Miscellaneous.

Lyttelton Times, Volume VII, Issue 475, 23 May 1857, Page 8

Miscellaneous.

Ignorance of Jueymen.--—Nooiiie.unused to the proceedings in our criminal courts wpuld believe what strange exposures of the ignorance of jurymen now and then take place.; •' Prisoners have before now been declared ;guilty, and recommended to mercy, on the ground that the juiy weren't quite sure tliat'■ 4hey -cLid-it! /A jury at Cardigan found a man guilty of arson,' with £20 damages: .Another, set of "clodlipp-' pers," trying a man tor murder, and being much confused by the judge telling them that upon the sanie indictment, if not satisfied, as to .the capital crime having been committed, they could find the prisoner guilty of manslaughter, just as they could on au indictment for child murder find a woman guilty of concealing the birth: after deliberating for.,a long w.hilej found the man guilty of concealing the birth of the deceased! Two similar instances to the above have occurred in our own hearing; one of a poor woman tried a few^ears ago at an, assize town in South Wales, for the murder of her infant. The juiy appeared to listen to the case with the utmost attention; but what was. "the general astonishment, when, upon the conclusion of the " summing up," the foreman, addressed the judge with: "My Lord, I wish to say that I am the only man on the jury understanding English !" Of course, nothing could be done in ■a_ such a case; the prisoner had been given, into their charge, and they were bound to convict or acquit her. The foreman had {hell-fore to explain the case to his brother jury men,.a ml it is hardly necessary to say the woman was ;acquitted. The other, a still more ridiculoas instance of jury ignorance, occurred not loner ago on the Western Circuit. A man ■was indicted for burglary; the proofs were so clear aga];,-.^:, jam, he having been ca' :'it in the

fact, that it was presujned no defeiibe would "be attempted. His i counsel, however, faade a long and flaming speech: and protested that 7le'- believed the man to b'e'irinbcent. The judge £olcl the jury that it was unnecessary lor, him to sum up, as .they could have but one opinion. ; After conferring a moment, 4 they turned ,rquna." and deliberately pronounced a verdict of 'Not guilty,' to the 'amazement of every one itV the court. ,Of course the prisoner; was, without further : t[uestion'on the case,'discharged. : Meeting one of the jurymen i'.ext day, we politely. in^juiVed , the reasons which influenced them ,m! giving so curious a. : verdict, and' niet with .the following ; reply": " Well, sir, we be most Onus P-——— . men, anil though the, Lunnun judge said lie thought the prisoner were: guilty,1 our recorder (who was the man's counsel) said he thought lie warn't, and we like'to stick up for cur recorder!' ; —- Chambers's Journal. ■■''■> John and Jonathan.—Tliei 'Times' has an elaborate article upon the commercial position of i the United States, reviewing the relative' deal • ; ings of other nations with that great transatlantic firm. Of thirty-six customers, thirty- ■ five take in the aggregate goods to the amount of 114,794^44i4 dollars, leaving the other one to take goods to the value of* 195,791,886 dol-: lars. That, other .one is great Britain. The .conclusion drawn by the writer is in favour of \ those'peaceable relations which it is the interest of both., countries to maintain and strengthen.: The1 at&ele concludes thus ' •'-—•"■ Jfbw, even if set aside1 for the moment the ties of: consanguinity and common descent^ together with/the incessant intermixture of ; personal interests which emigration produces, the merely commercial bonds established between two communities thus situated present an aspect almost, marvel-. lous. What increases, too, the wonders of the view, is 1 thefaict that scarcely any limit canibe; put to the expansion which intercourse may yet receive. A glance' 'at the miap of the United States will showthatscarcely one^half of thg ter-' "ritories of the Union is as yet brought under cultivation. If the reader should wish, to get sonic; tangible idea of the. scope thus left available for progress, let him take a district 6f whidh a good deal has been lately said and written—that 'ofi Kansas. Kansas is only one' of the ' provincesi into which the American Union has the privilege of expanding itself -westward; indeed, it is riot nearly so extensive as the conterminous teiTitory of Nehraska! Yet this 'Kansas—this' debateahle strip of land' which slaveowners and freesoilers are fighting for—is in 'itself as large as • Great Britain and Ireland put together. What limits can he put to the productiveness of a country like this ? As to, corn and breads tuffs, it % said that we are only| . beginnirig to discover the capabilities of the^ • North-western provinces, and even with regard to cotton, ah article of a much more exceptional, , kind,, prospects are now held out of an acceptably increase in the field of supply.' No : wonder then that the relations of t\vo such na-. tions as .Great Britain and America should find expression hi works for bridging the mighty; ocean between them—works which'in themselves partake of the character'of prodigies.' The; steamers of the two countries have 'brought New York nearer London than' Edinburgh was but a few generations ago, and the'project for , rendering this communication absolutely instantaneous is now assuming the appearance of reality and success. It is scarcely possible to repress astonishment at the amount of intercourse between this counti-y and the States',even as it actually stands; what proportions it may1 acquire.; in a few short years is a question to baffle all attempts, at divination or conjecture." The Eotal Bkitish; Bank and' the "Luncheon/ System."-—Among vthe extraordinary' disbursements of the Eoj-al British Bank, there appears ah item for a considerable sum described as "luncheons to directors." It now' appears from the commencement of the Bank in 1842, the directors and principal'officers, with one or two exceptions, wei'e in the habit of eating and drinking daily at the Bank at the expense.,of the establishment. The.system was commenced on, an extravagant scale. Rare wines/and brandies, Scotch whiskeys, Edinburgh ale. and Prestonpans beer, were ordered for the regaling of these gentlemen after they got through their usual official duties. And as it was thought that it might conduce to the interests "of the establishment, each director "was allowed to introduce a friend. AlI though described as " luncheons," those repasts were in reality substantial and sumptuous din

riers, the fumes of which' from the lbw«r''<l£partnienj; of tli'e Bank filled the nostrils of the cttstbniers and 6'f'famished el^rks during at least' two hours every day. The expenses of tbese ehtertam'inents ultimately became so lar^e as' to excite alarm iii the/inin'd of nervous director,.' who remoiistrated;'again'st so much'ex* tfaviigahee, anil insistea" 'on some'!regard to economy. The " luncheons " ' suMecjuehtly werenot marked by'the same reekless'profusion, and the privilege of inviting, friends' was abolished;, It w'as/'. Very ,common' however with some of the directors on days when their attendance' was required at the Bank, " .to drop in " about .the " luncheon " hour, arid' partake of their share of their "' good things/ 'At the end of eyery half-year the" late genei'al'manager uniformly gave a grand party; at which hie per■sonally appeared in a romantic costume and in the 'most exuberant spirits''described the unparalleled 'prosperity of the institution of which he was the practical chief.— -Morning AdverUser, Jan. 16.

A EESPBCTABtE Man.—Mr. Dalby, a Liverpool dealer in cured fish, being sued in a local court, on a charge of suspicious anchovies and bloaters, confessed.,on Saturday,,that he had offered,-.(to pay £6 bjr: way of compromise. "Why did you make that"; offer ?" asked Solicit/or Conway. ". Because"... said he f. I'm. a respectable, man, and didn't want to cp/me, into this court.", (Loud laughter, in which the Judge joined.)/ . >:.,'■ , -„:,-,- . „-/, „.,

A fashionable lady was lately deploring the number of religious sect s winch exist, and that the number was still increasing.. Among.the new sects there were two to which &he particularly /objected; namely, "The. Plymouth Brethren," and " the Yarmouth Bloaters.