The Sun.
London, England, 1860-03-22 00:00:00

DEPUTATION TO LORD JOHN RUSSELL.

Yesterday an influential deputation from the
Tower Hamlets Reform Association had an inter-
view with Lord Russell at the Foreign-office, with
a view of inducing his lordship to amend the Reform
Bill in committee, with special reference to an in-
crease of the representation of the Tower Hamlets.
Mr. BUTLER, M.P., in introducing the deputa-
tion, said they waited on his lordship with the view
of bringing under his notice the case of the Tower
Hamlets with reference to the Reform Bill. On
the morning after the introduction of that bill they
had had a meeting of the inhabitants of the borough,
which was very numerously attended, and there
had been no difference of opinion whatever with
regard to that part of the measure which gave to
Birmingham, Leeds, and other towns increased re-
presentation, and left the Tower Hamlets without
any addition. There had been very great disap-
pointment experienced in that borough in conse-
quence, and he would leave it to the sense of justice
of his lordship, who had done so much for civil and
religious liberty, and for the extension of political
representation, to do his best to free them from the
exceptional position in which they stood. He
could not understand the principle upon which it
was proposed to distribute the seats. The property
in the Tower Hamlets was rated at between two
and three millions, and if the ♦astness of their
shipping interests and the extent of the other inte-
rests of the borough were considered, he could not
understand the plan on which the Government had
acted in framing the bill. There were great inte-
rests in the Tower Hamlets. He might instance
the shipbuilding interest, 'Which employed 12,000
skilled artisans—men of great intelligence ; it was
important that that interest should be considered.
They received goods from all parts of the world,
and there was the silk trade, which was, unfor-
tunately, not so good at present, in which 30,000
persons were employed. There was an idea abroad
that the Tower Hamlets was a poverty-stricken
district, and not entitled to the benefits of increased
representation in the same manner as Birmingham,
Leeds, and other manufacturing towns. They had
a larger share of houses rated at £2O and up-
wards than any other metropolitan borough, and
more than Birpaingham and Leeds put together,
and the population of those two places, which
were to have six members, was not so large as that of
the Tower Hamlets; and, in point of education, he
considered the Tower Hamlets at least equal, if not
superior, to those towns. He ventured to hope that
when the committee now sitting on bribery had com-
pleted their reports, if certain towns were denuded
of two members, one of them might be given to the
'lower Hamlets. If he spoke strongly it was with
the greatest respect to his lordship, feeling conscious
of the debt of gratitude this great city owed to him,
and that if the bill passed in its present form it
would be not so much his lordship's desire as that
it was thrust upon him by his colleagues.
Lord J. RUSSELL said he was prepared to admit
everything that had been said; but the question was
what was the best way of amending the representa-
tion as a whole ? He remembered when the repre-
sentation was fixed at two for Marylebone, four for
the City, two for Westminster, and two for South-
wark. It was considered and proposed to add eight
to this number, which might be said fairly to repre-
sent the metropolis, and there was no part of the
Reform Bill which excited so much doubt and oppo-
sition. The representation was not founded on the
exact population or wealth of constituencies, but on
general considerations. With regard to the metro-
polis be thought that 10 members who resided in
the metropolis were worth in point of attention and
activity 15 or 20 of those who come from other parts
of the country, and whose private business, fre-
quently requiring their presence elsewhere, did not
allow them to devote so much time to their Parlia-
mentary duties. Members came from Liverpool to
represent the shipping interest, and were frequently
absent, whereas the metropolitan members were
continually there. Ile thought the metropolis was
very well represented, if not so large numerically.
It was proposed to give a member to Birkenhead,
as the interests of that place could not be properly
represented by the members for Cheshire. Their
claim was, however, a matter for fair consideration,
and every point should be brought before the Cabi-
net. In conclusion, his :lordship thought that no
plan which was more extensive or went further
than the measure proposed, could be carried through
Parliament.
The deputation then withdrew.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT.—LEwEs, March 21.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Lord Chief Justice Erle.)
Caroline Martin, 28, an unmarried woman, was
charged with the wilful murder of her female ille-
gitimate child.
The coroner's jury returned a verdict of man-
slaughter only against the prisoner, but she was
subsequently committed by the magistrates upon
the charge of wilful murder, and the grand jury
having returned a true bill, she was put upon her
trial for the more serious offence.

Mr. Attree and Mr. Hurst conducted the prosecu-
tion I Mr. Itoupell was counsel for the defence.
It appeared from the evidence that the prisoner
was in the, service of a lady, named Payne, residing
at Carlisle-parade, Hastings, and in the beginning
of February last she was discovered ir
to be in thee
family way, and her mistress made an arrangement
that she should go home to her friends at Hawk-
hurst, to lie in, on •the 10th of that month. During
the night of the 9th the prisoner -Was taken very
ill, and in consequence of what was obsefted by a
fellow-servant, she made a communication to the
prisoner's mistress on the following morning, aid
she put some questions to the prisoner, who ad-
mitted that she had been delivered of a child during
the night, but said that it was dead: A medical
gentleman, named Savery, was then sent fOrl arid
he asked the prisoner what had become of the child,
and she told him it was in a box at the foot of her
bed, and he there found a newly-born female child,
apparently of full growth. The child was at this
time alive, but in a very weakly state, and notwith-
standing every endeavour was made to restore it,
the child died in the course of the same day. Upon
a post-mortem examination all the vital organs were
discoteted to be healthy, and there were appear-
ances of slight wounds upon the neck and cheek of
the child. These injuries were suggested to have
been caused by a broken steel petticoat-hoop,
which was found in a drawer in the prisoner's
bedroom, with blood upon it, but there was consi-
derable doubt upon this point, and it also ap-
peared that they were not of a nature likely to
have caused death, and the evidence appeared
rather to show that the fatal result was the conse-
quence of the neglect the child had sustained after
its birth, through the prisoner not having made
any attempt to obtain assistance.
Mr. Roupell made a very feeling address to the
jury on behalf of the prisoner, and he urged that
she really believed the child was dead when she
placed it in the box, and that in her distress and
agony tt,t the moment she could hardly be held re-
sponsible for her at:t!ans-
The learned ;judge having summed up,
The jury retired to consider their verdict, and in
faobuonudt hthaelfparnisohnoeurr
guilty
rfemiiiarunseldauinto court and
Moore, 0, a diminutive gi-rri
llartiet y'o • • P
at the bar to plead to an indictment, which charge 4
her with the Wilful murder
of her illegitimate
child, Alfred James Moore.
,ter.
was inlaced
There was a second indictment against the pri-
soner, Which charged het with the capital offence
of feloniously administering to the same child a
large quantity of deadly poison, called white preci-
pitate, With intent to murder it.
When the prisoner *at; first called upon to say
whether she was guilty or not guilty, she replied
in a low voice, "
not
i
Lord Chidf Justice Erto,tosldhothwe
opurlidsonpelread that i
she would take his adv f
thehe
guilty, and he gave her
d be
resetaaunsde
thought it probable that s e
hthdeidandovticuen,
t uilty to
The prisoner then pleaded no g
precise nature of the charges made against
both the
her.
charges.
roceeded
The indictment for murder was not p
with, but the prisoner was given in charge to the
jury for the offence of feloniously administering poi-
son to the deceased child with intent to murder.
• Sergeant Ballantine was specially retained, with
au iulgu
Ow' Hon. G. Denman, to conduct th
one prosec ut.ion.
The prisoner 144 no o=ol, but up