The Sun.
London, England, 1832-01-06 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JANUARY 6, 1832.

SURREY SESSIONS, JAN. 6.

Mary Ann Burgess was indicted for stealing a
half-pound brass weight, the property of William
Till, a grocer, residing in St. George's, Southwark.
The prosecutor stated that the prisoner was in the
habit of coming to his shop, and that having fre-
quently "ost weights from the counter, he had placed
the one in question there in order that it might en-
able him to entrap the thief. On the day in question
the prisoner came with her child, a year and a halt
old, to make a purchase, and after turning his back
to reach a canister, he missed the half-pound weight
on again facing the counter. A policeman was
called in, and the prisoner expressed her willing-
ness to be searched, remarking, that perhaps the
child might have taken it up to play with it ; and
on further examination the weight was found wider
the shawl that was wrapped round the child.
Tie prisoner, in her defence, said, that she was
innocent of the charge, and that the weight must
have been taken up by the child, who was seated on
the counter.

The prosecutor said, that the child was a yard or
mere off the weight, and could not have taken it up.
Three or four respectable looking females were
called, who stated that they had known the pri-
soner for a number of years, and who gave her an
excellent character for honesty and industry;
The CHAIRMAN (Mr. Hedger) then summed up.
He said that it was for the Jury to decide whether
they believed the suggestion of the prisoner, as to
the child having taken up the weight ; but how they
could come to that conclusion he did not see, when
the weight was found under the prisoner's own shawl.
The prisoner here called out that it was found
under the child's shawl ; and, on the policeman be-
ing recalled, the woman's statement was confirmed.
The CHAIRMAN—WeII, Gentlemen, be that as it
may, let me ask you whether it is very likely that a
child of the age of a year end a half would have the
strength to take up the weight ; and, if it had the
strength, what motive could it have had in doing
so ? Besides the prosecutor tells you that it was
not sufficiently near the weight to reach it. This,
however, is the prisoner's defence; whilst, on the
other hand, we find that she was in the habit of
going to Mr. Till's shop, and that he had so re-
peatedly lost weights as to induce him to place this
on the counter as a sort of feint.

(It may he worth mentioning, that the Chairman
had previously stopped the prosecutor when he wag
mentioning that he had frequently lost weights be-
fore from his shop, with the observation that the
Court could not hear any, hing about previous losses.)
The Jury, after scarcely more than a moment's
deliberation, found the prisoner Not Guilty.

At two o'clock, the Grand Jury, having gone
through the Bills laid before them, came into Court
to be discharged. The Foreman stated that the
Grand Jury had a communication to make to the
Court.

The CHAIRMAN—WeII, gentlemen, proceed.
The Foreman—This is a resolution (holding a
paper in his hand) which the Grand Jury have
adopted by an unanimous vote.
The CHAIRMAN—Had you not better append it
to your presentment ?
The Foreman—lt is the wish of the Grand Jury
that the two documents should be kept separate,
and that I should now read the resolutions, of which
I hold a copy in my hand. He then proceeded to
read :

" Grand Jury-room, Sessions-bouse, Newington,
Jan. 5, 1532.

" Resolved,—That the Grand Jury regret to learn from
the evidence of the policemen, whose conduct generally
appears to have been higt.ly commendable, particularly
that of John Carrol and William Henningham, that se
reral parts of the parish of Lambeth, and St. Mary, New-
ington, are infested with dissolute boys, and other loose,
disorderly persons, who procure their living by breaking
cf the law, and who, as it appears to the said Jurors, are
at all times liable to be prosecuted as rogues and vaga-
bonds. The siid Jurors respectfully beg leave to call the
serious attention of th e Magistrates to this growing evil.
" Resolved,—That the said Jurors regret to find that
pawnbrokers are in the habit of taking goods in pledge
from persons without making due inquiry, thereby holding
out facilities to thieves to dispose of their plunder ; at
the same time the Jurors beg to remark, that in the course
of their labours they have met with several honourable
exceptions.

"Resolved,—That the Jurors, in visiting the gaol, have
ascertained that in the system of classification adopted,
the prisoners are confined according to their legal, and not
moral character of their alleged offences. Thus they find
that a man accused of an unnatural offence is confined in
the same day-room as men accused of common assaults.
The said Jurors further beg to state, that in classifying
prisoners they think reference should be had to their cha-
racters previous to their committal.
" Resolved,—That the Grand Jury, in presenting to the
Court yesterday a resolution expressive of their regret that
a fern ale, of the name of Mary Deane, should have been
confined in prison for nearly three weeks on evidence which
appeared to the said Jurors totally insufficient, kumbly
conceive that, as the Grand Inquest of the county, it is
their peculiar duty to see that the liberty of the subject is
not unnecessarily infringed upon, and therefore they dis-
agree with the observations of the Chairman (Mr. hedger)
in which he intimated that the Grand Jury had nothing to
do with the committals of prisoners."

The copy of the resolutions having been handed
to the Clerk of the Peace,

The CHAIRMAN said—l still say, that the matter
to which the Grand Jury have thought proper to
refer, is not within their cognizance; it was alto-
gether in the discretion of the committing Mlagis•
trate, he must always know much better than any
Grand Jury what did arid what did not constitute
fitting grounds of committal—(After a pause and
some conversation with the other members of the
Bench)—Gentlemen, you are now discharged, and
I must be allowed to say, that if each of us confined
our proceedings to our respective provinces, it would
more rapidly advance the public business, and at the
same time be more creditable to our character for
judgment and discretion. If a Magistrate commit
Any one wrongfully, he in not amenable to the (srand
Jury, and their notice of his conduct in th, t behalf
is an improper interference. A Magistrate for an
improper committal subjects himself to an action at
law; but he is the sole judee of the evidence laid
before him—not even the Judges of the superior
Courts can take any cognizance of his conduct.
A Grand Juror—The Grand Jury were unani-
mous in thinking otherwise. We conceived our-
selves fully entitled to come to the resolution which
we have just presented to the Court. It is not my
intention to reply upon what has just fallen from
your Worship ; but I may be allowed to add that we
did not adopt this resolution unadvisedly—books
have been consulted, and the mem hers of the Grand
Jury were unanimous on the subject.
The CHAIRMAN—Books may be consulted, but it
does not therefore follow that they are understood.
We must not keep up this altercation any longer.
The same Grand Juror—That remark about con-
sulting books without understanding them applies as
much to others as to the members of the Grand Jury.

The CHAIRMAN—The permission to visit the
gaol will in future be withheld if this species of
interference be persevered in,
Here the conversation ended, the Grand Jury
retired, and the Cuurt was occupied during the re-
mainder of the day in trying larcenies of no public
interest.

An adjourned inquest was held on the body
of THOMAS STROTHER, the young man who cut hie throat
at the toot of Westtninster-nridge. A verdict of " Mental
Dtraugernenc" was returned,

NEW PATENTS SEALED 1831.

(From the Journal of Arts and Sciences.)
To Robert William Sievier, of Southampton-
row, in the parish of St. George, Bloomsbury, in
the county of Middlesex, gentleman, for his having
invented and discovered certain improvements in
the making or manufacturing of cables, ropes,
whale-fishing and other lines, lathe and rigger
bands, bags, and purses, part of which said im-
proved articles are applicable to other useful pur-
poses.—Sealed, December 1, six months for inrol•
went.

To Cornelius March Payne, of Stratford, in the
parish of West Ham, in the county of Essex, silk-
printer, for his having invented or discovered cer-
tain improvements in printing silk, cotton, and other
goods or fabrics.—December 3.—Six months.
To Claude Marie Savoye, of Oxford-street, in
the county of Middlesex, merchant, for a new in-
vention of which he is in possession, consisting of
an improvement or improvements in mills or ma-
chines for grinding or reducing grain and other
sub,rances.—Dec. 15.—Six months.

To Abraham Adolph Moser, of Canterbury-row,
Kenningron-road, in the county of Surrey, engineer,
in consequence of q communication made to him by
a certain foreigner residing abroad, for an inven-
tion of which he is in possession, of improvements
in ter tit'n•descriptions of fire-arms.----Dee.
months.

To Thomas Alcock, of the parish of Claines, in
the county of Worcester, lace-manufacturer, for his
having invented or found out certain improvements
in machinery already in use for the manufacture of
bobhin-net lace.—Dec. 15.—Six months.

To Isaac Strombom, of Old Broad-street, in the
city of London, merchant, for his having invented
a medical composition or embrocation for the cure,
relief, or prevention of external and internal com-
plaints; which composition or embrocation may
alone, or with certain alterations, be beneficially used
as an internal medicine.—Dec. 17.—Six months.
To Daniel Ledsam, manufacturer, and William
Jones, screw manufacturer, both of Birmingham, in
the county of Warwick, for their having invented
certain improvements in machinery for making pins,
rivets, woodscrews, and nails.—Dec. 22.—Six
months.

To Henry Gore, of Manchester, machine-maker,
for his having invented an improvement in the ma-
chine commonly called by spinners" throstle frames,"
and spinning frames; which machines operate by
spindles and flyers and bobbin, for spinning or
twisting yarn or threads.—Dec. 22.—Six months.
To Pierrepont Greaves, of Cilorley, in the county
of Lancaster, gentleman, for his having invented
or found out a method or methods of making or-
namental or fancy cotton yarns and threads appli-
cable to the making, sewing, or embroidering of
cotton and other fabrics.—Dec. 22.—Six months.

To John Christopher Tobias Kreeft, of Old B md-
street,in the city of London,merchant, in consequence
of a communication made to him by Stephen Von
Keesz and Moritz Von Ischoffen, foreigners, residing
abroad, for an invention of which he is in posses-
sion, of an improved apparatus for shaping plates of
metal, and for manufacturing various articles there-
from.—Dec. 22.—Six months.

To Samuel Hall, of Basford, in the county of
Nottingham, cotton-manufacturer, for his having in-
vented an improved piston and valve for steam, gas,
and other engines; also an improved method of
lubricating the pistons, piston-rods, and valves or
cocks of such engines, and of condensing the steam
and supplying water to the boilers of such steam-
engines as are wrought by a vacuum produced by
condensation.—Dec. 22.—Six months.

To Benedict Nott, E-q., of Liverpool, in conse-
quence of a communication made to him by a certain
foreigner, residing abroad, for an invention of which
he is in possession, of certain improvements in the
construction of a furnace or furnaces for generating
heat, and in the apparatus for the application of
heat to various useful purposes, being further im-
provements upon a patent obrained by the said
Benedict N..tt ; d,ited the 4th day of Nov. 1830.
Dec. 22.—Sx months.

To Malcolm Muir, of Hutchinson Town, Glas-
gow, Scotland, engineer, for his having invented or
discovered certain improvements in machinery or
apparatus for preparing boards for flooring, and other
purposes.—Dee. 22.—Six months.
To Robert Walker Wingfield, of Birmingham, in
the county of Warwick, brass-founder, for his having
invented certain improvements in the construction
of bedsteads; one or more of which said improve-
ments is or are likewise applicable to other articles.
—Dec. 22.—Six months.

LIFE AND TIMES OF LOCKE.—Lord KING,
we observe, has enriched the new edition of his "Life and
Correspondence of John Locke," with some of those cu-
rious con. emporary memoranda which are rarely allowed
to come forth from the recesses of the family closet. The
accession alluded to consists of a diary kept by the Author's
ancestor, Lord Chancellor KING, from 1725 to 1733, in
relation chiefly to the principal subjects which occupied
the attention of the Administration of that period. The
most curious parts of this Diary will, however, be consi-
dered to be the singular anecdotes of Gxottax II and
Queen CAROLINE, which tend to invest this otherwise
grave work with a new and exclusive interest.
A NEW EPIDEMIC.—The Duke of NEW-
CASTLE, in declining to give his support to a Reading So-
ciety and Mechanics' Institute just established at Work-
sop, and supported by the neighbouring nobility and
gentry, assigned as his reason, that all the deplorable evils
und,r which this country nsisv laboured were to be at-
tributed to such societies ; and in his letter to the Secre-
tary, his Grace exhorts hint to shun such institutions as
he would a pestilence !

OLD LONDON BRIDGE.—The appearance
of Old London Bridge in its present state of removal is
highly picturesque, and the New Bridge is daily occupied
by curious spectators of the works necessary for the de-
molition of the famous convey,nce by which the traffic of
London has been moving during centuries. A COMB
4u...city has born carried in barges and dropped closed to
the piers of the New Bridge on the Suuthwark side. The
remains of the two arches of the Old Bridge on the
&millwork side present no more than two circles of rough
stone. On the city side they have nearly removed two
arches ; and there is no longer a safe passage across the
Old Bridge, except for the workmen. It is expected the
whole of this ancient structure will be deired away by
June. The bed of the river is to be made level when
that object can be accomplished. It is uncertain when the
first bridge was built between London and Surr y.
SALE OF SHIPS OF WAIL-011 Wednes-
day a sale took place at the Navy-office, Somerset-house.
by order of the Commi-sioners of the Navy, of the follow-
ing ships of war :—The Snap gun-brig of 181 tuns
lying at Deptford ; the Cordelia burg of 132 tons, lying
at Woolwich ; the Medina, of 20 guns, burthen 460
tons, lying at Sheerness; and the Prothee, burthen 683
tons, lying at Portsmouth. The Lancaster of 64 guns,
and the Sampson hulk, were also announced for sale, but
were will"lrdwn• The ships were sold by Dutch auction,
and by the conditions of the sale, sureties to the extent of
3,0001. were demanded that the purchaser., shall break up
the vessels within twalve months from the time of sale,
The Satt7l2ol)l, 6 Was put up at 9001. and was knocked
don n The Cordelia was put up at 4001., and
was purchased at 210/. The upset price of the Medina
was 2,000/.• and was sold at 1,610/ ; and the .Prothc'e
was put up at 1,800/., and fetched 1,220/.
It has been suggested that country commis-
sions of bankrupt have generally been worked quite as
much for the ben,fit of creditors in London as in lin
country; and that sending down one or more official as-
signees to collect in the property is all that may be re-
quired—thus dispensing with country COILLR'SSiOnti alto-
gether

PRICE "PD.

SOAP DUTIES.

Observations illustrative of the ruinous effects of the pre-
sent impolitic Soap Duties, chewing how these may not
only be greatly reduced, but tntally repealed, with great
advantage to the revenue, manufacturers, and the public
at large.

Every rational reflecting person must be
satisfied that a duty of 100 per cent. on the cost
of any manufactured article, especially a neces-
sary of life, such as Soap, must be severely felt
by the community, and especially by the lower
orders, as it is universally acknowledged that
without cleanliness their health must be much
impaired by aggravating and rendering inveterate
the many diseases that more especially afflict the
poorer classes. It should ever be kept in mind,
that the poor mechanic toiling hard at dirty work
from morning to night, and exposed to violent
perspirations, requires more soap to cleanse both
his clothes and exhausted body, than the-better
classes of society, but this his scanty wages can-
not afford, so long as it shall continue to be
charged as at present with the enormous duty o'
3d. per lb. a rate of duty which if laid on most
luxuries, would be considered extravagant.: in
this view of the subject, the present Soap
Duties are neither more nor less than a tax on
health.

While these unnatural and extravagantly high
duties place this great necessary of life beyond
the reach of the poor (who stand so much in
need of it), and press severely at the same time
on all classes, there are many other evils of great
magnitude, arising out of so heavy an impost,
which both the fair trader and the revenue have
felt most severely. Smuggling is a natural con-
sequence of high duties, and therefore, as might
be well supposed, ever since the last additional
penny per lb. was imposed, the fair traders have
had the smugglers to contend with in even
quarter ; seldom or ever have they been able to
acquire that fair remunerating price for their
manufactured article to which they are fairly en-
titled, and some have even found it for their
interest to buy of the illicit trader. Thus we
see these high duties operating as a bounty to
the smuggler, but blasting on the other hand
every honest effort of the fair trader, denying him
the just reward of his industry, after having ex-
pended a large capital in the erection of his
works.

The Soap Duties, holding out as they do
against temptations that are almost irresistible,
tend to demoralize both the manufacturer and
the officer ; this will ever be the result of such
overcharged duties ; and the numerous Excise
laws imposed on the trade, for the prevention of
struggling, have ever, as might be expected,
proved abortive, and are nothing short of a
complete check to all improvement, and a never
failing source of discontent and bad blood be-
tween the traders and officers. In fact the pre-
sent restraints under which the manufacturers of
Soap are placed for the sake of preventing
smuggling, operate, to say the least of it, as a
millstone round their necks, marring their best
endeavours to effect the improvements of which
the trade is so susceptible, from the increasing
spread of chemical science. If the Soap maker;
were released from the Excise trammels, it
would be productive of much public good, in so
far as by being free and unfettered in their ope-
rations, a much better and cheaper article would
be produced. This has been exemplified in the
case of the brewer and tanner, who were made
independent of all Excise clogs ; and so ought
the Soap maker, for he is ten times more fet-
tered in his operations than they were. Let any per-
son cast their eye on the sad catalogue of Excise
laws enacted for the better securing the Soap
Duties, and he will be surprised how the manu-
facturer so fettered can possibly get on at all ; his
extensive operations are carried on, not as genius
and the improvements of the age would dictate,
but under restraints the most capricious and op-
pressive, hostile alike to every idea of liberty
and rational attempt at improvement. In order
therefore to get at the smuggler (or monster, as
he was justly and emphatically styled by a late
much-lamented Statesman), we have a most im-
portant branch of manufacture crushed and pre-
vented from being so productive as it might have
been to the country, or to those who have un-
fortunately embarked in it their capital and time
to no good purpose. I most sincerely believe
the present Ministers have every desire to free
so useful anti extensive a branch of manufacture
from the shackles of the Excise, but may find
some difficulty in raising a sum equal to the
Soap duty. To meet this difficulty, I propose
laying duties on the raw materials, which can-
not be evaded, and at the same time collected at
little or no expellee, in the following order :
Foreign Tallow being the chief ingredient in
Soap, I propose laying on it a duty of 101. per
ton as it is imported, which will raise a revenue
itself of about 700,0001., there being now about
70,000 tons imported from Russia alone. The
collecting of this large sum would not cost one
farthing, and the duty could not possibly be
evaded ; this ought surely to be a strong argu-
ment in favour of such a duty, it being for the
interest of the public to have, duties collected at
woeful
otp
eeioua
depressionms oarne
as little expense as possible, and without in-
fringingnt
tasc the
tr'tdhteuelsitdmrytooos
tiliamomius
fliroaßniu
portant interest in the country—the agricultural,
by putting into the pockets of the agriculturist:
not less a sum than two millions sterlino. annu

Palm Oil, imported from Africa, is now be-
come to a certain extent, a substitute for Tallow.
m the making of Soap, and the importations art
annually increasing ; 1 suppose it now runs about
12 to 15,000 tons. As this article keeps pac,
exactly with the price of Tallow, keeping nearly
101. under it, a duty on Tallow would necessa•
rily call for an equivalent duty on Palm Oil ; but
as it is not equal to Tallow in point of strength
for making Soap, St. per ton would make it
equal to 101. on Tallow, which would product
a revenue of 90 to 100,0001; so we have on
toreign grease alone a sum equal to 800,000/.
Alkalies are the next indispensable ingredients
that enter into the composition of Soap ; these,
until of late years, were derived from kelp and
foreign barilla. Since the duties were take❑ oft
salt and sulphur, alkalies have been made with
great success at home, and from chemical im-
provements these can compete with any foreign
barilla as to strength, and have upon the whole

*
Our home produce, including Ireland, suppoeed to be
three tittles that of our invortatiou.