NOT GUILTY.

Auckland Star, Volume LXII, Issue 95, 23 April 1931, Page 5

NOT GUILTY.

ALLEGATIONS AT BLENHEIM. CHIEF JUSTICE WARNS JURY. VALUE OP CROWN EVIDENCE. (By Telegraph.—Press Association.) BLENHEIM, this day. Afc a sitting of the Supreme Court unusual features characterised the trial of Thomas Murphy, storekeeper, of Kekerangu, on a series of charges alleging unnatural offences. The jury ultimate ly brought in a unanimous verdict of not guilty after Mr. C. T. Smith, counsel for prisoner, had invited them to believe that accused was the victim of a conspiracy and his Honor the Chief Justice, Sir Michael Myers, had warned the jury to be exceedingly careful before accepting the responsibility of saying tiiao accused was guilty. "You may have suspicions, but you must ask yourselves whether you should place reliance on principal witnesses the Crown in all circumstances," added his Honor.

The saying "God is on the side of the big battalions" is part of a sentence: "As regards Providence, he cannot shake off the prejudice that in war God is on the side of the big battalions, which at present are in the enemy's camp"—contained in a letter from Frederick the Great to the Duchess of Gotha. Carlyle in his "History of Frederick the Great" gives the date of the letter as May 8, 1760. There have been a number of similar sayings, including one attributed to Napoleon: "Providence is always on the side of the last reserve."