Star.
London, England, 1831-05-26 00:00:00

LAW BEPORTS.

COURT OF CHANCERY, MAI 24.
ELOPEXEKT.
STAFFORD V. bTAFFORT).

In this case two voting ladies are wards of Court, and In consetinenes
of the warmer feelings of nature having beano to lay hold of their
minds they have occasioned considerable discussion du the Lord Chan-
cellor's room. Yesterday. at the rising of the Court, his Lordship
stated that on Saturday last he had received an instruction iha• one of
the Miss Stafford' hart eloped from the schoolmistress tliese ore
she had been left. She hail left a letter. simple saying she Not il.ought
proper to quit her present residence, but that MI:: was Rafe. His loth.
ship at the same time was asked whether ally thing. and what, could
be dove in the way of recoverinq passessiou of the young fugitive ? He
knew of aothing ,hat could be dune, or that he could authorise, except
that of an application to be instantly made to the solicitor. and also to
toe junior barrister who had been employed in the caoseo betalfof
young ladies, and the former of whom, in particular, It had been stated,
bad been paying his addresses to the now absent Miss. This inquiry
his Lordship had ordered to be made, and he was surprised that in the
coarse of yesterday he had not had any communication made to him
on the subject. lie. however, desired to have it staled in Court,
this morning, what the two gentlemen alluded to had to say on
the subject.
The SoLicyroa-Gxxxiat. said, that Mr. Cotton, die solicitor was
now in Court, and that so far from his being to blame. he was the gen-
tleman who had conveyed the information to his Lordship.
After some conversatiois between the bench and the bar, it appeared
that his Lordship had received the information of tare elopement from
two parties, one of whom only he bad seen.
Mn Cotton stated, that yesterday afternoon he bad ascertained the
ltdy bad gone off to France to her mother, and supposed to be accom-
panied only by a Emote servant. This hut had been communicated
by the solicitor of the mother. Mr. C. had been no party to the elope-
ment rhatever—on the contrary, the instant he heard of it he waited
on his counsel, and subsequently informed his Loritt.hip of it.
A gentleman nt the bar also sated, that the barrister who had been
alluded to knew nothing at all of the eeparture of the girl until some
time after she had escaped.
His Lordship expressed his conviction that neither the solicitor nor
the barrister were implicated, and here the thing for the present rests.

COURT OF KING'S BF.NCO, MAY 24.
THE EINO V. DONTOYT.

This teas an application made lust term by the Attorney General,
for a criminal information against the defendant, who is a bookseller,
residing at Boston, Lincolnshire, for publishing certain libels on a
reverend gentleman of the name of Robinson, curate of Boston, which
libels watt contained in certain small weeks., one of which was entitled
" The Pink, a staunch advocate of slavery, and defender of ebu'cs in
church, state, and corporations." One of the paragraphs in the publics.
Hon charged as libellous was to this effect, " Shortly will be published
(for the use of the fair sex), the Advantages of early Seduction,
or a Gull.' to Ruin. A Novel. By a Journeyman Lecturer."...
' Another paragraph was this..." Our highly esteemed friend Squib
has lately been on a shooting excursion, near Lincoln, when he
waited upon the Editor of that enlightened Paper, called the ob-
scure Herald, to present for insertion a paragraph. written with
his accustomed ability, to vilify the blues, Sec." Another pa.
=graph was as follows:—" A short time ago, St. Matthew the
Immaculate was shooting at Fishtoft, when some villain wilfully and I
maliciously, by chance, frightened some birds away he was about to
shoot at. This rev. gendennut admonished the scoundrel, by shooting
at wounding him in the arm." A..other paragraph was, that "at pre-
knee of religion Squib frequently nips (that is, squeezes) the hands of,
females, and makes them repine," &c. In another publication it was
stated, that at a meeting of creditors of N. M'Cullurn, Esq. M.P.
" Mr. Squib" was clamorous for money due to huts as his family
1 were Increasing every day, and he nad been obliged to take
in-s at Frith Bank, which was very expensive, for one of his &-
I mily, where he hoped she would be comfortable, and be able to lay',,
in an entire new stock of good health," ice. He begged
_he might
be paid, as he felt confident they could not plead minority as an excuse
11 for not paying, although he had known some scoundrels attempt to get
:Shy means of that at Burton. The rule was granted upon the *Hi-
davits of the reverend gentleman himself and several others, all of whom
declared that they believed the terms " Journeyman Lecturer—Squib,
Matthew," &c. meant Mr. R. This latter individual also swore, he
never was guilty of incontinence, as was imputed to him by the para-
graph, which adverted to a female lying-in at Frith Bank, which was
a place deemed to he extra-parochial, and where women were in the
habit of lying-in of illegitimate children. De also swore, tint he never
wrote a squib fur the Lifted,. Herald, nor did he ever take advantage of
his minority to get over a payment to a tailor of the name of Barton,
as imputed by another paragraph, nor did he ever wilfully shoot any
man in the arm for disturbing birds at which he was shooting.
Sir J. Son I:tt shelved case inpinst the rule this day. and produced
affidavits to show that n mail had been shot by the lies. Mr. Robinson ;
that he nipped" the hands of females, and shook his purse a. them
for the most improper of purposes; ilia, in one case lie solicitcd a
bridesmaid who officiated at a marriage celebrated by the Rev. °elide.
man toaccede to his wishes ; and that, upon the same evening, we be-
lieve ite had improper intercourse with a fond. in the church-yard.
Several finales deposed to knowing the Rev. Mr. Robinson, under very
unequivocal circumstances. Sir J. Scarlett allthled to the affidavits
produced in support of the rule, and contended that they were not pia-
ciently strong .43 su.tain the ayplicatiop fin n criminal information. The
only person who denied the Rev. Mr. Robinson's incontinence was that
gentl,man himsclt ; and in reitly to this allidnvit were the several
affidavits which he (Sir J. Sowlett) twesemted to the Court, which
umonntell to fifteen. He thought that below this gentleman had come
into Court to claim its protection for a libel. that ite should have done
so with clean hands. But' in fact, the whole of these squibs occurred at
an election for Boston, and might to have been forgotten when the cause
of them had pos.scd away.
Mr. Pin t followed on the same side.

The ATTORNEY GENERAL. in rtply, said that if such libel, u
these directed against his client were allowed to pass unnoticed, it
would be the greatest possible ahuae of the libetty of the public press.
Ile contended that the agidavits produced in answer to the rule were
the consaptencz of a conspiracy formal against the ltor. Dlr. Robinson.
More false and scandalous libels never were published, nor ever at.
tempted to be susteined by more perjured affitiavits. What man would
be sate if such means to malign him were permitted ? The learned
gentleman then went thmugh • review of the affidaTitA made in the ease
pro and con. and concluded by calling upon the Court to make the rule
absolute.

Mr. Waddington followed on the same side.
The Court took tithe to consider the case, and requested the various
&titlarks be handed in.

MAT 25.
THE ZING V. HALEY AND OTHERS.
This case, which was partly argued yesterday by Mr. Campbell and
other Counsel, for the defendants, was again brought before the Court
this morning, when
The Aseoattze.datrzhat. said, he was anxious that the real facts
of the ease should be laid before the Court ; for his learned friends had
studiously kept out of sight a fact, which, if stated, would give a pecu.
liar character to the case—namely, that Mr. Wakley had in his Lanai
published a report of the disturbance. His Learned Friend (Mr.
), seemed to think that the order whish excluded navy sae.
One lies the Levee could not have had the sanction of his Majesty,
OW-wee hind, se great an ornament of the navy. Bat his Learned
Friend sosemil to forget that every order to exclude from the Levis
must proceed from the Sovereign himself. The Learned Attorney-