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

THE SUN, LONDON, SATURDAY EVENING, JULY 29, 18&.

Belligerent Rights•

The following is the latest despatch on the sub-
ject of the cessation of belligerent rights, addressed
by the Foreign Office to the American Government :

EARL RUSSELL TO SIR F. BRUCE

" Foreign Office, July 6, 1865.
" Sir,--I have received and laid before the Queen
your despatch of the 19th June, with a copy of Mr.
Seward's note on the subject of the cessation of
belligerent rights.
" Her Majesty's Government are sorry to find
that the reservations and explanations which accom-
panied the orders of the 2d of June are deemed un-
acceptable by the Government of the United States.
" Her Majesty's Government did not expect, in-
deed, that the United States, after the course they
have hitherto taken, would now acknowledge that
the original concession of belligerent rights was
either necessary or just, or sanctioned by the law
of nations.

" Her Majesty's Government, however, having,
in common with all the maritime powers of Europe,
acknowledged the belligerent rights of blockade on
the part of the United States, and having recognised
the existence of a belligerent against whom that
right was exercised in conformity, as they are con-
vinced, with the law of nations and the practice of
centuries, could not be expected on their part to
shrink from the consequences of the course they had
deliberately adopted. Her Majesty's Government,
therefore, considered that a due regard for national
faith and honour required that any Confederate
vessel of war called upon to depart from her Majesty's
ports, harbours, or waters should have the benefit
of the 24 hours' rule. But you will observe to Mr.
Seward that this rule is then to be enforced for the
last time.

" Consequently no Confederate vessel of war,
taking advantage of this rule, could ever again have
the benefit of it.

" Her Majesty's Government have, in a like spirit,
allowed that vessels lying in her Majesty's harbours
or waters, or which, during the space of a month,
shall come into these harbours or waters, shall
be permitted to disarm and assume a peaceful cha-
racter. Otherwise vessels at sea, ignorant of the
termination of the war, might be driven with-
out coals or sails to perish on the neighbouring
rocks, or to founder at sea. Such inhospitality
would not become the character of the nation for
good faith and honour, or for humanity.
" But you will observe that her Majesty's Go-
vernment have instructed their authorities in distant
ports distinctly to apprize the commander of any
such Confederate vessel that he is to expect no
further protection from her Majesty's Government,
except such as he may be entitled to in the ordinary
course of the Administration of the law in time of
peace. The 24 hours' rule would not be applicable
to such case.

The Government of the United States will, there-
fore, be entitled to maintain that such vessels are
forfeited, and ought to be delivered to the United
States upon reasonable applications in such cases
made. Only such applications must be made good
in a British court of law if the vessel is found in
British waters.

"In the case of a vessel captured at sea by a
naval force of the United States, under whatever
flag, the claim ought to be made good in a court of
law of the United States.

" Her Majesty's Government will further illus-
trate their views on this head by the enclosures to
this dispatch.
" Part of these enclosures consist of dispatches to
and from Paris. Her Majesty's Government can
never admit that in the presence of a great war
which interrupted and destroyed a friendly and
useful commerce extending along 3,000 miles of the
American coast—a war reducing great numbers of
industrious families of b9th nations to poverty, and
afflicting a whole continent—the governments of
England and France should not, as far as possible,
act in concert, in pursuance, not of any formal en-
gagement, but of a mutual understanding.
"Her Majesty's Government, however, are grati-,
fled to find that the United States no longer claim
the belligerent right to search British vessels, and
that the normal relations of the two countries are
practically returned to the condition in which they
stood before the civil war.

her Majesty's Government trust that these ex-
planations founded upon views which her Majesty's
Government have maintained in a spirit of just
neutrality, will prove to be favourable to the estab-
lishment of a lasting and intimate friendship be-
tween the two natioiis.—l am, &e.,
(Signed)

" RUSSELL."

Naval and Military Intelligence.

The Duke of Somerset, K.G., First Lord of the
Admiralty, and the other members of the Board,
resumed and brought to a close their official inspec-
tion of the dockyard and other naval establishments
at Chatham yesterday. In consequence of the
length of time devoted by their Lordships on Thurs-
day afternoon to receiving deputations from the
various bodies of workmen employed in the dock-
yard, and the lateness of the hour when the last of
them was dismissed, the accustomed visit was not
paid to the factories, engineering works, and other
departments in the dockyard. The members of the
Board were desirous of devoting as much of the
ti at their disposal as possible to the most im-
portant part of their duties—that of the inspection
of the works now in progress, to the eastward of
the present dockyard, for the conversion of the
whole of St. Mary's Island and the adjoining flats
of waste marsh land into basins, wharves, and
docks, by which the existing dockyard will be 'in-
creased to more than four times its present extent.
Their Lordships, who had remained on board their
steam yacht Enchantress, Staff-Commander J. E.
Tetley, in Chatham harbour, on Thursday night,
embarked in the Admiralty barge at half-past nine
yesterday morning, and were landed on St. Mary's
Island, close to what will form the entrance to the
first of the three basins now in course of formation,
for the purpose of taking up their inspection at the
point concluded on Thursday evening. The mem-
bers of the Board present were the Duke of Somer-
set, Admiral the Hon. Sir F. W. Grey, G.C.8.,
Rear-Admiral the Hon. J. R. Drummond, C. 8.,
and Mr. H. C. E. Childers, M.P., Rear-Admiral
Eden being prevented by other duties from accom-
panying his colleagues. On disembarking at the
island, their Lordships were conducted by Mr.
Bernays, under whom the extension works are
being carried out, and the officials connected
with the engineering staff, to the western or
repairing basin, the site of which was marked out
by lines of red flags. The basin has a water space
of 21 acres, with a depth of 30ft. at high-water
neaps'
and a wharfage frontage of 3,500 ft. With
the
exception of outlets at intervals for the drainage
of the water from the creek, the whole extent of the
river wall ha% been completed. About a mile of the
wall has been finished, and the requisite steam and
other cranes have been erected. The whole of the
works have hitherto been carried out by means of
convict labour, the number ofpriBsooonetorsld,oaoi 10. y
The
act on the —Wand varying from
act recently passed will, however, admit of
the re-
mainder of the works being put up to contract,
and
it is therefore decided that the extension works,
progress, shall be em-
contemplated as well as in
braced in three separate contracts, the first of which
will '7melude the construction of the great western
basin and two of the adjoining docks, the sides of
which. are now distinguished by blue flags ; the
second contract will include the cost of the construc-
tion of the factory basin ; and the third contract
will he for the execution of the factory buildings,
the foundations of which have been completed by
the c onvicts. The repairing basin and factory
basin, with the two adjoining docks, the works con-
nected: with which engaged the chief share of their
lordshtle attention, cover an area of 42 acres, and
these sere to be entirely completed by the autumn of
1869. 'he site of the propossd fitting out basin,
covering an area of exactly 33 acres, was also in-
spected, but beyond the boundaries being marked
out, nothing has yet been done in the way of exca-
vating fc the required foundations, the main object
at present' being the construction of the factory and
repairing 1 mains, and their completion by the period
specified. Passing along the river wall for a
length of al Kota 2,000 ft. their lordships inspected

the proposed site for the large fitting out basin, the
entrance to which will be from the extreme west-
ward end of the dockyard, communicating with the
river at its deepest part by means of locks, with a
depth of water, at neaps, of 30ft., and a wharfage
front of 5,800 ft. Of the entire area of 380
acres which have been taken in and added to the
existing dockyard, 74 acres will be taken up with
basins constructed on the natural line of creek sepa-
rating St. Mary's Island from the mainland. The
lines of flags running in various directions across the
island will indicate the great extent of surface which
will be covered by the several docks, basins, fac-
tory buildings, and wharves, the works connected
with which will extend over the next ten years,
before the whole can be completed. Accepting the
estimate of £1,250,000 as the cost of the entire works,
a sum estimated at £50,000 per annum will be re-
quired to be paid during the next four years for the
employment of convict labour, which is the most ex-
pensive possible. Up to the present time compara-
tively little in the way of excavating for the docks
and basins has been done by the convicts, who have
been employed chiefly in constructing the embank-
meat forming the sea boundary of the island and in
making bricks, the whole of those required for the
works being made by the prisoners. During the
visit of their lordships yesterday they inspected two
of the brick-making machines by Varney and Clay-
ton, each of which turns out between 20,000 and
30,000 bricks daily. As soon as the additional
buildings at the St. Mary's Convict Prison have
been completed about 400 more convicts will be sent
to Chatham, increasing the number of prisonerswho
will be employed on the extension works to about
1,200. Before completing their inspection of the
repairing basin their lordships decided that the
western and factory basins, with two of the four
docks communicating with the former, each of which
is intended to be 500 ft. in length, together with the
factory buildings, shall be proceeded with, so that
they may be completed within the period decided
upon. Their lordships completed their inspection
shortly before 11 o'clock yesterday morning, and
quitted St. Mary's Island at Cookham-wood-reach,
where the Enchantress was in waiting, with her steam
up, for the conveyance of the members of the board
to Sheerness, for the annual inspection of that dock-
yard. They a- ived in Sheerness Harbour from
Chatham, in the Enchantress, about 12 o'clock. The
ships in the harbour manned yards in honour of the
occasion, and the usual salutes were fired from the
guns of the Cumberland, guardship of the Steam
Reserve, and from those on the Camber, manned by
the Royal Artillery. As soon as the Enchantress
hove to Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Talbot, K.C.8.,
Commander-in-Chief at the Nore, went alongside in
his gig and conveyed their Lordships to the landing-
place in the dockyard, where they were received by
Capt. Hall, Capt. Superintendent of Sheerness
Dockyard ; Capt. Fulford, of her Majesty's ship
Formidable ; Capt. the Hon. G. D. Keane, of the
Naval Barracks ; Capt. Reginald J. G. Macdonald,
of her Majesty's ship Arethusa ; Col. Freeth, com-
mandant Royal Engineers, and the chief officers of
the various departments in the dockyard. A guard
of honour, consisting of a detachment of the Royal
Artillery, accompanied by their band, under the
command of Capt. and Adjt. Eden and Capt. Hit-
chins, were drawn up in line and saluted their lord-
ships
on landing. After transacting business in the
Captain Superintendent's office, their Lordships
visited the Icarus, 11, screw steam sloop, 150-horse
power, which is undergoing repair in No. 1 dock.
Thence they proceeded to the North Star, which has
been lying in an unfinished state for several years.
The Favourite, screw iron-cased corvette, 400 horse
power, one of the experimental vessels builtfromthe
plans of the Chief Constructor of the Navy, and
which is being brought forward for commission in the
large basin , was next inspected. Their Lordships then
visited the Etna, one of the old floating batteries
constructed for the late Russian war, which it is pro-
posed to turn into a station for the water police, now
stationed on board the Nymph, about two miles
up the river. The present station is found to be
very inconvenient and very difficult of access
in rough weather. The new station will be placed
between the town pier and the dockyard jetty, and
will be, in every respect, much more convenient than
-the one now in use. The, factory was next visited
and the tubes of the Arethusa inspected. Their
Lordships then proceeded to the Naval Barracks,
which they thoroughly looked over, especially the
new recreation rooms and skittle alley, which
have recently been fitted up for the use of the sea-
men. The Duke of Somerset and the other Lords
then proceeded to take luncheon with the Captain
Superintendent at his official residence in the yard.
At the conclusion of the luncheon a visit was paid
to the saw mills and the joiners' shop, after which
their Lordships again adjourned to the Captain
Superintendent's-office, where they received deputa-
tions from the joiners and shipwrights of the yard
relative to an increase of pay. These interviews
occupied nearly two hours, during which time the
whole of the naval and engineer officers, stockers,
seamen, and marines belonging to the Steam Reserve
were mustered in the dockyard and inspected, as
were also the officers and seamen of the Naval
Barracks. Their Lordships then went on board the
Arethusa, after inspecting which they dined with
Admiral Sir Charles Talbot, K.C.B. Early this
morning their Lordships were to lave Sheerness
and continue their tour of inspection.
The hired sailing transport Dilawur, 1,305 tons,
Commander Bailie, Royal Naval Reserve, embarked
yesterday at Portsmouth, the headquarters of the
26th (Cameronians) Regiment, for conveyance to
Bombay in the following strength :—Major W.
Masse, in command ; Capts. W. H. Salwey and
—Turner; Lieuts. 0. Cresswell,—Sharpe, A. B.
Wade, A. B. Eden, and E. M. Dougherty ; Ensigns
11. F. Townsend and C. 11. Dougherty, Lieut. and
Adjt. Brunker ; Surg.-Major Gamble and wife; 328
non - commissioned officers and men, 48 soldiers' wives
and 42 children. The embarcation was effected at
midday in a very steady and quiet manner under the
superintendence of Capt. R. Locke, embarcation
officer to the Hon. Council of India, and the Assist-
ant Quartermaster-General of the south-west dis-
trict. The ship was appointed to sail from Ports-
mouth for her destination at 8 a.m. to-day. The
Dilawur is a new ship of very beautiful form, built
by Mr. Charles Lungley, at Deptford-green. She
has been constructed on the composite system—an
iron frame with an outer wooden skin. She has a
length seven times her breadth, has a very lofty
main deck for troop accommodation, being 7ft. be-
tween
the deck planking and lower edges of the
overhead beams, and is ventilated in every part in a '
very superior manner. The cabin accommodation
aft is well arranged and commodious, and the fit-
tings are in good taste. The ship's three lower
masts, with the three lower and six topsail yards,
are built of steel. The sails are tanned a light
brown colour by a patented process, and all the
running rigging aloft is of white Manila rope, thus
reversing the old rule of white sails and brown
ropes. The yards aloft are all very square, and
will spread a large area of canvas, and are fitted
without studding sail gear. The ship was swung in
the Thames before leaving to ascertain the devia-
tion of her compass, and it is somewhat remarkable
that the disturbance was found to be greater than
it would otherwise have been had the ship been
wholly built of iron. The Dilawur belongs to Messrs.
Smith, Fleming, and Co., of London, and is one of
six ships building for the firm on the same principle.
She is a
very handsome ship, carefully fitted in
every part, and is calculated to do full justice to the
motto emblazoned on her after deck—" Let the deed
show."
The Royal Yacht Osborne, Commander J.
D'Arcy, arrived at Portsmouth yesterday, after dis-
embarking, ,the previous evening, their Royal High-
nesses the Prince and Princess of Wales and suite,
at Osborne, on their return from their Western
cruise.
__ _

The steam troopship Hydaspes, now hi the Vic-
toria Docks, has been chartered by the War De-
partment for the conveyance of the A brigade Royal
Horse Artillery, under orders at Woolwich for Ben-
gal. The arrangements are so far complete that the
10th of August is now fixed for the embarkation,
which is to take place at Gravesend. Col. Middle-
ton, C. 8., who has been appointed Adjt.-Gen., and
who, it was previously announced, would command
the brigade out, has obtained permission to accom-
pany his family by the Overland route, and will

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, Hugh Auld, commander. The steamer was
inspected on behalf of the Council of India by Capt.
Schombgrg, 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.)
THE 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-
nell. The jury were locked up on that occasion for seve-
ral hours, but at 12 o'clock on a Saturday 4 night, as they
declared there was no chance of their agreeing to a verdict,
the learned Baron discharged them, but ordered the 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 the 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, see no objection to
that course being adopted. . .

Mr. Prideaux said that, on the part of Harris, he could
make no objection to such a course of proceeding, but he
would submit whether it would not be necessary that she
should be first acquitted.

The learned Judge said he 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 ho 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 where 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. lied 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 illness 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. He had no doubt in his own mind ;
but, having the assistance of his learned brother who was
presiding in the other court, ho thought it right to consult
him, although he 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. I am 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 the most 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. T hero
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 IVestern Times newspaper
of the Gth of May, 1864. Tho 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 tho 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 band 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 had a a mark or wart on its groat 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 speaking of Harris's child she said, "Pretty dear,
I hope nothing has happened to it." A warrant was got,
and the prisoner was taken into custody and removed to the
police-station. She expressed a wish to see the body of the
child, and upon its being shown to her she said that it was
not Harris's child, and she took up the leg and said, "No,
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,
6c The nasty —(Harris)will be transported. One night

she came to my house and took the child in her lap and gave
it something. I asked her what it was, and she said Some
sweetstuff.' I took up the child and put my tongue to its
mouth to discover what it was, and I found it very sour
Harris said Don't taste it, as it will poison you ; it is what
they clean brass with.' I said You nasty -; if it will
poison me it will poison the child.' I went out for a short
time, and when I came back she was holding its head in a pan
of water. I said You nasty -, you will hang yourself
and me."' The way in which it was sought to identify the
child was by the evidence of a Mrs. Gibson, at whose house
Harris was confined in October, and with whom it remained
until Dec. 12. That child had no mark or wart on the toe.
Harris had obtained a situation, to which she was to go on
Dec. 12, and on that day the child was removed to the pri-
soner's house. Mrs. Gibson was certain the body found
was that of the child of which Harris had been delivered in
her house. The prisoner's granddaughter was shown the
body at the station, and she at once said " Oh, that's little
Tommy." The medical men were of opinion that death
had resulted from pressure or exposure to the severity of
the weather. On Feb. 9 the prisoner and Harris were to:
gether at the prisoner's cottage. Harris had the child in
her lap. When the girl returned she missed the child, of
whom she was very fond. She used to wash and dress it.
She inquired where the child was, and she was told that
the aunt had taken it away. She never saw the child again
alive. The learned counsel then narrated the evidence he
expected Harris would give, but we prefer giving it from
her own mouth.

put away my child. I did not go into the bedroom to pre-
vent it, as she had filled my mind up and I was led away by
her. I did not go and communicate with the police. Ido
not know why I did not. Although she told me of so many
murders, yet I trusted my child with her when the other
refused to take it. I did not communicate the conversation
to any one. I had agreed to pay her every quarter. I never
asked the prisoner to do it. I saw her take the child into
the bedroom and I did not say authing. I used to go to
church, but not after this had occurred. I saw the child
after it was dead. I did not laugh or think it a matter of
great rejoicing. I told prisoner of Mrs. Gibson's dream,
and when Mrs. Gibson told me of it I felt alarthed. I never
told the prisoner I wished the child made away with. I
told my attorney what I have said to day. I also told Verge
the policeman part of it. I asked Mrs. Edwards, the po-
liceman's wife, if I should be hanged, and she said, " oh,
nonsense, who said you would be hanged ?" I have not
been told I shall be pardoned. My conscience has induced
me to speak the truth. Ido not expect to be pardoned. I
don't know what is to be done with me.
Re-examined—Mrs. Gibson told me she had had a dream.
I asked her to go up the lane with me at night, as I fancied
I heard a child crying.

The,witness gave her evidence with great calmness, but
her statement created the greatest sensation in a very
crowded court. The prisoner sobbed bitterly when Mr.
Carter stated that he should call Harris, and was detailing
some facts of the evidence she would give. It evidently
took her by the greatest surprise.
Witnesses were called 'With a view of corroborating
Harris in such instances as it was possible to do so.

The trial was proceeding when our parcel was despatched.

Extraordinary Case.

At the Maidstone Assizes, yesterday, Emily Elizabeth
Inglis, a married woman aged 26, dressed in deep mourning,
was charged before Mr Baron Pigott with the wilfulmurder
of her female child. .

Mr. Grady and Mr. Addison conducted the prosecution.
The prisoner was defended by Mr. Barrow and Mr. Wil-
loughby.
The circumstances under which this charge was preferred
against the prisoner were of rather an extraordinary charac-
ter. It appears that she was a person in a respectable posi-
tion of life, and she was married a fewyears ago, and she and
her husband kept a public-house called tho Shipwrights'
Arms, at Gravesend, but it seemed that they disagreed, and
in March, 1864, a sparation took place between them by
mutual consent. The prisoner subsequently applied to the
Divorce Court., with a view to obtain a formal separation
from her husband ; but the judge refused to make the order,
and advised that the parties should resume cohabitation.
The husband did not seem inclined to carry out this sugges-
tion, and the prisoner went to the house of a sister of her
husband, who resided at Gravesend, and at that time no
suspicion appeared to have been entertained that she was in
the family-way. The prisoner appeared to have been deli-
vered upon the morning of July 4, and upon an alarm being
given the body of a child was found in her bedroom. It was
alive when it was first discovered, but died very soon after-
wards, and a number of wounds were discovered on the head
and breast, and these injuries were alleged to be tho cause of
death ; and the suggestion on the part of the prosecution was
that the prisoner had wilfully destroyed the life of her child,
with a view, if possible, to conceal her shame, and keep the
fact from the knowledge of her husband.
The following evidence was adduced :

Rebecca James deposed that she kept the British Queen
public-house at Milton, and the prisoner was her sister-in-
law, but she was separated from her husband. The prisoner
came to her house on the 29th of June, and at that time she
had no suspicion that she was in the family-way. Witness
went to her bedroom on the morning of July 4, and asked
her to come to breakfast, and she said she was very ill and
did not wish to be disturbed. Witness went downstairs, and
shortly afterwards Mrs. Livermore made a communication
to her, and witness went to the prisoner's door and listened.
She called out "Emily," and the prisoner told her to
go away—she had been sick, but was better. Witness
went into the room, and saw the priscner standing in the
room, and she missed the hand basin from the stand and
saw it under a chair, and she pulled it out and found the
dead body of a child in it. It had a handkerchief tied round
its head, and she observed a cut across the breast, and upon
seeing this she ran down stairs screaming.
Cross-examined—Witness was aware that there had been
proceedings in the Divorce Court with a view to a separa-
tion between the prisoner and her husband. She did not
remember hearing Sir James Wilde, the judge of the court,
recommend that the parties should live together again, but
he dismissed the case, and the prisoner afterwards went
to her husband's house and said that she had come home.
Witness's brother refusued to live with her, but said that if
the prisoner went and took lodgings ho would pay for it,
but she refused to take a lodging. She said she had no
clothes, and her husband promised to bring her some, and he
also promised to let her have a gold watch that belonged to
her. Witness was summoned by the prisoner for an assault,
and she was fined by the magistrate.
Mrs. Elizabeth Livermore deposed that at the time in
question she was at the house of the last witness, and in
consequence of something she told her she went to fetch
Dr. Nisbett. After the doctor had been, witness saw the
prisoner and said to her, " Poor thing, I am sorry for you."
She replied, "You need not be sorry for me. I did not in-
tend to kill that, I intended to kill a larger one." Witness
did not know what the prisoner meant by this observation.
The doctor told witness to watch the prisoner, and shortly
afterwards she was removed to the workhouse by witness
and a Mrs. Hinkley. Witness saw the child in the work-
house about a quarter to eight o'clock, and at that time it
was alive.

Mrs. Elizabeth llinkley deposed that she was a widow,
and she was sent for to the British Queen about seven
o'clock in the morning of the 4th of July, and saw the
prisoner. She was dressed kid appeared to be very ill, and
witness saw a baby in the basin. It was alive, and she
saw its arm move. Witness took up the basin, and
the prisoner asked her what she was going to do with it.
Witness went to the police-station, and when she returned
she went to the prisoner's room and said to her, Oh, dear
me, how cruel you have been." The prisoner replied,
" What have you done with it ; you can hush it up if you
like, and you shall be paid." Witness told her not to mind
the pay, and the prisoner then said, "Can I depend upon
you ?" Witness then asked the rrisoner what she had done
it with, and she said, " Can I trust you ?" At this time
witness observed that the prisoner's hands were covered
with blood. She asked the prisoner again what she had
done it with, and she said with a scissors, and they were at
the end of the sofa. Witness looked on the sofa, and found
a small pair of scissors, very bloody, and the prisoner told
her to take them home with her. As they were going to the
workhouse the prisoner said, " Don't let anybody know it—
don't let Fred White know who I am." The person she
mentioned was the policeman. Witness asked her how she
came to do it, and she replied "Porhis sake." Witness asked
her if she meant her husband, and she replied "No, I do
not want to hear anything about him. I have not seen him
for 15 months." The prisoner afterwards asked her to post
a letter for her, and she promised to do so. She asked the
prisoner on a subsequent occasion how she could be so cruel
as to cut her child in such a manner,and she made no reply,
but pressed her hand.
Frederick White, the police-constable, deposed that as he
was assisting the prisoner out of the cab she said to him,
" Be my friend, keep quiet." He afterwards read the charge
to her, and she then said, "I know the charge." The wit-
ness then produced the scissors referred to by the last
witness.

Mr. R. Nisbett, the surgeon, deposed that he examined
the body of the child, and observed three wounds on the left
side of the breast,with dark-coloured blood oozing from one
of them. This was the only penetrating wound, the others
merely penetrated the skin. Thore were several small
punctured wounds in the head. The child was alive when
ho saw it, but it was nearly dead, and only breathed at in-
tervals of 15 seconds. The wounds he referred to might
have been produced by such an instrument as the scissors
that had been produced. Ile believed that the death
was produced by one of the punctured wounds in the head,
which had penetrated the brain, but the wound in the
breast might very probably have had something to do with
it. The prisoner seemed very much excited, and hardly
knew what was going on, and he heard her say that she
wondered what all the fuss was about ; she thought they
were making a great fuss about nothing,

Cross-examined—There was no post-mortem examina-
tion. Two of the wounds were such as might be made by
merely closing a pair of scissors, but he did not think the
larger wound could have been entirely caused by that
means. This wound passed into the chest. It would be
very natural for a woman to use such an instrument as a
scissors in a case like this.

Baron Pigott, to the witness—Pirould you be surprised, in
such a case, that the child might be wounded accidentally ?

Witness-1 should not.

In answer to a question put by Mr. Barrow, the witness
said that ho did not think the injuries of the head could
possibly have boon occasioned by falling on the ground.
Ile added that ho was unable to say how deep the wound
in the chest extended.

By the Court—The wound in the head appeared to pass
completely into the brain, and there was, therefore, no
doubt as to the cause of death, and ha considered it un-
necessary to make a post-mortem examination. The probe
passed completely through the skull into the brain.

Mr. Barrow, at the close of the case for the prosecution,
made an able address to the jury on behalf of the prisoner,
and after reminding them that if they returned an adverse
verdict to her the inevitable result would be. that her life
would be sacrificed upon the scaffold, he contended that, in
the first place, there was no positive evidence that either
of the injuries that had been alluded to was the cause of
death ; and, secondly, that there was nothing to show,
even supposing this fact had been proved, that those in-
juries were not inflicted accidentally, under the excite-
ment of the position in which the prisoner was placed.
With regard to the
.motive that was suggested for the
crime, he submitted that there was no evidence that
the child in question was not the child of the
husband, and he remarked that if the prisoner bad been
aware that it was the result of an adulterous intercourse
with some other man it was not likely that she wouldhave
gone to her husband's house and requested him to receive
her if she had been aware that oho was likely to be de-

livered of a child of which be was not the father within a
month afterwards.

Some respectable witnesses wore called, who gave the
prisoner an excellent character for humanity, and who also
stated that she was exceedingly fond of children.
Baron Pigott, in summing up the case to the jury, said
that undoubtedly, before they would be satisfied in finding
the prisoner guilty, they ought to be satisfied that the in-
jnries were the cause of death, and that they were inflicted
wilfully ; and if any doubt existed within their minds upon
either of these points, the prisoner was entitled to an
acquittal.

The jury, after very short deliberation, returned a verdict
of not guilty.
There was some applause when the verdict was given,
and the prisoner was ordered to be immediately discharged.