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The Royal Society held Its anniversary meeting, at the rooms in Somer- set House, on Wednesday: at larger meeting of Fellows than was ever known assembled to elect a new President and one new Secretary. The Marquis of Northampton delivered an address on his retirement from the chair, to which he was elected in 1838; and the Earl of Rosse was chosen President without opposition. The contested election of a Secretary in place of Dr. Roget terminated in favour of Mr. Thomas Bell; who was preferred to the Council's candidate, Mr. Grove, by " a large number of balls."
The Botanical Society of London held their anniversary meeting on Wednesday, at the rooms in Bedford Street. The report congratulated the members on the success with which rare foreign and British specimens had been collected and distributed among members in the past season, and on the advance made in the arrangement of the British herbarium. The So- ciety itself had received twenty-six new members since its last anniversary. Mr. L E. Gray was reelected President.
At the Central Criminal Court, on Monday, a ease arising out of a racing " sweep " was investigated. Lipsbasn and Worcester were charged with con- spiring to obtain money by false pretences. Mr. Harris, a publican in the Black- friars Road, employed Dpsham to manage a number of sweeps: there was e sweep of 71. for one of the Ascot races; the ticket which was entitled to the prize was held by Cockley and Davidge; Lipsham wrote another horse against the names of these parties, and employed Worcester, his brother-in-law, to apply to Mr. Harris for the 71. ;. producing the ticket which was a warrant for the pay- ment. The sum was pals by the publican; and he had to pay it again to the real winners. There was no proof that Worcester acted as more than the messenger of Lipaham, and so the charge of conspiracy failed. Verdict, " Not guilty."
On Tuesday, four Irish labourers were tried for uttering counterfeit coin, and also for having a quantity in their possession. They-had been watched at Lewis- ham, and detected in passing bad money at several shops; and no fewer than 101 counterfeit shillings were found in their possession. The coin was new, but the prisoners had with them a preparation for giving an appearance of age to the pieces. The accused were convicted, and each was sent to prison for two years. Daring the day, no fewer than twenty-six persons, two-thirds of them Irish, were tried for passing bad money.
On Wednesday, James Haynes, the man who robbed Miss Bissett in Ken- sington Gardens, was put on his trial. The case, as fully stated at the time of the occurrence, was quite clear; a verdict of " Guilty " was at once given; and the culprit was sentenced to fifteen years' transportation.
Thomas Hunt was convicted of attempting to utter three forged Bank-of-Eng- land notes: he had tried to sell three five-pound notes for 121., pretending that he had found them. Sentence, ten years transportation.
More utterers of false coin were convicted during the day.
At the Mansionhouse, on Saturday, Alderman Wilson called the attention of the Lord Mayor to the continuance of racing sweeps at public-houses, in spite of legal decistois against them. The Alderman stated that he had threatened not to re- new a licence to -a public-house in his ward where a sweep was held; the publican had discontinued it; bat a man who pretended to have been in connexion with the publican had opened an office just outside Temple Bar, and was sending circulars of sweeps in every direction. A "racing office" had also been opened in the Strand. There were still many public-houses within the City where sweeps were held. The Lord Mayor said he would consult with the City Solicitor as to send- ing notices to these publicans that their licences would not be renewed if they did not stop the practice. John Lawrence, a young man well known as belonging to the" swell mob," was charged with having been in Glyn's bank with an unlawful purpose. Two offi- cers saw him enter; and they captured him, though he struck one in the face. Lawrence was very candid to Alderman Pirie: he admitted that he belonged to the swell mob; said he had no means of getting an honest living, but wished he had; and regretted that he had gone into Glyn's, but declared it was only to get a sovereign changed. He added, that if he could get honest employment, be would take care that no one robbed his master: "I know how to prevent it, if know how to do it."—Committed for a month.
On Monday, Hannah Norton, a little girl some sixteen years old, was charged with arson. She had lived as servant with Mr. and Mrs. Rae and Mrs. Boyce, who occupied the upper part of a house in Eastcheap. She had received notice to quit. On Saturday, a little before noon, Mrs. Rae, who was unwell in bed, beard a noise in the room used as a kitchen: Norton at first said it was "only the cat," but afterwards told her mistress the place was on fire. It turned oat that the kitchen was on fire: an oaken chest was in flames, a clock had been de- stroyed, and the dresser and wainscot were burning; there was little fire in the grate. In the bedroom of the accused, a fireman found a box, which was under two others, on fire. Other circumstances pointed suspicion to the girl. The only explanation she gave of the matter was, that the cat mast have carried fire into the boxes: but the cat was unsinged.—Remanded till Friday. A Coroner's Jury has found that the fires were " wilfully " caused, though the evidence did not warrant them in saying by whom. At the Southwark Police-office, on Monday, Maria Ross, a girl of thirteen, was charged with attempting to poison herself by taking sugar of lead. She had ran away from a situation, bought the poison at two shops, swallowed it, and was found very ill in the streets. She refused to state her motive.—Remanded. At Marylebone Police-office, on Monday, Thomas George Bew, with a string of aliases, was charged with imposture. It appeared that he was a begging letter rogue of old standing; on the present occasion two cases were brought against him. He went to General Meade's, an Bryanston Square; produced a card bearing the engraved name of "Mr. George Bell," and stated that he was an overseer of Lam- beth, sent by Mr. Francis, one of the Churchwardens, to solicit aid for a poor widow named Wilson: he produced a paper of subscriptions, purporting to be signed by several charitable individuals: the whole was a fraud. This was sus- pected, and he was given into custody. The fellow obtained a sovereign from Mr. J. A. Lloyd, of Gloucester Place, for one Elizabeth Morgan, a poor woman who had been reduced to distress through losing her cows by the murrain. In this in- stance he represented himself as Mr. Gill, an overseer of Marylebone; and also produced a forged list of subscriptions. Mr. Broughton commented on the atrocity of such conduct, calculated as it was to induce the charitable to slight the appeals of real poverty; and sentenced the prisoner to three months' imprisonment, with hard labour, for each offence. Some Excise-officers discovered an illicit still in Phoenix Street, Spitalfields, .01? Saturday. Upon their forcing an entry, three men attempted to escape; one tried to get over a wall at the back of the house, but was secured; the others ran to an upper floor, opened the window, leaped boldly on to a wall, thence scrambled over some stabling, and eventually escaped, though at the risk of their necks. A w?.• man who was found in the place was secured. A large still was in full work.
there were eighty gallons of spirit prepared, and a hundred of fermented wash. The denizens of the locality were very averse to the officers carrying off their pri- soners; but a policeman used his staff so effectually that a rescue was prevented, Moor, Hodgson, and as many of their fellow swindlers as are in custody, have been committed for trial by the Southwark Magistrate.
The Coroner's Jury who have inquired into the death of Parry, the man killed on the railway at Richmond, have returned a verdict of " Manslaughter " against Healey the driver and Watkins the fireman of the Vulture locomotive.
Mr. Wakley held an inquest, on Tuesday, on the body of a girl who had died in a very singular way. Ann Pullen, a girl rather more than fourteen years old, was idle and ill-conditioned; her mother, a widow, was very severe. On Friday sen- night, the mother had tied the girl to a bedpost, fastening the cord round her neck; and left her thus, locked in the room, for many hours: on returning at night, she found her daughter dead, on her feet, and leaning forward; she had been suffocated, the neck having been deeply indented by the rope, and the skin cut through. The harsh mother had been in the habit of tying the child to the bedstead, or her hands together, for days in succession. The Jury believed that the girl died from her struggles, and not from the direct act of the mother; against whom they found a verdict of "Manslaughter" only.
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