778. WILLIAM HUTCHINSON proceedingsdefend , THOMAS LEWIS proceedingsdefend This name instance is in set 1546. This set is in the group(s): GarrowsClients . , and DANIEL WILKINSON , otherwise CROCKEY, otherwise CONK proceedingsdefend , were indicted, for that they, together with John Robbs < no role > , and John Thorp < no role > , and divers other persons to the number of eight, whose names are unknown, being malefactors and disturbers of the peace of our Lord the King, after the 24th day of July 1746, to wit, on the 13th day of November last, with force and arms, at the parish of Thornham, in the County of Norfolk, with fire arms and other offensive weapons, to wit, with guns, pistols, pitchforks, hoes, and stones, unlawfully, riotously, and feloniously did assemble themselves together, in order to be aiding and assisting in rescuing, and taking away from one William Turner proceedingsvictim , and Christopher Stangroom proceedingsvictim , then being two of the officers of the Excise of our said Lord the King, and in the due execution of their said office, one hundred and fifty gallons of foreign geneva, being unaccustomed goods and liable to pay duties, which had not been paid or secured, after seizure of the said foreign geneva by the said William Turner < no role > and Christopher Stangroom < no role > , as being such officers of Excise as aforesaid .

A Second Count for unlawfully, riotously, and forcibly, making an assault and affray, and hindering, obstructing, opposing, and resisting the said officers of Excise.

A Third Count for unlawfully, forcibly, and feloniously hindering, obstructing, opposing, assaulting, and resisting the said officers in securing a large quantity of foreign geneva, which had been lately seized by such officers as aforesaid.

The indictment was opened by Mr. Silvester.

(The witnesses were ordered to withdraw.)

Mr. Solicitor General opened the case as follows:

May it please your Lordship, and you, Gentlemen of the Jury; my duty obliges me to call on you for a few minutes of your attention, in order to open to you one of those cases, that are now become of the last importance: this is an indictment found against the three prisoners at the bar, for rescuing goods by force and violence, and with arms, after they were seized by the revenue officers; Gentlemen, several years ago the legislature found it necessary to enact - That if any number of persons to the number of three or more, armed with fire arms or other offensive weapons, should rescue or take away from any Excise-officer, any goods which had been seized by them, that they should be punished to the last extremity; and it becomes more necessary to advert to this regulation now, than it has ever been: Gentlemen, it would not become me to enlarge on that matter further, and I merely throw out these hints to you, that it is thus necessary for the public officers to bring before you those offenders against the laws, in order, if possible to suppress a practice, which, if not suppressed, will put an end absolutely to the fair trade of this country: In that spirit it is, that this prosecution is brought forward; and Gentlemen, the facts on which this prosecution is founded, and which will be laid before you in evidence, are shortly these: On the 13th of November last, one William Turner < no role > , an Officer of the Excise, having had information that a certain quantity of geneva which had not paid duty, was concealed in the house of the prisoner Hutchinson, he applied to the magistrate, and obtained a warrant for the purpose of searching the premises, and took into his company one Christopher Stangroom < no role > another Excise-officer; they were told Hutchinson was not at home, but they went into a field at a very little distance, part of his premises, and there they found rubbish, and furz, and boards, and a variety of things, which they conceived to indicate a door to a place of concealment, they then began to undo those obstructions, and Hutchinson then made his appearance; a variety of threats were thrown out to deter the officers from the execution of their duty, but they proceeded in their search, and found this geneva in half anchor casks, ready slung in all appearance as smugglers sling their goods; they proceeded to take out this geneva to the amount of eighteen or twenty casks, being threatened by Hutchinson, that he would call the smugglers, and that the smugglers should come, and so forth; and there did come eight or ten or a dozen of persons, and they attempted to take away these twenty casks that were in this place of concealment; in the mean time Turner the Excise-officer, sent off his companion for further assistance, and when he came back he found by the assistance of another person about fifteen or sixteen anchors of geneva, and when he came out he was met by two of the prisoners with bludgeons, and one of them, the prisoner Wilkinson, with a pistol held to Stangroom's breast, and he was knocked down by a stone the dant word was damn them that wonds strike, and all these sort of expressions; the prisoners immediately proceeded to take away those casks, and they took them two at a time; Gentlemen, a variety of circumstances of force and of threat, and this actual presentment of this pistol to the breast of the Excise-officer, will be proved to you and one of the witnesses will tell you, he was the person that called out to Stangroom, and that if he had not taken the information given to him, he might in all probability have lost his life, for it is very providential to him, that the stone thrown at him fell to the ground, or he might have met with more mischief: Gentlemen, if these circumstances turn out so, if by force these number of persons so armed, and among them the prisoners, did really rescue this geneva from these Excise-officers, after they had taken it; they will fall within this act of parliament: You see, Gentlemen, there are but two ways by which force of this kind can be prevented, the one by superior force, and that is a method the law of this country wishes to avoid, except in the last extremity, the other is by bringing a case, such as this, before a Jury of the country; but at the same time that his Majesty's officers wish to preserve the security of the public on the one hand, they certainly do not forget the justice due to individuals on the other; Gentlemen, I shall therefore call my witnesses, and if they make out the facts I have stated to your satisfaction, you will then be under the necessity of discharging your consciences according to the oath you have taken, in finding the prisoners guilty; but if on the other hand, these facts are not so supported by evidence as to warrant such a verdict, you will then perform the most agreeable part of your duty, in acquitting the prisoners.

WILLIAM TURNER < no role > sworn.

Examined by Mr. Silvester, one of the Council for the Prosecution.

I am a supervisor of the Excise at Lynn, in Norfolk; on the 13th of November last, I went to the prisoner Hutchinson's house, at Thornham, about three or four in the afternoon.

How far is Thornham from the sea-coast? - It is within one mile.

When you came to Hutchinson's house, what passed? - I enquired if he was at home.

Court. Did you go alone? - I had Christopher Stangroom < no role > , an Excise-officer with me: they told me that Hutchinson was not at home; I saw a man, and a woman that I thought was his wife; I told the person that I wanted to examine Hutchinson's premises, and I immediately went down Hutchinson's yard, into a small field joining to his house; and in the corner of the field behind a shed, adjoining to Hutchinson's house, where I suspected the goods were, there I perceived a couple of furze bushes, which rather made me suspect the goods were about that place. Before we could get to the place, Hutchinson came into the field, and in rather a violent and hasty manmer, told us we had no business there; Stangroom was stepping forward to the concealment, and Hutchinson laid hold of him, and a scuffle ensued, and I think they were both on the ground together; I immediately interfered, and took hold of Hutchinson, and held him by the collar while Stangroom went to the place were the furze bushes were.

Court. Did you say any thing to him? - Yes, I told him to be quiet, that I came there to search for some smuggled things.

Mr. Silvester. Did he know you? - I do not know whether he did; I am pretty sure he knew Stangrove.

Court. What makes you pretty sure he knew him? - He was the Excise-officer who used to survey Thornham formerly; he is an Excise-officer now.

That is all your reason for supposing that he knew Stangroom? - Yes. Upon Stangroom's going to the place where I suspected the goods were, during which time they held a pistol, and pulling the furze bushes away, I thought he said, they are here, or something to that purpose: from Hutchinson's behaviour, who rather seemed violent and riotous, I desired Stangroom to go for a constable; he immediately mounted his horse, and rode out of the field into Hutchinson's yard, towards the high road; Hutchinson followed into the road with a large hoe or bill, or something of that kind, he was very violent and passionate, striking his horse with his hand, and told him to get off the premises; indead he drove him off, but he was going off at the same time, and said he would soon have somebody there. Soon after this, I went through Hutchinson's yard into the high road myself, and I saw one Rennett, a Custom-house-officer; I desired Rennet to assist me to open the vault; he came with me into the field, and opened the vault, and Rennett brought up one half anchor of geneva: I then went into the high road a second time, in order to see if Stangroom and the constable were coming; at this time one Brown and Excise-officer came in; on my returning into Hutchinson's yard with Brown, Hutchinson put himself against the gate which shuts from the high road, and with the same thing he had in his hand when Stangroom went out of the yard, he stood and said I should not enter into his premises any more: Brown < no role > I think took hold of his arm, and the hand that he had up with the hoe, and I rushed out of the gate, and forced myself by. I then went down again into the field with Brown, and desired Brown to go into the vault; Brown went and handed up, I think, about twenty half anchors.

Mr. Sylvester. What appearance had those anchors? - They were four gallon casks, with small sling cords round them; they are put round them to convey them on horses backs, as the smugglers convey them. At this time there came into the field about ten men with sticks or bludgeons, or largish sticks in their hands.

Court. What do you mean? - They were not walking sticks, they were a kind of a stick or bludgeon: they came into the field and stood at the tubs; I moved myself from the vault towards them; when they came in they said nothing at all at first; I said, my lads, you better let them alone, you will not attempt to take them away I hope.

What did they say? - They made very little answer; one of them immediately said, come, come, lay hold, and eight of them took two half anchors each of them, and threw them across their shoulders: Brown came out of the vault a little fatigued; I desired Rennet to go in, he went in, and handed out about twenty half anchors, I think. At this time Stangroom was returned, and was standing in the field, very near the half anchors that I had handed from the vault farther from the concealment; at this time a man came up to Stangroom, and said have at them, and with a very large stone or brick immediately knocked Stangroom down; at the same time there was a kind of outcry, rather a confusion in the yard, making use of oaths, and so on; a stone was thrown towards me, but it did not strike me. Stangroom being knocked down, Brown < no role > the Excise-officer went over the hedge, close to where he stood, and retreated into the field, rather some distance from the concealment; I stood there for four or five minutes; there was a still an outcry of at them, and rather confusion or riot; there were twenty, thirty, or forty of all sorts; there were many inhabitants of the place; there were not a great many in the field at that time: my horse was tied in the field, I mounted and rode into the next field; I came round towards Hutchinson's house by the high road; when I came to that place, Stangroom was there, and bleeding very much from the blow he received; also Rennett stood there, and finding that the smugglers had rather caused confusion, and that the goods were carrying away, I desired Rennett to go down with me a second time into the vault, to bring some of the goods away; I rode on towards Hutchinson's yard, and Rennett followed me, I went to the vault and desired Rennett to take out one of the half anchors, which he did; I took it up with me on horseback, I rode out of Hutchinson's yard into the high road again. Finding that Stangroom was wounded, and that our strength was but little, and that it was getting on towards the evening, and that the smugglers increased, I rode away with she half anchor, and Stangroom with me to a public house in the town; I examined it and found it to be geneva; after that I did not return to Hutchinson's house.

Mr. Silvester. Do you know either of the persons that were there, either carrying away the geneva, or armed, or assisting in taking it away? - I know one of the eight, his name was Lewis.

Did you observe how these men were armed? - I cannot particularly recollect how he was armed, but they were mostly armed with sticks; I cannot pretend to say that every man was.

Were they any other way armed than with sticks? - I saw no other, the situation I was in at the time the tubs were handing out, did not afford me an opportunity of seeing what I otherwise should have done; I only saw the sticks, and the stone thrown.

Mr. Morgan, Prisoner Lewis's Council. When was this offence committed? - The 13th of November last.

At what place? - At Thornham, in Norfolk.

How many miles distance may it be from this place? - One hundred and twenty miles, I believe; the distance from Lynn < no role > I suppose to be exactly one hundred.

You knew Lewis before? - I had seen him before, I never had any particular conversation with him.

Do you reside at Thornham? - No, I live at Lynn.

Have you been at Thornham since this transaction happened within the space of a month? - I have more than once.

Did you at either of those times see Lewis there? - I do not recollect that I did.

Did you make any enquiry after him? - No, I did not.

Do you know when he was taken up? - Yes.

When? - I do not recollect exactly the day of the month.

In what month? - In July I think, I did not make a memorandom of the day he was taken, I think it was the latter end of July, I am not quite sure.

How many times might you have been at Thornham between the committing the offence and the time of Lewis's being taken up? - I think I have been there twice.

Did you assist in taking him? - I did.

Did you come up to town with him? - I did.

Now give me leave to ask you, if in coming along you did not say something to him to this purpose; that he might make himself easy, for that you could not say any thing to affect him, for he had no weapon? - I do not recollect that I said those words, he was very uneasy coming up to town; I desired him to make himself easy: I do not recollect I told him he had no weapon, nor can I positively swear now that he in particular had a weapon.

Did not you tell him, coming along, that he need not be uneasy, for that you could say nothing to affect him? - I do not recollect I said exactly those words.

Was it to that purpose; did you assign that as a reason? - I do not recollect that I did.

Do you recollect that you might have said something of this kind, that you could not say any thing to affect him? - No, I did not say exactly that, because he carried two half anchors; I can say this, that he made use of no bad language, he was not violent, he made use of no threats, he behaved quietly, except carrying away the two half anchors.

Did not he recommend peace to you and to them, to come to some terms? - Yes, Lewis mentioned, just at the time the half anchors were taken on the men's shoulders, he said will you take a part, and I answered I should not come into that proposal.

What reason did he assign to you for making such proposal, was it or was it not for the sake of preserving peace, and preventing mischief? - I do not recollect he said any thing of that kind.

CHRISTOPHER STANGROOM < no role > sworn.

Examined by Mr. Silvester. T

I am an Excise-officer at Stretcham in Norfolk.

Were you in company with William Turner < no role > in November last? - Yes, Sir, on the 13th of November last.

How did you happen to be in his company? - Mr. Turner and I, in consequence of having an information, went on the 13th of November to Hutchinson's house, after we had been on a survey; Turner was supervisor of that district: I went with him to the house of William Hutchinson < no role > , I at Thornham, about three, on the 13th of November; upon enquiring whether he was at home, we were answered by his wife that he was not at home, another person said he was not at home, and wanted to know our business; we told her we had information of smuggled goods, and in consequence of that wanted to search the premises; she told us we had no business on the premises; immediately Hutchinson came out of his house and swore we should not go upon the premises; Hutchinson laid hold of something, I believe it was a pick bill, such as they pick up stones with, that was immediately dropped, and he came to me as I was going towards the vault, he laid hold of me, I desired him to be quiet; I laid hold of him, and he fell to the ground, I was upon him; I said, Hutchinson, be quiet, get up, and behave well, we are doing nothing more than we are obliged to do.

Court. Where were you at the time he laid hold of you? - I was in the enclosure, just by the vault; I went to the place, and said, Mr. Turner, this is certainly the place, but we could not open it; after I was disengaged from Hutchinson, he was coming to me again, Turner prevented him; I went and said to Turner, here they are, I have found them; when we were down Hutchinson kept abusing me, swearing he would knock me down.

How did you get from him so as to get into the vault? - I went round the vault to get a constable and Hutchinson followed me out of the yard with a hoe, he beat my horse with the hoe several times, and said he would send for the smugglers; whilst he was beating me, Mr. Turner desired me to look behind, and I found it was a hoe upon a handle; I went to the constable, and I met Rennett, and desired him to assist, this was in my way to the constable; but before that I saw one Mr. Brown; I also saw Mr. Benton, a farmer and merchant at Thornham, and I desired them to come, and they said they would. In my way to the constable I saw Brown, I brought him back as far as the gate; after I had got to the gate I then went to the constable, which is the third time I set off for him, he came, and I desired him to bring the cart. When I came to Hutchinson's gate with the constable, Hutchinson swore he would knock me down if I entered the gate; I pushed by him, went through the yard, and went into the enclosure, where the tubs were taken out; the smugglers just before I had entered the gate were then gone out with the tubs already taken out, I saw eight of them with tubs coming out of the gate, just before I got to the gateway, and the last was just as I came to the gateway; there were some of them in the road when I saw them, and some of them coming out of the yard; then I entered the gateway and went into the enclosure. I said to Turner, they have carried away the tubs; he said they had carried away sixteen: Brown was in the vault getting out more tubs; Lewis said will you compound, will you have half; I said no, we cannot do anything of that kind, you had better be quiet and let us alone: the smugglers then gave us abusive l anguage, which Lewis desired them to desist from; the smugglers were then very numerous.

What do you call very numerous? - Upon the whole I suppose there were near twenty, but the exact number I cannot tell: I then went to see if the cart was come, but I was told by the constable he could not get in, and I saw that they could not; the cart was there, and the horses in it, and they swore it should not enter the gateway; the prisoner Wilkinson, Conk, or Crocky, was there.

Court. What part of the premises was he upon? - He was upon the enclosure, where the tubs lay that were just taken out of the vault; he took up a tub, I begged of him to set it down; I asked him by what authority he took it; I followed him into the yard, and I laid my hand upon the tub, he let it down, and he immediately struck me several blows on each side my jaws with his fist, and I immediately fell backwards into a little puddle of water; I then went into the field, and took my stand by Mr. Benton. Sometime after that a pistol was presented by Wilkinson to me, that was near the vault, in the enclosure where the vault was; Mr. Benton called out, there is a pistol! there is a pistol! and it presently disappeared.

Court. In what manner was the pistol presented? - It was presented thus, with his right-hand.

How near was you to him? - As far as I am to Mr. Shelton.

What did he say? - He said something, but I could not exactly tell what; after that he retired, I did not see him; after that some time elapsed, I cannot tell how long, when there was a cry, have at them, damn them, kill them! kill them! and immediately I was knocked down, either with a stone or brickbat, but which I cannot tell: I got up, and got out of the enclosure; I found myself in the road, but I do not know which way, I was very much stunned and very dizzy; I then saw Clark < no role > the constable, and he told me I bled very much, I should be very faint; I told him I was faint, and afterwards, I found it was blood.

Mr. Solicitor General. Did you observe any thing afterwards respecting this geneva? - Yes, I observed they kept carrying it away, and there was general confusion, and the brickbats were flying; when the constable desired me to go, as I bled very much; I said I would not till I knew where Mr. Turner was, and presently Mr. Turner came, and called, how are you; how is it with you? Says I, I am very much bruised, my head is broke very much; I said to Mr. Rennett, we will have one tub; Turner said the same; Rennett said I dare not; Turner said I will go with you, and they went, and they got a tub out of the vault.

What became of this tub? - I have had it in my house ever since, it was examined in my presence, and it contained geneva.

Had these twenty persons any thing in their hands? - They had bludgeons, those that I saw carry away the liquor.

What sort of bludgeons? - As near as I can guess; about two feet long, and very thick.

Did you know Hutchinson before this time? - I did.

How came you acquainted with him? - I was officer, and Thornham was under my survey.

Then you was acquainted with him? - With respect to acquaintance, I had seen him very frequently, he knew me, he called me immediately by my name.

Cross-examined by Mr. Macnally, one of the Council for Prisoner.

Have you been at Thornham since the seizure? - Yes.

Have you seen Lewis there from November, the time when the seizure was made, till July, when he was apprehended? - I have seen him there.

Did you assist in apprehending him? - I did.

Do you recollect any conversation between him and the last witness, respecting his safety after he was apprehended? - I do not.

Do you recollect Turner telling him he might be easy? - No, I cannot recollect any thing of that; I have heard Turner say, he imagined Lewis was not so bad as the rest.

You did not hear any such conversation? - I do not recollect any.

When Lewis came up, the smugglers, as you have called all these people, were all on the ground, did not Lewis come up alone? - He spoke to me by myself.

Then he did not appear to you to be one of the party that you termed smugglers? - He appeared to me to be a smuggler, because he carried away two tubs.

Did he appear to you to be a mediator and peace-maker? - He appeared to me to be a mediator, because he desired that the others should behave well, and not behave riotous to the officers; I saw several of the smugglers with bludgeons.

How did they carry the tubs? - On their shoulders.

Mr. Peatt. Council for the two other Prisoners. What kind of close is this where the vault is? - A little grass close, covered with grass, in the yard.

Did you see the prisoner Hutchinson's wife at all during this business? - Yes, I did.

What passed between her and you? - As soon as I was extricated from her husband -

Court. What does that lead to?

Mr. Peatt. My Lord, I understand that there was a quarrel between this witness and the prisoner Hutchinson's wife, and that the prisoner interposed on the behalf of his wife.

There was something passed between you and the wife? - There was, but Hutchinson and I were engaged first.

Did you see any weapon in Hutchinson's hand before the quarrel took place between you and his wife? - I did.

Did any thing pass about your doing damage to his premises? - He said I had no business or right on his premises.

Did not he complain of your doing damages to the premises, to the grass; how did you enter them? - By a gateway, and within a very few yards there was the vault.

Why did you tear the woman's ear-ring out of her ear? - I never touched her ears.

Will you say that he did not say that you should not use his wife in that manner, or words to that effect? - I do not recollect that; he complained of a parcel of stuff that I knew was absolutely false.

Court. What was that stuff? - Why, that I had pulled out her ear-rings out of her ears, and that I meant to be familiar with her.

Mr. Peatt. Would not that enrage you if a man was familiar with your wife?

Court. When was it that this report was propagated, that you should take such liberties with this woman? - Afterwards.

How long afterwards? - About a week or ten days when I heard of it.

At this time did nothing pass about your damaging the things? - I never heard a word of it.

How many people were there that you saw? - I saw eight people carry away goods, how many people there might be in the whole I cannot say, the mixed number was very great.

Mr. Peatt. Was not there a good many of the size of Wilkinson? - There were a good many, I never saw any body like him, I knew him; and the language he made use of I could not help observing.

How did you stand when the pistol was presented? - I stood rather obliquely.

Can you take upon you to say that the pistol was presented to you in particular? - I can, I saw the pistol.

Your fears might make you think it was at your nose, when it was a mile distant; can you say it was pointed at you? - It was pointed straight forward.

Was he doing any thing else at that time? - No.

Did he say any thing to you? - He did.

Was not he busy about other things? - Not at all, he stood thus, and presented the pistol thus.

JAMES BROWN < no role > sworn.

Examined by Mr. Silvester.

I am an officer, I was applied to, to assist Mr. Turner in some goods that had been seized on Hutchinson's premises, on the 13th of November, in the year 1783; I was called upon by, Mr. Stangroom, officer of the Excise, who desired my assistance, and signified to me, that he had found a vault full of goods; I immediately told him I would give him all the assistance that lay in my power, and mounted my mare and rode along with Mr. Stangroom to Hutchinson's house in Thornham, where I saw Mr. Turner in the street, at the outside of Hutchinson's gate, and Hutchinson in the yard, inside, and he had in his hand what I call a pick bill, and he threatened to knock Mr. Turner down if he entered the gate; I dismounted, and took Hutchinson by the collar, who dropped his weapon; I said to Hutchinson, what are you about, the officers are in possession of these goods: I said, Turner, follow me; and at the north end of the house there was a vault; I said I will enter the vault, I went into the vault and took out some part of the tubs, and I believe, as near as I can recollect, there might be twenty tubs or upwards, as I took account; then I was fatigued, and solicited Mr. Turner to call somebody to relieve me, and Samuel Rennett < no role > came to my assistance; I had not been out of the vault a long time before I saw Mr. Stangroom knocked down, with, it appeared to me to be the three-fourths of a brick, which came the left side of his head, which felled him to the ground, I thought he was knocked on the head; I then made my escape, but before that I did see one Thomas Lewis < no role > This name instance is in set 1546. This set is in the group(s): GarrowsClients . , and he moved some tubs, but whether he took any away or no I cannot pretend to say; I likewise saw one Daniel Wilkinson < no role > there, but I cannot say whether he took any thing at all away; I saw also the other prisoners there; I heard a general cry at the time, and I made my escape; I cannot say to the number, they made a noise in the yard.

Mr. Garrow, Council for Prisoner Lewis. I believe when you went there you saw Mr. Bentum the farmer? - Yes.

You was not there at the commencement of the search? - I was not.

When you came there then you saw Mr. Bentum the farmer there, and many other inhabitants of the town? - I saw Mr. Bentum and Lewis there then.

You saw Lewis moving a tub? - Yes.

Was not he looking at it? - Yes, I apprehend he was looking to see if they were marked.

Is not it your practice, as soon as you have seized any goods of this sort, to mark them as things seized for his Majesty's use? - I have seized goods with marks, and I have seized goods without marks.

You do not understand me; I ask you whether you do not mark them after you have seized them? - I very often do that myself.

Were those in truth so marked? - I cannot say, I handed them out of the vault, I did not observe.

Have you seen the that is at Stangroom's? - I have.

Do you know whether it had any mark when it was carried to Stangroom's? - I do not.

Did you hear Mr. Lewis hold any conversation with Stangroom, or interfere to prevent mischief? - I heard a voice which I verily believe was Lewis's, but I cannot swear it was him.

Court. What did you hear? - It signified as if he wanted no mischief to happen; it seemed to be his voice, signifying to molify matters; and asked the officers if they would take half and leave half.

Are you the surveyor of Thornham? - Yes.

Do you know where Lewis lodges, and has lodged for two years past? - He lodges at one Johnson's.

How often have you seen him since? - Very often.

Living under no concealment? - I have seen him frequently.

Were not these poor men indicted in January last? - I was not present when they were apprehended.

Have you had any conversation with Lewis about his making himself easy, that there was nothing that would affect him? - I cannot say that, I told him it would depend on the evidence against him; I said to him I did not see him take any thing away, but I cannot say what other people said.

Mr. Peatt. When you came up to Hutchinson, you say he dropped the weapon immediately? - Yes, when I took him by the collar.

He did not attempt to do you any injury of any kind? - He did not.

Did you see any thing that passed between Hutchinson's wife, and the last witness Stangroom? - I was not there.

Did not Hutchinson complain very heavily of the mischief that had been done to him? - I heard him make a complaint, I heard him say that he misused his wife.

The voice that you heard speak some conciliatory words, and advise the smugglers to be quiet, you cannot say who that was? - I cannot swear to a man's voice, I rather believe it to be Lewis's voice.

It might be Hutchinson's voice, you saw Wilkinson there? - I did.

But you did not see him in the act of taking away these tubs? - I cannot say I did.

He did not oppose you in the execution of your duty? - I was not opposed by any body.

SAMUEL RENNET < no role > sworn.

Examined by Mr. Solicitor General.

Were you in company with Stangroom? on the 13th of November last? - Yes.

How came you to be in his company? - By Mr. Turner calling me to his assistance.

Where did you go with Mr. Turner to assist him? - To William Hutchinson's.

At what place? - At Thornham.

What passed then? - I went to assist him in making a survey of run goods.

Describe what passed? - I saw Hutchinson beating Stangroom's horse with a hoe.

Where was this? - In the street.

At what distance from Hutchinson's door, or from his premises? - I do not know, it was just by the gate, Mr. Turner then desired me to go into a green field just by his house, I did, and the woman Mrs. Hutchinson came to me, and shewed me where the goods were, she said there Mr. Rennet, make you the seizure, accordingly I pulled the stone off the vault, and discovered the goods laying in the vault.

Court. Where was Hutchinson at this time? - He was then keeping Mr. Stangroom off his premises.

He did not hear then what passed between you and the woman? - I believe not, I asked a labouring man that was there, to get a tub out of the vault, he did, I told him I wanted a gimblet to prove the seizure, he fetched me one, I pierced the cask and found it to be gin; Mr. Turner came to me, and says, what have you got, I told him it was gin; he immediately alighted off his horse and tasted it, and Mr. Brown came up at the same time, Brown went into the vault and handed up the tubs, I took them to the amount of eighteen or twenty; Brown being fatigued in the vault, I went in and handed out about eighteen or twenty more, I came out of the vault seeing Brown run away, I went into the street and saw Stangroom bleeding; as soon as I came out of the vault, I was knocked down.

Court. By whom? - That I cannot say.

With what? - With a fist, by hands, and I believe Wilkinson the prisoner picked me up, but I am not sure.

What became of those casks that were handed out by you and Brown? - The smugglers carried them away, I saw them.

Court. How deep was the vault? - About my height, I was not in the vault when I saw them taken away a part of the goods, about sixteen casks, Brown was in the vault then.

How many smugglers might there be among them? - I cannot say, there might be a dozen of them.

Had they any thing in their hands? - I never saw any thing in the hands of any of them.

Did you return back again to this field, where the vault was? - By the desire of Mr. Turner.

What did you do then? - I went into the vault, and fetched out a tub which Mr. Turner took away, Lewis took up a tub, whether he took it away I cannot say, there were several taken up, but who took them up I cannot say.

Were the heads of any of these casks knocked in? - One of them was.

By whom? - By Hutchinson.

Mr. Peatt. How far was Hutchinson from his wife, at the time the wife undertook to conduct you to the vault? - I cannot say.

Was he within hearing, think you? - I cannot tell, he made no opposition, he sent for me to my house, for me to make the seizure, and his wife conducted me to the place.

Did you see Hutchinson take any of the tubs away, or assist the parties? - No, I saw him knock in the head of one tub.

Wilkinson behaved very kindly to you, when you was knocked down? - Yes, he took and picked me up.

You saw no weapons? - No, I never saw a pistol, stone, or any thing at all, Wilkinson behaved very quiet.

Mr. Solicitor General. I think you said, that Hutchinson's wife sent for you to make the seizure? - Yes, she did.

You are acquainted too with him? - Only I live in his neighbourhood.

Did he send to your house? - Yes.

Court. When was it that the girl came to you, to make the seizure? - When Mr. Stangroom and Mr. Turner were there, when he found they were and would make the seizure, he me to make it.

HENRY BENTON < no role > sworn.

Examined by Mr. Silvester.

I understand you are a farmer and shopkeeper at Thornham? - No, Sir, I am a farmer and merchant, I do not doubt but the Gentlemen are willing to pay me, but I submit to the Court, whether I am not to be paid my expences.

Court. You must give your evidence, we cannot make any bargains with you in a criminal case? - I was riding home, it happened very near my house, I heard a great confusion and noise, curiosity led me to see what was the matter, first Hutchinson's wife told me that Mr. Stangroom had taken her by the throat, and would have pulled her life out; I said, you are under no apprehension, I am sure Mr. Stangroom never intended any hurt; then Stangroom came to me, and asked me to stop, he said, we have made a seizure, perhaps your presence and influence will prevent its being taken from us; I stopped, and went down to the vault where they had taken out the liquors, and used what arguments I could, they seemed every well reconciled, but before the cart came, there came a party drunk I suppose from the alehouse eight or ten of them, and carried away a tub or two; one of them, I suppose one of the prisoners, seemed to me take one of the tubs in a very sly manner, I heard afterwards his name was Wilkinson, that is the man; Stangroom returned and met him in the yard, with the tub under his arm; he asked him what authority he had for taking that away, and he took some thing out of his bosom, which I took at that time to be a pistol, for I immediately called to Stangroom, a pistol, a pistol, not that I can pretend to say that it was one, for it was a little duskish, and the man returned it sooner than I could speak almost, and I saw no more of it; he did not say any thing only hid it; I cannot tell what they did with the casks, they carried them out of my sight, but the gable end of the house projected; directly after Stangroom stood by me, and he fell just like a dead man, I saw his face all over blood, somebody struck him, I did not see who it was.

The remainder of this Trial in the next Part, which will be published in a few days.

THE WHOLE PROCEEDINGS ON THE KING's Commission of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, and Gaol Delivery for the CITY of LONDON; AND ALSO The Gaol Delivery for the County of Middlesex; HELD AT JUSTICE HALL in the OLD BAILEY, On Wednesday the 15th of SEPTEMBER, 1784, and the following Days;

Being the SEVENTH SESSION in the Mayoralty of The Right Hon. ROBERT PECKHAM < no role > , Esq; LORD MAYOR < no role > OF THE CITY OF LONDON.

TAKEN IN SHORT HAND BY E. HODGSON, PROFESSOR OF SHORT-HAND; And Published by Authority.

NUMBER VII. PART III.

LONDON:

Printed for E. HODGSON (the Proprietor) And Sold by J. WALMSLAY, No. 35, Chancery Lane, and S. BLADON, No. 13, Pater-noster Row.

MDCCLXXXIV.

[PRICE SIX-PENCE.]

THE WHOLE PROCEEDINGS UPON THE

KING's Commission of the Peace, Oyer and Terminer, and Gaol Delivery for the CITY of LONDON, &c.

Continuation of the Trial of William Hutchinson < no role > , Thomas Lewis < no role > This name instance is in set 1546. This set is in the group(s): GarrowsClients . , and Daniel Wilkinson < no role > .

Did you observe those men that came, whether they had any things in their hands? - I cannot say positively, I was a little matter confused, I stood from the beginning to the ending, I received a blow on my leg with a stone, or brickbat, or something of that kind.

Mr. Peatt. Hutchinson's wife complained very loudly to you? - Yes, but she only complained once to me.

You do not know what it was in Wilkinson's hands? - I believe it to be a pistol.

You did not see any offensive weapons to your certain knowledge? - Nothing except that was.

Court. Have you on the part of the prisoners any witnesses to fact? - No, my Lord.

Court to Mr. Solicitor General. There are three counts; the first is for persons being armed, assembling themselves in order to assist in the rescuing of goods: the second count is, that these people, being armed, assembled themselves, and that they assaulted the officers in the execution of their office: the third count is, that they did forcibly obstruct, assault, oppose, and resist the officers in the securing of this geneva. On the first of these counts, I doubt whether on the whole of the evidence there is evidence to fix these persons with having deliberately assembled themselves, for that express purpose: the second of these counts I do not myself see any branch of the act of Parliament to which it applies; I wish, therefore, to know on what branch of the act of parliament that second count has been drawn; with respect to the third count, undoubtedly there is evidence to prove the fact: but I suppose it has not escaped you, that by a subsequent act of parliament, the same specific offence that is described in this act, the mere forcibly obstructing, is made an offence, for which the party may proceed at the quarter sessions, and be corporally punished: now, if upon consideration you should be of opinion that you can sustain upon the construction of this act of parliament on the third count, I shall have no objection, with the concurrence of my brothers, to take a special verdict on that; but as a question of discretion I put it to you for your consideration, whether you press that in a cause so circumstanced, where there is, by a subsequent act of parliament, an express provision that the offence should be punished in so very inferior a degree and course by the quarter sessions of the county, and by corporal punishment, whether you would press that to be brought here in the county of Middlesex, to prosecute the parties under those disadvantages as they must be under; undoubtedly it is a very fit thing, where an atrocious case does arise, that the law should be executed in the manner here chalked out; and there are certain cases may arise, in which it is extremely proper that case should be taken; but on this case I doubt extremely whether this is one of those cases which you would wish to see so prosecuted. I do not think that the circumstances were so fully understood by those who conducted the prosecution, as they are now understood.

Mr. Justice Gould. There was a case were there was an indictment for killing a deer in some park in the county of Herts, and it was an indictment under the black act; it came on before me, and it happened to occur to my recollection, that I had a few years before that taken down an observation in Mr. Justice Blackstone's fourth volume of his Commentaires, whether that part of the act of parliament was not virtually repealed by a subsequent statute, and after a good deal of search, we found out the act of parliament, which nobody there had heard of; upon which I would not try the man, but reserved it for the opinion of the Judges; and all the Judges were unanimously of opinion, that it was a virtual repeal of that statute.

Mr. Baron Eyre < no role > . A number of persons assembling is out of the case; this act of Parliament provides, that if a number of persons, being armed, shall assemble themselves for the purpose of aiding and rescuing smuggled goods, &c. it then goes on to another branch, that if any number of people shall assist, that is felony; there is a third substantive offence, if any person going in disguise; and the fourth is, if any persons armed or not armed shall forcibly resist or obstruct the officers in rescuing goods; upon that the third count is founded, that has no regard to the number of persons, nor to their being armed; the words are,

"or if any person shall, from and after the 24th day of July, have his face blacked, or wear any vizard mask, when passing with such goods;" an individual therefore, with his face blacked, passing with such goods, would, in all probability, be deemed to be within this act: the next clause is,

"or shall forcibly assist," &c. that word or, being coupled with the proceeding sentence, seems also to be a clause which would reach any individual who shall obstruct; now that particular offence is, as I have particularly observed, by the 19th of George < no role > the Third reduced to a misdemeanor, punished by corporal punishment; therefore, if you still exercise your own judgment on the case, I for one have no objection to your having a special verdict on the point; but take it under all the circumstances, knowing my opinion to be, that this is not a case which calls for any such prosecution. With respect to the second count, if I am wrong, I shall be very glad to hear you as to the fact of this being a deliberate assembly of these people, armed for this purpose; you see a great part of it turns out to be the reverse; a parcel of drunken fellows come from an alehouse, and hastily set themselves, whether with arms or not, is not proved, or whether one man had a pistol or not does not appear. The act says,

"shall be assembled, in order to aid and assist;" now this in fact is not the case, but it is the case of persons rushing and seizing these goods: the object of the act did not go to this particular case, which is the case of seizing goods which are found in concealment, which that part of the act manifestly alludes to, to a great number of persons coming down to the beach for the purpose of escorting goods. I think the officers of the Crown never can do better, than to exercise their judgment in favour of a prisoner, wherever there is any opening for it.

ALL THREE NOT GUILTY .

Court to the Prisoners. I cannot help supposing, from what has happened, that you are men deeply engaged in this very dangerous practice of smuggling; it has brought you within an ace of capital punishment, and it is administering the law with great mercy to you: pray let this be a warning to you, and get your bread honestly, for if you do not, sooner or later that punishment will fall upon you.

Tried by the first Middlesex Jury before Mr. BARON EYRE < no role > .