The Sun.
London, England, 1806-08-11 00:00:00


SURREY ASSIZES.

GUILDFORD, SATt7.RDAy,.A.JO."-g,

DEFOAE THE Loßp c!.:ITF BARON.-

CEfli. CON. -AND BICANIY.

Eleanor Witie rd•,was indkted:for _that she, at
Gretna,_ in Scotland,. inte;Tuarried with John."Whit7.
-ford; on the 25th 'of fNo;:ember, t aot, and after=
wards. at the Parish .0f..E.t....A1ury; Lambeth, in the
County of Surrey, on 'the..l9l-ii of May, 1806, fe-
loniously..intermarried with Robert Jacques James,
her former husband being still alive.
This was a case which excited a considerable de,
tree of interest, is it was-un:'.rstood to involve the
regility of a:Gretna Green. Marriage. The Defend-
ant was a young Lady of handsome person and ele-
gant manners, and her appearance at the Bar eY.-
cited.considerable sympathy on her behalf, in the
speantors of the Court.,
After she was arraigned, arid had faintly uttered
hor; plea of Not Guilty,
Cultwoon rose to address the JUry. ,He be-
gan, by stating, that the melancholy duty, devolved'
upon him, iiitich he assured the Jury be executed
with most painful sensations, to crindua the prose-
cution against the Prisoner at the Bar, for a .crime,
which,- if substantiated against *her, degraded her

from her rank in life ; which the law: hat; declared a

felony, and which might subjea- her to -be trans-
, 'ported from her native country, an associate of the
•vilcst alzd- most profligate of mankind. The Case
hid) he' nacho lay before -the Jury was of a most
extraordinary nature, and differed very far from. the
class of cases which usually presented themselves
fur the consideration of--a Jury. In general, those
.who were.
.arraigned for this critneyere of the lowest
order of society, who had no knowledge of the
extent of their moral duties, or of the consequences
of deviating from them. Not such was the case of
the Prisoner at the Bar, she hadhien well educated,
and ought to have beer; refined to -a better sense of
her duties, and impressed with. the importance of
their observance: She was the daughter of a man
Of KespeaabilitY,. and- of some • importance in the
_town of Basingstoke, and in the year 1801 she was
addressed by her husband, who solieited her hand •
in marriage. Vor what reason, the _Learned Conn-
Lei said, he ,was not informed, but her father, at that
time; was averse to the match, and :refuSed his con-
sent ; but the addresses.of the young roan were not
disagreeable to her mother, and other parts- of the
Lady's family ; but it being. found that no entreaty
would sof!_en-the obduracy of. her father, the young
Couple eloped to Saitland, and were there married,
accOrding,to the forms and ceremonies of the Scot-
tish law. - Upon their return, they were reconciled
to her father,'and- the husband commenced business
as a linen-draper, at Soutlympton ; at that time he
~has about ci.s years of age, and.Ae Prisoner- scarcely
18. They continued at Southampton until the year
1.805, when business not succeeding, he was obliged
to relinquish his situation, and come to London.,
Here he certainly was obliged to -live on a reduced
staler , He obtained,a situation as managilfg man at
a wholesale linen warehouse in the City, and took a
small house for his wife at Kennington. They re-
sided together, in apparent comfort and happiness,
he going out early to his business in the morning,
and returning home about tight in the. evening.—
They continued this course till about March "last,
when one eening, returning as, usual, hefound that .
another bed was putting up in a spare room ; and,
upon inquiry, his wile told him that she had let this
room to a rnot
,reSpeaable old Gentleman,- ;,kho had
taken the Tooni'to lodge with them. ln the evening
the new lodger made his, appearance ; he:seethed

above CO years of age, and: of most .gentlethaniy
manners, and was, therefore,
,gladly received by the
huiband, as a welcome inmate.
_From such a man
he could suspea no injury ; and none but the most
snspiciouscould have, thoug!-ithis ‘vile in danger•in;
such society.- .Ho,dever, -sc.) it was', that after.a•very
snort lime, he found his wife strang-eiy.altered in her.
behaviour towards hirn. She, appeared disgusted'
..v;ith and miserable in herself.- lie entreated
her' Co reveal the ,causeOf her uneasiness, and, then,
ub doubt, to reveal Thor 0%61 guilt she iitfeaed to
say,- that his behaviour ivies unkind,- and she had:
ft,..zNorrto -stispea: his fidelity.' Ile endeavciUred,. by
every secthing.attention, and by increased kindness,.
to convince her of her forming an erroneous opi-
!lion, and had. apparently succeeded, it—, on the
morning' of the 13th of
,April,.wlien he 1.2 ft

. _
they.paked with' marks of more than usual kind-
ness ; but it so happened, that being takenill- that
dn,- he returned home mach earlier titan was cu s- •
tamary. He found his, wifefrotn home, and on the
mantle-pic.ce was aletter, addressed tb him, in her
hand-writiOg, • to the following purport. i 7--" Sir,
hive taken my own name of Miss HOWard,and shall .
ever after disown that of WhitfOrd,.which I. am now
fuily 'satisfied I never was entitled to ; Ithank Go'd
• for it fur I hold it in utter abhorrence.- Yes, said
the Learned Counsel, no. doubt she then held it in
utter abhorrence. While 'she was :nth:on-
taininate-k she held it not in abhbrience; bat_ when
she- bad,. deviated from the path of virta.., she no:
doubt abhorred the name of the man whom she
had wounded with the most cruel of all .injaries.---•
Shcs.did not return'home that night, but the nest
- morning-her husband. received a message that she
was at a neighbour's house, and desired to see hilt,.
He accordingly attended, -and then she, exllibited -a
gleam of remorse• for her misond-titlf.', When she
saw her husband, she.exclaimed, " Whitfor,d, you
catmnot, w:-11 not forgive 1112,7'-Ilt that tirnothe did •
not know the extent of 'his injury:, but she Ainnue-
diiitcly confessed that she,had dishonoar.O.hisbe,,l;'
and complainc_-1 that .I;imes, Breit lodger,- had 'seduted
her from her duty. All she requested waS;that her
husband would rstore her to her parents, which,-
not Withstanding his injuries, he promiseo6 would-
' do. Of short, duration, however,
.was 'her better.
resolve ; and so true was it, that when the bounds
of virtue were once transgressed, and the- mind. be--
came familiarisel with guilt, that it a&ed, without
remorse, what in its pure state it could not con:.
template without horror; for in a few weeks after
this event, she publicly Married her hoary seducer
and for that act she now stood wrigned as- a cri-
m nal at the liar of- Jus,tice. The Learned Counsel
:concluded by stating, that he. should call his wit-:'
nes;e to- rove ,his case. The punishmcnt,, if she
was o Ind guilty, would be apportioned by the sg-

perior wisdoen of his 1.1,d,h7i!,j but tliere remained
yet this consolation fur tilt' woir.;2nat the
Oar, that she was'\ brec,i-e a Judge who always
:iempered judginent With nier•...7.
• -
David ang, tile. well lalo,k bl:lckstnith 8,-or 7;7UCt-,
ter, at Gretna Gi-een, caked. 'll:is-man, hav-
ing taken the Scotch cath, stated, that' he wifi, a to-
bacchnist. at Gretna, and lwd-been long in the habit
of marrying persons who caul': to him. On he
25th of NoveMber,.. 1801, . he married ,the. Lady at
the Bar and Mr.-WhitfOrd, necoaling to his 'pra:;iice.
He was asked minty questions by the Lord 'cbie,f,
Baron.
,Fie said he had no .written form ofl mar-
fiage ceremony, nor kept any bb-oks. There' were
no subscribing witnesses to the Marriage in question.
The only names written-on the paper were David
Lang,',iohn Whitford, and Elizabeth Howard.
The LORD CHIEI! B.aoN said, he would not,ad-
mit this as a marriage. Lie asKed him. what he was
He replied, a tobacerinist. ilk' Lordship observed,
that a fellow or two, like the witness, did these sort
of-things; but botb Liensell and the parties were lia.•
ble to pirinisbment.
Mr. CURWOOD said, the rear ine was irregular ;
but that did not vitiate it, though it subjetiett.the
parties.to punishnient. understood:, by the Scotch
law, there were two 1:)..(21(!s of marriages.- •

.LORD CurEV BAtioN---‘'. I cannot iake your un-
derstanding of.the law of Scotland I must Wye it
certified by the Lord Advoco.;e., or one of the Judges
of the Court. There is,'no dwl'ot but a valid mar-
riage iu Scotland .or in China valid any where ;
but the law of every foreign c()!lntry :Must be certi-
fied. If you have any ..-I'dvocaPe of, chard er I will
receive his testimom-,"
Counsel---.A.Will your Lordship permit ie iL-
nes to 'give evidence. of the law ?"

.
LORD CHIEF iBARON_;"." .No, certainly not. I
will not receive 'the law'of Scotland front a tobacco-

'list.-

The Prisoner Was acquitted, of course. .
• Frederick Standen, tried for hurglariously breaking
and-entering the dwelling-house-of M. Shipley, Esq;
and stealing a variety of articles the property of Mr.
Shipley, to whom he was servant, was thwl—
Gui4ty, Death.
There was another indiament for a similar offence
in, the. house of Thomas' Parry, Esq. an East India
Director, and taking away silver nuCkies., miniatvire
pictures, and other valuable articles, his. property ;'
but he was not tried on the setond! • '
George Cooper, a li;hterrnah; was indi6ted for fe-
loniousiy stealing _a large quantity of malt, froM a
barge called the Atlas, the property orMessrs.,James
and =%Viliiam 13Urges, :of Horsleydown, corn-iner-
c;3ants; A number. of ‘vitnesses were examined .for
the prosecution,; who clearly proved the case, and
the Jury found the.l;risoner Guilty.. • •
The LottD. Ca; EF BARO previous to passing sen,:
tence Of seven years .transportation on him, ,ob-•
'served, that. he was fully proved to be one of
those - deStruetive plunderers, who rob the mer-
cantile` intere4 'of many thousands annually ; it
therefore becarne_necesiary to au exemplary
pymishinent on all Offenders., Who, laze him, were
most justly tumid guilty by a jury of their country.

Sardlt Johnson, Llizuvetli. Hitchcock, and
Flowers, three paupers,.maintainedat the expellee of
the Parish of Wandsworth,were tried on n india-
ment for robbing David Jerkins, a person brought,
into, that Workhouse, of a sum of money said to
be his propel ty. Sarah Brett, an approver, .deposed
to the following effect.: she said, -that in thu early
part of the month 'of April last the Prisoners and
-herself were .Paupc;,S in the Workhouse of Wands-
worth Parish ; the d&eased David Jenkins, having
fallen do%,vn in a fit, the DoCtor of the Parish saying
he was struck with death, as he thought, sent hitn
to the house td be taken Care of, mild sent also me-
divines for his relief; Mrs. Croft, the,Mistress.of the
Wor,kliA;l3C, sent the hisunerJohnson to attend hint;
Flowers and Hitchcock were in the room; when;
little hopes of life remailiing,7.lohnson searched, the
pockets of Jenk.ns, and took. Out his Money, Inch
she gave to =Mrs. 'Croft, accounting to 41. Os. 64d. ;
she bathe back, to the-rootn, and had another search,
and fOund a clean titfocsilver, in a• piece of rag ;
she expressed 'a wish to keep. it„ and, FlOir.ers most
strongly fecOminended-a division of the property, as
enough he said,,, had •beelt given to; the mistress ill
reaily ; . ten shillings each. W. 13 shared at that
a sero abiding piece was after,varth found, and ss,
-inure were .shared by each, of whom the witness'
was , one. , Mrs. Croft, :root the inebriated state
Of the parties, suspeeted soniething was done wrong.
l'he witness was called to' account, and she kel=
fag a compunction for tree part she had aCtede re-
ttirned.whA motley she hadleft," and told the whole
story : one of the Trisioners returned 45. 7d: and
,another. 3s. but Flo>eers would neither confess or
return the Money : the man died-while theroperation,
of picking his pocket the third time was perform-.
Mrs. Croft and her daughter corroborated the
evidence of Brett; and the Ji.lry found the ilirce Pri-
soners , .
The sentence on Flower, was Seven Years Trans--
ponfation ; • the -two women, who are, one i3O, and'
the:other 40 years of age, Twelve Months Hard La-',
bour.

. John Cowen was tried tor stealing two hampers,
and_ two dozen bottles of white wine, the property
of the Right Hon. Lord Ternpletown, at Betch.•
"North, to whom h'e was butler. The Prisoner had
Occasionally conveyed the' witie to a. neighbour's
house, for the purpose of sending it for Sale to a
house in East-lane, Walworth. On its.,passage it
was discovered, and traced to the Prioner, who was
• taken up, and committed,' for trial.' He was found

aroivi Gulley and Charlotte Fisher, two strollers,
were tried fur burglariously breaking and entering
the dwelling:house of James Vidler, at Dorking, and
stealing- varioas articles of linen. The Prisoners
were seen about the place on the night (tlie 22d of.
April) when the louse was broken open. Another
house was broken open that night at the same place.
They were afterwards traced into the Borough,
where . it was proved they had pawned the ankles
stolen from Mr. Vidler's house. Guilty--Death.
Isaac' /Vickers was tried 'for assaulting and beating
Wiliam Chaddick, a carter, at Peckham Rye-lane,
and robbing hlin of a silver watch, and a pursecontaining a 7s.:iiiece 'and some siMx. Two wit-

„ . , . .
"tivses who 'found Cbdadjs;li. , lying on the. giotilicl,
by his deScription,, pursued the ,Prisoner, took hien.
at Pecklmni, ftiund.. on hin the purse; and attar=
wards found the watch iii a place here'the Prisoner
cuntcssed he bad put it: The case b.eing, clearly
_proved, he was found Gzfilty—Deao.—TheTrisorser
was a- deserter frorn the Horse Artillery at Wool-,
wich:
Junes Harm :Alias Hyde, eras tried for stealing se-
veral bank-notes,out of a dwelling,iotr,:e., and found
Thomas was capitally- convifted of slieep-.
stealing. ' .

1,2-ill7 .REPOT.

COURT OF CHANCERY. 'Abc. g.

BANKRin'T rrETITIONS.

' EX PARTE TAYLOR, IN THE 'MATTER OF
This Petition, was presented by Taylor,• who was
a creditor of Hibbert's, for having the Commission
of -Bankrupt takenoui against him (Hibbert) super
seded, ash for subjecting Mr. Barlow, the Solicitor
eta' the Commission, along With Ilibbert- himself,
ClutT, the petitioning creditor, and another person
of the name of,Ogden, in payment of the costs of
the proceedings.
Mr.- SOLICITOR-GENERAL, in support of the ap...
plicatione'read..several a ttovltS, Which- ixent :to
shew, that hynnediately before the taking out of the
COminiSsion, "Cluff.wascreditor of Hibbert te.L. the
ainount'only -of bol. To make up the. debt to rOOl.
'Out? borreWed from Ogden 401. which he leet to
Hibbert, who '"again: returned it to Ogden ; and,
within three weeks of the time of the original loan,
Cluff tuQk out a C.kionission of Bankrupt against
Hibbert, representing himself as a crechtor.to the
extent of took" &Aides the debt due to Cletf, the
petitioning creditor, who, on its being shown fo'
him that the 401. had been ;repaid by the Bank-
rupt to Ogden (a fat% of which, till after the taking
out of the. CemMiS'sion be professed fo be ignorant),
fipand that he could only claim for 601. the 'Whole
dents claimed, were extremely netting, amounting
to loss thae cool. of.course to less than the sum for
which, as due•to a number of creditors, a Comthis-
! sien of Bankrupt could legally issue. The Learned
Counsel therefore maintained,. that the COM-mission
had been taken out in fraud, and 'only-with the view
of Procuring for the Bankrupt-his certiffeate::That it
'must be superseded, and that too at the expence of
• the BankruPt, and of his coadjutors, Ciurf and Ogden,
was without dispute... In the:eircumstances of 'the
present case, wheree howeverethere was little or no
prosPeCt of the expences being recOVered from the
petitioning creditor,. who had, himself sincebecotue
bankrupt, or from the ether parties, the Learned
; COUUSQI submitted; that Mr. Barlow; the Solicitor,
who had taken; out the CommisSion, and whose
ditty it iivA",'lisSlig authorised tos,e6 cut the 1)r0-
.- CCSS of tbattourt; to see that-'snelrprocess was eot
*abused, was also liable for- those expences•lerhich
had been occasioned by .iiis-own improper neg,le(tof
duty. • It was:'eettainly the duty 'of a •Selicitor; be-
fore suing out a Conimission of Bankrupt, to inquire
and be saft.;iied that there was a petitioning creditor's
' debt: ,• Had Mr. BarloW made the proper inquiry in
this case, it was obvious that he nlest have found
that there was no..rfal debt to the amount required,
and of course the Commission would. not have
been- taken out: It was impossible to deny that the
Court had a right to say to those entrusted with the
:right to issue its, process--" You have abused. -the
right :reposed us you, and therefore you shall ,enjoy
it no longer." In aSking of the Court to make ,
Barlow liable 'in the expenses incurre,d by the ins--;
proper exercise
,ef this right,. the Learned Coun-
sel,:surely, sought. to subject him to less -severe
panighinent than that df depri'vation of office ;
and; 'if the" Court could inflict the harsher, it un-
.qhestiduably was competent to adjudge the. lighter
punishment.. - . -
Mr.-Coax; for Mr. Barlow, representc;l, that his
client was a young man, the subjecting of whom in
'expences, in this -case. wohld, be 'to ruin him on his
first entrance into lite. The petitioning creditor had
stated-todiim, that he had a debt .against the Bank-
eupt to • the `extent required by law. No collusion
on - the ;part of his client had been attempted to be
sliewn.. It was, theref :re, going too far to-suppose
himr. Conscious of a fe.c.t, of which, from every thing
that appeared on his own affidavit, he was ignorant ;
and, on. such supposed knowledge., to subject him
to a punishment not recognized by. the rules or, th'e
'The LORD CIIANCELLOR said, if he had seen any
thing-in the affidavits for the Petitioner, which,went
to infera knowledge, on the part of the Solicitor, *of
an imperfe6t debt, notwithStanding his affidavit to
the contrary, he should have exercised his own
judginent on the, pi:obabiiity of the-two statements.
'Mere was, however, DO allegation of the kind .; but
the accession Of Mr. 'Barlow to the fraud praCtised
by the other parties was left to lie colleCted simply
from the existence of such frauds in • them on whose
representation he bars taken out the commission.
He did not find it laid down in the, practice of this
Court, that such a rule was to be taketelcr granted.
'IC he did, notwithstanding the respect in which he's
held the practice of other Courts, where a contrary.
prevailed;- and notwithstanding the .disadvantages
which' Such a,praaice' might, induce, lie should have
given it full, countenance. . C3u the cOntrary, how-
ever, .while he 'had-never ,beard that in .i-. Court of
Law an Attorney had been subjeaed to tltimages,
eXpences, fee a writ improperly taken out by hire
an inf7srinition lodged with him by his Client,. of the
falsity ofwhach he wasignoraet, he was equally ti.•
informed that such a measure of justice had ever
been applied to any Solicitor of that Court impro- '
perly taking out' a Commission of Bankrupt, he be-
ing unaware that -every thing sworn- to vas not
as it purported to be. ;It did not appear to-.
his LOrdship, that if no debt but that of theVeti-
tioning CreditOr was proved, the-commission was,
therefore, void. Any Creditorio the extent required
by Law, was entitled to take out a .CommiAion for
his own benefit alone. He did not deny that the
Bankrtipt Law might be' Susceptible of improve-
ment in this respect, but it was hisduty to judge of
that Law as it stood. - It was not hiS lili.sh to throw •
Impediments in -the' way of any pepon obtaining
access to a Court-of Justice,"aed liewas afraid'corri-
plying. wit h. the prayer of the present Petition woule
greatlytend to produCe -this effete. The doors of