The Sun.
London, England, 1844-08-26 00:00:00

SUMMER ASSIZES.

NORTHERN ClRCUlT.—Liverpool Aug. 22.
CIVIL SlDE.—(Before Mr. Justice CREssw➢LL.)
SMITH V. BOUTCHER.
This was an action to recover the amount of a com-
mission claimed by the plaintiff for obtaining freight for
a ship of the defendant's.
Mr. Knowles and Mr. Crompton were for the plaintiff;
and Mr. Martin and Mr. Edwards for the defendant.
It appeared that the defendant was a ship-owner in
London, and the plaintiff a ship-broker in Liverpool.
Some communication was opened between the plaintiff
and the defendant, and the former procured a freight for
the vessel to Laguayra, with liberty to call at any
island in the West Indies. After the charter-party had
been signed, the defendant entered into a contract with
Government to convey some troops to the Bermudas on
the same voyage. The party on whose behalf the plain
tiff had made the original contract objected to this, on
the ground that the Bermudas are not in the West
Indies, and required that the charter-party should be
cancelled, which was done. The defendant, however,
objected to pay the plaintiff his commission, the voyage
which he had negotiated having been given up. The
plaintiff alleged that this was no fault of his, nor any
matter to him. He had done his work, and desired to
have his reward. It was shown that the defendant got
about 2601. by the passage of the troops, and that the
freight saved by the vessel was somewhere between 5001.
and 8001. The commission was Si. per cent.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff--Damages, 351.

N'CLEERE V. PRANCE AND ANOTHER.
This was an action for an assault and battery. One
of the defendants, William France, pleaded that he was
not guilty, and that the plaintiff first assaulted him.
The other defendant, Thomas France, pleaded not
guilty.
Mr. Wortley and Mr. Cowling appeared for the
plaintiff, and Mr. Martin and Mr. Cromptan for the
defendants.
It appeared that the plaintiff is a gentleman of for-
tune, living in Wall-street, Wigan, in this county, of
which place he is also a magistrate. The defendant
William France is a shopkeeper, whose premises open
into a yard into which the plaintiff's premises also open,
and there is a common passage to the yard from the
street. In the yard are the stables and coach-house of
the plaintiff, and a warehouse of the defendant, William.
France. The other defendant, Thomas France, is his
brother. On the 27th of May last there was an election
for the southern division of the county. Wigan is one
of the polling places. The plaintiff had been dining with
his party, and had returned to his house about nine
o'clock in the evening, and immediately went into the
yard, where, according to the evidence of a young
woman who was a daugter of the plaintiff's coachman,
the defendant William France came up with a stout
walking-stick in his hand. Something was said between
them, which the witness did not hear, when the de-
fendant William France struck the plaintiff several very
violent blows on the head and face ; so violent that
his hat was cut through and knocked off his head,
and a swelling produced the size of a hen's egg.
Just at that time, Mrs. M'Cleere and a neice
were coming out of the plaintiff's back door
to go to the stable to see a pony of Mr. M'Cleere's
She, seeing her husband assaulted, began to shriek, and
a Mr. Isherwood, the superintendent of a factory, hear-
ing the cry, ran up the yard. He saw the defendant
William France strike the bare head and face of the
plaintiff twice with the stick. His face was covered with
blood. Thomas France, the other defendant, had the
plaintiff by the shoulder and held him, as it appeared to
the witness, not to prevent mischief, but to give his bro-
ther a better opportunity. The witness rushed between
them, and said, " No more sticks," and they all went
down on the ground together, with Mrs. Kirk the plain-
tiff's niece, who had gone to the spot. She and Smith,
the coachman, gave similar testimony.
Mr. MARTIN addressed the jury for the defendants,
and called witnesses to prove that the plaintiff on his way
home from the election dinner had struck with a stick a
little boy of the defendant William France, who acciden-
tally ran between his legs ; that the child ran home cry.
ing to his mother ; that when the defendant came into
the yard she went to him and complained, to which he
replied, " Go to the devil," on which she fetched her
husband. Some of the witnesses also swore that when
the parties met the plaintiff struck the first blow, and
that the only object of Thomas France in interfering
was to separate the parties.
On cross-examination it appeared that most of the
witnesses who deposed to those things were on the other
side of the street, and could only see that part of the
yard which was in a direct line with the passage ; while
most of the plaintiff's witnesses were on the spot. A.
servant girl of the defendant, however, stated that she
saw what took place from the steps of her master's back
door, which opened into the yard.
Mr. WORTLEY replied, and the case having been
summed up, the jury returned a verdict for the plaintiff'
—Damages 501.
In the Crown Court the Lord Chief Baron was en-
gaged during the whole day in trying cases of rape.
OXFORD ClRCUlT.—Gloucester, Aug. 22.
CROWN COURT.—(Before Mr. Sergeant ATCHERLEY.)
HORRIBLE ATROCITY.—Thomas Goatman, aged 17,
was indicted for unlawfully and maliciously wounding a
mare, the property of William Humpidge.
Mr. Skinner conducted the prosecution, Mr. Francillon
defended the prisoner.
It appeared that on the 10th of April last, the prisoner,
who was a farm servant of Mr. Humpidge, for some rea-
son or other which did not transpire, was dissatisfied
with one of the horses committed to his charge, a fine
and valuable young mare; he was observed by some by-
standers to go from the stables and to cut a short thick
stick from a " service" tree in a neighbouring hedge.
And shortly afterwards ho was seen punching the animal
about the hind-quarters, with a piece of stick about
twelve or fourteen inches in length. No one witnessed
the brutal and atrocious act which the scoundrel next
committed, but the evidence left no doubt that, after
some further ill-usage, he thrust the piece of wood, which
he previously tapered with a knife at either extremity,
up the hind-quarters of the poor mare, as the meatus
urinarius, the bladder, and intestines were lacerated in
a horrible manner, and the poor animal, in the convul-
sive throes induced by the agony she underwent, actually
caused the weapon in question to work its way forward
t
through her body until it reached her chest, whenceut
was cut, after death, by a labouring man who came
theshortly afterwards. It was suggested, on
that the
prisoner, with more ingenuity thanprobability,
browsingi in
th
ground under the tree was strewed with
knife, and as the
tmhaerfieeld might A have a
bothve swallowed
ends
wer
et h, e
however,st stick w.htirl
trimmed
d:
m
leaves and chips, and the prisoner
his knife there, he was at once cony
The Court passed upon him the comparative lenient
hicatdedbbeyenthsee
jury,
The using
sentence of twelve months' imprisonment.

ISLE OF WIGHT WAGGEEY.—" Is this the way to
Ryde ?" said a traveller who was as ignorant of horse-
manship as he was of the. place he was inquiring for.
The unsophisticated native to whom the query wail ad.
dressed, after carefully surveying the equestrian artist.
naively replied, " Na, na ! thee turns out thee toss too
much."—lsk of Wight Advertiser.

CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT.
aLD COUR T.
(Before Mr. Baron GURNEY and Mr. Justice WIGHTMAN.)
FORGERY.—Sackville Sachville, alias Charles Davis,
pleaded guilty to an indictment charging him with
feloniously uttering and putting off a forged bill of ex-
change for 2501., with intent to defraud Simon Rendall,
and was sentenced to twenty years' transportation.
FORGERY or DUTCH BlLLS.—Pietro Vatter, a jeweller;
Francisco Enrico, a fencing-master ; and Henry Har-
rison, a draper, were indicted with feloniously making
certain orders for the payment of money, purporting to
be orders of the Directors of the Administration-office of
Funds in the kingdom of the Netherlands.
Mr. Bodkin addressed the jury for the prosecution,
and Mr. Ballantyne, Mr. Charnock, and Mr. Clarkson,
appeared for the prisoners.
It will be in the recollection of our readers that the
prisoners, through the prisoner Harrison, applied to an
artist of the name of Louis Gluck Rosenthall, residing
on Wellington-terrace, to engrave a copy of the coupons
of the Netherlands' Bank. Mr. Rosenthall thought there
was something suspicious in the transaction, and he at
once gave notice to the police, and also went to the
Consul-General of the Netherlands, under whose direc-
tion Mr. Rosenthall completed the plate for the forgery.
It was clearly proved that it was an attempt to defraud
the Dutch Government, and the prisoners were then
taken into custody. Several witnesses were examined,
who clearly proved the case against the prisoners.
Mr. Clarkson addressed the jury for Enrico, Mr. Char-
nock for Valler, and Mr. Ballantyne for Harrison.
Mr. Baron GURNEY summed up.
The jury found all the prisoners Guilty, and Mr.
Baron GURNEY sentenced them all to ten years' trans-
portation.