The Sun.
London, England, 1831-05-14 00:00:00

FROM LLOYD'S.

DOVER. MAY 13. —Off port, the Caroline, from
Philadelphia; and
.Susan, from New York.
PORTSMOUTH. MAY 13.—Wind S.W.—Arrived his
Majesty's ship Hyperion, from Newhaven.
- COWES, MAY 13.—Arrived the Margaret, Fleming,
• from St. D,,mineo.

FALmourra, MAY 12.—Wind E.S.E. light.—Arrived
the Sandwich packet, from Lisbon, sailed the Ist inst.,
and brings intelligence of the arrival of the British squadron
off the bar, where they were joined by his Majesty's ship
Briton, from the Tagus. •

LISBON, APRIL SO —Some damage was done yesterda:
during. a gale, principally among the small craft, am
several lives lost.

HELIGOLA Nn. MAY 6.—A small quantity of wet coffee.
a cannon, an anchor, and part of a chain and windlass,
saved from the wreck of the Queen Adelaide, from Port..
au-Prince to Hamburg, have been brought here, and the
coffee sold.

The Castro Primeiro, Grai:ia, was totally wrecked on
Oporto bar the 21,t ult., and only a few bags of cotton
saved.

The Winchilsea, Burt, from London, arrived at Cork
the 11th inst. leaky, and must discharge part of her cargo,
bound to China.

The Jonge Arie, Wartwyck, from Maasleys, was upset
in the Tagus, and the mate and three of the crew drowned ;
she was expected to be raised.

The Recovery, Henderson, from Loni-lon, arrived at
Cuxhaven, lost main and wizen masts, bound to St.
Petersburgh.

LAW INTELLIGENCE-(THIS DAY

COURT OF EXCHEQUER.
POLITICAL LETTER.TLIE KING V. CARPENTER.

This case, which was specially appointed for this morn.
ing, was the first called on at the sitting of the Court.
The defendant, attended by his attorney. appeared to defend
it.personally, with such a quantity of books and papers as
nearly to cover the table. the case exited considerable
sensation, as appeared by the Court being filled almost to
suffocation, I.ng before his Lordship took his seat. A few
minutes after ten o'clock the Lord Chief Baron took his
seat on the Bench, a Speci ti Jury was then sworn, and
the Witnesses on both sides were ordered to withdraw.
Mr. Antos, MAIO was with the ATTORNEY-GENERAL,
opened the pleadings and read the counts.
The ATTORNEY GENERAL addressed the Jury on be-
half of the Crown. They would probably have collected
from the opening of Mr. Amos, that there were only two
material counts in this case, one of them was that the de-
fendant had published a newspaper without entering his
name in the Stamp-office, and making the affidavit which
the law requires; and the other, that be had printed,
published, and circulated a pamphlet, or newspaper, with-
out paying the ordinary stamp-duty. The question was,
whether the defendant had done that or not, and the ques
tion would not turn on any disputed fact, for it had been
intimated to him (the Attorney-General) since he
entered the Court, that the defendant would admit
the fact of publishing, for the purpo e of raising the ques-
tion whether the publisher of a newspaper like the pre-
sent was liable to pay the stamp duties, and whether it
was a newspaper within the meaning of the several Acts
of Parliament.

The Learned ATTORNEY-GENERAL then proceeded at
great length to argue that the " Political Letter" was in fact
a newspaper containing such species of intelligence as
generally appeared in newspapers, and was therefore clearly
liable to the payment of the stamp duty. If the present
defendant could establish the proposition for which he con-
tended, lee would bring such an advantage to himself
as no other part of the public Press enjoyed, it would
enable him to undersell them to a very great extent,
and be considerably to their detriment. When the defend-
ant first intended to issue .these publications he publial►ed
an adi.rtisement, headed " The Liberty Of the Press as-
serted," and stated hie intention of publishing a "Political
Letter" from time to time, addressed to friends and enemies,
as events might suggest, containing all events of the day;
both foreign and domestic. The defendant also, in the
same advertisement, decried in strong terms the oppres-
siveness of the Acts of Parliament by which the stamp
duties were imposed. He (the Attorney-General) was
not here to enter into the policy of the Acts of Parlia-
ment, it was his duty to take the law as it stood,
and it was his decided opinion the defendant had
clearly brought himself within the scope of it. The de-
fendant seemed to think that he had got a point of law hr
which he could go on publishing this newspaper without
paying any stamp duty : the law, as he the A,torney-
General understood it, said he could nut do so ; we are
all bound to pay obedience to that law ; the'defendant
had not done so, and he therefore submitted tnat he (the
Attorney General) was entitled to the verdict of the Jury.
By the law as it steed, the Crown could have proceeded
summarily before a M tuistrate, bnt as the defendant seemed
to consider it a case of great impoutanc-, it was thought
better to bring it lief re this Court for grave consideration
The Learned Gentleman was about to call his witness,
when he was interrupted by
Mr. Carpenter, who said he was not quite aware to
what point the Learned Attorney-General was going to
call the witness, hut he was anxious to cave all the time
he could, and would admit 'be publication.
The 15 letters charged in the information were then
handed to him, and he admitted them to be published by
him.

Isaac Henry Serle, examined by Mr. SHEFFER D—He
was a clerk in the office of the Commissioners of Stamps,
and there had been no affidavits made with respect to the
publication of these letters. On his cross-examination,
he stated that his know ledge arose from his having
searched the hooks in which the affidavits were registered.
He could not tell whether the pu lish-r of the New
Monthly Mago:ine miter! regular affidavits.
The CHIEF BARON enquired whether any person could
examine the book in which the affidavits were filed.
The witness—Yes, my Lord, showing proper reasons.
This dosed the caseon the part of the Crown.
The LORD CHIEF BARON-It really appears to ins to
be a mere question of law, and as Mr. Carpenter wishes to
address the Jury he had better proceed.
The ATTORNEY.-GENERAL observed, that Le wished to
confine the charge to the two counts be had stated.
Mr. Carpenter then addressed the Jury as follows:
He should not attempt to conceal from them the fact, that
he felt himself at this moment to be placed in circum-
stances of extreme difficulty, not that he had any doubt
as to the soundness or strength of the case he had to argue,
or that he found any paucity in tl e materials for his de-
fence ; he felt satisfird that he should not only obtain a
verdict favourable to himself, but one that would save the
Press of the country from the imposition of those injurious
trammels to which the success of this prosecution would
subject it. But to him there were other and more serious
difficultiea arising out of a general nervousness, which de
prived him of that self-possession and mental repose, which
was so necessary to render an appeal to the understanding
and judgment of others of advantage to the party asking
relief. lie was sure the Jury would not forget that he
had to enter upon this case against the most fearful odds;
he bad against him the learning and talents of the Attor.
ney-General and the gentlemen who were associated with
him, whose great knowledge and intimate acquaintance
with the technicalities and intricacies of the law and
practice of the Court, gave them a great advan-
tage over an individual who knew nothing of the
law but what he has got from a common-sense view
of the Acts under which these proceedings were brought,
and who never, previous to the commencement of this
suit, appeared in a C,,urt of Law, either by himself or
Counsel ; he felt convinced that the Jury, in deciding upon
the question now submitted to them, would not overlook
the difficulties tinder which lie laboured, and would, a.
far as they could consistently with an honest discharge of
their important duties, overlook any defects into which
he might accidentally fall, when they perceived that his
arguments wete based on the principle of unerring truth.
Important as had been the questions between the Crown
and the subject which had been determined in this
building, he felt himself authorised to say that there
never as yet had been a questiGn submitted to a Bri
tish Jury, involving results so important and so ex-
tensive in their consequences as the question which
h ad
the Jury had now to try. The question the Jury
to try this day was not merely whether this class of
publications was to be permitted or suppressed, nor was it
a question affecting merely himself, his personal lifierty,
and the subsistence of his family, dearer to him than life
itself; these were not the questions which the Jury had
alone to try, they had to decide a mole important question
affecting not the existence of an
untaxed Press, applicable
toence political purposes, but involving the very exist-
of an untaxed Press applicable to every purpose
which the human mind could conceive, and he undertook
to show the Jury before be .at down that it was Only by
prevailing on them to put such a construction on the Ai is
of Parliament under which the present proceedings
brought, as that they would be applicableto every ‘ii‘ev:irees
of pnbhcation, that the Attorney- Genera)
could call
the July to give a verdict against him. It would be lot
es Jury to determine not only whether there should not
be an man( d political Press, hut whether there should be
ao untaxed Prettil9r any purpose...religious,moral, literary,

_ .
or political. The Learned Attsrney-General, in his addres.,
to the Jury, had told them that they were to decide under his
Lordship's direction, whether the sense theAttorney-General
gave to the words of the Act was the proper one; now with
all possible respect to the Court and the Learned Gentle-
man, he felt it his duty, placed as he was, advoc ding a
case in which be was not only individually interested, but
the public at large, the whole of the Press, to say that he
conceived it to be a case in whiCh the Jury, who had been
sworn to determine the question at is.ue between the
Crown and himself, were the sole and exclusive judges,
not only of facts. but of the law of the cage; and he ap-
prehended that any attempt to confine the functions of the
Jury to the determination of the facts merely, would he
to deprive him of the benefit of a Jury, and throw the
whole case into the hands of the Learned Judge. If the

Jury gave a verdict to the Crown, the results to him
would be of the most serious nature, as he should
probably have to undergo perpetual impri—rm.•••r,
would not only have to pay :be penalties sought to be re-
covered against him, but the Acts of Parliament gave
the Crown the power of also recovering the whole sum
which the stamp duty would have amounted to upon the
whole of his publication, which a verdict agatost him
would also include, so that the amount could not be p iid
by such an humble individual as himself. If, however,
the Jury gave a verdict in his favour, they would wrest the
whole Press of the country from the imposition of those
duties to which the success of this prosecution would un-
doubtedly subject them. Mr. Carpenter then proceeded
at considerable length to argue on the construction of the
Acts of Parliament, and was addressing the Jury when
our reporter let the Court at two o'clock.

The female• voice (I cannot say whose it was) added.
" I am not going to let you have money by my
work whilst I am alive." About three weeks af-
terwards I heard another great noise, and the same,
voice making a demand for money. The femali. refused,
saying that he had had too much already. Some time be-
fore the deceased died the prisoner came to the house, but
his mother refused to open the door, when he said " There
are other ways of getting in, and I will do so ; for if you
do nut give me the papers I will do what I have so often
threatened." The deeea•ed refused, and told him that he
was worse than a bad husband.

Cross-examinsd—isiTn; etitnes go to the play with stran-
gers. Alter some hesitation the witness admitted that she
got her 1 ving in the stri-ets. She also said that she had
never seen the prisoner but ones, and at the time of the
noisy eonversai ions she deposed to she did not see him, but
believed it was him from his voice.

By the Cot/la—When I he irsl. the prisoner's voice at
the police-office, I said immediately, " that is the voice
heard when the quarrels took place at the deceased's."
Robert Birch examined—l was pot-boy at the Coiling-
wood publc house in Sepienib,r last. I am now a
weaver. I knew the deceased and used at times to work
for her. I know the prisoner, and have done so about
nine months. I remember the day Mrs. Markham was
found murdered. On the Sunday previous I was near
her house, it was nearly dusk, when I saw the prisoner
and another man in conversation. I heard the pi isoner
say, " If I cannot have money or goods I will have her,
and if I cannot get in at the front door I will get over
the black ditch." The prisoner then added, addressing
himself to the other maa, "By you won't
deceive me." The other man said " No." The prisoner
then said I have a suspicion that there is money in the
box, and I will have it, and again requested the ether
man not to deceive him, but to be punctual to time. 11e
then parted, the prisoner saying enough had ken said
about the matter. I then went home to my master's, and
told him what I had heard. The next day I went to my mo-
thet's. On my return at night I saw the prisoner come
out of his mother's door with a bed on his shouldeis. I

am quite sure it was the prisoner that came out. On
hearing of the death of Mrs. Alirkham I went to her
house, but I did not see the prisoner. I saw a police-
man, and told him what I knew of the matt,r. I was
not requested by any one so to do, it was of my own
account.

• Cross-examined—lt was just upon dark when I saw
the prisoner and the other man talking together on the
Sunday night. I never was tak n before a Justice about
some dogs. I was a short time in eu,tody two years ago.
John Smith, master of the last witness, deposed to his
having told him of seeing the prisoner and another man in
conversation on the Sunday previous to the murder.
The trial was proceeding when our Paper went to press,
and from the great number of witne.ses still to be examined,
it will, in all probability, occupy until a late hour in the
evening.

THE MARKETS.-(THIS DAY.)

COVENT-GARDEN MARKET.

'1 here was a moderate supply at th's morning's market, and
the trade was steady. Young Turnips and Carrots, Green Pease,
Endive, Green Apricots and Gooseberres, cheaper than on this
day se'nnight ; prices otherwise stationary. Old Onions seem to
have disappeared.
s.d. s d.
Potatoes (cwt.) 3 oto6 0
New ditto (lb.)
Co' haves (12 heads) 0 0 001
Ditto Savoy 1 3 201
Ditto Red 3 0 601
Horse Radish(bund:e) 3 0 10 01
Rhubarb 0 6 09
Rrocoli 1 0 2 0
Ce'ery 0 9 1 6
Tamps 12 b.,nches) 0 0 '0 11
Carrots i 0 8 0
Coleworts or Greens... 1 6 2 6
Young Onions ...........
11
00 21
60
Leers
Turnip Radishes ....... 1 0 1
Sweet Oranges (100)... 5 0 10 0
Seville Oranges ......... 8 0 12 0
Lemons 80 140;
Asparagus
Cos Lettuces (score) 1 6 201
Cabbage ditto 0 4 091

ad. s. d.
1 Spinage (half-sieve) 0 4 too 6
) Apples 6 0 10 0
1 French Beans 1 0 2 0
I Span. Chesnuts (peck) 6 0 10 0
zlenuts 6OlO 0
4 0 6 0
: 1
sF„raennicshh dit,tato
,French Walnuts 6 0 10 0
Brazilian Nuts '2 0 4 0
Eng. Grapes (per lb.) 1 0 3 0
Foreign 0 8 1 0
Pine Apples (lb.) lO 0 16 0
Sea-kail (pummet) 0 9 1 6
E, dive 0 0 0 9
Small Sallad
'Green Pease. 5 0 8 0
Radishes (12 hands) 0 9 1 6
Cucumbers (brace) 1 0 2 0
Strawberries (ounce) C 9 10 '
Apricots (pottle) 0 8 1 0
Currants 0 8 1 0
Gooseberries (gallon) 1 3 2 0