The Sun.
London, England, 1845-12-25 00:00:00

SPIRIT of the PUBLIC JOURNALS.

WANDS WORTH.
James Harris, an excavator, was charged with obtain-
ing a pair of spikes under false pretences, from Richard
Callender, a blacksmith, on the plain, Wandsworth.
It appeared that the complainant had made several
pairs of spikes (used by excavators to secure a footing
whilst wheeling barrows up an inclined plank), for men
employed on the Richmond Railway works, and the pri-
soner was one of the number. As these men are proverbially
forgetful of payment, the complainant would not dispose
of his wares without the money. The prisoner toil( ad-
vantage of his absence from home, and asked the son, a
shrewd lad, for a pair of spikes, for which he had paid
his father on the previous Saturday. The lad toll the
prisoner that if he was telling a lie he should know him
again, and let him have them. The corx►plainnet sub
sequently ascertaining that his lad had been imposed
upon, went in search of the prisoner, up and down the
Richmond Railway works, and at last found him at the
Crane. He then had the spikes in his possession, and
swore he had had them a fortnight and paid the com-
plainant for them. Complainant told him that the
spikes were not his, that he had obtained them by fraud,
and gave him his choice of paying for them or being
given into custody. The prisoner persisted in stating
that they were his own property, and was accordingly
charged.
Mr. CLIVE asked the prisoner what his answer to the
charge was ?

The prisoner said that he had had the spikes a fort-
night, and had paid for them, and said he had a witness
to prove that fact.
Another excavator was called as a witness, but
possessing a little more honesty than his frien I (the
prisoner), he declined to speak positively as to the time
the prisoner had been in possession of the spikes.
Mr. CLIVE observed that he should send the case for
trial ; the prisoner, he must say, had made the most im-
pudent defence he had ever heard.
The complainant said he did not wish the man to un-
dergo further punishment ; he should be satisfied with the
restoration of his goods, and some compensation for the
trouble he had been put to.
Mr. CLIVE permitted the parties to retire, and the pri-
soner was afterwards discharged.
Mary Flemming, a woman of abandoned habits, was
re-examined upon a charge of stealing a pound of fresh
butter from the larder of the Rose and Crown lan, Wim-
bledon.

The charge was established, and the prisoner was
committed for a month, with hard labour.

THAMES.
Mr. Foster, the master of a vessel called the Hope-
well, was charged with breaking bulk of a cargo of coals
before the dues were paid, by which he had incurred a
penalty of 25/.
Mr. Pelham appeared for the defendant, who did not
attend.

The real question in dispute was whether coals
brought from the North to London, and not intended to
be used as fuel, were liable to the City dues of 13d. per
ton. The Hopewell discharged a cargo of 413 tons of
coals, not brought direct from the pit, for the purpose of
being consumed as fuel, but which were brought from a
tram-road, laid down many years ago, and recently
broken up. The coals had been subjected to the action
of the atmosphere for thirty-three years, and when the
tram.road was broken np, the coals which composed it
were shipped for London, and consigned to Mr. Heron,
a brickmaker, at Uxbridge, to be used in the manufac-
ture of bricks ; and it was admitted that before he could
do so he crushed the coals, which had lost many of their
qualities, in a machine. There was no intention to evade
the duty, and Mr. Heron said, if the magistrate decided
that a duty was payable on coals exported from the
North for the purposes of brickmaking, he would not
attempt to resist the payment of the duty on other
cargoes.

sir. BRODERIP decided that sea-borne coals, for what-
ever purpose they were exported from the North to
London, were liable to the duty, and inflicted a nominal
penalty of 205., at the same time expressing an opinion
that Mr. Heron was quite right in raising the question,
The fine was paid, and Mr. Heron said he would pay
the City dues on other cargoes of the stuff consigned to
him.

HE QUEEN'S RIGHT TO WAL-
THAM FOREST QUESTIONED.
At the last meeting of the Ilford bench of Magistrates
on Saturday last, Charles Watkins, an assistant deer-
keeper, attached to the royal forests of Waltham and
Hainanit, appeared to an information taken out against
him by Mr. Edward Foster, a gentleman residing at
Loughton, for being in a certain forest on the 24th of
November, in the day time, called Waltham Forest, the
property of her Majesty the Queen, in search of game.
The defendant admitted that he was in the forest, hut he
was not trespassing or in search of game. G. Hodge,
Mr. Foster's man, said that on the 24th of November ho
was in Longhton Forest, when he heard the report of a
gun. He went in the direction, and saw Charles
Watkins with a gun and two dogs, " beating" for game.
Mr. Foster asked him whe gave him the right to
shoot there, hut witness did not hear Watkins's answer.
Mr. Foster corroborated the testimony, and said in ad-
dition that he held a " deputation" from her Majesty to
shoot in the forest, and when he asked the defendant
what right he had to shoot there, he was very abu-
sive, and told witness that he and his man killed all the
game in the forest, which was not the fact. Witness
then warned him off the forest, which he had a right to
do. In answer to the charge the defendant said he
was an assistant keeper to,his father, and had a cer-
tificate for shooting. Mr. Foster said the defendant
was only assistant to his father as a keeper of deer.
Mr. Maitland, one of the Bench—Oh, yes, he does
something else besides keeping deer ; he has been fre-
quently employed under my keepers to kill game in the
forest. Mr. Cotton, the chairman—You had better not
say too much, or you will lay yourself open to an infor-
mation. Mr. Maitland—l don't know who claims the
small game upon the forest, but I think those gentlemen
whose manors form a portion of it have as much right to
the game as the gentlemen who hold deputations. Mr.
Cotton—That is a question of law. Mr. Maitland—
This forest was disfranchised as belonging to the Crown,
and therefore the Queen had no title, and consequently
no right to grant deputations. Mr. Cotton—That we
know nothing about. The law with respect to tres•
passing on any of her Majesty's forests in search
of game, without the party had a legal right to do
s.P, was very clear, power being given to the
magistrates to inflict a fine of not more than 2Z The
mere holding of a game certificate did not give that
right, and with respect to the defence set up by his
brother magistrates, that the forest was not the Queen's,
that was not the tribunal for the question to be tried.
After some further observations, the majority of the
Bench was of opinion that the case was proved, and
fined the defendant 2s. 6d. and costs, amounting to
13s. 6d. Captain Somerville, one of the Bench, said
that the gentlemen with " deputations" had driven all
the old proprietors off the forest, but he thought it was
not worth while to go to law about it. Mr. Foster said
the holders of " deputations" were quite willing and
ready to try the question.

TITHE OF FISH.

LOWESTOFT.—On Wednesday last the case of Mr.
Roberts came again before the magistrates for hearing
Mr. Cunningham, the vicar, conducted his own case.-
Mr. Tillett, of Norwich, appeared for Mr. Roberts. Mr.
Cunningham's claim was for lOs. 3d., the value of a pro-
portion of the mackerel taken during the fishing voyage
of the boat Wesley, belonging to Mr. Roberts, which
proportion is called the " half-dole." In support of his
claim, Mr. Cunningham called three fish merchants,
whose evidence showed that within their knowledge
the half-doles had been paid for forty years, and that
they themselves had paid them during the whole
period they had been connected with the trade ; they
considered the claim was just, and paid the demand
as they would do any other debt. They had heard
at various times opinions stated with regard to the
origin of the custom, which were to this effect--that the
half-doles were paid at first voluntarily, at a time when
the vicar's income was slender; but they did not think
these opinions to be of any authority. They had known
these claims to be made under all circumstances, even
when there was a positive loss to owners, and showed
that the men employed contributed their share to the
amount as well as the owner. Mr. Cunningham pro-
duced the accounts of his predecessors from 1677, thus
carrying back evidence of the fact of payment for 168
years. Mr. Tillett remarked that these entries afforded
no proof that the payment was any other than a volun-
tary one; and upon an examination of the books be
discovered two papers, one a letter written by
T. Tanner, a commissary at Norwich, to his brother
John, vicar of Lowestoft. This letter related to a
dispute about the tithe of fish, which arose in 1709,
and stated that the case must be tried under the pro-
visions of an Act of the 2d of Edward VI., which
requires proof that the custom existed forty years before
the date of that Act (i.e., in 1509). This Mr. Tillett
had insisted upon at the previous bearing. The
ether paper was entitled "Thoughts on the Tythe of
Fish at Lowestoft," having special reference to the
mackerel fishing. This old document positively stated
that the vicar " accepted what the merchants were will-
ing to give." Mr. Cunningham then read a paper pur-
porting to be a copy of a document in the Rolls' Court ;
but this was not received as evidence because it had not
been authenticated. This paper declared that " twenty
years before the 9th of Elizabeth," there was a tithe of
fish, called " Christ's dole." On this Mr. Tillett re-
marked, that as the document was "upon the decay
of the vicarage," the language used was a fair pre-
sumption that at the date of the document there was no
such custom. This ended the vicar's case. Mr. Til-
lett contended that the claim had not been substan-
tiated, and then pressed some technical objections, one
of which was to the information, which declared that
these tithes were " arising in the parish of Lowestoft,"
whereas they clearly arose in the sea, which was not in
the parish of.Lowestoft. The magistrates overruled
the objection, and thought that sufficient evidence had
been given to prove the legality of the custom, and there-
fore ordered payment. It may as well be stated that
the order for payment was made out by the clerk to the
magistrates before the case had been heard,---9u elk
Chronicle.

PROM THIS MORNING PAPERS OF THIS DAT.
TIMES.—The meeting of Parliament being now
fixed, the anticipations of the world are drawn to
that important question on which it will be the first
duty of Parliament to pronounce judgment; and
never since the Peace did expectations more lively, or
hopes more vivid, greet the Legislative Assembly.
The dissolution of two Minis ries, and the recon-
struction of a third within the brief space of 15 days,
add to the interest which had already been created by
the rumours of apprehended scarcity. And in the
brief interval which must elapse, public curiosity is
gratified by the revelation, or public spirit delighted
by the developement, of a new policy ; every man is
prophesying after the dictates of his apparent in-
terest, or his supposed intelligence. Innumerable
are the versions of the Ministerial programme; vari-
ous are the shades of change which individual pre-
science foretells; everything from a nominal to an
extreme innovation, and from an innovation to a de-
struction ef the corn-law, is reported as probable, or
as certain, just as the prejudices of the informant
be agricultural or ccmmercial, and the temple of
his political cult in Bond-street or Manchester.
But one thing is striking enough. The mind of
every man is prepared for a change. Nobody seems
to think that the corn-law can remain as it is. A
conviction of an alteration being inevitable is as
strongly impressed on the agricultural mind as on
the manufacturing. It oozes out in the midst of
bovine celebrations and shouts of " No surrender."
Those who meet their tenantry to congratulate, or
to condole, or to exhort--all equally manifest the
same alarm, despi'e of every attempt to conceal it.
They deprecate all exaggeratoons about scarcity ; they
depreciate the reports of its existence; they say the
state of our harvests demand no such sweeping
change ; but in the midst of these protestations they
exhibit a consciousness of the necessity which must
herald the advent of a change. To the rest of the
community—that vast assemblage of human beings
who owe no allegiance to, and have no interest in,
the soil—whose only wealth is in their sinews or
their brains—who trade on the capital of industry or
ingenuity, and whose every hope of happiness is
closely knit with the increased happiness of the hu-
man race ;—to this vast and motly crowd the repeal
of the corn-laws has become a great and insurmount-
able necessity—a necessity which hardly tolerates the
mention of delay, and which will scarcely brook
the suggestions of a merciful compromise. In
such a state of things what is a Minister to
do ? The voice of the people calls one way, the in-
terests of a class another. Is it impossible to re-
concile the two ? Must the interests of a class—a
large class, and not uninfluential—be so directly hos-
tile to the behests of a people, that no midway line
presents itself, on which their dispute may be adjusted
without dishonour or detriment to either ? The
people cry aloud that new avenues of commerce, and
new channels of industry, be opened to their labour;
the producers exclaim against the injustice which
deprives them of their only market. They deprecate
competition ; their enemies pray for it. The one class
defies the rivalry of the world, the other shrinks from
the emulation of a few remote districts. The one
calls aloud to other nations—" Give us bread ; we will
give in return the broad cloths of Leeds, the cutlery
of Sheffield, the cottons of Manchester, and the wares
of Wolverhampton. Feed us, and we will clothe
you. We will enrich you with all that use can
demand or luxury purchase from the loom, the wheel,
and the steam-engine : we will enrich our own
countrymen with the wealth which always flows
from successful industry and unwearied toil." The
other mutters, grumblingly, and in low accents—.
" This manufacturing interest is a fearful thing :
it grows up like a Tower of Babel, and seems to
threaten Heaven ; therefore Heaven will punish
it, unless it is stopped in its growth. It presents an
awful idea to every pious mind ; therefore, let us
have no rivals in the bread-market, else we becOme
very poor, and our lands pass away from us." Such
are the two parties who are before the country. On
their claims it will be the Premier's duty to pass
sentence—a sentence which will be final or ephemeral
—comprehensive and decisive, or short, variable, and
of many changes—according to the terms in which
it is couched, and the wishes which it satisfies. It
may be that a scrupulous sense of fair play, or a
feeling somewhat like a fear, and apt by hasty minds
to be confounded with a fear, of a dominant class,
will induce him to propose terms of capitulation so
favourable to the worsted party, as almost to disguise
the reality, and certainly to retard the enjoyment, of
the achieved conquest. He may propose, for example,
an intervening fixed duty so high in its assessment,
and of so distant a termination, as really to deprive
the people for years to come of the benefits which they
may expect from the fulfilment of their desires. Or,
again, under the impression, or assumed impression,
that a great change would be a great wrong, and
that he is bound to compensate those whom he is
about to damnify, he may introduce such a scheme
of taxation as, by shifting the burden of imposts from
the producing to the consuming body, may not only
deprive the latter of the substantial fruits of their
victory, but may also—when the temporary panic
has subsided—raise the value of land to an undue
amount. In either case the Premier will act in-
juriously to the country and his own fair fame. In
either case, his policy can only be short-lived, and,
after enduring a few years of bitter censure, would
be condemned to an ignoble doom. Ten years ago a
compromise was possible, was desired, was popular.
But ten years have added three millions to our popu-
lation, but have not added the means of employment
for three millions. There are many more to be paid and
to be fed, but there are not commensurate means for
feeding and paying them. We are arrived at that
epoch in our commercial and manufacturing history
when we must bid, and bid boldly, for the mercantile
empire of the world, or consent to subside, with an
increasing population and decreasing supplies, into a
condition the most pitiable of all—the condition of a
country where there are a few rich monopolists, and
the rest are beggared idlers. The alternative is a
fearful one; but one which the people of England have
not only the opportunity but the heart and courage
to ward off. It is to that people that the Premier
must eventually submit his own decision for confir-
mation or disapproval. Be his judgment or his coun
sel what it may, it is by their verdict that his policy
must stand or fall ; and before such a court no just
Minister, no honest statesman, need tremble; for
though they sometimes err in their opinions of men,
or in their views of measures—though they may
magnify the benefits or exaggerate the importance of
particular schemes—their errors are neither lasting
nor pernicious. The people cannot be deluded, and
will not deceive themselves, for a long time together.
They have no love for mere theories, and avoid the
pursuit of empty shadows. If they engage with
zeal and steady perseverance in the advancement of
any policy, depend upon it they have reason to be-
lieve that policy is necessary and advantageous. If
they petition for years and years together for any
one boon, be confident that that boon is not a fiction,
If they complain of any grievance, that grievance is
not imaginary. More than this, and above this—no
sense of wrong, no desire of gain, blinds them to the
sacred light of justice. They regard it as the noblest
trait of their national character that success only
makes them merciful ; and that in the elation of
victory, they can spare the vanquished. To just
compromises—to equitable compensation—if the jus-
tice of it can be proved, and its extent assessed--they
will not demur. Conscious that their own cause ie
just, they will not condescend to tarnish it with the
pettiness of narrow injustice. Demanding what is
right for themselves, they will not deny what they are
satisfied is right to others. But they will resent an
extortionate demand; they will reject against an
unjust assessment; they will repudiate with scorn the
attempt to impose a new tax under the guise of
eliciting a composition for an old one. They may
sometimes; be fretted, but never can be played
upon with impunity. On Sir Robert Peel de-
volves the duty of proposing such a compromise ;
but its acceptance rests with the English people.
Sir Robert Peel resumes office under every fa-
vourable auspice. He resumes it disembarrassed
of past promises and past alliances. He resumes it
with the encouragement of a nation's desires, and the
confidence of a nation's hope. It is for him to settle
that long dispute which has survived the names and
badges of faction. On his settlement of it hangs that
prospective laurel which no great Minister ever yet
could banish from his inward contemplation. Let
him at once propose a great and comprehensive mea-
sure—final in its kind, but parent of innumerable
consequences—great and just at the same time—and
the gratitude of all posterity is his. Let him play
with this important business as a thing of shreds and
patches, to be docked here and stitched there—his
power is gone for ever. Does he ask for a sign to
guide him in his course ? Behold there is one at
hand. Two days ago one single meeting at Man-
chester collected 60,0001. A week ago a bucolic
meeting at Lewes scraped together 2001. .Ecce sig-
num ! Let him look to the spirit of energy, enter-
prise, and perseverance which the men of the North
have displayed in this new crusade ; and let him not
be deterred by taunt or menace, false shame or fear,
from carrying out a scheme of policy on which men
of feelings and lineage similar to his own have set
their hearts. They will support him; the people of
England will rally round him; and—should even a
Powerful party rebuke him—he may answer in the
bold language of antiquity—"Neque verb, Quirites,
ego eram, qui hoc tantum Imperium, tanquam Petri-
ciorum provinciam, administrare
ADVERTISER.—It has often been our lot to
eulogise the eloquence of the League at their meet-
ings in Covent-garden, and elsewhere, hut never did
that body or its friends make such a display of elo-
quence as that which electrified the people of Man-
chester on Tuesday. We do not allude to the
speeches of Mr. Cobden or those of any other of the
gentlemen present. The eloquence to which we
allude was not the eloquence of words ; if was the

Cr.
By distribution of tracts, including expenses
of distributors, cauriage, &c......
' By expenses of furniture and fixtures ...
By deputation expenses, including travelling
expenses to attend meetings and Parlia-
mentary elections in various parts of the
United Kingdom
, By grants to local Free-trade Committees --
By general salaries of office-staff, including
all employed in London and Manchester
on the general business of the League,
weekly wages, &c., &c.
By postage-stamps and postages, sundry
office expenses, petty cash and incidental
expenses, including repairsand alterations,
coals, cleaning, &c
By expenses ofi meetings, including hire of
noir s, erecting hustings, and all other
expenses connected with public meetings
By salaries and expenses of lecturers, includ-
ing travelling expenses, &c.
By rents, taxes, and, gas including rent of
Covent-garden Theatre, house and offices,
London and Manchester
By stamped publications, printing and sta•
tioncry, reporting, &c. &c
By bazaar expenses, including wages of per-
sons employed during the bazaar, fitting
up Covent-garden Theatre, and general
expenditure in advertising, printing, tra-
velling expenses, &c. &c.
By expenses of League newspaper, in-
cluding salaries of conductors, editor,
and contributors, stamps, paper, and
printing
Deduct receipts for casual sale 1,227 6 3 10,161 7
By registration expenses, including salaries,
travelling, and other expenses of registra-
tion agents, legal expenses, wages of
clerks, printing and stationery, expenses
in registration courts, and general expenses
on registration business
Balance on hand .

15,534 4 1
12,033 11 1

'63,174 13 6
WILLIAM BICKHAM,/ Members of the Finance
SAMUEL LEES, Committee.
W. RAWSON, Treasurer.
Examined and found correct.
WILLIAM EVANS, Member of the Council.
We should like to see an analysis by Lord Mont-
eagle of this statement, and more especially should we
like to be able to see the distinction between the item
"expenses of meetings, including hire of rooms," and
the item " rents, taxes, and gas, including rent of
Covent-garden Theatre." Again, the ingenious Mr.
Wilson charges at one place for " expenses of furni-
ture and fixtures," then makes a second charge for
"erecting hustings ;" and, thirdly, after all "other
expenses," charges for " fitting up of Covent-garden
Theatre." Mr. Wilson would have made an excel-
lent Old Bailey attorney, especially in drawing in-
dictments. He has such a power of saying the same
thing in different words that the escape from his
meshes would be as difficult as the recall of any
money given to the Anti-Corn-law League. His
peculiar genius shines brilliantly in the ar-
ticle of " travelling expenses." The tract dis-
tributors (and considering the average number
of pumps in each particular county, under which such
gentlemen run the risk of being put, we would not
at all object to their receiving proper remuneration),
and the agitators, Cobden ,and the Quaker, and the
" registration agents," all charge their travelling ex-
lenses, and Mr. Wilson, snore suo, varies the counts.
n the distribution of money to the latter class—that
is, the " registration agents," we trust that the
Leaguers have not forgotten their poor old dupe
William Worthington, of Cow-lane, Coventry. That
respectable elderly individual was within a very nar-
row chance of proceeding to the Australian colonies,
merely for swearing that he signed for the League
certain notices which he did not sign. The forbear-
ance of the attorney for the Conservatives of War-
wickshire Sessions, leaves Mr. Worthington still the
decus et tetamen of the Anti- Corn-law League at
Coventry ; but though their paper designated him, be-
cause he was found out, " superannuated and in his dot-
age," that is all the greater reason why some portion of