CHRONICLE. 



67 



jrai'd of the Red Lion inn, Salis- 

 bury, and that a compound frac- 

 ture of the plaintiiF's leg was the 

 consequence of the accident. It 

 seemed established that there was 

 no gross misconduct, inattention, 

 or want of skill, on the part of the 

 coachman, to call for vindictive 

 •damages. — Mr. Justice Gibbs left 

 4t to the jury to determine whether 

 the defendants were liable, on ac- 

 count of the apparent heedlessness 

 Df the coachman in not leading 

 the horses out of the yard ; and it 

 was agreed that if the jury found 

 *he defendants liable, the verdict 

 «hould pass for all such expenses 

 as the plaintiff had reasonably in- 

 curred, which were to be ascertain- 

 ed by a reference. The jury found 

 a verdict for the plaintiff, and the 

 ireferree has since assessed the 

 ■damages at 600/, 



16. John Britain was tried at the 

 Warwick assizes for the murder of 

 his wife in April last. On the 

 trial of this unhappy man, the 

 principal evidence against him was 

 his own son, who, on the sight of 

 his father, was scarcely able to 

 sustain the shock. His counte- 

 nance betrayed his horror at the 

 painful part he was called on to 

 act ; nor were his feelings confined 

 to himself : judges, counsel, jury 

 and spectators, were alike affected 

 vat the scene. After some time had 

 been allowed the witness to recover 

 ihimself, the judge (sir S.Le Blanc) 

 ttold him that the task was indeed 

 .a painful one ; but that it was a 

 duty be owed to his God, his 

 country, and the memory of his 

 deceased mother, to relate to the 

 Court such circumstances of the 

 murder of his deceased parent as 

 were within the compass of his 

 knowledge, recollecting that his 



father had broken the chain that 

 binds society together. After re- 

 peated encouragement from the 

 counsel, he proceeded in his testi- 

 mony, with but little interruption, 

 and in the course of it stated the 

 following facts :— 



The witness was sleeping, on 

 the morning of the 5th of April, in 

 the same room with his father, 

 mother, and a younger brother; 

 about six o'clock, on being sud- 

 denly disturbed by a noise which 

 proceeded from that part of the 

 room where his parents slept, he 

 rose and went to the spot, and 

 there found his father standing in 

 a threatening attitude over the bed 

 in which his mother lay. On ex- 

 amining the bed, he found his 

 mother weltering in her blood, 

 which flowed from a wound she 

 had received from a bar of iron 

 which his father held in his hand. 

 The prisoner was again in the act 

 of raising his hand to strike the de- 

 ceased, when witness rushed up to 

 him, and wrested the bar from his 

 grasp, exclaiming at the same time, 

 " O, my dear father, have mercy!" 

 and in his endeavours to obtain the 

 murderous weapon, received a vio- 

 lent blow on one of his arras. On 

 his father becoming cooler, witness 

 went again to his mother, and saw- 

 that she was much bruised about 

 the head and face, her blood 

 flowing very fast ; her speech was 

 gone, and she appeared to be in 

 extreme agony. He wiped the 

 blood from her face with some 

 water, and his father, in a short 

 time, came to the bed and assisted 

 him. Witness left the room to call 

 for the assistance of some neigh- 

 bours, and then proceeded in search 

 of medical aid. The witness 

 further stated, that he had often 



F 2 



