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Leader (1850-1860), 31st July 1852, Edition Town of 2, Page 719, Untitled Article

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      mrrni Alderson : What was the accusation against him ? ™ rV « . * He was accused of obtaining money upon false fences and it was usual to search att prisoners . P Alderson : It oug ht not to be usual to search aU ^ prs If a person is accused of felony , you would Ech him in order to see if the stolen property is upon + £ f nrisoner at the time . If a person is accused of high trei you would not expect to find the treason in his P Witaess : Accidents have occurred in consequence of « nfc searching prisoners . Baron Alderson : Such a course is quite right when you nrmose a prisoner is about to poison himself ; but was lhi > re anything in this case to lead you to expect that the nlaintiff would act in this manner . A prisoner ought not t o be searched on every occasion : it is an indignity .

      Mr . Derra de Moroda was called , and testified to the truth of the account given by Mr . Sergeant Miller . He mentioned the proposals for the publication of the Baroness ' s new book , which were printed by Mr . Gilpin , and which were here put in and read . It is stated in this document that the work will contain the « Reminiscences of the residence of the Baroness at the court of Vienna during the reigns of the last three emperors . " ..... istrate the

      The depositions taken before the mag on occasion of the arrest were then about to be read , when Mr . Baron Alderson requested that the information and warrant should be first read . He wanted to learn the exact nature of the charge made against the plaintiff , and this could not be learned from the depositions . He also wanted to know who was the person making the charge , for it was he who was liable , and not the persons who might give evidence . Mr . Gem , clerk to the magistrates of Birmingham , stated that the depositions put in were those upon which the warrant for the apprehension of the plaintiff was issued .

      Baron Alderson : Where is the warrant?—Witness : I did not see the warrant—it was filled up by another clerk . Baron Alderson : This is an extraordinary case . The witnesses cannot surely be held responsible for the accusation because they had given evidence in support of the charge . The declaration of the plaintiff set forth that the defendant came and appeared before the magistrates , and there maliciously , and without reason and probable cause , charged this person with having unlawfully obtained 11 . 5 s ., the money of the defendants , by means of certain false pretences . Where were the depositions or the warrant which stated who were the defendants ?

      Mr . Gem stated that the magistrate was dead . He could not recollect who was the prosecutor in the case . The charge was stated verbally , and was not at that moment reduced to writing . Baron Alderson asked how he was to know that the plaintiff had been arrested on a warrant . He had no warrant before him . Mr . Miller : Who appeared to conduct the prosecution ? —Witness : A gentleman present stated that he appeared on behalf of the four persons present , who had made the depoaitions . Baron Alderaon : These courts at Birmingham certainl y appear to require considerable reform . A prisoner is brought before them , and no one can learn who is the

      accuser . Mr . Miller : Did the gentleman who appeared state who he appeared in behalf of?—Witness : He stated that he appeared on behalf of Mr , Dawson , one of tho gentlemen from whom money had been obtained . At length it was decided to receive the depositions quantum valeat . They were made by Mr . Tyndall , Mr . Dawson , Mr . Peyton , and Mr . Ryland . Tho only statements in them justifying tho arrest of tho Baroness and of Derra do Moroda were—that of Mr . Dawson : that upon conversing : with her he found she could not speak French , which greatly surprised him , as she professed to have beou brought up in tho court of Vienna : he believed that she wob not the Baroness

      Von Beck—that of Mr . Hajnik—and that of Mr . % - land , who stated that , from inquiries he had made , ho verily believed that tho person calling herself Baroness Von Beck , wuh not the person she had represented herself to be , as appeared by tho depositions of Richard Peyton , tho younger , George Dawson , and Henry Witton Tyndall . Baron Aklernon said , " this was u most extraordinary deposition for a magistrate to take , it was simply an oath of credulity . "

      Derra de Moroda stated , on cross-examination , that the Baroness could not speak much French . Most ladies in Hungary could speak French . She had told him that she had resided , during tho reign of three euijwrors , at the court of Vienna . Ifo had come to England to hco tho Exhibition of 1851 . Ho was at thin time staying solely on account of this affair . Ho did not know the Baron Von Beck , nor any one who W 'M acquainted with him . Mr . JVfaeaulay waH proceeding , in hin emus-examination <> i tho plaintiff , to ask him an to tho facts deposed against "RaiiiHt him by Mr . ITajnik , when Tho learned J udge said : 1 can't receive this evidence . Mr . Mueaulay : Then I very respectfully Lender it , my M > r < l .

      -like lfMht . njt / 1 Tiwlm / t . T linirji * m / k jl / kiiltf : -irfiii flit f \ -la « learned Judge : I have no doubt you do . ( A mgh . ) I receive your tender , but not your evidence . ( Laugh ter . )

      Mr . Macaulay : Can't I ask the witness what Hajnik said in his presence ? The learned Judge : No . The practice of the policecourt at Birmingham was not only irregular but quite disgraceful . The learned Baron then left the court to consult with Mr . Justice Coleridge , and , on his return , said that his learned brother agreed with him that the evidence could not be received . At the same time , the whole proceedings before the magistrates connected with the depositions and the information were of the most disgraceful and irregular character , and Mr . Justice Coleridge ag reed with him in this opinion .

      Mr . Hajnik ' s deposition , on which the whole case against the Baroness rested , was as follows : — " I am a Magy ar noble , and member for the county of Weitzen , in the Hungarian Diet . I filled the office of Chief of Police for the United Kingdom of Hungary and Transylvania . The duties of that office were to superintend the safety of the country and of all prisoners of war . Mr office under King Ferdinand ceased on the 1 st of January , 1849 . I was at that time at Pesth . The members of the Government left Pesth for Debreczin in the latter end of December . I was left at Pesth with Csanyi , an officer under Government , and the government of the

      country was in our hands . He and I were together during and af ter the Government had left Pesth , from earliest morning till latest evening , and Csanyi had not any interview with any person calling herself or being the Baroness von Beck . I am personally acquainted with Louis Kossuth , the Governor of Hungary , and have been some years ; and my official duties Tbroug ht us frequently together , and in communication with him every day . During the months from January to June , 1849 , I was in daily communication with Kossuth . I was appointed to my office in April , 1849 . One part of my duty was to grant passports . I remember a person at Pesth commonly known as Racidula . I saw her twice in the ante-chamber 29 th of

      of Kossuth . I saw the same woman on the August inst . at the house of Mr . Henry Tyndall . I never saw her in Kossuth ' s private room ; she was never in Kossuth's intimacy . I must have known it had she been so . When I saw her in the ante-chamber she was with another woman , who was the principal spy , and Kacidula was a paid spy , in a subordinate situation . When I saw her in Kossuth ' s ante-chamber he said to me in her presence , < Give to these two persons a passport ; they will go with you to your bureau . ' They did so ; I gave them passports in a feigned name . I have never heard Bacidula spoken of as the Baroness von Beck . I know the members of a noble familyTiamed Beck in Hungary . She does not belong to that family . I know Generals Klapka and Vetter . Klapka is in Paris . "

      De Moroda further stated , that he had not the slightest doubt that the Baroness was everything which she professed to be . Mr . Gem was then re-examined , and said he was present when Mr . Hajnik was examined . His statement was taken down , but not signed , on account of the charge not being pressed . Xavier Gosrki , who said he had been a first lieutenant in the Polish legion of the Hungarian army , knew the Baroness von Beck at Diebretzen and at Pesth in 1849 . She was then " generally called by that

      name . The mother and sister of K ossuth had spoken of a Baroness Von Beck . He had seen her in London and at Birmingham . He bad never seen her husbnnd . Charles Anthony Noedl said , that in October , 1848 , lie hacl introduced a lady , calling herself the Baroness von Beck , to Csunyi , who was the Commissary of the Hungarian Government for the Upper Danube , at the village of Parendorff . The Commissary said "God bless you , my dear Baroness . " She was always addressed iw the Baroness von Beck . Ho had seen her at her lodgings in Dean-street . Ho hud never heard her called " Kaeidula" in Hungary .

      Daniel Kua' / . oiiyi mini , I wiim it lieutenant in the Hungarian army- I became acquainted with the Baroness tit tho time when she called on Cwmyi . He did not know her . She came from Vienna to speak with him about secret affairs . He sent her to General Giirgey , who wan at Prcsburg at tho time . 1 afterwards Naid it was very desirable to send Homo one to Pesth to look at the Austrian army , and ho said they had a very clever lady called Baroness von Heck . That was in January , 1849 . I know she received about 320 / . ut Hamburg . I wrote out : i receipt , and she signed it Baroness von Beck , lie admitted , that when he first saw her in l ' rcslmrg she called herself * " Itacidula , " and he had sometimes mentioned her by that name in London . Hut when she passed by that name

      it was in order to cross tho frontiers . Mr . Michael Angelo Guryev , of the Inner Temple , stated , that he had been engaged to translate the second work of the Baroness von Heck . He had received the manuscript of the first two volumes . The Kev . William Wingute ( who was oim of the missionaricH expelled from Hungary by tho Austrian Government ) stated , that ho hud resided in Hungary for sonic years . Ho was acquainted with the father and mother of Derra de Moroda . The father is one of the most distinguished citizens of Pesth . Mr . Wingate hud brought money and hitters to OoiiNtant Demi from his parents . This waa the plaintiff ' s cuae .

      Mr . Macaulay submitted that the declaration had not been proved . Mr . Baron Alderson ( to Mr . Sergeant Miller ) : Who do you say you have proved against ? Mr . Sergeant Miller : Against three of the parties whose handwritings were proved—Mr . Tyndall , Mr . Dawson , and Mr . Ryland . He had shown the part taken by Mr . Tyndall in authorising the arrest of the parties . Mr . Baron Alderson : All Mr . Tyndall did was to tell

      the plaintiff that a gentleman was at the door waiting for him , and he seemed to have conducted him out very politely . How can you distinguish as between the parties who gave evidence and the parties who gave the charge ? Mr . Sergeant Miller : The plaintiff was arrested in consequence of information laid before the magistrates . Baron Alderson said , that Mr . Tyndall had said nothing in his examination of the 11 . 4 ? . The present inquiry was into a proposition of this sort .

      That somebody or other did upon a certain day appear before James James , Esq ., and falsely and maliciously , and without probable cause , charge the plaintiff and the Baroness von Beck in the warrant described ( which we have not here ) with having unlawfully obtained 11 . 4 s . from George Dawson , and that on that charge , without any reasonable cause , they caused him ( the said James James ) to grant the said warrant . No warrant was issued containing the charge upon which the party was detained . Mr . Tyndall did not say a syllable about obtaining the money under false pretences , though Mr . Dawson had done so . The Baron continued : —

      All that Mr . Ryland appears to have done was to make oath that he verily believes that the person calling herself Madame Von Beck is not Madame Von Beck ; but that has nothing to do with obtaining money under false pretences ? How do you put that ? Mr . Sergeant Miller : The way in which I put it is this Mr . Baron Alderson : I see no charge at all proved againa

      me . Mr . Sergeant Miller : Mr . Dawson goes before the magistrate to make a certain charge Mr . Baron Alderson : —A certain affidavit or deposition . There is some evidence against Mr . Dawson . Sergeant Miller contended , that , supposing there to be a case against Mr . Dawson , there was evidence to show that the other defendants , by lodging their informations against the plaintiff , had procured the arrest . Baron Alderson said , according to that view every witness would be a party . There was clearly no evidence against Mr . Peyton .

      The judge eventually decided that there was not sufficient evidence to go to the jury . The whole action rested upon the assumption , that the defendants had , upon a false and malicious statement procured the warrant . There was no evidence even that the warrant was procured . The plaintiff was » accordingly non-suited . It is to be observed , that the unlooked for result of tbo trial precluded any evidence for the defence—an important fact , which the j ournals who abuse the defendants should take into account .

      Untitled Article

      ANOTIIEE DOCUMENT ON THE BAEONESS VON BECK SCANDAL . The subjoined letter , written and signed by a former secretary to Lord Dudley Stuart , was placed in our hands by Mr . Bcntley now many weeks since . From extreme pressure upon our space , its insertion has been unavoidably deferred from week to week . Meanwhile , it lias appeared in the columns of one or more of our contemporaries . But we think it well to place it on record a litre de document , especially as the whole unfortunate business is now in the course of further , and , we trust , final investigation . fn this , as in all eases , tlio Loader only seeks tbo truth , without respect to persons . London , 17 th May , 1852 . Dkaii Mr . Bknti / e y , —I earnestly request you to give publicity , through the prc . su , to the accompany ing statement , which will certainly be welcome to the friends of truth ; and I deeply regret that my absence from England for a considerable period should have prevented me- from giving this information at an earlier tune , when it might have proved more serviceable in vindicating the character of tho persecuted Haroiious Von Heck . Yours very truly , ( Signed ) IVuuam Hackiiai / h . Formerly Secretary to Lord I ) . Stuart . One morning in April , IH {><) , whilst I was secretary to Lord Dudley Stuart , a lady , about forty years of age , entered my oflice . She wan becomingly dressed , ami the front of her dark shawl was fastened with a largo brooch containing a portrait of Kossuth . Her countenance was pale , and her eyes and other features won ) mi expresnioji of deep and silent mental suffering .

      . 1 had never seen ( . his laxly boforo , and asked her name and business . Sho sank upon a seat jn a state of exhaustion , and said , " Can you tell me bow matters go with KoHHuthr " I answered , that tho latent private intelligence- represented liini us very ill . Mho immediately took tho portrait of Kossuth from her broiwt , pressed it to her lips , and began to weep aloud . It was an exceedingly touching si ff , and 1 felt tliO tottru cojno into my owu oyou whilst wituoaaiug it .

      Untitled Article

      JW . T 81 , 18 S 2 . ] THE LEADE'R . 719

  • Citation
    • Leader (1850-1860), July 31, 1852, page 719, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse-os.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/vm2-ncseproduct1945/page/3/