The Sun.
London, England, 1840-09-24 00:00:00

SUNDAY ANGLERS.

At the Town-Hall, Kingston, on Saturday, John
Tegg, a fisherman at Thames Ditton, was summoned
before Sir Henry Fletcher and other Magistrates, upon
a charge of fishing in the river Thames, on Sunday the
6th instant, and for which, under a very old Act of
Parliament, he had forfeited a penalty of forty shillings.
Mr. Walter, solicitor, of Kingston, appeared in sup-
port of the proceeding ; and Mr. Guy, another profes-
sional gentleman, attended for the defendant, who pleaded
not guilty.
Mr. Weller, one of the clerks to Mr. Henry Wood-
thorpe, the clerk to the Court of the Lord Mayor and
Aldermen of the City of London, produced a copy of
rules and regulations, bearing date the 23th October,
1785, signed by the Judges, for the conservancy of the
Thames and Medway ; and by one of these rules it was
decreed that any person practising fishing the rivers
Thames or Medway on the Lord's day, should be liable
to a penalty of forty shillings.
Richard Turner, deposed that he was gardener to
Sir Edward Sugden, and he saw the defendant and
two other persons on the Sunday in question, fishing in
front of his master's lawn. They were also drinking,
and the defendant sung a song. Sir Edward was walk-
ing upon his lawn at the time, and he was very much
annoyed by the proceedings of the defendant and his
companions.

Cross-examined.—ls sure he saw the defendant catch
several fish. He was fishing with a rod and line.
This being the case in support of the summons, Mr.
Guy took an objection to the proceeding, contending
that the Court had no power to make such a rule as
that which had been produced in support of the present
proceeding, and that, therefore, the Bench could not
convict.

The Magistrates having consulted together said, that
by an Act of the sth of George the Second, the Lord
Mayor and Aldermen had the power of making such a
rule as had been produced, and they therefore over-
ruled the objection.
Mr. Guy then addressed the Bench on behalf of the
defendant, and said that in his opinion the proceeding
which had been adopted was quite uncalled for and un-
necessary. He thought that of all the amusements that
were practised on the Sucday, fishing was the most
harmless and unobjectionable, Ind it had always been
so considered ; and ha was sure the Bench would ogre.
with him in opinion, that it was much better for a poor
man to aMWC himself three or tour hours on a Sunday
cternoon in fishing than in going to a public-house to
get. •rik. He thought it was very hard that any poor
u.
mar, shown. be dragged before a Magistrate and fined
fOf so doing.
Mr. Henry Fletcher 01,served that the Bench would
not discuss the propriety or impropriety of the pro-
ceeding. They must administer tt law equally.
Mr. Guy then-said that all he could do was to leave
client's case in the hands of the Magistrates, and
express a trope that they would only inflict a smizil floe
upon him.
The Magistrates having consulted together, said they
must convict the defendant, but they should only inflict
a fine of 2W., which was the lowest the law gave them
the power to inflict.

PEDESTRIANISM.—aI Friday last, the match
for 201, that Coates, the celebrated London
pedestrian,
could, within one hour, accomplish the following extraor-
dinary
undertaking, viz., to run a mile, walk a mile, wheel
a harrow a mile, walk backwards half a mile, draw a gig
half a mile, hop 100 yards, leap over forty hurdles ten
yards apart, and pick up fifty stones one yard apart, and
put each singly into a basket, came off. He finished
his arduous undertaking with a minute and a hcqf to spare.
His style of running is acitzirable, being very close and
and one which some of 0;:r pedestrians would do
well to imitate. lie cleared the ;,:irdles, which were
hunt three te,7t- high, in beautiful style,
se and elasticity a a bounding over
them with all the OW g,-eyhound.—
/Vottivria in Renew.
LETTERS 01 INTRODUCTION.— When Dr.
Franklin was Minister of the United States in France,"
says the National Gazette, "he was often importuned by
persons unknown to him to give them letters of recom-
m-
mendation. For cases of this kind, and when it was i
possible to refuse, he prepared the following model, and
in some instances actually employed it to shame persons
making sneh indiscreet applications, and in some measure
to stop them Paris, April —, 1777.
bearer, going to the United States, presses me to give
him a letter of recommendation, although I know nothing
of him, not even his name. This m.,y seem extraordinary,
but I assure you it is not uncommon bete. Sometimes,
indeed, one person unknown brings another equally so to
recommend him ; and sometimes they recommend one
another. As for this gentleman, I must refer you to him-
self for his character and morals, with which he is cer-
tainly better acquainted than I possibly can be. I recom-
mend him, however, to those civilities which every stranger
of whom we know no harm, has a right to; and I request
you will do him all the good offices, and show him all the
tavour that, on further acquaintance, you shall find him de-
serve. I have the honour to be, acc.' "