The Sun.
London, England, 1856-12-10 00:00:00

DECEMBER 10, 1856%

complained might sometimes lead to the conviction of the
innocent. His lordship had occasion frequently to make the

same complaint at Stafford, and hoped that tho practice

would be discontinued.

The matron of the gaol proved that she received the pri-
soner on the 23d Sept. She was very ill for about a fort-

night. On several occasions the prisoner wished to speak

to her, hut the matron refused to have any conversation
with her in regard to her case. But on one occasion when
she was in the cell the prisoner was in tears, and said " Ob,
I have throttled that child ; I tied the garter round its
neck." She was in great distress, was always crying, and
seemed scarcely to know what she said.

Mr. Hayes, a surgeon of Wellington, made a post-mor-
tem examination of the child. It was a fully developed
child. It had a piece of list doubled and tied round the
neck with two knots. He formed an opinion, before the ex-
amination, that the child died of strangulation, from the
list tied round the neck. That opinion was afterwards
confirmed by the examination. The body was perfectly
healthy, and in his opinion it had been born alive, though

the appearance of the blood in the lungs might have arisen
from the child's having breathed before it was completely
born into the world, or from putrefaction. The umbilical
cord was torn from the body close to the abdomen, so that

had been recently marrie,l, but he di i not on those occa- 7
sions make any demand for money. It appeared in the
course of the investigation that the prisoner had also writ-
ten to the prosecutor a letter containing the serious charge,
but as that letter was made the subject of a separate in.
dictment it was not given in evidence in the present case.
The prosecutor was examined as a witness, and denied
the accusation in a most emphatic manner.
The learned Judge, in summing up, observed that the
gist of this offence consisted in the attempt to exter.c.
money, and there was this peculiarity in the present case
that the prisoner, instead of keeping the charge secret
until he had applied to the prosecutor for money, pro-
claimed the accusation to others in the that instance, which
would tend rather to defeat any purpose of gain, if that
was his object ; but the jury must consider the evidence,
and if they were quite satisfied that the prisoner really
made the accusation with the object of extorting money
from the prosecutor, they were bound to convict him.
The Jury, after a brief deliberation, returned a verdict
of Guilty.
His Lordship then said, that although the truth or false-
hood of the accusation was not in question upon this
charge, yet, as he was satisfied that the accusation was in
fact false, it appeared to him that that circumstance must
be taken into consideration as an aggravation of the of-
fence, and ho felt bound to pass upon the prisoner the ut-
most sentence of the law, except the infliction of corporal
punishment, of which, in the case of men, he did not ap-
prove. The sentence was, that he should be transported
for life.

Country

LIVERPOOL—DE.C.
To-clay there was a thin attendance of the trade, and
buyer-s showing little disposition to operate the business )1
wheat was extremely limited, at a decline of 2d per 701bs.
for red, and 3d on white, on tho prices of this day week.
Flour difficult to move, and the turn in favour of the
buyer. Oats and oatmeal ~vere iu rather better request,
at previous quotations. Barley, beans, and peas saleable
in retail at late rates. Indian corn, although still in very
limited request, was firmly held at 33s to 35s 3d per qr.
for mixed, 33s 9d for yellow, and 3-.13 to 35s for white, es
quay.