The Sun.
London, England, 1863-04-09 00:00:00

itraordinary Frauds—Scuttling of the
Peruvian Barque Maria.

(From the Shipping and Mercantile Gazette.)
We have before us the full particulars of a series of extra-
ordinary frauds, connected with the alleged scuttling and
abandoning of the Peruvian barque Maria, from Bahia for
London. The case has excited considerable interest, not
only in the City, but at Hamburg, Bremen, and Parie,where
insurances bad been effected to a very large extent.
The Maria was an American built barque of 355 tons.
She was owned by her master, Captain Matthias Albers, a
German, native of Osnaburg, who had been trading on the
coast of Peru. He bought the Mariain Boston for 6,000 dls.,
and proceeded to Rio, where he obtained a classified certificate
of her seaworthiness, then made one voyage from Bahia to
Hamburg and back, when a well known firm, Messrs. Souza
and Reizenberger, merchants of Bahia, and who had hitherto
held a high position in that port_became the charterers of
the ship for a voyage to London for £B6O. On Nov. 4 last the
Maria took her departure for England. The charterers,
Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, advised several merchants
in London, Paris, Bremen, and Hamburg, of the ship's de-
parture, consigning the cargo to them, representing it to
consist, among other articles, of 3,222 bags of coffee and a
large amount of diamonds. They forwarded the bills of
lading, and stated that they, Messrs Souza and Reizenber, -
ger, had taken the liberty of drawing bills upon them to a
large amount. The merchants in question, on the receipt
of the consignments, effected insurances on them, those in
London on the various marine insurance companies to the
extent of £16,000, while those at Paris, Bremen, and Ham-
burg did the same, the whole amount of insurances on the
ship and cargo amounting to nearly £40,000. The consign-
ment of the diamonds, however, on the receipt of the bills
of lading excited some surprise, inasmuch that the course
pursued of sending them by a sailing vessel and a strange
master, was irregular to the general practice, diamonds be-
ing always forwarded from the Brazils by the Royal Mail
steamers. The merchants to whom the consignment was
made refused to honour the drafts made upon them by
Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, but effected insurance on
the diamonds in one of the offices for £3,500. About the
12th January a telegram reached that the Maria, from
Bahia, had foundered at sea on Dec. 19, off the Azores, and
the crew saved. Subsequent accounts stated that the cap-
tain and crew bad landed in two boats, on the 20th and 21st,
at St. Michael's, where the protest of the ship's loss had
been made before the Spanish Consul. It coming to the
ears of the Royal Exchange Insurance Company, on whom
the insurance of £3,500 had been effected on the diamonds,
that the captain and the crew had saved the whole of their
effects, instructed a gentlemen at Lloyd's to inquire about
the diamonds, which were represented in the bills of
lading to be contained in two small tin boxes. The crew
had already left St Michael's, and considerable difficulty
was experienced in tracing out their whereabouts ; however,
eventually they were found, when it was elicited that the
diamonds were lost, having, it was alleged,been dropped over-
board by the captain in getting into the boat when he aban-
doned the ship. The circumstances, however, were so remark.
able that an inquiry was prosecuted into the abandonment
of the ship, for about this time the underwriters had their
suspicions awakened by other ugly features connected with
the bills of lading in the possession of the four merchants in
London, bearing the signatures of Capt. Albers, which set
forth that there had been a greater amount of property
shipped on board the Maria than they had reason to believe,
for the Bahia Custom-house bill of entry of November gave
the following as the cargo of the Maria for the voyage :-155
dozen pieces of rosewood, weighing 320 tons; 222 bags of
coffee, weighing 121 tons ; 156 bags of cocoa, 11f tons ;
11,000 double bundles of piassava wood (for brush brooms),
126 tons, and ballast; and 10 bundles of whalebone, weigh-
ing 100 tons—making a total of 570 tons. But the other
bills of lading previously alluded to represent the bags of
coffee shipped on board was 3,222, instead of 222 bags ; two
boxes of diamonds of the value of £3,900, some copper
valued at £4OO, and other articles of considerable extent.
For the ends of justice, the first proceedings taken were
the depositions o: the Maria's crew before a notary public in
the City. They are of so voluminous a character as to pre-
elude their publication in our columns, on account of their
great length, but the subjoined will be found to contain the
whole of the leading facts :
The Maria's crew numbered 12 hands. The most of
them are foreigners—some had been shipped at Hamburg,
and others at Bahia. On the ship being taken up by
Measrs,Sonza and Reizenberger, the charterers, for a voyage
to London, they first took on board 100 tons of stone belles

and then commenced shipping the 320 tons of rosewood,
when the captain called the men aft, and told them that
they might go on shore for two days,or longer if they chose,
as he intended to employ negroes to load the ship— a course
most unusual, unless some of the crew were left behind.
Bach of the men received a sum of money from the cap-
tain that they might enjoy themselves. They did as they
were told, and stopped two days and two nights on shore,
when the captain came to them and told them to return to
the ship, as she was loaded, and that the negroes had worked
well. On getting on board they saw that the lower hold was
filled up with the 'rosewood, and the 11,000 bundles of brush
(brooms), the latter filling up the 'tween decks extending
right forward to the mainmast. The 222 bags of coffee, with
the 13 bundles of whalebone, were stowed aft, but they state
psitively there was no copper. They knew the quantity of
coffee shipped by having seen it alongside the ship in
lighters, and saw the remainder of the cargo go to the vessel
in lighters from the shore. The ship left on 4th Novem-

ber, and the voyage proceeded favourably, having fine
weather and smooth sea all the time. The vessel was
pumped out every night, and did not make any more water
than she did while in harbour. She was not over laden.

When they had been out a short time the captain treated
the men with liquor, and was frequently intoxicated. He
offered the mate drink, but it was declined. The first thing
that oocurred on board to attract their notice was the paint••

ing out of the ship's name on the stern, and also the re-
moval of the quarter-boards where the name was on. These
were supposed to have been thrown overboard. The boats
were also looked after once or twice, and supplied with
masts and sails, two new sets of oars had been bought for
them at Bahia. On the 18th of December, at 4 a.m., the
ship was pumped out dry, as usual, but on sounding the
well at eight o'clock by the captain's orders, three feet of
water was found in the hold. The weather was fine, there
was very little wind, and there was nothing to account for
the sudden leak. The pumps were set going, and were
continued at intervals during the day. Land was then
in sight, but a long way off. At six in the evening the men
were told to knock off pumping and go to their teas. The
ship was steering her course. The captain then told them
to get their clothes ready, as the ship was making water
fast. One of the crew named Runel had previously heard the
mate say that the captain had offered him £5O to assist in
making away with the ship. When the ship commenced
to leak, some of the hands went forward to the forepeak to
look for the leak, but could net find it. While the pumping
was going on the captain went into the cabin and told the
cabin-boy to assist in putting his best clothes into a bag,
and he gave him some loose silver for his trouble. The
boatswain dined with the captain in the cabin that day ;
the boatswain got intoxicated. The same afternoon the
cabin-boy saw a quantity of gold in the mate's bed, and he
asked the mate if he knew he had left it there. The mate
replied " Yes." He said the old man had given it to him,
meaning the captain. The gold was large pieces—doubloons,
The captain carried a large quantity of money in his chest,
and the cabin-boy believes that when he assisted the captain
to put his clothes into a bag he also put in the money. It
was tied up in a shirt sleeve. The boy heard the captain
tell the mate one day in the cabin that the cargo was insured
in two places. Three or four hoars after the men had been
pumping on the 18th the captain told them it was no use of
their pumping, and that they had ketter look after their
clothes. The captain was drunk. The mate told the men
to continue pumping. They understood then that the ship
was not far off the Western Islands. They could only work
one pump—the other one was useless. It had been out of
order before leaving Bahia. On the morning of Dec. 19
the captain came on deck sober. After breakfast the long
boat was got out, and water, provisions, and their clothes put
in it. The mainsail had been hauled up, and the ship was
then under thetwo topsails,
maintopgallantsail, foresail, jib,
and foretopmaat staysail,
terboat, the captain's clothes-bag, esfbare lowering down the guar •
chronometer, quadrant,
barometer, and some charts were in, and also the log book.
After she was lowered from the davits the boatswain's
z
clothes, and some of the other
,with the provisions,
were banded down as she lay alongside.
o'clock when this'occurred. The weather It was about 11
, and they
bad no fear for the loss of their lives or thleiar4cilluoithes. The
captain was dressed and wore an overcoat.
gold watch in his waistcoat pocket and a gold chaeinhoani hnis-
told the men to take to the boats, which dropped a on,
e
astern, and waited orders. The captain then came to the
port quarter, where the quarterboat lay. He had a roll of
writing paper in his right hand, and in his left he held a
small paper package. It was not a box of any kind. The
package was tied along lengthways, apparently with cotton
twine, such as they had used for the repairing and making of
the ship's sails; and the package had large red wax marks
at each end of it. The captain then put his foot over the

ship's side to get into the boat, and shifted the package and
PoTel into one hand, and, as he was descending, both parcels
fell overboard. The package sank immediately. The roll
of payer was picked up the moment they fell into the water.
The captain called all the men by name, and said, " You see
I have lost that small package." The captain then aban-
doned the vessel. They did not see the ship founder. W hen
they left her some one said she had 10 feet of water in her
hold, but none of them knew for certain. They lost sight of
the ship about 3 o'clock in the afternoon. As long as they
et, yuld see her she was up and off in the wind. At 8 o'clock
the boats were close together, but after that they parted
oomvany. The mate's boat was picked up the next after-
noon Ley a vessel called the King of Tyrle, which conveyed
them to St. Michael's, where they landed at 5 o'clock in the
evening of the 21st. On the 23d the mate took his boat's
crew to the Spanish Consul, where he made a protest of the
Chip's loss, and they signed it. The mate described the cargo
as about 3uo or 400 bags of coffee, rosewood, Bcc. Nothing
:was said in it about the small package falling overboard.
'the other tool, containing the captain, boatswain, and rest
of the Crew, reached the west end of the island of St. Mi-

cbael's on the 23d, and on the following morning they em-
ba_•ke4d in a large fishing boat, which took them round to
St. .'Sfinhaers, where they landed, taking with them the
captaLVO olOthes) chronometer, and the rest of his pro-

perty. The captain made also a protest before the consul.
He said the mate's protest was not correct, for, instead of
300 or 400 bags of coffee, there were 3,000 or 4,6(.0. He
als 3 declared that the packages that he let fall ovorLoard con-
tained diamonds. The consul asked the men if they had
seen the package fall overboard. They replie ilhey did, but
they did not know that it contained diamon s ; it was the
first time they heard of diamonds being in tLe ship. The
cabin-bey had seen the captain making up the paper pack-
age in the cabin, and sealing it with large patches of seal-
ing wax, but saw nothing else. The crew were sent to Lon-
don, where they reported themselves to the Peruvian Consul,
Pending the examinationof the crew on the abandonment
of the ship, the merchants and brokers in London who had
effected insurances at Lloyd's and other marine insurance
bodies in the City, on the consignment as per the Maria's
bile of lading, pressed for a settlement of their respective
claims. On hearing the suspicions attached to the ship•
ments they submitted the whole of the correspondence that
had transpired between them and Messrs. Souza and Reizen-
berger, the shippers at Bahia. Unfortunately they had ac-
cepted the whole of the drafts which that firna had drawn
on them, amounting nearly to the extent of the insurances
that had been effected, £36,000. With the bills of lading
sent to them awl Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, were
several copies of the Bahia price cirrent —a printed paper
evidently forwarded, as it were, to confirm the quantity of
the Maria's cargo, as represented in the bills of lading, But
on those copies of the price current undergoing a strict
scrutiny, it was discovered that a figure of 3 had been
printed, after the paper had been printed, before the 222
bags of coffee, in order to complete the fraud that there were
3,222 on board.
The underwriters, on these discoveries, placed the whole
affair into the hands of Lloyd's Selvage Association, for the
strictest investigation, who at once despatched Captain
Sceales, one of its officers, to Bahia.
The officer, on his arrival there, put himself in communi-
cation with Mr. Morgan, her Britannic Majesty's Consul,
who, it is understood, on account of the peculiar character
of the fraud, the high position of the parties suspected at
Bahia, and the difficulty of moving the Brazilian Govern-
ment in the matter, resorted to the expedient of publishing
the affair in the Bahia newspapers, and on the 20th Feb.
the Journal da Bahia contained the following :
"THE BRITISH INSURANCE COMPANIES.
"Mr. Editor,—lt has become my duty, in order to safe-
guard the interests of British underwriters, to request you
will publish in your esteemed and accredited journal the
documents herewith sent, Nos. to 16.
"Document No. 1 is a certificate of this Custom-house,
showing the quantity of cargo legally despatched and
shipped for the Peruvian barque Maria, on the 3d Noy.
last, on a voyage from this port to that of London.
"No. 2is a copy of the manifest of said barque Maria,
delivered by Messrs, Sousa, Reizenberger, and Co., to
Messrs. Hoffmann, Laporte, and Co., agents for the Insur-
ance Company of Hamburg and Bremen.
" By confronting these two manifests any one who knows
the fiscal system of the country and the severity of its re-
gulations will at once perceive the object I have in view in
coming to-day before the public. The Maria was lost off the
Azores under very suspicious circumstances, under declare.

tions made and sworn to by her crew on their arrival in
London. In the manifest delivered by Messrs. Souza and
Reizenberger to Messrs Hoffman and Laporte is shown the
fabulous quantity of 4,722 bags of coffee shipped by them
on board the Maria, and as mysteriously consigned by them
to the following firms, on whom they also valued largely,
namely :—To Messrs. Benoliel and Co., 400 bags; Messrs.
Sieveking and Co., 3,222 bags; Messrs. D. Satow and Co.,
1,100 bags—total, 4,722 bags.

" On the other hand, the Custom-house manifest proves,
without a doubt, that the quantity of coffee shipped on boa' d
the Maria did not exceed 222 bags, and that quantity did
not belong to Souza and Reizenberger. This manifest also
shows that the Maria was a vessel of large carrying capa-
city, and had already on board a legal cargo of 686 tons. In
Sept. last she discharged at this port a cargo of 526 tons of
coals, and on the previous voyage from this port to Ham-
burg she only took 451 tons of cargo. But in the account
and manifest of Souza and Reizenberger the barque Maria
must have loaded 769 tons of native produce, not including
1,100 bags of coffee consigned to Messrs. D. Satow and Co.,
which they dexterously omitted from their manifest, but
which would have increased the cargo of the Maria, loaded
from this port, to 829 tons. Upon the cargo, thus said to
have been embarked in the Maria by Souza and Reizenber-
ger, insurance was effected in the London companies to the
value of £16,100; in Bremen, to a further amount of £3,000
—total insured, £19,100.
" The documents No. 3 to 16 are the correspondence which
took place between Souza and Reizenberger and Messrs. D.
Satow and Co. respecting the 1,000 bags of coffee. These
gentlemen, on the refusal of the British underwriters to pay,
the amounts insured, that appeared to be little in confor-
mity to the capacity of the vessel, and the transaction of a
suspicious character, hastened to furnish copies of this cor-
respondence, in, order that the underwriters might make the
use they thought proper to protect their rights thus assailed.
"I refrain from saying one word on the shipment of the
diamonds, and will finish this exposition of undeniable facts
by asking the commercial public of this city to value and
take notice of them as they deserve ; and the Government of
the country to weigh those circumstances as the morality
and rectitude of the case demands.
" JOHN MORGAN, Jun., H.B.M. Consul.
"British Consulate, Bahia, Feb. 19, 1863."
The next number of the same journal contained an answer
from Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger, declaring that they
were innocent of the allegations, and threatened the consul
with law proceedings for defamation of character ; that the
cargo specified was actually on board the Maria, it having
been smuggled on board to avoid the high export duty, 13
per cent.

On the 22d the consul published a rejoinder to their ex,
planations, as follows :

" Mr. Editor,—The protest which Messrs. Souza and Rei-
zenberger publish in your journal of this day, against the
publication of the documents which I presented to pub!ic ap-
preciation, may signify a desire to attenuate the impression
which they necessarily produced in public opinion, but that
protest never can'intend to be a compromise, nor the means
whereby to destroy proved and inexcusable facts. Messrs.
Sonz s and Reizenberger ought not to consider themselves
taken by surprise by that publication, for they well knew
with antecedency that it was to take place. The British
Consul does not undertake to contend with any one. Bound
by his position, he did his duty. His exclusive aim was to
protect the rights and interests of the British insurance
companies.

" It now remains for the honest commercial body of Bahia
to wait and see how Messrs. S. and R. will nullify the value
of the documents published—documents furnished by the
Custom-house and other departments, and also by their own
correspondence. And truly it is difficult to annihilate the
fact of bills being drawn for value of imaginary coffees, said
to be shipped by the Peruvian barque Maria.
" When Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger shall have ful-
filled their compromise, the public will then be able to judge
whether the British Consul took upon himself the sad and
painful pleasure of wounding the „character of a fellow-
creature. or whether he performed a duty by exposing the
truth. " J. MORGAN, jun., H.B.M. Consul.
"British Consulate, Bahia, Feb. 21, 1863."
On the morning of the 23d it transpired that Mr. Reizen-
berger had absconded. Although under the surveillance of
the Bahia police, he contrived during the night to avoid
their vigilance, and got on boat(' of a United States whaler
then in the bay, which sailed immediately after for New
York.

Previous to Reizenberger absconding the consul had insti-
gated the Customs authorities to prosecute, as the following
correspondence will show :
" British Consulate, Bahia, Feb. 20, 1863.
" Illustrious and Excellent Sir,—From the enclosed ex-
position, which I considered it my duty to publish in the
Journal of Bahia of this day, your Excellency will perceive
certain facts, not only scandalous in themselves, but also
very suspicious, prejudicial to British underwriters. With
the view of clearing up these matters, I beg on the present
occasion to request your Excellency will be so good as to
give me your opinion thereon, as well as to acquaint me
what is the action the fiscal authorities intend to take in
the matter.

" I avail myself, &c., &c.,
" J. MoaGAN, Jun., H.B.M. Consul.
" Joaquim T. Carneiro de Campos,
Inspector of Customs, &c."
To this the inspector replied as forows :
"Custom House, Bahia, Feb. 26, 1863.

good was
possibleenou g h ftoor ma
ded
rt oe
ss replym e
to your letter which
37"
on the 20th inst., accompanied by a Journal of Bahia, No.
sir,—lt is only now thwaetreit
of the Peruvian barque
,
2,878, where, amongst other documents published by you
relating to the insurance of the cargo
Maria, effected by Souza, and Co., in
London, another manifest of that vessel, of the cargo said
and Co., had
to be loaded by the said Souza, Reizenberger,
appeared, and had been presented to Hoffman,
Laporte, and
Co., agents for the Hamburg and Bremen Insurance Com-
pany, duly authenticated for the purposes of insurance. I
certainly saw with surprise that this second manifest
showed a larger cargo than that which was embarked and
carried away in that vessel, of which the master and owner
was M. J. Albers, and consignees Souza and Reizenberger.
I immediately thereon solicited of Hoffmann Laporte at authenticated copy of that manifest, which being furnished
to me 1 ordered a calculation to be made, at sight, of the
true manifest, and of the legal despatches of the cargo
existing in this department, all signed and approved by the
aforesaid Captain Albers, of the amount of duties thus
illegally subtracted, due on the cargo said to be embarked
on board that vessel, which amounts to rs. 6,176,960.
Consequently, as this department can only act administra-
tively, as it was not a case zn flagrante, I sent all the docu-
ments to the Public Prosecutor, with all the necessary
information of the facts, as well as the confession of the
parties to the fraud, in order that he (the Public Prosecutor)
might in court prosecute them criminally, giving an account
thereof to the Treasury, being the superior department.
"I can also assure you that in all the hypotheses treated of,
my opinion can never be favourable to those who neglect
the paths of justice and honesty to promote their own nefa-
rious ends.

"The Inspector, J. T. DE CAMPOS.

"To H.B.M. Consul in thisCity,&c."

While the above proceedings were pending at Bahia,
Captain Albers, who, it appears had been stopping at Lis-

bon and Cardiff, presented himself at his agents in London
for the amount of insurance, £407, which had been effected,
in his name on certain bags of copper in the Maria's bill of
lading, and a further sum of £B6O which had been done on
the freight. He expressed great surprise on finding his
claim disputed, and demanded an explanation. He was in-
troduced to Mr. Harper, the secretary of Lloyd's Salvage
Association, and accounted for the discrepancies in the bills
of lading and the Bahia price current, by pertinaciously
declaring that the bulk of the cargo had been smuggled on
board to save the export duty. On being informed that this
could not be, that the crew had declared there was no copper
whatever on board, he answered that they were telling a
falsehood, and accounted for the abandonment of the ship
by stating that they had had bad weather. When asked to
produce hie logbook he said it had been lost in the ship, but
when pressed on this point he prevaricated, and at length
admitted he had got iF, or some of the leaves. He then left
in order to produce the leaves of the log, but it is needless to
say he did not return. His manoeuvres, however, were
closely watched by detective officers, and measures were
taken for prosecuting him for attempted fraud, at the Man-
sion-house, but as the C( urt ruled that no offence had been
committed against the English laws, no proceedings were
taken. Captain Albers, however, soon quitted London for
Hamburg, where £1,700 of the coffee had been insured in
his name, and there waited on the underwriters for his
claim, who immediately handed him into the custody of the
authorities of Hamburg on the twofold charge of wilfully
scuttling his ship, and fraud. The crew of the Maria, who
were in London, were telegraphed for, and they have since
arrived ; and upon their evidence, and the false bills of
lading, Captain Albers was fully committed for trial.
In Captain Albers's possession, when apprehended, was
found a memorandum, or form of letter, carefully drawn up,
in order to assist him in imposing upon the credulity of the
underwriters at Hamburg. We had prepared an extract to
append to these details, but to-day wo were put in posses-
ion of a letter addressed to Messrs. Souza and Reizenberger,
from Captain Albers, at Antwerp, which appears to have
been intercepted by the authorities at Bahia. It is an exact
copy of the form alluded to, and runs as follows :

"Antwerp, Feb. 5.

" Dear Sir,—ln due time, in the month of October, as is
known to you, I lett Bahia with my vessel, the Maria, with
a cargo of coffee, for London, the port of my destination.
Unfortunately I have lost my vessel, she having sunk,
without my being able to save any papers, documents, or
effects—anything but my bare life. I had on board of the
vessel, for my own account, 1,700 bags of coffee, which were
declared before you, and subsequently registered in your
archives. The value of the same I caused to be insured in
Hamburgh through Mr. Augustus Bolton. Now, as I was
also unfortunate enough not to save any of the documents
either out of the vessel, the underwriters, by reason of the
same, refuse to account to me for the value, I therefore
now wish to humbly beg you to be good enough to issue a
Peruvian consular attestation, setting forth that I declared
before you what is registered in your archives, namely
that I had, besides the cargo belonging to others, shipped
and included the said 1,700 bags of coffee on my own account.
This extract, in order to be valid in Hamburg, must be lega-
lised by the Hamburg consul. Solely upon this will the
underwriters pay. I therefore beg you to promptly send
the same, with the note of your expenses, which I will will-
ingly reimburse you in, to —, shipbrokers, Hamburg. I
am at present in Antwerp.—Thanking you in anticipation,
your servant greets you, " M. ALBERS.

"Mr. Eustides Jno. de Souza, Peruvian Consul, Bahia."
From our letters respecting the firm of Souza and Reizen-
berger, dated Bahia, March 14, it appears that the misery
they have produced in that city by their fraudulent act was
b3yond description. Reizenberger, before he absconded,
cleared out of a social chest some 20,000 dols. in paper, NI hich
he exchanged in Pernambuco for gold. He also received
£3,500 in gold from a house, value of coffee shipped in the
Trifolium, which he had not paid for, saddling a poor
merchant in Bahia with the amount, who is ruined in con-
sequence. Reizenberger's partner Souza has been arrested
by the Government, and is to be prosecuted for fraud. He
declared he was ruined by Reizenberger, who had destroyed
the leaves of the firm's books, and he had no means of jus-
tifying himself. He was refused bail. Blame is attached to
the authorities for allowing the principal criminal to escape.

Serious Charge against a Baptist Minister.

Yesterday the Rev. T.Wicherley, a Baptist minister, who
had been brought up from Whitchurch, in Shropshire, on
a warrant, was placed at the bar of the Lambeth Police-
court, before Mr. Elliott, on a charge of feloniously receiv-
ing eight shirts and other articles, of the value of £5O, the
property of Mrs. S. Lovy, a widow lady, residing at No. 7,
Stockwell •place, Stock well, Surrey.
The first witness called was Mrs. Sophia Levy, the pro-
secutrix, who said that for four years, and up to the 21st of
February last, a young woman, named Mary Ann New-
ton had been in her service, and up to that time and for
some weeks after she had placed the most implicit confi-
dence in her honesty. A few days before the time she
mentioned Newton represented that she had received in-
telligence from the country that her mother was in a dan-

gerous, in fact in a dying state, and asked permission to go
to see her. This permission she granted, and Newton
wished to start at five o'clock in the morning, saying that
her uncle was going to accompany her, but witness objected
to her going at such a time and before she was up. The
young woman, however, persisted in starting at the for•

mer time, repeating that her uncle was going with her,
and witness consented. Newton accordingly left her resi-
dence at five o'clock on the morning of the 21st of Feb-
ruary, and she did not afterwards return, nor did she
(witness) hear from nor see her again until the 18th of

March, when she was standing at the bar of this court,
on her own confession of having robbed her to a con-
siderable extent. On the 14th of March she (witness)
missed from a drawer in her bed-room two £lO and six £5
Bank of England notes and articles of jewellery, amount-
ing in value to £7O or al), and the drawer in which this
property was kept was always locked, and the key always
kept in her own (witness's) possession. On the day she
saw the young woman Newton at this court the prisoner
called on her and said it had been his intention to have
given Newton into custody, but she had given herself up.
Mr. Elliott—.-A constable called on you the same day to
say that Newton had given herself up ; which, called first,
the prisoner or the officer ?
Witness—The prisoner, sir.
Had the prisoner called on you before that day P—Yes,
sir, on the Monday before, when he said Newton was a
great liar; and I then charged him with being concerned
with her in robbing me.
What was your reason for thinking so ?—Because at that
time I had ascertained that he constantly came t o my house
without my knowledge, and that he used often to be in my
kitchen enjoying himself and drinking my wine—(laughter)
—my port and sherry. (Renewed laughter.)
Did the prisoner at that time say anything about receiv-
ing anything from the young woman Newton?—Yes, he
said he changed one note he received from Newton in the
Borough, but refused to say where or whether it was a £5
or £lO note.

Did this latter conversation take place on the Monday
or Wednesday ?—I now recollect it was on the Wednesday,
for when he told me about changing the note, I said I
thought it was time for me to send for a constable, and he
at once left ray house, and I have not seen him from that
time to the present.
Had the prisoner been in the habit of visiting your
house, with your knowledge, before the time you have
spoken of P—l recollect his doing so once, when my servant
told me that it was usual for persons attending the Baptist
place of worship to ask the minister to come to pray, and as
she was a constant attendant at the chapel of the prisoner
at Clapham-rise she asked me if she might ask prisoner to
my house, as he prayed beautifully. (Laughter.) At the
time I had no suspicion that there was anything wrong,
and therefore did not object to his coming. He accordingly
came and prayed in my drawing-room. I was not aware,
as I said before, of his constantly visiting my house with.
out my knowledge, and my slippers being ready for him
when he came there. In conclusion, the witness said that
from the examination of the prisoner Newton at this court,
and information given by her to the officer, she (witness)
examined a certain drawer she named, and there found
duplicates for part of her property pledged, and a bunch of
keys she had never before seen, which opened every lock in
the house. Since that•time Bhv had missed several shirts
belonging to her late husband, and the one produced she
had seen in a box belonging to the prisoner, at his late
lodging, on Monday last.

Serjeant O'Dell, 18 L, said that on Wednesday, the
18th of last month, he was on duty at the station-house in
Kennington-lane, adjoining the court, at about eleven
o'clock, when the prisoner and the young woman Newton
came there. The prisoner, addressing the inspector, said,
" I have got a young lady here who wishes to give herself
up for robbing her mistress." The it Spector asked him for
his name and address, which he gave, and also the name
and address of the mistress, and this he also gave, and left
the station saying he should go and fetch Mrs. Levy, the
mistress. During his absence Newton gave herself up on
her voluntary confession, and on his return, in about three
hours, he said Mrs. Levy was coming. He then asked to
have some conversation with Newton. Witness told him
he tcould not do so theta, and that what
_he had to commu-
nicate must be done in his presence and hearing. The
tprisonerNeheewr t
Loon s at t
ay hi
te t
ht i
emne, observed
that ths
ha
et
di
d anythingn ot whaenha t tdo
say anything to him. The prisoner declined saying any-
thing, but went away, and though he (witness) had been
to his lodgings, his chapel, and several other places in search
of him, he had not seen him from that time until that
morning. _ _

-
Police-constable Henry Martin,te ro
63
se Lc
Monday last he accompanied h
lodging of the prisoner, at a coffee-shop in Bridge-street,
Vauxhall, and there found, in a box belonging to him, a
toed
thet that t l
a on ot
shirt, which Mrs. Levy identified as one belonging to her
late husband. On Monday night he proceeded to Whit-
church, in Shropshire, and there apprehended the prisoner
pu, dtreipxos
on a warrant granted by his worship. He told him the
charge was for being concerned, with a young woman,
named Mary Ann Newton, in stealing notes of the value of
£5O, and other property amounting to about a like sum, the
property of Mrs. Levy, a widow lady, living at Stockwell,
Surrey. He denied the charge, but anxiously inquired if
Newton had been convicted, and what punishment she bad