Star.
London, England, 1820-05-05 00:00:00

c:ing, in the execution of his duty nt .Wrexham, on the 21st of
/Coven)), .r last, flnod £2O, and to be imprisoned till paid. Hi
I aid a fine in Court, and was discharged.
Benjamin Driver, for conspir:ng with John Franklin, to as.
*auk and falsely imprison William Pringle and John Collir.s,
seamen, of the ..r.:vern, (in their duty at Margate Pier, on the tth
July last, at nigh', to prevent the landing of smugzled gods;
and by such assault and imprisonment, f.teilitating such landing,
fined £lOO3 and to be imprisoned until the fine be paid.
Aube* Gardiner, for assaultirg a Ilever.ue Oiricer in the exe-
cution of his duty, in searching the ballast of a boat wherein be
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suspected there were smuggled goods concealed, at Deal, on tke
2gel of August last. Fined er-tlO, and to be imprisoned till ',old.
Peter Adkins, for assaulting and endeavouring to threw into
a pit, near Deal, on the 39th December last, William Hamilton,
a seaman, of the Severn, employed in the cervice of the n.,..-
nue, wit;le on duty on the coast to watch for smugglers, to Ite
imprisoned in Canterbury Jail three monthl, and fird sure:: s
of good behaviour for two years, himself in X.:4!, and two sure.-

_
tic; in £9O each.
Joseph Clarke,- an old man above G 7, and Henry
Clarke, his son, a young man about 2.5, both of whom
had pleaded guilty to au in,iictment preferred by the
Society for the Suppression of Vice, early in the pre-
sent Term, charging them •xith the publication of ob-
scene books and prints, was now brought up, and
Mr. GURNEY ros•!, for the purpose of praying the
judgment of the Court against the two defendants.
The libels themselves were of so gross and disgusting
a nature, that be would rather submit them to the
private consideration of their Lordships, than, suffer
them to be read, even before the few individuals
were present.

The CHIEF Jusrtett oberved, he was given to un-
derstand that some pr. position was made by tile
elder prisoner to make some communications to ti-.e
prosecutors' Solicitor in this case, touching cei rain
discoveries be proposed to make. His Lcrdship
wished to know if such communications 11.. d bekrt
male, and what was the result?
Joseph Clarke, the father, said, he had net tbade
any communication to the Solicitor for the prosectt-
tion; but he had written letters to Lord Sidmouth
and Mr. Wilberience, expressing his deep contrition
for his criminality, and offering to make discoveries
to a very considerable extent of persons concemed in
the same guilty traffic.
Mr. GURNEY said, the Society had received the
communicatiou made by this defendant; but from
the knowledge they already had on the circum.
stances, fifty wished to enter into no compromise
with the defendant.

'fhe Cut Er JUSTICE asked the elder defendant, ifhe
wished to hear the indictment against him now read?
The defendant answered, that he did not, for he
was so conscious of his guilt, that he had no wish to
hear it read. •

The affidavit of John Branscomb was then put in
by Mr. Guirsov, which stated the manner in which
the defendant, Joseph Clarke, had been detected. It
appeared that the deponent had gone to the house
of Joseph Clarke, who, without bribe or persuasion,
sold him a book, which was one of the libels in
question, for 3.. The affidavit then detailed the sei.
zure of a bag in the pri-oner's house, which coil-
-tained a great number of indecent pubhcati ► s.
The dcfendants now put in an affidavit, stating,
that they were ready to give iuformatio:• against
number of persons in London, engaged in the business
of selling obscene books and prints.
The father st4ted, that Fe was discharged, about
five years since, from the Workhouse at Islington;
and, shortly afterwards, that he fell by accident into
the company of a bookseller, who told him great
profits were to be made by tl-e sale of such publica-
tions ; and he was induced, from his poverty, to fall
into the snare, and to become an instrument for the
sale of such works ; that he had an aged and sickly
wife to support, and no other means of livelihood.
He further said, that Branscomb had bribed him
with half.a-guinea.
Mr. GURNEY addressed tile Court in aggravation
of punishment. In particular, he called their Lord-
ships' attention to the circumstance of the defendants
having got so large a price for these obscene pictures,
from which he concluded that the traffic must haie
been a most hicrative one to him, as it was going on
for twelve years. It was also, he said, a great ag-
gravation, that he had brought up his son to the sane
immoral trade as himself. Ile hoped the Court
would, by. a severe punishment, set an example to
those who, by destroying the morals of youth, make
a base livelihood,
Joseph Clarke (the father) said his son had served
on board a King's snip, and was discharged at the
peace. He was without means of livelihood, and
he had employed him in his business ; but had endea.
voured to conceal from him the place where l►e ob-
tained his.supply of those books and prints, and his
son, by watching him, found out the source, and
commenced the trade for himself; but he acknow.
ledged himself as the guilty source of his son's con.
duct, and prayed that the whole of the punishment
might fall upon him.
Henry Clarke said that he had served five years on
board a King's ship, and had been wounded in the
service, When peace was concluded, he obtained 4
birth on board a merchant-ship, and went to Notth
America, Where he lost the use of his limbs, He had