Star. — London, England, 1830-07-23 00:00:00

it. in the.,ls.h year of his reign, had granted a charter to this Nl rough, ordaining, that the mayor, bailiffs, and burgesses of that borough might, from time to time, elect as many as to them might seem expedient to be burgesses of the said borough, that the mayor and common council might have full power to triune laws, according to their discretion, tor the good rule and govetntuent of the burgesses, and of the inhabitants of the borough ; that this charter was duly accepted, and that on tile Ist of December, 167.,. the mayor, bailiffs, and burgesses of the said borough, did make a by-law, to avoid popular confusion and disorder at the election of burgesses ; that the mayor and common council should, in future, by themselves, and without the assistance of the rest of the burgesses, elect such per. sons to be burgesses as to them should seem meet ; that this by-law had ever since been observed in that borough, and was still in NH tome, and that the defendant was admitted to the office of burgess to cousequence of having been duly elected according to such by. To this plea there was a general demurrer on the part of the .tlator, rejoinder by the defendant, that the charter of Charles 11. was not duly accepted by the corporation as to that part of it which ordained that the mayor, bailiffs, and burgesses, might be able to elect so many burgesses as to them should seem most expedient, out of persons inhabiting or not inhabiting within the borough. To this rejoinder there was a special demurrer, and the case corneal to be argued in Michaelmas Term, 1824, in the Court of King's Bench, wnieu gave judgment fur the Crown on the demurrer to the two tirst pleas, and for the defendant upon the demurrer to the third plea. From this decision the relator brought a writ of error to the t loose of horde, where it was argued in this session. Lord TENTSRDEN (who presided this day on the woolsack, in the absence of the Lord Chancellor,) in giving judgment, observed. that this case embraced two legal questions. The first was, whe ther it was competent for a corporation to accept a charter in part, And reject it as to another part ? There were some expressions made by judges in former times, favouring the competency of cor porations to accept charters partially, but latterly the judges were of a different opinion, for they contended that it would be the same as to accept a gift and deny an obligation for it. The other question was, as to a by-law made by the corporation, confining the right of electing members into that bo dy to a select class. On this question there was a difference of opinion among the judges of the Court of King's Bench, two of them being in favour of the validity of such by-law, and one of them against it. He himself (Lord Tenterden) entertained some doubts on the question at that period, and conse quently abstained from giving any opinion at all. The subject was subsequently referred by their lordships to all the judges, among whom there was also a difference of opinion, but the majority were in favour of the judgment of the Court of King's Bench.— It was admitted that this corporation had the power which was in cident to all corporations by common right to make by-laws for the good government of the borough; but as the charter had confined the right of making such by-laws to the mayor and common council, the question was, whether it did not take away from the body at large the power of making such by-laws ? and the by-law by whist the election in question took place was made by the body at large. It was contended by some of the judges that it was not competent tor the corporation to make laws that would narrow the number of the electors by taking the power of election from the general body and giving it to a select body ; but a considerable majority of the Judges were of opinion that it was not inconsistent with the charter, or with justice or expediency, for the corporation at large to make such a by-law. In this opinion he himself (Lord Tenterden) con. cared, and from some conversation which he had with the hoed Chancellor on the subject, he could say that he was of the same opinion. Thaefore in conformity with the opinion of the Lord Chancellor, and of the majorithe Judges, he thought that the by.law was valid. His Lordship then moved that the judgment of the court below should be affirmed, which was agreed to. LA W RPOHTS. VICE-CHANCELLOR'S COURT, JULY T 2. JCDOMENT. - MONMOUTH/HINT CANAL COMPANY V. HZ CHARLES MORGAN AND OTHERS. His Honour the VICE-CHANCELLOR gave judgment this morn ng in this case. The bill was Sled by the Monmouthshire Canal Company, for the purpose of obtaining an injunction to restrain Sir Charles Morgan and others, composing the Tredegar Iron Com pany. from using a certain tram road which they had made parallel with a road of the same description belonging to the Monmouthshire Canal Company, who contended that by the Act of Parliament by which they were constituted, Sir Charles Morgan and the other de. tendants were bound to use their tram road and to pay the certain tulle for doing so. The road in question was situated east and west of a place called Pillgwenly. By the Act of Parliament, con. 'touting the Monmouthshire Canal Company, the 321 of George the Third, the company were autbodsed to make a can al and train road from certain places, and powers were given for raising the sum of 120,0001. to carry the purposes of the Act into effect ; but in case that sum should not be sufficient, liberty was given to the Company to raise among themselves a further sum of lio,oolll. After several works had been executed under the Act of the 32d of George 111. another Act was passed In the 37th of licorge 111. which took notice of the Company's having expended the sum of 120,0001. of the agreement to raise a further sum of 00,0002 and empowered the Company to raise a further sum of 34,1;001. to complete their works. A certain Company, called the Tredegar Iron Company, after a short lapse of time, was formed; the individuals composing which were also members of a Company called the Sirhowy Train Company, and defendants in this suit. An Act of the 42d of Geo. 111. empowered the r‘irhowy Tram Road Com pany to commerce a tram-road, which they were to may down to a certain point called the Nine Mile Point; the Monmouthshire Canal Company, by the same Act, were authorised to continue the tram-road to one side of Tredegar Park, the residence of Sir C. Morgan ; Sir Charles himself was to carry it to a certain point; the Monmouthshire Canal Company were again to take part in the road, which was to be completed by the Sirhowy Tram-road Company, with power to make branches. The defendants, :for the purpose of evading the payment of tolls to the Monmouthshire Canal Com pany, had made tram roads parallel with theirs, which the Mon. mouthshire Canal Company considered they bad no right to do. Now the Court apprehended, when an Act of Parliament had creating a body corporate for a given purpose, and had authM ied sed certain sums to be raised for effecting that pur pos e, that it was not competent for the persons so forming that body, having ex-, pended the whole of their funds, to make new works by means of their own money. Lord Eldon had come to a similar determine. non in the case of the Regent's Canal Company. Upon the whole, therefore, it appeared to the Court, that it was best for it not to in terfere in the present case at this moment, when the cause came re gularly on for hearing the rights of all parties would be properly de cided ; his Honour, therefore, refused to grant the injunction, and directed the costs of the present application to be costs in the cause. BUCKINGHAM ASSIZES. TRIAL OF SIMON BYI - TAI OR KILLING ALEXAN DER BI , KAY IN A PRIZE FIGHT. . This trial, which has excited an extraordinary interest in the counties of Buckingham and Northampton, as well as generally throughout the country, among the patrons of manly sports, came on at thew Assizes at four o'clock yesterday evening. A bill of in. dictmcnt had been preferred against Simon Byrne, as principal • and against Tom Cribb, George Cooper, Tom Reynolds, and Re u ben Marten, as accessaries in the death of the Scotch Champion, before the Grand Jury, on Tuesday ; and, after considerable discussion, we understand, among the Magistrates assembled, was returned 66 a true bill." Another indictment was prepared against individuals of the highest respectability ; but this, for the want of evidence, was abandoned, and is not likely to be renewed. From a desire on the part of the Learned Judge to give Byrne's accomplices an opportunity of surrendering to take their trials, the case was deferred to the last, and then came on at the late hour we have mentioned ; but t his indulgence was not attended with the desired effect, as no person but Byrne appeared at the bar. The Court was crowded throughout the day almost to suffoca tion, and the galleries were filled with men of the highest respects. bility in the county. Tile case having been at length called, Byrne was placed at the bar ; he was attired in a suit of black, and conducted - himself with I becoming decorum. The Indictment, charging him with Killing and Slaying Alexander Bl‘Kay, in the Parish of Hanslope, on the 21 of' , June, was then read. It comprised nine counts, all stating the crime differently. The prisoner pleaded Not Guilty. The Jury was next called. There were several challenges, both on the part of the prisoner, and the prosecution ; but at length twelve unobjectionable men were sworn, and the trial pro ceeded. Mr. Andrews and Mr. Painter conducted the prosecution, and Mr. Serjeant Storks, Mr. Kelly, and Mr. S. Taylor, appeared for the prisoner. Mr. ANDRIEWS opened the case with great clearness and impar. uality. die observed, that in addition to Symon Byrne, Thomas Cribb, George Cooper, Thomas Reynolds, and Reuben Martin, were included in this Indictment; but the latter persons not having surrendered, they of course could not be tried on the present occa. sion. It was intended to have indicted individuals of much higher rank, who had been participauws in the offence, and it was not the fault of the prosecutors that this intention had not been carried into effect. The result of the present proceeding would prove how far such a step might hereafter be considered expedient. The Learned Gentleman then proceeded to state the facts, which subsequently came out In evidence. George Ledbetter, examined by Mr. PAINTER—I am an off. cer of Bow.strat ; I know Simon Byrne; I do pot know Alexan der higlay ; I saw Simon Byrne fighting with a paean who was called Alexander or Sandy M'Kay, on the 2d of June last, in the neighbourhood of ilanslope, in this county ; I was scot dOWD by Lord Euston to assist Mr. Sent, the cotninissloner of crown lands, to prevent a fight taking place on those lands; the fight did take place elsewhere ; I saw part of it—about the middle ; I remained about the ring nearly the whole time; I was there when the fight finished ; I saw the prisoner fighting with another man in the ring; that man I undentood to be Als taer ; I did not pay par ticular attention, I was looking altar another object ; I saw the men strike each other ; I cannot say I saw M'Kay knocked to the pound. Cross. examined by Sergeant Caoss—My object was only to keep them off the crown lands, and the Duke of Grafton'; estate ; I did not go to see the fight. but to discharge my duty ; I never saw the other man called tl'Kay before be entered the ring; I heard the man in question called Sandy M'Kay, or M'Kay, since and before the fight, and heard him called Alexander bl‘Kay in the country, and in the neighbourhood of London since ; never heard him ca ll ed Alexander before the fight. Re-examined—When 1 beard him called Sandy, I understood it meant Alexander. Thomas Evans, examined by Mr. ANDRICWII-1 am a constable of Hanslope, in this county ; on the 2d June last I was called by the high constable of Stoney Stratford and Newport Pagnell to at tend at the Watts' Arms, Hanslope, to assist to prevent a certain tight, which was to take place in the neighbourhood; I attended the Watts' Arms for some time; there were a great many persons there —I did not see the prisoner there; went from thence to Hartwell, in Northamptonshire ; saw a great number of persons assembled ; and saw two men lighting; could not swear the prisoner was one of those men; saw the other man before, said heard him called by the name of Sandy Mglay, but not in his own presence ; since then heard him called Alexander M'Kay; whilst the men were fight ing, I did not hear the names called out; one of the men fighting ' I had seen at the Watts' Arms—he was called Sandy 111 , 1 Cay ; the other was called Simon Byrne ; they knocked each other about ; I waited till the fight was over ; th fought rounds ;in the last three or four rounds, the man call ed M'Kay appeared very much beat ; in the last round M'Kay was knocked down, or fell down, I believe; did not exactly notice what occa. stoned the fall ; he appeared quite helpless, and could not stand; he fell on bin back ; I did not s e how ; he was then taken to the Watts' Arms ; I did not see him any more till be got to the Watts' Arms; at the Watts' Anna I saw Mr. Ileygate, the surgeon, and two men that I beard called Thee. Cribb and George Cooper; I did not notice any other person; I did not hear them talk; I saw the man called M`Kay afterwards in bed, when Mr. Thomas Heygate was with him ; 1 did not hear him spoken to. Anne Stanley was called, bat did not answer. Richard Monday, a barber, at Hanslope, deposed that he was at the fight on the 2d of June; saw two men fighting, they were called Sandy M'Eay and Simon Byrne; had seen the person called Sandy M'Kay the night before; could not swear to the prisoner ; the hair of the men was short ; would not be certain that it was shorter than that of the prisoner at the bar; had cut the man called Sandy MiKay's hair some hours before the fight ; I cut it short ; I saw the body of the man whose hair I had cut afterwards; there were bruises about the shoulder; there was a mark of a name on his right arm—it was " Alexander M'Kay ;^ it was done with gun.powder. John Field, of Sherrington—Was at the fight at Hartwell on the 2d of June; saw a great many people standing about ; a fight took plea between two men, who were called Simon Byrne and Sandy 'Kay; saw blows st ruck or exchanged; saw blood from the ef. frets of the blows; they continued to stand up after the blows ; there were several rouas...that is, they stood till one or other or both were down, when they got up and stood again; In the last three or four rounds 'M'Kay seemed to have his face cuts good deal ; in the last round M'Kay fell, front a blow as I thought— apparently to me he fell sideways ; his hands were well up in a fighting attitude when he fell ; when he was hit his bands dropped, and he fell; did not get near enough to see him after ; the blow spu.ed to be given by the man the called Simon Byrne ; saw the prisoner at Newport of the fight ; a week after. Cross-examined—.l never saw Byrne that I know of, in my life; I know nothing about fighting; I cannot say whether it was a fair fight or otherwise; I am no judge of those matters, nor do I wish to be. Benjamin Wilford—Lives at Newport Pagnell ; saw a fight on the 2d of June, near Hanslope, between two men called Simon Byrne and Al'lCay ; the prisoner was one of those men. Cross-examined—Was a painter; was before the Magistrates when an examination took place; was summoned to attend; the summons wu signed ; did not bring it with him; went before the Rev. Mr. Prettyman; that wu more than a week after the fight; would not swear bow near he was to the men fighting; supposed it to be about thing roods, but would not swear to the exact distance; had business that way, and thought he might as well go and see the fight; bad been at a fight before ; did not profess to be a judge of fighting. lilr.James Heygate, a surgeon, living at Hanslope, deposed, that on the 2d June last he was in th at village; did not see the prisoner on that day ; saw a man called M'Kay; he rather thought he heard him called Alexander M'Kay; he saw a fight in the parish of Hartwell, between two men, whom he heard called Simon Byrne and Alex. 31'1Eay ; was quite in the back ground, but saw part of the fight, the first part; did not see the latter part; the two men were fighting with their fists, and striking each other; they were occasion ally down; when the fight was over he went up to M`Kay, and found him insensible; he bled him upon the field, and then had him con. veyed to a kind of break or carriage, and from thence to the Watts' Arms, Hanslope; he accompanied him in the break; considered that the insensibility was produced by some injury to the head. Whilst going along the road, he kept his fingers in the man's mouth to prevent suffocation ; attended him occasionally till the time of his death ; he died the next day about nine o'clock at n4ht ; afterwards examined his head; found a contusion on the left side of the head; on cutting through the scalp, and after removing the scull-cap and dividing the dun; mater, he discovered a considerable effusion of blood ; the brain was otherwise healthy ; the brain was evidently compressed ; there was more water in the right ventricle than the left; there might be three or four table spoons of blood effused; the contusion of the brain of the deceased, he thought, had been produced by falls or blows; the effusion of blood was the cause of death ; considered that the insensibility on the ground was caused by concussion or compression of the brain ; had seen M'Kay before the fight, he was then in good health. Cross-examined—Was on the ground at the commencement of 1 the fight ; heard the man called Alexander bliKay the night be. fore the fight; wentato the fight to render professional assistance if it should be wanted; being near his residence he went o. fessionally, and stopped till after the fight was over; he m ig ht have been forty yards from the men fighting; was on horse back; the fight took plea about a mile and a half ikon his house; saw the fight, though not well, occasionally; never was at a prize.fight 'before ; could not say whether it was a fair fight or not, as he knew nothing about fighting ; the road from the 1 I I ring to Hanslope was occasionally a very rough one ; the I break was a long carriage --could not say whether it went on springs—it was easy ; saw Jil'Kay put into the 'break, and saw him taken out; when they bad carried him halfway up stairs, he saw that they carried him heels foremost ; they had to carry him through a narrow passage and up a narrow staircase ; could not say who carried the man ; he protested strongly against the mode in which the man was carried; it was not his assistants who carried the man ; he protested strongly against his being carried in so hn. proper &manner ; they had then no alternative, and they were obliged to carry him up to the room in that position; he did not wish 'the man to be brought down again; ill'Hay was a very large muscular man—a magnificent man ;he was taller and bigger than the prisoner; excitement would produce a rupture of a vessel on the brain, or any strong individual exertion ; a man wrestling or stalk. fag a blow himself, and miming, might produce a rupture of a blood vessel, and decidedly more so if accompanied by great mental excitement ; a fall or blow would have produced the contusion he described ; more probably a fall ; the contusion was the left side of the hea ; if that fall was occasioned by missing a blow, or any other cause, it would have produced decidedly the same effect ; the whole, excitement, fall, and altogether, might co-operate to pro. I duce the effusion of bloid ; if a man received a violent blow half a hour before he went to fight, and that blow was followed up by ex. citement and exertion,that would decidedly have tended to produce a rupture,of a blood essel on the brain. Re.einiroined—A vast excitement would produce effusion of blood, but not contusion ; striking a blow and missing, when in a state of excitement, might produce a rupture of a blood vessel; the effusion of blood came from an artery of considerable size ; could not say whether it came from the main body of the artery or not. Examined by Mr. Justice Lirrt.rnaLz—Could not, of his own knowledge, say that experienced pugilists aimed blows, and missed them. _ . . .. --- Mr. Sergeant Stow observed, that this was the fact in a case tried in that Court between the two Eton boys. Mr. Justice LITTLICDALZ—They were not professed pugilists. Mr. William Stowe, a surgeon, melding at Buckingham, had practised surgery for twenty years ; has written upon poison ; had paid attention to cases of violent death, in the course of his ordinary make. Those occasions had been frequent; from the evidence he han hemd that day he was of opinion the death of Iti , Kay had been occasioned by blows, or injuries received in the fight; he was confirmed in the opinion from what he heard fall from the medical witness. He thought this particularly from hearing that the Inter. nal injury was connected with the external Injury. The same part of the brain was affected, and the etil elan of blood occasioned death. Cross.esamisted by Mr. S. Taxaoa—Wu not present upon the post mortem examination of the deceased, his evidenc e w as ( min d e d upon what he had heard that day ; could not say whether the death was occasioned by falls or blows ; did not to say that if the death of the man was occasioned by a a an thst tall might not have been obtained by his own exertion in attempting to throw his antagonist ; such a fall, if it took place, he would consider as occasioned by the deceased himself and not by the pd. sena ; be only spoke generally of injuries received; it might happen that a man received a blow not mortal in itself, yet that blow, by his own subsequent exertion and excitement might become mortal; a blow received, not fatal in itself, might afterwards become fatal by ill-treatment. A contusion in the bead, nit aortal in itself, might be made mortal by subsequent M-treatment, which would not other wise have proved so. Many Woo= had osionoil In wbkk as, rendered insensible by a blow, bad recovered. I'llsoolowessio Webs have been rendered fatal by after ill-treatment Of Ilkinalreema. I There could net have been a worse mode of troolnield WI a man, whoa had been rendered insensible by a blow IN a 1111, than to carry his up a steep staircase with his bead down, as deathbed by Mr. Hey gate ; should say such was very Improper treatment. It might cer tainly have been worse; a man might - naive a blow, the effects of which might be latent for a time, and subsequent exertions make It visible. In re.examination, be said it was possible a blow, not fatal in itself, might be rendered heal by the man being carried up stairs with his legs first, in the manner described ; as a matter of opinion, he should consider that the cause width produced insensibility in the deceased in the ring, had been the cause of death, and not the carrying up stairs ; had known many instances in which insensibi lity produced by contusion had not bt• followed by death. James Cox proved, that the fight took place within 140 roods of the boundary of the County of Buckiagham. (The Statute allows 600 yards). M. Thomas Heygate (brother to the gentleman already ex amined) frequently attended the person called M'Hay, at the Watts' Anna, at Handope ; was present at the examination after death; en opening the head observed an elusion of blood upon the brain ; he considered this had been occeelened by a fall or external injury on the head; the cause of death was the effusion of blood; was at the fight; blows were est:hefted ; saw the last round, but did not see what month with distinctness; after the last round the man was Insensible ; he considered inmesibility had been produced by a fall or a blow. Cress.examined by Mr. SILL!—Did not see any particular fall or blow; a man might be rendered insensible without that blow being m ortal; a blow. in itself not mortal, might be rendered so by carrying the man along $ rough road, and up a steep staircase with his heels up and his dead down; this treatment was as bad as it could be short of actual violence ; an effusion of blood might a bly be caused by such treatment, and more especially if it wasy , tzeata y, large person, such as M'Kay was, who had bow thus The case for the prosecution was hem closed; when Mr. Serjeant STORKS submitted that there was no case to :: the Jury. The proof of death having been canoed by the was as necessary in an indictment for manslaughter as in murder, end here there was no proof that the prisoner bad occasioned the death of the man called M‘Kay. Mr. ANDREWS objected se any spa& en the occosion, and called upon Mr. Serjeant Storks to mew Mies& to his simple objection. Mr. Serr ui as rant STORKS was a roue of pointing out to his Lordship t there wno pest t the blows or falls given by the prisoner had been the cause of death, and hence there was no fact as him to go to the in,,. regardedr.ustice LITTLEDALN observed, that MIR sispposiz e this to be the case, yet, that it had been decided, that although blows or injuries proved to have been given were net be diminishes mor tal, yet, if from subsequent ill treatment the piety died, the who inflicted the injury, and who was fits pdedpal cause of the fatal result, bad been held to be guilty of murder, of man slaßghter, according to the degree of crime proved. Mr. 812jOUN STORES submitted that there was no evidence that the concussion en the brain had been produced by the act of the prisoner. Mr. S. TAYLOR also submitted that there was no proof of the identity of the deceased. There was no evidence that he was the individual Alexander lll`Kay described in the indictment, although' proof to that effect might have been had; and if Simon Byrne should now be acquitted under this indictment, he could not here after, if again indicted, plead mare/vie acquit. Mr. ANDREWS contended that the evidence of identity was quite as su ffi cient, and that there wno doubt the prisoner wou ld be entitled to the full benefit of acquittal, if such a verdict should be returned. In this opinion the Learned Judge concurred. The name on the arm was a sufficient proof that the dead man was called Alexander 114‘1(ay. The prisoner was then called upon for his defence, but he declined making any observation. Witnesses were then called in his behalf. George Pacey lived at Castle Thorp ; he knew a man who was called 'Kay;M maw him fight; saw him before the fight took place go from a clew near the Watts' Arms; be got over a pie in going from the close, and fell on the ground on some rough stones; the gate flew open as he was putting his hands on it to get over; he fell with his head en the stones; he got up, however, and then went on to the fight ; he helped M'Kay out of the break, and as slated in carrying him up stairs; he was a tall heavy man. Cross.examhsed—The gate was a common gate, not three feet high. Mr. Thomas Spring—Keeps the Castle Tavern, Holborn, and is acquainted with the prisoner; had known several challenges sent to theprisoner through she medium of Belie Life in Doan, sad otherwise, to fight MiKay : the prisoner repeatedly expressed a re. luctance to fi ght him. Knew the prisoner for two cars;y he was a l good-hearted, kind, humane man—remarkable for his geod-nature sod kindness of disposition. Crose-esamined—ls not a prise-flghter ; did not light Nest more than once ; was not at the fight which took piece on the 2d of June. George Ledbetter, the Bow-street Ofßeer, was recalled s—Knew the prisoner two years • his character for honesty and good-temper was unimpeackd i h e was a very humane, kind man, and his cam. pan was courted on that account. There were several other witnesses In attendance, but the Counsel for the prisoner considered they had shown enough to prove that he was reluctant to fight, and that his character was that of a kind. hearted and humane man. The Learned Junes remarked, that many men might be all that Byrne had been deocribed out of the ring, and yet in combat might assume a very opposite character. His LORDSHIP then proceeded to sum up the evidence with great perspicuity and impartiality . With regard to the proof of the iden teltie,rsatt the cause of death, those were matters fairly foe the con. nof the Jury. On the litter point, the testimony of the surgeons was such as to lead to a belief, that by possibility the prisoner had not inflicted the actual blow or fall by which the de. ceased bad been deprived of life ; but if the jury were satisfied that he was the primary cause which led, under the ciraamstances de scribed, to the loss of life, the proof of the crime imputed to him by the indictment was complete. The Jury, after about ten minutes' consideration, announced that they bad agreed on theft verdict; and on the question be put by' the Clerk of the Arraigns as to what that verdict was t they pro. flounced with an audible voice—" Not Guilty." This verdict was received with the loudest and most boisterous acclamations, which it required some exertions on the part of the officers in Court to suppress, and which were warmly animadverted upon by the Learned Judge, as most indecorous. The prisoner was then arraigned on the Coroner's 'Dacia*" but no evidence having been offered, on that he was acquitted ah" and immediately quitted the dock amidst the warm congretulations of his friends. The whole town was in ecatacies for the remSlollllr of the night, and the feeling of triumph universal. The proceedings lasted till nearly nine o'clock, and it is under. stood that no future attempt will be made to indict or bring to trial the other parties included in the indictment with Byrne, or to prefer any fresh Indictments. No expence was spared in defending Byrne on this occasion. No 1 less than five solicitors were engaged directly or indirectly, and 12 1 witnesses were taken down erom London, as well as those from other quarters, who were supported for three days at the White 1 Hart, and other ions in Buckingham, at a heavy charge. • - POLICE REPORTS. Mair.r.o-aoxis--Wednesday night, FriliimaSheen, a young lad, was cheesed before Mr. Rawtiggsow with picking the pocket of Lieut..OPL Ste Blehard Jackson, Ban. Sir Richard mated, that as he was walking, about six o'clock that evening, from Berkeley-square, to his own residence in Mode street, Manchester-square, and was very near it, be was spoken to by a person named Roberts, who asked him if he had lost any thing ? He felt, and missed his silver snuff-box from his cost pocket, and Roberts took him back to Manchester-square, and pointed out the prisoner, and he proved to be the thieL It appeared by the evidence of Thomas Roberts, a painter, who lives at No. 14, Bloomsbury-square, that be saw the prisoner fol. low the baronet very closely up Duke-street, and saw him in Man chester-square put his hand into the baronet's pocket, and turn back. He went up to the bonnet as quickly as he could, and said, " Sir, you have bees robbed g" and when they returned to the square, the prisoner was sitting upon the stone basis of the iron railing which encloses the centre, looking at the snuff-box. Mr. Roberts tried to lay hold of him, but he threw down the box and ran away, and he was pursued and taken. Mr. RAWLIKSOW sent him to Newgate for trial. Yesterday mooning Zlisabeah Pugh, a smart, respoctable•looking young dressmaker, was charged with felony. Francis Monk, of Drronshirs-Placos tailors roLoolootod to Mr , Rossiya that, as he was returning hero* late es Wednesday t he fell in company with the prisoner, and finding her an companion, he suede up his mind to ass her sale boa. took him to the door of a very respeetabk house in Upper Yeek-street, Brymuston-square, and said, " fiord night." " Oh, don't my good night yet," be replied ; " come and have something to drink with mr" Sbe consented, and they went to a pnblicAmme in the neighbourhood, and had some brandy and water. He then her to eleg ins wit s t him, and for that purpose he to o k her persuaded d to one of that i plame in Dean-street, Lisson•grore called by _the keepers of tbem " Company-houses," and t h e ; went to bed. He bed melt rends in his pocket, and to secure them he put his pantaloons miler his pillow, and she told him she must get up early, for she had $ good deal of work in hand. H e awoke at half past five, ad his companion was gene ; and work than Mot, his money was gem; his pantaloons had been d rain , hem underneath his pillow, end the pockets had been rifled. H e ipst up and went to her season In Upper York-street. Mr. Whi tt . Md. the pespleMe of tbe bone, said she was there, but r e f use d ha shaiselen, and he meld not obtain it until he called in the ambemais of a pellse emetabie. Mr. Whitehead then called th e down hem her mnammt. She at find denied the ch arge t r u i rZwards she hidsed ha reticule, and took out a 51. bad, note, a sovereign, _and some ;diver ; and said she took it from the prosecutor in a lark, knowing he had the means of finding her. Mr. Hosting asked Mr. Whitehead why in the first instance he refused admissioa to the prosecutor ? " I would velum it to your Worship, at such as unseasonable hour (he replied), unless you produced authority to enforce it . He said, she came to be his lodger in the character of a married a u . man. She had lately been in the Queen's Lying-in Hospital, and was entered there es such, and be bad a satisfactory account of her from her last lodgings. Mr. ilosetws asked her if she had any 1 , 17 to ? She told him, her motive was good ; she not the most remote idea of committing a robbery; ler prosecutor expressed himselt pleased with her company, and made a proposal that they should go abroad together, and she took his messy to try his sincerity, and secure mother interview with him, for It would of course bring him to her lodgings. Mr. Hoaxing said he had no alternative ; the charge against her was fully made out, and be must end her to Newgate for trial. She cried bitterly, and appeared to faint, and Heys, the gaoler, carried her to the cell. SCINTILLA. SOCIABILITY.—Lord Dorset said of a very dull, but very good-tempered fellow, “ It's a thousand pities that man is not ill-natured, that one might kick him out of company." SHAKSPRARZ ILLUSTRATZD.—" They eay the owl was a bakerisds,uhter," a passage in Hamlet, is founded on an early legend brough t to light by Mr. Douce. The substance of it is, that • baker's ughter, who refused bread to our tiinvzona, was by him transformed into an owl, as a punishment for her impiety. - - EXCOKMUNICATION.—The Emperor Frederick op posed the ambitious projects of the Court of Rome, under the pon. Meats of Gregory IX. and Innocent IV. The thunder of the Vatican was let loose against his Imperial Majesty, end he was anathematized. A curate of Paris arose in his pulpit with the bull of excenmaunkation in his hand, and thus addressed the congrege. Lion You know, my brethren, that I am ordered to proclaim an exotenmnnicadon against the Emperor Frederick. lam igno. rant of the motive. All that I know is, that there exists a great difference and irreconcileabk hatred between this Prince and the Roman Pontiff, but (ion alone knows which is in the wrong therefore* I excommunicate him who injures the other, and absolve him who suffers." THZ TERAPIII/111141 was a kind of image which the magicians pretended by their art to endue with the power of ying. Henn the scriptural passage, " The Teraphim hare sPproortsvanity." (Zech. x. 2.) The following is said to have been the method of making the Teraphim :—They killed a man that was a first-born son, and wrung off his bead, and seasoned it with salt and spices, and wrote upon a plate of gold the name of an unclean spirit, and put it under the head on a wall, and lighted candles be. fore it and worshipped it. La COLON BIN s.—The environs of Florence owe their beauty to a race of farmers who are industrious and liberal. On Easter Eve 1 remarked a crowd of these farmers collected in the Cathedral of Florence, to watch the motions of an artificial dove, which, just as the Priests began " Gloria in Excels*" burst away from the choir, glided along the nave on a rope, set lire to a combustible car in the street, and then flew whizzing back to its post! The eyes of every peasant were wistfully ?fretted on the sacred puppet, and expressed a deep interest in its flight; for all their hops of a future harvest depended on its safe return to the altar. This little anecdote may not be uninteresting at the present moment, as it is evidently the origin of Gyngell's Dove. AERIAL BOOTH, OR Houst IN A TREE.—In the garden belonging to the Gardener's Society in Ileuriesten, the pre. sent tenant has, with considerable ingenuity, erected a kind of serial mansion in the midst of the branches of an old Bean tree, which is furnished with seats sufficieit to accommodate twelve per. son. The view from it is extensive and very picturesque ; dr. bracing a portion of seven counties, viz. Sdrling, Linlithgow, Fife, Kinross, Clackmanan, Perth, and Dumbarton. Among the many towns, hamlets, villas, rinks, and demesnes, which adorn the landscape, the residences of Lords Dundee, Dunmore, Elgin, Keith, Elphinstene, and Moray, are pre-eminently distinguished. The prospect is bounded on the north by the Oehil Hills—by the elevated lands of Fife on the east, with the tows and spires of Dunfermline rising Into view, and rendered venerable from being the place where the remains of the renowned King Robert Bruce were deposited--on the west, the prospect is bounded by the lofty summits of Benledi and Benvoirllch. In short, a richer di,. play of picturesque and finely diversified scenery is seldom to be met with among the more renowned of our Scottish views, than that which is obtained from the Gardener's tree in Laurieston. ANECDOTE OF SIR THOMAS LAWRENCE.—ThO father of this great artist kept the Bear Inn, at Devises. His rul ing passioo was polite literature. When any guest arrived at the Black Bear, Instead of finding a bill of fare which might tempt the satiated, or gratify the famished traveller, they were surprised by the figure of Mr. Lawrence, who, entering the room with a folio Shaker. pears or Milton tinder his arm, would expatiate with energy upon the talents of his son Tommy, and request the guests to let the child recite to them a passage of poetry. Lord and Lady Kenyon (about fifteen years before the former attained the Peerage), arrived one evening at Devises, where they were resolved to stay for the night. The severe barrister's nature re. quired from an innkeeper the homage due to a satrap, and he wanted a good supper, a good bed, and a bill either so small es to gratify his penurious habits, or so large as to enable him to dispute the amount The lady was in an angry mood at being stopped at Devizes on her short career of fashion to Bath. At an unfortunate juncture of altercation, in which the barrister most probably was out-argued and out-talked by the lady, Mr. Law. fence entered, his eye In a " fine frenzy rolling," and his arms come , the one a folio Shaltspeare, and the other a Milton. He Z gh : g to expatiate upon the genius of his beautiful bo),.— who, " although only in his fifth year could rehearse them poetry or speeches, or bike their likenesses." lady Kenyon's vexation and anger at so untimely an interruption, and at the pertinacity of the father, were at their height, when the door opened, and tiler, into the room, straddling upon a stick, the most lovely and :Prr e i r te e l child that they bed ever beheld. His beautiful face was flushed with exercise, and neither she nor her husband felt inclined to stop his gambols. As soon as the boy could be got to stand still, Mrs. Kenyon took him in her arms, and asked him if be could take the likeness of that gentleman, to the future Lord Chief Justice ? The child, look. an impatient earnestness at Mr. Kenyon, exclaimed, es, that I can and very like too." Whilst materials were sent for, the child had resumed his play; but when all was prepared, throwing his little legs ftom over his stick, be was lifted on the ta. ble, and seated in an arm chair, from which height he took Mr. Kenyon's likeness, with a rapidity, a spirit, and a correctness truly astonishing. The child was impatient to be gone ' • but Mr. Ken. yon, coaxing him, asked if he could take the liken''s of the lady The boy exclaimed, " Yes, that I can, if she will only turn her side to me, for her fees is not straight" This produced a burst of lau ghter, for Lady Kenyoo, by some accident, had a slight curvature of the nose. Tlsescilld took the profile. Twenty-five yeas after, an old friend of Lady Kenyon saw this portrait, and could distinctly trace a likeness to what her Ladyship had been at the period when it was taken. The drawing was about five inches broad, delicately shaded, but with the feebleness and indecision of a child, except in the lines forming the contour of the countenance.— Jwoenile Library,.—(Life of Sir Thomas Lawrence.) BIRTH& On Thursday, the 22d imt. in 6t. James's-place, the lady of T. W. Beaumont, Esq. M.P. of a daughter.—The 22d inst. the lady of W. Pots, Esq. of a son.—The 21st inst. the lady of C. Ber keley, Esq. of Ilentagu-place, Russell-aquare. of a daughter..—Tbe 20th inst. the lady of T. Radford, Esq. of Ingham Derby shire, Oa daughter. MARRIED. The 110th last. at St. Mary's, Newington, Dr. 'Lee, of Golden. square. to Matilda, fourth daughter of Dr. Hall, of Newington.— The 110th inst. at Et. Andrew's, Holborn, Mr. E. Clarke, Fleet. street, to Ann, only daughter of Mr. Kumar; of Lamb's Conduit. street. DIED. The 17th Inst. after a very severe and lasi Ilbwas, Filmer, teeter of Lower Heyford, Onbilebime s b the late Rev. Sir It.. Fibber, Bart. of Let %Nis The nth inst. Mrs. Tebbut. of Limebarase. seed hut. Mary, Want daughter of Mr. and Mrs. ' Lower Thanieustreet. Lowoeu e Meted sod POlobed by Jouw UM Onus 14Q.1, notou-pbee,Teryle (suss, the Rev. W. he was third son of a peek In Kent.— p,—The 21st R. A. Aytwin, of oreity at the Stan. Dar. ~~.