The Sun.
London, England, 1856-08-18 00:00:00

MARKET 27EWZ.—(This Day.)

IA: LNG. AUG UST 1 6,

C MI AL COURT.—(This Day)•

The August session of this Court commenced this
morning at the Old Bailey, hefore the Lord Mayor,
Alderman Sir J. Duke, M.P., Sir C. Marshall, Alder.
man and Sheriff Kennedy, ATT. Under-she:are Stone
and Rose, &o.
Mr. Commissioner Gurney charged the grand jury,
in the absence of the &corder. He raid he was
afraid ho could not congratulate them on thoir la-
bours being light, considerik the number of prisoners
contained in the calendar 'for trial', and which was
larger than usual, in consequence of a longer time
having elapsed since the last session than ordinarily,
and was not to be taken as an indication of an in-
crease of crime. The nature of the cases admitted of
congratulation, for with the exception of two, in
which death resulted, there were none of a very se-
rious description to come Wore them. These
cases partook of the character of manslaughter, and the
case of Joseph Dunn was a rather peculiar one. A
coroner's jury was summoned to iuquire into the death
of the deceased, and they appeared to have entered into
the matter rather hastily, and to have come to the con-
clusion that the deceased died from natural causes. It
appeared that the deceased was unfortunately in a state
of intoxication at the time of the accident, and they
would have to consider whether the prisoner acted in
self-defence, because, in that case, he would not be
guilty of the offence charged. The other case of man-
slaughter was one of a more serious description, and
arose out of a drunken frolic of a rather barbarous cha-
racter. All the parties were more or less in a state of
intoxication. The deceased was lying down on board
ship when one of the crew poured naphtha on
him and set fire to it, and they would have
to consider whether, from the evidence that would
be submitted to them, they could gather that the offence
was committed by the prisoner, John Dunning. Thera
was another charge of a somewhat peculiar description in
the calendar, viz',' that of Mr. Charles Murphy, charged
with stealing a child between five and six years of age.
The prisoner alleges that he tetk the child out of kind-
ness, to support it and bring it up to his Own trade, in
consequence of the child being unkindly treated by its
parents. If, however, it be showil that the prisoner
took away the child, intending to deprive the parents
of their child, it would be their duty to find a bill for
felony. A charge would be preferred against a Mr.
Weston, a publican, for having sold a noxious drug in-
stead of spirits. It was not, he believed, intentionally
done, but rather as a joke. Under certain old acts of
Parliament the position of a publican was different
to that of many other tradesmen, and there could
be no doubt that a publican selling corrupted
victuals or drugs for spirits was guilty of a criminal of-
fence. A learned judge had lately decided that a pub-
lican was liable, under the acts to which he (Mr. Com-
missioner Gurney) had alluded, whether he sold the
noxious drug instead of spirits knowingly or not. If,
therefore, they were satisfied when the case came before
them that the publican sold the noxious drag in the place
of spirits, they would feel it their duty to return a true
bill, and leave to the learned judge who would try the
case the applicability of the rather ancient statutes al-
luded to to the charge in question. The learned gentle-
man then referred to the Act of Parliament passed last
session empowering grand juries to administer an oath
to witnesses instead of their being sworn as heretofore in
open court. The preamble stated that the alteration
had been made to expedite business. Expedite here
was meant to improve, but he was afraid it certainly
would not have the former effect in the Court ; but any-
thing that tended to improve justice was of more impor-
tance than a saving of time.
THE CASE OF MR. SNAPS.
Mr. James, Q.C,, with whom was Mr. Sergeant Bal-
lantine, said that Mr. Snape was under recognisances to
answer any indictment that might be preferred against
him for the manslaughter of a lunatic, who, it was al-
leged, died from the improper treatment of the defendant.
The charge was made at Bow-street, and the defendant
committed on 30th Juno. During the last session no
charge was preferred against him, although the defen-
dant was then, as he had been since, ready at any time
to meet the charge, and as it was not the intention of
the prosecutors to prefer any indictment against the
defendant this session, he (Mr. James) applied for the
discharge of the defendant's recognisances. The defen-
dant was a gentleman of limited means, and had been
suspended in his situation as medical attendant in con-
sequence of this charge, the result of which was of the
greatest consequence to him. The course pursued by
the prosecution entailed great expense on the defendant,
and it was hoped, under the circumstances, the applica-
tion would be acceded to. On Saturday, the Bth inst.,
the prosecutors' solicitors informed- the solicitor to the
defendant that, in consequence of the unavoidable ab-
ssnce of Sir F. Thesiger from illness, the commissioners
in lunacy would not be able to prefer a.bi!l of indict-
ment against Mr. Snape until the September
sessions. To that a reply was sent, regretting the
illness of Sir F. Thesiger, and at the same time calling
on the prosecutors to prefer a bill against the defendant,
who was ready and anxious to meet the charge, and in-
forming them that, at the ensuing sessions, the defendant
would adopt such a course as counsel might advise
and circumstances render' necessary. This charge
was one of vital importance to the defendant, who was
ready at any time to meet the charge, and as he suffered
from being under recognisances it was hoped the
Court would order them to be discharged.
Mr. Bodkin, on the part of the prosecutors, said that
the facts, with one exception, had been correctly stated,
and that was that no bill was preferred at the last session
at the request of the defendant, who was not then pre-
pared with his defence. It was too bad fur the defen-
dant to complain of the prosecutors not being able to
proceed with the prosecution this session, after having
postponed the case to consult his convenience. Nothing
serious could arise from the delay, nor any benefit from
the discharge of the recognisances, assuming the defen-
dant was ready, as it had been stated, to come forward at
any time. No doubt some inconvenience attended the
charge, because it was inconvenient to be tried
at all. Under the circumstances he resisted the appli-
cation, and moved that the recegniFauces be enlarged

Mr. James said that this was not a matter of incon-
venience, in the general acceptation of the term, to the
defendant, but of actual ruin to him.
His lordship asked what expense had been incurred
by the defendant before he was served with the ndtica of
postp-mernent

Mr. James said th-.lre bai been the mull and necos•
sary oonsultation9, &c., but beyond that he had no in
formation.

His lordship said that would have bleu tlee same under
any circumstances.

•
Mr. S-rgeant Ballantine—But the defendant suffers
greatly from being suspended.
His lordship said that was another question. He did
not seo that he could relieve the defendant by discharg
ing his recognisar.cas, especially as he was ready to
appear at any time to answer the charge.
Mr. James said th•it was the only course the defend•
ant could adopt.
His Lordship said the Court ought not to have been
called on to mark their sense of the evil sustained by
the defendant by discharging hiS recognisancea. So far
from the adoption of such a course benefitting him it
would be both inconvenient and unpleasant to him, be-
cause he would have co attend next session under a war•
rant instea3 of under his own recognisances. A bill
would no doubt be preferred next session against the
defendant, and the next course would be to apply for a
warrant against him, and he would be brought up in

custody. ,
Mr. James—Not if the jury ignored the bill.
His Lordship said if no bill was fonnd, of course
there would be no trial. He thought the prosecu-
tors ought to remain under recognisances to prefer
te charge, and to compel them to attend and discharge
a public duty they had taken on themselvv. The Court
regretted that the defendant hail suffered na.)re than in-
convenience from the course adopted, who was entitled
to the kind forbearance of his friende, by his readiness
to meet,the charge.
The recognisances were enlarged accor3ingly.
SHE CASE OF AIR. GOSLING.
The charge of inciting young girls t) expose themselves
in the parks preferred a,i.,ainst Mr. Gosling, has been
removed by certiorari into the Court of Queen's Bench.

A letter from Warsaw in the hamburg News
says :—"ln addition to the representativesof Polish
nobility, five representatives of commerce will be
present at the coronation fetes. The towns of
Warsaw, Lublin, Random, Plozk, and Suwalki
have each been called on to appoint a represen-
tative."
A letter from Vienna of the 12th in the Post-
Aript Gazette says :—" Count Coronini, Com•
mander-in-Chief of the army of occupation of the
principalities, left, Giurgevo with his suite by a
steamer for Temeswar. According to accounts
from the Lower Danube, the term of the imperial
occupation is drawing to a close. All the heavy
materiel and the field equipments have already
been brought up the Danube by steamers, but ,no
time has yet been positively fixed for the depar-
ture of the troops. The Turkish troopi have be-
gun to retire from the two points of Bucharest and
Giurgevo, which they occupied in concert with the
Austrians. The Turkish artillery and _cavalry
have gone to Schumla."