The Sun. — London, England, 1829-12-10 00:00:00

struction of his childten, would be a valuable memorial. We can conceive such a productio;► communicating the successive triumphs of the writer, in some such way as this:—" At the Old Bailey this Sessions I conducted a prosecution s► 4 ainst a man accused of a rape. I knew that two medical men had maintained that the pri soner could not be guilty, and I took - care that b they should be subpoenaed for the prosecution— t►ot, you may be sure, that I should examine them, but that I might keep them from toy op ponent. I was for some time uneasy lest the Counsel for the prisoner should venture to call them, but at length I had the satisfaction of seeing his fear prevail, and I obtained a verdict Some time afterwards I saw the prisoner exe cuted. He was a handsome young man. No hero was ever more proud on bringing down his antagonist than I was. What I would have given that my poor father had lived to witness such a blessing on his endeavours for Inc! . . . I this Sessions succeeded in obtaining the acquit tal of a felon who had committed a highway rob bery. I had before befriended him. He had ample means, and by my advice the principal witness was got hold of, so that an acquittal followed of course My fortune was now made. My reputation was such, that when a prisoner saw in appear against him, he gave himself up for lost ; and, on the other hand, the prif,oners for whom I appeared were full of etv:oidence. I was never so well pleased as when I was oppeistd to an innocent man. Confiding in his innocence, such a man is often taken un awares by the preparations against him, whereas a rogue is generally wary and suspicious." This i 3 but a very faint approximation to the reality. Is it not monstrous that a trial should he in this manner a mere strategical operation of the Coun sel on the two sides ? The Magistrates of Hatton-garden were aware of the nature of Mr. Whitmore's evidence ; but the function of these Magistrates was at an end when the committal for trial was . signed. The Judge knows no more of the circumstances of the case than what transpires doting the trial. The trial itself is, as we have said, a manceuvre, in which it is the business of the Counsel for the prose tor to obtain a conviction, and the business of the opposite Counsel to . obtain an acquittal.— There is ttn check on parties : every thing is left to their dietretion. There is no individual in an F..ng '!'-ish trial whose business it is to see that the facts of tht case are brought forward. The Counsel on both sides have ample scope—the Jury and the Judge can only form their judgment on what is laid before them—they have no means of knobvina what is withheld. Some time aeo the second edition of a pamphlet—first published about two years ago, by Mr. Stephen, a professional gentle man, under the title of " Practical Suggestions for the Improvement of the Police"—was sent to us. Some idea may be formed of the ample scope given, by the mode of conducting a trial in this country, to dishonesty, from the follow ing pastage :—" it is left entirely to the prose ciutor 1 / 4 31 . • his agent to procure the requisite evi i:ekv:_`e, and also to sift the degree of credit due to the witnesses themselves. Thus, professional ignorance or inactivity, or a prosecutor's poverty, may, even in the very first stage of proceeding, insure the offenders im punity ; and still greater is the risk at the stage when the prisoner is tried ; when an acquittal would immediately follow on a necessary link in the evidence being defective ; or on its being ob served that any essential witness was undeserving of credit, or incapable of giving evidence. But it' such may be the consequence of ignorance or po verty on the part of the prosecution, still mere cer tainly is it in the power ola dishonest solicitor to in. sure the acquittal of the prisoner. The production or non-production of evidence either before the Grand Jury or the Court, is entirely discre tionary with him, except as respects those wit leotsts who have already been bound by the .'..lagistrate under a penalty to appear ; but as it is sufficient to make out merely a case of sus picion for the Magistrate ; and as it is a prin ciple with experienced Solicitors not to open more of the prosecutors case than is necessary for a committal, that the prisoner may not be prepared to tamper with individuals, or by sober. tuition of perjury to contradict the witnesses, it follows that but a small number of them will in most cases have been bound over by the Ma gistrates." It is the system that is in fault, and not individuals. Professional men are not re sponsible for the system. They labour merely in their vocation. Abstractly speaking, to pro cure the conviction of an innocent man, or the escape of a guilty man, is an immoral act ; but those who have the hangman on their side, need not be very squeamish about their morality. The hangman being for or against makes all the difference in the world.—Morning Chronicle. TO THEEDITORPF THE MORNING CHRONICLE. Cold Bath-square, Dec. 8, 18'29. Ste c —ln the Observer of lest Sunday notice is takee of the case of Edwin Marie, who was brought up to re f-, ive sentence at Hicks's Hail, having been convicted a fee , days before of an improper assault upon a young female. With that accuracy of detail which distinguishes your Journal from most of your contempt raries, you mention th it I attended to speak on behalf of the prisoner. It must occur to your readers to he very strange, if I had any thing to say in proof of the prisoner's innocence, that I did not attend on the day of his trial and stete then what I knew of the case, which statement would doubtlessly have been thought entitled to the consideration of the Jery ; for it is to the boy's innocence I speak, and not by way of palliation of the offence, if committed. Allow me to explain my apparent disregard to what I consider the extreme hardeliip of this unfortunate youth's situation, by stating that I attended in Court the whle the day of his trial, by virtue of a subpoena on behalf of the prosecution, hiving been celled on by the Sitting Magis trates at Hatton-garden to give my opinion on the case when the offence was first said to have been committed, and when I expressed my firmest convietien that the offence laid to the prisoner's charge had not in the re motest degree been committed by him or any one else, but above all, certainly not by hint, for reasons which admit of easy eeplanatiou, which opinion I took care to have eteengtlened hy the enclosed certificate of Doctor Gordon Smith. This being known to all perties to have been my opinion at that time, of course you carnet be surprised tkat the Counsel for the proiecurion had no inducement to place me in the witness-box. The Counsel for the prisoner, knowing that I had been sublime:led on the other side, and knowing also that my name was on the back of the bill of indictment, it should seem, was suspicions that my evidence might not I:e of the most propitious kind for his client ; and thus the prisoner was altogether deprived of my evidence; in the ahsenee of which, that the Jury should return the terdict they did is not much to be wondered at, and the punish ment awarded by the Court (six months' imprison ment) cannot be thought excessive for any wretch guilty of such an abominable offence.. Indeed, the reception I met with from Mr. Const, the Chairmen, when the youth was brought up for judement, when I begged to be heard as to the impossibility of the truth -of the evidence edeluced on behalf of the prosecution, was- the most humee - and gen tlemanly possible to conceive, but of course he eould not allow himself to listen to contradictions of evidence which was given. upon oath on the day of trial. Allow use in conclusion to say, that I feel myself in pessession of such facts which vet admit of proof—not mere assertion—of something which may or may not have taken place, and left no trace behind—but facts which yet admit of proof, that it is impossible that the prisoner or an y one else has been guilty of that which is laid to his c harge. I may be told that the case was badly defended that the forms of Court require ,that evidence should be deco at a proper time. Granted. But, after all, it is shocking that any forms of Court, or any thing else widt which this poor lad can have nothing to do, should be suf fered to stand in the way of the administration ofjustice. Having said thus much by way of explanation, which has occnpied so much time that really I have not enough left to enable me t , ) go over it for the purpose of correc tion, if you think this worthy of insertion in your vain :thin columns, do me the Incur to correct or condense the matter in any way y , u please. I am, Sir, your obedient humble servant, HENRY WHITMOIIE, Surgeon. " London, Svtember 26, /829.. " This is to certify, that I h3vice thia day carefully in spected the person of Edwin Harris, now confined in the New Prison, Clerkenwell, and that I am cenfident he nei ther now labours, nor has, within the space of a fortnight, laboured under any syphilitic complaint. " I have also examined the person of Heckf.rd, a female under the ne of puberty, residing in the house of Sydec, of No. 14, Radnor-street, and find that she labours under a morbid discharge ; but there is not the least mark or trace of her havingibeen assaulted for the pur pose of committing a rape, or any reason to ascribe her complaint to venereal contact. " J. GORDON SMITH, M.D." There is an influence abroad to suppress public opinion at the present alarming crisis throughout England. A great portion of the Press has lent itself to the unwcrthy, but, we trust, the in effectual attempt to keep down the expression of public sentiment on the unparalleled distresses of the country. We make no account of the old Government hacks by whom every measure of politicians in office have ever been, and ever will be supported. However regardless of prin ciple, they are consistent with their creed—they labour in their vocation ;—but the worst " sign of the times" is, that Papers, which have gone ezetreme lengths under former Administrations, in commenting upon the acts of men in power, and advocating either supposed or real popular rights, are now vieing with each other in slavish submission and courtly sycophancy to a Govern ment under which the difficulties and embarrass ments of the country have accumulated beyond all previous example. It is not necessary to im pugn the motives of the present Ministry. There is sufficiently obvious cause of complaint in their feebleness, indecision, and ignorance of sound and comprehensive principles of statesmanship. The want of wisdom in a Minister has, perhaps, more pernicious effects upon the interests of a country than a want of virtue. If the intentions of the present Administration be good, they do . not act wisely in shutting their eyes to the dis tresses of the country. The ostrich that runs its head into the sand to allude the hot pursuit of its enemies has never been accounted the most sagacious of birds. To face difficulties in a manly way is the most likely mode to overcome theta. But then, to meet them properly, one must ascertain exactly what they are. Do the Govern ment endeavour to acquire such a knowledge of the existing evils that beset the country as is neces sary before they attempt to redress them ? They do no such thing—their underlings in office, and their underlings in the newspapers, repre sent the country as improving, while the events of every day bear witness to the decline of its prosperity, and to the increase of the sufferings of the people. What could be the object of the Sheriff of Lincolnshire, in refusing to comply with the request of a most respectable body of requisitionists, to take into consideration the propriety of petitioning for the repeal of the Malt and Beer duties ? He states that he does not wish the Government to be embar rassed. In other words he does not wish the Government to hear the language of truth through the constitutional organ of a County Meeting. He probably recollects that some years ago the Duke of Wellington was said to have called a County Meeting " a farce." The Whigs then made an excessive clamour about this expression, but now they are as silent as the recluse philo sophers ofLa Trappe; they express no indigna tion at the conduct of the Sheriff of Lincoln shire. It suits their present purpose that County Meetings should, in reality, be treated as a " farce," although there never was a time when the circumstances to be taken into consideration at such a Meeting were less fit to become the subject of tl:e Comic Muse. It will be seen from a communication in:our Paper to-day, that the reasoning of the worthy Sheriff is not likely to be taken as conclusive by the people of Lin colnshire. His logic, instead of allaying the desire for public discussion, has stimulated it. Both the gentry and yeomanry feel that this re fusal on his part to accede to a request involving the exercise of the important right of petitioning for redress of grievances, was as discourteous as it was unconstitutional. We publish the names of the gentlemen who signed the requi sition, and it will appear that several of them were men of the first consideration and fortune in the county. The requisition from the yeo manry was signed by about 200 substantial farmers, many of whom are proprietors of from 1001. to 1,0001. per annum. Such men are not likely to be rebuked into silence by the dictation of a Sheriff; or to be accessary to their own ruin by being too timid or two servile to awaken the attention of Ministers to the alarming situa tion of the country, in the language of honest feeling and constitutional remonstrance.—Morn ing Herald. In the absence of any matter of foreign intel ligence worthy of comment, we know not that we can poss 4, lay before our readers matter of greater importance, or greater interest, than that which is contained in an article in the last num ber of the Foreign Quarterly Review, (pub lished a few days ago) entitled " European Diplomacy." We noticed the conclusion of this -article on a former occasion, and entered our protest against certain doctrines advanced by the writer respecting the supremacy of the Porte over the infant state of Greece. The ar ticle, which we know to be based on official do cuments, not hitherto published, has attracted the attention of persons in a higher circle than we pretend to move in : it has confounded the great Lord of the Treasury, as well as some other Lords equally responsible for the conduct ' of foreign affairs: and we understand that the most eager inquiry is on foot to ascertain who has furnished the documents, and who has writ ten the article to which they furnished the basis. The Russian Ambassador is suspected on the one hand, and Admiral Codrington on the other ; and. both, we beg to assure their Lordships, have as much to do with the matter as the Emperor of China. They are on a false scent, and by no means likely to disccv2r the right track. In the mean time, let us address ourselves to the article in question, which, Mier noticing various publications re specting Greece, proceeds, in the first place, to give a brief history of the Greek Revolution, and in the second, of the intervention of the Allied Powers in the affairs of Greece. And what a picture is here exhibited of the weakness of the English Ministry, from the time that the protocol at St. Petersburgh was signed, to the conclusion of the treaty of Adrianople I It is painful—it is disgusting—even to look at it. We expected to find, on the' accession of the Duke of Wellington to the Pretniei ship, a display of the firmness and decision which characterized the administrations of Chatham, I'itt, and Can ning ; but instead we only discover weakness and vacillation—timidity and a total absence of the most ordinary foresight ! Russia not only taking die lead in all political transactions—France pursuing a separate policy when it suited her purposes—and Greece, through Count Capo d'lstria, bidding defiance to our threat:— but even the Ministry itself, so vacillat ing and so irresolute, as to agree on one day to terms, to which, at a former meeting of the Cabinet, it had vowed never to accede to. We know not whether it be true that Mince Lieven, and the Foreign Ambassadors, generally, make a daily jest of our foreign policy, and sneer at the vaunted decision of a certain high per sonage ; but this we do know, that the country was never so little respected abroad as it now is, and that had we a Parliament' of sufficient talent and sufficient honesty to investigate the course of our foreign policy, the reputation of the present Ministry, for political sagacity, would be at so l o w a rate of discount as Spanish Bonds, or Potosi Mining Shares. This, however, by the bye. Come we now to the question of Grecian independence, and of the intervention of the Allied Powers in the affairs of Greece, respect ing which we find in the Foreign Quarterly Review, the following most interesting morsel of history : " When the insurrection had gained consistency by the establishment of a government in Greece, the Emperor Alexander not only pressed the neces sity of an accommodation with the insurgents on the part of the Porte, but made specific proposals of in terference, similar in several respects to the stipula tions in the protocol of St. Petersburgh, April, 1826, and the treaty of London, July, 1827. In a memorial presented by Russia to the Allied Courts, so early as the winter of 1823, the Emperor ex pressed his views for the pacification of Greece, and urged the necessity of it, from considerations affect ing his own government in particular, and the inte rests of Europe in general, declaring that effective negotiations for that object could not be undertaken too soon, nor pursued too zealously. If this great point were settled, and the question of the Greek insurrection disposed of, his Imperiel 111,ijesty, who had had no mission at Constantinople since the year 1821, engaged to send an Ambassador immediately to settle the subjects of his separate misunderstand ing with the Sultan. The earnestness of the Court of St. Petersburgh is evident from the following passage of the above memorial : " Russia cannot see with indifference the pro longation of a state of things in the East, which in terrupts her relations with the Levant, paralyses her trade, and affects her dearest interests. 'l' he other Allied Courts, it is true, have not the same reason for interfering ; but would it be consistent with true policy, and that generosity which is its first attri bute, to refrain from putting an end to the evils under which both: Greece and Turkey are Mowing ? These powers regard it as a sacred 'duty to unite in preserving the general peace, but while the struggle between the Porte and Greece continues, while re volutions and ana.chy are perpetrated in that quarter, this peace, the ohject of such just solicitude, can neither be real nor complete. It cannot he so physically, for the struggle appears far from being terminated! it cannot be so morally, for this same contest maintains in the public mind of Europe a disquietude, the existence of which is a real danger.' " The Emperor then calls upon his allies to inter fere upon the same principles, or the same motives, as those on which they acted in puttinc , an end to the revolutions of Naples, Piedmont, and Spain. He, in fact, proposes that in this case they should sanc tion an insurrection, in order to quiet the revolu tionary spirit, or prevent future revolutions, and to remove from themselves a reproach which wouid be fatal to their security, namely, that of replacing a Christian people under a barbarous infidel yoke, and of thus shewing an equal regard to Mahometan ism and Christianity. The Autocrat, after these observations, submits to his allies his plan of paci fication, which proceeds on the supposition that the Sultan will never consent to recognize the en tire political independence of the Greeks, and that the Greeks will never consent to replace themselves under Turkish despotism, as exercised before the war. In order, therefore, not to excite the repugnance of the Turk, he takes as a model a kind of dominion already existing in the Turkish empire, namely, that of the provinces on the Da nube, and propose, principalities or hospodarships in Greece, as in Moldavia and Wallachia. Three principalities are indicated by the position of the Greek territority, the first comprehending Thessaly, Bceotia, Attica, and the rest of Eastern Greece; the second, Epirus, Acarnania, and Wetern Greece!; and the third, the Morra, or Southern Greece, and the island of Candia. The islands in the Archipe lago would be suljected to a kind of municipal go verment, independent of Greece, similar in some respects to that which they have enjoyed for ages. The Porte would still preserve her sovereignty over these States, after the new arrangement, and would receive from them a stipulated tribute; but would not be authorized to send Pachas or Governors. Their trade would be entirely free—all employ ments, civil and military, would be held by natives; they would have their own flag, and would be re presented nt the Porte by the Patriarch, who would enjoy for this purpose the same rights as a foreign Ambassador. The Turkish dominion, as far as it was to be maintained, would be preserved by garri sons in certain places, confined for subsistence within a circle beyond 'which the troop's would not be allowed to forage. As some apprehension seems to have been entertained that the Turkish govern ment would not be very quick-sighted in perceiving the benefits, or very eager in submitting to the hu miliation of this arrangement, the memorial enters largely into the reasons why it ought to be adopted on the part of the Sultan. His tributes would be bet ter paid, and his authority would be less contested by the rebellious movements of such Pachas as that of Epirus. Principalities, with limited submission to the Porte, would be no novelty to the Empire, and the admission of foreign interference was likewise no novelty. On the otherhand, the Greeks could not be supposed to object. They had now concluded their third campaign with success, but if the contest were continued, there was still a danger of their final over thro N. If they adopted the proposition, their trade would be free, and they would acquire every means of securing their repose, and extending their pros• perity by wise and selutary laws. Even, how ever, thought they might make objections,' the me morial adds, in the peculiar spirit of the Emperor, the Allied Courts could not recognize their entire independence, without deviating from those maxims which have established the safely of Europe.' " This exclusive piece of information is only a sample of what follows. But to return to the subject. The representations mentioned in the previous extract " were pressed," says the author of the article, " on the chief governments of Europe towards the end of 182=1, and the Porte constantly solicited to enter into some accommo dation with its revolted Greek provinces." Mr. Canning saw clearly how the matter would end, unless England so interwove herself with it as to have a negative on any attempt which Russia might make, either to arrange the affairs of Greece separately, or to take advantage of the Greek insurrection to make a separate quarrel with Turkey ; and he accordingly sent, first, the Duke of VlTellington, and, next, the Duke of Devonshire, to St. Petersburgh, to endeavour to arrange the Greek affair. " The protocol of ' St. Petersburgh," however, says the Foreign [ Quarterly Review, " though formed with such apparent urgency, w a s no; immedi a t e ly commu nicalea to the other Courts of Europe, which continued, separately, to press upon the Porte the necessity of a pacification of Greece." The following morsel of history we must extract, for it is incapable of abridgment : " In visiting Paris during the autumn of that year, Mr. Canning sounded the French Ministry on the subject, but met with little cordiality or confi dence. Subsequently, the protocol was communi cated to the Courts of Austria and Prussia, with an earnest request that they would adopt its resolu tions, and enter into the proposed alliance. The Emperor of Austria returned his definitive answer by Prince Metternich, on the 29th or 30th Dec4'lB26 ; and the King of Prussia, on the 4th of Jan., I 527. The former, in a note addressed to the English and Russian Ambassadors at the Court of Vienna, (never yet published,) acknowledges the receipt of the protocol of St. Petersburgh, thanks the Allied Courts for their confidential communication, and eulogizes the spirit in which their humane project originated. Before, however, his Imperial Majesty can actively accede to the proposed treaty, he re quests additional information on the proposed mode of its execution, and takes the opportunity of giving his views on the question. His Majesty has al ways objected, and still objects, to any interference by force; to any attack on the rights of the Turk, and even to any menace of that power.' Through out this document the Greeks are regularly styled insurgents, whom the Porte was called to put down if it could. It even predicts the danger which would result from giving countenance to a system of po licy tending to justify insurrection and encourage rebellion, by enabling them to triumph. . This last argument, addressed to the fears of politicians, had often succeeded with the late Emperor Alexander, but was lost on his brother Nicholas and the Eng lish Minister, who had resolved to break up tae Holy Alliance by destroying the principle of its union. Count Bernstodf, the Prussian Minister, returned a more liberal answer, but declined making his country a party to the treaty, on the ground that she had no immediate contract with Turkey, having no fleet in the Mediterranean, and that the Prussian Ambassador might be useful in meditating between the other powers and the Porte, in the event of their withdrawing their ministers. The negociations at Loudon between the three Courts did not com mence till the spring of 1827, as some coolness had taken place bet ween Mr. Canning and tie Court of the Tuilleries, occasioned by his speech on the Por tuguese question. But so keen did the French Go vernment afterwards become in the formation and support of the alliance, that his Most Christian Ma jesty has more than once styled himself its chief Filar and promoter." At this point we must close for the present our brief account of the extraordinary disclosures in the Foreign Quarterly Review, respecting the conduct of the English Ministry. To-mor row we shall return to it at greater length.— Morning Advertiser. FORGERY ON GEN. SIR W. PRINGLE. Yesterday afternoon, about four o'clock, a youth, apparently about 13 years of age, entered the bank ing -house of Messrs. Wright and Co., in Henrietta street, Covent-garden, and presented to the cashier a cheque for 901., purporting to have been drawn by Sir William Pringle, of Stratford-place, upon that thin, where the General has kept an account fur many years. The cashier, the moment he saw the signature to the cheque, suspected it to he a forgery, and he took it to Mr. Wright, the senior partner, who at once pronounced it to be forged. Mr. Rogers, the inspector of the police for the district, was sent for, and took the boy into custody, and questioned him ai to where he got the cheque, and he entered into a statement, of which the following is the substance : Ile said he was standing at the window of a print shop in Bond-street, where a man in the garb of a gentleman came up to him, and asked if he would go of a message for him, if he paid him for his trouble. The boy consented, and the stranger then produced a packet addressed to " General Sir William Pringle, No. 3, Stratford-place," and said to the boy, " Now, my lad, make all the haste you can. You will see Sir W. Pringle, and he will give you some money, which you must bring to me immediately at my chambers, No. 26, Charles -street, St. James's square, where you will inquire for Mr. Oakley." The boy unsuspectingly took the letter to No. 3, Srat ford-place, and met a gentlemanly-looking elderly man descending the steps, and said, "0, my boy, is that letter fur me ?" The boy replied that it was for Sir William Pringle, and the gentleman opened the letter, and said, " 0, yes—this is quite right—it is for me— I was just going to send the money to Mr. Oak ley." The supposed Sir W. Pringle then gave the boy a packet addressed to Mr. Oakley, and said it contained the money that the latter wanted, and de sired the lad to be as quick as possible. The lad took the packet to 26, Charles•street, where on his arrival he was met on the stairs by Mr. Oakley, who said " That's right, my boy; I suppose the General has sent me the money ;" but on taking the packet into his hand, and examining it, he said " -- it, this is very awkward; he has not sent me the money, but a cheque. It is now late, and )ou must go off to Wrights, in Henrietta -street, and bring me cash for it. Mind, you have no time to spare." The lad then started off to Wright's, and there he was detained as already stated. The boy was taken to the watch-house of Co vent-garden, arid Mr. Roger►, the inspector, went to 20, Charles•street, and found that no such person as" Mr. Oakley" lived in any part of that house, and he also ascertained that General Pringle is at present out of town ; so that there cannot be a doubt that the whole was a deep-laid plan to obtain, by an impudent forgery, the sum mention in the cheque (90/.) from Messrs. Wright and Co. The boy was brought before Mr. HALLS, at Bow street, in the evening, and gave his name, Gerald. His father arid several friends came forward to his character, and the Magistrate expressed a decided opinion that he had been made a mere tool of, and liberated him on an undertaking that he should be forthcoming whenever'he might be called upon. We are authorized to state that the various rumours in circulation, and mentioned in several of the London papers of the Sd and 4th instant, respecting the sons of the late much-lamented Mr. Hums,- Wzi.Liam HEYrio, along with other circumstances alluded to, are t o t a lly false from the first syllable of the paragraph to the last.—Hull Packet. CORONER'S INQUEST.—Yesterday morning, at tin o'clock, an inquest WAS taken at the Queen's Head, in the Borough, before Mr. PAYNE, Coroner for the city, touching the circumstances connected with the death of CHARLES HENRY Gosithitio, surgeon, who terminated his existence by taking prnstiis acid. Verdict--Inssnity. During the late gales, a rare and very large bird, the Baas:mum, Gannel or So!an Goose, was taken alive.upon the beach at Bacton. Theae birds abound in the northern regions, particularly in Pass Island, in the Frith of Forth. It has been preserved by Jr. Itaxsostx, of North Walsham, in whose possession it remains. Norfolk Chronicle. MENTAL IMPROVEMENT.—A person tra velling by one of our stage coaches between a northern market town and this city, passed a young woman return ing from market, riding on a pony. She was clad in a riding habit, and had a green veil negligently thrown over her hat ; on her left arm hung her butter basket, and in her right hand she held a volume of the Waverley Novels, w hi c h she was attentively perusing. What a spectacle would this have afforded to one of the sneerer; at the -" march of intellect" as it is contemptuously called ? And yet what could be more pleasing, or more proper, than to find the daughter of a respectable farmer, as her attire proclaimed her to be, uniting business with intellectual nj° and reli ev i ng t h e te di um o f a l one l y r id e , by e p e ru ) S m in e g n' a t work partly fiction and partly historical fact, a nd which does nut contain one sentiment that can injure ignorance ofrusti a c n d li fe g rhosustnwhich n and is i s : si t m lio l l l e ici fi ty ner feelings which its scenery and its i c u a a.) l c u u c l et the e d it pursuits nhienidio :. are fitted to expand and improve,— York Courant. to purify it of its POLICE INTELLIGENCE• GUILDHALL. The driver of a cOal-waggon, belonginiz to Mr. Summerville, a coal-merchant at Vauxhall, was charged before Mr. Alderman Luces, yesterday, with wilfully overturning a cabriolet in Fleet-street, on Thursday last. Davk a strFet-keeper in Cheapside, on the day in question, obliged a cabriolet to get out of the way of the waggon, and the defendant observing thi., remarked to him that he had just before " well served out a cab." Mr. Alderman LUCAS, taking into account that the defendant would have to pay the costs, and con sidering that he had a large family, mitigated the fine to ss. MARLBOROUGH-STREET. The Magistrates of this office yesterday received a letter from Mr. Carter, a Magistrate of Ports mouth, with reference to the supposed identity of a man named William Whelan with Alexander Pope, who absconded from Waterford with money belong ing to the banking-house of Messrs. Scott and Co., of that city, which stated that, after a full investiga tion, Mr. Carter was satisfied that Whelan and Pope were different persons. A man named John Wi!liana was brought before Mr. DYER, charged on suspicion, with having been concerned in an extensive robbery at the warehouse of Mr. Charles Sailandrouze Lamornaix, French carpet-manufacturer, 16, Old Bond-street, where the prisoner lived as porter. He denied all know ledge of, or connection with, the robbery; and was remanded to a future day. MARYLEBONE. Mr. William Henry Hollis, a gentleman, whose appearance was like a military officer in an undress, came before Mr. RAWLINSON yesterday morning, and complained that he had been in.ulted by a constable of this place, at the house of a lady in Old Quebec-street. Buckridge (the officer alluded to) instantly came forward and said, in consequence of an extensive robbery lately committed in Old Quebec-street, of which an entry appeared in the office book, he was required that morning to wait upon this lady, and when he entered the drawing room, he found Mr. Hollta driving her fro-a one part of it to another, and asking for a gold chain. The lady complained of his conduct, and called upon him for protection, and he told Mr. Hollis, unless he had any charge to bring against the lady, to be off about his business. Buckridge said the lady herself was coming to the office almost immediately, and would be able to give a more satisfactory account of the ca-curnsiance. Shortly afterwards, a genteel young lady, in deep mourning, ewe, ed the office, and gave her name Elizabeth Clifford. She was accompanied by another lady in mourning, far adeanced in years, apparently her mother, and after mentioning the robbery at her house, she complained of Mr. Hollis'a conduct. She said she had lately lost a gentleman who was her friend, and since his death Mr. Hollis had paid his addresses to her. She did not altoge ther give him a denial in the first instance, and he made her some presents, but as she had property, and did not wish to run the risk of a matrimonial engagement, she had declined to receive his visits, but he still intruded upon her ; and when the officer interfered he was demanding the return of a gold chain which he had given to her, and was pacing her about the room for it. " If love is at an end," said Mr. RAWLINSON, " is it not better to return those presents ?" " That is all I want," exclaimed Mr. Hollis.— " What I have given to her co=t the .500/., and I gave them conditionally." Miss Clifford—" They were given to me, abso lutely given to me, and I shall keep them." Mr. Hollis—Three weeks ago I gave her a gold chain, the one in question, worth thirty guineas, on condition of her going to the play with me, and she went with another man. It appeared that, on a former occasion, Mr. Hollis had been bound to keep the peace towards the com plainant, anti Mr. RAWLINSON required him in this instance to enter into his own recognizance of SUI. to do the same for twelve months. LAMBETH-STREET. & very respectable-looking young man, who gave his name Thomas Dean, was brought before Mr. WALKER, yesterday, at this office, in custody of Prendergast, the active officer of this establishment, on a charge of highway robbery. Prendergast, in consequence of information he received, arrested the prisoner on Tuesday evening, on strong suspicion of having, in company with another man not in custody, committed a highway robbery on the person of a tailor, in Shadwel!, some time ago, and rubbing him of a watch, seals, and key. The prisoner would say nothing in the present stage of the business; and he was remanded, in or der to give the officer time to procure evidence. A hair-dresser, named John Davis, was brought before Mr. WALKER, charged with having created a rot, and assaulted most violently the landlord of the Crown and Anchor public-house, Storey-streeet, Spitalfield•, on Tuesday evening. The Magistrate fined him 505., or ordered him to be imprisoned for one month. The driver of a cart was yesterday fined 40s. for not having the name legibly written on his cart. A young man, named Win. Woodhouse, appeared to show cause why he refused to pay for the main tenance of an illegitimate child. The girl, who had been servant in the defendant's father's house, swore that the young man was the father of the child. On her cross-examination she said, that at the time of the connection between her and the young roan, he slept at his father's house, and that ►t was at the end of January or the beginning of February; ai►d that she had never mentioned the fact to any human being. To disprove this, Mr. Pritchard stated that in the beginning of the spring only the defendant had gone home for two or three days in consequence of illness. The defendant was his apprentice. The father of the defendant stated, that it was in March that hit son came home, suffering from a se vere cold. He was almost certain that his son did not sleep at. home in January or February. He never heard any charge preferred against his son of the sort. He could not positively swear that his son did not come home in the month of February. An order was ultimately made upon the defendant for 3s. a-week. Henry Roe, Mary Williams, and Mary Roe, were charged with having stolen a watch, the pro perty of Timothy Wisheach. The two female prisoners were committed for stealing, and the male prisoner for receiving the pro perty, knowing it to be stolen. HATTON-GARDEN A wretched-looking female, named Mary M'Do nald, end two children of her's, a boy and girl, were yesterday- charged before Mr. ROGERS and Mr. Ser jeant SELLON with vagrancy. John M'Craw, police constable, No. 21, di vision E., found the children that morning in Margaret-street, Regent-street, begging, and, at the request of several respectable persons, took them into custody. The girl, with her bare feet, was dancing in the middle of the carriage-way, while the boy sang and played for her upon a castanet. The constable watched them for seine time, and saw the girl receive a pair of shoes from a lady, which she immediately put on, but the moment they turned the corner of the street the boy obliged her to take them off again, and he concealed them in his pockets. In other respects the boy behaved ex ceedingly cruel to her, for if she did not uninterrupt edly continue in motion, and dance to his liking, lie would slap and heat her severely about the fare and head. The constable had known them for a consi derable time past practising daily the same method of soliciting charity all about the west end. They were frequently before the Magistrates of Marlbo rough-street and Marylebone, but though warned and suffered to depart with impunity, they *ere still incorrigible. Carriages were hourly beset by them. The shopkeepers complained of the nuisance; t o Mr. Justiec Bailey even, on one occasion, vro te th the Mendicity Society about them. The cond; ascertained that the whole Llama attached to 10„,' mother, who had subsisted entirely upon their ez to ;tons for the last four or five years, and treated to wretched creatures with so much severity, Ou t ij og less they brought her home every night st half-a-crown, she would deny them food,. and tui; them out upon the streets to wander for 0 1 1 11- 4 wherever they could find it. Having learned Bli the children where she resided, at No. 27, 1:417,; wherever St. Giles's, the constable instantly W . " and took her into custody. fo Mr. RoGERs discharged the mother and da t e r " and committed the boy for one month to the 1-I°°°- of Correction. Mr. Sedeant SELLON, said, that in his opini b l the punishment ought to fail upon the mothe r, 0 , whom it was manifest the children were enl e y raged to beg, thereby committing an act of sago herself. Mr. ROGERS had no evidence of that before but desired the policeman, if ever he found awl / 4 the children begging in the street again, to bring t ll , mother to this office, and she should be visited At the heaviest penalty of the law. John Picrotti, a doll-maker, was brought tip custody of Kimpton, tie warrant-officer of tP-, parish of St. Pancras, charged with refusing 17 maintain his wife. The defendant said, that his wife had voluntsA withdrawn herself from him, and had gone to P: with another man in Theobald's-road. • About: fortnight ago, as he was passing by her I°4 o o o . quantity of water was thrown down upon him frUj her window. He considered it a very severe bur' ship to be obliged to maintain her unde r the eir cumstances. - Mr. ROGERS told the defendant that his wife must not Be t h: argeable to the parish; and "nl egs be t complied tl:e order of maintena n ce, he mus be committed to prison. The defendant promised to do so, and the patio withdrew. The drivers of tss u 'o Nl o ° m N n - i i b l u A s t e L s, called the Pratedter and Nelson, were summoned on info rmation., charging them with furious driving. d The proprietors of the vehicles attendel, and gave both divers excellent characters for eotirieti and good conduct. to The defendants having promised for the future 0 drive with the greatest possible caution , they Yef.i. adjudged to pay Ws. to the poor-box and ther; ponces. The full penalty is 101., and not under '1" LA W INTELLIGENCE. COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Dtc. 9• HARRIS V. WIDDOWSON. In this action the plaintiff, who is a young fir', sought to recover from the defendant, a silrerstniertk residing in Fleet -street, compensation for his If 1 ,. and labour, employed in painting oil-colour P°, trait of Mr. Braslnidge, whom the defendent ceded in basitiess, in drawing a copy of that P,_ ° . ll 7e , in water-colours, and in preparing a li t hogrsPe le l i c i li graving of the Lincoln racing cup for 1827,,"'t, had been manufactured by the defendant. It peared that the plaintiff had !edged with the - ho use, dent, who also hospital& received into his plaintiff without any charge, the fads , to whom the d %fits afterwards married ; was therefore conten e, in defence, with respect to the portraits, that tbel had been left with the defendant in return for t? kindness which lie had shown to Mrs. il e , rr h i°4 It sva4 also contended, and so sworn by some 0' t-s witnesses, that they were utterly valueless, in call ; sequence of the inferior manner in which they tc,j,-, executed ; and certainly, on being exhibited by Learned Council for the defendant, the s tyl 6- , which they were executed excited some laughteL :1 l Court. It appeared, however, that the defo7, had so far prized them, that he had bung tip ,41 d here e botha much executedneil superior e b r e i oforr style,e the his shop, and the other in his back parlour. in With respect to the lithographic work, W"--11,-A-11ed 1115r- t -r;l 7hs to prove that the plaintiff had sent some ° respects de% prints for sale himself, and in other with them in a way which showed that the It plaintiffs e viden ce ' , was a partnership speculation between the PVT; and that therefore the defendant was not 111 The sum claimed for the lithographic work was ,4 and for the portraits 51. 51. The Learned JUDGE left both questions to. t Jury, NVIAO found a verdict for the plaintiff—DO :4s.° 3/. 3s. WINTER ASSIZES. HOME CIRCUIT—IIERTFORD, DEC- ;i t i Abel Baker, aged 25 , and Thomas Bakerft-A 52, were capitally indicted, the former-el - 4 with stealing, and the latter with receiving, g:Pl; the property of Mr. Thomas Woodman, of D ue' near 'Ding. The evidence of several witnesses proved Thome; Baker had exchanged the pony "4,1,, farmer for a horse and four sovereigns, and 115 found guilty, and sentenced to trans °Oudot' for P years. be For the other prisoner an alibi was set up, s lid was acquitted. ffi George Berry, aged 22, and William —er aged 2G, were charged with stealing a d ec anter , i f . ) ,,e glass bottles, and other articles, from the dixehi,;r, house of Mrs. Hobson, a widow lady at BOP' near Hemel Hempsted. rf ied The Jury, after consulting a few minutes, old s ve,dict of Not Guilts. ;o th e , George Berry was indicted for a burgl ai lje o ' dwelling-house tof John Stevens, Esq., withll e mp t ie tcr arti c lesd, receivinga ti stealing,d ap;a r atnjoane i e James t h erefrom an oPe r l:;.g and of e t 3 property, B rooks ko vra be stolen. The Berry guilty, e Jury found an d CV' , Brooks. f o t !ne t n : fi c ir :iio o T The same prisoners were again indicted, the " !to charged with stealing in the dwelling-house, stool' latter with receiving a violin and bow, a plated ot! and other articles, the property of Ca of Hemel Hempsted. The Jury found both prisoners guilty. fdeo lli Mr. Baron GARROW ordered the sentence o to be recorded against Berry, and sentenced 131' to 14 years' transportation. 4 , 1 0 Mr. Baron Bolland left this town, soon 11"--,i-t0 this morning, in order to proceed to Chelgnsforw,. open the commission for the county of Esse x , of° The assizes here terminated this day Sw o'clock. BlRTfig. i fige r On the 7th inst., Wilt on - cresc ent, Lady F. of son. of a daughter. On the 6th inst. the lady of William Bishop'jiar North Bank. Regenes.park, and of Grayswood, sear hmere, Surrey, of a son. 9 94 ' At Oporto, on the 23d ult, lady of W. R. 11U° of a son. MARRIED. GO' On the 9th inst. at St. George's, Bloontsburft •"' , ' don Duff, E•q. of Ilarley-str;et, Cavendish-olufa-rettl Emma, youngest daughter of Wm. Jones, FA+ - • Russell-atrt et. A S ig ( On the Bth inst. at Islington, John George Lor d , to 'Matilda, eldest daughter of Mr. Jame ; Mat lsret 4 Cornthli: I. c ar Icing'saAi let, 3 o a E. rwisqn) Regiment, ~ oGen.ftieiVin Island ien n c t: Vincent, t ot , of EJ Juliae s r g s . e y C . p Diary, t du; ",fila n l: t " t o f pry M O n the Bth inst. at St. George' .' , 13loomsbutPue Campbell, M.D., to Selina, second daugh ter of t'" George Porter. tO DE On the Bth inst. at Ken D. rfl'/ nington, Lady 3 f u' widow of Sir Robert Murray Baronet. R • e sh On the Sth inst. Jane, the ' wife of Mr. C. - -iciri of Waterloo-place, aged 61. * • .0 01' On the let inst. at Edinburgh, Lieut.-Col. Conlal W. H. D. Knox, of the Bengal Cavalry. ---.--- • 11.1u'' L '.% PAINTED AND Puzuslits BY MURDO IHZ sus Ornus, ll*, itY11400), Lalr4°.