The British Press; or, Morning Literary Advertiser.
London, England, 1824-01-28 00:00:00

POLICE.

MANSION-WU:4'E.
Tim CASE or SE DUCT 101i.—The Keeper of the workhouse 0:
St. Sepulchre's parish yesterday attended, u we understood.
1.1
acquaint the Lord Mayor, that he had received Slargaret llire.
1 the unfortunate girl whose use of attempted suicide, and seductly,
by a Quaker, was stated in oer Papa a few days sinre. 'l'l,,
Keeper begged to state to his LoreLship, that the MP, as it a:,.
peered in the public papers, was very much understated, and th::
the real circumstances of it were of extreme aggra-ation. The
j Quaker who seduced the unfortur.ate girl was a man of sbrat
thirty-five years of age, and she wax onl,:•ighteen. He had pur.
sued her for more than eighteen mouths fore he bad effmt hi,
purpose: during that time she lived in a very respectable situation,
and was very much liked. He persuaded her to leave it, and g,
and live with his mother. When she accepted the situation, he
made use of the opportunities it gave him, and in ahem cirht
months after she gave way to the promise of marriage tehich. ha
made to her. I.: (the workhouse keeper) had been to Mr to,,the,
of the Quaker, oho still refused to have anything to do with he,
and would only hairy:: that her son was seduced. She showed ov
compassion whatever for the unfortunate girL Her former:ll:soy,
gave her an excellent character. and so well convinced was she of
her innocence, that she uffard to take her back into her sees
after she was delivered.

The Len 31.ivon expressed his pleasure at this statement,
and reque • ted that every attention might be paid to the poor gilt
In consequence of the report of the statement, he had rec:ived
three pounds. which sum had been sent by some charitable persots,
part to be given to the unfortunate girl, and part to be bettered
as a reward to the poor woman who prevented her common:cp.;
suicide. and with rare generosity received her when she sir
spurned for her misfortune by others of her sex.
The Quaker has not yet been found.
L.I.IIBETH-STREET.
CHARGE or .1n•os —John Wells, a jobbing bricklayer, who
stood remanded, charged with setting his house on fire, In Fort.
street, Mile-end Old Town, was yesterday finally examined before
Joint HARDWICIEE, Ettl. the Sitting Afagiatrate.
The prisoner is a man of rather respectable appearaaae. Mr.
HARM E a attended professionally for him, and e following evi.
donee was adduced:—

Mr. J. Rumeey sworn.—The prisoner was a tenant of his in the
house Li question, and had ran in arrear two quarters. He applied
to him for the rent on the 'Arth inn. ; but, instead of his promunag
to pay it., he wished him to take his goods; at the sense time oh.
aerving—" I'll stay at home all day to-ronnow." Witness did
take away all the goods on the 2lst, having seized on them for the
rent. He did not do so from vindictive motives, but in a friendly
manner ; and, en the name night, the alarm of fire was given.
Turner sworn—Witness is servant at the Duke of York
public.houae, which iv next door to the prisoner's house. About
• quarter past eleven o'clock on the night alluded to, he was going
out with a pot of hecr, when he was met by the prisoner at the door,
who requested a light, which witness gave him. In about half an
hour afterwards, as the female servants were going to bed, they per their room full of smoke, which appeared to be coming from
the prisoner's house, and mite an alarm of fire; and, on witness's
going out, he saw a person come from the house with some burning
wood, and throw it in the street. ti itntas afterwards went into the
house, and saw a quantity of wood 'blazing in the grate in the back
kitchen on the ground floor.
John Ilan sworn—Witness saw a great deal of wood on fire is
the chimney of the prisoner's house; a neighbour wok out some
of it, and he himself brought out more. The Me appeared to be
made intentionally, and to h'e consistedof a clipboard door, which
was wrenched off; there was a considerable quantity tttoro than
w-s necessary to make a tire in the grate at the time.
Judah sworri--IVitneas was parsing through YorLetreet,
about a qua-ter before twelve o'clock, on the night of the 21st
instant, and saw sparks conair.g out of the top of the prisoner's
house. The watchman and the prisoner were attending at the door
when he came up, and he said to the former, "'the house is en foe,
why don't you go in ?" Upon which the primacy answered, " Yet
it is, I set it on fire," and he soon after walked away. The weds.
man and witness went into the house; they were the first who en.
tered it, and found a large quantity of wood ea fire in the grate,
which was shortly extinguished. The prisoner returned in about
half an hour, and wee then taken into custody.
Mr. Hardwicke—ln what state did he appear to to at the time?
Witness—He appeared to be very drunk.
The watchman said, that previous to the alarm being given by
the last witness he informed the prisoner, who was star.ding at the
door, of the lire ; but he said it would " come to no hurt," and
that he was " quite tired of the house." Witness accompanied
Judah into the house, and found the place " all on fire."
3lr. HARMER observed, that under Lord Ellenborough's Act. it
was necessary to prove that some part of the house was on fire, and
that it was dime with a malicious intent ; but that here there was no
direct evidence to establish these facts.

Several persons of respectability,-who had known the prisoner
for many years, spoke in the highest terms as to his general cha-
ratter. Ile had been a master-builder once, in an opulent way of
business; but being reduced, through misfortunes in trade, hi gave
himself up latterly to drinking, and when drunk was uo better
than a madman.

The 31agistrate said there could be little doubt that the fire
made in the grate was dune with the intention of destroying OW
house; but that still he was inclined to think it was the act of a
drunken frolic, which amounted to a misdemeanour, foe width be
wart liable to be indleral.
Mr. !I AR NEI oheerved, that whatever M bathe annequess
of the preseen proceedings, be hoped it would be a caution to ha
client how he should act for the future.
_ _

The prisoner vu taiinately—cliseEged from the Isar.
It was evident that Mr. Itunisey no wish to press the matter
any further.
ALLEGED SEVERITY OF AN OVER'Ern.—Ten seemingly
hull-working
.poor fellows applied for redress to the Magistrate, us.
der the following circumstances :
It appears that, during the winter, any of the men who become
chargeable to the parish of Westham, sad who are capable of work,
are employed by the pariah in drawing sand from a pit, and shoot.
ing It at Stratford, about a mile distant, for the purpose of repair.
Mg the roads in the summer. It is drawn from the pit in carts or
a peculler construction, to each of which is harnessed, after the
manner of beasts of burthen, ten of these poor fellows, and fte
which work they are allowed a certain remuneration. The pre.
sent applicants formed a gang of these slaves; they did not, hov-
erer, entirely object to the work, but the object of their visit to his
Worship was to complain and seek redress against the comb= of
Mr. .Mundy, the perpetual overseer of the parish, residing at Strat-
ford, who, they now alleged, obliged them, under the eye of a re-
gular foreman, to work harder than they were actually capable of
performing, as they were compelled to draw in the cart, for the dis-
tance alluded to, 324 cwt. of gravel, on a bad road, in part of which
they were ancle-deep in mud.
They presented rather a novel spectacle, having come to the
office in their smock frocks, and regularly harnessed as when at
work.

The Magistrate, after patiently hearing their revolting am,
said they had better apply to some of the local magistrates, who
might be better acquainted with their cave than he was, and there.
fore had a greater facility of alit:ding than props redress.
The applicants, silo »re, replied that they had applied to Mr.
Wilson, the Magistrate at Easthan, on the subject, and that it
was his opinion they could not be compelled to work harder
than they were actually capable of, and he wrote a letter by
them to that effect, to Mr. Mundy, but be took no notice whAt•
ever of it.

:ili:llAarnricicE here took occasion to °bean, that the Me.
gistrates had a power of punishing the orereees for such conduct ;
and that as the case was out of his district, the applicants had bet•
ter again apply to the local 31agiatrates. They were told that a
'tench of Magistrates sat once a fortnight at the Angel, in Ilford:
that they had better lay their complaint before them, and that then
their grievances would be thoroughly investigated and redressed.
Upon this suggestion they all left the office.

Roast as.—The other night some ruffians burglariouely
entered the boon No. 1, Beak's-buildings, Wentwortb-street,
Whitechapel, and plundered it of eleven sovereigns, sieves shil-
lings, a silver half-pint mug, two pair silver sugar-tongs, eleven
silver table.apoona, six tes-wpoons. ■ silver pepper-aster, silver
soup-ladle, silver sugar-basket, silver milk-pot, a pair of salver
salts, and a bill of exchange for 21L drawn by Wolf and Levy.
on Mr. Joseph White, of 15, Baker's-row, W aimed% and dated
7th Jan. 1821, at three months.

BIRTH.
On Thursday last, the 22d instant, at his house in Baker-street,
the Lady of Ir. James. M.P. for Carlisle, of a daughter.

MARRIED.

On the 22d instsnt, at the house of the brides father., Ilenr
James Henry Phelps, antli Regiment, to Naaryry, youngest h-
ter of Robert Grant, Eaci. of Ihuminnor, ,11". hire.
On the 28th of .Ipril, 1823, at Singapore, Alexander `111”77 `^.
Esq. late of the Hon. East India Company's Service, to 11,ri
Frederica, youngest daughter of Thomas `Valiant King, Eoi.,
late of Trincomalee, island of Ceylon.