The trial of Scharf and the other Hungarian Jews for
the murder of a Christian girl at the Passover still continues, and the evidence gradually elicited discredits the prosecution, which appears to have been dictated by the worst kind of religious hatred. The evidence as to time has been disproved. It seems certain that the police threatened, and probable that they tortured, the most important witness, the boy Moritz ; and it was proved that Peczeli, the inferior magistrate who took his deposition, was a felon, condemned to twelve years' imprisonment for murder. A Police Commissioner also stated that the boy, in his presence, had retracted his whole evidence. The case is, therefore, break- ing down ; but the Court is evidently perplexed by the fierce excitement of the populace, who audibly threaten witnesses favourable to the Jews, and accuse them of being purchased by large bribes. It is as necessary to guard their lives as if they were Irish witnesses favourable to the Crown.
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