The Sun.
London, England, 1851-09-30 00:00:00

SECOND CASE

Mr. Michael James Whitty, editor and pr.►arietor
of the Liverpool Journal, having been pine ed in cus•
tedy in the defendant's dock, his Honour (t ae Judge)
directed the bailiffs of the court to stand Forward in
reference to the charge against the defend ant of re-
sisting them in the execution, of their duty..
Hartley, one of the bailiffs, was then, placed in
the box, and being sworn, deposed that on Saturday
last be received from the Judge an or.ie r to bring
Mr. Whitty before this court for an 'insult to . the
Judge in going to the court. On arriving at Mr.
Whitty's office, about eleven o'clock, :/ae had not ar-
rived, and on going again about one o'clock, the de-
fendant had been in, but was gone nut again. The,
witness left word that Mr. Ramebay wanted to see
ehimi, and nt.tlitee n'eloPlc..heie_undelaim in theeefiarge._
There was another bailiff named Charnley present.
Witness told Mr. Whitty he had orders from the
Judge of the County Court to bring him before the
Court for "insulting" the Judge. Defendant replied
he didn't know the man, and said he wouldn't go ; but
that if we would get a summons or a warrant, he
would go, and he would wait for us an hour. Witness
then returned, and stated the answer be had received;
when he got orders to go immediately and fetch the
defendant. Witness took assistance, went back, told
defendant the order, and said he must go with them,
and that he had better go quietly. Upon this Mr.
Whity pulled out a drawer, and took out a large
knife, about a foot long, and threated to "cut our
souls out if we attempted to touch him." He then
backed towards a door, and went down stairs; wit-
ness followed, but the defendant's son interfered, and
called the printers to put us out. Among fourteen or
sixteen men who came there were some policemen,
whom witness knew as detective officers. The de-
fendant had formerly been head constable of Liver-
pool. On asking these men to assist us, said the wit-
ness, they inquired for our warrant, and on our tell-
ing them we had none, they said then they could not
assist us. One of the men held his fist in witness's
face—

Judge—Do you sea that man hare P Witness—
No, your Honour.
Judge—Then look after those men ; I'll have every
one of them brought up here. His Honour then
directed Mr. Stone, the high bailiff of the court, to
apply to the mayor for assistance for this purpose.
The witness then underwent a long cross-examina-

tion by Sir George Stephen, in the course of which
he admitted that he was not quite sober at the time.
He had had two twopennywortha of whisky.
Sir George Stephen—Who gave you the order to
arrest Mr. Whitty, and bring him to this court ?
The witness was silent for some moments, when.
The Learned Judge said—l did. I gave him the
order. By the word " bring" I meant to use force if
necessary ; and even if it required ten thousand men
I should get them. I care for no man living who
opposes me.
Sir George Stephen—There can be no doubt as to
your Honour's intention, but I submit you have not
the power.
Sir George Stephen (to the witness)—The knife
you have spoken of—was it round at the point?—
Yes, it was rounded off.
Sir George -Stephen—Did you offer to take Mr.
Whitty into custody before he took out the paper
knife ?—Yes.
Roger Charnley, another bailiff, corroborated the
evidence of the preceding witness..
The court was crowded with a very respectable au-
dience, and while Sir George Stephen was contending
that had the case been his instead of Mr. Whitty's,
and officers had entered his ouse..without. any legal
authority, and attempted' Jito -take him into custody,
instead of threatening him with a paper knif,, he
(Sir George Stephen) would have shot them, the sen-
timent was received with a perfect burst of applau3(.„
The Learned Judge called upon the bailiffs to do
their duty, and bring before him any of the persons
who had been engaged in that outrage.
The bailiff at the door not snaking any movement
to apprehend any person, his Honour asked him who
it was that had been guilty of such unbecoming
conduct, and unless he pointed tham out he would fine
him 5/.

The officer replied that he could not point out any
one in particular; he believed the noise was general
His Honour—What! do you mean to say that
the respectable persons whom I see in court, some
of them members of the Town Council, were guilty
of such gross insult as that which has just been
given ?
The officer again assured his Honour that he could
not distinguish any individual in particular, and the
case proceeded.
Charnley went on to say—Mr. Whitty asked uo,
when we went to arrest him, where our warrant or
authority was ? We said we had no warrant, and he
refused to go; but if we got a warrant or a summons
he would go at once, and he would wait an hour.
We then returned to this court, and received instruc-
tions from the judge to return and take him. The
defendant's men, to the number of fourteen or fif►een,
came out and gave us into custody, and on our going
before the superintendent he said he could not take
Mr. Whitty without a warrant.
The Judge said the seperintendent ought to have
known that no warrant was necessary from the judge
of a county court in arresting a person for contempt ;
but he cared not who the man was, be he peer or
peasant, that obstructed or insulted any officer of the
court, he would have him apprehended.
A long examination of other witnesses took place,
and the proceedings were still in progress when our
dispatch was made up.
The proceedings in this important case terminated
at half-past four. The Judge fined Mr. Whitty 51.
each on three cases of assault, and seve)l days' impri-
sonment each for two cases of alleged assault on the
officers of the court.

SEABORNE MAILS.
[N signifies that the mails are sent front the General Poste
by the night—and M by tho morning—dispatch.]