The Sun.
London, England, 1813-03-27 00:00:00

SHOP LIFTERS BILL.

On the Order of day being moved for the 34
reading of the Shop Litters'llill:
The. ArrORNMC-GENERAL opposed it on:the
ground that it was contrary to the opinion of rill
persons conversant in the criminal law cf the
country.; and contrary also to the opinion of the
twelve Judges, and that as the capital offence
operated in terrorem, it would not he fit to remoye
it. In the instance in which capital punisinntrit
had been removed, that'o(priv-ntely stealing-Prom
the .persmi, it had produced the contrary ef-
fect to that intended, for the crime had greatly
increased.

Air. AnructioNttly supported the Bill

Mr. WETHEIIILL said; that in the instance in
Mall capital punishment was withdrawn, that of
privAtely stealing from the person, the crime hut
increased., that therefore experience was against
the measure, aid he must oppose it. • '
Mr. STEPHEN supported the 13ili at some length.
With respect to the probable operation of the Bill,
it was only matter of speculatfun with theitulges
as well as themselves, fie was as great an enemy
to-innovation in the abstract as any otk:r man, but
be thought this Bill only went to bring hatelt the
old criminal law of the country.
Rerjeantilmsr opposed the Bilk Ile hoped the.
House would panse before the entertained such a
proposition. at' the law, in any inStUnCe WaS
defeethe in theory, as it was found so admirable
in practice, he could not think it ought to be it t.
tered, . . .

BDcTIi;IZIEENNsoeN s
Nl)liok'e strongly
:iied. in favour of the
BM.

Sir FIMDERIcK FLOOD contended, that
tat punishments annexed to comparatively su4ut!•
offences, furnished an encouragement to commit
them, rather than a diseouragement, and expressed
himself decidedly in favour of the Bill.

Mr. FIIANKLAND opposed the Bill on the prin-
ciple that the power of inflicting the heitviest pc-

natty of the law in eases of Shoplifting, was neees»
sary sCenre confidence between. man and man,
and that the laW making the offence capital was
now so assimilated with our habits mid constitu-
- flan, that it could not safely be repealed.
Sir S. I.Nintr.t,r, in reply, characterised those
who opposed him as a, theorist, as being theorists
themselves. He hakreferred the Houser to faCts,
a;.l not to theories, while these.practical meti.,who
were sn averse ti theory disdained to appeal to the
fias which were in their possesion.—lle then
proceeded to sluiW how the law had been executed:
4.1 L 749 to 1771, according to. the tablei niide
out by NV. Howard, 240 Persons were convicted
of shop-lifting, and about half the number suffered
the puniFltnent of the law. Of late years, there
was no instance of one person being executed for
• this offence, and he did not suppose there was any
man living who could remember the execution of
a thop-lifter. In five years, from 1805:to 1809,
there bad been 188 persons capitally indicted for
this offence, and of that number 18 were convicted,
113 wore convicted of larceny, but acquitted- of
the capital charge. lie den led that an increase of
offences ought to be ascribed in ordinary cases to
any change that it might be thought expedient, to
tiwke-in the law, This he would chew, by refer-
ring to the increase which bad taken place within
six years,, when an alteration of the law could be
' supposed. to have led to it. There Nverc com-
Inittedlor trial iti the year -1805, 980 persons, of
whoni 580 s ere c(invicted.. In the following

. 'your, there wit*, it wus true, .a diminution, the
number committed being only 899, but he •wislicd
diem to atter d trithe inereuse which the follow-
fog yea). presented. There were committed for
trial,

igef 3017
1808 lllO
11S09 1;?.42
1,184

Here it would tie seen was an increase of 560 in
the course of these few years, and as this could
,not he charged to an alterttion in the law ; to a
potial change in this law any increase that might
.chance- to occur ought not to be ascribed. tie
replied at some length to the various objection;
which had been thrown out against the Bill, and
denied that he was a theorist, as the measure he
had introduced was founded on facts,
The house divided, when there appeared
For the Ilill 72
Agaiobt
Majority —3B
The Bill was then read a thirdl time, and
passed.
The Bill for taking away Corruption of Blood,
in .eases of High Treason, wits read a second
time, awl ordered to he committed on Wedoci;day,
The Bill for altering the punishment for High
Trenton, was read a second time, and committed
for the same day:
KBill to encourage Distillation from Sugar in
Ireiand was read a first and ordered to be read a
.f,econd time on Monday next.
Adjourned till to-morrow (this day',

OUSt4;Itr,\IIING.---Late on Saturday night,
r earlv on Sunday Morning, the house of Mr.
S Rhi' Long, of Sibbaldlingham,.in the county
91ES.SC?i, was broke into and robbed of English
and Foreign coin, plate, &e, to a cimsiclerable
amount. Several daring depredations of u siiniitU
!nature having been committed.in that neighbour-
hood lately, on this robbery being discovered,: it
was (teemed necessary to send off for a Bow-street
officer, and Lavender was dispatched, in conse-
quenee. Oa the oilicer's, arrival there, be found
four men in custody ; however, he 'remitted there,
,and us,,,kted in searching their premises in the
oeic,hbourhood.
The )1101'd names are Derry, "Mils and
Potter. The Utter was admitted an evtlence, by
Mr. Majendie„ rill active Magistrate, who resides
at Castle licilinglnnu, about a Mile and a half from
the spbt where the robbery .was committed, ~wbo'
sent for Lavender, and from variety of other evi-
dence adduced before him, it appeared that the
robbery wins -planned to be committed ou Wednes-
day se'unigitt, when all -the prisoners went ‘vith
their .faces blacked, to attack Mr. Lo g' s house;
but seeing a light iu it, they g,.;ve up,their
tion. They were induced to the act, fiont it being
generallY belieVed in the neighbourhood, that he
bad guineas hoarded toaveryconSiderableamount.
Saturd.ty night was fixed opon forthe second at-
tempt, when Potter, who is. admitted evidence
for the Crown, refused to accompany the others,
or to have\anv thing to do with it ; however, lie
agreed to leathern a chisiel, a gitnblet, a pair of,
pincers, &c, to 'break open the house with,. and
they went with their faces blackened, and effected
their' purpose. On Stmday morning as a person
was passing opposite to Finch's residence, a piece
of• paper was found, with the words,' " Seven
Crowns" written op it. The per Son haVing beard
of MY. L.'s robbery; he spew, ed Mr. L. the paper,
whO identified it to be his band-writing, and the
same paper that Contained seven English crown-,
pieces which had been stolen. This curious ch.,
etnnstnnee led to the detection and apprehension
of the gang. Ott .Fjoch atutiiiiat's persons and
premises being searched, most of the stolen pro,.
perty was found. None was found in the po'Sses.
won of Davy.-;The.y were all three fully commit-
ted for trial. •

At the 'Assizes held at Maidstone on - Saborday
1,40, before Mr, JuStice fleath,, Frances,
and another woman i,vci.c convicted of having aid.
ed in the escape of a Punish prisoner of war from
a pris(in 'ship at Chabot's , they having provitred
him with women's cloches, in which disguise,
with their assistance, he effected his eicape, and
they were both. sentenced by the ,ridge to. be
transported tor the term of their' natural
And DOvid Puttee;, „ot Folkestone,
_gentleman ;
Willard, a publican, of the same place, R.
Waddell, Webb, Rob. Whenman, Geo. Chalk-
ling, and fieni,s \Vhnare., ail notorious suluggfers,
were severally convicted. of having aided in The
ist%lpe of prisoners' of war, fiiior to the late let;
which makes it felony and they -Were each-of
them- 4entenced to be placed Ili and upon rhe pil-
'Wry, one of them.each-nnirket day at Maidstone,
and to be further imprisoned for the space of two
years.

LONDCIN t Print
At the tivw

MAIDStONE ASSIZES

nExny,GoLDVItk:CIT v. JoilN RA'ri:BitYi "AND ELIZA.-

BETII Ills WIFE.

This was an • action of: trespass, wherein the
plaintstfderlared that,defetidant's wife, on the 18th
of July, 1812, cast and threw a lArge quantity of
filth and excrement into and through the window
of the cellar belonging to the dwelling-house ,of
the plaintiff, in the parish of St. Paul, in the city
of •Canterlthry, upon and over u large quantity of
Dutch cheese, of the plaintiff, who-laid his da-
rnages at 501.

:The case was opened by the plaintiff's Co►nisel
in a very impressive manner, 'rho pointed out
the impropriety, and ;last!' ideas of UR, de-
fendant's wife, at ,large; and then examined
the witnesses for plaintiff, who gave a most clear
Bed perspicuous detail of the whole of the plain-
tjff's case.
The defendant's Counsel entered into a long .and
elaborate discuSsion, and endeavoured •fo impress
on the minds of the Jury the improba►bility of the
transaction, and then examined the defendant's fa-
mily as.their witnesses.
Serjeant SUIiiiIIBUD made. a most able and
animated reply, commenting minutely on' the evi-
dence, and said he had not the least doubt in his
own mind, that the defence set eßwas a systern2-
tic. fabrication, and more particularly, as the de-
fcodant's witnesses acknowledged the derctidant's
attorney had been, several days previous to the
Assizes, on a visit to the defendant's homer---and
he trusted the Jury, by their verdict, would spew
their opinion of such► misconduct.
The Loup Cluny BARON summed up the
deuce in' a eonc►se ' and clear manner, leavi►lg it
to the Jury to give their verdict as to them should
seem ju.it, and who, without. hesitation, gave
rerdictfor the plaintiff-Damages 20L

Thonias Richw dam., jiiines Melia,- don, and John
Richardson, were itniiered, 'James and John for
Stealing a sheep, the property of John Polling-
ton, and Thomas Riconrdson, the father of the
other prisoners, for receiving it,. knowing it to be
stolen,

The prispners in this case were the father and
two sons, and they Were convicted-on the evidence
of henry Carr, the son-in-law of the elder pri-
soner. He•titated, that on the night in qaestion,
his brothers-in-law and himself went out .withthe
intent of shcep-stcaling, and that they took the
sheep in question froM Ashdown 'Forest, on the
horiivrs of which both their father-in-law and the
prosecutor' lived.
lie was confirmed in ,his statement by the per-
sons foUnd the skin and offal of the sheep.
They were all found guilty, and sentenced for
capital punishment. There were also . six other
indictments against the prisoners for 'similar of-
fences, for which they were not tried. _
The Civil Court was wholly uninteresting to-
day, and the Assizes finished at five o'clock.

SUSSEX' ASSIZES.

HORSHAM, TUESDAY., :NIARCLI 23.

Last night Mr, 'Justice 11LA•rn arrive'd, 'and
opened the Con mission for hailing the Assizes
for this County ; after Divine Ser-
vice, himself and the LORD CUIEF 13.5.g0w pro--
ceeded.to business.. The Loltn ChIEF BAICON Sat
on the Crown Side, and' Mr. JusticellEATH oft
the Civil Side.