The Sun.
London, England, 1862-12-22 00:00:00

LAW---THIS DAY.

LORD MAYOR'S COURT.
(Before the Recorder and a Common Jury.)

THE CUSTOM OF THE CORN-MARKET.-.A.YRE V. FORSTER

This was an action to recover £27 10s., commission on
the sale and resale of a quantity of oil cake, and it was tried
late on Saturday afternoon.
Mr. Henry James (instructed by Mr. Sorrell. of Mark..
lane) appeared for the plaintiff, and Mr. Day (instructed by
Mr. Waghorn, of Mark-lane) for defendant,.
Mr. James, in opening the case, said he should abun-
dantly prove both by the contract and the documentary
evidence that plaintiff was entitled to his commission.
Plaintiff said—l am a corn factor and commission agent of
Mark-lane. Some time since I heard that Messrs. Fowlers
(who deal very largely in it) had a quantity of oil cake
lying at Hull. Defendant offered £9 10s. per ton for it,
and subsequently £9 15s. This price being accepted, the
bought and sold notes were duly sent in. Defendant did
not show any desire to send for the cake, and I spoke to
him about it in the corn market. Dad• by day he promised
me he would see to it. At length I was compelled to re-
sell, and the whole commission is £27 10s. Defendant has
repeatedly promised to pay me.
Cross-examined—I one not a sworn broker. It was
perfectly understood that the cake should bo delivered
in Hull.

Mr. Day said that defendant entirely misunderstood the
contract. He understood that the cake would be sent to
London, or to Rye, in Sussex, for £9 15s.
Defendant was called, and said that he offered £9 10s. in
Hull, or £9 158. in London. He did not think the bought
and sold notes were contracts. A contract should be signed
by the contracting parties, Did not promise to pay the
plaintiff.
Cross-examined—l did not answer plaintiff's letters, be-
cause I was anxious net to commit myself.
His Lordship, in summing up, remarked, that in all cases
where the evidence was conflicting the jury should look
carefully at the documentary portion of the case. Here,
then, there were the bought and sold notes, and plaintiff's
letters demanding payment. Defendant had retained the
bought note, and, therefore, if the jury should think he did
so, they would find for the plaintiff. If they thought he did
not know the nature of the transaction they would find for
the defendant.

The jury, after a brief deliberation, found a verdict for
the plaintiff.

SHERIFFS' COURT.
(Before M. Kerr.)

THE RECENT ALLEGED MURDER IN FENCHTJRCH-STREET,
-THE GIRL HUMBLER SUING FOR HER GOODS...

HUMBLER V, DANT&

This was an action to recover the sum of £2, damages for
the alleged detention and wrongful conversion of certain
earing apparel the property of plaintiff.
Mr. Lewis, jun., appeared for defendant, who is a sweep,
ofSussex-street, Leadenhall-street.

Mrs. Humbler said—My husband's name is John Hum-
bler. I was living in the house of Gardner, the sweep, who
was convicted at the Old Bailey for the murder of his wife.
My property was in the house in Northumberland-alley. It
is now detained by the defendant. He has no right to it.
It was not Gardner's property.
Mr. Lewis—ln order to save the time of the Court, I can
only say that my client purchased the things in Gardner's
house after the murder, and he gave £lO for them. Now
I wish to ask Mrs. Humbler a question. Does your hus-
band know of this summons ?
Mrs. Humbler—He does.

Mr. Lewis—Are you not separated from your husband ?
His Honour —What is the use of asking her what every
newspaper in the country has already told us. Now, Mrs.
Humbler, will you swear that your husband knows of the
case.

Mrs. Humbler—He does. I have a witness here who will
prove that the goods belong to my husband.
Mr. Lewis—When did you see your husband last?
Mrs. Humbler—l cannot say. I cannot say if it was two
months or one month.

Monger— I am the detective officer who had charge of the
case, and the things I am inclined to think belong to the
plaintiff who is separated from his wife.
Mrs. Humbler, sen., said—l am John Humbler's mother,
and I can say that these things belong to my son, and not
to Gardner at all. I cannot say if my son knows of this
summons, but he was told about the affair and promised to
be here to-day. I am prepared to say that the goods belong
to plaintiff.
Mrs. Humbler, jun.—And I have some one here who will
prove that Davis said he would rather chop up the things
than I should have them.

His Honour—The great question here is, does John
Humbler know of this action, and I must be quite satisfied
upon that question.

Mrs. Humbler, sen.—My son will be here to-day.
His Honour—Very well, the case can be adjourned.
Adjourned.

PRESIDENT LINCOLN.

_,~~_.

We spent a few days recently in the Washingt on city
and while there saw many things and heard many things
which seemed to us very suggestive evidence of the extra-
ordinary progress with which the nation is rushing onward
in its history. The presence of an armed guard at the
gates of the Executive mansion every morning, and the
care taken to keep strangers outside of the approaches to
the building, was to us something new. Upon inquiry we
ascertained that this guard was only employed to keep
strangers out until the President should arrive from the
Soldiers' Home, where he has resided for many months.
His arrival and departure from the Executive mansion are,
notwithstanding the melancholy suggestions they render,
peculiarly ren,arkable. We saw him leave the building on
Sunday afternoon, and the manner was as follows :
About half-past five a mounted guard, numbering some
thirty or more troopers, all armed with drawn sabres, ex-
tensive spears, dangling and rattling scabbards, fierce
beards, and revolvers stuck in their holsters, dashed
furiously through the streets, and entered the ground
north of the President's house. At the steps in front of the
door, and under the archway, was a carriage. The officer
or one of the officers, of the mounted guard alighted and
entered the house. In about ten minutes he appeared at
the door, and, giving the signal, the carriage door was
opened, the guards put themselves in martial attitudes,
commands were given, and then the P esident, bending
under a weight of mental anxiety which has worked heavily
upon his physical frame, appeared with a portfolio under
his arm, and, with one or more soldiers at each side, walked
rapidly to the carriage and entered it. Two officers jumped
in also, the door was slammed, the guard galloped into posi-
tion, and the carriage containing the President of the United
States was driven off, preceded by troopers, followed by
troopers, and flanked on both sides by troopers. At a very
rapid pace the party left the ground, and upon reaching
the avenue proceeded at a hand gallop out Four-
teenth-street towards the Soldiers' Home. All this,
we confess, appeared to us to be very ridiculous.
Even Mr. Buchanan, whose conscience, if it over caused a
President a thought as to his personal safety, ought per-
haps to have been troubled as much as that of any one who
ever held the office, never seemed to fear assassination or
personal violence, but habitually walked, unattended, to all
parts of the city. But justice to Mr. Lincoln and to those
who may have advised him to this proceeding requires that
the reasons for the proceeding—we mean the reasons fur-
nished by public gossip—should also be given. One story
runs that as the President was returning to the city on
horseback one morning some months ago he was fired
at just within the city limits; that the President
escaped, and that with whip, voice, heels, and every
other appliance used upon his horse, that animal made such
time to the President's house as had never been equalled
before. In the run the President lost his hat, and did not
stop to recover it, but reached his house in the city breath:
less and dust-covered. The official report of the occurrence
was that the horse of the President had become frightened
and ran off with him. The next story is that as Mr. Lin-
coln was riding towards the Soldiers' Home late in the
afternoon, and when he had entered the narrow and once
shady lane west of that building, he was fired upon twice
by a man who stood behind the fence on the side of-the
road. The President escaped unhurt, but his horse was
slightly wounded. The alarm wad given, the man was
overtaken, and is now confined in some one of the many
Government prisons where the order to commit is not re-
quired to name the cause of arrest. We repeat that we
give only the current stories of the metropolis
as to the alleged attempts to assassinate Mr. Lin-
coln. If he has no fear of personal violence or insult,
then this mounted guard is in very bad taste. It is a step
towards royal dignity that is ridiculous. We cannot believe
that it was ever suggested or provided by Mr, Lincoln.
Whoever advised him or whoever forced it upon him, has
done an act calculated more than all things (if no danger to
the President really existed) to make the President ridicu-
lous in the eyes of his countrymen. We cannot bring our
mind to the belief that any sane man ever has or ever will
attempt the assassination of the President. The flight
has
been Baltimore, with a long cloak and Scotch caP
been laughed into contelopt, and it is to be hoped that theas
President's advisers will not force him into any further
repetitions of that absurdity. For eve!. 80
.years the f
ohbaesdliaesntceed
twoiitthsocautnasntitaurrio.
army to
For
rotrhcee its laws
esroiordtothceompel
Pre-
sidents of the Republic have lived through their terms un-
awed by threats and untroubled by attempts at persDna
violence. Their security has been in the honour and respect
of the whole people for the officer chosen by the majority to
govern the nation. At last it has become necessary to call
armies into existence to put down armed resistance to the
laws and the constitution. Let us hope that, even in the
destruction of union, constitution, laws, government, and
nationality, the world will not be shocked by the spectacle
of a people who, unable to bear the weight of adversity,
have relapsed into barbarism, and made the dagger and the
bullet the law of the land, and given to the assassin's hand
the sceptre of power. Let us hope that this armed guard
of Mr. Lincoln is only a passing show, got up for the amuse-
ment of a gaping crowd, and that it has not, and never has
had, any foundation in a fear by the President or any of his
friends that he was in danger of assassination.—Chicago
rot.