THE SPORTING MAGAZINE; FOR MAY, 1809. HORSES FIGHTING. THIS Plate is from a painting by Mr. J. Ward, R. A. and engraved by Mr. H. R. Cook, of Upper Titchfield-street. The subject is so admirably handled, and at the same time so well known, that it needs not any other illustration than that which the print itself conveys. RACES APPOINTED IN 1809. June 6 7 7 GENERAL TARLETON V. MONSIEUR MUCH has been said and writ ten about Monsieur Charmilly, and certainly there was room to urge much upon the subject; for nothing seems more clear, than 19 that had his advice been taken by 19 the late gallant General Moore, at .27 the instigation of Mr. Frere, that 28 not one British soldier would ..29 ever have returned to his native 29 land, except it was in the mortifyJuly 4 ing condition of a prisoner of war! But those who would be fully ac18 quainted with the situation of our 21 army in Spain, should read a late 25 explanatory military pamphlet, entitled "Operations of the British Army in Spain," and in that they will find matter to make them grieve. In that interesting publication, the calamities of our army are depicted with a painful accu 10 31 31 Aug. 8 8 15 29 .29 Sept. 5 racy. But to the immediate point: 20 Agreeably to the Morning Post of 20 the 28th of April, General Tarle ton thus expressed himself in the House of Commons :- "Some years ago, Colonel de Charmilly came over to Ireland, where engaging in play with a Mr. Devereux, he lost a considerable sum, which he refused to pay! Mr. Devereux wished to challenge him, and asked him (General Tarleton) to be his second, which he refused!-Colonel de Charmilly said he was drunk, and knew nothing of the affair!-He thought it his duty to put the House in possession of these facts, as they served to throw some light on the character of the man, who was to throw Sir John Moore in the shade, and in fact regulate the whole of the operations of the British army." A reference was likewise made to the poverty of Colonel de Charmilly, but as no positive criminality attaches to poverty, we have omitted that passage, for the honour of all the parties. Such was the language, as used in the Senate of Britain, to cheer us in these degenerate times :—ą General Officer, a Military Governor, and the Representative of one of the first commercial towns in the empire, has publicly denounced the man who could be guilty of a prevarication in the laws of honour, which should be governing at a gaming-table! That delicacy of principle, that urbanity of manners, which constitutes the gentlemanly character, must inevitably be strengthened by this senatorial philippic against a presumed violator of conscious rectitude. Had we many such advocates for purity in the sporting world as General Tarleton, how different might be the demeanour of many of our adventurers! Each man would rigorously square his action with his word, and we should as soon hear of an animated Griffin, as a Levanter ! Had this parliamentary corrective for impropriety come from the lips of a man notorious for having led a dissolute life, it might have failed in having a due effect upon society; but as flowing from the gallant General, who has been for years so proverbial for the chastity of his deportment in whatever related to sporting transactions, its efficacy will have unbounded force. No man, surely, after this, will presume to take the chances of a hazard table, without assuring the company that he has money enough in his pocket-book to answer the accidents and inconstancy of fortune-no man, surely, after this, will risque the exposition of his honour and integrity, by suffering his name to remain upon the debtor side of a night-book for years, in one of the hells of St. James's parish, and retire from the pains and penalties of responsibility, in the glare, and dazzle, and privileges, of the legislative character.-The jockies of Newmarket will derive a sense of moral honour from their fears, and the Racing Calendar never be stained again with the malversations of a Chifney! "Example draws where precept fails." If any thing can bring us back to the pristine delicacy of our forefathers, it will be a continuation of such wholesome and timely admonitions. When Saint Augustine first taught the primitive beauties of Christianity in Britain, the idolatrous and unhallowed mob were less impressed with the ethics than the manners of the pious Monk! The severe and animated, but just strictures of the gallant General, have suggested to me the necessity of having, in future, some immutable immutable regulations at the gaming-table, which might restrain the base part of adventurers from taking an undue advantage of the credulous; and thereby prevent the necessity of duelling, or, more properly speaking, the affectation of duelling, as, there is seldom any thing very disastrous in these brawls: the leading conditions might run thus; viz. First-Any gentleman who is destrous of paying his devoirs at the shrine of Chance, must produce a certificate that he has never levanted at any race-course, billiard-room, cock-pit, tennis-court, hell, or bowling-green. Secondly-That he shall submit to be searched on entering into the temple of Fortune, in order to ascertain, whether his means of payment be equal to his adventure in the event of his being moneyless, e; he shall receive one kick from each of the gentlemen present, and two from the holder of the bank. Thirdly-If any doubts exist as to his word of honour, a deputation shall be sent to the different sporting houses in the vicinity, to enquire if he has given drafts on a banker who would not honour them; or if he has kicked up a row, to plunder the table. All these points being satisfactorily explained, he may be permitted to throw a main without molestation. "Learn to be wise by others harm, COURT-MARTIAL. W. THE HE following is the sentence of the Court-Martial, held at Ports mouth, on Captain Chamberlayne, of the West Essex Regiment of Militia, for uttering certain expressions regarding Lieutenant-Colonel Duckett (the charge was inserted in p. 6 of our last Number). "The Court having duly and maturely considered the evidence given in support of the prosecution, as well as that adduced by the prisoner in his defence, are of opinion, that he is guilty of the charge exhibited against him, with the exception of the word fellow, which they did not find to have been proved, and do therefore adjudge him to be dismissed from his Ma jesty's West Essex Regiment of Militia. INNKEEPERS AND TRAVELLERS. COURT OF EXCHEQUER, MAY 11. Jones v. Jones. very hard law against innkeepers, who were liable for the security of the goods of their guests; and unless the Jury were satisfied with the evidence of the plaintiff's servant, they would find for the defendant.-The Jury consulted together for some time, and found for the plaintiff.-Damages 4001. Mr. Jervis came to Court this Term, and obtained a rule to shew cause why the verdict should not be set aside, and a new trial had : that verdict being against the directions of the Judge. This day the case came to be fully argued, and since the Court granted the conditional Rule, the following extraordinary fact had come to light. The defendant had fallen into distress, his goods were seized in execution, and a public sale advertised on the 29th ult. on which day the auctioneer, in presence of the persons assembled, put up for sale a bed and mattresses, remarking, that it was the same in which the young man had slept who lost the 4001. The lot was purchased by a person who joined in making affidavit of the fact; and, to his astonishment and surprise, between the two old mattresses, which were under the feather-bed, the lost pocket-book was discovered, and the 4001. in notes within it. Upon the knowledge of that fact, Mr. Jervis suggested, that if a new trial was not granted, that a steł processus should be awarded, and the defendant spared from pay THIS was a case of considerable public interest, and established the fact of Landlords and Innkeep ers being answerable for the property of their customers while under their roof. It was an action tried at the last Shrewsbury Assizes before Mr. Baron Wood: the facts were nearly as follow.-The plaintiff had a servant in his employ of a cattle drover, named Evan Jones, whom he sent from London in December, with the produce of a drove. The servant arrived at Wrexham in a few days, and went to the inn there kept by the defendant. He slept in a threebedded room, two of which were occupied by the defendant's own family. The plaintiff's servant swore on the trial that when he arrived at Wrexham he had a pocket book containing 4001. in bank notes that during the day preceding the loss of it he had drank freely, but was not intoxicated. On going to bed at night he recollected placing his waistcoat in a chair by his bed's side, and the pocket book was safe in an inside pocket. When he awoke the next morning his clothes were there, but his pocket-book was gone; upon which he raised the whole family; declared his loss, and all joined in searching the bed-chamber, but the pocket-book could noment of the costs. Mr. Jervis where be found. The defendant and his wife appeared extremely anxious that the pocket-book should be found; and the defendant brought his servants and children to prove that they never saw the pocketbook. The Judge summed up the evidence, observing, that it was a added, that the defendant was most interested for his character, which. had suffered by the verdict; and he contended, that Evan Jones having gone to bed intoxicated, might by the cunning which some men possessed in their intoxication, have hid the book between the mattresses, |