The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1843-03-07 00:00:00

ierfectly to under

a hour a d

whilst there, was in the habit of reading b
I never observed any thing about him to lead me to suppose
- I gave lectures five days

iks on anatomy

iat his

attended regularl

The last

1 I saw him in

me I sa

ie prison

, was on

Robert Swanson examined by Mr. Waddington.—l am a
_ • •

the one dated the 7th of
.6750, which was for the sum deposited with
aequently called and wished to draw out £5, but
.1 told him that I could not let him have that sum, but he
*night have the whole amount if he pleased, and he gave
-;thdrawal : 91 the 2891 of August he drew out the

August is for

by me

us.— He sut

notice of v

mainder,Towilich the second paper referred, being a receipt
for £745. In June last, in consequence of a letter I received
from the prisoner, 1 transferred the amount to the Glasgow
and Shipping Bank.
ced 1 The following is a copy of the letter :...:—... Veil"
d/ elll

ntimate to you, that I will require the

ten days from this date which I deposited in the
Joint Stock Bank through you. The account is
£745 ; the account is dated August 28,1841, but is not num-
bered. As it would put me to some inconvenience to give
personal intimation, and then remain in London till the
eight days' notice agreed upon would expire, I trust that this
will be considered sufficient.—Yours, &c..
" DANIEL M`NA.UGHTEN."
William Thomas, examined by. the Solicitor-General.—l
am a clerk in the bank of IVlessrs.,Glynn and Co.; the Glas-
gow and Shipping Bank correspond with us. On the 29th
of November I paid the sum of £2O to the prisoner's draught
on account of the Glasgow Bank.
Thomas Milanige, examined by the Solicitor-General.—
I am an agent for advertisements; the advertisement pro-
duced was inserted by a gentleman for whom I acted ; the
letter produced I received in answer to that advertisement,
and the note annexed to it is my reply.
Mr. Anthony WNish, examined by Mr. Waddington.—
I searched the prisoner's lodging at Glasgow, and found,
amongst other things, a quantity of books and papers—a list
of which I now produce.
The advertisement alluded to and the answer thereto were
then read, and were as follows :
" OPTIONAL PARTNERSHIP.-- Any gentleman having
£l,OOO may invest them, on the most advantageous terms, in
a genteel business in London, attended with no risk ; with
the option, within a given period, of becoming a partner, and
of ultimately succeeding to the whole business. In the mean

rron;
T

time security and liberal interest will he given for the loan.
Apply by letter to ' B. B•,' Mr. Hilton's, bookseller, Pen-
ton-street, Pentonville."
On the 21st of July the advertiser received from the pri-
soner the following letter :
" Glasgow, 19th July, 1842.
" Sir,—My attention has been attracted to your advertise-
Spectator newsprper, and, as I am unemployed
ne, I have been in-
ome particulars re-

merit i❑ ti

at present,

tid very

you to state

duced to write, reques
garding the nature of the business which you are eng

f immedi

ent can be given or otherwise. what
Id how. much

sort of security will be given for the
interest? I maylnention that I hay

gaged in busi-
ander 30 years

ness on my own account for a few years, a
of age, and of very active and sober habits
" The capital which I possess
most vigilant industry, but unfortuni
the exact sum specified in your advetf

been acquired by the
ly does not amount to
!anent; if nothing less

I will be sorry frir it, but cannot help it; if Other-
,lse, have the goodness to write to me at your earliest con-
venience, and address D. M. M.,' 90, Clyde-street, Ander-
ton, frontland, top flat."
The case for the prosecution closed E—
wes adjourned to the following day.

will do, i

and the inquiry

SATURDA

This morning the judges took their seats at nine o'clock.
Mr. Cockburn then rose to reply, and occupied four hours
in the delivery of his address. Tne prisoner's father under-
went a long examination, and spoke to the delusions under
which the prisoner laboured as to the persecutions to which
he was subject. Several other persons, some with whom he
had lodged; and others who had known him for a length of
time, declared their belief that he was insane. A number of
physicians and surgeons, who have bad for a series of years
great experience in the treatment of insane persons, were
then examined, and stated their belief that the prisoner was
affected by morbid delusions sufficient to account for the act
which he had committed. Mr. Wimslow the author of a
work on insanity, amongst the rest, said that the prisoner
was labouring under a morbid delusion, and was incapable,
at the time of commitiing the act, of controlling his actions.
Mr. Clarkson then called Dr. B. Philips, and was abodt
to examine him, when he wvs interrupted by
Chief Justice TINDAL, who asked the Solicitor-General
if he had any evidence to rebut that which bad been given
by the medical gentlemen who had been examined ?

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL replied that he had not

Lord Chief Justice TiNnAL..—My learned brethren and
myself are of opinion, that, after the testimony which has
been given by the medical gentlemen of the state of the pri-
soner's mind, the case for the prosecution cannot.be legally
sustained—that is, if you are not prepared with other evidence
to rebut that testimony.

The witnesses were hereupon ordered to withdraw, and
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL, addressing the jury, said—
Gentlemen, I feel that I should not properly discharge my
duty, on this occasion, if. after the opinion which has just
been stated by the learned judge, I were to ask you to give
your verdict against the prisoner. The Lord Chief Justice
has intimated to me, that a very strong opinion is entertained
by himself and by the other learned judges on the bench
that the evidence—especially the evidence of the medical
witnesses—which has been brought forward for the defence,
shows that the unhappy man, at the time he committed the
crime for which he has been indicted, was labouring under
insanity. If, therefore, you are equally satisfied on that
point, the prisoner is entitled to a verdict in his favour.
But, gentlemen, I was anxious to say, that, on the part of
the Crown, there was no object—there could be no object—
in prosecuting this case, but that of the administration of
public justice ; and I believe that I am right when I say
that every facility has been given to the prisoner's legal ad-
visers to enable them to make a defence for him. There
was no wish, nor could there be any wish, on the part of the
Crown other than that the ends_of ,instice should be attained
and satisfied. But, most certainly, when, in the open streets
of the metropolis; crimes of this nature are committed, it is
incumbent on those who have the care of the public safety
to have the circumstances connected with those crimes in-
vestigated ; for such investigations are necessary to the pro-
tection of the minds, the persons, and the property of us all.
On the part of the prosecution, I felt it my duty to lay before
you the evidence which we possessed respecting the conduct
of M`Naughten in connection with the ordinary affairs of
With the doctrines laid down by my learned friend
bblieving them as I. do to be the correct law ;

I fully agree,

:or he says that the great object, in every case of this nature,
is to ascertain whether the party who commits a crime was,
when be committed it, a responsible agent, and whether his
mind was under proper controul, or whether his controlling
powers of mind had been taken from him, and that he was
rendered thereby irresponsible for his actions. These are
also the opinion; of the learned Chief Justice, who will state
to you his views in reference to the evidence which bas been
adduced, and it will then be for you to deal with the case as
you shall think fit.
Lord Chia Justice TINDAL then addressed the jury, and
said. the question for them to determine was, whether, at the
time the act in question was committed, the prisoner had or
had not the use of his understanding, so as to kuow that he
was doing a wicked and wrong act. If they should be of
opinion that he was not sensible at the time he committed
it that he was violating the laws
both of God and man, then
he would be entitled to a verdict in his favour ; and if, on
the contrary, they should he of opinion that, when he com-
mitted the act, he was in a sound state of mind, then their
verdict would be against him. He (the learned chief justice)
concurred in opinion with his learned brethren beside him,
that the evidence of the medical gentleman who had ex-
amined the unhappy in" (he called him unhappy with respect
to the state of his 'mind), the tendency of which they would
remember was all on one side, clearly proved that his mind
was in such a state at the time he committed the act as not
to render him responsible for the commission of it. If they
thought it necessary that he should read the evidence, he
would do so; or if they required any further information
with respect to the law of the case, he would be happy to
give it to them.
The Foreman.—l am desired by my brother jurymen to
say to your lordship that they do not require to hear the evi-

dence
Chief Justice Tindal.—lf you find the prisoner not guilty
on the point in rcference to which I have given my opinion,
then it will be for you to state that you acquit him on the
ground of insanity, in which case there will be proper care

taken of hint.
The jury; without leaving.the box, consulted together for
about a minute, and 'emphatically said—we find that the pri-
soner is " not guilty," believing him to be insane at the time
he committed the act.
The Solicitor-General.—Will your lordship be pleased to
give directions respecting the prisoner's future custody?
Lord Chief Justice Tindal said he would of course be kept
in safe custody until her Majesty's pleasure should be known

respecting him.
The court then adjourned at ten minutes to eight o'clock

last wif

A LEGAL DISTINCTION.—On Tuesday last, at cur country
adjourned Quarter Sessions, two men, named Byewater, were
charged with stealing turnips. The honourable Chairman,
in his address to the jury, stated " turnips, when growing in
a field, if stolen, is not a felony." No doubt the excellent
Chairman, and most worthy gentleman—for he is esteemed
by all who know him—intended to use the word " taken "
for " stolen." In either case, what an absurd distinction the
law makes, as though taking the property of another, without
permission, is not theft.
A LEG.—On Saturday evening last one of those adroit
schemers, whd wish to enjoy the good things of this life
without payiriffor them, hit 'upon the following ingenious
plan of securing a capital joint for his Sunday's dinner. The
fellow, who was well dressed, and of respectable exterior,
walked up to the shop frontei a respectable butcher in the
Mile-end.road, and, taking a capital leg of mutton off the
book, took it into the shop. At the moment, the butcher was
engaged in receiving payment for some meat, but as soon as
he was disengaged, the " dodger " addressing him said, he
had purchased the leg of mutton then in his hand from a
butcher a little higher up the road ; and having some misgiv-
ing that he had been " done" in the weight, he should feel
much obliged by his (the butcher's) just putting it in the
scale to satisfy his mind on the point.. The. butcher, who
is one.of the old school, and remarkable for his bluff John
Bull mannerism, replied, that he was not in .the. habit of
weighing the goods of his fellow-tradesmen, that he had
enough to do to weigh his own, hinted something about the
honesty of suspicious persons, and told the fellow, that if he
wished to gratify his scruples he must go elsewhere, and that
the sooner he took himself off the better. The fellow only
observed that he (the butcher) might, at all events, be civil,
and walked out of the shop with the leg of mutton. In
about twenty minutes after, the lad whose duty it was to
watch the shop front missed the joint • and, calling out to his
master, asked if he had sold the leg of mutton. The latter
replied not, but finding it gone, the mortifying truth at once
occurred to him that he bad been "regularly done" out of
the excellent joint.

of Little Wittenham,
Dod-
son, under the followingrarely,
DOUBLE BtaAmv.--On Tuesday last, Richard Belcher.
was brought hefore the Rev. N. .
c iwr ceuhmosptea,n cteos ,
be w hmi ceht
wp
iotshs e:
—s s
:--It
appears that in the year 1828, the prisoner, Richard Belcher,
was married at Newington, Oxon, to-a woman named Gar-
acquaintanc_eonl
diner, and lived with her until the year 1839, when, after two
days'
y, he married a second person, named
Lucy Warren, at St. John's Church, Lambeth, who had some
ce and Belcher) went to Jersey,
property belonging to her, and some hundreds in ready cash,
where they lived about
no doubt the inducement to Belcher. From thence they (the
,ix months, and the first wife came over, and was introduced
to Lucy Warren as the man Belcher's cousin, and stayed there
['gland, and resided at
some little time, and soon afterwards returned to England
alone. Shortly after that, Belcher and the second woman
(for wife sheds not legally came to E
Little Wittenham, where the first wife was living, Belcher
having taken pos-
declaring to the poor woman Warren, that he was previously
married, and living in the same house with both women, the
first of whom only he treated as his wife,
session of the latter's property. Mr. Navin, of Jersey,
watchmaker, to whom Lucy Warren is related by marriage,
suspecting all was not right, came to England, and finding
his suspicions correct, succeeded, after a most diligent and
Belcher to justice,
praiseworthy investigation, in bringing
and he now stands committed for trial at the next assizes for
Berks for Bigamy.--Berkshire" Chronicle,