The Sun.
London, England, 1844-06-17 00:00:00

rRE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING, JUNE 17, 18

" At present wagers are chiefly confined to sporting
events, but the practice of wagering is still deeply rooted
in the habits of the nation, and the practical imposition
of pecuniary penalties for wagers would be so repugnant
to the general feelings of the people, that such penalties
would scarcely ever be enforced, or if enforced would be
looked upon as an arbitrary interference with the free-
dom of private life."
We must own these passages gave us some mis-
givings. 'We recollected a recent threatened catas-
trope of an avalanche of " qui tam" actions impend-
ing over most noble Dukes, and Lord GEORGES, and
sporting Colonels—suddenly and miraculously ar-
rested in its descent, by the sedative effect of a pro-
tective or indemnity Bill, for a term, carried through
both Houses with a speed that " Running Rein" him-
self might have envied. 'We turned first to the list of
the Committee, where we found such names as
WORSLEY and LASCELLES, Colonel PEEL and Captain
BERKELEY, and Sir HORACE SEYMOUR—On some of
whom the qui-tam antipathy is most powerful)—and
then we turned to this strangely sympathising senti-
ment. Was it contributed by the Gallant Colonel
himself ?

" But to keep upon the Statute-book laws of a penal
character which have become obsolete and are little
known, having fallen into desuetude, is not a matter of
indifference ; because such laws being called into action
now and then, in special and particular cases, from mo•
tives arising out of personal considerations become snares
for the few instead of being restraints for the many ;
and instead of promoting what their framers considered
to be the public interest, they are converted into instru-
ments for gratifying the passions of private individuals."
We have, elsewhere, taken the trouble to string
together the various paragraphs of this very short re-
port, the burden of which is—not the evils of gaming
in general and society at large, but of " gaming
booths on race-courses" to the gentry of the sporting
world in particular. In the same spirit, whilst
" common gaming-houses," by that appellation, are
devoted to the infernal gods, by all the forms of im-
precation and adjuration which the Ancients would
have used, had they had any Tribunes in the shape of
Police Inspectors of A, B, and C Divisions, to em-
ploy for such a purpose ; mere aristocratic gaming-
houses—(" uncommon" ones, we wish the truth
would allow us to call them, in contradistinction to
the doomed "common" ones)—are but once even
glanced at in this report. In that solitary instance
the notice is almost parenthetical :
" Your Committee think that it would be very de-
sirable that some measures should be adopted for the
purpose of suppressing gaming-tables kept by the pro-
prietors of club-houses, the mixed character and the re-
gulations of which render it doubtful whether they pro-
perly fall within the description of common gambling-
houses ; provided such suppression could be effected
trithout any violation of the general principle which pro
tects private houses from intrusion : but the inquiries o
your Committee have not enabled them to suggest any
specific enactments- for the accomplishment of this ob.
ject."

By this time our readers will concur with us in
reprobating the cant, and denouncing the class.
interest principle of such legislation as is either re-
cognised or recommended in this report. The
further extracts we publish from it will confirm these
I:iews of its demerits.

Madrid journals of the 9th inst. have been re-
ceived. The Finance Minister, from all accounts, is
sadly puzzled to find ways and means to carry on the
Government. The treasury is empty, and no one
will lend money but at an enormous interest. The
Funds are more depressed than they have been at any
former period. On the Bth the Three per Cents. had
fallen to 26i for cash and 26i- at 60 days ; and the
Fives to 20 for cash and 20 at 60 days.
The following extract of a letter from Gibraltar,
which appears in the Tiempo, contains the latest in-
telligence from Morocco :

" Advices from Tangiers, of the 28th May, state that the
Spanish naval forces before .that port consist of the Christina
frigate, the Venus corvette, the Mazanares, and Nervion,
brigs. ; the Andaluz steamer and two packets, the Rayo and
Carthagena. Those forces were ordered to support the Spanish
Cabinet's claims, and to offer refuge to our countrymen,
should events force them to quit the territory of Morocco.
On the 28th the Emperor had returned no answer to the ulti-
matum which the Spanish Vice-Consul at Tangiers had con-
veyed to Larache. The English Consul takes an active part
in all the negotiations ; it is said that he is ordered by his
Government to avert, by all possible means, a rupture be-
tween Spain and Morocco, seeing that England is interested
in the empire retaining all its force and its whole territory.
With this view the English Consul would appear to be in-
structed to recommend moderation, and prevail en the Em-
peror to give Spain satisfaction for the vexations she com-
plains of. General Wilson, Governor of Gibraltar, has been
to Tangiers. The motive which may have induced him to
proceed thither is a mystery." .

We learn from the Park Monileur of Saturday,
that dispatches had been received from General LAMo-
RICIERE, dated the sth inst., being six days later than
the dispatch which announced the collision between
the French troops and the Moors on the frontiers of
Morocco. No further engagement had taken place,
and the intelligence was considered so favourable,
that the departure of the Prince DE JOINVILLE, had
been postponed for some days. In the meantime, it
is said an Aide-de-Camp of Marshal SOULT had been
dispatched to Morocco on a special mission, for the
purpose of settling the differences between the two
countries. This is certainly a much more rational
plan than to dispatch a fleet under the command
of an inexperienced youth, anxious to rival
his brother (the Duke D'AusiALz), and make
a sensation in France by an attack on Tan-
giers or Mogador. On Friday the discussion in the
Chamber of Deputies on, railroads was .continttedt

commending any necessary amendments in the sta-
tute law directed against a crime against the peace
and property of individuals and the bonds of social
connexion, and the security of Government itself, so
heinous as gaming, in the general sense of the term.
It saps all the foundations of moral feeling ; under-
mines all moral responsibility in every relation of
domestic life ; and ultimately debauches, by a process
of certain mental corrintion, the integrity of the
public servant, as well as the honesty of the private
citizen. To one absorbing demon passion—a com-
bination of fierce rapacity and crafty avarice—it is
ever ready to sacrifice the most precious associations
of domestic life, the most sacred principles of honour,
the calls of duty, the memory of affections. On that
altar the gamester, in the madness of his irrepressible
excitement, will immolate fortune, station, character
—the property •of his children, the interests of his
posterity—his friends ; his country—all his hopes
' here—all his destiny hereafter ! Is this the crime—
so hideous, yet so common—a treason against the
peace of every class of that society with whose limits
it may be said to be co-extensive—which the Select
Committee appear by their report to have aimed at
effectually putting down by the powers of the law ?
Let us see how this is. The report classes " the
laws now in force about gaming" un•ier four heads-
1. Those of early periods (as 17 ED. IV., C. 3, Hex.
VIII., c. 9) " which prohibited certain games on po-
litical grounds," for example, in order to prevent the
disuse of archery. 2. Those in the nature of sump-
tuary laws, against what was considered, when they
were passed, excessive gaming, such laws being
"destined to restrain private individuals from wasting
their substance by losing too much money on games
and pastimes." 3. Laws against fraud, and for the pre-
vention of cheating, &c., at games upon which money
is to be lost and won. 4. Those which relate to pub-
lic morals, and prohibit common gaming-houses and
public gambling as nuisances, " whereby unwary men
are led into dissolute and vicious habits," &c.
They who, in reference to the passage we have
marked by inverted commas, under No. 2 in this enu-
meration, may naturally expect to find strong recom-
mendations to enforce old, or provide new, efficient
laws against the stupendous gambling of the turf—
that is the grand stand or the betting-room—will be
as disappointed as those who may assume that, under
No. 4, are to be included Crockford's or Boodle's, or
the gorgeous hells of more modern creation, which
grace the vicinity of St. James's. On the subject of
"betting," in truth, the report rises to a strain of elo-
quent deprecation of the folly they committed who
had ever dreamed of legally restraining such an
amusement—for the upper classes. For mark how
the class feeling of the House creeps in, and upsets all
the pretence of moral solicitude which the Committee
had previously expressed :
" What sense can there be in declaring by law that a
man may win or lose ten pounds by a game or a wager;
but that if he win or lose a larger sum, he shall be liable
to a heavy fine ? Does such a law even accomplish its
own apparent purpose of protecting individuals from
their own imprudence ? For may not that sum, the loss
of which is a trifle to a man in one class of society, be a
matter of great importance to another man in a poorer
condition? And if protection is the object of this law,
does it not protect most those who from their station in
life need protection the least, and leave comparatively
unprotected those of an inferior class, who may be se•
vere sufferers from apparently small losses."
This is pretty well. But we were still more sur-
prised at a subsequent passage, in which a very "spe-
cial plea," is put in to save the interests—of the betting
ring:—

and virtually brought to a close by a division, in
which the Government had a large majority. M.
DE BORT moved, as an amendment to the Govern-
ment plan, that a sum of 47,000,000 francs be voted
for laying down the rails of the line between Orleans
and Bordeaux, and then leasing it for a term of
twelve years. The object of this motion was that
the State should execute all the works on railroads,
and then farm out the lines to companies. The
amendment was rejected by a majority of 40. On
this subject the Journal des Debats has the following
remarks :

"This result was foreseen, and we hope will put an end to
the question of short leases, and their advocates we hope will
return to more wholesome ideas. It may be conceived that
the system of execution and working by the State would
have many strong partisans; and yet, strange to say, not a
Member of the Chamber rose tosupport.it when it was pro-
posed. If it offers great risk, it also presents incontestible
advantages. It seduces by its grandeur and by its simplicity
—it exposes the Treasury to great losses, but it assures it the
whole of the profits; and it is very singular that the authors
of the amendment, persuaded as they appear to be that these
profits would be very considerable, would consent so benevo-
lently to sacrifice a part of them to the farming companies.
Besides, the working of the lines of the State leaves to the
Government the free and permanent arrangement of the
tariffs. All these advantages disappear in the system of
short leases ; the companies incur not the least risk, and are
assured of a considerable profit. Why, therefore, should
these privileges be renounced by the State and thrown into
the hands of the farming companies?
"The plan of the Government is founded on other bases,
and has a peculiar character ; it does not engage the finances
of the State, and does not encumber it with an uncertain
result; it assures to the railroad system a more rapid deve-
lopment, and favours that spirit of association which has
produced such grand effects in a neighbouring country.
"The Committee on the Bill has added fresh conditions, all
tending to its improvement. There will be as many third-
class carriages attached to every train as may be required ;
the Government will reserve to itself to regulate the maxi-
mum and the minimum of speed. If the company lower
their fares they cannot again raise them but after a delay of
three months for passengers and of twelve months for goods.
The advantages of the most perfect centralization are thus
obtained; and we think that this is much better than to
have thrown the Government of a nation of 35,000,000 of
subjects into the embarrassment of an administration at
once gigantic and complicated."

The Revue des Deux Mon des thus adverts to the
visit of the KING to the Queen of ENGLAND :
" The journey of the King is now decided upon, although
it is adjourned till after Queen Victoria's accouchement. King
Louis Philippe, on landing in England, would, most un-
doubtedly, meet there with the cordial reception and warm
demonstrations which the enemy of Poland could not ex-
pect; the people would crowd on his passage, and meetings
would take place in every part of the kingdom, to organise
for him a triumphal reception. But the exalted sense of
the Prince who presides over the destinies of France. has
induced him to reject such dangerous success, and such
fatal acclamations. He will not expose himself to being
selected as the devoted friend of England, and will not give
the enemies of his dynasty such a theme to turn to account.
The King will return, at the Isle of Wight chateau, the family
visit which has been paid to him at Eu ; he will arrive
thither, it is said, on board a steamer, without appariel and
eclat, and impart as scrupulously as Queen Victoria herself
did, quite a personal character to his visit."

Mr. Hammond, solicitor, of Clifford's Inn, was then called
and examined by Mr. WILKENS—He proved that Miss
Wortham was entitled to an estate of the value of 4001.
per annum.

After the examination of several witnesses, and a speech
for the defence, the Judge summed up. The jury returned a
verdict of Guilty, and the prisoner was sentenced to two
years' imprisonment.

QUEEN-SQUARE.-(THIS DAY.)
An old woman, upwards of eighty years of age, named
.3lary Farrington, was placed at the bar charged with begging.
A policeman in private clothes stated that he saw the de-
fendant begging yesterday morning in Brompton-row. He
saw her stop several respectable persons and solicit alms,
but only one person relieved her. He took her into custody,
and found 4d. in her pocket. She was before Mr. Burrell on
a similar charge, on Saturday, when she was cautioned and
discharged.
Defendant—l begged because I was distressed.
The defendant's daughter, a woman between 40 and 50,
here stepped forward.
Mr. Bonn—Why do you allow your mother to go begging
about the streets? The daughter—l have supported her for
fourteen years since the death of my father in 1827. My
husband is confined to bed by illness, and I have four chil-
dren. My mother is so very old and feeble that many per:
sons give her money in the streets.
Mr. BOND said he had had too much experience in such
matters to give a ready belief to statements of that kind.
The daughter (going down on her knees)—Tell me any-
thing that I can do, and I will do it. My mother is very
respectably connected, and I can assure you is not in the habit
of begging. Only let me have her back again.
The officer said he had known the old woman for the last
wren years, and always suspected her to be a beggar, though
he could not positively-state she was one.
Twe other policemen said they knew both mother and
daughter by sight, but had never seen either of them beg.
They knew nothing of their characters.
The daughter said they might, if they thought proper,
make inquiries at the place where she lived, Exoter-buildings,
Chelsea, and they would find what .she had stated was the
truth. She again earnestly urged the Magistrate to let her
mother go.
Mr. BOND said all he wanted was to protect the public
from being annoyed. He was afraid if he discharged the
defendant she would go and beg again.
The daughter said that she would endeavour to get her
mother into Lambeth workhouse, in which parish she had lived
and paid rates for many years.
Mr. BOND discharged the defendant, and told her that If'
she were brought before him again on a similar charge, she.
would be severely dealt with.
The old woman, who appeared to be bowed down with age
and infirmities, then left the Court with her daughter, and
the 41d., found on her person, was handed to her by the pc,.
liceman.

CLERKENWELL.-(THIS DAY.)
This morning Mr. Greenwood, on taking his seat on the
bench, called the intention .of Sergeant Wilkinson , of the G
division of police to a very great nuisance in the vicinity
of the Police-court. The Magistrate remarked that in the
morning, about the time the Court opens, more particularly
on Monday mornings, an immense crowd of bad characters
assemble in front of the Police-court, some of them half
drunk and all of them indecorous. They had no right to
assemble in this manner, and if the police of the G division
did not suppress the nuisance, he would certainly apply to
the Commissioners of Police on the subject.
The reporter may add that it has come to his knowledge
that several of the shopkeepers in the Bagnigge-wells-road,
are about memorialising the magistrates of this Court con-
cerning the nuisance to which Mr. Greenwood adverted.
They urge that they sustain a large pecuniary loss from it as
respectable persons avoid a neighbourhood where they may
be offended by the most obscene and blasphemous language.
Several of the inhabitants of Frederick-street, Gray's-inn-
road, opposite the Court, have lately left from the same cause.
The crowd is sometimes so great as two hundred, consisting
of unfortunate women, thieves, and, in short; the veriest off-
scourings of society.
Sergeant Wilkinson promised to attend to the matter• in
future, and the subject dropped.

MARYLEBONE.-(THIS DAY.)
.Robert and James Stubbs, brothers, and Robert Balls and
Peter Foster, were placed at the bar, before Mr. Rawlinson,
charged with the following disgraceful conduct
It appeared, from the evidence of the several witnesses that
at three o'clock on the previous afternoon the four prisoners
were engaged fighting near the Hayley Arms, Camden-town.
They were. surrounded by a crowd of 500 persons, who very
studiously kept a clear ring, lest the " noble masters of
fence" might be incommoded. The police, however; aided by
some of the more respectable inhabitants of the district
" broke ground," and conveyed the actors-in-chief to the
station-house.

Mr. RAWLINSON said that such an exhibition on a Sunday
afternoon, and in the public highway, was most disgrateful.
He should, therefore, fine them each 40s, or a month itt'the
House of Correction.

LLOYD'S SHIPPING.—(THIS DAY.)
LONDON, JUNE 17.—Wind this day at nobn, S.S.W., light
breeze and fine.
DEAL, JUNE 15.—Wind, N.W. by W. 16. N.N.W,,
light and moderate.—Arrd. Sarah Sdott, Sydney; Freeland.
!Buenos Ayres; James Duncan, Trinidad. Sid. John Brown,
llchaboe ; Richard, Mount, Nevis; Emily, Hobart Town;
IYare, Harding, Port Adelaide; Jamaica, Antigua; Callista,
'Jamaica, and the rest of outward ' bound, except John Wit-
hams, for the Cape, Hobart Town, and South Seas.
PonTsstovm, JUNE 15.—Wind W. N. W. 16. N.W. to W.
—Sid. Ellenborough, Madras and Calcutta; Lion, steamer,
Calcutta; Teviot, steamer, Southampton.
PLYMOUTH, JUNE 16.—Wind variable.—Sld. Canadian,
Cuba. Off, Favourite, Trinidad, for Hamburgh.
FALMOUTH, JUNE 15.—Wind N.W., fresh breeze. 16. N.,
umoderate.—Arrd. Tkorwaldsen, Stege, Buenos Ayres, aid.
April 16. 13. Off, Helena, Iverness, Matanzas, for Altona ;
Maryborough, Jamaica; Hudson, South America.
BRISTOL, JUNE 16.—Arrd. Fenella, Malaga. 81d. Fanny
land Hornby, Barbadoes ; Neptune, Nevis.
GLOUCESTER, JUNE 15.—Arrd. Independent, St. John's,
New Brunswick.
STUDLAND ROADS, JUNE 14.—Julia, London, for Ichaboe.
OFF BEACHY HEAD, JUNE 14.—Cato, St. Vincent's;
Pcean, New Orleans, for Hamburg]] ; Arethusa, Montreal.
BRISTOL, JUNE 16.—The Eagle, Dervell, from Newport to
China, put in here yesterday leaky, and must be discharged.
GUERNSEY, JUNE 14.—A sloop abandoned, and on her
beam-ends, was seen 9th inst. about 20 miles N.N.W. of this
Island. A jolly-boat 16 feet long, with white bottom and
kreen top side, and red bottom and green top inside, with C
in yellew paint on her bow, has been picked up in the same
neighbourhood.
LIVERPOOL, JUNE 15.—The Neptune,' of Liverpool, from
Dominica to London, was abandoned 12th ult., let. 32, lon.
60; crew saved.
KINSALE, JUNE 13.—The smack John, of Berehaven, was
totally lost in Rocky Bay yesterday; crew drowned.
I BELMULLET, JUNE 13.—The Culloden, from tiallina to
London, which put into Blacksod Bay, Bth inst., Ithistopped
the leak, and will proceed.
LIVERPOOL, JUNE 16.—Wind, N.V., moderate.—Arrd.
Jamie, Ray, Ichaboe ; Horsford, Byers, Maracaibo ; Helen
Jane, Tobasco ; Lancaster, Wright, Laguna' Robert Bruce,
New Orleans; Windsor Castle, ditto; with three bales Of
cotton thrown overboard, having been struck by lightning
and fired on the 7th instant, lat. 45, long. 31 ; SL'Andrew's,
Leith, Mobile; Dauntless, Rogers, and Sophia, Apalachiola ;
Josepha, Leitch, Charleston; Sarah, Amelia, and ,Sheridan,
New York; Elgin, Cook, St. Andrew's ; Frederick, Grant,
,St. John's, N.B. ; Earl Durham, Hockee, Halifax ; Foam,
'Quebec; Piialanx, Antigua; Lady Lilford, Charleston.
SHIELDS, JUNE 14.--Arrd. CoroOt,iol2,,Wlytowed
damage, having been on her beitni:64l3`hrogateltirr'

CRIMINAL COURT.-(THIS DAY).
OLD COURT.
(Before Mr. Baron GURNEY.)
THE ABDUCTION CASE.
William Burton Newenham, aged 34, described in the
calendar as a labourer, was charged with forcibly carrying
away a young lady named Frances Louisa Wortham, she
being at the time a ward in Chancery.
The prosecution was conducted by Mr. Wilkins and Mr.
Parry, and the prisoner was defended by Mr. Bodkin and
Mr. Clarkson.
Mr. WiLirms stated the case to the jury, and said that it
was of' such a nature that he almost feared to approach it, for
he had never met with a case marked with so much mean-
ness and cowardice as that which characterised the present
case. The father of the young lady whose abduction had
been caused by the prisoner, was formerly a traveller, and
before his death his circumstances became rather embarrassed,
and in consequence of this he let out a portion of his house
in lodgings, and the prisoner came to live in his house. The
learned counsel then proceeded to detail the circumstances
under which Miss Wortham, the young lady in question, be-
came entitled to certain property, and afterwards detailed the
circumstances under which the present prosecution bad ori-
ginated, and he then called the witnesses in support of
the case.
Mrs. Frances Wortham was called, and examined by Mr.
PARRY—She stated that she resided at 18, Gerard-street,
Islington. She had one child, whose name was Frances
Louisa Wortham. She would be 16 years of age next
Christmas. Witness was a widow, her husband having died
in June 1842. She had known the prisoner since 1840; he
was present when Mr. Wortham died, and he lived in wit-
ness's house until the abduction took place. Shortly before
Mr. Wortham died it was ascertained that Miss Worth=
was entitled to a large property, which would come to her on
the death of the tenant for life. After Mr. Wortham's death
the tenant for life of the property died, and the prisoner was
requested to take the title-deed to a gentleman in Clifford's
Inn to have his opinion upon it. The witness then entered
into a minute detail of the circumstances out of which this
case had arisen, the whole of which have recently been
before the public in the police reports of the case when it was
in course of investigation before the magistrate.
She was then subjected to a long cross-examination by
Mr. CLARKSON, from which it appeared that, on several oc-
casions, her daughter had declared that if she were sent to
school again she would run away. Witness never said to
the prisoner" I know your intention is to marry my daugh-
ter; do it then in an honourable way." She would swear
that she never said anything like this. The prisoner had.
frequently purchased her daughter articles of clothing. The
prisoner had on some occasions paid money for witness. She
had been with the prisoner on several occasions to the thea-
tres and other places of amusement. On one occasion, since
she had known the prisoner, she had occupied lodgings in
Prince Edward's-street. She had but one room there, and it
was used as a bed-room and a sitting-room. The prisoner
used frequently to come thcre, and he had been in the room
on several occasions for several hours. Had frequently been
out with the prisoner on country excursions. They were fre-
quently out together for two or three weeks. They travelled
in the prisoner's phaeton, and the prisoner sat by the side of
witness's daughter always. They were out together last
year from June to October. The prisoner paid the expenses.
Three months after the death of Mr. Wortham,, the prisoner
wished Miss Wortham to go to school, and offered to pay
for her schooling himself. Witness consented to this, but
with the understanding that he should be remembered when
Miss Wortham obtained her property. Witness never repre-
sented to the proprietresses of the boarding-school to which
Miss Worthans was sent that the prisoner was Miss Wor-
tham's guardian. The prisoner had frequently shown wit-
ness rolls of bank-notes of his own. Witness frequently had
charge of the prisoner's pocket and banker's-books. During
last summer, witness, prisoner, and Miss Wortham, went out
for an excursion. The prisoner on that occasion bought a
phaeton for 1201. to travel in. He paid for it himself. In the
course of this excursion they stopped at 'Waltham-cross, and
they all three slept in the same room. It was a double-
bedded room, and was the only room they could get in the
house. The prisoner presented witness with a gold watch,
which she accepted. Remembered having told a lady at
Chelsea that the prisoner was her brother-in-law.
Re-examined by Mr. Wuxi/is—When the prisoner first
came to lodge with witness he paid 18/. a year. He after-
wards only occupied one bed-room, and for that he paid 81.
a year. The apartments were unfurnished. A short time
after Mr. Wortham's death, the prisoner spoke to witness
about marriage, and she told him that they never could be
happy together, as their relative positions were so different.
Witness told him that she would always look upon him as a
brother.