The Sun.
London, England, 1807-12-10 00:00:00

POLICY.

BENEFFI: S9CLETIES.

GUILDHALL.---The- Stewards of a Benefit Socie:- I
ty, held .for.a long series. of years' at, the Blue Last
public-house, Broadway, Blackfriars, • were sutn-
moned -befneti Sir C. Puma; the Magistrate, by'
Thorn Campion, member of the Society, upon a,4
complaint of his being unjustly expelled the.s4id
ciety, and his name arbitrarily struck from their
booki. The complainant is an old man, 80 years.;
of age, blind of an eye, and bending,- in the winter
of lite, under the weight of those infirmities which
flesh is heir to :' he stated that he had been 40 years
a member of this society; .and uniformly .paid his ;
subscriptiotrand c.otuplied with the rules; th.it he I
is a whip-maker by trade, and that having keen
some weeks since, seized with the rheumatic gout,
and totally unable to earn, a penny, be was obliged
to apply to the society for the -usual allowance of
14s. a week : that he receivedit for about six weeksiyi,
and at the end of that time, in answer to some
qtiides front the Society, he wrote them an accourievt
stating the truth-, that the pain, had left him; and MY—
was in hopes of recovering at no very distant day •
but that he was yet extremely feeble, just able U.*
walk about, but not to earn a ihithng by work;
but on making application tathe Seciety for the next
payment of the allowance, he. wits refused, und.io-
!orthed that his name was atruck out of the books
of the SoCiety.
The Stewards answered, That by, the sth regula
tion in the Society's rules, " all:persons on siel; al-
lowances were precluded' from quitting their sick.
rooms, doing any kinds of work or business whatse,
,ever, except receiving money, giving orders to a
servant, or signing a receipt.," and that any person
doing any other business, while receiving the sick
allowance, 'must incur the liability of expulsion.—
And fitrther, Mr. Crowe, on-e of the. Stewards, Oat-
,cd, that he and his colleague were deputed, to visit
Campion, at Hantmersmit h ; and that when he came
to the house, upon not seeing him in his shop, 'he
went in to ,purchasea whip,_ tin- which the lad who
wasihere asked him 4s. Gd. He objeeted to this,
and asked td see the IA wan of the shop, who, he
was sure, would sell it to him Cheaper. Upon this
the boy called the old man out from a roam behind
thesho;); Crowe led hint into altaggling. bargain
about tile whip, for which the old mairreceiro
and on Mr. Crowe's report.of this circumstance, the -
So'ciety thought proper. to expel Campion, and strike
his name from their books. , -

It further irppeared, from the statement of the
Other Steward, that under the I it!' Article of the
t')(s
11.41:.gupobtiu
ri‘vis
ete,k,a sfoicrkniiiiilte.ritr in
IT; :u b
it beeeisio=
long continued ill; and it his disorder should kove
incurable, then to 7s. per week for lifi. -
Sir CHARLES PRICE was of opinion, that the So- •
• ciety, in expelling the complainant, for the cause
stated by the Stewards, had acted prematurely and
unjustly. They seemed to think themselves. justi-
fied, by. a hick of their own devising, to trepan
this poor old man, inadvertently and Unsuspeaing,ly,
jthosa constrnatveyipiatipn of their rules, 1,,r the
purpose of getting .rid of him by a, party expulsion.
But in, this case, their coridt,t4. bore every stamp of
cruelty and injustice to an aged member, who had
beets but Six weeks, and not nine months, receiv-
ing their sick allowance, and not maing as a man
who wished to become a permanent burthert upon
their thuds, even for the very precarious remainder
of his lite. But, under the very Bth regulation,
their condua was, not warranted ; which regulation
Aid not forbid a man receiving money in his busi-
ness, tke. The man only came into his shop to re-
ceive 4s. for a whip ; and be would not, it appeared,
have done even that, had lte not been seduced to tt
by a trick,
The Magistrate's advice, therefore, was, that the
Society should restore Thomas Campion to his place.
on their books.
The iipokeitnao was proceeding, with great cio-,
.quence, to vindicate the conduit of the E 1 01qhipliir
Switly ; but he was soon reminded that' he was not
then in deb7roomn, to carry his point by the
powers of his oratory, at, the Vote of a party majo—
rity.
The Magistrate gave him to understand, that ci'
tlier the Complainant must beresfored, ur left to
' proceed against the Stewards by intlianaent.

MA Leottotion-STREiT.—A. respe6table- trades
'man at Brompton was yesterday charged with ex-
Citing a tumult at the late tire in Berkeley-squai 0,
at the house of La•tly Clermont. Iteppeardd by the
statement of a varty of Volunteers who were doing
duty on Ow oceasion, that a suspicious charkter,
•who was found more, !Lail once in the.house during
the conflagration, ar; of;en turned out by the
Voluoteers, and that ,the Defendant became the
champion of his Cause. He assailed the patty who
Clamed the man out, and bestowed ca theta the m4.st
degrading epithets. He was,'• in consequence taken
to the watch-house. The Defendant was informed
by the Magistrates that he had been rightly served
'on the occasion, for attempting to interfere with a
set of men who Were gratuitously proteding the pro-
perty of the owner of the house on lire, and whose
conattA on these occasions was highly laudable.—
The Defendant was held to bail. •

II A vrox-G unE ..---YesterdgyElizqbediliun?ing,
servant. to Mrs.. Street, laundress, was committed to
the House of Corree.:tion for two months, fur going
to- a •Gentleman's house and obtaining linen, to be
washed, which she had pledged. It`hppeared, that
by recurrirg to several. Ads of Parliament, a limn_
broker is liable to a tine 14 taking in.pledge any
wearing litieti unwashed; but they were iguoratit of
thelitt.

William Az:Plinks, a dealer in rabbits, was fully,
coinmitted for trial, charg4d by Mr. Lewin, of the
Twti BECWOrS, Vine-street, Satiron-hill, with pass-
ing yonnterteit, silver'upon him.

QUEENIB-SQUARE.—Yesterday Chifries White was
clorgeu witn having, -unier &Ise pretences, obtained
goodi of 1.-I,:nry,Skamblor, an upholsterer and cabi-
llet-InOker residing in 11.1arket-street, Qx.ford-rnat-'
valued at 71. 18s. awl v,;triotts other qades-
pepple 4) the like mantier. fie was fully cornniiitqd
for trial. .y .