The Sun.
London, England, 1851-02-27 00:00:00

FEBRUARY 27,

•nt'r,l }i'.l W9l:, ot.vx,r

1,

,t a- p.t.-

Tine wh., reeo v. tn,
prisoner told him he hail not ta,i..ed f.od for two
dayii; that seeing the lady coming along with her purse
twiAted round her finger, ho made a :snatch at it.

The prisoner shed tears, and said it was quite true
that he had tasted nothing for two days. He had b, eu
out work for some t,me; he h,)11 be,n lookbo, it) vAi
for work a!I that in 'riling, and ;snowing it was of ii)
to go hom,,, he did attempt to get. the lady's as
soon as he baw it in her hand.—Folk committed.'
CLERKENWELL.

Yesterday John White, a well-known member of the
swell mob, was placed at the bar before Mr. Combe,
charged by Thomas Edeford, cabinetmaker, of 14, Rose
and Crown-court, Clerkenwell, with stealing a silver
watch from his waistcoat-pocket, at the pit entrance of
Sadler's Wells Theatre.

It appeared from the statement of the prosecutor, that
on Tuesday evening he was induced to attend Sadler's
Wells Theatre, to witness the performance of the trinter's
Tate, &c. When he was standing in the crowd at the
pit entrance the prisoner was immediately behind him,
an•l witness feeling a tug at his waistcoat pocket, in-
stantly turned round and seized the prisoner, who had
abstracted his watch from his pocket and dropped it.
Fisher, an active offiiier. 127 G, who was on duty with
others of the deieeme. force, took the prisoner int.) cus-
tody and locked him up.
There not being sufficient evidence, the prisoner was
discharged.

If. was stated that robberies of this description nightly
took place a the eiArance of the theatres, although
•here was Awe) s a number of the detective police in
att. nd,ncv.

Thomas Smith, in the garb of a countryman. WHS
charged with stealing pewter pots, the property of Mr.
Silcock, of the Carp -titers' Arms, Acton place, l'ilg-
nigcr'e-wells-r,ead, and Mrs. Bl*.orofield, of the litog's
Head. Swinton-street, Gray's-inn road.

Porter, 101 G, stopped the prisoner on Tuesday even-
ing with something balky about his smock frock. On
questioning him he bald he had nothing but his own.
but on taking him to the station-house and searching
him two pewter pint pot 4 were found, the one belonging
to Mr. Silcock and the other to Mrs. Broomfield, whose
names, Bco.. were engraved upon them.
The prisoner said be was employed to carry the pro-
perty.—He was fully committed for
SOUTH WA RK.

Yesterday, William Griffiths, a young man of re-
spectable appearance, clerk in the employ of Measra.
Brown and Co., stnna-merchants, of Bankside„ was
placed at the bar before Mr. A'Beckat, charged will'
indecently assaulting Maria Palmer, in a railway
carriage.

The complainant, a respectable-looking young
woman, stated that she is a servant, and that on the
preceding afternoon she came up to town from Graves-
end by the twenty minutes past five o'clock train,
in one of the third-class carriages. The defendant,
accompanied by another young man, was a passenger
by the train, and sat nearly opposite to her in the same
compartment of the carriage. Before the train arrived
at the Blackheath tunnel the defendant pushed
his feet against hers, and also put his hsud upon her
knee, and she changed her position in consequence, but
still sat nearly opposite to him, and she was confident
that it was not accidentally done. When the train en-
tered the tunnel the defendant thrust one of his hands
up her clothes, but she pushed it away, and a second
time he repeated the act, and she screamed out, and
when the carriages got out of the tunnel a soldier who
sat with his hack to her i❑ the adjoining compartment
of the same carriage, seeing her crying, asked her what
was the matter with her, and when she told him how
she had been treated while the train was passing through
the tunnel, and pointed out her assailant, he (the sol-
dier) said that he ought to be ashamed of himself for
taking advantage of a female under such circumstances.
She did not hear the defendant make any reply, but
when the train arrived at the London-bridge terminus,
she mentioned the manner in which she had been in-
sulted on the journey to one of the railway officers, and
having pointed out the defendant as the man, she gave
him into custody.
In reply to Mr. ATECKETT, the complainant said that
she had no conversation with the defendant previously to
his having acted in the manner she described. That she
did scream out loud, but the noise of the carriages pass-
ing through the tunnel might have prevented the other
pmsengers from hearing her. That there were five per-
sons, including the defendant, sitting in the same com-
partment of vie carriage with her, but still she was con-
vinced he was the man who insulted her, although she
could not distinguish him in the darkness that prevailed
in passing through the tunnel. That when they got out
of the tunnel she addressed the defendant, saying that
tie was not fit to come there if he could not behave him-
self, but he made no reply to what she said on the subject.
Mr. Binns cross examined the complainant with a view
to show that she might have been mistaken in the iden-
tity of the defendant, and that, although exposed to the
indecent conduct she described, yet that he was not the
perpetrator of it, there being other men in the same
compartment of the carriage at the time. The com-
plainant, however, adhered to the accuracy of her state-
ment, and added that she was confident the defendant
and no other person was the man by whom ahe was as-
saulted.

Richard Cheer, a private in the Fusilier Guards,
stated that he sat in the next compartment of the car-
riage, and observing, when the train got out of the
Blackheath tunnel, that the complainant was crying, he
asked her what was the matter, and she described the
wanner in which she had been treeted, and pointed out
the detendant as her assailant; that he (witness) said
the defendant deserved to be given into custody for But h
scandalous conduct towards a decent young woman. He
(witness) did not hear the complainant scream out, but
this might be accounted for owing to the great noise of
the engine and long train of carriages passing through
the tunnel. He added that when he made the remark
about the defendant's conduct, the latter made no reply.
Henry Dives, ticket-collector at the London-bridge-
terminus, stared that when the Gretvesend train arrived,
at hall-past biz o'clock the previous evening, he observed
the complainant' crying very much, and, en inquiring
into the cause, was then informed that she had been
grossly insulted on the journey to town. The defendant
was pointed out to him as her assailant, and witness
then asked her if she would give him in charge, and she
having expressed a desire to do so, he took him into
custody. The witness added that when the charge was
preferred against the defendant he gave no answer to it.
Mr. Binns said, although the complainant spoke so
positively to the detendant, yer, if his inwruetious were
correct, she was quite mistaken as to his being the per-
son by whom she was assaulted. That the defendant
was a young man of highly respectable family, lied been
four years in the situation he now filled, and that tee
firm by whom he was employed had so high an opinion
of his moral conduct, and were so confident that he
would not have acted in the way imputed to him, that
they not only became his bail to appear at that court,
but were also prepared to give security for his appear-
ance before any other tribunal if the magistrate thought
fit to send him there. That a witness' was in attendance
who was present in the carriage, and who would prove
that the defendant was not the man who had perpetrated
the assault. He then called
Robert Denny, who stated that he is a tradesman at
Chatham, and that on the previous evening he came up
in the same carriage from Woolwich with the defendant,
whom he had known since he was a child. That they
both sat nearly opposite the complainant in the same
compartment, and that he had not observed his friend
take improper liberties with her, nor did be hear her
appeal for protection to any person, or bear her scream
out at the time she alleged the defendant thrust his hand
up her clothes.
By Mr.. ATECKZTT—Believed he must have seen the
defeudant if he put his hand on complainant's knee be-
tore the train entered the tunnel. Admitted, however,
that if the complainant screamed out when in the tunnel,
be might not have heard her, owing to the noise pro-
duced by the train.
Mr. A'Becterre• remarked that the charge was one of
so serious a nature against the defendant, namely, that
of grossly assaulting a tenaale passenger. and taking ad-
vantage of the darkness that prevailed when the train
w:As past:jog through she tunnel to effect his purpose,
tbat he should not dispose of the case himself, but should
send it before another tribunal. He (the magistrate)
should, therefore, adjudge the defendant to find two
sureties of 501. each to appear .to answer the charge at
the next sessions.

It was intimated that the complainant's father, being in
very indigent circumstances, wa. not in a condition to
bray the. ex p•-n4e4 of a prosecution, upon which
Mr. ATECKETT said that if the railway company did
not do so, he *unlit apply to the Home-office on the
subject, so that the law should not be defeated in a case
which concerned th- public ar large.

rif E

1851.

.

e t'a-urn's or r ') gre.it th'si
:my be doubted, .wirh certAn R.rsons,
whether redress he nut the last thing in the world
the.), de,,ire. Give them no emopeus:ttion foe their
grit-vances, and you ditrive them of tits sokee of
their iiv~~. What would benome of the t-irtri,-r
without his perenni4l misery and his auklual appe4l
for retie( All complaints, however, are no!. so un-

reasonable. Fur example, we teems a tesouraole
place for the one we are ourselves about to prefer,
which, though it may seem at first sight almost
too personal in its character, does, we think, in
reality concern the public as much as ourselves.
The case of " Wilks against Lawson," fur a libel
published in this journal, was tried yesterday at
Guildhall, and resulted in a verdict for the plain-
tiff, with one farthing damages. Unprofessional
readers may require an explanation of this ver-
dict, which reads like a contradiction of itself.
It is the same as if the jury had said—
" The libel was, in fact, published, but the ,plaintiff
had no right to complein of it." In short, it is the
old Irish verdict in the assault case, where the
prisoner had beyond all question broken the pro-
secutor's h-ad—" Guilty, and served him right."
So far so good,—the smallest coin of the realm is
not much to pay fur the liberty of the press ; but
the sting is behind. The costs are to be paid, and
withou• letting the public into the secret of our
attorney's bill, we may say that the amount is eque
valent to a heavy fine fur what a jury have pro-
nounced to le no offence. The history of the
case is as follows the 2d of May, 1850,
Wilks was turnkey of Marlborough-street Police-
court, but was absent that day at the time the pri-
soners were brought from the lock up cells to the
presence of the magistrates. Among these prisoners
was one Hackett, a notorious offender, and another
named Mackenzie. These men when called to appear
were not found, and their fellow- prisoners said they
had been let out by a person whose dress and appear-
ance they particularly described, but whom they
were subsequently unable to identify. An official
inquiry was made into the circumstances of the
escape, upon which Wilks was discharged, and the
deputy turnkey degraded. It appeared that Hackett
when in confinement boasted that he would not lung re-
main there, because he had money, and with his fa-
ther's assistance he could make up a sum of twenty
pounds. After this boast, and shortly before the escape,
Wilks was closeted on two occasions with the father and
a woman who cohabited with Heckel, and was also
seen drinking with them. These facts, with many
others which need not be mentioned for our present
purpose, were published in the Times of the 3d of
December, 1850, and our reporter in relating thew
used these words :—" The authorities instittited an
inquiry, and it turned out that a turnkey bad
received a large sum of money to effect his
liberation." This little sentence contained the
libel which the plaintiff declared upon and the de•
fendant denied. The result was as we have stated.
Wilks has gained nothing by his action—not . even a
loss, for he sued in former pauperis ; and we 'have to
pay a considerable penalty in the shape of costs.
This, then, is our grievance—not ours particularly,
but that of all the press ; and unless it can be
shown to be quite inevitable, we have a right to
demand redress. The. London journal, no matter
under what name it eppears, is a daily record of
the world's doings. From the snows of Ross and
Franklin to the Cape of Good Hope, and from China
to Peru, its arms are stretched out to comprehend the
whole human race. In the palace and the police-court,
in the Minister's Cabinet and the Chancellor's study,
among Lords and Commons, on the platform and in the
witness- box, on'Change and in the merchant's counting-
house—everywhere the " reporter" may be found,
though not seen. And these thousand streams of news
are made to converge to one point once in every 24
hours, and are served up to the public every morning
with their breakfast. To execute such a work with
perfect regularity is no easy task, and at least' we may
claim to be offered no impediment in its performance.
Yet, as the law stands, any idle tale of injury to cha-
racter may be trumped up by the most worthless
vagabond, and used as an instrument of vexation
and pecuniary loss against the journalist.. Until
the millennium comes he must live perpetually in
hot water. Until every man is as good as he can
be, and no one can possibly have anything to say
against any one else, wo to the newspapers !
Every record of a folly or a crime may call up its
avenger. The uncertificated bankrupt who has
cheated his creditors and filed a schedule with a
balance of nil to pay them with, is the victim of
adverse fate, and brings his action against the
newspaper which dares to say the contrary. No
matter that he is defeated and gets a reproof in•
stead of a verdict. He has no money to pay costs
(except perhaps his attorney's), but the defendant
has, and in that manner he is punished, and so the
end is gained. This is not to be understood as an
appeal ad misericordiam. It is a simple statement of
a fact which concerns the whole press, and, rightly
understood, affects the public quite as much. The
peril of vexatious actions of libel under which the
journalist lies undoubtedly operates to suppress the
truth. Many an act of injustice is unpublished because
the publication would be a libel, and many a sting
ing truth is unsaid through fear of the law. It is
not difficult to perceive the real ultimate conse-
quence of this state of things, nor to understand
who are the chief sufferers by it. Nothing is easier
than for us to be silent, but our silence would be
an injury to the public, which would lose one of
its securities against roguery. That we are not al-
ways silent is rather a proof of imprudence than the
performance of a duty; for if the law chooses to
tie our hands, we cannot be expected to work
without them. There is a maxim, often quoted,
and much admired, and we see no reason why it
should not be applied in cases of libel. It is
the motive, they say, which constitutes the crime
and the motive is to be inferred from the acts of to,
accused. Now, in nine cases out of ten of allege.
libels in respectable newspapers, the motive, so far
from being bad, has been obviously and no-
toriously good—the exposure of some roguery,
or the denunciation of some abuse. And yet
this has not and cannot always save the defen-
dants from an adverse verdict, ar.d never
protects them from great expense. Why not ? On
what principle of morality or ground of policy are
men to suffer for doing no wrong—rather, we may
say, for doing right ? Is it for the protection of
private character against the assaults of anonymous
pens ? But it is generally supposed that honest
men suffer when rogues escape, and we are
sure that rogues do escape by reason of this defect of
the law. Or is it by way of police to restrain the
license of the press ? But the restraint, we fear,
operates merely to impose silence upon those who are
Rot disposed to abuse the liberty of speech ; but it
takes no license from the licentious.

(From the Daily News.)
It is singular that in the course of one week in the
same court, and before the same judge, actions of
libel should have been tried against two of the
morning journals, and that each should have re-
sulted in a verdict of one farthing damages. The
causes of offence which could be measured by
such verdicts, cannot, in the opinion of the juries,
have been large, and, in the case of our contemporary
the Times, against whom the plaintiff sued in forma
pauperis, it can only have been a sense of public duty
which prompted the defence, inasmuch as the costs
must, under any circumstances, have been borne by
them. In the case, of which a report is contained in
this day's paper, the point involved was one of very
considerable importance, not only to ourselves, but to
the entire press. It was the degree of protection
which might be claimed for a bona fide and fair
report of proceedings in a police court. Such reports
have lately formed the chief cheval de bataille fur ac-
tions against newspapers, and they have been unduly
dangerous on account of the presumption that if in
such reports there were. the least variance from the
actual depositions of the witnesses, even although
the circumstances took place, or the statements
were made, that judicially a libel had been published
and damages must follow, bringing with them
costs in case such damages were estimated at 40s.
The charge of the Lord Chief Justice has now laid
down a rule which, with free protection to the public,
places the press in comparative safety against the
attacks to which they have hitherto been exposed.
Both these points are settled by his observations :
If the publication complained of be a fair ac
count of proceedings at a police court, then I am
of opinion that in point of law the defendant is en-
titled to your verdict. But if it be a garbled ac•
count—if anything be omitted that ought to have
been stated, or much more, if anything be intro-
duced that did not take place—then it is libellous, and
the law will punish it." This doctrine is worthy of
the author of the Act known as Lord Campbell's
Act. The importance of this view to cases, such
as that which was the subject of investigation on
Saturday, is apparent. The formal procredlngs iii
police courts are necessarily short and hasty. .11,e
magistrate forms his opioion from the statements
made to him wheqier a summons shall be issued,
and when the parties come before him, much that
takes place is of a conversational character, and
nothing is placed on record beyond what is essential
to sustain ulterior proceedings. And yet it is of the
last importance to the public and to the cause of
public morals that the proceedings at these courts
should be reported, for it is by the fear of exposure
as much as of punishment that they act as restraints
on the higher and middle classes. The reports of the
inflction of a ss. fine on a resp-ctable person found
drunk would be a much greater punishment than the
payment of the fine. And although the report of
which complaint was made in the action tried on
Saturday, may have been painful and distressing to
the parties principally concerned, it must have acted
as a caution to prevent in many other quarters the
mischief which had been done in this instance. If

,to all ~• ~- ‘..:1,,1., l-,ad 1,-..,. to succes.ful, it 'would have ten..
:,. ..t ~ da,g, roos hert after ;o give publicity
t)...lice report, 4nd one of the most important No
uoous of a new,./e:per, the exposure of folly and crime
and Of their conAtqe. laces, would have beep abrogated.
Toe cas:. in which we have been partially the viCtiol3
illustr4tos the risks to which such reports expcse uo•
0 : the complain,. of a certain party, a sumn3ons vio°
e.sued by a uhigi.ttive, who therefore was
aced
that that tiikqe was ground for calline upon the acc
fu; Us defence. 01, tour several occavions did the
matter come subsequently before the ms once once 10
A report of all these proceedings appeared
this paper, and a portion of such report was nece:i
sarily in the form of a narrative. It was compbb
of as "an entire fabrication." The complaint wo_
evidently grossly exaggerated, but the parties iveire':
askedT to point out any error which had been tnau..
They refused, and insisted upon suing for redrebsii
Reference was then made to the reporter, and be
notes of each bearing were found to corroborat° t
readl
report ; and an officer of the court, upon
the report, said that it was fair, and that the langn,g.,
in which it was couched was more moderate tuoi7
that which the parties used. It is obvious thnt.n,
there had been misstatement and consequent is,
jury, this would have been best redressed by on
and
planation; but this the parties refused to adOt'Ajg
preferred an action at law and the damages reold,
"rum it, if a substantially fair report woo nuCtloo
from
itted as a defence, and the slightest varisbid
been regarded as sufficient to justify
or addition to depositions actuallY ma with
a verdict led,
costs. A wiser judgment has, however, prevsesi 6.
and although we may consider that the jury bai
mated the damages too highly by one farthinKboo
do not iu the least complain. We are proud t° grit
fought the question, and to have assi,ted path
eont.l-3.
the principles laid down by the Chief Justic uthe
willing that our columns should be ever Mode, to
vehicle of private slander or of needless io.intionol
character, and prompt to repair any, wontent!...if
wrong which we may commit, we will notsa.v.v'ot:r
time sacrifice that liberty of the press whic„"blon•
right as journalists and our privilege as Fing"s ~ tb;
and the verdict of Saturday, by throwing' or-pie
accuser his own costs, tends most mareri°ll° to pro'
lo
tect us in the honest performance of our MY, 5,,s to
discountenance the class of speculative actions
which th... press is so much exposed.
____—......e.-•" .

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quetbotur de la Plate, for Bordeatz ; VePtuile' I.°l.
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PLACES.

BORNE MAJ
ails are sent front
the morninging

When made up in
General Port-oftlee
London.

LS. dal
the iGen

Frost w
P°rt
Pateb.d.

America (by Brit. pkt.) *February 28 .. • •
America (by U.S. pkt.) *March 7 -• • '•
America (by US. pkt.)lll!March 8 • • 1!
Attica (West coast).. *l4th of the month
Alexandria* • • ...... N 191 h & 30th of mo.{
Belgium • . N, Daily • • • • '•
•
Brazil .. . .• Ml9th of the month
Buenos Ayres Ml;9th of the month
California(via Chagres) M' 17th of month
Cape of Good Hope N 14th of month
Constantinople* .. • • N 7th 17th 27th °two,
Central America, .. M-d & 17th of mon.
Channel Isles .. N Mon., Wed., Ikrri.
Chill . 31,17 th of the mei
Frame M& Ni Twice daily • • •
Greece* .. N 7th 17th 27th st-82°
Elamburgh NTuesday Vidal
Holland M'Wednes. & Satu.hr.
Honduras .. . N 17th of the raol,-1

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Li verPotu
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Ireland .. M& N Twice daily . • • •
India (via Southamp.) M 20th of the month,
India (viaMarsellles) N7thes 24th ofroontil
Mediterranean (via
Southampton) .• M 20th of the month
Mediterranean (via
Marseilles) 7th& 24th of month
Mexico .. Mud of the month..

southopt.

Madeira • • • • .. M 9th of the month

7%17 th,l9th,27th
- & 30th of month
Naples* .. .. • . N sth 15th 25th ofmo
Papal States* N sth 15th 25th ofmo
rentnsular.. 31 7th 17th 27th of ono
Peru .. .. • • .. 11 17th of the month
Tuscany* .. N sth 15th 25th °fin°
West Indies M 17th of the month
West Indies (except ;
Havanna & Nassau) M 2d of the mouth • •
* The mails to those countries thus raaril
French packs rift Marseilles.

Malta.