The Sun.
London, England, 1833-09-03 00:00:00

BARBAROUS MURDER.

(From a Private CorreFpandent of the Freeman's Journal.)
On Wednesday, the 21st instant, an inquest was
held in the Court-house of Castlereagh, on view of
the body of Margaret Clerke, aged five years, before
BERNARD O'CONNOR, EQq., Coroner, Captain Grey,
Owen Young, and Thomas M'Grath, Eqrs., Magi-
strates, anti a respectable Jury.
This fine child was inhumanly murdered (as it
.opears by the testimony annexed) by Eleanor
Clerke, wife of Edmond Clerke, of Cloonfoure, a
comfortable farmer, and freeholder of this county,
and to whom the deceased was a natural child. It
appears this little innocent was subject to receive
very harsh treatment from Mrs. Clerke, particularly
in her husband's absence. 01 Monday, the 19th
instant, she was amusing herself with calves, in a
field convenient to the house, about five or six
o'alnek, p.m., when she was met by her unnatural
stepmother, and there barbarously murdered, within
a few perches of her servant maid, who had been at
the time weeding potatoes in the adj titling field.
The girl and Mrs. Clerke, before the inquest
denied having any knowledge of how the child came
by its death, and the Jury, after a long investiga-
tion, returned a verdict of—" Wilful murder against
some person or persons unknown;" but the magi-
strates, concluding from the circumstances of the
case that some of the parties mentioned must have
been guilty, remanded them both to prison for fur
ther investigation. On the following day, Cithe-
rine Dougherty, the servant maid, acknowledged
the facts of the case, as she has this day sworn in
evidence, and said she was intimidated by Mrs.
Clerke from telling any thing concerning the trans-
action on the first day of investigation.
On Friday last the O'Connor Don, M.P., came
into town, had a consultation with the magistrates
on the subject, and, upon examining the girl in
prison as to the evidence she was likely to give,
wrote to the Attorney-General, in order to escer-
tain whether, under the circumstances, Mrs. Clerke
could be admitted to bail, which has been answered
(as I understand) in the negative.
The investigation commenced this day, according
to postponement. At twelve o'clock the magis-
trates took their seats on the bench, the O'Connor
Don, M.P., in the chair. The greatest anxiety to
hear the investigation was manifest, and the Court-
house was crowded to excess.

Catherine Dougherty was then sworn ; the sum
of her evidence is as follows :

That after dinner hour on Monday, the 19th
instant, witness went to the river to scour a milk
vessel ; that when she returned Mrs. Clerke was
gone to the hog fcr the stuff of a broom ; that the
deceased child said she would go out to turn the calf
out of the meadow ; that witness went out to weed
potatoes; that she had not been long in the field
when she saw Mrs. Clerke run after the child, and
the latter running away ; that Mrs. Clerks caught
her within a few yards of a "borheen" leading
from the field to the house ; that she seized her by
the neck with both hands, choking her, and saying
at the same time " You - rap, you !" that she
dragged her by that hold a few yards into the hors
been, and there knocked her down repeatedly
against the ground ; then stirring her as she
lay upon the ground, and finding that she was
not quite dead, she took a stone off the wall
and struck her on the head with it; that
the child screamed aloud as she struck her
with the stone; and that Mrs. Clerke then walked
o❑ towards the house, at the same time shaking her
hand at witness, seeing her in the field ; witness
then went to where the child lay, and found it quite
dead; witness went back again to weed the potatoes
without alarming the neighbours; the reason she
did so was, lest, when the people should hear that
witness was so near at the time of the transaction,
they would say it was herself (witness) killed the
child; the child lay in this manner until the little
boy came down the borheen to turn out the pigs,
and found her dead. If Mrs. Clerke only winked
at the child she would go into the fire from her;
witness used to beat the child sometimes with a
cabbage-stalk or the like, but would not kill her ;
witness once missed deceased in a wood, and she
(witness) never ceased crying and going in search
of her until she made her out.

This witness was very minutely examined by the
Honourable Chairman and the Bench, particularly
by Mr. Young (than whom there cannot be a more
vigilant, active, and impartial Magistrate), fur nearly
two hours ; still the slightest discrepancy did not
appear in her testimony, though apparently a simple
girl of 16 years old, with the exception that at one
time she said she was only a minute in the field
when the transaction occurred, and again she said
she was there half an hour.

Both parties are sent to Roscommon; the one to
abide her trial, and the other to prosecute.

The Athena:um quotes the following amusing
account of the Congress of Vienna, from the " Memoirs
of a German Stat sman, from tue year 17S8 to 1816, just
published at Leipsic :—" The crowd at Court feasts, and
the thronging of crowned heads, that threw Kings into
the parts of common life, forced them to exert themselves
in conversation, and to show character ; in fact, astonished
the mere courtiers, an'l puzzled them confoundedly. Here
was the place to see the men, and to judge them. Fredei is
William, it was allowed, preserved his dignity the best;
Alexander affected French facility and ease ; Francis re-
presented the good old German father of a family
(hausvater), and his naive good humoured raillery and
attempts at joking never sewed; the poor Danish King
looked very much bewildered, and very anxious to learn
what was going forward. Metternich was for the moment
under a cloud ; he had stoutly resisted the proposal of
Russia and Prussia to dismember Saxony, and it was no
secret at Vienna that he had gone to Presburg to c insult
with the King of Saxony ; his fall was considered very pro-
bable in consequence; but he kept himself high, being strong
in his own talents and in his toaster's confidence. Hum-
boldt seemed to have the ear of every one ; anil his being
so generally liked and trusted made up for his Sovereign's
coldness. Talleyrand was always in a gala dress, fine and
polished as a new razor: althou.:h be was the representa-
tive of tiiat very state which had kicked up all this uproar,
and had brought kings together as a banal of travel ers,
who had been robbi-d, rescued, and were recovering their
property, still Talleyrand talked of nothing but toe law of
nations, and its sacredness, &c. Castlereagh stood there
as handsome and noble looking as S ewart was mi-
serable (elendwidrigen is the epithet) ; and yet the latter
iiiiseed himself monstrously high in bas sawn opinion,
higher even than decorum warranted. Once, at a court
feast, standing before the Archduchess Beatrix, who was
-itting, and had her foot upon a stool, he coolly placed his
loot on the same stool, and began to arrange his shoe
and stocking which sate not to his liking. The same
fatuity, no doubt, it was, that procured him a good
flogging from a Vienna waggoner. Castlereagh, not-
withstanding his good looks, knew little of his vocation,
as it appeared. mar of Germany, since he proposed, in Con
gress, to give Leipsic to the Grand Duke of Weimar."
THE LATE STORM.—The most disastrous
accounts have been received of the damage done to the
shipping by the late violent hurricane. A great number
of vessels in attempting to come up the Channel have been
entirely dismasted, and others have received great damage.
Yesterday morning there were thirteen steam vessels in
Ranisgate Harbour, which bad been driven in there by
stress of weather. An alarming rumour prevailed yester-
day that the Eclipse steamer, which left St. Katharine'a
Wharf at eleven o'clock on Saturday morning, with a
great number of passengers for Herne Bay, was lost, and
it was universally believed along shore. It appears, how-
ever, that site encountered the gale when most severe, and
when the rain was falling in torrents, anal after being
buffeted about for several hours, without being able to
4et near Herne Bay, made for Ramsgate Harbour, where
she put in in safety without the loss of a soul. During
the severe gale on Saturday morning a Scotch smack
bound to London, with a number of passengers an ly,ard,
was wrecked on the Norfolk coast, amid every person, with
the exception of seven, perished. Among the sufferers
town to reach the
in
'
was Mrs. Hamilton, the wife of a respectable tailor
Nicholas-lane, Lombard-street, and it is supposed her three
children, who were on board with her. Yesterday morn-
ing the melancholy tidings of the unfortunite
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were conveyed to Mr. Hamilton, a
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d feelings, and did not enumerate the
number of persons on board, or many of the parttcultis of
the unfortunate occurrence.
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