The Sun.
London, England, 1847-03-29 00:00:00

CORPUS CIIRISTI COLLEGE.

On the 18th instant the Rev. John Henrnan, M.A.
(13. A., MU, of Corpus Christi colle3e, was, on his
own petition as patron for this town, admitted alio
licensed, the Lord BiNhop of Gloucester and Bristol,
to the perpetual curacy of Clifton, in the county of
Gloucester, void by the death of the Rev. J. Taylor.

DOWNING COLLEGE.
On Tueiday week the Bishop of Norwich instituted
the Rev. H. B. Longe, M.A. (8.A., 1825), of Downing
college, to the rectory of Morewden, Suff,lk, Patron,
Andrew Archdeckne, Esq., Glevering Hall, Suffolk.

CON VILLE AND CAIUS COLLEGE.
At a meeting of the Master and Fellows, on Satur•
day last, the following translations were made :—Corbel
Hue, M.A., to a Frankla.nd Fellowship; W. 13. Hopkins,
M.A., to a Fellowship on the Wortley Foundation.

KENDAL—Within the last few days a letter has
been received by Mr. R. Wilson, from Mr. Warburton, the
Member for Kendal, announcing his intention to resign his
trust at the dissolution of the present Parliament, and retire
altogether from public life.— Manchester paper.
DROITWICH.—TIIII SALT TRADB. —We are glad
to say that the salt trade of the borough is just now satis-
factory, and that the works
generally are in tull operation.
The recent partial success with the East India Company has
emboldened the Cheshire and Worcestershire salt owners to
persevere in their endeavours to procure the removal of the
,1
unrighteous thousand per cent. duty levied on all salt in our
Indian dominions; and that these efforts may be crowned '
with success, we should think, must be the desire of every
humane and considerate human being.—Wiirce:ter Herald.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

.IVOI2I OLK CIRCUIT.—Bury St. Edmunds,
March 27.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Sir F. PoLLocK.)

Catherine Foster, aged 18, was arraigned upon an in-
el,cfment charging her with the wilful murder of her
husband, John Foster, by administering to him arsenic,
at Acton, on the 18th of November last.
Mr. Gurdon and Mr. Sanders were counsel for the
prosecution ; Mr. Power defended the prisoner.
This case, which has excited much public attention in
this and the adjoining county of Essex, being specially
appointed for this day, the court was greatly crowded
before the usual hour. From the opening statement of
the Learned Counsel for the prosecution, and the evi-
dence of the witnesses called in support of it, the fol-
lowing narrative of this domestic tragedy might be
gleaned :—The deceased, who was an agricultural la-
bourer, was a native ,it Acton, a small village near Sud-
bury, where also lived the prisoner, for a horn, though
of no prepossessing appearance, he early in life con-
ceived a warm affection. They went to school together
in early youth, and worked together till she went to ser-
vice at the age of 16, when his boyish penchant ripened
into manly love. During her absence he frequently
visited her, and matters progressed between them
in this way till the autumn of last year, when the pri-
soner being about to pay a visit to her aunt at Paken-
ham, a village on the other side of Bury, and twenty
miles from Acton, the lover became most desirous that
the marriage should take place, possibly because, like all
lovers, he fancied that every man would fall in love with
the lady of his affections, and he might lose his prize. Be
that as it may, according to Mrs. Morley's testimony, he
earnestly urged the propriety or his bring at once mar-
ried, and promised that he would allow his bride to pay
her promised visit to her aunt as soon as she pleased
after the ceremony—all he wanted was to be married
at once ; and being backed in his suit by the prisoner,
the ceremony took place at Acton Church on the 28th
of October, after which the young couple took up their
abode in the house of Mrs. Morley, with whom was
then living, besides her daughter, a son, Thomas, aged
three years. John Foster having thus gained the long-
cherished object of his heart, was as happy in the pos-
session of his youthful wife as man could well be. On
the third morning they parted according to his promise.
He handed her into the carrier's cart, and bidding
adieu to her, asked if she thought she would stay all a
month ?" To which she replied, " No, John, I'll be back
before." After the lapse of ten days she returned to
her home, and her husband's cup of happiness seemed
filled to overflowing. He was happy as the day was
long; worked with zeal, alacrity, and joyousness, in the
daily discharge of his "lot in life." He was then, as he
had ever been, aecording to one of the witnesses, " as
strong and blooming a young man as ever you seed;"
though he had, about a fortnight before, met with an ac-
ciuent while loading a waggon of hay, but that had only
produced a slight headache, a thing which his friend as-
sured him would soon pass off—as he " often had it on
Mondays—after a day's rest." This remark was fully
verified. The deceased soon resumed his wonted cheer-
fulness and strength, and on the 17th of November re-
turned from work to his evening meal with his friend,
sinking all the way to that house whence he never de-
parted alive. On his arrival he partook of supper with
his wife and her little brother, their homely meal con-
sisting of dumplings, potatoes, and tea. The man had
no sooner partaken of his dumpling than he was taken
violently sick at the stomach, and obliged to go into the
yard. Soon' after this his mother-in-law, who had been
out all day washing, came home, and found him retching
violently in a basin, the contents of which she threw
into a neighbouring ditch, where some fowls were in
the habit of picking up their scanty subsistence.
During the whole of the night the poor man remained
in great pain; at tour o'clock he tried to get up, but fell
down from weakness, and on the following morning his
wife went to Melford for a doctor, whom she told her

husband had got a " bowel complaint," and asked to
come and see him that day. Deeming from her account
that his patient was suffering from English cholera, then
very prevalent, the surgeon prescribed accordingly, and
the prisoner took away the medicine, some of which she
gave to her husband. On her return she found him

worse than when she left him, and he finally died in her
arms at four o'clock, soon after which hour his mother
and the surgeon arrived. On the same day the fowls all
died, and a post-morton examination of the body of the
deceased was made by 11r. Jones, of Melford. At
that time no suspicion was engendered, and that
gentleman gave it as his opinion that the deceased came
to his death from English cholera; but suspicion being
afterwards excited by the death of the fowls in a sudden
and mysterious way, a further and more searching in-
quiry was deemed necessary by the coroner, and the con-
tents of the stomach of the deceased were taken to Bury,
where they were subjected to analysis by Mr. Image and
Mr. Newham, who unhesitatingly pronounced the pre-
sence of arsenic in great quantities, not.only in the sto-
mach and its contents, but also in the crop of the fowls,
and a pudding bag, in which the prisoner had boiled the
dumpling of which the deceased had eaten the night
before his death. Under these circumstances recourse
was had to the family for further information, and it was
ascertained that the prisoner had spent the day with the
mother of her husband " very comfortably," from twelve
to four, when she stated that she " must go home, for it
was dumpling night." Her brother was also called before
the coroner, when he stated that his sister had made one
dumpling for supper, of which they all partook. After-
wards, however, he varied his statement, and then,
rAS was stated to-day, deposed to haring seen his sistet
wake two dumplings on the night in question, into
one of which she had put some powder out of a
paper, after which she burnt the paper, and put that
dumpling into a pudding-cluth. He is also repre-
sented to have stated that he and his sister supped
off a different dumpling, and did not partake of the
dumpling of which the deceased ate. In addition to
this it was shown that after the unfortunate occur-
rence the prisoner had stated that " she wished she
had gone to Bury before she had married, for then she
would not have been married at all, and would have got
a good place." This she stated on the day after her
return from Bury, and also on that after her hus-
band's death, when she had gone into a neighbour's
house in tears, and asked for leave to stay there
" while the doctor's opened John," which she could not
bear to witness These facts were for the most part
proved to-day, but the boy, when examined, though
he stated that he had seen his sister make the two
dumplings, and boil one for the deceased in a bag, de-
nied that he had seen her put anything into it from her
pocket, or burn any paper, and insisted in saying, that
both his sister and himself, who had not exhibited any
symptoms of illness, bad partaken of the same dumpling
with the deceased.

On this subject Mr. Image and Mr. Newham both de-
posed, that if the deceased told taken the poiso❑ in that
dumpling, it was impossible that any One else could have
tasted it without experiencing great illness and danger to
life from it.

At the close of the case for the prosecution, which oc-
cupied the entire day.
Mr. PowEn addres,ed the jury on behalf of the pri-
soner, strongly commenting on the extreme improba-
bility that a yong and recently married girl would per-
petrate so diabolical a crime as the murder of her hus-
band. Ho contended that there was an utter absence of
all motive on her part to commit such an outrage on
human nature ; and without direct proof that she had
bought any arsenic, or been known to be possessed of
any, the more reasonable inference was that the husband
must have taken the poison, of which it was impossible
to deny he was the victim, elsewhere than at his own
home, and at some other meal than the supper.
The CHIEF BARON most carefully and minutely went
over the whole evidence to the jury, pointing out to
them the peculiar features of the case, and calling their
attention to the facts which bore in favour of the
prisoner, as well as to those which went to support
the serious charge now under their consideration.
In his opinion it was not essentially necessary to
prove any motive in such a case, but it was for the
jury to say whether, uner all the circumstances which
had been deposed to, they were of opinion that the de
ceased had come by bis death from poison administered
to him in the dumpling at the supper prepared for him
by his wife. If they thought that proposition established,
the serious question was, by what means the poison came
into that dumpling, of which, whatever the boy might
ay, no one could believe that any one could hare eate❑
without feeling the ill effects of poison, as had been de-
posed to most unhesitatingly by two eminent surgeons
who had been examined to-day.
The jury retired for about twenty minutes to delibe-
rate, and after that time returned a verdict of Guilty.—
Sentence deferred.

The prisoner, who bad stood unmoved during the
whole trial, received the verdict of the jury with a slight
quivering of the lips ; but beyond that expression of
feeling, which was momentary, she exhibited not the
least emotion from the first to the last moment 9f the
inquiry which was fraught with such awful consequences
to her.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT.— IT arwick, March 27.
This morning the Learned Judges, Mr. Riron Parke
and Mr, Justice Patteson, attended prayers in St. Mary's
Church; and at half past nine o'clock !tlr.. Baron Parke
took his seat on the bench at Nisi Prius. Mr. Justice
Patteson did not enter the Crown Court until eleven
o'clock.
There were 25 causes entered, and the calendar
enumerated no fewer than S 2 criminal charges, or 114
prisoners for trial.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Justice PATTESON).
SENTENCE UPON WELCH, THE LATE TREASURER TO THE

BIRMINGHAM BOARD OF GUARDIANS.
At the conclusion of the Learned Judge's charge to
the grand jury,
Joseph Psercy Yeomans Welch was placed at the bar to
receive sentence.
Mr. Justice I ATTESON, addressing the prisoner, said
he was tried at the last assizes and convicted of embez-
zlement; but doubts being entertained upon one or two
points
of law, they were reserved fur the consideration
Of the judges. The judges were unanimously of (opinion
that the evidence was properly received, and that the
offence did come within the meaning of the Act of Par-
liament, and that consequently the conviction was good.
Considering all the circumstances, it was his duty to pass
the sentence which Mr. Justice Coleridge said he should
have passed at the last assizes had he not reserved the
points submitted by your Learned Counsel—that is, that
you be transported for ten years.
The prisoner, who has apparently suffered much in
body and mind since the last assizes, was then removed
from the bar apparently in a state of stupefaction.
ATTEMPT TO MURDER A WIFE.— Bunney was
placed at the bar charged with cutting and wounding his
wife with intent to kill, murder, disable, or do her some
grievous bodily harm.
The offence was stated to have been committed as far
back as the 24th of January, 1845. He was apprehended
at the time, but such was and has been the state of his
mind since that period, that it wasrot, d-en.eti prop, r
to put him upon his trial, or c,,11 u, on him to plead
'Co-day, whets placed at the bar, tho prisoner pre-

sented a collected, ruddy, and healthy appearance t
more than once during the trial he betrayed symptoms
of s ill existing insanity.
Sarah Bunney was then called. On ber appearance
(her face still strongly seamed, the effects of the wounds
inflicted) the prisoner fixed his eyes upon her, and burst
into tears. She deposed as follows:—" I was married to
the prisoner in 1845, and lived at the Rainbow public-
house in high. street, Bordesloy, Birmingham
We lived together for three days after our
marriage. We were married on the Tuesday,
but I did not observe anything particular in his manner
until Friday. On the evening of that day we went to
bed as usual. Between two and three o'clock on Satur-
day morning I was disturbed by finding my husband
very restless. He sat up in bed, and appeared much,
confused. He took his clothing from under the pillow,
and I saw he had a knife in bis hand. When I observed
this I got out of bed, and went towards the door. I first
of all tried to get the knife out of his hand, but I could
not succeed. Before I went to the door the prisoner
wounded his own throat with a knife. When I ;sent 10
the door, he wounded me. He said, We have lived
together, we have loved together, and we will die Loge'
ther.' I found the door locked. He wounded me with
a penknife in the throat, the face, and other parts of
the body. I fell on the floor. I had not at first wy
senses, but I recovered myself a little, and ran to the
window. I broke a pane of glass, and cried out, Mur-
der,' when somebody brought a ladder to the window'
My husband also called cut, Oh, see what they have
done !' When the window was opened my husband
got through. It was on the second fluor that we
slept. Mr. White and Robert Fletcher came, sa3
also Mr. Archer, the surgeon. The morning after
our marriage the prisoner said he thought all his
friends were against him. His manner was much ex"
cited."
Mr. Justice PATTESON asked the prisoner if he wished
to ask his wife any questions?—The prisoner (almost
" laughing outright") replied that he had none.
Mr. John Archer, surgeon, of Deriteed, Birminghain,
being sworn, stated that he was called in to Mrs. Bunney
on the morning in question, and found her with a
wound 2i inches long on the throat, and as-ther wound
2i inches long on the cheek. The wounds were inflicted
with a sharp instrument. He afterwards saw the pri-
soner at Fletcher's. He had a superficial wound in the
throat, one of his fingers was slightly cut, and there
were several slight stabs on the chest. The prisoner ap-
peared to be in a state of great excitement. He said,
" See how they have served me; they brought me three
days ago from a distance to be married." Heard him in
conversation with other persons, and from his manner
thought the prisoner at the time was insane. He at-
tended Mrs. Bunney for several weeks afterwards. The
wound in the throat was dangerous.
The evidence of several medical men as to the pri-
soner's state of mind was then taken. They stated that
he was decidedly insane.
The jury immediately Acquitted the prisoner on the
ground of insanity.