The Sun.
London, England, 1851-12-29 00:00:00

MON DAY

but the opportunity was not gra Wed, and after a trial
of little more than Aso mi► It des he heard himself
sentenced to a month's imiat isonment in Bridewell,
whither he was at once cony 3 yed."
It is further stated that h e. had no opportunity of
informing his parents of t he situ ttion in which he
was placed, and that 1 a remained a fortnight
in confinement before ifs ar ocious family could ascer-
tain the cause of his nyste tious disappearance. A
new investigation was then ds mended. It was shown
that the lad had always maintained an irre-
proachable character, that It e was the master of a
small business, which he, had conducted with
industry and assiduity, so that there was
every reason to suppose 'A-Ist he was incapable of the
conduct attributed to hill, wi :He the keen Detective,
on being re-interrogated, a cknowledged that "he
might have been mistaken." Under these circum-
stances—and there being m longer any reasonable doubt
of his entire innocence—hews.a discharged from custody,
but, unfortunately, he found the fearful results of the
error that had been cowl fitted. Ills business, in
which he was going on )?z osperously, was totally
ruined, and his poor mother, from the distress and
anxiety occasioned by hip u n ccountable absence from
home, had become a lunatic, I saving, to use the words
of the narrator of this melancholy tale, " gone
completely out of her mind."
Now this case should be rigidly and closely inves-

tigated. It is a mistaken Id odness to the unhappy
victim to conceal his na me. His conviction
will continue regie,,terea against him, to
quicken the " suspicions" of other Detectives,
and induce other magistrates to believe in his
guilt. llis full and complet a exoneration should re-
ceive equal publicity, that ti:ose who have heard of
the one should also hear of th 9 other—that the " an-
tidote" might be partgkon of s s well as the " bane."
It should also be known vs hr.) was the quicksighted
Detective who exhibited such :undue zeal in his voca-
tion, and such a lively sense 0 ! guilt on the part of
the accused. He should receii-ve an emphatic caution
as to the impropriety of d'o. tinctly and positively
swearing to the truth of a tin Inaction in which " he
might possibly be mistaken." Again, the police in-
spector should be informed, of the impropriety of
jesting with, or holding up toi ridicule persons charged
with offences, or permitting hers in his presence to
do so, and also of the necee.it y of affording prisoners
every reasonable facility fo:r communicating with
their friends, arid preparing their defences. But,
above all, the LORD MAvon of London should, in
justice to himself, insist on the most stringent
inquiry. We can scarcely credit the assertion that
his Lordship should not have afforded a party charged
before him an opportunity >of being beard in
own defence, or of bringing forward his
friends to show that h* was not the friend
and companion of thieves or reputed thieves.
It would of course be unjust to suppose that his
Lordship could have acted in such a manner without
the most convincing evidence of the fact; but the
charge has been publicly put forward in the columns
of the Times, and it should :at once receive either a
prompt denial, or a clear aid satisfactory expla-
nation.