The Sun.
London, England, 1842-09-13 00:00:00

i THE DOVER cROPPING CASE.
DovEit, SATURDAY E V ENING, SEPT. 10.—We Wl.'
lIVIStaDd that Sir James ( ; valiant has sent a gentleman
down to I)uver to investigate the case Of the ;"titting
oil. of the hair of Messrs. Fitzjames and Glad Stone,
, ' comedians, in Dover gaol, by order of the gaoler
whilst they wore waiting 'for bail on Wednesday,. the
3i tt of August last ; and that the investigation will
• I take place on Monday next. The spirit of indigna-
I tion which' this arbitrary act has aroused is highly
creditable to the public; and its being brought to
j light gives another proof of the immense power and
I te,efulnesa of the public Press, without whose aid the
ii!-treatinent of these poor players might .liave.been
confined to a very narrow sphere.
As this cwe has created no little interest in the
i public mind, _we think it proper to narrate.the;cir-
[ cumstances out of which it arose. They are briefly
these :—Mr. Frederick Fox Cooper was .the manager
of Dover theatre at the time of the fracas between him
and his performers, which, it appears, called.formagiste-
' rial interposition. The business had for weeks previous
been but indifferent, and the manager had 'got in ar-
rears wit'l his company, certains members of - which,
among others the cropped comedians, thought he did
• not payl .them up in anything like a flAir and honest
proportion, according to the receipts of the house, and
consequently, on the night of his benefit, after the
audience had assembled, they struck, telling him that
they would not go on till he either paid- up their sa-
laries or compromised the matter. Ihis•proposal was
rejected, the actors still stood out, and the hbuse was
consequently dismissed. Next morning Messrs.. Fitz •
james and Gladstone appeared at the bar of the police
court, charged with assaulting Cooper.- Mr. Fitz-
. james was convicted of the assault, and fined 10s. ;
after which the same parties were held to bail for
threateainglCooper, and not having bail at hand,' com-
mitted, and remained an hour or two in custody of
the Dover gaoler, during which time the crapping of
the hair and other indignities were inflicted on them.
On the Friday following Messrs. Fitliames and Glad-
stone took out summonses against Mr. Coulthiird, the
Dover gaoler, for assaults ; and for the report of tino
case, with the singular decision, the public are in-
debted to the Darer Chronicle, though we perceive
the London papers give the credit of it to the Kentish
Observer, which copied it from the Dover paper.
The gaoler, in his defence (it ought to particu-
larly observed), stated, as an extenuation, of his bar-
barity towards Messrs. Fitzjames and Gladstone, that
other gentlemen—a Mr. Beresford and ti Mr. Baring
—had also been cropped in Dover gaol ; but he died
not add the fact that the operation was performed on
these gentlemen (who were in his custody for some
time—one of them for months—and were denuded of
their hair) by a fashionable barber in the usual style,
while Messrs. Fitzjames and Gladstone ,were • rudely
deprived of theirs by the inexperienced hands of a
common felon.

Previous to " clearing the Court" of reporters and
all (an universal practice with our Dover Midwies,
befbre they come to a decision, however plain-sailing
the case may be), Mr. Fitzjames, who is a spirited
young fellow, and an excellent light comedian, called
on the Bench to visit with its censure the treatment
they had met in Dover gaol ; and expressed a hope,
that whatever prejudice might exist against actors,
they would not be influenced by such •pre,:udice.
Though he was now a poor player, he was by birth
and education a gentleman ; and, as could be attested
by individuals in Dover, he had at no distant-period
occupied a situation in society equal to themselves.
If the Mayor of Dover and the majority of th,
brother Justice Shailows that were on'the bench on
Friday, the •2d inst., came to the conclusion that the
"governor" of Dover gaol was "perfectly justified"
in his brutal treatment of Messrs. Fitzjames and
Gladstone, we know that many of his brother Ma-
gistrates hold a very different opinion, and that they=
t.el extremely sorry that the place has been disgraced
by this outrageous proceeding, which has called forth
almost•universal condemnation.
The Dover people have of late been 'not a little
astonished at some former curious decisions of the
Magisterial bench, which the local Press, it would
appear, is • not independent enough to -expose ; but
now titat.the London journals have got access to th©
secrets of the prison-house, it is to be expected that
it will
,not fail to inflict upon them that degree' of ani-
madversion which they may hereafter merit.