The Sun. — London, England, 1840-01-13 00:00:00

E% isCir EDITioN. I MON m _iurru svEciAt, co um issims. TRIAL OF ZEPHANIAH WILLIAMS. / (Continued from Tire Stot of Sat-arday.) ( Sir Thomas Phillips, examined by the Attotkl.ey,Ge cneral—l was Mayer of Newport on the :Id Novem ber. Intelligence was brought te ran on that day which rendered it nceetsary for me to take measures to pee , serve the peace of the town. Special constables were ) sworn, and I sat up ail night at the Westgate, with anotb'er Magistrate. I sent out persons to r.teet ire foroiation ; amongst others was Mr. Walker, who i 'was wounded. Prisoners were made bet %Yeas twelve ) o'clock at night and nine o'clock Monday morning. 1 I r. ceived intelligence of the gradual approach of the people. I sent for military assistance to Captain Stack, and a detachment of soldiers was accordingly sent down. The witness then described how he had posted them in ;a. room in the Westgate, and thee the attack made by the people in the Westgate. Witness' and Captain Grey opened the shutters of the room at, the east side of the Inn, in which the soldiers were, and witness was wounded in doing so. There are three windows in the projecting bow of the room. The laeople in the town must hays been aware that the soldiers had come into the town, and were in the house. The people as they passed were formed in columns with ' the regularity of a military force, so much so that it Would he incorrect to till th em a lee n. The wound I 1 rect ived in ray arm appeared to be made with slugs. The second wound on the hip appeared to have been made with a ball. Sergeant Daly was apparently wounded ,in the forehead with slugs. I went Into a room to have my 'Tumid dres se d, aid while there a man thrust at tee i with a p'lte, and while doing so be was shot, and fell ; °PM via fate. The mob then diciicrAed, and I went 1 oP ete,re, and remained there for a month. i Cross-examined by Mr. Thomas—There was some firing into the paeeage from the soldiers, who fired free, the room where they were stationed; but they fired / through th e windows first. I had been wounded previous to that time. When I was thrust at by the men the sol diers had fir e d from the windeate I repudiate the ph rase mole when I consider :he columr, o f men i n f ront o f the Weeteate. It was about 9 o'clock when I first saw the column. 4 The firing occupied about ten minutes. I und ers t an d t h at about eight or nine men were killed. Letters trom New port to Birmingham are conveyed through Bristol. The eoneh front Newport remains at the Monmonthshire side of the ferry, and another coach conveys the letters to Bristol, and the lat',er are brought by another coach again to Birmingham. The Birmingham mail leaves when the Welsh mail n.e-,a into Bristol, which is between four and 1 five o'cloet. in 'he evening. It was on Sunday morning I that I fir . hterd of the movement. Mr. 'Chornas—From whim did you receive that in forration ? Witness—My informant is not a Chartist. The infor- I volition was that a rising was intended that night. I know 1 Williams many years. I would rather not say anything about his character. Edward Napkins, superintendent of police, Newport, j proved the edrance et the insurgents on the Westgate, and their attack on the special constables, who were compelled to retreat. His evidence lots been already detailed. Cross-examined by Mr. Thomas—Nothing of import. ance elicited. • Thomas Beren Oliver sworn - Who had been examined on Frost's trial, was now so ill that he was allowed to sit After recapitulating his former testimony, he added:— The answer, ‘• No never" to the demand " Surrender youreelves as prisoners," was given before the gun was fired. Between the answer and th firing this gun ten seconds did not elapse. There was no observable distance of time. The muzzle of the gun was within three inches of my head. It went off by design, I should say. The game man had the gun, who used the expriessiou " surrender yourselves." The gun was brought down to the man's shoulder before the gun was discharged. I immediately heard the report of a number of guns. Immediately after firing the first gun they rushee, in ; they had guns and pikes. The witoOes was cross-examined by Mr. Thomas, Captaio Gray's evidence was precisely the same with that which Ite gave on Mr. Frost's trial. Jeremiah Box Stockdele. superintendent of police at Cerdiff, having been put into time witnesss box, Mr. Thomas objected to him as a witnexe on the grounds of mis description, the name of the perish, as well as the town not having been stmed in the list. Judge Park directed that the witness should stand aside, and another be called. Thomas Sward, ohP al the Newport Pelice, was sworn, and proved the fArding of tune, pikes, a sword ; and mandrils, which the insurgents left behind them in their retreat. The several weapons were produced and iden tified by witness Jerentiah vox Stockdale was again called. The AtroroeyeGeneral insisted that the decision in the Bir minghael case, where an attorney is described as an at taney of the town of Birminehtm, was in favour of de scription given of the witness's aboJe. Osborn and Gough, reported in tiosanquet and Puller, p. lel, also supported that description ; and, in Crook against etref, a similar description was held good. Mr. Thomas having keen heard at great length against the description given of The witness, Chief Justice Tiadel ruled against the objection, and elated that there was so more difficulty in ascertaining the abode of a polite-officer than that of an attorney. His Lordship errs eatistied that the Birmingham case decided in favour of the description given of Stnckdalc's abode. Judge, Parke—There must be a gelieral ru'e which shou'e' e be adhered to. I doubt much that the description is flureicient. Judge Williams agreed with.; ha Lord Chief. :Justice. The witness was ersmined by the Atterney-General— In consequence of information w'e'clt I received on the 20th of November, : went, on ,he 21st, on board the Vintage, vr'licil was lying IL tafea-lock. I went aboard of her about three o'clock in the n,.; -- Arng. That vessel was bound for Oporto. In the boys' berth found the prisoner asleep. I asked him his name, and he tolil toe Thomas Jones, and that he retitled at Bridgend. I asked hits: :Then ho came from Bridgend ; and he said, " the evening be fore, at seven o'el. oc k." In answer to other questions, he said he. had b",en for the last fortnight visiting his relations, and tt,at Uewellyn was the last person whom he had vi oite.d. I took him into custody, and at II o'clock the same toorn'.ng he disclosed to me his real name. The prisoner at the bar is the person whom I arrested as Zephaniah Williams. I found on his person ioet sovereigns, II Spa nish dollars, and two sixpences. The Counsel for the defence having declined to cross examine this witness, the Attorney-General informed the Court that the case for the prosecution was then closed. The Court adjourned at a quarter-past six o'clock. THIRD DAY-SATURDAY. The Court sat it nino o'clock, Mr. Thomas proceeded to addrass the Jury. You may, said he, easily believe me, when I assure you that this is the most anxious mement of my life. It is the first time that in the extrei. - re of my professional duties. I have ever been called upon to defend a felow-creature on trial for lota life, But this is not the o :ly anxiety that 1 hare in this, ceee, because I feel conscientiously. convinced that there are more important eoesideratons in his case than even the life of a tellow-creature. I feel, gentlemen, that, in the discharge of the duty that yces are now called upon to perform, arc involved the liberties of yourselves and of your country. It is not simply a trial of the prisoner standing at the bar for his life, but it is a matter call ing upon you to decide whether the crown is to have the power of crushing every possible demonstration that may he shown bi the people of this country. It is in this view that I consider that this case is of more im portance don - yen that of the life or death of the prisoner who is at the bar. In the anxiety and the zeal which the Learned Seliciter-General displayed in th i s case, lie forgot to ask of you te dismiss from your minds the prejudices test must necessarily exist in them I cannot, asking of you to do so, I cannot but beg of their Lordships to remind you, that you should do so as far as possible. I cannot, however, hope, or expect that you will do so altogether, for it is no in the constitution of the m'ilds of men to dismiss from them all previous knowledge of a case, nor of their pie jedises pol;tierl cr religieus. I do not expect any such thing as possible ; but as far as you can, I entreat of you to coin, as usprejudiceit as it is pes- Bible ter you, to look it this ease. I implore you to in this, fir it is tea the life of the indiviclu II before you, hut it is the safety of yourselve• and of your country that is at stake, that country which is lookine to that trial in which you are eneaged with the deepest. the most unprecedented interest. The reason why I ask of you to dismiss all prejudices from sour min , 's, is this, that I am not at all U:lftlinTe of theeffarra that have been male by the press, to prejudice the minds of all—locsily as well as generally. The press, however, his net been the only engine which has been used in the endeasmur to excite prejudices in your minds. The pulpit, in this very town, has been made the vehicle for uttering forth opinions, an d for exciting your minds to a degree which cannot but be deplored. You have been told of the abomination of " the idolatry of reason." Suck doctrines as these have been addressed to the very judges who are to try the pri sonen for their lives. In a case of a local and political nature like this, where such things have happened, right, is it reasonable to expect, that the minds of the Jury wilt be uninfluenced by such doctrines as those I have just adverted to, when addressed from such a place as a pulpit ? Local prejudices and political feelings have been arrayed together, along with that which I will not call religious feeling, because it appears to me to bi notbini; more than profanity, if the temple of re ligion is to be mule the vehicle for conveying such doctrines as these. I would beg of you, then, as far as you can, to dismiss all these prejudices from your minds. The charge that is here preferred against the prisoner is, you are told, one of the very highest thst can be preferred against a fellow-creature. You must then, before you oomo to a verdict, be convinced that the prisons r has com mitted ono of the most heinous crimes of which any man can possibly be guilty. Dn you think that the Avorney- General can convince you that this is the fact, when all that has been done is, that nt the outset you have heard a few witnesses against the prisoner at the bar, almost every one of these witnesses speaking well of the pri• miner, as a man of a kindly nature and of good disposi tion, and as one too, who, upon all occasions, was found to urge the people to the preservation of peace, and the observance of peaceable proceedings. After this was done by the Attorney. General, he went on to show you the various bodies of men, under diff Tent leaders, and then w fix the guilt of those persons upon the pri soner. I had almost forgotten, by the time that the last witness ( Steekdalel, was called what it was that had been said by any of the witnesses that could teuch the nri seiner at the bar. You even heard the Attorney-Ge neral declare that he did not impute to the prisoner that b e was present et any of the meetings described. You s e e, then, that from the nature of this ehargeohough being the highest which can be brought against any man, it is at t h e name tier e one thrt is the most easily proved, for it i; thus; that because the prisoner at the bar was seen at one or two meetings with persons who afterw,rds were seen in company with others, arid these third parties w s commit faults, the faults of the third parties, Marc reelected back upon the prisoner, and this, it is s,ald. because he was one of the leaders. Why, then, *as Stockdale tailed ? It was only that a beginning and an ending might be given to this case ; for, whether he had Committed one crime or another, it was but n aural that he should run away; and it was to prove his capture merely that Stockdale was produced. Even a part of the Bench sisoubted whether or not he could be called, and he teat tailed merely to tonnoot the one part of the ease pith the other s and to render the prisoner responsible for that *hitt was stated and done *bee he *as not present. There is no subject involved In greater difficult y than the definiti o n o f high treason. From the earliest periods of our istsry it will be found that constant eorttests were *going on between our treat lords and our Kings—it was, to punish the resistance of the former to the latter, that the laws of high treason were passed. But to compare the struggles of kings and lords in former times, and to asse miiate them to anything that happens at this period of time, as a conflict between the Queen and her people, is what surprises me, and must create in the intel. lectual world nothing but astonishment. The charge against the prisoners is that of levying war against the Queen in her realm, We are surprised that at this time a charge should be made against men of waging war against the Queen, when none arc found to disapprove of a Government car ried on by Queen, Lords, and Commons. While intelli gence is diffused, and property distributed as it is in this country, it is impossible that a mob could effect any such eurpose, and it is impossible that they ever can. I think it is impossible for the Crown to show that the prisoner, with others, intended any thing of the kind. But then, is it a waging of war to find a few wretched men assembled toge ther —one, two, three, or five thousand altogether, still a number meeting together, with such miserable weapons as you have seen produced here, to make a display of—and no doubt you have seen all that could be collected to gether, and all that the mob had gathered —are you to believe from this that they, according to the statute of Edward the Third, are guilty of high treason ? Such classes of persons were never intended to be punished as traitsrs. The crime of high treason was intended against other leaders, these who would bring armed forces for the purpose of encountering the King and hi s troo p s . We knew that on Willi am the Conqueror coming to this coun try, he portioned it out into narrow departments; he put his own Barons in some places, in others he permitted the ancient Chiefs to remain ; but one condition of holding their property was swearing allegiance to him, and of providing armed men, who might either be at his service upon going abroad, or to aid him at home. These persons. in process of time, became sorts of kings themselves; thus you find the Ea 'l of Hereford and the Archbishops brought their forces to unit e , an d to come aga i ns t th e King, and demand of the King that which they wanted. Laws were then passed by the King, against acts of this description. Judges were, too, at these times the creatures of the Crown, and they construed those laws in favour of the Crown ; they gave to them a meaning which they were not intended to have. Other risings then took place for the repeal of those Acts, and they effected it after much blood shed. The reason why Kings were- so anxious to have the doctrine of treason extended was this—that by treason property was forfeited to the Crown. sings; in those times. were grasping at the revenues of their etthjeett, And the crime of high treason *as then t9Ught to be established against those having large properties. The nobles dis liked this, an; therefore they sought to have the law of treeenn defined, and for it not to be left to the various con struction of the judges. In the 25th year, then, of the reign of Edward the Third, they succeeded itt getting this law, to which I hays now to call your particular atten tion. The set states, that it is one to ascertain " the limits and claims of forfeitures from the crime of high treason." At that time, for a servant to kill his master, eas petty treason ; and the property of the servant was forfeited to the successor of his master. As it was high treason so to kill, or compass the killing of the King, for.. feited the property of the traitor. One of the crimes constituting high treason by this statute, is " the levying of war against the King in his realm," What is the levying of war against the King in his realm? I contend for it, that that is not the crime which has been corns mitted in this ease. I beg now, gentlemen, your atten tion to the words at the end of this statute—" that in a Case of supposed treason, which is not above specified, the Judges should tarry until the case be shown before btit lord the King in Parliament," Nothing yokl see can be clearer than the words of the Act. It specifies what should be the crime of high treason at that period, and it then declares, that if a new case of treason shall arise the judges shall not determine it, but that it be brought into Parliament. It Is for Parliament to decide or not, whether It is the highest crime known, for it still may tie 2 feleny, which may subject a man to the punish teenl of death. That Act is in full force to this day, for it ' is under that Act that the prisoner stands indicted. To show how necessary it sets, I may mention that one man MU hung for the crime of high treason because he said that his child was the heir to the crown, the man being the owner of an inn called " The Crown." In another case a I man was executed as a traitor because the King, having killed a buck of his, he was proved to have said that he wished that his buck, horns and all, were in the belly of him who counselled the King to kill his buck, and it being shown that the King was his own counsellor, the man was executed as a traitor I Such an opinion was dissented front by one noble-minded Judge, who left his place rather than give his assent to it. It is quite re freshtng to think that there were noble-minded judges to be found dissenting from such doctrines, for at that time the consequence of a man dissenting from the opinions of the King was, that he was obliged to resign his office as a Judge. Formerly the Judges were the mere servants—the wretched and servile servants of the They were not, like the present race of Judges, made independent of the Crown—a change for which we are all indebted to the late king, George the Third. The Attorney-General—They were made independent long before the reign of George the Third ; they were made so at the time of the Revolution. Mr, Thomas—l defy my Hon. Friend the Attorney- General to show that this was done by William the Third. Chief Justice Tindal—All that George the Third did was to declare that the Judges should continue notwith. standing the demise of the Crown. Mr. Thomas continued by saying, that as to the period he was probably wrong, but he recollected that his Ma jesty George the Third had made a most voluntary and gracious concession on the subject. The Judges then were independent from the time of the •• Glorious Revo lution," as it was called, though it was curious, on a trial like this, to say that a revolution was •• glorious." What he contended for was, that they should not take the con struction of Judges upon an Act of Parliament, at a time when those Judges were nothing better than slaves of the Crown. No lapse of time could be a bar against that which was law or justice. Chief Justice Vaughan, in a case as to the process of justice in Wales, laid it down that precedent might be useful when practice was to be attended to; but when an Act of Parliament had been violated, it would be monstrous to quote precedent for its violation. At the request of one of the Jury, Mr. Thomas read the authority a second time. Sir Edward Coke, too, having been reproached in Parliament for what he had done as Chief Justice, acknowledged that he had been deceived—his guide being precedent ; but now that he had swerved from it, he was guided better, as he was regulated by Act of Parliament. So it was in this ease. No doubt the man who said this was a very bad man—he was one too who, as Attorney- General, had called, as it was done here, the prisoner at the bar a miserable miscreant. He would call upon them to listen to the argument of the Attorney-Ge neral in the caw of Stockdale v. Hansard, when the Judges were attempting to accroach upon the privileges of the House of Commons. One of the Jurors begged Mr. Thomas would ex plain the meaning of the word " accroach." Chief-Justice Tindal said the Court considered that the arguments were addressed to them, although pur porting to ba addressed to the Jury. Mr. Thomas thooght that the construction of the Act was for the Jury. Acts of Parliament were intended for the understanding of the pople. Chief Justice Tindal observed, that if the Judges were not to define for the Jury what was the law, they had no thing to do there. The Attorney-General observed, that it was for the Cour: to say what was the levying of war, for the Jury to decide if the facts amounted to a levying of war. Mr. Thomas said he was grateful to the Court for the courtesy it had exhibited upon ail occasions to him. The Learned Attorney-General, in a case that was argued in the Queen's Bench on a question of privilege, con tended against the precedents which were brought against the privilege, inasmuch as some Judges had formerly de cided in favour of their own privileges, and on the ground that some of those Judges had b .en corupt and base. He would quote the passages ; and in so doing, he request. d the Jury to substitute for the word "privilege," wherever it o..curred, the word " treason ;" and thy would find that, if applicable to the former, it was infinitely more applicable to the latter. The Attorney-General says, " The law of privilege was settled when Judges were the crea tures of the Crown, and liable to be discharged if they were not obedient ; and when Kings themselves used to in terfere in the a dministration of justice, which they did P erso nally ; and as Jud.res, in ancient times ; and after wards by letters to the Judges, directing them how to act in particular cases-3 practice which several statutes had h e" especially framed lo restrain ;" and then the learned Attorney-General ventured on our admonition, which I in my humble r capacity would not d ire to ven ture on ; "and though the Judges are now independent of the Crown, there may st ill h e a proper constitutional j-alousy ; lest at against of some time a d es i re of popularity, or o f exc l u d ing t h e ju risdiction theCaohudrtsh,seful fp the learned rivilethemshouldlesdges.,n to He applied i ctin wholesome to them the observations o w Attorney - General in a question o f p r i v il ege of the legislature alone , and all claimed by one branch he no hands of their Lordships and th e J ury, jea lousy claimed at the was the same with respect to decisions by a ofth constructionand interpretation had been put on the words General G e statute—an act of the whole legislature, as the Attorney_ claim ed with regard to the decisions affectingh e p rivi leges tit alleged privilege/. of one branch of the legislatur under such circumstances, and with such authority, and h e felt that be had a right to comment on the Judges , d whose directions the law arose. Amongst authorities th at had been and would be referred to, was " Coke's Instt t tutes," a volume published after the death of Lord Coke, and without his authority , because it had not received the last corrections of his hand, and therefore could not in all cases be implicitly relied on by the learned Judges on the Bench. In that Institute several cases were mentioned of insurrections which, in consequence of the clause in the act of Edward 111., restricting the Judges from construing any new acts not mentioned in the statute as treason, could not be punished as treason ; and it appeared that in con sequence several statutes were subsequently passed, ex tending the construction of treason so as to embrace those acts which the statute of Edward 111. did not recognise. He did not stand there to contend that these men were not guilty of a very grievous offence, an offence for which the law had provided, and for which they could and might be punished, but he did stand before them t• contend that the prisoner at the bar ought not to have been indicted for high treason—that the crime proved against him did not, by the express terms of the act under which he was in. I 1 / r_ THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY, JANUARY 13, 1840. dieted, amoent to high treason—and, that no etrained con' struction put upon that statute by Judges in former and more corrupt and servile times, ought to be permitted to prevail in the face of the plain and simple words of the statute of Edw. 111. That the law was competent to inflict adequate punishment fur any crime of which these men might have been guilty was evident from the fact that many of those persons, some of whose cases he should hereafter have to defend; were indicted for the minor crime of riot and conspiracy; Althoitgh none of the Bete of those priioners arnoanteal to high treason, there was no good legal reason why they should not have been indicted for treason also, since if Zephaniah Williams was guilty of treason every individual of the 5,d00 or 1,0,000 people who were with him were equally guilty. The Act of 25th Edward the Third had been called a blessed Act, and the Parliament that passed it bad been called a blessed parliament. Why was it called " blessed ?" Was it because it enabled the King, by means of the law, to select a victini whom he per sonally hated, or whose property he desired ? Was it be cause it was so clear in the language, so simple in its de clarations of what was treason, that all who ran might read, and that no man of the least ordinary intelligence could fall into the crime of treason without knovving it s nor with out actually prrdieditatiti. it. L *at not pfetende , ' that, according to the words and intentions of the st,,- tute, the prisoner was guilty of high treason ; but it it contended, that, under a forced construction put on that statute by former Jedges, his acts are to be construed into a leVying of War against the Povereign, r hieh he never contemplated, and of which he never dreamed; and the Jury was called upon to pronounce the prisoner, and all those connect, d well him in that transaction, to be guilty of high trea.on —te 5 , y that all who herboured—that gave a eight's lodfeine to any one of those indtvi luals, was guilty of mispri-ton of treason. So that the Jury were called upon to declare that not only every individua, of the multitude was a traitor ; but that every father harbouring a son—every brother harbouring a brother —every brother harbouring a sister—indeed, he migh; say—Ser it seemed that the bonds of female chastity were not thoueht unstirmotiritable—that ell those individuals were guilty of treason and misprision of treason, a.md ought to suffer the death of traitors with all its hang ings, beheadings. quarterings, and all its horrible conse quences. Was it not frigh•ful to contemplate that ie l i time , like the present, such rt law -,a law of con struction and not statute law, should be setight to f brought iuto operation in times when treisoo would nil be committed or contemplated, for none but a madma would now venture to raise his hand against the life the Sovereign i however, that madman could not, by our present laws, be punished With death Surely then it was riot in these times that men clearly punishable by the law for the offence which they actually did commit—that of s . . . great and serious riot—should be put on trial for their lives under the law of high treason. Was it neces sary—ae as there anything in the aspect of the times even to make it necessary that the Attorneys General should pro secute these wretched men, who had only been guilty of acts of riot, for treason ? Look to the hardship of the situation in which they were placed Look at the addi tional difficulties by which these men were surrounded by the form and shape of the prosecution. The question of treason or no treason depended upon the intent and de sign of the prisoner, In asseriibling atid Matching with these multitudes. But how could he call witnesses to speak to his intentions and designs? What would be the effect of his calling witnesses, who could give the clearest evidence that his designs were peaceable. Why, that these very witnesses would themselves prove that that they were liable to stand in the same predicament as the prisoner, and might, and in all probability would, be transferred from the witness-box to the dock, there to stand a trial for their own lives, What would be the outcry against such witnesses from the parties who directed the progress of this proseetitiorl—lle did net mean his Learned Friends, but from those parties who resided in the neigh bourhood of Newport ? They would instantly exclaim, What 1 do you come here to vindidate the Chartists—to prove that their objects were not destruction of law and order—that they did not intend to levy war against the Queen—that they ought not to be found guilty of high treason, and lie hanged, drawn, and quartered—why, you yourself are one of them, and you shall share the fate of him whom you came to exculpate I" Such was the fear which was hung over the heads of the witnesses ; and though he had witnesses on his brief who could prove the designs of the prisoner, and that those designs were not treasonable—witnesses who, at the peril of their own lives, were ready to put themselves into that box and give their evidence—how could he—how dare he as an advocate called on to give his advice, permit men to pla-e themselves in a position fraught with so much danger ? He had no power, to make a defence. The prosecutors had ample power and means, on the other hand, to watch over their case. They could pardon and promise pardon to as many as they pleased, and thus had they got up their case. The Jury would know well that when a man had been kept in prison for ten days or a fortnight on a charge affecting his life, his mind, agitated and alarmed by the mi,ery of his condition —examined as to what evidence he can give against par ticular persons—the species of evidence sought, perhaps suggested to him—it was far from unlikely that, with a view to save his own life, he would, under the im pression of fear, rather invent a story than run the fearful risk of standing himself at that bar. He did not know what the character of the humbler classes in these districts was, but this he knew, that self preservation was the first law of nature ; nor was it much to be wondered at if, under the influence of the exceeding fear, it should be increased even to its most revolting form, and that the evidence on which, and on which alone, the alleged treason of the prisoner Zephaniah Williams depended, even under the strained construction of the law, ought to be looked at with the strongest doubts of its truth, he would show to them when he came to comment on that part of the evidence. He was now about to draw their attention to a series of cases on which he felt it his duty to comment, in order to show how, since the statute of Edward 111., the law of treason had been extended in bad times—how in better times it had been ameliorated, till it was gradually restored to its original position in Edward the Third's time, leaving unfortunately behind it those questions of construction alone which derogated from its original purity. To show how extravagant and monstrous were these invasions upon the law of high treason as laid down by the statute of Edward 111.. he need scarcely do more, without troubling the Jury with all the successive additions by different Parliaments, than refer ,to a statute of Henry IV., which provided that any person who should take any steps to procure the repeal or the revisal of any of the statutes (re specting treason) herein-mentioned, should suffer death as a traitor himself. But laws like these were found to be come inoperative from their very extravagance and severity. and Richard 11., within two years after he procured that severe statute which extended the punishment of treason, was himself murdered by traitors. The Learned Coun sel then proceeded to call the attention of their Lordships and the Judges to the cases cited in a book published by a very able and scientific lawyer, Mr. Luder. It was not because there was temporary excitement against these men in the disturbed districts—i was not because that excite ment was fostered most unseemingly from the pulpit—i, was not because a part of the press called upon the Go vernment to prosecute these men for the highest crime known to the law—it was not for any r,f these reasons that the Government were justified in prosecuting these prisoners in that shape. When the formidable riots took place at Bristol, at Nottingham, and at Maidstone, where lives where lost, did the Attorney-General think of prose cuting the actors for high treason? No, they were indicted for the lesser offences, as these individuals, now the object of the Special Commission, ought also to have been. The case in which the doctrine of con structive treason was founded, was that of Damaree and Purchase, in the reign of Queen Anne The Chiet Justice in that case was neither unimpeachable nor unim peached in his character, and was, indeed, himself tried afterwards for very high misdemeanours. That Chief Justice was previously Attorney-General, and prosecuted Dr. Sacheverell with a rigour and zeal—l cannot say un paralleled—and having been the Attorney-General, wh. prosecuted Sacheverell, was not very likely as Chief Jus tree to show any great favour to two men of his party. The case of Damaree and Purchase was decided upon various cases which had preceded it, and if those had no thing of soundness, or reason, or honesty, or justice in them, neither the Jury nor their Lordships would have much respect for them. The Chief Justice of that day nad carried the construction of treason farther than it had ever been carried before, and in fact the encroachment they made upon the liberty of the subject was a greater high treason than any of the parties accused were guilty of. The Judges differed from each other. Those who did not decide accordine to the pleasure of the King were dismissed. Others acquiesced, and the unfortunate persons brought before them suffered the penalties of treason. It was hor rible to think of, but their Lordships, who now sat on the bench. know it to be true. It was decided in the case of Damaree, that a mob assembling, and going together for particular purposes. committed treason, although they were not armed. All former cases had required something of a military or martial array. but in that case it was decider: that mere numbers furnished fury and force, and that i, was not necessary they should be armed. The Jury must feel that to carry constructive treason to that extent would include every Reform meeting in this country ; and, it this prosecution should succeed, he asked would any man be ,afe who should as•oeiate with others on either side in po litics for the purpose of obtaining an alteration of the law ? —for, if the jury proceeded on the prece tent of Daman, and Purchase, arms were not necessary. The earliest cast which be found as a decision of th:: Judges, was without date. In that case it was held by the Judges that an insurrection for the enhancing of salary and wages was levying war against the King, and the authority he bad cited, after urging various objections to the grounds of that decision,went on to show that all laws were the King's laws, and founded upon the con stitution of the country, but arising from the source of the Crown itself, and that the cases were decided by the ser vants of the King simply to keep up his rights and privi leges. The next case was connected with the King's right to expel strangers. If there were Italians, Flemings, or other foreigners in the kingdom, th King had a right to order them, by proclamation, to depart the realm. No subjoct possessed this right, and it was decided by the Judges, that if any assumed it that was a levying of war. Now, certainly, i might be contrary to the statute under which the King claimed the right, and which he got his creatures to assist him in enforcing, but it never was trea son under the statute of Edward 111. This case occurred on Mayday, 1518, when a few unruly apprentices resistel an Alderman, and proceeded to break open prisons, where some persons who had ill-treated foreigners were confined. They also attacked houses, burning and rifling them; and, although the Lieutenant of the Tower dischar g ed his g uns upon them, the tumult was not quelled until three o'clock in the morning, after they had wreaked their vengeance upon all who were obnoxious to then. The Judges all proceeded to the house of Sir John Finew, the Chief Jus tice, and after a consultation as to what was to be done on the trial, they agreed to find the parties guilty of treason, under a particular statute. Was it not monstrous that the case of to-day should proceed upon Acts passed for the temporary purposes of the Crown; and yet upon them it addreidpsrs to the oceed,fo r the L earne d Chief Justice had , in his d Jury, in a similar case, read from Foster these very cases, alth oug h h e did not enter into them minutely, he mentioned every one of them, and that showed that their case must stand or fall as regarde,l law and justice; and the estimation of an enlightened world, according to the prinelples upon which those cases proceeded. Chief Justice Finnean in the case to which he had last referred, said that all who were engaged in the insurrection were guilty of high treason—even those who had not committed robbery, because the insurrection was against the regal honour of the King. Here was a new privilege asserted far the King —a new offence eteated, unknown to the Statute of Edward, unknown to the hietdry of the country; to ties law of treason, and to justice, establishing the regal honour of the King, de t,rmlnlng it to be high treason to do anything which might affect him. Chief_Justice Tindal—la that Burton's case? Mr Thorrias—:Ne, lily Lord, the case of the apprentices Chief Justice Tindal—The: first in order of time was Dammaree's, the second Burton's, the thifd Bensted's. Mr. Thomas expressed the pleasure and gratitude he felt at these proofs that he was honoured with the atten tion of their Lordships as well as of the Jury. Hie in structions had been received a" late that he had not becn able to do justice to the case, but lie had devoted a great deal of study to the law of constructive treason, and he was endeavouring, for the benefit of himself and his ceun rry, t o lay n e t,- t!,e jury the conclusions o which he had -lime upon it, and vettiel he hoped in God would be esta dished by the law of the eeittotry. The learned gentleman then read passages from Luder, and continued—ln refe rence to the cases he had read and referred to, that Laud, !ike all others who promoted prosecutions on constructive treason, shortly afterwards met the fate of him the accusation saainst whorti he promoted, and it was to be found in the volumes of the State Tr ialg, that they who promoted such arosecu, ioes .eere rec .rded as led to the scaffold in p i g e s which related tee fate of those whom they accused. This Laud who assisted in promoting and making out, the constructive treason against Bensted shortly afterwards iollowed him to the block. There was now no Pretender. There was no intention on the part of his client to levy an army and put himself upon the throne ; and was it not eontemptible, in this as in other cases, to charge him with levying war" as it was meant by the statute ? Did it Tit strike the Jury that such constructions were monstrous n this age el tntelligence, and this was not a case in a'nich the last puniahrtient of the law should be inflicted. fr struek him 'hat the wars of Hd'spur, and those of the louse of York and Lancaster were the wars, regular wars, which alone came under the statute of Edward 111., arid -h a t this was th e intention of the Legislature in enactin g and that such rneating! as that in which the p r i soner had been engaged were widely distinguished from those s'nich came under the clause of t . levying war." So it tied been held by Sir Matthew Hale, in Messinger's seise, against eleven other judges, and who had the in dependence to maintain it, although stroogly worked upon to the contrary by the Crown. Severe punishments did not operate upon the terror of mankind, and where the !aims were mercifully administered Juries would convict, and the sympathy of the world w auld accompany the pitmen- ment; therefore he abhorred the principle of hal ling 'up lien as bugbears who were not guilty of high crimes wi th '.which they were charged, although guilty of minor offences. Those cases he had brought before them and the Court to direct the attention of their Lordships e specially to them, with the hope that something might be done to regulate and define this law. Lords Mansfield and Tenterden and Mr. Justice Buller, had in cases where they presided drawn to themselves the power of bringing matter within the statute which ought not to be so. This was a sad thing, and he would now beg to draw the attention of the Court to .he character of the Judges by whom the law was ad. ,ninistered in the old time, and he would quote from t writer who, like himself, held in high estima ,ion the Judges who now administered the law of the land. The Learned Gentleman again quoted from Luder. The jury would perceive that the conduct of the Judges was such in those days that, worked upon by the Crown, the life of no man was safe Fortunately, however, it had been since decided that, although words spoken were not treason, yet written articles could be brought within the statutes enacted in reference to that crime, and he could now read a passage from an eminent writer (Ser geant Talfourd), who was not far from him, which, if he had written in the reign of Henry VIII., would have brought him to the block or the scaffold, although the learned gentleman had no more treason in his heart than he (Mr. Thomas) or any of the gentlemen of the Jury. In a noble production, written by his learned friend, the fol lowing thoroughly Republican passage occurred : Never more Let the great interest of the state depend Upon the thousand chances that may sway A piece of human frailty Swea- to me That you will seek hereafter in yourselves • The means of soreeeign rule : our narrow space, So happy in its confines,—so compact— Needs not the magic of a single name, Which wider regions may require to draw Their interests into one ; but circled thus, Like a bless'd family, by simple laws May tenderly be governed , " If that and other passages had been written when the judges to whom he had referred administered the law, his Learned Friend would have suffered tason the scaffold, and his entrails would have been torn out and cast in his face, unless the Sovereign spared him, as certainly as Sydney or Russell, the ancestor of one of the promoters of this prosecution, who was punished by death because he was merely present when another person uttered treasonable expressions, whilst Sydney was similarly punished because his " Dissertation on Government" was found in his house. It was true that the sentence of Russell was re versed after his death, but this of course could only benefit his family. The Learned Gentleman then referred to Lord Mansfield's charge in the case of Lord George Gordon, which stated the circumstances of the case— the riotous assemblage of 40,000 men, who had burned a number of houses in London arid four of the public gaols, and yet Lord George Gordon, who was their adviser, was acquitted of the charge of high treason, but was punished, together with many others who were punished for riot. It was not, therefore, because some acts of violence had been committed, that they con stituted treason. In the case of Horne Tooke and Hardy, the circumstances were much worse than in the present case, and they were tried in times of great anxiety ; but these trials for constructive treason failed, and the rights of the people were established by having secured to them the rights of meeting, and by the putting down of the spirit of persecution by means of constructive treason. The Learned Gentleman then referred to the cases of Brandreth and Thistlewood, which was the last case of high treason tried in this country, and thus twenty years has elapsed since the last trial for treason, and he bad hoped that he would never have heard of another, for he did not believe that such prosecutions were necessary while the Crown was secure, and his Learned Friends themselves had declared that any attempt upon the Crown was int.- possible and completely absurd, and while they say that t'sis is too ridiculous, yet they ask you to fix all the guilt o f every one of the parties upon my client. The sta tute which he (the Learned Gentleman) considered he should have bean indicted under, and which had directly provided against the. offence he had committed, was the 6th George 1., cap. 2, welch enacted that such riots as the prisoner had been engaged in should be punished as felons without the least benefit of clergy. Under that Act the prisoner should have been indicted, and the Jury should bear in mind that although a man might be found not guilty of one offence, yet he could be prosecuted for ano ther. In this case there was too much doubt whether the prisoner intended to levy war in the meaning of the Act; and unless the Jury could bring their minds to the clear determination that there could be no doubt that the object o f Zephaniah Williams was to depose the Queen and to pnt clown all laws—unless they came to that conviction, it was impossible they could find him guilty. Before he pro aeeded to call the attention of the jury to the evidence which had been produced, he would refer to the nature of the meetings which the prisoner had been accused of at tending ; he could show that such meetings had been held from the time of William the Conqueror down to the pre sent ; and such meetings for the redress of grievances, the alteration of the laws, or to petition the Legislature, were legal, and were the birthright of Englishmen; and if they were not so, what would become of the possibility of an amelioration of the laws? Now the rules and principles upon which the associations with which the prisoner was connected were to procure the Vote by Ballot, and he ( Mr. Thomas) would like to know how many of those who instituted this prosecution were opposed to the Ballot—why the Ballot had been adopted as the best means of selecting a Jury in those cases, and there were many Members of Parliament, some of whom he believed were present, who were of opinion that the Vote by Ballot should be instituted; but if the Jury or oth ors were not of that opinion, was a man, because he thought otherwise, to be hunted to death by a vindictive prosecution. Then, with regard to Annual Parliaments, it had been the law that Annual Parliaments should be held down to the reign of William 111., and that they had been made septei•nial w a s a blot upon the statutes nook ; but the seeking for Annual Parliaments was but desiring to bring back the old law. He would challenge the Ssilicitor-Generat to fiad to instance where any Charter had been established btu by force, or by anoth er mo d e o f procee ding, the refusal of th e supplies, the aid s t o the King. He would defy the Learned y Gentleman to s h ow any one i n stance of a Ch art e r esta. Wished which was not wrung f r om the fears ofthe soverei g n, and maint a i ne d at t h e point of the sword. He next referred the Jury to the speech of Lord John Russell itt the House of Commons, where he said that Noble Lard declared, that he would have been dig o sed„ if te• had be en an Irish Catholic, and, considering the manner in which the Orange men conducted themselves, to become a member of the Catholic Association. Was it, he then said, to be won dered at, when such an opinion was pronounced by the head of the Governm en t that men i n the same condition of life that th e prisoner 'was, and who was a Ckarti t, should also by suc h unions an d suc h associations seek to attain his obj ec t. By the Reform Bill some advanta g es had been obt a i ne d ; but institution s which re q uired im_ provement w ou ld o b tain ame li ora tion as peace continued, the arts Le trish e d, and science a dvanced. How was Reform to be stopped ? W as it by t h e plan devised by Periander, who, when ask e d h ow was t h e pride of the people to be humbled, took a person into his garden, and lopped off the heads from the fairest flowers. Was this the way popular lead era were to be disposed of? or was thi s the mode in which the desire for freed om was to b e put an end to? No; for when the spark w as tro dd en u p o n, it would fly in the face of him who was endeavouring to put it out, or, as Bacon said, it would be like shutting the gates of a field to pre vent the crows from flying abroad. They could not stop the progress of Reforms The Attorney General could not stop it. He declared, before them, that there was not a principle laid down in the Charter that he did not ap. prove of ; and he would rattier return to the humble situa tion from which he was raised, tha n conceal o ne single opinion of his, mind. H e drew his opinions from reading, and from observati ons an d h e had ever held himself as he meant to do, free from all parties. He was surprised to find, upon lookin g to t h e principles of the Chartists, that they were his own. He found the principles of the Charter advocated by the ablest men amongst the living and the dead—by the venerable Earl Grey, and by Lord Erskine, the noble advocate of popular rights against the doctrine of constructive treason, What did the Chartists here ? that which he himself had seen thousands marched d own to Wititehall—if they had passed I done, in the case of th e R e form Bill, where hundreds and 1 the Horse Guards and the soldiers attacked them, as they bad done the unarmed population at Manchester, or that, apprehensive of the repetition of such an outrage, they had come with antis, would that be called high treason ? It might be-an offence to take the arms; but then would it be, as it was made here, high treason ? Now such meet ings and processions were, he knew of his own knowledge, encouraged by Ministers themselves, and they met at the dead hour of the night those who at the time of the Re form Bill led on the processions. And yet were Ministers who did this now to pick out men, and to act harshly towards them ? If the Attorney-General succeeded now In putting down public opinion, he would do no good by it—that which was suppressed locally would spread uni venally, Why should the prisoner be punished for doing that in which others had set men the example? He would on this point call their attention to the great Reform meeting, held at Birmingham, at the time that Marshal Soult was in this country. Over that meeting presided his kind and excellent friend, Mr. Attwood, and a part was taken in it by several mem bers of Parliament. Amongst other such things said by Mr. Attwood was this, that they who met there "wanted a change of Government." The prisoner at the bar was not proved to have said anything like that—on the contrary, he was proved to have said to all that they should conduct themselves peaceably. And yet, because violence arose out of the conduct of that part of the meeting with which he was not connected, he was now to be punished as a traitor. Mobs were not treated as traitors, but pu nished by martial law ; or if death ensued, they were pu nished as being guilty of a felony. He trusted that the English people would arrest the spirit of treason, prose cution, and so far just we think the law, that men might only be punished for the crimes which they actually did commit. Mr. Attwood called for " a total and absolute change." Williams did no such thing, and he was under prosecution as a traitor. Mr. Attwood spoke of a pres sure from without,' and gentle compulsions' upon the rulers of the State.' According to the present doctrine established at tbose trials, every one who took part in the meeting at which this was stated, would be liable to be tried for high treason. They had heard the Solicitor General in this case. The Solicitor-General was the giant of the law, but it was tyrannous in him to use his powers like a giant. It was lamentable to think that where there was the power to show on the part of the Crown a further intention on the part of the prisoner, and that where evidence might be produced that could clear the prisoner, that it should be withheld. This he believed could be done here, and yet it was not done. Mr. A. called on the meeting in Birmingham, by the next Christmas-day, to assemble, not by thousands, but in two millions. Here the very utmost sworn to be collected together was MOM Why did not the Attor ney-General prosecute Mr. Attwood? Why allow great meetings to go on, because they were useful to the Go vernment, and yet punish others as traitorous, because the Ministry did not like them? Mr. Attwood said—and so did Zephiniah Williams—that there was to be no blood shed.; while Mr. Attwood added, that if their enemies wished for bloodshed, the consequences would be on their own heads, and Zephaniah Williams gave expression to no such sentiment. The Learned Gentleman proceeded to read from Mr. Attwood's speech a recommendation to the people to demand and insist upon further reforms of the Hause Of o'Comm ons, and in particular Universal Suffrage ; and if t hey did not succeed in their application by petition, to resort to other means. That they should have a sacred week, during which not a ploughshare should be thrown over the surface of the earth, and not a stroke of work done. He did not approve of these opinions or re commendations ; but when such principles were avowed by Members of the House of Commons, it was bard that a poor little publican in the hills should be indicted for high treason, for entertaining opinions and principles which had been supported by Earl Grey, Lord Erskine, and some of the greatest men of the day. Such were the principles of the Chartists. No bloodshed ; but if a set of bad fellows struck out from the mob, and committed an unpardonable riot, for which they might be punished, perhaps, with death, he asked the Jury net to strain the Act, which says there must be a levying of war against the Queen within her realm. It was a bad law, made in bad times, by bad Minis ters, for party purposes, which alone created the construc tion that had been put upon the 25th of Edward - 111. He had not been aware until the day before yes terday that the prisoner was to be tried for high treason, and having received his instructions so late, he was exceedingly afraid—very much afraid—that he should not be able to do justice to the case as regarded the evidence. But here he had a safeguard, and a strong one ; for his Lordship, who had taken down every word of the evidence with a mind capable and willing and disposed and determined not to let anything that was just or righteous 'loiter& the prisoner escape the information of the Jury, would assist their minds in coming to a just conclusion. He did not ask for a charitable or a favourable view. He thought if he had a scientific man coolly and calmly sitting down with him, he could prove to demonstration the jus tice of his client's case, as easily as he could solve a pro blem. But he trusted there was enough in his case not to require so much as that. The Learned Counsel then proceeded to comment upon the evidence of Bowen, which he contended showed that the prisoner had no other than peaceable intentions. A Juror here begged to ask a question : Had not the witness said something about .a statement as to the num bers of the soldiers in Wales, and the eff.tct which the ap pearance of the Chartists would have upon them? Mr. Justice Williams referred to his notes, and read the statement of the witness—that Zephaniah Williams had stated the number of soldiers in Wales, and said that if they came out they would be as nothing, if the Chart ists would unite all in one body. Mr. Thomas thanked the Juror for the interruption, and admitted that the whole of the witness's evidence should be taken together, in which view it presented nothing but peaceable intentions and recommendations on his part. The Jury must recollect the text of Scripture which said, " The fool had said in his heart there is no God." If this passage were divided, and only the latter part taken, " there is no God," i s sense would be entirely distorted and perverted. In re marking upon- the evidence of a witness with respect to lodges and meetings, Mr. Thomas said that he did not mean to deny that there had been lodges and meetings of men—ay, and of women too, and if the Jury convicted these men, they would have a band of those Welsh Amazons coming before another Jury, at a future special commission, to receive verdicts gird judg ment for treason; for the women were as much Chartists as the men. The Learned Counsel then proceeded to remark upon the absurdity of supposing that the stop page of the mail was to be a tignal for an: insurrec tion at Birmingham and in the north, when the mail from Newport merely went to Bristol, and the mail coach going to Birmingham wont from Bristol only, and would have reached Birmingham in due course, whe ther the Newport mail had arrived or not. Had there been any such conspiracy or intention, could it not easily have been proved ? Could any man entertain a doubt that the Crown had made the strictest inquiry, and bad dis covered no trace of it? What difficulty would there have been in discovering it? Was not Birmingham watched? Would not some indications of a conspiracy so horrible have been traced ? And was a man to be crushed—was the life of the prisoner at the bar to be sacrificed, upon such an impossible and unsupported statement as this ? How was the charge supported—where was the evidence of an organised conspiracy? What evidence had they but a bit here, and a scrap there—but where was the proof of that charge in the indictment, of a conspiracy for a general rising in the country, of men poor, unarmed, with not money to procure ammunition or provisions ? It was to be found no where—it was impossible that it could have been contemplated. Was there, for that was the real question for the Jury to decide, any proof of any intention and d es i gn on t h e part of the . prisoner (accompanied by any overt acts to carry it into effect) to dethrone the Sovereign or overturn the Constitution. Was not their design to show their numbers, with a view of exhibiting their moral force, and thus endeavouring to carry out their views of improv ing the Constitution? If the ten thousand men who came into Newport had come with any intention of taking Newport, would they have been diverted from their at tempt by thirty soldiers. The fact of their retiring im mediately the soldiers showed themselves and . opened the fire, proves that such was not their object. But it was said, their intention was to arrive at Newport in the night, and surprise the town. Why, if that were so, that also proved that they never contemplated fighting the soldiers; and that the unfortunate event of that day was solely attri butable to the heat of the moment, and the re fusal to surrender the Chartist prisoners in the Westgate. For that riot they might be punished, though most, if not all, of those immediately connected with the affray had al ready paid the forfeit of their lives. He hid the deepest respect for the trial by Jury, and the highest veneration for the judicial bench as it was now constituted. He left, therefore. the case in their hands with perfect confidence as to their impartiality. He should call but two or three witnesses ; and he entreated them to consider the effect of a verdict of guilty in such a case as the present, and not lightly to give up those sacred liberties which were ob tained by our ancestors with so much d ifficulty; but to hind them down unimpaired to a posterity which would honour them for their justice. Mr. Thomas spoke for seven hours. EVIDENCE FOR THE DEFENCE. The evidence for the prisoner was then commenced, Thomas Lewis, a miner, deposed to the repeated ad monitions by Lphaniah Williams to keep the peace, and to his general peaceable character. Daniel Lewis, shopkeeper, of Abersychar., deposed to acts of embezzlement on the part of the witness for the Crown (Thomas Saunders), formerly in his employ, whom he swore he would not believe on his oath. Richard F, Marsden, linen-draper, of Brynmaner, also formerly an employer of Saunders, could not say whether or not he would believe him on his oath. Saunders did not dine with him on Sunday, November 3. Mr. Thomas—The witness, launders, swore he did, in his deposition. UNUSUAL CASE OP POISONING.--On Friday afternoon an inquest, adjourned from the 2d inst., was held before Mr. Wakley, M.P., at the King William the Fourth, Wilmington-square, on the bodies of Han nah Wilson, aged four, and Caroline, her sister aged six. On both occasions it was proved that. the children drank, in the absence of their parents, on the 29th ult., out of a bottle, a portion of goulard water, or solution of acetate of lead, and that they died on the 31st. The medical gentlemen who were examined, though they thought the solution caused the death of the children, would not speak positively, as there was no re corded instance of children I , -wing been poisoned by a solution of the above sort. To enable them to give an opinion, and aiso to further medical science, a post mor ten: examination was ordered, which was performed by Dr. Golding Bird, who stated that it was his opinion, from the appearances observed both before and after death, that the children died from having drunk a certain portion of solution of sugar of lead. Verdict—Acci dentally poisoned. The Marquis of Bute returned to Campden Hill, on Wednesday last, from Cardiff Castle, Glamorganshirei POLIC N 'l' E LIAGENCE. MARLBORoUGH STIME7 Reginald T. Cocks. Esq., of ilarley-stre , .st. t,rmt ht Mr. Carpenter, part proprietor An d driver Of tiie Ag , t Brighton coach, before Mr. DYER, for using abusive lan guage to him, and detaining a portmanteau. Mr. Cocks said he paid his fare in Brighton, and came to London on Thursday by the defendant's coach. When at the Bull and Mouth, Regent-circus, while getting his luggage to gether, he was interrupted by the defendant askit g him for the fare. Complainant mentioned that he had paid it, but the defendant produced the way-bill, and replied he had no account of the payment. and he must detain the lug gage for the amount, Complainant tendered his card, but the defendant would not receive it, and proceeded to lay hold of complainant's portmanteau; upon which comolainant seized the defendant by the collar to prevent him from going away with his property. A scuffle - ensued, and the coachman's hat fell off. Complainant was ultimately obliged to go on with the coach to Albemarle-street, where he again, without success, applied for his luggage. When the coach stopped to put down a passenger in George.: street, Hanover-square, complainant made a third appeal to the defendant, and offered to leave, by way of security, his hat case and umbrella. The dofc udant replied he was " no gentleman, he never had a hat worth sixpence, and he would have nothing to do with such a vagabond." Com plainant was in the end obliged to relinquish his portman teau, which was at the present time at the booking-office. Mr. Lewis cross-examined the complainant ; and on obtaining an admission from him that he laid hold of the defendant's collar, asked Me. Dyer if ho thought it neces sary to carry the case further now an assault had been ac k now I..dged ? Mr. DYER replied he was of opinion that the case ought to go on. Two witnesses were called on the part of the defendant, one a waiter at the Clarendon, and the other a conductor to a Richmond omnibus. The first said he saw the com plainant lay hold roughly of the defendant, but he did not hear any improper expressions from either party. The conductor said he heard Mr. Cocks call Mr. Carpenter a vagabond, and saw him commit on Mr. Carpenter the most brutal assault that had ever been witnessed. Mr. DYER said the last witness, the conductor, had ma terially damaged the case, for he had asserted what the other witness had negatived, and, had, in addition, de scribed the assault as one of the " most brutal" kind, whereas the whole evidence clearly proved that such a description of the matter was only to he ,treated with laughter. As to the question of the payment of 'thee fare, ha would lea'e that out of consideration. With respeCt to, the detention of the luggage, he thought so much inconve nience would arise to passengers if this proceeding were adopted without due caution, that he did not think a coachman was justified in resorting to such a course. He would not enter into the question of how far a person was . justified in laying forcible hands upon his own property ; but there could be no question that a breach of the peace would most likely ensue if any attempt were mildest() take such property out of the owner's hands. It was improper on the part of the defendant to apply the offensive epithets which he did to the complainant, and as he saw no reason to doubt the accuracy of the complainant's statement, he should consider the case proved, and inflict, in conse quence' a fine of 40s. Mr. Cocks said he would not press the matter farther if the defendant would make an apology. This the defendant declined. The second charge of detaining the luggage could not be entertained, as the defendant claimed to have a lien on it for the fare. Mr. Lewis said he had a letter from Brighton, which stated that the fare was not paid. Mr. Cocks said he wouid pay the fare a second time, under protest, in order to get his portmanteau. ' A notice of appeal against the fine was given. UNION-HALL. CHARGB OF SHOPLIFTIN(7I.—karyAnn Williams and Mary Blundell, two dashingly-dressed married women,, were brought before Mr. Traill, charged with shop. lifting. James Miles, an assistant in the shop of Messrs. White and Greenwell, Blackfriars-road, linen-drapers, stated that, on the preceding afternoon, the '.wo prisoners came into the shop together, and requested to be shown patterns of lace and ribbon. Witness placed a drawer containing lace on the counter for their inspection, and, having ex amined the article, Blundell expressed a desire to look at some of . a different quality, and when ho was'ab out to ta k e the drawer away from before .them, she desired him to leave it where it was, while he turned to fetch the other laee. At this moment witness saw Williams cautiously take out a card of lace and pass it under her shawl ; but at that time he did not say anything on the subject. He then brought another drawer of lace, and put it before them, and also a quantity of ribbon, on examining which, they purchased a few yards of each, and were about leaving the shop, when the witness intimated his sus picions to one of the partners, who went up to the pri soners and requested them to step intothe counting-house. The prisoners, without hesitation, went there, and were then informed that they had been seen purloining lace, and that they must submit to be searched before they were suf fered to quit the premises. They both assumed to be highly indignant that suspicion should attach tolhem, say ing that they were rt,spectable married women, and not such persons as they were suspected. A female assistant was then called into the room for the purpose of examining the prisoners, who at this time were seated on chairs close together. William rose off the chair, in order to throw open her cloak, when the witness Miles saw three cards of lace, containing 43 yards, slip down between her cloak and gown, and fall at the feet of the chair on which she had been sitting. Miles then told Blundell that be suspected she had stolen some ribbons, and had no sooner said the words than he saw her drop a roll of scarlet rib bon on the floor at her feet. On this discovery they both begged forgiveness, and requested to be permitted to go, saying that they would pay for all, as they had money ; and adding that they were ignorant how the articles came into their possession. A constable was sent for, and they were given in charge. _ _ Sergeant dements, of the L division, stated that, on examining Williams, he found 141. uis. 6d. in money, and on Blundell nearly 31. At the station-house they both said that they were married women, but refused to g i ve their addresses, saying th a t th e y did no t wish to reflect dis grace on their families ; and added, that they sh ou ld not send to inform their friends o f their situation. The prisoners, who said nothing in answer to the charge, were committed. Mr. Price, the solicitor who attended on behalf of the prisoners, made an application for the restoration of the money found in their possession, ln order to enable them to pay the expenses of their defence. The MAGISTRATE, however, refused to make any order on the subject, saying that the money was in the hands of the police, and that, upon application to the Judge, pro bably he might order it to be given up. W ORSHIP-STREET. Stowell, the common informer, has been laying a great number of informations against the shopkeepers of this district for hanging goods outside their doors, and has been causing the greatest annoyance to the respectable in habitants by the troublr. he thus entails upon. them. One of the informations was against a green grocer for hanging one head of celery over his door. The Magistrate asked the inarmer how he proved any obstruction ?—He answered, " A cos it flopped agin my face." Mr. BROVOHTON said it was the most trumpery case ever brought before him, and fined the defendant , one shilling, without costs. . . .._ _ A great number of other cases were then proceeded with, and small fines imposed. THE NARRATIVE OF THE VOYAGES ROUND THR WORLD OF H. M. S. ADVENTURE AND BEAGLE.—We are glad to observe, that public atten tion has been directed to the above highly valuable and important work, by a copious article in the Quarterly Review, in which is given a most delightful summary of the results of these interesting voyages, which occupied the long space of ten years, as detailed by Captains King and Fitzroy, and of Mr. Darwin's Researches into the Natural History and Geology of the various countries visited by the expedition. After pointing out the peculiarities and merits of the several volumes of which the work is composed, the Reviewer ends with the following words :—" Here we close an imperfect notice of one of the most interesting narratives of voyarr ing that it has fallen to our lot to take up, and must always occupy a distinguished snneo in tlic- history of scientific navigation." RUSSIA AND Curt VA.—A St. Peteisburg letter announces the receipt of intelligence from Orenburg, dated the Bth ult., that the army sent against the Khnn of Chiva had made already four days' march through the sandy plains of the Circassian.; without, any iin'pedirtieut: Connected with this is the following extract of a letter from Odessa, dated the 25th ult., quoted by the France —" A conrier, .who arrived yesterday from. Orenburg; brings us news that the Kergisi - Kajosks; a 'wanderiog but warlike people, tributary to Russia, have offered to join the expedition against Chiva with 10,000 men, well armed and mounted, and living at their own charge, leaving all remuneration, till the end of the campaign, and then to be rewarded according to the appreciation of their services by the Russian Government. They will form most valuable auxiliaries, as they are brave and active, are acquainted with the language and man ners of the people of Chive, and habituated to the cli mate and the peculiar fatigues of war in that country. They have also proposed that their movem*nts shall be directed 'by Russian officers. The Emperor has ac cepted their tender, and the Minister of War is about to send officers to the tribe." A letter from Constan tinople, in the Augsburg Gazette, states that the Rus sian expedition against Chiva has produced a great sen sation in that capital. ELECTRICITY.—M. Rousseau proposes to ascer tain the purity of certain substances, and to detect any adulterations in them, by measuring their conducting power for electricity. Some years ago be described a simple apparatus by mea ns o f w hi c h t h e purity of olive oil might be tested on simil ar principles. He now s t ates that by these means any adulterations in chocolate or coffee may be readily detected ; he finds that pure cho colate is a non-conductor or insulator of electricity, but that in proportion to the quantity of farina or fecular matter with which it is adulterated, the more easily does it conduct electricity ; and in the same way he states that coffee is an insulator, whilst chicory, with which it is often mixed, is an excellent conductor, and hence the presence of only a small quantity of that substance is easily detected in coffee by its increased conducting power. M. Rousseau also considers that this test may be applied with advantage to the examination of phar maceutical extracts and preparations, because they very much differ in conducting power, and therefore any mixture or adulteration will be readily discovered.— Atheneum. EVENING EDITION. A VAL IN 17E LLIGENCJE (Prow the Han, vpshire 'Telegraph.) l'oaTsstount, JAN. l2. .—Orders have been received to expedite the equipment t!f . the Blenheim, 72, :and Andromache, 28, .both tit ting to proceed to the East Indies, whither the Blonde: is also destined, as well as, it is understood, the Pique. The Blenheim and Blonde will take out stores to Trim! omalee. The latter will go out of harbour on the 20th it The Revenge, 7S, Captai was in he Tagus, an the 24t immediate departure for the 'n Hon. W. Waldegraie, h ult., kept stored, &c., for Mediterranean, if suddenly ordered The Wanderer, 16, Commander ; the Hon. Joseph Denman. arrivcd on Tuesday, from Sheerness, and Riled tit: afternoon for the Cape of Good Hope. B►y the last accounts from Malta (Dec. 2.1') we learn that the British fleet continued at Vourla on. the 11th. The Minden, 72, Captain Sharpe, sailed on the 14th, ler Tarragona, to receive on board the'crew of the Tri bune, and then proceed _to England. The Scorpion sailed the same slay for Gibraltar. The Herald, 26, and the Hyacinth, 16, - left Singa pore for China on the 24th September. The Cruiser, 16, left Singapore for Pena ng on the 9th September. Tlio'Creicent, Lieut. Commander M. Domellan, ar ri'ed on Sunday from. Sheerness, and will sag in a day or two to itio de Janeiro, where she will be stationed as a receiving ship. On her passage round here she carried away three of her lower shrouds. The Columbia steamer, Mr, Alex. Thompson, arrived from Woolwich on Thursday, with a detachment of marines to join the Pique, as a relief ; the previous de tachnient were accordingly landed in the afternoon. The President steam-ship, belonging to the St; George's Steam Packet Company, which left the river some days since, for Liverpool, to take in her ma tchinery, has put into Plymouth, with the loss of. her fore mast. At Spithead—Fantome, Crescent. In Harbour—Britannic, Victory, Blenheim, Excel lent, Royal G orge, Blonde, Pique, Andron.lache,. Raven cutter, Messenger steamer. Iu Bain—Madagascar, Magicienne, Victbr, In Dock—Queen, St. Vincent; Warspite, Dublin, Tweed, Maier; Pantaloon. NAVAL PAOMOTIONS AND APPVINTMENTS..-PrO-. motions—Commander—Lieut. George Palmer, from the Coast Guard. Lieutenant—John V. Williams, (1829), late Harrier. Masters—R. B. Graham, Sel cowl Master of the Princess Charlotte, to be Master of the Hazard Fulton, Acting Second Master .of Ju piter, to he Second Master. Appointments.—CoM mander S. P. .Pritchard, to the Blenheim. Lieute nants—Joseph Pearse, to the Blenheim ;. Colin'. J. Campbell, Henry G. Shute, F. A. Hellman, Charles H. Douglas, and G. C Adams (additional), to the Wellesley, to take passage in the Blenheim and Blonde; Malachi DOnnellan, to command the Crescent ; vison, to be agent for transports. Surgeon—Joshua Brooks; to the Crescent. 'Assistant-Surgeon—Dr. E. F. Cutlein,, 'to the Britannia. Master—Henry Davy-, to the Blenheim, vice Thompson. Mates—W. H. Symonds, to the Blenheim ; Samuel F. Short, to the Donegal. Second Master—D. M. Jago, to the Ore, scent. Purser—E. T. Hooper, to the ordinary at Chatham. Clerk—William Weaver, clerk in charge to the Crescent ; James M. Hobbs, purser, to be addi tional clerk to the:Britannia. THE MARKETS. COUNTRY CORN MARKETS DURING LAST WEEK I Nheat. ! 134triey ()ate, rease. Per Quarter. Morpeth Penrith Sheffield Winchester Per Phishel. Carmarthen... Swansea ----v. Per Moll. Barnardcastle Durham Richmond Stockton to S. S. to s S. to s. 65 36 28 6 68 32 38 22 34 44 5i3 .33 37 20 26 66 40 24 6 33 , 25 . 66 80 34 45 23 27 s. d. s. d. c. d. s. d. s. d. s. d. 00 9 0 0 0 40, 0 0 44 00 9 8 0 0 30 0 0 29 10 0 110 00 5 6 00 40 84 99 40 5 0 22 34 S. B. 41 - F. to 43 -.2 48 40 36 40 42 45 s. d. s, d. 00 00 56' 00 '5O 53 56 60 35 38 s. d. s. d. 00 00 00 06 00 00 00 00 146 21 0 8 0 93' 7 0 8 8 9 0 12 0 7 6 130 17 0 7 0 80'60' 8 0 10 0 13 0 8 6 160 210 70 , 901 5 0 8 0 9 e 11 0 9 0 130. 168 90 99' 60 80 76 80 00 NEWCASTLE CORN EXCHANGE...Jan. 11. Wheat, Northumberland Red. - White. 49g. 725. g 71s. 765.' Norfolk and Suffolk . his 71s 73a. 76 Berwick and Scotch 6ls. 64 .. 5...., --s. 68s. -- Foreign 6ss. 715...... 695. 765. Rye, Norfolk and Suffolk 4os 415 —4. —s. r -- oreign , 326.33s ....8 s Barley, Malting, Norfolk and Suffolk... 38s. 44s —S. —s. Grinding and Feeding 92s 345. Malt, Norfolk and Suffolk 63s 73s —s —s . Beans, Small 365. 40s —s —s •-•=— Tick - ' - 425. 44s —s —s . Pease, White 42s 435..... '...3. —a. Gray Oats, Northumberland, Potatoe...., 3os. 31s —3 3 " -- Feed - Foreign ... 30.. 315....- '' ...8 ....5.) Flour (eervack)- - WAKEFIELD co itN MARKET-Jan. 10 Wneat, Red, Norfolk anu Su tfolk ... .6, l'oB. to 675. fine 745. Lin: and Cam. - 8. 8 0S. to 665. fine 70.. --- Yorkshire -s. 50s. to 625. fine 65,. ----. VIP hate, -s 665. to 70s. fine Si.o ....---- Foreign, tied -S. Ms. to 655. fine 768. ---....----•-• White • Earley, Nortolk and Suffolk -s. -s. to 745. nne Eqs. •••• - s to 455. tine 4be. .. ......--.. Lincolnshire •••• -s. to 395. fine 425. ------ Yorkshire Wold . ---- Foreign Beans, New -- O 42s. to 465. fine 48s Oats, Potato -s. to 328. fine Sfr ---- Poland -s. -s. to 325. line :61, --- liriezland and Sinai' -s --s. to '...5. fine 30s. - Nzaline Shelling 3ss to 388. Cld. per Leas Malt Rapeseed .• --1. Os. 241. Os. 251. as. per Last. ITCH MARKETS. Wheat. Barley Aberdeen Berwick Coldstream Cupar (Fife) Dunbar 7G to 80 30 50 46 ao 48 65 48 68 60 61 65 72 35 47 62 67 60 ^4 27 to 30 20 28 24 26 26 31 26 49 35 37 30 36 23 26 24 to 27 —.• to --- 36 to 40 40 43 17 18 18 22 23 27 t. , 3 32 24 25 .30 I - - 22 26 - 40 42 140 42 48 64 - - 32 33 - Elgin Inverness Kelso ..... 32 34 33 145 48 43 25 35 41 44 'ries throughout tha country. MARKET.—Jan. 10. Oats. Pease. nh 04 4h Od 264 Od 39s Od 23s 04 I 36s Od 31. 04.91. II 12tha. KARKET.—Jan. 9 Oats. Pease. 28s (id 468 Od 25s 0d 42.1 Od 153 4d ,384_041 Kirkaldy Perth ...... 19 2:1 'l'hu ;1 of the measure va DOING roN CORN Wheat. I Barley. I Od 42s Oct Second 6O; Od 3SE. Od First Beans. 40s Od 36- Od 31s Od Third I yes Od I 34s Od Average DALKEITH CORN First Second Third Wheat Barley. 70, oe 40s 6d 52s Od 3,, Od 43s Od 22: fid Beam, 46 Od 42A Od 38 Od HUMOGRED INDISCRETION IN HIGH LIFE. —The unfortunate separation .of a Noble Lord from his Lady is just now a topic of leading interest, and the circumstance has thus been represented in the fashionable circles :—lt is stated that the lady was dis covered in a situation of very proximate familiarity with an illustrious personage who was on a visit at the time at the hospitable mansion of a Noble Friend, where the unfortunate couple were also staying. A mar riage, now on the lapis, so singularly mixes up some of the individuals %concerned, as to give a very painful novelty to this unfortunate affair, and to involve a Noble Lord and his intended bride in a position of the greatest delicacy.—MOrning Post. THE LATE BISHOP OF LICHFIELD (DR. BerrLEa.)--Th e Earl of Liverpool has forwarded 50/. to the fund now being raised to erect a monument to the memory of the above eminent divine in St. Mary's Church, Shrewsbury. L or d Hill , Si r R owland Hill, Bart,, m.p., Sir Richard Jenkins, M.P., and Sir James Williams have subscribed liberally towards the memerito. SILVER TEA and COFFEE SERVICES. Drawings of the newest patterns, will be forwarded to any part of the country, in answer to a paid letter, with full parti culars of size, weight, and price ; or Purchasers will find a most extensive assortment of the Silver Services; in the Show Rooms. Either Tea-pot, Sugar Basin, Cream Rwer or Coffee pot, may be had separately. T. COX SAVORY, Silversmith, &c., 47, Cornhill (Seven doors from Gracechurch- street), London. SUPERIOR. GOLD WATCHES, .E 7. 72. each Highly-finished Horizontal Flat Gold Watches, jewelled in four holes, with enamel dial, hand to mark the seconds, and maintaining power to continue going whilst being wound. Seven Guineas each. - These elegant waistcoaqocket Watches are recommended for great accuracy and durability,The horizontal escapement being peculiarly suited to combine those important requisites in a flat watch.—!l, written warranty given. • A. B. SAVORY and SONS, Watchmakers, No. 9. Cornhill, London, opposite the Bank. B RTHS. On the Ist of Novemb er, I at Bombay, the l a dy o f R o b er t Hughes Thom as , Esq., of a son. On the 2:ith ult., at Naples. the Marchioness of Sligo, of a daughter On the 6thinst. ' at Farnh am Castle, the lady of the Rey. William Gibson,.Rect or of Fawley, of a daughter. On the 9th i ns t., i n Brunswick-square, Brighton, the lady of William Bancsav, Esq., of a daughter. On the 10th i ns t ., at Lamorbty, Kent, the lady of John Mal colm, Esq., of a son. ARRIE JAD. Greenley, On the Bth i nst,, at St. Leonard's, Shoreditch, Mr. F. L. of Deptford, to Ann, only daughter of Mr. J. J. Clemmana, auctioneer, Holywell-row, F i n s bu r y. On the 9th i nst., at St. Mary'. Paddington, John Edmund B. Curti s , o f the College for Civil Engineers, eldest son of the late John Curtis, Eq., to Jane Juliet, eldest daughter of the late Dr. John Major Wilton, of the Hon. East India Com pany's service. On the 9th inst., at St. Peter's, Hammersmith, J.Ward, Esq., of the Crescent, Clapham, to Mary Anne Morris, niece of J. C. Clifton, Esq., of Hammersmith. On the 9th inst., at Towcester, , Northamptonshire, M r. Ro bert Leabon Curtis , of the Grove, Stratford, Essex, to Sarah Llizab eth, eldest daughter of M r . S amue l P er ki ns, woolstapler, ot the former place. D?P,D. On the Bth inst., at Upper Halliford, Miss Susan Collins. On the Bth inst., at Knightsbridge, Mr. John Blackburn, aged 74. On the Bth inst., Susan, the wife of Mr. John Fountain, of Denham. On the 9th inst., at Hackney-t errace, James Berriman Tip petts, Esq., Member of the Royal College of Surgeons, aged 80. On the 9th inst., - a t Torquay, the Rev. William Marriott Caldecott, aged 39. On the 10th inst., at St. John's -street, West Smithfield, Mr. Benjamin Bellchambers, seine -merchant, aged 69. London: Printed and PUbi.shed by , IIIURDO YOUNG, of No. 112, Strand, ar, The Sun Office, No. 112, Strand, in the county of 111ithilesex.—Monday January_ 13, 1540. Oats. Beam. oatmeal.