The Sun.
London, England, 1840-01-25 00:00:00

E VEiciN 147,D1T10V,

whole of the Jury law. Therefore at its co .clu ;on, having
taken great care to colt, ct ail these laws together, it
repeaas every met of them. But many of there had
beer, e; tat ti.) ~.tute -enacted in preeiself the same
term, were to be round in the termer site utis. Among
oth the sei eof Edward 111. relating to the challenging
of ees in ca le of tr-ason, had been in this act repeated
wo,et By the 21st section of this act it was
etiaeted, That whenever any person should be indicted
for High Treason, in any Court other than the Court
of Queen's Bench, a list of the Jury shoutl be deli-
vered to the purty indicted at the 'same time with a copy
of the indictment, and that this should be delivered ten days
before the arraignment. At Monmouth, his Learned Friend,
the Attorney-General, had argued that the words • "same
time" meant, within the same time, and had asked whether an
interval of five minutes, or of ten minutes, or half a day occurring
in the delivery of the lists, would be sufficient to vitiate the
whole proceeding. Now, although he could imagine that in
retired parts of the country, in consequence of the want of
easy intercommunication, difficulties might occur which would
render an interval of a few minutes, or even of half a day, in
the delivery of the lists and the copy of the indictment una-
voidable, yet he could imagine no process of argument by
which this interval of five minutes could be extended gradually
so as to mean five days. In this case the copy of the indict-
ment, with the list of Jurors, had been delivered on the 12th of
December, and the list of witnesses on the 17th. His Learned
Friend, the Attorney. General, had contended that Peel's Act
altered the law in this respect by making use of words enacting
that the list of the Jurors shall be delivered at the same time,
with a copy of the indictment, which shall be delivered ten days
before the arraignment to the person indicted. In reply to this, h e
contended that the statute of George IV. had left the question
as to the list of witnesses entirely untouched. He could find
no pretence for saying that it in any way repealed the Act of
the 7th Anne as to the list of witnesses. It did not pretend to
touch that point at all. He would call their Lordship? anen-
ton to one alteration which it made—it enacted that copies of
the indictment, and lists of the Jury should be delivered ten
days berore the arraignment—the statute of Anne enacted that
they should be delivered ten days before the trial. Their
Lordships could not but suppose bet ;hat Sir Robert Peel would
embody into his Act the repeated arid solemn decisions of the
Courts of Justice ; and it had been frequently declared by the
Cou:ts, and laid down by all the text writers, that the words
before trial, must be construed to mean before arraignment,
because in point of fact then it is that the trial begins. Foster's
book laid down this doctrine. In his first discourse on High
Treason, chapter 3, page 230, he said that the statute of
William directed that a copy of the indictment should be
delivered to the prisoner or his attorney five days before trial,
but according to the construction of lawyers, these should be
delivered five days before arraignment. Their Lordships would
find the same doctrine laid clown in the fourth volume of Black-
stone, page 357, of the edition published in 1787, when Black-
stone cites the authority of Foster and adopts it. The statute
of Anne did not come into force until 1766, on the death of the
Pretender, but it did not come into actual operation until 1781,
on the trial of Lord George Gordon He would now call their
L ?Islip ' attention to] he eraetice which had obtained, under
the statute of Anne, since it came into operation. He was
af.-aid that at Monmouth, where the point was quite new, and
where they came to the discussion prepared with only such
slight materials as were available on the spot, he occupied too
much time on that point be going m:nu'ely into the facts of
every case which he could find recorded. He should now ab-
stain from going through all these cases, and reading them case
by case. He should only give one, and content himself
with referring to the test. The case he should give was that of
Lord Georg: Gordon' which was to be found in the 21st vol. of
Howell's State Trials, p. 648, and also in Douglas' Reports.
This was the first that had occured since the statute of Anne
had come into operation, and the Attorney General applied to
the Court of King's Bench, fora rule, calling on the Sheriff of
Middlesex to shew cause why he should not deliver to the At-
torney for the prosecution, a list of the jury, in order the proe
s tutor might cause such list to be delivered to the person in-
dicted, or to his attorney or agent, at the same time with the
list of witnesses, and icopy of indictment 10 dae s before arraign-
ment. He made thisgapplication tolthe court, on the ground
that there was no other method of complying with the meaning
of the statute. The list of the Jury could not strictly speaking
be delivered to the person indicted ten days before the are
raignment, because as there was no issue joined before araire-
ment there could strictly speaking be no Jury before, that
period—but a list of the persona who were to compose the
Jury was to be given to the person indicted, together with a
list of the witnesses and a copy of the indictment ten days
before arraignment. Upon this appl'eation the Court ordered
the Sheriffs of Middlesex to deliver to Mr. Chamberlain, the
Solicitor for the prosecution, a list of the Jury sum-
moned to attend that trial, in order that the same might
be delivered to the person indicted, his agent or attorney,
at the tame time with the list of witnesses and the copy of the
indictment. In this case this question had arisen—that as un-
til after arrangement no issue ehould be joined, it seemed doubt-
ful (how it could be possible to comply with all the p.ovisions of
the act, unless the trial was stopped immediately after the ar-
raignment, and the Court adjourned for ten days, in order that
a jury might be impannelled after issue was joined, and the list
of the jury, together with a list of the witnesses, and a copy of
indictment delivered at the same time to the person indicted as
to hisattorney or agent in the presence of two creditable witnesses.
the Attorney General feeling this difficulty, applied to the
court and obtained an order by which he got, not strictly speak-
ing a list of the jury, but a list of those who were hereafter to
compose such jury. This was important, as showing- the true
occasion of the difficulty under which the Attorney General
laboured, and which had induced him to apply to the court.
It was then settled by the court, that the lists ought to be deli-
vered at the same time, aed that such delivery ought to take
place ten 'days before the actual trial. The court directed the
sheriffs to give the solicitor for the prosecution a list of
the jury before the actual return of the jury, so that
the statute might be complied with, by the list being given at
he same time with the copy of the indictment. He considered,
therefore, that this being the first occasion had settled the
practice. 'the Attorney-General had felt the necessity of lay.;
ing down some rule to get at a list of the Jury so as to comply
with the meaning of the statute. He had brought the subject
before the Court. The Court had agreed with him the rule
was then laid down, and had been adhered to ever since.
Lord Chief Justice TINDA L—There is no mention made of
the list of witnesses,
(To be continued in a SECOND EDITIO
S;'

iN•)

If . rederick and Lady Bathurst left Mivart's
Hotel on Friday, for Coombe Park, on a visit to the Earl and
Countess of Craven for a few days.
Sir William and Lady Chatterton, who were
on
a visit to Mr. and Lady Louisa Tighe, last week, at Woodstock,
Ireland, have since left on a tour of visits.
The mortal remains of the late Dowager Countess
of Coventry were removed on the 22d inst. from her residence
at Streatham, her native place, for interment in the family
vault, at Croome, in Worcestershire, up,ni which occasion the
villagers generally closed their windows in testimony of their
high esteem and regard for this departed lady.
Lord Powis has returned to Powis Castle, from
Wynnstay, where his Lordship remained two or three days after
the interment of the late Baronet.
The Dowager Lady Saltoun and the -Hon. Miss
Fraser are still residing at Ness Castle, Inverness, but purpose
leaving in a few days for town for the season.
The Duke of Manchester, with Viscount and
Viscountess Mandeville, and Mr. and Lady Georgiana Bane,
is passing the winter months at Naples, for the benefit of his
health. We are happy to hear the last accounts received in
town left his Grace and family in the best of health. Colonel
and Lady Elizabeth Steele and family are staying at Kimbolton
Castle, Huntingdon.
The .Bishop of Hereford will consecrate the
new church ^t Knowbury, Hereford, on Wednesday, and
collection will be made after service, when lady Harriet Clive,
and the Hon. Mrs. Musgrove, lady of the Bishop, will hold the
Oak- s.
The Lord Bishop of Bath and Wells (Dr.
Law) gave a grand concert of vocal and instrumental music,
on Wednesday evening, at the Palace, Wells, at which were
present upwards of two hundred of the surrounding Nobility
and Gentry. The prima donna of the evening was Miss
Adeline Cooper, late of the St. James's Theatre.
Mr. Holland, M.P. for Hastings and. St. Leo-
nard's-on-s'ea, has caused to be distributed fuel to the amount
of 10/. to the poor of those towns.
The Duke of Cambridge inspected the Royal
Military Asylum, at Chelsea, Friday afternoon.
The Countess Bjornstjerna's diplomatic soirees
in Upper Belgrave-street will commence next month.
Lord and Lady Mary borough have issued cards
of invitation for dinner parties on Tuesday, Friday, and Satur
day in the ensuing meek, at their residence in Saville-row.
The Speaker of the House of Commons will give
his first gran.' Parliamentary dinner at his new official resi-
dence, in Eaton-square, on the 16th February.
The Earl and Countess of Chichester have ar-
rived in Grosvenor-place.
The Earl and Countess of Mansfield and the
Ladies Murray have arrived at Caen Wood, Hampstead, from
Sco:ie Palace, Per.hshire.