Mr. Villiers has instituted an inquiry into the death of
Richard Gibson in the infirmary of the St. Giles's Workhouse. It has not yet ended, but the facts grow clearer every day, Mr. Farnall leaving had the sense to make John Felix Magee, the pauper who informed Sir Thomas Henry of the case, a kind of public pro- secutor. The adroitness he displays in this capacity is only sur- passed by the kindness which induced him to earn twopence in order to spend it on Gibson, and the courage which enables him, a man dying of asthma, to face the cruel rage of all the officials in the very workhouse in which he lives. We have had the curiosity to inquire into this brave man's history, and find that he was bred a turner, then took to selling cutlery about the streets, and has been driven into the workhouse by his asthma, aided perhaps by an occasional habit of drinking to drown the pain. He certainly ought not to be left in that cellar, and we trust that some one of the many who are now willing to subscribe for him will find bins a place in some almshouse or hospital, where he may pass the rest of his life in peace. It is too bad to leave him to the mercy of people who, if justice is done, will yet stand in the criminal dock.
