The Sun.
London, England, 1822-12-18 00:00:00

circuits.

Gentlemen,—ln noticing a case of felony, in which, among
other things charged as stolen, is a ferret, I have to inform you
that the subject has been very lately under the consideration
of his Majesty's Judges,who are of opinion that stealing a ferre
does not,. constitute a larceny: it will be remembered that we
do not 'make the laws—it is ours only to see them carried into
effect ; and if it should be the opinion of any among you thht
have voices in the formation of those laws, that such an offence
should be made a subject of an especial legislative enactment,
you will find no difficulty in instituting an inquiry that will
remedy what you may suppose inefficient, or open to ameliora-
tion. I shall call your attention but to one more case, and that
is an indictment upon a charge of rape, and in which I learn
from the depositions, that two persons were present, against
whom, upon sufficient evidence, you will find true hills, as being
guilty of the same degree of crime, and therefore liable to the
same punishment. If it should turn out that the crime was
not actually perpetrated, the intent being proved, you will find
only for the misdemeanour; but if, on the contrary, the evi-
dence should establish the entire charge, you will find a true
bill against all the parties for the capital offence.
His Lordship then requested the Grand, Jury to enable him
to proceed to business with as little delay as passible ; upon
which they retired, and a Crown Jury being sworn, and true
bills found upon several of the indictments, the following cases
were proceeded in :

Before Mr. Justice BAY LEY'.
BRI3TAI. ASSAULT.
George Groontbridge was indicted for having, on the 30th of
November, assaulted and ill-used Mary Ann Wiles (with in-
tent to commit a rape), at Speldhurst, in this county.
Mr. CLARIDGE conducted the case for the prosecution.
Mary Ann Wiles stated, that on the above day, as she was
walking from Tunbridge Wells to Speldhurst, between one
and two o'clock in the afternoon, she saw the prisoner following
her, which he did for about half a mile. When she arrived
at Shadwell Brook, he passed her, and ran up a steep hill,
as she supposed, to see if any one was in sight ; he then de-
scended, and as she was passing along the bottom, he again
overtook her, anti suddenly took hold of her by the shoulders
and forced her down upon a bank, and exposed her person in the
most violent manner, using at the same time the most disgusting
language; witness begged for God's sake that he would desist,
as she was a married woman—to which the prisoner replied,
" D—n your eyes, I don't care who you are, or what you are,
but I will." He then treated her with considerable violence ;
and, but for the fortunate hallooing of some gentlemen who were
hunting in the neighbouring wood, would in all probability
have effected his brutal' purpose ; he, however, alarmed, de-
sisted, and ran away. Witness, on her arrival at home, imme-
diately informed her husband of the unmanly treatment she
had experienced at the hands of the prisoner, from the effects of
which she stillsuffers, havingbeen at the time considerably ad-
vanced in pregnancy. On the following Monday (Dec. 2) the
prisoner was apprehended, and witness now, in the most posi-
tive manner, identified him as the person who committed the
assault upon her.
The Learned JUDGE briefly recapitulated the evidence, and
the Jury immediately returned a verdict of—Gui/ty.
A second indictment was immediately preferred against the
prisoner, charging him with having, on the 2d instant. assaulted
Ann Foster, an interesting little girl, only 11 years of age, with
intent to commit a rape upon her, in the, parish of Penshurst,
in this county.
This case was somewhat similar to the preceding one, and
was fully proved.—Guilty.
Mr. Justice BAY LEY, after addressing the prisoner in terms
of the strongest deprecation, sentenced him to one year's im-
prisonment and hard' labour for the assault upon Mary Ann
Wiles, and six months (to be computedfrom the expiration of
the previous sentence) for that upon Ann Foster, and, at the
conclusion of his imprisonment, to enter into a recognizance cf
50/. for his good behaviour for five years.
MALICIOUS STABBING.
Anthony Alecock was charged with having on the 7th of Oc-
tober feloniously stabbed Amelia Webb, a little girl 12 years
of age, in the park at Greenwich, in this county.
Mr. BERENS, the Recorder of Maidstone, and Mr. Boa-
LAND, were Counsel on the part of the prosecution.
It appeared in evidence, that on the above day the prisoner;
with several other lads (two of whom were brothers to the little
girl) had been knocking chesnuts off the trees in Greenwich
Park, when a scramble ensued, which terminated in the pri-
soner's drawing a clasp knife from his pocket, which, opening
with his teeth, he ran at one of the young men named Marsh,
and aimed a blow at him; Marsh, however, stopping it, the
prisoner said, " I)—n you, I'll stab one of you !" and ran up
to Amelia Webb, who was sitting on a bench twelve yards dis-
tant, and who had not in the least interfered in any of the
scrambles or subsequent quarrels, and stabbed her with the
knife in her arm ; he then again pursued Marsh, and was

The Jury, upon the legal points laid down by the Leashed
Judge, returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
His Lordship, however, ordered the prisoner to be detained,
as it was intended to prefer an indictment against him upon the
charge of assault.
The GrovlUitry in the course of the afternoon, fpund a true
bill against the prisoner upon the second indictment.
Ann Lather was indicted for having on the 12th of Novem-
ber feloniously stolen 14 yards of stuff, value 75., and one
board, value 2d. the property of Richard Corker.
I. The case was fully proved against the prisoner, who stole the
piece of stuff from the front of the prosecutor's shop, at Tun-
bridge Wells, where it was exposed for sale.—Guilty—Four
months imprisonment in the House of Correction.
On the prosecutor's applying for his expences, the Learned
Judge said that he would grant the witnesses their expences ;
but he felt called upon to express his disapprobation at the
temptation that exposed goods presented to the weak minds of
the many who were unable to resist the pilfering impulse, upon
which the apparent facility of escaping detection unfortunately
and sometimes fatally acted.
Mr. Corker.—;lly Lord, it has been the general practice of •
shopkeepers at Tunbridge Wells for many years.
Mr. Justice BAYLEY.-lt is a custom that lures the unwary
to destruction, and one that is " more honoured in the breach
than the observance."

The calender is very heavy, there being 119 persons for trial.

ST. CLEMENT DANES BIBLE ASSOCIATION.

The Ninth Anniversary of this Society was held last night at
the Crown and Anchor Tavern, at which a numerous Meeting
was assembled. In the absence of the President, the Rev.
WM. GunNEY, the Meeting appointed Mr. HUDSON to take
the Chair. The Report of the Committee was then read, and
upon the motion of the Rev. T. WEIISTER, seconded by the
Rev. Mr. WooDs, received and adopted by the Meeting.
A Gentleman from America described the happy results
which had attended the exertions of Bible Societies in that
quarter of the globe, and expatiated upon the necessity of all
Christians contributing to support the object of such Institu-
tions. The following Resolutions were carried unanimously:--
2. That having witnessed the important and beneficial re-
sults, which have arisen from the circulation of the Sacred
Scriptures, at home and abroad, we feel it our duty to promote '
the design of the Institution by esfery means in our power,
gratefully acknowledging the hand of God in every stage of its
,progress, and humbly depending for future success on Him,
whose influence and blessing alone can insure it.
3. That the respectful thanks of this Meeting be presented to
the Rev. William Gurney, President of the Association • and
to Mrs. Gurney, President of the Imdies' Association, for the
continuance of their sanction and support, and that they be re-
quested to sustain the same Offices during the year ensuing.
4. That we have heard with pleasure of the progress which
has been made in supplying the inhabitants of the District with
the Holy Scriptures ; that our thanks are due to the Trea-
surers, Secretaries, anti Committees of the Associations, by
whose judgment and exertions, in co-operation with the Poor
themselves, the work has been carried on during the past yeir ;
And that the Officers of the Association, for the ensuing year,
be filled up by those whose names will now be announced ;
with leave to increase the number of the Committee.
5. That the Meeting is much indebted to the Chairman, for
his kindness in presiding on this occasion, and for the ability
with which he has conducted the business of the evening.
The Rev. Mr. EvANSON moved the second Resolution, and.
insisted that man was so much improved for all the purposes of
civilized society, as well as of domestic duty, by reading the
Bible, that upon that consideration alone, such Societies ought
to be supported. In remarking upon the services which had
already been rendered to the cause of truth, humanity, and true
religion, by the exertions of the British and Foreign Bible So-
ciety, he alluded to the fact, that before its existence, the mur-
derous rites of Juggernaut had been performed by hundreds of
thousands, whereas in the last year the people assembled were
not sufficient to draw the unwieldy car. It was common, he
observed, to meet the Bible Asassiations with the objection
that they were now performing a work of supererogation ; that
so many copies of the Sacred Writings must have been dis-
tributed as to leave no further necessity for their operations.—'
Supposing three million copies of the Bible to have been scat-
tered over the world in the last eighteen years, and that the
same number had existed previously to that time, there were
only now six millions for eight hundred millions of people—
not so much as one Bible for every hundred persons. ThiS he
contended was a statement which ought to excite all classes to
do their utmost in support of affording a more general means
of spreading the everlasting word of truth.
JOHN DYER, Esq., seconded the Resolution, and strongly
enforced the supporting of the Society. The present was a time
when the utmost exertion was required to support the sacred
cause of religion. The struggle now was, not whether particu-
lar sects should be tolerated, but the very existence of Chris-
tianity was openly menaced. What they were called upon to
support was, the doctrines of Christianity against the prin-
ciples of infidelity. It was in the Metropolis that these prin-
ciples were daringly avowed and supported • if a person went
into a country town or village, and declared himself an infidel,
or deist, he would be scouted from one end of it to the other.
Time was, when such persons were obliged to hide them-
selves in corners, but now they were allowed to shew them-
selves in the light of the sun. All these things combined to
render increased exertions an imperious duty on the Society ;
for the only safety which the poor man could have against
such designs, was the knowledge and strength imparted by the.
Sacred Scriptures. _

Mr. LLOYD, in moving the next Resolution, introduced to
the Meeting
Mr. CRICHELOW, a Gentleman of colour, native of Barba.
does, and Secretary to the Bible Society of that island. He
stated that great improvements had attended the kind assist-
ance granted them by the British and Foreign Bible Society,
and offered his sincere thanks for the interest which had been
so taken in the welfare of his countrymen.
The Rev. Mr. ScnoLL, Minister of the French Protestant
Church, addressed the Meeting upon the flourishing state of the
Bible Societies established in his country. For the last twenty
years, he observed, France had not been a soil where the light
of truth had been gratefully received; but within a period of
three years he was happy to say that the same soil had proved
fruitful with good. The Protestant Bible Association in Paris
was already surrounded by upwards of fifty Auxiliary So-
cieties, and forty thousand Bibles had been distributed by
them. The Reverend Gentleman also produced a copy of
the New Testament translated into the language of the Esqui-
rnaux, inhabiting the coast of Labrador. So great had been
the gratitude of those poor people for the blessings which the
act had conferred upon them, that although they were so
wretched and poor as not to have it in thetr power to send
money, they brought oil to the agent of the British and Foreign
Bible Society, resident in those parts, as a recompence for the
inestimable benefit they had received. Few indeed of the
civilized and the enlightened had done so much as these poor
miserable people ; but he trusted that their example would be
followed, and that all Christians would support, to the utmost
of their power, the scattering the light of eternal truth all over
the habitable globe.
The Rev. Mr. BRAZIER, Curate of St. Mary-le-Strand,
moved the fourth Resolution. He argued upon the necessity of
supplying the poor with the Book of Gon, in order to pre-oc-
cupy the ground, and prevent their being led astray by the in-
famous publications which now disgraced the press. Their duty
was to create a taste for sacred reading, anti then the people
would be safe from the contagion of the unprincipled, the, se-
ditions, and the licentious writings which were continually
from the debased portion of the press.
The Rev. dome CoorEn seconded the Resolution, and elo-
quently enforced the necessity. of a contimied exertion on the
part of the Society.
Some other Gentlemen addressed the Company, to the same
effect, and the- Chairman having returned thanks, adjourned
the Meeting.