The Sun.
London, England, 1840-08-20 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HOUSE.
A young man of respectable appearance, who said
that his name was King, was brought before the Lord
Mayor, charged with having lurked about Lime-street-
' square, a very retired part of the City, at
precedingelevenon the night, with no good intention. The
appearance of the defendant was rather dandyish.
A City policeman stated that he had received di-
rections front his serjeant to apprehend any young man
whom he should see moving
suspiciously about the
square at night, without appearing to have any reason-
able object, as the inhabitants had observed a person, of
whom they had not a good opinion, in the neighbourhood
saveral times. The defendant, who was dressed in
black, made his appearance at eleven o'clock, and after
passing three or four times up and down, went up to
the door of one of the houses,
but, upon seeing witness,
stepped quickly aside, and was gliding away, when wit-
ness stood before him to oppose his departure. He
then shoved witness against the rails, and struggled to
escape, but was detained.
The LORD MAYOR—Did you search the gentleman
to ascertain if he had any picklock keys ? The police-
man said that the gentleman had one key about him,
1 but it appeared to be the key of a trunk, and all the
money he had in his pocket was a sixpence and a few
halfpence.
The LORD MAYOR—well, Sir, this is an awkward
business. What were you doing in the square ? You
don't live there ? Defendant—Why no, I don't live
there, but it is a thoroughfare, and I was walking,
through it, as any other gentleman would, when this
man threw himself in my
way, and collared me.
The policeman said that the gentleman acknowledged
to him that he had been in the square the night before,
and the suspicion as to his intentions was aroused by
the fact, that he was very anxious to get away.
Defendant—The fact is, I expected to meet a person
in the square.
The LORD MAYOR—Oh you did! Did you expect ,

to meet the person in the Louse 3ou went up to ? De-
fendant—No, I went to no hous,. That was an error
of the officer.

The Loan MAyon—You'll excuse me for asking
you ; but robberies have been committed by persons
who have sneaked about retired places, as you have.
Pray was the person a lady or a gentleman ? Defen-
dant—The fact is, it was a lady I had appointed to meet.
The LORD MAYOR—Perhaps so. At all events the
officer was perfectly right in apprehending you.
I-1:s Lordship then desired that inquiry should be
made at the house in the square, whether the defendant
was known to any of the inhabitants or their servants.
The Sergeant reported that tho defendant was wholly
unknown in the square, and that none of the servant
girls were allowed to have followers. . .

Defendant—l don't pretend to know any body in the
square, arid I regret that I ever went into it.
The LORD 'Mavon—Weil, I dare say you were not
quite so comfortable in the Compter as you expected to
be. I would not advise you to make appointments in
the square with ladies again, for if you are found there
another night under such circumstances, it is possible
that you may go to the treadmill.
The defendant, who thus narrowly escaped the
character of a housebreaker, by punctually keeping,
according to his own account, an appointment with a
lady, was then allowed to depart, which he did in a
very awkward style.
The Lord Mayor received a letter from an anony-
mous correspondent, calling his Lordship's ‘ittention, in
the most urgent wanner, as Alderman of the Ward of
Bridge, to the circumstances which took place on the
occasion, of the alleged refusal of Mr. Francis, of the
Adelaide Hotel, to afford accommodation to Mrs.
Seaward, who lost her children by the calamitous acci-
dent, near the Adelaide-wharf, London-bridge. The
letter complained of the conduct of the proprietors of
the Hotel, and stated that Mrs. Seaward was danger-
ously ill, in consequence of the want of the prompt re-
lief which might have been afforded in the house.
His LORDSHIP, as the melancholy facts of the case
had given rise to a great many reports, considered it
but fair towards the proprietor of the Hotel, as well
as towards the public, to call for an explanation, al-
though the intelligence he had received was upon the
questionable authority of a person who, for some reason
not quite intelligible, gave no name.
Mr. Francis having heard the letter read, referred his
Lordship to the report of the inquest in the Times news-
paper, held upon the body of one of the infant sufferers,
on which occasion he in the most positive manner de-
nied that any accommodation had been refused at the
Adelaide, and he had hoped that such a denial would
have been satisfactory, and have prevented any recur-
rence to the painful subject.
The LORD MAYOR said that for his part he enter-
tained no doubt whatever, from the character of Mr.
Francis, that there was no ground for the imputation,
but he believed that it would be satisfactory to have the
explanation repeated.
. From the statement immediately and minutely entered
into by Mr. Francis, and in the course of which the
Lord Mayor asked several questions, it appeared that
when Mr. Francis heard that some of the individuals
who had met with the deplorable accident were in the
tap, which is two stories below the hotel, he immedi-
ately went thither, in order to render any assistance in
his power. He, however, found it so much crowded
with persons curious to see what was going forward,
that it was quite impossible for him to get near the
sufferers. Under these circumstances he called to the
wife of the individual who keeps the tap to take the
sufferers into the bar, and desired that the door might
be closed upon the public, whose numbers caused
a complete obstruction. It was his intention then to
have the tap cleared, and to have made the best and
most expeditious arrangements for rendering service.
At that moment one of the children supposed to have
been drowned was brought in, and a most distressing
scene was occasioned, and almost at the same moment
a person shouted out that the females must be removed,
and to the perfect astonishment of Mr. Francis, they
were hurried from the house. These occurrences passed
so rapidly, that Mr. Francis could not possibly have
done more, although actuated by the best feelings.
The City Marshal (Mr. Brown) stated that he had
long known Mr. Francis, and he felt perfectly assured
that the disposition of that gentleman would lead him
to act most promptly upon any occasion of the kind.
The Loa]) ALavott said that the statement of Mr.
Francis was perfectly satisfactory to him, and he could
not see how any individual could have acted with more
propriety under the circumstances, than had been de-
scribed.

Mr. Francis expressed his grateful thanks to the
Lord Mayor for having given him the opportunity of
again contradicting, in the most solemn manner, the
charge so falsely made against him.