The Sun.
London, England, 1827-07-10 00:00:00

Mr. and Mrs. Weilles were so much terrified, that
they offered to do any thing rather than be taken to
prison. The doors of the, holtse was locked by some
of the defendants, and the key was handed to me;
Nesbitt asked Cooper and Mq3eath, whether they had
a stamp, they answered in the negative, but imme-
diately proceeded to procure one. Nesbitt opened
the door for the purpose of letting them out, and
again locked the door. They returned in about au
hour, with a stamp. The plai.itiff, by the direction of
Nesbitt made tea, and also procured some gin, which
was drank. The stamp was filled up by Cooper,
who explained the nature of it to the parties. They
were informed that it was a transfer of their pro-
perty, and signed it. They appeared to have had
no previous intention of making such a transfer, and
the proposal was evidently a surprise to them.
During the time we were in the heuse, Nesbitt used
very indecent conduct to Mrs. Weilles.
William Thompson was the assistant of the last
witness upon the occasion in question ;—his evi-
dence did not differ materially from that of Warms-
ley. Neither of the witnesses had seen the defen-
dant Gee during the transaction, but it appeared
that he had subsequently adopted the conduct of
the other defendants.

Mr. Sergeant TADDY addressed the jury on the
part of Nesbitt and 111413eath, and Mr. Sergeant
JONES on behalf of Gee.

Verdict for the plaintiffs.—Damages 20/.

COURT OF EXCHEQUER.

THF. ATTORNEY-GIENERAL V. FISH AND COLLINS.

This was an information filed by his Majesty's
Attorney-General, against the defendants, respecta-
ble tobacconists, of St. John's-street, Smithfield, to
recover a penalty of 501. for sending out a pound of
segars without a certificate.

The ATTORNEY-GENERAL with whom was Mr.
Clark and Mr. Walton, opened the case. He stated
that previous to the Ist and 2d Acts of the present
King, every trader was obliged to get a permit for
sending out any quantity of tobacco above lib. weight.
That measure was thought too grievous upon'
the traders, and by more recent Acts they were
obliged to enter all quantities between 11b. and 101 b.
in a book, an 4 send a certificate with it. All quan-
tities under a pound were to be entered in another
book, furnished by the Excise for that purpose. On
the 17th of last February, some Excise officers were
making a search on the premises of a tobacconist
named Roberts, in St. John's-street, Smithfield,
within one hundred yards of the defendant's house.
They discovered a considerable deficiency in Ro-
berts's stock, to hide which a fifty-six pound
weight was smuggled into the scale with the
tobacco; that, however, was discovered, and dur-
ing the search a servant of the defendant's
brought in some tobacco in parcels, and one parcel
containing a pound of segars. The tobacco had
permits, but the segars had no certificate; the
officers of course examined the parcels, and finding
no certificate, seized and condemned the segars.
The man who brought them instantly left the shop.
He (Mr. Scarlett) then call the three excisemen
who made the search, and proved the following
facts :—No entry had been made at Fish and Col-
lins' of the pound sent; they were straw segars, and
at the time of the condemnation, weighed exactly a
pound.with the paper. One of the witnesses stated,
that it was an even pound; without the paper would
make it a good pound.
Mr. THESSIGER for the defendant, attempted by
cross-examination to prove, that the pound of
segars seized was not a full pound of tobacco,
as laid in the information. The Attorney-General
produced the condemnation of defendant's book for
small entries, and proved that it had not been en-
tered there. The facts of* the seizure were also
proved, and that the duties alleged to have been
evaded was 3s.
The case having closed for the Crown,

Mr. TUESSIGER addressed the Jury for the de- j
fendant. Nothing, he observed, could be more cap-
tivating
than the cool smoothness with which this
case was opened by the Attorney-General. He had
admitted the respectability of the defendants, who
had, in fact, been in business earlier than the life of
the advocate who was addressing them (Mr. T.),
and it would be for them to judge, whether men of
such stability could be guilty of defrauding his
Majesty's Board of Excise, of the immense sum
of three shillings. The Attorney-General had not
been able to screw himself up to the belief that the
defendants had committed a fraud, and had not even
accused them of it, otherwise than by insinuation.
The case in itself was really so ridiculous, that he
(Mr. T.) could not have addressed them with
gravity, if the case had not been harsh and oppres-
sive towards his clients. There was his Majesty's
Attorney-General, assisted by two of the ablest
Crown Officers, solemnly pressing for a sum of
three shillings; and yet the case seemed of so
weighty a nature, that they hardly seemed to be
able to bear it amongst them.—(Laughter.)—He
aelnitted that it was an unfortunate coincidence,
but nothing more; and it was the first time
he had ever heard that no distinction was
to be made between inadvertency and criminality.
The condemnation had been brought forward to put
a gag, as it were, in their mouths concerning the
weight of the tobacco, but he would yet overcome
that objection, for he would prove that the straw of
the segars weighed at least half an ounce, and it
would thus be for them to decide whether a pound
of segars, including straws, were a pound of tobacco.
The Learned Gentleman then called a servant of the
defendant, who proved that a pound of segars had
been borrowed from Roberts by defendants, and that
the segars in question were intended as a repayment.
The segars weighed a pound, including the straws,
which weighed about half an ounce. The Attorney-
General however proved, by cross-examination, that
a pound of segars bad always been entered both to
the excise and the defendants' customers as a pound
of tobacco. The Learned Counsel then replied for the
Crown, that the defendants had subjected themselves
to a penalty of 1001. for not having entered them as
being less than a pound, in the excise book. He
had made them a pound both with the excise and
his customers, and it remained with them to say
whether he could now, for the purpose of evading
the penalty, contend that they were not a pound.
The LORD CHIEF BARON left the question to
the jury, remarking, however, that the condemna-
tion bad always been received as conclusive evidence
of the weight or quantity.
The Jury retired, and after an hour's deliberation
returned the following verdict :—" We find for the
defendant, because there was not a pound of to-
bacco."

THE MARKETS.-(THIS DAY.)

HAY MARKETS.—((A1
ST. JA
f. s. X. s
Lowland Mead. Hay 4 oto 5 0
Upland Ditto 5lO 610
Rye-grass Hay 5lO 610
New
Supply moderately good, trail
Saturday.

t per Load of 34Trustev.)
MES'S.

X. a. Z. s.
Clover Hay 4 15 to Y 0
Oat Straw 1 18 2 2
Wheat Ditto 2 2 210

rather dull, and prices as on

SMITH.

[FIELD.

X. s. L.s.
Lowland Mead. Hay 4 Oto 5 0
Upland Ditto 5 0 6 6
Rye-grass Hay 5 0 6 6
New Meadow Hay 410 6 0
Meadow Hay from ss. to lls.,
higher than last quoted ; prices
mited, and trade brisk.

s. A. s.
Cloy. nay generally 5 oto 7 0
Do. extra 0 0 710
Oat 5traw..........,. 2 0 2 5
Wheat Ditt0,...,, 2 5 210
Clover Hay 3s. to
nss. per load
of Straw stationary. Supply li.

On Monday se'nnight, at the audit held at
Spilsby, of the Rev. Thomas Walker, of Co-
mngsby, he returned to his tenants 20 per cent.
On Thursday, the 28th ult., at the audit of
Charles Thorold Wood, Esq., of Scampston-
hall, Yorkshire, he returned 20 per cent. to his
Lincolnshire tenants. The Rev. John Banks,
of Spilby, at his tithe audit held lately, made a
return of 20 per cert. The Rev. R. Cholmeley,
of Wainfleet All Saints returned 15 per cent.
Montague Cholmeley, Esq., at his audit on the
25th ult., for the parishes of Coningsby and
Tumby, made a return of 12 per cent. Sir
1
Richard Sutton, Bart., raturne 15 per cent...-
County Chronick.