The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1826-03-16 00:00:00

HATTON GARDEN.

FIACDS ON PANNBROKEGS.-1 esterday, a decent Icloldng
wo uan, named Ahoy Iluywnd, was charged with tha futlowing
fraud :

I Mr. At awl, a respectable pawnbroker, residing in Saint John. I
street, Clerkenwell, stated that the primmer at the bar had heal in
the habit of pleiging silver at his shop, both in bars and in pieces
cast Into various shapes, to be made up into spectacle frames, her
husband, wi she represented to him, being in that business. bihe
lied done this for the last two or three yew s, and alit misrepresented
the pledge to be silver, and that it ant d her hushar.d in Cs.
VII. per ourco, s. Id. per ounce for the silver ioetif, and lid. per
ounce castil,g. lie always alvinced her money on the article, at
the rate of 4s. an ounce, and in mace instances she redeemed the
pledge, but in one or two did not ; and whet he came to amity
those she forrei.ed, he found that they were only worth atom 30.
an ounce. Out Monday morning she brought a lot of sides and
' joints, cast for spectacle frames, nod, presenting them to the ;Imp.
Inwn, applied for the loan of two gnincas upon them. The shop-
man ii:stanily lent her the money, and she went away; after slue
lbai gene witness examined the pledge. and, from the inferior
a petirance of l'ue article, suspected lie lwul been ch'eated ; to ascer-
tain the fact he sent a piece of it to Mr. Johnson, the assayer, in
Alaiden-lane. %rood-street, I heapside ; Mr. Johnson tried it,
and declined that it was a composition of metal with-
out one particle of silver iu it ; in filet, it was no-
thing more than copper washed, or mixed iit'dh arsenic.
He therefore determined on taking her into custody for the fraud
when. she sgaia made ha appearance. Yesterday she came agal

with come more, which she offered in pledge for les. Ile then asked
her if that lot was the same in quality as she had pledged on Mon-
day, and whether it was silver? She answered it was, and that her
husband had purchased it of a Mr. Clements, but would nut tell
where Mr. Clements resided. Ike accordingly detained her, and
sent for Lloyd. the officer, who took her into custody.
The ptieuner. in her dertnee, did not deny that it was a compo.
eition, but declared it to be her ititention to redeem the article the
first opportunity.
Mr. Wood said he had reatton to believe that the greater pert of
the pledges he now held, belortgitig to the prisoner, were of the
same spurious description, and he lied no doubt other eawninokers
had been si.eilerly
The prisoner was remanded till Friday ('o.morrow).
MA III,BOROUGH.STMEET.
A NAPOLEON lir LlC,—Yeetarday an old women, of the name
of Audis, wag brought up on suspicion of 'oaring stolen a superb
horse pistol, richly inlsid with massy silver, elaborately embossed,
and which, from an inscription, was supposed to belong formerly
to the Emperor Napoleon.
The officers stated, that on Tuesday evening, as they were pass.
ing down Stantuipe.eireet, they observed the female standing at the
dour of W. Peel, Esq. mid showing front homed' her clink the
muzzle of a superb pistol to two gentlemen. Considering that she
could not bethe -right possessor of it, they were induced to go and
search her, and, from the opposition, which she made, to detain her.
They afterwards made inquiries in the neighbourhood, when they
found that at ore place she asked lee guinea for it, and at another
place only 25 guineas.
Mrs. Austin, in reply to the charge said, that she had received
the pistol from Mr. Dry, a pawnbroker in Saint Martin's-lane, to
,sell, and she would inform. the Magistrate of its history: During
the period when the Emperor Napoleon and the King of Prussia
were bound to each other by alliance, his Prussian Majesty made a
present of the article in question to Napoleon, who kept the pistol
as a memento. Ile hed it with him at the battle of Waterloo, and
upon his exile to St. II elenait formed a part of Napoleon's private
property. previous to his death the Emperor made a present of it to
one of hie attendants, who afterwards gave it to an English gentle-
man, at the time resident on the Island, from whom it mowed to
Mr. Dry, of St Martin's-lane. The latter gentleman not setting a
particular value on the Truk, appointed her to dispose of it, and she
had accordingly been to a number of gentlemen and noblemen with
it, to endeavrair to find a purehaser, amongst whom wits the Puke
of Devonshire—and elle should have waited on the Duke of Wel-
lington had he been in town. In theitope of meeting with a pur-
chaser, she went to Mr. Petro; and it was whilst talking to two
gentlemen respecting it, that the officers took her into custody.
Had she been fortunate enough to dispose of it, she was to have a
sovereign for Ilse trouble.
Mr. Coweere expressed his surprise that Mr. Dry should autho-
rise her to sell so valuable an article as the late Emperor Napoleon's
pistol; and to be satisfied on this point he sent for Mr. Dry.
About one o'clock a gentleman from Mr. Dry attended, who stated
that the pistols and some other articles which a gentleman had
brought from St. Helena, and which formerly belonged to Napo-
leon, .Mr. Dry received in exchange ter a variety of articles.
The pistol was now produced, which the gentleman instantly
said was the same article whielehad been circa to Mrs. Austin.
Unfortunately, however, a slight mistake, which we observed upon
the pistol,, calmed us to doubt as to the authenticity of the article,
and which certainly went to prove that the King of Prussia's en-
graver had not been in the habit of spelling Napoleon's name, as
upon a plate of silver gilt was engraved " l'Empereur Nepolean."
Mr. CONANT observed that' he was perfectly satisfied that Mrs.
Austin had not come dishonestly by the ariele, and he would
therefore discharge het ; at the same time he thought that it
another measure for the tale of the article was adopted it would be
equally as well.
The relic of the late Emperor was then given up to the pawn-
broker, and the parties left the office.
CAUTION TO TURNPIKE-MEN.—Yesterday John Webb, a
toll-keeper at the Tyburn Gate, appeared upon a warrant, to
answer the complaint of a young man of the name of Cattier,
gardener to J. Heath, Eeq. of Greenford, for an assault.
Cathay stated that yesterday week he came•to town with his
rnester's wt. loaded ; that upon passing through Tyburn gate he
paid•the amulet toll. Having delivered his goods lie returned in
thltiallidation with some litter, and upon going through the gate,
his beetle and cart being before him, the defendant came out of the
toll-house and demanded the toll. He replied that he had paid
him in the morning, and in proof of which produced the ticket of
the day; when the defendant said. " 1 am not a-going to be done
so, so pay me toy demand;" upon his refusing to pay it, the
defendant seized his whip and took it from him, tied in his endea-
vour to recover it, struck him.
Il'ebb, in his defence, said that he acknowledged having received
the toll in the morning, but the defendant having returned loaded
he had a right to demand a fresh toll, according to the Act. The
complainant had upon the litter a small basket fastened down,
which, about fifty yards beam he reached the gate, he took front
the cart and carried under his arm ; lie then whipped his horses
on, and on his going through the gate he (defendant) demanded
s penny, which complainant refused to pay, and having a right to
distrain, he seized the whip.
Mr. DYER—By what power do you distrain ?
Webb answered by a clause in the Act of Parliament, which
clause he produced to the Magistrate.
After perusing it attentively, the Worthy Magistrate returned
the Act, saying that it did not authorise him to ditteain upon hau.
perty which was in possession of the driver.
Complainant acknowledged having a basket under his arm, but
said there was nothing in it; and denied that he took it off the
cart.

Alr. DYER—The defendant was bound to prove the cart was
loaded before he made the demand and then, upon the refusal,
he should have stopped and distrained at the gate.
Defendant— I could not, for the cart had; passed by before the
complainata came up.
Mr. DYER—As I consider it to be a question of considerable
importance, the complainant had better take it to a Jury for de-
cision.

The complainant, however, said that he had no wish to carry
the matter any further, if the defendant would psy the expenses
which had been incurred.

11116 he readily undertook to do; and the case was discharged.

111ARYLEBO,NE.
CORYORTS OF MATRINOIcir.—A respectably-dressed man.
named Samuel White, charged his wife with absconding from her
home, and taking with her eight sovereigns and a silver watch, his
property.
The prosecutor stated that he lived at No. 14, James-street,
Oxford-street ; that he had unfortunately been united to the fe-
male he had now to complain of about eighteen months. Soon
after their marriage he discovered, to his sorrow, that his spouse
was addicted to drinking, and that his (complainant's) society was
not enough for her, but that she frequently took French leave,
and left the house without his knowledge. He had very often
seriously remonstrated with her upon the great impropriety of
her conduct, when she threatened to leave him altogether, and on
t,unday week carried her threat into execution during his absence.
Complainant was not much inclined to grieve on this account, till
he found that, by her departure, hehad become minus eight sove-
reigns, and a silver vetch, worth about 4/. From the information of
a friend he discovered the retreat of his " worse half," and applied
for a warrant to bring her before the 51agistrates to account for her
behaviour.

Mr. Itxteuxsow—lVell, good woman, you have heard the
story your husband has given of your conduct ; what have you to
say in extenuation ?
Wife—Please your Worship, I must inform you that this hus-
band of mine has often left me a whole day without the means of
getting any thing to eat. I was forced to the conduct I have taken.
I believe, on my life, he has been inconstant to me.
Mr. RAWL INSO M—That a no reason or excuse why you should
rob him in the manner you have dune.
flnaband—Allow me to say, Sir, that If I left her in the morn-
ing a sovereign, she amid spend more titan half in treating her-
self and friends tr liquor and beer.
Mr. ILtivi.twsoy—Hear me, Mrs. White; although the law
gives me no actual jurisdiction between man and wife, I must
know what has become of the eight sovereigns and the watch.
IS ifs—Oh, your Worship, I am net to be frightened by any
person in this oilier ; I know I have a right to take money from my
husband it' he does not supply my wants.
Mr. Ilawttxsow —Rut listen ; you are not to rob firm for the
purpose of getting drunk. ll'heze are the sovereigns and watch ?
Wife—l hire pawned the watch at Mr. Gideon's, at Lisson-
grove, and I have three sovereigns in my pocket left out of the
whole.

Alr. Rawlartsow desired her to give her husband the three sove-
reigns, and ordered her to be detained till an officer should go to
the pawnbroker's and ascertain if the watch had been pawned
there.

The poor husband left the office, seemingly very grateful to the
worthy Magistrate for the recovery of the three sovereigns.
A poor Ml man, who appeared verging on seventy years of age,
named Edward Jay', was charged with stealing a roll of flannel
from the shop of Mrs Pocock, a linen draper of Oxford-street.
Job Clifford, airepman to Mr. Pocock, 'aid, on Tuesday after-
mem a young mac carne into the shop, and said that an old man had
taken a mil of flannel from the hoard outride the shop, and was pro-
ceeding up the street with it as fast as his age would permit him ;
witness pursued and overtook the prisoner with the flannel in his
poase•sien.
the prisoner pleaded extreme distress as the cause, and begged
the Magistrate's mercy, who said he had no alternative, and the
poor old man van fully ennimitted to Newgate for trial.

Another instance of the comforts of matrimony followed :—A
female named Ralph, 11111111 maen named Kenyon, who by the way
Intl been desperately beaten by the Intslamd.of the first-named
primmer, were braught into the etiice. the hitter chart-ad with bar.
ng improperly intruded himat:f into his (Rslssii's) apartmants.
• Ra:ph, it n vioient rain, sited that Kenyon was an entire
atrseger to bitn, and that on Tuas‘lax evening, going home to his
lodgings in Warren-street rather artier than usual, he found him
ratting tn his anattatems, seemingly titian very good terms with his
wife. He asked him what he wanted there. Kenyan replied;
" Oh, I only wanted Caine books Odell I lent your wife." The
whneke having before lie ad of his wite's incontinency, and that
thistellow was in bisabotence a visitor, immediately attacked and
beat Min desperately in die room, and thee kicking hint down
stairs. gave liito into the custody of the watchman. Mrs. Ralph
interfering to part them, cause in for her share of the blows, and
was packed oft by her enraged husband to the office.
Mrs. :Simpson, a lodger in the house with Mr. Ralph, deposed
to certain peculiar circumstances. which showed that Kenyon had
Indeed been intimatemith Mrs. Ralph.
Kenyon cam lathed on the severity of the beating he had received,
and Null he h only ipone for his books.

Mr. Ralph ptoduced the books--a volume of" The Monk," and
" The History of die Dog's Meat Man."
His wife said nothing.
Mr. On I 'rums told Kenyon he richly deserved the heating he
bad received, and committed him, In detault of bail, for his un-
lawful intrusion.
The woman was discharged. Ralph declared he would be di-
vorced front her.
LA MII ET 111-STII EET. . . .

Yesterday Riellarl%irCli,Vll;co;urc;inihe employ of the Char-
tered teas Company, was brought up by two of the Bow-street
petrol, charged with having in his possession a quantity of iron.
work, supposed to be the property of his employers.
The officers stated that, about eight o'clock on the preceding
evening, they stopped the prisoner in Wentworth-street, White-
chapel, and found on his person a number of bolts and screws, and
from the unsatisfactory account he gave of their possession, they
took him into custody. After securing him, they proceeded to his
lodgings, where, on examination, they also found a great. quantity
of metal pipes, such as are generally used by gas companies.
The prisoner. on being exited by the Magistrates to account for
the possession of the property, said that he had got it at different
times from Mr. Brown, the foreman of the works, for the purpose
of taking It to the yard to have it repaired ; and that that part of
It which was found on his person when taken into custody, had
been given to him on that evening for that purpose.
The property was here produced, and examined by the Com-
pany's aurveyor,who gave it as his opinion that no part of it wanted
repairing ; but though he had no doubt the whole of it belonged
to the Company, yet for want of any private mark, or the Corn-
pany'.s stamp, he would not take upon himself to swear to its
identity.
Brown, the foreman, was next called, and examined by Mr.
HARDWICK, and delivered his testimony with considerable reluct-
ance. He said it was the tumid practice when they were at work
at a distance front their factories to allow the men to take home to
their lodgings any parts of the materials which were left unused at
night, with on understanding, of couree, to bring them back the
next morning, but no exact account was kept of what they had
taken or returned.
Mr. HARDWICK commented strongly on the culpable negligence
of the officers of the Company, in allowing the properly of the
shareholders to be thus exposed to the will of any dishonest person.
It was, in fact, he said, holding out a premium to dishonesty, and
a temptation to those poor persons to whose care it was committed.
Ile therefore hoped the surveyor would communicate to the Direc-
tors of the Company what had token place,sn that they might put a
stop to so careless a mode of doing their business.
The prisoner was convicted under the police act in the penalty of
AL, and in default of payment, to be committed to the house of cor-
rection for two months.