The Northern Daily Times.
Liverpool, Merseyside, England, 1856-10-27 00:00:00

NORTHERN TIME S.---LP;TERPOOL9 MONDAY.

COURT OF PASSAGE -SATURDAY

ACCIDENT

impoßE E. JAMES, ESQ. Q C,, THE ASSESSOR

during the a

a neightiour, t

tains I;
cut..

ANOTHER ATTORNEY TN TROUBLE

At the Knufsford Quarter Sessions, a day or two ago, a
very singular and exciting scene occurred. In the case of
an appeal-against a dotiviction under the Silk Act, for un-
lawfully having possession of silk supposed to have been
stolen, Mr. Thos. Cooper, attorney, of-Oengleton, appeared
for the appellant, a person nanied Hi 11.,, The case. had
nearly. concluded, when John Seolt,Yebdstable, of Chinch.
Lawton,'who happened' to be sitting 'On .the seat behind.
counsel, about three persons distant from Mr. Cooper, was
observed to say something to .constable Taylor, of
Congleton, who was standing near the witness box, when
.Taylor bolted down head foremost among the people's feet,
and presently emerged holding up two small bits of paper.-
whiettleihad picked up under-where Mr. Cooper was sitting,
and exclaimed—'These are the pieces V' Instantly every-
body was on their feet, and the whole court was wrapped in
;breathless and excited attention. Mr..JOYnson, on:the bench,
'fitted the small pieces to the torn paper, and said that they
corresponded exactly so far as they went, but that there
was; yet a small piece :mi-sing. • Down dirM'C'ons'able
Taylor again, and produced another small piece of paper,
asserting that Mr. Cooper had scraped bis-foot several tirnos
backward and forward on ,the ffoor
_over where he found
it. It was found to be an invoice for some 9lbs of silk.
The Chairman, Trafford Trafford, Esq,, after having the
advice of Mr. Be-iran -on the part of the -crown, he directed
the depositions to be taken on oath (and signed) of every
person. who saw anything of_the strange transactions. Mr.
Cooper. .refusing to remain in the.court, and -endeavouring to
force his way out, was here ordered into custody for contempt
of 'court, and taken to the county gaol, where he was kept
until the following day, when a forcible appeal was made
to the ;court, praying for the merciful consideration
for "Mr. Cooper. At the rising of the court Mr.
Cooper was brought into court, when the chairman
said : Mr. Cooper, what we are going to do is
not a termination of this matter. The court will
consider what they will do further in the matter. Oa
the very proper application of your counsel on the ground
'of the state of your wife, we have decided to discharge you
from custody at these sessions, but it will not prejudice any
after proceedings which the court are advised to take. Mr.
Cooper WnS accordingly discharged from custody, and
afterwards an order of court was made, dirrcting the county
solicitor to apply to th/ Court of Queen's Bench to have
Mr. Cooper struck off the rolls.

DISTRESSING CASE

The, custom of " riding the stang," is not yet obsolete in
some parts of the north of England. The object of the
custom is to put parties to public shame who have been
unfaithful to the marriage contract. On these occasions a
mob, composed of servant lads, ploughmen, blacksmiths'
and cobblers' apprentices, with all the boys in the neigh-
boUrhood, assembles in the village where the offenders
reside. Upon a poll borne on the shoulders of two men, a
third is mounted, and the procession moves forward. A
halt is made at the end of every twenty or thirty yards,
when the man on the " stang" repeats aloud an obscene
rhyme, which is followed by loud hurrahs from the rabble.
The village of Catterlen, in Cumberland, was the scene of
one of those tumultuous gatherings on Tuesday night last.
Suspicion bad arisen that an improper intimacy existed
between a poor girl, named Moffat, the daughter of a miller,
and a married man in the village. The " stang" was
ridden, and amid shouts, yells, hurrahs, and filthy ejacula-
tions of the crowd, the girl's name and that of her supposed
paramour were every where proclaimed ; their effigies were
afterwardi publicly burnt. The girl'sfather, after the tumult
h.,d subsided, got out of bed, and went to the back door
which he found open. His daughter came in
wards, and in an agony of distress exclaiMs
I have c,•me, to se.

you puce agaiu.'

short!)
`.` Oh,

‘.l. Ft" ELV ou
alarmed her friends. On Saturdily she rer
her own room, but went out after dark

of her fri

t. a woman,

•ding to the

—the ,white cur-