The Sun.
London, England, 1833-09-06 00:00:00

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.

BETTING ROOM, SEPT. 5.
DONCASTER ST. LEGER.
31 to agst Duke of Cleveland's Muley Moloch
sto agst Mr. Watts's Rockingham
di to 1 agst Mr. Watt's Belshazzar
11 to agst Mr. Forth's Marpessa
12 to agst Mr. Walker's Mussulman (taken)
14 to agst Colonel Crawford's The Mole (taken)
14 to agst Mr. Walker's Anne
20 to agst Mr. 11a. 'inson's Revenge
20 to agst Mr.O sldiston's Tutor
20 to agst Mr. N.ostyn's Jack Faucet
Three agst the field.
BETTING AT WARWICK.
9 to 2 agst Muley Moloch (taken)
6to agst Rockingham (taken)
71 to I agst Bolshazzar (taken)
12 to 1 agst Marpesa (taken)
12 to 1 agst Mussulman (taken)
IS to 1 agst Revenge (taken)

WARWICK RACES, SEPr. 5.
Sweepstakes of 10 sovs. each. One mile heat.
Mr. Bristow's Uncle Toby 1
Mr. Leigh's b. c. by Sir Gray
The Kinew Plate of 100 ga. Two mile heats.

Mr. Owen's Diana v 1 1
Mr. Robinson's Windcliffe
Colonel Charretie's Swing
Mr. Cooke's Tarantella 3 dr
Mr. Smith's Parthenon 5 dr
The Town P 1 ,te of 501. Two mile heats.
Mr. Thorn's Harry 1 1
Mr. J. H. Peel's Changeling
Mr. Beardsworth's Chester
The Stand Stakes of 5 wove. each, with 50 added. Two

mile heats.
Mr. B. King's Lucy I 1
Mr. J. H. Peel's Lely

ROCHESTER AND CHATHAM RACES,

SEPT. 5.

A Gold Cup, or 100 110 VP. Heats two miles. The winner

to he sold for 400, &e.
Mr. Gardnor's Messenger I I
Mr. Brown's Pumpkin 3 2
Mr. Rush's Guildford
The West Kent Stakes of 5 says. each, and 25 added.
Second horse to save his stake. Winner to be sold for
150, &c. Heats two miles. (6 Subs.)
Mr. Hodges's Caroline
Mr. Thomas's Suffolk Punch 1 2 2
Mr. Theobald's Gretna Green
Mr. Best's Norna

After the de 4d he-it for second at the late Ashford race
for the Ripton Plate, Fawn w diced over, and in the even-
ing Mr. Messer gave up Caroline to Mr. T. Hodges for
the 1201.

No race for the Hunter's Plate.

BEDFORD RACES, SETT. 5.
Sweepstakes of 5 sous, each. The winner to be sold for

120/. Heats once round and a dis.
Mr. D. Radcliffe's Wilna 1 1
Mr. Newman's Reform
Mr. Wilson's Sultan
Mr. Ongley's The Flyer
Mr. Sowerby's Plantagenet 4 dr
A Plate ~f 50/. Heats two mks each.
Mr. Smith's The Witch
Mr. Radcliffe's Wilna 2 2

MORPETH RACES, SEPT. 4.

The Borough Metrowr's Pia•e i,f 50/. for Nliiden Horses,

&c. Heats once round an I a dirt ,rice.
Mr. Wilkins's Ecelefechan 3 1 1
Captain Potts's Sparrowhawk 1 2 2
Mr. Jenning's Canteen
A Hunter's Stake of 7 si,vs each, with 81 added. Heat
two miles. Gentlemen riders. (9 Subcribers.)
Mr. Routledge's The Knight 1
Mr. Boag's Pilot
Capt. Potts's Coronet (late Corporal)
Mr. Skipsey's Jerry Hawthorn
Mr. C. Bowser's Minerva

Such a storm, at least one so f►tal in its con-
sequences, has seldom, if ever. been known at such a
period of the year, as that of Frith), and Ssturclty last.
The oldest underwriter at Lloyd's remembers nothing of
the kind.

Despatches were received in town yesterday,
from the Pru<sian and Russian Ministers at the Havre, for
Baron Buiow and Prince Lieven.

Yesterday a man named Thomas Harland,
who resided in Bilton•street, in Layerthorpt., near this
city, having been a short time previously indisposed, to
all appearances expired. His coffin-board was brought
into the house, and preparations were commenced for lay-
ing him out. When these were nearly completed, to the
astonishment of those present, he suddenly rose up and
revived. The next morning, however, he actually de-
parted this life, and his remains were interred the same
evening.— York Chronicle.
COUNTY OF BUTE.—Sir William Rae will
walk the course, no opponent appearing to contest the field.
The King of PRUSSIA has decided that from
October 1, the amber found on the shores of the kingdom
shall no longer be considered as droits of the Crown, but
become the property of those who may employ themselves
in collecting it.

The receipts of the Custom-house of Havre
during the last month present a decrease of 291,1671 r.
compared with the those of August, 1832. The first
eight months of 1833, compared with the corresponding
months of the preceding year, present a decrease of
1,642,0361 r.

The tendency to an exportation of the pre-
cious metals continms, but not at a rate calculated to
excite any alarm, nor is thought by any means likely that
it will become so, unless the state of the harvest should
appear to he such as to render necessary a large imports•
tion of grain. Some persons, indeed, go the length of
affirming that the crop of wheat is a very deficient one,
and this is the case certainly in some pains of the country,
but there do not appear to be sufficient data at present on
which to f>rm a conclu,ion respecting the whole of the
united kingdom, and it should be borne i❑ mind that near
the close of every harvest such reports are uniformly
spread, whatever its actual productiveness may have been.
ATTEMPTED SUICIDE ON WESTMINSTER
BRIM E. —Yesterday afternoon, between two and three
o'clock, a man, about 50 years of age, who appeared to
have seen better days, was observed by several persons to
be walking in a very melancholy mood on Westminster-
bridge ; he appeared abstracted in thought, and frequently
struck his forehood. On a sudden he climbed up the
ballustrades, and jumped off the bridge into the Thames.
The alarm was instantly given, and two watermen pushed
off in a boat, and with some difficulty succeeded in saving
him from a water) grave. He was taken in a very ex-
hausted state to the house of Mr. Cruikshank, the land-
lord of the King's Arms, in Biidge-court, when every
attention was paid him, and he soon recovered.

Private letters from Berlin state the probabi-
lity& a change in the Prussian Cabinet ; the Minister for
Foreign Affairs, it is said, is to be succeeded in his office
by the Prussian Minister to the British Court ; it is cer.
tain that the duration of the long penAng Oniference has
delayed his Excellency's return for several months past,
and as his laity and family have taken final leave of this
country, the repored probable change is credited. The
Clown Prince's influence in the Prussian Cabinet is said
to be increasing daily.
A petition has beat sent to Lord Melbourne
by 122 prisoners in the King's Bench, praying that the
Judges of the Court of Review might sit in this Court
luring the month of October ; of these 122 persons, 77
save not yet presented any petition to this Court, 17 hay.-
b-en already heard, 13 have orders for the present satings,
whom four have been already heard.
James Mather, Esq., of South Shields, was
fined at Gateshead, the other day, in the mitigated penalty
..1 101., for Isis conseieutiou-ly refusing to collect the as•
sensed taxes, he having been appointed one of the collectors
for the township of Westoe,.../Yeweastle Press.

OLD BAILEY,-(THIS DAY.)

OLD COURT.

The Court were again occupied with a discussion upon
the difficulty into which the " mistake" has thrown the
cases of many prisoners, and impeded the course of justice.
James Bowman, who was yesterday ordered to prepare
for his second trial to-morrow morning, and who pleaded
his former conviction, was again placed at the bar at the
request of Mr. BODKIN, hie Counsel.
Mr. BODKIN sairi that this case was one which arose
out of that proceeding which had been very properly
termed a " mistake." The prisoner had been tried, con-
victed, and sentenced to sev,n years' transportation, at the
Clerkenwell Sessions in July, and i❑ pursuance of that
conviction he had been transmitted from the House of
Correction to Newgate, where he was now under an order
of transportion. A copy of the order annexed to the
affidavit upon which he (Mr. Bodkin) founded his motion
stated the trial, conviction, and sentence to have taken
pl ice on the Ist July, which was en the Monday, a day
to which the " mistake" did not apply, as the Sessions
were then properly sitting. According, therefore, to that
order, it would appear that the prisoner had been legally
tried, convicted, and sentenced. From the affidavit of the
prisoner it appeared that he was now indicted, and was
about to be tried for the same offence, for which he
bad been before legally convicted, and for which he was
now under sentence. By the order of this Court yes-
terday the prisoner was told, that on his trial to-
morrow morning he must produce the record of his con-
viction in bar of the second indictment, and an affidavit
had been made by his solicitor, Mr. Humphries, who
stated that he waited on Mr. Allen, the deputy clerk of
the peace for the county of Middlesex, to obtain a copy
of the former record ; that Mr. Allen said the prisoner
had been convicted on the Ist of July, but that he had
no record of the conviction, as the Justices had deemed
the session to have been informal, and consequently it was
considered there had been no trial. Mr. Humphries re•
plied that a formal order of transportation had been made.
and that under that order the prisoner was in Newgate,
but Mr. Allen said he had made up no record
of the conviction, and consequently he could not
furnish any copy. So here was a case in which
the error was discovered in this Court on the 4th
July, intimation was immediately transmitted to the
Justices at Clerkenwell ; and yet, on the following day,
the sth, they transmitted the prisoner to Newgate under
a fierrnal order of transportation, without their having
any record of conviction. The Justices say, therefore,
that the whole proceedings were null and void; and
yet, as far as they could, they hail carried the sentence
upon the prisoner into execution. It was therefore ne-
cessary, as the only course that could be adopted, to
apply to this Court to postpone the trial until an ap-
plication could be made to the Court of King's Bench,
for a mandamus to the Justices of Middlesex, requiring
the production of a copy of the record. In point of
law, that copy would be a good answer to the present
indictment.

Mr. Justice PATTESON said it must be incorrect to say
that there is no record of conviction, for as soon as a
conviction takes place it is recorded, although the record
may not then be formally drawn up. He thoueht that
the course suggested by the Learned Counsel was the
only one that could be adopted.
Mr. CLARK, the Clerk of the Arraigns, said there
were other prisoners in a similar situation. _

Jr. Baron GURNEY said it would be seen whether
they m►de a similar application.

Mr. Justice PATTESON said there must be some record
of couviction, and the prisoner must have the benefit of
proving it if he so thought fit.
The motion was then granted.

ANOTHER SUPPOSED MISTAKE.—.Mr. TUMMY Stone,
aged SS, was placed at the bar, on an indictment charging
him with maliciously shooting at Mr. Upjohn. Before he
pleaded,

Mr. BoDKIN said upon this indictment a very important
question arose. The prisoner was called upon to plead to
an indictment which had been found by a Grand
Jury, not at a Quarter Session, or General Session, but at
one of the intermediate Sessions which had been esta-
blished by the Justices of Middlesex a short timeago—that
is not at one of the ordinary sessions which bad been esta-
blished by long usage in that county. There was very
great doubt whether the Justices were authorized to hold
those inter mediate sessions, and I.e objected to the prisoners
being required to plead, because if by law those sessions
sheuld not have been held, then the indictment was bad,
haring been found before a Court of incompetent jut is•
diction. He would shortly call the attention of their
Lordships to the law lin this subjeet. The 31st of Edward
the Third, chap. 12, directed justices of the peace to hold
four sessions a yet' at certain specified periods. That was
the whole ex'ent of that statute bearing on this qu stion.
The next was the statute of the 12th of Richard the II ,
chap. 10, the second section of which said that justices
shoeld keep a sessions of the peace at every quarter " a the
least." The latter words first rave rise to the suggestion
that justices were autt.or;zed to hold session' more fre-
quently. but the etf-ct ot those words was destroyed by the
2d co Henry the Fifth, chap. 4, in which the words " at
she least" were omit red, and the original duration of the
first statute retained of four times a year, but adding, " and
more often if need be." It was on the construction of those
word- that his (Mr. Bodkin's) motion depended, because
a subsequent statute, the 14th Henry VI chap. 4, referred
to 111.ddlesex only ; all the former ones referred to all the
counties in the kingdom. By those former ones justices
neglecting to hold the stated number of sessions in the
year, were liable to be fined at the discretion of the King's
Council ; and the 14th Henry VI. gave the Justices no
greater powers than they before possessed, but it reli-ved
them from the penalties for not holding sessions because of
the inconvenience and 'rouble the " commune's," that is
the inhabitants of Middlesex experienced from being re-
qu.red to attend many sessions, and also the superior
courts at Westminster ; that Act was to prevent the
necessity of holding more than four sessions in the
year ; and it stated that the Justices of that
county should be subjected to no penalty if they did not
hold more than two sessions annually. Then what con-
struction was to be put on the words "and oftener if need
be." The words are exceedingly wide, but there was a
case in point, v z. the King V, the inhabitants of Polstead,
reported in 2d Strange, 1263, in which the construction
was put upon them that he (Mr. Bodkin) retied on.
That was an appeal against an order of removal, and it
appeared that the justices met at the Suffolk quarter ses-
sions on the 7th April, adjourned on the 9th to Wood_
bridge, where there was not a sufficient number of justices
to form a court, and consequently the session was lapsed,
and met again at Bury on the 11th, where the order
was made. It was argued that the latter was an
original session and not an adjourned session. The
Court of King's Bench decided that the words " and
oftener if need be" did not confer the power of holding
more than one original session in the quarter of a year.
The Middlesex magistrates acted doubtless by a desire for
the public good, and to get a quick delivery of the gaols,
but if they bad adjourned the original sessions the present
question would not have arisen, but it did where an inter-
mediate session was held, and for this plain reason ; the
public could hardly know, and they were not bound to
know, when those sessions were held, but they were pre-
sumed by law to know of all adjournments of original
sessions, and of original sessions also, because all original
sessions were fixed by law at cei tan periods. Parties
who were bound over to appear at the sessions
were bound over to appear "at the next general
quarter sessions," and the periods of their commence-
went we re fixed by law. People at a distant
part of the c untry would necessarily be unacquainted
with the time when such new sessions would commence.
For a considerable time there bad been eight sessions yearly
in London and 'Middlesex, which is a greater number than
allowed by the former Statutes, but that did not alter his
(Mr. Bodkin's) view of the case, for they had geown up
from necessity, were sanctioned by long usage, and had
been repeatedly acknowledged in various Acts of Parlia-
ment. One objection to them therefore would be un-
tenable. But b. cause four additional sessions had been
given up and were so sanctioned, that formed no ground
for extending the principle still further, otherwise there
would be no end to it. He knew there was some doubt
upon the law, and there hail been a contrariety of opinions
upon it ; but he would read the opinions of two emicent
men in the case of the Justices of Stafford, in which the
question was, whether as they wished to have quicker
deliveries of the gaol, they cou.d hold extra original
sessions, or should proceed by adjournment. The two
eminent persons he alluded to, were the late Sir Samuel
Shepherd, and Lord Gifford, then Attorney and Solicitor-
General. The Secretary of State referred the question
to them, and they stated they were not prepare.)
to say the Justices had the power to hold
Other original sessions, but as there was a doubt
upon the subject, they advised them to hold adjourned
ssions, about which there was no doubt. The Learned
Counsel then alluded to the inconveniences which it, m ght
ie urged were ;moved by holding intermediate Sessions,
such, for instance, as keeping p lilies in custody who were
trquitted, or no bills being found against them, for a
h.nger period than necessary, bee euse it was not the prac-
tice to liberatesuch
. - persons until the G: aria Jury were
.Itschsreed ; but all those inconveniences might be re-
medied elsewhere, and they afforeed no justification for
holding those ~,,
two Seersu:ieoanTesllB2eust:riynsin London,Ttierewebs
dndo lea
than thirty.

Westminster, and Surrey, and certainly all the ordinary
business of the county did not call far additional ones.
Seeing the inconvenience and expense of such extra Ses-
sions to the county, he submitted to their Lordship•
whether it would not be better to postpone the trial of this
indictment, until the opinion of all the Judges upon the
point of law he had raised could be obtained, with a view
of setting the question at rest.
Mr. Justice PATTESOX—YOU move to put off the trial ?
Mr. BODKIN said he would either make that motion,
or that the trial should proceed subject to the opinion of
the Judges.
Their Lordships having consulted together for a con-
siderable time, said they would give their opinion on
Monday morning, and ordered the trial to be postponed
until then.

A case of murder, in which the indictment was found
under similar circumstances, was also ordered to stand
over until Monday.
Elizab-th Wratten, aged .50, was indicted for uttering
a forged check for 601. 1”.
The prisoner was led into the dock by a man
and woman, and looked about the Court most
wildly. Her appearance was that 'of decided insanity,
and she seemed to know nothing that passed. When
she approached the front of the dock, she snatched up the
herbs that lay there, and sang in a low and mournful
manner; at times she seemed disposed to do violence to
those about her, and her hands were frequently obliged to
be held. When called on to plead, she never answered,
and the Judges after some consultation with the Counsel,
ordered a Jury to be sworn, to try whether or not she
was sane. We understand there sere several witnesses to
disprove, as well as to prove that she labours under that
malady.

There were two indictments against her for forgery.
The Jury having been sworn,
William Woodward stated, that he was a policeman of
the Woolwich district, and he knew the prisoner. Her
husband was a messenger in the Dock-yard at Woolwich,
and had a grocer's shop. Witness was his shopman about
eight years ago, and for 18 months. In June, 1829,
witness went to Wratten's house, and found it on fire ;
Wratten and his daughter were from home, and the pri-
soner was nearly naked, and escaping out of the house.
She appeared much distressed in her mind, but conscious
of what passed. After returning front the fire, witness
found her in Mr. Matthews's house, close by, sitting in a
chair, and much distressed in her mind. She was looking
at the fire, and observed that it seemed very awfully
grand. She did not seem to admire it. Her son George was
sitting soar her, and she asked where he was, although he
was by her side, but she was not looking towards hilt.
Witness was in the service of her sister (Mrs. Baldwin) at
one time, and observed something strange in her.
Mr. BODKIN, for the prosecution, objected to evidence
respecting her sister.

Mr. PHILLIPS said he proposed to prove insanity to be
a family complaint.

The COUNT held the objection to he good.
Cross-examined by Mr. Bouxix—She kept the shop
until she was apprehended on this charge, and attended
s Oely to it. Had never seen her conduct herself as she did
to day in Court ; she always appear, d to witness to be
rational. When she acted for her son it appeared only to
be the solicitude of a mother fcr her child ; witness placed
him before her and she was satisfied. In April last she
sent fir witness about letters. The shop she now occupied
and she rap, essed herself rationally and intelligibly.
The trial was proceeding when our Reporter left.