The Sun.
London, England, 1824-12-06 00:00:00

CHARGE OF ARSON.

John Clarkc was indicted' for setting fire to his dwelling.
house, with intent to defraud the County Fire-office ; a second
count stated his intention to be to injure his landlord ; and a
third, to injure his lodgers.

The trial occupied the Court from ten o'clock in the morn.
ing until emit in the evening; but as we have already de-
tailed the particulars of the accusation, it will not be ne.
cessary here to repeat more than an outline of them. The
most material witness for the prosecution was a woman
named Sophia Wood, who stated that she lived within about
four hundred yards of the prisoner's house in Dorrington.street, ,
Coldbadields. On the night of the fire, shortly before 11 o'clock,
she was going, she said, to the Cheshire Cheese public-house,
which is opposite the prisoner's shop, for some beer ; but before
she went into the public-house, her attention' was attracted to a
bonnet in the window of Mrs. Pearson's shop, which is next
door to that of the prisoner. In crossing over to look at it;
she observed the prisoner, she said, conic out and look up •
and down the street. He then returned into his shop, and she
observed a sudden glare of light in it. The next movement
she beheld the prisoner lean over the counter with a lighted
piece of brown paper, or something like it, in his hand, and the
flames instantly burst forth in that part of the shop, upon
which she called out " Fire ;" and when.she went home she
told- Mr. Bird what she had seen. In addition to this
woman's testimony, it appeared that the . prisoner gave. vari-
ous contradictory accounts of the origin of the fire. lie told
Acland, surveyor of the County Fire-office, .on the fols
lowing day, that he was alone in his shop when the fire burst
out from under the stairs with great violence, upon which
he jumped over the counter, and the shock was so great
as to deprive him of his senses.. lie told Mrs. Pearson the
next evening, that he was standing
,behind the counter roc.
koning some money, and a spark front,the candle must have
dropped on the saltpetre, which exploded and gave him
a dreadful blow on the side, and • how he got out lie
could scarcely say. He told a person named Lloyd, while at
Mrs. Burges's on the night of the lire, that a carboy of
turpentine having burst in the cellar, he went down with a
candle in one hand, and a canister of gunpowder in the other,
and the gunpowder blew up. Anti in a fortnight afterwards,
he told a neighbour of the name of !Webster, that the reason
why he did not alarm his lodgers. was, because an explosion
took place which knocked down, and he was carried away
by two gentlemen, insensible. .Besides this, two or three wit-
nesses deposed as to the scanty state of the stock in the shop
immediately preceding the fire.
• On the other hand, it appeared that Sophia Wood had been
living with another woman's husband, named Bird, fur the last
four years, who had lately taken the benefit of the Insolvent
Act ; that she had described herself as his wife in her deposi-
tions at the police-office; and that she had not (except to Bird)
Stated to any one that she bad seen Clarke set his house on lire
until after Mr. Barber Beaumont had seen her several times
On the subject; but, on the contrary, she said to another
woman, in reply to an observation of hers while looking at the
fire from her own window, that " she did not think Mr. Clarke
the kind of person who would set his house on, fire," although
she now denied having said any such thing. It further ap-
peared, that a Tide girl, a customer, was in the shop when
the flames burst forth at that part of it which was next the
stairs, and a person who was passing by called out to the pri-
soner to save Ins papers, upon which he leaned over die counter,
and wrenching his desk off, he ran over with it to the public.
house and returned with the landlord and another person. He
entered the shop again to try to save sonic of his stock ; but he
presently afterwards staggered out nearly in a state of insensi-
bility, and was taken over to the public-house, where his live-
head was bathed in vinegar, and his hands washed. One of
his hands was bleeding and swollen, and he continued insensible
for more than half an hour.. Upon his recovery,. his agitation
writ so great as to affect his intellects, and he luvrillyrecovered
his composure the following day. Hence the inconsistency .in
his accounts of the fire. Besides this, it was proved by several
of the pities from whom he purchased goods, and others who
had been in his shop either on the evening ar, or immediately
before. the fire, that he had considerably increased his stock
latterly, and that his shop was quite filled with kodsle. lie had
been lately in treaty for the disposal of the lease and good-will
of his premises (in consequence of hie bad health), anti he had
been offered more flr them than would, when added to the va-
lue of his stock (which was to be taken by the tenant at a va-
luation), exceed the sum for which he had been insured.
Under such circumstances, he could have no interested motive
for committing the crime laid to his charge. Ile received the
very hest character from a host of respectable trades-people.
The Jury stopped the Learned. Judge in his sumnung up,
'and returned a verdict of Not Guilty.
Mr. Baron II ut.t.ocir directed that Mr. Clarke should be
discharged forthwith.