SPECIAL PLEADINGS.—Two clerks yesterday quarrelled and fought several rounds in

Westminster Hall. They were with difficulty sepa- rated. The old, and it is said the unrepealed punishment, is amputation of the right hand; a serious punishment for a clerk.

Munuen or Ma. ASIITON.—A person named Trotter, a tailor, has been arrested on suspicion of being the perpetrator of this murder. The

evidence against him is suspicious ; it depends as yet on the word of a person named Jones, at present incarcerated at Manchester on a charge of felony. Jones says that Trotter plied him with liquor, and persuaded • him to accompany him to Ifyde ; that Trotter, when they got to the lane, put the pistol into his hand, and bid him shoot Mr. Ashton ; that he re- fused, and Trotter then fired the pistol himself. Jones also states that Trotter gave him twenty sovereigns soon after, to insure his silence, and that be has frequently assisted him since. Trotter is to be re- examined on Monday.

Swran.—This ominous monosyllable has again appeared on most of the walls and buildings in and about Dover, in apparently the same handwriting as before the awful occurrences of last autumn.

MURDER NEAR RocnesTee.—We noticed last week, the discovery near this town, of the body of a young boy named Taylor, who had been

missing from the 4th of March last. The boy, who was thirteen years of age, had been sent by his father from Stroud to Aylesford, to fetch the allowance which the father received as a pauper from the latter pa. nab. The body was found on the 11th instant. Two lads named Bell, one a year older and another a year younger, have been apprehended and the elder committed to Maidstone gaol, charged with the murder. The principal evidence against them was a Mr. Lewington, a warrant- officer in the Navy, who happened to be near the spot on the day of the murder, and who saw them in company with Taylor. A knife, with

• which the murder is supposed to have been committed, was found along with the body. ` The Kentish Herald states, that since they were con-

fined, the boys have made a confession of their guilt. The elder bro- ther, who is only fourteen, committed the murder, whilst the younger, who is scarcely twelve, kept watch. On his way to Maidstone the

eldest boy pointed out to the constable a pond by the road-side, in which

he stated he washed the blood from his hands. We give the evidence of the surgeon; it is so clear and intelligible, we have no doubt the Ma- gistrate and the Coroner's Jury must have been delighted with it. "Mr.

Edward Seaton, surgeon, stated that he saw the corpse on Thursday morning, the 12th of May. 77ie trachea was entire, with the exception of

one part, where it laid been openedinto with some cutting instrument. The

lower part of the sterno cleido mastoides Muscle had become dry and pre- served, and appeared to have been divided. There were marks of recent

blood on the neck of the shirt and the inside ef the jacket. The skull

was entire, and no bones broken. His opinion was that the boy died from a wound inflicted on the left side of the neck with a cutting instru- ment." When a boy or a man is found with his throat cut, and no other marks of violence, it is very natural to conclude that he died by the trachea being entered hg some cutting instrument. SINGULAR. DISCOVERY OF INCENDIARIES.—The perpetrators of a recent fire in Brillport, which destroyed above twenty dwellings, are no doubt discovered by the accidental dropping of a letter by a young man, who, beingof the Bridport Band, had being playing at the residence of Sir William Oglander, in celebration of a recent county conquest. The writer of the letter had gone to London soon after the fire ; he lived previously with his father (who is not implicated) in one of the houses burned, which was insured. The purport of the letter was to request the person to whom it was addressed, to give him the earliest information in case any of the accomplices should split.—Dorchester Journal.

RIOTS AT WIGAN.—A fresh riot took place at this town on Monday. The shop of a grocer named Smalley was gutted at the election ; and, a few days ago, a man was apprehended in consequence of having in his possession a brush that had been taken out of it. He had not been in gaol for more than 'm hour, when a mob of the townspeaple assembled and rescued him. The liberation of the prisoner was effected without the slightest opposition on the part of the Magistrates. The mob then proceeded in triumph through the town, with the prisoner on their shoulders. They halted again at Smalley's, whose windows they broke ; they then proceeded to the house of Mr. Kearsley, the member ; where, we are informed, "a few furious blackguard-looking men, and a number of lads from fourteen to sixteen years of age, broke in ; and in a few minutes the chairs and table; were thrown out of the windows ; beds, bookcases, chests of drawers, and every fixture that could be pulled down, followed ; and the street was strewed with books, papers, deeds, and bed-clothing. The expensive and massive silver plate, consisting of Salvers, cups, and tea-pots, was taken to an iron railing on the other side of the street, and deliberately broken to pieces, and the fragments tossed amongst the crowd. So confident had the actors become, that they actually set out a table in the cellar, and had a regufar jollification, and dozens of them fell dead drunk on the floor, and lay there undisturbed 'frit' hours." When the mob had completely destroyed Mr. Kearsley's 'house, they attempted to set it on fire; but the flames were extinguished by a party of military that arrived about nine o'clock in the evening, but which could not act, as there was no magistrate to give them directions! It had been stated that Mr. Leigh . died of the injuries received at the election. This is now denied, and his death is attributed to inflamma- tory fever, the consequence of cold. The rioters on the present occa- sion belonged to the town ; those at the election were strangers, and are supposed to have come to Wigan in consequence of the exhortation of Mr. Hunt.

WORK FOR A REFORMED PARLIAMENT.—On Wednesday morning last, a soldier of the 00th Rifles now stationed in Regent's Road barracks, received one hundred and forty lashes in the usual manner, in the bar- rack-yard, in pursuance of a sentence awarded him for being absent for several days from the bzrracks without leave.—Manchester Herald.

Oa RARE LONDON TOWN !—On Tuesday, a clergyman- gave a valu- able horse and chaise into the care of the porter at the Diorama, Re- gent's Park, and shortly afterwards a man of reipectable appearance, accompanied by a female, got into the chaise, and drove away with it. [Where were the porter's eyes ? In the clergyman's head :]

Execurroar.—On Wednesday morning, at the usual hour, the two men left for execution—William 1Vidget, for sheep-stealing, and John Broach, for extensive robberies in dwelling-houses—suffered at Newgate. Since their conviction, both culprits have paid every attention to their religious duties. Mr. Cotton administered the sacrament to both on Wednesday. Broach maintained much firmness, while Widget wept loudly and bitterly. Widget first ascended the platform, and instantly engaged himself in prayer With Mr. Baker. The Rev. Mr. Cotton directed his attention to Broach ; who firmly said, " I die happy ; I have made all the restitution in my power ; I confess myself alone guilty, and acquit every individual of any participation."