The Sun.
London, England, 1809-09-27 00:00:00

IRE LAN

DUBLIN QUARTER SESSIONS.
JEWISH OATHS.

StPT. 20.—A trial of some curiosity, from its no-
velty in this country, took place on Tuesday last,
at an adjournment of the Quarter Sessions, 'held be-
fore the RECORDER of the city of D6blin, and two of
the Aldermen, CA•RLETON and.ALICH Su. •
'Abraham Lewis, a Getman Jew, was the Prose-
cutor, and Solomon Davis, another German Jew,
"was the Prisoner on trial. The indietment charged
the Defendant, that he, at the city of .Dublin, did
feloniously take, steal, and carry away several arti-
tidies therein enumerated, among which were gold
watches, diamond rings, and other valuable orna-
ments
.and trinkets, to a very great amount. The
Prisoner tendered an affidavit, to postpone his trial,
-stating, that he resided in Bedfordshire, in England,
could not have the benefit of his witnesses there,
who were of his own religion, as the White Feasts
were now.going on, during which time the Jews ne
ver attended as witnesses; nor would they travel be-
fore the fourth of 06tober, and prayed that his trial
might stand over until the sixth of that month.

His Counsel, Mr. M`NALLv, urged, that though
this affidavit would be insufficient in a common case,
yet he holied the Court would allow the player of it
in the present case, upon principles of justice; he
would not now argue 01)011 the common law privi-
lege that- every now had, of being tried in the vici-
nage, by -a jury of his neighbours, as a recent statute
had enacted, that when stolen goods were exported
from England to Ireland, or I roil) Ireland to England;
the. party charged with the felony COtild be tried in
.either country. Brat as the. Prisoner had so far to
send for his witnesses, full time ought to.be granted
to him, or he would be tried upon_ ex par !e. evidence,,
that is, merely on the evidence of the wi nesses who
instituted the charge, and appeared before thvt grand
Jury ;—rind here he. mentioned the case of the
Hearts of Steel, tried before- Judge RobinstiO, at
commission, by virtue of an Ad of Parliament, now
repealed; they, were tried in Dublin, by a Dublin_
Jury, for a murder in the North of Ireland, but
acquitted on this principle, as expressed. by Alder-
Man -How, the foreman of the Petty Jury, that the
statute was against- the principles of the Constitution,
in auiheirising a trial out of the vicinage, by a Jury
not of toe vicinage ; which principle the Jury adopt-
ed, from an argument of the learned, the great, and
virtuous Hussey Burgh, the Prisoner's Counsel, and
afterwards Chief Baron.

Mr. GREEN, Counsel' for the prosecution, was
proceeding to answer this argument,
.but was stop-
ped by the Recorder, who said the affidavit was de-
ficient in several parts, and the trial must go on.
The Prosecutor, Abraham Lewis,was then called,
and appeared with his hair in curious artificial ring.;
lets, and a peaked beard. The 04TestaMent in
English was handed to him to be "s‘vorti.—\Mr.
M'tslat,LY objected.—The rule- he said w/-:,s esta-
blished, every man must be sworn according to the.
rules of his religion—thelTork on. the. Alcoran. the
Persian on the Sun—the Presbyterian by holding up
his hand, as in the case where Lord Cs;drge-Gordon
was a witness, before he was a Jew—the-Jew must
be iworn mit only on the Pentateuch, but the book
must be in Hebrew 'and even that is not the sym-
b(.l of an Israelite's belief in. God, unless'the language
runs on uninterrupted by mark or pun6tuation. In
support of this position, he quoted the case ot Onti,
chund and Baker, from the report of Atkins, and
ut " the rules of evidence on pleas of the Crown,"
.and observed, a translated bible was not a sacred book
with the, Jews, for they denied the purity of the
translation. The Court allowed the objeEtiOn, and
gave direclions that a Hebrew Bible should be
sought for. Mr. GHEEtiI then called and exa-
mined Major Sirr, Divisional .Magistrate, who gave
his evidence from written notes in
,his own h:and-
writing,which stated that the two Jews came. before
him, and he examined the Prisoner in the pre7
sence of the' Prosecutor. Tie Prisoner admitted
that part of the 'goods produced, and which Were
found in his lodgings, were the property of the. Pro-
secutor, and-be selected such articles as he claimed to
be his own, .and separated their from those Ale ad-
mitted to belong to the Prosecutor. -The Prisoner
also said that he and the Prosecutor were partners.
On the last point Mr. M;NALLY rested his cross-ex-
amination, observing, that i 1 they were partners there
could be 'no felony, as the possession of one was the
possession of the other, each had dominion over and
property in the goods, and of course a civil aaion
only could decide upon the right of ownership.
A Hebrew Bible was .now produced, and Abra-
ham Lewis declaring that he believed in the Old
Testament, and that the book he held was in Hebre-k
and such as the Jews used in their Synagogues, the
Court, ordered him to be sworn. . _

Mr. GREEN examined him, and in a simple, clear,
and pathetic voice and it•auuer he deposed, t hat be
met the Prisoner in Stoney Stratford, Bedfordshire,
and only knew him for eight days previous to the
robbery—that on returning home to his lodgings, he
found his boxes broken open, and that he had been
robbed of all his property. Suspecting the Prisoner;
who had • disappeared, he immediately pursued him,
and heard of him from stage to stage, till he arrived at
Holyhead, from whence he sailed after him to Dub-.
lin, and, by the 'assistance of Major Sirri had hiu►'ar-
rested, and recovered his diamonds and other valuable
articids. He positively denied on his cross examina-
tion, that any partnership or tradingconnectiou sub-
sisted between hint and the Prisoner, or that the Pri-
soner had any legal claim whatever on the goods. 'The
Prisoner of course had no witnesses to produce,
ther to fatis or to charaCter, and. the Jury without
hesitation foitnd him guilty. He was then sen-
tenced to be transported for seven year.

Married, on the 24th inst. at Petersfield, Hants,
Captain ROBERT PEARCE, to Miss SARAH SEWARD,
of. Street Cottage, near Petersfield, a very amiable
and accomplished young Lady.