The Sun.
London, England, 1844-05-31 00:00:00

siastical Court. Such tribunals were founded on coin- The LORD CHANCELLOR feared that such a
mon sense and common justice, and Lord Hale and Lord I change would entail expenses upon prisoners in the re- !
Holt had denounced the Ecclesiastical Courts as tri- moval of witnesses, which they could ill sustain. A
bunals against common justice and common sense.— better division of the year seemed most practicable, by ,
(Hear, hear.) The Hon. Gentleman concluded by making the summer circuit begin at a different period.
moving the motion of which he had given notice. Lord BROUGHAM apprehended that no inconve-
Mr. HUME seconded the motion. nience had been experienced in Scotland by making the
Dr. NICOLL said that the principle of the Bill had venue transitory. It was accomplished by a small ad-
been affirmed on the second reading, so far as related to vance of money.
the retention of certain portions of ecclesiastical juris- The LORI) CHANCELLOR thought that the country
diction; but the Hon. Gentleman was not satisfied with gentlemen would object to any such charge bring made
that, and wanted to have the ecclesiastical courts abolished. upon the county rates..
altogether, but at the end of his speech the Hon. Gen- The Duke of RICHMOND remarked that if- the as-
tleman said that he was prepared to maintain an cede- sizes were to commence in August," that was the month
siastical jurisdiction for the discipline of the clergy. It in which in his part of the country the harvest usually
was absolutely essential for the maintenance of the Esta- began.
blished Church, that it should possess a criminal jurisdic- 2he return was then ordered.
tion. With regard to the case alluded to by the Hon. Gen- CUSTOMS BILL.
tleman, he begged to remind him that where there were On the motion of the Earl of DALHOUSIE, the
two litigious persons, a case would be attended with Customs Bill was read a second time.—Committee to-
large costs in any of their courts of equity or common morrow.'
law, but the case alluded to by the Honourable
Gentleman would be put an end to by the Bill if
the brawling did not take place in the church, but if it
took place in the church surely the Hon. Gentleman
would not, for decency's sake, wish that there should not

ENDOWED SCHOOLS.

Lord WHARNCLIFFE moved the second reading.
'of the School Endowment 13i11, explaining that the pur-
pose of it was to give greater facility to the Privy Coun-
cil in the endowment of small schools in poor neigh-
bourhoods.

be a means to prevent it,
(LEFT SPEAKING.)

SENTENCE of the COURT-MARTIAL
ON SERGEANT-MAJOR W. NELAME.
On Wednesday the Court re-assembled at Chatham Bar-
racks, when the following charges and sentence upon Ser.-
geant-Major William Nelame were promulgated, who bad
demanded an inquiry, in consequence of certain allegations
having been made against him by Major L. C. N. Meyer,
Superintendent of the Cavalry Riding Establishment at
Maidstone :
Charge 1. For conduct to the prejudice of good order and
military discipline, in having, at Maidstone, on the 26th of
March, 1844, offered to Major Meyer, the Riding-Master of
the Cavalry Depot at Maidstone, some bank-notes, saying, at
the same time, I have brought you a present, or words to
that effect; and when ordered by the said Major Meyer to
remove such bank-notes, begging the said Major Meyer to
accept them, he, the said Sergeant-Major Nelame being at
the same time under the instructions of the said Major Meyer,
with a view to qualify himself for the appointment of Riding-
Master to the 12th Lancers, and intending such sutn of money
as a. bribe to the said Major Meyer, to report favourably of
his qualifications.—Guilty.
An additional charge preferred against the prisoner for
having at Maidstone, in a letter addressed and sent by him,
the said Sergeant- Major Nelame, to the Most Noble Field-
Marshal Arthur, Duke of Wellington, Commander-in-Chief
of her Majesty's Forces, bearing date the 2d day of April,
made false and malicious assertions, with intent to injure and
defame, and to give his Grace the Commander-in-Chief false
impressions of the conduct of the said Major Meyer, in the
following instances—to wit :-
Ist Instance—ln asserting, en the 7th of December last,
" I got a ride to drill, Colonel Middleton and Major Meyer
being present. After drilling the ride, I was mounted on a
horse, and rode two or three times round the-school. When
I was dismounted, Major Meyer told me my drilling was
good, but my riding was bad." Whereas, in truth and in
fact, the said Major Meyer did not, on the occasion referred
to in the said letter, tell the said Sergeant-Major Nelame
that his drilling was good.—Guilty.
6th Instance—ln asserting that, when all these means
(thereby meaning the alleged means mentioned in preceding
instances) fail, he (thereby meaning the said Major) makes
a report to Colonel Middleton that " I gave him a sum of
money for the purpose of getting him to make a favourable
report of me to the Horse Guards. How any person holding
the high and honourable position he does could stoop to such
a subterfuge shocks me." Whereas, in truth and in fact,
such report to Colonel Middleton was not, as insinuated in
the said letter, false or malicious, but was a true report,
made by the said Major Meyer in the due discharge of his
duty.—Guilty.
Sentence—To be reduced to the ranks.
This declaration came like a thunder-clap upon the Ser-
geant-Major, who, it was evident, did not expect it. We
understand that he has been actively engaged in the service
of his country for the last eight-and-twenty years, sixteen
of which wereas sergeant-major, and two years as regi-
mental sergeant-major. Upon the stripes being cut from his
jacket, he indignantly threw it off, and declared he would
never put it on again, although he was strongly persuaded
so to do, and join his regiment. He subsequently became so
excited and ill, that he was ordered to be removed to Fort
Pitt Hospital, whence he was conveyed in a carriage pro-
cured from the town for that purpose.