The Sun. — London, England, 1801-01-29 00:00:00

1 (~ LAW REPORT. COURT OF KINC's BENCH, TAW. 231 THE KING•J. WADDINGTQN• Mr. Waddington being in Court, Lord KENYON said,. ,that although this Case was not the first among the Peremptories for this day, yet being among them, it would, _perhaps, be better to dispose of that Case now. Mr. Waddington said he humbly conceived that he was. entitled to . speak to the Court befOre udgment. was pronounced, for that the Court had not yet received all the information upon the subject which they ought to possess. Lord ICE:Y...ON said, the Court, as he under stood, had heard all that was intended to be urged on this subjeEl, and , that nothing . was re maining hut for the Court to pronounce its judg,- Ment ; but •if Mr. Waddington wanted to . add any thing more, perhaps the better way would be . for him to be remanded, and for the Court to put off the Case until the next Term. . . Mr. W a ddi ngton - said he considered this as a question of National importance, and deeply affectin g t h e Character of the Nat ion and the Law of the Land. Lord KENYON said, that fudges, like other men, were subject to the infirmities of men, but as far as they had been hitherto able to judge of the Case which was now before them, the De fendant was brought to receive Judgment for a breach of the Law of this Land. • Mr. Waddington then proceeded to address the Cotlit, and to lay before it the history of his having entered into, and continued in the trade in Hops ; the fluctuations in the price of that article ; the deficiency in some years, and con sequeistly the high price; for it Was not owing to • the speculations of Mr. Waddington, but the * Will of G o d, t h at t h ere h a d b een a Scarcity of them. —Here he entered into certain calculations as to the pr o d uce an d t h e d ut y on H o p s f or th e • se veral years in which he was in the trade, dis tinguishing each year ; and then proceeded to 'insist t h at t h ey 'were higher in price before he became a Dealer in them,. than they bad been since, and that his going into the trades had the efrea of encouraging the growth and cultivation of Ho s, and that of breaking a combination Which had loitg before that time been carried on ;Mang the Dealers in that article ; from which he maintained that what he did was useful to the and meritorious instead of criminal, and thatliops had been rather lower in price .now, than they would have been if it had not been for his speculation. He insisted that what he did was not contrary to Law, for that all the old Sta. totes .upon the subjeft of Forestalling; Regrating, . Ate., were done:a - way, and repealed by the Statute .of the i 2th of the present King, and that the Case now before the Court, was rather the trial of the it‘l of Parlianient than .of Mr. Wadding. ,ton. He begged of,' and intreated.the. Judges to be cautious of what they were doing, for that he was convinced they were under a delusion, in tatisidering that his condua in this Case was' ille gal, and that the time was not far off whed . it would be proeo, andauttioritatively declared to be so ; and 'therefor; the Court would do well to pause,, f.r it would not onlyho injurious to the CharaCter of the' Nation at 'large,' in the Admit nistration of its Justice, tut alSo disgraceful to the Judges themselves; to 'pass 'a ;judgment for Which there was no legal foundation: He main ' tained that •the old Statutes and Maxims ujon which his condua had been held to be. criminal, were current only in the early periods of our His tory, when the very word CommiTcr, which had brought us into our present splendour, way searee ly so much as to be seen in it Dictionary.. That we were now in a situation to which nonenf tlkese Maxims were applicable. ---At the ulost, supposing ,his consina to be contrary to T AW , which he confidently denied; it was punishing a man for his ignorance to punish him at .all, for be had' it conscientiously through .the whole • of this business, as he had in the Test of his life, which he vindicated in general terms, concluding With the words; " To err is human, to forgive Dit inc." .• Mr. Justice Game then proceeded to address the Defendant, previous to delivering the judg_ went of the Court, in which the Learned Judge went over the short history of the Ca'se as it appeared upon the Trial at Worcester, but which has been so frequently, and so amply before the Public, that to detail it again .would be quite unnecessary. —The Learned Judge then proceed ed to observe, 4 ' That in the pr esent stare of what,was, culled. Paper Credit, human ingenuity could not invent a mode, the tendency of which was more to enhance the price Of an article of necessity in life,.by preventing much o f it from coming to the Marker, or that which was there from - Being sold at a fair market-price, than the (Whit of the . Defendant in this Case, and this wasdone at a place in which the dealing in the article of Hops Was very extensive; the City of Worcester ; from whence the Northern part of this Country principally derived its Supply."— Under such circumstances no man 'could help seeing the consequences which must have follow.' ed, for they were inevitable ; that of raising the price of Hops from II!. to t 51. per Cwt. upon which circumstances the Jury had found the De fendant Guilty. Upon this it had been argued either that no Judgment • at all should be pro nounced upon the Defendant, because he was, guilty of no offence, or that if that was not so,' that the punishment ought to be a lenient one,— As to the arguments in favour of an Arrest of Judgmcnt,.if the Court thought that the Defend ant's condirl - ‘was not contrary to Law, what ever they might think of' it in ally other light yet judgment .ought robe arrested, and the, Court would say so. When the Court recolleded the anxi ety of our Ancestors,- and'how they had frequent ly expressed themselves against this crime of en hancing the price of the articles oflife, as appeared by the maxims.of our Common Law; as handed down to us . by . ourablest Reporters, - the Court could not deem it otherwise than a very dangerous precedent, to pats by thew MAXIM'S in the article of Hops, which 0* inadt part or the tonsmou Beverage of the People of this. Country. Most unquestionably it Was a crime to enhance, due means, the price of the article of Hops. I t would, 'indeed, he most unfortunate, if the t 2.11 of George the Third, which had been so I. quently alluded to, had either repealed the Sta. tutes it did not mention, or any part of the Corn. mon Law upon this subjett for if it did, then it would be legal for any man, by any means, to enhance the price of any article, without Which the Community could not exist ; but the Statute of the 12th of George the Third, had no such operation, and fortunate it 'was for Society it had no such operation, and, therefore, to en. hance, by undue means, the Price of the Articles of Life, was against the present subsisting Law of this Land. In mitigation of the punishment. of the De. fendant, the Court had been strongly addressed, arid principally under the head of necessity ,ter give as much scope as possible to the " P . 'ecciotn of Trade." This Freedom of Trade had been urged, and urged very properly; as a topic for the grave and mature consideration of the Court. The Court had gravely and deliberately consider. id it, and upon which the Court was most clearly . of opinion, That for any individual, or number of individuala, for his, or their own private gain or emolument, to enhance the price of the Necessaries of Life, thereby to prevent others from purchasing them at the fair market rate,which they might otherwise be sold for, constituted no part of the Freedom of Trade, and was a pradlice contrary to Law. The Freedom of Trade was like the Liberty of the press, a great and a wilt]. able privilege, and a great pillar 'of a Free State ; but the abuse of the freedom of trade, was like the /ice/aim/less of the Press, to be checked when ever the good of the Community required it.— God forbid that the Court should do any thing that had the least tendency to violate the Free dom of Trade. On the contrary, the Court were most anxious to proteCt that freedom. The Law itself most anxiously provided for the protedion of that freedom; for• it had declared, that to stop, or interrupt, so as to prevent,, any person. from bringing his goods to market, and taking them from him, or obliging the owner to take less for . them, than he might have gained for them at a fair open market, was a capital offence, and those who were guilty of it, Inrfeited their lives to the Law; and wisely was this made the Law, for the great obj of the Law was to encourage men to bring their goods to open market, which could not be expelled if men were ribt tirotteted in so doing ; the Law had, therefore, provided sufficiently for the punishment of those who Sin. terrupt persons in bringing their goods to open market. The -same Law took an interest in the condition of that great class of SubjeCts, who are Hums fil a public Marker and this part of the Law might be called the . 14oteetion of the Poor against the Rich; nor was . this, in any respeet, new Law. From all time, it had been a.crime . by the Law of England, unduly to enhance the price of the Necessaries of Life, or. 'to prevent their coming to market, to be fairly sold there, :tither, flit : the purpose of enriching an indiVidual, or fair any other purpose- The Freedom, of Trade .had its legal litnits.a—No man was permitted, by the-LawS of this Realm, to purchase what he pleaSed, of whom, or, when, or where he pleased, for a , certain goods were contraband, in which no man sva permitted to trade,. In some, cases, none ' could trade •but those; who were authorized by the Law ; and in others, the trade could he car. vied on with none but those whom the Law notni nated for that purpose. It must he evident, that by this,. he alluded to the 'East India Company. In: the case of Naval Stores, which have the . King'4 mark upon them, the Law had that none but certain persons,, duly coamis,ioried for chat purpose,, should deal in them.. Nor was any man permitted to buy any articles of, nor sell thein to, the Enemies' of the King.—. This the Learned judge stated, to chew that the Freedom of Trade, was like every other Freedom, subjed to certain and necessary legal limits. For the sake of the Public at large, and more especially for the sake of the Poor Man, t h e Law p a id an anxious resped to the mode of the Sale of the . ne. nessary Articles of Life, and had provided, that the pride of them should not, oil.any account, be • enhanced unfairly, either for the private profit of anintliv idual,. or for any other purpose. In this, and other respetts, the Freedom of Trade had its limits ; it was, indeed, tike every other liberty, and must be regulated by Law : The Court were as much bound to . acquiesce in this p a rt o f the Law, wi th regard to Trade, as They were sto ac. quiesce in the ! t aw, which. proteEted those who' were coining to market to expose their goods for sale. The judges found it laid down in the good beoks, by which a k no wl e d ge o f t h e Law Was inculcated, that - the Charge made upoo.the' Defendant, and proved in this Case most saris. fanorilY, was it crime, and ,one' that called for the serious ettentiennf the Court, and they were bound to treat it as such. Rut it had been said, that the 4th anti sth of,Edward VI. was repealed by the,Statute of the tath of * Geo, 111. as tar at related to Forestalling. and Regretting, and from' which it wits inferred, that to enhance, however. unnecessarily, the price of any article whatever, ceased to be a trime in the eye of the Law, and this idea the Defendant was supposed to have ailed under. This mode of treating the Case, supposed the Defendant to have read that same Statute, and. supposed also, -that others had considere'd it, as well as the whole Law upon this subject, and that the Defendant'hadadvised with others, who, had had more opportunity Of studYing it titan; himself: Those persona Might h ave to ld hi m ,: that the Statute of:he t ath of the present did. not apply to the Case now before the Court.i Thoi Statute did not say, that such ads ais the' Defendant had committed, ceased - to be criminal, nor 'was it necessary for any MI of Parliament to; pronounce such cOnduCteriminal, becausa it ha 44 from the earliest times, and.consraotly,-beeti _Wt.! tattered Crithin4by the Common Law. ~ • The offence of. which rhe,Defendaat was con.. united was aalireet vitilation' gf the canrse acid - n& of just and honourable Trade as well as Of die taw of this Lind, inetiAnitell every one tti bring his goods to matket, and to di , post of sash goods to the best bidder. it 1 %,.` 1 ' :le corded that • the Defendant had been g uilty c.asilig the article of Hopi Vo advance to a much higher price than any otheV market wrailti have produced, but for his interference..—This was a crime reprobated by the LaW of this Realm, and for which the Defendant must be punished. , • The. Learned Judge then said, he could not, for the Defendant's honour; suppose, that what was said by Counsel in one particular, was true, namely, that the Defendant had aded conscien tiously,'"under what he thought the pr s ovisious of the t ath of Gee. 111. and according to his own feelings of what the Legislature intended by pass.. ing that Ad.—The. Defendant, by appealing to his own feelings, must have been assured that the Legislature of a great and populous kingdom, anxious to provide for the welfare of the people at large, and especially for the more necessitous ob. jets among them, could not have, intended to have taken from the Lower Class of men that se curity which the Common Law of the land had provided for them ages ago, and had continued to afford to them under all the vicissitudes: through. whiCh the Nation had past. It wits an indifferent compliment to pay to any Legislature, to say, or even to susped, that at-any time, such could have been its intention—or that it ever did, or. intend. ed to do any thing that would throw open a`door for the rich matt to come to any place where there may be an opportunity for him to speculate on the Necessaries of Life at the expense of the Poor: These arguments, therefore, if well considered, could operate but little in mitigation of the sen. tence to be pionounced on the Defendant, espe daily when the Court recolleded, that the De fendant's attention and caution had been awakened on this matter by the first application against him, in which his condud had shewn negled . at least, not to say de fi ance of the consequences.— The Court having considered all the circumstances of this case, the nature and extent of the offence, the time in which it was committed, and being convinced it called for a precedent, which was to operate as an example to others to beware of cormuittinp the like in future, did order and ad. judge, is That in addition to the imprisonment lie had already suffeted, he be imprisoned 'in the Prison of King's Bench for one month, that he do pay to the King a fine of to 01. anti that 'he be further imprisoned until suc fine be paid," Mr. WADDINGTon, apparently in a rage, tore a Cop yy of the Ad of Parliament of. the .tath of Geo. 111. which he had in his hand, saying it was not worth a farthing. • This Judgment is for the Worcester business only.--that in Kent remains to be disposed of. T&IV KING v. 14 4 i30P. • The ArroINiy.GEN, RAL prayed the Ithig !tient of the Court on A/hris -for Libel on His Royal Highness the N ctt of WA t published on•the sth of-Augut, r 7 9 .7- He said he was not .deiired to press the Court topaSs on the Defendant any other sentence thin to tlie•jus. rice of the Court should seem absolutely twees sary, on hearing the Libel read. .The Deltudant had suffered Judgment to go: by default, .anti . the reason why he was not brought •before the Court sooner was, that the Officers hadnot apprehended him until the last Term. Therewas an Affidavit of the, Defendant, stating. his sorrow and contri tion, for this Libel, together with a promise not to offend in future. The Libel being read, the judgment of the Court was, "'That in addition to the imprihon ment which the Defendant has already suffered, which is from last Term, he be imprisoned in Newgare for one year, and, that in than time, be he set in and upon the pillory in the open street in the Haymarket, for one hour, berween the hours of twelve at noon and two in the after noon." THE KIN° V. SHE'LTON. The Defendant, Beniam;m. Shehitt, was a Sur. veyor to: the Commisstoners for assessing under the Income Duty, in a distrkt in War►vickshirc, and he had been Indieled for making false Re.. turns, and tampering with some of tli Collectors under him to do the same thing, to return to the Commissioners less than was proper, and to pat the remainder into his own .pocket ; for which he was indkled, and he suffered Judgment to pass by default. The Sentence of the Court upon him was, " That he be imprisoned in the common jail at Warwick for one year, and that in that time, he be set inand upon the pillory foe one hour, be tween the hours of twelve at noon and two in the afternoon, an a market day, in• the open Streit in. Warwick." raota IRO V. 41VANS. This . was an , Adion for a. ,breach a Promise of Marriage; brought by. Miss Winifred Profiler° against the Defendant, a pious old Welsh Parson, somovisers, between 6o and 70. Complete and suiiiiittory evidence was given, of the Defend. antis having courted the Plaintiff with a view to His love letters, which were written in the Welsh language, were produced, and when ileerpreted, afforded an infinite fund •or mcrri. Mein. The `Jury were out two hours, tt')d returned a ,• • • rnlia fur the Plalnta, w i th 591. darnago, P • • At Ilicinnond; in Yorkshire, an the t3th inst. HENRY BI.EGBOROUGII, ksq, .%%as cleeted to the office of Mayor •of that Corporation , for the eresu. init year, which office he served' itt years 1779 and : x , 788.,,; • . • Vickery's Imperial Wad Dress, being equally grateful, becoming, and appropriate as a !Mort,.. tut Dishabille, or an Evening Full Dress, ha.. bei.sme the, Companion of the Toilet of the most In.hionable Personages in the Realm ; and if La dies of 1 1 :14hion, when they have arrayed them. iielve with so sovereign an addition, will consult their titirror, they kill acknOwledge it to be the yarn( to of exciAloce. THE MOIL . HAMBURCH, JAIL INTct.Licarics has tcached this City from Prtersbargh, that Prn. hiinself the authorof the extraordinary paragraph ib the Petersburg!' Court Gazette of the 3oth ult..in which helms proclaimed himself a madman: The Inany'ecten:: tritities which arc every where conspicuous in the charafter and the aCtiOns'nf this Prince, justify; the 'opinion, that besides his Ministurs,,in ease of -his' lunacy, none but himself iould have had re course to so strange a proceeding with regard to 'his Own reputation. The person who has received the atiove:nien- • tioned intelligence here, is a respedable. Meru chant, who sueplies the imperial- Family awl. Court with fashionable drsa:s,- and articles of fur-, niture, See. &c. The letter which this - Merehani received; comes from one of PAUI.'s favourites; who gives nearly the following particulars : " A few days before the young Ks Nc or , SwF: D En left Pita:tar:hi the limps 4.p gave :s totirwpitent ) a : diversion' of which lie is very fond, and in which tsc performed,per.on:dly ",i's. 4 , combatant;i - to the great serprize of his Royal Guest, anct.to .the amuseinent of a numerous brilliant-Court.. In the evening; the fC.ti tic col,) overflowed With generous wine, and a" Oit;patc.ll Was received from BONAPAI“E, together with several caricatures ) saki to be published in Eng. land, in which the mighty PAUL is reptrAlitutl as at lunatic .The,Empxttoß wA's chaiin,:ci with the toc:iousness and military sucee3ses of his new Gallic friend,; and the conversation turned oil the great projeas funned by the Northern Coll . :. federitcy tb humble the pride of tho English, and the invincible prowess the Em )(Oa ha'ailibplak. ed all day long in the tournament. " His MAJ Erry, fired with the spirit Of chi,. valry, immediately resolved to - insert the &roues paragraph of defiance to the Potentates of Eu. rope, in which he declares hiMself mad at the conclusion." JANUARY 21. The account mentioned in the Public Papeis, that the Duke DEL PARQUi was proceeding to Petersburgb, as Minister from Spin, is void of foundation. He is still at,ltankfort. C,i,-nerai L CL RC, : who is now etneloy-ed in making Peace between Atistria brother.inelaw to tile Cortsol e. BuNAPAitti. 4 , • • ,y. Yr PUBLIC.OFFjCZ, hotr_srkEtr• Doc-s4.EALINto. THE following extraordinary circuniitir4efitit tpealitg . this aPtclis :difitedat We rai eater - day related : in evidencei%lighillSt :,710i048Vii,4011di and Thi)mas Follett, Who were btoughvbeforpta. above-Magistrateg,.owlatspiciotiof haying - fstolett and . killed •a great number:of Dogs" for ' , the wake of theirskins. •-- • • Robert Townsend, one of the pitiable, said,. that having received information that-k. ntiiitfw stolen dogs were cutlet:idea wooo - house; near - thc back of "thtfthiladthrorls; Society, St. George's Fields, he wctitihere:yester. day morning,. -and, in a back roora,•fotind thirty carcases of .dogs, and wirhouctk4,skins, piled one on another; and uoderthe floor of the same room and that. adjoining, many more, the ground 'haying been dug up to receive them, and most them were in 4 state of putridity,..so that the stench was almost beyonoearing tho,:e in the back room appeared to 'have been lately killed; by being beat on 11)e I'4a, as all their skulls were broken ; **Tin the back:You:mite found'the humnier now produced, which no doubt had been used for the purpose, as it was s covered. with blood and dog's hair ; that in the front=rclom he found the Prisoners; whom he took into custody. William bagllww, sits Eati.sticet, London_ Road, deposed, that on te .14. th or. December. last he lost a pug birch and which he hail eVcrY reason to believe ; was stolen from him ; that on hearingg yesterday morning of a, number of dead. dogs being found in the Prisoner,' Sellwood'a, horse, he went :there, and among the carcases discovered that of: his pug bitch, which he. was enabled to swear to from a particular mark in its mouth, and being with pup at the time. • In the course of the examination it appeared that it was a' common mode' among the dog. stealers, to take aniall houses fOr the purpose of. varying on this abominable trade, and when they. had colleded as Many carcases as they could bUry, and ,the house would contain, tlitn to sibs-comp without paying any rent; u eicentit.,,tance of this nature having happened ;i short t ime duce at a housein Webber row, St. George's-Fields, - s'vhere the neiobours were almost putkonett by the stench. the hisoner SellwoOd is an old woman t )ett is a boy : neither of them Having any thing satisfaaory to urge 'in their defence, they Were committed for further examination. During the time the Prisoners were at the bar, a man came to give them a charader, when three dogs in tteotlice immediately fondlell about him; and had they no& been prevented, would have fol lowed him away, from which, and his 41,p, , ,Irduce altogether, there was every reason to supi)(Ae he was one of the, gang ; Mr. •Fottn therefore, {Air ed him out of the O ffice, or he should be r.l,en into custody as 4, party concerned. • The Nragistrates al'Edhiburgh havt, r4...q)!Yeti to seise all beggars, and send tlwrn to 3 Houitof industry, .where they shall he forced to a 4 well as they arc able.,- Saturday evening Sir ELIJAH IM BUY, and two Geritlemen in company with near fieniey-uptto..Thantes, by tlw robbed of their watches . atid cash. On Sminidity The iiotirm 'of in Duke-streer, 'wzii ;broke open, and ribbed of fropertyto 7 t:omidei-oble ainnOnt. On Sunday, about three o'clock, Lady Wit. t.fiovis WYNNT! ~ vat.."stopped in her carriage near' Alldenhead Thkket, by two highwaylneni V. ho, robbed her old gold watch and tiarila rooney. 0 • 14. -1 '•11 #1