The Express.
London, England, 1859-12-21 00:00:00

.ABSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

MIDLAND ClRCUlT.—Weawicx, DEC. 20.
(Biro Mr. Jaiitioe William)
ERE COVENTRY lIIIRDZIL.

Jraytow, 1i oh.rg .7fiofia:wiffe ..,deo of
hie era, illtsbeth ]lingo.., oaths 12th of November
last.

priioner, lnc tremulous yoke, pleaded guilty.
His ILorrddashhiip that said—l trust, prisoner, that the counts
is sot token from say perntealon, or under any consideration
that it will to any degree lighten the senteace that may be
pied sitea yen.
The peleaser—Ne, sir. (A paper was then taken by the
prisoner frees the basset pocket of hie coat, and handed to
tits amt.) I with this to be read in court.
Tim Judge, altar separately carefully perustag the parr,
ofd—li= yen do not wish to have this read publicly P
The —Yee, I wish to have it read openly.
The edge—Yon had better not—touch better not. I will
ask you egeht—Do you wish it read publicly?
TM prisoner—l wish it read, air, and I wish to call on
die Bee. Mr. Whitthrgton, of Coventry, to speak for me.
the
TM Rev. 8. H. Whittington then ruse from a seat near
beecet . _

The Jeer (to the prisoner)—Do you Irish that this goa-
llama should spirit to public P
Priesper—Y., sir.

The Judge-1• public ?
Primmer—Yea.
The Rev. 8. H. Whittington, having been called upon by
his lordship, mdd—My Lord, I think the prisoner has made
• mistake. I had been ooneulted, being his spiritual
adviser, both by himself and his friends, and it has
been by my advice that he has pleaded guilt
y
to the committal of the atrocious crime with which he is
charged. Indeed, I should not have offered him my advice
and assistance had that advice and assistance been instru-
mental in helping him to evade the troth. Having sd.
Wand the fact, I thought It fit your lordship should be
put into poseession of what may be termed palliatives
of the men; therefore the paper which has been
reed by year lordship has been drawn up and
the court. I felt, my lord, that
reirolt.d to d
not enome from the sharp of having committed •
veer stmeinse murder, and as a ciergyman of his p.Ukt
advised him to take the course he me rosar teem. I thought
the circumstances which are represented in the paper might,
if it were possible, weigh with you, and that the awful sea-
Immo' the law might IM substituted by a sentence of • less
esteems ohmmeter. I have nothing to say, my lord, in de-
fuses of the prisoner's crime and his previous character. I
merely advised him as his minister.
The Jedge—You mem, sir, from what you now my, to
have mistaken the effect of the plea of not. guilty, which is
rely to put the prosecutor to proof of the crime.
irs. Rev. Mr. Whittington—My lord, the prisoner him
suggested to me that he did not wish the last act of his Eh
to be an me of denial of that which his conaciecoe smeared
hint was tru•—that of having committed the murder.
The ledge—Was the paper drawn up under your advice?
The Rev. Mr. Whittington—Yes, my lord.
The Judge—l have read it, and It seems to me that it
would not be desirable to have It reed In public.
Rev. Mr. Whittington—The prisoner, I am sure, my lord,
will not wish it.

itteindpZYou know the rams why I say so ?
Tbe Rev. Mr. Wbittingtoe—l can imagine that, my lord.
The Judge (to the prieoner)—Whet Go you say now? It
you trials It read in public it must be read ; I cannot ;as-
sent it.

The Rev. Mr. Whittington (to the prisoner)—Yon had
better not have it reed.

The prisoner, in a firm and decided voice—l wish to have
it read in public.
The Rev. Mr. Whittington went round to the dock, spoke
to the prisoner, sad as the rev. gentlemen removing from
the dock,

The indite, addressing the prisoner, uld—What do you
my now? Shell this poper be read?
The prisoner—No, my lord.
The prisoner was thee asked if he bad anything to say
why the sentence of death should not be pronounced by the
court upon him. No answer being made,
The Mimed Judge proceeded to pass sentence. Re said—
Prisoner at the bar, you have been found guilty upon
your own orafeesion of the murder of your wife.
I have read through the depositions of the wit-
nesses taken before the coroner and the committing
megistrates. Having done so, and ending their evidence con-
ciliates, It is not a matter of mambo or regret to me that you
should have thought it beet to plead guilty, not in the hope
of obtaining mercy by taking snob a course, but from the
consciousness that to deny your guilt would only lead to
hearing the witnesses clearly prove it before the hos of the
public against you. The paper which you have
handed in I have read, and will take oire
that it is forwarded to the proper quarter. lam bound to
say that nothing I have read In that paper would justify me
in holding out to you the elighteat hope that mercy well be
extended to you. I have begged of you not to bait on
having that paper read in public. I did so, because it eon.
taina imputations upon others of the most horrible Mad.
which I believe to be unfounded, and I should
indeed regret that your last act in the world should
have bean one so dreadful as to Impute to any
living helot the crimes which are mentioned in that paper.
It is no part of my office to increase your misery by stating
before you the heinousness of your guilt. My duty is simply
to pronounce the awful judgment of the law. Before Ido so
I think it right to say that for snob a crime there can be no
hope of mercy in this world.
The sentence of desalt was them passed in the usual manner.
The Rev. J. B. Whittington privately spoke to his lordship.
The Judge, addraming Mr. Spooner, the counsel for the
prosecution, said that the Rev. Mr. Whittington wished it
to be understood that it was not owing M any way to hie
suggestions that the objectionable passages appeared in the
document. That gentleman was anxious to hove it under-
stood that in hie belief the person who was charged with the
offence wee quite innocent of the crime which was imputed
to him in that document.