The Sun.
London, England, 1824-02-19 00:00:00

At a late hour of the night all the messengers had returned,
and the wretched parents, and a few of their friends, remained
sitting by the fire, brooding over the cause of their misery and
indulging in all manner of speculation as to the fate of the
child. At the break of day the father and six or seven other
persons renewed their search about the premises ; and at last
they called for the key of the wash-house, which was locked,
and which the servant, Esther, had said was locked before the
child was missed. This declaration of hers had prevented the
search of this place before, and indeed its distance from the
dwelling-house (about 12 or 14 yards), added to the improba-
bility of the child having been conveyed there, prevented all
suspicion. There was a loft over the wash-house into which
the father mounted, whilst others looked among the lumber
below; at length Mr. Ilisted, a butcher, who lived in the
adjoining house, approached the copper and asked if any.
Person had looked there ? He was answered in the nega-
tive, and instantly lifted off the cover, when to his horror he
" the clothes of an infant floating on the surface of some
water which it contained. He stepped back for a moment,
overpowered by his feelings, but on returning he saw the arm
of the child, and lifting it up, there discovered the hapless little
victim completely dead. He drew it from the vessel, and carried
it in his arms to his own house; and then all the doubts which
had previously existed were at an end. It now became a sub-
ject of inquiry. to ascertain how the child had been placed in
such a situation, and suspicion finally fell on the servant girl.
She was interrogated over and over again as to whether she
knew any thing• of the matter, but she solemnly protested her
innocence, offering to take her oath that she knew nething
about it. Still the inconsistencies of her conduct strengthened
the belief in her guilt, and ultimately it was determined to
send her in custody of the constable, Waghorn, to East Grin-
stead, with a view to her examination by a Magistrate. She was
accordingly conveyed in a gig to East Grinstead, and after divine
service she was visited by Mr. Meggins, of Hommerwood Lodge,
and other gentlemen, but to these persons she still protested
her innocence in the most solemn manner. After their de-
parture, the constable addresed her in confident terms, and
advised her to confess, as her guilt would, no doubt, before
long, be made manifest. This course, although extremely in-
judicious, had the desired effect, and at last she admitted, that
she had put the child in the copper. She told two different
stories—first saying, that she had the child in her arms when
she went to fill a kettle with water, and that it fell into the
copper ; and next, that she had taken the infant, while yet
asleep, in her apron, and threw it into the water, and that while
it was struggling, she put down the cover, and walked away.
The latter statement seems to be most consistent with proba-
bility. Upon being questioned as to her motive for such an
act of cruelty, she could assign no reason whatever, simply
saying, that as the child lay in the cradle, the resolution to drown
it suddenly seized her mind, and she took it up, and running
to the wash-house, plunged it into the copper. On beingasked,
why she did not tell what had happened, when she saw her
master and mistress in such distress P she merely said, that
" she had half a mind to tell them where the child was, but
then again she thought she wouldn't." In the course of
Monday several witnesses were obtained, who proved the incon-
sistencies of the prisoner's conduct and statements ; but none
of them could give the slightest evidence as to the foul act
which she had confessed, and which, from the manner in which
that confession was obtained, can scarce be received as legal
evidence.

On Tuesday, Mr. Gwynne, the Coroner for the county, held
an Inquest on the body of the deceased, at the Swan Inn, when
a vast body of evidence was heard ; but still the confession of
the prisoner formed the main feature of the case. The Coroner
justly animadverted on the conduct of Wagliorn, the consta-
ble, in extorting a confession; but, situated as he was, he
could not shut out his evidence, and at a late hour the Jury re-
turned a verdict of " Wilful Alurder against Esther Gorringe."
The Coroner forthwith made out his warrant for her commit-
ment, to take her trialat the ensuing Assizes for the county.—
No further attempt was made to induce the prisoners to confess
her guilt ; but she did not retract her previous statement, and,
in fact, appeared perfectly. indifferent to her fate; showing an
apathy which some conceive partook of insanity. Upon in-
quiring of those who had an opportunity of observing her con-
duct for the last two years, however, it does not appear that
there was any thing in her manner which indicated the slightest
aberration of intellect. On the contrary, she always appeared
particularly shrewd for her age. It was asked whether any
quarrel had arisen between her and her mistress, which could
by possibility have excited a spirit of revenge in her bosom ?
but to this it was answered, that she was always treated in the
kindest manner, and invariably showed the most affectionate
disposition towards her mistress and all her family, and parti-
cularly, as we before stated, towards the unfortunate little vic-
tim of her unaccountable passion. On the Friday her mis-
tress went to attend the funeral of her brother, who had been
a respectable miller in the neighbourhood, and the child was
left in the prisoner's care. At night she praised the quiet-
ness of the child, and on hearing that her mistress wished
to attend a funeral sermon which was to be preached on the
death of her brother, on the Sunday following, she particu-
larly urged her to go, assuring her that the child would be
as happy as if she were at home. How to account for the act
she has committed, therefore, seems to be perfectly impos-
sible. The wretched girl was yesterday conveyed to Horsham
Gaol, but previous to her departure she sent to her mistress,
with great particularity, for a clean chemise, a pair of clean
stockings, 18 pence which was in her box, and two-pence which
she said would be found on a shelf in the kitchen. The man-
ner in which she delivered this message, as well as her demea-
nour generally, still more confirmed the notion of the soundness
of her mind.

The crowd which pressed for admission to the Coroner's In-
quest exceeded all former precedent, and the attentions to the
unfortunate parents, from all ranks, are of the most consolatory
description. Every hour they receive visits of condolence, as
well as some solid mark of the sympathy which their severe suf-
ferings have induced.
It is rumoured that the prisoner is a natural child; her father
is dead, but her mother is alive, and lives at East Grinstead.

IMPORTANT TO PUBLICANS.—We have seen
an office copy of a case lately submitted to the
Judges on the liability of publicans to be charged
for their windows, which were considered to be
exempt from duty as shop windows, and to
charge accordingly, appealed against and allowed.
The Judges, however, by the instances referred
to for their opinion, decided otherwise, and de-
clared them subject to the tax.—( Birmingham
Gaeette.)