The Sun.
London, England, 1828-06-20 00:00:00

LONDON, FRIDAY EVENING, JUNE 20, 1828.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

GUILDrIALL.-.--COTMELL V. JONIS.—This was a
case of assault and battery, alleged to have been perpe-
trated ou the person of a :Mr. Thomas Cottrell, by Charley
Jones—one of the light weights of the prize-ring.
" May it please your Worship (said Mr. Thomas Cot-
trell—a fourteen-stone shoemaker, with one eye thumped
black and the other green),—as I was walking up Skinner •
street, at two o'clock on Sunday morning, this young mau
knocked me down. I got up again, and asked him why he
did so ; but instead of making me a reasonable answer he
ordered me to walk on,—. Walk on, Sir !' said he—just
as though he had been the Duke of Wellington him-
self !—I told hirn.l did not see why I should walk on at
his bidding, and again I told hiin I very much wished to
know why he had knocked me down. With which, may
it please your Worship, he gave me several severe blows on
the head, and knocked me down again. So then I thought
it was time to call the watch : and I did; but before they
could come he gave me his name and address : and so I
sent him a summons, and here he might think,
perhaps, that he was thumping me by way of lark only ;
but I can tell him thet i don't like such blows as those!"
.4 Well, Jones," said the ALDERMAN, " you hear he
says he does not like such blows—why did you give them
to him ?"—" Your Worship," replied Mr. Jones, " I
hardly know what to say about such a foolish thing. The
young man ran against me, and when I asked him what he
did that for, he put himself in a fighting attitude ; and of
course I had a good right to stand up to him in my own de-
fence."
" said Mr. Alderman VE-

ik, I

He was drunk, suppose,
NA BLES.-" He was decidedly so, your Worship," replied
Mr. Jones.
" And tell me, Cottrell, was Jones drunk ?" asked the
ALDERMAW..--" He was," replied Mr. Cottrell.
" Why, then," said his Worship, " pay five shillings
each for having been drunk ; and don't be swaggering
about the streets at two o'clock in the morning again."
Jones—glad that his profession had not been called in
question—posted his crown in an instant, and bolted ;
but Cottrell was very sulky about it. However, there
was no remedy, and he paid his five shillings ; which,
with the two shillings for the summons, left him seven
shillings minus by the job, besides the damage done to his
eyes.
110 - ST REET. —AeratHENsioN or Two BURG-
LARS.—Yesterday dames Evans and William Painter,
two notorious characters, were brought before Mr. HALLS,
charged with being found with housebreaking.tools in their
possession.
The prisoners have long been known to the police as
marked men, and Evans was, only a few days back, in
custody, with two other men, upon a similar charge. As
Fagan, an officer was going his rounds yesterday morning
between one and two, he met the prisoners walking fast, in
Church-street, St. Giles's, and stopped them. On search-
ing them he found two "jemmies," and other housebreak-
ing instruments. He accordingly secured them, and took
them to the watch-house, where they confessed having at-
tempted to break in to a house in Tottenham-court-road,
but had not sufficient tools with them to accomplish their
design, and were returning to equip themselves properly
when they were apprehended by Fagan, who stated that
both the prisoners had been convicted of felonies at the
Old Bailey.
The prisoners at first stoutly denied every thing stated
against them, and declared that the instruments found in
their possession were the tools belonging to their respective
trades.
Mr. HALLS asked what were their trades'—Evans said
he was a shoemaker and Palmer a smith.
Mr. Hat.Ls asked them to explain in what branch of
their respective arts the tools found upon them were-used ?
The prisoners twirled their hate, looked queer, but made no
reply.
They were thereupon committed for two months each to
48 • the House of Correction.

STABBING.-Yesterday morning a young man, named
Jacob Gerrard, attired in the most miserable manner, and
a woman calling herself "let Saunders, were placed et the
bar, and charged by an ill-looking fellow, named John
Giles, with stabbing him and robbing him of one so-
vereign.
The complaisant was a casual vender of sparrows and
other birds, and at one time resided in Church-street, St.
Giles's. About a week , ago, after returning from his
daily occupation one evening, he went up stairs, and per-
ceived - another young woman present in the midst of a
number of persons, who were beating and kicking her
in a manner that seemed would shortly deprive her of
life. Commiserating her situation, he immediately rushed
among them to rescue her, when he was thrown down,
and stabbed with a knife. He did nut recover for a short
time, and when he did he found himself deprived of all the
Money he had in his pocket, amounting to the sum stated
in the charge. To the best of his recollection the two pri-
soners were the most active in his maltreatment, and were
the only individuals who robbed him.
After the prosecutor had detailed this statement, a long
and desultory conversation passed between the parties, in
which it came to the Magistrate's (Mr. JIALLs) know-
ledge that the prosecutor had not conductod himself ultoge-
they right.
The prisoners were then acquitted of the charge of stab-
bing, and sentenced only to find bail to keep the peace.
MARLBOROUGH-STREET.—Sane. Dyer, a young
man of respectable exterior, was charged with robbing his
master, Edward Farnham, Esq. of 13, Stratton-street,
Piccadilly, of plate to a considerable amount.
It appeared that the prisoner entered Mr. Farnham's
service on the 7th instant as under-butler, having previously
lived in the family of 11Irs. Siddons but his conduct was so
irregular that Mrs. Siddons ga‘ye him 10/. and dis-
charged him four and twenty hours after he entered on the
ditties of his situation. On Thursday evening the prisoner
got drunk and stole a bottle of Champagne, for which
offence Mr. Farnham discharged him forthwith, and a few
hours after he went away Thomas Jones, the head butler,
missed three silver table-spoons. On Friday morning the
prisoner pledged three table-spoons at Mr. Gofton's, in
Gilbert-street, Grosvenor-square, and on Monday after-
noon he entered Mr. Gofton's shop and offered to pledge
three silver forks, but the shopman observing that tha
crests on the spoon had been partly effaced, refused to ad-
vance any money on them, and compelled the prisoner to
accompany him to this office, when he said k: was a car-
penter, and lived in Robert-street.
Avis, the officer, made the necessary inquiries, and as-
certained that the prisoner had not resided in Robert-
street for nine months ; and he then referred the officer to
the Queen, in Oxford-street, where he was informed that
the prisoner had lived with a family in Stratton-street up
to Thursday last. The butler of Mr. Farnham's was then
applied to, and on examining the plate he found that a
greet deal was missing, and identified the spoons and forks
in Mr. Gofton's possession as Mr. Farnham's property.
An elderly man, named Thomas Woodland, was in the
prisoner's company when he was taken into custody, who
stated that the forks and spoons were the property of the
prisoner's' father, and be was authorised to dispose of thew.
Circumstances of suspicion arose against Woodland, and he
was also apprehended. He told Mr. Roe that he had been
a schoGi-master in Newman-street, and that a twelve-
month ago he lived is Lord Melville's family for five
months, and had the care of all his Lordship's plate.
Mr. NOE considered that there was no evidence to affect
Woodland, and he was therefore discharged. The other
prisoner was committed fur trial.
UNION-HALL—About ten days ago a young ma"
named Robert Augustus Sewell, the son of a gentleman
holding a situation in the Custom House, was brought h"-
fore the Magistrates of this office by the parish officers of
Lambeth, for having suffered his wife to heroine charge-
able to that parish. The defendant alleged that the cause
of his being unable to support his wife arose from the cir-
cumstance of Lis father having discarded him in came-
. pence of his forming an alliance with a family inferior to
his own. The Magistrate believing that he had acted ure
der the advice of his friends, and that he was about to pro-
ceed to the Cape of Good Hope, and would take his wife
with him, suspended the proceedings for a week, and wt
him at liberty. He subsequently left his wife, and went
on board of a vessel lying in the River Thames, bound for
the Cape, where lie was taken into custody by the beadle of
Lambeth, at the moment the vessel was weighing anchor.
He was committed to 13,rixton.Claol for one month.

On Friday last a living lobster was caught in a
casting net, in the river Medway, opposite Maidstone
Church. It lived some time after being taken, and the
rarity of the occurrence attracted numbers of petsons
see the tit &--Maidstone Journal.

A PARALLEL TO THE FLIXTON ROAD

CASE.-CLERICAL MAGISTRATES.

(From the Manchester Gazette.)
The public are well acquainted with the efforts
which were made by Ralph Wright, t sq., one of
our Magistrates, to stop up a footway passing across
his park, and of the final success of the appellants
against the orders which had been signed by two of
his Worshipful brethren. of the Bench. A similar
effort has lately been made to deprive the public of
their right of road in the neighbourhood of thorns-
grove, in Worcestershire, and as the success of the
opposition to it may in some degree be considered
the result of the Flixton case, our readeis will not

think that we are taking their attention too far from
florae in laying before them a brief statement of

:he ease.

In the parish of Stoke'Prior, about a mile from
Bromsgrove, resides a Dr. Collett, at a place called
Oakalls, which is situated between the parallel roads

leading out from BromsgTove, the one to Alcester
and the- other to Rigby Hall and Stoke-chapel. A
road crosses from these two parallel roads passing
close to Dr. Collett's house, and by this way the
people on the Alcester road used to cross to Rigby
Hall, and to the chapel. Dr. Collett, about fourteen
years ago, without any magistrates' order, diverted
this cross-road to a greater distance from his own
house, and formed a paddock on the site of•the old-
road. Our readers will recollect that our neighbour
Mr. Wright, when he had formed a park out of a
few small fields, began to think of getting quit alto-
gether of a footway which he had in like mariner
diverted. Dr. Collett looked on his lawn as Mr.
Wright looked on his park. lie had driven the
public to some distance from him, and he thought
he should be more comfortably situated if he could
drive them away altogether. Having some good
friends amongst his neighbours in the magistracy,
he applied to the Right Honourable and Reverend
Walter Hutchinson, Lord Aston, and the Reverend
Wm. Vernon, Clerks, (we like to give them their
full designations), and these Clerical Justices, on the
7th June, 1827, signed an order for stopping up
this " useless and unnecessary" cross road, as far as
it went through the lands of Dr. Collett, but left out
of their order that part of it which went through
the lands of Mr. Ellins, of Rigby Hall, so that m
the event of its confirmation, Dr. Collet could have
gone along the property of Mr. Ellins, but Mr.
Ellins and no one else could have gone far-
ther than the verge of Dr. Collett's pro-
perty. This encroachment on public and private
rights excited the indignation which every such
attempt ought to excite. And appeal was entered
for trial at the Worcester Midsummer Sessions, and
evidence was prepared to prove that the road had
been a bridle way from time immemorial, and that
so far from being unnecessary, it was in constant use
by numerous persons as a road to the Hall, to the
Church, to the Mill, and to other places, and a com-
munication between the two parallel roads, without
which a great number of residents at both ends of the
cross road would have had to go round at least 500
yards.. This evidence, however, owing to an infor-
mality in the notices of appeal, was not allowed to be
gone into, and the Worshipful the Magistrates eon.
firmed the order which had been made by their Cle-
rical brethren. Mr. Ellins, one of the appellants,
however, was not disposed to let the public rights be
violated without any inquiry into the merits of the
case, and accordingly, in Michaelmas Term last, a
motion was made in the Court of King's Bench,
for a rule to show cause why a certiorari should not
issue to remove the proceedings into that Court, and
this rule was, in the following term, made absolute.
These steps were preparatory to a motion far quash-
ing the order for stopping up the road. About the
time of applying for the rule for the certiorari, Mr.
Ellins having heard that the orders for stopping up
the Flixton footway had been quashed on account
of various informalities, opened a correspondence
with Mr. Charles Wood, the solicitor employed by
the parties who had sought to get those orders
quashed. Mr. Ellins came over to Manchester to
confer with Mr. Wood, and on that occasion, being
struck with the close resemblance which, in many
instances, the Flixton caze bore to his own, he paid
a • visit to the Flixton foot-way. We are sure our
readers will pardon us for mentioning also that Mr.
Ellins, when here, spent some time with Mr.
Richard Potter, the right arm of the Flixton oppo-
sition, and that on his return he carried with him
our own pamphlet, containing the long trial of that
appeal, which to him was tt little treasure.
Fortified by the experience which had been ay.
quire& in the Flixton appeal, Mr. Ellins and his
fellow-appellants became sanguine they should suc-
ceed. Dr. Collett, on his part, was not idle; for
when last Easter Term came, and the application
was made for a rule to show cause why the orders
should not be quashed, he put in a loug and insi-
diously drawn-up affidavit, stating that the orders
for stopping up the road had been confirmed,
leaving It to be Inferred that it had been confirmed,
after hearing the appeal ; that such road had been
for 11 years regularly in cultivation, of course say-
ing nothing of the fact that the diverted road was
used in its stead, and that he believed Mr. Ellins had
no other object in opposing the stopping of the saki
road than to annoy him, the said Dr. C'., by travelling
over, and procuring others to travel over it, Along
with this affidavit of Mr. Ralph Wright, of Stoke
Prior, affidavits were presented from the Rcr. Ma-
gistrates who had signed the order, in which, like Dr.
Collett, they stated that the order had been con:
firmed by the unanimous vote of the Magistrates in
Quarter Session, without saying a word of the fact
that the appeal was not heard ; and also stating, that
in signing the said order, the said Wm. Vernon, and
the said Walter Hutchinson Lord Aston, Clerks,
"acted according to their judgment." According
to their judgment ! We have ne great opinion of the
intellect of our Lancashire Magistracy, but when we
see twoßeverend Justices taking the very unusual step
of coming- into the Court of King's Beach, and
swearing that they acted according to their judg-
ment, we are forced to acknowledge that in genuine
absurdity our southern neighbours bear the bell.
On the 20th of May last, the motion for quashing
the order came on to be heard, when the rule was
made absolute, and the order was quashed, on the
ground that the Magit4rates, who signed it, did not
state, as the Act requires, that it having upon view
been fonnd to be useless, it -should lie stopped up,
but " upon view, or as it appeared to them." The
fact was, that they could not view the road. The
road ordered to be stopped was not the divert( el hut
the old road, and to view it they must have broken
through a garden wall, and cut through a plantation,
which had existed at least fourteen years. At the
opening of the road on the 26th of last month, a
portion of that wall was razed to the ground, and
several of the trees in the plantation were cut down,
and, as was the case at Flixton, a procession was
formed of a few individuals, who exercised the re-
stored right, and rejoiced in the triumph of law
over the grasping designs of another little tyrant of
the fields.
The case may still have to be tried on appeal,
against other orders that may be signed ; but if we
may judge from the depositions of the witnesses,
there
i eca
tes
,ahahveiug any
bench of Magistrates who, on
hearing
regard for their oaths,
or respect for their characters, would declare the
road to be " useless and unnecessary."

The Gloving business at Worcester, we ate
sorry to state, so fur from exhibiting any symptoms of
amendment, gets worse.—Hereford Journal.