At the York Assizes, on Saturday, Joseph Webb, proprietor of
the London Coffeehouse in York, and a young man of good character, was found guilty of manslaughter, in having administered some large doses of Morison's pills to another young mail who was ill of the smallpox. It was evident that the prisoner acted with the best intentions, but with gross ignorance: having been cured of some illness himself by taking the pills, he thought that of course they would cure all diseases; but Lord Lyndhurst said, that if " the prisoner in wilful ignorance ad- ministered these pills, the effects of which he could not upon any scien- tific principles anticipate, he was guilty of manslaughter, though there was an absence of malice." The Jury recommended the prisoner to mercy.
At the same Assizes, John R.enshaw was sentenced to seven years' transportation, for refusing to make an assignment of his property under
direction of the Court, for the benefit of one of his creditors. The amount of the debt was only .2:41., and he had property worth 1:1/. per annum. The prisoner had been in custody ever since the last Assizes; and was at that time told by Judge Alderson, who presided, of the consequences that would ensue if he refused to make the necessary as- signment; and during his coufinement, Mr. Shepherd, Governor of the Castle, repeatedly advised him to the same effect ; but he obstinately refused. By this conviction, he forfeits all right to his 931. a year.
William Steel was convicted of perjury at these Assizes, on Monday. lie had, at the instigation of a Dr. Turnbull, as he stated in his con- fession, sworn falsely to a conversation with Airs. Young, relative to a will of a Yorkshire gentleman, by which considerable property was left to Dr. Turnbull. He said that this Dr. Turnbull made him promise to give the false evidence in question, by standing over him with a Bible in his hands and giving him brandy. The prisoner at once ac- knowledged his guilt, and was ill a state of extreme distress. He was sentenced the next day to seven years' transportation. He had Leen an attorney.
Heavy damages, considering the means and rank of the parties, were given on a trial fur a breach of promise of marriage last week at the Nottingham Assizes. The plaintiff was the daughter of a butcher at Mansfield, by name Denman : she was twenty-nine years old. The defendant, Richard Truswell, a farmer, was her cousin; marl had courted the plaintiff for thirteen years. Last spring he seduced her; she fell with child ; and he refused to marry her, although he bad given a written promise of marriage. His property consisted in the utoiety of a farm of about ninety acres, subject to a charge of 400/. ; it wee supposed that be had aLso save d money. The Jury found for the plaintiff, with 600/. damages.
A reprieve has been sent to the Under Sheriff, for Valentine Brice, who was left for executions at the late Northampton Assizes. It will be recollected that sentence of death was passed upon the prisoner by Judge Park, notwithstanding that the Jury recommended him to mercy, at the time that the House of Commons were engaged in considering a bill for abolishing capital punishments in the case of arson.
Major Pitman, a magistrate in the county of Somerset, was fined 5/. by his brother Jusices at Exeter on the 18th instant, for kicking and beating, and using the most gross and abusive language to, Allay Stamp, a fi3nal, servant in his house. [Will his Majesty's advisers be satisfied with this evidence of the gallant Major's fitness for the office he holds ; or will they require a conviction in the Court of King's Bench to justify his removal from the commission of the peace, on the ground that his brother Magistrates were prejudiced against the de- linquent e] A fire, the work of an incendiary, destroyed a barn, granary, and some oat-buildings with pigs in them, at Rendlesham, near Wood- bridge, on Sunday, while the family who lived on the premises were at church.
A child of singular appearance, with pink eyes and very light hair, attracted the attention of one of the showmen who has been exhibiting to the public during the fair held last week in Leeds. This man, per- ceiving that the ulifortunate child was particularly adapted fir his pur- poses, applied to its parents ; who, without much difficulty, were in- duced to dispose of their offpring to the itinerant, for the paltry stun of four shillings and sixpence per week. The child is to be taken about the country, and to be exhibited as a Chinese. On Saturday bst, a publican in Leicester exchanged a child of his (about five months old) for a pair of cart wheels and an axletree, with a man travelling the country with pots. So certain was the inhuman Boniface of having a good bargain, that. being often pressed to take back h!s innocent offspring, he exclaimed, "No, I have had enough of it ; I will have no more of it ;" nor was he convinced of his cruel error until taken before a Magistrate, who severely reprimanded him for his inhuman conduct, at the same time ordering him to pay all expenses, and take the child to its mother.—Leicester Journal.
A schooner, named the Mary, with culm on board, has been seized near Southampton, by the Rose revenue critter, and condemned, having on board between 600 and 700 tubs of spirits, and a quantity of plate- glass. The captain and a boy were taken on board; the rest of the crew made their escape. This seizure is supposed to be worth nearly 2,000/. and is the best prize taken at Southampton for some years past. On Saturday evening, the military and marines confined in Gosport Bridewell, by sentence of Courts-martial, were guilty of a gross act of insubordination, by confining the gaoler and turnkey, the former of whom was slightly wounded in the car by a knife. The; did not at- tempt to escape. Captain J. B. Parton, hearing of the outrage, urn mediately went armed to the gaol, released the gaoler and turnkey, and
finally put each refractory soldier into a separate cell, and with an addi- tional month's confinement and exercise on the treadmill.
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