The Sun.
London, England, 1853-07-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, WEDNESDAY EVENING, JULY 27, 1853.

try, bUt ready to give the benefit of his expe-
rience to each new President who may require
cramming before he can venture to address either
House of Parliament on a topic relating to the
department over which he presides. As this will
afford an opportunity of making a lasting pro-
vision for some Ministerial hanger-on, of satisfy-
ing the expectation of some one of the nu-
merous waiters on PROVIDENCE, and as Sir
CHARLES WOOD will have an influential voice
in the selection of the fortunate individual thus
satisfactorily shelved for life, we can easily con-
ceive the great value of the concession to the un-
conscionable natives, even if they should fail to
appreciate the inestimable benefit according to its
deserts.
After such liberal conduct there should be a
total cessation of agitation in the Presidencies.
Why should the inhabitants, native or British,
any longer complain of unprovoked and unjusti-
fiable wars consuming their resources, and leading,
to annual deficiencies in the Exchequer—an in-
ability to restrict the expenditure within the
revenue ? Why should the unreasonable Ryots
murmur at the lamentable deficiency of roads and
bridges, of harbours and public works, of vicious
and grinding tenures, or defective irriga-
tion ? Why should they look for any improve-
ment in their condition—for better diet than
a scanty supply of coarse rice flavoured with a
still more scanty and wholly inadequate propor-
tion of very bad and highly-taxed salt—of a rag
for a dress, and a mat for a bed ? Let him banish
such unwarrantable notions from his mind, and,
while living on one-and-a-half or two rupees per
month, exult in the thought that Sir CHARLES
WooD will henceforth receive 5,0001. sterling per
annum. Let him no longer groan at repeated
instances of extortion, peculation, chicanery, or
intrigue—of the scandalously defective adminis-
tration of justice— of the appointment of
Judges, who never held a brief, or witnessed
a trial before a competent tribunal—of an in-
adequate police force—of the almost total ab-
sence of public education—of the non-employ-
ment of natives—of the grinding Moturhha, or
tax on tools—of the nefarious salt monopoly, or
its certain effects upon their health and comfort—
for all these evils, for all these grievances, there
will henceforward be suitable remedies, for is not
Sir CHARLES WOOD to receive an additional salary
of 1,0001. per annum ! Is not some fortunate
protege of the Right Hon. Baronet to receive a
comfortable provision for life, by being made a
permanent fixture at Cannon-row ! ! Let them
at once, and for ever, forget their previous sor-
rows, and rejoice in the enlightened liberality of
the British Parliament, to which—on the propo-
sition of an independent Member, in which the
Government had no share, " Oh, no ! by no man-
ner of means !"—they are indebted for such ex-
ceedingly auspicious results, and for which they
should be truly and devotedly grateful hencefor-
ward and for ever.

Scarcely a day elapses, not an assize town is
visited, without an investigation taking place into
some heartrending case. of child-murder, where,
although we must feel the deepest horror at the
atrocious crime, we cannot help pitying and sym-
pathising with the wretched criminal. It is use-
less to deny the fact, that infanticide is fearfully
prevalent in England—and there is but too much
reason to suppose that the offence is on the in-
crease. The unfortunate and miserable creatures
who are brought to answer at the bar of a crimi-
nal tribunal for the highest crime known to the
law, and who, if convicted, may have to expiate
their guilt by a painful and ignominious death
upon the scaffold, are, generally speaking, young
girls, who, in an unguarded moment, have fallen
victims to the seducers' arts, and then deceived
and deserted, abandoned by those who should
afford protection and assistance in the dark hour
of distress and difficulty, violate the most sacred
law of nature—the love of a mother for her off-
spring—in the vain hope of hiding their shame,
or getting rid of the heavy expense for which
they have no means of providing. Cau we, under
such circumstances, wonder if Juries are anxious
to seize on any loophole that may enable them to
avoid returning a verdict for the capital felony,
or that even the most upright Judge may strain
a point to save the trembling wretch who stands
convulsed and agonised before him—combining
regret for her poor baby—dear to her heart even
at the very moment when she was inflicting the
fatal blow—with the terrors of the punishment
which she had justly merited.
None but those who have been similarly cir-
cumstanced can imagine the harrowing struggle
that takes place in the heart of one of those most
unfortunate amongst the very wretched. The
mingling of maternal affection with the horror of
discovery—the knowledge of the total destruction
to her future prospects, the disgrace and ignominy
of being pointed at as the unwedded mother,
all combine to drive her to a state of phrenzy,
and to induce her in a moment of reckless desper-
ation to stain her hands with blood !—the blood
of her own offspring—of the helpless being,
whom, under other circumstances, she would have
loved and cherished—for whom she would have
braved any danger, and with whom she would
joyfully have shared her last crust. The fair
young matron, proud and happy in the love of an
idolising husband, who sees in the young inheritor
of her beauties but an additional link in the chain
of affection, by which she is united to the partner
of her joys and sorrows, may shudder at the un-
natural monster who, a rebel to the first instinct
of nature, could lay violent hands upon her own
child. But when reflecting upon the ordeal
through which she has herself passed, when think-
ing of the severity of the trial she has herself
endured, although the severity had been miti-
gated by every alleviating circumstance--the care
of a skilful physician, of assiduous friends, and
surrounded with every comfort, she must
feel for her unfortunate sister, who had neither
assistance nor comfort in her affliction, and who
was driven to despair by the inexorable usages of
society, and the defective state of the statute law !
Yes, we confess it with shame, that the usages
of society, and the state of the law are, in ninety-
nine cases out of a hundred, the exciting causes
of these melancholy outrages. To these may the
responsibility be directly traced. We tempt to
the crime, and then we punish—most stringently
and severely punish—the miserable creature who,
by her previous sufferings, had fearfully expiated
the weakness of an unguarded moment. We do
nothing for prevention—nothing to check or re-
strain the tempter, but practically permit the
whole burden to rest upon the shoulders of the
weaker party ; and then, when driven to despera-
tion at the position in which she is placed, she
consummates her guilt by the last horrible out-
rage against nature, we hang the miserable victim,
while the murderer of her innocence walks forth
uncondemned, we had almost said uncensured,
boasting amongst his profligate companions of his
too fatal success. Public opinion, that presses

with such frightful severity upon the female,

passes over with indulgent leniency the peccadillo('
. .

of the male. He is received in society as if no-
thing had occurred, while she—the victim--de-

12 months, he is for ever exonerated, no matter
how clear may be the proofs of his participation,
or complete the destitution of the friendless
mother. Even if the order be made she cannot
recover more than 13 weeks' arrears ; and, as if
to insure her continuance in the miserable con-
dition in which she is placed—to prevent the
possibility of her emerging from the slough of
despond in which she is floundering—it is pro-
vided that, any man who may marry her becomes
responsible for the support and maintenance of
her illegitimate child, which thus becomes an in-
superable obstacle to the formation of any honour-
able and guiltless connection.
To these usages and to these laws then may be
traced every one of the cases that have been
brought under the consideration of our criminal
tribunals. To these may be ascribed the extraor-
dinary fortitude—the desperate determination of
feeble girls who endeavour to conceal their crime
at any cost or any sacrifice. How great must be
the dread of discovery when we find poor crea-
tures pursuing their ordinary avocations as if
nothing had occurred, and with a marvellous
stoicism suppressing every expression or indication
of the agony they have endured and are enduring.
What must have been the firmness of the girl who,
but a fortnight since, spent the entire day hay-
making in Dorsetshire until six o'clock in the
evening, then brought forth her offspring in a
secluded lane, and, returning to the duties of
her service, milked twelve cows, and did all the
household work before going to bed, and continue
the same labours on the following day ? How
great must have been the horrors of publicity to
her mind, when she could stimulate herself to such
exertion without a murmur ? Surely no punish-
ment which the :aw could devise would equal that
self-imposed and voluntarily encountered. Where
could there be cited an instance of more astonish-
ing, almost miraculous, fortitude ?
If we look to the cases of the wretched convicts
at Lewes and at Stafford, both young creatures in
the pride of youth—the first blush of womanhood,
we shall find that the offences for which their
lives have been declared forfeited to offended jus-
tice may be unequivocally ascribed to the opera-
tion of the 7th and Bth Vie., cap. 101—the sta-
tute to which we have alluded.
CAROLINE SHERWOOD, the Brighton convict,
described as a good-looking young woman, 23
years of age, had been left an unprotected orphan
at an early age. When a mere child, but 15
years old, she became the prey of a foul seducer,
and was delivered of a female child in due
course. She struggled to maintain her infant
without assistance from the plunderer of her hap-
piness, and so far successfully that she forfeited
all claim on his purse, from not having enforced
the demand within twelve months. She went
into service, having contracted to pay 2s. 6d. for
the support of her child, which she continued to
do punctually until the fatal transaction—
neither her employers nor any of her fellow-
servants having the slightest notion of her mis-
fortune. She invariably maintained a good
character, doing all in her power to repair the
error of her unprotected childhood. For six years
she persisted in her laudable efforts to retrieve
her position. At length an irresistible tempta-
tion arose. A suitor came forward who, ignorant
of her former failing, made overtures for an
honourable connection. Here was indeed an
ordeal of no ordinary severity. She might be a
respectable wife—the mother of legitimate chil-
dren—on whom she might fearlessly bestow the
treasure of her love. If she could obtain from
her foul seducer the means of supporting the un-
happy offspring of his lust, all would be well ;
she might still preserve her secret from the know-
ledge of the world, even from her husband him-
sel. But the enactments to which we have
referred rendered that impossible. There being
no liability attached to the real father, the hus-
band would become responsible, and it would be
impossible to keep the damning fact from his
knowledge. She could not hope to put by half-
a-crown a week from his scanty earnings without
a full disclosure of the circumstances, and the
sacrifice of all her future hopes. Hence it was
that in the excitement--the madness of her
situation—she committed the awful deed. Every-
thing connected with which proved that she
was not an adept in crime ; that she was
scarcely in possession' of her reasoning faculties.
The case of SARAH BAKER is no less remark-
able. The same exciting cause, the state .of the
law, being easily discoverable. The poor miser-
able creature had braved the disclosure of her
crime, and with ruined hopes, and blasted repu-
tation, she found herself, at the age of 18, the
mother of a child conceived in sin. There was
abundance of evidence to show her shocking desti-
tution, and the ardent love she bore to her child.
To obtain for it a mouthful of bread, she descended
to the lowest occupations, washing cinders for a
shilling a day ; when she could not get even that
scanty remuneration, she tried to get work of any
description, but was " very weak," and failed ;
she was passed from workhouse to workhouse,
from the Walsall Union to the Brewood " bas-
tile," as it was termed by one witness. During
this time she was " very fond of her child, would
give it the last bit out of her hand, if she went
short herself." In the desperation occasioned by
sharp and biting poverty, she conceived the awful
idea of destroying herself and baby, of consum-
mating the double crime of murder and suicide at
the same moment. This dreadful notion did not
come into her mind until she had applied to the
"tender-hearted" (?) guardians at the workhouse,
to keep the baby until she became stronger, and
being met with a decided refusal—the answer
being, that " she should take the baby out, and
work for it herself." After three weeks' endurance
of all the pangs of cold and hunger, without food or
shelter, save what she obtained from the casual
charity of those whose situation was but little
better than her own, who were themselves the
recipients of parochial relief, she flung her child
into the fatal pit, but was prevented from accom-
panying it by " the timber across it." Here the
cruelty of the guardians might possibly have
combined with the state of the law to drive
her to desperation ; but we cannot forget that
it was the primary cause—for her seducer had
absconded to a distance for the twelve months,
and was then enabled to marry another woman,
and refuse to give a farthing to his youthfu
victim

These wretched young creatures now await
the execution of the awful sentence of the law.
And quasi philanthropists will babble of the neces-
sity of making an example, in order to check the
growing crime ! Making an example, forsooth !
Let those whose horror at the offence is so greatly
excited endeavour to give a better tone to public
opinion ; to Poor-law Guardians, and persons
who, having been mercifully exempted from
temptation, have never fallen. Let them exert
themselves to procure a reform of the unjust and
impolitic enactment; and when they have dis-
charged these imperative duties, they may with a
better grace, pronounce a decided opinion on the
punishment that should be inflicted on their fal-
len sisters.

D
as
20t4 th9eE lw4n balances
f3oErs yesterdayxi
ntPBhEdter EXPENDITURE.—The reEaTpanuxur
dßeb El
el
the
e.
nsfd
Exchequer.
rh.
tenhfGeTt Govern-
ment
ehe
expenditurer non
in-
comejcmeue mPlnyeut balance-sheetlast, with
sexpendituresixt4 hc,
11.
50,680,5161. 75., leaving an excess of 3,568,6241. 16s.
Bd. On the sth of July, 1852, the balances in the Ex-
chequer were 6,492,7311. 6s. 10d., and on the sth of
July inst., 5,112,639/. ss. 9d.
THE NEW CAB ACT.—STRIKE OF THE CABMASTERS.
- —This morning, in accordance with a preconceived
arrangement of the cahmasters of the metropolis, the
streets and the vicinity of the different railway stations,
presented a very strange appearance, in consequence of
the total absence of the usual cab conveniences. On
the arrival of the usual trains at the different railway
stations this morning, the absence of the usual supply of
cabs was the cause of much surprise. At the moment
that the nine o'clock train arrived at the Great Northern,
and the passengers were waiting for their accustomed
rdoeadd thean dpoostn-
acrorinvveinyganacte a
t,
hectaebll-gdvearotethdeowk-neepthere
dNemewan-
horse duty in consequence of the cab not exhibiting the,
usual plate with the number. The driver refusing to
pay a great crowd of people assembled, and a disturb-
ance was anticipated ; but the toll-keeper being satisfied
bythe passenger, the cab was allowed to proceed. It
is said by the different cab-owners that they intend to
continue the present strike until some alteration is made
in the new act.

THE OVERLAND MAIL.

(BY SUBMARINE TELEGRAPH.)
TRIESTE, TUESDAY.
The steamer Bombay arrived to-day at two p.m.,
in 111 hours from Alexandria.

The India Mail had arrived there with dates
from Rangoon to the 4th June ; Calcutta, 16th
June ; Bombay, 20th June ; and from Hong-KOng,
7th June.

From Burmah the intelligence is that no advance
is to be made on Ava unless our troops or civil ser-
vants are molested, and our present position there
is to be maintained.
Many officers have died.
Trade in India is dull, owing to the season of the
year.

Exchange at Calcutta, on London, 2s.
The empire of China is divided, and Nanking is
independent of the reigning dynasty.
Great anxiety was entertained for Canton, and a
rising was daily expected there.
The screw steamer Lauriston, on her passage
from Shanghai to Hong-Kong, struck on Turnabout
Island, and was totally lost ; crew and passengers
were all saved.

GOODWOOD RACES.

(THIS DAY.)

(BY ELECTRIC TELEGRAPH.)
GOODWOOD STARES.

SWEEPSTAKES-300 Sovs. (Fillies,
Mayfair
Exhibition

Cheddar....
Jessamine .

Four ran.
HANDICAP PLATE.

Narcissus..

Thirteen ran.
BETTING.-6 to 1 agst Kingston.
ORDER OF RUNNING.
1. 0-300 Sweepstakes for fillies.
I.3o—Handicap Plate.
2.ls—Goodwood Stakes.
2.45-300 Sweepstakes for colts.
3.3o—Steward's Cup.
4.ls—Biennial Stakes.
4.4s—Drawing-room Stakes.
s.ls—Selling Stakes.

ADDITIONAL ARRIVALS.—Snowdon Dunhill, Cornelius,
Jack Frost, Kaffir, Spicey, King Torn, Robert de Gor-
ham filly, Lady Strut, and Brother to Mountain Deer.