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EASTER HOLIDAYS. ' '
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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ROYAL POLYTECHNIC INSTITUTION . — DJR . RYAN'S first Series of LECTURES on tJio CIIBMISTBY of DOMESTIC LIFE , dailv , and < m the evuiiin ? s of Mondays , Wednesdays , and . Priilavs . " POPULAU LECTURES on NATURAL PHILOSOPHY , with UllILLIANT EXPERIMENTS , bv PROFESSOR BACHIIOITXER . A iw SERIES of OBJECTS exhibiting beautiful effects in CHILDE'S CHRO . UATltOPE / in the PUYSIOSCO ' PE , and thentOTEOSCOPE . The SHRINE of the N ATIVIT Y is one of the latest additions to the DISSOLVING VIEWS . A CURIOUS MEOIUiUGMi 1 UST ) exhibiting daily on the person of . an individual who has lost his natural hand . Working Models of new inventions explained . SUBMARINE EXPERIMENTS by the D 1 YEH . The D 1 VISG BELL , MICROSCOPE , kc , Sic-Admission One Shilling , Schools half , price .. N . B . A WORKING MODEL of the ATMOSPHERIC RAILWAY , fifty feet long , is expected to te ready by the 24 th inst .. --,.... . ¦ ¦ : ¦¦*
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shop , fit > m 20 to 30 Taris ftomtheboaer . Sawitabout seven ot eight minntes before the explosion , but did not olsero anything tlien ; nor did he observe any piece of wood with a nsulin it placed against . n under the handle . Bis attention was not particularly directed toft . —William Bam was then called , and stated thai le was a surgeon , and was called to "Wright and Grimes , and George Chapman , after the explosion . They were all quite dead . Did not examine them tot particnlariy at the time , as they -mere all d « uL Bad since examined them , and as regards Wright , found that he had received a severe fracture of the skull , extending from one ear across the top of the head to the other ear ; he had also received several bruises , especially on the right and
lower side of tie chest , but without causing any fracture . There was also a dislocation forwards of the right knee . These were the chief external appearances . The brain was lacerated in different parts , and effusion of blood between the scalp and the bones of the head . Examined the month and windpipe , and found the lining membrane corrugated as from the action of steam or hot water . Theother « rgans seemed healthy . The cuticle was removed from the whole of the face from the hot steam . These injuries were caused by the explosion , and accounted for his death . —James Chettle was again called , and said no other person was near the engine but Whiteombe , the engine-driver . The other persons were Irart by the pleeesflyltig . The Coroner
remarked jt was most important to hare the evidence of Wbitcombe , as something might have occurred of his doing which might give a different feature to the whole transaction ; and looking at the position in which Mr . Lowe stood , it appeared to him that it would be fairer to Lowe and to the public that the case should be adjourned until "Whitcombe was ia a state to give evidence , ilr . Lowe then said he had not the slightest objection Jo answerany fair question that might be put to him , nor did he object to Whitcombebeing examined . The Coroner : Perhaps it would be better to have the person here who was engaged in driving the engine . We can have no evidence on many points from any person but from him and Mr . Lowe , who might be compromised by speaking ' . There were vet five other persons in the hospitaland it would hardly be fair to Lowe if tliey
, were to press on him now for evidence , when they miirht get it from other persons who conld speak to the " transaction . He then asked Lowe if there was any other person wnom he would like to call to rebut the evidence which seemed i © press against him . Lowe : Whitcombe was standing with him in front of the boiler . —Bis { Lowe ' s ) right side was burnt , and Wbiteombe ' sleft side . For his part , he did not think that Whitcombe knew more about the matter than himself . He had , however , no objection to Whitcombe being examined . It was accordingly arranged that the inauest should then be adjourned to Thurs day at ten o clock ; and in the event of Whitcombe ' s being unable to attend , the jury would then go to the London Hospital , and take his examination there .
Abjobk-ved IwjGEsr . — Thcksdat . —Verdict of Manslaughter . — Jfr . JBaker , the coroner for East [ Middlesex , and the jurymen appointed to conduct the inquiry into the deaths of the men Chapman , Grimes , Smith , and Wright , who were killed by an explosion at the works of Mr . Samuda , at Bow-creek , Blackwall , re-assembled this morning at the Townhall , Poplar . The Coroner informed the jury that another unfortunate man , named Neale , had died on board the Dreadnought hospital ship , and the jury having viewed the body , 2 &r . Baker informed them that he had received a medical certificate , stating that the important witness , Whitcombe , was in too dangerous a state to be removed , and it would be necessary , therefore , that his evidence
should be taken at the London Hospital , On arriving at the Hospital , the jury were conducted to the ward where Thomas Whitcombe was lying . He was sworn , and said—I am an engine-driver . I have been engaged at Blackwall since June last . 1 saw the boiler tried on Monday , but the steam would not touch the engine . In order to remedy this defect , Mr . Lowe got a cock put upon the steam-pipe , to draw the condensed water off ; still the engine did not go well . There was nothing done after . Theeoek was put there on Tuesday night . The steam was got up on Wednesday morning . We had a great deal of trouble , for the engine still went at a snail's pace . There were a great many men pulling the fly-wheel round with their hands , or the engine would not have
gone at all . I saw a bit of a stick applied to keep the valve partly shut to keep up the power of steam . I cannot say who did that , unless it was Mr . Lowe , who was at the safety-valve the whole time . I saw him work the valve several times , but did not understand the return of it . The fires were as low as possible , scarcely any at all , in fact the bars were quite bare . I let the fire out , because I was afraid somethins would happen . I think that there were better than GO lbs , of pressure on the square inch on Wednesday . I think there was sufficient water in the boiler . I was under Jfr . Lowe ' s orders the whole time . I cannot form any conjecture as to tne cause of the
accident . I am of opinion that it was an over-pres sure of steam that caused the explosion . I did not say anything to Mr . Lowe about there "being too high a pressure on the boiler . The jury then returned to Poplar , and the coroner summed np the evidence at considerable length . Having concluded , the jury retired to consider their verdict at a quarter to four , and returned into court at six o ' clock . The foreman then announced that the jury had unanimously found a verdict of "Manslaughter" against George Lowe , and they added their opinion that the machinery generally on Mr . Samuda ' s establishment was of a most defective character .
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? THE MURDER AT SALT-HILL .
TRIAL OF JOHN TAWELLi ( CoiOhuudfrom last tveekj Mr . Fiizbot Kelly proceeded to address the jury on behalf of the prisoner . He should perhaps hare oontented himself with a brief narrative of the facts of the case , but he could no forget that the circum stances connected with this case had , no doubt , come before them through the usval channels , of public informat ion , and he therefore felt it his duty to advert to another matter . It was stated that the . unfortunate prisoner at the bar had many years ago been sent from his country for the commission of a certain act Of which he was found guilty by a jury of his fellow men : bnt it was likewise known that he had cleared Ms character , and re-established himself as an
honest Christian and charitable man . It must first , in order to convict the prisoner , be proved that the woman died in consequence of taking a dose of poison —that , in point of fact , prussic acid was administered toherbyMr . TawelL These facts had not been proved ; fte | evia ^ ncewilhregardtothemwasperfectlyiilusory If they believed that the woman died of poison , it was necessary for the purposes of the prosecution to prove beyond the smallest doubt that the poison was administered to her by the prisoner . The jury niust be made aware of that fact by certain and irresistible evidence before they could convict . With regard to poisoning by prussic acid , there were only eight or nine and thirty cases on record , and only two of those were found to be committed by design , the others
were all accidental . Little , therefore , had been the experience of medical men in questions of this nature , and not one single person had been bronchi forward who . could speak practically of lie appearance of a body when under the influence of prussie acid . The opinions given by the medical men were framed upon what they had read in certain books , which were merely the opinions of the persons who wrote the books , and which could be no evidence at all . They were bound to prove , in the first instance , that one grain of prussic add was sufficient to destroy life , and that one grain was found in the woman ' s body ; and they had no such proof before them founded on practical experience . Mr . Champneys , who it could not be denied was the
principal witness , when asked respecting the result of his own exDeriment , said that when he pnt the true quantity of prussic acid into the true quantity of porter "he could scarcely perceive the smell" until the froth had gone away . Jfow , if Mr . Champneys had written the result of that experiment in a book in the terms in which he gave it in evidence , and that his opinion was brought forward in a similar case to the present in a year to come , would it form evidence . upon which to convict ? So little did-the-mcdicalincn know . of , the appearance caused by prussic acid , with whichtthey state the woman was poisoned , that they tested the stomach for oxalic and other acids , and because they could not satisfy themselves with their experiments , they
at once jumped to the conclusion that the woman ^ aspoisoned with prussie acid ; but their judgment was founded upon a mere theory , which could not bt admitted . Mr . IWt Parse suggested to Mr . Kelly that he made a mistake in asserting that in cases of death from natural causes Mr . Champneys had said there tos an odour of prussic acid observable . Mr . Juxir begged pardon if he was wrong in waiing the quotation from Mr . Champneys , but they had it from other sources that such was nevertheless ft ? Sic-t . But Mr . Champneys quoted another case . " Uir . Kelly ) asked him was it the case of the boy , tod -dr . Chainpneys thought there were two more ca « s- That was " another inaccuracy . There was Oa » 5 llat one case quoted by Taylor , where the body 5 ^ examined thirtv hours after death , the boy hav-But this
m taken Si < rains of the prussic acid- gr ease , ^ quoted by Taylor , was not correct it-SWij for it was to be found in Christicon , who , TOT probably , took it from the original report , and ujere he states that there was no odour percep nofe lu tlle j ^ y m bloodj „ although it was strong * ° the stomach / ' Thus iheysawiheawfiil degree of uaager they ran in taking " the evidence of books , 01 witnesses whose evidence was founded , only 011 e « es recorded in books . They had Mr . Champ-» ejs himsdf first wrong in making two casesout of « ne and they had next the rery case le had so onphcated reported , or at least quoted wrongfullyby ^ p or , Mr . Kefly then went on to ike consideration ? tie facts regarding the actual death of the deceased , f * had been proved that prossic acid was found in her "winach after death ; how much would be another
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question . Whence it came and how produced they would also have to consider . These were questions lie would come to presently . But the smell was acknowledged on all hands to exist where prussic acid existed in a free state . It was alleged on the part of the Crown that the woman had swallowed down a quantity of prussic acid in its free state , and yet there was no odour at the mouth , in the blood , or in the stomach . He { Mr . Kelly ) said it boldly—no man dare to take away the life of his fellow-man on such evidence as thie . J | But prussic acid had been found in the stomach of the deceased woman . He would show that she had at the time of deathin her stomach substances containing or capable of yielding an actually g reater Quantity of nrussic acid than had been
produced by Mr . Cooper from the contents of the stomach . He would show that she had eaten a quantity jof apples , and most probably pips and all ; from which it would have been easy to obtain as much prussie acid as had been found . They had heard the witness who told them . of the deceased having received a basket of apples about Christmas , the entire , or nearly the entire of which were consumed by her hy the beginning of the year . Now , it was known that , with the exception of almonds , there was no substance from which prussic acid could be bo readily obtained as pips of apples . Mr . Thomas , the chemist ' s assistant , who had undertaken to experiment upon pips of apples , did not wish to trust to his own limited experience , and he therefore went to llie London Hospital , and there , under
the able directions of Mr . Lievesley , the lecturer , he obtained from the pips of fifteen apples , not an " inappreciable quantify , " as Mr . Cooper railed the result of his very incomplete and loose experiments , but no less than two-thirds of a grain of pure acid ; more , actually a greater quantity of prussic acid , than Mr . Cooper had extracted from the whole contents of the deceased woman ' s stomach . He contended , he would putit to the jury , that upon such evidence he would be entitled to their verdict ; but in a case where it was only necessary to raise a doubt , he would say he had shown the case most eminently doubtful . He contendedtherewasnoproofatallaaducedthatthe woman had died from the effects of prussic acid . Mr . Kelly next addressed himself to the evidence regarding the
stifled screams heard bjMra . Ashley in the adjoining house , and asked where the surgeon had found the proofs that stifled screaming was an evidence . oi death bv prussic acid . A succession of stifled screams ¦ was the description given by Mrs . Ashley of the noise she heard . Now where , he would ask , did Mr . Champneys learn that death from pruasic acid was accompanied ky' a succession of stiffed screaming ? Ihe description given in the books was , that death approached by paralysis and gasping , and finished with , one convulsive scream ; but where did Mr . Champneys hear of a succession of stifled screams ? He should next observe tipon a portion of the evidence , which he confessed he remarked with , pain , and that was the evidence of Mr . Champneys with
regard to the state of the lungs . He did not give that portion of his evidence as he should . He fenced with the question as to their congestion . Having commented upon that portion of the evidence and drawn a comparison between Mr . Champneys and the other medical witnesses , the learned counsel said it might be asked if the deceased woman did not die from the effects of prussic acid , of what did she die ? He submitted he was not bound to answer that question . That was an investigation that did not belong to him . They had heard one of the female witnesses who had told them that she poured a little water down the deceased's throat , and foam immediately appeared at the comer , and she fancied or feared that she would be suffocated if the application were
repeated . Now , what was there to show she haduot been actually suffocated by that very draught ol water ? ( Here there was a murmur mingled witk laughter , through the court . ) Mr . Kelly paused a little , and when it had subsided he proceeded—It should be observed that the surgeons had not examined the bronchial tubes . There was , therefore , no evidence that she did not die of suffocation ; and although it might be objected thai such a mode of death would be a very remarkable coincidence , yet they had frequent opportunities of observing the occurrence of most extraordinary coincidences . He-would-mention a very curious and remarkable coincidence which recently occurred in the case of a gentleman of his own profession , one well known to
the members of the legal profession—he meant the late Mr . Serjeant Andrews . In that unfortunate gentleman ' s case , in a moment of delirium , he had made an attempt upon his life , and had cut Ms own throat . Assistance was at hand , and in good time . The wound was sewn up and dressed , and the unfortunate gentleman was in a fair way of recovery , when he was found dead in his bed , the bandagestorn offmost probably in the death struggle—and the wound re-opened . But the flow of blood from it was not sufficient to produce death , and on further examination it was discovered that a blood-vessel had burst
and from the bursting of that blood-vessel he had died . Now , had not that case been thoroughly investigated , the most natural and obvious supposition would have been that he had diedfrom having wilfully torn off ihe bandages &vm his throat . Yet , investigation had established the contrary . Here was an extraordinary coincidence . The learned counsel then read aletter from the prisoner ' s wife to him , which was written ia most . affectionate terms . It was dated on the 1 st of January , the day on which the . murder was committed . It was , proceeded Mr . Kelly ., impossible that a man could receive such a letter and be a bad man . He went down to see the
unfortunate woman an the Wednesday . He saw her and remained with her * an hour or two . Some porter was sent for , and then it was . alleged that he tried to poison her- The woman in the house said she heard high words , and that she-thought they were about money matters , and that he soon afterwards left the house . What was more natural than that after quarrelling he should leave the house , and her annoyance or passion at his not perhaps yielding to her wishes might have caused a fit , and that fit have caused her death . He did not mean to say that this was the case ; the matter was a mystery , bat it was not an unlikely state of things He " did not call upon them , notwithstanding the evidence of the policeman as to what the prisoner
. told him , to say that the woman poisoned herself , nor did he believe that she died of poison at alL Wiflirei-ardto the prisoner ' s being seen running on the night of the death , and to nis going to see HerscheU ' s telescope , because he had time to do so before the train left , they were matters of little consequence . The night "was a cold one , and he might run to warm himself ; and curiosity might Induce him to go to see the telescope . Well , he went to town , and called at various places . He was closely followed , and taken into custody at the Jerusalem Coffee-house . When charged vritQ the crime it was 6 aid he denied it . He might hare done so it was true , and he certainly could not be excused for denying that he had been at Slough ; but was it not natural for a man who was so circumstanced with a woman as he was with Mrs . Hart to deny any knowledge of her , fearing that the circumstance might reach the ears of his affectionate wife ,
and perhaps break her heart ? In common chanty they ought to take these feelings and circumstances into consideration . With respect to his purchasing the two phials of prussic acid , he contended that that was no evidence whatever of guilt . Was it likely that a man of common sense as he was , would go to a shop and purchase a certain quantity of prussic acid , and administer it to a fellow-creature , and then after violating the laws of his country , and rendering himself liable to the highest penalty they couldinflict , go to the same shop , the next day , for the purpose of buying a similar quantity of the poison . Seeing how the case was surrounded with difficulties ; that the evidence was not direct , and cottld not , therefore ., be satisfactory , he trusted that the jury would not break that beautiful and blessed principle of the English law , which gave to those accused of crime the benefit of any doubt which might exist as to their guilt , and that a verdict would be recorded in the prisoner ' s favour .
Mr . Henry Lane , churchwarden of'Berkhampstead ; Mr . Joseph Gomm , master builder , Berkhamprtead ; Mr . Tomkins , coal-merchant , Berkhampstead ; Mr . Joseph Baldwin , of the same place ; Mr . H . Castle , timber-merchant , Millbank , London ; Mr . John Richards , of Dover ; Mr . Abel Salter Trew , who had known the prisoner in Sydney ; the Chevalier Dillon , and Mr . John Gower , gave evidenee in favour of the excellent character in general borne by the prisoner , and to his especially kind and benevolent disposition . At the conclusion of the evidenee to character , the Court adjourned to eight o ' clock on Friday morning .
THIRD DAT .-FEIPAY . Cosvicnox axd Sextbxce !—The Court was again opened at efcrht o ' clock this morning , and was more crowded even than yesterday . Mr . Baron Parke took his seat on the bench at a few minutes after that hour , and the prisoner was immediately brought in and placed in the dock . He appeared much as he did yesterday , with this difference , that his face had a more anxious and worn expression . The feeling of excitement in Court with regard to the issue appeared intense . The Learned Judge , as soon as silence had been proclaimed , commenced * summing up the evidence . His Lordship began by the usual observation , that it had then become the province of the jury to decide upon the merits of tills most deeply important case , and to decide , after having heard from lum those observations which it was his peculiar duty to
make , both upon the law of the case and the evidenee given in it , upon the guilt or innocence of the prisoner who stood there upon his trial before them . The prisoner was charged with the commission of a crime almost unparalleled in the history of human wickedness . The question was one ot fact , and it was the duty of . the jury to consider it , they being the judges of the question of . tact . —His Lordship then proceeded to offer some comments on the present state of the law affecting the forms of prosecution and defence in cases like unto the present . He proceeded as follows : —The case was to be proved , as they had been told , by circumstantial evidence . It was the only sort of evidence that conld be obtained in most cases of a similar nature . The most atrocious crimes were committed in secret / bnt Providence bad eo ordered it that some
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traces were frequently left , which were sufficlentito to lead to the discovery of the perpetrators . The law had , therefore , wisely provided that direct proof of crime was not absolutel y necessary ; but , on the other hand , it was equally true that by circumstantial evidence the case should be so fully made out as to leave no rational doubt of its committal . He { Baron Parke ) should , therefore , advise them ( the jury ) to lay down the rule , that they should first consider what had been proved to their satisfaction , and then to consider whether all those facts were quite consistent with the guilt of the prisoner . Whilst on that part of the question he should observe that the counsel for the prisoner had admitted all those facts , but had asserted that the law required hot
only that those facts should be proved , but thatii should also be shown 'directly that the deceased had died by poison , and that a sufficient quantity of poison to produce death had been found in her stomach . That was not true of the law . ' It was not necessary to give direct and positive evidence in every step of the case . There was no difference between direct and circumstantial evidence , if the evidence was sufficient- to satisfy their minds . that death had ensued frompoison . It was not necessary to prove what quantity of that poison was necessary to produce death by the testimony of any person who had actually seen human life destroyed by it , nor was it necessary to prove that such a quantity as would destroy life had been actually found in the body . They should consider all the
facts of the ease , and if they were satisfied that the prisoner had administered the poison to the deceased , and that she had died of it , it was not necessary to prove what quantity had been administered to her . The only positive fact which the law requires to be proved-was the finding of the body , where such was possible . He said " possible , " because in such a case as a person being cast overboard at sea , for instance , the body could not be produced , and the jury should be contented with positive evidence of the wilful casting overboard . But where possible the body should be proved to have been found . This wa 8 necessary , because formerly persons . had been found guilty of the murder of persons who were afterwards found , alive . The body of the deceased having been foundiWas to be considered whether the
, prisoner had administered poison to her . The quantity was not necessary to be proved . He ( Baron Parke ) agreed with the Learned Counsel for the prisoner that it was necessary to prove that poison had been administered , and that , if it had been , that the question would be—whether it had been administered to the deceased by the prisoner , or i by herself . The only allegation that she , had done so was that of the prisoner himself : and if ithe jury thought the extraordinary story told : by him was worthy of credit , it would agree with the latter mode of accounting for her death . But ii they did not believe it , they had no other conclusion left than that he had committed the crime
iimputedto him . 'fae Learned Judge then proceeded to comment upon the evidence ot Mrs . Ashley and others , who deposed to the perfect health and good spirits of the deceased up to a few minutes previously to the discovery of her lifeless body , and to the medical evidence of her state of perfect internal bodily vigour , leaving no doubt that she had not died from natural causes . He then . went to the evidence of Messrs . Champneysand Pickering , the surgeons , who , on opening the body of the deceased on the dayj following her death , at once smelt the odour of prussic acid . There , ihen , was evidence at once of the presence of prussic acid in the stomach on the day : following a sudden death , accompanied by appearances such as would be symptomatic of sudden death from
that powerful poison . Mr . Cooper , the chemist , had analysed the contents of the stomach subsequently , and found a quantity of pure prussic acid in it . 'His Lordship then proceeded to comment upon the evidence of prussic acid having been in the stomach immediately after death , and to observe ' uponj the allegation of the prisoner's counsel that it was producible from apples , and that it might have been produced from natural causes in the stomach , which contained a . quantity of apple pulp . He pointed out that , from all the' medical evidence , it I was proved that the acid was contained , not in the apple , but in the pip , and the pips were not found in the pulp in the deceased ' s stomach . He also observed that prussic acid had been obtained from thejpips
themselves only by a process of distillation , and was not producible by the mere natural process of digestion in the stomach of a human being . No one would die from eating apple ' pips , although a person might be killed by the prussie acid obtained from them by chemical distillation . Besides , the action of the acid was sudden and immediate , and the deceased had died in the manner she would have done after suddenly swallowing some ; Having drawn attention to the evidence regarding the smell haying been perceptible or not under different circumstances , his Lordship said that all that could be inferred from it \? as , that although the perception of the odour of the acid was a positive proof of its presence , the non-perception was no proof of its not being !
present . As to the deceased having died from the water being poured down her throat , his Lordship saicl It was quite idle to attribute her death to such a cause . At that moment she was not liviug . Death had already done its work . With regard to the quantity of prussic acid requisite to kill a human being , it had been proved that less than a grain would lull in some cases , as appeared by the melancholy instance so frequently referred to of the seven epileptic patients in Paris ; and Mi * . Cooper had proved that more than a grain existed in the stomach of the deceased . He having first found that no other poison existed in the body , he came to the conclusion that prussic acid was the cause of death ; and having tested the contents , he found that sufficient was actually there
to destroy life . His Lordship then went to the consideration of the conduct of the prisoner , and observed that it would he necessary for the jury to couple thai conduct with all the other evidence in order to judge how far it bore out or contradicted the inferences which might be derived from it . After reviewing at some length the various movements and conduct of the prisoner from the time of the deceased's death to the time of his arrest in London . His Lordship read over the conversations of the prisoner with the constables when taken into custody , and then went on . On the 'Friday , about one o ' clock , the prisoner had an interview with his legal adviser ( Air . Williams ) , and after that interview , and not until after it , did he make
any attempt at explanation , or give any account of what had taken place , and the account he then gave was , that extraordinary statement which he ( Baron Parke } should read at full length for them . |( His Lordship read the statement made by TaweB to the two constables , in which he said the poor unfortunate woman had once lived in his service ; and gavp the account of her nutting something out of the phial about the size of' a thimble into her glass , and then drinking it off , &c . ) Here , then , the prisoner , had represented himself as present when the poison was administered , and , as it was found in her stomach , it was for the jury to say whether the qviestion did not amount to the simple one , of whether she had destroyed herself , or the prisoner had administered it .
it he thought that she had been threatening to poison herself , he certainly should at least have stayed to see what the effect would really be upon her . The jury should next observe , keeping that story of the prisoner ' s in mind , that no such phial as that described by him was found in the house . His Lordship here explained' that the bit of half-burned paper which had evidently been used to cover some small bottle , had not been produced by the counsel for the prosecution , but by Ids ( Baron Farke ' s ) own orders , he having found it mentioned in the depositions , and having thought it a matter that should be inquired into . He then returned again to the prisoner ' s conduct , and said that the fact was proved by Mr . Thomas , who had sold him the poison in the morning that
the prisoner had prussic acid in his possession on that day . He ( Mr . Baron Parke ) did not give much weight to the observation of pvisenev ' s counsel that he would not have been likely to go back next day to the same shop for more if he were conscious of guilt , because in eases of murder , especially in cases of murder by poison , it was found that great precaution was not always used . ' . The perpretators did not expect to be at all found out . As to the medicinal use alleged to have been made by the prisoner of this deadly poison , he might have had various views ; but , at all events , it had been shown that he had the poison in his possession—he had the means of doing this act on the day it l » ad been committed . The next question was that of
motive ; and for the purpose of coming to an opinion on that point , his Lordship thought it necessary to give a brief history of the connectlen between the prisoner and the deceased . Having gone through that portion of the evidence which detailed the commencement of that connection , his Lordship came to the scene between the prisoner and tlle deceased in his house , which Baron Parke commented on as showing the extraordinary affection and devotion . of the deceased for the prisoner . With striking selfdevotion she said , that in order not to prevent the union of the prisoner with the lady he was about to be married to , she would go out of the world , and be dead to the world , even to her own mother , from that day forth ; and the jury had heard from that very mother , that from that time she had never heard of her unfortunate daughter until after her death . She
kept that promise . " She did go out of the world , and went from place to place , until she went to reside at Slough . His lordship touched upon all the evidenee regarding the alleged pecuniary circumstances of the prisoner , and read . the letter fror a his wife , in which allusion was made to the anxiety to have the papers from Sydney . The strong facts' against the prisoner were his presence at the woman ' s house about the time she died his declarations before and after hjs arrest , and the fact that prussic acid was found in her stomach . < He' had now given an outline t > f the case , and made the general observations it was his intention to make , and he would next proceed to read over the evidence . The Learned Judge then read the evidence in detail . He then proceeded to say . that he believed he had gone through the whole of the case , and read all the material evidence at length ; and it was for them now to form their conscientious opinions as reasonable men , holding the scales of
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justice between the public and the prisoner . If the evidenee adduced left any rational doubt upon their minds—a doubt which , as sensible men , they thought had weight , but not a trivial doubt created by ingenuity , but a rational doubt—they were bound to give the prisoner the benefit of it . " It was their duty to do . so ,, for they were bound to convict no one on evidence which left any rational doubt upon their minds . But if they thought they couM not explain all tne circumstances of the case—the presence of prussic acid ; and the conduct of the prisoner—if they believed his statements unworthy of credit , and conscientiously thought he was guilty of the offence with which he was charged , it would be their duty for the sake of public justice to find him guilty . He would add nothing more , but would leave the issue in their hands . The Learned Judgesaid there was one
circumstance which he wished also to remind the jury of and to which he had . already adverted , but only in a general way—he meant the good character which the prisoner had received from several witnesses . Such evidence was admissible in cases of this kind , because it went to show the general impression of the habits and feelings of a person . The prisoner was reputed to be a kind-hearted and benevolent man . It was admitted by his counsel that he had been transported for some offence , the nature of which they had not been told ; but it was said that it was not one which was calculated to affect his character for kindness of disposition . His Lordship then read over the evidence alluded to , and left it for the jury to decide in reference to its value to the prisoner in his present position . The Learned Jiulge concluded his summing up at thirty-five minutes after eleven o ' clock , and the jury then vetived to consider tlicir verdict .
''At five minutes after twelve o ' clock the jury returned into court , and a passiige was immediately cleared for them , in order that they might face the prisoner wliilst delivering their verdict . The prisoner looked extremely pale , but advanced to the front of the dock with a firm step . The Cleyk of the Crown said , —Gentlemen , are you agreed to your verdict ? Foreman . —Yes . The Clerk of the Crown . —What say you , is the prisoner guilty or not guilty ? . Foreman ( in a loud and firm tone ) . —GUILTY . . The Clerk of iho Crown , addressing the prisoner , said , —You have been indicted for the wilful murder of Sarah Hart , and you have been found guilty of having committed that murder . What have you now to say that the Court should not give you judgment to die according to law ? The prisoner made ho reply .
The usual proclamation for . silence , whilst the Judge was pronouncing sentence , having been made , The Learned Judge put on the black cap , and addressed theprisoner in the following terms : —Prisoner at the bar , —The juvy have just returned their unanimous and deliberate verdict against you . They have performed their painful duty wider the solemn obligation of their oaths , and it now remains forme to perform my duty , . by telling you that for that horrible , base , and cowardly crime , of which you have been convicted ^ upon clear and satisfactory evidence , yon must die an ignominious and horrid death on the common scaffold . Toil thought to commit that crime , and you thought no eye would see you , except that eye ' which sees all things , and to which you probably
paid no . regard ; but , happily , circumstances were discovered , and numerous cogent and satisfactory reasons have been adduced which have left no doubt on the minds of the jury , as they have none upon mine , nor , I will venture to say , upon the minds of any of that auditory who have been listening with painful attention to the trial , that you are guilty of one of themost diabolical offences that ever man committed . . We now see , almost as it were with oui own eyes , you mixing the poisonous ingredients in the cup from which she was to drink in a moment of unsuspecting confidence on her part , supposing that you were her benefactor and protector . You hurried'heryou hurried her in a moment , without allowing her an instant for the preparation of her thoughts , to
give that awful account for which you have now only a few days left you to prepare . I will say . nothing more of your heinous offence , because I do not ¦ wi sh to aggravate those feelings which I hope and believe are at this moment tearing your mind . I wish it were so , that you may be brought to repent of that grievous sin , and of that course of your life , which has been marked by hypocrisy , during which you wore the garb of a virtuous , peaceful , benevolent , and religious body of persons . I say to you , repent of those grievous indulgences of your passions , and the crimes of which you have been guilty , when in a state of mind so devoid of all feeling as to commit this wicked and cruel murder . I will say . no more . I hope you will profit by the little time left you , which will not be longer than the law allows ; and endeavour to repent of your crimes . Prostrating yourself at the throne of mercy
—seeking ' there , through the grace of the Almighty and the merits of the Saviour , that mercy which you cannot obtain from men . It remains for me to pass upon you now the sentence of the law—thatsentenceis , for the murder whereof you have been convicted , that you be taken from hence to the place from whence you came , and from thence to the place of execution , thereto be hanged by the neck until you are dead , and that your body be taken down and buried within the precincts of the gaol wherein you shall be confined after the passing of this sentence ; and may"God have mercy upon your miserable soul . During the passing of the sentence the prisoner appeared calm and unmoved , but when the last words of the Learned . Judge were uttered the muscles of his face became slightly convulsed , but he walked back into the dock without the assistance of any person .
Notwithstanding the calm demeanour ° f the unhappy criminal throughout the trial , and even while sentence was being passed upon Mm , his strength became exhausted when he descended the ladder which leads from the dock to the gaol-yard . - He fell upon . the ground in a fit , but he was Immediately raised by the gaolers who were conducting him to his cell , and'he recovered in a few minutest His spirits , which , during the time he was in prison previous to his trial , weve unusually good , have now sunk to the lowest possible ebb . Up to a late hour of the evening he continued to pace his cell , and cry " Oh dear , oh dear , what will become of my poor wife and children ! " Dinner was served to him at his
usual hour for eating , but he declined to partake of it . Later in the evening he ate some beef steak . Whether in seriousness or otherwise , his conduct gave evidence of a feeling of certainty that be must be acquitted . He not only invited the person who daily served him with his meals to visit him at his house , but anticipating that his trial would terminate on Thursday night , he actually Lad a carriage in readiness to convey him to his'home . Hisson , by the unfortunate woman Hart ,, was in the court during the trial . lie is a very fine lad , about five years of ago . When the verdict of guilty was prononnced by the foreman of the jury , a murmur of applause was heard in court , but it was at once and very properly suppressed .
Thb Salt-hill Murder . —Since the murder of Lord William Russell bv his valet / . Courvoisier , in 1840 , no event of a similar kind has produced so deep a feeling in the public mind as the " Salt-hill murder . " The early history of the convict , and the more recent events of his life , throw around the affair an air of romance . Transported upwards of a quarter of a century since for having a forged Bank of England note in his possession , lie thus escaped the scaffold for a series of'fovgeries upon a local bank ; the remarkable feature in that extraordinary incident of his life being , that , though the Bank of England note found in his possession when taken into custody on the move serious charge , was a forged one , yet lie was guiltless of knowing it to be forged . It was , however ,
employed as the mode of extricating him from the consequences of the capital offence , for \ "hich , as the law then stood , and the almost invariable execution of its sentence upon all who were brought within its condemnation , he would doubtless have been hanged . Tawell was , therefore , only too glad to plead guilty to a charge which involved transportation , to escape the gallows . In the land of his banishment his good conduct attracted the favourable notice of the authorities , and eventually obtained from them a ticket of leave , enabling him to pursue any avocation lie pleased for his own benefit , and finally emancipation . He had some knowledge of chemistry , and opened a . shop as a chemist and druggist in the town of Sydney , combining with the sale of drugs advice
as to the mode ot using them . His trade increased ; and , having " made some money , " he embarked it in a series of joint-stock trading speculations of a more extensive description , which also succeeded beyond his hopes . He subsequently purchased some shares in a whaler , and speculated in oil , in all which success crowned his exertions . After residing in Sydney about fifteen years , John Tawell left the colonywhich he entered as an outcast—a wealthy man . lie returned home , and to the neighbourhood in which he resided previous to his expatriation . His original offences against society , if not wholly forgotten , were well nigh obliterated from the recollection of those who were acquainted with his early history . Such thought , aiid justly so , that the man who had redeemed his character in a penal colony by a course of industry and integrity , and who had returned home with the fruits of that industry and integrity not to be the
ought placed beyond pale of respectable society on account of offences for which he had repented , and was willing to atone by a future life of honesty and benevolence . Those who were young at the . time of his departure from England , saw in John Tawell an intelligent , active , and prosperous man ; and knowing nothing which ought to deprive hha of then ? respect , they received him to their circles , and c < W > Perated with him in those benevolent exertions to whicti he was willing to contribute from his purse , ' and to aid by Ma personal exertioiw . One feature iti his character at this season is remarkable ; and it 'H ? , ™ . haTe tefen tfte clue to , and the ruling desire of his life , Before the forgery on the Uxbridge bank was discovered , Tawell was a member of the Society of Friends . He was , as a necessary consequence of his detection as a forger , expelled from that respectable » nd Btrictly moral community . Since his return
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¦———————»————tummtmmfmmmm to England his efforts to obtain a restoration to the Society , have been incessant . He subscribed to their schools , andto those benevolent objects in which the members of that sect arc known to take' a peculiar interesi . He 'dressed in their distinctive garb ; attended regularly their meetings for worship ; and in every external circumstance sought to be considered asidehtified with their body , With the characteristic caution of the members of that far-seeing sect , John Tawell was not permitted to be more than an outwardcourt worshipper . In this we offer a \ vMhg tribute to the prudence , and zeal to preserve their body from reproach , by which the Society of FrieridV is characterised . By . their undeviating prudence in such matters , they have , to a very considerable extent , been exempted from the pain of seeing their religious
^ # W ^ f A ^ *^*»^^»« fc »»* » " ~ —^ w ~ ' " — ^ ^^^ " - ¦ ™ ¦ ~ »—^ pjBV BfW community brought under public odium , however ungenerous and unfounded , hy the detection in their fellowship of those , who dishonour and disgrace a religious profession by the commission of crime . By his first wife the wretched man had two sons , both of whom are now dead . The eldest , who was married , practised as a surgeon in London , and after his death us widow was chiefly supported by the charity of Tawell ; but it is currently reported that lately he has not been so liberal in his allowance , assigning the same reason as it is supposed he did to the unfortunate victim of his cruelty , Sarah Hart—namely , the embarrassed state of his affaire in A ustralift . Oil the deatli of Tawell ' s fivst .-wite , he took another decided step to evince his ardent desire to be yet more closely associated with the Society of Friends . He had been
introduced to a lady , a member . , of that community , by whom the mental endowments and moral qualities which constitute the excellences of the female character were possessed in a somewhat extraordinary degree .. Mrs . Cutforth was then a widow ,. having a daughter by , her deceased , husband of about seven years of age .. Mr .. C . utfoi'th had ., been extensively engaged in trade ,.- and was for . a considerable time uccessful . The failure of several firms led eventually s o his . ruin . ; . and although no imputation rested on his tntegrity , and no reproach was cast on liis mariageiment , his health and spirits had sustained a shock from which they never rccpYcrcd , and he gradually sank into illness , which terminated in death . His widow , aided by friends who' knew her in prosperity .
and respected her in adversity , opened a school in Northampton-square , St . John-stueet . for the education of a few young ladies , chiefly members of Quaker families . Thesuccess which attended Mrs . Catfoitli's exertions for the respectable maintenance of herself and daughter , induced her to enter upon a larger establishment at Berkhampstead , which she' was conducting with advantage when Tawell selected her as the object of his attentions , and eventually , against the * advice and remonstrances of her bfist and most judicious friends , obtained her for his wife . They were married at the registrar ' s-otfic ' e , Berkhampstead , in February , 1841 , as the Friends refused to grant ' permission for the marriage to be celebrated in their meeting-house ; and the contracting parties
not choosing , for obvious reasons , to have recourse to any other religious body . The immediate consequence of Mi's . Cutforth ' s marriage to Tawell was , as usual in such cases , a " disowning" of her by a formal act of the "quarterly meeting" of "Friends , " the rules of that body not tolerating a , union , which is not first sanctioned by its members . Although excommunicated , the lady ( now Mrs . Tawell ) continued to attend meetings , and visited , and was visited in return , by her former friends . The school was given up . Tawell ' s income wasi sufficient to maintain an establishment of respectability . They lived in considerable comfort , and in some style . He was active in the parish as a participator in its public business , aud as a promoter of objects of benevolence . It was . however , remarked
that there was & » _ air of bsutle and self-importance about the man which showed a wish to make himself conspicuous—probably prompted by a self-consciousness that there was something to be done in the eye of man to enable him to secure a position to which his right might be , some time or other , questioned . All this time , and while Tawell was endeavouring to earn back for himself reputation and respect , tnerc was a deeply-seated consciousness that lie was in hourly danger of being exposed as a hypocrite and deceiver . During his first wife ' s illness , which terminated in her death , Sarah Hart , a young woman of some attractions , had been her nurse . Immediately
after , if not before her death , an illicit intercourse had commenced between this woman and her master . It was continued at different places . Two children were its fruits . An allowance of £ l a week seems to have been paid for her maintenance by her seducer . At length , wearied with the charge , or move probably prompted by fears of the effect upon his domestic peace and social position , should adiscovery be made of his connexion with this woman , he planned and perpetrated her murder . This was detected in a manner so surprising , brought home to him by a body of circumstantial evidence so complete , as to leave no doubt of his guilt , the atrocity of which removes all sympathy for bis fate .
• ' ' AyiiESBURY , Tuesday : ¦ Some discussion has arisen among the authorities as to how he shall fare during the brief period he has to live , and whether he shall be executed iu the prison dress or in the Quaker ' s dress he wore at his trial . The visiting magistrates met upon the subject oh Saturday ^ and again to-day ( Tuesday ) . It is decided that the condemned man shall have no restrictions put upon his diet , and that he shall die , as he lived , in his Quaker ' s habiliments . Yesterday lie was visited by his wife , his step-daughter , ' Miss Cutworth , and his brother , Mr . William Tawell , who is said to be a draper in London . ' Mrs , Tawell had not seen her husband since Sunday week last . This meeting was thought likely to be a most painful one , and the prisoner had been heard to declare that he dreaded it more than death itself . It lasted for near two hours , after which they expressed themselves astonished a
themannerm which it had beensustained . They evinced great fondness for one another , and Mrs ; Tawell , who mentions him in terms of great affection , does not hesitate to express her firm conviction of-her husband ' s innocence . Her daughter is of a similar opinion . Up to the time" of the trial Mrs . Tawell spoke hopefully and ckeei'fully , and at times confidently , of her husband ' s acquittal . 'Payroll-likewise made remarks , from which it appears that he felt certain of escape . After the meeting in question , Mrs . Tawell said she felt more reconciled to the fate of her husband , but his brother was in a state ol distraction at the doom which has overtaken one so closely related to him . All alike speak of his kindness as a parent , his affection as a husband , his amiability as a friend , and his constant benevolence and unbounded charity . —The day of execution is now fixed for Friday , the 28 th instant .
.. . . Atlesburt , Wednesdat . It is extraordinary with what avidity every morsel of intelligence relating to the murderer John Tawell is sought and snatched up by the public . As may be supposed , many incorrect stories concerning him find their way into circulation , but notliing can be more absurd and reprehensible than some of the inventions which idle gossip has promulgated . Public feeling is , generally speaking , against him ; every day some fresh amount of crime , in the way of poisoning , is attributed to him . Sarah Hart is supposed by the credulous to be by no means the only person upon whom he has practised his knowledge of' chemistry ; and it is suspected that while he kept Ids druggist's shop in Sydney a wide field was open to him for the
exercise of his skill . Ilia paxtnev at Sydney is saul to have died suddenly , leaving him all Lor property . His two sons are said to have left this world suddenly . His first wife , it is stated , died suddenly . Sarah Hart had a narrow escape once ; and these circumstances , in connexion with her murder , by no means lessen the belief of his guilt . By those who have any knowledge of the prisoner he is regarded very differently . Everybod y who knows the wretched man speaks well of him , and everybody who has conversed with him has received a favourable impression . Mild , gentlemanly , and unaffected in his manner , he listens to whatever is said to him witli respectful attention ,. and converses , with all the serenity of a martyr . A convict of the gaol remains
with him at his request throughout the day , as a sort of attendant , and to this man he is particularly communicative . He received the visiting magistrate ' s yesterday with , great composure , and expressed his thankfulness for the consideration shown to him . It was intimated that nobody would be allowed to visit him but those whom he expressed a wish to see , upon which he observed , that he desired to see nobody but his wife , and he looked forward to another interview with her . One of the lungvstvates suggested to him the m-opriety of foregoing such a scene , and sparing the feelings of his wife in particular , of . whom he had so lately taken leave . He , however , persisted iu the wish and hope of again seeing her , meekly alluding
to the affectionate towns upon which they had lived together . It is remarkable that the culprit has never once complained of the sentence which was passed upon him . When the hope of escape ( which had been very great within him ) was suddenly crushed , he observed that "the judge was a just judge , but a stern one . " He has once remarked , with remote reference to his sentence , "that he could conscientiously acquit himself of cruelty or treachery to anybody . " But lie rarely , if ever , adverts to his crime . Mrs . Tawell is known to have been aware of the existence of such a person as Sarah Hart , and even of Tawell ' s-haying children by her ; but she was utterly unconscious of his visiting her , and attributes his last visit to purely humane motives .
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London * . —Cm \ Hall , Tuhnaoai . x-lane . —A meeting of the shareholders of the above hall will be held in the coffee-room / at halt-past ten precisely , on Sunday morning next , March the 23 rd . The discussionsubject , " lioebuck v . the Irish Members of Parliament "—will be resumed at halt-past tun the same day in the hall . In the afternoon , at three o ' clock , the Metropolitan District Council will nieut lor ilic despatch of business in the evening , ut- seven , the discussion—subject , " Isthe ensuing Trades ' . Conference calculated to benefit the Working ! Classes ?"will be resumed . Several . delegates are expected to attend . Cm * Locality . —The ' members of the city locality will npt ' meet till Tuesday week , April 1 st .
King of Prussia , Tooley-stkeet . —At the meeting of . the St . John ' s and St . Olavu ' s . locality on Tuesday evening , last , the present members * of the Executive were nominated for re-election . ' Tlijc members are particularly requested to attend on Tuesday evening next , as the nomination of delegates to the ensuing Chartist Convention , to represent Southwaxk and Lambeth , will take place . ^ - — vS ^ Lambesweu . and WALwofliH . —A meeting ^ iU h& held at ; the Mohtpelier TaVern , Walworth , on Mon-: day evening next , at eight precisely . ;? > '* , C iiJ ^ S ^ T ^ « tin e ^ t ) e held atrthe Sffl ^ Md Thirteen Cantons , ClockJiouse , CtotWrS jjjg ester-square , on Sunday ; evening ^ efght j ^ n . S ^ JwT ? ' ~ ^ VW be held at ' ti ^ StSly ? k-greea-laas > f Tue ^ y . ^ wpg , *
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Most Awful , . . OcouBRENp , Bij at ,, ExEn . ii . —Fiv » Lives Lost . —Monday . Afternoon , ; 1 no o ' clock . —We have to record one of , the mostifriglittul accidents which has occurred in this citL toriuany years . past . At half-past oneo ' clock the cbmniittee . pt the Female Penitentiary , HoUoway ^ treet , ' , assenibled to transact the usual business , and ' several tradesmen , were in attendance to receive-orders ., At those time ? it la customary for . tli ' e / . yiniates to retire into , an , apartment m-ovided . fif ) riiie ,: purpose ,,. sp , , as not to , see or communicate ' with any ot tne .: niale sex . ; , n In , tn © midst of ; the deliberations of tbsmmWto t , ¥ y wer ? all at once alarmed by the most awful and . heart * rending screams ., ; On lbllowing . tjie . dii ; eotion , > Mlienoa they ,, came , . they ' arrived at ; tJig . idqpr , of the . mom Kjfore allndpH tn u-linn n sennn lu'eseiitud itself SUffi *
eiently fcightfi&to , im&t tlw ; Iveaits , -. « f ¦ the Mdfirt , and which . defies altogether our powers of , description . It was at dnceeviiJtent ' tliat thefloor ^ -tiie apartment had given way , and , ' , the occupants , ' . twenty-one ia number , had . beeu . precipitated into a tank of water , > vluch extended underneatU to the size of the floor , and was at that time at .-lcast ten feet decn . In this awful well were the unfortunate beings struggling hr life , and it was only by , thc promptest aid that sufcsn could be extricated from their perilous position , 'i ; ia remaining five were jSooii after taken out , . but wo regret to say life was extinct . Thcthne being sc > near the hour of publication . precludes our giving any more particulars of this sad , affair , nor win , , we afc present give the names of the sufferers . —Exeter Kuws .
Dissolution of the Kensington Union . —By an order dated " Somerset House ; March 11 , 18 ii > , " the poor law commissioners have directed the dissolution of the : Kensington Union , which , order is to . " take effect upon and after the 25 th day of Mavchiinstant . " The above order is the first of the kind which lias been issued by the commissioners under the provisions of the last new poor law , the 7 th and 8 th Victoria , cap . 101 , sec . 63 , which gives power to the poor law commissioners to dissolve unions should they see fit , without the consent of two-thirds of the guardians of that union which was previously required , the introduction of which clause was successfull y pressed upon Sir James Graham , Bart ., M . P ., by Colonel Wood , M . P ., and Mr . "VVakley , M . P ., at the instance of-the
committee appointed by the inhabitants of the parish of St . Mary Abbot , Kensington , whose strenuous exertions to obtain a dissolution of so huge , and unwieldy a union deserves the highest praise . By a second order of the poor law commissioners , bearing the same date , tho parish of Kensington will ia future have « a board of guardians ot" Us own- * eighteen in number—the election of whom will take place on the 10 th of April next . The parish of Paddington . under a similar order , will also in future be governed by a board of eighteen guardians ; and by . ajiburtb . order of the poor law coiuimssiouuL's the parishes of Hammersmith tind Fulham will be joined together , the former having nine guardians and tho latter eight guardians , making a total ot ' fifty-three for the lour parishes , while the number when in
union was only eighteen , viz .: —Kensington , six ; Paddington , five ; Hammersmith , four ; a . nd Fulham , three . The poor law commissioners have also expressed an intention of uniting Kensington witn other parishes not yet specified , for the purposes of district schools ' for the pauper children , and district asylums for casual poor , With regard to the district schools , the churchwardens have been requested to call a vestry meeting for the purposo of memorialising the poor law commissioners against including that parish in a school district , on tho ground that the number of pauper children is quite sufficient to form a district school of itself , the parish , possessing ample convenience for establishing the aame , and tne advantage of certain charitable funds applicable to educational purposes .
Great Western Railway . —On Friday a . poor man , named John Jonathan , a wireworker by trade , proceeded from Bristol to Bath by the third-class ( or cheap ) train of the Great Western Railway . ' Tho carnages employed in this train , although covered , are exposed at the sides , and in the present inclement state of the weather arc , if possible , more inconvenient than the notorious second-class vehicles ol" this line . A coroner ' s inquest was held on the body of th 6 unfortunate man [ at the Full Moon Inn , Bath , on Saturday , when it appeared in evidence that , although the deceased had been tor some tinie labouring under ill health , he left Bristol on Friday morning- not worse than usual ; that he was ' well clad , having double his usual quantity of clothes on : and that the
cough from wluch he had previously been sii tiering had been eased by some medicine prescribed for him in Bristol . On his arrival at Bath , however , he w « as unable to get out of the carriage in which he had been conveyed ; he was removed by one of the porters , and assisted out of the station , thence transferred to the care of one of the boys who wait about the place , and after staggering a few steps ho fell down and expired . He was conveyed to the shop of Mr . Bright , a chemist , in the immediate neighbourhood ; two medical gcntlcrann were ihime » diately gent for , both of whom attended , but their
efforts to restore animation were unavailing . The above facts having been deposed to by various wit * nesses , the jury returned a verdict that , " The dc « ( leased died by the visitation of God , aud that lug death had been accelerated by his exposure to the inclemency of the weather in one of the third-class carriages of the Great Western Railway . " The jury also appended to their verdict a strong recommendation to'the Great Western Railway Company , to carry into effect the Dromised alteration of the second and third-class carriages made by the chairman at the last half-yearly meeting , at as early a period aa possible .
Duath of William Howell ' s Wife . — This unhappy woman , the wife of William Howell , who waa lately executed in this town , expired yesterday week at Hulver . Report states that she died of a broken heart . —Ipswich Express . The late Explosion at Algiers . —The Algerie states , that the day after the explosion of the * gun * powder magazine ' at ' Algiers ( particulars of which will be found in another page ) , 135 men did not respond when their names were called ; of these forty-eight are wounded . The number of artillery soldiers killed was eighty-eight , and the wounded eleven . The cause of the dreadful catastrophe was still unknown . At the bottom of the funnel produced by the explosion , was a small magazine of ammunition , generally containing empty projectiles , but in which were lately stored sonic powder and loaded shells , ' belonging to the navy . The magazine was
hermetically closed by means of four double gates , furnished with new locks . Its walls were extremely thick , measuring seven and a half feet on one side , and mere than four on the other . It had not been entered during a fortnight , and the avenues leading to it were carefully guarded . The singularity of the occurrence gave rise naturally to many conjectures ; nevertheless it appeared almost impossible that the disaster could have beev \ the work of malice . The Stmai > hore de Marseilles of the 15 th instant quotes a letter from Algiers , stating that the body of a negro or Moor had been found under the ruins of the powdermagazine , who had not been recognized by any of the persons belonging to the naval department . It was thence believed that he might have been induced to commit " an act of fanaticism , " of which he fell the first victim , but nothing positive was known on the subject . ¦
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CnuD Burnt . —On Friday evening week , a little girl , aged nine years , daughter of Mr . ihomas Williams , c « wherd , residing at No . 1 , Half MoonT court , Stanhope-street , Clare-market , wbs dreadfully burnt , in consequence of her clothes haying ignited while playing before the nre . It appears that the mother had gone out for work ( being employed m the army tailoring business ) , and left the sufferer alone amusing herself on the hearth , when the poker fell out of the fire upon the . child ' s pinafore , which instantaneously communicated witn the whole of her clothing . She is severely burnt about the body and head , one of her ears being literally burnt off . She was immediately removed to King ' s College Hospital , little hopes being entertained of her recovery .
Easter Holidays. ' '
EASTER HOLIDAYS . ' '
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MfflCH 22 , 1845 . THE NORTHERN STAR , ..:::: ..... 5
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Northern Star (1837-1852), March 22, 1845, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/ns/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1307/page/5/
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