Star.
London, England, 1815-12-06 00:00:00

Leaf INTELLIGENCE.

THE WHISPERING GALI.ERY.
COURT OF EXCHEQUER, DECEMBER S.
JONES M. THOMPSON.

Mr. BROUGHAM stated, that this was an action to
recover damages for assault and false imprisonment.
The defendant is one of the Vergers of St. Paul's ;
the plaintiff, a young Lady, the daughter of a most
respectable Clergyman, residing at Cheshunt, in the
county of Hertford. The Lady and two others, pro-
tected by Mr..leoltia, her cousin, happened to go into
St. Paul's, on the `lath eit June List; sod, atter re-
inkning in the body of die church some time, the
part v went to look at the whispering gallery, which
the .fury knew to be one of the cuitasities of that
church. Having remained some time in the gallery,
it was their disposition to retain under the conduct
of Mr. Jessup, who, being in the act of putting his
hand in his coat pocket to pay a few halfpence, the,
deteliciant Came' up, and said, in a strong voice. his
demand was 2d.:. head; this was demanded by the
defendant as a Matter of right, and as though he was
entitled to demand so much for every 'season who
walked into the church. Mr. Jesse') bad no obj:ction
to pay thus much had it been civilly requested. but
he refused, to comply. conceiving time behaviour of
the defendant to be rude and namannetly. The
defendant said, " leave this place you shall not till I
ant paid," and put his back ag..iast the door. They
were kept there write time, and the Ladies.begineing
to slew sine fear, Mr. Jesaop paid tOr coal, and
obtained his release : they were detained t) minutes.
AVith respect to the rigiit, said Mr. Brougham, of
Cis man, my belief is, that he had no such right; he
had no commisoon to snake such demand on the
Theintiff, but whether he had or not is no question in
this cause. All. he says in answer to die action is,
that he was not guilty of the assault. If I prove he
was, 'I shall be sodded to your vcrd;f3. It the ques.
lion of right bad been intruduccd 1 should have been
glad; because ithink this, as well es other insposl.l
tions iii the chinches of England, is foisted on die
public: and it ought to be abated.
Mr. John Jessop was then called : lie stated that
he was a barrister ; he had no interest in the action ;
he was first cousin to Miss Jones, who was the
dauglitet of the Vicar, at Cheshunt, in Hertfordshire;
the witness went of the 28th of June to see Saint
Paul's; the puty consisted of the plaintiff, two chil-
dren, and himself ; after having visited the Cathedral
they went to the Whispering Gallery ; he had paid
twopence for each, when. he entered the church for
the. purpose of ascending the tower. They went in
at the hour appointed for Divine Service, but they
vivre informed da-t circumstance made no difference,
as the church was under repair. Alter visiting the
tower, they went into the whispering gallery, the
door of which they perceived open ; the defendant
was shewing it at the time to several sailors. Akw
moments. 4:ter the plaintiff and witness entered the
sailors lett it; the witness observed that the sailors
paid sonic halfpence to the defendant, though he
heard no demand made for the same ; the children
sat down, and the defendant explained to them the
effect of the voice in the gallery whispeted, and gave
the usual satisfaction. The witness was about to pot
his hand into his pocket to give the defendant half-
pence, as others had done, when the defendant step-
ped between him and the door, as it to intercept his
party, and said, in a peremptory-tie of voice—
My &mead is two-peace each." The witness
said, " Year demand, 41 imagine, is %%hat I choose to
give you--If you insist on it as a matter of right,
will give you nothieg." lie replied, 1w had a right
to two-pence from each, and they should not leave
the gallery till it was paid, and thereOn he locked the
door; the, witness told him it he had a right to two-
pence per herd, he had no right to detain them, and
'he gave his name and address. The wittiess asked
for his name in return, .whiLl be refused to give,
observing that •he should not go to Cheshunt after
such a paltry fellow as the witness was. The witness
then isiiaed him to allow the Lady and children to
pass, if he thought proper to detain him. Ile said,
not one should pass till, he had his money. The
witness celled train the gallery to the body of the
church for sense one to send a constable, hut no one
answered. After waiting tili his patience was ex-
hausted, the witness told him if he did not open the
door he should remove him by force, and he collared
him for the purpose of removing him. The defen-
dant kept held of the lock, and took a constable's
staff from his pocket to knock the witness awn.—
The struggle so much alarmed the children, that at
last the witness was forced to pry tom two-pence a
head 11, get out. They were kept against their will
half an hour.

llr. Jessop amt-examined 4 Hr. Danny.
Said he did not know that it was usual to demand
twopence from persons visiting the whispering gal-
lery ; Miss Jones said nothing about the demand; he
had commenced another action against the defendant,
in his own name ; he used hard words tit wards the
defendant, which, in the whispering gallery had a
curious loud effect—he threatened to throw the de-
fendant over the gallery, and took up a large ham-
mer to defend himself ; the defendant was about 63
years of age.
Mr. Dauscx then addressed the Jury in behalf of
the defendant. lie observed that it was said of Win-
chester boys, "they love mutton all their lives, be-
cause they have been fed on it at school " Mr. Jes-
sup and himself had been bred to the law, conse—
fluently they did nut dislike the law, and the only
way the profession should thrive was, that actions
should be brought. Upon that principle two actions
had been brought to decide this momentous assault.
kin did not wish to oppose the liberty of the subject
or support imposition, but this appeared to be Mr.
Jessup's action. Every body knew that the persons,
exhibiting ;he ceniosities•of St. dunned a fee.
Mr. Jessop's children were sh ,wn all the lions, as it
were ; the defendant whispered to them, Nhhp,red
to Mr. Jessop, and the Lady ; in shin t he afforded
great entertainment to the little folks, for the little
trifle of 2d. a head. The defendant, suspecting that
a gentleman and a barrister would not carry eight-
pence jingling in his pocket, gives a hint that his de-
mand was a greater sum than Mr. Jessop could dis-
charge with copper. Then came the question of law,
whisk was as much as saying to the defendant, You
shall not hare one farthing ; this being the state of the
dispute, it wee -aid Miss Theodosia Jones had been

assaulted by poor Mr. Joseph Thompson, who, by
the bye, was as innocent of any assault as Joseph of
old; she didnot appear by the evidence to have taken
any share in the transaction, yet. the Jury were to say
1 Miss Jones was assaulted and imptisoned ; they
would, however, seeplainly, that it was Mr. Jet.si.p's
action, and not Miss Jones's.
The Cittar BARON said, this was one of two Aetnal.
which had arisen out of the circumstance of a de-
mand of 2d. made by tile defendant, of Mt..lessop
and party, in the whispering gallery. Stating tt%e
evidence of Mr. Jessop, he observed, that the ad.
dress given by Mr. Jessop to the defendant was out
of the jurisdiction of the Court of ft, qu,sts 1..0
dolt, dud the defendant couid not thr.rugh that Cant t
obtain two-pence of him. The Learned Baron left
the Jury to consider, under all the circumstances,
whether the refusal of the defendant to Itt the la.ty
and children down was proved, as that would be im-
prisonment—The Jury, after a I.:w minutes consulta-
tion, found a verdict for the PlAintilr—Damagys,
Out Farthing.

'WILEY th BURGH AND BURGE
This was an action for an assault and trespass. The
plaiatiff is the keeper of a Cnffee.ruom ita Gclden-
lane, St. Luke's, and the defendants arc officers of
the Marshalsea Court. . The plaintiff having incurred
a debt of £29 with a.person of the GAM:" (,I Jones, he
obtained a writ against him, and put it into the
hands of the defendants t. execute. Instead, how-
ever, of executing it at a proper per...l, they went to
the plaintiff's house on Sundwy, the 17ilt os Septem-
ber, between the hours of twelve and one, burt,t open
Isis vilich was bolted. and assaulted hi. versos.
the case being satisfactotily prcved, a v.10.11Cl was
found fur the plaintitt —Daartges ClO—Costs 40$.

MIDDLESEX SESSIONS.

Francis Harvey was indicted for having committed
a violent and unlawful aisaAt upon the pet sof. 4,f liar-
riet &afford, his orphan servant girl, aged I (i.
Mr. GURNEY stated the circumstances tit the case
to the Jury, and called
Harriet Stafford, who deposed, that nn the 10th of
August last her mistress gave her saute money, with
which she was to purchase cat's meat. Being, how.
ever, extreuseiy hungry•, from her not having an y
thing offered her to eat but some unwlo,le.orGe fo.).i,
which she refused to taste, she bought rolis and but-
ter with the money, and procured the cat's nse4t.oa
trust. When her master understood wlikt she had
done, site was taken v the Police thhcv, but the
Magistrate dismissed the complaint. Her master,
however, was not satisfied. and !le ordr: ed her to go
up stairs to her room. This sae did, !ri..l he followed
her with a birch rod and a c:1 I.!ie. He then corn•
manded her to strip herseU. Site in consequence
pulled off her gown, and 21t, in a violent manner tore
off the rest of her clothes. He then procured a rope,
and tied her hands together above the wrists ; after
which he beat her dreadfully with the t (Al. He
told her to go and beg pardon of her mistress, whirl,
she did.

Mr. and Mrs. Booth, as well as another lady aid
gentleman, who lodged in the house of Mr. Marv. y,
in Tavistock-row, proved the violent trammel- in which
Harriet Stafford had been used. Tht'y had heard lira
groaning, and exclaimiag, Don't b..t roe any twat',
I cannot hear it." Her shift, when it was exantivd,
was all spotted with blood.
Mr. Auot.Puus ad Dressed the Jury in behalf au Mr.
Harvey, the defendant. He commeoted at some
length upon the cruelty, as he termed it, uf making
this gentleman's case so public, by new:tapers,
ballads, &c. He had lost a !..,00d situation at
Drury-Lane Theatre, as sceneyainter, and Inc W.l a
absolutely ruined. He considered that the h• atiog
which Harriet Stafford had received was much
exaggerated. Her shift was covered with spot,
of blOod they had said, which was a proof that het
wounds were little more than scratches. lk:sides
her master had been told to chastise her by the Ma-
gistrates.
Mr. WATSON stated to the Jut y, that he consi-
dered it needless to sum up the evidence, as the fact
of the assault had been admitted by the sl,fen.lant's
Counsel. They might, therefore, consider of their
verdict.—The Ji.ry returned a verdict of
Judgment deferred.

Flas--A fire which threatened the most alarming
consequences broke out at a quarter before right
o'clock last night, at a carpenter's shop, situate in
the space included between the east side of Shepherd's
M4rket and Half-Moon-street. It raged with in-
creasing fury till about a quarter past nine, when the
engines, aided •by the rain, at length subdued the
fl tmes, after the complete destruction of the carpen-
trey premises and the adjoining cow-house, Iron:
which, however, the cows had been previ 'Lilly re-
moved. At one time Lord Citotattn.;np.:Lev's stables
in White-horse-street were threatened, and the inha-
bitants of the five houses between his Lordsh.p's
premises and Griffin-court; in the Isltrket, completely
gutted their houses, by throwing their property mi.
miscuously out of their windows into the street, al-
though the houses remained untouched. The enginci
played through No. 31 and 33, Half-Moon stmt.

Those who have lived rather gay, and are about
entering into conjugal felicity, are informed that Dr.
COOPER, and three Surgeons, of SO years experience
in Strictures, Fistulas, Debilities, &c. &c. have estab-
lished a Medical Board at Charlotto-house, Great
Charlotte-street, opposite the Rev. Roma% ND
Chapel, Blackfriar's-road, by whom the riblic ate
cured without salivation er cunfinentes.t. The
Board claims the attention of those who have attempt-
ed the cure, or who have consulted men ignorant of
so important a branch of the prcdession, whose im.
proper treatment has ruined thousands. Eruptions
on the head, face, and body, sot e eyes, throat, Inotith,
and nose, vertigo, noise in theeats, deafness, ditun: s,
of sight, pains in the head and limbs, frequently to s•
taken for rheumatism ; weakness in the knees, sseelle,i
ankles, &c. are symptoms appar yeat-s alter,
and too often embitter the matt imoitial st.t.e. Messrs.
Coon Fat and Co. arc consulted daily 14 ail ranks of
people, every morning until nine o'clock, and from
twelve till eight precisely ; or by letter, inclosing
a lee (for no others are answered), stating their
case, when medicine and the best advice n- sent
to An parts of the kingdom. They also cure t 1:::
piles and fistula, without burning or cutting ; and
give advice gratis, on Tuesday, Thursday, and :Sun-
' day mornings, till twelve o'clock A side door and
private rosins for females.