The Sun.
London, England, 1857-05-14 00:00:00

rirE S ()IN, L,O NDON, THURS DAN WEN IN G, Y 14, i 857,

CRIMINAL COURT—(This Day.)

Paid; RAILWAYS.

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Business
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THE WALWORTII MURDERS.

100 Buckghamsh
100 Clydesdale Jc.
all ,Col.Stour Vy.
100 g. 6 p.e
all I 1 Un. E H Sh
•
100 Gras. Darr. &
Neils. Direct.
100 Do. New
all
,Glstr.&Dn.Fr
all Hull & Selby
all Do. I Shares
all IDo. a Shares
all Lon . &Greenw
Do.Freference
Lon. Til., &S.,
Do. Bark. Sh.
Manch.Bxton.
and Matlock'
Mdld. Bradfd.'
Newmarket

Ln. &N. W.
Oak don ...
E. U.&E.O
Gt. Worthn
E. Count.)
Calclouian.

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TRIAL OF BACON AND MS WIFE.

:Old Court.—Before Lord Campbell and Mr. Justice

Cress well.)

Thomas Fuller Bacon and Martha Bacon his wife,
were again placed in the dock this morning, charged
with the murder of their two children.

Gt.Westn.
Y. & N.M.

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At the wish of the jury, MN Pearson and others were
recalled, and, in answer to questions put by Lord Camp-
bell, said they had no recollection of having seen the
children on Sunday, the 28th of December last.
_ _ _

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S. Eastern
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Mr. Sleigh then rose to address the jury on behalf cf
Mrs. Bacon, and said in doing so he should occupy their
attention but a few minutes. The first question for them
to consider was, whether the female was concerned in
the commitment of this murder.

Pcto &Co
Do

Lu. &N. W.
& Midld.
Midland...

2i - 2$
88 - 90

all
all
all
all

BuryE.G.spc.
N.&Est.s p.c.
Do. 6 per et..
Do. Fixed sp.c
Prest. &Wyre

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Lord Campbell—l thought, Mr. Sleigh, the first
quOstion to consider was the state of the prisoner's mind.
Mr. Sleigh—Precisely, my lord ; but in the event of
of the jury deciding the affirmative that she was con-
cerned, then it would become their duty to consider the
state of mind she was in at the time. He contended
that it had been abundantly shown during the present
interrogation that she was a person of unsound mind.
At the time of giving birth to her last child her mind be-
came seriously affected, and up to October last she had
been the inmate of a lunatic asylum. Such being the
case, would it be sate to convict her of the heinous crime
of murdering her two infant children. He trusted they
would take into their consideration the whole of the con-
duct of the unhappy woman, and also the evidence of the
medical men that had been called for the prosecution, be-
cause be felt if they did so they could come to no other
conclusion than that she was a person of unsound mind,
and therefore not accountable for her actions.

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Mr. Metcalfe, for Bacon, in addressing the court, said
he felt he laboured under great disadvantage in defend-
ing a man who had been held up as an object of scorn
by the whole of the public press. He would be one of
the last to interfere with the liberty of the press, but
the conductors of the public journals ought to be careful
how they inserted paragraphs which endangered a man's
life. But there was still a power left to protect au un-
offending man, and that was justice. He felt that Mr.
Bodkin had conducted his case with such fairness as to
merit his gratitude and thanks. With respect to the
evidence that had been placed before them,
how far did it affect the male prisoner ?
Was it at all probable that a person who had made np
his mind to commit a crime as horrid as the one they
were now investigating, would not have taken steps for bis
own escape ? but the prisoner had done nothing of the
sort ; be had acted in a manner which, under all the cir-
cumstances of the case, proved that he was innocent of
the crime of which he was accuse. There was not evi-
dence to show that this was a concocted murder between
the two prisoners. Was it at all likely, that if he had
contemplated the murder of his wife and children, he
would have gone to Mrs. Monroe's on the Sunday pre-
vious to the discovery of the murder, and solicited her
to come and remain with his wife while he was from
home? He said he would not. And it was entirely owing
to the circumstance of Mrs. Monro, unfortunately, not
being able to comply with his request earlier than she
did that the murder bad been committed by the wife the
moment she was left alone. The evidence of C )ok, the
policeman, of itself was conclusive evidence that the
female prisoner had committed the murder. It would
be recollected that in his evidence he said there were
spots of blood in front of the drawers in the bed-room,
upon which stood a looking-glass. Now what could bs
inferred from this but that the female prisoner had in-
flicted the wounds on her throat by her own hand, and
that she bad stood before the glass in order that she
might not cut too deep. It was impossible to
believe that she would have consented to her
husband making the cuts on her throat in order to
allay the suspicion. It had been clearly proved that
the unfortunate woman was a person of unsound mind,
and it was in one of the paroxysms of the malady that
she had committed the murder. He could not deny
that Bacon in the course of investigation into the
murder uttered many untruths, but his state of mind,
his anxiety to save his wife must be taken into con-
sideration, for the whole of the evidence proves that he
was much attached to her. Then it had been given in

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evidence that blood was found on a certain pair of trousers,
but the medical man who had been called to prove the fact,
bad admitted that other substances would produce simi-
lar marks. The learned gentleman then went through
the other parts of the evidence, and contended there was
nothing to fix the guilt of the murder upon his unfortu-
nate client. He concluded his remarks by Paying he felt
confident the jury would take the same view of the case
that he had done, and by their verdict fully acquit him of
the crime laid to his charge.
Lord Campbell then commenced his summing up of
the evidence, and in doing so, said he had no other ob-
ject but that truth might prevail and justice be vindi-
cated. He trusted they would be entirely guided in
their decision by the evidence that had been laid before
them, and that they would dismiss front their minds any
accounts they might have heard or read. As far as the
woman was concerned be thought they would have very
little to consider, for the evidence went evidently to show
that she was concerned in the murder, and the next
question they would have to consider was the
state of her mind. She seemed to have been
deprived of her reason by the visitation of
God, and did not know right from wrong. She had
threatened the lives of her dearest relatives, and they
had it also in evidence that she had been confined in a
lunatic asylum, and there was reason to believe
that she was not cured of the malady when she
was taken from the institution in October ; this
was quite evident from the fact that had been proved
in evidence, via., that her husband was anxious that she
should not be left alone with the children, and all the
witnesses for the prosecution concurred with one voice
that she was not a person of sane mind, as her conduct
showed. Under these circumstances they might very
properly return a verdict of acquittal—the result of
which would be that she would be placed under proper
treatment until God pleased to restore her consciousness.
With respect to Thomas Bacon, no motive for the death
of the children had been shown on his part. On the con-
trary, it was proved that he was extremely fond and
attached to his children, also that he was in a comfort-
able situation and earning his bread by honesty and in-
dustry. There was nothing like direct evidence, and the
I scheme that had been said to have been concocted seemed
still more improbable. Such being ,the case, it would
be their duty to see whether the circumstantial evidence
was strong enough for them to act on. If they thought
it was so, then ho would remind them that circumstan-
tial was quite as strong as direct evidence. If, with the
whole of the facts before them, they should be of opi-
nion that they were inconsistent with the innocence of
Thomas Bacon then they would return a verdict accord-
ingly. His lordship then proceeded to read the whale of
the evidence, and said the jury would remark there was
nothing to prove there was any person present but Mrs.
Bacon when the murder was committed. The letter
written by Mrs. Bacon, in which she accuses the male
prisoner of the crime, would not be taken as evidence
against Thomas Bacon ; the jury must treat it as the pro-
duction of an insane person and unworthy of belief. His
lordship having finished reading the evidence,
The jury retired to consider their verdict, and, after
an absence of a hour, returned a verdict of not guilty
against Thomas Bacon, and a similar verdict against
Martha Bacon, on the ground of insanity.
Lord Campbell said he felt it his duty to say he en-
tirely concurred in the verdict of the jury. Whatever
crimes the prisoner. Thomas Bacon may have com-
mitted, he felt confident he was entirely innocent
of the charge of which they had just acquitted
him. It would be a source of satisfaction to
the jury to know that since be (the learned judge)
had been absent from the court he bad been informed
that the female prisoner had confessed to the chaplain
of the gaol that she alone had committed the murder.
(Sensation.)
The other indictments against the prisoner were with-
drawn.
The chief constable of Stamford was in 'waiting with
a warrant to arrest Thomas Bacon on the charge of
murdering his mother,

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TRANSPORTATION BILL--The following notice is
printed on the back of the ticket issued by the Lord
Mayor concerning the Mansion-house meeting for Fri-
day next :—" The meeting will be invited to consider
the propriety of petitioning Parliament to introduce
clau,es into Sir G. Grey's bill. First, to confiscate and
apply to productive uses the labour, skill, and indus-
trial powers of all criminals during the full period of
their sentences ; secondly, to empower the Home Sec-
retary in certain cases to substitute for fixed periods of
imprisonment and transportation a proportionate num-
ber of hours of labour to be performed by convicted
criminals in this country, or in the colonies, as consi-
derations of economy and expedience may dictate ;
thirdly, to provide in all such cases for the moral and
religious instruction of each criminal, with an allowance
of food, bodily comfort, rest, and recreation, correspond-
ing in character and amount with his conduct and in-
duQtry, on confinement, so as to excite motives, powers,
and habits of industry, self-reliance, and self-control,
and thus render criminals the voluntary instruments of
their own maintenance, punishment, reformation, and
release.—Vide the evidence, appendix and reports of
the House of Commons Committee on Prison Discipline,
July 29, 185 Q."