The Sun.
London, England, 1861-05-21 00:00:00

PREVENTION OF CRUELTY 2,0

ANIMALS.

The anniversary meeting of the Royal Society
for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals was held
yesterday at St. James's-hall, the Right Hon. and
Right Rev. Lord Auckland, Bishop of Bath and
Wells, in the chair. Among others on the plat-
form were the Marquis of Westminster, President
of the Society, Sir James Buller East, M.P., Mr.
Mackinnon M.P., Sir J. S. Lillie, Sir W. Stirling,
Sir C. Aldis, Capt. Grant, Mr. Curling, the Revs.
I. W. North, T. Jackson, &c. The proceedings were
commenced by about 1,700 of the children from the
surrounding parochial schools singing a hymn com-
posed for the occasion, accompanied on the organ
by Dr. Pech. The chairman said he must first con-
dole with the society at the loss it had sustained by
the death of its patroness, the Duchess of Kent, the
mother of her most gracious Majesty, who had al-
ways been one of its warmest friends, and also at
the loss of its late secretary, Mr. Middleton, a gen-
tleman who had endeared himself to all by his uni-
form kindness and courtesy. He had received a
letter from the chairman of their last annual meet-
ing, the Bishop of Lichfield, regretting his inability
to be present at that meeting. He felt great plea-
sure in taking the chair on that occasion, and sup-
posed that the reason why they chose clergymen as
chairmen was that religion and kindness were in-
separable. The right rev. prelate then cited several
instances from the Scriptures to prove that animals
were meant for our use, and not abuse. Having
condoled with them on their losses, he would now
congratulate them on their successes, which had
been marked by the improvement caused by the re-
moval of Smithfield, where animals were no longer
goaded by brutal drovers armed with spiked sticks
into small pens to be sold : in the condition of the
cab-horses, which was very different now to what
it was some years ago ; and in the abolition, by the
passing of Sir J. East's Bill, of the practice of using
dogs as animals of draught. During last year the
society had used great exertions to put a stop to the
horrible practice of vivisection of animals, which he
did not hesitate to say ought to be put down, for in
many instances it was done not with a view to the
extension of science and the benefit of others, but to
show the skill of the operator. The celebrated John
Hunter was said to have been a vivisector, but he
had never heard he had done any good by it, and
the same might be said of Sir Astley Cooper, one of
the first surgeons this country had ever produced.
Sir Charles Bell, too, was another who had adopted
the practice, but his testimony went to prove that
little or no good had resulted, and Professor 0 wen
had condemned it. He would recommend all who
wished to fully understand the subject to read the
" Life of Dr. John Reid," who was of opinion, al-
though he had practised vivisection himself, that it
should be only occasionally performed. A deputa-
tion of the society had gone during the last year to
the veterinary schools at Lyons and Alfort, where
the practice was largely adopted, horses being
strepped down and students engaged in performing
almost every conceivable operation upon them, until
they were tortured to death ; the deputation had
afterwards waited upon the Emperor, who had re-
ceived them most courteously, and had given them
reason to hope that their efforts would lead to the
removal of the practice. His Lordship then read a
paper from the " Idler," written more than 100
years ago by the celebrated lexiographer Dr. John-
son, in which he denounced the practice of vivisec-
tion, and denied that science was at all benefited by
it. He concluded by addressing a few appropriate
remarks to the children assembled, advising them
to be kind to one another, and, above all things, to
avoid cruelty to. animals. Mr. Colarn, the secretary,
then read a very lengthy report which referred to
a conference of the friends of humanity which had
been held during the past year at Dresden, and to
the deputations which had twice gone to France
with a view to put a stop to vivisection. It stated
that the various branch associations in Great Bri-
tain and Ireland had lost none of their practical ef-
ficiency, but there are still many great cities of the
empire in which no active measures had been taken
for the prevention of cruelty to animals, and in
which much inhumanity is practised. The income
had exceeded that of last year, and 554 convictions
had been obtained by the society against persons for
cruelty to animals. Several legacies of various
amounts had been left to the society, and sums
amounting to £l6l in all had been contributed to
the special vivisection fund, £lOO of which had been
given by Mr. Buckeridge. Mr. Mackinnon, M.P.,
at some length, moved the adoption of the report,
which was seconded by Sir J. Scott Lillie, and
carried. Sir J. B. East, M.P., proposed the
second resolution, according a vote of thanks to the
deputations which had gone to the conference at
Dresden and to Paris, which was seconded by the
Rev. I. W. North, and also carried. On the motion
proposing the re-election of the committee and
officers for the ensuing year a long and animated
discussion took place, inlwhich the Rev. T. Jackson,
Professor Spooner of the Royal Veterinary College,
Mr. Curling, Sir J. B. East, Dr. Fraser, and other
gentlemen took part, and eventually, after two
amendments had been put and lost, the original
motion was carried. The Marquis of Westminster
then proposed a vote of thanks to the chairman for
presiding, which was seconded by Sir Walter Stir-
ling, and the proceedings terminated.

SURREY SESSIONS.-21lay 20.

Samuel Copping, 43, an ex-sergeant of the P
division, and Adam Saunders, 52, a retired summon-
ing officer of the Lambeth Police-court, surrendered
to receive judgment, they having been convicted
at the sessions on the 21st of last March for assault-
ing Charles Percival.
The circumstances relative to this case may be
fresh in the memory of some of our readers. The
complainant had lodgings with a tradesman of the
name of Hopgood, in Walworth, and in the same
house a Mrs Clarke, the wife of a licensed victualler,
resided. It was suspected by the husband that they
were living together in an immoral way, and to ob-
tain evidence for the Divorce Court the prisoners
were employed, and at an early hour in the morning
they gained an entrance to the house and forcibly
entered Mr. Percival's apartments, assaulting him
in the meantime. The prisoners were tried on the
20th and 21st of March, and found guilty of the
common assault, when the Court ordered them to
come up to receive judgment this day. They were
accordingly placed in the dock, when Mr, Laxton,
for the prosecution, called upon the Court to pass
sentence. They had been guilty of a very serious
offence, breaking into a man's apartments and
attacking him without any warrant or authority
whatever. They had no excuse for their unlawful
conduct, inasmuch asZboth had been many years ac-
tive officers of the Metropolitan
Police forca.
Mr. Lilley, for Copping, said that it would be
impossible for him to contradict the assertions of his
learned friend, as it had been proved that a common
assault had been committed. Copping, however,
bore a good Character, and he was well known at
this court for many years as a clever and upright
constable. He had also a doctor's certificate to show
that if a long
imprisonment was passed on him the
consequences might prove serious to him. There
was no animus or malice on the part of Copping
towards the prosecutor, but merely an error of
judgment. He (the learned counsel) therefore
hoped that a small fine would be sufficient.
Mr. Oppenheim addressed the bench on behalf of
the prisoner 13autIcler6, when
The Chairman observed that it was his painful
duty to pass sentence on two retired constables, one
of whom had been known to the Court some years
for his meritorious conduct, and the other, Saunders,
had borne a good character for past services at the
police-court at Lambeth. They had, however, been
guilty of a very serious offence—that of forcing
themselvesinto a man's residence without any
semblance of authority. They must have known
that, as being old and experienced constables they
had every opportunity of being acquainted with the
law. It was disgraceful on their part, and on those
who employed them to get evidence for the Divorce
Court in such an unlawful manner. The law and
the constitution of the country made every English-
man's. home his castle, and it was of the greatest
importance to him that his house should be sacred
to him in his lawful position. He had no doubt
that the defendants must have well known that they
were acting in an unlawful and outrageous manner,
and had it not been for their previous good charac-
ters the Court would have felt bound to have sen-
tenced them to hard labour, and that for a very long
period. He should therefore sentence each of them
to one month's imprisonment in
. the county gaol,
and the Court felt bound to say thatif any case of
a similar nature should ever come before them
again the highest punishment would be inflicted.
The prisoners, who seemed much surprised at
the decision, were then removed in custody to un-
dergo the sentence.

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