The Sun.
London, England, 1844-03-22 00:00:00

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, lancholy case to which your attention and that of the
public by whom we are surrounded has been directed.
1 am instructed by the Commissioners of the town of
:Brighton, with the assistance of my Learned Friend,
31r. Vobbett, to lay the short and melancholy facts be-
fore you. It appears that no longer ago than last Wed-
nelay, a week only from the present time, the deceased,
Henry Solomons, in the discharge of his public duties, was
f)und in the office which belonged to him in the Town
I of the town of Brighton. Between seven and
eight. o'clock on that evening, the young man at the
b: tar had been apprehended for the commission of some
fe Sony—shop-lifting, I believe—at no great distance from
the., spot. An officer of the name of Barnden had taken
h;an into custody, and had brought him to the police-
office, as it is called, of the Town Hall of Brighton,
where the chief constable Solomon was sitting in a
chair ‘, and whilst he was there waiting for the arrival of
the witness by whose information the charge was to be
evoai, Solomon, the officer, put a few questions to him,
01>e of which was how long he had been in Brighton. I
think he gave a reek which, from information given to
1 Solomon, he believed was untrue—namely, the prisoner
i said 'he had been there two days, whereas there is
I reason to believe he had been there many months ;
and upon Solomon saying, " That is not true;
we know you have been here a fortnight or more,"
the prisoner drew the stock from his neck, threw it
down before him, and said, " I'm tired of my life ;
give me a knife that I may make away with myself,"
and appeared in a state of considerable excitement. So-
lomon offering him no affront, making no suggestion
of the smallest provocation, on the contrary endea-
vouring to soothe him, besought him to compose
I himself, told him he was not to be tried there, but
i that he nas merely waiting the arrival of a witness
Ito enable the charge to be made. Ho then turned
1 from the spot where the prisoner stood ; he im-
mediately placed himself in a large chair, which was
nearly opposite, on one side of the fire-place—l don't
know which. There were some other gentlemen in
the room, whom I shall call before you ; and Solomon
was engaged in conversation for a few minutes with those
gentlemen. I believe I have detailed to you everything
that had passed up to this time. In the course of this
conversation the son of Mr. Slight, known to all of you
as the highly-respectable clerk to the Commissioners
of the town of Brighton, who happened to be in the
room, was leaning on the hatchdoor by which you enter.
He was on one side—his back somewhat turned to the
door. The prisoner rose from the chair, seized the
poker that lay in the fireplace behind him, raised his
hand with the poker in it, and struck a blow on the
luncovered head of Solomon that felled him to the
I ground. The poor fellow fell on his hands and knees;
he was utterly incapable of helping himself; and he
had at that moment received his death-blow.
But he was raised by the gentlemen, supported in a
chair, and he became insensible. The man at the bar
made this observation—" I know I have done it; I hope
I have killed him; I hope I shall be hung," or, "I hope
I shall be hanged." I should have told you before, that
which you would expect should immediately follow
such an act, namely, the act of the use of the poker
on the unfortunate Solomon; ho was seized by the
young man Slight at the moment. Mr. Slight did not
see the blow struck, for it was struck from behind
him ; but he did see the poker descend on the head of
Solomon, and he did at the moment turn round and seize
the party who must have struck it, and saw the upraised
poker, bent as you will find it was by the force of
the blow, in the hands of the wan, and the moment
it was taken from his hand he used the expres-
sions I have named. In these short observa-
tions are contained the whole transactions as
respects the prisoner at the ban Desirous not to say
anything to aggravate the facts, I shall simply lay the
melancholy case before you ; and you will discharge,
under the direction of his Lordship who presides, a duty
serviceable alike to yourselves and the public.
The witnesses examined before the magistrates and
coroner were then called, and they repeated their former
evidence, which fully corroborated the statement of facts
made by the learned counsel for the prosecution.
Mr. CHADWICK JONES then addressed the jury fur
the defence, and contended that the expressions used
by the prisoner in Solomon's office, together with the
entire absence of any conceivable malice or motive,
showed that the prisoner was acting under a sudden
impulse or frenzy, which deprived him temporarily of
reason, and made him an irresponsible agent.
Lord DENMAN then proceeded to sum up, and con-
cluded his observations as follow :—" You will weigh
the whole matter in your minds ; and unless it is clearly
made out to you that the prisoner was actually deprived
of reason at the time he struck the blow, he is clearly
guilty of murder. If you think he was deprived of
reason, he will not be guilty of murder, and you will
acquit him of murder on the ground of insanity. Bat I
need not say you must be fully convinced of that, before
you say he is not guilty of the murder."
Clerk of the Court—Consider your verdict.
The jury turned round in their box fur about 12 mi-
nutes, when they resumed their seats. There was a
breathless silence in the Court, as the Clerk of the
Arraigns inquired, Do yeu find the prisoner, John Law.-
rence, guilty of the murder of Henry Solomon, or not
guilty?
Foreman—Guilty.
Clerk of Arraigns.—Prisoner at the bar, you have
been convicted of the crime of wilful murder ; what have
you to say why sentence of death should not be passed
upon you.
The prisoner, who had been greatly agitated during
the time the judge was summing up, was now supported
by the turnkeys ; and
Lord Ds;sstax at once proceeded to pass sentence.
He warned the prisoner to make use of the few days
e hich reinnined to him in this world, in seeking
that repentance which should prepare him for the
next ; and told him that there was not the slight-
est chance that the extreme penalty of the law
would not be inflicted. The sentence of the Court is
—" That you be taken from hence to the gaol for this
county, at Horsliatn, and thence to the place of exe-
non, and that there YOU be hanged by the neck till you
are dead, and may God have mercy on your soul ; and
that your body be afterwards buried ix the precincts of
the prison."
The prisoner was they assisted out of the dock in a
highly agitated state; and as he descended the stsirs he
gave an earnest gaze on the crowd, as if looking for some
one, but he made no sign of recognition. The trial lasted
three hours.

CIVIL SlDE.—(Before Mr. Baron ALDERSON.)
Upon the special jury case of Putland v. Troup being
called on, one of the jurors, on his taking the book to be
sworn, said he wished to know, being, as a Roman Ca-
tholic, deprived of his civil rights in other respects,
whether he was eligible to serve the office of a juror.
Mr. Baron ALDERSON looked up at the gentleman and
said, " How can you be so foolish ? I cannot think how
a man can make such a goose of himself. Don't be such
a goose.
'The gentleman was then sworn.
The action was one of libel, arising out of a squabble
with respect to some parish accounts at Hastings, and
after two or three witnesses were examined, the record
was withdrawn.

LERREVX V. 13EIMELEY.
This was an action brought by the plaintiff; a banker
at Colne, to recover a sum of 65,000 f., and interest, from
the defendant, F. H. Berkeley, Esq., M.P. for Bristol,
under rather singular circumstances.
Mr. Theiiger and Mr. Ogle were for the plaintiff, and
Mr. Platt with Mr. Peacock were for the defendant.
It appeared from the statement of the Learned Coun-
sel and the evidence that was adduced, that in the year
1826 the defendant had an introduction to the plaintiff,
through Messrs. Drummond, who were the bankers of
his mother, the Countess Berkeley, and in consequence
of that introduction numerous money transactions took
place between them—cheques were drawn, bills dis-
counted, &c.—and at length there became a balance
due to the plaintiff, of upwards of two thousand pounds.
Some negotiations took place respecting the payment,
and it appeared that at length the defendant signed a
document, by which he admitted that he owed the plain-
tiff the sum of sixty-five thousand francs, and that
he was entitled to receive interest at the rate of nine per
cent, upon that amount. It did not appear that any pay-
ments were made, either on account of principal or in-
terest, and eventually the plaintiff received a letter
dated "At sea," in which the defendant said
be would not be hunted any longer by a par-
cel of blackguards, and he bad, therefore, re-
solved to " remove his body" to another place. The
defendant concluded this letter by subscribing himself,
" Yours, very sincerely;" and the reading of the docu•
ment occasioned a good deal of laughter. It was upon
the bond or deed referred to that the present action was
brought to recover, not only the principal, but the inte-
rest, at nine per cent., for a period of eighteen years.
Witnesses were called to prove these facts, and one
Mr. Coup, in answer to a question from Mr. Baron
Alderson, said that, if parties chose to make an agree-
ment to pay nine per cent., that the law of France did
net consider such a transaction illegal.
Mr. PLATT made a very able address to the jury on
behalf of defendant, and commented upon the very ex-
traordinary character of the transaction, and the at-
tempt, after eighteen years, during which time there did
not appear to
have been any application or demand for
the money, to enforce such a claim and he said
the Statute of Liimitations would have barred the plain-
tiff
answer
horn enforcing the claim but for his residing in a
foreignsi
bif for
any defendant
country. i'
to
°observed
athat
claim it
of
wm
this descrip-
tionimPs- after such a period of time had elapsed, and he
called upon the jury, under those circumstances to give
a verdict for the defendant.
Mr. Baron ALDERSON having summed up the case,
the jury, after a short deliberation, returned a verdict
for the plaintiff for 6,6401., that being the amount of the
principal sum, and the interest for eighteen years, at
nine per cent.
Two other Common .Tury causes were then disposed
of, and the the business of the Civil side concluded about
eight o'clock.

NORFOLK CIRCUI r. —Hunting—An,
(Before Lord AntleGEß.)
knowin for unlawfully,
March 20.
Gifford White, aged 18, was indicted
letter, threatening to burn him and the other farmers of the
RV, and feloniously sending to one Isaac nett a
pariah of Dluntisham in their beds, and also to burn their
property.
The prisoner pleaded Guilty.
The prosecutor is a farmer living in the parish of Blun-
tisham, id this county, and the prisoner in December last
was a labourer in husbandry in the same place. On the
morning of the 28th of that month one of the female servants
of the prosecutor found a sealed letter inside his farm-yard,
. directed—" To the Farmers of Bluntisham, Aunts " She
took it to her master, who opened and read it ; it was in
these words

" Bluntisham, Hunts.
" TO TITE VARITSItS.
" We are determined to set Are to the whole of this place
if you don't set us to work, and burn you in your beds if
there is not an alteration. What do you think the young
men are to do if you don't set them to work? They must
do eoraethiJag. The Each is, we cehaot go any Imager. We