The Sun.
London, England, 1828-12-10 00:00:00

GUILDHALL.

A Mr. Matthew Oliphant was charged before
Mr. Alderman yesteiday, with having wan-
tonly " crippled a lantern" belonging to the ward of
Cripplegate Without ; and also with having mali-
ciously endeavoured to do some personal damage to
the bearer thereof, one John Denton, a watchman of
the said ward.

It appeared by John Denton's evidence that, just
as ho had done " crying the one," yesterday morn-
ing, he heard " an uncommon growling and grum-
bling" on the' other side of the street.—" Conse-
quentially," quoth John Denton, " I crossed over
'to see what it might be, and, as I went, I held out
my lantern before me, for fear I should be taken at a
disadvantage ; but- I had no sooner set my foot upon
the pavement than this gentleman's fist came right
hang at the lantern, and crippled it completely. He
was standing there quite alone by himself, and—
" My good man," says I,- " you shouldn't do that !"
But the words were no sooner fairly out of my
mouth, than he takes up his right foot and makes a
kick at me—in what part I won't say—but, if the
kick had caught me, I should never have been my
own man again ; and so I'll leave your Worship to
guess. " Oh., ho !" thinks 1, "if you're a kicking
customer, its time you were locked up !" and so I
sprung my rattle, and got help, and we took him in
hand to the watch-house."

Mr. Matthew Oliphant made no attempt to reply
to this charge;—he was evidently a man of few
words; as, indeed, his alleged conduct would seem
to signify. The Alderman asked him what he was,
and he replied " A tobacconist ;" but he made no
attempt to show why he had been guilty of such
un-tobacconist-like conduct.

" Cannot you speak, man ?" said :he Alderma►► ;
" it seems you can strike, readily enough."
" I have no recollection of having struck," replied
Mr. Matthew Oliphant.
" Then you were drunk, we'll suppose ?" said
the Alderman.

"I had been out with a few friends," replied Mr.
Matthew Oliphant ; and, after a short pause, in
which he seemed to be absorbed in some melancholy
recollection, he added—" and what I took made me
very :tire() iyb r t able ."
" Why, then," said the Alderman, " you will
pay fair the damage you have done to the lantern,
and make the watchman some compensation for the
trouble he has had with you, and you may be dis-
chargad."
The parties withdrew—to arrange, as the Court
presumed ; but in a few minutes thereafter it was
announced that Mr. Matthew Oliphant had declared
that !e would neither pay for the lantern, nor give
the watchman one farthing for his trouble ; and,
therefore, he was ordered to rind bail fur his appear-
ance to answer it at the Sessions.

.NOTE.—The tobacconists seem to be running
rampant of late ; for this is the fourth member of that
craft charged with the like anti-pacific conduct
within the last few days,
CosTAR v. DENNY.—In this case, Mrs. Charlotte
Delray was charger] with disturbing the peace, and
threatening the life, and breaking the windows, and
splitting the transparea‘y, of Mrs. Anne Costar.,
Mrs. Ann Costar is an eminent chimney-sweeper-
ess and free-woman cf the City, and a woman of
some weight in society—nineteen stone, or there-
about ; and, like the lady of the celebrated Captain
Wattle, " she. has but one eye, but that one is a
piercer." Mrs. Charlotte Denny, on the other hand,
is a little bit of a woman, very melancholy in her
temperament, and very miserable in her attire ; and
it appeared that having been deserted by her hus-
band, she will have it that the portly Mrs. Anne
Costar has got him concealed some where or other,
in her pocket possibly, if the pocket is of a size
suitable to its wearer, and the husband a man of or-
dinary dimensions. The loss of a nl on the one
part, and supposed concealment of him on the other,
has been the cause of frequent disputes between theta,
though there seems to be no other ground for Al rs. De-
nny's suspicion than that her husband (Ace occupied a
" three-pair-back," in the house of the immense
cliimney-swceperess; who is herself the happy wife
of a second husband, and therefore, as she very judi-
ciously observed, she " could have no occasion what-
ever for the husband of any other lady."
Be this as it may, however, Mrs. Denny persists
in going there to demand her husband, and he nut
being forthcoming she did the deeds alleged against
her—that is to say, broke four panes of glass, and
" split and spoiled a beautiful transparency illustra-
tive of the art of chimney-sweeping—personal and
mechanical."

Mrs. Denny had nothing to say in defence; and
not being prepared to pay 30s.—the amount of
damages as assessed—she was ordered to remain
under the care of the Governor of Bridewell for a
day or two, in order to give her time to write to
her friends.