Court Of Common Pleas, Sa...
The Times, 1824-12-13T00:00:00

siltinkns in Guildhall, before Lord dhief Justice EBST and a Comnmon Juru. in consequence of the extreme cold felt in the New Court, the LonD C1nEF JUSTIcE expressed on 1riday his intention of again taking the sittings back to the old one, snd this r,orning a notice to that effect was posted on the New Court door. Accordingly, at half past nine o'clock, the bench, the bar, and witnesses, and others woom business or curiosity led thither, were obliged once more to squeeze themselves togetlher in the old room-that mostin- convenient of all courts of justice. If the New Couirt be objection- able from Its extreme cold, the old one is still much mcei- so (when at all crowded), by its intolerable and suffocating warmth, and for a good part of' the day on Saturday, it was extremely oPpressive in this respect. We trust that sonmething will be speedily done to the New Court, to render it more comfortable, in point of warmth. As to its other defccts, it would be impossible altogether to reniove them, while the court continues in its present form. SCALES V. DAYIS. This wass an action for an assault, alleged to have been commnitted by the defendant. Mr. CAMPBELLT oPcnetd the case. Mr. Sergeant PELr. stated it to the jury.-There was notlhing very particular in the facts out of which it rose. They Were simply these :-The plaintiff; who is a tailor, went to the pond opposite the Crescent, in the New Kent road, and was there sending in a large Newfoundland dog to 'stin, A neighbour of defendant's came out and remonstrated with the plaintiff, and soineangry words arose between them. The defendant afterwards came out, and was walking with his neighbour, when the plaintiff cane up, and made some remark, on whichl defendant attacked him, knocked him down and kicked himn several times while on the ground. He hati suffered considerable inconvenience from the injury. Thc3e were the leading facts of the case, as they were proved by two or three witncsses who saw the transaction. It also appeared, that the pond into which the plaintiff 'fas sending hit slog was piivate property, and that he was not authorized to use it. The circumstance which threw a temporary Interest round this trial was the manner in whiclh it came into Court. Some fanciful special pladler had got hold of it, and seemed to have almost exhausted his art in mnaking a case of assault and battery extremely ludicrous, by dressing out its various comnonent parts of " divers and s-dndry thumps, bumps, kickbigs, blows, pinches, squeezes, bruises, anid contusions," in the most abstruse forrs of legal technicality. The learned sergeant who led for the plaintiff seemed well aware of the advantage which would be taken of this In the defence, and early in the cause cautioned the jury agaitist the attempt which would be n-ade for tlat pirl)ose. What. ever might be the forms of the plaintiff's declaration, any remarks upon those forms could not affect the merits of his case, nor could any nrdicule cast upon theni be a justification of the defendant's conduct. AIr, Sergeant VAUGHAN, for the defendant. as was anticipated made a most abundant use of the forms in which the plaitiff'decla- ration was set lorth, and in a speech of some length, excited liaud and frequent bursts of laughter by his description of them, as the trim. mfiags to the tailor's iwo ui.ts (for it secined he had brought two actions for the assault-otle against the defendant, anti another against llis filend). To follow the learned Sergeant thtougliout his speech, and to make its humour understood, it would be necessary to set forth the whole declaration and details of the trial for which we have not room, and which would not be read if we had- The points of defence on vhich he mainly relied were, that this was private pro- perty, on which the plaintiff was a trespasser, and that he brought the assault on himself by his own improper conduct. There wact no witnesses for the defendant; and the Jury, aftet hearng the sumnming u bv the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, returned a rerdfct fbr the plaintil -Damages 101., and costs. COURT OF COMmom PT.PAR I T 1R , ii TIIE NEW CrlrrlnT.