WHATEVER effect the diffusion of education and wealth may have in preventing that general mental irritation which results in an evil state of society, it certainly has not prevented the occasional perpetration of crimes of startling atrocity. A butchery-for the term "a series of murders seems inapplicable to the slaughter of several persons at one time and with a common motive-worthy of the savage state, and yet finding its object in one of the most elaborate institutions of civilized society, was perpetrated in Manor-place, Walworth, in the morning of the 31st July. The inhuman brute who perpetrated these fearful deeds—if it be not a libel upon the inferior animals so to designate a wretch who, if he acted with the ferocity and cunning proper to animals in the pursuit of their prey, yet slew those whom the wild beast would have defended and cherished-this reverse of nature, having paid his addresses to a respectable young woman, induced her to be a party to an insurance on her life for £100, he being the insurer, and then inveigled her to his mother's home-having thus got the predestined victim within his meshes, ruthlessly slaughtered her; and

then, in order to keep suspicion from himself, and to have a person on whom to throw the guilt, who should not be able to deny it, he slaughtered his mother and his two brothers: the single object, preconceived and preconcerted, of so much guilt, being to obtain possession of the £100 from the insurance office. For this sordid purpose, and for this purpose alonewithout the miserable palliation of passion, or desire, or jealousy, or revenge-this William Youngman did not hesitate to involve in one fearful massacre four persons; one the parent, generally held in the most affectionate love, two his brothers, and the fourth a young female whom he had lured into his snare by professions of devoted attachment. His plot was as brutally stupid as it was cowardly and cruel. Had he so contrived the destruction of his victim that her death had passed as the ordinary incident of mortality, the murderer, not being her husband, could not have obtained the money :-he had no interest in her life such as would sustain an insurance, and the office would not have paid. The precise theory upon which the massacre, when perpetrated, was to be explained appears to have been

The

this-the victim having been lured home, the mother was suddenly to become maniac; that in an access of frenzy she should rise in the night, deal death all around, destroying her husband and her children, and, in the general slaughter, this insured life also; and then that she herself should perish in the last attempt by the hand of her son in his self-defence. The exact steps by which the terrible plot was worked out cannot be known, nor does the evidence supply more than the means of conjecture. murderer made sure that there should be no living testimony against him. Ile stabbed each victim several times to the heart, and then cut through throat and arteries to make all safe. The girl must have fallen dead upon the landing as she stepped out of her room, perhaps called by her lover or startled by a sound; the mother probably next stepped forth, and the son seems to have failed in his first stab, driving his knife deep into his mother's flesh before he could reach the throat and divide the arteries. The younger child died unresisting in his bed. The elder brother, however, came to the landing-place during the general slaughter, and struggled for his life, drawing the sharp steel through his fingers, and maintaining the contest at least long enough for a scream. No cry was heard to alarm those who were separated from this scene on all sides only by a plank or a thin wall. When at last a spectator came the murderer was ready with his story. All that blood had not washed it out of his head. "This is all mother's doings; she murdered my two brothers and my sweetheart, and I, in self-defence, believe that I have murdered her."

The accused person, William Godfrey Youngman, aged 25, described as a tailor, was placed at the bar of the Central Criminal Court, on the 16th August, before Mr. Justice Williams, to take his trial for the wilful murder of Mary Wells Streeter. There were three other indictments against him, charging him with the murder of Elizabeth Youngman, his mother, and Thomas Neale Youngman and Charles Youngman, his brothers.

The prisoner was a commonlooking young man. He was well dressed, and during the whole of the proceedings he exhibited the most extraordinary coolness and self-possession; and even while his father was under examination he did not evince the least emotion.

Mr. Clerk, for the prosecution, stated the facts as they were deposed by the witnesses.

The

Mr. James Bevan: On the 30th of July last I resided at No. 16, Manor-place, Walworth. I occupy the ground floor. There are two other floors to the house. Mr. Beard occupied the first floor with his wife and one son. prisoner's father occupied the top floor of the house. On the 31st of July his family consisted of his wife, two little boys, the prisoner, and the deceased. I understood the prisoner had come to see his father on a holyday, and he used to sleep there. About 10 minutes to 6 on the morning of the 31st I was in bed, and I heard a noise like lumbering, and a heavy fall on the top floor of the house; I immediately got up to see what was the matter, and before I could get to the door Mr. Beard knocked at it and said, "For God's sake come here-there is murder!" I went upstairs directly, and when I got

to the top of the stairs I saw the elder boy lying dead upon the landing. I did not see anything more then, but went down and dressed myself; and I then saw the prisoner standing in his nightshirt on the staircase leading from the ground floor to the first floor. He was standing still and looking down the stairs at this time. He said to me, "My mother has done all this-she murdered my two brothers and my sweetheart, and I, in self-defence, believe I have murdered her." I made him no reply, but went out and fetched the police. I heard the prisoner's father go out about half-past 5 o'clock that morning. The noise I heard was like a heavy fall on the floor. I did not see any living person when I first went up. The moment I saw the boy's body I went down stairs again. I did not particularly observe the appearance of the prisoner, but I should not think he was very collected.

Susannah Beard said:-I am the wife of Philip Beard, and I and my husband occupied the first floor in the house of Mr. Bevan. We occupied the back room as a sleeping room. About 6 o'clock in the morning of the 31st July, I heard a noise overhead like scuffling, and I thought it was Mr. Youngman's children playing. I then heard a noise as though something had fallen on the floor. I had awoke my husband before this. The noise I heard was like something very heavy falling on the boards of the bedroom above ours. My husband went up to see what was the matter, and he called out "Murder!" and came downstairs. He afterwards went up again with the landlord, and when he came down a second time I went to the door of our room, and saw the pri

soner standing on the staircase leading from my room upstairs. While my husband was dressing the prisoner called out from the stairs," Mr. Beard, for God's sake fetch a surgeon! I believe there is some alive yet." My husband then went out to fetch a doctor. I had seen a young woman come to the house about 11 o'clock on the day before this happened. I think the prisoner came with her, and they went out together for a walk about 7 o'clock in the evening, and returned about 10 o'clock. The prisoner and the deceased seemed to be on very affectionate terms at this time.

Philip William Beard said:-I had seen the prisoner in our house a few days before the 31st of July. Upon one occasion he told me that he had been a valet and footman, and that he had left that and was going into the farming business. I remember being awoke by my wife on the morning of the 31st of July, and I heard a sort of rumbling on the landing over our head. The noise was like that of children running about. I went out of my room, and as I did so I heard a slight scream. When I got to the outside of my room I saw a clot of blood on the stairs, and on the top of the staircase I saw the little boy lying on the landing. His throat was cut, and he was dead and lying upon his back, with his head towards the stairs. I then saw the body of the deceased lying a little beyond that of the boy. I did not observe any other bodies at this time, as I was very much alarmed, and I went down and called the landlord, and we went upstairs together, and I went into my own room to dress. I then fetched a policeman and a surgeon. I saw the prisoner was

upon the stairs, and he told me that his mother had done it all, and that he had murdered her in self-defence.

John Youngman:-I am the father of the prisoner. I resided on the second floor of the house No. 16, Manor-place, Walworth. My wife and two children lived with me. One was named Thomas Neale, and the other Charles, and their ages were 7 and 11. The prisoner came to live with us about a fortnight before this sad affair happened, and he used to sleep in the back room, where I also slept, My son Thomas slept in the same bed with the prisoner. I slept on the shop-board. My wife and my son Charles slept in the front room. I am a tailor by trade, and am generally out at work the whole day. I returned home on the 30th of July about 10 o'clock at night. I did not see the deceased at that time. The prisoner went to bed as usual about a quarter past 11. He said he was ready, and I put the light out and went to bed, and he did the same. My boy Thomas was in bed with the prisoner at this time. I awoke about 4 o'clock on the following morning, and saw the prisoner at the foot of his bed, apparently in the act of getting in. I think the door of the room was open at this time. I got up at 5 o'clock, and went out about 20 minutes past, and at this time the prisoner and his brother were in bed. I did not go into the front room before I went out. I was fetched home from my work between 6 and 7, and I then saw the body of the deceased. I knew previously that she was staying in the house, and that she slept in the front room with my wife on the night of the 30th of July. I understood that she was to be mar

ried to the prisoner, but he never said anything to me upon the subject. The constable Lock showed me a knife which I had previously seen in the possession of the prisoner. The point was not broken as it is now when he had it. He was showing it to a man in my presence, and he was told that it was not a fit knife to carry; and the prisoner said anybody had a right to carry such a knife, if he thought proper, for his own protection. This was about nine days before the death of the young woman. I never saw the prisoner use the knife in any manner. When I came back to the house I asked for the prisoner, and he was brought down in the custody of the police, and he addressed me and said, "This is all mother's doings, father." He did not say anything else. The prisoner had no property; he had nothing but what he earned in service. He had been in the establishment of Dr. Duncan for about six months. I don't think he ever said anything to me about insuring the life of the young woman, but I had heard such a thing talked about.

Cross-examined: The insurance was talked about quite openly. My wife's mother was a lunatic, and she died in Peckham lunatic asylum. One of my own brothers also died in a lunatic asylum. My father died tolerably sensible; but he had been two or three times in a lunatic asylum.

The knife was produced. The blade was something like a dagger, and was a very formidable weapon. The point was broken off.

Re-examined:-My wife's mo

ther

died fifteen years ago. I don't know how long she was in the asylum before her death. She was between 60 and 70 when she

died. My wife had never been in an asylum, and I never saw any sign of unsoundness of mind in her.

John Varney, a police-constable of the P divison, said :-On' the morning of the 31st July, in consequence of what the witness Beard told me, I went to the house in Manor-place, and saw three dead bodies, those of the two boys and the young woman Streeter. I then saw another female body. The prisoner said to me, "Oh, policeman, here is a sight! what shall I do?" He stepped towards me, and I told him to go and dress himself. He had on his night-shirt at this time, and I noticed that the right sleeve was torn, and the wristband was banging upon the back of his hand. The prisoner told me that his mother had done it all, at the same time that he said, "Oh, policeman, here's a sight!" He also said, He also said, "I struck my mother, but it was in self-defence; would you not have done the same?" He added, "That is law."

Mr. James Dann, Inspector of the P division of Police, said he went to the house, accompanied by a constable named Lock, and saw the prisoner standing on the landing of the second-floor, and he told him it was his mother's doing; she came to the bedside where he and his brother were sleeping, killed his brother, and made a stab at him, and in his own defence he wrenched the knife from her hand and killed her if she was dead. The constable Lock pointed to the body of the deceased, and asked the prisoner if that young woman was lying there at the time he killed his mother. The prisoner hesitated a little, and then said he did not know. At this time three

bodies were lying on the landing. Thomas was lying with his head close to the top of the stairs, on his back, He was in his nightshirt, and his right leg was a little drawn up. There was a great deal of blood near him. The young woman, Mary Streeter, was lying on the landing, with her head inside the doorway of the back room. The body was lying on the right side. She was also in her night-dress, and she had no slippers or anything on her feet. Close by her head there was a great deal of blood, and it had flowed into the room under the bed.

The body of the prisoner's mother was also upon the landing, with her face downwards, and close to the thigh of the young woman, and her shoulder rested partly upon her body. The other woman was also in her night-dress, and without anything on her feet. There was a great deal of blood close to her head and throat, and it had spread for a considerable distance. Upon going into the front room witness saw the body of the youngest child lying upon the bed, outside the bed-clothes, and quite dead. The body was lying on the right side, and the feet were towards the head of the bed. The bed-clothes were completely soaked through with blood. There was no pool of blood on any part of the floor of this room. It appeared to have been trodden on the floor by the foot of a grown-up person. Upon examining the bed in the back room, witness discovered some smears of blood, as though wiped off some person's hands. There was no pool of blood about this bed; but some blood appeared to have been trampled about the floor of the room, besides the flow of blood that had gone through the