The Sun.
London, England, 1826-08-17 00:00:00

APPLE STEALING.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.
SlR—Observing in some of the London papers
much comment and considerable censure on the con-
duct of the Magistrates of Dorsetshire, and the ReV.
George Chemberlaine, Rector of .Wyke Regis, in cm,-
sequence of the committal of some overgrown boys to
the tread-mill, for repeatedly robbing gardens in this
and the neighbourhig garish of Wyke, and conclud-
ing, fioni the manner in which 'the' subject has been
treated, that the author must be ignorant Of the pecu-
liar and local circumstances of the case,l think it due
to the public, from a belief' that they have been misled,
as well as to the character of the Magistrates of Dor-
set, to give them, through the medium of your Paper,
better information respecting the facts of the case;
whereby I shall afford you the.opportunity (by the in-
sertion of this statement) of doing justice to the con-
duct of the Magistrates and the Reverend Rector.
We must all allow that plundering gardens of ap-
ples and gooseberries by mere children has 'always
been, and I trust always will be, looked upon as a ve-
nial offence ; but when I tell you that here it is prac-
tised by•striplings, and ' (Ss' shoe marks have often
shown) by full-grown men, not for the purpose of sa-
tisfying a juvenile appetite, but for gain, you Will,
perhaps, view the affair in a different light, and eve=
cially as the practice was becoming more_ frequent, and
the plunder more extensive—friiit of all kinds, and onions
and, potatoes. There exists a marked difference -be-
t Ween orchard and garden robbing—in the former,' a
bushel of apples now and then taken away is neither
missed nor cared for-; but an inclosed 'garden Ought to
be nearly as sacred as a.house. Only consider, Mn Edi=
tor, what, chagrin and vexation the owner of a favourite
garden must feel when he rises in the morning, or're-
turns after a short absence, to find the pride of his
heart, a neat and tastefully arranged garden, plundered
and laid waste in an apparently wanton manner. I
say laid waste--for these gentry often break the limbs
of valuable trees, trample upon' choice flowers, and
materially
injure growing crops of vegetables. Per.
baps
seritlilelse remarks may not. have due weight with in-
habitants of populous cities, with whom rural beauty
thereforeobteigeastot sstoateni
otPatht etmhe) doeld-
P
is not familiar.
d in question
offenders,re_ators
gearden robbing, but in pilfer.:
ing, and formed a-little gang of general depredators.
Reprimand and leniency had produced no -effect, and.
therefbre a serious punishment appeared necessary to.
inake an impression on these (certainly some of diem)
young 'incorrigibles. The Correspondent of some of
the papers overlooked the ciictnstance, that the Ma-
gistrates cautiously avoided
these youths with
the ordinary workers of the tread. Mill. Desiring, Mr.
Editor, to intrude no more thaP appears necessary on
the columns of :your valuable Journal, ' I shall con-
clude with Il
a loe, thatshown there existed no
p
grounds for the vituperation which has been so lavishly
bestowed on tl D t and the Rev.
le aistrates o orse
Rector of Wyke M.
Regis.g
N. 13. 1
trust that your brother journalists, who
have published the "
will have the
candour ''to: b_.
publish statement, .
pu ha this also --for Magistracy should
not be improperly
Mr it it E '
prise THAN T n lIF ...,ISEA SE.—
One friend calling upon
Kfter 4116ther, a farmer in the
North, 'to inquire. s liealtll, received .the follow-
big reply t " C have Hash
a pain in my head, which is
le fitter, f b
or ave.been almost wor cues for
. rtes to deals with