The Sun. — London, England, 1825-07-30 00:00:00

se - evicted, - as he bad been, of an armee of such magnitude *oat A fell within the limits of those that were ordered by the hw •to receive capital ! punishment. He should not properly discharge that duty which he owed to the public justice of the country, if he permitted the prisoner to entertain any hope that , leis sentence would: be remitted. The prisoner had not brought forward any person to give any account of his previous con filet, nor had he shewn that by any unhappy circumstances, ever which he had little or no controul, he had been reduced to .skie necessity of doing that which had placed him in the dis graceful situation in which he now stood. Many other persons s,ight have pleaded in excuse--so far as such a plea could be ;en excuse in such a case, .that they had been driven by poverty to commit this crime; but even of that excuse—poor and weak as it was—the prisoner,-it seemed, could not avail himself. His l' . i.ords,hip would not-now do mate than simply allude to the pro , which had taken place early in the morning, and which, tat for the accidental almence of a witness, must have gone far t•,er. What.might have been its result, it was not for hire to sly. Unless .the prisoner could shew any thing that wcnrld prove t'ie public justice of the country could be satisfied by an atievition of the punishment, or unless he could produce some circumstances that could be laid befirre the source from which snercy was to be expected, the Learned Judge could not pro wise him any remission of his sentence. If' any of these cir cumstances existed; if there was any thing that could be alleged in extenuation of the prisoner's offence, it would give his Lord -snip great pleasure to, lay it before that authority who always r'ceived such representations with the greatest attention, and the delight of whose reign it was, to extend mercy wherever publiC justice would permit. Should the prisoner, however, be atnifl,:. to do this, he could hope for no mitigation of his punishment. His Lordship, after advising the prisoner to pre y ire to quit this world, passed sentence on him in the usual iorm. The case excited considerable interest, as it was stated the orisoner was the on of a respectable Dissenting Clergyman.— was dressed in a full suit of black, and appeared to listen to trial with the greatest - anxiety. When the Jury were den t rating, he fixed his eyes upon them, and watched them with I'. • mast intense earnestness. During the address of the Judge, i.ovr the verdict had been recorded, he was extremely affected ; rembled cxceedirgly, and wept; but when the awful sen t nce was pronounced, he seemed almost to be in convulsions ; h,s frame became powerfully agitated, and when he attempted to descend from the dock, he was so unnerved that he could not rn , ve a sty, and must have fallen down had he not been as sisted and supported by the gaoler's men who were attending him. AIDSTONE, ' UItSDAY JULY 28. ( aihr i c Lard Chief Justicc BEST and a Special Jury.) THI: KIND v. ABRAHAM CONSTABLE, ESQ. This IVPS an indictment for a misdemeanour. The indict meat status tkls the defendant, as one of the Justices of the Peace for canny of Kent, having no regard to justice or to the duty of his office, but unlawfully intending to aggrieve and oppress John Baker, and to expose him to ignominy, shelve, scandal, and disgrace, on the 30th of July, 1822, without any reasonable or probable cause, and under mere cahittr and pretence of his office, did sign a warrant directed to the keeper of the House of Correction at Maidstone, reciting thst het naker) had been duly convicted before him (defend er:), by the oath of Joseph Abbott and Thomas Ferguson, of eing a rogue and vagabond—to wit , by indecen tl y exposing his lemon naked before a girl named Harriet Hall, ten years old, ;n Greenwien-park, and that he (defendant) had, for his said e.i'ence, adjudged him (Baker) to be imprisoned and kept to I_rd labour for three months; and by the said warrant did com e. e :assn. the said.keeper to detain him for the term therein speci e -f.ed ; whereas, in, truth and in fact, the said J. Baker had not, at the thne of the sigeing of the said warrant, been duly con - by the oath of the persons therein named, or by the oath of any other peisons,,hert on the contrary, defendant had signed . tiie.said warrant, withOuneeeing the said J. Baker, and without giving }Mew - I:opportunity of making his defence, or of exa mining the. witnesses.t6 - the said supposed offence, &c. There were other counts, varying the charge in particulars not neces. wary to mention. The last count was for false imprisonment. Thhi case excited extraordinary interest, and the Court was crowded to excess. The ..cause was appointed to be tried by a special jury at the instance of the .prosecutor. Mr. GURN F. Y stated the case tinethe prosecution. He said it was necessary for him to draw.the, most serious attention of the jury to the case he had to latelett:aze them, after having beard that the indictment, ,which had .been opened by his 1,0 - earned Friend, imputed to the,tiefenclant the grave offence of having abused his office of a Magistrate. !The defendant had long been in the commission of the. peace. :lie was not an in expe•rienced Magistrate; for he (Alr..Qurney) had for many iters observed his name cutting a.eonspictioun figure in the %gaol calendars at the. Assizes. Formerly he had been a brewer, 'sett having retired from business. he became a Nagistrate, and resided at Lewisham, where he had an office,for the transacting . Ai' business which came before him for judgment as. a justice. Theyrosecutor was a man in a humble situationof life, hut bore al irreproachable character. carrying on busiaess.as„as a green grocer at. Deptford. lie was a married man, and had ke family. .4 'fnt It 3:11i ot . July, 1f;22, in passing through Greenwieh-park -.on business, he had occasion, to turn aside tbr a certain purpose. Ile was proceeding on his way when he was accosted by a little girl about nine or ten years of age, who was crying.' He was acquiring into the cause of her grief, when a cpuple of loon fellows, who appeared to have been lurking about the esask, came .up and accused him of having indecently exposed his per s on to the girl. The prosecutor would be examined,on- his iteith, and he would declare solemnly that the charge was..ab ....whitely false. Whether it was true or false was, however, : a -q iestion wholly irrelevant to the present inquiry ; for, wile . her Baker was innocent or guilty, the conduct of Mr. Con anableethe 'Magistrate, was equally unjustienthle. :In vain did Baker protest his innocence ; his accusers charged him in cus s telly of the park-keeper ; who was also a constable, for the. ,aeirpose ef taking him before a Magistrate. By, the proyi- : viiona of the Vagrant Act, which was then in force, a small . .r2ward was given to persons instrumental in the apprelten. R. , AI and conviction of vagrants. Happily that Act was no .1 mger in existence. Its enactments were found to have such a, tendency to produce oppresSion and injustice, that the Le arielature wisely repealed it in a subsequent Session. The airesecutor was immediately taken to the house of Colonel Ihrerean, a Magistrate, but that gentleman being from home; lie was then carried to the house of the defendant, who was *.iao from home, but being then spending the day with Mr. I:rown, his nephew, .the prisoner was carried to the house of the latter. The defendant, - on being apprized of the nature of e :tile business, ordered the parties to go to, the clerk's office at I,reocwich. Accordingly the prisoner was taken to Mr. lick ni:ll's office, when that gentleman's clerk, after taking the de , yraitio::s, made out a commitment, and delivered it to the ecanstable, who itatuediately carried it to the defendant for sig nature.. Without examining any of the witnesses, inquiring -'into the nature of the charge, or even seeing any of the parties, the defendant forthwith signed the warrant of commitment, by, the uefartunate prosecutor was doomed to three months' dinpretonrnent arid hard . labour. The constable, not having int . roediate means of- conveying his prisoner to Maidstone, locked Lisa up fnethe night,,in the cage. There he remained until melt day, -withouteven the common necessaries • and conyeni -ances of lodging, until the next morning. It happening, how . f t, er, - that toe Maidstonecoach was full, and the constable hay- . hing ro mode of removing him to his destination, he was again returned to the citeee.to.await his passage by the following day's .ceaoh. By• this time &great stir was raised in the neighbour , J•ood in consequence of this. extraordinary proceeding, founded 'ta it was upon a.charge made by persons whom nobody knew. itfrur or five of the constables of Greenwich, who had known sglah.er to be it man of goad .character, and cf perfectly moral • habits, waited Upon the defendant, and represented him . to be alierson in their opinion incapable af the alleged indecencies .with which he was charged, and theievanviction that it was a -talse-charge, made by some idle vaeisonds who had imposed non him. The defendant, upon this representation, sent. a messenger to the magistrate's clerk, .ordering hint to" I c discharge Cie prisoner. The clerk -.very . naturally seid, an't discharge him ; he is committed in execeion of his sen tence, and 1 have no power to discharge hint." In the result, The unfortunate man' was. sent t 9 Maidstone gait!, and placed GO the trcatl-null for three reenthg. Isis wren hit wife had in the interval apislied to the defendant,erepresenthig die injus tice which had 'been done her husbande.and7 itureating some anitigation of his fate. This application was repeated sev..iral times. The defendant promised that I:er husband should be liberated. She came down to the Summe?..Assizeain -1822, and toeit the defendant; who was attending the Court -as a Magis trate, affected to pity her situation, and told her slieuwight de ,..pettd upon his sending her husband home with .her. prorwise, however, was not performed, and thee unlearspy- man ectually underwent three mouths' imprisonnahnt and ,least= lai,our in the House of Correction. It migh,t be asked, why did he not appeal to the Quarter Sessions The an . infer was obvious. His term of imprisonment woe'ld nearly, • Isere expired bcfpre the Quarter Sessions arrived, an d there-, tee it would avail him little to appeal against an unju v. sen tence, which would have been suffered before redress ..earl he afforded. Again, it might be asked, why did he cot Li irg hiei action instead of preferring .this 'indictment ? T: t le fact was,.that he had brought an.actinne but in consequence in' e formal defect in the notice of action ,required by the statute in the- case of a Magistrate, he was obliged to discontinue the action, whereby he was compelled by the defendant to pay treble coats, which amounted to 30/. It was then too late to bring a fresh action, ar.d thus the prosecutor was defeated of justice in that mode. Indeed, from the indigence of his cir .cemstances, ruin having been entailed upon hug by this ini alaitous proceeding, he was in no condition tc cope with the de fendant, a man of wealth and influence. T he onl y remedy left him was to iestitute the present indictment, which would have en brought to trial at tire last assizes, bat for the sudded an. disposition of a most material witness. after eleven' f the jury had been sworn. The charge against the defendant was, that he was guilty of gross-negligence and inattention in the dis charge of his duty, whereby a grievous injustice was imposed upon an innocent man. With the guilt or innocence of the party suffering, the jury had nothing to do. Admitting bins to be the most infamous of men, the offence of the defendant could in no degree be lessened by that circumstance. As a 3lagis trate, he had grossly violated his duo. ; and if the Jury were satisfied of his guilt, they were bound to say so by their verdict. Mr. Thomas Agar, Governor of the Gaol and House of Cor rection at Maidstone, produced the commitment, signed by the defendant, dated the 30th of July, 1822, whereby Baker was adjudged to three months' imprisonment and hard labour, under the authority of the statute 3 Geo. IV. John Baker, the prosecutor, deposed as follows :—ln July, 1322, I lived in Deptford. lam a married man, and was a housekeeper, and carried on the business of a green-wocer and fruiterer. I lived there near 18 months. On the 30th ofJuly, between two and three o'clock, as near as possible, in the af ternoon, I was near the fence of the Observatory in Greenwich park,rand had turned aside for a natural purpose. I then came on a little way, at which time my dress was properly adjusted, and heard a child crying. She was about 20 yards from me. I went and spoke to her. I asked her what she was doing there ? She said she was selling matches and lace in the Park. At the time I spoke to her, I swear most solemnly that my person was not exposed, and my dress was completely buttoned. After I had spoken to her, I observed three men lying on the grass at some distance ; they were between 50 and fill yards off the place where the child sat. I afterwards learned that one of them was named Ferguson. One of them came up to me after I had got out of the park some time. I had just got to the Greenwich great gate when he called out to me, "Ar n't you a pretty— to behave in the manner you have done to this girl ? The other two men west in search of Egglestone, the constable. I was given in charge of Egglestone. I was first taken to Colonel Foreman's, and then to the office of Mr. Eicknell, who was there, and he told the constable to take me to Mr. Constable's house at Lewisham, I was accordingly taken there, a distance of a mile and a half, but he was not at home. I was then brought back to the office. After Mr. Bicknell's clerk had written some papers, he gave them to the constable, anti desired him to take me to Mr. Constable's again. The constable took the papers from the clerk, and took me to the house of Mr. Brown, son-in-law to Mr. Constable. The constable went in, and left me outside the door. The girl and the men were on the opposite side of the road. The constable came out and took me away to the watch-house. 1 never saw Mr. Con stable on that occasion, nor have I ever yet seen him in my life. Egglestone delivered me to Cassano, the officer, who locked me up. I remained there that night. Next day, between two and three o'clock, llotiges, another constable, came for me. I asked him where I was going. Ile said lie had got Mr. Constable's commitment, and that he was going to take me to Maidstone gaol. When he came to 'the Lion and Lamb , where the Maidstone coach stops, we ftiund the coach full. was then taken back to the watch-house, but I was removed to the lock-up house for the night, where Hodges told me I could be better accommodated. 1 was locked up until next day. I was then taken to Maidstone gaol, and was kept there three months at hard labour. The cross-examination did not In the slightest degree shake this statement. Egglestone, the park keeper, and Crouch, the constable, proved the commital of the prosecutor. Maria Baker examined.-1 am the wife of John Baker. I remember his, being taken into custody, and sent to Maid stone jail. At that time he had a horse and cart, and used to move goods, timber, bricks, or any other things which he might be employed to carry. lie also had a green-grocer's shop, which I used to mind. Since that time he has not been able to keep either horse, cart, shop, or house over his head. He has been totally ruined. On the Ist of August he was taken to ;Maidstone jail. I came to Maidstone on the 7th. At that time the Assizes were going on. I saw Mr. Constable at the Star Inn, in the evening. I petitioned him to release my husband. He told me not to fret, but to be with him to-morrow at 8 o'clock, that he shoul I release him, and that I should take my husband home with me, for he (Mr. Constable) had never seen him.' I called upon him at 8 o'clock, according to his de sire. Ile gave me an order to see my husband. Ile told me he should go into Court, and that there should not he a stone left unturned but what he would serve me. • I saw him again repeatedly during the Assizes. I saw him on the last evening of the Assizes, just before the carriage was ordered to depart. He then told me to meet the 'Bench of Magistrates at Green wich, and he would then see what could be done fur me. I saw him no more after that., I addressed the Learned Judge at the Assizes, representing the injustice Which had been done my husband, but the Learned .Ju dge said he could do nothing for him. _ Cross.examined.—l did not afterwards attend the Bench of Justices at Greenwich. I stayed in this town in order to be near my husband. By the LORD CHIEF JCSTICE.—The reason I have for saying that my husband was totally ruined is, that he was obliged to part with his horse. cart, and shop, in consequence of being shut up in prison, and I wished to be near bins to do what I could for him. I was not able to attend his business. This was the case for the prosecution. Mr. Men R vesT then addressed the Jury on the part of the ,defendant. The Jury would observe that the indictment did :not impute to the defendant any corrupt or malicious motive in this transaction, and therefore he was at a loss to conceive how this-prosecution could be sustained, it appearing in point of ~ f act that there had been a conviction of the prosecutor, Whether it was an , irregular or erroneous conviction was not the ,e e nestion. I t was perfectly clear that there could be no in tentionil ill-will on the part of the defendant towards the pro secutor, , for neither had seen the other in die course of their lives, and .-consequently there was a complete absence of every Thing or malicious motive. The Learned Counsel entered intrea detail of circumstances, afterwards proved by . the witnesses-whom he called. In conclusion, he rested mainly upon the legal effect of the conviction which remained in force ; and contended that, in point of law. it wes a complete defence of Mr. Constable, and an answer to the indictment, Before the evidence for the defendant was gone into, Egglestone, the constable, was called up again, .and exa mined by the LORD CHIEF JUSTICE. In addition to his Miner evidence, he said, I took the papers given to me by Mr. Beale to the defendant. I told him that I had the prisoner and the accusers outside, ready to he called in and examined. I told him what the prisoner was charged with. I delivered the Rapers up to him. Be read them, and signed them. I dis tinctly told him the witnesses were all outside. Evidence for the defence • Mr. Thomas Beale; clerk to Mr. Bicknell, the Magistrate's clerk, produced a certificated copy of the conviction of John Baker, the original of which had been transmitted to the clerk of the peace. The copy of the conviction was then put in and read. It wee drawn up in the form given by the statute. It stated on the facCof in that Baker had been duly convicted by the defendant upon the oath of Abbott and Ferguson, who were sworn before the defendant. Cross-examined—l did not transmit the conviction to the Sessions. It was rot my place to do so. The conviction was drawn up just before the Sessions. A short discussiOn on a mere technical point here intervened, after which witnesses were examined. Joseph Abbott examined—l am a waterman living in Lon don. I know two young men, named Chamberlayne and 'Per guson. The former is a waterman. Ile and I brought down a fare from London to Greenwich on the 30th of July. We were in return with our fare. About two o'clock we went to take a walk in the Park. We met with Ferguson in the town. and he walked with us. 1 saw Baker sitting by the side of a female child. .11e was exposing himself to her in a beastly kind of manner. I did not hear him. say a word. I was not near enough to hear any thing that he said. I observed him go to the fence of the Observatory. He returned to the child again, his pers . = being disposed in a beastly sort of way. lie was with the child three, or four, or five minutes. I dare say he saw me, for he quitted the child. As soon as he was gone , we went and spoke to the child, and asked her what he said. After that Ferguson ran after him. I did not see Baker run ; the trees prevented my seeing which way he went. Nobody went for the constable, but when we got out of the park we found Ferguson, the constable, and Baker together. We then went to the Magistrates, the constable leading the way. We afterwards went to Lewisham. I don't know the name of the gentleman to whose house we went. Cross-examined—l live at No. f, Jaceb-street, Dockhead, Bermondsey. When I first saw Baker with the girl, I watched him in the manner I have described for four or five minutes. He then went to the fence, and stayed there about a minute. The fence was about 12 yards front the spot where the girl :tat- When he returned he stood before the girl. We Aid not go up to prevent what he was doing. He was 30 or 40 yards offwhen we saw what he did. Ferguson works at a tanner's in 'Bermondsey. He is not a waterman. We met him in Gieen wide. None of us rose from where we sat, before Baker went 10 the fence. 1 gave my address to souse gentlemen at the office. Baker was 200 yards off when Ferguson ran after him. I received ss. for information. The constable sent us to a gen eleman'elouse, and we received ss. Re-exathined.-I knew nothing about the ss. before this. W - A;en I first saw Baker and the child, I thought she was an obitx girl than she turned out to be, or else we should have gone rip to theenan before. Thonias - Ferguson examined.—l am tanner, a nd live at No. 9, Mill -street, Bermondsey. On the 30th of July 1 went down to iireenwicti for pleasure. I fell in with Abbot and Chamberlaiete going into a cook's shop, in Greenwich. We took a walk ttsgeth . :l-r into the e observed a man and a woman, at we thought. sitting on the grass. I saw the than turn from the paling by Flamstead House. We had just then sat down: I observed the man exposing himself. I thought the woman wax a grown-up woman. I observed them three or four minute. He then went to the pales, and returned again, and exposed himself to the girl. In about a minute afterwards he walkA from the girl; and went towards Greenwich College. We then walked to the girl, and ,:poke to her; she was about 9or 10 years of age. ;the looked a dirty kind of girl, of poor parents. I went in pursuit of Haker. He might then be about 200 yards oft: I came up with him near the gate, and asked him if he was not ashamed of himself to behave in so indecent a manner to the child. tie said he had not done any thing of the kind. He had begun to run when he saw me in pur suit of him. I overtook him. before he got to the hospitAl— Ile denied it at first I told him we had got the girl, and could produce her. Ile then started &rand ran away. I overtook him Jost as he got into the street at the Park-gate. He then de nied it, and hoptd, for God's sake, I would say nothing about it. as he was a poor man, and it would ruin him. He clasped both his hands together. I gave him charge of Egglestone, the con. stable, who came. I stated to the Justice's clerk what I had seen. lie went to the house of the :Magistrate, I believe, after wards. The girl and all of us stayed outside the door while the clerk went in. I left Greenwich to go home about five o'clock. _ _ Cross-examined—l went to Greenwich that day only for. pleasure. I had known the other two men from children. I joined them accidentally. There were other people who might have seen Baker run besides myself. I think Abbott got some money. Ile gave me a tritlin ,, ' sum. I had one pot of beer. I can't say what money I had, but I think it was not more than 9d. I did not know what money was given. 1 was here last Assizes. . . . He-examined—l did not know of any money until the busi ness was over, upon my oath. George Chamberlaine, of No. 7, Jacob-street, Bermondsey, corroborated Abbott's evidence, and gave nearly the same ac • count of what took place between Baker and the girl, in the Park. Examined by the Loup CiIIEFJUSTICE.- 1 had one shil ling of the money. I don't recollect why I had not more. I was twenty or thirty yards off when I saw Baker exposing him self to the child. I was near enough to see all that passed. I could not tell whether it was a child or a woman to whom he was exposing himself to. I did not hear the child make any outcry or noise. At first I thought it was a woman. We did not interfere until the man had left her. If the girl had made a noise we must have heard her. The girl was present at the examination. I did not hear her asked where she lived. The depositions returned to the Sessions along with the con viction were then put in and read. They purported to be signed by the defendant, and recited in the usual form that the depo nents had been sworn and examined before the defendant. The only depositions returned were those of Abbott and Fer guson. The first professed to give the words in which the de ponent delivered his evidence, and after stating the circum stances which he swore to have observed iu the Park (which, however, differed in several material particulars from his evidence now given ), concluded in these words, " contrary to the form of the statute in that case made and provided." The deposition of Ferguson was only to this effect—" That the facts stated by the other deponent are true, to the best of this deponent's belief." There was no examina tion of the girl returned, nor was there any examination of the witness Chamberlaine. This was the case for the defendant. _ _ . Air. 6ttitNEY then addressed the Jury in reply. lie had told the Jury in the outset that the question was not whether Baker was or was not guilty of the offence alleged against him, but whether the defendantitad acquired a judicial knowledge of the facts and circumstances of the case, before he doomed the unfortunate man to 3 months' imprisonment and hard labour in the House of Correction. The guilt of Baker, assuming it to have been satisfactorily made out, could be no answer to this indictment. Let that unfortunate person be ever so guilty, the conduct of the defendant was equally illegal and improper. But he contended with confidence, that the story told by the three men, who had been examined as to the transaction in the park, was so inconsistent and improbable, as to be wholly un worthy of credit, when opposed to the solemn declaration of Baker himself. The Jury had the opportunity of observing his demeanour, and they would judge whether his evidence did not outweighl the testimony of those persons, to whom his evidence was opposed ? Was it probable that if such a beastly scene had taken place, that three persons, with the natural feelings of men, would have looked on for five minutes with out interruption. The thing was improbable and incredible. — Again, these persons professed to give the most minute account of what they had seen ; anti yet they could not, at the dis tance of 20 or 311 yards, diseern whether the female was a grown woman or a child? This circumstance was sufficient of itself to damn - the whole of their evidence. But how happened it, that the girl herself, who was the ooly niportant witness upon such an issue, had not been produced ? She was within the reach of the defendant, and' if not, it might have been shewn that unsuccessful steps had been taken to find her. For any thing that appeared she might now be in the town, and yet.she was, not called. This abstinence on the other side, in not examining her, was another decisive proof of the falsehood of-the charge against this unhappy man. But leaving the guilt or innocence of Baker out of the question—for it really had nothing to do with this issue—the real point . being whether the defendant, as Magistrate, sitting as a Judge and Jury upon the fate of an accused man (however guilty), had conducted him self in a manner which could be tolerated in any civilized country, governed by laws, and regulated by humane insti tutions. The LonD Citiria . .JCeTICE, in charging the Jury, ob served, that if all good men must feel pain at seeing a person in the distinguished situation of a Magistrate placed in the situation of the present defendant, the sensation was happily counterbalanced by the consolation of recollecting, that though there were thonattods'of Magistrates daily administering jus tice, front one end of the empire to the other, it seldom, very seldom happened, scarcely once in ten years, that cases of this nature were brought forward. The Learned Judge then di rected the attention of the Jury to tile precise nature of the charge upon the record ; and put it to them whether the charge so alleged was not clearly, made out by the evidence. The substance of the charge was, that the defendant, being a Ma gistrate, had thought proper to commit a man for three months and hard labour, upon a supposed conviction, drawn up on the oaths of two persons, whereas, in fact, those persons had not given their evidence upon oath. The allegation appeared to him to he satisfactorily made out, for the defendant had no authority to make the conviction, or issue his warrant upon it, except tliatinct and satisfactory proof was given, in his own presence, of the truth of the charge which had been preferred. The conviction was supposed to'be founded on the Act of Par liament of very modern date, which added exceedingly to the authority of magistrates, empowering a single individual, un aided by a jury, to decide upon the guilt or innocence of a per son, who might perhaps be without counsel or other profes sional assistance. In such a situation, above all others, it was incumbent on the magistrate not only to observe the substance of justice, but strictly to adhere to all the forms, in order to prevent the possibility of injustice. It was clear, upon the testimony in this case, that the defendant had de parted from his duty in signing depositions, the deponents to which he had never seen, and committing a man to prison who had never been confronted with his accusers. His Lord ship animadverted in strong terms upon the practice which appeared to have obtained in Mr. Ilicknell's office, in allowing the clerk to take the depositions of witnesses in the absence of the Magistrate, and expressed a hope that it would be forthwith corrected. Depositions should be taken on oath, in the - presence of the Magistrate, who was alone ttie competent authority for that purpose. HiS Lordship then adverted to the depositions and to the record of' conviction, and observed that in each it had been falsely asserted that the witnesses had been ex amined on oath before the defendant. This was a gross falsehood. It had been truly observed, that if the defendant had been so minded, he might, upon the discovery of his error, have caused Baker to be released immediately ; for through he could not have clone so upon his own' authority ' yet the Secretary of State, upon a proper application, would have ordered his discharge forthwith. Indeed, his Lordship doubted whether he might not have caused hint to he discharged by Habeas Corpus.— Much evidence had been received which was irrelevant to the present charge, but as the proaetrutor had launched his case by proof of his innocence, his Lordship felt himself bound to admit evidence in opposition on the part of the defendant. Such a course of proceeding on the part of the prosecutor was very excusable, for although the unfortunate man might have suffered an unjust punishment, which could not be recalled, yet it must have been a source of consolation to him to vindi cate his character from the foul stain which had been cast upon it. The Jury immediately found the defendant Guilty. THE COCOOY, QUEEN BEETLE.—This astonish ing insect is about one inch and a quarter in length, and what is wonderful to relate, she carries by her side, just above her waist, two brilliant lamps, which she lights up at pleasure, with the solar phosphorus furnished her by Nature. These little lamps do not flash and glimmer, like that of the fire-fly, but give as steady a light as the gas light, exhibiting two perfect spheres, as large as a minute pearl, which afibrds light enough in the darkest night to enable one to read print by them. Oi: car ryingher into a dark closet in the day time, she immed iatel y illuminates her lamps, and instantly extinguishes them on beauty and sublimity of these lucid orbs' in miniature, with cOming again into the light. -But which Nature has endowed t he q ue en of the insect k in g dom.— language cannot deseribe the (*Vex -1(/;;e. rti3cr, Jaric 23.) PRICE OF STOCK* THIS 11,tw.k Stock `3 per Cent. Red. 3 per Cent. Cons. 3 1 / 4 :per ( :ent. Ditto Red 911 4 4 oer Cent. New Hank Long Ann. India Stock ...... .. 271 7 0 ,V.i Ditto lloniN. South Sea Stock PRICES OF FOREIGN F. A u sunlit &1,, 5 per cent —1 Brazilian B(Is 1825 ... 34 dis. Buenos A yre. lids Chi Han, I;ds, 11 per cent — Colombian ti per cent — Do. do. 11124 Danish, .5 per cent. Do. Scrip (reek lids Do. Scrip, 11125 124 131 exican this Do. Scrip 1825 3l dis. Neapolitan, 5 per cent ... I)%Y 1T ONIE O'CLOCK. Old Annuities New Ditto Ex. Bills 10001. 1 Ad. 26 23 27 Ditto 5001. I Ed Ditto Small I Ad. Ditto Commercial Bank for Act. India for Acct. Coos. for Opening ... 09 iii NI)S AT ONE O'CLOCK. Neapolitan Scrip Peruvian Bonds Do. Scrip Portuguese Bonds Prussian, 5 per cent. ... 101} Ditto New Russian. New, sp. ct. lAA Spanish 1821, 5 per cent. 21i 111' 1 1 French Een tes, 5 per ct. —f. Exchange ... —f. —c. 3 per cent. —f. PRICES OF SHARES AT ONE O'CLOCK. Per Share. Castello and Espirito Santo Brazil Mining Company 7; Cornwall and Devonshire Mining Company ... IA Ilaytian Mining Company ii Potosi La Puz and Peruvian Mining Assocation Royal Irish Mining Company Tywarnhale Mining Company Welch Iron and Coal Mining Company Protector Fire Assurance Company 1$ - British Iron Company - 111 11 British Rock and Patent Salt Company - l2 Droitwich Patent Salt Company Great Westminster Dairy Company London and Bordeaux Steam Packet Company Lower Rhine Steam Navigation Company FOMEIGN MATE.c. ARRIVED. DUE. America - - - 0 1 Lisbon 0 1 Jamaica - 0 1 H MD WATER AT IONDON BRIDGE TO-MORROW. 3lnrning, 7 minutes after 3. 1 Evening, :11 minutes after 3. THE SUN. SOLE:11 QUI!? DICERE FALSUM .I(.IDE,IT LONDON, 5,4 TUR D E /NG, JULY 30, 1825. Our French Papers to Thursday are more than commonly barren of intelligence, but, as usual, there is no want of news from Greece, but it is not worth extracting. These Papers say, that the house of ItoTnscnmn has contracted for a Loan of 6,000,000 of florins, at 4 per cent. interest, with the Government of the Grand Duchy of Hesse. We have just received the Etoile of yesterday express from Paris. It contains an Oath pro nounced by General CoLocoTnoNt and his com paions in the Church of Napoli de Romania, between the people and the members of Govern ment, swearing to be free. Letters from Madrid, of 29th July, state that the Royal Family have arrived at Ildefonse.— The Gazette contains a Decree, prohibiting in Spain foreign books. It is stated that the Porte has refused all interference of the High Powers in regard to Greece. The Reis Effendi is charged to an nounce to the Foreign Ministers this resolution of the Grand Seignor. FRENCH I' uNDS.--Five per Cents. 102 f. 95c, ; end of the month, at two o'clock, 103 f. 25c.; at three o'clock, 102 f. 95c. Three per Cents. 71lf. sc. The German Papers, which arrived this day, have nothing of interest in them, saving the ex tract subjoined, and which is only so from the singularity of the Law it promulgates. It is taken from the Allgerneine Zeitung of the 23d of July : BERLIN', JULY. A law is much spoken of here which is said to be proposed for the purpose of raising the value of landed estates : that is, those called Knights fees or noble Estates (Rettergut), which is generally depreciated, to give to the dignity of the Nobility a desirable reality which might counteract the error which re gards Nobility as a mere illusion without any reality. This Law would be published in the following form : Section 1. Ilenceforwatd Patents of Nobility ( Briefadel will not be given to any body. sect. 2. ()n the other hand, every person professing the Christian religion, who is the actual proprietor, or shall be come so, of a noble estate, situated in the kingdom, shall have for his own Person the rank of nobility, and the right, besides the name he has hitherto borne, to use and to write the name of his estate, or of one of his estates, if he has several, with the Predicate Von. Sect. 3. ^These privileges descend to every heir, provided that he acquires with the patrimony, and enters on the posses sion of, at least one undivided knight's estate. Sect. 4. Ile who is not exclusive possessor of at least one knight's estate in the kingdom, shall not make any use what ever of the privilege of No. 2, on pain of incurring the penalties fixed by the laws (sec. 1395. IL 20. 14. R.) ; and he who from any cause shall renounce or lose the possession of the estate shall cease also to enjoy the privileges. Sect. 5. The rights of the nobility existing at the time of the publication of this law remain unaltered. We expect the farther discussions on this subject. Many persons are favourable to the measure, considering it as a means to induce opulent families to acquire noble Estates, and to pre serve the possession of them, to give to the title of Von an im portance which even the common people will recognise as well founded, and that besides a law of this kind would lesson many evils of civil society, the prejudicial consequences of which are evident in history. That a Monarchy should set the example of abolishing an hereditary nobility is a 4.trange oc currence, and an event which, of all others, we should have thought. least likely to happen. Making the possession of a certain number of acres a accessary qualification to being a Peer of the Realm, appears to us sound policy, for a qualification of some kind should in such cases be required, and the possession of land is cer• tainly the best which could be introduced. We have, however, great doubts whether, allowing the possession of land, ipso facto, to confer a title and the privileges of the nobility, will answer any good purpose, or produce any beneficial re , ult. The avowed object of the Law is to raise the value of Landed Estates, and give a dignity to the Nobility. How this purpose will be answered we cannot see. The possession of land certainly thus becomes the more desirable, but we think few people will be found to buy it at an intreased sum simply for the title which it brings with it, and most assur edly, howsoever the law may operate at first it never can add any permanent value to the laud' Property of itself always carries with it an ill' fluence in proportion to its extent, and it. is thi' influence alone which can give dignity the nobility,— a dignity, however, e njoyed in an equal degree by the commoner. Bat this grade in society will be depreciated i" proportion as the nobility is elevated ; for the new law, whilst it exalts the rich Commoner s i n t o Peers, will depress the poorer ones to lower class in society, and thus extinguish thee' altogether. New York Papers to the 2d July arrived this day. By these accounts we are happy to leo" , the Legislature of Georgia had acted a wiser Ve t . than the Committee whose report and resolution , we commented upon a short time back had don e in passing over both one and the other in silence.—Every thing which in any degree teod e ' to weaken the bonds which hold the states o f ths Union together, ought to be deprecated 6 . 1 tending only to war and discord, and brinr in g no advantages to England. The w elfar e ;:f the North American Republic is essentialli that of the British Islands, and we feel, therefore' peculiar satisfaction that a misunderstand i " g %hich threatened such deplorable consequenC el ' has subsided without superinducing the slight° mischief. We make the following extracts GEORGIA.—The Legislature of that State adjourned 0 . t116 4 llth instant, without calling up the fiery report and resolutli respecting the General Government, &c. noticed in the Pa tl ip. last week ; thus treating the Committee, and obliquely thew,/ temperate language of the Governor, with silence and iner i contempt. NEW YORE, Jt7l.7E 2 5 0 , BEnstun.t.—The implied censure of the British o ° Te n f or ment on the people of Bermuda, in sending back Ouv er- 4 . Lumley to his former station on that island, so far from r " i v dering them more submissive, appears to have produced C° l7 6, trary effect. So critical, indeed, had his situaion Intel hit come, that it was expected he would be obliged ' to cons" t personal safety by leaving the island.—f Evening Post..) JUlft :id , . BEnsruni.—The schooner Florida, from Bermuda , b`V accounts that Sir W. Lumley resigned the g overnment', left the colony on the Bth inst., to the great joy of the ~: hi' A t tants. Halifax Papers to the 17th inst. announce his 01 4 to there, and that after a residence of about a month, he - proceed to England.—(Evening Post) (From the file: of New York Papers to the 2d .10 1 1 0 w ith Lt3l.l.—Our Boston Correspondent has furnished es intelligence from Lima to the last of March, received tle l pat narna, Callao was still in possession of the Spaniard* , en n , o ce blockaded by seven men of war, and besieged by 4,5 w under Bolivar in person. ed p 'l A letter front Chorillos states, that Bolivar has expre'^ - O tP . • determination to hang Rodiz and all his band as ge' e°) :O s castles are taken. The desirable concoest has no dou bt. . . place ere this. ill . telt FROM M A TANZ Al.—Ci pt. Brothers inform* us tha..--,40- gence was received there on the afternoon of the 17t1 1 ;5 7 15 that the negroes on several of the principal planuL ni tt. - revolted, and murdered the proprietors thereof in il'a f Or e l manner. Immediately on the receipt of this melanef ligence, the Governor dispatched a large body 0 ," quell them. Prior to the Captain's sailing, they well subdued, after killing about 60 or 70 of them. ' It o iFrom the Philadelphia Papers to the 28th Jewcong het PEttu.—One of the first acts of the Constitutional Pt/ of Peru was a resolution, giving to Bolivar the title of he irr o f and Saviour of Peru. Two millions over and above till: are voted to the army. General Sucre to enjoy th e Grand Marshal of Aycucho. 1( 11 c rety pe The interest displayed by the Dade Ai he i o ta zeal for the welfare of the Giv e - O zeal with which it attacks the enemies , so en' and exposes the friends of the Porte, P r° 0 0 1 Co" many inconsistencies to our eyes, that w e to ios help thinking the French Government eet er ei notion of taking some decisive step to Net ° 0 p ill • to the civil wars of the Mores. The is the Ministerial Newspaper of P ariii the F re 4 the organ of the sentiments of Government, and hence we infer th a we d zeal and interest would not b e el P f the unless to answer some latent policy O . bet triguing VILLELE. What this policy may If tf t irseo another question, anti one we confes3 ° 0 t unable to divine. The pains, howeve r ' itlice ,s G ree' give publicity to the successes of the 1 e , a l 1 the one hand, arid to over-draw the re 0e best°• d il the Porte on the other ; the praises re P e ce ' upon the exertions of the Patriots 0. - more h e s pecially e the tk ! en p e l t: t e e a i n n d t h s e u s d e d n e tn c o,oo o o ecti °ol', tt the Editor, when he declares the hi surr or ho t the Greeks legitimale—all conspire t°,oo fl upon the mind most strongly the n°ll France is about to interfere with Greece' says the Male of Thursday last :-- oo tt d' - " The defenders of the tyranny of Mussulto7obilit4io' " double their efforts ; but their weakness end e ide° pi' " support their miserable cause becomes the moreof, " proportion as the legitimate insurrection ut . the ' f i e • • fa plg " comes more universally felt. • ni l9° - " A writer who adds his voice to that of th e fr e sot is 0 1 1 " believes that the Sovereigns of the Holy ~1lt p " to deliver Greece without resorting to amt ' s ' t bis " has exhausted the vocabulary to ridicule 0 0 r ef , " and concludes by observing, t hat wh er ; o , " says expressly NO, and another expressly i•o4crotet " no other mediator than cannon.' But La G a°g , elite " thing, which is this, that the Holy Alli ance ' woo " and that Turkey, isolated, barbarous, a nd ev e Der " essentially weak, for her religion has 'c ondemn. g Ol v " curable stupidity." hen c a thecats apply apologist og o i re st of sacred tire . .: lererionctile. gogoal ,