Star. — 1825-10-22 (London, England)

WESTMINSTER COURT OF REQUESTS.  RATCATCHER TO THE ROYAL. FAMILY. Busse tr. Isaacs.—ln this case Mr. Busse sought to recover of Mr. Isaacs 16s. for work done, and agree able to bargain. Mr. Isaacs denied this, saying, that he had paid ss. already, which he thought more than enough. Mr. Busse being ordered to make out his claim, stated that he had the honour to be the Royal Ratcatcher ; to prove which he handed in his card, a really royal looking thing, greatly emblazoned, with the King's Arms at top and G. R. in the corners ; by his card, moreover, it appeared that he was rat destroyer not only to his Majesty, but to all the Royal Family ; and he begged to assure the Court, that he had this, summer cleared out all the Royal Palaces, in none of which did a rat dare to shew his nose, or venture to look for a candle end, or a cheese paring. At this stage of the case, one of the Commissioners enquired if he looked after the rats in the Parliament Houses? to which he answered, with much naivete, that he was not yet appointed, but hoped to be so shortly. He then went into a full, true, and particular account of his engagement with Mr. Isaac!, who is a fruiterer, in Bridge•street, Westminster; he said that he was called in, a short time back, when Mr. Isaacs complained to him that the rats were playing the very devil with his apples, pears, grapes, &c. and as to his nuts, they cracked and ate them like squirrels ; in short, he told Mr. Busse, that if he did not give the rats a quietus, he should be ruined, and must retire from business. Mr. Besse kindly assured him upon the honour of a royal rat-destroyer, that the thing should be done ; id est, if he agreed to pay him one guinea, which must be paid in advance, and for which he should take care that not a nut should be cracked in his shop, by a rat at least, for one year to come: meaning that he would, like Paul Pry, drop in upon the rats, from time to time, with his " kindest inquiries." Mr. Isaacs agreed to these terms; Mr. Busse set to work, and for a fortnight fed the rats upon something so inviting, that every peach was preserved, and not a medlar was missing from the well-stored fruit baskets. At the end of this time he set his live traps, and 48 fine rats trotted into them; very much to his disappointment, as it seemed, for he protested to the Court he would rather any day or night catch 500 for half-a-guinea, than 50 for a whole one. This may puzzle the uninitiated, but it was soon understood when he said he could have 6d. a-piece for them, for the dog Billy and others to break their necks at so many per militate, for the amusement of the gemmen of Tuthill-fields, and its genteel neighbourhood. In windiqg up his case, he said that a if so be any of their Worships on the Bench wanted a dog trained to tke ferret, or a few dozen rats for a day's sport, he could supply them with some right good ones any time."— Their Worships not replying to this very handsome offer, Mr. Isaacs proceeded to I,is defence; but in this he could not deny the rat-catcher's main facts; only he seemed to think ss. was enough for what had been done ; but upon being assured that all his rats should be caught gratis fur the remainder of the twelvemonth, he good-naturedly agreed to pay the 16s. with the, Royal Ratcatcher s costs.  There is to be found in Mr: Pepys' Diary, anion other curious traits of the times in which he lived, an anecdote on the subject of Inquests on cases of suicide, which presents a remarkable contrast to the practice of the present day. A respectable and wealthy tradesman, related to Mr. Pepys, had the mi•fnttune, in the great knaof L .ndon, to lose a considerable amount of property, which threw him into a. st ice of despondency, and under the influence of this disetse of •he Mind, he attempted to drown himself, but was preserve 4 by the bystanders, and brought home. He caught, however, in consequence of the drenching, such a cold as brought on a fever, that terminated sortie weeks afterwards in hisclesth. A Coroner's Inquest was to be held notwithstanding, and so great was'the apprehension of the widow and his other relatives, that their verdict would be feto•de•se, in which case all his remaining property would fall to the Crown, that Mr. Pepys was obliged to exert his personal influence beforehand with the Duke of York and the King, to obtain a promise of a grant of the estate to the iiiviving family, in case such a verdict ensued: and this was the more necessary in those days, as the courtiers very often, on gaining scent of a case of suicide, applied in like manner to the King for a grant of the estate As) themselves, and frequently had it promised befoAthe verdict was known.  II; .1  s`. SPORTING INTELLIGENCEOrmic • o, ii nt 1: