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the matter, directed the attorneys of the several detaining creditors to show cause why the Earl should not be discharged from custody, he being a peer of the realm. In some cases the parties consented, and orders were made for the discharge of the noble defendant, but in one cause the application was resisted by the detaining creditor's attorney. It was asserted that a peer was not entitled to his privilege until he had taken the oaths prescribed.

Mr. Baron Platt said he had no doubt that a peer was privileged before he had taken the oaths, and requested to be furnished with cases which would show that he was not. His Lordship adjourned the summons for an hour, in order that counsel might appear for the creditor.

At a subsequent period of the day the matter was resumed. A barrister attended, and admitted that he could not cite cases to the effect that a peer was not privileged until he had taken his seat.

His Lordship made the order in this, as well as in the several other cases, for the discharge of the noble Earl from the Queen's prison.

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EXTRAORDINARY ROBBERIES ON THE GREAT WESTERN RAILWAY. -A series of robberies of the most extraordinary character were perpetrated on the up and down mails traversing the Great Western Railway during the night.

The up mail, leaving Plymouth at 6 35 P.M., and Exeter at 9 P.M., on Monday, arrived at Bridgewater at half-past ten o'clock. At this station various bags of letters which had accumulated in the Post-Office van during the journey were, in accordance with the usual custom, placed in a tender immediately at the rear of the Post Office

(which is the carriage in which the business of the Post Office is performed during the transit), and securely locked up. The train, which, in addition to the Post Office and tender, consisted of about six or seven first and secondclass carriages, left Bridgewater in due course, and proceeded on its journey to Bristol, the run between these two places being timed to occupy one hour and ten minutes without stoppage at any station. On the arrival of the train at Bristol, shortly before midnight, the guard went to the tender in order to deliver the Bristol bags, when to his astonishment and dismay he discovered that all the bags had been more or less tampered with, some being cut open, and others left with the seals broken and strings untied. A very cursory examination of their contents showed that all the money or registered letters, as well as the bankers' parcels, had been abstracted; and he instantly communicated, first with the two travelling Post-Office clerks accompanying the mail, and subsequently with the Post-Office authorities at Bristol. An inquiry was instituted. The guard testified that the bags were safe when the train left Bridgewater; and as no stoppage had taken place between that town and Bristol, it was evident that the robbery must have been effected by some parties travelling by the train, and while it was in motion. As it was necessary that the metropolitan bags should be sent on to London, the train left Bristol on its upward journey after a very short delay. On reaching town the guard proceeded to the Post Office, in St. Martin's-le-Grand, and made a full report of the circumstances above

detailed. The various bags were immediately subjected to examination, when it was found that, not only were the whole of the registered letters and bankers' parcels abstracted, but in some cases the "bills," on which all registered letters and valuable parcels are entered, were also missing, so as to render it difficult to ascertain what packages had been abstracted. As a precautionary measure, information was forwarded by the PostOffice authorities to the various city banking-houses, so that a check might be put upon the disposal of the contents of the stolen letters; and Mr. Clark, superintendent of the Great Western Railway Company, and some of ficers of the Post Office, left London to follow up the investigation.

Later in the afternoon, and while Colonel Maberly was engaged with several of his officers in matters connected with the unfortunate affair, information reached town that a second robbery, precisely similar in character, had been perpetrated on the down mail, which left London at 8 55 P.M., on the same evening. In this case, the bags deposited in the tender were perfectly safe on the arrival of the train at Bristol at a quarter past one o'clock A.M. On the tender being opened at Bridgewater a scene similar to that previously observed at Bristol presented itself -all the bags were more or less mutilated and disturbed, and the more valuable contents abstracted therefrom. Happily, in this instance, the vigilance of the parties in charge of the train resulted in the capture of two persons, who there was little doubt were the perpetrators of both robberies. One of these was immediately

recognised as Harry Poole, who had been formerly a guard on this line of railway, and was now living at Exeter in some style, but on unknown means; the other, who was unknown, was recognised by a London serjeant of police as Edward Nightingale, the son of a well-known character, who was proprietor of the large gambling booths which disgrace our racegrounds.

Trewman's Flying Post shortly afterwards contained the following paragraph:—

"We are in a position to assert an extraordinary fact connected with these Jack Sheppard-like achievements. The plan of the late robbery of the down train was communicated to two highlyrespectable persons in Taunton (one of whom we have the pleasure of knowing) some four or five months since. The detail was so accurate as to give the man's name (who is now actually in custody), the description of disguise, and the manner in which the robbery was to be accomplished, the whole of which has been perpetrated to the very letter. The information was given to the respected parties above alluded to by the wife of one of the supposed accomplices in this and many other railway schemes.' The parties immediately communicated this to the railway authorities, and we trust that it may lead to the capture of as formidable a gang of ruffians as ever infested any community."

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And the Taunton Courier added: "It should be known, and is not among the incidents of the disclosures narrated in the above statement, that the communication was made by the wife of the man said to be implicated in the robbery while in a paroxysm of anger,

arising from the ill-usage she had experienced. He had, consistently with his accustomed brutality, turned her out of his house, and it was while consulting those to whom she had appealed for advice that the various and long-continued enormities of her husband had been disclosed." This woman was Mrs. Manning, who, with her husband, kept an inn at Taunton. These parties were strongly suspected of being implicated in this robbery, and in the other great plans of plunder by which this railway has suffered so severely. Their premises were searched, but nothing was found to bring the knowledge home to them. They left Exeter, and were the perpetrators of the dreadful murder in Bermondsey, to be hereafter recorded in these pages.

3. CRIM. CON. HOGHTON V. WIGNEY.-In the Sheriffs' Court. -This was an action to recover compensation for criminal conversation. Judgment was allowed to go by default, and a writ of inquiry was executed to assess the damages, which were laid at 10,000l.

Sir F. Thesiger stated the case. The plaintiff, Mr. Hoghton, now only 28 years of age, was the eldest son of Sir Henry Hoghton, Bart. In 1842, on the plaintiff coming of age, he became entitled to considerable estates in the county of Lancaster. He became acquainted with the subject of the present action, Miss Louisa Josephine Saunders, who was then only 17, and possessed of great personal attractions, under the care of her mother. Mr. Hoghton followed her to Boulogne in June of the same year, proposed, and was accepted. It was due to Mrs. Saunders to say that, on account

of the youth of her daughter, she objected to the union until two or three years had expired; her scruples were, however, overcome, and in August of the same year Mr. Hoghton returned to make arrangements for the marriage. Mr. Hoghton had made a liberal settlement on his wife as "pinmoney," 2001. a year, and if she survived him a jointure of 1500l. a year; for the children, other than the eldest son, who would be entitled to the family estates in Lancaster, 10,000l. in case of one child, 20,000l. in the event of two, and 30,000l. in case of a third child. The marriage took place on the 14th of August, 1845, with the consent and approbation of all parties. The young couple proceeded to the Continent, where they remained some time; and in June, 1846, Mr. Hoghton purchased an estate at Hafod, in South Wales, of the Duke of Newcastle, whither they went to reside. They were visited by families in the neighbourhood, and lived in great affection. In the spring of 1847 they came to London, and resided at the Brunswick Hotel, Hanover Square, and afterwards at Mivart's, until the fatal acquaintance with the defendant, which had led to the present action. The defendant was the son of a gentleman who was formerly a banker at Brighton, and he was an officer in the service of the East India Company. It seemed that on April the 9th, a day which would always be remembered as one before the Chartist demonstration occurred, an arrangement had been made between Mrs. Hoghton and Mrs. Pugh, the lady of the member of Parliament for Montgomeryshire, to go to Greenwich. On arriving at Hun

gerford stairs the defendant, who was unknown to Mr. Hoghton, presented himself. He was introduced by Mrs. Pugh; and having, as was understood, missed his party, he was invited to join their party. On the next day he called on Mr. Hoghton, and they drove about to notice the Chartist demonstration. On the 17th of the same month Mr. Hoghton was called to Lancaster, and his wife was left, visited by her mother, and sufficiently protected. It would be impossible for him to trace the parties throughout their course until the fatal consummation. It would appear that the defendant met Mrs. Hoghton in the Park and Kensington Gardens; and the man-servant observed assignations made to meet at the Zoological Gardens and other places. After Mr. Hoghton's return to town nothing occurred to awaken his suspicion. It would appear, however, that the defendant, by his arts, so prepared and so perseveringly applied, had so woven his chain around the unhappy woman, that he was soon afterwards enabled to carry her off, never to return to that home and happiness she had once enjoyed. It was on Wednesday, the 21st of June last, this fatal step was taken. The guilty pair remained some time on the Continent, and afterwards returned to London; and on the 20th of October last embarked for India, where they had now probably arrived.

He

(Sir F. Thesiger) had not yet done with the painful details. Mrs. Hoghton was in the family-way by her husband, and in a few short months the union would have been strengthened by the birth of a child. What were now the prospects of the child? Hearts

warmed with love would have received it, but now the hands of a guilty mother would be the first to hold it, and its first home would be amidst guilt and shame-the tenderest offices stifled, and the first smile of innocence bring to the remembrance of the mother the misery she had brought on herself and her helpless child. Could anything compensate the plaintiff for the loss he had sustained?

Mr. Petersdorff addressed the Court on the part of the defendant. He appeared on the part of Lieutenant Wigney, not to justify his conduct, but to confess his transgression, and to urge circumstances in mitigation of the large amount of damages sought to be recovered. The action was not to obtain large damages, but with a view to ulterior proceedings,-to enable the plaintiff to obtain a divorce. The defendant was a young man, only 23 years of age, and without abusing the claims of friendship, had yielded to a sudden temptation.

The jury assessed the damages at 30007.

8. SALE OF THE STOWE LIBRARY.-A further portion of the wreck of the fortunes of the Buckingham family was brought to the hammer; the printed books of the celebrated library being sold by auction by Messrs. Sotheby and Wilkinson, at their rooms in Wellington Street. Some of the works contained in this collection were celebrated for their excessive rarity, others for their great beauty. From so many thousand lots it is impossible to select more than a few, to which especial interest attaches.

The sale of the printed books in this valuable collection lasted

24 days. The books for the most part brought high prices; for the more remarkable and interesting large sums were given. Among them may be noticed: "Archæologia, or Miscellaneous Tracts relating to Antiquity," published by the Society of Antiquaries, in 33 volumes, sold for 181. 158.; "Ashmole's Institution of the Laws and Ceremonies of the Most Noble Order of the Garter," the rarest book in the first day's sale, containing some fine plates by Hollar, and printed in 1672, sold for ten guineas; "Art de Verifier les Dates des Faits Historiques," a fine copy on large paper, sold for eight guineas.

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Bewick's History of Birds," the first edition, printed on large paper, in 2 vols., sold for 51. 2s. 6d.; a complete collection of the works of Bartolozzi, consisting of upwards of 660 portraits and plates, chiefly proofs, in various stages, on India paper and satin, in 8 vols., was purchased by Mr. Murray for 621. This copy, formed for Mary Boydell, is believed to be unique. "Monte Sancto di Dios," by Anthony Bettini, printed at Florence in 1487, sold for 20., Mr. Mottino being the purchaser. This copy contained the three rare plates by Baccio Baldini. Among the versions of the Scriptures, which were the chief features of the day's sale, the "Polyglot Bible," edited by Brian Wotton, and containing the rare Republican preface, 251. 10s.; Biblia Sacra Germanica," printed by Kobarger, at Nuremberg, in 1483, but imperfect, 61.; The Bible, in Englyshe, according to the translation apoynted by the Queene's Majestie's injunctions to be read in all

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churches, &c., Rouen, at the cost of R. Carmarden, 1566" (imperfect), 41 12s.; "the Holy Bible and Common Prayer Booke," fine copy, printed by R. Barker, in 1616, sold for 17. 17s. 6d.

10. "Certaine Learned and Elegant Workes in Verse," by Fulke Lord Brooke. This volume was scarcely of any value, and would not have fetched more than 1s., but on the title page, in the autograph of Ben Jonson, was “Beni Jonson tanquam Explorator." It was subsequently in the collection of Garrick, whose book-plate is inside, 11. 16s. The most important lot in the day's sale was "Boydell's Collection of Prints, engraved after the most capital paintings in England, with descriptions in English and French." This beautiful collection consisted of 540 fine large plates, many of them proofs before letters, and formed nine folio volumes. This matchless copy was selected for Mary Boydell. It was purchased by Mr. Murray, for 781. 15s. Brant (Sebastian), "Stultifera Navis, the Ship of Fooles, wherein is showed the folly of all States;" Latin and English; translated by A. Barclay, with Barclay's Eclogues. This rare old black letter book, containing many curious wood engravings, was printed by Cawood, in 1570, and sold for 10l. 158. 66 Opus Transmarine Peregrinationis ad Venerandum et Gloriosum Sepulcrum Dominicum, in Jerusalem," &c., by Bernard de Breydenbach. This book, printed at Mentz, in 1486, is one of uncommon interest, being one of the first books of travels ever printed. The view of Venice is more than five feet long, and the map of the Holy Land more than three. Perfect copies are of the

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