The Sun.
London, England, 1833-10-02 00:00:00

SPIRIT OF THE PUBLIC JOURNALS.

By the arrival at Liverpool of a vessel from
Calcutta, with intelligence to the 25th of May,
we hear of no new disasters to the commerce or
professional accumulations of our Indian capital.
This, at least, is some consolation ; for the
mercantile world connected with our Indian pos-
sessions, and the moneyed portion of our fellow-
subjects in those possessions, have for several
months past been kept in a state of extraordinary
embarrassment and alarm, from the great and
numerous failures which have there occurred
within a short interval. The shock has been
principally felt at Calcutta and in London, but
it has created distrust and occasioned loss in
most other quarters of the empire. Like the
lightning, the calamity first struck the highest
and most towering establishments, but has not
spared the modest treasure and humble compe-
tency of privacy and retirement. As all the
houses which have failed in Calcutta, from 1829
to the present period, were houses of agency
and of banking, as well as of general business,
and as they all tempted customers by the offer of
high interest on the deposits placed in their
hands, their creditors consist, in a large propor-
tion, of a class of persons who in England
would have protected themselves against com-
mercial risks, by investing their money in
eligible mortgages, or Government securities.
Hence the mite of the widow—the hard-
earned savings of the military officer—the
collected accumulations of the civil servant—
the funds of the trading capitalist, and the rea-
lized treasure of the retiring pensioner on its
way from India to Europe, have all been involved
in one commcn deterioration or ruin. The
general business and extensive speculations of
the houses in question, while they ought to have
excited the suspicion of the depositors, only
attracted more support or confidence by afford-
ing them an excuse for the payment of higher
interest. Besides, as every civil or military
servant of the Company, every professional man
engaged in it, and every private or trading resi-
dent who has acquired wealth in India, are
desirous of remitting it to Europe, and have no
other obvious or easy means of effecting the
remittance except through the great houses of
agency, considerable sums must always exist in
their hands, which are considered in a state
of secure passage from the one country to the
other. The relatives and families of their In-
dian customers must thus, in case of their failure,
be sufferers to the amount of these unrealized
payments. As the government of the Company
in India decline to be the medium of private
remittances, they thus leave each party to choose
his own channel of conveying his treasure to the
mother country, and expose him to the hazards
of loss or ruin by the selection of a house of
doubtful credit. The consigners of merchandise
from this country to India—the trading con-
nexions and customers of the bankrupt esta-
blishments in the Indian Peninsula,in China, and
in Europe, swell the catalogue of the recent suf-
ferers. The extent of the embarrassment which
has thus been occasioned, and of the loss which
has been sustained, by these different parties,
may he easily imagined when it is recollected
that since the beginning of January, 1830, four
Calcutta houses have failed for the sum of about
12,000,000/. sterling, one Bombay house for
the sum of 250,0001., and two London houses
connected with the former for the amount of
nearly 3,000,000/. more—making in all
15,000,000/.—an amount of debt which, little
more than a century ago, would have shaken the
Government of this country with a fear of
bankruptcy, and which even now few of the
second or third-rate nations could borrow on the
mortgage of half their revenues T. The follow-
ing is the list of failures to which we have
alluded—and though, out of the debts marked
against each house, a considerable dividend
may be realized, the distrust, difficulties, and
anxiety, which their bankruptcy has occasioned,
together with the other failures which it may
afterwards render necessary, will not be much
alleviated by a partial recovery of their assets :
Jobn Palmer and Co., Calcutta, about £5,000,000
Alexander and Co., ditto
Mackintosh and C0., ditto
Colvin and C0., ditto
Sbotton sad Co., Bombay 250,000

To which if there is added, as the con-

12,250,000

sequence of them, that of—
Fairlie and Co., London
Rickards and Mackintosh, ditto 950,000

The amount will be 15,000,000
But it is now of more importance to inquire
into the cause of these alarming insolvencies
and to deduce from their details the moral which
they ought to yield, than to emblazon their
extent or to describe their pressure. The
greatest number of them, we are persuaded,
might have been foreseen, as their symptoms
were neither hidden nor ambiguous, though the
result seems to have taken the public by surprise.
There has not, indeed, been any recent war or
political convulsion to account for them. India
has been well governed and in peace since the
Burmese conquest, and if the credit of a great
mercantile community has been shaken, we may
say, as in Cowper's lines on the loss of the
Royal George—
" It was not in the battle,
No tempest gave the shock."
Nor have they been connected with any violence,
bad faith, or fraud on the part of our Indian
Government, nor with any change in the laws of
our eastern empire. They have been occasioned
solely by the mode in which the great Calcutta
agency-houses have been transacting business for
the last 10 or 15 years—by the rage for specu-
lation or inordinate gains on the part of their
directors, and the too eager or confident cupidity
of their customers. After the renewal, in 1813,
of the Company's charter, which opened Indian
commerce to the more active competition of
private adventurers, a great number of new
trading establishments were erected at Calcutta.
These new houses entered into a vigorous
competition with houses which had been
founded more than half a century before,
and the latter, to preserve their relative
auperiority, were stimulated to exertions,
and led to the practice of arts which they for-
merly had not attempted nor contemplated.
They made large advances to indigo planters, to
encourage one of the most hazardous kinds of
cultivation. They stimulated likewise the pro-
duction of sugar, cotton, and other articles,
which have not yielded the profits that they
anticipated. Their advances to the indigo
planters amounted frequently to 2,000,000/. or
1,500,000/. a year, while the
produce of the
plant was so precarious and fluctuating
that in
1825 it amounted to 10,750,0001 b., and in the
following year only to 6,700,0001 b.; and again
in 1827, to 11,000,0001 b.; and in 1828. to
only 7,300,00016. Latterly, prices having .fallen
in the European market, more than
.a third of
these advances to the indigo planters is uncalled

For and unproductive, while the houses in ques-

tion continued to afford the same interest to
their customers on deposits which had become
unprofitable to themselves. This fact is attested
by Mr. Bracken, one of the partners in the house
of Alexander and Co. (which has since failed),
in his evidence before the Committee of the
House of Commons, more than a year and a
half ago. That gentleman, in depositions which
do credit to his intelligence, knowledge, and
experience, distinctly states that the agency-
house in Calcutta could, on the renewal of the
charter, devote that part of their capital to the
encouragement of the manufacture of opium
which was now not any longer required to be
advanced to the manufacturers of indigo. The
following description of the commercial system
in Calcutta, given by this gentleman, confirms
that which we have above given :
" Will you state the origin, and the peculiar features of
the present cotnmercirl system in Calcutta ?—The com-
merce of Calcutta was in the hands of a very small
number of houses before the opening of the present char-
ter ; previous to that time the houses were chiefly formed
of gentlemen who had been in the civil and military
services, who, finding their habits better adapted for
commercial pursuits, obtained permission to resign their
situations, and engage in agency and mercantile business.
They had, of course, a great many friends and acquaint-
ances in their respective services, and from those gentlemen
they received their accumulations. They lent them to
ethers, or employed them themselves, for purposes of
commerce ; they were, in fact, at first the distributors of
capital rather than the possessors of it. They made their
profit in the usual course of trade, and by the difference
of interest in lending and in borrowing money, and by
commission. In the course of time, carrying on a suc-
cessful commerce, many became possessors of large capital,
and returned to this country, leaving most part of it there ;
but the persons who succeeded generally came in without
capital of their own, the same system being continued,
and those houses became the usual depositories of a great
portion of the savings and accumulations of the military
and civil services in India.

" Those savings were, in fact, employed as their capital
in trade ?—Yes, that was the origin of the houses in
question. When there were very few houses of business,
very large fortunes were made by some gentlemen in them.
After the opening of the trade other houses were esta-
blished, connected more particularly with Liverpool and
the outports, and that spread the business a great deal.
The older houses have not now the same monopoly, if I
may so call it, which they had before."
If we add to this statement that the Indian
Government has, since the renewal of the Char-
ter in 1813, established a bank of deposit, dis-
count, and issue in Calcutta, which Mr. Holt
Mackenzie pronounces to be well managed, and
which has deprived three or four private banking
establishments of their business, we shall go far

to account for the diminished means of those
houses, two or three of which have lately failed.
We need scarcely, after this, insist upon the
absurdity of those houses giving 6 or 8 per cent.
for the deposits of their customers, when Go-
vernment could borrow money at 4 or 5 per
cent., as it could do immediately before the
commencement of the Burmese war. Thus
over-trading, improvident enterprise, extravagant
miscalculation, and excessive expense in living,
have, no doubt, been the cause of the recent
failures. The victims of these wild schemes are,
no doubt, in many instances to be pitied ; but
they are not themselves altogether blameless for
their own misfortunes. It was the confidence
which they inspired by their deposits which
tempted the insolvents to proceed in their ruinous
career, and the former thus disposed of their
capital because they received an extravagant in-
terest. They ought to have reflected that secu-
rity and speculation never can go hand in hand j
—that great gains never can be made without
incurring gambling hazards, and that they risked
the principal in proportion as they raised the
dividend of their deposits. We have no doubt
that the recent failures, however productive of
temporary distress, must be salutary in the end.
The storm will clear the commercial atmosphere,
and all parties will see more clearly their sober,
permanent interests. The old houses have been
blown down, because their foundations were
weak, and their props unstable. A new era of
Indian commerce and enterprise is about to
commence with the new charter, anti it will be
useful to exhibit the example of former losses or
misfortunes under the old, as a warning against
future extravagance. Merchants, in their mode
of living, must reduce their establishments to
the level of their profits. They must neither
live on their own capital, nor on that of their
customers, and their Indian customers must
look towards ultimate security more than to
present gains in the disposal or transmission of
their funds.— Times.

`We are much gratified to observe in the
provincial journals the respect and obedience
everywhere, except in Leicester, shown to the
corporation commission. The corporators are
evidently impressed with the importance of the
inquiry, and well aware the time has arrived
when they can no longer maintain the municipal
monopoly of the self elect system. The amend-
ment of the representation was the tocsin of
corporate reform ; and the most judicious and
creditable atonement for past errors is submis-
' sion to consequent investigation. The corpo-
rators of Leicester, indeed, appear to stand
alone, with their Conservative Recorder, Mr.
Sergeant Goulburn, in their contumacious op-
position to the public and searching investiga-
tion of the commissioners. The Morning
Post, notwithstanding its objections to the
nature and powers of the King's commission,
offers the best advice to the self-elected cor-
porators :
" The corporations can, we know, require no counsel
from uR, yet we will not withhold a declaration of the
principles and spirit in which we should wish to see them
generally act. It would be well that, as far as possible,
they should act in unison, avoiding every appearance of a
vexatious, harassing, or litigious opposition to any fair and
proper inquiries on the part of the commissioners, mani-
festing, as they have hitherto done, a strong disposition
to yield to the Royal authority in every case in which it
is not pushed to the extreme of clear and undeni-able
usurpation."
The corporations have discovered that a
dogged opposition to the spirit of the times, and
to the coming reform of the municipal institu-
tions, will not serve their purpose ; and we an-
ticipate therefore a discernment of their palpable
interest and policy which must necessarily,
patiently, and advisedly submit themselves to
inquiry. The Leicester corporations are left
to fight their own battle, and they will probably.
do so on the field of a Reformed House of
Commons. We do not think that such an
arena will be any great gain to them, and time
will manifest the result.—Morning Chronicle.
The Tory Journals of the town and country,
having nothing better to present to their readers,
are industriously retailing stories against Lord
Durham, which, whether true or false, are the
subject of their absurd and disingenuous com-
ments. Whenever the Conservatives attack the
personal character or habits of public men, the
people may be assured that the object is to
depreciate the reputation and political influence
of popular and superior public men. If the
Earl of Durham hoists the Union Jack of his
own country he is calumniated ' ' • his yacht,
a
returning from France, sails into n English port
with the tri-colour, a political and prejudicial

influence is twisted out of an immaterial fact.
During the protracted discussion of the Reform
Bills, Lord Durham was the mark of weekly
calumny, because the Tories well knew that he
was the main stay of the question in the Cabinet.
The Reformers and people of this country esti-
mate too highly the patriotic fidelity and enlight-
ened
principles of Lord Durham to attach any
credit to these Tory calumnies, which indeed
only further prove the fear entertained by the
Tories of the political influence of his character
and opinions. Thus, now that the Tory Jour-
nals have exchanged their flattery of Lord
Brougham for vituperation, the public may be
assured that they are hopeless of the Chancellor,
and that he is devoted to the public weal.—
Morning Chronicle.
We have never failed to attribute, as truth and
justice required, the greater part of the evils
which the people of Ireland labour under to the
absence of the great bulk of its landed pro-
prietors. This is one of the topics which Baron
d'Haussez, to whose work we have already
made frequent reference, adverts, with undeni-
able truth and much force of colouring. " The
great object of the Irish landlord," says he,
'seems to be to diminish, as much as possible,
the cost of labour, and to increase, as much as
possible, and by whatever means, his annual
income ; thus he neither receives nor deserves
the benedictions of his tenantry. In this respect
he forms the disreputable exception to the land.
lords of more civilised communities ; in quitting
the land of his birth, and becoming, as it were,
a stranger to it, the Irish gentleman, by his own
act, deprives himself of the affection of his
tenants. If he return to it his visits are few, far
between, and of short duration ; the reception
which he meets with on these occasions is gene-
rally cold, sometimes even hostile. Disgust, a
real or supposed fear, caused by their own acts
and course of conduct, finally induce Irish
proprietors to leave a country in which they
seem apprehensive for their safety ; and thus
is engendered a reciprocal animosity and
hatred, without the least likelihood of their giving
way, on either side, to better feelings." This is
a severe and caustic, but nevertheless but too
true an account of the matter. Fortunately,
however, it does nut apply to all Irish landlords,
or even to all absentees ; and we hail the ex-
ceptions, when pointed out, with a satisfaction
equal to the regret with which we advert to what
unhappily forms the majority of instances. Such
an exception seems to be offered in the case of
the Marquis of Lansdowne, of whose laudable
anxiety to improve his estates and to ameliorate
the condition of his tenantry, one of our Irish
correspondents, a few days ago, gave us an ac-
count, which we shall offer no apology to our
readers for here reprinting
_ _ .

"lammicK.---TheMarquis of Lansdowne, during his
recent visit to this town, minutely inspected the improve-
ments which are making upon his estate in the North
Liberties. The erection of a magnificent bridge over the
Shannon has rendered this part of his Lordship's property
exceedingly valuable, by affording an easy communication
with the new part of the city. Heretofore it was only to
he approached by a circuitous and most disagreeable route
through that nest of filth and misery "the English
Town ;" but TVellesley-bridge opens an agreeable and airy
passage along the banks of this fine river, and at about a
third of the former distance. Fields which, up to this
period, have been occupied by dairymen, wig be now
eagerly sought for the construction of villas, and it is sup-
posed that the Noble Marquis will be enabled to dispose of
most of his estate for that purpose, in parcels of 10 to 20
acres, at more than double the rent he now receives for
them. He is laying out a large sum in making the lands
suitable for such tenements, intersecting them in all three.
tions with beautiful roads, and constructing a quay by the
edge of the river, which will be of great benefit, not only
to his own property, but to the country for many miles
round. Not tae least important or pleasing reflection
suggested by a view of those excellent and judicious works,
is that occasioned by the sight of so many labourers to
whom employment is afforded. Here is an absentee pro-
prietor I 'Why do not some proprietors who are resident
act as wisely for themselves and as beneficially for the
countryis ?"
It not the least gratifying part of this short
narrative, that it puts the matter upon that
footing which is most likely to reach the hearts,
and therefore to elicit the imitation, of other
proprietors, both absent and resident—we mean
the footing of self-interest. Landed property,
and that of Ireland especially, holds out more
tempting inducements to improvement than any
species of adventure in which capital can be
invested—viz., a certainty of speedy and valu-
able return ; and there is probably no more ex-
traordinary circumstance attending the years of
neglect which its soil and peasantry have endured
than this—the absolute loss to the owners which
have attended it. As an instance of this, it
would not be at all too much to affirm, that the
millions upon millions which England has for
years past paid for foreign corn might have been
all, or nearly all, expended at home, had Ire-
land been made that source of production for
which nature has so bountifully designed her.
That she is a mine of wealth, no one who has visited
her soil, or inquired into its resources, can for a
moment question ; yet such has been the infa-
tuation of her rulers and the ignorance of her
landowners, that they have preferred seeing her
soil sterile, and her population in poverty and
rags, rather than have recourse to the obvious
means of fertilising the one and humanising the
other. We are not without hopes that this
long age of darkness, imbecility, and wretched.
ness, is passing away ; that Irish landlords, alive
to their real interests, will abandon their past
errors; that the example of such conduct as that
of the Marquis of Lansdowne will not be lost
upon those who have similar means of improving
their estates ; and that, above all, it will be the
earnest and steady endeavour of the Government
to render a residence in Ireland both desirable
and safe to the many, to whom its past state of
insecurity has afforded but too plausible an ex-
cuse for non-residence and neglect.-31oriting
Herald.

Our paper of this day records several further
meetings in various parts of the metropolis for
the avowed purpose of organizing a system of
resistance to the assessed taxes. Before a sen-
tence of condemnation is passed on the persons
who instigate and who have engaged in this
combination we ought duly to consider the
trickery and deceit that has been practised on
them in respect to the taxes in question. Earl
Grey, in order to establish himself and brother
Whigs in power, took every opportunity of
encouraging the ten-pounders, to whom he
mainly looked for support, in their fondly-
cherished idea that a very considerable reduction
of taxation would be effected by his Govern-
ment, and that the assessed taxes, above all,
should be devoted to immediate annihilation.
" Reform," indeed, meant little else than this
in the acceptation of the great mass of the ten-
pounders. Having, however, attained the object
for which these expectations were held forth, viz.,
the providing for his family and connexions
even unto the hundredth degree, Lord Grey has
thought fit to kick down the ladder by which
he mounted ; and, in concert with his colleagues,
laughs to scorn the dupes who trusted him. The
Reformed Parliament has proved itself worthy

of the Reform Ministry. A decided majority
of its Members obtained their places by solmenly
pledging themselves to vote for the repeal
of the assessed taxes. But, finding themselves
comfortably seated, they, in like manner, have
thrown their promises to the winds, and have
violated their engagements with a degree of
effrontery truly edifying. The ten-pounders,
however, to whom the Reform Bill professed to
give supreme political power, have resolved that
they will not be cheated and derided at pleasure
by a Whig-Liberal Ministry and a truckling
Parliament ; that they will not submit to be the
victims of a set of intriguers. They would, as
it were, compel their faithless rulers to be honest
in spite of themselves; and are attempting to
effect by illegal resistance that abolition of taxes
which was deliberately promised, and has been
as deliberately refused. And who shall venture
to blame them ? Not certainly the present
Government nor the present Parliament. Tories
as sse are, we think that the laws ought to be
obeyed, and that, when resistance is offered,
respect to the laws ought to be rigorously en-
forced at all hazards. But such is not the doc-
trine of such eminent liberals as Earl Fitzwil-
liam and Mr. W. Brougham, who have clearly
laid down the maxim that any person is justified
in refusing payment of taxes if the acts of the
Legislature do not happen to be in accordance
with his private opinions.—Morning Post.

POLICE INTELLIGENCE.

MANSION-II OUSE.

A young man, named Edward Denman, who
has very high connections, was brought before the
LORD MAYOR, at the instance of several persons,
who complained that they could not get their pro-
perty which they had intrusted to him out of his
hands. The prisoner is a watchmaker.
The general complaint against him was that it
was a matter of extreme difficulty to prevail upon
him to restore any watches left in his possession for
repair. A Mr. Mitchell having given to him two
watches to repair called innumerable times at his
shop, but could never obtain restoration. The Lord
Mayor, upon hearing of this untradesmanlike con-
duct sent a summons to the prisoner, and, due at-
tention not having been paid to the order, issued a
warrant on the presumption that the watches had
been illegally pawned.
The prisoner's attorney stated that the situation
of his client was an extremely painful one. The
fact was that an execution had been issued against
the property of Mr. Denman, and, in order to secure
the valuable articles from time to time confided to
him, he had found it necessary to remove the
watches and jewellery of his customers from his
house, which was now liable to invasion from his
creditors, to another place. The moment the cus-
tomers paid the charges for repair, their goods would
be handed to them.

The LORD MAYOR asked how long the prisoner
had detained the watches ?

A complainant stated that six months had elapsed
since he had left his watch at the shop of the pri-
soner, who had promised that it should be ready for
delivery in a day or two.

A second had left: two watches in the hands of
Mr. Denman, who had promised that they should be
forthcoming in a repaired state in two days, upwards
of six months ago, but they had never made their
appearance in any state since that time.
A third, some months ago, went into Mr. Den-
man's shop in order to have something done to his
watch. The prisoner, upon looking at the watch,
said, that a very important part of the machinery
was broken, and that the repairs would amount to a
considerable sum, and he advised the witness to pur-
chase a new watch, and give the old one in exchange.
This he acceded to, but the witness had never seen
either new or old watch since.

A fourth stated that the prisoner took away from
his house, without his consent, a diamond brooch,
and it never had made its appearance.
The LORD MAYOR—You have been in some
dealings with this man ? Complainant—Oh dear
yes, my Lord. He owes me 801. besides.
The LORD MAYOR—Ay, you have dealt with
him since this robbery of the brooch, as you call it,
took place ? Complainant—Yes ; I have, my Lord.
The LORD MAYOR—And do you think to make
me believe that the man robbed you ? Nonsense.
A filth complainant said that the prisoner bought
a chaise from him for 171., without, however, pay-
ing a farthing of the money. Witness asked for a
deposit, and the prisoner handed him a ring, which
he said was worth 235., but which a pawnbroker
would lend no more than 2s. upon. Witness had a
watch in his pocket, and said it wanted something.
" Let me have i t," said the prisoner, " and I'll set
it all to rights in twenty-four hours." This was
six weeks ago;and witness had never seen his watch
since.—(Laughter.)
A sixth complainant said that, seeing that the
shop of the prisoner was a respectable one, he went
in and handed his watch, which cost him eleven
guineas, to the prisoner for repair. The prisoner
recommended him to have a new watch, and to
exchange the old one. He offered no objection, but
he had never seen new or old watch since, although
the date of his visit to the shop was the beginning
of June.—(Laughter.)
The prisoner's solicitor assured the Lord Mayor
►hat his client was a highly-honourable but an em-
barrassed tradesman, and that riot an atom of the
property alluded to had been pawned or made away
with in any way.
The LORD MAYOR—It is the watches I want,
and not a complimentary speech. The prisoner
was to have had them here to-day My object is
to get for these gentlemen their property, and as the
prisoner has no right to it he shall remain in custody
until he " renders unto Caesar the things that are
CDesar's." _ .

The prisoner's solicitor produced the property of
all the complainants except two, and
The LORD MAYOR told the prisoner that the in-
stant the watches were restored to the two gentle-
men, who were still unsatisfied, an order should be
sent to the Compter for a discharge.
The whole of this investigation gave great satis-
faction to the crowded room.

Eliza Hawkins, an extremely smart and neatly-
dressed girl, covered all over with ribbons, was put
to the bar, charged with having endeavoured to pass
a counterfeit five-shilling piece. She made a joke
of the case, and seemed perfectly aware that she
should escape.
A respectable tradesman stated that she called at
his shop to buy some trifling article, and put down
the counterfeit five-shilling piece to pay for it. It
was at once ascertained to be base metal, and the
shopprisoner
and
dwNayse n toldt
tof
o another,
ottlhmer
,fa‘cvt. where
e r Shee s
hteh eon
filef the
offered
dit
without the least hesitation, and, no doubt being
entertained that she was a smasher, she was appre-
hended and brought before the Lord Mayor, who
remanded her in order that the Solicitor for the
Mint might decide whether she could be prosecuted
with any chance of conviction.
Yesterday the Solicitor for the Mint attended,
but he said that he did not know the prisoner, and
that, as no other case appeared against her, a prose-
cution would not avail.
The prisoner—l have done nothing wrong, and I
hope your Lordship will discharge me from the
Compter.
The complainant—Two ill-looking fellows terri-
fied my wife last night by tapping at the window
and threatening her, to deter me from appearing
at the Mansion-house to-day. I am sure this girl
is one of a large gang of smashers.
The LORD MAYOR—No doubt of it. She is just
the thing for them.

Prisoner—lt's quite different. I am a respectable
woman, and I got this money from a Mr. William-
son. I hope you won't send me to the Compter again.
The LORD MAYOR—It is the fittest place except

one for you. Why do you ob;ect to it ? Prisoner—
They would have starved me if I hadn't sent for
something.

Mr. Teague (the Governor of the Compter) said
that each prisoner was allowed a pound of bread
and half a pound of meat a day.
Prisoner—Ay, but my appetite happens to be a
very sharp one. That's not half enough for my
stomach.—(Laughter.) I'm a very hearty feeder.
The LORD MAYOR—I am sorry that I must di-
charge you, for your gang are no doubt waiting for
your services; but if I catch you again you'll never
forget me.

Prisoner—Let me go and I'll never get into a
rumpus again.

The LORD MAYOR---I will, if you tell me who
employs you, and who those ruffians are who
threatened the wife of this gentleman.
Prisoner—l can't tell you anything but what I
have told you, except you wish me to tell you a lie.
If you fancy one, I'll try.—(Laughter.)
The LORD MAYOR said that the lady who had
been threatened ought to have called the police and
given the fellows into custody.
Prisoner—lt couldn't be me that did it, for I am
not a man, and many a man knows that.—(Loud
laughter.)

The Solicitor to the Mint--She is a very dan-
gerous woman, my Lord, and I have no doubt of
seeing her again.
Prisoner—l'll have nothing to say to you. I'm
talking to your betters.
The LORD MAYOR—Go away, and beware of me.
Prisoner (curtseying low)—Good morning to
you. You are so inhospitable in your large build.
ing that I am as empty as an old cask, and I must
go and have a good tuck out.