The Sun.
London, England, 1837-07-04 00:00:00

COURT OF CHANCERY-THIS 17A1,.

'

IN TITS MATTER OF LA HEMP, A LUNATIC.
This case came before his Lordship upon the petition of
Mr. Carpenter, the nephew of the lunatic's late wife, praying
a reference to the Master for the purpose of ascertainitig whe-
ther himself or his father we..o lit persons to be appointed
Committee of the person of the lunatic its the plate of the petl=
Potter's late Wife. Air. La Heo,p Was found .t lunatic in
February lElt I, and had Cofititititd to Up td the present TO-
merit. His daughter in 1831 attained her maprity,
1833 intermarried with the petitioner, who was her first cousin.
Her mother, who had been appointed the Committee of the per-
son, died in July 1833, and upon her death it was referred to
the Master to approve of a proper person to ba Committee.
The Master, upon that reference by his report, approved of
Mr. John Harper Powell, and the wif., of the petitioner, to be
the Committee. The petitioner continued to reside in the
house of the lunatic after the appointment of his wife as Cona-
mitteo, and every thing relating to the lunatic was managed
by him and his wife until her death Since that period the
petitioner bad had the whole management of the lunatic, and
no complaint whatever that he was aware of bed been made
against him by Mr. Powell. Under these circumstances, the
petitioner not being so connected by blood with the lunatic as
to be able to propose himself for Committee without a special
order, came to the Court for liberty to propose himself.
The Somciroa•GINERAL, who appeared for the next of kin
and Mr. Powell, observed that at the beginning of last year
the petitioner had been discharged under the Insolvent Debtors
Act, for debts, the most of which had been contracted by
gambling. The cause of his insolvency was attributed to
playing at skittles, and having been duped by others.
The LORD CHANCELLOR said, that according to the admis-
sion of the petitioner himself, part of the money allowed for
the maintenance of the lunatic had been spent in gambling,
and that under such circumstances, if even the Master had ap-
proved of the Petitioner as one of the Committee, he would not
have confirmed that report. The petition must, therefore,
be dismissed with costs.

COMMON PLEAS.-(THIS DAY.)

illi% G.% ZINES.

PRE ASIATIC JOURNAL. Allen and Co.

Th Editor of this petitklitdl rrpß,t, bq a bold fellow
to announce the accession of our Gracioits (2: teen,. rte-
companied with a recommendation to her Majesty's
male subrets to try polygamy " for a few years as an
experiment tritty!tecti t^ pass this off as a joke,
but the ladies will take care to cotiVitm him that it is
no joke—.that there is a great and striking differebve
between voting for a I/Left:qr.!) in the temporalities of

the Church, and gracing his board xvitb th presence
of a brace of blushing helpmates. Such mode of
reasoning by analogy sin equally again!l sound logic
and good taste—for no one but a child in intellect.
would attach to the testament of a Church-endowing
Baron, or an Act of Parliament, the sacredness of a
Gospel precept. But we will leave the ladies to deal
with the Editor after their own fashion. Should one
of them ever get hold of him, we will be bound to
say that she will cure him of any fancy he may have
for the enjoyments of a harem. " Native Society
in India," is the best bird's eye view of the social
habits of the Indian population that we have yet met
with. But it is far from perfect. We still want ac-
counts an hundred times more familiar ; and till these
be supplied us, we can know nothing in reality of na-
tive life in India. The following extract discloses a
dreadful view of the interior of society in India. The
practice which it details is common, and crimes such
as the one here disclosed, by no means unfrequent

" The kidnappers usually select the children of very poor
people as the objects of their pursuit, since the disappearance
of such humble individuals does not excite so much alarm and
inquiry as would follow upon the loss of those of more conse-
quence, who would be instantly traced with the facility afforded
by wealth ; but these parties are exposed to another and a still
greater danger. The children of wealthy persons, both male
and female, are not unfrequently murdered for the sake of their
ornaments, which are often of very considerable value. The
wrists and ancles of the girls are, in many instances, encircled
with bangles of the purest gold, while the boys are decorated
with trinkets equally costly, necklaces and earrings, and an
armlet sometimes set with precious stones. Thes; unfortu-
nates, if falling into the hands of evil-disposed people, are
strangled and stripped, their bodies being thrust into wells, or
thrown into rivers ; and, though not now of frequent occur-
rence, there is a third danger to which persons of tender years
are exposed, that of being enticed away for sacrifice. A hor-
rible story of this nature is on record, which may be called a
modern instance, since it occurred as late as the year 1821.
A poor boy, aged fifteen, herding cattle in a field near a small
village called Teleekel, about twelve miles from Sylhet, and
close to the Jyntea frontier, was seized by three men, who
attempted to gag him, having brought instruments with them
for the purpose. The boy fortunately perceiving their hostile
intention in time, raised an alarm, and his cries brought the
people of the village to his assistance. They rescued him from
the kidnappers, who were apprehended, and brought before
the magistrate, and one of the number readily confessed the
crime which he and his accomplices had meditated, accom-
panying this confession with details of the most revolting nature.
He stated that he was by occupation a cultivator, and that he
was cmbloyed by Oochung, Rungaut, Kooar, the brother-in-
law of Ram Singh, Rajah of Jyntea, to seize a man for the
purpose of offering him up as a sacrifice at the shrine of the
goddess Kalee. Upon being farther questioned, lie denied
ever having executed a similar commission before, and excused
his compliance with the orders he received, upon the plea that
he dared not disobey the command, as he, being a subject of
the Kooar, was bound to act according to his sovereign's man-
date. He admitted, that during the last ten years. an annual
sacrifice of human victims had been offered to the blood-thirsty

goddess, for the purpose of propitiating the deity, and blessing-
the marriage of the Kooar with the sister of the Rajah of Jyn-
tea, with offspring ; the sacrifices being continued during a
period of four months. The victims selected for these horrid
rites, according to the prisoner's statement, were not sacrificed
publicly, although their immolation . was a matter of public
notoriety. In describing the ceremonies performed upon these
occasions, he informed his auditors, that the captive, being
adorned with a garland of flowers, is compelled to sit down,
the officiating priest completing the tragedy by severing the
throat with the sacrificial knife. The wife of the Kooar was
always present at these sacrifices, and is said to have bathed
in the blood of the victims ; people being sent out in all direc-
tions to procure them from foreign territories, in order to afford
her the opportunity of trying the effect of this fearful rite."
" Glimpses of a Poet's Dream" is full of truth,
freshness, and feeling. The " Familiar Analysis of
Sanscrit Prosody," we mention here merely to di-
rect the attention of Oriental scholars, to whom it will
prove of invaluable service. To 'other readers few of
the remaining articles will prove of much interest.
The notes of the month are as usual, very carefully con-
densed and arranged.