The Sun.
London, England, 1862-06-25 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sin,—ln reference to the claims of the owners of
the Orwell and of Mr. Watson Taylor, it appeared
to me that one element necessary for the formation
of a correct judgment was wanting—the opinion of
General Garibaldi.

I therefore, on public grounds, put myself in
communication with him, without laying before
him any statement of facts, which, indeed, he must
know better than most of the gentlemen who have
interested themselves in the discussion, and I now,
with his permission, lay before you the brief ex-
pression of the great captain's view of the rights of

the case.
It is plain and honest, like the writer of it, and
perfectly consistent with the manly tone taken by
Lord Palmerston in the debate.—l am, Sir, your
obedient servant, W. H. ASHURST.
6, Old Jewry, June 24.

" Caro Ashurst,—ln answer to your suggestion,
I wish to express my conviction that the owners of
the OrNyell ought to be paid just compensation by
the Italian Government for the use and damage
sustained by that vessel. She rendered good ser-
vice in the cause of the King of Italy, and I cannot
think that, having accepted the benefit, he will deny
the practical recognition of the service rendered.
"Also the injury sustained by Mr. Watson
Taylor's property at Monte Christo ought to be
made good to him, so far as his property was con-
verted, as in the case of his cattle, to the use of the
Italian cause.
"'[his is my opinion, quote it where you please.
,<G. GARIBALDI.
" 13c1.irate 12 Giugno."

ANOTHER SMOCKING MURDER IN

11A111PSIIIRE.

A murder, revolting in the extreme from the
cold-bloodedness in which it was committed, and
the brutal treatment received at the hands of the
murderer by his victim, was perpetrated at Ford-
ingbridge, a small town in the county of Hants,
twelve miles from the cathedral city of Salisbury,
on Sunday morning last. The particulars are as
follows :—Mary Ann Susan Hall, aged 28, was the
only daughter of a Mr. Hall, of Midgham Farm,
distant about a mile from Fordingbridge. The
family are highly respectable, and rent a good-sized
farm. It was Miss Hall's custom to walk to the
church at Fordingbridge every Sunday morning for
the purpose of attending Divine service; and on
Sunday morning last Ellen Smith, the dairy-
woman, saw her leave her father's house about ten
o'clock, and strike into the footpath through the
fields that led to Fordingbridge. Nothing more
was heard of her until four o'clock in the evening,
when a man named George Jacob Gilbert, alias
Philpott, informed the police-constable at the town
that, as he was crossing a field called Harding's
field, he picked up a lady's parasol, and on pro-
ceeding a little further he saw the body of a woman
lying on her back in a gully or ditch that separated
Mr. Hall's farm from Harding's field. The con-
stable, a surgeon, and several people at once went
to the spot, accompanied by Gilbert, which is
situated about half a mile from the town,
where they discovered the body of Miss
Hall lying against the side of the ditch,
quite dead, the hands out-stretched and clenched,
the clothes fearfully torn, and covered with
the mud and filth of the ditch, through which evi-
dently she had been dragged. On her breast was
her church-service and in her hand her hymn-book.
The body of the unfortunate young lady was re-
moved to her father's house, the windows of which
were visible from the place where the fearful deed
was committed, the man Gilbert assisting at the
removal. From information received by the po-

lice constable he was induced to arrest this Gilbert
on the charge of having committed the murder, and
from what transpired at the inquest held on Mon-
day, and from circumstances that have come to the
knowledge of the police, but which, of course, were
not made known at the merely preliminary pro-
ceedings of Monday, there seems every probability
of their connecting him in some way with the com-
mittal of the deed. Gilbert is a native of Ford-
ingbridge, but bears a very bad character, having
been transported on one occasion for rape, besides
being committed on innumerable occasions for
minor offences. Me :is now on a ticket of leave,
and has resided in Fordingbridge for the last 12
months, working as a labourer, although recently
he has been unemployed. He is unmarried, aged
about 35, and resides with his sister in a small cot-
tage about 500 yards from the spot where the body
was found. His statement is that he did not go
out on Sunday until three o'clock, the time at
which he discovered the body, but a shepherd
named Garland asserts that he saw him at a quar-
ter past eleven o'clock on the Sunday morning in a
field about 500 or 600 yards on the Fordingbridge
side of the ditch, where the body lay, wiping his
boots and trousers with grass. On the spot being
examined by the police there were traces found of
such an occurrence having taken place. His clothes,
also, on being examined were found to have been
recently washed, and his stockings were hanging out
to dry in his cottage garden. It would seem that the

murderer met his victim as she was walkink to
church, at the stile that separated her father'sfrom

Harding's field,and there attacked her evidently with
a view of criminally assaulting her, as there seems to
have been no attempt at robbery. Here th ere are
evident traces of a struggle having taken place, and
of the mastery being gained by the murderer, who,

it would seem, dragged the unfortunate girl about
15 yards up the gully or ditch (which is completely
covered in by the furze bushes on either side) that
separates the two fields above mentioned, and where
they would be screned from the observation of stray
passers-by. Here it was that the second struggle
took place, the girl having been evidently placed
against the side of the ditch, with the lower part
of her body trailing in the mnd and filth, whilst
the brute attempted to carry out his object. This
he would appear to have failed in, according to the
medical evidence. From this spot, then, he dragged
his victim by the legs for the distance of 140 yards,
through the water, filth, and weeds of the ditch,
screened from all human observation by the over-
hanging bushes, finally placing the now lifeless
body in the place and position in which it was
found. From the medical evidence at the inquest,
it appears that the deceased was alive when her
inhuman murderer immersed her in the poisonous
water of the ditch, for some of it was found in her
stomach. Her inside clothes were torn to rags,
and the weeds and mud had even penetrated under
her stays.