Star.
London, England, 1828-08-14 00:00:00

WELLS, Aucvn 11.

The Commission was opened on Satorday last, and
the business of the county commenced this morning at
ten o'clock. Mr. Justice PARK pre,ides in the Crown
Court. In charging the Grand Jury, his Lordship
complained much of the negligence of the Magistrates,
in not having, in compliance with the Act of Parlia-
ment, returned the depositions at the Judge's lodgings
on the day appointed for the opening of the Commis■
siori. About half of them had been brought to him
last night (Sunday night) after ten, and those which
related to the most important cases were only handed
to him this morning, on entering the carriage to come
to Court. • His Lordship having stated that the Magis-
trates were liable to be fined for their neglect, went on
to make observations upon a charge of rape, in which
the circumstances were of a singular nature. The
woman, Newvm, was unmarried, but living in a state
of concubinage with a man named Triblett, in the
house of the prisoner Jenkins. Triblett, upon one occa-
sion, left home with the declared intention of not re-
turning that night, and did not return. In Vie course
of the night the prisoner visited the woman's bed•cham•
bet., and there the fact occurred, to ascertain the cha-
racter of which was the object of the present indictment.
The woman, who made no resistance, alleged that she
was deceived, believing the MAR to be Triblett, her
paramour.
Mr. Justice PARK told the Grand Jury that these
facts would not support a charge of rape, as the female
herself had been a consenting party. His Lordship
mentioned a case where the circumstances were the.
same as in the present instance, except that in the for-
mer case the woman was married. In that case the
majority of the twelve had hoiden that the act did not
amount to rape, as the woman had not opposed it.—
He (Mr. Justice Palk) was of opinion, that in the case
of a married woman the fraud ought to be considered
as equivalent with force, but he was in a small minority,
and the greater part of the Judges decided otherwise.
After some observations on other cases, the Grand Jury
retired.

George Howarth was then brought np to receive the
judgment of the Court. The prisoner had been, at the
last assizes at Taunton. convicted on a charge of havitig
feloniously and maliciously cut and maimed a person
named Oxley, with a view to prevent his lawful appre-
hension and detainer. The prisoner hAd broken, at
midnight, into Oxley's outhouse, where he was observed
by a third person, who went to alarm Oxley at his drivel-
ling house. Before the parties returned to arrest
Howarth, he had quitted the premises of Oxley, and
was detected under a bush in a neighbouring garden.
There, when they attempted to arrest him, he drew a
sword, and severely wounded Oxley in the bead and
elsewhere. Mr. Earle, at the trial, made, on the pri.
' soner's pan, several objections, which were overruled
by the Judge. Ooe question, however, was reserved
for the consideration of the twelve Judges : it was, whe-
Elur the arrest of Howarth, not having taken place
where he had been detected in the commission of felony,
was legal or not? The Judges decided that all the cir-
cumstances of the case made but one transaction, and
that the arrest ought to be considered as if it had been
effected at Oxley's house, and that it was therefore legal,
and the resistance felonious. The prisoner was sen-
tenced to transportation for life. Nothing else loftiest.
ing occurred in this Court to-day, except that some
persons had the boldness to attempt a robbery, in the
Court, and that they not only succeeded in committing
the robbery, but also in escaping.
HOME CIRCUIT—MAIDSTONE, Assam 13.
_ .

James &udder stood charged with having adminis-
tered to Susan Cloudy, at Sutton-at-Hone, certain de- •
leterious drugs.
The prosecutrix, a girl of ordinary appearance, and
apparently about twenty years old, deposed, that in the
spring of the present year she was living as servant
with Mr. Nicholson, a farmer, near Sutton-at-Hone;
the prisoner was in the same employ, and also lived in
the house; an intimacy took place between them, and
she was led to suppose she had become enceinte in con-
sequence. Three months after the commencement of
the intimacy, she told the prisoner she was in that state;
she had then quitted Mr. Nicholson's service; the pri-
soner met her by appointment after she had made that

communication:unit-gaselier a small phial, containing
a liquid which he advised her to take; she drack the
contents of the phial, and was shortly after taken ill,
and vomited excessively ; she has since ascertained that
sbe was mistaken in supposing she was in the family way.
Cross-examined—On leaving Mr. Nicholson's service
she went to live with Mr. Pritchard, at Sidcup. She
stayed there four months ; has had no place since,.but is
living with her mother; she had a sweetheart before
the prisoner, but was never so intimate with him as she
had been with the prisoner ; she never purchased any
drugs at Dartford during her acquaintance with her
first sweetheart.
The bottle which had contained the liquid was pro.
doted in Court, but, in consequence of the absence of
a witness, it could not be proved that nothing had been
put into the bottle atter its delivery to the prosecutrix
by the prisoner, and the evidence, therefore, as to the
kind of drug it contained could not be gone into. This,
however, turned out to be of no consequence, as one of
the counts charged the drug to be a certain unknown
one. Upon this count a verdict of Guilty was recorded.
Sentence was deterred, a point being reserved for the
consideration of the twelve Judges, as to whether an in-
dictm en t for an attempt to procure abortion could hold

good in a case where it appeared that the girl aas not
at the time in a state of pregnancy.
Stephen Cullen was indicted for burglariously entering
the house of Thomas Wtaight, a farmer at Challock,
and stealing therein 3301. in guineas, half guineas, and
7s. pieces.
Mary Wraight is the wife of the prosecutor. On the
Sth of December she and her husband retired to bed
about nine o'clock at night, leaving the maid-servant
to fasten up the house. She awoke about half-past one
o'clodc, and perceived two persons in the room, one of
whom had a lighted candle in his hand. They had each
of them a club. She screamed out, and the men made
an attempt to cover her head with the bedclothes, hurt
she prevented them and got out of bed. Immediately
on her so doing, the candle was put out. She ran to
the room door and attempted to get down stairs, but
was pushed back by one of the men. She then went to
the window and called for assistance, when the man who
had bef ire stopped her came up and compelled her to
desist. He afterwards stood by her, and held his club
over her head. The other man passed into an adjoining
room, and broke open and ransacked the drawers and
cupboard. He returned, and, addressing his companion,
said, se There is none there, or I can't find it if there is."
He then proceeoed to break open two boxes which stood
in the bed-room. He ransacked both ; but took nothing
from the first. From the second she saw him take out
a pipkin, in which was five bags of gold. After pos-
sessing himself of the bags of gold, he and the other
went away. The bags contained money which had been
pet by as the portions of witness's five daughters. She
had plenty of time for obset ving the men, and is quite
confident of the prisoner being one of the men. He was
the man that had the candle in his hand, by the light
of which she saw his features quite plain, and it was he
that broke open the boxes, and took the money. On
leaving the house, the men passed through the garden,
and so into t'ie main road. Immediately after they
were out of sight, she went down stairs, and found that
the fastenings of the back door bad been forced. There
was a plough conker lying on the table down stairs. It
was not there when she went to bed.

Thomas Wraight, the prosecutor, a man of very ad-
•anced age, corroborated the account given by his wife.
The five canvas bags had each originally contained 7.51.
12s. in guineas, half guineas, and 7s. pieces. The name of
one of his daughters was mat ked on each bag. His
daughters, Ann and Catherine, had each had three gui.
neas from their portions, and the other daughters had
received different sums, so as to reduce the contents of
the five bags to 3431. 12s.
Mary Wells is servant to the prosecutor. She fas-
tened the house on the day in question. She was awoke
by a noise in the middle of the night, and saw two men
pass through her room towards her master's. After
they had passed, she got up, and ran down stairs, and
gave an alarm to a neighbour, with whom she returned
about ten minutes after, but the men were then gone.
John Moorcroft examined—His father keeps the
King's Head Inn, at Hollingbrooke. On the 9th of
December the prisoner and another man came in, and
had some refreshments; he saw the man in company,
with the prisoner take out a bag of guineas from his
pocket; the bag appeared to contain about fifty; the
prisoner inquired if he could get any stockings in the
village? witness's father said he would sell him two pair,
wh ch he did for Ss. one of the pairs the prisoner put
on, and the other was placed by his companion in his
hat ; the prisoner changed a guinea to pay for them ;
they then left the house, but witness having some sus-
picion of them, followed them at a distance, in company
with a person named Smith, to whom be communicated
his suspicions; alter walking out of the village, the pri-
soner and the other man sat down on the road-side, and
were apparently engaged in counting money ; they sat
there fur about an hour, and then got up and walked to
the middle of the road, and there threw away some-
thing; they then walked away; witnescand Smith went
to the spot, and found some pieces of paper, and the
remnants of some canvass bags.
Smith, the companion of the last witness, confirmed
his evidence, and produced the articles alluded to.
Mr. Healey, landlord of the Eight hells at C.nter-
bury, deposed, that on the evening of the 9th Decem-
ber, the prisoner and another man came to his house.
They made a boast of the money they had got, and
called for a bushel of beer. He servea them with a

pot, and afterwards with some gin. The prisoner and
his companions, in the course of the evening, both made
a show of large quantities of guineas and half guineas.
Witness prevailed on the prisoner's companion to let ,
him take charge of his money for the night. Both men
were in liquor. A quarrel took place during the even-
ing. In consequence of something that he heard the
next day he detained the money, and now produces it.
It consisted of 28 guineas, 60 half-guineas; and 118
seven shilling pieces. Neither of the men were then
apprehended. The prisoner left the same night in con-
serenee of the quarrel.
fb e prosecutor was re-called, and identified the pieces
of paper and bags found in the road. The papers had
been in the bags, and contained memotandums of the
sums which had been taken out, and were in his own
handwriting. The bags he knew fi om the names on them.
He also identified one of the half guineas pt odeced.
' The prisoner was apprehended at Tunbridge in March
last, by a person who knew him and had heard of the
robbery.
The Jury found him Guilty, but recommended him
to amity on the ground that no personal violence had
been used.

The money produced was given to the prosecutor.
John Burgess stood charged with stealing a mare,
value 20/. the property of Thomas Wm. Parkhurst.
The prosecutor proved that the mare was safe in his
stable on the evening of the 18th of December, 18'26,
and that he missed her the next morning.
William Chipperfield, the elder, deposed that he was
living as servant to his son-in-law, Cutts, in December,
1826; be knew the prisoner; remembers his coming on
the morning of the 19th of Decembrr to Cutts's stables
with a gray mare; the mare appeired much fatigued;
it was put into the stable by the prisoner's orders, and
was fetched away the next day by witness's son, Was.
Chipperfield.
Cross-examined by Mr. ADOLPHUS—Cutts had since
been sentenced to transportation for three several terms
of 14 years. Cutts had often been in trouble, but witness
never-left his service in consequence. Witness's son was
charged with stealing this mate, but was dismissed after
one or two examinations ; witness did not then go to
the office and clear his son by stating what he had done
t
Mt. Miller, bead officer at Lambeth-street, proved
the recovery of the horse shortly after the robbery, and
its return to the prosecutor, who at once identified it.
Verdict—hot Guilty.
The psisoner was again arraigned for stealing a
horse on the I.sth of November, 1826, the property of
Mr. Lewis, of Lewisham. In a second count he was
charged with receiving it, knowing it to have been
stolen. The possession of the horse was clearly trat.ed
to she pliaer, and it was proved that he had gives)

contradictory account; of the manner in which he came
by it. Verd,ct—Gmilty of receiving, knowing it to have
been stolen.
He was sentenced to fourteen years transportation..

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