The Sun.
London, England, 1855-11-06 00:00:00

N 0 V B Ell, 0, 1855.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE—Nov. 5.

LA.MI3ETIT.—Mr. Clarkson, the barrister, accom-
panied by the churchwardens and other officers con-
nected with the district church of St. Matthew, Brixton,
and also the Messrs. Rogers, solicitors, attended before
Mr. Eliott to make application for a summons, or such
other proceedings as his worship might deem fit, against
the Rev. Dr. John Vaughan, the incumbent of St.
Matthew, Brixton.
The learned gentleman said that, on the part of the
churchwardens of the district church of St. Matthew,
Brixton, he had to ask his worship to assist the
officers of that parish is taking proceedings
of a serious character against the Reverend Dr. John
Vaughan, their incumbent. By his (Mr. Clarkson's)
advice, and with the perfect sanction of the officers
of the parish, out of respect to the position of
the rev, doctor, he should make application for a sum-
mons, instead of a warrant. It appeared that the rev.
doctor had been in the habit of keeping the register of
burials in that parish, and the complaint on the part of
the churchwardens was that he had been in the habit of
falsifying the register for his own personal benefit and
advantage. It had been the practice in the district church
to bury not only those deceased in the district, but at the
discretion of the incumbent to bury persons out of the
district in the burial ground of the church; the only dif-
ference being that the fees charged for the burial of per-
sons within the district were only single, and for all of
those who died without double, and the charge against
the rev. doctor was that he had been in the habit of ac-
cepting applications for the burial of persons who died
out of the distriet upon the condition that for such
funerals double fees should be paid, and of falsifying the
register by representing that the parties died within the
district. This (continued Mr. Clarkson) has been done
for his own profit, whereby he bad been guilty of an
offence which subjected him to severe penalties. (The
learned counsel here read sec. 14 of 52 George 111., c.
146, which declared the wilful insertion of a false entry
in the register-bock of marriages, baptisms, and burials
to be felony, the punishment incurred being 14 years'
transportation. A subsequent act recognising the offence
as before, altered the punishment to seven years' trans-
portation, or from two to four years' imprisonment, at
the discretion of the court.) It was a painful thing for
him to lay facts of this sort before his worship, but it
would be seen from the position in which the officers of
the parish were placed they had no .ether course to pur-
sue. In consequence of a case in which a burial under
such circumstances bad taken place, it became necessary
to identify the deceased person who had been Limed, for
the purpose of enabling the parties surviving to procure
certain moneys in the hands of the officers of the Bank of
England, and when he had to state that the complaint
against the doctor was in the nature of ao alteration and
false making of a register in respect to the place of abode
of a deceased person, his worship would see how im-
portant it was to enforce the Jaw on the subject, inas-
much as, in the instance to which he had referred, the
Bank of England had hesitated or declined to pay be-
cause the party was not properly identified. Tile
nature of the offence alleged to be committed in the pre-
sent instance was by entering the residence of the de-
ceased person in a place within the district, which would
entitle the doctor to single fees, instead of the place
which he knew to be the actual residence of the party
deceased, through the means of which he claimed double
fees and only accounted to the churchwardens for single
ones. After some further observations explanatory of
the technical points of the case, the learned counsel
called the following witnesses :

Mr. George Malby, sexton of the district church of St.
Matthew, Brixton, deposed that he knew the perion of
the late Mr. William Raven, who lived at Stockwell-
grove, which was without the district church of St. Mat •
thew. The fee payable for the ground to persons resid-
ing in the district was six shillings, while it was
double, or twelve shillings, to those without. He
remembered the application to bury Mr. Raven being
made by Mr. Haydon, an undertaker, in consequence
of which witness went with him to the house of Dr.
Vaughan, the incumbent, and introduced Mr. Hayden
to him. The object of the undertaker's interview was
to ascertain if Dr. Vaughan would take single fees for
the burial of a body when death took place out of the
district. The doctor's reply was that he could not take
less than double fees. Dr. Vaughan was told in my
presence where deceased died, viz., at Stockwell-grove.
The doctor made answer to the undertaker, "Don't say
anything about it. If anybody asks you where the
funeral came from say Robert-street ; and if they ask
you what the fees were, you are to tell a lie as to pay-
ing double fees." There was a certificate of the regis-
ter of death in the Kennington district, for Stockwell-
grove is in that district. At all events, it is certainly
nct in the district of St. Matthew's, Brixton. The cer-
tificate I have been speaking of is the one required by
the act of Parliament to be produced by the undertaker
from the registrar of the district where the deceased died.

Mr. Clarkson—What became of the certificate brought
byllaydon, the undertaker ?

Witness—He handed it to Dr. Vaughan, in my pre-
sence. The fees were paid at that time, viz., 1/. 15s. ;
that was the amount of the double fees The single
ground fee is 65. ; the desk fee for the minister is 3s 6d.;
the clerk's fee, Is. Bd. ; and the sexton's fee is 6s. 4d. ;
making altogether 17s. 6d, Mr. Haydon paid Dr.
Vaughan double that sum, or W. 15s. It is the habit of
Dr. Vaughan to keep a rough book, in which is entered
the payment of these fees. That is the rough book pro-
duced. Every interment is entered in that book. At
the date 19th Sept., 1854, I find an entry in Dr.
Vaughan's handwriting as follows :—" William Raven,
Robert-street, 33 years of age, 3/. 65." Robert-street is
in the district of St. Matthew. Ido not know what has
become of the certificate of death the undertaker handed
to Dr. Vaughan.
Mr. Charles Rogers, solicitor to the parish of St. Mat-
thew, Brixton, produced a copy of the registry of burial
of Mr. Raven, which he had procured atßrixton church.
It bore the signature of Dr. Vaughan, and was a perfect
copy from the register book, and the whole of the entry,
with the exception of the initials of Mr. Easton, the
curate, by whom the ceremony seems to have been per-
formed, was in the handwriting of the doctor.
Witnesses in two other cases, in which the entries in
the register and fee book were falsified, were called.
Their testimony was of a similar character to that given
in the last case.

The ---second case related to a person named James
Bigby, who died at Guy's Hospital on the 20th Novem-
ber, 1854, and an application was made to Dr. Vaughan
for his burial. The rev. doctor was told at the time
that the deceased died at the hospital, and in the parish
of St. Olavo, and he claimed and received double fees,
yet only 6s. was entered in the fee•b@Mk as the amount
received, and that was in the doctor's own handwriting.
The third case related to Jane Webb, who also died out
of fee district, and for whose burial double fees were
charged, yet only single fees were entered, and instead
of their proper place of death being entered some place
within the district of St. Matthew was entered. In

each of these cases certificates from the registrar bad
been obtained by Mr. Rogers, but singular to say the ori-
ginal certificates of death, which should have been care-
fully filed, were missing.
Mr. Alfred Staff Prior, one of the churchwardens of
the district church of St. Matthew, at Br7xt m, said he
came into office at Easter this year, and was what was

called the vicar's churchwarden. Portions of the book
produced are in Dr. Vaughan's handwriting. On the
11th of June there is an entry of the burial of Jane
Webb, who was described to be 65 years of age, and to
have died in Acre-lane, which was in the district of St.
Matthew. The whole of that entry and figure 6 was
in the handwriting of Dr. Vaughan, but it bore also the
initials of the curate. The fees for the ground were
payable in moieties to the rector of the mother church
of Lambeth and the churchwardens. He (witness) re-
ceived from Dr. Vaughan three shillings as half the fee
paid in the case of Jane Webb, and was not aware at
that time that a double fee had been charged.
Mr. Clarkson—Then you suppose the entry of six shil-
lings to be correct, and therefore that you were paid your
proper moiety. But I suppose if you had been made
aware that the deceased died out of the district, and that
double fees had been charged for her burial, you would
have insisted on 65., which would have been your right t
Witness—Certainly ; but I had not the slightest idea
at the time that there was anything wrong.
Mr. Clarkson—Have you taken the trouble since this
inquiry took place to examine your vestry room, and can
you find amongst others this certificate of the decease of
Jane Webb ?

Witness—l have done so, and cannot find one.
Mr. Clarkson—ls the present proceeding consequent
on a resolution of a meeting of the parish on these facts
coming to their knowledge
Witness—lt is so.
Mr. Clarkson here said that this was all be bad to lay
before his worship at present in support of his applica-
tion for a summons.
Mr. Elliott observed that the case bad been very pro-
perly brought before him, and had the parties made an
application for a warrant, considering it was a charge of
felony, he should not have hesitated in granting it. But
under the advice of the learned counsel they had brought
it forward by way of an application for a summons.
They might think it possible that some explanation
might be given, and he should grant the summons as re-
quested.

The summons was granted and a day named for its
hearing.

TRIAL AND CON-FICTION THE EX•

PROVOST OF LEITH.

On Saturday Mr. RuberCl3hilip, lately Provost of the
burgh of Leith, was placed at the bar of the High Court
of Justiciary, Edinburgh (before the Lord Justi3e Clerk
and Lords Ivory and Cowan), charged with using lewd,
indecent, and libidinous practices and behaviour to/cards
girls under or about the age of puberty, as also assault
committed in a lewd and indecent manner.
The apprehension of the Provost of Leith some weeks
ago on the charges referred to created such a great sen-
sation in that burgh that a public meeting of working
men was held, at which the town council were called on
to require Mr. Philip's resignation, on the ground that
civil rulers should be above suspicion, and that no one
should hold office while resting under such impeach.
ment. The resignation Will given immediately after-
wards, under protestation of innocence. At the conclu-
sion of the judicial examination of the accused, Mr.
Philip was admitted to bail for 1001., and remained at
large until the day of trial. The ex Provost, who is a
widower, aged 65, has long been one of the leading
citizens of Leith, and was reputed to be a man of con-
siderable wealth. Since his appointment to the pro-
vostship, and previously, Mr. Philip had taken a pro-
minent part in the benevolent and religious enterprises
of the community of Leith. He had held the office of
ptsovost for four consecutive years. •
The trial on Saturday was, according to custom in the
Scotch courts in such cases, conducted with closed doors,
the representatives of the press being excluded, as well
as the public, until the jury had withdrawn.
The indictment set forth that on the 26th of Septem-
bet, 1855, in •the pannel's office, Old Church-wharf,
Leith, he committed the offence stated on the parsons
of two girls., in presence of the other in each case, one
of them, named M'Kenzie, being 10, the other, named
Smith, being 12 years of age. Both were the daughters
of working men.

The pannel pleaded "Not guilty," and the case went
to trial.

There appeared for the prosecution the Solicitor• Gen-
eral and Mr. Fordyce ; for the prisoner Mr. Young and
Mr. Millar.

The evidence, pleadings, and judicial summary and
charge occupied the Court rom 9 o'clock in the morning
till 9 o'clock at night. The jury, after an absence of three-
quarters of au hour, returned with a verdict of guilty
as libelled.

The Lord Justice Clerk, in passing se►'stence, said (in
a manner indicating both exhaustion and ',emotion) the
Court had always viewed such cases as crimes of the
most aggravated and serious character. Such practices
as the accused bad been convicted of were such as in-
variably tended to corrupt and debase the mind of those
who were the victims in such cases. They were calcu-
lated to wound in the deepest manner the best feelings
of our nature ; and that respectable woman, the mother
of the girl Smith, said it was enough to drive her out
of her mind. Cases had been known where mothers
had in such circumstances been driven out of their judg-
ment. This not only tended to corrupt and demoralise
the minds of the girls, and to familiarise them with prac-
tices of lewdness of the worst description, but they often
had the result of making the unfortunate victims of such
unnatural strange conduct the object of contempt—un-
just, to be sure, but no less intense—contempt among
companions, who would be ready to taunt them with
being the victims of such practices. They lost their self-
respect and the respect of their companions, and they
were treated by loose and careless lads with a licensed
familiarity which they thought they were entitled to prac-
tice on girls who had been treated with such indignity ;
and they knew in-tances where the result had been, that
the girls so treated had Leen, from the contempt, con-
tumely, and injustice to which they had been subjected,
driven to the streets as prostitutes, and had ended a life
begun in a happy family, and in innocence, in misery and
wretchedness. He would say nothing as to this particular
case ; it was unnecessary ; but the very circumstances
which ought here to have produced restraint of all inordi-
nate and strange desires which might come across man
only aggravated his guilt. Looking to the practice of
the Court in regard to such sentences, and looking to
the sentence pronounced that day in the case of a youth
found guilty of libidinous practices even on one child,
the Court had no other course left than to pronounce in
the case of the prisoner at the bar the sentence of 15
years' transportation.
The prisoner, who exhibited great fortitude and self-
possession in receiving sentence, was removed from the
clock.

1 he Court adjourned at 10 o'clock.
The case to which the Lord Justice Clerk referred in
passing sentence was that ofJames Samuel, a pri% ate of
the Edinburgh County Militia, aged only 17 years, who,
having pleaded guilty of assault and libidinous practices
on a girl of six years of age, was sentenced to transpor-
tation for 15 years.

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Sporting Intelligence.

TATFERSALL'S-MONDAY.

Speculation was chiefly directed to the Derby, but as
few backers of horses were present its operations were
♦er; limited.

5,000 to 500 was laid in ono bet against Fiy-by-Night
and 5,000 to 400 taken about Edington. 'rewards the
close the farmer was backed for about 1001. at 9 to 1.
14 to 1 would have been taken to 2001. about Yellow
Jack, but layers stood firm at 12 to 1. 20 to 1 was laid
once to a poney against Coroner, but the current odds
did not exceed 100 to 6. 2,000 to 60 was taken about
West Langton, 1,000 to 20 about Stanhope by The
Hero, and 1,000 to 15 about Astrologus. Against the
last-named, however, 1,000 to 10 was subsequently
offered.
The quotations at the close were as follow :
KNOWSLEY NURSERY, LIVERPOOL.
3to 1 agst Lance (taken)
5 to 1 agst Napoleon 111. (taken)
6to 1 agst Staffordshire Nan (taken)
SEXTON HANDICAP.

sto 2 agst The Chicken by Chanticleer (take
3 to 1)

DERBY.
9to 1 agst Wentworth (taken to 501.)
9to 1 agst Fly-by-Night (taken)
12 to 1 agst Yellow Jack (take 14 to 1)
100 to 8 agst Ellington (taken)
100 to 6 agst Coroner (20 to 1 taken)
20 to 1 agst Attillery (offered)
20 to 1 agst Porto Rico (offered)
33 to 1 ag,t West Langton (taken)
33 to 1 agst Peter Wilkins (taken)
50 to 1 agst Stanhope, by The Hero (taken)
1000 to 15 agst Astrologus (taken, 1000 to 10