Star. — London, England, 1820-04-05 00:00:00

LAIY INTELLIGENCE. VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT. TUNBRIDGE. SCHOkOI...III/ ATTORNEY•GIDIERm. TIIS 814INALRe CObIiANY., The question in this import - ant case was, whether the defendants were entitled to employ, for the ge sacral put po.es of their Company, •a • property now am :taming to between £4OOO and £3OOO per annum, after paying certain small fixed sums, ordered in the statutes and will of Sir Andrew Judde, the founder of Tunbridge School; or whether they were not trustees of the whole of the rents, for Abe purposes of the School exclusively? The Company have hitherto appropriated to them selo'eslhis surplus, under an impression that they AVIr:C entitled to it by the residuary clause of Sir A. J.-dtlis will; but tie inhabitants of Tunbridge hay kg. been advised that the , estates belonged to the Corepany only in their corporate character of " Go vesnces of the Possessions of Tunbridge School," under the charter of foundation granted by Edward the Sixth ; and, moreover, that if this were not so, yet that they could take no lands, exceprfor chari table uses; an information was filed, praying that the Company might be declared trustees of the whole, for the uses of the Scheid, and that a scheme might be presented for the appropriation, of all the rents in augmenting the advantages of the foun dation. The case of Rugby School was considered a precedent in point for the extension of the benefice of the Institution, the circumstances being, in many . -respects, precisely ; and the funds indeed, in the case of Tunbridge, allowing mote complete pro vision fer the expenses of a College than the usual average of the best exhibitions.at the Universities. The facts are shortly these :—Sir Andrew Judde, a Lord Mayor of London, and a Skinner, built a Grammar-school at Tunbridge, the place f his na tivity, for the encouragement of classical learning; it appealing by the statutes made by himself, and confirmed by Archbishop Parker, and Dr. Nowell, the. Dean of St. Paul's, that no boy should be. al lowed to be taught in his school " who could not (upon his application to be admitted) write compe tently, and read English and Latin perfectly." He had previously obtained his charter, in order to create e corporation with the quality of perpetuity, and with the capacity to hold lands to a certain amount, " for the maintenance cf his School ;" but the charter contained a clause of appropriation, which directed the application of all the rents, after' the reparations were done, " to the support of the' Master and Usher, add to no other intents or uses whatsoever." Judde purchased lands in St. Pancras, then' a small village in the country, and also some houses in oracechurch-street, for the endowment of the School, altogether within the value aathorized'by the Char ter. These lands, after his death, were rnveyed by his trustee, one Fisher, to the Skinners, but they state that this deed is lost. The Company, being com pelled to ollain two Acts of Parliament to protect themselves front the attempts of Fisher's son, who' sought t recover these estates upon several ground • lass pretexts, declared, in the preambles and enact ments, that these estates were vested in them as " Governors of the School," under the 'Charter, for the maintenance of the School ;" that they had been purchased by Judde for its endowment; and that they should be holden for ever for such " godly uses." There being no surplus, for a great number of years after the passing of these Acts, is the cause, probably, why these provisions shn:ld not have been acted upon till the present day. Had there been any surplus at the time they were obtained, it cannot be doubted but that ,liev would have been conclusive as to the application of it. Judde, however, made a will, and devised these estates (with a few other to-1 nernent.s) to the Company ; the date of his will was four year, netuae conveyance ; it directed the same payments so Le made to the Ma - :ter and the Usher as n ere specified in Judde's own ordinances, made in his life-time ; but gave in addition (the extra property devised seimitting of it) some small pensions to almsinen ; gratuities to the Master and Wardeits of the Skinners. Company, who should go to Tun bridge at his visitation ; and the residue he ord er e d should be laid cut in renairs, and " the overplus" was bequeathed to the Skinners, " to order and dis pose of it a: their wills and pleasures." The present considerable value of this overplus has been Occa sioned by the letting the Pancras land upon building leases, and by the improvements of Ltadenhall-mar ket. made a few years since. Upon Mr. HA ReS ectrudtencing his reply, the Vice- CHANCELLOR sto p ped him, saying, that this was a case possessing noditficulties in point of law, but was one entirely of fact. His Honour then took an ela borate view of all the documents, from which he de clared, there was no doubt but that these lands be longed only to the Skinners, as u Governors of the School," and not as "the Skinners' Company." That they had -declared this themselves in the 14th and 31st Elizabeth, their own Acts of Parliament. That they could substantiate no claim, therefore, as the Skinners' Company, to any surplus of property, the whole of which belonged to them as " Governors of the School" only. The will could give them no beneficial interest in this surplus * , for it could not affect those lands which, at the time of the death of the testator, and even in his life, constituted the en dowment of the School; and that 14sher must be considered as a trustee for the School while the estate remained vested in him, and this was decisive, with out considering the question of the capacity of a Corporation to take lands (even since the construction put upon the 45d Elizabeth), except for charitable uses only. The Lawyers in that day never considered this will operative, and therefore prepared the Acts of Parliament without any reference to it. Under, hOwever, all the circumstances (with the Charter lying before him, which limited the application of the 'revenues of this School to the use of the Master nod Uilier exclusively), he should confine himself now to declaring, that these lands were holden by the Skinners as trustees for the School; that an ac count should be taken el the present value 6f them; and that a scheme should be presented for their ap propriaziento the school: he thought are:elver should be i mmediately appointed : this, however, was not pressed for by the relators. The full costs of the inhabitants of Tunbridge were ordered to be paid to them. . . . ASSIZES. LANCASTZR, MARCH 3C. The Crown Court met this morning at niol o'clock, and was occupied till past six in the afternoon, in hearing various charges of felony; of these the fol lowing were the only ones which excited anpMei est: Thomas Neville, aged 20, was put tq bar, charted with feloniously administer i ng certain por tions of arsenic, mixed with food, to Nancy Neville. his mother, to Isabella Neville, Maria Neville, and Grace Sharpless, his sisters, with intent to kill them; and he was also charged with a misdemeanour in mixing up poison in human food. • Mr. ADDISON, who stated the case to the Jury,' observed, after having gone through the heads of the evidence, which we give under, that he would put a witness into the box, who would prove a de claration of the prisoner made to him, in which it appeared his object *as to have poisoned his sister Priscilla, who, however, had not partaken of any of the article in questidn. if this should appear, the Jury must acquit the prisoner on the capital indict ment, none of he parties having died, unless indeed the Jury should be of opinion that there was proof of a felonious intent against the other sisters. It was proved by M. Corker that he had sold a pound of arsenic to a person named Crook. Crook proved having retailed half an ounce of it to Nancy Neville, the mother of the prisoner. Nancy Neville deposed to her having , expended si part of the half-ounce in the destruction of mice, and of having left the rest in a paper an the mantle., shelf, on Saturday the 4th of September, 1819. She 'sent her son for tea, meal, sugar, and flJur, and John Gre proved the delivery of those articles to him. This witness lad known the prisoner for some time; believed him to be of weak intellect, but not in such a state as not to know the difference of poisoning. He had always been an excellent son and good brother ; carried ail his earnings to his mother and sisters. Witness did h' sr that prisoner had had a quarrel with his sister Priscilla, but did not know this of his own knowledge. He knew him to have been more like a father than a 'son or brother to his family: • Isabella Neville and the Jther sisters (exceptP'riscilla), and the brother-in-law, proved that tea was made, and some of the sugar put into it. Prisoner had been before this in the pantry, where the sugar was first placei. None of them could say whether pri soner saw them putting in the sugar. It had been for a short time on the shelf where the arsenic was. None of them could say whether some of the arsenic might not have been scattered about OK the shelf.— Prisoner refused to take any of the tea when made. All the witnesses concurred in stating that he was of an excellent disposition, very fond of all his sisters, and much beloved by them. The mother stated that he never appeared to grudge his earnings,' and she was not aware of there being anything to sour his temper, except that he was slaving for them all. On a re-examination of prisoner's mother, she said that herself and some of her daughters were poorly, after taking some of the tea. Next day they all, ex cept Priscilla and the prisoner, took some of the tea; and, on its making them ill again, some neighbour said it ought to be shewn to a doctor. The mother had previously found some white sediment in the bottom of the cups. She put some of the sugar into water, and observed a white matter like chalk fall to the bottom. Prisoner himself took the sugar to a doctor, told him the effect it had on his family, and that they were all poorly. He brought home some medkine for them, which the doctor had given him. Mr. James Rickless, a surgeon, residing near Blackburn, wen; at the request of the prisoner, to see the family ; !Tom the pains in the bowels, swollen eye-lids, and parched mouth, he concluded they had taken some strong poison. On submitting the sugar which prisoner had brought him to the usual test, he found. it was mixed up with equal parts of arsenic. This, in his opinion, could not have been the effect of accident. It might have been ground, it was so well mixed up. Prisoner took home some medicines ' to his family, and appeared to feel for their situation. All the family recovered. John Corker saw the prisoner soon after he was in custody, and witness having said, " You had better tell the truth," prisoner said— Here Mr. Justice BAYLEY interfered to stop the witness. As what he had said to him was under the impression of a hope . of pardon, the law held it could not be urged in evidence against him. There being no other evidence to bring the fact home to the prisoner, he was acquitted. He was then given in charge on the misdemeanour, but only the same evidence could be offered, and be was ac quitted. The prisoner appeared to labour under coi siderable alarm during the whole of the trial. George Ileartley, aged fifty, was put to the bar, charged with intermarrying with Ellen Grundy, *1 widow, his former wife, Mary Gibson, ()therm* Heartley, being then alive. It appeared from the evidence of the Rev. William Harrison, a Presbyterian Clergyman of Knockbreda, in the County of Down, in Ireland, that the prisoner was married by witness's father, in 1811, in the above named parish, according to the rites of the Presby. terian Church in Ireland, prisoner and his wife being then belonging to that sect. It appeared further, from the parish register of Prestwich-cum-Oldham,' that prisoner and Mrs. Grundy were united at tha t place in 1816 ; that she knew of his former marriage' soon afterwards, but took no steps in the matter till within a few months. The Counsel for the prisoner endeavoured to esta blish, that the onnriage in 1811 was : not a valid one, but the Court overruled the objection. The.prisoner was convicted, and was ordered to account on oath for some of Mrs. Grundy's property to-morrow (Fri• day) before receiving sentence. SATURDAY, APRIL 1.--BURNLEY MEETING. TIM KING V. KNIGHT, DZWHURST, AND SIX OTHERS. The Court met this morning at nine o'clock, soon I I after which John knight, Gcorge Dewhurst, Nathan Broadhurst, John Adamson, William Fktcher, John Bury, John Astin, and James Week, were put to the bar, and the indictment being read to them, they se verally pleaded—Not Guilty. Mr. LITTLEDALS stated the nature of the indict ment to the Jury, which contained 21 counts ; the substance of which was, that the prisoners had con spired to go, and cause others of the liege subject ► :. . • of the late Ring to go, artned, to a, Meeting fur the' purpose Of hindering and obstruCting the Magistrates and Peace-officers . in the execution of their duties.— fratso charged them with assembling an unlawful meeting, armed with swords, pikes, st;tves, fire arms, Scc. and of attending at the same, to the terror of the liege subjects of the late King, on the 15th of N:.)vember last, at Habergau Eves, in the county of Lancaster. Mr. SCMILETT stated the case to the Jury. Ile said, Le should not enter into any extraneous matter to chew that the objects of those who convened the Meeting were unlawful, or .that they lute:hied to adopt proceedings different from what they professed. It would be quite sufficient for his purpose to rely on the circumstance that the people went to this Meet ing armed. That circumstance alone was quite suf ficient to constitute it an unlawful Meeting, whatever might. be its avowed or intended object. He then - proceeded to state the evidence he should adduce to fix the several delenJants with the conspiracy charged in the indictment. —The first witness called was W. Chaffer, examined by Mr. Rana.—He stated that he was a constable of Burnley ; that a notice of meeting had been pla carded for the Bth of .*:,,vember, but it was afterwaids adver tised for the 15th ; that in the threnoon of that day large parties arrived at Burnley, preceded e.y music, with banners, and pro ceeded through the town, to the pia ;e of meeting, where hust ings were erected for the speAcers ; that as they were passing through the town, Colot:el Hargreaves, who was on horseback, dashed among the crowd, and seized a sea which appeared to have been prepared for a pike-handle, and brought it evrey without opposition. He supposed the numbers essernbled to amount to 3000 or 4000. There were eigiiteer feigs and three Cans of Liberty. Cross-examined by Mr. WILLIAWT.—}Ie noticed several cf the inscriptioneon the Sags : one was," Keep within compass;" mother was, ".Order ! order !" Some of them appeared to be religijUS mottoes, such as," A false balance is an abomination to the LORD; but a just weight is his delight." ss ., " Richard Fletcher stater!, that he was in company wide* than named Wilson ; he saw several of the people wi.h staves, and on their arriving at the ground they picked out the dirt from the holes which were made to receive the pike-heads. He saw several persons with pike-heads secreted under their coat sleeves, and under their waistcoats. He immediately left the field to inform the Magistrates. He returned soon after, and heard a cry, " the soldiers are coming !" whereupon a number of peo ple pulled out their pike-beads, and many of them fixed them in the poles. He saw sixty persons pull out their pikes, but only eight or ten fixed them. He also saw twenty other persons draw out their pistols : these persons who so conducted themselets were near to the hustings. When the alarm had subsided, they replaced their weapons in their former concealment. The alarm turned out to be false. Knight was nut at this time arrived.— In about half an hour after this alarm Knight arrived, and was voted to the Chair, when a Cap of Liberty was placed on his head, and he addressed the assembly.. He dwelt a good deal on the Corn Laws, and lamented that so many persons were hanged for forgery : 'after which he read the Resolutions, and they were approved by the Meeting. Witness could not recollect the substance of them. While this was going on, there was a second alarm that " the soldiers were coming !" when several of the people again pulled out their pikes and pistols, but this also turned out to be a false alarm, when they main Concealed them. This alarm caused many people to run, when Knight and the' other people on the hustings called to them to be firm, and not to run. After Knight bad left the Chair, Dewhurst took it, and proposed a Resciution, " That if Parliament should pass any Gagging Bills, the Reformers should rise and meet on one day." He said, if they did not, " he should call them the greatest slaves upon evil-. i" . • Cross-examined by Mr. Coeestat:.- k —He stated, that he had applied to different people, to perchace . pi:ses for .the Burnley Meeting. He admitted that he had a pistol, which he hid shewn to different persons, and had boasted that he was well armed; and would not swear that he had not d—d the Government, and wished the Reformers were all as well armed as he was. William Wilson, said, that he was a reed-mater, and lived at Burnley; awl, after stating tho circumstances detailed by the last witness, he went on to give a more detailed account of Knight's speech, and represented hint to have said, that if the Manchester Magistratei were not brought to justice, there was an end of all good government, and the people had a right to destroy such a government, or to make a new one, or to return to a state of nature, and live without one; and he proposed a Resolution to oppose the measures of 'Ministers, if they brought into Parlia ment any Bills to curtail the liberty of meeting to discuss politi cal subjects. Cross-examined.—The witness stated, that he had been in the habit of attending many 7,leetings, and bad given information to the Magistrates respecting the Blanket Meeting. That he bad never received any money for his services, but had expended a good deal of money in employing other persons to go round the country to obtain information. There was now due to him thirty-four pounds for actual advances. That he himself bad been tried at that Court for a capital offence, Ls the year 1508, or 1810. He had wrote an account of the proceedings, and on the neat day a more lengthened detail, but neither of which were produced. Mr. Samuel Howarth, a surgeon, residing at Burnley, stated, that he went to the Meeting, and was there when an alarm was .given about the soldiers, and then sr.w one pistol, but no pikes. lie did not observe anything particular in the speech of Knight, and all he could say in respect to Dewburst was, that he recom mended a subscription to be entered into to purchase News papers, and that the proceedings in Parliament should be closely watched. He had some recollection that it was proposed, that if Parliament did not redreas their wrongs, there should be a general rising throughout the kingdom, but this he could not state with certainty. That many of them had sticks, sucu as they might have picked up on their way. There was rennin in the appearsace of the people, or in the proceedings of the day, ttat struck him with any apprehensions of immediate danger, although he considered that it might afterwards lead to serious, consequences. Henry Bury and John Walton corroborated the evidence of Fletcher and Wilson, as to the pikes and pike-staves; and Bury added, that a party of Reformerson their way home, discharged as many as one hundred pistols. He could not say what num , bee of pistols, but he heard that number of shots, in different directions. Christopher. Edmonton stated, that he saw Colonel Hargreaves seize a stick, before mentioned; and at that moment saw one of the &format, with a pistol in his hand, looking at the Colonel, and on asking one of his companion!, " Shall I shoot ?" His Companion answered, " No, you must not!" when he returned the pistol iota his pocket. Several other witnesses were then examined, corroborati ' the testimony of the former witnesses as to the character of the Meeting. After which, Mary Hoyle was called, who positively swore that Wade was the man who pointed the pistol at Colonel Hargreaves, as de scribed by the witness Edmonson. On cross-examination, she stated, that she was distantly re lated to Wade's wife, and that he (Wade) was rot living with her, as he ought to do; and, without waiting for the question to be put to her, she added, I have had no foul or angry lan.- guage With him." John Carter proved that he saw the man dew the pistol and look at the Colonel, but neither of the prisoners was the man ; that he knew Wade before the 15th of November, and if he had been the man, he must have known him. A woman, named Hanson, proved that she saw the Reformers after the Meeting was over, several of them bearing pike-staves 'like umbrellas; she also stated, that she saw is a publiz-hause a pike-head, half a yard long, which a man carried in a I:ather sheath; it was sharp on both sides like a razor; the screw was four inches lang. • The prosecutors now produced the placards which announced the Meeting, and also the staff seized by Colonel Hargreaves. Here the case for the prosecution closed. Shortly after four o'clock, Mr. WILLIAMS rose and addressed the Jury for the defendants, in an impres sive speech, which occupied upwards of two hours in the delivery. The Learned Counsel observed, that by the custom and laws of this realm, delivered to u% by our ancestors, it was the undoubted. right and privilege of Englishmen to assemble together for they purpose of petitioning Parliament for a redress of zrievauces. TO law had imposed•no limit in respect • - , of numbers, and no assembly orthe people, however assmerou, could be proncnnced illegal on that-ac count. The ostensible of jczt for which the .leetinn• in question was convened ‘-as clearly a leg.: one ; and if the Jury should be zowinced, from the evi.. ,fence, that some individuals "night have come to the Meeting secretly arm:,l. yet, unless that circuity kance could he brought 1.. ~e to knowledge of the defendants, they cculd not b? airected by such a circumstance. I: formed r:o part of tt:e original de sign of the persons who aisemhted on this occasion that any part of them should come nrn,ed ; azd therefore the isolated fact, that a number of perso::s coming to tirc Meeting with ai ins, to be used, as apa pared, solely for their own defence, could no. IC:7•• der the Meeting ilit)-al. Mr. Willianis dwelt with great force on the circumstance, that not one of the defendants had been brought into force with any cif the persons who were armed, nor was there any evia deuce to prove that any one of the derendAtts waS acquainted with the circumstance of these bring any arms whatever at the Meeting-. With respect to dad charge of the conspiracy, the Learned Coun-el served, there had not appeared a single iota of eviA deuce to prove its existence. The prosecuto.s had not•even shewn that any two of the detendants had ever seen each other before the 15th of November, when they met on the hustings. Great sues had been laid On the fact, that some persons had gone to the Meeting with arms: admitting that to be the fact, he maintained that it v. as the undoubted right of Englhhmen to carry arras in self-defence. It was so laid down LY Mr...Lstice Blackstone (a passage from whose Commentaries the • Learned ConnreL read). it wai evident, from the whole conduct of the persons so armed, that their only object was self ! defence, which was 'exemplified - by their fu: bear ante when the staff was seized by Colonel Hargreaves.; and also by the fact, that they only atter4red p: el;ara tion at those niuments when the alarm wa, given that the soldiers were coming to attack . ; and could it be wondered that these persons shopld have prepared themselves with weapcns of self-defence, re collecting the transact'ons on the 16th of August, and the:forcible dispersion of the Meeting on that melancholy occasion--. 1 circumstance which • re sounded from one end of the kingdom to the other? He animadverted streivly on the cruelty and injtts tic,- which the defendants I.ad sustained, on being committed on a charge of Iligit,Treason, for which the prosecutors, by their conduct, confessed there was no foundation ; and concluded in a solemn appeal to the Jury, in which he conjured them to lay aside all feeling of prejn,lice imbibed against•the defendants, and to be governed in their verdict solely by the evi dence.—The defendants were proceeding to call wit nesses, when - the JUDGE interposed, and the Coot.; then adjourned. Monday evening, at dusk, as Mr. Smeed, jun. of Windmill-street, was driving home in a chaise, front_ Child's Hill, near Hampstead, accompanied by his son, his horse was stopped by thtese iellows, two of them ai med . with. bludgeons, and the other with a pistol, who demanded money. They proceeded to turn Mr. Smeed's pocket inside out, when people were absolutely in sight, and they got from him c. 28. and his watch. • They then drew the chaise into a meadow, cut the harness, and made off in the direc tion of Wilstion. • Yesterday morning; about ten o'clock, an auchi.' cious villain entered the house of Mr. Dennison, No. 1, Denmark-court, and during Miss Benuison's teat porary absence in the kitchen, he contrived to pick: the lock of the parlour-door, on which he tin ced "peas a chest or drawers,' and packed' bp various articles ; lof property. On bis leaving the place, Miss Denni son heard footsteps, she instantly ran up stairs, and saw a man of gentlemanly appearAr:e in the pas._ sage with a bundle unier his arm. Miss 'Jennison made an alarm, and the fellow ran for it, she pursued him with a cry of " stop thief,'.' and at length the miscreant dropped the bundle, and escaped. On the evening of the lt.ith ult. a cow-house, at the Knock Farm, near Portpata ick, containing sixteen cows, belonging to Mr. PETER M‘Kintecu., was set. on fire by some evil disposed persons, and all were de-• stroyed, together with the premises. Also at Ballantrne, i mill and kiln were burned to the ground, and a quantity of grain lost. A few days• prior, several Irish people•were at the mill, quarrel-' ling about seeds, when they were turned away from' the mill, and told they would get none ; they replied, if so, they should-neither have mill nor kiln soon. Sunday, about eleven o'clock, the south-east part of the College of Vicars, at Het eford, was discovered' to be on fire; and, from various combustible mate rials found contiguous to the spot, there is every rea- , son to suppose that it was the act of some incendiary. Mackarel were on. Monday last brought, for the first time this season, o Billingsgate-market, and were sold by retail, by the fishmongers, at the prices of Is. and I s. 6d. each. Sunday se'nuight, there was a considerable fall of now in Stirling, about three inches deep on an average. A Correspondent of much experience in the growth of potatoes, assures us that what is termed the curl in that root, is chiefly, if not solely, occasioned by, cutting the setts too thin, and not leaving a sufficient body •to support vegetation, and not by exposing the setts to the air, as is generally imagined. To remedy this defect, he suggests that setts should beCut a full inch square, and the knife should go to the centre of the potatoe, otherwise vegetation ts injured, as the veins of the eye of the potatoe go to its heart. BIRTH. In Montague-square, the Lady of J. le. G. Graham, Esq N.Y. of a son. MARAIEr. At Anstruther, on the 27th ult. Mr. S. Williamson, Surgeon, R.N. to Mrs. Nary nebb. • DIED. • At Chelte:hztra, on the :Id instant, after a lingering Waage Major-Gene:al nniversally regretted by all who knew him. March 4, at Gibra:tor, Major Tyler, of the Royal Artillery. Smithy. zt i.! ale 42d year of his age, _Dr. Thomas 'Mown, l'rofessor of Moral Philosophy in the University of t Citateaureux, in Frzr.ee, aged 75, the-father of General lie:: d, 50 `Art Ii known for his talentr, his heroic devotion to ape:col!, :Jr..: his Ile has left a 'widow with two chil dren and A considerable fortune. 11IGH-W A'rElt at LON DON BRIDGE TO—vIOR R ow. Nl,rning 45 tr.intates after 7 terneatt - 5 —..... 6 LO ti" DON ; tea and plitilidkrd Try Licut. Rm, riskets /lace, Tcaepl•ast • 1) . .. 1 ' I A .. F