The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-08-26 00:00:00

A MANIAC.

A man named Ake/me/re was brought up from St. Ann's watch- I
house, where he was sent last night by his wife, on his attempting
suicide.
She stated that he had been clerk to Mr. Breriston, coach.maker,
but had lost his situation by drinking and neglect. Thursday
night he went home and a:tempted to hang himself, but was pre.
vented by the landlord. Mr. Watkins, a surgeon, was sent for,
wl:o cupped and left him. lie then se :ea a case.knite, and at-
tempting to cut his throat, was prevented by his wife, who knew
of no better mode ofsecurity than sending him to the watch-house.
This she did nut do till she had been violently beaten by him,
which, she said. was a very usual occurrence lately.
Mr. Roe—Ho you know 0": any thing that could trouble his
mind in that way ? Do you live happily with Lim ?
Complainant—l know of no cau-e ;we have lived happily till
lately: We have live children, and lately he has left me foe four
or five days together.
The night-constable of St. Ann's watch-house said that the pi-l-
imner had tried to kill himself in the watch-house, and they were
forced to watch him all night.
Mr. Roe directed Mrs. Alexander to fetch Mr. Watkins, as he
should not admit him to hail till he knew whether or not he was
fit to be at large. He then ordered the officers to :eke his neck.
cloth and every thing that he ccold use ror aelf-destrite,iim.
The prisoner, during his examination, said het u word. He was
a genteelly-dressed and well-made num.
Uwlow.llALL.—Yesterday Me. Thomas Braced, residing in
In Blaakman.strect, Southwark, was brought Op to the office, be.
fore M. Sn-aogy. I.:sq under the authority of a peace-warrant,
granted on the appliction of Caroline. his wife, who charged him
with threatening her life. B. fore the investigation commenced the
Magistrate, as well as :Ilr. litanies, the Cbiet Clerk, strongly ad-
viseed a reconciliation between the parties. pointing oat the absur-
dly of publicly entering into flintily squabbles between man and
wife. The advice, however, was not listened tu, and the cane pro.
seeded.

Thecomnl.iinant stated, that at present she was living apart from
her husband, in consequence ef his ill.treatroeut towards her. On
Wia!nestle), evening last, as she was passing Mr. Brand's residence
in Blackman-street, accompaniiti by her sister, he ran out, and
seizing her by the arm, forcibly let tier into the house. She re-
sisted him, and tried evtty means to get away, but he succeeded in
making a captive of her until slit eluded his vigilance by subse-
quently escaping front the house.
Mr. SwABEY, addressing the compl.tinant, reminded her that
s hen she made application fur the warrant against bet husband the
previous day, she alleged that she vent in perpetual danger o( her
life in consequence of his threats and ill conduct towards her. Site
must now make sonic specific charge ug4Llst him, otherwise the
warrant should be distnissed. _ .

The Complainant—About a month ago Mr. Brand assaulted me
on the arm, and he afterwards threatened to do for me.
Magistrate—To do what ?
Complainant--1 suppose to kill me—the expressions be makes
use of are really dreadful.
In reply to the Magistrate, she admitted that the defendant had
not assaulted her on the day in question further than foe:Lly
drugging her to enter his house.
The defendant's Solicitor—lle is your husband ; you don't deny
that fact ? . _

Mrs. Brand--I admit that, but nevertheless 1 eat not bound to
live with him unless I choose it.
A Legal Adviser fur the complainant contended that Tile. Brand
was not justified in dragging his wife into his house without her
consent, and produced a paper to the Magistrate, written by his
client, in which she had epee: lied the opprobriums epithets her hus-
band was in the habit of bestowing upon her.
The Magistrate, hating curs.trily glanced over this catalogue of
queer expressions, which were so carefully preserved by the lady as
evidence against her husband, remarked. that there was nothing
yet alleged against the defendant that should induce him (the 31a.
gistrat, ) to hold him to bail.
It Wee here stated by the complainant's friends, that a suit for a
separation was now pen Ling in the Ecclesiastical I'ourts, which
proce, things sere instituted by Mrs. Brand against her hisband.
The defendant, who Is a very young man, requested to be heard.
Ile stated, that his wife had deserted her home without the %lightest
cause, and without giving him any intimation of her intention.
(In Wednesday evening, the fitst time he had seen her since she
had forsaken her home, lie requested her to enter her dwelling,
adding, that he wanted to have game conversation with her. She,
however, refused, and he led her across, but without any violence.
He solemnly declared that he bad never assaulted her in his life.
lie attributed his wife's anxiety to leave hint to have been pro-
duced by the advice or her family, who, aware that site was to
come in;o possession of considerable property when of age, adopted
this method of separating them.—The Warrant was dismissed,

r

ASSIZE* OF MENNE.%
IVe have sometimes seen yeetioultildren figure as culprits in a
Gantt of Justice, impelled to ern* by an unhappy instinct ; but i
tech a degree of early depravity, as toe could not credit if it were 1
' e proved by a jUll iti3l investigation, has been evinced here, in the i
case of a girl of fourteen years of age, who meditated and attempted ;
1 the murticr of a brother and a sister. in she distant hope of a mu- ,
I delete inheritance. The following is a succinct account of this al. '
fair, every eircuntatance of which snakes one tremble. i
A woman of the name of SureP.6, reattlihg at St. Briac, near St.
Malty, has been left a widma wish lire young children. She suc-
ceeded
by unremitting industry, and with the assistance of her
eldest daughter, Anne Sus it'd, aged fourteen years, in supporting
' her naintroul family. Anne, who was of a gloomy and sullen lb,-
proration end had already been guilty of 'several thefts. conceived,
through avaricious virwit, the design of destroying her brother Jo-
I seph, who was but live 'cars old, and her sister Marie, who was
her four. Oa the 10th of March last, under the pretence of letting
i them play, she teal them near the well of Belleville, at St. Briac,
and there, having blinded Melt eye,' with a piece of a handkerchief,
which she had stolen room her mother. the threw them one atter the
tidier into the wsll, which contains 10 feet of water. The wretched
infants struggled% end clung to the brambles and wile grass which
grew within the well, while their execrable sister flung down upon
them stones and clods of earth, crying, " Go down to the buttuat—
down quickly."
Fortunately the cries of the poor children were heard by a man
employed in a neighbouring garden. He dew to their assistance.
The moment that Anne Surve:i saw him, she affected tee greatest
zeal to save her brother and sister. She appeared quite distorts°.
late at the accident, and perhaps might have contrived to make it
p.m' as a mere accidet t, if the simple atop, of the little children,
and the presence of the handkerchief, had rot revealed her crime.
Before the Court, Anne Surveldt displayed a remarkable degree of
confidence. To the interrogatories of the President she answered
with address, intelligence, and precision. She surprised and some-
what shocked the audience by a calmness and presence of mind
much above her age; but the proofs of her guilt were too clear to
allow her escape from punishment. The Jury having answered
affirmatively to all the questions, Anne Satre:lit has beta condemn:4d
to eighteen months' contineinent.
• On hearing her sentence, this young girl abandoned herself to a
v7olent fit of rage. She abused the Court, and menaced alitb her
fiat the witnesses who had deposed against her.