The Express.
London, England, 1849-10-25 00:00:00

THE BERMONDSEY MURDER.

TRIAL OF THE MANNINGS.

This important trial commenced this morning at
the Old Bailey. Av night have been expected from the in-
terest whisk the cam had previoatly excited, the court pre-
sented, lung before the hour for the commencement of the

pracer togs, a very tinususl appearance ; but the crowd out.;
side wa ty no means stria:ugly lug:. The arrangements
made by the under-sheriff were so excellent as to
prevent the possibili7 of confusion. Amongst those attracted
to the court to wi.ness the proceedings, were the follow-
leg : 01 the bench were the Swedish minister ant hie secre-
tary, Count Colorado ; the Austrian minister and his seers.
lazy, Baron Kohl.? ; the secretary of the Prussian legation ;
the Marquis of Aseglie, the Sardinia* chant d'affates; the
Marquis of Hertford; Lord Strangford ; Aldermen Carden,
Magnay, and Lawrence; the Lady Mayoress; Mrs. Wilkins,
the ls,ny of the learned serjeant; the Bev. Mr. Gibson, rector
of St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey.
However great may be the interest fclt in the trial by
the publ;e generally, it appears to be fully participated in by
the members of the bar, the pressure of whom in the court
was so great that the bar itself ts,uld by no means accom-
modate them, and they were left to conduct their observa-
tions and criticisms In the adjacent approaches.

A cemsiderable number of Maim; sat on a line with the
judges, and in the raised seats of the court, and exhibited in
their countenances an expression of anxicus expectation and
interest.

At tine o'clock several prisontn wen arraigned at the
bar, in the ordinary CHUM of procedure, preparatory to
their trial.

The legal gentlemen engaged in the cue entered the court
@berth,. beffire 10 ; gni at tire idautes after t►e Lord Mayor
who wu immediately followed by the Lord Chief Baron, Mr.
lodise Maul., azd Mr. Justice Creswell, by whoa the case
was tried.

The prisoners were simultanecuely placed at the bar.
Thera was nothing remarkable in the appearance which
they presented. Their expresdon was very calm, and while
the indictment was being read over both looked dowa fix-
edly towards the bar.
The e.nnsel for the prosecution were the Attorney-Gene-
re), Mr. Clarkson, Mr. Brodkin, and Mr. Clerk ; for the male
prisoner, Mr. Scrjeant Wilins and Mr. Charnoek ; for the
female, Mr. Ballantine and Mr. Parry.
The pri,oners were dmeribad in the calendar as " Fre-
derick George Mancisg, 30, traveler," and " Maria Man-
ning, 29, married." Tae charge placed in juxtaposition to
their names being "the wilful murder of Patrick O'Connor.
TLC prisoner Manning took op his position at one of the
front corners of the dock, and his wife almost at the opreite
extremity.
Mewling was dressed in a snit of black ; the female wore
a plaid shewl, and on her head a sort of white lam fall,
covering only about half the head, and having a large flow-
ing tie extending dowa to the waist. The hair was ar-
ranged la long crepi bands. She had lam Miss ea her
wrist, and wore white kid gloves.
The indictment basing been read over by the clerk of the
arraign", the usual question, " Guilty, isr Not gailty,"' wee
addressed to the prisoners. Manning replied in ^ firm voice,
"Net guilty; " the female made the same reply in a lower
tone.

Mr. Ballantine then rose, u counsel fee Maria Manning,
and objected to her being tried with her husband, claiming
for her a separate trial on the ground that she was an alien,
and as such entitled to the benefit of the statute of Edward
the Third, P. median& lingua, under which, besides being
tried separately, half of the jury must be foreigners.
Tho Attornef•Qenerai contended that, as the wife of a
natural born British subject, although originally an alien,
the prisoner had no right to a separate trial. In order to
plead the statute De Meth:elate Lingua, she must have the
disabiiities as well u the right of alien,. By the 7th and
Bth Vie., chap. fB, lee. 18, any woman married to a natu-
ral born subject, or person naturalised, mast be deemed to
be herself naturalised. The learned counsel then referred
to Bar's ease in Mon's Reports, to support of his proposi-
tion.

Mr. Ballantine said the words of the 7th and Bth Victoria,
being in the nature of implication, could not be held to ab-
'eget, the important right claimed by the prisoner.
Mr. Perry followed on the same side. The 7th end
Bth of Victoria conferred on aliens who were monied
to British born subjects the rights and privileps enjoyed
by those subject', but it did not deprive them of any
privilege previously confined on them by set of parliament,
if possessed by them at common law. No prisoner could be
divested of the privilege in question without the authority of
parliament. The learned consul then referred to the cue
of doe dery Francis Ackland in support of his view.
The learned judges then consulted for a few minutes.
Mr. Perry then continued his argument. Ile said it was
not necessary that the parties should be jointly convicted.
The man might be convicted and the woman acquitted. This
was a very early legal privilege, and it had never been taken
away by any express enactment. The only thing which
could take it away was by an enactment declaring that
thenceforth an alien should be deprived of the privilege con.
fared by the statute of Edward 111. If a privilege of this
kind could be got rid of by implication, that would be a
dangerous novelty in the construction of acts of parliament.
The Attorney-General replied.
The Chief Baron said that the answer to Mr. Parry's argu-
ment was that the statutes to which the privilege was at-
tached had been taken away. The privilege itself war not
removed.
Mr. Justice Croswell said that the statute of Victoria
declared that every foreign woman who was married to a
natural born English subject should be deemed to be natu-
ralized.

The learned judges again consulted, referring to the au-
thorities bearing on the point. Their consultation having
last about half-an-hour, the Lord Calif Baron then pro-
nounced the decision of the court. He said the female pri-
soner in this case claimed to have a jury de medietate, on
the ground of her being an alien. The learned Attorney-
General bad cited an authority, showing that the Court of
Exchequer had decided that where two married persons were
to be tried, one of whom was entitled to the privilege, the
other could not claim it. He had also cited &statute Victoria,
recently pined, which enacted in substance that an alien
marrying a British-born subject should himself, by the mar-
riage, become naturalised. It appeared to him that the
statute of Victoria was a complete answer to the application.
The wife of a natural-born subject became naturalised by
marriage. The words of the statute were, " That any
woman m arryiag, or already married, or who aball be
born, to • natural-born subject, or person naturalised,
shall be deemed and taken to be herself naturalised, and
have all the rights and privileges of a natural born subject."
The obvious and plain inference from that appeared to him
to be that she should be considered exactly as Usk' had been
naturalized by act of parliament, or been • natural
born subject. The question, then, was whether she
could now claim a jury de nasefietale, though her
husband could not make the game claim. The court
had paused for the purpose !of obtaining • precise
authority on the point. There was in Bacon's Abridgment
an authority to this extent : " It bath been holden that
denizen, so made by letters patent are denizens within the
meaning of this statute." With that authority before the
court it appeared to him afortiori that a person made • de-
nizen, or rather naturalised by act of parliament, mast be
• within the intent of the statute a natural burn subj ed. lit,