The Sun.
London, England, 1801-09-22 00:00:00

PUBLIC.:OFFICE, BOW-STREET.

YESTERDAY a person calling himself-john
men, was examined before A. GRAHAM and WIL-
LIAM KINNAIRD, ESCICS, on a charge of extorting
34i. Jst from Mr. S; a Publican in the neighbour-
hood of Hatton-garden, under a threat of charging
him with an unnatural S. stated, that
in the. month of November last, as he was stopiiing
in .oXford:•street,- the prisoner at the Bar came up
to him, seized him by the collar, charged him with
an unnatural. crime, and swote he would per Severe
in so doing, unless he would give. him zo Guineas ;
that being extremely alarmed he 'consented to do it,
and 'the Prisoner followed,him home, and waited in
the streol while he went and fetched the twenty
Guineas; which he delivered to the Prisoners who
went away: That in about three weeks afterwards,
the Prosecutor having been out of town in the in-
terim, the Prisoner called at his house, 'demanded
some More money,, making use of the same threats,
and adding -that he would' write to his wife on the
subjet_i, unless he, the Prosecutor; would make up
the sum of 4.0 i. ; that • being under the same im-
pression of fear as to his charaaer, he 'gave the
Prisoner a Ten Pound Note,. and they then went
together to Flcet-street,. where the Prosecutor bor-
rowed three Guineas of 'an acquaintance, which he
also gave to' the Prisoner, and they again parted ;
that on Friday night last; betiveen ten and eleven,
he saw the .Prisoner ' and another man in Oxfotd-
. street, -when they folloWed him; 'and the Prirsoner
coming up to him said, " he-would be if
he would not have a gallon of brandy and a :gallon
of rum, Which he ordered to be.brought to him by
the Prosecutor yesterday. morning, in Lincoln's Inn
Fields, saying, he would pay for the bottles, but
not the liquor." The Prosecutor then acquainting
some friends of tho transaction, they went,at•the
appointed.time 'yesterday morning to LincOln'a Inn
Fields), where they secured the Prisoner, Who had
always, represented.' himself to the Prosecutor as an
Officet'oirrhis Office (Bow-street), and had repeated._
ly.threattned to take him into costody,
The-Prisoner, on being called on for his defence,
denied the: .charge in Coto. He was ,committed for
further examination to-morrow, as there is reason
.to believe that he has beeti guilty of other offences
of a like nature, and which, in this case, amounts
to a complete highway robbery,

OLD ' B ArtEir;

rIFTH DAY--N;c.).No,ty, 'srpT.. it:

. .
Ainz B (item. ait .WaS 'convidqd of .stealing certain
,artieles of, wearing apparel; and A/4u Legch lot
stealing some silver spoons, and other ar ides:.
"ferry was con-ieked of ste-aliYig seven
handkerchiefs and two shawls; the jproperity,.: of
Charles Holmes. The Prosecutor. 'said,' he, zp...ide
inquiry and found the Ph`S.,ner.,wis cone fry m
Scotland.; that herhosLind, .21 soldier,, was abrwid;
and that sTie was very JAttbat,,ilic
believed this.wa, het first offence,
not learn any thing against her, The'VrisoP•er 41d
not 'utter one wordin her defence, btit handed uplto
the Bench a, paper writing, prayinifo'r niercy. "1:116
jtiky, i'oCornmended her_ to mercy,
,and (he Commpn
Serjeant said,. that certainly . fecomnie,ndo
..•
should be attended to..

. . . . .
Thomas Poilartrwas indiaed for stealing a number
Of japanned waiters ; Pe/ZaiFet for. re-
eeiying theni,,,knowing diern to have been -stolen,
the property ol` MeSsrs.. Austin and Sons,-,of 04orcl-
7.
the foreman street.. -'
Benjamre Tot,•in.r, tat. loreman Messrs.
tin, :said; he' believ'ed she waiters.. Which Were pro.
-dueed were the Prosecutors .property.
Renjamitt Ci'ocket, a gilder
,bl",japanned ware,
said he had information that. 16 or i 7 boys, ap-
prentices, were hi the habit of ir")libing their mas-
ters, and Williarnt.Pollard was said to .ue at their
head. 'This he colleeted fir.‘,. an apprentice of hi,s
own. Be Was going to relate the;whole.of the in_
formation he „thus received, but the Common SL•r-
jeant said .the Court could not heir it. I-ie then
said that the-Prisoners, who are two boys under
twenty years' of age, and brothers, are 'painters of
japan ware, and live in Ctick-lane, and that Eliza-
beth Davis, 'a young woman who live :l with one Of
the Prisoners, gave
:to him the' waiters now in
Court,iipon his-going there to seareh'for. them. ,
El;zabeth Davis said at, first, that sheedid..not
••
give these waiters to,Mr. Croket. •The7.Coriunun
Serjean't told her.tlit the Courth4l.already-an in;
titnation of her way of life; that • it .was: silly..iri
her to think that she.could deCeiYe•the Court ; that
the best ihing she'could do was to speak the trutfit
for that if she did nor; not only would- she. be in
danger in the next world, but,of her -safetY'in
The'Witness then said that site fellows the book..
binding buimesS, and that the waiters which .were
delivered to'Vr.. Croket were made .a present..Of
to her- by-the Prisoner; WilliaM . r
,4
BeajaMin W.-gains was‘then,examinetlagain...
said, that ihePrisoner,ThOmas',Pollard was. an af:.:
prentiee to Messrs,Austin, who are in agrearand.
extensive way'-of business., He had. worked at
.the
trade for upwards' of five years. He • said he-- oyllyt
kneW these -waiters bythe pattern : they are •now;
in'an'unfinished staterand not saleable, for, they ate.;
not
,varnished : the varnish is'an 'expensive opeta--
tion, and' not doue by the Prisoner, that being,:in,,
other branch of ~tie manufacture :
_but'if these waiters
hadnot been found where they were, he shOcrld not;
have missed them out of his masters' Shop; theyi
being in such. 'a grerit Way'of business. ' The Wit-,
ness never charged -the Prisoner with having stolen;
these goods but he confessed when he was bronghr
before the AdderMan.That confession Was taken,
down in writing. The cohfessioo was returned to:
the Copri'fromi thee 'Office:l t Guidhall, arid produced._
Ir was signed by the Pris Oner Thomas Pollard; and
witnessed by Mr.'NeWman;--the Sitting Alderman's
.
Clerk, bat that_Gentleman was not in Coati: r
The COMMON SE R. E NT.—" This prosecution,
haS beep very ill conduCled. Gentlemen of the Jury„
it is a melancholy thing to see two young men, such
as ate upon trial now at the par, the one for steal,
ing, and the other for receiving the property in•
question, which is said to be the property . of
.the:
master ofone• of them; It appears that they are
brothers. The charge against one of them is, that.
of robbing his master, and the otherfor receiving..
the property knowing it to have been
There cannot be a much worse offence than diet of
a servant robbing his master,- for which reason,
when any one is convi6ed of it, even if the
charge be capital, and the life of the criminal is.
forfeited, His Majesty excludes such offender from
mercy—Were these two young men to be found'
guilty of the crime imputed tO them, I should think
it my incumbent duty, to send them both put of the-
Kingdom, the one for 7, and the other for 14 years,.
or to punish them even:more severely if the Law al-
lowed it; but that is the extent of the Law in this case.e
—But whatever may, be the guilt of the Prisoners,
'or our abhorrence of that guilt, they must be tried-
anddisposed of, according to the 'rules of Law.—T
think the Public have reason to complain of the
mode in which this prosecution has .been coridoEted..
In the first place, here is Mr. Austin the elder,
who knows nothing or very little of •thutase, as a
Witness,; his Foreman, who'knows more, but not
enough ; and as to Mr. Croket, he knows only that
the. goods were found 'in passessicm of Elizabeth
Davis-...-Now it tarns, out; ,that two very material
witnesses are, the one deficient in knowledge of the
cage by.legal: evidenee, I mean Mr. Croket, who •
knows no more than he has told except from hear.
say ; and the other, (Mr. Newman) absent. me,
Croket indeed tells us a very lamentable tale, that
a number of apprentices are in the habit of robbing
their Masters, and that he is fully informed of this
by an apprentice of his own, which may be, .and I
dare say is true but it,is not. eVidence,' because•
what a man says, not upon oath, cannot be taken
notice of in a,Court of Justice, and; :therefore, we
cannot hear froni a Witness in Court, although upon
oath, any, thing he: heard from another, because that
was not upon oath ; a san&ion which the Law re-
quires ;to every Evidence Produced in a Court of •
justice, for which reason hearsay .Evidence is never
taken in a Court of justice.—As to 'the young
woman who lived with one of the Prisoners, her
evidence.only proved that she had these waited of
one of-the Prisoners, William Pollard the elder
brother ; 'and 'the Foreman' believes them to he the
property of his Masters---How 'does
.he know,
them ? There is no mark upon them--By the work.
mnanship Why the Prisoner himself, might, at" his
own leisure hours; for his-oWn convenience and
profit, have worked at them from any other manu.
faetory ; -and, therefore, I am
.of opinion, that the
property is not identified in this case, fur, it is not

The circumstances of this case, as they transpired
in evidence, were such as to induce the Jury to find
the Prisoner Not Guilty.
,john Harmony was indiaed for stealing,, on the
6th of August, twelve pieces of tortoise-shell, va.
lue 11. xos. the property-of Messrs. Macdonald.
The consideration of this case took up some time;
however, the circumstances were briefly as follow :
It appeared by the testimony of the principal 'Wit-
vess, one of the Marine Police Officers, that being
on the River the evening of the bth of August, in
the Police-boat, he observed the Prisoner and an—
other map in.a small boat, under the bow of the ship.
Alert ; that he noticedthe'Prisonet - to hare some,
thing bulky. under his jacket ; in consequence, he
rowed up to their, boat, when they-run up on one
side,of the Alert,: and ascended the vessel, into
which he got at the other side. He instantly per-
ceived the Prisoner stooping,
,and apparently as if
he had deposited some..thing in a place of conceal-
ment, .1-le was immediately secured, and a bag con-
taining the property laid in the Indklment. The
latter part of the Officer's Account was corroborated
-by two others of the Witnesses.,
• The Prisoner in hiS defence, generally asserted
his innocence of the. charge ; and his.. Counsel or-

MQND AY last the several Military Corps in this
neighbourhood had a grand held-day and sham fight,
about three miles from this City, in the Parish of
ClystSt. Mary, in which-the different Corps acquit-
ted themselves much to the satisfaction .of Lieute-
nant. General Stmco E, Major. General DoN, and a
large concourse. of spettators. .
-The operations of the day were nearly as fol-
lows :—ln the morning the several Regiments who
are encamped on Woodbury Common, consisting of
the 29tit Light Infantry, the, South Devon and Den.
bigh Militias, with the Flying Artillery of two 12-
pounders, • four •6-pounders, and two howitzers,
marched. from thence to force the passage of Clyst
and -Topsham Bridges, which were defended by
strong parties of Volunteers, the Carmarthen Mili.
tia, and .some parties of the 6th Dragoons. The
attack commenced about halfliast nine by the ad-
. vanced post of the defending army, who kept a
smart and galling ire on their opponents for some
time.; but were at length obliged to retreat before.
the power of .the Artillery. The attacking army
having divided into two bodies, one under the earn.'
"nand •of Lord Ro tL E, attacked the bridge at
Topsham, defended by parties of Volunteers, whom
they compelled, after it sharp resistance, to fall back
on their .main body, posted in a most advantageous
'situation on called Salter's Brakes, which
cominanded .the road between the two bridges, and
from which, had they been supplied with artillery,
they could,:have .resisted any. attack. The :other
body, under the , coMmaad of 'Sir NVA.TK N Wr.L.
L I AM'S WYNNE, pressed forward on the &eat road
leading through the grounds at Winslade, to Clyst.
Bridge. In this march they were continually
checked .by a galling fire of musketry from the
advanced post of the defending army, whose re-
treat was .ably covered. by a troop of the Enniskillen

LONDON : Printed by BUCHANAN W14111.1.AN, lot Bow-strect, Covent-Garden)
At the !iuN-OFFIcE, Ne. Strand --; where iieiwerthements, Orders 1

Dragoons, At length the :trtillgy was brought to
bear on the bridge, whioh after swne close and
heavy fires, was carried, ;ick they proceeded to at-
tack the strong position on tie hill. The Denbigh
Militia marched at the foot.of-the hill in very good
stile, and formed in. line to storm the heights, but
being-exposed'to a close and well direfted fire:from
the several companies stationed 'on the summit, all
their endeavours would have proved ineffectual,
had not the z9th Light Infantry, with s-urprizing
activity, marched round the hill, and with the
Flying Artillery, turned the left wing of the Exe-
ter Volunteefsc; 4c. who were defending their 0..
sition from the' formidable' attack in front. A
tremendous fire was then opened from six heavy
pieces of ordnance, on their left flank and rear,
which obliged them to retreat with • precipitation.
—The attacking Army having thus carried the
heights, the Companies which defended them- re-'
treated into Mr. Spicer's Lawn, at Mount Wear
House, whither they were joined by all the other.
Military Bodies engage.:: Here the whole were'
formed in line, saluted the Generals ; and having
marched by in slow time, the business of the day
concluded. . The following Corps were engaged in
this afiltir, amounting, in
,the whole,. to about
2,500 Men. The Light Infantry of the 29th Re-
giment of Foot, the South Devon, Denbigh and
Carmarthen Regiments of Militia, the Exet,er Re-
giment of eight Companies of Volunteers, the•Ex-
mouth, Woodbury, Lympston,Xenton and Powder-
ham, Dawlish, Exminster, and Spreyton Voln-
teers ; the Flying Artillery, and two Troops of the
61h, or Enniskillen Dragoons.

The Public have certainly never had a richer rou-
tine of entertainment before them, than what they
now experience at the Royal Circus, Sr. George's_
fields, where, amid numerous other excellent Per.
formances, is the new Grand Speciacle of King Cx'-
sar, or the Negro Slaves, a Piece 'of the strongest
interest, and which is most -.admirably supported
thrdughoot its various and impressive charaderS.
The Music is truly deserving of the high approba-
tion ii receives every evening, as it •is allowed. to
be most charmingly composed, and does Mr. W.
Ware much credit. The Scenery is truly fine,
amongst which is the Mill of Terrors, the Castle on.
Fire, the tremendous effects of an Earthquake, &c.
which are all inimitably executed ; and this 'Piece
promises strongly, from the vast applause bestowed
upon it, to remain a great favourite with every
circle.