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

LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, OCTOBER 25) 1849

the husband, and that she was only an accessory
in the second degree before the fact ; but neither the
law nor the evidence justified, in the slightest, degree,
the plea of coverture. The Attorney-General then gave
a rapid but succinct account of the whole facts which
have been adduced in the various examinations at th-
police court—from the beginning of the intimacy of
O'Connor with Mrs. Manning down to the commission
of the murder, dwelling and commenting upon the
main facts as tending to show the guilt of the accused.
In conclusion, he said they would find that before the
act was done lime was purchased by Manning, and
that lime was used for the purpose of obliterating all
traces of the murder ; that he had also purchased a
crowbar, which was delivered to the female prisoner,
and paid for by her, after complaining that the
price was higher than was agreed upon ; that she had
herself, the day before the murder, purchased a strong
shovel, probably for the purpose of removing the
earth ; and the various facts that he had stated, and
which would be substantiated in evidence, would, he
believed, clearly show that the prisoners at the bar
were guilty of the crime imputed to them. He was
quite sure that they would calmly investigate the
whole of the facts ; he knew that they would do so
patiently and honestly, dismissing everything from
their minds which they had heard out of doors, and de-
livering their verdict solely upon the evidence adduced
The first witness called was Henry Barnes; he was
examined by Mr. CLARKSON—I am a police-constable.
On the 17th of August last, in consequence of infor-
mation I received, I accompanied a man named Burton
to a house in Minver-place, Bermondsey. The house
was empty, but we got in. Burton had the key, and
he unlocked the door and we went in. We examined
the house, with the back kitchen, and I observeda damp
mark between the flag-stones. Those two stones ap-
peared to have been recently removed. I removed the
stones and the earth, and when I got about an inch
down I discovered the toe of a man. About eighteen
inches lower down I found the loins of a man. The
body was lying with the face downwards, with the
legs tied up to the haunches. The body was naked,
and the legs tied up with a strong cord. I
found also a quantity of slack lime. Whilst
I was doing this, iMr. Lockwood came, but
I had removed enough to disclose the body. Mr.
Lockwood found a set of false teeth in the earth.
The head was downwards, but I did not examine it,
and therefore I cannot say in what state it was. Mr.
Lockwood was a surgeon. The body was removed,
and afterwards examined by Mr. Lockwood and
another surgeon. While the body was in the hole,
Mr. Flinn came in, and had an opportunity
of seeing the body. On the same day in
the evening I went to No. 20, Greenwood-street. I
there found a box, which had been previously forced
open. In that box there was another, a sort of cash-
box, but there was no cash in it. There were some
I 0 U's in it. Mr. Flower went with me and saw it.

Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant WILKINS—The
size of the flag-stones were about three feet
long by two feet wide. The soil below was
damp. I have, since the day I mentioned, exa-
mined the house carefully, and made myself well
acquainted with it. There is a garden at the back,
and on entering the house by the front door the first
room 'come to was the front parlour. The front
kitchen was under the front parlour, and the back one
under the back parlour. I can't say whether or not
persons could be heard walking about in the next
houses, because there was a good deal of noise in the
street.

Re-examined by the ATTORNEY- GENERAL—A
crow-bar and shovel were used to remove the stones.

Cross-examined by Mr. BALLANTYNE —l_could
easily have removed the flag-stone.
James Burton, a police-officer, examined by Mr.
BODKIN—I went with the last witness to
the house in Minver place, and opened the
front door with the key. I saw the opening made
in the back kitchen. The size of it was about five
feet long and two broad, and between two and three
deep. The things had all been removed from the house,
but I subsequently found a shovel in the back
parlour.
Cross-examined by Mr. Sergeant lirmusts —I
went first to the house on the 14th of Au-
gust, accompanied by Mr. Keating and two
other persons. On that occasion I found 28 pieces
of clean linen there, and there were some trunks in
the house. The shovel was found in the back parlour.
Mr. Samuel James Lockwood examined by Mr.
CLARKE—I am a surgeon, and I remember going to
a house in Minver-place, in consequence of some in-
formation I had received, and finding the two last wit-
nesses there in the back kitchen. I found them opening
a hole there, and saw in it the body of a man with the
face downwards and the knees tied up to the
haunches. Before it was removed I took out a set
of false teeth from the mouth. The body was taken
from the hole, and I then examined it. Mr. Howdley
and another surgeon cut the cords. On examining
the bead I perceived a small protuberance
over the right eye. I further examined
the head, and found a bullet on the back
which I now produce. I could not trace the progress
of the bullet, in consequence of the wounded and
decomposed state of the head. Sixteen pieces of bone
had been removed from the head, which was covered
with wounds that might have been produced by
a blunt instrument, such as a crow bar or
chisel. There was also a wound that might
have resulted from a gun shot; and those
named, in my opinion, would be sufficient to ac
count for death. A post-mortem examination was
made of the body.

The witness was not cross-examined.
Mr. Charles Slow examined by the ATTORNEY..
GENERAL—I am summoning officer of the Coroner's
Court, and produce a set of teeth which I received
from Mr. Lockwood.
Mr. Lockwood identi6ed the teeth as those he had
taken from the head of the body.
William Tomlin, a dentist, examined by the AT-
TORNEY-GENERAL--I knew Mr. O'Connor, and the set
of false teeth now produced I remember having made
for him.

Price Walsh, examined by Mr. CLAaitsoN—l knew
the deceased. On the 17th of August I went to a
house in Minver-place, but could not get in. I
went again on the following day, and then saw
a body in the back kitchen. It was the
body of Patrick O'Connor, of her Majesty's Customs.
I had known him since April. On the Bth of August
I saw O'Connor alive. I was with him at his lodg-
ings and accompanied him that night to the Man-
nings, in Minver-place. It was about a quarter to
ten when we went, and for some time we sat to-
gether with the Mannings. I remember on this
occasion Mrs. Manning saying to Mr. O'Connor, " Why
did you not come to dinner to-day ; we kept
dinner waiting for an hour ; did you not get my note ?"
He said, no, and she said "Perhaps it did not arrive
before you left the docks, but you will; get it to-
morrow." Mr. O'Connor then said, "Mr. Walsh
has got the balance of the bill to day, Pitt's bill."
Mrs. Manning asked , him, " Will you' proceed
against him for the other three bills ?" and he said
will." O'Connor and Manning then began to smoke,
and after doing so for some time O'Connor became
faint and he sat upon the sofa, and Mrs. Manning
went for some brandy and water, but he did not take
any. We quitted the premises about a quarter past
eleven, and I accompanied him home as tar as Com-
mercial-street. I never saw him again until I saw
his body on the Bth of August. The Mannings
were as friendly with O'Connor as brothers.
Cross-examined by Mr. BALLANTTNE—Mrs. Man-
ning bathed O'Connor's temples with Eau de Cologne.
By Mr. WILYINS—Pitt is a grocer, or a broker of
that sort.

William Keating examined by Mr. I3oDuN—I am
clerk in the Examiner's office of the Customs. I knew
O'Connor, and saw him last alone on the 9th of
August, about a quarter to five o'clock. Ile
was going over London bridge, towards the Surrey
side. Mr. Graham was with me, and we had some
conversation together. O'Connor showed me a letter.
Mr. BODKIN—Did you see the name to that letter?
Witness—Yes.
Mr. BODKIN--Was it Maria ?

Mr. BALLANTYNE objected to the question. No
proof had been adduced that the letter had been lost,
and secondary evidence ought not to be taken till
that was done.

The ATTORNEY•GENENAL said the letter could not
be found.

The COURT ruled that the question could not be put.
Examination continued—Mr. O'Connor appeared
in his usual health and spirits when I met him on the
bridge. On the Sunday following I went to Mr.
Manning's house in Minver place, and saw Mrs.
Manning. I asked her if O'Connor dined
there on the pmvious Thursday. She said
no. She added, " I saw him on the night
before that, and he was unwell, and I went on the
following night about seven o'clock to inquire about
him, but he was not at home." I said, "It is very
strange, for he was seen by two friends crossing
London-bridge in the direction of your house on
that day." I asked to see Mr. Manning, but she said
he was not in. She said it was ungentlemanly of Mr.
O'Connor that he did not come to keep his appoint-
ment to dine with us on the Thursday. I said I
would call the same evening to see Mr. Manning, as
perhaps he might have seen Mr. O'Connor, but she said
they were going out to tea, and would not be at
Name. I do not know Mrs. Manning's hand-
writing. O'Connor was on very friendly terms with
the Mannings.

cross•examined by Mr. BALLANTYNE.—I knew
Mrs. Manning before I saw Manning. I have been
to O'Connor's lodgings and seen Mrs. Manning there,
and have left them together late of an evening. It was
on the 12th of August I saw Mrs. Manning,
and she said she had been down at
O'Connor's twice to inquire after him—once on the
9th and once on the 16th. I think she said it was
about 7 o'clock in the evening.
Cross-examined by lar.SergeantWas.iNa—When.

ever I have seen Manning and O'Connor together, they
have always appeared on friendly terms.
David Graham examined by Mr. CLERK—I am
an officer in the Customs, and knew O'Connor,
I remember meeting him on London bridge while
in company with the last witness. He appeared in
perfect health and spirits. I remember going to
Manning's house, in Minver place, on the pdi of
August, with Mr. Keating, and then seeing Mrs.
Manning. Mr. Keating asked if she had seen
O'Connor. She said she had, on the
Wednesday previous, when he was at their house, and
being unwell he laid down on the sofa. Then she
went to Mr. O'Connor's lodgings on Thursday even-
ing, the 10th, at about a quarter to six, to know why
he had not come to dine with them, but she did not
find him at home. She said also that she thought it very
ungentlemanly that he did not come. We asked to
see Mr. Manning, but he was not at home, and when
Mr. Keating proposed to come in the evening, she
said they were going out to tea.
Crcms-examined by Mr. Sergeant WILKINS—The
spot where we met O'Connor was about half a mile
from the Mannings.
Cross-examined by Mr. PARRY—I had often seen
O'Connor walking with Mr. Manning, and I have
seen Mrs. Manning at O'Connor's lodgings once.
It was in the everting, and I left them together.
O'Connor occupied two rooms in a house in Green-
wood-street on the same floor.

The Court adjourned at this period of the proceed
ings for a quarter of an hour.

THIRD COURT.
(Before Mr. Commissioner BULLOCK.)
MURDEIL—Henry Watson, a man about 35 years
of age, was indicted for the wilful murder of Louisa
Charlotte Watson, his daughter, on the 20th Septem-
bf.r, by throwing her into a waterbutt, and was also
charged, on the Coroner's inquisition, with the said
murder.

Mr. M'Murdo, the surgeon to the prison, upon
being sworn. deposed that he had had an opportunity
of seeing the prisoner since the 21st of September
last, and he was evidently of an unsound mind.
The jury returned a verdict accordingly.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.
(THIS DAY.)
The ASSISTANT JUDGE, Qn taking his seat on the
bench, apologised to the bar and the jury for the late-
ness of his arrival (it being half-past ten o'clock), which
he said was occasioned by a serious accident upon the
North Kent Railway, which delayed the train a consi-
derable time.
The Court this day took tLebail list, and was occupied
the greater part of the morning with hearing appeals
against the decisions of the magistrates in cases of
affiliation.

FRANCE.
(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
PARIS, TUESDAY EVENING.
Thera is not an honest Frenchman in the land
whose cheeks are not burning with shame at the
infamy of the National Assembly declaring, by solemn
votes on Saturday, that the Pope shall have carte
blanche to murder, imprison, exile, confiscate, and
oppress, under protection of the French legions sent
to Rome on the lying pretence of defending Roman
liberty. And no wonder that Frenchmen hang the
head with humiliation, for never, never did legisla-
ture of any nation give such an audacious disavowal
of its own previous acts, cast such a stain on the
country's honour, or commit such monstrous iniquity
towards a friendly people.
In this deplorable business, however, President
Bonaparte figures most pitiably. He is personally
insulted and disgraced ; branded as a foolish mad-
cap. whose solemn acts are treated as of no account;
scoffed, jeered, kick (id ,humiliated, as not only no Prime
Minister of a great nation, but no man with the slightest
sense of his own dignity was before submitted to. Oh !
how the shadow of the Napoleon which haunts the
Invaiides must have started with astonishment, and
his e 3 es have gleamed fierce with wrath at seeing his
degenerate nephew, the unworthy bearer of his own
great name, submit to have France so humiliated, and
he himself so dishonoured !
But "out of evil cometh good ;" and whilst we weep
with the oppressed and betrayed Romans, and express
indignation at the atrocity of the French Govern-
ment, we have at least the satisfaction of knowing that
Prince Bonaparte has henceforward rendered himself
perfectly harmless in the land, and sunk himself to the
contemptible position of the baffled and ridiculous
conspirator of Strasburg and Boulogne, from which his
election to the Presidency drew him. In consenting
to allow Thiers to treat with contumely his letter to
the Aide de-camp Ney, and in permitting his Mi-
nisters to advocate from the tribune a policy of which
he notoriously disapproved, he has voluntarily
stripped himself of the prestige which his name, and
his almost miraculous election, gave him in the eyes
of the gullible multitude. He is no longer an object
of dread to the Republicans. His schemes of esta-
blishing an empire are no longer to be feared. Any
prolongation even of his Presidency need no longer
to be apprehended. He is henceforth a stick in the
hands of his Ministers and the majority of the As-
sembly—a dog to fetch and carry, and be spurned
and kicked at will. Nay more; be cannot even boast
of being President of the Republic in aught but in
name, as the power which the Constitution confides
to him, and for the exercise of which it makes him
responsible in liberty, fortune, and life, has been
audaciously, and in the presence of all, taken away.
The man in truth is now politically a nonentity—he
is politically dead.

-Although the majority of the Assembly appear by
its recent vote to be as compact as heretofore, the
truth is that it has received a shock from which it
can never recover; and it is certain that it will very
shortly fall to pieces. Its dissolution will be a bless-
ing to the country, inasmuch as it may probably
avert a sanguinary insurrection. A more abominable
and unnatural coalition never existed ; it consists of
parties whose principles are as wide as the poles
asunder, and destructive of each other, and has no
other object than that of securing to itself place,
power, privilege, and of maintaining a system of taxa-
tion so iniquitously devised as to cast nearly the who]e
burden on the toiling people.
I hope that in England you place no confidence in
France with respect to the Turkish question. If so,
you are doomed to grievous disappointment. Beyond
a milk and watery note, and perhaps the sending of a
few ships to share in any demonstration which may
be made by the English fleet, expect not France to
go. Her Government is too selfish, too timid, too
traitorous to the Republic and to the people, even to
think of assuming a bold and becoming attitude to•
wards the Russian Autocrat. As for engaging in
war, should one ensue, you might as well expect her
to fight for the moon. It is not under a Louis Bona-
parte, a l3arrot, and a Thiers, that she will
consent to fire a shot or spend a sous for
a cause of chivalry and generosity. has not
her Government need of almost every man
of her vast army to overawe the population at home ?
And are not the few troops she sends abroad destined
to slaughter nascent Republics, and end in extinguish-
ing the liberty of foreign nations ?
The clouds which have so long hung over the
political horizon have not cleared up ; they seem, on
the contrary, to become blacker and heavier every
day. The present state of things cannot last—it can-
not. It is wearing away the vital forces of the nation
as consumption wears away the human frame. It is
filling every heart with hatred, every mind with
despondency. All wish to see it overthrown; but,
strange to say, scarcely any dare to hasten its down-
fal, as it is feared that its destruction, though
inevitable, will be the signal for the unloosing of all
the passions of faction—perhaps for the drawing of
the sword of civil war.

Ah l tremendous it the responsibility which weighs
on the men who have brought things to the cii,;is
in which they stand; who have perverted the pure and
holy Revolution of February; who have poisoned
the stream that was declared to give life and hope to
the half starving myriads of this wretched land ; who
have made another revolution inevitable, and done
their utmost to render it implacable and as sangui-
mry as the terrible '93 : vast is their responsibility,
but let them bear it, and let all its consequences fall
on them.

Rumours of a change of Ministry continue to
prevail. It is morally certain that the Cabinet, as at
present constituted, cannot possibly hold together
long, and the probability is that it _ will be

replaced by one in which Theirs and Mole, and
their get will be predominant. Toot mieux, a few
months' rule of such men would bring things to a
crisis, and, if I mistake not, so disgust the population
with their faction and their doctrines as to win uni-
versal favour to the Republic, the only form of
government henceforth possible in France.
In financial circles there is a talk of a loan being
shortly raised by the Government. I entreat your
readers to have nothing to do with anything of the
kind. It would be treason to liberty to lend money
to the present Government of France ; and it would be
folly besides, for the financial embarrassments are so
fearfully great that it will require nothing short of a
miracle to avoid national bankruptcy.
BLEU-BLANC-ROUGE.

Count Charles Berando de Pralormo presented to
the President of the Republic, yesterday, letters from
his Sovereign, accrediting him as Envoy Extraor-
dinary and Minister Plenipotentiary of Sardinia in
France. On Sunday Mr. Richard Rush delivered
to the President of the Republic letters from his
Government, terminating the mission he filled in
France as Envoy Extraordinary and Minister Pleni-
potentiary of the United States of America.