The Express.
London, England, 1852-02-06 00:00:00

This was a writ of inquiry fur the assessment of damages
in at, action brought to recover for trespass and assault.
Judgment had been allowed to go by default.
Mr. Shaw, in opening the case, said his client was a re-
spectable lady, the widow of an officer ; but, not bring in
very Allures circumatenceo, she added to her means by let-
ting out furnished apartments. She resided at No. 31,
Albion-street, Hyde-park, and in the early part of last year'
the defendant engaged furnished apartments in her house,
for himself and • lady, whom he represented to be his wife,
and who passed under his name, but whose name it ap-
peared really was Sims.
The plaintiff was examined—She said her name was
Caroline Bull—the widow of Major Bull. The defendant
took apartments in her house about the time the Exhibi-
tion opened for himself and wife. After they had been
there two or three months she had occasion to desire them
to leave, as her other lodgers left the house in consequence
of the disturbances they created. The defendant sent a
note stating that he was unable to give up the apartments
by the required time, but would soon after. About the
13th or I ith of November witness was in the kitchen,
when the lady who passed as the defendant's wife rushed
down the stairs and begged for protection from the de-
fendant's violence. She said she was afraid of being mur-
dered. Witness told her that if she would come into the
kitchen she would prevent the defendant using violence.
The defendant came down to fetch her up, hut she refused
to go, and witness ordered him out of the kitchen. Ile
went sway sod had some brandy, and then returned like a
madman. Ile made an attempt to seise her, but witness
ordered him out. A needlewoman who was at work,
named Barnard, interposed, and begged of him to leave the
room, and the defendant, although she had a baby in
her arms, aimed a blow at her. Witness put up her
hand to receive the blow. He thr:atened to stop an an-
nuity paid by him to the lady's father, on which witness
said, " Never mind; bad money does no good," when he
rushed at her and struck her. Her daughter then went to
her assistance, when he seised her and threw her down.
Witness went into the area, and called " murder." There
was a great assemblage of per sons. The servant went for
a policeman. but he would net take the charge on being
told the particulars. She was disabled (or three weeks in
consequence of the defendant's violence. At the time •
friend of the defendant's came in and offered to settle it fur
.iO/. They left the same night, and she did not see any-
thing more of him until a fortnight or three weeks ago,
when he called and asked her to settle the present action.
The witness was noes-examined at some length as to a
complaint made to the police. She said she went to lay the
ease before • magistrate, but there was a case of murder
umt investigation, and the was told to go on the follow-
ing day. In the mean time she saw her attorney, and she
did not again go to the pollee-office. There had been some-
thing said about the defendant's valet and • fishmonger.
Mr. Challis, • resident in the same street, gave corrobora-
tive testimony as to the disturbance at the plaintiff's house
on the night in quest on.
Mr. O'Brien, for the defence, said the plaintiff's case was
an attempt to extort money, as the parties thought the de-
fondant would submit rather than that the case should be
brought into court. The defendant admitted an assault is
law, but the jury could not, he should submit, give damage
for consequential damage, only for the corporeal injury sus-
tained and that was excessively trifling indeed.
Inspector Porter gave evidence of the plaintiff having
complained of the assault to him, at the police-statists. She
said she had been injured in the hand, but he could not see
any marks of violence, and referred her p, the Police Court.
Emma Sims was examined—She stated that she had been
I living under the protection of the defendant, and had re-
sided at the plaintiff's house. She flatly ountradicted the
plaintiff as to the origin of the disturbance. She went
down shears, not for protection, but with her fish book, to
contradict an assertion made about the valet getting fish
from the fishmonger's. The defendant and the fishmonger
had been down before. When she was in the kitchen the
defendant came down, and asked her to go up stairs, as he
did not approve of her being there. The plaintiff and her
daughter said, " Don't go ; don't be • fool;" and on her
getting up to go, Miss Bull held her. Mrs. Barnard, this
eempetress, said, "Pray let her go," and the defendant then
laid hold of witness to take her away. Mrs. Bull then laid
hold of the defendant by the coat cellar, when he told her
to desist, and removed her head. Ile did not strike any
one. Ile did not strike Mn. Barnard. He had nut used
violence to or threatened witness at all that night. There
were no lodgers in the house then, but there had been
several families living there just before.
In cruse-examination the witness denied that on the even-
ing in question she threw an image at the defendant, or
that he threw one at her.

The defendant was then examined. Ile denied having
assaulted tither the plaintiff, her daughter, or the
sempstress. Ad he did was to remove Mrs. Bull's hand
from his coat. There had been an explanation gone into
about an assertion as to his valet and the fishmonger re-
lating to tials. Mrs. Bull and her daughter tried to pesetnt
the witness Sims leaving the kitchen, and Mir Bull went
up to him to scratch his face, and he laid hold of her, and
swung her round, upon which Mrs. Bull began to scream
out murder with all her might.
Elisabeth Morgan, servant to the plaintiff at the time,
corrobor.ded the evidence for the defence. She deposed to
having seen Miss Bull lay hold of the defendant, and try
to scratch his face, when he took her by the waist, and
swung her round. Mrs. Bull sent her afterwards to tell the
defendant that she would not proceed if he would pay her
2W., and had asked her to be on her side. She admitted
having received, as a present, from the witness Sims, •
shawl, • pair of boots, and an apron. Mrs. Bull went about
her duties as usual.

The Deputy Under Sheriff hating summed up,
The jury, after a short drtiberatiou, awned the damages
at 201.

A second case, is which Miss Bull wee the plaintiff, wea
thee `one into. It invulnd the same (acts, and the result
was a verdict fur le.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
...___.
OLD COURT.—YssmaDAY.
/twos Ala. Jouiea CIMIOI/nLL-
ALLUIRD FRAUDULENT TRAUMA.

Henry Woolf and ha at Lyons surrendered to take their
taint for ILiadol6.lloollf, ha having unlawhdly obtained goods

ender the false Gahm and pretence thst they required
them for the porpoise at their trade three months before
the period of their haw adjudicated bankrupts.
Mr. Ballantine, ter** prosecution, in a brief statement
of the facts of this ore Ili the jaryomplatned that the charge
against the dermatitis wee bred rider one of the
sections of the Law Candidation Act, which
declared that any Ids Mould Wads three
mouths of his bankruptcy • peeporty from img
ea credit, under the false psetionce that such mes
rigeked for the bona fide purposes of his trades
Amid guilty of mischimmeour, and be liable Is be kr
with or without hoed labour, in the dissellos
rer.t
. for any period not exceeding tea peen. Hs
Should show them that the defendant* ksdsllsrd a large
qoantity of silk Bonds from Messrs. Ellis sad Hverington, at
▪ Paul's Churchyard, on the 27th September, within a
eery short period of their bankruptcy, and that they die.
posed of the whole or that property two days afterwards to •
person named Hart, at a considerable reduction in the prise
at whirls they bad purchased it. The def. ndants 1/1110
partners in carrying on the bueieem of pew
and umbrella =ahem, and it appeared that Ow
eneemcneed biminem in October, lOW Imam et
that tine a capital between thee M asesi•
log Vet, and upon their being e4ligrir Webs
rn rapt. in Noveher. NMI, it was km* ea diab
amounted to between lour and he. Illosimul pilots, r
three thousand pounds of that smut mood ID he
wholly ommisounted for. Having mood t sad
she tie Bauer in which the doitudonte had dealt "lib
ohs, psalms a property shieh had come into their pso-
ssdas, M said the only question the jury would eventually
last is deelde would tie w h. !her at the 'Me the defendant,
obtained this property from Mean. Ellis and Everingta•
they really intended to use it to the honest exercise. of their
trade, or whether tiny were no• actuated by the (modules'
ktenti,m to make use of it in quite a diffeient manner far
their own purposes, and to defraud the prosecutors of the
value of the property.
The formal PVl.lt'llee with r eard to etc bankruptcy of
the it. fcnilants basing been gone into'
Mr. l'arrinton, an accountant, into,
that on the btb
November he was engaged by the ei editors to examine the
books of the defendants. They appeared to have hen
carrying on burin. se as untbrelia and parsed makers for a
periad of thirteen months, and he found by the book, that
there was a deficiency of 3,000 f. He made 11110161 S of the
bankrupts. upon the suhject of this delkieucy, and they told
him that the only way th, y could amount for it was by the
heavy hose. they had made in sac.ificin4 their goods by
selling them at I. se, than they cost. They aloe gave
account of property which they had plidged with Memos
Muneaster and XX err, p11W111.11.161.11,, to the amount of
I,2thf , and rpm which saut or 5401. had been advanced.
liy Mr. Clarkson—The defiradusts admitted they were
vent, tad readily missed a declaration to that effect

, Fry, • clerk in the service of the bankrupts, proved the
receipt of the goods by them on the 27th September.
By Mr. Clarkson.—His wrote a letter to blesses. Ellis and
Remington, at the request of the defendants, before the
goods were Pent in. It was to the effect that Mr. Lyons
could not give the price that was asked fur the goods, but
if they would take a farthing or a halfpenny less per yard
he would take them, and an answer was requested imme-
diately as Mr. Lyons was going to Manchester in the
evening.
Mr. Solomon Abraham Hart, who described himself as
a merchant end warehouseman, carrying( on business in
Bur street, St. Mary.axe, deposed that he knew the de-
fondants while they were carrying on their business in
Cripple-gate, and he had had Jiff. rent transactions in trade
vita them. On the 29th September he was at their ware-
house. when they showed him several boxes of figured silk,
and asked him if they would suit him, and lie said that
' they would "at a price." On this occasion he purchased
35 pieces of the silk at the rate of is. 7d. per yard. On the
following day he went again to the defendants' warehouse
and purchased another lot of silk. The price of the
whole of the silk he purchased was 5431. 3s. 11d., and Fe
paid the amount at different times.
By Mr. Clarkson—lie gave 2s. 3d. a yard fur one portion
of the glace silk, and 2s. 4d. r.r another. The defendant
Lyons told him that the reason he sold the silk was, that it
wee not suitable for tho manufacture of parasols, for which
they had parchased it. The silk was certainly nut suitable
for that purpose.
Mr. Allen was re-called, and he stated that the prices
they charged for the glues silk, were 2s. 2d., 2a. Bd.,
2s. ltd., and 2s. t3d. per pied.
Mr. Ballantine asked the witness Hart whether he was a
loser by the Isankruptry of the defendants ?
He replied that he did not lose anything by them.
Mr. Wane, of the firm of bluneester and Warre, pawn-
brokers, Skinner street, proved the different pawnings of
the property at their establishment by a person named blown
who acted as the agent of the defendants, who did not ap-
pear at all in the transaction. It appeared that property
amounting altogether in value to about 1,400 f., was pledged
at different times, and about 8001. worth was redeemed.
The amount of interest charged was 15 per cent.
This was the case for the prosecutien.
Mr. Clarkson said he should like to take the opinion of
the court as to whether any offence had been made out
within the terms of the section upon which the indictment
was framed. The section in question said that if any
" bankrupt" should do certain acts three months before his
bankruptcy, he should be deemed guilty of a misdemeanour,
and it appeared to him that if this meant anything at all,
it meant that the person must be a bankrupt at the time he
committed the act which femme' the subject of complaint
The section, in fact, appeared to be almost nonsense, and
he felt himself justified in asking the opinion of his lord-
ship, whether the charge made against the defendants
could be sustained upon it.
Mr. Ballantine, in answer to the objection, said be must
admit that this section was worded very absurdly, and
that instead of the word " bankrupt," it should have stated
that of any " person" committing certain acts three months
before the period at which he should be adjudged a bank-
rupt, and then no difficulty could have arisen. He sub-
, miffed, however, that the meaning intended to be conveyed
was perfectly clear, and that in a common sense view of the
matter the expression "bankrupt" should be taken to
mean "person.
Mr. Justice Cromwell, in overruling the objection, ob-
served that although the clause might certainly have been
worded much more clearly, yet the intention was sufficiently
apparent to justify the court in acting upon it. The offence
itself was of rather a cumuli character, and he apprehended
that the meaning of the word " bankrupt " in the clause in
question was intended to be a person filling the character
of a bankrupt. The statute created a sort ore: poet facto
misdemeanour, for the party did not commit any offence at
the time he obtained the goods, but the offence was only
created by his filling the character of a bankrupt three
months afterwards. _

Mr. Clarkson then addressed the jury for the defence,
and in the course of his speech he contended with great
earnestness that the defendants had not done any act that
brought them within the scope of the very highly penal
statute under which the indictment against them had been
framed. He contended that so far from there being any
proof that they obtained the goods by the false pre-
tence that they required them for the purposes of
their trade, the evidence proved the exact eon-
tnry, and he submitted that the probability was that
finding the articles were not suited for the purpose for
which they were intended, they hail disposed of them to the
witaewi Hart, being at the time under pressure of • pecu-
niary character. As to the price at which the goods were
sold, it wee admitted that they had fetched within 301. or
401. of the sum at which they were originally sold to the
defendants, and he called the attention of the jury to the
fact that the assignees had been proved to have sold
the bankrupts' stock at a discount of 47 per cent.
under the invoice price, which was a much more
serious oacrifico. The learned counsel then adverted
to the stagnation that existed in trades such as
that carried on by the bankrupts last year, ow-
ing to the Great Exhibition, and said that no doubt
they, like many others, were very much under pressure,
and he would admit that they had acted recklessly in en-
deavouring to relieve themselves from it, but he observed
that he was very much afraid that some of the first houses
in the City of London had, under lice circumstances, been
compelled to act in a similar manner. The bankrupts had
not yet obtained their certificate, and they were still liable
to be dealt with and punished in the Bankruptcy Court,
which, he submitted, was the proper tribunal to dispose of
such a ease. He concluded by eget...wing his opinion that
it would be very great injustice to render the defendants
criminally responsible upon such facts as now appeared be-
fore the court, and he, therefore, called upon the jury to
acquit them of the charge.
The learned Judge having summed up the case, and ex-1
plained to the jury with great clearness the points upon'
which they were required to give an opinion, they almost
immediately returned a verdict of NW Guilty.
There were several other indictments against the de
fendann, but it was arranged that they should stand over
to the next sessions, the defendants being in the meantime
admitted to bail.

Janes Nolemon Doer, who pleaded guilty on Wednesday
to a charge of the same character, and Jonas Heilbronn,
who was convicted of perjury in connexion with the same
transaction, were brought up for judgment, and sentenced
to be imprisoned and kept to hard labour for twelve
maths.

Vpoe tlast applieatioo of Mr. Clarkson, the trial of Gerber,
Wagner, Kees r, and Kraheour, for forgery, was postponed
to the neat sessioa.

LENGTII6I4I77O A Lois or BAWL& Snip.—
It having been decided upon by the Admiralty that
tha Windsor Castle, • first-rate of 120 guns, building
at Pembroke Doily:ad, and in a consider-
able stage of forw.irdnim, should he lengthened amidships
30 feet, and an additi ~,, al 7 test 6 inches added to her stern
In • rder to render her rapahle of receiving • screw propeller, I
orders to that effect were received at the Arsenal a fortnight
ago, and have been survival ully earliest into effect. Exactly at
the midship section the stupendous fabric was divided into
two parts; to the attrr tinily a perfect cradle (us for launch- I
ing) was fitted, with bilge-ways, frlppeto, way., and sliding I
planks complete, the surface. in contact hying, us usual,
paid with melt. d I.t, &c. All the shone were then re-
moved from the after-body, and by the aid of Renter and
wedge it was sir, dually shoed apart to the precise inane
required. The mass thus movid was spasm!. of 1,100 tons,
and when completed the Windsor Castle will not only be
t' e most powerful battery afloat (mounting 140 guns), hut
be the 1.11041 t ship in the known world. The following are
certain particulars of the dimensions of this magnificent
fabric Original length between the perpendiculars,
210 ft.: length when completed. 210 Q. 6 in.; original ton-
nage, 3,189 tons; tonnage when completed about 3,749 tone;
extreme breadth, 00 ft.