dismissed the complaint of MM. Lafitte, Constant, Keratry, and general Foy against M. Mangin, procureur-general at the royal court of Poitiers, on the following grounds-viz., that the act of accusation contained nothing which could authorize a complaint of calumny - that if the passages complained of in the pleading of the 5th of September were not sufficiently guarded, still they had no character of intention, without which there could be no calumnythat the passages relative to those who "secret the treasures of the usurper to bribe insurrections," in which M. Lafitte appeared to be aimed at, was general, and could not be applied to him, since, instead of concealing the funds intrusted to him, he had declared them, and placed them at the disposal of the law.

LOSS OF THE LIVERPOOL AND ELLESMERE STEAM PACKET.The packet left Liverpool about three o'clock on Thursday afternoon, having 23 persons on board, including her crew. The wind blew fresh, and was a-head of the packet, and there was no appearance in the weather to justify a suspicion of danger. About five o'clock the wind had greatly increased, and at six the packet had reached within a quarter of a mile of Ellesmere port. It now blew a complete hurricane, so that the captain found it impossible to make the port. He then thought of returning to Liverpool, and steered the vessel round for that purpose, but was soon convinced that it was impossible, the tide having receded too far. The vessel then beat about for several hours, it being impossible to steer for any particular point. At nine they cast anchor, but she continued to

drift; and about twelve ran foul of a flat. The concussion was tremendous. Several of the passengers were at this time in the cabin, and were violently thrown down by the heaving of the packet, one side of which was under water. The confusion and alarm were now at their height. As the flat remained some short time alongside the packet, four of the crew and two of the passengers caught hold of her side, and got on board her. There was now one foot water in the cabin; it was determined to cut the cable, and let the vessel drift with the wind and tide, the sea dashing over her in all directions. About one o'clock the tide began to flow; and the packet was driven about two miles above Ellesmere port, where she ran against a sand-bank, continuing for several times to recede from and approach to it. At length she stuck fast in the sand, nearly opposite Stanlow-house, and the feeble glimmering of the moon discovered the shore at about seventy yards distance, most of the intervening space being sand, or rather mud. It was by this time near four in the morning. Captain Dimond here pressed as many of the passengers as he could prevail upon to make the shore; three of them leaped into the water, and succeeded in gaining the land. There remained fourteen individuals on board, only five of whom reached the shore in safety; the others perished in attempting to gain the land. The packet was afterwards found to have sustained comparatively little injury, and was brought into Runcorn.

SALE OF A WIFE. - About halfpast twelve on Thursday se'nnight, the public were attracted to Plymouth cattle market, in consequence of a notice which had been previously given, that a man, at that time and place, was to dispose of his wife by public sale! The notice stated, that the lady was not only young and handsome, but would ride to town in the morning on her own horse, of her own free will, and with the consent of her husband, who was to act as auctioneer on the occasion; and that she would, moreover, in the course of a few days, succeed to 600l., which her husband could not touch. The concourse of spectators was immense, and they were not kept waiting long, the husband and the wife having appeared in the market-place, exactly at the appointed time, the latter accompanied by the hostler of the lord Exmouth inn.

The husband put the article up at once, and asked for bidders " five shillings" was the first offer; "ten" the next; "fifteen" the third; and so on, until the hostler bade "three pounds." At this moment, to the evident disappointment of the auctioneer, as well as of the lady, two constables took possession of the goods, and with them of the auctioneer, and carried them both to the Guildhall, where the chief magistrate was sitting. The parties were placed before the mayor. The husband, named Brooks, and residing at or in the neighbourhood of Ivybridge, on being asked why he had committed so illegal an act as to attempt the sale of his wife, very innocently said, "They were both willing, and he did not think there was any harm in doing it that, for a considerable time, they had not lived together that they had been married about two years and a half that she brought him a child " three weeks after mar

riage!" which, until after its birth, he knew nothing about; that the child soon after died: that he got a coffin for it, paid the expenses of the funeral, and put it comfortably out of the way, without ever reproaching his wife with her conduct; but all would not do. She soon after deserted him, notwithstanding his kindness, and went to live with another man, by whom she had one child since, and he was informed, she was again pregnant with another."

On being asked, who had advised or told him, that he could sell his wife, he said, many people in the country told him he could do it; and that in consequence of her coming to him and saying that a person would give him 20l., and take her altogether clean off his hands (31. in hand, and 171. more at Christmas), he had had her advertised for sale in Modbury, on three separate market days, and had come to Plymouth that morning, by her appointment, to get the business finished.

The lady, a good-looking young woman, stated, that she and her husband could not agree, and that in consequence, as she knew of a person who would take her, and give 20l. for the bargain, she wished to get separated from him, and she had been told by different persons, that the thing could be done, by public sale in the marketplace on a market day.

On being asked the name of the person who was to buy her, she said it was Kane, and that he lived near Plymstock; she further said, he had disappointed her in not coming forward to bid as he promised, and that, in consequence, she had employed the hostler of the inn, where she put up her horse, to bid for her, if the price

did not exceed 20l. She said, she had left her own horse by the way on account of its having a sore back, and borrowed one in lieu of it, of a person near Ivy-bridge, with whom she stated herself to be in habits of intimacy.

The parties were bound over to answer the charge at the ensuing sessions; but their own recognizances were taken, neither of them being able to find sureties.

19. MAIDSTONE. - EXTRAORDINARY RAPE-John Pearson, a man about 23 years old, was indicted for assaulting Catherine, the wife of Odiam George, on the 10th of September, at the parish of Woodchurch, and violating her

person.

It appeared from the statement of the prosecutrix, that on the night in question she had gone to rest alone, her husband not having then come home; she fell asleep, and was awakened by the caresses of a man in bed with her; her infant child was also in bed with her. Supposing the visitor to be her husband, she remained passive, and yielded under that persuasion to what took place. The criminal act was repeated three times. In about three quarters of an hour, hearing a noise, she said to her bedfellow, "What is that noise?" To which he replied, speaking of her husband, "It's Ody coming home;" and he immediately jumped out of bed, and retired into the next room. The prosecutrix also got out of bed, threw a gown over her, and ran into a neighbour's house, where she complained, that the prisoner, whom she said she knew by his voice, had thus effected his object. She appeared agitated; was in tears, pale, and trembling. She then dressed herself, and went to a neighbouring

oast-house to give information to her husband, whom she found there. The prisoner had gotten there before her. A complaint of what happened was made to the husband. Ten minutes only had elapsed from the first discovery, that the prisoner was the intruder into her bed. She had followed the prisoner, and kept him in sight, until he went into the oast-house where the husband was. The latter was asleep when his wife came, and had been drinking at a public-house, She then told her husband what had happened, and that she believed it was the prisoner from the colour of his smockfrock.

On her cross-examination by Mr. Ryland, she admitted that she was in the family-way by her husband before they were married; but she swore, that she had never allowed the prisoner to take any improper liberties with her, and particularly, that she had not admitted him to her bed on the preceding Saturday night, nor had he been in the house after 9 o'clock on the night in question, to her knowledge. During the time the prisoner was in bed with her, on the night in question, no conversation at all took place between them, except that he seemed more amorous than her husband generally was, she said to him, "Ody, is this all love?" to which he answered, "Yes," in an under tone of voice. She swore, positively, that she was ignorant that the prisoner was in her bed until he said, "Ody was coming home." During her whole examination, she conducted herself with the utmost composure and coolness. She was a young woman about twenty-five, and good-looking.

The prosecutrix's husband, the woman to whom the prosecutrix first complained, and a man who was at the oast-house at the time the complaint was made to the husband, were also called as witnesses. It appeared from their testimony, that on the night of the alleged rape, the prisoner had been at the oast-house full three quarters of an hour before the prosecutrix came there to inquire for her husband, and that he was seen on the preceding Saturday evening, at half-past nine at night, to let himself into the prosecutor's house with a key, sit down in the room, and take off his boots; and that he remained in the house 20 minutes, till the return of her husband, when he retreated by the back door.

Before the case went to the jury, Mr. Ryland submitted, that this indictment would not lie as for a rape. The indictment alleged force to have been used. That allegation was negatived by the evidence; for the criminal act, which was the gravamen of the charge, was done with the consent of the prosecutrix.

Mr. Justice Bayley admitted, that there was considerable weight in the objection, but he thought the case ought to go to the jury. An extremely nice question of law was involved in this proceeding, and one which, for the present, he should not decide. If the jury, however, thought themselves warranted in convicting the prisoner, he should direct them to return a special verdict, so that the point might be raised before the twelve judges.

The learned judge then summed up the evidence for the jury. He observed, that the statement of the prosecutrix was certainly very extraordinary, and, in some parti

culars, very suspicious. She had been contradicted in two material points; and if she had mistaken or misrepresented circumstances in one or two instances, there was some ground for doubting the truth of the whole of her statement. In order to justify the jury in finding a verdict of guilty, they must be fully satisfied-first, that the prisoner was the person who had committed the alleged offence in the manner stated; and, secondly, that it was committed by means of a false representation, that he was the husband of the prosecutrix. They must be convinced that the prosecutrix would have resisted his advances, had she known the real situation and character of the person who had obtained access to her bed. Should they think, that the case proved did warrant such a conclusion, the prisoner ought to be acquitted. His lordship said, he should not himself give any opinion upon the point of law.

The jury deliberated a few minutes, and found the prisonerNot Guilty.

23. EXECUTION. -On Monday the sentence of the law was carried into effect at Pennendenheath, near Maidstone, upon John Smith, convicted at the last assizes of murder.

About a fortnight ago, Smith sent for a gentleman of Maidstone, who, attending the summons, received from the prisoner a vehement injunction to make public what he called a history of his life. The surprise of the gentleman may be conceived, when, on examining the paper, he discovered it to be a concise narrative of the place of the prisoner's birth, his propensities, and, finally, his motives for committing the

Lines dictated by John Smith, Aged 78 Years, who was Executed on Pennenden Heath, on Monday, December 23, 1822, for the wilful Murder of Catherine Smith, at Greenwich, on the 4th of October last.

In the County of Wicklow I was born'd

then to the Cricketers he did go to see if he could find it out or no not long been there before she come in with this same fellow to fetch some Gin then with A Knife himself brought in immediately stab'd her under the Chin and in five minutes she was no more

but there laid in her purple gore Now to conclude and end my song they are both dead dead and gone they are both gone I do declare gone they are but God knows where

The body was taken to Greenwich, to lie for public view for one day, and afterwards to be dissected and anatomized in Greenwich hospital. He received the sacrament just before he left the gaol, and appeared very penitent and resigned at the place of execution. He spoke for a short time to the people, saying, "that women were the cause of his downfall."* He prayed aloud and very fervently, until the drop fell, saying, "Lord have mercy upon me! Christ have mercy upon me!" The drop fell about 12 o'clock. He slept very little on Sunday night.

THE NEW MARRIAGE Аст.The circumstances which principally led to the introduction of this act are said to be as follows:-The marchioness of Donegal (Miss May) was the natural daughter of a gentleman celebrated for assisting persons of fashion with loans of money. Being married to the marquis, she became the mother of seven children, of whom the earl of Belfast was the eldest, and heir

to the title and estates. The earl of Belfast being arrived at manhood, was reported to be on the eve of marriage with the daughter of another nobleman. At this juncture, the hon. Arthur Chichester, younger brother of the marquis of Donegal, and heir of

* According to Irish logic, because he cuts a woman's throat, a woman is the cause of his ruin.