of the story of the alleged nocturnal visits paid by Mr. Howard in January, 1864, to his wife at 27, Burton-street, at the very time that he was employing detectives to watch his wife with the view of instituting a suit of divorce against her, on the ground of her adultery with Mr. Baudenave-a story which he had no hesitation to state was, in his opinion, utterly incredible, and which, having been deposed to by the Bloors, threw suspicion upon the whole of their testimony. He also remarked upon the fact of Mrs. Howard placing her name as a single lady upon the books of the Governesses' Institution, with the view of obtaining a situation as a governess, and of her having called at that establishment frequently, at a time when, if her statement were true, she must have been far advanced in pregnancy. Coming to the date of the alleged birth-the 16th of May, 1864-he pointed out that at that date there were residing at 27, Burtonstreet-a lodging-house, kept by a Custom-house officer named Bloor-besides Mrs. Howard, who occupied the drawing-rooms, Mr. Baudenave, who occupied the dining-room and a bed-room behind; Mr. Bloor himself, his wife, and her sister, Rosa Day, and a servant girl named Louisa Jones. The first three of those persons had given at their Lordships' bar a detailed statement of the circumstances attending the alleged birth, and he was bound to add that the demeanour of Mrs. Bloor and of Rosa Day was such that, if the case were not of such prodigious importance, and if it had not been contradicted by all surrounding circumstances, their statement, which they had given with firmness and without hesitation, would have obtained credence. It was, however, so utterly inconsistent with all the admitted facts and with the rest of the evidence, that he was compelled to arrive at the painful conclusion that it was a mere fabrication, intended to defeat the ends of justice. The evidence of Dr. Baker Brown, who had identified Mrs. Howard as the person whom he had examined on the 8th of July, 1864, and who had stated to him that she had never had a child, was very strong, and was only to be explained upon the supposition that it was a case of mistaken identity, and that it was Jane Richardson who was examined, and not Mrs. Howard. This supposition, however, was entirely set aside by the Longney witnesses, who stated that on the occasion of the birthday dinner-party at Longney both Mrs. Howard and her sister Jane Richardson were present. It was evident, therefore, either that the story could not be true or that the witnesses were mistaken as to the day on which that event had occurred, and under these circumstance the whole evidence in support of the alibi broke down altogether. Having arrived at this conclusion with respect to the original case set up by Mrs. Howard, it was scarcely necessary that he should allude to the Liverpool story, which was certainly an extraordinary and a singular one, and had a tendency to damage the case of those who had set it up, although he did not see how they could possibly have withheld it from the knowledge of their Lordships. Looking at the fact that Mary Best was proved to have been delivered of a fair child, and that the 'child she took out of the workhouse with her was a dark child, he confessed that much might be said both in favour of and against the truth of her statement; but it was, perhaps, as well that it might be entirely disregarded in the present case, and, at all events, in his opinion, there was nothing in its being brought forward which was calculated to shake their lordships' confidence in the character of those who were conducting the case on behalf of the original claimant. He expressed his regret that he should have been compelled to go into the case at such length, but in the interests of justice he had felt bound to lay clearly before their Lordships the reasons that had induced him to arrive at the conclu

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

N

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