The Sun.
London, England, 1824-06-29 00:00:00

THE ROBBERY AT EARL COWPER'S.

MANsioN-HousE.— A mane named Barnard
Solomona, appeared before the LORD MAYOR, to answer a
charge preferred against him on suspicion of being the person
who uttered a number of the notes, of which Mr. Baines, the
steward of Earl Cowper, was robbed.
At an examination at the prison of Hertford, before the
Rev. T. LLOYD, a few days ago, when Dudfield, of Shire-
lane, was brought up on suspicion of having received the stolen
notes, it was stated, that on the 9th of June his Lordship's'
tenants had paid into the hands of the bailiff rent to a consider-
able amount, partly in 5/. and 10/. Bank of England notes,
and partly in local notes. Those notes were marked by a Mr.
Johnson, who accompanied the bailiff in collecting the rents,
and placed in a chest with a quantity of clothes over them.
Three banking-houses at Cambridge proved, that on the 11th
inst. they received a number of the stolen notes from a man
who called and asked the cashiers for Buckinghamshire notes,
as he said he was going into that county to purchase lace.—
They had no Buckinghamshire notes ; the person then said he
should like their own notes, which he accordingly had, leaving
with them the notes, which were easily identified as the stolen
property. The bankers have the numbers of the Cambridge
notes, and will of course be able to ascertain whether or not
those which were found upon Dudfield are of that number.—
The examination was postponed, the notes in question not hav-
ing arrived from London.
The whole enterprise, it appeared, had been so concerted,
that several agents were in the morning after the robbery at
different parts of the country changing the stolen notes.
Hesketh, an active officer of the police, stated, that in conse-
quence of a description given to him by Mr. Fisher of one of the
Cambridge banking houses, of the person who had uttered a part
of the stolen notes, he suspected Solomons to be the man ; lie
accordingly waited upon Solomons, whom lie knew, and took his
word that he would appear at the Mansion House to answer any
charge that might be preferred against him. Solomons attended
accordingly. Mr. Brown, the Marshal, in order that there
might be no error as to identity, directed him to go into the par.
lour of a public-house where there were five or six other men.
Mr. Fisher stated that he went into the room where the prisoner
was sitting, and instantly perceived that he at least most strongly
resembled the person who had uttered the stolen notes. So
powerful was the resemblance, that he (witness) would have felt
no hesitation about stopping Solomons in the street, under the
impression that he was the utterer. The person who passed the
notes had on Friday, 11 th inst. changed with the firm thirty-four
5/. notes for their notes, payable at Messrs. Currie and Co.'s,
London, gave the name of " King," and said he lived at Swan-
ston in Lincolnshire. On the following day witness read the ac-
count of the robbery in the newspapers, when his memory was
freshened with respect to the circumstance of the.man having
presented the notes, which, from the account given, there was
reason to believe were part of those which had been stolen,—
There was a peculiarity about the lu;nds of the person who pre-
sented the notes ; they appeared to be gouty, and the person
took up the notes with difficulty. There was, too, an indenta-
tion or remarkable hollowness on the wrist of one of his hands.
Solomons bared his writs, which presented no remarkable
appearance.
Mr. Fisher said this circumstance alone unsettled his belief
that the prisoner was the utterer.
This evidence was considered in the Justice-room as very re-
markable, for Solomons is by no means a man of ordinary ap-
pearance, and has a mark across his under lip which is peculiar.
Solomons said that Mr. Fisher had made a most grievous
mistake, for he (Solomons) had never been out of the neigh-
bourhood in which he resided one day for several years. This
he should be able to prove ; at all events lie could chew how he
had been employed at the time he was supposed to have been
uttering the notes.
The Loan MAYOR was informed that there were two other
persons who had seen the man who uttered the stolen notes, and
he was requested to detain the prisoner in custody until they
could be brought forward.
The LORD Maxon said, that in a case like the present,
where the offender had been in the first instance attentively
examined, and when the person who so examined him felt so
strong a doubt as to the identity that he hesitated to pronounce
upon the subject, it would not at all be warrantable to send
him to prison. Mr. Solomons was in all probability innocent
of the charge, and to lock up a person under such circum-
stances in prison, even one day, was not to be done upon mere
speculation. His Lordship said lie must have stronger evi-
dence before he could do such a thing.
Solomons agreed to come forward when called upon, and was
set at large upon this understanding.
Mr. Brown stated that he wanted the services of several
officers in this case, and yet he could not make use of them un-
der the new Police regulations. By these regulations, an his
Lordship was aware, the officers were obliged to be present
every hour at particular stations, and sign their names; nor
could they absent themselves without entering on the books
where they had been, and for what purpose. This rendered it
impracticable for the officers to absent themselves in the pursuit
of offenders without rendering great prejudice to the business
they were about.
The LORD Mavoit gave orders for the supply of officers,
and directed that the object should not be stated in the book,
but merely that the Lord Mayor so directed.

EDINBURGH, JUNE 26.

THE LATE FIRE.

The fire which broke out at the Crops, on
Thursday morning, as mentioned in our last, and which has
been so destructive in its ravages, was got under by one o'clock
afternoon. It has occasionally burst out, but from the promp-
titude and exertions of the firemen, it was always soon subdued.
The ruins still continue to smoke, and an engine is in readiness
to prevent the smothered embers from bursting forth. The
destruction of property has been very great. The whole of that
well known pile of building over the Piazzas, and one land in
the Parliament Square, are in ruins. In the first land that
suffered, occupied by a great number of families, we fear little,
if any thing, was saved, and the upper stories being occu-
pied by the working class, these unfortunate persons have
been deprived of their all, and many of them narrowly
escaping with their lives, but without clothing. From
the other premises much property was carried out, and depo-
sited under the new arcade in the Parliament-square and in the
neighbourhood.—ln such a melancholy destruction of property
it is gratifying to state, that we have not heard of any lives
being lost; a town-officer of the name of Chalmers was severely
scorched, but we understand not dangerously. One depraved
wretch, in the form of a woman, at a time of such general sym-
pathy, decoyed a child into the passage leading to Sir W.
Forbes, and Co.'s Bank, and was proceeding to strip it of its
clothing, when the transaction was fortunately observed by the
mother, and the miscreant handed over to the Police.—Mr.
Sheriff Duff was on the spot at the commencement of the fire,
and remained until one o'clock. During the whole time
he was most unwearied in his exertions, and was at
every point where danger was to be apprehended, lending
his assistance, and giving directions. The worthy Sheriff
narrowly escaped being injured by the falling of the front wall
of the building in which the fire began. It was a most provi-
dential circumstance that this wall fell as it did inwards, for,
had it been hurled into the street, the consequences must have
been .dreadful. The activity and perseverance of Bailie
Waugh were every where particularly conspicuous ; to him in
a great measure may be attributed the safety of the tenement in
which the Advertiser Publishing Office is situate. It was
of the utmost importance to save this building, for had the
flames, which at one time had communicated to several
parts of the roof, not been extinguished, there is no saying
where else in that direction their progress might have been
checked. The Lord Provost, Bagies Allan and Blackwood, and
several other Gentlemen, were extremely active, and a guard
from the 65th regiment, with a fatigue party, gave most effective
assistance, stimulated by their officers, who attended to every hint
calculated to be of use. In the afternoon they were relieved
by a dismounted detachment of the Royal Dragoons from
Piershill. The extent of the calamity appeared to have over-
awed the populace, as little unnecessary noise or confusion
prevailed,• the propriety of which was strikingly apparent.—
We hear that a meeting is to be held on Monday, for the pur-
pose of making arrangements to obviate the waste of labour
in future in the present management of fire engines. We were
very glad to see the triple ladder used, the idea for which we
believe was first suggested in a letter published in the Scots
Magazine, for January, 1814, in consequence of the fire in
Bishop's land in the year preceding. The melancholy conse-
quence of persons not insuring their property are but too evident
on this disastrous occasion. The annual payment is a mere
trifle, and one of our national establishments, it is observed,
even repays to the insurer one-half of the profit realized sep-
tennially. We observe that the Company alluded to has gene-
rously given fifty guineas, and the Directors a guinea each,
towards alleviating the distress of the poorer class of sufferers,
in furtherance of which benevolent purpose a general subscrip-
tion has been commenced.—We understand that a considerable
sum was collected yesterday at the door of the Parliament
House for behoof of the poor sufferers.

We were happy to observe, at the late destructive fire, that
there was an ample supply of water, and but for which it is
impossible to calculate the extent to which the raging element
might have proceeded. The invaluable Library of the Fa-
culty of Advocates, the whole of the Courts, and Sir Wil-
liam Forbes and Co.'s Banking-house, would, in all probabi-
lity, have been consumed.—(Edinburgh Courant, June 26.)