The National Register.
London, England, 1819-02-01 00:00:00

TO TAE EPI7'OII.OF THE NATIONAL

Stn,—As it is par.ieularly desi.-able that the public
should e.icrtain a well-grounded ea:Lick:ice in the
zonni and 1-,;al discrimination of those who are con-
cerned in ..ite administratim tf justice, f bfg leave,
thrmgh the medium o yonr paper, to recommend
the attentive consideration of ts late publication, en.
titled " Observafons on the Case of Abraham Thorn.
:on, who was Tried for the Murder of Mary Ashford;
by a Student at Law."
The charge of the learned Judge who presided on
that tfial, and the conduct of the jury, who after ma-
ura a:liberation acquitted the prisoner, have been
;he subject of vau.t discussion ; and from facts ha.
pethctly unde:stood, and conclusions overhastily drawn,.
many persons have been disposed *to inapugn the pro-
priety of the determination, who will Le enabled to
form a more correct and dispassionate judgment on a.
patient examination of all the circumstances of the
case, now that the voice of popular indignation is
silenced, and the fervour of popular opinion abated.
Virions have been the arts employed 'o create and
perpetuate prejudices on this subject. A pamphlet has
been written " By an Attorney at Law," under assur-
ances of the strictest impartiAtv, to which he wa
nitride or unwilling to adhere. In the outset of th: of
work he offends against the spirit of calm inquiry, by
a description of the unflartunate Mary Ashihrd, cal-
cuhicted to .:cite the strongest fdelings of indignation
against her supposed murderer; and he takes care re
give these feelings a direction, be pri,,.ting in • italics
the parts of the evidence whielt pressed- against
Thornton.
It is to obviate the effect of publications of that-
nature—it is to vindicate the conduct of the upright
and learned Judge, for the first tits" culled in question-
-it is to defend the tradneed circumspection and ha.-
, tnanity of a .Tury, which in its verdict adhered to that
cautious maxim of our criminal jurisprudence, that a
prisoner is entitled to the benefit of every doubt that
is entertained, that I venture to recommend the MAL
I have mentioned. It labours, not to distort facts,
but to state them with candour and simMicity; not to
inflame the passions, but to convince the judgment.
It contains the plidn and honest language of truth,.
which must in the end prevail against the united forge •
of prejudice and misrepresentation.
I' remain, Sir, your obedient servant,
•
A BARRISTER:

Jan. $O.

Tuesday, about one o'clock, the Doke of YOrk:
arrived at his house in St. James's-palace, from a
visit to the Earl Verulam. nun. St. Albans. Soon,
after three o'clock His Royal Eliglturss hell a levee
at his office in the Here Guards.
The pr.vate advices brought by the Hamburgh and .
Dutch mails of Tuesday, communicate little of
is-
portent intelligence. A failure bad taken:place as:
Rotterdam of an English how establin;led there, but.
the deficiencies were expected to he itimnsiiierabia.
Commerce still continued in the same state of languor.
and inactivity which has recently prevailed in the
north of Europe, but money was plentiful, and the •
rate of interest Lad fallen ou en average of Ese
cipal towns and cities in that part of the (_.ont,:neut, to

4 per cent.
We were led to expect that the opposition were most
impatient for the meeting of the new Parliament, in :
order that they might show their strength, and prove
what ground they had gained in the opinitm of the -
country. We were told too that a most formidable
phalanx of new Members, both in point of zioatbers.
and talent, would he marshalled w_ainst Min:Korn, .
Nay, the% went so far as to assert that Mini:ters were
•' sacred out of their &ewe by their antagonists. sail
firing in all directions." It must be supposed that we
looked with some anxiety for the proofs a this fear anti
flight, which were furnished us at. tmce by the tlirini- -
(Wile motion of Mr. Bennet--and that happy ,?ombi.. -
nation of wit, cloeptence stet argument aflbrdei in the
niuiden speecit\c.f Sir Robot Wilson. Yet strange to.,
tell, neither of those extraertlituny Ants of human in..-
tellect have produced the diet of driving.Mitiisters froze.
the r seats, upon whii•ii they seem to sit xs securely, as..
ever ...Wean really afraid tLataas usual, this Party-
will only " keep the woad of promise to the ear" end "--
break it to our hope."—They did not move any Amen'..-
mem to the Speech nor provoke any division—ln their -
harangues in taverns anti hustings, they bud poured one.
stream of obloquy and abuse upon the late Ptirliamencr ;
I vet when tie deeds of that Parliament, and the state in ,
which it left our affairs are presented to tile new Pan. -
lisinent, no attempt is made to impugn t em, 211(1. :so
the late Parliament, never to to be rentemlered bas-:c
with gratitude, the new Parliament owes the uncork..
trsidicted statements of the Speech as to the new ani-il.
hopeful order of (bingo in whica the country Cods it:;--
self placed.
--i KING's-fixxcii.—A pffsou of the name of Fairmon I
attooded on Saturday morning to make a medal up...-
pile:Won, as stated, of very ccnsitlerahle importance ; ;
bur as mere matters rf course were only gone into, :t.:
toads over till this day.

CHARGE 01

ruLw'

• • • - • ota.msroßb, JAL tr. ="* ---'1• •
About four years ago a murder was committed atßer-
aka,. in Essex, by a gang of miscreants five or six in
miniber, who first broke iota the house of a respectable
tradesman, named linnry fir!n•Txds nor-.
4ated bitri. The circumstances under wHch this hein-
ens crime was perpetrates! were these: Mr. Trigg had
received upon his premises, a ti2w days previous to the
lamentable event, a great quantity of leather, and the
object of the rubbers was to carry it off with othenpro-
perty, which it was well known he possessed ; and they
brought a horse and cart with them, to enable them
better to accomplish their purpose. They succeeded in
breasting into the premises without alartniug the flonily,
and had loaded the cart, when Me. Trigg was awuk-
eued by some noise : he ran down stair, anti being a
'Courageous man he endeavoured to prevent the villains
from taking away his property. He seized one of them,
who immediately put a pistol to his head, anti snapped
the lock, but it flashed in the pan ; another of the gang
who stood behind him presented a second pistol, which
he fired, and the contents lodged in Mr. Trigg's heart
He fell down and expired instantly. The thieves im-
mediately drove off and escaped ; but circumstances
sour. led to the apprehension 05 Pratt and Turner, two
-of the gang: they were tried at the ensuing assizes, at
Chelmsford, convicted, and hanged. One of them, pre-
vious to undergoing his sentence, denied that he was
implicated in the murder and robbery, and persisted in
that declaration to the moment he was turned off: the
other acknowledged that he was one of the gang that
committed the murder, but refused to make any fur-
ther disclosure. A few months ago, three men, named
Thomas Corby, John Deans, and Timothy Hammond,
were apprehended upon a charge of carrying imple-
ments for poaching upon the grounds of a gentleman in
Essex, and with assaulting the gamekeeper in a brutal
manner, leaving bins on the ground apparently dead.
These men were tried last sessions fir the offence, and
being convicted, Deans was sentenced to be transported
for 7 years, and the other two to imprisonment fur dif-
ferent terms. During their consnemeut a strong sespi-
eion arose that they were the parties concerned with
Pratt and Turner, in the murder of Mr. Trigg The
Magistrates of Chelmsford exerted themselves to obtain
evidence as to the guilt or innocence of the accused....-1
They have been froqueutly examined, and such evi-
dence has at length been elicited, which, though cir-
centatantial, yet, in a considerable degree, ripens what
was before suspicion into certainty. The only circum
stance allowed to transpire, relating to the guilt of the
parties, is the evidence of the niece of Deans. It appears
that he resided at Argsden. near ('layering;, and was
frequently visited by his companions in iniquity. One
night, during a carousal, Dean's niece overheard the in-
toxicated party congratulating each other upon their
fortunate escape from the fine of Turner and Pratt'
their companions in the horrid crime at Berden.—
She discloses! the words which she overheard to some
person, by whom they were communicated to the
magistracy of the county. The latter were hence
induced to investigate the affair, and at the final ex-
amination this day, the prisoners were brought up to
the Shiro hall, bofire Sir Thomas Tyrrell, Bart. and
other -agiatrates for the county, and the evidence
being read, it was of such a couclusive description,
that it led the magistrates to fully commit the parties
to take their trials for the murder at the next
Chelmsford assizes.