dangerous tampering with minutes, by encouraging them
to run such risks, by holding out that such things could be
done within a minute or two—that the safety of the
public is endangered daily; and most heavy is the moral
and the legal responsibility of persons who hold out
such doctrines as these." The jury retired, and, after
half an hour's absence returned with the following
verdict;—"Wilson, guilty of culpable neglect of duty
in not clearing the station; and M'Donald also guilty,
with this extenuation, that he was under the impression
that he should attend to the orders of the guard."
Lyall, superintendent of the goods department at
Edinburgh, and Ramsay, foreman-porter, were afterwards
tried on similar charges; the allegation being that
they permitted the irregular train to leave the terminus
without allowing an interval of fifteen minutes between
it and the mail-train. The charge against Lyall was
withdrawn, as he was authorized to delegate his duty to
Ramsay; and the verdict in Ramsay's case was "Not
proven,"—a majority of the jury not considering the
fact of the time being less than fifteen minutes to be
clearly established. The trial disclosed the fact that
there was no individual having charge to direct the
succession of trains leaving Edinburgh station: so that
a goods-train and a passenger-train might be started
simultaneously, there being no communication between
the two departments. Several of the witnesses stated
that the rules of the company were generally understood
to be inapplicable, and were not generally acted
upon at the Edinburgh station; and the great laxity
that prevailed was warmly commented on by counsel on
both sides. The Lord Justice Clerk, in summing up,
said that, after these disclosures, it was plain that on
another such occasion it would be the parties responsible
for maintaining such a state of things that would be
placed at the bar—directors or manager. The same
state of matters seems to have been continued even after
this accident, and neither the manager nor the directors
seem to have taken any steps whatever to prevent the
repetition of such accidents. Such a state of things is
maintained at their own peril; and if another such
catastrophe occurred, they have received a pretty plain
intimation as to how the public prosecutor would deal
with those who persist in maintaining it. Wilson was
sentenced to eighteen months' imprisonment, and
M'Donald to four.

At the Liverpool Assizes on the 5th, Charles Williams,
a young sailor, was indicted for the Wilful Murder of
John Marshall, at Liverpool, on the 23d of March. It
appeared that the prisoner and two other men were
standing in the street near a public-house, when the
prisoner, on learning that the deceased was in the public-
house, said he should "knife" him, and proceeded to
sharpen on the flags of the gutter a knife, which he
pulled from a sheath. Shortly afterwards the deceased
and two other men came out of the house, when one of
the men who was with the prisoner proceeded across
the street to the deceased, and said, " You Dutch son of
a ——, what did you insult me in that concert-room for
last night?" To which the deceased replied, "I did
not insult you." Upon this the man struck deceased
in the face, got hold of him by the hair of the head,
and, pulling him down, tried to kick him in the face,
and they wrestled together until they got back to the
public-house door. While this was going on, the
prisoner was standing behind them, and when they got to
the public-house door he drew his knife and tried to
stab the deceased in the breast. He then took hold of
the deceased's right shoulder with his right hand, holding
the knife in his left, and drove it into his thigh,
saying, "Take that for lick," and then put the knife
into the sheath again. Blood flowed from the deceased,
and he staggered into the public-house. The prisoner
ran down the street, but was afterwards apprehended.
The deceased afterwards died in consequence of the
wound. The prisoner, in his defence, said that the other
men drew their knives, and he was compelled to draw
his also, and in the crush his knife went into the
deceased's thigh. Upon being asked if he had any
witnesses, he said they were all gone to sea. He was
found guilty, and sentence of death was pronounced
upon him.

At the same Assizes there was another case of
Stabbing: W. Terrell was charged with having
murdered Joseph Quin. It was proved that the men had
been drinking together in a public-house, which they
left apparently in a friendly manner; but they
quarrelled as they walked along, and the prisoner, drawing
a knife, stabbed his companion, inflicting a mortal
wound. It was contended for the defence that the
grave charge of murder could not be supported, and
that, under the circumstances, the offence only amounted
to the lesser crime of manslaughter. The jury returned a
verdict of guilty of wilful murder, and the prisoner was
sentenced to death. When the verdict was returned, he
became much affected, and exclaimed in a low voice,
"Oh dear, oh dear! My God, my God! " And during
the passing of the sentence he fell down on his knees
and said, "My God knows my heart and mind; I did
not intend it, God knows; my God knows my heart
and mind."

At the Gloucester Assizes on the 5th inst., a case of
Bigamy occurred, in which it turned out that the
prisoner had no less than eight wives living. William
Wardle was indicted for intermarrying with Sarah
Martin, his former wife, Ellen Wormsley, being still
alive. At the time of his committal six of his wives
had been discovered, viz., Ellen Wormsley, whom he
married at Manchester; Sarah Martin, married at
Walsall; Elizabeth Perkins, also married at Walsall;
Matilda Graft, married at Birmingham; Mary King,
married in the Isle of Man; and Hannah King, whom
he married at Dymock, in Gloucestershire. Besides
these, two others had been discovered since his
committal—one of whom had herself taken another husband.
All the eight wives (except the last) were brought to
Gloucester, for the purpose of confronting their faithless
Don Juan, and the trial was expected with the deepest
interest. The women were placed in a room by
themselves, and formed quite a harem of every complexion,
from the fair blonde to the dusky brunette; and, so great
was the curiosity of the public to see them, that the
officer might have added something considerable to his
emoluments by exhibiting them at so much per head.
However, the gossiping public were doomed to
disappointment; for, on the prisoner being arraigned, he
pleaded guilty. The Judge deferred passing sentence.

Mr. Cross, the postmaster of Whitchurch, has been
apprehended on the charge of having Abstracted Money
from Letters. It appears that Mr. Cross, who is also
parish-clerk and sexton, and proprietor of an extensive
draper's shop in the town, hired a conveyance to go to
Crewe, about sixteen miles from Whitchurch, and set
out; but, when he had got a few miles on the road, he
told the driver that he had forgotten something, and had
changed his mind, and told him to drive him to
Shrewsbury, which is twenty miles from Whitchurch,
which he accordingly did. Mr. Cross had not long left
Whitchurch before a person, who had posted a letter
containing some valuable enclosures, called and asked
to see the letter again, in order to write something
additional on it, but the letter could not be found. A
communication was made to the police, and a constable
was sent after Mr. Cross, whom he arrested in Shrewsbury.
The sum recovered is £2,015, a considerable
portion of which was found on the person of the accused,
whose intention is supposed to have been to have escaped
on Saturday night to Liverpool by railway, and thence
to America. He has been remanded by the magistrates
for examination.

A daring Garotte Robbery was committed in Lincoln
on the night of the 9th inst. Mr. T. Winn, an opulent
citizen, resides in a large mansion in Newland—the
house being a short distance from the street, and
approached by a carriage drive. Mr. Winn had been
to his brewery premises, and walked down Newland to
his private house. Several persons were passing up
and down Newland at the time, as Saturday night is
a busy market night. As soon as he had got within his
own premises, and closed the gate, he was seized by
three men, one of whom grasped his throat tightly and
threw him upon his back on the ground. Several
persons in the street heard faint screams of "Murder!"
but until the villains had effected their purpose and got
off, the direction of the cry was not ascertained. Mr.
Winn, who is advanced in years, was then found just