The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-10 00:00:00

MURDER.

Robert Peat, aged AO, *as tried for the murder of Robert
Peat, in Darlington, on the 24th of June last.. The facts, as
proved in evidence, were these :—The prisoner, being cousin
and heir at law to the deceased, had been left a legacy in a will
made in 1808, but having given'offence to the tettator, another
will, made in 1815, left the whole property, to the testator's
wife. The prisoner contrived' to get possession of the wills, and
was charged with having given poison to the deceased, in order
to obtain his property as heir-at-law. .The prisolter lived at
Ravensworth, in the North Riding of Yorkshire, and came
into Darlington, every Monday, being market.day. He always
called at the house of the deceased. On, the 24th of June,
being a Monday and market-day, he called at the house of the
deceased. ,The wife of the deceased had put a piece of lamb
in a quart of water on the fire at. ten o'clock, and went out to
market twice, The prisoner followed her the last time she te-
turned, and told her he had been in the house in her absence,
and that her husband was then in an adjoining room. 'He then
saidithat he had read in the papers, that persons had been poison-
ed by water. The deceased and his wife, after having partaken
of the broth and lamb, sickened and vomited. The prisoner called
again at 4 o'clock, and saw them vomiting. He had never before
called more than once in a day. ,The deceased died at half past
12 at night. No medical man was sent for.. Several neighbours
who tasted of the lamb sickened.. The prosecutrix observed
pieces of a 'broken phial on the hearth. The prisoner had
bought a phial of laudanum from a chymist, which he said was
foiladies at Middleton, but which he told the chymist, after
some suspicions were created, he had still in his possession.—
Before he was sent off to prison, he wrote to his wife, in which
'he directed his son to give up the wills, and then added— ,
" Think no more of me, my chance is very bad." The de-
ceased was buried four weeks before the prisoner was charged.
A medical man gave laudanum to all who 'tasted of the lamb,
and they recognized the same taste. The medical man was 'of
opinion that the deceased died of the laudanum in the lamb.
'broth—Guilty.
WEDNESDAY; AVG. 7.—An objection to the indictment
was taken into eonsideration till this morning, which the Chief
Justicaover-ruled, and in the most solemn manner sentenced
the unhappy convict to be executed on Friday next (yesterday).

OXFORD CIRCUIT.

THE GENTLEMAN AGAINST THE LADY-BREACH OF

PROMISE OF MARRIAGE•
TrtomAs v. JONES.

In this case, David Thomas,,Esq. sought a compenFttion in
damages against Miss Hannah Jones, for a breach of promise
of marriage. - -
Mr. TAUNTON stated that it was rather an unusual circtur-
stance that a gentleman should . have to present himself as a
plaintiff upon-such en occasion; because, to the honour, of-the
ladies, in engagements of this sort, they were generally faithful;
• but cm this occasion the.plaintiff had to complain of an ex-
tremely serious injury_not merely to his feelings, but also in
consequence of the lady's caprice having put him to consider-
able expense in preparing for that happy event,' which, at one
time, he unquestionably anticipated. The defendant, Miss
Hannah Jones,- had not to urge, in her excuse, the levity and
inconsistency of youth, because she,hulattained to full years
of discretion, having arrived at the mature age of 46. Had it
happened that his client had been-guilty of that fickleness, it
would have been matter cf complaint, on the par( of his Learned
Friend, that he had shown that sort of levity which younger per-
sons sometimes indulge in—he being but 38 years of age. The
parties were respectable, and possessed of property ; and the
courtship was carried on, not clandestinely and. secretly; bnt
under the eye and with the sanction of Miss Jones's mother. The
Learned Gentleman observed, that it was no light matter for a
gentleman, under such circumstances, to be pointed at in the
country as having been jilted. Suppose he should wish to make
an engagement with some other lady, would the ladies be so
glad to receive hire now, after this treatment of• Miss Hannah
Jones ? It was impossible to state this case without a smile,
but he trusted the ~ury would notpermit the amusement which
the cause might afford them to get the better of their sense of
justice ; and he trusted they would in the end give his client
such damages as in their sober consciences they thought he
ought to receive.
Mr. Justice DAYLEY, in charging the Jury, observed, that
actions of this nature were not common, but still. this was a
case in which an action would lie, and that the promise and
the breach had both been clearly proved. it therefore became
a question for the Jury to consider what damages they would
. give.
The Jury consulted. for a few minutes, and returned a ver-
dict for the Plaiiitiit—Damages, 1001. '

WESTERN CIRCUIT.-CORNWALL ASSIZES.
BREACH. OF PROMISE OF MARRIAGE.

COCK V. moss.
Mr. J. CARTER opened the pleadings in
.this case by stating
that this was an action brought by the Plaintiff against the de-
fendant, to recover compensation for a breach of promise of
marriage. The damages were laid at 2,000/.
Mr. Sergeant PELL addressed the'Jury in an eloquent speech.
The Learned Sergeant stated that the plaintiff was the daughter
of a respectable farmer in this county, who has eight girls and
two boys, and who is now in the 73d year of his age. His
daughter, Harriet Cock, is now in the 23d year of her age.—
The defendant is an officer in his Majesty's service, and com-
mands the Eagle revenue cuttrx. At the time he gained the
affection of Miss Cock he lived at the house of his mother-in-
law, Mrs. Whitehead. Two years previons.th his. going to
sea„, Mrs. Whitehead and the family of the plaintiff were upon
terms of the greatest intimacy, and were constant visitors at
each otl;2r's houses, in which parish they had lived nine or ten
years, but afterwards went to reside at a place called Ivliloc,
in the beginning of 1818, where the defendant resided, and was
always received in the plaintiff's family as the intended hus-
band of Miss Cock, and his mother well knew he was received
as such. At the time the defendant paid his addresses to the
plaintiff she was in the 20th year of her age, the flower of
her prime, and possessed at that time many accomplishments
of person and mind, and the defendant by his letters pro-
fessed the most ardent affection and attachment-to her. This
continued until he formed a connection with a Miss May, when
he most cruelly left the object of his former care to pine and
lament her misplaced affection for one who ill received it, and
Who returned that affection' in a manner most reprehensible.
The Learned JuikE left it to the Jury to say what the plain-
tiff was entitled to for the loss of that peace of mind the &fen-,
dant had been the cause of depriving his daughter of ; but
they were to banish from their minds vindictive damages.—
They were bound to consider the situation of the defendant,
and his pecuniary means ofpaying them.
The Jury consulted for a short time, and gave a verdict in
favour of plaintiff for 2001.