The Sun.
London, England, 1823-11-11 00:00:00

site the premises, he got up, and came thniegit hie' meson's. ( 31r. Penny'e)storen. lie distinctly-proved that at thietAne ~hertw-
ee not only no t in the lower part. bf t dolt be bed 'itelfteiiint
time to 'remove Several Oskar out of t he .way eefore the lire reaeli-
ed it. llere the Learned See'seent described 'tile situatioe 'toe
the premises. There was, he said, a dohr which comoitroleit-
ed with - the stairs, and a glass at the side, of' the stair-ease
which admitted a faint light to the stairs; but Thurtell p. milers
time befell! this had a. strong- door placed higher ifp en the
stairs, by which& person in the loWer worehouse, or in the yaks'
et the back of it, would be .prevented from seeing any fito Which
might be on the stairs.... This door being forced open, the the
above was seen. The carpenter .who luul made the door proeiSd
hat it was a strong door. On Thurtell'e cross-examination Ile
was asked whetherat any time he had talked to any person el
tak. g houses, putting goods Into them, afterwards payee:ly
removing the goods, stetting fire to the premises, and then
corning upon the insurance for the value of' nil the goods aff -
leged to have been destroyed ' To, this he distinctly answettid
in the negative. The defendant, however, called a Witeeit.
mulled Cowderoy, who swore that, between January, 1821 and
111,4, John Illitirtell asked hint whether lie would coroent. to
take a house, insure it, set fire to it, and afterwards claim the
value of the property pretended to be toneurned front tse in-
surcede to. ance...company. This pproposalC 1.4.
owderoy refused , tie-
l'here was.aleo a .converisittion
oman sworn' to have taketi
piece between John Thurtell and the w with whom 11S:co-
habited, in which Thurtell, in reply to Rome remark made by
the woman, told her not to talk se, or that it would be Sil a he
had set fire to the house in Watling•street. !Joon this, how ,Sier,
'het(the Learned Serjeant) weidd lay no' stteee. It fursrsaps
Feared, that at the• time of the fire, 'Biomes ';'hurtelletli whis!
property was said to have been destroyed to such an amount, WSJ
or should have been in the rules of ' the Bench, to whit..a' lie
had been removed on an arrest at the suit of his brother joint
for an alleged debt of 171.; that" he had some intentiees of
taking the benefit of the Insolveho''Act, and had signed his
petition for that purpose, and returned all his farming titetieils
in his schedule. The amount of his debts 'vas stated at 4,000/.
Ile did not, however, go on with his petition, and soon after
was released from his brother', arrest. He should observe,
that it was shown on the part of the plaintiff' at the trial,
that at tide period they had means of getting money; that seine
friends of their family in Norwich had expressed their Willing-
ness to advance them some; and also that a considerable settie
was got by the sale of the lease of a public-house (we think
in Long-acre) which one of them had had before this. Afar
the evidence had been gone through on both sides, the Leath:,
ed Judge (Park) who tried the case, in his address to the jut), observed, with respect to the defence which had been set up to
the action, that before they gave a verdict against the plaintiff;
it was their duty to be satisfied that the crime of wilfully llck -
ring fire to the premises was as clearly brought home to hurt i'r'e
this action as would warrant their finding hint guilty of tip,
capital offence, if he had been beforethem on that charge.
They ought to have as full evidence that Thurtell set fire lb
the warehouse as would be sufficient to maintain an indict.
meet for the felony of arson againet him, before lily
brought in a verdict against him in. the present came.
The Learned Judge added, that he would not ens* into the argument which had been Maintained by many
eminent men, that the finding of a verdict for the defendant-hi
an action like the present, where such it serious charge was Wi-
ped in the defence set uto.would he equal' to die foiling of A
bill by a (Irand Jury ; and that if the defendant got a verdict.
he .would be bound to prosecute the plaintiff on the tapirs
charge • but he would repeat, that the Jury ought to have in;
doubt of the existence of the felony before they consented es
give a verdict against the plaireiffon that ground. The beveled Serjeant now submitted, with great deferenee, that the' law. .iii
this respect •.had been laid.. down too loosely by the Learned
Judge. Ile apprehended that the Jury did hot rem-tire the taut,'
positive evidence in a civil action, like that tried, tut would
be necessary to establish' the capital trime. In the latter caSe
every doubt of the prisoner's guilt should be removed beferse
they convicted hint. In the case of the civil aetfon, they 'Might
refuse to give the plaintiff damages, because he entertained
great and well.founded doubts of the honesty of his coliduct.
though such doubts would not be sufficient to warrant the Rua.-
ing u verdict of guilty in the capital charge.
eilr. Justice buena f I (alt.—liras there a deciaretion in
.elee
pleadings that ThArtell had set tire to the premises ?
Air. Serieant Tan Dr. -No, iny Lora: It wasfill rirsuotprit: and that apprehend was what led the Learned Judge astray.
The Learned Serjeant then repeated the distinction which he
had just before drawn between the civil action and the criminal
r karat'.
Air. Justice Buttoovero—What difference would thtle be
between such a finding for the defendant, and a chirge of arson? Air. Air. Serjeant Tenove-My Lord, I apprehend m44lWptriti be if great difference, for in the--
Mr. .lustiee II IT it nou GI if .—'What is there short of felohy, to
prevent-the plaintiff from recovering ?
. „.
Mr. Serjeant '.CADDY.—There might be many things, titY • Lord, which wouldprevent his recovering at all, without any .
imputation of felony. For instance; his own culpable neglect.
or that of his servants. There is iscase in 14th Ease Of ", Btell
and Carstairs," in which a plaintiff' Claimed for a less On 4 ilti. licy of insurance on a vessel. The vessel, It ,appeartel, *life seized in cotteequence of not erosseesing a 'certain .paper, and
was condemned... It appearing that it was the duty'. of the
plaintiff to have supplied that paper, . and that the neglect was
attributable to himself, lie wax nonsuited..
Mr. Justice, Pense—The impression on my mind et the
time of the trial was, that the defehee rested on the inferenck
that Thurtell had set fire to the premises. What ditferenee we's
there between this and felony ? - . • ' ,
t fills Serjeant T onny..My Lords, we say that J. Thititell
was lait on the premises--theft it occurred on ins, part of thent and that no account was given how the fire originatedee-that ha,
hid the means of corning there in the night-=and that whets he
was informed of the transaction next day, he expreseedllCl star *.
prise, but received the intelligence ratherlike something which
he had expected. .
Air. Justice PA RR —You forgot what your own witneses the
watchunuf, stated, that he had: been near the place, tied thie
no person could have-gone into or out of the • prenueett'beiore
the fir,' without his kuowletige,_ and that he saw no person.. ' Alr. Serjeant TAIMY—hly Lord, lie spoke to only apart a(
the night... s, ' ' ' • . e - e
Mr: Justice PAR ,K —ltemembrr what Ensor swore, that, he
was in the coMpeny ofjohn Thurtell from balf.paet tine teckSe).
the precedieg evening, end ,'so• continued .until they ported; •at
nearly five the next mornings end that during the whole ~f
that time Thurtell was never absent from him longer then tee
minutes at onetime.
Air. Justice flounottotr-oiron objeet to the pleintiff zee
being able to act:ouzo for the fire... There are a thousand raises
where origin of fires cannot be well aceountetiffer. I think toy
Learned Brother Park was quite right ,in his retnarkkto 'the
Jury, end the contrary doctrine which , you seek to ektaftirik would 804)11 deatruy all Insurance-Cernpanies, •by depriving
them of the public confidence..-. You cannot have yonr rule on
this growido ,ss. . •
to which I 4110116/h to eallehe 'ti letition of Out tionfehipit.
Since this trial we have-cense to the knowledge of Matey iinpore
tent circumstances connected with it, which at that tithe,*
had not the means of *nowirig. . A scene of gross Ireudtliae
been disclosed on the part of plaintiff, Witachelf -knottin ht
the time of triel, would have,,for ever debarred him frotti,reftles
vering in the action. I hold .in my hands the iffidovitpfsa,
person named Jaren Wrigglesworths.whnis.-Svarehotheesien to.
Alargrave and Co., of it'oodestreet. The LearnieleBGrjaratt
here reed the effidevit,sithiell WAS 11l fOIIOIV3 .: -
" James IVrigglesworth, ofnlix-houee; Backeroddelkiiesto.
too, in the cotintynl.Middlesex, 'II nenstiraptt; rnaketif bath' arid
saith, that in theernonthrof :December laws tide ffeitrheriktOa
in the servieteof Thomas tont .4e/title MargraviebertsrWood .7
etreet, Isontion, setuvhouseindli. as' 11013 tid riltid manogeteof
-their bueinses e and that, on Of about thettSeenty4ficismitakf
of said Iliscember, one ,John liortliwiciteSnowdene'eutd: one
John Thurtell; the brother of, the - plaintiff in this. tank, ,
called at . the warehouse' of the, said ' .ThotriaCentrLatius,
Margeaves, in -Wooil.street aforesaid; when seittlohnilorth-
wick Snowden -ihfortned .this deponent, in the prOsentieslnd
hearing of the said Jelin ,Thurtell, that he thi'lnsid Jolter Thtst.
bad a brother; who wan riebonnbasinonanufactueets 'and wile bad:
a quittity of bornbasi'ms anti crapes oseellerinsterfrei untistuilfy
cheats, 'Whirl goothe'the deponent then, bought far the, mkt
Thomas and Loftus iliergraves es that 'A fe* dart rifterWithis.
the said -John Ilerthwick4nowderi 'lolled' again. at tifiettiOd
rearehouato and !wealth-ed tti this diporrentsoffierlaeft.Oe
,With
*an ineoice. of ialeoftlitent , bealln ~.-tlite ....doly.' a..... dor O.
two before,- which.,.;finodit - .40 e -4:llorillwiek ,! tinotvisn
inibrreed this deprinent 7be Ore`itu ovizetielly pternaiii.
tits" to .offer,- and, whieh -he that dideetfer - flestaisehtt*Arty
per eent. 'earths* *heftier chit reseal for thetniti the lieitlitxtuiee ;
bat this &porta trefused tb, hal the said lisetotensiotied gotlds,
alleging al a reason, that they could not beet 1: eit honestly curve
!Itt