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Mr. M'Laren as long ago as 1812, and was frequently applied to him good-naturedly. It was alleged also that the writing on Mr. M'Laren's side was equally personal and violent, He had himself at a former election called his present friend Mr. Douglas "a calumniator," and his supporters "betrayers," "slanderers" and "snakes." The jury awarded 400/. damages, the amount being fixed by taking the average of what was proposed by the entire jury.

3.-Dedea Redanies, a Servian soldier in the British Foreign Legion, murders the sisters Caroline and Maria Back, by stabbing them while walking on the beach near Folkestone. The act was not seen by any person, and the girls when found were quite dead. The motives actuating the murderer to this crime were somewhat confusedly set forth in a letter addressed in German to Mrs. Back :-"On the first lines, I pray to forgive me the awful accident to the unlucky Dedea Redanies which I committed upon my very dear Caroline and Maria Back, yesterday morning at five o'clock. Scarcely I am able to write, by heartbreak for my ever memorable Caroline and Mary Ann. The cause of my deed is :-1. As I heard that Caroline is not in the family way, as I at first believed; 2. Because Caroline intends going to Woolwich; 3. Because I cannot stay with my very dear Caroline, it made my heart so scattered that I put into my mind at last that Caroline rather may die from my hands than to allow Caroline's love being bestowed upon others. However, I did not intend to murder also Mary Ann, her sister; but not having another opportunity, and as she was in my way, I could not do otherwise-I must stab her too. Dear Mother Back, Saturday evening when I came, I had not at least any intention to commit this awful act, but as I learned that my dear Caroline gave me back my likeness, and as she told me she would leave, I did not know any other way in my heartbreak than that leading to the cutlers, where I bought a poniard, which divided the hearty lovers. Arm by arm, I brought both my dearest souls in the world over to the unlucky place near the road before Folkestone, and requested them to sit down, but the grass being wet they refused to do so, and I directed then Caroline to go forward, and I went behind Mary Ann, into whose heart I ran the dagger. With a dull cry she dropped down. With a most broken heart I rushed then after Caroline, lifting the poniard in my hand towards her. 'Dear Dedea,' cried she with half dead voice, and fell down with weeping eyes. Then I rushed over her and gave her the last kisses as an everlasting remembrance. I could not live a more dreadful hour in my life than that was, and my broken heart could not tell where my senses were gone, and I took both the black shawls of Mary Ann and my dear Caroline, as a mourning suit for me, leaving the awful spot with weeping eyes and a broken heart. Never shall I forget my dear Caroline and Mary Ann, and the poniard will be

covered with the blood of Mary Ann and Caroline with me until it be put in my own breast, and I shall see again my dear Mary Ann and Caroline in the eternal life. Farewell, and be careless about the blissfully deceased angels of God, and forgive the unhappy, ever weeping, Dedea Redanies." The murderer failed in the attempt upon his own life, and was at once secured. He was tried at the Maidstone Assizes, convicted and executed.

8.--Died, aged 59, Madame Vestris, actress. 12.-Broadwood's pianoforte manufactory, Horseferry-road, Westminster, destroyed by fire. The peculiar construction of the workshops-built to obtain the best possible light, and consisting of distinct floors several hundred feet long, without a break of any kind-rendered them an easy prey to the flames. instruments were saved, but 1,000, in various stages of manufacture, were lost, as also a stock of precious woods, and the whole of the tools belonging to the workmen. Only a portion of the north shops was saved.

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13.-Explosion at the Ramrod-hall Colliery, Worcestershire, causing the death of three men in the pit, and of eight in the descending shaft, who were blown into the air by the force of the explosion.

14. Died, aged 72, Dr. Buckland, Dean of Westminster, and an eminent geologist.

20.-A Reformatory Union Conference commences its sittings at Bristol, under the presidency of Lord Stanley.

21.-The Queen-mother of Oude, with her grandson and brother of the King, arrive at Southampton, to institute an inquiry in this country as to the appropriation of their territory.

25.-Dinner to the Guards in the Surrey Music Hall.

30.-Died, aged 79, Sir John Ross, Arctic navigator.

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Failure of the Royal British Bank. The share capital in this country was stated to be 300,000l., of which 150,000l. was described as "paid up." The debts due to depositors were upwards of 500,000l.; the assets consisted of

bills discounted and other securities. It soon became known that the greater part of these securities were worthless; that more than 100,000/. had been advanced, under extraordinary circumstances, to a Welsh coal mine, which was not worth one-third of the value; and that the directors, manager, and auditors had been helping themselves to the funds without scruple. Mr. Gwynne, a retired director, was indebted 13,600/.; John M'Gregor, M.P., the founder of the bank, 7,000/.; Humphrey Brown, M. P., upwards of 70,000l.; Mr. Cameron, the manager, about 30,000/. The position of affairs was, that when the shareholders had paid up their calls, there might be about 8s. or 10s. in the pound for creditors, with the entire loss of the capital of the bank. An attempt was made to wind up the Company under the Winding-up Act. The official manager got in large sums of money, and also made a call upon the shareholders of 751. per share; but another set of creditors resolved to have the affairs of the Company wound up by the Court of Bankruptcy, and a fiat was accordingly issued and assignees appointed. This step was resisted on the ground that the Winding-up Act being in operation the power of the Bankruptcy Court was superseded; but it did not appear that there was any express provision to that effect, and the official assignee proceeded to enforce his call of 50l. per share upon the unhappy shareholders. Many of them, unable to meet the call, passed through the Insolvent Court, or went out of the country. The investigation into the affairs of the Bank showed that it had been conducted in a manner too scandalous to be overlooked, and, in the following year, Government instituted criminal proceedings against the directors.

7.-Coronation of the Emperor of Russia at Moscow. The ceremony took place in the Uspenski Ssobor, and the act of crowning was performed by Archbishop Philaret, the Metropolitan of Moscow. Among the special ambassadors present were Earl Granville, Prince Esterhazy, M. Costalbargone, and the representative of the Sultan. An immense crowd assembled in the Kremlin Palace, and great enthusiasm was everywhere manifested. The ringing of bells, the firing of cannon, the parade of troops, the ceremonial of the church, the procession to the palace, and the decorations of the city, rendered the display remarkable, even among state ceremonies of Russia.

15. After an attempt to get up a procession, which met with only indifferent success, the Chartists of London gather on Primrosehill to present an address to John Frost on his return from exile.

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17.--Discovery of Robson's frauds on the Crystal Palace Company. It was communicated to the Stock Exchange in the laconic sentence, Something wrong with Crystal Palace shares; Robson, the clerk, has decamped." The immediate effect was a fall in price. A reward of 500l. was offered for his apprehen

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sion, which took place at Copenhagen, on the 7th of October.

18.--The Times announces that the Bishop of Ripon is to be translated to the vacant see of Durham, and that Dr. Tait, Dean of Carlisle, will be elevated to the see of London, in room of Bishop Blomfield, resigned.

Ten workmen tried before Baron Bramwell, at the Central Criminal Court, for misdemeanour, in having unlawfully conspired together to prevent and intimidate certain workmen from entering into the employment of Young, Magnay, and Young, shipbuilders. The learned judge thus laid down the law :— "It was quite competent for either masters or workmen to combine together for their mutual protection, and for the advancement of their mutual interests. A master is at liberty to say that he will not give employment except upon certain terms, and workmen are equally at liberty to refuse their labour except upon certain conditions. Neither party, however, has

a right to go beyond this; and the law will not permit persons who choose to accept other terms to be obstructed; and still less will it permit them to be intimidated." The evidence for the prosecution fully established the lawless proceedings of the unionists; and, on the advice of their counsel, the prisoners retracted their plea of "Not guilty," and admitted their offence. Under these circumstances, Baron Bramwell was content to order them to put in recognizances to appear to receive judgment when called upon.

24. Died at South Park, Tunbridge Wells, aged 71, Henry Lord Hardinge, formerly Governor-General of India.

26. Six men suffocated in a Worcester brewery from foul gas, while engaged in clearing out a vat.

October 1.-Brynmally coal mines, Wrexham, inundated by water from the old workings, and thirteen men drowned.

8.-At Canton, a party of Chinese in charge of an officer boarded the lorcha Arrow, a vessel registered under an ordinance passed at Hong-Kong eighteen months before, tore down the British flag, and carried off the Chinese crew, refusing to listen either to the remonstrances of the master or of the Consul, and insisting that the vessel was not British, but Chinese. Her papers were at that time in the Consulate, but her register had expired more than a month before. The Arrow was known to the Chinese authorities to have been built in China, Chinese-owned, Chinesemanned, and of evil repute for piracy and smuggling. The right to use the British flag she possessed by an Act of the Colonial Legislature, framed mainly if not altogether for vessels of another class. The Chinese Commissioners afterwards assented to reparation in a form described by Consul Parkes as "very

proper." As it appeared desirable, however, to Sir John Bowring that British influence should be increased at Canton, he wrote on the 24th to Sir Michael Seymour, the naval commander on the station :-"I cannot doubt that the Imperial Commissioner will now feel the absolute necessity of complying with the demands which have been made, and I have to add, that if your Excellency and the Consul should concur with me in opinion that the circumstances are auspicious for requiring the fulfilment of treaty obligations as regards the city of Canton, and for arranging an official meeting with the Imperial Commissioner within the city walls, I shall willingly come to Canton for that purpose. On the plea that the Imperial Commissioner Yeh paid little attention to the remonstrances of the British Consul, Admiral Seymour commenced on the 23d to exact satisfaction by destroying the forts on the river. On the 25th, the island and fort of Dutch Folly were taken and occupied without opposition. So far from convincing Yeh that he had been guilty of any irregularity, these proceedings made him the more obstinate, and he at length offered a reward of thirty dollars for the head of every Englishman.

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9.-Died, aged 69, N. Cabet, founder of Icaria.

12. An earthquake, extensive in its operations, and destructive in its effects, felt on the islands and eastern shores of the Mediterranean. In the city of Valetta scarcely a building escaped injury, and at Civita Vecchia the dome of the cathedral was rent, and the belfry much injured. At Thyrce and Candia the ruined buildings took fire and many lives were lost.

17. In connexion with 'recent cases of insubordination and practical joking at Brighton barracks, the Gazette to-day intimates that, "Cornets Lord Ernest Vane Tempest and William J. Birt of the 4th Light Dragoons are dismissed from her Majesty's Army, in consequence of conduct unbecoming officers and gentlemen, and subversive of good order and military discipline.'

19.-Accident at the Surrey Gardens Music Hall. An enormous audience having assembled there to hear Mr. Spurgeon preach, some person in the body of the hall raised an alarm of fire, and an instant rush was made to the doors. In the lower part of the building escape was comparatively easy; but the people in the first gallery, disregarding the other means of descent, ran in a body to the staircase in the north-west tower. On the landing at the top of this staircase, they met with the stream of people who were rushing from the upper galleries. The way speedily became blocked, and as the pressure from behind increased, "many of those in front stumbled or were trodden down. In this manner five persons lost their lives. In spite of the cries of the wounded, the crowd behind pressed still more till the

balustrades of the staircase gave way, and many fell to the passage below. This accident on the stairs had the effect of lessening the crowd behind, and the officials in charge of the building succeeded in their efforts to get the people back to the galleries, there being no fire whatever in the building. It was then found that the killed amounted in all to seven, the majority being females. At the inquest on the bodies a verdict of accidental death was returned.

20. Robert Marley, or Jenkins, a surgical instrument maker, murders Richard Cope, jeweller, Parliament-street, by beating him in the shop with a life-preserver. The victim lingered in hospital till the 9th of November, and was able to make a declaration identifying the prisoner as the person who had attacked him. Marley, whose object was supposed to be plunder, was scared during his attack, and on leaving the shop was followed by two or three people till he was seized in Palace-yard. He was tried on the 28th of November following, found guilty, and executed.

22.- Dr. Lushington, as assessor to the Archbishop of Canterbury, delivers the judg ment of the court assembled under the Church Discipline Act, within the diocese of Bath and Wells, to try the case of Ditcher v. Denison. The principal charge was contained in the 9th article of complaint, that the defender taught "that the Body and Blood of Christ, being really present after an immaterial and spiritual manner in the consecrated bread and wine, are therein and thereby given to all, and are received by all who come to the Lord's table." The court found that this charge had been established in evidence, and that it was contrary to the 28th and 29th Articles. Archdeacon Denison was sentenced to be deprived of all his ecclesiastical promotions. Notice was given of appeal to the Court of Arches.

Ten oil paintings, valued at 10,000/., stolen from the Earl of Suffolk's gallery, at Charlton Park. The thief contrived to elude detection for many months; but in February 1858, the pictures were traced to the residence of a person formerly employed as a valet in the house, and who appeared to have sold them for trifling sums to pawnbrokers and picturedealers. They had been cut out of their frames at Charlton, and were now found rolled up and hidden in obscure corners.

31.-Circular letter addressed by the Russian Government to its agents at foreign courts, justifying its proceedings on the Bessarabian

frontier.

November 1.-In announcing the commencement of hostilities between Great Britain and Persia, the Governor-General of India writes:-"While the British Government has faithfully and constantly adhered to the obligations which it accepted under the agreement of January 1853, the Government of Persia has manifested a deliberate and persevering disre

gard of the reciprocal engagements by which, at the same time, it became bound, and is now endeavouring to subvert by force the independence of Herat, which was the declared object of the agreement in question." On the oth Dec. the fleet, under the command of Admiral Sir Henry Leek, attacked and captured the fortified town of Bushire on the Persian Gulf. During the four hours' cannonading, although the hull, masts, and rigging of our ships were frequently struck by the enemy's shot, not a single casualty occurred to life or limb. The British colours were hoisted at the Residency, and the town of Bushire was declared to be a military post under British rule, and temporarily subject to martial law. The traffic in slaves was abolished.

1.-W. J. Robson tried at the Central Criminal Court for larceny and forgery upon the Crystal Palace Company. He pleaded guilty to the charge of larceny. On the charge of forgery the case went to proof. From the address of Mr. Serjeant Ballantine, the following appeared to be the manner in which the proceeds of the forgery were obtained: -Robson directed a Mr. Clement, stockbroker, to sell 100 shares in the Company-50 to one person and 50 to another. For these

shares the broker received 295/., which he paid over, less commission, to Robson. The document by which these shares were transferred purported to convey the shares from one Johnson, the prisoner's brother-in-law, to the purchasers. The signature to the deed, where the name of the transferrer should be, was that of Henry Johnson, written by the prisoner, and also witnessed by him. From the report of the accountants, it appeared that the gross amount of money thus appropriated by the prisoner was 27,000l. The jury found Robson guilty, and Mr. Justice Erle sentenced him to twenty years' transportation for the larcenies, and fourteen years' for the forgery.

4.-At Washington, the votes of the Electoral College for President were found to be --Buchanan, 163 (112 Southern States); Col. Fremont, 126; and Mr. Fillmore, 8 (all Free States).

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Died, aged 59, Paul Delaroche, French painter.

10. At the Lord Mayor's inaugural dinner, Lord Palmerston spoke in decided terms with reference to the points supposed to be in dispute between the Russian and British authorities as to the precise interpretation of the Treaty of Paris :-"We were convinced that the people of England would willingly forego the prospect of future military and naval glory when they were satisfied that the objects of the war had been successfully accomplished. It now remains that the conditions of the Peace shall be faithfully executed and honourably observed, and I trust that the peace of Europe will be placed upon a secure and permanent foundation."

14.-George Little, cashier of the Great

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Western Railway, Ireland, found murdered in his office at the Broadstone Station, Kingston. Between 400/. and 500/. in money was carried off. No indication was left by which to trace the murderer, except some supposed smears of blood on a door-post of the basement storey, far distant from the scene of the tragedy. the murderer had not succeeded in opening the door, it was presumed that he returned to a window in the corridor opening on to the platform, and which was marked as though a person had gone out by it. A hammer, such as might have struck the heavy blows, and a razor were found in the adjoining canal; but the precautions taken by the murderer long baffled the most searching inquiries of the police.

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15.-Discovery of the immense frauds perpetrated by Leopold Redpath on the shareholders of the Great Northern Railway. maintain himself in a position of show and expense, Redpath, who had charge of the stock register-books of the Company, was in the habit of altering the sums standing in the name of some bona fide stock-holder to a much larger amount. The surplus stock thus created, Redpath sold in the stock market, forging the name of the supposed transferrer, passing the sum to the account of the supposed transferree in the register, and either attesting himself, or causing it to be attested by a young man, a protégé and tool, but who appeared to be free from guilty cognizance. By these processes the number of shareholders and the amount of stock on the Company's register became greatly magnified, while, as the actual holders of stock remained credited with their proper investments, there was no occasion for suspicion on their part. But the Directors, finding that the amount paid for dividends was rapidly exceeding the rateable proportion to the capital stock, a Committee of Investigation was appointed, which continued its labours till the whole gigantic fraud was revealed. The gross amount appropriated was set down at about a quarter of a million sterling. Redpath fled in the first instance to Paris, but afterwards returned to London, and was apprehended by a constable in a house in the New-road. His residences in Chester-terrace and at Weybridge were taken possession of by railway officials.

19.-Collision on the Waterford and Kilkenny Railway at Dunkitt. A mail train from Dublin, going at the rate of forty miles an hour, ran into some ballast wagons, drawn up at a siding, where the points had improperly been left open. When the collision was seen to be inevitable, the men in the ballast train jumped out, and attempted to run up a steep embankment. Several tumbled back again, and being caught by the train were cut to pieces; and one, who was the only victim who showed signs of life after the collision, had his arms cut off. In all seven persons were killed, and nearly every one in the mail train more or less injured. The coroner's jury returned a

verdict of manslaughter against the pointsman, Michael Brien.

26. The first session of the first Parliament of the colony of Victoria opened in Melbourne, by General M'Arthur, the officer administering the government.

December 3.-An action brought by the Earl of Lucan in the Court of Exchequer against the Daily News for libel, contained in an article in that paper, on July 26, with reference to his lordship's conduct in the Crimea, decided in favour of the Daily News.

5. In the Court of Arches, Sir J. Dodson gives judgment in the case of Ditcher v. Denison, dismissing the appeal of Archdeacon Denison (see Oct. 22, 1856; April 23, 1857). distinguished

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10. Dr. Livingston, African missionary and traveller, arrives in London. He was presented with the Gold Medal of the Royal Geographical Society on the 15th.

The English Cathedral at Montreal destroyed by fire; origin unknown.

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15. Marley executed at Newgate for the murder of Cope, the shopman, in Westminster.

19.-The Liverpool and American packetship New York wrecked on the American coast. The crew and passengers, 301 in all, were got ashore; but before leaving, a number of the seamen engaged at Liverpool rose in mutiny, and after nearly murdering the captain, robbed the ship and passengers of all the valuables they could lay their hands on. One of them, known as "Philadelphia Jim," afterwards murdered by his companions for interfering to save the mate.

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-After a debate protracted from about midday till midnight, the Edinburgh Town Council, by a majority of 28 to 12, decline to reconstruct Trinity Church after the original design; and resolve, by 26 to 14, to erect a new church "suitable for the district."

At the Maidstone Winter Assizes, Private Thomas Mansell was sentenced to be executed for the murder of Alexander M'Burnie, of the 49th Regiment, in the camp near Dover. The Crown in this instance experienced a considerable difficulty in procuring a conviction, from the number of jurymen known to be opposed to capital punishment. Certain objections taken by prisoner's counsel at the trial were made the foundation of a writ of error, and the points were afterwards argued with much ingenuity before the judges at West. minster. They were unanimously of opinion that the prisoner had had a fair trial, and the sentence was carried into execution seven months after it was pronounced.

20. Judgment given in the Arches Court, by Sir J. Dodson, in the Knightsbridge Church

case, known as Westerton v. Beale. The learned judge confirmed the decision of Dr. Lushington in the court below in every particular, holding that nothing could be put up or used in church which could not be shown to have been used by authority of Parliament in the second year of Edward the Sixth.

23.-Lugava, Barbalano, and Pettrici, three Italian sailors, executed at Winchester for murder and piracy.

24.-Died by his own hand at Portobello, in his 54th year, Hugh Miller, geologist and journalist. His health had for some time been shattered by attacks of illness, presenting indications of mental disease, and the toil incident to the preparation of his new book, "The Testimony of the Rocks," aggravated all the Fits of somnambulism, previous symptoms.

to which he had been subject in his youth, returned, and he got little refreshing sleep. On awaking in the morning he felt as if he had been "abroad in the night-wind, dragged through places by some invisible power, and ridden by witches." The evening of his last day was spent with his family. He read aloud Cowper's "Castaway," the sonnet to Mary Unwin, and some lighter verses. Miller then retired to his own separate bedroom, where he appeared to have passed through one of his harrowing trances. On awaking he wrote on a sheet of paper, in a hand much larger than usual, the following lines to his wife: "Dearest Lydia, my brain burns. I must have walked ; and a fearful dream rises upon me. I cannot bear the horrible thought. God and Father of the Lord Jesus Christ have mercy upon me! Dearest Lydia, dear children, farewell! My brain burns as the recollection grows. My dear, dear wife, farewell!-HUGH MILLER." In order to facilitate the fatal pistol shot, he had opened his shirt and flannel vest, and placed the muzzle close to his breast. The report was not heard, but next morning the body was found stretched on the floor. Death was supposed to have been instantaneous.

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Died, aged 81, Dr. J. A. Paris, President of the College of Physicians.

-The Queen causes to be set up in the Church of St. Thomas, Newport, a monument "To the memory of the Princess Elizabeth (daughter of King Charles the First), who died at Carisbrook Castle, on Sunday, September 8, 1650, and is interred beneath the chancel of this church. This monument is erected as a token of respect for her virtues, and of sympathy for her sufferings, by Victoria R., 1856."

26.-A rumour being current that Lord Palmerston had openly interfered in the election contest now going on at Southampton, between the two Liberals-Mr. Andrews and Mr. Weguelin-his lordship writes to the former that there was no doubt he had, in conversation, expressed an opinion in favour of Mr. Weguelin, but it was entirely in a personal and private way, and involved no disparagement to Mr. Andrews.

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