Star.
London, England, 1820-12-26 00:00:00

OLD CHRISTMAS FIRE-SIDE.

" There is one portion of the winter (observes that
amiable writer, Dr. DRAKE, and HEAVEN bless him
for it, say we), when the fire-side, from the cus.
tomary convivialities of the period, becomes peen-
li:arly attractive. I allude to the season of Christ-
mas: a festival which, from a vivid recollection of
the manner of its celebration in the North, about
fort,/ years ago, has . been indissolubly associated in
My mind with all the delightful reminiscences of
early life; blending the rainbow visions of youth and
unalloyed hope, with those religious feelings and in-
nocent recreations, which give to the close of the
year so hallowed, and, at the same time, so exhila-
rating an aspect. With what a soothing melancholy,
as the blast sweeps across my shutters and whistles
round my room, do I often sit by the fire-side on the
dark nights of December, and call to mind the fes-
tive pleasures of a northern Christmas eve:
6 The happy night,
That; i tke•cottage as the crown,
Brought aims of salvation down ;
ihen, -after h4fiag surrounded the Yule-clog, as it
lay in ponderous majesty on the kitchen-floor, and
each had sung his yule-song, standing on its centre,
we consigned it to the flames that went roaring up
the chimney wide,' and, tripping across the hall,
sprang with joyous faces into the parlour, where the
tale, the dance, and the game, the minced pie, and
the spiced howl, rendered doubly sweet by the ap—
proving smiles of our delighted parents,- completed
our satisfaction. it is in combination with imagery
such as this, which, in the morning of life, spread,
as it were, a fairy mantle over the severest rigours
of the season, that Winter, independent of the
attractions arising from its awful and sublime scenery,
ever after charms. Well may those, who are still
wise enough to cherish the feelings of these enviable
hours, and love to sec them remembered in the
sparkling eyes and joyous gambols of their owil
children, deprecate, with the Poet, the misrepre-
sentation of the season as cheerless and severe :

They should have drawn thee by the high-heap'd hearth,
Old Wlarsa! seated in thy great arm'd chair,
Watching the Children at their Chrismas Mirth;
Or circled by them, as thy lips declare
Some merry jest, or tale of murder dire,
Or troubled spirit that disturbs the night ;
Pausing at times, to move the languid fire, .
(k taste the old October, brown and bright !"

BETTING AT TATTERS ALL'S YESTERDAY.
Mum.
13 to 1 agst Gustavus 118 to art Truth
14 to I agst bro.-to Partizan I ':0 to 1 agst Sycsraz
17 to t art Morel I 20 to 1 apt Charut

OAKS.
11 to 2 agst My Lady 11 to 1 agst Emily
9 to 1 nit Breeze
RIDDLES °K7$. _ _ _

7 to 1 agst Selima " 14 to 1 agst Mord •
HtsTING.
The Pytchley Hounds meet to-morrow, at Weekly Toll-bar ;
Friday, at Crausley ; Saturday, at Stowe; at half-past ten.
The Duke of. Grafton's Hounds meet to-morow, at Stoke
(Brum) Park; Friday, at Whistley Wood, at half-past ten.
The Oakley Hounds meet on Thursday, at Kernpston Wood ;
Saturday, at Rushden, at half-past ten.
The Quorndon Hounds meet to-morrow, at Widmerpoo' ;
Thursday, at Vi'imeswold; Saturday, at Clifton; at half-past 10.
The Worcestershire Fox-bounds meet on Thursday, at Red-
marley ; on Saturday, at Bredon-hill.
The Quorndon :Hounds, on Wednesday last, threw off at
Owthorpe, Nottinghamshire, and had an excellent day's diver-
sion ; they lost the Fox at Bingham Town, who escaped his
pursuers by entering sonic out-buildings, after a run of one hour
and 28 minutes.
Monday ae'nnight, Mr. Meynell's hounds met at Stone Gorse,
not finding there they went off to that part of the Forest banks
opposite to Hanbury, known by the name of the Greases ; the
bounds had scarcely brushed into laver, before they unkennelled
fine old fox; he took off in gallant style, breaking cover at
the button% of the Greases, and going over the hills of Ilan-
bury. They ran into him in a most gallant style, and he was
killed after a noble run of an hour and forty minutes, almost
without a check. Obt of a numerous field, there were not
more than twenty Gentlemen up, besides the huntsman and
whipper-in; amongst whom were Mr. Calvert, jun. of Hound-
hill (who got the brush) ; Mr. Meek, Mr. Peel, of Burton; Mr.
Werthington ; Mr. Landor, and Captain Hammersley, of the
19th Lancers.
The different pethctions of a greyhound, it seems, have been
comprised in the following rude and barbarous rhymes :
The head like a Snakes
The neck like a Drake;
The back like a iteant
The side like a Breast;
The tail like a Rat;
The foot like a 014 _ . _

Ludicrous as tilpot7ticalefftlrtMay he, the description is still
correct; and these different qualities. when united, even now
form the model of perfection in the race.

A Gentleman who recently challenged any sports-
man of his own age to ride ten miles with him, and
with the Duke of RumsNes old pack of hounds,
has entered the 46th season with the pack; inva-
riably attended at the places of meeting during that
pei iod, and, at a moderate computation, has ridden
at least 50,000 miles in the &ace.

About a quarter past eight o'clock, on Saturday
night, the extensive paper and rag warehouse be-
longing to Mr. John Barber, paper-manufacturer, in
Baldwin's-place, 13aldwin's-gardens, Gray's Inn-lane,
in the rear of the National School, was discovered to
be on tire; the flames spread with great rapidity.
Several engines arrived. which being well worked,
h•al plentifully supplied with, water, preserved the
adjoining houses, but the materials and stock in the
warehouse burned with irresistible fury, and the
whole was destroyed in half an hour, leaving nothing
but the bare walls. How the fire happened cannot
be ascertained, as there was no person on the pre-
mises. The paper.mill, which was directly opposite,
escaped, the wind blowing in the opposite direction.
About three o'clock on Friday week, the extensive
flax-mill, in the occupation of Mr. Prest, of Maslram,
in Yorkshire, was discovered to be on fire, which
spread to various parts of the building, and before
the engines arrived from Bedale the devouring ele-
ment had increased with such rapidity as to render
all endeavours to save the building fruitless. After
burning for some time with unabating fury, the roof
fell in with a tremendous crash, and the whole of,
this extensive building, which was thirty yards in
length, ten in breadth, and five stories in height, soon
became a mass of smoking ruins, nothing but the
bare walls being left. The loss amoents to £IO,OOC,
and was only insured in the Norwich Union Office
for £4,500. It is supposed the machinery in the
mill had been overheated, which caused the fire.—
The dwelling-house and twenty-five cottages adjoin-
ing would have shared the same fate, but happily
the wind blew in a contrary direction ; providentially
no lives were lost. The building belonged to Mr.
Wyvill, and was occupied by Mr. Prest on a lease,
30 years of which are unexpired.

. i

LAW INTELLIGENCE.

VICE-CIIANCELLOR'S COURT, DECEMBER 23.

- -------- -
TILE ATTORNEY-GENERAL v. DUKE OF MARL/30E01113R.
In this case, which has already occupied so much
of the time of the Court, Mr. BELL said, that the pre-
sent was the Petition of his Grace the Duke of Marl-
borough, and prayed.that the injunction which had
been issued in. this case might be dissolved, or that
such order might be made as would be consistent
with the rights of his Grace. It also went on to pray,
that the blaster might be directed to inquire what
part of the timber on the estate of Blenheim ought to
be cut down, and that such timber and other trees,
after they had been selected and felled, might be sold
and applied to the use of his Grace the Duke of Marl-
borough? It went on to pray, that the order might
be made without prejudice, and to state what had
taken place when the demurrer had been heard, but
with which the Learned Counsel (Mr. Bell), Would
not now trouble the Court.. lie proceeded to read
the Petition.—After hearing' Mr. HART and several
other Counsel on both sides,
The TICE-CHANCELLOR said, he would direct an
order for the Master tc inquire what ought to be cut?
and restrain the Duke from cutting any but that
which was essential or necessary to the preservation of
or ornamental to the house, with a view to its general
improvement. The Vice-Chancellor further said, he
should continue the injunction of the Court.
After some further arguments,
The Vice-CHANCELLOR said—" Let this stand over
till the next Seal, and if, in the meantime, anything
that has been done is repeated, or the conduct com-
plained of continued, you will find that those persons
who have committed the first contempt will feel that
they are in a wore situation by continuing it."

COURT OF KING'S BENCH, DECEMBER 23.
KEAN V. CROFTS.

This was an action to recover £lOO money lent by
the plaintiff to defendant's wife previous to her mar-
riage. The facts of the case detailed in evidence were
as follow :Mrs. Medhurst, such was the name of
the Lady previous to her intermarrying with Mr.
Crofts, had fallen into some little pecuniary difficul-
ties, and seeing no probability of a speedy end to them,
she determined to set herself free from anxiety in the
fashionable way, namely, by taking the benefit of the
Insolvent Act. The plaintiff, desirous of assisting
her, advanced her £lOO to repurchase her furniture,
which, by the provisions of this salutary Act, were
w. be disposed of for the benefit of her creditors. Mrs.
• Medhurst giving her warrant of attorney as security,
matters were soon arranged ; but Mrs. Medhurst
could not keep herself out of difficulties, for, as soon
as she was relieved from the importunities of her cre-
ditors, she submitted herself to those of Mr. Crofts,
and having got rid of her pecuniary bonds, she took
on herself the bonds of matrimony! The plaintiff'
soon after :wiled for payment of his £100; but Mr.'
Crofts, who thought to enjoy all the sweets of matri-
mony without its bitters, demurred to pay, and the
plaintiff was under the necessity of administering to
him the present unpalatable
_dose of law. It ap-
peared, that the defendant knew of the £lOO having
been lent, and of the warrant of attorney having been
given, and the Jury found a verdict for the plaintiff.
Damages £100; Costs 40s.

GLEDHILL V. COOKE.
This was an action by a hackney-coach owner,
against the defendant, a Hendon carrier, for negli-
gently driving his cart, whereby one of the plaintiff's
horses was killed.

The principal witness in support of the plaintiff's
case was the coachman, who swore, that between nine
and* ten o'clock at night, on the 6th of May last, he
was driving a fare between Camden Town and Tot-
tenham-court-road, at a smart trot of seven or eight
miles an hour, on his own proper side of the road,
when he saw the defendant's cart approaching him
on the wrong side of the way, going at the rate of
about four or five miles an hour. At the distance of
twenty yards, he called to the defendant to keep on
his own side the way, but he did not do so, and the
consequence was, that one of the shafts of the cart
entered the body of the near coach horse, and killed
him on the spot.
For the defendant, four unbiassed witnesses proved,
that en the night in question, the defendant, an aged
man, was driving his cart, in which there were two
of his grand-children, at a creeping pace, on his own
proper side of the way ; that the coachman was on
his wrong side, driving at a full gallop, and in the
violence of the concussion, the defendant's horse and
cart were upset, himself and the children thrown on
the ground; that the coachman kept still driving on
for about twenty paces, when his horse dropped down
dead ; that when the coachman was desired to give
his number, he stripped, and offered to fight the de-
mandants.—Under these circumstances, the plaintiff's
Counsel elected to be nonsuited.

WILES V. DELL.
The plaintiff in this case was a publican, residing
at Aylesbury ; the defendant was a brewer, and had,
for some time past, served the plaintiff with beer.—
The plaintiff now charged the defendants with hav-
ing served him with a quantity of beer short of what
he had paid for, and by this action sought to recover
back the excess which he alleged he had paid.
The Cmies JUSTICE, on lookin& over the record,
said, the action could not be sustained in the form in
which it was brought. Here the money had been
paid willingly by the plaintiff, and at a time when
he had full information of all the facts which he now
alleged. He might have resisted the payment, but
could not, by the present form of action, recover
back the money which he had paid willingly.
The plaintiff was nonsuited.