aged 30, printer, were indicted for conspiring together to obtain money from the London and NorthWestern Railway Company by false pretences. From the statement of Mr. Clarkson and the evidence, it appeared that the charge made against the prisoners involved a most impudent attempt at fraud. It appears that on the 5th of September last year an accident occurred to the up mail train from York, near the Leighton Buzzard station, but, although some injury was occasioned to the train, it seemed that none of the passengers received any personal injury. On the 26th of October following, however, the company received a communication from Mr. Harrison, requiring compensation on behalf of defendant Robert Duncan, for an injury alleged to have been sustained by his wife upon the occasion of the collision referred to, it being re presented, also, that her brother, the defendant O'Brien, who was travelling with her at the time from York, had likewise received serious injury by the same accident. The company immediately sent a medical gentleman to the place described as the residence of these persons, No. 59, George Street, Southwark, and he there saw the man Robert Duncan, who represented that his wife was dangerously ill, and that the result of the accident on the railway was a premature confinement, and that her life was in danger. Mr. Porter was then introduced to the female defendant, whom he found in bed, apparently in great pain, and she confirmed her husband's statement. In the same house the prisoner O'Brien was found in bed, and he also told the same story about the accident on the railway. It appeared that some suspicion was entertained by the company of the real character of the transaction, and they had been instituting enquiries. On the 2nd of November, they received another letter from the prisoner, Robert Duncan, in which he made an offer to accept 60%. for the injury his wife had received, and also stating that Mr. O'Brien was willing to accept of a similar amount for the damage he had sustained. At this it appeared Mr. Harrison resolved not to have anything further to do with the matter, unless he received satisfactory proof of the truth of the story told by the parties; and another solicitor was employed by the defendants, who brought an action against the company for damages for the alleged injury, and he proceeded so far as to give notice of trial. The case, however, never went before a jury in that shape, and by this time it was discovered that there was no truth in the story told by the defendants. It was proved that at the period when the accident was alleged to have occurred to the female defendant she was residing with her husband, and was in her usual health. With regard to O'Brien, there was no evidence to show that he was upon the train at the time the accident happened, but, according to the testimony of a witness named Darke, during the period when the negotiation was going on with the company, O'Brien requested him to write a letter to Mr. Harrison to the effect that he was riding in the same carriage with Mrs. Duncan and her brother at the time of the accident, and was aware of her having been injured, and gave him a written statement to that effect, which he copied. This witness, in cross-examination, admitted that at the time he wrote this statement WRECK OF THE FLORIDIAN— 200 LIVES LOST.-A dreadful gale prevailed along the Essex coast, which began to blow with great violence on the morning of Wednesday, and continued for several days. Several wrecks occurred along the coast, and the shoal known as the Long Sands was peculiarly fatal. A Dutch Indiaman, the Dyle, was the first to perish, but the crew were saved; a large schooner went to pieces, and the whole crew were lost; other vessels were known to have perished; but on Friday night Her Majesty's revenue cutter Petrel arrived at Harwich with intelligence of the destruction of the emigrant ship Floridian, with every soul on board, nearly 200 in number, except four, whom the cutter had succeeded in rescuing. The Floridian left Antwerp for New York on Sunday week, with 171 German emigrants, mostly of the class of respectable agricultural peasants, and a crew of 20 men, mostly English. She did not leave the Flemish coast till Tuesday evening, and she then stood for the Straits of Dover, with a fair wind and fine weather. At night the wind shifted, and a great storm arose; hail and snow falling so thickly that they could not see from one to the other end of the vessel. The ship was tacked, and put to north-west till four o'clock on Wednesday morning. The vessel laboured through a fearful sea till three in the afternoon. The chief mate now expressed some misgivings as to the course they were pursuing, it being their intention to make for the South Foreland Lights: he called to the second officer, and requested him to take charge of the watch while he went below to consult his directory. Scarcely had he quitted his post before the ship struck with such force that her planks and false keel immediately rushed up alongside. The emigrants hastened on deck in frantic confusion. Within a few moments of the vessel's striking, the sea broke into her hull, blew up the hatchways, and swept many of the poor emigrants overboard; others were drowned in their berths, where they lay, prostrated by sea-sickness. Captain Whitmore gave orders to his men to launch the boats; which were carried out with the greatest despatch, but the boats were utterly insufficient for the purpose of saving all on board, for they were not capable of containing one-third of the emigrants. The first boat broke adrift the moment she was launched, and capsized directly, with two men in her. The moment the second Five brave coast-men had put off to the aid of the ship, at her first striking; but their craft was upset at a few strokes from the shore, and the whole of them were drowned. MARCH. 2. CORONER'S INQUEST.-An inquest was held at the Pied Bull Tavern, Islington, on the body of William Henry Crook, D.D., who was found with his throat cut in the fields near the Model Prison, Pentonville, under such circumstances as led to the general belief that he had been murdered. boat was lowered, the master vivors were landed at Harwich late jumped into it with the intention at night: the poor German emiof lifting down his wife. This led grant had lost his senses from to a desperate rush towards the craft. terror and suffering, and the Some twenty or thirty men and mariners were frost-bitten in all women leaped from the quarter- their limbs. deck of the foundering ship into the boat, which instantly capsized, and the whole party were lost. The crew took to the rigging, and lashed themselves there; upwards of a hundred of the emigrants congregated on the quarter-deck. In about an hour the ship broke in two amidships; the mainmast fell over the side, and a tremendous sea carried away the whole of the quarter-deck, with the mass of human beings on it. By great efforts eight or ten were rescued by the men who had secured themselves in the rigging; only, however, to meet with a more horrible death. The moment the ship broke in two, her cargo floated out and intermingled with the sufferers. For some time, men, women, and children, were seen to be floating about on the packages; ere night had set in, all had disappeared. During all the night the sea raged without ceasing, and the cold was intense. At dawn of Thursday morning, only about a dozen remained in the rigging; six of these were corpses, and hung stiffly frozen as they had died. Another day of suffering was passed, vessels appearing, but not approaching near enough to see the wreck. On Friday morning, only four persons were alive-three sailors and a passenger. At 7 o'clock on the third evening, the Petrel discovered the wreck, and came to the aid of the sufferers, and took them off the rigging, not without great exertion and peril from the beating of the surf around the wreck. The sur George Andrews, a labourer, said that shortly before 7 o'clock on the morning of the 28th of February he, in company with some other persons, was going through the fields near the Caledonian Road, when his attention was called by a man named Wells to the fact that a man, apparently dead, was lying near the wooden fence, a few feet from the road. On going to the spot he saw the body lying between the fence and the back part of the house of a man named Fossett. There was a glove, with blood on the palm, hanging on the tenterhooks of the fence. There was a hat, with about a quart of blood under it, six yards away from the body. The body itself was lying on its face in a quantity of blood, the left hand doubled under it. It was completely dressed, and showed no appearance of any struggle. A razor blade, with rag or paper bound round the haft, was found a few feet from the body. The maker's name was Johnson. A dog, upon which some spots of blood appeared, was sitting between the legs of the body. It refused to move, and snarled when the body was touched. There were the footmarks of one person near the body. The place around was very muddy. There was a blue purse, with a key, but no money in it, close to the body. Other witnesses gave evidence to the same effect. The material bound round the haft of the razor was here opened. It was found to consist of paper bound with string, and underneath was the broken handle of a razor secured by a piece of wood, so placed as to afford a firm handle to the blade. Mary Anne Hudson, the servant who attended the deceased at his lodgings, stated that, on Tuesday, the 27th, he went out in the afternoon, stating that he was going out to tea. After he had gone witness, in cleaning the fireplace, found part of the handle of a razor, partially destroyed. The deceased used to have three razors, and one of them was missing. The deceased had not altered in his manner of late, except, perhaps, that he was rather more morose and abrupt. On Mr. J. Wilson, the schoolmaster at the Model Prison, Pentonville, stated that he had known the deceased a great many years. Tuesday, the 27th, he (deceased) called on him by appointment, and spent the evening. He was the same as usual in his manner, and inspected some books to which witness directed his attention. was a man of great literary attainments. Did not think the deceased committed the act himself. Never saw anything in his manner to lead to the supposition that he would commit such an act. He Mr. Crook, the son of the deceased, a chymist at Gravesend, stated that he had not seen his father for 18 months. His father used to be subject to fits of excitement. His conduct to his family would lead to the belief that he was out of his mind. Edward Dorton, a police constable, stated that his beat was quite close to the spot, but there was no noise which excited his attention. Other witnesses were examined to prove the state of the deceased's mind; but it was only elicited that he was an extremely irritable man, and was subject to headache. The jury returned a verdict "That the deceased's death was caused by a wound in the throat, but how that wound was inflicted there was no evidence to show." 3. BATTLE OF CHILLIANWALLAH. The overland mail brings intelligence of the sanguinary action at Chillianwallah. To the statements made in these private despatches implicit faith must not be giventhey are no more than the opinions of the Indian press; but it is well that they should be preserved in a work like the Annual Register, since they convey a good idea of the impression which the campaign produced on the public mind, and will serve to account for the dissatisfaction which prevailed with the conduct of the British commanders. Hastened probably by rumours that Chuttur Singh was on his way to join his son with large reinforcements. Lord Gough suddenly altered his determination to await the coming up of the troops from Moultan, and on the 11th of January, with 22,000 men and 125 or 130 guns, advanced towards the Jhelum. About eleven o'clock on the 13th, he came in front of the Sikh army, occupying a long line from Moong to a place called Russool or Russool-nuggur, intending to attack the latter place, and to give his troops a day's rest. "A few shots, however, from the enemy's batteries, which were within range, happened now to fall close to the Commander-in-chief; and, with a rashness which cannot be sufficiently deplored, he at once determined to engage the Sikhs without delay. He would hear no reason -listen to no advice—and even, it is said, threatened to put any one in arrest who should dare to offer him counsel!" He altered his determination of attacking Russool, and directed his attack to the centre of the enemy's position. Without any preliminary reconnoissance he began a cannonade; kept up on both sides for an hour or two. Brigadier-General Campbell was then ordered to make a flank movement of infantry, and he did so under a terrible cross fire from Sikh batteries on his left, which had not previously been observed. General Campbell's advance was disastrous; Brigadier Pennycuik fell, with several of his officers. The Fourteenth Regiment of Light Dragoons (British) is said to have retreated under orders. In another part of the field, the Fifth Regiment of Bengal Cavalry turned and fled through the ranks of the horse artillery; 73 gunners were cut down by the Sikhs. field, and carried off the guns which had been spiked by our troops: all the wounded men found by the Sikhs were murdered, and the dead robbed and mutilated." The total British loss was 26 officers killed, 66 wounded; 731 men killed, and 1446 wounded. The Sikh loss is conjectured at 3000 killed, and 4000 wounded. The Sikhs, 60,000 strong, were intrenching themselves; 10,000 Affghans were in the north watching the turn of events; 10,000 Sikh troops sent by Gholab Singh to aid the British were hesitating which side they should take. 5. SALE OF THE STOWE ENGRAVINGS.-The first portion of the Stowe collection of engraved British portraits, formed for the illustration of Granger's Biographical History of England, comprising portraits from William I. to James II., by Hollar, Faithorne, Elstracke, Houbraken, and the most eminent of the early engravers, of the greatest rarity, was brought to the hammer. To give some idea of the extent of this portion, which occupied nine days in disposal, there are no fewer than 83 portraits of Queen Elizabeth alone, and all different. In forming this collection the most rare prints in the well-known collections of Sir M. M. Sykes, Mr. Brindley, Mr. Gulston, the Delebere Collection, &c., were purchased by the late Duke of Buckingham at large prices. Most of the portraits from Sir M. M. Sykes's collection are considered unique, many of them having cost that baronet, according to autograph notes upon them, as much as 60 and 70 guineas each. The following were deserving of notice:-" The Black Prince, Edward the Third's eldest sonne, Thomas Cecill, sculpt." This, one |