12 APRIL 1851, Page 6

Ctt • Vitaintro.

At the election for Coventry, on Tuesday, two Liberal candidates ap- peared,—Mr. Edward Strutt, late Member for Derby ; and Mr. Coach, a citizen of Coventry. The turning-point is said to have been Mr. Stratt's Ministerial views on the Ecclesiastical Titles Bill ; and it is said that Mr. Gooch won the election on the express ground of his opinion that legisla- tive enactments against the insult would be 'unsuccessful and would only aggravate present evils. The votes were—for Gala, 1669; for Strutt, 1091; majority for Geaeh, 678. The constituency is 4139.

For West Somerset, in room of the late Sir Alexander Hood, there has been returned iiithOut opposition, Mr. William Gore Laugton, the Con- servative grandson Of Colonel Gore Langton, who represented part of the county on Whig principles for nearly half a century.

The nomination for Aylesbury was on Thursday, after a very vigorous canvass 'through the week by Mx. Ferrand and his Protectionist friends, against Mr. Bethel], with his friend Mr. Calvert, the unseated Member. The proceedings derived unexpected rife from Mr. Bothell's outspoken and animated defence of himself against Mr. Ferrand's charge of incon- sistency. Mr. Ferrand taunted him with having contested Shaftesbury against Mr. Sheridan in 1847, on Protectionist principles, whereas he now came forward as a Free-trader.

Mr. Bethell declared he smiled at the charges : be had contested Shaftes- bury on the principles of Sir Robert Peel: he would now protect the tenant by equalizing his burdens and reducing his taxation; but the protection of the landlord he utterly disclaimed ; and the taxies" the people's bread he branded as a principle not only impolitic but wicked! He declared himself an attached member of the Church of England, opposed to the levying of imposts from others which he and those of his belief alone should bear ; believer in the will and desire, though not a firm truster in the ability or strength, of the present Ministry to carry out a liberal policy, including an extension and equalization of the suffrage ; and especially, as a barrister of extensive practice in the Equity Courts, a sincere advocate of Chancery Re- form—" for the laws of this country, and in some respects the modes of ad- ministering them, are far below the intelligence, the knowledge, the civili- zation, and the condition of the people."

The show of hands was greatly in favour of Mr. Bethell.

We mentioned lately that Dr. Pusey had been at Leeds on the mission of holding within the Protestant pale some of the clergy and flock wor- shiping in the magnificent church of St Saviour's, who seemed on the point of receding to the Roman Church; that Dr. Pusey had been sin- successful; and that several recessions had actually taken place. The names are now made public : the "perverts" were publicly "reconciled" to the Roman Catholic Church in St. Anne's Catholic Church, Park Row Leeds, on Thursday the 3d instant. They were—the Reverend Mr. Ward, formerly Vicar of St. Saviour's, 'Leeds ; the Reverend Thomas Minster, late Vicar of St. Saviour's ; the Reverend I. C. L. Crawley, late Curate of St. Saviour's; the Reverend Mr. Rooke, late Curate of St. Saviour's ; the Reverend Mr. Coombes, late Curate of St. Saviour's; twelve or fourteen lay members of the congregation, some of them "of very respectable sphere," others of "humble sphere " ; and also the Re- verend W. H. Levrthwaite, incumbent of Clifford, near Tadcaster ; and the Reverend Mr. Neville, residing at Leeds. The ceremonies of recon- ciliation included a public profession by the converts of the loading points of Roman Catholic faith,— the doctrines of transubstantiation, of purga- tory, honour to and invocation of saints, &c. ; and they were imposingly performed, before a vast congregation, in which many curious Protestants were mingled. Seven clergymen took part in the services. In the even- ing, the Reverend Dr. Newman delivered an address to the converts ; and the church was then unable to contain all the multitude which en- deavoured to be present.

About a hundred and fifty seamen of Hull, who have not obtained employment on the terms sought by them, went last week to Sheffield on a mission to excite sympathy and procure aid. They paraded Sheffield in procession, with banners inscribed "Assist your tars"—" We want but justice "—" Treat us as men." Towards the end of the week, they re- turned to Hull, accompanied by two or three waggons loaded with up- wards of a ton of bread, ham and beef, which they placarded as a present from the shopkeepers of Sheffield.

The case of Gaisford versus Karr, tried at Gloucester Assizes on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday, was an action by a solicitor resident in Berkeley against the Vicar of Berkeley, to recover damages for adultery committed by the defendant with the plaintiff's wife. The reader is already familiar with the name of the Reverend Seton Karr as defendant in judicial proceedings of this sort in the civil and ecclesiastial courts. In the present case, the evi- dence given by the plaintiff's witnesses, if it were trustworthy, established be- yond doubt a case of adultery. It proved that Mr. Karr and Mrs. Gaisford wore in _London on a given day in April 1848; that they met at FLadong's Hotel, and entered a cab whirl drove towards the City. The cabman who drove them witnessed against them. The evidence of another cabman traced them from the point where this first cabman put them down, in Cheapside, to a house of ill-fame in Hackney; and established, from inquiring words used by Mr. Karr, the purpose for which the visit to that house was made. The crowd of witnesses' who proved these facts so concurred in a multitude of minute circumstances, as to make it quite impossible they should have been in a conspiracy in respect to the whole of the case. But the defendant set up an alibi as to the few hours during which the other side alleged him to have been in the cabs or in the house at Hackney., with Mrs. Gaisford; and his witnesses were respectable tradesmen, who fined their dates by reference to their books, showing orders given by Mr. Karr on the very day in question, and who recollected other social circumstances - which made them certain as to the time of day. It may be observed, how- ever, that it would have been just possible that the conflict of the evidence should be reconciled, if it had been the object of a person to snob the ease of alibi, with a view of afterwards relying on it. Mr. Justice Patteson, iii summing up, pointed out to the Jury, that at an investig ition of the charge arising out of these circumstances, which had been made by the Rural Dean of Berkeley and four other clergymen, Mr. Karr had most solemnly denied that he ever saw Mrs. Gaisford in town on the day in question; but the de- fence now assumed that he had seen her : the Judge added—" Probably had theybeen sible to contest the fact of her being at Fladong's Hotel, this ad- mission would not have been made s but the evidence seemed too strong on that point to attempt to struggle against it." The Jury spent the evening in private consultation on the case : at ten o'clock they stated that they could not agree, and had no chance of agreeing if locked up for a month : so thej- were discharged without giving a verdict.

At Chester, were tried Brown, Griffin, Fehan, Fitzsimmons, Haggarty, and Smith, four "navigators" and two shoemakers, all of them Irish Roman Ca- tholics, for concernment in the ribt at Birkenhead last November, which arose out of an Anti-Papal meetin_...s. It will be recollected that the meeting was called by the Magistrates, with Sir Edward Oust at their head, as a pub- lic meeting; but that when the Catholics of the lower orders assembled in overpowering force, (bidden by their priest,) the meeting was converted by the Magistrates into a rate-payers' meeting, from which the prisoners and the crowds of their countrymen were excluded by force. Mr. Evans, Q.C., and two ether counsel, appeared for the Crown ; Mr. Roebuck, Q.C., with Mr. Welsby and Sir George Stephen, defended the prisoners. The evidence is of no interest: it proved the riot, but also showed that the violence of the Police had a great share in producing it. Mr. Roebuck denounced the illegal, violent, and cowardly part taken by the Magistrates ; who were not warmly defended by any one. The Jury found all the prisoners except Brown guilty ; and they recommended the guilty to mercy. Judge Williams asked, "On what ground ? " The Foreman hesitated, and then said— evading the reason, as if from delicaey—" It seems to be the general wish of the Jury." The judge ffid not press further. He thought it right to say

that the conduct of the Police "was sot only injudicious but unjustifiable," from its "too peremptory" violence; but nothing would justify a riot. Haggarty, Smith, and Fitzsimmons, should be imprisoned nine months, Ferran and Griffin one year, without hard labour.

At Gloucester Assizes, on Tuesday, Daniel Munday, a labourer, of Wootton- under .Edge, was tried for the murder of his wife. Ile had been in the habit of beating and kickine her, and a few days before her death he was seen to strike her a blow on the chest. She was found dead in bed ; the husband himself announcing her decease to a neighbour. There were large bruises on the body, and marks of pressure on the neck and under the ear. A surgeon declared the cause of death to have been strangulation. The only violence by the prisoner distinctly proved at the trial, was the blow on the chest. An attempt was made to establish, on cross-examination, that the witnesses for the prosecution had long entertained great animosity towards the prisoner, and that there were no marks on the deceased's person which might not have resulted from disease or accident. Mr. Justice Talfourd having read the evi- dence to the Jury, left it to them to say whether the prisoner was guilty of murder on the first count of the indictment, which charged the death to have been occasioned by strangulation; or of manslaughter on the second count, which charged the death to have resulted from the kicking and beat- ing ; or whether the prisoner was innocent altogether. The Jury, after some deliberation, said, "We find the prisoner guilty of an aggravated assault." Some discussion ensued, and at length the Judge asked the Jury which assault they referred to ; and the Foreman replied, "The assault on the Thursday before the death." Mr. Justice Talfourd said, that being so, he thought, upon the principle of the decision in Regina versus Bird, the prisoner was entitled to be acquitted, as the blow on Thursday clearly did not conduce to the death; and therefore, although the prisoner might be indicted for the as- sault hereafter, he was not liable on this indictment. The Jury acquiesced, and the prisoner was thereupon acquitted.

The trial of George Omit, at Gloucester, for the murder of Elizabeth Bainbridge, had a deeply tragic interest. Carnt was a labourer, aged twenty- three ; Elizabeth Bainbridge was a young woman of bettermost family, mar- ried to a husband who had deserted her. She was a well-favoured modest woman, esteemed by the people of Laweshall, where she and the prisoner lived. The prisoner was enamoured of her ; and there is no doubt, though she conducted herself with the restraint of a married woman—though a wo- man with no husband—that she was attached to him. Some weeks since, they were seen walking in a field along a footpath, which was in their way to be traversed frequently ; and were observed to be laughing to each other. Farther on, they were seen by other persons standing near a stile' "talking kindly" with each other. They were no more seen together, and Elizabeth Bainbridge was never again seen alive. Near to the stile is a pond, and in the evening shrieks were heard in the direction of that pond. Later in the evening, Carnt returned to the house of Elizabeth's brother-in-law, alone, wet, dirty, haggard, and wildly excited; with a bare head and neck. He eseanned—" The halter is ready for me!" and being asked to drink, said, "J shall never drink again." Search was made for Elizabeth, and her corpse was found in the pond. There had evidently been a struggle on the brink ; the young woman had been dragged into the pond and drowned and then the murderer had waded across, and climbed the opposite bank. In the bosom of the victim was found the watch and chain of Carnt, and in the pocket of Carnt was found the wedding-ring of the deceased. The hat and neckerchief of Carnt were found in Sr near the pond. The Judge, Lord Campbell, suggested that the young man's love had carried him the length of violence; that the poor young woman had resisted, and called forth the base passions of her lover, and in his fury he had killed her. Verdict, 4 Guilty.'

On the trial of Maria Clarke, at Gloucester, for burying alive her infant, the case was established with more detail and sad circumstance than we have described. Clarke was confined with an illegitimate child in Depwood Work. house, last Christmas ; and was ill after the confinement : her mind was shocked by the death of a friend ether bedside. When she came out of the house in March, she was engaged to be married to Bowen ; she " knew " that Bowen would not have her if be heard of her child; so, in the evening, she buried the infant alive, and returned to the house of her aunt Mrs. Knight, telling her she had sent the child to Norwich, "to be made a gen- tleman of." Next morning, Mr. Knight returned home, and after some talk with him, Mrs. Knight said, "I doubt, Maria, you have murdered your babe": to which she calmly replied, "No, I have not murdered him ; I only buried him alive." A constable was sent for, and on his arrival the prisoner rushed out to a pond; but being arrested in her course she quietly returned, and informed the assembled folk that she bad buried her boy in a certain field at Wingfield. There, at midnight, by the aid of a lantern, and in her presence, the constable discovered the body of the child lying just under the -turf; which seemed to have been carefully removed and neatly replaced, so .as to present but little difference to the eye. The prisoner stated that she had found the scuppet [shovel] by accident, and that all of a sudden the thought came into her head to bury her child alive; that she dug a grave .for him, and having laid him sleeping in it., she kissed him, and then re- placed the turf. This done, she sat down by the side of the grave for half sin hour; and all of a sudden she felt as if some one had lifted her up into the air and she could fly ; so she got up and went home, more lighthearted than she ever was. Some attempt by the prisoner's counsel to suggest in- sanity was rejected by the Judge, Lord Campbell ; who said the whole facts pointed to a specific motive for a deliberate and premeditated crime. Ver- dict, "Guilty."

At the Durham Sessions, Thomas Hann, a miner, has been convicted of -damaging the machinery m the shaft of a mine, whereby the lives of seve- ral miners might have been sacrificed but for a timely discovery. The ruf- fian's motive was to stop the works so that he might go to a match in the neighbourhood; leave having been refused to him by the man who over- looked the mine, and unlicensed absence being punished by a fine. Sen- tence, imprisonment for eight months.

Patrick Lyons, who was convicted with his wife Of the murder of Mar- gw. et Fahey at Warrington, has made a "confession" to his priest, in which he takes all the crime on himself : he murdered the pedlar for the sake of the money she had, his wife endeavouring to prevent him. As the state- ments made-by the couple tally in the most minute details, a representation in the woman's favour has been sent to the Home Secretary.

The convict George Baldry' last week convicted of murdering the child Caroline Warnes, is respited during the lacee's pleasure. It will be recol- lected that the crime was without a see.ning motive, and that the prisoner was of feeble mind.

The day notified for the execution of Levi Harwood and James Jones is Tuesday next, the 15th; but a petition has been signed by the whole of the Jury who tried them, and forwarded to the Home Secretary by Mr. Locke King, M.P., praying for a commutation of the sentence, on the ground that the Jury are convinced it was Hiram Smith, the approver at the trial, who fired the fatal shot at Mr. Holiest.

Edmund Curtis, a labourer of Gloucester, has killed his young wife. She was a delicate woman, and had experienced much ill-usage from her hus- band. She went one evening to a beer-shop where he was, and asked him to come out for a minute to speak on some domestic matter. He reluctantly complied ; and presently shneks were heard. A man ran out of the house, and found Curtis holding his wife doubled over an iron fence, and savagely beating her. When with difficulty released from his clutches, she was at the point of death. Curtis, who had reentered the house, heard of this with disgusting indifference, and sat down to enjoy his beer and pipe. He wag taken into custody ; and a Coroner's Jury has given a verdict of "Man- slaughter."

Mr. Miller, a brewer at March, detected his two maid-servants in pilfering flour ; but he consented to overlook the offence if they behaved better for the future. Next day, the two girls, and a third who lived with Mr. Mil- ler's sister in the next house, all took laudanum to destroy themselves. One was found under a hedge dead; the others were discovered in an out-house in a very bad state, but they are likely to recover : they took larger doses than their companion, and the poison made them sick.