The Van Buren press., 1861-06-19
M'isrellallp.
1&
THE WIDOWS TRIAL.
A Renlinis
.Y OWEN JOKES

! During the wandelings OF nly cSr,ier
/ days in Europe, visited the ancient CITY
Of Hereford, place remarkable for It's pic
turesqre beauty, its orderloving and incl
/ ilgent people, and Its numerous charitable
institutions, established and endowed by
/ the benevolent. centuries ago. 1t is aiosn-
I ei by many ancient, sacred edihces. Ii can
| also boast Of being the birlL-place of the
famous actor, David Garrick. With wha.
feeling of curiosity gszed upon the house
IN which the great English Roscus first ap-
peared on the stage of life. There il
strange. Imaginary halo which fancy weaves
asoRad inanimate objects, when connected
with gcGias.
/ / iiad .iusg finisned general survey of
the fine oiI eari.Sr.s..s IS. .a1s. s.....sss
niticent stupendous structures which stani
as monuments Of the architectural skill OF
past ages--when l was informed that the
| assize term had just concluded in the coun-
ty court, SO concluded to vary my recrea-
ton by passing an hour there. To the stu
dent OF human nature, a criminal court af-
| fords much matter for refection-he can
there mark the varied shades of character.
entered the court, and took my place
among the spectators. The preliminaries
inclden; to the opening OF the court were
passed through. and the first prisoner on
the calendar was called to appear at the
bar. The crier called in stentorian tone,
Silence in court p when poor, wretch
sd-Iooklng woman appeared moving tow ard
the rail WHICH her trembling hands grasped
tor support. After moment or two, she
raised her eyes imploringly towards the
Judge-Baron Wnliams-and in a tremu
lous voice exclaimed
"Oh my lord, be merciful to me, for
the sake of my poor children
| Never have l beheld a more pitiable pic
ture Of misery, poverty and despair than
than that poor woman presented, as she
stood there scantily attircd in worn n-ont
widows habiliments. Sorrow had plowed
on her brow deep lines of care, and
Sharp misery had worn her to the bone"
There she stood, arIaigned before one of
the highest tunctlonaries Of the crown,
charged with the terrible crime (?) of TAX
ing little milk to satisfy the craving of
her children.
The prisoner, it Appeared. was a poor
widow, with five small children depending
on her for bread, aided only by small pit
tance allowed by the parish About ten
O'Clock on a certain night she was met by
the principal witness against hcr-a farm
servant she held in her hand a small pail
containing milk. end was crossing q stile in
close proximity to a field, wherein were a
number of cows. belonging to the master of
the servant referred to, who, concluding
that she had been feloniously milking those
cows, arrested her, and in spite of all her
entreaties and prayers, hurried her into the
presence of the indignan mt farmer, who was
deaf to all her cries for mercy. In his
opinion, the mrjesty of the law should be
vindicated. She was soon shered before
capon-lined " Justice of the Peace, to
whom she made confession in the follow
ing words:
a." may as well tell the truth MIXED
a drop of milk for my children. Forgive
me. and oh for Gods sake, let me 60
home to my poor, hungry little ones" But
creature was ruthlessly dragged to the vii
lage lookup, and on the following morning
was conveyed to the county gaol, q distance
twenty miles, where she had lain incarccr
ated for four long, dreary months. The
children had been taken charge Of the paro-
chial authorities, and the poor mother had
not Deen permitted TO see one OF them du-
ring the period of her confinement
Her trial commenced, and notwithstand-
ing her confession before the Justice, she
pleaded d" not guilty" The first witness
was the stolid. sleek looking servant, who
gave his evidence with as much importance
as if aiding in the conviction of some terri
BILE desperado. Then followed the corpu-
lent. ruddy farmer. who had never felt the
pangs of hunger. and probably believed it
to be fable, and the word q mere ab-
stract term signifying nothing.
! Next appeared the Justice with his self
important gravity: he testified to the pris-
oner's confession. The case seemed to be
clearly made out against the woman, who
stood trembling with fear and dread of fur
ther imprisonment.
Have you sny counsel s1eaSei ." ask