The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-06 00:00:00

DEFENCE.

Joseph Furlong.—ls a Magistrate knew the Leahys to be
respectable, correct characters ; great terror prevailed in these
mountains against any one who did not obey the insurgents.
Richard levers—Knows David Leahy, sen. and jun., to be
correct and proper always.
Thomas Furlong—Knew Maurice Leahy to be always cor-
rect and well conducted.

Edward Carte—Knew the Leahy family 25 years, respecta-
ble and well-conducted ; knew of no relationship between them
and Browne. To Mr. Quirr—Knew people of good character to
have been engaged in the disturbances.
The Learned Judge minutely and perspicuously commented
upon and narrated the evidence to the Jury. They retired for
about ten minutes, and returned a verdict of Guilty against
all the prisoners.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—EXETER, AUGUST 2.
CROWN SIDE—MURDER.
John Chapman," one who loved not wisely, but too well,"
stood charged with the murder of Sarah Chapman, his wife, at
Week, St. Pancras, on the 20th of May last. It was a case of
as deep interest as was ever heard in any Court of Justice, and
one in which an unusual degree of pity and commiseration was
manifested for the unhappy being about to be tried. We la-
ment that the limits of our paper prevent the possibility of
going into a lengthened detail of the evidence, and therefore
we can only give the heads of this and the other cases of the
day. It appeared that this unhappy man had been married to
the deceased only nine months, when he had but too much rea-
son to doubt her fidelity to him. The sequel proved his suspi-
cion to be well founded, as her partiality for other men became
indisputable, particularly to a person of the name of W. Robin-
son, with whom she had gone so far as to have the ceremony of
a sham marriage performed over a broomstick and a prayer
book at apublic house, on the very morning of the day on which
she lost her life. The prisoner was told by a person, that his
wife was seen walking in a field not far off with this man, and
intending only (as he said in a written defence put into the
Court) to frighten Robinson, he went for a gun, which he did not
know to be loaded, and which it was sworn to have been done by
a person to whom it belonged, to kill crows in March last. • On
his overtaking them, he desired the wife to go back, and on her
refusing to au so, he lost all recollection of himself, and in a
state oimind bordering on madness, fired the piece, which was
loaded with small shot; she instantly fell dead. Several wit-
nesses swore to the subsequent agony of his mind. He had
been a most kind and affectionate husband, and treated his wife
in the tenderest manner ; at the hearing of which scarcely a dry
eye was to be seen. The Learned Judge charged the Jury on the
law of the case. There were two questions, said his Lordship,
for the consideration of the Jury. Was he (the prisoner) at the
time he committed the act, in such a state of mind as to know
what he did ? for, if he were, then he was guilty of murder ; for
the conduct of his wife, however bad it might have been, could
not justify the act ; nor could passion, put in the scale, weigh
in his favour. The law presumes a mad man to be a person
not capable of judging what he said or did, and in such cases
it did not amount to murder ; but if the prisoner was at the
time in his right reason, and knew the gun to be loaded, then
it amounted to that crime ; on the contrary, if he did not it
would only amount to manslaughter. It was, therefore, for
the Jury to consider this in their minds, and if any doubt ex-
isted, the prisoner would be entitled to that doubt, and he
wished no misunderstanding of the law to go to the public—the
case was left to them and the life of the prisoner depended on
their verdict, which lie had no doubt would be founded on a
right view of the case. The Jury consulted for a short time,
and brought the unhappy man iu Guilty of Manslaughter, to
the high satisfaction of every person in court. The Judge, in
the most feeling manner, sentenced him to one year's imprison-
melt and hard labour in the House of Correction.
ARSON.
Mary Gibson, aged 15 years, a beautiful girl, stood charged
with the capital offence of maliciously setting fire to some
houses, the property of 'William Matthews and Ann Searle, in
Staverton, on the 21st of March last. The first count of the
indictment failed,inasmuch as it did not state the tenant's name
who occupied the cottage—on the second, it went to the Jury,
by the Learned Judge's directions, to say whether they could
believe a girl, like the prisoner, could be guilty, from the evi-
dence they had heard, of wilfully setting fire to the houses
stated in the indictment, and if they did not, of course she must
be acquitted. All that had been said was, that she had thrown
a lighted -stick into the pig-sty, 137 which two cottages were
burnt down—and that, when questioned as to her having com-
mitted the act, she said, bursting into tears, " I am sorry for
it !" and again—L" oif they had sent me but to London, this
would never have happened !"—words, said the compassionate
and feeling Judge, 1 think, two vague to convict the prisoner
of this dreadful charge.—The Jury instantly acquitted tier.
GMLDHALL.—CITY OF EXETER, AUG. 4.
The following persons received sentence of death :—Mary
Reddall and Hill, for stealing bracelets, &c. ; Mar-
garet Green and. G. Rowley, for assaulting Ann Dawe, and
taking from her two shillings ; Charlotte Smith and William
Axton, for stealing from a dwelling-house : John Davis and
William Holding, for stealing a watch, &c.; Thomas Cosway,
for stealing a gold locket ; and Jolm Abbott, for horse steal-
ing. Martin Nortliey, for an attempt to commit a rape on a
child 10 years of age, two years imprisonment. Several others
for transportation and confinement.
Jaynes Macleod, otherwise Alexander Macleod, charged with
uttering a forged Bill, on Messrs. 13rooksbank and Co. of , s,
Lon-
don—put off until next Assizes.
The Assizes finished this day, when the Judge thanked the
Jury for their patient attendance to the duties of that import.
ant day, and said they were at liberty to go home.
The whole of the prisoners are reprieved.
John Haddon, an unfortunate maniac, was charged with hav-
ing, on the 2d of May last, at Stoke Darnerel, cut, with a razor,
or sonic sharp instrument, the throat of Mary Raddon, his wife,
with intent to murder. The keeper, Mr. Brown, stated to the
Judge, that ever since he had been in his custody he had shown
symptoms of derangement, by his uniform silence when ques-
tions were put to him ; that he disturbed all the prisoners in the
wards by walking in the night ; and that he was obliged to have
a strait waistcoat on, and be chained to his bed. He was brought
into Court pinioned, when the Doctor attending the prison was
called in, and sworn as to his insanity (previous to which the
jury were sworn to try the fact), which was proved to their
satisfaction—the Judge having first charged them, that if he
was a maniac he was not answerable to the law, nor was he a
person who could be put upon his trial. The Jury found him
so, when the Judge said, " Let him be taken care of until his
Majesty's pleasure is known."