The Sun.
London, England, 1840-10-22 00:00:00

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.

JURY EXCUSES.-Mr. Dennis Mitchell, a know-
ing-looking tradesman, addressed the Cnairinan, and
said he hoped he should be excused attending as juror,
as he could neither read nor write.

The CHAIRMAN—dut you can think, can't you ?
Mr. Mitchell—Oh yes, I can think.
The CHAIRMAN—WeII, then, that is all that will
be requisite. I have known many persons make very
good jurymen who could neither read nor write.
Mr. George Knox applied to be excused on the
ground that he kept a post-office, and during his absence
there was nobody to transact the business.
The CHAIRMAN—If you keep a post-office you are
exempt, and you had better hasten home, or some of
the letters may be missing.—(Laughter.)
Mr. Knox hobbled out of Court as fast as he could.
A third person wiaied to be excused from serving on
account of being deaf of one car.
" Oh !" whispered the Learned CHAIRMAN, " the
witnesses will be placed very near you, and you will
find no difficulty."
The deaf applicant quickly replied to the Chair-
man's under-tone observation that he was very deaf,
which created some mirth, and of course his objection
was disallowed.

Thomas Hewitt and Mrs. Sarah Rattenbury, the
landlady of the White Horse, in Baldwin's-gardens,
Leather-lane, who were found guilty last session of as-
saulting Mrs. Humphries, a married woman, were
brought up for judgment, but
The COURT respited the sentence, in the hope that
the prisoner would compensate Mrs. Humphries. It
being, intimated that no arrangement could be come to,

The CHAIRMAN said that the Magistrates viewed
this as a very aggravated case, and sentenced Mrs.
Rattenbury to pay a fine of 10/. to the Queen, and
Hewitt to three months' imprisonment and hard labour,
three weeks of the term solitary.
The prisoners were then removed.
Among other bills the Grand Jury returned one
against William Kensett, the well-known Marylebone
vestryman, for an assault upon Mary Sparrow, some
particulars of which have already appeared under Mary-
lebone Police Court.

COURT OF REQUESTS.

WESTMINSTER.

AN ABSENT-MINDED DEBTOR.—" Myers against
Larkin," bawled the cryer, and the respective parties
presented themselves before the Commissioners. The
defendant, an eccentric-looking individual in a broad-
brimmed four-and-nine•penny and green spectacles, de-
nied the claim of the plaintiff, and the latter then stated
that his demand was for the sum of 155., the price of
an umbrella which the defendant had had out of his
shop. It appeared that the plaintiff was an umbrella,
maker, and that Mr. Larkin, with whom he had for
some time been acquainted, called upon him one morn-
ing, and, after a short conversation, not only walked off
with his own cotton umbrella, but also put under his
arm a very handsome silk one that was lying on the
counter, ready to be sent home to one of plaintiff's cus-
tomers. Mr. Larkin had been applied. to repeatedly to
return it, but had never done so, and at last declared
that he had lost it.

Commissioner—A strange story indeed. (To de
fendant).—What have you to say this, Sir?
Defendant—The fact is, Sir, that I have the mis-
fortune to be remarkably absent-minded, and did not
discover the umbrella under my arm until I got home.
Commissioner—What, not discover that you had
two umbrellas instead of one ?

The defendant declared, that however strange it
might appear, the fact was as he had stated ; his
friends well knew his unfortunate failing, and there
was a gentleman at his side who could bear witness to it.

The individual thus alluded to here stepped forward
and declared that what defendant had stated was per-
fectly true. It was no uncommon thing for Mr.
Larkin to forget his own name ; and with regard to mis-
takes as to property, witness had once known him leave
his own house with a poker under his arm in mistake
for a walking-stick.
Commissioner—lndeed I 1 should think Mr. Larkin
must have been larking when he did that. But, when
he found out his mistake as to the plaintiff's umbrella,
why did he not return it? Defendant—That was what
I intended ; but as I was going back with it, I hap-
pened to call at two or three places, and left it at one
of them, but I don't know which.
Commissioner—Well then, Sir, you must pay foi
your carelessness.
The defendant paid the debt and costs accordingly.