Star.
London, England, 1827-05-15 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF ICING'S BENCH, NAT 14.
THR KING V. TAR WARIFIRLDR.

in consequence of this day being the time appointed
for the defendants above named to be brought up for
judgment, all the avenues to the Court were beset at an
early hour. The principal entrance to Westminster
Hall was barricadoed, and the other Means of access
secured against all but persons of respectability, having
business in the Hall, and their friends; and if these pre-
cautions had not been taken, the Court would have been
crammed to suffocation. As it was, long before the
Judges took their seats, all the seats in the galleries
were occupied by Ladies of fashion and respectability,
and every other place was equally filled.
_ _ _ _ _

Shortly before ten o'clock ibe two Messrs. Wakefield.
entered the Court, and took a seat immediately under
the Students' box.
At ten precisely the Judges took their seats, and the
Attorney.Geaeral, who led the defence, not having ar-
rived, Mr. Gurney prayed the judgment of the Court is
a case of common assault, which occupied a short time.
During this interval Edward Gibbon Wakefield was
engaged in making marginal notes in a printed report
of the trial at Lancaster. The elder brother wore a blue
frock coat, black stock, and white gloves ; the younger
wore a blue body coat, and also white gloves. The
elder brother appeared particularly grave • but the
younger one appeared as gay as usual, and irequently
smiled during the leading of the report. At twenty
minutes after ten Mr. Sergeant Cross entered the Court,
and being called upon to move by Lord Tentenhin,
brought on the ease in the following manner
Mr. Sergeant Caoss.—.My Lords, I have to move for
the judgment of the Court upon Edward Gibbon Wake-
field and William Wakefield, who were convicted at
the last Lancaster Assizes of a conspiracy, in having,
by a forged and counterfeit letter, contrived to carry
away a young Lady, of the name of Ellen Turner, from
the protection of ber parents, and afterwards having,
by fraud and intimidation, contrived to force the said
Miss Ellen Turner to marry the defendant, Edward
Gibbon Wakefield. The defendants, my Lords, now
stand before the Court for judgment.
Mr. Baotnattaia.—My Lord, I have just seen the
Attorney-General, who is Counsel for one of the defend-
ants. He is up stairs, and I have sent for him.
Lord Taneaavaa—This matter was appointed to
come on fir.t. It is now twenty minutes beyond the
time appointed, and we must proceed. Here are two
indictments, brother Cross, which will you take? or do
you move for judgment upon them both ?
Mr. Sergeant Caoss—Upon the indictment for the
conspiracy, my Lord.
The ATTORNRY.GENERAL now entered the Court, and
Mr. Justice LITTLIDALE proceeded to read Mr. Baron
Hullock's report of the trial at the last Lancaster As-
sizes, and the reading occupied nearly two hours.
Affidavits were then put in in mitigation of punish.
ment. The first was that of Edward Gibbon Wakefield,
in which be set out that he possessed an unlimited in-
fluence over the mind of his brother William, who was
wholly blameless in the pan he had taken in the trans-
action of carrying off Miss Turner. He also alleged
that rhe expense he had been put to in his defence was
immense, and had exceeded 3003. and he had already
suffered between four and five months' imprisonment
upon this charge.
The affidavit of William Wakefield was next put in,
and alleged that he had been over.persuaded by his
brother to take any part in the transaction in question,
when he had come to England solely for the purpose of
arranging the terms of the marriage settlement of his'
present wife, the daughter of Sir John Sidney, Bart.—
He explained the circumstance of his leaving Lancaster
at the time of last autumnal Assizes, by stating, that as
he alone would then have been tried, the case of his
brother would have been anticipated, and he would
have been miner rally prejudiced. He therefore hazarded
the risk of his vecognizances being e.treated, in order
his trial might take place at the same time as that of
his brother.
The ATTONNIZT ESERAL then addressed the Court
on b.half of Mr. illiam Wakefield. He no longer
appeared in behal of the other defendant, Mr. Edward
, Gibbon, who would make any observations be thought
nece,sary for bimaelf. The person for whom the
Learned Counsel now. appeared was an extremely young
MM. He bad stated' the. strongest of ec:ion subsisteu

beStaven 11:mself:4nci his brother, mixt he ie.ti!rl 'Or.allr
that species of controul which often elicited the b*
feelings-of the human heart. _ Dist observation lay MI
much upon the turface that the Lvarned Counsel ref
it unncenary td do more than make. it, and he trosied
their Lordships would see, that in Mr. William Wake.
field's individual case (without the least intentmii
to palliate the crime of which he was convicted)
his conduct was entirely mired up in an amiable
attachutear. There was one circumst ince which it *xi
necessary to advert to, namely, the conduct of Mr. W:
Wakefield, in leaving Lancaster at the last Surnititht
Assites. The Court, however, would pet ceihe, that sucit
an indiscretion had not been committed for the purpose
of frustrating public justice, because he had subs!.
Trendy surrendered, add his eondoet in that respect pro..
ceeded entirely from the same regard for his brother, by
which he had been influenced when he unhappily par-
took in the present transaction, knowing that his brol
ther's case might be prejudiced by his own trial takin4
place first. The Learned Counsel would say, thit
though he had not the slightest knowledge of Mr. WI
Wakefield's intention, he certainly did feel that the easel
of the other defendant might be materially prejudiced
by the trial, taking place separately. That opinioti
Might have reached the ear of the defendant, Mr. Wat.
Wakefield, and have influenced his conduct, though cer-
tainly neither the Learned Counsel, nor his other legal
advisers, knew of the measures he projected. With.
these short observations the Learned Counsel Would
'leave the case of his client in the hands of the Court.
Mr. COLTMAN said a very few word. on that part of
the evidence relating to the transaction at Manchester.
Mr. J. PARK; on the same side, felt it unneikisefe
SD offer any further observations to those that had been
,whade.
Mr. Edward Gibbonlirakefield then addressed the
Court from a written defence. He appeared in that
Court, he said, convicted of a grave and serious offe ee,
and begged their Lordships indulgence while he ad,
dressed to them some observations in mitigation of the
sentence about to be passed upon him; and though he
*RI aware that it was highly presumptuous in him,
.irbe
n he might have had one of the ablest advocates
at the Bar, yet from peculiar reasons, he had been
hduced to adopt that, perhaps, dangerous course.-s
He might, without indisctetion, inform the Court,
that notwithstanding his recognitances, to the amount
of ten thousand pounds, to appear there to receive
the sentence of the Court, were still in existence, he
bad been confined in Lancaster Jail ever since his
trial, and as he had arrived in town but yesterday, he
had been precluded from efficiently advising wish
tiny professional man. Perhaps also he might be
esteemed imprudent in pursuing this course, when he
had received no aisistartce in preparing the observaa
tions he was about to offer. He urgently pressed-
upon the attention of the Court, that, notwithstanda
ing the seriousness of the charge, he ought not to
receive a sentence more serious than had been passed
in other cases of a similar nature. He adverted to
the case of the King v. Bowditch and others, and
drew a distinction between that case and his own.
-.4-fle imputed to Mr. Sergeant Cro.s an utter igs
norance of the law, when at the trial he stated,
that jf the whole crime had been consummated in
England, he (the defendant) would hive ex; laird
his crime on the walls of Lancaster Castle, by the hands
of the public executioner. Such a statement mast have
proceeded from ignorance, or, if it did not, from a de-
sign to hurt the feelings of a man who had already
enough to bear. He complained that by a manoeuvre
resorted to by the prosecutor's advisers in framing the
indictments, he had been shut out from proving that he
had used no force in carrying off Miss T. and therefore
he bad not been fairly tried as to that which formed the
most serious part of the charge on the present occasion.
Throughout he spoke of Miss T. as his wife, and urged
that while he at the trial wished to save her from that vol.
gar gaze which her production inCour t would subject her
toithe feelings of the prosecutors were very different ;and
though be had abstained from putting to her a single
question which was not absolutely necessary, yet, on the
other side, his witnesses had been cross-examined in a
manner to raise a suspicion out of doors that her purity
was not still preserved. He was aware that he should
be subject to the strongest animadversions from the
Counsel on the other side, but he begged again to remind
their Lordships, that he ought only to receive such a
punishment as was proportioned to his case, without
reference to the feelings of the prosecutors; and he
felt convinced that the Learned Judges would on this
,Occasion, as they did upon.all others, sheer that they sat
in this Court to administer justice, and not vengeance.
,He contended that the course that had been adopted
bad deprived him of the opportunity of bringing lee-
ward his witnesses to repel the charge of fraud on his
wife. He had wished to repel this charge of fraud,
but had been prevented. He believed, however, he
should have an opportunity of repelling it hereafter,
and therefore he abstained at present from reading affi-
davits, so voluminous that the mere reading wtald oc-
cupy the Coutt several hours, and would reserve them
for the time when Mr. Turner should apply to the
House of Lords for a bill of pains and penalties, a
course which he (iVIr.W.) knew Mr. Turner meant to pur-
sue, and whenhe would not be able to make use of the
technicalities which had been so skilfully managed at the
trial. He had been tried twice for one offence. He hoped,
however, that he should not be punished on both con-
victions. lie was proceeding to cite and comment upon
some paragraphs which had been published in a Mac.
clesfield Paper, which belongs to the prosecutor's attor-
ney, when be was interrupted by the Court intimating
that they could only hear facts on affidavit. He then
commented in terms of great earnestness on the cruelty
of having called his wife into the witness box, of havidg
thus needlessly exposed her to the gaze of the multi-
tude, and of bringing on discussions from which every
man of delicacy would shrink with abhorrence. He had
done ail in his power to prevent her appearance in that
box, and when unable to prevent it, and she was forced
into it, he had abstained trom asking her a single ques-
tion. He concluded by addressing the Court in mtri.
gatien of fine, from the enormous expenses and pecuniary
sacrifices he had already been compelled to make. A
heavy floe would be in effect tantamount to imprison-
ment for life.
Sergeant Cnoss, for the prosecution, began by de-
claring that he had hoped nothing would have been
said to lead to an observation on either side. He re-
lied the charges of delay and consequent expense of
1 having had to appear twice before trial, by throwing
back the cause of this delay en the defendants them-
selves. He should ill acquit his duty to the public by
laatering into at dispute with the person now in juslg.
Allot trforethe Court. He admitted that he WO .I ii
,e.aalle made a mistake in staring that the (barge,
,t
'titoi,:d, Woultliati been a eapftil felony; but he bad