wind then carried it southward. When somewhat short of midchannel the balloon was almost becalmed, and took a low level, so that by means of a speakingtrumpet the occupiers of the car could converse with the crews of some fishing-boats which appeared beneath them. On getting further from the English coast the balloon again got into a current setting to the south-east. The gas at this period became much expanded by the action of the sun's rays, and the balloon ascended to a height of 4000 feet. The safetyvalve at the bottom of the balloon then began to act, owing to the great expansion of the gas, and the escape which ensued caused a gradual descent, till the appendages to the guide-line, styled the " pensating weight," came upon the surface of the water, whereby the downward progress was checked, owing to the diminished weight depending upon the machine. Before ariving at this point the aeronauts had enjoyed a magnificent view of the English coast extend ing from Dungeness Point to Beachy Head-the long line of coast glowing in the vivid rays of а resplendent sun. When about 20 miles from the French coast they obtained a view of a portion of the shores of France.

com

At length the land appeared so near at hand, that the grapnel was lowered. The shore was found to have been left by the ebbing of the tide, and the sands were observed to be of great extent. Two men were seen walking upon the sands, and as the balloon passed over them, with its guide line trailing behind, one of them caught at it, and was immediately seen to be dashed violently upon the earth. The rope got under

the feet of his companion, who forthwith performed a complete somersault in the air, and was speedily placed hors de combat. The aeronauts descended in a valley, where appeared a village, from which scores of people were speedily seen to emerge. The Duke laid hold of his speaking trumpet, and shouted directions to the peasantry how to act. The balloon reached the earth almost without a shock, and abundance of attendance being promptly rendered, the aërial visitor was soon made fast, and the Duke and Mr. Green alighted, finding themselves in the fields near Neufchatel, about ten miles south-west of Boulogne. A railway station appeared half a mile off, situate on the Boulogne and Amiens Railway. His Highness proceeded at once to the station, and took his seat in a train, en route for Paris, while Mr. Green, having discharged his gas, got the balloon packed up. and proceeded therewith in a cart to Boulogne. The voyage occupied five hours, and the distance travelled about sixty miles.

ELECTIONS

TO PARLIAMENT.The seat for Harwich, vacant by the elevation of Sir J. C. Hobhouse to the peerage, was filled by the election of Mr. H. J. Prinsep, a Director of the East India Company, and a Conservative, who defeated his Free-Trade opponent, Mr. Crawford, a London merchant, by five votes; but Mr. Prinsep stating his qualification to consist in property in the colonies, his election was declared void: a Bill was subsequently brought in and passed, making such property a sufficient qualification. Sir W. P. Gallway, Bart., was elected for Thirsk, in the room of Mr. John Bell, deceased. The

This morning, at 7 o'clock, a noise like thunder was heard over the city, followed by a sound like a heavy fall of rain; every window in the city was smashed to atoms, the doors in all the houses, even those which were locked, were burst open, masses of masonry strewed the streets, and a dense mass of smoke darkened the atmosphere. In a few minutes the noise of the explosion ceased, and the cause was ascertained-the powder magazine near the Transylvanian barracks had blown up. People hastened to the barracks as soon as the smoke had cleared away. Of the magazine itself, a large building with substantial walls, nothing remained but a heap of smoking ruins, from which occasionally a shell exploded. The whole roof of the barracks was blown away, the walls riddled with shells and other materials, which had been thrown likewise into

every part of the town, committing havoc where they exploded. Legs and arms, and corpses horribly mutilated, were scattered in all directions. The exact number of killed has not yet been ascertained. Two captains and forty privates are reported dead. Half an hour later a whole battalion would have been on exercise in the barrack-yard and probably exterminated. The town gates are so seriously damaged that they are unsafe. At the moment I am writing shells continue to explode, some rising to a height in the air. It is not safe to venture near the

spot. Ten hundredweight of powder is deposited at no great distance, but it is hoped that it will not be ignited. Members of some of the unhappy victims were found 1500 yards from the spot. Nearly all the inhabitants have fled from the city for safety. No clue to this disaster has as yet been found."

4. THE NEMPNETT MURDER.— Taunton.-John Wills was indicted for the wilful murder of William Wilkins, by knocking him down with a spade, and when on the ground beating him on the head with an Italian iron, giving him divers mortal wounds, of which he died at Nempnett on the 8th of February; and John Smith was charged with aiding and abetting him.

Other counts charged both prisoners with the murder.

The uncommon brutality of this murder, in which an aged couple were struck down in each other's presence, one killed outright, and the other dreadfully injured, caused great excitement. As the pri

soners made statements which admitted their identity, it will not be necessary to give other evidence than that of the mutilated sur

vivor, which will detail the full barbarity of the deed.

Sarah Wilkins was carried into the witness-box in a chair. She begged not to be put near the prisoner. She said-I am the widow of William Wilkins. We kept a shop at Nempnett. I am 70; my husband was 74. I know the prisoners, and I knew Wills before. He had worked at Hyatt's. The prisoners came for a loaf of bread on the morning of the 8th of February. They found they had no money, and they went away. Smith stood at the door when Wills came in. They came back again in a short time. Wills put me down on the ground. I begged him to have mercy. I got up on my knees, and Wills then struck me with a spade; he thought I was dead. Smith had the spade first, and then Wills took the spade, and they went into the kitchen where my husband was, and then I heard my husband cry "Murder" two or three times. I could hear a scuffle, but I could not see them. I had a penknife in my pocket with a bit of silver in the ivory handle. I had some silver money in my pocket. We had an Italian iron in the house, which was on the table to be cleaned. I saw it in my house when I came to myself, and it was then broken all to pieces. We sold tobacco-it was made up in two-ounce packets. This is the penknife. I have had it for 20 years. I know it by marks.

Cross-examined by Mr. Edwards. -My husband and I were both in the kitchen. The old man was sitting in the chimney corner. I was near the door, handy to the passage. Wills had a short stick with an iron knob. I did not see them for a minute before they

came up to me. He struck me directly. I was stunned for a bit. I had my eye towards the door to make my escape. Smith had not come in when Wills struck me; he was standing at the door with the spade in his hand. After Wills had left me for dead he went and struck my husband. I did not see the blow, but I heard him cry "Murder." (The poor old woman was here so much overcome that she was obliged to be assisted by the surgeons and have stimulants. She kept crying, "Don't ee, don't ee.") I was before the magistrates the same day, and had then a distinct recollection of what had taken place. I did not see Smith strike a blow, but I have recollected since that I saw him with the spade. I did say that I saw Smith go into the kitchen where my husband was. I think I said before the magistrates, that whether Smith came in or not I could

not say. I have been very ill ever since. My neighbours have told me a good deal.

Re-examined. I heard the blows given to my husband, but could not see them.

In their statements, each prisoner exculpated himself and charged the other. They were found "Guilty," and hanged on the 23rd instant. They confessed the deed; but declared that when they went to the cottage they had no other intention than robbery.

4. MANSLAUGHTER OF CAPTAIN SYMES. A gentleman universally respected for his benevolent disposition has met his death by the act of a drunken ruffian. Captain George Symes, late of the Madras Artillery, lived at a house on the road between Axminster and Lyme Regis. In the evening, while the family were awaiting the arrival of

a relative, a great disturbance was heard in the road. Two ruffians, Thomas Garland and Isaac Beer, quarrelled as they were going along the road; Garland knocked Beer down, and threatened to mur der him. The cries of Beer brought Captain Symes and other persons to his aid, and he was released. Then Garland, who had been drinking, refused to listen to the pacifying counsels of Mr. Symes, ran at him, forced him backwards, fell upon him, and attempted to keep him on the ground. Blood-vessels were rup tured at the back of the unfortunate gentleman's head, and death ensued.

Garland was committed to take his trial for murder.

5. THE LAWSHALL MURDER. Bury St. Edmund's. George

Carnt was indicted for the murder of Elizabeth Bainbridge, on the 20th of January last, at Lawshall. The unfortunate deceased, Elizabeth Bainbridge, was about 30 years of age. Some nine or ten years ago she married the butler of a clergyman in the neighbourhood of Seawardstone. Her husband had since joined the corps of Royal Sappers and Miners, and it appeared that they had not been living together for the last seven years. With her child, the result of wedlock, she went and resided with her father, who is a hardworking and respectable farmer at Lawshall. Here she conducted herself with every propriety, and it seemed that she was much liked in the vicinity. The prisoner was a young agricultural labourer in the same village, and for his position might be called respectably off. It seems to be the opinion that the prisoner was enamoured of the deceased, and

that though she conducted herself with the restraint of a married woman-though a woman with no husband-that she was attached to him. For ten or eleven days previous to the murder, the deceased had been staying with her sister, whose husband, Mr. Payne, kept the Harrow public-house at Lawshall. The prisoner had also been lodging there for about a week. On the afternoon of the 20th of January, about half-past 3 o'clock, she left the Harrow for the purpose of returning home to her parents' farm, proceeding across the fields as the nearest way. She had with her a bundle, and was attired in a blue cloak, dark dress, a green silk bonnet, and a victorine round her neck. The prisoner was in the kitchen when she left, and upon her going out of the front door the back one was heard to open, and Carnt was found to have also left. The evening having far advanced, the parents, finding she did not reach home, became alarmed about her, and the father set out to Mr. Payne's, who keeps the Harrow, to learn some tidings about her. There he learned her departure, and her absence became the more mysterious. Shortly after 7 o'clock Carnt returned to the Harrow, having let himself in by the back door. He seemed very much agitated, and shook considerably. He had no hat on, and his clothes were wet and dirty. He stood before the kitchen fire several minutes without saying anything, and he then suddenly remarked, "The halter is for my neck." And being asked to drink, he replied, "I shall never drink again." The state of the prisoner, the admissions he had made, and the continued absence of the de

ceased, increased the alarm as to her fate. He was told that he must consider himself in custody on suspicion of making away with the deceased, and search was then made in the fields between the Harrow and the parents' farm. On arriving at a pond in a remote part of a pasture, some eight or nine rods from a stile, the clothes of a woman were discovered. The officer then went into the water and brought out the body of a woman, which was at once identified to be the deceased. On the body being examined by Mr. King, a surgeon, unmistakable appearances presented themselves that the deceased could not have destroyed herself in the pond. There had evidently been a struggle on the bank; the deceased had been dragged into the pond and drowned, and the murderer had waded across and climbed the opposite bank.

A great amount of circumstantial evidence was adduced, amongst which it may be stated that on the afternoon of the murder the deceased and the prisoner were seen together in the field near the pond; and were observed to be laughing at each other. Further on, they were seen by other persons standing near a stile, "talking kindly" with each other. Near to the stile is a pond, and in the evening shrieks were heard in the direction of that pond.

In the bosom of the victim was found the watch and chain of Carnt, and in the pocket of Carnt was found the wedding-ring of the deceased. The hat and neckerchief of Carnt were found in or near the pond. The Judge, Lord Campbell, suggested that the young man's love had carried him the length of violence; that the

poor young woman had resisted, and called forth the base passions of her lover, and in his fury he had killed her. The jury found the prisoner "Guilty," and he was sentenced to death. Previous to his execution he confessed his guilt, alleging that he was in a state of frenzy from drink, and intended to destroy himself also.

7. FIRE IN THE THAMES BANK DEPOSITORY.-Shortly after 7 a.M., a fire of a very alarming character, which was not subdued before property valued at upwards of 100,000l. had been destroyed or seriously injured, happened in the Ranelagh Road, Thames Bank, Pimlico. The entire range of buildings occupied an area of several acres, of which one portion was used as a storehouse for furniture, pictures, pianofortes, and a vast accumulation of miscellaneous property, sent thither for safe custody by persons who have gone abroad for a time, officers on foreign stations, and others. The western portion of the building had been fitting up as "model sleeping apartments" for the accommodation of some hundreds expected visitors to the Great Exhibition. The repository was in the occupation of a Mr. Harrison. It was composed of brick, with turned arches and stone floorings, in order to render the whole fire-proof. The depository, at the time of the disaster, was filled with valuable property of nearly every description, amongst which was a collection of pictures said to be worth 40,000l. In order to keep the articles in the place free from damp or mildew, a hot air pipe passed along the ceiling of each floor; and it is generally supposed that the heat of this pipe caused the conflagration.