The Sun.
London, England, 1845-03-08 00:00:00

birro 15bition

FHE FUNDS-(CLOSING PRICES

ONE - ------•/
CLOSIN(
PRICES OF BRITISH FUNDS. O'CLOCK. PRICES.
3 per Cent. Consols
Consols for Acc0unt.....
Exchequer Bills, 1,000/., 11,(1..... 65 63 65 pm. 65
Ditto 5001. . .. -- pm.
Ditto Small .. pm.
Ditto Advertised pm-

ONE CLOSING
PRICES OF FOREIGN FUNDS. O'CLOCK. PRICEs.
Brazilian Bonds
Columbian Bonds, ex Venezuela l4 14
Mexican, 5 per Cent. 1837 ......
Ditto. Account
r4,k: 43
Portuguese Bonds, 5 per Cent
Ditto, Converted 6B 678 681 68
Ditto, Account
Russian Bonds
Spanish 5 per Cent. 1840.
Ditto, Account.
Ditto 1841 28% 281 A
Ditto, Passive
Ditto, Deferred...... ...........
Ditto 3 per Cent.
Ditto, Account 4114 41
Belgian Bonds, 41/, per Cent — 101%
Dutch, 21/2 per Cent
Ditto Account
63%1 63%
Ditto, 4 per Cent., Certific 991,0,VA 99
PRICES OF
PAID. AT ONE O'CLOCK. CLOSING
RAILWAY SHARES PRICES.
Birming. and Gloucesterloo 134 133
Bristol and Exeter ..... 70 ...8214 84 83 821/ • 8214
€l" Ditto New
Bristol and Gloucester... 30
CalJdonian
Cambridge and Lincoln 11,4. 3% 4
Chester and Holyboad... 5
Chichester and Brighton 5
Ciiurnet Valley
Cornwall
Direct Northern
Dublin and Belfast June. 2% 614
Dublin and Galway 214...... 2;',3 ... ...... ...
Eastern Counties 141. 165.... 181 18
Eastern Union lO ..
Ditto Extension
Great South. and West

2
614

4
11%
1897
41

(Ireland)
Ditto Extension
Great North of England..100
Ditto New
Great Western BO ...
Ditto 1/2 Shares
Guildford, Farn'm,Ports. 2% ••• •• 514
--
Harwich
Hull and Selby
Ditto Quarter Shares 121 2014 214 211 201
Do. Half Shares
Kendal and Windermere 11/2 51,!
Lancaster and Carlisle... 15
London and Binninghm (Stock)...
Do. Quarters
London and Brighton... 50
London and Croydon, 13/. 15s. 9d. 181 4 lBl4
Do. Guaranteed 5 per
Cent.
London and S. Western 41/6a 10d 80
London and York 2,4 7% 63!1 6%
Manchester and Leeds... 73 149 147 147

Do. Sixteenths 2% 714
Manchester and Birmin. 40
Do. Quarters
Midland 100 l2B 129 12714...
Do. New
Newcastle and Darling-
ton Junction ...... ...... 24 ......
Do. New Brandling... 10
Newcastle and Berwick 1% 143 4
North British
Do. New
North Kent
Rugby, Worstr, & Tring 1
Sheffield and Manches... 821/2 —
Do. Quarter Shares... 8
Shrews., Wolverhamp.,
Dudley, and Birm 9l/4 . . 314%14
South Eastern & Dover 33/ 2s 4d... 4114 42
Do., No. 2.
Do., No. 3
South Wales 2l/2...... 51/il/2
Trent Valley 2 .. 221/2 22
Waterford and Kilkenny 1 ...... 2% 314
Yarmouth and Norwich. 20
York and North Midland 50
Do. Selby
Do. Extension
FRENCH RAILWAYS.
Boulogne and Amien5... 2
Bordeaux and Toulouse 2
Bordeaux, Toulouse, and
Cette
Dieppe and Paris June. 2 ...... 2A
Great North. of France.. 4
Lyons and Avignon 2
Orleans and Vierzou ... 2 ...... 17
Orleans and Bordeaux... 2 ...
faris and Ly 4
gPP
ons 2
Paris and Orleans 2O
Paris and Rouen
Rouen and Havre
Tours and Nantes 1
JOINT STOCK BA., 11. S.
London & Westminster. 20

5014
451 A
31%

SPIRIT of th,-! PUBLIC JOURNALS.
FROM THE EVENING PAPERS OF THIS DAY.
GLOBE.—It becomes increasingly manifest that, in the
case of wealthy offenders, the public justice of the country
requires to be guarded against evasion by more stringent se•
curities than are at present provided by the law. We do not
object to the discretion vested in magistrates to take bail; al-
though, in most instances, this discretion operates in favour of
the rich, while the poor person is seldom able to obtain the re-
quired sureties, and is therefore compelled to remain in prison
until his trial. That which is requisite to secure the appear-
ance of the party is, in the great majority of cases, lost sight
of by the committing magistrate. The amount of bail which
would be deemed heavy, if not oppressive, in the case of a
working man, is of trifling import to one of the higher classes
ofsociety. It is, therefore, obvious that .for the security of
equal justice in the administration of the laws, the amount of
the recognizances in which parties are held fur the appearance
of a prisoner at the sessions or assizes, there to answer the
charge on which he is committed, should bear a reason-
able proportion to the nature of the charge and his position
in society. Where this rule is not observed, the preliminary
proceedings are a delusion. The prosecutor is subjected to
much inconvenience and expense in preparing for and at-
tending the court, to perform the duty cast upon him; and
he is frequently mocked by the escape of the prisoner, through
the neglect of the magistrate,who was bound by his office to use
due caution that the ends of justice were not frustrated by his
means. These observations are not of a mere general cha-
racter. They originate in, and are designed to apply to, a
glaring defeat of justice by the escape of a person charged
with a very serious offence, through the facilities afforded
by insufficient bail. In November last the daughter of a
wealthy medical gentleman at Brentwood was charged with
stealing a considerable quantity of silk, the property of
Messrs. Taylor, drapers, of that town. The mode in
which the robbery was alleged to have been perpe-
trated was not less artful than flagitious. A mes-
sage was sent to the tradesmen, directing that a number of
rolls of silk, of different colours, should be sent to the house
of the accused party's father, for inspection. They were sent.
The youth by whom they were conveyed was desired to leave
them. The whole of the rolls were returned, with an intimation
that none of them would suit, and with a request to the trades-
men that others might be sent. Some circumstances induced
a belief that the pieces of silk, when returned, were short
of the quantities which left the shop. The precaution was
therefore taken of carefully measuring and placing distinctive
marks on the pieces which constituted those sent on the se-
cond occasion. These rolls were also returned, and were
immediately examined. A deficiency in several of the lengths
was detected. One of the principals forthwith proceeded to
the house, and the object of his visit was stated. The charge
was, of course, denied. But, strong in his conviction that
the grounds of his accusation were but too valid, he in-
sisted on passing up stairs to a room whence he heard a
noise, which convinced him that it was the scene of
bustle and alarm. The embers of what had manifestly
been a quantity of silk, recently consumed, were found on the
fire and on the hearth. Other strongly corroborative evi-
dence was adduced, and the accused lady was committed for
trial at the sessions. Bail was, however, taken for the ap-
pearance of the prisoner, and she was released. At the ses-
sions, the illness of the lady was urged upon the Court as a
reason for postponing the trial ; and the recognizances were
enlarged, and an arrangement was entered into that
the accused party should be tried at the Winter As-
size. The Winter Assize came in due course, but not
so the accused lady. Some ingenious pretext was
urged ; the trial was postponed ; and the recognizances
again enlarged. The Spring Assize arrived. The Court
was opened " with the usual solemnities." The grand jury
were charged, and had retired to their chamber ; and Mr.
Straight, the deputy clerk of assize, called upon Helen
Mackril Richardson to surrender to take her trial. No
answer was, however, returned. A bench warrant was ap-
plied for by Mr. Ryland for the apprehension of the fugitive
from justice. This was, however, but capping the climax.
An officer proceeded to Brentwood with all imaginable speed.
He bad, we need hardly say, his labour for his pains. The
lady—as was well known to every one but those who
ought to have foreseen, and guarded against, such an
event—was safely lodged in some distant retreat, where she
was not likely to be discovered, and where, if discovered, the
warrant of the Court was powerless. We can understand,
and readily excuse, the feelings of the respectable parent
who has chosen rather to pay the amount of the recogni-
zances into which he and his friend entered for the appear-
ance in Court of his child. But these private feelings, how-
ever amiable and natural, ought not to be recognised by the
magistrate, however much they may be commisserated by the
man. It is because of the strength of those feelings, and the
ability of the individual to pay for their indulgence, unless
guarded against by the amount of the required sureties, that
we contend for the propriety of regulating the bail by the
position in society of the party in whose behalf it is tendered.
The: object proposed is to secure the production of the
prisoner at the trial. That object the magistrate is bound to
effect by the means which the law has placed within his
discretion. Increased precautions are also called for in the
case of witnesses. These are " bound over "by the com-
mitting magistrate to appear and give evidence before the
grand jury, and if the bill be found, at the trial of the pri-
soner. But the amount of recognizances ought to be regu-
lated by the rank and condition of the accused—the nature
of the charge—and the circumstances of the witnesses.
Unless these be taken into account, the recognizances, so far
as ensuring the ends of justice by a due prosecution of the
charge—are not worth a straw. Should getting the principal
witness or witnesses out of the way be deemed advisable, and
they be of the class who may be acted upon by a bribe,
this mode of evading justice is rendered perfectly easy. The
accused will then surrender to take his trial, if a bill has been
found—quite aware that the witness on whose evidence the
case rests has disposed of himself; or, if the imputed crime be
felony, and the bill is to be presented to the grand jury at the
same sessions or assizes lie their trial was appointed to take
place, the accused is equally at ease. His wealthy friends have
interposed, and the witness or witnesses on whose evidence
the charge against him rests, fail to appear. The Court pro-
nounces it " a very extraordinary proceeding;" and the
ac-
cused party leaves the hall of justice amid the congratulations
of friends. These scenes have become of frequent recurrence,
and, whenever they do occur, interfere with the impartial
ad-
ministration of justice. Until the Legislature shall interpose,.ate
and by the appointment of a public prosecutor, relieve private
individuals from the expense, and preserve public justice
from the danger of having its course interrupted by the pre •
sent system, let magistrates use the discretion with which
they are invested, and apportion the amount of bail for the