The Sun. — 1842-11-28 (London, England)

CRIMINAL COURT—(THIS DAY.) The first session of the present Mayoralty commenced this morning before the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor, the Recorder, the Sheriffs, Sub-Sheriffs, Aldermen Gibbs, John Johnson, and tither civic functionaries.  The calendar contains a list of 247 persons, of whom there are charged as accessories before the fact, 33 of arson, 1 ; bigamy, 2 ; burglary, 4 ; cattle stealing, 1 ; uttering or possessing counterfeit coin, 5 ; uttering ditto feloniously, 1 ; embezzlement, 9 ; forgery, or uttering forged instruments, 7 ; housebreaking and larceny, 2 ; larceny, 137 ; ditto in a dwellinghouse, 5 ; ditto from the person, 15 ; ditto by servants, 25 ; stealing from. a letter, 1 ; misdemeanour, 10; murder, 2 ; perjury, 1 ; rape, 2 ; receiving stolen goods, 9 ; robbery, 38. Of these there were committed from London, 21; Middlesex, 197; Essex, 1 ; Kent, 10 ; and Surrey, 18 ;--total, 247. The Grand Jury having been sworn, The RECORDER in charging them, said that from the appearance of the calendar which lay before him, he was apprehensive that the cases respecting which they would have to inquire would not fall short of three hundred. There were two charges of rape of a serious character, and two of murder ; and depositions also were before the Court in the case of, another charge of murder. It was not his wish to prejudice the cases which would come before them, or to anticipate the inquiry which these cases in the Court. He should therefore abstain from corr.,menting on the circumstances disclosed in the ?Aepositions, and the more so as e were to undergo comment, was not necessary for the instruction and assisianee of the Grand Jury, except that he felt it his duty to say that he thought it Would be ngc.e.:ssary the two cases of rape,: 'an a three cases of murder before the Pettit Jura, On these cases, however, he expressed no 00, "awn as to the ultimate result of the rfne inquiry, for them to put present calendar was heavy, not only as rewarded the nature of the crimes charged, but also the number of the prisoners. He observed that there were three persons in the calendar charged as accessories before the fact. As that term might be new to the Jury, he thought it right to explain to them what the meaning was according to the definition of Lord Hales. "An accessory. before the fact is a person who was absent at the time of the felony being committed, but did yet procure, counsel, command, or abet another to commit the felony." It was not enough to constitute an accessory that a per-, son should have known that an offence was intended, and had given a tacit acquiescence ; and further; the procuring and abetting must be continued to the commission of the act. In the case which would go before the Jury, the: persons were charged as accessories to the fraudulent drawing out of the Court of Chancery certain moneys which were not the pro-, perty of the persons who so obtained therm In this case some of the parties chat ed did not take so active a part as others, and it }s' as on this account he thought it necessary to point out the distinction between mere misprision and the guilt of an accessory. The Learned Recorder lengtk,l-ut on essed the Jury further at considerable uly on the usual topics of a charge.