The Sun.
London, England, 1838-11-16 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER SESSIONS.

The Sessions commenced this morning before Mr. Sergeant
ADAMS and several Justices. The calendar contains the names
of fifty-seven prisoners, of whom fourteen are charged with
felony or larceny. The remainder are indicted for assaults,
riots, and misdemeanours. The trials were of no inte.eit.
Complaints were made to the Court respecting the vague and
incorrect manner in which the notices of recognizance were
drawn out. One witness stated that he was bound over from
Union-hall in the sum of 201. to appear and give evidence in
a prosecution, but when and where it was to commence he had
not the slightest intimation.
The CHAIRMAN—Hand up your notice. You are here
charged to appear in a trial to take place in the county of
Middlesex, this being the city and liberty of Westminster, and
at no day in the present year. The 31agistrates surely cannot
be cognizant of such irregularity.
The witness had been put to great inconvenience in conse-
quence, having lost a great deal of time in making inquiries.
He hoped the Court would make allowance for this in his
expenses.
The CHAIRMAN—I am extremely sorry, but we can make
no distinction.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-BOUSE.

Mr. Charles Ackerley, who some time ago was disturbed
by the police while exhibiting a philosophical instrument and
descanting upon its properties in Smithfield, applied to the
Loan MAYOR for permission to lecture upon the same subject
on Sunday, in the arena from which he had been expelled
vi et armis.

The Loan MAYOR said that Mr. Ackerley must know that
it was improper to collect a crowd in the streets on Sunday,
for the purpose of delivering a philosophical lecture.
Mr. Ackerley assured his Lordship that he had exhibited
the instrument before the Archbishop of Canterbury and the
head of the Jewish Synagogue, who expressed the highest
admiration of its virtues. It was a sun-dial like unto that of
Ahaz, mentioned by the prophet Isaiah. The dial inculcated
the most beautiful and purest system of morality in such a
manner as was not to be mistaken, and it completely verified
the fulfilment of the sacred prophecies. He had found it on
the breast of a mummy which he had unfolded. The extra-
ordinary knowledge which it was capable of communicating
was not strange to the world 3,000 years ago, but it had slept
for centuries, and he was anxious to dispense the gifts of in-
telligence which it had revived.
The Loan MAYOR—Is not a theatre the best place for an
exhibition of the kind ?

..... .
Mr. Ackerley—l have lectured once at the Milton-street
Institution on the subject to an immense crowd, and I intend
to lecture there again to-morrow evening ; but I cannot sup-
port the expense, and I therefore seek permission from your
Lordship to appear in Smithfield, where I can render service
without expense to anybody. The expectation of disturbance
or confusion would be quite absurd. The great principle is
morality in its most elevated sense, based upon the doctrines
of the great book of God.
The LORD MAYOR—I cannot sanction the exhibition, and
I assure you that the present Chief Magistrate is not capable of
distinguishing between your sun-dial and that of Ahaz.
Mr. Ackerley—l wish your Lordship would send some of
the members of the Corporation to examine the properties of
the dial, and hear the next lecture. Ido assure your Lordship
that they would receive much additional enlightenment.
The LORD MAYOR, however, seemed to think that the
members of the Court of Common Council knew well enough
",what time o' day" it was, without the assistance of the dial like
unto that of Ahaz, and declined inviting them to the lecture.