The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-18 00:00:00

A 'T
DECEMBER 18, 1851.
** •
7

woman named Gaunt, who appeared not to be of
very reputable character, was afterwards spoken to
by Calderbank, and she accompanied him down
Meadow-lane into Water lane, and the prisoner there,
in the bank of the river, buried a gun which he had
with him in the sand. She was quit sure it was
Calderbank, as she knew him as " Jena."
There the gun WAS afterwards found, and was identi-
fied by the prosecutor.
Mr. ANDERSON having addressed the jury for
Reynolds,
liie LORDSHIP summed up. hia sail, people called
getting drunk on Saturday nights and reeling; about
when they had lost their senses " being fresh." If
the jury thought the prisaner;, one or both of them,
were so "fresh" that they did not intend to commit
a felony they must be acquitted. The jury would
say from the evidence whether one or bosh of them
were concerned in the felony, if they thought a
felony had been committed.
The jury, after deliberating a short time, found the
prisoner Reynolds Not'Guilty, and the prisoner 'Cal-
derbank Guilty of concealing the gun.
The Deputy Clerk of Arraigns—You find the pri-
soner Calderbank guilty ? Foreman of the jury—
Yes.

His LORDSHIP—No, you mean of concealing the
gun only ? Foreman—Yes.
His Loaresnir—Then, that is not guilty of the
felony charged.
Mr. BOOTHBY then applied for the costs of the
prosecution.
His LORDSHIP said, " getting fresh" was rather
too expensive an amusement for the people who had
it to pay for. These people, by getting drunk, had
thrown a large amount of costs on the public.
The prisoners were then ordered to be discharged.
NISI PRIUS COURT.— (Be,foreMr.Baron PLATT.)
John Gainforth, aged 30, was indicted for stealing
on the 4th of November last from a post-letter a
banker's cheque for 351., and 61 promissory notes of
51. each, the property of the Yorkshire B anking
Co mpany.
Mr. Otter and Mr. Boothby prosecuted, and Mr.
Overend defended the prisoner.
It appeared that Mr. Boden, a clerk of the York•
shire Banking Company at Settle, made a remittance
to the head office at Leeds, on the 3,1 of last Novem-
ber, of 61 different country notes of Si. each, and of
a cheque for 351., making altogether 3401, which
were folded up in a linen envelope, and given to
Elizabeth Gibbons, who is employed at the post-
office at Settle, and by her placed in the mail bag,
which she tied and sealed. This bag had been opened
at Lancaster, and the letters for Leeds ought, in the
regular course, to be forwarded that night for deli-
very next day. Mr. Scott, the manager of the York--
shire Banking Company at Leeds, did not, however,
receive the expected remittance, and he thereujon
wrote to the manager at Settle, which led to in-
quiries being m ade about the letter, but nothing
could be heard about it. A list of the
missing notes was therefore sent round to the
country bankers, and they were stopped payment.
Nothing was heard of the notes until the 15th of
November, when Mr. Edward Brook, a sharebroker
at Leeds, presented nine of the missing notes at the
Yorkshire Banking Company's office at Leeds. Oa
inquiry being made of Mr. Brook where he got
them, he stated that he had received them from the
prisoner, who had been eleven years a clerk in the
Post-office. Mr. Reed, the chief constable of Leeds,
was accordingly informed of this, and went to the
Post-office to take the prisoner into custody, inform-
ing him of the charge made against him, when the
prisoner said he had not stolen either the letter or the
money. On being confronted with Mr. Brook, who
said he had received the notes from him, the prisoner
replied, " They will have to prove it." Further in-
quiries were then made, and it turned out that the
prisoner was on duty at the Post-office on the
morning of the 4th of November, at half-past five
o'clock, leaving at half-past seven, during which time
he was engaged with twelve other clerks in sorting
the letters which came by that night's mail. It also
appeared that the prisoner had, during the last nine
months, been engaged in buying and selling railway
shares, and that his transactions with Mr. Brook had
amounted in that time to 70,0001. On the 30th of
October the prisoner owed Mr. Brook a balance of
2401., which he had applied for ; and, on the 4'.h of
November, Mr. Brook called for payment at the pri-
soner's house, 'when the prisoner took a bundle of
notes from his pocket, and p lid him 2101 ; and the
nine totes which Mr. Bro had presented at the
bank were a Tart of those which he had received from
the prisoner. It appeared on the cross-examination
of Mr. Brook, that the 70,000/. dealing in railway
shares which he had had with the prisoner had been all
for time bargains. He believed the prisoner had
about MO/. a year salary.
Mr. OVEREND, in defence, contended that the evi-
dence was not conclusive against the prisoner, without
the evidence of Brook, and that his testimony was not
deserving of credit, as he was not a member of the
Stock-Exchange, and had compounded with his cre-
ditors ; and, unless Mr. Brook exculpated himself,
his possession of the notes would implicate him in
this charge. The letter containing the notes must
have pasted through many hands before it arrived at
Leeds, and there were eighteen clerks employed in
the Leeds post-office.
His LORDSHIP having summed up,
The jury found the prisoner Guilty,
The prisoner than charged Mr. Brook with incit-
ing him to steal the letter in order to relieve himself
from his pecuniary embarrassments.
His LORDSHIP, in passing sentence, said, the pri-
soner's attempt to cast upon Mr. Brook the guilt of
having tempted him to commit this 'crime would, it
true, be no excuse ttliPa man in his position, placed as
he was in a situation of trust. It was necessary for
the protection of the public that the laws should se-
verely punish such offences as this, and the sentence
of the Court was that be should be transported for the
term of ten years.

METROPOLITAN ASSESSMENTS.
IMPORTANT QUESTION.
A special session of justices, acting in and for the
city of Westminster, was holden at the Vestry-hall,
St. Martin's-in-the-fields, on Tuesday last, for the
purpose of hearing appeals against the poor-rates for
that parish, and others in the surrounding district. It
will be remembered that, a few weeks since, a similar
court was held, at which it was expected that the
question raised by the trustees of Exeter-hall, in
reference to their assessment, would have been
decided, but, in consequence of informalities in the
required notices, that session was declared void. In
anticipation that this case would come on at the pre •
sent sittings, the court ins fully attended; but, so far
as the Exeter-hall question was concerned, the ex-
pectants were again destined to disappointment. The
remaining cases, however, were somewhat novel in
character, and excited considerable interest. The
magistrates present were Mr. Edmund Antrobus
(chairman), Mr. J. H. Wilson, and Mr. J. G.
Stittwell.

ST. MARTIN'S-IN-THE-FIELDS V. RHODES.
This was a return made to a summons issued at the
instance of the parochial authorities of St. Martin's-
in-the-fields, calling upon Mrs. Rhodes, the proprie-
tress of the Cider Cellars, to show cause why she
neglected, or refused to pay a certain rate made for
the relief of the poor, in respect of the premises in her
occupation.
Mr. Huddleston, the barrister, appeared on behalf
of Mrs. Rhodes; and Mr. Griffiths, the clerk to the
parochial authorities of St. Martin's, attended on their
behalf.
Mr. HUDDLESTON stated that in this case the
question was one of boundary—that was to say,
whether the premises in respect to which it was
attempted to rate his client were within the parish of
St. Martin's, or in that of St. Paul's, Covent-garden.
Being then a question of boundary, he submitted that
in law the present Court had no jurisdiction to enter-
tain the summons ; and in support of that proposition
he cited the case of Regina v. Dyer, Adolphus and
Ellis' Reports; and Regina v. Murehouse, in the
Queen's Bench Reports. On these authorities, coupled
with the opinion taken by Mrs. Rhodes from one of
the ablest of the late law officers of the Crown (Sir
Fitzroy Kelly), the Learned Counsel submitted the
summons must be dismissed. He would only add,
that if a warrant of distress should issue upon it an
action for trespass would be maintainable against the
justices from whom it might emanate, and in such
case he should advise his client to bring the action.
Mr. GRIFFITHS, on behalf of the churchwardens
and overseers, and in support of the summons, con-
f
tended that the present was not a question of general
boundary, and therefore did not range within the
cases cited on the other side. To entitle the parochial
authorities
was at present necessary to prove was, that Mrs.
Rhodesc
a,
made
t e a
who,
at
a d ocaslul
rtvheey aarnchditpelcatnan of d
tshuery parisheyor ,
under Mr. C a
to ,
t
weaeslsld.stoin
the occupation
the parish, for which purpose it would merely be ne-
cessary do
e 3
cost
decision
bt oi n v
e c, theirl rateable
,0
favour,
r ndproperty
all that
I,4ool.,directions of the Poor-law Board. From that plan
and survey, it would clearly appear that
the property
in question was within the parish of St. Martin's If
the objection raised by the Learned Counsel vets
allowed to prevail, it would only be necessary for
any and every person objecting to pay the poor-
rate, to raise a question of boundary, and thus the

parish would be damnified. The occupants
of the mansions in Carlton House-terrace, and
other similar districts in the parish, might
with Fqual truth and justice rise the same ob.), ction
and the effect woul I be, if the law suggested on the
other side was good, that the parochial officers would
be unable to collect any poor-rates at all—on the
whole, it appeared to him (Mr. drifilths) that the
most satisfactory mode of raising the question of
boundary would be., that a warrant ef distress Should
issue, that under it a levy shou'd be
en'-ee in a
friendly way, that Mrs. Rhod e; should replevy,- and
thereupon bring her action of trespass, whereby
the
whole question could come bell)re, and he settled
one of the superior courts in Vtrestaiinste r 11.11
While making this suggestion he could not h cO4ll e ~
plain of the rather ungenerous manner in which it 1•,,i '
been attempted by the Learned Counsel to alarm or
terrify the magistrates with the threat of an action if
they, in the exercise of the discretion reeerved to
them, should issue a warrant of distress. There wee
not the slightest ground for any such iosinuatioe,
because a recent Act of Parliament, passed at the in-
stance of the present Chief Justice of the Common
Pleas when Attorney-General (Sir John Jervis).
the 11th and 12th Vict., chap. 44, entitled "An
Act to protect Justices of the Peace from vexatious
actions for acts done by them in the execu-
tion of their office," by its 4th section, afforded
every protection to thorn in the exercise of their
discretionary powers. In support of this point, Mr.
Griffiths cited the case of Sir C. Burrell v. Nichol-
son, tried before Lord Denman, on the 9:1 Decem-
ber, 1833, and afterwards solemnly argued by the
late Lord Abinger (then Sir James Scarlett), the
late Sir W. Follett and Mr. Watson for the plaintiff,
and by the present Lord Campbell (then Attorney-
General), Mr. Williams, and Mr. TiddTratt for the
defendant, where the same principle was laid down.
In that case, though it appeared that the property i . n
bad question,never situate
liundeßdiicthi ma
any on d
rate,-ter r asct
still
the"
and re-
leh ict eohuarll4
after the examination of ancient "terriers ,
cords, upwards of two centuries old, had held that the
non-rating did not affect the rate, and that the parties
being liable to it, the action for trespass in enforcing
it could not be maintained. If, however, any diffi-
culty on the point presented itself to the minds of the
Bench he was prepared, on behalf of the parish, to
undertake to indemnify them against the costs of any
proceedings that might follow their issuing a warrant
of distress in this case.

Several ancient maps and plans, some so early in
date as the commencement of the sixteenth century,
having been put in, as well as the more recent
survey,
The COURT directed strangers to withdraw, and,
after a short deliberation,

The CUAIRMAN announced that it was the opinion
of the Bench that, under the particular circumstances
of the case, the summons ought to be dismissed. They
felt a difficulty in issuing a warrant in consequence
of the question being that of boundary. If, however,
they were wrong, it was open to the parish to set
them right by an applicaion to the Court of Queen's
Bench for a mandamus. This would be the most
proper course, and with that view the summons must
be dismissed.

THE SAME V. WYLD, ESQ., M.P.
This was a summons issued, under similar cir-
cumstances, against Mr. Wyld, M.P., for the rates
in respect of the monster building for the exhibition
of the colossal globe in Leicester-square.
Mr. Wyld attended in person, and produced some
very ancient records to show that the whole of Lei-
cester- square, so far from being in St. Martin's-in-
the-fields, was extra-parochial. That fact was estab-
lished at the time he purchased the freehold of the
ground for 3,0001. Indeed the plan produced by the
parish itself showed that only one half the square
was in St. Martin's, the other half being in the
parish of St. Ann's Soho. The latter parish had de-
clined to rate him in respect of his property, thus
showing that the site was either extra-parochial or
not rateable on other grounds.
Mr. GEIFFITHS said, that of course the Court was
of opinion that this was also a question of disputed
boundary. He felt that, after the former decision, he
should not act with proper respect to the Bench it he
for one moment applied for a contrary or adverse
judgment. The amendment of the law, if it was de-
fective, did not rest with the magistrates—they were
bound to administer it as they found it—but he
trusted the Poor-law Board would take up the mattt r,
and, by legislative enactments, remove any difficulties
that might now exist. Tne important question
raised, however, could tot be suffered to end here, and
further steps would be taken to establish the claims of
the parish. In the meantime, however, he bowed to
the decision of the Court.
The CIIAIRMAN said his colleagues were of opinion,
with himself, that in this•case also the suminoLs must
be dismissed, leaving it open to the parochial auth
ties to apply to the Court of Queen's Bench.

THE ROYAL AGRICULTURAL
SOCIETY.
The annual meeting of this society took place on
Saturday at the offices, Hanover-square ; Earl
Ducie in the chair. The report, of which the follow-
ing is an abstract, was read by the secretary, Mr.
Hudson :

The finances of the society are in a highly fa-
vourable state ; the floating cash balance in the hands
of the bankers being equal to the discharge of current
claims, while the council have been enabled to pur-
chase stock in Government Securities to the amount
of 11,1901. The Windsor meeting has been held
under most gratifying circumstances, and with perfect
success. The council have arranged that the Lewes
meeting shall be held in the week commencing Mon-
day, the 12th of July next. They have also decided
on the prizes to be offered at that meeting for agricul-
tural implements and machinery, and for live stock
intended for breeding purposes. The former include
important additions, intended to draw the attention of
agricultural engineers and machinists more strongly
to the different degrees of motive power required by
farmers under different circumstances, and to it.
convenient adaptation to agricultural purposes.
The latter comprises distinct classes rf prizes for
the Sussex breed of cattle, the Romney Msfeh or
Kentish sheep, and domestic poultry; having re-
ference respectively to the counties of Sussex, Kent,
and Surrey, constituting the district of the country
meeting to be held next year at Lewes. They have
made the rule more stringent by which fines are
levied on exhibitors for not sending to the show the
stock they have entered, and fcr which the society
provide the accommodation in the show-yard. They
have resolved that no prize of the society shall be
given to bulls exceeding five years
aoonlfdda;ntythheeyaygheha,avvteoe
competitionanrse
b hithertoov e t amongst
two
on
ow nyears
aas that
ot hd class of agricul-
e ;
lthiuomrraistle. essdttahtlhal iteo
decided to require in the case of in-calf heifers not
in milk, the same certificate as in the case of in-calf
cows not in milk; before paying the amount of the
prise, namely, a certificate that such in-calf heifer
had in due course produced a live calf. The council
have under their anxious consideration two most im-
portant questions connected with their country meet-
ing; namely, the best mode of appointing the judges,
and the conditions under which their attention should

be directed to a veterinary inspection of the animals.
The council consider that the stock to which the
prizes of the society are awarded ought not only in
the opinion of the judges to be the best specimens of
coun-
cilhave
their particular class in the yard, but that in condi-
tion and function they ought also to be fully qualified
to propagate their species without communicating to
their offspring any tendency to hereditary disease or
State
imperfection ; and, in order more clearly to call at-
tention to the circumstances under which such ten-
den,ieTy
The
empiguhkte
obfeßiacphpmreohnedndheads,repthoertecdotuontchiel
stoofferednth, the progress
her
rr
opzagr irazejesessotofyf: :tr./h.
ref
ion theipa
Principal
best
Secretary essaycommunications o n
othfhee
ws nabs j ect .
t he Admiralty
Department,dm ir alty
to
on i
otsht
re u subject btj
he ce t
commander
d by them to enter into with Viscount Palmer. Lordship has signified his entire
the
requesting Foreign
and abundant supply of guano to this country.ac ear)
every aid in furtherance of this
willingness to lend
important object,
of every ship in her Majesty's
navy to search for de-
posits of guano in the rainless • regions within the tro-
pics, and every surgeon of
such ships to be prepared
to €xamine on the spot
the amount and quality of
each deposit of guano
that may be
discovered : the
search for mineral phosphatepart of '
of lime in any 1
the world being also included in this instruction. The
council have taken means to bring before the members
Nari3us suggestions made during the past year for
wander
extending in this country the growth of flex as an
agricultural crop."
Ou the motion of the Rev. JAMES LINTON, the re-
port was adopted unanimously.
BARBER,
The balance-sheet, read by Mr. R.
chairman of the finance commi the
ttee, showed that on
the half-yearly account there is in the hands of the
backer a sum of 2,584/. 9.i. sd.
A conversation ensued with regard to the supply of
guano, and hopes were expressed that the Peruvian
Government might be induced to lower the price, and
thus increase the demand.
On the motion of the Duke of RICHMOND, a vote
of thanks was given to the cluirman, and the meeting
they Equated.