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preservation, has stayed the pestilence, saved us from foreign wars and domestic disturbances, and scattered plenty throughout the land

"Our liberties, religious and civil, have been maintained, the fountains of knowledge have all been kept open, and means of happiness widely spread and generally enjoyed, greater than have fallen to the lot of any other nation. And,

while deeply penetrated with gratitude for the past, let us hope that His all-wise providence will so guide our councils as that they shall result in giving satisfaction to our constituents, securing the peace of the country, and adding new strength to the united Government under which we live.

"MILLARD FILLMORE. "Washington, Dec. 2, 1850."

CHRONICLE.

1.

JANUARY, 1850.

CCIDENT ON THE EAST

ALANCASHIRE RAILWAY. -A serious accident occurred at the Maghull station of this railway. A passenger train of one carriage only left Preston at 8 o'clock in the evening; at Ormskirk there was a considerable accession of passengers, so that on arriving at the Maghull station it was resolved to add to the train an empty carriage which was standing on a siding, and the train was shunted on to the other line of rails for this purpose. Suddenly a train was heard approaching: the passengers took alarm, conceiving that they were on the wrong line, and jumped out. The Liverpool train came up at great speed, and, the night being dark and great confusion prevailing, struck down three passengers, who were killed on the spot, and their bodies frightfully mutilated. The alarm was totally groundless, for the train, having been run on to the other line of rails, was perfectly safe, and the train which caused the disaster was on the line which the passenger train had left, and would have passed them harmlessly; whereas had they remained on their own line a fearful collision must have taken place.

3. FIRE IN COVENTRY STREET. VOL. XCII.

-About 11 o'clock at night a fire, attended with a considerable destruction of property, happened at No. 4, Coventry Street, Haymarket, in the tenure of Messrs. Creese and Co., Court boot and shoe makers. The fire commenced in the manufactory at the rear of the warehouse, and in the course of a few minutes the whole of the factory became a mass of flames. On one side of the burning premises stood the extensive property of Mr. Sneezum, a builder, in Rupert Street; and on the other side, the premises of Mr. Taylor, stationer. By the great exertions of the firebrigade the adjoining property was saved from the conflagration, but the premises in which the misfortune occurred were levelled with the ground, the valuable stock-in-trade in the front warehouse seriously damaged, and the property of Mr. Taylor, Mr. Sneezum, and several others, severely injured by fire, water, and hasty removal.

7. SHOCKING OCCURRENCE AT THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.Samuel Grieves Harvey, a tall, powerful man, was indicted for an assault on James Dodsley Tawney, a diminutive and sickly man, an attorney.

The prosecutor, whose arm was
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in a sling, and who was suffering severely, gave an account of the assault, which appeared to be most brutal and unprovoked, greatly aggravated by the circumstance that the prisoner was well aware the unfortunate man was suffering under a disease of the heart, and that such an attack was calculated to endanger his life.

The prosecutor, who had given his evidence with great difficulty, and who was evidently in a state of great excitement and suffering, having replied to one or two questions that were put to him by Mr. Ballantine, was about to retire from the witness-box, when he seemed in an instant to lose all power, and fell senseless in the arms of some persons who stood near him. He was laid upon the floor of the court, and Mr. Clayton, the surgeon who examined his injuries after the occurrence, and another medical gentleman who was accidentally present, immediately attended upon and used their utmost exertions to restore him.

Mr. Ballantine, addressing the Court, said, that he did not require the evidence of the surgeon. It was impossible for him to deny that an assault had been committed by the defendant, or to attempt to justify it under such circumstances.

The Recorder then briefly addressed the jury, and after observing that the learned counsel for the defendant who had, as it appeared to him, behaved with the utmost propriety in the course he had adopted-having admitted that the conduct of the defendant could not be justified, the jury would only have to say that the charge of assault had been proved.

The jury accordingly returned a verdict of "Guilty."

During these proceedings the unfortunate prosecutor continued under the charge of the medical gentlemen, and an intimation was given that he was in a dangerous condition.

The Recorder, addressing the defendant, said, he had been convicted of what he felt compelled from the bench to describe as a most aggravated and brutal assault. At present he should not pass sentence upon him, because, in the condition of the prosecutor, it was uncertain what the result would be; and if his death were to take place, and it was found to have been accelerated by the violence he had made use of towards him, he would undoubtedly be called upon to answer a much higher charge.

Just as the learned Judge had concluded, a sensation of horror was excited in the court by the announcement by one of the medical gentlemen that the unfortunate prosecutor had expired. The excitement had been too much for him, and he lay a lifeless corpse at the foot of the witness-box, where a few minutes previously he had been giving his evidence.

The Recorder then gave directions that the prisoner should be detained to answer any charge that might be preferred against him, arising out of the death of the unfortunate prosecutor.

The body of the deceased was placed in a cab to be conveyed to his residence.

From the report made by the medical officers, it appeared that Harvey could not be put on his trial for the more serious crime, and he was sentenced to twelve months' imprisonment for the assault.

10. RIOT AT A PROTECTIONIST

MEETING. Stafford.-It had been resolved by the landed interest of the county of Stafford to hold a Protectionist meeting in the Townhall at Stafford. On the other hand the inhabitants of the town, who have shown a strong adherence to the principles of freetrade, resolved to prevent or interrupt it.

At 12 o'clock the doors of the Shire Hall were thrown open, and an immense concourse of persons rushed in, and soon filled every available space. In the gallery from which the speakers were to address the meeting were Lord Talbot, Lord St. Vincent, Lord Newport, M.P., Lord Lewisham, M.P., Mr. Adderley, M.P., Mr. Sidney, Major Chetwynd, Henry Vincent, &c.

Lord St. Vincent moved, and Lord Newport seconded, that Earl Talbot should take the chair, amidst the most discordant yells, hisses, and hootings from the freetraders.

Lord Talbot accordingly came forward. He had no sooner taken his place at the front of the rails in the gallery, than some miscreant in the body of the hall threw a large stone at his lordship's head, which, however, missed his lordship and fell on the forehead of Mr. Fowler, a reporter, who was standing by his lordship's side, inflicting a large contused wound. Lord Newport had the gentleman conveyed to the Judges' room, where his head was dressed.

For nearly half an hour the chairman endeavoured to address the meeting. During the whole of the period the rioting was at its height in the body of the hall, the policemen who were present being totally insufficient effectually to quell the disturbance: a

large number of the rioters were, however, ejected by the farmers, and the chairman ordered the doors to be closed. This was no sooner done than the mob outside commenced pulling up the stones of the courtyard in front of the Shire Hall, which they hurled through the windows with such violence as to break whole frames out at one stroke. The mob inside, in the meantime, tore up several benches and forms, with which they armed themselves. A disgraceful contest ensued, during intervals of which some gentlemen attempted to address the meeting. This was the signal for renewed violence. The Mayor, who was sent to, refused to interfere, the police were overpowered, and the mob commenced battering in the door with paving-stones. Lord Talbot thereon declared the meeting dissolved.

Upon leaving the Shire Hall, Lord Talbot and his friends proceeded to the Swan Tavern, whither he was followed by a mob of nearly 1000 persons. Whilst his lordship was in the act of crossing the road, some ruffian struck him in the breast with a brick. This was the signal for further destruction, for the mob immediately commenced smashing the windows of the hotel where his lordship and his friends were staying. From the hotel the mob made their way to the railway station, where they received the farmers, as they came down to go by the several trains, with showers of bricks and stones. Upwards of 100 persons were more or less wounded, some with broken heads, some with black eyes, &c.

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11. MURDERS IN IRELAND. — This unhappy country continues to present occurrences of sickening atrocity.

As William Ardell, steward to Mr. Falkiner, co. Tipperary, was crossing from Mr. Falkiner's house to his own dwelling, a distance of about a quarter of a mile, he was fired at by some person or persons unknown, and shot dead, the contents of the piece having lodged in his heart. He was found dead between his own dwelling and Mr. Falkiner's about the hour of 6 o'clock next morning. No cause has yet been assigned for the commission of this outrage. Ardell left a wife and six children.

The same journal which records this deed of blood, relates another piece of Tipperary barbarism, scarcely less horrifying.

On Thursday last, as a poor, emaciated, and almost faminestricken man, of the name of Magrath, was passing through a turnip-field near to the vil lage of Newport, the property of a wealthy and respectable farmer of the name of Hogan, the cravings of hunger prompted him to pull a turnip, having voraciously eaten which, he took another, when Hogan came up and rudely caught hold of the poor man. He told him to drop the turnip, said he was a prisoner, and that he would take him as such to the Bridewell of Newport. "Is it for a turnip you'll make a prisoner of me? Oh! for God's sake, do not; forgive me, I was hungry," piteously ejaculated the wretched Magrath, whose entreaties for liberty were in vain; when he ultimately said he would not go as a prisoner, and that he would resist Hogan. At this part of the contention a farmer arrived, and told Hogan if he felt aggrieved, he had a remedy by summons, and suggested the humanity of letting Magrath go. As Magrath was then in the act of quitting the

turnip-field Hogan presented his gun, took deliberate aim, fired, and shot the unfortunate man in the left arm and side! His arm was shattered, and several slugs lodged in his side. There were no hopes of his recovery. Hogan was ap prehended and committed for trial.

In February a brutal fratricide is recorded. Two brothers named Egan held a farm in co-partnership, on the property of Mr. A. C. Magenis, in the parish of Clanmacnoise; John, the younger of the two, having proceeded to make a ditch, for the purpose of inclosing a strip of waste land as an addition to his garden at the rear of his house, his ill-fated brother, as it appears, opposed him in doing so. As there was no person present, the particulars of the conflict between them remain a mystery, but the broken and bloody spade, and the bleeding gashes of the unfortunate elder brother, told too plainly the result of the quarrel. Both the murdered and the murderer were men in the prime of life, and their united and now unprotected families amount to 17 in number, 13 of whom are children under 12 years of age. The Egans belonged to a rather comfortable class, but this quarrel had its origin in

that fruitful source of Irish crime, the holding of land.

11. BILL DISCOUNTING.-At the Central Criminal Court, Louis Joel, "jeweller," was tried for forging and uttering a bill of exchange for 1000l., with intent to defraud John Marcus Clements. The prosecutor, Mr. Clements, a son of Colonel Clements, was, by the admission of his counsel, a young man who had been guilty of great extravagance and recklessness in money matters, and while under age had had extensive deal

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