The Sun.
London, England, 1835-12-16 00:00:00

PROSECUTIONS OF THE PRESS.-

VAN •DIEMEN'S LAND.

Whenevet We see ji.GoVernillent prosecuting the
Press, We fribi be sitistied, With 'kndiiiiig the eir-
curnstailees, that tile Government, whether in Europe
or in Asia, are wrong. In Europe, we have seen the
attempt of Charles X., by Ordinances, to put down the
Public Press. In New South Wales; Gt'ilefl Darling
prosecuted Mr. Hal 4 Editof Of the gydneg Monitor;
and tried and convicted him by his military juries on
eleven occasions ; but when those causes were re-tried,
on the plea fir damages against General Darling,
before an independent civil jury, verdicts WOO given in
almost every instance in fat Otir of Mr. Hall. In
France, Charles X. was deposed. In New South
Wales, General Darling was ordered home, and bon-
fires by the inhabitants, on the day of his departure,
celebrated his recall.

Louis Phillippey conscious of his !misconduct and
mutilation of the charter he swore to observo) i 9 prose-
cuting tin Press to destoktin, afraid of every ani-
ma.'aversion en hiS !lets and conduct ; but there is little
doubt) that in the course of human events, of cause
and effect, that Louis will share the fate of all op-
pressors. In Van Diemen's Land, Governor Arthur
seems determined, notwithstanding the fate of General
Darling in the neighbouring Island, to follow his
example, and put down the Independent Press in the
Island. We gave, some time ago, a statement of the
number of Newspapers published at Hobart Town,
the capital of Van Diemen's Land ; and we add an
article from the Colonial Times, to show the kind of
juries to which the Editors of the Press are subjected
in that colony. It will speak for itself. The Proces
Mon,.stre and the tribunals of Paris, now daily at work
in attempting to stifle the Press and public opinion,
will be found to resemble, as far as the influence of the
Government goes, the proceedings at Van Diemen's
Land. And, we ask, what is the Colonial Secretary
about) to allow such proceedings to go on ?
LIBEL TRIALS.

The first or these cases was tried on Monday, the 9th
instant, before his Honour the Chief Justice and a Special
Jury. We will not at present stop to offer any observations
on the manner in which Special Jurors (we mean the list
returned to the Sheriff) are appointed, as we are informed,
by Captain Forster and his subordinates, the chief district
constables ; who, if common report speaks correctly, are in-
vested with the power of creating esquires for the purposes
of Mr. Stephen's Jury Act, the working of which in special
cases very clearly appeared in the pannel that was returned
to try the charges against Mr. Robertson. The greater
proportion of the names thereon being Colonel Arthur's Ma-
gistrates, Officers holding situations at the pleasure of the
Governor, full pay Military and Commissariat Officers, and
others expecting civil employment at the hands of his Ex-
cellency, with a very thin sprinkling of men not connected
with the Government; leavingitinzpossible for the defendant,
even with the privilege of striking out six, to obtain anything
like a Jury that could be called purely independent. Our
readers will observe that by this very cunningly framed Act
(which is in fact only a cheating the people out of their rights,
as conceded to them by orders of the Secretary of State,)
there is no challenge allowed, no, not if all the eighteen out
of whom the defendant would be allowed to strike six, were
even the brothers or sons of the party said to be libelled ;
nor could that party himself be challenged had his name
appeared on the pannel. So much for the benefits of Mr.
Stephens's Jury Act, and its consistency with the law of
England. That these are not mere assertions will appear in
the sequel. The Jury which tried . the present case were
the following Gentlemen :
Michael Vicary, Esq., Foreman, a Justice of Peace ; a
retired military Officer.; formerly a Police Magistrate, and,
subsequently, Ordnance Store Keeper, under Colonel
Arthur.

Henry James Emmett, Esq., senior ; late principal
clerk in the Secretary's Office ; now doing duty for his son
who is a clerk in that office, and expecting his own reap-
pointment.

Henry James Emmett, Esq., junior ; a clerk in the Se-
cretary's Office, and not a householder.

John Lee Archer, Esq., Civil Engineer to the Govern-
ment, and J.P.

Arthur Davis, Esq., J.P. ; half-pay R.N., and also one
of the Military Jurors.
G. Watson, Esq., J.P.

Andrew Croinbie, Esq., J.P.
John Bell, Esq., J.P.

. -
W. IV. Barrow, Esq., a retired Military Officer ex-
pecting a civil appointment.
John Boyes, Esq.
George Gatehouse, Esq.
George Bilton, Esq.
The indictment in this case, the first count of which we
give verbatim, was as follows :
VAN DIEMEN'S LAND,

TO WIT.

De it remembered, that Alfred Stephen, Esquire, Attor-
ney-General of our Sovereign Lord the now King, who for
our said Lord the King, in this behalf personally comes
into the Supreme Court of Van Diemen's Land, at Hobart.
Town, in Van Diemen's Land aforesaid, and for our said
Lord the King, gives the said Court here to understand and
be informed, that Gilbert Robertson, late of Hobart Town,
in Van Diemen's Land, yeoman, on the tenth day of
January, in the fifth year of the reign of our said Lord the
King, at Hobart Town aforesaid, in Van Diemen's Land
aforesaid, unlawfully and maliciously intending to bring his
Excellency Colonel George Arthur, then and still being
the Lieutenant-Governor of Van Diemen's Land and
its Dependencies, and the officer administering the
Government thereof, into hatred and contempt, and
to cause it to be suspected and believed that the
said Colonel George Arthur, so being such Lieute-
nant-Governor, had been guilty of fraudulent and impro-
per conduct in wilfully and improperly altering, for disho-
nourable and unworthy purposes, a deed of grant or instru-
ment, under the seal of Van Diemen's Land and its depen-
dencies, before that time issued or caused to be issued by
the said Lieutenant-Governor, and then lately before enrolled
in the Supreme Court of Van Diemen's Land, did print and
publish, and cause and procure to be printed and pub-
lit,hed, in a certain newspaper, intituled " The True Colo-
nist, Van Diemen's Land Political Despatch and Agricul-
tural and Commercial Advertiser," a certain scandalous and
malicious libel of and concerning the said Colonel George
Arthur, so then and there, and still being such Lieutenant-
Governor as aforesaid, and of and concerning the said deed
of grant or instrument to be issued and enrolled as afore-
said, which said libel is as follows ; that is to say, &c.

Between the hours of 2 and 3 o'clock on Monday af-
ternoon, a young lady, named Johnson, called on her bro-
ther, Mr. William Johnson, of Princes•street, Hanover-
square, architect and surveyor, and was standing with her
back to the parlour fire, whilst talking on business, when
her dress by some means caught fire, and in an instant she
was surrounded with flames. Every effort was made to di-
vest Miss Johnson of her burning apparel, but before this
could be accomplished, she had sustained the most frightful
and extensive injury, particularly about her face, neck, and
arms. Little or no hope can be entertained of her recovery.

We observe in the list of subscriptions for the Irish
Clergy, exclusively published in the Tory journals, that
Lord Melbourne, Lord J. Russell, and Lord Palmerston,
have each subscribed 100/. for the relief of the clergy.
This fact at once sets at rest the assertion of the Tory
journals, that none but Tories had subscribed. The dis-
tress of the clergy has been chiefly occasioned by the per-
severing opposition of the Tory faction to any measure
tending to reduce the Irish Church Establishment within
the limits required for the population. But the clergy, who
suffer from the factious disposition of the Tories, are not
the less entitled to the commiseration of the public, what-
ever their political sentiments may be.

FIRE ON BOARD A STEAMER.—On Monday
morning, about half-past five o'clock, the Ramona, Ham-
burg steam-packet, belonging to the General Steam Navi-
gation Company, lying nearly off the Tower, was discovered
to be on fire, and the very greatest alarm reigned among
the crews of the shipping in the adjoining tiers. The flames
appeared to rage in the neighbourhood of the engine room,
and the crew of the vessel, aided by a party of the Thames
Police, were for nearly two hours endeavouring to extin-
guish the fire by throwing down buckets of water, but with-
out success, and it was then' found necessary to cut away
the decks, and by that means the vessel was saved from
destruction, but considerable damage was done before the
fire was entirely subdued. It is believed that some of the
coals had ignited during the last voyage, and communicated
to the bulk-head.

A few evenings ago, at a sale by auction here, a
female, anxious about some likenesses of Ministers which
were for sale, was very busy in examining them ; when, at
length, having purchased a print of the late Dr. —, she
found her purse had been cut off by some thief, who, while
she was expressing her desire for a clerical likeness, had
manifested a stronger inclination after the Royal physiog-
nomy, which was imprinted on a few solid half-crown pieces
in her pocket, and with which the miscreant got clear off.
—Aberdeen Herald.

THE IRON TRADE.--The iron trade of Stafford-
shire and the neighbouring districts is, at the present mo.-
merit flourishing beyond all precedent. It is said that there
is not one house in the manufacture within 30 miles of
Birmingham, which has not more orders on hand than they
can possibly execute within the next three menths.—illac-
clesileld Courier. •