The Sun.
London, England, 1829-08-15 00:00:00

SPihIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

There are two vacancies at present on the judi-
cial Bench :—one occasioned by the death of
Mr. Baron Hullock ; the other by the more re-
cent decease of Mr. Charles Warren, Chief
Justice of Chester, who expired at his house in
Bedford-square, on Wednesday afternoon, in
the sixty-sixth year of his age. Mr. Campbell
is spoken of as the successor of the former ; and
the choice, we suppose, will be generally deemed
to be a proper one. With respect to the Chief
Justiceship of Chester, an Evening Paper, The
Sun, very properly recalls to public recollection
the fact, that " the Commissioners on the Com-
mon Law had recommended in their report, the
abolition of the Welsh judgeships altogether ;"
and adds an opinion, in which we perfectly coin-
cide, that " the present seems a fair opportunity
for carrying the recommendation into effect."—
Indeed, in our mind, every opportunity is a fair
one for reducing public expenses, when public
burdens are oppressive.—Times.
We copy, this day, passages from the French
Papers, and publish a letter from one of our
correspondents, really for no other purpose than
to shew the extreme stupidity of our neighbours
in matters of politics. The truth is, that Buena-
parte kept the whole race of Frenchmen so long
in ignorance of all that was doing in the world,
that they actually have not the slightest rational
idea of what is, or not, probable, in national
councils or diplomatic relations. We publish
the particulars of a ridiculous treaty, " of the
reality of which," our private correspondent
says, nobody "doubts concluded between
England, Austria, and France. What does he
mean by writing this trash to us ? Nobody
doubts of the reality of such a treaty ! Why,
the man who forged the treaty must have had
such a contempt for the understanding of those
to whom the forgery was offered, as in truth no-
thing but the result could excuse. He must have
said, " Frenchmen are the greatest fools upon
earth ; they may be made to believe any thing
that suits their malignant passions. I will pro-
pose this nonsense to them." And our corres-
pondent now says, that " nobody doubts the re-
ality" of the nonsense. Now we would inform
the French nation, if their journalists would but
translate us faithfully, that England has no dread
of Russia; that if the Turks are determined not
to make peace, they must abide by the conse-
quences of their obstinacy, It is not our affair;
but if they would come to an arrangement, we
might press Russia amicably to treat theta
gently, and abstain from harsh terms. But we
are not going to inundate the Mediterranean
and Black Sea with the blood of Admirals lii-
cord and Heyden ; nor to send 30,000 French-
men in balloons to succour Constantinople ; nor
Austria going to swallow up France, in the ab-
sence of the 30,000 Frenchmen whom we are
to transport into Turkey. All these things are
as probable as the " peacock with the fiery
tail !" And we really think it a misfortune,
when the French journalists are determined to
write prodigies of absurdity suited only to the
apprehensions of their own countrymen, that
they cannot, for the honour of their nation, find
some method of conveying their gross fictions,
which none but Frenchmen comprehend.—lbid.
No book which has been published for many
years, will produce a stronger sensation than the
" History of the Peninsular War," by Colonel
Napier, of which the second volume has just
been published. There is hardly, perhaps, an
instance of any man speaking with such uncom-
promising•impartiality and regard to truth, while
the. actors in the scenes described are in life.
The well-known ability of Colonel Napier, and
his title to speak confidently on subjects con-
nected with his profession, will not render his
opinions, when unfavourable, the more palatable
to the sufferers. There is nothing, however,
like spleen throughout the work. The author
seems always eager to do justice to merit either
in friend or foe ; anti to be only indignant when
meanness or incapacity come across him. Col.
Napier appears to great advantage when con-
trasted with General Foy. In the Frenchman
there is no doubt evidence both of ability and
industry ; but we arc ofte❑ at the same time
struck with flights, which, when analysed, turn
out little better than nonsense. Colonel Napier
takes nothing for granted, and hazards nothing.
We see every where his ardent temperament un-
der the objection of a clear head. The follow-
ing remarks of Colonel Napier respecting the
qualities of the British soldiers, are interesting ;--
" It has been said that the British soldiers are
less intelligent in providing for themselves, and less
able to sustain privations of food, than the soldiers
of any other nation. This is one of many vulgar
errors which have been promulgated respecting
them. How they should be constantly victorious,
and yet inferior to all other nations in military qua-
lification, does not at first sight appear a very logi-
cal conclusion; but the truth is, that with the ex-
ception of the Spanish and Portuguese, who are
undoubtedly more sober, the English soldiers pos-
sess all the valuable military qualities in as
and many in a much higher degree, than any other
nation. They are as rapid and as intelligent as the
French, as obedient as the German, as enduring as
the Russian, and more robust than any; and with
respect to food, this is sure, that no man of any
nation,som
e kind with
daily, l
ps si thanr,cat ; toNduvogo
hispho he does
reioscf well solid
ffoorodanoyf
ampleh
ro
from
justicealio wtionghitsbeextm-raoilsitiriyaryof e-
N\ attemptelina
lengthtr oi
me-
rits. sic:
od 000senfostime."Colonel
faNr
af
to conceal the errors of the Duke
day to share with him the glory of the war, he
attributes to their stupidity the faults which have
been found with some of his operations by French
Generals

" It was more agreeable (he observes) to the
Aristocratic feelings of the English Cabinet, that
the French should be defeated by a Monarch in
Germany, than by a plebeian insurrection in Spain.
The obscure intrigues carried on through the Prin-
cess of Tour and Taxis, and the Secret Societies
of Germany, emanating as they did from Patrician
sources, engaged all the attention of the Ministers,
and exciting their sympathy, increased those dis-
tempered feelings which led them to see weakness
and disaffection in France, when throughout that
mighty empire few desired, and none dared, openly
to oppose the Emperor's mishes—when even se-
cret discontent was confined to some Royalist
Chiefs and splenetic Republicans, whoseinfluence
was never felt unti after Napoleon had suffered
Ministers attributed and the grandeur of
his the resulta of
the direst revejses. Unable to conceive the ex-
iis genius,oftient
his profound calculations to a blind chance--h;,, vic-
tories to treason, to corruption, to anything 'Out that
admirable skill with which he wielded the most
jpood‘gv
ienrgfu
the militarya.m forceetitthatdifficulties
t o ebvee r
encountered,
orderstbey
of a single Chief. And thus sadeluded, and mis-
editetrheed
adopted er.ery project, and squandered their re-
sources,
.without any great or decided effort. While
uegoetating.with the Spanish Junta, for the occupa-
tion. of Cadiz, they were also planning an expedition
against Sicily and while loudly asserting their res Ge.,

ittAm to defend Portugal, reserved their principal
force for a blow against Holland ; their preparations
for the last object being, however, carried on with a
pomp and publicity little suitable to war.
• *
" We have seen that it was the work of the Mi-
nisters to have the troops in Sicily employed in the
South of Spain, but yielding to the representations
of Sir John Stuart, they permitted him to make
this display of military foolery ; yet it is not with
the bad or good success of these expeditions that this
history has to deal, but with that palpable and direful
ministerial incapacity which suffered two men, noto-
riously unfitted for war, to waste and dissipate the
military strength of England on secondary objects,
while a renowned Commander, placed at the most
important point, was left without an adequate force.
" For the first time since the commencement of
the Peninsular war, sixty thousand Spanish troops,
well armed and clothed, were collected in a mass,
and in the right place, communicating with the
British force. For the first time since Napoleon
swayed the destiny of France, the principal army of
that country had met with an important check ; die
great Conqueror's fortune seemed to waver, and the
moment had arrived when the British Government
was called to display all its wisdom and energy.
The Duke of York had performed his duty; he had
paced above 90,000 superb soldier=, all disposable
for offensive operations, in the hands of the Ministers;
but the lawr knew not their value, and instead of
concentrating them upon one, scattered them upon
many points. Sir Arthur Wellesley might have had
above eighty thousand British troops on the fron-
tiers of Poi tugal, and he was a General capable of
wielding them. He was forced to commence a
campaign upon which the fate of the Peninsula, a
quick triumph, or a long protracted agony of twelve
millions of people depended, with only twenty-two
thousand ; while sixty thousand fighting men, and
ships numerous enough to darken all the coasts of
Spain, where waiting in Sicily and England for
orders which were to doom them, one part to scorn,
and the other to an inglorious and miserable fate.
Shall the deliverance of
the Peninsula, then, be attributed to the firmness
and long-sighted policy of Ministers who gave these
glaring proofs of improvidence ; or shall the glory
of that great exploit lighten round the head of him
who so manfully maintained the fierce struggle, even
under the burden of their folly ?"
Colonel Napier, we believe, only anticipates
the judgment of an enlightened posterity, when
he consigns the Cabinet of that day to disgrace.
How many soi-disant heroes has Colonel Na,
pier unlaurelled ? How beautifully he disposes
of Sir Hudson Lowe and Sir John Stuart in a
couple of sentences !
" As a preliminary measure, Murat attacked and
carried the Island of Capri ; upon which occasion
Sir Hudson Lowe first became known to history,
by losing in a few days a port that, without any pre-
tensions to celebrity, might have been defended for
as many years. Murat's demonstrations sufficed
to impose upon Sir John Stuart, and from ten to
twelve thousand British troops were thus paralysed
at a most critical period."
But we shall return to this interesting work.—
rning Chronicle.
_

We have made extracts from Irish Papers on
the subject of a very singular charge delivered to
the Grand Jury at Armagh by Mr. Justice Jebb,
on the subject of Orange Processions. Mr.
Justice Jebb dwells with fondness on the by-
gone glory of these processions ; as to the
legality of which he delivers just well an opinion
as is calculated to add to the distracted state of
the country. The processions are not unlawful
in themselves ; but if Magistrates think there is
a reasonable ground for apprehending a collision
of parties, they may order the people to disperse.
As the Magistrates are all more or less tainted
with Orangeism, they will take the one part of
the opinion without concerning themselves with
the other ; and as the Catholics will meet to op-
pose the processions, the Magistrates will act
against them, and their feuds will be perpetuated.
In pronouncing on any measure, the state of the
country and the ways of thinking of the popula-
tion must be taken into consideration. If a set
of French Ultras were to walk in procession in
Paris on the Anniversary of the Battle of Water-
loo, to which the French nation are indebted for
their beloved Royal Family, the consequence
would unquestionably be bloodshed ; and it
would be deemed the height of madness to allow
such a procession. The Orange processions in
Ireland commemorate an event, which, though in
a natural point of view, as beneficial to the Catho-
lics as Waterloo to the French, can hardly ex-
cite very agreeable recollections in the descend-
ants of those whom it stript of their estates, and
consigned to a century of degradation. They
can do no good, and as they may lead to harm,
they ought to be put down. Some other vent
may surely be found for the overflowing activity
of his Majesty's Protestant subjects of Ireland.
Processions are, good or bad, according to cir-
cumstances ; and if the Irish Protestants suffer
no other restriction on their liberty than that of
not being allowed to have Orange processions,
they have no great reason to complain. When
men enjoy the benefits of the social state, they
ought to reconcile themselves to a few priva.
tions. We know the Irish lave fighting, and it
may be deemed illiberal in us to wish to deny
them a gratification of which they are so deeply
enamoured. We, said the late Mr. Scully, in
his celebrated advice to his brethren. "Wt
are not like the Dutch or Austrians, dull, slow,
and heavy machines; nor like the Spaniards and
Neapolitans, indolent, debauched, or frivolous;
but are, from our cradles, a bold, martial, and
muscular people as ever existed. We are, be-
yond most nations, robust of constitution and
frame, patient of fatigue, of cold and heat, hun-
ger and thirst, nimble, terrible in battle, rushing
headlong upon the bayonet and the battery, and
even prodigal of life in a favourite cause ;
at our schools, our patron festivals, and our
fairs, we make fighting and rough exercises
our pastimes, nay our delight. What is act;
has been more common in Ireland than to
see the men of rival parishes and rival counties,
meeting by choice and previous appointment,
upon our fair-greens and race-grounds, and
there with clubs and other weapons,, engaged in
furious conflict for whole !lowa, with dreadful
loss of limbs and lives, and all for the empty
honours of their parish or county ?" We dis-
claim the wish to make all the world happy
our way. But unfortunately when the Irish
fight John Bull must pay the piper, The deaths
are sufficient to keep the country unsettled, but
not sufficient to prevent that regular overflow hf
necessitous men, for whom no work can be
found in their own country, and who are de-
stroying and degrading by their competition the
unfortunate English labourer. We say, awry-
fore, let us hear no more of your liberty to walk
in procession, or any other foolish nonsense, the
inconvenient consequences of which we are
doomed to feel. The best and only sound
mode of proceeding is to take the liberty of
knocking both of you about the head whenever
you are seen in any suspicious postures. Till
Irishmen, whether Protestants or Catholics, be-
come a great deal more rational than they are at
present, the presumption is not far over-strained,
that whenever a hundred or two of them are as-

sembled, they are assembled for no good. The
Dublin Evening Post reiterates the call for
Martial Law, as the only means of preventing
the Magistrates from doing mischief. The end
to be looked after is the peace of the :country ;
and if " more justice would be done at the drum
head" than in Orange Courts with Orange Ju-
ries, why should not that remedy be tried ?
" Upon the event of the trial of the homicides of
Borris-o'kane (says our Dublin contemporary), at
• the approachin,y, Assizrs of Tipperary, we appre-
hend that a great deal will depend. In this respect
Government have certainly done their duty. By
despatching the Solicitor-General, in whom the
people, high and low of the entire county have, and
most justly, the most unlimited confidence, they
have given an earnest of the disposition by which
they are animated, that, as fir as they are concerned,
ample justice will be done. At the same time it
will be borne in mind, that much will depend upon
the Magistrates and Jurors. Government cannot do
all : neither can the Judge. If there should be an
acquittal, it will compel the Duke of Northumber-
land to take the government of this county into his
hands ; for we repeat it, from a knowledge of the
country, and an intimate acquaintance with the ex-
isting state of feeling, it will not be safe to leave
the people to themselves.
. * •
From the time the Catholic Question was brought
to its triumphant conclusion, it is needless to say
that we ceased to belong to any party but that of
Ireland. Our object has been, and continues to be,
to consolidate that great settlement—to preach peace
and good will to those wilting to listen to the voice
of peace and good fellowship, and to throw behind
us those angry reminiscences which have worked such
a fearful quantity of evil to the country. But is it
impossible im the pursuit of this great object to shut
our eyes or our ears against the evidence of facts ?
It was impossible when we saw the Orange corps
congregating in the North, with the avowed and
boasted intention of violating that peace which they
broke—when we saw the police of the South set
the laws at defiance—when we perceived, in short,
the evidence of a system to countenance exaspera-
tion, and to thwart the designs of good government
—in fine, when we saw Noblemen and Governors
of counties, and persons bearing the King's Com-
mission of the Peace, and Clergymen of the
Established Church confederating to render, as

far as in them lay, all the efforts of the Government
abortive—it was impossible to avoid denouncing
the system. Some of our contemporaries think we
went too far, and the Northern Whig, we remem-

her, blame] us, when an insurrection was raging in
the North, for calling for Martial Law. We have
read every thing that our ingenious contemporary
has said upon this subject with all the attention
which his observations always merit ; but we have
read, too, at the same time, an account of the pro-
ceedings of the Magistrates, and the conduct of the
Orangemen on the spot, and the result is this—that
General 'I hornton would do more justice at the

drum-head than the persons who possess the local
power in the county to which, upon this occasion,
we particularly allude. Of this we are certain,
that the people would have more confidence in that
truly exemplary and prudent officer than in all the
Governors, Magistrates, and Police of the country.
And it is natural. What confidence can the people
have in Magistrates who make it a boast that no
rascally Papist' shall be admitted into the Police ?
What confidence can Catholics have in a Bench,
which, as Brunswickers, consigned them a thou-
sand times to destruction, which as Clergyman of
th 6 Established Church threatened only the other
day, to leave them without Cromwell's alternative,
Hell or Connaught.'
" We had hoped that when the Catholic Ques-
tion was se: tied, we should not be obliged to resort
to these miserable recollections; but how, in the
name of God, if they are constantly thrown in our
teeth, can we avoid a recurrence to such topics ?
" No—we are satisfied—if we would have peace
now—and security for its continuance hereafter,
that Government must alter its tone, with respect
to the local authorities in different parts of the
country, if not its system. It must not pay them—
it need not pay them, we repeat, any deference.
They are strong, certainly, but their chief power
lies in the forbearance of Government."—Mid.
Wishing well to the new system of Police,
we should be sorry to see it fail, or even fall into
any degree of disrepute, from any defect either
in its materiel or arrangement. But we cannot
disguise that we have heard it stated, that quite
sufficient care had not been bestowed in the se-
lection of some of the men. Their height,
health, and strength, have been scrupulously re-
garded—perhaps, indeed, to a fault—for we do
not find, either in the " Memoirs of Vidocq," or
any of the other annals of thief-taking, that size
has any thing to do with personal courage, or
with that adeptness which is most wanting in a
ferreter-out of offenders. What we hear com-
plained of is (we trust, to any great extent
erroneously) that moral character has not been
attended to quite as much as it ought to have
been. As some corroboration of this, the pub-
lic must have seem that, only a few days ago,
three fellows were taken before one of the Lam-
beth-street Magistrates, charged with a house or
highway robbery, two of whom, on being inter-
rogated as to their occupations, said they had
been just appointed to the new police—adding,
with infinite sang froid, that if they had not
been there, they Were to have been at Whitehall
to be measured for their uniform. Whether the
oversight we are alluding to be true to any
considerable extent, is more, of course, than
we are aware of. We would fain hope that is is
not ;but even the one circumstance we have men-
tioned must be sufficient, we should imagine, to
create suspicion, and to induce Colonel Rowan
to have a minute inspection of the morale of his
force before it goes into action. For it is not
here as in a regiment ; the men, when on ser-
vice, will net be much under the eye of the
Commander ; and it is, therefore, the more
ue-
cessary that every thing should be done before-
hand, to ensure, as far as possible, an honest,
steady and effective body of men. Though
many of the present Police officers, no doubt,
Are respectable men, it cannot be denied, we
feae, that, in the lower grades of them especially,
their integrity has been but too little attended to;
and by a ridiculous esprit du corps among Ma-
eristrates, they have been 4lmost encouraged in
mizdoing, nothing being so difficult, as too
many have experienced, as to get so much as
inquiry into, haw much less redress, for their
misconduct. From thin error we trust the new
Commissioners will steer clear. They will, of
tours::, not abandon their men when in the
right ; but they will be open, it is to be
hoped, to every fair and reasonable com-
plaint, and prompt alike in their investiga-
tiop and decision. It is said that the parishes
begin to gainplain bitterly of the nuinher of
old and decrepit watchmen which the new system
will throw upon their hand;,, anal probably upon
the poor-rates, at the edge of winter. But why
have old and decrepit men been employed ? Is
not that one of the main causes which has led
to the present result And if so, what right
have they to complain who have produced the evil
they complain of? They complain too, we hear,
and apparently with much better reason, that the
new Commissioners have rejected many of their
present watchmen, merely on the score of their
height. This, as we have already hinted, seems
to be an over-squeamishness for which there is

no solid foundation. To a military eye, and to
that of a fine lady, a tall soldier, and an athletic
footman are, no doubt, very graceful objects;
but an army of giants is no more essential to-
wards forming a good police than the same qua-
lification would be necessary in the Navy, where
it is well known height is rather an objection.
In fact, we should have thought that men of all
sizes (classed, if the Colonel wishes it, accord-
ing to their size) were best adapted to the vari-
ous kinds of duties which will devolve upon
them. The Grenadiers, for instance, to quell a
mob—the Lilliputians to steal silently and quietly
upon the pickpocket.—Morning Herald.
Some of our cotemporaries are exceedingly
wroth with the Sultan, and wish him to be left
to his fate, because, as they say, he will neither
oppose the northern invaders, nor propose terms
of peace to the Russian Autocrat. Now with
regard to the matter of fighting, the Turk has
shewn not only more disposition for that sort of
amusement than the invaders in question have
been well able to stow away, but much more than
was ever expected of him ; and, with regard to
offering terms of peace, of what use would it be
for the Sultan to take such a step, knowing, as
he does, that he can only obtain peace on the most
humiliating and degrading terms ? The state of
the campaign is assuredly less favourable to him
now than it was at any previous time since the
commencement of the %%al.; and there are always
not a few, in such cases, who are ready to
counsel that it is better to retain a little than to
risk the loss of all ; but it :ought to be recollect-
ed, that however suitable this advice may be in
the case of individuals who have only their own
interest to consult, it is by no means adapted to
the situation of those who have to consult the
wishes and feelings of others. 'I he question is
not with the Sultan, whether he shall retain a
diadem of diminished splendour, or risk the
total loss of it in the hopes of retaining it un-
impaired; but whether he shall sacrifice a third
part of his subjects—for nearly to this extent
do the demands of Russia go—in order to
preserve the independence of the remainder,
for such time as the northern Autocrat might
find it convenient to permit them. Now
we argue that the Sultan has no right to
do the one, and that it would argue an ex-
treme lack of wisdom to dream for a moment of

the other. Whatever concessions he might make
for the sake of peace, would only be a stepping-
stone to further aggression, and the same ambi-
tious policy continue to be pursued until neither
subject or foot of territory were left him. His
true policy, therefore, we contend, is to stand
firm—to maintain the integrity of his empire,
and never to yield to the unjust demands of
Russia, while there is a Mussulman left to wield a
scymeter in his behalf. The Powers of Europe
will then become more interested in his fate, the
ambition of Russia made more palpable to all—
and, in all probability, a general league be formed
for confining the barbarian within the limits
which nature has pointed out as the boundaries
of his empire.—Morning Advertiser.

SUMMER ASSIZES.

MIDLAND CIRCUIT—DERBY, Auc. 13.

Robert Borrows, aged 18, George Cooper, aged
20, Harriet Modell, aged 19, and Ann Eley, aged
19, were indicted fur a highway robbery.
The Jury acquitted the women, and found both
the men Guilty.

...- ....... —....
The LORD . CHIEF BARON ordered sentence of
death to be recorded, and intimated to the convicts
that they should be removed from this country for

le remainder of their lives.

John Burton was indicted for feloniously embez-
zling two half-crowns, the property of the church-
wardens of the parish of Chaddesden, whose servant
he was at the time. The first and second count
alleged the prisoner, who was the parish-clerk, to be
the servant of the churchwardens ; the third and
fourth, that he was the servant of the minister; and
the fifth and sixth, that he was the servant of both
the minister and churchwardens.
The case for the prosecution having closed, the
Learned Counsel for the defence took two objec-
tions to the evidence, as not sustaining the indict-
merit. The first was, that the prisoner was not
properly described as the servant of any of the per-
sons mentioned in the indictment. He was stated
to be the servant of the minister, or churchwardens,
or both. Now they contended, that in his office of
parish clerk he was not the servant of any of them ;
for that had been always held to be an independent
freehold office, and one whereby the owner would
acquire a legal settlement; and as to his being em-
ployed by them to make a collection, a mere occa-
sional voluntary service as that would never consti-
tute him a servant in a legal point of view.
Lord TENTERDEN—There is quite enough of
doubt on the point, in my mind, to induce me to
reserve it for the opinion of the 12 Judges.
The Jury returned a verdict of Guilty, but re-
commended the prisoner to mercy on account of his
former good character.
Lord TENTERDEN told him, that whatever might
be the decision of the other Judges upon the ques-
tions of law raised by his Learned Counsel, there
could not be the slightest doubt of his guilt in a
moral point of view. He would not now pronounce
any sentence upon him, but he must remain in prison
until the opinion of the Judges was pronounced.
The Assizes terminated at an early hour to-day,
the two special Jury cases having been settled.

WESTERN CIRCUIT.-EXETER, AUG 13.

Thomas Robinson, Edward Brown, Wm. Watson,
Charles Morris, William Davison, and Edward
Young, were placed at the bar, charged with having
woku frcm the dwelling-house of Gregory Northy,
at Devonpert, on the night of Monday, the 13th of
July, about 1001. in sovereigns and half sovereigns,
a crown piece of the reign of Queen Anne, three or
four shillings, and two or three sixpenny pieces of
the same reign, together with seven silver tea-
spoons, and two silver desert-spoons, his property ;
also fbr having stolen from the same place, and at
the same time, 16s. in silver, two pair of gold ear-
rings, and one tortoiseshell snuff-box, the property of
Mary Northy, daughter of the prosecutor.
This trial excited considerable interest, from the
circumstance of some of the prisoners being stated
to have been implicated in robberies and attempted
robberies of several country banks. We understand
that most, if not all of them, are well known under
a variety of flames to the police of London and
other places, Robinson and Brown, the former of
whom has passed under the names of Broad and
Thornley, and the latier, who is known as Big Ned
or Ned Edwards, and has also assumed the name of
Jenkins, were apprehended in April last year at
Truro, on suspicion of an attempt upon the bank in
that town. , At that time no less than 250 skeleton
keys were found in the possession of Robinson, who
is an excellent whitesmith, and is represented as
having been employed in making keys for most of
the persons engaged in bank robberies. It has been
stated to us that the prisoner is in the habit of
making a boast of the number, frequency, and
daring character of his attacks upon banks : and that
he has even gone so far as to threaten some bankers
with a visit. A story is also told of his having had
the hardihood to tell a Magistrate, who is also a
banker, before whotn he was examined upon some
charge, that some years ago he succeeded in effect-
ing an entrance into his bank, but finding nothing
worth carrying away, he contented himself with
writing his name in one of the books, adding that
had the public been as well aware of tho.poverty of

the establishment as he was, its credit would very
speedily have been impaired. Of course this is a
fabrication as far as relates to the supposed poverty
of the firm, and the entrance of the bank by the pri-
soner; not but we consider him, from the whole
tenour of his bearing throughout the present pro-

ceedings, perfectly capable of inventing arid utter-
ing such a statement in the spirit of bravado which
appears to actuate him. -When brought before Mr.
Husband, the Devonport banker, and the committing
Magistrate in this case, Robinson said, with equal
effrontery and coolness, "Oh, Sir, I ought to have
been one of your partners before this." Whether this
was said with reference to the sums of money he

represented himself as having in various banks
throughout the country, or whether it related to a
contemplated attack on the Devonpert bank, and
the prisoner's possession by such means of a good
deal of its paper, we do not undertake to say. Cer-
tain it is, that Robinson and his companion Brown
were sent to prison under the Vagrant Act at Truro,
for the corduct before referred to. The meditated

attack upon the Devonport bank is in the recollec-
tion of all our reader. There can be little doubt

that the prisoners upon this charge did not confine
their views to the robbery of publicans' houses.
Young and Davison were observed reconnoitring
the bank at Devonport, to which the former made
his approaches by courting a maid-servant living on
the premises. While planning this attempt, the
prisoners amused themselves by flying at lower
game. Mrs. Farley, the owner of the Lord High
Admiral public-house, at Stonehouse, who gave her
evidence upon this trial, is said to have had a nar-
row escape. She was in the habit of keeping a
large sum, 7 or 8001. in cash by her, a circumstance
which came to the knowledge of the prisoners, and
it was entirely owing to an accident that she was
not plundered.
Mr. ERSKINE stated the case for the prosecution,
and adduced a vast body of evidence in support of it.
Mr. Gregory Northy examined—l keep the India
Arms, in Cornwall-street, Devonport. My son and
daughter live with me. A charwoman works in the
house, but does not sleep there. My bed-room is
on the second floor; it contains two beds, arid my
daughter also sleeps there. I keep my money in a
till contained in a chest at the head of my bed. On
Tuesday, the 14th of July, about seven in the even-
ing, I received information from my daughter, in
consequence of which I went up stairs to the bed-
room. I went to my chest, and saw it had been
broken open by some instrument. I observed that li
the money (about 1001. in sovereigns and half sove-
reigns) was gone. I had seen it safe on the Satur-
day before. There was a chest in the room belong-
ing to my daughter, which was near her bed; it
was also broken open. I had in my chest one
crown-piece, three or four shillings, one or two six-
pences, all Queen Anne's coin. The chest was al-
ways kept locked. I kept the key. On discovering
my loss, I sent my son for Mr. Ellis (an officer.)-
1 know Brown (points him out). He was in the
habit of coining to my house for about two months
before the robbery. I saw him at my house on the
night of the 13th of July, about ten o'clock. He
had a glass of rum and water, which he drank in
the bar. He went away in three or four minutes,
passing through the front door; he came back again
in about ten minutes, and had another glass of rum
and water in the bar. He then went out again, and
I did not see him any more. Before this he user'

generally to go into the back room, and drink his
grog there, sometimes alone, and sometimes in com-
pany. The back room is 25 feet from the bar, and
about four from the staircase leading to my bed-
room. A person in the bar cannot see what is doing
in the back room or on the staircase. There is a
side passage to the back room without passing
through the bar. When Brown came, there was a
stranger there; they did not seem acquainted. I
was conversing with the stranger a good deal. I
now see him in the dock, and understand his
name is Young. (Points him out.) I was
not in my bed-room during the day, not from
the time I rose (six o'clock in the morning) till I went
to bed at a quarter or half-past twelve. The house
was shut about a quarter past eleven. My daugh-
ter was at home that evening, but my son went out
about half-past seven, and returned about half-past
eleven. My daughter and I were sometimes in the
bar, and sometimes in the tap-room, during the
evening. The key of my chest was never out of
my possession. 1 never sent any member of my
family to it. I saw an iron instrument fitted to the
marks on the chest by one of the constables. I took
three sovereigns and a half from the chest on Satur-
day evening. The money was then safe.
Ellis, a peace officer of Devonport, spoke to hav-
ing visited the prosecutor's premises on the morning
after the robbery. Ile saw a chest in Mr. Northy's
bed-room, and observed that it had been broken
open. Witness went in search of some of the pri-
soners, whom he suspected of the robbery. Went
to Morris's lodgings in Stonehouse-lane, near the
Royal Hospital : was directed there by the witness
Cohost. Did not find Morris there, but subse-
quently found him in charge of Woods, an,Officer,
who had apprehended him. Took him in a coach to
Devonport; on the way charged him with being
concerned in the robbery of the prosecutor. Pri-
soner said he knew nothing about it ; that he had
not been at Devonport that night, and could prove
being in his lodgings at ten o'clock. On searching
him, five sovereigns and a half, three half-crowns,
and two sixpences were found in his pockets. Wit-
ness havingasked his name,prisoner said he shouldgive
it before the Magistrates. Went in company with
a person named Abbott to Plymouth, to the Rich-
mond Inn, and found in a small back room Robinson,
Watson, Davison, Young, and Brown. Witness
informed prisoners of the charge against them, and
took them into custody. Robinson laughed, and
said we were all wrong. Young and Watson got
into the middle of the room, and showed symptoms
of resistance. Witness upon this opened the door
half-way, anti said, as if addressing somebody below
stairs, " Now, my men, fix your bayonets, and
suffer nobody to escape." I called Robinson by his
name, and told him he ought to know better than
permit resistance, as we were determined to take
them info custody. Robinson said they would go
with us if we did not handcuff them. He after-
wards attempted to escape, but without success.
Robinson said, " I was not at Devonport last night.
You ought to know me better than to think I would
be guilty of such a paltry robbery as that. You
know if ever I do any thing, it is something worth
talking of." I found three sovereigns, twenty-four
shillings, and one sixpence upon him. I showed part
of that money to prosecutor's daughter. She had
previously given me a description of a shilling that
was taken from her box. On seeing the parcel of
money, she identified one of the shillings as the
coin in question.
(The shilling was here produced, arid identified
by Miss Northy.)
Taverner, another officer, described his having
apprehended Morris at Stonehouse. On being told
of the robbery for which he was taken into custody,
prisoner declared that he knew nothing about it, and
did not know Devonport at all. He objected to be-
ing searched, and resisted. Witness handcuffed
him, and found upon his person some sovereigns
and silver. Was in company with Ellis at the Rich-
mond Inn when Watson was apprehended. On
being searched, five sovereigns, a half sovereign, ten
shillings in silver, a pencil-case, three knives, and a
watch, were found upon him. Produces the prose-
cutor's and his daughter's chests.
Miss Northy identified her chest and work-box.
After which other evidence was adduced, and Mr.
Justice BunnouGn charged the Jury, who acquitted
Davison, and found all the other prisoners Guilty.
Sentence was not passed.
The trial occupied the Court nearly ten hours.

NORFOLK CIRCUIT—NORWICEI, Aua. 13.
THE KING v. IRELAND AND ROBERT WATTS.
This was en ex-eicio information, filed by his
Majesty's Attorney-General, against the two de-
fendants, for assaulting Captain Edward Delafosse,
Thomas Leigh, and Thomas Chalkley, persons em-

ployed ;n the service of the Custotm, at Antingham,
on the coast of Norfolk, and unlawfully and vio-
lently hindering, obstructing, and resisting them in
the due execution of their duty in such employ.—
There were numerous other counts, but the above

was the general tenour of them.
Mr. Serjeant STORKS stated the case on behalf of
the Crown. On the 31st of December last, it hap-

pened that Capt. Delafosse, commander of the pre-
ventive service on the Mundesley station, having
learned that am extensive landing of prohibited goods
had taken place at a spot called " Gillham's Falls,"
proceeded thither, and found the marks of cart
wheels, and every indication of the truth of the in-
formation he had received. These wheel-marks he
traced to a place called Trunch, where lived the
father and one of the brothers of the two defendalts.
There he found carts in a very dirty, and horses in a
very heated state. On the following day, his suspi-
cions took him to the house of the defendent Ireland
Watta, at Antingham ; and he took with him a con-
stable and a considerable body of assistants. There
he found the defendants, told them that he was come
to search the house for smuggled goods,and produced
his authority, which is termed a "writ of assistance."
They then went into the house, the writ was again
shown, and a part of it read to the defendants, and
the officers proceeded to search the premises. As
soon as they had commenced their search, the de-
fendarts commenced an equally determined resist-
ance; they collared the officers, obstructed their en-
trance into the inner rooms, and attempted to throw
them over the banisters. The officers, in their own
defe.ice were obliged to produce their pistols, and
the affray seemed likely to become of the most serious
consequence. The defendant Robert Watts, baring
his breast, invited the Captain to shoot, and endea-
voured to provoke him to extreme measures. Lord
Suffield was sent for, and while the messenger was
absent, one of the defendants said to the Captain,
" Your lad is very slow; if he don't make haste, the
sun will be down," alluding to the power of the
officers to search houses during the day-time only,
which pretty clearly showed that he was tolerably
well acquainted with what is called in that part of
the county " smugglers' law." Whilst they were
waiting for the arrival of Lord Suffield, a brother of
the defendants,and another person, were observed to
drive a cart out of his yard at a most furious pace,
and Ireland cried out lustily, " Flog away, my
boys l" Of course this cart contained no contra-
band goods. The only questions for the jury were,
whether the officers were in the due execution of
their duty, and whether they were obstructed ?
With respect to the latter point, they would hear
the evidence : on the former, he understood that
some objection in point of law was to be made to
the legality of the writ of assistance, which had ex-
isted for upwards of 200 years, and under which the
officers acted on the present occasion.

Captain Delafosse corroborated the above state-
ment, and other witnesses proved the same facts.
The " writ of assistance" under which the officers
acted was then read, and as it was the foundation of

the discussion which followed, and will become the
subject of much discussion hereafter, in the Court
above, and the question is one of the highest public
importance, we will first give our readers some no-
tion of its contents.

It is a writ issuing out of the Court of Exche-
quer, and is in his Majesty's name. It is directed,
" To all and every the officers and ministers who
now have, or hereafter shall have, any office, power,
or authority, derived from or under the Commis-
sioners of our Admiralty of our High Admiral of
our United Kingdom, for the time being; and to
all and every our Vice-Admirals, Justices of the
Peace, Mayors, Sheriffs, Constables, Bailiffs, Head-
boroughs, and all other our Officers, Ministers, and
subjects, within every city, borough, town, and
county of England," &c. It then recites that it has
appointed certain persons to be Commissioners of
Customs, and their duties, and that his Majesty has
granted to them power to constitute and appoint
any persons whom they choose to be Officers of
Customs throughout the kingdom.- And then comes
the enjoining or enacting part of the writ, in these
words :

" We, therefore, command you and every one of
you (that is, all the subjects of the kingdom), that
all excuses apart, you, and every one of you, do
permit and suffer the said Commissioners of
Customs [naming them], and the Deputies, Mi-
nisters, servants, and other officers of them
the said Commissioners, and each of them,

from time to time, as they shall think pro-

per, as well by night as by day, to enter
and go on board any ship, boat, or other ves-
sel, lying, riding, or being within, or coming into
any port, creek, or haven of England, dominion of
Wales, and town of Berwick-upon-Tweed, and
such ship, boat, or vessel, then and there found, to
search and survey, and the persons therein being
strictly to examine, &c.; and in the daytime to go
and enter into the houses, shops, cellars, warehouses,
rooms, and other places, where any goods, wares,
or merchandises, lie concealed, or are suspected to
lie concealed, which are prohibited, or for which
the customs and duties are not, or shall not be, duly
paid and truly satisfied; and such houses, shops,
cellars, warehouses, rooms, and other places, to
secure and survey for the said goods, wares, and
merchandises."
After this the writ concludes, by his Majesty
strictly enjoining and commanding that the said
Commissioners of Customs, " and their Deputies,
Ministers, servants, and other officers, and each of
them, from time to time be aiding, assisting, and
helping in the execution of the premises as is meet;
and this you, or any of you, are in no wise to omit
at your perils."
This was the case on behalf of the Crown.
Mr. KELLY and Mr. GUNNING then contended to
the Court, that the defendants were entitled to be
acquitted. Neither under the authority of the in-
strument produced, and which had been just read,
nor under any statute, nor by the common law, had
Captain Delafosse and his party any authority to
enter the house of the defendants; and if they had
no authority to enter the house, the defendants were
justified in resisting them, and had therefore com-
mitted no offence. On the part of the Crown, it
is contended, that the writ of assistance gives the
officers on the Preventive service a right to search
any house in which they may expect prohibited
goods to be concealed; and that was the question
which remained to be discussed, and which they con-
ceived ought to be decided in . the negative.
Now, assuming that the King has power to
grant ,a writ to search the house of any spe-
cific individual, in which smuggled goods may
be suspected to be, this is not that case ; but, on
the contrary, it is a writ to search the house, not of
an individual, not of any body of named and speci-
fied persons, but of all the subjects of the realm.
The writ commands that " all the subjects of this
kingdom do suffer and permit" another equally in-
definite class of persons, to enter and to search
their houses, wherever they may choose to suspect,
or pretend that they suspect, that any prohibited
goods may be there. But the Crown has no power
at common law, or by virtue of its prerogative, and
certainly none by any act of Parliament, to command
the people of this kingdom to permit and suffer
this to be done. This writ comes precisely within
the principle of, and is liable to all the objections
which could be urged against, general warrants;
for, first, it is not directed to any particular or speci-
fied individual ; and, secondly, it is not directed
against any individual by name; but it leaves it to
be exercised by any persons who may be deputies,
officers, or servants of the Commissioners of Cus-
toms, and upon any and all the subjects of the realm.
It is a loose, general, vague, and indefinite com-
mand, and therefore void.
Mr. Baron GARROW said that if there were any
doubt as to the legality of these writs of assistance,
it was not for a single Judge sitting at Nisi Prins
to determine so grave and so difficult a question ;
and therefore should not call on the Counsel for the
Crown now to reply. He, however, was of opinion
that the writ was legal and valid : to hold a con-
trary opinion would be to expose the lives of all

~ .j
,~.

the °ricers of Customs to the most imminent danger,
For the last 200 years the Barons of the ExchequeS
had advised his Majesty to grant this Writ ; and
it be illegal, its illegality must be determined upon
grave consideration and deliberation before the
Court above.

i

The defendants were found Guilty.
We have given the above case at length, from
its importance as connected with a considerable
branch of our revenue laws, and the liberty of the
subject, which is involved in the question of the
generality—or rather the universality—of the Wer'
rant under which the officers of Customs act. The
question of course will not be suffered to rest as it
stands at present.

r;*

NORTHERN CIRCUIT—YORK, Auo. IS. 1
REX V. HILL.
Mr. ARCIIBOLD opened the indictment, which
charged the defendant with assaulting a Mr. Sandal,
and causing him to be wrongfully imprisoned.
The Jury returned a verdict of Guilty. •
Sir JAMES SCARLETT is expected in York this • t
evening, being specially retained in the case of 4
" Doe, dem. Turnbull v. Shepherd," which is fixed I; 1
for to-morrow. The case excites great interest•
Dr. Turnbull, the plaintiff, is an eminent physician
in Hull, and claims considerable property under a
will made by one of his patients. The object of the' 1 '1
trial is to decide whether the will was made under . i
circumstances which render it valid. I
, .