The Sun.
London, England, 1809-12-05 00:00:00

Lord ELLENBOROUGH observed tos the Jury, that
the only qUestion which' be could put to them was,
" Whether they thought the letter in question had
a tendency to a breach of the peace ?" a point
which, he presumed, they would find no difficulty
in deciding ; if in the affirmative they would find
the defendant guilty. Whether he should be brought
up for
..ipdgment, must rest with the prosecutor;
and irte was, it would be for the Court tb eonsi:
der how the case should be disposed of,
,with a due
consideration to the whole of its cireurnstanc‘s.

aihe Jury found the defendant guilty.
ihansort, quildm v. FLOWER.
The ATTORNEY-GENERAL stated this to he an ac-
tion brought to recover the penalty of 401. which he
contended the defendant, had incurred under the .
provisions of the Statute of the 29th of the present
King, c. 26, commonly called the Hawkers.:and
Pedlars Aa and' it was for lending out for hire a
license granted to the defendant, to another person
who had no such license.
_ It appeared in 'evidence, that the defendant is a
dealer in-coals, and that he employs a person of the
name of Warby to go about with coals in a cart,
and to retail them in the streets, for which he gave
this person 4s. 6d. per chaldron up/+i coals sold :
that the coals were the ploperty of the defendant,
and that this servant of his had uo other interest in
them than the wages he thus received for selling
them; and therefore, -
Lord ELLtiNDOROUGH, after hearing-the whole of
the case, was clearly of opinion, that without de-
ciding the point of whether or not this license was
personal, and could not be delegated, this case was
not aletting out of the license for hire, and there-
fore not within the meaning of the Statute.
Verdia for the defendant.

RIDGE V. CAPEL.
The-ATTo a,NEv-G ENEII AL stated this to be 'an ac-
tion of trespass, brought by Mr. Ridge; against the
Revetend and the Honourable Wilhain Cape', who.
is bpther to a Nob;e Lord, for a: trespass com-
mitted by him on the land of the plaintiff,- by run-
ning over it, together with 150 other horsemen,
With hounds, &c. in purSuit of foxes, by Which
they had trampled upon, and torn up the surface of
the plaintiff's land, and threatened absolute destruc-
io it. Tl.is subject h,;(1 been before my Lord Et-
lenhorough at the
List assizes i for the county' of
Hertford ; and his Lordship had laid down did law,
by whiel the defendant had promised .16 ahide.
The substance of the; "matter , was shortly this :--:-
The Reverend and Honourable • defendant bad suc-
'ceeded to the rights of what was called the
Berkeley Hunt, which, while 'enjoyed by the.
late Lord Berkeley, was of no annoyauce to any
body ; but since his departure, a society of gentle-
Men was formed, for the purpose of pursuing , the
pleasures of the fox-chace, and they supported their
proceedings by subscription, at the head of which
..yas this Rev, and Hon. Defendant. They had gone
so far as to insist upon their right to pursue a fox
whithersoever he Might lead them; even to the ab-
solute destruction of the property of individuals, over
their hedges,' or pales, or railings ; prostrating.tbeir
.mcadoVs; lawns, pleasure-grounds, or gardens, and
that to such an exrent, as to threaten to lay abso-
lutely waste the whole land in the neighboUrnood of
. this metropolis, from Uxbridge to Hampstead and to
Highgate. They had notice not to trespass any
further on the land of Mr. Ridge, who is a very con-
siderable proprietor of land in the neighbourhood of
thanidge. This was totally disregarded by the De-
fendant, who was disposed still to continue the prac-
tice of fox-bunting over the Plaintiff's grounds and
insisted on' his right to do so. 1:3,14.ni which an ac-
tion was brought against him, and the plea Was,
" That this was done in pursuit of that hurtful de.
strudive animal, beast of prey, and vermin, called a
fox; and for the destrMition of that animal, as it was
lawful for him to do."
The cause carne on before my Lord ELLENBo.
ROUGH, at the last assizes for Hertford, when his
Lordship held that this plea was insupportable, and
a verdict was found for the plaintiff, with nominal
damages, the defendant entering into an under-
taking to discontinue the practice, but which he was
so far from doing, that he went through a mock
sale of his hunting-horses at Tattersars, which
horses were now returned to the same place as. be-
fore, had the same riders for the,n, had the same
hounds to follow, and all the parties were preparing
for the same sport, in utter defiance of the law,
to the utter ruin of the property of all these who
were owners of land within the limits of this scene
Berkeley Hunt, comprehending the whole country
around this mighty metropolis, from Uxbridge to
Hampstead and Highgate. To check this 'practice
was the object of this action, which object could
never be attained, except by exemplary damages.
This cause had been once -considered as a writ of
Inquiry, to assess the damages which the plaintiff
had sustained, the defendant having undertaken, at
the trial at Hertford, not to persist in the practice;
but the plea had not been withdrawn ; a fact which
manifested the def'endant's ititentiou4o continue the
practice by, .violence, in defiance of law, and no-
thing could restrain him but exemplary damages;
for he had bought foxes when cubs; had reared
1 them ; bad caused holes to be dug: for them, and
and had declared his determination to persist in this
amusement to himself, to the absiiute ruin of his
neighbour's land.