The Sun.
London, England, 1831-07-04 00:00:00

LONDON, 310NDAY E

SHERIFF'S COURT, JULY 2.

SINGULAR CASE OF ASSAULT.-310015E V. ADKINS.

This was an action for the recovery of damages for at
assault, by which the plaintiff sustained a broken nose.
['he case was conducted by the solicitors to the parties.
The solicitor to the plaintiff stated that his client was a
veterinary surgeon of respectability, who, having occa-
sion to go to the East India warehouse in Cutler-stret t,
was most desperately assaulted by the defendant, former')
L journeyman, but now a master dustman. Upon re-
ceiving a blow from the defendant, the plaintiff naturally
retaliated, upon which the gentry of Cutler-street in-
sisted upon a fight, and the defendant struck at the un
friended plaintiff, who, although merely endeavouring to
guard himself, received a blow which made his nose or
r level with the rest of his face. There were several cir-
cumstances which rendered the case an extremely hard one
to the plaintiff.
After witnesses bad been called to prove the plain-
tiff's case,
The solicitor for the defendant said that the quarrel
Iriginated in a contest about a lady, to whom each of the
parties paid his addresses; and the plaintiff consented to
tight it out on the spot when they came in contact. The
defendant proved himself the better man ; and as " none
but the brave deserve the fair," the lady made her election
accordingly.
James Aaron deposed that when he saw the parties the
plaintiff was using terrible words.
A Juryman—Mention some of the words.
Witness—He said he'd be bless'd if he wouldn't spefilicate
him, and send him to the eyes and limbs' shop, for to get
himself new eyes and legs, for that he'd quench 'em and
break 'em—(Laughter)—and other horrid words, enough
to make any lady's hair stand.—(Loud laughter.) Well.
they set to, and we kept a clear ground for them ; and
everybody said, when they looked at the plaintiff, " I'm
bless'd if any body can hit him i❑ the konk, any how."--
(Loud laughter.) At last, after they had fought about
three rounds, the plaintiff gave in, and it was as fair a
fight as any body ever seed.
Cross-examined—Knew the defendant, but never drank
more at one time with him than a quartern.
Other witnesses of the same stamp gave similar evidence.
Verdict for the plaintiff—Damages 201.

CHEAP LAW-SECONDARIES' OFFICE.

The following notification has been submitted to the pro-
fession at the Secondaries' Office.

SHERIFFS' FEES.

Until these are settled by the Legislature, as recom-
mended in the subjoined extract from the Law Commis-
sioners' Report, the Secondary desires the public will con-
tinue to understand that the customary gratuities (as dis-
tinguished from the fees framed nearly 400 years ago)
will be received as optional, and not officially required.
On this subject the Secondary confides in the justice of the
public, and assures the profession and others that the duties
of the office will be punctually and faithfully executed,
whether or not such customary fees be given.

Extracts from the First Report of his Majesty's Com-
missioners for inquiring into the practice of the Courts of
Common Law, 18th February, 1829.
" The fees which are in strictness demandable upon an
arrest were fixed nearly 400 years ago, by the Statute of
the 23d King Henry VI. ; and having received, since that
period, no legislative revision, are consequently so trivial
as to constitute, at the present day, a merely nominal
compensation. They consist of 20d., payable to the She-
riff, and 4d. to his bailiff, for the arrest, and 4d. for the
bail.bond. A much higher rate indeed is recognized in
practice ; it being usual in taxation of costs to allow Is.
for the warrant, and for the arrest 10s. 6d., if it take place
in town, and one guinea if in the country, besides Is. per
mile for conveying the defendant to gaol. But these re-
munerations rest upon the precarious basis of custom, un-
sanctioned by law ; and iu their aggregate amount, besides,
appear to be wholly inadequate to the trouble of the arrest,
and to the risks which attend the taking of bail. The
consequence is, that the officers who indemnify the Sheriff,
finding the lawful premium of their insurance too low,
protect themselves from loss, and secure a profit by taking
fees, warranted neither by the Statute of King Henry VI.,
nor by any practice of the Courts. Besides the warrant
and arrest fees (which are payable in the first instance by
the plaintiff ), they always, in cases where deposits are not
made, take from the party arrested some payment much
exceeding the petty fee authorised by the Statute in respect
of the bail-bond. In London, where the duty of taking
bail is discharged by the Secondaries themselves, and not
as in other counties, by the bailiffs, the fees so taken have
been taken avowedly; and have been fixed and moderate in
their amount, heing settled upon a scale proportioned to
the sum for which the party is arrested."
" The fees to which the Sheriff is legally entitled upon
arrest, under the Statute of King Henry the Sixth, and
even those which are allowed in taxation for the arrest,
are (as already stated) too low to form a just compensation
for the ordinary risk in the fair and regular execution of
bailable writs. By increasing and regulating the amount
of these fees, we apprehend that the temptation to make
improper exactions, upon false pretexts of the insufficiency
of the hail, or upon any other fraudulent ground, will be
greatly diminished. We therefore recommend such in-
crease and regulation, and have suggested, among the pro-
posed regulations, a scale of fees, both in respect of the ar-
rest and the bail-bond, which, to the best of our informa-
tion, we believe to be well adapted to the object in view."
—P. 113.
" That the Sheriff be entitled to demand of the plaintiff,
For every warrant which shall be granted to Ins officer
upon any writ of capias, the sum of £0 2 6
And for instructing such officer, (if required by the
plaintiff so to do), besides postage (if any), the fur-
ther sum of 0 3 6
For an arrest made within one mile of the Sheriff's of-
fice
For an arrest made at a distance of more than one mile
from the Sheriff's office
For conveying the defendant to gaol from the place of
arrest, per mile 0 I o
That, where the defendant shall be discharged
from arrest upon a bail-bond, the Sheriff shall,
previously to such discharge, be entitled to de-
mand from him the following fees :
If the debt for which the defendant is arrested shall
not exceed 5Ol 0 10 6
_ . 1
_1 0

10i1
.150/ 1 11
2 9

.3t 0/
-- OW 3 3 0
500/ 4 4 0
If it shall exceed 5001 5 5 0
For the costs of the affidavit of the execution of the
bail-bond

0 1 0

For tiling the bail-bond, with affidavit of its execution,
If the arrest be made in London or Middlesex 0 2 0
If in any other place 0 4 0
That where the defendant shall be dkeilarged from ar-
rest upon deposit, the Sheriff shall be entitled to de.

mand frum him as a fee, for the payment of the de-
posit into Court, and the return and filing of the
writ, the sum of

O 2 6

-I'. 151.-

The Corporation are, we understand, determined not to
sanction the prices usually charged for the business done
at this office, nor to adopt those recommended by the Com-
mittee, which are, it will be perceived, higher than the re,.
gular charges, but will insist upon the strict observance or
the Statute above quoted. The deficit in the annual receipts
of the Secondaries, in consequence of the liberal arrange
ment of the Corporation towards the public, will be made
good from the Chamberlain's office. This arrangement
completely puts an end to the differences existing for so
long a period between the Corporation and Mr, Carqther,
the senior Secondary.
Scale referred by cite ljommi,sioners—Appendix' p. 979.
Under 20/ £o 10 6
Above 201. and under 30/ 0 ;5 0
Above 311 and under 200/ 1 0
Above 200/. and under 400/ 1 11
Above 4001. and under 700/ 2 2
Above 7001. and under 1,0001 212 °
Above 1,000/. and under 2,0001 -• 3 '3
°,
Above 2,000;. and to any am0unt,......., not ekteeding 5 5 ('
Fee on btillond under SOOong process 1 1 0

On Thursday, on gg CA LCRAFT'S Divorce
Bill," a petition was presented to the [louse of Lords,
praying that the evidence taken on the former Bill may
be received as evidence on this Bill, which Fay ,r was
complied with, and afterwards 7,:rs. Lola was ordered to
attend their LoLiships on the 12th July next, on the occa-
sion of the second reading of the Bil', for the purpose of
being examined at the bar.
The iron trade of this county
state, in a very depressed condition.—Wolverhampton
Chronicle.
In addition to the varied and interesting exhi-
bition at the Colosseum, the spirited directors have just
added a splendid Grotto, or Marine Cavern, which har-
monises extremely well with the fountain and surrounding
and,scenery,is, we regret to
we doubt not, will be much admired,

VENING, JULY 4, 1831.

LONDON UNIVERSITY.

A general meeting of the shareholders of the Londe
University was held in one of the schools of the University
at two o'clock, on Saturday last, for the purpose of con-
sidering the propriety of appointing a select committee to
inquire into the past and present state of the affairs of the
Company. At two o'clock precisely the Council entered
the room, and among the distinguished persons then pre-
sent we observed the Attorney-General, Sir T. Denman
M.P., Mr. Hume, M.P., Mr. Warburton, M.P., Mr. W.
Marshall, M.P., Mr. John Wood, M.P., Colonel Jones,
Alderman Wood, 'M.P., Mr. W. Smith, and several of the
most eminent dissenters in London and the neighbourhood.
The meeting was by no means numerous.
On the motion of Colonel JONES, Mr. GREENIIOI.C: IT,
of Bow, was called to the chair.
The Rev. T. YATEs rose to bring forward a resolution
founded on the terms of the requisition. It might be
asked what were the grounds for instituting such an in-
quiry. One of them was the universal sentiment of dis-
appointment anti dissatisfaction which bad sprung up in
the minds of the proprietors during the last ]S months.—
He had recently called on a large number of proprietors.
and from all of them had he heard expressions of •dis-
content. Some of them had even exclaimed that
they did not care if the University went to the
dogs. So discordant; however, were the reasons which
several of them gave for their dissatisfaction, that he
thought it almost impossible to arrive at the truth.—
The same discontent which prevailed among the pro-
' prietors, prevailed also among the professors of the Ifni.
versity. They had complained that they had been com-
pelled to submit to such a series of insults and persecu-
tions from the Council, that they felt at once disgust, des-
pondency, and despair, and that they cared not if their
connection wish the University was immediately dissolved.
With regard to the Medical Schcool, it was quite dis-
organised, and all the schemes of its professors were
thrown boo disorder. The usual arrangements of such
schools for the winter were generally published at this
time of the year ; so that it became necessary to lose no
time in re-arranging these matters. He was of opinion
that if these matters could be again put in a good train,
the University would succeed to the extent of their wishes,
anti that it would become, as with its advantages it ought
to become, the most numerous and flourishing school of
medicine in the world. He should next proceed to men-

tion to the proprietary the causes of that alarm now so
generally felt as to the success of their undertaking. The
proceedings of the Council at their different meetings were
of course secret ; but facts did, some how or other, some-
times transpire as to the mode in which they conducted the
affaits of the Society. It was a general feeling that when
a meeting of Council was summoned, one set of men came
to settle a point on one day, and another set came on ano-
ther day. Thus their time was often unprofitably taken up •
in reversing the orders of one another. It was also stated
that there were some influential men in the Council,
who, from the superiority of their talents, exercised too
much weight, when they attended, over the minds of their
less gifted fellows. In this manner, an opinion had got
abroad that the acts of the Council were isolated and uncon-
nected,—that there was no uniformity in them,—and that,
consequently, the Council itself made no way in the Inca-
sums necessary to the welfare of the institution. If the
proprietary were to judge of the acts of the Council by
what occasionally came before them, they would see that
there was no want of promptitude in the Council as to the
expenditure of money and as to the filling up of places;
but they would likewise see that there was a want of
promptitude in other matters, in which their measures
ought not to have been defective. Their powers, by the
deed of settlement, were most ample, and he thought it
right that they should be most ample, provided the pro-
prietors
took care that the Council attended to their duty.
Now, in the 6th section of the statement published by the
Council in 1827, as explanatory of the nature and objects
of the institution, there was, under the head of " Disci-
pline," this observation :—" The powers of the Council
cannot, of course, extend beyond the precincts of the
University ; but rules will be established upon this
im-
portant subject, applicable to the different parts of the sys-
tem. As soon as the Professors are appointed, such a code
of regulations will he framed as shall appear to be most
effectual for securing regularity of attendance, a due at-
tention to the business of instruction, and a correct and
orderly behaviour on the part of the students." He had
to complain that now, at the end of the third session
since the erection of the building and the appoint-
ment of the professors, not a single regulation had
been framed, much less put into execution. Why
such an omission had taken place was a point into which
he wished inquiry to be instantly made. He would now
plot • •e d to show the ruinous effects of the mode in which
•
the Council had acted. In the last report presented by the
Council to the proprietary, the Council called the particular
attention of the proprietors to the state of the finances.
Now he found the finances in an alarming state. In last
January it was stated that besides the site of the land, the
funds of the company were 10,0001. ; but it appeared that,
of this 10,000/. nearly 7,0001. consisted of arrears due
front old proprietors, who had not paid up the money on
their shares. There was every reason to believe that they
would persist in refusing to pay up their shares, because
they were dissatisfied with the management of the institu-
tion. At any rate he should like to know what had been
done, and what was to he done, as to those arrears. He
now came to the consideration of the complaints made by
the professors of the institution. A year ago their situation
had been described by themselves in terms which excited
general disgust and dissatisfaction. The warden had been
in consequence put upon his defence. The warden replied
in a calm and dignified manner to the charges referred
t'ar. n which? refused, and perhaps pro-
perly against him, and cleared his character from all imputation.
—(Loud
print have
e °t
to 't
hlerat es
)
could
wished
statements
then
made, had given to the proprietors a facility of inquiring
into their accuracy. A committee of inquiry was then
moved for, but refused. What had been the constluence?
ey re thatf cries
refused, to
Council,"
reply ll
ie o o
That as the committee had not been granted, Sinop had
gone on from bad to worse; and he would venture to pre
diet, that if the committee were refused now, things would
be still worse when the motion was next made. The Pro-
fessors still continued to complain not only of a want of
power collectively as a body to enforce their due athority,
but also of the neglect and insult which they experienced
front the Council. Some of the Professors even imagised
that the proprietors entertained the came sordid motives
which they imputed to the Council.—(A cry of " Ni.")
For his own part, lie considered that the Professors had
just right to complain that they had no power to enforce
their authority of the students, witieh was certainly R no-
veltycomp compelling in tgintiit'ee rasti ty
tenillfa.gnit'sl lot fi (s)nt d e nTtis: eayt their r Illeochli7esa.nsHoef
was informed by ot7tonftteirlecdstiundethnetsctiahsasteln,ovtbliactioirle,tlattnilouineed-
,l wilaelrfefe";here prurZb4'at any given lectgre, and that even the
iitude:At,' themselves wished that some more strict regula-
, with
going erfeohrwisasetwanueneg
fmeeasn
well acquainted, who yoh
had scare y ever
had
paidrf which his paronts who
ly,it,i,,rioeloi.e:enuodassgseisenlemft should
nttdeden itlbschouel
et, different
untry,
Now
to their ciasseS, must spend their
, time in nilenesa,
this
liable to all those conta.
d.
53i °ct:h;:daun even if ;;Lich%;llle"r e weret'ls rules, tttetr7h:lrLes
tninations with
n
•e:2 no rules on the point of attend-
ance,
were
notoriously
personsori o
t complainsivi(hioahsaililea t
proprietors It e p rogrelsi
adm made eb
right theto
power to enforce them. He
construe
xtoaunit
)1(
sie:cri t,ut.
se likewisearse toki
Theyt:
adhere
a as
might be able to woik e'quations and to
il
them who
sus-
peal or to expel ws.rtiutede, an(
tcs.o.rrecit_ieletltieardorbeceonmi:(oisreroai.n,
F,oglish theme.
nei ally, thactoutit'l.zfoivorti: satin; but there were numbers of
la report circulating very ge•
been recently going to
struck at that accouyt He had heard that students
had been expelled nb
their expulsion ' by one 7? .:,pt ;45 of t:louncil, and that
beget reversed by the meeting which
young
oea:s:
\g‘;sl ith eda Lnd had T:
co,
so sy:pr suspension
them.n oans
a novelty in all giber Universities
io;teter,s
Ist:
ehsi c%ho :iknewci deservedz oth
This intgh e cnt fa
olt e.
sisn-asa;jlta°sishedeftvUit;lliiov.uer'tspr.ja
tribu-
nal. To give such
appointment of the Professors ticv;t_thoetsbeencteonici;leci;fulepxnpeu, lwsiao:iplpaeevinegr
000lfa,111:1;isli
of
gri trialfiy e
years
ebaerfso reehiap
dous risk. Instead the character and young men under a tremen-
. moving that a Select Committee he appointed
Coun-
cil ought not to have
veil one week to elapse after the
see,g-st
hl tri b u
e
without instituting regular
system of discipline. Rev. Gentleman concluded b
into the past and present state of the University, with full
to a
inquire
tie
pui
ra
by

:;'
R
;AO:
. . •
'
_ .
°..,...-.... 42 '
e
) IN 1:71111\ '',..t yol.
•' . `l
....,.........:,
~.,___,
- - -- .......-. -
ItiL.,
,ids 11•';;-,',.;;,j
''
, • *** • .te °". s . ~.....,:-,5)44,, ...v :-
t, •• .......,..,„,,,,,,,„ ~ , -.7., -'tea
..,....,,,, ~
._ •.-.3-,_. -
~),- ..,,,kt,,-,,., y i ~.
..0..----.-
7)
( f,- „------,, ~- , c
_i4.? ,- . ?..,:,--:;,4. 01 ~ . \ ,-,----
„ - ~„ ;Vartiiiii ' ' '11)1t 4.• ,
,111..(,,,11 10... L:, i t i
1v4,4.11ip
~ 017'1' .St‘