The Sun.
London, England, 1802-10-22 00:00:00

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;IlunsbAt, oc.l-..
TtiE doUrt of Quarter Sessions was dptneti
terday b:-....t0re Mr. I\IAI NWAR ING (the Cbirmail
and chi sual Bench of justices, when the Oran
jury ictired to find Bills, without having rei.:eied
any charge frOin the Bench.

ASSAULTS.
John Fergizsoli•%as indifted for ass assault coift;:.
tnitted on Mark Faulkner, near St. James's Palacei
in March last.

Mr. ALLEY, in opening this case to the jury,
first recapitulated the principal points of evidence
he should have to adduce, and then expatiated on
the aggravated nature and the enormity ,of the
offence, which he represented to a wanton out.;
rage committed on a pregnant woman, in
quence of which she had a miscarriage, and was :or
some time in danger of her life. Had the event
been fatal to the woman as well as the child, the
Defendant no doubt would have been guilty of, and.
have incurred the penalty of Murder ; but fo:7„
tunately for him the consequences were not 4-o dis„
astrous, though they .were certainly such as to call
for a severe punishment. The tniscondtal
further aggravated by the sit twion of the Defend,
ant, who was a respeetzthic,man, as tar as ;,-,;ga,raed
his circumstances life, he being an opulent Seeds,
man in the Boron, h, from wiim might
a better kind of- behaviour than an imitatitin'
those violcnces the' Public had Of much ai-
ditiorial reason to complain

Anne Faulkner deposed to her living with her
,
husband, a Painter,
,in one of the Courts .in
Strand. On the evening of the illuniimitigns
March last she went to pay a visit to airie,nd et
Chelsea, where she remained till about
when her huSband went to bring her home: '!Whey
took their way through the Park, and -on arrivrir.4
at the Palace gate observed some noise and bustle;
when she received from the Prisoner a blow with a
stick on the mouth, which predated Hood, and hdri
and alarmed her very much. The Defendant yiV;iii
then apprehended by her husband, assisted.
soldier, and she gave charge of him at the Wiatch2
house. On her return home she felt very extra;
ordinary symptoms, which induced her to apply foil
medical assistance. She had been then
months, and being pregnant at the time, the Con..
sequence of her alarm and hurt was, that a mitt--
carriage ensued, and she had not been vVeilibut
intervals, ever since. _

- On.her cross examination she adMitted.that,shii-
had never seen the Defendant before, and that nd
provocation of any kind preceded the injury.
had sustained. She further acknowledged, that ite
house had been broken -open and robbed a-little t ire
before, which naturally-produced her a good bair
of tern,r an,J alarm.
Mr. 'Faulkner, the husband of the PrOseCuttiir
confirmed the testimony of his wife.
Mr. Davis, an Apothecary and Man-midwife;
who attended the Prosecutrix, described the syaip..• •
toms of the miscarriage, which he thotigixt
likely to be produced by the wound and flight
occasioned by the blow.

Mr. KNii-tr addressed the Jut; in behalf of the
Defendant, observing, that as he was a man cis'
,
property, it was probable that the present I'!oecti..o
lion, and the warmth with which it had been
opened by the Counsel on the other sides were.
directed at his pocket. It was evident- that Old
house-hreaking and robbery they bad already 'Katt!:
of, might occasioned the taiscarria2e, if timid
circumstance- had not happened ; and they as nieri
of the world, must judge whether it was probable
that _a tespeelable man would in the open Street.
deliberately make a violent and wanton assaUlti,
particularly upon a woman whom he had never
before seen or spoken to, and against whom lie
could entertain no degree whatever of malice or
resentment. The fnt was, that MN' FergusOri3
a Seedsman of eminence in the Borough, had becft
spending the evening with his friend, another re-;
speCtable Seedsthan in the West_end of the 'iown.-=-.=;
intending to go home through the Park, and ovei
'estminster-bridge, he found himself near the Park'
very much annoyed by several women of the tdm.,h;
who abound more, as may be supposed, on illutnina.:
tion nights than any other. After getting away
from one set, he thought he found himself pessued
and accosted in the 'sane language he had heard
fore ; upon Which he flourished- his stick, and thus
accidentally had the misfortune of striking tht
Prosecutrik. This was the whole of the case, its
which he believed the Jury would not dilcover tb4.
stwillest particle of malice.
_ _ .

The (..:FTAIEZVIAN said, there was ho occasion
set up imaginary crimes in order to descant on what
the applicationof the Law to then' would be if they
had occulted, but as the matter stood, and an atr.;
saint Was attually committed, they had little t&
deliberate on in the Verdict they were to pro.;
nounce.
The
,jury found the Defendant Gliih."4
Mr. }mitts then offered a compensation of 461. i,
Which Mr. ALLEY rcjeCted On the part thd
ProsteurriX.

The Cts;:farir.A.,R said, if the Parties oei6 dis
posed to . settle it at ongst themselves; they had
hetet:confer together; and he shotild not object to
it ; and should they agree; it woold unneceS-
sary to let hita know any thing of the terms:
. The Parties with their Attornies retired, and
riot agreeing, returned to the Court in LrhoUt two
hours afterwards, when the Cotirt sentenced the
IYefeadaut to pay a fine of 3'01:
John Fletcher and Joseph Wonan stood charged
assaulting' a person of the name of Coiley,
th:. Green Man Public-hoarse of Wine.vault: near
the counter 41 13Ow-strzeryt,Coventgarclen.
This- appeared to he little more thMri an stie..:
house squat:ile, in which by the crus.:44,:iarink
it was•not easily discoverable whether!th-,.... Pdrtil;e,
were or were not in liquor.. Frost t6.C-vi,lenee
fir the Viosecution it would aimea'r, that Col Icy;.
after endeavouring himself to he a peace-niaker,
had sheen beaten by hoth the riefendant;, 0.
ceiveH what the Surgeon, who Wfts eintr:ined; CAZ 643
a .711,./??.Qd and raceratioti over the eye: It war 6e4
posed on the other hand by one Jone::‘;
keeper,. and sOrbia.law of elstollerf whO. EYE S

dentally passing by, that Fletcher had been re.
peatedly knocked down and ill-treated, as well by
the Prosecutor, as by one or other of the two
Landlords of the house, whose names were Webb
and Kent. Between these two contradktory testi-
monies the Jury ILA to decide, and pronounced
both the Defendants Guilty.
The-saine Defendants again stood indided for a
riot in the said public-house, and an assault upon
Mrs. Webb, the wife of one of the landlords. •
Mrs. Kent deposed, that during the fracas above
described, Fletcher clenched his fist and made a
blow at her, but as she receded at zhe time, he mis-
sed her, and she was at last pushed out of the Bar.
The CHAIRMAN observed, that it would be im-
possible to construe this public_house quarrel in the
sense of a riot, and, in the assault, it must be re-
membered, though the setae was pretty general,
Mrs. Webb did not swear that she received any
blow.

The Jury on this second indiament, found both
the Defendants Not Guilty.
The CHAIRMAN then, on the first conviction,
sentenced them to pay a fine of 101. each, but on
some remonstrances from Mr. Serj'ant SYLVESTER,
their Counsel, consented at last to mitigate it to
/ 3s. 4.d. each.
After.disposing of some other trifling Assaults,
the Court proceeded to the trial of
PETTY LARCENIES.

Lucy Cary was indicted for stealing a pair of
shoes, the property of John Stevens, in a court, near
New-street, Covent-garden.
Stevens swore, according to his belief, to the
property of the shoes, which he found at a Pawn_
. broker's, in consequence of a search which he made
after they were found to be missing. •
Mrs. Stevens, the wife of the former witness,
swore to the property, hut said there was another
woman present at the time they were taken.
This Witness seemed undergmat agitation,-and
as soon as she had uttered the last words, fell into
strong convulsions, which made it necessary to have
her carried into the air.
A Pawnhroker's man swore that the shoes were
pledged to him by the Prisoner, whom he knew
for some time, and who said they were her own.
Lucy Cary, in her defence, stated that she was
intimate with the Prosecutor, whom she was for a
long time, in the habit of very often visiting.—
That she called on her with Mrs. West, a sister of •
Mrs. Stevens, and that it was at the request of
the former, and for her use, she had pawned the
shoes, as Mrs. Stevens knew. That she never
meant to steal them, .and that whatever Mr. Ste-
i'ens and his wife might ,have done in a passion,
they repented of it now, and did not wish to hurt
her.

Stevens being called again acknowledged that
the Pri,oner was a frequent visitor of his wife—
that he understood his sister-in-law was with her

when the shoes were taken, and chat he did not

know .vho stole them any further than the Pawn_
broker's man having told him they were pawned by
the Prisoner.
This being a very doubtful Case, the Jury gave
a verdid of Not Guilty.