LATEST ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Sydney Morning Herald, November 3.]

New Zealand Spectator and Cook's Strait Guardian, Volume IX, Issue 868, 26 November 1853, Page 3

LATEST ENGLISH NEWS. [From the Sydney Morning Herald, November 3.]

' Two days have been occupied at the Warwick Assizes, before Mr. Justice Maule tnd a Special Jury, in hearing the case of Constant Derra de Meroda, versus. George Dawson and others, known as the "Yon Beck affair." The ' trial arose out of the arrest of the soi-disant Baroness Vqn.Beck and Constant Derra, at Birmingham, in 1851, on the charge of obtaining money under false "pretences, • The" '* s 'Baroo?ss " dted iq.

l prison, and Derra was discharged. 'He brought . an actiou against Mr. Dawson And three other z geutlcioen, and was (Jeffate'l on technirfhjrounds. la the preseut c«e the ipchnical'ties v ere sur3 mounted, arH the snme evHence was tendered as before* The legal (filiation was, who made tlio charge/ Mr, Justice Muule thought it was clear fhet Mr. Dawson and the other defendants did make the charge. Then, was it made maliciously ? That might be infened from the absence of a reasonable or probable cause. For instance if persons made a charge, not for the purpose of having an offender tried, but to make the charge public, or for the purpose of vindicating their characters, that was an improper motive. Upon the question of damages, the Judge said, the suffering of the plaintiff would have to ber mainly considered, and the condition of the defendants. If " they were very poor, very ignorant,, or very stupid, that might be ground for mitigating damages." The Jury found for the plaintiff y damages £800. A large quantity of gas having escaped into a waiting- room at the Preston station, a workman incautiously applied a light to a pipe, and a fright* ful explosion ensued : several persons were badly burnt, and a good deal of the building Mas destroyed. At Durham Assizes, last week, John Smith was put on his trial for the " murder" of his wife, at Bishopwearmoutb. It was alleged that the prisoner had wilfully killed his wife by keeping her without food and proper assistance ; but as the case proceeded the charge of murder was reduced by the prosecuting council to that of manslaughter ; and in the' end he declined to trouble the Judge to sum up, but consented to a verdict. of " Not guilty ;" the evidence for the defence having shown that the prisoner was kind to his wife, who had been ill for years, and that he had sold or pawned every article of furniture to buy the necessaries of life. It seemed that bis poverty, not his will, led him to provide so badly for his wife. William Flack, a youth of, oniy eighteen, has been tried at Ipswich for the murder of Maria Steggles, the housekeeper of the Rev. Mr. Barker, at Bacton. The evidence was similar to that formerly reported. It was entirely circumstantial, but conclusive. While in custody, Flack accused a man named Moore as the murderer, and pretended that Moore gave him money not to betray him ; but at the trial Moore clearly refuted the prisoner's statements.' The motive of the murderer was to pillage the house ; and the plunder thus obtained was very instrumental in bringing home the crime to Flack. He was found guilty, and sentenced to be hanged. He behaved with great indifference during the trial, and left the dock smiling. Mr. W. S. Harris, a manufacturer, of Leicester, sou of Mr. Harris who was formerly member for the borough, has committed suicide, at an inn at Caermarthen. He was found dead in his bed in the morning, a phial on the table, and a tumbler in the bed ; he had drunk a large quantity of prussic acid. It seems that Harris was in pecuniary embarrassments ; but he exag lgerated them in his mind : had be told his friends, his affairs could easily have been set straight. But he left Leicester for Rugby ; then proceeded to Swansea, wbeuce be wrote to his relatives that his body would be found at Caermarthen. Mr. Harris was a Town Councillor. The verdict of the coroner's jury was, "temporary insanity." A passenger has been dreadfully mutilated at Didcot station. A train stopped ; he got out for a short time, but he did not return till the train was in motion ; then, attempting to cross the rails, he was knocked down, and one leg was "completely cut off. There has been a collision on the South Devon Railway between Totness and Trent. The line is single ; at certain places there are two lines of rail to allow trains to pass. On Monday last, a down-goods-train, instead of remaining on the down-line at Raitery , incline, moved on to the single line, where it was met by an up express train. There was a violent concussion, but though minyof the passengers .were hurt, no one was killed.

Mr. Godley. — Mr. Godley, who has just returned from the settlement of Canterbury, in NewZealand, and lowhom a public dinner, over which Lord Wharnclifftf presided, was given at Greenwich on the 20th Octoher, has been*eppointed special Income-tax Commissioner for Ireland. The arrangements for the general collection of the tax have not yet been completed ; but steps have been taken to ensure -ihe levy of the first half-year's instalments, which will be due on,the ; 10th of October. — Home News, July 25.. : . No less than ninety-six vessels, many of. which are of large tonnage, are fixed to leave Graresend, Portsmouth, Plymouth, and Southampton during . the present month for our southern colonies. Of these, twenty-six vessels are for New South Wales, thirty-nine for Victoria, twelve for Adelaide, nine for Hobart Town, four for Launceston, two for Swan River, and f our for New Zealand. — Liverpool Courier, August 10.

The New Mint at Australia. — Captain Ward, Royal Engineers, with a detachment of Royal Sappers and Miners, are under orders to embark for Sydney, tor the purpose of building and conducting a mint. The whole of the party are to be instructed at the Royal Mint, London, previous to their embarkation. Four of the men recently left Woolwich for this purpose. It is the intention of the' authorities to coin all the gold required for Australia at Sydney : at present alii! the gold is sent from Australia to London, coined" and set back again, A very great saving will be effected by this arrangement. . Mr. Joseph Tricked Clerk of Works at Woolwicb, has been mppoiaterf-j : inspector of the establishment, and rill le»»e. Woolwich- for Sydney in. a few weeks.^—ZJ.S. Ga«., zette; 6th August. < >• - '

: The Fetk of. the ISth of August >n Pa* RlSi __Tbe following are some details relative. ta. the preparations for this fete. The general »r-^ rangements will comprise the space Vying between ibe Tuileries and th».Tnarophal Arch at the top. of Champi Elys^a. Ths Place de la.Coneordo. and the grand ave&oe of the Champs Elysees are to he decoraL&d at each siiJre by, open porticoes, springing fron& double pillars* From tlie Place de la Concorde to the Rond Point 224 arcades*. wiH be p>ac*d nt e«eh side. FiTe lofty triumphal arches are to be erected - across the avenue ' in that distance, and a colossal eagle will spring from a sphere erected over the fountain of Ilond Point, ' The Arc de Triomphe- de I'Etoile is in Ibe Ik with gas, -and .in the cenlie will 1 c represented the cross of the fLepion of -Honour. The, Venue of ibe.Cbaro^s Bly^fces'wUl.be ijlusmuated,

'by means of .lustres placed at short intervals from 'each' other and hanging from columns adorned -with flowers. The entire ornamentation of the fete in the Moorish style, is intended to give some ilea df the Arabian monuments of Cordova, and the Alhambra. From three to six o'clock i)oat racea will lake place on the part of the river opposite the ' Champ de Mars, where the equestrian troupe of the Hippodrome is to give a grand -representation. Tbe troupe of $tanconi'« Circus will succeed that of the Hippodrome, and represent the taking Leghouat, with other combats. A 'balloon ascent and a parachute descent will close this part of the fete. At the same hour there will be jousting on the river near Bercy; two" mats-de-cocagne-on Place Walhubert, and spectacles of various kinds at tbe Barriere dv Trone, and two m£ts-de-cocagne. At night, r. display of ■fireworks will be given on the place near tbe barrier another on the river -opposite Bercy and a third and a principal one on tbe Esplanade of the Invalided near the water, where will be represented — first, the Apotheosis of Napoleon ; next, the eagle and tbe Imperial ciphers ; and lastly, the dome of the Invalides will be lit up with coloured lights. — Mark Lane Express.

Offer to Assassinate Louis Napoleon.' — At Bow-street, on Tuesday, Edouard Raynaud, a Frenchman, about thirty-five years of age, was remanded for the attendance of the Prince de -Joinvillff, to whom he had addressed two letters, in the first of which he proposed a scheme for the destruction of the Emperor's life, and requested the Prince's co-operation and assistance. In the second letter he offered to go over to France and accomplish, unaided, the murder of Louis Napoleon, if the Prince would give him £20. The man, who appears to be in a weak state of health, and just out of an hospital, where he had had his hetd shaved, was tracked by the police from a lodging in Sherrard's Place, Soho, to Jersey, where he was taken into custody. — London Paper, August 2.

Conspiring to Murder Louis Napoleon. — On , Tuesday afternoon, Edouard Raynaud, a a Frenchman, was brought before the Bow-street 'magistrate, on a charge of conspiring to murder •the Emperor of the French. He had been arrestrd at Southampton, on his way to Jersey from London. The case was not gone into ; and, the prisoner offering no objection, he was remanded, in order that Prince de Joinville might attend as t witness; It seems that Raynaud wrote two letters to the Prince, proposing in the one a scheme to assassinate Louis Napoleon, and requesting the Prince's co-operation and assistance; in the other offering to murder Louis Napoleon if £20 were advanced. On Wednesday the Prince de Joinville attended. He seemed to suffer from extreme deafness. He deposed that the prisoner had written to him asking an inter*riew, which was declined ; then he received the two letters' offering to assassinate the Emperor. The Prince sent these two letters to the Home ■Office. The letters were produced and read. Raynaud is a tailor ; he lived in Sherrard-street. Hii landlord said he bad beard him complain of periodical attacks in his head, which made h m -confused and deranged. The prisoner did not deny that he wrote the letters ; but he urged that his mind was not tight at the time, as he had been for a long while suffering from illness which occasionally affected his intellect. [He looked ill.] Under these circumstances, and for the sake of his wife, he implored the mercy of the ■Court. Mr. Jardine committed him to be tried for misdemeanour ; but offered to take moderate •bail. — Spectator, August 6.

Portsmouth August 2. — This morning, a! eight o'clock, the ships at Spiibead sent up royal yards, dressed ship, and run the life-lines out ready for manning yards, on the occasion of her Majesty's return to London. At about twenty minutes to eleven o'clock the Queen passed inside the fleet, when a grand general Royal salute uras fired, with yards manned. This was participated in by the Prussian frigate and corvette, and a more spendid spectacle it was impossible to witneis. The weather was brilliantly fine, and a large multitude of people thronged the shores, attracted by the cannonade. After the iiring had subsided, the cheers of the men upon the yards were heard. Rear Admiral Fanshawe visited the Prussian Commodore Schrceder on board the Gefion, at Spithead, this afternoon, and afterwards vfisited Captiin Schirmacher on board the Amazone: be was saluted by both ships on leaving. The Blenheim, 60, Captain Henderson, is hourly expected to rejoin the fleet from Kingstown; the Queen, 116, Captain Mitchell, will be at Spithead to-morrow, from Plymouth ; and the Waterloo, 120, is expected from Sheerne«. Tfce St.- Jean d' Acre, 91, will follow speedily. This afternoon, after dinner, ail the gunboats of the fleet, numbering upwards of 40 sail were piped away, manned, and armed as for an engagement, They extended from Fort Moncton to Blockhouse Fort, when ranged in line, and were guided by signals from the, senior officer. They, came off the Platform Battery, and there hoisted masts and manoeuvred in the harbour channel, apparently prepared to "board" batteries, they then came out of the harbour with masts struck and ranged off the Platform j Battery, and, commenced' a general heavy cannonade with their bow guns, ■ this, coupled with the scaling .of the great 64 pounders- of Blockhouse Font »t the same lime, formed a nautical* spectacle we have not seen upon the like scale during the past ten years.- Each boat carried a white or blue ensign, and altogether, they made a flotilla of the most formidable character; After opening fire upon tbe.-Platform Battery (ap-> psrently), " the force ranged in divisions, got up masts, up sails, and .made, for their respective J ships; the ' Wind, however,' falling light, they struck masts soon after, and pulled across the I spitway to the fleet, presenting a moving marine panorama of the most ipletsing and picturesque description, which was eminently enjoyed by many thousands, of spectators who manned the walls of. the town, among whom were a large proportion of visitors from London. — Illustrated London News,