The Sun.
London, England, 1837-08-24 00:00:00

1111: SUN, LONDON, TgUitSDAY, ATIGUST 24, 1537

SWINDLING EXTRAORDINARY.

the district of Lugano, where he obtaiaed the rights of a
Swiss citizen. Bernasconi brought with him several sons,
who were borne at Campione, and as one of them reached
this year the Conscription age, he was summoned by the
Austrian authorities to come and draw lots with the other
young men of his district. Having declined to present
himself, he was considered and proclaimed a refractory con-
script. On the sth instant, as young Bernasconi was re-
turning from Maroggia to Bissone, he was assailed on the
Swiss territory by three men, one of whom was armed
with a gun. They threw him down, gagged him, dragged
him by the feet to the bank of the lake, and having put
him on board a boat brought him to Porto, a village of
Lombardy, where they delivered him to the local authori-
ties. The unhappy father, on hearing of this act of piracy,
repaired to Porto, but was unable to prevail on the autho-
rities to return to him his son, who was then confined in the

(PROM ii tditIESkONDERT.)
On Monday the Town-hall at HenllyLon-Thames was
crowded, tb hear tbe ekarnination of Vincent Vaughan
Esq., of Bell-hatch House, near that town, on a charge 1)1
conspiring with Baron De Behr, alias Charles De Behr,
and others, to defraud Mr. Allen, of Oxford, of 3,000/.
The Magistrates were Joseph Phillimore, LL.D., and
Charles Lane, Esq,
From the statement of Mr. Allen, it appeared he had
advanced 2,500/. at various times on the furniture and
effects at Bell-hatch ; that subsequently Mr. Vaughan,
with his friend the Baron De Behr (for whose apprehension
a warrant is out), went in a carriage and four to the Star
Hotel, at Oxford, and ordered a sumptuous dinner, to which
Mr. Allen and his friend Mr. Wright were invited, and par-
took of. Here the subject of a new Mining Company in
the Brazils, called the Cachoeira Gold, Silver, and Copper
Mining Company, offering unheard of advantages, was
broached, of which a manuscript prospectus was produced ;
Mr. Vaughan said he had great pleasure in offering in some
measure to pay the debt of gratitude he owed to Mr. Allen
for his advances of money to him, by giving him an oppor-
tunity of taking some of these shares, of which his friend
the Baron had the disposal, and which from the demand
were not in the market. A great deal more to this effect
was held out, and at a subsequent interview at Mr.
Vaughan's house, at Bell-hatch, Mr. Allen agreed to take
shares to the amount of 3,0001., for which he released the
2,.500/. advanced on the effects at Bell-hatch, and paid
500/. in cash. Mr. Vaughan stated the Baron to be Am-
bassador from the Confederated States of the Rhine to the
British Court, and the son of a Marquis in Switzerland of
large property, who had himself embarked 60,000/. in the
Cachoeira Mining Company. In the course of a conver
sation between the Baron and Mr. Wright, it transpired
that the latter gentleman had personally visited the Brazilian
mines, and knew the country well ; whereupon the Baron
remarked he was the very person they were seeking for as
a manager, with 'a salary of 2,000/. per annum. M-,
Wright finding from his discourse he was quite astray in
description as to the part of the Brazils where the Cachoeira
Mine was situated, began to suspect all was not right, and
acquainted his friend Mr. Allen, who then considered about
the advantages of this mine (where they said 800 men had
been working for two years, the quicksilver extracted pay-
ing expenses, and so valuable as to require a regiment of
soldiers to constantly guard it), and on making further
enquiries fully satisfied himself he had been completely
duped. The magnificent statements of the Baron De
Behr as to his having 60,000/. at the Bank of England, an
equal sum at Messrs. Wright's bank in Covent-garden osi
his own account (which proved to be only a balance of a
ten thousandth part of that sum), as well as 100,000/. on
account of the Company, of which the bankers knew not
even the name, and other stories of wealth, were found
equally fallacious ; and to crown the whole, at the Alien-
office he found the Baron's real character fully established.
A most atrocious attempt was made to get rid of Mr.
Wright, the principal witness in the case, by the Baron De
Behr, who engaged him (directly the matter was settled)
to convey despatches to Paris, which it has been since as-
certained were documents connected with a treasonable con-
spiracy against Louis Philippe, and which were evidently
fabricated, to cause his detention and imprisonment in
France, and prevent his appearance as a witness. These
documents are, or will shortly be, placed in the hands of
the Secretary of State.
After an investigation of nearly seven hours, the Magis-
trates decided on committing Mr. Vaughan to the County
Gaol at Oxford, to answer the charge ; and Mr. Vaughan
not being able to procure bail for the amount required
(himself 3,000/. and two others in 1,500/. each), was con-
veyed to that place in the course of the evening. The
trial is ultimately expected to come off in the Court o
Queen's Bench.

town prison.
The Swiss journals are filled with accounts of the rava-
ges occasioned, in various districts of the Canton of Berne,
by a succession of thunder storms on the 10th, 11th, 12th,
and the 13th inst. The executive Council had immediately
directed the administration of the interior and public works
to adopt such measures as circumstances should require for
relieving the unfortunate sufferers, and sent professional
men to the ravaged districts.

The case for the plaintiff was most ably conducted by
Mr. Wickens, of Oxford, and Sackville-street, London.
Too much praise cannot be given to Stephens, the
Henley policeman, through whose exertions Mr. Vaughan
was apprehended at Green's Hotel, Leicester-square.
The Baron has not yet been apprehended, but as he is
a well-known character there is little doubt of his capture.