The Sun.
London, England, 1801-09-15 00:00:00

CLERKENIVELL SOSIONSi tm. 14.

THIS day the Sessions for the County of Middle-
sex commenced at Hicks's Hall, when several pei-
sons were tried for petty assaults.
Elizabeth Hodson, who• kept a school in the
neighbourhood of Goswell-street, was indkied for
violently assaulting Sophia Child, a little girl, seven
years of age, and making her arm black and blue,
&c.

It appeared in evidence, that the Defendant had
struck this child with a bamboo cane, by way of
correCtion because she had not, done—her work ;
that she was in a passion,when she:did;so, but that
the child suffered no such injury in consequence of
this punishment as was stated in thelndiettnent.

The CHAIRIVLAN said, that Ttitors and Go-
vernesses were to be considered in the relation of
Parents, and therefore had a right to exercise mode-
rate correction towards children under their care.
The Defendant might have struck the child with
too much heat and passion, and therefore did not
aft with propriety ; but what she had done was not
a crime, and should not have been brought before
that Court., 'The Defendant was then acquitted.
Samuel Stephens, a Gentleman residing in Wig-
more-street, Cavendish-square, was indicted for
assaulting Samuel Taylor, a Linen draper and
Haberda-Sher, residing in' the, same street. It ap-
peared that considerable dealingS had taken place
between the parties,: the Defendant's wife had
purchased t Sol. worth ':letf goods--;from the Prose.
cutor ; but a dispute having arisen about a trifling
artiele, the Defendant, called the Prosecutor a
scoundrel ; on which- the other laid his hand upon
him, as if to remonstrate and ask why he called.
him that name., The Defendant then struck him
a violenfblow, which was the subject} of the pre-
sent IndiCtment. It was contended by the De-
fendant's Counsel; that the Prosecutor, by laying
his band on the Defendant, after having been called
a scoundrel, comMitted the first assault, because it
was improbable he sho'ild have laid his hand upon
him, after such an affront, except in anger.
The Jury, however, did not think so, but found
the Defendant Quilt). He was fined tot.

Yesterday the Quildhall Sessions were opener' be.:
forc'the Recorder, Sir WATKIN .I,6v.fs, Alderman
PEItCHAILD, and Alderman CLARk. (being the first
time•of his doing, public duty sinee' he was chosen).

A Broker from the Stock Exchange was tried
for an assault upon a Country Gentleman, who went
there to sell out some stock : several Witnetses,
as well as the old . Gentle-in ,u, clearly prOvcd
his having beep hustled and shoved about by the
Defendant.. This cause. -was :ably sustained by
' Counsel on both sides. The Jury found the De-
fendant guilty, and the Court convifted him in the
penalty of ten .pounds; as this was the first eprn-
plaint of the kind that had appeared before them,
and they hoped it would be the last : • the money
was immediately paid.— A suspected pickpocket
was sentenced to six months hard labour in Bride.
well, charged by the c.r..ty Marshal and one of his
men- dorm the Police MI.

A number of Prisoners were brought from the
Fleet Priaon, to be discharged upon the Insolvent
Debtor's several were discharged, having
conformed to the Ad of Parliament, and some were
remanded till the zd of Odtober, being the day for
the Adjourned Sessions to meet, they being opposed.
PUBLIC-OFFICT., WHITECHAPEL.— Yesterday
William Pafoot and Edward Smith, were examined
on. a charge.of fo;gery.. It appeared that Pafoot
had been in an extensive line of business at Ports-
mouth some years hack, in which he failed. Com-
ing to London some time since, he„ in company
with-Smith, went to the house of Mr. Float, pub-
lican,. in Whitechapel-road, where .he represented,
That he had.o 10 of 01. some shillings, accepted
by Mr. Dash, of the -Navy-Office, and if Mr.
Float chose to go . with, him, he 'might be satisfied
of its goodness. It seemed that Float had complied
with r. Pafoot's request, and seeing him speak to
Mr. Dash at some distance from him, he took it for
granted that all was right ; .having .returned, the
bill was left in the possession of Mr. Float, td ad-
yance cash upon it. A short time after, Smith
came to ask Isl. in advance upon it, but only re-
ceived two guineas,' until Mr. Float was better sa-
tisfied. On a farther inquiry, he found that the
Christian name of the acceptor was different from
that of the Gentleman belonging to the Navy-Office,.
Smith, who is a taylor, endeavoured to exone_
rate. himself, by saying he only ailed at the request
qf his fellow Prisoner, not doubting but that it was
,altogether a fair transadion.

Mr. Pafoot offered to make a defence, which the
Magistrate advised him to reserve till his trial.—
They were both fully committei.i.for trial, one as a
principal and the other as utterer.

Mrs..RoLt.sx -the Lady of Two: Rou.s, Esq.
'one of the Magistrates :for
.the County of Surrey,
died suddenly at their house near the Green-Man
Turnpike, Kent-road, at 'four o'clock on Monday
morning last. The effea on Mr. RoiLs' was. such,
that he languished under an- apparent despondency
until Tuesday afternoon, about five o'clock, when
he expired, They' both in. the same house for
interment; and we are sorry to add, that the son and
daughter are dangerously ill, from the shock, they
have felt on' the unfortunate occasion.. •

. Saturday- morning . as' a woman was milking a
cow in a stable-yard, in-Long-lane, Smithfield; the.
-animal; on. seeing a little girl enter the yard with
a, child about six months old in.her arms, suddenly
ran towards her, tore the child from her arms, and.
,began to worry it with savage fury. The Woman,
on attempting to rescue the'infint from„its perilous
state, was thrown down and trampled upon ; how
ever,. by repeated exertionsi:tihe ,happily effeaed
her purpose, but not without vbeing,;auch hruised,
nor until the child had beetv,so,' wounded by the
teeth of the ferocious animal in several parts of its
body, as to render its recovery very doubtful.
'Liverpool is the place. where Mr. KAsztritiEß.
has sent the PiOure which he painted of 'Bonaparte.
:It' is said that it attrads. as much the curiosity of
IStople there as it did .when exhibited in London.

4tISSEX ASSIZES: •

LORD !CE**ON Aini A OiCIAL
FEATLER 4J. TASKER.

, Mr. GAAROW stated; that this was art /Mimi Of
t-overi brought by a Widow against her son-in-law,
to recover certain Deeds and Instruments unjustly
withheld frem her. He wished this family dispdte
could have been adjusted, without the necessity for
bringing it into a Cdurt of Justice. The case was
shortly this, the husband of the Plaintiff had. been
involved in a dilemma, which rendered the forfei-
ture of a small estate- he- had, a circumstance not
improbable ; and,: in order to prevent it, he hail
conveyed it in trust for the use of the Plaintiff. He
was since dead,' and the Defendant,- who had been
entrusted with the Title Deed, had refused to de-
liver it up, contending, that the conveyance was
not an absolute gift to the Plaintiff, but that the
Estate ought to, be divided among the family.
The Deed in question, was proved to have been
in the possession of the Defendant, and was stated.
by the Attorney who prepared it, to have been a
conveyance in trust to the use of the Plaintiff abso-
lutely.
Mr. Serjeant BEST, for the Defendant, observed,
that at the time this Deed was executed, the Gran-
tor was in gaol for felony ; and apprehensive he
should be attainted, he had made the conveyance,
in order to protea his property from forfeiture.
The man, however, had the good fortune to be ac-
quitted, and consequently the Deed ought to 'have
been restored. -He had since died,: and the Plaintiff
had insisted upon keeping the Estate, in opposition
to the interests of the rest of the family. It was
evident the Plaintiff could haVe no right to hold, as
the conveyance having -been ,made to defeat the
Right of the Crown, was illegal.
Lord KENYON said, he thought the contrary ; a
Deed made, before a party was attainted, was to
all intents and purposes, a good Deed.• A great
many very large Estates in this Country were held,
in consequence of such conveyances. He could
mention many wealthy families in the North, who
enjoyed Estates under Deeds made by their ances-
tors, previous to their being attainted of treason.
How many Estates, in the time of the Rebellion,
had been conveyed to younger brothers, to prevent
their being forfeited by the a6ts of the elder ? He
knew no reason, why it should be considered as re-
pugnant to the moral duties, or the Law of' the
Land, for a . person, who was apprehensive his
Estate might be forfeited,' to convey it over, for
the benefit of such of his family as he thought pro-
per. If, .in consequence of negleeling -to do so, it
afterwards came to the Crown, it was ten to one
but it•got into the hands of some unworthy favou-
rite: If the party making the Deed, was-acquitted
of the treason or felony, 'still the Deed could not be
avoided, without the concurrence .of the Grantee.
He would ask the Learned Serjeant, by what leger-
demain, an Estate so conveyed, couldrevest ?

Mr. Serjeant BEsT contended, that if he proved
the circumstances under which the Deed was ex-
ecuted in Horsham Gaol, it 'would be ,sufficient to
repel the right of the Plaintiff to keep the Estate
conveyed by it. He insisted,' and urged a variety
of arguments in support of his opinion, that the
Plaintiff ought not to have the Deed delivered to
her, but that toe ~state ought to be divided, for
the benefit of the family in general.
Lord KeztvoN remained of the same opinion.
Mr, Serjeant BEST said, if his Lordship was
against him, he must submit.
Lord KENYON observed, that he retired like
Ajax from the,battle, with a great deal of reluft.
ance. His Lordship added, that considering all the
circumstances of the case, it was a very fit one to
refer to some person who should sit as Chancellor
between the p3rties, and dire6t what was proper to
be done.

This was consented to, and the Cause was re-
ferred to Mr. PARTTNGTON3 a Gentleman at the
liar, and a verdift of ioool. was given for• the
Plaintiff, for the purpose of enforcing obedience to
his award.

ASSAULT.

nittsrow v. PENFOLD.

This was an Ation to recover damages for an
Assault. The Plaintiff was Waiter at an Inn, at
which the farmers in the neighbourhood of Lewes
assembled on market days. The Defendant was a
Farmer, and with a number of other persons of the.
same description was in the room in which the
dinner' was to be served up. The Defendant had
purchased a.piece of mechanisni of singular utility,
and of curious construdion, and the Plaintiff pre..
tending ignorance of its properties, took the liberty
of inquiring what it was. The Defendant replied
that it was i malt trap, and used 'for the purpose
of catching rogues and thieves. " Aye, indeed,"
said the waiter ; -" then it would he a devilish good
thing for the poor if it would catch some of you
farmers and damn me," he: added, ". I -should
like to see all your heads in it'!" This apostrophe,
energetically delivered, irritated. the farmers to
such a degree, thA =they` took their sticks, and
began hunting-the poor waiterand poking, frith on
the sides, as the• drovers do
,the beasts they, are
driving.• The Defendant ..was- paiticularly active, -
and by the ~time the Plaintiff got out 9f the house,
his arms, back, and sides, were variegated with all
the colours of the rainbow, And it was not till after
several. weeks. he recovered the use. of his arms.

• Mr. Serjeant BEST, in his address to .the Jury,
inferred that the Plaintiff had, by his own impru-
dence, brought upon himself the chastisement he
had met with, and therefore that the smallest com-
.pensation in damages would be sufficient.
The Jury gave a verdil in favour of the Plaintiff,
with 405. damages.

SMUGGLING.
TIR KING V. HOLDER.

Mr. SetitailiSnr.pftEao stated, that this Was an,
information' 1441'1st the Defendant for assaulting
Samuel Jones, a: Revenue Officer, and obstru&ing
him in the execution of his office. There were
several other Defendants, but the present was the
only person before the Court.
Samuel Jones said, that on the pst of Odober
last he was Supervisor of ..Excise at Steyning, and

was returning. hOrrie between ten and twelve ut
night, in company with John Ordmidi another.
Officer, when he- heard the noise of a number
horses. He stopped in a lane, and Orchard •Ivent
over into a field. A party of Smugglers;
ing of 16 or zo men, came up the lane ; three or
four of them were light' (that is their horses were
trot carrying any goods) and the hotsesof the Other;
appeared to have tubs slung over them: On comity,
past across-road that led into the lane, they.haltA,
and the three light men turning round, the rest fol_
lowed them, and advanced towards'' the Witnes3.
One of these men, whose, name was Meeting,
claimed, "Damn you, what do yoti do here
The Witness. asked what that was LI him ? H.
thought one of the three persons was n;aned Cl;an:L.
ler, upon which he said, " Mr. Chandler, it
you." Immediately upon his saying so, Meetine;
and Holder, :and the third person, he sUpposed to
have been Chandler, struck him with heavy stieks,
and almost knocked him off his horse: His arm
was beat as black as his hat. As he was retreat,.
ing, he received a very severe blow on the back
part of. his head, and he nearly fell : however, he
sOurred. his horse and got aWay. One of the Smug:.
glers followed him three or four hundred yards,
swearing at him. ' It was owing to the violent
treatment he received he was prevented making.. the
seizure: Though it was late and dark, he. was sure
he knew two of the persons who assaulted him,
namely, Holder and Meeting. He was positively
certain as to Holder, whom he had known ever
since he had been in the Country.
Mr.-Serijeant BEST founded his defence upon the
probability that the Witness, in consequence of the
darkness of the night, might have been mistaken as
to the identity of the. parties who attacked and ill
used him. •

Lord KENYON observedj that in .a case where
the evidence was so positive, there could not exist
a doubt..

The Jury pronounced the Defendant—Gray.

THE KING V. DAVY AND OTHERS.

MR. Serie:int SHEPHERD stated, that this was an
information against the Defendant, and two others,
of the names of Kennard and Dunk, for assaulting
and obstruaing Thomas Pelh;:m, a Cast Om-house
Officer, in the execution of his duty.

The Prosecutor deposed, that he was Riding Of.
firer in the service of the, Customs at Brighton. In
conseqUence of an infortna.icn he had received, he
proceeded to the sea coast in the month of June last,
having previously procured the assistance of some
Dragoons. About one in the morning he arrived at
Rottendean Gap, quid perceived a company of Smug.
filers, amounting to between so and too. He
wise observed a number of horses, with saddles and
,straps. Upon hi S approach with the Soldiers, the
Smiagglers flashed their pieces, and made fires on the
hills; as Signals to the boats to stand, off. One boat
was very near the shore; and another farther off;.
They both appeared deeply laden ; the boats answered
the signal ; the Witness would have seized the boats
if they had landed-;- at this time a quantity of stones
were thrown off the cliff; there were a great num-
ber Of:stones, and very large ones, aimed at him and
his assistants. ' The Witness went up the Gap, and
requeSted the Smugglers would desist from throwing
stones, as one of the Soldiers had been struck. Two
of the Smugglers, of the names of Wm. Dunk and
William Kennard, came up, and the latter abused
him very much, by calling him rascal, robber mur-
derer, and villain, and threatened to knock him off
his horse if he did not alight and fight him, and
said, he and his party would fight the Witness and
his party, man for man, till they died. The De,.
fendant Davy, caught hold of his horse's bridle.—
The Witness asked him by what authority he did so?
The only reply he made, was, by damning him, and
again threatening to knock him off his horse. The
Witness said, if he did not quit his hold, he would
draw his sword and cut his arm off. The Defendant
did not,quit the bridle, but the Witness spurred his
horse, and twisted it out of his hand. Soon after
that ho took the' way of the Witness (that is, got
before him, and opposed his passage), and struck
him on the side. The Witness sent some of the
Soldiers to another placc, where he expeeted the
boats would go, and remained with the rest at Rot.
tendean Gap. The Defendant took out a bag of
gold, and placing three guineas between his fingers,
offered that sum to each of the Soldiers, saving,
" You aregood fellows ; quit this rascal, and we will
work the goods in defiance of him." The Soldier%
refused to take his money, and followed the Wit.,
mess to Greenway, where he supposed the boats
were gone, The Defendants did the same, abusing
him. all the while.

Several soldiers of the roth Regiment of Dra-
goons entirely corroborated the account given by
the officer.

Mr; SerJeant BEST admitted that the testimony
of theVitnesses was correct ; he could not prevent
a Verdi& against the Defendant, but if the account
he had received of the affair wits true, it was
possible but that the Officer knd the Soldiers must
have beep:mistaken. He understood he should be
able 'vi prove, by the evidence of a very respeaable
PtiblWan, who kept the White Hoise at Rotten-
dean
,nap, that Kennard was not present when the
soldiers. first drew up, but that he was in bed, and
had been so for dome time. He should also prove,
that the Prosecutor had made A .mistake with regard
to the house, and that, instead of his arriving at
Rottetdean at one o'clock, it was past four. if
th*faCts were made out, he submitted they would
throw such doubt upon the testimony of the wit-
,nesses, as would induce the Jury to acquit the De-
fendants:

Henry 'Hubbard, Landlord of the White Horse,
said, when the Prosecutor and the soldiers first came;
they rode violently over the taila of his yard, and
drew up opposite his doors Kennard had been in
bed in the Witness's house above half an hour. In
consequence of the tumult; he (the Witness), and
also Kennard, got up. Some words ensued, owing
to one of the Soldiers having taken a spy-glassirom
a man, and thrown it on the ground, and broke ir ;
the Witness told the Soldier; he did not know the
value of it, or he would not have thrown it down 4,
it cost him five guineaS.
Mr, Scrjeant 51.1UREV.p$ before he- oross.ota.4

On Wednesday evening last was fouril drowned
,
in the Serpentine River, Hyde Park, a Ydung wo-
man, about nineteen years o, age, of the name of
Kennedy, of respeftable
/parents ; bat through the
folly of her father, and the death of her mother,.
obliged to take to service. She had lived for five
months past with Mr. Woolly, an ironmonger,. in

LONDON : Frinted by 13U CHA WM! WAN, (.of Bow-str:ret, Covent-Garden); and Published by WILLIAM An Is: c Es. Scat (of Horse-ferry-road,' Westminster);
At the SitN.qmcf,- No, tl x, sYtrdnd ; where Advsrasemillis, Ordcrf for the Papri, Letters for the faitvr, &e, (post-paid), muse be- acidrased,