The Sun.
London, England, 1824-08-18 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

LEWES, AUGUST 17.
The Assizes for this county commenced here to.day, before
Mr. Baron GRAHAM on the Crown side, and Mr. Justice
BURROI/011 on the civil. Their Lordships dined :yeaterday
at the Earl of Chichester's, by whom an elegant entertainment
wawgiven, as well to the Learned Judges, as to several leaders
of the circuit.

CROWN SIDE. •
TOE XING v. THOMAS MILLS.
-The prisoner had been committed to take his trial,Unger the
57th George 111., for feloniously -and unlawfully assaulting,
with other persons unknown, near Circkmere• ikon, In -the.
parish of Dean, in order to aid and assist in the illegal running
of uncustomed goods, and also for haVing'wounded William
Williamson, a seaman of the Preventive Service. .
The King's Serjeant (Orrst.ow) now moved to postpone the
trial until the next Assizes, on an affidavit that Williamson
was so dangerously ill as to be unable to attend the Assizes to

give evidence in support of the indictment, and also that another
material and necessary witness was unavoidably absent.
Mr. ANDREWS, for the prisoner, endeavoured to resist the
application, and requested time to answer the affidavit, but
Mr. Baron GRAHAM said this was an unusual course, and
as he was bound to presume that the affidavit produced was
founded in truth, he had no alternative but to postpone the
trial; according to the exigencies of further justice.—The trial
was postponed accordingly.
Robert Bonnell was convicted of wilful and corrupiperjury
in support of an information against a gentleman, named Mr.
Luke Upperton, for purchasing game contrary to the statute of
5 Anne, and was sentenced to 1. months' imprisonment in the
common gaol.
EXETER, MONDAY, Afro. 16.

CRIM. CON.

TIBBS versus LAKE.

This case was called on at the suggestion of the Counsel, who
said that the facts were of a particular nature. All ladies were
requested to retire.
Mr. Serjeant VEIL stated, that it was an action to recover
compensation inalamages for the loss sustained by the plaintiff
from the defendant, in consequence .of criminal. conversation
with his wife. After mentioning the nature of the case which he
had to submit to the Jury, he need not state that it was one
which involved an injury of the deepest kind which one man
could inflict on another. What could one man do to another
which was calculated to entail a greater share of misery upon
him, than to find that he must forfeit for ever the society of her
whom he had selected to be the sharer of his joys and sorrows in
this life, who was the dearest object of his affections, and the
centre where all his hopes of happiness were united ; and that
he must not only lose the greatest source of felicity, but that he
must also become the object of the ridicule and reproaches of
those to whom his misfortune was communicated ? The parties
in this case did not move in an elevated rank in society. Theplain-
tiff, for whom he had the honour to appear, would be found, he
believed, to have conducted himself d uring the period of his mar-
riage with all the tenderness and care which the relation of' hus.
band called upon him to bestow on his wife. His circumstances
were easy, arising from the effect of his own industry, and the
respect which an honest and diligent discharge of the duties of his
employment enabled him to acquire. He filled the office of fore- '
man to a commercial house of the first respectability in Exeter,
the house of Messrs. Wilcox and Co. The business which
he had to attend to in that capacity, was performed by him
with so much attention and skill, to obtain for him the greatest
credit and the permanent confidence of his employers. [The
statement was here interrupted by a consultation between the
opposing Counsel, with a view to an amicable adjustment, hut
the Learned Serjeant proceeded.] He felt extreme pain at
being tinder the necessity of detailing the circumstances of such
cases as the present. They were calculated to excite disgust
and pity in the minds of those who possessed the smallest por-
tion of sympathy for the afflictions, or of indignation for the de-
pravity of their fellow creatures. But, unfortunately, the ne-
cessity of exposure became imperative—his client must sit
down under his injuries in uncomplaining silence, or appeal to
the justice of his country, through the judgment of an honest
and upright Jury. In the outset of this case, he was ready to
admit that the conduct adopted by the injured party towards
his wife and the defendant, was matter of' the greatest import-
ance for the consideration of a Jury, as calculated to affect, in a j
material way, his claim to compensation. If it was seen that
the plaintiff was in the least degree accessory, whether by cri-
minally conniving at his shame, or negligently permitting the
repetition of occasional familiarity, then it would be just to say
that a man, against whom an imputation of such folly or cor-
ruption could be properly brought, was not entitled to the con-
sideration of the Jury. In the present case no such misconduct
could be ascribed to his client. The history which he had to
detail to the Jury was a singular one in many of its circumstances
—it was painful, and would chew the defendant in a lightwhich
was little consistent with the character of a man of honour.—
He should be able to satisfy the Jury that this defendant deli.
berately planned the wicked scheme which was to tersuinate its
; the dqtruction of the peace and comfort of the plaintiff' for ever.
However painful the details, and however anxious to avoid the
itnizairsyh,ehrialtriubstoporreoeseteatfetwd,itiwt the !
;Isresdt al
nn
cae s
house Theof
respectability in that city. He had early formed an attach-
ment to the daughter of Mr. Home, the lady who since became
his wife—an attachment which, niche had afterwards proved,
was entirely reciprocal. In 1818 they were married, and from
that time forward they lived in a state of happiness, which
proved to each other the* propriety 'of the choice they had male.
They were then respectively of the ages of twenty-seven or
twenty-eight years, a time of life when it was not likely that
parties would commit themselves irrevocably upon hasty and
he should satisfy them by witnesses who had the best
improvident grounds. In fact, he should show, by direct testi-
mony,
opportunity of marking the degree of happiness in which they
lived, that greater comfort, greater domestic felicity, was se].
dam the lot of any parties, than had been enjoyed by Mr. and
Mrs. Tibbs after their union. The defendant was a man about
four of five years older than the lady, and he was very sorry to
be obliged to add, that he was a married man.
The latter words of the Learned Serjeant seemed to have
carried the fear of exposure to its crisis amongst some of the
parties ; for an individual who was sitting near the table, and
who hung with an expression of die most anxious interest on
the words of the Learned Counsel, made an instantaneous
communication to Mr. Serjeant Wilde, the Counsel for the
defendant, who forthwith announced it to Mr. Serjeant Pell.
A consultation took place between attornies and clients; which
ended in a statement by Mr. Serjeant Pell, that the parties
agreed to a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages, SO/. The ver-
dict was accordingly returned.