The Sun.
London, England, 1861-08-06 00:00:00

The ship Star of the South, Renner master,
which arrived at Spithead on Sunday, from Kurra-
chee, was towed into Portsmouth harbour yester-
day, and will disembark her troops this day.
Twenty-four of various corps, who have returro
will be discharged. One child died on the passage
home. •

The following. appointments were made yester-
day at the Admiralty :--;CaLpite.uT.hcoomnasstainitainrve,yo,ll4.
to
nt instructor, to the
be
theiA n lit Ins
eegaeLhwo
aenken ,mtx
Ivo:
sc.
tetmehCre; rirtAsroipnste:hneael
soscpi
sue
tr
na;erland, for service.
E. Gage, act-
ingßritannia.

ASSIZE INTELLIGEATCR.

HOME CIRCUIT.—CROYDON, Aug. 5.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice Blackburn.)
THE KINGSTON MURDER.
Martha Bradish, 42, married, was charged with
the wilful murder_ of her a epesister. by crittingtier,
throat. With, a razor.,_. She- vas also char g (*with
the same offence upon the coroner's insegaition.
The prisoner, who is a tall, powerful woman, was
very well dressed, and she pleaded " Not Guilty" to
both the indictment and the coroner's inquisition
in a firm tone of voice.
Mr. Robinson conducted the prosecution ; Mr.
Ribton and Mr. H. Williams were counsel for the
prisoner.
Mr. Robinson, in opening the case to the jury,
said the prisoner was charged with the offence of
wilful murder, and he believed there could be no
doubt whatever that it was by the hand of the pri-
soner that the unfortunate deceased, who was a
young woman about 20 years old and the step-sister
of the prisoner,met her death,and the only question
that in the result they would have to consider was
whether at the time the act was committed the pri-
soner was an accountable being, and responsible for
her actions. He was bound to admit that there did
not appear to be the slightest motive either of
jealousy or anger for the commission of the crime,
but at the same time he thought it his duty to in-
form the jury that the evidence did not appear in
the slightest degree to show that the prisoner had
exhibited any symptom of insanity either before or '
after the transaction, and that, although she un-
doubtedly appeared'to be a good deal excited after
the act had been committed, the jury would have
to consider whether this might not be fairly ascribed
to the natural remorse that must always follow after
the commission of such a dreadful deed, and not as
a proof that the mind of the prisoner was affected.
The evidence was then gone into, and the facts
deposed to were quite conclusive to prove that the
prisoner had destroyed the deceased. It appeared
that the prisoner was the wife of a sergeant-major
in the 3d Regiment of Surrey Militia, the head-
quarters of which were stationed at Kingston, and
occupied the barracks in that town, and the prisoner
and her husband had two rooms on the groundfloor,
one of which was used as a bed-room, which was
entered from the barrack-yard, and the other as a
sitting-room. The deceased, who had been em-
ployed as a domestic servant, was out of place at
the beginning of March, and the prisoner had in-
vited her to come and pass a few days with her and
her husband, and she slept in the inner room upon
a bed made up on a sofa, and had done so for about
14 days at the time the fatal occurrence took place.
The murder was committed on the morning of the
26th of March, and it appeared that shortly before
7 o'clock on that morning the husband of the pri-
soner got up and went out, leaving the prisoner
in bed, and the deceased also in bed in the adjoin-
ing room. The prisoner would seem, from the
evidence, to have got up almost immediately after
her husband left her, to have taken a razor belong-
ing to him from a drawer, and gone into the mem
where the deceased was lying, and inflicted a
tearful wound in her throat. There is very little
doubt that the unhappy young woman was asleep
when the prisoner attacked her, but she rose from
her bed, staggered a few feet into the adjoining
room, and then fell down dead. Immediately after
the dreadful occurrence the prisoner went into the
barrack-yard and accosted one of the sergeants, and
said to him, " I have murdered my sister ; come
along with me, and I will show you where she is,"
and she then went to the pump, and washed her
hands. Dr. Cory, a medical gentleman residing in
the town, was sent for, and upon his arrival the
prisoner said to him, " Oh, doctor, this would not
have happened if I had taken your advice," and she
afterwards became very excited and exclaimed that
she must have been mad or she could not have done
what she had to a sister she loved so well. It ap-
peared from the evidence that the prisoner and the
deceased had always been on the most affectionate
terms, and there never had been the slightest quar-
rel or ill-feeling between them, and there was not
the smallest assignable motive suggested for the
commission of such a dreadful act. It was stated,
however, in the course of the case, that the prisoner
had been in India with her husband, and that she
had suffered from the climate, and Dr. Cory, who
had attended upon her, had ordered her to keep
herself very quiet, as her brain was likely to be
affected by any excitement.
Mr. Ribton made a most able address to the
jwuhryichonhebehalf of
particularlythe observed upon the absence of
motive on the part of the prisoner for the commis-
sion of such a dreadful crime, and said that the
only answer he was instructed to make to the
charge was that at the time the act was committed
the prisoner was in such a state of mind as not to
be criminally responsible.
Several witnesses were then examined, whose
evidence went to show that one relation of the pri-
soner had destroyed himself, that another had twice
attempted to commit suicide, and that the mother
of the prisoner was also insane. Evidence was also
given that the prisoner at the time of the melan-
choly occurrence was in a peculiar condition of
health incidental to women at her period of life, and
Dr. Hood, the consulting physician of Bethlehem
Hospital, a gentleman of great experience and skill
in these cases, stated that women in this condition
were peculiarly subject to sudden attacks of mania,
during
,which they would commit acts of violence
end homicide, without being at all aware of the
character of the acts they were committing.
The learned Judge having summed up the whole
of the evidence,
The
.jury at once Acquitted the prisoner on the
ground of her insanity, and she was ordered to
be detained during her Majesty's pleasure.
The prisoner, who appeared perfectly calm and
composed, and who exhibited, no emotion during
any portion of the trial, was then removed from
the bar.
ea_

POLICE INTELLIC ,tENCE--Aug•

GUILDHALL. Susannah auinland, who
the
bar herself as a mill incr,
was placed at
bar before Mr. Aldexmar t Hale, charged with
am a hairdresser, and carry
hor.-court, St. Martin's-lc-
stealing £1 1 io. rid.
being the worse for
Heuiy Eenn said,—l
on business at 4, Christop
Grand. On Saturday mo' 0 log,
liquor, I met the prisoner. and took her home with
me, about four o'clock in the morning. She was
with me for about an hou r.. After she was gone I
missed three half-soverei
table in my bedroom. I and 7s. 6d. from the
tnesnt out to look for her,
and found her in convei t.sation with a man in St.
Nes Church yard. I - told her I missed some
and she said it was : still in the bedroom, and
money,oluntinly accompanied me back to my shop to
look for it, but We con id not find it, and I then
gave her into custody.
Alderman Hale—bid ;y ou take the prisoner into
your bedroom ?
Prosecutor—l did, Sir.
Alderman T-Are 1e .—Areyon a married man ?
Prosecutor--I am,
-....
Sii r.
Alderman. "Hale—Where is your wife?
Prosecutors—ln the couriicry, Sir.
Alderman. Hale—l hav a not the slightest sym-
pathy for Ton. I only wo -nder how you could have
the audacity to appear before a magistrate and
admit that you had picked up in the streets a girl of
loose character, and actually took her home to a
house which is occupied. by a respectable family. I
think you nre right sewed ; but at the same time
your conduct is no justification of the prisoner's
offence. I hope your wife will hear of it, and she
most assuredly will i.f the newspapers give publi-
city to y our disgraceful conduct, as I trust they
will.
The pri mg wivi remands d till Saturday.

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