and Moore having been spoken to respecting some
material difference he had made in his evidence, he desired
to make a more lengthened statement in writing, and,
in doing so, sufficient was traced to warrant his arrest,
when he admitted writing two of the anonymous letters.
His place was searched, and a child's rattle was found,
the end of which had been used in sealing and stamping
the letters. Other circumstances then arose which led
to the apprehension of Walsh, whose daughter cohabited
with Moore; he made a statement showing a knowledge
of what was going to be done at the Ash Flats. He
stated that Moore had told him, "If you will come with
me to-night, we shall get what will put us over the
water comfortably. The place I mean is the Blackburn;
they are a very old couple, and have no servants, either
boy or girl, in the house; their son Henry left for
Wolverhampton on Saturday, and will not be back until
Monday, and shall be certain to get from eight to ten
sovereigns, the price of the cart they are about to buy;
at all events, we shall get some money, and if all fails
we shall be sure to get a bit of bacon." Walsh also
mentioned that Moore stated, "This will stop them from
telling tales," and he held up a knife in his hand to
which he had put a new handle, which was made of a
portion of the handle of a hatchet." On Walsh's left
hand was noticed the marks of a burning, and on his
trousers were traced the stains of blood. It also
appeared that Moore wore a kind of red plush waistcoat,
the material of which corresponded with a piece of stuff
found on the broken window of the deceased's cottage.
Other statements which Moore had given of the transaction
were then detailed by several witnesses, and they
all set forth different stories. Walsh was missed from
his abode early on the morning of the murder, and
Moore and he were found to be in sudden possession of
money. As regards the case against Henry Blackburn, it
would appear that it mainly rested upon some remarks
which had fallen from him previous to the murders,
that he would come into possession of some property on
his father's death, and that he was picked out of a batch
of prisoners as having bought several pounds of resin at
a shop in Wolverhampton on the Friday previous to
the perpetration of the atrocious crime. Moore had
endeavoured to fix him in his statements, but there was
nothing like consistency in his representations. The
trial terminated on the 21st inst., when Moore and
Walsh were found guilty, and Blackburn was acquitted.
The convicts were sentenced to death, and the judge
passed sentence on them, holding out not the slightest
hope of mercy. The same evening they confessed their
guilt.

A poor man of colour, named John Clover, was
charged at the Clerkenwell Police Court, on the 25th,
with Begging. Two mendicity officers, having seen
him, with a printed paper on his breast, craving charity,
and some passengers give him alms, took him into
custody. It appeared, from his account of himself, that
he was a native of Africa, and had been a slave, but he
ran away from his master to avoid his cruelty, and to
save his life. He was flogged, kicked, and beaten by
him, and on one occasion he inflicted several wounds
upon him with a knife. The prisoner exhibited several
wounds on his arm. His master was in the habit of
putting hot chains on his legs, and other slaves were
linked to him while they were at work. They had to
work very hard and got very little to eat, but they dared
not complain, or they would be ill-used and told they
were lazy, and have their hands and legs tied together
and beaten till their flesh was cut. One night their
master went out, when he (the prisoner) and six other
of the slaves, made their escape. They walked night
after night, and in the day time stopped in the woods
for fear of any one belonging to their master seeing
them. At last they got to a country called Cilwa. They
sailed from there to Calcutta, where they stopped twelve
months, until they found a ship to bring them to
England, where there were no slaves. He was willing to
work, and he had no means of getting a living but by
selling a few books. Mr. Corrie (the magistrate):
Have you no friends? Prisoner (in broken English):
I have no friend, only God. Mr. Corrie: Where were
you born? Prisoner: I do not know. I never saw my
father aud mother. Mr. Corrie: Then what will you
do if I discharge you? You will go and beg again?
Prisoner: I must try and get a bit of bread. Mr. Corrie,
under the circumstances, discharged him, with an advice
to go to the workhouse, which he promised to do, and he
was set at liberty. Mr. Deacon, the proprietor of the
Sir Hugh Myddelton Tavern, near Sadler's Wells
Theatre, who was present during the examination,
humanely gave the poor man nourishment, and took him
into his service.

At the Kingston Assizes, on the 24th instant, an action
was tried, brought to recover a sum claimed for Literary
Labour. The plaintiff, Mr. Metcalf, is a clergyman
residing at Oxford; the defendant is Mr. Parker, the
publisher in the Strand. About the year 1847, the
plaintiff entered into an engagement with Mr. Parker
to translate Bahr's "History of' Roman Literature," for
the sum of £200; and it appeared that he did not
complete the work, which extended in quantity to nearly
two thousand octavo pages, till March, 1851, when he
furnished a complete manuscript to the defendant. No
steps having been taken to put it in hand, with a view
to the publication, the plaintiff applied to Mr. Parker
to know when he might expect to have proofs of the
work to revise, and the defendant excused himself for
not going on with it at this period, by stating that on
account of the attraction of the Great Exhibition it was
hopeless to expect the public to read books. When the
Exhibition closed Mr. Metcalf again applied to the
defendant upon the subject, and he then wrote an answer
stating that in the beginning of the year he would put
the work in hand, and he would send him a proof.
Afterwards the defendant returned the manuscript,
stating that, having taken advice, he was of opinion that
the translation was not of a character likely to succeed,
and he therefore declined to publish it; this proceeding
being taken by him in October, 1852—nearly nineteen
months after the manuscript had been first placed in his
possession. The plaintiff, under these circumstances,
now sought to recover the sum which the defendant
had agreed to pay him for his services in making the
translation; and upon his being examined, he stated he
had for fourteen years been acquainted with and studied
the German language, he had resided for several months
in the country, and was perfectly versed in the language,
and he declared that the translation was a correct one,
and in accordance with the agreement made between
him and the defendant. The evidence of the plaintiff
was corroborated by several gentlemen connected with
literary pursuits. On the part of the defendant it was
alleged that the translation had been done in a careless
and hasty manner, and that the plaintiff had not
complied with his undertaking to furnish such a work as
the defendant would be justified, having regard to his
own interest, in offering to the public. In support of
this case, he produced some German and other witnesses,
who stated that, having referred casually to different
portions of the translation, they discovered what they
described to be incorrect translations of the German
original, and they also complained of the forms of
expression made use of in some instances by the plaintiff
in his translation. Many of the matters objected to,
however, appeared to be of the most trifling character.
Mr. Baron Alderson had commenced summing up when
the jury interposed, and said they considered it quite
unnecessary for him to go through the evidence, as they
had unanimously agreed upon the verdict, which was
for the full amount claimed.

NARRATIVE OF ACCIDENT AND
DISASTER

AN inquest on the body of Mr. James Glbbs, of Bristol,
one of the Directors of the Great Western Railway, who
was Killed by the accident on that railway, on the 24th
ult. (See Household Narrative for last month), was held
on the 26th. Mr. Gibbs was a vitriol-manufacturer at
Bristol; he was sixty-one years of age. It was said that
recently he had a presentiment that he should meet with
some mishap on the railway; and he wished to resign
his seat as a Director for the Bristol interest, but was
induced by his colleagues and friends to remain in office.
A few weeks before the accident he insured his life in the