The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-31 00:00:00

ceipt of £lOO on account at the back of the bill.
At the time all this was going on the priscner was
making a great display of bank notes, and from the
careless manner in which he tossed the £lOO to the
prosecutor, apparently without selection, he thought
they were all for £lOO. The tea warrants were
then handed to the prisoner, Mr. Bingham not
knowing at the time that he was the victim of a
well-concocted scheme. Upon the bill not being
paid, he sued Hunt for the amount, and who was at
present in Whitecross-street Prison. From infor-
mation which he had subsequently received, how-
ever, he was satisfied that there was no such person
as Thomas Edwards occupying chambers in the Com-
mercial Sale-rooms as a tea broker, and that he had
been defrauded of his money. The prisoner had not
sincelecn seen, or at all events all efforts to apprehend
him had been unsuccessful until the previous day. The
case, as it at present rested, was one of conspiracy;
but it would remain to be considered whether it would
not ultimately resolve itself into a forgery, inas-
mucbas the bill was accepted in the name of a non-
existing person, which iu itself constitutes a forgery,
and in the uttering of which both the prisoner and
Hunt would be principals.
The Hon. Richard Canabden Bingham was called
and his evidence entirely corroborated the facts as
narrated by Mr. Sleigh.
Richard Moon, a porter at the Commercial Sale-
rooms, Mincing-lane, said that there was never such
a person as Thomas Edwards occupying chambers
in the Commercial Sale-rooms; and to his know-
ledge, there wes no Thomas Edwards a tea broker.

William Keeley, police-constable 48 M, said he
took the prisoner into custody on the previous after-
noon. He gave his name as William Fairman; but
he refused his address, and described himself as a
commission agent.

The prisoner said he wished to explain that it was
out of no disrespect to his lordship or his officers
that he refused his address, but he discovered that
the person who apprehended him had no warrant
or other document signed by his lordship, and that
he was not an officer of justice, but belonged to an
office termed a private inquiry office in the Temple,
carried on under the direction of a person named
Field; and he wished his lordship to say whether
it was right to capture a subject upon such a charge
as appeared against him upon the charge sheet
without a warrant or some document signed by a
magistrate. He was in a house in the Borough
when the party came to him, and called him by his
Christian name, which he had no doubt was a ruse
to catch him, and after a time said he was a detec-
tive officer, and said something about apprehend-
ing him upon the charge mentioned ; but he told
him he knew nothing about such a charge. He was
removed to Seething-lane station, certainly in a
respectable manner, for he was conveyed in a
cab, and he was there kept waiting two hours.
There, again, he must say he was treated
respectfully, for he was allowed to sit be-
' , fore the fire instead of being locked up
in a cell, while the party who had given him in
custody upon no other document than an authority
signed by Mr. Bingham went to find some one
to make the charge against him; and the inspector
himself was doubtful whether under the circum-
stances he was justified in detaining him, and when
the person returned he said he had been looking
after Mr. Bingham.
Mr. Goodman, the chief clerk, said it was cer-
tainly rather an extraordinary proceeding to give
a person in custody without a warrant upon such a
charge; but the person who had signed the charge-
sheet was not in any way connected with that office.
The case might, however, turn out to be one of
felony, and a person would be entitled to appre-
hend another without a warrant on a charge of
felony.

The defendant said the party who apprehended
him said he had been in the Mansion-house and
had seen Mr. Goodman, who authorised him to
take such a step.

Mr. Goodman said he had certainly seen the soli-
citor in the case, but he had not seen the person
alluded to, nor should he have entrusted him with
a warrant if one had been granted, under any cir•
cumstances.

The defendant said, when the person gave him
in charge he said he lived at 23, New-street, and
when asked what he was, he said, "Oh, you can put
me down as a gentleman," and described the pro-
secutor as Mr. Rd. Bingham, a tea broker, Com-
mercial Sale-rooms, Mincing-lane,
The Lord Mayor said it was an irregularity for
which no one at that court was responsible.
The defendant said it was merely that his lord-
ship might understand that it was out of no disre-
spect that he had not given his address, and he
thought that it was a matter which some one ought
to take up.

The prisoner was then remanded, his lordship
granting his application to be admitted to bail, if
he could procure two sureties of £250 each, in addi-
tion to his own recognisances in £5OO.
Mr. Ignatius Pollaky, who was formerly connected
with Mr. Yield's office, was present during the
statement made by the defendant, and he wished it
to be understood that he was in no way connected
with this alleged irregularity, although he was
applied to to take the matter in hand, but refused
to do so.

Shocking Attempt of a Father to Murder

his Daughter.

The man, Isaac Thompson, who, for the heinous crime

of wilfully roasting his child to death at the Straits awaits
his trial at the forthcoming Stafford Assizes, has again for
the third time been at his murderous work with another

of his children. In this case, although the child has very
narrowly escaped immediate death, the particulars are no
less revolting. We may say at the outset that its recovery
is regarded by the medical men as impossible.
On Sunday night, about half-past 11, Thompson returned
home, having been carousing in a public-house up to that
hour with his wife. He appears not to have come home with
her, for on his arrival he demanded to know of his daughter
Hannah, a girl about 9 years old, " where her mother was."
Hannah is the oldest child but one, and all the other chil-
dren were in bed upstairs. t3he replied that she did not
know. He directed her to search for her, and the child re-
turned without finding her mother, He at once seized a
poker, which is about 18 inches long, and worn to a sharp '
point at the end, and thrust it into the head of the child to zti
depth of about 31 inches. The blow penetrated above the
left ear, and, bursting through the scalp to such a depth, it
is questionable whether it did not go into the brain. She
bled profusely, her clothes being completely saturated with
the blood. Another daughter, Rachel, the eldest child,
hearing the noise and the groans of her sister, rushed down
stairs, and sought by her screams out of doors the assist-
ance and attendance of their only neighbour, Mrs. Sprud-
son, the house being detached and isolated from other
houses. A number of people were attracted by the cries,
and on arriving did all they could for the poor girl, and at
once fetched the police. Having put Thompson in safe
custody, Sergeant Tomlinson sent for Mr. H. Ballenden,
surgeon, of Sedgley, who attended and resorted to such
expedients to save the child as his medical skill suggested.
At the time our reporter despatched his parcel be had
just learned that the state of the pocr girl was perilous,
and scarcely the shadow of a hope remained of her
recovery.

The prisoner maintained quite a cool and indifferent de-
meanour from the time of the tr msaction to the hour he was
lodged in gaol,—Birmingham Gazette.

MR. THOMPSON'S FRUIT.—Mr. Thompson had
the finest crop of fruit this season that any one can
remember in all Wimbledon; and when it was all ripe
enough for picking, the apple was the only one willing. So
Mr. Thompson picked him; but the plum, the pear, the
grapes, the peach, and the nectarine would not be picked at
all, much preferring to enjoy the fine weather, of which
they had not had too much, so they were left hanging.
Now, the sparrow, the thrush, the blackbird, the redstart,
and the jay—indeed, all little birds from jack starling down
to jenny wren—were very glad to hear it, and down they
came in great numbers. So what with the hot sun shrivel-
ling them up, and the birds eating them up, the poor fruit
soon began to laugh on the wrong side of their mouths,
and to wish with all their hearts that the
had been picked at the same time as the apple. They all
came to miserable ends, and were of no use at all to any
one but the little birds. While the jolly apple was honoured
by them all, he was made into a fine large apple-pie foi
little Mary (who was always fond ofapple_pie)_
; he became
sauce for the great Michaelmas goose, who would have
been nothing without it; and, best of all, they made him
into good bright cider, and in it they drank (as they always
should), "A health to Mr. Thompson, and may he have
good crops of fruit for seasons to come." "He was a sen-
sible apple. certainly; but, after all, they bad to cut him
up before they could honour him." " Yes," said Father,
.. but one would rather die doing one's best, than shrivel
up with doing of nothing."—Charles Bennett's ,stories told
by Little Breeches : illustratert,