The Sun.
London, England, 1857-01-12 00:00:00

THE CODGER.

"He is hard upon sixty—Wears gaiters, and an unfa-
shionable costume altogether—ought to wear powder and a
pig-tail—is neither tall nor short, but high-shonldered—
has a good phrenological head—complexion drab —no
whiskers—quick eyes— pug nose —and a Punchinello month'
concave from loss of teeth, but genial as 11r. Wilberforce's.
He belongs to no club, but has his favourite haunts, where
he can depend on bis company, and knows he is not mis-
interpreted. He seldom dines out—to him synonymous
with out of his element. Ho is a bachelor ; makes no
noise in the world, nor in the parish, and submits to any
penalty to exonerate himself, from official responsibility,'

THE WISEACRE.
" If there is a happy man under the ann, it is the Wise-
acre. Endowed by nature with that mobility'
though he bo hard to satisfy, renders all things for hun
proportionately interesting and equally accessible, his
range is so wide, there is scarcely a subject you can men-
tion on which he will confess entire ignorance. He may
betray it, but not purposely. He seems to say, Have
done with your repetitions—principles and details, doctrines
and histories, art and science, truth and falsehood, micro-
cosm and macrocosm, all are familiar to him, but he has
had so much of it ;'—and if the discussion must proceed,
he cares only to listen, just setting you right now and
then on a point too small to embroil him in the argument,
to which he is sadly unequal. Presume not to moralise,
or rhapsodise, or any way extemporise, for his edification
he has considered it all, and dismissed it from his mind,
and your very profoundest or most eloquent emanations
he greets with the pish ! peculiar to the Wiseacre."

THE HUMBUG.
"The Humbug is a pettifogging compound of infidel,
coward, and good fellow; more or less of either, as the
case may be; but these are the components of the charac-
ter. The title embraces a catalogue of delinquents, of all
professions, not cognisable by the law of the land,—and a
host of trivial philanthropists, that victimise their fellow-
creatures, without intending them the slightest harm.
There is the designing humbug, and the sanguine ; the one.
a violator of the spirit, but a respecter of the letter, of the
social law; the other, a good-natured being, with a warm
heart and no conscience, all impulse and no principle,
without steadiness of judgment or of purpose, opinions,
legitimate aims, or springs of action. Your genuine hum-
bug is the mean character between these two, partaking
of the venality of the one, and the imbecility of the other,
a patchwork of guilt and innocence, a moral scarecrow."
Besides which humorous " Sketches" we have
various others illustrative of such animals, as the
"Bore," and the " Dandy." The close of the
merry volume being enlivened by two facetious
chapters, one descriptive of " The Wiggins's Mu-
sical Party," and the other of " The Lord Mayor's
Dinner :" with which last mentioned drollery
tiurio's book is brought to a most agreeable ter-
mination.

The Rural Almanac and Sportman' s Illustrated
Calei. dar for 1857. Edited by Christopher Idle,
Esq. Published at the Field office.
A neatly got up annual, with superior illustra-
tions in unusual number, and comprising such in•
formation as itt several titles would lead the reader
to expect. The admirers of held sports, and those
who are interested in agricultural and horticultural
matters, are likely to appreciate its value ; and the
cottager may derive some useful information from
it. The illustrations are large, and quite of a popu-
lar description.

HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY.

TRIAL OF DR. WIELOBYCKI.
THURSDAY, Jan. 8.
The High Court of Justiciary met this morning at 10
o'clock for the trial of Dr. Wielobycki. The Lord
Justice-Clerk, Lord Handyside, and Lord Deas, were
on the bench, and the Court was crowded during the
entire day.
Dionysius Wielobycki was charged with forgery, as
also wickedly and feloniously using and uttering as
genuine a forged will, knowing the same to be forged, in
so far as the now deceased Margaret Darling, lately
residing in or near Ro,efield Place, Portobello, having
died intestate on 16th October, 1856, leaving heritable
and moveable estate or succession, and the children of
Janet Dealing or Bruce, and Helen Darling or
Richardson, two deceased sisters of the deceased Mar-
garet Darling, having right, or having claimed right to
participate in the succession, the said Dionysins Wie-
lobycki did, on one or more of the days between the
24th cf October, 1856, and the sth of November, 1856, in
the house in Rosefield-place, Portobello, wickedly and
feloniously forge or fabricate, or cause or procure to be
forged or fabricated, by Isabella Darling, or did aid and
assist the said Isabella Darling to forge or fabricate a
will or settlement purporting to be written by the
deceased Margaret Darling, and intended to pass for and
to be received as her will, in the following or similar
terms :—" I, Margaret Darling, residing at No. 1,
Rosefield-place, Portobello, having, along with my youn-
ger sister Isabella Darling, by the disposition of our late
brother, Thomas Darling, a full right to the possession
each of one-half of his property left us by him, and for
the love, favour, and affection which I bear to my sister
Isabella dispone, give, and bequeath her solely, and to the
exclusion of every body ease, all goods, effects, debts,
furniture, subjects, and property of every description
which may belong to me at the time of my death. In
witness whereof I have subscribed these presents writtea
by myself at Portobello this the twenty-first of August,
eighteen hundred and fifty-six ;" and the said Dionysiu
Wielobycki did forge and adhibit, or cause or procure to
be forged and adhibited, by the said Isabella Darling, or
did aid and assist her to forge and adhibit to the said
will the subscription " Margaret Darling," intending it
to pass for the genuine subscription of the deceased
Margaret Darling. Further, he was charged with having
on the 4th November, 1856, uttered the will as genuine
within the writing-chambers of David Wight, W.S., in
order that he might use the same, ae setting aside the
claims of the said children ; and Mr. Wight having
intimated to William Rutherford, writer, Galasbiels,
who acted for the aforesaid children—viz , William
Bruce, Delaware, lowa, United States ; John Bruce,
weaver, Dalkeith ; Margaret Bruce and Helen Bruce,
Galashiels, children of the said deceased Janet Darling
or Bruce ; and George Richardson, weaver, and Isabella
Richardson, children of the deceased Helen Darling or
Richardson, Galashiels—that a holograph settlement by
the deceased Margaret Darling had been found, and
would put an end to the claims of the said children.
And the will having been returned to him, he again oui
6th Nov. uttered it as genuine and caused it to be re-
corded in the Register of Probative Writs in the Register
House. Further, be was charged with having on the
10th Nov., in presence of Mr. Wight and Mr. Ruther-
ford, founded on the will as genuine, all with intent to
defeat or injure the rights or claims of the said children,
while he had in his possession, or had invested in his
own name, funds belonging to the estate of the
deceased Margaret Darling and to Isabella Darling,
amounting to 3,000/., and that having become aware
that the authenticity of the will was under investigation,
in proceedings at the instance of the Procurator-Fisca',
on a charge of forgery, he destroyed it, or caused it to
be destroyed, on the 13th November.
The prosecution was conducted by the Lord Advocate
and Mr. D. Mackenzie, and the defence by the Dean of
Faculty, Mr. John Millar, and Mr. W. H. Thomson.
Mr. Somerville, S.S.O , attended to watch the
proceedings with reference to the civil suit at the
instance of Miss Darling against the panel.
Tne prisoner pleaded 110 t, guilty.
epvreons
nc iaotn
the and
idefencewohc
icanhp
the
announced the following verdict :
CthhTeahcnoecueelrvitoi druenoit'fci Fay dutahryre
foe Jury unanimously
pfirensdidtehde prisoner guilty
oalsthlie.
belled, but recommend him to the mercy of the court,"
LoLrdorJdullsticned-CYsleidr:,(wwhhoo had left the court) said—Since
you have recommended the prisoner to the mercy of the
court, it would be satisfactory to the court to know the
ground on which you make that recommendation
The Chancellor—On the ground of his previous good
character. .

~The verdict was then recorded, and the diet tvaa
adjourned against the prisoner till Monday at ten
o'clock, when sentence will be given.
The prisoner, who seemed much exhausted by the
protracted trial, received the announcement of the ver
dict with the same firmness and composure that had
characterised hiA demea❑our through ut. There was an
evident sympathy with him in the crowded court, but
the verdict was generally anticipated. A large crowd,
unable to obtain access to the court, awaited the result
of the trial outside.

Mr. Lumley is said to have engaged among his tenors
for the year Herr Theodor Fermer,, belonging to the
Berlin opera, and brother to the well known harm
The Philharmonic Concerts of the season are to nom.
mence in April. As last year, they are to be six in
number, and to be conducted by Professor Bennett.
An amusing and well-timed comedy, by MM. Barriers
and Capendu, " Les faux Bons Hammes," a satire on
i modern cupidity and speculation, is attracting its nightly
' crowds t o the Vaudeville Theatre, Paris.
MEMORIAL TO THE LATE CAPT. H. L. THOMPSON,
ONE OF THE DEFENDERS OF KARS. A xubss
G. 15-. .'al committee ha..• been termed, embracing
influem.: W. F. Williams Gen. Sir W. Napier, Gen.
Gen. Sir . •,,
ington, Ger. Sir. Colin Campbell, the
Carlisle, Ellesmere,ur ose of paying a
.ofC('N%wo..,stle and Wellington, the Bar's
of
I officers and gentlemen,
SpirukWes
of tills go on .7
t woupg officer.
i tribute to the memory
andf
orA.rtrhaen,inpd several other