Punch (31.1856)

September 27, 1856 ] punch, or the london charivari. l-y

CO MSG SOLDIERS.

he attention of an illustrious Fiel '-Marshal is
respeofully invited to the.following extract
from one of the clever letters of the Times'
special Correspondent at Moscow :—

" The Pavlovsky, or regiment of Paul, presents an
appearance which would be grotesque if it were not

is of the proper height, is sent to this regiment, which
was founded by Paul in one of his eccentric freaks, and
a very determined pug is eligible if it be accompanied
by sunken eyes and high cheek-bones."

Does not the illustrious Field-Marshal think
that the foreign idea of a snubuosed regiment

spectiveJy composed of men remarkable for
convergent axes of vision and red hair. There
might he%, regiment constituted of bowlegged
heroes, denominated the Bandies. Another
might consist of subjects distinguished by the
opposite curve of the lower extremities, but
for the reason that knock-kneed people are
what is commonly termed weak upon their
pins ; £0 that a body of such s oldiers would be
rather ornamental than useful. In the agri-
cultural districts are to be found numerous
rustics, rejoicing in wide mouths, and greatly

guilty of intentional poaching; that is, considered them not guilty of
poaching.

But now, my dear Sir George, for the circumstances of the case;
for circumstances al'er oases in general, and may possibly justify the
refusal to deliver up to a gamekeeper a bate slain by chance-medley.

The defendants in this case—my authority state*—were " two young
men of respectable character, named Thomas and Edwin Pepper, sons
of Mrs. PEPPjat, farmer, Coaley Lane, near Kotherham. The charge
preferred against them by William Broadhead, gamekeeper to Earl
cXTfosesA11Every TouTe^l ZTr^r^Z FiTzwiLLiAM,-waS that of unlawfully killing a hare. Mb Broadhead

• 'deposed tnat, on the tend instant, whilst the defendants and a man-
servant were moving in a field of barley, occupied by Mrs. Peppeb,
mother of the defendants, a little cog wbicu they had with them started a
bare in some of the uomown barley; that the mowers then put down
their scythes and, together with some labourers in attendance on them,
, i surtounded the piece of barley; that Thomas Pepper then entered
might not only be adopted, but also improved ; hhe bar]ey; caugllt) took uPj kllled bid anci iefusfid to deliver up the
upori, in the British service ? In addition to|bare. acd when he William Bkoadhead, had at last found it,
theKoyal Snubnoses we aught have the Boyal ; snatcQefi it away and kfeDt in Tile defendants denied every particular
Squinteyes,or^ the^^^f1^;^0^ j of this statement, except the facts that they were mowing in the field.

' and that Thomas Pepper had killed the hare. They said he had
accidentally wounded it in mowing—cut its bind leg and ripped its
side open with the point of his scythe; that he killed it outright to
put it out of its misery; showed it to the keeper oa his applying for
it: and only for the leason that he threatened them with legal pro-
ceeds gs, snatched it out of his hands, in order that they might pro-
duce it before the Magistrates to show how it was killed. This derenee
was proved by the evidence of the servant man : and the bench—if their
decision is rightly reported—believed it. Tney did not consider tl e
kdlingof the hare to be "a case of any very great iutent of poaching; "
whereas, if they hod believed Mb. Broadread instead of ihe Peppers,
they must have seen that it was a decided case, not only of intent,

addicted to grinning from ear to ear. Some , but alsQ f commission of poaching; since, bv an abominable law, it i<
of these clowns might be converted into sol- possible that a famer mav poacn"Upon the very land which he rents.

diers, and embodied in a Begiment under the
name of the Cheshire Cats. Hkr Majesty's
service might also be augmented by an obese
legion, whereunto the title of the Heavy
Lumber would be suitable—they would serve
well enough as food for powder. A light
brigade of thin men, on the other hand, might
be raised, having the denomination of Lankies, or Spindleshanks,
assigned to them—these fellows might be employed on services where
stouter troops would have less chance of escaping the enemy's rifles.
These fancy regiments might be completed by a division of hunchbacks,
for whom the proper designation would of course be—the Queen's
Owa Punches.

A STRETCH OF THE GAME LAWS.

Thui these men were charged with unlawfully killing a hare,
acquitted of that offence, aud punished on another account—namely,
because one of them retained possession of the hare, in order to rebut
perjury, which, as the event pioved, they had reason to fear.

Observe, my dear Sir George, that Edwin Pepper, in particular,
was fioed for merely looking on whilst his brother Thomas seized the
hare and refused to give it, up. Bo'h of the P*ppers were acquitted
"of any very great intent of poaching;" and it was Thomas, singly, who
snatched and withheld the hare. Edwin naturally asked, in astonish-
ment—

" Am i to be fined, Sir, when i never left my place, or interfered in any way, either
when the hare was killed or the keeper came up? i was merely a looker-on.—Mr.
Pickard. You are both fined as. and costs."

The costs augmented the five shillings penalty to upwards of a pound.
One pound is not much—'o you aud me—but rogues have been nanged
for stealing less money, and even now, for theft or cozenage to a much

(To the Right Hon. Sir George Grey, Bart ) i !ffitr WT** are ^ 10 a leDStr)he.Iled pen^d . f perspiration at, the

' Ciaok. there is no law to punish dishonest Magistrates in the same

My Dear Grey, | manner, even when they impose ui just fiats in an excessive zeal for the

Allow me to call your attention to a remarkable judgment, I preseivation of game, and extreme respect for the person of a noble-
nroriounced, according to the Manchester Examiner and Times, at! man's gamekeeper. I don't accuse Mr. Pickard and Mr. Ftjllertom

llotheram, by a provincial Magistrate. The sentence which I subjoin,
»ill explain the crime to you :—

" Mr. Pickard said the bench did not 'consider it to be a case of any very great
Intent of poaching,' because they knew that in mowing men did sometimes come upon
hares left among the corn ; but if it was an accident, the defendants were wrong in not

of such conduct, arising from such motive?, because 1 am not sure that
tiie affair above de ailed is not fictitious. There is a clergyman in the
case, too, and this renders it doubtful in proportion to the celebrity of
Clerical Magistrates for dispensing justice without partiality or pre-
judice. If, however, this scandalous tale is true, although you will be

acknowledging and giving up the hare to the keeper. The bench wished to point out i unar,lP to iiretfTit H W Pirif*«n hWi frnm pontiniiino- fr> wriro hi"™
to labourers that when they killed hares in rhis way, they must give them up to Ihe ! » 10 Pres,enl n- vv ■ rICKAED, Usq., irOrn continuing 1,0 Write flim-

keepers, and they should fine the defendants 5s. each and costs." j Sell Armigero, you_Will yet have the power—-which YOU Will do Well to

mi- . , , j , , n . , , , . . ' exercise—of relieving that gentleman from the duties of coram, and

The bench referred to by Mr. Pickard consisted of himself and a custalorum, and ratalonrm. You will also act judiciously in limiting
Rev AIullerton. Thus saith the Manchester Examiner and Times; ; the ztal of the Bev. A. Fullerton for the salvation of hares and the
so that, unless my Manchester contemporary has been shamefully glory of Earl Fitzwilliam to the sphere of operation afforded bv the

noaxed, or has invented a gross calumny, Justice Shallow had an bedside and the pulpit.' Believe me^ my dear Home Secretary, you
assessor in the Rev. Mr. Silence. I ever faithful monitor a. i

I wish, my dear Grey, you would investigate this matter, and! " ' 3pJrJ|2C?£.

ascertain whether Mr. Pickabd and Mr. Ftjllerton; have been P.S.—Wouldn't a codec ion of British County Bench cases make a
atrociously slandered, or ought to be removed from the Commission of | nice book for Bomba?

the Peace. —

From the judgment alleged to have been delivered by Mr. Pickard,
you will perceive that certain persons are declared to have been fined i Reward of Curates.

five shillings and costs for accidentally killing a hare, and not giving j Corks, the butler of the Bishop op Tawnyport, having read sundry
up the dead game to a gamekeeper Toere may be a statute providing of ,he Curates' letters in the Times, s-id confidentially to the footman,
a penalty for the non-surrender of accidental y slain hares to game- - wei]5 j£ames after au h[u ritty plaQ8 that them C rri^s gets mo r-
keepers independently of all circumstances. If so, what I am about to kjck9 than aprons "

say must go for nothing: the judgment was legai, and the law alone '--

is infamous.

Mr. Pickard is represented, cruelly if incorrectly, as saying tha* Genius Afloat,

the bench "did not consider it to be a case of any very great intent, of Louis Napoleon entered the Bay of Sebastian in the Frer ch steams
poaching :" as if an intent to poach could be great or small, or anv-: Le Newton. After we have replied to the compliment by launching p
thing more or less than an intent to poach. In talking—if he talked Paseal or a La Place, perhaps we mav ou'selves d . honour to English
the uonsen--e ascribed to him—Mr. Pickard could only have meant to genius and E^b'sh devotion We may then haw a Bacon three-deck-r
say tnat his colleague and himself did not consider tire defendants • and a Florence Nightingale frigate

Vol. 31.

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