Summer Assizes.
The Times, 1824-08-19T00:00:00

A Lle J ua,s proceeded frotn the Cartle of Durhar , this mornin to the COunty Courts. Mr. Justice BAYLEY took his seat in tl CrutiniltCourt, and Air. Baron HU LLOCK tin the Civil Court. B.fore Mr. Justice BAYLEY. On MIr. Jutstice BAYLEY'S entering the co(urt, the namesof :1 !tatgistratex for theounzv were alled over; alsa we observed th by far the greatest part ot them were clemen. The usual pri clamationa against vice and iuim-.o.-,dity wert then read; after whi F, the nanes of the gentdemen stw.imoned to attend upon the gras lure Eere called over, and *te following gentlemen having answert to ttezr namnes, were empanelled as the gr.nd inquest for the mant. of llurhamz: HotL IV. J. Frederic Powlett, AM.P., of taby l Castle, Foreman flon. Arch. Cochrane, ot Little Eppleton; Hon. H. T. Liddet, , Famacres; Wi. Hutchinson, of Eggleston, Esq. - Cuthbcrt Ei.%oi ot' iebborn Hall, Esq.; ArthurA ltner, of' aiawork Castle. Erq. R. E. I. Shafto, of W.itwotm, ;sq.; John) Ralph Fenwick. N. Bailey, Durhani, Esq.; William Chaytor, of WhittcF Castle, Esq.; John Allen, of Blackwell, Esn.; R. W N'right, 5 Sands, Esq.; T. Johnson of Aykley Heads, Bsq.; T- Rdbinsc t*rei ot Norton, Esq.; ;t.* T. Greettwelj, of Greenweil Ford, E;q. 1- . Dinsdaies of newsham, Esq., G. T. ,eton, nf Q?PP-1Pne park, Erq.; itobert Sha*, of Usworth..place, E3sa John Car r ait f Nior5o0a -Ba?^ (. fi?cwnshend FoL; of WSeste Esqi. Bryan Abis, of CleaLdon.honse, E;sq.; George Fenwiek, o}' Fordy hsq.; Thomuas Cookssn, of I-lernDJrgc, Esq. and I). Seddon, q~ FraruweiLgate, E;sa. st-c iaving been Procilaimed in the court, Mr. Justice BAYl LE-Y Proceeded to address the grand jury. He hiad ordered their a~ zendance, he said, at an earlier hour than that at which they werA usually surnmoned to attend, becauset from the 2ppearace of th, calendar he hiad been apl?rehenrive that so nuch of the.tiER Dol be occuPied in fiading bills~, that.tiuse would hardly- b .-t -to bir.,- adequate to the discharge of cth bus;iness of the ?ti.Hitt rnind~r however, on -his arrival in that town~, ba-i,oae considerably Telierei on lookldpg through the depositions uhich had beeD foarm-ded him. In one or two instances the depositdoash%A!ot been lrwardce to him at all. and in othecr instanc,-z bad lbeen i,rwirjied t6 Nim n a ae period lhan he could have wWie&.d Hc msetionea thigt c1ti' cutnatlance mnerelyon tbis eccount..thatit was the duity of-the juevi to Itoh over the depositions beore he aadresseda the grandjury -, ni thereibreo it was the duty, of the in stretes to ajyord -himi iltiIe fo th vir p erutsal, in ord er that he t" e erinb1eA to Mnake-tuch ne. ' ,marks uPOn theni to thle grand jury as -were -equired by the duccawn .NtaCes of each p_arcularcwep Oneof-the,first charges iits th-irca'. lendar was ote ofm2icsously stab-bing -It appeared'to him tamlt depoitins tere-wasnotevidnceto upport'the caseo-acpt chare. I' blws hd tken lacebetwen the partiesbcoet stabing the iruld,suposin detho have ensued frmte have aticted te crme ofusanlaugter, and aiot oftfd,i less,itided, i coud be hown pary whko randeteaar- I Murder. NOW-this Ota mthe teeent; Ihe would ihereforeca isethi mnot o thnd a bill for th6capitt but only ibr the misdemearior. The se -arked No. 7-ih lerdar was a charge of inore heinoms desciiptiona lit twa of a Wat1v coinfitittedj to priton anL tli~ 12fs of' April, 1824,-a coranee's tawzctmn fhthe o wfilful murder of Hey- uy Ehedep4itionsia recorzect, amountes to the C- eo mu, occa,xed,I however, to hirm. ipon reading them., that ti?e might ;bve been attended ith tuch circeuistuL:cts as wvo the 0 ce :nouuat only to *munelatlig?ter. If such sboul state of ftas, be hbould adyise them to meturn a biU fEdr n ter only, ku3ir.g out the capIAtrl pArt of the ocilte; and in free thenm from a21 diffieutisies au fitr as thie law.was CoDbe~ woold point out to.them the ctuamstances wh hisho'ilbv2F to convere tbe.offence fomn murder inlt o =nsIaPghtc.-. ft been In sublic-bou6c with tie Ph- tiow preferred. V ulnce 6u'i:414 ~ pftbaps,ujsiibevoieeo;fh.4t iniflicted tile, morrta blow,- of' which, the weted dizcaja t, ot'tberm enett'OCcsioned byth~ .Ind ifhOvWbnbcyq1h; %p agin, ithorig the t vilnc nd hid1 in consequence struick him agan,tlin heCrlme would be Mitigated firom nmurdier to manslaugh-. M,i~ and he Ghttuld. advise them to flnnl a bill for thelte fec Ofl~ If he Urnstances to which he had alluded, or circumstances - 5 gu Ct,thm, did not appear in thc case, Lheo it would be their a -ortr't bill, not for mnansla-ughter, butt for mnsslrer. The next Ca5e ini the calerfiar to which lie shouldi diirect their attentlon wasi No. g'f Thiswas lite caseof Anthiony Allen, commnitted on thel5fth of A aY' la by two inagistiutes, upon the oath of Mr 'onr o ~avigfo~j~J vioa"td her person.1 IC appeared fromp tke deposi- "Ion takcen before thle ftagistrtecs, tha hr a pro,o h nameW af grebso hg e tetmn,Ifit could he procured, wouldi thow" WOa ea ligh t upon this charge, woultld confiric tke sitory of the Yohn tetmn of itwere true, and would confute it, itf it were false. Ith teldbetio ofa wi-ness% called Coatest wouIld also be dlesirable. by, the young to certain degree a confilmatio)n of the charge made t,his person a wbman,' if it'y -wre ve thasle had made knownl to witd)thlvilncewhich she had suf. This nture prt tiod aft4lr her sHffering it ana in cases of A wa oitclryiprtant that the party shouild be cale,to I,yte compant of hewoan was said to have been Market di ve rh,Jch., m utt ixt direct their attenition to thle case mavkdg o. 13. ITh chre was as follows." Joseph William liodgso lionth of i~neln,Ihe couxntv of Durhamn, sutrgeon, r1pn h oath, of Charlotte Hodgson, wife of the said the 'aid J&odnt soni Ehaeh lison, Of lIoughtati-e-Spring, in ,, eamunt,ido RiceBrwn, wife of Thomwk Brown, of rsow VaOfthe uthi InIr the sald county, master matiner; Josepit Ink tan the 6ti, eplace, Doctor of 11edIcia)e, and others,with ha%y. and unlawfully dar Of Jlune instant, wilfully, maliciously. d-t-tiv suministered a deadly poi,son or other noxriojis peti destMrucder susac otesaid Charlotte flodgson, withi Wontefntdt thrde tthe skidl Charlotte Hiodgaton."I In this case, they heo usdbfnd. phaotewife would hec made a material witness against her ahusad. pruet, thnough in ordinarY cases, the iaaw, acting iupon a twise renivd irudentproli'cyv wouldI nOt Permit the testimony of the wife to b recive eiter orr against her husband, yet, in citses like the pre~serit wliere arkattempt wass saidl to have been made against her iL b the husband, she was as comentawnessanohr Person who could bprdc gansPtehim. It wtnas esirable othatri this" ca-se they shouild be fullY satisfieitht rthepo was teiadm tatinis tered, because if it was not absolutely teposn a administee,btol r. asdortepur (se Of being aidministered, it would be theCir duty Miia of the Wif," that ( omeli. It appeared from the de, uDPInion, ba&k been L'bour*i undlrn ePs er husband, in her 'were tat'" that he was ental derangemnent; andI if thley Ivr Saiaedltath was tbouring under mental derangement at thefitMe he administered thlis Poison, thien they could not, with any P-cPrietY, find a bill against him on the capita charge. The lb chiarge wt.s also one on which hie mnust be permtaitted to make one or 'two obtervations to them. [It wasa chargeagaitistaprixonerforhav. isug wilfully and maliciously Cut or maimied a horse of another per- son, i n conIsequence nfwhich the said horse .lied.1 Prior to the act ufte 4th, of Geo. lV. chap. 24, it was necessary to prove, thiat the Party fmaiming the horse had express malice against the per- son to whom it belongedi. If he had not such malice, and if he did not injure tile animal from aL malicious feeling to- 'wards its owner, he could not he convicted. The act of Par- liamtent, which hati rendlered this offence not a capital offence, V? had, howevcer made it a felony, whether it was committed front malice a1zainst`the owner or not.' They woulti, thierefore, find a hill againbst the prisoner, if they thought that he hnd maimed the hon.se, ,event though it'was not proved that he had any malice azainst thec in- 'dividual whiose propc-rty icwas. With reKard tothe offencermarked ~fo. 19, (a case of- stealiiig three pieces of timyber, sawed for plough.. beams, and valued at 9s, 9d.), they would see that a considerable time had elapsed between the discovery of it. by one of the witnesses , aind his disclosure of it for the pturposes of justice. Inssmucli as% the uPPrL-sion of evidence with regard to cr'ime was always c-alcu- lated to 'ling suspicion on the subsequent testimony' of the party 'who wa1sguilty of it, lie xvould a4vi.ie them to pav particular atten- tion to the evijience of that witness, and to consider well whether it was consistent with probability or not. There was another case, on 'which he should also submit -to thecir notice ai few conisiderationst, unpd, indeed, it was the only case left, oni which it was niecessary for hi-m to make any remark, It was No. 23, andI was the case of a young woman, charged upon oathi with the violent suspicion of hay- 3ng imurdered her bastard child. As, far as the depositions went, he could not help observing, that there wast not the slightest fountlation frtecarge in question. Indeed, he was very muchi surprised thntunersitchcircumstances her committal had taken place st all: fOr It appeared thiat shie had been delivered of basta"d after a six Imonths pregnaucey, a period of gestation at which an infant was necver kcnown to l'ive. They roust, thierefore, be convinced, before t2ocy founa the bill, that the infent wasborn alive; and he must again Trepeat, thiat as far as the depositions went, there waus no evidence uPon that point. These were all the cases on whichi he found it ne- cessry to miake any observations. There was, however, one sub- ject on which he musit say a few words, not with any view to their present service, but with a %clew of bringing it under the considera- tion Of' thos gentlemen whio gave their valuable services to the county at the quarter secssions. A reccent act of Parliamnent of the present Riag, with reference to thie receiver of stolen goods knowvn to be stolen, iatsuposd o hove introduced a difference into the la,adtoave enabled the prosecuttor to support an indictment against the delinquent for afelony. The Judges had, however, had thze matter under their con.siderution, and bad come to a decision thatthat act of Parliament m:ide no alteration in the law; that that which wets Pieviously a felony, still remained a felonyv, and that 'which was Previously a misdemteanior, still remaineda a misde- Imeanri(r, 'e knew that som-e of the courts had fallen ito a con- ait~rsctice ; and it was to pre';ett a repetition of their errors that btiat poi,nted ent to them the real state of the law upon this subject. tiae dismiaised themr to thecir duties, tie should request them to igive theii attention to) the state of' the graol, an,11 to see by Personal -intspection whether the emnployment of each individual in it wag pro- prid-iMtref and proport ioned to his strength saud power of exertion. bi ad no opportunity of formning any opinion upon sucht a ques- tion ; bet he thought that they might easily obtain it by lookingr at the diflureren quantum of emplovmenit awarded to persons of differ- ent ages and by Inquiring whet6ye the mod.e of employment now adopte ivnwa!serable in itself, and whether it was uninjurious to the hel-th-05 tue prisoners,andowhether it was capable of any atii( what Improvements. e ned nt tell themn that if in the discharge of their duty they shouild mneet with any difficulties, he shouldl be most happy to give thent every assistance in his power to obvlate and re- mnove them. The Grnd Juy then withdrew, but sent insa few bills asietim.. mediately to the Judge, so as to enable him to proceed in the triaof felons, Ia the course of the day a ctitrious cireumstance occurreA in this Court. A prisoner was indicted for sitealing a 1001. note fromn a drunken mnan. There was some probab3ility that the Inisonermight hiave found it, as the Prosecutor had brandished the note about very c-arelessly in his ticun en moments. The jury retired to consider of their verdict. After they lhan been out for some time, they return- ed, and by some mnist4ke suffered a verdict of ntot gnu/pt to be re- corded against the prisoner. Mr. justice BAYLEY was admonishing the prisoner to be more guarded in his futture cotiduct. and advising him to take his narrow escrape from coniviction as a warning to amend his future life, when a juror obsez-ved that he hiad not concurred in a verdict of "1 not guilty," sand that ho believed that his fellows had not concurred in iteiiLher. The jury were in consequence again ordered to retire,and after being absent for two hours from Court, returned with a verdict ofg,nifty against- the Prisoner. fr. ,Justice BAYLEY informeti Mr. Losh, the prisoner's. counsel, -that the prisoner should have the full benefit of any doubts that might arise as to the validity of this verdict. A true bill wras found aigainst.Joseph IV. liodason, for the capital offnene of havipg admninistered poison to his wife, and also for a mstsdemanor in hiaving prepared it with the intent of admrinistering I_. Ons ben waragned at the bar, he pleaded "1 not guiltvy." Dur- i"l.gths eeont.iy he wefit abundantly, and scarcely ever took hist handkerchief from his eyes. His trial was appointed in court for to- morrow, but has sincelibeetpostpned to Wednesay. We have been informed that it is not more than IS moniths since he eloped to Gretri.-green wvith thte lady whom he is now scoused of hiaving at- tempted to poisson. Before Mlr. Baron 11Ot.iocK anid a Comnmon Jury. GOr'TOw V. flEDrt.5Y. Mr. WSVILLIA itt oncised the pleadings. The declaration stated, that the plaintiff was the proprietor of four ancient houses in the -town of Batnard-Castle; that the defendant had recently erected a smtyIn thecir immediate neighbourhood, and that he had clhereby cr atedaoise, simoke, and stench, which rendered ttie plaintiff'st hbouses uninhabitable. Thiere woas also a count, in 'which the de- fendanit was charged with obstructing the plaintiff'g right of way to the%e-yrerrilses. The defendant had pleaded "not guilty," wh'erc-. na)ofmIFissue was joinedl. Mlr. SoAsetETT condluctedi the case for thie plaintiff, 'an,l Mlr. 1315 e.rOiA itfor the defend ant. It appeared that the plaintiff,whol fizazleg hair, dlr4&,es wigs, and shaves chiins in the market-place of iBarnard-Castle, dtid not resKide as his shop there-, hut in a-cottape at 'no great distance fros.it iL n the imnmediate vicinity of this cottage, :the defendant carried on the differe-nt trades of a blacksmith, a Tarrier, and a wheela'rigcht. As a blacksmnith, it was aleged; that he made such an incessant noise with his hiammers anid anvls, as to dsub the peace of the whole neighbourhood, anid of the plaintiff in patiur;a a fatrier, it was asserted, that he obstiucted the Toad to the platntiff's premises, by placingz all the horses which he hiad so shoe before the plaintiff's thoor, and thereby giving him the full benefit of all the stench which arose from the process of shoGeing and other proceses ta whiich horses are sometimes liable; and as a wheelwright, it was predicated of hiim that. he made a nioiste, smnole, and stench, which was perfectlv intolerable, in consequence of the diaflrent processes of fire and wrater which a whieel muist undergo befOre It can receive a proper tiring, Special d4maige wis stated to have occurred to the Plaintiff from thlesd vat- tios rsnvc sand a witness was called, who swore that he had'. let'hr~6~igs t the plaintiff's house partly to avoid thiem, arY. partl to gret'into a better part of Barnard-Castle. The proo' 'of the tUantiff was, lhowever, so defective, thiat, on Mr. BiCOUGI 'a risin seaidrestisejury,the une~informed hbim, thatt only partof he pM~tff'eesi to hic heneed direc his at ie onWas thesbstuct,ngien t th plantif'sright of' way:oo'a point he houht her wa evdene t gotoa jury. A ceners.tionthen nsue beteen ir. SCAars' and Mr. BaoumwAar in he curseof wich t was agree" wthdraw -a juror, anrto leave the whole matters in disputeb,veen the parties to be settled hb a gentleman of the bar. t The ear w .ich the ountry people have.ofc6timlttfrg tbimselvr3 in their answers to the cross-zamining counsel was strongly exem. pifiesd in thjis cause. The followinp was the commr.cetnent of Mr. Broug lam's cro%s-examinffti9n of a witness, who had given his evi- dence in chief very fairly, but at the same time without any ippear. ance. of reluctance:- 3Ir, BPaouG1sAif-Are you a mason?_I h2e naething nmare to utay and I kpaw.enea marc about it. But are yop t mason ?--I tell you agin, I hae naething mnere to -ay, and I knawa sae mare about it. But, ssy.gobd man, afe you not a mason ?-The same answer was rerWteate aa before. lr. asbBOeoAe.- don't say are you a freemason I won't 2sk you to betray your secret. I am a freemason as well as your- selfj and would not ask you to do such a thing (making a masonic sign). (don't want you to answer me bv signs ; but you can surely teU me are yout not a:-rason ? AnswerE hatd wething mare to say, and I knaws nae mare about it. , I hae'telled you all I knaws, and I can say nae mare, thof you should talk o me to midnight. Mr. rtr on Huatocrt interfered, and told the witness he must answer thleq!uestiorn - Tub .'~i,nes then, with great reluctance, admitted that he had been e:nsasdn Notling turnad upon thli admission. The exam-si- nation-i,tocimsded-. io4 far :ns ft frorn tl:e hire.place of this cottage to the door ?I lantll lyoi'all I nraw, and I catrsnaynaehnare ab.opit. . H%ow fir -ras h,. t' t-e shed ?-I1 Vjnna Aen ony.tIiing mare W'ere ydi r i the ghor ?.iYesr. Well, how far was It from the slop to the shed ?-I can't say ony thing mare about i. After some diffictlty the witness did say " summut mare about it;" ajd he might have said it in perfect safety from the first, as it did not compromise the casc of the plaintiff, for whom he gave his testimony, a wbit more than it had becn compromised by the witness vho had preeeded him. The 0ourt was convulsed wvith laughter at dhe sturdy obstinacy with which he stuck to his " say nae mare about it." There was no cause of any interest in this Court dutring tho day. SlUMMER ASSIZES. DURHAA5, =Mownkv. A.1?CrT If- Ii