the power of the company to have established verdicts
against the officers of the Customs in respect to many
of these seizures. The £100 has been paid, and steps
have been taken for the release of the goods.

A charge of Felony, by means of a novel application of
gutta percha, was brought before the magistrates of
Tynemouth, on the 19th inst. The borough of Tynemouth
Gas Company supply their customers with gas
by meter, the company furnishing the meter and the
piping from the street leading thereto, the consumer the
pipe to the burner. Of course, the company only receives
payment for that quantity of gas consumed, as
indicated by the meter. A person of the name of
Hibbard, a small shopkeeper residing in the low town,
having failed in business, the employés of the gas
company went to fetch away the meter, and cut off
the supply. They removed that instrument, and broke
off the piping within the shop, which extinguished a
light there, but to their astonishment they observed a
light still continuing to burn in the back premises.
They looked about them, and at last discovered that the
gas burnt at that light was conveyed by a gutta percha
tube from the company's pipe, to which it was attached.
Upon further search it was found that an upper room
could be lighted by the same means, and that by an
ingenious contrivance the gas could be turned from the
meter, and the light in the front shop be furnished by
the gas abstracted from the company's pipe. The men
reported to the directors, and that body determined to
institute a charge of felony against Hibbard, as they
must have been cheated to a considerable extent by this
ingenious device. He was accordingly given into
custody, but, after hearing the case, the Bench came to
the conclusion that the charge did not amount to felony,
and dismissed it. The company, it is said, intend to
take the case to the Northumberland sessions, by
indictment.

John Soffe, a small farmer, near Romsey, has been
Murdered. On the 13th inst., he drove in his cart into
Romsey, and did not return. It was found, on inquiry,
that he had left Romsey, to return home, in a state of
intoxication. His hat was found in the river Test, and
an empty canvas purse belonging to him was found on
the road; and lastly, his body was found lying at the
bottom of the river, in a secluded spot, distant from any
public road or path. From an examination of the body,
which presented no signs of violence, it appeared that
the man must have been drowned. Two men and two
women, who were last seen in his company, were
apprehended, and examined at the coroner's inquest. Their
names are John Eyres, John Kemish, Emma Leach, and
Mary Anne Simms. It appeared from the evidence
(which was voluminous) that Soffe spent the evening in
a beer-house, in company with these four persons, whom
he was treating with victuals and beer, in doing which
he exhibited his canvas purse, which was full of money.
He and his companions left the house together, and went
to another tavern, which they also left, after carousing
riotously, and he was seen no more. Between six and seven
in the evening, a little boy of the name of Glasspool,
was standing by himself near the causeway between the
bridge and the mill, when he heard the voice of a man,
calling out to lay hold of some one, directly after which
he heard the voices of two women screaming as if
frightened. The voices all seemed to come from the
same place. Between eight and nine in the same
evening, the two male prisoners were met together in
the town, in a state of intoxication, inquiring for the
female prisoner, Leach, and threatening that if she did
not "dub up," there would be a row in the morning.
This was said on more than one occasion. About the
same time, a young man passed by them, and heard one
of them say to the other, "Let us go and have some
beer, for we have done away with him (adding an oath)
now."Another witness heard them say they had plenty
of money, for they had "done the trick." They were
about the town, however, for some time after that,
endeavouring to obtain beer, but apparently without the
means of paying for it. About ten o'clock they returned
together to the Bridge Tavern, and had more beer.
While drinking, Eyres kept saying he knew a thing or
two, and upon being pressed by the landlord to tell what
he meant, said he would learn in the morning. The
two male prisoners slept that and the following night
under a rick in the neighbourhood, and were constantly
seen together until taken into custody. Kemish was
seen in two different dresses (a velveteen coat and a white
smock-frock) on Thursday night. The canvas purse
belonging to the deceased was found lying empty upon
the causeway between the bridge and Sadler's mill, on
the following morning; and about the same time his
hat was found in the river nearly opposite, with
sawdust sticking to it, showing that it had come through
the mill, one part of which is fitted up as a saw-mill.
A verdict of "wilful murder" was found against the four
prisoners, and they were committed for trial at the next
assizes.

On the 22nd, an inquest was held at Leicester, respect-
ing the death of Mrs. Caroline Charlotte Vesey Gillden
(daughter of Major Dawson), who committed Suicide
on the previous evening by swallowing a large quantity
of essential oil of almonds. She had been staying in
Leicester for the last month, and from documents found
in her apartment it would seem she was in a state of
destitution, having spent her last penny, and failed in
obtaining assistance from the persons to whom she
applied for it. In a diary written by her, several ladies
of high rank were spoken of as her intimate friends,
and her property in Ireland was stated to be in the
hands of attorneys, and likely to continue so. The jury
found a verdict of "temporary insanity."

On the morning of the 24th, a man committed Suicide
by throwing himself from Waterloo-bridge. He was
observed by several persons to climb over the balustrading,
but from being in his shirt-sleeves, with a leather apron
on, they fancied he was going to do something to the
gas-pipes. No sooner did he reach the ledge or shelving,
than after pausing for an instant, as if for reflection, he
jumped into the Thames. All this had been seen by one
of the officers of the Thames police force from the deck
of the floating station, off Somerset-house, and a boat,
manned by some of the constables, was immediately put
off in hopes of saving the man's life. The tide at the
time was running down, and the boat, having to row
against it, could not arrive in sufficient time to rescue
him.

In the Court of Queen's Bench, on the 24th, judgment
was given in the case of the workmen in the employ-
ment of Mr. Perry, of Wolverhampton, who had been
convicted at the last Stafford Assizes of a Conspiracy to
raise Wages. The case had been brought before the
court of Queen's Bench on a motion in arrest of judgment,
and for a new trial. Mr. Justice Patteson, in
pronouncing judgment, said, that the law allowed workmen
to combine to raise their wages, but did not allow
them to do illegal acts. Masters might conduct their
business as they pleased, and workmen could work at
what wages they pleased; but the law must not be
broken. The learned judge then proceeded to make
some remarks upon the National Trades Association to
the effect that, considering that it possessed so large a
sum as £20,000, it was a combination which might be
turned to a bad and dangerous purpose. The defendants
said they did not mean to violate the law, but the jury
had decided that point, and perhaps they had meant to
keep just within the limits of the law; but people
should be careful to keep well within the limits of the
law, because those who were their agents might overstep
their original intentions. Taking into consideration
the whole circumstances of the case, the sentence of the
court was, that the defendants, Wm. Peele, Frederick
Green, George Duffield, Thomas Woodnorth, and John
Gaunt, be imprisoned in Stafford Gaol for three calendar
months, and the defendant Charles Pyatt for one calendar
month.

An extraordinary case of Crim. Con. has taken place
in France. M. de Castillon, a young man of large property,
of Aix, and Madame Cremieux, wife of a gentleman
of the same city, were tried before the Tribunal of
Correctional Police for adultery. M. de Castillon,
having induced Madame Cremieux to elope, conveyed
her to Brussels, where they took up their residence
at a fashionable hotel. The husband went after them
in company of a police officer, and the guilty pair were
brought back to Paris in custody. But M. Cremieux
then withdrew the complaint he had made, and he