The Sun.
London, England, 1835-11-03 00:00:00

CP.IMINAL INFORMATION-REX V. ROTCII, ESQ.

The RECORDER said he was instructed to apply to their
Lordships for a rule Nisi for a criminal information on be-
half of the Lord Mayor of London, against Mr. Benjamin
Rotch, the Chairman of the Middlesex Sessions. The
circumstances were shortly these :
In a Report of a Committee of the House of Lords, on
the state of the gaols of England and Wales, there was a
document published purporting to be a return, by Mr.
Rotch, as Chairman of the Sessions, of the state of the se-
veral prisons in the county of Middlesex, and in that return
there were strictures on the conduct of the Magistrates of
the city of London, in reference to the gaol of Newgate.
These strictures of Mr. Rotch upon the Magistrates of
London were brought under the notice of the Court of Al-
dermen on the 27th of October, and in the course of the
discussion which ensued the Lord Mayor made some ob-
servations, thanking the Alderman who bad brought them at-
ter under the notice of the Court. OA the following day
there appeared in the Morning Herald a report of what
bad taken place at the Court of Aldermen. In conse-
quence of the observations of the Lord Mayor being re-
ported, Mr. Guppy called, on the 29th of October, at 11
o'clock, upon the Lord Mayor, at the Mansion-house, and
_
delivered the following letter :
" 1, Furnival's Inn, Oct. 29, Thursday morning.

" My Lord,— I copy the following paragraph from the
Morning Herald of yesterday :---• The Lord Mayor said that
the Court was much indebted to Mr. Alderman Thomas Wood
for bringing forward this scandalous matter.' I need not al-
lude to the occasion on which the above is stated to have been
uttered, as it must be fresh in your recollection. You will
oblige me by informing me with the least possible delay whe-
ther it be a correct report of what you then said.--I have the
honour to be, my Lord, your obedient servant,
BENJAMIN ROTCH.
"To the Right Hon. the Lord Mayor.
_ _ _

Mr. Guppy requested the Lord Mayor would give him
an immediate answer, but his Lordship declined doing so.
On the same evening a gentleman named Carvick called at
the Mansion-house. The Lord Mayor happened not to be
there, and he followed him to the King's. Head, in the
Poultry, where he was dining—(A laugh)—and insisted
upon an answer to the note which had been delivered by
Mr. Guppy in the morning. The Lord Mayor, however,
still refused to give an answer. At eleven o'clock the same
night the Lord Mayor received at the Mansion-house a
note from Mr. Carvick, enclosing one from Mr. Rotch. He
(the Recorder) would read them to the Court.

" Union Club House, Trafalgar-square.
"My Lord,—l beg to enclose a letter from Mr. Rotch to
your Lordship. I shall wait until eleven o'clock to-morrow
morning to receive any communication from your Lordship.
I have the honour to be, my Lord, your Lordship's most
obedient servant, " THOS. CARVICK.

" Right Hon. the Lord Mayor."
The letter from Mr. Rotch was to this effect :
" 1, Fdrnival's Inn, Oct. 29, 1835, 10 o'clock, p. m.

"My Lord,—l had the honour to address a letter to your
Lordship this morning, a copy of which I enclose. Not hav-
ing at eight o'clock this evening received any reply, I request-
ed my friend, Mr. Carvick, to wait upon your Lordship. He
informs me that your Lordship still refuses `replying to my
note. Under these circumstances I have no alternative but to
fix upon your Lordship the words imputed to you by the
Morning Herald of yesterday, and to demand that satisfuction
which your conduct (alike unbecoming a gentleman and a man
of honour) entitles me to. "BENJAMIN ROTC H."

On the evening of Friday the Lord Mayor received
another letter from Mr. Rotch, the meaning of which was
very apparent. It was in these words :

" 1, Furnival's Inn, Oct. 30, 1835, five o'clock.
" My Lord,—You have publicly insulted me in your capa-
city of Chief Magistrate of the City of London while presiding
in the Court of Aldermen. I atla fully aware of the protection
which that situation throws around you, but you have, by de-
clining to reply to my letters, refused that which one gentleman
ought not to refuse to another. Under these circumstances it
only remains for me to abide the decision of men of honourable
feeling on my conduct, and to consign yours to the contempt it
deserves. " BENJAMIN ROTCH.

" To the Lord Mayor."
The Lord Mayor, in his affidavit, stated that in making
the observations which appeared to have given offence
whilst presiding over the Court of Aldermen, he was wholly
uninfluenced by personal or vindictive feelings against Mr.
Rotch, of whom he knew nothing save in his public capa-
city. He also stated that he believed Mr. Rotch intended
to provoke him to commit a breach of the peace by fighting
a duel.
Lord DENMAN—Are those all the facts ?
The RECORDER—Those are all the facts, my Lord.
Lord DENMAN—We think you are entitled to your rule.
—Rule granted.