The Sun.
London, England, 1827-02-23 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCIL

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Fix. fe2.
THE XING V. JAMES DEAN AND OTHERS.

Mr. BRODERICK opened the pleadings. This was an indict-
ment charging the defe❑dants, James Dean, Thomas Dunstan.
Charles Edward Grindall, and Wm. Hunter, with conspiring to-
gether to cause it to be believed that the prosecutor, Thomas
Adcock Grindall, was of unsound mind, was unfit for the manage-
ment of his own affairs, and ought, therefore, to be placed under
personal restraint; and in pursuance of that conspiracy, with
having, on the 27th of September last, seized the said prosecutor,
and caused him to be removed from his house to Tunbridge wells,
and there detained in confinement. The defendants were also
charged by the other counts with an assault and false imprison-
ment, to the whole of which they had pleaded, " not guilty."
After a lengthy but uninteresting trial, the Jury, under the
direction of his Lordship, acquitted the defendants generally of
the conspiracy, and acquitted Dean and Dunstan of the assault,
finding Grindall and Hunter Guilty.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, FEB. 22.
JOHNSON V. POPE.

This was an action for an assault and battery, brought by the
plaintiff, who was a Beaman on hoard a ship called the Asia,
against the defendant, who was the Commander of that vessel, for
an assault committed upon him on the high seas. The defendant
pleaded first that he was not guilty, and secondly, that he, being
the Commander of the vessel, had only exerted his authority so
far, as to correct and punish the mutinous conduct of the plaintiff,
who had disobeyed or refused to obey the orders given him. In
consequence of this, the plaintiff had been moderately chastised,
which was the assault he now complained of. In answer to this,
the plaintiff said that it was untrue, and that he had at no time
disobeyed the orders given to him.

The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, in summing up, observed, that
this was an action for assault and battery, to which the defendant
had made several pleas. These it was necessary for him to make
out, but in this instance no evidence at all had been produced to
prove them, therefore the verdict must be for the plaintiff. The
only question would be as to the amount of damages, which it
would be for the Jury to determine.

The Jury, after a short deliberation, returned a verlict for the
plaintiff—Damago, 100/.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

GUILDHALL—John Boxwood, the principal clerk at the
Cross Keys Inn, Wood-street, appeared before Sir Pwrzu LAT: rut,
yesterday, upon suspicion of knowingly receiving some country
bank-notes, which formed part cf the contents of a valuable parcel
stolen from the Stilton coach some months since.

The case was opened by Mr. Perry, one of the clerks to Messrs.
Esdailes, the bankers, stating, that in June last, a parcel, contain-
ing local notes to the amount of about 2,700/. was delivered from
the Huntingdon Bank to the guard of a coach which passes
through that place. The parcel was directed to Messrs. Es-
dailes, and the guard kept it in his pocket ; but, upon examina-
tion at the banking-house, the one delivered there was found to
contain nothing but waste-paper; and the guard's account of the
matter was, that somebody must have picked his pocket and sub-
stituted the waste paper for the genuine parcel. This guard was
taken before the Magistrates at Huntingdon, but the evidence was
such that he was enlarged. Upon information that some of the
stolen notes had got into circulation, Foster, the Marshalman, was
employed to trace them.

Sir PETER—You selected one of our best officers, and we had
better hear what he did from himself.

Foster then stated, that having learnt that twelve 51. and one
101. note of a Cambridge bank (part of the stolen notes) had been
offered at Mersrs. Grote and Co.'s, where they were payable, he
traced them through Messrs. Drummonds', and the Golden Cross
Inn, Charing-cross, to the defendant.
Sir PETER--. 411 the person here who received them from the
defendant? Foster—He is not.

Sir PETER (to the defendant)—Perhaps you will admit pay-
ing them.----Defendant ; I do not know. We do pay a great
many notes to Charing-cross.

Sir PKTEa—From-whom did you receive these (handing the
12 51. notes) ?—The defendant (after observing, in a low tone,
" we take many notes, and put no mark on them") said ; I have
no doubt I received them from a person who was a book-keeper
at the White Horse, Fetter-lane, 20 years ago.
Sir PETER-Can you produce this person—what is hie name?
Defendant—He is in town—he may be found at the Spread Eagle.
Gracechureh-street ; his name is William Bayles ; he was lately
a clerk at the General Booking Office at the corner of Cateaton
and King-street.

The Alderman sent an officer in quest of Bayles, to some place
named, but he returned without success, and the defendant was
liberated on his own recognizance in 2001., and three sureties in
1001. each, to appear at the Sessions.

BOW-STREET.—Yesterday, Prior, the " Irish Pilgrim,"
as he is designated, was once more brought to this Office, with
his little bundle of books, and his clothing of sackcloth, he having
been found in the streets receiving alms from passengers. It ap.
peared that he had some claim, as a casual pauper, upon St. Mar-
tin's Parish, and one of the Overseers was sent for.

Prior, on being asked why he persisted in following a vagabond
course of life, which he appeared to have adopted from choice,
said, " I am alone in the world ; I have no home ; no roof to lie
under but the canopy of glorious Heaven (crossing himself); and
I am afflicted with an evil spirit for the sine of my youth, which,
I acknowledge, were great; and until I can, by a course of prayer
and suffering, expiate my offences, and appease the wrath of the
God of Glory (again devoutly crossing himself), I must remain as
I am, a miserable afflicted sinner."
Mr. Mtssituer,-,-Why did you not remain in Ireland ?—Prior
—lreland, Sir ! What was Itodo in Ireland ? Poor Ireland, is
an unfortunate and destitute country, deserted by the heads of
the land, forsaken by those who ought to remain at their own
paternal homes to cherish and protect the poor, and keep society
in peace and harmony together. I might wander frcm one end
of the island to the other, and meet neither friend nor an asylum
for my wretched head.
_ _

Mr. Mnssnutt—l really do not know what to do with you,
my friend.—Prior : All I crave your Worship, is to be sent to an
asylum where I can be at req.

Mr. MiNsirum. said, he would consider what could be done
for this singular man. Mr. M. finally ordered Prior to be taken
into the workhouse until he could make some arrangement for
his future comfort.

Prior—G&l bless your Worship. May the blessings of Heaven
descend upon you, for your kindness to an afflicted spirit.

We have been just informed that eight more per-
sons have read their recantation in the church of Kings, county of
Cavan. One circumstance to be particularly attended to is, that
this parish being on the borders of the counties of Meath, Mona-
ghan, and Louth, shows that the reformation is spreading towards
the adjoining counties from the heart of Cavan, where it may be
said to have struck the first root.—Dublin Correspondent.

On Wednesday evening a well-dressed female went
into the shop of Mr. Fenn, roasted coffee-dealer, Crown-row,
Walworth, and requested permission to sit down, as she was sud-
denly taken extremely unwell ; in about two minutes after she
requested a coach might be sent for, and gave her address No. 8,
Canterbury-street, Waterloo-road. A person was instantly de-
spatched to the nearest coach-stand, during which her illness
seemed to increase, and, before the return of the messenger with a
coach, she expired, and her remains were taken to the White Hart
pub.'ic-hoil e, near to where the melancholy scene occurred, to
await the decision of a Coroner's Inquest.

On Wednesday night the parish church of Croydon
was broken into, and robbed of a great quantity of black cloth,
with which the interior was decorated in consequence of the death
of the Duke of York. The thieves, it appeared, effected an en-
trance by means of skeleton keys ; but it is supposed were dis-
turbed before they had time to break open the vestry-room doer,
which was attempted ; and had they succeeded, would have been
attended with much greater loss of property, as plate of some
value was deposited therein. Since the decease of the above Royal
personage, a great number of churches have been robbed of the
black cloth with which the pulpit, the communion-table, and
other parts of the interior, were covered.

A great number of robberies have been effected at
the Surrey side of the bridges within the last fortnight, by a young
man about 19 years of age, respectably dressed, and having the
appearance of a clerk. The way in which he manages to levy
contributions on the public is this calls at a house, and the
door being opened by the servant, he presents a note, saying it
contains a small bill of his employer's, and desires it to be given
into the master of the house. The servant proceeds with the note,
and during her absence the fellow has generally succeeded in mak-
ing a rapid retreat, carrving off whatever property has fallen with-
in his reach. On Wednesday he called at the residence of a gen-
tleman at Denmark-hill, Camberwell, and while the servant turned
her back to deliver the note handed to her by the thief, he stole a
very handsome bracket clock, which was in the hall. There is
one peculiarity about the fellow, by which he may be known ; he
wears an enormously large pair of whiskers, which are supposed
to be false ones.