The Sun.
London, England, 1809-10-05 00:00:00

CHESTER SUMMER ASSIZES.

Before the Hon. Sir ROBERT DALLAS, and a

Special Jury.

MASSEY V. JOHNSON, ESQ.

Mr. TOPPING opened. this case in:a very eloquent
speech. He assured the:Jury, that it was with the
sincerest concern he was called upon ascounsel for
the Plaintiff, to state his cause of Complaint against
the Defendant ; and his concern arose frornhis hav-
Mg known the Defendant almost from his earliest
infancy. But, however unpleasant the office of an
advocate might be upon such. an
,occasion, ,he could
not, from personal consideration, shrink from the,
discharge of his duty. The 'complaint against the
DelenLnt was, that, without any reasonable or
.probable ground, he had caused the Plaintiff to be
imprison:A and detained in prison a considerable
time. The Plaintiff, some time, previous to ;he.
transaelion out of-which this a6litin arose, had been
carrying on busine,s, with credit, in the immedOe
neighbourhood of Mr. Johnson, who was a Gentle-
men of fortune, and a. Justice of the Peace. His.
premises were attached to those of the Defendant,.
who consequently must, from that circumstance,
have been well acquainted with his situation. The
Plaintiff had, unfortunately, married a woman, who
turned out a dissolute and profligate character; de
serted by his wife, his domestic concerns were not
attended to, and he became' embarrassed in his cir-
cumstances; he-went to London, to endeavour, if
possible, to arrange his affairs with his creditors ;
advantage was taken of his absence, and he was
made a ,bankrupt ; he surrendered, himself to .his
commission, and returned to London, where he fell
into the hands of a reMorseless creditor, who, though
the bankruptcy had deprived him of all his property,
cast him into prison. He remained in the prison of
Ludgate upwards of a twelvemonth, and this was
known to the Defendant. die - was at length re-
lieved, through the humanity of the Attorney who
had been employed against him • and who, pitying
his forlorn and distressed state, furnished him with
a small slim of money, with which to purchase de-
cent clothes.' After having been sixteen- months
imprisoned, he was no sooner at liberty, than he
set out to see a relation, near Chester, from whom
he had someexpe&ations. The Defendant was in-
formed of his return; and, though he was well ac-
quainted with the helpless situation he had been in,'
he thought proper to issue a warrant for his appre-
hension, upon a charge, unsupported by any evi-
dence, that he had left his wife and. family charge-
able to the parish.. The Warrant stated, that com-
plaint of the faa had been made by a person of the
name of Smith, the overseer of the parish. ' The
Learned Counsel proceeded to state, that, upon tliis
warrant, the Plaintiff was arrested ; that he was
sent as a vagrant to the common prison ; afterwatds
brought up .to the Sessions, with the worst felons,
`and, upon-the representation of the I),:fendant to
the Bench of Justices, again remanded. It was sug-
gested to him, that he might be released, if he
would dispose -of the premises,which adjoined those
of the Defendant; hat this the, ,Plaintiff could not
do, he having by the bankruptcy been divested of
his interest. He was accordingly- continued •in a
state of confinement till a subsequent Sessions,.
when he was discharged. For this injury he sought.
a compensation in damages. The. Learned-Counsel
trusted, that, as there was no reasonable pretence
for the imprisonment,- the Jury would award that
compensation which would'have the effeaoldeter-
ring the Defendant from committing similar alts of.
injustice:

-The fans stated were proved ; and it appeared
by the evidence of Smith, the Overseer, that he had
never made any complaint of vagrancy against'the
Plaintiff, and, consequently, that the Defendant had
unjustifiably used his name, for the purpoSe of ap-
prehending the Plaintiff, upon the pretence of his
having deserted his family. • • •
Mr: CROSS addressed 'the jury in behalf of the
Defendant. " His client," he said, " had no
anxiety as to the result of the verdia ; but he was
extremely anxious that it should not be understood
he was a . man capable of acing in an oppressive
Manner towardS any person, particularly a neigh-
bour. He was an active and upright Magistrate,
whose only object was honestly to perform the du-,
ties his office itnpoed upon him. He had been in-
formed repeatedly, by the Overseer, that the Plain-
tiff had left his wife and children chargeable to the
parish—they had been constantly relitved, and when
he found the Plaintiff was in the neighbouthood,
and had not *sought after his family; bethought him-
self lioilnd 'to *adopt the measure he did. The
Plaintiff was well dressed, and made an appearance.
as if he was perfenly able to maintain his 'family ;
and he had been repeatedly told the Defendant had
no wish to commit him, if he would undertake to
allow them something, but he had obstinately refus-
ed to do so."

Several witnesses were examined on the part of
the Defendant, who proved Olaf the Plaintiff had
been in the neighbourhood of his family, and was
preparing to depart, without seeing them, or inquir-
ing after them, when he was taken into custody.
Mr. ToPrING replied. He, contended, that the
defence had npt iemoved the Plaintiff's claiM to ex 7
emplary damages.
Sir ROBERT DALLAS shortly addressed the Jury,
observing, that it seemed to "be admittedlite 'war-
rant had •irregularly issued, consequently the Plain-
tiff' was entitled to a verdiet ; the amount of the da7
mages was therefore the single question. •
The Jury consulted a few minutes, and returned
a.verdid. for the Plaintiff—Damages 201.

SUDDEN DEATH.—On Tuesday morning Moses
10,:vis was` found dead in his bed, in his apartments
in Petticoat-lane ; he went to bed the preceding
ni,,,!.t in perfect health. The body remains for a.
Coroner's Inquest.
, .

- We havebeen favoured with the following
tnunication from a most respectable correspondent :

" Feb:

" An extraordinary presence of -mind and
caul-
rage was, on the Otii instant, evinced t$ aculti-
vator of: ibis ptovince, in awaiting to'tOceive the at,.
tack of a Royal Tygress, which terniiilated in the
death of the fnrious anitxial. .

Veljee Paten,. an inhabitant of Mahonoodaba4
in thp vicinity of Kaira, about noon -,oft the ahoy:4-
mentioned.date, whilst _working in his,cot ton firidi
perceived the Tygr'ess to be approaching him in, an,
attitude that convinced Veljee of theanitual's desire.
to destroy him ; and, as he was aware; from the na?-
wre of his situation, that he could nut e:;caiie, he
made preparations to receive _her. The Ty:,;res
springing on this undaunted cultivator, he held' Out.
his left arm to oppose her, whilst,".‘2ol.l his right:
uplifting a korand, or small hatchet, his pi•emedi:.
tated blow was so correctly delivered bet Ween thu
ears of the animal,. and with such force oppoied•tti
the velocity with which the Tygress advanced, that
it occasioned her immediate death.

“ Veljee- Pala, who has his left wrist inuchiti-:'
aerated, appeared to our correspondent, and the skin'
of. the animal was seen by several G.,,ntletnen;at the
station. Independent of the gratic.ude which 010:
'pan appeared to feel for his prtividcntial restiut.
from so terrific an animal, he expressed much sens-c-
-of the thankfulfieSs fOr the munificent*
Honourable Company, bestowed on him, and .ali-
who prove the destroyers. of beasts of-prey, and•par-
ticularlarly merited by. a coolness at bravery
displayed, as in the case now instanced.”