The Sun.
London, England, 1864-12-14 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

ROME CIRCUIT.—CHELMSFORD, Dec. 13.
(Before Baron Channell )

The Court proceeded to dispose of the business yesterday
morning at ton o'clock•

John Williams, 40, was charged with feloniously and
maliciously setting fire to a stack of wheat and three stacks
of straw, the property of William Matson.

Mr Martin conducted the prosecution.

This was rather a remarkable case. The prosecutor is a
farmer at St. Osyth, in the neighbourhood of Colchester,
and he is a member of a society for the prosecution of felons
in the district. It appeared that about twoyears ago a quan-
tity of geese were stolen from one cl the members of the
association, and a reward of £lO was offered fur the detection
of the guilty party. This did not lead to any result, but
some time after the robbery had been committed the prisoner
had a quarrel with another man and accused him of being
concerned, with himself, in stealing the geese. The result
of this was that both were taken into custody and tried with
two others for the robbery, and they were convicted and the
prisoner was sentenced to 12 months' imprisoment. At the
expiration of his sentence the prisoner returned to St. Osyth,
and he applied to the prosecutor for the reward of £lO that
had been offered by the association for the discovery of the
persons who had stolen the geese, but he was told, of course,
that he had no claim to it, and it appeared that he also re-
fused to give him any work, and there was no doubt that
there was a general unwillingness on the part of the farmers
in the neighbourhood to employ the prisoner, and this
seemed to make him very angry, and he was heard to utter
threats against the prosecutor. About ten o'clock on the
night of Nov. 21 the premises of the prosecutor were all
safe, but ab ut an hour afterwards several stacks were dis-
covered to be on fire, and in the result property worth £2OO
was destroyed. With regard to the guilt of the prisoner, it.
appeared to be ostablished by the most conclusive evi-
dence. It seemed that on the night of the fire
the prisoner went to a public-house kept by a person
named Coles, about a mile from the prosecutor's farm, and
asked him to give him some lucifer matches, but he refused
to do so. He had previously told him that he would hear
of something before morning, and after he had refused him
the lucifers he said it did not signify, as he knew where he
could get some, and he added that he intended to burn down
Mr Matson's premises. The witness told him he had better
not do so or he would suffer for it, and the prisoner said that
he did not care, he would rather be shot than continue in
the state he was, and that he was bent upon doing what he
said. The prisoner then appeared to have gone to the cottage
of a labouring man named Willett, who was his brother-in-
law, and he knocked him up and asked him to give him
some Inciter matches. He gave him three matches, and the
prisoner said they were not enough, and Willett then gave
him several more. When he had got the matches, the pri-
soner said that ho was going to set fire to Matson's stacks.
and that ho should be in Thorpe police• station on the fol-
io ing night. The prisoner then walked away, and the
witness Willett returned to his bed, and very soon afterwards
the alar.n of fire given. It appeared that on the day after
the fire the prisoner went to the police-station at Thorpe,
and told Mr Bankee, the inspector of police who was on
duty, that he had set fire to Mr Matson's stacks, and when
he was asked how he came to do such a thing, he replied
that everybody was " down" upon him, and that he could
not got any work, and therefore he was determined to do
what he had done. The prisoner made a similar statement
to several other persons.

When ho was called upon for his defence, he merely said
that he could not get any work and he did not know what
to do. The prosecutor and other farmers had all agreed
together not to give bim any work, and he thought it was
hard to starve. He was willing to work, but they would
not give him any to do.
The Jury, without any hesitation, found the prisoner
Guilty.
Evidence was then given that the prisoner had been on
twc previous occasions convicted of felony, and sentenced
to 6 and 12 months' imprisonment.

Baron Channell, in passing sentence, said that the prisoner
had been convicted upon clear evidence of a very wicked
crime, and the only ()reuse he appeared to make for his con-
duct was, that the prosecutor and the other farmers would
not give him employment.. It might be advisable that per-
sons should have an opportunity of retrieving their charac-
ters after coming our of prison, and of obtaining employ-
ment, but he was not prepared to say that the prosecutor
and the other rarmers were not perfectly justified in refus-
ing to employ a man who had been twice convicted of felony,
and who they believed was not likely to do any good. How-
ever this might be it was no excuse for the prisoner's con-
duct, and having regard to the serious character of the offence
he felt himself compelled to pass a revere sentence, which
was that he be kept in penal servitude for 15 years.
The prisoner, who had conducted himinsaelnf
iwmipthudveenryt gtorneae:
aetzeislatiheedbest thing that was ever
edlfolnr,ohenaftnoerkrymydoeuui,rniranrogyytlholeirfde,.;, trial,,th

William Stockton Bertie, 19, pleaded guilty to a charge
of feloniously setting fire to a stack of barley, the property
of Helen Anne Tasker.

He was sentenced to six years' penal servitude.

When the sentence was pronounced, the prisoner called
out, "Thank you, any lord. I hope you !nay sit there till
I come back."

Henry Augustus Munns, a private in the Royal Marines,
Charlotte Turner,
wwaitshcihnatregnetdtowmituhrdfeelrohneioru. wounding

Mr Watford prosecuted.

The prosecutrix, a rather good looking young woman, it
appeared, was in the service of a Mr Nicholson, a woollen
draper at Chelmsford, and Major Masters, Royal Marines,
to whom the prisoner was servant, lodged in the house, and
the prosecutrix was engaged to wait upon him, and she
thus became acquainted with the prisoner, who appeared to
have paid her attentions and to have expressed a desire that
she should marry him. The prosecutrix did not seem to
, and this greatly excited
hthaeveprgiisvoennerh,iNmvhaonwyaesnchoeuarradgetmoenuttter threats of violence
against her. About a fortnight before the transaction in
question took place, the prisoner met the prosecutrix walk-
ing with a young man to whom she was engaged to be mar-
ried, in the New-road at Chelmsford, and he went up to
them and said to the companion of the prosecutrix,
You are the fellow I want," and struck him, and the
prosecutrix was very much alarmed at the violence of his
conduct. On the 11th of October it appeared that the pro-
secutrix was making the bed in Major Masters' room, when
the prisoner came in and accused her of having told some-
thing about him to his mistress, but she denied having done
so, and told him to leave the room. Immediately she did so
the prisoner put his arm round her neck and inflicted a very
severe wound on her throat with a razor. The prosecutrix
screamed and ate mped on the floor, and Major Masters went
up to see what was the matter, and the prisoner ran past
shoratleygaraftveartwinagrdhsimtakteondiontiot
a
Ho
custody, and when he was told what he was charged with he
himaidlmonogtuhttai
time,
ftehlhe
aepnrhdoosuenscoenw.w
t heh
x had aa
ad
been
done it, and he at the same
time inquired if the prosecutrix was dead. When he was
asked what he had done with the razor with which the
wound had been inflicted, he at first denied having had a
razor in his possession, but he afterwards said that he might
as well tell the truth ; he had thrown the razor into the
river as he walked up the London-road, and he intended to
to have thrown himself in.
Tile prisoner put several questions to the prosecutria with
a view to show that there had been an improper intimacy
between them, and that he had given her a great many pre,
lents, and she had promised to marry him. The prosecn-
trix, however, positively declared that there was not any
truth in the suggestions made by the prisoner.
The prisoner put in a long written statement, in which
he imputed most disgusting conduot to the prosecutrix, for
which there did not appear, to be the slightest foundation.
He also declared that at the time he committed the act, he
was not in a right state of mind, and did not know what ho
was doing.

The Jury found the prisoner guilty of wounding the pro-
secutrix, with intent to do her grievous bodily harm.
The learned Judge Kid he would take time to consider
what sentence should be pronounced.

A DAY'S SPORT IN DEYONSIIIRE.—Last week a
shooting party, consisting of the Right Hon. Lord Methuen,
the Rev, E. A. Sanford, and E. A, Sanford, of Nynehead
Park, Wellington, killed in two covers at Pugham (in this
county) 90 pheasants, 44 hares, and partridges and rabbits
numbering about 200 head, in the course of a few hours.
The total extent of the two covers is but seven acre., and
belongs to the worthy
quire of Nynehead.—Tivorion
Gazette.

[ADVERTISEMENT.] Hollovray*s Ointment. All
verities of ulcerations, bad legs, sores, wounds, and erup.
!ions can be cured by the diligent use of the cooling, sooth-
ing,and healing unguent. The old and often failing fashion
of strapping the edges of ulcers together with plaster has
entirely given way before the more reasonable treatment by
Holloway's Ointment,which builds up from the bottom of
the ground with witind and healthy granulations ; these
gradually grow until they reach the level of the surface,
then contract, harden, and immediately become covered
with new and wholesome skin. The proper application of
this ointment diminishes the iniammation, causes the un-
healthy discharge first to grow thick, then to cease, when
the swelling disappears and the natural shape is restored.