The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-27 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, THURSDAY EVENING, MARCH 27, 1845.

On Tuesday night, between eleven and twelve
o'clock, some alarm was occasioned at Kingstom-bottom
by a horse and gig coming down to the Robin Hood gate
without any person. The horse was secured, and some
men immediately proceeded up the road towards London
in search of the party or parties who were in the vehicle.
About half a mile from the gate two gentlemen were
found lying in the road in an insensible state, and very
much cut and bruised. They were immediately con-
veyed to the Robin Hood public-house, and a medical
gentleman was called in, who in a short time restored
the gentlemen to a state of consciousness. One of them
was recognised as a medical practitioner of Clapham.
EFFECTS OF THE REDUCTION OF THE GLASS
DUTY.—A proposal has been made in Manchester to
roof with glass two streets in the neighbourhood of the
Exchange, for the convenience of the congregated mer-
chants.

ASSIZE INTELLIGENCE.

MIDLAND ClRCUlT.—Leicester, March 25.

CROWN COURT.—(Before Chief Ju tice TINDAL.)
RIOT AND ASSAULT.—Joseph Colthur.s4 Edward Tal-
bot Mullins, Henry I?opar, Charles Henry Cosse, George
Richardson, and Thomas Hibbins, were charged with
having on the morning of Saturday, the 16th day of No-
vember last, in the parish of Wymondham, in this county,
been guilty of a riot. There were other counts in the
indictments charging assaults to have been committed
on the persons of Stephen Stokes, William Grooby, and
John Lewin.

The counsel engaged for the prosecution were, Mr.
Whitehurst, Q.C., Mr. Mellor, and Mr. Flowers. For
the defence, Mr. Hill, Q.C., Mr. Humfrey, Q.C., Mr.
W. Burnaby, and Mr. Macaulay.
This prosecution arose out of an attempt made by some
of the officers of the Midland Counties Railway to make
a survey of some portion of Lord Harborough's park,
called Stapleford Park, for the purposes of an intended
line of railway from Syston to Peterborough. The
affair made much noise at the time. The facts, as de-
tailed by counsel, and proved by the witnesses, were
as follow :—The Midland Counties Railway having
projected a branch line from Syston, a village about
five miles from Leicester, to Peterborough, it became
necessary to take the levels, &c., of the intended
line. The line in question was proposed to be carried
through Stapleford Park, the property of Lord
Harborough, running at a distance of near a mile
from the Noble Earl's residence, but within two or three
hundred yards of a cottage which his Lordship had built
and embellished at great cost, and in which he nearly
always resid(s. It appeared that a request had been
preferred by the Company to his Lordship to be allowed
to come upon the park for the purpose of making a
survey, but Lord Harborough refused such permission.
Some attempt had been made early in the week to make
the required survey by the towing path of the Oakham
canal, which runs by the side of the park, but this had
been resisted. It would seem that some sort of an un-
derstanding was come to that no further attempt should
be made to complete the survey until the respective par-
ties had been before a magistrate; but late on the Friday
night preceding the morning in question, information
was received by Lord Harborough's agents that the
Company intended at an early hour on Saturday to go
upon the park and make the required survey. Parties
were immediately dispatched to the neighbouring vil-
lages for the purpose of calling the tenants and labourers
on his Lordship's estate into the field to resist the in-
tended aggression, and some of them arrived upon the
ground as early as a quarter to six, where they found the
defendants, who, with the assistance of their work
people, to the number of 70 or 80, were about to com-
plete the business they had come upon. They were re-
quested to desist, and to go about their business. They
refused, and thence arose a fight and disturbance, which
lasted a considerable time, and in the result Lord Har-
borough's people remained masters of the field. Many
acts of violence on the part of the defendants were de
posed to. A witness named Colson stated that, upon
warning the defendants to desist, they said they would
go on in spite of him, and he was pushed against and
rolled over. The " railways," as the witnesses for the
prosecution styled the company's servants, were armed
with long pieces of wood, having iron spikes at their
ends ; but these were to stick in the ground, and were a
part of their business apparatus. Some witnesses spoke
to their having bludgeons in their pockets. All the wit-
nesses for the prosecution denied that they themselves
had any weapons beyond walking-sticks, and those only
a few, and that their numbers did not exceed twenty or
thirty. Mr. Fabian, the steward of Lord Harborough,
stated that he arrived in the park a little before seven on
the morning of Saturday, and he thought there were
seventy or eighty, and from that to one hundred of the
" railways" present ; that he heard the noise in the park
upwards of half a mile off; that upon coming up he saw
Colthurst, and addressed him, saying, " These are most
disgraceful proceedings, Mr. Colthurst." He replied,
" Mr. Fabian, if you do not wish to be hurt, I should
advise you to go away." Mr. Fabian replied, "he
thought he (Fabian) had more right there than he had."
There was a desperate struggle, but at last the " rail-
ways" beat a retreat. Then be ordered the gates of
the park to be closed, in order that the parties
implicated might be identified, and among them were the
defendants.

In cross-examination, the witness said it had been
called in the newspapers, " the battle of Suxby-bridge."
Does not know that Lord Harborough commanded in
chief. Was a general on that occasion, if Mr. Hill
pleased to call him so. He sent Skinner over, Lord
Harborough's servant, as an aid-de-camp to summon the
rank and file to Stapleford. Could not tell their num-
ber, had not looked at the muster-roll lately. The men
who came before the fray was over and those who came
after received 2s. 6d. each, and rations on the Monday.
There was no artillery. Heard nothing about the
cannon of Lord Harborough's yacht until after the day
in question.
William Grooby spoke to Colthurst " bragging" at
him with a staff, having an iron spike at the end, with
which he made a hole in his coat, and John Lewins was
assaulted and had a wound in his side ; he could not see
it, but felt it for weeks afterwards. Many other wit-
nesses spoke to the noise and tumult that distinguished
the morning of this eventful 15th, describing the "rail-
ways" as armed with staves, and distinguished by white
linen, or ribbon, tied round their arms, the morning not
at first being light.
Mr. HILL made an elosquent speech in favour of the de-
fendants, the gist of which was to show that the parties in
question had no intent to commit or provoke any breach
of the peace, but they had gone there early in the
morning, so that Lord Harborough should be less dis-
turbed, and the number of men spoken to as being upon
the ground arose from the necessity there was for their
assistance to work the chains, many
.being provided to
finish the business of the survey.
The CEIEF JUSTICE said it was clear the defendants
had no right to have been there, and it was a riot of
more than three persons, assembled for a common pur-
pose, the object being to do that which would or might
create a broach of the peace.
The jury, however, acquitted the defendants of the
riot, and found them guilty of the assault only; and
they were sentenced each to one month's imprisonment
in the county gaol.

completed within the meaning of the statute upon which
the indictment was framed, and directed the jury to ac-
quit the prisoner.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.
(WEDNESDAY.)
(Before the ASSITANT-JUDGE and a Bench of Magis•
trates.)
THE BPA-FIELDS' BURIAL-GROUND.

An indictment was preferred by Mr. Wakeling, on be-
half of the parochial authorities of elerkenwell, against
the parties engaged in the perpetration of the outrages
of public decency at the Spa-fields' burial-ground, which
are at present exciting so much attention.
The grand jury returned a true bill against Robert
Vinall, William Langford, Francis Green, William Chas.
Bird, William Green ; Tom Smith, and Stephen Bishop,
labourers, for opening the graves, removing the dead
bodies, destroying the coffins, and interring in the burial-
ground a greater number of deceased persons than the
place could decently contain, in violation of public
decency, and against the public health.
The trial, it is understood, will not take place this
session, which will have terminated probably before the
parties can have surrendered in due course of law.

The prisoner said he merely picked up tho dog in
Vero-street, about five or six weeks ago, not knowing to
whom it belonged. He hoped God would forgive him if
he told a lie, if the Magistrate did not, and that was all.
He declared that he had not been out of doors from that
time to the present, having met with an accident the
very night he found the dog. If picking up a dog in the
street was stealing, why of course he stole it, and that
was all he had to say about it.
Mr. TWYFORD asked how ho had come possessed of
all the other dogs found at his lodgings?
The prisoner replied that he had met with them ho-
nestly, and could call a witness who was present to prove
it. A week or two ago he gave 31. for one of them.
The witness alluded to was not forthcoming.
Mr. TWYFORD had no doubt of the prisoner's guilt,
and therefore fined him 51., in addition to the value of
the dog, 21., directing his committal to hard labour for
two months in default of payment.
The prisoner—Hard labour, indeed! • I shall pay the
money rather than put up with that, at all events.
He was then removed from the bar, and at a later
period of the'day a companion waited on the Magistrate,
and requested a mitigation of the penalty to 51. This
request was refused by his worship, and consequently
the entire amount was paid, upon which the prisoner
was liberated.

AERIAL MACHINES and BALLOONS
7'o THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

SlR,—Your valuable journal contained, a few
days since, a paragraph respecting the construction of
another flying machine, the particulars of which ap-
pear to have been given in the Cincinnati Gazette.
This is a subject, Sir, which, as you will remember, no
great length of time back was noticed by the press
of this country, and the aerial machine referred to
was looked upon by many scientific men and the
public as a wonderful and clever invention, calculated
to be made available for useful purposes. Yet we
find that the aerial machine, which was so generally
talked about, although a promising infant and a sur-
prising model, never lived to exert its astounding
mechanical powers, or to give the least proof of its
being worthy of the patronage of the wise or the
support of a discerning public. The quiet way in
which this " thing of life" expired was strikingly con-
trasted to the pompous announcements and particulars
which characterised its birth ; and the confidence and
sanguine expectations which many reputed scientific
men felt and displayed about it, happened to be suc-
ceeded by convictions and acknowledgement that it
was all humbug, although at first they thought there
was a great deal in the thing. Perhaps there was a
great deal in it, but whether the great deal was likely
to propel it through the atmosphere, or cause it to
remain stock still as a cumbrous lot of ma-
chinery—this, indeed, may be left to able con-
jecture. It is doubtless fair to admit that this
aerial machine was originally designed to rise and
fall, but from the peculiarity of its make and shape,
the rise and fall seem to have been intended for our
estimation of it, and not for elevation or depression in
the atmosphere.
We have not long ascertained the total failure of
this machine in the old world, when we hear of an-
other flying machine in the new world. It is to be
hoped, however, that no countenance will be given to
such a project this side of the Atlantic, and in order
to point out that it would be unwise to do so, a few
reasons will be given in the following lines, why
flying machines cannot answer the expectations of
their inventors; and why this new
,flying machine,
which is different in construction to that which has
flown from notice, will also prove a failure.
In the first place, flying machines, which are de-
signed to imitate the motions of birds, fall short of the
power, owing to the impossibility of the finest piece of
art to equal the roughest piece of nature. The
march of inventions and improvements cannot fur-
nish a specimen of workmanship that will precisely
imitate the action of a fish in water, or a serpent on
land, yet machinery has something to grapple with
both in the liquid and the solid. Neither can a ma-
chine be made to act like a bird in the air, and these
are some of the reasons.

The best possible machinery that could be con-
centrated in an artificial bird, the size of a rook, would
not impart anything like similar control over the air,
to that which we observe in the real bird. The works
however ingeniously put together must necessarily act
in many different forms and ways, in order to resemble
the spreading of the tail, the flapping of the wings,
&c., and as the action of one part of an artificial bird
would be essentially different to that of another, so
the works to produce such effects must be multiplied,
and the machinery indispensable to accomplish this
would move a greater weight than the wings, tail,
&c., could possibly move with safety, regularity, and
precision. Hence the insurmountable difficulty. The
most powerful machinery that could be brought to
bear would show about as much tendency to raise
and guide the bird, as would the wings of a thrush
affixed to a raven. I want strong machinery, com-
posed of very light materials, and not only an arti-
ficial bird but a real pig may fly ; but at present this
cannot be done ; therefore aerial machines seem
adapted to act upon the public mind rather than the
open atmosphere..
The new machine, however, for which Mr. Pen-
nington has obtained a patent, differs from Mr. Hew-
son s in many important points. Mr. Pennington's
plans seem more closely to resemble those which were
demonstrated, about four years ago, and since at the
Polytechnic Institution. The buoyancy of his con-
trivance he proposes to acquire by a number of sec-
tion ballons, and although, like the first American
aeronaut, he prefers balloons to a balloon, still an as-
cending power may probably be obtained in this
way. The guiding and propelling of the aerial vessels
Mr. Pennington intends to effect with a steam-
engine of one-and-a-half horse power, and a rudder is
also to be used.

Now, a very few remarks will suffice to show that
this scheme will end in disappointment, for it is a
fact that neither balloons nor aerial machines can be
guided through the air. The former can be done
nothing with, and the latter must run their course, or
rather the course of the wind.

For machinery to govern the motion of a balloon,
the wings, wheels, or oars, must be in proportion to
the balloon, just as the wings of a bird are adapted to
the size of the body. Some very able endeavours
have been made to convince people that a little ma-
chinery at the bottom of the car will produce won-
drous movements ; and so they may in a room.or still
atmosphere, just as a first-rate may be moved
in still water, by a number of hands walking aft with
a hawser. But let the ship be influenced by strong
wind and tide, stout cables, and heavy anchors will
not hold her, or allow the model balloon, guided by
clock-work, to feel the least breeze of governing her
motions; and as such a practice would tend to destroy
the balloon, even if it :could be adopted, we rea-
sonably conclude that all attempts of this sort merit
marked deprecation instead of meeting, with public
encouragement.
It is not surprising that inexperienced men intro-
duce impracticable measures, when experienced men
set the example. Nor is it very singular that the
guiding of balloons should bo attempted in the new
world, since the same thing has been talked about
in the old. That such an idea should arise in the
mind of an ingenious gentleman on the other side of
the Atlantic, is not to be wondered at, since a report
reached the American shores, that a celebrated Eng-
lish aeronaut had actually guided his balloon thither,
and although this report is positively known to be un-
true, it might have stimulated the inventive genius of
the new candidate for aeronautic fame. The guiding
of balloons in England having been a subject of con-
versation, and not a real performance, it is highly
probable that the newly invented flying machine in
America will end in a like humiliating manner. If
such bold and enterprising men as Messrs. Holland,
Spencer, and Rush, would continue to promote
scientific undertakings, the science might advance
rapidly—error would be pointed out, and unscientific
displays for mercenary purposes exposed and put a
stop to. We might then reasonably hope that bal-
looning would rise into importance, and become of
real utility .—I remain, Sir, your obedient ser-
vant, HENRY WELLS.

THE FALLACY OF THE ORGANIC
THEORY.

" Anatomy or dissection can give no insight into the
cause or cure of diseases."—The 35th clause of Sir J.
Graham's New Medical Bill.

TO THE EDITOR OF THE SUN.

Sir,—Does not the fact of scarcely two Doctors
agreeing, in any case, as regards the cause and cure
of diseases, prove that the knowledge which they pre-
tend to derive from anatomy or diisection, is com-
pletely fallacious ? The truth is, that anatomy cannot
give an insight into the cause of diseases, since
that cause proceeds from an impurity in the blood,
which can only be •eradicated by proper vegetable
purgation ; it has, therefore, nothing whatever to do
with anatomy. The only possible use of anatomy is
in the setting of bones, &c., proceeding from accidents
as applied to diseases it is perfectly useless, and only
leads to the contradictions so characteristic of doctors.
In order to understand the above more fully, persons
should compare the human body to a tree, with its
roots and branches, they will then understand that
when diseased it should be treated as a whole, and not
piece-meal, as doctors do, one remedy for this, another
for that, and so on to the end of the chapter. The
world should never forget that drainage of the land is
precisely to the tree what proper purging is to the
human body. This is made manifest by the two
Lithographic Prints, to be had of all the Hygeian
Agents, which Prints should be in the possession of all
who care about their health.

In conclusion, we will only observe, that if Sir
James Graham attempts, by any quibble, to prevent
any boly of men from holeling and expressing
opinions, however adverse they may be to the
Organic Theory, or the pecuniary interests of Doc-
tors, he will be guilty of a great crime, not only
towards this nation, but mankind generally. We
use the word " quibble," because the 35th clause of
his Mew Medical Bill is widely different from his
first bill ; that clause is most artfully and cunningly
altered, and clearly aims at abrogating (if possible)
the medical liberty of the subject. Let the peo-
ple and Members of Parliament look to it before it
is too late. Sir James Graham may, in his place
in Parliament, puff the doctors as much as he
pleases ; their museums, their Greek and Latin,
their Regius Professorships,* &c., (as if such ac-
complishments had anything to do with the cause or
cure of disease); but we deny his right of abridging,
in any manner, the medical liberty of the subject.
'What the people require is this : that Doctors should
pursue a true, and not an interested, theory for the
cure of diseases, and we contend that their Organic
Theory does not tend to that ; it is, in short, a theory