The Sun.
London, England, 1863-12-17 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

HOME CIRCUIT,—MAIDSTONE, Dec. 16.

The winter assize was to open here to-day, but as Mr
Baron Pigott was detained at Taunton, the comtcencement
of business here has been postponed till to-morrow (Thurs-
day), the commission being opened this evening. The
calendar is not very heavy. There are altogether about 20
cases, of which two are cases of homicide, one being charged
as murder, and the other as manslaughter. There are about
six cases of arson, one of which is a charge of firing a dwel-
ling-house, the other the ordinary cases of rick or stack
burning.

On Monday, the 21st, the commission opens and business
commences at Lewes, where the calendar is at present light,
On the next day, Tuesday, the 22d, the commission opens
at Chelmsford, where there is a charge of murder, and pro-
bably as much business as here. On the very next day, the
23d, the commission is opened and the business commences
at Kingston, where also there is a charge of murder and
some serious cages, and it is not at all improbable that there
will be two assizes on the same circuit at the same time, nor
is it impossible that there may be three--Sussex, Essex,
and Surrey—all at the same time. Another judge, Mr.
Baron Martin, is coming to Surrey, and it is not impro-
bable that Mr. Baron Pigott may not be able to finish at
Lewes in time to go to Essex, in which case another
judge will be required, and as not only all the judges but all
the sergeants-at-law are on the commission for the winter
assize, it is probable that the new judge, Mr. Justice Shee,
may commence his judicial duties on this his old "circuit,
The occasion may not be inappropriate Co mention that there
is among the Bar a universal feeling of cordial approval
and satisfaction at the new appointment, and this not only
on the Home Circuit, but on every other, and among gentle-
men of every political party and every religious creed. Mr.
Sergeant Shee was extremely beloved and respected on this
circuit, of which he has long been leader, and the Bar have
for a considerable time past on all occasions expressed their
feeling that he ought to be elevated to the judicial bench,
Aa no judge was ever more lamented than Mr. Justice
Wightman, so never was the elevation of any more cor-
dially hailed than that of Mr. Justice Shee.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT—Yortx, Dec. 15.
(Before Mr. Justice Mellor.)
John Booth and Emmanuel Jarvis were indicted for
assault and robbery upon John Ellis, and stealing from him
£l2, at Rotherham, on the 19th Sept. last.
Mr. Blackburn and Mr. Gully prosecuted; Mr. Maule
defended Booth, and Mr. Middleton appeared for Jarvis.
The prosecutor, having been at Sheffield, got to the Tra-
vellers' Rest, a publichouse near to the Masbrough railway
station, about half-past 4 o'clock in the afternoon. At that
house he stayed until half-past 11 o'clock at night. In the
course of the evening the two prisoners, as well as some
others, were in the house, and the prosecutor, who appears
to have had a large sum of money in his possession, paid
for drink, which was consumed by the prisoners and him-
self. He, being the worse fur liquor, left the house alone,
and, according to his own statement, he was followed by
three persons, the two prisoners and a third man, who
knocked him down at the second bridge on the way to
Rotherham, and there robbed him. In cross• examination it
was elicited that the prosecutor was found lying on the road,
very dirty and apparently drunk, by the police. He was
taken to the lock-up at Rotherham, and being brought be-
fore the West Riding justices, was by them fined ss. and
discharged. At ter he was in custody he gave infot mation of
the alleged robbery, but it seemed that he only mentioned
the name of one of the parties who he said had robbed him,
and even with regard to him the prosecutor admitted that
the assailant himself said his name was Major Booth. The
only remaining evidence was that on the following morning
one of the prisoners was found in the possession of a consi-
derable sum of money, although the day before he was ap-
parently without any. When the case had proceeded to this
point, his lordship having 'ascertained from the counsel for
the prosecution that he could not corroborate the prosecu•
tor's statement with regard to the actual fact of the rob-
bery, put it to the jury as to whether, upon such testimony,
they thought they could safely convict. The jury expressed
the opinion that under the circumstances it seemed to them
useless to pursue the inquiry further, and returned a ver-
dict of not guilty.
Edward Carlop and Henry Bridgwater, two soldiers,
were charged with assault and robbery upon Charles Hur-
croft, at Gate Fulford, one of the suburbs of York, and
stealing from him his watch, on the 18th of October last.
Mr. Broughton prosecuted ; the prisoners were not de-
fended by counsel.
The prosecutor, who was very drunk, had called at a
publichouse called the Soldiers' Rest, and there came into
company with the two prisoners and some other men. The
whole party, after drinking together, started for York;
and when a very short distance from the point where the
two roads into York diverge, he was assaulted and robbed
of his watch. In support of the case it was shown that the
morning following a woman was sent to pledge the watch
by the prisoner Carlop. This latter subjected all the wit-
nesses to a very long and rambling cross-examination, after
which the jury found both prisoners guilty, and each was
sentenced to four years' penal servitude.
Alfred Shepherd and Edward Tasker were charged with
assault and robbery upon Richard Walker, and stealing
from him £6O, on the 31st of October.
Mr. Wheelhouse prosecuted; the prisoners were unde-
fended by counsel.
'I he prosecutor, a farmer, and a hale old man of 70, was
on his way from Leeds into the country, where he was going
to purchase and pay for some cattle. When about a mile
from Leeds, going along the York-road, he was joined by
the prisoner Shepherd. The two walked on together for
some distance, and the old man told Shepherd that he was
going to " pay for some beasts." When the two had got to a
somewhat lonely point in the road, the other prisoner, who
had passed them but a few minutes before, turned back,
and then the prosecutor was thrown down upon the road,
and while one man held him down, covering his face and
putting dirt into his mouth so as to stop his cries, two
others rifled his pockets. The old man bad 12 £5-notes in
a sort of purse placed in an inside pocket of his weistcoat,
and, in their search discovering this, those who attacked
him tore it away, and, taking money it contained, ran off
with it, A youth named Howard, who happened to know
both the prisoners, and who was driving a horse and cart,
came up the moment the robbery had been effected, and he
identified both the prisoners as having been two of the three
men. Thereupon Shepherd was apprehended and lodged in
the lock-up, and the other prisoner went away from Leeds.
In about a week he returned, and, having no doubt in the
meanwhile heard that Shepherd had been examined before
the justices, and found out what evidence had been given,
went to the house occupied by the boy Howard and offered
him 10s. if he would not appear against him, saying at the
same time that he had not got a sixpence of money. The
lad said, " What I saw and what I said I shall tell over
again—for if it had been my own brother I would have ap-
peared against him if he had tried to rob an old matt like
that." The prisoner then observed, " Why, but if thou's
the only witness again me, we shall both get off with, may
be, three months or six months on it," and went away.
The Judge said he hoped that the witness would always
act as he had acted on that occasion ; and, after summing
up the case, the jury found both the prisoners guilty. They
were sentenced each to be kept in penal servitude for 6 years

OXFORD CIRCUIT.—SHREWSBURY, Dec. 16.
(Before Mr. Justice Crompton.)

Mary Almond was indicted for attempting to murder her
child on the 11th day of September, at Ellesmere.
Mr. Benson was for the prosecution.
The pris,ner was in the service of Mrs. Wenlock, at Cole-
mere-woods, and was known by her mistress to be in the
family way. About three weeks before the 11th Septem-
ber, in answer to questions put to her, the prisoner told her
mistress that she would be able to continue in her service

till Christmas. But ou the 11th September, between 1 and
2 o'clock, Mrs. Wenlock heard a cry as if from under the
privy. She sent her man-servant to see what it might be
and questioned the prisoner as to whether she had been
confined, but theprisoner 'enied it. The man-servant
took up some flagstones, and n scovered a live child two or
three feet from the privy. Tb nwal string was torn close
off to the body of the child, and :;s4f after birth lay near it'
The prisoner subsequently stateu,:lat she had not thrown

it where it was found, and that she could net help it. There
were no signs of blood in the privy. The prisoner had not
prepared any baby linen. When the child was brought to
her she showed feelings of affection towards it and suckled

it. Early in the morning of the day in question the pt1;;12;
complained of being unwell and asked her fellow servant to
get her a bucket of water, and she was seen afterwards com-
ing from a bakehouse near the privy with a bucket of water,
and stains of blood were found on the floor of the bake-
house. No surgeon was called. The theory of the prosecu-
tion was that the prisoner had been confined in the bake-
house and had carried the child to throw it away. The pri-
soner's statement suggested that she had been suddenly
taken in the pains of labour and that the child had fallen
where it had been found.

His Lordship summed up, and the jury found the pri-
soner not guilty.
The business of these assizes .was brought to a close this
afternoon, and as this is the last place on this circuit for
which the commissions have been made out, the winter as-
sizes for the Oxford Circuit are now concluded. Mr. Jus-

Lice Crompton will proceed to Welchpool to-merrow,— to
open the commission for Montgomeryehire, with reference
to the state of the calendar in which county his Lordship
stated at Stafford, in alluding to the spread of the crime of
arson, that out of 12 prisoners reported to him as awaiting
their trial 11 wore charged with that offence.

NORFOLK CIRCUIT—CAMBRIDGE, Dec. 16,
(Before Mr. Baron Martin.)
Cornelius Smith and Joseph Smith, described as tramp-
ing gipsies, and of the age of 16, were charged under the
36th section of the 24th and 25th Vic., cap. 97, with unlaw-
fully and maliciously putting upon and across the Great
Eastern Railway two iron chairs and one iron connecting-
rod, with intent to endanger the safety of persons travelling
and being upon the said railway, at Harston, on Aug. 22.
Mr. Ortidge appeared for the prosecution; the prisoners
Were undefended.
His Lordship having expressed his opinion that there was
no case against the prisoner Cornelius Smith, the jury were

directed to find a verdict of Not Guilty as far as he was con.

certted.

Against the other prisoner the facts, as far as appeared
from Mr. Orridge's opening statement, and from the evi •
deuce of the witnesses called by him, were as follows :
On the day in question, Saturday, Aug. 22, the train that
leaves Cambridge at 10 minutes past 6 in the evening, and
runs along the Great Eastern branch to Hitchin, was pass-
ing between Harston and Poston, conveying a large num-
ber of passengers, who had been attending the market at
Cambridge, when something was seen on the line by the
enginedriver in time for him to moderate the speed of the

train from 14 miles to 5 miles an hour. It turned out to be

an obstruction of a very formidable kind, in the shape of
three chairs for holding the iron rails, lying on one of the
rails, one placed over the other, and an iron bar laid across

the two rails on which the train was proceeding, and though
the train was pulled up in the manner described, the shock
was such that it was felt through all the carriages, and
one of the chairs and the iron bar were cut in two. The
train was immediately stopped, the driver and guard
jumped down, and while they were looking about them a
lad was seen by them and by one of the passengers running
away from the railroad across a field. To bring the, charge
home to the prisoner several witnesses were called, some of
whom spoke to the face of their having noticed the appear -
ance of the lad who was running away, which they said
was such from his height and dress as to lead them to the
belief that the prisoner was he, while a .labourer who was at
work in an adjoining field, and a lad who was with him,
deposed to their having seen and spoken to the two prisoners
just before the train came up, and noticed them passing out
of the field into and across the railway, and then return to
the line, after which no more was sPen of them till the ac-
cident happened to the train, when the prisoner Joseph
Smith was observed running across the field from the rail-
way towards a gipsy encampment to which they both be-
longed. In the meantime the signalman at Harston, who
had hurried up on hearing of the stoppage of the train, ran
across the field to the high road, which bounded it on one
side, and made for the gipsies' encampment, where, while
he was in conversation with one of the persons belong-
ing to it, and a short time after the affair, the two pri-
soners came up, hot and out of breath, and with all the
appearance of persons who had been running hard, and
in answer to bis question where they had come from,
Joseph Smith said from Riston (a place in an opposite
direction). Some time after this a policeman, who had
been sent for, went to the gipsies' encampment, and in
answer to his questions one of the prisoners said they were
not the persons who had caused the obstruction, for they
had never left the road on which they then were. They were
then taken to the police-station, and on being searched a
piece of galvanised iron like telegraph wire was found in the
pocket of one of them, and another piece very like it was
picked up close to the place where the obstruction had been
put.

His Lordship, in summing up the evidence, drew the
attention of the jury to the section of the Act of Parliament
on which the prisoners were indicted, remarked on the very
serious nature of the offence and of the punishment conse-
quent upon a verdict of guilty, and pointed out the fact that
however strong a case of suspicion might be presented, the
jury must not be satisfied with the mere suspicion that the
prisoners did the thing charged, but must found their ver-
dict on evidence; that, in addition to a confusion in the evi-
dence as to the different times when the prisoners were seen
Ling to and from the railway, the greater part of the evi-
dence merely amounted to the fact of a boy being seen run-
ning away who was like the prisoner Joseph ; and that what
the jury would have to decide was, first, whether the prisoner
Joseph Smith was, beyond all doubt, the buy who put the
obstruction on the rails; and, secondly, whether he dii it
with the intention of taking the lives of the passengers. It
the evidence me rely showed that the act committed was not
with the intent of taking life, but out of idle mischief, the
prisoner could not be convicted under the statute.
The jury returned a verdict of not guilty.
Peter Crisp and John Graham were indicted for feloni-
ously setting fire to a stack of straw, the property of John
Webb, at Horseheath, on the 14th of October.

Mr. Naylor appeared for the prosecutor, and Mr. Hillam
Mills defended the prisoner Peter Crisp ; but as his Lord-
ship thought no case for the p►osecution had been made out
against him the jury were directed to acquit him.
Graham pleaded guilty, and, in passing sentence,

_ .
His Lordship said that had he been aware of the number
of charges of arson that were to be tried at the different
places he had visited, he should have hesitated about the
amount of punishment he began with allotting, In this par-
ticular instance the reason given by the pr.soner was be.
cause be was hungry—a most absurd excuse for such a
scandalous offence. " Well for you," said his lordship,
" that I have been passing sentences for this offence before
these assizes. I shall adhere to the same amount of punish-
ment that I have already given, which is three years' penal
servitude."

In another case of arson, against Philip Green, in which
Mr. Graham appeared for the prosecution, the prisoner's
reason for setting fire to a quantity of straw in a farmyard
at March, on Dec. 12th, was because he had not been taken
into the Union Workhouse, but had only received a night's
relief. And so, said his lordship, " because the master would
not encourage you in your idleness by taking you into the
workhouse and make others support you, you revenge your.
self upon an uneffending neighbour. lam unwilling to
make any variance in the punishments I have allotted to
this crime, and therefore I sentence you to three years' im-
prisonment."

Jeremiah Lawrence, a little boy between 10 and 11 years
of age, was oleo charged with setting fire to stack of corn at
Haslingfield, on the 10th August.
The prisoner was defended by Mr. Naylor; Mr. Orridge
conducted the case for the prosecution.
In this instance the offence was committed out of revenge,
because the prisoner's master, Mr. Serjeant, the owner of
the stack, had given him two or three strokes with a whip,
over the shoulders for beating his pigs.
His Lordship, after explaining to the jury the law in a
case of this kind with reference to the malicious act, went
through the evidence, and left it to them to say whether
they had any doubt about this boy doing the act on purpose
and in consequence of the blows he received.
The jury found the boy guilty, and recommended him to
mercy.

Sentence was deferred, in order that steps might be taken
ror getting him into a reformatory.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—TAuNzoN, DEC. 16.
(Before Mr. Baron Pigott.)
Emanuel Cash was indicted for ravishing Charlotte
Feaver, on the 7th of November, at Ansford, and six other
men were charged with aiding and abetting. There were
other indictments charging each one as a principal.
Mr. Edlin and Mr. Hooper were counsel for the prosecu-
tion ; Mr. Frideaux defended Coles ; Mr. T, W. Saunders
defended Pitman; Mr. Ffooks defended all the others.
This was one of those brutal cases that unhappily some-
times disgrace our courts of justice, but we shall only allude
to the facts very briefly.
It appeared that the parents of the prosecutrix lived at
Castle Carey, the father being a gardener. The girl, who
was 20 years of age, worked in a factory, and lived with her
parents. She was keeping company with a young man
named Sylvester Sheen. On Saturday evening, the 7th of
November, after leaving work, she returned to her father's
house, and shortly afterwards Sheen called for her, and they
went out to take a walk. About ten o'clock they went to
the Half-moon publichouse, which was kept by Coles, one
of the prisoners. The girl had a glass of peppermuit, and
Sheen had a pint of beer. The prisoners came into the
house and joined them. They remained at the publichouse
till 12 o'clock, when they all went out of the house, Coles
accompanying them to the door of the house. ' Some
of the prisoners knocked down Sheen, and they seized holy
of the girl, all of them, with the exception of Pitman and
Coles, effected their purpose, assisting each other. The girl
cried "Murder I" Coles stood by. A man named Wright
came up and threatened to send for the police. Coles sari
it was a shame, but he did not like to interfere amongst so
many men ; but he added, " Take her into the stable, as
there is acme clean straw there." They then dragged
her into the stable, threw her down, and then all of
them, with the . exception of Coles, repeated the
offence. The girl after a time went home, her father left
her in, and she then told her mother what had happened;
but no complaint was made to the police until the following
Saturday. Three of the prisoners were immediately ap
prehended, the others absconded, and were not „taken for
some time.
Charlotte Feaver deposed to the facts of the case.
She was cross-examined at considerable length by the
learned counsel for the defence, but her evidence was not
shaken. She pulled their hair, she struck them in the face,
she called "Murder !" and cried to be taken to her mother.
Seven had intercourse with her in the stable. They were
there an hour.
Silvester Sheen corroborated the statement of the prose-
cutrix as to the outrages. The men pushed him about and
struck him. He was afraid to interfere. Coles said there
was clean straw in the stable, and they had better carry the
young woman there, and not make a noise in front of the
house. They then dragged her into the stable. They were
an hour in the stable. He could see all that was going on.
He could not interfere, because they threatened him and
struck him.
George Wright came up and saw the men surrounding
and dragging the girl, and he heard her cry " Murder I"
Thomas Goodrich, a neighbour of Coles, heard :
h 0.,,
cries et
" Murder 1" and a call of " I wish my dear mother
uan hour.
There were cries of a woman in distress for h
He opened his beim= window and listened, and
the window again. then shut
the girl, said that her dress
Burge in misted
-shawl was off her heel,
George Feaver, the father of
was torn when he lot her ill.
A policeman had Emanuel and her teeth wore covered we
talk of what they had 1 31'
in their cells, and heard thorn •
_itchiiabeshrlooadn.d
I wade able defences for ea./ espective clients
The comase
Coles and Pitman witn
Others of the prisoners lso made
tatitat,etaents.. c'
one.
On the part of Co , ebses Were calico
Mr. Baron Pigott summed up with great care, reading
who certainly did not he)p their case,
ever the whole evidence as it applied to each prisoner."
The jury Lund all the ptisonersguiltv, but recommended
The Judge then sencenced Emir
a different punishment as regarded Pitman and Coles,
Burge, and HaLett, to be kept
Giles tube kept in penal servitude' for three years,-
Cash, William
in penal servitude for five
years, Giles
and Coles to be iMprisonA fur two years. a

COUNTRY MARKETS.

-01

LYNN-TUESDAY.

At to-day's market there was a fair supply of wheat,
with a small attendance of the tr.de. The nenpmd was not
active, and the prices of last week were 6d to is lower.
Malting and grinding barley at late rates. Oats as before.
Peas and Leans were steady.
W rite ..44s to 45s / Barley 36s to 378
BA.. .. 39s to 40s I Grinding .. 338 to 318
Beans .43s to 448 I Oats
New 3BB to Cis I Peas —s to