depended upon what her daughter meant to say.- -The younger Hibner then addressed the Court, declaring that the children had all sworn falsely, and that at all events she was not their mistress, and had therefore no right to be placed where she stood.-The prisoner Robinson declared, that she knew nothing of the cruel treatment complained of, and had taken no part in it.-Mr. Baron Garrow stated to the jury the law as applicable to the relative situations in which the prisoners stood. The elder prisoner had taken upon herself to provide the deceased with proper and necessary food and clothing, and, in her relation of mistress, had rendered herself accountable in the eye of the law for the wellbeing of the child. The other prisoners were bound by no such obligation, and hence the distinction arose with respect to the relative situations of the prisoners. If the jury were satisfied that the deceased came by her death in consequence of a train of ill-treatment on the part of her mistress and those who had acted under her, they were bound to find the elder prisoner guilty of the charge laid in the indictment, and acquit the other two prisoners. If, on the contrary, they should find reason to believe that the death of the child was occasioned by her immersion in cold water, which was the act of the younger Hibner and Robinson, in the absence of the elder prisoner, it would then be the duty of the jury to find them guilty of murder, and acquit Hibner the elder. The jury consulted for a few moments, and then asked leave to retire, which they did at halfpast six o'clock; and, having been absent for about an hour and ten minutes, they returned into court,

finding Esther Hibner, the elder, Guilty of the murder, and acquitting the other two prisoners. Sentence of death was immediately pronounced; and was carried into execution at the Old Bailey on Monday the 13th. No such concourse of people had been collected to witness an execution since that of Fauntleroy. When the criminal appeared on the scaffold, she was assailed with a loud volley of yells from the people, particularly from the females, of which the crowd was in a great measure composed. Up to the last she refused to receive any spiritual consolation, and no clergyman attended her on the scaffold. She appeared to die almost instantaneously. From the moment of her conviction, up to the time of her execution, she behaved in the most violent manner, and committed so many excesses as to astonish even the turnkeys of the prison, who are accustomed to such scenes. The interview with her daughter did not make any impression upon her. On Friday afternoon she said to Mr. Wontner, the governor of Newgate, that she would be d-d if she would be hanged, and insisted upon having a mutton-chop for dinner. On Sunday afternoon, after she had seen her daughter, she went into the yard; and, it appearing to the turnkey that there was something suspicious in her behaviour, he sent some person after her, who found her bleeding from a wound she had inflicted in the front part of her neck with a knife, which by some means she had obtained, unknown to the attendants. From this time her behaviour was so violent, that it was found absolutely necessary to apply the strait waistcoat to prevent her from tearing the bandages off her

wound. She confessed, soon after her attempt at suicide, to Mr. Wontner, that it was not her intention to kill herself, but merely to wound herself severely, thinking thereby that she would be allowed to live a few days longer. The body, after hanging the usual time, was cut down, and delivered to the surgeons for dissection.

CHARGE OF ARSON. Moses Jacobs stood indicted for feloniously setting fire to his house, Phoenix-st., Soho-square, with intent to defraud the Sun Fire-office. The following were the facts of the case, as stated by the witnesses for the prosecution:-The prisoner was a glassmanufacturer, and carried on business in the house above-mentioned. A part of his house was occupied by a foreman, named Davis, and his wife. On the morning of the 23rd of February, the prisoner left home, and returned between seven and eight o'clock in the evening; there had been no fire in the count ing-house for six weeks before; but when the prisoner returned home, he directed Davis to light a fire in this room. About ten at night Davis put out the fire in his apartment, and was preparing to go to bed, when the prisoner sent him with a letter to a friend in Holywell-street, and, on his return, he found the house destroyed, and that his wife had perished in the flames. It was in evidence, that, a short time before the fire, the prisoner sent for quantities of turpentine and linseed oil, which were not required in his business; a portion of the turpentine he had strewed about the floor, and afterwards said that he had mistaken it for water. On the Sunday before the fire, the prisoner removed a great portion of his furniture from the house, and had made an arrange

ment with Messrs. Whitehouse and Co., wharfingers, of the City-road, to remove some cullet (broken glass) and potash to Birmingham, and he said that other goods would be returned in lieu of them. The goods were sent to Messrs. Whitehouse's premises, but without any direction as to any person or place they were to be forwarded to, and they remained there until after the fire, when the prisoner caused them to be sent back to his residence. It was in evidence also, that the prisoner had originally insured his house and manufactory for 1,000l.; his stock and utensils for 250l.; and his house for 500l.; but in January he increased the amount of his insurance to 2,550l. On the morning of the fire he called at the fire-office for his policy, which had not been forwarded to him, and expressed a great desire to have it in his possession. In addition to these facts, it was proved by a number of persons present at the fire, that it originated in the prisoner's apartments, and certainly not in the rooms occupied by Davis and his wife; they also expressed their opinion that the house had been set on fire, and stated that they saw some inflammable substance burning with great fury in the premises, and dropping among the smoking ruins; these witnesses, however, in justice to the prisoner, it should be stated, declared that the prisoner made every effort to save the life of Mrs. Davis, and directed the firemen where to play the engines, the more readily to extinguish the flames. The prisoner attended the coroner's inquisition upon the remains of the unfortunate woman, and offered every explanation in his power; but the moment the medical men returned, charging

him as the incendiary, he hastened out of the house, and jumping into a cabriolet, was about driving off, when he was arrested by a constable. He then explained that he was hastening away with the intention of consulting his solicitor. The whole of the witnesses for the prosecution, who were acquainted with the prisoner's transactions, described him as a man plunged in great poverty; several executions were out against him, some of them for very trifling sums; and the interior of his dwelling could not boast of any thing that could justify his making a demand for the amount of his insurance. It was in evidence also that the premises were mortgaged for 1,000l.

The following witnesses were then called for the defence:-Mr. Edgebar Carter deposed: I am an attorney; I know of the effecting of the mortgage by Jacobs with Hughes for 1,000l.; subsequent to that mortgage, about the 9th of January last, I had an abstract of the prisoner's title to the premises, to raise 1,500l. on them; the prisoner's intention was to pay off the mortgage of 1,000l.; a Mr. Overton negociated through me with the prisoner for advancing the 1,500l, and the arrangement would have been made in less than a week after the fire; a Mr. Wilson was the solicitor for Jacobs, and I was the solicitor for Overton; I am perfectly satisfied that the prisoner was anxious to make the arrangement, as he would thereby have had 500l. besides paying off the former mortgage. Mr. Rose, a surveyor and auctioneer, in the Old Jewry, sworn In December last I surveyed the prisoner's premises in Phoenix-street, with a view to a loan; the factory was completed, but the warehouse was not; I es

timated the value of the prisoner's lease at 2,000l. subject to the laying out of 150l.; I did not overrate the value of the building, because I was employed by a gentleman who had it in contemplation to advance money; I believe the building must have cost 4,000l. in erecting.-Mr. Thomas Thompson, of 10, Castle-street, Holborn, surveyor, said, I valued the stock in trade of the prisoner, after the fire, on the 23rd of March, at 3841.; according to the appearance of the building after the fire, it could not have originated on the first-floorI believe it commenced on the staircase; the flooring near to the staircase was burnt, and that leading from the counting-house to the hanging-bridge was nearly perfect; a person on Hobson's stairs, in the yard, could not see in a direct line into the first-floor window, unless he could look through a sloping covering of slates.-Cross-examined.

A person in the yard might see the ceiling of the first-floor room; but he could not see it from the steps, nor could he see the floor at all-Mr. William Cadogan, a surveyor, examined the premises on the 2nd of March, and found a quantity of burnt embers on the second floor, which had been completely destroyed. In the grate in the two-pair of stairs room, where the deceased slept, there were a great many cinders. There was soot in the counting-house grate. There was a covering over Hobson's steps, and no person on those steps could see into the window of the back room.-Mr. Williams, a carpenter and builder, residing in Upper Cleveland-street, Fitzroy-square, said, he had seen the prisoner's warehouse before the fire, and he thought the fittings were worth 1007. The prisoner's dwelling

ing was not done.-James Hall: I am a painter; about a fortnight before the fire I contracted with the prisoner to paint his house; the prisoner agreed to find paint, oil, and turpentine; I saw paint, brushes, and pots on the premises, and I agreed to paint them at 5s. 6d. a day; I was to find labour only; I gave orders for turpentine; it was to be brought to Mr. Jacob's house from an oil-shop in Greek street-viz., three pints of turpentine, and one quart of oil; I called the week after I had made the agreement, and a reason was given me why I could not begin to paint. -Mr. Lewis Norton: I am an attorney, and have acted for the prisoner, as his solicitor, for years; he has always acted in the most honest and upright manner; Da vis, the servant of the prisoner, has been in the habit of bringing letters from the prisoner to me at all hours; I put an execution into the prisoner's house on the day of the fire; I had heard that the prisoner had received 500l., and was about to go to Birmingham; he owed me 641; the execution was upon a warrant of attorney. In my opinion, taking into the estimation the value of the buildings, and other property of the prisoner, he was a solvent man, and possessed five times the amount that would pay his debts. On the night of the fire, the prisoner and Mr. Genese called upon me, and talked about the execution, and I gave them a letter to Mr. Phillips, the sheriff's officer, who was in possession of the prisoner's house.-Cross-examined.

The prisoner was indebted be.

yond the mortgages to the amount of 180l., at the time of the fire; I only know it from lists handed to me from the prisoner and his father.-Re-examined.-My execution was paid by the prisoner on the 23rd of March.-Elisha Hart: I am a paper-hanger in Drury-lane. On the 13th of February last the prisoner engaged with me to paper his house. Mr. Isaac Genese: I am an auctioneer and general dealer. On the morning of the day the fire took place, I saw the prisoner at 10 o'clock: he went to Hammersmith with me; I parted with him at nine o'clock at night, and after that the prisoner came to me, and I accompanied him to Mr. Norton's; we received a letter from Mr. Norton for Mr Phillips, the sheriff's officer; I went with the prisoner to the Feathers publichouse, in Hart-street, Covent-garden, and he left me there at about half-past 10 o'clock; I saw the prisoner at the coroner's inquest, and he told me, after the verdict was returned, that he would go with me to his solicitor; I did not urge the prisoner to go, nor did he run, after the verdict was returned.— -Phillips, a sheriff's officer, said, that, on the day of the fire, he put an execution in the house, at the suit of Norton; he left a note for the prisoner, who called upon him the same evening at the Feathers, in Hart-street; it was about a quarter past 10, when he went home.-Solomon Solomons said, on the night of the fire, he was with the prisoner at the Black Lion, Vinegar-yard, Drury lane; he met him at seven o'clock, and remained with him some time. At this period of the case an observation was made by counsel respecting a postponement till Monday; but Mr. Justice Park asked the Jury, whether they

entertained any doubt upon the case, or were they anxious that the inquiry should proceed? There was certainly a strong suspicion, but that was not sufficient to deprive a man of life.

The Jury then consulted together a few seconds, and pronounced the prisoner Not Guilty.

12. ACCIDENT.-Sunday evening, during the performance of divine worship in the Wesleyan Methodist chapel at Hermandwike, the pressure of the crowd shook or displaced the stove, which was in the body of the chapel, and a little in front of the gallery. From the stove was an upright pipe, connected by an elbow with a horizontal one running under the gallery for three or four yards, and out of the front wall of the building. This pipe was feebly supported by nail crooks, and, from the cause above mentioned, it fell upon the people beneath, but without injury to any one. The congrega tion in the vicinity of the spot, began to retire. This caused an afarm in the minds of many not acquainted with the trifling nature of the accident. An alarm immediately became general; the panic in the minds of the people in the gallery being increased by the circumstance that a large quantity of dust and soot ascended towards them. Then came a general rush from all parts of the chapel, which was continued and increased by the crashing noise made by the trampling upon the broken fragments of the stove-pipe which had fallen on the ground. An individual, perceiving the crowd hastening to wards one of the doors, closed it. This caused the accumulation of a dense mass in a porch of but small dimensions, where they remained a short time wedged together, till

the cries of those within induced some persons, who had made their escape from the open door, to force the one which had hitherto been kept closed. This being with some difficulty effected, those nearest the door were immediately thrown down and trampled upon by those in the rear; others fell upon them in making their way out, and when the pressure had subsided, the passage to the door was choked with males and females lying on the floor, so closely wedged that it required considerable effort to extricate them from each other. Those, who had been fortunate enough to have their faces exposed to the air, suffered comparatively little injury, but others were suffocated before they could be removed. Five were taken out dead, and a sixth died the following day. Of the former five, the eldest was not more than fourteen years of age.

13. FALL OF A ROCK.-The greater part of Nottingham is built upon a rock which forms different rising hillocks, and some parts on perpendicular cliffs, having streets running below, so that one house seems actually built upon the roof of another. This is the case with the High Pavement, on which many of the most respectable houses are erected, as well as the county gaol, St. Mary's Church, &c.; and about 150 feet beneath the High Pavement is Narrow Marsh, the oldest street in the town. Considerable apprehensions have for several years been entertained, that a portion of the rock above Narrow Marsh, between the county gaol and some brick arches (which had been erected for security), was separating from the main body, especially at the back of the house occupied by Mr. Carpenter Smith. Small portions of the rock and sand