Star.
London, England, 1817-07-19 00:00:00

OYPORD dasizr.e.

W,:dnenday last, the county Assizes were holden
at the Guildhall, below Sir JAM FS ALLAN PA us,
and Sir WILI.IA GARROW, Rut.
Conran.; v. 'Ft:taxi:it AND term:Jas.—The rlaintiff in
this case is a poor man, residing in or near Epwell,
in this county, but whose settlement is in Gloucester-
shire. The defendants are the Churchwarden, Over-
seer, and Constable of Epwell, and two others. It
appeared that the plaintiff had been obliged by the
officers of an adjoining parish. to marry a woman
who was pregnant by him, and intended to pass his
wedding day with It's wife's father, who lives in a
parish house at Epwell; but this the parish officers
of Epwell, from a notion (almost too absurd to he
credited) that a man gained a settlement where he
passed his wedding nipt, were dart mined to pre-
vent ; and by taking possession of the house, they did
sn clurinl the day, but in the evening the plaintiff
and his wife obtained an entrance through a window,
and retired to bed: this being made known to the
defendants, they, accompanied by some others, pro-
ceeded to the bed-room, and after trying in vain to
persuade the plaintiff to go out of the house, actually
dragged him out of bed, hand-cuffed, and carried
him, with scarcely any coveting (this was in Novem-
ber), to a public-house, where he passed the night,
still hand-cuffed, not allowed any refreshment, nor
to see his wife. The nett morning be was taken
before a Justice, and of course discharged. Mr.
Jaavis, for the d, fend.ants, made a most iegenious
address to the Jury, but atter a very able and eloquent
charge from the Learned Judge (Mr. Baron GAR-
now), who commented upon the total disregard of
decency and want of feeling on the part of the defen-
dants, whose conduct, he observed, could not have
been justified under any circumstances, or even in
the legal discharge of their duty, they, after some
deliberation, found a Verdict for the Plaintiff—
Damages LW. _ _

FATAL Beim was tried for the
wilful murder of Thomas Claydon.—The prisoner,
who is a single man, about 25 years of age, and by
trade a sawyer, at Watley, was committed, on the
Coroner's Inquest, for the wilful murder of Thomas
Claydon, a labourer, of Weston-on-the-Green, on
the 28th of April last, in a field in the parish of Rad-
ley, Berks.
Charles Ward, a 'cordwainer, at Witney. was the
first witness c4led : he proved that the prisoner and
Claydon entered into a written agreement to fight for
a purse of 20 guineas the winner, an.: 10 guineas the
loser ; and they verbally agreed that in case either the
prisoner er Claydon should have a broken leg or ar►a
in the course of tl:c. fight, that the one who received
vie injury should be aliowed £5 out of the purse ;
that they should fight at one minute time; that the
prisoner and Claydon tossed up for the choice of
ground, and that Claydon won. The prisoner and
Claydon, after they had settled the terms of the fight,
drank several pots of beer together, and smoked se-
veral pipes. At the time the agreement was entered
into they appeared to be on very friendly terms, and
had never seen each other before. There was nothing
unfair in the fight. Claydon bad the best of the
battle the twelve or thirteen first rounds ; after which
Batts appeared to have the advantage. He saw the
last round but one, and there was nothing unfair.
This itness gave the prisoner a most excellent cha-
racter for humanity.
William hiller, a publican, of Witney. stated, that
he saw the battle ; that there was nothing unfair ;
that he saw Claydon fall several times; that he also
saw the prisoner fall several times by Claydon's
blows ; lie was about 20 yards from the battle ; that
he saw nothing particular in the last round but one.
This witness also gave the prisoner an excellent cha-
racter for humanity.
William Holland, of the Maidenhead Inn, Oxfotd,
WAS present at the battle, 40 or 50 yards of!; saw the
deceased fall the List round but one ; he appeared to
be in a very weak state the two last rounds.

Mr. G. iiitchings, of Oxford, Singeon. deposed,
that he was present at the battle, on horseback, near
the ring ; that he saw the last round but one, and
the last round; heard that Claydcn had received
some serious injury ; he was called in to attend him;
he was removed from the ground in about half an
hour to Mr. Ward's public.house, at Sandtora, where
he died about half-past six o'clock ; that he appeared
to have died in consegtsence of falls and blows that
he had received from the prisoner ; that the next day
he opened Claydon's head, and found a considt rable
quantity of coagulated blood ther.•in ; that he coul.l
nor distinguish whether he died .by fails or blows ;
that he had no doubt lint the falls or blows were the
occasion of his death.

This evidence closed the case on the part of the
prowc *Mon.
William James, of Endiam, was called on the
part of the prisoner. lie stated that he was close to
the prisoner and the deceased during the whole of the
battle ; that there was noi,bing unfair in the prisoner's
fighting ; that he saw no difference in the manner of
Claydon's fighting from the first to the last rounds ;
that in the course of the fight the prisoner knocked
Claydon down on one knee, and drew back; that
Claydon then recovered himself, and knocked the
prisoner down ; that the prisoner's eyes were lanced ;
that the odds were very considerably in favctur of
Claydon, until the twelfth or thirteenth round ; that
one of the prisoner's eyes was closed, and the other
nearly so in the two last rounds ; that he had seen
Claydon fight two former battles for money, which
battles he won. On his cross-examination, he ad-
mitted that he was the prisonet's buttle-bolder during
the tight.
Mr. Justice PARK, in a most eloquent and impres-
sive address to the Jury, stated the evidence, and
clearly expounded the law on the subject. The I
Learned Judge observed, that boxing and prize-fight-
ing were certainly unlawful acts, but that in the pre-
sent case nothing untair bad been proved against the
prisoner; that no previous malice could be imputed
to him, and that he was of opinion the case amounted
to only Manslaughter.
The Jury then, without any hesitation, returned a
Verdict of Manslaughter, and the Judge immediately
sentenced the prisoner to six months' imprisoning:it,
and a fine of Is.

At the Quarter Sessions, held at the Shire HAII,
in Ipswich, yesterday, Articles of the peAct were ex-
hibited by the Hon. Miss BENSIKen against WIL-
LIA.I 4iIIRLCCS, Esq.