The Sun.
London, England, 1846-09-15 00:00:00

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-HOUSE.
HUMANITY IN THE LAW OF DEBTOR AND CREDITOR.—
A case having come before the Lcrd Mayor in which an
unfortunate debtor was stated to have been incapacitated
from attending to answer fur having omitted to pay cer-
tain rates,
The LORD Mayon himself represented to the appli-
cant the obligation upon him to do all with charity, and
stated that Mr. Burden, the governor of Whitecross-
street Prison, had, on Saturday, on presenting his entry-
book to the gaol committee, pointed out a passage of
which the following is a copy:—
" Richard was committed to the Debtors'
Prison, Whitecross-street, on the 9th instant, by the
Court of Bankruptcy, under the Small Debts' Act, for
forty days, for a debt of 51. 16s. 11d. The prisoner,
aged sixty, was brought in a cab, and appeared to be
labouring under imbecility of mind and in a low sinking
state of bodily health, requiring him to be immediately
put to bed in the infirmary. On the following day the
Governor made an affidavit of the facts, accompanied
with the surgeon's certificate, and applied to Mr. Com-
missioner Pane for the prisoner's discharge, under the
62d clause of the 7th and Bth Victoria, cap. 96, which
application (although the first of the kind) was granted,
and the prisoner was restored to his home on the same
day, having his immediate necessities relieved from the
Sheriffs' fund."
His Lordship observed, that nothing could be a more
persuasive indication of the advancing improvement of
the times than such an evidence of the lenient
character of the laws respecting debtor and credi-
tor. Formerly poor wretches, who, like multitudes
of paupers of the present day, were criminal
only by their poverty, were dragged from their beds
of sickness and of straw, to gratify the vir.dictive spirit
of creditors. By the untiring labours, however, of bene-
volent men in the Legislature and in the press, the
frightful inhumanity exercised against poor debtors and
poor paupers was undergoing a certain, although a slow
change. He trusted, and he believed, that neither the
Parliament nor the press would be silent so long as the
evils which were so powerfully condemned by the friends
of the poor existed in a shape at all formidable. In
speaking of those who were unable to pay their debts, he
of course excluded the persons who had dishonestly con-
tracted debts. To quite a different tribunal he would
submit the case of all such individuals.
The following is the clause upon which Mr. Burden
applied for the discharge of his prisoner :
" 62d. And be it enacted, that if it shall at any time
appear to the satisfaction of the judge of any such court,
by the oath or affirmation of any person, or otherwise,
that any defendant is unable, from sickness or unavoid-
able accident, to pay and discharge the debt or damages
recovered against him, or any instalment thereof ordered
to be paid as aforesaid, it shall be lawful for the judge
in his discretion to suspend or stay any judgment, order,
or execution given, made, or issued in such action, for
such time as the judge shall think fit, and so from time
to time, until it shall appear by the like proof as aforesaid
that such temporary cause of disability has ceased."
His Lordship finally observed, that it was satisfactory
to him to be able to state that the sheriffs' fund, which
was applicable to all cases of the kind, had lately ren-
dered essential services in the great mass of cases in
which prisoners who had been confined were discharged
without being possessed of property to the amount of
one farthing. He thought that the expression of his
feelings and opinions in a place to which such numbers
of cases of misfortune and suffering were brought would
attract the attention of the beneficent to the general
condition of the poor, and make more manifest the ne-
cessity of a more extended and active sympathy.
A young man, named John Edwin, who looked like a
simple country lad, was charged with having stolen
several silk handkerchiefs in the course of his rambles
on Saturday. The prisoner turned out to be a perfect
" filch " and a philosopher.
Haydon, City policeman, No. 274, stated that on
Saturday evening, as he was coming ashore from a
steam-boat at Swan-pier, he saw the prisoner close
behind a gentleman, and observed, from certain move-
ments, that " something was about to be done." The
prisoner walked deliberately out of the vessel, and the
officer went round, met him in Swan-lane, and took him
into custody, having given notice to the gentleman to
follow. Upon the person of the prisoner were found
five silk handkerchiefs, one of which was at once identi-
fied. One he tied neatly round the calf of each
leg ; another was adding in like manner to the
size of each arm, while the fifth was elsewhere inge-
niously disposed about him. He had made each of the
handkerchiefs change its master on board the steamer in
the short voyage from Hungerford-market to London-
bridge. As the prisoner was going to the station-house,
with a crowd behind, he said, " well, it is a bad job,
and no mistake ; but it was to be, and how could such as
me stop it ? I'm nailed, but I can't help it."
The LORD MAYOR—WeII, prisoner, you had a good
day's work I perceive.
The prisoner—l have been dreadful hard up, your
Lordship, I do assure you ; why, I have been obliged to
beg. I tried on everything before I tried on this, but i
would not do.

The LORD MAYOR—People do not go into steamers
,o bag.

The
The prisoner—They'll go anywhere to beg, please you
my Lord.
The LORD MAYOR—You are an expert hand, and I
shall send youfor trial.
... il _ _ _

The prisoner—Don't send me for trial—there will be
no merit in conwicting me. It's too plain a case.—
(Laughter.) Consider my poverty this once, please you
my Lord, and give me a summary.
-The LORD MAYOR—No, you will not do for London.
The prisoner—Well, my Lord, if you can't be per-
suaded to do a kind thing, why then I must do as you
wish.—(A laugh.)
Committed for trial.
TVOI?S/7113-STREET.

George Creed, alias Green, a tall, muscular young
fellow, was placed at the bar before Mr. Broughton,
charged with being a desorter from the 3d Light Dra-
goons, and also with being concerned, with others, in
assaulting and seriously injuring two police-constables
who had effected his capture.
The prisoner, who was sworn to by the police as a
convicted offender, although only nineteen years of age,
a•as taken into custody in July last by Sergeant Con-
way, of the police, for deserting from the above regi-
ment, and consigned over by the magistrate to the mili-
tary authorities. On the road to the depot of his regi-
ment, however, although under the guard of a file of
riflemen, he contrived to elude their vigilance, and re-
turned to his old haunts in the neighbourhood of White-

chapel, where he remained secreted until the preceding
evening, when he was at length traced by police-con-
stable Hope, of the H division, to a low lodging-house
in Wentworth-street, to which the officer proceeded with-
another policeman, and took him into custody. The
prisoner went quietly enough for a short distance, but
suddenly turned round, expressed his determination to
go no further, struck Hope a violent blow upon the head,
which partially stunned him, and appealed to a large
mob of thieves and blackguards who had collected and
followed him upon his apprehension, to assist in his
rescue. The mob immediately assailed the officers, whose
truncheons they wrenched from them, and hurled a
shower of brickbats and other missiles at them, until they
were knocked down and rendered powerless, when the
prisoner again effected his escape. As soon as they
had recovered their feet, and extricated themselves from
their assailants, the constables made their way to the
station-house for assistance, and Sergeant Price, accom-
panied by Davis, another constable, went in pursuit of
the prisoner, whom they discovered at another lodging-
house in the same locality, armed with a heavy kitchen
poker, prepared for a furious resistance, and declaring
that he would murder the first man who approached
him. The officers' attack, however, was so sudden, that
lan hml no time for reflection, and he was rushed upon,_

disarmed, and secured before he could carry his threat
into execution. The constable Hope exhibited marks of
very severe treatment, and produced his hat, which was
beaten into holes by the brickbats hurled at his head.
Ia answer to the charge the prisoner admitted being
a deserter, but said that although he had certainly been
a thief, he had suffered the legal punishment for his of
fence, and considered it hard that his former character
should be brought out to excite prejudice against him.
Mr. Baocarrrort said, that if the prisoner had really
abandoned his former vicious courses it would have been
obviously-improper to allude to them; but the direct
contrary appeared to be the fact, and as the constable
had evidently suffered serious ill-usage, he should ad-
journ the case for a week, and in the meantime consider
whether justice would best be answered by adjudicating
upon it with his own powers, or handing it over to the
military authorities for the ordeal of a court martial,
before whom the policeman's evidence could be adduced
in aggravation.