66 
' quire whether he ftands mute froin ma- 
lice, or by the vifitation of God.—If the 
jury find the latter, the trial proceeds as 
if he had pleaded Not guilty ; but whe- 
ther, if he be found guil/iy, judgment of 
death can be given againft him, is a quef- 
tion yet undetermined: formerly, if he 
was found obftinately mute, the confe- 
quence, in cafe of indi¢étment for high 
treafon, petty larceny, and all mifde- 
meanors, was, as it ftill is, that he re- 
ceived judgment and execution, as if he 
had been regularly convicted on a plea of 
Not guilty —But, on appeals at the fuit 
of the party, or on indiétments for other 
felonies, or for petty treafon, he was not’ 
confidered as convitted, fo as to receive 
judgment for the felony, but, for his 
obftinacy, received the fentence of peine 
forte & dure. This judgment was, that 
the prifoner fhould be remanded to the 
prifon from whence he came, /put into a 
low dark chamber, and there be laid on 
his back on the bare earth, without lit- 
ter, rufhes, or clothing, except where 
decency required a covering; that one 
arm fhould be drawn to one quarter of 
the chamber with a cord, and the other 
arm to another quarter, and that his 
legs fhould be ftretched out in the fame 
manner; that there fhould be laid upon 
his body, iron and ftone, fo much as 
he might bear, and more: and the next 
day he was to have three morfels of bar- 
Jey bread, without any drink , and the 
fecond, he was to drink thrice of the 
water that was next to the prifon, except 
running water ; and in this fituation, this 
was to be alternately his daily treatment, 
till he died or till he anfwered. 
By ftanding mute, and fuffering this 
heavy penance, the judgment in felony 
and petty treafon, and of courfe the 
corruption of blood and efcheat of the 
lands, were faved, though not the for- 
feiture of the goods; and for this reafon, 
it is probable this lingering punifhment 
was introduced, in order to extort a plea ; 
without which, it was held, that no 
judgment of death could be given, and 
fo the lord loft his efcheat. ‘This pre- 
ceeding, however, was entirely abolithed 
by a ftatute of the prefent reign*, by 
which it is enaéted, that every perfon 
who being arraigned for felony or piracy, 
fhall ftand mute, or not anfwer dire&tly 
to the offence, fhall be conviéted of the 
fame, and the fame judgment and exe- 
cution, with all their confequences, in 
every refpeét, fhallbe thereupon awarded, 
tee aE 


© 12, Gy MipcceO. 
Interefting Law Cafes. 
[ Feb. 
as if the perfon had been conviéted by 
verdiét or confeffion. 
In the cafe which lately occurred, the 
prifoner was found mute by the vifita- 
tion of God; the trial therefore pro- 
ceeded, and he was found guilty, and 
was fentenced to be whipped and dif- 
charged. 
Sale by Auétion. . 
A Mrs. Howard expofed a public- 
houfe to fale by auction; it was knocked 
down to a Mr. Caffel, at the fum of 
340 guineas : on his afterwards refufing 
to complete the purchafe, it was fet up 
to fale a fecond time, and knocked down 
to the plaintiff herfelf at 260 guineas. 
‘She brought an aétion againft Caffel, to 
recover the difference between thefe two 
fums, and the expences attending the 
two fales. ‘This was tried et Weftmin- 
fier, at the fittings after Hilary term 
laft. It appeared that at the firft fale, 
feveral pufters had bidden before the de- 
fendant, and that there were not any 
real bidders. Lord Kenyon obferved, 
that as thefe premifes were bought in 
for the plaintiff herfelf, it could not be 
faid there was’a fecond fale: He was 
ftrongly inclined to think the aétion 
could not be maintained : at an auction, 
he faid, every thing fhould be fair and 
open, and thofe who attended as bidders, 
fhould really be in the charaéter in which 
they appeared, that every man might 
have an opportunity of entering into a 
fair competition in the purchafe. The 
jury, by his lordfhip’s dire@tion, found a 
verdi@t for the plaintiff, to the amount 
of the expences attendmg the fecond 
auction, fubject te the opinion of the 
court of King’s Bench, whether the 
action ought to be maintained. 
Tuefday, Feb.’ 9, m® the Court of 
King’s Bench, one Booth, lately an over- 
feer. of Bowley, in the weit-riding in 
Yorkfhire, was fentenced to a year’s im- 
prifonment, for having ufed with’ great 
neglect and inhumanity, one Mercy Stace, 
a fingle woman, of feventeen, who was a 
pauper of the faid parifh, and, who ac- 
tually died for want of common necef-~ 
faries. 
Thurfday the 18th, was tried in the 
Court of King’s Bench, the aétion in 
which Mr. Jefferies, jeweller to the 
Prince of Wales, claimed of the Com- 
miffioners appointed by aét of Parlia- 
ment to diicharge his Highnefs’s debts, 
the fum of 54,6851. The Jury, which 
was fpecial, brought in a verdict for the 
Plaintiff, for the fum of '50,9971. ros. 
RETROSPECTIVE 
