The Sun.
London, England, 1865-04-26 00:00:00

'SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

TIMES.—The proverb " Murder will out" has often
been discredited in our time by the lasting mystery
which has enveloped great crimes, but an event has
now occurred which will recall it to every mind.
The Road Murder, that dark deed which filled the
country with amazement and painful curiosity five
years ago, and the incidents of which were studied
as a dreadfully fascinating problem in every house-
hold, seems now likely to receive a full explanation.
Yesterday Miss Constance Emily Kent, one of the
unfortunate family, and a young lady only 21 years
of age, surrendered at Bow-street, and made a vo-
luntary confession of the crime. She entered into
no details, and as the magistrate had no jurisdiction
except to send the case to be investigated at Wilt-
shire, he made no inquiries save as to the genuineness
and the freedom of the confession. All, therefore,
we know is that Constance Kent, who was the first
object of suspicion on the discovery of the crime,
now declares that she, and she alone, was guilty,
and that the murder of the child Francis Saville
Kent, which brought suspicion on more than one
head, and wrought such misery to an entire house-
hold, was her own unaided work. Although the
circumstances were so long discussed and were ex-
amined with such minuteness at the time, yet as five
years have elapsed a short summary of them may be
acceptable. At Road-house, in Wiltshire, lived Mr.
Kent, an inspector of factories. He had been twice
married. His family by the first wife consisted of
three daughters and a son, the two elder daughters
being grown-up young women, and the third, Con-
stance, a girl of 16 ; the son William was about 15.
By the second wife he had three children; a daugh-
ter five years old ; a son, Francis Saville Kent,
nearly four years old, and another daughter still
younger. On the night of June 29, 1860, the in-
mates of the house were Mr. and Mrs. Kent, the
seven children we have mentioned, and three ser-
vants—a cook, a housemaid, and Eliz. Gough, the
nurse. During that night the child Francis was taken
out of his cot, strangled, stabbed, his throat was cut,
and his body, wrapped in a blanket which had been
drawn out from over him, was thrown down a privy
belonging to the house. From that time until yes-
terday it has been a profound mystery who committed
the deed. All the skill, perseverance, and acuteness
which justice could employ for the detection of the
crime were baffled completely. So wholly did every
clue which might lead to the truth fail, that the public
was reduced to deal in vague suspicions which it
now seems were most unjust and cruel. But when
the details of the matter are considered, we cannot
wonder either that the popular excitement in the
neighbourhood should have reached almost to frenzy,
or that both the unhappy father and the nurse should
have been the objects of undeserved indignation. It
was impossible to believe but that the murder was
committed by some one in the house. Evidence was,
indeed, given respecting the opening of a drawing-
room window, but what possible inducement could
there be for a stranger to penetrate into a dwelling-
house merely for the sake of destroying an unoffend-
ing infant ? Of these 12 persons, then, who were in
the house, which was the murderer ? The disposition
of the bed-rooms was as follows : on the first floor
slept Mr. and Mrs. Kent, with the eldest of the in-
fant children ; in an adjoining room, the nurse,
Elizabeth Gough, with Francis and the other child,
Francis being in a cot by himself ; on the second
floor, the two grown-up daughters slept together,
Constance in a room by herself, William in a room
by himself, and the cook and housemaid together in
another room. The nurse, then, was in the closest
relation with the murdered child during the night ;
but it was possible that any other member of the
family might have entered the room and made away
with him while she slept. Early in the morning the
nurse, according to her own statement, missed the
child, but thought that his mother might have come
in and taken him away to her own room, especially
as he had been unwell and had taken some medicine
the night before. About half-past 7 o'clock she
knocked at her mistress's door and inquired about
the child, and when it appeared that he was not
there the alarm was given and search was made.
As the child was not to be found in the house or the
shrubbery, Mr. Kent drove over to Trowbridge to
give notice to the police, ordering the servants to
continue their search. While he was gone some
people from the village came in to help in the
search, and the end of it was that the child's body,
with its nightgown on and wrapped in a blanket,
was found in the soil of the privy. There were,
according to the subsequent evidence, marks of
strangulation, there was a stab in the side, a wound
in the breast, and the throat was cut from ear to ear.
A piece of paper, bloody as if a knife had been
wiped upon it, was found, but no knife or other
weapon. Suspicion at first fell on the young lady
who has now confessed. The circumstance that the
child had been taken up, wrapped in the blanket
which was between the quilt and the sheet, and that
the clothes were afterwards arranged, seemed to in-
dicate that a woman's hand had been concerned in
the work. The nurse gave her evidence with calm-
ness and apparent truth, describing how she had
placed the child's bedclothes the night before, giving
her reasons for not alarming the household when
she first missed him, and declaring that she had
heard and seen nothing from the time of going to
bed till about 5 in the morning, when she awoke
and found the cot empty. From the appearance of
the body, it was probable that the child had been
killed about 3 o'clock in the morning. The evidence
of the other .nembers of the family was entirely ne-
gative. They had seen and heard nothing, and
were unable to give any clue to the mystery. As
there wag an outcry against Constance and William
mainly on account of some supposed dislike of these
young people to their infant half-brother, the inves-
tigations of the detective Whicher were mainly
directed against them. William was soon absolved,
but Whicher thought that he had discovered an
important piece of evidence against Constance.
The laundress asserted that one of this young
lady's nightdresses was missing ; that a day or
two after the murder she had received it with
the rest of the linen for the wash ; that she
had put it into the basket, that Constance had sent
her out of the way for a moment, and that when
she got home with the basket the nightdress was
missing. This story was in itself a lame one, for
the laundress said she remembered seeing the gar-
ment, and that there was nothing unusual about it
—a circumstance which, if true, would take away
from Constance any motive for concealing it, since
the only reason for concealment would be that it was
stained with blood. But on this statement Inspector
Whicher applied for a warrant to apprehend Con-
stance, and publicly charged her with the murder.
There is no need to recapitulate the subsequent in-
quiries. It is enough to say that nothing at all was
substantiated against Constance Kent, who was
shortly released. Suspicion then fell on the nurse,
and there were not wanting those who set up a
theory which involved even the father of the child
in the guilt of the murder. The Coroner's inquest
did not satisfy the public, and the Coroner was
loudly blamed. The charge against Constance fell
to the ground, and the detective was scarcely less
censured for the recklessness of his proceedings.
The third investigation was equally futile. Much
was said of the impossibility of the child being taken
from the room without the knowledge of the nurse,
and of the conduct of that woman in not giving an
earlier alarm. The driving of Mr. Kent to Trow-
bridge while the search was going on was also dwelt
upon, as if it had given him the opportunity of
secreting some murderous weapon. But these were
evidently circumstances which could give rise
to no more than vague suspicions, and the inquiry
terminated without any more light having been cast
on the deed. Slowly the public curiosity subsided,
but not without that feeling of disappointment which
follows the unsuccessful attempt to penetrate a mys-
tery. The Kent family broke up their establishment,
and quitted the neighbourhood. The Road Murder
remained one of the strangest among the romances of
crime. Few thought that the secret would ever be di-
vulged. It might figure 100 years hence as a story
unequalled for ghastly attractiveness, and exercise
the ingenuity of our great-grandchildren, as it did
our own. But now, unless an incident even more
strange has taken place, we know the murderess.
Miss Constance Kent some two years ago joined a
society of religious ladies at Brighton, and has
made a voluntary statement to Mr. Arthur Wagner,
the well-known clergyman of that place. Mr.
Wagner declares that he used no such influence as
the receivers of auricular confessions are sometimes
accused of exercising on their female devotees. In
such a case, indeed, we may presume that the un-
burdening of her mind by this lady was a free and
spontaneous act. At any rate her statements yes-
terday before Sir Thomas Henry were deliberate,
and made after repeated cautions. The manner of
the deed we have yet to learn, but it is not too soon
to express thankfulness that the dreadful story is
now likely to be truly told, and the weight of a
horrible suspicion taken of the guiltless members of
the Kent family.
POST.—Mr. Childers introduced into the House
of Commons last evening the long-promised bill for
the reform of the administration of Greenwich Hos-
pital. Under a constitution which admits thegreatest
latitude for criticism, and which permits the press to
be for all practical purposes absolutely free, it is not
surprising that those to whom the management of
our great public institutions has from time to time
been entrusted should but seldom have escaped
censure. But it must be confesssed that amongst
the many instances with which our history
has made us familiar, of the misappropria-
tion of public funds and of their diversion from the
objects for which they were originally established,
none was ever more flagrant than that afforded by
the gradual changes effected in the administration
of Greenwich Hospital during the century or a

century and a quarter immediately succeeding its
oundation. It is true that Greenwich has long
ceased to be that home of sinecurists into which it
had been converted in the time of Lord Sandwich.
But although the shameless corruption which in
the reign of George the Third permitted the
rgvenues which were intended for the support of
those who had been disabled, or who had grown
decrepit, in the naval service of their coun-
try, to be shared amongst' place-hunters, no
longer exists, still it has long been felt that,
owing to a vicious system of administration,
the results attained were far from being com-
mensurate with the means provided for their
production. To some it appears that the number
of the pensioners might be increased, that their posi-
tion might be sensibly improved, and that Green-
wich Hospital might, by the additional advantages
which it could hold out to our aged and disabled
seamen, become more attractive to those who would
be entitled to claim its shelter. Others, on the other
hand, whilst admitting that the funds might be more
judiciously administered, questioned the policy of
making thatwhich should merely be a home for those
who were really destitute, a place so attractive as to
invite inmates who would otherwise have resided
with their families or friends. Again and again the
matter was brought under the consideration of
Parliament, and at length in the course of last
session a motion was submitted to the House of
Commons for the appointment of a committee to
inquire into and report on the existing mode of
governing the hospital and administering its funds.
This motion was withdrawn on a pledge being given
by the Government that steps should be taken to
investigate the then system of administration, and
that a measure should subsequently be submitted to
Parliament for the reformation of such abuses as
should be found to exist. A committee was accord-
ingly appointed with this object, and its report was
submitted to the Government at the commencement
of the present year. The bill rea,d in the House of Com-
mons for the first time last evening is substantially
founded on the suggestions contained in that report.
The aggregate revenues of Greenwich Hospital
from landed and funded property are very large,
amounting to somewhat in excess of £154,000
annually. This sum, it is now proposed, shall be
considered distinct from the ordinary income of
the country, whilst the control of the expenditure
of the hospital shall be directly vested in the
House of Commons, the votes being annually pre-
sented to Parliament, similarly to those of the
other branches of the public service. In order
still further to avoid the possibility of the mis-
application of the funds of the hospital, it is pro-
vided that the Commissioners of Audit shall be
empowered to examine the accounts and balance-
sheets of that institution, which at present they
cannot do. Having thus provided for the due ap-
propriation of the revenues of Greenwich Hospital,
the Government next suggest the manner in which
those funds should be applied. Acting in accord-
ance with the views which he enunciated last session
when the subject was brought under the considera-
tion of the House of Commons, Mr. Childers pro-
poses that the number of the inmates of the hospital
should be reduced, and those of the out-pensioners
increased, or, in other words, that inducements
should be held out to seamen availing themselves of
the benefits of the institution to live outside its pre-
cincts. The number of pensioners in Greenwich
Hospital in June last was fifteen hundred, and this
number it is now proposed shall be reduced to six
hundred. With this object the admission will hence-
forth be limited to those seamen who are absolutely
infirm or helpless, or are in want of medical assist-
ance. It is estimated that the annual cost of these
six hundred indoorpensioners will be about £45,000;
and as the cost of the school will remain at its pre-
sent figure of £23,000, the total amount of the cost
of the internal administration of the hospital will be
about £68,000. In respect to the out-pensioners it
is suggested that the allowances to them shall be in-
creased, and that they shall be entitled to an exten-
sion of their pensions on attaining certain prescribed
ages. The scale according to which these pensions
shall be apportioned was specified by Mr. Childers,
and the estimated annual cost of the out-pensioners
was set down at £48,000. One of the most impor-
tant questions submitted for the consideration of
the committee regarded the advisability of per-
mitting commissioned officers to be eligible to re-
ceive pensions out of the revenues of the hospital ;
and on this point we are glad to find that the de-
cision was in the affirmative. There certainly seems
no good reason why a seaman, because he happens
to bear the rank of an officer, should therefore be
disqualified from availing himself of the advan-
tages held out by such an institution as Green-
wich Hospital. The Government propose to make
some slight additions to the number of naval officers
at present entitled to be recipients of the hospital
funds, and henceforth the estimated annual expen-
diture on this head will be about £4,500. It is also
suggested that the Seamen's Widows' Fund shall
be increased. After adding together these several
items of expenditure, Mr. Childers calculates that
an annual surplus of £13,000 will remain, which he
suggests should be allowed to accumulate. In
respect to the existing system of administration, we
may observe that the new bill will abolish that
double government which all parties have unani-
mously concurred in condemning. The so-called
military element will be eradicated, and compensa-
tion will be made to those officers who will thus be
deprived of the posts they at present hold. Such
are the leading features of the measure which has
now been submitted for the approval of Parliament.
It is unusual to discuss the merits of a bill on the
evening of its introduction, and that of Mr. Childers
was consequently read a first time without comment.
It is not improbable that it will undergo some modi-
fication before it becomes law, but the object which
it has in view has been so long and so universally
recognised, that no doubt can exist of its receiving
the sanction of the Legislature.