The Sun.
London, England, 1849-10-25 00:00:00

THE TRIAL

OF THE

MANNINGS.

CRIMINAL COURT.—(THIS DAY.)
This being the day appointed for the trial of Man-
ning and his wife for the murder of Patrick O'Connor,
the exterior of the court was densely thronged by
crowds of persons, and presented a scene of excite-
ment and bustle which unmistakably indicated !that
Something of absorbing interest, and of more than
ordinary importance, was transpiring inside. At an
early hour many had assembled, in the hope, no
doubt, by dint of perseverence, by good fortune, or,
perchance, by means of liberal bribes, of securing a
position from which a portion of the proceedings
might be heard, or a glimpse of the prisoners obtained.
In this hope, however, by far the greater number
must have been disappointed, for those only were ad-
mitted to the body of the court who had tickets
signed by the Under-Sheriffs—an arrangement which
deserves great praise, for while it enabled persons whose
duties imperatively required their attendance to effect
a ready entrance, it prevented too numerous an
assemblage of curious spectators, who, on important
occasions in courts of law, produce so much annoy-
ance and inconvenience. Nevertheless, every avail-
able space in the court was turned to account, and
even the bench had to give way to the pressing
desire for accommodation, and the three Learned
Judges had little more than elbow room enough to
discharge their serious and most important functions.
There was a considerable array of gentlemen of
the bar, and extra seats had to be provided for them.
The gallery, it would appear, is still placed under
that disgraceful system of farming, which has been
so frequently condemned, but never yet abolished.
Several touters, employed by the keepers, were
very actively engaged in fixing upon persons who
had no tickets, and wished to gain admission, and
managed thus, no doubt, to get large, if not enormous
fees, for the few they managed to squeeze together
in the cramped-up space.
There were at least about twenty ladies present,
most of whom were dressed in very gay attire, and
they appeared to take a most lively interest in the
exciting scene which the court presented previous to
the entry of the Judges.
Among the most distinguished visitors may be
mentioned the Swedish Minister and his Secretary,
Count Colleredo ; the Austrian Minister and his
Secretary, Baron Kohler; the Secretary of the Prus-
sian Legation, the Marquis of Azeglio, brother to the
Sardinian Minister of Foreign Affairs at Turin ; the
Sardinian Charge d'Affaires, the Marquis of Hertford,
Lord Strangford, Lord Howden, the Rev. Mr. Gib•
son, rector of St. Mary Magdalen, Bermondsey, the
Lady Mayoress, and Mrs. Wilkins, the lady of the
Learned Sergeant.
At nine o'clock, Mr. Commissioner Bullock and
some of the civic functionaries entered, and arraigned
several prisoners in the ordinary way, preliminary to
their trial in the other court.
The interval that elapsed before the entry of the
Judges was occupied in handing ladies and gentle-
men_ to their seats, and in making arrangements for
the day, a loud buzz of discussion prevailing the
At ten o'clock the judges, the Lord Chief Baron,
Mr. Justice Malik, and Mr. Justice Cresswell, en-
tered the court, followed by the Lord Mayor, Alder-
men Magnay, Lawrence, and Carden, and other civic
functionaries.
The prisoners were immediately'placed in the front of
the dock, Manning at the extreme end facing the left
of the judges, and his wife at the other extremity,
and they remained in a standing position.
It may easily be imagined that the attention of all
was instantly directed to that part of the court, and
those most distant from the prisoners did not hesitate
to assist their view by means of opera-glasses.
Manning was dressed in a suit of black. Since
his appearance at the police-court he has got much
thinner, and this, together with the paleness of his
countenance, seems to indicate that he has been
suffering from much mental anxiety.
Mrs. Manning likewise is considerably altered, the
blooming appearance and freshness of her countenance ,
which was so much remarked before having given
place to a pale hue, and to an anxious expression.
Her dress was similar to the one she has hitherto
worn with some slight exceptions. She had on no
bonnet, and a better view, therefore, of her counte-
nance could be obtained. Her hair was dressed with
long crepe bands, a small plain cap placed far
back on the crown, in the French fashion,
and a long sash of white muslin, placed on the head
and tied under the chin, the ends hanging down. A
light coloured plaid shawl hung loosely over her
shoulders, and she wore a very fine pair of straw-
coloured kid gloves, which were set off by large
ruffles round the wrist.
On the whole they both looked more anxious and
more aware of their awful situation than formerly.
The solemn aspect of the court, the imposing appear-
ance of the dignitaries on the bench, which is deco-
rated with the sword of justice, threatening as it were
vengeance to the guilty, and also the crowd of as-
sembled spectators, are enough to strike terror into
the breasts of the most hardened criminals, but more
especially of those who are indicted for the most
heinous of crimes.
The counsel for the Crown were the Attorney-
General, Mr. Bodkin, Mr. Clarkson, and Mr. Clerk.
Mr. Hayward, from the office f the Treasury
Solicitor, also attended.
Manning was defended by Mr. Sergeant Wilkins
and Mr. Charnock, and Mrs. Manning by Mr. Bal-
lantyne and Mr. Parry. The respective solicitors
for the prisoners, Mr. Binns and Mr. Solomons,
were also present.
IR the calendar the prisoners stand as follows :
Frederick George Manning, traveller, 00 ; Maria
Manning, married woman, 28.
The Clerk of the Arraigns, having read the indict-
ment, said Frederick George Manning, are you
guilty or not guilty ?
The prisoner (in a most loud and confident tone)
—Not guilty.
Mr. BALLANTYNE said—The female prisoner,
Maria Manning, prays your Lordships to award her
& jury de medietate lingua, on the ground that she is
an alien, and ought to have a jury composed half of
foreigners.
A short discussion followed upon this application,
the result of which was that it should be deferred
until the prisoners had both pleaded.
The male prisoner was then again asked if he was
guilty or not guilty, and in a lower but still confident
tone he said " Not guilty ;" a similar question was
also put to the female prisoner, and her reply was also
"Not guilty," but so low that it could scarcely be
heard. Upon the coroner's inquisition they also made
the same reply.
Mr. BALLANTYNE again repeated his application.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL opposed it, alleging that
the female prisoner was, in the eyes of the law, con-
sidered a natural born subject. The 7 and 8 Vic.,
c. 66, sec. 16 (the Act amending the law relating to
aliens), said that any foreign woman who married a
natural born subject, or a person naturalized, should
be deemed and taken to be herself naturalized, and
should have the rights and privileges of a natural born
subject ; and under that Act he argued she was
not entitled to a jury de medietate linguce.
The Learned Gentleman referred also to Marra'
case under the title " Jury," in More's Abridg-
ment, in which an information was filed by the
Attorney-General against several persons, some of
whom were aliens and some Englishmen. An
application for a jury de medietate lingua on
behalf of the aliens was in that case refused, on the
ground that there was a joint indictment, and the
cases of the accused could not be separated one from
another.
Mr. BALLANTYNE said the right of a foreigner to
claim al jury composed half of aliens was originally
granted by the 27th of Edward the Third, and he
submitted that it could not be taken away by any
implication in a subsequent Act of Parliament, and
could only be abolished by a special enactment. The
Act alluded to by the Attorney-General might affect
the position of an alien in relation to her husband,
but could not alter her position with reference to
the criminal law of the land. The real question was
whether under the Act of Edward 111. the female
prisoner was a denizen ; if not, she was entitled to be
tried by a jury de medietate
Mr. PARRY followed on the same side with
Mrßallantyne, stating that a foreigner
could not divest himself of his cha•
ratter as an alien, except with the consent of
the country in which h
jointlywiteh was born. If a peer
was indicted
commoners for some
offence, could they prevent hi sim because there
was a joint indictment, claiming ply
g tor t beth
attr
theied ably: e
gheids
peers ? He would remind the Court
offence of the prisoners was the highest felony knov‘l
to the law, and also that it was not necessary that
they should be jointly convicted under the in-
dictment ; the case was such that the man might
be convicted and the woman acquitted. He had yet
to learn that the judges of the land could put upon
an Act of Parliament an interpretation which would
have the effect of taking away a most important
privilege-2 privilege conferred by a former Act, and
which had never been abrogated by any special enact-
ment of the Legislature.
After some further discussion,
The CHIEF BARON said" that the Act of Victoria
Was a complete answer to the application ; but he was
not disposed then to lay down any general rule on
the subject without more consideration. By that
statute however, a foreign lady by marrying a
natural born
_subject becomes nutgrulized—the