The Sun.
London, England, 1840-07-23 00:00:00

! MIDLAND CIRCUIT—NoRTILIairroN, July 21/
The Commission of Assize for this county was opened
in the afternoon of Monday by Mr. Justice Litticdale,
who this morning proceeded, accompanied by Chie
Justice Tindal, to the parish church of All Saints, %bin.
after hearing Divine Service performed, their Lordships
adjourned to their respective Courts, and the business
of the Assize began. There are thirteen causes, one a
special jury, and on the criminal side are the names of
twenty-one prisoners. Among the latter wss the case
of John Holman, John Brea, and Thomas Vann, who
were charged with killing and slaying the wife of the
Rev. Richard Gardner, at Long Duckby. The circum-
stances out of which the charge preferred against those
three men arose were rather singular. The Reve-
rend Gentleman above-named is the Curate of
Long Buekky, and his lady had long been la-
bouring under a state of great r,ervous
and on some occasion a short time ago a great
noise and disturbance took place before the Rev.
Mr. G;rdner's house, and some windows were broken
in passing. Mrs. Gardner, who was in a very preca-
rious state, became greatly alarmed, so much so that
her husband was obliged to go and see what was the
mutter, which he accordingly did, ard, returning t•
satisfy his wife that she need be under no i.pprehension,
he found her a corpse. The grand jury ignored the
bill. Nothing of consequence has Set transpired in the
Civil Court.

AN 0 A'?THERN CI RCUI T.--Yonr, Juiii- 2 I .

CHARGE OF MURDER AT HUDDERSFIELD.
Alexander ~11Tachlan Smith was indicted for the
murder of William Duke, a police officer, at Heddelse
field, by stabbing and cutting him with a knife.
John Danson, also a police officer at Huddersfield,
on the 28th of April last, when this occurrence took
place, was on duty near the market-place when his ate
tention was attracted by a noise et the sits!! of a person
of the name of Lennard, a gardner, and on going to the
spot he found Lennard and the prisoner disputing about
a plant, which the latter declared he had Purchased at
the price of 24. Lennard alleged the price to be ls. 6d.,
and refs sect to permit him to take it away. They
then had Loth hold of the plant, and the pri-
soner still refusing to let it go, Danson advised Len-
nard to go,befesse th_e_pagissrNtes, who were then, as
he believed, still sitting in Petty Sessions. Tracy took
the prisoner down to the lock-up, and went forward to
the magistrates' room, but found they Are just gone.
In the mean time the witness Danson, with the assist-
ance of Duke, searched the prisoner, anti took out of
his pockets a large clasp-knife, a pocket-book, two
! pencils, and a snuff-box. The prisoner kicked at Duke
several times, saying—" Damn you, I'll make you re-
member meddling with a Seotehman." A chain was
procured, which was fastened to him by a shackle round
the leg, and a handcuff on the wrist of his left arm.
The plant was then wrested from him by the witness
Lennard, and Duke, and he was put into the lock-up
No. 4. This was about a quarter to fans o'clock. A
little before six o'clock the- witness was in the house of
the deceased with Dalton,another (aces, when the) heard
a great noise proceeding from one of the cells. They went
across the yard to the door of No. 4, when Duke flung
the door open, saying, " You blackguard, what are
you making all this noise about ?" The prisoner made
some reply, and rushed out instantly. Duke ex-
claimed, " Do you see that ?" and ran towards his
own house. Dalton and the witness ran a few paces.
in the opposite direction. They turned on hearing
Duke make some exclamation, and saw Duke with his
back to the wall of his house, and the prisoner stabbing
him with a knife somewhere about the groin. The wit-
ness rushed upon the prisoner, and they closed and fell.
He then found himself wounded in the left thigh, the
side, and the back. The prisoner said " D—n you, I
said I would make you remember meddling with a
Seotehman." Dalton finally 'got the knife from him.
When the witness got up Duke was lying near theft' on
the ground. Was himself nearly a month in the infirmary.
Francis Dalton, another police-officer, was present
when Duke opened the cell door. The prisoner was
sitting on the lower part of the bed, at the further end,
with his right hand behind him. He oame out with a
spring life that of a cat. The witness gave a similar
account of the death of Duke as that given by Danson.
When the knife was taken from the psisoner be became
quite quiet, and ceased to struggle. He cried out,
I've done for two of them, I'll do for fifty more, and
then England-will-be free."
Caleb Wiliiams, manager of the Quaker's Lunatic
Asylum, near York, examined the prisoner in the gaol,
and thought his intellect was impaired, and his moral
feelings perverted. He did not seem sensible of the
serious nature of the crime charged
.against him. He
said he had had three communications from Jesus Christ
that he was safe. Has had much experience in ewes of
mania, and did not think these delusions were feigned.
His Lordship summed up, and the Jury brought is a
verdict, of Not Guilty, on the ground of insanity.