The Sun.
London, England, 1834-10-14 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, TUESDAY, OCTOBER 14, 1834.

tide," and then as if a sudden thought had strck him, asked
and obtained four-and-twenty hours' grace. The defendant
then folded his arms, stalked slowly out of Court, and as he
cast a glance at the sleeves of his coat, ejaculated " Oh, my
prophetic soul.--my• Uncle.",

ford, an inspector of the N division of police, applied to Mr
Twyford and Mr. Mallard, a county Magistrate, for their
advice bow to•act in the following extraordinary case '
On Saturday an inquest: was taken at the Dolphin Ta-
vern, Mare-street, Hackney, by Mr. Baker, the Coroner
for the eastern division of Middlesex, touching the death
of a little boy, nine years old, named Edward Dennis, who,
it ultimately appeared to the satisfaction of the Jury, had
Oda from natural causes. It was reported previous to the
Inquisition being held that the death of the child was occa-
sioned by the neglect and inattention of the father, who
was a widower, and a most eccentric character, residing at
White Cottage, Lamb-lane, Hackney, and on the Coroner
snd the Jury proceeding there to take a view of the de-
ceased's remains, they were refused admittance by Mr. Den-
nis, the father, who said he was prepared to shoot any per-
son that entered his house on such an occasion. After a
Freat deal of persuasion be, however, consented to admit
the Coroner alone, and after further persuasion he agreed
to admit the Jury likewise. The Jury, as well as the Co-
roner, were quite disgusted with the interior of the pre-
rrilses. They never, in fact, before beheld such a miserable
and filthy spectacle. There were three emaciated children
under eleven years of age in a room on the ground floor,
surrounded by filth and dirt. The place had actually the
appearance of not having been either cleaned cr swept for
very re2ny months, although it contained some very hand-
some and valuable pieces of furniture. At every window
in the house were placed several pieces of fire-arms, and over
every chimney-piece hung a number of cutlasses. Inspec-
tor Bedford, with the assistance of several of his men, seized
ell these offensive weapons, and on examining the fire-arms
discovered them, as Mr. Dennis said, to be all loaded.
Mr. TWYFORD did not see what power a Magistrate had
under such circumstances. Any man had an undoubted
right to refuse another man admittance into his house, and
the law gives no power to a Coroner to make a forcible en-
trance to view a body.
Mr. Dossett, the relieving overseer of South Hacimey,
said that the poor children were in a most abject stz:te of
misery, but he did not like to interfere in case Mr. Dennis,
who was a very wealthy man, might bring an action

against him.
Mr. Twyroit said that if the children ,were ill-treated
he could grant a warrant.
A Gentleman said in reply, that the children stated be-
fore the Coroner that they always had plenty to eat and
drink, and their father was not in the habit of beating them.
A parish-officer said that Mr. Dennis never went out
without having loaded fire-arms about his person.
Inspector Bedford wished to know whether the Magis-
trates had not the power to order the deceased child to be
buried, as the father intended to have it placed in a leaden
coffin, and kept by his bed-side. The body was now in
an advanced state of decomposition.
The MacasTaaTrs were not empowered to give orders
for the burial of the child. The man had a right to keep
it by his bedside, if he liked.
The parties then withdrew.
Mr. Dennis, the party complained of, who is nearly 60
years of age, was formerly an extensive master builder, in
Haberdasher-street, Hoxton.
BIGAMY.—A respectable-looking man, about thirty years
of age, was yesterday placed at the bar, before Mr. TWY-
FORD, charged with bigamy.
It appeared by the evidence of Meadows the beadle of
Shoreditch parish, that on the ith of January, 1823, the
prisoner was married at St. Mary, Newington, in the name
of William Woodman, bachelor, to a young woman named
Sarah Varney, spinster ;, and on the 28th of February,
1831, he was married in the name of 'William Lucas, at
St. Pancras church, to a Mary Cousins Jones, by whom he
had had a family. Meadows said that the prisoner had
deserted his second wife and gone back to his first, and his
family becoming chargeable to Shoreditch the parish officers
male inquiry into his case, and discovered that he was
married to both.
The prisoner was remanded for the attendance of the
, vestry clerks of the two parishes.