The Sun.
London, England, 1844-04-11 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

NORTHERN ClRCUlT.—Liverpool, April 9.
CIVIL SlDE.—(Before Mr. Baron ROLFE and a Special

Jury.)

OLTVERSON AND ANOTHER BRIGHTMAN AND OTHERS.

The hearing of this cause was resumed at the silting
of the Court this morning. Mr. Byrn, the resident
partner of the house of 14141riccar and Co., at Macao,
was examined at considerable length, respecting the
state of relations between this country and China at the
time the Penang reached the country. He stated, in
effect, that it was impossible to land the cargo at Hong-
Kong, as there were no warehouses there, and that it
would havi been imprudent, as it was not a place of
trade. The only port where the goods could have been
di,posed of was Canton ; but a large portion of the
damaged cargo was sold at Hong-Kong. At the time
the good's were transhipped to the James Laing, there
Was no intention of again putting them on board the
Penang.
Captain Joseph Lyas, the master of the Herald, a
Quefnes 51144 which went out to Chinain:lB4o;.was next
called. He stated that there never was any declaration
of war, on the part of England, against the Chinese--7-
that Hong-Kong was a more preferable place for lying
up than Macao, and that in May, 1840, the vessels of
war were withdrawn from the Canton river ; but that,
in the latter end of August or September following, the
witness returned with the Herald.

This closed the plaintiffs' case.
Mr. KELLY said that the few observations he had to
make were in substance addressed to his Lordship.
Having attentively considered the whole of the evidence
beforehand,lie was quite satisfied that no real question
of fact.would arise or be in dispute between the parties
which could properly be left to a jury; and now that the
plaintiffs' case had came to an end, he begged to say that
there was not one single-point which, with any benefit
to either party, or with any view to the administration of
justice, could be submitted to a jury. They had had
direct answers on every question from Mr. Byrn; and
thongli. he was an, hostile witness, he (Mr. Kelly) was
content to take literally and substantially as true every
answer that witness had givenr and upon those questions
and answers to raise the question of law. The law was
clearly settled in favour of the defendants, by the case of
"Brown v. Venn," in 12 East, page 293, which was a
decision of. Lord Cilenhorough ie the Court of Queen's
Bench. There 'an insurance had been effected on the
Arin to' deltain ports' in the river Plate. The vessel
proceeded to Monte Video, and, having stopped there,
it was 'intended to proceed and finish the voyage at
Buenos Ayres. The fact awl intention of the parties
were stated. At the time the vessel arrived hostilities
were going on at Buenos Ayres; and this was exactly
analogous to the present case. Hong-Kong was here
named as one of several places, mentioned in the policy;
but the intended place) of discharge wag, in the one case,
13utnos Ayres—in the other Canton. Thera was a state
of hostilities between Buenos Ayres and -the English;
end here there was a state of hostilities between Canton
and Great Britain. Thopgh he was quite free to admit
that in putting the goods on board the James Laing,
it was intended, if circumstances afterwards permitted,
and if hostilities should cease, to send them on
to Canton, and there dispose of them, still he contended
that when a vessel arrived at one -ef the places men-
tioned in the policy, intending to proceed to another, and
that if, fiom existing circumstances, which prevented the
parties from proceeding further, they landed their cargo,
or put it into any other place, in order that it might re-
main in safety, on the chance of that state of things
ceasing, so as that afterwards it might be sent elsewhere,
the parties made that place the ultimate port of dis-
' charge, and the risk was at an end. If he were wrong
on th►s point, the plaintiff would' be entitled to recover ;
and if he were right, he apprehended then, that the voy-
age *as at an end, and the risk determined. In the
• case already cited, the verdict was for the defendant.
Some discussion followed between the counsel on both
sides ; and at length it was agreed to make it a special
case. and to leave it to the Court of Queen's Bench to
decide the question upon his Lordship's .note, with the
understaading that if the plaintiffs should- be entitled to
recover, interest should be calculated from the Ist
March, 1842. . . . .

A verdict was accordingly taken for the plaintiffs, by
consent, for 2,8701, subject to a special case.

CRVICKSHANIC AND _OTHERS v. WELLS AND ANOTHER.

Verdict.for the plaintiffs, by consent, fur 3,2551. 7s. 9d.
with interest; subject to the special case in the last. •

BOLD AND ANOTHER. v. ROTHERHAM.

Verdict for the plaintiff, by c3nsent, for 1651. 3s. 4d.
with interest, subject to a special case.

WESTERN ClRCUlT.—Taunton, April 9.
(BefOre Mr. Justice WIGUTMAN.)
Mary Ann Sealey (sister of Faith Sealey, who was
yesterday acquitted of the charge of administering white
arsenic ,o William Sealey, her father, at Pinckney, in
the -parish of Kingston, near. Taunton,) was this day
placed at the bar, charged with this offence, and no
evidence being offered, the jury were directed to acquit
her.

-This prisoner, who is but 21 years of age, was next
charged with the wilful murder of her aunt, Betty
Sealey, who lived also at the same place, by strangling
her, on the. Bth of December last.

Sire Carey and Mr. Merewether appeared for the
prosecution,-and Mr. Kinglake fur the prisoner.
The deceased, Betty Sealey, aged 79, lived in the
right-hand wing of a dilapidated farm-house, at Pinck-
mey,-under which roof the prisoner lived. This farm-
house stands in a line with the village road. The
prisoner lived in the front part of this wing, and
the deceased aunt in that of the back, to which there
were two ways of entrance, the one from the village
road, and the other from a foot-path leading to
Bishop's Lychard; and at this back entrance there was a
small barkin, occupied by cattle, and a barn in the rear,
which formed three sides of a square. Betty Sealey had
'from time to time money and things stolen from her, and
in such a manner as to convince her that it must be the
,act of some person, who well knew the locality, entering
by means of false keys, or in some other clandestine
manner. Deceased received parish support from the
'Kingston parish, which money was payable every Friday.
iOn Friday, the Bth of December, she deputed some per-
Json to receive her money for her, being determined, if
possible, to detect the thief. Accordingly, she left her
!home, as usual, on pretence of going to Kingston, when
lahe pursued the road leading to Kingston, till out of
!sight of the prisoner. who was at home when she left.
!She then returned by a footpath through the barn
I and barkin to her own door. She must have taken her
arm-chair and placed it in a dark closet opposite
her entrance-door, and then remained there in it
till the robber arrived—for in this chair she was found
dead the next Saturday, the 9th of December, at eight
o'clock in the evening, by her son, John Sealey, his
wife . and son, who had been fetched by the woman
! who went for the parish fray -on this Friday, and
' in consequesiae," too, of her having repeatedly failed in
gaining admission that day. These witnesses found that
the old woman's throat was piached, for finger-marks
appeared thereon. Her hands and arms were scratched.
i Her tongue protruded from her mouth, and 'other ap-
-1 pearances, 'which led the medical gentleman, Mr. Welch,
surgeon, of Taunton, to say that she died by strangula-
tion. Her boenet and clothes clearly indicated some
foul play. It. also appeared that her daughter-in-law
i had sent her, some few days before, an octagon phial-
! bottle, the marks of which were visible on her clothes,
but that the bottle was gone. Evidence was given,
that shortly after the time when it is supposed that
the old woman had left, the prisoner insisted on some
psaurptpoosfedtheabdsaeynGceaborifel
1 young man leaving her house, as though she wished
i to
woman.avail hlenrstehlef
eoafrltlie're
It Porterhe o old
was in the prisoner's house with her when Mr. Far-
thing, the landlord of the premises, passed in his ear-
, riage. That on this occasion the old woman hailed him,
and he stopped, and as she was speaking to him prisoner
said she was talking about her, and that she had taken
some sticks from her own garden hedge that day, and
had the old woman seen her she would have told Mr.
Farthing of that too. It was then alleged that she said
to a young girl, with whom she had been picking apples
at Mr. Farthing's, that all old women, such as Betty
Seeley, the deceased, ought to die, and that she for one
would help. Evidence was next given to prove, that as
soon as it was supposed that she had committed the
offence, she went to a place called Etheridge, to Jane
Bond's, the mother of her young man, where.. she re-
mained some hours, and went again next day. That
when the policeman searched her box on the following
Sunday, a bottle, like the said octagon phial-bottle, was
therein found. It was attempted to be proved that a
•
trap-door was discovered in one of the prisoner's up-
stair-rooms opening-into the deceased old woman's apart-
ments, and that the opening was free from dust.
Several prisoners from Wilton gaol were then brought
forward, who deposed to some strange statements made
by the prisoner, confessing her guilt.
The jury-, hos6ver, having retired for half an hour,
returned a verdict of " Net Guilty."

- •
TEST OF MESMERISM.—A strong proof of the in-
fallibility of this much-disputed science was adduced the
other evening at a lecture on the subject. A boy being
asked, whilst in the mesmeric state, whether "The income-
tax would be discontinued after the third year, as Sir Robert
Peel had promised?" replied "Certainly not!" This, upo.',.
being mentioned to the Premier, was declared to be the
strongest instance of clairvoyance that could be brought for-
ward lei avow ot Nicuck..—runch.