The Times, Monday, Aug 30, 1824; pg. 2; Issue 12430; col F SUMMER ASSIZES. --------------- CARLISLE, THURSDAY, AUG. 26. CRIMINAL SIDE. - Before Mr. Justice BAYLEY. Samuel CAVE, otherwise Charles Samuel CAVE, was put to the bar, to answer to an indictment found against him, for having on the 25th day of March last, feloniously married, and taken to wife Mary CAPE, at the parish church of St. Cuthbert, Carlisle, his former wife, Charlotte BINGHAM, being then living, contrary to the form of the statute in that case made and provided. There was a second indictment charging him with having married Sarah KENT, widow, at Whitchurch, in the county of Southampton, on the 21st of September, 1821; his former wife, Charlotte BINGHAM, being then alive. The prisoner pleaded "not guilty" to both indictments. This case excited great interest in Carlisle, and the Court was in consequence crammed to repletion. There were a great number of respectable females present, who paid great attention to the trial as it proceeded. The prisoner is a coarse vulgar-looking ruffian, about 40 years of age, and has not the slightest appearance of a gentleman about him. He appeared to be somewhat annoyed by the laughter which was raised at his expense during the time that Mr. COURTENAY was detailing the charges against him. Mr. PATTESON opened the indictment. Mr. COURTENAY stated the case to the jury. The prisoner at the bar was unknown to the good citizens of Carlisle until the close of February last, when, in prosecution of his designs, he arrived among them, and took up his abode at the King's Arms inn, kept by a person of the name of DONALD. To that individual, as well as to several others, he represented himself as Samuel Charles CAVE, Esq., of Thorney-abbey, Cambridgeshire, telling them at the same time that he had come amongst them by the advice of his physician, Sir Astley COOPER, who had advised him to try the benefit of the dry and bracing winds of the north of England. He described to them, in large and magnificent terms, the various estates which he possessed in various counties, and talked to them of the immense sums - God alone knew how immense they were - that he had in the funds and other public securities. Thorney-abbey, he said, was his favourite residence, because it had been the favourite residence of his ancestors since the Conquest, or perhaps since a remoter period, as the CAVEs, according to his account, had existed in great glory ever since the flood. The proprietor of Thorney-abbey, the last descendant of a long race of sages and warriors, soon became delighted with "mine host" of the King's Arms; he promised all kinds of patronage to him and his family; he was himself to be the prince of innkeepers, and his wife and children were to be exalted to different kinds of dignities and honours. No wonder, therefore, that in the midst of these promises poor DONALD became as much delighted with his visitor as his visitor appeared to be delighted with him. He had not been more than eight days in Carlisle when he was seized with a sudden attack of the heart. [A general giggle among the ladies.] He did not mean an amatory attack - that, however, came in due season - but with a pain in the heart, which rendered it necessary that he should be brought home immediately by his friends. Finding, or, what to Mr. CAVE was pretty nearly the same thing, pretending to find, himself very ill, he became anxious to dispose of his property, stating that such attacks, if repeated, must be fatal to him; and observing that he had once before suffered from them in church, where his situation had excited the sympathy of the whole congregation. Time, which is valuable to all men, was doubly valuable to Mr. CAVE, on account of the extensive property he had to dispose of. An attorney of the name of SAUL was accordingly sent for; and by his assistance, Charles Samuel CAVE, Esq. of Thorney-abbey, Cambridgeshire, disposed, in due form of law, of his property in the Isle of Ely, in the county of Sussex, and in God knows how many counties beside - not forgetting the hundreds of thousands that he had in the funds, or the ancient patrimonial seat of the CAVEs at Thorney-abbey. The attorney, proud to serve so valuable a client, used more than common diligence in registering his bequests, and in a short time, the will, which bequeathed mountains of gold and silver to the legatees named in it, was duly drawn up and executed. [Footnote: The reason of this illness on the part of the prisoner will be more clearly understood by the reference to the following charge in the calendar: - "Samuel CAVE, otherwise Charles Samuel CAVE, charged upon the oath of George SAUL, of the city of Carlisle, in the said county, gentleman, with falsely pretending that he was very ill, on or about the 6th day of March last, when he sent for the said George SAUL to the King's Arms Inn, in Carlisle, to make his will, and gave instructions accordingly to the said George SAUL, and stated himself to be possessed of 6,000L. stock in the new four per cent. stock, and real property to a large amount in Cambridge and Norfolk, and directed the said George SAUL to write to a Mr. PECKOVER, of Wisbech (whom he stated to be a trustee for him), to sell out the said stock; and by such representations induced the said George SAUL to advance him 30L. all which representations the said George SAUL has since discovered to be false and groundless." We are surprised that any person should be gulled by so stale a trick, and especially that that person should be an attorney.] Mr. CAVE, having thus prepared himself for death, thought it might next be as well to prepare himself for living it. Indeed, so rapid was his recovery, that in a few days he was able to stand up against another attack of the heart - not, indeed, of the same nature as before, but of a gentler and less painful description. He fell deeply in love with his host's sister-in-law, a young lady of great respectability, who, amongst her other charms, possessed that of being entitled to 1,000L. upon her coming of age. So skilfully had he managed matters at Carlisle, that not a suspicion was entertained of his not being the person whom he represented himself to be. He bought hunters, hunted with the Carlisle hounds, drank with the Cumberland squires, talked scandal and nonsense with their wives, and acted in every respect like a man of fortune and consideration. In the midst of all these various avocations, he still found a little time for love. He determined to give to Thorney-abbey a new mistress, by making Miss CAPE at once the partner of his wealth and bosom. He therefore proposed to her in due form; and after the usual difficulties with which the "rosy pudency" of the sex generally meets such proposals, was in due form by her accepted. Her friends, though they thought the match a very good one, were not for completing it in all the hurry which the proprietor of Thorney-abbey thought necessary. He therefore proposed to her to take a trip across the border, and, by a Gretna-green marriage, to put an end to all his doubts and fears regarding her affections. The lady refused for some time, but at last, on the evening of the 18th of March last, gave a reluctant consent to the proposals of her impetuous lover. He accordingly procured a chaise, and succeeded in carrying her to Gretna, whilst her friends were quietly amusing themselves at the play. The fugitives were however pursued, and overtaken before the ceremony was completed. The prisoner, however, was not easily daunted from the prosecution of his designs; and in consequence of the solicitations and representations which he then made, the ceremony was allowed to proceed, and the young lady returned with him to Carlisle as his wife, and lived with him accordingly. On their return to Carlisle, the lady's friends wished the marriage to be re-performed according to the rites of the Church of England. The prisoner, however, resisted the proposal at first, and it was not till some time afterwards that he was persuaded to consent to it. At last, on the 25th of March, he was married to Miss CAPE, at St. Cuthbert's church, by a clergyman of the church of England. He could not see any reason why the prisoner should be so anxious to be married at Gretna-green, and so reluctant to be married at Carlisle. A circumstance, however, might explain it, which had recurred at the Spring Assizes of last year. They would, many of them, recollect that at those assizes, a chimney-sweeper was tried for bigamy, whose first marriage was proved to have been at Gretna-green. The question of the legality of that marriage underwent considerable discussion at that time, and the result of it was, that the prisoner was acquitted. CAVE, it was known, was present at that trial, and had listened to it with the utmost attention; and whether it was that circumstance which had given him a taste for the glorious uncertainty of Gretna-green marriages, he would leave them to determine. Be that, however, as it might, this point was at least certain - that shortly after the English marriage had been performed, circumstances transpired which led to an inquiry into Mr. CAVE's representations, and to a discovery that every one of them was false. Instead of being Mr. CAVE, of Thorney-abbey, a man of property and family, he was found to be Mr. CAVE, of Wisbeach, a man of staves and barrels. In point of fact, he carried on the nominal trade as a cooper, but followed the real occupation of a common swindler. The learned counsel then said, that he would call witnesses before them, who would prove his first marriage with Charlotte BINGHAM, his subsequent marriage with Mary CAPE, and also the fact of Charlotte BINGHAM being still alive. After he had done so, it would be for them to decide whether the prisoner was or was not guilty of the offence which was charged against him in the indictment. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The trial to continue.....