The Sun.
London, England, 1849-12-26 00:00:00

household, and abiding or coming within twelve miles of
the palace at Westminster. This court vas designated
" The Court of the King of the Palace of the King at
Westminster." According to the letters patent the
,6 I Lord Steward had power to nominate and admit " four
1 counsellors to be counsel, and six persons to be at-
-1 torneys in the court for the term of the life of every
such person, to prosecute and defend the actions, &c."
~:. . The places were obtained by purchase, and the last
ii?
' '--4 barrister admitte I was Mr. Best, the Member of
'
,ii 3 Parliament for Kidderminster, who has made his claim
it 2 for compensation under the recent Act, as well as
the attorneys and other officers belonging to the
16 7 court. Compensation was granted to the officers
13 14
1
28 when arrest on men process was abolished, and fur-
ther compensation has asnow been claimed, which claims
are at the present time under the consideration of the
' 3 4 Lords of the Treasury. No writs have been issued
411 since the Ist of August last, but a good deal of
117118 business has been transacted under the Small Debts'
31 1
24125 Act. There is not ore person connected with the
71 8 court paid by salary; all, including the Judge him-
'4ls self, are remunerated by fees. Since the County
q.. 2 Courts Act was passed, the business of the court
;8 29estimating
greatly increased, and in the compensa-
-5 6
tiun to be awarded the Lords of 11e Treasury are
13 not to consider the Increased fees. Such is a brief

121 2

20 outline of the " rise and fall " of the Palace Court.
327 Events have hastened its dissolution. It will soon
become one of the things that were, and its records
210 tran,ferred to the custody of the M aster of the Rolls,
16,17 as Record Keeper, probably to be buried in some
23 24 compartment of the New Houses of Parliament.
30,1

15 GAMBLING by the INDIAN ARMY.
8
Head-quarters, Simlah, Oct. 19.
) At a general court-martial assembled at Lahore,
on Friday, the 28th day of September, 1849, Major
Thomas Cooke, of the 17th Regiment of Native In.
fantry, was arraigned on the following charges :
"1. For ur.oiiicer like conduct, espaially unba.
coming an officer commanding a regiment, in having,
at Jugraon and at Mullickpore, in the month of
February and March, 1849, played at chess and at
cards with Captain L. G. Da Costa, of the 58th Regi-
ment of Native Infantry for large stakes and bets, in
the course of which play he lost to Captain Da Costa
the sum of 26,000 rupees, or thereabouts; such
conduct being in direct disobedience of repeated
general orders, prohibiting gambling in the army,
viz., general orders by the Commander-in Chief,
dated respectively the 25th of September, 1820, the
16th of August, 1831, and the 26th of June, 1845.
" 2. For conduct unbecoming an officer and a
gentleman in having at Alulhclipore, about the 17th
of March, 1849, and at Lahore, about the 21st of
April and 21st of May, 1849, tried to evade the
payment of the large sum he had lost to Captain Da
Costa, by endeavouring to induce him to accept a
much smaller amount on various prAences, by of-
fering Captain Da Costa whatever money he, Major
Cooke, might win at Simlah in the present year ;
and by declaring that he could never pay the whole
sum ha had lost; and in having further demurred to
pay on account of certain calumnious reports to the
prejudice of Captain Da Costa's character, which he,
Major Cooke, had spread about, fur spreading, which
he afterwards, about the 23d of May, 1849, apologised
to Captain Da Costa.
"3. For conduct unbecoming an officer and a gen-
tleman in having, in a letter addressed to the Major
of Brigade at Lahore, dated Lahore, the 21st of July,
1849, given inaccurate statements of the transactions
between himself and Captain Da Costa, in the follow-
ing instances :
"First--In having, in the said latter, made a false
statement in the following words :—‘ Merely as an
amusement, we did play together at chess a'id at
cards for one rupee per game, but afterwards, whea
under excitement, some large bets were made, ending
in my having lost 26,000 rupees. This being a larger
sum than I could immediately command, I requested
Capt. Da Costa to wait till I could draw the money
from England, when the debt should be paid ; but
he replied that be would prefer half paid down ; and
it ended by my giving a bill for 10,000 rupees, a
buggy and horse, and cash, equalling together 13,000
rupees;' whereas, in truth the parties played for large
stakes, besides making large bets, and Captain Da
Costa did not state he would prefer half paid down,
neither was any prompt payment offered or agreed to
in respect of the greater part of the amount; but he
was induced to agree to the special arrangement by
Major Cooke declaring, on his honour, that he would
never be able to pay more of the debt he had incurred
than the said sum 0f.13,000 rupees; and further in
duced thereto by Major Cooke retracting and apolo
gising for the calumnious reports he had spread aboir
regarding him.

(‘ Second—ln having, in the said letter, disingenu-
ously and falsely stated as follows :—` He (Captain
Da Costa) then considered his character injured by
me, and applied to his commanding officer, who
applied to me, and expressed himself in writing per-
fectly satisfied ; but Captain 1)a Costa was not so,
and referred the cas3 to Brigadier Godby, but subse-
quently recalled the reference of his own accord ;'
thereby insinuating that Captain Da Costa had no
ground for making that complaint; whereas he
(Major Cooke) had injured the character of Captain
Da Costa, and the commanding officer of the 58th
Native Infantry did not express himself satisfied till
Major Cooke had expressed his regret; while Captain
Da Costa, who still pressed his complaint upon the
attention of superior authority, was at length in-
duced to withdraw it, solely by Major Cooke's sub-
sequent retractation of all that he had said to the
prejudice of Captain Da Costa, and making an apology
for it.

" Finding—The Court, from the evidence before
them, are of opinion that the prisoner, Major Thomas
Cooke, of the 17th Regiment of Native lofan•ry, is,
on the first charge, guilty ; second charge, guilty ;
and guilty of the prea►able to the second charge;
third charge, first instance, not guilty, and acquitted
him ; second instance, guilty; and guilty of the .pre-
amble of the third charge.
" Sentence—The Court sentences the prisoner,
Major Thomas Cooke, of the 17th Regiment of Native
Infantry, to be dismissed from the service.

" Confirmed,
" C. J. NAPIER, General, Commander•in-Chief.
" Head-quarters, Siinlah, Oct. 17, 1849."
Remarks by his Excellency th;! Cotninander in-
Chief :—" I cannot approve of the finding of acquittal
on the first instance of the third charge, which ap
pears to me to be sufficiently proved.
"C. J. NAPIER, General, Commander-in-Chief."
Recommendation of the Court :—" The Court beg
to recommend the prisoner to the merciful considera-

tion of his Excellency the Commander-in-Chicf on
the following grounds :
" 1. Because the prisoner showed a disposition to
pay, as evinced by his attempt to borrow from 18,000
to 20,000 rupees from the North-Western Bank
Agency, on the 21st of April, 1849.
"2. Because he did net originate the reports against
Captain Da Costa.

3. On account of the excellent character Major
Cooke has hitherto borne, shown by the handsome
testimonials which have been placed before the Court."
Remarks by his Excellency the Commander -in-
Chief.—" It is with pain that I express my inability
to discover any just grounds for disturbing the sen-
tence pronounced by the Court.
"C. J. NArart, General, Commander•in-Chief."
The name of Major T. Cooke will cease to be borne
on the rolls of the 17th Regiment of Native Infantry
from the date of publication of this order at Lahore,
a report of which is to be made to the Adjutant-Ge-
neral of the Army and to the Assistant Adjutant-
General at the Presidency.
By order of his Excellency the Commandcr-in-
Chief,

PATRICK GRANT, Lieutenant-Colonel,
Adjutant-General of the Army.

SUICIDE OF A LICENSED VICTUALLER.—On Monday
Mr. Baker held an inquest at the Town of Rarasgate,
Wapping, on the body of Mr. John Patty, aged 54 years,
a licensed victualler, residing in Sunderland. The de-
ceased was formerly a captain in the coal trade, and on
Thttraday, the 13th instant, he arrived in town for the
purpose of attending a trial in the Court of Common
Pleas. The deceased was an important witness, and the
trial was to be heard on the following Tuesday. The
deceased was not forth coming, and no tidings couki be ob-
tained of him until Thursday night last, when he entered
an eating-bousa, in Upper East Sanithfiald, and hired a
bed for the night. Oa the following morr.ing he was
found dead in his bed. Au ource phial, labelled " lau-
danum," was found upon the floor, and the surgeon was
of opinion that the deceased had died from the etFact of
laudanum. The jury returned an open verdict—" That
thedeceased died from the eifacts of laudanum, but under
what circumstances there was no evidence to show."
FATAL ACCIDENT TO A CONVICT.—An accident
of a fatal nature was reported by po ice-sergeant W.
Urry, 29 a, as having taken place in Woolwich Dock-
yard, on Monday afternoon, to a convict named William
Hart, 60 years of age, who, while engaged at the
cordage wharf, was struck by the handle of the crane on
which he was employed, and so severely injured, that
although immediately ;aken to the Uaitc convict hospital
ship to obtain surgical assistance, ha died at 9 30 r. m.,
on the same day.
The accounts from the continental Bourses repre-
sent an unfavourable reaction in spaculation. At Am-
sterdam, Hamburgh, Frankfort, and Berlin, there was
an a ppa rent do3ird to sell both stocks and railway shares,
and lower prices were in most cases accepted.