The Sun.
London, England, 1824-04-28 00:00:00

HERTFORD SESSIONS, Arum 27.

Before LORD DACRE and a. Bench of Magistrates.
TUE PING v. WY.I.DE.
[Specially reported for THE Sus.]
•• Mr. JESSOP addressed the Jury for the prose-
zution. lie commenced by describing the case as
one which required their most serious considera-
tion, It was a charge made againbt the defend.

apt, a gentlemaa moving in a respectable situation
.-of life, for a very gross and outrageous assault
upon the prosecutrix a poor -woman, who would
be' called into the box to be examined. . .
The defendant was a professor of music, a man of' property,
living on- terms of intimacy with the most respectable part of
the community where he resided—a Gentleman of education,
and eminent-for his professional attainments.—The prosecutrix
was a poor woman, -who, a little before the period when the
occurrence in question took place, was a pauper in the parish
of St. Andrew's, Holborn : she had seen better days, but had
• - been reduced to poverty. It was her custom to go about the
• ...neighbourhood where she was known, selling. articles of dress,
winch those who were acquainted with her purchased, to enable
11er to add to the allowance of the parish; she had been much
Patronised by the family of a gentleman well known in the
county, Mr. Clutterbuck, who had formerly resided in the house
• now occupied by 411 r. Wylde a,dhe had been allowed to go and
sell her wares among the servants, and had- received such
hospitality as the housd afforded. On the 29th March, 1823,
she went to the house of the at Clay-hill, and pro-
ceeded to the back minor of • the premiies, but saw•no one ; she
then went to the front doore -with intent to ring the bell,
when some person called out and desired her to go about her
business; 111 r. Wylde was at this time employed in clipping a
hedge in his garden ; something was said that was not- disS
tilactlyheard frOm the window of the house; an answer was
made by the prosecntrix, which he apprehended was notsatisfactory .;•• there-- was .some slight altercation she did
not recollect; while engaged in this way, to her utter
astonishment, some person came behind her, and she received.
a violent blow which felled her to the ground, and occasioned
bee such aghny that she fainted; she was unable to stand;
when she. came to herself it was found that two of the bones of
her leg were fractured. He Should have supposed that, when
lying in this situation, any' gentleman of ordinary feelings
would have called-his servants. to- assist her, even if the injury
had not been occasioned-by his own unjustifiable violence e but
'.esterat of so doing, they would be surprised to learn that lie sent
.forthe constable of the parish to removehers If she was a trespasser
on the premises, or behaving disorderly, he should, in the first
isldtance, have sent for a constable, complained- to him of her
being there in a state of vagrancy, and de.siredhim to remove
ter; but here lie had, in the first instance, taken -the law into
ais own hamhe, and-inflicted this severe injury. The constable,
when he found that her leg was fractured, said it was not a case
. far him—the parish-officers must be sent for. In the result
.she was taken to the .parish workhouse, and a -surgeon was
sent for he understood it was to be said that this was
entirely the effect:of accident; that the defendant, seeing this
woman behaving intemperately, and making use of improper
language, merely pushed her, and in falling down•-the sustained
the injury. It would be seen in evidence that thefracture was
an oblique one—had it been occasioned by the fall, it would have
been a transverse fracture ; besides, there were two wounds such
_as were likely to have been produced by the shears which he under-
stood the defendant had in his heed ; he contended that the injury
must have been occasioned by -external violence: it was true
that the prosecutrix had stated that it was a scythe with which,,
the injury had been effected, but it turned out that it must
*nave been done by the garden shears ; the prosecutrix remained
nine weeks in the parish workhouse of Beasley, and was so ill that
during a part of the time her life was in danger, so much so,
that the Afagistrates of the County conceived themselves bound
to take an account of the transaction, because, had she died,
tnis gentleman the defendant, must have been placed at the
'oar, to answer for a capital offence. The Learned Counsel said
to was not instructed to press any thing against the defendant;
mere was fin 'personal hostility towards him, it was the anxious
wish of those he represented, as guardians of the poor, to see
that justice was dene,:and that, if'Mr. Wylde had really been
guilty of so outrageotts an •assault, be •ahauld answer for his
conduct; they knew nothing of: Mr. 11-Ode-hit was on public
greunds alone the prosecution was instituted, ant tp‘slieW that
tee poor were equally protected by the law with the rich hhe
wee told that the prosecutrix was to be represented as, at the
time when this transaction. took place, in a state of • drunken_erns, and as having used language unfit for modest ears. With
regard to her being intoxicated,- he was able to prove that she
'aid not the means of becoming so ; but whether she had been
drunk or not, whether she bad been abusive or not, that was no
aaawer to the present charge, it did nut justify.a man in using
s,,.eh an instrument as garden shears, and inflicting with them
a:I wof the nature described. They had lately heard within
sae walls, from high authority, that where a Gentleman
for; the advantage of fortune and education, more was ex-
- eesed from }inn than others. At this moment a per-
son was on his voyage to another country for having yield-
ed ma the influence of an ungovernable temper.; it was neces-
-try that those who acted so intemperately should be checked by
thastrong cent of the law. The Surgeon who had attended the
:1-9secutrix would Lac called, and if, after hearing his evidence,
tdiee could be induced to believe that the injury had been produced
.btaccident, or in any other way than he had stated, they would, in
lost case acquit the defendant of the charge imputed to him,but it'
on the other-hand, the cane should be substantiated by the evi-
dence, they would be bound to return such a verdict as would
satisfy the objects of justice, by enabling the Court to inflict such
a Punishment as an assault of No eggravated a nature merited.
4a.ry Foulkes was called and examined .by Mr. JEsson,
she appeared blind of one eye, and came into Court oracrutches,
h-:sire said, on the 29th of March last year she passed through
harrow born the place where she had been long resident,
the perish of Gredt Ealing, but stopped so where on
use way ; :del had no articles for-sale except a fancy pincushion,
-intended for :dr. Clutterbuck's nurse ; Mr. Cl ,hterbuck lived
sot i3ers2ey ; :she had been accustomed to go to his house for 20
• years, where she was always received in a friendly and cordial
stianaer, she went to his house ondhat day ; she timid net say-at
what o'clock, imt imagined by the sun it must he about half-past
atusee or thur ; she bad hot had a bit of bread front an early hour in
the twerning ; she had two -vessels in her hand, but had drank
out met' neither; she had had nothing to drink but tea ; she was
pert-way sober when she got to Bersley ; she was informed that
dna Thotnas Clatterbuck had moved into the house which Mr.
Wykle now occuoiea; she went to the house ; in the first -place,
efidgate was wide open ; she wont to the door leading to the
hank of the house, the door was open ; a person within side the
window, said " there is nothing wanting," in a vociferat.
lag tone of voice or "-nothing is wanting," or words to
that effect, to which the witness made no reply ; she then
-whit rotual to the front door, meaning to pull the bell,
'eta she did not hear it ring; she then saw a person com-
ing from the further part of the plantation, which was ter.
minated by a thick hedge about breast high ; he came at a
seri quick and hasty step ; she did not say any thing to-him ;
slit could not say at what distance he was, being no judge of
diantrice, for she was almost blind. As the person approached her,
he stepped at the slab of the door, near to a gravel path, which
lawi oat been disturbed by human feet : as he approached
she was well convinced by his voice it was a person she knew
bathing of, she had but a. transient view of him ; his hat was
drsw:i over his forehead and concealed his eyes; as he approached
lad lie muttered something, but she could not make out what he
daps-eased, it was so inarticulate ; he Came in so questionable a
shape that she turned round to make her exit off the premises;
thhile she was in the act of turning round, her eye glanced at
instrument males his arm ; the handle of the shears was
concealed under his right arm therefore her eye glanced on
the bright part—her eye lingered on it as she turned, wondering
attiat kind of an instrument it was, for on the night preceding,
being superstitious, she dreamt of being murdered by a cleaver ;
hence it arose that where she saw this instrument she turned,
otherwise she should note she did 'not like his appearance : as she
Was in the act of t uraing, .he shuffled so that she saw him in pro-
; ha right foot was on the advance, in the act of stepping ;
.as she turned, the instrument stabbed her on the instep, and a
blow followed hy the flat part of the shears, they being closed;
-she fell, and just exclaimed " Oh Lord, have mercy on me !"
!but before she could finish the sentence she fell, so that her
face was towards the quick hedge, from which she had
seen the defendant come e in the fall she lost her breath,
but did net then faint ; she rose as soon as she collected
her breath, but her leg was in that state she could only
sit Hp; she then- took her stocking and turned it down to
see the consequence ; the defendant was gone and tile shears
too n when she saw the state of her leg, she did not know
that it was broke; she thought her foot was severed from her
leg an] then she fainted ; the first person she recollected seeing
araa I'd c. :Ad ergan, the 'parish officer; Mr. Lawford, the Over-
seer, was there, and assisted in conveying her to the Bell Inn.
where she was attended by Mr. Shute, the Surgeon.
Upon her cross-examination by Mr. Bitonoetcic, she
was asked whether she was given to dreaming, and
whether the account she had given to day was similar to
her first exaniinatiod, or something she had dreamed of since
the accidtait ? She meant, she said, to speak the truth—she had
leerned tc weak the. thath from her infancy--she had always
isdid the starne stJry, or -to the same effect. On being asked
whether sae had stated the fact of the handle of the shears.
being under the dethndant's arm, and her eye glaring on the
bright part of the shears? she said she did not feel herself obliged
to s:iswer such quibbles. She said she had represented to time Ma-
giotrate that she was cutewith .a piece of, a scythe ; she never

used the expression that she was mowed down like grass ' . she
had never told the Magistrates that the defendant desired her
to go off' the premises ; he muttered something ; he might
mean to say what do you do here ; she said she had never spoken
to any of the servants. Upon being asked whether • she had
ever been in a theatre PeShe replied thateshe had been long on
the grand amphitheatre of life, and was now perforMing the
part of Mr.ollty Rag'in her own clothes.
Mr. JESSOP auboutteel that this was a course of examination
that was not relevant to the subject. -•
Mr. BRODERICK insisted that it was important she should
tell her story in her own way, in order that the Jury might be
the better able to judge by .her conduct and manner of its pro-
bability. She denied having seen the cook-maid, Charlotte
Bout, or having used opprobrious language towards her; she
had never said that the defendant's house was Lord Claren-
don's house, and that she was determined to see somebody;
she said she came to the neighbourhood as often as it suit-
ed her ; she denied that in proceeding along the road she
staggered or expressed herself improperly, or ever accosted'
a Lady and Gentleman in a tandem, or took notice of any
person; she said she had never told a woman of. the name of
Mary Allen that she did not know how the accident happened.
She said there had been plenty of holes in her stockings, but
most of them were darned very decently ; she could not inspect
her stocking to-see if it was cut; she thought if she took her
stocking off-her foot would come off: There were two wounds
in the front of the small of her leg ; she persisted that she had
always given the manse account.
John Francis said he was a carpenter, living at Clay-hill.._
On the day stated in the indictment he was :scuttle. some hurdles
on Mr. Wylde's pleasure-grounds ; he saw Mr. Wyltle clip.
ping a hedge; a female servant called him away, and he pro-1
ceeded towards his house ; witness would have followed him,
but was prevented by a little spaniel dog biting him on the
lawn ; when he went afterwards to his master, he saw the pro-
secutrix ; he found her leg was broke ; he had before, observ-
ing the woman was abusive and would not go away, asked
Mr. %Vylde if he wanted assistance.
Joseph Morgan, the constable, Raid he was sent for on the
day, in cpiestion ; the defendant said he had got ahvonian in the
yard who was Very troublesome; she was lying on the gravel.
walk ; he made an attempt to raise her, bat she cried out that
her leg was broken—that the gentleman had struck her with a
scythe, and broke her leg. The defendant denied having struck
her, said it was easseheber leg could not be broke, and that he
had better take her and give het a night's lodging in the cage.
.• Iktr. Joseph Lan-fords the Overseer, gave his evidence to the
same effect, with regard to the assertion of the prosecutrix and
the denial of the defendant. He added, that the cope:teem paid
by the parish of St. Andrew, Ifolliorn, amounted to 301.
Min chute; Surgeon, was called in afterthe accident;
.he re-
moved the stocking, which had some blood on it ; he observed
two wetiericlee.one a little above the instep, and the other •the
breadth of three fingers, higher; they were angular wounds ;
the larger one bled freely ; Oiley wire produced by. external
violence; without knoivirig what instrument they had been
.made with, he should sayethey were incapable of producing a
fractured limb—the fracture was an oblique fracture of the
principal bone—the small bone was fractured with it--nineteen
times out of twenty a bone would be broken-transversely by a
fall. On his cross examination he said he could not swear a
hone might not be broken -obliquely by a fill-he 'Would
chew the Jury'a model of a leg Fractured as this was, but he had
rather be spared the trollble—he had fr.:timers of his own as well as
the defendant—sdSnothing.,extenuate, nor stet down aught in
malice." He had met Mr. Wylde on a certain day in January, and
had told him in substance that it would be better to compromise
thenattere the defendant auewered, that the trouble he had been
put to was owing to him ; witness answered that he was ready
to give him any satisfactioa. fielhed certainly told Mr. Wylde
thatif he had spoken to him he could: haveettiotteneal the matter
down. His opinion was, that iff-a fracture` took place whets the
;Berson was in a state of intoxicatiek the sufferings would 'be
greater than if the patient was in a ft.....rate. gate.
BrozwEstrox, in a very able speech addressed the jury.
All he' asked was an impartial attention to the case heshotald
lay belbretheni on the part of the defendant, to examine' the
evidence C"almly, to attend to its contradictions, and, fortes a dis-
passionate -cenclusiou from the whole of the circumstances.
The defendant was charged with what had been described as
an outrageous assault, but with conduct not to be ;palliated
or defended, but which, eeeestipon the evidence for the-prose-
cation, appeared ex tremeiteimprebable to have been committed.
Some allusion had been made to itscroot of recent occurrence ;.
what reference it had to the present one he could not inlah,iiie
there was not the slightest similarity betteatti. theme If the
Jury. would only enncede to ltizit the` impeehatsillty!of A gentle-
Man -in flier Tifp.of the efendant, committing an
act t:f such wanton barbarity, he would demonstrate beyond all
doubt that there wits no tbundation for the imputation. ,Orie
great advantage of hearing these matters in open Court was
the opportunity it afforded the Jury of judging of the value of
testimony by the conduct of the witnesses ; they could ascertain
whether there was any thing in their manner that challenged
credit, or was calculated to excite a suspicion whether their
evidence was dictated by a regard to truth. They hatl seen
the manner in which the prosecutrtx had given her
&nee: Could they, . after hearing her lay ,heir hands on
their hearts, and say it deserved that degree of credit which
as cautious men they ought to give to it before they came to
conclusion unfavourable to the defendant. MrdWylde lamented
as much as any man could do the accident this poor woman
had met with, and although his conduct required explanation,
there would be no difficulty in giving it, and he entertained no
doubt the defendant would tfo out of Court cleared from every
Suspicion of his having acted in the brutal and outrageous man_
ner alleged, conscious as he was that he had done nothing to the
woman bUt merely touched her on the shoulder, when she fell and
Unaccountably fractured her limb. It had been stated by Air.
Shute, the surgeon, that if the young man, the defendant, had
ahalied to him, he would have softened down the matter.—
What would have been the conduct of the defendant, or of any
rational min, if he had not felt perfectly conscious of his inno- I
ence?—fle would give every faulting he was worth rather
than risk the effect of an exaggerated statement by the
Counsel for the prosecution. lie would have made any
sacrifice when the offer of compromise was tendered to him.
That would have been the conduct of a guilty man ; but how'
had the defendant acted, he had repelled the idea of compre.."
mice—he had said I rely on my character. remove the
stain attempted to be cast upon me, by a public examination,
and I will look with confidence to the assertion of my innocence
before a Jury of my Country. A most singular story had been
detailed by the prosecutrix ; shelled described the transaction in
language which had astonished him ; hehad never heard so extra-
ordinary a display—it was not to be wondered at that a public
body like the parish officers of St. Andrew's, Holborn, should
have given credit to the expaite statement of this woman. The
Learned-Counsel then proceeded to state the nature of the (ash.
dence by which he should contradict the statement of the pro-
secutrix ; he should prove that when site came to the defend.
ants' house she was in a state of intoxication ; that she be-
haved in a most outrageous and abusive way towards the
female servants ; Mr. Wylde was with his wife in their
garden, he was clipping some trees in a 'hedge, when a sir.
vent came to him stating there was a woman using abusive lee-
guage, and who refused to go away. Mr. Wjlde gave the
shears he had in his hand to Mrs. 'yule, and went towards
the house ; when he came to the spot where the prosecutrix
was, le had neither shears or any other instrument in his
hand ; he gently pushed her, and she fell. The defendant
could not believe that she had met with an injury so serious as
that of fracturing a bone ; on the contrary he considered her
an impostor, and under that impression desired the assistance
of a peace officer.—It was in evidence that he had called to
Francis to assist hirn—a plain proof he had no idea of what had
happened to the prosecutrix. The Learned Counsel having
at very great length remarked upon the satisfactory nature of
the proof he had to offer, concluded by confidently trusting
that the Jury would return a verdict which would restore the
defendant to his wife, his family, and to Society, with a character
innocent and unblemished.
Charlotte Bent, the servant of the defendant, at the period of
this transaction, stated, that on taster eve, last year, the prose-
cutrix caine to the scullery door; witness told her she had no-
thing to give her; desired her to go away ; she called witness
an infernal w--; she would have it mat it was Lord Cla-
rendon's house, and she knew Lord Clarendon ; she then went
round to the hunt doer and ruing the bell violently ; she consi-
dered her at the time very much intoxicated ; she went down the
garden, and called her master ; he came up—the witness shortly
after saw her master helping the woman up; he had nothing in
his hand; she was quite distiuct in her recollection that her
master had put the shears away before he went towards the
house. Witness had no suspicion the woman's leg was broke
when she went for the constable.

Gordon Horwood, the nursery-maid, was in the nursery with
her master's two infant children; she saw the whole affair
from the nursery window where she was standing ; she observed
the conduct of the pros•Tutrix till she saw her tap at the window
of the dining-room ; witness told her she had better go about
her business, upon which she abused her ; she held a petition
in her hand, am(' said she was sure it was Lord Clarendon's
house - she said it was a grsat pity that a young creature,
like the witness, should forbid her getting any thing in the
house she could. Nothing further passed till her :Vaster
came up ; he put his hand on her shoulder, in a way
scarcely to brush a fly ofi'; the prosecutrix was standing
cross legged and she fell backwards on the flint stones near the
window—her master had neither shears nor any thing else in
his hand—the prosecutrix did not faint-she was talkirg loud
all the time at times praying to God to forgive her, at others
swearing—tile witness said she had been examined by the So-
licitor for the prosecution.

Mr. Jusso P.—She was exFunined on tile part of the prosecu-
tion, but her story did not agree with ours.
W. Humble proved the manner in which the prosecutrix was

walking along the
*road ; she was swearing; he thought her
drunk, and said so at the time ; saw her stop and talk to Mr.
Wade and his sister in a tandem. • ,
John Dumbleton gave evidence to the same effect, and w,as
corroborated by his wife.
Mary Allen proved the declaration of the prosecutrix, that
she did not know how the accident happened.
Mrs. Wyldei the defendant's mother, confirmed the testi-
mony of the servants, that the defendant had given the shears
out of kis hand, before he proceeded towards the prosceittrix.
Dr. Monro spoke in
.11igh terms of the defendants' character.
The Hon. and Rev. Capell, always considered him, for
the nine years he had known him, a kind and honourable man,
never saw the least ill-temper about him, quite the contrary.
The Rev. Rich. Vivian gave testimony of the Caine nature.
Matthew Higgins, Esq.. described
:him as the mildest man he
had ever known. '
Mr. Henry Molineux had known him 19 years ; had been
his school-fellow, a more quiet boy he never knew ; always dis-
played the greatest kindness and humanity, though brought up
in a school where fagging was allowed.
After the accident witness picked up two flint atones with
blood on them, but he threw them away.-
The examination taken before the Magistrate was read to
show the discrepancies between its contents and the evidence
now given by the. prosecutrix.
Robert Clutterbuck, Esq. the Magistrate, stated that he had
examined the stocking very particularly, there appeared to be
no hole corresponding with the wounds ; die wounds had
healed, were perfectly circular, of the size of a pea, one much
smaller. He had kndwn defendant nine years ; always con-
sidered him a kind hearted y.
Mr. Coleby, surgeon, had practised for 29 years t he wag of
opinion that the character of a fracture would not indicate
whether it had -been prqnced by a,blow or a fall; a fracture
was more likely to be oblique if the subject was advanced in
life.; the character of the fracture afforded no evidence that it
was caused by external violence.
Mr. Jossor replied. .
Lord DAoftE slimmed up the whole of the evidence, and
commented upon it With .great force and ability. His Lord-
ship considered the weight of the testimony as greatly prepon-
derating in favour of the defendant and observed, with reference
to the evidence of Mr. Shute, that although nineteen times out
oblique, yet, after hearing dia,e,„,;4„ce,
oftwenty a fracture Ergot a fall would be transverse, and not
he should be disposed
to consider this as the twentiethinstance. .
The Jury, after a- very short cormultation, returned their
verdict--Yot •

F thi LONDON GAZETTE, April 27.

Crouta Of re, April 27; 1824. • • •
Mernher returned to serie in this present Parliament.
- porough of Lancaster—Thomas Greene, Esq., in the room
.of Majoi..General Gsaii i Dovetou, deceased.