The Sun.
London, England, 1839-07-23 00:00:00

NEW ZEALAND LANDS.
The DIRECTORS of the NEW ZEALAND LAND
COMPANY hereby give notice, that the whole of the 110,000
acres offered for sale, in the first and principal Settlement,
having been DISPOSED OF, purchasers are required to pay
the balance of their respective purchase monies to the Com-
pany's bankers, Messrs. Smith, Payne, and Smiths, on or
before THUS►SDAY the 25th day of July instant.
The Directors also give notice, that the lots for priority of
choice will be drawn at the Company's office, in the presence of
the Directors, on MONDAY the 29th day of July instant, at
Twelve o'clock at noon precisely, when purchasers are requested
to attend by themselves or their agents. If any shall have
failed to complete their purchases, their deposits will be for-
feited, and they will be deprived of the benefit of the lottery for
priority of choice.
. _

By Order of the Directors,
JOHN WARD, Secretary.
No. 1, Adam-street, Adelphi, 16th July, 1839.

PALLISER'S FINSBURY CAR-
• RIAGE DEPOT, No. 8, FINSBURY PLACE
(Eight Doors from Finsbury-square).—The Public are re-
spectfully invited to inspect the STOCK of New and Second-
hand CARRIAGES of every description, at such prices as will
enable Merchants, Captains, and others to purchase Wholesale
for Exportation. All new Carriages warranted for one year.
Sadlery and Harness at wholesale prices. Harness on hire.
At 8, Finsbury-place, and 4, Bruton-street, Bond-street.

BENJAMIN EDGINGTON;
MARQUEE, TENT, FLAG, and RICK CLOTH
MANUFACTURER, No. 2, DUKE-STREET, SOUTH-
WARK, respectfully informs Agriculturists and others, that the
whole of the canvass, consisting of many thou=and yards, used
for covering in the Quadrangle at Queen's College, Oxford, on
the occasion of the great English Agricultural Dinner, is now
to be sold.

Agriculturists and others have such an opportunity of sup
plying themselves with RICK CLOTHS, WAGGON
CLOTHS, &c., as seldom occurs. B. E. assures them the
Canvass is of the best quality, and well adapted for farming and
other purposes. It was manufactured purposely for this occa-
sion, and is made up in various sizes, suitable for hay and corn
stacks, with the intention of selling it after its present use.
Orders per post duly attended to, addressed Benjamin Edg-
ington, 2, Duke-street, Southwark.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

INSOLVENT DEBTORS' COURT, JULY 22.

James Selway, who had been before the Court on a
former day, again came up.
The insolvent, a commission horse dealer, bad been
" four times" discharged under the Act, and once a bank-
rupt. The present was his " sixth" appearance as debtor.
He had married the widow Dobell, who kept the Talbot,
in Gray's Inn• lane, and complained that he had been turned
cut. There was a settlement on the marriage. The in-
solvent had purchased a horse of Mr. Collins, the opposing
creditor, for 551. ; he sold it for 351., and it was re-sold for
651. When the insolvent was served with a writ, he put
himself into a great passion, and condemned lawyers and
Commissioners to a certain place.
. _

The COURT remanded the insolvent at the suit of Mr.
Collins, for four months.

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—YoBA-, JULY IS.

Mr. Sergeant ACIIERLEY (with whom were Mr. Cress-
well and Mr. Wightman) stated the case.
This was a criminal information filed against the defen-
dant, Mr. Feargus O'Connor, for a false and scandalous
libel upon the Guardians of the Poor of the Warminster
Union, inserted in a newspaper called the Northern Star,
published•at Leeds, in this county, and having a consider-
able circulation. The defendant was, in the month of De-
cember last, when the article was published, the sole pro-
prietor of that paper ; and the only question 'would be to
determine the law with regard to the libel. It was too
well known that for some time past the. Poor-law Amend-

merit Act had been the subject Of considerable discussion.
No doubt, while that Bill
,was pending before Parliament,
. .

many men, both of sober minds and the best intentions,
went so far as to doubt the policy of that measure
of Parliament, and undoubtedly it was :competent, in
this country, fcr every man to express his opinion
upon that and every other measure discussed in the
House of Commons, and to petition, to instruct his
representatives, and use all constitutional and legal
means to oppose it ; but it could not be endured, in this or
any other country, that, when a measure became the law
of the land, it should be opposed by physical force, or
statements having a tendency to inflame or excite the
public mind. Whether the paragraph in question was one
to which these remarks applied would be for the Jury,
under his Lordship's direction, to determine. The article,
which appeared on the 223 of December last, was headed
" Warminster Bastile," and was as follows:—" A little
boy, last week, for some small offence, was confined in one
of the cells belonging to the above workhouse, and was
literally starved to death. The poor little fellow, during
his confinement, actually, in consequence of such conduct,
ate two of his fingers and the flesh off his arm." Now
lie should prove not only that no such circumstance had
ever occurred, but that, in point of fact, no child had died
in the workhouse at that time. The mischief cf such an
article was not to persons of sober minds, but to those
who were too ready to believe it—too ready to exaverate,
and often on that belief to act inimically to the Govern-
ment. Many might smile at the absurdity of the assertion
that a child had eaten two of its fingers, but there were
unfortunately too many ready to give credence to it, and it
was by the circulation of such paragraphs that the public
mind was abused, and the public peace disturbed. He
would now give the necessary evidence to prove that the
defendant was the proprietor of the Northern Star, and
then leave the case in the hands of the Jury, trusting that
they would not allow the defendant to escape, because that
which was ridiculous was joined to a distinct and grave
charge, but pronounce such a verdict as should give at
once calmness to the public mind and steadiness and secu-
rity to the public peace.
feni\ldarn.
tßlavnaskst, from
hep the
rop am
rietSotrofp;ohefficNee,
Newspaper
that
peeri b
in question,
qtuee de-
stion
and produced an order of the Poor-law Commissioners
constituting the Warminster Union.
The libel was then read.

Mr. Merchant, the governor of the-workhouse was called,
and stated his belief that the article applied to the Warmin.
stet- Union, near Leeds.
The truth or falsehood of the libel was not allowed to be
proved.
Mr. O'CONNOR, who appeared in person, then addressed

the jury for the defence. After the very temperate man-
ner in which the Learned Sergeant bad opened the case he
should not have felt it his duty to address a single obser-
vation to them if he did not feel that there was a perversion
of character here. He considered himself not the defen-
dant, but the plaintiff, and he must contend against the
doctrine which had been laid down by the Learned Counsel,
that the only question to consider was the legal part of
the case. He should contend, and he thought with his
Lordship's concurrence, that there was something be-
yond that. They must have observed, when the al-
leged libellous article was read, that the bar and the court
could scarcely refrain from laughing, and he would ask
them was there ever such an insignificant, so mean, so pre-
posterous and insolent a case brought into a court of justice
at this? The Learned Sergeant had said that this para-
graph was placed next to the leading article ; but was any
mention made of it in the lending article? No; it was
not served up as a repast—it was merely directed against
what was considered a bad law. Could any body believe
that a boy had eaten his fingers? He was sure the Gover-
nor of the workhouse did not believe the sory—nor did any
one else. The absurdity of it carried its contradiction.
The Learned Judge had said he would not allow the truth
of the article to be proved. He did. not seek to prove it.
He never was at Warminster in his life. He did not write
the article, and never saw it until the rule for this criminal
information had been moved for. It was copied from
another Newspaper, and if the Learned Sergeant had
read the whole of it they would have seen that it had

reference to the wages of the working classes of the
Warminster Union. He was, however, much indebted
to the Attorney-General for this prosecution, as prior to
it his Paper had but a small circulation about War-
minster, and now it was one of the strongholds
of the Northern Star. If the Attorney-General had
known the delicate grounds on which he stood, as
stated by his colleague at Edinburgh, he would have been
careful how he undertook this dangerous proceeding. Mr.
Macaulay had stated, when standing for Edinburgh, that if
the Government could lay claim to having done no good as
regarded the law of libel, they had at least done no harm,
as they had allowed that to remain a dead letter on the
statute book, which might have been a dangerous instru-
ment in the hands of a Tory government. A worse doc-
trine could not be propounded. Was the law of libel to be
like a muzzled dog, to be let loose at enemies, but not to
guard the household generally ? He had ever considered
that the Poor-law Amendment Act was a monstrous law,
and so long as he could speak he would use his constitu-
tional privilege to bring it into disrepute. This was alto-
getheiya contemptible prosecution. Where he had fired pops.,,
guns against this law, all the London papers had directed bat-
teries—and yet the whole glory of the London press had

It was understood yesterday, that thedefenclants were to
come into Court this morning to renew their recognizances,
and as Mr. Justice Coleridge bad got through all the busi-
ness in the calendar, it was arranged that this formality
should be carried into effect before Mr. Justice Erskine
in the Nisi Prius Court. Accordingly, Mr. R,oberts (an
attorney), who had given bail, was called.
Mr. Roberts said that he was charged a month or two
ago with a misdemeanour, and sent to Salisbury gaol ; and
after some delay he put in bail, himself in 500/., and three
sureties each in 2501. On that charge he was here to an-
swer at the opening of the Court, and he had been here
ever since, with 50 witnesses, and was prepared to rebut
the charge. At the last moment he was told that the origi-
nal charge was abandoned, and a new charge preferred,
and at the present moment he did not know what the charge
was. He had not had a copy of the indictment, nor had he
seen the indictment.
Mr. Justice ERSKINE said the better way would be that
he should hear the indictment read, and then he could say
whether he would take his trial now or traverse ; but he
had understood that the defendant had already applied for
a traverse, and that all be had to do was to take bail for his
appearance.
Mr. Roberts said it was not quite so simple a case.
Mr. Justice ERSKINE said, if there was any doubt as to
what had taken place place yesterday, then Mr. Justice
Coleridge would attend in the other court.
Mr. CJEKBURN said, that on the part of the defendant
he was sorry hi Lordship should be troubled, but there
was come little difficulty about bail.
Mr. Robert said, he had come prepared to take his trial
3estcrdaY3 and he was not, therefore, prepared with bail.
He had sent to Bath and to Weymouth, where his former
bail lived, but a day or two must elapse before they could
arrive.

A conference here took place between the counsel, and
n the interim the other defendants, who were in prison,
were put to the bar to plead.
TV. Carrier, TV. Prouting Roberts, and H. Vincent
(lately in custody at Monmouth), were indicted for sedi-
tiously, unlawfully, and tumultuously assembling, with
others unknown, on the I 9 th November, 1838, armed with
fire and other weapons, and, by seditious, inflamatory, and
unlawful speeches endeavouring to inflame and excite the
people to hatred and contempt of the Government and
Constitution of the Realm.
William Potts, William Tucker, John Andrews, and
Samuel Harding, were indicted for a like offence on the
6th of May last.
To these indictments the defendants severally pleaded
" Not guilty."
Mr. COCKBURN then said, that if his client wished him
to adopt a course different from what he stated yesterday,
he should withdraw himself from the defence.
Mr. Roberts said the prisoners, if not tried now, must of
necessity be imprisoned for eight months; bail was required
of such an amount that they could not possibly get from
men of their own station, and they could not apply to
ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE. I others.

Mr. Justice COLERIDGE ITICITIy wished to know if they
desired to be tried now.

Mr. Roberts said they wished to be tried, they desired
to be tried under every disadvantage, even the present one.
Carrier asked what amount would be required of those
now in custody.
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE said themselves in 150!., and
three sureties in :M. each.

....„ -
Carrier said they would agree to that.
Mr. Roberts having conferred with the prisoners, said
that Andrews, Harding, and Tucker preferred to be tried
now. They could not procure bail, and it would be a
great hardship to keep them in gaol.
Mr. ERIE was quite willing to leave it with his
Lordship. . _

Mr. Justice COLERIDGE said, if it was so great a hard-
ship to the prisoners to be tried immediately, as well as to
be bound to find bail, he could adjourn this Commission.
Don't let it be said the defendants were under any hard-
ship ; he would come back here from Bristol, and that
would afford them abundant time to prepare.
Those three defendants then entered into their own re-
cognizances, in 1001. each, to appear at the next Assizes,
or sooner if called upon, and were discharged.
After some further discussion,
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE said Mr. Roberts' bail would
be, himself in 5001., and three sureties in 2501. each ;
three days' notice of bail to -be given to the prosecutor's
attorney. _

Mr. 'COCKBURN could not ask his Lordship to make any
order, but perhaps an intimation from the Bench would
have the same effect. He understood that when Mr. Roberts
was before committed, he had been subjected to a good
deal of rigour and hardship. He had been handcuffed and
treated with a good deal of severity, as if he had been a
convicted felon.

Mr. Justice COLERIDGE should have thought that a com-
mon felon, even after conviction, should not be handcuffed
without some absolute necessity.
Mr. Eng said, whatever was necessary for safe custody
the gaoler was bound to adopt.
Mr. Roberts begged to ask his Lordship to make a spe-
cific order that he should not be handcuffed, nor have a
straw bed nor an iron bedstead, and that be might be al-
lowed to have newspapers, and correspond without his
letters being read by the gaoler.
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE, without knowing the circum-
stances, was bound to suspend his judgment. Nothing of
that kind ought to be done, unless under extraordinary
circumstances, and there was a remedy for any grievance.
Mr. Roberts had Written to the Secretary of State, and
had been refused.

Mr. Justice COLERIDGE must suppose the Secretary of
State had good grounds for his refusal. If a gaoler did
anything that was improper, the party should apply to the
Visiting Magistrates for redress.
Mr. Roberts had done so.
Mr. Justice CoLnatnoc had no doubt the Magistrates

were justified in what they had done.
Carrier wished to know what authoiity justified the
gaoler preventing his attorney visiting him. He begged
for an order on that point.
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE could not make the order. The
Magistrates made gaol regulations, and they might appear
hard. If there was any ground of complaint it should bo
made to the Visiting Magistrates, who were bound to take
notice of it.

Carrier had mentioned it to the Visiting Magistrate, who
refused to make an order because Mr. Roberts was a co-
delinquent at the time.
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE said that was his reason, and he
was not prepared to say that he was wrong. The defen-
dants were not to suppose they would be treated with
severity.
Carrier would not have supposed it, had he not expe.
rienced it.
Potts said, when taken to Salisbury gaol he bad been
handcuffed, immured in a dungeon, and denied the use of
any books but religious books.
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE presumed it was according to
the prison regulations; he could not alter them. He did
not know that there was any great hardship in being con-
fined to the use of religious books.
Mr. Roberts had been just informed by the goaler, that
he would not be allowed to see his clerk in private.
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE could not see any objection to
that being allowed.
The goaler said, the prison regulations directed it.
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE—What, when a prisoner is
committed until, he finds bail ?
The gaoler answered, that it applied to all prisoners.
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE thought that rule might be dis-
pensed with.
Mr. Roberts must ask that he might not sleep on a
straw bed?
Mr. Justice COLERIDGE did not see why he was to
make any difference in the situation of Mr. Roberts and
other parties. Why was not the equality contended for
to apply in this case ?
Mr. Roberts (with great emphasis. )_Then I have a
renewed conviction, and shall oppose the present system.
The defendant was then taken into the dock.

MIDLAND ClRCUlT—NorrixamAm, Jurx 19.
The commission was opened for this town and county
yesterday by Mr. Justice Littledale, who, after attending
divine service, proceeded to the town hall to dispose of the
town prisoners. His labours in this respect were light, for
there were only two cases of larceny on the calendar, and
one of uttering a forged bill of exchange, in which latter
case the indictment was removed by certiorari into the
Court of Queen's Bench. There were also three civil
causes for trial in the town, one of which was an action of
trespass to try the right to a passage to a cellar, and the
other two were actions on bills of exchange.
The county bbsiness was commenced this morning, Mr.
Justice Littledale presiding on the civil side, Lord Abin-
ger in the Crown Court. There were only three cap ses
Ratcrectfor trial, besides two,indictmenta which -Val -b4Ceir
removed by certiorari into the Court of .Qizetn's Bench.
His Lordship disposed of two of the causes to-day. The