NARRATIVE OF LAW AND CRIME.

ROBBERIES and other crimes by Ticket–of Leave Men
are becoming more and more frequent. On the 12th
instant, David Hayes, a pugilist, and a ticket–of–leave
man, was charged at Bow–street with being concerned,
with another man already in custody, named Williams,
in assaulting and robbing William Hayles. The
prosecutor was walking through Seven Dials in broad
daylight, when he was surrounded by a gang of ruffians
—most of them on "ticket–of–leave"—knocked down,
brutally assaulted, and robbed of his purse, containing
three pounds and some silver. He was much cut and
bruised by the rough treatment to which he was
exposed, and only one of the offenders (Williams) was
captured at the time of the occurrence. But the police
had since apprehended Hayes, and the prosecutor now
identified him as one of the ringleaders. The prisoners
were committed for trial.

A case of Breach of Promise of Marriage was tried
in the Court of Exchequer, on the 12th instant. The
plaintiff claimed £3,000 as compensation. The plaintiff,
Miss Rogers, is the daughter of an artist now dead, and
resides with her mother. The defendant, Mr. Thomson,
is a machine–ruler manufacturer and bill–discounter,
carrying on business at Golden–court. The parties
became acquainted in September last, and in the following
month, according to the plaintiff's statement, he made
her an offer of marriage, in anticipation of which,
dresses were ordered for herself and bridesmaids, and
the wedding breakfast was arranged for at the house of
a female friend in the Westminster–road. However,
before the day arrived, she made minute inquiries
respecting the defendant's means and character, and
learned to her great astonishment and dismay that he
was a married man, with a large family of children, his
wife being still living. The match was accordingly
broken off, and the defendant declining to make any
compensation the present action was brought. Several
letters, alleged to be written by the defendant to the
plaintiff, were produced, in one of which he stated that
he had bought the license, and two witnesses swore that
these letters were in the defendant's handwriting. It
was contended for the defence that this action was got
up for the purpose of extorting money from the
defendant by the production of letters which he repudiated
as forgeries. The defendant averred that, in the month
of August or September last, he and two other gentlemen
saw Miss Rogers looking into a shop window in the
Strand. They got into conversation with her, and she
accompanied them to a tavern, where they had several
glasses of brandy and water. One of the gentlemen
told the young lady that the defendant was very rich,
and though Mr. Thomson was short and somewhat
deformed, Miss Esther bestowed so much of her favour
upon him that he became absolutely enamoured, escorting
her that evening to the railway station, and meeting
her frequently by appointment on subsequent occasions,
not at his own house, or at her mother's, or anywhere
that a modest girl should consent to meet her lover.
The defendant's counsel proposed to call witnesses to
show that the plaintiff was a person of grossly immoral
character, and referred to several letters from her to the
defendant, in none of which had she alluded to the
promise of marriage, each letter merely seeking a fresh
supply of money in return for what favours the jury
might easily imagine. That the defendant, a married
man, and the father of a family, was to blame for the
indulgence of amorous propensities no one could deny,
but that was no reason why he should be compelled to
pay to an artful and unprincipled young woman heavy
damages, because of the alleged breach of a contract of
marriage into which he had never entered.—The chief
baron thought that the line of defence taken, he would
not say improperly, would be anything but conducive to
public morals, and his opinion was that it would be
far better to refer the matter to some gentleman of the
bar.—After a short consultation between the counsel on
either side, the jury, under direction of the court, found
their verdict for the plaintiff pro formâ, and the matter
was referred by consent to Mr. Serjeant Shee, with
power to examine both the plaintiff and the defendant.

A dreadful Murder was perpetrated at the village of
Kate's–hill, near Dudley, on Saturday morning, the
12th inst. A young man, named Meadows, had been
paying court to a young woman named Mason, but,
becoming jealous, he determined that she should die.
He borrowed a carbine, and having loaded it proceeded
to the public–house where the girl lived as a servant, and
where she was engaged in cleaning. He called for
something to drink, and, watching his opportunity, he
deliberately discharged the contents of the deadly
weapon. The principal portion of the charge lodged
directly under the left ear. She only lived a few
minutes after The murderer made no attempt to
escape. He said, "Revenge is sweet; I have had mine,
and the law must take its own."

A frightful case of Murder and Suicide has occurred
in Cheshire. At the village of Wheelock, near Sandbach,
Mr. James Sproston, joiner and cabinet–maker,
killed his wife with a sword, and afterwards blew out
his own brains with a pistol. The cause appears to
have been jealousy on the part of the husband, for
which it appears there was no foundation. The husband
was 46 years of age; the wife, Ann Sproston, 42.
They had been married fifteen or sixteen years, were
without children, and enjoyed a competence. With
them lived a widowed sister of the wretched man,
named Gill, and her son, a young man working as a
joiner. For some weeks Sproston had made the
suspicions of his wife's conduct the subject of frequent
conversation with every one he knew. This had greatly
affected her health. After breakfast on the morning of
the murder they were left in the house alone. The last
that was seen of them alive was at half–past seven
o'clock. Mrs. Gill having been on an errand to Sandbach,
returned about half–past nine. In the kitchen
she found Mrs. Sproston kneeling in a pool of blood,
with her head frightfully disfigured, there being a sword
beside her. In her own parlour Mrs. Gill found Mr.
Sproston seated on a chair, with his dreadfully shattered
head hanging forward, and a pistol lying between his
feet on the floor. She obtained immediate assistance;
but Mr. Sproston was quite dead, and his wife did not
live half an hour. An inquest was held, and the jury
found that Mr. Sproston had killed his wife and then
committed suicide, being at the time in a state of
insanity. The details of the evidence were very
shocking. It appeared that both the deceased were
very tall persons, the husband being full six feet and
the wife not much less. They were proportionally
powerful, and the struggle must have been terrific, as
the kitchen presented the appearance of a slaughterhouse.
There was blood even on the ceiling. The
blows had been dealt with immense force, and had
cloven the skull; but the wound which had been the
immediate cause of death was a frightful gash at the
back of the neck, severing the vertebral column.
Sproston had made a will, excluding his wife from all
benefit or interest in his property; but this was the less
remarked as she had a private income settled in her own
right, and sufficient to maintain her in comfort.

    NARRATIVE OF ACCIDENT AND
                 DISASTER.

A Fire, causing the destruction of an immense
amount of property, broke out in the extensive
shipbuilding–yard at Millwall, the property of Messrs Scott
Russell & Co., about nine o'clock on the night of the
3rd instant, in the newly–built floating battery, named
the Etna. This battery adjoined on one side another
vessel, the Wave Queen, intended also to be launched
to–day, and on the other side a screw collier. The three
occupied a large space in the yard, and were in such
close proximity that it became apparent, unless the fire
could be quickly subdued, not only would the battery be
destroyed, but the ships on either side would be seriously
injured. The most strenuous exertions were therefore
made to collect the hands together, but before assistance
could be rendered the flames rushed between the iron
plates of the battery, firing every foot of timber from
stem to stern; and the heat became so great that the
iron plates, 41/2 inches thick, started in many places,