The Sun.
London, England, 1867-01-23 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONIJON, WEDNESo.t Y EV ENING, JANUARY 23, 1867.

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861

T SECURITIES.

91 9

L 6.W INTEL LIGENCE. —This Day.

COURT OF QUEEN'S BENCH.

(Sittings hi Banco, before the Lord Chief Justice Cockburn,
and Justices Mellor, Blackburn, and Lush.)
BRYANT Y. HOOD-JUDGMENT.

Mr. Justice Mellor delivered judgment in this case,
which has been argued at great length, and with much
learning and ability, before their lordships, and which is
very important as raising the rexata questio as to what con-
stitutes a legal right under the construction of immemorial
usage. His lordship said that the question which the
Court had to decide was whether a sum of 13s. 61 claimed
by the rector of the parish of ll.)rton, in Bucks, being 10s.
for hinise'f, and 3s. Gd. for the vestry clerk, for the per-
formance of marriage, was legal or not, and on the non-
payment of which ho refused to perform tho ceremony.
The plaintiff then brought an action against him, and the
matter was referred to arbitration, and a decision given
in his behalf, from which an appeal was now made.
It was argued in support of the defendant that the
payment of the sum in question existed from 1808, and
that according to law the inference was that it was from
time immemorial, or from the time of Richard I. Having
cited a decision in the Court of Exchequer adverse to that
view as well as the dicta of Lord Tenterden and Lord
Campbell, in addition to certain cases which elicited these
opinions, the learned judge said that Horton was a parish
consisting of rural labourers, and that 13s. 6d. was a
largo sum to pay even in those days for that class
when the wages of agricultural labourers were so
very low. How much greater must the money value of
that amount have been in the reign of Richard the First,
considering the difference that existed between that time,
when a cow could have been purchased for 45., a sow for
10d., a boar for 12d., and so on, and the present. It had
been held by high authorities on this subject that the
rankness or excess of an amount claimed under prescrip-
tion destroyed its antiquity, for it could not be reasonably
supposed that persona would have been required to pay
sums of a preposterous extent. Ho felt bound, under the
circumstances, to decide in favour of the plaintiff.
Mr. Justice Blackburn differed from the learned judge
and considered that the existenze of the usage in reference
to the payment of the money in question constituted it as
being legally of immemorial usage. The argument
arising from the rankness of the amount he regarded as
invalid, and in this opinion ho was sustained by very
learned authorities. In the time of Richard the First the
facilities for performing the marriage ceremony were in all
probability comparatively rare, therefore a higher price
was charged for the celebration of the ceremony. He must
decide in favour of the defendant.
The Lord Chief Justice, in the course of a very
elaborate judgment, concurred with Mr. Justice Mellor,
and took occasion to refer to the very unsatisfactory state
in reference to legal rights founded on prescription.
Mr. Justice Lush agreed with the Lord Chief Justice and
Mr. Justice Mellor.

The judgment of the Court was accordingly in favour o:
the plaintiff.

LAWRMICE V. FITCH.

The Lord Chief Justice said that the decision in the pro
vious case governed this as to the questiun of immemoria
usage. _

Mr. Justice Blackburn said that of course he must be
governed by the ruling of the Court, but he was also in
favour of the decision on the merits of the case, which had
reference to a right claimed to demand the shilling toll on
a donkey cart of vegetables. Taking into account the dif-
ference of value in money in modern and ancient times
such a toll would have been impossible.

POLICE INTELLIGESCE.—This Day.

MARLBOUOUGH-STREET.

THE EFFECT OF THE WEATHER.--JOSSO Dunn, a cab-
driver, was charged before Mr. Tyrwhitt with being drunk
and incapable of driving.
Police-constable 54 E stated that on the previous Evening
he saw the defendant on a cab near the Regent-circus.
The defendant had lost all control over the horse, which
went on the pavement. There were two ladies in the cab,
and they got out and took another cab.
Mr. Tyrwhitt asked the constable how it was the defen-
dant had lost the control of his horse.
The constable said the defendant was drunk. He took
the defendant to the station, and the defendant there said
that it was the coldness of the weather which had caused
him to lose the control of the horse.

Tho defendant said that ho was very cold at the time.
Ho had had only one glass of ale, and had no dinner.
The constable stated that the ladies told him that the
defendant appeared quite sober when they engaged him.
Mr. Tyrwhitt said the worst part of the case was that
the defendant was on duty ai the time. Ho should fine the
defendant ss.

While the poor fellow was at the bar he appeared so like
a person under the effect of drink that the constable was
asked if he was sober. The constable said ho appeared
then, as he did last evening, in a state of semi-stupor. It
being stated by the gaoler shortly afterwards that the man
was very ill, Mr. Tyrwhitt ordered him some refreshments
and that ho should be sent home in a cab.