The Sun.
London, England, 1864-02-26 00:00:00

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE,

OXFORD CIRCUI ::.—READING, Feb. 25.
CIVIL SIDE.
(Before Mr. Justice Keating and a Cornrom Jury.)
KELEY V. LAWRENCE AND ANOTHER.

This was an action to recover damages from the del
fendants for illegal imprisonment by them, through their
officer, of the plaintiff, on a ea. sa. issued against one Ignatius
W. Kelly.
Mr. J. 0. Griffiths and Mr. Harrington were for the plain-
tiff ; Mr. Gray, Q.C., for the defendants.
The plaintiff was named Michael Kelly, and in the em-
ploy of a Mr. Hall, a commission agent, carrying on busi-
ness at Printioghouse.yard, London, and the defendants
were the late sheriffs of London. An action of debt had
been brought in Ireland,and judgment obtained there against
Ignatius W. Kelly. On this judgment an action was
brought here, and a writ of summons issued and was served
on the plaintiff in this action, under the impression that he
was Ignatius W. Kelly. The plaintiff told the process
server who served the writ that he was not Ignatius Kelly,
and he went to the officer of the attorneys who issued the
writ, but did not see any of them, or afterwards write to
them, and, in fact, took no further notice of the summons.
Judgment was subsequently signed in that action, and ca.
sa. issued against Ignatius W. Kelly, of Printing-house-
yard, commission agent. On the 23d of May last the sheriffs'
officer went to the place of business of Mr. Hall and took
the plaintiff into custody as Ignatius W. Kelly, and took
him to Whitecross-street. The plaintiff protested that he
was not Ignatius W. Kelly, and when the officer said that
he (the plaintiff) had come from Richmond, denied it; and
Mr. Hall, who was present, also told the officer that the
plaintiff was wrongly arrested. On the 26th of May the
parties appeared before Mr. Baron Martin at chambers, on
a summons which the plaintiff's attorney had taken out, to
show cause why the plaintiff should not be discharged. The
summons was adjourned to give time for a person to come
from Ireland to identify the plaintiff, and on the 29th
of May the plaintiff was discharged. An action was
then brought by the plaintiff for the above illegal im-
prisonment, and damages were claimed for his detention
in prison for six days, and the cost of the attorney who
was employed to get his discharge, and for the loss of
his situation with Mr. Hall, who, it seems, though he be.
lieved it was an illegal arrest, discharged him on the 25th
of May and refused to take him back again. The plaintiff
considered his situation at Mr. Hall's worth about £lOO a
year in all, and since his discharge had only been occasion-
ally employed by that person, and not made more than £lO
by him. Mr. Hall stated that he knew the arrest to be a
mistake, but that he found after the plaintiff had been taken
away that he could get on well enough without him, and
that partly for the latter reason he would not take him back.
The case came down for trial here at the last assizes before
Mr. Baron Martin, but that learned Judge ruled in effect
that as the plaintiff had been served with the writ of sum-
mons as Ignatius W. Kelly, and had not appeared to that
writ, or procured it to be set aside, a plea of the defendants
justifying the taking of the plaintiff under a valid ca. sa.
on a judgment in that action had been proved, and a ver-
dict was found for the defendants. A bill of exceptions to
this ruling was tendered by the plaintiff, and the Court in
Error thought the ruling incorrect and a venire de novo was
awarded.

Mr. Gray, for the defendants, now urged in mitigation of
damages that the sheriffs' offic3r was not to blame, because
the writ bore the direction it did; that the plaintiff ought
to have set aside the writ of summons; and that the die.
missal of the plaintiff was not a bona-fide dismissal in con-
sequence of the arrest, but introduced in this case to swell
the damages.

The learned Judge summed up, and said that there was
no obligation on the plaintiff to set the sheriffs' officer right
so long as ho did nothing t o mislead him ; the sheriffs'
officer must take care and serve the proper person ; nor
could the onus be thrown upon him of setting aside the
summons in consequence of the officer's mistake.
The jury found a verdict for the plaintiff—Damages, £2O.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Baron Pigo't.) -

Robert Smith was indicted for feloniously and maliciously
setting fire to a rick of barley, the property of John Porter, at
Sheen, on the 28th of January, 1861.
Mr. Lawrence was for the prosecution; the prisoner was
not defended.

At about dusk on January 28 Mr. Cherry, a magistrate
of this county, was riding along the road from Newbury to
Hungerford. By the side of the road, separated from it by
a bank, stood a nine-acres barley rick of Mr. Porter, and
when about 300 yards from it, Mr. Cherry saw a light in
the centre of the rick, about the size of his two hande, and
breast-high distance from the ground. When he got close
to the front of the rick he saw the prisoner and spoke to
him. The prisoner appeared to be passing the rick, and it
was impossible to have seen him before if he had been going
along the road. Mr. Cherry insisted upon his going with
him to a publichouse near there to get assistance. Two boys
had seen a man earlier in the day lying under the rick, but
could not tell whether the prisoner was the man. Another
witness saw a man lying there, and described him as a spare
man, dressed in a dark jacket like the prisoner's. The pri •
Boner's jacket was taken from him at the publichouse some
time afterwards, and barley heads found upon it. No ono
else had been seen near the spot. A policeman found a
lucifer-match box on the read on the Newbury side of the
rick, and prisoner stated to a policeman on the road to gaol
that if Mr. Cherry had not come up and obliged him to
th,-pw away his box of matches ho had intended to set fire
to three otz,:fr ricks. He conducted himself at the trial with
great levity, but c :.ied that he set the rick on fire.
ito
After the learned Barm; had summed up, the jury found
the prisoner guilty, and his lorn.:lliP sentenced him to four
years' penal servitude.

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

POST.—The Deno-German war will still con-
tinue, and a Conterence of the principal European
Powers may possibly take piece. Such is the sub-
stance of the reply given in the House of Commons
last evening by Lord Palmerston to a question put
by Mr. Darby Griffith. For such an announcement
we prepared the public, and those who choose may
welcome it as a confirmation of those prognostica-
tions of peace in which some have seen fit already
to indulge. The Government of this country have,
as the Premier observed, been unremitting in their
endeavours to effect a pacific solution of those dif-
ferences which now array Germany and Denmark
in arms against each other. Until hostilities had
actually commenced they ceaselessly strove to pre-
serve peace by counselling mutual concessions, and,
after blood had been shed, they importuned the
belligerents to consent to an armistice. But the
success which they deserved was denied them, and
each succeeding day saw the breach between Ger-
many and Denmark still further widened and the
peace of Europe will be more seriously jeopardised,
In this extremity one hope was still left to the
English Government. It the belligerents would
not consent to an armistice as preliminary to a Con-
ference, possibly they would have no objection to a
Conference as an accompaniment to a campaign.
If you are obstinately bent on fighting, gratify
your inclination, but meanwhile nominate a few
disengaged diplomatists who will quietly discuss
your differences round a table In our Foreign-office.
Such was the latest proposal of the English Cabi-
net, and the chief of that Cabinet last evening ad-
mitted his inability to state its probable result.
Austria and Prussia have signified their assent, pro-
vided they are to be permitted to pursue unchecked
their career of invasion, and the latter Power is
said to annex other conditions to her compliance.
Oa such terms we should have been indeed sur-
prised if the astute statesmen who direct affairs at
Vienna and Berlin had refused to send their repre-
sentatives to a conference of diplomatists.
" France," said Lord Palmerston, 11 I believe, will
assent to our proposal, and Russia, I fancy, will
adopt thb same course. This language is sanguine,
but it can scarcely be regarded as reassuring. In
speaking, however, of the Danish and Swedish
Cabinets, the Premier frankly acknowledged his
ignorance of the coarse they would follow, and did
not venture a conjecture as to their possible accept-
ance of the English proposal. Such, then, is the
stage of the Dano-German dispute at which, after
ceaseless negotiation, we have at length arrived.
The war is to be pursued with no less rancour than
before, and the contest is to bo prolonged, though
the attacking and the resisting forces stand to each
other in the ratio of five to one. Whilst, however, '
thousands of human lives are being uselessly sacri-
ficed, a Conference may possibly take place, and if
it does an agreement may just as posy bly be arrived
at which may satisfy the belligerents And bring
hostilities to a close. In other words, war is a cer-
tainty, and peace a remote contingency.
HERALD.—There is nothing so inconvenient as
law. It interferes with oppression, it checks vio-
►ence, it prevents evil doing, it even sometimes mars
.q'nty and justice. But for all this it is the safe-
guard of the people. The English are a law-revs
rencing nation, and to maintain this character they
often choose to put up with injury and obstruction.
But they know that there is no medium between
the absolute will of a tyrant and the recognition of
enactments which shall bind every one. It is not
enough to say that such and such a deed, if it be
executed, would be unjust or disagreeable, or a loss
or a calamity, unless at the same time it present the
necessary conditions which are admitted to violate
law. Mere suspicion will not suffice. This is the
ready instrument of tyranny, unsuited to a free
people. It is as well that these plain principles of
legal right should be understood and asserted, even
in our very liberal age; for it is evident that a set
attempt has been made against the very palladium
of English liberty. We are told in unmistakeable
terms, and by strong facts, that it is justifiable to
seize property, if suspected of being converted to a
use calculated to excite war against us. And when the
Government, who have actually possessed themselves
of the goods, are asked to produce the papers which
may warrant their suspicions and justify their act,
they turn round on the Home of Commons and de-
clare that, pending litigation, the people's represen-

Iu
tatives have no right to any such information. ,
other words, that the grossest wrong
petrated, that ships worth a quarter of ra3lllr,
""tisifteor
sterling could be detained on suspicion,
mon-,
wards seized, at a loss of some £2,000 a
Pb
more to the owners, and that no legal
might be.Pe(l,o
s
ought to be commenced to legalise tis absolute et
fill nearly six months after the first detentl°n' a •
full four months after the capture of the propertL:
grater,
and that all Vile is to take place on E
and against Englishmen of position end and only
with perfect impunity to the perpetrators'l 1,11" tind
on the fiction called Ministerial responsibility;
that the House of Commons is not comPetentro.
inquire into the grounds of so monstrous a Pb,
evenkefi
ceeding. We regret that this assembly,
the very narrow majority of 25, should have bac,itc-
th. e Government in a course so clearly
English
unnens,ery
tienal. The question to be considered Wae. Jo,
properly narrowed by Sir Hugh Cairns, in 131° the
minous series of incontrovertible argumentoll°oo,
one great point at issue—the conduct of the
son
C
veroment anterior to the seizure of the El Ito
and El Monassir. Sufely, the House of c'. t,,1d0
will entirely denude itself Of its functions if r.,11.1 I, •
its prerogative and right to demand from u°"-51:10t
men t the fullest attainable information °s ledoa
decidedly. and avowedly peroetratnu es,
British soil against a British subject. The laird
tion, of course, does not refer to the MOWS. J,41-'O3.
alone, but to every shipbuilder in the Iting",,°de•
The Government have proclaimed their right -ter
tam vessels on
.suspicion. They fling
law
board. Their mouthpiece, the Attorney-yen—a,
declares that they have done so on their own reelin-0.
sibility, and, of course, are willing to abide the ecito
sequences—that. is, that they have a right to go I"gs
every shipyard in the country and keep back to
on
.the mere suspicion that they are built,
.te
equipped and armed afterwards at some dli,Ttnao",
place, for the Confederate American service• El
the determination of this matter, so far es t'ec ryt
Tousson and Et Monassir are concerned, i° 11,:fr
nice question of fact as well as of law ; —A-Tret
over, is still under judicial investigation 'do
our absolute Government have presumed to 7:Igo
.both. law and fact on their own individual reschil tit
inlay. They not only detained the vessels cvl",°,o
a shadow of legal right or authority, but they for s
them, and may actually withhold he trial 101
twelvemonth from the time of seizure. 11311te ;elf
have gone into a law court at the expiration c!' i 6
four months or six from the date of the detainero
tll,
more the reiult of their dread of P.rtittnient
or Oh";
through any regard for Eogiish right
fney do. not. pay the costs; the public palehn-rde
and the injured owners have to sustain the "- eu
for the time, depending on a favourable jadg°l-0
But then there is, by way of set-off, tE,,l3e,ltrtalt
atonement of ministerial responsibility. $3
comes to let the vote of Tuesday night elPia:,ted
long as we have laws they ought to be reell':icet
and observed.. Above all, let us guard eg-their
allewing the Govornment to wrest thew tsl):,,icie
warraencd
own. crooked views and purposes. Let us not r: fof
again the odious practice of general
,o this we are approaching. If our laws ere 1:eld
.to be inadequate on calm consideration ttlelfs"r'ige
ma amended, but not at the dictation of any
I°-e
Government.

COUNTRY MARKETS.

----- ----- ^

MANCHESTER—Ti:WiIeY.. t rain"
A fair attendance at markqt, and English Wb,,erde coo'
tained the currency of this da7 week, with a voue—rid
sumptive demand. Foreign wheat was neglected, and with
changed in price. Indian corn steady. Flour Ili
vajitecl
a dull sale at former rates. Oats and oatmeal Wererof
tae
in request, and in the former the turn was in faVoil.
buyers. English beans declined 6d per qr.

BURTON, ON-TRENT—Tunuspo. itb *
There was a moderate attendance of the trade,
fair show of grain, but very little business.
'4OB to 130
Old white wheat..44s to 47s I Old red wheat, • '393 to 7,
New do. ..44s to 46s I New do. 22s to 2,qvg
Malting barley....34s to 38s I Oats ............. ,265 to
Grinding d0.....28s to 31s I Beans ..........

B IRMINGHAINI—THURSDA.Y.
This morning there was a large sapply of ng.' es
and the ptices of this day sennight receded 6d to roes.
qr. Barley still cheaper. Oats and beans at tat and Pnd 3e4
—English wheat was sold at 40s to 46s for whitey s'soo to
to 40s per 36 stone for red. Barley, new maltig, to 30s
40s per qr ; grinding, 24s to 28s Oats, old, 22° 04'
per 30 stone ; Irish, 18s to 245. Beans, 38s to 426 P
Peas, 36s to 42s per 36 stone.

BRISTOL—TsvitssA.T. A leele"
There was a fair show of wheat to-day, an- fles titer°
slow at about previous quotations. In other artic
was no material change.

EDINBURGH GRAIN—FEB. 24', h pot 4
' a, B
To-day there was a gocd supply of wheat, s
slow sale, at Is per quarter under last week's priee;:forrse'
ley met a ready sale for fine malting qualities, best e'
prices ; seconds rather cheaper. Oats sold slowly'
nuarter
scriptionti as before, but other sorts were 6d to 18 Per .1
lower. Beans a slow sale. 3d Oil'
Barley
ytt
on
nn
the
ee
ttooppoOss66ddnupp... ... average ls ,1 doWll*
average Os 2'd, 0.
Oats on the top 6d up average °3 ad dOO.
•••• • . . • •
Beans on the top 4s Od up ..average Os "
Ocl
Aver age Prices. 21s a 4
Wheat..
Barley 2Ss37s 3d6d I 8ean5.....0at5...............................

•
Total Supply and Sales. 982 qrS
Wheat ..1569 r .. Sold „a qrs
8ar1ey........ 1470 qqrss .............. Sold
Oats
Beans 407 qrs SOlll .271 q 04
extraof
Flour sells as follows :—Whites, 41s Od;
superfine, 37s Od ; fine, 35s Od.

Foreign Mail Packet List,

_ ....
MAILS DUE. . W1'.20
14
Australia and Mauritius, via Southampton. ...... pa. 6.
via Marseilles ......... gar' 0,
drazil and Cape Verde, by British packet. ...... rob.
Cape of Good Hope, Ascension, and St. liele°B4,.biar 01
( hina, Penang, and Singapore, via SoutliToP" Feb' '
Falkland Islands ................ 3
....•
mlir• 4
Gibraltar, via Southampton ....... ton.•—i- 21
India (Calcutta), and Ceylon, via Smithson) .le-' 26,
via Marsealos• •'. yet). i.
India (Bombay), via Southampton .• ...... ''.•lda 0,
via blarseilles ................ . pin 26.
PortuMalta, Egypt, and Aden, v.i.a.,
ga1.... ...................... fel). 1
vi.a.
............... ...• 0,
via Marseilles ........ fj0r..41,
Newfoundland ............................. .'"'
a 5
........
Oporto and Vigo ....
... .. ..... t
...
U. S. and British N. America, by Brit. Prloke * 0,
by U.S. PaeketgeV.VeD' 10.
by Canadian Pe . gar. it
~.3.0 ............. .....•,41.'k,
W .C. of Africa, Madeira, and feneriffe ......... Isilar. 29,
Bahamas, via New York .................. :Feb. ,
... . .• p,
Mexico ..................... n i Feb'
All parts of West Indies, including Chili, rer '
California. and British Columbia.. ..........
. _ or

THE GREAT ilige-illitii‘rtlti:S;
e.L0cK.......„
it
is a
triuulph
of
ijoDtbartialL Telegraph, Marcia 31, 1862. Clocks by the first
I.°°°
ry,dheayil,loBrtatihreae
edzabwrainckgetr,ocoamrr,iadizineghttrO°oo,al:tarrueot'or.clslll:
ways, warehouse, counting house, musical,
Church and turret clocks specially estimated Of; oel3'.nP-1
illustrated pamphlet on clocks (free by post for 111 ell' :1;
with descriptions and prices, ifll° - f •nP--
a, enables those - ..no p..- rise
part of the world to select a clock. Also a 01',„no. t'l,--ii
on cathedral and public clocks, free for one 11'--- J. SQ•
5,3 .„d 16. ..,y4g,
medal and honourable mention classes 3 o,+` aaeo "
Benson, 33 and 34, L in
v -tab!" went ta
Ludgate-hill, London. ---°- O-
s 4.0110h1
Watch and clock maker by special warrant 0+ -,-
ZILE. th p •
e rince of Wales. weeldi :4
Persons who have been in the habit of P°Yili„nly (it _intinz
and
drowers of Sewing Machines will do well to flEr,s sewli,
become members of Messrs. Watts and G°. es/e the
only e tline
Machine Clubs. By so doing
money they now foolishly throw away, but at tP,,,, beat s,
secure to themselves the possession of one of t'" oerl 'ilit;
most celebrated sewing machines in the Wsetessed,l, uforf•
formation given on application; or by letter 0'44,, IsestOe'
a stamped envelope, to Messrs. Watts and CO.' I'l, Are en'
buildings, Strand, London, W.C., where tnetnbe'
and, astf0000004:
rolled daily between 10 and 4 ; Saturdays, 10 and

Births. ,atafrier
DORMER.—On the 24th inst. at Craigdarrochp '
w i
fireLeo,TftohNt eh.: Ilitoo nenv.
"Ahljerasm2.
sJetsahmiiineassiD.
horot.4,eBric
.lit,..a:
to80:01 7 tioacig: eb_oi the
0
liAshdli ?ter.
of
lIA.RTLEY.—On the 23d inst., at 58, Adcll°,,°lo ,
sington, the wife of John E. Hartley, -,261" '
son. AR 111
"fe "
NV OODHEAD.—On the 24th inst., at Brighton, '''"
Captain Woodhead, of a daughter.
HAdaiougi—SMlTH. the Et" atret —or 00 °7ll-
- Marriages.smith,ißs:., •n 8 by.• 1116 g;
Haigh, E-q.,_ Southampton, to Anne Darnem, „, Loa'
11 tton-garu"'
don. voret
At St. ' Ti of
ROWLETT—DicEiNsoN —On the 23'1 inst., --, . o_. some
BAl's-pond, Rowland Richard, eldest survil Stari'
John Rowlett, Esq., late of Malta, to.l-4°lofrisr3'
tlanghter of the lace T. P Diekinson,,of I'll
Deaths. castle, to
BANKES.—On the 22d inst., suddenly, at Corfe
a cfill
Lady Charlotte Bankes. . gr.
EARTLETT.—On the 22J inst., at Abington,
Bartlett, aged 30. is illfant soil
EDEN,—On the 23d inst at Cantley, Franc t
.9 A3d igi'r
of the Hon. G. W. Eden.
GlLLis.—On the 24th inst., at Edinburgh, I,,'°
ttlitge-recal,
of his age, the Right Rev. James Gillis, v
afi. t.of Set7ti°
Catholic Bishop of Edinburgh and the
R.I.P. arc] O. •--
Afanbl'
.
MANBY.—On the 21st inst., at Paris, Edward
n 00 fjr°
f
EN., C.E., aged 4ii. 11, vrier, ~
MAY.--At Weston-super-Mare, Edu3ll l'6F. '
of May and Co., brewers, Worle, age" •
io. or-Celjerid NV'
SUTTON.—On the 20th inst., at Dover, ~....si
Charles lirs°,
Sutton, C. 8., aged 56.
WAKE.,—On inst., at Brighton, sir °lir.—

London :
PrinZed and PrNished Dy . ,
"DUOS.
Strand. In th
No. 112, Strand., Printer, at TO atTo °trice ))(.1 _ of
--e rreeinet of cue 3avoy, in the COTO
of
Fobronry 26, 188 i.