The Sun.
London, England, 1841-11-29 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, 'MONDAY, NOVEMBER 29, 1841.

BERNARD CAVANAGH, the " FAST-
ING MAN," IN READING GAOL.
• (mom A. CORRESPONDENT.)
READING, FRIDAY.-1110 very natural excitement
F which has been created, not only in the minds of the
F public generally, but amongst the medical profession
especially (many of whom still consider that Bernard
Cavanagh is not wholly an impostor, if such a qualification
can fairly be given to the term), in consequence of his
examination before the Mayor of this borough, on Thurs-
day, the 18th instant, and his committal to the county gaol
for three months, with hard labour at the tread-wheel,
as a rogue and vagabond, induced me to visit him in the
prison yesterday, having had every facility most politely
accorded to me by the authorities of the borough and the
Governor of the prison, Lieut. Hackett, R.N.
Without venturing to give an opinion myself as to the
supposed impositions practised by this man (who really
in appearance looks more fool than knave), or as to his
real powers of abstinence from food or drink, especially
after the statement which I subjoin to this narrative,
given to me by Mr. Bailey, the assistant surgeon to the
county gaol, and surgeon to the Royal Berkshire Hos-
pital (whom I fortunately met in the prison, and in
whose company I conversed with Cavanagh), I shall
merely confine myself to the relation of such facts as
came within the scope of my own observations—admit-
ting, however, and most frankly, at the same time, that
I went to the prison very naturally, I may say, strongly
prejudiced against the " Fasting Man."
Various opinions having been hazarded as to the lega-
lity of the Mayor of Reading committing this man as a
rogue and vagabond, from the nature of the evidence
which was brought against him, it may be worth while
to state that his conviction took place under the sth of
George IV., commonly called (I am told) the Vagrant
Act, the substance of the clause being as follows :
" Every person [to be deemed a vagrant] going about
as a gatherer or collector of alms, or endeavouring to
procure charitable contributions of any nature or kind,
under any. false or fraudulent pretence."
It should here, however, be observed, that although it
was clearly proved before the Mayor that the accused
purchased .the bread, with the ham and saveloy accom-
paniments, and at an obscure part of the town, and at a
considerable distance from the Black Boy, yet there was
no proof (however strong the presumption might have
been) that he bad eaten them. His having disguised
himself in the way described in the Morning Papers of
Monday last, with a handkerchief tied over his forehead,
nearly covering his eyes, another tied over his chin,
nearly up to his mouth, and a large black patch upon his
nose, leads to the very natural conclusion that deception,
if not gross imposition, was intended.
If Cavanagh be an imposter to the extent presumed,
there are, in the opinion of many, no grounds for sup-
posing that his " Man Friday," Tiernan, was aware of
his tricks. If Tiernan had been in his confidence,
there was certainly no , reason for Cavanagh going
out himself to make his own purchases of food,
with the chance of being, as he was, detected. Tier-
nan observed to the Mayor, when he was before the
Reading Bench of Magistrates, that it was no wonder
(if Cavanagh were an impostor) that he had de-
ceived him, when it was well known that Doctors Blun-
dell and Kenny, and several other medical men in Lon-
don, had been deceived by him also. There was some-
thing certainly extremely plausible in all this, as far as
Tiernan was concerned. I have learned that Cavanagh
went out for the purpose of taking the air three times
every day from the period of his arrival at the Black
Boy, until he was apprehended and convicted as " a
rogue and vagabond."
Upon my arrival at the county gaol, I found Cavanagh
occupying a cell on the first floor, ten feet by five, in
which was his truck-bedstead. The windows in the
prison are so constructed, by means of blinds, that it is
totally impossible for any article, however small, to be
conveyed to him through such an opening. I afterwards
saw Cavanagh in a room down stairs, in the presence of
the Chaplain of the prison, Mr. Bulley, and the Deputy-
Governor. He not only appeared in excellent health
and very good spirits (not at all " down " at his present
situation) ,but there was a colour upon his cheeks clearly
indicating there were no symptoms of starvation visible.
His voice was firm, and he altogether appeared to be en-
joying good health.
He stated in reply to the questions I put to him, that
he was very comfortable, and wanted nothing. After
some hesitation he said there was one favour ho had to
ask, and that was, that as he felt extremely cold in his
bed during the night, and suffered much from this cause,
he wished permission to be allowed to warm his feet by
the fire before he was nightly locked up. Mr. Bulley,
who has behaved with great humanity towards him while_
he has been incarcerated, immediately gave instructions
for this favour being granted.
Cavanagh stated that he attended the service at the
Catholic chapel on the Sunday, after his arrival at Read-
ing, when he received the sacrament. He likewise stated
that on the Saturday preceding he went to confession to
the Rev. Mr. Ringrose, the Catholic priest, who, at that
time, did not know who he was, or his name or occupa-
tion, but that he has since told him. (He has not re-
quired the services of the priest at the Gaol up to to-
day.) I then entered into conversation with him, the
substance of which is as follows :
How long do you, now, mean to maintain you have
lived without food ?
Cavanagh—l have not tasted either food or drink for
upWards of five years and a half.
But if you don't wish to be considered as an impostor,
how can you 'get over the fact of your disguising your-
self, and purchasing ham and other things at the shop in
Southampton-street ? I admit having bought those
things, fur I felt hun,ger'for the first time since the time
I have named.
You ate the ham and saveloy, , of course ? —No, I
did tint.
Well, what did you do with them, -then ? —I walked
into a field and then my hunger left rne. The things
fell out of my hands into the field, and I left them where
they fell.
Can you state what field you went into and left the
food you had purchased ?—No; I don't know the name
of it, but I could very easily point it out if I were there.
What was your object in buying the ham and bread?
—Because I telt hungry. As soon as I got there I felt
no appetite.
In reply to another question he said, " I fancied I
could eat a little, but I do not imagine I was prompted
to eat by the LORD."
He said he slept well, and complained of nothing but
the cold at night.
When he was apprehended he was dressed in a very
respectable suit of black, wearing a chain round his
neck, to which was appended a black cross, He is now,
however, in the gaol dress.
Upon Cavanagh stating that he could point out the
field in which he had dropped the ham, &c., on Thursday
last, an application was immediately made to the Mayor,
S. Chase, Esq., who was then sitting at the Magistrates'
chamber, for permission for the man to leave the prison,
for an hour, in custody, good and sufficient bail being
offered for his safe return, in order that he might have
the opportunity, thus . far, of clearing his character.
The Mayor, however, who behaved with great politeness
to the applicant, stated that the application could not be
acceded to. This refusal was certainly to be lamented
(although I do not know if the Mayor had the power to
grant the required boon, the prisoner being confined in
the county and not in the borough gaol) ; because if
the man's tale be correct—viz., that he did not eat the
provisions, and they were found in a field near Reading,
this fact would go very far towards exonerating Ca-
vanah from that charge, at any rate. If the field were a
thoroughfare, and as more than a week has elapsed since
they were dropped, it is far from improbable that they
may have been picked up by " man or beast" before now.
Before I add to this communication a document which
has been placed in my hands by Mr. Bulley, the surgeon
to the county gaol, who has attended Cavanagh since
his confinement, I will state some further particulars re-
lating to this man's conduct since he has been in gaol,
which may be relied on. They may tend to shake the
opinion of many who, like myself, were strongly dis-
posed to think that, instead of his being a "Fasting.
Man," his correct designation would be a " Fasting Im-
postor." He may be an impostor, now, for aught I know,
to a certain extent (for as to flesh and blood enduring
five years and a half total abstinence from food or drink,
it is, I confess, rather too much for one to give credence
to) ; yet, when" state, upon, the most undoubted autho-
rity, that from his first entering the prison up to this
present writing he has been closely watched, and that he
has neither tasted the one nor th,e other, in any shape, it
may be better to leave the public to form their own opi-
nions as to the extent of the imposture the man may
have been guilty of.
He has been daily supplied (this is the ninth day of
his imprisonment) with the usual gaol allowance, and
at the usual intervals.* This, whether his food has con-
sisted of bread, vegetables, gruel, water, &c., has been
carefully weighed upon its being taken to qis cell. After
leaving it there a necessary time for him to take his
meal, it has been taken away untouched, and immediately
afterwards again strictly weighed, when it has been in-
variably found to be of precisely the same weight, not a
particle having been taken away or comumed. .
The followinr, is a copy of the document I have pre-
viously referred' to, placed in my hands this morning,
by Mr. Bulley, from which it will be seen that that gen-
tleman very humanely. caused Cavanagh to be exempt
from the punishment of the tread-wheel, after he had
undergone the labour for nearly three days,—
" Friday morning, 12 o'clock.
" Bernard Cavanagh, at this date, completed his ninth
day of entire abstinence from food and drink.
" After the closest watching and the strictest care on
the part of myself and the turnkeys of the prison, to
prevent the possibility of his clandestinely taking food, ,
I feel satisfied and convinced, in my own mind, that Ber-
nard Cavanagh has not tasted food or drink during the
nine days he has been an inmate of the gaol. He re-
mains, notwithstanding the privations he has voluntarily
endured, in a state of perfect bodily .health, and I cannot
detect the slightest alteration in his appearance or spirits.
" In stature, Bernard Cavanagh is about the middle
height. His manners are quiet and unobtrusive. He
may be said to be reserved before strangers. He is, how-
ever, uniformly good tempered, rational in his conversa-
tion, except on religious subjects (on which he seems to
labour under a peculiar delusion), and expresses himself
as perfectly happy.
" He is extremely anxious to undergo any trial I may
think fit to make of his powers of abstinence, without
regard 40 time, and expresses himself as unwilling to
leave the prison until such fair trial has been made.
" I wish tocorrect a statement whit h has gone abroad,
respecting my being instrumental in keeping this tinier•
tunute person upon the tread-wheel. The following is
the fact of this circumstance :--On Sunday evening,
three whole days after he had been imprisoned, I ob-
served that during the period he had taken neither food
nor drink. Thinking that under this extraordinary
condition of his system hard labour might ba injurious
to his health, I ordered him to be immediately removed
from the wheel, entering such order in my Journal.
The Visiting Magistrates and the Governor of the prison,
however, thought otherwise, and he was again, on Mon-
day morning, placed upon the wheel, and remained at

work until, -through .the kindness of the Mayor, he was
finally taken off the same. afternoon. "F. A. BULLEY,
" Assistant-Surgeon to the-County Goal, and Surgeon
to the Royal Bork Hospital."
Tiernan, who is in good health, is serving out his
month's imprisonmena at the tread• wheel.
There is a report here that the Catholics, of whom
there are several in Reading and its neighbourhood, are
bolstering up the pretensions of Cavanagh as a " living
miracle;" but from the inquiries I have made I find no
grounds for the rumour, which has, certainly, been
pretty extensively circulated.

SPORTING INTELLIGENCE.
COURSING.
ASHDOWNPARK MEETING, Nov. 25—CONCLUDED.
The Cup was won by Mr. Etwall'sWest-Wind, beating
Mr. Goodlake's Gentility ; the Derby Stakes by Mr.
Etwall's Eton Boy, beating Mr. Morant's Musselman ;
the Oaks by Mr. Etwall's World's-End, beating Mr.
Agg's kmazon ; the St. Leger Stakes by Mr. Agg's
Amaranth, heating Mr. BoWle's Bamfylde ; the Craven
Stakes for puppies wore divided by Mr. Agg's Mo-
rant ; the Ashdown All-Aged Stakes were won by Mr.
Goodlake's Grateful Girl, and the Weyland Puppy
Stakes by Mr. Etwall's Will Watch. The Other Stakes
were divided.

Amicable Club, Nov. 23 and 24.—The Cup was won
by Mr. Evans's Barrington, and the Headley Stakes by
Mr. Eley's Etna.

---
Haslington Hall, Nov. 24.---The first swe'pstakes were
won by Mr. Edleston's Scythian, and the second by Mr.
Brindley's Twist.

Spelthorne, Club, Nov. 25 and 26.—The Puppy Stakes
were won by Mr. Batt's Banquet, the Headley Stakes by
Mr. Wilshin's Spot;• the Leatherhead Stakes by Mr.
Turner's Sloe, and the Epsom Stakes were divided.
Cardington, Nov. 25 and 26.—The Cup was won by
Mr. Purser's Piceotee, beating Captain Daintree's Knab,
and the Harrowden Hill Stakes, by Mr. Inskip's Irish-
man, beating Mr. Purser's Pandora.

UNIVERSITY INTELLIGENCE.
CAMBRIDGE, Nov. 2 7.—The Rev. Jemson Davies,
MLA., formerly of Clare Hall, has been presented to the
Vicarage of St. Nicholas, Leicester, void by the death
of the Rev. Richard Davies ; patron, the Lord Chan-
cellor. Value 851.

The Rev. Woodthorpe Collett, M.A., of Catharine
Hall; and Master of the Grammar School, Woodbridge,
has been selected by the Council of King's College,
London, to the office of Principal of King's College
School, at Nassau, New Providence; Bahamas.
On Wednesday. last, the Rev. Henry Churchman
Long, 8.A., formerly of Christ's College, was licensed
to the perpetual curacy of Dunston, Norfolk ; patron,
Robert Kellett Long, Esq., of Dunston Hall. Value, 301.
The Hon. and Rev. Philip Yorke Savile, M.A., of
Trinity College, son of the Earl of Mexborough, has
been presented by the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lan-
caster, to the Rectory of Methley, Yorkshire, void by the
death of the Hon. and Rev. A. H. Cathcart.
The Rev. R. S. Dobson, M.A., of St. John's College,
has been appointed Chaplain to the Braintree Union.
The Rev. Alexander Paton, M.A., of Queen's Col-
lege, in this University, has been appointed to the incum-
bency of Trinity Church, Louth, Lincolnshire ; pa-
trons, the Trustees.

NAVAL INTELLIGENCE.
(From the Hampshire Telegritph.)
PORTSMOUTH, Nov. 27.—The Aigle, 24, Captain Lord
Clarence Paget, sailed on Tuesday last for Plymouth.
The Pique, 36, Captain Henry Forbes, sails to-morrow
for Bermuda, with supernumeraries for the squadron
under the command of Vice-Admiral Sir Charles Adam.

It is understood that the Pique will not remain on
that station, but return to this port.
The North Star, 28, Captain Sir E. Home, went out of
harbour on Wednesday, and early on the following morn-
ing sailed for Plymouth. Commander P. Justice, takes
a passage to China, in this ship, to join the Pelican, vice
Napier, promoted. It is understood that the North Star
will remain at Plymouth until the troop-ships (appointed
to convey the reintorcements to the army in China), as-
semble there, and then accompany them.
The Dublin, 50, Captain Tucker, was spoken with on
the 30th September, in lat. 1, long, 22, bound round Cape
Horn.

The Persian and Fantome arrived at St. Helena in the
first week of October.

The Thalia, 46, Captain C. Hope, is ordered to pro-
ceed from Chatham to this port forthwith ; and also the
Isis, 50, Captain Sir John Marshall.
The Powerful, 84, Captain Seymour, with Rear (Vice)
Admiral Sir John Ommanney's flag on board, left Malta
for England, on the 11th inst.
It is said that the Andromache, 28, Capt. Baines,
proceeds from the Cape to China, on the arrival of the
Madagascar on the station.

TheCarysfort, 2G, was taken into dock on Thursday,
for overhauling and repair. This ship will be brought
forward for commissioning as early as possible.
The Seringapatam, Capt. Johnson, was paid off at
Sheerness, on Saturday.
The Tyne, 26, Capt. Townshend, •was paid off on
Thursday,
The Athol!, trooper, Mr. Bellamy, commander, arrived
tit Spithead, on Thursday last, from Nassau. She ex-
perienced most tremendous weather the whole of the
passage, and is ordered into the harbour for the purpose
of being overhauled and reported upon.
The Mount Stuart Elphinstone, Capt. Stubbs, for
Madras and Bengal ; the Catherine, Capt. Browne, for
the Cape of Good Hope, Madras, and Bengal ; and the
John Craig, Pettingell, from Algoa Bay, arrived on
Friday at Spithead, for the purpose of embarking their
provisions and stock. _

Womwten, Nov. 26.—The Alban embarks Artillery
for China to-morrow, to be conveyed to the Belleisle, at
Plymouth.—The Devastation embarks the Bishop of
Syria on Monday next, and proceeds directly for Ports-
mouth to receive her Artillery and supernumeraries.—
The Vixen, Heroine, and Rhadawanthus, are still in
progress.—The Firebrand proceeded on Wednesday to
Chatham, in attendance on a Board of Admiralty.—The
Shearwater and Meteor are expected daily.
In Harbour.—St. Vincent, Victory, Queen, Excellent,
Vindictive, Warspite, Belvidera, Royal George, Hazard,
Apollo and Sapphire, troop-ships, Pantaloon, Viper,
Echo, steam-tug, and Cracker, tender.
At Spithead—Pique,
phinstone, East Indianian,Sir Edward Codrington, our Commander-in-Chief,
Athol], and Mountstuart El-
having been promoted from Admiral of the Blue to the
White, and the Hon. Admiral Bouverie, of the Dock-
yard, from Rear-Admiral of the White to the Red;
both these officers shifted their respective flags on Friday
on board the St. Vincent and Victory, and exchanged
salute?.

The following Surgeons of the Royal Navy have re-
tired as Inspectors of Hospitals and Fleets :—B. F. Oat-
ram (1796), Sir George Magrath (1797), R. Purkis
Hillyar (1800), and D. Quarrier (1804). By the retire-
ment of the last named, the appointment of Surgeon of
the Portsmouth Division of Royal Marines is open.
PROMOTIONS AND APPOINTMENTS.
PROMOTIONS--Commander—henry Stroud, to the rank
of Captain—(Commission dated Oct. 29.)
Second Masters—Messrs. Pascoe and Garner, second
Masters of the Rhadamanthus ; John Tucker, second
Master, of the Lightning ; W. Mills and H. B. Harris,
second Masters of the Royal George ; H. Davis, second
Master, of the Seaflower ; and Mr. Wells, acting Mas-
ter, of Mastiff, to the rank of Master.
Mate—John Cashman (1838) to the rank of Lieute-
nant.

Assistant Surgeons—G. W. Pritchett (Atholl), and
A. G. G. Tucker to the rank of Surgeon.
APPOlNTMENTS.—Commanders—John B. P. hay, to
the Queen ; Josiah Oake to the Ferret.

Lieutenants—C. Lapidge to the Pantaloon, for the
coast of Africa, vice Crozier ; W. K. Hall to the Indus
J. B. Branch to the Warspite ; J. 11. Gennys to the
Apollo, vice Branch.
Mates—R. 11. Dalton and T. C. Bruce to the Queen ;
J. A. Wharton to the Caledonia , F. 11. N. Rolfe and C.
Compton to North Star ; D. Aird, to Fly.
Master—Mr. Ilele to the Apollo.
Second Master—G. Harwood to the Vindictive.
Master's Assistants—C. Pulfer to the Isis ; Jabez
Loane to Driver.

Midshipmen—Chandos S. Stanhope, late of the Se-
ringapatam, to the North Star ; G. Whale, to the Excel-
lent ; E. A. Porcher, to the Queen ; Hon. F. Walpole,
to the Vernon ; Hon. R. S. M. Byng, to the Belvidera.
Volunteers First Class—G. IL C. Langdon Tredegar,
to the Howe ; C. C. Day, to the Thunderer ; C. J.
Stockdale, to Belvidera ; C. Curtne, to Revenge.
Clerks—K_ Chamberlain, to the Alfred ; James Gil-
pin, to the North Star ; James Spark, and Charles
Howes, to L'Aigle ;- C. N. 'Wright, to the Royal George ;
John Doyle, to Apollo.
Mr. J
boatswain,
has been superannuated
on a pension Gosling, boatswain, on a
pension of 501 ; and Mr. IV: Keilimish, carpenter, 45/.
_
ohn 1.
(1)f arsd,yl,.

26.—Wind this noon, S. to S.W.
_dayat
Ironside Newcastle,
LLOYDS' SHIPPING.
8., moderate.—Arrd.
LONDON, NOV'.
do. for Demerara.
Tobago, Sid. Sandwich,
andsAßter.lr i
Arrived
uea Marina,dcil PEAL,
efrdo forrnNov.
the S2lt6.Vß.Triesll,l:oillrn:eirrliai: Thomas
ndC;nSh,llifl:rabl nyT;r ooyb
a,
DARTMOUTH, Nov. 26.—Arrd. Rine, White, River
Gambia, leaky, with pumps choked, loss of sails, &c.
FALMOUTH, Nov. 25.—Wind N.E. to S.E.—Arrd.
Maria Theresa, steamer, London for Palermo. Sld. her
Majesty's ship Spy, coast of Africa ; Arab, Van Die-
men's Land ; Mandingo and Thomas Young, Jamaica ;
.Skylark, St. Michael's ; Oberon and Linden, do. Arrd.
off, Florist, Huggup, Bombay.
BRISTOL', Nov. 26.—Sld. Barbara and Elizabeth,
Jamaica ; Conjo and John, Cavat.
GLOUCESTER, Nov. 26. —Arrd. Kingsbridge, Cunning-
ham, Miramichi.
PORTSMOUTH, Nov. 26.--Wind S.W. to S.S.E.—
Arrd. Mountstewart Elphinstone, London, for Calcutta
Catharine; do., for Cape ; John Cray, do., Algoa Bay.
LIVERPOOL, Nov. 26. —Wind easterly.—
Sld. Akbar,
Canton ; Lord Weston, Calcutta, ; Universe and Craven,
Bombay ; Cynosure, Batavia ; Rival, Barbadoes ; Ab-
bottsford, New Orleans; Safeguard, Charleston
Arrd. off, Hali-
fax George
Washington and South America, New Yoric .1
; Arm-
strong gales.--
Madagascar, Coast of Africa ;
Bateman, Sierra Leone. Sld. H.M.S.t usp,
packeti
,Biro3sitoouuTa ;In,
d,L A
1i v
NOV.ear ir )
,o.
2o
Gl ~ Sierra— .w
i n
aL eo
E.S.T.ne. ,
Arrd. Gambia,
crew saved
burnt at sea 9th Sept., by the Elison, arrived
at Sierra Leone.
dijiattroleciStiplaliritaCn,hißnaar;b(alditoteos . The Celina (whaler), was
SHOREHAM, Nolr. 2(i.—aho Emma, Smith, and Regna,
M•Donald, in attempking to enter the harbour this morn-
ing, Arounded on the Bar, and drifted on the main west-
ward of the Pier, but are expected off with assistance.

appointed Edmund Walker
HeaGdo,.Assistant Commissioners, to bo
Government
one
ofha the
the new 'oor-law Commissioner, though the actual stn
manual is not yet obtained by him.

OBSERVANCE OF THE SABBATH.
(From a respected Correspondent, a Clergyman of the

Church of England.)
I was delighted to find myself; by a well written paper
in your Sun, of the 24th inst., anticipated in my in-
tention of addressing you on the same most important
subject of a Sabbath. I have now merely to give my
thoughts a somewhat different shape. I have been a
clergyman upwards of forty years. When a child 1
was constantly impressed with deep reverence for the
Sabbath. The first or second sermon (of two well re-
collected by me, though I cannot now say which was
the first), but the first or second sermon I ever com-
posed was on the due observance of the Sabbath. In
subsequent years I composed many other sermons on
that subject. Ten or twelve years ago, my eye-sight
failing, I began to preach extempore, as, after having
written many hundreds of sermons, I thought I might.
But now I found an alteration needed in more respects
than one. Instead of six or seven hours' hard thinking
anti writing on the Saturday night, to clear up and se-
cure my thoughts for a sermon on the next morning, I
found it necessary to look more closely into the particu-
lar subjects than heretofore, aad to employ my mind
more entirely upon substance than in any degree upon
ornament ; for otherwise I knew that I should have no
chance as an extempore preacher. Under ouch altered
circumstances, some eight or ten years back, I said to
myself," I will preach again on the observance of the
Sabbath ; and, with the Bible in hand, I will investi-
gate the whole subject, and fill my mind well with all
the Word of God says of it, so that I shall have only
to open my mouth and pour forth with due application
all the precious truths I have gleaned concerning it.
But what was my amazement, almost amounting to
terror ? I found I was utterly unprepared to take up
again at the moment a subject so familiar to me I
considered it again and again for days, and weeks,
and months, with astonishment ! Was it possible that
I could have been for so many years mistaken ?
or, if I could thus have been, could my beloved
friends, some of the first in the world for piety
and talent, to say nothing of Commentators, aye, and of
the whole Christian world, have thus been under delu-
sion ? I had at last discovered that in the word of God
at least there was no such observance as a Christian
Sabbath ! For the correctness or otherwise of this
supposed discovery of the truth, of which I have long
had not the shadow of a doubt myself, I had rather
refer your readers to my only source of information than
try their patience by my prosings upon it. I would
only just strengthen one particular which your former
Correspondent has already handled, and adduce another
with which he was not likely to be acquainted. The
particular I would strengthen is your Correspondent's
most proper and most powerful quotation from 2d Co-
lossians, 16th verse " Let no man therefore judge you
in meat, or in drink, or in respect of an holy-day, or of
the new moon, or of the sabbath-days." And the
strength I would add to it is merely by quoting the
very next verse, the 17th, " which are a shadow of
things to come ; but the body is of Christ ;" and by
the commonest of all observations, that when the body
and substance is come, all the shadows or types thereof
are done away. The other particular is as follows :—I
was visiting a very zealous Roman Catholic Priest, and
I asked him how it was that his Church, which he be-
lieved infallible, could make such a mistake (I did not
wonder at my own, the Protestant Church, for that was
by its own avowal fallible enough) as to change th 6 day
of the Sabbath without adequate authority? He very
mildly and quietly answered, that "it was not without
adequate authority, for that it was so agreed upon by
St. Peter and St. Paul, in one of their conferences at
Rome." Well done, Catholic Priest ! thought I, who-
ever thinks that those of your order are not " ready
always to give a reason of the hope that is in them with
meekness" will probably form a wrong estimate of
them. I need not say that such a conference of the
holy Apostles, Peter and Paul, not being in my record,
the Holy Scriptures, I still remained firm in my own
belief, that there is not in the whole of the New Testa-
ment even the shadow of what is called the
Christian Sabbath. I do not wonder at, I
rather admire and respect greatly, the zeal of many,
very, many of the present day for the Sabbath.
No one could well be more zealous than myself in
former days. I once narrowly escaped (and how I
escaped I know not) being prosecuted by the authori-
ties of a large town for my earnest efforts and writings
against Sunday drilling. But it is possible to be very
zealous on very inadequate grounds of knowledge ; and
such I consider all such men as Sir Andrew Agnew to
be. At least I am confident that they must obtain
their knowledge from some such sources as my worthy
neighbour the Catholic priest, and not from the Word
of God contained in the Holy Scriptures of the New
Testament. There is no Sabbath (rest) for the soles
of their feet to stand upon there.

DISTURBANCE AT NORWICII.
Tuesday morning the Chartists at Norwich created a
disgraceful disturbance upon the occasion of the con-
secration of the new Church, at Catton, near Norwich.
The Bishop was assailed with hootings and yells, and
during the ceremony at the Church the Chartist band
played. The congregation were much alarmed during the
whole service, in consequence of the outrageous conduct
of Chartists. Several of them were taken into custody for
their disorderly conduct, and a rescue was attempted.
Thomas Abell, Wm. Crone, and Wm. Chaplain, and a
man named Votier, were given in charge by the Mayor,
who, with Mr. H. Bolinbroke, took a very active part
in keeping the peace. While the Chartists were being
conveyed to the station-house, Votier was rescued, and
two or three of the police severely wounded. One man,
Neale, was dreadfully cut in the nose ' • another man,
named Didwell, cut on the back of the head by heavy
stones thrown. Missiles were thrown in all directions
in Bridge-street, about twelve o'clock, and some windows
broken ; but, except Votier, all the prisoners were
secured. Afterwards nine other Chartists were given
into custody for riotous conduct, and some for assault-
ing the clergymen while coming out of church. While
the Lord Bishop was consecrating, Hewett, the Chartist,
came up-at the head of a band to the church, playing,
first, " God save the Queen," then they made a halt, and
played the Old Hundredth Psalm. Hewett was taken
into custody, and on Tuesday underwent an examination
before the Magistrates, charged with the disburbance.
Wednesday the examination of the Chartists was re-
sumed. Several were fined 5/., and in default committed
for a month to hard labour. Hewett, after a long in-
vestigation, was bound over to take his trial at the Ses-
sions in two sureties of 501. each.—Derbyskire Chronicle.

FORGERY OF POSTAGE STAMPS.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SON.

Sir.,—Observing that you have transferred
from the columns of the Morning Post, into your
paper of yesterday, an article on the subject of
forgery, 1 beg to hand you the copy of a letter
addressed by me to the Editor of that Journal,
with reference to so much of his observations as
relates to the forgery of stamps, and I shall
feel obliged if you will insert such letter in your
next publication.-1 am, Sir, your most obedient
servant, J.

Solicitor for Stamps, and Taxes.
Stamps and Taxes, Nov. 27.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE " MORNING POST."

SIR,—In the City article in your paper of this
day T find it stated that the law does not com-
prehend the imitation by means of the electrotype
of embossed stamps, such as the Post-office
labels, as an offence coming within the Acts
passed for the prevention of tiwgery.
Feeling nsssured that you would deeply regret
that any of your readers should be misled by
your remark, and be induced to attempt the ex-
periment suggested, under the erroneous notion
that it may be practised with impunity, I beg to
refer you to the 22d section of the' New Postage
Act, 3d and 4th Viet., cap. 90, where you will
find that any person who shall by any means
whatever imitate a postage stamp, or who shall
knowingly have in his possession a " counterfeit
stamp or impression resembling or representing,
either wholly or in part, or intended or liable to
pass or be mistaken for a genuine postage stamp,
will render himself liable to be transported for
life." I beg also to add that there are in other
Acts of Parliament similar enactments applicable
to every other description of stamps issued by
this department. —I am, Sir, your most obedient
servant, J. TIMM,
Solicitor for Stamps and Taxes.
Stamps and Taxes, Somerset-house, Nov. 26.

FASHIONABLE INTELLIGENCE.

ARRIVALS.

John Wilkes, Esq., and family, at Nelson's Portland
Hotel, from Lofts Hall, Essex ; Rev. H. 11. Knight, al
ditto ; G. Norton, Esq., and Mrs. Norton, at ditto ;
Chief Justice Saunderson (of Grenada), at the Glou•
cester Hotel, Piccadilly ; Bprmester, Esq., and Mrs,
Burmester, at ditto ; Captain and Mrs. Henley, at ditto ;
Captain Tyrrell, Ist Dragoons.

MORN

NS- SUtl

FRANCE.

TRIAL OF A MEMBER OF THE CHAMBER OF, DEPUTIES,
FOR A Liner. UPON THE GOVERNMENT, IN A SPEECH
• ADDRESSED TO ILIS CONSTITUENTS. . '
The trial of M. Ledru ltiolliii for delivering, and of M.
Hureau, responsible editor of the Courrier de la Sarthe,
for publishing with his assent, a speech to the electors of
Le Mans, on the 23d July last, came on before the Court
of Assizes for the Maine et Loire, held at Angers on
Tuesday. The Court was crowded at an early hour,
and among the audience were M. Giraud, one of the De-
puties for the Department, the Prefect, and many ladies.
The Judges took their seats at half-past 9 o'clock.
After the ceremony of drawing and swearing the Jury
was gone through, the President proceeded to put the
usual interrogatories to the accused. M. Ledru Rollin re-
plied that his name was Alexandre Auguste Rollin, aged
34, advocate at the CoUrt of Cessation and the Coun-
cil of State ; and M. Hureau that his name was
Barthelemy, ,his age 24, and that he was editor or the
Courrier de la Sarthe. In answer to a question from the
President, M. Ledru Rollin admitted that lie did deliver
the incriminated speech, in the presence of about 200
persons, in a house which he believed belonged to M.
Barre, but whether the doors were open to all who might
please to enter; he could not tell, as he only entered the
town on the day before, and was not acquainted with any
of , the preceding arrangements. The speech, he de-
clared, was delivered impromptu, and after it was proe
nounCed,he was informed that it had been taken down= and
several electors requested his consent that it should ha pub-
lished, which he gave, because he did not feel himself
at liberty to refuse. The President then questioned M.
Hureau, who stated that he had caused the speech to be
inserted in his journal without receiving orders from
any one. The Proeureur-General addressed the Court
for the prosecution. He maintained that the speech was
an excitation to hatred and contempt against the Go-
vernment, as it represented .it as the sole cause, et
the miseries of the people, whereas the Gewern-
ment was by all the means within its power en-
deavouring to lessen them. But, said the Procureur-Gene-
ral, it was with regard to the conduct of the Government
towards Africa that a great offence was committed, by
representing that it was to be shortly abandoned in
servile 'submission to the deMands of l'ereign Powers..
He then came to what he considered the most ilia-
portant part of the accusation, the question 's high
more or less affected the elective franchise, tending to
change not the Ministry, but
the .iteetave uovernment
itself, that is, the King and the Chambers. This part of
the speech was, he said, full of excitement to revolt, and
was a most unconstitutional attack. upon the existing in-
stitutions. The Learned Gentleman, after commenting
strongly upon the conduct of M. Ledru Rollin, concluded
by calling upon the Jury to put an end, by the verdict
they were about to pronounce, to excitement of this kind.,
M. Ledru Rollin then addressed the Jury. He deni.ed
that his intention was to excite the people to revolt, and
contended that he had not in his speech exceee.ed the
limits of constitutional discussion. There were, )".Le said, in
Erance twelve millions of persons in a state of eaisery,and it
was not a crime to.inquire into the means of 'aelieving them.
He recommended what appeared to h.les 'the proper course
viz.,radical reform, but he declared to God that he intended
only pacific reform. M. Odillon .Barrot, as the friend
and counsel of M. Ledru Rollin, declared that although
the language of his client in the speech for which he was
now undeee prosecution was warmer, perhaps, than it
might have been, it was strictly legal, and it was evident.
that; so far from having excited the people to revolt against
the existing institutions, he ha.d desired no reform in which
the Chamber of Deputies should not co-operate. It had been
charged against his client, added M. Barrot, that he had.
called the laws of September impious and parricidal, but M.
Ledru Rollin explained what he meant by saying that
the Deputies who had the most contributed to the pass-
ing of those laws owed. everything to the press, and
had, therefore, attar their own parent—and was
not this the fact ?' In conclusion, and after having in-
sisted on the right of his client to deliver his opinions
as to the state of society, and to say what he thought
were the means of remedy, M. Odilon Barrot cautioned
the Jury against permitting the Ministry to attack
a Deputy, when the Electoral College had performed
its mandate, for a speech delivered to the electors whilst;
they were exercising their privileges; for if such.
power were given to a Government, wo could say that
a Deputy might not be prosecuted even whilst the, elect-
ors were performing their functions?—M. A.eargo fol-
lowed M. Odilon Barrot. lie began by st'atie.g that he
had felt it his duty to quit his verity,/
and urgent
avocations, in order to render a service +o an esteemed
S
colleague and the cause of liberge
Gentle-
man, alluding to the charge
acra'APl,, M. Ledru Rollin,
that he had drawn a frightful and Tae Hon.
exciting picture of the
misery of the people, said he
'lied unfortunately but too
much ground for his stateter,,t,
and it was but natural
that, impressed as he was with a deep sense of that mi-
sery, he should have a 'strong desire to see it removed,
and enter upon the discussion of the question of ra-
dical reform and trie organisation of labour, for which
he was now
a.,- ,used as of a heinous crime. As a
proof that M.
Ledru Rollin had not altogether over-
charged his *picture, 31. Arago observed that of 100,000
persons of the general population born in "sere France, only
50,000 .ere alive at the end of 20 years and a half,
whilst in the working-classes of 100,000 borteonly 50,000
were, alive at the end of two years. This, he thought,
was a conclusive proof of the extent of misery in the
working-classes.-31. Berryer,. as counsel for M. Hu-
reau, said he had come to the defenetef M. :Hureau, be-
cause he was charged with having published a speech,
containing a profession of faitlart &wire-a-electoral re-
form. Under the Restoration, said M. Berryer, such dis-
cussions were never made the ground of prosecution, and
it was an attack upon public liberty to assail them now.
" Do not," said M. Berryer, " prevent men who may en-
tertain differesit opinions from your own from stating
them to the electors. For my own part, after having
Combated the new establishment in the Chamber of
1830, I did not despair of the country, and profited by
the right given to me by the new Constitution to seek
to propagate my doctrines. Would you, gentlemen, de •
voted as you may be to the Monarchy of 1830, renounce,
if a Republic were to triumph, the rights which Republican
'institutions might give to you, of seeking to effect the
restoration of the Government to which you were at-
tached ?"—The Procureur-General replied, and was in his
turn replied to by M. Marie for M. Ledru Rollin. The
argument of M. Marie was chiefly that his client had not
recommended or desired revolt, and was only anxious
for reform by constitutional means. The Jury retired,
and, after a deliberation of about an hour, returned
with a verdict acquitting M. Ledru Rollin on the charge
of having committed the offence charged against him
by delivering the speech in question to the electors,
but declaring him guilty of the offence by authorising
the publication of the speech. M. Ilareau was declared
guilty of the publication. The Court retired to delibe-
rate on the sentence, and returned in about half an hour,
when the President pronounced it as follows :—M.
Ledru Rollin to be imprisoned three months, and to pay
a fine of 3,000 francs ; and N. ;Hureau to be imprisoned
two months, and to pay a fine of 2,000 francs ; the pub-
lication of the speech for which they were condemned, to
be suppressed.

FLANDERS AND DUTCH MAIL.
1 BRUSSELS, Nov. 25.—The average price of wheat last
1 weck was 22-58 f. ; and that of rye 13-40 f. per hectolite.
' Mr. Ernest Vandersmissen, jun., was conveyed to the
civil and military prison of
arrest
sldaytonogf bsteehfaber
criewhymem hass
e-
terday, in the morning, as being implicated in the -plot
deg,
aAaiiiniiir,tr
i.
et. theo
hassf a fGeht:ene
eonrfaitishseve
eSadtnadfteee
riisferersiteonrceeig.
Foreign Affairs confirmed, to-day,
Representatives, the news published
of the withdrawal of the French
Minister beTeuhem3aidienii
assembled
of
Gohneootu, roafruot:idtioenr tothothGeonveurmn.-
iinn thethe CElremnebherp:oepfpety,
troops which were
ewil'2;e'ther it was true that the French pa-
pers num-
ber of ftn2do :01: men.
Briey had declared in another M. Delehaye, a
only at the request of theanßo
ter for Foreign Affairs refuselgdiatno
said that these troops (contrary to what Count de
Belgian
sitting) had assembled
complyMi n. i st
of the Deputy of Ghent. The majority of the Chamber
warmly applauded the reserve
reserve of the Minister.
The Journal whichthat the
announced yesterday ,
King was gone to his seat at Ardennes 31‘'.rithTtihweMdeils'iirse
was mistaken.
His Majesty has not quitted Lacken.
BRUSSELS, Nov. 26.—The King will make his excur-
sion to Ardenne very shortly. lie was to have gone on
on Wednesday last, but it seems that the arrival of Lord
Burghersh, the. English Minister to the Court of Prussia,
has caused him to delay his journey for a few days. Lord
Burgbersh left Brussels this morning.
AMSTERDAM, Nov. 96.—His Royal Highness Prince
William Frederick Henry arrived here to-day, to be pre-
sent at the launch. of his Majesty's frigate Doggerbank,
which took place at three o'clock.
THE HAGUE, Nov. 25.—An article in the Haarlem
Courant gives some details of the operations for drain-
ing the vale of Haarlem, which have been going on
for two years. Everything has fully succeeded accord-
' s probable that, in the fifth
ing to expectation, and it i.
will be fully obtained, and
year, the proposed object an
exent of 18,000 acres drained.
ST. PETER SB URC 11, Nov. 15.—0 n SatUrev•
y night
there was so much drift in the Neva that it was neees..
sary to remove the bridges. Yesterday tSunday.) the
canal was frozen over, though but little snow has fallen.
Sledges have been ploughing the streets ever since Fri-
day.-11 de St. Pctersburgh, Nov. 16,
BELGIAN 11. U NDS—Bauw, BLit, 6. _
Actual Debt, 2% per Cent. .. Nov
53
Rothschild's Loan 5 per Cl, t..„.... " . ... 101
Loan of Thirty Millions, 4 •,+er Cent. .......
Wiper Cent ,2
9'
--
(1840)...
............. 711,
Loan of City, 1T32, 4 per Cent. ....... : .......... lU'l
Society of Commerce, 4K per Cent.... ..... "'—
Bank of Belgium, 5 per Cent...... ........... .. !BIN,
NationalSeciety. ......... . ........... " ........ 75
Exchange on London (short) . ::: ........... „ "--.
_Brussels Papers, Nov. 26: .......... '' *5
AUSTRIAN FUNDS.—.VIENN4 Nor. to
per Coats. Illetalliquea . ........... ' -• • •••
Forr per Cents. .h., ...........
...." ... "........ ..... 106 i,
Three NI- Cents. » ....... .... ........ ****"•••••••• ...... 97C:
8ank.......... ,
.......... " ....... .. ........ 74i
—Allow:eine &flung, Nov. "F....... ..... "'••'M» 15"

Thirty-seven

Mr. THEODORE HOOK'S NEW NOVEL.--We
are
Theorequesteore Hoo d to state that " Fathers and Sons," a novel,
by dk, Esq., in 3 vols. post Bvo., with a
Portrait and Memoir of the Author, is 'published this
day by Mr. Colburn, of Great Marlborough-street, and
may now be had at all the libraries. Mr. Colburn has
also just published the following new works of fiction :-
1. The Match-maker, by the author of " Cousin Geof-
frey," " The Marrying Man," &c,,
3 vols.-2. The Parish
Clerk, by the author of " Peter Priggins," 3 v015.,--3.
The Old English Gentleman, a sporting novel, by John
Mills, lisq., 3 vols.-4• Chur.es Chesterfield ; o;:„ The
3 vols., with numerous illustrations by yhiz.--5. Tom
BAodivvelinntgures
,_aToafleaofY. otitileth of Genius, by Mrs. Trl?iiepe,
Sea
, by
Captain Frederick Cha-
mier, R.N., 3 vols. ; aid 6. M. The( dore Hock's Gur-
ney Married." the Sequel to "Gilbert Gurney," com-
plete for Gr. bound, with illustrations forming the new
volume of " Colburn's Standard Novels."

AIORNING SUN

3,-1-ONEY MARKET and CITY NEWS.

:FROM TUE MORNING PAPERS OF SATURDAY.
CHRONICLE.—The Bank parlour has been
throwing out a feeler to try the pulse of the dis-
count houses in Lombard-street, which tends to
strengthen the surmises that the Finance Commis-
sion is connected with the diplomacy of Thread-
needle-street. If the local issues were suppressed,
and a monopoly established of Bank of England
paper, as a consideration for the collection of the
public revenue by Bank officers, a profitable
source of the trade of these houses would be with-
drawn. At present the private banks, who receive
part of the revenue, send it to their London
brokers, who lend it out at a profit for short
periods, according to the current rate of interest.
If the whore of the public revenue be transferred
to the Bank of England, this traffic would be
stopped, and the money brokers would become
the mere agents and stipendiaries of the Bank
Directors. It is not very likely, therefore, that
the scheme of the Bank parlour will meet with
much favour amongst these parties, who have a
considerable sway in the Money Market.
POST.—The second notice issued yesterday
by the Bank of England, requiring that par-
ties applying- there for temporary accommoda-
tion on the deposit of Exchequer bills, India
bonds, and bills of exchange, should accompany-
their applications with a promissory note for the
amount, has given rise to some discussion among
bill brokers, capitalists, and others; and by some
of the number there seems to be a disposition to
find fault with the arrangement as an innovation
calculated to give needless trouble. We do not
suppose that the Bank authorities have resorted
to the measure as one intended for an inquisitorial
purpose, although the accumulation of the pro-
missory notes of a single name or firm is certainly
not to be considered otherwise than as a guide to the
extent of assistance which it may be expedient
to afford to particular parties. The object of the
Directors appears to be rather that of establish-
ing more decidedly their right than the mere
possession of Exchequer bills or India bonds
affords them to proceed, in case of the non-per-
formance by borrowers of the stipulations con-
tamed in the ordinary notices, to the realisation
of such securities in the market without the pre-
vious sanction of a jury. They do not now, for
the first time, call fnr the collateral guarantee of
a promissory note in the case of bills of ex-
change. It we are correctly informed, an addi-
tional instrument of this kind has been always
required and given, and the propriety of making
the condition uniform seems to have been for
some time felt by the Board.
Under the old system Exchequer bills or
India bonds might lie for an indefinite period
unredeemed, and nothing would be generally
known of the want of punctuality on the part of
the house pledging them, but more caution will
lIOW be necessary, as, in the event of non-
redemption of the security, or payment of the
note, there can be no hesitation in announcing
the fact for the information of the public.
It is rumoured that the funds arising out of
the negotiation of the Exchequer counterfeits
have been traced to the Bank of France, where
they are held in deposit, and it is added that a
messenger has been sent over to Paris to attach
it in the hands of the Bank. It is further
stated that Government having a clue to the
agent here employed in the transmission of the
property, still other measures have been taken
tin- its recovery.

. _
The Secretary of the jloard of Stamps and
Taxes requests us to give insertion to the follow-
ing letter from the solicitor of that department of
the public revenue :--
FORGERY OF POSTAGE STAMPS.
TO THE EDITOR OF THE MORNING POST.

SIR—In the City article in your paper of this day I
find it stated that file law does not comprehend the imi-
tation, by means of the electrotype, of embossed stamps,
sneh as the Post-office labels, as an offence coming
within the Acts passed for the prevention of forgery.
Feeling assured that you would deeply regret that any
of your readers should he misled by your remark, and
be induced to attempt the experiment suggested, under
the erroneous notion that it may be practised with im-
punity, I beg to refer you to the 22d section of the New
Postage Act, 3 and 4 Viet., cap. 96, where you will
find that any person who shall by any means whatever
imitate a postage-stamp, or who shall knowingly have
in his possession a counterfeit stamp or impression re-
sembling or representing-, either wholly or in pal t, or
intended or liable to pas.s or be mistaken for' a genuine
postage stamp, will render himself liable to be trans-
ported for life. I beg also to add that there are in other
Acts of Parliament similar enactments; applicable to
every other description of stamps issued by this depart-
ment.—l am, Sir, your most obedient servant,
J. TIMM, Solicitor for Stamps and Taxes.
Stamps and Taxes, Somerset-House, Nov. 26, 1841.

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF SATURDAY.
GLOBE.—An old Latin romance has for its
snbject the adventures of an unfortunate Wight,
'yclept Apuleius, who took up his lodging at the
house of a female magician in Thessaly, whose
maid-servant he induced to steal from her mis-
tress a box of ointment, by rubbing himself with
which he expected to be changed into a
bird ; but as the furtive damsel had, by mis-
take, given him a wrong box, he found him-
self compelled to bray and walk on all fours,
instead of whistling and flying in the air. The
Times is the modern Apuleius. The familiar—
who engaged to supply our Contemporary with the
faculty of whistling soft airs and doing the agree-
able, in order that " all parties" in Ireland might
be "drawn together," charmed by his fascinating
sounds,—has evidently brought him the wrong
box. Thus, while lie fondly imagines he is soar-
ing aloft and " warbling wood notes wild," he
presents a ludicrous mixture of the lion and the
ass, alternately roaring and braying with amusing
violence. Whileurging the duty of moderation,and
expatiating upon the advantages of domestic peace
upon the population of Ireand--long torn by
faction and divided against each other by the
operation of long-cherished prejudices and un-
hallowed feuds—the pretended advocate of peace
is hurling among that easily-excited people the
elements of strife, in ribald combinations of
weak sense and strong language, similar to
i
those which it has been n the habit of putting
forth, under varied political aspects, for a series
of years. In no single instance has this contra-
diction between the pretence and the act been
more palpable than in an article which this
morning appears in the columns of " the leading
journal." Moderation is therein insidiously pro-
pounded as the theme ; but the baser passions,
which have unhappily acquired the ascendancy
over reason h the sister country, are in it kin-
dled and fed, as from a kindred source.
STANDARD.—The abrupt termination of
:Michaelmas Term, in the forenoon of Thursday,
by the hasty retirementof the Learned Judges,
has naturally been the subject of much conver-
sation and of some complaint. The injury to
many suitors cannot fail to be considerable,
as a great number of cases are thus postponed
from the 25th of' November to the 10th of
January, with the incidental expenses of
new forms and additional fees, over and
above the evil of the law's delay. But
to whatever injury individuals may be exposed,
it is-so much for the public benefit to preserve
rited reverence with Which Judges
are me
are rewarded, that where they err from human
infirmity their errors are to be treated with
Let us say, too, that theLordChief per-
sonal character of tht,_ Justice, and
his conduct in his high o.flithc
whiche, g him a claim
to respect above that
wiStill . it is any
__man can
be invested by office.
refer.cult to
I ich we
defend the proceeding to wThe
time of the Courts of Justice is, as the Noble
Lord himself observed, the property of the pub-
lic, and of an important part of this property the
public have been deprived by the act of the
Judges, upon grounds winell can hardly be
a• ccounts for his
con-
sidered sufficient. Lord Denman
and his venerable brothers' proceeding,onl y as
the Bench. It
necessary to maintain the dignity of ,
seems, however, doubtful whether the dignity
_ot
the Bench was best maintained by an act which,
besides causing injury to suitors, wore the ap-
pearance—we are sure the appearance only—
of a peevish temper, of all tempers that which
is least dignified. On the other side, it does
not seem clear that the dignity of the Bench
would be compromised by the Judges either
occupying their seats or retiring to their
chambers for a few minutes, until the pub-
lic business could proceed in order. There
is surely nothing undignified in the patient
discharge of a public duty, even at the cost of
some personal inconvenience. It is true, no
doubt, that the public good and the dignity of
the Bench are both concerned in au inflexible
adherence to rules clearly and distinctly laid
down. But it is unfortunate in the particular
instance—unfortuna to generally for the public
—that no such rule exists. Nothing is more
common than for the Judges to wait for Counsel
in a particular case; indeed, it is every day's ex-
perience; and no reason exists why the indul-
gence should be withheld on the last, more than
upon any other day of the Term. Most would
be disposed to think that upon the day on which
most business is transacted in the different Courts
the indulgence would be especially proper. The
question immediately before us, however, is not
is
whether such an indulgence -
proper on any par-
ticular day, or at all? but whether, as it does
exist, it ought to be withdrawn suddenly without
notice, and therefore, in appearance, from the
caprice of ill temper? For ourselves, we think
that the practice of waiting for Counsel is injuri-
ous to the public, and especially injurious to the

junior bar, and would wish to see it altogether
discontinued.

LAW INTELLIGENCE.
COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH, Nov. 27.
BAINES V. BREWSTER.

This was an action for assault and false imprisonment.
The declaration set forth that the defendant was pos-
sessed of a certain dwelling-house and premises at Little
Maplestead, in Essex, and that the plaintiff entered on
the premises and disturbed him. That the defendant re- I
quested plaintiff to leave, but he refused to do so, and
threatened to knock at his door and create a disturbance
until a certaik book was delivered up to him. That plain-
tiff continued to knook violently at the door, and
insulted and abused defendant's family. That de-
fendant sent for a constable, and to prevent the
continuance of the annoyance, followed the plaintiff
some distance, and gave him into custody. The
defendant pleaded a justification, and not guilty ; and
the question was, whether the breach of the peace, being
committed out of the view of the constable, he was jus-
tified in taking the plaintiff into custody. The Jury
found a verdict for the defendant, and a rule for a new
trial was subsequently obtained, on the ground that the
constable had no jurisdiction, the alleged breach of the
peace having ceased.
Mr. GURNEY (with whom was Mr. Ogle) now ap-
peared to show cause against the rule. He submitted
that the words of the plea were strictly correct, and
that the breach of the peace for which the plaintiff had
been given in charge, had not ceased at the time the con-
stable took him into custody.
The COURT was of opinion, without hearing the argu-
ments of Mr. Thesiger on the other side, that the juris-
diction of the constable did not extend to the taking the
party into custody after he had quitted the premises, the
plea therefore was bad; the rule must be made absolute.
HEARNE V. STOWELL, CLERIC.
The COURT gave judgment in this case, which was an
indictment for libel, brought by the plaintiff, a Roman
Catholic clergyman, against the defendant a clergyman
of the Established Church, for a libel reflecting upon
the character of the former in his capacity of a clergy-
man. The case was tried before Mr. Baron Maule at
the Lancashire Assizes, and a verdict had for the
plaintiff ; and two motions had subsequently been made
in that Court; first to enter a verdict for the defendant on
the plea of Not Guilty, and secondly, for an arrest of
judgment. There was some doubt whether the plaintiff
was charged with doing anything which could be consi-
dered as affecting his character, and the Court was not
informed by the declaration as to the manner in which
the plaintiff's character could suffer from the obloquy
said to be cast upon him, or that it was contrary to the
conduct pursued by a Roman Catholic priest
in imposing penance. That defect was said
to be cured by the evidence given at the
trial, and that his superiors in the Roman Catholic Church
considered the conduct imputed to the plaintiff as highly
improper. But to that it had been answered, and pro-
perly answered, that no evidence could cure such a de-
fect as that which was apparent on the face of the record,
and that none was properly admissible on such a subject,
the issue joined having no relation thereto. It was denied
by the Counsel for the defendant that the defendant had
any intention to impute improper conduct to the plain-
tiff, and the distinction between libel and slander was
pointed out, the words in the former case being dis-
tinctly referred to the Jury for their opinion under the
Libel Act. On that ground it was contended
that the Court had no power to arrest the
judgment, because the question was removed
from its cognizance, and had been exclusively submitted
for the opinion of the Jury. From that doctrine the
Court must dissent. It was net enough that the
charge should be termed a scandalous and malicious
libel, but it must be shown that it was calculated
to injure the plaintiff in some way, because other-
wise the most innocent words might be construed
to be libellous. It was therefere necessary that all
the facts and circumstances should be brought
under the consideration of the Court, otherwise an in-
dictment for libel could not be directed. The conse-
quence of a contrary doctrine would be, that any words,
whether sensible or not, conveying any imputation,
would support the charge of libel, if there was only
a general complaint of their being an imputation
upon character. The ground of the course which the
defendant thought/proper to adopt at the trial, in seek-
ing to obtain an acquittal upon the proof of the allega-
tions being true, the Court did not think it was now open
to him to move the Court for a new trial ; but, on the
other point, the Court was of opinion that the rule for
an arrest of judgment must be made absolute.

THE QUEEN V. SIIEEHAN, ESQ., AND SIR JOHN H. DOYLE.

The COURT gave judgment in this case, which was a
rule for a criminal information obtained during the pre-
sent term against the two defendants, in respect of a
statement in the Cambridge independent Press, re-
flecting upon the character of Sir Alexander Reid
Grant, and tending to provoke him to a breach
of the peace. The rule had been obtained against
Sir John Doyle, on the ground that the publica-
tion appeared to be his. There was a statement
of a long correspondence, which had taken place
in consequence of an application made by Mr.
Sheehan to Sir A. Grant, for an explanation
of some attack upon his character at the last
election for Cambridge, Sir John Doyle appear-
ing as the friend of Mr. Sheehan. Sir John Doyle
was referred to Lord Granville Somerset as the friend of
Sir A. Grant, and that Nobleman refused all explanation
until Mr. Sheehan had retracted certain remarks re-
flecting on Sir A. Grant, which had been published by
bim as the editor of the newspaper referred to.
Sir John Doyle at first answered that Sir A. Grant
had redressed his own cause by some severe remarks
made by him publicly on the day the offence was alleged
to have been committed, but he afterwards agreed that
some further atonement should be made, and pro-
posed a letter, which was not considered satis-
factory by Lord G. Somerset. The negotiation
was then broken off, and a communication was
had with Sir H. Hardinge, who concurred in the opinion
expressed by Lord G. Somerset. That did not meet the
view of Sir John Doyle, who required an immediate re-
ference to another friend, which Sir A. Grant re-
fused, stating that he would refer the matter to
his legal advisers in a long letter, reiterating
all the points of the negotiation. Sir John
Doyle then published the remarks which are the subject
of complaint, and which were couched in that tone of
menace and insult which the Court had so frequently re-
pudiated. It was said that the prosecutor's conduct had
deprived him of all remedy, as he entered upon the negotia-
tion with the full knowledge that it was likely to lead to a
hostile termination. If that was so, the Court would
know how to deal with the matter, but Sir A. Grant
had declared upon his oath, more than once, that he had no
such intention, and Lord G. Somerset also declared that
his intentions were perfectly amicable. Sir H. Hardinge
had made no affidavit, but it would appear that the d-
clarations of the other parties were not inconsistent with
the course pursued by Sir H. Hardinge. Sir John Doyle,
however, thought otherwise, as appeared by the state-
ments in his affidavit ; but even if that were so,
Sir John Doyle had no quarrel with the
prosecutor, and if the latter had inadvertently
offended him he might have, if the application had
been couched in proper language, apologised. But
it was wholly unwarrantable to say that he was a dis-
graced man for acting under the advice of highly respect-
able gentlemen, and still more to have published these re-
marks in a newspaper after Sir A. Grant had said he
would refer the matter to his legal adviser. Mr. Sheehan's
case was essentially different—the first attack placed
him greatly in the wrong, because his charges about the
slave trade and cruelty appeared to be quite unfounded.
The answer of Sir A. Grant was founded upon that attack,
and then at the ensuing election the flag having recoiled
the matter to his mind, he again referred to Mr.
Sheehan. But Sir A. Grant carried his revenge
much further, and referred to something of Mr.
Sheehan's private history, which appeared to the
Court an unwarrantable insinuation, as it might
have raised almost any suspicion regarding
Mr. Sheehan's life. They knew of no justification for
so sweeping a statement but its truth, and they did not
find that Sir A. Grant either knew or believed that it
was true, and, had he retracted these assertions, the
Court would probably never" have heard of the
present case. After referring to the great length
of the public time which had been occupied by the
case, the Court concluded by observing that Sir John
Doyle had, by fastening a quarrel on Sir A. Grant,
made himself liable to have the rule made absolute, but
under all the circumstances they thought the rule should
be discharged as against Mr. Sheehan, but without costs.