The Sun.
London, England, 1831-04-06 00:00:00

William Pero (36), Was indicted for a rape on
Ann &Ward, a little girl in her eleventh year, at
Nantwich, on the 31st of August last.
The de'ails of this case are unfit for publication;
let the following suffice :—The pro•ecutrix in this
case is an intelligent interesting little girl, who com-
pleted tier tenth year in June last, and is doubly an
orphan. Her father was a respectable attorney at
Nautwich, who died about four or five years ago,
from loss of blood, in consequence of the bandage of
an arm from which blood had been let coming loose
in the night, after the operation was performed.
His wife was so affected by the shock which she
received from this circumstance that she survived
him only a few days, and the little girl has been
since under the guardianship and fostering care of
her uncle, a professer of dancing, retired from busi-
tress, arid residing in the immediate vicinity of
Nantsvich. The prisoner is a married man, and a
master builder, in good circumstances, residing at
Nantwich, and reputed to be worth at least 6,0001.;
and at the time of the alleged commission of this
offence, and for nearly t wo years previously, had been
employed in making aherations and repairs in the
house of Mr. Gdliard, the uncle of the little girl. On
the day name I in the indictment Mr.aud
were out on a visit, and the prisoner was occupied in
one of the bed-rooms in painting a board, which he
got
the Ittl•e girl to hold, and after a little time
caught her up in his arms and laid her on the ;
where, according to her account, which was not in
the slightest degree shaken by a most rigorous cross-
examination, the capital cffence (as defined by the
recent aheration in the law on that subject) was
conep!wed. The prisoner prevented her from crying
out by stopping her mouth.
Mr. Richard Hughes, of Nantwich, a surgeon of
forty years' experience, who examined the person of
the Irxsectitrix on the is of September (the day
after the alleged commission of the offence), de-
sera). d certain slight appearances which he ob-
served internally, but externally there was not the
slighrest indication of violence.
The line of cross-examination for the defence was
intended to show the non-compleiion of the offence,
and the impossibility of its having been
,completed
without leav;ng more decided appearances, both in.
ten tinily and externally, than shown on the part of
the prosecution.
Mr. Baron BOLLAND summed up, and the Jury
returned a verdict of. Not Guilty.
Anther indictment has been found by the Grand
Jury against the prisoner for the misdemeanour (for
an assault, with intent, &c.); but the prisoner, hay-
ing been in custody on the capital charge only,
availed himself of his privilege to traverse till the
next Assizes, and was ordered to enter into recog-
nizances, himself in 2001., and two sureties in 100/.
each, to take his trial at the next Autumn Assizes.

John Crag, aged 34, was indicted for breaking
into the dwelling-house of Edmond Hulme, at Pol-
lington, in the absence of the family, and s!ealing
five sovereigns.
The Jury found a verdict of Guilty, and
The CHIEF JUSTICE ordered sentence of death
to be recorded against him, with an intimation to
the prisoner that his life would probably be spared,
on condition of his being transported for 14 years.
The prisoner, on retiring from the bar, extended
his hand towards the overseer, who sat near him,
saying, " You hear what my Lord says—that makes
you and me straight —good bye. Give my love to
Bet, and take care of the baby."---( Loud laughter.)

The Irish Papers give the most afflicting ac-
counts of the distress in the county of Mayo.

Nothing can show more clearly the utter
Worthlessness of the rotten, or (not to offend " ears polite")
the nomination borough system, than the little estimation,
not to say detestation, in which it is held where it is best
known, and its effects most likely to be experienced. In
the county of Cornwall, for instance, where, of the enor-
mous number of forty-two representatives, two-thirds are
to he swept away, and in the Isle of Wight, where, in
lieu of six, Lord JOHN RUSSELL'S Bill proposes to give
but one Member, the measure has been received with uni-
versal gratitude and heartfelt tejoicing ; a tolerable proof,
we should think, of how little value, except. to its imine-
diste possessors, this selfish system has been.