Star.
London, England, 1818-10-27 00:00:00

LAW INTELLICENTL

COURT OP ElitO'S BENCH, OCTOBER SC
This day, the Judges Of the King's Bench, Mr.
Justice BAILEY, Mr. Justice ABBOTT, and Mr. Jus.
tice HOLROYM sat in Serjeants' Inn, to try several
remanent causes.

WILSON D. DICKSON AND MINIM
This was a case for• special argument, arising out
of an award made by Mr. GAZELEE. The award
originated from an action on the case, brought against
three persons, as joint owners of the ship Hope, on
board of which the-plaintiff, Mr. Wilson, a merchant,
had shipped goods for Senegal and Goree. The Hope
was taken by an American privateer, knd her cargo
nearly destroyed. She was re-captured by one of the
King's frigates, and carried into Bermuda, where the
defendant Dickson sold the remainder of the cargo,
without the authority from the shipper of the goods,
and the further prosecution of the voyage was lost.
The plaintiff brought his action, and a verdict was
taken by consent for £20,000, subject to the award of
Mr. GAzELEF, who reduced the verdict to the sum
of £3,196. Divers points of law arose in the course
of the evidence,thich, in this instance, were submit-
ted to the Court.

Mr. RICUARDSOV was heard in support of the
award; and Mr. SCARLET contended, that the amount
of damages found by Mr. Gazelee ought to be re-
duced
by £lOOO.
The Court were decidedly with Mr. Scarlet in his
view of the point, and the judgment was, that the
plaintiff was entitled 'to the sum awarded b; Mr.
Gazelee, deducting Eiboo.
Another question, arising out of a policy of in,
sutance case, occupied a considerable portion of the
day.—Lord ELLEtraoftonokt was not in Court.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.
ASSAULT-DOWLING V. HUNT.

Yesterday the Middlesex Sessions commenced at
Hicks's Hall, before FRANCIS COSIST, Esq. the Chair-
man, and a full Bench of Magistrates.
The first case was the trial of Mr. Hunt, for an
assault upon Mr. Vincent George Dowling, on the
Bth of September, in St. Clement's Cht.rch-yard.

Before the trial came on) Mr. Hunt, who sat at the
Barrister's table, rose and addressed the Court in the
following terms :—" Mr. Chairman—l am here to-
day to stand my trial for an assault, and I have an
application to make to the Court for my own protec•
tion. A person who sirs opposite me has just made
use of the following expression : I see the dema-
gogue Hunt, is first on the list; I hope he'll be
transported.' I therefore apply to the whether
such language is to be tolerated, when applied to a
man who is here brought before a Jury of his coun-
try. I understand the person is a Barrister. Ido not
;know whether he is or not.; but I appeal to the Court
to know whether I am not to be protected from such
language as this ?"
Mr. ALLEY, who was Counsel for Mr. Dowling,
rose and said, that any expression which might have
fallen from his Learned Friend, who was a Barrister,
could not have been intended for Mr. Hunt's ear.

Mr. JESSOP, who was the Gentleman alluded to,
and who sat at the table, but was not dressed in his
wig and gown, said, that he did not mean to be over-
heard by Itfr. Hunt in any thing he might have said:
whatever had been his conversation, it was not, he as-
sured the Court, intended for Mr. Hunt's ear.

Mr. HtrsT I think you did address your lan-
guage to me. It certainly was uttered loud enough
to be heard by all around here."
Mr. ALLEY interposed, and desired that Mr. Hunt
should not interrupt the proceedings of the Court by
complaints of this kind.
Mr. HUNT—" I am addressing the Chairman,"and
not yon, Sir : and it is to his instructions, not to your's,
that I shall pay deference."
The Cu AIRMAN—" Mr. Hunt, you must be aware
that nothing can arise in your particular case which
could justify the slightest indecorum towards you,
standing as you do. The Court is always most an-
xious to accommodate every defendant, as far as it
can be done with propriety; but, on the other hand,
it cannot well take notice of private conversations,
whatever they may happen to be ; and I am sorry
that the seat in which you sit had placed you near
enough to overhear any thing which might have been
said by the Gentleman opposite to you. It is true,
that the Court generally allows a defendant to sit at
the table, either for the purpose of being near his
Counsel, or any particular friend whose assistance he
may want. I think, on reflection, you must be of
opinion, that such expressions as those you have al-
luded to, could not, by possibility have been meant'
for the public ear. The Gentleman to whom you
ascribe them, could not possibly have publicly ha-
zarded them on the eve of a defendants trial. I can
give you no assistance under the circumstances that
you say have occurred."

Mr. ALLEY—" Mr. Hunt, as you have thought
proper to overhear a private conversation, and then
make it the ground of a public complaint, you must
slow quit your seat and stand at the bar, as all other
defendants usually do."
The CHAIRMAN—" lam very sorry that any thing
should have occurred to have made Mr. Hunt's ap-
plication, or yours, Mr. Alley, necessary."
Mrs ALLEY—" r. Hunt, you must go to the bar."
Mr. Hunt—" I again tell you that I shall attend
to the Chairman, and not to you."
Mr. ALLEY—" Then if you chuse to be insolent, I
must move the Court that you be placed at the bar.
The Court will exercise its jurisdiction towards you
as it would to any other defendant."
Mr. Huoit—" I neither give nor take insolence ; I
am addressing the Court.
Mr. SKETCHLRY (one of the Magistrates on the
Bench)—" I think Mr. Hunt ought to be put to the
bar. It is an indulgence to allow a defendant to sit
where he does, and after what has just passed, I
think he had better change his place."
Mr. Hunt—" I shall bow with great submission to
the decision of the Chairman; and as Mr. Alley has
made this application, I, in nty turn, ask of the
Court to be permitted to remain where I am, as an
indulgence, and not to be put to the bar, where I
could have no convenience of taking notes of the
evidence given."
• The CHAIRMAN interposed, and directed the Clerk
of Arraigns to read over the indictment, and proceed
with the trial. The indictment was accordingly read,
which charged Mr. hunt with assaulting Mr. Dow-

Ii nt on the ad) of September. Ife, Hunt Waded
Not Guilty.
Mr. ALLEY then rose, And In rot fti repeated his mO4
on, that Mr. Hunt be put to the bar;
The CHAIRMAN" Then as the moddrt hds been
made, Mr. Hunt must quit his seat, but I dp not
(think it right he should be put to the bat-, as he bays
he wishes to take notes—let him, therefore, remove
to the end of the table."

Mr. Hunt bowed to the Cottrta and' tOdk his seat
at the end of the table adjoining the Jury-box.
Mr. CUAWOOD then opened the pleadings.
Mr. ALLEY stated the plaintiff's case to the Jury.
In allusion to what had just occurred In Court, he
observed that he never should have thought of refu-
sing to Mr. Hunt that courtesy which wal s Metimes
extended to defendants, had it not been for the use
which was in the present instance made of it. The
offence with which the defendant stood charged was
for committing an assault of a very aggravated cha-
racter. The Learned Counsel said, that although he
bad a volume of instructions in his brief, shewing
the utter falsehood of Mr. Huut's imputations upon
Mr. Doviling's character, and explaining very fully,
and he thought very satisfactorily, a number of tran-
sactions not of very recent date, yet he thought it
More proper and decorous to abstain altogether from
matter which was not directly connected with the
time and circumstance of the assault. The Learned
Counsel then detailed them, precisely in the manner
they have been already. stated to the public.
Mr. V. G. Dowling was called to prove tht assault.
He was examined by Mr. CVRWOOD. He stated that
on the Bth of Septernher he went to the shop of Mr.
Clement, in the Strand, for the purpose of returning
a Newspaper, when he saw Mrr. Hunt and several
other persons in the place. Mr. Hunt immediately
addressed witness, and said, " Well, Mr. Spectacle
Spy, are you disposed to finish the horsewhipping
you commenced in Covent Garden?" Witness an-
swered, " I wish to have no altercation with you,"
and then turned round to leave the shop, when Mr.
Hunt repeated his offensive expressions, and asked
him if he was disposed to drew himself a man and go
out to fight him in the street? Witness replied, that
he was unaccustomed to such exhibitions, and cer-
tainly would not; he also said that he was not de-
serving the false imputations which Mr. Hunt had
applied to him. Mr. Hunt then charged him with
publishing some false statements respecting a public
transaction in which he had been engaged—witness
denied this charge, and Mr. Hunt retorted upon
him, that if he had not done it himself he employed
some other person to do it. Witness denied this ahr,
and was withdrawing from the shop, when Mr.
Hunt said, he would•find an opportunity of thrash-
ing him. Witness said he was there then, but would
not settle the matter in the manner pointed out by
Mr. Hunt. The latter then followed him out to
the door, and struck witness a blow in the face, and
said, " Will you resent that ?"—Witness replied,
" Certainly not in the way you seem to wish ; for I •
should feel myself disgraced by noticing any thing
said or done by a man who has disgraced himself
as you have Several persons were outside the shop
door at the time, 'and Mr. Hunt introduced him to •
them as "Dowling, the Government Spy." Witness
gave no provocation whatever to Mr. Hunt for this
treatment. Ile only received one blow. He had
defied Hunt to prove in any degree the imptra •
tion he bad cast upon him.—Mr. Hunt then proceeded
to cross.-examine Mr. Dowling.
Mr. Hunt—" Did I not invite you out to prove your-
self a man, and when you said you were unaccas-
corned to this mode of proceeding, did I not observe
that that was extraordinary, for you were active
enough- at Covent Garden when you were surrounded
by your constables, and what made you cool then
Mr. Dowling—" I recollect your saying something
about constables, but what were the precise expres-
sions I cannot now recollect." I had heard that you
and your brother meant to assault me in the street.
Mr. Hunt—" Was that the only. reason ; did nut
your conscience tell you that you deserved it ?"
Mr. Dowling—" Vaen I say I expected to hear
from you, I meant that I thought I should hear from
you in a different manner. I expected to have been
called upon as one Gentleman would call on another?"
Mr. Hunt—" How do you mean ?"
Mr. Dowling—" Does not your conscience tell yoli ?"
Mr. Hunt appealed to the Court whether a direct
answer ought not to be given to his question.
The CHAIRMAN replied in the affirmative.
Mr. Dowling then said, that after the public insult
he offered to Mr. Hunt at Covent Garden, he re,-
-tainly expected to have heard from him in the only
course that a gentleman ought to have resorted to.
Mr. Hunt—" You mean to fight a duel ?"
Mr. Dowling--" Most certainly."
Mr. Hunt—,, Then the provocation you gave me
at Covent Garden was with the view of getting me
to fight a duel ?"--A. " Certainly."
Hunt--" Then when I called you out you say,
to fight in Mr. Clement's :lop, did you hear me say
I wanted to box you ?"
Mr. Dowling-1;X inferred so, certainly, for when
you invited me out to fight, I could not imagine you
meant to fight idueLin the middle of the day, in
St. Clement's Church-yard."
Mr. Dowling thetradmitted, that he had said he
should feel himself disgraced by taking notice 'of a
man so degraded as Mr. Hunt, and that the blow he
received was a very slight one, which merely knock-
ed off his spectacles—it did not give him the slight-
est injury. He did not recollect that Mr. Hunt after
he struck him had said, that if he were so abomi.
nable a coward as not to resent a blow, it would be
cruel to repeat-it—no stach expression was used in
his hearing. He repeated his admission, that he went-
to the hustings to give Mr. Hunt that sort of provo-
cation which he thought would induce him to resent
it by resorting to a duel.
Mr. Dowling, in his re-examination, said, that he
went to the hustings after receiving gross provocation
from Mr. Hunt.—No other witness being called,
Mr. HUNT addressed- the Court and Jury to the
folloWing-effect
" Gentlemen, I stand here before you as an Eng-
lishman, and one of your fellow-countrymen. I am
charged with the commission of a heinous offence,
that of wantonly assaulting oneof his Majesty's lit
subjects. If I were proved to be guilty of a wan
and unprovoked assault, I am sure that I should
ceiVe no favour from you,. or from the Court
that I should expect -nothing else than strict
at your hands. Without,alludiog to any of

I

i~

A s nege % i
wanton '
null re-
m: and
justice
the ex-