The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-29 00:00:00

(Laughter.) His friend had met this case in a spirit of
ridicule, indeed he had been in it as was said of a horse,
',rather cheerful." People ridiculed the distresses of others
from not having been placed in the same circumstances
themselves' and this put him in mind of an anecdote he had
heard of Lord Mansfield. An action had been brought
against a M'igistrate for having caused the plaintiff to be
put in the public stocks wrongfully ; on the trial the Coun-
sel for defendant (the Sergeant Spankie of that day) was
ridiculing the notion of the stocks being any punishment,
when he was interrupted by, Lord Mansfield asking him
whether he had ever been in the stocks ? "Me been in
the stocks, my Lord ? (says the Sergeant Spankie of that
day.) No." " Then I have (returned his Lordship) and
I can assure you it is not so pleasant a punishment as you
may think ;" and then proceeded to state how it occurred.
The Jury found a verdict for the plaintiff.—Damages
40s.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.—Nov. 28.

OLD COURT.

Catherine Hellen, aged 46, and described in the Calen-
dar as a widow, was indicted for forging and uttering a bill
of exchange for 4,6631. 145., with intent to defraud Messrs.
Drummond and Co., the Bankers.

Thomas Oliver—l am clerk in the house of Messrs.
Drummond and Co. On Thursday the 9th of October, a
letter was received which contained a bill of exchange,
signed Stradbroke. His Lordship kept an account at our
house. The signature to the bill was not in his Lordship's
handwriting. The letter and bill I handed to Mr. Bush.
Cross-examined by Mr. Clarkson—l am perfectly ac-
quainted with the hand-writing of Lord Stradbroke. The
signature to the bill does not resemble his Lordship's hand-
writing.
Daniel Forrester—l am a city officer, and put a letter
into the post-office, and afterwards proceeded to Weymouth
by the mail. I went to the banking-house of Messrs. Wil-
liams and Co. I there saw the prisoner. She was in the
act of writing a receipt. On perfecting it, I asked her if it
was her name, and she said, "It is." I then asked her
how she would wish to take it, when she replied, " In Bank
of England paper, if you have got it." I then said, " I
must beg of you to step into a back room, as I wish to ask
you a question or two." She said, " I hope there is nothing
amiss." I then showed her the letter and bill. She said,
" The letter is my hand-writing, and this is also mine,"
laying her hand on the endorsement on the back of the bill.
I told her she need not say anything which might tend to
criminate herself. She said, " I can only speak the truth."
I then told her that the signature of Lord Stradbroke
was a forgery. She then replied, " I took the bill from
an agent in France, living at Nantes, and his name was
Pucey, that she was unacquainted with Lord Stradbroke."
I inquired when she received the bill. She said the 16th
of this month (October) ; and then said, " I mean the
16th of last month. I left Nantz on the 18th, and took it
for a picture transaction." I afterwards went to Augusta-
place, Weymouth, and discovered that all her property was
packed up. On searching her trunk, I found a piece of
blotting paper, on which was an impression corresponding
with the writing on the bill.
The Earl of STRADBRoxE—In October last I was in
the habit of keeping an account with Messrs. Drummond
and Co. The bill now produced is not in my handwriting,
nor is it like it. I never had any transactions with a person
of the name of Pucey, nor do I know any thing of the pri-
soner.

The letters and bill were here read.—Guilty.
Frederick Peter Finnegan, a short ill-looking fellow,
aged 28, was indicted for the wilful murder of Catherine
Matilda Finnegan, his own child, aged twenty months, by
drowning the said infant in a ditch near to the Surrey
Canal, on the Bth of August.
Elizabeth Barnes--I am a single woman, and living in
Garden-row, Camberwell. lam first cousin to the pri-
soner's wife. I have not seen the child since her death.
The prisoner and his wife were not living together at the
time. They had separated about three months before.
Mrs. Finnegan has another child which was only four
months old. On the day in question I saw the prisoner
and his wife in George-street. I heard the prisoner say
to his wife, 4 I have murdered her." His wife said,
44 Oh God! where is my child ?" The prisoner said,
" She is happy in heaven." At this time the prisoner
had the infant in his arms. I took it from him, and said
to him, " Fred, pray don't say so !" He replied, " Betsey,
you think lam trifling ; I say lam not. She is happy in
heaven, and wants no more earthly provision." There was
no more said. He then kissed his wife, and she kissed him
in return. He then left her, and she fainted away, and was
conveyed into her own house, where assistance was pro-
cured, and she was brought to. The prisoner on that oc-
casion had a hatband on his hat. On the following. day I
saw him, and I noticed the hatband to be taken off, and he
had shaven his whiskers off. On the Friday I noticed his
hands ; they were dirty ; it appeared to arise from mud,
which was dried on.

Cross-examined by Mr. STAMMERS—I do not recollect
seeing any very strange act of the prisoner after he was mar-
ried. Ido not recollect his selling his goods and working
tools on the day of his marriage. The prisoner on the day
of the death of the child was perfectly cool and composed.
I never on any occasion had any reason to suspect he was
labourinr, under any degree of insanity.
By Mr. Justice PARK—The prisoner was in mourning for
his mother.
Other evidence was adduced, after which

The prisoner, in his defence, said he laboured under a
great excitement of mind, and he cannot say how the child
came by its death.
The prisoner called no witnesses.

The Learned JUDGE summed up the evidence, very mi-
nutely.
The Jury, after a short consultation, found the prisoner
Guilty.

The RECORDER, in a most impressive manner, proceeded
to pass sentence of death on the prisoner, and ordered him
for execution on Monday next at Horsemonger-lane gaol.
The prisoner, during the address of the Recorder, main-
tained a considerable degree of self-possession, and left the
dock apparently with those feelings which might have been
expected from a person who had been acquitted.