At a coroner's inquest the above facts were deposed to, and the surgeon stated, that on examining the body of the deceased he found a wound on the inside of the left thigh, nearly in the groin. It was two inches and a half long, one inch and a half in depth, and threequarters of an inch wide. It appeared to have been made by a plunge and a rush upwards. The femoral artery was transfixed and lacerated upwards nearly an inch, and the vein had also been opened. Death was caused by the loss of blood consequent on that wound. The animal life would be extinct in a few seconds. A penknife is an instrument that would make such a wound.

The jury returned a verdict of "Wilful murder; George Mathews as principal, and John Hughes as accessary. They were tried at the Spring Assizes, when Mathews was found guilty, sentenced to death, and executed Hughes was acquitted.

9. FIRE AND LOSS OF LIFE.A fire broke out, about nine o'clock at night, upon the premises of Mr. John Sharp, a printer and bookseller, 30, Kent Street, St. George's, Southwark. It appears that Mr. Sharp has lately been employed in manufacturing fireworks, and the explosion of some of the combustible matter used in that business caused the terrible disaster. Whilst some of the neighbours were passing the building, the major part of the shop-front was hurled into the street with fearful violence. It was then perceived that the shop and its contents were wrapped in one broad sheet of flame. Several persons immediately rushed forth with buckets of water which they discharged upon the burning mass. Whilst the

neighbours were directed towards saving the premises, Mr. Sharp returned, when his attention was instantly attracted by hearing violent screams proceeding from some portions of the house. He forced his way through the dense mass of smoke that was issuing forth, and in the back parlour he found two of his children almost suffocated. With considerable exertion he succeeded in getting them out, but not before one was terribly injured. The fire-engines speedily arrived, and the flames being subdued, Mr. Henderson, the foreman, went in, and whilst he was examining the shelves at the rear of the counter, he discovered what he at first thought was a "dummy," used in setting out the shop, but, upon taking a light in, it was ascertained to be the body of a human being. It proved to be the body of the eldest daughter of the proprietor, Ellen Sharp, aged 19. It appears that when her father went out she was sitting behind the counter, attending to the shop, and must have been burnt to death by the explosion.

10. CIVIL WAR IN GENEVA.— The city of Geneva has been the theatre of a civil contest, which seems to have originated from the same principles as those which led to the civil war in Lucerne. It seems that Lucerne and the other six Roman Catholic Cantons had joined in a league to secure the right of the majority in those cantons to carry out their own views of policy. The Protestant Cantons took steps to oppose the league, as an illegal encroachment on the general confederation; and the question came in due course before the Grand Council of Geneva. The Council voted against the league, but accompanied its vote with

certain stipulations for the maintenance of "public order." The Radical party party had expected an unqualified vote of hostility to the league, and as soon as the result was known they began to organize an insurrection against the temporising Government, and threw up barricades in the Fauxbourg of St. Gervais.

On the morning of the 7th, the militia proceeded to storm these barricades, which it effected after having fired about 200 cannonshots. After the first success, it was necessary to occupy the suburb; this was attempted at two places, but when the militia reached the entrance of the suburb it was received with a most destructive fire from the windows of all the houses. The militia behaved in the most gallant manner; the commandingofficers faced the fire at the head of their troops, and only retreated and crossed the bridges again when they had almost all been wounded and disabled. They remained, nevertheless, in possession of the lower town and of the Rhone; and the insurrection was still confined to St. Gervais. During the night the insurgents set fire to the bridges. The population of the lower town being then in danger, rose in its turn, and declared for the insurrection. At the same time the Radicals from the Canton of Vaud were arriving to assist the insurgents. The militia being thus threatened on every side, gave way and yielded; and the State Council resigned in a body. In the evening the magazines and the principal public establishments were in the power of the insurgents, who immediately established a temporary government. The leading officers of the militia were killed in their attempt to preserve order; and some of the

first families in Geneva had losses to deplore.

The insurgents having thus got the upper hand, proceeded to organize a Provisional Government. No predatory outrages occurred during this movement.

FORGED NOTES.-At the Police Court, Guildhall, Mr. Job, a stationer in Bread Street, charged Mr. Freeman, one of the inspectors of forged notes at the Bank of England, with detaining a sheet of paper, his property. It appeared in the course of the investigation, that Mr. Job had manufactured a quantity of paper for Colonel Thornton, who a few weeks since destroyed himself while in the custody of the police, charged with uttering forged Bank notes. (See p. 131.) The paper had a waved water-mark similar to that in real bank notes, and was used by Thornton in producing the spurious notes. It having been found that Mr. Job made this paper, the Bank authorities applied to him: he had detained one sheet for his specimenbook; this the officials borrowed of him, and then refused to return it, and hence this charge. Mr. Freshfield, the Bank solicitor, stated, that Mr. Job had made himself liable to fourteen years' transportation by manufacturing the paper; a clause in an Act of Parliament attaching that penalty to the making of paper with a waved watermark similar to that used by the Bank. It having been apparent that Mr. Job had acted inadvertently, no proceedings were taken against him; but the sheet was detained. Paper had been manufactured sufficient for ten thousand notes; this quantity of paper had been stopped at Alexandria, on its way to Cairo, in which city Thornton had an establishment. Had the

attempt succeeded, a vast number of forged notes might have been put into circulation in India and Europe. Mr. Job withdrew his complaint.

11. HURRICANE AT HAVANNAH. -The royal mail steamer Thames brings accounts of a frightful hurricane which visited the city of Havannah on the 11th of October, committing dreadful damage. It appears that about the same period many of the islands in the West Indies were visited by shocks of earthquakes. The following is the letter by the Commander of the Thames to his owners.

"Royal Mail Steam-Packet Thames, Southampton, Nov. 4, 7 h. 30 m.

P. M.

"SIR-I have the happiness of reporting to you, for the information of the Court of Directors, the safe arrival of this ship, after experiencing on the 11th ult., in the harbour of Havannah, the most tremendous hurricane ever known there, attended with a loss of shipping almost incredible in that beautifully land-locked basin. It had blown fresh all the previous day, and at sunset, not liking the appearance of the weather, I had struck the main and mizen topmasts and foreyard. At midnight the second anchor was let go, and otherwise all was ready to proceed to sea at daylight, it being arranged that the mail-boat was to leave the ship at four o'clock for the mails; but at that time the storm came on from N. E., and continued with a force beyond conception until 10 h. 30 m. A. M. It then lulled, veered round to N., then W. and W. S. W., and blew most violently until 4 P. M., afterwards gradually moderating, leaving such a scene of devastation as,

thank God! seldom falls to the lot of any one to behold :-the French frigate Andromede, of sixty guns, Rear-Admiral La Place, ashore, and topmasts gone by the cap; the corvette Blonde on shore, on her beam-ends, totally dismasted; the steamer Tonnère at her anchors, but dismasted, and funnel gone; several of the Spanish men-of-war not to be seen, the harbour covered with all sorts of merchandise and upset vessels ; and along the wharfs, instead of ships' hulls, not more than their lower masts to be seen above

water.

"At 7 A.M. the Thames drifted about half a cable's length, when Her Majesty's late ship Romney, in sheering to a tremendous squall, stove our pinnace, but shortly afterwards, fortunately for us, that ship drove a good cable's length, leaving us the weathermost ship in the harbour; and to this may be attributed our safety, for we were then enabled to veer, and by keeping an equal strain on both cables held our own. The barometer at the height of the gale went down to 27.70; it was then absolutely impossible to stand upon the deck. With the exception of the pinnace, the only loss sustained is that of the mail-boat, which, although moored close under the stern with a stout hawser, in addition to her painter, broke adrift; had she been at the quarter, the Romney would have smashed her.

"The Tay left for Vera Cruz at four o'clock P. M. the previous day, and must have been, at least, 120 miles to the westward before the heaviest strength of the gale; and from the circumstance of a Bremen brig having arrived on the 12th from the westward without experiencing the gale so violently,

I do not think the slightest fear may be entertained for her safety. The Lee sailed for Honduras on the 8th.

"I delayed sailing from Havannah until the morning of the 13th, at the urgent request of Her Majesty's Consul-General, and with the perfect concurrence (in writing) of the Admiralty agent, to enable the merchants to add to their European correspondence. In this I feel satisfied that the Court of Directors will bear me out, the more so as we left Bermuda at the proper time.

"I herewith inclose a list of casualties to the shipping, and also the Havannah newspaper of the 12th.

"I trust I shall be excused in stating how much I had reason to be pleased with the exertions of every officer and man on board during the most anxious day of my life; there was much heavy and wet work in ranging every fathom of cable, and getting the third anchor ready for letting go; in all this every one most cheerfully lent a willing hand.-I am, Sir, your obedient servant,

"PHIL. HAST, Captain."

Captain Chappell, R.N."

The following is a list of the men-of-war and merchantmen, then lying in the harbour, that were wrecked or damaged :

FRENCH.

Andromede frigate, 60 guns, Admiral La Place-on shore, top

masts gone.

Nine English ditto.
Fourteen Spanish men-of-war.
Three French ditto.

The town, and particularly the suburbs, suffered great damage. Upwards of a hundred persons perished by the falling of houses and other accidents. The hurricane did not extend any great distance around the city. In the height of the gale, the barometer was down to 27.70; in the hurricane of 1844 it was 28.42.

12. EXTRAORDINARY OCCURRENCE IN A RAILWAY CARRIAGE.—A Mr. Parker, of Sydenham, was travelling by the mail-train from Derby to London, on Monday last; and his only companion in the carriage was a gentlemanly man, about thirty. This person began to ramble in his language, and eventually was seized with a fit of raving madness. He prayed fervently-de

masts and funnel gone.

to be hell-stripped himself naked

com

-thrust his head through the window, cutting his head and neck with the glass, and then menced a most outrageous assault upon Mr. Parker, who was very severely injured-and then returned to prayers. Mr. Parker called in vain for aid; and ultimately escaped by the dangerous means of scrambling into the next carriage; where he found another passenger, who helped him in. The madman tried to follow; but the two sane gentlemen succeeded in keeping him out; and the unfortunate man threw himself off the train; and he was last seen near the Watford station, running naked by the side of the road. Frequent and unavailing appeals were made to the guard for assistance, stating that a gentleman was dying: and the reply was, that being after their time, they could not stop, as the Manchester train was close behind them.

The sequel of this extraordinary affair was as follows:-At an carly hour, as some labourers in the employ of Mr. Edward Salter, farmer of Notting Barus Farm, situated about midway between Notting Hill and the General Cemetery at Kensal Green, were going to their work in the fields, they saw a man in a state of nudity with the exception of a pair of trousers and a pair of fine cotton socks, covered with mud, dirt, and blood, come over a hedge into one of Mr. Salter's fields, from a swamp through which he had crawled, near the Great Western Railway. The labourers told him he was trespassing, and that he must go back, upon which he became much excited, and on their attempting to enforce their directions, he became so violent that it took twelve of the

labourers to secure him; and so convinced were they that he was an escaped lunatic that they bound his arms securely with strong cords to prevent him doing himself or others further mischief, and then handed him over to the police, by whom he was conveyed to the Kensington workhouse. Mr. Blackwell, the master, directed the unfortunate man to be taken out of the cart, and conveyed into the insane ward of the workhouse; the cords by which he was bound were then removed, and a straitwaistcoat put on. Mr. Guazzaroni, the medical officer of the workhouse, was then sent for to examine his state and condition, and in the interim efforts were made to cleanse him from the dirt and mud with which he was covered, which was found to be a most difficult task, as while doing so it was discovered that his arms and other parts of his body had numerous lacerated wounds, into which the mud, &c., was so grouted that they could with great difficulty be cleansed. He gave no account as to how he got into the wretched plight in which he was; but on being questioned as to his name and where he had come from, he stated that his name was Osborne Markham, and that his apartments were at No. 94, Mount Street, Berkeley Square. A messenger was immediately despatched to Mount Street to ascertain the truth of that statement, and on his going to No. 94, Mount Street, he found that Mr. Markham Osborne lived there, and that that gentleman had been expected home on the previous evening from a shooting excursion at the Marquis of Bute's; that he had come up on the previous evening in a first-class carriage of the mail