The Sun.
London, England, 1819-02-22 00:00:00

[Morning Herald.]

Marlborough Home, formerly the residence
of the late Duke of Marlborough, at Brighton,
and now the property. of the Prince Regent, is
shortly to be pulled down, and on its site a wing
to correspond with the Royal Pavilion is to be
erected. .

LAW IN FELIAGENCE.

COURT OF CHANCEUY, FEH. 40.

The LORD CHANcELLoa came this morning to
Lincoln's Inn, to hold the first Seal after Term.
He is ruttier unwell, in consequence of a severe
attack of the gout on Thursday evening.

LORD STEWART'S CASE.
TEMPEST V. oRD.

His Lordship was ended in his Private Room
by the Solicitor-General and Mr. Horne, Counsel
for Lord Stewart ; Mr. Hart, Sz.-c.. for the Countess"
Of Antrim ; and Mr. Martin and Mr. Abercromby;
for the yiungLady. The intended appeal to the --
House of Lords has been given tip, we learn,
and the case was heard on some points different '
from those formerly stated to- the Court. The
hearing occupied his Lordship from ten in the
morning till three in the afternoon, but nd judg. •

tent was,given.
At three o'clock his Lordship sent and informed
the Bar and the numerous suitors who had been
waiting the whole morning, that he should not
come into Court ; but that if there were any mo-
tions of a pressing nature, tie would hear them
in his Chamber. . .

COURT OP COMMON PLEAS. •
BUTT V. SIR N. CONANT.
. This was an action by Mr. Butt, of Stock-Exchange noto-
riety, against 'Sir N. Conant, to recover asompensation for an
illegal arrest and false imprisonment for forty•days, in New-1
gate, upon a charge of ',being the author and publisher of a.,
libel, reflecting on the characters of the late Lord Ellenbo-
rough and Lord Castlereagh.
Mr. Serjeant VAUGHAN addressed the Jury on the part of
the plaintiff, and commented, at considerable length, on the
hardship of Mr. Butt s case, and the injustice which he had
suffered, and proceeded to call evidence to prove the facts he
had stated.
The proceedings were put in ; and the Officer who arrested
Mr. Butt on Sir Nathaniel's warrant proved having taken him
into custody at Somerset-house, and conveyed hint to New-
gate, where .he remained in custody for 40 days. It. was
also proved, that during that time he was under the necessity
of associating with felons and other prisoners of a sithilar
description:
Mr. BENNET, the Member, was examined ; who proved that
he visited Newgate whilst Mr. Butt was in. confinment, and
found him in the situation described. He mentioned it to Mr.
Newman, the Keeper, who said, from the state of the prison,
Mr. Butt could have In better accommodation.
Mr. Alderman WAITIIIIAN, and two. other .Gentleman,.
proved that they had been applied to by Mr. Butt, to become
his bail, whilst' he was in confilienietq, butdeclined.-
. Mr. Serjeant LUNS, in a powerful address to the Jury, con-
tended that the commitment was legal. ,
Chief-Justice DALLAS, in slimming up, declared his opi-
nion to be, that the plaintiff had no cause of action in this
case against the defendant, who had only acted in the dis-
charge of his duty as he was legally authorized to do. If ,his
opinion was wrong, it would be corrected by the other Judges
her\caftcr.
The duty retired; and after some time returned with a
verdict for the plaintiff—damages Is.—'Phis verdict was made
special, and will, of course, undergo the future consideration
of the Court.

COURT OF EXCi-lEQUER,-FE8.23.
IMITATIVE TEA AND, COFFEE.
THE ATT6ItHEY-GENERAL V. DAVID MORITT.

This was an information against Old defendant, a grocer,
residing in Holywell-strect, Shorediteh,,c barging him with,
having ,had 171 lbs. weight of imitative tea in his
possession; , The defendant pleaded guilty, thereby
subjecting himself to the payment of a penalty to the awount
of Seventeen Hundred and Ten Pounds.
John Wore, grocer, 94, Drury•lane, was charged by the
information of the Attorney-General with haring received
14 lbs: weight of leaves fabricated in imitation of tea. Ver-
dict for the Crown—Penalty, 1401.

PUBLIC GRIEVANCES.

No. II

MR. EDITOR---The second Grievance which
touches the feelings of our would-be philanthropic
Perfectionabks, arises from an alleged increase of
crime, and seeks a remedy in the abatement of
capitol punishments.
But, Sir, much of this apparent increase, or
even absolute increase, may be, and indeed must
be, considered only as a numerical increase upon
an increased pOpulation, perhaps augmented in
some degree beyond the absolute numerical ratio,
by the inequality of property, the more frequent
example of luxury, and the temptation to theft
and dishonesty being not only increased bit fsci-
litared ; to say nothing of relaxed principles front
a demoralized Press.
Thus fgr it may he assumed that crime is ex-
tended ; but if we attempt to legislate for its di-
t'ninutior►, upon at) erroneous belief of its causes
MO extent, we shall risk a greater evil than that
which we are atlxions to abate.
If we turan to do-grood also, we trust not sink
tl.e question into one of pry and ye► lam un- .
ch,ritable cnon4h to tear that a &sire of poptda-
I:fy is too ptedottlimtn, amongst the ,peculative
advnektes of what they term `` humanity," but
wonid he more pinpeily named lehify
tots aril% evil driers, without any regard to s;,etal
cons,(lliepieeq. I shall, however, avoid the rum'
that I teprohate, and, without regard to party, en-
deavour to correct the great practical error that
has arisen upon this inretesfing buirject, in the
lit %• thuoly of preventing crime by, abiting pu-
nishment.

Such a theory leads indeed to the doing away
h all punishment ; at Itast it con, ants not,
its own pilneiplec, any guide to the exact point
six!) an aba►e/nent of punishment should
stop. In tact, Sir, it begins at the wrong end,
eXCilint; a morb'd sympathy for great crimes, and
relaxing the whole system of our moral and social
police ; in direct oposition to the wholesome
rule. " Prinripiis obsta "
iffiked to those two magical words that we
must look for the cure of present evils and the
pt.( v: ntion of futtire ones. If evil is checked in
its fits! errors, greater ones will be less prevalent;
but how stands the case in present practice ? A
hackney-coachman mi,behaves, chews, or mal-
treats his fare ; he is prosecuted, and for his first
offence meets with a reprimand or mitigated pe-
nalt y. A baker poisons half his neighbourhood,
or I.e sells light bread to the poor ; but a first
offence lets hint off for a mitigated penalty, and his
name is concealed. A boy commits a theft, or
picks a pock.. t, or stars a few tile):s whitlow ;
but his first rffence, or his youth, plead in his
favoni.

LA, Sir, a moment's consideration wonbtsbow
aro ese were nut first offences; and even it they
were, t% hat Hre the consequences? tiVlty, that
the dread of a second offence, or rather of being a
second lime found out, is' diminished in the breast
or (hr otletHer, whilst. all others of his class are
ttnipted to try thtir lock in the same way, calcu-
lating on the chances of a first qifence, utter a long
career Of irregularity and crime !
Lot who e‘er heat d of a minderer having pu-

iti•bmetir mitigated for a first offrlice ?

I wish not, ho►vever, fur Draconian laws, writ.
ten in blood; but I do feel, in spi►_e of modern
theory, that if all crimes, ho►vever small, were
punish►erl even as first offences, our penal code
would soon be reformed, because capital crimes
would then be lest tr.treut.
A column iu a-Newspaper, Sir, cannot contain
even the Leads of so extensive a subject ; but
these hints may elicit a chain of reasoning in the
minds of those ►sho have power and inclination to
enter into the investigation.

If I were asked, hose-ver, for a remedy to the
existing. evil upon my own pi inciple, I would
oder it in live words—" INDUCE YIIOSSCUTION
AND ENFORCE PUNISHMENT."

. .
In that early severity there would be future lin-
mAnic y, it it is more humane to prevent crime
than to pardon it—for the individual severity
vculd the general deterioratioo.
By thrse ureaos our prisons would soon be
Adequate ;o alt the purposes of classification and
reform, tor existing progressive crime would gra-
dually be checked, and incipient error gradually
eon cord.

But low is this to be done ?—Simply thus.—
Let the crimes recognized by law be classed in fair
gradation with their enacted penalties and punish-

merits.

TO iuduce prosecution, either diminish

tne eXpence or increase the remuneration, or,
perhaps still better, establish an Insurance Cont-.

pany, not to guarantee against theft, but to cover

loss of time and I.iir exptnees upon conviction.—
Let it' be imperative top,in Magistrates, in all mi-
nor offences, to iiiffitt the precise legal !mish-

meta, Ithenever the offence is clearly defined.

There must be no mitigation, either punishment or
arc/Midi; or, it it is thought better to leave juri-
dical as well as judicial powers to the Magistrate,
still to let him be Judge and Jury in Law,
and Chanct;lor in Equity ; establish a Board of
Revision, to examine any case that a prosecutor
way choose to bring before it, not for the purpose
of trying the criminal a second time, but of try-
ing the Magistrate, as to the propriety of his de-
cision.

l';o honest NLigiitrsite wrul,l object to this, and
the mere explessed opinion of such a Board

would be penally sufficient to ensure success.

IGNOTUS.

THE MARKETS.

CORN-EXCHANGE, FEE. 22.

Although the , ports are now abut against the importation
of Foreign Wheat, and the supply of English was small this
morning, yet the sales were not so brisk as on Friday ; but
fine samples front Essex and Suffolk obtained the came prices
as on last Monday. Barley is-is. per quarter lower, and very
heavy sale at that decline, owing to the stagnation in the
malt trade, which article is full Gs. per quarter cheaper.—
Beans, Pease, and Oats are full 2s. per quarter lower, and
scarce any demand for either at that decline.