Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1861-10-14
ROMANCE Unreal LIFE.

and brewer Of Dublin, stout" +" as chronicled in
late English papers, we have concluded to en-
tertain a higher opinisn In the future Of those
tales Of " hunted lives"
The particulars Of the affair, as laid before
the magistrates at Rugby, present one of the
most remarkable cases Of fraud, duplicity and
cruelty which probably ever occurred in Eng
land. II appears that Rill, who is about 80
years OF age, and man of gentlemsnly bear
ing, lew years ago married Granddaughter
OF Sir Francis Burdett, and protegs of Miss
Burdett COutts. The interval between the
time of marriage and the beginning of 1859
was passed by the happy pair in travelling and
without any apr aren't disturbance Of their do
nestic felicity. In the early part of the above
meptionel year, however, appeared a little
stranger, for whose future welfare Hill be-
came desirous to provide in a manner not at
all usual except in those aforementioned har-
rowing tales. A few days after the birth of
the child Hill adopted a course to destroy its
identity, with the presumed object Of possess
ing himself of certain property devised by
will made by Mrs. HILL giving the whole of
her property, which was considerable, abso-
lutely to her husband, in the event of no issue
surviving her decease.
He first registered his child under false
name and description, and then induced his
wife to consent to its being put out to nurse in
London, to which place be proceeded, and on
his return stated that he had procured a suit
able person to take charge of it. The mother,
believing her husbands representations, en-
trusted her child to the care Of girl fourteen
years Of age, the daughter Of the woman who
was IN attendance upon her, who conveyed it
6y special train to the city, where she was met
by Hill, who drove her to some portion of Lon
don, with which, as a country girl she was
unacquainted, deposited box containing the
child clothing, and then returned to the rail-
way station, when they were met by two
women, to whom the child was given Upon
the return Of the mir To h. h. ;,K:.
that the child had been put into the hands of
improper persons. Hill, however, combatted
this assumption by assuring his wife that the
girl was mistaken
From time to time Mrs Hill expressed the
greatest anxiety regarding the welfare of her
CHILD, but her husband always asseverated that
1t was in proper hands, and was progressing
most satisfactorily. This state of things con.
unued for about two years, and at length Mrs
Hill told her husband that she insisted upon
seeing her child. He refused to comply with
her request; a serious alteration took place
and he ultimately subjected her to gross I'M
usage- Upon this a separation took place;
but short time subsequently be made ever.
lures 70 bis wife to live with him again. She
Indignantly repelled his offers for a time, but
at length promised TO consider them favorably.
provided he satisfied her as to what he had
done with her infant. He informed her in ro-
tnrn that 1t was dead; and she then demanded
the register OF its death, and pressed him upon
this point. Being thus placed in a difficulty
he altered his story, stating that the nurse in
whose care he had placed the child had left
England for Australia, he providing the pas
sage money.
Mrs. Hill still doubling the truth of his state
ment, placed the matter in the hands Of her
solicitor, who at once employed a detective
ohcer to clear away the mystery which sur
rounded the case.
The officer ascertained that child had made
its a h0naa
the time OF the disappearance Of the child in
question, and after much trouble succeeds in
tracing 1t to q tenement in a filthy alley, in
Drury Lane. After searching various rooms,
Brett, the detective, proceeded to a small
apartment on the second floor In one corner
lay man nearly naked. apparently in dying
state, and squstting all over the floor were
several women in a most ragged and filthy
condition. The whole place was in a dreadful
state. On the aoor, in this horrible den, Brett
discovered the heir to fl4 900 year, almost
In state Of nudity, and covered with vermin
and filth No shoes were on his feet, and only
one dirty rag enyeloped the entire body. The
toes we're dreadfully Scared with the impress
sions Of wounds, no doubt inflicted by walking
on stones, while the head and body generally
showed unmistakable marks of negligence and
i'll usage. The house from bottom to top
appeared to be occupied by prostitutes and
beggars, and the officer only escaped with the
child in safety by literally paying his way
through the swarm Of people who blocked up
every means Of egress.
Mrs. Andrews, in whose charge was the child,
being arrested, the detective ascertsiDed that
on one wet Saturday she was standing in Wind
mill street, Haymarket, apparently selling
songs and stsylaces, but in reality begging,
with her two children, one in arms and the
other in the gutter by her side, when Hill
passing her, in furtiVe manner slipped a
shilling into her hand. Having passed and
aaa6 L. ~
follow him to dark part Of the street. She
did 50, and be then asked if she would take a
child to nurse, telling her she need only treat
II as her own, or that she might, If able dispose
oft by placing ii in some work house or asylum
She promised to procure the advice of a friend,
and made an appointment for the following
night in the same place.
Hill kept the appointment; and at that
meeting he agreed TO give her fl6 year for
taking care Of the child, and told her to meet
him &C the same spot on the following Wednes-
day night, when he wsuld take her to place
where she should receive the child. The latter
appointment also was kept, but Mrs. Andrews
was accompanied on this occasion by a woman
named Mrs. Scott, alias Mary Ann Idle, who
is AZ present undergoing twelve months
Imprisonment in Tothill Fields Prison for rob-
bing gentleman in the street. She added
that all three went in cab to the Northses-
tern Railway Station, in Euston Square, on the
Wednesday night, where they received the
child, as stated by the girl. She related the
conversation she had with the girl as to how
the child had been treated at hugby; she stated
that her friend Scott, alias Idle, went with the
prisoner to beer shop near the station, and
there received els from him for them to take
the child away.
She also stated that when she received the
child it was wrapped in a shawl, which she
afterwards pledged. Brett redeemed the
shawl, which was identified by Mrs. Hill. The
Ofhcer also obtained box, which Mrs. Hill also
identified as being the one filed with baby
linen, sent BY her with the child; and 1t was
worthy Of mention that the prisoner had, with
the object Of still further destroying identity,
cut out all the marks which had been inserted
upon the infants clothing. Mrs. Andrews
further stated that when the prisoner gave her
the child be told her that the mother was dead,
and that he was clerk going to travel on the
continent; but he gave her neither name nor ad-
dress. She did not belieye "all was right, and
ultimstely had the child registered in her