The Sun.
London, England, 1806-04-30 00:00:00

i'SZNGULAR 4XECDOTE

TIMOTHY BitECKI4OCK, EkEdIPTRD'AT
tiOTLI:11.111, IN 'Li-LELA:S.Ii; G. It. FITZGE-
BALI) ESQ.- • '
, _ _ , ; ••
‘. •

theyear "178 a Man 'Cditirnitted to' Newgate
,
'on a*Charge df hishWay -tobb'ery 'sent for Mt. lireck-
nock,..and reqUitted Undertake `his de-
fenCe. WheirTimothy.can-itt,r6 him hislfirst (Ines-
tion Was, whether he had really cointnitted the rob-
bery or not : it is no matter:',Aether- you have; or
no, said BrecknOck, you 'shalt !not be. hanged ; but
it is necessary I should know the truth, that
I may frame the &fence accordingly. " Why,
indeed (relined 'the culprit), I did commit the
rObbery.- " Very well," answered the SoliCiter,
" now. tell, rile first, have you any money ?—How
much' can You command ?" " I have somewhat
above I 001. in cash and valuables."—" Very NN",ell,
let rite have 801. ; it is not for myself; I leave my
reward-to your generosity, smitten your are cleared-
but I want that money for a partichlar purpose, and
will account to you for every farthing of 'it. There
are how five Weeksto your trial, so I have time
enough ; and with time. and money every thing cart

be doiie."- • '
The sum was instantly given,in bank notes, which
the culprit had artfully. .concealed, and Mr. Brecknock proceeded to desire the criminal to, give him a
particular account of every circumstance of the-rob-
bery which.he did to the following ptirport.7-That .
fiVe weeks before-that tigie, he met a Gentleman in,.
a chariot with 'a-footman' behind, near the nine mile,.
stone on the Barnet -road, at ..half..past .eleven, at
night.; that he stopped the carriage,. and robbed'ltiiit
of 137 !guineas, -and sortie- silver, but refuSed. his
Watch, as he •clid not choose to deal in 'discoverable
articles'-; that' presentlrafter he found himself Or-
sued by the coachman on one of the -coach horses?, .
and rode down a..lane.ctut.of the high- road, but find - 1
ing .the lade dose at the bottom, he leaped his horse
over some pales, and,zquitthigt him, took to his heed;
across the-fields, and. got mite to town that the.
coach horse not being able-to leap, his own horse,
had got dear, and came home of itself next morn-
ing, Thus' he thought-himself quite safe as to this...
affair; but that, shortly lifteri,' ,:the GentlemaWs
coachman 'Met -hird'on .the same horse in
chapel," had him seized and- carried before a-Magi--.
smite, where his person was, identified by the qen-
tleinan, the coachman, and the footman, who knew
hiM by the bright Moonlight ; on this ,evidence he
Was fully committed for trial.
" This is rather an ugly affair," said Breclsnock,
"however, don't fear, 'l'll brina. you 'eff; I shall
not attempt to prove you:, elsewhere at the precise
tithe of the robbery; for an.aliti is a very dangerous
defence, unless it can be well supported ; and I
don't care to trust.your life to a set of rascally wit-
nesses, who may be sifted by a close Cross-examkna-
tiOn,or have their charaders inqttired into ; no, no,
I shall aa otherwise ; you have only to miike
,your
heart easy, and plead not guilty."
At the next Sessions the trial came on, and the
II gentleman, the coachman, and the footman, deposed
to every circumstance of the robbery, as above re-
lated ; adding, that they 'were positive both to the
'terse and the'man) whose face they had closely seen
by. the light of the moon, as his, crape had fallen off
.wheli he first stopped the chariot, and the coachman
had picked it up when he unharnessed one of the
coach horses to pursue the robber, by his master's
permission. - The Prisoner was called upon .to make
his defence, when Mr. Brecknock addressed the
CO urt in these words . . _

_ .
_" My Lords, and Gentlemen of the Jury,
" I have not the leaSt doubt of the innocence of
the unhappy'person at the Bar, though he stands
here under very disagreeable circumstances. Inas-
much that although he was in bed, in his own lodg-
ing's, at the very time the robbery is said to have
been committed, yet lie.can prove that fati by no i
other testimony than that of.his wife (and 1 know •
lioW' little regard is usually paid to a wife witnessing
fOrh6rlitisband),- and of child of five years old,
'who-is too young to be admitted to ',an oath. Ido
lief:seek to impeach the :veracity of the Gentleman ;
who is -.the Prosecutor ; his charaeter is too well
eitablisk 1. .I have not the least doubt he was rob-
,13ed in the manner he has sworn ; neither would, I
CibntrOul, that the coachman pursued the. robberas,he
has declared ; yet I am confident that the .Yri on. er
at the Bar was not theperson. , - .
" In respect to the•identity. of hii horse, I put ' -
that 'entirely out of the:question, and will say, that '
.a horse-seen in the dark cannot be easily known, in.,
the light, at a distance of five weeks. 'Flier? is
scarcely a horse so singularly marked as not to have' i
others similarly'marked ; and, as a proof, there arei!
new four horses I have caused to be brought i:-:;:oti. e
Court-yard,. standing together with. the Pris'Aie s
horse, which Mr. Sheriff has been so: kind as to su -
fer to be brought hitheri, and, if the three Witness'es
agree in seleaing, separately, the pr'piOner's horse,
of which they are so , very certain, from the rest, I
will acquiesce in the Priaoner's guilt. But;'-my 'Aim% , ,
'and Gentlemen of the Jury, I have Still mere ttilairg4,,
.in reSpeEt to the alledged identity 'bfithe,iioni v4l ~.
,Prosecutor is, doubtless; inwelled by a love Of jug,. ;r;
but that love sometimes carries a :non to an ft*lel ...
of zeal. •.• • - - - ,:. : .., La. I .
The coachman May' have a .loif,t of juistitf,,llbilt
when it is remembered that the conviciiOnnOitlie:ji
I' ri,s.oner will entitle -hint to, ,it i•eimird.trf4.4f)./itlje
Court may be inclined to thinkhimintereAlMitktlie,
Verdi6t which you,
,Gentkimen,of the Jurrolifayi bait ...
in. Tile fOßtinan ii n ing heard some particulatAWqn ,
by 'his master and his fellOWLserrant; mayiidiey#4 ;
them true, as'bei ng the saMe 'story. , ',The -t h rfie 4-vi,'
nesse; have all declared tlitt they recolleeted.thePri;,;
'sotier'.s face, frotriliw inv,.4,+-miit Clearly at the titticiot
the retibery, by the strong "light of the moon: :Now L
hive one, witness that will Undoubtedly set aside this
Toricartetice of evidence. lt is,' indeed, an:lmiii-
tereStecl witness, 'a' silent witness, . yet tine that will
, speak 4pme to the-ciitiTiaion of the whole Court.
It is Bider's Almanack 5, and if your Lordships and
the Gentlemen of the joidrywill-take the trouble' to
took' into if, you will &la 'it -utterly-impossible that
the witnesses could have- seen the robber's face by
thehght of the moon ; for you will see, on the night
, of the robbery, that the mbon did not rise till six-
teen minutes- after three in the morning, conse-
quently it could not give any light at half past eleven
o'clock, near three hours before it rose 5 and if the

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