THE VICTIM OF A "LEGAL ACCIDENT."

Otago Witness, Issue 299, 22 August 1857, Page 3

THE VICTIM OF A "LEGAL ACCIDENT."

'/_ 'y»■, !. AN APPALLING CASE. _ '/" ' , cases ht persons being innocently conyicfed , having recently come before the public, through the- columns of the Times, Mr. John -Brady of Warwick Terrace, Belgravia, has sferiHb'that journal the following particulars o^f.a niostpainfulcase of ttiisttature, which, he says^caqae, under, Ms .'own, observation withiri:the«last four years :-r- For, .obvious reasons (observes the tvxiter)> I do not -wish thati the namebf^Heunforttinate victim should appear, although?'! send it , t0. y0u. ., Mir.T- , a young man of high character^ -with respectable family: connections, was. employed for twelve years in 'one of the largest firms in the " Manchester line"' in' -the cityV'the /last three- of wTiich as[bftyer for the establishment ; in that capacity, he laid,; out on an average from £40,000, to £50,000 a-year. In the early part of > the year 1853 he left town for Manchester by the night tnail \ on arriving at station hfe changed. 'his .mind, and determined not to proceed to Manchester, that night. On leavthe station for .the hotel he was stopped by a police* officer^ wh6 accused him of stealing the carpet" ba^'which he had in his hand ; on examination it .was found- to be the property of another gentleman. He , endeavoured to ex-, plain that he took it by mistake ; but to no purpose. He was searched; his ticket for Manchester was found on him. This fact was considered conclusive evidence that his leaving the train at this intermediate station was done, f6r ' felkinious piirposes. Another policeman coming up at the moment at once recognized in the person of Mr.' T a notorious swellmobsman from London, and, jocosely taking the gold watch and chain from my friend's neck, said " I suppose this is part of the proceeds of your calling." Expostulation on the part of the accused was vain. He declared his innocence and asked for his own bag, but the idea of his possessing such an article was utter ly ridiculed, and his request was looked upon as part of the sharper's dodge. . After a little futher ceremony he was consigned to a^cell for the night, to wait his examination. He implored permission to write to his wife, but so great a favour could not be granted. The accusation, even at this early stage, had done its work. Excitement set in, and in the agony of his distress he conceived the futile design of attempting to escape from the horror of the place he was in, and the foulness of the charge. Unfortunately, the attempt was made, and from that moment his fate was sealed. Without being permitted to communicate with his friends, he was examined before the magistrates and committed to the county gaol. Eight days from this time, his wife, who was in perfect ignorance of what had happened to her husband, went in great distress of mind to the city to make enquiries as to his absence, when to her consternation she was told^that there was an account in a country newspaper of his having been committed to prison on a charge of robbery. At once she set off to his prison, and, after an interview, proceeded to the magistrate who committed him with a view of having him bailed out, but in vain. Now, without going into minute detail of What took place from the time of his wife seeing him in prison to the day of his trial, I shall state that the day for his trial was appointed ; the solicitor for the defence had instructions to telegraph to his brother, a gentleman of high character in the city, who, with my unhappy friend's employer, intended to be present at the trial," to speak to character. But the fatality which in the first instance befell him pursued him with unrelenting perseverance. The business of the court, which was calculated to occupy a certain time, was got over much sooner than was at first expected. Poor T— — was called upon to plead to the charge. His counsel, in defence, pointed' out to the judge and jury the improbability of a man committing such an act who held a position of great trust in society, and whose character for honesty was beyond all question, as he should prove by evidence of the highest respectability. After his address the names of the witnesses for character were called, but, as the trial unfortunately took place twentyfour hours earlier than iil the ordinary course was expected, they were riot.- present. The jury, without leaving the box, found him guilty ; the judge approved the verdict, and the poor man was sentenced to some' years' imprisonment. It may be;'asked', where was the wife all this time?/- Why- was she not present? Wonder not ! The/day before the trial she gave birth to her sixth' child, and from distress of mind was not expected to survive the day through. Fever came : on, insensibility followed, and for ten daYs ' shY was unconscious of everything about her:- At, the first gleam of returning, sense she inquired of her nurse if John had returned home* 'evidently alluding to his usual return from business ; bnt memory; like a flash of lightning, recalled' to her his sad position, and she sank back into the state of insensibility from which she .appeared to be recovering.' I am not indulging in sentiments; I narrate what I 'saw'.' Tbjfee weeks later her two eldest; children were carried off by an attack of scarlet fever ; ten days more her -infant died. Within three, months -from that time she received information from the governor of the' gaol that her husband was dying, and that she ~mu!|t=prdoeed immediately to him.ifcshe wished •to see him.alivei -She entered his wretched cell, r There, before her, lay her husband— a -helpless, paralysed old man^r-an idiot. His' head,' which three months before had not 'a' grey hair in it, was how perfectly white* V His age, 35 yeajcs. ;Fortunately for him,*' he knew her.no t: Her. passionate and heartrending grief, which wrung the, hearts of those around, fell dead" on his ear'; "all human sympathies

were gonei -Reason wa%irudely jostled from her seat. He cared not for judge, jury, orpoliceman, and he gazed unconsciously on the wife of his early 4 and affectionate love and the mother of his helpless children. I need not dwell upon this scene. • After some formalities at the Home Office, he' was removed : to a private asylum near London. He was once' more : a free ina'n, but to what purpose ? In a shor j; time he. sank and died., > .',' ' This was just one of those cases jn which it is easy to fix suspicion, and next to impossible to remove it. If no two carpet bags were alike ; if there were no confusion at a railway station on the arrival of a train ; no rush for luggage ; but, on the contrary, such order that it would be difficult — instead of easy as ii is— to make a mistake; if the railway authoritieshad on their part done 'their duty, and made proper search and enquiry for T 's carpet bag, which they would not believe he possessed, but which they afterwards found ; if they had allowed him to communicate with his friends, so as to give him anopportunity before he was consigned to prison of proving that he was not one of the swell mob, as they rashly and fatally suspected, . and if he had failed to verify the account he gave of himself, then indeed it might be. said that there was a case for a jury. But there was no such case. The man was falsely accused, imprisoned, convicted, and driven mad. Would that I could here close this tale of misery. The husband's relations', for reasons which it is for themto account for, and, if they can, justify, thought proper to shun the widow and children of their degraded relative. Two years passed, and the little all she had — rings, jewellery, and part of her furniture, were consumed in support of her helpless children. She sought employment at one of the houses of business in the city as a blond runner, and she is now to be found, with a shattered constitution and skeleton form, stitching from daylight till 12 o'clock at night, to obtain a most miserable and scanty support for her three helpless surviving children. The work, when done, must be taken to the warehouse ; there this gentle suffering creature, delicately nurtured, not long since the mistress of a happy and comfortable home, has to stand for hours to wait her turn, that her work may be examined and a fresh supply given to her. [With that true benevolence so characteristic of the people of England when a wellauthenticated case of real distress is brought under their notice, we learn, from a subsequent letter of Mr. Brady in the Times of 21st January, that large remittances have been made to him for the benefit of the unfortunate widow and children of Mr. T . The firm of Masterman & Co., bankers, London, have also undertaken to receive subscriptions and act as treasurers for the fund, pro tern. — Ed. S. M. H.l A Member op the " Try Company." — A manufacturer was travelling on a railway in company with a 'gentleman, his wife, and a little boy of some five or six years of age. The little fellow had a parcel in his hand, and was trying, apparently in vain, to unloose the knot in the string, when the stranger took out his knife and offered to cut the knot, saying, ' You can't open it.' The child immediately said, ' Please, sir, father does not allow me to say, I can't — I belong to the ' Try Company.' The manufacturer was delighted with the remark, and watched the little member of the Try Company until he exultingly finished his task. ' Right ! right !' said I, when I heard of the circumstance, we should, have fewer dunces in schools', and many more clever, industrious youths and men in the land, if parents would teach their children not to say, ' I can't,' but train them up as members of the Try Company. — Whenever I see a boy or girl diligently learning some difficult lesson, I say to myself, there's a member of the Try Company. — Whenever I see a child of naturally irritable temper striving to repress the stirrings of anger — keeping the mouth shut lest the tongue should utter unguarded words, I say to myself, there's a member of the Try Company. — When I, see a kind and loving sister showing kindness to her little brother, and lessening the I daily duties and trials of her mother, I say, there's a good member of the Try Company. — When I see an apprentice attentive to his mas- 1 ter's interests, and making good use of his leisure hours, I- say to myself, there's a member of the Try Company. — Whenever I see a Sun-day-school teacher regularly at his post at the .appointed time, and greeting his class with a smile, I say to myself, there's a member of the Try Company. — Parents! teach your little ones to be good.members of the Try Company.' j Every family may have its Try Company. Dear reader.! are you a member of the Try Company ? — JBand of Hope Review. - " And I dare say you have scolded your wife very often Newman," said I, once. Old Newman looked down, and the wife took up' the reply. " Never to signify— and if he has, I deserved it." • "And, I, say,' if the truth were told, you have -scolded him quite as often." "^Nay," said the' old woman, with a beauty of kindness which all the. poetry in the 'world .cannot excel, "how can a wife scold her good ihan who has been working for her and her little ones all the day? . It may be for a man to be peevish, for it is he who bears the crosses of the world ; but who should make him forget them but' his" own wife? And she had be"st, for her own sake — for nobody , can scold much when the scolding is all on one side." — Bidwrfs Student; ' . < • - - '