declared Cavenagh's conduct, in refusing to produce the deed, as not according with the station in society in which Cavenagh moved. M R . C A V E N A G H : " I a m not ashamed of any act of m y life." J U D G E W I L L I S : " O h ! I a m sure you are not, for there is no shame in you." M R . C A V E N A G H : " O f course your Honor makes these observations from the Bench, and I a m compelled to hear them." J U D G E W I L L I S : " If you say another word I will commit you." M R . C A V E N A G H : " Your Honor has told m e so before." J U D G E W I L L I S : " Tipstaff ! Tipstaff! " M R . C A V E N A G H : " Your Honor, I beg to state " J U D G E W I L L I S : "Tipstaff! I will commit you ! " T h e Judge looked hastily round for his tipstaff, but found that that functionary had vanished. T h e hot winds of the Court-house habitually had a parching influence upon the fauces of this worthy, and he occasionally popped out of his box for a "refresher." H e was very partial to what is known as a "long drink," and this day he ran off to " wet his whistle" at the "Southern Cross" Tavern, on the opposite side of the street. T h e Judge used to tolerate his minion's little weaknesses, and by the time he resumed his place, wiping his mouth with his coat sleeve, the Judge had cooled down, and Cavenagh was allowed another day to live. T h e next morning, one of the trustees of the party, in whose interest the production of the deed was required, stated that Cavenagh had shown him the deed privately, and he was quite satisfied. T h e Judge, however, had overnight prepared a long written harangue, which he delivered at Cavenagh for the public delectation, and ended by declaring that if the deed had not been produced, he should have issued an attachment by virtue of which Cavenagh would have lain in gaol to rot until he produced the deed, and no Insolvent Act could get him out. JUDGE WILLIS
FINING AND IMPRISONING AN EDITOR.
The Criminal Session was opened on the 15th February, with a review of a recently passed Insolvent Act which entailed a punishment offifteenyears' transportation for fraudulent insolvency. After the Judge had concluded, the Crown Prosecutor moved for a rule nisi for an attachment against Mr. George Arden, proprietor of the Gazette, for printing and publishing a libellous attack upon the Administrator of Justice. Affidavits were put in from three officers of the Court, Messrs. Gurner, Pinnock, and Kitson, testifying to the propriety of demeanour, dignified conduct, and temperate bearing of the Judge. Pinnock had only just arrived from Sydney, and been installed in the Deputy-Registrarship, and it is difficult to account for such a " clean bill of health " upon any other supposition than that the judgment of the deponents had been warped up by the impulse of personal feeling. Certainly such a certificate of character could, under the existing circumstances, carry no weight with the public, but as for the libel charged, it needed no auxiliary appliances to establish its utter unjustifiableness. Ex. gra., take the following specimens of what it was :—" From the hour when Mr. Justice Willis landed in the colony, his personal behaviour on the Bench has been that of an ' infuriate,' . . . . C a n John Walpole Willis stand in the presence of that G o d whose name and precepts are so freejuent on his intemperate lips, and absolve himself from crime past and present—of crime in married life, and in single—of crime in office and at h o m e — o f prejudice, passion, and pride—of a ready spirit to lash the faults of those below him, whilst he is wisely cautious of noticing those above h i m — o f hastiness of thought and action—of violence of language, of bitterness of expression, and of thoughtlessness of carriage? Can he not absolve himself of all these, and yet will he continue day after day, to satirize, interfere with, annoy, and injure, by every means in his power, the conduct and character of those around h i m ? " T h e rule was ordered to issue, returnable in four days, and Arden was informed by the Judge that he could be compelled to answer certain interrogatories in vinculis; but he would be allowed bail himself in ,£800, and two solvent sureties in .,£400 each. It was as a matter of favour he was permitted to answer in recognizances, and not in vinculis—and he was to appear on the following day. Messrs. C. H . Ebden and Langhorne, well-known merchants, tendered themselves as
