The Sun.
London, England, 1852-08-19 00:00:00

:MBER.

IBER•

BOW-SI'REET.

William Avis, of High-street, St. Giles's, under-
taker, appeared to an adjourned summons, charging
him with having buried an infant, "for which no
certificate had been duly made and delivered" to the
registrar, as required by the 6th and 7th William
IV., chap. 86, sec. 27.
The facts proved at the former examination were
—the birth of the infant on the 2d of June, and its
death on the sth; the delivery of the corpse to the
defendant, who undertook to supply a coffin and bury
it for 33., which was paid to him for that purpose by
the grandmother (who also stated that she supplied
him with the requisite medical certificate) ; and
finally, the discovery that the child had never been
buried at all, which was the defendant's answer to
the charge.
The case was adjourned for the attendance of the
medical gentleman who was said to have furnished
the certificate, and notice was given to the defendant
in the meantime to produce it.
Mr. F. Hatton, solicitor, now appeared for the re-
gistrar, to support the charge.
Mr. G. W. New, assistant surgeon to St. Giles's
workhouse, deposed to having attended the infant's
mother during her confinement. After the death of
the child, which only lived two dun, witness gave
the grandmother a proper certificate for delivery to
the district registrar, and he believed it was taken by
her to the defendant.

Mr. Duncombe, the defendant's solicitor, on being
asked if he produced the certificate, declined to admit
the service of the notice to produce.
Formal proof was then given of the service of the
notice by Mr. Hatton's clerk, the previous evening.
Mr. Duncombe—We don't produce it.
The grandmother was then re-examined. She
stated that she delivered the certificate to the de-
fendant's daughter, who was acting as agent for him
in the shop. The age of the child, the cause of its
death, with the name and address of the parents, were
inserted in the certificate. On every occasion when
witness had called on the defendant respecting the
baby she was assured that " it was all right."
Mr. Duncombe—Am I to answer the charge set
forth in the summons ?
Mr. HENRY—Yes, certainly.
Mr. Duncombe—We are cliarged in the words of
the Act with incurring certain penalties by burying a
child without a certificate. You have it in evidence
that it has never been buried at all.
Mr. HENRY—I have well considered this case since
it was adjourned last week, and I am now of opinion
that the defendant is liable to be convicted under the
Act. I certainly had a different impression at one
time, but everything turns upon the meaning which
is,to be attached to the word " bury." If we regard
it exclusively as implying an interment, doubtless
there would be some difficulty in showing the lia-
bility of the defendant, but the word admits of a
wider definition. If you look to Dr. Johnson's dic-
tionary you will see that the word " bury" is de-
scribed as signifying "to put in a grave, to hide, or
to conceal." Now, it is quite clear to my mind that
there was in this case a concealment of the body from
the 7th of June, when it was delivered to the de-
fendant, to be buried, until the 10th of August, when
the officers found the body in the coal vault of Mr.
Avis's house.
Mr. Duncombe, interrupting his Worship, hoped
be should be permitted to argue this point.
Mr. HENRY—That is quite irregular.
Mr. Duncombe having contended that no opportu-
nity had been given him to discuss the point, was
allowed to proceed. He was quite sure that the Legisla-
ture never contemplated a question of this kind. The
Act says—" any person who shall bury, or perform
any funeral or religious service for the burial of any
dead body for which no certificate shall have been
duly made and delivered," &c., shall be liable to cer-
tain penalties. Now, admitting his Worship's inter-
pretation of the word " bury," where could the line
of demarcation be drawn ? One moment's conceal-
ment of a body in any shop, charnel-house, or hospi-
tal, would make the parties liable ; and it was a com-
mon thing to have bodies sent to undertakers or other
people's houses to be kept a few days before inter-
ment. The word " concealment" was never used in
the Act; but even if it had been contemplated, what
concealment was there in this case ? The defendant
never hid or secreted the body. It was well known
to all his establishment and to others that the child
was in his cellar, which had never been kept locked,
but was accessible to all. The fact was, the grand-
mother had given Mr. Avis to understand that it was
a stillborn child. Otherwise the burial would have
cost at least 123. Then, as to the certificate, he de-
nied having received it, and there was no proof of its
delivery to him, although the grandmother stated
that she had left it at the shop in the hands of the de-
fendant's daughter—a mere child. He had no certi-
ficate, and he did not know the address of the
parents : and even if he had known where to find
them, it was not incumbent on him to hunt for the
certificate, which, according to the Act, ought to have
been delivered to him. The child had not been un-
fairly disposed of or spirited away, or concealed ; and
the conduct of Mr. Avis was praiseworthy in compa-
rison with the obvious neglect of the registrar, who
had never registered its birth even, but now came
into court for half the penalties, to which the Act
entitled him.
Mr. HENRY—He is not allowed any portion of the
penalty under the Police Act, which overrides the
other.
Mr. Duncombe hoped if his Worship still adhered to
his opinion, that he would give the defendant an op-
portnnity of appealing against the decision.
Mr. HENRY repeated that there had been a sufficient
" burying" in the meaning given to the word by Dr.
Johnson, who quoted gory good authority for his
opinion. Besides, it was common to use the word in
that sense. When we say " buried in oblivion," we
do not think of interments. However, :this was the
first time the question had been raised under the Act,
and therefore he should be very glad to have it fully
discussed at Quarter Sessions. If his view was not
supported, he could only say that all the evils which
it was the design of the Act to remedy must go
unpunished. His Worship then inflicted a penalty
of 6/.

ROYAL YACHT SQUADRON .REan A.
COWES, Aim. 18.—Th, race for her Majesty's Cup
had not concluded at the time of my last communication
being dispatched, but, as eves anticipated by several per-
sons at an early period of the race, the Arrow succeeded
iu recovering the position she appeared temporarily to
have lost on going towards Ryde, for she passed the
station-vessel at Cowes as under : h, m. see.
Arrow 1 36 30
il 0a t thisre
e
The other two vessels appeared to be almost
t
point out of the race, but on
passing
timed as follow h. . secy were
Lavrock 2 19 5
Aurora
They then proceeded for the rest of the course to the
vessel moored off Yarmouth ; hut, on reaching Egypt
the Aurora struck her flag, and gave up all further
share in the contest, leaving the race virtually to the
Arrow alone. The great difference in the time of
the arrival cf the two last vessels, it stated, is ac-
counted for in this way. On down towards the
Nab Light, the Arrow throughout
utkept to the north-
ward, whilst the Aurora and Lavrock were close under
St. the island. When abreast of . Helen's, with a breeze
flowing strong from the
reach,north-east, she caught it up,
and
made a longrounded the Nab, whilst the two
others, being under the island, went fast to the leeward.
This difference of position will, therefore, °mount for
the disparity between the arrival of the Arrow, and the
Aurora and Lavrock. After passing Garnet Bay, the
Arrow had it entirely her own way, rounded he
station
at Yarmouth, and arrived off the starting vessel at Cowes
as under:— h. in. sec.
Arrow
The Lavrock on her return from Y,amouth experi-
enced the effects of a very heavy storm 0: thunder and
lightning, with hail and rain; but on this passing over
the wind dropped, and a perfect calm ensued. In this
becalmed state she remained for two hours, during
which she drifted back several miles with the tide. She
eventually managed to pick up a light breeze and got
back to Cowes at the time under mentioned:—
b. m. sec.
Lavrock ........... .
The Arrow was therefore declared to be the winner of
her Majesty's Cup, being the second gift of her Majesty
won by Mr. Chamberlayne with that vessel this season.
It will be remembered that she won the Queen's Cup
at Ryde in the Royal Victoria Yacht Club Regatta.
beating the America clipper by several minutes,
the first time she was ever vanquished in any,
waters. It was nearly a " dead heat ' between her and
the Mosquito, as the Arrow being the larger vessel,
of the two, the extra length of her bowsprit alone gave
her tho victory.
The following new members
mhaavtegabei of
Bath, owner
admitted to the
Royal Yacht Squadron:_
of the schooner Lotus, 18S tons, late the
Lord Clifden; Mr. T. Littledale A
, the property of
riel schooner, 118
tons; Mr. G. S. Tritten, Orliana schooner; and Mr. J.
11. Elmo.

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