The Sun.
London, England, 1834-11-04 00:00:00

COURT OF KING'S BENCH-(THIS DAY).

(Sittings in Banco.)
CRIMINAL INFORMATION AGAINST THE MORNING

CHRONICLE.

At the sitting of the Court this morning the ATTORNEY-
GENERAL moved, on behalf of Mr. Gregorie, the Police
Magistrate of Queen-square, for a, rule to show cause why
a criminal information should not be filed against Mr.
Henry Northcote Ward, one of the registered proprietors
of the Morning Chronicle Newspaper, for a libel upon him
in his Magisterial capacity. The only object Mr. Gregorie
had in view was to vindicate his character, and thereby
enable him to exercise his functions as a Magistrate, which
he found it impossible to do so long as such libels were
allowed to circulate with impunity. The grounds upon
which the Learned Counsel founded his application were
as follows :—On the 31st July last a person named Henry
Coxeter, driver of one of Shillibeer's Greenwich omnibuses,
was summoned before Mr. Gregorie, on a charge of ob-
structing the way opposite the door of Messrs. Taylor,
shoemakers, No. 53, Charing-cross. The man, although
cautioned by Mr. Gregorie that it would not avail
him, persisted in pleading guilty, and as he had been pre-
viously convicted of a similar offence be was fined 40s. In
the next case a person named Cooper, driver of one of
Wheatley's omnibuses pleaded guilty to a similar charge,
and was fined I Os.—it being his first offence.
Mr. Shillibeer came to the office after the case against
his driver had been disposed of, and in consequence of the
impropriety of his conduct Mr. Gregorie directed one of the
officers to remove him. Mr. Shillibeer met Stephen Davis,
the time-keeper at Charing-cross, outside, and collared him,
stating that it was all his doing, and Davis having com-
plained to Mr. Gr4gorie of the assault, a warrant was granted
against Shillibeer. The following day an account of these
several transactions appeared in the Morning Chronicle,
which the learned counsel read at length. This account
was substantially true, and of this Mr. Gregorie did not
complain. But on the 14th of August following there
appeared in the same paper a publication from the editor,
in which Mr. Gregorie was accused of the grossest miscon-
duct as a magistrate, in refusing to hear the defence of
patties accused.. It appeared that on the Saturday pre-
vious Coxeter had been summoned for a similar- offence,
r. Hu preys appeared to defend him, and the
A -
case was is The learned counsel here read the
article at length, in which it was stated that Shillibeer had
suffered in his popket, in consequence of the magistrate's
departure from the first principles of justice."
The CHIEF JUSTICE—Take a rule.
THE KING IP. THE MARCHIONESS OF DEVONSHIRE.

Mr. JERVIS moved for a rule to show cause why the ver-
dict obtained by the Crown in this case should not be set
aside, and a verdict of not guilty entered for the defend-
ant, or a new trial had. It was an action for an ob-
struction, tried before Mr. Justice Williams, at the last
Worcester Assizes. The grounds of the present application
were that the nature and position of the obstruction had
been improperly described in the indictment. It was de-
scribed as " a certain common and public footway through
the parish of Hommersley, towards and unto the parish
church." It appeared that a new parish church had been
built for public worship six or seven years ago, and the foot-
path led to the old and not to the new church. The
learned counsel after pointing out the various technical in-
accuracies in the description, added that the granting of the
rule in the present case would have the effect of settling the
question amicably between the parties.
The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE—Take a rule in the alter-
native.

In the course of the day Sir Robert Graham came upon
the Bench for the purpose of being sworn in as a member
of his Majesty's most honourable Privy Council. After
the oath had been administered, Sir Robert bowed and was
about to retire, when the officer requested him' to kiss the
book, and much laughter was occasioned in consequence of
Sir Robert hastily seizing the book in his left hand, on
which was a glove, and kissing it. The Chief Justice ob-
served, in an under tone, that that was wrong, and the officer
followed the worthy Baronet into the Judge's room, for the
purpose of re-administering the oath.