Star.
London, England, 1808-08-10 00:00:00

M'ILWAIN Z. FINCH, FOR CRIM. CON.

The Plaintiff is a Surgeon and Apothecary at !
Ringwood. The Defendant (Mr. Charles Finch) has '
recently opened an Asylum for Lunatics, at Moor-
Town, very near Ringwood. lmmediatelyon his set-
flint: there, he became very intimate with the Plain- ,
tiff, and he made use of this intimacy, according to
the stazt m^nt t f Mr. CA SHIRD, Counsel for the P 1 (in-
tiff, to rob him of his wife's affections, and to do him
the greatest injury in his power. lie proved the ne-
cc .sary facts by the evidence of the Plaintiff's servant
bo •

Mr. JEKYLt made a most eloquent and witty
speech for the Defendant, detailing various facts to
prove that the Plaintiff had not been deprived of any
very valuable article in that portion of his wife's af-
fection which he could have lost since -she had be-
come acquainted with Mr. C. Finch. The Jury gave
a verdict for the Plaintiff—Damages 51.
It was a maiden assize, there being no capital con-
viction at the Crown Bar.
John Pearce, a gypsey, only 15 years old, was con-
victed of stealing a shell out of the house of Betty
Green, in Kingston, in the Isle of Purbeck, and was
sentenced to be transported for seven years. This is
one instance of the determination of the Judges to
punish, as severely as possible, all depredations on the
unprotected property of the poor, who are under the
necessity of leaving their dwellings very slightly fas-
tened, whilst they are engaged in the harvest field,
and other avocations.
Mary Trout, convicted of stealing two bottles of
elder wine from the dwelling house of Mr. Wagstaff,
at Bridport, was also sentenced to seven years trans-
portation.
Mary Lajr, her accomplice, was sentenced to be im-
prisoned six months.
Genii/la Fletcher, for stealing a silver spoon ; John
Penny and William Tett, for stealing a pound and a
half of butt leather, were each sentenced to a year's
hard labour.
John Iroodward, charged with stealing some brass
and iron wheels, from a manufactory, was acquitted.
And no bill was fi u id against Francis Wilkinson,
charged with having, on the 2.5 th of November,
1803, maliciously stabbed Richard Edwards, with a
dirk, at Weymouth, with intent to murder him ; nor
against Henry Cooper, charged with having uttered
a forged note, purporting to be a 101. note of Gray
, and Co. Bankers, at Krewkernc.

BEDFORD. •
The Assizes at Bedford commenced on Fridaylast, '
before Sir JA NIES MA NSF( ELD and Mr. Justice HEATH.
The Calendar, as usual in that county, was but thin
—only bur prisoners. One, however, was for a ca-
pital offence, apd the trial excited considerable inte-
rest. It was as follows :

HIGHWAY ROBBERY.
William Hall was capitally indicted for a highway
robbery near Dunstable, on the 9th of April last.—
The Rev. Mr. Horseman, the prosecutor, stated, that
as he and his wife were driving a one horse chaise,
w i JIM a mile and' a half of Dunstable, they were stop-
ped by two footpads. The tallest of the two presen-
ted a pistol, and, with horrid oaths and dreadful
threats, demanded their watches and money. If they
refused, he said, he would blow their brains out. The
prosecutor immediately gave his watch and purse,
containing about 355. when the same man began to
rifle Mrs. H. and threatened to kill her if she did not
deliver her trinkets. The prosecutor could not swear
to the prisoner, but Mrs. Horseman, after corrobora-
ting her husband's evidence, with great agitation and
reluctance, identified the prisoner as one of the two,
and he who behaved with most civility. The mor-
ning after the robbery the prisoner was apprehended,
and, on seeing him, she immediately recognized him.
Grimshaw, a constable, deposed, that when he car-
ried the prisoner to gaol, he appeared extremely de-
jected and sorry for what he had done. He wrote a
.etter to his mother, and gave it to the witness to put
into• the post, but the Magistrate thought it right to
open the letter, which was produced and read. It
containfd a confession of his guilt, and was so well
written, and in a style of so much sensibility and feel-
ing, that scarcely a dry eye was to be found in Court.
The prisoner being called on for his defence, con-
fessed hiS crime, solemnly declaring that he had never
1 before done an unjust act, and that his companion,
who had absconded, had led him aside from honesry.
The Jury found him guilty, when the Judge ob-
served, that the letter, which the prisoner could have
no idea would fall into the hands of any other than
his mother, displayed so sincere a contrition for the
I offence he had been guilty of, that he was inclined to;
think it was his first offence, and should therefore re-
commend him to his Majesty's mercy; but 'he was
compelled to pass the sentence of the law upon him,
and accordingly sentenced him to be hanged by the
neck till he was dead.
NISI PRIM SIDE.

PARKER V. TILE OVERSEERS OF WOBURN PARISH.

This was a case of importance as it affects casual
poor. The Plaintiff is a surgeon, and the action was
brought to recover a sum of money for the cure of a
compound fracture. The driver of the Chester mail
was overturned at Woburn, ih March, 1807, and had
I.•is arm broken. The Plaintiff was called in, and
attended him fourteen weeks, and saved the arm
from amputation, though the party will never again
have the free use of it. The question, therefore, in the
case is, whether Parker, the driver, was a casualty
poor person, entitled to relief at the time the accident
happened, and whether, in order to fix the parish, the
surgeon was not bound to have communicated the
facts to the Overseers, in order to enable them to call
upon the parish the pauper belonged to, to get reim-
bursed ? The Plaintiff's own witnesses proved that
Parker, during his illness, received from his friends
upwards of 671. and it was contended on behalf of the
Defendants that he did not come under the character
and denomination of a pauper. Upon this the Jury
found for the Defendants, though there was little
doubt, had he been destitute of sufficient support, the
action would have been maintainable in law as against
the Overseers.

111011111111111111111•114.7---- .
bruary last ; he remembered the prisoner- being Sent
to the House of Correction, some tilde before, and
when he came ont he made use of several ambiguous
expressions as to his master, such as " Aye, are,
there is the same sauce for the goose as for the gan-
der; I'll be up to 'thy master some time or tether,"
&c. The prisoner told the witness one day, he
thought their master must have some money by him
in the house, and several times asked him to. assist in
robbing him. The prisoner at last told witness that
as be would not help him, he would do it himself, and
would give the witness half the booty piovided he
would-keep the house from being alarmed, and say
nothing of his knowledge of the prisoner committing
the robbery. On the day preceng the night on
which the burglary was committed, Mr. Peacock rode
to Kirton. Witness and the prisoner saw him go
past a field in which they were ar work, and the Lit-
ter communicated his intention to rob the house that
night, provided their master did not return. Mr.
Peacock did not return, and next morning the pri-
soner, who rose first, shortly after going out, re-
turned and stated that the house had been robbed,
fur the granary. was broke open, whereupon all the
family got up. [lt is necessary here to state, that
from the testimony cf other witnesses it appeared that
the robber had entered the • stable through a trap
door, which had been doubly locked, ascended the
granary, and by breaking down a wag had gained en-
trance into the bed room of Mr. Peacock. A large
box was there forced open, and the property men-
tioned in the indictment stolen.] The, witness went
to Kirton to tell his master of the robbery, who imme-
diately came home, and had the wall repaired. In the
course of the next day the prisoner took the witness to
a retired place, and told him he would keep his pro-
mise, and thereupon gave him eight guineas, which
witness, fearful of having such a sum found on him,
made a hole and deposited iu the ground. Upon go-
ing some time after to take up the money it wtts gone.
In consequence of the threatening phrases the pri
soner had used, after his return from the house cf
Correction, many of which had been in the hearing of
Mr. P.'s housekeeper, Sarah Ward, when Barnard
was acquitted, she mentioned to her master what the
prisoner had said ; and suspicion falling upon him
from the strange evidence he had given, Mr. I'. had
him apprehended, and Lidyard also, on the ground
that lie slept so near the spot where the robbery was
committed that he could not but hear a person knock-
ing a wall down. On being taken before a Magis-
trate, Lidyard stated nearly as above. The house cf
the prisoner's father-in-law was in consequence search-
ed, and six guineas were found wrapped in a piece
of an old stocking. The prisoner was then com-
mitted for trial.
Many witnesses were called, but their evidence
was merely collateral ; and the learned Judge ob-
served, the evidence of a person standing in the situa-
tion of the witness was to be received with caution :
he came into the witness box stamped with the igno-
miny of the broadest perjury, for on the trial at the
last assizes he 11.3. d sworn to speak the whole truth,"
and yet he concealed all the evidence he had this day
given. He came to-day to swear solemnly what on
a former day he had sworn was untrue : might he
not some time hence, swear that what he had -to-day
sworn was equally untrue ? The Jury would consider
what regard was due to the evidence of such a man,
and return a verdict accordingly.

PROVIDENTIAL ESCAPE.—Saturday afternoon a boy•
about seven years of age, the son of Mr. Phillips, a
publican, at the corner of Newport and Castle-streets,
having strolled to Westminster Bridge, alorg w:th his
brother, about two years older, he incautious, y mount-
ed the parapet of the center arch, when his foot
slipped, and he precipitately fell ; fortunately, how-
ever, a barge passing at the moment, the men in it
caught him in their arms, and saved him from an
untimely death. The boy was not in the least
alarmed, and, after being put on shore at Milbank,
he walked home.
On Sunday night last an accident occurred to Lord
and Lady Coween, on their return from Lord MEL.
BOERS'S, Whitehall ; in going -up the Haymarket,
the fore axletree broke, at which the horses took
fright. The footman immediately jumped- Jaws, and
fortunately succeeded in gettin# hold of the reins, and
pulled the horses against a gateway, which stopped
them : we are happy to add that Lord and Lady
COWPER received no injury ; they got out of their
carriage into a hackney coach, in which they pro-
ceeded home.
On Saturday as Mr. W. PYI4 one of the store-
keepers in the Tower, was opening the loop-hole, to
take in bedding, above the small armory, a sudden
gust of wind took the doors, which precipitated him
upwards of 90 feet, and he was killed on the spot.
He had served in the American war, and was taken
with General Burgoyne; he afterwards was put on
board the Ville de Paris, when Count de GRASSE of-
fered him a valuable consideration to enter into the
Preach service, which he refused ; in consequence of
which, the Count behaved to him in the most friendly
manner, until the time he was retaken by the late
Lord RODNEY.
Thursday afternoon, two little girls, daughters of
a Mr. WRIGHT, Anderston, (near Glasgow) while
diverting themselves on the banks of the Clyde, at-
tempted to cross a plank, which was thrown from a
vessel to the shore, when they both fell into the river
and were drowned.
Monday se'nnihgt, atEglestone, nearßarnardCastle,
a storm of thunder and lightning, the most alarm-
ing that has been experienced there in the recollection
of the oldest inhabitants, came on about three o'clock
in the afternoon, and continued until four without any
rain ; at that time an extremely heavy shower com-
menced, and continued until seven, which caused the
water in Blacktonburn, Gatebeck, and Hillbeck, to
overflow their boundaries, carrying away all the walls,
hedges, bridges, and trees that opposed its impe:uo.
sky. The smelting-mills at Blackston sustained great
damage ; near 400 bings of ore, besides all the tools,
barrows, &c. were swept away by the rapidity of
the current. The loss is estimated at 20001. At an-
other mill it swept away the wheel, axle-tree, bel-
lows, acid the whole of the refining-house : the axle-
tree was found below Tees-bridge. The roads in se-
veral places were so broken up, that carriages could
not proceed upon them. The storm fell most heavy
upon the hills about Nemoor and Felitop, so that the
corn did not suffer so much as might be expected.—
At Bedburn, where not a drop of rain fell, a dyeing-
mill was washed away by the flood.