310 ANNUAL REGISTER, 1816. 



not disputed, and possession by 

 every unqualified person without 

 lawful excuse was reckoned in 

 the eye of the law equivalent to 

 an exposure for sale. There was 

 no difference allowed by the sta- 

 tute. It was incun^bent on the 

 person to show he came by game 

 innocently, otherwise he was lia- 

 ble to the penalty by the mere 

 circumstance of possessing it 

 without being duly qualified. The 

 penalty was 51. for every hare, 

 partridge, &c. Here there were 

 four birds. Verdict, 201. penalty, 

 with costs. 



Field Preaching. — At the gene- 

 ral Quarter Sessions, holden at 

 Wisbech, on the 17th of July 

 ult. a singular and novel ap- 

 peal came before the magis- 

 trates for their determination : in 

 which Robert Newstead, a preach- 

 er in the Methodist connexion, 

 was appellant, and the Rev. Al- 

 gernon Peyton, rector of Dod- 

 dington, and Thomas Orton, Esq. 

 two of his Majesty's Justices for 

 the Isle of Ely, were respondents. 

 It appeared from the conviction, 

 and the evidence adduced in sup- 

 port of it, that the offence with 

 which Mr. Newstead stood charg- 

 ed was, the collecting together a 

 congregation or assembly of per- 

 sons, and preaching to them, 

 otherwise than according to the 

 liturgy and practice of the Church 

 of England, in a field which had 

 not been licensed. This was Mr. 

 Newstead's crime : it was for tliis 

 that the Rev. Rector of Uodding- 

 ton caused him to be apprehend- 

 ed ; and that he and his brother 

 magistrate convicted him in the 

 utmost penalty which the Tolera- 

 tion Act imposes ! Against the 

 legality of this conviction Mr. 

 Newstead appealed. 



Richard Vince, servant to Mr. 

 Peyton, proved that he heard Mr. 

 Newstead preach in a field at 

 Poddington, on Sunday, the 7 th 

 of April last ; that he preached 

 contrary to the liturgy of the 

 church of England ; and that 

 there were more than 20 persons 

 present. On his cross-examina- 

 tion, he admitted that he did not 

 know what it was he preached, 

 whether it weie a prayer or a ser- 

 mon ; it was something, but he 

 knew not what ; and that he 

 knew he preached contrary to the 

 lituigy of the church of England, 

 because he had not the Prayer 

 Book in his hand. 



John Lane, another of Mr. 

 Peyton's servants, corroborated 

 the testimony of the last witness, 

 but he would not swear that there 

 were twenty persons present. 



The Magistrates confirmed the 

 conviction, and hence Mr. New- 

 stead became liable to the penalty 

 of 301. or to three months impri- 

 sonment. A case was demanded, 

 on the jjart of Mr. Newstead, for 

 the opinion of the Court of King's 

 Bench ; but the prosecutors hav- 

 ing proposed to abandon the pro- 

 secution, and engaged not to en- 

 force the penalties, the fiiends of 

 Mr. Newstead withdrew their ap- 

 plication, having obtained all they 

 could desire. The question of 

 right, however, between the rec- 

 tor and the preacher, remains un- 

 decided. 



The King v. Thomas Houghton. 

 — The defendant, the governor of . 

 the house of correction for the 

 county of Lancaster, at Preston, 

 was indicted for a misdemeanour 

 in refusing to recei\e into his 

 custody Richard Bruton, who had 

 been convicted of a petty larceny 



before 



I 



