The Sun.
London, England, 1827-04-21 00:00:00

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, Arm 20.
TEOMPSON AND Timis v. ?MUM.
This was an action of trover, to recover from the
defendant the value of 78 bags of safflower, a ma-
terial used for the purpose of dying. The plaintiffs
are merchants residing in Great St. Helens, and the
defendant is a manufacturer of glue.
It appeared from the evidence of the plaintiffs,
that they purchased the safflower at one of the East
India Company's sales in October, 1825. The
weight of the 78 bags collectively was 210 cwt. 2
qrs. 121 b. They paid at the rate of 121. per cwt.
In January, 1826, the plaintiffs employed Messrs.
Humpleby and Tarte, brokers, to sell the safflower.
For which purpose they delivered to the brokers
the transfer warrants, and received from them their
acceptances for the several sums of 8004, 700/.,and
7501., which sums it was arranged the brokers
should retain in their hands out of the proceeds of
the sale. In October, 1826, Mr. Humpleby wrote
to the defendant a letter, stating that he could pur-
chase for him 78 bags of safflower at 71. per cwt.,
and sell them again to a Manchester house at 71. lOs
per cwt.; 15 per cent to be paid on the day
of sale, and the remainder in . April, 1827.
The letter further contained an acknowledg-
ment of a debt of 6001. due from Mr. Humpleby
to the defendant, and stated, that deducting that
sum, together with the 15 per cent. to be paid by
the Manchester-house the whole of the purchase-
money which the defendant would be required to
tdvance would not be more than 6001. The de-
fendant agreed to the proposal made by Mr. Hum-
pleby, and on the 30th of October the goods were
sold to the defendant, and on the following day re-
sold to the Manchester-house, both sales being exe-
cuted upon the terms stated in the letter. One of
the acceptances before-mentioned was taken up by
Messrs. Humpleby and Tarte, but they became in-
solvent before the others were due. Under these
circumstances the plaintiffs brought the present
action, and the grounds on which they proceeded
were, that the sale to the defendant was not bona
fide' but merely colourable, and intended to protect
the defendant against the loss which he must have
suffered from the insolvency of the brokers.
Mr. SCARLETT maintained there was no ground
for supposing that the sale was not a bona fide trans-
actiOn•

The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE said, that a person
having a lien upon goods in his possession, was en-
titled to sell his interest in them ; but then it must
be distinctly stated that he was selling only his in-
terest, and not the whole of the pledge. The only
fact for the consideration of the Jury was, whether
the defendant purchased the goods under circum-
stances which ought to have excited suspicion in the
mind of a reasonable man that the sale was not a
fair bona fide mercantile transaction.
The Jury immediately found a verdict for the
plaintiffs—Damages, 1,4001.

COURT OF COMMON PLEAS, Aran. 20.
COLONEL BERKLEY V. COL. FAIRMAN.
Mr. CAMPBELL opened the pleadings. The plain-
tiff was the well-known Colonel Berkeley, who had
brought the present action against Col. Wm. Blen-
nerhasset Fairruan, to recover compensation in da-
mages for a libel which had appeared in a newspaper
called the Palladium, of which the defendant was
the proprietor. The defendant pleaded the general
issue.

Mr. Sergeant WILDE stated the case. In the
present action the plaintiff was under the necessity
of appealing to a Jury of his countrymen to protect
him from the malicious attacks made on his charac-
ter in the publication of which the defendant was the
proprietor, and which was known by the title of the
Palladium newspaper. Tbeplaintiff;by this action,
did not wish to obtain damages for the sake of
money: His only object was to vindicate his honour,
and protect himself from any further attacks that the
defendant might think proper to make on him. In-
deed, profit could not have been the object of the
plaintiff, for Colonel Fainnan *as known to have
been in very bad circumstances, and for some time
had been an inmate of the Fleet prison. The cha-
racter and conduct of Col. Berkeley had been highly
respectable throughout life, nor had he departed
from it now. How his Learned Friend had been
instructed to defend the cause he really did not
know; but he begged to say, on the part of Colonel
Berkeley, that he was willing to drop all further pro-
ceedings, provided Colonel Fairman would express
his regret for what had appeared, at the same time
declaring that it was wholly false.
Mr. Sergeant TADD'r, for the defendant, said that
his client would make every apology in his power to
Colonel Berkeley; but, being absent, he was not au-
thorised to say that he would also declare that he had
no foundation for what he had published. A long
conversation here ensued between the Counsel on
both siti,"s, during which the Lord Chief Justice re-
marked, th:t in the present state of the Press, we
were living inthe greatest tyranny under the sun.
Mr. Sergeant .T.ADDY not being prepared to make
the required apology a,-id declaration,
Mr. Sergeant WILDE resumed. The plaintiff, in
the publication complained of; is represented as
being a writer in the Age, which of itself would be
a libel to a person of Colonel Berkeley's character.
The defendant in his paper has described the Age as
every thing that is bad ; and in the number in which
the libel is contained, he has drawn a character of it
in doggrel verse, in which he terms it the gazette
of filth. After having described it in this manner,
he says that Colonel Berkeley is a. contributor to it.
He challenged the defendant to prove the truth of
his base insinuations. The libel was itself written
in a sort of doggrel verse ; but the Learned Sergeant
did not doubt that the jury would justly estimate
its malignity, although in the form of poetry. In-
deed, it was rather an aggravation, as it could by
that means be put in the mouth of every person,
lim`ever low his situation in life. It was contained
in the Palladium newspaper, dated July 6, 1826,
and ran L'e follows
cc Who are the writers of the Age
cc Hilning darkly, hitting darkly
Whoa war with ladies wage ?
" Bunn an,-1 Berkeley, Bunn and Berkeley.
" Who ex/met,' the beastly crew ?
(These were the terms ju which they were desig-
nated throughout.)
" Who exposed the beastly crew,
cc Stout and manly, stout and man!
" Made them cry peccavi too ?
cc 'Twas Alvanley, 'twas Alvanley.
" Who to Berkeley Castle went,
" And made a racket, made a racket?
" Who an awkward menage sent?
" Horace Claggit, Borace Claggit.
4, Who begged pardon humbly quite?
" This Colonel hot, this Colonel hot.
" Why did not the Colonel fight?
cc Oe'd rather not, he'd rather not."
Here was a direct imputation on the courage of
Colonel Berkeley. It was insinuated that a dispute
had arisen between and Mr. Claggit, and that
he was afraid to meet 11.'01. But if two gentlemen
had quarrelled, and afterwards had made it up, was
it the business of a newspaper to throw on them a
charge of cowardice ? The libel continued—
cc he's the real butcher's I,OY,
" Noisy bragger, noisy bragger;
cc The toady's pride, the bully-); joy,
dc Froth and swagger, froth and scragger."
The Learned Sergeant really did not kuow the
meaning of the expression, " bully's joy."
" How ill suits steel with apron
" His haughty tones, his haughty tone. ;
" He's now reduced to vapour an
" His marrow bones, his marrow home.,
The Learned Sergeant continued to read a good i
deal more of this poetry, which was all in the same
style as that we have given, and having remarked
upon it,ugain offered to withdraw the action, provided
Colonel Fairman would make the required apology ;
but no notice being taken, he concluded by exhort-
ing the Jury to give such a verdict as they them-

seves should feel entitled to were they in a similar
situation.

The libel was then put in and read by Mr. Knapp,
the Associate.

Mr. King being called, stated that he had read
the libel, and had no doubt that it applied to the
plaintiff.

Mr. Sergeant TADDY addressed the Jury for the
defendant. In the first place, this could be hardly
termed a libel, the whole piece was to him perfectly
unintelligible ; in fact, he thought no one could
apply a meaning to it; and if unintelligible, Colonel
Berkeley had no right to apply what no one could
understand, to himself. His Learned Friend, al-
though he took great pains, appeared to be quite at
a loss how to explain what it meant. For his own
part, he (Mr. Sergeant Taddy) certainly could not
understand it; if it were a libel at all, it appeared
to him to be one on Mr. Claggit. The only intel-
ligible point was that in which that gentleman was
described as going to Berkeley Castle. The remain-
der was not at all explained, except that it must be
taken to apply to Colonel Berkeley. The birth of
Colonel Berkeley had been the subject of discussion
in the House of Lords, when it was decided that he
was not the heir to the Peerage. It could be no
libel for a person in any stage of life, to repeat what
had been discussed before the highest tribunal of the
country. All that could be learned from the alleged
libel was, that there had been a quarrel, and that
Colonel Berkeley had begged pardon. If his Learned
Friend chose tq leave the Jury in the dark, he could
not ask them for such damages as he would have
been entitled to, had he succeeded in throwing any
light upon it. Whether the_plaintiff had written in
the Age or not, did not appear, and he had no evi-
dence to prove that he had.

The LORD CHIEF JUSTICE, in summing up, said,
that as the law stood at present, an action of this
description was the only means by which a person
whose reputaticn had been injured could seek to re-
establish it. It had been said that this libel was per-
fectly unintelligible, but that would be for the Jury to
determine. By the account given of the Age in the
Palladium, it was a paper teeming with lies, and the
meaning of the present libel appeared to insinuate
that Colonel Berkeley was engaged in this paper to
write libels on females. Could there be any state-
ment given to the world which would be more cal-
culated to exclude Colonel Berkeley from society,
than one in which he was represented in the cha-
racter of a coward and a base monster, employed to
write against females ? It says also that he has not
that spirit in him which should become an officer in
the army. Was not this calculated to.injure him in
the opinion of his brother officers ? It was for them
to say whether the whole of the libel that had been
read did not hold up the plaintiff to public ridicule.
As to the amount of damages, he should advise them
to give such as they, in a similar situation, would
expect themselves. The discussion in the House
of Lords as to the heir of the Peerage in the Berke-
ley family bad been adverted to; but an editor of a
paper had no right to rip up affairs of this kind, to
gratify his own malignity; and it was the duty of
the !Jury in such cases to give damages to an
amount that would prevent such statements being
circulated.

The Jury retired for upwards of an hour, when
they decided on a verdict for the plaintiff—Da-
triages 501.

EASTER TERM.
COURT OF COMMON PLEAS.

Sittings appointed to be holden before Sir Wit.t.mat DRA-
PER BEST, Knight, the Lord Chief Justice, at Middle-
sex and London, in and after Easter Term, viz. :

IN TERM.

LONDON.

Wednesday... ............ ...May 9 Thursday 11ay 10
Wednesday May 16 Thursday May 17
Wednesday May 23 Friday May 25

AFTER TEAM.
Tuenday 14:67 ire wcetni

The Court will sit on May the 9th, 10th, 16th, and
7th, at one o'clock, and at half-past nine precisely on
be other days.

LENT ASSIZES.

CHESTER, APRIL 19.

Thomas Byrom and Sarah Byrom were charged
with stealing a large quantity (about 80 dozen) of
wines, the property of Mrs. Patten Bold, of Win-
nington Hall, near Northwich, in this county ; and
Mr. Samuel Roebuck was charged with having re-
ceived a part of the wine, knowing it to have been
stolen.

The Jury acquitted the female prisoner as the wife
of Thomas Byrom, and found him Guilty, and Mr.
Roebuck Not Guilty, which announcement was re-
ceived with strong marks of approbation by a
crowded Court.

GLOCESTER, THURSDAY, APRIL 19.
CROWN SIDE.

Mark Dyer and John Dyer were indicted for
shooting a gun or guns at Thomas Mills, on the 24th
of last October, at Yate, with intent to kill him, to
wound him, and to do him some grievous bodily
harm. There was another indictment against the
same prisoners, for shooting at Sarah Mills, the wife
of Thomas Mills, with the same several intents.
Mr. LUDLOW commenced his address by observ-
ing that the prisoners were indicted under Lord El-
lenborough's act, and if they were found guilty, the
consequences of their conviction must be most seri-
ous ; the case, therefore, required the deepest atten-
tion. It arose out of the apprehension of a very
considerable gang of depredators, who last year in-
fested this county, which is/greatly indebted to the
Chairman of the Quarter Sessions (the Rev. Dr.
George Cooke) for his exertions upon that occasion.
It WlsS found necessary soon after the apprehension
of this gang, that one of the persons connected with
them should be admitted evidence for the Crown,
and it was soon known that Thomas Mills would be
selected by the magistrates for that purpose. Threats
were then thrown out against Mills, who was after-
wards admitted King's evidence. No less than 37
persons were tried at the last Summer Assizes, on
indictments for felonies, arising out of the transac-
tions of this gang. Among he persons tried, were the
present prisoners, Mark and John Dyer. Mills gave
his evidence against them, but they were acquitted.
On the 24th of last October, Thomas Mills returned
at seven o'clock in the evening from Wickwar to
his father's cottage at Yate. The whole family were
in the room on the ground-floor, the windows of
which had no shutters. They were suddenly alarmed
by the sound of guns, whether one or two I cannot
say. ran immediately to the door, and saw two
persons, to, Iyrhootisewiiidi epnatiytyt,heanindoasltl tphaerteievuidlaernacteterne--
tsroenc,tinTgheitpresent indictment is for shooting at Thos.
Mills, who was not struck, but it is not necessary
that he sh,suld have been hit. The shot took effect
upon his wife, F,arah Mills, who was wounded, but
you will have to inipire whether Thomas Mills was
not the person aimed at.
Thomas White, assistant-constable--I helped to
take Mark Dyet into custody before the last summer
Assizes. Mark Dyer paid to nre, " William Mills
and Thomas Mills ought to be hung, they ought to
be shot, and I would shoot them if ever I saw a chance
as soon as I would a sparrow." News was brought
that the Dyers and William Mills had cut Mr. Cox's
trees, and that William Mills had made the discovery.
When Mark Dyer heard of it, he fainted away. John
Dyer was not present when Mark Dyer spoke the
words.

Thomas Mills, the prosecutor.—Last summer,
before the Assizes, I was in custody, and taken
before the Magistrate at Wickwar. Mark and John
Dyer were also in custody. I had been engaged in
several transactions with both of them, but not so
much With Mark as with John. I went before the
Grand Jury as a witness against them both. They
were both tried in this Court I was examined as a
witness, and they were acquitted. On the evening
of the `4: of October last I walked with William
Coventry from Wickwar to Yate. We parted at
Coventry's house. liis clock was then striking
seven. I immediately went home to my father's
house at Yate, which was about 300 yards from
Coventry's, and about ten minutes after I Sot home

something happened. My father, mother, brother,
sister, and my wife, Sarah Mills, were, with myself,
all in the room. I was just sitting down when a
gun was fired through the window. I ran outside
immediately, stooped a little, and saw two men,
each with a gun: one had on a low-crowned hat,
the other a cap, without a brim. The night was
dark, but light was thrown out of the window, and
extended as far as the men, who were about four
yards and a half eff the window. I knew their per-
sons: one of them was Mark Dyer, he had the low-
crowned hat on. lam certain it was him. I believe
the other to be John, from his dress; he had on a
cap, and a light fustian jacket. I was out of the
light, and do not think they observed me, although
not more than three yards from them. They then
turned up their heads, so that I could see them
better, and turned round and began to run away.
They had not gone five yards, when one fell down.
I heard John Dyer say, " Give me thy hand, give
me thy hand." I was acquainted with the voice.
I positively swear it was John Dyer's voice. I have
no doubt of it. When I went in doors, my wife
was bleeding.
Did you give informations for between 30 or 40
offences, in which you were a principal felon ?
Mr. LUDLOW objected to this question.
Witness--I did give information on several charges
in which I was implicated.
Re-examined--William Dyer went away after the
Lent Assizes. I had given informations against
him. He has been off ever since.
Sarah Mills—l was sitting by the fire when some-
thing flew out. I thought it flew from the fire. I
do not know if there was any noise. I thought
something flew out and struck me on the arm and
left side. I was not asleep. My husband went out
directly. I fainted. I was sensible of my husband's
going out, and then fainted.

Mr. Percival, surgeon—About eight in the morn-
of the 25th of October I saw Mrs. Sarah Mills; the
thigh was mudh wounded and bruised, and also the
elbow and arm, evidently by shot of a large descrip-
tion. She was very severely wounded.

Job Mills produced a stout wooden chair. My
father was sitting on it. The marks were made by
the gun on the 24th of October. [The chair was
handed up to the Jury and to the Judge.] The
chair was sideways to the window. My brother
was sitting a little further from the window on a
stool, and his head not so high as my father's head.
Cross-examined—l was tried at the last Assizes
and acquitted.

Sampson Townshend.—l met John Dyer at half-
past six on the evening of the 24th of October,
with such a cap on as soldiers usually wear. He
was 70 or 80 yards from his own house, and was
going towards it. _ _

Cross-examined.—lt was a common sort of cap,
without a brim.

Benjamin Cook, constable.—On the 25th of Oc-
ober, at 11 o'clock, I went to Job Mills's house.—

I examined the window; there was a large pane of
glass and two small ones broken. The window
curtain had marks of powder on it. There were
seven shot marks on the table. I took one shot
out of the table. (Witness produced the shot.)
From the position in which I understood Thomas
Mills was sitting, the shot must have gone directly
to his head or very near it. On the 26th of Octo-
ber I searched Mark Dyer's house, and found a gun;
no lock was upon it. I observed the marks of fresh
oil where the pressure of the lock bears, as if the
lock had been taken off. I smelt at the mouth of
the barrel ; there was a fresh smell of powder, as if
it had been recently discharged. I felt inside the
barrel with my finger ; a damp blackness came away,
such as is common to a gun after being fired. The
trun was not then charged. I went to the house of
Wm. Dyer, the elder, about three or four hundred
yards off, and searched that house, and found a gun
loaded.- with phasuLant. alaot. --I- -460w-cia•--
( The charge was produced, and handed to the jury.)
The gun looked as if it had been fired within the
last week.

Charles Barter accompanied Benjamin Cook, and
confirmed his testimony.
The prisoners were called' upon for their defence.
Mark Dyer said, I was in a coal-pit between
seven and eight o'clock that night, and never came
up until the morning. lam innocent.
John Dyer said, I was at the house of Tamar Hol-
brook, from about half-past six, and it was some-
where about nine when I went out of it; and had
nothing to do with the matter.
Mr. Baron VAUGTIAN.—After a patient attention
to the investigation of this extraordinary case, it be-
comes:my duty to sum up the evidence, and make
such observations as have occurred to me upon it.
It is difficult to conceive a more important prosecu-
i ion. The prisoners
.are charged under the act,
usually called Lord Ellenborough's Act, for malici-
ously shooting, with intent to murder, maim, or do
some grievous bodily harm to Thomas Mills; and
the statute enacts, that the offenders, their coun-
sellors, eiders, and abettors, are felons without be-
nefit of clergy. Therefore, in point of law, the fir-
ing by one, is the firing by both, if both are present
aiding and assisting. The question therefore, for
your consideration is, whether you are satisfied that
the prisoners, or either of them, did shoot at Thos.
Mills maliciously. You will weigh most attentively
the evidence of that person. He comes before
you under most suspicious circumstances. Time is
a most material thing for you to attend to, because
the difference of half an hour makes the whole dif-
ference. If you are of opinion that the gun was
fired at Sarah Mills, the case does not come within
this indictment; and in this view, the situation of
the persons in the room alluded to is most material.
About the identity of the prisoners, you will watch
the evidence with the strictest attention. It de-
pends entirely upon the credibility of Mills. He
gives the only evidence of identity, and he is unques-
tionably a man of very bad character. I am bound to
say, that if you convict, the law must take its course.
The Jury requested that the witness Thomas
Mills might be recalled ; and they asked him whe-
ther the smoke of the gun had any effect upon the
light, so as to impede his vision.
Mills.—No, My Lord, I could see their faces quite
plain.

- The Jury retired for about an hour and a half, and
then returned with a verdict of guilty against both
prisoners, but recommended them to mercy.
Mr. LUDLOW.—My Lord, allow me to say, that
perhaps the offended laws will be well satisfied by
sending these men out of the Country.
Mr. Baron VAUGHAN.—I am always most happy
to attend to the recommendation of a Jury. After
a pau3e—l will take care, gentlemen, that your re-
commendation and the learned counsel's shall be for-
warded to the proper quarter ; but I am afraid I see
nothing to justify me in saying otherwise than that,
as far as I am concerned, the law must take its course.

The prisoners were severally called upon to say
why judgment of death should not be passed against
them.

They both said they were innocent.
Mr, Baron VAuGHAN—You stand severally con-
victed, after a most patient and painful investiga-
tion, of this heavy offence, to which the law has an-
nexed the penalty of death ; and it is my most pain-
ful duty to inform you, that the circumstances of
your case are such as leave no hope that the penalty
will not be executed. I have only, therefore, to
entreat you to consider the awful change which you
must so shortly undergo. You days are numbered,
and your course is run ! and I implore you to bid a
long, long farewell to al, the concerns of this world,
and if you value your immortal souls, that you will
on bended knees, and with penitent and contrite
hearts, supplicate at the throne of grace for that
mercy which I feel cannot be extended to you here.
His Lordship concluded with pronouncing sentence
of death.

ST. CLEMENT DANES.—The new Church-
win-dens and Governors of the Poor for this Parish, for
the ensuing year, were chosen yesterday. After the Vestry
business had been gone through, upWards of fifty of the
leading parishioners, including Sir Francis Ommaney, the
ftev. Mr. Gurney, Ur. Twining, &v. dined together at
the Crown and Anchor.

FOREIGN INTELLIGENCE.

FRENCH PAPERS.
(Front the'Etoik,' dated Thursday, April 19.)
PARIS, APRIL 18.—The Gazette of Lyons gives
the following paragraph of a letter, dated Toulon,
April 12 :--
" The Circe frigate, Captain Duval Dailly, sailed
this morning for an unknown destination; it is only
said that the Captain has sealed instructions which
he is not to open till after he has passed the Straits
of Gibraltar.'

(From the tlfoniteur of Wednesday.)
NON-OFFICIAL PART.

PERPIGNAN, APRIL 10.—(Extract from a Private
Letter.)--" Tranquillity is gradually returning in all
Catalonia, and it is wholly restored in the district of
Figueras. Five officers are come to submit; they
are confined in the second inclosure of the Fort
D'Etienne Dinot, called Gure. An indefinido, and
chief of a band who had organised the assemblage,
has disappeared from this district. In that of Gi-
ronne, Joseph Perrapers and Joseph Solers, Chiefs
of bands, have been arrested : they are going to be
tried by a Court Martial. The following Officers
of the Class called Indefinidos have been arrested at
Vich :—D. Thomas Mora and Don Sigismond
Puigbo, called Pocaropa, who are accused of plotting
against the public tranquillity. No persons have yet
been arrested on the banks of the Seine : but those
who organised the insurrection at the Seu d'Urgel,
and who had induced the populace to throw stones
at the French troops, will probably be brought to
trial.

"At Tortosa, D. Sauveur Llovet, Capt. Indefi-
nido, and chief of a band, was shot on the sth of
this month, in the afternoon. He had been taken
in the night of the 4th, at Cheita, at the Ferry.—
The Royalist volunteers and some Bens d'armes, ar-
rested on the 4th, in the territory of Torrera, dis-
trict of Mont Blanc, D. Antonio Trillos, Colonel
Indefinido, with four of his companions. This
officer had endeavoured, last summer, to excite the
inhabitants of that district to insurrection. He has
been conveyed to Tortosa to be tried."
(From the Pilote of Wednesday.)

PARIS, APRIL 17.—Letters from terlin, of the

9th April, say, that the last accounts from Saint
Petersburgh leave no doubt of the determination of
the Russian Cabinet to come to a decisive arrange-
ment with the Porte, relative to the affairs of
Greece. They affirm, also, that the Russian Mi-
nister of War has sent eventual orders to the Ge-
nerals commanding the divisions stationed from
Choczym, on the Pruth, to Czerskasy, on the
Dnieper. It is thought that, to put an end to the
tergiversations of the Divan, this mass of troops,
which amounts to above 100,000 men, will be con-
centrated on the Pruth. Such a measure cannot
fail to produce a great sensation at Constantinople,
and must dispose the Porte to consent to an ar-
rangement with Greece, and to conform to the sti-
pulations agreed upon at Akermann, especially in
what relates to Moldavia and Wallachia.

Letters from Cuba say that the Government of
that Island has issued a proclamation, declaring St.
Jago de Cuba a free port for the exchange of all the
productions of the Western Islands and the United
States. This measure was taken as soon as infor-
mation was received of the final determination of
England and the United States, relative to the laws
which are to be put in force to prohibit the intercourse
between the ports of North America and those of
the Western Islands.
(From the Constitutionnel of Wednesday.)