The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-05 00:00:00

Sentence on the Rev. Mr. Birch.

The Rev. Thomas Richardson Birch, found guilty
of libel, was brought up yesterday before the Recor-
der at the Central Criminal Court for judgment.
Mr. Collins said he had just a few words to say
before sentence was passed. In the first place, then,
the prisoner had lost his position as chaplain of
Slough Union, and through this conviction he would
be unable aver to re-establish himself, and he hoped
his lordship would take into consideration his po-
verty and his present position. With regard to the
first letter, he gave his word that he had not writ-
ten it at all, and the second letter was writte❑ in a
moment of passion, therefore he hoped that, looking
at his position, at the length of time he had been in
prison, and the situation which had been taken from
him, his lordship would give him as lenient a sen-
tence as he possibly could. He had a large number
of testimonials as to his character, but he thought
it was not necessary to produce them. The indict.
ment which had been preferred against him at
Lewes was abandoned, but the letters, the subject
of that indictment, would be handed up to his lord-
ship.

The letters were then handed up to his lordship,
who, after perusing them, addressed the prisoner,
and asked him whether he had any thing to say why
son tence should not be passed upon him.
'The prisoner replied that he could only repeat
what his learned counsel had stated, except that he
appealed to God that he had never written the first
letter ccmplained of ; and he felt that, at the last
dreadful day of judgment, He would find him
guiltless.
The Recorder said he had only one duty to per-
form, and that was a very painful one. The prisoner
had been found guilty of writing both letters, and
for that the punishment must be awarded. No
doubt there were some circumstances in the case
which ought to be considered in extenuation, and
there was no doubt that the prisoner had lived in a
place of gross immorality; but if he had thought
fit he could have resigned his tutorship as soon as
he had learnt the position of the parties with whom
he lived. Such, however, was not the case ;on the
contrary, he remained a considerable time, and,
according to the evidence, he had partaken of the
prosecutor's hospitality ; and it was not until he
was dismissed from the tutorship that he wrote the
letters complained of. In those letters he spoke of
the house as being a sink of the grossest vice and
iniquity—charges which were not at all justified by
the actual state of things, and one could not but
speak of it as a malicious libel. The Recorder then
sentenced him to be kept in prison in her Majesty's
gaol of Newgate for,six calendar months.

ACCIDENT TO PRINCE ALFRED.--HiS Royal
Highness Prince Alfred met with a slight accident
on Tuesday afternoon, while he was enjoying a
game at rackets in the Racket Court, Rose-street,
Edinburgh. One of the balls struck the Prince
sharply on one of his eyes, which has since become
bloodshot and swollen. The pain, which was severe
at first, has now almost departed, and the Prince is
expvcted to leaNe his apartments in a day or two.
—Scotsman.

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