The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1803-04-12 00:00:00

MULLINGAR ASSIZES.

Tuesday se'nnight a cause calme on to be tried be-
fore Lord Kilwarden and a Special Jury of the
county of Westmeath, wherein Peyton Gamble,
Esq. was the PlaintitF, and Henry Gamble, Esq.
was the Defendant. _ _ _

This trial was under an order of the High Court
of Chancery, and the question to be tried was, whe-
ther the Di:fend:int, Henry Gamble, Esq, was the
legitimate sun of his reputed father, !Teary Gamble,
Esq. deceased, and who died upwards of fifty years
ago.
The evidence principally consisted of family deeds
and other wriLten documents found among the pa-
pers, the attested copy of a bill and answer filed in
the cause, and parole tes:imony of general reputa-
tion of marriage. On the part of the Pla!ntiff, the
evidence of the witnesses went to shcw that the de-
fendant, and an elder brother, were the sons of
Grace Shean, otherwise Grania the Beetle, who,
at the time of their birth, and for some time after,
had living an husband, M'Padeen, and that she
was never married, at any time, to the Defendant's
father, who was called Henry the Black.—Ge-
neral reputation of illegitimacy was also produced.
For the defendant, general reputation of marriage
was set up, on the testimony of several witnesses,
and also general reputation of legitimacy.
The trial commenced at nine o'clock on Tuesday
morning, and coniinued without intermission till
near six o'clock cn the morning of 'Wednesday,
when the Jury, after retiring for a short time,
brought in a verdict fur the plaintiff.

LESSEE OF DONNELLAN ANA) °THEM, V. ARMIT AND

DEEY.

This was an ejetiment on the title to recover a
very considerable estate in the county of Meath,
and came on to be tried by nisi print, at Trim, on
Thursday, the 2 ith ult. before the Hon. Justice
Downes, and one of the most tespetqable Juries of
that county.
Mr. J. Ball, Special Counsel for the Plaintiff,
with his usual ability, stated the case on behalf
of his client, and tested the issue on the demise of
Nehemiah Nixon Donnellan, the first lessor of the
Plaintiff, whose title was effectually proved.
The Defendant's case was then opened with much
ability by dr. Serjeant Moore, who finally rested
their 'defence as to this demise, on the illegitimacy of
Mr. Donnellan.
Mr. Ball now stated the second case of his client
to rebut this defence.
And, after a trial which lasted from ten in the
morning to five in the evening, of Thursday, and
from ten in the morning to ten at night, of the fol-
lowing day. The I lon. Judge Downes summed up
the evidence on both sides, with the utmost clearness
and precision, and left the question at issue, as mat-
ter of flea, to the decision of the .lury, who, alter re-
tiring ror a few moments only, found for the Plain-
tiff on the just demise.
The Judge, to satisfy his own mind, and all
.the
parties, desired the Jury to say, whether they
founded that verdiel on the opinion that the mar-
riage set up to illegitimise the first lessor was not
had ; to which they all auswereJ, that they were
tmanimonsly of opinion that such alleged marriage
had not taken place.

While the Mayor of Brussels is painting the fa-
rad,' of the houses, and making other preparations
for the reception of the FIRST Coxsut., a detach-
ment of the Police of Puris repaired to that city, to
(lima the movements of eight companies of pio-
neers, appointed to make incursions on the roads,
and pay visits to the towns, for the purpose of arrest-
ing all the suspeeled persons. These precautions
appear the more necessary, as it is pretended here,
that an English vessel has sent fifty desperate men
upon the coast of o,tend. This report, of counr,
sets all the spies in motion.—Courier It Londni.
In the camp now forming, there will be none of
those corps which served con-,tantly in the Army of
the Rhine. An anathema is denounced agamta
that army, and that of Italy is flattered, while all
caresses and favours arc heaped upon that of Egypt.
These partialities are very open ; and thus the Ge-
nerals and corps of these different armies are, if not
enemies, at least strangers to each other. It is this
which has hitherto prevented a coalition against as
Power which they do not like, as they have no secu-
rity against is: caprices.—llid.

..• r._

•
POLICE.
APSION-HOUSE.
Satnrdalr a final investigation of the affair of
Abraba,n Newland, charged- with stealing brandy
out of a cask, took place before the Lord Mayor,
when the pot-boy so long missing, was brought for-
ward, and stated to the Lord Mayor, thi,t he had
been decoyed away by the friends of the pi ironer,
and by them kept in custody in a garret near Cur-
tain-road, Hoxton. He then said, that he stw New-
land and two others, in Danning's-alley, Bishoi s-
gxe-street, stealing brandy from the cask which
was the care of Newland.--The boy was sent to
the Compter to he detained as a Witness ; and
Messrs. Ilrydges and !tea, thc owners of the liqu, r,
were bound over to prosecute,

woitsnip.-sTREET.
Saturday an elderly woman of good appearance,
underwent an examia..tion, cliared by a shopkeeper
in Shcr.!.litch, with coming into his shop on Thurs-
day evening, under prthence of purchasing a small
quantity of linen, which she paid .for, but found
means to convey away with her a piece of cotron
handkerchiefs, which was missing soon after she
had left the shop ; when she was immediately pur-
sred, and overtaken. near Skinner-street, and given
into charge of a constable, who searched her, hut
found no other property upon her but what she
paid for. The prosecutor being positive in lus
charge, she was committed for further examination.
HATTON-GAT:DI:N.

On Saturday John S.&ej, a negociator of bills,
was examined a second time, on suspicion of hav-
ing improperly used the name of Mrs. Rytier, a
dealer in oysters in Wood-street, Cheapside. On
the face of the world it appeared to be a fair bill of
exchange fur 391. which she denied to be her accep-
tance, but afterwards it appeared that they were
in the habit of accomnv each other, which
Was nearly proved upon the testimony of her own
son, who is under twenty years of age, and in busi-
ness for himself.-1 lowever the prisoner was corn-
initted for re-examination.

UNION HALL.

Oti Saturday List came on to be heard before
Gideon Fournier, Esq. and Richard Carpenter
Smith, Esq. t!le sitting Ma7istratcs at the above
office, a great number of int'ormations which had
been laid against the different dealers in butter in the
Borough, and adjacent part> of Southwark, for of-
iimees committed against the A& of S 6 Geo. 111. c.
86, being an A.l:t to prevent
Abuses
and Fraud
" in the packing, weight, and sale of butter." And
the AR of 3d Geo. Ii I. c. 73, for " amending and
rendering more effeCt ual the termer ACt ;" and as
th^ pliblie are much interested in the result of the
cletermina:ion, we think it worthy to give the par-
ticulars.

The prosecutions were commenced and carried on
at the instance of the Committee of butter-dealers,
or rather butter-sellers, who procured the passing
of the above statutes ; and the reason of their be-
ing passed, was stated by the prosecutor to be, that
previoas to the time of passing the Ads, it had
long been the pradice with the faCtors or makers of
English butter to commit most extensive frauds on
the dealers to whom the butter was afterwards sold,
by increasing the weight of the vessel in which the
butter was contained ; for instance, it was the usage
of the trade to allow for the tare of a firkin, 101 b.
whereas it had been found that this weight had been
increased 4,5, and 61b. and in one instance, the
head only of one cask, which was produced to the
House of Commons at the time of passing the first
AFt. was found to weigh six pounds. The defi-
cie.:.cy of weight of butter produced by these means
w necessarily compensated by the dealer (upon
wham the fraud was pradised), by increasing the
price of the actual quantity of butter in the cask,
to the consumer, and which was alledged to be one
principal reason of the high price of butter. It
was stated to the Magistrates, that the annual ave-
rage number of casks of butter imported into Lon-
d9n from the butter countries, namely, Dorsetshire,
Northumberland, Norfolk, Suffolk, &c. were cal-
culated at 270,000, and calculating a deficiency of
oily 31. weight of butter per cask, which was
made up by the weight of wood cf which the
cask was made, and which was supposed to be a very
low average indeed, left a deficiency of 710,000
potintis of butter, which was paid for by the public
beyond what they received, by an increase of the
price of that which was adually consumed.
To remedy this grievance, and to prevent these
frauds, the butter-dealers applied to Parliament to
regulate the making and packing of butter ; and by
the first Al abovementioned the coopers who make
the casks are to put their names, with a broad mark
at the top and bottom of the cask, and are to mafk
the tare or weight of the cask, tinder a penalty of
five pounds; and the &dors or butter makers, guilty
of fraud in packing, 'skc. of the butter, are also
subjected to a larger penalty. These provisions
were found insufficient to redress the grievances, as
the trade of butter dealers must necessarily be sup-
plied, and the factors continued to send it them as
they chose, ar.d the remedy to punish the coopers
for making the false casks was found ineffedual, and
therefore the last-mentioned Act of Parliament was
applied for and obtained, which direas, that the
cooper shall put not only his name, but the name of
the ;Jaen, city, village, Ste. in which he resides, in
the brand mark. And as a farther check-to the
selling of butter, except under the regulations cf the
former Ac 4, it is made a penalty of 10s. per cask
upon every dealte in butter, in whose possession any
cask of butter shall he found or exposed to sale, not
marked and branded according to the above Mt of
Parliainent. _

The informations which were heard before the
Magistrates were for this last offence, and most of
the parties pleaded guilty to the informations.—
They were all conviaed, and paid the penalty, and
expressed themselves sensible of the injury arising.
not only-to the public by the increase of the price of
butter, but eventually to themselves, by the dimi-
nution of the quantity sold to them, and consumed
by the public ; and they all agreed that they would
not in liiture receive any cask of butter from a dealer
but what was regularly marked ; and that they
w:itild exert themselves to punish the faders v.tho
should them up butter uhdersuch circutastanzes.
,• • _
The journal ac Gan:mune contains 4 letter frc m
Jersey, speaking of some disturbances, originating•
from the pressing of some sailors, contrary to the
established privileges of the island. It is stated that
the boat belonging to the press-gang was seized by
the inhabitants, and carried ashore, and that a con-
fidential officer was dispatched to London, to remon-
strate on the subjei. We arc net inciined to give
any credit to this statement.