when complaints had been made by some of the
shareholders, a special committee was appointed to examine
into the whole matter, and that it had approved of what
had been done. On behalf of Sir William Magnay
and Mr. Masterman no defence whatever was offered.
In the course of the proceedings, it was stated that what
the defendents were accused of doing was constantly
done in England,—namely, on the formation of a railway
company, to distribute shares or money amongst
the owners of the land through which the line is to pass,
and to persons who might be in a position in any way to
promote its interests; and it was added, that the cost of
such distribution was always entered on the accounts as
"Parliamentary expenses." The Tribunal decided, that
as the acts of Mr. Ashwell which were complained of,
took place more than three years ago, they were covered
by prescription, and that the complaint against Sir
William Magnay and Mr. Masterman was not
sufficiently proved. It consequently dismissed the complaint.

Mr. Thomas Millar, assistant schoolmaster of her
Majesty's ship Wizard, a young man of six-and-twenty,
committed Suicide. He had been accused of purloining
the clothes of the boys under his charge, and, on the
morning of the distressing occurrence he was noticed,
while standing on the deck of the Wizard, to suddenly
seize four six pound shots, place them in his coat pockets,
and, before anyone could prevent him, jumped
overboard. He immediately sank, and although the boats
promptly put out to his assistance, all traces of his body
had disappeared. A letter was found from the deceased,
addressed to his wife, in which he intimated that he was
about to commit suicide, rather than face the charge
made against him.

Henry Coe Coape, a person of gentlemany appearance,
was tried at the Central Criminal Court, for
Conspiring by False Pretences with one King to obtain
£4000 from Henry Porter Smith. King had fled the
country. Mr. Coape had extensive property in Essex
left him by his father; but he soon got embarrassed,
from expensive experiments in farming, sold part of his
property, and mortgaged the rest for £16,000. King
wanted to raise a loan of £8000, and induced Coape, his
relation, to consent to be his security. Through Mr.
Kirby, "managing director," of the Albert Insurance
Company, an arrangement was made by which Mr.
Smith was to lend £4000 and Sir John Wilson a second
£4000, the security being the estates, some of which were
Coape had already sold, while the others were
mortgaged. The affair was conducted with a suspicious
secrecy by Mr. Kirby, and with disgraceful want of car
in inquiring about the nature of the security; if the
necessary inquiries had been made it would have
appeared that Mr. Coape no longer possessed the
estates specified, and that the rest were deeply
mortgaged. However, the money was advanced, the deeds
were executed, Kirby and others got rich pickings, a
loan advanced by the Albert Company was repaid,
King got the balance, and quickly disappeared.
Presently, Mr. Coape appears as an insolvent, and the
lenders find that their security is imperfect. It came
out during the trial that from the sale of the
mortgaged estates the lenders will realise £6000, and will
have a claim on other funds. The jury found that
the charge had not been made out, and returned a
verdict of "Not guilty;" and the Foreman added,
that it was the opinion of the jury that the prosecution
was a most infamous and unnecessary one. The
Recorder observed, that, without saying anything upon
the subject of the nature of the prosecution, he could
not help observing that if anything could open the eyes
of young men of fortune, who were desirous of raising
money, to the manner in which they were plundered
by offices of this kind, and by the description of parties
who had that day been examined, this case ought to have
that effect. The Albert Office, he was affraid, was not
the only one in London where these sort of transactions
were carried on; and he hoped that what had taken place
might be attended with some good effect in future.

James Smyth, a very poor old man, has been found
Murdered in a wood near Cavan. His head was crushed
and rent in a frightful way. The motive for the crime
is unknown: the body had not been plundered of a few
shillings which were in a pocket.

There have been serious Bread Riots at Nottingham.
On the night of the 14th instant a crowd of several
thousand persons assembled in the market-place and
attacked the shops of several bakers, breaking the
windows and doing other damage. Thence they
proceeded to Radford, a manufacturing village near the
town, where they committed similar outrages. A baker
captured one of the mob, who was immediately rescued
by his companions. The police at length succeeded in
dispersing the rioters. Next day special constables were
sworn in, and other measures taken to preserve the peace,
which was not again broken.

Between one and two o'clock in the morning of the
19th inst., a young woman committed suicide by Throwing
herself from Waterloo Bridge. She passed the
money collector, evidently in great trouble, and sobbing
loudly. A short time afterwards the watchman on
Hungerford-bridge heard the screams of a female, and
splashing in the water. The toll men soon hailed the
Thames police, who rowed to the spot, and found the
poor creature partly covered with water, the tide being
far out at the time. The unfortunate girl was instantly
brought on shore, and taken to King's College Hospital,
where every attention was paid to the case, but she
expired from the injuries she had met with from her
tremendous leap.

The late bankers, Strahan, Paul and Bates, were
Committed for Trial by the Bow Street magistrate on the
12th instant. The trial came on at the Central Criminal
Courth on the 19th. An application was made on the
part of the prisoners for a postponement of the trial, on
the grounds that, being so recently committed, they had
not time to prepare their defence. No opposition being
made, the application was granted, the sureties for their
appearance being renewed.

The law and police reports this month teem with
Murders and Outrages committed by men on their Wives
and Women with whom they cohabited.—On the 18th
inst. a brutal Murder was perpetrated in the neighbourhood
of Artillery Lane, Bishopgate Street, by a man
named Lordan, on his own wife. On the previous night
Lordan and his wife went to a raffle and a wake at a
public-house near home, where there was a violent
quarrel between them, ending in blows, the husband
being jealous of another man. Lordan left the public-
house at half-past eleven o'clock, returned home and
went to bed, his wife remaining behind. At a quarter
past five o'clock in the morning she returned home, but
did not go to bed. She called upon one of her two sons, who
resided with them, to go to work, upon which he dressed
himself and left home. Shortly afterwards, at about
half-past six o'clock, she called on her second son, and
asked for a light for the purpose of lighting her pipe.
She afterwards went to the bed upon which her
husband was lying, when he took from underneath the bed,
where he had concealed it, a large pointed knife, like
that used by butchers, and made a thrust at her throat,
wounding her severely. She made the best of here way
to the doot, to escape, but sank on the stairs, and died
almost immediately. A few moments after the horrible
deed was committed, Lordan gave himself up to a
policeman, by whom he was conveyed to the station-
house, where he made a full confession of guilt. A
coroner's inquest has returned a verdict of Wilful
Murder against Lordan.—An act of shocking Brutality
was committed on the night of the 5th inst. by a man
named Dutton, residing in the cellar of a house in
Tindle-street, Liverpool. He went home drunk, and,
after cruelly beating his wife, turned her out of the
house, along with her child at the breast, and two sons
of the respective ages of fifteen and nine years. The
mother and child took shelter at a neighbour's house,
but the poor lads went and lay down on a brick-kiln,
where they were found at six in the morning, one dead,
and the other insensible. The younger boy was
immediately taken home, and he is likely to get
better. The father was taken into custody.—At
the Southwark police court, on the 18th, George
Pemble, a shoemaker, was charged with having
Murdered Mary Latimer, a woman with whom he cohabited.
They had quarrelled, and he beat he so dreadfullly that
she died immediately. He was remanded. On the 20th
a coal-porter, named Dodd, was charged at the