The Sun.
London, England, 1863-09-07 00:00:00

TIM SUN. LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 7, 1363.

THE CIVIL WAR IN AMERICA,

(From the Times' Correspondent.)
NEW YORK, Aug. 21.

The proclamation of Governor Seymour to the
people of N' ew York was not published until the
morning of 'Wednesday, a few hours before the com-
mencement of the draught. It is a judicious and
carefully-p ri)pared document, and has been received
with a howl of rage by the "shoddy" contractors,
the Aboliti.cinists, the " exterminators," the " war
Christians," and all who desire the abrogation of
State righ's, the effacement of State lines, and the
establishm ant of a military despotism. Governor
Seymour is. not disposed to further any of the views
of these gentlemen. Knowing that they would be
glad of a riot in New York, as a pretext :or placing
the city and State under martial law, he warns the
people in emphatic language to keep the peace, and
at tile same time notifies the Government of the
danger it will incur if it overstep the limits of the
Constitution. He draws a broad line between ques-
tions of State right and Federal assumption of
powers not yet granted, and while reiterating his
opinion that it would have been wise as well as
humane on the part of Mr. Lineolit to have procured
a competent judicial decision on the conscription
before proceeding to enforce it, he asserts for the
guidance of the conscripts that the law must be
obeyed until the courts shall have declared it to be
unconstitutional. Denouncing the doctrine which
once found favour in the eyes of Mr. Seward, Mr.
Charles Sumner, and other leaders of the Republican
party, when objecting to the Fugitive Slave Act,and
goading the South into secession, that any man or
body (Amen may violently resist laws which are or
seem to be opposed to their private notions of right
or duty, he declares that a disregard of the sacred-
ness of the Constitution, the majesty of the law, and
the decisions of the judiciary is the greatest danger
which threaten American liberty. It is his opinion
that not only the Constitution and statutes of the
nation, but of the several States or commonwealths
of the Union, "contain ample remedies for all wrongs
that may be committed either by rulers or citi-
zens. Those," he adds, " who wish to preserve their
rights or to punish offenders, whether in public or
in private life, should themselves carefully perform
their duty, abstain from all illegal acts, generously
support the Government, and then calmly and re-
solutely claim their rights." He concludes by
stating that he will allow of no opposition to the
conscription, except by appeal to the Courts—the
decisions of which must be respected by rulers and
people alike. In all this the purpose is clear. The
rebuke administered to the Government is well de-
served, and the warning public and insignificant.
By this proclamation—as by every other act of this
gentleman since he entered upon the duties of his
office—he takes front rank in, if ho do not assume
the leadership of, the Conservative party ; and
places himself—and the great State of which he is
the chief magistrate—as barriers against the revo-
lutionary designs of the Federal Administration.
Thoagh in favour of a vigorous prosecution of the
war, Mr. Seymour's real position is far higher than
that of a war demagogue. He wishes to see the
Union restored, but, whether it be restored or not,
he is determined, in so far as his functions, his cha-
racter, and his duty extend, that it shall not be re-
stored at the cost of the constitutional rights and
liberties of the people, or be replaced by a military
dictatorship. Meantime, the great revolution is
rolling on, and may perhaps roll over Governor

Seymour and all who support or agree with him.
The will fc,r that purpose is not wanting at Wash-
ington, and the military instruments are not only
ready, but eager for the fray.
Meanwhile, the combatants are ranging them-
selves on either side, seeming as if they had agreed
to make the draught the test question which is to
settle whether the Constitution be a living document
or a dead letter. It is well under such circumstances
that some attention should be bestowed in Europe
on the composition of the contending forces. O❑
the Conservative side are arranged all the educated
Americans, comparatively few in number, who
think the Federal and the State Constitution suffi-

cient for the maintenance of popular liberty and a

R,:publican. form of government, and who are op
posed to all and every change, and especially to in.

terferecce with Southern elavery,which they hold to

be in e7ery respect a local and not a Federal or na-
tional question. Along with them go the vast mass
of the vtorking classes, who, under the ancient system,
possessed the privilege of a vote and all the rights
and immunities of citizenship. These included free-
dom from taxation and conscription—one the worst
evil of insular, and the other of continental Europe,
which they or their forefathers had fled to America
to escape. Up to the outbreak of the Civil War
these classes were accustomed, each individually, to
look upon himself as the equal, if not the superior, of
the Presiden t—a paid functionary,who was the mere
creature of their votes, and the servant of their will.
Of the same opinions as the working classes are the
struggling traders and professional people of all de-
grees, who see in the war the ruin of their prospects.
To these have to be added thehigher class of lawyers,
educated. in respect for the law, and too independent
in the exercise of their profession to accept minor
judgeships or other spoils of office at the hands of
the Administration. These diverse, but sympathetic,

bodies of earnest men form a strong phalanx, and,
having the advantage of the past history and tradi-
tions and the existing law and Constitution of the
Republic oe their side, ought to be able in
days of danger to meet every revolutionary pro-
ject, with the formidable opposition both of rea-
son and of numbers. On the other side are
ranged the minority, who are in actual possession
of office—a minority of preachers, theorists, doc-
trinaires, strong-minded women, hangers on of the
conventicle, emancipationists (of the slaves of other
people), and all the rich, who think that no man
should have a vote unless he be American born and
possess a large amount of property. The latter
class of people have as strong an objection to uni-
versal suffrage and as intense a hatred of its real
or anticipated results as was ever entertained by the
most narrow-minded opponent of the Reform Bill
1n England. No aristocrat of the Faubourg St.
Germain in the days of Louis XV. ever looked down
with more cthese new .ontempt upon a Blain or a roturier than
khan,: rich men of America look down upon the
:lasses, especially if they be Irishmen,
Gerina„
despotic bttnegroes. Their nature have become
honourpaecte
sion that is re: possession of wealth, the only posses-
fers no d in a country where office con-
sy mpathiseeethndd where no social rank exists, they
Iriseiaspotism at home and abroad. They
would use the and Germans to fight the battles
of Federalism; th
eby..would employ the negroes for
the same purpose,
ut they would deny all three the
exercise of political •
and place between the
newly arrived iinneigtiagillitts.
anneal and
income,
vote not only the
possession of a certain
income, but a resi-
dence of at least 21 years, Theyp lookiblit of convert-
ing without much
a
fear or any disfavour on the osa
ing the South into a Poland y
e stand-
ing to be
i
held at the cannon's mouth by reaane/Te iltie,
ing army; and are so passionately deterarars s
the North shall be a nation—one, homeaeulued that
indivisible—strong enough to insult the 11s1 and
minor aid
.
keep the superior kingdoms of Europe in awe
ov;its
displeasure, and more espeelady to assume that
place in the trade and politics of the world which is
occupied by Great Britain, and they would cheer-
fully sacrifice their liberty to achieve the desired
cad, and bend their reeks to the yoke of an iron-
handed captain who would do them the favour to
seize upon authority. Unlike the revolutions of
Europe—which broke out in reeisiless fury for the
sake of popular ii'outy—the revolution that has
commenced in America is guided in the intereet of
arbitrary power. Governor Seymour and the Demo-
crats are Conservatives. Mr, Lincoln and the Re-
publicans are innovators and destruetives. The one
party prizes liberty for the white man; the other
party only prizes it ;or the black
man, with this fatal
reetriction of the b,nefit to be conferred, that the
black map is only to be i
freed n order to be expa-
triated.

During the three days of the draught, which
commenced on Wednesday and proceeded yesterday
and to-day, the most profound tranquillity has pre-
vailed in the city. Not the slightest attempt at
disturbance has anywhere been witnessed ; on the
contrary, the tuning of the wheels of fortune by
blind men has in tt.e preLiEnce of vast crowds of

spectators, has given rise to much good humoured
I banter, and the display of that somewhat rough
and rollicking fun which is characteristic of the
rowdy American. The Republican journals, which
persist in insulting the only class of men from amid
whom their sorely needed soldiers are to be ob-
tained, take care to inform their readers that it is
solely owing to the stern measures of precaution
taken by the Government—the presence of 20,000
armed troops in different districts of the city, and
of half a score of gunboats in the north and east
rivers—that the crowd is so peaceable. A few
Ministerial journals not quite so violent insist that
the public feeling on the subject of the draught
has undergone a change, and that the working
classes are not only resigned to it as a
national necessity, but are of opinion that,
all things considered, it is fair and equit-
able. The value of both of these assertions
will soon be tested. Let but the Corporation of New
York, either by the opposing action of Mr,Opdyke,
the Mayor, or from any other circumstance, refuse
or neglect to vote the promised sum of 3,000,000
dole. to purchase substitutes for the poor conscripts
who decline to serve, and there will be a commotion
in New York which will fully employ alltheofmihlii-s
mili-
tary skill of Gen. Dix and all the bravery
20,000 men to bring to any other than
clans
oadis believe
close. The conscripts of the labouring
that this money will be paid, and for this reason,
measoayn,
and for no other, whatever the Republicansi
allege to the contrary, they keeph business
sr
atsemifpe
no-
thing h
tempers
cool, and go about their ordinary
sor t
by
t his expectation,ad
happened.
t h e seizure It
th
oe fy theb e first p
sighnoalwfi.oshresantooouptberneahkis.
mltiliist ary f o r
impossiblece wfiolrl
any the
one w
y
eyes to the facts to ignore
otfhethiendialcbaotoiorninsgofol
speril.s s
es
The temper of the women
is represented by those who have been among them
as particularly violent; and it will not surprise
the police, however much it may surprise the doc-
trinaires and black philanthropists who have Mr.
Lincoln in their keeping, if there should be an in-
surrection of furious women rather than suffer
their sons or husbands to be carried into mili-
tary slavery to fight for a cause in which they
have long ceased to feel the slightest interest.
There are not wanting cynics who affirm that even
for this contingency the Government is prepared ;
that it not only does not fear, but would be glad of
its occurrence, because it would afford the dearly
coveted excuse for declaring martial law, deposing
or incarcerating Governor Seymour, and making
an end once and for ever of the local rights of the
most powerful, and, as the Government regards it,
the most troublesome State in the Union. There is
little danger, however, if the three million dollars
can avert the catastrophe, that the money will not
be forthcoming. The Mayor may veto the appro-
priation, but he can only postpone, not prevent, the
passing of the measure, if the Aldermen and
Common Council are resolute in their purpose to
preserve the peace of the city by this means. His
veto becomes inoperative, if, being debated after
an interval of ten days, it is overruled by a two-
thirds' majority. And, as the two Civic Courts are
said to be all but unanimous on the eubject, the
opposition of the Mayor can cause no worse mischief
than delay, while personally it will entitle him to
the gratitude of the Administration for having done
his best to meet their wishes,—a gratitude which
may or may not show itself by the award of a
new contract for the supply of army clothing,
such as has already fallen to the lot of this fortu-
nate politician.

The Extraordinary Discovery in White-
chapel Church.

FURTHER DISCOVERIES.

On Saturday forenoon, at 10 o'clock, a search in a part of
the church hitherto overlooked was instituted by order of
Mr. Churchwarden N. J. Powell, and with the most unex-
pected results.
In the belfry, behind a sort of wooden chamber or box
containing one of the huge clock-weights, a child's coffin
was found standing on end. Upon proceeding upstairs into
the clock chamber, the men employed in the examination
found a child in a shroud, and no fen er than 11 skulls.
There was also in another part of the chamber a coffin con-
taiaing a quantity of sawdust, which, upon being removed,
disclosed to view the skeleton of a child, with a cap on the
skull. These any other remains had been placed behind
some beams or joists parallel to the wall, at a height of 18
feet above the floor of the chamber. To reach the spot
where the remains were found it is stated that two persons
at least must have been engaged, for the only access to it
was by means of a narrow ledge of timber, eight feet from
the ground, and the coffins must have been handed up to the
person above by an accomplice. The place to catch hold of
was very narrow, and if the person clinging on had made
the slightest slip, he would infallibly have been killed by
falling into the iron machinery of the church bells.
A builder, Mr. Hicks, of Whitechapel, has been engaged
to carry on this further search. A carpenter, John Roche,
employed under him, states that from the appearance of the
wood of the coffins, some at least of them must have been
placed where they were found within the last two years.
Fragments of others present the appearance of being thirty
years old.

The searches previously made being thus found to be
incomplete, Mr. Hicks has been directed to re-examine the
roof and take up the flooring of the pews over the gas-pipes.
The boards of the flooring have been accordingly removed,
but nothing further has been discovered, and the re-exami-
nation of the roof has likewise yielded a negative result. The
carpenters have now been set to work to view the boards in
the galleries, but, as far as they have get gone, no more re.
mains have been found. The roof itself is made of oak, and
of course could not be removed without enormous expense ;
consequently it will not, be removed, as has been stated in a
morning paper, and it is not supposed that anything further
is concealed in it. The total number of remains found by
this new search is three bodies of children, eleven skulls, and
a quantity of fragments of bodies, besides coffins complete
and broken up.
It is extraordinary that these remains were not discovered
before, as a marble slab in the bell-chamber states that the
bells were thoroughly repaired in honour of the marriage of
the Prince of Wales, on the 10th of March last.

INQUEST ON THE REMAINS AND SINGULAR
DISCLOSURES.
On Saturday afternoon Mr. J. Humphry, coroner of East
Middlesex, and a jury of the inhabitants of St. Alary,White-
chapel, assembled at the Angel Inn, High-street, for the
purpose of inquiring into the circumstances connected with
the recent discovery of a number of newly-born children,
whose remains were stowed away in coffins in the roof and
belfry of Whitechapel Church.

It appears that, up to Friday night, the bodies of 14 chil-
dren, apparently from the size of their remains, with two or
three exceptions, stillborn, had been discovered, but it was
reported that there had during Saturday morning been dis-
covered the skulls and other remains of 11 more children, as
well as fragments of coffins which had contained them.
The affair appears to have created much scandal in the
neighbourhood, and the Rev. Mr. Cohen, the rector, and
churchwardens, and other parochial authorities were not
present, but were represented by Mr. Farnham, from the
office of Mr. 11. S. Mitchell, solicitor and clerk to the vestry
of the parish.
The bodies were ranged in a row in one of the corridors
leading to the gallery of the church, where they,were viewed
by the jury (one appeared to be that of an infant some two
or three months old), but they were all shrivelled up into
mere mummies. On returning to the inquest room,
The Coroners said although there wore fourteen bodies
found he only proposed to inquire as to the largest child
and one or two other as they no doubt would give the clue
to the whole.
Joseph Cooper was first sworn, and said ho lived at 10,
Shaftesbury-place, anti is a carpenter. He was working at
Whitechapel Church, fixing ventilators, on Thursday morn-
ing. Was also at work there on Saturday, the 22d August,
in the the roof. Whilst at work he discovered a coffin. This
was about a quarter to nine in the morning. On opening
the coffin he found the body of a child. Ihe coffin was on
south side of the roof between the rafters, and on a tie
aleedis:_e,s.now andß
on eendrne:iting on the gutter. Had no know-
the coffin and child came there.
Joseph Tomlinson, a fellow workman of the previous
V 7
corroborated his evidence as to the finding of this
body.

Mr. Charle
tray, and on _Honda.
first body found.
child, of the probable Ete,
from the skull and from
a."Blackyrnaatn said he was a surgeon and regis•
the
fecaleetdh rl et
He Lfeelring°n.
course state the cause of death
it had lived. There was no fraeturethefre
:awidaitbsecenalilnesdulit: examine the
etompboreno thehsss. b.
E.,okHduylel o
Couldl
akinTuadhgfneeeomdta s
01
o;
was no doubt that
some parts.
. Examined
hod become convened into leather almost in
lle should imagine the childi
in tbo roof of the church from one to two yeeersc°ffin and up
the body in conjunction with Mr. Liddell, medical
of health, and he agreed with him. Officer
By the Jury—l do not think that chili had been dead
three or four years. 'The knees of the child are drawn
up
and much contracted, but I can only account for that from
the child dying in convulsions, or it might be from being
doubled up after death. There was a cap round the head,
but nothing whatever lead;ng to identificaion. We give in
private practice a special certificate when a child is " still-
born," I think they will not bury " btill'onns" at a came-

tery without a certificate, but the law does not compel one
to be given.

The Coroner said he would now take any evidence likely
to show how the body came there.
The inspector of police said there was one coffin that had
a name on it, and he had found the parties who belonged to
that child.
The witness Cooper was recalled, and proved that he
found the coffin which had the name on it with the other
bodies. The name on the coffin was " Mrs. Forster, 35,
Bedford -street,"
Mr. John Liddell sworn—Was medical officer of health
of the Whitechapel district. Had been called upon to exa-
mine some of these bodies, and examined, in conjunction
with Mr. Blackman, the child first found. He entirely con-
curred with Mr. Blackman in his evidence as to that child.
He had also examined the body of the child in the coffin
having an address on it. It was a full-timed child, or
nearly so, but was too much decomposed and destroyed to
discover the sex. He could hardly say how long tho child
had been dead. Found no fracture of the skull or any in-
juries. He believed all the rest of the children were "still-
borne," so far as he could judge.
Sarah Allen said she resided at 27, Antliff-street, Cottage-
lane, Stepney. Had been married since the 21st of April,
186 L In the year prior to that she gave birth to a child.
Mr. Mahoney, of the Commercial road, attended her in her
confinement. It was a stillborn and not a full-timed child.
For the purpose of burial Mr. Canham, an undertaker, of
the Mile-end-road, was engaged. He sent a man for it who
took it away. He charged 75., but gave no receipt.
By the Coroner—He told me that the burial or church
fees were 3s. 6d., and he charged me 7s. That was on the
23d March, 1860. It was born on that day, and left my
house the same evening, I got a certificate from Mr. Ma-
honey. The man who took the child away took that certi-
ficate with him. When I heard the child had not been
buried I was much surprised. Mr. Canham had gone away
for some time. I had seen the man who had fetched the
body of my child away before. Mr. Canhan has buried four
of my children, once since the child referred to by the jury.
Three children were illegitimate and one legitimate ; two of
the four were born alive. The same man came for the one
that has now been found, and one before that ; the other
that died was five days old. There was another one born
alive, and was five weeks old when it died. The child that
lived five days was born in May, 1860. I had a certificate
from Mr. Mahoney with all of them. I understood that
both the children were to be buried at Bow Cemetery. The
first child,: which lived five days, 1 paid £1 2s. 6d. to have
buried. I have not seen the man who fetched the children
away since 1861. The child that lived five weeks was born
on Sept. 12, 1858. I think I could tell the dress of the child
that lived five weeks, and also of the one that lived five
days. I followed the one that lived five weeks to the grave
at Bow Cemetery myself, but the one that lived five days
Mr. Canham's man took away.
The Coroner directed the witness to go with one of the
officers and examine the clothing found in some of the
coffins.

John Holley said he resided at Orange-row, Charlotte-
street, Whitechapel, and is an undertaker. Had conducted
funerals that parish many years, and was accustomed to
bury at Whitechapel Church stillborn children up to within
two years. When he had a funeral of a stillborn he used to
consign the body to a man of the name of Smith, belltoller
and gravedigger.
Coroner—You don't call that burying them at White-
chapel Church ?
Witness—Smith used to fetch the bodies of stillborn
children from my place, and I used to give him the certifi-
cate, and 2s. 6d. to pay the sexton. I also gave him some-
thing for himself as porter or messenger. I don't know
whether the bodies were buried by Smith or not. I have
my suspicion now that they were not. I have sometimes
seen Wilkinson, the sexton, and he has sent Smith, the
gravedigger, to me for the body. He has done so many
times. I have taken bodies to the church myself and deli-
vered them to Mr. Wilkinson, but more usually they were
delivered to Smith. 1 should say I have delivered them to
Wilkinson at the church about four years. I have not
buried other children at Whitechapel Church since the pass-
ing of the Interment Act, 6or 7 years. _ _

By the Jury—We paid 2s. 6d. at Whitechapel, and we
could get them buried at Whitcliffe Chapel for ls. 6d. We
have kept children, stillborns, sometimes 3 months. The
certificates are sometimes signed by midwives. We take
any woman signing a certificate as a "midwife." I think
the Legislature is very wrong with regard to the facilities
for burying stillborn children.
Sarah Allen re-called—Had examined the clothing, and
identified a piece of calico in the coffin which had the name
on it. The coffin for the one which had lived five days was
covered with cloth.

Samuel Wilkinson, the sexton, on being handed the book
to be sworn, appeared much excited, and said—l am inno-
cent of this charge, so help me God.
Coroner—Do not go on in that way. No one has charged
you, that I am aware of.
He was then sworn, and said—l have been sexton of
Whitechapel 27 years next January. I formerly, as sexton,
received the bodies of stillborn children for interment. The

last one, I believe, I had in the beginning of this spring,
which had a certificate signed by Mr. Blackman. I have
never been in the habit of receiving them from Mr. Willey
and other undertakers. I will swear I never received any
in my life from Mr. Willey. He never came to me to tell
me he had a "stillborn" to bury.
Coroner—Do you know Mr. Hicks, an undertaker?
Witness—l cannot say I do. I knew Mr. Canham, but
I never had an thing to do with him. I mean he never
brought any stillborn children to be buried at the church to
ray knowledge. I knew William Smith, who used to work
in the yard. He is dead. I never sent him to Mr. Willey's
to fetch the stillborn children. I never did so in my life
I should say that very few, not above 3 or 4, stillborn chil-
dren have been buried during the last lye years at White•
chapel Church.

Coroner—you don't mean to tell the Court that you have
only had three or four during the last five years,
-Witness—On my oath I have not.
Coroner—Where are the certificates?
Witness—l don't know. I don't keep them. I don't file
them. I don't know that Mr. Mahoney signed certificates.
When a child was brought to be buried there was always a
certificate that it was a stillborn child. I never received a
midwife's certificate in my life. I never buried a child with
a "female" midwife's certificate. (Laughter.) I might do
so now. I always buried the children in Whitechapel-
churchyard. The four or five I have alluded to have been
buried in separate graves. I receive as a fee half-a-crown
with each stillborn. I don't know how it is regulated or
who regulates the fees. If they are very poor we get ls. 6d.
I keep that fee, and do not account for it, or pay it over to
the churchwardens. As sexton it is my duty to keep the
keys and custody of the church and churchyard. I have
nothing at all to do with the key of the tower or steeple.
The keys of the tower are kept in the church porch going
up to the steeple. Others have a key of the churchyard
and not the church. The churchwardens have.
Coroner—There have been 14 remains of bodies found in
the church, and I want your explanation of how these bodies
could get there without your knowledge.

Witness—That is ♦ery easy. There are a great many
people come to chime the bells and practising. I am all
about the church, and persons might carry coffins up there
with children in them without my knowledge. I open the
church in the morning and close it at night. I know nothing
about these bodies which have been found in the roof. 1
have only one key to the church. No one could go through
the churchyard if the gates were closed without going
through my house, and I should not let them do so without
my knowing their business. There are the pew-openers
cleaning there two or three times a week.
Coroner—On your oath you tell the Court yon do not know
how these bodies came into the church?

Witness—On ray oath I do not. When the first coffin
was found and the man told me, I thought he was joking;
but when he showed it to me I told him to put it where he
found it, and I went and reported it to the churchwarden.
By the Coroner—l gave the other certificates when bodies
were buried to the clerk. I did not do so with regard to
still-borns, because there was no necessity for it, but I kept
money for them. (Laughter.)
By the Jury—I never was in the roof or belfry in the
church in my life till this discovery. My appointment is
Hadi t t 1 e a
bell ringer
d been
an annual one.
bels.H d a
Wm. Shipman said he has been steeple-keeper and bell-
man of Whitechapel Church since Prince Albert died. He
used to
work there
thereprio five
r t ot that
years,ila chimingsnd we n t theup
and down there, when a boy, 45 years ago. Had had the
run of the church since Prince Albert died. Had a key of
the outer gate, which Mr. Corner, chief bell ringer, gave
him, and usually found the key of the belfry on a ledge in
the porch. When he used to go to ring what they called the
breakfast bell on Sunday mornings, he had to go to Mr. Wi-
lkinson's for the key. He did not get up very early. Did not
suppose gentlemen like him did get up veryearly. (A. laugh.)
Knew Smith, the gravedigger, and rang a death peal for
him ; that was about two years ago. There had been no
gravedigger
since been there, and would swear that, to his
knowledge, there had been no grave opened there either for
a still born or any other person since Prince Albert died.
By the Coroner—I have never seen any undertaker's
black bag with small coffins in it since I have been there. I
never saw tho eight of a single one, and I never took in a
still born child to be buried. I have heard that bodies have
but I know nothing of
been found • the roof of the church,
how they came there. I never saw Smith bring any bodies
there. I was connected with undertakers years ago, but
they paid so badly that i thought I might as well walk
about the streets for nothing as work for nothing.
I used to
door,
go for the key of the church to Mr. 'Wilkinson's back
and the servant sometimes gave it to me.
Walter Varcoe said he resided at 2, Spital-s Mile-
endtreet Old Town, and was an undertaker in the employ of Mr.
Holly and Mr- Hanes, in Hunt-etreet,and other underta cers,
for 30 years. It was the practice of some undertakers to
keep still borns till they got four or five, and sometimes as
many as a dczen, and then take them to be buried. He had
known a dozen taken to Ilford at once. Whilst with Mr.
Holly he used to bury still borns at Whitechapel Church.
He left Mr. Holly two years and a half ago. He knew Mr.
Wilkinson, the sexton. He never took still-borns there
himself. They were all taken away by a man named Smith,
who is now dead. Never had any conversation with
Wilkinson about still-borns being buried at Whitechapel
Church; When he had still •borns he used to call on Smith ,

to see if he could find him about the ground, and when he
did so he used to tell him that there were some still-borne
waiting for him to fetch away,

The Rev. Mr. Cohen, the rector of Whitechapel, here in-
quired what was to be done with the bodies, as they wished
to get them removed, so that the church might be got ready
for the morning's service.

The Coroner said they might be removed into a vault or
up into the belfry again, but it was most essential that they
should be placed in some place of security, as well as of
easy access ; or at all events that those which had dresses
should have them handy, as they might lead to identify and
throw some light on who had charge of the bodies.
It was arranged that they should be removed, under su-
pervision of the police inspector present.
Evidence of Varcoe continued—I never saw Mr Wilkin-
son when I went to look after Smith. When Smith fetched
the " stills " he sometimes brought a black bag and some-
times a sack. I have seen him remove as many as four at
one time. I should say he could not smuggle them into
the belfry without being seen.

By the Coroner—lt is always usual to have a certificate
from a medical man or midwife for burial of a still-born
child. We should take it as a certificate from a midwife
whether it was true that the party signed it or not.
Coroner—ln your 30 years' experience do you know of it
being the fact, that bodies which are sometimes left with
undertakers for burial don't get buried at all ?

Witness—Such things might have taken place, but they
have not come under my knowedge personally.
Coroner--When a child is brought with a certificate as a
" still-born," do you or the undertakers exercise any super-
vision to see if it is " still •born" or not ?

Witness—Sometimes people come and say they have a
"still-born" to bury, and they get the shell, and bring the
body back to be buried, and it is taken aa " still-born "
without any further inquiry.
By the Coroner—Supposing it is found not to be a "still-
born," then we should refuse to bury it without the regular
fees. It would be 9s. 6d. at the Victoria, and 2s. 6d. if a still-
born. I have no doubt that many children are buried as
"still-born" which are not still-born.

Joseph Corner said he resided at 6, Newland-place,
Bishopsgate, and was a labourer. Had been employed as
gravedigger in several burial grounds. Never received any
still-born children at Whitechapel Church while ho dug
graves there, which was about three years ago. All he had
to do was to dig graves in the ground.
The Coroner said they had now got as far as they could
with their inquiry that day, and he was free to confess the
evidence they had as yet heard threw but very little light
upon the fact of how these bodies got into the place where
they were found. The dresses, however, in which some of
the bodies were placed might, however, be identified, and
throw some light upon it, if they adjourned, and trace out
the party or parties who put them there. He proposed,
therefore, to adjourn for a week.
After some discussion the inquiry was adjourned till
Saturday next.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

SATIIIIDAY REVIEW.—The extraordinary dulness
of the Summer Assizes, was, to some extent, re-
lieved by the trial about Campden House—a
trial of considerab:e interest to that numerous
class who insure their houses and their furni-
ture. The case in itself was interesting, and it
was doubly interesting as showing the sort of
grounds on which the managers of two lead-'
inginsurance offices thought it right and decent to
charge people, not merely with arson, but with
arson committed under circumstances which
in-
volved the moral guilt of a triple murder of the most
horrible character. If Mr. Wolley really converted
his house into a sort of infernal machine, and set i
fire to t without taking any precautions against the
destruction of the Temples, he undoubtedly com-
mitted a crime infinitely more atrocious than the
common run of murders. The verdict of the jury
having. cleared his character from this diabolical
gui.'t,.it becomes matter of something more than.
warranted in i
curiosity to see what were the grounds on which
the two companies in question considered themselves
C. ampden House occurred between three and four
in the morning of the 23d of March, 1862, when
of age. In his
Imputing it to him. The fire at
the house itself and its contents were destroyed.
The tenant of the house, Mr. Wolley, was 45 years
from the offensive and impertinent cross-examina-
tion to. which the defendants thought proper. to sub-
jectwaiter, a clerk, youth he had been, as we learn.
. him, in what people call " an uncertain posi-
tion. ;" that is, he had been something between a
1847 he married a Miss Coape, who, as well as
her younger sister, had a fortune of £30,000. In
and an actor—a little of each. In
1854, he bought a 99 years' lease of Campden House,
and in 1855 he let it to Colonel Waugh, and he went
himself to live at 'l'onbridge Castle. Whilst there,
his wife was accidently drowned during her hus-
band's absence, and after her death the younger
sister continued to live with her brother-in-law.
Each of these ladies appear to have entered fully
into Mr. Wolley's tastes. He laid out the whole of
his wife's fortune in buying, furnishing, end orna-
menting the house. Nearly 116,000 out of the
fortune of his eister•in-law, was spent in the
same manner. The family lived on the income
of the rest of her property. The house itself
would appear from the evidence to have been
a sort of old curiosity shop. It
.was full of
curious carvings, ornamental ceilings, pictures, rich
carpets, gildings, chandeliers, and all manner of
other things of the kind. Mr. Wolley carried his
taste so far that he once bought an estate in Essex
for £1,300, and sold it again for £9OO, merely for
the sake of being able to remove some rich carvings
which it contained, and which thus cost him £4OO.
In short the description of the house and its con-
tents is exactly like that which Balzac gives in his
novels of the dwellings of such monomaniacs as
Cousin Pons or Balthasar Claes. The use to which
this remarkable house was pat was that of giving
splendid parties, at many of which amateur plays
were acted. One lady said, " There were large as-
semblies there very frequently, and theatrical en-
tertainments, perhaps 20 in the season." " There
would be sometimes 300 or 400 people there at as-
sembliee and concerts." The plays seem, for the
most part, to have been for the benefit of charitable
institutions. The last season of the splendour of
Campden House was that of 1861, after which Mr.
Wolley and Miss Coape went down to a small
appear to have lived
till the time should come round
likehou seetahter Brighton,peepie where they
again for a new set of festivities. Early in March
Mr. Wolley returned from Brighton to Campden
House with his servant Crozier, whom he was ob-
liged to have constantly near him because he was
subject to epileptic fits. A carpenter and builder,
named Temple, whom Mr. Wolley had kept
years, was taking
con-
stantlycare
eef
thein hhiesuseemaptlotyhefor manytime,
with his wife and son ;
and there, according to the theory of the defendants,
Mr. Wolley and Crozier spent three weeks in deli-
berately preparing to burn down the house, with
the Temples in it—a plan which, the Insurance
Company assert, was duly carried into execution.
Certainly all the antecedent probabilities of the
matter are flegantly °PPesed to this view of the case.
The particular facts which the defendants deemed
sufficient to support the theory that Mr. Wolley
did burn his house, notwithstanding all this, were
that he carefully prepared the house for burning—
that he hung the walls with paper, put tapestry
over the windows to conceal the flames during the
early part of the fire, varnished the wainscoting,
and laid out the books on the tables as if to dry.
It was admitted that there were plausible 4‘ pre-
texts" for all this—that the varnishing was natural
enough, that the paper was said to have been hung
up over the varnished wainscots for the sake or
keeping off dirt and insects, that the tapestry
.was
hung against the light in order that the holes in it
might be easily seen and conveniently mended, and
that the books might have been opened to dry. It
was said, of course, there would be pretexts, but
here there were "striking coincidences. If it was
an accident, it was the most wonderful that ever.
occurred ; there was the varnishing and repairing of
tapestry and the drying of books, and the covering
up of walls all happening at the same time.', 1. his
is the sort of argument which may be excused in a
counsel who has a weak case, bat it is astonishing
that cool men of business should act upon such
absurdly frivolous reasoning. There is about as
mach marvel in this coincidence as in the coinci-
dence between taking up the carpets, whitewashing
the ceiling, and putting brown-holland covers on
the furniture, which may usually be observed when
a family goes out of town. The simple fact is, that
each of these operations was connected with setting
the house to rights, and all; therefore, would natur-
ally take place at the same time. Besides this there
is something monstrous in the notion of a man carry-
ing out all these designs under the eyes of domestic
spies who would hale it in their power to bear wit-
ness against him, and whose absence he might easily
have procured. The presence of the Temples in the
house was barely consistent with the theory of the
defendants. This was (after recapitulating. the
evidence) the substance of the case. It is curious to
see bow little it comes to when it is put together.
There is not in the whole range of the evidence a
single tact which really proves any one of the
elements of such a crime as was imputed to Mr.
\Volley. There is no proof of motive, no proof of
preparation, no proof of execution. There are
isolated facts which, if you choose to begin by
assuming that there was a crime at all, point out
the way in which it was committed. Assume
that Mr. \Volley did burn his house fraudulently,
and the different facts proved will no doubt bear the
construction put upon them by the companies ;
but there is nothing whatever to compel that con-
elusion, though they might suggest it to persons
whose interest and, to some extent, whose duty it is
to be suspicions. The case is a good instance of the
nature of suspicion as distinguished from proof ;
and, we may add, it is a striking example of the

extent to which suspicion may be made to do duty
in place of proof. A Court of Justice was occupied
for a whole week in listening to " evidence" which
it did not need two minutes' deliberation to stamp
as utterly frivolous and worthless. The fact that
the jury found a verdict for the plaintiff on the
instant, without leaving their box, furnishes a suffi-
cient comment on a proceeding which is probably
unexampled, and which, it may be hoped, is little
likely to be regarded by Insurance Companies as a
precedent for imitation.
SPECTATOR.—The report, for it is only a report,
that the Czar is willing to reconstitute the Grand
Duchy of Warsaw under an Imperial Lieutenant, is
in itself an important testimony to the strength of
the insurrection. Three years ago the Poles only
claimed to be governed as an independent province.
Provided their religion were respected, the right of
educating themselves conceded, the relations of
nobles and peasants amicably settled, and industrial
enterprise encoure reed, the party of progress, headed
by Count Andre Z anoiski, desired nothing more for
years to come. They knew Europe was weary of
the Polish question, they desponded of their owa
strength, and in spite of the Czar's unworthy speech
atWarsaw—"l shall know how to be severe"—they
believed that the tyranny of Nicholas could never
be renewed. They had yet to learn that a weak,
well-meaning man, with such creatures as Wielo-
polski, Gortechakoff, and Mouravieff, might be more
fatal to his subjects than the sovereign whose sole
faith had beeteihis own divinity. Since the massacre
of Feb., 1861, when the Russian soldiers fired on a
peaceful and unarmed multitude, the Government of
St. Petersburg has pursued a relentless policy of ex-
tinction. It menaced the clergy, closed the churches,
suppressed schools, and made a state of siege the
police of the country. Under the Grand Duke
Constantine the last outrage on national self-respect
was perpetrated. It was resolved to press all the
energy and intelligence of the country into the ser-
vice of its oppressors. Then, and then only, it was
decided by the majority of a single vote in the
Central Committee of the National Government
that the conscripts had better die fighting against
Russia than in her ranks. No Pole at that time
expected the results which have actually been
achieved. The single hope that seemed probable,
that of foreign intervention, has been painfully
disappointed. But, through a number of unfore-
seen circumstances, a singularly mild winter, the
incredible negligence of the Russian generals at the
outset, the demoralisation of the troops, and the un-
precedented union of different classes iu Poland, the
insurrection has maintained itself and spread. Russia
at this moment has 250,000 men in the kingdom
and the old provinces, has sent even the Guards
from St. Petersburg, and has decreed a fresh levy
in the two-thirdsiof her empire that can be trusted.
She has had from the first the cordial support of
Prussia, equivalent at least to an additional corps
d armee, and latterly something more than neu-
trality from Austria. Her military governors, once
roused, have acted with vigour, and, setting aside
Lithuania as the theatre of an exceptional monster
—Mouravieff, the results of the last year are suffi-
ciently startling. In Warsaw, a fourth of the
population is said to be in arms, killed, or trans-
ported ; in the district of Lublin, one of the best
governed, one hundred gentlemen have been im-
prisoned, and iu Kalisch only a few are out of
prison. Con fiscations, flogging, hanging, sometimes
even burning alive, have been episodes in the ter-
rible struggle. At the end of eight months the
National Government is more firmly organised than
ever, dismisses officials, interrupts railway commu-
nication, forbids taxes to be paid except to itseif,
and, unhappily, is even able to retaliate death on
the secret agents of the enemy. Its troops, in spite
of official bulletins, occupy the country, and the
Russians hold not an inch between Warsaw and
Galicia on which they are not in force
enough to give battle. The Imperial trea-
sury is so nearly exhausted that silver is
nowhere seen except in Warsaw, and the salaries
of the chief officials have been unpaid for months.
Of course, this state of things may be altered at
any moment. Men without drill, without muni-
tions of war, without regular encampments, and
without hospitals, are at terrible disadvantage
against the chances of battle or disease. Neverthe-
less, the last reports say that the insurgents have
been victorious at Janow and threaten Lublin. It
is at this moment that the Russian Government,
bankrupt of money and men, and painfully con-
scious of the loathing it excites in Europe, pro•
poses to quiet the revolt by an offer of provisional
independence. It is as if George 111. bad proposed,
after the convention of Saratoga. that the Ameri-
cans should disarm on condition of being allowed to
tax themselves. The imprisonment or death of
40.000 men and women may seem a very small
thing to the Court of Peterhoff—hat it leaves memo-
ries that are not easily effaced among the suffering
people.
LONDON PEVIEW.—It can scarcely be said that
the conquest of Mexico is yet complete, or the new
form of government fully established, or the future
Emperor irrevocably chosen. It may be that the
French may still find much work before them, ere
their self-imposed task be thoroughly accomplished.
Minor guerilla chiefs may refuse to submit, and
may continue to give considerable trouble—brigan-
dage, and faction may retard for some time longer
the final reduction and pacification of the country ;
and it is possible, though not probable, that on
looking more closely at the prospect before him, the
Sovereign elect, the Archduke Maximilian, may be
induced to decline the Imperial throne. Still we
cannot apprehend that any of these possibilities will
materially affect the ultimate result. We may be
quite sure that Louis Napoleon will not draw back
from an enterprise which is now so nearly com-
pleted, and which cost him so much. France cans
not afford to be baffled, and is not accustomed to
put up with failure and defeat, even in expedi-
tions which are not or were not popular ; and
if the Austrian prince should finally prefer a quiet
life at home to the splendid temptations of grati-
fied ambition, other less cautious, and perhaps less
eligible candidates, will no doubt be found. The
idea of erecting a monarchical government in Mex-
ico did not originate with the French Emperor.
the
best than twenty years ago it was felt by
best and ablest dictator Mexico ever had, Santa
Anna, that the elements of a permanent and tin
vigo-
rous democratic administration did not .e
that country, and could not be created,
anarchy
andex that
her only means of escape from ceaseless
and utter ruin would be found in the establishment
of an autocracy, and the selection of a European
prince. All that was sensible and educated among
the Mexican people felt as Santa _°_nna did. A ne-
gotiation, with the VOW' of bringing about such a
result was (about 1842, we believe) entered into
with the chief powers of Europe, and their sanc-
tion and co-operation were requested. The plan
was favourably received, . and matters even went
so far that the crown wasinformally tiered to the
Archduke Frederick, and not refused either. by
him or by the Court of Vienna.. But the United
States threatened violent opposition, and the har-
mony which at one time had reigned among the
potentates of the old world was disturbed ; Santa
Anna fell from power ; and the schem e fell into
abeyance. It was, however, in the main, too natu-
ral and judicious not to be sure of revival on the
first favourable opportunity; and having been now
taken up and acted on by so resolute a Sovereign as
Louis Napoleon, we may fairly assume that, under
some modification or other, and under some chief
or other, Mexico will become a settled state, with
an imperial regime, and under the protection and
enforcement of a French army of occupation. It
remains for consideration how far and in what man-
ner this stupendous change will affect the ulti-
mate position and policy of the two great
divisions of what was once the United States. In
the first place a crushing blow has been struck at the
" Monroe doctrine," and that by the only Power
with which the propounders of that doctrine never
seem inclined to quarrel—perhaps because it is the
only one which is always ready to take up any
gauntlet. That insolent declaration, which assumed
to forbid not only the establishment or intervention
of any European power, but the erection of mon-
archical government, on any portion of the vest
continent of North America, was of itself preten-
tious in the extreme, and could find nothing either
in the claims of justice or the ultimate welfare of
the human race to warrant or excuse it. It was only
a few years since European and monarchical autho-
rity had been compelled, in the era of its feebleness,
to relax its hold on some of the fairest and most fer-
tile and most extensive regions of that continent. It
became year by year more obvious that republican
institutions were utterly unsuited to the dwellers in
those countries which, though they had succeeded
in throwing off the yoke of Spain, showed them-
selves quite unable to utilise or to maintain the free-
dom they had gained ; and that the continued
attempt could only insure a long period of suffering
and turbu ence'end a final result of complete degene-
racy and exhaustion. This, however, was of course
what the United States foresaw and desired. They
hoped, and with reason, that if they could only
warn off European aid and monarchical vigour long
enough from the emancipated colonies of Soain,
these would fall into their grasp as soon as they
were ready to take possession, and would, indeed,
be s 9 wretched in their existing condition as to wel-
come any foreign conqueror who would rescue them
and rule them. Mexico especially was marked as
the first prey of the all-devonring Republic of the
West, which bad already desolated her in two wars,
and snatched from her an enormous slice of terri-
tory by a shameless mixture of force and fraud.
The establishment of a settled and strong Govern-
ment in Mexico, under the protection of a first-
class European power, to be recognised by the rest
of Europe as a mutter of courtesy and right, as soon
as the establishment is COU3,l?let?, IS therefore to