The Express.
London, England, 1851-09-02 00:00:00

LT PETTY SESSIONS.

La D intelligence.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.—YESTERDAY.
The sittings of the August adjourned general session of
the in ace were resumed this morning nt the Guildhall,
llrord Sanctuary, Westminster, by adjournment from
Clerkenwell, before Mr. Serjeant Adams, assistant judge,
Mr. Thompson, and Mr. Brooking. There are seventy-
eight eases for trial, sixty-five of them being felonies, and
the others misdemeanors. The court was full at the hour of
sitting, and some interest appeared to be occasioned by the
renewal of sessions in the city of Westminster.

The grand jury having been sworn, the learned judge
proceeded to deliver the following charge, which it will be
seen is in the main an elucidation of the new act.
Gentlemen of the Grand Jury, I have great pleasure in
meeting you here today. I have the gratiflcation of com-
municating to you, that the general wishes of the inhabi-
tants of the city of Westminster, so repeatedly and
urgently brought forward by your high bailiff and the
vestry of the united parishes of St. Margaret and St. John
the Evangelist, are complied with; and that from this
time, 24 sessions of the peace for the county of Mid-
dlesex, available for the purposes of business, will be
annually held by adjournment within your city, accord-
ing to the provision. of the statute 7 & 8 Vie., c. 71. So
keg as the holding of these adjourned sessions could be
productive of no practical advantage, the court was reluc-
tant to call them into action ; but arrangement., long iti
eoutemplation, have now, by statute 11 & 15 Vie., c. 55,
which received the royal assent, on August 1, 1841, been
carried into effect; and amongst other important conse-
quences of that statute, these adjourned sessions, so much
desired by the inhabitants of the City, will now be ren-
dered efficient and valuable adjuncts to the cheap, con-
venient, and speedy adrainineer;ee of the criminal law
within the county of Middlesex ; and it is pleusing to
be assured that the duties which will be thus
cast upon the Westminster jurymen arc as wet.
come to themselves as they will be beneficial to the public.
The present arrangements are, indeed, partly consequent
*re this assurance, which has been duly conveyed to the
EN
authorities by the agency of the vestry of the
alit. Margaret and St. John ; who, it appears by
onmeaunications, have made the necessary inquiries of
Ole wend boards of guardians throughout the city, and
annertained the wishes of the inhabitants generally to be in
asserdance with their own. In order, however, to pre-
vent any future misunderstanding, it is right that it
simskl be generally known (as has already been ex-
pleined to the above-named parishes), that although jurors
Ildient within the City and Liberty of Westminster
can atone be summoned to these adjourned sessions, they
are sot sessions of the peace for the City and Liberty,
but the county at large; and must be held for
the trial of offences committed in the county generally.
This singular anomaly arises out of the clauses introduced
by your high bailiff into the statute 7& 8 Vie., c. 71,
which have the effect of enacting, not only that 24 sessions
of the peace, shall be annually holden for the county at
Clerkenwell, but that adjournments of all of them shall
likewise be holden within the City, and that the West-
minster jurors shalt alone be summoned to such adjourned
sessions, although like the sessions held at Clerkenwell,
they are county sessions. Previously to the passing
of this act, the jurors of the city of Westminster were
exempted from service at the county sessions,
whetuer held within or without the limits of the
City • and it was the intention of the framers of
that etatute to continue that exemption. It was likewise
their intention that twenty-four sessions only should be then
annually held for the county (a number amply sufficient for
the limited jurisdiction of the court), and that the justices
should hold such sessions either within or without the limits
of the city, as should prove from time to time most con-
venient to the suitors. In consequeuce. however, of the
representations of the high bailiff of Westminster, who
stated, during the progress of the bill, that he felt the dig-
nity of his office invaded by. the abolition of the Westmin-
ster Sessions, a clause was introduced, requiring that, in
addition to the twenty-fuur sessions originally provided for
by the bill, twenty-four sessions should also be held by ad-
journment within the city and liberty of Westminster (a
member altogether out of proportion to their exigencies),
oral that the Westminster jurors should not be exempted
tem service at such adjourned sessions. By another clause
elm it was further pre% ided, that the high bailiff of West-
minster should execute the duties, and be entitled to the
em ehenents of the office of the sheriff of Middlesex, within
the mid city and liberty, amongst which duties is the issue
of summonses for the attendance of jurors •' and as the high
bailiff neither has nor is given by the statute any power or
jurisdiction beyond the city boundaries, the etket of these
united enactments is, that the summonses are of necessity
limited to the Westminster jurors only, and the whole
duties of these adjourned sessions cast upon them, instead
of being discharged, as they ought to be, and as they would
have been but for these clauses, by the jurors of the county
at large. Previously to the year 1834, the jurisdiction of the
Middlesex and Westminster Sessions was co-equal with the
jurisdiction of all other sessions throughout the kingdom.
Sessions were hold annually eight times in Middlesex, and
eight times in Westminster (corresponding with the eight
annual sittings at the Old Bailey) ; the chairman of the two
courts received from the crown a remuneration for the
duties ho performed; and the committals were made by
the magistrates to the Old Bailey, or the Middlesex or West-
minster sessions, without reference to the legal description
of the offence, but according to the magnitude and import-
ance of the case itself, so as to divide the business amongst
the three courts. In the year 1834, it was deemed expe-
dient to change the system ; and by statute 4 and 5 Wm.
IV., c. 36, a new court, called the Central Criminal Court,
was created. This court was to hold twelve sittings an-
nually, and its jurisdiction was extended throughout the
whole county of Middlesex, together with certain portions of
the adjoining counties of Essex, Kent, and Surrey, sad also
over all offences committed on the high seas; the salary to
the chairman of the Middlesex and Westminster sessions was
discontinued, and the criminal jurisdiction of the sessions
within the assigned district (and which, as has been ob-
served, included the whole cuuuty of Middlesex) was limited
to trials for simple larcenies, larcenies from the person,
frauds, common assaults, and some other misdemeanours of
an ordinary character. The effect of the combined opera-
tion of these causes was (as might have been anticipated)
the creation of a court, which soon became too unwieldly to
be useful. Its avenues were choaked up, its sittings incon-
veniently protracted, and the expense of its .trials *sore
mous; whilst the gaol of Newgate, to which all
Middlesex and London prisoners to bo tried at that court
are committed, became so crowded as to render all
classification nearly impracticable. During the mayoralty
1 of Mr. Alderman liumphery, which immediately preceded'
I the creation of the office of assistant judge, the number of
committals amounted to 3,838; the number of witnesses
(exclusive of those appearing on behalf of the prisoners) to
upwards of 20,000; being an average of 220 casts, and
1,700 witnesses, at each monthly sessions, whilst the average
sittings of the court, notwithstanding they were pro-
tracted daily, by means of relays of judges, to a late
hour in the evening, exceeded seven days each'sitting, the
whole number of days amounting to 87. The evils
arising from this state of things were partially remedied
by the statute 7 and 8 Vic., c. 71, which received the
royal assent August 6th, 1844. By this statute the
Middlesex and Westminster sessions were amalgamated ;
the Westminster Bridewell, which bad been built ten years
before by the county, at a large cost (180,000/.), and is
capable of holding 800 enisoners, was made available for the
county at large, instead of being limited to the city of West-
minster, for which it was far too extensive ; the office of
assistanteludge, whose duty is " to preside at:the hearing of
all appeals, and at the trial of all felonies and misdemean-
OW'S ' and round whom is thrown those cherished safe-
guards of the indepeudence of our judges, end consequent
purity of the administration of our laws, an appointment
by the crown, a fixed salary, and an office held during good
behaviour, was created ; and it was further enacted,
as has em already observed, that 24 sessions of
the peace, at the least, should ho annually held
within the county ; but the limited jurisdiction of the ses-
sions, as created by the statute 4 and 5 Wm. 4, c. 36, was
continued. The immediate consequence of these en-
actments was the committal of a large portion of the com-
mon larcenies for trial at the sessions, instead of the Cen-
tral Criminal Court ; the number of cases so committed dur-
ing the first year of the operation of the act being 1,800,
and the number of witnesses bound over 5,050, making an
average of 75 prisoners, and 210 witnesses each unions; a
number which could he disposed of by the court without
inconvenience or delay, which rarely required the attend-
ance of parties beyond a few hours, and in no case beyond
a second day, and which rendered a further subdivision of
the trials, by calling into action the 24 adjourned serious
at Westminster, perfectly useless. A great diminution in
the expense of these trials, as will be shortly noticed, of
course ensued; but the relief which it was hoped would
also have been afforded to the parties bound over to appear
at the Central Criminal Court was neutralised by the
abolition of the evening sittings there. These sittings had
long been productive of serious moral evils, and were quite
inconsistent with the spirit of the times; bet the Court
of Aldermen had refused to attend to a suggestion of
their Late recorder to relinquish them. It is one of the im-
portant privileges of the Corporation of London that no
;criminal shall be tried at the Old Bailey unless an alderman
' is sitting upon the bench. This privilege is an onerous,
and must in time become a wearisome one ; and it is not,
therefore, surprising that the aldermen should be desirous
of shortening the periods of its exercise, although it is not
to be expected that they will *hoodoo it altogether. But
after the passing of 7 & 8 Vic., c. 71, the then Secretary of
State, Sir James Graham, strongly urged the necessity of
the discontinuance of the evening sittings upon the corpo-
ration, and after an ineffectual struggle on the part of some
of the aldermen, the measure, under the recommendation of
the judges, was adopted, and the Central Criminal Court
now adjourns at the usual hour of adjuurnmeut of all other
courts within the kingdom. As, however, two courts were
always in action during the evening sittings, the transfer of the
cases to the sessions has not amounted to more than an equiva-
lent to their abolition ; and the sittings of the Central Criminal
Court during the last mayoralty has, notwithstanding this
transfer, the great diminution of crime in the metropolitan
district, and the opening of a third court, averaged sex days
each session. It would seem, therefore, that this court re-
quires further relief, and this conclusion is placed beyond
doubt, when the present amount of the costa of prosecutions
in ordinary trials therciu is compared with the colts of simi-
lar prosecutions at the sessions. This comparison was care-
fully made in the year 1819, when the change now carried
out was first contemplated. The result is as follows:—The
costs of 1,886 prosecutions at the Middlesex Sessions, from
August 1, 1818, to July 31, 1819, 2,1291. 13s. %I. The costs
of 216 ditto, at the Central Crimiled Court, during the
same period, for offences of a precisely similar character,
viz., larcenies from the person, and common larcenies
1,0161. 18s. 6d. Average costs at the sessions 1/. 2 Gel '
ditto at the Central Criminal Court, 41. 14s. 61. And as the'
allowances to prosecutors and witnesses, and the fees to the
clerk of indictments and other persons in the two courts

A man named Owen Kee& and several others were
brought before the bench, and charged by Mr. W. H. Do
Burgh with assembling to the number of nearly two hun-
dred, entering his ground, and cutting the crops on it. The
transActiOtil out of which this proceeding arose occurred on
the 20th and 23rd. The following letter was read, and as it
was admitted by the agent for Mr. De Burgh to contain a
correct statement of the transaction' and admitted by the
agent for the defendauts, to be equally correct, with the
exception that it should have been stated that the rent was
pasd by the tenant who had been in possession of it tip to
het May, the nature of the present proceedings will be
aesertaised from that document.
"The Cottage' Olandore, Roesembery, August 23rd,
chasten to report an occurrence of an agra-
rian nature, which took place at Wunder° on this morning,
and which hreatened very serious consequences, from the
nature of the assemblage, wlt'Lzh amounted to near 200
men, armed with sticks and reaping hooks. We have much
pleasure in being able to report. a satisfactory settlement of
tke matter in dispute, for the present, effected by the
amicable and laudable interference of the lion. Cecil -Law-
less, who guaranteed the safety of the property, until the
question should be added by the proper legal authority.
From the information which we have collected, and perti-
calul from ibe opinion expressed by one of the
we ve ream to apprehend a recurrence of this
gesessibes, mei es informations have been sworn,
*al • Meath et the peace would in all probability
1111111 W. Ile lave asseidered it our duty to take precautionary
seep ill accompanying the constabulary on patrol. We feel I
it semmary in submitting this report, and in requesting to
be ebbed as to future interference, to state the mecum-
Maimen briefly. The property of Kilfinan, in W. D. E.
, was purchased under the Encumbered Estates'
OuOtfrt May, by J. H. Dc Burgh, Esq., and he was put
la /cession under an injunction about ten days since, and
hue asst lime he has continued to exercise control and ma-
rid mid lands. The party who occupied the house
e enema loving held pending the cause,' now claims
the crags, Ow the removal of which the assemblage took
=toe", when a quantity of corn was cut down and
me eyed. We hold a letter from the solicitor
having the carriage of this decree, informing us that
Conatakelluser Longfield had communicated to him
that the lament was entitled to cut and remove the
melee mss. We feel that this opinion from se
wet sa larity is in direct contradiction to the *how
lien which gave unreservedly possession to Mr. De ikugh.
lad without referring to the question of civil rights, we
respettfully request that we may be advised, without delay,
as to whether we should prevent the removal of those erepa
the ownership of which is claimed at present by each party.
Requesting the favour of an early reply, which phase
direct to this address, we have the honour to be, sir, year
very obedient servants,
" WILLIAM FITS:AMISS Benear,
" J. Dar mitosis, 1131.
" Sir Thomas Redington."
After a lengthened discussion between the legal gentlemen
at both sides as to the right of the tenant who had been in
possession to come on the land and take sway the mop',
after the purchaser under the
,Incumbered Estates Court
had obtained his convessinee, and been put in peaseesion by
the injunction of the sheriff,
Mr. Aylmer said he was happy to say there wee s" dif-
ference of opinion on the subject amongst the reesieleatee
they were equally determined, whatever occurred, they
would preserve the peace, and any attempt., alter disk as
break it in the slightest manner, would be followed br the
strongest measures of repression. The decision of the
bench in the present case was that informations on either
side were deferred until a reply was given by the government
to the report transmitted to them, the parties who entered
on the land agreeing to pay a sum of 3.51. to be given, as to
the value of the crops, according to the decision of the In-
cumbered Estates Commissioners.
The Bench unanimously expressed its approbation of the
judicious and temperate course pursued by Mr.
F. Barry, J. P., on that occasion, shortly after which the
sessions adjourned.—Cork Eraminer.

AxoTnza TERRIBLE COLLIERY ACCIDENT AT
Blll4:4TOL.—lmforeistmn was received at Bristol at • late hour
last night that another fatal accident h Auk-tarred at one of the
edlieries near KiNwood. It was stated that about fifteen
or 'imam' men had been seriously injured and one or two
killed. Five et the sufferers had been Woviht into the
had ues =ln Brleast/kmary, bat no particulars of the calamity

THE EXPRESS, TUESDAY EVENING, SEPTEMBER 2, 1851.