The Sun. — 1853-07-13 (London, England)

NORFOLK CIRCUIT.—AYLESBURY, JULY 12. The commencement of business at the assizes for the county of Bucks had been announced for two o'clock yesterday, and the grand jury had been summoned to attend at that hour. The one o'clock train, however, brought neither of the judges, the Lord Chief Justice of the Common Pleas being detained in town, and Baron Parke prevented by indisposition from leaving home. The commission, however, was opened by Mr. O'Malley, Q.C., who afterwards attended at the usual service in church.  The business was then postponed till this morning. In the evening an entertainment on a scale of great magnificence was given to the magistracy and the bar by Abraham Darby, Esq., of Stoke Court, the high sheriff of the county. The calendar contains a list of 13 prisoners ; but with the exception of a charge of robbery and another of a felonious assault on a female child, the offences are not of a serious description. Henry Adams, aged 23, was indicted for having violently assaulted and cut, with intent to murder, Ann Simmons, and stolen from her person six half-crowns and other money. The prisoner pleaded guilty. The learned Judge told him that he had no discretion, but was bound to order sentence of death to be recorded. If any reason existed why a punishment short of transportation for life should be inflicted, application must be made to the Crown. Ellen Martin, a girl 16 years of age, and of great personal attractions, was indicted for uttering a forged order for 10 yards of blue barege 10 yards of white book muslin, 20 yards of white muslin, and a pair of stays 20 in. to the waist.  Mr. Latham Browne prosecuted ; Mr. David Power defended.  On the 23d of May Mr. Quelch, a draper in Aylesbury, received by post a letter purporting to come from a Mrs. Carter, of Merisch, directing that the property named in the indictment should be made into a parcel and left for her at the White Hart at nine o'clock the next morning, to be called for. Mr. Quelch made up a parcel containing all the goods so ordered, except the stays, which he had not by him, and sent it according to the directions of the letter. It did not appear how the parcel had been taken away from the White Hart, but on the forenoon of the 24th the prisoner, who was an apprentice to a milliner in this town, of the name of Webb, took to another milliner, who was a stranger to her, the barege to be made up into a dress for her. In the evening of the same day she took the white muslin to a third milliner, with like directions. These circumstances having transpired an application was made to the mistress of the prisoner for leave to examine the prisoner's box. That was done, and the book muslin was found therein.  The Jury returned a verdict of Guilty, and recommended the prisoner to mercy. The learned Judge then passed on her :t. sentence of 12 months' imprisonment with hard labour.  quite dead, would appear that he rine stood on h' . and then flung himself off. A )r's inquest held upon him. Several witnesses that t: had never witnessed the slightest inptom of aberration of intellect about him, and he was found felo de se, and was buried at night amidst a remarkable concourse of the inhabitants of the village. Mr. Cooke, in addressing the jury for the prisoner, contended that there was no evidence whatever to justify a verdict of murder—neither was there sufficient to find her guilty of manslaughter and of the concealment of birth. They could not by law find her guilty, as the child was born alive. His Lordship having summed up, The jury immediately returned a verdict of not guilty. After this verdict was pronounced two young women, named Eliza Gee and Mary Ann Buckingham, who bad been found guilty yesterday of concealing the births of their illegitimate children, were called up for judgment. His Lordship, in addressing them, said that the crime of which they had been found guilty was one that was rapidly increasing. He had spoken of it to the grand jury, and said it was his rule to endeavour to check it by severity of punishment. Nobody knew what vast numbers of innocent infants were hurried out of existence at the moment of their births, by carelessness and worse than hard-heartedness of their mothers. It was a painful thing to him to have to adtninister justice in the cases of young women so apparently respectable, but it was necessary to make an example for the sake of others. There was, however, a distinction in their cases, and that of Mary Ann Buckingham was the worst. He was very much inclined to think that if the surgeon, Mr. Harris, had given the evidence before the magistrate in a connected way, which he gave yesterday in court in an unconnected way—namely, that she told him that when the child was making a noise in the bed she put down her hand and placed it on its windpipe till it became still, and the jury had believed that evidence, the verdict would have been very different. The sentence of the court would be that they should be respectively imprisoned and kept to hard labour, Eliza Gee for 6 months, and Mary Ann Buckingham for 12 months. •