The Week.

to have sold laudanum in mistake for tincture of rhubarb , and hence the death . It is an old old tale , but not the less sad . An extraordinary poisoning case is being investigated by the Hull stipendiary magistrate . A surgeon and an innkeeper are in custody on a charge of administering , or attempting to administer , poison to an illegitimate child ; and the evidence of the

principal witness for the prosecution details conversations between herself ancl the prisoners , in which that diabolical object is alleged to have been avowed in the clearest terms . The inquiry into the death of a little child , daughter of a family in ^ asy circumstances , at Eltham , has been brought to a close after a series of adjournments . The question was whether the

mother had ill-used the child or not , and on this point the evidence was very conflicting . The jury returned a verdict of manslaughter , but the mother was admitted to bail . An inquest has been held on the body of a man who was found lying in a horribly filthy state , much emaciated , and without a bed in his room . His character does not appear to have been good ,

and his son , a lad of IS , excused the neglect of himself and his mother by that circumstance . The jury returned a verdict of " Death from fever accelerated by neglect . " The inquest on the body of the man Cheenery , found in a house in Wolverhampton about three weeks ago , has been resumed . In order to facilitate the ends of justice one of the most important parts of

the evidence—the medical testimony—was withheld till a future day . Sufficient , however , transpired to show that the Coroner , ¦ who was no doubt fully aware of the nature of that evidence , considered the deceased had been the victim of a brutal murder , —a fact which was at one time involved in some doubt . As the case proceeds the certainty increases that the woman found dead in an empty house at Dudley was the deceased ' s murderer , and suspicion of complicity points to a aian , named Edwards , with

whom the deceased and the woman found at Dudley were acquainted . It will be remembered that some time ago a man named Gill was convicted of stealing the will of the late Mr . Powell , an extensive colliery proprietor . He was captured while attempting to make tonus for its restoration , and mysterious rumours were afloat at the time , as if some member of the family had instigated him to the theft . These rumours are now

set at rest . Gill sent for the eldest son of the deceased gentleman to the gaol where he is confined , and confessed that he had entered the house on his own account , with no other motive than plunder ; that he carried off some papers at a venture , and on subsequent examination , finding that one of them was the will , he tried to make a profit of its restoration . -An

• extraordinary trial respecting the burning of Campden House , and involving insurance policies to the extent of £ 30 , 000 , has terminated in favour of the plaintiff . The case presented some interesting and very peculiar features ; but its leading point was , of course , the charge brought by the insurance companies against the plaintiff , that he had been guilty of arson . Of

this charge , the verdict , which the jurors delivered without quitting their box for consultation , fully acquits him . A new fish market is at present being erected in Manchester , and on Saturday afternoon some of the scaffolding used in the erection of the river front gave way , killing one of the workmen , and seriously injuring several others . Intelligence has been

received of the loss or the Frankfort Hall , a fine Liverpool trader , in the Chinese seas . Unfortunately , the loss is not confined to the mere vessel and cargo , for telegrams announce that only one man of a crew of 33 has been saved . The vessel belonged to Mr . J . B . Moore , M . P ., and was on her way from Cardiff to Shanghai . A police constable , named Waddington , lias been very violently assaulted by three poachers , near Leeds .

His jaw was fractured , five or six of his teeth were broken , and he was rendered insensible . Two of the poachers were taken before the Leeds magistrates , and committed for trial . A very painful affair has occurred at Newcastle . Ensign M'Cree , a member of one of the local volunteer corps , and a man of good position in the town , has shot a woman . He seems

to have ordered her , and other persons with whom she was talking , to go away from his premises . As they did not immediately comply , he brought out his gun . Upon seeing it they .-moved off , but he shot at them and wounded the woman in the leg . He is in custody . The South Staffordshire colliers , and operatives engaged in iron works who have not been affected by

the late rise given to puddlers , have , during the past few days , agitated for an advance of wages . Before their demands could be made , or even before they could settle among themselves how much they should ask for , their employers have made concessions which it is hoped may bring the question to a settlement . The increased wages which the masters have determined to

offer may not probably be as liberal as some of the workpeople desire , but they are quite sufficient to raise the price of both iron and coal , and through this circumstance the trade of South Staffordshire is just now in a very fluctuating condition . The Manchester City Council have resolved to borrow £ 68 , 000 under tho provisions of the Public Works Act . This sum will be

spent in the following proportions : —Ardwick , for roads and sewerage , £ 30 , 000 ; formation of a new cemetery , £ 25 , 000 ; waterworks , £ 13 , 000 . FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE . —A civil process with which her Majesty's name appears in curious conjunction has recently come before the Tribunal of the Seine . An English lady , having for her second husband a French nobleman named the Count de Sillv , made her will in October last , and amongst the bequests

was one to the Queen of 100 , 000 francs , to be employed for the London poor . Upon the death of the testatrix her Majesty , having been informed of the fact by Lord Cowley , decided to accept the legacy ; but the other legatees required the sign manual to a formal document to that effect , and they proceeded to summon the Queen to appear in person or by procuration . On the trial the question raised was whether the money could

be paid over to the ambassador , and it was contended on her Majesty ' s behalf that it could , as he was recognised by all legal authorities as the representative in everything of his Sovereign . On the other side it was argued that the Queen ought to put her signature at the foot of a special and authentic procuration as the only guarantee the legatees could have that the sum

bequeathed had passed into' her hands . The Court decided in favour of her Majesty , saying that an ambassador represented his Sovereign in a supreme degree , and that all he said ancl did was substantially said and done by the Sovereign . Several of the journals of Paris assert that the Emperor Alexander is about to convert Russia into a constitutional monarchy , with a

senate and an elected chamber of 150 deputies . At the same time , we are told , local diets are to be established in all the great provinces ; ancl the kingdom of Poland is to be accorded complete self-government , with the right of sending members to the Imperial Parliament at Moscow . These constitutional institutions will give the Poles even more than the Western

Powers have asked for them , and will be represented by the Russian Cabinet as a complete satisfaction of their demands . The Congress of German Sovereigns at Frankfort terminated on Tuesday ; and the final result of its deliberations , we are told , was that only six Princes voted against tbe Austrian Emperor ' s scheme of reform . The Sovereigns who declared themselves in favour of the Emperor Francis Joseph's proposals have resolved