The Sun.
London, England, 1839-10-19 00:00:00

Mr. Cockburn—State what it is ?
After a variety of other questions, and consider-
able hesitation, it was ascertained that the only ar.
tides in the house were a solitary chair and table !
Mr.iParr, the Assessor—lt has been held that a
cat would be sufficient.
Mr. Cockburn—But the claimant has said there
is not even a cat here ; there may, however, be a
rat; and from what I can understand of the
borough of Poole, these animals are not unfre-
quently met with here.
Claimant—lt was perfectly well known why I
took the house. I got a vote for the North-west
Ward.

Mr. Cockburn—Will you venture to swear yOu
are not to give up possession of the house after the
revision

Claimant-4 won't say at all; I may give it up
perhaps. I have been to the house three times to
see it, but had no purpose in doing so.
Mr. Cockburn—What, to pay morning calls to
the table and chair ? Who is your landlord ?
Claimant—Mr. Absolam Cole.—(Great sur-
prise manifested, as by the rating the house in
question appeared by the Poor's-rate to belong to
" Mary Parr.")
Mr. Cockburn—How do you know Mr. Cole is
the landlord ?
Claimant—l don't know.
Mr. Cockburn—Have you ever been rated for
this house in Bowling Green-alley.
Claimant—Never ; nor claimed to be rated.
Mr. Cockburn here called upon Cole, who was
in Court prompting the " Tory-Radical" advocate,
to say to whom the house belonged, but Cole de-
clined.

It was but too evident from the profuse perspira-
tion of the Claimant during his examination, as also
from the extreme embarrassment in his manner that,
all was not right, and no sooner had he escaped
from the box, than he at once bolted out of Court
in spite of all the efforts of his party to retain him.
Mr. Cockburn then proceeded to address the
Court, in a most powerful speech, urging upon the
bench the utter barefacedness and mala:fide of this
transaction, which was purely fictitious and fraudu-
lent—and observed that the house should be more
properly described " Faggot Cottage."
Mr. Parr, one of the Assessors, here leaving, de-
tained the Court for upwards of an hour and a half,
without any apology or excuse.
The Court stated there could be no doubt as to
the sufficiency of the occupation I ! but as there
had been no claim to be rated it must be disallowed.
In the course of the day, and with reference to
this particular case, Mr. Parr, one of the Assessors,
observed it has been considered meritorious to ob-
tain a 'franchise, which drew forth such a rebuke
from the Learned Counsel to the Bench, in refer-
ence to the Faggot Voter, as will not easily be
forgotten by them.
The next case was that of a labourer and pauper
in one of the out parishes of the name of " Fish."
Thomas L. Whitt, one of the constables of the.
Borough was called to prove service of the notice,
and that claimant's rates had all been paid, and thAt
he had occupied for three years.
Cross-examined by Mr. Cockburn—Where did
the man sign it for you ?
Whitt—On the pales in front of his house.
Mr. Cockburn—Who paid the rates for him ?
Whitt—l did.
Mr. Cockburn—How many otters did you
pay for ? '

Whitt—For five others. I paid 5/. 18s. 7d.
together.
Mr. Cockburn—Where did you get the mone.y ?
Whitt—Out of my pocket.
Mr. Cockburn—Who gave it you.?
Whitt—l won't tell you.
Mr. Cockburn demanded the interference of the
Court to compel the witness to answer the ques-
tion. After some delay, the Bench said the wit-
ness must answer.
Mr. Cockburn—Who gave you the money, Sir?
Whitt—Mr. Squires.
Great indignation here expressed, Squires being
a clerk to the firm of Messrs. Robert, Thomas, and
James Slade, of Poole, merchants, one of whom
is the Mayor.
Mr. Cockburn—Who is Mr. Squires ?,
Whitt—The clerk of Messrs. Slade.
Mr. Cockburn—Did he tell you what to do with
the money ?
Whitt—No, he never said a word.
Mr. Cockburn—l insist upon your telling Int
whether you ever have had any other sums of
money in this mysterious manner ?
Whitt—Yes, I have.
At this point an individual expressing his sur-
prise at the exposure, the Mayor took occasion to
adjourn the Court.

.Mr. Cockburn vehemently protested against such
a course, and under such a flimsy pretext, at the
early hour of half-past four ! and whilst nearly
100 cases remained to go through, and only one
day left in which, by the Municipal Act the Lists
could be revised, in the midst of which the Mayer
retired.

Before concluding this day's proceedings, it
should be stated that the persons for whom Whitt
paid the rates have been invariably excused by the
Magistrates on their own application, on the ground
of poverty. And yet these are the persons put
forward by the so-called Conservatives to endeavour
to swamp an independent contituency, in order to
clothe, feed, and support paupers ofa larger growth,
who are now fattening on the hard earnings at the
tradesmen of Poole, forced from them under pain of
distress in the shape of Borough-rates.