364. HARTY HART proceedingsdefend was indicted for feloniously stealing, on the 15th day of January , two pair of linen sheets, value 8 s. one linen shirt, value 4 s. one woollen coat, value 5 s. one great coat, value 2 s. one pair of white cotton stockings, value 12 d. and a striped silk and cotton waistcoat, value 12 d. the property of Joseph Stoney proceedingsvictim .

JOSEPH STONEY < no role > sworn.

I am a silver plater ; I went out in the dusk of the evening; I have a shop in the garret; I left my errand boy, whose name is Arnold; I did not return till ten; when I returned, the door was locked, and the boy was coming up stairs; he let me in; then I sat down before the fire, and the first question the boy asked me was, whether I had been meddling with the bed; I told him, no; he went to make the bed, and there was a pair of sheets missing, and then I looked, and there was; and all the clothes I had in my box, and which are in the indictment; I saw the sheets on the box, and the Sunday before I saw the other things; the box was not locked; I missed them on the Wednesday; I know nothing more.

- ARNOLD.

Court. How old are you? - I am going of twelve.

Do you know the nature of an oath? - I know I am not to tell a falsity.

Can you say your catechism? - Yes.

- ARNOLD sworn.

I live in Crooked-lane now, No. 15; I was Mr. Stoney's errand boy when he was robbed; there was nobody in the room while my master was out, that I know of, but the prisoner, and when my master came home, the things were gone.

Court. Who first found out that they were lost? - I did.

Did you find it out before your master came in? - No, I let my master in, and he took a book as he generally used of a night, and sat down by the fire; he told me to make the bed, and I asked him if he had been pulling the bed about, and he said no; then I pulled the clothes off, and there was a pair of sheets missing from the bed; and he looked in his box, and the other things were gone out of it; the box was unlocked, but the lid was down; I know the prisoner, he lived facing my master a good while; he came up stairs to me that evening while my master was out, I was in the next garret, and he came and looked into that room, where I was, and I got up; he asked for master; I told him I expected my master in about seven, and that I was going down stairs to light a fire, and he might stop; he came down along with me, and I unlocked the door, and as I was lighting the fire, he stood by me; he asked me if I had any aqua fortis, and I told him no.

Do you recollect whether the sheets were on the box then? - Yes.

You are sure of that? - Yes; I told him he might get a pennyworth at any of the druggists, and if he had a mind, when I went down, I would get him some; when I had lighted the fire, I stood by the fire, and he said, Jack, you had better go up to work; so I thought I might as well, for fear my master should be angry; so I said, you can fit in the dark, cannot you? and I went up to work and left him in the room; and in about a quarter of an hour, I came down, and I heard him going half way down the one pair of stairs, and I asked him if he had locked the door, and he said, no; I knew his voice.

Did you go into the room then? - No, I only looked to see if the fire was safe.

Did you see whether the sheets were in the bed, and upon the box then? - No.

Do you think you should know the sheets at all? - No.

- BRANNON.

How old are you? - Going of ten.

What will happen to you if you tell a lie? - I shall go to hell, Sir.

You know it is only bad boys that tell lies, good boys never tell stories? - No, Sir.

- BRANNON sworn.

I saw the prisoner go down stairs with a bundle under his arm; my father lives on the same floor where Mr. Stoney lays.

Did you know the prisoner's person? - No, I followed him down stairs.

Did you see his face? - No, Sir, I did not.

Is that staircase a light staircas e, or a dark one? - It is a very dark one.

Are you sure that was the man you saw go down stairs? - No, Sir, I am not sure, I cannot swear to the man.

What sort of a bundle was it? - A bundle almost as big as himself, I could not see the colour of it.

NOT GUILTY .

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury before Mr. ROSE.