The Sun.
London, England, 1822-08-02 00:00:00

THE ASSIZES.

GUILDFORD, JULY 31,—CnowN
Francis Caudell was indicted, for feloniously killing and slay
ing John Morris, on the 23d of May, in the parish of Christ-
church.
It appeared in evidence that the defendant, who is the brother
of a livery stable-keeper' had borrowed a horse to take a ride on
the day in question As soon as he mounted, the horse, which
was young and restive, not having been properly broken in, ran
away with him down Blackfriar's-road. The prisoner being
unable to manage him, the horse ran against the deceased,' who
was thrown down, and in the fall ruptured one of the large ar-
teries near the heart, and expired. It appeared that the prisoner,
finding himself unable to controul the horse, called nut to the
people to keep clear, but the defendant not being quick enough,.
the accident happened. The prisoner voluntarily surrendered
himself, and expressed great sorrow for the misfortune.
Mr. LAW, his Counsel, called witnesses on his behalf, who
gave him an excellent character for humanity.
Mr. Justice • PARK 'summed up the case for the Jury, and
told them, that if they believed that the death of the deceased
was occasioned merely by accident, and not from any improper
conduct of the prisoner, they were bound to find him not guilty.
The Jury immediately fbund the prisoner—Not

Last week, a man residing in Burlington-place,
who has a wife and two children, and who has
been out of place for the last fourteen months,
hearing of a situation which he thought would
suit him, went for it, and was engaged by the
Gentleman, when he became so overjoyed that
on Wednesday he became raving mad, in which
state he has lain ever since.—(Bath Gazette.)

LETTER 111.
MY Loan—=The 9th Section of the Act now
presents itself. This declares; that from and
after the lit September next the consent of any
per Son or persons whose consent shall be required
by law to the marriage"of any persim under 21,
nut being a•widower or widow, shall be signified
in writing signed by such
.person or persons ;
such signature to be. attested by two or more
witnesses, and shall fully describe the person or
persons giving such consent, &c. &c. and that no
license shall be granted from and ,after the lst
September next, for the, marriage of any person
under 21, not being a widower or widow, unless
such 'consent in ,writing shall be delivered to
the person granting the license, and unless one
of the witnesses attesting the consent shall make
oath that lie or she saw the party giving the con-
sent sign his or her name thereto, and also his or
her fellOW witness sign the attestation, &c-. and
unless some person (not being one of the parties
applying for the- licence) shall make oath that
the person or.persons who hate signed the con-
sent to the marriage is or are the lawful parent
or guardians, &c. Under the late Act the usual
method pursued was, for the parent or guardian
or guardians giving consent, to appear personally
for the purpose ; and surely this was more satis.;
factoryi far safer, than the circuitous method
now rendered necessary. The recent Act says
the consent of certain persons "required by laW"
shall be given in a :prescribed form. Who are
these persons ? -Why, both Father and Mother,
if living, according to the canon law of 1603,
for all other law is repealed !—This Was never
.contemplated- by the supporters of the measure,
for the word "-Parents" does not occur through-
out the Bill.. The provisions of the Act appear
to me to open a wide door for the commission of
fraud. The signatures of the parties giving con-
sent may be fabricated—such fabrication\was one
of the great evils attending the execution, of the
canons -of 1603—and it is now again possible,
after a lapse of nearly 220 years, for an unhappy
parent to be made the dupe of a vile dombination;
The recent Act; in addition to a detail of the
partkular circtimstauces under which the party
or. parties claim to give cOnsent; requires the
.party or parties 16 be "fully described" as to his;
her, or their "-person" or respective " persons."
Is it meant by this that a Custom House or pass-
port description should be adopted, as to nose;
eYebrows) stature, and Visage? The Act Ina
rendered- the application for a license,,where
both parties are minors, (having both fathers and
mothers living) no trivial affaiN There will be
no fewer than three or four affidaVits and four
certificates of consent necessary ; and the attend=
ance, either in one stage or other of the proceed-
ing, of not less than nine different persons
Nyhere Only one of the parties is a minor, four
affidavits and two certificates of consent (in case
both the parents of the minor be living) will be
required, and the attendance of seven different
perions ; and eten in the least special cage that
can happen, where both the parties applying for
tbe licence are of age, and have not been married
before, the affidavits of at least three persons
Must be made, and the attendanCe of four per
sons is.required!

The lOth Section declares who are the per.;
sons capable of administe•;ng the oaths re 4
qUired by the Act: These are the Stun:),
gates of the Archbishops and Bishops. The
Section alSo inflicts the punishment of perjury
and felony on patties who wilfully swear falsely
in order to obtain a licence of marriage, or who
are .privy to the procurement of any false instru.
cent, &c. had the Section stopped here, (though
it is loosely worded and terribly severe in its
operation, and though by the sentence of trans
portation; which it pronounces, a sufficient quan-
tum of misery would have been occasioned,)
much perhaps would not have been said ; the
cdncluding part of it, hoWever, will, in my view
of the subject, be productive of great mischief.
It is this—" And if the person convicted of such
" offence (1. e. swearing falsely or wilfully pro-
" clueing a false instrument) shall be one of the
" persons who shall have contracted marriage by
" means of such licence, such person shall forfeit
" and lose to the King's Majesty all estate, right,
" titlel interest, benefit, profit, and advantage,
" which such person may derive from; or be en-
" titled to, by virtue of such marriage ; and such
" forfeiture shall and may be disposed of in such
" manner as to his Majesty shall seem fit." . .
Let only a case be put upon this clause. A
young woman.of fortune (a minor) is inveighed
into a marriage with a worthless fellow, who
does not scruple .to perjure himself or assist in
forging an instrument in order to obtain a licence
of marriage. The marriage is solemnized, and
by that means the parties become indissolubly
bound to each other. The fortune cf the lady, if
it happen to be personal estate, and out of the
reach of equity, becomes absolutely forfeited to
the Crown in case the husband be prosecuted to
conviction. The woman is left without a shil-
ling, and obliged to remain the wife-of a felon,
liable to transportation for life, without her
friends being able to take any step to relieve,
her. Yes, my Lord, she will be obliged to re-
main the wife of a miscreant, who most likely
monied her for her money, and who, upon find-
ing himself stript of it by this clause, will, in all
probability, enhance the misery of the unfortu-
nate girl by his brutal conduct. Perhaps, too,
the parents of the female will have to be passive
spectators of the heart-rending scene, without

being able to take -any, step to relieve their
fated child from so 'wretched a thraldom !' What
a picture-Of distress is here! It is notillowever,
fan imaginary picture ; the case will occur, and
!occur frequently, if the Act remain as it is.—
Hundreds. of unfortunate women will, through
its operation, be torn from the station in society
where birth and fortune - had placed them, to
subsist on eleemosynary aid—will be doomed to
pass through life as the associates of convicts—
and to traverse amid thorns that path which they
had been led to suppose would have been strewed
with flowers !—But to return. It is no argument,
in favour of the clause to say, that the Crown
will not retain the fortune of the female, but
apply it for her' benefit, independent of the
husband. There is no doubt this would be the
case ; but this would not obviate the unhap-
piness of the parties—this would not alle-
viate the distress of her, who, seeing her pro-
spects blighted—her patrimony gone, and her
reputation assailed, before she could be said to
have entered upon life, must apply to the Trea-
sury for that sustenance. which the exertions of
her departed friends had placed within her
power, and which, when closing their eyes in
death',
.they had fondly hoped would have ren--
dered an -interesting—per .aps an-only child—.
able to meet the frowns of the world. Surely,
my Lord,. placing it within due restraints, some
power of interference on the part of parents or guar-
dians ought, in such cases as these, to be reserved.
I shall probably be accused of looking at the
question only in one point of- view, as far as the
female is concerned. Ifut looking at it in another
light does not materially' improve it. However
let this be done. I will suppose a young man of
fortune, (for this was the case evidently to which
the Act was intended more particularly to apply))
I will suppose him to be entrapped into a mar.
riage with a worthless and abandoned woman, who
does riot scruple to make a false affidavit, &c.—
what then ?—ller claim of dower or thirds (sup-
posing, her entitled' to any, hut which in many in-
stances she would not be), becomes vested in the
Crown. As to the confiscation of her individual
property, the chaeces are that she has none tab•
lose, and so she may smile at the section, except
as far as the punishment of felony is concerned.
The clause, my Lord, will most extensively affect
young women of fortune (chiefly minors) mho
may be deceived into marriage by profligate and
abandoned suitors. It is here that the tear of
sorrow will trickle down the cheek where the
smile of content was wont to beam ; it is here that
misery will penetrate auto that domestic circle
w here happiness used to be the presiding Deity`!
In cases, too, where young men of family and
title :tie concerned, the consequences of making
marriages indissoluble, under all circumstances,
will be truly distressing. What, my Lord, will
be the feelings of a dignified and noble-minded
father, when he reflects that the coronet which
now glitters around an -equally dignified and
noble-minded consort, twill, uporehis death, de-
scend on an Unworthy and obscure object; on
one who found her way to the noblest assembly
in the world, through the disgraCeful paths of
intrigue and perjury ?
As the consequences which I have just been
deprecating will -arise even more frequently in
marriages by banns than by license, tinder -the
Act, I must beg the observations which I haVe
made to be Considered as applicable to both cases.
There are other parts of the Bill yet to be
considered, and these I shall notice in a future
Letter.l have the honour to remain, my Lord,.
your Lordship's obedient'humble servant,
August 1, 1822. BRITANNICUS.