The Sun.
London, England, 1857-10-23 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.—Oct. 22.

MANSION-HOUSE.—CHumiRATES.—Mr. John
L. Burgon, of 35, Bucklerebury, appeared to a summons
which called up ,11 him to show cause wby he refused
to pay a church rate of Si. 2e. 6d., alleged to be due to
the churchwardens of St. Benet, Sherehog.
The defendant has been summoned for a church-rate
alleged to be due to the parochial authorities of Sr.
Binet, Sherehog, for several years past, and has on those
ocnsions stated that his ri fusal to pay it arose from con-
scientious object;ons. He has, however, paid the
amount upon being served with the usual legal order.
The Lord-Mayor—Mr. Burgon, do yuu dispute the
validity of the rate ? _ _

Defendant—l certainly do object to the rate, because
a church rate, to be legal, ought necessarily to include a
charge for the repairs of the building, which is not the
case with the present rate.
The Lord Mayor—l understand that there is no church
in the parish, and has not been siLce the Great Fire.
The parish in which the premises are situated, is that of
St. Benet, Sherehog, which is now united with St.
StThen Walbrook.
Defendant—l rely on the objection I have made to
the validity of the rate, but I have also objections of a
conscientious character.

The Lord Mayor—lt appears to me that you must
either pay or to the Ecclesiastical Court.

Defer_dantL.-I thought it was the duty of the tnagia
trate to settle this question. Ido not want to go to the
Ecclesiasiml Court because I believe that that court
'was instituted for the purpose of ruining individuals.
The Lord Mayor—l agree with you, there, to a cer-
tain extent. I find that it is not necessary that you
should go to the Eo,clesiaitic.,+l Court ; it is for them to
go there; you are not to take the initiative.

Defendant—Taking that to be the eae, I dispute tha
validity of the rate, because, instead of its being a rate
for the npaire of the church, it is to pay the sextoness,
the organ blower, the tuner, the insurance, the clerk,
and the vestry clerk. Our vestry clerk is an ex3ellent,
polite, and attentive man. I asked him whether these
were legal charges, and he said they were not. (Laugh-
ter.)

Toe Lord Mayor--With the opinion of a high autho•
rity like that in your favour, I should think be would
advise the churchwardens not to take you to the Eccle•
siastical Court. The question is would they drag you
there ?

Defendant—l should hope not.
Tne Lord Mayor—Tbe act of Parliament says this,
" That if the validity of such rate or the liability of the
person from whom it is demanded to pay the same be
diiputed, and the party disputing the same give notice
thereof to the justice, the justice shall forbear giving
judgment thereon, awl the person demanding the same
may then proceed to tike recovery of his demand accoria
ing to due course o! liw." Will you state formally your
grounds for disputing the validity of the rate ?
Defendant—l dispute the validity of the rate, because
it contains certain items which are not properly included
in a church-rate, and I am leghlly advised that I am not

The Lord Mayor—lf you assign some formal reason
fur disputing your liability, a magistrate cannot decide
the question. The case is done with here entirely, and
if they choose to snf Toe a rate for the repairs of a church
which has not existed since the Fire of London, they
must go to the Ecclesiastical Court. Uorlsr these cir-
cumstances I of course decline to adjudicate. The
summons is dismissed.

The defendant bowed and retired, evidently abundantly
satisfied with his lordship's decision.

GUILDHALL.—CHARGE OF EMS3ZZLE3MENT.—Leon
Thomas, a young Frenchman, in the employ of Messrs.
Lee, and Co., of Wood-street, Cheapside, as tra-
veller, was brought up, charged with einhezzling various
sums, amounting to nearly .50/., the moneys of his
masters.

Mr. Lewis, jun., attended for the prisoner.
James Wells, cashier to the prosecutors, said it was
the prisoner's duty to receive moneys on account of his
employers, and after retaining sufficient to cover his ex.
Lenses, to forward lists of the amounts rec_ived, with a
portion of the gross amount of cash, and to account for
tle balance upon his return from each journey. Witness
had received information that 11/. 17s. had been receives
from Mr. Heart tone, of Nottingham, by the prisoner,
and upon his return from the journey witness asked
him to account for all he had received during the
journey. He accordingly gave in his book, but neither
that nor the periodical list contaiced any account of the
11/. 17s. Witness had also received information that a
sum of 161. 15a., received from Mr. Perrin, of South-
arop'on, bad not been accounted for.
Sergeant Funnell, of the detective force, said when he
took the prisoner into custody and told him the charge,
he said he was very sorry f it, but that if the prosecu-
tors had waited, his friends would have made np the
amount. The prisoner then directed him to go to his
lodgings, where he said witness would find a book con-
taining entries of all the money he had embezz.ed. Wit-
ness accordingly went to his lodging', and there found
the book, which clearly showed the mode in which the
prisoner h td acted.
A remand was here applied for.

Mr. Lewis said he could have no objection to such a
course, but he complained of the sharp practice of the
pr secutors in giving the prisoner into custody imsne-
diately afts.r he had been celled on to render an account.
It he had only been allowed a reasonable time, his
friends, who were highly respectable, would have came
forward and paid the money, bad it been four times Ills
amount. It was quite clear the prisoner had been al
lowed a certain latitude in r:taining money for ins ex-
penses, and under those circurnstaucc.s he thought it was
too sharp to put him into custody immediately upon nis
return from the journey. 11'3 trusted the worthy alder-
man would consider it a case for bail.

Str G. Carroll said he 3 uld ri(ut accept boil for the
prisoner, who was accordingly remanded iu custody tili
Aouday xrux'.

MARLBOROUGII-STREET.—Buitorar.Y.--Ber ja-
min Dickenson and Henry Parker were lirought bef.,re
Mr. Bingham, for final e Anaination, charged with bur-
glary.

M. Monigci Lamorini, whose evidence wag interpre!ed
by Mr. Albert, No. 6, St. Martin':-court, coffee-house-
kteper, stated that, on Wednesday, be retired to be I,
leaving his house secure. About three o'clock in the
morning he was awakened by two policemen, who told
him that his house bad been entered by thieves, and that
a quantity of property, consisting of sheets and table-
cloths, hau been packed up ready to he carried off. Ile got
up, and on looking about the premises found that dome of
the doors had marks of violence on them, which had been
made by a knife found afterwards on Parker, who had
taken it from the prosecutor's kitched.
Police-constable Shandley, 203 C, said be was on duty
on Wednesday, about two in the morning ; knowing the
prisoners to be bad characters, he watched and saw tLein