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Leader (1850-1860), 12th December 1857, Edition 1 of 2, Page 1182

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      Untitled Article

      It appears that the number of medals called Medailles de Sainte-Helene already- distributed to those who Berved under the Empire amounts to no less than 300 , 000 . The Directors of the Bank of France last Saturday reduced the rate of discount on commercial bills one per cent . The rates now are—six per cent , en bills having thirty days to run ; seven per cent , on bills at sixty days ; and eight per cent , on bills at ninety days . The Emperor has paid a visit to Queen Christina at Malmaison , probably to congratulate her on the birth of the Prince of Asturiaa . The Empress met the Spanish Queen-Mother at the Palais Koyal .

      PORTUGAL . The fever at Lisbon seems to be diminishing . Several shocks of earthquake -were felt on the 19 th ult ., both at Listen and other parts of the country . The unpleasant sulphury flavour given to wines which have been made from grapes taken from vines sprinkled with brimstone on account of the oidium , is now said to be removed by the use of pulverized charcoal . PRUSSIA . ' The police of Berlin lately discovered a slaughterhouse in which dogs were killed for the purpose of sale as butchers' meat . Suspicions of the existence of such an establishment had for same time been excited in consequence of the disappearance of great numbers of dogs of large size .

      Baucb , the sculptor , died at Dresden , on Thursday week . He had nearly completed his eiglity-iirst vear . *

      ¦ ¦ . : ' ¦ ' RUSSIA .. - ¦ ¦• . ¦ ; .. The St . Petersburg ; journals affirm that there has been a reduction ia the army of 3000 officers and 200 , 000 men . In order to appreciate the real bearing of this measure ( observes a contemporary ) , it must be remembered that Russia has two kinds of army—her real effective force , and the nominal one , wbkh is to be found on paper only . It is in this latter that has taken place the reduction of which the Russian journals speak . The result of the modification will be the suppression of a certain number of sinecures and a corresponding economy iu the war budget .

      . ; - . - . - . . Austria . ; . - . ; : . . Miss Nightingale has "been in Vienna for some time . She frequently visits the hospitals , and is treated with great respect . SWEDEN . The Government has granted to MM . Westenholz the concession of a submarine telegraph between the eastern coast and Russia . " The accounts , " says a letter from Stockholm , of the 2 nd , " which reach this city daily from the principal commercial towns in the interior , and from the ports in the Baltic , are most deplorable . "

      desimark :. The Minister of Finance has made over to the National Bank of Copenhagen the sum of 1 , 500 , 000 rixdollars , to be advanced to the commercial world by way of loan on securities of valeurs or goods . The National Bank at the same time raised its rate of discount for bills from six to seven per cent . It has also notified that it grants a renewal for three months to all Hamburg bills -which it has in its hands , and which are due .

      HAMBURG . The Senate has been , called together on account of the commercial crisis . " Tha object , " sa 3 * s a letter from Hamburg , " was the renewal of the Bankrupt 3-aw of 1799 . It was further thought advisable that the Senate should be empowered to appoint an extra aiumber of Judges of the Court of Commerce , to meet the vast accumulation of business which will be brought lefore it , and an extra number of clerks in the public offices would also have to be engaged for the same purpose . These proposals were sanctioned by the meeting . " After some collision between the Senate and the As-Bembly of Burgesses , it has been decided to create a State Discount Bank , and tliat a Bum of 15 , 000 , 000 marks banco shall be granted to it .

      TURKBV . The Commission of tha Four Powers signed , on the £ tk inet ., at Constantinop le ^ the final act of the rectification of the Ruseian frontier in Asia . The pay of the subaltern officers in the army has been augmented by an Imperial ordinance .

      ITALY . The King of Sardinia has issued a . decree « atubliahing a council for the settlement of disputed points within the range of diplomacy , viz ., such as relate to emigration , extradition , interpretation of troatiea , levies of troopa , questions of nationality , international law , &c . The matters to bo decided on are to bo referred to the council by the Minister for Foreign Affairs . The council is formed of seven members to bo named by the King , and its powers aro purely consultative . Count Frederic Sclopis ,, a inomber of the extreme Right , ia appointed president ..

      SWITZaEItliAND . M . Burror liaa been elected President of the Swiss Conftdffltetinifc ami BL Staamfli Vioft-Pcosidcnt .

      Untitled Article

      THE CONFESSIONS OF A LONDON THIEF . An extraordinary light has been let in upon the robbery of the Countess of Ell « smere ' s jewels , dresses , &c , when property to the amount of 15 , 000 ? . was appropriated by a . company of thieves . For some time past , a tradesman named Jackson , has been under remand at the Worship-street police-court , on a charge of purchasing the things with the knowledge that they had been stolen ; and now one of the confederate thieres , who is at present in prison for another oftenee , has made a statement to the police , divulging all the facts of the case . His story is of a roost singular kind , and has been so amusingly retold in a leading article of the Times that we here repeat it as it there appears : — " On the 22 nd of January of last year , Mr . Attwell ( the informer ) , in company witu his two friends , Messrs . Saint and Wtiitty , set out upon a little excursion from London-bridge to the West-end , to see if anything could be done in the line of their peculiar profession . When in the neighbourhood of Grosvenor-square , they saw a carriage drawn by two Iiorses , and'immediately preceding it two cab 3 . On one of these was placed a large black portmanteau , with a smaller one by its side . Mr . Whitty hereupon remarked ' There go Port St . Peter , ' which , expression , being interpreted , means 'trunks . ' The friends

      were instantly fired with a noble ardour . ' May I be lagged / exclaimed Mr . Whitty , full of noble enthusiasm , ' but I'll have the big one . " They accordingly gave chase , and , when the carriage and' the two cabs " parted company , Mr . Whitty jumped up behind the vehicle which was the object of their especial pursuit , laid hold of the rail with one hand , and with the other dragged the big portmanteau off into the road . It was so heavy that , we are told , Whitty , being then somewhat out of condition , fell with it . The korsje in the cab—so violent was the jerk—reared up , but the driver was not ' tumbled : ' In other words , had not taken alarm . The three friends endured some moments of intense anxiety as they watched to see if the two > eheers , ' or cabs ,

      proceeded quietly on their way . They did so , and it was only discovered at the railway terminus that Lady Ellesmere's jewel-box , or rather jewel-trunk , had apparenllv nieltexl into empty air . The trunk was conveyed to the shop of Mr . Edward Jackson , oil and cojjrarmanj Leonardstreet , Shoreditch , and deposited under his counter , as though it had been forwarded to him in the regular course of business . The confederates soon , assembled in Mr . Jackson ' s back parlour . They consisted of the three friends , Messrs . Whitty , Attwell , and Saint already named ,, and of Mr . and Mrs . Jackson . To give an idea of what followed , it will be proper to mention what was

      the real nature and what the value of the property which was soon to be tossed from land to Land in the little back parlour of the Shoreditch oil-shop . We take at random , from the detailed account , a pearl necklace , a diamond necklace , an emerald and diamond necklace , a pair of diamond earrings , a pair of emerald and diamond earrings , a large pair of diamond branches , a small pair of diamond branches , an emerald and diamond bracelet , and so on throughout . Besides the jewellery there were lace diesses , China shawls , velvet cloaks , ludian scarfs , and other articles such as might naturally be supposed to form part of the wardrobe of Lady Eliesmere when on her way to Windsor Ca 6 t 3 e .

      " 1 he back parlour , then , in Leonard-street , Shoreditchj soon presented the appearance of Aladdin ' s Cave ; but , like so many ignorant Aladdins , the confederates conceived that the jewels were only so many bits of coloured glass or stone . Mr . Attwell , indeed , appears to have had some dim suspicion of the reality , for , as he took up a diamond coronet , ho exclaimed , ' Why , them things are sparks !' meaning diamonds ; but the better opinion among the party was , that the fire of the splendid jewels was a mere sham . Blrs . Jackson , who might be supposed to be better informed than her male companions as to such feminine mysteries , gave it S 3 a suggestion , ' that the lady who owned the articles must be a kind of fashionable woman . ' But it was necessary to

      proceed to business , that ia , to divide the spoil , and to convert it into money . Whitty sold a diamond butterfly which had fallen to liis share for 2 s . to Mrs . Jackson , and also a lace shawl at tho same figure . The real value of the article was about 50 L Other smaller portions of the property were disposed of at similar prices , aud in the same way . Whitty , among his share of the spoil , obtained a pair of Lady Ellenmere ' s stays and lin < m , which wore all given by him to a lady named Poll y Gentleman . ' The more serious discussion , however , waa as to the value of tho great bulk of the spoil . ackson believed the

      J jewcla to be worth about dOZ . ( he should have Baid 14 , 000 ? . ); the others were completely ia tho dark upon tho subject . They finally resolved to go and consult a man niuned Sam Britton , who seems to have beon considered by them aa a kind of authority upon sucli subjects , as to tho droasoa . To hia house they ware conducted by a gcntloman named ' California ;' bu 4 v unfortunately , Mr . Uritton waa not at homo , and it woe not . until * later period , of tho evening that they were able to cotntnonce tlieir negotiation . They asked ' Uh for Lady EUeam « ro * a wardrobe , but Mr . Britton st « adttym £ ua «( Lti ( y giva « e mbvbitunt » oum , and finally

      closed w ^ k them for 81 The jewels were disposed of for sums of the like amount , with the exception , perhape of the emerald and diamond necklace , which , accordhW to Jackson s account , was sold to a Jew for 3001 . When the reward for the apprehension of the thieves was otfered , the confederates seem to have taken aljirm and many articles of great value were thrown awav ks « - they should lead to their detection . Toe emerald ' dro ^ and diamond bow were thrown away in Spitalfields awl a _ pair of diamond earrings Avas flung into a Wnear Whitechapel . The gold articles were in great nart melted down , and altogether it is to be feared that there as but little chance that Lady Elles mere will recover anv portion of her property . We are not , however , at the cud of the inquiry yet , for Wbitty and Saint , Uvo of the chief actors iu the robberv , are still ' wanted ' "

      i he three thieves sold the whole of the property to Jackson for dOA ; but , on discovering , after the often of a reward , that the worth of the jewels , &c , was infinitely greater than they had supposed , thev went to Jackson , and threatened to ' round' on him if lie did not give them more . He asserted that he had been as . ignorant as they of the real value , and had resold the ' property for only a fen- more pounds . than . he had-given them . However , aft « r a good deal of haggling , the receiver , evidently . under the influence of fear , gave tho thieves 21 . apiece more . ; . so that 4 GI , divided among the three , was all they got for articles valued at 15 , 000 £ ! Jackson was again brought up on Monday before Mi . D'Eyneourt , at Worship-street , upon several fresh , charges , and was committed for trial for receiving jewels and ' property stolen from a Miss Mahl « y .

      Untitled Article

      THE ASSIZES . The most important trial this week has been that cif James Henderson for the murder of his father . Our readers are already in possession of the facts , which we need not here repeat . The evidence was of a grave complexion , but , us it left some doubt ass to the guilt of the accused , the , judge summed up with an evident leaning in ¦ favour of an acquittal , and the jury ( after a trial of ' three days ) gave in a verdict of NOTGuiLXr —a ; decision which was received with loud applause . The case was tried at Chester .

      There have been two trials for child murder by tlie mothers this week—one at Winchester , the other at Liucoln . In the first , Fanny Harris has been condemned to death , though it would seem that she was driven by want iiUo the commission of the crime ; in the second , where the woman had cut off the head , of her infant with a hatchet , a verdict . of Not Guilty has been returned on the ground of insanity . A youth named Joseph Bagnall lias been found Guilty , at York , of the manslaughter of another youth at whom , in a fit of passion , he threw a pair of tongs . He was sentenced to ; t week ' s imprisonment . Charles Holloway , a respectable-looking young mjvn , has been found guilty at Maulatoneof forging' -and uttering a navy bill for 4 . GL He was sentenced to six years ' penal servitude .

      Frederick John Bush ell was tried at the same place on a charge of wounding his wife with intent to murder her . He got up in the course of the night , took his razor , and approached tile bed with it . The wife , anticipating his design , caught up a shawl which was lying on the bed , and twisted it round her throat . Bushcll pulled her out of bed , and she struggled with him to the dour , and tlien fell down stairs , lie followed her , and cut her throat through the shawl . In endeavouring to seize the razor , several of the woman ' s lingers were cut ; but at length she got away , and ran to thenolice-otficu . On the pwlicc going to the house , they found that the man hud cut his own throat , lie was removed to the hospital , and said he was sure hi 3 wife would die , us lie ' had given her a

      good cutting . ' Such in fact was the case , as a small branch of the jugular vein had been severed , and , had the wound gone any further , it would lmvu been fatal . Busliell appears to have been jealous of his wife , and . she had been living away from him at her mother ' s for some time . She had returned , of her own accord , on the very day of the attempted murder , and she and her husband had been very friendly up to the moment of the attack . He was givcu to habits of intoxication ; hid mother died in a lunatic asylum ; and bis father at the siune age wfts alfected with similar suspicions as to the fidelity of hid wife as thoae under which the accused sceina to liavo laboured . The defence w * is insanity ; but liushcll was found Guilty , and sentenced to pcniil servitude for life .

      John Ackroyd has been tried at York for cutting and wounding an old man named Jonathan lloldawortli , on the 17 th of July , with intent to murder . The facts have already appeared iu these columns . Ackroyd waa oxaspcruted tit n scandal which ho aupposcd had been di . iseniinatud to the discredit of his ( Ackroyd ' d ) wife , and ho therefore wounded him with a Hhoeinakcr ' a knife . Ue was found Guilty , and sentence of death was recorded . A third case of cutting and wounding haa been tried at Liverpool . James Furrodny lived with one . Agnes Lakemun , tho sister of lii . s deceased wife , and u nuuried woman separated from her husband . They frequently quftrrelled , and slie often threatened to leave him- Ou tho 14 th of September , a neighbouring woman saw something oo strange lu Forraday'a appearance that bUo said

      Untitled Article

      OUR CIVILIZATION . . - /

      Untitled Article

      1182 _ •_ ___ _ . _ jP H E Ii EADE R . [ JNk > . 403 , Bjecembeb 12 , 1857 .

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 12, 1857, page 1182, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2221/page/6/