The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-12 00:00:00

UNION-HALL.

Yesterday Sarah Drew was brought before Mr.
Cottingham, on remand from last Thuslay, charged
with administering poison to Richard Drew, her
husband.

Mr. James, the solicitor who attended for the pro-
secution, said, that he was requested by the com-
plainant to state, that he was overwhelmed with grief
at the awful situation of his wife, to whom he had
been married forty years ; that they had sixteen chil-
dren, four of whom, their sons, young men of most
exemplary conduct, had joined in the prayer of their
father for the liberation of their mother. The com-
plainant was most anxious she should be discharged
upon bail, as he was convinced that she would not
make any further attempt upon his life, and that,
under these circumstances, he (the complainant)
wished that she should return home to her dwelling,
if the Magistrate sanctioned it.
Mr. COTTINGHAM said, that the alleged offence was
of such a nature that he could not possibly grant the
application ; that the intercession of the old man now
made on her bnhalf evinced the kindness of his feel-
ings towards her, notwithstanding the desperate
means by which she sought his life, and that the
charge was one which must go before a jury. It
was given in evidence that the quantity of arsenic put
into the complainant's tea was enough to kill four
persons; that there were also two other lumps of the
same mineral found on the floor where the prisoner
had been previously standing, a quantity that was said
to be sufficient to poison twenty persons. It was
only a matter of astonishment how the prisoner or any
other person could have procured such a quantity of
the deadly drug without proper inquiries being made
by the person who sold it. The person, whoever he
was, was guilty of the most culpable negligence, to
say the least of it, and he (the Magistrate) was ap-
prehensive now that the discovery would not take
place.

The prisoner, who stood trembling at the bar, fre-
quently asserted her innocence of the alleged offence,
and declared that she never touched her husband's
teapot on the evening in question, and had no oppor-
tunity of putting poison in it, even if she were in-
clined, for he was not a moment absent from the room.

Mr. COTTINGIIAM observed that the prisoner's pre-
vious conduct to her husband strengthened the belief
that 'tiers was the hand that administered the poison
—that previously to it she had uttered threats against
his life—had also threatened to burn the house ; and
when she saw him retching violently from the effects
of the poison he had swallowed in her presence, and
when he complained of a sudden sickness and a burn-
ing sensation in his mouth and throat, instead of ren-
dering him any assistance, her expressions and un-
feeling conduct on the occasion were such as to war-
rant the conclusion that she was the offender. The
Magistrate then directed the depositions to be taken,
and said that he should commit the prisoner, but that
she should be brought up again on Tuesday next, to
give the policeman an opportunity of making further
inquiries as to where the poison was bought.
GREEN W ICH.
Yesterday Thomas M'Clune, a superannuated war-
rant-officer, was convicted of having used abusive lan-
guage to the relieving-officer of the union, who had
gone to remonstrate with him for having expelled
from his roof his daughter, a girl under 20 years of
age, whom her father declared to be utterly unworthy
of his protection.
He was sentenced to a fine of 58., and, in default, to
imprisonment for seven days.
Immediately after he was locked up, his son, a
sailor, was brought up for having struck the relieving
officer, on account of the charge against his father.
The young man declared the old man, having a wife
and five children to support, could not endure the pro-
fligacy of his daughter.
He was called on to enter into recognizances for
101. His earnest entreaties at length induced the
Magistrate (Mr. Grove) to respite his father's fine for
ten days.

CITY OF LONDON ASSESSED
TAXES.—COURT OF APPEAL.
Yesterday a general Court of Appeal for the City of
London was held in the Land Tax-room, Guildhall-
buildings, before the Commissioners appointed for the
execution of the 48th Geo. 111., c. 141, called the
Assessed Taxes Act, for the purposes of hearing ap-
peals •against the first assessment for the sth of April,
1844. Pursuant to the provisions of the above Act,
duplicates of the first assessment of the duties of the
said taxes on the inhabitants of the City of London
and its liberties, was given by the Commissioners to
the collectors appointed to receive the same, on the
13th of July last.

A number of appeal cases were entered for hearing
in the Court, most of which were disposed of without
any material points being elicited during their hear-
ing. Out of the number of appeals which had been
made, in thirty-five cases the applicants were suc-
cessful.

The Court, having disposed of the business of the
day, adjourned.

CORONERS' INQUESTS.
SUICIDE.—Last evening Mr. William Baker held
an inquest at the City of Paris, Bethnal-green, on the
body of Mary Tipson, aged 56. It appeared that de-
ceased gainedl'a living, by washing, for herself and
three daughters, but had lately failed, and got into
arrears for rent to the amount of ten shillings. The
tax-collector subsequently called, which apparently
preyed much upon her mind; and on Saturday even-
ing she went out, as she stated, to take some linen to
be mangled. She was unusually low spirited. Not
returning, her daughters became alarmed, and after a
great deal of inquiry her body was fount floating in
the Regent's-canal, near the Eastern Counties Rail-
way bridge, by Clark, the lock-keeper. There being
no other evidence, the jury returned a verdict of
" Found Drowned."