The Sun.
London, England, 1823-11-28 00:00:00

TIM HERTFORDSHIRE MAGISTRATES.

Just as the Court.vrete about 10 rise, fitr an -unusually late
hour, Mr. PLATT presented a large and closely written skin of
parchrnent to the °Meer, aniteteti to the Writ of mandanita ism
sued in the case ot'John Thurtell. The Learned Council said
this was the return of the magistrates -of fiertfordsbire.Ao the
tfiatidd7ll24l issued respecting Hertford gaol, and prayed that it
might be read... • - • • ••- - • •

'kite LOStll,Cktlir JUST Ica.—Have the magistrates obeyed
the writ ? ,
illr. PLATT.—Yes, my Lord, they hare; hitt they wish...
The-liosh-Crittr-Jtivrier.,,tlf they have obeyed' the
writ, why do they make any return ? .
Mr. PLATT.—My lord, they are anxious to state the rea-
sons of their conduct, and they have ;set thorn tbrth nt length
iu this return. Imputations have heen cast on them, and. they
are desirous of showing that they; are groundless,
The Loan Cart JIISTICE,:--Noitnputatfon has been cast
on them in this place.
• Mr. Justiee BEST.----I am sure I cast none.
Mr. PLATT No, My Lord; but their conduct has been.
impugned; and therefore I-thought it my dutrto-more it:
The LORD Clttlr Jus T wro—TheMagistmtett have obeyed
the, writ ; and, therefore, we can hear, no. mum' It .Is. not
necessary to,the purposes of jubtice..
The return was not read; and the Judges soon after left the

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Nov. 27.
SHAM PLEAS. •

Mr. Serjeant Prt.t. liai,iti, in, .ern case, that a
sham plea, which had been filed by the defendant, should be
set aside, and the plaintiff permitted to sign •judgment as for
want of a plea,' 'and..wli the; defendant should. not ;pay. the
costs. The defendant, tad frequently called on the Oain-
tiff' to obtain tinie 'forte payment of the' debt, but; heev
iii broken •his engagements, and the stitte of the cause re.
Wowing the plaintiff to protteeti, be.filed a .declaration,,ty.which
the defendant pleaded a plea of :judgment recovered in the
Court of King% Bench. The Learned Serjeant observed, that
the Court of King's Bench. bad •recently set ;aside. 4 sham.
plea, and had obliged tire delendanee attorney to pay the cost~.
Ile did not make the present motion with the Intention of
forcing the defendant's attorney toper costs, but with the view,
of having the , practice of -thts Court . settled .on the point of
sham pleas. . .
.. 1110...4UstiCe PAW( thought that in the case alluded to, the
Court 9e,King's:Bentli lead, .recognited :a. distinction.fortnerly
taken as to sham pleas, on which issue might, be. immediately
joined, and those which requited two modesottlitermination,
os which were calculated to entrap the plaintiff: i • .. ',,
Mr. Serjeant Pg&t. aubmitted,. thatin. this case the plaintiff'
Had liken delayed, and on that account he thought the Court,
would set aside a plea thus manifestly tending twprevent him
from obtaining a remedy. ~ .•: . . .
Illr. ;hider 13171M011011 said, the delay hail only been oc-
casioned by agreement between the parties, that no injury had
arisen to the plaintiff' in consequence 'of the plea,.and that he
might reply: nal MI record, surd 011ie to issue trnructliatelp ~ .
2tir. Justice PAW( ,was -of opinion the Court •Milti. net
interfere in this case. The Court of Rimed Bench had always
acted on the principle, • that if the plea raised '•'various-
issues which mast be , tried -,in different ways, they -would.
set it aside, but not where the •party might join issue inane.
diately. ' His Lordship referred to a case in which Lord Ken.
yon and the other Judges had Obliged. a defendant:to pay the
costs of a plea, by which. he bad, misled the, plaintilf into 2.' te-
applicittiou on various issues that were.to be variously determin-
ed, as where the action was on a bill of exchange 'and the "de.
fendant pleaded satisfaction by the assiement.,eta"bill Of ex-
chaneitito cover pert of the debt, .0.2u1 as judgment of the Court
of Extrhiqtter in Ireland covering the' remainder. , The first of
these 'saute wits deterriiinable by the country, and the second
by the Court, anti there the Judges. held,. that as- .the flaintiir
had been mined to reply on various issues determinable differ-.
ently, the plea sbould be set aside, the costs being paid by the
defendant's attorney.' . . ' •,. ~ „
Mr,
..Serjeaat .I:tau: mentioned another case likewise in the
Court of King's, Bench,-in which, in an action against a linen.
diaper for a' debt, the defendant Ideatied satisfaction by the de.
livery of linen-drapery goods; which being. manifeitly, Wee; the
plea was. ad aside stud tittplaintift,eigned judgment, : • ^ -
3;r. JosticeNnx observed, that for ,any thing that appeared
in this ease, the Plea might le,true, though, even- assuming it .
to, he false, the plaintiff.- could irontediate join issue, the pie*
'toff rt9t)faving heen.the cause of any delay.—Aule refused. ,

About two years ago a respectable farmer at
Yaxham, in this county, accidentelly swallowed
a penny-piece, which lodged some time on 'his
stomach, but causing him considerable pain he ap-
plied to an erninent.surgeon in this city, who ad-
vised him to take very strong exercise on horse..
back, which in a short time removed the 'coin
lower down, and relieved him of the pain, but
although it has not yet been extricated he .feels
no inconvenience hatever.----( Nortsicif rm.)

•
EDl:rOft—fra your Paper of the t ittit,here
is a slight icemen Of taely
'Covered On Gitiestesio4b,
Esq. •in ainpsliirek ; and lit—cariiplianc4!wighloi
invitation .yon have held out to Correspantkents
fora more detailed account, I Shall Veninrele
Sind teinnrks this
spkirnen oriintitittityi :having rrisitrt3l it inert Ohm
once.
I should transcend tin indulgence of ,or.
Paper, if were 'W intleavonilifilie'threettO
the, origin mid 'destruction of the
(loots only now, remainl that era„,cati only, (be,
conjectured from a laborious compiiation of &id
giegriOTcaT',lnformetibn,n's may be Nat_
• iittliciritios 'hi the t It
sway` in Britainti Ipi in the time' oldie. Itoman
away is thitain,' because no reins having been •
found subsequent to these orthe house'or ton s tan.
tine; it piibibtethit
ilestrOyed in the iteii4ral',stratirliie'•for the Orb-
perty vacated by the !lonians at their 'foal 4it-
parture. I was fortunate enough to et'
the coins b4ore'they -Cani•eyeil to Ve.
GreenwOod's Wiese', and' gathered '50610. J(1110644
11011 of •the. rest. They are all copper, two
three are indeed silverwashed a species. o(' coin
very coinrifon certainitutt4hitiCtlits
frequently been inserted by.Callecitits 'in the lkil«
vet series, in the'. deficiency of the real allyel4
coinage. . They embrace a very perfect coin at
Tacitus, one of irictariniis,' 'TetrieuS, Sitoniti;
three of Cerausius, t*ti'of° his siiideitior''atiillaild
Bassin Alltithis, an extr'em'ely perNef and 'elegitite
coin-of Conitantlite the' younger, &C. 'Tlri nicht
recent coin fotind is ode'of the bailie of Ounitan•
injufed'itsite, hut 'whiCh' is idintilled
by the diacteiti; and the Christian inonoviini in'a-
labarurn: on the reverse. It IS probably' it 'eoirt
Ilannrius: • "

Of coarse the era of the erection of this build..
ng mtist bet for eier unknown, t bid f 'thiitk'it is
extremely probable, that it existed till tiietdeptlr.e
tore of the Romans,. and only till then: AO*,
it is impossible that coins of Emperorti• subsequent
to its destruction ciatild 'be (Eland in the rniiisottid
2ndly, irriong 'so malty reins 'found, none 'attar
those of the Rorneti dynasty have appealed:
On the two principal floors I dare not trust
tnysre if '
td expitlitte. • 'The 'extreme intricacy of
the' Mosaic' patients would require as intricate -a
-description but 'Should yon deem• this coinntit--
nication of sufficient importance' to'insert in your
Paper' I shall probably venture Ott a detail here..
afters,. At present. I will only observe, that el-
though that. beautiful floor, which contains'a re-
presentation of- Hercules and Antatus, (as med.
tinned by your Correspondent) has been injured
by the decay"and fall of part of the bypocititt
beneath, the Wok may be said so' ltve been
preserved.), because the parts destroyed are faith..
fully 'represented lni the opposite corresponding
parts of the pavement. The centrelaiece, which
is is fortunately perfect..
Your Correspondent,.in reciting the represen-
tations of the 'feather' Deities in the other room,
has omitted Diana, end substituted "EscniaplUsi
for Apollo, which last is certainty intended by
the rays round •the head, and the emblem of me-
dicine in his hand', as properly .belonging to him
as to his son. Your Correspondent has men-
tioned Minerva and Mara-wit is uncertain which
of these t no is
,ropreeetftett,. lilt 4th are nut, as
thereis but one armed figure.
Independent of 'the suite of connected apart,
meitts,' which 'include these two rooms,
been found. detached floors, ltypoceits4,
&c. &c. in various parts of the 'adjacent fleilde,
which ,1 may attempt to detail in your Journal,
if it appear by'your :ittaertion of this, that it Will
be acceptable.
You have .suggested, Sir, from the great quail.
tity of charcoal discovered, that this bOrldifik
was not in fact destroyed by tire, as •yotir
,Correspondent 'hints, but was itself a temple,
aud the charcoal,. the remains of the sacrlfiehtt
fire. . f'do not quarrel, Sir, wilts your suggestion,
but with the information on which' it is griintni-
ed fitct is, therehis been little or nil) CUT-
coal found, r:ecepi where it would naturally be
expeeted,;i.e.: in: the' hyPoeittits ; whereei, :had
the.building been destroyed by 'fire, theeharco4l
would have haVe been spread geltertlity through.
out the rooms. Sii,tberehave been funnel
a ring attached *to a* bit of lead, a spear4othd
with part of the decayed wood remainingo curl.
onispoon, somewhat resembling pewter, three-
or four ivory pins, 'some thin plates of Afass,
fragments of plaster retaining' their vivid pattern,
bode!, -pottery; Stc, Stc., and how 'comas it 'that
none of these exhibit the least mark of fire? -how
comes it 'that' triode,. of the lints '(of Which th'e
'composed) were at all vitrified, e.-)t.
cam those in. the Immediate -neighbourhood of
the hypecausts I se :Miele' of wood ;remaining ill
the earth for i so() years, would naturally embattle
a'form .which your :correspondent-has' taken-for
dilatat), ' " • H
These floors aro now. enclosed and coofeti, and
!it is further satisfactory to the ti at in ti tilt o
.know,: that the permanent brightness '‘,41044:
durability 'of the pavement is beyond fear,. .4 able
tesserteof which it'ia-econiattfited: art. -not
coloured; bot is'ochroniatic throughout.'
tioln wbaysii‘itiirft:romieet6l‘titiiinibt6ditivvo'arsolitiootifi i !hi
icsonst:;inriephitiii...
tit,l the spring; order to avoid th'o itlev'itage
injury which tin expoie& payanreiq, wood re
serve from the frost 'The/tenanttritiiftiolied to
me several very iiitprestiog !Clues which may let 4
to- future discove:Sies, 'which,' with atrnoCe reyne
tar delthl of 'what has been'aireaif 'found, 1 nutit
at another time tonuattnicate:. • T,. (#.,f,,+