The Sun.
London, England, 1821-04-11 00:00:00

articles by either of yoneborrespondents, I need
not say more upon this -point.than that-the- duty
at pre_sent imposed has been 'found to have a sa-
lutary effect in restraining, to a considerable
extent, the admission of needy adventurers—an
increase IA duty watild proportionablY increase
the benefit to the public and to the revenue.

I should perhaps apologise :fur the length of
this letter, bt.4 I have felt naturally anxious to
place my propositions in a .right light to' those
...who may be interested on the subject, and I
shall not again have occasion to trespass upon
your indulgence. .
With many thanks for your courtesy, I am Sir,
Your most obedient Servant,
AN OLD PRACTITIONER.

April 9.

GLOUCESTER ASSIZES.-CRIM. CON.

WATERHOUSE, ESQ. V. COLONEL BERKELEY.

The trial of this cause, which has excited a
very extraordinary degree of interest throughout
this county, came on about two o'clock on Satur-
day last, before Mr. Justice PARK and a most
respectable Special Jury, of which H. Burgh,
Esq. was foreman. At one time'during the day,
owing to the indisposition of a very important wit-
ness, it was expected that the trial would of ne-
cessity have been postponed, to the great disap-
pointment of numberless persons, who had been
drawn here from a distance on the occasion ;
but. he soon so far recovered as to enable the case
to be entered into. The damages were laid at
20,0001.

The plaintiff, John Waterhouse, Esq. is the
son of the late Benj. Waterhouse, Esq. of King-
ston, Jamaica, who was connected with the
house of Willis and Co. bankers in London ; and
in the year 1810, whilst on a visit to the Isle of
Man, became acquainted with Miss. Jane Lascel-
les Blake, eldest daughter of Captain Blake, R.
N. who was for several years a • resident of
Gloucester. The lady was amiable and highly
accomplished ; and the parties being about the
same age, an attachment sprung up:between them,
which eventually led to their. union ; and on the
sth of September, 1812, they were married under
the sanction of the lady's parents. After remaining
about three months in the isle of Man, they
visited London, whence they proceeded to Scar-
borough, where they lived in retirement for three
years ; and the happiness arising from their
union was crowned by the birth of three children.
In 1817 they removed to Charlton Kings, near
Cheltenham, in which village Lady Wraxall,
aunt to Mrs. Waterhouse- on the maternal side,
resided. - _

In the latter end of,.the month of March, 1819,
whilst the plaintiff and -his wife were on a short
visit to Mrs. Probyn, widow of the late Go-

vernor Probyn, who_ had. been intimately ad-
' quainted with Mrs. Waterhouse for many years,
they were first introduced to the
„defendant, Co-
lonel Berkeley, who made
,a, morning call on
Mrs. Probyrr previous to h
er leavingChelten-
ham, which she, dicV"On the next day. In the
middle of April following, the plaintiff was called
to London by the illness of his brother, and was
absent froth home. till the' 10th of-May ; and
from letters subsequently found in Mrs. Water-i
house's possession, and which were admitted to
-bey in the hand-writing of the defendant, it would
appear that the- particular intimacy 'of- the par-
ties, apd"The circarnstmaCes upon which this action
was gr,Otnle.d, otig-ii-Kted in this short interval.
By 'the==-evidence'' 6r- seine-of the domestics,
It was during this- period 'that The defendant
first called upon Mrs. 11,7,e'terhouse ; , upon
"which occasion she gave orders "that' no one
elSe was to be admitted 'whilst Colonel 8., was
with *her. It was likewise proved that he
called afterwards at different times, when ,sirni..
lar.instructions were given to the servants-, and
the female cook swore,, that on
-one occasion she
observed that Mrs. hair-,and the Tri,ll about
her neck. were -1-nuchAike?dered. In the July
following, the plaintiff wentto Jersey ; and soon
after his return hOmeT.in'Atigust, he ekpre-ssedlo
Lady ram. W _ his'distVess..at'finding that in
of some scandalous reports that had
been spread abroad, Mrs.. Waterhouse did not
receive that attention from the ladies of lrei ac-
quaintance which she had, been accustomed to.—
This being commltnicge.ll.49Mrs. W. she asserted
her own innocenccoand, 'satisfying her husband
and Lady Wraxall that these reports were un-.
founded, the plaintiff and his 'Wife continued to
live together as before.' In January, 1820, the
plaintiff. left his family and went to Bristol, whert
on the 14th Feb. he. embarked for Jarnaica,for
the purpose of visiting,some estates in that island.
On his return, some months afterward s,information
was communicated to him which left no doubt in his
I mind of his having been dishonoured in.the person
`of his wife.
,She was then in, a state. of preg-
nancy ; and on the 11th of NoVernber following,.
,was delivered of a male child. It might be-,
proper here to remark, that on thus leaving his
wife for Jamaica, Mr. Waterhouse left her under
the same protection as he had..on the two former
occasions, .with an ample provision for her maini-
, tepance during his absence.. From Jamaica Mr..
Waterhouse returned in July, and knowing that
!IL; hitd 'had no intercourse
,with his wife, from the.
I Oth,Jan. preceding,the Jury might better imagine
than he was capable of describing,theagonised si-
tuation in whichihe was thrown on -being informed
of the course which she had adopted. He went
.t 9 cbelteuham, but took the precaution of avoid-
ing the abode of his wife. - He remained there
throe days after the communication of the, pain-
ful' intelligence,. and then left the place, deter-
mined never to see., her again. His suspicions,
which were, unhappily, but too well. founded,
.vv.e.re' confirmed by an intercepted letter,, the eon-
tentsof which„as it had come from Mrs. Walter--
house, 'he was not at,liberty to state,; it was.ad-
dressed to the, present defendant,
.in, language
calculated to excite sensations which he would
not venture 4o express. The letter fro.a
Berkeley to Mrs. Waterhouse was dated the Ist.
of May, during that absence; it was in.the fol-
lowing terms :

`,` Noibing but the fear of losing an
.opportnnity of seeing
you could induce me to Write; but I am obliged to •ne in
London on Monday; therefore I now send. To-night, at
nine, I will be in the appointed spot. If you love nie, do not
foil the—there is no danger "
He (Mr. Jervis) was in possession of 24 letters
and eight notes, written by the defendant to Mrs.

Waterhouse, which were obtained from that lady
on the 12th December, in • consequence of •Mr.
WaterhOuse; with liis solicitor, having gone to
her lodging and obtained them by means which,
under the circumstances, were not to be -repro-
bated. From these letters he had made a seleeL
tion, - Which he would now • take the- liberty
of reading, and from- which. it - would be' im-
possible to doubt that- a criminal intercourse had
taken place '• between the parties. The Learned
Co4iel then proceeded to read the letters in
• qatttion, which were couched In ridiculously- pas-
sionate terms, and contained allusions which
could leave little doubt as to the nature
of the intimacy that had „subsisted. At length
the defendant evinced the waywardness-of illicit
love, and in his la-st short and hasty notes
proved that his once ardent attachment had alto-
gether subsided. The --Learned Counsel then
went on to state the oral testimony with which he
was provided as to the occasional visits of the
defendant to Mrs. Waterhouse—their private in-
terviews and the subsequent disordered aPpear-:
ance of -the lady's dress ; and finally, made 'an -
animated and eloquent appeal to the Jury, to
compensate; as much as damages could compen-
sate, the plaintiff,- for the injuries which he and
his helpless infant family had-sustained. •
The only evidenCe offered for the 'defendant
consisted of four letters, addressed to Colonel
Berkeley; which *ere distinctly prOVed to be in
the hand,-writing of Mrs. Waterhouse, though
the character of the two first was evidently and
avowedly disguised. The first of these, dated
April 5, 1819, in the -most' explicit manner de-
clared that the writer had long nourished an un-
controllable passion for the person to whom it

was addressed, though, at the same time, it
affirmed a resolution not to make herself known
to him, and described the efforts she had made
to avoid being in his company. The others also
manifested the most ardent attachment.

The witnesses were then called, and ten let-
ters from the Colonel were put in and read.
Mr. Justice PARK summed up the case with
perspicuity and impartiality : and at twelve
o'clock at night the Jury, after a few minutes
consultation, found a verdict for the plaintiff—
Damages, One Thousand Pounds—Costs, 40s.

SURREY SESSIONS.

COAL TRADE.

Yesterday these Sessions were held by ad-
journment; to hear and determine upon the com-
plaint of Mr. T. Bradfield, against Francis 4igg,
Esq., the principal Coal-meter for the County of
HAR aisos, Esq. took the Chair, and
there was a full Bench of Magistrates, amongst
whom were Randall Jackson, Esq., S. King,
Esq., T. Hedger, Esq., and several others.—Mr.
TURTON appeared as Counsel for the Petition :
Mr. NOLAN and Mr. HEArx conducted the de-
fence.

The Petition which was first read, was of con-
siderable length, and set out with stating, that
by the 43d of George 111., the office of Chief
Coal-meter, for the County of Surrey, was vested
in Mr. F. Bigg, and that upon petition the Ma-
gistrates Of the County were empowered to pro-'
seed in a summary manner to inquire, and
upon evidence to dismiss him for misconduct.
—The appointment of a successor is by this
ATct in the' Overseers and Churchwardens of
the several Parishes in the County. The
petition went on to state 'the great complaints
that had been made for years past in the de=.
ficiency in quantity of coals, and the charge that
the great cause of all the frauds complained
of was in Mr. Bigg's not appointing a sufficient
• number of meters to do the duty. It stated
that in one station comprising an extent of two
miles, and several wharfs, there was only one
labouring man, and one land-meter for the last
four years. At the Putney station there was
only one meter to do the duty, and he also acted
in the capacity of foreman at the wharfs of Messrs.
Fisher and Beton. At the station of Barnes.
Mortlake, and Kew, containing an extent of two
miles and one-half, there was only one meter, and
he in .consequence,of not being able fo be at more
than one place at a time, was frequently obliged
to leave blank tickets to be filled up by the yen-
ders of the Coals, with what quantity they thought
proper. At the Rotherhithe station, where there
were four, places for the delivery of coals, there
w.as only one meter, and here also blank tickets
were left for the dealers. The petition then
went, on to state several cases where the consumers
of coal had suffered in censetluenee of the duty of the
meters not having been performed. It charged Mr.
Biggwith not having superintended the meters as he
was in duty bound to- do, and with not having
any person in his office qualified to receive com-
plaints ; and lastly, it. charged him with being
frequently in -a state of intoxication, so that he
was unfit to perform his duties; • and the petition
concluded by praying, that, under all the cir-
cumstances, Mr. Bigg might be dismissed.
Mr. TURTON spoke more at large upon the
nature of the charges against the defendant, and
spoke of the disadvantage which existed in
making an attack upon a person so respectably
situated.

Evidence was then heard at..great length, but
was not concluded when the Court adjourned.

THE SCOTCH BAGPIPE:I.—As a Scotch ha;-
piper was traversing the mountains of Ulster, he
was one evening encountered by- a half-starved
Irish wolf. In this distress the-poor fellow could
think of nothing better than to open..his wallet,
and try the effects of his hospitality ; lie did so,
and the greedy wolf swallowed every thing. that
was thrown to him with the greatest voracity.
The-stock of provisions was-soon exhausted, and
the piper's only resourse Was then to try the vir-
tue .of his bagpipe, which the wolf no sooner
heard than lie took to the.mountains with geater
precipitation than he had-come down. The poor
piper could not- so perfectly enjoy his
deliver-
'ance, but that with an angry look, at parting he
shook his head, and said; "Aye, are these your
tricks ? Had I known your humour, you should.
have had your music. before supper."