in yvhich the plaintiff was concerned, and not, as represented, a gift or gratuity; and John James swore that, on the occasion referred to by Major N e w m a n , he accompanied St. John to settle the boundaries. Major N e w m a n entertained them in a very hospitable manner, and in the course of the festivities the Major asked N e w m a n if he would loan the horse "Ginger" to him, and the other Major replied: "Yes, if good care be taken of the animal." This " Ginger," according to the witness, was not worth £ 5 , for he was in very low condition—as thin as a wafer, his fore feet cracked, and altogether a wretched " screw." A s to the other animal, " Jack," he was even worse, and in his case it yvas a regular "swop," for St. John agreed to give afillyin exchange. N e w m a n seemed to be very yvell pleased with his bargain, but on the n t h November, 1845, w b e n he was asked to sign a document for the tyvo nags, he refused, until he yvas put in possession ot the filly. In submitting the case to the jury, Judge A'Beckett charged favourably for the plaintiff, and expressed an opinion that none of the charges had been satisfactorily substantiated. If the jury believed so, too, it yvould be their duty to find for the plaintiff, not in vindictive damages, but such an amount as would fairly meet the justice of the case. S o m e of the charges, if they amounted to anything, resolved themselves into the reception of presents, and could not yvell be called bribery, whatever else it might be. Should the jury think proper to return a verdict for the defendant, they must not only find in accordance with the facts proved, but they must be convinced that the charges so m a d e were m a d e for the public good. T h e jury retired, and, after some considerable delay, it yvas announced that there yvas no chance of any speedy agreement. They were consequently locked upforthe night, and on appearing in a crowded Court next morning, the foreman intimated that there was no possibility of a verdict, and the only alternative was to discharge them, yvhich yvas done accordingly. O n the following morning of the discharge, one of the newspapers announced upon apparent authority that the jury were of opinion that the 4th and 6th counts (the Bear and Nicholson cases) had been proved, and the question then was whether there should be a verdict for the plaintiff or defendant. Out of the twelve jurymen,fivewere forfindingfor Fayvkner, and seven for St. John, but only in nominal damages. So it ended where it began, and each party yvas saddled with his o w n costs. A portion of Fayvkner's expenses was afterwards reimbursed by a public subscription, leaving him so m u c h out of p>ocket as to make him never forget the legal conflict. St. John was, however, irrecoverably ruined, and never held office in the colony aftenvards. His friends talked loudlyfora time about his moving for a neyv trial, but nothing came of it. Time rolled on, but the Major never rose again to the surface, and his n a m e and peccadilloes vanished into oblivion. ROBBERY OF THE WARRNAMBOOL MAIL.—18th APRIL, 1849.
Felix Daley, Thomas Daley, and Daniel Byng were indicted for stealing several warrants or orders for the payment of various sums of money, the property of Joseph Coulstock, of Toyver Hill, near Belfast, on the 22nd February; a second count vesting the ownership in T h o m a s Denny and another. The prisoners were defended by Mr. Stayvell. O n the day mentioned T h o m a s M'Dermot, the mail-carrier between Warrnambool and Belfast, was riding yvith his mails towards the last-named toyvn about 8 o'clock in the evening, when he arrived at Cronin's public-house, some seven miles from Belfast. Passing onward he was thrown from his horse, and reappearing after the lapse of a couple of hours at the inn, gave his horse and mails to a m a n (supposed to be Byng) w h o was standing at the door; he then proceeded to the tap-room, yvhere he remained for nearly an hour. O n returning to the door, he could find no trace of mails, m a n nor horse, and off he went in search along the Port Fairy Road. H e came back to the house toyvards daybreak, and, to his surprise, found his horse safe and sound in the stable, with the mail bags strapped to the saddle, and in all outward appearance untampered with. So, mounting the horse, he proceeded without further delay to Belfast, and delivered the mails to Mr. Hutton, the postmaster. According to his statement, he was neither drunk nor sober yvhen he had the fall; but his version of the mishap, in his examination before the Police Court, was somewhat different. T h e postmaster, finding on inspection that the mail bags had been robbed, gave M'Dermot into custody, but he was subsequently released in the absence of any evidence to inculpate him, Cronin, the publican, on being questioned, stated that yvhen he heard of the disappearance of the mails, he
