Star. — London, England, 1818-12-02 00:00:00

that they should fallow his servants to Bow-street answer for their conduct. After some ether ob . iations on both sides, which would appear in evi dence, Mr. hall and his party were about to proceed their boat, when, by a signal from Lord Itanelagh, of his servants, one armect with a pitchfork and other with a club, stepped before them and op posed their departure. Some further conversation - took place during the time they were detained, icb was about twenty minutes, andit ended-in a _ .laration from Lord Ranelagh , that he would let them go about their business, but- that they should give some compensation to his servants for their trouble. This the gentlemen, seeing the very un pleasant situation in which they stiod, consented to do, and they gave 7s. to one of the servants in bis lordship's presence,:and were then suffered to depart. :Mr. Adolphus) had said in the commencement, . , the present case, though rather a singular one, not entirely new. The Jury, no doubt, were mare, that in the iron times of baronial power, it was constant practice of the Lords of those days to . forth from their castles, at the head of their re iners, and levy contributions upon those who had in manner excited their hatred, or who had not inns to resist their oppression. Happily for the atry, moderh refinement had worn down those -barons customs ; but it did not appear that every. ige of them was obliterated ; for the. Noble Lord, Imagining perhaps that he had all the right v well as high and noble blood of those ancient Damns, :ght fit to make a display of both on this occasion. .e called his domestics rouncthim, and having armed them and himself, and placed them in military array, conceived that he possessed all the rights of for : Barons, and therefore it was quite natural that should raise a subsidy from.those whom his forces intended to subdue—(a laugh). A few days this had passed, application was made by a letter to his lordship, stating the. intention of the parties to have recourse to the law, if he did not ac knowledge the ill-treatment he had given them, and make some apology. This was sent by a special messenger ; but the Noble Lord would not lessen his high dignity by condescending to return any answer. Another similar communication was made, and with same success. At length, the affair was laid be : the Magistrates at Bow-street ; and t his lordship ,e an undertaking, that he and his servants would appear there to answer any charge. A day was ap inted for that purpose, and the parties attended ; • though they and the Magistrates waited fdr a considerable time in expectation of his arrival, neither lordship nor any of his servants attended. The consequence of this neglect was the present proceed ings. In the exertions of the gentlemen concerned to the names of the servants who attended Lord Lnelagh on the day in question, the name of one given who turned out not to have been at all concerned or present. From hence, no doubt, it _Ad be argued on the other side, that the whole matter was without foundation, that the charge was made at random, and that the intention was to cri inate some persons, no matter who. To this he could say, that the fault, if any, lay entirely at the ler side. Lord Ranelagh might have given the na,..ies of those present if he thought proper ; and he ;ht have done so with safety, if the matter was, as dohbt would be stated by his advocate, 'wholly', without foundation iii truth. Mr. Hall, arid. the other' gentlemen, had dune all in their power to procure correct inforroatim as to the names of the parties. was therefore instructed by Mr. Hall to say, that against one of the prisoners at the bar (James. Gregg) there was not any imputation, and that therefore he, might have a record of acquittal, if the other side thought proper. kle would admit, that in point of 7, the young gentlemen had committed a trespass, , wever innocent their intentions might have been; he put' it to the Court, whether a trespass such at sat, would be a justification of the conduct which he lad mentioned? Ile appealed to the Jury, by whose decision he was certain the question would be set at rest, whether the liberty of the subject could be jus lably invaded, and his right of property violated the. manner he had described, for such a trespass that of taking shelter on a man's ground in a vio lent storm? The sun; taken from Mr. Hall and his companions was, it was true, a small one, and their forcible detention but of short duration : but it was • the amount of that sum, nor the length of the im lsonment, of which they complained ; hut the prin. ,31e.which caused the extortion of the one, and the enforcement of the other. He trusted the Jury, under direction of the learned Chairman, would by their verdict show to the public, that no man is this min y, however high iii rank or station, could u ith im punity make himself the arbiter of the liberty, or the disposer of the property,, of any of his fellow-men for one moment beyond that which the law authorized him. When Mr. Adolphus bad concluded The CHAIRMAN observed, that if nothing were in tended to be alleged against the prisoner Gregg, the ''iry might return his actuittal, and be be dismissed i-om the bar. This, after a short conversation between the Cont i on both sides, was done accordingly. ADoLpitt::; then called James Richard Hall, who gave his evidence to the !lowing eitcct ;--" I am an articled clerk to Messrs. dliston and Hundleby, of No. 2, Freeman; Court, Cornhill. On Friday, the 24th of July last, I went • a small boat up the Thames, in company with Lr. Waldo, Mr. Degaul, and Mr. Wallace. We sailed far as the tide would carry us ; we had proceeded far as Fulham bridge, when we were overtaken by violent storm of thunder, lightning, and rain ; tin :Ming to trust ourselves on the water during the storm, and also anxious to avoid a wetting, we ran 'le boat on shore ; we landed on a bank, near to risich was a beaten track, which led us to the shelter a large tree, at a very little distance. Here, after remaining for a short time, we brought from the boat some bread and beef and some porter, which we partook of. We were only a few yards from the water. There was a pathway behind the tree, and immediately behind that a ditch and hedge. Our provisions were contained in a small bundle ; we had nb Wine not spirits. After we had finished our I repast, we were about to return to the boat, when saw a man coming towards us, with a large blud geon in his hand, and accompanied by a dog. • He addressed himself to us, and said that my Lord was vim surprised at our conduct in coming to trespass on his grounds. One of my ccmpanions asked who was my Lord ? To which he replied, My Lord Ranelagh, on whose ground you nosr are. At this time I saw two other men coming down towards us, armed in a similar manner. There were, besides, three men coming intim same direction from another part of the grounds. , One of these had a double barrelled gun, and another was armed with a pitch fork.,- The bludgeons appeared to me to he' Indian clubs. 'The man with the pitchfork came on one side, those with the clubs °lithe other ; and he who held the gun, whom I found to be Lord Ranelagh, ad vanced in front of us. When I saw him approach I proceeded towards him, but he called out in a loud voice, Halloo, what business have you there ? You most know that you are committing a trespass: To this I answered, that we had been driven to the place for shelter from the storn. ; that we had not intend ed to do, nor had we done any harm, but that we would then go away, and were very sorry for having even unintentionally committed a trespass by coming on his grounds. After this I stepped forward to go towards the boat ; but Lord Ranelagh waved his hand, and two men immediately ran between the boat and me. One of them presented the pitchfork at me, and refused to let me pass. This interference on the part of the men appeared to me to be entirely !pulsed by Lord Rinelagh's motion of the hand.— Immediately on my being stopped, his Lordship said. No, no, I won't let you off so easily ; you shall fol low my servants to Bow -street, to answer for your 'conduct ; for I took another set of fellows there the, other day.' At this time, the men had so placed ;themselves, as to have us between them. I answemd, that we were perfectly willing to go any where to answer for what we had done ; for that we were not conscious of having committed any act which was' cognizable by law. Lord Ranelagh replied, You must have known that these are my Premises, and that you had no right to enter them without my consent !' and he followed this, by asking Who are you ?' I said, we were Gentlemen and as such, I presented him my card, telling him at the same'time that he would find from that address, what I said to be correct. I also gave him the name and addiess of the Gentlemen to whom I am serving my clerk ship. He then asked Mr. Waldo who he was F To which Mr. Waldo made a similar answer, and refer red him for its truth to Mr. Scott, a Migistrate at Hammersmith, who was his friend. About 20 mi nutes then elapsed, which were filled up with a long conversation, in which he endeavoured to prove, and Ito disprove, the impropriety of my conduct. At length he put an end to it, by saying, Well, I shall let you off on your making some compensation to my servants for their trouble.' This I and my com panions did, and we gave 7s. to one of the servants (Byrne, the prisoner at the bar). We felt ourselves in a very awkward situation at the time, and but for that we should not have paid the money. After we had paid the money, we Were suffered to depart to the boat. After that I attended at Bow-street, and made every possible exertion to get the names of the servants who had attended Lord Ranelagh on that occasion. Cross-examined by Mr. Attev....--Vi l e were on the grounds about half an hour before the servants came. Some of my companions were singing ; I had my clothes, but some of the party were without thei,- coats. A servant did not say to me on that occasion that Lord Ranelagh was angry at our coming there, but that if we behaved well, nothing would - be said about it. Ido licit recollect having thanked Lord Ranelagh for his very polite and courteous conduct on that occasion—l did not thank him at all; nor did. I say that his conduct was that of a Gentleman, and thlit if I stood in his situation I would have act ed in the same manner.—(Here a letter, which had been received by Lord Ranelagh,, was produced to the witness, who admitted it to be his hand-writing.) To another question, he answered, that he did not recollect having gone from Lord Ranelagh's to a public-house in the neigl.'iourhood. In his re-examination, he said that Lon', Ranelagh was within a few yards of him, when he gave the money, at his desire, to the servant. Mr. Waldo and Mr. Degaul were next'severally examined, but their testimony was almost in every respect a repetition of that given by the first witness. In Mr. Degaul's direct examination there was this additional circumstance, that when Waldo had re ferred Lord Ranelagh to Mr. Scott, a Magistrate at Hammersmith,' his Lordship asked whether he was Mr. Scott, the bricklayer? In his crass examination, he admitted that the oars had been removed on shore before the servants came down ; but being re-examined he corrected himself, and-said they had not been removed.. To some questions from the Court, he answered, that neither he nor his companions had sauntered' about the grounds, that he was quite positive as to Lord Ranelagh's having insisted on the compensation to his servants; that it was given to one of them, and that he looked upon it as a necessary condition of their being allowed to depart. In Mr. Waldo's eta-, mination, he added to that of his friends, that Lord Ranlagh had mentioned, that a set of fellows were in the habit of coming on his grounds to break the branches and steal the flowers; and that he charged them with a similar intention. Here the case for the prosecution close/. Mr. ALLEY stated the case for the defendants. He was sorry that the course pursued by his Learned Friend for the prosecution was calculated to confound the different orders of society, on keeping up the dis tinctions between which, the general peace and pro 'sperity so eminently depended. He contended, that Mr. Hall and his friends were four young trespassers, who, Lecause they bad received a generous pardon from Lord Ranelagh, and experienced nothing but courtesy at his hands, thought proper to compose and send to him an atrocious libel against his cha racter, which ought to have brought them into Court as defendants instead of prosecutors. He then read the first letter from Mr: Hall to Lord Ranelagh. It stated the impropriety' of surrounding him and his friends with armed men, merely for seeking shelter from a storm ; that the fear of being turned adrift on the tide alone prevented him refusing compliance with the unjust demand for money, which the writer had since the transaction been informed by his friends could be considered in no other light but actual rob: berg(; and concluded with a request that the money would be returned, and a suitable apology made— otherwise a warrant would be applied for at Bow street against himself and his servants. It was signed James Hall." This, Mr. Alley contended, was a base libel ; and he would recommend a young gentle- I man, in.the language of Horace, " sax styluer ver iere"—to consider well before he sat down and pro- . duced such a composition again—a composition, which betrayed an otter ignorance of his profession, and only entitled him to the character of a vain and ' foolish libeller. He should call witnesses to prove that there was no rain whatever at the time—that the prisoner at the bar was not the man who received ' the moeeiL . and that whatever money had been re ceived was a perfectly free gift, in acknowlek:ement of the polite behaviour of Lord Ranelagh ; and he ,trusted that it would then be seen, and that the ver. ' dict of the Jury would spew, that Lord Itarielagh was not the man he had been represented, who could ' violate the rights of hospitality so flagrantly—who ' could rush upon and insult the way-worntraveiler— and practise a species of extortion, whiali would dis grace the most unprincipled., Anthony Mecquet was then called and sworn.—ls servant to Lord Ranelagh. Remembered the 24th of 1 July last—it was a fine day. Did not remember a storm of thunder ; was present when Lord Ranelagh came down to where the prosecutor and his comps pions were. Saw the four persons together. There was a green cushion on the ground, knd the appear- ' ance of some persons having beeneating. Lord Ha nelagh asked what they wanted there? On which ' Hall came up, with his bands in his pockets, and said that they had been sailing up the - river, and ,caecie there to refresh themselves. Lord Ranelagh remarked that their conduct was improper, and that they should have known better. One of _them ex pressed his sorrow, and said he did not know of any harm in what was done. Edict Ranelagh told him .that he had been robbed frequeltly by persons cora iag there ; and idler some conversation told them they might go away. His Lordship then returned towards his house. _They then priiceeded, to the boat ; but one of them tutned; and gave him (witness) some silver for himself and the Riker servants who were present Lord Raiielagh was on his way to his honse at that *re, and could not see what was done. He never told any of them to give the money, nor did he offer to detain them from the boat. He ordered witness to remain and see them off, which he did. The man (Greig) who was put on his trial, was not present at any part of the transaction. Cross-examined.—ls a Dutchman; had a.cluh in his hand; another of the servants also had a club ; and the groom had a pitchfork. Two or three other servants of Lord Ranelagh gave nearly the same evidenCe as Mecquet. After which, the defence being closed, Mr. ADOLPHUS rose to reply. He denied having used any one word in the course.. of.,his Opening speech which was unbecoming him as an advocate, or which was not called tot by the cireditistances of the case. He then defended the conduct of Mr. Hall, which, he maintained, was the very reverse of that which it was described, and said he threw back the charges which had been made against that respect able young gentleman with contempt, let that word light where it may. With respect to the defiance which had been thrown out, of intended prosecution against his client, be treated it with indignation. That defiance might, if the party pleased, be put in execution ; but he should treat it at any time within digeation and contempt, as the effort of imperious pride and impudent audacity. Let those terms be taken where they might. Mr. ALLEY.—Do you mean that as a personal in sult to me, Sir? If you do it shall not be unnoticed! • .Mr. ADOLPHUS.—Gentlemen of the Jury, I have always made it a rule, which I am determined to ad here to, during my professional life, never to give any personal explanation in a Court of Justice of what passes there. ICI have said any thing requiring such, or have been understood to have said so, I am known out of doors, and may he found at all times. Mr. ALLEY made no reply ; but Mr. ADOLPHUSiII the course of his speech said, that he had not meant the words to apply Co Mr. Alley, and that he could not have so meant it : but if, under the cover of what he felt it his duty* to state, any imp' esjon of that na ture .were taken, he was.to be seen in an other place. He then proceeded to defend the ,Anai I.s which he had made in his opening speech, and ol)ei ved, that his allusion to the feudal, times was rather meant as humourous than severei i t•ut, at the same time, he now felt it right to, expr(zss his.regret that the Noble Lord had not shewn. a li ttle more of that hospitality for which the feudal Banns had been so remarkable —that a stranger requiring shelter or relief was never turned away from their doors. As to his language, it was what the subject deserved ;.he spoke what he felt, and what the nature of the case was calculated to dictate. With respect to the threat of intended pro secution, he should again. say" that he despised it. The Noble Lord might take the advice which had been given to him ; he might institute proceedings against his client, might bring all his retainers into Court, and when he had done that, he would laugh at him then as he did at present. With respect to the allusion that his client was not a Gentleman, as was hinted, he repelled it. Mr. Hall was as respectable as Lord Ranelagh ; and here he could not avoid using' the old adage—that the King could' make a Lord, but he could not make a Gentleamn! and he now said, in the healing of any who pleased to take it, that, as far as the affair at issue was concerned, there was not a person in it more males{ -to the appellation of a Gentleman than Mr. Hall and his three young friends ! Mr. Adolphus then compared the evidence on both sides, and concluded by expressing his full conviction that the verdict would be in favour of his client. The CHAIRMAN summed up the evidence with great clearness and accuracy ; and the Jury, without much hesitation, found his Lordship and the servant Byrne--Guilig. The sentence of the Court was, that Lord !Zane lagh should pay a fine of £5O to the King, and that tile servant should pay a fine of ls.—The trial lasted nearly the whole of the day. SENTENCE ON CHARLES ELLIOTT AND LEONORA HIS WIFE, FOR CRUELTY TO THEIR OWN CHILD. _ _ _ These persons, whose trial appeared in the STAR of yesterday, were put to the bar to receive sentence. The CHAIRMAN, after addressing the woman on the enormity of her offence, and the total want of all motherly feeling which she had evinced towards her helpless infant, sentenced her to be imprisoned for twelve Months in the !Souse of Correction, The man, in consideration of his not having al any opportunities of seeing how the child was treated, and of some kelings of compassion which towards it, was only sentence one month. There was lately taken up. of Sir ROBERT LAURIE, Bart. mon turnip, which measured five inches, and in cireumfere , and weighed no less than 94 at present to be seen in Mat pee and bed of strawberries it Saturday se'nnight there w a field belongin g to Mr. Jon! Jedburgh, w hich was the ex 43 lbs. English, and measu 45 inches. • At a dinner given on Wedr Joan HUNTER, Esq. of the Hi fruits from his garden were p —Ripe Alpine strawberries, rr pears, Alexandrian grapes ; abundance of roses, double vi and primroses in the hedges, Kenten Lodge have produced 1 There is at present in the tra SON, Esq. of Cousland, a tul which is the second time it w that state. The history of it is It stands in the situation of Priory of Cousland ; and is s O.:eV-red the famous MA es l'arross, from the persecutior. rassed in the earlier part of F. destroyed during the Ref= this tree was in blossom was i 98 years ago. The tree is the ; country, and not inferior to th As a proof of the mildness mention, that in a garden n( November, ripe raspberries young wood ; that several of in bloom, and roses in bud ; quantity of grass in the field:, that are put upon straw were Thursday, a man went 1 3 41 ley, and in the act of eat of it stuck in his throat. .\li ately sent for, but he died bef Wednesday'evening, a car ma: Finnieson. found lying i in the New. Wynd, Glasgow, Office, where a Surgeon imn next morning, after being t chair, the man expired.' . _Thursday night, an . neon •pened in Taylor's Close, Gree man was shot dead. The into custody, and itn A swindler, who is pleased —, exercised his calling wit city in Glasgow of late, althot been in PUrsnit of him. He called at a lodging-house in day evening, when, pretendin of the inmates, he decamped tea-spoons and a pair of Longs, among sshich were a few toss 24. years of age, about 5 fee small appearance and militat plesioned, the hair on the e sepatated'at the ridge of the furies a blue great coat, and suits his purpose. lle sa co young man he made a For! nership. lie proposed •h -t Pt of the fraud. They were to Sir Gregor 11 , Gregor ; to live and when the roguery shoal d off to another place. Dandy c footmen were to be employee The Captain promised himsel taming money from officers I tri't - ts, by receising money' fr and pas,age. '1 he A - ill:tin, wl very illiterate, and was form private in the Dumfriessldie ,c6nß:.ernent in Bridev:ell. Friday sennight, about elo discovered in the house of fel ner, Peterhead, which contini most violence till two o'cloel by the exertions of the inhabi and - prevented from spreadi house in which it began was Monday sennight, three I Elphingstone, and parish of three poor families, and one consumed by fire. The how ginated was inhabited by a d of Douglas, who with his wif On their return home they fc a house to shelter them, a be of clothing, except what wa, renders their case still more about to be confined, and the of four young children, wit] the funds of the parish, bell The most of the furniture be families was saved by theexer About three weeks ago a neighbourhood of Nelson-sq On Thursday, the 26th ultia (secretly taking with him thi saying that he should renv hour; but he has not since after his departure, it was c son had entered a. private ro draws.; three 101. country b whole, of which metes when Messrs. Barclay and Co. th 4 PRICE OF STOCE Bk. Stock 270 k 270 Reduced 78it 77; 78 Cons. 797{ Navy 108iiil 4 per Ct. 95} 96 Si per Ct. 8714, PRICES OF GI Portugal Cold in Coin, per Foreign Cold in Bars New Doubloons New Dollars - - - 111011 ViATILIt at LOUDON bkruing Aftromou M 1164: I'rinte.l at .! puhli l'l4ce, 're: , . , . . \ . 01 ' ) 1: 1 i I OM 4 and t] to an serval dente to the two c 'the a posed then ' whicl Jed,: them 1 first I • troub pleas; do, a lords] He (1' that 1 was i 1 i I Aware then ) sally tamer 1 . any t mean count . • barbs •• vestit / imagi • the I; -,„ thoul He ca i . them he cc men 1 I ' he sh were i allser letter - t i partii know 1 I make messo high Anot the s. fore ; gave appe , point but consi 1 4 i ' I. his 1( cons, ings. get .1 Ran( o • was cone 1 woul t ' Y matt mad min; shou o 4 oche 1► ream migl • no w ' with iI I gent w corn ' - He t agai then :nig o• thou 1 . law, ( how but 4 that had ' , deci rest, tifia in t] as t 1 lent . • corn fort not pris cipl . enfc the yen • try, 1 pun I disi one hin. r 1 • I ten( i JUT fro: w 1 ;1 . sel 1 • I .1 fill • All Co ( • in. Mr i, .1. as as as wil ii c 41 sto the ~ 1 wl; of • re: o . bo. we I ! wa im pro i[ I ha ?i . rei Is ge ad qu on lON ' \