The Sun.
London, England, 1844-09-11 00:00:00

SIDCUP PETTY SESSIONS.

(Before Lord SYDNEY, 11. S. BERENS, Esq., and
J. CHAPMAN, Esq.)
Yesterday, two lads, named Matthew Butler
and William Sharp, were brought up in cus-
tody, charged upon the police-sheet with unlawfully
assuming the appearance of ghosts, for the purpose of
frightening passengers upon the public highway, at
the parish of Crayford.
Mr. Latter, the clerk to the bench, having read the
charge from the police-sheet, the Noble Chairman in-
quired under what Act of Parliament it was made ?
Mr. Latter replied that he supposed the present
complaint was made under the Police Act, which
made it an offence to do any act calculated to create a
breach of the peace upon a public highway, but the
offence was also an indictable one at common law.
The BENCH said they were aware of that, but the
charge in its present shape was one of a novel cha-
racter.

Inspector M‘Gill explained the circumstances under
which it arose, and said that for a considerable period
the inhabitants of Dartford, Crayford, and the
neighbourhood, especially the female portion of them,
had been very much alarmed and annoyed by the
pranks of some mischievous individual who chose to
personate a ghost. It was his custom to station him-
'f in the lanes leading to the two villages, and when
--n.approached him, he suddenly distended a
'-ess he •wore, and emitted a sort of
' Noses had caused the greatest
at present actually seri-
-, the sudden fright
proceed-

any perb.,

soft of white L..

flame, and in severs.

alarm, many persons being
ously injured in their health fro►..
they bad received. In consequence of
ings, he gave directions which led to the apprei,,
of the defendants.•

Hayman Smith, a police-constable, stationed at
Crayford, deposed that on Saturday evening he went
in plain clothes to a place called the Old-lane, near
Crayford, for the purpose of looking out for the
ghost, and about eight o'clock, just as it was
getting dark, he saw the defendants coming to
wards him. One of them said, " The coast is clear
—look sharp," and they then both jumped over
the bank into a field, and he saw them pull their
shirts out over their trousers, which they tied round
their waists underneath them, and they then com-
menced a series of gambols upon the bank, when,
being satisfied of their object, he pounced upon them,
and took them into custody. After he had secured
them, they told him that they did not mean any
harm, and that they merely intended to frighten the
girls.
An inhabitant of Crayford here addressed the bench,
and in confirmation of the statement made by the
inspector, said that the proceedings of the Crayford
ghost had, last winter, caused the utmost alarm in
the neighbourhood, and there appeared to be good
grounds for believing that they would be renewed
during the ensuing winter.
Lord SYDNEY asked the defendants what answer
they had to make to the charge, or what
excuse they could give for their misconduct ?
The defendants assured the bench that they had no
idea of doing any harm, but the fact was they heard
that the " real ghost" was expected to show himself,
and they had acted in the manner described by-the
constable merely for a joke.
The BENCH said they had done very wrong, and
although the charge, in its present shape, could not
be sustained, yet they had subjected themselves to be
indicted for misdemeanour, and to receive heavy
punishment. They would now be discharged, but
they were cautioned to be careful, and not to per-
sonate ghosts for the future.

MIDDLESEX COUNTY REGIS-
TRATION.
(FROM A CORRESPONDENT.)
The Liberal party, it would appear from the fol-
lowing statement, are active in the field, and have
again an advantage over the Tories, although we are
sorry to say the old Whig party, have rendered but
little aid. The Honourable Member, Mr. Byng, has
apparently for the last three years forsaken the sup-
port of the registration of the county. To some ex-
tent it is said the Anti-Corn•law League have ren-
dered service. We do not know if this circumstance
has given offence, seeing that Mr. Byng took the
chair at the Hammersmith Anti-Corn-law meeting,
and afterwards voted with the monopolists on Mr.
Villiers's motion.

Reformers. Tories.
Bedford district
*Brentford do.
Enfield do.
Edgware do l5
Uxbridge do l3
*Hampstead do 0
Hammersmith do 2B
King's-cross do
Westminster do
Mile-end do 62
Bethnal-green do
City of London do 364

637 514
* The overseers have objected in these parishes.

•In the county list in City of London two
Judges, the Solicitor and Attorney-Generals, and
eighty-five barristers and attorneys, who voted for
the Tories, are objected to, they having claimed in
the wrong parish. No doubt much noise and declama-
tion will be made to induce the Revising Barrister to
retain their names.

[When Mr. Byng's age and his services to the
county are taken into consideration, great allowances
should be made.—En. Sun.]

By Royal Ordonnances, dated the 2d 'inst., a Pro-
fessorship of Comparative Embryogeny is created at the
College of France ; and another, on the Languages of
Malay and Java, at the School for the Oriental Living
Languages. M. Coste is appointed to the first, and M.
Dulaurier to the aeoond.