THE LATE BARONESS VON BECK. (Hansard, 18 June 1852)

§ LORD BEAUMONT

moved— That an humble Address be presented to Her Majesty for a Copy of the Information taken on oath before the Justice of the Peace at Birmingham, on which a warrant to apprehend Wilhelmina von Beck and Constant Derra was issued. Since he had last brought the very melancholy case of this unfortunate lady under their Lordships' consideration, he had had communications from several persons respecting it, and all the information he had thus obtained confirmed completely the statement which he made to their Lordships of the circumstances attending her death. Mr. Toulmin Smith, the barrister who was engaged in the prosecution, had written a long letter, and amongst other things he said that he as an advocate had not advised that any warrant should be taken out, but quite the contrary; but he (Lord Beaumont) did not desire, after reading that letter, to modify the remarks he had made on a former occasion respecting this gentleman's proceedings in the conduct of the prosecution—which proceedings, he might add, had been aggravated by several letters written in very bad taste and feeling, which Mr. Toulmin Smith had, since the melancholy death of the lady, addressed to the daily newspapers. There was another point to which he wished to call their Lordships' attention. After this lady's death, the other prisoner, Constant Derra, was brought before the magistrates, who dismissed the case; but the papers that had been seized, consisting of correspondence with publishers, and communications with other Hungarians, were not returned. When the magistrates dismissed the case, they should not even have impounded the papers; but more than that had been done, for the letters had been since handed over to the prosecuting parties. He was prevented from moving for an inquiry into the conduct of Mr. James, the committing magistrate (which would have been the proper 922 course to have taken), by the recent death of that gentleman. Notwithstanding, however, the difficulty which had thus been interposed, he thought that some inquiry should take place into so disgraceful a case; but at present he should content himself with moving for a copy of the information to which he had already referred.