The Sun.
London, England, 1842-11-19 00:00:00

SERIOUS AFFRAY.

On Sunday night last, the neighbourhood of Mount-
street was thrown into a state of great alarm, in con-
sequence of a very serious affray having taking place
between a party of soldiers and a tap-room full of
civilians at the Britannia public-house, Mount-street.
The case was heard at the Police-office yesterday
(Thursday), and the following are the particulars :
Henry Holmes, a private in the Queen's Bays, was
charged by William Smith, landlord of the Britannia
public-house, Mount-street, with breaking a table,
and damaging four spittoons and four cans, of the
value of 10s. He charged others, but could not name
any more.
The evidence was as follows :—That on Sunday
night, about eight o'clock, while-the tap-room of the
Britannia was filled with people, three or four soldiers
came in. The newspaper had been read, and the
company were talking about Chartism. One of the
soldiers immediately said, "D— and b— the
bloody Chartists." This led to some chaffing, and one
of the soldiers gave a toast, " May every Tory Alagis •
trate's house be thatched with the skins of Chartists."
The chaffing went on, and shortly after one of the sol-
diers went out, saying he would be back directly.
Almost immediately after some other soldiers came
in, took up the table, smashed the legs off, and played
away on all sides. The civilians turned again, and
a general fight took place, but eventually the civi-
lians were swept from the field. One witness, Wm.
Hind, of Cannon-yard, Long-row, had his arm broken
his hand smashed, his ear hurt with kicks, and
otherwise injured. Others were also injured. None
could, however, swear to any soldier as breaking the
table. They, however, distinctly swore that no blow
had been struck previous to the soldiers breaking the
table, and that they commenced what was termed a
cowardly and brutal assault. The prisoner'w glove,
which was found, with his name written in it, was the
clue which led to his discovery as being one of the
psrty.
The Mayor could not think that soldiers would act
so without great provocation.
The Adjutant of the regiment, who was present at
the Police-office, wished to call witnesses for the defence.

The Mayor said it was of no use, as there was no
case against the prisoner, who was not sworn to, and
he must, be discharged.
The -Adjutant would very much like to call them, as
he should show the civilians to be the aggressors, and
that the soldiers merely acted in their own defence.
The Mayor assented to it.
Corporal Macdonell deposed that no chaffing what-
ever took place ; that no such boast was given ; that
the people in the tap-room insulted the soldiers by
calling them hired assassins, and calling out " Map-
perley Hills ;" and that while all the other soldiers
were out but himself, he was knocked down, kicked,
and beat brutally, and that it was over his body that
his comrades came and rescued him,ashelay bleeding.
Corporal Lawrence Council proved that Macdonell
was most brutally used, and that, before that, nothing
had been done to irritate the people.
The Mayor expressed his decided opinion that this
row first commenced with the civilians,y that Macdo-
nell was knocked down before anything else was
done, and that acting a friendly and noble part, the
soldiers rescued their comrade. He trusted in future
no one would attempt to insult soldiers, as they were
under very peculiar circumstances, and ought to be
honoured more than insulted.
The Adjutant thanked the Mayor for his atten-
tion to the case ; he only wished the affair to be fully
investigated, as the Colonel would have punished the
soldiers if they had been in the wrong.
Hind looked a most pitiable object, and Macdonell's
face was all colours, with blows.—Nottinghain Review.

ERR AT U m.—ln the judgment delivered on Thursday
by Sir James Wigram in the Vice-Chancellor's Court,
and reported in The Sun, for " Howard,". read " iia-

yard."
ozacrehmriastkininags
at
Tbioi
tEhA Thalc Nses foory Et Th. Te I
rE
rs
0.
i
pantomimes. At Covent-garden, an endeavour will
uPc tr ieoPna roaft
be made to improve the character of the amusement,
by the substitution of clever jokes (which will bear
repetition), for the endless riot and confusion which
has hitherto been its characteristic—the Editors of
Punch have been engaged upon it for some time. The
pantomime at Drury-lane will be called William Tell.
The long talked of new ballet at Covent-garden is laid
by for the present, and the opera of Masaniello will be
revived as an afterpiece. The next operatic novelty
will, we believe, be Mr. Benedict's opera, which will
be produced immediately after Christmas ; this will be
followed by Rossini's La Donna del Lago, in which
Mrs. Shaw will sustain the character of Malcolm.—
Dramatic and Musical Review.

The Princess' Theatre, in Oxford-street, will be
opened with an opera company on the 26th of next
month. The musical department will be placed
under the direction of Signor Schirra ; Mr. John
Loder is to be the leader ; and Mr. W. Lovell Phillips
chorus-master.—Dramatic and Musical Review.
The General Steam Navigation Company'.s Mail
Packet, Caledonia, Captain H. Cheesman, arrived off
the Tower on Thursday evening, at ten, with the Ham-
burgh Mail, having had a most splendid passage of
forty-six hours only from Hamburgh.
PRISON DISCIPLINE.—We understand that among
other alterations and improvements in prison regula-
tions, recommended by the Inspectors of Prisons,
there will be one for an increase in the dietary al-
lowed to prisoners.—Berkshire Chronicle.
BRlBERY.—Sweatmeats were formerly much used
to bribe persons of quality or judges, to whom a
questre-
to
was to be made. This custom at last rose to
such a pitch, that Louis IX. of France issued a pro-
clamation, wherein he forebade all Judges to take more
than ten penny worth a week. Philip the Handsome,
The pearl fishery,
it in •
subsequently curtailed this quantity to no more than
what one could use in one-day.
pYsS:lnNleAx.i—stTenicieelmiosstthcartuperal Icitnisdedo f
atn e traoh
a i
eslavery,an
are oftenli sacrificed to
per Alina
accordingisland o on
tthe
uAbyssinianppei who
visitedCoa st.
1831, is carried
on exclusively by youths, who
eamn ys e l
Na.
er:
at athe severities which accompany it.
of the overseers, who are w
de-
stroyed by sharks, or fall victims to the negligence
armili themselves
fire while the poor creatures are
pulling in vain at a
rope which is attached to the
give notice to those abovearm, and
is
destined
to
air. Ti.
. lluppell couldwhen they are in want of
notl obtain any estimate of
this
the profits derived from accursed business ; but,
as the inhabitants were wealthy and slaves in the
t .
market numerous, here can be no doubt that the loss
of life attendant thereon is easily made up by fresh
purchases, and that the average duration of existence
among these helpless creatures must be short indeed.
—Anti-Slavery Reporter. • , •
11 AMBURGII, Nov. 11.—In the course of last year,
a. llamburgh barque, the Echo, was seized in the har-
bour of Sierra Leone, and eventually 'confiscated
under the sanction of the local Admiralty Court, upon
grounds connected with her supposed infraction of a
convention made between Great Britain and Ham-
burgh, for the suppression of the slave trade. The
owner and agents of the barque applied, through the
medium of Mr. Colquhoun, in London (the Hanseatic
Consul-General), to the British Government, complain-
ing of the illegality and injustice of the proceedings of
the Admiralty Court in Sierra Leone, and demanding
for
her restitution of the vessel, with indemnification-
her detention, and all costs. A diplomatic correspon-
dence arose out of this transaction, in which Lord
Aberdeen; Mr. Colquhoun'Hodges, an
Colonel d IT*
Syndic Sieveking, of Hamburgh, were the principalparties. Until the whole of the correspondence has
been published, it would not be fair
to express what
has already appeared in print; a case is certainly
made out in favour of the owners of the Echo, which
demands a strict and very impartial investigation on
the Put of the British Government.