The Times 1821 - 1830 May 01 1824 Parcel Theft Case #8 Dowling v. Hicks

May 01 1824 Parcel Theft Case #8 Dowling v. Hicks

The Times, Saturday, May 01, 1824; pg. 3; Issue 12327; col A                                      LAW REPORT.                                        -------------   COURT OF KING'S BENCH, WESTMINSTER, APRIL 30.                               DOWLING V. HICKS.     They now inquired for a conveyance to London, where it was very important that they should arrive as soon as possible. They found that the mail was changed at Carlisle, and unless they hastened to that place, they might be deprived of the best opportunity of reaching home with speed; they therefore proceeded to Carlisle, in order to secure their places; Mr. DOWLING having first requested that two copies of the Glasgow Journal, containing the editor's report, should be forwarded to him at the office. When they reached Carlisle, instead of retiring to rest, they sat up the whole night preparing their report, and were still engaged in their laborious occupation when they heard the horn of the Glasgow mail. Mr. DOWLING rose up, and placing his own report in a piece of whity-brown paper, hastened like the others to the office to obtain his parcel, received it, and brought it away. The three reporters in an hour or two left Carlisle by the mail for London; and on the day after, the report appeared in the Morning Chronicle. The proprietors of no other newspaper had sent reporters to Glasgow, and no account of the dinner appeared in any other London paper, except the Herald, which was lame, spiritless, and imperfect; while that furnished by the plaintiff and his coadjutors was full, spirited and complete. For some days Mr. DOWLING heard nothing more of the affair, and apprehending nothing, went to Birmingham to attend a grand music festival, and transmit an account of it to the Chronicle. While there, at a distance of more than 100 miles from home, he was accosted by a police-officer named RUTHVEN, who produced a warrant, and told him that he was his prisoner. He expressed his astonishment at this demand; nor was his astonishment lessened when he was told that the warrant was granted on the application of Mr. HICKS, of The Times. "It is strange, indeed," said he, "that Mr. HICKS, who knows me well, who is aware of the purpose for which I am here, and the time when I shall return - who is acquainted with the members of my family, and who knows that I am a married man and the father of seven children, and who has partaken of the hospitality of my table, should not wait till my arrival in town, if he has any charge to prefer against me." His surprise increased, when he was told, that he was charged with stealing a parcel from the Carlisle mail, containing an account of the Glasgow dinner. What motive could he have for so extraordinary a proceeding? If he were interested in the success of the paper with which he was connected, he must anxiously wish that the report of the Glasgow Journal should be inserted in The Times as a foil to his own. What suggestion of probability was there? None: on the contrary, it was said, that the parcel was delivered to Mr. DOWLING without any charge being made for it, which was too absurd to be believed for a moment. Mr. DOWLING expostulated with RUTHVEN; but the officer had no option, as his orders were peremptory to bring his prisoner to Carlisle. Knowing the respectability of Mr. DOWLING's character and connexions, RUTHVEN treated him with great personal courtesy, but took him, as he was bound to do, across the country to Carlisle, where Mr. HICKS was waiting for him. There the case was investigated before the magistrates, and so little did they find to affect him, that they suffered him to go at large on his own recognizance and that of his attorney. The depositions had all the appearance of being prepared, because several deponents were placed in one paper, as in an affidavit framed by an attorney, and not separately, as in a statement fairly made before a magistrate. However this might be, every thing else was ready for action. Mr. HICKS was there with Mr. HENSON, an attorney; an indictment, containing 12 counts, was prepared, although the charge was for stealing a parcel of value, certainly, in one sense, but of scarcely any in another. Could any one doubt that this proceeding had its origin in malice? One circumstance would sufficiently prove it, if it were not apparent in the whole course of the transaction. Mr. DOWLING courted the fullest inquiry; but he wished that the examination should in the first instance be private, feeling how deeply such a circumstance would affect his distant friends. Mr. HICKS, however, refused to accede to his wishes, and the anticipated result occurred: Mrs. DOWLING, who then was pregnant, was so much alarmed at the situation of her husband, that she fell into premature labour. Repeated messengers were sent to his house respecting him, and though information was given that he was at Birmingham, the course was not altered. Why did not Mr. HICKS, if he suspected any thing, request of Mr. DOWLING, who had run the same career with himself, to explain that which appeared doubtful? Why, at least, did he not wait till his return to London? Did he fear that Mr. DOWLING, a man of character and considerable income, would fly from his home and desert his family, to avoid such a charge? That charge would be shown to be groundless by the evidence of Mr. KEANE and Mr. POWER, the gentlemen who went down with Mr. DOWLING, if, indeed, it required little more than to be stated to be refuted. The plaintiff did not seek to put money into his pocket by this action; he was too much of a gentleman to entertain such a thought; but he did seek to expose the malice by which he had been assailed, and to make his innocence apparent to the world. He trusted they would give such a verdict as would prevent any stain from attaching to his character, and would mark their sense of the conduct of the defendant; and with this assurance he left the case with perfect confidence in their hands.

 

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