The Sun.
London, England, 1839-08-16 00:00:00

NISI PRIUS COURT.-HICKES V. FRASER.

Mr. ERLE and Mr. STONE conducted the case for the
plaintiff, and Mr. CROWDER and Mr. WELD that of the
defendant.
This was an action to recover the sum of 4,015
guineas, for 4,015 attendances by the plaintiff, Dr.
Hickes.
After a trial which lasted nearly two days, the Jury
gave a verdict for the defendant.

HOME CIRCUIT—CRoYDoN, AUG. 14.
SIR RICHARD DOBSON AND OTHERS V. DENN.

This was an action by the Directors of the Greenwich
Steam-boat Company against the defendant, who is a
Director of the New Margate Steam-boat Company, for
damage done to one of their vessels called the Gipsy, as
was alleged through the unskilfulness and negligence of
the persons on baard the Royal George steamer, be-
longing to the defendants.
Mr. CLARKSON, in stating the case to the Jury, said,
on the morning of the Ist of June the Gipsy was pro-
ceeding from Greenwich to London with about twenty
passengers, and it being flood-tide she kept, as was her
proper course, the mid-stream. When she arrived
near Mill Hole-stairs she was met by the Royal
George, one of the Margate boats, which at that
time was pursuing the proper course in " hugging "
the south shore, she being at that time going against
the tide. She, however, suddenly altered her course,
and sheered from the shore towards the middle of the
stream, in the direction of the Gipsy. The people on
board the latter vessel called out, backed their engines,-
and did all they could to prevent a collision, but
were unsuccessful. The Royal George ran
against her, carried away the paddle-boa on the
starboard side, and did such damage to the vessel that
she could not proceed to her destination, and it was
found necessary to disembark all the passengers, and
send her into dock to be repaired. The Jury would
bear in mind that the Royal George was a large ves-
sel, of one hundred and twenty tons, and three hundred
and fifty horse power, and that the Gipsey was
not one-third that size, and therefore it was
very unlikely that she should have sought to
enter into a collision with the other vessel. The
Learned Counsel then proceeded to state that the
repairs of the vessel cost 871., and besides this they had
sustained incredible loss by not having the services of
the vessel.

Witnesses having been called on both sides, the Judge
briefly summed up, when the Jury returned a verdict
for the plaintiffs for the amount of the damage, and 351.
for the loss of the services of the vessel during the time
it was under repair.
This case concluded the business of the assize.

NORTHERN ClRCUlT.—Lirruiroer., Aua. 14.
The Learned Judges, Mr. Baron Maule and Mr.
Justice Coltman arrived here last evening at six o'clock
and opened the Commission. Their Lordships at-
tended divine service this morning, and it was after
eleven that they took their seats, the Lord Baron in
the Civil, and Mr. Justice Coltman in the Crown
Court. The Learned Judge, in his charge to the
Grand Jury (of which Lord Francis Egerton, M.P., is
the Foreman), adverted to the cases against 15 or 16
prisoners in the calendar, charged with training to
arms, seditious language, the possession of guns and
other arms, and other offences of a like nature, in the
following terms :
" There is also another class of cases embracing a
considerable number of persons, against whom, I pre-
sume, bills will be preferred before you, a class of cases
connected with sedition or military training, or other
offences of that nature. No one can have seen what
has been going on in this country for some time past, with-
out being aware that there had been many misguided
persons, perfectly ignorant of their own rights, and, I
am afraid, very indifferent to moral obligations in ge-
neral, who have gone about the city preaching up doc-
trines which it is necessary to meet by the vigorous
exertion of the law. So long as persons confine them-
selves to the expressions of opinions, and to the legal
mode of forwarding opinions which they honestly con-
ceived to be beneficial to the country, the law will not
takeihold of them ; but when they come and propose by
force and violence, by intimidation, and by other means
of that description, to compel the adoption of a parti-
cular course, then they fall within the jurisdiction of
the law, and the law must be vigorously put in force
against them. Of those cases you will probably have
a considerable number brought before you."
The only case of interest tried this day was an
ATTEMPT TO MURDER A WIFE.
George Whittaker was indicted for having, at Man-
chester, on Sunday, the 17th March last, cut and .
maimed Sarah Whittaker, his wife, with intent to murderher. There were other counts alleging the intent to be
to maim, to disable, and to do some grievous bodily harm.
The principal witness was the wife, who, on entering
the box, burst into tears. The sight of her mutilated
hands caused a shriek of horror in Court. Her right
hand was deprived of the fourth and little finger, and
the remainder of the hand up to the wrist ; and the left
hand had three fingers, or rather stumps reduced to the
second joint, It appeared by her evidence that her
husband had long entertained a causeless jealousy, which
at times made him furious. On the 'Wednesday before
the day in question he had accused her of being in bed
with two men, and threatened to murder her. She was
alarmed, and left him, taking with her their youngest
child, an infant. On the day in question, he besought
her parents to send for her, expressed his sorrow for
what had occurred, and promised to treat her with more
kindness if she would again live with him. She con-
sented ; and they went to the house of his brother, and
iu the afternoon he induced her to go with him into a
sitting-room, in which were two beds on the floor ; and
having locked the door, &c., he afterwards seized a short