Juries do odd things sometimes. " Captain" de Vere Hunt,
a horsedealer, has, it appears, a house at Notting hill, which one Var- ley, a butcher there, supplies with meat. He had not been paid for a week or two till the account reached the terrible sum of 3/. He could not endure that, so he sent his foreman to Mrs. Hunt, who forced his way in, " laughed, winked, and chirruped," told her she was no lady, hinted that' she was no wife; and in fact showed himself a proficient in the insolence- such men think humour. Mrs. Hunt appealed to Mr. Varley, who only said- he should send six men instead of one, and did so, the gang forcing themselVes.in, and for an hour and a half standing round the tea- table. No-evidence was given to prove the insinuations against Mrs. Hunt, though it was shown that " Captain" Hunt was a very bad paymaster ; but' the jury—composed of course of petty trades- men—actually found' a verdict with a farthing damages, the judge, to show his opinion of the verdict, certifying for costs. The secret idea• of the jury evidently was that for anybody to postpone payment to a tradesman is a crime justifying any outrage. if workmen had been pressing a• tradesman for wages by the same means, the jury would have inflicted a ruinous fine.
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