The Press.
London, England, 1858-08-14 00:00:00

788

of the defendant without, and she thought that by
consenting she shoal.' have the '• pall " on him.
She said that she intended to go to his house and
knock at the door and then bolt into the parlour
and say to the defendant, " Here are your two —,
turn out whichever you like." (A latigh.) Oa a
second call she Lela him that the defendant was
still visiting her, and that she had got 101. out of
him, and she also said that she had been in the
habit of borrowing a sovereign of him whenever she
wanted one.
This was the case for the plaintiff.
Mr. JAMES submitted that there was not the least
evidence to support the assu:nption of any promise of
marriage having been made.
Mr. Justice WILLEs said he would rather that the
opinion of the jury should be taken.
Mr. JAMES then made a very able and humorous
speech for the defendant. Ha said there was not
the slightest pretence fur the action, and that it was
merely au attempt to extort money from the
defendant, who, it was thought, no doubt, would
rather pay u sum of money than come into a public
court and have his folly exposed. He wished that
the forms of law permitted him to put them in pos-
session of all the facts Of the case ; be., although he
was prevented from doing this, he said the jury
must sea pretty plainly the nature of the case. His
learned friend had told them that this lady was a
widow, and this was all the information he bad
condescended to give ; but surely he could have told
them who she was, whose widow she was, and what
her real position in life was ; but he had given no
such ►nformation. The story, as it appeared to him,
was quite absurd. All that appeared was that the
plaintiff had walked into the shop, and then it was
suggested that this inflammable chemist, of fifty
years of age, had fallen desperately in love with
her, and had made her an offer of marriage. He
admitted that ha had acted very foolishly, and the
truth was that the plaintiff had endeavoured to take
advantage of his folly to extort money from him.
The jury immediately returned u verdict for the
defendant.

TUE NAILSEA CHILD MURDER.
At Wells, on Wednesday, Elizabeth Caul was in-
dieted for the wilful murder of her sun, James Card,
at Nailsea, on the 21th of July. She pleaded " Not
Guilty."
Mr. H. T. Cole prosecuted; and, at the request of
the learned judge, Mr. Prideaux watched the case on
behalf of the prisoner.
This was a very sad case. The prisoner was the
wife of a haulier, living at Nailsea ; and some
quarrel having taken place between her and her
husband on the 25th of July, she left her own home
and went to her mother'., who lived at some short
distance. She returned on the following Tuesday,
but appeared to be very much afraid of going to her
own home. She was seen by a woman named Ann
Day, who lived next door, who spoke to her; and on
saying, " So you are come home," she replied, " Yes,
but not for long, as my husband will kill me if I ant
not (lead before he comes home." She then went
into the house and closed her door, and was heard
to go into an upper chamber. Very shortly after-
wards Mrs. Day heard the screaming of children,
and on going into the house she found the prisoner
on the bed with her throat cut, and her child lying
on the floor in a pool of blood quite dead, and with
its throat cut. Mrs. Day immediately went for
assistance, and on speaking to the prisoner, she said,
" I did it myself; it was not my husband." To
another witness she stated that she killed the child
because she feared it would be starved, and that she
wished the others were lying by her side. In the
window of the room a razor was found, with which
it was clear that the unhappy woman had killed her
child and attempted her own life. It appeared from
cross examination that the husband of the prisoner
was a drunken, worthless fellow, who treated her
with great brutality; that tha poor creature was in
the family-way at the present time ; and that a person
with suicidal tendencies frequently destroyed those
nearest and dearest before taking their own lives.
Mr. PRIDEAUX, in a pathetic address to the jury,
urged that at the time of this unhappy transaction
the state of mind of the prisoner was such as to
render her net responsible for her acts ; and called
Mr. Nicholls, the surgeon who had attended the
prisoner since her committal, who cookfirmed this view.
Mr. COLE having briefly replied on this evidence,
the learned judge summed up, and the jury, after
retiring to consider their verdict, acquitted the pri-
soner on the ground of insanity. The learued judge
directed her to be detained during her Majesty's
pleasure.

DOUBLE CHILD MURDER AT CLEVEDON.
Elizabeth Williams was arraigned, on the same day
and at the same place, on two indictments, and on the
coroner's inquisitions, charging her with the wilful
murder of her children, Elizabeth and William John
Williams, aged 'respectively eighteen months and
three years. She was accommodated with a seat in