The Sun.
London, England, 1832-08-03 00:00:00

SUMMER ASSIZES.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.—ExErER,Auausr 1.
The Assizes for this county commenced yesterday, when
the Learned Judges opened the commission, and proceeded
to attend divine service at the Cathedral. This morning,
Mr. Justice TAUNTON entered the Nisi Prius Court, at
nine o'clock, and Mr. Justice PATTESON took his seat in
the Crown Court, shortly after ten o'clock. His Lord-
ship, in addressing the Grand Jury, regretted that, upon
this his first visit to their county, it should be his duty to
address them relative to a particular topic,—he meant the
prevalence in this county, at this moment, of that sad
disease which had rendered it a nutter to be discussed
whether or not the Assizes should be now held. He durst
say they were aware a communication had been made to
that effect, and that some idea had prevailed that it might
be better to postpone the Assizes ; but his Learned Brother
and himself, on receiving that communication, had trans-
mitter! it to his Majesty's Government. They (the Learned
Judges) had thought it better not to put them off, for, in
fact, they could not tell to what time it would be proper
to postpone them.

John Cocherani was indicted for stealing from Robert
Webber, on the King's highway, on the 12th of May last,
a pocket-book, containing fifteen 5/. bank notes, his
property.

The money was identified by the prosecutor.
Guilty—Seven years' transportation.
Thomas Ashton, aged 21, a most respectable-looking
young man, was indicted for stealing seven sheep, the pro-
perty of John Lane, on the 31st of May last.
The prosecutor identified the sheep-skin.
Prisoner put in a written defence, where be stated that
he had bought the sheep at Killhampton-fair.
The Jury found the prisoner Guilty.
Transported for life. There was another indictment
against the prisoner, who was a butcher, for horse-stealing.
William Arita, 21, was indicted for stealing from
Peter Simons, the younger, in the parish of St. Thomas
the Apostle, three 5/. notes, his property.
John Gingham produced the notes taken from the
prisoner.

Verdict—Guilty of stealing, but not from the person.
The father of the prisoner, a very respectable man,
here begged that as lenient a sentence as possible might be
passed upon his son.

The prosecutor also recommended him very strongly to
mercy.

The Learned JUDGE then addressed the prisoner, and
sentenced him to be imprisoned, and kept to hard labour,
for 12 calendar months.
mucitxu. V. JENKINS, CLERK.
This was an action brought by the plaintiff, a farmer,
against the defendant, who is the clergyman of the parish
in which he resides. At Lady-day last the plaintiff owed
the defendant, as a composition for tithes, the sum of 451.
The defendant had the plaintiff arrested and held to bail
for that sum, at which time the plaintiff had a claim on
the defendant for 15/. ss. for sheep which be had sold
him. Mr. Serjeant WILDE, therefore, urged that the
plaintiff had been arrested for a larger sum than was due,
and although the present defendant bad afterwards dis-
cpntinned the action, and paid the costs, yet Mitchell had
been so much inconvenienced by the arrest, that he had
thought it right to bring the present action to obtain com-
pensation for the injury he had received. The present,
certainly., were not the times for clergymen to excite un-
pleasant feelings in the minds of their parishioners, by
adopting vexatious proceedings for the recovery of their
tithes.

Mr. Serjeant COLERIDGE contended, that in this case
there was a total absence of malice, and that it was plain
there was a sum due from the plaintiff to the defendant for
which he might have arrested him and held him to bail,
and that it arose from the error of the attorney in en-
dorsing the writ for too large a sum ; it was a mistake,
and not with a view of injuring the plaintiff.

.
The Jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages,
Twenty Pounds.

NORFOLK ClRCUlT.—Noilwrc.w, AUGUST 1.

The list of causes for this county were neatly all dis-
posed of yesterday and this morning, and not one of them
possessed the slightest feature of importance or interest,
exc,pt to the parties litigant. In the Crown Court, also,
the cases of the prisoners who have been tried were of the
most ordinary description. Several cases of sheep-stealing
were tried, in many of which we had further illustrations
of the pernicious tendency of the Lords' amendment to
the abolition of the Punishment of Death Bill. The pri-
soners received very excellent characters for honesty_.
committed the offence under circumstances of no aggrava-
tion, but under the pressure of want, and were recommend-
ed by the prosecutors to mercy. It has, however, been put
out of the power of the Judge to listen to the appeal, or
to take the previous characters of the offenders into con-
sideration, and they were banished, and their families de-
prived of their assistance and protection, for an offence
which, under the former law, would in several of the cases
have been visited, in all probability, with only a term of
imprisonment. Many of the cases were truly heart-
rending.
Mark Sheet, indicted for a highway robbery. It ap-
peared that in the evening of the 25th of May, the pro-
secutor and prisoner were drinking in company together at
a public-house at Weston, and where they remained till a
quarter to eleven o'clock. They then both started, and
as their way home lay for some distance in the same direc-
tion, they walked together. On their road, the prisoner
proposed to rest for a while on a bank, which they did, and
then resumed their journey. When they arrived at the
place where their own way home took different routes,
they bade each other " good night," and parted, having
r shaken hands first. In about a quarter of an hour, the
prosecutor swore that he heard a footstep behind him, and
On turning his head saw the prisoner within three yards
of him. The prisoner, then, according to the statement
of the prosecutor, immediately gave him a blow on the
eye, which brought Lim to the ground, and then got
astride him, and kicked and beat him. This done, he pro-
ceeded to rob him, and took in the whole eleven sovereigns
and some silver, and afterwards beat him severely again.
As far as the testimony of the prosecutor was con-
the prisoner, and the man by
cerned, the identity of
whom he was robbed, was complete; but he admitted
that he had only seen him for the very brief interval which
elapsed between his turning his head to look It the person
whose footsteps he heard, and receiving the blow. This
was at a distance of three yards. The night was very dark,
and the constable proved that he could not have distin-
guished the features Oa man that evening at more than that

distance. It also appeared that a brother-in-law of the pri-
soner was taken up, on the evidence of the prosecutor, as
being the man who was standing by whilst the robbery
was going forward • he was in custody for a week, when
be was discharged upon an alibi of the clearest nature,
which was also proved by the very witnesses called in
support of the prosecution to-day. Another discrepancy
occurred in the evidence as to the state in which the two
principal persons left the public-house; the prosecutor
swearing that he was quite sober, whilst the landlady
(called for the prosecution) proved that they were both
" quite merry and loud before they left her house, and
teemed like men who had had a pot or two."

In his defence, the prisoner (on whom no part of the
stolen property was found) gave a plain statement of the
case, which bore all the appearance of truth, and which,
if true, certainly showed his innocence.
The Jury, after a long deliberation, returned a verdict
of Guilty, which was received with audible marks of sur-
prise in Court.
The Learned JUDGE deferred sentence until to-morrow.
The prisoner was dreadfully affected by the verdict.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT.. _DURHAM, JULY 31.
Charles John Murphy was charged with feloniously
assaulting Maria Wagarein on the King's highway, and
stealing from her person 235. in silver.
The prosecutrix was a native of Germany, one of those
persons who are called broom girls, and gave her evidence
through the medium of an interpreter.
The prisoner was found Guilty, and ordered to be
transported for life.

William Middleton was indicted for having riotously
assembled with 20 persons and more, and with having
committed an assault on Edward Williams.

The Jury acquitted the prisoner of • the Charge of riot,
and found him Guilty of a common assault.
Charles Stephenson, William Bell, Thomas Eddy,
and TVilliam Gray, were convicted of an assault upon
Andrew Jowett.

This charge arose also out of the disturbances existing
among the pitmen.

The prisoners were found Guilty.
William Carr, Thomas Arthur, John Barkus, John
Anderson, Michael Westgarth, John Shelton, George
Durham, Stephen Crozier, Adam Guthrie, Abigail
Monter, William Noble, John Worley, Thos. Nicholls,
Edward Buchan, Maria Carr, Elizabeth Laing, and
John Monter, in all 17 persons, were indicted for riot-
ously and tumultuously assembling together, with divers
persons unknown, at Friar's Goose, on the 4th of May
last, and there committing a riot, and also assaulting Thos,
Forsyth, William Turnbull, and Joseph Ralph.