The Sun. — London, England, 1833-09-23 00:00:00

minions beyond seas, to occupy a place in the judicial committee—in other words, two of the most able of the retired Judges, acquainted with the administration of the laws in our East India empire, or in our more important colonies, are to be added to the working part of the Privy Council, and are to be responsible for their con stant attendance on its meetings and their assidu ous discharge of its duties. It is to secure that responsibility perhaps, rather than with any de sign of increasing the patronage of the Crown, or the retired allowances of the Judges, that the sum of 4001. is to be allowed them, as an indem nity for the expense which they may incur by remaining in town, and attending the Board. That the chief benefit of this arrangement is ex pected to be reaped by our fellow-subjects of the East Indies is evident from an anterior clause of the Act (the 22d), which empowers his Majesty to direct the East India Company to expedite appeals for a hearing from the Sudder Dewanny Adawlut Courts, or the Company's supreme native courts at the three presidencies—from the frightful state of arrear in which East India appeals have long remained—and from the sug gestion of the present plan by Sir A. Johnston, the late Chief Justice of Ceylon, which we find in his evidence before the Committee of the House of Commons on the East India Charter question. This active Judge, we observe, toge ther with another retired Indian Judge, has been lately sworn into the Privy Council, preparatory to the commencement of their new duties as members of the judicial committee. When we consider the disgraceful delays which have hitherto occurred in the transaction of business before the Privy Council—when we consider the scandalous manner in which the rights and pri vileges of our fellow-subjects abroad have long been trifled with or neglected,—when we con sider that there are several undecided appeals from the East Indies of more than forty years' l standing, and that latterly the natives have chosen to submit to wrong rather than to make a vain attempt in this country to obtain redress, —the great benefit of the new arrangement, with its additional resources of expedition and knowledge, cannot fail to be acknowledged. The prodigious extent of our colonial posses sions, with their increasing wealth and compli cated interests, rendered it impossible that the Privy Council, as formerly constituted, could do them justice. It was a tribunal fitted for the times in which onr dominion was limited to the British islands, and not adapted for settling appeal cases from 19 colonies, and an Oriental empire of nearly 100,000,000 of souls. But it would have been still less fitted for its high duties in the times which are before us. By the new India Bill our fellow-subjects in the East have acquired new privileges, and our fellow-countrymen new facilities of intercourse and communication ; with the former, knowledge, by means of the press, is rapidly diffusing itself over all our eastern pos sessions. The consequence must be, that the conduct of judges, both native and European, will be more narrowly watched, and, if objec tionable, more boldly exposed, than before. In such a state of things, it ought to he our object to show the natives that if they are wronged at home, they can look to this country, the seat of empire, for prompt and efficient redress,—that their tribunals cannot treat them unjustly with impunity, and that no judge sent from England, or brought up among themselves, is protected from the vigilant suspicion or raised above the supreme authority of the King in Council, when they venture on a decision which warrants an appeal, however much they may despise the voice of their own community.— Times. We alluded on Saturday to the effects pro duced by improved communications on agricul ture. The time is rapidly approaching when the price of food of every description throughout the empire will be nearly the same. One of the consequences of thus opening the markets of London and other great cities, to cheap supplies of food from remote situations, is that capital is withdrawn from the cultivation of inferior lands in one quarter, while more capital is employed in the cultivation of superior lands in another quarter, till the level is found. In the mean time, however, great inconvenience is felt in all the districts in which it is not beneficial to con tinue to employ the same amount of capital from the inability to dispose of the unemployed population. Throughout the home counties, there is, almost everywhere, a larger population than can be beneficially employed at the present prices. In Ireland the equilibrium would be restored in a very summary manner. The excess would be expelled from their possessions, and left to beg their way to England, or to die in the nearest ditch. But in England the population must be maintained, and they are maintained well, whatever betide the farmers. In many parishes of Kent, Sussex, and Surrey, a sort of confiscation may be said to have already taken place of the ownership of the soil for the benefit of the poor. As far as physical comfort is concerned, we find the most intelligent farmers of opinion, that the labourers of the home coun ties never were so well off as at the present mo ment. During the war, they say the labourers were often reduced to little more thanbread; now they everywhere consume a great deal of bacon. The Irish bacon, which has greatly improved of late years, and may now often be mistaken for English, has forced its way into almost every village of the home counties. We were lately in a large agricultural parish about thirty miles from London, and had an opportunity of perus ing some accounts drawn from the overseers' books, and from the books of intelligent farmers. We found that the money received by the la bourers from employers and from the overseers, amounted to upwards of 681. per family per annum. This, we will venture to say, is consi derably more than double the sum received per family by the agricultural labourers in any part of Scotland, though during the war, when prices were high, the agricultural families of the south east of Scotland, who are all paid in produce, actually received as much, if not more (making food the standard), than the labourers of the south of England. But this state of things cannot last long. The torch of the incendiary still haunts the imagination of the f armer . 1-1 e knows that his property is entirely at the mercy of the labourers, and so long as he has any p ro - petty remaining, lie bears up as well as he can under his difficulties. But one and all of the farmers complain of the growing demoralisation of the labourers; and we have heard strong testimony borne to the truth of Mr. Cobbett's statement i n the House of Commons, that the young generation is much worse than the parents. People who are unacquainted with rural mat ters often express a wish that the farmers would return to the good old practice of boarding and lodging the young men ; but they forget that the habits which prevailed when the young men lived in the house of the farmer cannot be re stored. In fact, the young men of the present day cannot brook the restraint which lodging with the farmer implies, and soon contrive to behave in such a way that the farmer is obliged to get rid of them. They prefer an independent life. But it does not require much discernment to foresee that the very extent of the demorali zation will work its own cure, though by a very painful process to the owners of property. The labourers, through the Poor Laws, have a lien on the property of the respective parishes. Where cultivation ceases to become possible under the burden of the rates to maintain a large surplus population, it will be necessary to aban don the land to the labourers altogether. Some thing like a minute Flemish cultivation will then take place. The poor cannot have more than the land, and when each man has a small por tion, he will acquire the careful and frugal habits of the same class of people in every country. Stealing and profligacy are produced by great inequality of property. Poor people do not steal from each other ; but the moment a rich man plants himself in the midst of poor people, the pillaging him is always looked on by them as a very venial act. A soft of feeling is generated that no man ought to be in straits while any other man has abundance. It will be found, we believe, that large farms soon destroy the morals of the agricultural labourers. The effects may not be seen in one generation, because the habits of a former generation which grew up under other circumstances are not at once changed. in time, however, all sympathy between the employer and labourer ceases, and things have already come to this pass in many parts of the South of England. Wherever the condition of the farmer is little removed from that of the labourer, there is much sympathy between the two classes, and we hear few com plaints of increase of crime. The Liverpool Mercury of Friday last, in noticing some stric tures on the conduct of the Irish labourers by the Liverpool Standard, remarks— " As for the charge of dishonesty, which the Editor of the Standard reserves as a climax to his calumny, our conviction iR, that there are no men in the world who, similarly situated, would evince more exemplary honesty than these poor men do. They visit this country in thousands, but we very seldom hear of any of them being committed for any serious offence. They have, however, bad strong temptation to commit crime, as we recollect some of them being starved to death, in whose stomachs nothing was found on examination except a little grass ! Would the Editor of the Standard hare been as forbearing as these wretched men if he were put out to grass ? " We have made many inquiries respecting the conduct of these men at large farm houses, where they assemble in great numbers for the purpose of getting in the harvest, and where they sleep in the barns and out-houses, affording , great facilities for committing depredations without detec tion, upon the poultry, &c. ; but we have uniformly found that their conduct has been free from any reproach—and we have heard the same thing from hundreds of persons, having been particularly interested in the result of the inquiry." We have often made inquiries into the con duct of the Irish labourers in the country parts of England, and the answer we have received from farmers quite agrees with the above re marks. It is the universal opinion of farmers that the Irish do not steal. The English la bourers think them great fools, when they see they have come over before the harvest is ready, submitting to destitution rather than convert some of the property around them to their use. We have spoken to farmers who have had scores of Irish labourers for two and three weeks on on their grounds before work was ready for them, and they have said that they did not be lieve they were even robbed by these poor people to the value of a penny. One farmer told us that if he had a dozen unemployed English la bourers on his grounds for a week, they would have cleared him out. The fact is, that the Irish being all poor, are trained to look on steal ing as an evil. In this country the labourer who robs another labourer is considered in like manner as guilty of something like sacrilege. We have been accused of writing for a rural police. We know not whether it is possible by any police to prevent depredations in a country like England, where there is so much property exposed and accessible. In this respect there is a mighty dif ference between town and country. By means of lighting streets and a good system of watch ing, town depredations must become more and more difficult. We have no doubt that there is not at present anything like the same amount of open depredation in the metropolis that there was thirty years ago. We admit there is more fraud of every description; but the appropriation of the goods of others by means of swindling and credit, does not produce by any means the same mischievous consequences to society that are produced by open depredation. There is, therefore a strong tendency to improvement in all that regards security of property in towns ; while the unprotected nature of property in the country may be said to leave it entirely at the mercy of all who are disposed to take it. When once the labourers come to look lightly on theft, discovery and punishment are matters of great difficulty.—Morning Chronicle. That there is a great deal of public property in almost every part of the kingdom which has, for ages, been diverted to private purposes, and much which, though avowedly devoted to the uses for which it was designed, yet is so applied in a manner by no means commensurate to its capability, are facts which no one who has looked into the history and practices of colleges, corporations, hospitals, schools, or alms'-houses, can entertain any doubt about. Much of this abuse has already been brought to light, Ind some part of the evil cured, by the dilatory labours of the Charity Commissioners, but who, like most overpaid servants, have worked but little in proportion to their cost. But it ought ever to be borne in mind that a limit was put to their inquiries in the first instance, which greatly crippled and curtailed their usefulness—that of excluding public schools, the universities, and, we believe, all Corporations, from the reach of their investigation. The Commission which has just issued for inquiring into the state of these latter, besides giving rise to much municipal im provement, will, we have little doubt, bring to light a great deal of abuse in the way of misap plication of funds, of which even some of those who are most interested in the matter have little or no conception ; and it is not, we feel per suaded, at all an extravagant conjecture, that if all the means provided by our ancestors for those pur poses were brought into existence and duly ap plied, they would be found adequate to provide an almost gratuitous education for one-half the rising generation, and relief in poverty and old a ge for thousands who are now pining in want, or are throw n unnecessarily upon the poor rates for a scanty and precarious support. An even ing contemporary w hi c h, w i t h a ll i ts acknow ledged ability, is too apt to assume the alarmist, a (le,e t o, t a d n,dnt eeatriosisds,ausactltailhidkaeittrxiilgtaetbn thisbadcel ikact t a s t ou e P f r s o e w e aeo propertyr Noble u oml b s ils l efr i s i i e o l n d o is v elri likely to r om its s n Irelandrightful has, " by a sort of bargain with the Corporation t, possession of " of which his Lordship i s a member," obtained 1,200 acres of the best ob land in and n the county of Meath," the Duke of Bedford should'itherefore look about him, for that such an example must lead, of course, " to a resump tion of all Crown grants not made upon avalu- . able consider a tion." Now this is a species of non sequitur which we were not at all prepared to meet with from the astute mind of our con temporary, who, upon reflection, must be aware that the instances which he adduces bear noana logy to each o th er , and th a t t r ustees combining to deprive those for whom they are in trust of their property, has no reference whatever to the original title under which that property IS held. We look upon this, therefore, as one of the unhappy hallucinations of the anti-reform mania with which our otherwise enlightened Contemporary is unhappily afflicted, and which takes from him that clear sightedness with which he generally views most objects that come under his notice. Except in cases where public pro perty has been diverted to private purposes, the holders of it can have nothing to fear. " The wretch," however, who, in the language of Shakspcare— " Hath within him undivulged crimes Unwhipt of justice," has every thing to fear from the inquiries which are now going on. That they may be searching and effectual we earnestly hope ; and in our esti mation the framers of the Corporation Commis sion are entitled to much credit for having in its outset avoided the two mistakes on which the Charity Commission commenced and has pro ceeded—that of making the remuneration too large and tempting, and its period unlimited. The Corporation Commissioners are expressly limited, in the first instance, to a period of six months, and their remuneration, we hear, to a sum of 2001. each.—Morning Herald.. Accounts from different parts of the country complain loudly of the manner in which the Corporation Commissioners have commenced the execution of their task. We gave on Sa turday, from the Leicester Herald, a repre sentation of the proceedings of the Commis sioners in that town ; and we this day insert a curious statement of the Northampton Herald as to the new style of judicial inquiry, of which the first example has been presented to the astonished inhabitants of NorthaniFtoti, on the visitation of these Commissioners. The Northampton paper concludes its statement with the remark that commissions are glorious methods of bribing hungry lawyers. This is unquestionably true ; and it might have been added that they are methods to which no Administration in England ever had recourse so unsparingly as the present. Whether the sarcasm of our provincial cotemporary is ap plicable to the commissioners generally, to whom his Majesty's Government has com mitted the duty of inquiring into the affairs of corporations, we cannot say ; but if they be not hungry lawyers, or bribed lawyers, it is very certain that such of their number as imi tate the examples said to have been presented at Northampton and Leicester are very ignorant and very foolish lawyers. Now that this Com mission has been instituted, it is desirable for all parties—for the Government, for the Corpo rations, for the enemies of the Corporations, or those, we should rather say, who wish to force themselves into a share of their property and power, for the public at large, and more espe cially for the Commissioners themselves—that something like a character of authority should appertain to their Reports. And upon this ground, if there were no other, we should earnestly exhort these Commissioners to endea vour to impart something like a character of judicial gravity and impartiality to the investiga tions upon which their Reports are to be founded. The system of inviting or encouraging, hearsay evidence or vague declamation—of inti mating from the Commissioners' chair what kind of answer is desired from a witness, not unwilling to oblige—the system, in short, which invests the inquisitors with the marks and attributes of partisans, is one which, if persevered in, must make the Reports whenever they may be pre sented mere pieces of waste paper, and convert the whole proceeding into an expensive and vexatious mockery.—Morning Post. SHEERNESS. Owing to the naval establishment formed here Sheerness has grown up into a considerable town, consisting of two divisions, Blue Town and Mile Town; it has been recently much enlarged, some neN streets and a spacious hotel having been erected. A pier and causeway ex:end from the town to 1?w water mark. There was formerly a great scarcity of water, but it is now supplied, and of a very ex cellent quality, from subscription wells, sunk to a depth of 360 feet. The beach on which the sea bathing machines are stationed is clean, and forms a delightful promenade. On the cliffs from the beach towards Minster there is, perhaps, one of the most splendid and interesting views in the kingdom—the German Ocean on the east ; the Thames and Med way bearing innumerable vessels of all sizes, with the town and harbour of Sheerness to the north and west; and the fertile valleys of Kent, with the Medway winding through them, and tire towns and villages interspersed, towards the south, com bine. The harbour has of late years been much enlarged and improved. The dock-yard has been greatly extended and improved within the last fifteen years, at a cost of about three millions, and is DOW one of the finest in Europe; it co vers an area of sixty acres, and is surrounded by an extremely well-built brick wall, which cost 40,0001. The storehouse, which is the largest building in the country, is six stories high, with iron joists, beams, window-frames, and doors, and will contain at least thiry thousand tons of naval stores. The chief trade arises from the dock-yard and other establishments connected with Govern ment, though considerable quantit;es of corn arid seed, the produce of the isle, as well as oysters (of which the beds extend all along the coast as far as Milton) are shipped for the London Market. There are copperas works of considerable extent within a few miles of the town ; the pyrites, or copperas stones, are collected in heaps upon the beach, from the falling cliffs, and carried away in vessels. The market is on Saturday. In sinking the wells here the workmen, at the depth of two hundred feet, dis covered a complete prostrate forest, through which, in the prosecution of their work, they were obliged to burn their way; this is considered a remarkable confirmation of the history of the Deluge, and spe cimens inst in itutions poss ess i on of most of the philoso phical in Europe. Stories well adapted for the composition of R oman cement, in conse quence of being impregnated with copperas, are dredged up from the sea in the neighbourhood of the cliffs. INGENIOUS ROBIIERY.—A few days ago a well.dressed young man went into a Cafe in the Rue Montmartre, and desired that eight cups of coffee might be immediately sent tu No. 8, Rue des Jenneurs. lie then went into a wine shop, took off hi s coa t, put on a w hi te apron, displayed a napkin under his a rm , an d wa i te d t ill the man with the tra y came in sight, upon w hi c h he went hastily create - ewer, spoo ns , and -ewer, e and brigg a bowl o f punc h. desired s i t r i e ly d coffutip,eeet.opot, other him, : st took the whole app ara t us , cons i st i ng o f silver toigiturn a.r The waiter of the coffee-house, nothing doubting, returned to execute this new order, and, when the punch was ready, carried it to No. 8, Rue des Jenneurs, where the trick was at once discovered, for no party was to be found there, and it is needless to add that the valuables the man had incautiously parted with were never turtlacorning. POLICE INTELLIGENCE. MARLBORO UGH-STREET. Just as the office was about to close on Saturday, a lady and gentleman of fashionable appearance came before Mr. CHAMBERS to make an application for a warrant, to apprehend a respectable tradesman for an alleged felony, the charge being grounded on the following singular statement : The lady informed the magistrate that she was the wife of Col. Hampton (the Hon. Col. Hampton, we understood), who was at present in India, and the charge she had to prefer was against a silversmith and jeweller named Barnes, carrying on business in one of the streets leading into Cavendish-square, into whose possession a bank-note for .50/. had been traced, which note she was prepared to prove had been feloniously obtained from her by a female named Ann Vickers, who had recently lived in her service as lady's-maid, and who, at the present mo ment, stood fully committed to Dover Castle on a charge of felony. Mr. CHAMBERS inquired in what way Mr. Barnes was presumed to be connected with the transaction, and was informed the discovery had taken place that Ann Vickers had been obtaining, by fraudulent re presentations, large quantities of the most costly plate and jewellery, from a number of respectable trades men, and in particular that Mr. Barnes had sent in a bill to a large amount for payment, for articles which be asserted he had supplied to Mrs. Hamp ton, but which she declared she had never ordered nor even seen. The girl, Ann Vickers, it was stated, had carried on a most extraordinary system of de ception on the tradesmen with whom Mrs. Hampton had had any dealings, and also on others with whom Mrs. Hampton was entirely unacquainted. The solicitor who attended for Mis. Hampton intimated that Ann Vickers had contrived to obtain jewellery and plate to a large amount from different tradesmen in the name of her mistress, and in order to account for the facility with which she obtained credit, there existed the strongest grounds for be lieving that she had possessed herself of a quantity of her mistress's visiting cards, and had passed herself off as Mrs. Hampton. According to the bill which had beer► sent in, Mr. Barnes had supplied plate and jewellery to Mrs. Hampton, which had been taken in by Ann Vickers and immediately pawned, as was evidenced by the dates of a great number of duplicates, upwards of 70, which were discovered in her possession. The amount advanced by pawnbrokers, according to the duplicates, was 4501., and some of the property was of the most valuable arid expensive description. In particular, there was a service of plate of the value of 1801., and a diamond and emerald neck lace, charged in Mr. Barnes's bill 160/., and other articles of a similar description, not one of which it was asserted, had been ordered by Mrs. Hampton. It was further stated that the girl, Ann Vickers, in order to make the deception still more difficult to detect, had paid bills in the name of Mrs. Hampton for articles which Mrs. Hampton had really selected herself, and thus having lulled suspicion, she had no difficulty in procuring the execution of larger orders, which she gave to tradesmen in the name of Mrs. Hampton. From the nature of the property specified in some of the duplicates, it was stated every reason existed to believe that other tradesmen, whose names were not yet known, had been similarly defrauded. Mr. CHAMBERS remarked that what had been stated appeared very extraordinary to him, and cer tainly not the least surprising part was the ap parent facility with which tradesmen parted with their goods. He wished to know if Mrs. Hampton had ever personally had any dealings with Mr. Barnes. Mrs. Hampton—Oh dear, yes. Part of the bill now sent in is for some trifling articles which I se lected myself. Mr. CHAMBERS—WeII, then, at all events, he could not have been imposed on by Ann Vickers representing herself to be Mrs. Hampton. Pray, madam, did you ever see this emerald necklace for 1601., stated to have been sent in by Mr. Barnes? Mrs. Hampton—Yes. It was sent to my house for approval, but I returned it to Mr. Barnes, who was below, by my servant Ann Vickers. Mr. CHAMBERS remarked it appeared very singular to him that a tradesman should do business in such a loose manner. The gentleman who accompanied Mrs. Hampton, whose name was Tuffnell, connected with the Audit office, said it was by no means an uncommon prac tice for tradesmen to send in goods for approval, and to press for a purchase on credit. He had him self lost a diamond breast-pin in the House of Com mons, arid as soon as his jeweller knew the circum stance, he insisted upon sending an extremely valu able one to replace the loss. Mrs. Hampton then gave the necessary proof of the reception of the note in question—among others, from her agent, and also detailed the manner in which she had been feloniously deprived of the possession of it. Mr. CHAMBERS granted the warrant. It may be stated, that on Friday evening the so licitors for both parties applied for cross warrants against each other, but they managed to infuse so much personal warmth into their professional duties, that Mr. DYER was obliged to order one of them to leave the office, in order to prevent a breach of the peace. M.ARY LEB ONE. Charles Tomlinson, a respectably-attired man, about 35 years of age, of exceedingly emaciated appearance, was placed at the bar on Saturday, charged by his wife, Maria Tomlinson, under the following distressing circumstances : Complainant (who, from the acuteness of her feelings, was scarcely able to tell her sad story) de posed, that on the previous day the defendant, while in a state of intoxication, came home to his residence at 27, Clarence-terrace, Regent's-park, and without receiving the slightest provocation, seized the kitchen poker, which he uplifted, and was about to strike her on the head, giving at the same time vent to ex pressions indicative of his diabolical intention ; she, however, fortunately succeeded in making her escape from the room, and caused him to be secured by a neighbour, who, attracted by her cries to the spot, prevented the infuriated man from endeavouring to commit further outrage; on former occasions he had taken up knives and forks, while labouring under the effects of drink, and threatened to " do for her" by plunging them into her body ; he had also once attempted to cut his own throat ; she (the complainant) therefore hoped that as her life was in the most imminent danger, the magistrates would afford her that protection to which, under the lamentable circumstances detailed, she considered herself entitled. Mr. BRODERIP (who sat for Mr. Hoskins) — Yours is, indeed, Madam, a most melancholy case, and you shall be protected from violence. What is your husband ?—Complainant. He is now out of em ploy, Sir ; formerly he held an excellent situation in the Post-office, where he remained upwards of 21 years, but lost it through his dissolute course of life. Mr. BRODERIP (to defendant)—lt is a dreadful thing to see a person like you in such a disgraceful position, and it is quite clear, from your enervated frame, t h a t you have been a slave to t h e v i ce o f in to3xne : I ca ' tion. What have you to say to this charge nr ,d, by your wife ? D,fendant—l'm very sorry for it, but did not know what I was then doing. Mr. BRODERIP.—Had she fallen by your hands,the plea of drunkenness would not have saved you from an ignominious death. Defendant. —If she'll forgive me, such a thing shall never happen more. Complainant.—l entreat your Worship to insure m y safety by binding him over to keep the peace, otherwise my life will surely be one day or other sacrificed. Mr. BRODERIP then called on t h e defendant to . find bail, himself 40/., and two sureties in 204 each, for his good behaviour for the ensuing twelve months; no being prepared therewith, he was locked up. James William Peat was placed at the bar on Saturday, together with his wife, Mary Ann Peat on the charge of swindling, in the most daring man ner, a great number of tradesmen, principally bakers, under the pretence of stocking shops, which it was set forth they were about to open in various parts of the town. About a fortnight ago four others, connected with the same gang, named John Boone, Jane Boone, William Jones, iWary Anti Jones, and the male pri soner Peat, were brought before Mr. HOSKINS, and were liberated on their own recognizances, in conse quence of there being at that time no evidence of a directly conclusive nature against them. It was then understood that they were to appear in a few days ; but, owing to the extent of their depredations arid the probability that an immense number of tradesmen would appear against them, they all, with the exception of Jones and his wife, kept out of the way. At the appointed period for their re-exami nation, upwards of a donor respectable tradesmen, who had been duped to a considerable amount, were in attendance, but as they could not fix on either of the prisoners Jones or Boone, they were accordingly held to bail in their own recognizances for their ap pearance when required. Since which time Keys, an active officer of this establishment, has been in defatigable in his exertions to capture the well-known Peat, which he fortunately effected on Friday night, in the neighbourhood of Cloth-fair, at which time he (Peat) was engaged in betting on a game at baga telle in a low public-house, the resort of persons of his own stamp and quality. On being placed at the bar on Saturday, the prisoners encountered the presence of but few of their dupes, in consequence of the short period which had elapsed from the time of their caption. The evidence of three tradesmeu only was gone into against them. The first of them was Mr. F. Cooke, of Queen's-road, Pimlico, who de posed to having been swindled out of a quantity of tabacco and other goods by the prisoners, who, unauthorised by a respectable gentleman of the neighbourhood, made use of his name, by which means they succeeded in obtaining the articles in question. The nefarious acts of the prisoners were in a few days after discovered on his (Mr. Cooke's) proceeding to the shop which they stated they had opened, but from which immediately on the receipt of his and other persons' property they had deemed it prudent to decamp. A baker named Farrington, and an oilman named Broad, residing in Tavistock-street, Covent-garden, gave evidence of a similar character against both the prisoners. - Keys, the officer, observed that a tradesman of Old Compton-street had suffered to the amount of nearly one hundred and fifty pounds by the prison ers, who were understood to be the principals of as well-organised and daring a gang of swindlers as ever infested the metropolis. Mr. BRODERIP said he should remand both the prisoners till next Friday, in order that those who had suffered from their practices might have the op portunity of coming forward to identify them. QUEEN- SQUARE. Saturday morning Mr. Samuel Pope, coal-mer chant, of Abbey-wharf, Westminster, attended be. fore Mr. GREGORIE and Mr. WRITE, and applied for a peace-warrant against 211 r. Chambers, the lately appointed magistrate at Marlborough-street Police office. The circumstances, as far as we have been enabled to ascertain, which induced the above-nansed gentleman to apply for a warrant to oblige Mr. Chambers to keep the peace, are as follows : Mr. Chambers and Mr. Pope are both engaged in the coal-trade, and carry on an extensive line of business, and are both creditors under the estate of Messrs. Southall and Milnes, coal-merchants, of Pedlar's-acre wharf, Mr. Pope for about 5001., and Mr. Chambers for about 3001. A composition of ss. in the pound was offered by the bankrupts, which would have been accepted but for the refusal of Mr. Chambers to take less than 10s. in the pound, which it is said the estate is unable to pay; and on the 16th instant Mr. Chambers arrested the bankrupts for 401., the balance of his account not drawn for. On hearing of this proceeding, Mr. Pope immediately wrote the subjoined . letter to Mr. Chambers : " Abbey-wharf, Westminster, Sept. 16, 1833. " Sir,—l have this moment heard that Southall and Milnes have been arrested at your suit for 401. It is cruel thus to spend the creditors' money to no good pur pose; and I request the favour of an answer by bearer whether it is your determination to refuse compliance with the composition offered, in which case I shall feel it my duty to strike a docket against them immediately.—l am, Sir, your obedient servant, - " SAMUEL POPE." To this the following reply was given : Sept. 16, 1833. . _ . " Sir,—l had no doubt from the beginning, of a friendly whitewashing commission being taken out by you, or Mr. Milnes's uncle, to clear Messrs. Southall and Milnrs. I shall take the proper measures, if obliged, to oppose this plain conspiracy ; but no threats will make me take less than 10s. in the pound o❑ the whole debt.—l am, Sir, yours, " R. J. CHAMBERS." Mr. Pope, feeling irritated at the charge, wrote again as follows : " Sir,—l could not have imagined a man of your rank in life could so far degrade himself as to write the letter you did to me to-day. if I did not consider you a great fool, I certainly would have horsewhipped you the first opportunity. I will, however, before I have done, teach you to u-e different language. You will certainly see Southall and Milnes in the Gazelle of this week, depend upon it.—l am, Sir, &c., " SAMUEL POPE." Mr. Pope was as good as his word, for the firm alluded to appeared in the Gazette on Friday night. Between the receipt of the last letter and Friday, Mr. Chambers had a long interview with Mr. White of this cffice, which was no doubt upon the subject of Mr. Pope's last letter ; for, on the morn ing of Friday, Mr. Pope, while on the Coal-Ex ' change, received the compliments of Mr. White, with a request that he (Mr. Pope) would attend on him at Qtteen-square office, at half-past three that afternoon, to meet Mr. Chambers and himself pri vately. Mr. Pope was punctual in his attendance, and was introduced into the presence of Messrs. Chambers and White, when he was asked by the former if he penned the letter in question ? An answer in the affirmative was 'given as promptly as the question was put, and Mr. Pope wished to show what he deemed the provocation, but Mr. White called upon him to find two sureties in 501. each, and himself in 1001., to keep the peace for six months towards Mr. Chambers. Two gentlemen who accompanied Mr. Pope to the office immedia tely entered into the required sureties; but while the necessary documents were being drawn out by the clerk, some conversation ensued between Mr. Chambers and Mr. Pope, during which Mr. Chambers rose from his seat by the side of Mr. White, and putting himself in a threaten ingt)uthreatened %v attitude, as to t restrainedrauid v i hfeirso from u d m e p n bu t r l t y in teilnhgi throughhai s violent th rea, pa ssion, skuli" teot eh xicek. skuli" of Mr. Pope, tow ar d s w h om h e a d vanced, cution by Mr. White forcibly pulling him back by the coat. Mr. Pope and his friends then left the office. The latter part of this extraordinary affair Mr. Pope and his friends considered constituted an assault; and on Saturday morning Mr. Pope at. tended at Bow -street, before Mr. Halls, and stated his complaint against Mr. Chambers ; but the ma gistrate refused to interfere, as it occurred in the presence of Mr. White, to whom he advised Mr. Pope to make application. To this office that gen tleman immediately repaired, and entered at a time when Mr. Gregorie and Mr. White were both on the bench. Mr. Pope, advancing towards the bench, addressed the magistrates, more particularly Mr. White, and said he attended before them for the purpose of obtaining a peace-warrant against Mr. Chambers, the magistrate of Marlborough -street. He was ready to swear his life was in danger, in consequence cf the threats of that gentleman, and he could bring f,ir ward two respectable gentlemen to Drove that such was the case. Indeed (added Mr: Pope), if it had not been for Mr. White taking hold of Mr. Chambers by the bkirts of the coat when he got i . 1 .,P; and made a push with hi s um b re ll a, at the o f ' time threatenin g . to " poke it t h roug h hie (M . Pope's) thick skull," the intentions of Mr. Chnu r bers might have been attended with serious eon ge ‘ quences. All he knew of Mr. Chambers was as ui tradesman, and he (Mr. Pope) wished to k n° , whether a warrant could or could not be granted Mr. White remained s il ent ; an d M r . p o pe r e ; peating some of his previous observations With% degree of warmth, M r . G REGORIE to ld him 1 14)t " Li be so violent. Mr. Pope said that all he wished to know vise' i, and that in a direct manner , w h et h er or n ot could have a war r a n t aga i nst M r . Chambers; e: cause, if it was refused him, he should certain, make an application in another quarter. Mr. GREGORIE, for himself, and acting also on part of Mr. White, re f use d to i nter f ere i n the sira''' 11r. Pope then left the office. HATTON-GARDEN. n or On Friday last Mr. Stephen Odonz, the proprle,, r of the premises No. 8, Th eo b a ld' s - roa d , Red Dref square, in whi c h th e R ev . R o b ert T ay l or, an d otP r persons of politi ca l ce l e b r i ty , h ave l ecture d upo n g oi rious subjects, was b roug h t b e f ore M r. Serge!, SELLON and Mr. A. S. L AING , c h arge d b y Wit, Benbow, formerly a publisher and bookseller, 1 now a part prop r i e t or o f th e po li t i ca l rostrum s 1) 1 occasional lecturer, with having committed & viole n t ' assault upon him, in conjunction with his wife o il daughter. The case excited some interest, and prior to arrival of Mr. LA ING , w h ose presence as the see° l :,,, Magistrate was necessary f or the hearing of 1 : c charge, the Rev. Robert Taylor, and man y ot , l, zealous advocates for f ree d om o f op i n i on an d repti, licanism, w ere o b serve d i n t h e ne i g hb our h oo d of ,V office to give evidence, if called upon to do so. nt The compl a i nant h a d entered i nto an agreeolea with the defend ant to occupy the premises, N o . Theobald's-road, as part proprietor, and as the mises were in every respect appropriated for It', turers, witness was to use his talents and influent to promote their m u t ua l i nterests . Ci rcurn stane.' o ' however, in the course of a short period, gave fi lo to disagreeable disp u t a ti ons b etween t h em as to t right of possession of the premises. The defendarc' as it was said, being aware that the complainant , , consequence of his extensive connexion with the po ir tical unions, had made the thing a profitable sPe c . no lation, every effort was used to cause his eject'', from the premises and to divest him of his Pr i e ' t gative as part proprietor, and on Wednesday 1 1.; while he was on the premises, the defendant, " I n wife, and daughter came in the most violent mant le j broke open the door, seized him by the collar, the three of them created a disturbance in thehot O and neighbourhood. The defendant, said Mr. B eir d bow, seized me by th e co ll ar , hi s w if e l a id hold; me by the throat, and the woman, his daught t e ,; made a rush upon me, and it was impossible 1; i o anybody could ever h ave rece i ve d such a Itos sl hug as that which s h e gave me , an d w i t h the ' of them I conceive it to be a miracle that I etesP e with my life. 11 0 Mr. Serje a nt S ELLON —Wh ere d o you sa y t 8, the assault was committed? Complainant—N°' Theobald's-road, your Worship. A clerk from a solicitor who attended for the d e ; fendant, said, " Oh, it is the Political Union, f ° ' l Worship." Mr. Benbow —Yes, it is the Political Union.-- w 6 know that. Jane Hudson, a fine majestic-looking woman, l ro at the Institution when Mr. Benbow was obliged 0 barricade the door, in consequence of their threo and violence. hi° John Wight d e po se d, t h a t t h e d e f en d an t and ce , family fell upon th e com pl a i nant w i t h great violeo„ Mr. LAING—What was t h e occas io n o f all this r OO Witness—Mr. Benbow h a s f orme d a good conneP o l in the Institution, and they now want to get tido him, and gain possession of the premises and pr° d , arising from them, although he has advanced 0 10 . 11 b d and has entered into a written agreement, subset . ' by witnesses, as part proprietor. The complainant her e p ro d uce d th e agreera elj it t : but the magistrates declined reading it, as beivg, • relevant to the point at issue. The fact is, it ' s f • dispute as to the right of p o s sess i on , an d t h e y h il i g been advised .; one of Mr. Harmer's clerks to violence to obt ;n possession. Clerk—How dae you say so ? I have given a o such advice. Witness—But the advice was given. to Mr. LAING asked th e d e f en d a nt what he bs" ,; say ? Defendant—That th e pr e mises belong to 01 0 ", that Mr. Benbow is no partner, although he cons' d himself to be so; and I deny the assault. . A df Mr. LAING—The assa u lt h a s been deciu proved, and you must find bail to answer the ellt i ff i l at the sessions, and keep the peace during interim. He was then detained until bail was procer two in the amount of 401., and himself in the s ° of 801. t go COINAGE.—Coins are generally entnP le o t by one blow of the coining-press. These Pee Heli . worked in the Royal Mint by mac hi ner y, so con t ': that they shall strike, upon an av e r a ge, sixty blow s ' O O l , minute; the blank piece, pr e viously properly P"P rs and annealed, being placed between the dies by P t ber the same mechanism. Of these presses, and of °tbe machinery and operations used and carried 00 la ia gtr Mint, an excellent account, with illustrative eng ov t be has been given by Mr. Mushet, in the supplement t w ri bich Encyclopsaiia Britannica. The number of piece' i ,, bitr' may be struck by a single die of good steel, pror t O r dened and duly tempered, not unfrequently atnoultOsor Mint to between 3 and 400,000, but the average °l ie o (P t ' Lion of dies is of course much greater, owing to : ferent qualiti e s of s t ee l, an d t o th e casua lties W W" „ref, '" dies are liable :—thus the upper and lower die or C , r oft violently struck together, o w i ng t o a f au lt in thelO r , t he or that part of the machinery which ought to .I),tigo to blank into its plaCe, but which now and th e n fs't bed do. This accident very commo n ly ar i ses f ro m tP i o pe; who superintends the pres s neg l ect i ng to f ee d the ii",rJs'r, of the layer on with bl an k p i eces. I I a di e is to°6oeft, is apt to break or split, and especially subject t°„,,,oS' o r which run from letter to letter upon the die. d igi o d it swells, and the collar will not rise and fall nr,ted„."o - sinks in the centre, and the work becomes die () ; /P - rj , faulty. He, therefore, who supplies the dies for to e tly sive coinage has many casualties and ditficult i f l e citle ti od, counter. There are eight presses at the Mint, tlO t e b at work for ten hours each day, and I consider fa destruction of eight pair of dies per day (one pa ir or e l o t press) is a fair average result, though we much ° jt° 3 e r quently fall sho r t o f t h an excee d t hi s proportOn' ir ceo,t i e be remembered that each press produces 3,60 0 1 % 14 61,0 hour, but, makin g a ll owance f or occas i ona l stoPPY," O I may reckon the d a ily p ro d uce o f eac h pres s i° 3 dat a pieces ; the ei g ht presseQ, t h ere f ore, will furoi 9h - average of 210,000 pieces.—Brande's Journa l t pe BIRTII. 4 , a 0 , On the 20th inst., at Great Russell-street, Blo ool° lady E. Malian, Esq., of a daughter. si t MARRIED. „een s On the 21st inst., at St. George the Martyr, V" - c , OOP Mr. Robert Rogers, of Glocester-street, to Mary, Ode of Mr. Orton, of Devonshire-street I 11. SA pate, On the 21st inst., at St. John's, Hackney, gr. • _,is • Frances Eliza, daughter of the late John Shi nn. Esq., of Charleston, South Carolina. • DIED. ‘ 4 l a lt" o ' ° 11; On Friday, the 20th inst., at Hi ham-hill, Theresa, wife of Mr. Charles Hale, of Great Eastel::, ' Api' let On the 19th inst. in Trinity.square, Mr. Th ou of hop-merchant, aged 54. for o On the 21st inst., James Peter Fallofield, Escl Albemarle-street. On the llth, inst., at Paris, William II , '" 4 eP 0 01 ollt formerly of London. „ T ina, wet On the 17th inst., at Hurst, Sussex, Ma' Ala Wife daughter of the late Lieutenant-General Sir A l 3- ' o ife of On K.C. K.C.B. the 21st inst., at Hammersmith, Margare" t the d Mr. John Walker, solicitor, New-inn. , 0110 6 On the 22d inst., Mr, Frederick William Carter , id , High-street, Southwark, aged 45. .. r „„ingt °l4 On the 21st inst., at Edwards - square' .."--- 1 William Yems, formerly of Clapham.rise, ed ,1 N 0, A ag 61 :_-- -- ' ' lll 1 111 ---- ('HINTED AND PUBLISHED BY MU R D 0 1( ° .... itIN OFFICE, 112, ar""li DR. C( A N T „ vtIENCI Ivhich are Generativ 4i tY , wi 11 Pwartis t No. 27, Printed 4chang e 45, Oxfc 9 , Calton- Dr. CI i;TRICTI ieh St, have bern tti E P 14441, p 1 th: rh e lur Irnporta heat praise, n Y are wr a " I it r It e a. "t 1 k inhai sk ent ill 4412.1ication' t It iF—an 1°