The Sun.
London, England, 1847-12-24 00:00:00

he would be back in three weeks. On Monday leaned
again, and caused the box to be forced open, and I
found in it a quantity of linen and other articles, and
two carpet bags, from which the locks had been
apparently wrenched off. Mr. White identified
the property as part of that which he had lost in
the manner described by him. Being authorized to
go after the thief. I went yesterday afternoon to
Cheltenham, and apprehended the prisoner at his
father's house, in bed. I told him who I was, and
that he must consider himself my prisoner upon sus-
picion of having committed a robbery on the Black-
wall Railroad. He dressed himself, and I told him
to show me all the property he had. lie then
pointed to a portmanteau and a couple of coats,
and at two portmanteaus which were under the
bed. I took him to the station at Cheltenham, but
he contrived to make his escape. There were some
hundred people at his heels, and file was secured after
some difficulty. He had a silver watch and two sove-
reigns about him.

The prisoner is, it appears, one of those clever
artists who watch the property placed in railway
vans from the moment it is deposited, got into the
nearest carriage to the van, and slip out and appro-
priate what they fancy at the first convenient oppor-
tunity. Mr. White, it is conjectured, had been seen
to be the owner of the carpet bags, and been accord-
ingly marked by the victimizer, whose success in this
mode of plunder made him somewhat negligent upon
this occasion.

The LORD MAYOR—Prisoner, do you wish to ask
any question, or to make any observation ? The
prisoner—Not at all.
The prisoner, who will be committed for trial when
the depositions shall have been made out, was then
sent back to prison.

The LORD MAYOR said he gratefully acknowledged
having received for the poor-box from the Grocers'
Company, through the hands of Mr. Walton, one of
their officers, the sum of 10/. ; from " J. Y.," 2/. ; and
from Mr. Harker, the foreman of the Grand Jury of
the Central Criminal Court, 155., being the amount in
hand after payment of the refreshment expenses of
the October Grand Jury.
John Phillips was on the preceding day brought
up charged with having been a " picket man," em-
ployed to intimidate the workmen of Mr. Trego, of
Coleman-street, builder, but that gentleman expressed
his willingness to forego the prosecution if the gang
of which the accused formed one would pledge them-
selves to drop the illegal practices of which they had
been guilty ; the prisoner appeared yesterday in ac-
cordance with his undertaking.
The foreman of Mr. Trego stated that Mr. Trego
authorised him not only to stop the prosecution in
the present case, but to intercede to procure the
immediate liberation of Mahony, the person who had
been convicted and sentenced to hard labour for three
months for a breach of the law, if the committee, as
they called themselves, would pledge themselves to
abstain altogether from the system of annoyance upon
which they had been acting. It appeared, however,
that penitent as Phillips seemed to be, the committee
would not make any condition of the kind, but, on
the contrary, were determined to act offensively, and
Mr. Trego was therefore resolved to prosecute in every
instance.

The LORD MAYOR and Alderman GIBBS approved
highly of the decisive conduct of Mr. Trego, and
desired that the evidence should be gone into.
Mr. Humphreys, who attended on Wednesday as
solicitor for the prisoner, and advised the committee
to abandon the intimidation system, refused (we were
given to understand) to come forward to defend upon
this occasion, as he had assured them that their con-
duct was totally indefensible.

Witnesses were then examined, but they distinctly
stated that, although the language of intimidation had
been used by several others of the " picket-men," they
had not heard any observations from the prisoner cal•
culated to intimidate.

The LORD MAYOR and Alderman GIBBS said, that
as there was no proof of intimidation, they had no
alternative but to dismiss the case, but they repeated
their assurance that in every instance in which evi-
dence of the offence should be given the full penalty
would without the remotest chance of mitigation be
inflicted, and as it appeared from some of the state-
ments made by the witnesses that the language of
intimidation had been used to them by several well-
known members of " the picketers," and that, although
Phillips had not used that sort of language to them, he
had not been sparing of it to others, it would be ad-
visable in Mr. Trego to cause every one of those
against whom satisfactory evidence could be produced
to be charged as soon as possible.
Mr. Trego, who attended towards the conclusion of
the proceedings, said he should most positively act in
every case according to the suggestion of the magis-
trates. He had lost several valuable men in conse-
quence of the picketing system.
The LORD MAYOR said, that he and his brother
magistrates would do all in their power to put down
so unjust a combination. In the case of Mahony, who
had been convicted, Mr. Trego had allowed his com-
passion to interfere most strongly for that person. It
would be his business, in all future cases, to look to
j ustice alone.