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1 T ~ n THE LEADER . [ No ; 298 , Saturday ,
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OUB ¦ CIVILISATION . t fiENTBAX Criminal Court . —James Worlhington tfaude and Edwin Whitby , were tried at the Central Criminal Court on a charge of obtaining a moneyorder under felse pretences , and were acquitted . The facts as stated in evidence at the Mansion-house , appeared in the Leader laat week . The defence was that the prosecution had been got up in order to extract money from the friends of the accused , and that . Messrs . Kemp and Clay , from their knowledge of business , must have been aware that the bills were * oeammodation bills . —William Heath and Thomas Pope , bargemen , hare been acquitted on the charge # jetaJUed in last week ' s Leader ) of causing the death q £ a woman in the Regent ' s-canal ; Mr . Justice Erie having directed that they had done the best they could * for the woman , according to their degree of intelligence . —Emedio Andreoli has been found guilty < p £ sending a threatening letter to a countryman , with a -view to extort money , under circumstances which were described in a former impreasion of this journal . Mr . Justice Erie , who believed that the secret society % & which the prisoner professed to belong had no existence , sentenced liim to hard labour for eighteen jponths . A Double Murder by a Mother . —Mary M'Neill , % young woman about five-and-twenty years of age , has murdered two of her children by cutting their throats with a razor . The facts were described in evidence before the magistrate at Worship-street , Sghen it appeared that the woman was unmarried , and Jived at a house in Murray-street , New North-road , which she let out in lodgings . One of her lodgers vas a working man , named Pickering ; and this man stated that for some days previous to the murder she had been very " troublesome" to him and his wife . Jler spirits had been low ; she had fretted a good deal about not being married , and had complained that she was miserable , that the place was dirty , and that she had nothing to wear . She seemed , said the witness , as though she wanted to be shut up l > y herself ; and on the nig ht previous to the murder she had complained of her baby being ill . On the following morning , Piokering found the woman ' s cashbox on the stairs , and went to her bedroom-door to tell her of it . On knocking , he heard her say from within , " Oh , what have I done J what have I done ! what have I done ! " Pickering replied , " Done ! why don't you know ? You have left your cash-box on the stairs . " At that instant , he pushed the door a little further open , and saw the baby lying on the bod with its throat cut . Overcome with horror , he dropped the cash-box , ran into the street , and fetched a policeman . It was then found thatanother child was also murdered . A razor , and a towel on which bloody hands had been wiped , were likewise discovered . The surgeon who was called in , mentioned at the police-office a circumatanoe full of fantastical horroi \ He said that on the forehead of the eldest child ( who wotild seem to have 'been killed after the infant ) he perceived " the mark qf a largo hand in blood . '' The woman , who trembled violently during her examination , was remanded , and has . since been committed for trial . > . A lijiaAL Subtlety . — The conviction of Cosmo William Gordon , who , together with Dauiel Mitchell Davidson , was found guilty of felony in the course of laat AuguBt , has been quashed on a point of law . The . two bankrupts had left the country before their bankruptcy , and only one notice of adjudication was served , whereas there should have been two—one for each bankrupt . This objection , after considerable argument before the judges , was considered fatal to the oonviotion . Suicide and Fanaticism in the Hj [ QHLAHnfl . - ^ A private of the Argyll and Bute Rifles , named James M'Gregor , recently committed suicide by shooting himself with his musket . He was fouud in his roam , dxeeaed in fatigue olothes , with a handkerchief over his eyes , and the musket laying between his legs . He bad . evidently plaoed the muzzle of the rifle in hia m « uth , and drawn the trigger with the toe of his right foot , whioh waa divested of the shoe and stocking . The man had been observed for some time to be ip . xleaponding apirits , and there is no doubt thut ho waa insane when he destroyed himself . A great dispute , however , rose na to whether he should be buried in oonaeorated ground , or merely thrown into a deep hoie in a field , with a stake through the breast . The managers of the churchyard determined that the auioido should be buried aooording to the usual forms ; but four privatos and a sergeant of the regiment got possession of tho body , carried it out one evening in ft boat to tho Sound of Oban , and flung it into tho * 00 » unoofnned . A Burglarious CoNsriKACY . —Tho police of Bristol lately gave information to tho bankers of that city thftt they suapootocl an attnok would bo made ou their houaea by a gang of burglars . A oluo to tho ooutompktod design was obtuincd through a message whioh ome one ondeavoured to pass to an accomplished burglar in tho Bristol gaol . An investigation is being DMoe into the conduct of souto of tho subordinate ofitaoiw of tho prison . Taw Cash ov a « o » aai Semy , Bankrujpt . —Tho
facts of this bankruptcy were published m our lasi week ' s paper . The bankrupt having since applied for his certificate , Mr . Commissioner Goulburn delivered final judgment on Monday . This was that the certificate Bhould be suspended for two years , to be dated from the day when the certificate was first applied for , and when issued to be of the third class , and the bankrupt to be unprotected for six months . > "Alice Grey . "—To the surprise of all in court , the jury at the Oxford Assizea have declared " No true bill" with regard to this woman . She was therefore set at liberty ; but Bhe has been again taken into custody on other charges of a similar nature . She requested to be allowed to pass the night after her acquittal in gaol , in order to avoid the observation of the crowd ; and this led to her second detention . She was examined on Wednesday before the Birmingham magistrates on a charge of perj ury , and was remanded . On being told she was remanded , she replied , " Oh , very well ! I think I'll be well tried and purified at last . " And as she was being removed , she observed ., " I don't see my friend the Rev . Mr . Morris here ; " adding " Give me anything but a divine !" During the examination , she was allowed to sit , as she said she was too unwell to be able to stand up ; but such did not appear to be the case . The Burnopfield Murder . —Two men are in custody under suspicion of being concerned in the death of Mr . Robert Stirling , the surgeon . A Captain Charged with Embezzlement . —Captain Thomas Taylor , of the 5 th West York Militia , has been charged with embezzling the sum of . £ 300 , moneys belonging to her Majesty . He was remanded , and being unable to find the required bail , which was very heavy , he was removed in custody . Fbatricide . —Two brothers at Clayton West , near Barnsley , had a quarrel about something in connexion with the wife of the younger , when the elder stabbed his brother in several places with a knife . Death ensued almost directly . The murderer is now in custody . Destitution and Crime . —Benjamin Butcher and Charles G . Wormsley , two miserable looking young men , pleaded Guilty at the Hertford Assizes to a charge of setting fire to a stack of clover hay and a stack of haulm . When before the county magistrates they had said that destitution had forced them to the crime , and that they had intended to burn more stacks . The Judge , in sentencing both youths to six years' penal servitude , remarked that the offence was a very shocking one , for they must be aware that destroying property could not do them any good , and was not the way to procure them relief . Now , in the first place , it is a strange definition of crime to say that it is wrong because it does no good to the criminal ; and secondly it is a palpable evasion of the fact to tell the wretched creatures that their offence was not the way to procure them relief . It had procured them relief , and will continue to procure it for six years to come . Truly , a mode of procuring relief which should make society ashamed of itself ; but it is at once wrong and useless to attompt to blink the facts . —Another conviction for rick-buming has taken place , with fourteen years ' transportation ; and a fire , supposed to be incendiary , has ocottrred among the hay stacks of a farmer at West Bridgeford , near Nottingham . Some outbuildings also were destroyed ; and one man is in custody under suspicion . Robbing the Crown . —John Moah has been found Guilty at the Chester Assizes of fraudulently applying to his own purposes a general balance of £ 5 , 000 , the property of the Crown . He had filled the office of Inland Revenue receiver for the Chester collection ; but it would seem that ho was involved in turfspeoulations , and had usod for his own debts the money which he ought to have transmitted to the Government . For tho last two years he , had been permitted to hold an unsunlly largo balance in his hands . This at longth amounted to as much aa £ 6 , 000 ; and an account was asked for by the Surveyor-General . In roply , Moah handed over £ 280 , and a post-oflioe order for 14 s ,, saying that was all ho had in tho world , nud that he had spent the rest . Notwithstanding the verdict of guilty , sentence was not pronounced , as it is understood that the case will bo arguod beforo the Court of Criminal Appeal , to roverse the verdict . Ex'I'iSNSiVK Robbery . —William Griffiths , a warehouseman , in the employ of Messrs . Davis and Co ., of Houndttditoh , niorohants , haa been committed for trial , on a charge of robbing the firm to a very considerable amount in goods . A Theatrical Quarrel . —Alexander Ferrari , an intorpreter , waa charged , at Bow-stroet , with assaulting Mademoiselle Julio Bouquet -with a wallcing-canc . Julie was engaged to be married to a Sonor Marcos Diaz , a Spanish dancer , now performing at the Strand Theatre ; but it appears that Mademoiselle ia warm in her temper , aud , aooording to tho statement of one or two witnesses , had aorntohed tho face of Diaz behind the eoenoH , and had thrown him down a flight of stairs—emulous , ob it would seem , of tho grand exploit of Lord ErnoBt Vane Tempest . However this mny be , Julie , upon her own confession , hnd a quarrel ¦
; with Diaz upon his refusing to abandon his dancing pursuits . Following him out of the theatre , she re-L newed the quarrel , with supplementary matter in the shape of violence ; and the devoted Ferrari , who was I a servant of Diaz , struck the lady to defend his , master . Before the magistrate , the dancer repudiated this assistance ; and Ferrari was fined £ 4 , which he immediately paid . Wife-beatino . —James Elliott , labourer , was charged , at Worship-street , with an outrage on his wife . The woman had been married thirty years , but her husband ^ during the last seven had contimially ill-used her . Four times she had had him up at that office , but had not once appeared against him ; and she had lost her sight in one eye owing to his striking her on the head with a stick . On the present occasion , besides blows with a fist , he had struct her on the head with a knife , though without any provocation ; and , on her wishing to leave the room , he drew a line across the floor , and swore he would cut her throat from ear to ear if she stirred . Notwithstanding this violence , she tried to beg the ruffian off ; but the magistrate would not listen to it , and sent the man to hard labour for six months . —Robert Tucker , a table-knife cutler in Clerkenwell , has been sentenced to six weeks' hard labour for a violent assault on his wife . Criminal Condition of Somersetshire . —From , the letter of a private correspondent , we learn that an attempt at burglary was made some few nights sinoe at the house of Mr . Babeir , of Claverbam , but was defeated by the ringing of an alarcn bell . The condition of that part of Somersetshire is at the present time very alarming to those who have to live there . The gang of last year is still in existence , and actively employed ; and our correspondent states that lie is acquainted with a gentleman who has a man to sit up every night to watch . " What we want , " adds the writer , "is a good strong rural police . Somersetshire is now becoming the receptacle for gentlemen with black crape over their faces ; and , owing to oxir not having any real constabulary , crimes are being constantly committed . Sheep are stolen and killed almost every night . " This is truly a savage condition of society , and demands the interference of the authorities . Railway Detectives . —At the Worship-street police-office , a genteel looking , well-dressed man , named John Curtis , was charged with stealing various articles from the terminus of the Eastern Counties Railway at Shoreditch . As a considerable quantity of property had for several weeks past been missed , at different times , from the first class waiting room , the station-master employed one of the womeu < m the establishment to act as a detective , and endeavour to trace out the tbief . She accordingly kept strict watch for many days together , notwithstanding which , other robberies were committed at the station . At length , early on the forenoon of one day , the Avotnan told the station-master that a gentlemanly looking man , whom she had suspected to have stolen a portmanteau from the station some days previously , had j list gone into the waiting room . Information of this circumstance was foi'warded to the chief clerk of the lost property office , who immediately disguised himself as a railway traveller , and proceeded to the waiting-room , with a leathern bag , dressing case , and other travelling articles . Here he found Curtislying on a sofa ; and , having placed his luggage under tho table , and carelessly paraded the room for a few minutes , he went to the refreshment room . Curtis followed him , and watched him out of eight ; then returned to tho waiting-room , and was presently afterwards seen to cooao out again with the bag , dressing-case , &c . in his possession . At the end of the platform he wub stopped by tho stationmaster and given into custody . Ho in now under remand . Ingenious Fraud . —A gross case of fraud b . ia just been brought to light at Southampton . Two young men , living at Southampton , named Oakoy and Fargher , had received goods from London by railway , and had pawned aud rodoemed a cask of genuine polish . Having thus gained the confidence of the pawnbroker , Mr . Emanuel , they endeavoured to pledge several casks , whioh thoy represented to contain tho mime , at the valuo of £ 1 a gallon . Mr . Emanucl nuked if the article was obtained honestly ; and Oakoy _ gavo him an apparently ( satisfactory answer , by showing ft curd with his and his partner's buHineHS uddrosH , and also attempted to prove , by certain invoices , that they had received upwards of a liundrod pounds' worth of property . Having no reason to auBpeofc . the honesty of the parties , Mr . Emanuel advanced them a hum ot money upon the goods pawned . An Oakoy and Fargher afterwards tried to plodgo more uiwke ol polish , Mr . Emanuel thought it advisable , before accepting thorn , to have the genuineness of tho nrtiolo tented by a chemist . Ho accordingly took a sample from one of tho caekH , and had it triod by two ahemista in Southampton , who both ( tenured hi in Him tho specimen he brought to them wuh perfootly genuine ; nnd that if tho remainder in tho cankfl wn 8 like it , he might safely advnnco money on the hoourity . Mr . Emanuel , therefore , continued to rouoivo
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Dec. 8, 1855, page 1170, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct2118/page/6/
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