Vroulunal.
Mr. Thomas Fairbairn has proposed that a permanent Art Gallery and Museum should be established at Manchester, and the scheme is much talked about. In the long letter which he addressed to the local papers, Mr. Fairbairn proposes to erect, in a convenient and central situation, a palace, to be devoted to the arts, at a cost of not less than 100,000/. ! Under one roof, he would collect, not only what the city already pos- sesses in its various museums and art institutions, but would construct " rooms, or saloons, with a floor area of 3000 square yards, which would give ample space for the proper arrangement of the largest collections of pictures and drawings of the ancient and modern schools, and would permit, also, if desired, a chronological arrangement of the works of the several masters. In addition, there should be corridors for works in sculpture, both original marbles and copies of the famous statues and groups which adorn the various capitals and cities of Europe. It might further be found exceedingly advantageous and interesting to devote one extensive hall to the portraiture of Lancashire worthies and local benefactors,—a hall of fame, where aspiring youth might muse upon the features of the mighty dead, where one could claim a kind of acquaint- ance with the men whose genius and inventions had not only created industries, but built up empires ; and with the illustrious men and women who, as authors or artists, philosophers or philanthropists, had shed a lustre upon the places of their birth. These cooms would occupy the upper floor of the proposed building. Below, there might be formed lofty and well lighted rooms for the exhibition of works of ornamental art ; and others where models of inventions might be classified, and periodical exhibitions be held of the most approved and excellent speci- mens of the productions of the district." The subscription fund which is to accomplish all this, is spoken of in Mr. Fairbairn's letter with the confidence of a man who never counts on failure. The 100,0004 is to be a free-will offering to the northern metropolis.
" While staying at St. Alban's early last month, I strayed into the Town-hall, where the Quarter Sessions were being held, on Thursday, the 8th. I then and there heard a poor agricultural labourer, out of work, for stealing a few sticks from a fagot-stack during the inclement weather, sentenced by the Earl of Verulam (chairman), with the concur- rence of the Bench, to three years' penal servitude. The poor fellow had a family of four young children, and his wife (whose distress in court it was heartrending to see) was daily expecting a fifth. It was stated that the man had been before convicted,—for stealing rabbits, I under- stood,—and that this was the cause of the ferocity (for so I must call it) of the sentence."—Express, Feb. 7.
The Reverend Nicholas Prosser, curate of St. Nichols, Durham, a married man, was extremely assiduous in his attendance at the Durham Peniten- tiary, whereof he was chaplain. He showed great interest in the erring sisterhood; he appeared a pattern of devotion and virtue ; the ladies of his congregation gave hint a desk and inkstand. One of the contrite sinners from the Penitentiary went to live in the service of the pattern of virtue, and, at his recommendation, was afterwards taken into the house of the vital of Croxdale. Mr. Prosser, wanting rest and a change of air, went to see the vicar. Fatal visit. The pattern young man was discovered to be the criminal lover of the reformed penitent, and it was soon learned that the young woman had quitted the Penitentiary to be the mistress of Mr. Prosser in his own house. Of course Prosser lost his curacy, and the la- dies of St. Nicholas their model of clerical virtue. Mr. Prosser fled from his wife, and started towards the south with his paramour.
Two convicts, Brown and Bevil', travelling in custody with others of their kind from Dartmoor to Chatham, shuffled off their manacles, and leapt out of the railway carriage between Reading and Twyford. Both es- caped unhurt. They hid in the woods by day ; at night they plundered a cottage of old clothes. Travelling by roads leading they knew not whither, the convicts entered Reading. News of their escape had reached that town, and, attracted by their strange garb, the police discovered and ar- rested them.
The examination of the American mates, Lane and Hires, concluded on the 3d instant. Four separate cases were substantiated against the prisoners, the unfortunate victims—viz., James Armstrong, John Tuthill, Frank Light or Lord, and David Peggins—having severally died under the effects of the barbarities practised upon them. The Magistrates, the mayor, addressing Lane and Hires, said, that, in pursuance of a warrant under the signature and seal of the Secretary of State for the Home Department, and on the requisition of the United States' Minister, the Court were of opinion that there was sufficient evidence to commit both of them for trial on charges of several murders on the high seas, and they would be committed to the borough gaol, there to remain in safe custody until they were delivered up to the American authorities in this country, for transmission to the United States. On their removal from the court, the crowd in attendance yelled and hooted the prisoners, and they were, with some difficulty, got into a cab, which conveyed them to the borough gaol.
Another murder and suicide have been committed at Coventry. One Raw- son, a butcher, who, fifteen years ago deserted his wife and went to America, returned five months .since, and induced her again to live with him. As they did not appear on Monday, a constable entered the house. Mrs. Faw- son was found in bed, with her throat cut. Fawson had stabbed himself in the breast, cut his throat, and blown his brains out !
On the 21st of March last, a large box was taken to the Bush Hotel, Car- lisle, addressed to a Mrs. Loudon. It had been sent from Paisley on the 18th. The other day the innkeeper heard that a Mrs. Loudon lived near Carlisle, and, being informed that a box was waiting for her, she sent her niece to look after it. The box was opened ; within it was a coffin, and within the coffin a child's body, so decomposed, that its sex could not be as- certained. Of course the box was never intended for Mrs. Loudon. In- quiries have been set on foot at Paisley, as it is surmised the child did not die a natural death.
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