and uncontrolled by the presence of their officers, they committed disgraceful outrages and indiscriminate cruelties, wounding or cutting down all who came in their way, and even pulling down hovels, that they might reach the poor creatures who sought shelter in them. Only two Chinese were killed, but many were severely hurt.

The governor of Canton immediately demanded that two of the crew of the frigate should be delivered up, to atone by their death for the two Chinese lives that had been lost. This was refused: the governor persisted in his demand, rendered probably more obstinate than he otherwise would have been by the obsequiousness of an American ship, a short time before this affray, in delivering up

of having accidentally killed a native woman [see Chronicle p 79]. The Topaze, instead of complying, sailed away. The consequence of these refusals was, that the factory and the trading ships were ordered to quit Canton. This was done, and the vessels fell down the river. The negotiations in the mean time continued great local interests were concerned in the continuance of our commerce; and at last, without any submission on our part, the quarrel was terminated by an edict, dated the 20th of February, which re-established our trade on its former footing. This result was the more satisfactory: as it was an admission by the Chinese, that our merchants and traders were not responsible for acts committed by our ships of war.

CHRONICLE.

OXFORD

LIBRARY

IN

JANUARY.

N the last year the amount of gold brought into the Mint and coined, was 9,520,758l. 13s. 10d. The amount of Bank of England notes in circulation was, in January, 1821, from 21,571,7147. to 25,904,3571.; and in January, 1822, from 16,566,720l. to 20,283,480l. Thus the addition made to the circulation, by the gold coinage, has been greater, by four millions, than the diminution from the reduction of Bank-notes.

2. THE KING v. WEAVER AND OTHERS. This was an information for a libel upon the countess of Jersey, published in the "John Bull" of the 6th of May, 1821.

Mr. Scarlett stated the case for the prosecution.

Thomas Wright, clerk to the attorney for the prosecution, proved the purchase of a "John Bull," containing the libel in question. He bought it on the 1st of June, 1821, at No. 11, Johnson's-court, Fleet-street. The house had the appearance of a private house. The words "Shackell and Arrowsmith, printers," were over the door. Witness heard presses at work, when he bought the paper.

The copy of the usual affidavit was then produced from the Stampoffice, to prove the property of the defendants in the paper. It treated Weaver as printer and publisher, VOL. LXIV.

and Shackell and Arrowsmith as joint proprietors, of a certain paper called "John Bull," published at No. 9, Dyer's Buildings, Holborn.

The paper bought by Wright on the 1st of June was then put in.

The Solicitor General, after requesting to see it, objected to it as evidence. The statute, which made the copy of the Stamp-office affidavit evidence, was imperative, that the paper put in to prove the libel must be printed at the place set forth in the affidavit. The affidavit, in the present case, spoke of a John Bull printed in Dyer's-buildings, Holborn. The John Bull put in by Wright purported to be printed in Johnson's-court, Fleetstreet.

The Lord Chief Justice said that the statute ran thus:-The name of the printer, the name of the publisher, and the place of printing, must stand exactly the same in the paper produced, as in the affidavit brought from the Stampoffice.

Mr. Scarlett said, that, if he had been provided with no other evidence than the affidavit, the objection might have had weight; but he had proved the purchase of the paper in question at the office of two of the defendants.

The Lord Chief Justice intimated, that, if the prosecution could do altogether without the aid of the statute (which makes the copy of the affidavit evidence as to the

B

property), Mr. Scarlett might go

on.

Mr. Scarlett then requested time to send out of court; and receiving, after a few minutes, an answer to his message, declared that he had no further evidence to offer.

The Lord Chief Justice.-"Then against Weaver there will be no evidence at all."

Mr. Scarlett contended, that the identity of the newspaper would still be a question of fact for the jury. He had shown his copy to have come from the office of the John Bull, and the names of two of the defendants to have been written over the door.

The Lord Chief Justice was bound to declare that the Stampoffice affidavit (or the copy of it rather) could not now be taken at all into the case. That affidavit was made evidence by the statute, as to the property, &c. of the paper therein described; the points of description being distinctly extended to printer's name, publisher's name, and place of printing. Now the paper produced by the prosecution was not (as to the place of printing specified) the paper described in the affidavit.

The Solicitor General said, that whenever a change of place or property occurred, a fresh affidavit was made at the Stamp-office. The truth was, his learned friends had, by mistake, gotten the wrong affidavit.

Mr. Scarlett. At all events, there is evidence as against Shackell and Arrowsmith.

The Solicitor General, in rising on the part of the defendants, declared his unwillingness to enter upon the merits of the case, and rested his cause on the absence of all evidence, that could fairly or legally fix the defendants with the crime imputed to them.

Lord Chief Justice.-"The prosecutor relied, in the outset of his case, upon an extremely wellknown and beneficial act of parliament, which makes a copy of the affidavit filed at the Stampoffice evidence of property, &c., so far as regards the newspaper in that affidavit described. The newspaper, however, put in to-day does not correspond with the description in the affidavit produced; and the affidavit, therefore (which is commonly the only necessary proof), should, upon this occasion, be laid entirely out of consideration. The only evidence then left is that of the witness Wright. He says that he bought the paper produced, at a certain house where

Shackell and Arrowsmith, printers,' is written over the door; and it is for you to declare, in the exercise of your judgment, whether that testimony satisfies you, that Shackell and Arrowsmith were concerned in the sale. I, for my own part, am bound to say, that it is the slightest evidence upon such a point that I ever remember to have heard offered to a jury."

The jury, after about a quarter of an hour's consideration, said, that they held the publication to be a libel; but, upon the ground of defective proof as to the property, they found the defendants -Not Guilty.

Mr. Scarlett begged that his lordship (the chief justice) would certify, that the cause had been tried upon probable ground, as such certificate was important in the matter of costs.

The Lord Chief Justice said, it was a case, in which he should not hesitate to certify.

TOWN-HALL, SOUTHWARK. SHOCKING MURDER.-Mr. Alder

man J. J. Smith, the acting magistrate at this justice-room, was engaged for a considerable time in an examination, with a view to the discovery of the murderers of a male infant, which had, it seems, been found by a waterman, so far back as the 17th of December, upon one of the starlings on the west side of Londonbridge. The body of the child was wrapped up in a piece of flannel, and inclosed, together with a large stone, in a coarse bag. A coroner's inquest had been held upon it, and a verdict of "murder" brought in against some person or persons unknown. The church wardens of St. Mary Magnus, in which parish the body was found, had offered a reward of 51. for the discovery of the murderers, and the officers on both sides of the river had been using every dili gence to obtain some clue to the perpetrators thereof. At length, Welfare, an officer of this establishment, got private information, that a young woman had stated that she had seen a child thrown into the river. He succeeded in tracing this young woman out, and brought her up to-day before the magistrate, when her deposition was taken. It was to the following effect:-That her name was Elizabeth Canty, and that, being on London-bridge, in her way home to the Borough, about eight o'clock in the evening of the 12th December, she observed a man with something wrapped up in his arms, which she soon knew, from its cries, to be an infant. He was standing over the first arch of the south-east part of the bridge. He looked about him cautiously on each side, to see if he was observed, and she distinctly saw him thrust

the bundle with the infant through the balustrades of the bridge into the river. Suspecting his intention, and seeing a female with him, she addressed herself to her, and said, "The man is going to drown the child;" to which the woman replied, "What is that to you or me?-mind your own business." While this conversation was passing, the man accomplished his horrid purpose, which was no sooner effected, than he and the woman made off down Tooleystreet. Though the deponent, in her way home down Tooley-street, actually followed them some little way, and even passed Welfare, and Reeve the marshalman, in that street, she was so much agitated, that neither then, nor at the time of the shocking occurrence she had witnessed, had she given any alarm. She lost sight of them, she stated, in Tooley-street, and went herself directly home.

3. We mentioned in our former volume the pretended miraculous cures of prince Hohenlohe:* from the following advertisement, which appeared in the Times newspaper of this date, he appears to be making converts in England by the mere force of his name:→

"To Germans, Foreign Merchants, and Others.-Prince Alexander, of Hohenlohe. Whereas several public journals, both foreign and domestic, have announced most extraordinary cures to have been performed by prince Alexander, of Hohenlohe, this is to entreat, that any one who can give unerring information concerning him, where he now is, or of his intended route, will immediately do so; and they

* See Annual Register, 1821, History of Europe, pages 167, 168.

will thereby confer on a female labouring under what is considered an incurable malady, an obligation which no words could describe. Should a gentleman give the information, his own feelings would sufficiently recompense him; but if a person in indigent circumstances, 10 guineas will be with pleasure given, provided the correctness of his information can be ascertained. Address to A. B., at Mrs. Hedge's, laundress, 9, Mountrow, Davies-st., Berkeley-square." FIRE. A most destructive fire took place at Seaton Delaval, the property of sir Jacob Astley, which in a few hours consumed that noble mansion. Every endeavour to preserve the body of the building was unavailing. The two wings were happily saved by the great and active exertions used in making a separation between them and the house. The fire originated in a chimney, to which a large beam of wood in the roof was affixed; the flames burnt with such fury as to bid defiance to all human efforts. The glass in the windows, by the intense heat, was reduced to a liquid state, and the lead on the roof poured down like water. The fire commenced its ravages about four o'clock, and it was nine before it could be checked.

PROROGATION OF PARLIAMENT. -At three o'clock, the lord chancellor, and lords Cholmondeley and Melville, the three commissioners, entered the House of Lords. The yeoman usher (Mr. Quarme) summoned the Commons. Mr. W. Ley (in the absence of Mr. Rickman) and other officers of the Commons appeared below the bar. The lord chancellor said, that they, as commissioners, were authorised to declare the parliament, by

proclamation, to stand further prorogued till Tuesday, the 5th of February, and then to meet "for the despatch of business."

CARLILE'S SHOP.-A new mode has been adopted for avoiding the penalty of selling seditious and blasphemous libels. The little parlour, which adjoins the shop, has been converted into a citadel; the glass partition, which separates them, is closely blinded, and the operations are carried on in ambush behind it; two of the squares of glass have been taken out, and in the place of one of them is erected a box with an aperture for the receipt of money, over which is an inscription "Put your money in here;" and in the place of the other, a contrivance by which the pamphlet wanted is slid down to the purchaser from the inside of the citadel. This machinery, however, is used only for the sale of such works, as have already been made the object of prosecution. The seller is invisible, and the identification of his person rendered impracticable, unless the citadel be taken by storm. dington, heretofore the radical standard-bearer, whose own experience has procured for him an extensive acquaintance with the persons of officers and informers, has assumed the command, and conducts the operations in the front shop, where the sale of such of Carlile's publications, as have not as yet come under the censure of the law, is carried on as usual.

Wad

4. A deputation of the Farming Society of Ireland, with the duke of Leinster at their head, attended at the Castle of Dublin on Friday last, and presented an address to the lord lieutenant. They claimed, under their charter, his excel