The Sun.
London, England, 1850-12-19 00:00:00

SPAIN.

Ma4rid journals of the 13th have arrived.
The Minister of Finance was to bring forward tie
Budget on the following day.
Cabrera, Elio, Gomez, and other Carlist chiefs, are
endeavouring to organize an insurrection in Catalonia.

The Ministerial —journals state the expenditures for
1851 were to be reduced to 1,0.50 millions of reals ;
that is 150 millions less than in 1850. Persons, how-
ever, believe that the reduction will only figure in the
ordinary budget, and that the 150 millions will be
transferred to the extraordinary budget.
MADRID BOLSA, DEC. 13.—Tbe Three per Cents.
were done at 34 15-16 for time ; the Four per Cents.
at 128 ; the Five per Cents. at 128 ; the Debt without
Interest at 3i ; and the Coupons at 7.

Dividend
per

Amount

Name of Company.

raid.

Minim.

Share.

Albion .. •• •• •• •• • • ••
.1111ance Brit. and For.

Zr. 10s.
7114s6d&bs
61. per Tit.

A s. d.
500 0 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
50 0 0
10 0 0
50 0 0
100 0
100 0 0
50 0 0
50 0 0

X s. d.
50 0 0
11 0 0
5 0 0
5 10 0
16 0 0
5 0 0
10 0 0
10 0 0
5 0 0
5 0 0
All paid.
5 0 0

Ditto Marine. • • • • • •
Atlas .........
Argus Life •••• • • • •
iritish Commercial .•
Clericl,Med.& Gen. Life
Eagle •• --
t'aropean Life •• •• ••
General •• ..........
GlDbe
Glarch an • ... • • • • • • • •
Imperial Fire ••• • ••
imperial Life • • •• • •
indemnity Marine.. ••
Law Fire ............
Law life • • • • • • ..
Legal and General Life
Licensed Victuallers
Lundcn Fire •• •• •• ••
London Ship
farine • • - • • • • • •• • • ..
3fed. Invlid& Gen. Life
.I.ational Lean Fund..
,iational Life....
Palladium Life . •-
eticenix
Professional Life.. ••
Provident Life—
dock Life............
+loyal Exchange.
ion Fire.. .
Date. Life ....•
United Kingdom ••
ilmiversal Life
cleteria Life....

139.6 d.
41. per cent.

Price

7s. 6d.
spr at& bo.
81.
14s.

2000

61. per cent.
51. & bonne.
121. per ccnt.
12e.
11. eh. & be.

Stock.
100 0 0
500 0 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
100 0 0
50 0 0

11. 16s.

45 0 0
50 0 0
10 0 0
20 0 0
2 10 0
10 0 0
2 0 0
1 0 0
12 10 0
12 10 0
15 0 0
2 0 0
2 10 0
5 0 0
2 0 0

145 i
6k
11
133

10s.
10s.
15s.per share
441. per ct.
51. per cent.
81. per cent.
51. per cent.
31. p. sh. &bs.
51. per cent.
11. ss. & bs.
ss.
61. p.ct. k bs.
61. 10s.

11. 61.
41. p. ct. & bs.
10% ct.k be.
51. per ont.

5 0 0
25 0 0
25 0 0
100 0 0
50 0 0
20 0 0
100 0 0
50 0 0

6 5 0
100 0 0
5 0 0
stock.

20 0 01
100 0 0

o 10 0
10 0 0
0 10 0

4 0 0
10 0 0
4 12 6

230
16%
43
43
45

155
165.0 d

6q
211
209

1117.A.T21/L-W0R.883.
Dividend Amount
Name ef Company. 1 per of Paid. Price.
1 Annum. Sitars.
--- I -
A 1. d. A s. d.
East L0nd0n...... •• • • ' 81. per cent. 100 0 0 - 160
Grand Janctien •• •• • • 41. per cnt. 50 0 0 - 71
Kent................ 31. 103. 100 0 0 - 80
Lambeth ............ 51. per cnt. 100 0 0 - 97
New Rivr Lndn Brdge 21. 10s. - - 57%
Vauxhall ............ 51. per cut. 100 0 0 - 97
West Middlesex . . . 61.05. pr cnt. - - 111
DOGMA.
Dividend Amount
Name ef Company. per of Paid. Price.
Annum. Share.
A s. d. A s. d.
Commercial .......... 4/. pr cent. Stock. - 84
East and West India... 61. pr cont. Stock. - 144
East Country - -
London 51. pr cent. Stock. - 119%
Ditto Bonds •••• •• .. 41. per cent. - - -
it. Katharine ........ 4 per eent. Stock. - 78
Ditto 80nd5........ 4%1. pr cent. - - -
iouthampton •• ...... 21. per cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 9%
lIIIIDGEB
Dividend Amount
Name of Company. per of
\
Paid. Price
Annum. Share.
-.,
y-
A. s. d. A. a. 0.
-
•haring-cross • • • • .• •• - - 15
-
Sonthwrk ••..•• • • .. , - 100 0 0 -8%
Ditto Nw of 73% p.o. 355. per cent. 50 0 0 - 16
Waterloo .... •••• .• • • - 100 0 0 - 3
Dittl Old Ann. °flit. 11. 4s. Od. - 60 0 0 25
Ditto Nw ditto Of 71. 11. Is. Od. - 40 0 0 213
.rauxhall .... .• • Av. 11. 70 10 3 - 18
CANALS.
• . Dividend
,
Names of ,4, Dividend Names of 41,
' per
Companies. t
.a per ; Price. Censpanies. 4 I Alumna. Price.
1 c Annum. VD 1
I X 1 ----...- ...--- •-........-- ----
A.shtn& 197 971 21. 113 Macclesfield • 100 21. 10s. 50
Barnsley•• •• ;160, 121. 180 Neath •• •• • • 100 , 161. 340
lirknk&.kbrg ' 150 SI. 85 Oxford.. •• • • 100' 201. 186
21Irmingham ;40 41. 86 Peak Forest. 78 31. 18s. 70
Coventry.... 1100 251. 2CO 'Regent's.... 331 11. Os. 18%
Derby ••• .• ;100 G. 63' Rochdale.... 851 41. 42
Ellsmre&Chs; 133 353. 26% Somrset Coal 150 71.105. -
4randJunctnlloo 41. I G 5% Do.LkFd it 12! 61. p. c. -
Do.. 6 pr.Ct.l7% - 8 4 Stffril &Worc 140! 281. 405
Grand Surrey, 100 21. Os. 33% Shrewsbury.. 1251 - -
„rand Union' 100 IL 10s. 24 Stourbridge.. 145! 201. 290
Itennt & Anti 39 7s. 6d. 4 Severn and)
Lancaster .1100 41. 32 Wye Ball. i 26 21. Os. 24
Leeds& Livrp 100 241. 325 Warwick& ?
Leicester .... ;100 Si. 66 itirming. j 100 41. 643(
:.eicstr &Nth 83 41. 4854 Wanvick&-1 h„,,, .
'I, 42
Loughboregh 142 701. 510 Napton.. j n.
Aonmouthsh, 100 81. - Worcstr &"1 .,
,‘lntg..mrysl3lloo - - Birming. 78 .4- 40%
VieltnAlwbry 100 - I - Wilts & Brks -11 x. 6%

OAS-LIGHT AND COKE COMPANIES.
Dividend Amount
Name of Company. per of Paid. Price.
Annum. Share.
---- - ,
S. s. . Z. s. d.
British ••••••• • • • • • - 11. 40 0 18 0 0 13
Ditto Provincial •• • • 11. Bs. 20 0 20 0 0 1736
llcighton ••••..• • • • • • 51. 20 0 - -
City of London .. •• •• 61. 100 0 150 0 0 -
:ontinentalConsolidat. 925. 76 0 31 6 0 -
T.quitable -•••.•.. • • • • 505. 50 0 60 0 0 -
imperial • • .... ••• • • • 31. 50 0 50 0 0 73
Independent ....... • • 61. 40 0 40 0 0 , 48
i,ondon• • .... •••• • • • • - 50 0 50 0 0
- 50 0 50 0 0 -
Do., Parl. Preference 61. 25 0 2 10 0 i -
Phomix ............. 4%1. ,50 0 49 A 0 , 28%
Ratcliff ..... ........ 51. ' 1100 0 90 0 0 ' -
United General .. •• • • 11. 50 0 50 0 0 i 153 t
Westminster Chartered 31. 50 0 - ! 48%
Ditto, New •• -- -12 s. 50 0 10 0 0 ; 9%
WEST OP SCOTTISH COMPANIES' PRICES
Dividend Amount
Name of Company. per of • Paid. Price.
Annum. Share.
£ s. d. £ s• d -
Bank of Scotland
British Linen Company 81. per cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 202
3aledonlan Bank
City of Glasgow Bank 61. per cent. 10 0 0 10 0 0 11%
.111ydesdale Bank ••• • • • 554 per cent. 20 0 0 10 0 e 13%
;ommercial Bank
Eastern Bank .. •• •
Edinb.& Glasgow Bank 61. per cent. 50 0 50 0 4%
Esehsulgeßnk of Scot 4l. per cont. 100 0 0 50 0 0 13%
!rational Bank 6% per cent. 50 0 0 10 0 0 15%
gorthof Scotlandßank 41. percent. 20 0 0 5 0 0 21.115.
Royal Bank of Scotland 51. per cent. 100 0 0 100 0 0 133
Union Bank of Scotland 81. per Cent. 100 0 0 50 0 0 883¢
Western Bank. ••• . • . 71. per cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 713
Affiance Fire and Life .1341. pr cent 10 0 0 10 .3 0 20%
British Guarantee
Caledonian Fire Incur !Ol. per cent. 100 0 0 10 0 0 23
City of Glasgow Life 6l. per cent. 25 0 0 2 0 0 21. 17s
Colonial Life
Edinburgh Life Incur sl.per cent, 100 0 0 15 0 0 I 2G34
Eng. & Scot. Law Life 61. per cent. 50 0 0 217 6 214
Life Assoc. of Scotland 51. per cent. 10 0 0 1 0 0 21. Os
National Fire and Life 61. per cent. 10 0 0 1 0 0 245.0 d
North British Incur. - 151. per cent. 200 0 0 20 0 0 26
Scottish Union Insrace. i%l. pr cent. 20 0 0 1 0 0 20.6 d
4tandard Life •.•• - • • 51. per cent. 50 0 0 4 5 0 10
United Dep. Assurance 51. per cent. 10 0 0 1 0• 0 17s 6d
MISCELLANEOUS.
Dividend Amount
Name of Company. per of Paid. Price.
Annum. Share.
..------...---
X. e. d. S. e. 41.
Assam Tea ••••• • . • . • - 20 0 0 20 0 0 4%
Luctitn M art •••• • • • • 2/. ss. 50 0 0 - 28
tustralian Agricultnrl 11. 100 0 0 30 0 0 15%
Australian Trust •• - 61. per cent. - 35 0 0 20
knglo-Mexican Mint.. U. 10s. 10 0 0 10 0 0 2034
Ditto, Half Shares.. - - 210 0 5
British American Land - - 38 10 0 -
Canada ... • • ........ 61. percent. 100 0 0 134 10 0 104%
Uppr Canada Bonds 51. per cent. - - -
Ditto ditto .... 61. per cent. - - -
City Navigation Bonds 3 i per cent. - - 96
Gen. Revers. & Invest. sp. c.& bs, 2/ 100 0 0 100 0 0 eo
Equitable Reversienry 5 p.c.&bs. 5, 100 0 0 i 100 0 0 108
50 0 0 - 50%
Gen. Steam Navigation 11. Bs. 15 00i14 0 0 27%
Hudson's 8ay...-. • • - Stock. - _
Hungerrord ...... •• .. 2/. ss. - 100 0 0 47
London Institution .• • - - '7B 15 0 -
New Zealand Company - 25 0 0 25 0 0 -
Ditto. New .. .... • • - 25 0 0 12 10 0 -
Russell Institution.. •• - - 26 5 0 -
Peninsl r & Orient.Stm. 8/. per cent. 50 0 0 50 0 0 873
Reversionary Int. Soc. 1361. pr cent. ,100 0 0 100 0 0 10l
%opal Mail Steam.... 4/. p. share. 'lOO 0 0 60 0 0 70
South Australian ....• 11. per share.t 25 0 0 25 0 0 24
1 Van Diemen's Land . - 100 0 0 29 0 0 -

The Cheltenham Looker-on announces that a mili-
tary steeple-chase, by the officers of the 16th (Queen's)
Lancers, has been arranged to come off in the neighbour-
hood of Cheltenham, on Friday, the 27th instant. None but
officers of the regiment are to be allowed to ride, and these
only their own horses. The chase will take place in
Prestbury Park, and it is expected that eight or ten horses
will start.

TESTIMONIAL TO THE DEAN OF HEREFORD
Many of the friends of education being desirous of express-
ing their sense of the Dean of Hereford's (Rev. R. Dawes)
services, and of their sympathy with the caausoenthhaitsto
hP(n
quittingso
hase
t
Lim ably
wjh a
andpi
epractically
plate
parsomao ted,
testimonial,hav (.5 greed
the scene of his very useful labours. The natives of the
bishop, the dean, and the archdeacon of Winchester head
the subscription list.-- Iferefixd Journal.-

COUNTY COURTS.
(From the Blackburn Standard.) 1
We mentioned in our last that an order had been
issued from the Treasury directing a large reduction
in the fees in those courts, and a general expectation
prevailed that some public notice would be taken by
the Judge of the circumstance. This proved to be
correct, for, on taking his seat, his Honour addressed
the Court as follows :
Since the last sitting of the Court, the Secretary of
State for the Home Department has sent for my infor-
mation and guidance a copy of an order which, by the
County Court Extension Act, he was authorised, with
the consent of the Lords of the Treasury, to make, al-
tering the fees to be taken in County Courts. It is diffis
cult to suppose that it could have been the real inten-
tion of the Legislature that the expense of a County
Court summons should be greater than that of a
Queen's Bench writ; yet such was the legal effect of the
last statute with :regard to demands approaching fifty
pounds; the former statute having directed that a pay-
ment should be made by every plaintiff for a sum ex-
ceeding forty shillings, of one shilling in the pound of
his demand, towards a fund for providing court-houses
and offices, and paying the principal and interest of
moneys borrowed for that purpose, and the new Act
having declared that the two Acts should be construed
as one Act. Some re preseetations were made by
the traders of this town, and of Preston and other
places, through their representatives in Par-
liament to the Government upon the subject,
and the consequence is that the Secretary of State
has, by this new order, directed that the payment to this
fund shall in no case exceeding 201. be greater than
thirteen shillings and fourpeace; and in cases under
that amount ehall be reduced from a shilling to eight-
pence in the pound. Considering how great a discou-
ragement so large a payment was to parties suing for
demands exceeding twenty pounds, one may be more
surprised that there were any such suits brought in
County Courts, than that their number should be small;
there have, however, been some in almost every part of
this circuit.
The order directs that those parties who have paid
more than twenty shillings to this fund in any case shall
have the surplus returned to them upon application at
the clerk's office.
The scale of costs under the former Act contained a
multiplicity of small charges, and it left room for much
difference of opinion as to the amounts properly charge.
able; so teat the sums actually charged varied, not
merely between circuit and circuit, but even between
the different courts in the same circuit. The only mode
by which the majority of the parties could pay was by
instalments, and it became necessary for the plaintiffs
to inquire from time to time whether the instalments
had been paid; to answer such inquiries the clerk had to
search the books, and for this search the scale allowed
him a fee. This fee was loudly complained of, as if it
were charged in every instance, though that was very far
from being the case, fur many of the clerks charged
nothing for searches. Those clerks who were liberal in
this respect were confounded with those who were, I
will not say rapacious, for they took only what the law
awarded, and many of them were miserably raid, but
less liberal. The new order removes all cause of com-
plaint by the suitors on this score, for it directs the clerk
to give notice, by a prepaid post letter, of every payment
made into court. And as it reduces the number of
charges and regulates most of them by a per-centage on
the amount sued for, there.will be less, if any, room for
differences of charge between one court and another
throughout the realm. I apprehend, too, that this mode
of charging by a per-tentage will be considered more
just in itself, and therefore more satisfactory to the par-
ties who have to pay. The satisfaction given by its
application to the duties of customs led, in the last ses-
sion, to its extension to the duties of stamps, and may
be expected to lead to its general application throughout
our taxation.

—The effect of the new order will be that the summons
will cost less than it did before, whilst the he aring will
cost rather more. And upon the whole the expense of
litigating small demands will be diminished. In an ad-
dress which I made in this court upon the passing of the
Extension Act, explaining its provisions, I remarked that
the County Courts were not merely self-supporting, but
were contributing a large sum to the public treasury;
and I ventured to say I thought it a mean thing for the
Government of a great country to be receiving any part
of its revente from the pockets of suitors of County
Courts, most of whom were humble, and many necessi-
tous. In the formation of a new scale I think the Se-
cretary of State has endeavoured to make them merely
self-supporting, without returning a surplus to the Go-
vernment : his men ef business seem to have taken care
to be on the right side, and I still expect a surplus. It
was no part of the duty of the Secretary of State to abo-
lish the general fund payment, or the payment exacted
for the judge, though the judges are no longer paid by
fees, but by salaries; these are questions for the conside-
ration of the legislator. I may be excused for saying I
can see no reason, if it be proper that the judges of the
high courts should be paid their salaries, and have court-
rooms provided for them at the expense cf the public,
and not from the pockets of their suitors, who are com-
paratively rich, why the salaries of the judges of the
County Courts and the court-rooms should not be paid
and provided at the expense of the public, and not from
the pockets of their suitors, who are comparatively poor.
If a man have the misfortune to be robbed we do not
charge him a per-tentage upon the value of the goods
stolen, when he comes to prosecute the thief, nor do we
fix the amount of that per-tentage, so asjust to pay the
judges, gaolers, and rural police: so far from it, we con-
sider that he does the State a service by prosecuting,
and we pay him the coats of the prosecution. Whilst
rs e acknowledge that criminal courts are established, and
ought to be maintained for the benefit and at the expense
of s( ciety at large, can we say that civil courts are not
established. and ought not to be maintained in the same
manner? Does the legal fiction by which prosecutions
fur wrongs c,,mmittei, are said to be carried on in the
name of the Queen, whilst suits for rights withheld are
carried on in the name of the party, make a real differ-
ence? Are not civil courts established not so much for
the benefit of the few who have the misfortune to require
them in their own cases, as for the many who by
reason of their existence, example, and salutary action,
have no need to apply to thew? It so, ought not these
payments by individual suitors for judges' salaries and
court-houses to be abolished? Tte other fees exigible
on civil process would be enough to discourage wanton
litigation.
The man indeed who will not do his neighbour right
until he be made to do so by due course of law, has no
right to complain if he be made to pay the reasonable
C6Eti of the proceedings; and by this argument the high
costs of the superior courts are sometimes attempted to
be justified by those who are forgetful of the fact that
the people who r. quire the coercion of the law are al-
most always reckless men in embarrassed circumstances,
little able to pay the plaintiff his debt, quite unable to
pay debt and costs too; so that the payment of the costs
in practice falls upon the plaintiffs in most cases in the
high courts, and frequently, though not so often, in the
County Courts also.
We know that up to the end of 1849 one million two
hundred and fifty-two thousand and seventeen actions
were brought in the County Courts: we do not know
how many debts during that time were paid from a con-
sciousness that if not paid actions might have been
brought in the County Court for them; nor how many
persons have been restrained from imprudently con-
tracting debts. I fancy I can discover the efficacy of
the courts in this respect, especially in regard to young
men.
By a return recently published, it appears that the
number of plaints throughout the realm was, in
1847 429,215—in this circuit
1848 427,611 do.
1849 395,191 do.
The sums sued for were in
1848 £1,346,802—in this circuit £16,333
1849

The number of plaints will be smaller this year, partly
because the times are better for the working classes, and
partly because some of the courts have been to some ex-
tent paralysed by the abridgment of our power to im-
prison.
I cannot but think that if due consideration had been
given to the fact that people are not imprisoned by
County Courts for mere indebtedness, but only for fraud,
or fur that wilful nonpayment, being able to pay, which
amounts to misconduct deserving punishment; and that
ascertained by a trial before the judge in open_ court, the
imprisonment of such offenders in Houses of Correction
woald not have been objected to. The imprisonments
in this circuit were surprisingly few; but being chiefly
in the House cf Correction, were exemplary, and proba-
bly, on that account, were few. Though the actions during
the three years ;were 15,787, the actual imprison-
ments wero only 209; and of these a considerable number
were for a day or two only, the parties being let go on
payment of the debt, or part of it.
The most anxious part of the duty of the judge is the
hearing these applications .for commitment; that this
duty has not been harshly performed in this circuit is
proved by the fact that there were only 209 actual im-
prisonments), though the judge made 627 orders for
commitment.
The memorial of the Preston traders to the Secretary
of State, before alluded to, prayed also for the restora-
tion of the right of the creditor to imprison his debtor
upon mesne process. I have not heard that the, Secre-
tary of State gave them any hopes that this part of their
prayer would be granted. Tie common gaol of this
great county being situated within this circuit, I have
had to hear the cases of about fifteen hundred insolvent
debtors confined in Lancaster Castle; and I am free to
own that the present system of insolvency law does give
creditors great reason to complain. I think, however,
that the remedy is not to be - found in any arbitrary
power of imprisonment of the debtor at the mere will
and pleasure of the creditor; but that imprisonment
should be awarded by the impartial judgment of a com-
petent court, after bearing both parties, or after giving
both putties the opportunity of being heatd; and when
once the sentence was passed, there should be no power
of discharge without payment of the debt, and perhaps
not even on pay meet of the debt. It would be au
irks,oree duty, and I know no court on which it ceuld so
e tll he thrown as the County Court of the domicile cf
the party.
Son.e of the traders' numorial< prayed fur the aboli•
L ion of our sy stem of pay meets by instalments, or the
restriction of it to dt bls under 201. I take have to say
that we mimht as well diw up the County Ct urts at once
as give up the payment by insialtneets; the class of
persons with whom we chiefly have to do eetn only pay
out of their :uture t arningv. They are, now that wages
are high and employment plentiful, gradually rubbing
off the debts they contracted during tie bad times.
Shepket pers who have debts so contracted, must be con-
tent to have them so discharged. I concur in the opinion
lately expressed by Mr. Jones, the judge of the Carnar-
vonshire circuit, who said, " As to the propriety of the
application of the system of payment by instalments to
sums abbve-201., some of the judges of
,the. County Cc urie,
seem inclined to draw a Strict fine:in-this respect; but
after having given the subject much consideration, I

must decline to do so. A man who owes 501. may re-
quire time to pay it quite ai much as one v h.) owes
201. A clerk may need a system 01 instalments suited
to the time his salary paid, as much as a labourer;
the only differenc is that his periodical receipts are
larger, but so also may be his debts."
A return shows that the greatest number of actions
was in the Clerkenw,ll Circuit, No. 42, viz., 14,355: the
smallest in the Dorsetshire Circuit, No. 56, viz , 3.283.
The total money received in all the Courts dining the
year 1849 was 780,6841. 9s. Bd.: the amount received in
this circuit was 11,980/. 16s. Bd.

The greatest amount of sums stied for was in the Wes-
tminster Circuit, No. 45, viz., 38,541: the smallest in the
Nottingham Circuit, No. 18, viz., 10,6844
The judge of the Gloucester Circuit is returned as
having sat the greatest number of days, viz., 213: pos
sibly he may not have sat so many different days, but
may have held that number of courts, holding two of the
smaller ones in one day. The judge of this circuit sat
183 different days; only one other judge is returned as
having sat so often. The judge of the Lambeth Circuit
is returned as having sat the fewest days, viz, 67.
In two circuits, Manchester and Whitechapel, there
were no jury trials; in four other circuits there were
altogether thirteen jury trials; but the pasty demanding
the jury did not get the verdict i❑ any of them.
In the adjoining circuit of West Lancashire•, No. 5,
there was only one jury trial, and the fatty who de-
manded it did not obtain a verdict. In this circuit there
were ten; the party demanding the jury obtained the
verdict in four of them. Throughout the kingdom the
parties demanding juries did not obtain verdicts in half
the cases.

The fewness of the cases in which juries are asked for
shows that great confidence is reposed in the judges;
and the fewn( as of the instances in which those who de •
mand juries obtain verdicts shows that they are ce-
mauded for some cause which is not the justice of the
case of the party making the -demand. I incline to
think that in this circuit they have been asked fur more
from ignorance than from any other causes. The cities
have been generally those where the demand was for un-
liquidated damages, fur which this is a popular mode of
trial, and one in favour with judges, for it relieves them
from a troublesome responsibility.
The juries consist, not of twelve, but of fire persons;
and it seems to me that the responsibility is more felt by
being less divided; and that the verdicts have been as
satisfactory and as much in accordance with the sum-
mings up of the judge as are the verdicts given at the
assizes.

The Law Times expresses some surprise that the term
should have passed over without a single appeal trom a
County Court, and infers from thence that the decisions
have been more satisfactory than was expected by the
London lawyers: there has hitherto been little seed
sown, and not time enough for the crop to ripen.
The gross reeeipts of eighty-one clerks are returned as
under 501. ea.:h ;. three of the gentlemen who act as
clerks within thia circuit are included iu this number;
every one of them pays more to his writing clerk than
the gross receipts from his office; and yet every one of
them atteuda.in person at every court, and maintains a
constant supervision of the proceedings of his office. I
do not believe that those zmalous advocates for economy
in public expenditure, Sir Joshua Walmsley or Mr. Cob-
den, when they were is tract ever payed the clerks in
their counting-houses so poorly as some of the county
clerks are paid; or the porters in their warehouses so
poorly as some of the high bailiffs. The whole receipts
of five of the clerks did not amount to 201. each. In ten
of the courts the clerks' receipts were between one and
two thousand pounds each, and one court above two thou-
sand; but upon these courts the Government places its
paw, puts the clerks upon salaries of five hundred a
year, and takes the surplus. I hear little complaint o
this, but surely out of that surplus something might
have been allowed to those poor clerks who at the end of
each year have been left to calculate their loss end
reflect upon their usefulness. Some savers of sixpenc, s
have indeed suggested that these courts should be sup-
pressed; they would, however, find upon inquiry that
some of the smallest receipts have been in the largest
districts, where the population is spare, and where great
incoliveniunce would be occasioned to the inhabitants by
the distances they would be compelled to travel for the
trial, and still more for the payment of their small in-
stalments.

It is the boast of the courts that they bring justice
home to the doors of the lit oplo throughout the length
and breadth of the land; that boast would be vain if a
po r man could not walk from his home in the morning,
have his cause tried, and walk home again at night; this he
ca❑ now generally do, but be could not if those courts a ere
suppress. d. I say generally, for I have sometimes hadto
sit until la'e hours at night, and have been made to
know and feel that the Ten Hours Act does not extend
to county judges.
These returns are important, not merely as showing
the great amount of business dune in the County Courts,
but as showing how great must have been the practical
denial of justice under the system which these courts
have superseded; and because they will set men a
thinking whether advantage cannot be taken of them in
other matters than fifty pound causes; these are subjects
to which time will not permit me to advert to-day, but
which we may consider upon some future occasion.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.
NORTHERN CIRCUIT.—York, D.c. 17.
CROWN COURT.
(Before Mr. Justice PATTEsox.)
John Robinson, a clerk at the Wadsisy station, on
the Manchester, Sheffield, an.: Lincolnshire Railway,
was indicted for feloniously assaulting Eliza Newt( n,
at Ecclesfi,l(l, near Sheffield, on the 30th of October last.

Mr. Hall (Mr. Boothby with him) stated the case for
the prosecution, and called

Miss Eliza Newton, a restectable-looking young lady,
living wi'h her mother at Fox-hill, near Sheffield. She
deposed that on the 30th October last, she met the ac-
cused, whom she had known for about 18 months pro.
vitals, at a wedding party. After the party prisoner es.
corted her home, and on reaching tt.e garden gate of
her mother's house he put his arm round her waist and
began kissing her as soon as they ascended into the
garden. She tried ,to release herself, but in vain, and
he nearly strangled her ; he proceeded to further vio-
lence, and she screamed out several times. He stopped
her cries by putting his mouth to hers, and nearly suffo-
cated her. He threw her down and c ffccted his purpose,
and she became insensible. On her censciouseess re-
turning she found ho was raising her up. She had lost
her shoe in the struggle, and tee prisoner gave it to her
and put it on. She went to the door. Her mother came
to the door, and the prisoner
,ran up to ber, put out
his hand to shake hands, saying, " Hood night, good
night, Mrs. Newton. Witness said at the same time,
On, mother, why did you not come to the door? She
went in and immediately told her mother, who put wit-
ness to bed. The following morning she was in a very
excited state, but was able to go out in the afternoon,
and did go to the bride's. She went at three and re-
turned at six o'clock. She did nit tell what was the
matter with her. The prisoner came and knocked at the
door, her mother opened it, and he said to witness.
" You see, lam not afraid to come." She observed, it
appears not. He then said, " Your mother has accused
11:10 of committing a rape on yeti. Can you look we in
the face and say so?" She said sbe could, and he knew
he had ruined her. He answered, "No such thing, Miss
Newton, I never injured You in my life. I admit I did
not do what I ought to do, but I did no more than any
other man would have done." She said, "You have
ruined me." He then turned to her mother, and said,
" Mrs. Newton, if your daughter proves with child I
swear I will marry her." Her mother said, "If he
would marry her he must do it now or suffer the rigour
of the law." He replied, "21arry her now I cannot, but
I will come up to-morrow, and we will see if we can't
come to some reconciliation." Her mother said he must
not. He said then he would come the follow-
ing day. Her mother said he must not come
there any more.a
irnr
auligniebe,o uebntutt
tssoi
haseu
support
rntt
dhaes
cwi
iinfprevious
guinea or a pound a week.
hadhthought
had
rp
dhr
hsp
eo
es b ea
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a rmy
Cross-examined—Her mother's is three miles from
Sheffield, and where the wedding was was three-quarters
of a mile farther. The station where the prisoner wee
is half a mile below her mother's. Her mother's house
is in a row of four, and there are other houses on the
opposite side of the road, which is wide, and her mother's
stands back three or four yards, the entrance to the
garden where the outrage took place being by six steps.
The prisoner occasionally came to their house, and she,
when she went by the train to Sheffield, or had to meet
any one, went to the station where he was master. lie
had given her a kiss in her mother's house several times.
She did nut fall down by slipping on the flags. On the
Friday she went to the station to go to Sheffield, and
the prisoner came up to her and said, " How could you
stand by and make such accwations against me, when
you know the) are not true?" She answered, he knew
they were true, and that she was a ruined girl by him.
lie went away, but soon returned, and then said, " I do
not intend to marry you; sooner than be made a dupe
of I would rot in prison." Mr. Shaw, a surgeon, came
to see her, and examined her. hhe did not scratch the
prisoner. They have a dog, but he is very old, deaf,
and blind.

_Re-examined by Mr. HALL.—Sho had heard priso-
ner's salary was a guinea or a sovereign a week. She
had never given him a kiss. She had lost her brooches;
her ear-rings were bent, and her ears torn. Her age is
24. Mrs. NPLaurie, the bride, when she went to her
house, asked her what troubled her. She replied sbe
was in great trouble. Mrs. M'Laurie asked what it was,
and she answered she would know soon enough.

Mrs. Newton corroborated her daughter's evidence as
far as she was cognizant of the affair, and also deposed
to the state of prosecutor's clothes,' linen, &c , which
showed that violence had been used towards her.
Medical evidence was also called, which proved that
the capital t.tlctice had bete committed.
Mr. OVEREND (Mr. Hardy with him) addressed the
jury for the prisoner. He said he had confided to him
the itrervsts and future prospects of a young man who
had, up to the time of this charge, borne an irreproach-
able character. He complained of the dramatic manner
in which the cave had been opened. lie submitted that
it was I xtrenaely improbable that the prisoner
should think of attempti,g to couswit such an t ffenco
near to the door opening into the room ahem Huth pro-
secutrx and prisoner exoected to find the mother wait-
ing fir her. He submitted tlott the prosecutrix ciid trot
make the outcry or the resistance which p:uved tuques-
tionably non .consent.
Two -vs ittlesves were then called, who gave the prist,uer
a good character.
Mr. Justice PATTESON summed up. He told the jury
the charge was twofold, a felonious assattl<, or a coma on
assault, and they vv,:uld say which it was, if either. He
said it. was a remarkable case, and required their par-
ticular attention. For the prosecution the ease was, that
what was done was against the consent of the prosects•
trix; for thelriSener the case was, first, that the act
wear,94d6ii.e;,44 afeondly, if it was, that it was with
the, equmht cf the kpaecetrix.
Thejory retired, and after being absent from fire