Star.
London, England, 1822-06-08 00:00:00

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LAW INTELLIGENCE.

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Yesterday being the first day of Trinity Term, the Judges
and the King's Counsel waited on the Loan CHANCIILLOR
Lincoln's Ina Hall, at twelve o'clock, and afterwards proceeded
in processi at to Westminster Hall.
COURT Olt' KING'S BENCH, JUNE 7.
As soon as the Judges had taken their seats, Samuel Wadding- I
ton was called on to plead to an indictment, charging him with
vending a blasphemnas libel entitled Pitl ircr's Pthicip:cs(lAtiture.
He pleaded Not Guilty, and was taken away in the• Keeper of
Newgate's custody. •
CRIMINAL INFORMATION.
Mr. Namara. said, he had to apply to their Lordships for a
criminal information against a Reverend Magistrate of the cotmty
of Glamorgan, whose name, however, he would, with their
Lordships' permission, conceal for the present. His application
. was now founded on the affidavit of an individual named W.
Perking, who described himself as a timber-merchant at .Gla-
morgan. Having purchased a quantity of timber standing, he
was engaged in cutting it down when be received a message to
attend the Magistrate in question, which be did the next day,
and was then informed that an information had been preferred
against him, founded on the 6th of• George 111. for destroying
young trees. On this Le offered to prove the purchase, and pay-
ment of part of the purchase money ; but the Magistrate refused
to receive the proof, and consinitted him to the county jail tip he
paid the penalty. Under these circumstances the Court granted
a Rule to strew cause.

THE ICING V. CA RULE.
Mr. COMMA applied to the Court for a Rule, calling on the
late Sheriffs to show cause why they made a sale of certain pro-
perty ot the defendant, under a writ of Levari facies. The appli-
cation was made on the ground of irregularity on the part of the
Sheriffs in their return; they stating that they had levied the
goods of the defendant, and sold the same for £54. 7s. They
further stated, that they had levied other goods and chattels of
the defendant, which remained for the disposal of the Court, as
their Lordships might direct.
Mr. COOPER now contended, that the Sheriffs should be di-
rected to sell these goods. This property consisted of books,
which could not be called seditious or blasphemous: one of them
was 13iebnp Watson's Apology for the Bible; another was a Col-
lectioe of the Speeches of his Learned Friend, Mr. Chas. Phillips;
and there .were other books amongst them equally innocent.
The Coney said, this Was certainly a new case, and they would
therefore grant a Rule to thew cause why the return should not
be quashed, on the ground Of irregularity.
. COURT OF CHANCERY.
IN THE MATTER OF THOMAS SMITHSON.
Mr. Borman presented a ,Petition to the Court, praying that
a commission of lunacy might be issued, to inquiminto the state
of mind of the above Gentleman, who is possessed of very con-
siderable property, and is a resident of Cockermotith. In support
of the application, several affidavits were read, which were made
by persons who had been his attendants during his illness; by
the physician who bad visited him for the last five years, and
also by some of his near relatives. By these it appeared, that in
the early part of the year 1815, the unfortunate Gentleman be-
tined evident symptoms of having a disordered mied, and the
utmost precautions were necessary to be adopted to prevent him
from destroying himself. He sought every opportunity of evading
the vigilance of those to whose care he was entrusted, and on
one occasion it was with the greatest difficulty he was restrained
from precipitating himself from the window of an upper apart-
ment in the mansion be at that time occupied; and frequently he
would earnestly entreat those about him to procure a sharp in-
strument, or some poison, to enable him to relieve himself from
what he termed a miserable existence. To a person with whom
be was walking, he offered to give all his property on the condi-
tion ot his being permitted to go on the river in a boat, from
which he could throw himself into the water and be drowned,
and his death, lie s.tid,would then be considered accidental. The
unhappy invalid was possessed with an implacable hatred against
:tone of his relations, and he attributed his miser! es to some magi-
cal i. Guence which they had over his person ; and be made them
tee most nisgitilicent promises to induce them to release him front
their ‘. devilish witchcratt." In a letter he addressed to the medi-
cal gent 'emu) who had attended him , be described the horrible tor-
tures he was endue ing through his malignant friends. Ouce,he said,
they met in a room, threw bins on his back, corded his arms, and
confined him in such a manner as to disable him few) making re-
sistance; they then deeply pierced his aide, below the ribs, which
occasioned him to bleed more than a peck, and forced a toad into
the wound, and afterwards they stopped the bleeding by putting
into the orifice sand and lime. The toad, he said, had occasioned
him the most excruciating pain both in body and mind, and he
entreated the Doctor m interpose and free him from the oppres-
s:tins of his barbarous persecutors: Numerous other instances
were given of the singular inconsistency of his behaviour; and
frequently it was of the most dangerous description, as he would,
when labouring under a paroxysm of the complaint, or when ap-
parently in a convalescent state, attack and endanger the lives of
all who came within his power. The immediate cause of the
tavete eillictiAl could not be accounted for • but it had been oh-
served that his mind bad been much dejected and oppressed ever
since the death of a sister to whom he was much attached. All
1-. is acts demonstrated that it was improper that he should have
the controul of his property, and it was thought that the present
. measures were the best to protect his and his family's interest.
The Loan Cuaticserame—What is the latest medical opinion
you have of the state of this Gentleman's mind?
Mr. BOSELER read a letter from Dr. Lomas, in reply to his
• erdship, dated in December last, which stated that the invalid
then was, and had for years been, afflicted with insanity at times.
Mr. Pi:mamas entreated his Lordship to dismiss the Peti-
Con, and assured hi,- Lordship he was prepared with affidavits
which distinctly denied many of the assertions made.
The Loan Cuasceawa—Then that is a good reason why a
commission should be issued, arid that the existence of sanity or
insanity should he ascertained by a Jury ; for how can I decide
from your conflicting statements?
ISlr. Puneasioas conceived it would be a grieions hardship
upon this Gentleman's family. In the course of the last year he
had settled an account with his mete one of the petitioners, and
then hi, sat ity was not doubted. Within that time he had also
sold an esatte, and conducted the negociation with much skill
and propriety.. Ile had likewise lately married, and on that oc-
casion no question was raised as to his intellectual competency.
The Lone Cnaececcoa.—lt is impossible but that I must
comply with the prayer of the Petition. No man can read the
letters, and say that this Gentleman was in his perfect mind
when he spoke of the operation that had taken place in his side,
end that a toad was living witbin.him, which occasioned all his
trouble.
Mr. PIIILLIbIORI admitted that his client's conduCt had been
improper cn seme occasions, and urged that his eccentricities
arose from the irregularity of the life he led, and not from any
defect in the mind. In Court there were affidavits of Gentle-
men, who positively swore that, at the present time, he was free
from the malady he was said to be labouring under; and there-
Lire he hoped his Lordship would pause before he visited him
and his family with the consequences which ptyceedings of this
eetare would bring upon them.
The Loan CIIANCELLOII.—The commission must be issued,
bat let there be ample notice given of the time it will be acted
naoti, In order that he may be prepared with such evidence as he
'halts will be most beneficial to him.

ESSEX,
NEAR COLCHESTER, KELVEDON, and MA LOON.
Desirable FREEHOLD and COPYHOLD EsTATus,
Land-Tax Redeemed.
THREE HUNDRED ACRES

Of MEADOW, PASTURE, and. ARABLE LAND, with
good FARM-HOUSES, OUTBUILDINGS, YARDS, &c.
Abounding with Game and Field Sports.
137 Mr. ROBINS,
(Of Warwick House, Itegent•street),
At Garraway's Coffee-House, 'Change-Alley, Cornhill, on
THURSDAY next, the 13th June, at Twelve o'Clock, in Two
Lots, by Order of the. Mortgagee,
THE following desirable FREEHOLD andCOPY-
HOLD ESTATES, situate near the capital Market
Towns of Colchester Kelvedon, and Maldon,in the county of
Essex; Lawn-Tax 11RORIMID.
Low 1. A desirable FREEHOLD ESTATE, except about
Three Acres Copyhold, it a small Fine Certain, SHAW".
FARM, in the Parishes of ArdleiOland" St. Iletolph, Colches-
ter; comprising a good Farm-house and Offices, Yards, large
four-bay Barn, three Granaries, Nag and Fiirm-llorse Stables,
Cart-lodges, Cow-houses, Calf-pelts, Piggery, Poultry-houses,
Yard, &c. and upwards of OA Hundred and 4ighty-One Acres
of fine Arable Land, lying elirepact, and partly bounded by a
Stream of Water; distant two Nies from Colchester, on the
- . road to Harwich, and eight froM Manningtree.
Bow•srizar.—Yesterday Joseph Pearce, Esq. was brought to This Estate abounds with Game, adjoining several extensive..
the Office, from the New Prison, Clerkenwell, in order togive Preserves, and in the neighbouthoud of two Packs of Fox-
bail to answer the charge of his wife Angelina, a Spanish Lady, hounds: in the occupation of Mr. SAMUEL WATERHOUST., OD
ort a charge of violently assaulting and bruising her. The bail Lease for an unexpired Term of Ten Years.
he offered at first was objected to; but having procured other LOT 2. A desirable FREEHOLD and COPYHOLD
iiagii. Mr. Monututi and Mr. Ilst.is the sitting Magistrates, ESTATE, the HYDE FARM, In the Parish of Great Wig-
agreed to accept himself in X; CO, autitwo sureties in 410 each. borough, about seven miles from Colchester, on the road to
On Mr. Pearce being taken into the Clerk's Office to acknow- Malden, and near to Water-carriage; comprising it Genteel
ledge the bail, he cleaned, that as soon as his bail was taken 1 Farm-house, pleasantly stated on a rising ground, with excellent
and be was lib: rand, he would proceed to where his wife was Garden and gravelled Walk, commanding extensive ‘'iews ova
and drag her out. Mr. Lewis, attorney fur Mrs. Pearce, was the adjacent Country; with Yards, two double-buy Barns, Sea-
present, and, hearing this threat, went to the Magistrates, and bles, Cow-hotises, Calf-pens, Poultry-houses, and nearly Otte,
.in(ornied them of what had taken place, when they ordered Mr. Hundred and 'Twenty-two Acres of ' leaciow, Pastore, and
Pearce to be brought before them again, and Mr. Lewis's state- Arable Land : in the occupation of Mr. Hamm WISNCY, till.
the Magistrates called upon him Michaelmas, 1822.
went bring verified upon oath,
'Tribe viewed by applying to the Tenants, of whom Particu-
to find double or additional bail, himself in ;COO, and thur
lard may he had ; at the Cups, and of Mr. W. M. Francis, So-
sureties in .£5O. The. Magistrates ;mitred him, that it lie corn-
licitor, Colchester; Park Street, Manningtree ; Thorn, Mist-
mined the beast breach il the peace towards his 'life; his re-
-ognizances should be fin felted. ley ; Angel, Kelvedon; l'ostburse, Als:tion ; P.luc Posts,Witbalg;
White Horse, Ipswich; White Hart; Brentwood and Roinford ;
The Police Cummisaioners of Sheffield, in Yorkshire, have is- White
Head and Black Boy,'Clielnisfora ; of Mr. Nabigu,
cued a public notice, that in futuie the inhabitants of that town
arc to adopt the regulation of the capital, in walking on-cause- Solicitor, Carmarthen-streta ; ktOgrraway's; and of Mr. Rol
ways of e` Keeping their right bands to the wall to prevent their bins, No. 170, Regent-strect,•oppoalte Burlington-street, where
',alibi:4 their CMS in each others faces !” i PLII3 of the Estates. ma) be seen.