The Sun.
London, England, 1859-12-19 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, DECEMBER 19, 1859.

~~

THE CONGRESS.

(From the Daily News)
The nomination of Count Cavour to represent
Sardinia in the Paris Congress is the important
fact of the day. It stands forth as a proof that the
House of Savoy, however sensible of its recent
obligations to the Emperor of the French, is not
prepared to sacrifice to that potentate its deeper
sympathies and its far more sacred attachment and
allegiance to the cause of Italy. Count Villamarina
has been removed from the post of Sardinian Am-
bassador in Paris, avowedly on account of his being
the private friend and political adherent of Cavour.
Even the fact of his having been the successful
agent who negotiated the marriage of Prince Na-
poleon with the Princess Clotilda did not save him.
It was augured, therefore, that the same Imperial
fiat would exclude his principal from the Congress.
The retirement of Count Cavour from office was
no doubt chiefly owing to his own dissatisfaction
with what he considered the abandonment of the
Italian cause in the Treaty of Villafranca ; but that
treaty, for which so many motives have been as-
signed, was precipitated in no small degree by the
unceasing attacks of the Roman Government upon
the Minister of Piedmont. Cardinal Antonelli re-
presented that Count Cavour's efforts were directed
towards the total disruption of the Papacy ; and he
twitted the French Emperor with being, not the
accomplice, but the dupe of a revolutionary and
anti-sacerdotal movement. The Emperor made
light at first of such accusations. He was himself,
indeed, busied in revolutionising Italy through his
friend and agent, Mons. Pietri, and considered the
rising of Bologna as the necessary consequence of
Roman misrule. Nothing daunted, Antonelli
placed in the hands of the Duc de Grammont a
series of documents and letters, alleged to be from
Cavour and his agents, by which the insurrection
in the Roman States was in some way connected
with the action of the Piedmontese Government.
The French agents had received orders to keep their
efforts and their influence from the Roman frontier,
whilst the Piedmontese, bent upon the war, felt the
necessity of having the whole country south of the
Po in arms against Austria and its allies. Whether
the mass of information respecting the conduct of
the Piedmontese Government was really the cause
of the French Emperor's determining to make
peace, it certainly was employed as an argument
and an excuse to Victor Emmanuel. That monarch,
in consenting to the conditions of peace, placed
himself at variance with his Minister, who could
never admit the restoration of Italian dukes that
had fought in the Austrian ranks after having go-
verned in purely Austrian interests. Count Cavour
withdrew. But there is no doubt that the King of
Sardinia is now of the opinion then expressed by
his ex-Minister, that the provisions of Villafranca
cannot he carried out.
More indeed is meant by the nomination of Count
Cavour to Congress than an expression of dissent
on the part of the Sardinian Government to the
restoration of the Dukes. Cavour not only repu-
diates this scheme, but insists that any other ar-
rangement than the creation of a great kingdom,
under the House of Savoy, in North and Central
Italy, must fail. Of this opinion he is the most
zealous supporter, and most able expounder. A
Congress that should exclude him, would be a tri-
bunal to decide upon the affairs of Italy refusing at
the outset to hear the principal evidence. If it be
true, as alleged, that the Court of Rome has deter-
mined upon sending Cardinal Antonelli himself to
Congress, the two Italian rivals, the champions of
retrogession and of progress will meet in the arena,
and we trust the public will be allowed to know
something about the arguments employed. If the
Cardinal precipitated the treaty of Villafranca by
statements that will not bear the test of truth, the
French Emperor will be better enabled to discern
all that he sacrifices by embracing the cause of the
Popedom against Italy.
The disputation between Count Cavour and Car-
dinal Antonelli may soon be decided by serious po-
liticians. The one holds the peace of Italy in his
hands—the other holds anarchy, weakness, and
war. At the present moment the Court of Turin
alone can exercise a salutary influence. It has on
two or three recent occasions gone as far it could
to show itself grateful and obsequious to France.
In persuading Garibaldi to withdraw, in the sub-
stitution of Boncompagni for the Prince de Carig-
nan, it proved at once its influence, its adroitness,
and its desire to reconcile the new engagements of
France with the necessities of Italy. But Victor
Emmanuel must feel, what all who observe his
position must see—that he walks the lengthened
summit of a lofty ridge, with a precipiece on either
side. To retrograde or to stand still are alike im-
possible ; onward movement, without a false step,
can be his only safety. To have sent any one else
than Count Cavour to Congress, would have been
a grievous error. For how more flagrantly desert
Italy than by leaviit it virtually unrepresented in
the Congress
The same reasons which rendered Count Cavour's
presence in Congress inevitable, must give to his
recommendations irresistible force. Every power
save one, which is Austria, must 1?e most desirous to
settle the affairs of Italy without the employment
of coercion and compulsion. France has solemnly
promised this ; and were he to break his promise,
Napoleon would let loose upon himself all the
mad extravagance of Italian vengeance. Eng-
, land, Prussia, Russia itself, whatever the bribe
kept in reserve for it, must feel equally interested in
taking the swords of other military empires out of
the balance. The declaration of all the non-belli-
gerent powers, that the restoration of the Dukes
could be effected by a renewal of war, must suffice
to liberate France from the engagement which
it precipitately took to labour in their behalf.
The fear that prevailed same time since, that Sar-
dinia might be induced or obliged to abandon or
compromise the question of Italian independence,
is now completely removed. The nomination of
Count Cavour is a powerful demonstration and a
sufficient guarantee that Piedmont maintains or re-
sumes the attitude which that statesman at first
gave it. Indeed, Napoleon's consent to his reap-
pearing in the councils of Europe may be taken as
a sign that even he is less bowed down to the exi-
gencies of the Court of Rome than he was. The
ecclesiastics have dared to threaten him ; and the
Emperor, whateVer his faults, is certainly endowed
with the spirit that resents such dictation. Whilst
Francis Joseph seems determined to conciliate the
Pope at all risks, and even incurs the danger of an
insurrection in Hungary to please the See of Rome,
Napoleon the Third, on the contrary, appears to
think that Pontifical support may be purchased at
.00 high a price
lat

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ASSIZE INTELLIGENOE.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT—NOTTINGHAM, Dec'. 17.
(Before Mr. Justice Crompton.)
The Court was occupied during the latter part of
yesterday until a late hour in trying Samuel Un-
win Newton, a warehouseman, who pleaded " Not
guilty" to the charge of feloniously uttering three
forged Bank of England notes, with intent to
defraud.
Mr. Boden and Mr. Manson conducted the pro-
secution on behalf of the Bank of England, the pri-
soner was defended by Mr. Bristowe.
The case was one in which the guilty knowledge
and fraudulent intent of the utterer were established
' beyond a doubt by the fact that there had been
three distinct utterings within about seven days of
spurious £5 Bank of England notes, printed appa-
rently from the same plate, by a man who on two
of those occasions wore the uniform of the Notts
Yeomanry Cavalry, and on all three endorsed them
with different names, not one of which was the
name of any soldier in that force, nor of the pri-
soner. The only real question for the jury was
whether he was the utterer. Of this three species
of evidence were given, none of which appeared
alone conclusive, though abundantly so when taken
together. Each of the persons to whom the false
notes had been put off, and another to whom one
had been tendered, swore to their strollm belief that
the prisoner was the man who offered the notes ;
but when he was first shown to them in plain
clothes among five or six others, and wearing a hat,
several of them had only ventured to speak as to
his strong resemblance in features and com-
plexion. Mr. Samuels, a lace-dealer, in whose
employment the prisoner had been some six
months, leaving in 1857, proved that he had
during that time become well acquainted with the
prisoner's handwriting, and that the indorsements
of the names which the utterer had been seen
to write upon the notes were the prisoner's writing,
as well as the indorsement of the names Adams and
Page, in whose service the prisoner had also for-
merly been. Thirdly, a man named Mayo, who had
while suffering imprisonment in the Northampton
Gaol formed acquaintance with the prisoner, who
was also confined there, and discharged about the
same time as the prisoner, in Dec., 1858, gave evi-
dence that prisoner and himself were in May last
fellow-lodgers, and that the prisoner had at that
time borrowed the undress uniform of the Notts
Yeomanry Cavalry from one of the corps, which
was then called out for exercise ; that he had ac-
companied the prisoner on two occasions—once on
the sth of May, when he went into the shop of a
Mr. King, one of the persons to whom a false note
had been uttered, while he himself remained outside
until the prisoner came out with a pork pie, which
he said he had purchased with a false note ; and a
second time, on May the 7th, when he went to the
shop of a grocer—Mr. Burt, another of the victims
—and remained at a little distance, that the pri-
soner joined him when he came out, and informed
him that he had given another false note in pay-
ment for some groceries which he had desired should
be sent to a publichouse a little way above, and
which he desired the witness to go and ask for. He
also stated that on another occasion, on May 12, the
prisoner had informed him that he had tried to get
change for another note at a publichouse in the
Portland-road, and that as they could not give him
change he got it at a shop nearly opposite, where
he bad purchased ls. worth of cigars. This infor-
mation Mayo bad given before the police had a
knowledge of the places at which the notes had been
passed, and the circumstances related by him cor•
responded in almost every particular with the facts
proved by the witnesses. Mr. Bristowe, in ad-
drressing the jury, impeached the credit of the
witness Mayo, and endeavoured to create a distust
of the evidence as to the handwriting.
The learned Judge then summed up the evidence,
and the jury, after retiring for an hour, returned a
verdict of guilty, and a previous conviction having
been proved against the prisoner, he was sentenced
to eight years' penal servitude.
The learned judge took his seat at 9 this morning.
Wm. Shirtcliff was charged with having forged
a promissory note for the payment of £144 with
intent to defraud, knowing the same to be forged.
Mr. Boden was counsel for the prosecution ; Mr.
Merewether for the prisoner.
The prisoner, it appeared, was formerly a com-
mission agent in the lace trade, and had become an
agent for the Monetary Advance and Life Assur-
ance Company, and was in that capacity in the
habit of sending up proposals in forms supplied to
him by the company to fill in with the names, cir-
cumstances, and characters of those who applied for
loans, and of the persons proposed as sureties. The
company, upon their agreeing to make the desired
advance, sent down a form of promissory note, to-
gether with an agreement to be filled up, signed,
witnessed, and returned to them by their agent,
upon which their practice was to remit the sum bor-
rowed directly to the borrower in half Bank of
England notes, deducting interest, commission, and
expenses. In Feb., 1859, the prisoner sent up a
proposal in the name of William Goodman Wood
Bellamy, surgeon-dentist, Tollhouse-hill, Notting-
ham, describing his character and circumstances
and those of the sureties very fovourably. The
company agreed to the advance, and a form of note
and agreement having been sent down by them
were in due course returned by the prisoner. The
note was joint and several, for the sum of £144, and
purported to be signed by Bellamy, a woman named
Hoon, and by three others, all of whom were also
parties to the agreement, which was attested by
the prisoner. On receiving these documents the
secretary of the company sent by post, in an enve-
lope addressed to Mr. Bellamy by the above descrip-
tion, half notes for £lOO, and subsequently a post-
office order for a small balance, with the remaining
half-notes. On the morning before the first of these
letters was delivered at Mr. Bellamy's by post he
received a note from the prisoner requesting that
if a letter addressed as above should be received he
would send it to him, Shirtcliff. Mr. Bellamy, who
was in entire ignorance of the whole transaction,
was somewhat surprised at the request, but on the
letter arriving. he delivered it to the prisoner's
wife, who called to receive it. In the interval be
tween the ,arrival of the first and second letters a
forged receipt purporting to be duly signedby Bel-
lamy was received by the company, and a second
note was sent by Shirtcliff to Bellamy, containing
a like request to that he had first made. Mr. Bel-
lamy, however, on this occasion refused compliance,
and the second letter from the company, from some
unexplained cause, was never delivered to him. Two
of those who signed the agreement and note were
marksmen, and they stated that at the time they
supposed it to be for their own benefit for a matter
of £2O.
It was elicited in cross-examination of the com-
pany's officer that he had received from some per-
son iu London, who called and represented himself
as Mr. Bellamy (but was altogether a different per-
son), a part payment of £l2, and that this person
promised to pay the whole, but did not, in fact, pay
anything more. Of neither the payment nor the
promise had Mr. Bellamy any knowledge at the
time.
Mr. Merewether called the attention of the Court
to the fact that the note in question was headed
" limited," and referring to a fact elicited by him,
that the company consisted of a number• exceeding
20, he contended that the company was not such an
one as could, under the Limited Liabilities Act, sue
upon the note; that it was an invalid document,
and that as consequently neither the company nor
any person could by possibility be defrauded, so
there could not be the intention to defraud which
was necessary to support the charge. He further
contended that there was no evidence of the utter-

gin .
The Court overruled both objections, on which
Mr. Alerewether declined to address the jury,
and
The learned Sur?ge having summed up, the jury re-
turned the verdict of Guilty. Sentence, eight years'
penal servitude.

OXFORD CIRCUIT.—GLOCESTER, DEC. 17.
(Before Mr. Baron Channel)
George Pinkney Moorson Atkinson was charged
with feloniously marrying one Louisa Way, at
Bristol, on the 22d Dec., 1858, his former wife,
Elizabeth Atkinson, being then alive.
Mr. W. IL Cooke appeared for the prosecution ;
Mr. Cripps defended the prisoner.
The prisoner was a respectably-dressed man, who
had latterly passed as- a naval officer, and he was
now charged with bigamy in marrying Louisa Way,
a girl of about 18, his former wife being still alive.
It appeared that in the month of December, 1854,
the prisoner was married at Dodbrook Church, in
Devonshire, to Elizabeth Garrow, a grand niece of
the distinguished judge of that name, and in the
marriage register he was described as the son of
Capt. William Atkinson, R.N. After his marriage
he and his wife went to Ireland, and lived at Tra-
more, near Waterford, where Mrs. Atkinson sup-
ported herself by keeping a boarding school. For
some reason, which was not explained, the pr'smier,
who did not appear to have any occupation, left
Ireland, and his wife went to live with her sister,
who had been married to a gentleman named Fisher,
of Rose Mount, near Waterford. According to Mr.
Fisher's evidence, the prisoner had become greatly
addicted to intemperance, an when he left Ireland
he went to Bristol, and there indulged in the same
excesses, till he became penniless. He, however,
managed to keep up some appearance of respecta-
bility, and dressed himself up in the uniform of a
naval officer, and gave it out that he had served in
the Crimea, and was about to come into property
worth £2OO a-year. At Bristol he became ne-
quainted with Louisa Way, a young girl of 18,
who was apprenticed to tho tailoring business, who

introduced hint to her father. :Way, the father, had
been many years in the Bristol police and kept a shop
and he being satisfied that the prisoner would be a
most eligible match for his daughtcr, gave his con-
sent to their marriage. This was appointed to take
place on the 22d December, 1858, at the registrar's
office, that particular day being chosen because that
was the day on which the prisoner said be was to
come into his property. The marriage accordingly
took place, and it was rather a strange circumstance
that instead of being married from her father's house
the lady was broug-hteto . the office in an omnibus
from the house of a man named Box, with whom
her sister was living in a state of adultery. Previ-
ous to the marriage, Way had taken the prisoner
to board and lodge in his house, and, so long as his
faith in the prisoner's prcperty continued, he boarded
and lodged him and his wife, and supplied tHera
with every necessary. Way appeared still to enter-
tain considerable respect for his former guest, and
described with great admiration the eloquence of
his after-dinner speeches, but when he recurred to
the moneys which he had expended, and particu-
larly to the quantity of tobacco which the prisoner
had smoked, his indignation for the dishonour done
to his daughtsr returned. As the prisoner did not
come in to his property, he and his wife a short time
after left the house of the hospitable father and went
to reside elsewhere, but they soon became penniless,
and having no ,shelter, the prisoner walked his
young wife for two nights on Brandon-hill. The
poor creature was pregnant at the time, but she was
eventually admitted into the General Hospital, and
confined in the month of October last. Sbe was dis-
charged from the hospital ; but on the Ist December
she was again admitted a patient, and was now so
ill as not to be able to attend the trial.
Mr. Cripps cross-examined the witness Way to
show that he had induced the prisoner to marry his
daughter, and that the prisoner was in a state of in-
toxication when the marriage took place. The wit-
ness denied these suggestions, and as the formal
proof was quite clear, the learned counsel declined
to address the jury.
The jury found the prisoner guilty.
Mr. Baron Channell said he should have been
better satisfied if the circumstances under which the
' prisoner became acquainted with the girl had been
better explained. But, as it was, it was a very bad
case, and aggravated by the defence which prisoner
had got up; though the father's evidence was not
very satisfactory. His lordship then sentenced the
• prisoner to 12 months' hard labour.
James Pownall, 52, surgeon, was charged with
the wiful murder of Louisa Cooke on Oct. 30, 1859,
at Lydney.
Mr. Cripps prosecuted ; Mr. W. H. Cooke and
' Mr. Guise defended the prisoner.
The prisoner at the time of the unfortunate oc-
currence now in question was residing in the house
of Mr. Leete, a surgeon, at Lydney. He had only
been recently liberated from the lunatic asylum at
Northwoods as cured, and, as our readers may re•
collect, he got up one morning and cut the throat of
one of the maid servants with a razor, and so caused
• her death within two or three minutes. As the
• main question now was as to the state of prisoner's
mind at the time he did the act, we give only a
brief narrative of the facts as proved by the evi-
dence, beginning with the early history of the pri-
' soner, as detaile by witnesses called for the de-
fence. It was stated that the prisoner had been seve-
ral times in lunatic asylums, but it was thought
necessary to trace his history only from the month
of March last. The prisoner was then residing at
Wroughton, near Swindon, with his wife and sister
and wife's mother, an old lady between 80 and 90
years of age. In that month he was seized with what
the doctors called homicidal and suicidal mania. He
attacked his aged mother-in-law, and beat her about
the head with a poker, till he nearly killed her, and
then attempted to destroy himself. Dr. Morris, a
physician at Swindon, was called in, and found the
prisoner, Dr. Pownall, sitting in a chair in the kit-
chen in a state of insensibility, and suffering from
the effects of some narcotic poison, which; from a
bottle which was shown to him, the witness believed
to be chloroform.. External and internal stimulants
were used, and the prisoner became sensible.
The same day Dr. Morris saw him again, when the
prisoner said he was better, and that, unfortu-
nately, he had taken chloroform, but he was sorr;
for what he had done, and wished it not to be men.
tioned- He said he had been annoyed by Mrs.
Pownall and had met with pecuniary losses, and
his object was to destroy himself. He also said
they excited and upset him, and he hit the old
woman on the head. From what the witness saw
and was told by Mrs. Pownall he signed a certifi-
cate for his admission into Dr. Davey's asylum at
Northwoods. This witness, in answer to questions
from the learned judge, explained that in homici-
dal and suicidal mania the impulses are sudden, and
are often followed by tranquillity as soon as the
' impulse has been gratifed. The othee medical man
who signed the certificate was a Mr. Gay, but he
wa_: not called as a witness. Chas. Bonham said,
he was called in and saw the cute on the head of
the old lady, and arranged to sit up at night with
the prisoner. One night he was sitting up with
him, with Dr. Davey's son and a keeper, and it ap-
peared the prisoner overheard some conversation
which had taken place, and observed that he saw
through the trick. He then went into a long state-
ment, complaining of the conduct of his family to
him, and continually complained of his food being
drugged. He became much excited when he knew
that Dr. Davey's son and the keeper had come, and
managed to get out of the room, under pretence of
calling for some water, and returned with a double-
barrelled gun behind his back and rushed with it to
the room where his wife, sister, and mother-in-law
were, and pointed the gun at them. His sister
seized the gun by the muzzle and lifted it up, and
the keepers laying•hold of him behind, the gun,
which was loaded, was taken from him without
any injury being done. The next day the prisoner
was taken away to Dr. Davey's asylum, at North-
woods. Dr. Davey was examined, and said he re-
ceived the prisoner with a certificate, which stated
he was labouring under homicidal mania, and he
treated him accordingly. In about three weeks he
appeared considerably improved, so much so that
on the 17th of May Dr. Davey wrote a letter, in
which he said he thought he was in that state of
mind in which he would be i-nproved if he were
restored to his liberty, but he (Dr. Davey)
found an unwillingness on the part of
the prisoner's family to his being restored
to liberty. Some correspondence ensued with her
Majesty's Lunacy Commissioners, who wrote a
letter to Dr. Davey, which he had destroyed, but
in which, he said, the Commissioners required that
the prisoner should be restored only, under leave of
absence, under a keeper. The family wished the
prisoner to be removed to the asylum at Coton-hill,
near Stafford, but Dr. Davey said he could not give
a certificate of insanity for him to go there. The
prisoner was detained at Northwoods till a suitable
attendant could be engaged to go with him ; but
this difficulty being at lngth got over, the prisoner
was taken by his new keeper, named Richard
Pook, t ) the house of Mr. Leete, at Lydney. When
Dr. Davey, discharged the prisoner he gave him a
certificate in the following form :
"Northwoods, near Bristol, Aug. 10, 1859.
" I hereby certify that Dr. Pownall has been under my
care here for some four months, that he is now quite re-
covered, and is this day discharged cured.
"J. G. DAVEY, M.D."
Dr. Davey said he had no doubt that the prisoner,
when in his asylum, had been suffering from homi-
cidal mania, and that when he committed the act
now in question he was suffering from a paroxysm
of that disease, and was unable at the time to dis-
tinguish right from wrong. He said he gave the
certificate above referred to to tho prisoner, in order
to influence his mind hopefully and cheerfully, and
so to put hint in the best possible state for recovery.
He never allowed the prisoner to have razors, and
he did not think it necessary to give Mr. Leete
any caution on that point, as he supposed the
prisoner was going to be placed under
the care of a gentleman conversant with
cases of insanity, who would not allow his
patient to have razors. Dr. Davey also said
that at the same time that he gave the
prisoner the certificate that he was " quite
recovered " and " cured," he also gave him a
letter of introduction to Mr. Leete, containing cer •
tain hints "to put Mr. Lcete on his guard." In-
stead, however, of sending this letter by the post,
Dr. Davey gave it to the prisoner, who produced
the certificate to Mr. Leete, but sai.:~ nothing about
the letter of introduction, and nothing more was
seen of it till it was found among the prisoner's
papers in his bedroom, after the dreadful tragedy
had been enacted. The prisoner arrived at Mr.
Leete's, at Lydney, on the 10th of August, and goon
gave Mr. Leete to understand that as had a cer-
tificate of cure he was a free agent, and would not
be under control, and, on the 23d of August, he
dismissed his keeper, telling Mr. Leete that he did
not want him (the keeper), and that he himself was
going to London in a few days to settle some buei-
ness. The prisoner had always borrowed a razor
of his keeper, who used to lock it up immediately
it was done with, but after the prisoner had dis-
charged his keeper his razors were given to him.
The prisoner's friends, when applied to on the sub-
ject, objected to his having them ; but on the 18th
of Auguet Mr. Leete wrote them a letter, in which
he said, " I consider all the precautions requested
to be taken with respect to Mr. Pownall to be per-
fectly unnecessary." The razors were accordingly
given him, and, as he had money, the prisoner was
allowed 'to go in and out, and to conduct himself
entirely as if he were a free man and in his perfect
senses. It so happened that Mr. Leete had an-
owt
hh
oe rwas patient,kep twihno
awas cottageali
twoted w
ori t
thh
re
epel enpl si
lye ,s aonffd
in which the girl, whose death was now the sub-
ject of inquiry, lived as servant. She wets a quiet
77

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inofiensive girl, about 16 years of age. On the 29th
of October she came to Mr. ILeete's house at Lydney
and slept with the servant of that establishment,
as she had done on two or three previous occa-
sions,
Mrs. Leete having on those occasions passed
the night at the cottage. On that night, the 29th
of August, Mr. Leete came home at eleven o'clock,
and as he was cold. and -wet he went into the
kitchen, and sat the: e talking with the prisoner till
they both went to bed, there being nothing in the
prisoner's manner more than usual. At about 4
o'clock in the morning Mr. Leete was knocked up
to attend a midwifery case, and as he had no luci-
fers he knocked at the prisoner's door, and liej umped
out of bed to get some matches. Mr. Leeto returned
at about 5 o'clock, and the prisoner, who had pre-
viously appeared interested to know about the case,
called out of his room to know what it was. Mr.

Lecte replied that it was nothing more than corm
mon, it was only fright, and went to bed. It ap-
peared from the evidence of the servant maid, that
at between 5 and 6 o'clock, the prisoner knocked at
her bedroom-door to call her, as he had done on two
or three previous occasions. Louisa Cooke then
dressed herself, and went into Mr. Leete's bedroom,
to fetch a case of instruments which she had been
instructed to take to the cottage. The prisoner's
bedroom was opposite to Mr. Leete's ; and soon
after the poor girl had left her master's room a noise
was heard as of a scuffle on the landing. The de-
ceased cried," Oh !'' and then " Murder ! ' and when
Mr. Leete jumped out of bed and opened his door
she rushed in, saying " Master, he's murdered me ;
I shall die." She held the box in her hand, which
Mr. Leete took from her and examined her wounds,
but finding that all the important vessels in the
neck were cut, he saw that he could do nothing and
laid her down and she died directly. In his fright
Mr. Leete had bolted his room door and rushed to
the window, and gave an alarm to some men who
were passing, and wished them to break into
the house ; but before this could be done the pri-
soner bad opened the door of the maidservant's
room, and told her to "Be quick, get up, some
one has murdered her." The affrighted girl lost
no time in putting on her gown and making her
escape into a neighbour's house, as did Mr. Leete
likewise, and when the men got into the house
they found the prisoner in his bedroom, in his shirt,
sitting on the bedside, with a blood-stained razor
on the washstand. A policeman was then sent for,
and the prisoner was taken into custody upon the
charge of murder. Such are the main outlines of
this case, somewhat inverted in the order of proof.
Dr. Davey was the last witness examined, and the
jury said that they were quite satisfied on his and
the other evidence that the prisoner was insane at
the time he did the act.
Mr. Baron Channell, however, summed up the
evidence, and explained to the jury the nature
of the question they had to determine, and the
chief points of the evidence.
The jury then found the prisoner not guilty, on
the ground of insanity.
Mr. Baron Channell then directed that the pri-
soner should be kept in custody during her Ma-
jesty's pleasure.
During the trial of this case a good many ob-
servations were made with respect to the conduct
of the medical men which led to the catastrophe;
but we do not think it necessary in this summary
to do more than repeat the main facts of the case
upon which those observations arose.
After the trial of this case, one prisoner, W.
Gapper, remained to be tried ; but it appeared he
had been carried away to another assize to give
evidence, and had not been brought back.
Mr. Baron Channell said it was possible the pri-
soner was an innocent man, and he would, there-
fore, adjourn the Court, in the hope that on the
arrival of the next train the prisoner would be
brought back for the trial. His lordship recom-
mended the jury in the meantime to take a walk,
which they did accordingly, but as the prisoner
had not arrived when the Court resumed, the jury
were dismissed, and the assizes brought to a close
at four o'clock.
In consequence of his absence the prisoner will
be compelled to remain in prison to await his trial
at the Spring Assizes, which will not take place
till the first week in, April next.

EXTRAORDINARY CHARGE OF
FRAUD.

At a late hour on Saturday Mr. Thomas Pear-
son, of the firm of Tamplin and Pearson, feather
merchants and manufacturers, Little Queen-street,
Holborn, and Mrs. Ellen Pearson, his wife, a very
lady-looking female, were brought before Mr.
Combe, at the Southwark Police Court, by a ser-
geant of the S division, No. 46, charged with de-
frauding Mr. George Thomas Wells, upholsterer,
42, Blackman street, Borough, out of goods of the
value of £l4 108.

Mr. B.nns appeared for the prosecution, and Mr.
W. Edwin defended.

Benjamin Thomas, a young man, clerk to the
prosecutor, said that on Tuesday afternoon last, be-
tween 1 arid 2, he saw the female defendant in his
master's shop, and when Mr. Wells went upstairs,
Mrs. Pearson asked for some Brussels carpet for
stairs. He showed her some, which she selected
instead of oilcloth, and desired to be sent to No. 5,
Clifton-road, Camden-square, with other goods
which she had purchased. She said that her name
was Row, and she told Mr. Wells that she would
pay for the goods on delivery. She requested them
to be brought between 2 and 3 o'clock on Thursday
afternoon.

Mr. Combe—What did the lady say exactly about
paying for the goods ?
Witness—She said rll pay for them on delivery,
but the goods must be left at No. 5, Clifton-road,
Camden-square. The goods were packed up and
addressed to Mrs. Row, and forwarded. according
to that direction.

Mr. Combe—Did you give the lady an invoice ?
Witness—No, sir ; Mr. Wells did that, but • I
made an entry of the goods in the books.
Mr. Edwin—How long has Mr. Wells been in
this shop at 42, Blackman-street ?
Witness—l do not know exactly. I came there
in September.
Mr. Edwin—What did the lady say her name
was ?

Witness—Mrs. Row, and she directed the goods
to be sent to her or Mr. Row. I went to her
address last night with Mr. Wells, and saw a
plate on the door of No. 5, Clifton-road, " Mr.
Row, Surgeon-Dentist." I saw both prisoners
there, and as we approached the gate Mr. Pearson
was coming down the steps and he asked our busi-
ness. Mr. Wells told him, when Mr. Pearson said
" You must not come here in this burglarious man-
ner."
Mr. Combo—What time was that ?

Witness—Nine o'clock. In continuation witness
said that Mr. Wells asked Mr. Pearson Are you
prepared to pay for the goods ?" Ido not recollect
what answer he made, but he prevented us from
going in. Mr. Wells then asked for Mrs. Row,
when Mr. Pearson made some evasive answer. Mr.
Wells then said, " If you don't pay for the goods I'll
give you in charge." Pearson said " You may do as
you please." A sergeant of police, who accompanied
us, was then called forward, and they all entered
the house with Mr. Pearson, who fetched the female,
and then Mr. Pearson gave the invoice to the ser-
geant. The invoice was made out in the name of
Mrs. Row.

Mr. Edwin—l can explain that as the case goes
on, sir. Did you not know that the male defend-
ant's name was Pearson ?

"Witness—l did not until last night.
Mr. Combe—From what I see of this case it ap-
pears that the wife gets the goods under another
name, as Mr. Wells was indebted to her husband,
and she used this finesse to get the value of the
goods. Under the circumstances he did not know
whether it could be disposed of without going to
the sessions, so that a jury might decide.
Mr. Edwin—The case is this, sir : My client's
firm sold the prosecutor goods in October last for
£l2 10s., and when applicetion is made for the
money, Mr. -Wells says he is an infant, conse-
quently Mr. Pearson was compelled to use this
mode to get payment of his account.
Mr. Combe—ls Mr. Wells in court ?
Mr. Binns—Yes, sir.
Mr. Combe—Then let him stand up.
The prosecutor, who appeared rather young, then
stepped into the witness-box, and was sworn—My
name is John Thomas Wells, and I keep the shop,
42, Blackman-street, in my own name.
Mr. Combe—How old are you ?
Mr. Wells—l shall be 21 years of ago Rod
January. I am, therefore, under age, and have no
partner.
Mr. Combe—Did you write this invoice for goods
amounting to £l2 10s. ?
Witness—Yes, sir.

Combe—Have you had any actions brought
apint you for goods supplied to you for your
shop ?

, Witness--Yes, sir, andl have successfully pleaded
infancy.
Mr. conabe—Have you owed the male defendant
any money for goods ?
Witness—lf th- tis Mr. Pearson, I owe Messrs.
Tamplin and Pearson £l2 10s.
Mr. Combe—Don't believe the male defend-
ant is that Mr. Pearson ?
Witness—Yes, I do, sir.
Mr. Combe—l don't know much of the tricks of
tradesmen and their ingenious ways of doing others ;
but here is a young man, under age, carrying on
business, obtaining goods, and when payment is
demanded, pleads infancy. I should like to send
him before a jury, where such a matter would be
tllo,,roughly exposed.
Ur. Binns—We wish to go before a jury, as my