286. JONAS ABRAHAMS proceedingsdefend This name instance is in set 15441544. was indicted for burglariously and feloniously breaking and entering the dwelling house of John Hill proceedingsvictim , about the hour of four in the night, on the 8th of February , and feloniously stealing six pewter dishes, value 6 s. twenty-four pewter plates, value 12 s. a copper porridge pot, value 2 s. a large copper tea kettle, value 8 s. two coffee pots, value 2 s. a drinking pot, value 2 s. a boiling copper, value 2 s. a linen shift, value 2 s. an apron, value 12 d. a linen jack towel, value 12 d. a knife cloth, value 3 d. and seven yards of black velveret, value 30 s. the property of the said John .

The Witnesses examined apart at the request of the Prisoner.

JOHN HILL < no role > sworn.

I keep the Green-man, Bethnal-green , my house was broke open on Sunday the 8th of February, the padlock of a coal hole was picked, but they could not get forward there, and they untiled the roof, and cut the pantile lath, and so got into the wash-house; they then forced a bar of the door into the kitchen; I found the house in this condition about seven the next morning; every thing was perfectly safe when I went to bed; I always see every thing safe before I go bed; I lost the things mentioned in the indictment; I undervalued them; the velveret and jack towel were in the little parlour, and all the other things were in the kitchen; I had seen the velveret in a glass case three or four days before, but the case was not locked; on the Thursday I went with a carpenter whose name is William Carter < no role > , to buy another copper, I saw one, and a woman asked me ten-pence a pound, I said I would give her half a crown earnest, it came to twelve shillings and sixpence, I paid for it, and afterwards found it to be my own copper, I told the woman I thought it was my copper, we got a search warrant to search the woman's house.

Court. Who did the woman say she had the copper of? - Of the prisoner; Mr. Daniels, the woman's husband, went with me and Wade < no role > the officer to the prisoner's house, who lived in Old Gravel-lane, and kept a house there; the prisoner said he had the copper of his brother, and he would give an account how he got it; his brother lodges in Red Lion-street, Whitechapel, and the prisoner walked with us, his brother was at home at supper; we found two coppers there, and the officer took the brother into custody, and in the morning the prisoner was committed.

Court. You found nothing of your property at the brother's? - Nothing.

What was the reason the justice committed this prisoner? - I do not know.

Mr. Garrow, Prisoner's Council. Henry Abrahams < no role > is discharged now? - Yes.

You went and found a copper at Mrs. Daniel's, who is she? - She keeps an iron shop.

That copper you had put into the brickwork? - Yes.

Did you ever take the dimensions of the copper before you lost it? - No.

Nor the weight of it? - No.

So that any further than what somebody else has told you, you know nothing of it? - No.

You never took either the gauge of it, the diameter of it, or any other admeasurement? - Never.

As to this copper, whether it is your's or not, of your own knowledge you cannot tell? - I cannot, I will not swear to it.

That copper, however, such as it is, you found at Mr. Daniel's, and not at the prisoner's? - Yes.

JOHN DANIELS < no role > sworn.

I know no further than I bought a copper of the prisoner weighing fifteen pounds, which my wife sold to the prosecutor.

Mr. Garrow. Was you by when she sold it? - No, the prisoner said when he sold it it was not his property but his brother's, and he owned before the justice -

Mr. Garrow. Do not tell us that, Sir.

Court. Did you hear the prisoner say any thing? - No, his brother owned he delivered this copper to the prisoner.

Mr. Garrow. You bought a copper that weighed fifteen pounds of the prisoner, and what became of it, you do not know of your own knowledge? - No.

Court. Do you or do you not know that the prosecutor had that copper again?

Mr. Garrow. No, my Lord, he was not at home.

Court. Was you at home, Sir, when it was sold? - No, I was attending a Jury at Whitechapel.

MARY CLASSALL < no role > sworn.

I was servant to Mr. Hill at the time the house was broke open, I knew it was broke open, and I know that is our copper, that is all I know about it; I have seen it since it was brought back; I know nothing about the prisoner.

WILLIAM CARTER < no role > sworn.

I was at the buying of this copper of Mr. Daniels with the prosecutor.

EDMUND WADE < no role > sworn.

I apprehended the prisoner.

Court to Mary Classall < no role > . How can you be positive that this was your master's copper? - The very last time I used it, which was the Saturday night before it was stolen, I thought there had been a hole it, and that mark was in it when it came back, and by that I swear to it.

Mr. Garrow. Does your Lordship take the copper mentioned in this conversation to be sufficiently identified?

Court. This woman swears it is the same copper.

Court to Mary Classall < no role > . You saw the copper after it was brought back? - Yes.

Mr. Garrow. Daniels says he bought a copper of the prisoner, and his wife sold a copper to Mr. Hill, that copper which is so found in the possession of Mr. Daniels is proved to be the copper that was lost, but non constat, if it was the copper that Daniels bought of the prisoner at the bar, that is not so traced.

Court to Hill. Did you carry the copper from Daniels to the prisoner's house? - No, to my own house.

Did the prisoner see that copper? - At Mr. Wilmot's Office.

That same copper you bought of Mrs. Daniels? - Yes.

Was Mary Classal at the Justice's? - Yes, and the prisoner was there.

Did the prisoner say that was the copper he sold to Mr. Daniels? - I cannot say.

Court. Mrs. Daniels should have been here.

Court to John Daniels < no role > . Did you take any notice of the copper that you bought? - No, Sir.

Then you cannot swear that this was the copper you bought of the prisoner? - No, Sir, I cannot.

Jury. Had you any other copper? - No, Sir.

Did you buy one of Abrahams? - Yes.

Then of course that must be the copper.

Mr. Garrow. You keep an iron-shop? - Yes.

And a broker's shop? - Yes.

You was on a Jury in Whitechapel? - Yes.

Your wife conducts your business in your absence? - Yes.

Whether she in your absence bought a copper and sold it again, you cannot know? - No.

Court to Hill. When did you buy the copper of Mr. Daniels? - On Thursday as it was stolen on the Sunday Morning.

Court to Daniels. Had you any other copper? - We had coppers of different kinds but not of that kind, not a boiling copper; we had different kinds of coppers; I saw the copper there that evening.

Did you see it on Wednesday? - No.

Did you see it on Thursday? - No.

Have you any the least reason in the world to conceive or imagine that there was any other copper in the house between the time you bought it and Thursday morning? - I cannot say.

Court. Gentlemen of the Jury, we must not go on an uncertainty, they have left the material witness at home, the man's wife, who generally manages the business, and we must go by the rules of law and evidence.

NOT GUILTY .

Tried by the First Middlesex Jury before Mr. Justice GOULD.