The Sun.
London, England, 1813-08-28 00:00:00

MOCK PARSON,

COUNTY POW N ASSIZES.
Do isyNt PAT it !cit., At; o . 1 7 Mich (set 51(11rena
was hulloed for representing himself as a Clergy-
' man oldie estioitislied Church, and alsii as a Pa-
rish Priest; and for and feltiniOnsly cele-
brating nutrriagc, hi being a layman ; and.alsti, in
-7, . another count, tor assisting in the seditetion of
, .
, - Mary flair sworn,---Lives as screant to Mr.
John Knox, of Dromanockan, near .I)roitiore ;
went to keep last Christmas day with her father
and mother iu ; allinahinch ;. on her return„next
tiny, she met one Christopher jelinings on the
road, with st hum, she was fornierly acquainted,
who took her'into a public-house to treat her, and
proposed marriage,to her, as he had often done
before, to which witness had consented ; they.
then Went to Ballinahinch to the house of one
Singer, where they drank sour: punch ; Jennings_
then haft witness there, and went out ; he
returned, and took her to the house of Hugh
Wilson, trltere the.; prisoner.. was JenhingS
then said, there is the minister. who will marry you
and me ;. prisoner rose up, took olf his hat, and
said that he was ; he then repeatedwhat witness
thought was a marriage ; he: asked jennings if he
would take witness for his lawful wife
,before God
and the world, and asked witness if she would take
Jennings for her husband, and joined their hitntlo
together ; wVoness is a Protestant of the lista,
blished Church ;,.Jennings is a Roman Catholic ;
after the marriage, witness asked for the marriage-
'hues, but prioutrsaid, it was not usual withlota
to give
,rnarilageTlituts ; witness still insisting,
Jennings said, " Please your Reverence, you must
satisfy the girl ;" prisoner then went for paper,
and wrote the lines which were produced in Court;'
they were merely a scrawl on half a sheet of paper,
foitoWS

•,‘ These are to certify, that Mary Nair is this day joined in
trierringt to Christopher JOnnings, of Druiniira, as given un-
ties! my [fluid, this Vith Dee. 1812. W. M G."

Jennings .read them to witness, who put them
in her pocket ;. prisoner said he was always paid
for such duties, and Jennings then gave her three
ten-pennies, which she
,goye to prisoner, who
threw them on the table; dissatisfied, saying, was
he to be college-bred and learned, and he curbed
of his fait' demand .Jennings ,said, " Au please
your Reverence, Mr. Gowdy, whatever is your
demand I'll pay;" prisoner then took up the ten-
pennies and put them in-his pocket ; prisoner then
went out, and on his return Said. be had got
Unlgings.for them Nut :Mrs. M,Kee, and took
them there, saying to Mrs. IVl'Kee,he would be
answerable for the consequences, as they were
man and wife ; witness:Accordingly staid there
with 'Jennings all night
.as man and wife, but has
never lived with It4n
Cross-examined.—Had .been acquainted: with
Jennings for 12 months, during which be courted
her ; had been in a room along with Jennings,
before the day he tookher to the prisoner tube
married, but improper happened ; never
any thing between them that she could care who
was present ; did nit, say to, any one before the
marriage, that she was the, wife of Jennings; ;
never went to meet Jennings at his Own lodgings. ;
Was once in his room by accidcut, having been to
the house with a message, when Jennings treated.
witness ; they drank .the. pinteli'as fat as possible.
being in a hurry to ito to liallinahineh After they
had made it up. ,
Question by. Mr. SCRIVEN.-7llad you no ob-
jection to be' treated by Jennings I sup-
pose you have treated a girl betore now your-
self%

When ,Jenn;ngi .proposetl. marriage, witness
,
wanted to go to her, andbrother. sister, out he
would not let her. When M'llvena introduced
them to the lodgings, he said to Mrs. Nt'Kee,,ho
would take his affidavit that they were decent
Married per,sons ; which on Mrs.M'Kee's seeming
to doubt, be said, b---et, andw--ds, would yott
doubt my word ? The day alter they were mar-
ried, at parting it was agr•!ed between, them that
she „should give warning to her master to leave
him 3 and Jennings mulertook to satisty her father
and mother,about the runaway match. Ile then,
however, said, he must tell her some more of his
roguery, for that witne*was not his wife; Wit-
ness.returned to her master's.

Margaret Hair, the mother of the girl, was
next examined ; can neither read nor write ; lived
next door but one to Jennings ; got the hues
from her daughter on the Monday after diristmas ;
wittier was very angry- with her daughter, who
cried bitterly ; she is ,seventeen years of age ;
bad only been a' year and u half from home in
Mr. Knox's service..

Jane M‘Ker—Lives In Ballinabinch ; prisoner
came to her bowie, and asked if she could give
Jennings and Mary flair a bed ; witness said
she could, if they were man and wife ; he said
they were, and that be ban been doing law busi-
ness for them, and bad detained them till it was
toe) late. He then brought Jennings and the girl ;
and on witness expressing her doubts of their
being married, he said he would take his affidavit
of it : he then left them, and Jennings and Mary
Hai/ sat down to the tire, while witness was get-
ting tea ready ; thoy slept together that night ;
never heard that prispner was a Clergyman ; it
was said t alit he was a Lawyer by profession.
*Mary ("bort—Knows Mary Hair, 'who told,
Wit tieSS that she lamented having sworn against
Jennings, and that her mother and brother were
the occasion of it ; she loved Jennings dearly,
and said she never went to her bed that she had
not a great mind to drown herself for what she
had done.
Christopher Jennings sworn— Knows Mary
Hair; was in company with her the day after
Christonas-difv ; ttu been in a private room with
her before that, and had intimate knowledge of
her for six months before ; never heard_ Mary
Hair say she was. witness's wife; prisoner never
married them, nor joined their hands ; did not
hear that he was a clergyman ; be is called the
Couraeliet ; prisoner did not give Mary Hair any
'marriage lines.
Alexander Rutherford keeps a public-house in
; knows prisoner; cannot say what
hi, gtuivr4l character : thinks him an honest
num ; l,e wlttes sometimes never heard that be

that br wrote in the Milne of.GoWdy.
'Div. Under Gaoler was examined aS to the hand-
writing of N.P.llven►l, and-believed the marriage-
lines produced areof leis hand-writing.
The Learned Judge charged • the Jury, stating
the nature of the indictment, and sunun►ng up the
evidence. lie animadverted on the equivocating
nature of J,ennings's evidence; and put it to the
Jiiry to say what weight tl►ey should attach to it.
The J►.iry retired, and in.►t short time brought in
a verditit finding the prisoner guilty, ou all the
counts in the indicts►ent.

. After Christopher Jenaings bad given his evi-
dencei as above stated, he was removed tram the
table into dock ; and on Thursday last, tried on
an indictment for
a conspiracy :to debauch Mary
Hair, and for an -assault.—The Jury brought him
itt gailty,
When Michael ill'llvena was called to the bar
to receive sentence, and asked by the Clerk of the
Crown, if he had any thing•to say why sentence
of death•shciald not pasS against Him, be seemed
quite unmoved, and 'said it was a crime he was
never guilty of. . .
His Lordship,
,Judge MAOE, proceeded to pro-
nounce sentence. Ile said; be bad been convict-
ed of a crime of great Magnitude, and very- de-
structive of the peace of, socicty,-•-that of pre-
tending to be a Clergyman, and marrying two
persons of different religious perstiasioas-7(l'd-
soner—" I never did it, my Lord")----for the pur-
pose of debatiehiug a young and innocent woMan.
Vhc -crime he had been'guilty of, had, by an ex•
press act of the .Legislature, with great
.justice,_
beea,Made a capital felony.' lie was sorry to ob-
serve that. in this country it was much too-frequent.
(Prisoner. " I iit-ver did it, nor pretended to do
,it.").-;•--It was a Crime calculated perhaps more than
any other to ruin the peace of families, and in-
It:mince the greatest disorders into civilized so-
ciety: It is a capital 'felony—and aggravated by
the purpose • for which it was cortiditted, as se-
duction was evidently pail' of the plan; of all
which, his Lordship observed, he had been, he
might say, twice found guilty, even by'ihe testi-
mony of Jennings, to thr:, satisfaction, apparently,
of all spectators. 1%.;,! thing remained for hint but
to pas the sentence Of the law ;--4hot you, Mi-
chael M'llvena, be taken to the place from whence
you came, :and from thence to the cominon place
of execution, and there to be bring. by the neck
until you are dead; anti may the Lord have mercy
upon your soul.
Prisoner." I hope your. Lordship will give me
a long time."
His LOLlship observed, that .sullicient time
would be given him, but .he hoped. be would
make a good use of it.
The day of execution was fixed for the 18th of
,September.
The Learned Judge, on passing sentence on
Christopher Jennings, animadverted on the enor-
mity.of the crime, observing, that his guilt was
much augmented by the attempt he had made, as
a witness, to screen his accomplice (11I'llvena)
from putUshment, and in which he appeared to
:have coutmitted wilful and corrupt perjm.y.
He was sentenced to stand on the pillory.one
hour, in Downpatrick, to pay a fine of riOi. and
be imprisoned for one year.