Launceston, April 1.
The Times, 1824-04-06T00:00:00

r,aMUMw LIeorgc, a young woman 19 years of age, was indicted for the murder of her brother, Benjamrin George, a child under seven ye.rs of age, by strangling him with a silk handkerchief. The prisoner on being placed at the bar, appeared in the deepest affiction, which operated so powerfully on her feelings, that a long time elapsed before her senses reminded her of the awful investiga. tion that was about to take place. On being caled on to plead to the indictment, a paper was put into her hand, which she returned, and which, on being read, stated that she had beon indictei falsely by the name of Emma instead of Any. Thbs plea was supported by the affidavit of hcr attorney, to whoch was affixed a certifircate of her baptism, in the name of Amy Mlr. HoLcoxsB, her counsel, then submitted that the indictment must be qumbled. lr. TA=CP-ED, for the prosecution, replied that the prisoner was known by one name as well as the other, and that therefore the in- dicetment ws good. tIr. Justice Bu RRouGHG.Then there must be a jury sworn to try tht issue betwecrt the parties. A jury was then sworn in. Mr. TAr;CitED said he should cal witnesscs who would prove that theunfortunateyoung woman was known by, andhadacknowledged the reame of Emma., which, he said, woald be a pood estoppel to her present plea. Air. l(ogers, one of the Coroners of the county, took an inquisition connected with the charge against the prisoner at the bar, on the 5th of March. The witnesses exatnined on that *-casion, he obser7ed, all called her by the name of Amy; towards the close of the in- quiry he asked the prisoner her name, and #he said it was Emma; he cun not ask her by what name she was christened; she was gene. rally called by the name of Emma. In consequence of the different satnes by which she was called, he went to her motler's house the next day, ahd saw the vrisoner in an uneasy state of mind, border. u on frenzy. The Souse was full of people, and they generally callea her Emma; there were upwards of 100 persons present. Mary Geo-ge,..the mother of th ;orisoner, said .her -d aughter wns kmnwri in the tovn by the name of Amv, anl all the people caoled her by that name, but she had also heard her called Emma. Mr. Justice ButrROU GU.-It is impossible to say that the pri. aoner is not known by either name. P The Jury was of the same opinion, and the Court called on the p3rdsoner to plead to the indictment. The risoner in a weak and faltering voice,s said-Not Guilty. Mr. IAT2YCREf, in feeling and impressive language, detailed the circumstances ofthe unfortunate case. -The uRhapp'T young woman, he said, wac called upon to aus;fer, at the peril of her own life, for bavinj taken away tke life of her brother, a child under the tender age ot seves yetrts, and the facts were as plain and simple in their nature as the conduct. of the prisouer.was dfi'icult and distressing to decide on. The iaaiu question for the consideration of the jury was (as there was no onbt hut that the deceased lost his life by an act of the pisoner),whetrec he was atthe time a responsible agent, capas ble of diserimninating between sight and wroug, If the jury should he of opini6tst that,her judgmeat sas so defectiye as not tQ he able to make thtat distiction, tblcrt the retributive claims of the public for the act she .had.:cotn itted were to be lid aside and forgotten; if, on the contrar4;tbRy should conceive, that thoauth at the time slae codmrsmiOtted thte tal ad: she wa under the Influence of a melancholy delasion, ~ was not sufficiently strong to deprive her of reas y wfould not; froam foetelingsfof compassion, withholi that prpote,dioa to themselves and soc.ety which was intrusted ta r.j'A.mncs tiodge swono. live at the western part of Redruth, bne'Ar the poorho ;,lr i t hesamethouse t the Prisoner * iva d in 'wihal Is divoe,i6 1has2 Tt?s tn i ? which srdse 'n.rtcleoekt. c tbe'4th of March, a little nfterdseveats,c1ockin the evening, the prsoner caine into my part of -the premisefrominher dwtelling. There vere saidh me at he time zny wife and iwa children,. She spoke to mpy wife first.Shai flowe'Iaa do. iZu'd hIeouoe ,l ? adskedherif sho hd. fi out withowdo you one eai wife -raid, SlNote t well as I couldWish." In the course of 'a miute eoa Ftwo. the prisoner Anay said,"J I wish I could goBto.Heaven." Then I spoke. I said, utAmY hi u an t make , good preparatioen to dory to get there; better An you iiaye lately-h` Amy, then ,sat aown and I seeing .her fae look 40 comicail.I maean -cast do~n, ini a 'kind of troublge -.sanll "What's the m Atter, Arto m" Shereplied, Ioh s he sh'aU I d o, what. s ha 1. d o?F"I i hl h e sw.p to ~ounouin lng tee gwords, she wrung her1hatnls as if her mind was tese hold f feelinp&becoming MOre attongly alffcted, she said "Oh whthv I doner" I said, , "What hve you dol Jn then?" anndne her if xle hed fafen out withany. one. Shesnjd"No" Su- then clos,pee tjqerads firmly a4d: sl d ." Oh,: my dear Frank Hdge, ha hanT'd may little broth~er Benny.'! I saidl, " You bavehneor brotir. ~" and %ha replied, ~' Oh~ yes.' asaked her weeshhd puit hlm,'.and kbe sa;d,.!' He'g. put behind the dloor hsngn on grok." I1 went.ti '&hrhuearsthe-passage, and the aw4, y~n~manname4libhl, whsai toe " Frank, lokinh' haxiingto te cook. I in mmeiatel, and, tookhodohi wheI hocarn.4 ooltheJoyrxr, thehedandcut thelaksl child was quite dead. He was about seven years old. r returned to the rooni, and said to Amny, " What have you done ?" She an- swered, "1 I have hangedmylittlebrother, and I am willing toiliefor it." 1 did not ask her why she had-done it nordid she-give ,tkasorr; Samuel Gribble.-_I went to see -my father,. who lived -in: MAr George's house, on the evening of the 4th of Mfarch. I -migbt iiev been with my father a quarter of an boar, wvhent caine do'wnitiirs- in the passage, and as a -was leavAng the hoase jt hea'rd i'rak Rodge'L wife screarn oat that Amv- Geoege:hadihanged&her-brother. I took the candle from her hand,' ndv-ent. into Am 's room, arWl there saw the child banging toa crook - in a. beanrm.' ?nki Hodges- followedme into the room, -and- my father soon c6me&'afCer:hini. These two cut the child -down , I went inlr the room w'htere lie fri- Boner -Was and tked her what she bad dene; she said, " Shehad- hanged her hrother fbt to send him- to Heaven,- and that -she would cut her own Ltroat for to go to Heaven along i ith:i hini.'> These were the very,words she used; she appeared -to be in -a- derab4ed state. I judge so both from her words and appearance: upon using that expressionusbe endeavoured to rise froms her chair to get a knife, asR he waa determined, she said, to cut her -throat. I with great difficulty kept her hack. She repeated that she-wotld cut her throat, to go to Heaven'with her-brother. Snme womnen caime into tijeroom, and then-I let hetto-theircare. I rethrned to the -room there the child wfas, and found him I ing-on the bed. Cross-examined by.ir. Hos:oMw.14 have two sisters, ene of them, Iary, w.as a com nioun of Amy's, and they attended the Febn use together. Vaattend a 1\2ethodist meeting; 1 so-preach- *ng sometires. There is a meeting called the Revivals. There was one of that description at Redruth, six or seven weeks beforethe boy was hanged. I attendett it once, and then I saw seyeral people on their knees, aying to the Lord fir mercy, as loud as their voices would let them. ,OftI Uocking, a eonstable of Redruth,- examined.-I sat up with the prisoner at the bar on the night of the 4th of Mlarch. About two o'cdock in the morning she arose from her bed, and sat down by the fire-side, and we then entered into a conversation, which 1 began, by saying, " Amy, you appeai to be a little moore com- posed than yon wvere just now." a[ asked her if she recollected what she had done. She said she could, and would tell me the whole circumstance, front the beginning to the end. She then told me her mind had been impressed for some time, that she ought io comi'iit a murder; and that on the Aonday. and Tuesday before she comrmitted the act. her intention was to have murdered her mother, but she endeavoured to banish that idea from her mind; and prayed to the Lord to ta;ke the temptation from her. Her- mind, she continued, was then a littc easier, till the Thursday morningL annd then, while she was at work atthe mine, the idea came upon her again with greater force than before. In the niddle of the day, she went to get her dinner at the boiling-house, where the girls generally dine. After she- got to the boiling-house, she recollected that she -had seen- a little hoy, a 4trangert standing by the engine-house near the shaft, or mouth of a pit, ana she then r gretted that she had not sunk that little boy into the shaft, for then she should have- done that wbich had long been on her-mind to do. Returning home in the evening, a little before she came to a Methodistmeeting, which stood in a back lane, she saw tto chil- drcn before her, at play, near another thaft alongside the road, and she then said to herself, " I'll throw one of the little children into the shaft.' That the children, in running after each other, came to- wards her, but she could not get an opportunity of -throwmog one of them into the mine, as she had designed. Coming nearer to her home, she saw some more children, oni which sie said to her- self, "I'll seize one of these little children, and carry it o'it, and throw it Into a shaft at the back of the houses." She waited some -time for an opportunity to take onre of them up un- perceived; but there were so many Persons passing and Te-. passing, that she could not get one of them away. After wait_ Ing gor soute ume aDout tne place, slie went to her own house, and found ber mother was goiDg to meeting. On golng in, her mothersaid, " our supper is ready for you, Am ; you can take it, for I am going to meedDg, and little Benny will remain at home with you." The prisoner then expressedherself in this-way,-" I felt glad Irhad the opportunity of doing the thing I long wished for-that I was going to be left alone with my little brother, and that my mother was going to be out of the way, so that I should be able to do the deed. She took her supper at the end of the table, and her little brother was sitting at this time before the fire. She gave the child part of her supper, and said to him " Should you like to go to Heaven dear?" ' he boy made answer and said " Yes, when I die." She then rose from the place where slae was sitting, and went to aline that was hanging across the room, and took from it a black silk handkerchief, and coming towards the child put it round his neck, tying it, as she thought, in a running knot. She said to her brother, " Is itteo tight, deAr.?" Thechildlookedgup in her face and smiled, and said " No." She left the handkerchief round his neck, ands id " Go for a drop of water for me, dear ?" in- tending while the child was gone to a pail in the room, and while his back was towards her, to take him up and hang him to a crook be- hind the door. The boy was rather quicker than she expected. and she meeting him took the water from him drank a little of it, and put the cup on the table. She then took lher brother up with one arm, and with the-other hand put the handkerchief ever the crook, looked him full in the face, and left the room. At this period the prisoner was overpowered by her feelings, ana could say no more. Aboat an hour after there was a second conversation, which I also commenced by putting a question to this effect-" If you could undo what you have done, do you think you should do it again ?" She replied Vringing her hands, " Oh no, nn,-the dear little fellow !1" 1 know there are the several shafts which the prisoner spoke of. I am not a member of the M ethodist So- ciety, but I have attended a Revival Meeting at Redruth, which commenced about three months since. A Revival is termed an " out- pouring of the spirit," and causes the congregation to crv aloud to the Lord for mercy. The revival continued at Redruth for a month or six weeks. The revivals are held in the stated places of worship of particular congregationsi and sometimes continue open for three nights and days in successon. I have been at a Revival; those who are "convinced of sin," as it is called, faU on their krees, and with uplifted5 hands, and their bodies work- ing to and fro, call as loud as they are able to the Lord for help. Their ejaculations are such as, " Oh I Christ, pardon me my sins-_ Oh ! Lordl, give me grace!" and a variety of other exprewaslon adopted as the zeal of the moment may suggest. Their conduct wes wild and extravagant, and altogether out of the mild and decent course of addressing the Almighty, usually observed in places of worship. By the COUIRT.-It was preciselv that kind of strong excitation that was likely to operate on weak mrinds. Examin&tion continued._It is generally called screeching for mercy. There was usuaUy a preacher at the meetings, but not al- ways. The Revival is open by night as well as day. There is no appointment when the Revival is to be held; a congregation may he met, and at prayers, when perhaps some member will fail on his kaees and cal aloud to Heaven for mercy; when this happens the other members are generally moved by ihesame spirit, and the Re- vival commences. This is called the " outpouring of the spirit," and continues till the preacher prenounces a benedistion, and tells his flock, " the moment of conversion" is come, and they may expect "a ray of hope, of comfort, and joy." The moment of thecoming of the "rayof hope" is uncertain, and the congregation continue their extravagant deyotions tiil they are "' convinced" or " convert- ed." It is about ten years since there was a Revival at Redruth be- fore the late one. The prisoner, in speaking of the child, generally called him the dear littleBenny. The prisoner did not wish to say any thing in her defence. SMrs. George, themother of the girl, said, "' My daughterattended a AMethodint meeting at Redruth for about seven weeks before the death of my boy; she also attendedl the Revival; I have fetcbed her home from the Revival. I went for her one msight, about half-past 10 o'clock, she having been there from 2 o'clock in the day. (in going to the chapel, I found it extremely crowded. M1y daughter. caught a sight of me, and immediately she lifted up both her arrs, as if she was going to fly to the top of the room, and called on her dear motlher and Iather to pray to the Lord to help them, for that they could not see the danger they were in. I got her out of the meeting as soon as I could, but she had lost her cloak, bonnet, handkerchief, and pattens, and was extremely disordered in her dress. She had been movihg from one part of the meeting to the other, and, in her unbounded zeal, had dropped her clothes, and they were trod- den under foot. My daughter's conduct after attending the Revival was quite differenteto what it had usually been. This was about seven weeksbeforethe dreadful act was done. On another oCcasion, she came home praying in a 7orrible manner for the conversion of her father and mother." '' tie UO uET.- k4iaUn what vou mean by praying in a horrible manner ?-I mean violently ano outrageously agitated- From thB commencement of the Revival, she never missed but one meeting. She also attended prayer meetings and class meetings. Before the leath of my son, I apprehended my daughter would do me some violence. On the Monday preceding, she came hotne, and sat by the fire in a melancholy way, and said, It Alietler) I am going cat of my mind." I spoke a few words to pacify her, and she went to bed The next nightshe said she was better, but she appegred very low. OnL Wednesday night, on coming home, ste saidtomc. " I am tempted to murder ny mother!" I said, I was surprised she sbould tnink of. m-tvrdering me;- and she said, " 1I do." After she had said. this she went to the Revival and returned between 9 and io. From what the had maid, I took Lie krives and hid them, to prevent-her doing mischief to herself, me, or thefamily. TheSoultT.-Thesessymptoms 1 observed on Alonday,Tuesday, and WVednesday, and on the Thursday the child was killd. DIre. Osborne examined.-I saw the prisoner a week or ten days before the un fortunate aftait happened,' when she said she had been unwell, and that her illness was in her head ; it appeared to her, she said, as if the top part of her head was hetaving off; she also said that her brains felk-as if they had been turned. She appeatea to be in a very wild state, and her eyes were rolling in her head in a very 'icious manner. I toldher she should not give way to those thoughts, and read some words to herin the Bible,from Genesis,which appear. ed to make her more comfortable. At the close of the evidence, the unhappy young woman, who had throughout the trial been too ill to ray much attntion to what had been passing, fainted, and was carrned into theair in strong convul. sions, by five or six men. In the street, her distressing screams were heard fot' nearly a quarter of an hour, before she could egait be brought into fc,ourt. MrlT. Justice BD3onottsr Sdd, there was. b6 question hut-' the young woman at the bar was the cause of her brothi.strdeath. but it would be for the jury matocely.te.cornsider whner whea she commit. ted that act she was in a state of mind tetpablc of distinguishing right from wrong- and if they should lt of wpiniou that she did it in a mo metit when t,he innbeciIity f:her mind ~waa no great that sho could not tnaPe that distinct:i;n, then the offence did not aanoet to wil. uwi tijuruer.. iE wouie noti nowevet, oe sumcient to acquit her of that cxime, by supposing, that she. acted under a momentary re- ligions frenzy that did not totally occasion such a defect in her mind as todd riv herof <ll reason. -Upom looklug;at the-fts given in evidence, itwasalmost impossible to conceive that theprigher could be otherwise than insane when she .4eternined en thr muTder of her own brbther, as the means of gettihg 'to RHvenzi The Almighty had expressly declared,that'murder aiL suicide wefe t*o of thehighlstscrimes that called for his vengeance 2 but,such was the delusioe this ynarig wonian had Iaboure[d-uhfier thatl *te firstmurdered her brother;. and then contemplated selfiexstr,ctibb,I conceiving thiftby' committing these high oftfices she should be securi6g -a way to Hdaven. It dpperid thit hthis vo'fi' fe'nala had been in the habit of. attending. reigious neeting th'cy were called, - %ere the wvildest and most.extrna3,antexeinenls were.used-that could possibly o6era onte he'ninds of the vieak,-nd lead theim from a jstsenseof the;iupoflauce tOd.dutie- of r'1- ;gion. His lordship knew-nothing of-thepatiursectof persons be-had. been c sPokenof to day,and God fiorbid chat beshould be- conceived as- -:sigt rsri any pep 9n~ olw those religious customs *hicls weremosi, comfoimabfe, to. tIhe conscience; but he did conteve 'that 'tlt' general bepefit of societ7.should bel.att2nded4-to, - iL thereforehe could:hot .but consider, that the -doctrines. and -tmude of vorsliip whicis inculcated the pirnicinns principles thik .young woman bid acted upon, wee,injurious to ociet.i,, anAd 6ught to be-uppressed H{e cerefore guarded tha paswos if lhbfe congregations againstgon einuing in these practices, as being clerogatery to. trie fel-g onD ar dangerouts t4 th'C sactyeof 'thlc comOXlJtty. 'His rds,h'tboug'fi t the girl to have been of an irregular mind when she did the act. Her mind from mistaken impressions, produced by religious ex- 5s tieLs, nad conceived that she must comroit a murder before she bould t6o He'aven t; ind' at one tiuie she had marked.out 'ber own ioilit sMthe objct*ti66 wds tobe- devoted Wtoher *fenzy; -at saXoteher 'tiimii -'cldienih< Ttad never seen; before ,were to fall he yictiinlr and Isstlj her brother 'inbuappi1j. being 'in herWp*et,h mrd&ed hi in. the sane . 3bsence bf mialice 4: 'she- wuldd bave : one aby ottr -iffdvidual. If the .Jury weze of opiniou that the child 1ost'1his life while she was in a statew ~inZnisiyhey-wonld rein a verticit' o'f not' guilty on that ground, and his'XUajesiv'a &overnment-wo'Ild then protect her,'ill she was foun&t6fbe sfcientlyrestor td toher reason.to be return- Tdhtb her frtiedst , ThgJury eturned e verdictof-ATot4?ty, beleving hertobe fisane 9t'tbe funii. The Court ordetid lir't obe detained in custody, but assured her friends she would not be ke t lonu. fronm them.. LAUNCESTON. APRTT 1. X?UUDEI.EXTLAORDI-TARY rAs'ATICTSAr.