was tried at the Central Criminal Court, on the eighth
charge of Obtaining Money on False Pretences. He had
gone to Hatchett's Hotel, Piccadilly, and having run up
a bill of £3 3s. 6d., he gave a cheque for £14 13s. 1d.,
and being known as a customer of the house, no suspicion
was entertained, and the difference was handed over to
him, the cheque, as in the other cases, turning out to be
of no value. He was found guilty on two charges, and it
was stated that there were twelve similar ones against
him. He was sentenced to imprisonment with hard
labour, for a year, in the House of Correction.
An Affecting Case occurred at the Mansion House
on the 23rd. William Powers, a boy, was brought up on
the charge of picking a gentleman's pocket of a
handkerchief. A little boy, who had seen the theft, was
witness against him. The prisoner made a feeble
attempt to represent the witness as an accomplice; but
he soon abandoned it, and said, with tears, that he
"did not believe the other boy to be a thief at all."
The Alderman, moved by his manner, asked him if he
had parents? He said he had, but they were miserably
poor. "My father was, when I last saw him, six months
ago, going into the workhouse. What was I to do? I
was partly brought up to the tailoring business, but I
can get nothing to do at that. I am able to job about,
but still I am compelled to be idle. If I had work,
wouldn't I work! I'd be glad to work hard for a living,
instead of being obliged to thieve and tell lies for a bit of
bread." Alderman Carden—If I send you for a month
to Bridewell, and from thence into an industrial school,
will you stick honestly to labour? The Prisoner—Try
me. You shall never see me here or in any other
disgraceful situation again. Alderman Carden—I will try
you. You shall go to Bridewell for a month, and to the
School of Occupation afterwards, where you will have
an opportunity of reforming.—The wretched boy
expressed himself in terms of gratitude to the Alderman,
and went away, as seemed to be the general impression
in the justice-room, for the purpose of commencing a
new life.
Cobbe's Divorce Bill came judiciously before the House
of Lords on the 23rd. Mr. T. Cobbe, a barrister, was
married in 1838 to Miss Azelia Anne Cobbe, his cousin;
both were young and attached to each other. They
lived together in Queen Anne Street, Cavendish Square,
from the time of the marriage to the year 1846, on the
most affectionate terms. Among their visitors was Mr.
Talmadge, a special pleader in the Temple, a college
companion and intimate friend of Mr. Cobbe. In 1846
Mr. Cobbe's father came from Ireland to see him, and
they took a trip to Germany together, leaving Mrs.
Cobbe and her sister at home. They were absent about
a fortnight. It has been proved by the evidence of the
domestic servants, that Mr. Talmadge during that period
was in the habit of being clandestinely admitted into the
house and passing the night in Mrs. Cobbe's bedchamber;
and that this criminal intercourse was continued after the
husband's return. On the 13th of March 1847, Mr.
Cobbe went as usual to his chambers, and his wife, after
giving the servants directions for dinner, &c., left the
house and never returned. She is now living with
Mr. Talmadge at Passy near Paris. Mr. Cobbe brought
an action for adultery against Mr. Talmadge, who
suffered judgment to go by default for £500 damages;
and he has obtained a sentence of divorce in the
ecclesiastical court.—The bill was read a second time.
The Legal Bearings of the Gorham Case have been
discussed with great animation not only before the
regular tribunals, but at meetings all over the country.
On the 15th, in the Court of Queen's Bench, Sir F. Kelly
moved for a rule to show cause why the Arches Court
and the Archbishop of Canterbury should not be
prohibited from proceeding further in giving effect to the
judgment of the Committee of the Privy Council in the
case of Gorham versus the Bishop of Exeter; by which
judgment the previous decree of the Court of Arches
had been reversed. He contended, that, in such a case,
the appeal from the Court of Arches lay, not to the
Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, but to the
Upper House of Convocation; and that, therefore, the
proceedings which had been laid before her Majesty in
Council were entirely void, and the decree of the Court
of Arches remained in full force. Lord Campbell, after
having heard the learned counsel's argument, said that
the Court would intimate its decision on an early day.
At the Arches Court on the same day, Mr. Bewdler,
the proctor for Mr. Gorham, intimated that no return
has been received to the monition which was ordered
the last court-day to be served on the Bishop of Exeter,
and prayed that a certificate of its continuation be
granted. The presentation had not been sent in by the
Bishop. Another application on behalf of Mr. Gorham
was made on the 23rd, when the Judge ordered the case to
stand over till next term.
At a Great Number of Public Meetings strong
demonstrations of their respective opinions and sympathies
have been made by the supporters of each side of the
question.—The most noticeable was one on the 1st, by
the Parishioners of Mr. Gorham, at St. Just, who
adopted a resolution congratulatory on the successful
issue of his suit, "involving, as they believe it did,
vital Christian truth." In his reply Mr. Gorham says:
—"That such a struggle should have been with my
'diocesan,' is, you will readily believe, the chief
circumstance connected with it which has given me pain;
but I had no choice between such a contest, and
compromise of a great Protestant—let me rather say
Scriptural—truth."
A good deal of attention has been excited by a
Correspondence between Miss Sellon and Lord Campbell.
Writing from the "Orphan's Home, Plymouth," March
19th, the lady desired his lordship to withdraw his name
from the charitable establishment of which she is the
head.—Lord Campbell wrote a good-humoured answer,
expressing great respect for Miss Sellon's piety and
benevolence, telling her that she misunderstood the
judgment of which she complains.—Miss Sellon returned
to the charge in a letter of the 8th, in which, after an
impassioned lamentation for the wounds inflicted on
the Church, she concludes by saying, "I thank you very
earnestly for your promise of remembering me in your
prayers. I am not worthy to pray for you—and yet if
the God of all goodness will hear the supplication of a
loving and deeply sorrowing heart. He will bring you
to grieve for the injury done to the Church, and will
help you to repair it—and give you all blessing in time
and eternity."—Lord Campbell, in a reply, reiterated
his previous arguments, and, lamenting her "stem
resolution," tells the lady that "if at any time hereafter
you should be induced to relent, I shall joyfully avail
myself of the opportunity of again trying to further
your benevolent schemes." Miss Sellon closed the
correspondence by complaining that her previous letters
should have been published without her sanction.
NARRATIVE OF ACCIDENT AND
DISASTER
NUMEROUS SHIPWRECKS were occasioned by the terrific
storm which swept over these islands on the last two days
of March, and produced innumerable disasters among
shipping on nearly every coast, and great loss of human life.
The Royal Adelaide Steamer, which was due at the
wharf, Lower East Smithfield, from Cork on the
30th ultimo, did not arrive. A river-pilot, who had
been waiting at Gravesend to take charge of her,
was informed by a Deal pilot that he had passed
in his bark a large steamer on Saturday night,
about 15 miles off Margate. Signals of distress were
fired from her, and she seemed to be on the sand.
The wind blew a gale, and the bark could render no
assistance. The description of the wreck tallied with
that of the missing ship. Subsequently intelligence was
brought by steamers that arrived in the river, describing
the appearance of the wreck. Not a soul was seen on
board by any of these vessels. A telegraphic despatch
from Margate on Monday afternoon (1st), announced
that the wreck was covered at high-water, and that two
bodies had been picked up off the sands. It was now
ascertained that signals of distress had been heard by
men of the Coast Guard near Margate, and by the people
of the Tongue light ship; but as there were only two or
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