The Sun.
London, England, 1826-09-19 00:00:00

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received a sixpence foe:l:hi 4#401 ~ leflpe arils
accounted for and pairl id. - 'iT "' ' /".';',..s
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What does the cause at 11.di : ..,. t upon,
amount to ? The Agent there, an aged, single man, died
there, after a long illness, in which the business of the,
office had been neglected ; his papers had been dis.;
persed, and no account could be obtained of his col-
lection for some time previously ; but it appeared
that several policies, through his neglect, had been
Iroppeth The Office, therefore, having paid the duty on the
first issue of all the renewals, might properly claim a return
for such as they could procure no account that the Agent
had received for. This would be perfectly consistent with
the practice of all the other Offices, th.ey not paving for
Doty received by Agents, till after they had accounts from
the Agents of their having received sod, duty, would not,
in such a case as the above, pay the duty at all. lint every
office is liable to be misled in the event of art Agent's ab-
sconding, or of his death, without an account having been
rendered. In such cases the Agent may have received the '
duty upon a policy, without the office being aware of it ;
and, by the result of The investigation, this appears to have
been the case at Edinburgh. The agent there had re-
ceived duty to the amount of about 3/. upon two poli-
cies, of which the office had no account, and in misc.
quence claimed a return of the duty they had paid to the
Stamp-office in the first instance. This unavoidable error
of about 3/. apiZars to be the only fact of questionable,
entry, established by the Commissioners as the foundation
of their imputation of fraud. The day will come, how-
ever, when I shall have positive knowledge on this head.—
I have called the above "an unavoidable error," because
it is one from which no Office can be secure ; but when I
consider that the entry was made by the informer, mid ,L '
consider also the character of that man, I ton by no means
sure that it may not have been a Wilful emu..
This brings me to notice a most remartiNe omission .in
the Report. The presumed informer bad: been, a clerk in
the County Fife Office, whom I had repeatedly dismissed,
but had suffered tp remain, in compassion to his family,
until his conduct and character became se bad that I turned
him off finally. This man, when reproved, would fre- :
quently boast to the other clerks of having plans in hand to
ruin my character, and knock up the County Fire Office ; •
and that he had powerful supporters to back him. When
. .
the period for his quitting arrived, he, begged to stop a few
days longer, which was suffered.. Now, during the inquiry,
in examining the books,l discovered a series of fictitious
entries, for allowances of duty, such as had never appeared
in the books before, and upon further reference, found that:
they had been made by this man during the few extra days
he was allowed to stop. The inference Was irresistible.—
These entries could only have been made to afford niste-
riak for an accusation or information for penalties. That
the entries after all were not so used, is not surprising, as
it must have occurred to him or Ma advisers, upon rellec-
tion, that the time and circumstances under Which they
were made, proved the guilty intention entertained; indeed
in his informations to the Commissioners, he appears eau.;
tiously to have kept these entries out of sight, although
they were the only ones which might, with any propriety,
be termed fraudulent ; for on my showing them to Mr.
'Wallace, he observed, with an expression of surprise," this'
is the first we have heard of these."
The above, and much more, I gave in evidence • and
also the names and residences of persons formerly our
elerks, to whom this man had avowed his intentions, and
whom he had,invited to join him in his desiris. This im-
portant evidence proving that the alleged fictitious entries
were devised mid executed by their informer, whose hos-
tile purposes were declared, is disposed of, with a brief re-
mark, that. I alleged that a conspirae:' existed, and it is
added," We have not felt it to be any part of our duty to
extend our examinations on this subject with a view to as-
certain the truth," &c.
If, however, the substantial interests of justice were the
object of the inquiry, wasit not their bounden duty to have
extended their examinations till they had ascertained the
truth? for, if the evidence tendered against their informer
were true, with what justice can they have reported his
statements as accredited factS, mid made them the ground-
work of insinuations of fraud, manifestly tending tti brand
the character end• injure the interests of the County' Vire
Office ? I shall here pause. The origin and object of
this extraordinary attack, and the means used to make it
effective, may be better developed on 4 future occasion.
I remain, Sir, Ike.
.. J , T. BARBER BEAUMONT.
County Fire Office, London? Sept. 7, Iti26.

PETTY SESSIONS, WIMBORNE, DORSET.
FRIDAY, SEPT.

RIGHT OP REPORTING.

Magistrates present—ll. Banket4 Rsq.,M.E Chairman;
Rev. Sir James Denham, Bart.; Wm. Pitts Eq.
As the Chairman was about to open the'busines,; of tlo
day by delivering a decision of the adjourned ease 4,1
" Flynt* v. Bailey," (the information for publi,lting priotod
papers without an imprint, as reported in the SIN of the
sth inst.), an individual advanced front the crowd behind
the bar, and presenting himself at. the Magistrates'
requested permission to make an application to the. bend',
anterior to the usual routine of sessional business, xis the
subject matter of such application had ,a remote reference
to thepolice-transactions of the day.
Mr. li.orttES—Vithat is your application, Sir'?
Applicant—This day fortnight, as may be within the
recollection of the bench, I was refused the courtesy of
making.such memoranda as suited my convenience, end
I am now desirous of claiming such privilege as a right,
_
showing the authority on which I do so.

Mr. itotims—lf you advance the clOiM of right, I at
once refuse it; nor will I hear your argument.
Applicant—But perhaps, Sir,' you will permit me to
show by what means I consider myself so entitled, before
you give a fund decision on the point?
Mr. BANKES•-••4 will not; Sir; you may apply to a su-
perior court, if you think proper; but this is no new ques-
tion. You cannot tell any thing about it which I have nut
already heard or read ; and I therefore say, that no indivi-
dual shall be permitted to take notes of proceedings in this
Court whilst I occupy this chair. I tell you, Sir, no re-
ports shall be taken.
Appliennt.—May I ludt what law makes the act of
writing a letter iii an open court a public wrong i And if
it iney b.. permitted, in such ease, that an individual use
pencil and paper, surely, Sir, the act of taking notes or
memoranda, in assistance of Memory, cannot be justly
deemed offensive.

111 r. BANKus.—Again, Sir,atl ;ell:coin;
Il 'rwesiill)ene (t)ft:iye,rrnyeitt
it, A
pl;oliealltlatt.ltti.cheti:iiiltib
determination to
Priviiege I claim by its immediate exercise.
thy'
I.
,fir:Elliyhvie'vittelll)::.ll:l(B,:tii:):ielitti.e:lll:ll:lll:::dv:eietstiegiii:aifr,tensittililr.ee:itfl behind
Co r!batli::
three several
Intioanna :a:a:Lai:heti by evidence '
f.V. •
information against a t:
old the Court in the case of
defendant be convicted in
N‘Ty_ahlt...ren;l:tthilofe.l:74,erne.edings were thtlil-slg
h
n t.te ht ituitant.
Ito sit here, iatrtili;a:trkreillititpt,ttn.yortbitwLsos ft
hien:l'44r ::::
AIT. BANICIIS (rising from his chair with conaiderable
of me taking
down
notes
of atibuil spreeocernei
iiiii.int,iciiiiialspiiiitteroroift
my prohibition? Why don't yoa stand bail, Sir
liepor
ter.--1-Inyelltecause I pram' the open ""cii4i Of the
right whites
Ws coiiiiitelluie et
the
la
,
irtosol‘iitligi;vits;itestp,tiirst:ri,lit.litikon::ll_,sio.7ll:4l;4;:iies:l;i:i.:ll:l4mlti.ott—ohtteiNiseiaotudrdlisilit.enligetclaen:l;y:.oiltioger.
,n,. mrordli p ft] 1 Chairman then left the room, followed
bu,w,,ill,i,„iii.flitgeilltin
lulitedobreenttherreend;uptn.
trnwas any ea e
se (of the:
'rho excitement in this little town was such as has not
bon before witnessed, and no news of an adjourned court
halt
in7itttritlgn:P ore dir•eheld on alternate Fridays, and the bu
siness is more eonsidernble than petty sessions for similar
districts generally average: