was also sprinkled with blood. On going up stairs he
found Mrs. Bacon lying on her back inssde the door on
the second floor, and traces of blood from the cellar to
where deceased lay, showing that the body had been
dragged from the cellar to the spot where it was found.
The skull was beaten in, there were two large gashes
on the temple, and the face greatly disfigured from the
blows which had been inflicted. The knife with which
the girl's throat had been cut was found on the kitchen
dresser, and there was a pool of blood just within the
front door, where she had stood. She had been in the
service of Mrs. Bacon for about seven weeks, having
previously lived in service at Stroud, where her friends
also reside. Mrs. Bacon was the widow of Mr. Bacon,
formerly in her Majesty's dockyard, and was seventy–
eight years of age. The servant–girl is about nineteen.
A coroner's inquest has been held, and the jury have
returned a verdict of wilful murder against Elizabeth
Lawes, the servant–girl, who has been committed for
trial.

The Irish Court of Chancery has been occupied with
a case which has excited much public interest.—
Handcock v. Delacour, otherwise De Burgh. It arose upon
a petition filed by John Stratford Handcock, the heir–
at–law of the late Miss Honoria Handcock, praying that
certain charges created by the will of Josephine
Handcock might not affect the Canentrilla estates; that a
deed executed by Honoria Handcock in 1851 might be
declared fraudulent and void; that an account might be
taken of the sums which might be justly charged against
Mrs. Catherine Josephine Handcock, and that certain
judgments obtained by her against Honoria Handcock
might be set aside as fraudulent and void. The story
pertaining to the suit was told by the Attorney–General
in opening the case for the petitioner, on the 24th
January. In 1824, Mr. "William Handcock, then just
of age, and the possessor of £4000 a year, married,
against the consent of his relations, Miss Catherine
Josephine Kelly, an ambitious beauty, who, with the
assistance of the Marquis of Clanricarde, formed and
executed the design of marrying Mr. Handcock. By
the marriage–settlements, the estates were limited to
the use of Mr. Handcock for life, with remainder to
provide a jointure of £700 a year to his wife, with
remainder to the issue of the marriage. The issue were
Josephine, Anne Mary, and Honoria. After the year
1828 there was no issue. In July 1840, Mr. Handcock,
under the impression that an improper intimacy existed
between his wife and Lord Clanricarde, separated from
his wife and went abroad. Although this charge was
distinctly put forward, Lord Clanricarde, in two
affidavits he had made, carefully passed it by altogether;
and from the affidavits he would seem to know next to
nothing of this family. Lord Clanricarde seemed,
indeed, to have some particular reason for not wishing
to have been within the four seas in the latter part of
1840. He said it was impossible that he could have
seen Mrs. Handcock throughout the year 1840, because
he spent that winter in Russia: he might have done so,
but the written documents placed it beyond a doubt
that Mrs. Handcock was his guest at Portumna Castle
in October 1840. "Some time in 1841 an infant
appeared in the world; but nobody could tell where he
was born, or who was his father." That infant was
John Delacour, the minor respondent in this case.
Lord Clanricarde was very precise on this point, and
said he could state nothing as to the birth or parentage
of John Delacour, and that Mrs. Handcock never stated
or intimated to him who were the parents of John
Delacour,—"perhaps the lady thought it quite
unnecessary to give the noble marquis any information on
that point." Mrs. Handcock and Lord Clanricarde
appeared in France, where Mr. Handcock was living
under the name of Captain Browne. In 1843 Mr.
Handcock returned to England; and was found dying,
in Michael's Road, Brompton, in charge of "a spy of
Mrs. Handcock's." There Mr. Handcock was attended
by Dr. Paris, Lord Clanricarde's physician, and the
Reverend Mr. Irons. Lord Clanricarde swore that he
had brought Mrs. Handcock and Josephine, her eldest
daughter, to the death–bed of the dying man; which
led to a reconciliation between the husband and wife,
and created a friendly feeling in the father for his
daughters. Mr. Handcock had made a will in favour of
his brother; but he was induced to make a new will,
appointing the wife whom he had discarded the guardian
of his daughters. Dr. Paris, pledged to keep secret the
place of Mr. Handcock's abode, could not resist the
appeal of his brother to see him; but the brother did
not arrive until Mr. Handcock was dead. In 1843,
Lord Clanricarde was appointed by the court guardian
of the fortune of the Misses Handcock, although they
had many relations of station and respectability. He
made Mrs. Handcock an allowance of £1500 a year for
their support; and gave her the house at Canentrilla,
rent–free, as a residence, and £600 to furnish it. Here
Mrs. Handcock lived in the greatest penury; stinting
her daughters in money, in clothes, in food—"greater
cruelty was never exercised by gaoler in the worst of
times that this unnatural mother displayed towards her
daughters." John Delacour, on the contrary, the
"adopted" son of Mrs. Handcock, was indulged in
every wish, and the girls were forced to do menial
services for him. In 1846 and 1847 Josephine and
Anne Mary came of age, and executed disentailing deeds;
the grantee being Lord Clanricarde. In 1849 Anne Mary
died; and the estates vesting in Josephine and Honoria,
they executed disentailing deeds to Lord Clanricarde.
In 1851 Josephine made a will, drawn by Lord Clanricarde,
bequeathing £10,000 to her mother in the event
of her sister's marrying, but giving the whole estates to
her mother if Honoria should die without issue. Josephine
died shortly afterwards. It was proved thait
during the residence of the mother and her daughters
in England, she treated them with the utmost harshness;
that she told one lodging–house–keeper that John
Delacour was the child of one of her daughters by a
French gentleman of position; that Mrs. Handcock
used to be visited by a gentleman called "Clan," and
that he used to let himself into the house sometimes
with a latch–key. The boy Delacour used to strike
Honoria; and was heard to say to her, in the presence
of her mother, "I wish you were dead." It was also
shown that Mrs. Handcock drank brandy to excess;
and one of the opposing counsel urged her drunken
habits in extenuation of her cruelty. In 1853 Mrs.
Handcock died: notwithstanding her affectation of
poverty, she died worth £20,000; and she bequeathed all
her property to the boy, except £50 as a legacy to her
daughter. In December of the same year Honoria died
intestate. Such was the plaintiff's case, as stated by his
counsel. Mr. Serjeant O'Brien, for the executors under
the will of Josephine contended that the allegations
against Lord Clanricarde were unproved, and that no
constraint had been put upon Josephine. He asserted
that Lord Clanricarde had suggested the insertion of a
revocation–clause in a deed executed by Honoria, but
that she declined; that the girls were well treated, for
had they not daily instruction in Italian and French?
and were they not visited by Lord Dunkellin, Lord
Mountcharles, and others? and that the inventory of
their stock of clothes showed the charge to have been a
misrepresentation. But he declined to attempt to
justify Mrs. Handcock's unnatural conduct in saying
that John Delacour was the son of one of her daughters.
He admitted that the mother was anxious to get as much
as possible for her child; but that did not nullify the
deed. Mr. Martley, on behalf of the executors of Mrs.
Handcock, contended that Miss Handcock perfectly
understood what she was about in executing the deeds,
and was perfectly satisfied that the estate should go to
the minor Delacour. The arguments on both sides
occupied several days. The Lord Chancellor, however,
was not called upon to deliver judgment; for the parties
agreed to a compromise, on the following tenns. The
petitioner Handcock, the heir–at–law, is to get the estates,
on the condition that he shall pay to the respondent
Delacour the sum of £20,000 on his attaining full age, and
in the mean time pay 4 per cent on the amount. The
respondent is now nearly fourteen years of age; and in the
event of his dying before he reaches twenty–one, the
petitioner will not have to pay the £20,000, but will
have the estates free of any charge created in this
matter save the payment of the interest. It is also
agreed that the deeds and the will upon which the
respondent founded his claim shall be cancelled. The