fat Cauntrg.
At the Shrewsbury Assizes, on Saturday, an action against the - editor and proprietor of the Shrewsbury Chronicle, for libel, occupied the Court for some time. The ground of the actions was the publica- tion of certain proceedings in the Town-Council, injurious to the cha- racter of a Mr. Higgins. a Superintendent of Police, discharged by the new Council for misconduct. The witnesses for the defence asserted that party spite was at the bottom of the whole proceeding, and that Higgins was persecuted because he was a Tory. The Jury, after two hours' consultation, found a verdict for the plaintiff, with one farthing damages.
An inquest was held on Wednesday, at the Royal Hotel and Aber. corn Arms, Great Stanmore, to ascertain the right of certain parties to a quantity of gold coin discovered on the 24th and 26th of January last, in a ditch bordering upon a field which is part of the glebe-land of the Rector of Stanmore, Dr. Chauvell. The inquiry was made in com- pliance with the warrant of Mr. Missile, the Treasury Solicitor; who claimed the money as "treasure trove," and legally belonging to the Crown. The finders of the principal portion were Jeffkins, coach- man, and Reeves, gardener to Dr. Chauvell ; and the value of their prize is stated to be 382/. 15s. Gel. principally in French and Spanish • coins. The gardener mentioned his good luck to his wife, and she talked the mutter over with the coachman's wife, who told Mrs..
Chauvell the story. This lady directed the money, which was all de- posited with the coachman, to be given up to the Rector, to whom she
said it of right belonged. This claim was disputed, and the parties memorialized the Treasury on the subject; and then Mr. Maule di- rected the inquiry. Several other men hearing of the treasure, pro- ceeded two days after to the same spot, and there was a fight among them about the division of the spoil, more of which they found ; and, . subsequently, several of them sold a quantity of the coin to bullion- dealers. The Jury, in opposition to the Coroner, who said that the-
whole belonged to the Crown as "treasure trove," found a verdict that part only, namely that which was found on the 26th of January, belonged to the Crown, and the remainder—the 3821.—belonged to Jeffkins and Reeve, the finders. It is said that altogether about 4000/. had been found at different times in the ditch, and divided among the country people.
No evidence was given as to the original owner of this money.; but the following is the rather unsatisfactory story which we find in the newspapers- " About eighteen years ago, a foreigner visited Great Stanmore who used to walk about the fields, and was often met in lonely places. After haviug been there some weeks, he suddenly left, and was never seen or heard of after. .In less than two years after, a person came, and for some days was seen wandering about the field in which the money Vas placed. He at length asked a woman if there was any one in the village who bad lately become enriched by the pos- session of a large suns of money, and mentioned that there were some thou- sands of pounds in gold coin deposited in a field. He spoke of a foreigner baring lived there some months before, and said that the person had since died, and on his death-bed gave him a plan of the field where the money lay, but that he had not been able to find it out. For some days after, the man was accompanied over the field by various persons; when, not being able to ind the money, he left, From that day no discovery was made, till about the end of last year and the beginning of this; and it appeared, that almost imme. diately after the foreigner left, a great alteration took place in the field, by order of the surveyor, as where the money was placed, which was between two ash trees, on the side of a ditch, a watercourse had been formed, and the two trees had been cut down, so that the plan was entirely altered. In the course of years, the water has washed away the earth till at length it exposed the money. It is conjectured that this was a share of money stolen from some foreign bank and deposited here; and there are suspicions that the foreigner has been inurdeted. It is also stated that it the neighbourhood of Chandos Park there are other sums deposited."
The Vestry of St. Mary, Bungay, have resolved to enforce payment of arrears of Church-rates from forty-one defaulters, who object to the payment on principle, and are resolved to go to prison, rather than submit to the exaction. It will be remembered that the Bungay Church party signalized themselves by an illegal imprisonment of Mr. Childs, for non-payment of Church-rates, in 1834.
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