ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.

Southland Times, Volume III, Issue 7, 23 November 1863, Page 5 (Supplement)

ROMANCE IN REAL LIFE.

-ROBBERY OF.'TREaSUaE FROM A* GRAVE. (From ABelVs Weekly Messenger A) Of all' the*' siri'gular and WonderPiil circumstances' which it has been our fortune to chronicle' for many a da), we do not rccbllectone more unique in its character or mor.e curious in its developments than a'- robbery from a tomb in the Mildenl\,all< Cemetery, which has just been brought. to light. The history of the .case "is succinctly thi,s. Early in the current year .there died in the quiet market town .of Mildenhall, Suffolk, .a worthy* inhabitant, Jonathan Childerstone hy name, whose remains * were - deposited- in' the new cemetery; belonging to that place in a vault which had been purchased for the'family some two years .ago on the, demise „of an only and much loved^ sonli " Now it appears that, after the decease of this son, an agree ment.had been entered into between the sajd Jonathan ChildeKstone and his wife, that the immediate personaleffects of their child should, be considered sacred , and slip'urd.be interred wi th the body of whichever parent might happen to depart first from, this Ufe. In fulfilment of such an ; Understanding, the widow, on the death of her husband, carefully placed in his coffin a bag containing about fifty sovereigns, together with two . watches, one gold and the other silver, and various minor relics of aless valuable description. Theshell was screwed -down in due bourse, inclosed in . a leaden coflio, and again, in the customary outer one, and all were safely • safely secured in the 7 vault alluded to above. Either through the carelessness or vanity ofthe parties concerned, a rumor of these proceedings speedily got afloat, formed the subject, of gossip in the 'locality, arid [.was alternately believed and discredited according to the amount of credulity Or sCeptism which swayed the' minds of the hearers. All doubts, however, on the subject were finally set at rest. at the close of last month, when it was discovered that-; the grave had been forcibly entered, and the tomb rifled of its contents. Tempted by jiu pidity, Docking, the sexton, had conceived the idea of fraudulently appropriating the buried treasure, and, in order to carry rout that design effectually, bad" associated with himself two poor fellows-, named respectively Bird and Graham, whose wants seem to have temporarily triumphed over their honesty. Taking advantage of the accidental absence, at Ythe Bury Assizes, of the superratend*en£.of\ the town police and of two of his constables, this sacrilegious triumvirate proceeded one night to the cemetery, and by the- aid of pick axe and shovel, made their way into the vault, burst open the coffin, took out the mouey and valuables, left the other relics scattered about in their baste, and closed up every thing again so dexfcrously as to xlude detection during a considerable interval. It is extremely doubtful indeed whether detection would have followed at all had not a disagreement arisen amongst the thieves on the division of the spoil Docking, the sexton — true to his name —seems to have retained the lion's sha'e ofthe ill-gotten prey, and thus in overreaching his accomplices his overreached himself. Feeling, we suppose, that defence was hopeless, he absconded On.the advent of suspicion-, and, together with one of his. companions, Graham, is for the present wandering at large. The third, after confessing his guilt, and detailing the execution of the plot, has been committed for trial. The question of their guilt or innocence being thus, as it were, to all reasonable intents and purposes, decided, it is, we conceive, without our province to make a few comments upon the circumstances which led to their crime, and upon the nature of that crime itself. The first point which challenges our attention is the inconceivable folly of Mrs Childerstone in primaliry depositing money and jewellery in the grave at all ; and, secondly, in allowing the fact to transpire. The only extenuation for her folly is derived from the obligation of th& original compact, by which she considered herself bound. Far be it from us, whilst condemning the fanciful notions of Mrs Child.erstons-j' to palliate for a moment the conduct of the wretches who violated the sanctity of her hus* band's grave. - Respect for the dead is one of the strongest- feelings rooted in the English breast; acd that an officer specially-appointed to [guard their re-; mains should betray his trust, and be the. prime mover in desecrating their resting-place, is /utterly 'abhorrent to our moral sentimenlsf asyvyell as our instinctive reyerehce. ! yy A. .■* -„ .*