The Express.
London, England, 1846-09-29 00:00:00

WALES.

Entctvfox tv Wem:s.—Sir : By your leave I wish to
make one remark. It is admitted that in 1841 there were in
Wales, 233,114 persons between the age of five soil fifteen.
This takes no account of the thousands of our children who
are between the age of two and five, and who ought to he
ir %traded and amused at an infant Our.' instead of being
le ft to run into all manner of danger and filth about the
streets. When we take into consideration the 233,114 be-
tween five and fifteen, with many thousands between two
and five, and the vast increase of the population during the
la-t few years, lam very much afraid that Dr. Griffiths,
rather than overstating the matter, has fallen short of the
mark. That, I believe, is the opinion of all whe are not de-
termined at any risk to make out a case against the inter-
ference of Government.—Tours, &e., A WeLsit METHODIST.

PROVINCIAL.
LANCASHIRE.
A CAse TNDER THE GAME LAWS.—At the Kirkham
Pe. ty Sessions on Tuesday the court was unusually crowded,
in e insequence of a summons having been issued against
Mr. R. Parkinson, of liowick, for trespassing in pursuit of
genie, issued at the instance of T. Clifton, Esq., of Lytham-
hall. Several witnesses were examined in support of the
case, but the evidence of John Wilcock, the tenant of the
farm on which the alleged trespass occurred, was the most
material. This witness stated that he rented the farm from
a Miss Wingfield, of Liverpool, and that at the time he took
the firm nothing was said about the game on the estate.
For the last few years—say three or four—he had permitted
Mr. Parkinson, and other geidlemen to shoot over his farm,
which, it should he stated, is in immediate proximity to Mr.
Clifton'sestates. During thespring of thepresent year, Fair, as
agent to Mr. Clifton, made an application to Itlr.Wikock for the
game on his farm, when the latter gentleman informed him
that "he was welcome to shout seer the farm." Suhse-
quentqt Wilcock received a notice from Miss Wingfield that
she intended to take the g ime herself, hut he never an-
swered that let Lr. A letter was also produccd in curt from
Miss NVing field to Mr. Fair, stating that she agreed to take M.
a year for the game, and desired a remittance fur that amount.
A solicitor who appeared for the defence then produced an
act of parliament in reference to game, passed before the
time Wilcock took the farm, which enacts that in any we
where a farm is let, the game becomes the common mer-
chandise of the tenant, unless it is specifically reserved ; and
that by the act in question the game in this ease belonged
to the tenant, in consequence of no reserve having been
made at the time of letting. The letter, he said, which had
been produced from Miss Wingfield to Mr. Fair ri speeding
the amount to he paid for the game, was so much waste
paper, as she had no right to let it, it being the tenant's
property, and the notice Wilcock had received from her
was equally useless, for she might with equal propriety have
given him notice that she intended to take possession of a
potato field or a stack of hay on the farm. After hearing Mr.
Banks' defence, the Rev. It. Moore, one of the magistrates,
said, the game was evidently not reserved, and under the
act of .
parliament the case falls to the ground. We dismiss
decision of the bench was hailed with much ap-
plause by the crowded court, and as Mr. Parkinson passed
through the street from the court he was loudly cheered.
CHARGE OF CRUELTY AGAINST A SCHOOLNIAATEIL—At
the Bury petty sessions, on Friday, the Rev. David Thomas,
formerly an itinerant minister amongst the new connexion
Metheilists, but who has been residing at Bury nearly four
years, where he has been attempting to found a new religious
sect, was charged with having brutally beaten a boy, six
years of age, named John Edwards, son of a blacksmith.—
The defendant mode a long, rambling speech, relative to
his method of tuition.—The bench began to be tired, and
requested tbe defendant to say whether he was guilty or
not of the crime he stood charged with.—Mr. Thomas here
began to describe the manner in which he had punished
the youth; he first stated the boy had sworn, for which he
put him on the form, where h, again swore ; he asked him
to put out his hand, so that he could beat him with the
stick; lie refused again and again, and I heat him severely
again, end again, and again. The reason I beat him,
so severely was because the eyes of all the children in the
school were upon me, nod I found the boy was about is
conquer me, and rather than be conquered, I beat him,
thinking it would do him good. At this stage of the pro-
ceeding< the boy's back, which was black all over, was made
bare in the court. The court cried shame, and the bench
said it was the most disgraceful case that ever was known to
take place in Bury, or in the county. Mr. Knowles, the
magistr..:e, said he hoped the ease would go before the
public, fen according to the Rev. Mr. Thomas's own state-
ment, it was most disgraceful. He was ordered to find sure-
ties to kr ,p the peace for six months, and pay all expenses.
The defe .dant replied that he should not pay anything. He
was told that if he did not find sureties, and pay the money,
he would, have to be sent to prison for six months. Ile
appeared unconcerned while at the bar, and was committed
in default of bail.