'tip aittrupolio.

The Lord Mayor's banquet at the Mansionhouse on Easter Monday was distinguished by the presence of the Prime Minister, the Home Se- cretary, and the First Lord of the Admiralty. The proceedings, however, were not of any marked political significance. Lord Derby of course de- clined the introduction of topics not strictly arising out of the pure hos- pitality of the occasion • but he did not omit the opportunity of saying one word for himself and his Ministry, which he might hope would tell with the magnates of the capital.

"I do not presume to speak of any political course of action; but this I say, that I hope I see indications,, and indications not to be mistaken, in this metropolis, that we are not looked upon as a set of reckless or careless men, likely to endanger the credit of the country and its great commercial and mercantile interests, or to neglect the great religious, moral, and social obli- gations which must rest upon us."

The speeches of Mr. Walpole and the Duke of Northumberland were strictly convivial." Mr. Abbott Lawrence returned thanks for the nu- merous Foreign Ministers present ; and paid a graceful compliment to Miss Hunter, who acted for her absent because indisposed mamma, as Lady Mayoress.

A small but respectable meeting of inhabitants of Marylebone, assem- bled under Mr. J. A. A. Nicholay in the Princess's Concert-room on Tues- day, passed resolutions against the bill now before Parliament for the enrolment of the Militia. Mr. Jacob Bell and Mr. Cobden were the two orators of mark. From the speech of the latter we extract some striking

Passages

Mr. Cobden on the Cost of our Defensive Establishments.—" The rated rental of all the real property in the counties of Middlesex, Kent, Surrey, and Essex, the four Metropolitan counties, including all your buildings and land and river-side property, and everything that is rated to the poor in those four Metropolitan counties, amounts to 13,924,0001. We have voted for your defence this year more than the rental of all the real property in the four Metropolitan counties ; and yet those great public instructors call out that you are utterly defenceless, and that we have done nothing for your defence. Lancashire and Yorkshire, the backbone of England, without whose gigantic industry England could never maintain the position she occupies, with all their machinery, manufactures, railroads, canals, and other invest- ments of property, are only rated to the poor on a sum of 12,500,000/., or 2,000,0001. less than has been voted this year for your national defences. The great industry of the country is the cotton manufacture, which gives employ- ment, directly or indirectly, to something like 3,000,000 of people. The whole of the raw cotton consumed to give employment to that multitude of people, and to create such an amount of wealth costs about as much every year as the support of your national defences. 'What is voted for the Army, Navy, and Ordnance, would pay 108. a week to 600,000 agricultural labourers throughout the year—about as many labourers as are employed in England torture all the food that is obtained from our own soil. Take two years of this expenditure and lend it out on interest, and it would give a permanent fund by which you might maintain 10,000 schoolmasters with 1001. a year

this is what this great public instructor calls ` leaving us ab-

,r, leas: . . I say, it is an impudent humiliating cry for up in this country to try to make cowards of us, in order

that they may effect their objects. But this goad will come of it—it will provoke an investigation into the expenditure of the country."

fir. Cobden, se the Drift qf Wellington and Me Horse Guards.—" It is tree that yes money i shamefully ineempriesT, and very much in conse- quenae of your having• had at the lama of departments men of whom the Engl.& don't like to spent.mies the teeth. We hare men who, unless Na- ture hair revokes) her eternal hrwain theirkartieular oases, must be physically as well as mentally incapable,' doing their work, owing to their great age. Instead of masculine energy at- the head of our warlike departments, sad that intelligence that looks tor improvements tending to economy, we have s childlike tremour and alarm constantly spreading from the Horse Guards, where we should have our strongest assurance of protection. After making this monstrous outlay, instead of having some security against alarms, we have from the heads of our warlike departments this outcry of danger, which only ought to have proceeded from the females and the children." On Mr. Anderson's Marine Militia Scheme.—"It has this recommenda- tion, that these are not vessels that can afterwards be used aggressively ; they are all used for purposes of commerce; they cannot be used for the pur- poses of oppressing your own people ; and the plan will not tend to demon& Ire your young men. If you want more defences, call out the Sea Militia;

i

there it is at your hand. And if ten or fifteen thousand ragamuffins should think of landing on our shores, adopt the plan of Mr. Anderson, which sue_ plies a most graceful excuse to the Government for withdrawing their Mili- tia Bill."

On Militia Substitutes.—" If this Militia Bill should pass, a thousand or two thousand men might be required in Marylebone ; and shall we be able to get substitutes at 41. a head ? I fear we shall not be able to find the men who sell themselves for 4/. a head when they are wanting : 41. is just the charge for a steerage-passage to America. (Laughter.) I do not go into that question, because I see you all agree at once that the thing will not work. The Government will soon find that the men who sell themselves for 41. a head are not worth the purchase-money." Mr. Cobden on French Freedom.—" We were ready to denounce the conduct of those countries of Europe who violate national and fundamental laws to coerce their neighbours into any form of government. I have tra- velled much in France ; I know many of the people ; and I am struck, I con- fess, with astonishment at what has taken place there. France in our point of view, and in the view, I believe, of the Americans, has abdicated her posi- tion as a free country. But—I say it with regret—if 38,000,000 of people acquiesce, it shows there is something I am not a competent judge of; and I treat the existing state of things with respect, as I cannot understand it. Different countries have different views of what constitutes freedom. There are things which we tolerate in this country, and which the French would not tolerate. Such is our territorial system of large properties perpetuated in certain families. If there were to be enacted in France a law of entail, such as in this country people are so proud of, there would be a revolution. If, therefore, they allow us to follow our own ways, let them have theirs."

The internecine war among the booksellers, on their system of trade, has come to a crisis. The Committee of the London Booksellers Associa- tion, at a meeting on the 8th instant, had resolved to seek a conference with those members of the trade who act as " undersellers" in defiance of the Association, before Lord Campbell, Lord Granville, Mr. Grote, Sir Bulwer Lytton, Sir Page Wood, the Dean of St. Paul's, and the Reverend Canon Wordsworth, with the purpose of deciding whether the Booksellers Association should be carried on under its present regulations or not. They resolved that the decision of Lord Campbell and the other literary gentlemen should be binding on them ; and agreed, if the decision were adverse, to convene the trade and resign their functions. Tho proposal being submitted to Lord Campbell, he said he would gladly give his ser- vices ; and he communicated with the gentlemen named. Accordingly, a body of gentlemen, consisting of the leading publishers and booksellers in London, the English provinces, and Scotland, presented themselves at Stratheden House on Wednesday ; and were received by Lord Campbell, Mr. Grote, and Dean Milman. The other gentlemen had been unable to attend—Lord Granville was ill. Lord Campbell stated that he had re- ceived letters from Mr. Chapman, and from Messrs. Bickers and Bush. Mr. Chapman complained that the time given for the appointment had been too short. Messrs. Bickers and Bush simply said they felt that compromise was impossible ; that the inevitable tendency of the age is to open and unlimited free trade ; and that no other arrangement would or could be final. Lord Campbell said, he and Dr. Milman and Mr. Grote would be glad to hear all the facts and arguments that the gentlemen pre- sent had to state. The booksellers then set forth their case ; Mr. William Longman taking the lead, and being followed by Mr, Murray, Mr. Doug- las of Edinburgh, Mr. Dalton, Mr. Taylor from Mr. Hatchard'a, Mr. Sims of Manchester, Mr. Beilby of Birmingham, Mr. Parker of Oxford, Mr. Pickering, Mr. Henry Bohn, Mr. Seeley, Mr. Miles, and Mr. Sampson Low, the Secretary of the London Association. The arguments and facts which they advanced, of greatest novelty, had relation to the peculiar nature of the bookselling trade, which, as Mr. Longman said, makes Free-trade principles inapplicable to it ; to the par- ticular rate of profit in the trade, about which the public has been misled ; and to the state of feeling in the provincial booksellers. It was argued, that in the book-trade peculiar power of identifying the article bought and sold—as every book has its name, and that book alone can be given to the buyer who asks for it—gives the public the advantage that the price can be uniform, and that the wholesale booksellers can keep up the supply at that uniform price all over the country : that this advantage will be lost if underselling become the rule ; and it will ensue, as happens in Paris, where there are no wholesale booksellers, that if you want twenty books you must go to as many booksellers for them, and you must give a dif- ferent price in every street. Also it follows from the uniform price, that the bookseller's profit is known to all the public ; and that fact in itself is a foundation for a greater competition than exists in any other trade. If a publisher or bookseller advertises a reduction, the public know whether it is carried out by him and by the others, because the common allow- ances of the trade and the margin of profit are known : but any other tradesman may pretend to be selling cheap, while he is in fact selling dear, for the public knows nothing of his trade allowances, or of his profits. It was stated to be untrue that the combination of the booksellers against " undersellers " is peculiar to bookselling ; it is common in other trades. Messrs. Strutt and Evans of Derby will only sell their peculiar and valuable thread to those who undertake under a fine not to sell be- low certain prices ; Mr. Cobden, when in business, did the same with his printed cottons ; Mr. Bright now does the same with his carpets ; the rule is observed in the oil-trade; and barristers and phy- sicians observe it in reference to their fees. With respect to profit, it is not true that the average rate is 33 per cent ; the rate is never larger than 26 per cent unless there is speculation in the bargain ; and in fact, for the pure business of retailing, the average rate is below that of any other re- tail businesses. Other trades reap 40, 50, 60, 100, and even more than 100 per cent. The average profits of those houses in London which act simply as wholesale booksellers, between the London publishers and the country retailers, independently of profits on trade-copyrights, &c., are only about 4 per cent. The booksellers of London number about 1200, and not more than a dozen of these are undersellers. The country booksellers are almost unanimous on the question. The sweeping away of the pre- sent system ."would concentrate the retail trade in the hands of a few large monopolist retailers, who would undersell the rest, to the injury of literature, the inconvenience of the public, and the ruin of hundreds of booksellers, from Land's End to John o'Groat's House." Lord Campbell said, the arguments were most able and profitable, but he must hear the other side : he and the Dean of St. Paul's and Mr. Grote, and perhaps some of the other referees named, would be prepared to hear the statements advanced by the other side, between the 16th and 21st of May.

The promoters of the agitation for retaining the Crystal Palace have found much embarrassment from the objection that " the demonstrations are promoted for the benefit of the contractors." Sir Joseph Paxton wrote to Messrs. Fox and Henderson, acquainting them with this source of embarrassment; and they answered him, that they had, before the receipt of his letter, taken steps to obviate objections on the score referred to, by paying the money received on Saturday week into Messrs. Glyn's bank, "to a separate account, subject to the committee's claims for expenses, the appropriation of the balance remaining undecided upon until the fate of the building is determined."

But a heavy official hand was interposed on Wednesday. On that day the Committee for the Preservation of the building received copies of a correspondence between the Commission of Works and Messrs. Fox Cr andregenderson, which has resulted in the definitive resolution of the con- tractors to stop any further promenades on Saturday, and even to close the building to the public altogether. The Commiooion had written through their Secretary, referring to former monitions and remonstrances- " The Chief Commissioner, however, regrets to find that, notwithstand- ing the intimations thus conveyed to you, the building has been used by you for the purpose of public promenades and concerts ; that you have taken moneyfor admission thereto ; that by means of advertisements in the pub- lic papers, and otherwise, you have induced a concourse of persons to as- semble In the building, in the Park, and in the neighbouring thoroughfares ; and that such assemblages have been injurious to the Park, detrimental to the property in its immediate neighbourhood, and otherwise prejudicial to the ppeeaaccee and quiet of the vicinity." Messrs. Fox and Henderson were therefore informed, that if they per- sisted in applying the building to "its present objectionable uses," or to "any other purpose than those specifically mentioned in the Royal war- rant," application would be made to "a court of competent jurisdiction " to restrain them—in other words, they would be put in Chancery. The contractors instantly issued an advertisement, stating that, " in conse- quence of a communication from the Office of Woods and Forests, the Exhibition building could no longer be thrown open to the public by the contractors" ; and they respectfully informed the Commission, that, " with a view to prevent disturbance," they proposed to allow the entrance of persons who in ignorance of the notice would present themselves for ad- mission next day—Thursday ; but that after Thursday they would close the doors finally. These arrangements were carried out.

Mr. Francis Fuller has intimated to Messrs. Fox and Henderson, that he is prepared, on behalf of clients, to purchase the Crystal Palace for 70,000k, and for public use, [on some other site, we suppose,] as a win- ter garden, &c.

A ballot at the India-house was taken on Wednesday for the election of six Directors, in room of six gentlemen who retired by rotation—name- ly, Mr. Henry Alexander, Lieutenant-General James Caulfeild, C.B., the Honourable William Henry Leslie Melville, Major James Oliphant, Mr. Henry Thoby Prinsep, and Mr. John Shepherd. The following gentle- men were duly elected—Mr. William Butterworth Bayley Mr. Russell Ellice, Sir Richard Jenkins, G.C.B., Mr. Ross Donnelly Mangles, M.P., Mr. iohn Masterman, M.P., and Major John Arthur Moore.

The public have been shocked and afflicted by the details of a tragedy perpetrated in Lambeth last Saturday morning : a'son killed his mother, and perfected his act by cutting off her head! The circumstances are revolting, but it is possible that the mental state of the matricide should inspire pity and melancholy, rather than call for vengeance. The poor woman who has been killed was Mrs. Elizabeth Wheeler, a widow, of about the age of forty-four, who resided in the house No. 1 Dur- ham Place, Kennington Road, facing Bethlem Hospital for lunatics. The eon who killed her was Thomas Cathie Wheeler, twenty-eight years of age ; a young man who has been well educated and was a good linguist, who once filled a well-paid situation in the Brazils under a mercantile firm, but who has been confined in a lunatic asylum twice, and latterly has been unable to do anything at all for his own living. His mother was fondly attached to him, and wholly supported him. The landlord of poor Mrs. Wheeler was Mr. Toms, a carpet-bag manufacturer, who occupied the ground-floor of the house in which she lived ; and in a floor above that occupied by her lodged Eliza Phillips, who has known her for nearly thirty years. The narrative of the murder was given by the witnesses and by the perpetra- tor himself, in the examination before Mr. Norton the Lambeth Magistrate, on Saturday and Wednesday.

Eliza Phillips, who was down-stairs on Saturday morning, raised the first alarm.

The Witness—" About half-past eleven or a quarter to twelve this morning, I heard a scuttling noise, and then as if sometining had fallen heavily. I immediately ran up-stairs, calling ' Mrs. Wheeler.' I tapped hurriedly at the door, but got no answer. I tapped more loudly at the door, and said, • Mrs. Wheeler '; and then the prisoner partly opened the door, perhaps about a foot, but not enough to admit of any one going in. The prisoner had something In his hand. It was in his right hand, but I could not see what it was. I think from the position of his hand he wished to bide it from me. He stood with his right band down. He stood sideways at the door. He then hastily closed the door in my face."

The Prisoner—•• That is true." The Witness—" Yes, he did; and I ran down-stairs to my landlord and his wife ; for I was fearful there was something the matter, and I told them of it at once. They then listened on the stairs, and while they were listening they heard him coming down stairs."

The Prisoner—" I left the house directly."

The Witness--" When we heard him coming down stairs, the landlady called us into the parlour, for fear of meeting him. When he went out and shut the door, the dlady instantly went up-si airs." Mr. Norton (to the prisoner)—" Do you wish to ask the witness any question 1"

The Prisoner—" The fact is, that she has threatened to send me to the workhouse for a great length of time ; and she said she would have me dragged away, and I suppose they cannot drag people away in the most gentle manner.' Mr. Norton—" Do you wish to ask the witness any queatiou 2" The Prisoner—" All she has said is true."

The Witness—" He has been at the Asylum at Wandsworth for some time."

The Prisoner—" It is exactly twelve months since I left.

Mrs. Elizabeth Toms, 'the landlady, stated that she ran up-stairs, found Mrs. Wheeler on the floor, saw blood, ran down-stairs, and sent persons for a doctor and in pursuit of the prisoner. She added—" Ever since I have been in the house, I have observed something irregular in his manner. Lately I observed that he was getting worse. When he had his fits on him, be looked very pale and ill." The Prisoner—" All without liberty : she was bagged ; I was worried."

Mr. Hutchinson, surgeon, stated that when he came into the room the

body of the deceased was still warm : on the table, which was spread with a cloth for dinner, was the poor woman's head. On the floor was a pillow bearing marks as if a person had knelt on it to beiunstained by the blood on the floor.

The Magistrate—" Have you anything to ask this gentlemanl "

The Prisoner—" I have nothing to ask. I should like the window to be left open while the corpse is in the room. I didn't think of that before. It is the last request, perhaps, I shall make."

Mr. Tome stated that he followed and overtook the prisoner, and gave him into the custody of Policeman Lockyer. Policeman Lockyer described what passed after the arrest.

The Witness—" I said to him, he must consider himself in my custody, and go, with me to the station. He said, ' They have not let me go far : I have been tor- mented for four or five years by them! I said, ' Do you mean to say that you have killed your mother 1' and he said, • I have; I am sorry for it.' I said, • How came you to do it1' Well,' he said, ' I have been tormented for four or five years.' I asked him how he did it; and he said, ' She was coming in at the door, and I knocked her:down with the fiat-iron, and 1 found that that was not sufficient, and I then look the carving-knife. She was very tough, and I then struck her head off with the hatchet.' At the station-house I found a knife in. his coat-pocket, and I asked him what he was going to do with it, and he said, • That was for myself.' I understood that he was going to cut his own throat. He said, • You will find a letter on the table, and take particular care of it. That was before he said anything about the knife. On going to the house, I found several letters on the table, but I have act had time to read them yet. I searched for the fiat-iron, and found it in a bundle of clothes lying by the side of the body. There is blood on the iron."

The Prisoner—" I spoke more respectfully than the man has stated. I did not make a bravado of it. I spoke sorrowfully, did I not 1" The Policeman—" Yes, you did." The Magistrate—" I have already more than once cautioned you as to what yen say."

The Prisoner—" I am quite prepared to go to the scaffold. I struck her with the flat iron, and blood must have blood ; but I did not bravado about it."

Mr. Toms, the landlord, further deposed as follows-

" At times he is rational, but at other times he is not. I think he must have listened when his mother was talking about removing him, and I think that was the cause of it all. He frequently talked to himself!'

The Prisoner—"I have been in the habit of talking to myself." The Witness—" His mother was a beautiful woman, and stood five feet ten inches or five feet eleven inches high. She was always very kind to him. When he has been very bad she has threatened to put him away. lie has been in Bedlam eleven months, and seven months in an asylum at Wandsworth. He has been in Brazil, and had a sun-stroke as he was crossing the Line. He had a salary of 3001. a year, and he can speak three or four different languages."

Eliza Phillips added this statement-

" I saw him go out as if on an errand, and heard him return. As he went up-stairs, he talked to himself : that was usual with him, but he talked then louder than usual. Mrs. Wheeler had come into my room at about half-past or a quarter-past ten; and said she was so much frightened of him that she would send him away on Monday, rie she could not bear it any longer ; and that she had an idea last night to send to the workhouse that he might be taken there. She asked me if my little boy would carry a letter to the post-office for her; and I said he would. She said the letter was for her daughter, who was at Tunbridge Wells. She told me that the prisoner had been standing with a flat-iron in his hand in the morning, and was muttering something that was most awful."

At the reexamination, on Wednesday, the prisoner was generally tran- quil, but at times his behaviour gave indications of his unhappy state. It became still more evident that it had been known for a long time that the prisoner's mind was affected, and that latterly he was dangerous. A letter from Hertford stated that he was in custody therein August last? for threaten- ing to shoot a person on the high-road. Mr. John Cathie, his uncle, gave evidence at great length. The mother seems to have been too indulgent to her son : he escaped from Wandsworth Asylum, and though she was warned that he was still insane, she allowed him to remain at home. On Tuesday sennight, the young man went to his uncle's at Balaton, and behaved so strangely that Mr. Cathie remarked to his wife, "Poor Tom Wheeler is very bad : I'm sure something fearful will happen." He warned his sister ; and she promised to have her son confined immediately. Ile had never attacked any one before : ho was " an exceedingly mild young man—had not the heart to kill a mouse." He had twice enlisted in the army ; and on the last occasion had been immediately discharged as unfit for service. The prisoner was then asked in the usual form, by the Chief Clerk, whether he had any- thing to say ? Prisoner (starting up suddenly)—" No; I have nothing further to say at present." Mr. Cathie stated, that he had been informed by the Coroner that in such an evident case of lunacy the Magistrate had power to commit the prisoner at once to close custody, without the painful exposure of a public trial. If possible, it would be most desirable that such a course should be taken. Mr. Norton said he was not aware that he had such power, but he would look into the act. The prisoner was then com- mitted for trial.

An inquest on the two ehildren and father found dead in the pond at Putney on Friday was held on Tuesday. The waterman who drew the bodies from the water described how they were tied. The two children were tied face to face by stout cord, which left them a foot apart ; they were not blindfolded ; and there was no mark of any violence on them. The father had his arms and feet bound together by willow withs tightly twisted, but in such a manner as he could have done it himself. It proved that he was Mr. Spankhurat, a master basket-maker of Barking. He left home on Wednes- day, in anger with his wife. But as he had done so before, taking the boys with him for a day or two, she hoped they would again return safely. He wished to take his little daughter with the boys; but his wife sent word to the teacher of the school, not to let the little girl go with her father ; and so the third innocent escaped. On Thursday morning Mrs. Spankhurst re- ceived this note from her husband— " April 7.

" By the time you receive this, me and my boys. will be locked in the arms of death ; and I am very unhappy that my girl is not with us. You have to thank your own temper towards me, and I made up my mind on my pillow this morning what I should do, before I started ; but I have little comments to make, but your temper has i been that to me that it has played on my mind for some time, but it finished before this time ; and I hope that my giri will grow and be a good girl, and I should have been happy to have had her with us ; and I hope that you will govern your temper for the future. You have no one to thank but yourself for this, and I hope that you

will do well. God bless you both for ever. Amen. N. 8.'

Following up the clue of the post-mark, the poor woman put the police at Chelsea on the search; but nothing was discovered by them till the Friday, when the dead bodies were found accidentally by other persons in the pond at Putney. At the inquest, the apprentice of Mr. Spankhurst stated facts which showed that his master had been in a desponding state of mind for

some time, and which quite exonerated his master's wife from the unkind charges against her in the melancholy letter. The Jury returned this ver-

dict— " That the two boys, Nathaniel Joseph Spankhurst and William Spankhurst, were wilfully murdered by their father. Nathaniel John Spankhurst ; who afterwards committed suicide by drowning while in a fit of temporary insanity."

At the Central Criminal Court, on Saturday, Gerber, Wagner, and Kessler, who were convicted of the cunningly-devised attempt to utter a forged check on the London and Westminster Bank, were brought up for sentence. Dis- closures had been expected from them of an extended scheme of forgery, but they had made none. The sentences were transportation for ten years. A great scoundrel met his deserts. Norton Bateman, a young " law- stationer," was tried for defrauding Jane Gilbert of 10s. 6d. Bateman had been confined in Newgate for a burglary, a lenient sentence having been upon him. When he came out, ho went to the woman, whose hue- band was in prison, and by means of a trumped-up story of sending com- forts into the gaol for Gilbert, defrauded the poor woman of 4s. and 6s. 6d. The Recorder mentioned that it was known that Bateman while in Newgate bad concocted a scheme to waylay and rob an Irishman who had saved a lit- tle money. Sentence, transportation for ten years. John Keene, the man who was convicted of murdering his wife's child by throwing it down a well near Guildford, was hanged on Tuesday, at Horsemen- ger Lane Gaol. A large mob witnessed the execution. Numbers of ruffians bivouacked on the ground during the previous night ; many of whom got drunk and riotous, so that the police had to remove them. Keene was exe- cuted in his ordinary dress—corduroy trousers and a smock frock. He im- patiently resisted the good offices of the priest, was perfectly cool, and pro- tested his innocence to the last—his wife, he pretended, was the guilty one.

Eliza Hunt, who was formerly an inmate of St. Luke's Hospital, and who has again become insane, has been arrested at night in front of Buckingham Palace, exclaiming that she wanted the Queen's life, and would have it. She had a large knife concealed in her_bosom. The Bow Street Magistrate provided for her safe custody.

Mr. Dunford, a printer and news-agent at Notting Hill, has applied to the Hammersmith Magistrate to restrain Mr. Feargus O'Connor, whom he be- lieves to be insane. He grounded his application on the extraordinary be- haviour of the Member for Nottingham, when he called at his shop about a month ago : be had previously conducted himself in a strange way. Mr. Beadon said he could not interfere, as he is not a Commissioner of Lunacy and if the matter took the shape of a charge of assault, the applicant should have appeared directly after Mr. O'Connor misbehaved."

William Tush, a pocket-book-maker, has beenlheld to bail by the South- wark Magistrate, for stealing a cash-box, the property of Mr. Cross, a broker. He was paving his addresses to Mrs. Cross's sister ; and it is said that he took advantage of an opportunity when he was left with only the servant in the house to run off with the cash-box : there was no money in it. The box and the memorandums it contained were returned to the owner through the Parcels Delivery Company.

Ferdinand Bock, a powerful German, has been apprehended after attempt- ing to rob a shop, through the resolution of Mrs. Knight, who is described as a " delicate-looking" woman. Bock had broken into the shop of Mr. Heirons, in Leadenhall Street ; Mrs. Knight, wife of a policeman, is housekeeper to the premises ; she heard a noise at night, and detected Bock as he came out of the shop heavily laden with plunder ; she grappled with him ; he tried to escape with his load, but was compelled to relinquish it before he could shake her off. Having liberated himself from her, he ran into the street ; but she pursued him, and raised an alarm, and he was chased and arrested.

At Clerkenwell Police Office, on Monday, an incorrigible young girl was brought before the Magistrate. Sophia Wensley, twelve years old, and pretty-looking, was charged with stealing a shilling from a little girl in the street. She was well "known" to the Police, having been in custody last -week. The father, a respectable-looking man, a painter in Somers Town, was deeply affected : he said that the girl had received both from himself and her mother the best advice and instruction, but she had a natural propensity or had habits and pilfering. They had sent her to school ; but she would play truant, and stop away from home for weeks together ; and she had robbed no fewer than fifty children within a short time. Although there was every comfort for her at home, she would wander about, sleeping on the steps of doors and in carts, and living on nothing but plunder. After she was discharged from this court on Thursday last, he locked her in an apart- ment, where he kept her without her shoes; but she contrived to escape, and he neither saw nor heard anything of her until he received information that she was locked up. on a charge of robbery. He had five other children, who, he was afraid, might be contaminated by such a bad example ; and he

entreated Mr. Come to do something with her, in order to save her from utter destruction if possible. Mr. Corrie—" The best thing lean do will be to send her to prison for a very longtime, when she will be properly instructed and attended to. I shall commit her to prison, with hard labour, for three months ; and at the expiration of that term her father can receive her back again." The prisoner listened to the whole of the proceedings in a hardened manner, whilst her parents left the court in tears.

Annabelle Bowra, a little girl of ten, has been charged at Guildhall Police Office with very mischievous conduct. While two ladies were looking at a shop-window in St. Paul's Churchyard, pieces were cut out of the shawl of one and the mantle of the other : the girl was pointed out by a passenger as she was running away, with a pair of scissors in her hand. She cast the blame on her cousin, a girl of fifteen ; who threw away a paper of fragments of ladies' dresses when Annabelle was seized. The girls are respectably con- nected : Annabella's father had to pay a penalty of 3/. for her.

The Police at St. Pancras have orders to atop street-selling after a certain hour on Sunday morning : last Sunday, an officer ordered a poor woman who was vending oranges within prohibited hours to "move on' ; in attempting to cross the New Road, the woman dropped some of her fruit ; as she stooped to recover it, she was knocked down by a cab, which passed over her head, and she died almost instantly. The cab-driver was taken into custody; but as it was evident that he had not been in fault, the Clerkenwell Magistrate discharged him.

Four men of the Fourth Light Dragoons hired a boat at Isleworth on Sunday afternoon, a Waterman accompanying them. While in deep water, one of the soldiers (they had been drinking) began to rock the boat, which capsized, and all were plunged into the stream. When they were taken out two soldiers were past recovery. A girl who was to have married one of them died of the shock.

Very early on Tuesday morning, there was an extensive fire in Tottenham Court Road. It originated in a'large warehouse belonging to Mr. Mug- geridge, a corn-dealer ; this building was consumed, and numbers of sur- rounding houses were much damaged.