The Sun.
London, England, 1860-05-23 00:00:00

SURREY SESSIONS, May 22.

(Before J. E. Johnson, Esq.) •
Thomas Bayley, 23, alias Wood, a notorious
thief, was indicted for stealing a watch and chain,
value £3O, from the person of Martin Burgess.
Mr. Harrison prosecuted, and Mr. Lilley de-
fended the prisoner.
The prosecutor, a very respectable tradesman in
the Walworth-road, said that on the afternoon of
the l'ith of last month he went into the City to
transact business, and, on returning towards home,
went into a public-house at the corner of Mint-
street, where he met two men, and got into conver-
sation with them about the fight between Sayers
and Heenan. After having some gin, they went
into " Jemmy Welch's," one of the seconders of
Sayers, and from thence into the Golden Lion, in
Kent-street. He recollected having his watch,
chain, and all his money safe about him then, but
after drinking a little alehe became insensible, and
had no recollection of what took place afterwards
until he woke up in the station-house, when he
missed all his property, and found himself in a very
injured state ; in fact, he had hardly recovered from
the effects of the ill-treatment.

William Seedon, a farrier, of 276, Kent-street,
said that about half-past four o'clock on the after-
noon in question he was sitting at his front win-
dow having tea, when he saw the prosecutor
coming up the street with the prisoner and two
others sparring. They all went into the Golden
Lion public•house, and shortly afterwards the pri-
soner came out, followed by another, and then he
saw the prosecutor led out, and he fell down as if
he was dead. His clothes were much disordered,
and his watch and chain were gone. Witness was
sure that he had them about him when he entered
the house.

In cross-examination, witness said that Mr. Bur-
gess was a little the worse for liquor when he en-
tered the public-house, but when he came out he
appeared to have been grossly ill-used.
Mrs. Harris, the landlady of the Golden Lion
public-house, Kent-street, said she recollected the
prosecutor coming in with the prisoner and another
man on the afternoon in question. The prosecutor
appeared to be drunk, and sparred about the place,
saying that he was an American, and a supporter
of Heenan. They all went into the parlour, and a
short time afterwards the prisoner and another
left the house, and then she discovered the prose-
cutor lying helpless in the room. Another man
took him out, and that was all she knew about the
matter.

In cross-examination by Mr. Lilley, witness said
that the prosecutor was extremely tipsy when he
entered her house, and she was almost positive he
had neither watch nor chain about him at that
time. His clothes were in a very filthy condition.
Strickland and Scannell, detective officers of the
M division, proved the apprehension of the prisoner,
but neither watch nor chain had been found.
Mr. Lilley addressed the jury at some length on
behalf of the prisoner, and
He was acquitted.

HORRIBLE INCREASE OF CHILD

M URDER.

Yesterday Mr. Wakley held an inquest in the
boardroom of the Holborn Union, Gray's Inn-lane,
on the body of a newly-born male child, which was
found in a piece of waste ground in Chapel-street,
of that locality. The body was enveloped in a pil-
low-case, covered with four sheets of brown paper
and tied up with cord. The neck of the child was
tightly encompassed with string passed three times
round the neck. It was a fully grown male child
and had been born alive. Strangulation was the
cause of death.

The papers and other articles forming the con-
cealment of the body were produced, one of the
papers having written upon it " Question," and
" Three, to-day." The ligature appeared to have
been made from a piece of check washing silk, and
formed into a band, similar to an apron string, of
32 inches in length, and 11 inches in width.
The jury returned a verdict of " Wilful murder
against some person or persons unknown."
Mr. Wakley held another inquest at the Balmoral
Castle, Caledonian-road, Islington, on the body of
a male child found in a ditch, in Stroud-green-lane,
in the parish of Islington, wrapped in a piece of
dirty cotton, and enveloped in a black apron. It
was a full-grown child, and had unquestionably
been born alive, but, as in the previous case, with-
out the assistance of a medical attendant. The cause
of death was a blow on the skull. It must have
been a remarkably sharp blow, as though the head
had been knocked against a wall.
The jury in this case also returned a verdict of
" Wilful murder against some person or persons
unknown."

The Coroner said this was really a horrible state
of affairs, for infanticide was getting worse and
worse. The previous day he held, at one sitting,
three similar inquiries at Paddington, and in St.
Mary's, Islington, he had had three others, and here
was a fourth in the same parish. In another parish,
since November last, he had presided over upwaids
of 30 such cases. He thought while juries re-
turned verdicts of " Found dead," it would only
be an incentive to women who contemplated
juries
simply acts, for when they found doctors and
simply agree to such a verdict, they thought such
might be the result in their case, and they would
then escape punishment. It appeared to him that
concealment of birth was premeditated murder, for
no assistance whatever was obtained. Something
should be done to prevent children thus being ex-
posed to murder. There was the Foundling Hos-
pital, which, if conducted as originally intended,
would tend greatly to diminish this kind of crime ;
but in order now to bring a child within its pro-
visions, there must be an application from the
mother, with proof that prior to her seduction she
was of good character. About twelve months since
a child was found near Hammersmith buried alive.
It was extricated, and he (the coroner) endeavoured,
but unsuccessfully to gain it admission to that esta-
blishment, and it was eventually received into the
Fulham Union, where it is now doing well. He
thought something should be done to suppress the
increase of so awful a crime ; for a thousand chil-
dren might now be murdered without the possi-
bility of discovery.
The jurors fully concurred in the remarks of the
coroner.
The trustees of the parish of SL Mary, Islington,
in the three cases alluded to (in one of which the
child had its throat cut, the second was taken from
the canal, and the third found in a garden), have
offered a reward of £5 in each case for information
that may lead to the apprehension of the guilty
parties.

A DELPHI, NEW THEATRE-ROYAL.
Sole Proprietor and Manager, Mr. Benj. Webster.
Re-appearance of Mr. and Mrs. A. Wigan—Third week of
the populae American Actress, Miss Julia Daly.
THIS EVENING (eighth time), ITS AN ILL WIND
THAT BLOWS NOBODY GOOD. Messrs. Alfred Wigan,
J. L, Toole, Stuart, Billington, C. J. Smith, Ward, Mrs. A.
Wigan, and Miss H. Simms..
After which, OUR FEMALE AMERICAN COUSIN.
Messrs. Stuart, C. Selby, Billington, Eburne, Miss Julia
Daly, K. Kelly, Laidlaw, and Mrs. Chatterley.
To conclude with THE BIRTHPLACE OF PODGERS.
Slaws. J. L. Toole, Eburne ; Mrs. Chatterly, Miss K. Kelly
Box-office open from 10 till 6.
Private boxes, £2 2s. ; Family Boxes, £l.
Orchestra Stalls, ss. ; Balcony, 4s. ; Front Circle Stalls, 3s. ;
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