The Sun.
London, England, 1841-07-12 00:00:00

HATTON-GAR DEN.

On Saturday Henry R /card, a fine boy, about fifteen
years of age, was placed at the bar before Mr. Combe,
charged by Mr. W. Ocock, of the firm of Ocock and
Winterden, chemists and druggists, of Judd-street,
Brunswick-square, with having stolen three-half pence.
It appears that the father of the prisoner, who is au
officer on half-pay, apprenticed the prisoner to the
prosecutors, and a sort time ago he exhibited a charge
of assault against them, and they were fined by the
Magistrate. Since that period the prisoner had been in
their house, and from the statement of the prosecutor, it
would appear that suspicions being entertained of his
dishonesty, he determined on pursuing means to detect
him, for that purpose he marked some half-
pence and put them into the till, and ultimately
missed three-halfpence, and on calling in a
policeman, tWO of them were found on the prisoner.
The prisoner declared in his defence that his master
gave him the two halfpence to purchase milk for his
breakfast, but he preferred keeping them to lay out in
another way. He denied stealing anything from the till.
He was committed for trial.
The father, a respectable-looking man, who was much
excited, insinuated that the charge was got up through
motives of revenge and to get rid of the boy, and he im-
mediately proceeded to Mr. Wakeling, the solicitor, of
St. John's-square, Clerkenwell, to protect the interests
of his son, who parted with him full of grief.
ATTEMPT AT BURGLARY.—On Saturday morning, at
about four o'clock, as Restiaux, 39, E division, was going
his rounds he observed two men and two women, no-
torious thieves, lurking about High-street, Bloomsbury,
when he determined on watching their manoeuvres. At
length they proceeded to the shop of Mr. Davies, glass
and china dealer, of Hart-street, and with a horse-shoe
the men forced back the shutter bars and got down two
of the shutters. Restiaux, who had concealed himself
with 159 E near the spot, rushed upon them and seized
hold of the men, who resisted in a violent manner, and at
length they succeeded in getting the officers on the
ground, and the females endeavoured to rescue the pri-
soners. The officers Were infamously maltreated, but
after a desperate affray and struggle they apprehended
one of the men and a woman, who were taken to the sta •
tion-house. They gave their names John and Ann
Jones, both reputed thieves ; they and the officers exhi-
bited severe marks of violence.
The prisoners were committed to the House of Cor-
rection and hard labour for one month.

ZOOLOGICAL SOCIETY.--A special general
meeting of members, which was very numerously at-
tended, was held on Thursday afternoon in the Theatre
of the Royal Institution, Albemarle-street, to take into
consideration the Report of the Committee appointed at
t recent meeting on the subject of the museum, and, if
approved, to empower the Council to carry
.into effect
their recommendation by drawing upon the investment
fund for a sum not exceeding 5,0001. The chair was
taken by B. Bond Cabbell, Esq., and the Report of the
Committee was read by Mr. Yarrell, in the absence of
the Secretary. The sole point to which their attention
was directed was to the simple inquiry as to the future
locality of the museum, or whether it would be more
expedient to place it in some central situation in the
west end of the metropolis or at the gardens. Several
buildings and sites had been examined, the whole of
which were in one or more respects inadequate, and the
Committee, therefore, came to the conclusion that the
only plan by which the Society could preserve its
valuable collections was that of erecting a suitable
building, either on their own premises in the gardens,
or in the immediate vicinity, if a site could be ob-
tained from the Government for that purpose. Mr.
Whishaw moved the adoption of the Report and the ap-
propriation of a sum not exceeding 5,0001. for the
erection of a building in the gardens, contending; this
was an emergency which guaranteed their drawing upon
the vested property of the Society. He stated that
land upon favourable terms
_might be obtained from the
Commissioners of Woods and Forests on the usual
building lease of 99 years. Mr. Daniells, secretary to
the Royal Institution, who seconded the resolution,
stated that the time was most favourable for its adop-
tion, and that an adequate museum might be erected
for a moderate sum, whilst its being in the gardens
would cause an annual saving in the expenses of the
Society. This proposition led to a long and warm de-
bate, Colonel Sykes, the Rev. E. W. Hope, Mr. Thorn-
ton, and many other members objecting to it, on the
ground that the present condition of the Society would
not warrant the outlay ; whilst Dr. Grant and others
opposed it on the ground that the museum would be in-
accessible for scientific purposes and meetings. Mr.
Cooper, one of the Members of the Finance Committee,
warmly defended the Council, showing by details that
the Society was in a healthy, permanent condition ;
that every year the income exceeded the expenditure,
and that the appropriation of part of the investment
fund in the manner proposed would be a judicious mea-
sure. The subject of the final disposition of the museum
had been agitated upwards of ten years, and it was now
time that it should finally be set at rest. The original
resolution was at length carried by a large majority, and
the Council will at once, it is understood, take measures
for the erection of a building capable of containing their
collections, acknowledged to be in many respects the
first in the world.
TORY FABRICATIONS.—The Tory papers of
Thursday and Friday gave accounts of a " horrid out-
rage" in Ireland, in which it was- stated, that Mr.
Gurney, a magistrate, who had been agent to the late
Lord /Corbury, had been shot at, and narrowly escaped
assassination. It turns out, however, that Mr. Gurney
Was the party who shot at others, and had not been shot
at. The following is Mr. Gurney's own version of the
matter :—" Yesterday I had the pleasure of breaking
up au ambush of two fellows, with guns pointed at me
through a hedge. I got three shots at them—unfor-
tunately the range was too long for my pistols. My
clerk and I ran them into cover. The cowardly villains
would not wait to exchange a shot with us. Illy were
two of Gleeson'Sgang.."—DOlin Post.