The Sun.
London, England, 1865-07-29 00:00:00

leave England probably in the commencement of
October. Capt. and Brevet-Col. the Hon. E. T.
Gage will consequently take the command.
Her Majesty'siron paddle sloop Trident, recently
on the Mediterranean station, having been surveyed
at Woolwich, was yesterday condemned by the
Board of Admiralty and was ordered to be sold.
The estimated expenses for the necessary repairs to
render the Trident fit for further service were be-
tween £3,000 and £4,000.
The War Department steamship Lord Panmure,
H. T. Moore, Commander, yesterday sailed from
Woolwich, laden with gun shot and barrack stores
for Portsmouth.

The transport Malabar, Captain Pearce, from
Gravesend, on Sunday, with 500 troops, being de-
tachments from the 6th Lancers, 19th, 35th, 93d,
and 94th Regiments, was near the Eddystone yes-
terday morning, all well, bound for Bombay.
The left wing of the 49th Regiment embarked on
Friday on board the hired steam transport Mel-
bourne, liugh Auld, commander. The steamer was
inspected on behalf of the Council of India by Capt.
Schomb:rg, R.N., and for the military of Col. E.
Seager, Assist.-Quartermaster-Gen. of the Dublin
division, and Dr. O'Flaherty, the principal medical
officer. Every arrangement has been made for
the health and comfort of the troops. The follow-
ing is the detailed list of those embarked :-398
men, rank and file, 18 sergeants, 4 drummers,
47 women, and 61 children. The officers
comprised Major C. Fitzgerald, in command ;
Capts. Young, Cresswell, Fordyce, and Hincks ;
Lieuts. Fenn, Fisher, Temple, Wooldridge, and
West; Ensigns Bogue,Cockburn, Williams, Cleasby,
and Wreford; Assist.-Surg. Orwin in medical
charge. Immediately after the embarkation the
Melbourne left the pier for the buoys, and will
steam at daylight out of harbour to-day.
On the 24th inst. the headquarters of the 41st,
the Welsh Regiment, embarked on board the tran-
sport ship Winchester, at Kingstown, for convey-
ance to Calcutta. The following are the names of
the officers :—Major H. Rowlands, V.C., command-
ing; Capts. Peddil, Michell, Quayle, and Sadler ;
Lieuts. Warner (adjutant), Caulfeild, Montgomery,
Michell, and Auly ; Ensigns Kelly and Thackery ;
Surgeon Leitch, Paymaster Simpson and Mrs. Simp-
son, Quartermaster Ward and Mrs. Ward, together
with 389 non-commissioned officers and men. On
the 25th inst. the right wing of the 41st Regiment,
under command of Major Allan, embarked at King-
ston, for Calcutta, in the transport ship Albert Vic-
tor. The following is the distribution of the num-
bers embarked :—Capt. and Mrs. Noble, and Capt.
and Mrs. Thompson ; Lieuts. Pack, Westby, and
Taylor ; Ensigns Barnes, Hughes, Seymour, and
James ; Assist.-Surg. Norris-11 officers, 310 men,
35 women, and 43 children.
The following appointment has been made in the
Royal Naval Reserve :—To be Sub-Lieut., Charles
Henry Palmer.

SUMMER ASSIZES.

WESTERN CIRCUIT, EXETER, July 28.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Keating.)
TILE TORQUAY MURDER.

Mary Jane Harris, aged 23, and Charlotte Winsor, aged
45, were placed at the bar on a charge of having murdered
Thomas Edward Gibson Harris, on the 14th February, at
Torquay.
The prisoners were not called upon to plead, as they were
tried upon this charge at the last assizes before Baron Chan-
nel]. The jury were locked up on that oqcasion for seve-
ral hours, but at 12 o'clock on a Saturday night, as they
declared there was no chance of their agreeing to a verdict,
the learned Baron discharged them, but ordered tho pri-
soners to be detained in custody to be again tried at the
present assizes.
Mr. Carter and Mr. Bere were counsel for the prosecution ;
Mr. Prideaux and Mr. C. A. Turner appeared for Harris ;
and Mr. Folkard for Winsor.
The learned Judge having taken his seat,

Mr. Carter said he was instructed on the part of the
prosecution to apply for leave to call the younger prisoner
(Harris) as a witness; his learned friend and himself being
of opinion that tho ends of justice required it.
Mr. Justice Keating—Mr. Carter, if you and your learned
colleague, having considered the matter, have come to that
opinion, I, having read the depositions, seo no objection to
that course being adopted.
Mr. I'rideaux said that, on the part of llarriB, he could
make no objection to such a course of proccedin, but he
would submit whether it would not be necessary that she
should be first acquitted.
The learned Judge said ho had considered the point, and
he thought it was not necessary.
Harris was then taken from the bar, and Charlotte Win-
sor was put upon her trial alone.
The prisoner was then called upon to challenge the jury.
Mr. Folkard objected to this, contending that the pri-
soner having been once in peril, could not again be put on
her trial before another jury.
Mr. Justice Keating said he did not see how ho could
interfere ; it must be taken as error.

Mr. Folkard said that it was laid down in " Hawkins's
Pleas of the Crown" that a jury having been sworn, and a
prisoner given them in charge for a capital offence, the jury
could not be discharged without the consent of the prisoner.
That opinion was also repeated in " Foster's Crown Law."
Mr. Justice Keating said there was a case whore a jury
having been discharged without giving a verdict, the pri-
soner was tried a second time with a like result, and was
subsequently tried by a third jury.
Mr. Folkard observed that in the present case the jury
had been discharged on a Saturday night. Had they been
locked up till the Monday, they might have given a verdict.
The Judge thought that could make no difference.
_ _ _

Mr. Folkard said the law upon this subject was in a most
unsatisfactory state. It had been said that the judge ought
not to exercise his discretion, except from particular neces-
sity or from illnoss of the jury. In this case there had been
no particular necessity, and there had not been any illness
among the jury.

Mr. Justice Keating said he had no power to review
what the learned judge had done, whether he was right or
whether he was wrong. Ho had no doubt in his own mind ;
but, having the assistance of his learned brother who was
presiding in the other court, he thought it right to consult
him, although ho must repeat that he had not the slightest
doubt in his own mind. Mr. Justice Keating having left
the court, on his return said—ln this case I have had the
advantage of consulting Mr. Justice Willes upon the point
raised and put before the Court. lam clearly of opinion
that the objection is not tenable, and Mr. Justice Willes
entirely concurs with me. I have no materials before me
for entering upon the question as to whether the discharge
of the jury upon the previous occasion was right or wrong
—whether the learned Baron had properly exercised his
jurisdiction ; but it would require a very strong fact to in-
duce me to suppose that one of the most learned as well as
one of themost cautious judges had exercised his discretion
otherwise than as he ought to have done.

Mr. Carter then opened the case on the part of the pro-
secutor. The prisoner was the wife of a man who lived in
a small cottage in a retired spot in the neighbourhood of
Torquay, about half a mile from the Tor Station. There
lived with them a little granddaughter eight years of age,
named Selina Pratt. On the 15th of February last some
persons in walking along the road which led towards the
prisoner's house observed a parcel lying on the side of the
road. Upon taking it up they found a wrapper sewn up
with worsted. They opened it, and it contained the body
of a male child wrapped up in a Western Times newspaper
of the 6th of May, 1864. The child appeared to be about
four months old. There were no external marks upon it.
Information was given to the police, and they searched the
registry of births, and they found that in October the
birth of a child had been registered in the name of Thomas
Edward Gibson Harris. The police then went to the house
of the prisoner and saw her, and asked her if she had not
had the care of a child; she answered that she had, but the
mother and aunt of the child had taken it away on that day
month. They ascertained from her that the mother of the
child was named Mary Ann Harris, who lived in the ser-
vice of Mrs. Wansey, at Torquay. They went to the house
of the aunt, who lived on the moors, but no child was
there. They then proceeded to Mrs. Wansey's and took
Harris into custody. She was taken to the police-station,
and while sitting there the prisoner came, and when she
saw her she put her hand to her neck as representing hang-
ing, and Harris nearly fainted. The prisoner then said she
was sure Harris had not murdered the child, as her aunt
had taken it away. The next day the police again went to
the prisoner's cottage and asked her to describe the child.
She said it had hair on its head, and she should know it
anywhere, as it bad a a mark or wart on its great toe. The
police asked her if they might search her house, and she
said " Yes." They found a child's hood and socks. They
asked the prisoner to whom they belonged, and she replied
"To her baby." She was asked where the baby was, and
she pointed to a box. In that box there was a doll, but not
a baby. In speakingof Harris's child she said, "Pretty dear,
and
e etHit,h-aaesrtnr
prisoner
upon
pncu.
hu
not
isl
idhlt:seaabsnetdiank expressede n intoca uw sstho dt yu and
see
thebud, removed to t
of he
the
I hope nothing has happened to it." A warrant was got,
chil
sgh showne tk ut
po ht
he
er slel ine
asuaidd that it
wxsos,
that is not the child ; it has no wart on the toe. I am glad
I have got rid of it, for I had only 2s. a week for keeping
it." Some worsted was found in the prisoner's house which
was darker than that with which the bundle was stitched
up. Some newspapers were also found in the house, but
not one of the date of the 6th of May, in which the body
was wrapped. When in the cell one of the officers went to
it at night to see that all was right, and the prisoner said,
".The nasty .---(llarris) will be transported. One night