Ward left Banbury with several passengers, and drove in the direction of Williamscott. In the road he met a cart without a driver, which proved to be Mr. Kalabergo's; and near the Williamscott gate, his passengers having got out to walk up the hill, one of them, who was in advance of the others, discovered the body of the deceased, which was subsequently placed in a cart and removed to Williamscott. At the time of the removal of the body, two hats were found near itone belonging to the deceased, lying close to it, and another, afterwards proved to be long to the prisoner, at a little distance from it. Upon examining the body of the deceased, it was found that a great-coat which he had worn had not been unbuttoned, nor had his pockets been rifled of their contents, although they contained a considerable sum of money. The back part of his head was blackened with gunpowder, and a comforter which he wore round his neck was singed. Upon a post-mortem examination of the body it was found that a bullet had entered the skull above the right ear, passed through the brain, and lodged in the skull over the left ear, whence it was taken by the medical man, and produced on the trial. It was composed of a white metal, and a similar bullet was found in the cart in which the body had been placed when first discovered. There was also a lacerated wound on the forehead, which, in the opinion of the medical man, might have been caused by a bullet or any hard substance, and there was likewise a slight abrasion on the left cheek, apparently caused by the falling of the body to the ground. The boxes in the cart, containing jewellery, &c., had not

been opened, nor had any attempt been made to force them. At the time the body was discovered, nothing was seen of the prisoner; but in the course of the evening he was met on the Banbury road. He was without his hat, and seemed to be crying very much, and to be in great distress. To several persons he gave an incoherent account of the assassination; he said that three men had jumped out of a hedge, and demanded their money; that his uncle had struck one of the robbers with his stick, and that thereon another had fired at him, and shot him; that he (the prisoner) then ran away, pursued by the third robber. The police immediately placed the prisoner under arrest.

It speedily appeared that the sagacity of the police was not at fault. The shopman of a gunmaker of Banbury came forward, and stated that he had sold the prisoner a double-barrelled pistol on the 15th December previous. The prisoner agreed to purchase this pistol for 17., and the shopman showed him how to load and use it, and at the same time gave him a woollen bag in which to keep it. He also gave him a bullet-mould with the pistol, in which he made a bullet, to show the prisoner how it was used. This bullet (which was a leaden one) the prisoner took away with him, and he also, at the same time, purchased a quarter of a pound of gunpowder, which was wrapped up in a piece of printed paper, part of a Banbury Pilot.

Upon the clothes of the prisoner being examined after his arrest, a small quantity of gunpowder was found in his waistcoat pocket, and also a copper cap, together with the turnpike ticket which had been given to Mr. Kalabergo by the

gate-keeper of Williamscott. Mr. Kalabergo's premises were subsequently strictly examined, and a bullet-mould, which was identified by the shopman as the one sold to the prisoner on the 15th of December, was found concealed in a stable rack. On further search being made, between an old chimney-board and the rafters of the stable were found a woollen pistolbag, six whole bullets of white metal, an unfinished one of the same material, together with a leaden bullet and several bullet shanks, or tops cut off after the bullets had been taken from the mould. These bullets fitted the mould which had been previously discovered. Two parcels of gunpowder were found in the same place, one of which was inclosed in a piece of the Banbury Pilot. In the deceased's house, a piece of white metal, of the same material as that of which the six bullets were cast, was discovered in box in the passage. It further appeared that the bullet which had been taken from the head of the deceased was made of the same white metal, and like the other six found in the stable, was very clumsily cast.

After the prisoner had been taken into custody, he was conveyed to Wroxton, and locked up with two constables in the same room. Notwithstanding this precaution, he managed to jump out of an open window, but being injured by the fall, he was recaptured after running about 200 yards. Great exertions were then made by the police to discover if any pistol had been dropped or concealed near the spot where the murder had been committed; but for some time without success. At

length, on the 23rd of February, the water in the ditches round Williamscott being much lower than it had been for some time previously, a constable named Newton, discovered a great-coat embedded in the mud of a ditch near the road from which the prisoner is supposed to have made his way from the scene of the murder across the fields. This coat was identified as the property of Mr. Kalabergo. Continuing the search, a short distance from where the great-coat was found, a pistol was discovered, which was identified on the trial by the shopman as the one he sold to the prisoner on the 15th of December. The pistol was not loaded, and two exploded copper caps were on it. The only motive which could be suggested for the commission of the crime by the prisoner was, that the uncle had made a will leaving to him a considerable part of his property, and he might have been impatient to become possessed of his inheritance.

The case being one entirely of circumstantial evidence, the examination of the facts was necessarily minute. The trial occupied two days. There was no direct evidence, said the learned judge, that the prisoner at the bar had committed this atrocious crime; but the jury had to consider whether the facts which had been proved excluded the reasonable probability of the offence having been committed by any other person.

The jury speedily found the prisoner "Guilty;" and he was sentenced to be hanged.

The convict made a daring attempt to escape from prison; but being recaptured, he seems to have considered his fate sealed, and

made a confession of his guilt to his priest. He was executed on the 22nd March.

3. BURGLARY AND VIOLENCE AT CORNWELL. - At the Oxford Assizes, George Jones alias Joseph Moss, 22, and George Hanks, alias Charles Rock, 24, were in dicted for burglariously entering the house of John Checkley at Cornwell, on the night of the 14th of October last, and stealing a silver watch, twelve silver teaspoons, and other articles, and assaulting him with intent to murder him.

The servant-girl of the prosecutor stated that her bed-room was over that of her master and mistress, and that on the above night she went to bed at 10 o'clock, and during the night was roused by the noise of two men in her bedroom. Both had shirts over their clothes, and one (Moss) had his face blackened. One was shorter than the other. The shorter man had a candle in one hand and a

pistol in the other. She jumped up on seeing them, but the one with the candle said, "Down, or I'll blow your brains out." She at once lay down, and they threw the clothes over her head. What they afterwards did in the room she could not see. After they left her room she heard a noise in Mr. Checkley's room, and heard Mr. Checkley groan several times, and say, "I am dead; and heard them threatening to blow out his brains if he did not lie still, and that money they wanted, and money they would have, and other conversation and violence. The shorter man, Moss, came back into her room, having a candle in his hand, and having thrown off the shirt over his dress, said he wanted

The prosecutor said he was awoke on the above night by the cries of the servant, and got up and opened his bed-room door, and saw Rock outside. A scuffle ensued, and Rock struck him on the head and knocked him down. The other man was near also, and struck him also on the head. He got up, he did not remember how, and laid hold of the life-preserver which Rock held in his hand, and Moss cut his fingers with a large knife which he drew out. He was thrown down again, and Rock lay on him, and Moss asked Mrs. Checkley what there was in the corner cupboard. She said, "Tea and sugar." Moss searched, and on finding it was, they asked for money. Saw Moss hold towards him a revolver pistol with six barrels, and heard him say, "I will blow your old brains out if you do not give us money; and I said, "Blow away: I have no money." My mistress gave them her purse with money, and they gave the purse back. Moss went afterwards to the maid's room, and called out to Rock, who remained below, "Is all right? and afterwards came down. The wounds on my head were so severe that I was for a long time delirious. I am quite sure that the prisoners are the men, and I often saw Moss at the Parrot Inn at Chipping Norton.

The surgeon proved the injuries the prosecutor had received. There were four severe and deep wounds on the head, each penetrating to the bone. The prosecutor was occasionally delirious for twelve or thirteen days. His shoulders, arms, and back were one mass of bruises, such as would be produced by blows and kicks. The prosecutor's life was in imminent danger for many days.

The prisoners were identified by other witnesses.

Mr. M'Croham, inspector of police at Leominster, saw the prisoners on the evening of the 5th of November last, at that town. They were in the street, and he, suspecting something wrong, followed them for a time, thinking they would go into a public-house or lodging-house; but seeing them go out of the town, he went up and collared Hanks, and asked him what he had got in his pockets. Hanks put his back to the wall, and said, "Is that it?" and Jones stepped back and drew a pistol from under his smock-frock. The inspector had no arms whatever with him, and wishing to divert their attention, asked them where was the woman that had been with them. They said they had no woman with them. He said they had, and she must be at their lodgings; and he went away, saying he would find her at their lodgings. Having thus diverted their attention, he ran back to the mayor's office, got a gun and pistol, and told the mayor to send the constables after him. He then ran on in the direction in which they had gone, followed by a constable, and crossed the fields towards a wicket which he thought they must pass, in order to intercept

them. As he was crossing the fields, he heard two shots and a cry, "Davis is shot." Davis was one of the constables. Smith, the constable who was with me (said the witness), ran in the direction of the shots, but I kept on towards the gate, where I knew they must come. As I got to the gate, Rock came up running, and said, "Guard, stand off, or I'll shoot you," and faced half-round, and snapped a six-barrelled revolver at me. It missed fire; he then held up another revolver at me and fired, and I heard something whiz past my head. I at the same moment fired at him, and hit him in the thigh, and he fell to the ground, and lay there, but faced me; and, holding out the revolver pistol towards me, threatened to shoot the first who should touch him. I moved off to the gate in order to meet Moss, as he must come that way, and soon the other constables came up and said that Moss also had been taken. I then went to where Rock lay. He threatened to shoot me, but lifted my gun and said I would blow his brains out if he stirred. He then dropped the pistol. I went up, disarmed him, and handcuffed and searched him. I found two revolving pistols with six barrels each. All were loaded except one barrel, which had the appearance of being recently discharged. I also found a tin canister in his pocket, and he had on him the pair of check trousers which have been produced to-day.

I

Davis, the other police officer, proved that when he came up to Moss he collared him, and Moss fired a revolver at him, and the ball hit him on the side of the head; he fired again, and the ball

went through the collar of the coat and glanced off his stock. Davis's son then came up and struck Moss down with a stick, and Smith and the other constable arriving, he was overpowered and handcuffed; and two revolvers were found on him-one in each hand-every barrel being loaded except the two which were fired off.

The prisoners were found "Guilty" of burglary with violence. Mr. Justice Wightman, in passing sentence, said, that the crime the prisoners had committed was capital; but as the life of Mr. Checkley had not been actually taken, although sentence of death would be recorded, it would not be carried into effect, but the prisoners would be transported for life.

Application was made to his Lordship for a reward for M'Croham and Davis for their courageous conduct, and his Lordship granted each of them 51.

5. RAILWAY ACCIDENT.-A very serious accident, arising from the habitual carelessness of the workmen, occurred on the London and North Western Railway. A gang of men, numbering 20 or 30, were engaged in relaying the plates and rails near Kilburn Bridge. The gang had a looker-out; but five men were detached from the main body. This smaller party were so intent upon their work, and the persons engaged in this dangerous employment are so fool-hardy, that they did not take any precaution against the approach of the trains. A down-train arrived blowing its warning whistle, on which the men moved off the down line of rails on to the up line. At this moment an up mail-train approached. The driver perceived the men, whistled furiously, shut

off the steam, and put on the break. But in vain-the trains went over the party, cutting three men to pieces.

13. FATAL ACCIDENT ON THE SOUTH-WESTERN RAILWAY.-A fatal accident occurred on this railway. The mail-train left London at 8.50 P.M.; it consisted of an engine and tender, a guard's van, post-office tender, and four carriages. All went well till the train approached Bishopstoke; about a mile and a half from that place, the tire of one of the leading wheels broke, and presently the engine left the rails and ran down an embankment 23 feet deep, dragging after it the tender, guard's van, and post-office tender: the passenger carriages kept to the line, and no one in them was much hurt. The stoker was taken up dead; the driver's leg had been cut off, and he died a few hours after he had been removed to Southampton; the post-office guard's arm was broken; and the chief guard's skull was fractured. The post-office clerk escaped almost unhurt. The electric telegraph was damaged-two posts were knocked down, and the wires were deranged for some distance. an inspection of the engine, the disaster appeared to be one of those accidents that no foresight can prevent. That the driver and stoker were aware of something being wrong was evident from the fact of both the engine and tender breaks being found screwed down as far as possible.

On

19. MURDER AT CHIDDINGLEY. Lewes. Sarah Ann French, aged 27, was indicted for the murder of her husband, William French.

The deceased was a labourer,