The Sun.
London, England, 1801-01-29 00:00:00

tncrara.

Remain in the Downs,. Nis Majesty's Ships
Ovevssel, Agame►nnon, Ruby, -Heiden, the ihea-
ereo'n Brig, Tenzer Gun:veihO, King Geoige,
()yeen,"C.ygnet, and Kent ArineaCutters.

EXTRACT OF A LETTER FROM CAUL'. SAMUEL A.

wIi,ITN'EY, OP THE SHIP HIttAM,'D'ATED FORT
koYAL,MAiTikitQUE,'Nov. 22,1800, 'To A
MERCHANT IN I,IVERPOoL.
" I ha've a very unpleasant account to give you
of the ikiratit,- which, aftei'belog twice taken and
re-taken, arrived here the z 3th mat after being
one huricired and two days at sea ;. the -circum-
stances are' these,--=-on the z 3th Sept. being in
long. 15. and lat.. 30. I was overtaken by a
French Sloop :Of war brig, called the. Cur;iurt,
Capt. RATLETT, from Cayenne, on a cruise of
two months, tend'then to France, who after on sic.
amination of my papers pronounced the greater
part of my property to he. English they then
took out all my people, (except my brother, one
'green hanO, and a boy of .12 years of pge,) and
put 'on board two officers and eighOtteo, aUcl,
ordered us for Cayenne, and after keeping us com-
pany for two days, .and after -robbing us of it lower
yard, a cask of water, a ship ..glasi, andsundry
matters,- they left us. -I, on first discover.
;iv her to be French, went below, loaded my
and hid thein away in a crate of -watt,
Hieh if I.had not dope I should have lost them,
i'4.)t- t less than three different times tyas my trunk
,;trched, my brother's sliest, and the cabin all
and they were a cautintriaS though they read
leterrnina,tion in- my, facEe. -The officers w.ould
not allow"tare man to go off deck at any time,
and they-eat, &auk and slept on deck thetwelves,

. -
hencoop; •his-ate- at :the- wheel; and their people.
on different parts of the main deck, my brother
and man on the lee side of the windlass; under
these. circumstances I made.the attempt, by first'
knoekiiig down the Mateat the Wheel, the Prize-.
• master )umped.up,sci quick that rcould get
• very slight stroke at him, he then drew his dirk.
upon me,. but I closed in with him, sallied him
our to the quarter rail And hove him overboard,
but he caught by the main sheet which prevented
his going into the-water ; by this time.' had the
remaining eight' upon me, two of whom I knocked
• backwards off the quartet deck ;by this time my
people got aft with handspikes,, and plaYedtheir
parts so well ;that I was; soon at liberty again ; I
then drew a pistol and shot 'a black felloW in the
head who was coming to me with a broad axe •
uplifted, th - ball cut' him -into the; skull bone and
then glanced; but it stunned him and amazed all
the rest, •who had no suipicion of my havitt
pistols. By this:tinietheMate,who J first knock-
:ed ddsirn,' had recOvereiland got a loaded pistol
..out of his trunk, arid, apparently., fired it directly in
my nian's face, but•she ; the Prize-
master got on; oar's! again arid stabbed my, brother
in the side, but not so •bad as-to:oblige him to
give ,out -aiiiiirtiVnadga ttre-Py- ;1n this situa-
tion we had it pelf mei!, fur abut a quarter of .an
hour,
.when at 'hist we'gOt.thurn ;stunning and
followed•thern so close, knocking down the hinder.-
Most as;Sve. came up with tho.m,, nntil part malt,
their, escape ,below ;. the. resCthen began to cry;
for mercy, which we granted ion= their delivering
up their,artris, which conslited,'of
horseman's pistol, a anidshipinan'Sciiik; a tumid
axe,. a hand-sisis,.'and two etispty-junclt bottles.
MTh then'tnarkihecl:them all aft into the cabin, anti
brought them'ap nne at a. tiling', andafter exatnin.:.!
ing for knives,, &c. we confined them down fort
ward. Clifihis -tithe it . was quite daerk; and MY
, brother, was isbliged to give oui and lay in gx genie
pairffOlorty-eight; hours, estpeding'every
ment to be hklast,btit he afterwards reeovirii
akoniihingly and was soon able to keep his watch;
may "mal got so drunk that I could not keep him
awake at iiightiiso that there was nay my little.•
44 and r to "wnrk the ship, watch the French,
and attend 'thy brother ; I kept a Frnoch.lhd upon
deck, the'onli,lorte that wa.s not wounded, and
• kept him ar the:Wrkeel all night; the weather was
extremely:fine and the Frenclotnen quite peaceable,
,o that I met with little ditficnilty.
".-Thus we kept possessiun of her for ten days,
when we. had teathad•wirftin two or three days
sail of Savannah,. being in•tlie long. of 75., on the
27th Sept. was again overtaken by a -,.French
L m
privateer,
of euiii
erfromGvling papersdalou)t,i .who, without' any
(04
to
find
out
the contents of my packagesj.carnelinmediately
..00board, broke open the hatches; arid titled the
deck with Wes, trunks, cases, tic. and after ex-
amining for the moat ii•niuitblegotxis /03qt thum,gpit
. board: the privateer ; .as her cruise was nearly itt
an end, having sent off their. men, they hotie
overboard all th'eir empty water casks and lumber
of all kinds, -and filled themselves, as ftillr as
.an
egg out of us, not leaving room for their; people
to sleep below. They were two days ;at work upors
us ; they then. took .out .any brothel., man arit4
boy, (leaving Inc on board) and all the former-
French crew, except four men, and pqt on board
Ir, more of their own men, and after plurals:ring.
me of part ditty eloaths, brass-hanging compass,'
carpenter's tools, spire Cordage, deep.sca line)
and many other like stores, they left us, urcleri%
us for Guadaloupe ; and ;after being. • forty.s.ik
days longer in their hands, .we were taken by,his,
Majesty's Ship uniti, and sent into -:Marti:
pique.".

We arc: concerned to state, that the hope,
Which have been enteitained of the s.ifety of the
Orestes, appear to have but little foundation.
She left Bombay on the 31st of Oaober, 1799;
on,a cruize in the Gulph of 'Persia she was seers
on the 4th a November, 'old on,theith the most
tre.nendous 'hurricane took place that hart ;been
known in indin fOr upwards of bole n t een years,
since which time she has not been heard of.

Captaitt SctiomilExit; is appointed to the COMa
twit-xi of the;Essex Sett.:Feociblesi ,vice Capt4irt
0.131 ti EN) promoted,

Yestertidy sesnnight Capt. Hos, of His Ma-
isty's Ship Atiooll' took possession of eight
Danish And Swedish Vvssels in the Pon of Liver.
pool.

Yesterday a COurt of Direftors was held at the
East India4louse, when the following Cointaan-
Jen took leave, previous to departing for their
respeitive destinations:
Captain VIM, STANLEY CLAiusa, of the True
:614t0n ; Cuptain 6 (31:GE MILLETT, Of the Hun-
dcitan ; and Caprain jAs. IloancAsTic, of the
)lop, for Madras and China.

Captain.PATßAtt IlukT, of the Duke of Mon.:
trotc.i captain 'ETSR SAMk6u N of the Dkft.pt r
Castle; Captain •JQHN A&TIIAM Cuatjv it 1. ft G
of the Charlton ; Captain 1:ow-ARE, liaitoFoßD,
of the Admiral Uutdeter,; a) d C4l..itaiti Wm.
M,k3a;11,1„, of the 'Calcutta, tut Madras and
Bengal.
Capt. WM..1111 CARRUIVER's WaS SWOrn into
the commatid of the Henry Dtmlar, destined to
Bengal.
1 he Court acquitted CaFtain Ctt is his
Ofirilei:cearst osfy
t!nsailvialidnonteeiinatnly rlr
thety
Owners to build another shy on her bottom.

The V,rnw jeseina, Diorickg, from lhanbro to
Livetpool, has been.det.tio4l by the king George
Cutter, allS since lost of Dover ; part of the
cargo sexed.
The Convert, 14i'Donalcl, from Demerarit to
Liverpool, is totally lost near Dingle, 'in Ireland.

be b

that
had
subj

que
;tire
La,

mei
as 1
the
fen
Int

in

never su•ertng one a a me •go o;
therefore I found I had no other cbancc but to
engage them openly by day-light; I dire, ed my
brother to.have a couple of handspikes in readi-
ness, and when he saw me begin, to come to my
assistance; thecrefore at four o'clock on the after-
noon of the fourth day after being taken, 1 se- j
cured my pistols in my waistband, went on deck, 1, -
Li
and found the Prize-master asleep oh the weather.. was
•I'aboAL. 01114. reedile daYI

1

(~

LAW REPORT.

COURT OF KINC's BENCH, TAW. 231

THE KING•J. WADDINGTQN•

Mr. Waddington being in Court,
Lord KENYON said,. ,that although this Case
was not the first among the Peremptories for this
day, yet being among them, it would,
_perhaps,
be better to dispose of that Case now.

Mr. Waddington said he humbly conceived
that he was. entitled to .speak to the Court befOre
udgment. was pronounced, for that the Court
had not yet received all the information upon the
subject which they ought to possess.
Lord ICE:Y...ON said, the Court, as he under-
stood, had heard all that was intended to be
urged on this subjeEl, and ,that nothing. was re-
maining hut for the Court to pronounce its judg,-
Ment ; but •if Mr. Waddington wanted to. add
any thing more, perhaps the better way would
be .for him to be remanded, and for the Court
to put off the Case until the next Term.

. .
Mr. Waddington- said he considered this as a
question of National importance, and deeply
affecting the Character of the Nation and the
Law of the Land.

Lord KENYON said, that fudges, like other
men, were subject to the infirmities of men, but
as far as they had been hitherto able to judge of
the Case which was now before them, the De-
fendant was brought to receive Judgment for a
breach of the Law of this Land.

• Mr. Waddington then proceeded to address the
Cotlit, and to lay before it the history of his
having entered into, and continued in the trade
in Hops ; the fluctuations in the price of that
article ; the deficiency in some years, and con
sequeistly the high price; for it Was not owing to
• the speculations of Mr. Waddington, but the
*Will of God, that there had been a Scarcity of
them.—Here he entered into certain calculations
as to the produce and the duty on Hops for the
• several years in which he was in the trade, dis-
tinguishing each year ; and then proceeded to
'insist that they 'were higher in price before he
became a Dealer in them,. than they bad been
since, and that his going into the trades had the
efrea of encouraging the growth and cultivation
of Ho s, and that of breaking a combination
Which had loitg before that time been carried on
;Mang the Dealers in that article ; from which he
maintained that what he did was useful to the
and meritorious instead of criminal, and
thatliops had been rather lower in price .now,
than they would have been if it had not been for
his speculation. He insisted that what he did was
not contrary to Law, for that all the old Sta.
totes .upon the subjeft of Forestalling; Regrating,
. Ate., were done:a-way, and repealed by the Statute
.of the i 2th of the present King, and that the
Case now before the Court, was rather the trial
of the it‘l of Parlianient than .of Mr. Wadding.
,ton. He begged of,' and intreated.the. Judges to
be cautious of what they were doing, for that
he was convinced they were under a delusion, in
tatisidering that his condua in this Case was' ille-
gal, and that the time was not far off whed .it
would be proeo, andauttioritatively declared to
be so ; and 'therefor; the Court would do well to
pause,, f.r it would not onlyho injurious to the
CharaCter of the' Nation at 'large,' in the Admit
nistration of its Justice, tut alSo disgraceful to
the Judges themselves; to 'pass 'a ;judgment for
Which there was no legal foundation: He main-
' tained that •the old Statutes and Maxims ujon
which his condua had been held to be. criminal,
were current only in the early periods of our His-
tory, when the very word CommiTcr, which had
brought us into our present splendour, way searee-
ly so much as to be seen in it Dictionary.. That
we were now in a situation to which nonenf
tlkese Maxims were applicable. ---At the ulost,
supposing ,his consina to be contrary to TAW,
which he confidently denied; it was punishing a
man for his ignorance to punish him at .all, for
be had' it conscientiously through .the whole
• of this business, as he had in the Test of his life,
which he vindicated in general terms, concluding
With the words; " To err is human, to forgive
Dit inc."
.•

Mr. Justice Game then proceeded to address
the Defendant, previous to delivering the judg_
went of the Court, in which the Learned Judge
went over the short history of the Ca'se as it
appeared upon the Trial at Worcester, but which
has been so frequently, and so amply before the
Public, that to detail it again
.would be quite
unnecessary. —The Learned Judge then proceed-
ed to observe, 4' That in the present stare of
what,was, culled. Paper Credit, human ingenuity
could not invent a mode, the tendency of which
was more to enhance the price Of an article of
necessity in life,.by preventing much of it from
coming to the Marker, or that which was there
from -Being sold at a fair market-price, than the
(Whit of the. Defendant in this Case, and this
wasdone at a place in which the dealing in the
article of Hops Was very extensive; the City of
Worcester ; from whence the Northern part of
this Country principally derived its Supply."—
Under such circumstances no man 'could help
seeing the consequences which must have follow.'
ed, for they were inevitable ; that of raising the
price of Hops from II!. to t 51. per Cwt. upon
which circumstances the Jury had found the De-
fendant Guilty. Upon this it had been argued
either that no Judgment • at all should be pro-
nounced upon the Defendant, because he was,
guilty of no offence, or that if that was not so,'
that the punishment ought to be a lenient one,—
As to the arguments in favour of an Arrest of
Judgmcnt,.if the Court thought that the Defend-
ant's condirl-‘was not contrary to Law, what-
ever they might think of' it in ally other light
yet judgment .ought robe arrested, and the, Court
would say so. When the Court recolleded the anxi-
ety of our Ancestors,- and'how they had frequent
ly expressed themselves against this crime of en-
hancing the price of the articles oflife, as appeared
by the maxims.of our Common Law; as handed
down to us.by.ourablest Reporters,- the Court
could not deem it otherwise than a very dangerous
precedent, to pats by thew MAXIM'S in the article

of Hops, which 0* inadt part or the tonsmou
Beverage of the People of this. Country. Most
unquestionably it Was a crime to enhance,
due means, the price of the article of Hops. It
would, 'indeed, he most unfortunate, if the t 2.11
of George the Third, which had been so I.
quently alluded to, had either repealed the Sta.
tutes it did not mention, or any part of the Corn.
mon Law upon this subjett for if it did, then it
would be legal for any man, by any means, to
enhance the price of any article, without Which
the Community could not exist ; but the Statute
of the 12th of George the Third, had no such
operation, and fortunate it 'was for Society it
had no such operation, and, therefore, to en.
hance, by undue means, the Price of the Articles
of Life, was against the present subsisting Law
of this Land.

In mitigation of the punishment. of the De.
fendant, the Court had been strongly addressed,
arid principally under the head of necessity
,ter
give as much scope as possible to the " P.'ecciotn
of Trade." This Freedom of Trade had been
urged, and urged very properly; as a topic for
the grave and mature consideration of the Court.
The Court had gravely and deliberately consider.
id it, and upon which the Court was most clearly
. of opinion, That for any individual, or number
of individuala, for his, or their own private
gain or emolument, to enhance the price of the
Necessaries of Life, thereby to prevent others
from purchasing them at the fair market rate,which
they might otherwise be sold for, constituted no
part of the Freedom of Trade, and was a pradlice
contrary to Law. The Freedom of Trade was
like the Liberty of the press, a great and a wilt].
able privilege, and a great pillar 'of a Free State ;
but the abuse of the freedom of trade, was like
the /ice/aim/less of the Press, to be checked when-
ever the good of the Community required it.—
God forbid that the Court should do any thing
that had the least tendency to violate the Free-
dom of Trade. On the contrary, the Court were
most anxious to proteCt that freedom. The Law
itself most anxiously provided for the protedion
of that freedom; for• it had declared, that to stop,
or interrupt, so as to prevent,, any person. from
bringing his goods to market, and taking them
from him, or obliging the owner to take less for .
them, than he might have gained for them at a
fair open market, was a capital offence, and those
who were guilty of it, Inrfeited their lives to the
Law; and wisely was this made the Law, for
the great obj of the Law was to encourage
men to bring their goods to open market, which
could not be expelled if men were ribt tirotteted
in so doing ; the Law had, therefore, provided
sufficiently for the punishment of those who Sin.
terrupt persons in bringing their goods to open
market. The -same Law took an interest in the
condition of that great class of SubjeCts, who are
Hums fil a public Marker and this part of the
Law might be called the. 14oteetion of the Poor
against the Rich; nor was. this, in any respeet,
new Law. From all time, it had been a.crime .
by the Law of England, unduly to enhance the
price of the Necessaries of Life, or. 'to prevent
their coming to market, to be fairly sold there,
:tither, flit:the purpose of enriching an indiVidual,
or fair any other purpose- The Freedom, of Trade
.had its legal litnits.a—No man was permitted, by
the-LawS of this Realm, to purchase what he
pleaSed, of whom, or, when, or where he pleased,
fora, certain goods were contraband, in which no
man sva permitted to trade,. In some, cases, none '
could trade •but those; who were authorized by
the Law ; and in others, the trade could he car.
vied on with none but those whom the Law notni-
nated for that purpose. It must he evident, that
by this,. he alluded to the 'East India Company.
In: the case of Naval Stores, which have the .
King'4 mark upon them, the Law had that
none but certain persons,, duly coamis,ioried for
chat purpose,, should deal in them.. Nor was any
man permitted to buy any articles of, nor sell
thein to, the Enemies' of the King.—. This the
Learned judge stated, to chew that the Freedom
of Trade, was like every other Freedom, subjed
to certain and necessary legal limits. For the
sake of the Public at large, and more especially
for the sake of the Poor Man, the Law paid an
anxious resped to the mode of the Sale of the. ne.
nessary Articles of Life, and had provided, that
the pride of them should not, oil.any account, be •
enhanced unfairly, either for the private profit of
anintliv idual,. or for any other purpose. In this,
and other respetts, the Freedom of Trade had its
limits ; it was, indeed, tike every other liberty,
and must be regulated by Law : The Court were
as much bound to. acquiesce in this part of the
Law, with regard to Trade, as They were sto ac.
quiesce in the !taw, which. proteEted those who'
were coining to market to expose their goods for
sale. The judges found it laid down in the
good beoks, by which a knowledge of the Law
Was inculcated, that -the Charge made upoo.the'
Defendant, and proved in this Case most saris.
fanorilY, was it crime, and ,one' that called for
the serious ettentiennf the Court, and they were
bound to treat it as such. Rut it had been said,
that the 4th anti sth of,Edward VI. was repealed
by the,Statute of the tath of *Geo, 111. as tar at
related to Forestalling. and Regretting, and from'
which it wits inferred, that to enhance, however.
unnecessarily, the price of any article whatever,
ceased to be a trime in the eye of the Law, and
this idea the Defendant was supposed to have ailed
under. This mode of treating the Case, supposed
the Defendant to have read that same Statute,
and. supposed also, -that others had considere'd it,
as well as the whole Law upon this subject, and
that the Defendant'hadadvised with others, who,
had had more opportunity Of studYing it titan;
himself: Those persona Might have told him,:
that the Statute of:he t ath of the present
did. not apply to the Case now before the Court.i
Thoi Statute did not say, that such ads ais the'
Defendant had committed, ceased- to be criminal,
nor 'was it necessary for any MI of Parliament to;
pronounce such cOnduCteriminal, becausa it ha 44
from the earliest times, and.consraotly,-beeti _Wt.!
tattered Crithin4by the Common Law. ~ •
The offence of. which rhe,Defendaat was con..
united was aalireet vitilation' gf the canrse acid -
n& of just and honourable Trade as well as Of

die taw of this Lind, inetiAnitell every
one tti bring his goods to matket, and to di,post
of sash goods to the best bidder. it 1%,.`1' :le-
corded that • the Defendant had been guilty
c.asilig the article of Hopi Vo advance to a much
higher price than any otheV market wrailti have
produced, but for his interference..—This was a
crime reprobated by the LaW of this Realm, and
for which the Defendant must be punished. ,
• The. Learned Judge then said, he could not, for
the Defendant's honour; suppose, that what was
said by Counsel in one particular, was true,
namely, that the Defendant had aded conscien-
tiously,'"under what he thought the prsovisious of
the t ath of Gee. 111. and according to his own
feelings of what the Legislature intended by pass..
ing that Ad.—The. Defendant, by appealing to
his own feelings, must have been assured that
the Legislature of a great and populous kingdom,
anxious to provide for the welfare of the people at
large, and especially for the more necessitous ob.
jets among them, could not have, intended to
have taken from the Lower Class of men that se-
curity which the Common Law of the land had
provided for them ages ago, and had continued to
afford to them under all the vicissitudes: through.
whiCh the Nation had past. It wits an indifferent
compliment to pay to any Legislature, to say, or
even to susped, that at-any time, such could have
been its intention—or that it ever did, or. intend.
ed to do any thing that would throw open a`door
for the rich matt to come to any place where there
may be an opportunity for him to speculate on
the Necessaries of Life at the expense of the Poor:
These arguments, therefore, if well considered,
could operate but little in mitigation of the sen.
tence to be pionounced on the Defendant, espe-
daily when the Court recolleded, that the De-
fendant's attention and caution had been awakened
on this matter by the first application against
him, in which his condud had shewn negled. at
least, not to say defiance of the consequences.—
The Court having considered all the circumstances
of this case, the nature and extent of the offence,
the time in which it was committed, and being
convinced it called for a precedent, which was to
operate as an example to others to beware of
cormuittinp the like in future, did order and ad.
judge, is That in addition to the imprisonment
lie had already suffeted, he be imprisoned 'in the
Prison of King's Bench for one month, that he do
pay to the King a fine of to01. anti that 'he be
further imprisoned until suc fine be paid,"
Mr. WADDINGTon, apparently in a rage, tore
a Copyy of the Ad of Parliament of. the .tath of
Geo. 111. which he had in his hand, saying it
was not worth a farthing. •
This Judgment is for the Worcester business
only.--that in Kent remains to be disposed of.

T&IV KING v. 144i30P. •
The ArroINiy.GEN, RAL prayed the Ithig-
!tient of the Court on A/hris -for Libel
on His Royal Highness the N ctt of WA t
published on•the sth of-Augut, r 79.7- He said
he was not .deiired to press the Court topaSs on
the Defendant any other sentence thin to tlie•jus.
rice of the Court should seem absolutely twees-
sary, on hearing the Libel read. .The Deltudant
had suffered Judgment to go: by default, .anti. the
reason why he was not brought •before the Court
sooner was, that the Officers hadnot apprehended
him until the last Term. Therewas an Affidavit
of the, Defendant, stating. his sorrow and contri-
tion, for this Libel, together with a promise not
to offend in future.

The Libel being read, the judgment of the
Court was, "'That in addition to the imprihon-
ment which the Defendant has already suffered,
which is from last Term, he be imprisoned in
Newgare for one year, and, that in than time, be
he set in and upon the pillory in the open street
in the Haymarket, for one hour, berween the
hours of twelve at noon and two in the after-
noon."

THE KIN° V. SHE'LTON.

The Defendant, Beniam;m. Shehitt, was a Sur.
veyor to: the Commisstoners for assessing under
the Income Duty, in a distrkt in War►vickshirc,
and he had been Indieled for making false Re..
turns, and tampering with some of tli Collectors
under him to do the same thing, to return to the
Commissioners less than was proper, and to pat
the remainder into his own .pocket ; for which he
was indkled, and he suffered Judgment to pass
by default.
The Sentence of the Court upon him was,
" That he be imprisoned in the common jail at
Warwick for one year, and that in that time,
he be set inand upon the pillory foe one hour, be-
tween the hours of twelve at noon and two in
the afternoon, an a market day, in• the open
Streit in. Warwick."