The Sun.
London, England, 1852-12-06 00:00:00

THE SUN, LONDON, MONDAY EVENING DECEMBER, 6, 1852.

for the house to pledge itself to reduce taxes until they
had decided upon other ways and means, which must
expire in due course, unless some resolution was taken
by the house.
Mr. E. DENISON took the same view of the matter
as the last speaker.
Sir W. WILLOUGHBY also thought the imposition
of the house tax, if it were necessary, should form the
end, and nob the commencement, of their financial legis-
lation.

Mr. MACGREGOR said the income tax must be
settled in the first instance, or the finances of the coun-
try would be thrown into a state of confusion and un-
certainty.
The report was then received.
EXCHEQUER BILLS.

Mr. WILLIAMS inquired what was to he the rate of
exchequer bills.

The CHANCELLOR of the EXCHEQUER said that
the rate was not yet fixed, but he would announce it as
soon as it was necessary. Since he had been in office it
bad only been fixed once, and that was in the month of
May last, when he had reduced it, aid thus saved the
country 37,0001. per annum.
COMMITTEE OF SUPPLY.
Mr. HUME said he hoped that before the house went
into committee of supply, to grant four votes amounting
to 435,000/.--of which 92,0001. was for the Ordnance,
173,0001. for the Navy, and 80,0001. for the funeral of
the Duke of Wellington—he thought the Government
ought to give some explanation as to what they intended
to do with the increased force which they asked for.
[LEFT SPEAKING.]

Mr. Commissioner Phillips asked him what he meant
by the term " secularist ?"

Holyoake said it meant one who gave the preference
to the duties of this life.

Mr. Commissioner Phillips was not satisfied with the
answer. He had put himself forward as one of the
bail, and demurred to the oath. Do you (demanded the
learned commissioner) believe in a God ?

Holyoake—l am not prepared to say.
Mr. Commissioner Phillips indignantly declared that
he would not hear him. Not prepared to say (remarked
the learned commissioner) whether you believe in a God.
You put yourself forward in a court of justice, and
bring scandal upon it by saying that you are not pre-
pared to say whether you believe in the Deity ! Go and
attend to your "secular" business.

Holyoalle, who had some days previously sworn an
affidavit of bail, stood down, arid made his way out of
court.

The insolvent went back to prison.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION HOUSE.—James Bagnell, an omnibus
conductor, was charged with having personated a police-
man.

Williams, a City policeman, in plain clothes, said—l
saw the defendant yesterday morning pushing the people
about as he walked along, and he was particularly rough
in his conduct to some females. I said to him, "If I
were you I would not knock them about in that way."
He said, "Do you know who lam ? lam a police-
constable." I said, "If you are, you ought not to act
in that way." He said, "If you don't mind, I'll take
you to the station-house," and he collared. me. I told
him there was no occasion for that, for I was myself a
police-constable and would go along with him. When
we came to the top of Bow-lane, he said he would show
me his authority, and he struck me a violent blow on
the nose. I then took him into custody.
Sir R. W. Carden—lt is very well for you that the
policeman has not charged you with the assault as well
as the act of personating a constable. If he had, your
punishment should be one which you would have cause
to remember. As it is, you are fined 405., or must go
to prison for 21 days.

BOW-STREET.— Wm- Zvis, undertaker of 47,
High-street, St. Giles's, was charged upon a summons,
with having made a false statement to the district-regis-
trar of St. Giles's, relative to the death of Diana Tees
alias Avis.
Mr. G. Simpson, surgeon and registrar of deaths for
the district in question, stated that he resided at 6,
Bedford-street, Bedford-square. He saw mutes at the
defendant's door one day in August last, and in a
few days afterwards, called to ascertain who had
died there, with a view of registering the death. The
defendant said it was his wife. Witness had previ-
ously seen the certificate of death given by the medical
man who had attended her, and who described her as
" Mrs. W. Avis, aged 35." Witness asked the de-
fendant if she was his wife, and he replied, " Yes," and
when the form of register was handed to him to fill up
he entered her name as such immediately. A few days
since a man, who represented himself as being the hus-
band of the deceased, called upon witness, and requested
to see the register of "Mrs. Tees." He said that his
own name was Tees, and that the deceased was his wife ;
but she had for some time past lived with the defendant
as Mrs. Avis. lie, stated that since her death, Mr.
Avis had sought to take possession of some of her pro-
perty, which, legally speaking, belonged to him ; and,
consequently, he had instructed his solicitor to take.pro-
ceedings against him.

William- Thomas Tees then gave the following evi-
dence—Witness was a tailor, living in Great Earl-street,
St. Giles's, and was married to the deceased (who had
lately passed as Mrs. Avis) at St. Martin's-in-the-Fields,
in 1836, by public banns. The defendant was present
at the marriage, and signed the register, being a friend
of the bride. hi 1840 witness agreed to separate from
his wife, and two or three:years afterwards she went to
live with Mr. Avis. From this time she passed as Mrs.
As*, except among witness's friends, with whom she
Etill passed as Mrs. Tees. Both the defendant and de-
ce&sed continued to be friendly with witness, and his
wife occasionally visited him up to within six months of
her death. After her death Mr. Avis, made a grapple
at her goods, which he (witness) considered belonged to
him, as he was her lawful husband.

Mi. Henry—The only thing that induced you to stir
in this matter, then, was your wife's goods ?
Witness—Exactly so : Mr. Avis has no right to them.
Cross-examined by Mr. Duncombe, the defendant's
solicitor—l know a woman named Rebecca Phillips very
well, and cohabited with her before I separated from my
wife. My wife did not approve of it, because she saw
that I was " inveigled" into the connexion. I admit
that I married Rebecca Phillips in 1844. I knew that
she was married to another man, and she knew that I
was married to another woman ; but her friends wished
it, so we were married. I knew it was not right ac-
cording to law. I had lived with her three years
before. I also know Polly Thomas. I will swear that
I never married Polly too ; I never contributed more
than 51. or . 101. towards my wife's support after we
separated, although I knew she was badly off.
In reply to Mr. Henry,
Mr. Jarman, who prosecuted on behalf of the Trea-
sury solicitor, stated that he was not aware of the cir-
cumstances thus disclosed. Mr. Duncombe was con-
tending that his client, who had taken Mrs. Tees into a
respectable home, to live in a respectable way, had only
acted with a view to save her memory from shame ; and
that he thought that the second marriage of Tees
annulled his first, when

Mr. Henry suggested that the case should stand over
a week. The conduct of Tees was no justification for
that of Avis ; but a person in his position of life might
have acted in ignorance under all the circumstances.
The inquiry was accordingly adjourned.
CLERKENWELL.—EIIen Blainey, a smart young
woman, was charged with having set fire to the dwel-
ling-house of Mr. James Cazaly, of No. 3, Derby-street,
King's-cross.

ITr. Wakeling, who prosecuted, stated, that his client
held a responsible situation at Messrs. Rucker and Corn-
pany's, colonial agents, 12, Great Tower-street. The
prisoner, with another female, had lodged in his house,
but being of filthy habits, and making a practice of going
about almost in a state of nudity, he gave them notice to
quit; but they obstinately persisted in remaining on the
premises, from which much valuable property had been
abstracted, and the accused being charged with the theft
she became abusive, and committed a gross assault, for
which she was brought to this court, and held to bail to
receive judgment on a future day, under a promise to
leave her apartments within a week, and to afford every
facility to trace the missing property. On the previous
afternoon, Mr. Cazaly's servant was in the kitchen,
when she was attracted by a smell of fire and smoke, and
on proceeding towards the kitchen, she saw the prisoner
running up-stairs, in a hurried and confused manner,
and almost instantly afterwards the lower part of the
dwelling-house was in a blaze, which spread with rapidity
over the whole premises destroying property of great
value. Engines were quickly on the spot, and by the
efforts of the fire brigade the adjoining buildings were
preserved. Suspicion immediately fell upon the prisoner,
who was given into the custody of police-constable
Huske, No. 40, of the E division.
Several witnesses were examined, and their evidence
went to show that a quantity of straw had been praced
under the stairs of the kitchen, and that it had been wil-
fully set fire to.
Mr. Tyrwhitt, after a patient investigation, remanded
the prisoner, refusing to take bail.

IVORSHIP-STREET.—SamueI Staler, a journeyman
butcher, was charged, in conjunction with a man named
George Matta'', with having carried on a long continued
system of plunder at the premises of the first named
prisoner's master, Mr. Philip Sharpe, a carcass butcher
in Portugal-place, Bethnal-green.
The prosecutor stated that the prisoner Staller had
been in his service as foreman for the last five years, and
besides a liberal amount of weekly wages he was allowed
as perquisites the proceeds derived from the blood of all
the cattle that were slaughtered on the premises. He
had been in the habit for some years of disposing of the
blood to the other prisoner, who was accustomed to call
twice a week to convey it away in casks, which he
brought with him for that purpose. For a considerable
time past, however, the suspicions of witness had been
excited against both the prisoners, in consequence of the
serious diminution which was constantly taking place in
the stock of meat in his shop beyond the amount of his
average sales, and feeling satisfied from further observa-
tion that they were acting together to plunder him
by wholesale, and carry off their booty, under cover of
their private traffic, he resolved to keep a sharp look out
on the occasion of Matton's next visit, and concealed
himself on the preceding morning, with that object, in a
small apartment, which commanded a view of the shop.
He had only been there a few minutes when the prisoner
Staller made his appearance, and, after cautiously
glancing round to ascertain that he was not observed,
hastily detached two shoulders of mutton from the
hooks to which they
were suspended, and instantly
made off with them in the direction of the slaughter-
house. After a short interval witness followed him there,
and found him with the other prisoner, who exhibited
the utmost confusion and trepidation at his sudden
appearance, but quickly recovered himself, and, on being
questioned, coolly answered that he had merely called for
some blood, which he had just deposited in his tub.
Feeling convinced that his statement was a gross fabri-
cation, as there was no blood to be found that morning
about the premises, witness at once looked into the cask,
at the bottom of which he was astonished at observing a
quantity of meat, for which he was utterly at a loss to
account, as there was no apparent apperture besides the
bung-hole to allow of its admission. On examining the
head of the cask, however, he discovered that it was
ingeniously furnished with a moveable cover, on raising
which he found inside, not only the two shoulders of
mutton which the prisoner, Staller, had taken out of the
shop, but a joint of beef and a hand of pork, which had
been purloined from other parts of his premises.
Mr. Pelham, who appeared on behalf of the prisoner
Matton, submitted that there was not sufficient evidence
to implicate his client in the robbery, but
Mr. Hammill considered that there could be no doubt
as to their complicity, and ordered them both to be re-
manded for the completion of the depositions.
Edward Williams, a cab-driver in the employ of Mr.
Henry Burgess Rolfe, appeared upon an adjourned sum-
mons upon a charge of unlawfully plying for hire upon
the premises of the Eastern Counties Railway Company,
contrary to the statute 6 and 7 Victoria, cap. 86, sec.
33, the railway station not being a place appointed by
the police commissioners.
Mr. Russell attended as counsel retained by the rail-
way company for the defence, and Mr. Heritage as soli-
citor for the complainant.
Mr. Barringer, the complainant, proved that, on the
22d ult., he travelled by.the, railway to the station at
Shoreditch, in the yard of which a row of calm etood,

plying for hire, and he hired the defendant to drive him
to Bethnal-green.
The counsel for the defence contended that there was
not strict proof of a plying for hire in a public place
such as intended by the Legislature, and it might be a
question whether there was not, in fact, a quasi hiring of
the cabs standing at the place referred to, as they were
there for the convenience of railway passengers only.
Mr. Hammill, after much discussion, said the learned
counsel had, in the course of his argument referred to
the meaning attached by Dr. Johnson to the word
" plying," but the point now in question depended upon
the term "elsewhere," to the plain acceptation of which
ho must adhere ; and finding that there was a plying for
hire elsewhere than at the appointed place; being of opi-
nion also that that was a place of public resort, he felt
bound to convict the defendant. He repeated, however,
that he would gladly assist in obtaining the decision of a
superior tribunal.
The defendant was convicted in the nominal penalty of
is. and costs ; and similar convictions took place upon
two other summonses for cabs belonging to the same
p ropietor.
Mr. D'Eyncourt was on the bench, and it was under-
stood that he concurred in opinion with his brother
magistrate.

LAMBETH.—SamueI Cooper, a saddler and harness-
maker, and Sophia Ann, his wife, were placed at the bar
on a charge of stealing 304 sovereigns and a silver hunt-
ing watch, the property of Mrs. Harriet Ann Clark, an
aged lady, lodging at No. 3, Hill-street, Walworth.
Some weeks ago the prosecutrix, who had been for-
merly housekeeper, to Mr. Peto, a medical gentleman,
who, at his decease, left her all his property, was at-
tacked with a malignant fever, and engaged the female
prisoner to attend on her as nurse. The opportunity
thus afforded the latter of getting into the good graces
of her patient, she turned to such a good account, that
prosecutrix not only talked of leaving her the whole of
her property, but actually made a will in her favour.
Soon after the prisoner managed to get the stays gene-
rally worn by Mrs. Clarke, in which there was sewn up,
in different compartments, 420 sovereigns, a certificate
for 1001., vested in the Three per Cent. Consols, and a
savings bank book for 201. These stays she wore for
sev(yal days, and when apprehended by Serjeant Quin-
near 1 P, she acknowledged that such was the weight
of the stays with its golden stuffing, that it made her
quite ill. Mrs. Clarke having partially recovered, de-
manded the restoration of her stays, and on that day
(Saturday) week, the stays were restored, and the whole
of their contents, as alleged by the prisoners, were also
handed to her. The prosecutrix, believing that the
female prisoner had only disturbed one of the com-
partments of the stays, acknowledged that all was
right, and lent thirty sovereigns to the male pri-
soner. On subsequently examining the stays, it was
found that all the gold was gone, and that all the
female prisoner returned was 116 sovereigns. The
prosecutrix subsequently gave information of the rob-
bery to the police, and the prisoners were apprehended.
On the male prisoner there were found twenty-three
sovereigns and a silver hunting-watch belonging to the
prosecutrix, and which he was also charged with steal-
ing. The prosecutrix being so ill as not to be able to
attend, the prisoners were remanded.
THAMES.—SamueI Morley, aged, 27, a stout ath-
letic fellow, and who was described as a stonemason,
was charged with burglary, and also with cutting and
wounding William Brooks, police-constable, 364 K.
The policeman's head was bandaged, and he appeared
in a very weakly condition.
Mr. Ingham directed the constable to be seated, and
he then deposed, that on the morning of Saturday, the
20th of November, at half-past two o'clock, as he was
passing the Piggot Arms public-house, in the East
India-road, Poplar, he found the side door ajar. It led
into a yard at the back. He pushed the door open, and
laid hold of the prisoner by the collar, and was imme-
diately struck by him. A struggle ensued, and he
sprang his rattle, on which another man emerged from
the house, ran past them, and made his escape. He
struggled with the prisoner, and they were up and down
several times. At last the prisoner struck him a tremendous
blow on the top of the head with a life preserver; it laid
bare his skull. He staggered, but kept fast hold of the
prisoner, who followed up the blow by others. He was
struck four or five times over the head with the same in-
strument, and also upon the face. He fell against the
wall, and upon recovering himself, caught th prisoner
by the waistcoat. The prisoner struck him again, and
dragged himself away, leaving part of his waistcoat
behind him. Witness dropped a portion of the waist-
coat, and pursued the prisoner, and called out " Stop
thief." He was bleeding very much at the time, and
soon became exhausted. The prisoner was stopped by
another constable, and soon afterwards he returned to
the yard of the public-house, where part of the prisoner's
waistcoat, and his hat and handkerchief, were found.
The prisoner said they were his.
In answer to a question by Mr. Ingham, Brooks said
he was confined to his bed for eight days, and was still
under medical treatment.

Evidence was then given that an attempt had been
made to enter the public-house. The window-shutters
of the tap-room had been wrenched open, and there was
a mark, as if made with an iron-bar, between the two
shutters.

Inspector Holmes, of the K division, said that the
prisoner was a returned transport, and since his return
to this country had been convicted of felony and sen-
tenced to nine months' imprisonment and hard labour.
The prisoner made no defence, and Mr. Ingham fully
committed him for trial for burglary, and also for wound-
ing Brooks with intent to murder him, and prevent his
lawful apprehension.

A SWISS TRAGEDY.

A good deal of excitement has been caused in Switzer-
land by a very strange affair. The only passage of com-
munication between the Haut-Valais and the upper part
of the valley of Hassle, in the canton of Berne, is called
Le Grimsel, and is a sort of caravansary, the keeper of
which is bound to afford accommodation to poor tra-
vellers in return for certain advantages. The keeper of
this place has for some time past, been a person named
Zybach, the father of a large family, noted for his
obliging and cordial character, and greatly liked by all
who knew or had communications with him. In the
evening of the 6th ult., this M. Zybach, went to the
town of Mayringen, and he created some surprise by
stating, in a public-house, fears that his hotel was on
fire, as he perceived the reflection of flames at a distance
in the sky. The next morning news arrived that the
hotel had been burned down in the course of the night.
Zybach, accompanied by the sub-pref,:ct, Mayrin-
gen, his personal friend, immediately set out for
Le Grimsel. On their arrival they found the hotel in
ruins, and the inhabitants of the adjacent village
of Guttanen busily engaged in searching for the
body of a peasant supposed to have perished. On his
way to the Grimsel, Zybach had loudly lamented the
misfortune which had befallen him, and when he saw
the ruins he seemed overwhelmed with despair. But it
turned out that the villagers of Guttanen, in trying to
extinguish the flames, had found in a heap of dung seve-
ral boxes containing wines and liquors, in a barn at
some distance, seventy mattresses carefully wrapped up,
and secreted in different places, a number of boxes and
trunks containing all his property of value. This dis-
covery was a clear proof that the fire had been wilfully
caused ; and when the sub-prefect was told of it, and
shown the different articles, he turned to Zybach and
said, " You are a wretch ! You are ruined !" Zybach
seemed distracted—he hurried to a lake at some dis-
tance and leaped in. But he was rescued, and sent,
safely bound, to the gaol at Mayringen. His son,
and three of his servants were also arrested. It
was then discovered that he had insured all his
effects for much beyond their value ; and it ap-
peared that his reason for selecting the night
of the 6th for the fire was, that from the wind
blowing all the afternoon in a peculiar direction, he
had calculated that a heavy fall of snow would take
place, and that access to the hotel would be rendered
impossible, a calculation which was disappointed. The
arrest of Zybach on such a charge immediately gave rise
to grave accusations against him. He, his son, and ser-
vants, are supposed to have formed a band of murderers
and robbers, and to have made people who have stopped
at their hotel their victims. Two years ago three
Frenchmen, travelling in the Bernese Oberland, mys-
teriously disappeared, and not the slightest trace has
since been found of them. The last place at which they
stopped was at Zybach's hotel, and he declared that
after sleeping there during the night they had gone in
the morning towards La Fume.. Some years back
three travellers from Frankfort disappeared in the same
strange way after being last seen near the Grimsel. It
has been called to mind that Prince of Denmark, a
long time ago, lost a very valuable diamond pin in the
hotel ; that Zybach denied having found it ; but that
some time after one of his daughters had been seen wear-
ing it ; and that, in consequence of the remarks made
on this by his neighbours, he had been obliged to send it
to its royal owner. Ia short, the kind, excellent, and
universally respected M. Zybach is strongly believed to
have been a criminal of the blackest dye ; and it is said
that abundant proofs of his guilt will be forthcoming in
due time. It is added • that some revelations have al-
ready been made which tend to convict him of the mur-
der of the three German travellers. Since he has been
in custody, he has several times attempted to commit
suicide. He is possessed of considerable property.

ELOPEMENT EXTRAORDINARY.—During the week (says
a correspondent) much excitement has prevailed in De-
vonshire in consequence of an elopement, which is of a
somewhat romantic nature. It appears that Miss
Carew, daughter of Mr. Carew, of Ayshford, Sidmouth,
on the south coast of Devon, was spending the day with
the lady of Captain Elphinstone, at Livonia, unaccom-
panied by any of her family—when in the evening the
gentlemen of the house being yet in the dining-room,
Mr. Robert Peet Floyd rushed in at the window of the
room where the ladies were, with a pistol, ordered Miss
Carew to follow him, and threatened to shoot the first
person who opposed him. Miss Carew, asking for time
in vain, under the terror of the instant, unfortunately
complied, and left with Mr. Floyd in a fly, which he had
in waiting. It was not until near eight o'clock that
these particulats were communicated by Mrs. Elphin-
stone in a note. Mr. Carew was then obliged to trace
from other sources the road the fly had taken. He
then followed it to Exeter, in the hope of protecting and
inducing his daughter to return to her home ; but
having, with the aid of the police, traced her to the
station, he found that she had been taken on to London
by the nine o'clock train. The young lady being of
age, all further pursuit or inquiry was at once was given
up as useless. It seems that Miss Carew will be en-
titled, at the death of her parents, to considerable pro-
perty. She has ever been treated by her family with
unbounded kindness and indulgence, which makes the
circumstance more to be deplored. The gentleman is a
,son of Sir H. Floyd, and is understood to be wholly
without fortune. The fugitive couple were married the
next day, it is reported,