Justice Cresswell held that the first charge was at an
end—there was no false pretence. The jury, on the
second charge, found the prisoner guilty, but with a
strong recommendation to mercy, on account of the
gross negligence with which the accounts of the bank
had been kept.

An action at the instance of Lieut. Weaver against
The Daily News, for an alleged Libel, tried at the
Court of Queen's Bench on the 24th, involved the
question of the liability of newspapers for the contents
of their police reports. The plaintiff had appeared
before one of the police courts, and complained of the
report of the case published in that paper, as being
libellous. The defendants substantiated the correctness
of the report. In his charge to the jury, Lord Campbell
laid down the law of the case as follows:—"If the
publication complained of be a fair account of proceedings
at a police court, then I am of opinion that in point
of law the defendant is entitled to your verdict. But if
it be a garbled account—if anything be omitted that
ought to have been stated, or much more, if anything
be introduced that did not take place—then it is libellous,
and the law will punish it." The jury found a
verdict for the plaintiff, damages one farthing, which,
Lord Campbell stated, would not give the plaintiff
his costs.

Ellen Fennell, a young woman with a child in her
arms, was charged, at Clerkenwell Police Court, on
the 24th, by a police officer, with Selling Greens on the
Pavement, under the following circumstances:—On
Sunday morning last, that officer saw the prisoner in
Whitecross-street, St. Luke's, carrying out some greens
on the foot pavement and offering them for sale. For
this, which was all her offence, he took her into
custody and brought her before the magistrate. The
magistrate dismissed the complaint, saying that there
was no law to prevent persons selling fruit or greens in
the street, or to authorise the police taking them into
custody for doing so.

NARRATIVE OF ACCIDENT AND
DISASTER.

Two British vessels have been Lost on the coast of
South America, and part of one of the crews Murdered
by Savages. They were the Glocester and Prince
Albert, both of London. The Glocester sailed for
Batavia about two years ago, and information having
been received that she was seized at San Francisco for
debts alleged to have been incurred by the master, the
Prince Albert was sent out in order to recover the seized
vessel. Nothing further was heard of the ships until
tidings were received that both had been lost. The
Glocester was overtaken by a storm near San Francisco,
was driven ashore, and became a total wreck. The
Prince Albert arrived in Magellan's Straits on the 2nd
of October, and was driven ashore by a violent gale.
Some of the crew having left her to procure fresh water,
during their absence the wreck was surrounded by the
natives (Patagonians), who made an attack upon the
captain and crew. The captain was knocked down,
and a portion of the assailants stood over him with long
knives in their hands, while another party ransacked
the ship. Two of the crew were murdered, and an
apprentice was stretched bleeding upon the deck. The
rest of the crew were secured by the natives, who
presently became like maniacs from drinking the spirits
on board. The captain with the surviving seamen got
clear of the ship, leaving the wounded apprentice and
the mate on board prisoners. After six days' suffering,
during which time they subsisted entirely upon raw
shellfish and water, they succeeded in reaching Sandy
Point, about 150 miles from the wreck. Here they
procured the assistance of an American steamer, the
commander of which proceeded to the wreck, in the
hope of rescuing the two men left in her. The natives
still held possession of the Prince Albert, perceiving which
the steamer opened its fire upon them, and compelled
the savages to abandon their prize. The mate and the
apprentice were both alive, the latter fast sinking, however,
from the effects of his wounds. The captain of the
American vessel returned to Sandy Point, and
subsequently conveyed the crew to Valparaiso. After the
departure of the steamer the natives set fire to the
wreck.

Mr. Richard Shuttleworth Streatfield, of the Rocks,
Uckfield, near Lewes, was Killed by his fowling-piece
going off accidentally on the 29th of January. He had
been shooting during the day over his estate, the Rocks,
along with the Earl of Sheffield, Sir Thomas Marryon
Wilson, and Sir Henry Shiffner. On their return home,
and while Mr. Streatfield was emptying his pockets of
game, his gun fell over his shoulder backwards to the
ground, on reaching which it went off, and the contents
entered his heel. Medical aid was immediately procured,
and the case at first presented no dangerous symptoms,
but lock-jaw supervened, and he expired a few days afterwards.
Mr. Streatfield was the possessor of extensive
estates in Sussex. He was about 50 years of age, and
last year was High Sheriff of the county.

On the 3rd inst., a Serious Accident happened to
Captain Sir Everard Home, and several officers and men
of the Calliope, in Devonport harbour. The vessel was
being taken out of harbour into the sound, when the
capstan not being properly attended to, she gained way
on the men, and on their walking back to give each
hawser an equal strain the capstan "ran away,"
carrying every one before it. The captain was most
seriously hurt in the head, and also in one of his legs. One
of the assistant surgeons had his leg or thigh broken, and
a quartermaster was dangerously injured. Six or eight
other men were more or less severely hurt. The ship
was again placed at her moorings in Hamoaze.

A fatal Railway Accident occurred between Rugby
and Leicester on the 16th, by the bursting of one of the
tubes of the engine. The driver, named Wilkinson, in
endeavouring to escape, fell between the tender and the
next carriage, and was crushed to death. He has left a
widow and six children, but, fortunately for them, had
insured his life for £500 in the Railway Insurance
Company's office.

Binstead, the seat of Lord Downes, near Ryde, in the
Isle of Wight, was totally Consumed by Fire on the
17th. His lordship and family were crossing from
Portsmouth, and saw the conflagration from the deck
of the steamer: they were going to Binstead for a short
time, the house having been prepared for their reception.

A Fire, involving the loss of property to the value of
many thousand pounds sterling, took place on the
morning of the 18th, at three o'clock, on the premises
occupied by Messrs. E. Wigan, White, and Company,
hop factors, of Duke-street and Tooley-street, Southwark.
Their warehouse was totally destroyed, and a
number of adjoining buildings very seriously damaged
by fire and water. Messrs. Wigan were insured to the
amount of £50,000. In a long room on the ground floor,
which escaped uninjured, were deposited £60,000 worth
of bills, and other securities.—Two more destructive
fires have since occurred: one on the morning of the
20th, in Red Lion-street, Clerkenwell, on the premises
of a japanner, where much damage was done; and the
other on the same night, at some warehouses in Eastcheap,
occupied by a cheese-factor and a spice-merchant,
where the quantity of property consumed will amount,
it is stated, to several thousand pounds' worth.

On the 20th, as the parliamentary train from London
to Manchester came near Alderley, an accident occurred,
by which the engineer was Killed, and many of the
passengers were more or less injured. Five of the
carriages were dashed to pieces. An inquiry is now
being entered upon as to the origin of this calamity.

SOCIAL, SANITARY, AND MUNICIPAL
PROGRESS.

The Quarterly Return of Births, Marriages, and
Deaths, by the Registrar-General, comprises the Births
and Deaths during the quarter ending Dec. 31; and the
Marriages are those of the quarter ending Sept. 30, 1850.
In their general character the returns are favourable;
while fewer lives have been lost by epidemic diseases,
the marriages and births have increased.
The Marriages were 37,496, or more by 10,000 than