The Sun.
London, England, 1865-11-15 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.—This Day.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—This Day.

The Paris Exhibition of 1867.

COURT OF DIVORCE.
(Before the Judge Ordinary.)
, GINGER T. GINGER.

This was a petition for dissolution of marriage presented
by the wife against her husband.
The evidence was of a very immoral character, not
being sufficient to clearly establish the allegations in the
petition, and it was dismissed.

EXTRAORDINARY IMPOSTURE.

FEE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, NOVEMBER 15, 1865.

PARIS, Nov. 13.

The Minister of Public Instruction has addressed
a report to the Emperor, dated Nov. 8, recommend-
ing that, in the Paris International Exhibition of
1867, there should be a representation of the pro-
gress made by the moral and political sciences in
France during the last 20 years, by means of a series
of reports from eminent men upon the several
branches of these subjects.
The Minister's report is as follows :
" Sire,—The idea of periOdical exhibitions is en-
tirely French. It dates from Louis XIV. for the
fine arts, from the Revolution for trade, and France,
after having given it to the world, has unceasingly
enlarged its proportions in order to render it more
fruitful. As far back as 16 years ago, sire, you
wished to invite all the nations to these grand so-
lemnities. It was England who realised this idea,
and saw the first International Exhibition. The
palace in Hyde-park only received in 1851 objects
furnished by nature herself or by human industry.
In 1855 the Emperor decided that the two previous
French exhibitions should be united. Art was placed
side by side with manufactures. Amid the magni-
ficence displayed in London in 1862, it was recog-
nised that the most precious instrument of labour
was still man, and that the productive value of the
workman would be increased by augmenting his in-
tellectual value. The English commission created a
special class of popular instruction with this same
object ; the imperial commission has just established
two. But international exhibitions tend to become
the complete representation of modern society in all
its modes of activity. After having placed art by
the side of manufactures, which it embellishes and
elevates, your Majesty wished to place pure science
near the applications, which are only its outward
manifestations. While the Emperor directs the study
of the question which will lead to the discovery of
that organisation which, since the destruction of
corporations, the mercantile world has been con-
stantly seeking, you desire, sire, that it be demanded
of the moral and political sciences what they have
produced to ameliorate the state of society ; and of
French literature what it has done to elevate the
soul of the nation. The way of realising this idea
is simple. Let the Emperor deign to authorise the
Minister of Public Instruction to be an
exhibitor. If his productions occupy a small
space under a very modest form, they will none the
less attract attention ; and I do not hesitate to say
that several will survive the triumphs of their more
brilliant neighbour,3, since the one much more than
the other expresses the mind of France. I have al-
ready secured the support of eminent men, who will
describe in a series of reports, bearing their signa-
ture, in order that each may have the honour, as
the responsibility, of his work :-1. The progress
accomplished in France in the mathematical, physi-
cal, and natural sciences during the last 20 years—
that is to say, since the era of the great exhibitions.
2. The progress accomplished by the moral and po-
litical sciences in their application to the necessities
of society. 3. The part fulfilled by French literature,
which should be studied less in point of form, which
is the mission of literary criticism, than in its effects
upon the general education of the country. At the
Exhibition palace, in the midst of those material
products, which are a pledge of national welfare, the
liberal arts can only enter by showing that they
bring to a people not only noble amusement, but
moral strength and dignity. The Emperor, whose
solicitude extends from the simple teaching of the
infant school to the highest speculations of science,
cannot give a more useful encouragement to thelat-
ter than this picture of the efforts, the greatness, and
even in certain points the defects, of the mind of
France. If foreign nations thought fit to make a
similar examination of themselves, it would no
longer only be by the invention of each that all would
profit. By a comparison of the progress accom-
plished in various parts in scientific and moral order,
every people would enter the path of fresh progress,
the level of civilisation would rise, and an addi-
tional guarantee would be given for the peace of
the world.—l am, &c.,

" V. DURUM,
The Minister of Public Instruction.
(Approved) " NAPOLEON."

A Self-Accused Murderess at Middlesbro%

One of the most extraordinary cases of imposture
that has come under our notice for some time has
just occurred at South Stockton, where the police
have been imposed upon by a young woman, who
has proved herself a thorough adept in deception.
On Saturday evening last one of the officers of the
South Stockton force, whilst in Mandale-lane,
near the town, found a young woman of rather
respectable appearance, who seemed to be greatly
distressed. The officer inquired what was the mat-
ter, but her replies were at first vague and unsatis-
factory. At length she told him she had taken a
quantity of tincture of saffron to procure a miscar-
riage, and, as she really appeared to be very ill, a
vehicle was procured, and she was conveyed to the
police station. Here she repeated her story,
and Mr. J. Lailer, surgeon, was sent for, and
the drug not having been successful in effecting
its pretended function, she seemed to get better
slowly under medical care. In a day or two
she seemed restored to good health, and she
gave the people the startling intelligence that she
was a murderess, having strangled and thrown the
infant child into the river. She said she had been
living for a week with a man at Middlesbro', who
had left her, and that on the morning of last
Saturday week she took her female child, aged
twelve months, down to the ferry landing at
Middlesbro', and after strangling it she threw it
into the river, from the pontoon bridge. The cir-
cumstantial account she gave of the occurrence
led everybody to believe her extraordinary
statement, but no child could be found. On Thurs-
day she was taken before the magistrates at Yarm,
charged, on her own confession, with the offence,
but she was remanded. Inquiries have been made
by the police as to her antecedents, and it turns
out she is a well-known impostor. She gave the
name of Mary Ann Taylor Ward, and that she came
from Stafford, but this was untrue. She is a native
of Burslem, in the Staffordshire Potteries, and her
proper name is Mary Hutton. At the Quarter
Sessions, at Stafford, in October, 1863, she was
convicted in the name of Mary Ann James, alias
Taylor, alias 'Williams, of being an incorrigible
rogue and vagabond, after being before convicted
of a similar offence, and was then sentenced to
twelve months' imprisonment. She had also been
found at Wolverhampton, crying in the streets,
threatening to destroy herself, saying she had
come from Burslem with a young man, who,
after giving her a drug to procure abortion, had
deserted her. On another occasion she charged
three men with having committed a rape upon
her, when there was not the slightest ground for the
charge. In May, 1863, she was found at Eccles-
hall, in Staffordshire, on a Sunday morning,
when she appeared to be in such a state that a
county magistrate and a magistrates' clerk were sent
for out of church to take her dying depositions. In
November last she was taken up at Blakenhall,
Cheshire, when she pretended she had heen delivered
of a child, and had thrown it into a pit, and that she
had taken poison. These are only a few of her ex-
ploits which might be narrated. All who saw her
before this information was received were so de-
ceived by her artless manner as to express their
deepest pity for her condition. She is believed to
be the same person who some time ago kept the
police of four places all at one time making inqui-
ries into her pretended murders of her babes. She
will no doubt be sent to prison again as a rogue and
vagabond, and thus be kept for a time at least
from imposing on the public with her shameful
practices.

In the Foreign and Colonial Produce Markets
during the last few days there has not been much
animation. Sugars, however, have been in better
request, and prices have slightly improved. A
steady demand has prevailed for tea at fully late
rates, while a considerable business has been done
in rice, chiefly for home consumption, at slightly
higher prices. Tallow has been in more request,
and prices have shown an upward tendency,