The Sun.
London, England, 1844-11-25 00:00:00

THE OPINION.

" The present informations, I think, cannot be sup-
ported, without proving that the parties were playing for
money, and that the landlords knew of it. The licence
prohibits the knowingly suffering any unlawful game, or
any gaming whatever. A game may be unlawful,
although the parties do not play for money, or money's
worth. But the offence here charged is knowingly suf-
fering gaming with cards; and to prove a playing for
money or money's worth. An information for the other
offence stated in the licence, namely, knowingly suffering
any unlawful game, may be set out in the offence thus:—
[Here follows the form of information, which is merely
useful to magistrates' clerks.]
" As on stating the species of game played, it is in all
cases desirable to state it, in order to preclude any ob-
jection of uncertainty; but I do not think it absolutely
necessary that it should be stated, because playing at
any game of cards for money is gaming, and playing at
any game of cards by artificers, &c , out of Christmas or
in Christmas, except in his master's presence, is an un-
lawful game. " J. T. ARCHBOLD.
" 4, King's Bench-walk, Temple."

WATLINGTON.—AWFUL EFFECTS OF THE GAME-
LAWS.—On Tuesday last, about half-past three o'clock,
the inhabitants of Pyrton, a village within a mile of
Wellington, were thrown into the greatest consternation
by a melancholy report, which, alas, proved too true,
that a poor boy, about sixteen years of age, of the name
of Henry Pridcheat, had committed suicide by hanging
himself with a pocket handkerchief, from the top of a
gate four feet high. It appeared that the poor boy- was
employed by Mr. Dickers, a respectable farmer in the
parish, to shoot sparrows on the new sown wheat. On
Monday afternoon, whileperforming his duties, he started
a pheasant ; the temptation being great., and feeling a
desire to try his capabilities on a larger scale, he fired
at the bird, and unfortunately killed it. At this
moment William Clark, one of Lord Parker's
gamekeepers, came up, and threatened him with
a prosecution ; the idea of appearing before a
magistrate, and in all probability, of being sent to
prison, filled his mind with the greatest mental agony.
The keeper having taken his master's gun he was afraid
to return to his employer, and he is described as having
wandered about in the greatest distress. On the follow-
ing morning it is reported that he applied to a person in
the village for som poison to kill, as he said, his masters'
rats, but was refused, and in the afternoon he was dis-
covered by some children at play suspended from the
top of a gate, on the footpath leading from Pyrton to
Weston, in a kneeling posture, a breathless corpse. The
deceased has been employed by Mr. Dickers nearly five
years, who gives him an excellent character. The
above may be relied on as an authentic fact, as our cor•
respondent has visited the village, and had a melancholy
view of the mortal remains of this new victim to the
atrocious game laws. So great is the want of agricul-
tural employment in the parish, that no fewer than
thirty-three able-bodied persons are employed by our
surveyors repairing .the roads, withal, good judges say
that the land wants all the labour.—Oxford Chronicle.
A few days ago a lady travelling in Liverpool, by
one of the Waterloo omnibuses, got seated by the side
of a member of the swell mob, equipped for his vocation
with a cloak and false pair of hands, the latter being de-
murely folded before him. While he thus appeared to
be sitting harmless as a lamb, he was busily engaged in
cutting through the lady's apparel to get at her pocket,
from which he succeeded in extracting her purse, con-
taining six sovereigns,— Sheffield Iris.