The Sun.
London, England, 1847-10-30 00:00:00

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
OLD COURT.

(Before the CHIEF BARON and Mr. Justice

CRESS WELL.)
George John Hewson, 45, jeweller, and Matilda
15 fewson, 22, his daughter, were indicted for the wilful
iurder of a male infant, born of the latter prisoner,
b lit not named, by suffocating it.
Mr. Bodkin and Mr. Clarke conducted the prose-
cution fer the Treasury. No counsel was retained
f.br the defence, but at the request of the court Mr.
Ryland consented to watch the case on behalf of the
prismsners. _ _

It appeared from the evidence, so far as from its
natal 'e it admits of being described, that the prisoners
occ u.i2ied an apartment in Sandys-row, Spitalfields,
anal -were in a most abject state of poverty. For some
tins, prior to the 25th of September the neighbours
had. observed that the girl was in the family way, and
thole appeared but too much reason for believing that
this was the result of an incestuous intercourse
ca; tried on with her father. The birth of the child,
fie ms what could he ascertained, was conjectured to
have taken place during the night of the 25th, of
S,.s.ptember, and at an early hour the male prisoner
was heard walking about the room and about seven
o'clock in the morning he was4lorard to go down
st.sirs, and was seen to cross the yard and go
in, the direction of a privy in an adjoining
garden, where the body of the child was
aft erwards discovered, and he was seen 'to go
twiCe to the same spot. Between 1.0 and 11 o'clock
a pc rson named Curtain, who occupied the house to
upon going there saw the
bohdi hthe soil, and, according to
w o
f thea
childpr y
lying belonged, o n
his tcestimony, the infant at the time must have been
alive, for he stated positively that he saw the child
move.. According to his statement, however, he had
not r .erve sufficient to take the child out, but ran away
and g •ave an alarm, and upon some other persons going
to th( t place and removing the infant it was found to
be de id. It would seem that suspicion very soon
fixed itself upon the prisoners, and a police constable
proceeded to the room occupied by them to make in-
quiries. The girl at first denied that she had been
delivered, but she at length admitted it was the case ;
and upon one of the witnesses saying that she hoped
her father knew nothing of it, she replied that he did
not. She was afterwards taken to the infirmary at
the wokhouse, and, on the way there, she asked the
constable what had become of her father, and, on his
telling her that he was locked up, she inquired what
it was. for. He told her that he was charged
with endeavouring to conceal the birth of the
child .of which she had been delivered ; to
which .she replied that it was false, for he knew
nothing about it, and was not at home when she
was delivered, and that she herself had taken the child
and thy mrn it down the privy. She afterwards made
other contrary statements ; and upon one occasion
she told a witness that it had all happened through
the cruelty of her father. Mr. Meares, the surgeon,
who was called upon to examine the body of the de-
ceased child, stated his opinion to be that the child
was born alive; and he gave, as reasons for coming to
that conclusion, that it was full-groWn, and its lungs
had been fully inflated, and one or two-other circum-
stances that may not be further alluded to. Ile ad-
mitted, however, in answer to questions put. to him
by the Learned Judge and by Mr. Ryland, that the
appearances he described were not inconsistent with
the supposition that only a partial living birth had
taken place.
Mr. Justice CuEsswELL having summed up, the
jury retired. After about twenty minutes' delibera-
tion they returned a verdict finding the male prisoner
Not Guilty, and convicting the girl of concealing the
birth. The jury, at the same time, expressed their
regret that they could not, as explained to them by-
the Learned Judge, include the male prisoner in their
verdict for concealing the birth.
Directions were given that a specific indictment
should be preferred against him-for that offence.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.
MANSION-HOUSE.

A poor little German boy named Glotz, was
brought before the Lord Mayor. He was the picture
of melancholy.
The Rev. Dr. Louis Cappel, minister of the Ger
man Church, stated that the unfortunate child was
not brought before his Lordship as a prisoner, but as
a suppliant for justice. He was one of the victims of
the cruel traders in unprotected foreign children with
whom the metropolis abounded. It was at the re-
quest of the Society of the Friends of Foreigners in
Distress that application was made on the part of the
boy, for the purpose of compelling, if possible, one
Corrand Henser, who had induced him to come
to England as a street-organ player, to supply the
means of sending him back to Germany. It was
the practice of persons who, like Henser obtained
a good livelihood by that sort of slave•trade, to
prevail upon parents at certain seasons to dispose of
their children for musical employment in England,
upon the receipt of some trifle of money and the
promise of good bed and board and wages : and
the result was, that multitudes of these young
creatures were in a very short time ruined in health
and morals, and treated with the utmost cruelty and
indignity. In the present case Henser had engaged
Glotz for eighteen months for the sum of 61. and the
promise of comfortable support, and had, at the same
time, brought over with him nine other boys. At
first the boys were treated with kindness, but upon
being taken down to Yorkshire to work at the music,
they were beaten, and kiaked, and starved, and aban-
doned by Henser, who enjoyed the independence they
provided for him at home in smoking and drinking.
Glotz had been turned off without receiving a shilling
of the pay due to him, and had scarcely any covering
upon him, except an old coat which he had bought
for two or three pence. The public would be asto-
nished at the numerous instances of this species of
cruelty which weekly occurred, notwithstanding the
detestation in which the diabolical traffic was held by
the people of the metropolis, and it would be a source
of high gratification to the friends of humanity if
some means could be devised by which such a delin-
quent as had been described could be made amenable.
The Rev. Mr. Carlson, chaplain to the Swedish
and Norwegian Embassy, stated that about three
years ago he had been directed to lay the case of a
little girl, who had been kidnapped, before the City
authorities, to ascertain whether it was in their power
to interfere for her protection. The clothe; of the
girl had been detained, and the defendant showed a
determination to resist the appeal to his humanity by
employing an able counsel. Sir Peter Laurie, how-
ever, who presided upon the occasion, neutralized the
arguments of the gentleman of the bar, and caused
restitution to be made.
The LORD MATOR—I am perfectly aware, from
my personal observations, of the cruelties inflicted
upon these poor children, for in my rambles through
the metropolis I have seen numbers of them sitting
on the steps of hall-doors, exhausted and asleep, after
their severe labours. I have seen, too, after some
little time a great change take place in the appear-
ance of the sufferers, who, from the hardships and ill-
treatment to which they have been exposed, have
totally lost the appearance of health with which they
first entered the metropolis. I fear, however, that at
any rate in this particular case my interference cannot
be of avail. The only remedy here appears to be by
a civil action, and the County Court may in such a
case be turned to good advantage.
The Rev. Mr. Carlson asked whether Henser, who
pocketed all the money the poor boy had earned by
perpetual labour in the streets, could not be prose-
cuted for having obtained money under false pre•
tences ? It was well known that people in giving
money to the children meant the money for them, and
not for the fellows who sent them out, and who in fact
appropriated to their own uses every farthing.
The T.nn vrn gairi the nret.nee 1"-
the present was future and not an existing pretence.
I think that when the public learn that the little
musicians never receive anything but blows and other
harsh treatment from their masters, very few six-
pences will be given to them. It may be said that
the refusal of charity in such cases involved the com-
plete destitution of these objects ; but the evil would
work its own remedy, by rousing the parochial autho•
rities, upon whom their support would fall.
Dr. Cappel said he had known instances in which
children employed in the manner described had died
on the road..
The LORD MAYOR—I shall be most happy to ren-
der any assistance as chief magistrate. Perhaps an
indictment for having brought over children to this
country for the purpose of burdening parishes with
them may be resorted to. I shall leave it to you to
consider of the ;best mode of proceeding to check
such outrages upon humanity, and shall most wil
ling attend to any representation upon a future oc
casion.

The LORD MAYOR requested that tie press would
notice that he had received U. Is. front " J. D. M."

and one sovereign " found" 21st inst.
GUILDHALL.
John Burgess, a stout middle-aged man, who
stated that he hadi recently kept a pubic-house at
Liverpool, was brought before Mr. Alderson Sidney,
on suspicion of having stolen 1501. in Bask of Eng-
land notes.

Mr. Speilman, a money-changer in Lombard-
street, stated, that on the preceding aternoon a
person not in custody asked him for cost for some
American notes. He exchanged them for ;old, and
shortly afterwards another person, who is nit in cus-
tody, came in company with the prisoner to know
what sum had been paid for the American notes, from
which the witness inferred that there had bem a dis-

)ute whether the first man had truly brought back
the amount he actually received. Witness tod them
what he had given, and the prisoner inquire' if he
could take a few more notes. Witness stated hat he

could ; the parties went away, and the prisonel came
&one that day with 142 dollar notes and fair ss.
notes. In the interim witness bad received a titter

from a money-changer at Liverpool, informing him