The Sun. — London, England, 1833-12-10 00:00:00

times of " Commentaries on the American Laws" we must acknowledge our obligation in this arti cle), justly observes, that" to control the malicious abuse or licentiousness . of the press, is the most effectual way to preserve its freedom." The present defective law and procedure in this country is a premium on libels, and an irresistible temptation to knaVish lawyers. Legal proceed ings are commenced to take advantage of the law ; and libellers, when justly prosecuted and convicted, too often obtain the mawkish pity and extenuation of the public, under the pre tence of being " victims of the law." We re• marked some days since, that persons libelled are frequently deprived of the right of action. because, as plaintiffs, they can give no testimony in their own case, when frequently they are the very evidence of the falsehoods circulated against them. And although, in an indictment, the real prosecutor (fictitiously borrowing the name of the King) frequently frames his indictment to put the truth at issue, the libeller when con victed ingeniously and successfully proclaims to the public that the law deprives him of the right of proof. The vexatious "splitting of libel prosecutions" by trafficking attorneys should be put an end to ; and the multiplication of ac tions and informations, against defendants for the same cause of complaint, may be sub stantially prevented. The optional power of attacking the persons or pockets or both departments of defendants should be determined and restricted ; the doctrine of costs may be essentially altered, and made a most effective security of character and the press ; the prose cuted may be allowed to plead according to common sense, and specially to the different charges preferred against them ; and the different degrees of liability in the author, copiers, and accidental and often innocent propagators, of slander and libel, should be distinguished by the written law, and recognised in judicial decisions and verdicts. The Standard exhorts us to join in the " hue and cry" against the late and pend ing libel prosecutions, as a matter of self interest, because by our liberal and impartial course we may be sharpening weapons for Tories, who, it appears, may possibly succeed Lord Grey, and when we are to be the " depressed party." We do not, however, happen to entertain this political apprehension ; but we see, by the following ex tract, that the Standard has very lively expec tations : " And now we must remark upon a double impolicy of our contemporary in encouraging libel prosecutions. It is first impolitic as the act of a pat ty journal, because it is, in fact, preparing weapons of vengeance to be exer eiFed upon the Whigs when they shall be the depressed party, as very soon they must be. It is nonsense to sup. pose that a set of men, absolutely without any party in the country, except the party which it feeds from the public manger, can long retain the reins of Government, even in the present disjointed condition of British society. The present men must be turned out very soon; possibly to be replaced by a Conservative cabinet, but more proba bly by a gang of revolutionists, more honest and disinte. rested than themselves, and therefore less unpopular. In either case there will be all the disposition to destroy the Whig press which the Whigs entertain to destroy us. The public detestation of all persecuting practices will then be the only shield of safety for the Morning Chronicle and its coadjutors, and that shield it is now labour irg to destroy. Now, it is again impolitic for the Morning Chronicle to play its present game in rela tion to its character as an integer of the public press. As it happens, we have, from whatever cause, p'wer—power which the Reform Bill has infinitely enhanced. Public men must gain this power on their side, either by raising the press to a condition of companionship and equality, or by degrading it, with bribes on one side, and oppression on the other, to the servile state—there is no middle course. This, we believe, the Conservative party are wise enough to see. We have reason to know that their acces sion to power would be followed by a large distribution of public patronage amongst the persons of all degrees con rected with the press; and this without political distinc tion, or distinction of any other kind except such as would be made by character, and talent, and capacity of serving the public. Thus, connecting the hopes of the press with the institutions of the country, they would certainly rear their Conservative structure upon a broad and firm foun dation. This, however, contemplates a kind of change which we do not anticipate as very likely soon to occur." These may be the day dreams of a certain set of (sr-Members of Parliament,—the late represen tatives of rotten and nomination boroughs, who can delude no free constituencies, and who therefore vent their spleen in the well known wholesale manufacture of daily and weekly libels. But our shrewd contemporary has no such real golden anticipations ; and though the Press has long been, and ought to be, as it is in France, one of the honourable roads to affluence, political power, and station, yet are we not to be tempted from our " propriety" by such magnifi cent prospects. Moreover, we are assured that the Conservatives will long sigh in solitude for their expected opportunity of again governing this nation; and " the gang of revolutionists" will wait as long, unless the Tories should succeed by libels and calumny in displacing the present Ministers, who among other reforms we hope and believe will consult public opinion by revising the law of libel, and further seeming the real liberty of the press. The libellers will never persuade the people that they are so miraculously and sin cerely converted to their new doctrines in favour of the press, nor that a few present legal pro ceedings against it (the majority of scandalous libels against private character) are promoted by the Ministry, or have any real political relations such as the Tory journals absurdly labour to establish. They will more successfully aid their palpably paltry objects by following their busi ness of propagating libels than by vainly attempt ing the present juggle. But according to the Scripture proverb, " The wicked man scattereth firebrands, arrows, and death, and sayeth, Am I not in sport.' "—Morning Chronicle. With the revival of anytning like liberty in a country the press immediately multiplies the organs of public opinion ; or rather, the privi lege of expressing opinion freely, under a liberal Government, creates the organs of a political press. At any rate, the two facts of freedom and free discussion are never separated, and we can not conceive, in a reading age, that men should possess and exercise a power of speaking freely, without desiring to extend the sphere of their persuasion or utility, by addressing through the press and public journals those whom their indi vidual voice could never reach. Accordingly, no sooner had the absolute authority of Ferdi nand of Spain ended pith his life, than several new journals were established at Madrid to give utterance to the public feeling. Among these we find the Estrella, or Star, the sixth number of is hich now lies before us. None of these pa pers, so far as we have seen, display much inde pendence of character, or indulge in much freedom of remark, because the censorship has not yet been formally abolished, and because the power of suspending or confis cating a journal still rests with the G o _ vernment ; but it is something to have secured public discussion within any limits, however narrow, and the Estrella seems to have taken honourable advantage of this new privi lege. In the number to which we have alluded, it enters into a defence of the conduct of Go vernment respecting the late amnesty, and pro bably goes further than would suit the views of M. Zea in vindicating the character and rights of the Constitutional patriots whom that mea sure was intended to restore to their country. But in speaking with respect of those exiles to whom the Royal clemency has been extended, it defends or excuses the Administration for not going further, and seems to hint that the throne call easily be supported without their aid. The language of the article itself, in which it speaks of the Act of October 23, 1833, as " an am nesty," and the tone in which it alludes to ex isting Spanish parties, have called forth an an swer in Spanish from one of the refugees in this country, in which we discover no inconsiderable portion of good sense and sound reasoning. 'This publication, which occupies only a single half sheet, shows that the late measure is not an " amnesty" in the proper sense of the term, —that an "amnesty," as the word implies, is equivalent to an act of " oblivion" passed on per sons whose offences have not been tried or de fined, and that the late decree for restoring to their Tights 31 deputies was only an act ( . )f pardon. These deputies had been condemned to death by the Supreme Tribunal at Seville, for having voted the deposition of the King in that city in June, 1823 ; and the late decree only reversed the sentence with respect to 31 out of the 63 members of which the Cortes consisted when the alleged treason was com mitted. To this statement there cannot, of course, be any reasonable objection, and it is incumbent on the present Spanish Government to explain why all the deputies who were in cluded in the same sentence of condemnation are not likewise included in the same act of pardon. There was no allegation of a more or less aggravated offence in the conjoint treason for which they were all capitally convicted, and, of course, there was no equitable ground for restoring some to their country, while the weight of the first condemnation presses on others. A manly and well-expressed letter from a patriotic Spaniard, now resident at Paris, has put the question in a very fair and reasonable light ; it will be found at the end of this article. In this reasoning all the world, with the exception of that small part of it in the late Spanish Cabinet, must concur, and in a few days or weeks we may expect from the present modified Min►stry a complete act of grace in favour of all the persons exiled by sentence of law, or by threats of prosecution, for the part which they took in the transactions of 1820, 1821, 1822, and 1823. In the Queen's present Government, and among the provincial authorities who have evinced the most zeal in her cause, are found civil and military functionaries who held office in the time of the Cortes, and are those who wavered in their principles on the entry of their French invaders, and in the presence of clan gers, to be preferred to those who fearlessly struggled for the principles of their constitution and the rights of their country to the last ? Is Morillo to be a Captain-General, and to be trusted with an important command, while Mina, the only commander who, in 1823, really ac quired a European reputation, by the able and efficient discharge of his military duties, finds the gates of his native land, and the ranks of the national army closed against him ? The young Queen's advisers need be under no apprehension that the crimes of which such faithful chiefs and such courageous deputies were found guilty will be contagious. The crisis of 1823, in which a band of patriots boldly contended for months against the treachery of the Court and the influence of the clergy, supported by the machinations of the Holy Al liance and the bayonets of one hundred thou sand Frenchmen, is not likely again to recur ; and if it were, no severity of persecution could ever convert their magnanimity into a crime, or deprive them of the glory, while it inflicted the pains of martyrdom. The continued resistance made to any arrangement with the invader by carrying the King to Cadiz may, in these cir cumstances of weakness and desertion, have been unwise or imprudent ; but nobody can deny that it was at least patriotic and disinterested, and probably there will not be found many ex amples in history where a legislative body, fleeing from an invading enemy, encountered so much personal danger for no conceivable object of personal gain or ambition, as the 63 deputies who were lately under sentence of death for having suspended for a short time the authority of the King, by the appointment of a temporary Regency at Seville. Had they applied another kind of suspension to their treacherous Monarch at Cadiz, - they could not have shown more courage, though their energy would have made a different impression on Europe. The following is the letter alluded to in the preceding re marks : . " DUPLICATE. " I have the honour to transmit to )ou, for your in • formation and satisfaction, a printed copy of the real de cree of yesterday's date, which her Atijosty the Queen Regent and Ruler has been pleased to issue in the name of our august Sovereign Donna Isabel Segundo, and by which you are authorized to return to your country : in pur suance whereof the proper p is.port will be delivered to you by the chief of her Majesty's Legation in the country in which you are residing as soon as you may apply for it. " FRANCISCO DE ZEA BERMUDEZ. " Madrid, Oct. 24." " ANSWER. " I have just received the duplicate of your Excel. iency's polite letter of the 24th of October, in which you enclosed a copy of the Royal decree of the preceding day, by which her Majesty the Queen Regent and Ruler has thought proper to authorize me to return to my home. Assuredly this and other measures of her Majesty's Go vernment afford me much gratification, as they disclose to tee an earnest desire to lay the foundation of salutary im provements and reforms; but your Excellency will permit me to express my regret at finding that the favour which is dispensed to me is not extended to others of my com panions in misfortune, who have performed not less faith fully than I their duty, and who have with equal dig nity supported their long protracted exile. The con sciousness of having acted rightly has prevented them, as it has me, from taking any steps for relief from the injustice with which they have been treated ; but if their position requires that they should remain silent, I am bound to avail myself of the opportunity of replying to your Excellency, to call your attention to the difference which is thus made between individuals engaged in the same cause. This distinction, and the preamble of the Royal Decree, from which it might be inferred that I had during my absence, given proofs of fidelity to thedeceased Monarch, would give ground for suspicion that I had, in some way or other, adhered to his views and system, which were no less opposed to my sentiments than they are to the course adopted by her Majesty the Queen Regent fur gathering around the throne of her august daughter (the Senora Isabel II.) all who wish to avoid fading under the theocratic, barbarous, and brutal domination of the Pretender. I hope your Excellency will be pleased to give a moment's consideration to this plain and frank statement, and that you will recognise the advantage in the present circumstances of nut depriving yourself of the co-operation of p‘rsons who are so distinguished, and have well merited the gratitude of their country, and who can serve it more advantageously than I can, though none exceed me in the desire of being useful to it. " Paris, Dec. 2." Times. " 7 VINCENTE SALVA. We have often felt compelled to advert to the mischievous effects produced by a University education, on the two classes whence our coun try magistracy is constituted ; namely, the clergy themselves, and the aristocracy, whose education is in their hands. Hence the perverted opinion —which is like a cancer, which leprosies the surface and eats into the vitals of public mora lity—namely, that poverty is the only crime ; and that money, however acquired, being the sole criterion of respectability, is the pledge of im punity ! Hence the multiplication bf commit tals and imprisonments for petty offences. Hence the punishment and amercement of the poor barrow-women, while struggling to save them selves and children from the poorhouse or starvation. Hence the imprisonment of house less persons for not robbing enou g h to pay for a night's lodging. Hence the disgraceful spec tacle of parish fighting with parish on questions of settlement—carting pregnant paupers from one to the other, and depositing them on the pave ment. Hence the daily committal to prison of mere babies for stealing an apple, a roasted potatoe, or a few sticks, and the thrusting them into the rank contagion of association with hardened felons. Hence the glutting of our gaols with nnclassed multitudes of offenders, and the fatal familiarization of a large part of our population with h ouses o f correction, till they regard them a s th e i r l eg iti ma t e domiciles. For this appalling result—this gross perverion of the " religion of poverty," by a promo ion hunting university education, of which "vlrtus post nummos" is the device—is the cause to which we are chiefly indebted. From evil roots what can proceed but evil fruits. The state ment recently put forth by the Shrewsbury Chronicle respecting the conduct of the clerical magistracy of Wenlock, in Shropshire, supplies an additional example of the foul consequences which flow, and always will flow, from a pol luted source. If the Corporation Commis sioners had done nothing more than carry the torch of their inquiries into the dark and antiquated cells of magisterial partiality, abuse, and oppression, as in this case, they would deserve the thanks of the country. It appears, from their inquiries, that a constable of Wen lock, named Walter, already known as having, through means of blank warrants, signed by a Reverend Magistrate, and filled up by himself ad libitum, arrested and committed two harm- less broom girls, whose crime was poverty and want of protection, was in the systematic and long continued perpetration of similar abuses. It, moreover, appears that the clerical magistrates permitted the above constable, who was an agent to one of them in collecting tithes, to place himself in a very peculiar predicament by ap pearing to informations in another person's name ; that they thereon granted executions against Dissenters, for their Church rates, " in order," to use the words of the Report, " not to trouble the wardens to go before the magistrates." The instances of similar enormi ties are too numerous to recapitulate. In one case this precious tithe -agent and constable issued a warrant of distress against a Dissenter for church-rates ; seized a rick of hay of ten times the amount of the claim, sold it for half the value, and pocketed the proceeds. We may be thought to be extracting from some satirical romance worthy of Voltaire, the ironical details of judicial proceedings before some Arab Cadi, half robber and half magistrate,' or recording the exploits of some of Gil Blas' friends the Alguazils ; but in order to guard ourselves from any imputation of fallacious over colouring we give totidem verbis from the report, the query of the Commissioner, and the answer of the Wenlock constable and agent for tithes : _ " Commissioner—So that, in fact, you swore the debt —served the summons—levied the distress—printed the handbills—sold up the goods, and put the money in your pocket, without paying any one a farthing. Is that the c,so ? Walter—lt may be so for anything I know. I don't deny it." _ _ It is clear that these detestable abuses, and all those springing from the same source to which we began by pointing, must be reformed and eradicated, or they will be "reformed" ultimately " with a vengeance." In the meantime let us hear no more of the "equality of a free born Englishman before the law." Nothing is equal before the law but money. When 'a Roman citizen was to be stigmatised or degraded by opprobrious punishment, he was previously stripped of his claim to Roman freedom ; he was replunged into serfdom, and liable, without appeal, to the instant infliction of personal in dignity, as well as physical penalty. According to the magisterial view in this country of the crime of poverty, we apprehend that a larger proportion of the English population must be characterised as a degraded and unprivileged caste, than there might be reckoned among the swarming slaves of Athens, or free Rome, or the crushed and brutalized helots of Sparta,— Morning Advertiser. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MANSION-HO USE. Yesterday John Martin, the Downs pilot, who was on board the ship Marquis of Cliandos when ti r. Mills went nn board that vessel, whose family accuse Captain Gaylor of having forcibly detained that gentleman for the purpose of taking him back to Demerara to answer certain pecuniary obligations, appeared before the LORD MAYOR and presented to his Lordship a paper, of which the following is a copy " Gravesend, Dec. 9. "I, John Martin, of Milton, next Gravesend, in the county of Kent, Downs pilot, took charge of the ship Marquis of Chandos, Captain John Gaylor, at Graves end, on the 29th of November, from Mr. John Hall Dix, the river pilot, in which ship Mr. William Milli was on board, and was treated as a gentleman the whole time I was on board the ship, and that no irons were used or any restraint whatever put on Mr. Mills, but he frequently spoke to me in the highest terms of Captain Gaylor, and said it was a hard case for Captain Gaylor to be a loser by bin,. " We arrived in the Downs on the 11th inst., at 8 when the boat that attends the ship came alongside. Mr. 11tlls expected some intelligence from his lrienis, but received none. He then left the deck, and I came on shore. This statement lam ready to make oath to if required. " JOHN MARTIN." John Hall Dix, the river pilot, who offered to swear to the truth of the statement he had a few days ago presented to the Lord Mayor, said that lie felt grateful for the publication of the facts he had stated, but it was represented by some person that the Lord Mayor had refused to allow the oath to be administered to him, and wrong constructions might be placed upon his Lordship's reluctance to the use of the Testament on such an occasion. The LORD MAYOR said that he certainly had the greatest objection to the horrid rapidity with which affidavits were constantly made, and lie therefore felt the utmost reluctance at the idea of signing them as a matter of course. As fur the two per. sons who had shown so strong a desire to vindicate the conduct of Captain Gaylor, there app eare d not to be the slightest imputation against either of them. The pilots felt that great injustice had been done to Captain Gaylor by the account, which attributed to him violence and misconduct, which were alto gether the reverse of his character, and they hoped the public would give them credit for this assurance. They were ready before any tribunal to take their oaths that they had misrepresented in no pa r ti cu l ar . A gentleman who was with the pilots observed to the Lord Mayor that it would be but fair that Mr. William Mills should take the trouble to appear at the Mansion-house, and let his Lordship a little more into the particulars of the transaction. As such an excitement had been made, it was but reasonable to expect that the whole of the matter should be laid before the public. The LORD MAYOR said that, as he anticipated, the newspapers had most promptly published the statement professing to be an answer to the article which accused Captain Gaylor of having put Mr. Mills in irons, and otherwise harshly treated 11:m. He was sure that they would, at least, as readily in sert a defence or vindication as a charge, and that they would show the fairest play to the Captain, particularly as he was unavoidably absent. BO W- S TREE T. Yesterday Thomas Kempson and Robert William Ross were brought before Mr. HALLS, on warrants granted by Sir F. ROE, charged with a riot in Craven-street, Strand, between one and two o'clock on the morning of Thursday last, and with forcibly entering the house No. 30 in that street. It will be recollected that, tinder the head of " Bow-street," an account was given of a series of attempts which were made to procure admission to, and retain possession of, the house in question, by two parties, each of whom claims the ownership, although apparently with very different pretensions, as one of them, a lady, is said to possess legally, and in a bona fide manner, while the claim of Kemp son, one of the present defendants, has no other foundation than the mere circumstance of his having been placed in the house to take care of it, by a house•agent, who agreed, on the part of the alleged rightful owner, to give him a sovereign when the premises should be let. The defendants were held to bail on Thursday last, for assaulting two persons in possession of the house on the part of the lady ; after which it appeared they again obtained possession, under the circumstances which gave rise to the present proceeding. They were again routed out, however, by a party of coal-heavers, who are now in possession. George Bishop stated that a man named Jones and himself were put in possession of the house on the 4th of December, and between one and two o'clock on the following morning the defendant Kempson and a party of ten or twelve persons came to the door, and commenced knocking as if with tools and other instruments. Two police constables were of the party. As soon as the parlour window was forced in, Jones and himself ran up to the drawing-room and locked themselves in, and, on looking out of the window, they saw two persons effecting an entrance, one of whom was assisted by a policeman. Witness to the best of his belief, declared that the person so assisted was the defendant Ross. The drawing-room door was subsequently forced open, and witness and his com panion, fearing that their personal safety would be endangered if they remained any longer, escaped by the balcony, and took refuge in the adjoining house. The man Jones corroborated the above state ment, adding his positive belief that the person assisted through the window by the policeman was the defendant Ross, adding that Kempson threa tened to " serve them out" if they remained. Mr. Shears, a tailor, residing next door, having been awoke by the noise, came down stairs and saw the two last witnesses standing on the balcony of his house, he asked them what they wanted, and they answered that they came there to save their lives. He let them out through his street-door. About 9 or 10 o'clock on the following morning he saw the defendant Ross coming from the house No. 30, and he said to witness " You see, Sir, we have got possession again." Mr. ADOLPHUS submitted that this evidence was sufficient to warrant the Magistrate in holding the defendants to bail, in order that they might be in dicted at the sessions. The defendant Ross denied that he was present when the entry was made, and called a witness to prove that he went into his shop in Somers-town between 10 and 11 o'clock on the night in question, and purchased some beef. He also called his daughter forward, who swore that he came home about 11 o'clock, and that she saw him in bed at 12 o'clock. Her father, she said, was clerk to Messrs. Winchester and Varney, the stationers, in the Strand. After some further discussion, Mr. HALLS called upon both defendants to put in bail to answer the charge at the sessions, them selves in 801. and two sureties in 401. each, and as it was a case of great importance in its results, he directed that twenty-four hours' notice of bail should be given. The evidence taken before the police commis sioners, as to the conduct of the two policemen who are implicated in the transaction, is now before the Secretary of Sate. MAR YLEB ONE. FALSE CHARACTERS.—John Armstrong, an el derly man, genteelly dressed, who appeared to be labouring under a severe nervous complaint, was yesterday placed at the bar before the sitting Ma gistrates, Mr. Ilosxm and Mr. RAWLINSON. Robert John Paulk, E.g., No. 8, Park-square, Regent's Pa;k, about three weeks back advertised for a servant, and on Monday fortnight a man, named Faulkner, applied to him for the situation, refer ring him for his character to a Mr. Stapleton, whom he stated was then staying at the West m.nster Hotel. Witness accordingly went there the same day, when he was ushered into a pri vate room, where the prisoner was sitting alone. Witness, on entering, said, " I think your name is Stapleton. I'm referred to you to inquire into the character of a man named Faulkner," to which the prisoner replied that Faulkner had been in his service for nearly three years, and was a perfectly honest and good servant. Upon that re commendation he took the man Faulkner into his service ; but having a suspicion from the over excellent character he had with him that all was not right, he made inquiries, and ascertained that a war rant was out against the prisoner for having given a false character to a man who had obtained a situa- tion in the house of - Sutton, Esq., of Hamil ton-terrace, Regent's Park. Witness went to the station-house in Marylebone-lane, and gave informa tion of the circumstance, with a description of the prisoner, and on Saturday evening he was informed that a person answering the description had been taken into custody. Police constable D 155, was on duty in Oxford street about half-past eight on Saturday evening, when he saw a mob of persons collected round the shop of Mr. Ansel], chymist. Witness went in, when he saw the prisoner sitting, who appeared to be very drunk. Witness took him out, but he being unable to walk took him to the station-house, where he was identified as the person against whom a warrant was out for having imposed on different families by giving persons false characters to procure them situations. Mr. Paulk here stated that he did not wish to prosecute • Faulkner if he would speak the truth. John Faulkner! became acquainted with the prisoner a short time back, by being introduced to him by a man named Shaw. He agreed to give the prisoner two sovereigns if he got him a situa tion, and pay him some more after he had been in it three months. On seeing Mr. Paulk's adver tisement for a servant he applied for the situation, and by direction of the prisoner referred him to Mr. Stapleton, at the Westminster Hotel, near West minster-bridge. He called on the prisoner the fol lowing day, and, having ascertained from him that his character suited, entered Mr. Paulk's service. He had paid the prisoner 1/. .ss. in part payment of the two sovereigns. The prisoner, who is an old offender, havin g b een the House of Co rrect i on f or three once befofe convicted at this of f ice, was then sen ft,eanrd cedtopay a fine of 201., or b e comm i tted to labour in months. iQUEEN - SQUARE. A PAIR OF DONKEYS. — Yeslerday two West miniter geniuses, named Nicholas Gilbert and Willi am Mayes, were charged by a police consta ble of the B division before Mr. BURRELL with being drunk and disorderly about one o'clock in the morning, and disturbing the neighbourhood in a nio.t discordant manner. About the time mentioned the constable was quietly going his rounds, when on a sudden he heard a most tremendous noise in the street like the braying of donkeys; the noise increased to such a degree that the neighbours thought, as well as the constable, that all the costermongers' donkeys in Westminster had assembled together. He hastened to the spot, when he found the two defendants bray ing away like regular donkeys; it was impossible for him to make them desist, for the more he re monstrated with them the louder they brayed, and finding they were both very drunk he took them to the station-house. Nicholas Gilbert, in reply, had no recollection o f what occurred. Mr. BURRELL—And what do you say to the charge ? Mayes—l has a good bit to say, your Vorship. I vishes to know as how vether ven a man gets a little bit tosticated a common constable is to say as how he brays like a donkey. Jist lit any man answer that ere ? Mr. BuratELL—Never mind that, but answer the charge. Mayes—But I does mind it, and I can't help ir, your Vorship; people "vill say I speaks like a don key; I consider as how this is not justice. Mr. BURRELL—What do you say to the charge ? Mayes—Vy, I says I considers myself werry much insulted by that ere constable. Mr. BURRELL—You must both of you pay a fine of ss. each for being drunk. Mayes—May be, your Vorship, the constable is the greatest donkey of any on us; he is the biggest of the lot at any rate. The fine not being forthcoming the pair of donkey imitators were locked up. HATTOIV-GARDEN. Yesterday James Goody, Thomas Hayes, and William Everett, the eldest of whom was only 16 years of age, were brought before Mr. LAING, in the custody of Sergeants Bayliss and Murphy, of G division, charged under the following circum stances : It appears that under the Police Act the officers are justified in entering any public-house where they suspect that thieves are in the habit of resorting, and apprehending all suspicious characters. On Saturday evening Bayliss and Murphy proceeded to the Salmon and Compasses in Brooke's Marker, Holborn, where they found the prisoners sitting in company with several other thieves, when their ap pearance caused the utmost confusion, and the whole of the party escaped, with the exception of the pri soners, who were taken into custody. Johnson, a policeman, identified Everett as being the constant companion of thieves, and was out at all hours of the night. The whole of the officers had no doubt whatever but the prisoners had assem bled at the house for the purpose of planning some robbery which was to be committed the same night. Mr. LAING (to Goody)—Pray what took you to that public-house ? Goody—l only went there to take a pint of porter. Mr. LAING—Who are the other prisoners ? Goody—l don't know; I only met them there, your Worship. Mr. LAING—How often have you been in the House of Correction ? Goody—Never, your Worship. Waddington—Why, you have been here three or four times, and you know it. Mr. LAING—Come, Sir, how often have you been in the House of Correction ? Goody—Only three times, your Worship. Mr. LAING—What were you sent for the first time ? Goody—A goose, your Worship. Mr. LAING—What were you sent for the second time ? Goody—For a handkerchief, your Worship. I picked it up, but they swore I stole it, your Worship.—(Laughter.) Mr. LAING—And what was your sentence then, eh ? Goody—l was deliberated, your Worship. Mr. LAING—And what next were you sent for ? Goody—For nothing at all, your Worship. Mr. LAING—I again ask you what took you to the Salmon and Compasses ? Goody—l went to see a dance. Mr. LAING—What sort of a dance ? Goody— Why, two people get up and dance, and we pay a penny to go in and see it. Mr. LAING—And who receives the penny for admission? Goody—The blind fiddler, your Worship. Mr. LAING—And where does the dahce take place? Goody—ln the taproom, your Worship. Mr. LAING—In the taproom ! How in the tap room ? Goody—Why, the tables are moved, and when the fiddler is paid he strikes up, and we jump up and dances, your Worship. Waddington explained that the taproom was very small, and before the ball commenced the company provided themselves with beer, pipes, and tobacco. It consisted of every kind of character, and a penny each was paid for the support of the fiddler. The tables were moved, and dancing was kept up till a late hour, principally by couples, who jigged it in the same style as Dusty Bob and African Sal in the drama of Life in London, with pipes in their mouths, and ahhough the perspiration would roll down them in " thick profusion," still he assured his Worship that they seemed to feel as much delight as a more aristocratic party would do at Almack's. Mr. LAING—We must look after their dancing a little. Hayes told a similar story to that of Goody, and said that he had been once convicted of robbery. Everett lived with his friends, and he simply en tered the public-house to have a pint of beer. Mr. LAING again asked the officers whether they could swear that they suspected the prisoners of having assembled at the house for the purpose of planning a robbery ? They answered in the affirmative; when Goody was committed for two months' hard labour to the House of Correction ; and Hayes for one month. Everett was discharged with a suitable admonition. WORSHIP•STREET. A JUDGE AND JURY PLACED AT THE BAR.-- Yesterday upwards of eighty persons were brought to the Office by the G division of police, under the orders of Inspectors Brundley and Perry, who charged a great number of the prisoners with being thieves, and the others with having been found in their company, at a new beer house in Whitecross street, known as the sign of " Daniel O'Connell— The Patriot."—The whole of those persons had been captured on Sunday evening by virtue of a clause in the Metropolitan Police Acr, 3 Wm. IV. c. 19, which empowered the police to enter public houses and apprehend suspected persons. The police inspectors alleged, that repeated com plaints had been received with respect to the Daniel O'Connell, where the proceedings of Courts of Justice are travestied on Sunday even ings, by the appointment of Judge, Jury, Counsel, &c. for the trial of offenders. On Sunday evening the inspectors went to the house with a large body of constables (about 100), and upon their entry into the parlour they found the business of the Court at its height, with a Judge upon the bench in grand costume, and Counsel in the act of addressing the Jury.—The company were all seized with the exception of some five or six who escaped out of a window. Amongst the few who escaped was the Learned Counsel in his wig and gown, the O'Con nell of the evening, who very characteristically con trived to get out of the difficulty, and left in the lurch those whom he had been agitating by his eloquence. Slyly of the prisoners were mere boys; but the greater part of the defendants appeared to be about twenty years of age. The constables identified 2.5 of them as reputed thieves, and several others as their constant companions. Some decent-looking apprentices were among the defendants. The Judge, who appeared in a purple silk gown and full bottomed wig, gave his name Joseph Palmer, and said he had been a strolling player. For some time past he had assisted in the business of the beer houses. He received half-a-crown per night for presiding three times a week in the Judge and Jury Club to preserve order. Nothing indeco rous was ever allowed, in proof of which he produced a paper containing the rules of the Judge and Jury Club. Amongst them were the following:—" Thai no person be allowed to sit as Judge until he shall •. I have fulfilled the place o f C ounse l in this That the officer do collect all fines infliete , Judge—That any person interrupting thi Jury, or Counsel during the deliberati ons' fined one pen n y—A n y p erson addressing h ship the Judge by any other name than ' 111: shall forfeit Id. for each offence—Any pers( profane language shall be fined Id.--T 1 Jury shall not leave the Court without I mission of the Judge. The Court to open and close at ten." The prisoner said the lated merely to breaches of order or amongst themselves ; for instance, on the in question the individual put upon his tt charged with having wilfully broken a pipe, proceedings were just concluding when di entered. He had no idea that any improper ters were present; and he begged to obse: most of those now identified by the pot found in the tap-room, and not in the Jury 4 BROUGHTON remarked, that th e ru l es whicp had been read were in themselves very excelleto and the young man called the Judge seemed toll an intelligent, well-conducted young man ; mixed up with him and the others were, unfOrtir! nately, a number of known bad characters ; and was by being enticed to such places that many befi t and apprentices were brought to destruction. All the prisoners were cautioned and discharged !; except two, who were committed. Irtane,day retu OSTEN I .lorning e CALAI.! 14 nriday n The Ge Rye also 1:t : a En : g k ; e tt t i eo f 4 4111SGA Applicat ont, 1, tiltrfinger feral Si ; 7,!kere Ber Excur leneral S H " Thu , 41 01 as he We know quarerly Bull and HI Drawn f Bull an ItEJ ° I DUR RID( 1 834. 1 I , 4 ments .ues kw I Pricc 2E 04 rrecte 7 1. 6d. RID ttioing tione 8 , is Colt ; c !d by 91 ' ie Jul t i BY , shall i HE his Lod TEF fy Loy k e f Loud ;on us &he' chat k 7tes, cent the ye t £ 16,0 at seol,, £lO,O trials s r £ 5,0 decals!, , ‘!'t value n (II tri e a v l en l irt E and t y TIOi be poll ext PA( r chars" h ilAMBt !rye, tii 7 . 1 . day and lice w 717 Wedn Court. 4 ,ROTTE LONDON MARKETS. PRICE OF BREAD. The highest price of Bread in the Metropolis is 934 d. tot 41b. Loaf. There are others who sell from 34d. to 136 d. below that price. PRICE OF SEEDS.-Dec. 9. New Englisn Red Clover Seed (per Cwt.) -s. 565. fine 635. 6 66 Old Ditto Ditto. -s. 565. fine -5. 6. 56 ' New Foreign Ditto.--- -s. --5 fine -a. --.• Old Ditto --- -s. -s. fine --6. -- -1 ' New White Clover--- -----,-.. 565. 60s. fine 635. 6 0 , Old Ditto Ditto----....... 1 ............. --s. -s. fine --s. -.. New Trefoil -_ _ ___.......... 18s. 20s. fine 22.. 246 31c1 Ditto - _ ....... -s. -s. fine -s --I. Rib Grass ..................- ............... -s. -s. fine -s. -4 English Carraway Seed- -s. •-s. e4s. fine 88s , Foreign Ditto re.••• • rv.....e.rees.e.owsw.,,«•••••••••• .......s. ••••fii. 83s. fine 8 fi g. Coriander ...................w•••••••..........."0,••••••••........, -s. Ih. fine -s. 13s• St. Foin - (per Quarter)............... 445. 465. fine 4811, 50S. Rye Grass - ___.. -s. -s. new 40s. 445 , Pacey Ditto - -s. -s. new -s. --. 4 ' Linseed, for feeding ... ••........ -,s. 665. fine -a. 6 45 ' Ditto, for crushing 4.915. 565. .-s. fine -I , Canary Seed, New-....................---...-.......... -a. -s. 64s fin e 70s. itto Old ... ....... --s. -s. --s. fine -- 4 * White Mustard Seed-(per 8u5he1)......... -s. 12s. 13s. fine -- 4 Brown Ditto.. Turnip Seeds, .R0und5........-.-...-..--. -s. -s. 18s. fine 20S. Green and Red Ditto ................„.----. -s, -s. 18s . fine 21i. fares, Old Ditto New 45. 6d. fine ss. oc l 9 Ra . ,,eSeed, English, fine (per Last) 251. 271..,,.. Foreign 241. 261. ---- -- PnicEs OP HOPS —Dec. 9. New Ksnt Pockets (per cwt.) 51 Os. 61. Os. to 6!. 10s. Choice — 7 l. 81. Os to 91. Os. East Kent ~Mo. OA • w No. •• • pry... 7/. Os, 01. Os. to 81. 115. Choice New S rssex Pockets 51. Os. 01. Os. to 51. 10s. Superfine Ditto _ 6/. Os. 0!. Os. t o 6/ . 65. Farnham ( fine) _ 111. lls. 01. Os CO 121. 12s. Ditto (seconds)— Os. 01 Os to 11/. Os. The Hop Duty is estimated at 158,0004 PRICE OF OIL. Rape Oil, brown Refined 0 Linseed Oil Is• WWW l •WooreftliAlWO 28 0 Linseed Oil Cake at the Mill, per thousand l2 0 Rape Cake, per ton M . 5 JO 1 - 'IIIOE OF POTATOES.—Dec. 9. .31. Os. to 3/. :Os. per ton. .01. Os. to 21. ss. ditto. Al. Os. to 41. 10s. ditto. 10s. to 41. Os. ditto. Os. to 21. Cs. ditto. Marsh L. Scotch El tampions Chats WII ITECH A PEL H. Hay --............ COs. Od. to 80i. Od. Straw, PRICES OF Per lb. d. to d. Butts, 15 25 Ditto, 13 21 Dressing 15 Ditto i4 16 Ditto, light Clop Hides, light.... 12 131 Ditt0..,.„,,,,, 40 to 501 b. 13 164 i)itto 31ARKEL—Dec 7. (lover .....—. 653 Od. to 958. Ods Is. Od. to 395. Od. LEATHER. Per lb. d. to d • English Horse Hides.. 14 1 ! Spanish Ditto Per dozen. Calf Skins.. 30 io 411 b. 13 2 3 , Ditt0....,...40 to 60 1 Ib. 18 1 1 Ditto 70 to 901 b. 20 2 , Small Seals, Greenland 16 16 Large ditto. ,12 16 RICE OF RAW FAT, per stone ot 81b. Price of Tallow (as stated by the Tallow Me1ter5).........25.101d. PRICE OF TA LLOV Town Tallow 48s. Od. Yellow 48s. Od. White —s. Od. Soap Od. Melted 375. Od. Dit4b Oct. , Yel SO AP, Sic. per 1121 b. low Soap. 628..0A , Mottled, _ 7l9a. 00 , Whit. 72s. Graves Good Dregs PRICE OF The price of Store Candles. in th, Candles. per dos. 7s. Od. to Bs. Od. COAL MARS CANDLES. As. - od. Per Ton: lair's— , 16 0 Chester 14 6 East Percy— ------ A 6 Hebburn Main 15 0 Elf)lywell 15 9 Ord's Redholzh 14 9 Pontop 15 6 Shipcote _ l3 9 16 6 Townley l5 6 West Hartley 15 6 Wylam Walls End Heaton l6 0 Ships arrived since le retail shops, is as followsl-- Moulds, per d05e0.........95. 6d. CET.—Dec. 6. Per Ton. s, d. Walls End Killingworth 16 9 Walls End Newmarch.... 1 6 2 Ditto Northumberland., 16 tD Walls End Perkins........ 15 !!. Walls End Riddell's --. 17 0 Lambton's Primrose —,. 16 Walls End Hetton 17 Walls End Lyons 16 Walk End mewart's....... 17 6 Walls End Urpeth 15 0 Hartley— 16 0 Floc] :kton, Milne, 13 6 New and Co. sat market-day, 61. MEETINGS OF CREDITORS AT THE COURT, BASINGHALL-STREET. (From the London Gazette.) TO-MORROW, Mc. 11. DIVIDENDS. W. G. Wall, nurseryman, Hillington-end, Middlesex at lg J Quarterman, coach-builder, Wanstead ie J. Zimmer, merchant, Welheck-street. IS 0. Mole, merchant, Bread-street-hill BIRTHS. On the Bth inst., at St. John's-wood, the wife of J. W. May, Esq., Consul. General of the Netherlands, of a son. On the 2cl inst., in Kilkenny, the lady of Edmond Butler, Esq., third son of the Hon. Pierse Butler, M.P., Ballyconra, of a daughter. On the 7th inst., the lady of the Rev. Thos. Bowen, curate of St. Mary's, Swansea, of a son. On the 30th ult., the lady of D. A. Davies, Esq., surgeon, Llanelly, of a daughter. On the sth inst., in Dawson-street, Dublin, the lady of E. G. Bell, of Farmhill, county Mayo, Esq., of a daughter. On the 4th inst., at Monkstown, the lady of James Price, Eeq., of a son. On the 30th ult., in Wexford, the lady of Capt. E. Richards. • of the Royal Navy, of a son. MARRIED. On the 9th inst., Ralph Edward Godschall Johnson, third son of Godschall Johnson, Esq., to Ellen, youngest daughter of the late John Butler, Esq., formerly of Westwater-house, Devon. On the 30th ult., in Cork, James Barry, Esq., M.D., of Caherciveen, to Catherine, daughter of the late George Lom bard, of Killarney, Esq., and first cousin to Charles O'Connell; Esq., M.P. for the county Kerry. . DIED. On the 6th inst., at Anglesea.place, Southampton, Captain. James Lys, Royal Navy, of Ridgway, near Lymington, aged 75. On the 7th inst., aged 79, Mrs. Eleanor Wilkinson, widow of the late Mr. Thomas Wilkinson, of Moor&lds. On the 2d inst., at Saffron Walden, Essex, Mary, wife of Stephen Robinson, Esq., and only daughter of the late Martin Catlin, Esq., of the same place. On the 2d inst., at Rottingdean, near Brighton, aged 38, S. H. Williams, Esq., of Chester-terrace, Regent's-park, youngest son of the late Rowland Williams, Esq., of Westontgrove, Thames Ditton, Surrey. On the sth inst., the Rev. T. W. M'Guire, rector of St. Paul's, Deptford, aged 45. On the 7th inst., at his residence No. 5, Lodge-road, Re gent's-park, Arnold King, Esq.. of the Hon. East India com pany's Military Service, Bengal, establishment, in the 74th year of his age. On the 7th inst., at New Romney, Kent, Hester, wife of Mr. Wm. Stringer, solicitor, and second daughter of the late Wm. Wightwick, Esq., aged 45. On the 9th inst., the infant son of Mr. Gresham, of Castle. street, Holborn, solicitor. On the 7th inst., at the vicarage.house, the Rev. Robt. Faith ful!, vicar of Warfield, Berks, aged 09. On the 7th, inst., suddenly, of an apoplectic fit, Mr. James Bennett Foster, of the Albany-roa.l, Camberwell, aged 54. On the 6th inst., at Southampton, Ann Annabella, wife of John Haley, Esq., and youngest daughter of the late Thomas Rivett, Esq., formerly M.P. for Derby. On the 2d inst., Thomas Blackstock, Esq., of Sergeants'.inn, Fleet-street. On the 9th inst., the wife of Richard Saunders, of Bermond sey New.road, aged 26. On the 7th inst., at Woburn, Fitzroy William, youngest son of Captain Sir George F. Seymour, aged p. On the Bth inst., at Burton.crescent, Harriet Povah, aged 22, daughter of the Rev. Dr. Povah. On the 4th inst., at the Hasells, Bedfordshire, Francis Pym, Esq., aged 78. 611 the 2d inst., at Haystown, county of Dublin, aged 82, Walter Rickard, Esq. He was one of the glorious Volunteers of 'B2, having been the last survivor but three of one of the most celebrated and respectable corps of the Fingal Light Dragoons. On the 4th inst., at Ballylinu, county Limeriek, W. Smith, Esq. _ On the 4th inst., Mr. John Cahill, of Sandford's-court, county Kilkenny, aged 45. He has left a wife and ten children. PRINTED &ND PUBLIFIIED ur MURDO YOUNG, Al TIIR SUN OrvlcE, 112. STA,►ND.I. FA `~. , , Which Th , LAN Thi• Ind tire') I tete state whit Edit tix mat of I wit