The Sun. — London, England, 1834-03-13 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS• In again reeommendiag the object of a general re gistry of births, marriages, and deaths, to which we yesterday adverted, we need scarcely enter into any proof of its extensive utility. Not only the useful ness, but the paramount importance of such a re gistration, is now acknowledged by all parties. It has formed the basis of our former imperfect legisla tion en the subject. It has led to more complete institutions for effecting its purpose in other countries, where less resistance to change, when that change is an evident improvement, has been experienced. And on a more accurate examination of the deficiencies of our present system, and the advantages of a great reform, an universal concurrence of opinion seems to have been established that a new measure is abso lutely necessary. Wherever a tolerable local ad ministration exists, we are sure to find a consider able degree of care bestowed upon parish re gistration, a systematic regularity observed in continuing it, and a considerable expense in curred in preserving its accumulating records. In countries so opposite in their forms of policy as Spain and Prussia, as Austria and France, we find rules of registration, or organized plans for effecting it, infinitely superior to our own, and calculated to furnish us with useful lessons. Whether the ministers of the established church, or civil officers appointed by the state, perform the office of registrars, an accurate registration includes all classes and all religions, without distinction of condition, rank, or sect. The code of France, in this respect, seems particularly worthy of attention, if not of imitation. It prescribes the registration of births, marriages, and deaths as a mere civil transaction; it provides a civil officer in every parish or commune to keep and to continue the record, and it enjoins on all French subjects to announce the events in their families which that officer is required to register. In doing so, it makes no attempt to interfere with the conscience of individuals, or to dictate in religious obser vances. It respires so baptismal rite, no marriage ceremony, no funeral service, as an accompaniment to the civil act of duty or privilege. The parties may conform to their own religious system in these respects as they please, while the historical record of the most important events in the civil annals of their families is rendered independent of any compliance with the forms of their religious worship or the tenets of their reli gious faith. As Catholics or Protestants, they may of course celebrate the baptism of their children in their own way, and at their own time, while the civil officer only records the birth of their infants. As Catholics, or Protestants, or Jews, their marriage is registered before a civil officer, while they may go to the church, the conventicle, or the synagogue, for the religious sanction of their matrimonial union; and as Catholics, Protestants, or Jews, they are debarred from interring their dead till they have announced to the registrar their names and the circumstances of their death, though they may afterwards resort to any religious acts which they please to solemnize their decease or to con secrate their memory. Parents are required within three days after the birth of a child, to produce it to the registrar of the commune, that its entry into the world may be recorded. In marriage the place of celebration and the names of the parties, with those of their respective pa rents, must be recorded. And no interment can take place, without previous notice to the record ing officer of the coninzuna of the circumstances of the deceased's death, his name, his age, his profession, and domicile, attested by two of his nearest friends or relatives. The accuracy of these parish records has never been questioned, and their preservation is secured against interpolation, as well as their utility extended, by duplicates or copies lodged at the tribunal of the district, or arrondissement, in which each commune is situated. From these a more general account is drawn in the capital, comprising extensive statistical information on the progress of mortality, or the amount of diseases, the state of morals, as indicated by the number of marriages or illegitimate births, and the general movement of population. That the great body of the people regard compli ance with such a record as no hardship, or rather consider obedience to the law as a pri vilege, may be inferred from the circumstance that this branch of the French administration has been perpetuated with care in Belgium and other parts of Napoleon's dominions from which the French arms have since been withdrawn or expelled. But if such a registry of births, marriages, and deaths can be found so useful and important in other nations, its immense benefits must be peculiarly felt, or its more pressing necessity must be peculiarly recognized, in the case of England. From the enormous extent of cur empire in opposite quarters of the world—from the migratory and enterprising habits of our people, driving them from home to court fortune in our colo nies, or to seek occupation on stations of distant service—and from the great revolutions which the free operation of our laws permits in the circum stances of individual., some of whom, raised from a humble origin to wealth and distinction, are less solicitous to maintain their relationship with the class which they have left than to court alliances with that to which they have been raised—the utility of a record by which the identity of persons may be ascertained wherever they may have married or died, and the right to property secured to their heirs or relatives, must be too evident to allow a doubt on the subject. If it were necessary, we might appeal to the advertisements which we every day see for the heirs or relatives of intestate persons dying with property in our colonial possessions, or to the amount of unclaimed dividends at the Bank of England, for a proof of our position. This is en tirely independent of the incalculable advantages which we might derive from a c: - meet registration of births, marriages, and deaths, in a statistical, philan thropical, or medical point of view. By such records we should have known better the movements of our population,—the effect of the improved police of our cities on the public health,—the result of increasing manufactures on the national longevity,—the con sequences produced by the appearance or gra dual extinction of certain epidemics, and a great number of other points which we need not now enumerate. Above all, we should have learned not to commit the blunders in calculating the probable duration of life, on which several of our insurance companies ate founded. if these facts are admitted, it will likewise be as readily allowed that our present sys tem of registration is, for any general purpose, either totally useless or actually deceptive. It re cords only baptisms, and not births, in a country where great bodies of dissenters object to the ritual by which baptisms are celebrated ; and it records only funerals, and not deaths, where the esta blished clergy alone are called to perform a funeral service to which many dissenters entertain a reli gious repugnance. Besides, these parish registers, imperfect as they are from these causes, are care lessly kept, are sometimes mutilated, are sometimes interpolated, and at other times wantonly exposed to loss or damage. They are, in fact, parsons' and not parish registers, and in no respect answer the purpose of accurate or secure parish annals. For this purpose it is necessary that they should be a civil instead of an ecclesiastical record—that they should state the birth of a parishioner, though they are not hiought to the baptismal font, "Or h a ve their names With holy rite applied," that they should state a marriage, though no esta blished priest blessed the union,—and a death, though no funeral serv i ce was sa id over t h e gr av e . Fur this purpose it wou ld appear necessary t h at t h e registration should he universal,—that to be univer- sal, it should be compul sor y,— an d t h at to render compulsionjust or equitable, the most easy means of compliance with the law should be provided for all. This latter poirrt, or, in other words, the invention of a machinery by which a secure and universal re gistration may be effected constitutes the great prac tical difficulty which meets the legislator. Some may object to the establishment of a civil registrar in every parish as likely to entail on the country great expense. Jut the objection is founded on a mit taken notion, that beeause in England and Wales, as we find by the Poor Law report lately published, there are 15,535 parishes, as many registrars would he required as there are parishes. But, in point of fact, 511 of these parishes have less than 30 inha bitants, and no less than 1,170 of them are not peopled with 100 parishioners. In such cases it would be preposterous to establish a registrar, with so insig nificant a task to perform as the making of some half dozen of entries in a parish volume in the course of a year. The overseer, being a constant official, and accustomed to keep books, may probably be em ployed for the purpose_ If the bill to be introduced be in other respects eligible, we see no objections to intrust to the magistrates in quarter sessions a new circumscription of districts for registration, in cases where there are a great number of smaller parishes ; while in cases where the parishes are so large or so wealthy as already to require and to pay the services of a fixed assistant overseer, the duty might be intrusted to him. At any rate, returns or copies of the register should be transmitted to the clerk of the peace every year, or every six months, in England, as to the Procureur du Roi in the dis trict tribunals in France, and a particular office of record should be set apart for them at the expense of the county, in which they might with facility be consulted. A general analysis of the whole to he presented to Parliament every year, or every five years, would require that attested abstracts or copies of these returns should be sent to a metropolitan office from the office of the clerks of the peace in the different counties.—Time:. It seems Lord John Russell—with reference to his patronage of Mr. Gleig—stated in the House of Commons " that he had nothing with which to reproach himself." If this defence of himself had not been made, as the public opinion has been very decidedly expressed against this abuse of power — and it is probable, therefore, that so disgusting an act will not be repeated—the subject might have been dropped. But those who have been the or gans of the general indignation, owe it to themselves to show that the noble Paymaster of the Forces has promoted an individual unworthy of his favour. The proof of this position need not be rested upon a repetition of the notorious facts antecedent to he appointment, but on his conduct subse quently to it. Mr. Gleig, in his published let ter, says, " I am not, nor ever was, the edi tor of any newspaper, either in Kent, or else where. I plead guilty to the charge of having written various papers in opposition to the Reform Bill. But from the moment the fate of this mea sure became determined, I ceased to make politics, in any shape, the subject of my literary labours, Arc." It will be recollected that the Reform Bill received the royal assent in May, 1832 ; in the ensuing October the following letter (which we take from the Maidstone Gazette of Tuesday) was addressed, in the hand-writing of the Rev. Gen tleman, to a member of Sir William Geary's com mittee, who was a candidate for West Kent, upon conservative, otherwise anti-reform principles ! The triumph of Sir Edward Knatchbull over the re form candidate in East Kent, was mainly attributa ble to the zeal of the clergy (among whom Mr. Gleig was the most prominently active), and the i influence that the large possessions of the church of Can terbury gave them in that district : " Ash, near Wingham, Oct. 14, 1832, " SIR,—I beg particularly to call your attention to an article which will appear in the Kentish Observer of Thursday next. It refers to the great importance of using the press in favour of conservative principles ; and calling upon all well-disposed men to support ova new and Tory paper. " One principle object of the gentlemen by whom this publi cation has been set on foot is, to render it an organ of sound principal both in West and East Kent. A similar disposition prevails, I am aware, among Sir Wm. Geary's most active sup porters, by whom, indeed, the proposition has been made, that an office should be regularly opened at Maidstone. To that we, of East Kent, will gladly accede, provided your committees undertake, in order to defray the expense, that 300 copies of the paper shall be purchased in West Kent. In this case • CERTAIN NUMBER OF COLUMNS WILL BE REGULARLY RESERVED FOR YOUR COMMUNICATIONS, and we shall have at last, what the country has long wanted, an able and sound paper. " I make no apology for writing to you thus, because though personally unknown, I am well aware of your real and activity in the good cause. I am, Sir, your very obedient servant, " To , Esq. " G. R. GLEIG." Thus far the latera scripta. We find further in Mr. Gleig's Kentish Observer, of January 17, 1833—six months after the passing of the Reform Act—that he attended a public political dinner at Ramsgate, and from the report given in that paper of his speech on the occasion (which doubtless passed under his own eye before it was printed), we subjoin a short extract : " The struggle had of late been one of death—a struggle which has brought not only our civil institutions, but our re ligion and the morals of the country into hazard—for he need not tell them that in all countries the triumph of anarchy and the outpourings of popular fury carried off both religion and good morals in the tide.—(Loud cheers.) He conceived, then, that with such a prospect before them, the clergy were not only justified, but in duty bound, to lend all the assistance in their power towards the averting of such calamities. And hence it was, that they had cotne forward to fight in the same ranks with their brethren of the laity. If it should please Providence to bring back again the day of good government and order, then they might rely upon it that the clergy would fall back with thankfulness to those quiet circles from which they had emerged with regret—but should those times not return, he trusted that the clergy would never be found traitors to their country and their God" The rev. gentleman then gave as his toast— " Those high-minded men who had fought their battles in other Parliaments, but whom the wild enthusiasm of the mo ment had driven into private life.' " Mr. Gleig, in his letter since his appointment, gives as his reason for altering his course since the Reform Act passed, " Because he always believed, and must continue to believe, that it was his duty as a clergy man to set an example to those around him of obedience to the laws, and attachment to the con stitution of his country." We leave these docu ments to the consideration of Lord John Russell without comment. Mr. Gleig has shown a perti nicity in adhering to the old corruptions unparalleled in his profession, except in the instance of the priests of Spain and Portugal, who, like the Con servative clergy of this country, are seen leagued to ❑phold all profitable abuses.— ilforningebronicle. The petition presented yesterday from Birming ham by Mr. Wilks stated that there were thirty-two dissenting chapels in that town, and only thirteen churches of the establishment, and that 12,000 children were educated by the Dissenters, and only 4,000 by the Church. This furnishes a tolerable criterion of the relative strength of the Dissenters and Episcopalians in that great town. A memorial to the government has been transmitted to us from Edinburgh, agreed to at a public meeting of the Dissenters of Edinburgh and Leith, calling in strong and determined language for a separation of the union between Church and State : " They call (they say) for the adoption of measures by which religious opinions shall cease to be the grounds of difference between citizens in respect of civil or constitutional privileges, by which every kind of direct taxation for the support of any religious system shall be abolished, and by which the property and revenues at present wasted in upholding two sects that em brace only a minority of the people, shall (after due considera tion of the claims of its present incumbents) be applied to some civil national purpose ; as, for example, the remission of taxation." The Edinburgh Dissenters endeavour to prove that the establishment of a sect Leces=arily renders that sect inimical to good government, and that there is nothing singular in the hostility of the clergy of the establi-hment to a reform ministry. " The Memorialists (they say) object to Church Establish ments, because they imply a right in Rulers to legislate in mat ters of religion, which they will never concede to any human authorities. Such institutions are thus oppressive to conscience, the principle of religious loyalty, which owns God alone as its Lord. But they are no less politically expedient. The elevation of one sect necessarily produces the degradation of all the rest ; and as it creates a powerful political body, with in terests different from, and it may be adverse to, those of the nation at large, and allies this body with the Executive and the Legislative, it throws the people into divisions and parties, whose mutual jealousies embarrass the movements of govern ment, and render insecure all our political institutions. Every Dissenter who has sense to feel, and spirit to resent injustice, can be only, as it were, semi-loyal, so long as the state is in union with the church ; and the church, so long as it depends upon the state, must urge it to withhold those free and impar tial institutions, which secure that every class of citizens shall have its just influence in the constitution. The experience of this and of all countries amply demonstrates that the most im placable enemy to freedom, and therefore to good government, is an established church." However, the Scotch Dissenters do not expect that these views shall be adopted as a matter of course and without delay : " That they should be adopted rashly they do not desire. On the contrary, it is their decided opinion, that both in fairness to the large and influential body of British Dissenters, and in justice to the country, whose dearest interests are at stake, no measure of any kind should be adopted, without being preceded by a free and extensive inquiry into the general condition of religion in these realms."—Morning Chronicle. It is quite as difficult to defend the practice of impressing seamen upon any ground of justice or morality as to defend negro slavery; and why ? They are both the exercise of the tyranny of the strong on the defencelessness of the'weak. They are both a robbery of the person and liberty of man, by the hand of power, unchecked by justice. Com mercial cupidity first tore the simple African from his native shores and his wild freedom to toil and crouch in chains beneath the overseer's whip, in the "house of bondage" of our sugar plantations. What is called a state necessity first introduced the inde fensible practice of manning our vessels of war with seamen torn from their homes and their families by the hand of savage violence. Such "necessity" may well be called the " tyrant's plea." The ne cessity which makes the Arab of the desert plunder the unprotected traveller is an equally valid excuse for violence and spoliation. The hero of Hounslow heath had as good an excuse for stopping those way faring persons who could afford to relieve his necessities at the point of the pistol. What signifies it that some lawyers, anxious to re commend themselves to power by finding reasons for any established abuse, have pleaded immemorial usage in its favour. The argument of usage was as valid in support of ship-money without vote of Parliament ; and yet, after Hampden's glorious struggle with the Crown, and the opinions of Crown lawyers and judges in its favour, it was declared to be unconstitutional and illegal. So was the argument of immemorial usage in favour of general warrants; yet it did not avail, because the principle of general warrants violated all notions of justice ; and it is a maxim of the law of England, that usage or cus tom cannot make any practice legal which is obviously unreasonable, unjust, or absurd. Sir Michael Foster endeavoured to trace the practice of impressing seamen to the common law. It was a hold attempt, no doubt, to try and reconcile the " perfection of reason" with the perfection of injustice. Sir Michael Foster failed in showing that the common law ever sanctioned impressment; but had he succeeded, what then ? He would have still left the question where he had found it, for it would not bring him one inch nearer to being able to prove that any practice so monstrously unjust and op pressive should not be abolished, as violating not only the principles of a free constitution, but being utterly at variance with the genius of civilized so ciety. He who uproots this ferocious custom from the land will deserve the thanks of his country and of human nature. Our Whig ministers will never do it, any more than extirpate any other great abuses which they used to rail at in the days of their po litical privations and patriotism, unless compelled to it by the irresistible power of public opinion—a power that can make a Tory as well as a Whig Go vernment bend to the wishes of the nation. We, therefore, advise Mr. Buckingham, who has, very creditably to himself, taken up this great question, to persevere. It is a cause that will bear repeated repulses, at the hands of either ,of the avowed op ponents or the renegade friends of liberal principles and enlightened policy. Whatever defeats it may suffer, it has that within itself which must make victory certain—something that demands the sup port of every heart and mind not callous to the cries of humanity—not insensible to the demands of jus tice. The glory of the British flag will not be less bright, by cleansing it from the stain of oppression. —Morning Herald. COURT OF CHANCERY, M ARCH 12. THE ATTORNEY GENERAL V. THE HABERDASHERS' COM- PANY. This was an information filed against the Haberdashers' Company, that an annual payment of Si., left them by a person named Hazelfoot, in order to enable them to keep up their stock of corn for the supply of the markets of the city of London, might be applied under the direction of the Court. The Vice Chancellor dismissed the infortna tion with costs, as one that could not be supported, and on the ground thEit the bequest was not a charitable one. Against this decision the appeal was brought. His Lord• ship was clearly of opinion that the appeal must be dis missed, and with costs. SMITH V. BIGGS. In this case, which was an appeal from the Court below, a bill was filed to compel John Biggs the elder, John Biggs the younger, Mrs. Elizabeth Biggs, and Mrs. Ho neywell to deliver certain bills of exchange and Rock As surance shares which they had received from Thomas Chandler Biggs (who shortly afterwards became a bank rupt) nominally as a security for a debt alleged to be due to his brother, William Biggs, the late husband of Eliza beth Biggs, and to his sister, Mrs. Honeywell, but which were charged in the bill to have been really banded over by collusion and for the purpose of defeating the claims of the creditors of Thomas Chandler Biggs. His Lirdship seldom recollected a cese in which the circumstantial evidence more strongly bore out a charge, not of fraudulent prefe rence, but of having secreted with a fraudulent intent; and he should therefore affirm the decree of the Vice- Chanceflor with costs, as against Mrs. Elizabeth Riggs and Mrs. Honeywell. With respect to John Biggs, sen. and junior, he thought the case tailed. They did not seem to have any guilty knowledge of the tracsaction, although they were made the depositaries of the property. His Lordship therefore dismissed the bill as ag tin,t them, but without giving any direction as to costs. VICE•CHANCERY COURT, FEB. 28. lIVNGATE V. GASCOIGNE. In this case tlie;iic;;asfiledWythe plaintiff, claiming to be entitled to large and valuable estates in the county of York, in possession of the defendant, for the recovery of which he had brought upwards of 40 ejectments ; and the prayer of the bill was, that the defendant might be restrained ftoin setting up at the trial of those ejectments any outstanding terms, and also that he might be ordered to make a full disclosure and discovery of all the title deeds in his possession relating to the property in question. The case bas been several times before the public, no less than three trials at law having taken place, in two of which the defendant was successful ; and also several proceedings in this Court. The defendant having succeeded at law, the cause now came on regularly for hearing. The plaintiff, who is a lieutenant in his Majesty's navy on half pay, claimed to be entitled t,i the property in question as the heir male of William Hungate, under certain settle ments of 1662 and 1682, and also as heir at law, ex parte materna, of Sir Thomas Gaseoigne, who died seised of the property. Sir EDWARD SUDDEN, with whom was Mr. KINDERS LEV, shortly addressed the Court on behalf of the pl , intitr , contending that he was entitled, as heir male of William Hungate, to the property under the limitations of the set tlement in question, provided those limitations had not been barred; and that if they were barred, then that he was he r general of the family, unless it could be shown that the defendant claimed under seine valid instrument, which he contended he could not. Mr. KINDERSLEY followed on the same side, and read several extracts from registers, for the purpose of proving the pedigree of the plaintiff. Sir WM. HORNE, with whom was Mr. KNIGHT and Mr. MoNilo, appeared fur the defendant. Tee learned counsel, in addressing the court, said, that God forbid the time should ever arrive when the doors of that court should not be open to the poor man as well as to the rich ; but he was sure that the experience of his Honour would convince him, that nothing was more dangerous to the just rights of mankind and the security of property, than that a poor man should be brought forward to litigate a case where it was quite clear that he could not have airy honest conviction of the truth of his case, and where he was either the arch-conspirator, or had suffered himself to be made an instrument in the hands of others. The defendant, in the present case, was a gentleman of high station in the county of York, and had been in possession of the property in question for a long series of years, and he (Sir Wm. Horne) cou!d not but consider the present claim to he a conspiracy to wrench, if possible, that IT , - perry from his hinds. It was quite unnecessary for Mtn to enter into all the details of the case, it being clear, from the deed of 1'727, that had been discovered, in which the deed of 1713 was recited, and also from the will of the Paid William Hungate, dated in 1706, and proved in 1720, under whom the plaintiff n'aitned that he died a bachelor, there being no mention in the will of either wife or child, hut the residue of his I property being left to hi s tw o ne phews, Fields and Wil liam Hungate; and upon that point, independent of many others, he was content to leave the case in the hands of the court. There was no doubt that the plaintiff had de scended from a William Hungate, and that that William Hungate died in 1719, but that could not be the William Hungate in the pedigree of the defendant, because he (Sir William Horne) was prepared to show that that William Hungate died in 1710. Mr. KINDERSLICY observed, that that might be easily done by cutting off the tail of the figure nine. Sir WILLIAM HORNE said he should not be satisfied with cutting off the tail of the nine, but it was his inten• ttin to cut off the plaintiff's head. The learned counsel then went on to show at some length the proof of the death of William Hungate, who died at Louvain at the time he had menti one d ; and stated, that if his Honour would look to the signature of the will, and compare it with the deed to which he had adverted, he hesitated not to say, the court would feel perfectly convinced of the fallacious na ture of the plaintiff's claim. The learned counsel then proceeded at some length to comment upon the singular and extraordinary nature of the bill which prayed every species of discovery. The learned counsel concluded a long and excellent speech by expressing his most confident conviction that the Court would dismiss the bill with costs, it being clearly a suit instituted for the purpose, if possible, of obtaining a sum of money from the defendant, for the purpose of purchasing his peace. Mr. MoNact read several parts of the evidence on behalf of the defendant, in the course of which he was inter rupted by His HONOUR, who asked Sir E !ward Sugden if it was necessary to carry the case further ? Sir EDWARD SU6DIIN observed, that if his Honour had formed a deliberate opinion upon the subject, it was his duty to bow to the decision of the Court. The VICE-CHANCELLOR—Indeed, Sir Edward, I have. I feel as persuaded upon it as upon any fact that ever came before me. Taking it for granted, that you prove the fact of the death of Wm. Huugate at Louvaine, at the time you state, which I don't think very material, for in the will of that William, which was made in 1706, and which was proved in 1720 by Wm. Hungate, power being reserved to Francis, he has named as his executors that William and Francis, which is consistent with the statement of the plaintiff, that they were brothers of Philip ; and although you find him making mention of them afterwards, there is no mention whatever of those relations, either wife or child, whom, according to the plaintiff's own statement, would be the persons, of all others, found in the will, if he had any title. And it is also further to be observed, in corroboration of what I have stated, that the signature to the deed of 1705, and the other deed, are the same as the sign iture to the will. Mr. KNIGHT—Then our evidence will be entered as read, and the bill dismissed with costs. The VICE-CHANCELLOR—Yes; I think it as clear a case as I ever saw. [The report of this case was omitted at the time it was argued, entirely through inadvertence.] MIDDLESEX SESSIONS, MARCH 12. (Before Sir WILLIAM CURTIS, Bart., Chairman.) 211ary Ann lVest, a middle-aged woman of simple manners, was charged with stealing on the 27th of February a piece of bacon from the shop of T. Cresswell. Policeman F, 49, deposed, that when be took the pi i goner into custody from the prosecutor, she said she had committed the robbery to get to her own country. Sir W. CURTIS—What ! is she a native of the colonies? The hon. chairman, addressing the prisoner, asked her what she meant ? Prisoner (with a careless air)—l have been a long time out of a situation, and was told to do something to get to my own darling country, which is Edinburgh; I went to Bow.street to see the magistrate, but I was drivenjdown the steps from the door, and when I told them what I wanted, they said, " Go and break a window and steal something, and then they would soon take me before a magistrate; or go into a shop, and prig' any thing I could lay my hands on ;" so as I thought breaking a win• dow would make a noise, I went and stole the bacon. All I want is to get to my own country, dear Edinburgh. The jury returned a verdict of Guilty. The CHAIRMAN sentenced her to imprisonment and hard labour for one month in the House of Correction. ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. HOME CIRCUIT.--MAIDSTONE, MARCH 12. (Before Lord LYNDHURST, and a Common Jury.) HARMON V. CHEESEMAN- This was an action brought to recover damages for set , Ling some dogs on two sows belonging to the plaintiff, in consequence of which one died. 11r. THESSIGER stated the case and called witnesses, who proved that the plaintiff was a small farmer at illorden, whose property was parted from the defendant's by a lane, in which the animals were feeding. The gate of the defendant's field being open, they strayed in, upon which the brother of the defendant, by his direction, set six of his dogs upon them, and bit and worried them. One of the sows littered, and with several of her young ones died soon after. A cattle doctor w.s called, who proved the state of the animals, and that be administered medicine to those which had died. Mr. Sergeant SPANKIE addressed the jury in a hu morous speech, which kept the judge and jury and whole Court convulsed with laughter. The representative of the poor animal which had died had certainly given her case the benefit of the best advice, both legal and medical ; had the been the learned pig, more pains could not have been bestowed on her unhappy case. Dogs, they knew, like others of a more civil zed nature had an antipathy to swine, and it was not always easy to keep them from pur suing a pig, if one came in sight. Now here it fell out upon a day that this chase began, and " The sow will rue that is unborn The hunting of that day," The principal witness, whose evidence at all gave this case a serious complexion, was the doctor, the village accou cheur, who, it appeared, went about, as he said, with a stallion, and carried about a purgative, or, as he called it, a cordial ball, for the convenience of that animal. By some inconceivably strange association of ideas, he thought the ball might, with very just propriety, be administered to the sow. " Here is a ball fir my stallion," said he, "and there is a sow near her time; nothing can be more suitable than the stallion's ball to a sow about to have a litter of pigs." So, without more ado, he took the ball from his medicine chest, and gave milk and linseed-oii and cordial ball, and away they went helter-skelter toge ther. The devil a sow in the county of Kent could have stood such a bolus. They were now sitting as a coroner's inquest, and he had little doubt they would bring in a verdict against this unskilful accoucheur, for administering medicine of the effect of which lie was wholly ignorant. The defendant's dogs were clearly in the back-ground, and had no right to he mixed up with the tragic consequences which had ensued from this very violent dose. The poor animal had not been used to such treatment, and as to her young, there had never been such an unlucky litter of pigs since the world kgan. Verdict for the plaintiff-51. WESTERN CIRCUIT—SALIsavar, Mazur 10. The assizes were opened here on Saturday. Mr. B iron WILLIAMS took his seat in the .Nisi Prius Court, at 9 o'clock this morning, and Mr. Justice BOSANQUET pre sided in the Crown Court, at 10 o'clock. In the course of his charge to the grand jury, Mr. Justice BOSANQUET remarked strongly on the number of prisonerS in the calendar for minor offences, and regretted that most of those charges had not been brought before the magistrates at the quarter sessions, and that if the number had much increased since they were held, it would have been easy to have held an adjourned sessions to try them, for as it was, it would be almost impossible for the judges to get home in time for the term. On the Civil Side, although the cause-list was rather large, yet the cases have not been at all interesting. NORTHERN CIRCUIT-LANCASTER, MARCH 10. The Judges, Mr. Justice TAUNTON and AIN Justice ALDEasoN, arrived here on Saturday evening, and opened the commission. The calendar for this county is exceedingly heavy. There are snrenty-six prisoners for trial, and of these no fewer than 11 stand charged with murder, and 23 with manslaughter. John Horrocks was indicted with having mali ciously cut and stabbed John Ashton, at Heap, with intent to murder him. Th e prisoner, in his defence, said that be had been ill used by a number of men that night, and was beaten and kicked—that he had been wounded in the head in his Nlajesty's service, and when be was in liquor he did not know what he was doing. A witness for the defence gave the prisoner a good character for humanity.—Verdict, Guilty. The jury recommeodel the prisoner to mercy on ac count of the wounds in his head. The Learned JUDGE addressed the prisoner, and said that when he looked at the frightful calend ir before him of murders, mans!aughters, and cuttings, he considered th it he should not he doing his duty to the public it he did not visit every case that was clearly proved with the severest punishment the law would permit. The senten c of the court was, that the prisoner should be tranwor ted for life. James Shepherd and James Saunderson were in dicted for uttering a forged 5/. note, on the Rochdale Bank, with intent to defrand Messrs. Fenton and Co. Shephard was acquitted. and Saunderson was fowl guilty, and sentenced to he transported for life. IRISH ASSIZES. (From the Cork Evening Herald.) LIMERICK CITY RECORD COURT. SAM. DICKSON V. W. R. YEILDING. In this case Samuel Dickson is plaintiff, and William Richard Yeilding def-ndant. It was an action for libel, and damages were laid at 5,000/. The libels consisted of a series of wood-cuts and politi cal squibs, inserted previous to and at the Limerick elec tion for 1832, in the Limerick Herald, of which the defendant was the proprietor. After a number of wit nesses were examined on both sides, Mr. PIGOTT stated, on behalf of the defendant, that he was now ready to submit to a verdict against him on all the counts for the sum of 1001., of which 251. only should be demanded, and these the plaintiff insisted should be applied to charitable purposes. In the course of the examination of the witnesses it was proved that some of the electors voted three times running, by merely changing this• apparel—and the dextetity with which it was performed excited the risible faculties of all present, as did many other circumstances that came out. SINGULAR CASE OF ABDUCTION. James Ryan, John Ryan, Mary Ryan, Sally Ryan, and Margaret Ryan, the father and his four children were severally charged with the abduction of Catherine Sheehan, on the 27th of last November. Catherine Sheehan sworn—Witness is a widow; her husband was killed by lightning about two years ago; he left her some cows and a farm ; has four children, three of them were in the house that night ; heard some noise in the chimney ; two men came down the chimney ; they were Robin Barry and Thomas Dawson ; one of them asked, " Are you the woman of the house ?"--witness answered, " No, she is gone down to Dennis Hayes's ;" the other man pinched him, and said, " You are the woman we want, come along, you have a journey before you ;" witness then began to cry, and took up one of her young children in her arms ; the men said, " Leave your child after you, or we will murder it"—and when they were tearing it, she, to save the child, complied, a swhwa n eiie d dt iwaehi l :d e sen f , t ta.ny, i any assistance wouldu h theha e roeneoc h utwe o n: u tte n s has e psec ; :; a man with a gun in his hand stood over the servant girls at the bed side, and n't oi,fltdi identifiedhß feoyyranms a h yol should outside prisoners wn str theioi rsn Daniel, give roasun eeui;t, he Sally Ryan); they all desired her not to be crying or la menting ; she should be for the road ; they dragged wit ness out through the haggard gate, when one of the party pushed witness off the wall down to Daniel Ryan, saying, " here Daniel is your wife—down with you, Mrs. Ryan"—(A laugh) ; witness was then brought out on the road, and was carried towards the county of Tipperary to the house of a cousin of the Ryans', about nine miles from where witness lived; it was night time all along; wit ness was placed on a horse behind Daniel Ryan ; pulled Daniel Ryan down the last time by which he got a cut in the head ; their whole song, going on, was, " when you go home, you'll get it—you'll get it ; an' when you go home, you'll get it for fun."—(Loud laughter.) They swore her not to tell what happened, and to marry Ryan— they then brought her home. His lordship charged the jury. They retired for a short time, and returned with a verdict of—Guilty. His lordship should for the present record sentence of death against James Ryan, but, if possible, have it modi fied to fourteen years' transportation. The four children, who are adult, were sentenced to three months' im prisonment. WEXFORD. On Friday Chief Baron Joy entered the Court at an early hour, and on the panel being called over, very few of the jurors answered to their names. Mr. Dennehy, the sub-sheriff said, in excuse for the non-attendance of several of the jurors, that " they were too grand to attend." This conversation excited conside rable laughter in the court. . . A quaker gentleman having been called as a juror, Mr. Dennehy told his Lordship that he (Mr. D.) took upon himself to say he would not be wanted, as he expected there would be a better attendance of jurors. The Judge said—Take care, Mr. Suu-shetiff; that you do not take too much on yourself.—(Laughter.) A BRILLIANT WITNESS.—The following also occurred at these Assiz s By 111 r. SCOTT, Barrister, to a witness—ls Patrick Hanes hying or dead ? Witness—Be gor I can't say— but I know he's buried anyhow.—(A laugh.) TV.ATERFORD, MARCH 7. CHARGE OP FEMALE VIOLATION. Michael Lambert was indicted for a rape on Mary Downing, on the 12th of January last, at Carrigadonogan, near Tallow. It appeared from the evidence of the pro secutrix, a plain looking country girl, about twenty years of age, that the prisoner lived next door to her fur seve ral yea's, and that on a Sunday, during the absence of her family who had gone to divine service, the prisoner went into her house, and by force and violence effected his purpose. It also appeared from her statement, that he had at a former period proposed for her in marriage, but she declined to accept his offer, as his father had been at one time imprisoned under a charge of horse-stealing, and she said she would sooner marry a fellow without a shirt than join a family under such a stigma. She also said that the prisoner got married on the Tuesday suc ceeding the diy he committed the offence on her, and on the following Friday she lodged informations against him before Mr. Gumbleton, who lived considerably farther from her house than Mr. Keily, another magistrate. She underwent a long cross examination by Mr. Hat obeli, which had the effect of making her cry repeatedly ; she at length swoonel away. No other witness having been examined for the prose cution, the prisoner's counsel declined to call any witness. The judge did not charge the jury, and they then retired. In a few minutes after the foreman came out and informed his lordship that there was one of the jurors " sticking out " against the other eleven, and it was no-, likely they would agree, as the "one" was determined to eat his boots sooner than change his opinion. Mr. HATCHELL here said if he had the slightest idea that there would be a difference of opinion on the subject, he would have called witnesses to show it was jealousy and revenge which prompted the prosecutrix to lodge in formations in this case. Accordingly a man named Lam bert was examined, from whose evidence and a letter from the priest who married the prisoner, it satisfactorily ap peared that the prosecutrix had acted in the prosecution under a feeling of disappointed love. The case having now finally closed, the " eleven obsti nate jurors" turned round in the box, consulted with the " one," agreed with him, and ultimately retu rned a verdict of Not Guilty. The above extraordinary trial excited great interest in the Court. HISTORY OF THE LANDED GENTRY.-- The fourth number of Mr. Burke's very inter esting His tory of the Commoners of Great Britain and Ireland we observe is embellished with an admirable likeness of the Right Hon. Sir Charles Manners Sutton, K. 8., Speaker of the House of Commons ; and an ensuing number will contain, we are informed, a portrait of the present Secre tary of Ireland, the Right Hon. Edward John Littleton of Teddesley, M.P. for Staffordshire. mu c iNn t otn: Grove-place, et,r very eyilav : lseya i at- rolupirmnvedi chrnaubeyay:lyialwßrat pthri night hle o aeooi m duhla p or( t t;s t h tu o te in i.en: f *: (bi a .p l ta ' evenings Mr. J. house. t.n . ifl hgiv aa saush r s e rosnt e eahmt ntsugri respect able i‘tcyrehbheteneee.,, DREADFUL CASE OF ATTEMPTED SUI w CIDE.—On attempted d d l al attentiony' theofo).on uf suicide hc l staid last and f k m e oe w e up d tt was observed to be without his watch, guard, and seals. He became very melancholy, so much so that Mrs. Green acre watched him very narrowly. On Monday night, on returning to his room, after a short absence, she found him in the act of cutting his throat, having already made three incisions, from which the blood was trickling. She instantly rushed upon him, and seizing hold of both his arms, threw him backwards on a sofa, where she held him till her cries brought assistance. He was so injured that it was thou.ht necessary to remove him to St. George's hospital. Hia family is highly respectable, and he was in good circumstances. No cause can as yet be assigned for his conduct. PETER SIMPLE ADD GIL BLAB.--There is great similarity between the " Gil Blas" of Le Sage, and the " Peter Simple" of Captain 1114rryat. They both start in life raw unworldly youths, both are lads of sense, without their suspecting it ; and as their characters unfold, if " Gil Das" is foun 1 to possess more espieglerie Peter has infinitely more humour, and there is a bon hommie and gallantry about the latter that the ether suily want , . That the gallant author has hit with natund wit the national taste, the rapid sale of two editions fully t vinees. THE MARKETS. COAL MARK, Per Ton. s. d. Adair's 15 0 Ho'ywell - 16 0 Newborn Ord's Itedhugh „ _ l4 0 Pontop Windsor 15 6 lan field _ l7 0 West Hartley 15 - 0 Wylam 17 0 Walls End Bell & Brown 14 3 Walls End Bewicke & Co. 16 6 Walls End Carr and Co. 13 9 Wall s End Hilda ----. 14 6 Walls End Killingworth 14 :1 Ditto Northumberland.. 14 6 Ships arrived since COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DUR Wheat. Barley. Per Quarter. Abingdon Andover „ pridport Cirencester Guildford Hereford Highworth Maidenhead Reading Salisbury, Southampton Stroud fewkesbury Uxbridge Wantage*. Warminster Worcester. .--- ET—March 12. Per Ton. s. a , .1 Walls End New march.. ,- 5 Walls End Peareth..... lt S Walls End rerkins,...... 1, i NNalts End Riddell's ~... 1° 6 Lambton's Primrose..... Walls End Hetton ......... 17 ; virWaailllss EnEndi LaLynnonbsto.......—...n ...e..... 16 7 v g. W a lls Ern I Stewart's.... 17 Walls-End G0rd0n.....*- 15 ! W. E " South Durham... I? . ; W a ll s End Tees .......... 1 5 0 Hart l e y ................ last market -day, 129. NG rK E WEEK' "...--- f . to nO ... - il 4 6 j4 34 White ;I: l : E at W (p E er S qu i l A rte ß r i h 11. )(......... X 2 12 oto 2 4 0 Red ditto.— 8ar1ey.,.«.. Oats, New Pease.....«« Oil Cake, / 45 52 2 - 6 32 1 ;.' 6 1 018 0 1 16 U 12 10 0 per 111' ------;7-7 ------- CHELLENHAM Arl_ Per Bushel. s. d. to s. d Wheat Barley 3 0 3 9 Mutton Oats 2 6 3 3 Veal Beans Pease 5 0 7 0 Lamb Hay 3/. lOs to 31. 15s. Od. per ton. A RKET—Ma lb rch I Per . 2 18 0 2 it o' 1 10 1 2 0 0 " A . iousT..„l.; ft tn a. ( I. ... 1 6 1 1 0 q 0 1 6 1 0 -----=-------____ HULL MARKET.—March 21. 46 1 ' Wheat, Old — a. 40s. 48s. ...... New —so . 4,4 -- Foreign —s. 50s. 545. ln bond... —s. -- 6 • 0 4. Oats, Poland —s. 18s. 20s. Old . Small or Feed.... —s. 14 s. 18s .. 4 .....s. , F ore i gn —s. 16s. 18 ' --5..-s."- • "' Barley, Norf. & Suf. ... — s. 265. 28s. Linc. & %Vold —0... 24 ,I , Foreign... -s. z .„4 Beans —s. 325. 345. F0reign ......... -- 0 - :.;;011 1 . Pease, White....... —s. 303 . 345. Gre y ............ --2. '' .... ,.... 0 . Taros —s. —a. —B. Foreign ......... .• a at, O. Rapeseed, in Isona none. RKETS. nu ch 7 ' s t ' E.--FrtioAY% --, r A ver , 1,222 Wheat, per barrel 20 stone -60 &re l6 stone 10 9 --- 6 11 13 - 624 Barley .16 stone 10 9 6 11 0 8 4,023 Oats —... 12 stone 6 0 19 0 --. 10 11,764 Cwt. F10ur............ 9 stone 5 l, 0 10 723 Oatmeal 8 stone 9 0 '''' 6 Sold to Bakers only. 1g 0 15 11,911 Cwt. Flour l2 6 ,-- ner aCK.,,,Ori , Average price of Wheat and Flour '9 , `.`" r ' to IQ' OX 1 , 1 ' 5 r om o 2 : 7 . 1.0 . 00 ..... 2g .., v s , •d. , 1 6., • IRISH MA . DUBLIN MARKET NO Firsts, Receipts of Flour, 13,573 Second Sales of Do. 11,764 1 Thirds, PRICE OF BREAD .7%1 I Half Quarte from • d. to . v. , Ls, from r 2 q. from 55. L Quartern Loaf, CORK M A RKETS.—March 8. Sd. Wheat (per 20st.) Barley (per 16st.) 10 „ Oats (per 14st.) Flour (per cwt.) 5 0 0 10 0 11 ~.i . Oatmeal (per cwt.) I gd to 1 ". ' Beef, sd. to • Mutton, sd. to 6d. Ve a ' , - ' lb ad to 12d. per • Pork, 2d. li dtid. ; Fresh Butter, i— • PRICE OF BUTTER' . F6s. First Quality 765. ....................... ~, ....... ot, Second 72 ............... .. Third 52 30 Fourth ll Fourth 40 ...................... :1!;: ..... '''' -.. 12 / To the Merchants. To the coontrP Fifth Sixth 30 .• - • j LKETS.--M arc h ~ P Cwt. s , d. to' . 6 Heads ............. . • ag. ' 'rds ..... ~ 0. 0 25 0 IFlour,lbl ~ .14 " ',---- Fourth 5 .. .1 4 ... 4 3arrel. .. 11 6 5 !Barley ............... ~ 2 9 ICoals .............. 0 6 0 ;tone. h) 5 „ a ° 0 (Tallow (rough)•" 0 v. 0 'Potatoes ............ . 0 4 0 'ound. mutton ........... , 0 ~ i." Veal .................. " per barrel ; Flour 13s to 295. per bag; to NI. ; Potatoes 4d. per stone; ~t O P ; clel. KILKENNV.—Butter 76s to 78s. per cwt. • w h r; : , Ils . . muttcfpc. ° rel; Barley Ils. to 13s. ; Beef 3d. tomd s - fr per cwt.; FI Bacon id es i- 1 i a g w s .) . 1 .. .. .. .. ... ... 5 74 (1 0 . .• gb : cos-. °8:1 1°11;..; Pigs 225. to 245. Od. per cwt. CLONMELL MA: Per s. d. s. (LI New Butter 72 0 to 73 0, Oatmeal 11 0 11 31 Rendered Lard— 36 0 —7. Flour, Second .... 0 30 01 --Household— U 28 0; Rapeseed 20 0 0 Bere 10 0 11 0 Wheat 1 0 1 31 Oats 0 81 p OBI er j, Fresh Butter 1 0 1 21 Beef 0 3 0 41 Third 51s °d"' SCOTCH MARKETS. Af ich HADDINGTON CORN Al A 11KET....."4 0 , 0 Wheat. Barley. I Oats. I Pease. 025 pi First s6s Oct 2Ss 6d 2S Od 9. 0 ° m 0 , e d Second 50 s va 22s Od 18s Oct 12 0 'L. 4 00 Th e 24s Od l9s 6d : 4 ') 261 . re were 249 qrs. of Wheat in inarket,2l4 wher.'" 35 Unsold--° Grey. o _NthS. A verage ..................... 2/. I Is. 4.1. DA LKIETH COHN First Wheat. Barley. Oats. reoseci ols v o i 57s OLI 28s Od f2ls 4d 3 „ Q ! od ~2 84, otl Second Third 274 oa 38 s Ocl 21s 6d 15s 4d ...March(' neolt I. ll ' DUMFRIES MARKETS.--dgarch 5 * s. d• 9 s. d. s. d. ... 0 8 10 1 0 59t0 6 0 Butter, 180 g. .............. 0 0 g 0 ---------;-:- MAIIK E.I. 3 0 3 2 Eggs, 22 ....... . ......... s 0 ~ 4 2 0 2 3 Beef, per seor ......... ov o 3 0 3 2 Muttort,Per """ ....... ....0 4 00 1 6 1 8 Veal .............. .......... 0 0 1 6 20.2 ,artr_____2.oo.'' --•— Wheat, Imp. Bush Barley ...... Oats ......... .......... Flour, 141 b. Oatmeal Potatoes, cwt. MEETINGS OF CRlT°l°osll D LL .STA AT THE COURT, BASINGHA 4 / e . . ) ............ T. Curtis, wholesale-stationer, 11 , ' ih 09 o'll W. Bradley, linen-draper, Newgate-street ..... :::, e, . port , l' R. Knight, commission-agent, Cirencester -lo°' .. . ..... ... 2.1 land-road ......................................... .............. 6 it J. T. Übidell, Tunbridge-ware-ma nufacturers ............ 6 1 6 wells ...................................................... .... ............ 1 T. Cary, salt-merchant, High-street, Wlr o r o l s.stree t. '; 110 m:sstlat°thioeitnifer°o, InßVd:dlgleAG.rgoacvlig.e.ll..... . . ........ , . i W. Johnson, haberdasher, Maiden -lane, J. Hayward, E. Hobbs, r iobbs Henderson,builder,g ei.2:d,i24 e r t s ...........re s Q s j u n e g o . i c . A , e n_n d e e - a s i Anne-street, e isT t , New rt I Bon ds a . n . d .. .. P t .. r i . aee . ct 1 1 f! , R. P. Staples, merchant, London ... .................. . 41: DIVI DEN DS. .................... .; W. Homan, tallow-chandler, Balking .. fj;;;;;Ine ........ 0 1 R George, coachmaker, Parker-,treet, ................... ~ , P. Barratt, jeweller, Nw Bond.street ........................... • 1 11 GROWTH OF SCA DA I , .---ill A ted li4 h has tier() e t entitled " Helen," Miss Edgewort . 00 m re • and progr pages to the exposition of the rise . ~e , oo 0 , istab i iii fashionable vice of detraction. First a, 0 1 do o 0 then a faint surmise, followed by a broad 0' er ,,,,, A O a named facts, ending in newspaper paragraPr'the t 1.4. publication of a scandalous volume, wheri al the c"I P the accused parties may be wholly innoceil t : ° : ore $ Surely nothing merits the lash of the satin' s - Z ' this vice. _.--' '• her new o°olef the of the Rev ' . C. J. 7th inst. at ll' o i f th L e ie l u 2 t the 12th inst., Mrs. ' oolliali dtyile E l2th inst., in Upper Harley.stre , ii , On th e • the l a " 7 .A _ Morrison, sq., M. P., of a daughter. ad , s _ro , ' ford. Ndc‘drh iaeay:iCharles BIRTHS. yrIa I eidgcathuo:ryo If:ti(r . nearg gao c 13 e : row, of a daughter. On lady of a daughter. 1 e ju n "' On the II th inst , the lady of Samuel Girdlesto 1 , 6 of of a daughter. . _ f orlll ' On the 11th inst., at East Sheen, the lion. Mrs. a daughter, which died the same day. And 1.1. - , MARRIED. li, " rif. iltt r ' On the 11th inst., at St. Pancras New Churc .t do g Green, of Sloane-street, to Jane Caroline, younge' t_hcioniostn.,ol,lri:clido,ntagu-street, Portroan-square;, Mr. Walley, Judd-street, Brunswick -square. ----------- ft` fr ' DIE the w ile o D. On the 11th inst., at Walthamstow, f e ann , fl i.' 1 SM ith, George Wigram. SO l° r e... t On the 12th inst., in Berkeley -s q uat, of Woodhall Park, Herts, in his 80th Year' coriette-$ OP' On the 12th inst., J ame s Lavell, Esq., °f Bloomsbury, wine-merchant, aged 80. ~,,e, IVir s ' gt g On the 28th ult., in Norfolk-street, Paric'''' oc orl i in her 88th year. utraterbe3d'' 0 On the Bth inst., at the Vicarage, ••- AP youngest son of the Rev. Thomas Coombe. ~sii.,tovin, ie n " oc ie, On the 1 Ith inst., at Grove-terrace, , the wife of Mr. Loftus, of New Inn, ag ed 4-6eorge TA P fi 0 111 ,1 B: h i: Bruton-street, re i l e , s t t , ~ t he t infant daugh ter liter of f ° e - P floor , erra ° :, v a ° o e _ d i i l ei 7°(' Esq. Dyott, Esq., formerly of the Island of 3 1°Itts f the ° • On the 10th inst., the infant daughter o P f •re General. . 54to ret tr , On the Sth inst., in York-street, Portm an -s . Power, eldest daughter of Redmond power, P(l.' J e ' w ;, e lie f ' o r .. Water, Clonmell, Ireland. a y, f ll°° il ierli A r On the 9th inst., in ed Pall-ma Mr. Reilly F°P.o•ll, Mr. Edw. ter re - On the 7tll inst., a 57, s tree t ' Hexham, Northumber g land, and lat e of Pento ville. - - ---- i O S 040 s • PRINTED AND PUBLISHED D r M U R 1) 0 IL' ° SUN OFFICE, 119, STRAND. vats , S. to s• 22 30