The Sun.
London, England, 1853-01-19 00:00:00

for the " Refuge," neither did they hear the Colonel call
for a knife.

Mr. Broughton to Colonel Tovey—Did you ask for a
knife ?

Complainant—l did say "Bring me a carving knife,
and I'll settle him."

Mr. Broughton—Do you swear that you did not
assault the prisoner until after he struck you on the
loins, and tripped you up ?
Complainant—l do, sir, I certainly aimed at his head,
but he put up his arm at the moment of my doing so.
In reply to the Magistrate, Colonel Tovey said he
would rather the case were decided summarily.
Mr. Broughton characterised the outrage as being one
of a most ruffianly description, and for that outrage he
must pay a penalty of 51., or go for two months to the
House of Correction.—He was locked up.

LAMBETH.--Henry Godsall Johnson, alias Captain
Johnson, who has been in custody for several days on a
charge Of obtaining from a widow lady named Stewart,
by false representations and a promise of marriage, rail-
way shares to the amount of 6001, and also money to a
considerable amount, were placed before Mr. Elliott for
further examination.

Mr. Robinson attended to prosecute ; and Mr. Parry
appeared for the prisoner.
The first witness called was

Mr. Ralph William Grey, who deposed—l am private
secretary to Lord Palmerston, and am well acquainted
with his lordship's family, and I am enabled to say that
the prisoner is certainly not a 'nephew to his lord-
ship. Ido not know the prisoner, nor have I ever, to
my knowledge, seen him before. The letter produced is
in the handwriting of Lord Palmerston. The letter
alluded to was as follows :

" Broadlands, Oct. 12, 1852.
" Dear Sir,—l have to acknowledge the receipt of your
letter of the 9th instant, and to express my regret that I
cannot assist you in the matter to which your letter refers,
as I have no means of obtaining appointments for anybody.
" I am, dear sir, yours faithfully,

"H. G. Johnson,'Esq." - " " PA-LifERSTON.
Mr. Grey, in continuation, said—There is a Mr. John-
son a consul at Antwerp, an old acquaintance, and, I
believe, a distant relation, of Lord Palmerston, but lam
not at all aware that the prisoner is a son of this Mr.
Johnson.

Mr. Robinson—Can you account for the friendly man-
ner in which Lord Palmerston had addressed the pri-
soner, or the party to whom his lordship had addressed
that note ?

Mr. Grey—ln no other way than that his lordship
was under the impression at the time that he was ad-
dressing the son of his old friend, and presumed that
that son was respectable.
In his cross-examination by Mr. Parry, Mr. Grey said
he was not acquainted with the contents of the letter to
which the note pat in from Lord Palmerston was an
answer, as he was not private secretary to his lordship
in October last. He had been informed, though he did
not know the fact of his own knowldege, that the prisoner
was son to the consul at Antwerp, and brother to a
Queen's messenger.
Mr. Robinson here intimated that he should call wit-
nesses who had been summoned to trace the notes paid
to the prisoner for the shares belonging to Mrs. Stewart.
The Prisoner—l admit I sold the shares, and received
the money for them.
Mr. Robinson—Then I now submit that the case of
Mrs. Stewart is ripe for committal, and I shall require
Mr. Grey on the trial to prove the fact he has before
stated, that the prisoner is not the nephew to Lord Pal-
merston, as he falsely represented himself to be.
The Prisoner—l never represented myself to be the
nephew of Lord Palmerston. I did say truly I was a
relation, but I never said I was Captain Johnson.
Mr. Robinson—There is sufficient proof that you re-
presented yourself as the nephew of Lord Palmerston,
and I now call for your commitment.

Mr. Elliott inquired if there were any further charges
against the prisoner, when

Mr. Dawson, a tailor and draper at Bedford, said he
knew the prisoner very well. In the year 1845 the
prisoner came to live at Bedford, and resided there for
some time as a gentleman, and went by the name of
Captain Johnson. He gave witness a liberal order
for clothes, and was in the habit of borrowing his
horses. In the latter end of October, or the begin-
ning of November, the prisoner requested the loan of
a valuable mare'to drive to Northampton with, saying
he should be back on the following or subsequent day ;
but from that day until that morning he (witness)
had not caught sight of him, nor had he heard any ex-
cept very slight tidings of his valuable mare subsequent
to the prisoner's flight, after doing him to the tune of
671. Witness employed a lawyer to look after the cap-
tain and his mare, but the only thing he could learn of
either was, that the mare had been taken in a cart to the
station at Euston-square, some short time after the pri-
soner had her, by a shabby-looking fellow, to take away
some hampers of wine.
Prisoner—As! my counsel has not been instructed in
this case, I should be glad to be permitted to ask the
witness a few :questions. The first question I wish to
ask the witness is this, whether he is quite certain that
I am the person who had the mare ?
Witness—l, am quite sure you are the person.
Prisoner—Are you sure it was not Mr. Douglas ?
Witness—Yes, I am quite sure it was no person but
you,

Mr. Robinson—l suppose you had abundant oppor-
tunity of seeing the captain, and cannot be mistaken in
his person now ?

Witness—Yes, sir, I am quite certain he is the man.
The clerk of a wine merchant, in Pall-mall, deposed
that in 1845-the prisoner was introduced to his employers
as a most repectable gentleman, and gave an order for
choice wines to the amount of 1091., which he de-
sired should be forwarded to his residence, No. 1,
Victoria-terrace, Bedford, which was done. Soon
after, the gentleman who had introduced him called,
and said that he had been grossly deceived in the cha-
racter of Mr. Johnson. In consequence of what the
gentleman said, witness proceeded to Bedford, and had
an interview with the prisoner, who told him that the
wine was in possession of Captain Douglas, and that if
he would call on the following day he should make it all
right. He accordingly stopped in the town that nigh,
and on going to No. 1, Victoria-terrace, on the follow-
ing morning, he discovered that the prisoner, and a
female who was living with him, had bolted in the night
From subsequent inquiries which he had made, he (wit-
ness) found that the wine had never found its way to
Victoria-terrace, Bedford, but had been taken to New-
port Pagnel, and at that place redirected and sent back
to town. '

Mr. Elliott—Did the prisoner make any representa-
tions at your employer's house, upon which the wine had
been sent to him, or was it merely on the introduction
.of the gentleman you spoke of that you let him have the
property? • _ _

- Witness—On the introduction of the gentleman, who
thought him at the time to be a person of the highest
respectability.
_ _

Mr. Elliott—Then, that being the fact, you will
not be able to make any case against the prisoner at
present.

- Mr. Howard, of Bedford, who was present at the
last examination, here said that he had forgotten to
mention that the prisoner came to' Bedford with an ac-
complice, a Captain Douglas, who-assisted him in his
swindling practices. There was one tradesman present
whom they had swindled to the tune of near 2001., and
they mined a poor confectioner by purchasing frond him
a valuable horse, for which they gave him a bill of ex-
change so worthless as not to be worth the paper upon
which it was written.

Mr. Wells, a cabinet-maker andmpholsterer, said that,
besides supplying the prisoner with the whole of the fur-
niture to furnish his house, and other goods on hire, he
had borrowed 101. of him.

Mr. Parry contended that there was no proof what-
ever of MA client using any false pretence to the trades-
men at Bedford. He was authorised to state, and he
could do so without fear of contradiction, that Mr. John-
son was the son of Mr. Johnson, who had resided at
Bedford for many years, and who was at present consul
at Antwerp, which appointment was given to him by
his friend and relative Lord Palmerston. He was also
brother to a Queen's messenger, who was also, he under-
stood, aprelitted by Lord Palmerston, and-hadbeeirborn
at Bedford in 1810, and all he had done was merely to
state that he, was the son of his father who had lived
so long amongst them. Tradesmen in this, as in many
instances of a similar description, had only themselves
to blame for the reckless manner in which they forced
their goods on comparative strangers. As a proof of
this he begged to read a letter addressed by Mr. Howard,
the gentleman who took so active a part in these
proceedings, and who seemed to evince so strong a sym-
pathy for even Mr. Wells, the respectable tradesman who
had been last examined, and who gave his evidence with
such extreme fairness. The letter he alluded to was ad-
dressed to —.Johnson, Esq., Victoria-terrace, and was
as follows :

" Sir hope you will excuse me in saying that I hope
byou will allow me to supply you with fenders and fire-irons,
ecause I think you will consider that it is not proper in
Mr. Wells, knowing, as he does, that I am an equal pro-
prietor of Victoria-terrace with Miss Green, and that we
built it partly to promote our respective businesses—it is,
therefore, painful thus to be supplanted, as it were, upon
one's own ground. If, therefore, you will allow them to
be returned, I will supply them, either upon hire or other-
wise, and upon the best terms. Will you allow me or my
son to wait upon you to receive your orders for any arti-
cles you may require ? and you will much oblige, sir, your
obedient servant, " JOHN HOWARD."

The learned gentleman ably contended that, apart from
the moral offence, there was no evidence to convict his
client of fraud orlarceny.
Mr. Elliott committed the prisoner in the case of Mrs.
Stewart, but remanded him in the case of horse-stealing.

A LONDON PARISH WITHOUT A RECTOR.—A repre-
sentation is about being made to the Bishop of London
by some
rof
parishthe mosht.infiuential inhabitants of Wapping,n
thatth otuhteia
rectowens
ofofrßsorazmeenmosoentchosllegaset
priuro,ipoanl— accountnw of failure to present On the
fellboe
partwi of the
Oxford, who are the anatrons of the living. It appears
that late rector, died on the
5t has; totfh
August Rev.
Johnlast,
andll) although the officials have been
the nomination of a
in daily expectation of recaepivipomst
yet reached
thhsaselapsed since
e nomi-
successor, no notice of any
them. Upwards of five months harnveent
the death of Mr. Parry, and unless theu
nomi-
nates a successor within the next three weeklleg
pre-
sentation will lapse to the bishop of the diocese.sthe The
rectory of Wapping is worth about 3001. a year.
The much-vaunted French steamer Napoleon, what-
ever
may be her sailing properties, appears to be suffer-
ing from a chronic disorder, which the doctors pronounce
as organic and incurable. To speak without metaphor,
the machinery of this formidable-looking craft has suf-
fered so complete a derangement as to damp the sanguine
expectations that had been entertained of her as the
" model steamer.".. .Nautical Standard.