Aug. 10,] 



THE NEWSPAPER. 



[1844. 



R^ber 



^ the duracur and genius of Burns, and con- 



br M-oposinc * welcome home to the sons of 



Th list was drunk with great applause. Mr. 



B , , acknowledged the toast in appropriate 



, n d 8 meeting was afterwards addressed by Sir 



i U-Vrill. Mr. Alison, Mr. Ayioun, Col. Mure, the 



I'Jd J«t let General, &c. The company broke up 



]fZ J, o'clock. The weather up to five o clock. 



uELh broken and showery, was sufficiently pro- 



^■^^rgiung full effect to the demonstration. At 



*. her, bowe.er, .he rain began to fall heavily, and 



cootioacd to 



do so till the whole multitude had dis- 



ment, but not at the suggestion of any foreign power, a 

 warrant to open and detain Mr. Maxxiui'i lt-tters. Su. 

 information deduced from those letters as appeared to 

 the British Government calculated to fru b this 

 attempt was communicated to a foreign power ; but the 

 information so communicated was not of a nature to 

 compromise, and did not compromise, the safety of any 

 individual within the reach of that foreign power ; nor 

 was it made known to that power by what means, or 

 from what source that information had been obtained." 

 The committee in conclusion suggest that the authority 

 for opening letters is now comparatively useless, aa there 

 are many other means of rapidly communicating intelli- 

 gence besides the Post-office, and they leave it to 

 Parliament to decide on the proper measures to be 

 pursued, either lor governing its use, or abolishing it 

 altogether. 



^usceliaiuous. 



O Ace E>]>it»«i</e.—The Reports from the Secret 



rnaawftr- of bot llouses of P arliament ha?e been 

 aSiabel this week. The Report of the Lords is very 

 Jhor It tes tliat tne investigation of the Committee 

 was confined to the general practice of the Post-office 

 - a .jl ', and that the power of opening letters was 



tifr tVute in the reign of Queen Anne, and recog- 



*ite.l iii subsequent reigns; and that since 1822, lfi 

 warrants have been issued, averaging about eight per 

 annum. 1 -e were generally for the purposes of jus- 

 lice. But "a second class of warrants" have been 

 inued at periods when the circumstances of the country 

 Uve seemed to threaten public tranquillity. The war- 

 tmH j, n of letters of this class have scarcely, 



vpoa an average of 21 years, exceeded two annually in 

 Great Britain ; and though under some of the warrants 

 not a* single letter has been opened, under others many 

 kave been detained and examined. The Report says — 

 " It does not appear that from any one of these letters 

 specific knowledgeof greatimportance has been obtained," 

 bat "• it is the concurrent opinion of witnesses who have 

 told high office, and who may be most competent to form 

 a sound judgment, that they should reluctantly see this 

 power ab' led." The power of issuing warrants, 

 which was first granted by the Irish Act, 23 and 24 

 Geo. 3, to the Lord Lieutenant or other Chief Governor 



or Governors of Ireland, has been very sparingly used, ..,.-. , , , , . j .u • -s 



wr , , , j i 1 *i . concluded by saving that he could not supersede the com: 



and the number issued does not average more than two urilesS Mr Som i )re . s reC overy were clear I decided; but, ad- 



ILm. 



Court of Ciiavc: rv.— In re Dyce Sombre — Lunacy.-— This 

 p"t M to s -ede the commission of lunacy iuued against 



Mr. Sombre was argued for eight days, and then allowed t 

 over in order that his Lordship might have an trtunity 



personally examining that gentleman in conjunction with t! 

 pin ians. On Thursday his Lordship gave judgmi Hi' begs 



ving t hat the case had been argued at \ leaf 



and a great quantity of evid< e, cos ting of affidavits an 

 documents, was laid before the Court in support of tin gall- 



on one side and the other. 1 read and con - li 



that attention which the Importance of the subject appear 

 demand, it was a question with respect to which be had felt 

 much in* it and anxiety, not merely an aca ' its n 



- the interests of the individual whose s *s of mind was 



the sublet in quesi i, but also because It was supposid that the 

 n of that Court, or rather the verdict of the jury 

 .lission issued, and on the ant) ue Court, was at 



sriance with the opinion expressed by nn rson> of gi 



skill and science, who, under tin- authority oft Prefect of Polios 

 in Paris, made a report with fear ec» to the its if Mr. ^ re's 

 mind in the month of D r last. Twoquesti is, mainqucs- 



ti , had been argued. The h . whether Mr. nor- er was 

 ofu undmind: whether the finding of the jury could, in fact, 

 on the evidence be support il ? and, in the next place, whether, 



ipaosing him to* have been of unsound mind at that period, h 

 had now recovered his self -possession, and was at that moment of 

 sound mind, and in a fit state to be intrusted with them 

 ment of his affairs, sad with the care of his own person ? These 

 questions his Lordship entered into at great lengt . and after a 

 clear and comprehensive review of all the evidence on both sides, 



annually, and these have been principally for the detec- 

 tion of suspected criminals. The committee state that 

 they have examined into the case of the petitioner whose 



Etition has been referred to them. "It is true that 

 r. Mazzini'i letters were for about four months stopped 

 and opened, under the warrant of the Secretary of State 

 for the Home Department, and inspected by the Secre- 

 tary of State for Foreign Affairs, upon an apprehension 

 that he was engaged in a correspondence having for its 

 object dehigus which might be injurious to the tran- 

 quillity of Europe. Certain parts of the information 

 thus obtained were communicated to a foreign govern- 

 ment, in so far as such a communication appeared to be 

 warranted, but without the names or details that might 

 expose any individual then residing in the foreign country 

 to which the information was transmitted to danger." 

 In conclusion, they add that ** it appears to have for a 

 long period of time, and under many successive adminis- 

 trations, be, :i an established practice, that the foreign 

 correspondence of foreign ministers, passing through the 

 General Post-office should be sent to a department of 

 the Foreign. office before the forwarding of such corres- 

 pondence according to its address. The Postmaster- 

 Gwerai, having had his attention called to the fact that 

 there was no sufficient authority for this practice, has 

 •*•« June discontinued it altogether." The report of 

 the Commons is very much fuller than the report of 

 *ne reers. The Commons committee give a succinct 

 ~ carious history of the origin of the British Tost- 

 orace, and trace the rise and progressive exercise of the 

 P°*er of opening letters on official authority and statu- 

 °*{ P owe r. Indeed the report, in this respect, is a 

 valuable historical paper ; and the facts disentombed 



Th^r^fi PUblic record « have hitherto been unknown, 

 itte KoMs, the Privy Council, and the State Pat>er offices 

 nave furnished these valuable materials of the Commons' 



mfv ki Ch ' in its am P le and critical details, is a re- 

 (V , contra *t to the report of the Lords. The 



ommons committee further supply all the data and 

 ^^^ the general statements in the Lords' report. 

 I^Ia * rC j ^ ,veB °f the number of warrants annually 

 5^' and aIsj o « list of the different Secreraries of State 

 ' J ^J* 06 * 8 ** 6 Administrations, have signed warrants. 

 eate t» *'. m tne relative numbers of each year, indi- 

 .ie particular occasion which caused any excess of 



^^ge— such y ears > for instance, as the social disturb- 



m Lancashire during the last quarter of a centurv, 



e more recent outbreak at Newport. The number 



ati i issued from 1790 to 1844 was 372, being an 



twQ ~ " u ' e more than 8 warrants a year, and about 



there r80D8 ° n an avera ge for each warrant. In 1839 



LcnlXo 1 ^ 1 ^ wa r rant8 issu ed by Lord J. Russell and 



details of 



tioa k*/i3' la2zmi » the report states that a represcnta- 

 ^Kn-ao? ma<ie to the British Government, from 



•STr**' tlmt PM* o' which Mr. ."U.-.zzini m*t the 

 a« i^L.^ C8rr T»ng on upon British territory to excite 

 rrect.on in Italy, and that such insurrection, 



Peculiar " 88Un " iC a formidable aspect, would, from 

 Europe p 2!' Ucal . circumstance.:?, disturb the peace of 



*ent tn"» v*'i C ^ riti8 ^ Government considering the ex- 

 to w B'ch British interests 



^^tensnee of that 



verl ,' to Mr. Lawrence's opinion that such was the condition i 

 Mr. Sombre's mind that he might, if confined, become hop 

 insane, his Lordship said, before he made any final order. 1. 

 wished to sug I to Mr. Sombre's counsel, that if he was »i ling 

 to go to Paris or the Continent, in company with any genl i in 



whom the Court had confidence, no material im; ment wou 

 arise to his doing so, and objection would be made. He would 

 make no order for a day or two, in order that these matters niinlit 

 he arranged, and also that some other person might be associated 

 with the wife as committee of the person. The delivery of the 

 judgment occupied three hours and a half. 



Si'mmkr Assizks.— Norfolk CiacuiT, Norwich.— James 

 1 i, aged 35, was charged with the wilful murder of his three 

 children on the Sth April last. When called on to plead to the 

 indictment, he said guilty enough in the eyes of the world, bat 

 not of God. In early life the psiaonni became attached to the 

 Primitive Methodists, and before he had attained to m mhood, 

 and before he could read or write, was d nguisbed among 

 that sect by the zeal and energy of his religious tone and feel- 

 igs. In the. course of a short time h* took a dr ed lead 

 among the congregation, and was esteemed a "powerful 

 preacher." He was esteemed by all who knew him and 

 thought with him. Some of his fellow-workmen devised a 

 scheme to shame him. On om- unlucky evening they seduced 

 him into a debau h, and drugging his beer, succeeded in 

 making him completely drunk. The scandal which this affair 

 entailed on his religious pursuits resulted in his disminsal from 

 the pulpit, and he was no longer allowed to preach. This cir- 

 cumstance weighed on his mind and spiiits, and deeply op- 

 pressed him. He became moody, sull n, and reserved. Soon 

 after this he married, but fell sick of typhus fever, and for 

 seven weeks he was out of his mind. His love for his young 

 wife changed to loathing. He subsequently, however, became 

 more himself, and in this state of things the prisoner's family, 

 consisting of three little girls, grew up around h<m, and about 

 ten weeks before the 8th April, his wife bore him a fourth. 

 Notwithstanding his delusions, he was a tond and affectionate 

 husband. On tha day in qiustion, his wife found him hitting 

 mood ly by the fie. A policeman coming iu soon after, dis- 

 covered a bloody hamnur in the pantry, with which the des- 

 perate man had literally smashed the skulls of his t! ■ eldest 

 children. When his master came in, he said to him, when 

 asked whether he had thus butcht red his innocent children 

 under an idea that he would get them to heaven, that " he 

 hoped so," and admitted that he had I imp ed their death 

 with the hammer. Oti this he was takeu to a in ibouring 

 pi c bouse, whence, after the inquest, which tcrmiuated in 

 verdicts of wiiiu! murder, he was removed to Norwich Castle. 

 When parting with friends, who were all in fears, he as- 



imed a ok and attitude of joy, and sung " Glory be to 

 God." The evidence of these fdCt> left n > doubt of the 

 insanity of the prisoner, who was acquitted i n tt.at ground. - 

 j J Puul. a middle aged man, and of very respectable appear- 



ance. was charged with feloniously attempting to administer 

 arsenic to Mr*. Meek and to her household, within the city of 

 Norwich. Tbe prosecutrix is an old lady near 80 years of age, 

 and tbe p' ner, though nominally her godson, is reputed I 

 be her illegitimate son. Be that as it may, Mr. Paul was 

 always a welcome guest at the house of bis connection, which 

 was situated in the precincts of the cathedral, and to all appear- 

 ances the strongest affection and regard existed between them, 

 and seemed to warrant the conclusion to which the pi c had 

 Jong since arrived as to the real situation of the parties. On 

 tne Mr h of April, Mr. Paul came as usual to pay a lie it to his 

 relative, and the cook saw hia> pass tbe kitchen window, aoon 

 after which she heard the, safe-door unl eked and locked. 

 Deeming it an odd circumstance, the cor.k went inr<> the pantry 

 where • '-he saw the safe door open, and the prisoner walk 

 from the safe to the kitchen door. An unimportant coi r- 

 sation took place between them, and he quitted the room, but 

 not befora she had remarked that Lis trousers were smeared 

 with a white pow dti near the pocket. A* soon as he bad goi, 

 away she saw him and tbe pros-ecutrix walking arm in arm m 

 the garden, appai Uy on their usual aff<-tti n«! '*Wg 



Repairing to the safe, the girl f .d a kin of mutto jUMr. 



as it it had been recently touched by sosse one, while under it 

 was sprinkled *o«»e white powder. Alarm* d at Una, she 

 examined the meat, and, alter a close uiveatigatkm, nuatied 

 herself th<tt a bole bad been made in the joiut under the/. t, and 

 a quantitv of the same powder in ted into it. lh» discovery 

 she fir: immunicated to her feUow servant, ai*d then to her 

 mistress, but not before she had locked up tie meat in tne tare. 



On that evening prisoner name 



ok tea with Mi 



« M ~ . jere involved in the -£^^^ 



peace, issued on their own judg- j tQ ^^ai analybis aud cxamiiMtio*, «t>cfa Ust* were applied 



he powder discovered la It that no doubt whatever remained 

 tl; t it wat arsenic, and i fttat quantity; whereupon, tbm 

 »oner was appreheaded on tho preset* nrf r The jurr # 

 after the surmninj: op of tbe learned jod-c. who aatd the 

 question was one of Went at e4 the priaoatr, who. 

 throughout the procewiHan, had manifeated a wonderful com 

 pofture and ease of deportment. 



Northern CiaceiT, Nkwcastli.— Mark Sfttrwtotft, a crav- 

 haired man above the middle ajre, and whoae face bore traces 

 of habitual indulgence n> J0Q8 liquors, was indicted for 



the wilful murder of his wife, Ann Sherwood, on the Mth of 

 March last, by cutting her throat. Frisoi.tr had not been 

 living latterly with hi« wife, who resided at Gateshead, bat be 

 returned in the day in question, and a scuffle is supposed to 

 have arisen between him and his wife, which eadad in her 

 death. The Lord Chief Baron summed up. The rule of Uw 

 was that lien one person was wilfully the cause of the desth 

 of another, he was p rim & facte chargeable with murder. If, 

 however, the death arises from a blow struck in a conflict co«a- 

 menced without any such intention, and where the patty in 

 flirting the blow has been the objec f personal riolen in 

 some cases it may be manslaughter. It i* not, however, every 

 amount of asssult which would reduce the crime t oan- 

 slaughter. An attack of a gi eras character, followed by 

 instant retaliation, ) t<> iucing death, would frequently be of 

 th»» kind, bat in f ca*e the nature of th< any, 



and the nature of the retaliation must betaken into considera- 

 tion, l h<- offence would Mill be murder, if a slight attack were 

 resented s murderous weapon, sa as would probably, ia 



the knowledge of the par g it. produce death. mere 



words would he a sufft provocation f tin re was any 



►nflict whatever, the language accompanying of a hurhly 



i intHing character, and t asw eaaite a man's 



muc!i as the most grievous assault, might very 

 properly he taken into coo side ratfcm. The great question 

 which they had now to coasider was, whether they were 

 satisfied that anything nan st morning v h woaM 



hnng the present case within the scope of the plas so 



laid down, and redm the offenee from the higher to the tower 



class. His Lordshi) en went tfcrou] teevtdeoac with great 



care and minuteness. The jury remained in consultation up- 

 wards of six hours, and finally returned a rcr< M v tf of 

 murder. Bentenoe of death was passed oo the prisoner ia the 

 usual form. 



Wbstbrm Cis. r. lionmv.— itattkew Wttk§ wat tried for 

 the wilful murder of Charlotte Dj »d, in the pariah of David- 

 stowe, Cornwall. The prisoner, who is only 2 ears .ige, 

 ketl sullen and dogged, and on being cai: plead, an- 



swered iti an almo de voice, 4# y. m Pitsonar 



and decea re ft w-servants at a Mrs. Peters**, at Penhall 



PArm, lhividstowe. Deceased was abf mi t It years ol a«e, and 

 was possessed of considerable personal attiacttans. 

 prisoner bad keptcompanv for some thae, and there wan n 

 to believe that he was Jealous of her, particularly with regard 

 to a youni: 1 named Prout, who had called at Mr*. Petars's 

 on the morning deceased was killed, and had made aa appoint 

 ment to meet her that night at chapel. It did not appear con 



v by the evidence whether the prisoner had overheard 

 this conversation or not, but there was reason to bclu ve that he 

 had. In the afternoon prisoner and deceased came down stairs 

 together, when deceased, addressing Mrs. Peters, said, that she 

 should not be home at milking time, hut Matthew (the prisoner) 

 would. They then went away together, with every appearance 

 of the most friendly feeling. Mrs. Peters saw nothing more of 

 then, until hall n'ne, when prisoner returned alone, w >ut 



deceased. About a mile limn Penhall Para are the Davidstowe 

 Moors, a wild and desolate track, seldom crossed by persons oa 

 a Sunday. A farmer named t * , who knew deceased and pr. 

 soaer perfectly well, and who had some fields out by this moor, 

 happened to be there on Sunday afterno n In question, for the 

 purpose of looking after some wheat. He saw prisoner and de- 

 ceased jm ed along the road to a place called the Higher 

 Down Gate, which led t > the 1 >r, and they were subsequently 

 seen together by another farmer. When the poor girl was 

 missed the prisoner denied all knowledge r>f her, baton the fol- 

 lowing Wednesday her murdered body was foun I in the moor, 

 and when the prisoner's clothes were exam 1 marks 0/ blood 

 were found upon them in several places. The Jarj , after 

 short deliberation, returned a veidi< I "Guilty.* The 

 Judge then proceeded t ass on the prisoner the last sentence 

 the law — that he mu*t die. The j>ri?oner, on he 4 ring his 

 sentence, fainted away, and was so removed from the dock. 



Midland Circuit, > rriaoaaw.— W\ im , aged ?$>, 



a frame- work knit * r, of New Radford, was charged wit he 

 murder of Ann Saville, his wife. There were three other indict- 

 ments against the prisoner, charging ).»r:i with havii g murdered 

 Hairtet, Bfary v aad Thomas Saville, his children. The prisoner 

 waa a frame-work knitter, and in May was lodging at Radford. 

 His wife and three children had been in the workhouse, but bad 

 come out on the Monday preceding the Tuesday day the 



crimes 10 qu ion were alleged to have been committed. It 

 appeared that Saville had been paying some attentions to a 

 young woman named Tate, and the only motive that suggested 

 itself to the mind for the commission of these murders was, 

 that he wished to get his wife out of the way, and nd himself of 

 ie iiicumbiance of his children. It appeared that when the 

 poor woman left the workhouse with her children, she said she 

 would go in search of her husband, and on the following morn- 

 ing the husband, wife, and children were seen in ! ting ham 

 together. On Tuesday evening Saville was heard to say he sup- 

 posed his wife had drowned herself, and suspicion being ex cited, 

 inquiry was set on foot, and on the Wednesd> he bodies were 

 found by a man who went into the plantation t > get something 

 lor his rabbits, where he saw three little uhfkfreu lying, as he 

 thought, asleep— one had its eyes open. L oking at the girls 

 he saw them wounded— further from them the body of the* 

 woman was discovered with her throat dreadfully cut, and a 

 razor in her hand, but quite loo*e, so that it would appear to 

 have been placed there. The body of the woman was a few 

 ards front the children ; she lay stretched, as though dragged ; 

 the children lay together. Thecvulence proved thai the prieooar 

 was seen near ta aad f*fog in the direction of the S]x>t in que*, 

 tion with his wife and children on tbe Tuesday. Two men saw 

 the prisoner, his wife, and children, sUtfng on a bank within 20 

 varus of where tbe bodies were found. The children were 

 gathering flowers. Saw the same man, some time aft rr, come 

 from the plantation alone; as he passed he looked very white. 

 A case of as strong circumstantial evidence was made out as 

 could well be. The Learned Judge having summed up, the 

 jury returned a verdict of * 4 Gaifcy," and the prisoner was sen- 

 tenced to death. The prisoner was removed from the dock, not 

 having betrayed the least emotion of ai.y kind during the whole 

 proeee<lsng,aaleas it wan w hen the > t uivg woman Tate was under 

 examination : but even then it waa hut momentary. He was exe- 

 cuted on Wednesday, and the crowd nnthr nrnaslisa was so great 

 that 12 persons were crushed to death, and many others severely 

 favored — Covsnth v.— Susanna Jam*, aged IJ, a g<rl of «"iW 

 aad rather pre posseasAag appearance, was charged with having, 

 on the aid of Ajwil last, murdertd Emma GoMnby* •«*^_ , f r 

 months* The facts of this case lay ia a narrow 

 Lave been already noticed in this Paper. Tba 

 drceaaed kept the Wheel Tavwn, ia Coventry, the ^^ 



acting as nurse-maid. It ap *•* .»at a abort time P rtf * , "J 



to the murder she had incurred her mistress* disp«*»«nrc^y 

 bringing the child home covered with scrat«as f wneo 

 told if she did not take care aha •>— '* >»?•■ a !"2J th . k-v- 

 On the night of the murder Ma OaMebf had P 1 *^^ ~^ 

 in a cradle in the kitchen, and had gone ap -J« ^ "J£j 



down stairs^ ^« ™ rt r SS^f d c Eg the child in her arms, 

 mother went to the cradle, ano m*' \, JT,,,,* «« m „ r Hpr •» =>— 

 found it covered with blood. «he called out murder. 



•f the 



She 



