The Sun.
London, England, 1812-12-18 00:00:00

RIGNOLD V. WATERHOUSE.

This was an action by a banker at Norwich,
against the. Coach proprietor in Lad-lane, for the
loss of 6..narcel containing bills and .note 3 to a
considerable' amount.

The SOLICITOR-GENERAL, for' the defendant,
produced his notice, not,to hold himself, tespott-
sible ror parcelS above the value of 51. unless en-;
tered and paid for accordingly.
Mr. Justice BAILEY (who. relieved Lord Ellen-
borough at noon) held. this to be agood defence,
notwithstanding. an attempt to take the case out of
the usual rule, by proving that the banker had
once been a proprietor in the ,coach, and there
was an understanding between him and the defen-:
dant,• that hiS private parcels should be delivered
gratis; for in the event of notice,- the defendant
might have proyided a securer place for such par-
ecls.
Verdict for defendant.

ADMIRALTY SESSIONS.

OLD BAILEY Dec. 17, 1812,

Before Sir Wm. Stoll' -(Chief Judge), Lord EL-
LENEOROUGH; and Mr. Bal'on.THomits oN.
SENTENCE OF THE MARQUIS OF SLIGO. -

. .
Soon after one o'clock, this clay, the Noble
Marquis attended, pursuant to drder-of the Court ;
and being called upon by the Deputy Clerk of the
Arraigns, to slim cau.e why sentence should not
be'passed upon hiin, for the misdemeanour 'of
which he had beer found guilty, • ,
Mr. SOARLM r, his Lordship's Counsel, pre-
sented an affidavit made by the Marquis, which,
after seine deliberation, the Court permitted to be
read.

The Affidavit stated, that on the day of the
evening, upon which be sailed' fri)in Malta, he
was so much engaged in making preparations for . .
the voyage, that he was under the necessity of .
leaving to L. 4 servants the business of engaging
seamen. That these seamen Came voluntarily on .
board his ship, and being the dusk of the evening,
he did not 'see them'that night. He most soA
lemnly deplaredthat he had no knowledge at that
time that any of.' the people had deserted from
the Warrior, but on the next day he did suspect
some of them, and he then felt it was his duty to
sad theM back, but being Misled by a mistaken
view of his situation, he did not immediately
adopt that course. When his vessel was 'searened,'
however, the persons who were WittiesseS agritiSf '
him had.stated to, the contrary, he did not in hiS
own Conscience believe; nor did he knaW : at that
time that lie had any of the' Warribr's men on
board, and although there was• no• doubt that
Captain Spranger might have bad knowledge of
the persons of the, mcn, he .(the Marquis) had no
such knowle.dge,•and it. was in proof that some
.-
days before his sailing his servant informed him
he had two men who had deserted ;. innrictliately
upon which be gave orders that they should be
dismissed and returned to their ship. He ekpress-
ed. hini3elf fully sensible of the error and. (oily of
his
,conduct, for which he did not venture to offer
any.e.xcuse beyond that of youth and indiscretion;
but he was inost anxious to set himself right with
the Court with respect to that-part of theevi-
dence which charged him 'with abandoning these
ineo.,•upon which he begged leave to state that,
having used all the means in his power to recal
them from the shore, he'did not sail untilshe had
_received a positive message from them that they
would not return to the ship, he therefore resent-
ed their conduct; and was unwilling to take them
hack. With respect to the letter he sent to
Captain Spranger, it was a-Private commtinica-.
tion, never intended to be made public ; and as to
'the whole of his conduct throughout this unfortu-
nate transaction, lie never Meant to be, in the
most distautdegree, wanting in 'respect to the
laws of his country, and was now and at all
times most ready anti anxious to express 'his con- •
tr:..ion, and to make every reparation and atone-
ment
,in his power. ,
Mr. SCARLETT then requested permission to
make one observation.
Lord ELLENtionotin—" We have already gone
to the full extent, and I perceive we are now go-
ing to 4 length not to be allowed in any Court of '
Justice. We could not shut the door against the
affidavit until we heard its content. read, which'
certainly, goes in some measure to the extreme of
impeaching the verdict ; but after that, 'to allow
the defendant's Counsel to address the Court,.
,would be foily in the extreme."
Mr. SCARLT TT—' ' My Lord, I meant merely
to make' one observation, as to my own conduct
in the progress of the cause." .
Lord ELLENBOROLTGII—",YOII may, state any
01. b singlefact you please,; but to hear the obser-
vaticins of Counsel, at the Moment sentence is
about to be pronounced, is a thing impossible."
Mr. SCARLETT then said, that the Noble Mar=
quis was ready and willing to plead guilty to a
part of the indictment, and not having given their
Lordships so munch trouble, in taking up so many
hours as this trial had occupied. He was•post
anxious from the beginning to;plead guilty to all
those parts of the indictment to which he .felt
-conscious of his misconduct,' but Wished to tra-
verse those parts upon which he did not feel him-
self culpable. But what had fallen from toe
. Court, be was told by his .Conusel, that the
Court could not ,nakeitha distinction, and there-
„
• fore advised him tb'traverse the whOleindietment ;'
in consequence of which, and not from any wish
of the Noble Marquis, it became .painfully
t.ne-
cessary to,occupy the time of the CoUrt, to the
length to which the trial had been protracted. '
1 Lord ELLENBOROUGII—‘` All-these matters

Sect the Court is always willing to, give every
credit, uot only to the 'Able_Alaniuis, but to
eveiT citien4ant whb comes`..before undek simi-
lar circumstances." ' -- •

W'ILLIAM SCOTT then proceed:l to proA
nonner the judgment of the Court, -in substance
neatly as follows

" My Lord Marquis-Jt now becomes 'a 'pain-
ful but a bounden duty,upon. inq, to pronounce
the penalty- which the law has inflicted tqfon you
for Ow misdemeanour of which you, have been
found guilty. After a long and • impartial trial,
the result of which has been, that you have. been
convicted upon the Whole of the charges preferred
against you, save the last; it. therefore now ,be-
comes you to make such .reparation to 'the offend-
ed laws of your country,' as the nature of your
offence requires. lt is' unnecessary for me to di-
late upon the magnitude !of your crime, or the
incalculable mischief arising- to the ptiblic service
from the repetition of such ad offence.," The great
advantages Which you derive from your rank and
fOrtnne, give your country a right to expect from
you a bright example of- obedience to the laws ;
but in the pursuit of your amusement, you were
led unfortunately into a breleit of those.very laws
you were peculiarly called. upon to observe and
protect, by which you have not only deprived
your country of the advantages to be detived ftom
the services of these men, but have also been the
cause of a serious loss to the service of your. king
and, country,,..and moreover . you have by your
conduct exposed these pule men to all the.
severities which the: law may think necessary
to visit' upon them, to weaken the strength
6f ' his Majesty's' navy, and deprive these men
of that protection they would. otherwise. haVe
been entitled to ;. and, when the discovery was
Made, it is most painful to deflect; that you de-,
wended to the practice, :of a deceit. It islmne-
cessary for me now to. Say'any thing as' to what
your Lordship felt, when yOn :were satisfied of the
error you had cominitted; and I' hope it will be_
your ambition in future, when You shall remem-
ber this unfortunate transaction, tuniformly to en-
deaVour to preServethe safety a;ad'proSperity of
your country. Through the Medium. of this pain-
ful.admonition, given in yotir person, 'it is fitting
that the public should be' reminded of that impor-
tant good, the tribunal of justice of this connoy
extends to every individual, and td-know that
neither the rank nor fortune•of any man.can be his
protection against the offended laws of his coun-
try. The sente,fice of the Ourt therefore, is,
That you, the Marquis of .sligg, do pay to the
. King a fine of 50001. and that you be committed
to his Majesty's Gaol
,of NevvgatC for the space of
four calendaranonthS, and that you be further.
prisoued beyond that period,
,uptil such fine be
paid. 7 •
The Noble Marquis soon after retired from the
Court, through the dock, t.o_Newgate, attended,
by the Marshal of the Admiralty and one Gen-
tleman.