The Sun.
London, England, 1822-01-10 00:00:00

COORT OF KING'S BENCH, JAN. 9.
Before the Loup Clem*" JuarrcE and a Special Jury.
LORE V. BRIIFITT AND OTHERS.
This was an action against certain Custom-house officers for
seizing a quantity of crystallized verdigrise. The defendant
Brufitt went to the house of the plaintiff, a merchant in Ab-
church-lane, on pretence of purchasing verdigrise; a quantity
(about 2501 b.) was sliewn to him, when he declared that it was
French, and that _he had come to seize it ; Mr. Lore assured
the defendant that the artier was English and carried him to
the person from whom he had bought it ; Brufitt, however, per-
sisted in his intent, carted the verdigrise, and sent it to the Cus-
tom-house.
Mr. MARItYAT said that the verdigrise, even if it had been
French, was not on that account seizable; it had since-been sent
back to the plaintiff as English, but it had sustained so much
damage in its absetite -that he refused to accept it.
l. The So' c yrs:A:GENERAL contended that the verdigrise
had been packed and put up so as to resemble French verdigrise,
and that the officer, under the circumstances, had been justified
in his seizure.
Proof was given that the article had, been (in order to ob-
tain the highest price) made to resemble French as closely as
possible.
Mr. MArtnyaT proved the damage done to his client. The
verdigrise, after it came back from the Custom-house, sold for
little more than one-fourth of its original value. It appeared
also that in the ordinary custom of trade crystallized verdigrise
is made to resemble the French.
The SOLICITOR.GENEEAL then called a witness acquainted
with the trade, who declared that he should have bought the
verdigrise in questionls:Freneh. The cases, paper, and string,
were all imitations of the foreign..
The Loin!) CHIErjuSTICE said that, by act of Parliament,
it was for him to say whether there 'had or had not been pro-
bable cause for. the seizure. In his opinion there had been pro-
bable cause: •
Mr. MArtitl-AT submitted that the Jury must find for the
plaintiff before his,Lortiship could certify.
The SoLicrion.-(4N-ERAL admitted that the plaintiff,
must haVe a verdict, but denied that he could be entitled to
damages.
The Jury found for_the plaintiff—Damages 731. 15s. Bd.
The LORD ettlEt-jUSTIE said, that he should certify
under the act, that there had been probable cause of seizure.
What the effect of that certificate would be the law must decide;
LEWIS,V. WALTER.
This was an action against the Proprietor of THE TIMES
newspaper, for a libel published in-that paper. The defendant
had pleaded Not Guilty. Mr. CttiTTY opened the pleadings.
The SOLICITOR-GENERAL stated the plaintiff's case to
Jury. The plaintiff was, he said, an attorney of that Court,
and also the Coroner for the Duchy of Lancaster ' - the defend-
ant was proprietor of The Times .newspapee. The libel of
which he had to complain was published in the report of a trial
which took place at the Surrey Assizes, and certain observa-
tions of the publisher thereon., Reports -of legal proceedings
were very beneficial when made with impartiality and Candour,
but all who were at 'all conversant with. the proceedings Of
Courts of Justice must know that ex-parte statements must often
be made by Counsel, but yet nothing could be more unjust and
cruel than to publish such statements to the world. It often
happened that men of the most unblemished characters were
included in a criminal `charge ; ' circumstances were stated by
Counsel, and part 'of the, evidence gone through, when the
Judge interposes before a' single witness has been called for the
defendant, or a word said by his Counsel in his' behalf. This
was most 'cruel, ,he .might say most illegal; but how much
more cruel for ihi publisher to add his observations on the case ?
Such was the nature of the present ease. It happened that the
plaintiff was employed by a person named Bingham, in Hamp-
shire, against whom an
,execution had .beewissued, and the.
Sheriff was in possession of his goods. The property was given
up afterwards, and the person against whom it was held. in-
dicted he
.plaintiff, Mr. Bingham, and another person for a
conspiracy, which' came on for trial at Kingston. It happened
that the plaintiff was not properly-prepared to prove his case,
and the cause was therefore stopped. His Learned Friend (Ser.,
jeant-Onslow) stated a great number Of faCts hi the Jury Which
were not proved. His Learned Friend wasjustified in 'stating
them, for he spoke from his instructions ; yet.when he failedin
proving them, it was most unjustifiable to, publish them.. But
this waSnot fill"; at the conclusion of the report it was said,
" The. Jury, under the direction of the Learned Judge, were
obliged to acquit the defendants, to _ the great regret of
crowded Court : the statement of Counsel aziallieevidence, so,
far as it went, had made a strong iinpression of the guilt
of the
.defendants." With respect 'to public libels (said
the SolicitOr4.leneral); though frequentlY highly reprehensi-
ble, yet they were of a very different charaCter froth those of 'a
private nature. The spirit, of party paralized their,effect, but
against private calumny no character could bear pp, if it might
be assailed with immunity by. libels of this kind. The plaintiff
had brought, this action to give the defendant an opportunity
of justifyipg, if he were able; but he had placed,no justifica-
tion on the record. If, therefore, he proved the' pUblication of
the libel' by 'the defendant; the only question would be the
amount of damages to which the plaintiff was entitled. ,It
could not be said; that by this action any restraint was sought
to be put 'on the liberty of the press. No one could 'be more
friendly than he was to that liberty e: but lie was . convinced
that those were its best friends who kept a vigilant eye on its
exceisis, because its liberty 'could—never be attacked with effect
except it first made itself -odious by its licentiousness:
Joseph .Mallison, from the Stamp Office, put in the Times
Paper of the 12th April, 1819. . .
J. Manning, the plaintiff'S SolicitOr; produced an examined
office sopy: of the record of acquittal on the, indictment at
King4ton. He proved that the plaintiff was admitted an attor-
ney of the Court or King's Bench on the sth July, 1813.
Cross-examined by fir. ScARLzTT.--lie had not searched
if the plaintiff had taken out his certificate, and knew nothing
of it except that the plaintiff had told him that hiS Certificate
expired in the NoVeinber ensuing the month of July in which
he was indicted.

Mr. SCARLET T then submitted, that the ff h
plaintiad not
proved that he was' an attorney, as set out in the four first
counts of the declaration. By the -37 Geo. 111. tee. 31, no at-
torney could act without having taken out his certificate.. That,
in this.case' would have been the best evidence; but that had
not been produced.
The CHIEF JUSTICE thought the.production of the certi-
ficate not necessary. They might yet offer proofof his having
acted as in attorney. The admission and acting being proved,
is
.prima facie evidence that he is an attorney. 'Mr. Scarlett
might afterwards prove the negative,
Mr. Scaur.t TT re-urged that the plaintiff was not proved to
be an Attorney.
The SOLICITOR.GENERAI. relied upon the admission.
Mr. SciaILETT contended he ought to shew some
The objection just.mentiOna'aimilied to the first counts;
but he had a still , more 444 d-objection against the two last
counts ; in those counts the alleged.libellous matter, was set out
not as the speech of Mr. Serjeant OnslOw, but as the-statements
of the defenclanfhimself. Ire referred his Lordship to' the case
of Bell v. Byrne, in 13th . East., , tried before. Lord Ellenbo-
.
rough:, in which similar allegations were made, and upon argu-
ment in the Court of Kingli Bench it was decided that those
counts could not, be sustained., .
The Scrt.icrron,GEANnar: and Mr. CHITTY contended
that thelaets Were truly set out.'
The.Clutr J thr asid,. the allegations were' that the
plaintiff }vas'an Attorney and practised ai.such ; the last had ,
not been proved ; and on the authority Of 'the case cited (froth •
which`he'cotildnot diatitigilialklie present), he thought the tWo
last counts of ;be declaration could not be sustained.—Plaintiff
notsuitcd.

•
To give an idea of traffic in The City of Lon-
don, a statement has appeared in many of the
Papers, of the number of .foot passengers, &c.
that passed Over London Bridge on a given day.
The account, however, is one which was taken
many years ago, arid falls considerably short of
the amount which had been ascertained in the
month' of July, 1811.—The following is the
account of the persons, &c. that then passed over
London and Blackfriars Bridges
London Bridge. Blackfriars Bridge.
Foot Passengers - 89,640 . 61,069
Waggons - 769 - 533
Carts and Drays - 2,924 - 1,502
Coaches - - 1,240 - 990
Gigs and Taied Carts 485 500
Horses - - - 764 - 822

In the summer of 1781, on the day that the
action took place betw'een Admiral PARKER and
the Dutch fleet under Admiral ZOUTMAN, off the
Dogger Bank, an old man in Arbroath, who hap-
pened to be lying in his garden, affirmed that he
heard most distinctly the firing of the guns; and
by placing his ear on the ground, he said in the
vernacular idiom, that he felt the yird dinule.—
He called on some of his neighbours, but they
could not be sensible' of hearing any sound ; he,
however, continued firm in' his assertions, point-
ingin a south-easfdirection, and requesting them
to note the day and hour, for he was certain
thit they would hear of a sea-fight in that di-
rection, and at that time. The spot. where the
man lay was about a third of a mile from the
shore, and slightly elevated above the level 'of
the sea, and no other land intervened between
Arbroath and the scene ofaction, which, when
the account of it arrived, was found to correspond
exactly with the time pointed out by the old
man.—(Monti-ose Chronicle.)

. .
On New Year's Day, a sprig of sweet-williaim, a marigold,
and some violets, in fall blow, were gathered in a garden at
Fincliale Abbey, near this city. On the same day two Minh.;
rooms, about seven inches in circumference, were pulled in the
garth behind the. house of John Lax, at Chester-le-street.--
(Durhain Chronicle.) . . .
THE DOUBLE ROBBERY.---,FOr sometime past,
a numerous gang of thi,lvei haVe infested the' Borough of
Southwark, committing most extensive depr,edations, princi-
pally on publicans. Their plan is to take a night's lodging in
the house, and in the middle of night, when the rest of the
family are asleep, they get pp and explore theplace (always hav-
ing candles and phosphorus with thetia); and carry Off every
portable article which falls in their way. On Friday night last,
two of them were detected at this trick—one at the sign of the'
Naked Boy in Tooley-Street, the other.at the hOtise of Mis;
Spry, the Red Cock in Mill-lane, 'and both were corii-
mitted from the' Town Hall. Ram men, who are supposed to
be accomplices with the
..prisoners, called on Mrs. Spry oh
Tuesday, As. she was coming to the office to be bound over to
prosecute, and attempted 'to. compromise theMattef; bin failing
an this, they called for some beer, and seated thetnSelveS in
the tap-room ; in the course of half an hour; one of them was
met on• the staircase by the boy, to whom lie excused himself,
by saying that he was looking for a Captain Willianis, who had
promised to meet him there, on which the lad allowed
him to depart, and the other three 'afterwards' folloWed.
On the arrival of Mrs. S. soon afterwards, she went up stairs
to take her things off, and was suiprised to find her'bed-room
door open, and a picklock key sticking 'in the lock; 'the 'chest
of drdwers were alSo open, and a cpiantity of bank notes, eleven
sovereigns,, and some plate, which she lied placed there, stolen.
'DitEADF6t. AeciDENT.—Sunilay night last,
about 11 o'clock, as William Weaver; a stoker,.
• • •
belonging to the brewery of Messrs. DRURY,
THOMPSO'4, And NEALE,. Park-Street Westrnin;
ster; b was raising up to the flap of the
iiincrrn
Brewery, for the' use of the upper: Stake4iOle,
his foot slipped, .and he fell dowri into the street,
a height'of between.4o and 50 feet. The Unfor-,
tunate sufferer had several' of his :riti..and his
•
thigh: diSlOCated, and vas dreadfully lacerated
about the head and face. He now lies in Guy's.
Hospital, hi ekeriiCiating agony, and no hopes are
entertained of his recovery.

[FROM VARIOUS SOURCES.]
(No. XXIX.)
Titidi.ronittßicAL •SußVEY.—CapLain Vetch
and' Mr.-Drummond; the engineer 'officer's 'en-
trusted"with the conduct of the trigonometrical
survey in the -north, of Scotland, have finished
their task in Orkney and' Zetland, by establish-
ing in those clusters of islands the several posi-
4ionswhiCh'Serve to connect them with the main-
land of Scotland. In their operations they were
attended by the Protector gunZrig, Captain
Hewet, commander; and-that gentleman was em-
ployed at the same time' in a nautical survey of
various-harbours among those islands which stood
in need, particularly in. Zetland, of more acCu-
rate charts than have yet been given to mariners.
The laborious and hazardous task has' been
brought to a conclusion, with one loss"; Mr.
Fitzjames, midshipman, and four men, havins-
gone from the rendezvous at Calfsound, in Eda;
to the islandlof Sand, for -some provisioni4 were
loston their return, in one of those fearful cur-
rents of tide (the lashY roast), which-are 'fie-
quent among those islands.
NATURAL Clanny, of Sunder-
land, has presented to the Literary and PhiloSo-
phical SoCiety of Newcastle, a very fine Collet-
tion Of insectsl;'made at the Cape of Good Hope,
by C. Colcleugh,- Esq. which is so much the more
interesting to the entomologist, as it is under-
stood to be complete.
THE LEECH OF CEYLON.—This animal is sel-
dom more than half an inch in length,:and is
nearly semi-transparent. It is very active, and
is said occasionally to spring. Its powers of con-
traction and extension are very great. It is like
a fine cord when fully extended, and its point is
so sharp that it easily makes its way through
very small openings. It is supposed, to have. an
acute sense of smell, for no sooner does a person
stop where leeches abound, than they appear to
crowd eagerly on the spot from all quarters.-=
" Those who have had no experience of these
:animals," says Davy, " of their immense
numbers in their favourite haunts, of • their acti-
vity, keen appetite, and. love of blood, can have.
no idea of the kind arid 'extent of annoyande
they are to travellers in the interior, of Which'
they maybe truly said to be the plagde.. In
rainy weather it is almost shocking to' see the
legs of men on a long•march,- thickly beset with
them, gorged 'with blood, and the blood trickling
down in streams.' In attempting to keep them
off, -they crowd to the attack, and fasten on
quicker than they'ean be "removed. I do not exag-
gerate when I say that I have occasionally seen
at least'fifty on a person at a time. Their bites
are apt to fester and become sores, and fre-
quently degenerate into extensive ulcers, which,'
in• too many 'instances, have occasioned the loss
of limb, and even.Of life."
BOTANY.—It was some time ago stated in the
accounts received from New Granada, 'that the
.whole, or the greitest part;• of the results of the
botanical researches of the celebrated Mutis,
carried on at the expence of the Spanish- Govern-
ment for more than forty years, in one of the
finest regions of South America, had been recently'
destroyed amidst the conflicts of 'contending ar-
mies.; and considerable regret was excited in the
breasts of scientific men, on account of so irrepa-
rable. 'a hiss. It is- satiSfactory to announce,
that the whole, with the 'exception of a 'few in-
(lice's- and -partial descriptive Catalogues; have
arrived safe at Madrid, and tare now deposited
in the.,Botanical Garderirin charge of- Professor
Gasca: The drawing,s are executed in the most
beautiful style, on the spot,, chiefly by South
ArnericanS,who, it is acknowledged, have a peen-
liar taste for design and painting';' and they
ex-
ceed 4000: e specimens were collected 'on
wide and secluded districts, in a'tropical
and all copied the intnicent each plant was g
thered. This gives to the 'drawings a brilliancy
and 'nature almost 'unellinit among
led, and ang them
are some- hendreds of plots-nevei' befOre known
in Europe. The'hiStorv'bf the chinchona, 'or
briftige-bark,' ina long series of drawings, em-
bracing the geizera-atid Txtensive'varietiei, is pe.-
culiatly 'fine.' This Valua,ble- treasure fell into
the hands of Gen .fAloritio,'When lie entered Santa
Fe, anti he 'had the whole 'pricked up and sent'
-down to a shipping port4Where the paCkages•were'
'embarked for :The descriptive pieces
were a t the time left country,' and -*conse-
quently they are not lost: . the
tressed state of the finances in Spain, it may by
many'years b'efore'this collection, which no doubt
stands Utleiilliled,"'Cart be lAid baorethe public:
General liolivar, and the government over which
.he presides, in whatever arrangements they may
hereafter make 'with the Ministers of Spain, re-.
specting- the, acknowledgment 01•their'indepen-
denee; ought to stipulate for some plan- for the
pubticatten of .gutf. due 'to*

• I
science in 'general, as 'welt as to the 'themory'bf
that -diStinguiihed botaiist ad his worthy
jutors; some of i horn, particularly the iamentd
.Caldas;'felt in'thlit•very contest NVliit;hiii
now so near its close. - -
Sr:ANlsx Jot RNALs. --tEireo day 'the puhfica-
tion '6l`''new ' journals' is'' ailvertised—.iu,Mddrid :
many of them hear' the most singiffarand
the-‘yay, titles ;
.such are :64 'The 'Periodkait
" The Cries theilarrot'or Gtana'fia;"--=
(clarnores.delPapa.gayb Cianailino);4c: -
PAINTINGs; &e. fN KE'Sl7462Ci$
pleasant anecdote is .relaied'of 'Crornwell'S logo,
for the Fine Arts. Wheli the Parliatnt•nt had
resoNed't6 sellall`the prbpe'rtYi'belonging to the
late King, .the pictures. wilich hail teen collriteil
with 2S'o. inuch'taste that .arcorn:.
, .
ptistieeNortarch- .were.put'up-to public