The Sun.
London, England, 1827-09-03 00:00:00

many of whose offences were characterised by a ma-
lignity which one would hope but seldom occurs;
and in the exercise of my duty, it became necessary
for me, tor the protection of the inhabitants of this
county, to perform the painful task of making some
melancholy examples, as sacrifices on the altar of
offended justice. I now turn, however, with sin-
cere pleasure from those painful recollections,
and am happy to find that the present calendar
does not exceed one-third in point of number
when compared with the last, and certainly in point
of malignity, as far as I have been able to perceive'
it does not alarm me; and t indulge iii the hope
that on the present occasion it will not be necessary
to make any of those dreadful examples that justice
sometimes requires. While lam on that subject, I
must mention that the depositions in some cases have
not been returned as they ought to have been; and
to that omission I am most particularly anxious to
call your attention, with a view to its amendment,
because it is, and ever must be, the anxious desire
of those who have to assist in the administration of
public justice, to inform themselves as correctly as
possible of the nature of the offences which are to
come under their consideration. Gentlemen, within
the last few months, the criminal code has undergone
some important revisions and amendments ; and as
it is the duty of the judges of the land to assist pe-
riodically in the administration of justice, it is also
their duty at that season to expound the nature of
the laws to all those who are interested in them. I
shall, therefore, very shortly request your attention
to some of the provisions of the new acts, as far as
they relate to the offences enumerated in the
calendar. The acts to which I allude are those
passed to take effect from the Ist day of July last.
".i;he great inconvenience attendant on the ancient
law in many criminal cases, could only be known to
those who had frequent occasion to refer to the
statute book. The object of those recent acts was
to simplify and consolidate a variety of those almost
obsolete enactments. Not less than one hundred
and thirty old Acts of Parliament were repealed
during the Session in which those Acts were passed.
By those Acts the law is simplified as it relates
to larceny and other crimes, and is reduced
to so compact a form, that I might say
those who run may read, and all men may
know the laws, by which means they may
avoid becoming transgressors. One of the ob-
jects was, to abolish what was termed " the
benefit of clergy," a privilege which, in bar-
barous ages and more unlettered times, might have
been convenient, but which, in the present enlight-
ened age, when knowledge and literature are so ge-
Aerally diffused among all ranks of the community,
was certainly an idle and senseless ceremony. The
dietinctions between grand and petit larceny were
eleo removed, and'a material alteration made in the law
respecting burglary. As I don't think there are any
cases of stealing within the curtilage of the present
calendar, I shall merely mention the amendment under
that head in a general way. In cases where an actual
dwelling-house is broken into in the night, the repose
of the inmates disturbed, and their lives possibly put
in jeopardy, by the present law, as well as by the
former law, it was deemed necessary to protect in-
.dividuals from such dangers by making such a crime
a capital offence ; but the severity of the ancient law
was not required for the protection of property in
outhouses, because the breaking into them is not at-
tended with those alarming circumstances which an
attack upon a dwelling-house must necessarily in-
spire. I shall therefore merely remark on the sub-
ject of cartilage, that unless the building broken into
is part of a dwelling-house, or immediately connected
with one by some covered passage, it is not entitled
to the ssme protection which the law formerly ex-
tended to it. Those refinements which formerly
existed regarding the breaking arid entering a dwell-
ing-house in the night time are now removed by the
new law. To constitute the crime of burglary, you
are aware it was formerly necessary that it should
be committed in the night time, and then the ques-
tion arose as to whether there was light enough to
discern the features of a man's countenance. That
question is now set at rest, for by the new law the
breaking and entering any dwelling-house and steal-
ing
thereout property of the smallest value, whether
by night or by day, is a capital offence. So also the
distinction as to whether any one is within the
dwelling-house, and property to the amount of
five shillings is stolen, is done away with ;
and the poor cottager who is obliged to
leave his home for the purpose of attending his
work is protected. With regard, also, to the clime
of stealifq in a dwelling-house, formerly stealing to
the amount of 40s. thereout was a capital offence.
That was the law by an Act passed at a period
when money was of greater value than it is ut pre-
sent ; and in order that the law should now be pro-
portioned to the intrinsic value of property to con-
stitute a capital offence, the property stolen must in
value amount to N.' I am not aware that any fur-
ther observation is required from me relating to
these new laws as respects the offences in the we-
re= calendar. I must, however, remark that tfiere
;s. e commitment early in the calendar where the
priso. -ster is charged with breaking and entering into
a dwellin.7-house with the intent to steal, no person
being therein.
That is not an offence within the
meaning of the ne'w
Act, to which I have alluded,
because it was cornant!ed before the new Act took
effect ; and you will obsero that all offences com-
T. are
mitted up to last hour of the la:!t tiny of .Tune,
not within the meaning of that Act, wi inch only
came into operation on the first day of July last.
I have no doubt some bills will be presented to yO,-1
under the old law, and some under the new, which
will therefore require your attention to this point,
as it seems to me that the gentleman
who made out
the commitment in that case, conceived it to be a
felony to break and enter a dwelling-house in the
day-time with intent to steal, no person being there-
in, before the Ist of July, when in fact it was only
an indictable misdemeanor. I observe that there is
case of manslaughter, which I-• think will deserve
your most serious attention, from what I have been
able to collect. There are some cases which lam
soery to have to mention, and which I shall speak of
merely generally, as I should be sorry to offend the
feeling of any one. I allude to cases affecting
female chastity. You are aware,. I have no doubt,
that where any indulgence of that description is
taken with a girl ander ten years of age, consent on
her part is unavailing. If, therefore, you are satisfied
that two things necessary to constitute the offence
have taken place, and that tile connexion was com-

- - - .
rgleted, although there may have been nothing like
J.-esistance or disinclination on the part of the girl,
you must find the bill for the capital offence. But
on looking at the depositions, I think you will find
that the altarge cannot be established to the fullest
exten.: ; and therefore, if you should be of opinion
that the offence could not have been .cousurnmEged,
it will be only a misdemeanor, and it will be better
to have a bill prepared for the assault.
Gentlemen of the- Grand Jury for. the city of
Gloucester---I have read with attentwii the depo-
sitions relating to offeneee within your jurisdiction,
and am happy to observe that there will not be more
than three bills of indictment to come before you for
offences committed in this city. One of them is
certainly a most serious offence—l allude to the
indictment under Lord Ellenborough's Act, an Act
which has by some been described as written in
letters of blood. It contains a provision which ap-
plies to the present case. That if any person shall
wilfully stab or cut any of his Majesty's subjects, he,
I'll eiders or abettors, shall be guilty of a capital
"6. elice. But that enactment is restrained by a pro-
", that unless in case death ensued it would amount
to murder, it is not a capital offence. It therefore
becomes rk„essary_ to inquire whether there are cir-
414mstances manifesting a malignity and deliberation
of purpose which would have made the wound
amount to murder in the eye of the law.

gentlemen of the Grand
Jury for the county and
all the
Gentilcmen of the G,ancii
Jury for the city,—These
are, 1 ,!,elieve,
you,
as observationsfara necessary to
be offered .to
21,,.3d practical experience mind suggests.
I have already
I,e, iii which ion q 4:_t i es ate executed in of the man-
'n ""`"' in this county

and city ; and I therefore feel confident that when
you retire to your respective chambers, you will
proceed in such a manner as will ensure the ends of
Justice; conducting your inquiries without fear,
favour, or affection, as the faithful guardians of that
law, the execution of which is now intrusted to your
care.

John Somers, aged 14, and nomas Face, aged
12, were indicted for stealing Is. 6d., the property
of Thos. Fawkes.
The Jury found the prisoners " Guilty," and Mr.
Baron VAUGHAN, in passing sentence, observed to
Somers, that as he was an old offender, he should
make a difference in the punishment, as he feared
that he had been the means of leading Face into this
offence, and the punishment he had formerly received
seemed to have failed to have the desired effect. The
sentence of the Court, therefore, was, " that John
Somers should be transported for seven years ; and
Thomas Face be imprisoned and kept to bard labour
for six months."
Mary Ann Martin was indicted, charged with
having feloniously broken open the dwelling-house
of Sarah Whitehead, at Rodmarton, and stolen there-
out 275. in shillings and sixpences, I I dollars, and a
key, the property of Sarah Whitehead.
The Jury, under the direction of the Learned
Judge, " acquitted" the prisoner.
She appeared at. the bar with a fine sprightly child
about a year old, in her arms; and, although not
good-looking, from the peculiarity of the case, ex-
cited considerable interest.
Mr. Baron VAUGHAN—fIow many children have
you P--Prisoner—Only this one, my Lord.
Mr. Baron Vim-IAN—How long have you been
married ?—Prisoner—Six months, my Lord.
SATURDAY, SEPTEMBER 1.
Joseph Mayo, was indicted for having obtained
from the shepherd of Thomas Tarling, five fat Sheep,
under the pretence that he had bought the same of
the said Thomas Tarling, at Cirencester-market.
Mr. Baron VAUGHAN summed up the evidence,
and the jury found the prisoner Not Guilty.
Mr. Baron VAUGHAN--I hope this will be a warn-
ing to you, not to buy any more sheep that way in
future.

George Allum, who was convicted at the last
Assizes for the county of Oxford, of robbing and
attempting to murder William Piggott, a driver of
one of Tanner and Bayliss's waggons, on Gangs-
den-hill, on the road between Oxford and London,
about two o'clock on the morning of Easter Tues-
day last, was recently executed at Oxford, pursuant
to his sentence. He made a full confession of his
guilt, adding, that he had no intention of murdering
Piggott, as he only struck him one blow with the
hammer, which felled him so close to the horses,
that if he had not seized him by the legs and pulled
him out of the way, the waggon-wheels must have
gone over him. The case excited an extraordinary
degree of interest, as the evidence was entirely cir-
cumstantial, Piggott having lost all recollection from
the moment he received the blow till he found him-
self in the public-house at the top of the hill, and he
had only obtained a very indistinct view of Allum
previously, as he dodged him up the bill. No place
could have been better chosen for the commission of
such a crime than Gangsden-hill, which is a long
steep hill on the London side of Dorchester, the
road lying between two high banks. On the left
hand side of the ascent there is a deep wood, and at
the bottom and top of the hill there are stiles across
two paths leading through the wood, to Huntercombe
End, a small hamlet, the birth-place and residence of
Allum. Between Huntercombe End and Gangsden-
hill there is a cottage inhabited by a labourer, named
Russell, where Ann Richardson, Allum's sweet-
heart, lodged, and where he spent the evening be-
fore he attempted the murder. The siile at the
bottom of the hill is where Allum is supposed to
have waited for his victim, and that at the top of
the hill the one on which he sat down after the rob-
bery, and where, according to his confession, on re-
flecting on the crime he had committed, he felt that
he would have given the whole world to have re-
stored Piggot (whom he thought dead) to life
again, and to have returned him his money. Allum,
although only 22 years of age, acknowledged having
been guilty of several petty thefts, and attributed all
his misconduct to poaching, which had led him step
by step to the crime for which he suffered. He
warned his fellow-prisoners on the Sunday before
his execution to avoid a similar fate by abstaining
from poaching, and seemed most thankful for the reli-
ligious instructions he had received during his con-
finement. By his desire Ann Richardson came to
take leave of him, as well as his father, mother, bro-
ther, and sister. His poor mother was deeply af-
fected at the trial. According to his previous deter-
mination, he refrained from saying any thing at the
place of execution. From the appearance of Allum
at the trial, it was evident he had been in a very
destitute condition previous to the robbery, and his
anxiety to obtain better clothes to gain favour in
the eyes of his sweetheart was certainly one in-
ducement to the commission of the offence of which
he was convicted.