The Sun. — 1845-12-16 (London, England)

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT. OLD COURT. (Before the Right Hon. the LORD MAYOR, the Resonneß, &C.) The grand jury having retired to choose theirforeman, on their return they were sworn, and The RecoaDee, addressing them, said—Gentlemen of the grand jury, the interval which has occurred between the last and the present session is much less than a fortnight. There are, however, in the calendar the names of lee prisoners, and that number will be augmented by the riaines of a great many more hefere your duties are completed. Gentlemen, aLhaugh the calendar is not so numerous with regard to the cases of parties charged with crime, still, in prieportion to the time which has elapsed, it will probably bear comparison with any other calendar we have had this year. I lament to say, however, that some of those cases are of the most fearful description. There are two charges of murder, mid there is also a third case, the particulars of which were only laid before me this morning. I shall have occasion to refer very shortly to the two first cases, which, I cannot entertain a doubt, you will feel it your duty to place before a petty jury. You will, perhaps, come to the conclusion that the third case requires also a course of investigation. With regard to the crime of murder, I shall only have occasion to observe that the fact of the killing being first proved, then all circumstances of accident, necessity, or infirmity, are to be proved by such evidence as either occurs in the case for the prosecution or in defence of the prisoner. You will have to say in these cases whether it is proved that the death was the wilful act of the party charged; and if that appears to be the case, you will, unless the prisoner, as I have before raid, can refer to any accident or necessity, tied a true bill against him fur the crime of murder. The third charge is against a young woman who is accused of destroying her illegitimate child by drowning it ; and I should not have referred to the case did I not feel it my duty to warn you that, whatever circumstances of compassion or other circumstances come before you, it will not be your duty to inquire into them. Neither will it be your duty to ascertain whether she was of sound mind at the time of the commission of the act. All our butter feelings necessarily lead us to believe that when an act of great wickedness is done by a person of sound mind, or apparently of sound mind, who before the commission of the offence manifested the greatest attachment to a child, and that child her own offspring, that the person must have been under the influence of some aberration of mind to deviate in so great a measure from her ordinary conduct, tenderness towards the child. That question, however, must only be a matter of supposition and hope to you, for it will not be your duty to inquire ieto it, If it shall appear, therefore, that this young person occasioned the death of the child by drowning, it will be your imperative and bounden duty to place the case in a course of further inquiry, and to leave the question of her sanity to those whose duty it will be to inquire whether she was in possession of all her faculties. There are two cases cf a nameless offence on the calendar, and it would be useless for the Court to go into the particulars of these charges. They are supported en the evidence of persons who made the discovery, under circumstances which render them almost eye-witnesses. A charge of misdemeanour almost amounting to a similer offence, and a charge of carnally knowing a girl under ten years of age, I dismiss to you with the like remark, as the evidence will render it your duty to send the cases for further inquiry. You may possibly feel some little— I was about to say astonishment, but that is too strong a word—you may feel some surprise that in cases of such moment the Court does not dwell on the particulars, but it is far from the intention of the Court to anticipate the final determination of these cases. There is also another reason for my not troubling you—viz., that these cases present no legal difficulty or any peculiar point of law for your consideration. Gentlemen, there is anokl er case a little out of the ordinary way ; and there is a case of demanding money with menaces. In these cases, generally speaking, there is a degree of mystery