NARRATIVE OF LAW AND CRIME.

A YOUNG man named John Ellis, storekeeper to the
"General Palmer," was Murdered in New Zealand on
board that vessel while lying in Port Nicholson, in
April last. The ship was laid up in that port in consequence
of her leaky condition, and the crew had left
her. Palmer had charge of all the stores; and was in
the practice of coming on shore every morning to transact
business with Mr. Bethune, a merchant and agent of
the ship residing in Wellington. He became acquainted
with four men, named Good, alias Henderson, a deserter
from the 65th regiment; Coslin, Jones, and Thompson,
and they frequently visited him on board ship. He was
missing for a week, and Mr. Bethune, fearing that he
had been the victim of foul play, went on board the
General Palmer, and saw Thompson, who, on being
questioned, said the shipkeeper and Ellis had gone on
shore some days before. Mr. Bethune, having reason to
know the contrary, gave Thompson into custody, and
upon proceeding into the cabin was annoyed by an
intolerable odour and upon uncovering one of the harness
casks, which had contained salt beef, the body of
the murdered man was found steeped in brine. The
corpse was dreadfully mutilated—the head having been
severed from the body. Upon a post mortem examination
it was ascertained that he had been disposed of as
the Mannings disposed of their victim, O'Connor; he
was first shot, and his skull was beaten in by a hammer.
Suspicion falling upon the men visiting him, and who
were last seen in his company, they were sought; but
had absconded. They were subsequently apprehended
in different parts of the colony; and, after several
examinations, they were all committed for trial at the
Supreme Court, which was to hold its sittings in June.

The Irish papers contain many accounts of Affrays
and Disturbances, caused by the "evictions'' which are
daily taking place. On the 26th of August an affair of
this kind took place near Ballinasloe. It is thus related
by the Western Star:—"On Wednesday last, Mr. John
Kelly, poor-rate collector, proceeded with three assistants
named Murray, Gavan, and Kenny, to distrain
for poor-rates due by a man named Turley—the amount
£11. 3s. After going on the lands of Ballymana, and
seizing eleven head of cattle, several people collected
and succeeded in rescuing the cattle, with the exception
of one cow. Some blows were given on both sides, when
Mr. Kelly and his men were attacked with stones.
Murray was struck by a stone on the forehead, which
forced the blood through his ears and nose; and Mr.
Kelly was hit on the back of the head and some other
parts of his body. He had a double-barrelled pistol in
his hand, and when knocked down two or three of the
'rescuers' held him, wrested the pistol from his hand,
searched his side-pocket for another pistol, which they
got, and when taking it out also took £50. in notes, either
through mistake or design. So Mr. Kelly states. Mr.
Kelly and his party, however, got away, and came into
town, when Murray, who received such dreadful injuries,
was put into hospital. He is the only support of
a widowed mother. We understand that the lands on
which the seizure was made were waste, and the cattle
found there belonged to a number of poor farmers living
in the neighbourhood."

There has been another dreadful case of Murder in
Tipperary. On the morning of the 29th August, as
Thomas Batters, of Clashdrumsmith, was going along
the road at Breansha, near Emly, he was fired at from
behind a hedge, and was wounded in the wrist and
thighs with large shot, making a dozen wounds. The
assigned motive was that Batters was employed as caretaker
on crops under seizure for rent, and also blamed
for entertaining the keepers in his house. The unfortunate
man lingered until the following day, when he
died of his wounds at eight o'clock in the evening.

Mr. Feargus O'Connor has commenced legal proceedings
for the purpose of Recovering Rents from the
allottees at Snig's End, near Gloucester. On the 28th
of August bailiffs proceeded from that city to serve
fifty-two writs. The colonists, who had got intelligence
of the coming storm, held a meeting on the preceding
evening, and concerted their arrangements. On the
appearance of the baliffs they intimated that they would
"manure the land with their blood before it should be
taken from them." The bailiffs, therefore, retired.

The Captain and Mate of the Orion steamer were
tried at Edinburgh, before the High Court of Justiciary,
ou the 29th and 30th of August. The names of the
prisoners are Thomas Henderson and John Williams.
It was proved that during the watch of the latter as
second mate, the vessel approached closer to the shore
than is usual by upwards of a mile; and that this
unusual course was taken when the weather was
hazy, and against the warning exclamations of the
experienced seamen who had the look-out watch: the
captain came on deck several times during the second
mate's watch, and each time observed both the compass
and the ship's position off the shore, which could be distinguished
during nearly the whole course: thus the
mate was shown to have conducted the ship recklessly,
and the captain to have left him uncontrolled in his
recklesness. The object was to cut off all corners, and
to run a straight and swift course. On the part of the
captain it was urged, that the usage in the Liverpool
and Glasgow serice is, that in fine weather he should
retire to rest during the four hours of the second mate's
watch, that time including an unhazardous part of the
voyage; this usage was proved by several experienced
captains and pilots: but all these witnesses negatived
the propriety of the captain's retirement in hazy weather;
yet the log-book of the Orion enters the weather
as "hazy and calm." Moreover, the captain was on
board, and supervised the course; so it was urged that
he must share responsibility of it. For the mate it
was urged, first, that the course he gave was practically
correct—but he was contradicted both by Captain Robinson
of the Royal Navy, the hydrographical surveyor of
the coast, from whose observations the Admiralty charts
are prepared, and by commanders and pilots in the service;
secondly, that the compasses were wrong generally
—but it was proved that they varied only one point;
and thirdly, that they were falsified on this particular
voyage by eight tons of iron freight stowed near to them
—but it was proved that this particular cause could only
vary them two points. At the end of a trial of two days,
the jury found both prisoners guilty. The court sentenced
the captain (Henderson) to be imprisoned for
eighteen months, and the mate (Williams) to be transported
for seven years.

A case before the Lambeth Police Court on the 31st
of August should serve as a Caution to Railway Travellers.
A gentleman named Aldridge was summoned
by the London and South Western Railway Company
for riding in a carriage of a class superior
to the one he had a ticket for, on Sunday, the
10th day of August. One of the ticket-porters at
the Waterloo Road station, stated that on the above
evening, on the arrival of the train, he found Mr. Aldridge
with a lady and child in a second class carriage.
The gentleman handed him three third class carriage
tickets, upon which he asked for 3s. more, being the
difference between the second and third classes. Mr.
Aldridge refused to pay it, asserting that he had been
told by the clerk at starting that he might come back
in whatever class carriage he pleased. The parties had
come from Hampton Court. Mr. Aldridge said he had
asked the clerk for two tickets and a half, for self, wife,
and child. Was told there were no half tickets. Paid
3s., and asked the clerk were the carriages covered.
The answer that he got was, that it was no matter, as
he might come back by whatever carriage he pleased.
On returning, therefore, as the night was wet, he got
into a second class carriage. On arriving at the terminus
he was asked for one shilling a head, which he,
in common with several others, refused to pay. Mr.
Young, superinteiulent of the London and South Western
Railway, said it was quite impossible that the case
as stated by Mr. Aldridge could have occurred. The
third class carriages were all uncovered on "excursion"
days, as the 10th was. The fare to Hampton Court in
them was 1s.; in the second class it was 2s., and in
that class they had half-price tickets, but not in the
third class, and Mr. Aldridge had admitted that he paid
only 3s. for three people. The magistrate fined Mr.
Aldridge 5s., i.e., 3s. for difference of fare, and 2s. expenses
of summons.