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sion that they ought to hold that the claim of Charles Francis Arnold Howard to vote at the election of Representative Peers for Ireland had been established to their satisfaction.

Lord Chelmsford, in the course of a long judgment, remarked that it was impossible to disbelieve the story of the alleged birth, as he did, without coming to the conclusion that certain of the witnesses had been guilty of the grave crimes of conspiracy and perjury. With reference to the Liverpool story, he said he was satisfied that the child brought into the workhouse by Mary Best was not that of which she had been confined, although he did not believe her statement of the way in which she had become possessed of the child which she had subsequently passed off as her own. He had arrived at the same conclusion as the Lord Chancellor with reference to the case of Mrs. Howard, and was of opinion that the case of the claimant was fully established.

Lord Colonsay briefly explained the reasons which induced him to coincide in the opinions expressed by their Lordships.

The Earl of Winchilsea, as a lay lord and as one of the public, gave it as his opinion that the story told by Mrs. Howard was utterly incredible, being only worthy to form the plot of a sensational novel. He regretted that Mr. Baudenave, the principal mover in this conspiracy, would escape unscathed.

Lord Redesdale having expressed his concurrence in the Lord Chancellor's opinion,

Their Lordships resolved that the claimant had made out his right to vote at the election of Representative Peers for Ireland as Earl of Wicklow.

III.

THE DENHAM MURDERS.

TRIAL OF JOHN JONES.

A short account of the numerous horrible murders committed by John Jones at Denham, near Uxbridge, has been given in our Chronicle (see ante).

The trial of this notorious criminal took place at the Summer Assizes at Aylesbury, before Baron Channell. The doors of the court-house were opened at nine o'clock, and such a rush was made by the parties who had, long before the time fixed for the opening of the court, assembled outside, as was never seen on any other similar occasion. Barriers were erected on the staircase, and they were jealously guarded by a body of policemen, who endeavoured to prevent the ingress of more persons than the hall would accommodate. As it was, every place was crammed with a dense mass of people, and the hall outside the courthouse was also thronged.

The prisoner, John Jones, 38, blacksmith, was charged with the wilful murder of Emmanuel Marshall, Mary Ann Marshall, Charlotte Marshall, Mary Marshall the elder, Mary Marshall the younger, Theresa Marshall, and Gertrude Marshall, at Denham, on the 22nd May, 1870.

He pleaded Not Guilty to each of the charges in the indictment.

Mr. O'Malley, Q.C., and Mr. Metcalfe, prosecuted; Dr. Abdy defended the prisoner.

Mr. O'Malley opened the case, and the first witness called was

Superintendent Dunham, who deposed-I am superintendent of police at

Slough. In consequeuce of information received, I went to the house where the murder was committed, which is about a couple of miles from Uxbridge on the Oxford-road. There is also a smithy, just outside the cottage, attached to it. There is no communication between the smithy and the shop. There was a back room and kitchen and pantry on the ground floor, and a stair leading upstairs from the back room. When I first went into the premises I went into the front door. The door was locked and the key was gone. Outside the threshold, on the bricks and the door-post, there was blood. When I went inside the parlour door I found the body of Mrs. Marshall, and another young woman, Mary Ann Marshall, the sister of Mr. Marshall, lying by the door-post. The gown on Mrs. Marshall was unfastened. She had her night-dress on, and the gown was thrown over it, but not fastened. Her head was very much cut about. It was not bleeding then. She had evidently been dead some time. Both women were lying together, but the head of the young woman was in a different direction to that of Mrs. Marshall. She had a very severe wound, apparently from a chopper, over the eye, and her head was also battered in. She was also partly dressed. She had no stockings on, but she had a nightdress on, and her feet were partly in her boots. Her night-dress was up over her head, and she lay quite exposed till some one put something over her body. I should think that she was not killed in the room, but that she was dragged from the back kitchen. There were marks of blood where she had been dragged. I went to the back kitchen, where I found the body of an aged female, who, I was informed, was the mother of Marshall. She was lying on her right side, with several severe cuts on her head and blows on the face. The back part of the head was entirely battered in. There was a large pool of blood under her head. I did not find any instrument then, but was afterwards shown an axe and poker which were found in the house. She was seventy-seven years old, and her name was Mary Marshall. She was also partly dressed. She had one stocking on, and her garter was partly fastened. She had also a petticoat partly drawn over her. Lying against her breast was the body of a young child, a little girl four years of age. The back part of her head was smashed in. She was in her night-dress too. In the fireplace were the bodies of two children, Mary Marshall, aged eight, and Theresa Marshall, aged six. Their heads were lying in the fireplace, and one body was lying across the other. The head of Mary was very much cut about, as if thrown down after being murdered. The jaw was dreadfully cut. She was more disfigured than any of the others. She was quite naked, with the exception of her chemise, and that was thrown up over her shoulders. Theresa Marshall was lying with her face downwards. Her hands were black with soot. She had evidently struggled very much. She, too, was very much cut about the head, but was not so much cut as the other child. The children were lying across each other. I then went into the blacksmith's shop, where I found the body of Emmanuel Marshall. He was lying behind the anvil on his back, with his face towards the wall. I examined his head and body, and found the left side of his face was completely smashed in. He had a terrible cut over the bridge of the nose, almost in the shape of a horse-shoe, and on the back of his head were two very severe cuts. I did not see any bruises on his head. On examining the shop I found marks of a struggle near the door on the other side to that where the body was lying. There the struggle evidently took place, and there was a pool of blood under his head and a quantity of blood about the place also. There were marks on his face where he had been dragged. I then

examined Marshall's clothes and stockings. They were clean, and had evidently been put on that morning. He had no boots on. He could not have stood in the stockings, for there was no mark on them, and they were perfectly clean. The shirt was clean, except a mark on it as if he had been dragged. His pockets were turned inside out. I then went upstairs. I found three bedrooms and a bed in each room. Every one of them had been slept in. The bedroom facing the west was occupied by Marshall and his wife. That room is next to the smithy, and any one could hear from there any noise in the smithy. The clothes on the bed were thrown off, as if in a hurry. I found a pair of trousers and a pair of boots, which I now produce. They are cord trousers, with a patch of blue cloth on the seat, and one patch on the knee. The trousers were marked with blood, and the boots were completely saturated with blood, the right one especially so, and adhering to it was a piece of brain. In a bedroom, facing the smithy, I found a black coat, torn, and an old white corduroy jacket, and an old shirt. There was also a fustian waistcoat, an old blue shirt, an old pair of stockings, a pocket-handkerchief, a neckerchief, also a small hammer, and an old billycock hat. In the same room I found two boxes with the covers broken off, and two drawers drawn out, and several articles of wearing apparel lying about the floor, and the room was in great disorder, and there was also an empty watch-stand and a watch key on the bureau. I went into the other rooms, but there was nothing I discovered of importance. I afterwards received this silver watch and gold chain, which I produce, from James Weston, a pawnbroker's assistant, in Uxbridge. Charles Coombs came to me in the street, and from what he told me I went to the Oxford Arms, in Silver-street, Reading. I went into the tramps' kitchen, and when we got to the door Coombs said, "That's the man" (pointing to the prisoner). As soon as Coombs said, "That's the man," the prisoner said, "I have never killed man, woman, or child." This was about five o'clock in the afternoon. Up to this time nothing had been said about the murder. At that time no one in Reading knew of the murder. Reading is about thirty miles distant from Uxbridge. I went towards him as quickly as possible, and caught hold of him by the throat, and the Reading policeman, who was with me at the time, said, "He is pulling something out of his pocket." The Reading policeman caught hold of his hand and pulled the pistol which I produce out of his pocket. It was loaded up to the muzzle, but there was no nipple cap on. I found the cap afterwards in the prisoner's pocket. I produce a pistol which was found in Marshall's house, which corresponds with the pistol found on the prisoner. They are both made by the same maker. I then put the handcuffs on him, and charged him with wilfully murdering Emmanuel Marshall and six others at Denham, in the county of Bucks. The prisoner said, "I have never murdered man, woman, or child, but I know who did." I then said, "Why you have got on the murdered man's boots." He replied, "That may be." I produce the boots taken from his feet. I took them from him after I brought him back from Slough. I said, "You have got his trousers on too," and he again said, "That may be." I took this neck-tie (black neck-tie) off his neck before I took him away. I also took from him a purse which had money in it, and a knife. I then went to a second-hand clothes' shop in Union-street, Reading, and received from a man named Lyons, who keeps the shop, a black cloth coat, and this light waistcoat, which I produce. I then took Lyons to the police-station, and he identified the prisoner as the man from whom he received the boots. The prisoner was wearing a pair of cross-striped trousers and a

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shirt, which I also produce. He was also wearing a pair of side-spring boots which I now produce. On the left boot there is a spot of blood.

Cross-examined by Dr. Abdy.-When I charged him, he said "I never murdered man, woman, nor child, but I know who did."

To the Judge. I think he said "I stood by when the murder was committed." That is my impression, but I will not swear that he said that.

Cross-examination continued.-The smithy could be seen from the road, and a noise of a struggle could be heard from there. From what I saw in the smithy, I should think there must have been a very severe struggle. The body had the appearance that Marshall was dressed for the day, and he had clean clothes on. The report of the murder was in many papers on the day I went to Reading. I went to Reading about five o'clock in the evening. The papers got to Reading about nine o'clock. Directly we went into the lodging-house, Coombs pointed to the prisoner, and said, "That's the man."

Charles Alderman, a fresh witness, said on the 23rd of May, about seven o'clock, he went to the house of Emmanuel Marshall, and seeing no one about, he broke open the door. When he got in, he saw the dead bodies of the children on the floor. He sent for Tavener the policeman, and nothing was touched

until Tavener came.

Charles Tavener said-I am a police-constable stationed at Denham. On the evening of the 23rd of May I went to the cottage of Marshall, and found the last witness there. I locked the door and left a man named West outside. When I went inside the cottage I found two bodies-the wife and the sister-lying just inside the door, the head of the wife lying towards the door, and the sister's feet towards her head. A petticoat covered them. About two feet from them was a sledge-hammer (produced.) This was covered with blood. I then went into the washhouse and found the bodies of the three children and the grandmother. I found the axe (produced) also covered with blood, in the kitchen near the fireplace, near the head of the child Theresa. The axe had evidently been used both ways, back and edge. I found the body of Emmanuel, the father, in the forge adjoining, lying flat on his face. He had apparently been dragged some little distance. The body was covered with a sack, an apron, and an old coat. There was a pool of blood a few yards from the body, and part of a poker (produced) lying near the body. Two pieces of poker found correspond in pattern with the shovel and tongs found in the parlour of the house. These were also covered with blood. The three instruments I took possession of, and left the rest of the things in the state I found them. He then continued-On Sunday morning the 22nd of May, at a few minutes before three o'clock, I was on my duty at Denham, and met the prisoner coming from the direction of the canal, in the Uxbridge-road (that is going towards the murdered man's house). He came up to me and said, “I wish I had met you before, policeman," and I said, "What's the matter now?" He replied, I was going along the "cut" (the canal) just now, and a man and woman were quarrelling. The man said that he would throw the woman into the cut, and if he had thrown her in I would have thrown him in." I said, “Do you know the party ?" and he said, "No, I am a stranger about this part." I said, “How came you that way if you are but a stranger?" for I knew that there was only a foot-path leading from the canal into the road. He said that another man was there and showed him the road. I asked him what he did that way, and he said he was on the way to Oxford, mentioning some other place, the name of which I did not catch. We were then under the shade of some trees and I let him pass

on a distance; but I went after him, offering to show him the way to the Oxfordroad, but really to look at him. I then took particular notice of him and of his dress, and as the under-coat which he wore under a fustian jacket made him appear very bulky, I purposed searching him; but seeing that the bulk was only this extra coat, I did not search him. The coat and hat produced are like those which he wore. The hat was drawn down over his eyes.

Cross-examined.-After I spoke to the prisoner I followed him into the village, so that I might have a better look at him, and spoke to him for some time, I felt under his coat to see what caused the bulk underneath it. I noticed glass buttons shining on his coat. I noticed them particularly.

Elizabeth Simpson-I am the wife of William Simpson, groom, and live at Cheapside, Denham, about 100 yards from Marshall's house. I never spoke to Marshall, but my husband has often spoken to him. I saw Marshall about eight o'clock on Saturday night, and the eldest little girl also just before that time. I was out on the road early on Sunday morning, about seven o'clock. I went out to look for a key which I had lost the night before. I saw a respectably-dressed man come out of Marshall's house, and walk up the road. At first I thought it was Mr. Marshall. I have since seen that man, to the best of my knowledge, at the prison. I only saw his side face, so I cannot swear to him for certain. I overtook him on the Uxbridge-road, and he bade me "Good morning," and asked me if I was for the train. I told him I was looking for a key I had lost, and he said I had a bad chance of finding it, as there had been a good many tramps about in the morning. He told me he had been nearly running over a man and his wife the previous night, and that the man had tried to throw his wife into the canal. He said also that he told the policeman about it, and said he would not interfere between a man and his wife again. He told me he did not know Mr. Flitney, as he had not been in the place for six years. I said I thought I had been speaking to Mr. Marshall all the time, and asked him if I did not see him come out from that house. He said, "Yes, you did. The man at that house and his wife-his mother and his children are all gone for a holiday." I said "I dare say they are gone to London," and he said "I dare say they are."

Cross-examined-Mr. Arnold and his son passed us going to the train, while I was speaking to this man. I have always said that young Mr. Arnold and his father were in the trap. I have not said that it was Mrs. Arnold who was with Mr. Arnold. All I can say is that the man I was talking to was a man with a dark beard. I went to the prison to see this man with Mr. Dunham and Mr. Tavener. Before I gave my evidence, I spoke to Mr. Dunham in my house. He asked me the description of the man whom I met in the morning, and I told him as well as I was able. When prisoner met me, he did not attempt to conceal his face from me.

Charles Coombs said-I am a bricklayer, and was lodging with Mrs. Balham, at Uxbridge, on Saturday, the 21st of May. I know the prisoner, whom I saw sitting in the kitchen when I returned from my work about half-past five or six o'clock on Saturday evening. At nine o'clock, when I came in again, prisoner was not there, and I do not think I saw him any more that night. I saw the prisoner next morning, about half-past eight, or from that to nine o'clock. On the Saturday he was dressed in clothes like those produced. I will not swear to the trousers, but I will swear to the jacket. The other coat produced, which I can swear to, he wore over his jacket. On Sunday morning he was dressed in a pair of striped trousers, light waistcoat, nice coat, and a black neck-tie, and a straw

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