Star.
London, England, 1819-10-23 00:00:00

WESTMINSTER SESSIONS.

The Quarter Sessions for the City and Liberties of
Westminster commenced on Thursday last, at eleven
dam*, Mr. BAKER in the Chair; Mr. BIENIE, and
three other hkagistrates, on the Bench. The Grand
Jury.having been called and sworn, and the Procla-
mation for the Encouragement of Piety and Virtue
read—

The Chairman, Mr. Bane., shortly addressed them. He
was sorry to inform them, that the Calendar contained anun-
tonal number of prisoners; and he doubted not, that the Bills
to be brought before them would occupy that and the next day.
lie should suffer them to depart to their room without corn-
nient, if he did not feel desirous of calling their particular at-
tention to one subjest, to which their notice must have been
p:culiarly drawn by the Proclamation against Seditious and
Blasphemous Publications, &c. They must all of them be aware
of the alarming and pen:h.loes extent to which the dissemina-
tisn of seditious and blasphernoes publications had been carried ;
1:::r could they be blind to the mischief which had thereby been
ieflictrel on Society, especially the more humble portions of it.
A;:i was it to be said that means ought not to be enforced to
ch ck the dissemination of such mischief? But it had been con-
te..ded that it was cruel and harsh to proceed against the'sellers
of seth wicked and mischievous publications; that it would be
batter and more just to attack the authors and original publishers
oc'y; this, however, was correct neither in law nor reason. It
was perfectly legal to proceed against all the venders of impro-
per publications; and what means were better calculated to
cle ack the sale of such works than the prosecution of the venders
of them.? He was not aware whether any such case would
come under their notice, but if any indictment of that kind
were preferred, he felt ssuired that, in the event of the publi-
cation being proved, and the matter being libellous, they would
deem it their duty to return a " true BilL" lie Ith satisfied
that they would not suffer erroneous feelings of mercy, or any
political bias, to interfere with that calm but firm discharge of
duty which the Country required at their hands. Political feel-
irgs all men had, more or less; but be was confident, that a
Grand J:,ry of the City of Westminster would not permit any
secb feelirgs to interfere with their duty and a proper and im-
partial enforcement of the laws. He would not take up more
of their time: he doubted not that their conduct would show
that they merited the trust reposed in them.
The Grand Jury then retired, and the Court pro-
ceeded with the traverse-cause paper :
Wiliam Hunt was found guilty of assaulting Richard Kelsey,
and fined 6s. Bd. as was also Phillip Lane, for a sigkilar offence ;
and Edward Powell and Francis Bruee were sentenced to seven
years' transportation, for picking pockets.
Yesterday articles of the peace were exhibited
against Theobald Cowling, a decently dressed man,
at the instance of Charles Jolliffe, Esq. M. P. to
whom he had sent threatening letters, &c. The
defendant was ordered to find sureties, himself in
130, and two others in £25 each, to keep the peace.
Anthony James Jones, a genteelly dressed man, SO
years of age, and standing six feet two inches in
height, was indicted for having fraudulently and by
false pretences obtained one coat, one waistcoat, and
three pair of trowsers, value £l5, from Francis Tay-
-11-, a master tailor, in Bury-street, St. James's. The
Court immediately sentenced the prisoner to trans-
portation for seven years.
John Cromwell was found guilty of striking with a
stick his aged father. Tcis being the second time he
committed a similar offence, he was sentenced to one
year's imprisonment in the House of Correction, and
to find sureties for his good behaviour.

A Gentleman lately died in 'the neighbourhood of
Glasgow, who was remarkably kind to the poor.l
Fifteen pounds were allotted for the beggars at his
funeral. As the poor creatures arrived, they were
inclosed in a park, and a man stood at the gate and
dismissed each with a sixpence. After the whole
fifteen pounds were expended, a number remained
uoserved. Consequently them were more than six
hundred beggars prcwnt.