The Liverpool Standard and General Commercial Advertiser.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1835-03-20 00:00:00

CROWN COURT.-WEDNEDAY.

John Simon..3s, was indicted of arson, for having, on the night
of the. Ist nfiTecertiber 1110, wilfUlly, and-teloniously
set lire to the parish thurch at it ivington, near Chorley.
The prisoner had no counsel. -Ale was a person almost the
rnickLesize, -with a very sallow complexion and Saturnine cast
of features,
.but though' suppastld to be insane, exhibited no
symptoms of insanity when played-on the dock; beyond a little
'wildness in the 'expression of the eyes.
• 'Dr..BrtOwsi statedihe-ease for tile prosecution, and called a
nunrher of Witnei,ses,-,from whose testimony it appeared that
about half-past eleven o'clock on the night above mentioned
spine pepons.passing.by -the parish
,cburch at RiVington
served a great lightinside ; n going' pa the window they saw
-that plac'wtts on fire, and having procured thh keys and
'got in-fhey.finitid.that•a number of forms, prayer books, and
other articles had been piled up in -the singers' pew and set on
fire. Two .of the forms were much burnt, and the flames had
eattglit.t he body of the pe'w before they could be 'extinguished.
,w,as arterwaids found that the incendiary hail effected an en-
lia'nee by' breaking an iron staunclieon winch secured' the vestry
witidri* with a44rgp stone of about. ()Ms. weight; which he left
behind-him in the vestry. The prisoner was not found or seen
in the church, but he Name up to th,e persons in -the churchyard
before they had got the keys, and said, " Look what a tine
blaze it mikes." He was taken into' custody next morning,
and acknowledged both then and subsequently, Without any
promise being !made or threat used, that it wa; he that had
.broken into the church, piled the forms and bookS together,' and
set them on fire. 'On his apprehension a box of hicifer matches,
A bit of equate wrapped up in a hymn book, and
.a printed ac-
count of the burning of time two houses'ofparliatnentu•erefinnd
• upon him. The;:e were the principal-facts against the prisoner ;
lust froth several circumstances respecting his Con ersation'and
conduct, bath before and after the-iire, 'that transpired during
the examination of the witnesses who spoke to them, in answer
tojquestions from the jurlge. .appented no doubt that the
prisoner had been and was insane. •
Mr. Robert Kirkby, the schoolmaster at Rivington, who first
saw the firerand was the person to whom the prisoner addressed

himself in the charchard, said thathe:had.k.tiown the prisoner,
Who was a weaver by trade, for .tive .or six years. flail some
tines heard kiin speak in A vrry strange manner, but at other
.timies,he was.reasonable. dLleing• asked Ley the judge toiviane
one of these "strange" conversations, the witness said Ate
heard prisoner speak of the appointment of ao ambassador to
1, Kussra. (itteh laughter, in ,w ilioh, his lordship hearti:yjoined..)
Did not know whether the prisoner thong,ht himself qualified to
VIM tbeAtice of atrobassadtfr, but he sad that he w ould not •go to
(or leslOan, ayear.. '( Laughter.) The piton&
appeared to be sober:at the time, which was a clay or two before
the fire, bat witness thoug,ht he was labouring under a delusion.
On another occasion 'the prisoner said the.ehnrchniest come
down. (Laughter.) Understood nun to to the church
generally, not to Itivingtonthureh in particular.
• Mr. J.V..Fisher,ain attorney at itivington,-4ho spoke-to the
apprehension and.examination of the prisoner, said, that, he ,had
known him.for about two months before, and had seen him fre-
quently. The .prisOner's mind seemedtahasound -enough -on
ad subjects but , politics and religion. (Laughter.) Profit-tur
wished the church prayers.to be altetid, and talked chant going
up to London to;fight &line! with, the 'Duke of 'Welltngloh.
(Lat into
.lie said he mustshoot .the Duke-before•he:eoutd
het nto.otlice under gOVernment. (Laughter.) 1-le appeated
to be quite serious; but witness thought.liiin insane. Did not
,say what,office. he .was to have ,in 'the. government. IPrisoner
hadbeeniale, drinking, fur some time, and witness asked him
what'he would do7for his living; 'when all-Iris tnonev was gone.
The reply -Was. that he would;go. to :London, take the crown off
the ISines head, melt it, and -make more. (Laughter.) .This.
was a few-days before the tire.
Another witness spoke to a .similar conversation, said, the. pri-
roner was quite serious, and did not laugh. when•he-told• these
staiies. Tile was not a latighing.person.
Here 'the prisoner interposed, and said "There has 'been a
mistake about a word-or two. I-did not say that the 'duke must
be shot, for it was just as likely .thatxtbe-duke.would-shoot.me."
John Anderton, a constable at Chorley, said the prisonenhatil
told him that
.his reason for setting the church on lire was-be-
cause -theinagistrateshad refused him relief„and' he wasdeter-
mined to do something to make them take notice of him. 'He
afterwards -said that he had stopped 'in the church till he was
almost suffocated, and-tken went out. the6eld,,svishing, he
said,' to see the flames come out nf .the-windows, fur: then he
thought'the old betdame (meaning the church) would be. burnt
down. 'Prisoner was dlWdys drinking, and appeared to be
insane.

Daniel. Pilkington-hail seen :the prisoner in a public-house
three or four days before the fire. Prisonerhad been drinking,
but appeared to be s!dier. Ile pulled out fi box of Inviter
matches, and lighted one of them to show the eonapa.ny present
that he knew how to 'do it. Considered him insane at the
time. •

The prisoner liereicaid "That was•four days before the March
was :burned. •I was there, and had two glasses.of ale iin all.
fie .had been at a funeral, and had Abont as much -himself as
would do'him any.ood. 'Being neighbours when
,vonng men,
and acquaintance 'tor .20 or 21 years, we were lyiih drinking,
perusing books, and .reciting scripture. -I read many verses Hi
places just where •the • boak opened, and asked -him - what he
thought of .it? He then set to aid-drunk and preached just
like a naetlLo.ify parson. It was his usual way of discussing, and
he talked a deal Of nFaisense." . _

The examination of the prisOner before the magistrates was
then pet in and read. It was as follows:—" I sent a summons
to Colonel Lomax (a .magistrate) for relief, and told-him that
if he did not do me justice I would write to government about
it. I said that if 1 did not hear from them.before next Thurs-
day 1 wouo something that would make them take notice of
Me.

The prisoner.—" I made that statement whichhe•has -been
reading. 1 did not hear anything.from them, and accordingly
I set the.churcha.fire. (Langliter.)
Mr. Baron PA Luc.-4la-vp run any witnesses?
Prisener.---LN 6, not one. II e• afterwards handed to the officur
of the court a curious document, consisting 'of lines written
across eadh other, mathematical signs, cross keys, &e., which of
course was,perfectly.unintelligible.
Mr.:Baron gumming up the evidence, observedthat
this paper Might,possibly.be a trick of theiprisimer's, but as the
charge was a very serious One, affecting his life if found.Fnilty,
they must consider whethet the prisoner's mind at the time he
committed•the act was in a titte of•stifficient soundness to ren-
dethiut responsible, for what ho did. If they acquitted 'him on
the ground of insanity, then by an act passed in 1799 thopri-
saner would be either confitied,for life, or set ,at liberty it.be
recovered the use of his mind, so that he could be permitted to
go atliberty without danger to society.
' Thojury immediately acquitted the prisoner, on the ground
of insanity.