The National Register. — London, England, 1818-01-26 00:00:00

3AN._~~s APPEAL OF MURDEZZ. COURT OF Ki BENCH, JAN. 21: THE KING V. ABRAHAM T:HHINTON. 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 . • inga., when the case was before the Court the lust Term, • but it was equally numerous. Notwithstanding the wetness of the morning, by letlf past nine o'clock, every avenueno the Court was immensely crowded.— , At half prat eight the defendant left, the apartments tbut are provided for him at the King's Bench Prison in a hackney coach, under the escort of two tiastaff, and having arrived ut Westminster by nine, he was con ductal up iatothe Court by the.pa.ss.ve loader 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 viction of his ultimate acquittal. He was dressed in a new black coat, drab-coloured kerseymere breeches, and gaiters ; had on a pair of new yellow gloves, and main tains his former appearance of a respectable looking farmer. He does not appear to like publicity, hnd maui 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 inenctli attelv turned his back to the gentleman, 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 for upwards of an hour and did not alter it until the Court commenced its proceedings, when, from being obliged to stand up part of the time, .he necessarily al tered it. At a quarter before teno'clock the appellant entered the Court, with his attorney and a friend who had come from the country with him. At ten Mr. Reader and 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 for the appellant, entered the Court. Mr. Justice Bayley, who entered the Court before • the other Judges, 'disposed ofscveral motions of course, and other routine business ; after which he joined the other Judges in their chamber behind the Court. At half past ten their Lordships entered the Court, when Mr. Clarke addressed them as follows : 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 : REPLICATION-IN THE KING'S BENCH. 111 E KING V. "MINTON. On Saturday next after eight days o St. Hilary in, fhe 3Sth of Geo. Ht.—And the said Abraham Thorn ton saith, that notwithstanding the said matters alledged is the said counterplea, he ought to be admitted to wage battle, becauseprotesting that he isinnocent; and though he is not under any necessity nor in any way bouud to answer the sinue,nevertheless in replication he saith, that before and at the time of the. writ of appeal issuedagainst him, there•wcre and now are, strong presumptions that lie was not, and is not guilty of the felony aforesaid, in the said writ of appeal so charged against him as afore said. That is to say, at the time when the said Mary .Aslithrd went In the house of Mary Butler, at Erdling ,ton aforesaid, as in the counterplea above set forth, she the said Mary Ashford went there alone, and unaccom panied by the said Abraham Thornton ; and he further with, that the said Mary Ashford left the house of the said Mary Butler about a quarter of an hour past four of the clock as the morning, alone and unacompanied by the said Abraham Thornton, and proceeded towards Langley aforesaid; and the the said A. Thornton further J 1 sith that a short time after said Mary Ashford had so left the house of the said Mary Lutler, 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 Thornton not has ing in company with her nor in any way in sight. And tido. said Abraham Thornton further saith, that within a short space afterwards, that is to ary., 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 hunt, crossing azertaia t urnpikeroad leading from Lon don to Chester, at that part of the road where a certain lane called Bell 'Lane, crosses the said turnpike road, and she proceeded .along the said lane, then being alone, and unaccompanied .by the said Abraham Thornton.— And tke said Abraham Thornier' further saith, that at the several places where the said Mary Ashford was so seen by the said Davidson and Broadhurst, the road was broad and straight•for a considerable distance, and .that he 'the said Abraham Thernten must have been reen at a considerable distance, if he had been proceed ing with .her. And the said Abraham Thornton saith, that cu the morning of the said Tuesday, at a quarter after four of the cluck, or net.leter than five and twenty miautes, he the said Abraham Thong= was seta by IIF. NATIONAL REGNITIIIt divers-et-edible witnesses, a considerable distance from the said B.!1 Lame, to wit, by one Thomas Jennings, one John / Holden, jun. and others, being ail persons with whom the said Abraham Thornton had no previous con nection er acquaintance, walking along a lane leading to Cantle Bromwhich, atin-esaitl, close to the litrm-hottae of John Holden the elder, which was the way leading to the said Abraham Thorntoa's fitther'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 had continued his course atomic a mile from the said house of John Holden, the elder, as -aforesaid, he wa.gi . seen • ly one John Haydon, and then anti there atopped and conversed with the said John Haydon tar the space of a quarter of an hour, after which he parted from him and continued Avalking on tmvirds the hOuse of the said Abraham Thornton's father ; and the said Abrelatin Thornton s.tith that one John Woodcock saw him Fe stopping and converting as aforesaid to wit, &c. And the said Abrithaia Ti.oratnn ferther 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 liesitrely towards his father'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 guile, 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 aforesaid to the said farm house of Jchn Holden aforesaid, is two miles, four fur longs, &c. and he saith 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 mentiuned, 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 farmhouse 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 water land the said bridge, it would take a longer time to ar rive at the said farmhouse, than by taking the more circuitous road above pointed out. And the said A. Thorn ton further saith, that the clock at the house of the said Mary Butler, where said Mary Ashford had been on the morning of the 27th of May aforesaid,w as on that morning without any alteeation whatsoever; and the time mark ed by the said clock on that morning was carefully compared by one William Webster, Esq (not known to or acquainted with this defendant, but a witness fur the prosecution) with the true time at Birming am; and also the clock at John Holden's was without any alteration and was compared with the true time at Bir mingham, 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 Abra ham Thornton further said', that on 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, cud he had on the same shirt and breeches, and the same atockings, 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 Thorton further saith, that, on such his ap prehension, on the said raorning, he was taken before one William HAford, Esi one of his Majesty's Justi ces of the Peace in and for the County of Warwick, and the -several witnessess against him sera examined, and 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 26th of May, and the morn ing of the 27th, and the several times that he had been st such places respectively ; and he Balch, that there is no fact 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 Rrosecutiou 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 Termini r held 'in and for the said County of Warwick, &c. here the r4plication set forth the commission st War 'tick assizes under which the defendant was tried on. two indictments, the one for the murder and the other for the rape, and stated his acquittal on each, in the usual technical firms of law, after which it concluded in the manner following :—" And the said Abraham Tturnton in fact saith, that tho several facts proved, atibrd stronger and more violent presumption and stronger proof that he is not guilty of the murder vgbere:)f 1:e stands amealed, than the said presumption aril proofs in the said counterplea set firth that he is guilty. And ther.lbre the said Abraham Thornton prays ju...:gment, that he may be permitted to wage battle with the said Win. Ashford." M. Le Blanc.—Thcre is an affidavit attached to it as f7d;.)%v":. Fiero Mr. Le Blanc read the nffi(lavit. " In the King's Bench, between the Kiug and Abra ham Thornton, upon an appeal of M erten " Abraham Thornton, late of Castle BrainwiA, in the County cl Warwick, yeoman, but now a ;'risen r 'confined in the King's Bench Prison, hereby maketn oath and with, that the several matters and facts in the yeplication hereunt. annexed are true, as this deponent is informed and verily believes" Mr. Clarke.—My Lords, on the part of the appc!. lant, Wm. Ashford, I must beg your Lordships to allow us time to answer this replication. Until Thurs day next, will be time enough. Lard Ellenborough.—l think that seems a reatona. ble time What do you say, Mr. Reader? Mr. Reader.—My Lord, I can have no possible ob jectien. _ Lord EllenboroueL—Then la it be until next Thursday. THE DRAMA. DRIJItY-L On Tuesday night, a young lady from the Dubin Theatre, whose name we understand is Smithson, made her first appearance here, in the character of Lt ii Hardy, in the Belles Siralagem. After the eminent success which hus attended Miss Brunton, ut the other house, in this very difficult part, Miss Smithson's Was a bold undertaking, and we arc so:: to add, her• suc rzss was not equal to her (laving. 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 gracegil. In characters of a diff?•rent, coarser kind, site 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 Mannering, which, since the accession of Bra lam, has -become a greater favourite than ever, was played here on Tuesday evening, when a Mrs. Gar rick, 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 ac. quainted with the stage, and exhibited sufficient confi dence in herself, but in all the requisites of sang she stands far below her. To judge her, however, by a strict comparison with Miss Stephens wouhl he un just, she is a Svreu of no common kind, her voice breaks like heavenly harinoity on the car, and when we look on her, the shrinking modesty of her manner com pletes the fascination. With all the disadvantages to which a comparison with such a singer must subject a debutante, Mrs. Garrick succeeded well, Ah! Slumber my darling, was given with so much taste and sweetness, .that it received a rapturous encore. SURREY THEATRE. The success which attends the performances at this theatre, would induce one, not accustomed to visit it, to be:ieve that the company frequenting it are not the most fastidious; but the fact really is, that the taste and ingenuity of the Manager does furnish forth 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 Ton Junes, founded on the novel of that name, and into which the author, with admirable dexterity, has crumbed 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 for a most successful run. We state, with much concern that the amiable Du chess of Wellington has been seriously irniisposed for many days, arising frcm a dreadful accident, no lc•s ti - an the breaking one of the tendons A chille This lamentable occurrence eros;:. in a singular way. The following are the filets :—Her Grace was reading a letter from her illustrious husband, in which he said, "ia less than forty boars after the receipt of this I shall be •in London." The Duchess had proceeded thus fur, when in burst the Duke. in the hurried anxiety to re ceive his welcome embrace, she flew to his arms, but .unfortunately one of her feet coming in contact with a table or chair, she feil, and met with the accident above related. A series of •hysteric fits followed, and her Grace did nit recover till shc. , was carried to bed.— Thz fits arese tl•om extreme dejection, the result of ill health for a long time past. The report yesterday wits .that t'aeDuchesswas rather better, hut still confined to liter Lcd. According to a list officially paLlislied io 11;.mia, of the number of deaths in 1315, there were 613 persons above 100 years of age, viz. 209 above 105 years old, 123 above I 10,72 alK:,•e i 15, Si above 120, 13 above 125, .6 above ISO, an. 1 of 155 years of age.