The Sun.
London, England, 1852-09-01 00:00:00

SEPTEMBER 1, 1852.

heibb
proceeded to make the examination, and they re.
gentleman who was staying
ported that all was right—not
been found. Mr.
feeling the delicacy ofmnp
.c iog
Tu sh et
satisfied,l
circum-
stances inrg ua
mh hadd.
position, went to the cler-
gyman's house and secured the assistance of a medical
stances were stated to the surgeon,i who determined
on instituting a further search presence only of
the nurses. For some time theirn
efforts had no
result, but at length a bundle was discovered between
the child's arm and body, which
immediately laid hold of. The gjorineasof: the nurses
it is alleged,
instantly called out, " You must not touch that."
But I must have it," said the woman." But,"
said the deaf child, "you shan't have•
" I will
have it," exclaimed the nurse, and away
bundle, the child with great resignation saying,
.the
" Well, if you will, you must." The surygleung,
undid the parcel, and found it to consist of about
a score of napkins, bits of linen, &c., which, it
is said, had been
.recently used. These were
spread out upon the counterpane, and the parents
and two watchers were summoned in to gaze
nwoitathsbhueisi
upon the not very fragrant discovery. Of course
the utmost consternation was depicted on the
faces of the parents. The Another immediately
accused the child of deceiving her, but was properly
stopped by the remark that this part of the imposition
could not have been carried through without her
agency. The father seemed in an agony of distress,
and soleinnly.protested that he was entirely ignorant
that the napkins were there, and that so far as he
knew neither mortal nor drop—WO passed 'the
lips for sixteen weeks. Messrs. Webb and Whitby,
the medical gentlemen, and the nurses, immediately
left the cottage, and all, with the exception of the
surgeon, walked on to Woodbridge, feeling indignant
at the imposition that bad been practised. It is im-
portant, however, to notice that during Saturday,
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thurs-
day, she had had no food or drink, neither was any
food found in the bedding. Mr. Matcham, a medical
practitioner, makes the following statement :
" TO THE EDITOR OF THE IPSWICH EXPRESS.
" Sir,—ln consequence of the statements which have
been made relative to the above case, I took the earliest
possible opportunity of visiting the parents for the pur-
pose of hearing their version of the affair. I now append
briefly their statement:-Ist. Elizabeth Squirrell did not
take any food during the time the gentlemen appointed to
watch were present; nor had she taken any for fourteen
weeks. 2. No food was found in or about the bed when
searched by the nurses. The evidence so far is conclu-
sive. The only suspicious circumstance is the searching
of the bed and finding twenty-one pieces of handker-
chiefs, cloths, and fragments of long deserted and forgot-
ten dresses, containing dried faces, hard, mouldy, and
swimming on the surface of the water when put into it.
After hearing the statement of tho parents, I proceeded
to the clergyman of the parish (the Rev. Mr. Frances),
and had an interview with Mr. Frances, the surgeon,
who made the examination at the request of Mr. Webb.
His answers to my interrogations were most satisfactory.
On examining the pulse he found it beating 85 to the
minute; it subsequently increased to 95, and ulti-
mately to 120. He is of opinion that Elizabeth Squir-
rell is suffering from a disease of the heart, which
of course would readily account for the variation
of the pulse. Mr. Frances found no faeces that had re-
cently passed, nor was there any appearance of urine,
which I humbly submit to the learned and reverend
divines would have been the case had she taken food or
drink during the time they were there or previous. I
respectfully submit that there is no evidence to criminate
either father, mother, or daughter. I confess it is diffi-
cult to account for the discovery of so many fragments
of garments, &e.; but the fact itself, when properly con-
sidered, exonerates the parents, for no one could believe
them so devoid of cleanliness as to leave such things in
the house to the detriment of their own and child's
health, if they knew of it. In review of these facts, I
must conclude that there is no evidence at present to
justify us in branding the Squirrclls with imposture. I
would invite the public to visit for themselves, hear the
counter statements, and then decide. The inquiry has
terminated so far in a very ungentlemanly and unscien-
tific manner, and nothing but a second watch of gentle-
men who have no interest but the public in view will be
conclusive. Trusting to your usual willingness to give
the truth so far as you can arrive at it for the insertion
of this letter—l am, Sir, yours, &c.,
"ALFRED B. MATCHAM.
" Norwich-road, Ipswich, Monday, August 30."

But we hasten to conclude our narrative :

On the morning following the discovery the father
came to Ipswich with a bundle of napkins, which we
believe he took to Mr. 'Webster to prove that they
had not been recently used, but we cannot tell whether
these were the identical ones that were found,
whether the wife deceived the husband, or whether all
have been engaged in carrying through one of the
most blasphemous pieces of deception on record.
After the discovery the girl folded her hands, and
looking to heaven (for it is fully believed that she has
the use of her sight) said, " I commit myself to the
care of my guardian angel, and know that God will
take care of me." When her father left for Ipswich
she exclaimed, " Never fear, father, I shall weather
the storm—'t will all end well." We understand that
her parents and herself still stoutly assert that she
has taken no kind of nourishment for
six teen
weeks, and that each of the three is most anxious for
a further trial which shall extend over fourteen days.
Unless there be full and unimpeachable testimony.
that the state of the napkins was such as to indicate
without doubt that they had been recently used, the
case in the eyes of the public will not be deemed sa-
tisfactorily settled. Our duty is to state the two
sides of the case, and to leave our readers to form their
own conclusions. It must not be forgotten that the
whole value of the discovery rests on the testimony of
the two nurses and the medical gentleman, and in the
preceding letter Mr. Matcham coolly asserts that the
surgeon told him the feces had not recently passed,
nor were there any appearances of urine. If this be
so, what becomes of the discovery ? What becomes
also of the fact that, closely as the girl was watched,
nothing was seen to pass her lips, and the fact also
that her pulse alternated from 85 to 120 a minute ?
Were the nurses, Milo, quite accurate in their ac-
count of what occurred when they sPiz-d the napkins ?
Probably it will be deemed necessary to make a
further examination, should not the report of the com-
mittee be perfectly conclusive.
We need hardly add that it is believed the girl can
see, and that her alleged ability to read writing with
her fingers is disputed. It is also believed that she
can hear, and if the conversation regarding the clothes
be accurately narrated, there is positive proof that she
has the use of this faculty. Regarding the ringing
of the glass, we ought to add that she has in her room
a glass harmonicon, which frequently laid on her bed,
and on which she was very fond of playing, though
we cannot conceive what delight she could take in
music that she could not hear. The belief is that
this is the means by which the ringing is occasioned ;
that in lieu of the invisible angel's wings, she touched
it under the bed clothes while her visitors were ab-
sorbed in their devotions.

But we must leave the whole case to the judg-
ments of our readers. Much more might be written.
We might enlarge upon the fact that the girl is un-
doubtedly an extraordinary character—that at the be-
ginning of her illness she certainly took but little to
sustain life—that reports of her abstinence from food
spread widely—that the cottage was besieged—that
its humble occupant was lionised—that the parents
had their vanity flattered and their pockets replenished
—and that the thing has gone on to the present mo-
ment, interspersed with many extraordinary circum-
stances. For the present, however, we drop further
allusion to the matter.

NOVEL LUGGAGE FOR RAILWAYS.
An Irish woman travelling per London and North-
Western Railway, from Liverpool to Manchester the
other day, having secured tickets for herself and two
children, presented a large box, say 4 feet by 2 feet, and
2 feet deep, to the porters, which was placed at the top
of one of the carriages. The box was not marked
" Glass," or " This side tip." In fact there was nothing
about it to indicate that any particular care was requisite
in its transmission, and when the train reached Mn"
cheater it is said to have been sent down the slide froma
the top of the carriage on which it had rested sans ogre-
nzonie, and alighted with a bump on the landing-stage
which was calculated to produce concussion of the brain,
if the box bad possessed brains. But the porters
never supposed the box did contain a
they treated it like any other box. Thneylrbirshai womanns, and
claimed the box, and but for a mistake on her part
nothing more would probably have been thought
either of her or her luggage. She made the
slight mistake, however, on getting the box free of cost
from the porters, of opening it before she left the station,
when out sprung two children who had been packed in-
' side, and who fortunately, it seems, had escaped either
being smothered or getting concussion of the brain from
this hazardous mode of treatment, The railway People
now put in a claim for carriage, but who ever knew en
Irishwoman with any money under such circumsen ally
tances?
" Get blood out of a stone," is an expression g
applicable to such cases; and, as they were not dispos' d
er
to retain the children, the box and a few clothes which
now lie at the station marked 6; 23. "(id. to payall ," are
tho satisfaction they obtained, or are ever likely to
obtain. The children were lo to 12 years of age, and
had been packed with a head at either end of the box,
and, except a little bit of wood whi• h appeared to have
been accidentally chipped off one side of the lid, had no
Opening for the admission of fresh air or ventilation.

A Free-trade Banquet is to be held in Manchester
a few days before the meeting of Parliament, says a corre-
spondent, to which a large number of Free-trade and Liberal
Members of the House of Commons is to be juyited, The
banquet ij to be held ifl the k':ee-trade jcial