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Awnwr 2,1856.] THE LEADER. 726.
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OUR CIVILIZATION. THE BURNOPFIELD MURDER...
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FALSE IMP1USONMENT. An action for (ihhii...
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Tiik Convict Dove.—It is stated that Dov...
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Awnwr 2,1856.] The Leader. 726.
Awnwr 2 , 1856 . ] THE LEADER . 726
Our Civilization. The Burnopfield Murder...
OUR CIVILIZATION . THE BURNOPFIELD MURDER . Thb trial of John Cain and Richard Rayne for the murder of Mr . Robert Stirling , a young Scotch surgeon , on the 1 st of November , 1855 , on a high road near Durham , took place towards the close of last week at that town . The body , it will be recollected , was discovered on the 6 th of November in a copse near Derwent Bridge , horribly mangled , and with the pockets in the clothes evidently rifled of what valuables they had contained . The police made inquiries , and in process of time the two men who have just been tried were arrested
under very suspicious circumstances . Their trial , however , has ended in . a verdict of Acquittal . The facts were ' very remarkable , and rather elaborate ; but they have been so admirably and so judicially summarized in a leading article of the Times , that we here repeat the story as there told : — " Against Cain , the chief prisoner , the evidence was very strong . He seemed to be strangely acquainted with all the particulars of the murder , ^ mentioned Jittle facts in conversation which were afterwards shown to be correct , and which suggested personal knowledge . He said to two women that he knew ' the place of the murder as well as their house floor . ' He stated that there was a quickset hedge near the place , and that the dead bodv had been trailed into it for the
length of twenty 3 'ards ; that he saw the first man who came past after the murder , and that he was on horseback , while on the right side of the road there was a man ploughing , —all which was subsequently discovered to be true . Besides these admissions , the fact of a glass button being found near the murdered man , and identified as belonging to one of Gain ' s waistcoats , was not without significance . And there was still a third proof , which connected him with the time and place of the murder , in the evidence of Mr . Stobart , who is the last person known to have seen Robert Stirling alive . Mr . Stobart saw the two prisoners , and tried to avoid them , as he had some money with him , and their appearance terrified him . He was obliged , however , to pass on ; he
observed them particularly ; and immediately after passing them he met a young man who , from the description , seems to have been the deceased . ' It ' s a fine day , «"" -, ' isaid Mr . Stobart . ' It is a very fine day , ' the stranger replied , with a broad Scottish accent . The old man ( Stobart ) walked on , turned to the right , heard a shot which was precisely in the direction of the two men ; and we are left to the conclusion that it was at this moment that Stirling was murdered . Nor was this the whole of the case for the prosecution . It appears that the young surgeon had on the day of his murder a silver watch , in an engine-turned case , with gold figures
on the dial , and before starting on his fatal journey he borrowed a watehguard from one of his friends , attached it to his watch , and placed it round his neck . When his body was found , the watch was gone , having been wrenched from the guard , part of which still remained . This very timepiece , with gilt letters on the dial , with engine-turned silver case , and with half of a broken watehguard attached to it , was brought to a pawnbroker named Raine , and offered first for 30 s ., then for a lower sum , and lower still , until at last 4 s . was asked , the pawnbroker being obliged to refuse it from having no license to receive silver . Lastly , the servant at a publichouse declares that she washed a shirt for Cain and
another for his supposed accomplice , both of which were covered with blood ; and it may be added that the lancet and lancet-cnso which Mr . Stirling had in his possession at the time of hi * death were offered for sale to a gentleman in Durham by an intimate friend of Cain ' s , at whose home Cain was . seen the d ; iy after the murder . " On the other side , there arose n doubt as to the watch . In the first place , it wns not to bo found ; in the second place , while the pawnbroker ' s wife declared that it was Cain who offered it for pledge , her servant girl as solemnly swore that it was not Cain , but the other prisoner . Then tho man who was at the publichouse at Newcastle , and asked to havo his shirt washed along with Cain ' s , was sworn by the servant girl not to
havo been tho primmer Iiayno , but somebody else . Apart , too , from the . se instances in which the prosecutors fuilcd to prove their point ., small facts appear to have been brought forward which individually wore of no use , and therefore only tended to weaken the case by distracting attention and displaying a poverty of evidence . Tho counsel for the defence naturally dwelt on these facts , exposed their futility , and asked , ' Where is tho evidence ? ' It . Ihon became inoro easy to explain away the statements of Stobart as the dream of a timid old man . Tho button , by an ingenious argument , was shown to bo different from the buttons of the wnistcoat ; and , to qualify the admissions of Cain , liis coiuiter-Htatomontt ) wore turned to tho bent account . "
False Imp1usonment. An Action For (Ihhii...
FALSE IMP 1 USONMENT . An action for ( ihhiimH and false imprisonment was brought at tho MuidHtono' Ansiy . cs by a young man named Holmes against tho parish constable of Ualstciul , a blacksmith of tho name of Walton . Holmes wiih courting a certain Uosanno Whilchcad , and , on the evening of the Ord of last March , lie was with tho fair
one at her parents' cottage until eight o ' clock , when he went away , and indulged in potations at a neighbouring public-house . These potations , it would seem , were imbibed on a liberal scale , and under their influence the ardent lover was induced to return to the cottage of his sweetheart , and to look through the window . He then fancied he saw Rosanne sitting on a man ' s lap . The sight moving him to exceeding rage , he dashed in the window , cut his hands severely in so doing , and then , according to his own statement at the trial , found out his mistake , and was pacified . It appeared undeniable , however , that he was very drunk ; and the case for the defence was that he behaved so violently that the "Whiteheads sent for the constable and implored him , " for God Almighty ' s sake , " to take Holmes away and lock him up for the night . The blacksmith accordingly carried him off in a cart , handcuffed , to the nearest police station , which is at Sevenoaks ; but here they refused to take the charge , and Holme 3 was driven back to Halstead , still handcuffed , and with blood streaming from his wounds , and was locked up in his own house during the night . On the road back , Holmes and Walton drank a large quantity of hot gin and beer at various public-houses . On the following morning , Holmes was taken before a magistrate , and discharged ; and he now brought hia ^ ction . A verdict was given for the plaintiff ; damages , one shilling . A rather similar case was tried immediately afterwards . A poor man living at Ringwold , near Dover , became notorious for quarrelling with his wife , and for general violence . The rector of the parish , Mr . Charles Vernon Holme Simmer , caused Greenstreet , the man in question , to be taken before a magistrate , on a charge of threatening to do him some mortal injury . He was accordingly imprisoned for a certain number of days , and then again brought before the magistrates , when the charge was not proceeded with ; but Greenstreet was examined by some medical men with a view to showing that he was insane . This , however , was not satisfactorily proved , and the man was discharged . He now brought an action against Mr . Summer . In the course of cross-examination , it was shown that he was subject to delusions with respect to the boys and men of the village insulting and worrying him , and to his wife having been faithless , and entertaining a design upon his existence . It also appeared that the police , on going to apprehend him when the warrant was out , found him armed with several deadly weapons . . A £ ^ cr , S deal of technical discussion between the counseT-6 i 'k ) i ° sides , the Chief Baron said , he was of opinion that there - was no evidence of malice , or of want of probable and reasonable cause for the proceedings taken by the defendant ; and the plaintiff was thereupon nonsuited . A third action for false imprisonment was tried at " Warwick . The plaintiff in this case had been employed as a clerk by the defendant , a timber merchant . One day he was given into custody for embezzlement ; but it was subsequently found that one of the sums said to have been embezzled was duly entered and accounted for . The plaintiff was minutely cross-examined , and , for the defendant , it was suggested that the item which had been overlooked in so extraordinary a manner had , in fact , been entered and accounted for by the plaintiff long after the charge was made . As to tlie other items alleged to have been embezzled , it was urged that the defendant had been compelled to withdraw his charge , not from any want of probable cause , but from a technical defect of proof . The trial of this cause occupied several hours , and in the end the jury found a verdict for the defendant .
Tiik Convict Dove.—It Is Stated That Dov...
Tiik Convict Dove . —It is stated that Dove still retains his coolness and confidence , and that he calculates on a commutation of his sentence . Great efforts towards this end are being made by his relatives and by . several Wesleyan Methodists . Should they fail , he will bo executed this day week , the 9 th of August . Luorc in Australia . —A man named Hullam brought an action at the Norwich Assizes against a Mr . Kobe , the question raised being as to whether certain property and title-deeds belonged to the plaintiff or tho defendant on the 9 th of February last , when they wore seized by the police of Norwich in Hallnm ' s liou . se under a search warrant procured by liobe . Hallain had been residing in Australia , and it came out in cross-examination that he went there on account of his having been tried for receiving stolen property , owing to which , though acquitted , ho found it necessary to leave the country . In Van Diemen ' s Land ho married a certain Mrs . Galley ; but here again it appeared that there wore Homo suspicious circumstances . The woman wiih already married ( she asserted , in cross-examination , that nho believed , at the time of iier second marriage , that her former husband was dead , though this was not tho case ) , and nlie acknowledged that she had been transported for seven years for taking soino of her mistresses chemises , wlien tlm was a lady ' s maid , " instead of her own . " Alluding to this circumstance , she said she had " fallen into the meshes of tho law in a very simple manner . " After her marriage with the plaintiff llallam , but while ho was absent at thu diggings , nho wont into partnership with Kobe as a species of jeweller . Kobe boarded with Sirs . llallam , and , as alleged by tho plaintiff , he left the property with hor as security for money ho owed on account
: of boarding . According to the evidence of Mrs . Hallam and another witness , Robe was in love with her , adored the ground she trod on , and wanted her to go to England and live with him ; but he had an amour with another woman , whom he afterwards married . On being called , the defendant , who seemed to be a very respectable elderly man , denied the assertions made by Hallam and his wife , and affirmed that they had robbed him and made off . He added : —" It is not true that I said I worshfpped or would kiss the ground Mrs . Hallam walked on . It is not true that I took a passage for Mrs . Hallam and forfeited it . I forfeited my own , because I wished to stay longer on business . I never tried to get into Mrs . Hallam ' s bedroom . I never asked her to live with me or be my wife . I never expressed , any affection for her in particular , except as a landlady . I did not admire her—not much , except in the way of courtesy . I am sure I don ' t mean courtship . I followed these people home chiefly for my title-deeds , which I hope to be very valuable . " Lord Campbell summed up in favour of Robe , whom he regarded as an honest , respectable man ; and the jury found a verdict in accordance . Pastoral Morality . —Two charges of perjury , both having reference to . the same case , were brought forward at the Norwich Assizes , the one being against Charles Coe , the other against Maria Vassar . The latter was a girl of eighteen , who was recently delivered of an illegitimate child in the workhouse . She affiliated the child on Coe ; but Coe swore he was not the father . Subsequently , however , the girl obtained a reversal of the decision originally given against her , and Coe was ordered to be prosecuted for perjury . He appealed against this decision , and brought forward a young man named Rickaby , who acknowledged that he was the father of the infant , and said that fair play to Coe induced him to make that confession . The bench of magistrates being puzzled , determined to send both Coe and the girl Vassar to trial for perjury . Coe was tried first , and Vassar produced several witnesses to prove the intimacy that had existed , as she alleged , between herself and Coe , who on his part called his sister to prove an alibi on the night when the seduction was said to have taken place . Among the other witnesses was Rickaby , who had enlisted in the Hussars , and who now appeared in his uniform , saying , " he stood in those clothes on account of Maria Vassar . " In addition to these witnesses , a girl , who was also confined in the union with Maria Vassar , asserted that she was advised by that young woman to swear her child to a rich father , as she was . going to do , rather than to a poor fellow who could not imTiTmi III ' ¦ V ' lt appeared , is the son of a farmer in , - i ^" "M » B 5 iLr * " ¦ " nind a verdict of Guilty good circumstt ' ' W H MM a LjAw . rirl MarU against Coe , and the charge agilihUP w » . Vassar was then withdrawn . Coe was sentencesyears' imprisonment with hard labour . - A Palliatixo Circumstance . —George Marston , a private in the 13 th Dragoons , has been tried at Exeter for shooting at Corporal Fraser . He was found Guilty ; but something in the course of the evidence induced the Judge to postpone sentence , and , from inquiries he made , it was discovered that Fraser had seduced , or attempted to seduce , the prisoner's wife . When Marston discovered this , Fraser threatened he would serve him out at his drill . Mr . Baron Martin observed that it was not to be tolerated that oiliccrs should hold out a threat to the men under them that they would servo them out at their drill if they did not allow them to debauch their wives . He thought in this instance tho commanding oiliccr ' s attention ought to be called to the matter . The prisoner had received the greatest provocation that could bo offered to a man , and he did not think he ought to punish him ; but still he must not take tho law into his own hands . He would be discharged upon entering into his own recognizance to appear to receive judgment when called upon . Bigamy . — Captain Itichard Emmcrson , tho master of a ship trading between London and Newcastle , has been examined before Mr . Yardley , at the Thames policecourt , on a charge of bigamy . It appeared that in November last , while his liret wifewns atill living , Captain Emnicrson became acquainted with a widow named Judith Roquiu Dor Putron , whose husband had been dead eight yvari * , with whom ho cohabited , and whom ho afterwards married in December . Ho always told the widow that he was a single man . He went out on three separate voyages after his second marriage , and he lived for a fortnight at a timo with his newly married wife , on his return home from each . Some timo afterwards , when they wero at Sundcrland together , the second bride found out that her husband was already married to another wife , whom she saw at that place . She remonstrated with Captain KmmorHon on the subject , in presence of the other woman , and ho then deserted her , and , ulthough she frequently met him afterwards , ho always disowned her . About three weeks ago , . site gave him into custody . Mr . Brandt , tho prisoner ' ^ counsel , having subjected Mrs . J > er Putron to a very severe cross-examination , succeeded in showing that she was a woman of notoriously bad character ; but Mr . Yardloy , who declined to enter into tho moral part of the quest ion , suid the bigamy had been proved to bin satisfaction , and ho therefore sent tho case for triul at tho Central Criminal Court . Bail was accepted . —A second case of bigamy has boon brought forward before
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Citation
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Leader (1850-1860), Aug. 2, 1856, page 5, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse2.kdl.kcl.ac.uk/periodicals/l/issues/cld_02081856/page/5/
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