The Sun.
London, England, 1848-10-06 00:00:00

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sia,—ln your paper of the 26th ult. you allude
to the greater regard shown by the English law to
property than to the liberty of the subject, and the
difference is even more flagrant than you state. _
The party against whom an action is brought has
not to make any payment for a copy of theh
state-
ment of the demand against him, but must, if he has
appeared in due course to the action, have the
declaration itself delivered to him, and also the par-
ticulars of the plaintiff's demand if the action is for
debt or on promises.
The declaration states in strict legal phraseology
the claim of the plaintiff, and he cannot depart
from this, or from his particulars of demand. It the
declaration be informally worded the defendant can
take advantage of it by demurrer, or, in some cases,
even after a verdict against him, by moving in arrest
of judgment.
If the defendant does not demur, he can put
almost any plea he chooses on the record, and
of the most contradictory description ; so that, in
fact, if one of them be true the others must be false.
The plaintiff; however, is only allowed to have one
count in his declaration for the same cause of action,
and is, consequently, precluded from stating his case
in different ways, which is often a denial of justice
to him.
Thus is a person guarded against a pecuniary claim,
and if one is impropelly made against him, the plain-
tiff has to pay him tffe costs he incurs, but if a cri-
tninal proceeding be instituted against a man he can
obtain no copy of the indictment in the more impor-
tant cases, and his advisers are obliged to look at it
as they can, amidst the hustle of the court, just as he
is going to be tried ! However innocent he may be
he is not entitled to be reimbursed the costs he must
incur in preparing for his defence, and from his often
not knowing the particulars of the charge against
him, he is, as far us possible, prevented from being
able to meet it.

Under such circumstances it must continually
happen that the innocent suffer with the guilty.
Instances in abundance may be produced to show
that our system of criminal jurisprudence is
most unjust and oppressive. It can be, and is,
used as an instrument of malice, and by it a man
can be put to great expense, and his character as-
sailed without his having any effective redress.
This unjust and oppressive difference between civil
and criminal proceedings did not always exist, and its
growth shows that while we have continually added
safeguards to property, we have cared little for the
real security of the people. The cause of this is an
interesting subject, and I trust you will continue
your endeavours to procure an effective remedy for
the evils which are so apparent in the existing
practice.—l am, Sir, your very obedient servant,
Lothbury, Oct. 4, 1848. 11. B. F.

FIRE AND 1-4055 OF' Two LIVES.—On Tuesday
evening a fire broke out in a cottage at Lushbrook,
Shiplake, near Henley, by which two lives were de••
stroyed. The cottage, which was thatched, was occupied
by a man named Mills, a widow named Cresswell, with
whom he cohabited, and a family of five children, the
youngest being the child of Mills. Mills returned home
from his work and was eating his supper, when the
eldest of the children, a boy of nine years old, went up
stairs to put his yonngcr brother to bed, and on de-
sec:riding unfortunately set fire to a heap of corn stowed
in a recess. The staircase was almost immediately in a
blaz3. Mills rushed up to the room in which the child
slept to rescue it, but was unable to do so :from the in-
tensity of the heat, and both he and the child were
burnt. The cottage was totally destroyed. The husband
of the woman was killed some time back by falling from
a waggon, and about three years ago another of her
children was burnt to death. A coroner's inquest is
about to sit on the bodies.

THEVINTAGE NEAR PARIS.—The produce of grapes
is so abundant near Paris that the peasants fear to bring
any inferior quality inside the walls, lest tney should not
sell fur 6 centimes the two pound weight, the amount of
entrance duty to which they are subject. Tho conse-
quence is, that a regular fair of grapes is established out-
side the walls of Paris, to which the troops in particular
resort, and aro to be seen loaded each with three pounds
weight, which they purchase for lid., and which are
duty free.

ACCIDENT ON THE GREAT
WESTERN RAILWAY.
A serious accident, %cry similar in its causes, but
happily dissimilar in its consequences, to the one that
took place a short time since at the Shriveuhara
station, occurred to the 8.30 P.M. up-train from Maiden.
head, on Tuesday, at a place called Bull's Bridge, about
three qiiarters of a mile beyond the Southall station.
It will be recollected that the accident at Shrivenham
station, through which seven or eight persons lost their
lives, was occasioned by a horse- box being placed upon
the up main line while the up signal for the express train,
then over due, was "all right" for the driver to come
on. Precisely similar was the case on Tuesday night,
and the very singular coincidence is that the driver of
the engine, Robert Roscoe, is the same person who
drove the engine that ran into the horse-box at Shriven-
ham, and who displayed so much courage and presence
of mind on that occasion. The 8.30 p.m. train left
Maidenhead at its proper time. It is due at Bull's Bridge
at nine o'clock. As the train approached the place at
about two minutes past nine o'clock, the driver saw
that the white, or " all-right " light was turned on at
the bridge. Immediately ho saw the line was sig-
nalled as clear, he crossed from the reversing side of his
engine to his other side, in order to set on one of his
" pet " or pump cocks; his " mate," or fireman, at the
same moment crossing over from the opposite side of
the foot plate, and taking his (the driver's) place at the
reversing lever. By this time the engine had got to the
signal at the bridge, and the driver saw the policeman
give the " all-right" (white) signal with his hand lamp.
The driver at the same instant felt that his fireman had
reversed his engine; but before he could step across the
foot-plate to ascertain the cause, the engine, which was
running at about forty-five miles an hour, struck ob-
liquely a loaded coal waggon, weighing at least ten tons,
which, it is said, was being drawn across the main line
by horses. The engine (the Gorgon), a six-wheeler,
weighing about twenty•-four tons, cut the coal truck (a
wooden one) in half, struck off one of the axles from the
" boss "as cleanly as an apple is divided with a sharp
knife, and at the same moment snapped the coupling pin
of the tender. The engine was thrown off the railway,
and fell bodily down upon its side, the tender remaining
partly upon the embankment. The two first carriages
were thrown across the line, but the other two did not
leave the rails.
The driver, Roscoe, and his fireman, John Greening,
" stuck," as the men express it, to their engine to the
last. As she turned over, they seized hold of the hand-
railing on the upper side of the engine, and escaped un-
hurt. The only persons who sustained any injury were
a passenger, who received a slight cut on the head, and
one of the guards, who was severely bruised about the
shoulders and ribs.
Yesterday, Edward Herbert, the police signal-man, and
Henry Berwick, the foreman porter, whose duty it is to
see that the goods trucks are moved across the main line,
under the direction of Herbert, were taken before Mr.
T. Dagnell, one of the county magistrates, at Uxbridge,
charged with having caused, through negligence, the
accident in question.
The first witness examined was a lad named George
Wheeler, in the employ of Mr. Tollett, who contracts
with the company to move the goods and various ma-
terials to and fro between Bull's-bridge station and the
main line. He deposed that his duty is to hook and un•
hook the horses to and from the trucks that are worked
by the contractor ; that on the night of the accident he
assisted his carter, Thomas Heather, to bring the coal-
truck from the shed and place it on the siding upon the
station side of the main line, ready to be taken across to
the siding nn the down site of the main line. Before he
hooked on the horses he caught a glimpse of a green
light (the signal) that the coal-truck might be taken
across the main line, and heard Berwick, the porter, call
out " All right, Tom." At that time Berwick was by
the down signal lamp, which is about thirty yards from
the crossing over which the coal-truck was about to be
taken. Immediately after the horses got the track into
motion he saw the up train close upon them, and he had
scarcely time to unhook the horses before the engine
pitched into the coal-waggon.
Mr. Dagnell—Do you know whether the green light
you speak of was shown by Herbert or Berwick? Wit-
ness—l cannot tell. I merely saw it glisten between
the horses I was driving. The green light seemed
straight down the line.
Berwick—lf you had seen my light you would have
seen a full light, as I was close to you. You would not
have seen it " glisten" as you describe the green light
seen by you.
Thomas Heather, carter to Mr. Tollett, examined—
He stated that he drew the coal truck to the switches at
the crossing, and remained there with it five or ten
minutes for the signal to cross the main lines. After
waiting that time he saw Berwick hold up the green
(the " all right ") signal, and heard him say, " All
right, Tom." He (witness) said, " Very well," and
started his horse. He did not see any light except the
green one exhibited by Berwick.
Berwick said the witness was wrong in stating that he
had to wait five minutes at the switch. He (Berwick)
rang the bell when the truck was brought to the switch,
and Heather could not have waited a couple of minutes
at the siding.
John Webber, the station-clerk at Bull's-bridge ex-
amined—lt was Herbert's duty to signal Berwick when
it was proper time for the latter to allow anything to
cross the main lines.
Mr. Clarke put in the instructions given by him to
Berwick.
Mr. Webber said, of course Berwick should have re-
ceived a green signal from Herbert's lamp before he
• allowed the truck to cross the line.
Berwick said he did receive the green light signal from
Herbert.
Herbert stated this was not correct. When he heard
the bell rang he showed the red light.
Mr. Clarke having stated that it was possible that
further evidence could be procured,
The case was adjourned till Monday next.

RAILWAY SHARE MARKETS.
LIVERPOOL, Ocr. 5.
STOCK Exciwzon.--Our share market continues quiet,
E
Eta few buyers are in the market. The sales are—
Birkenhead, Lancashire, and Cheshire Junction, 311. Shares.
01— 11s. 3d dis.— Caledonian, Preference, % dis.—East Lan-
cashire, 251. Shares, 1014 dis.—Lancashire and Yorkshire,
Halves (late H. and S.), 1614 C. dis.—Ditto (late West
Riding Union), Fifths, 6 dis.—Liverpool, Crosby, and South-
pert, 21. 18s. 9d. dis.—London and North-Western, 109...
Ditto, New Quarters, 1 c. dis.—Ditto (paid up), 2334
—Mid-
land Stock, 82.4 c.—Ditto, New Halves, 10/. 13s. 9d. dig.--
York, Newcastle, and Berwick (G. N. E. Purchase), 1% die.
MANCHESTER, OCT. 5.
Srocic ExcHAN9E.—The sales are—Birkenhead, Lanca-
shire, and Cheshire Junction, 91,4 dis.—South-Eastern and
Dover, No. 4, 6 13-16 c.--West Riding Union, 6 c. dis.—
Eastern Counties, Preference, 11-16 p.—Sheffield and Lin-
coln, 14 dis.—Leeds, Sixteenths, 4% dis.—Huddersfield,
Thirds, 7.,.dis.—North Union ( B), 138.
BIRMINGHAM, Our. 5.
Srocx EXCHANGE.—The sales are—London and North-
Western, 110— Midland, 831/4—North Staffordshire, C% dis.
Shrewsbury and Birmingham (A), 71/4 dis.—Ditto (1), 4%
dis. Shropshire Union, 31,1 i dis.
NEWCASTLE-UPON-TYNE, Ocr. 5.
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Eastern Counties,
123/—Newcastle and Carlisle (scrip), 103—North British,
Thirds, 4/. 17s.

GLASGOW, OCT. 4.
STOCK EXCHANGE.—The sales are—Caledonian, Prefer-
ence, 335. 6d.— Clydesdale Junction, 55—Edinburgh and
Northern, 12%—Glasgow, Kilmarnock, and Ayr, Halves,
No. 1,4/. 11s.—Great Northern, 925.—North British, ThirdF,
91s.—Paisley, Barrhead, and Hurlet, 20s.—York, New-
castle, and Berwick (G. N. E. Purchase), 6%.

REPORTED APPEARANCE CT THE CHOLERA Al'
SUNDERLAND.--Yesterday the following intelligence was
made known at Lloyd's, per letter, dated Sunderland,
Oct. 4 :—" We are exceedingly concerned to have occa-
sion to report that one of the crew of the brig Volante,
Mr. C. Smith, master, of that port from Harnburgh, died
on the Ist inst. during the passage home. The vessel ar-
rived here yesterday evening, since which the mate bas
been taken suddenly ill, and died this morning. Both
cases are suspected to be Asiatic cholera. Tho vessel
has been ordered under quarantine."

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