The Sun.
London, England, 1865-09-20 00:00:00

MARYLEBONE.

ASSAVLTIXG A WlFE.—Charles Taylor, an upholsterer,
was charged with assaulting his wife.
Earwatter, 364 D, said he was called last night to a house
in Grosvenor-place, St. John's-wood, where he saw the
prisoner's wife bleeding from the mouth and her lips much
swollen. Her husband came down and was very drunk,
and the wife gave him into custody for striking her.
Elizabeth Taylor, the wife, a most respectable-looking
woman, stated when she went home last night her husband
was breaking the furniture. She remonstrated with him,
when he said he would knock her - head off. She was
leaving the room when he struck her a violent blow in the
mouth with his fist.

In reply to Mr. Yardley, the wife said she had been mar-
ried 18 years, and her husband had often assaulted her. Ht
had been twice here for assaulting her, but she did uol
then appear against him. There was now a warrant oul
against him.
Mr. Yardley sentenced him to six weeks' hard labour.

CRIMINAL COURT.—This Day.
a
OLD COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Sliee.)
THE MURDER OF MAJOR DE WERE.

John Currie, 19, soldier, was indicted for the wilful mur-
der of Francis Horatio De Vere, an officer in the Royal
Engineers.
The prisoner, who was defended by Mr. Sleigh, pleaded
not guilty.
The Solicitor-General appeared for the prosecution, and
stated the case against the prisoner. The evidence in this
case has already been reported at groat length in The Sun.
It will be recollected that the prisoner was a private in
the Royal Engineers, and the unfortunate gentleman was
an officer in the same corps. On the 11th of August
last Major De Vero was in front of the troops on
parade in front of the barracks at Brompton, • near
Chatham, and very shortly after a report of a ritie
was heard to• proceed from house K, and the next
moment Major De Vero fell, mortally wounded, into the
arms of a brother officer standing near him at the time.

The rifle was discovered to have been fired from an upper
window in the barracks, and when the room was entered
the prisoner was found, and when ho was asked if he had
just discharged his rifle, he said " Yes." He was told that
3lajor Do Vere had been shot, and that ho was charged
with committing the act, when he replied, " All right." Ho
was then taken into custody, and examined before the magis-
trates at Chatham, and from time to time remanded until
the death of 3tajor De Vere took place. Constable Everst,
from time to time, reported the state of the unfortunate gen-
tleman to the prisoner, and when he was told that his com-
manding officer was dead, and that he would in conse-
quence be charged with wilful murder, the prisoner, on
hearing this, replied, "I did it. I think I-did-right, and I
gloried in it. The major was a thief, a rogue, and a

,yrant."
The evidence having been heard,

➢ir. Sleigh addressed the jury for the prisoner. He said
would ill become him to impress on the jury the immense
mportance of the issue of the trial of the prisoner, but he
elt that before he concluded his observations he should
how that at the time the prisoner committed the net he

_ .
was an irresponsible agent, as he was at the time labour-
ing under temporary insanity. Many Of .the jury, he felt
perfectly satisfied, amongst their circle of acquaintances,
.must have observed many_peculiar acts done without
the slightest reason. The whole conduct of
the prisoner, according to his view of the case,
showed clearly that, ho was labouring under a
sudden attack of madness, and that during that period he
did the act which unhappily resulted in the death of his
commanding officer. Having selected several instances to
illustrate the theory of sudden .insanity, he said there was.

one which unfortunately was too well known to require
.my observations. It was that of the lament 3d death of Aumi

:al Fitzroy, who suddenly became afflicted with mental deli-
rium, and in that condition lie put an end to his existence,
to the great loss of his country, which had so much bme-
!Red by his groat learning and attainments. lie did not
think there was a single person in court who would have ex-

pected that that accomplished gentleman would have coin-
.nitted self-destruction, but that event had unfortunately for
science occurred, and he could not but think that was a fact
which illustrated most conclusively the view he had taken of
the prisoner. The proposition that he intended to submit to
the jury was, that if the prisoner did the act under an un-
controlled morbid impulse, which his mental condition at
the time did not enable him to control, he ought to be re-

garded as an irresponsible agent. This proposition the
learned gentleman, in a lengthened and eloquent speech,
urged upon the attention of the jury, and concluded his
observations by saying that if the jury thought the pri-
soner at the bar was guilty of a foul, deliberate, and un-
provoked murder, it would be needless to invoke mercy.
Ile did not appeal to their passions, but he relied
on their calm and dispassionate judgment, and

in that judgment he had an abiding faith. The
result of their decision, if favourable to the prisoner, would
not have the effect of setting him at liberty, but it would
cause him to be placed in a place of safety for the remainder
of his life, where he would be prevented from continuing
Lets dangerous to himself or any other person. If they
thought the wretched man at the bar committed this
Ireadful deed, bereft for the moment of the reason his God
had given him, they would throw around .him the mantle
of their protection.

The Solicitor-General rose to reply to the observations
of Mr. Sleigh, but that gentleman objected to his right to
do so.

The learned judge, however, intimated that the Solief-
:or-General had a right to reply if he thought proper to do

The Solicitor-General said he was induced to rise by
reason of certain observations of his learned friend, which
he thought dangerous to the alministration of justice and
to every member of society. The learned counsel wished
it to appear that the prisoner was an irresponsible agent ;
but where was his evidence ? He produced none ; and

although he had cited the opinion of certain mad
doctors, yet juries had, in many instances, differed
from the vi3ws taken by those persons. He could not
come to the conclusion that the prisoner committed the act
nuder what the learned - gentleman" was pleas:Nl to call
homicidal impulse or monomania; and he thought the
effort made that day by 'the :earned gentleman was one of
the boldest attempts that had ever been made in that court
to set up a defence of insanity on the part of the accused.
He could only come to the conclusion thattheprisoner was
actuated by motives of revenge, and revenge was revenge
after all, call it by whatever term they please. It was
idle to talk about reaeon dethroned, intellect ba-
nished, and that kind of thing. In the case of
the prisoner was there• one circumstance that could
lead them to suck a conclusion ? He felt there was
not. Was there any delusion apparent when the pri-
soner said he had taken aim at the middle of the
major's back, and that it was a good shot. The remark
Was made with the greatest coolness and deliberation, added
to which the observation's that prisoner made at the same
time about the death of bit; mother, and the expression. of
his regret that his act (the shooting of Major De Yore)
would break his poor old father's heart, all showed most
conclusively, he thought, that the prisoner was as sane when
the shot was fired as any man in court. He should not have
troubled the "jury with these latter observations, but from
the circumstance that he thought the remarks which the
learned counsel had addressed to the jury in his character
of advocate for the prisoner imperilled the administration
of justice and the safety of society.
Mr. Justice Shoe havinq informed the
.jury upon the
various circumstances that would amount to the crime of
wilful murder, summed up the evidence, at the termination
of which

verdict, but after consulting for about a minute or so, the
The Clerk of Arraigns told the jury to consider their
foreman informed the Court they wished to retire, and they
accordingly left the court. The feeling in court appeared
to
pression on some of the jury, but the matter was soon set at
t f
Sleigh'st eloquent address had made an im-
pression
10 minutes the jury returned into
their
bohr in less
boa.

After their names had been called over, the clerk of the
arraigns asked whether they had considered their verdict.
The Foreman, in reply, said—Wo have.
The Clerk of the Arraigns—Do you find John Currie
pilty or not guilty of wilful murder ?
The Foreman—Guilty.
Proclamation for silence having been made while the
sentence of death was being passed,
Mr. Justice Shee said—Joha Currie you have boon found
guilty, upon evidence which can leave no doubt on the
mind of any reasonable man who has heard your trial, of
the crime of wilful murder; and it becomes my duty to pass
upon you the solemn sentence of the law. lam not bound
to do more than that, but I cannot refrain from doing
that which every Christian man owes to his fellow man
when placed in the position in which you stand, namely, to
that can posing, and that- feeling only, I must
oce :sibly be
ogteffilvelelyo.nt.h7 uWtbheiastithyaotnuhdalti:ftest useful advice
not delude yourself with any hope
of mercy hero on earth, as you will surely have to expiate
your crime, at least so far as you can do so on earth, by a
death on the scaffold. I beg of you to dovoto the time
that is still left you to endeavour, by prayer and
repentance, to make your peace with God. From
man you cannot hopo for mercy ; but I earnestly
beseech you to pray with your whole heart that you
may obtain mercy from Almighty God, whose forgive-
ness you must hope to obtain to save your ,immortal
soul. It now only remains for me to pass the sentence of
the law upon you, which is that you be taken from hence,
and delivered into the hands of the sheriff, and conveyed
to the county of Kent, and from thence you be taken to a
place of execution, and there hanged by the neck until
you are dead, and that your body
lin hi
bweacfhterywo'au errdwsolast
buried
confined,within t the
niidr epic ofinn;sthoLord
the
God Almighty of his infinite
upon
your soul.
The goodness
learned
rhaven delivered the dread sentence of the
e aed mercyjli Judge
law in the most solemn and impressive manner, yet at its
conclusion, althought Mr. Justice Sheo appeared overcome
with emotion, the prisoner coolly turned round upon his
heel i n h
militaryehead,style,
and with a careless kind of inclina-
tion of descended the.stairs which leads from the
t dock to the cells in Newgate With the greatest composure
and indifference.
The execution of Currie will, we believe, take place on
Chatham lines.

rates.

CHILD DROPPING EXTRAO R D INA RY. —Yesterday
morning information was .received by the police that
a male child had been dropped in the passage of the house
of Mr. Russell, pawnbroker, 38, Fore-street, Cripplogate.
The child was found by a customer who had occasion to
enter one of the private boxes. It is very decently clad,
and a paper was pinned to its breast, on which was writ-
ten " Tom Hume.' Information was also received that
another infant, a female, about one month old,-had been
dropped at the entrance to Rowland Hill's Chapel, at the
corner of Charlotte-street, Blackfriars-road.- The child is
clad very well, and, as. in the former case, a paper bearing
the following inscription Was fastened to its dress :—"This
Mary Anne Talboth: take great care of this child." A
third child, about six weeks old, was sent, packed in a
hamper, to Mr.Lascklin, shoemaker, Central-squa.re, by two
women, who met a youth in the street, and gave him le.
to take it there. The
.child znal) was-alive when.. the
hamper was opened, and began to cry luctily.. Largo
wards aro 95ered ign4o iiiVal.gision tiad
1114i0r.i.

MARK-LANE.

A small supply of home-grown wheat was received fi sh
up to our market to-day, in fair condition. On the wb ole,
the trade was steady, and the prices current on Mono"ay
were sustained. The supply of good and fine produce-% ►as
disposed of at full currencies.
With foreign wheat the market was well supplied. T 'he
amount of business transacted was very moderate ; neN rer-
theless prices ruled firm.

Enating cargoes of grain moved off slowly, at late

Barley was in short supply. The demand, however,
ruled quiet, at th 3 sates current on Monday. English pro-
duce varies in price from 25s to 40s per quarter.
The supply of oats on sale was tolerably large. Most
qualities were in steady request, and prices ruled fin,
Beaus wore in short supply and previous quotations were

supported.
The trade for pails ruled quiet, but at full prices. The
supply on offer was small.
The flour trade was quiet, on former terms.

AIIItIVALS THIS WEEK.
Wheat. Barley. Malt. Oats. Flour.
English and Scotch. 350 860 660 60 250
Irish
Foreign 9,660 2,290 25,060 220 sks.
brls.

COMPARATIVE QUANTITIES AND PRICES OF GRAIN.

For the week ending Sept. ' For the corresponding week
16, 1865. last year.
Qrs. Aver. Qrs. Av'er.
Wheat 62,44144s 7d Wheat 65,543-42s . 4d
Barley ..... .... 6,179-306 10d1 Barley ..... 5,316-32s ld
Oats

. BOROUGH HOP.
The supply of new English hops'on sale is tolerably
large. A fair business is doing at about previous rates.