The National Register. — London, England, 1818-01-25 00:00:00

i JAN. 24 APPEAL OF MURDER. COURT OF KING'S BENCH, JAN. 24: THE KING V. ABRAHAM REPLICITION.-IN THE KING'S BENCH. THE MIMI V. THONTON. Though the importance of this case has (if possible • increased by the procrastination of its discussion and final decision, the crowd was not so early this morn ing as when the case was before the Court the last Term, but it was equally numerous. Notwithstanding the wetness of the morning, by half past nine o'clock, every avenue to the Court was immensely crowded.— At halt' prat eight the defendant left the apartments that arc provided for him at the King's Bench Prison in a hackney coach, under the escort of two ti2statfi4, and having arrived at Westminster by nine, he was con ducted up into the Court by the i pas.sage under the House of Lords, and was placed in his old position at the bar of the Court. It is said, that during his confinement, he has been in most excellent spirits, and entertains the firmest con ♦iction of his ultimate acquittal. He was dressed in a new black coat, drab-coloured kerseytnere breeches, and gaiters ; had on a pair of new yellow gloves, and main tains his former appearance of a respectable looking fanner. He does nut appear to like publicity, and maii fested that dislike a good deal in part of his conduct while in Court this morning. A portrait painter of con siderable eminence was in Court for the purpose of taking his likeness, but as soon as he observed him, he immedi ately turned his back to the wentleman, and placing his hand on that side of his face, remained in such a position as to preclude the possibility of his accomplishing his purpose fire upwards of an hour and did not alter it until the Court commenced its proceedings, when, from bein. , obliged to stand np part of the time, he necessarily al tered it. At a quarter before teno'clock the appellant enterel the Court, with his attorney and a friend who had come from the country with him. At ten Mr. Reader a..d Mr. Reynolds entered the Court, and seated themselves on the right hand of the defendant At a quarter after ten Mr. Clarke, Mr. Gurney, Mr. Richardson, and Mr. Chitty, the Counsel fbr the appellant, entered the Court. Mr. Justice Bayley, who entered the Court before the other Judges, disposed of several motions of course, and other routine business ; after which he joined the other Judges in thair chamba behind the Court. At half past ten their Lordships entered the Court, when Mr. Clarke addressed them as fbllows Mr. Clarke.—My Lord, the appellant is here accord ing to the order of the Court. Mr. Reader.—My Lord, the defendant has a Repli cation here, which he wishes to verify by affidavit. The Replication was then handed in, and read by Mr. Le Blanc, the Clerk of the Court to the effect follow ing : On Saturday next after eight days of St. Hilary in, the 38th of Geo. lll.—And the said Abraham Thorn ton suith, that notwithstanding the said matters alledged in the said counterplca, he ought to be admitted to wage battle, because pratesting that he is innocent ; and though be is not under any necessity nor in any way bound to answer the same,nevertheless in replication he saith, that before and at the time of the writ of appeal issuedagainst Lim, there were and now are, strong presumptions that he was not, and is not guilty of the felony aforesaid, in the said writ of appeal so charged against him as afire said. That is to say, at the time when the said Mary Ashford went to the house of Mary Butler, at &tiling ton aforesaid, us in the counterplea above set forth, site the said Mary Ashford went there alone, and unaccom panied by the said Abraham Thornton ; and he furt:ter saith, that the said Mary Ashford left the house of the said Mary Butler about a quarter of an hour pa.a four of the clock in the morning, alone and unacompanii a by the said Abraham Thornton, and proceeded towards Langley aforesaid; and the the said A. Thornton fnrther saith that a short time after th said Mary Ashtbr.l had so left the house of the said Mury Butler, she was met at a short distance from the same, walking in a lane, called Bell Lane, leading from Erdlington to Langley, by one Joseph Davison, he the said Abraham Thcrnton nut k— ing in company with her nor in any way in sight. And the said A bral.sm Thornton further saith, that within a short space aftawards, that is to say, within the space of a quarter of an hour from the time she so left the house of Mary Butler, she was seen by one Thomas Broad hurst, crossing a certain turnpike road hauling front Lon don to Chester, at that part of the road where a certain land called Bell Lane, crosses the said turnpike road, and she proceeded along the said lane, then Mai; alone and unaccompanied by the said Abraham Thornton.—, And she Kidd Abraham Thornton further saith, that at the several places where the said Mary Ashford was :at wen by the said Davidson and Broadhurst, the road was bread and straight for a considerable distance, and that he the said Abraham Thcraton must have been seen at a considerable distance, if he had been proceed ing with her. And the said Abraaam Thornton saith, that on the morning of the said Tues.la at a quarter after four of the clock, or not later than five and twenty he. the said Abraham Thornton was scut by TIM: NATTONAL REGTSTXR. divers credible witnesses, a considerZble distance front the said Bell Lane, to wit, by one Thomas Jennings. one John fit I.len, jun. and others, being all persons with whom the said Abraham Thornton had no previous con nection or acquaintance, walking along a lane leading to Castle Bromwhich, aforesaid, close to the farm-house of John Holden the elder, which was the way leading to the said Abraham Thornton's father's house, where the said Abraham Thornton at that time resided.— And that he was walking slowly and leisurely and not in any way in confusion or disorder. And when he hail continued his course about a mile from the said home of John Holden, the elder, as aforesaid, he was seen by one John Haydon, and then and there stopped and conversed with the said John Haydon for the space of a quarter of an hour, after which he parted from hint and continued walking on towards the house of the said Abraham Thornton's father ; and the said Abraham Thornton saith that one John Woodcock saw him so stopping and conversing as aforesaid to wit, &c. And the said Abraham Thornton further with, that he was also seen by one James White at about twenty five minutes after five of the clock, in the morning when he was still walking slowly and Leatrely towards his fitther's house, and he was then about half a mile distant from his father's house. And he further saith that the distance from the house of Mary Butler over and across the said harrowed field in the said counterplea mentioned, is one mile, two furlongs, and thirty yards, and the distance from the workhouse, which is the nearest point of the village of Erdlington to John Holden's farmhouse, is one mile, three furlongs, and sixty-two yards ; and the distance from the said pit of water found by Erdlington 111in-es:Lid to the said farm house of JAR Holden aforesaid, is two miles, four fur longs, &c. and he with that the most ready and accessi ble way from the said pit of water to the said farm house, and also the shortest way, except as hereunder mentioned, is the following, viz across a certain close into a certain turnpike-road, called the Chester-road, at the part thereof near to the garden wall of one Mr. Hip kis, and also leading to the farm-house of the said John Holden the elder, and the distance of the said way is one mile, seven furlongs, and one hundred and seventy yards. And the said Abraham Thornton further faith, that the distance from the said pit of water to the said fitrmhouse is one mile, four furlongs, and sixty yards ; but he saith that there is no foot-path in that direction except for a distance of one hundred yards, leading to the Canal Bridge, and that by the intersection of the hedges and fences, by and between the said pit of wawa and the said bridge, it would take a longer time to ar rive at the said farmhouse, than by taking the more circa itous road above pointed out. And the said A. Thorn ton further with, that the clock at the house of the said Mary Butler, where said Mary Ashford had been on the morning of the 27 th of May afuresaid,was on that morning without any alteration tvbatsoever ; and the time mark cal by the said clock on that morning was carefully compared by one William Webster, Esq (not known to or acquainted with this defendant, but at witness for the prosecution) with the true time at Birmingham ; and also the clock at John Holden's was without any alteration and was compared with the true time at Bir minigham, by one William Townley, and the said se veral times above mentioned are all connected and re duced to the same measure of time: that is to say, to the true measure of time kept at Birmingham aforesaid, on that day, as hereinbefore stated. And the said Aiwa ham Thornton further saith, that ins his arrival at his father's house, on the morning of the said 27th day of May aforesaid he changed his hat and coat, and no other part of his apparel, and he had on the same shirt and breeches, and the same stockings, and he wore the same respectively, at the time of his apprehension on the charge aforesaid, that is to say, &c. And the said Abraham Thort:n further saith, that, on such his ap prehension, on the said morning, he was taken before one William Ballfard, En one of his Majesty's Justi ces of the Peace in and for the County of Warwick, and the several witnessess against him were examined, :ma in his examination, which was afterwards reduced to writing, he, the said Abraham Thornton, gave an account of the several places at which he had been du ring the night of the said 2(ith of May, and the morn ing of the 27th, and the several times that he had been at such places respectively ; and he saith, that there is no fiat stated by him which has in any way been con tradicted, and all the said facts have since been con firmed and corroborated by various witnesses, as well those called on the prosecution of the said indictment, as those called on the part of the said Abraham Thornton, in his defence thereto And the said Abraham Thorn ton farther saith, that at the General Sessions of Oyer and Terminer held in and for the sail Connty of Warwick, &c. lien the replication set forth the commission at War wick assizes under which the defendant was tried on two indictments, the one for the murder an the et :er far the rape, and stated his acquittal on each, in the usual technical thrms of law, atier which it concluied in the manner following :—" And the said Abraham Thornton in fact saith, that the several facts proved, allird stronger and inure violent presumption and stronger proof that he is not guilty of the murder whereof he stands a-pealed, than tlle said pre , ioo.ption and prooA in the said counteiplea set firth that he is guilty. And therefore the said Abraham Thornton prays judgment, that he may be peroiLted t.) wags battle with the said Wm. Ashford." M. Le Blanc.—There is an affidavit attached to it as follows. Here Mr. Le Blanc read the af!ldarit. " In the King a Bench, lx:tween the King and Abra. ham Thornton , upon an appeal of Mur.ler. " Mrahans Thornton, Lite of Castle Bromwich, in the County d' Warwick, yeoman, but now a primmer confined in the King's Bench Prison, hereby maketh oath and with, that the several matters and facts in the replication hereunto annexed are true, 13.4 this deponent is informed and verily believes" Mr. Clarke.—My Lords, on the part of the appel. ant, Wm. Ashford, I must beg your Lordships to allow us time to answer this replicuaon. Until Thurs• day next, will be time enough. Lord Ellenborough.—l think that seems a reasons. We time What do you say, Mr. Reader? Mr. Reader.—My Lord, I can hare no po3sible ob. _ . joction. Lord Ellenborough.—Then let it be until next Thursday. THE DRAMA. DRTJRY-LANE. On Tuesday night, a young lady from the Dublin Theatre, whose name we understand is Smithson, made her first appearance here, in the character of Letitia Hardy, in the Belle's Stratagem. After the eminent success which has attended Miss Brunton, at the other house, in this very difficult part, Miss Smithson's was a bold undertaking, and we are sorry to add, her suc cess was not equal to her daring. In the scene where she assumes the awkward airs of a rustic hoyden, she was very happy, but in all the rest she was deficient; her singing is not good, and her dancing, which, as it is intended to captivate, should be excellent, was far from graceful. In characters of a different, coarser kind, she may succeed, but certainly not in this. Stanley's Doricourt was very bad ; the Manager might surely have found a better, though we have not our eye on Mr. Rae when we say this. COVENT-GARDEN. Guy Maxnering, which, since the accession of Bra• ham, has become a greater favourite than ever, was played here on Tuesday evening, when a Mrs Gar rich, from the Liverpool stage, appeared as the substi tute of Miss Stephens, who, since her visit to Derby, has been indisposed. As an actress, Mrs. Garrick is per haps superior to her fair original ; she seemed well se. quaintcd with the stage, and exhibited sufficient confi dence in herself, but in all the, requisites of song she stands far below her. To judge her, however, by a strict comparison with Miss Stephens would be un just, she is a Syren of no common kind, her voice breaks like heavenly harmony on the ear, and when we look on her, the shrinking modesty of her manner corn. pletes the fascination. With all the disadvantages to which a comparison with such a singer must subject * debutante, Mrs. Garrick succeeded well, Ah I Slumber my darling, was given with so much taste and sweetness, that it received a_rapturous encore. SU:ZREY THEATRE. The success which attends the performances at this theatre, would induce one, not accustomed to visit it, to beNeve that the company frequenting it arc not the most fastidious ; but the fact really is, that the taste and ingenuity of the Manager does furnish firth a series of entertainments very superior to what is gene rally met with, or expected in our minor theatres. Among its novelties, is a burletta called Turn Junes, ibunded on the novel of that name, and into which the author, with admirable dexterity, has crambed every principal character in that immortal work. The whole strength of the company is thrown into it, and with so much effect, that it bids fair fur a most suLts.s..ful run. We state, with much concern that the amiable Du. chess of Wellington has been seriously indisposed for many days, arrising frcm a dreadful accident, no lees ti-an the breaking one of the tendons chille This lamentable occurrence arose in a singular way. The following are the facts :—I-ler Grace was reading a letter from her illustrious husband, in which he said, "in less than forty hours after the receipt of t his I snail be in London.'• The Duchess had proceeded tuns far, when in burst the Duko. In the bullied anxiety to re ceive his welcome embrace, she few to his arms, in ti unfortunately one, of her feet coming in contact :cith a sal w or chair, she fell, and met with the accident above related. A series of hysteric tiro followed, and her Grace did not recover till she was carri.•d to bed.—. The tits arose from extreme dejection, the result of ill. health tir a long time past The report yesterday was that the Duchess was rather better, but still confined to hlr heti. _ _ The Attniversiity Festival of the Governors of the City of London Lving-in Hospital has tiecn appointed by the Lord Nlin Stetvar,ls, I Corn,i,i , tee IVedticsdity 25th of Fehuary, aria th,• Ser.iioa will lie preached by the Lord Bishop of adorn un ;Sunday the 19th of April at St. Alben's Wm' Street. "" 4 0 1 101r