The Sun.
London, England, 1826-04-26 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH—(TuEsmy.)
The Loin CHIEF JUSTICE intimated .that in pursuance of his
Majesty's warrant to that effect, two of his Learned Brethren
would sit from the 9th to the 13th.of May, in the Bail Court, at
Westminster, for the dispatch of such business as may be in ar-
rear at the close of the Term, and that his Lordship himself, will
sit at Nisi Prius in the Court of King's Bench, during the above
period.

At a trial that took ylace at the late Cork Assizes,

practising Attorney,
in the County Court, Mr.
who is most frequently engaged in the defence of prisoners, hap-
pened in this case to be employed for the prosecution; and, to
apprise the Court of his not being on his usual occupation, the
defence, addressed it thus :—" My Lord, in this caso,l am en-
gaged for the Crown;" to which Mr. O'C., who was employed
for the prisoner, and could not let this happy opportunity, as he
thought it, pass without playing on the words,
_said to Mr. 11.,
in a waggish strain, " I dare say for half-a-crown
it is said, that Mr. 11. immediately replied, " Oh. couusellor, I
am no advocate for, divided allegiance."
SAGACITY OF A HORSE.--
.A marked instance of
sagacity was displayed by a horse brought about six weeks ago to
the smithy of Mr. Seton, at Loch-lane, near Crieff, a person held
in high estimation for his skill in farriery. At this time the poor
animal seemed to labour under severe colic, but the man skilled in
horse-flesh set so actively about his business, that the horse Was
soon sent home completely relieved from his complaints. Some
few weeks after, it was again remarked that the poor horse la-
boured under a fresh attack of his old complaint, but as it was not
convenient to remove him to the smithy, he was allowed to re-
main in the stable. In the morning, however, be by some means
disengaged his neck from the collar which fastened him in the
stable, and set off for his old friend the smith, at Loch-lane, a dis-
tance of nearly two milts:. Being rather early fur his host, he
caused the door of the innithy to fly open, and took his.station ex-
actly in the same spot. wherehe formerly stood, and there waited
patiently for his physician. The Smith in due time made his ap-
pearance, and soon percell'ed that his patient was enduring all
the gripes and agonies of coliti, and accordingly once more ad-
ministered to his relief. The owner had scarce time to extend
his search the length, of, the smithy, when he found his steed safe
andsound,,readY to carry him hotne..—t Stirling Journal.

A BILL
For consolidating the Trusts of the several Turnpike
Roads in the neighboUrhood of the Metropolis,
North of the River. Thames.
(Semi, . 4.
Above is a copy of theG title of a4BVEL) Bill which is now
pending before Parliament, brought into the House
under the auspices of Lord Lowther, and framed upon
the suggestions of a Committee.
It has been our duty,• at different times, to animad-
vert, in strong terms, upon the present Turnpike
System, conceiving in the first place that the system was
bad, and feeling in the-second that the practice under
it was worse. We therefore hail this. Bill with peculiar
satisfaction ; and, although somewhat disappointed by
a perusal- of its provisieins, we nevertheless entertain
some well-grounded hopes that it will be productive of
much good to the Public, notwithstanding it is not (to
use a coachman's phrase) 44 bang up to the mark."
After this little proem, we proceed to lay before our
readers in .as brief a manner as possible the chief pro-
visions of this Bill,
,and we think that in employing
our own expressions rather than the verbiage of the•
statute itself, we shall; whilst we. consult our own idle
disposition, at the; same time best please them. The
object of this Bill. then is to consolidate the trusts of
the roads near the Metropolis, north of the Rivet
Thames. The,roads thus brought within its ppera;
tion are as follows:---
Kensington, •
Brentford,
• Isleworth,
Uxbridge,
Marylebone,
Harrow,
Kilburn,
Highgate and Hampstead,
and lastly, a new road at this moment forming, and
leading from Camden Town to Holloway. • ..•
Out of this lung list of roads, when consolidated
and brought together under one trust, it was to be
hoped, that a few of the multiplicity of 'gates where the
toll is collected might have been got
_ rid of. Indeed
we always understood that it was the putting down of
some dozen or two of these tricks upon travellers, that
formed one at least of the great objects of the 'consoli-
dation, and the miseries of your dinner out in the
winter, so pathetically bewailed by the John Bull
newspaper towards the close of last year, would
henceforth have ceased to exist, and one cause
cursing and swearing withdrawn, to our great advan-
tage. In this; however, we are disappointed; The
amount:of tolls will remain untouched, for although
the Parliament in its wisdom has thought proper to
confer the power of removing toll-gates on the Com-
missioners under the Act, it has at the same time given
the power of retaining those already erected, and alas !
that of adding to . their number. In this respect,
therefore, we fear the. public.., can expect but little, if
any, -advantage ; they must be. content for a season
longer to endure " the proud man's contumely" at the
toll-gate, and continue to dispense their pence to these
graceless rogues with what appetite they may. It is,
however, a consolation to reflect, that if we are to pay our
money, the roads are likely to be improved by it, for an
'Shirking in this particular, we apprehend, cannot well
be, when this Bill shall,become The Act, when
passed, will have certain Commissioners, to be called
44 Parliamentary Commissioners," and certain others,
to be called '44 Local Commissioners," the whole body
being termed " The Commissioners of the Metropolis
Turnpike Roads North of the Thames."
We do not perceive that any provision is made for
paying these Gentlemen salaries and we suppose our
Readers will agree with us in thinking that this cir-
cumstance is a very agreeable omission, and altogether
a good .44,pair off ' with -the clause for limiting the
taking of tors at gates within a certain distance of one
another. This diviiiou of the joint body into two
parts, the one forming a. check upon the other, offers
to the public a• little more than the usual security that
the powers of the act will be used, and not abused, and
the additional right conferred on the Justices of Peace
of calling upon the Commissioners, by notice to. their
Surveyor, to repair any roads which may need- it,
seems at least a ready and expeditious mode of hinting
to them this default, and causing its amendment with
the least possible delay. This, at all events, is a ne-
cessary improvement upon the present system, which
admits of great protraction in this respect, and compels
travellers to journey over bad roads whilst the legal au-
thorities are deciding whether they arc in repair or not;
a fact they might more easily discover by just causing
their carriages.to be drawn over the decayed part of
the road in,question. In another instance too this
Bill seems to be highly advantageous, we mean in
placing a good check upon the jobbing propensities of
loCal Commissioners, and ensuring the outlay of the
money collected at the toll gates in the most economi-
cal manner, and to the benefit of the turnpike roads.
The clause too which directs the proceedings of the
Commissioners to be reported annually to Parliament,
is another benefit, as affording to the public authentic
documents whence they may judge of the reason-
ableness of the tolls levied, and of the manner in
which the powers of the act are executed. So
beneficial, indeed, does the measure appear,
that we think we have reason to quarrel with
my Lord Lowther for limiting its operations to the
roads north of the 'Thames. For our parts we see no-
thing in the Surrey and Sussex Roads Commissioners
which ought to save them from the same fate which
awaits their brethren on the Middlesex side of the

City Road,
Stamford Hill,
Old Street Road,
Shoreditch,
Bethnal Green,
Hackney,
Lea Bridge,

Thames, and therefore these latter may have good
cause of quarrel for the partiality which has thus been
displayed towards those of the Surrey side.
,quiet, and have the tin-
of paved streets,
A clause allows the macadamizing
and the paving of streets already
but those who love macadamized ;
gular desire of hearing themselves speak in their
own dining rooms, will we are sure determinedly
oppose the return to that barbarous custom, and bold
up their hands for the smooth faced, quiet, and easy
roads of the great Scotch road maker. There are
however, a few objectionable clauses in this Bill, but
as time for correction is even yet allowed, we con-
fess we hope they will not be permitted to pass un-
less altered or somewhat modified. When that is ac-
complished, the Bill shall have our Warmest support.