged Mr. Du Bois as the proctor to conduct his de- fence. The argument on the admission of the articles will take place as soon as the forms of the Court 91 Arches will permit, NARROW ESCAPE OF A DEAN WHILST SKATING.-On Saturday last, the Very Rev. the Dean of Canterbury was out skating on a pond near that city, when he ventured on a dangerous part of the ice, which broke, and he was precipitated into the water up to the arm-pits. The rev. gentleman was, however, soon rescued and taken to a cot- tage close by. A change of clothing was here obtained, and the Dean soon made his appearance again on the pond, enjoying the fun of the misadventure which had placed him in so awkward a position. DIABOLICAL ATTEMPT.-On the 13th instant an attempt was made to set fire to the post office at Milltown, Tralee, by introducing a box of lucifer matches ignited, and at- tached to a string, through the receiver, as they were found in the morning by the postmistress, Miss Egan, to- tally consumed. This has not been the first attempt, and in a similar manner to burn this office. On another oc- casion a coal of fire was thrown into it through a broken pane of glass, but, fortunately, it fell into a tub of water which was under the window. THE PRINCE OF WALES'S VISIT TO THE EAST. The Osborne, Admiralty yacht, Master Commander G. H. Bowen, has received orders to depart for Trieste, at which place she will remain for His Royal Highness the Prince of Wales. This yacht has been fitted out in a suitable manner with every necessary to enable the Prince to prosecute his journey through the East with ease and comfort. As we have already announced, His Royal Highness will commence his journey by overland on or about the 13th of February, and will visit several places of interest on his way. The Prince will be accompanied by General Bruce, Lieut.-Col. Keppel, Major Teesdale, and his physician. The Herald understands that the, Rev. Canon Stanley has been appointed by Her Majesty to travel with the Prince of Wales in the East. A son of Lord Clanwilliam will also accompany His Royal High- ness. THE CONFEDERATE STEAMER SUMTER. — The Corres- pondencia of Madrid, of the 15th, says :—" Yesterday, six men of the crew of the Sumter deserted the vessel, and came ashore to make their submission to the Consul of the United States, who begged the Military Governor of the place to take them under his protection. On the other hand, the captain demanded that the men should be given up to him as deserters. This the Government refused, on the grounds that Spain had not yet recog- nized the independence of the Confederate States, and that no treaty of extradition with the United States existed." On Sunday the Sumter arrived at Gibraltar. She has burnt the American barque Neapolitan, of Kingston, from Messina for Boston but allowed the American barque Investigator, of Southport, from Gar- rucha for Newport to proceed. ROBBERY AND ELOPEMENT AT HARTLEPOOL.—On Satur- I day night a young man named John Carr, barman at the Vane Arms, public house, Hartlepool, absconded with e40 in gold and silver, a gold and silver watch and chains, some silver plate, and wearing apparel, the property of the landlady Mrs. Wilson. Carr had formed an intimacy with the daughter of a beer-house keeper named Hodgson, and with her he eloped with his booty. Mrs. Wilson, about a month ago, got frightfully burnt, and Saturday was the first day for her coming down stairs, and her pre- sence in the bar put a stop to the dissolute life Carr bad been leading during her confinement. The police received information of the robbery about ten o'clock on the night it occurred, but Carr had obtained the money and packed up the other things in the afternoon, and been away some hours before the police were acquainted with his absconding. EXPORTATION OF COTTON FROM LIVERPOOL.—The ex- port of cotton from Liverpool, per steamers, has received a very sudden and decisive check by the recent pacific news from the United States. Previous to the peaceful turn of affairs, cotton was sent forward to New York in great haste per steamers, at the very heavy freight of 2d. per lb. and 10 per oent primage. Since then, the freights per steamer have dropped down to Id. and as this rate will not pay, several steamers which were in loading berths have been withdrawn. The steamer Bahiana, Captain Grindle, sailed on Monday for New York with about 2,000 bales of cotton on board; and, unless the feelings of the United States assume a much more war- like tendency, in future the Shipment of cotton from this country will be by sailing vessels, the freight by which averages about id. per lb., or 3s. 6d. per bale. Owing, however, to the tendency towards decline in America, and the rise in prices in this country, there is every prospect in future that the exports of cofctou will bo vary limited. ESSAYS AKD REVIEWS.—RESIGNATION OF ANOTHER CLERGYMAN.—The Western Morning hews says:—" It is with much regret that we have to announce the resigna- tion of the Rev. Richard Pering Cornish, perpetual curate of Ivy bridge. Mr. Cornish has been obliged to take this step by a motive which, while it speaks most highly in favour of his conscientiousness and keen sense of honour, is in itself an additional source of regret. Mr. Cornish has recently come to the conviction that he cannot accept the articles and rubrics of the Church in the literal and unqualified sense which is required of all her ministers. This conviction has, we believe, been strengthened by the perusal of Essays and Reviews." He therefore officiated for the last time on Wednesday, Jan. 8, and has requested Mr. Cotton, the founder of the Cottonian Library, Plymouth, who has the next presen- tation, to nominate a successor. We believe that Mr. Cornish will proceed to the continent for a time. In the meanwhile he remains an attached member of the Church in which he would gladly have continued to minister had he not felt that he could not longer offer an over-stringent declaration of assent and consent to everything contained in the Prayer Book. Like Mr. Macnaught, of Everton, Mr. Cornish still cleaves to the Church of England as true and apostolic. He knows no other religious body offering so much freedom to its lay members. We, speaking for ourselves, can only mourn that some of this freedom is not granted to her clergy." STORM ON THE IRISH COAST.-Saturday night (says a letter from Dublin) was a fearful one at sea, and there are well-grounded reasons for apprehending that great loss of shipping has been sustained. During the storm on Thursday night, the fine brig Silene, Captain Petre, bound from Liverpool for Antwerp, with a cargo of rock gait, went down a few miles to the eastward of the Bailey Light, and among the most providential of escapes that of Captain Petre and his crew (seven in number) must be recorded. They had scarcely taken to the jollyboat when the bng gave one lurch and went down bodily. The sea was so high and the storm so great that they did not ex- pect to remain afloat for more than a few minutes, but the poor fellows had nothing for it but to pull for the land. To add to their misfortunes and difficulties a heavy sea struck the frail bark, nearly swamping her, and carrying all but one oar from the despairing sailors out on the wide sea on that dark, tempestuous night, They had to take off their boots to bale out the watei from the sinking boat, which they had now to keep head to the sea with the single oar which remained to them. They strove to make Howth Harbour, but this they found to be impossible. One resource remained open, and that was to run for Ireland's Eye. After unheard-of labour and hair-breadth escapes, they succeeded in beach- ing the boat on Ireland's Eye, and they had only landed when she was dashed to pieces by the surf, through which they had to straggle to the shore. Captain Petre and his crew, suffering severely from the effects of wet, exposure, and hard labour, had to remain on the island in a state of the greatest misery and wretchedness until they were perceived in the course of Friday by the crew of a Skerries trawler, belonging to Mr. Leonard, Marl- borough-street, who conveyed them to Howth, where. I every attention and kindness were shown to them by Mr. Halsey, the coastguard officer in charge. At a subsequent j period of the day Captain Petre and his crew, being much restored, proceeded to town by train. THE FEDERAL AND CONFEDERATE WAR VESSELS AT SOUTHAMPTON.—The Observer contradicts the statement that the Confederate steamer Nashville has been sold to an English firm. The Observer adds :—" It is stated at Southampton that there is one rather important difficulty in the way of the sale, which is, that no clear title can be given with it; the real owners of the vessel, who are mer- chants in New York, are at present in this country, and have taken steps to make their ownership duly known. Among other things it is stated that an injunction to prevent the sailing of the ship was applied for, but that the Court held that they had no jurisdiction in the matter. The Nashville and the James Adger are sister ships, which formerly ran between New York and Charleston. The Nashville was captured at Charleston by the Con- federates, the James Adger escaped through being at the time at New York. It is reported that Captain Craven, of the Tuscarora, has sent a joint invi- tation to the captains of the Nashville and of the Sumter to meet him at any point of latitude beyond the British jurisdiction which they think fit, and he assures them that, on his part, the appointment shall be punc- tually kept." It appears that the Tuscarora, during one of her short cruises, anchored off Osborne. Admiral Bruce, on becoming aware of the fact, despatched the Pigmy with instructions that the interloper should either proceed to Cowes or return to the usual anchorage rit Spithead. The hint was taken, as a matter of course, and the Tuscarora made her way up again to her old position off the docks. We are compelled," says the Army and. Navy Gazette, "to attribute the act of the Federal captain to ignorance, for we cannot conceive that any man occupying the rank of a gentleman would will- ingly have, at a moment like the present, intruded him- self into a position directly under the observation of the mourning Queen of England but at the same time we are bound to say that this officer must be wanting in ob- servation." The Southampton correspondent of the Daily News writes :—" The occasional movements of the Tuscarora are still as mysterious as ever. She left her pioorings on the last occasion so suddenly, that two of her officers were left ashore. Even her first lieutehant does not appear to know the intentions of the com- mander until the orders of the latter are given. Another Federal man-of-war is expected here shortly. Pilots live and sleep on board the Tuscarora, Nashville, and Her Majesty's ship Dauntless, so as to be ready to take their respective ships out to sea at a moment's notice. The officers of the Nashville have expressed themselves in- dignant at the rumour that their ship is sold, because •he wiU not be Abla to get away uncter Palmetto tUIT

ENGLAND AM) AMERICA. The Observer cites the treaty for the pacification o. Greece in 1827, signed by England, France, and Russia, and traces the successive steps taken by the three Powers with a view of effecting their object, first, by offering their mediation, and next by insisting on an immediate armistice. Greece accepted the proffered mediation, and the refusal of Turkey led to the battle of Navarino. The Observer then says In the case of America, an inter- vention by France and England between the contending 1 parties will certainly not be opposed to the interest of any other Power; on the contrary, it will be greatly to the ad- vantage of every European nation. No opposition need, therefore, be feared. So far the two cases are parallel. There can be no question also that the Con- I federates will gladly accept our intervention, as well as the armistice which we shall commence by imposing upon the contending parties as the basis of our operations. It is beyond any doubt that this melancholy war inflicts the most serious injuries upon the whole civilised world. No disinterested person believes that its prolongation can result in the re-union of the South with the North, or can serve any useful purpose. It seems to us, therefore, that by putting an end to this war, if need be even by another Navarino, we and France will earn- with us the approba- tion of the whole world, and the secret satisfaction of every man in the Northern States themselves who has anything to lose. The Trent affair shows how suddenly and completely public opinion accepts an act which once seemed so opposed to it. We do not, however, apprehend that a second Navarino will be necessary. The principle of freedom in selecting one's own Government, though denied for the moment in the Northern States, is still too much ingrained in their feelings, opinions, and institutions to allow of the federals standing out much longer in re- fusing that privilege to their brethren in the South. Our Government, and that of France, will be called upon, therefore, in concert with all Europe, to repeat what was done in the case of Greece and other places. No one can doubt our power, or the beneficial effects of such an in- tervention, which in the case of Greece has been much praised by the American writers on international law themselves, and will in the present case be in strict accor- dance with it." The same journal says:—"One of the Philadelphia journals, brought by the last mail, gives most satisfactory evidence of the good feeling which at present subsists between the two Governments it is to the effect that Mr. Seward has informed Lord Lyons that the Govern- ment will offer no objection to the conveyance of our troops and military stores through the territory of the United States, from Portland to the Canadian frontier, with a view of preventing the inconvenience and hard- ship which must result from a long and toilsome march through New Brunswick. If this statement be correct, it must be regarded as indicating feelings by no means so -unfriendly towards this country as many persons supposed to have existed in the Northern States." THE "STONE FLEET" AT BEAUFORT.—The Times has the following It is understood that in December last Earl Russell instructed Lord Lyons to intimate to the Federal government the disapprobation which would be excited in England and on the continent if the intention of blocking up the Southern ports with stone was carried into effect; and that such a proceeding would be looked upon as vindictive, and lead to the opinion that the re- establishment of the Union was considered hopeless. It is also understood that subsequently to Charleston being blocked up, Earl Russell requested Lord Lyons to express a hope that other ports would not be similarly impeded."