The Sun.
London, England, 1837-02-04 00:00:00

MR. LE,HMERE CHARLTON.

As will be perceived from what took place in Parliament
last night, notwithstanding every exertion on the part of Mr.
Lechmere Charlton to evade the service of the warrant of the
Lord Chancellor, for his commitment, Mr. Allen, the active
tipstaff of the Court of Chancery, succeeded last night in
capturing that gentleman, and has him at the present
moment in durance vile in that prison-house of the Court
of Chancery 'yclept the Fleet. Mr. Allen, who has been ac-
tively employed ever since the Chancellor issued his warrant in
endeavouring to discover the place of Mr. Charlton's conceal-
ment, having information, from the best authority, that he was
within the walls of his own house, No. 12, York-road,
Lambeth, proceeded thither yesterday afternoon, accom-
panied by another officer, determined if possible to obtain
an entry by means of the .area; in this, however, they
were foiled by the vigilance of an elderly female, who
acts as servant in the house. Nothing daunted, Mr. Allen
and the officer loitered in the neighbourhood, in order to seize
the first opportunity of obtaining admission, and securing the
person of the Learned Member of Parliament. They waited
upwards of an hour, and were almost despairing that the re-
sult of their efforts would be successful, when the elderly
female made her appearance at the door, and, after looking
round her, ventured out. Mr. Allen at that time being on the
other side of the street, could not make an attempt to
gain admittance, but he determined to await her return
which took place shortly afterwards; he then, together with
his brother officer, after some struggles with the old lady,
who vociferously declared that she knew no such person as
Mr. Charlton, succeeded in obtaining admission to the house,
in which Mr. Allen had hardly set his foot, before he was at-
tacked by a large dog. which he managed to rid himself of by
kicking down stairs. He then went over the house, and discovered
Mr. Charlton in the back-room on the first flight of stairs.
Upon showing him the warrant of the Lord Chancellor, Mr.
Charlton appeared much excited, and denied that the officer
had any authority to take him into custody, until the decision
of the Committee of the House of Commons, which had
been appointed to inquire into the case, should be
known. Mr. Allen said he had but one duty to per-
form, which was to ob6y the orders of the Lord Chancellor.
and by those orders he was compelled to take Mr. Charlton
to the Fleet. Finding it useless to attempt to alter the de-
termination of the officer, after writing to the Speaker of the
House of Commons, Mi. Charlton quietly stepped into a
hackney-coach, and as quietly stepped out again to take his
rest for the night in the Fleet—during the ride to which he
laughed most heartily at the various attempts that had been
made to secure him—especially those of having officers to at-
tend the arrival of all the foreign steam-vessels, declaring
that he had never been out of the kingdom or ever thought
of it.
The LORD CHANCELLOR, we understand, is determined to
enforce his authority to the uttermost, though many consti-
tutional lawyers are inclined to think his Lordship has ex-
ceeded his authority.