The Sun.
London, England, 1846-03-06 00:00:00

WALLACE V. PATTON.

The arguments in this appeal were resumed and concluded
to-day, and
Their Lordships gave judgment, dismissing the appeal
with costs.

THE MARQUIS OF BREDALBANE V. SINCLAIR.
The arguments in this appeal were commenced this morn-
ing, and not having concluded at four o'clock, the further
consideration of the case was adjourned till to-morrow.

SHERIFFS' COURT, March 5.
(Before Mr. Under-Sheriff BURCEELL.)
SMITH V. BESSEMER.

This was an action to recover the sum of 151. 12s. for
warehouse-room and care of a steam-engine under peculiar
circumstances. The defendant denied his liability.
The facts of the case were these :—ln June, 1844, the de-
fendant sent the engine in question to an engineer, named
Wilson, carrying on business in the Wharf-road, St. Pancras.
Wilson, however, was soon afterwards declared a bankrupt,
and the present plaintiff, who occupied a part of the pre-
mises, was chosen assigner. Defendant demanded the
engine, but the plaintiff refused to give it up, unless
the warehouse-room was paid for.' According to the
testimony of the plaintiff's witnesses, the defendant
distinctly agreed to pay 151. 125., and on a subsequent occa •
sion he called and said that he would pay that amount, and
pulled out a 101. note and a cheque for 1001., and said if the
engine was put into the cart he would go and get change.
He went away but did not return, but the men drove off with
the engine ; they were, however, followed and given into
custody ; the charge, however, was not followed up.
For the defendant it was contended that the offer to pay
was only a ruse to get his engine, and ought not to be taken
as a binding promise, as proper care had not be taken of the
engine ; and, on the contrary, it had been thrown about
negligently, and that many of the bolts and brasses were
missing, and, in fact, the defendant had been put to an ex-
pense of 301. to put it in repair.
The jury retired at one o'clock to consider their verdict.
[On the names of the second jury being called it was found
to be impossible to make up a sufficient number. It was
stated that five who had been summoned were licensed
victuallers and bound to attend on the licensing magistrates,
it was, therefore, agreed to go on with a short number.]
Verdict for the plaintiff—damages, 7/. 10s.

ASSIZE IN TELLIGENCE.

HOME ClRCUlT.—CFelmsford, March 5.

CROWN COUIVEL(Before the LORD CHIEF BARON.)
George Hart, 22, was indicted for having feloniously
cut and wounded John Fuller, with intent to do him
grievous bodily harm.
On other counts the prisoner was charged with the
intent to rob the prosecutor.
I,lr. Ryland conducted the prosecution.
It appeared that the prosecutor was a farmer in the
neighb.urhood of Chelmsford, and on Friday, the 16th
January, he had been to the market at that place, and
was returning home between six and seven o'c!ock in
the evening, being at the time what is called market-
fresh, or a little the worse for the good liquor he had
imbibed. It was a very dark night, and when he had got
about a mile out of the town he heard the footsups
of a man a little behind him. He walked on,
the man still keeping close to him, and when they got
near a cottage by the roadside the man left him. He
proceeded on his journey, and when he had got on the
road about half a mile farther, he suddenly received a
violent blow by a stick or bludgeon, which felled him to
the ground. A man instantly fell upon him and seized
him, and at the same instant he received several severe
cuts upon the head, and upon raising his arm to protect
himself, he received a cut across his wrist. The
struggle continued for some time, and at length the man
who had attacked the prosecutor, apparently alarmed at
the approach of some one, jumped up and ran away.
The prosecutor was found in a dreadful state, covered
with blood, and almost exhausted, and upon inquiries
being made of him he was unable to give more than a
very slight account of his assailant ; and the only
additional circumstance likely to give any assistance in
the discovery of the perpetrator of the outrage, was the
finding of the peak of a cap, such as is worn by la-
bouring men, near the place where the struggle took
place. Upon those slight materials, however, owing to
the activity and zeal displayed by the constabulary sta-
tioned at Chelmsford, and the care taken in the investi-
gation of the matter by the magistrates, the charge was
clearly brought home to the prisoner. The evidence
was entirely of a circumstantial character, and consisted
of minute facts, all tending to show the guilt of the
accused. It was proved that on the night in question,
and about the time the offence was committed, he was
seen going in the same direction as the prosecutor ; that
he arrived at his own lodgirg shortly after the of-
fence had been committed ; that the peak of the cap
which was found belonged to the cap the prisoner
had been in the habit of wearing ; that he had
purchased a new cap immediately afterwards, and
told the officer that he had fell asleep before the fire,
and that it had dropped off and was burned; and, be-
sides this, it was proved that when the prisoner was
taken into custody he was dressed in entirely new
clothes, and the clothes which, according to the testi-
mony of the witnesses, he had worn on the night of the
attack upon the prosecutor were found in the house
very bloody.
The prisoner, when called upon for his defence. said
that he could not say any more than that he was at
home at the time.

The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, in summing up, said he
thought that all the parties concerned in the adminis-
tration of justice in this county,- not only in this parti-
cular case, but in several others that had come before
him during the assises, deserved very great credit,
for the very careful and searching manner in
which all the cases appeared to have been investigated, •
and the pains that had been taken to produce all the ne-
cessary facts in evidence. It was highly important to
society that, where great crimes were committed, the
perpetrators of them should be brought to justice, and
this could only be done in many cases by a most careful
inquiry— by looking at attentively, and considering
circumstances, which at first might appear trivial, but
which eventually might, when combined with other
facts, make out a chain of circumstaners entirely incom-
patible with the innocence of the party accused of the
crime, and which must always be considered as the most
sAtisfactory evidence that could possibly be adduced in
support of a charge.
The jury, af er a short consultation, returned a verdict
of Guilty.
Evidence was then adduced to show, that on two pre-
vious occasions the prisoner had been convicted of
housebreaking.
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, on passing sentence, told
the prisoner that he had been convicted of a most
henious offence, and he might think himself very
fortunate that be was not standing at the bar to answer
a charge of murder, for if he were, there was very little
doubt that he must have been convicted, and his lfe, un-
doubtedly have been forfeited. Taking into considera-
Von the character of the offence, and the circumstances
under which it had been committed, he felt that the
duty he owed to the public, and the necessity, by a se-
vere example, to detcr others from the commission of
the like offence, left him no alternative but to pass upon
him the full sentence of the law, which was that he be
sentenced beyond the seas for the term of his natural
life.

----James Harding, 25, John Conolly, 23, Feliz
25, soldiers belonging to the 95th regiment of foot, were
indicted for a felonious assault upon. Elizabeth Aldred.
It appeared from the evidence, that the offence with
which-the prisoners were charged was committed under
most aggravated circumstances. So far as they will
admit of being described, it may be stated that in the
beginning of last August, the prosecutrix, accompanied
by her husband, was going across a field in the direction
from Tilbury Fort to West Tilbury, where they met the
prisoners, all of whom were Irishmen, and one of them
inquired how far it was to the fort. They were told that
it was about a mile off, and immediately afterwards
they came up to the prosecutor and her husband, and
one of them said that she was not his lawful wife, and
they would have her with them, and at the same moment
the husband was struck to the ground by a tremendous
blow of a bludgeon. The men then seized the unfortu-
nate woman, and all three of them perpetrated the of-
fence, her husband lying by a portion of the time, bleed-
ing and insensible ; but it would appear that he got up
at one period of the transaction and attempted to go to
the assistance of his wife, wren he was again knocked
down in the most brutal manner. The prisoners alter-
nately dragged the woman away, telling fur that her
husband was dead, and that they would murder her, and
then there would be no witnesses against them. The
husband, as soon as the prisoners were gone, contrived
to crawl to the villiage, where be obtained assistance,
and the prisoners were apprhended shortly afterwards.
The jury found the prisoners Guilty.
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, having made some appro-
priate observations upon the enormity of their offence,
sentenced them to be transported for life.
When sentence was delivered, the prisoners, as is cus
tomary, were handcuffed, and the moment this was done
the Trisoner Harding threw his cap into the jury-box,
and at tte same time said, " There you ---
tike that; you'll know the want of soldiers before long."
He then struck his handcuffs violently against the iron
spikes surrounding the dock, evidently with the intention
of breaking them, when he was overpowered by the
officers in attendance, and removed from the dock. He
was shortly afterwards taken away in the van to the gaol,
and as he was getting into the vehicle, he threw his
cap, which_had been restored to him, among the crcwd,
and called ot, " Good bye to Old England, I shall not see
you any more."

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—Durham, March 3.

The assizes for the county of Durham commenced here
this morning. Their Lordships, after attending Divine ser-
vice, sat at 12 o'clock, Mr. Justice Patteson on the criminal
side, and Mr. Justice Coleridge on the civil side. There
are 21 causes entered for trial, none of which, however, it is
believed, are of very great interest. The calendar is unusu-
ally heavy, both in point of numbers and in the nature of the
offences with which the prisoners are charged. There are
four in custody for murder (three, however, in one case), five
for rape, one for arson, six for highway robbery, five for
cutting and wounding, and three for manslaughter.
CIVIL SlDE.—(Before Mr. Justice COLERIDGE. )
Eight cases were disposed of in the course of the day,
either by being withdrawn, or a verdict being taken by con-
sent.